Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

People are complicated. Love is not.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

I really should read my own blog.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Not all heroes wear capes.

We still have time to mess this up!

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

T R E 4 5 O N

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Open Thread: Civic Improvements

Open Thread: Civic Improvements

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It’s not just President Obama who’s enjoying a Rhymes-with-Bucket farewell tour…

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88Comments

  5. 5.

    Roger Moore

    President Obama has already designated or expanded more National Monuments than any other president, including both of the ones in Nevada. It would be very impressive if he made any more.

  6. 6.

    LAO

    Thank you Ann Laurie, for combining two of my favorite things: Reid’s expert Republican trolling and the Bundy Bunch!

  11. 11.

    Miss Bianca

    @LAO:

    I know, I keep wanting to come up with something witty as a play on “Bundy” and “Reid” to express my love for this bit of news, but it just ain’t working.

  12. 12.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @LAO: Let’s not be too open about the, ah, issues some of us here share. :)
    @Corner Stone: You are cracking me up with how you’re quoting Mike J.

  13. 13.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @MomSense: that reminds me, when Obama used that line, Roseanne Barr went on a two day twitter rant about Obama stealing the joke from her twitter feed. Which is where she appears these days.

  14. 14.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Miss Bianca: While we’re still in the same thread, how was Saturday with the hounds? Did you ride the cross?

    Christ only knows how Corner Stone will excerpt those questions (either) to make me sound weird.

  18. 18.

    Baud

    They should name the new national monument “The Negro” so Bundy can tell people all about it.

  19. 19.

    Gimlet

    http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/06/flint-water-crisis-racketeering-lawsuit-governor-rick-snyder

    A federal racketeering lawsuit by hundreds of resident in Flint, Michigan, is alleging the city’s two-year water crisis was the result of an“intentional scheme” crafted by state officials and Michigan’s governor, Rick Snyder, to balance the city’s budget.

    In a Rico statement filed to federal court, the attorneys said state officials, contractors and emergency managers appointed to run Flint had “the intent and purpose of balancing the Flint City budget through a pattern of racketeering activity.”

    “This association … misrepresented the suitability of the toxic Flint River water to Flint’s residents for approximately a two-year period, and billed Flint’s residents at rates that were the highest in the nation for toxic water that was unsuitable for use,” the lawsuit stated.

  20. 20.

    Roger Moore

    @amk:
    AFAIK, the president can’t unmake national monuments unilaterally. Congress can always pass a law disestablishing one, but they tend not to do so without solid backing from the state’s delegation. My impression is that a lot of the areas President Obama has protected were chosen because their states’ Congressional delegations wanted them protected but the Republicans have blocked any Congressional action, and the president has the power to make them into monuments under the Antiquities Act.

  21. 21.

    MomSense

    Twitter is abuzz that At a rally in Philly, Sanders said Clinton isn’t qualified to be President.

    I really hope he didn’t say that.

  26. 26.

    Miss Bianca

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):

    Let him.

    No, the cross hadn’t shown up yet – a DUI was involved (*not* the cross, who as far as I know never took a drink in his life, but the poor girl who owns him – she got busted on her way back from the falling-off party at 2 am. Ah, youth!), so he hasn’t shown up on the farm yet. No, I got to take a last ride on a sweet little paint mare who is going back to her owner. She’s one who would be ideal as a trail horse for someone who wouldn’t ride her too hard. She was a game little hunter, and taught me a lot, but her knees just aren’t up for strenuous cross-country work.

  27. 27.

    MomSense

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:

    At what point can we say this is destructive? He has a near impossible path to the nomination going by the delegates that are yet to be determined. We really need to be turning our focus to the Republicans and building up for November’s must win election. What is he playing at?

  28. 28.

    smith

    @MomSense: If true, this may be more of the Sanders’ campaign’s very awkward attempt to do damage control after that disastrous interview. What many people took away from it was that Bernie’s not qualified to be prez. It’s the ol’ Karl Rove jujitsu, just like the accusation that Hillary is destroying the Democratic Party.

  30. 30.

    JPL

    @MomSense: He blamed her for the deaths in Iraq and the jobs lost due to trade deals so why not. He is the person who pushed his wife out of the way. That was after a question about Newtown moms upset with his stands on gun control..

  32. 32.

    Mnemosyne

    @MomSense:

    Being Secretary of State has been an accepted path to the presidency since the days of Tommy Jeff — in fact, I vaguely recall some people on the internet being outraged at her appointment for just that reason.

  34. 34.

    MomSense

    Maddow just confirmed it.

    Wow. I’m old enough to remember 1980. This is not the year to bring the fight to the convention.

  35. 35.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @MomSense: Rachel Maddow says the same thing.

    But of course Bernie! is nothing like Nader, so everyone saying that is just a big meanie hater.

  37. 37.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Alex Seitz-WaldVerified account
    ‏@ aseitzwald
    Sanders in Philly: “She thinks I’m not quote un quote qualified to be pres. Let me just say in response, I don’t believe she is qualified.”

    Did she say that?

  38. 38.

    Miss Bianca

    @srv: Most of that “productive land” is dry, sandy desert, completely unsuited for ranching or farming. Not that that has ever stopped people from running cattle over it, the Dear knows.

  40. 40.

    JPL

    @MomSense: When I watched Bernie on the CBS Evening News, I was shocked. NotMax and The Sheriff said it is to late to run as a third party so they talked me off the cliff. He is the guy who pushed his wife off the stage and dissed the mothers of the children who died in Newtown .
    That is Bernie.

  41. 41.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @JPL: They’re coming to take me away haha hoho heehee!

    Sorry, all I can really think of right now is A.Ham to ThomasThomas: You must be out of your goddamn mind.

    Does he even realize he’s being used by the Rs? Probably substantially funded by them? Geez.

  43. 43.

    AnotherBruce

    Now I remember why the left lost so much of it’s power in the 1970s. Welcome back, circular firing squad. Bernie’s making it awfully hard for me to vote for him should he win the nom. I probably will, but no money for you asshole.

  44. 44.

    J R in WV

    @srv:

    He says:

    More land for monuments, less land for productive people, farmers and ranchers.

    Maybe liberals can figure out how to grow tofu in caves with bitcoins.

    You asshole, none of the land that has been set aside for National Monuments is arable, none of it. That’s what makes it interesting and worth setting aside.

    Farms aren’t unique or interesting from a natural science perspective, so as to be worth preserving. You just hate Democrats, and President Obama in particular. So any Republican slop you can dredge up, you’re going to sling at the liberals and progressives here, there and everywhere.

    Liberals are why your grandparents got Social Security, why you get to drive on Interstates, why there are free public schools to teach you how to spell and count. Without Democrats, this nation would be an autocracy with wage slaves dying young, with no safety rules, with no clean air or clean water protections.

    Screw you, asshole.

  50. 50.

    LAO

    @J R in WV:

    Liberals are why your grandparents got Social Security, why you get to drive on Interstates, why there are free public schools to teach you how to spell and count. Without Democrats, this nation would be an autocracy with wage slaves dying young, with no safety rules, with no clean air or clean water protections.

    So, Texas?

  51. 51.

    Chyron HR

    It’s okay, people who say stupid things on stage at Sanders rallies don’t represent the Sanders campaign. At least that was the excuse every other time it happened, so why not now?

  52. 52.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    No

    from CNN

    The campaign’s deputy communications director, Christina Reynolds, argued that Sanders is unqualified, sending a full transcript of a New York Daily News editorial board interview of Sanders.

    Stupid but a whole level different that HRC saying it.

  54. 54.

    Princess

    @MomSense: Your hope is in vain. He also said about her stance on gun control, “She’s been on this gun thing forever.” This gun thing. This crazy little gun thing she has, I don’t know why.

    You know, I used to respect him.

  55. 55.

    dogwood

    @MomSense:
    There’s a point in these endless campaigns when it all becomes destructive. As long as there’s money the show must go on. And it’s not just corporate money that pollutes this system, it’s small donors too, who keep ponying up despite the cold hard facts of the race. Bernie is doing to Clinton what Clinton did to Obama.

  57. 57.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    @Baud:
    Agreed but even if she said “That dipstick is not qualified to be dog catcher let alone POTUS” it is a whole different level.

  61. 61.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @LAO: Thanks for the link and my ship is on its return trip from the South China Sea, I think.

    @Miss Bianca: I hope the Cross’s keeper treats her mount better than she treats herself. The little mare sounds sweet and game, but will need the right rider, clearly, to hold up.

  65. 65.

    LAO

    @Baud: I knew I should have read the thread. Sorry.

    ETA: I don’t think it exists. Clinton, herself, equivocal this morning on morning joe.

  68. 68.

    Miss Bianca

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Well, the girl is about as big as a minute, so I think even a couple beers might have been enough to put her over the edge. It was a bit traumatic for her, needless to say… and Mariah (the little mare) is one I wish I could have taken myself, but I’m just not set up for horses at my place. You can tell she just really wants to be *someone’s* BFF, and I felt like we were finally getting into that zone. I had stopped riding her out for hunting, and the last hunt she kind of head-butted me like, “what? why aren’t you taking ME?” – which was kind of a big ol’ “awwww”moment. She could hunt again – but I think she’d need to be on a careful exercise/supplement/treatment regimen.

  69. 69.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @LAO: Why am I not surprised that he didn’t turn himself in? I think we’re all glad he was asleep, so as to avoid an exchange of gunfire. They’re all assholes who don’t deserve the expert counsel they’ll be assigned. Except for Ammo, who’s crowdsourced his defense fund, with which he’s hired idiots. He’s paying somebody else’s money to get what I anticipate will be substandard defense.

  73. 73.

    dogwood

    @Linnaeus:
    You’d think if he wanted to start making inroads in next the primary states where he needs to win, he might start running against republicans. Doesn’t he already have the anti-Clinton/Obama crowd all sewn up? His people are running his campaign just like the Hillary troops ran hers in 08.

  75. 75.

    cbear

    @Corner Stone: Gotta love LBJ:

    “And another thing…the crotch, down where your nuts hang, is always a little too tight, so when you make them up, please give me another inch I can let out there, uh, because they cut me. It’s just like riding a wire fence.
    ….See if you can’t leave me an inch from where the zipper ends, round, under my back to bunghole, so I can let it out there if I need it.”

    Best taped Presidential phone call EVER!

  78. 78.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Miss Bianca: Totally aww moment. I hope she gets a terrific life as a trail horse rather than risking getting hurt out in the field.

  79. 79.

    Elie

    @Princess:

    You know, I used to respect him.

    Bernie is old and tired. That leads to cognitive mistakes/failures and emotional instability. He is not used to this attention and his natural grandiosity mixed with the previous makes him likely to say something pretty catastrophic in the next weeks. Like Trump, it appears he has no ballast. Hillary is trying to keep the Democrats together for after, but honestly, it is hard to resist the temptation to wave the cape in front of this bull to make him charge right into the sword.
    I am not disappointed in Bernie. I never saw what those people so positive about him saw. I saw a cranky old man and over time, his unabated narcissism….

  80. 80.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Linnaeus:

    Interesting – perhaps one of BJ’s resident attorneys could weigh in on that.

    Before the retainer check clears? Ha!

  84. 84.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @cbear: And the other part that cracked me up was the equanimity Joe Haggar’s shown throughout demonstrated again:

    JH: Fine, Now where would you like them sent please?
    LBJ: White House.

    President Johnson orders pants from Joe Haggar.
    Aug. 9, 1964

    Listen

    Operator: Go ahead sir

    LBJ: Mr. Haggar?

    JH: Yes this is Joe Haggar

    LBJ: Joe, is your father the one that makes clothes?

    JH: Yes sir – we’re all together

    LBJ: Uh huh. You all made me some real lightweight slacks, uh, that he just made up on his own and sent to me 3 or 4 months ago. There’s a light brown and a light green, a rather soft green, a soft brown.

    JH: Yes sir

    LBJ: and they’re real lightweight now and I need about six pairs for summer wear.

    JH: yes sir

    LBJ: I want a couple, maybe three of the light brown kind of a almost powder color like a powder on a ladies face. Then they were some green and some light pair, if you had a blue in that or a black, then I’d have one blue and one black. I need about six pairs to wear around in the evening when I come in from work

    JH: yes sir

    LBJ: I need…they’re about a half a inch too tight in the waist.

    JH: Do you recall sir the exact size, I just want to make sure we get them right for you

    LBJ: No, I don’t know – you all just guessed at ’em I think, some – wouldn’t you the measurement there?

    JH: we can find it for you

    LBJ: well I can send you a pair. I want them half a inch larger in the waist than they were before except I want two or three inches of stuff left back in there so I can take them up. I vary ten or 15 pounds a month.

    JH: alright sir

    LBJ: So leave me at least two and a half, three inches in the back where I can let them out or take them up. And make these a half an inch bigger in the waist. And make the pockets at least an inch longer, my money, my knife, everything falls out – wait just a minute.

    Operator: Would you hold on a minute please?

    [conversation on hold for two minutes]

    LBJ: Now the pockets, when you sit down, everything falls out, your money, your knife, everything, so I need at least another inch in the pockets. And another thing – the crotch, down where your nuts hang – is always a little too tight, so when you make them up, give me an inch that I can let out there, uh because they cut me, it’s just like riding a wire fence. These are almost, these are the best I’ve had anywhere in the United States,

    JH: Fine

    LBJ: But, uh when I gain a little weight they cut me under there. So, leave me , you never do have much of margin there. See if you can’t leave me an inch from where the zipper (burps) ends, round, under my, back to my bunghole, so I can let it out there if I need to.

    JH: Right

    LBJ: Now be sure you have the best zippers in them. These are good that I have. If you get those to me I would sure be grateful

    JH: Fine, Now where would you like them sent please?
    LBJ: White House.
    JH: Fine.

  86. 86.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @cbear: And of course, a good supplier is indeed the primary consideration. The part I wanted to note was
    JH: Now where you like them sent, please?
    LBJ: White House
    JH: Fine

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