Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Also, are you sure you want people to rate your comments?

The willow is too close to the house.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

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

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Petty moves from a petty man.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

Let there be snark.

Republicans in disarray!

American history and black history cannot be separated.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

White supremacy is terrorism.

You are here: Home / Politics / Politicans / Cruz-ifiction / Open Thread: Hightlighting Each Other’s… Qualities

Open Thread: Hightlighting Each Other’s… Qualities

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Every pot will find its lid, as the saying goes. According to the Washington Post:

INDIANAPOLIS — Ted Cruz, in an apparent act of desperation, announced Wednesday that Carly Fiorina will be his vice presidential running mate if he is the Republican nominee for president.

Announcing a running mate is an unusual step that comes as he trails GOP front-runner Donald Trump by a wide margin and faces an increasingly narrow path to the Republican nomination.

Cruz hopes to gain steam in what amounts to a must-win for him in Tuesday’s Indiana primary. A day before the announcement, Trump drubbed Cruz in five Eastern states and stretched his overall lead in delegates to the Republican convention to nearly 400…

Well, at least it’ll make the comedians happy. TBH, it already has…

Apart from snark (more below the fold), what’s on the agenda for the evening?


Reader Interactions

262Comments

  2. 2.

    pat

    Careful, a picture of the two of them together could stop clocks all over the country.

    What a pair.

  3. 3.

    gf120581

    Never a good sign for a candidate when the phrase “apparent act of desperation” is used in the first paragraph.

  6. 6.

    Splitting Image

    I’m not sure what’s causing it, but Fiorina looks a lot nicer than usual in that picture. I wonder why.

    Oh wait, I know. It’s because it’s the first time she’s ever stood next to somebody more odious than she is.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    I kind of hope Cruz wins Indiana just to see the look on Fiorina’s face when he dumps her.

  8. 8.

    feebog

    That picture of the sad blonde girls with their American flags and dashed hopes of a Cruz victory is worth the price of admission to this joint.

  9. 9.

    Miss Bianca

    Dear God…I didn’t think there was a way that “Basketball Ring” Cruz could make himself bigger box-office poison. I wuz wrong.

    Tonight am continuing work on job applications.

  14. 14.

    singfoom

    So, anything on the upside for Cruz on this pick other than Fiorina having a vagina and therefore making Cruz more effective against HRC? (Or at least that’s how I’m understanding the Cruz campaign’s viewpoint on this)

    Cause the downsides…they are more numerous.

  15. 15.

    dedc79

    Imagine how bad Fiorina’s job prospects in the private sector must be for her to be willing to jump on Cruz’s sinking ship.

  17. 17.

    Keith G

    So, Ted Carly announces that Fiorina will be his vice presidential running mate if he is the Republican nominee for president.

    This becomes the first time that I really am looking forward to hearing Donald Trump’s opinion.

  19. 19.

    Major Major Major Major

    So I’m sitting here in one of those open-floor “collaborative space” rent-a-table ‘office’ things they have here, you know for us cool Millenials with our Gig Economies and Being our Own Brand and all, and a TechCrunch reporter just finished half of the dumbest-ass interview I’ve ever heard at the next table. It was about… machine learning in the sharing economy?… being ‘on the grid’, which is… something? And how Optimizely is disrupting… something?

    OK, I’m done complaining about San Francisco… for now.

  27. 27.

    Mustang Bobby

    @srv:

    GREATEST FOREIGN POLICY SPEECH SINCE WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS.

    So Washington was a racist isolationist incoherent naive peddler of steaming bullshit? Wow, good to know history got it all wrong, Ann.

  30. 30.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    this is hilarious. it would look somewhat desperate if what he were trying to win was the CPAC straw poll, but at least then he would have a chance.

    Remember hearing about his study group that only admitted alumni of “first tier Ivies”? Same guy.

  32. 32.

    singfoom

    @srv:

    Ann Coulter Verified account
    ‏@AnnCoulter

    GREATEST FOREIGN POLICY SPEECH SINCE WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS.

    Um, yeah, that’s an accolade. I guess. Or the byline might be “Unhinged lady who hates everyone who doesn’t think like her thinks Trumps substance free foreign policy speech was the greatest.”

  33. 33.

    Baud

    I’d be scared if I saw Carly in the bathroom stall next to mine.

    OMG TED CRUZ IS A GENIUS!!!

  37. 37.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    DonaId J. Trump ‏@realDenaldTrump

    FP preview: Nuclear is our biggest threat.It should be given to more countries.Statistically lowers chance of being attacked by any country!

    8 retweets 22 likes

    He’s got a point. There would be less war if everyone had nukes.

  40. 40.

    Miss Bianca

    @singfoom: Even for Ann Coulter, this has got to be a joke.

    @Baud: LOL! Well, Baud, since you’ve spurned me for your VP slot, a girl’s gotta do *something*, right

  42. 42.

    delk

    It will be all ‘noun, verb, Hillary’ until a heavily edited video shows up to distract Carley.

  44. 44.

    debbie

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    Kay posted yesterday that Kasich had cost Ohio taxpayers $2,500,000 to keep him safe during the campaign. Google tells me he’s got 153 delegates. This means Ohio’s had to spend $16,339.86 per delegate. God only knows what the food bills will come to.

    Edited: I could have sworn you posted about Trump’s tweet about Kasich’s eating. Weird.

  49. 49.

    Kansi

    What knucklehead thought pairing the most unlikable candidate with the second most unlikable candidate was a winning formula?

  50. 50.

    Seanly

    Carly’s singing was nice in a Stephen King “It” sort of way. I was wondering if she was actually auditioning to be the singer for David Lynch & Angelo Badalamenti’s next torch song in the new Twin Peaks. Oi vey…

  54. 54.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Mustang Bobby: I thought it had to be a spoof account. So I checked. Zooks! It isn’t!

    She also says:

    Author – follow me on #Facebook! http://goo.gl/JvMjld Disregard my earlier claims that I’d never be on Facebook.

    hehe.

    Says it all, doesn’t it?

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  55. 55.

    lgerard

    The “basketball ring” thing makes me feel that TED and Carly should campaign dressed up as Beldar and Prymatt Conehead.

    VOTE MASS QUANTITIES!!!!!!

  58. 58.

    Peale

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: except right now all of the wars, save Yemen, are civil in nature. What the proliferation would guarantee is that the us and other powers would have an interest in intervening in civil wars to make sure the nukes would be in safe hands. This above our currently abnormally high, pathological “interest” intereet the outcome of civil wars in places where our interest is made up to begin with.

  59. 59.

    Roger Moore

    @pat:

    Careful, a picture of the two of them together could stop clocks all over the country.

    And those clocks would still be right more often than Ted and Carly put together.

  60. 60.

    singfoom

    @Miss Bianca: @singfoom: Even for Ann Coulter, this has got to be a joke.

    Check out Coulters twitter feed, it appears to be genuine. I’m not surprised. That lady is nuts.

  62. 62.

    Kathleen

    @Baud: He’d cut her salary and benefits and ask her to make coffee and sandwiches but other than that it wouldn’t be a bad gig.

  67. 67.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Peale: During the cold war, we (the US) actually allowed our nuclear release protocols to be leaked to the Soviets, in the hopes they would see the necessity to have some to keep the genie as much in the bottle as possible.

    Even then, we’ve still lost nukes, and lost track of nukes.

  69. 69.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Ann Coulter
    ✔
    ‎@AnnCoulter

    How many f—ing Jews do these people think there are in the United States?

    8:05 PM – 16 Sep 2015

    2,193 Retweets
    2,319 Favorites

    Trump and Coulter – great minds think alike.

  70. 70.

    Bubblegum Tate

    As several funny folks have pointed out, Ted and Carly go together like HP and Compaq.

  71. 71.

    Kathleen

    @debbie: I’ve been wondering about that (did not see Kay’s comment). John will have to cut more teachers’ salaries to make up for the shortfall.

  72. 72.

    WaterGirl

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’m proud to say that I had to google that:

    The google says this is a drink that fragile coeds swill while giving each other pedicures.

    For the sake of this conversation, yes, we cannot forget Zima!

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    :: shudder ::

    He is touching her shoulder and she has her arms around his waist. If you offered me a million dollars to touch Ted Cruz (my nostrils are flaring as I type that and I’m pretty sure my face looks like I just stepped in dog poop barefoot)… I would have to think about it, then I would do it, take the money, give it all away to charity as it would be dirty money, and then request one of those scalding showers you get after being exposed to something terrible.

  76. 76.

    LesBonnesFemmes

    Does this mean when Cruz concedes to Drumpf that iCarly becomes a Free Agent?

    And, who’s Kasich gonna pick? Or Bernie for that matter.

  77. 77.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @debbie: I did, I changed it, cuz the thread was talking about his FP speech.

    But like a broken clock, Trump is right this time. Kasich holding press conferences while shoveling food in his mouth is disgusting. Imagine the media ridicule if Bernie or Hillary were eating and talking in such a gross way. But IOKIYAR

    DonaId J. Trump ‏@realDenaldTrump

    If I didn’t talk about how dopey Kasick eats pancakes, media wouldn’t be discussing this! This will be the central issue of my presidency!

    37 retweets 54 likes

  78. 78.

    burnspbesq

    After a brief respite, Berniac bile is once again knee-deep in the streets of my FB feed. May have to buy new waders; that shit is corrosive.

  79. 79.

    Trollhattan

    @singfoom:
    Heh-heh, you said “lady.”

    Ann Coulter and Carly Fiorina walk into the same room using different doors. The universe ceases.

  86. 86.

    Davebo

    @debbie: Ayn Coulter is in the tank for whoever has the most gullible followers.

    Must have been a tough call this election cycle.

  88. 88.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Villago Delenda Est: That’s what made me laugh so hard. In Indiana? Does no one on that staff have a clue? “Dude, in Indiana hoops are a BFD; do not fuck up any comments on them.” Makes any food order/eating/discussing seem trivial.

  93. 93.

    raven

    Just another day in the ATL

    In the county’s first fatal officer-involved shooting of 2016, DeKalb police shot and killed a man Wednesday morning who was wielding a machete-like weapon in one hand and a live chicken in the other.

  96. 96.

    Chip Daniels

    @Mustang Bobby:

    GREATEST FOREIGN POLICY SPEECH SINCE WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS.

    Who can forget that memorable opening from George Washington…
    “My fellow Americans, and I am delighted to address you as same…AMERICA FUCK YEAH!!! WOOOOT!”

  99. 99.

    Joyce H

    @singfoom:

    So, anything on the upside for Cruz on this pick other than Fiorina having a vagina and therefore making Cruz more effective against HRC?

    Oh, c’mon, it’s obvious. Cruz is going to lose – but this way, there’s a woman to blame.

  103. 103.

    WaterGirl

    @Kathleen: I know. Sorry. But I could do a lot of good with that million dollars, otherwise there’s not enough money in the world… Ick. The guys’ own daughters appear to be repulsed by him. I feel sorry for them.

  105. 105.

    Roger Moore

    @Mike J:

    Note that map has Hillary losing Mississippi

    And winning Utah! That’s hard to imagine, but it’s going to be a very long election night for the Republicans if it does.

  109. 109.

    Miss Bianca

    @singfoom: Yeah, “nuts” is one thing. But D-U-M dumb is another.

    @scav: I was trying to think of an appropriately inappropriate joke. As usual, you have beaten me to the punch (or the grill).

  111. 111.

    MattF

    We’ve passed the Wingularity Event Horizon. The difference between reality and snark has vanished.

  112. 112.

    Gimlet

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/three-year-old-kills-sel-fathers-pistol

    DALLAS, Ga. (AP) — Officials say a 3-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself with his father’s pistol.

    Sgt. Ashley Henson of the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that forensic pathologists and detectives determined the gunshot wound to the chest was consistent with an accidental and self-inflicted wound.

    Henson said in a statement that Holston Cole used his father David’s semi-automatic pistol to shoot himself Tuesday.

    No charges have been filed.

    comment:
    Smart kid
    load pistol
    get a round into the chamber
    make sure the safety is off
    pull the trigger

    I am sure the gun was not chambered and the safety was on
    no charges?

  117. 117.

    nutella

    @srv:

    Actor Will Ferrell will play Ronald Reagan in a movie about the 40th president’s battle with dementia during his second term in office, according to Variety.

    Wait, what about the dementia during his first term? Are they going to skip right over that?

  118. 118.

    Gimlet

    @srv:

    Actor Will Ferrell will play Ronald Reagan in a movie about the 40th president’s battle with dementia during his second term in office, according to Variety.

    Election year, spoofin St Ronnie, — Blasphemy!!1!!

    “Reagan,” a political satire written by Mike Rosolio, the story begins at the start of the ex-president’s second term when he falls into dementia and an ambitious intern is tasked with convincing the commander in chief that he is an actor playing the president in a movie.

  119. 119.

    Ken

    @Kansi:

    What knucklehead thought pairing the most unlikable candidate with the second most unlikable candidate was a winning formula?

    Maybe they thought negative times negative is positive?

    Ew, that means the formula has multiplication. More brain bleach, please.

  123. 123.

    elftx

    @Baud:

    I’d be scared if I saw Carly in the bathroom stall next to mine.

    OMG TED CRUZ IS A GENIUS!!!

    I am so stealing this..you deserve to win the election on this alone.

  124. 124.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    I’m also analyzing the photo, and (among many, many other things) wondering why in the world there’s a Florida state flag at a political events in Indianapolis.

  126. 126.

    Roger Moore

    @Mike J:
    Georgia would be much less stunning than Utah. It has a large African American population and has been getting a gradually purpler over time; it had the second smallest margin for Romney in 2012. Utah, OTOH, is solid, dark red. It had the largest margin for Romney in 2012 and, in case you think that was just a matter of them going for the Mormon, they’ve had one of the top 3 margins for the Republican every election going back at least to Reagan. Losing Utah would be a sign that something is profoundly wrong for the Republicans.

  127. 127.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @Betty Cracker: no, that’s an actual tweet.

    but isn’t it true. would the US have invaded Iraq if they had nukes – no.

    no country that has a nuke has ever been invaded. if every country had nukes there would be no more war.

  129. 129.

    Amaranthine RBG

    Wow. I was joking this morning when I suggested that Cruz was going to name a running mate.

    I guess the hope is that Fiorina will bait Trump so much in the following week that he won’t be able to help himself and will call her a a very bad name and thus push female republican voters (ha!) towards Cruz. Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess.

  130. 130.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    wielding a machete-like weapon in one hand and a live chicken in the other.

    What is a machete-like weapon if not a, you know, actual machete?

    (One question at a time. I’ll get to the chicken later.)

  133. 133.

    Amaranthine RBG

    @Gimlet:

    Smart kid
    get keys to gun safe
    get keys to ammo locker
    load pistol
    get a round into the chamber
    make sure the safety is off
    pull the trigger

  134. 134.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Chris Hayes goes from Stuart Stevens (Romney 2012) to Rick Tyler (Cruz ’16), who is talking about Carly Fiorina’s history of competence and her strong voice on foreign policy.

  136. 136.

    MattF

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Nelly Miles said a 2- to 3-foot piece of sheet metal fashioned into a machete-like weapon and two knives were found at the scene.

    If you must know.

  137. 137.

    John D.

    @srv:

    Why hasn’t this blog of supposed writers covered the #sadpuppies vs #rabidpuppies vs #dreadilk space war at the Hugos?

    Because it was just the finalists?

    Because we already know how this ends — we saw it last year?

    Because “E Pluribus Hugo” will pass at the business meeting, making this the last year that Vox Day can slate effectively?

    Because, honestly, who outside of a few fen and SMOF give an actual shit?

  139. 139.

    Roger Moore

    @Ken:

    Or “Police made the arrest after her boyfriend signed for a package”.

    I would say “during a drug bust at her home” is the phrase I would be most worried about. The second paragraph where they talk about the house containing a meth lab makes it clear that this wasn’t just a matter of her having poor taste in men. Also, too the:

    Two kids, one five and one 10 years old, “had easy access to all of (the) drugs and materials, even the bomb-making materials that were located in the back with the meth lab,” Mattheson said.

    That’s not what you want to hear about somebody connected with your campaign.

  140. 140.

    joel hanes

    @PurpleGirl:

    Making Light

    Went there.
    (Used to read it regularly, but it’s now updated so seldom that I check maybe twice a month).

    I love Stephenson enough that I’m one of the few people you’ll ever know who read and enjoyed every word of the Baroque Cycle. IMHO Seveneves is not his best work, and should not get the Hugo unless everything else is weak.

    I have the first Ancilliary queued up to read next, and have high hopes.

    Have you read the Bujold novella?

  143. 143.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @dr. bloor: it’s like open carry.

    but jokes aside, Europe was constantly at war for centuries, including triggering 2 World Wars within 21 years. But since FDR ordered construction of the Bomb, there have been no more wars. The Bomb is a horrible weapon. But I think we take for granted the long held peace in europe, ending centuries of intractable warring nations.

  144. 144.

    Chyron HR

    @nutella:

    Wait, what about the dementia during his first term? Are they going to skip right over that?

    That’s for the prequel. You obviously don’t understand how to set up a cinematic universe.

  146. 146.

    Kropadope

    @WaterGirl:

    my nostrils are flaring as I type that and I’m pretty sure my face looks like I just stepped in dog poop barefoot

    Much easier to clean than a shoe.

  148. 148.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @raven: Also because Cruz doesn’t know jackshit about hoops. “Ring” really? In Indiana? Hahahaha.

  149. 149.

    3am

    Not sure if anyone’s posted it yet, but this: http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/4/26/1520509/-Clinton-hasn-t-won-Sanders-hasn-t-lost-This-is-bigger-than-any-single-primary#read-more

    Seriously, should be frontpaged on every progressive blog/outlet. Especially this part:

    “If you are a Sanders supporter, you haven’t lost yet. I don’t mean the presidential contest, that was always an uphill fight. Yet you guys fought despite an indifferent media, despite a hostile establishment, and despite people like me harping on the “math”, and you proved lots of people wrong along the way (including me). I’m not embarrassed or angry or annoyed. I’m excited and in awe of what you were able to accomplish, and I fervently hope that 1) you stay engaged inside the Democratic Party, because that’s how we improve it, and 2) that you maintain that energy for the November elections (and looking ahead at what will be a brutally tough 2018 cycle). See? That’s how much I don’t hate Sanders, despite some suggestions to the contrary. I want his influence to continue inside my Democratic Party, where it can make a difference.

    I don’t care if you are excited about Clinton or not, she’ll be fine. I care that you get excited about Democrats down the ballot, about giving Clinton a Congress that will push her to the left even when she might not want to. Clinton doesn’t get to pass a $15 minimum wage. Congress does. You want strong climate change legislation? We don’t have a dictatorship. Congress has to pass it.

    But don’t make the mistake, either, of thinking that Clinton is the evil harpy of so many caricatures. She’ll do good things, she’ll do great things, and she’ll do shitty things. Our job will be to apply the same kind of pressure we’ve applied all these years of the Obama presidency. And no matter what she might do with the executive branch, all of that will pale to that single Supreme Court pick Republicans are hell-bent on giving her.

    For all the mistakes that President Bill Clinton made during his tenure, his Supreme Court picks weren’t any of them—Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. If anything, expect even better. The next pick will flip the court and the race will be on to relitigate all the shit the conservative court did to rig the electoral system in the GOP’s favor—from reversing Citizens United to stomping congressional gerrymandering to removing barriers to voting. This is not a country that easily enables political revolutions, but flipping the court will be a seismic shift in our nation’s course. And odds are, Clinton will get to make more than one pick for the High Court before her eight years are up. “

  151. 151.

    Roger Moore

    @joel hanes:

    I love Stephenson enough that I’m one of the few people you’ll ever know who read and enjoyed every word of the Baroque Cycle.

    Is it really that rare among Stephenson fans? I’ve read my way through them several times, and while I won’t say I enjoy every word, they’re worth rereading to see if you can find stuff you missed the first time.

    I have the first Ancilliary queued up to read next, and have high hopes.

    I thought Ancillary Justice was the best of the series, though the story was good enough that the others were worth reading to get to the conclusion. The first book is more interesting from a story-telling standpoint because it alternates between two parts of the story that are considerable time apart and it gradually reveals how the two parts are connected. The subsequent books lack that interesting storytelling approach, but they’re still fun.

    Have you read the Bujold novella?

    It’s good but not within miles (or Miles) of The Mountains of Mourning or The Borders of Infinity.

  152. 152.

    Anne Laurie

    @Roger Moore:

    Losing Utah would be a sign that something is profoundly wrong for the Republicans.

    According to McKay Coppins (who is one, as well as being a reporter) Mormons really really really loathe Donald Trump. He not only makes a mockery of “good Christian virtues”, he does so in a way that spotlights how the GOP in general treats “good Christians” as cannon-fodder — dumb rubes who’ll flock wherever the shepherd points them to be fleeced by travelling shearers.

    Of course us non-Xtian sophists have been saying that since forever, but it’s like the crude old joke: Trump won’t even buy them dinner and whisper sweet nothings before assaulting them.

  153. 153.

    Mike J

    @joel hanes:

    I love Stephenson enough that I’m one of the few people you’ll ever know who read and enjoyed every word of the Baroque Cycle. IMHO Seveneves is not his best work, and should not get the Hugo unless everything else is weak.

    I liked seveneves far more than Baroque Cycle, and seveneves was meh. I’m actually a fan, but he’d be better if there was somebody with a red pen he couldn’t say no to. One of his books had the longest chase scene in the history of print that was just the dullest thing I’ve ever read.

  155. 155.

    catclub

    @Baud: “Write if you get work”
    “Hang by your thumbs”

    as Bob and Ray usually said farewell. I pick Fiorina to give the “Write if you get work,” line.

  156. 156.

    PsiFighter37

    This is dumb on so many levels, and it does reek of desperation – it’s so blatant that the MSM is a-okay with stating so in the first paragraph of every article written about it. Cruz is getting desperate as the ring slips further and further from his grasp.

    As for Carly, no one is going to come near her after this little stunt. She’ll be as radioactive as Chris Christie is now.

  158. 158.

    BR

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    no country that has a nuke has ever been invaded. if every country had nukes there would be no more war.

    So failed states and non-state militias and religious zealots and messianic racist tribal leaders don’t exist, I guess. Almost sounded like a smart idea for a second there, though.

    Seriously, this is like the NRA’s dream but with the weaponry amplified by a factor of a few million.

  159. 159.

    Miss Bianca

    @Roger Moore: Just finished The Mountains of Mourning this evening. Got the first volume of the Baroque Cycle on audio book and loved it even tho’ they abridged it – wankers! But the way they abridged – announcing a summary of what they had abridged – almost made me think that Stephenson had written it that way. So mad when I found out otherwise! The other two volumes are on Mt. To-Be-Read.

  162. 162.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    Nobody remarked on the reversed Great Seal on the Florida flag yet?

    I am disappoint.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  164. 164.

    joel hanes

    @Roger Moore:

    Mileage varies.

    There are four other people in my immediate family who loved Cryptonomicon and Snowcrash, and liked Anathem, Diamond Age, and Reamde.

    None of them finished Quicksilver

    I ate it up.
    Steel metallurgy (wootz!). Liebniz, Newton, Hooke, Wren. The foundation of the Royal Society. The English Civil War. Paris. India. The silver mines of the Harz Mountains. Peter the Great. Bolingbroke. Marlborough.

  165. 165.

    Mike J

    @Miss Bianca:

    Got the first volume of the Baroque Cycle on audio book and loved it even tho’ they abridged it – wankers!

    Perhaps that what I should have done. Far, far, far too often he goes on and on and on and moves characters around the board without developing them. In the competitive chess world he’d be called a woodpusher. It annoys me that I like his story ideas enough to wade through his books. Of course I also think Philip K. Dick was a pretty crap writer with really good story ideas, so you can weigh my opinion of NS with that.

  169. 169.

    Roger Moore

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
    I’m not sure you can call what happened in Europe after WWII peace. The Cold War may not have involved a lot of shooting, but having massive armies sitting there preparing to kill each other is not peace. Plus, there have been wars in Europe since the Cold War ended: the very nasty civil war in Yugoslavia and the recent war in Ukraine being the obvious ones.

  172. 172.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    watching the Maddow show… I still can’t quite believe that Ted Cruz thought Carly Fiorina would be a winning story. I’d like to see Condi Rice’s call logs at Hoover. I’d be willing to bet there were a lot of unreturned calls from whoever is running Cruz’s single-wagon (with three wheels) circus. And just so there’s no confusion: I utterly despise Rice, but I suspect she’s far more popular with R’s than florin

    eta: so the Jeb! troll is back?

    ETA,A: I just saw the singing everyone’s been talking about… they deserve each other

  175. 175.

    redshirt

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    but jokes aside, Europe was constantly at war for centuries, including triggering 2 World Wars within 21 years. But since FDR ordered construction of the Bomb, there have been no more wars. The Bomb is a horrible weapon. But I think we take for granted the long held peace in europe, ending centuries of intractable warring nations.

    While I agree with your overall point, it’s only because of the bi(maybe tri)- power nature of the Cold War. If every nation had nukes, they’re going to launch. I’ll be surprised if someone doesn’t launch/detonate one in the next 25 years.

    It’s a scary future. Especially when you can look back fondly on the Cold War.

  177. 177.

    Roger Moore

    @joel hanes:
    What I like best about The Baroque Cycle is that it has the quality I like best in historical fiction: it’s hard to know where the history leaves off and where the fiction picks up. For example, both Caroline of Ansbach and Nicolas Fatio de Duillier are historical but seem more like something the author made up. Reading the books encouraged me to learn a lot more about the actual history behind them.

  178. 178.

    Matt Rogers

    Such a bold choice and it should get the establishment off the sidelines.

    All the stops have been pulled out.

    Shovel in a lil’ more coal! Stoke the fires in the boiler! Full steam ahead! To Cleveland!

  180. 180.

    phein39

    @Baud:

    First principles, Clarice.

    What is the nature of the thing? It is a woman.
    Who is Donald Trump going to be insulting until the Convention? A woman.
    Whose votes can Cruz get during the primaries to make it to the Convention? Republican women. No voting bloc turns out more reliably than Republican women.
    And now, for every stupid thing Trump says about women — can you count to a gazillion? — Cruz gets to use it against He, Trump, with Republican women in the primary.

    I’d say Cruz is making the most of his opportunities, such as they are.

  183. 183.

    Matt Rogers

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Don’t know what you’re talking about, but the biggest reason I’m happy Cruz has new momentum is because he’s the only candidate left in the race talking seriously about the 800 pound gorilla in the room: entitlement reform.

  185. 185.

    redshirt

    @Mike J: It was one my favorite novel reading experiences because I was on vacation and at first, I was just WTF with the book, but about 100 pages in and then I couldn’t stop reading.

    Heck, talking about it right now makes me want to read it again. Fraa Jad would be happy.

  187. 187.

    redshirt

    @Matt Rogers: Hmm. Here’s an idea: If we kick all the Republicans out of government, I bet we can all have great pensions. And healthcare. And infrastructure.

    Something to think about.

  188. 188.

    Matt Rogers

    @redshirt:

    Wishful thinking on your part–even taxing “the one percent” at 100 percent wouldn’t even begin to make a dent in the national debt.

  193. 193.

    SFAW

    @Matt Rogers:

    Such a bold choice and it should get the establishment off the sidelines.
    All the stops have been pulled out.

    Well, if it ain’t our old “pal,” RacistToRant. Or perhaps it’s just someone pretending to be RacistToRant.

    Still a clueless SOB, good to know some things never change.

    ETA: Just something to think about.

  194. 194.

    John D.

    @joel hanes: Wow, you are a better reader than I.

    I *loved* Cryptonomicon and was so excited for The Baroque Cycle, but good God, did I ever bounce hard off of Quicksilver. I wanted to love it. I tried to love it. I gave up at 80%. Just couldn’t finish.

    I’ve at least liked pretty much everything else he’s written — but in general his books have the same problem. Amazing 90% to start, awful 10% to finish. Seveneves at least changed it up by moving the suckage to 66%.

  196. 196.

    The Lodger

    @Matt Rogers: Actually, if you’re using 2007 figures, the numbers do lie. Bush took a lot of Iraq-related expenses off the books, and the numbers looked hellacious for a couple of years as Obama straightened out the accounting.

  197. 197.

    SFAW

    @redshirt:

    If we kick all the Republicans out of government

    Excellent idea, but a question re: implementation: do we get to charge them all with treason? I hope so.

  201. 201.

    SFAW

    @redshirt:

    Not the same troll

    Not necessarily disagreeing, but on what do you base that? Because the writing style is pretty close. Maybe he’s just riffing on RTR, but …

    His NOT being RTR — if true — does not decrease his moronitude, of course

  203. 203.

    SFAW

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    (Who also needs to read the replies before posting.)

    Don’t be silly. Listen, if Cole can bigfoot any of the FPers because he hasn’t read his own FP, then you are certainly given dispensation to miss a single comment in a 200-comment thread.

    Once.

  204. 204.

    redshirt

    @SFAW: RtR was all about supporting a candidate bombastically. He never talked any issues that weren’t related to the candidate he was pimping.

    VICTORY! BRINKS TRUCKS! ETC.

    Totally different fingerprint. Trust me, I’m an expert.

  205. 205.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @redshirt:

    Such a bold choice and it should get the establishment off the sidelines.

    All the stops have been pulled out.

    Shovel in a lil’ more coal! Stoke the fires in the boiler! Full steam ahead! To Cleveland!

    That’s RtR. Dude tried faking it for a while, but…

  207. 207.

    SFAW

    @redshirt:

    Totally different style.

    Different content, maybe, but the style is not that different. (For example, the cut-and-paste I did at #200.) Once he gets off his debt hobby horse, he’ll revert to form. He’d like the Salieri (or was it Vivaldi? IDFK) of blogging.

  211. 211.

    Jean

    If Cruz can pick a VEEP, I guess we all can. Will there be any left for the actual winners to choose?

  212. 212.

    CaseyL

    I’m trying, with no success whatsoever, to imagine what constituency Cruz thought naming Fiorina would attract. Near as I can tell, she’s as roundly despised in the corporate world as he is in the political world.

    Is that what he’s after? Finding someone even more hated than he is?…They used to call that “assassination insurance,” but you need to get elected first.

    I just can’t imagine anyone who is more inclined to vote for Cruz now. Nor do I see how this helps him in the event of a multi-ballot convention.

    It’s a complete LOLWUT.

  215. 215.

    SFAW

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    As I said, I don’t know if it was Vivaldi or Salieri about whom the comment was made that “He wrote 500 compositions” “No, he wrote the same piece 500 times.”

    I have no hate for Vivaldi, I can take him or leave him.

  216. 216.

    SFAW

    But perhaps the most important news of tonight: Mets win, Nats lose. And the Mets only got one of their runs on a homer — things are looking up. (Of course, it was the Reds, so it’s not as if they smoked the Cubbies.)

  224. 224.

    SFAW

    @Miss Bianca:

    Tis Salieri you’re thinking of. Vivaldi is an awesome composer in his own right.

    Thanks. I wonder if I should let Omnes know.

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    ::side eye::

    DON’T give me that look, young man! Or it’ll be NO Packers for you for a year!

  228. 228.

    Amir Khalid

    I was very wrong. I thought Ted’s big announcement would be about the end of his failed arrangement with Kasich. In other words, I made the mistake of assuming Ted Cruz would do something sensible.

    As it is, he has picked a running mate at a time when it looks less and less likely that he will be the Republican presidential nominee. His running mate, if she ever gets to be that, was a spectacularly bad CEO and got fired for it. Then she became a spectacularly bad politician, who lost a Senate race and then a presidential primary. Ted Cruz’s political judgement doesn’t look very good to me.

  229. 229.

    redshirt

    @debbie: Omnes quote is fairly convincing. I never saw it before. I’ve only been reading his serious posts about that looming 800 pound ape in the room, Entitlement Reform.

  232. 232.

    debbie

    @Amir Khalid:

    There’s been a split in RWNJ Land between Trump supporters and Cruz supporters. Trump fans say the country needs the expertise of a businessman. When I heard the announcement, I figured Cruz was trying to shore up this perceived weakness.

  233. 233.

    J R in WV

    I didn’t much care for seveneves, although the title is kinda cute. I have liked most of the rest of Stephenson’s work.

    Bujold’s Miles cycle is great, I didn’t care for her fantasy much. The Ancillary series was pretty good, not Hugo unless nothing else good is out there.

    I don’t play the Hugo/Con games, never cared about prizes except as a guide to what to read next, and conventions about fiction seem pointless, it is after all, fiction. That’s just me. I’m not dissing anyone who likes to work on the Hugo award program, or attend the cons – enjoy, have a good time. I go to local parties with old time mountain music and home-made beer, to each his own.

  235. 235.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SFAW: People miss things. Let’s all be cool to one another and, if feeling vitriolic, pour scorn on the troll.

  236. 236.

    redshirt

    @SFAW: I stand by my poorly sourced statements.

    Something to think about.

    Also, is this thread behaving wonky for anyone else? Like your links don’t actually go to the post you’re intending, but go there briefly and then roll up like 15 posts?

  238. 238.

    Ninedragonspot

    @SFAW: It was Stravinsky, I believe, who said that Vivaldi wrote the same concerto 500 times. Stravinsky’s amanuensis, Robert Craft, later opined that Vivaldi wrote 500 different concertos and failed at all of them.

    That was a different time, though, when LPs were new and the market for “easy listening” classical music was flooded with Vivaldi. The approach to manufacture and consumption was pretty “cookie-cutter”. Nowadays, it’s easier for musicians and audiences to appreciate the quirks and ingenuity of each individual work. Vivaldi’s operas are becoming part of the standard repertoire. His reputation, for now, is pretty secure.

  240. 240.

    Ninedragonspot

    @Miss Bianca: I’m not sure that Salieri wrote even 200 works. His fame rested principally on his operas, large-scale works largely along the lines of Gassmann and Glück, which would have been more labor-intensive than a single concerto.

  241. 241.

    SFAW

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I understand about people missing things. I just get slightly peeved when I provide the “evidence” in my original comment, get told I’m wrong, then the same quote shows up 10 minutes later from someone else, and suddenly it’s all “Gee, that never occurred to me!”

    Especially after the “Trust me, I’m an expert.” thing.

    OK, so apparently I’m a little more than “slightly peeved.” I’ll try to grow up (fat chance!) in the next 30 seconds, and get back to my project, etc.

  242. 242.

    SFAW

    @redshirt:

    Also, is this thread behaving wonky for anyone else? Like your links don’t actually go to the post you’re intending, but go there briefly and then roll up like 15 posts?

    It’s been doing that for me for a while. I try to kill the refresh activity when I get the first jump — sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

  243. 243.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SFAW: A fair point. I think the thing between you and redshirt is probably based on weird AFC stuff. Jets vs Pats and shit… So I’ll just step aside.

  245. 245.

    joel hanes

    @John D.:

    Wow, you are a better different reader than I.

    FTFY HAND

    I myself am incapable of enjoying PK Dick’s prose. I have always regarded that as a defect in my own character, and thus seldom mention it.

  246. 246.

    redshirt

    @SFAW: I apologize for any insult.

    I still don’t think it’s RtR, and if it is, then I give him full props for changing up his game. That’s hard for a troll who hitherto has recycled the exact same character since at least 2012.

  247. 247.

    SFAW

    @redshirt:

    The Jets suck.

    Not totally. Getting rid of Idzik helped (I hope). I also don’t have a lot of love for Ryan Fitzpatrick or Geno Smith. But they’re not the Pats, that’s for sure.

    Yeah, I realize you probably weren’t talking about their W-L.

  249. 249.

    redshirt

    @SFAW: Yeah, they’re already way, way better under Bowles then that clown Ryan. Great offense too. They’ll be contending this year if the QB position can hold.

  251. 251.

    joel hanes

    @Roger Moore:

    Reading the books encouraged me to learn a lot more about the actual history behind them.

    Exactly.

    Like Dorothy Dunnett’s books in that way,
    though lacking Dunnett’s depth of characterization
    and indirection and irony.

    I did laugh out loud on page 123 of Anathem.

  259. 259.

    Bjacques

    Just thinking ahead to California, there must be a lot of Republican ex-HP employees still working in Silicon Valley. They would have a great opportunity to take revenge in the primary by turning up to “fire” Carly in the ballot box, thus crushing her dreams of national office once and for all.

    That Borowitz Report linked to upthread was OK, but the picture with it is priceless.

  261. 261.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Omnes Omnibus: @redshirt:

    I think the thing between you and redshirt is probably based on weird AFC stuff. Jets vs Pats and shit…

    Make that “weird AFC East stuff.” In the AFC North, aka Black & Blue Division, we have our own weird shit–much more smashmouth & earthy. Don’t lump us in with those Eastern cheats & deadbeats!

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