Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Come on, man.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

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

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Late Night Horrorshow Open Thread: What News of Maine’s “Human Bowling Jacket” Governor?

Late Night Horrorshow Open Thread: What News of Maine’s “Human Bowling Jacket” Governor?

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I have a mild case of the spindizzies, and it’s making me even crankier than usual. But I’m still about 80 IQ points and some head trauma away from “cranky like Paul LePage.”

I will also point out, for any Purity Ponies lurking, that LePage is what happens when the “True Progressive” becomes the enemy of the “at least he’s not Paul LePage” mere Democratic machine candidate.

To quote Mr. Charles P. Pierce, “Paul LePage always brings dignity to the office.”

Reader Interactions

171Comments

  6. 6.

    Adam L Silverman

    And we now have a conundrum for the 2nd Amendment absolutists (originally doing business in the 1790s as the radical localist/Constitutional localist splinter/fringe of the anti-Federalists). Here you have an elected official, the chief executive of a state, referencing that state’s constitution’s interpretation of the 2nd Amendment – Constitutional carry, which is the absolutists’ only acceptable position – to promote vigilante violence and summary, extra-judicial execution. The question, in regard to that part of his statement, should be: does the 2nd Amendment absolutist/Constitutional carry interpretation of the 2nd Amendment justify this? If so, how? If not, why not?

  10. 10.

    lamh36

    STARZ has been showing Bond films this entire month. Been tweeting bout Live and Let Die and now Goldfinger since like 7pm…lol

    Best Bond girl name ever? Followed by best Bond line ever?
    “I’m Pussy Galore”
    “I must be dreaming”

    Pussy Galore’s Flying Circus… Pussy’s fleet in an entire group of cone-breasted blond female flyers

    And of course, when Pussy gets the drop on Bond & Connery slowly says “Poo-say” …SMH…
    He really seemed to enjoy that didn’t he

  11. 11.

    jl

    From Mitt’s bureaucratic quiet back room HR dept binders of women to secret binders of drug dealers. The GOP is going downhill fast.

  12. 12.

    lamh36

    STARZ has been showing Bond films this entire month. Been tweeting bout Live and Let Die and now Goldfinger since like 7pm…lol

    Best Bond girl name ever? Followed by best Bond line ever?
    “I’m P*@y Galore”
    “I must be dreaming”

    P…Galore’s Flying Circus… Galore’s entire fleet a group of cone-breasted blond female flyers

    And of course, when she gets the drop on Bond & Connery slowly says “Poo-say” …SMH…
    He really seemed to enjoy that didn’t he

  19. 19.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @lamh36:

    I am a horrible person. I find the car chase from Bullet to be dull as hell. Never understood the cool factor most say McQueen had. Obviously, YMMV.

  22. 22.

    Miss Bianca

    Reposting this from downstairs thread just for you, Anne Laurie! Remember the adorable fuzzbutts from Colorado Springs in your recent kitteh bleg? I just heard from a dear friend I used to live with in Salida, and she is adopting TWO of them!! Mimi and Earl Girl! They go to their new home tomorrow – I am so excited!! I can’t wait to meet them!

  24. 24.

    amk

    Jeet Heer ‏@HeerJeet

    Trump, LePage, Giuliani, Bannon, Ailes. Northerners have no reason to feel superior to the south when it comes to bigotry.

  27. 27.

    lamh36

    Discipher sexist spy language for me…dude asked Bond what made Galore change her mind and call Washington… Bond says “I must have appealed to her maternal instincts”

    Someone translate for that for my slow female brain

  29. 29.

    dmsilev

    @lamh36: I’m not sure Oddjob really rates as Best Bond Villain, but can we all at least agree that Goldfinger has the best opening-credits song of all the Bond films?

  31. 31.

    Kropadope

    In 2010, Cutler got more of the vote than the Democrat. Wouldn’t that make the Democrat the spoiler?

  38. 38.

    Mnemosyne

    @lamh36:

    IIRC, she’s supposed to be a lesbian, so it must be her maternal feelings towards Bond that get her to help him.

    Of course, he ends up turning her straight with his magic peni$ by the end of the movie, because that’s how it works when you’re James Bond.

  39. 39.

    piratedan

    @lamh36: well, in the novels, Ms. Galore is a lesbian (supposedly) which I always wondered just where in the hell Fleming was going with that… perhaps he considered it a challenge back in the 60s. Yet, Honor Blackman… wowzers…

  46. 46.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Miss Bianca: The issue is going to be if someone shots, let alone wounds and/or kills someone they suspect of dealing drugs, or doing anything else they think is illegal, and then they try to invoke LePage’s remarks as a defense.

  48. 48.

    Miss Bianca

    @dmsilev: @lamh36: Yeah, there are so many goodies… “Goldfinger” and “Diamonds are Forever” and…I gotta say it…I also have a weakness for “Live and Let Die”.

  52. 52.

    lamh36

    @Mnemosyne: @piratedan: yeah…I knew about the lesbian backstory…but the line is just weird.

    I mean going way to deep with it…I guess..Maternal…pregnancy…sperm, egg…lesbians want a baby..IDK..

    WAY TOO MUCH for such a throw away line…had to be a clunker even for the 60s right?

  54. 54.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Major Major Major Major: There’s no telling. My impression of Governor LePage is that he’s not a deep, critical, and/or strategic thinker. More of a just spout whatever pops in his head kind of guy.

  56. 56.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Miss Bianca: No way of knowing. The problem is he’s put it out there and we now have the stochastic component in play. It may not happen, but it might.

  58. 58.

    piratedan

    @lamh36: well to be a stickler, OddJob isn’t the villian, he’s a henchman…. Goldfinger is the villian….

    but depending upon if you want to use the criteria of niftiest henchman…

    1) Jaws – Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me
    2) OddJob – Goldfinger
    3) Mr. Wint and Mr Kidd from Diamonds
    4) Nick Nack – Man With the Golden Gun
    5) Tee Hee Johnson – Live and Let Die or May Day from A View To A Kill

    As for the Actual Villians

    1) Ernst Stavro Blofeld – multiple
    2) Auric Goldfinger – Goldfinger
    3) Scaramanga – Man with the Golden Gun
    4) Gustav Graves – Die Another Day
    5) Le Chiffe – Mads Mikkelsen

    just mho, feel free to enter your own thoughts

  64. 64.

    redshirt

    @Adam L Silverman: Once an idea exists it exists and dances with all the rest. There’s no stopping it, unfortunately. Thus, our future is at risk. As trolls will easily defeat all our defenses and conquer our HQ’s.

  68. 68.

    frosty

    @West of the Rockies (been a while):

    I am a horrible person. I find the car chase from Bullet to be dull as hell. Never understood the cool factor most say McQueen had. Obviously, YMMV.

    While I am loathe to leap to instant judgements …. yes, yes you are. And it’s Bullitt /pedant/. At the time I was a British sports car owner and fan, preferred F1 to NASCAR, snooty as all hell, but dayyum that was a hell of a muscle car show. And McQueen did his own driving for most of it.

  69. 69.

    lamh36

    Speaking of Solitaire … Live and Let Die…the ultimate in white washing … a Black villain, Dr. Kananga, Caribbean dictator, in a nation of Black folk with all Black henchman, and his secret weapon is the BESTEST Tarot Reader in all the land who is of course a white woman…

    this entire “voodoo” sacrifice ritual scene straight up some white people fantastical bullshit

    The extended Louisiana waterway boat chase scene…BORING AF…even with bumbling racist sheriffs

  71. 71.

    Miss Bianca

    @lamh36: Yeah, it’s a weird one…even by Bond Standards!

    Y’all are making me want to indulge in a Bond marathon!

    @MomSense: LePage said he wanted to shoot the guy *in front of the guy’s son*?? Did I read that right?

  73. 73.

    lamh36

    Best bit of Live and Let Die… NOLA and the Fan-ta-bulous Geoffrey Holder as Baron Samedi

    I even like the henchman “Tee Hee Johnson”…worst Bond henchman nickname, but hella interesting

  75. 75.

    Wag

    As a physician, I was absolutely embarrassed by the video of trump’s Doctor in the previous thread. Any physician who would allow themself to be bullied into writing such a crappy letter in support of a patient’s run for the White House deserves complete humiliation. Here’s a very nice takedown of the letter by another physician.

  76. 76.

    lamh36

    @piratedan: Right…I tend to just think of the villains and henchmen together…in a number of the movies I remember the henchman more than the villains

  80. 80.

    MomSense

    @Miss Bianca:

    Yes you did. I still can’t believe it and it happened a couple of years ago.

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I have that song on my brain after watching her on carpool karaoke and now desperately need to find a replacement ear worm.

  81. 81.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Miss Bianca: Well that was different! Also, unless you’re a French mime or wearing your US Army Class A or B uniform, wearing a black (or any other color) beret is just wrong.

  85. 85.

    Miss Bianca

    @Wag: It is, ain’t it? I love how he’s so tongue in cheek about it but actually *rips it up*. Not the first time I’ve learned to appreciate a song only after it got the RT treatment!

  89. 89.

    Adam L Silverman

    @MomSense: How about the Blues Brothers cover of Sink the Bismark I posted last week, which was cut from the Bob’s Country Bunker scene in the movie.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cs_es5DR8U
    http://chicagoist.com/2012/07/06/friday_morning_diversion_the_blues.php
    F

    riday Morning Diversion: The Blues Brothers Sing

    “Sink The Bismarck”
    BY CHUCK SUDO IN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ON JUL 6, 2012 11:20 AM
    2012_7_6_morning_diversion.jpg
    Jerry Garcia famously said of the Blues Brothers: “Too good to be a parody, and not good enough to be good for what it was.” That about summarizes the band for many. John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd’s love for blues and soul music was genuine, and Aykroyd’s knowledge of the blues rivals many noted musicologists.
    But the Blues Brothers were also good at taking left-field song choices and playing theem for full comedic value. Case in point: the Bob’s Country Bunker scene in The Blues Brothers movie where they win over a skeptical crowd of Wisconsin rednecks with covers of “Stand by Your Man” and “Theme from Rawhide.”
    There was another song the band performed in the Bob’s Country Bunker scene that was cut from the film: a cover of Johnny Horton’s “Sink the Bismarck.” Horton was a country singer who helped start and popularize the “historical ballad” craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He had hits with “The Battle of New Orleans” and “North to Alaska.” “Sink the Bismarck” reached number 6 on the Billboard charts in 1960, and number 3 on the country charts.

  91. 91.

    lamh36

    @Adam L Silverman: thx Adam…that was an interesting, if way too in depth, read on it…but i loved the break down.

    Speaking of Tilly Masterson (as mentioned in article)…talk about most normal, i.e. BORING Bond girl name…of course she had to die…quickly…lol

  92. 92.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @frosty:

    Oops, sorry about the misspelling. I have a vague recollection of seeing McQueen racing on a motorcycle in Lake Elsinore, CA in the late 60’s.

  93. 93.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Miss Bianca: Unless he’s going to go in country clandestinely to plan an insurgency, he doesn’t get a green one. As for raspberry – no, just no. No berets period.

  98. 98.

    NobodySpecial

    AL, you can’t really describe the independent who served on the board of Americans Elect as a Purity Pony. Well, I mean, I guess you CAN, but it’s certainly silly to describe him as leftier than the guy who came out before the election. Just sayin’.

  99. 99.

    Mike in NC

    Was stationed in Maine 1981-82 (BIW) and enjoyed it. Where did they dredge up this piece of shit?

  100. 100.

    lamh36

    I like Naomi Harris as Moneypenny. I admit I didn’t much pay attention to Moneypenny in classic Bond films. But I my fav version of Moneypenny was Samantha Bond. She and Brosnan had the best most flirtatious chemistry of the Bond/Moneypenny pairs

  102. 102.

    Adam L Silverman

    @frosty: keyword search: “pussy galore maternal instincts”. Took 30 seconds, including reading the three pages.

  109. 109.

    frosty

    @West of the Rockies (been a while):

    I have a vague recollection of seeing McQueen racing on a motorcycle in Lake Elsinore, CA in the late 60’s.

    Awesome. I only saw him in the flicks. According to Wikipedia he did all the riding in The Great Escape except for the last jump. Curious how he managed to find a Triumph in WWII Germany, though. :-)

  111. 111.

    DivF

    @rikyrah: I agree, from the point of view that the archetypal nature of Bond films lead to characters that transcend race. Jeffrey Wright playing Felix is like Denzel Washington playing The Prince in Much Ado About Nothing. Playing an iconic character is no longer reserved for whites.
    The real proof of this theory would be Idris Elba cast as Bond (h/t to lamh36).

  115. 115.

    Steeplejack

    @Mnemosyne:

    Okay, closure. Thank you.

    I am always slightly surprised at how well Myers’s movies hold up, both the Wayne’s World ones and the Austin Powers ones. Even So I Married an Axe Murderer has its moments. Too bad he cratered with The Love Guru.

  119. 119.

    Mnemosyne

    @Steeplejack:

    I suspect his now ex-wife was much more of an editor of his than she ever got credit for, because his writing took a very sharp downturn after their divorce and still hasn’t recovered.

  121. 121.

    Anne Laurie

    @Miss Bianca:

    Reposting this from downstairs thread just for you, Anne Laurie! Remember the adorable fuzzbutts from Colorado Springs in your recent kitteh bleg? I just heard from a dear friend I used to live with in Salida, and she is adopting TWO of them!! Mimi and Earl Girl! They go to their new home tomorrow – I am so excited!! I can’t wait to meet them!

    Oh, thank you for that news! (I’m totally jealous, those are the two I’d have picked if I were closer and/or didn’t already have more than enough rescues to juggle.)

  124. 124.

    Steeplejack

    @lamh36:

    It’s the 1960s idea of a joke.

    Also, Bond’s interaction with Pussy Galore is kind of rapey, even by the, uh, less evolved attitudes of the time.

    Right now I’m watching an episode of Perry Mason where an executive was harassing a secretary so hard he deserved a shot of mace and a knee in the crotch, but everybody was sort of like “Mad Men gotta be Mad Men, yo.”

  125. 125.

    Anne Laurie

    @lamh36:

    “I must have appealed to her maternal instincts”

    Translation from the 1950s patriarchy : Bond is just the kind of badass killing machine a superspy lesbian would’ve wanted a son of her own to grow up to be.

    And ‘everyone knows’ all mothers want to sleep with their sons, because Freud.

  126. 126.

    Saskexpat

    @Adam L Silverman: Le Page is like an American version of Rob Ford, but because he’s American, there’s more gun references. Wouldn’t be surprised if he also smoked crack in his spare time too.

  127. 127.

    lamh36

    speaking of movie car chases, which BTW isn’t really my thing but I do love the more exciting one, I’ve gotta say the most recent chase scene that sticks in my memory was the chase scene in the last Mission Impossible film. firstly cause as per usual TC did his own actual stunt driving (apparently even the gear shift “slides”). Secondly cause Simon Pegg actually trusted TC’s driving ability, and lastly it really did look pretty darn cool in the big screen

    Mission Impossible Rogue Nation Car Chase

    not surprising though each MI film has showcased some pretty good car chases

  130. 130.

    Steeplejack

    @lamh36:

    It was just a joke! Bond is so hot that no woman would feel merely maternal toward him. Yuk-yuk-yuk. Not a good joke, but a joke. Even Moneypenny wants him to take her on her desk, and she’s the most maternal woman in the (Connery) Bond movies.

  131. 131.

    Anne Laurie

    @Timurid:

    How the hell did Pence beat this guy out as Trump’s VP?

    Trump’s all about surface appearance, remember. Pence looks like a successful politician, the kind of human prop Donald Trump wants to be associated with (according to Indianians, Mike’s good lucks are responsible for a lot of his political success, because many voters are no smarter than Trump.)

    LePage looks like the two-bit cruddy little hustler he is; Donald’s not gonna stand that sweaty “human bowling jacket” up next to him at a presser, because people might start to associate Trump with ugly luzers.

    Think of it as the equivalent of Trump’s trading in his wife for a newer, hotter model whenever the existing one gets too “human”.

  135. 135.

    lamh36

    back to Bond I’d consider the Ashton Martin chase scenes from Quantum to be one of the best of the franchise

    QoS

    Although Spectre had a good one too Spectre

  136. 136.

    Mnemosyne

    @Steeplejack:

    Also, Bond’s interaction with Pussy Galore is kind of rapey, even by the, uh, less evolved attitudes of the time.

    That’s how you know Bond’s peni$ is magic — he can treat her any way he wants and she still ends up straight and in love with him afterwards.

  137. 137.

    Tokyokie

    I’ve always had a soft spot for Live and Let Die because I saw it during its world-premiere engagement at the Leicester Square Odeon, although for a Roger Moore Bond film, it’s not bad. But From Russia With Love is my favorite, with both Lotte Lenya (best Bond villain stunt casting EVER) and Robert Shaw as bad guys. (And the great Polish actor Vladek Sheybal and Walter Gotell are secondary baddies for good measure.)

  141. 141.

    lamh36

    @frosty: right I’m no TC fan either but I’m. it ashamed to say I love those damn MI films of only cause TC really does do his own stunts even one any normal star would say HELL no to

  143. 143.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @West of the Rockies (been a while):

    I am a horrible person. I find the car chase from Bullet to be dull as hell. Never understood the cool factor most say McQueen had. Obviously, YMMV.

    Curious movie; the character Bullet is presented as a Cool Dude(tm) even though he screws up about everything in the movie, including the car chase (dead suspects don’t really tell much and was it really worth it blowing up someone’s gas station just to stop some idiot?)

  144. 144.

    Plantsmantx

    That bullshit about most of the drug dealers in Maine being black and Latino was debunked the last time that idiot-assed governor had an episode.

  145. 145.

    Miss Bianca

    Why do my dogs always wait till I really want to go to sleep to start noisily grooming themselves? I mean, NOISILY. Glorp glorp glorp. Then Stella thrashes around scrabbling her claws on the tile even tho’ she’s sleeping on the carpet. How does she do it? WHY does she do it? How can I get her to STOP?

  146. 146.

    Amir Khalid

    @Miss Bianca:
    At least your dogs don’t groom you. My cat (she’s a Bianca, too) likes to do that with me.

    Stella’s having a doggie dream. I suppose you could wake her up, but that wouldn’t be very nice.

  149. 149.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    Ugh. awake, randomly. Good news: My cat Jazz is sleeping against me down by my outer shin. She’s usually not the “hey let’s all get on the bed” sort unless it’s cooler in here.

    There’s also usually a vague territorial battle going on with S-T-K’s Dexter, who is a real I-cuddle-with-my-fave-human sort when the human is stationary.

  150. 150.

    Cermet

    @DivF: Yes and Idris Elba would make the best Bond since the first one – Connery. I will almost bet this won’t happen solely because he is black but I have watched him in his Luther detective series and he is the ideal modern Bond (I really don’t see him being the sexist Bond; he is a mean SOB when pushed but beyond a doubt, someone who both respects and protects woman – he’d never use woman and unlike the Bond when he essentially raped the woman in the health club scene (though 1960’s, even as a kid that scene offended me as a rape.)) Idris plays a character anyone would trust even with their daughter. The man has a special high level class that transcends his rough and even, at times, brutal police methods.

  151. 151.

    Amir Khalid

    @Miss Bianca:
    I guess everyone has their bedtime ritual. My cat Bianca’s sometimes includes grooming me.

    Stella sounds like she’s having doggie dreams. I suppose you could wake her up, but that wouldn’t be very nice.

  153. 153.

    Steeplejack

    @Amir Khalid:

    Sorry to hear it.

    Liverpool are at Tottenham in about three hours. I presume you’ll be watching that. I’m going to bed in a bit, so I don’t know if I’ll be back up in time. Just depends on how long the sleep lasts.

    My team, Newcastle, got relegated, so I haven’t decided on another team to follow this season. Have just watched a few games here and there.

  155. 155.

    Steeplejack

    @raven:

    Yep, the season started two weeks ago, so there is usually at least one match at 7:30 a.m. EDT (or sometimes 8:30) on Saturday and Sunday. Six matches at 10:00 a.m. today to choose from! Middlesbrough are at West Bromwich Albion at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow.

    If you go to Google and put in “EPL fixtures,” you’ll always get a good schedule as the first hit.

    ETA: “EPL” = English Premier League.

  156. 156.

    JR in WV

    @redshirt:

    OT:

    I got a leaf blower for blowing off the roof, and to fight brush fires. Around here, brush fires aren’t like what you see on the news from California. They mostly (so far) burn low and slow, and a leaf blower can go a long way to creating a fire break by blowing the ground clear of leaf litter and forest floor woods trash.

    Or you can use a fire rake, which is big and heavy…

    I’m going with the blower at first. You can’t use them actually in the fire zone, where they would boost flames considerably, there you need a fire rake, or even garden tools.

    If a thick snow fall is powder, you can blow it off your steps with a leaf blower, the first day it’s there. But pretty quickly it firms up and you need that old snow shovel.

  157. 157.

    JR in WV

    @raven:

    Raven,

    When I was recovering from my last shoulder replacement, I wasn’t up on the blogs at 4 am. You must not be taking your pain meds quite right.

    Of course, here am I at 5 am up and on the blog… duh!

  162. 162.

    gogol's wife

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Whatever his sins (and I’ve never seen his Bond movies!), he made up for them with his heart-rending performance as Mr. Skinner.

  164. 164.

    The Other Chuck

    @Adam L Silverman: Much as I love that movie, I’m not sure the Blues Brothers needed more numbers where the duo themselves was singing, especially when they’d already been repeatedly upstaged by their many guest stars. The movie isn’t about them as great musicians after all.

  165. 165.

    PaulWartenberg2016

    Dear State of Maine:

    I thought you lazy bums were impeaching him.

    YOU NEED TO DO THAT NOW. He is calling openly for acts of violence towards Blacks and Latinos.

    LePage needs to be in handcuffs before a judge answering to assault charges before Labor Day weekend.

    The hell?

    Signed,
    America

  168. 168.

    Shalimar

    “Paul LePage always brings dignity to the office.”

    Read the linked article, was assuming “Dignity” was LePage’s favorite stripper down at the club. Still assume this to be true even though Pierce doesn’t confirm.

  171. 171.

    Theodore Wirth

    Maybe this is not even news any more? Govs. LePage, Christie and Brownback were all easily re-elected. Maybe the bigger story is the alarmingly high level of Murkan ignorance?

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