Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Republicans do not trust women.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

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

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Consistently wrong since 2002

I really should read my own blog.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

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

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / Birdwatching / Bowl Games (Open Thread)

Bowl Games (Open Thread)

by | 213 Comments

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Here’s today’s lineup of college bowl games:

I think it’s incredibly dumb that these bowl games are being played on a Monday after the holidays when most folks are working. It’s not like the fact that New Year’s Day fell on a Sunday this year was a sudden issue that cropped up, leaving schedulers in a bind.

Also, here’s another shot of that spoonbill I saw yesterday:

And here’s a black-bellied whistling duck with some glossy ibises in the background:

If we’re going to have to look at Trump’s ugly-ass mug for the next four years, I think we’ll need some nature pictures to erase his hideous visage from our corneas and remind us that there is still beauty in the world, despite everything.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

213Comments

  2. 2.

    bk

    Pretty sure this has happened before when New Year’s falls on a Sunday so as to not conflict with NFL games.

  5. 5.

    Elizabelle

    Thank you for the bird pics.

    From the morning thread:

    A suggestion for BJuice in 2017: NO pictures of Trump above the fold. None. This one would have Abraham Lincoln by his lonesome, with Trump further down.

    Put up a pet or landscape, if you must.

    I cannot look at Trump for four years. Just cannot. Deny him the front page real estate as people scroll through the posts. Below the fold is plenty.

    He cannot take up more real estate than we allow him. Do not give him the attention he craves.

  6. 6.

    Corner Stone

    Ahhh, there’s nothing like a good dose of Bloody Monday after the final regular season NFL games. Although the terms seem to be coming earlier and earlier every year, this is still the traditional cumulative date to reflect on the various failures, mistakes and mismatches.

  8. 8.

    Mary in Ohio

    Now in the defense of the schedulers there are still a lot of people who have today off as the official day to celebrate the new year. Still seems sad that the most well known games were not all done in the evening

  10. 10.

    p.a.

    Fuck espn for bogarting so many bowl games.

    Signed,
    non-cable-ist.

    nice int by hawkeyes.

    now… 1 2 3 hockeyhockeyhockey!

  11. 11.

    cope

    Looks like you’re enjoying the hell out of your new camera. It looks like you might have cornered the market on Florida bird pics. I may have to go out of area and send you some I have from when we lived in Colorado.

    I’m in the market for a new camera myself and have narrowed it down to a Nikon (the last film camera I owned) or a Canon. Let me know what you think of your Nikon and all its accessories.

    Keep the great pics coming.

    cope

  14. 14.

    O. Felix Culpa

    Nice bird pix! Please to continue posting. Doggie pix also welcomed. Cats too, in a pinch. :)

  17. 17.

    Mnemosyne

    I have the day off work since it’s a national holiday, so I’m sitting on the couch drinking a mimosa and watching the local, commercial-free version of the Rose Parade off the DVR.

  18. 18.

    Betty Cracker

    @Mary in Ohio: Among the peeps I know, blue collar folks are working today, whereas office workers have the day off. Looks like a lot of empty seats at RayJay, which may not have been the case if the game weren’t being played when so many people are working. Though the way the Gators have started off, that’s just as well. Two picks in the first five minutes. Christ.

  19. 19.

    Mike in NC

    A flock of black-bellied whistling ducks showed up in our back yard last year. Nobody in the neighborhood had ever seen any before. Supposedly seldom seen this far north of Florida.

  20. 20.

    ThresherK

    Anyone else wonder why it’s called the Rose Bowl Game?

    How many years did we survive with it being the Rose Bowl, played in the Rose Bowl? (I’m not looking that up.)

  21. 21.

    FlyingToaster

    @BettyCracker at top:

    I think it’s incredibly dumb that these bowl games are being played on a Monday after the holidays when most folks are working. It’s not like the fact that New Year’s Day fell on a Sunday this year was a sudden issue that cropped up, leaving schedulers in a bind.

    I’m pretty sure this is a long-time-since done negotiation between the BCS and the NFL. NFL’s Week 17 is now Sunday-only, so that ThFSaM are BCS. And the Bowl Final will be on a weekday, so that the NFL can run the playoffs all weekend.

    If it were up to me, I’d make NFL weeks 15-17 Sunday only, and give the bowls the other days of the week, full stop. But right now I’m pissed because 3 of the 4 bowl games are on fucking ESPN. You can’t watch a bowl game on the kitchen tv, while cooking, which just blows in every possible way.

  22. 22.

    Ruckus

    Was out for a walk last night and ran across one of my neighbors with her kids. They were talking to one of the Rose Parade volunteers, who is a teacher the kids had and liked. He said there was a story about why the parade and the game is never held on Sunday. The local churches were afraid that if the parade and/or the game was on Sunday, there would be no one attending church and no could really argue with that so a pact was made, and followed every time since the beginning.

  24. 24.

    Villago Delenda Est

    TODAY is the legal holiday. This sort of thing always happens when Christmas/New Year’s falls on a Saturday or a Sunday.

  25. 25.

    Ruckus

    @Betty Cracker:
    I’m a blue collar worker and my employer is closed today. As we were last Monday. Of course I’m off every Monday, hard to be semi retired if you work full time.

  26. 26.

    Mike in NC

    @Elizabelle: Concerned that we’re going to have a Cult of Trump crammed down our throats, like being expected to stand and give a fascist salute when they show his picture on screen at basketball games and in movie theaters. He’s that much of a megalomaniac.

  28. 28.

    Betty Cracker

    @lamh36: Ha, LOVE that GIF! And yes, what a freaking crybaby Scarborough is. It reminds me of that time Mika’s dad called him out for being an ignoramus and Scarborough spent the next three episodes meeping about it.

  29. 29.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @hovercraft:

    I agree, no shitgibbon photos!

    I’d rather look at a real gibbon than at the shitgibbon.

    Hell, I’d rather look at real shit than at the shitgibbon.

  30. 30.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @lamh36: The fact that he’s protesting so much is a sure sign that he’s been nailed up to the wall on this thing.

    What a pathetic loser he is.

  31. 31.

    Mnemosyne

    @Betty Cracker:

    So, basically, the blue collar (probably non-union) folks are getting screwed while blue state union folks like me at sitting at home on the couch.

    (I’m in an administrative assistants’ union, so technically I think I may be pink collar. OPEIU!)

    I think there may be a lesson there …

  32. 32.

    pamelabrown53

    @Mnemosyne: #17
    I was doing the exact same thing! Happy New Year to you and the rest of the Balloon Juice excellent commentariat.

    Betty, your Florida bird pix are wonderful. Thank you for your beautiful photography and rapier wit. Peace, love and light~pb

  34. 34.

    lol chikinburd

    Salient photos of shitgibbon being almost certainly inevitable over the next N years, may I suggest creative Photoshop for all such instances.

  36. 36.

    Ruckus

    @Elizabelle:
    Last night on my walk I went up to Colorado and walked a couple blocks of the parade route. People all around enjoying their spaces at the curb, where they would spent a chill night waiting for the parade (about 50deg). There was a couple of women walking along in the parking lane with posters and flyers and talking a resistance type of movement. The posters were a big NO and a particularly bad picture of hisself. They wanted people to hold them up whenever TV cameras were around. People were interested but I don’t know how it worked out. My reaction was, even in protest I don’t want hold up a picture of him. That might change if he’s in an orange jumper, handcuffed and being led away. That one would be OK.

  37. 37.

    Felanius Kootea

    Very happy this morning – one of my short stories got accepted for publication in a literary magazine. A nice way to start the new year :-).

    Now I have to write one about an orange man who tried (but failed) to steal joy.

  39. 39.

    Another Scott

    @Elizabelle: I think this picture would be a good one to use for Donnie. He has a long history in military strategy. Donnie and the Generals go way back…

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (Either that or this one. An infinite variety of captions fit, nicht wahr?)

  42. 42.

    raven

    @Phylllis: 33 years ago the Illini got murdered by UCLA in a Monday Rose Bowl. We walked up to a Raiders-Steelers playoff game on Sunday and then went to Pasadena on Monday.

  43. 43.

    Ruckus

    @ThresherK:
    It’s been called the Rose Bowl game or The Game as long as I can remember. Which is over sixty yrs, as I can still recall my favorite shirt I wore when I was 4. And I was born about 5 miles or so from the Rose Bowl and lived within 6-7 miles for decades. Did volunteer work in Pasadena for a number of years, live there now.

  44. 44.

    MomSense

    I was supposed to be off since last Friday but I’ve worked every day including today. Oh well. It’s quiet and I’m getting a lot done.

  49. 49.

    Another Scott

    @Elizabelle: Sorry about that – Getty seems to have locked it down. Try this version from Google.

    Just a bit of levity. ;-) I agree putting him below the fold (or making the image need an extra click like Betty’s (?) “hidden posts”) might be a useful bit of resistance.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  50. 50.

    raven

    But college football was here many decades before the NFL anyway, and this Sunday thing is more than a century old, since before TV ratings were even a thing.

    I’ll explain why this part matters in a second, but the first thing here: the organizers of Pasadena’s Rose Parade, which later birthed the Rose Bowl, decided that in 1893 they wouldn’t hold the event on Sunday. The Rose Bowl explains:

    The Tournament wanted to avoid frightening horses that would be hitched outside churches and thus interfering with worship services so the events were moved to the next day, January 2. Though horses are no longer outside local churches, the tradition remains to this day.

  52. 52.

    Ruckus

    @Elizabelle:
    Not close to Pasadena, in the staging area for the parade. Streets closed yesterday at 5pm. Three blocks from the parade start. It is a nice place but like everywhere else it has it’s drawbacks.

  54. 54.

    pamelabrown53

    Serious question: does anyone have any interesting alternatives to watching the inauguration? I just don’t have neither heart or stomach for it this time.

  55. 55.

    Mnemosyne

    @Felanius Kootea:

    Congratulations! I hoping to have similar news from 2017 myself, so this is very encouraging.

    (Though I’m starting with a novel instead of short stories. I have another 1,700 words to write today.)

  56. 56.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    Aren’t most people off today? I went out briefly this morning, and the traffic at my “reference” intersections seemed like weekend traffic.

  57. 57.

    Betty Cracker

    @cope: Thanks! I just got lucky yesterday — the birds were practically lining up for glamour shots! I love the Nikon so far but am still learning all its bells and whistles.

  59. 59.

    Ruckus

    @raven:
    Sorry about your mom and the no parade. I’m jaded quite a bit but if you’ve never been and are in the area it is a very nice parade. I’ve just seen it a zillion times. Of course I’ve never been to The Game so maybe it’s all evened out in the great cosmic blender.

  61. 61.

    raven

    @Ruckus: Well, she got to go to Europe and then my second wedding so there was that. We also took her to Gladstones and she’d always wanted to do that.

  62. 62.

    Phylllis

    @pamelabrown53: I’m hoping to have a follow-up dental appointment for that day so I don’t have to be at work. Alternatively, I plan to call in sick and watch Captain America Civil War repeatedly on Netflix.

  65. 65.

    Ruckus

    @pamelabrown53:
    Sleep.
    Working on a resistance committee.
    Reruns of Lucy.
    Beating your head against the desk.
    Hoping for a meteor strike.
    Praying for a meteor strike.
    Paying for a meteor strike.

  66. 66.

    FlyingToaster

    @raven: Did any of the other bowl games used to run on Sunday? In a cursory look at Wikipedia, none of the “old” bowl games (Rose, Cotton, Sugar, Orange) ran on Sunday. So this might have always been the case; like the NFL used to only be on Sunday, and then Monday Night.

    Of course, when I was growing up, we had HS football on either Friday or Saturday nights. AFAICT, it’s Friday night only nowadays.

  75. 75.

    Elmo

    Took the dogs for a hike in the woods and got a little lost, which is always fun. (This little woods isn’t big enough to be dangerous.)

    I’m reading about a supposed Atmospheric River event for Central CA this week and into the weekend, with possible 15 feet of snow over the Sierra Crest. Those wild predictions usually fizzle, but even a “bust” could mean 8-10 feet. I miss the big snows.

  76. 76.

    Another Scott

    @pamelabrown53: Some people have tried to start a Freedom & Unity Concert & Telethon, but it’s seemingly just a petition with no substance behind it so far (and time is short).

    I may watch some of C-Span’s coverage if they cover Obama’s last few minutes as President and/or his goodbye trip, but I won’t watch Donnie’s speech or anything related to the ceremonies for him afterwards.

    I plan on being at the Women’s March on the 21st.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  77. 77.

    SenyorDave

    @Ruckus: My reaction was, even in protest I don’t want hold up a picture of him. That might change if he’s in an orange jumper, handcuffed and being led away. That one would be OK.

    If he were in an orange jumper, would it be invisible? He’s pretty much the same color as an orange jumper. Being a traditionalist, I would go with the classic black and white stripes. Maybe Udaya and Qusay could do the orange jumpers.

  78. 78.

    raven

    @FlyingToaster: Yep, look at 1984. The major bowls were monday.

    1984-01-02 Cotton Bowl Georgia 10 Texas 9 Dallas, TX
    1984-01-02 Fiesta Bowl Ohio State 28 Pittsburgh 23 Tempe, AZ
    1984-01-02 Orange Bowl Miami (FL) 31 Nebraska 30 Miami, FL
    1984-01-02 Rose Bowl UCLA 45 Illinois 9 Pasadena, CA
    1984-01-02 Sugar Bowl Auburn 9 Michigan 7 New Orleans, LA

  83. 83.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    I’m on my phone and can’t link to it, but there is an extension for Chrome that will replace shitgibbon photos with kitten photos. It’s been very popular among certain of my FB friends.

  84. 84.

    Another Scott

    @pamelabrown53: Oh, and if anyone does watch the inauguration coverage, I would urge people not to view it on any network property or web site. You know that Donnie is going to claim that eleventy billion people watched and he’s the most popular man in the Universe, and the TV and Web conglomerates are going to milk the show for all its worth, then look at at the numbers and say “Hey! Look at those numbers! This is what our viewers want!!11” and it will color what else they try to show us for the next 4 years or more.

    Just say NO!

    Use C-Span if you need to watch – Nielsen doesn’t measure C-Span viewership (or didn’t as of 2013).

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  85. 85.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @pamelabrown53:

    does anyone have any interesting alternatives to watching the inauguration?

    Personally, I’m having my hair cut, getting my picture taken, and then taking the photo of me with freshly-styled hair to the P.O. so I can apply to renew my passport. That will eat up the morning and a good chunk of the afternoon.

  89. 89.

    FlyingToaster

    @pamelabrown53: I’m planning on being in-school, working on the library catalog*.

    * My volunteer project for the past two years has been “Library Automation”, or building the school library’s digital catalog. My misspent undergraduate years as a work-study cataloger in Swain West have finally paid off.

  90. 90.

    Bonnie

    Today is the Official Federal Holiday for New Year’s Day falling on a Sunday. Banks, Post Offices, and other businesses are closed; thus, there will be a lot of people off today. Besides how could or how dare the colleges compete with the NFL on Sunday? I am very happy. The more days there are football, the happier I am. Waiting for the Rose Bowl.

  91. 91.

    Ruckus

    @raven:
    Dad would have been 99 two months ago. But he’s been gone for 16 yrs now. Seems like forever. Maybe that’s because I worked for him or he for me for over 30 yrs. Oh well reliving the past gets you exactly nothing. Look forward, it’s the only direction that hasn’t happened and the only one that can.

  92. 92.

    HeidiMom

    @Yarrow: It was a great relief to me when the loathsome Jerry Sandusky disappeared from the front pages of newspapers and websites. Here in central PA we saw an awful lot of him, and I thought no one could be more repulsive. I was wrong. At least I’ve had a good deal of practice scrolling quickly past the hated photograph.

  94. 94.

    Mnemosyne

    Still watching my DVR’d Rose Parade and I think I saw a marching band member in a wheelchair for the first time. She (or he, camera wasn’t quite close enough) was playing the xylophone.

  95. 95.

    Ruckus

    @HeidiMom:
    Just when you think it’s safe to go outside again…….
    Wasn’t it Pogo who said “The farther I go the worser it gets”?

  97. 97.

    Betty Cracker

    @Ruckus: Nikon Coolpix P900.

    @pamelabrown53: My sis and I might be on our way to the women’s march, if she can get the time off. I certainly don’t plan to watch a nano-second of Trump’s inauguration, regardless.

  98. 98.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @debbie:
    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Ignore my question, I found his tweetstream. (And yes, for anyone else who might be wondering, it is indeed Tom Levenson and it is indeed worthy of a big loud “Yowsa!!”)

  99. 99.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @pamelabrown53:

    does anyone have any interesting alternatives to watching the inauguration?

    Cleaning the bathrooms? Reorganizing closets? Filing old paperwork? Gargling with bleach? Anything would be better than watching that Götterdämmerung. I will not honor that man (word used loosely) with a single click.

  102. 102.

    Another Scott

    @SiubhanDuinne: Thank you. It is indeed great, for Twitter. I hope Tom will expand on it and make a post, here (and elsewhere), on it.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  103. 103.

    Ruckus

    @raven:
    Well you could look there but the view wasn’t worth the price.
    Yeah, swabbies. It’s only because we had the time and not much else to do.

  104. 104.

    germy

    Despite having once called for Julian Assange’s arrest, Fox News host Sean Hannity will reportedly interview the WikiLeaks founder inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London in a special that will air on Tuesday. Hannity gave Assange a warm welcome in a September satellite interview on Fox News, praising the rabblerouser’s “harsh words” for both Hillary Clinton and the mainstream media during the thick of the general election.

  105. 105.

    Schlemazel

    @Phylllis:
    with apologiese to Manos Hadjidakis
    Oh, you can pass on a Monday
    A Monday, a Monday is very, very good
    Or you can punt on a Tuesday
    A Tuesday, a Tuesday, in fact I wish you would
    Or you can kick on a Wednesday
    A Thursday, a Friday and Saturday is best
    But never, never on a Sunday
    A Sunday, a Sunday, ’cause that’s my day of rest
    Most any day you can be my guest
    Any day you say, but my day of rest
    Just name the day that you like the best
    Only stay away on my day of rest

  108. 108.

    Mnemosyne

    I’m very happy that the final marching band of the Rose Parade chose “Battle Hymn of the Republic” as part of their patriotic medley.

  109. 109.

    Betty Cracker

    @germy:

    Despite having once called for Julian Assange’s arrest, Fox News host Sean Hannity will reportedly interview the WikiLeaks founder inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London in a special that will air on Tuesday. Hannity gave Assange a warm welcome in a September satellite interview on Fox News, praising the rabblerouser’s “harsh words” for both Hillary Clinton and the mainstream media accused rapist’s work on behalf of a hostile foreign power during the thick of the general election.

    Fixed if for The Craven Beast.

  110. 110.

    Ruckus

    @Another Scott:
    It isn’t like said journalists haven’t heard this all before and that there hasn’t been lots of proof for decades, it’s that there is still a large percentage of the viewing/reading public who believes their every word. Said words which they get paid very well to say. Which makes them at the very least expensive whores. Or one might say, expensively stupid whores. And they don’t like to be called whores, even if we say it using nicer words. It might just be that enough guilt might make some of them able to see a bit better. Of course that will ruin their gigs, but no one ever said freedom is free.

  111. 111.

    Mnemosyne

    @germy:

    I’m telling you guys — Trump is going to give Snowden a pardon and allow him to return to the US. And morons on the left will still defend his actions.

  114. 114.

    Another Scott

    @Mnemosyne: Hmm… Game this out for me – I’m not seeing it.

    How does Donnie benefit by Snowden being back in the US?

    Snowden’s celebrity would take attention away from Donnie.

    Donnie is paranoid and wants to punish those who don’t treat him “fairly”. One can envision lots of use for large domestic and international intelligence agencies to do various covert things, and Donnie’s people probably have even more ideas.

    Donnie understands “The Cyber” well enough as far as he’s concerned, and that should be enough for anyone else. Why would he want someone like Snowden talking about how much he knows?

    Donnie can distract the press with any new shiny object anytime he wants. He doesn’t need Snowden here if he wants to talk about Hillary’s e-mails or whatever.

    Donnie didn’t like being called Vlad’s puppet. Looking like his puppet would be a natural byproduct of letting Snowden come back without consequences.

    Lots of people in the House and Senate aren’t on board with Snowden being some hero. A pardon wouldn’t protect him from being called before Congress for hearings that Donnie’s people probably wouldn’t like (what with Donnie calling for Vlad to hack Hillary’s accounts, etc.).

    I dunno. I don’t see any upside for Donnie – and that’s what matters when it comes to making decisions like that. What am I missing?

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  115. 115.

    pamelabrown53

    @Another Scott: #84
    Good advice re: C-SPAN. However, I’m getting some pretty humorous responses along the lines of “cleaning out naval lint”!

  119. 119.

    Mnemosyne

    @Another Scott:

    How does Donnie benefit by Snowden being back in the US?

    It’s a malicious poke in the eye to both Obama and Hillary, and it lets Trump claim that he’s magnanimously allowing a man who did us a great public service to return home. It also allows Putin to continue his stance that Snowden is being persecuted by the evil West and Russia is the only place that’s truly free.

    Donnie’s a narcissist — the only excuse he needs for an action is for him to be able to flex his power over someone else when they can’t retaliate. He doesn’t care what happens to Snowden after he returns. Snowden’s just another object that he can use to hurt other people.

  121. 121.

    debbie

    @Mnemosyne:

    Could he be so stupid (I know he’s vindictive enough)? Many in the GOP are very anti-Snowden. He shouldn’t want to piss off his own.

  123. 123.

    pamelabrown53

    @SiubhanDuinne: #85
    Hah! I’ve heard it said that a woman can never be too rich or too thin but since (at least) the too rich is beyond my ken I’ve subscribed to the dictum that one should never allow one’s passport to expire (and have a “go” bag ready).

  127. 127.

    J.

    Fab photo of the roseate spoonbill, Betty! That new camera is doing wonders for your photography skills. :-)

  129. 129.

    FlyingToaster

    @Betty Cracker: If your sis can’t get off work, you should see if there’s a local march. I’ll be at the one in Boston (no early DCA flights that Saturday and nowhere to stay Friday Night closer than Philly) on Saturday — HerrDoktor has to take over for 1 music class, while I drive to [TBD] and T into Park Street.

  130. 130.

    pamelabrown53

    @Betty Cracker: #97
    The Women’s March is the ultimate; hope you get to go and chronicle it for those who can’t attend. I just returned from an 11 day cruise and am already back in the doldrums.

  131. 131.

    Ruckus

    @debbie:
    Personally I think he is easily so stupid. He’s the guy that wins a hundred million in the lottery and spends it all on candy and gum, because he’s always liked candy and gum. He did however forget that he also likes to smoke and drink beer and now he has no money for those, and it doesn’t matter that his double wide leaks, is falling apart, and has been condemned by the county, he’s got all this candy and gum.

  132. 132.

    Hovercraft

    @Mnemosyne: @Mnemosyne:
    You are blinded by the socialism, if you didn’t belong to a union, right this very minute you could be proselytizing making shit wages to show just how free you are. Instead you are succumbing to the union thugs who have forced all these “benefits” on you, sucker!

  133. 133.

    hilts

    @Another Scott:

    I agree with your recommendation of C-SPAN for inauguration coverage.

    Robert Kuttner’s suggestion for dealing with Trump:

    There is only one constitutional way to remove a president, and that is via impeachment.

    What’s needed is a citizens’ impeachment inquiry, to begin on Trump’s first day in office.

    The inquiry should keep a running dossier, and forward updates at least weekly to the House Judiciary Committee. There will be no lack of evidence.

    The materials should be made public via a website. The inquiry should be conducted by a distinguished panel whose high-mindedness and credentials are, well, unimpeachable.

    There needs to be a parallel public campaign, pressing for an official investigation. For those appalled by Trump, who wonder where to focus their efforts, here is something concrete―and more realistic than it may seem.

    Trump is far more of a menace than Nixon. Trump will commit impeachable offenses. There is no way to contain him other than removing him from office, before the damage to our democracy is irrevocable. The process of building the impeachment case needs to begin now.

    h/t http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/impeaching-trump_us_5869b806e4b0eb586489f3a4

  134. 134.

    Mnemosyne

    @debbie:

    What does he care if he pisses off Republicans? They need him more than he needs them. He’s the only one who can sign their bills into law, because they don’t have enough votes to overcome a veto. What are they going to do, impeach him?

  138. 138.

    FlyingToaster

    @hilts: Kuttner is, alas, wrong.

    Impeachment is viewed — by both sides in DC — as a wholly partisan activity. There is no way that a Republican Congress will vote articles of impeachment on a Republican president.

    Out here — in the cities, or in the cornfields — that looks deranged. But that’s how DC works.

    “It’s Chinatown, Jake.”

  140. 140.

    hilts

    @debbie:

    Could he be so stupid

    Yes he could and yes he is. I only hope the planet can survive 4 years of his unprecedented stupidity.

  142. 142.

    hilts

    @FlyingToaster:

    I agree that impeachment is a very, very long shot, but I wouldn’t rule it out as impossible.

    There’s no doubt in my mind that Trump will commit impeachable offenses after he’s sworn into office because he has absolutely no respect for the rule of law.

  147. 147.

    Mnemosyne

    @FlyingToaster:

    Basically, it’s going to turn into a game of chicken, with Ryan and his coterie trying to get Trump to sign as many of their bills as possible before he goes too far over the line and they’re forced to impeach him.

    Of course, the whole problem is that the Republicans think of politics as a game and not as something that actually affects people’s daily lives.

  149. 149.

    Hovercraft

    @pamelabrown53:
    Every non news channel, Netflix, hulu, reading a book, washing your hair, doing laundry, getting a head start on your spring cleaning, scheduling a root canal, I could go on, but there are a million things I will do , before I lower myself to watching that shit show.

  150. 150.

    debbie

    This is how stupid this country has become. I’m working on some writing and looked up speechless on dictionary.com to make sure the way I was using it would be okay. There’s a scale describing the difficulty of the word which says, “Few English speakers likely know this word.” Seriously?

  152. 152.

    Ruckus

    @hilts:
    The drumpf really only has contempt for anyone not hisself, in other words not great! The rethugs will not be eager to impeach but remember they have mike dense standing somewhere, (probably out in a field of mud and cow shit) waiting for the call of something. He is pliable, and if it can be believed, far stupider than drumpf. And behind him is lying Ryan so the rethugs are pretty well covered with shitheads to put in his place.

  159. 159.

    Temporarily Max McGee (Until Death!)

    BTW, the tradition of no college football on Sunday’s is all about religion. Back in the early days of the game schools either had direct ties with religious institutions, or, in the case of the public schools, were run by pious WASPS. They simply refused to allow games to be played on Sundays. The tradition, as far as it concerns football, has remained.

  160. 160.

    Baud

    @debbie:

    There’s a scale describing the difficulty of the word which says, “Few English speakers likely know this word.” Seriously?

    I’m speechless.

  161. 161.

    debbie

    @Major Major Major Major:

    What I mean is that I don’t think the GOP will be ramming their agenda through Congress as forcefully or as quickly as many fear. Trump’s voters now feel empowered, and when they see how Ryan and McConnell want to screw up their healthcare and their pensions, they’ll speak up. I doubt Trump will ignore them, and I don’t think he’ll put the GOP above the people who put him in the presidency.

  163. 163.

    Ruckus

    @Temporarily Max McGee (Until Death!):
    What does that have to do with drumpf giving him a pardon? Truth or bullshit, to drumpf it’s all the same. He only cares about what might do him the most good. If his best bud Vlad asks him for a favor, you think he won’t jump? As always in politics, follow the money. In drumpf’s case it’s always, follow where ever you think might get him some more, as long as it is sleazy or that gets him out of paying some, which is of course, most likely sleazy as well.

  164. 164.

    hilts

    @Ruckus:

    This line of succession is a murderer’s row of dirtbaggery and dishonesty.

    Maybe, we’d just be better off if a giant meteor crashed to Earth and wiped us all out before Trump has the chance to fuck everything up beyond repair.

  168. 168.

    Temporarily Max McGee (Until Death!)

    @Ruckus:

    There’s no way he can pardon him if Snowden grabbed all those super-sensitive Level 3 documents. The intelligence and defense communities would really do to Trump what some people claim they did to Kennedy.

  169. 169.

    Major Major Major Major

    @debbie: Ah. I don’t think this will happen, for a few reasons.

    The usual groups who astroturf for the GOP, under the guise of protecting social services, are going to be astroturfing in favor of looting same services. There’s going to be a full-court press to do so by their media enablers. Democrats’ objections, which I expect to be strenuous, will be treated as sore loserdom, or irresponsible, or just another opinion, etc. I don’t think this will add up to an effective pushback, at least not one that will be effective on Trump’s voters. Next, Trump’s voters will believe whatever the hell he tells them to believe. Look at their pivots on formerly deeply-held party positions like free trade and Russia. Third, Trump doesn’t give a shit about them, so he’s not going to try and protect their services from looting for their sake; only if it would make him unpopular to cut them.

    Ryan’s probably going to push through some giant “gold statues of trump” infrastructure bill in exchange for all this, too.

  170. 170.

    Inmourning

    If Trump doesn’t sell his business interests, he will be violating the emoluments clause once he takes the oath of office. He will not sell, but I am hoping there will be a way he has to disclose all business interests, so when he acts in a way that makes more money for him, but harms the US, we at least know his motivation. Every time one of his spox says “the voters knew he had business interests, and therefore they voted for him anyway,” the answer should be: they don’t know the specific information. They don’t know whether he owes money to Russian oligarchs, to sheiks in the Middle East, or what. The details matter. I am calling all elected reps and pounding on this issue. I have been using a hypothetical similar to the one Botsplainer described several days ago. Worth a try, and at least I feel like I have taken some positive action.

  176. 176.

    Ruckus

    @Temporarily Max McGee (Until Death!):
    I didn’t ask what would stop even a semi normal person from giving him a pardon, I asked what would stop drumpf. Of course it would be a stupid, asinine move. Of course the consequences might be bad for drumpf and/or the country but that won’t stop drumpf. The only thing would be if drumpf thought it would be bad for him or if Vlad lied to him about the advantages. Hell, Vlad might tell him something to get him to do it, just to get rid of him. However I think Vlad might just be the one person who actually sees and knows just who and what drumpf is and is OK with that. Because it benefits Vlad.

  178. 178.

    Kathleen

    @debbie: I saw it. It was pretty awesome. Tom is always thoughtful and rational with his tweets to media people. I’m just snarky.

  181. 181.

    hovercraft

    @germy:
    Let him investigate, he can start by speaking to the Native Americans who view much of those lands as sacred, and from whom they were stolen in the first place. Bit if he’s serious, what is he investigating? Even if a Bald Eagle came to him in a peyote dream and told him to protect these lands, it is his right as president, and there is not a goddamn thing he can do about it, unless they change the 1906 Antiquities Law.

  182. 182.

    burnspbesq

    @raven:

    1984-01-02 Rose Bowl UCLA 45 Illinois 9 Pasadena, CA

    A game remembered mostly for the scoreboard hack. At the end of the game it read “Caltech 45, MIT 9.”

  183. 183.

    Temporarily Max McGee (Until Death!)

    @Ruckus:

    He will lose almost the entirety of Congress if he tries it, and they’ll let him know it. His tax records will mysteriously appear and he’ll be on the hook for fraud- and he will be impeached and found guilty. That’s his best case scenario if he pardons Snowden.

  184. 184.

    fuckwit

    8 years, Betty. He’s already hunkering down for 8 years. All it will take is a manufactured war or some “whocouldanode?” terrorist attack forseen and warned by the ignored and demeaned CIA and FBI, for the country to easily re-elect Our Berlusconi.

  185. 185.

    hovercraft

    @debbie:

    “Few English speakers likely know this word.” Seriously?

    Your anecdote left me speechless.

    Obviously our children is not learning.

  192. 192.

    germy

    Guardian UK: Trump victory spurs women to run for office across US: ‘Our time is coming’ – Organizations report surging numbers of women mulling campaigns as potential candidates describe motivations: ‘Trump pushed me over the edge’

    “My degree is in music and my career is in business and the military. But when Trump won, I thought: ‘He isn’t qualified either and he’s going to be president,’” she said.

  193. 193.

    J R in WV

    @p.a.:

    Second this, hard:

    Fuck espn for bogarting so many bowl games !!!

    Signed, lucky to get some broadcast TV!!

  194. 194.

    Suzanne

    @debbie: Ugh. I hate stupid people. And how they now control our government. I read a thinkpiece recently in FSM-knows-where, and the writer made the assertion that “competence is seen as a sign of elitism” in the shitty “WWC”/WT communities that are now under such a microscope. They hate elites, and elites are apparently people who show up for work more or less on time, do a good enough job, don’t get in trouble, and maintain employment. THAT is elitism, apparently.

    I am tempted to suggest that maintaining a test for voting was a good idea—only it should be the SATs or something equivalent. If you didn’t break 1200, then NO VOTE FOR YOU!

  199. 199.

    Suzanne

    @Major Major Major Major: I’m joking, first of all. I find it humorous that most of the people who say that one should have to pass a test of English for citizenship, voting, what have you……are themselves so bad at English.

    I always shut that shit down by saying, “An English test? That’s a great idea! I got 750 on my verbal SAT. What did you get? I think around 700 is a good cut-off. Wouldn’t want it any lower—we want to make sure only good English speakers get to be citizens!”

    Living in AZ, the “English-only” topic comes up a lot.

  201. 201.

    Suzanne

    @schrodingers_cat: That’s fine. I just always enjoy that shiv—someone makes the mistake of seeing that I’m white, so they complain about Latinx to me and assume I’m in agreement, then I insinuate that they’re stupid.

    So much fun.

  203. 203.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Suzanne:Although success in entrance exams/standardized tests says diddly squat about administrative competence. The current Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal, is an IIT alumnus and was in the Indian Administrative services, both have notoriously difficult entrance exams. SAT is a walk in the park compared to either of those two. Unfortunately, that hasn’t translated into administrative competence. But I do like that he is a constant thorn in Modi’s side.

  204. 204.

    Suzanne

    @schrodingers_cat: The SAT was ridiculously easy. I scored that 750 completely hung over, with zero studying or test prep.

    I know that exams are not good for much. I just enjoy making assholes feel bad about themselves.

    ETA: fixed DYAC.

  206. 206.

    J R in WV

    @hilts:

    Wow!

    What’s needed is a citizens’ impeachment inquiry, to begin on Trump’s first day in office.

    The inquiry should keep a running dossier, and forward updates at least weekly to the House Judiciary Committee. There will be no lack of evidence.

    The materials should be made public via a website. The inquiry should be conducted by a distinguished panel whose high-mindedness and credentials are, well, unimpeachable.

    This is great!

    Thanks!!!

  207. 207.

    J R in WV

    @debbie:

    Dictionary.com makes me speechless. One of the worst usage/meaning look ups on the whole net. Makes you wonder where they stole their text.

  208. 208.

    Ruckus

    @Temporarily Max McGee (Until Death!):
    You know we really aren’t in disagreement here. I’m not saying he will do it and I’m not saying that it will work out swell for him. But he’s spent his entire life doing shit that hasn’t actually worked out real swell for him, it’s why he’s such a turd. I’m saying that he might do this because he’d perceive that it would be good for him, if someone that he listens to or admires spent 5 minutes suggesting it. Right now that someone only looks to be Vlad.
    I also think the joke about paying him a tidy sum to go away wasn’t such a bad idea before the primary. Hell a gofundme to pay off all the repubs would have been a great idea. For ten bucks you too could save the country. I’d of gone in for at least a sawbuck for that one.

  209. 209.

    debbie

    @J R in WV:

    I’m not sure I’ve used it before, but it was at the top of the Google list. I know I’ve never seen that slider thing before.

  210. 210.

    hovercraft

    @fuckwit:
    Are you trying to depress us? It’s bad enough that he’s going to have four years, the GOPtards are too afraid of his hordes of idiots to impeach him. Leave us to our hope/delusion that real America will rise up after 4 years of his shit to take back the country from the pyromaniacs who are now running it.

  211. 211.

    dww44

    @debbie: While I hope you are right, I’ve never put much faith in the ability of low-information but simultaneously angry values voters to pushback against the dismantling of the safety net which supports them. It’s the tribalism which matters most and I expect that the dismantling of what has been built to “provide for the general welfare” over the last 80 plus years to proceed apace beginning tomorrow.

    The only thing that just might make this a tad more tolerable is if somehow the Dems pull a bit of a legislative hat trick tomorrow and approve a renominated Merrick Garland to fill the SC seat that was/is our right to fill.

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