Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

People are weird.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

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

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

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Reader Interactions

181Comments

  2. 2.

    Mike in NC

    No shirt or tie, just a vest and jacket. New LA fashion statement?

    Heavy rain here tomorrow but up in Raleigh they might get hit with a foot of snow.

  4. 4.

    Ithink

    Wow, fascinating life she & her mom lived. Both how they unfolded and tragically ended. As a photographer, thats about as bizarre a photo-op as I’ve ever seen!

    @BettyCracker: Lucky you guys! Saying hello from (North) Texas where there’s two inches of snow, in the mid twenties of temperature and I’m unable to leave the house to do anything fun (as has been the case for the last half week)! Grateful to be safe and warm for now but wishing the other person I’m stuck here with was in a better mood…

  8. 8.

    satby

    After wasting my three days off being sick, I go back to work tomorrow. It got to a nice, sunny high of 10 degrees out today, so staying in wasn’t that much of a bad thing though.

  9. 9.

    SFBayAreaGal

    On BBC America right now, the greatest title for any episode of a television series and Star Trek to boot, is “For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky.”

  12. 12.

    mai naem mobile

    That doesn’t look like Paul Simon. It kinda sorta looks like Bully Crystal. What does he brother look like?

  16. 16.

    Villago Delenda Est

    That looks like Paul Simon to me, and her prozac capsule should be shot out of a photon torpedo tube at the Death Star.

  17. 17.

    HeleninEire

    It’s almost 1am here and I can’t sleep so I am watching “Fun With Dick and Jane”. The first one; from 1977. JEEBUS EFFING CHRISTMAS Jane Fonda was pretty then and she’s just as pretty now.

  18. 18.

    JPL

    @satby: Brrr. I do hope you are feeling better. Supposedly, tomorrow when I wake there will be up to six inches of snow on the ground. The temperature might dip to a low of 23, but warm to 29.
    I don’t have a snow shovel, but since I don’t have boots, it is not a problem. The city doesn’t plow side streets anyway, so I’m stuck. Mr. Finch is not going to be happy.

  20. 20.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @NotMax: The wily Chinese, getting a chunk of ice the size of Delaware to break free just to rain on Donald’s denial of the reality of climate change.

  24. 24.

    Brachiator

    I was listening to a couple of podcasts, with film fans describing the impact of Carrie Fisher’s Star Wars character.

    On “An Hour With Your Ex,” the female host Mel Evans noted that after seeing Star Wars, she was Princess Leia for 5 consecutive Halloweens.

    On another podcast, one of the hosts spoke about how the Princess Leia character was the first female action figure he bought as a kid. He remembered going with his father to the big toy store in the area and stocking up on all the action figures. When his father saw Leia, he noted to his son, “That’s a girl.”

    And the kid solemnly advised his father, “You can’t have Star Wars without Princess Leia.”

    Yep.

  25. 25.

    Brachiator

    Another note. Some recent reports about Obama “defying” Trump and transferring 4 more prisoners from Gitmo.

    Which Trump promises to fill up again with “bad guys.”

    Just sad.

  26. 26.

    HeleninEire

    @Villago Delenda Est: Haven’t gotten to that yet. I don’t mind the spoiler; I saw the movie when it first came out. This is fun. The “Columbia Pictures” lady with the torch came on at the beginning and I thought ‘Holy crap I’m old” cuz I remember her.

  27. 27.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: Figures that dastardly Obummer would try to cover up the trueff before being run out of town.

  29. 29.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    Currently sleeting in Raleigh. Wondering what I’ll wake up to tomorrow.

  30. 30.

    debbie

    Betty, I saw your Tweet response to Trump. I still can’t believe you haven’t been blocked!

    I heard Scott briefed Trump and Pence on the Ft. Lauderdale shooting, but not Obama. Is he planning on waiting 14 days for any assistance from the federal government?

  32. 32.

    debbie

    @satby:

    Same weather here. Too fucking cold. Glad you’re better but be sure to bundle up, especially if you have to scrape your car in the morning.

  33. 33.

    MomSense

    Damn Paul Ryan decided he needed a logo and it looks an awful lot like the Nazi logo.

    I hate Illinois Nazis (all the others, too).

  34. 34.

    Major Major Major Major

    @debbie: I don’t think Trump ‘does’ blocking.

    @MomSense: Just googled it. Jesus, does nobody check these things first? I guess that’s sort of the logo of the house already though. ETA: To clarify, it’s the thing on top of the mace. Classic fascist iconography.

  39. 39.

    RandomMonster

    We’re about to get rain here in the Santa Cruz Mtns — about 12 inches according to the forecast. I’m awaiting the inevitable power outage.

  40. 40.

    Duke's Archives

    Random Thought: Does anybody remember seeing that bit from the movie trailer of “Postcards from the Edge” where Meryl Streep is hanging off the side of a building?

    Sure, you can jus Youtube it but I’m trying to remember which VHS it was. I think it was “Ghost.”

  41. 41.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @SFBayAreaGal:

    Curiously, half an hour ago I was chatting about The Man Trap (season one, episode two). That’s not a stellar title, but not terrible. City on the Edge of Forever was a good title AND episode.

  45. 45.

    Ohio Mom

    @debbie: I don’t get why he needs his own personal logo. What adult has a logo?

    It sounds like a junior high school art class assignment: make you name into a logo. You will be graded on creativity and neatness.

    Of course since he plagiarized the Nazis, he wouldn’t have gotten a good grade on creatvity.

  46. 46.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @MomSense:

    I hate Illinois Nazis (all the others, too).

    Ryan is a Wisconsinite. Co-signed on Illinois and all other Nazis.

    ETA: It burns me that this man, representing 670k people in his congressional district, is determining policy FOR THE WHOLE COUNTRY.

  47. 47.

    Major Major Major Major

    @MomSense: if you look at some of the classic House iconography like the mace it’s very prominent. Us and the fascists both got such images from the romans. Most likely Ryan and his staff are used to seeing it around the capital.

  51. 51.

    Mnemosyne

    I realized this week that I’m having some issues figuring out exactly how to structure my novel, so this weekend I’m going to re-read one that I already think is well-structured and do a beat sheet.

    Sometimes writing genre fiction has its advantages.

  55. 55.

    Mnemosyne

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    They were (briefly) married back in the 80s. IIRC, it was before she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, so it didn’t last long.

    Nonetheless, I’m pretty sure that’s her brother, Todd Fisher, whose life really sucks right now. What he’s living is what my big fear was when my brother died.

  60. 60.

    chris

    Yuck, winter is here. No snow on the ground yesterday, about four inches today. Up to another foot arriving tomorrow night. Gonna smack the next one who says it’s pretty. Yaktrax rock!

  63. 63.

    Peale

    @Brachiator: I look forward to the inevitable whine coming out of the Greenwald camp and look forward to rubbing his nose in that shit personally. Forever. There are certain so called progressives who signed onto the Putin train in the name of being anti-Hillary and some of those are better off dead than back claiming to lead movements within the party. There. I said it. I’d rather GG be dead than pretending to be a voice of “progressivism” and great protector of civil liberties.

  64. 64.

    mouse tolliver

    Ever notice the strong resemblence between Edie Brickell and Carrie Fisher? Either Paul Simon has a definite type, or never really got over her.

  65. 65.

    ? Martin

    That’s definitely Todd Fisher. And the symbol is that of the mace of the Speaker of the House as Majorx4 notes. The eagle is not exactly an un-American symbol…

  70. 70.

    Mnemosyne

    @? Martin:

    When your graphic design makes people do a double-take and say, “Wait, is that a … ” then your graphic design has failed.

    Protip: there was not actually a peni$ deliberately drawn into the castle on the home video cover for The Little Mermaid, but there was enough resemblance at first glance that the company had to alter the art. Same thing here.

  71. 71.

    danielx

    Six degrees and all is not well, since I have unmistakable indications of a root canal in my immediate future. Fortunately for me the dentist called in scrips for ty1enol with kode1ne and amoxyci11in. Equally fortunately I wasn’t planning to go out this weekend (much) ’cause it’s soooooo cold.

    I’d feel sorry for the people in NC who are going to get a blizzard, but they voted in those pricks with ears in the legislature.

  75. 75.

    Duke's Archives

    Total blind question — Did Mike Huckabee have a cameo in “Hell or High Water?”

  77. 77.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @SFBayAreaGal:

    Nice haul! Speaking of older SF writers, Philip K. Dick lived in my hometown when I was a kid. I’d love to imagine I rode past his house on my bicycle and received a withering glance.

  78. 78.

    Mnemosyne

    @danielx:

    Ouch! I’ve had four root canals (or five, I’ve lost count). Luckily, I have a very good endodontist who’s generous with the Novocain, so they only hurt afterwards. Good luck!

  79. 79.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Congress has many Roman symbols and has since the beginning (the Senate, to name an obvious borrowing); it’s not their fault that Mussolini borrowed from the Romans for his symbols, too.

  83. 83.

    Adam L Silverman

    @SFBayAreaGal: I’ve got the same book. Its an interesting comparative history to see how the script got changed from what he originally wrote.

  85. 85.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @MomSense: My bad to miss the cultural reference. True confessions: this (former) Chicagoan has never seen The Blues Brothers. Probably time to correct that deficit.

  93. 93.

    NotMax

    Mom just now phoned to share this:

    Heard about the Trump sandwich?

    Lots of baloney and tongue on white bread, with Russian dressing and a small pickle.

  100. 100.

    Mnemosyne

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    I watched The Blues Brothers again a few months ago and was surprised at how well it’s aged. It’s really just a classic “let’s put on a show!” musical and is pretty open about that.

    Plus, Illinois Nazis get their comeuppance several times.

  102. 102.

    opiejeanne

    This is probably a dead thread, and if not I’m probably the final kiss of death.
    This is a company owned by one of my kids, so if you’re in Seattle on a Sunday and near the statue of Lenin in Fremont, go have some at the Fremont Sunday Market just down the street, because it’s delicious:
    Fire and Scrape Raclette

  103. 103.

    Duke's Archives

    @Mnemosyne: It’s one of my favorite movies and one the best “Chicago” movies, right? Alongside “Fugitive” “Untouchables” and _____!!

  104. 104.

    HeleninEire

    @Baud: It’s 1:54am. Can’t sleep tonight. Don’t know why. Here’s what I can’t do.

    1. I am still saying DOLLARS. No.

    2. Also the date. So to make it easier I am taking the numbers out when I can. So today is not 1/7/17. It’s not even 7/1/17. It is 7, January 2017.

    3. Lastly, crossing the streets. Nope I have no idea.

  106. 106.

    lamh36

    Alright bout to check out this new Wizard of Oz -based show #EmeraldCity on NBC…anyone else?

  107. 107.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Mnemosyne:

    It’s really just a classic “let’s put on a show!” musical and is pretty open about that.

    No, they’re on a Mission From God.

  108. 108.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    She should comment here more often.

    I’m pretty sure John Cole’s mother* lurks here. It’d be great if Mrs Cole Sr and Mrs NotMax Sr started commenting regularly. Other mothers, too. I’ll bet we’d all learn a lot.

    *(Waves to John’s mom)

  109. 109.

    zhena gogolia

    @lamh36:

    So good. I am so Luther.

    Today we were standing in the checkout line at the grocery and I said, “I hate Donald Trump.” I thought I was saying it just to my husband, but then the young checkout woman looked at me and smiled a big smile.

  110. 110.

    JPL

    @satby: I just brought Finch out, and a family that moved from Houston last year to my neighborhood, was outside with their girls. You could heal the squeals. That was kinda neat. The girls are in first and second grade.

  111. 111.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @lamh36:

    Awesome.

    Is there a comedian who could do a Donald Trump “sane translator” for the next few years?

    (Failing that, maybe the Bad Lip Reading folks will do his Inaugural Address.)

  115. 115.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud:

    How’s the metric system?

    I’ve been assured that it will suck out all our precious bodily fluids*.

    *The Metric system and Fluoridation.

  118. 118.

    rikyrah

    Vicente Fox Quesada Verified account
    ‏@VicenteFoxQue

    TRUMP, when will you understand that I am not paying for that fucken wall. Be clear with US tax payers. They will pay for it.

  120. 120.

    HeleninEire

    @Baud:

    LOLOL Will you marry me? Just today I turned on the microwave. It worked. The washing machine? Not so much. Marry me. And then come wash my clothes.

  122. 122.

    Jeffro

    Maddow ON FIRE tonight…man, this thang ain’t even close to being over and thank goodness

    Btw everyone say GO DUKES tomorrow! Geez is it ever cold down here in Dallas..,

  124. 124.

    Tehanu

    @Adam L Silverman:

    “Mirror, Mirror” is my favorite too. Have you read Diane Duane’s novel, Dark Mirror, in which the Next Generation crew finds themselves having to deal with the Mirror Universe? Wonderful book.

  125. 125.

    Jeffro

    @Jeffro: by the way I know we were talking in an earlier thread about the declassified version being released on Monday … it looks like by putting it out today they have already caught Trump in several lies , And perhaps that helps advance the story all next week

  129. 129.

    raven

    @HeleninEire: The Sears repair dude came tonight at 5:30. He had to order $380 worth of parts that will take three weeks to get here. If we’re lucky it will be the pump sensor, the cheapest at $50. If we don’t have to use the heavy duty electronic parts we can get out dough back.

  132. 132.

    sigaba

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Wouldn’t surprise me, Carrie and Paul did have a relationship back in the 80’s.

    Carrie Fisher and Paul Simon were married. A funny bit in Wishful Drinking involved Fisher doing an inventory of all the Paul Simon songs that are about her.

    The guy in the photo is, as everyone else noted, Todd Fisher, her brother. Named after Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynold’s bestie, Michael Todd, who’s death started the chain of events that ended with Debbie and Eddie’s divorce, by way of Eddie’s affair with Michael Todd’s widow, Liz Taylor.

  133. 133.

    The Dangerman

    I hope you all don’t mind a few more questions about tipping; I’ll ask here as opposed to a potentially dead(er) thread downstairs.

    (1) I always tip at least 20% but round up to make the bill some easy amount to deduct in the checkbook (OK, my checkbook is the computer, so it’s a really big calculator and I don’t do the math); anyway, is it rude to leave a tip that is an odd amount like $4.61 if it totals the bill up to be $20 exactly?

    (2) I never carry cash and everything is debit; that gets me into a little bit of trouble when I’m in, say, a drive through coffee place; I’ve never found the right way to tell them to add in the tip because, typically, there’s a huge line (yeah, it’s Starbucks) and they are rushed for time.

    (3) I’ve yet to figure out what is proper when I take my Mom to Home Buffet (I hate Home Buffet; it’s my Mom’s favorite place, so I go to HB like a Good Son). 20% to the people that bus the dishes there seems a little out of place (especially since HB ain’t that cheap anymore and since Mom knows I hate it, she always buys).

    (4) For those of you that travel through my beloved hometown of San Luis Obispo, you might see one of my/our favorite places; it’s called Margies (right next to the 101 on the South end of town). When we go there, we HAVE to split a meal as the portions there are such that no human could come close to eating the entire plate (and, even after splitting, we often can’t finish and, yes, I do mean both of us). Since the portions are ridiculous, the prices are fairly out of line, too, but when it’s split, it’s roughly fair. I always tip 25 or 30% (or maybe even more for great servive) at Margie’s because the wait staff are college kids and I’ve been there, done that, but I wonder if there’s a general thought of what should be done when you absolutely, positively have to split a dinner. FWIW, Margies onion rings are just sick and well worth the visit just for them.

  134. 134.

    HeleninEire

    @raven: JESUS EFFING CHRIST. I hate Sears. I can tell you sooo many Sears appliance stories. Hope the Princess is OK. Saw that you said she left her conference early. Is she home now?

  135. 135.

    hilts

    @Jeffro:

    “Maddow ON FIRE tonight…” and with damn good reason.

    Donald Trump has demonstrated, beyond any reasonable doubt, that he has shit for brains. Despite this fact, he’s going to be the most powerful person in the world for the next 4 years. I’ve never felt more ashamed to be an American or a member of the same species that elected this fucking ignoramus into the Presidency.

  136. 136.

    satby

    @The Dangerman: sounds like everything you do is fine and not shorting anyone. The extra tip for plate splitting at Margies is especially nice. People like you are not the problem.

    At buffets where I serve myself, I seldom eat more than one plate anyway. Yeah, 20% might seem high, but it’s usually only a dollar or two more than the 15% minimum I would leave, so I still tip 20%.

  137. 137.

    schrodingers_cat

    I was watching the DS9 two parter from season 5, By the Purgatory’s shadow and In the Inferno’s Light. . Dukat’s final words to Sisko sounded eerily familiar. The reason for his alliance with the Dominion, and I quote,

    To make Cardassia strong again

  139. 139.

    raven

    @HeleninEire: Yea, she’s fine and everyone is jammed on the couch! I’m actually not that disappointed with the repair dude. I had a local guy come out and he said, “I can’t do a thing, you’ll have to call Sears”. It’s a fairly new machine which limits the amount of experience they can have with this model. I was with him as he ran the diagnostics and watched his computer search for the parts and give the results. We’re in a tough place, it’s a $1000 machine and it’s going to end up costing half of that to fix it. We could junk it but that doesn’t seem like the thing to do so I’ll juts drag shit to the laundromat and bring it back to dry.

  141. 141.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: wow, raven, you’re up late!

    We have a place here that sells appliances with a 5-year warranty included, so by the time I have to pay to repair problems it doesn’t sting quite so much.

  144. 144.

    raven

    @hilts: The Macy’s here is on the hit list. It’s going to kill and already faltering mall. All the new stores are going across the county line to the lily-white suburban county. They love to bitch and moan about Athens and are glad to kill our tax base.

  145. 145.

    JPL

    @raven: How’s your weather.. We turned from snow to sleet. The snow total should be lower, and the ice higher. As long as I keep power, I don’t mind, because that means that by Tuesday or Wednesday, I should be able to get out.

  147. 147.

    hilts

    @raven:

    Yesterday, I found out that the Macy’s near me is closing along with a multiplex theater and they’re being replaced by a Lowe’s store.

  148. 148.

    Lizzy L

    Waiting for the storm…. We’re expecting two days of steady rain here in the SF Bay Area. This is a big one, stretching all along the coast and into the Sierras, where we hope it will snow. More snow is good. Unfortunately, I have to be out and about in it tomorrow, but Sunday I plan to be home. It’s supposed to get windy on Sunday. I hope the power stays on: my house is all electric, and if I lose power it will get cold. But not as cold as other places…

  154. 154.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @sigaba: The Wishful Drinking explanation of all that is a laff riot. It all has to do with whether or not Carrie’s daughter and one of Liz’ grandsons should have a relationship. Are they related? Let’s take a look!

  158. 158.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Mike J: The obvious coward “John Doe” should be told to fuck off and die, but in polite legal terms, of course.

  161. 161.

    opiejeanne

    @CaseyL: They reopen on Sunday after taking Christmas and New Year’s off. They’ve been in London and Switzerland this week, sampling the versions there, comparing it to what they’re doing. Theirs is really good.

  162. 162.

    opiejeanne

    @Another Scott: I remember hearing that story about the new governor arriving at the new capitol building by rowboat because of the flooding in Sacramento. We were visiting with a group of 5th/6th graders in the 90s, not long after a lot of restoration to the building had been completed. The kids were sufficiently impressed.

  163. 163.

    SFAW

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Is there a comedian who could do a Donald Trump “sane translator” for the next few years?

    Trick question! There is NOTHING sane, overtly or covertly, in anything Trump says.

    Or has he changed and I missed it? Yah, I thought not.

  166. 166.

    SFBayAreaGal

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): I should have explained it better about the original script. Harlan wrote about his experience with Star Trek and included the original script of the “City on the Edge of Forever.”

    He was not a fan of William Shatner.

  168. 168.

    Another Scott

    @opiejeanne: J fell in love with raclette when we had a vacation in Switzerland. It’s good stuff.

    Best of luck to your youngster! :-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  173. 173.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @SFBayAreaGal: Four

    In the first one, mirror Quark dies.

    In the second one, mirror Nog dies.

    The third one takes place entirely in our universe, with a mirror Bareil and The Intendant coming over to our side to attempt to steal a Bajoran Orb. No Ferengi are harmed in this episode.

    In the fourth one, mirror Brunt (who is a nice guy, unlike our Brunt), dies.

  175. 175.

    Mnemosyne

    @SFBayAreaGal:

    My husband’s family has apparently developed a tradition of having a father/son or father/son-in-law combo get up and lip-sync to “Sweet Home Chicago” at family weddings.

    The really weird part is that the tradition was apparently started at our wedding, but we both missed seeing it. I’m not even sure exactly which family members were the first to do it, but we went to his cousin’s wedding 5 years ago and were told that this is A Family Thing now thanks to our wedding!

  177. 177.

    Tazj

    @SFBayAreaGal: My dad too, and it somewhat surprised us as kids because he was so strict and religious. The first part of the movie with the nuns would kill him every time.

  179. 179.

    SFBayAreaGal

    @Tazj: My dad humor was along the lines of Dean Martin, Bob Hope type. I was surprised how much he laughed watching the movie. Whenever the movie came on television he would watch the movie. We could hear him laughing. He would tell us how he thought Blues Brothers was the funniest movie ever made. Then again he did like Rowan and Martin Laugh-In.

  180. 180.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Omnes Omnibus: True story: In my mech inf battalion, the battalion commander’s secretary visited me one day and said I was needed in her office (outside the battalion commander’s, of course) right away. It seems the the coffee pot was broken, and the LTC sent her to get me to fix it, as electricity powered it (Sparks! Fix this thing!). I assume if it it were powered by internal combustion, the motor officer would have been notified.

    Anyways, I call up my comm chief, and tell him about this problem. After muttering “fuckin’ grunts” into the phone, he made the trip from the motor pool (where the comm shop was, of course) to battalion to address the cantankerous coffee pot.

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