Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

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

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

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

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

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Two Down, Four to Go

Two Down, Four to Go

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States, that is, on the way to DC (we’re staying in MD). Greetings from your Balloon Juice Women’s March road crew.

Nice weather so far. We’re behind the rain band that I hope will unleash torrents on the shitgibbon’s absurd combover and cause the makeup worn by the interchangeable statuesque females in his entourage to run down their faces in ugly black rivulets.

Valued commenter SectionH had a nice idea in the early morning thread: people who are attending a march offering to carry the names of friends who can’t. I’m carrying the name of every single one of you jackals, right here on my phone, whether you like it or not.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

105Comments

  5. 5.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Make sure to stand in front of the Gold House and give that fraudulent fat fucker the finger.

  6. 6.

    Skepticat

    Brava! I’m out of the country, but a (male) friend going to the Baltimore march is going to take a few steps for me. I’d appreciate it if you would too.

  7. 7.

    RSR

    My wife is heading to DC from Philly after she’s done teaching this afternoon. Amtraking it down, probably passing the Bidens heading north. :(

  8. 8.

    Mustang Bobby

    I have many memories of driving through Georgia on the way to and from Florida way back when I-75 was barely finished and the proliferation of billboards for WOODEN BOWLS and FIREWORKS! I hope you run into neither.

  9. 9.

    MomSense

    There are vans, buses, and cars loaded with pu_syhats from Maine (and all the other states, too). If you are given one to wear, think of it as a thank you from a bunch of tricoteuses to you for representing us. I saved one for myself so I can attend a sister march tomorrow in style.

  12. 12.

    guachi

    I’ll be there, too, Betty!

    I’ll be staying in VA as I have to leave later today from GA and need to stop as early as possible.

  14. 14.

    raven

    @Mustang Bobby: Wasn’t fireworks in Georgia, proly South Carolina.

    Thursday, June 25, 2015 Georgia Politics and Government

    The fireworks era in Georgia begins July 1.

    But just because it will be legal to sell, buy and possess many types of fireworks in Georgia, don’t expect to see the combustible commodities available on every street corner. State officials and fireworks companies are racing the clock to approve store applications to peddle the pyrotechnics, but as of Tuesday only two of 205 applications had been approved.

  18. 18.

    hovercraft

    Given that he’s a news hound, I want him to spend Saturday watching hundreds of thousands of people across the country marching against him and everything he stands for. Who knows maybe he’ll blow a gasket and give William Henry Harrison a run for his money ;-)

  19. 19.

    donnah

    Good luck and godspeed, Betty! I want the Inauguration to be a stinking failure and the protests to be major successes. We will need to be the burr under trump’s butt, and the voice that whispers into his ear every day, reminding him he’s an abject failure. His vanity is one of his weak spots and we need to go after him on all fronts.

    Many thanks to those who will be marching and speaking out for the good of our country. Here’s hoping for nice weather, lots of bathrooms, and a shared spirit of hope and strength.

  21. 21.

    Mustang Bobby

    @raven: Yeah, they were ads for places in right over the border in Tennessee. The ones I remember on I-95 in Georgia and South Carolina were for SOUTH OF THE BORDER, the massive tourist trap on the border of SC and NC. Never stopped there.

  23. 23.

    nicole wickham

    Road tripping it now. Left Chicago area last night, stopped in Ohio, and on the road again. My mom, sister, and SIL. We are pumped!

  25. 25.

    DanF

    My wife is on her way. She texted me a photo of the airport shuttle – shoulder to shoulder with determined looking women. I’ll be shocked if this March doesn’t blow the doors off of the 200k anticipated participants.

  26. 26.

    hovercraft

    Re posting from last thread.

    I’ve had a terrible start to what is a terrible day.

    So I’m sitting next to a white woman in her late fifties, who tells me she watched some of the pre Armageddon coverage this morning, she comments about all the balls, I say that they are saying it’s going to be one of the smaller celebrations in recent memory. Nah uh , the Shrubs was smaller, okay I say, but that was because the Supreme Court…. I tell her about the large turnout expected for tomorrow, and she goes into a both sides spiel, (McConnell et al conspiring the night of the inauguration, is the same as people, citizens coming to DC to march and protest), and says he’s taking over the White House twitter feed, and that is costing him a substantial number of his followers, i.e. he’s popular. I counter with Kim Kardashian has a ton of followers, he is president now, time to stop the twitter rants it’s not presidential, but, but, but other than Obama this is the first president to be fully on social media, who knows what would have happened if it had been available in the past. She then tacks on that she remembers 8 years ago that Obama didn’t want to give up his Blackberry, so you see this is not unusual. I come back with the issue was securing the device not the content, it was resolved by the NSA providing him with a secure one. Ah well you see, times change, this just another change. At my obvious disgust she throws in that 8 years ago she was saying the same things about the presidency if Barrack Obama, she’s just a patriot who supports the president, she was just raised that way.
    I stopped talking, she is beyond reach, comparing anything about Obama to the shitgibbon is insane. I’m going to try to avoid having any more conversations with people who make me want to send them to FEMA camps for re-education. That was Obama’s biggest failure, not opening those camps!!

  27. 27.

    geg6

    Thanks for going, Betty. I so wish there was a march near enough to me that I could make it. But a five or six hour drive (depending on weather and traffic on the turnpike) to Philly just isn’t in the cards for me this weekend. That seems to be where the action will be here in PA. I have friends who are also headed to DC. If you run into any Pittsburgh people, ask if any of them are named Jody (a redhead, you can’t miss her) or Christina (they’ll be together). If they are, tell them Gail said she’s there in spirit.

  28. 28.

    Another Scott

    Got an e-mail from Rep. Don Beyer this morning. Women’s March Virginia has some good information (e.g. this one page .pdf about various helpful things for marchers (laws, phone numbers, apps, etc.)).

    Virginia is going to have a get-together near the Carousel before the main event tomorrow. Presumably other states/groups will have similar things. It’s probably a good idea to meet up with similar people in your area to generate contacts to help move things forward. It’s going to be a long struggle.

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (Who wishes information like this would get out there sooner. Some chaos is good, but Virginia Democrats seem to love to cut things close!)

  29. 29.

    Nicole

    En route myself from NYC. Staying overnight in Arlington and meeting up with friends tomorrow.

  32. 32.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Be safe and have lots of fun, Betty! Since I have a commitment tomorrow that precludes my marching even locally, I am beyond grateful to you for carrying my name.

  33. 33.

    oldster

    Yup, about to hop in the car here in Upstate New York and drive down for an early start tomorrow morning. I won’t recognize you, and you won’t recognize me, but I’ll be glad to know that there are other Balloon Juicer’s in the crowd with me.

  35. 35.

    evap

    Betty, you should have stopped by for breakfast!
    Getting on an airplane in a couple of hours, we are staying with friends in Virginia. Fingers crossed that the metro isn’t too crazy tomorrow morning.

    I’m marching for my 89-year-old mom who would dearly love to come, but isn’t healthy enough to travel. She has been a lefty/liberal all of her life, was a national VP of the League of Women Voters, and raised me right! Go, Mom!!!

  36. 36.

    bemused

    Watching Stephanie Miller Show and Frangela duo (love those two) are wearing putty tat hats.
    The other word put me in moderation.

  37. 37.

    Spanky

    Been getting my too-regular emails from teaparty.org again:

    Loyal Members:

    RED ALERT: Hordes of insane liberal insurgents are planning a frontal attack during the inauguration on January 20 in Washington D.C.!

    Listen up! I and many of the Tea Party leaders will be at the inauguration, and it is reported the liberal mob have specifically targeted conservative leaders… there may even be a hefty price on our heads. The liberal mob will stop at nothing to destroy the swearing in of Donald J Trump as the next President of the United States.

    But we will not back down! This is why we need sponsors now! Insiders are whispering underworld leaders such as George Soros and the Leftist Crime Machine may be financing all-out attacks on this ceremony, but we will be ready.

    The plan is to do everything within our power to ensure a safe inauguration for all who attend, and to report and stop any malicious activity that the left has in store before it gets out of hand.

    Are you ready? Our Tea Party, team along with bodyguards and travel resources, will be stationed in or about Washington D.C. many days early so as to secure our place in the coming events and plan our evacuation paths in the event the liberal mobs spark a full-scale insurrection.

    It goes on for a bit. Yadda yadda. Then gets to the point of the (and many previous) email:

    I’m stating for the record: I must ask you to sponsor our Tea Party trip to Washington DC, secure our safety, which include bodyguards and safe passage back home. Can I count on you?

    To be honest we need over $49,700 to ensure our safety and reasonable travel expenses.

    Always, Always. Always about the grift.

    (Oh, and everything in the blockquotes is sic)

  38. 38.

    La Caterina (Mrs. Johannes)

    I have feral cat feeding duty this weekend so I can’t attend the March. But I will adopt your idea, Betty, and send my name in the pocket of a friend. Safe travels to you and the rest of the Juicers heading to DC.

  40. 40.

    Spanky

    @Spanky: “…so as to secure our place in the coming events and plan our evacuation paths in the event the liberal mobs spark a full-scale insurrection.” = “Hold a place in the Port-O-John line.”

  43. 43.

    hovercraft

    TPM

    President Barack Obama left the Oval Office for the last time Friday morning at around 9:14 a.m., briefly responding to shouted questions from reporters and saying “thank you” to the American people.

    Television cameras outside the White House caught images of Obama placing what appeared to be a letter in the drawer of the Oval Office’s Resolute Desk, perhaps the traditional end-of-term note to the president’s successor.

    As Obama left the office for the last time, followed shortly afterwards by Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, he answered shouted questions from reporters.

    “Feeling nostalgic?” one reporter asked. “Of course,” Obama responded.

    “Any final words for the American people?” shouted another.

    “Thank you,” Obama said as he walked away.

    As Joe and Jill Biden emerged from the office, the Vice President shouted to reporters, “Keep the rain away, will ya?”

  45. 45.

    hovercraft

    I hope these people are all given as big a megaphone as possible.
    Let everyone see WHO THEY ARE.
    Seems to me they are NOT suffering from “economic anxiety”.

    ‘Official Bible Believers’ Rail Against Islam At Trump Inauguration

    WASHINGTON – As hundreds of Donald Trump supporters stood in the gray chill Friday morning waiting to enter the National Mall to witness his swearing-in as president, they were greeted by a delegation of a group calling themselves the “official bible believers.”

    “Who wants to be run by a woman?” group leader Ruben Israel (pictured), a stocky bald man wearing a “Jesus Is Lord” shirt, yelled into a bullhorn. “There’s nothing wrong with having a male president, folks. The winner puts his hand on the Bible. That’s the theme for today.”

    “It’s a great day to be an American.”

    Behind him, other group members stood holding oversized signs reading “BLM are racist thugs” and “ban homo marriage.”

    Israel turned to a female journalist holding a mic up to catch his words and asked if she was Muslim. When she replied affirmatively he yelled “any other Muslims in the crowd? Who here is a Muslim?”

    “It’s an evil religion,” Israel said. “I hope our president deports all of ’em. People like you should be afraid.”

    “Do you think Trump shares your views?” the journalist asked.

    “Sure he does.”

    “What about the people in this crowd?”

    “They voted him in and he made that statement. He said Islam is bad,” Israel replied.

  46. 46.

    Marmot

    I’m going to the Austin protests today and tomorrow with Battleground Texas. Any of y’all who’re Austinites should too!

    Fight the douchocracy!

  47. 47.

    mai naem mobile

    I was at a store earlier. They had a clip of Orange Julius and P0rn star walking in or out of church and I had a wave of nausea. Four ducking years of this. OMG

  49. 49.

    hovercraft

    We are through the looking glass.

    Trump Wanted Soviet Style Inaugural Parade with Tanks and Missiles

    We’re now learning that President-Elect Trump wanted a full Soviet-style inaugural parade, with tanks, missiles and missile launchers. The Pentagon nixed that idea but agreed to a jet fighter flyover. In an interview published Wednesday morning Trump had spoken about his desire to hold military parades during his presidency. But this is the first sign he had tried to hold a Soviet style military parade for his inauguration.

    The Pentagon was reportedly not only concerned about the symbolism of such a show but also had more practical concerns about whether tanks, which weigh over 100,000 pounds would do permanent damage to the roads.

    For those who don’t remember the pre-1991 days or the great parades which went through the 1980s. VIDEO

    Oy vey !!

  50. 50.

    Ian G.

    To me, it always comes back to the hair with Trump. It’s the most glaring, obvious sign that the guy is not right in the head. The man’s aesthetic is a cross between Saddam Hussein and a scumbag 1970s used car salesman on Cross Bay Blvd who owes money to the Gambinos.

  51. 51.

    MomSense

    @hovercraft:

    I have had many of that type of conversation. They seem to be either dumb, mean/greedy, or compartmentalize their understanding of the issues in such an absurd way that they cannot grasp that these issues are much more complicated and interrelated than their talking point responses.

  52. 52.

    A Ghost To Most

    “Nobody is lookin’ up to care about a drone
    All too busy lookin’ down at our phone
    Our ego’s begging for a food like a dog from our feed
    Refresing obsessively until our eyes start to bleed
    They serve up distractions and we eat them with fries
    Until the bombs fall out of our fucking skies

    Turn off the TV
    Turn off the news
    Nothin’ to see here
    They’re serving the blues

    Bullshit on my TV
    Bullshit on my radio
    The Hollywood telling me how to be me
    The bullshit’s got to go”

    Sturgill Simpson, Call to Arms

    America, Fuck Yeah!

  53. 53.

    darrel wright

    Printing up a 2’x12′ “Make America America Again” banner. Text flanked by crossed-out hammer & sickle for the march in Cleveland tomorrow.

  54. 54.

    catpal

    Yeah for Women’s Marchers and protesters! Wishing you all good days. In case you need it – D.C. law groups offer free legal help if arrested and jailed call 202-670-6866 or families and friends of those arrested can be directed by phone to 1-866-798-6444.

    I can’t get to March this weekend – home sick today but happy Animal Planet channel is running TooCute! marathon today to keep the rage down. So sad to see President Obama and family leaving.

  57. 57.

    Jeffro

    Btw I thought this was odd…deep-blue Wisconsin village surprised it voted for Trump…

    …what if it didn’t? Isn’t it weird how Manafort told Trump to “focus on Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania”? Isn’t it weird that there was no big uptick in R voter registration, just that, supposedly, a ton of occasional R voters turned out?

    What if their votes showed up, despite them never having gone to the polls? It wouldn’t have taken much to tip those states (and as we know, they were ‘won’ by extremely small margins).

  58. 58.

    Quinerly

    NPR interviewing an 11 year old Trump supporter from Florida. His mother gave him a trip to the inauguration for his birthday. The 11 year old says “foreign policy is my issue.” Trump will defeat Isis. Seems the kid was a Trump supporter when his parents were originally for Rubio. Parents were concerned about Trump’s language. Kid would rather have someone not sugarcoat it. That kind of language will defeat Isis! Make America Great Again!

    We are so fucked.

  59. 59.

    sheila in nc

    Going up early tomorrow morning with one of several buses leaving in the wee hours from Chapel Hill. I hope to meet up with my sister, mom, and nieces who will be coming down from Baltimore. One of my nieces is flying in from California to participate. Others I know who can’t get to DC are going to the sister march in Raleigh. I am so pumped. Also I’m stealing the RELEASE YOUR TAXES sign (maybe I will add “I Am Not A Reporter”)
    And I totally love how it will rain today and not tomorrow!

  60. 60.

    tobie

    Am heading to DC tomorrow from Maryland. Have the cardboard ready for a sign-making party this evening.

  61. 61.

    Oatler.

    It’s the inauguration of the US Fascist Party President. Never has the media been so eager to please, never have I been so glad I don’t have cable.

  62. 62.

    The Red Pen

    My aunt and her daughter-in-law are going. This is awesome and surprising. They are typical Midwestern gals from the suburbs of Cleveland and I’ve never heard either one express a political opinion. This tells me that we going to see real and deep backlash.

    Me? I’ll be in Mexico by tomorrow. Sailing close to Cuba later tonight. Tempting.

  63. 63.

    Это курам на смех

    Up to 20,000 protesters are expected to converge in downtown Portland today. The downside is that our homegrown anarchist/extreme leftie contingent will be part of it. These are the yahoos who Dave Chappelle joked about on SNL, and they are again likely to shatter store windows and block traffic. The latter is their declared aim and their easiest target is our light rail system. Their leaders have also said they want to block our main interstate highway. This group consists mostly of young men enjoying their white privilege. I am teleworking today to avoid not being able to get home as happened the last time they shut down the trains. The TV people love the hotheads and will focus on their antics while largely ignoring thousands of peaceful protesters. We will also see some turnout by Trump lovers and might have some ugly clashes in the street. Film at eleven.

  65. 65.

    Dolly Llama

    @hovercraft: Is it just me, or are the comments over there completely fucked? The new posts are matched with old comment threads. Reckon Josh got too close and was hacked?

  71. 71.

    bemused

    Stephanie Miller just played Rocky Mountain Mike cover song “Obama Stay” and even though it should have made me teary sad, instead I felt happy, optimistic and it boosted my spirits. I need to play that youtube every time I feel down.

  72. 72.

    mai naem mobile

    Don’t forget to unfollow POTUS on twitter for people on twitter since Orange Douchebag is big on number of followers. He can buy followers on twitter but that story would come out if he did.

  73. 73.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @hovercraft:

    so, that covers all the bases and is a coda for the day – anti-woman, anti-black, anti-gay, anti-non Christian, anti education.

  75. 75.

    hovercraft

    @Quinerly:
    Give him time, remember the wonder kid Jonathan Khron, he was the next great thing, the face of the next generation of conservative. He was the star of the C-PAC convention back in 2009. Here he is in 2012, talking about himself back then:

    “I think it was naive,” Krohn now says of the speech. “It’s a 13-year-old kid saying stuff that he had heard for a long time.… I live in Georgia. We’re inundated with conservative talk in Georgia.… The speech was something that a 13-year-old does. You haven’t formed all your opinions. You’re really defeating yourself if you think you have all of your ideas in your head when you were 12 or 13. It’s impossible. You haven’t done enough.”

  77. 77.

    Shalimar

    @Quinerly: Look on the bright side. The parents were Rubio supporters. Even at 11, the kid is already smarter than the parents. He supported the winner. They supported hot air in a suit. And the kid will most likely grow out of it. The parents never will.

  78. 78.

    hovercraft

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    I’m in.

    Seeing that LOGO takes me back to a happier time. Back before a portion of the country showed just how truly evil and depraved they are.

    It gets better is a motto we can all use right about now.

  80. 80.

    ericblair

    I live in Europe now. The protests are important, not only to bring together Americans and make sure we don’t get atomized like the authoritarians want, but also to show the world that Trump isn’t America. The protests do get a lot of coverage in the foreign press. Europeans seem to understand Trump far better than Americans do because of history, but they’re also much more confident and positive about Americans than Americans are, funnily enough. They figure we’ll learn our lesson and be able to bounce back and change. I hope they’re right.

  81. 81.

    Shalimar

    @mai naem mobile: I agree about unfollowing Potus and Flotus. Trump has said he will continue to tweet under his current account, but the Trump White House will still control Potus and Flotus accounts as of noon. I assume they will use them for public relations and announcements, which none of us want to get from Trump’s people.

  82. 82.

    cckids

    Thanks, Betty. I’m with you in spirit, though I’m unable to make even my local march. Donated a bit to them & talked at least 5 people into going, so that’s good. Be safe, & let the shitgibbon have it, Balloon-Juice-style !

  85. 85.

    Elizabelle

    So Wilmer sent out some bombastic email. And I hit “unsubscribe” so fast.

    Site asks for a reason (optional). I typed in

    Because I think you and your supporters helped elect Donald Trump. Shame on you.

    Felt so good.

  87. 87.

    hovercraft

    @Shalimar:
    Just think generations from now people will read the @realdonaldtrump feed as part of his legacy, they will be able to see for themselves who and what he was, this vile excuse for a human being who will soon be sworn in. Regardless of him maintaining two feeds it will all be preserved for posterity. The Reagan people can claim that the racist things he did were not intended that way, here there is no plausible deniability, history will not be full of courtiers eager for access, we will have his own words to condemn him with.

  89. 89.

    randy khan

    One last forecast update for people coming to D.C. for the march tomorrow:

    Cloudy, basically a 10% chance of rain.

    Expected temperatures:

    8:00 a.m. – 45 degrees
    10:00 a.m. -48 degrees
    noon – 52 degrees
    2:00 p.m. – 53 degrees
    4:00 p.m. – 54 degrees

    Look for me in the crowd. I’ll be the guy with grey hair and a purple hat.

  93. 93.

    ericblair

    @Elizabelle:

    If I may ask, what country are you in now? Or region?

    I’m in Belgium, with people from all over the continent and the seat of institutions under attack from multiple fronts.

  95. 95.

    BruceFromOhio

    I’m carrying the name of every single one of you jackals, right here on my phone, whether you like it or not.

    Why, that sounds almost Cole-esque! This jackal thanks you for being so thoughtful.

    Tomorrow we march in Cleveland – Public Square, 10am. MrsFromOhio is making signs today:

    THINK – IT’S PATRIOTIC

  97. 97.

    wild-eyed socialist

    Isn’t a green balloon a place marker for BJ meet ups? Maybe a set amount of balloons of a certain color means a fellow jackal is nearby?
    Proud jackal with a bad back. I will be watching the marches on TV. Please stay safe Marchers!

  98. 98.

    laura

    I’m proud to be on your list!
    Stay safe. Bring that piss and vinegar to the halls of power.
    We, the people, have the power (said a better woman than I)!

  100. 100.

    thedeadcanary

    Betty C, wish we could march together but we’ll be with you all in spirit from Paris.

  101. 101.

    Miss Bianca

    @hovercraft: I feel you. Right now I’m trying to avoid FB friends who are, if not actual racists themselves, ready to exhort all of us to “think positive!” and “get over it!”. I’m trying ridicule, but I’m also just so witheringly disgusted. How they can refuse to see that this is NOT business – or politics – as usual is beyond me.

    Also posted the link Adam provided to the NYT article on the investigation into the Russian connection, referencing his comment that we’ve never had a President enter office before when he and his team were the target of two intelligence investigations. That sound I’ve been hearing? Crickets. Nothing but crickets.

  103. 103.

    JimL

    Too old,
    Too fat,
    Too tired
    To march!
    But there is spirit.
    Evolution doesn’t create second-class human beings.
    Only religion and Republicans do that.
    Fighting Republican treason since 1968.

  104. 104.

    Juju

    Thank you Betty. I really wanted to go, but I couldn’t find anyone to go with. My sister is married to a Trumper and the other person who I would have gone with I couldn’t even ask since her situation is so grim right now. At least my niece and sister-in-law will be there from Albany.

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