Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

I really should read my own blog.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

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

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

The words do not have to be perfect.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

We still have time to mess this up!

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

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

In my day, never was longer.

You are here: Home / Oh Fer Fucks Sake Republicans

Oh Fer Fucks Sake Republicans

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The Trump administration is now literally on the side of kicking puppies:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today removed public access to tens of thousands of reports that document the numbers of animals kept by research labs, companies, zoos, circuses, and animal transporters—and whether those animals are being treated humanely under the Animal Welfare Act. Henceforth, those wanting access to the information will need to file a Freedom of Information Act request. The same goes for inspection reports under the Horse Protection Act, which prohibits injuring horses’ hooves or legs for show.

The agency said in a statement that it revoked public access to the reports “based on our commitment to being transparent … and maintaining the privacy rights of individuals.”

The reports apply to 7813 facilities that keep animals covered by the law. Roughly 1200 of these are research labs, which are often housed at major academic centers or run by government agencies themselves, including the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the act covers animals like dogs and chimpanzees, it does not cover rodents like laboratory mice.

These motherfuckers.

Reader Interactions

164Comments

  4. 4.

    burnspbesq

    Wait a sec: they revoked public access to these data because of a commitment to transparency?

    What am I missing here?

  9. 9.

    Mnemosyne

    I remember when Republican legislators in Missouri reversed a voter initiative to ban puppy mills, because Republicans are just that big of assholes.

  11. 11.

    Adria McDowell (formerly LurkerExtraordinaire)

    @brendancalling: Pro-LYYYYFE!

    OT: someone mentioned over at LGM that CNN is refusing to put CobraAnne Conway on. Perhaps someone over there grew some balls and/or ovaries?

  12. 12.

    Davis X. Machina

    What’s wrong with these people? What’s wrong with Trump?

    The entire concept of the state, in Trumpland, is that it is primarily a mechanism to get people.

    Get the Muslims
    Get the liberals
    Get the women
    Get the hippies
    Get the blah people
    Get the Jews
    Get the Mexicans
    Get the foreigners.
    Get the readers, and people who know stuff.
    Get the ‘bad guys’.

    It’s basically the Weltanschauung of a nine-year old boy.

  13. 13.

    Capri

    USDA is woefully under-manned when it comes to Animal Welfare Act inspectors, This makes it easier to keep that under the radar.

  14. 14.

    Yarrow

    The agency said in a statement that it revoked public access to the reports “based on our commitment to being transparent

    Newspeak.

  15. 15.

    Tara the Antisocial Social Worker

    It’s like the NextGen episode where the fake Picard tries to see how much bizarre behavior the crew will tolerate.

    BTW, can “Bowling Green Massacre” become a regular tag for fake news? I suspect we’ll need it again.

  17. 17.

    Feathers

    A government of the lulz, by the lulz, for the lulz shall cause everyone to perish on this earth.

  18. 18.

    RealityBites

    I posted on here a while back about Brian Klippenstein of Protect the Harvest being on the transition team. I’m sure he had a hand in this. Any level of cruelty to animals, whether they’re pets or for food production, will be OK because PROFITS.

  21. 21.

    oklahomo

    Are they just going down the list of federal agencies and asking themselves, “What evil can we do here and yet make mad cash?”

  23. 23.

    Pogonip

    Cole, did you see your shadow yesterday? Will there be 6 more weeks of moving?

    (In all seriousness, I hope it went well, that it’s all over, and that the frat boys didn’t drop anything too expensive.)

  28. 28.

    Aleta

    This is too sad for real. Is there no review procedure they have to through to take formerly public info and make it off limits? Did they get a judge to rule?

  29. 29.

    Lizzy L

    @Lizzy L: The USDA is under the jurisdiction of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. There is a matching House Committee.The phone number of the Senate Committee is 202-224-2035.

    Pick your battles.

  31. 31.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Aleta:

    Did they get a judge to rule?

    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaa… gasp! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

  35. 35.

    chopper

    The agency said in a statement that it revoked public access to the reports “based on our commitment to being transparent”

    makes sense to me. it’s trumpworld!

  49. 49.

    Another Scott

    There must be a way to take advantage of Cleek’s Law in this situation (and the rest of Trump’s term) and use it against them.

    (Thinking out loud…)

    1) Set up a 501.c(3) or (4) or whatever.
    2) Get George Soros and the Clinton Foundation to make a nominal donation
    3) Have Soviet-style or DPRK-style posters made up singing Trump’s and Bannon’s praises:
    “Great Leaders Trump and Bannon – что делает Америку великой снова!”
    “Support Trump and Bannon – Keep America Safe from Evil Foreigners!”
    “Support Trump and Bannon – America’s Wages are Too High!”
    “Support Trump and Bannon – Show that you agree that nothing they do could make them unpopular!”
    “Support Trump and Bannon – The guy who said “The liberty of the press is essential to the security of freedom in a state” was a sad loser!”
    “Support Trump and Bannon – Now’s our chance to be just like Putin’s Russia!”
    4) Have regular press conferences with the Yes Men and similar experts.

    “OMG! Sorros and the Clinton Foundation are supporting Trump and Bannon!!11”

    If they want to live by Cleek’s Law, then we should mess with their minds via Poe’s Law.

    Hey, I can dream, can’t I?

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  51. 51.

    Lyrebird

    @Lizzy L: Actually there are some good folks on there who *might* be willing to at least point out the hypocrisy if not call out the needless abetting of cruelty. Thanks for laying out the info for suitable action!

    Disclosure: I say this as someone who works in a field that is… close to some of the research involved; I’m not wholesale against nonhuman animal studies. I am able to recognize and oppose blatant cruelty, though, and I agree they should not be taking away the current level of transparency.

  60. 60.

    Omnes Omnibus

    I want rustlers, cut throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers, and Methodists.

  63. 63.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Tripod:

    Donald Trump kicks puppies.

    I think it was here at BJ fairly recently that several people noted there is no documentation anywhere that Republican President* ever had a pet dog, cat, hamster, guppy, weasel, or anything. Nor is there any indication that any of his children were pet-owners, at least not while they were living with him.

    Not everyone has pets all the time, and there are lots of legitimate reasons to be petless (allergies, heavy travel commitments, lease prohibitions, etc.) but I’m willing to believe that Republican President* basically hates animals and is jealous of the attention they get.

    So fuckem, to quote efg.

  73. 73.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    No hobbies or interests other than himself as well.

    Could he be a philatelist or numismatist? Only if, like HM The Queen, his image appeared on every stamp and coin.

  78. 78.

    danielx

    @oklahomo:

    Are they just going down the list of federal agencies and asking themselves, “What evil can we do here and yet make mad cash?”

    Going way out on a limb here, but I’d guess that would be a large fuckin’ affirmative.

  84. 84.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @? Martin:

    To be fair, NYC is one of the harder places in the US to have a pet.

    What, his Manhattan landlord is going to tell him he can’t have a cat in his penthouse? He can’t afford a dog-walker?

    Plus, he seems to be afraid of everything – germs, stairs, muslims…

    I know he’d never acquire an Afghan, or an Egyptian Saluki, but he could easily get a nice Russian Wolfhound without any of his BFFs (Bigoted Fucking Friends) objecting.

  91. 91.

    Mnemosyne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    We had to rewind slightly because we realized that a truck from a local bakery (Martino’s) was in one of the shots when Bart comes riding out of the studio lot. They still have the same logo and the same delicious tea cakes.

  98. 98.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steeplejack (tablet):

    Nixon had Checkers, but that was before he was in the White House.

    Nixon was awful in many, many ways, but I never for one minute thought he had any issues with Checkers. Or his Irish setter King Timahoe, for that matter. I actually think he was very kind and loving to them. NIXON, FFS.

    Whereas I can easily envision Republican President* drop-kicking Tiffany’s kitten or Barron’s puppy or Eric’s pet snake halfway to Mars and back.

  101. 101.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mike J:

    If you’re a fan of the Universal Frankenstein films — and I am — the sheer perfection of Young Frankenstein is astounding. And hilarious.

    (It uses 90 percent of the plot of Son of Frankenstein, which is why Gene Wilder has Basil Rathbone’s mannerisms.)

  102. 102.

    Mike J

    @Omnes Omnibus: If we’re returning to college film class it’s easy enough pick apart the shots and agree YF is better. If we have a bowl and a beer and watch both movies BS is more fun. Which is my standard.

    YF really is good though.

  105. 105.

    Lyrebird

    @? Martin: Look on the models page and scroll down or search for #279

    It’s not as detailed as some of the posters, but it’s sadly pertinent… and the person on it has this big ol’ red scarf which has me thinking of Orwell’s 1984, a book I hated but not as much as I despise what’s being done by the current Republican administration!

    @GregB nailed that one..

  106. 106.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mike J:

    C’mon, you don’t belly laugh at “What hump?”

    Or “Frau Blucher!” (whinny)

    Or “I was joking! Don’t you people understand the idea of a joke?!”

    Need I go on?

  111. 111.

    Morzer

    https://theslot.jezebel.com/someone-is-paying-strangers-online-to-beg-for-betsy-dev-1791976320

    Swagbucks.com and Instagc.com are sites where users can, in exchange for a few cents, complete small tasks such as filling out forms or surveys and—as of yesterday—begging the Senate to confirm Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump’s education secretary nominee. Someone is paying these sites to pay people to go to SupportDeVos.com, a website run by the formerly DeVos-led American Federation for Children, to express their support for her nomination.

    The campaign was first spotted by a user over at Daily Kos, who found the offer on Swagbucks. Several Reddit users claimed to have discovered the same thing on Swagbucks and similar sites yesterday.

    Point to note: DeVos is an Amway heiress, so she knows all about pyramid schemes and fraudulent advertising.

  112. 112.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mnemosyne:

    Yup, me too. I literally fell out of my seat in the theatre the first time I saw that scene.

    My other one, FTR, is the chase-going-downhill-in-San-Francisco-with-the-big-pane-of-glass scene in What’s Up, Doc? Stupid movie which I mostly hate, but that one scene had me literally on the floor laughing.

  114. 114.

    Aleta

    @SiubhanDuinne: According to my WH source, when the Trumps visited the Obamas, both Bo’s bared their teeth and then backed him up til he tripped over the Betsy Ross sewing basket.

  118. 118.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Aleta: All joking aside, animals can tell who like them. I once found myself at a party with my ex at her advisor/RA person’s house. I had nothing in common with them (marketing PhDs). I talked to the commercial pilot who was there. And I played with the dog. It was a shih-tzu – supposedly it hated everyone. He was rolling over on his back to make me scratch his belly. Everyone was shocked. Animals know.

  125. 125.

    Yarrow

    I think the Nerd Prom may be really lame this year.

    The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has gone from a hoary ritual to the apex of Washington’s social calendar, replete with Hollywood A-listers, tuxedoed television stars and live coverage on the major news networks.

    But like many Washington traditions, things are changing now that President Trump is in town.

    The New Yorker is canceling the kickoff party that it usually holds at the W Hotel, according to a spokeswoman for the magazine, Natalie Raabe. Vanity Fair is pulling out of co-sponsoring the dinner’s most exclusive after-party, a celebrity-studded affair most recently hosted at the French ambassador’s residence that is considered the capital’s hottest ticket of the year.

    Vanity Fair’s co-sponsor, Bloomberg L.P., is proceeding with its plans for the party, but no final decision has been made on the event, a spokesman said on Thursday. (Bloomberg has previously sponsored the after-party on its own.)

    “We’ve taken a break from the dinner in the past,” Graydon Carter, the editor of Vanity Fair, wrote in an email, adding that he planned to spend the weekend fishing in Connecticut instead.

    Mr. Carter, who has feuded with Mr. Trump for decades, was asked whether he had a particular reason for canceling this year’s festivities. “Trump,” Mr. Carter replied, “and the fish.”

    Sam Bee’s party is going to be where it’s at.

  127. 127.

    seaboogie

    I think what we are all missing here is the true nature of their goal, which is to give people who are too psycho/droolingly dysfunctional to cash their own SS checks access to guns so that they can go KILL ALL THE PUPPEEZ!!!!

    Man, that “Have you no shame?” ship sailed on 1/20/2017 and is a barely visible speck on the horizon.

  130. 130.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Yarrow:

    “We’ve taken a break from the dinner in the past,” Graydon Carter, the editor of Vanity Fair, wrote in an email, adding that he planned to spend the weekend fishing in Connecticut coming up with twenty or thirty more insults to add to his classic “short-fingered vulgarian” epithet instead.

    Fixt.

  134. 134.

    TenguPhule

    @pamelabrown53: Didn’t you see that Late Night scoop. They have a big “Wheel O’ Evil” (TM) which they spin to decide what boundary of decency they will violate and mutilate each day.

  135. 135.

    Mnemosyne

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    The first one is hilarious. The second one has some moments (mostly with Mini Me.) The third one is a dud.

    ETA: You are probably old enough to enjoy all of the 1960s references in first run, as it were.

  136. 136.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @seaboogie: No one is missing anything. We are trying to live in the new world. Most of us here will resist. How? Up to everyone. All of us have different capabilities, let’s do what we can.

  137. 137.

    ? Martin

    @Yarrow: I don’t even know why they bother. It’s supposed to be a collegial event with the WH. I don’t see how anyone can even pretend there’s any collegiality there. Just cancel it.

  139. 139.

    seaboogie

    @seaboogie: Any all y’all seen the movie “The Aristocrats”? These GOP kkrongresskritters and their supporters are the Bob Saget version of this joke, IRL.

  140. 140.

    Yarrow

    @? Martin: Well, you know, scholarships, students, wouldn’t want to disappoint… It is dumb and has gotten way out of hand. It was probably a rather boring event at some point. Maybe it should go back to that. I think that #ObamaOut mic drop was the end of the WHCD as we knew it.

  141. 141.

    seaboogie

    @Omnes Omnibus: I hear you and am with you. Trying to stay apprised of current events without getting obsessed, so as to maintain some equilibrium – putting the oxygen mask on myself first, so I can help the less able – as it appears that it will be a long road back to reinstating our past achievements, and that will have to count as progress in the near-ish term.

  143. 143.

    Yarrow

    @Mnemosyne: The first one is great fun and all the 1960’s references are hilarious. It’s also a fun take on the Jame Bond genre for anyone who is a fan of those. I love the first one. The rest not so much.

  144. 144.

    seaboogie

    @Yarrow: I am kind of looking forward to WHCD this year, just because I believe it will be a really sick, mean-spirited, humorless and galling affair. Trump v. Press, and Trump’s revenge on Obama pantsing him in 2011. The jokes will fall like so many anvils. Possibly the press will get more “woke”.

  146. 146.

    Yarrow

    @seaboogie: Trump hasn’t even said if he’ll show up yet. And they can’t get anyone to host. I think it could be really boring, especially if the fun people are over at Sam Bee’s party raising money for the Committee to Protect Journalists.

  147. 147.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    As I mentioned the other night, the premier for “Blazing Saddles” was held at a drive-in theater in Burbank(the Pickwick, it’s no longer with us), but no automobiles were allowed. You had ride in on your horse.

  148. 148.

    seaboogie

    @Yarrow:

    Trump hasn’t even said if he’ll show up yet. And they can’t get anyone to host.

    I’d have figured Dennis Miller was a lock on hosting, because he’s such a snide, mean-spirited righty mofo. Trump was the guest of “honor” at a Comedy Central roast, but that was before he knew how much so many people hate him, so with the marches and losses piling up, I can see how he’d want to just get in his silk jammies and twitter/fondle his Samsung 3 instead.

  150. 150.

    Yarrow

    @seaboogie: It’s not until April 29, so maybe they’ll find a host by then. According to the article the hosts haven’t always been comedians.

  151. 151.

    Peale

    @Aleta: just temporarily, so they can weed out the waste, fraud and abuse of this program that costs ten million dollars! Must be widespread fraud.

  152. 152.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I know he’d never acquire an Afghan, or an Egyptian Saluki, but he could easily get a nice Russian Wolfhound without any of his BFFs (Bigoted Fucking Friends) objecting.

    Maybe he doesn’t trust his kids around pets.

  154. 154.

    Gretchen

    Missouri is a puppy mill state. Democrats have been trying to stop it. Republicans are trying to resist it, because they are evil.

  156. 156.

    prob50

    but how will the puppies ever learn to bhave if we can’t kick, abuse, and torture them. If you don’t smack them around for tearing up one of your old socks the next thing you know they’ll be shitting in your slippers.

    Slippery slope and all that, ya’ know

  157. 157.

    J R in WV

    Many many years ago we visited neighbors, to watch movies they had rented, VHS tapes, so that long ago. I fell off my chair laughing, and pulled a muscle in my abdomen that hurt for months. So literally busted a gut laughing. No chemicals (other than home brewed beer) were used in the course of the injury.

    So comedy can be really dangerous if you OD on a joke. Be careful, friends. Beware!

  158. 158.

    prob50

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    </Republican President* ever had a pet dog, cat, hamster, guppy, weasel, or anything.

    And if he did he probably tortured it.

    Remember, this is a guy who thinks torture is an appropriate info-gathering function. Not to mention his tendency to use racial stereotypes and slurs for non-white people, or his penchant for making fun of people with disabilities.

    I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard of a bigger asshole in my entire life (therefore not including pre-1950 dickheads like Hitler, etc.)

    OOPS! Seem I employed too many blockquotes here.

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