Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. Do not congratulate. This is not business as usual.

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

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

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

When they say they’re pro-life, they don’t mean yours.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / One for the Night Owls (Open Thread)

Reader Interactions

38Comments

  2. 2.

    Esme's Mom

    Updated the antivirus program on my computer, gave the dog a back rub, subscribed to Maxine Waters’ newsletter. Night time’s the right time!

  3. 3.

    Suzan

    I love Great British Bake off. I’m so addicted I watch them on youtube. You can get all the seasons there. Also, if you like architecture, watch Grand Designs. Another British reality TV production Great stuff.

  5. 5.

    RandomMonster

    My wife and I are in the process of watching some of those every week. We don’t do a lot of reality TV except that, Chopped, Beat Bobby Flay, and Project Runway.

  9. 9.

    Betty Cracker

    @Mustang Bobby: I find the sound of frogs soothing, even though they do seem to seek me out to jump on at odd moments. I don’t mind peacock screeching either — provided that they’re at least a quarter of a mile away. Any closer, and they’re obnoxious.

  10. 10.

    Joyce H

    I found a nice show recently – Escape To The Country. It’s like House Hunters but in Britain. And much to be preferred to House Hunters International, which is too often about Americans looking for overseas property and being all gobsmacked that housing in other countries is different from the US and they can’t find their vaunted open concept and granite countertops. This is British folk looking for houses in Britain, and they know what to expect. (I also like that distance to the local pub is a frequently mentioned selling point.)

  11. 11.

    Emerald

    Ha! I just watched every available Netflix episode of The GBBO! Can’t wait for the new season on PBS.

    Amazing how addicting that show is. And the reruns are good because they go into such detail all the time that you can’t remember most of it.

    Sadly, everybody except Paul Hollywood just quit because they sold the series to a different channel and apparently that decision didn’t go down well with the cast, including Mary. But at least we’re several years behind here, so there should be plenty of fun left to go!

  12. 12.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Just got done watching Restored on DIY. Quirky host works on Victorian, Craftsman and “midcentury” houses around Riverside and Redlands, California. Interesting stuff, not just wham, bam, giant marble island.

    Now trying to get to sleep because I have committed to drive to Baltimore today to have lunch at Amicci’s in Little Italy. Nice day trip that will get me off the Internet and distract me from all things Trump. But I’m going with a politically like-minded friend, so I’m sure we will hyper each other into a frenzy.

  13. 13.

    Betty Cracker

    @Emerald: I’m fond of cooking shows in general, but GBBO is my favorite competition-style program. They’re such good sports, for the most part. Nadiya has the most expressive eyebrows on the planet!

  14. 14.

    opiejeanne

    I lost a dear online friend to cancer on Saturday. I never met her in Real Life but we were friends for nearly 20 years and it has hit everyone who knew her really hard. She was in her 40s, a German and English teacher at the Lutheran HS in Indianapolis. I can’t imagine how her mother and sister are coping right now but they tell us they’re strong women.

    She had some back pain in December, was diagnosed with a small tumor against her spine that had cracked a vertebrae, and a very treatable cancer; after one chemo session her kidneys were destroyed and the cancer had spread everywhere. She found that out on Tuesday last week, entered hospice on Thursday, and was gone on Saturday afternoon. Her mother and sister were with her, holding her hands.

    The shock of how fast this disease overtook her has left us all shaken. I’m a few days past crying but I still feel like I’ve lost a family member.

    Fuck cancer, indeed.

  15. 15.

    Viova BrisVegas

    @RandomMonster: There are also Australian and New Zealand versions of Grand Designs, not just the UK one. Although Kevin McCloud is a mad bastard and his shows are the more entertaining.

  16. 16.

    Betty Cracker

    @opiejeanne: Sorry to hear that. It’s so awful and random when something like that strikes out of the blue, especially to a relatively young person. There’s grief for the lost friend, plus the sense of just how fragile life is. Condolences to all her family and friends.

  17. 17.

    PIGL

    @opiejeanne: I am sorry to hear this opiejeanne. Shockingly sudden; also cruel. 20 years is almost as long as one could have had an online friendship…A remarkable thing in itself.

  22. 22.

    Betty Cracker

    @RM: Currently re-watching season 3 of the American release on Netflix, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen almost all of them on YouTube. The bad thing about watching on YouTube is that it’s sometimes hard to find complete seasons or get the order right. Of course, it’s also piracy, of a sort. Hell, I’d buy the entire series if they’d just release it to Amazon! Maybe someday…

  23. 23.

    Kristine

    @opiejeanne: I am so sorry for your loss.

    One of my online homes is shutting down after 20 years, so I know about online friends. Funny how close you can become to people you never meet in person.

  24. 24.

    No One You Know

    I’m up.

    I can’t sleep.

    I Am Mad About a Thing. Please disregard what follows. You’ve all said most of this better and more coherently, anyway.

    Are there no laws, not one, that apply to the Trumps?

    The Trumps walk through, and over, the separations of government powers, separations of government powers from business interests, intelligence secrets, and the most basic political courtesies.

    They vacation like clockwork.

    Their spittle-flecked Scold-in-chief–that’s you, Sean Spicer— spout hypocrisies, lie outright, gish-gallop through issues, treat life-threatening matters like American health care as if it were inconsequential, get paid astonishing amounts to patronize or slander people worthy of respect (Looking at you, Ms. Waters, Ms. Ryan, Ms. Merkel, Ms. Clinton, President Obama, and more than I can name right now). Trump’s surrogate aptly represents not just Trump’s message, but his meaning, as well.

    Ivanka pretends to know something, anything, about women’s challenges while she takes on a job in daddy’s house. What would Ivanka Trump know about discrimination?

    Is the sole measure of legal duty to bobble a head in agreement with whatever Trump wants, agree that there may be “difficulties” and then just find a way to commit the illegal act anyway?

    In our very faces?

    Every day? Every hour?

    Call this a democracy?

    Exactly what is Ivanka’s new job, does anyone know? Who’s gonna make Nunes either do his or her out of the way? Who’s gonna tell Trump to stay home for a weekend and give the taxpayer a break? Could Melania maybe crib some goals, values, and ideas of her own without having to plagiarize them from Hillary or Michelle?

    I went to a few right-wing sites and found more examples than I could stomach.

    These Trumps. These Trumps. These smug, arrogant, parasitic parodies of American citizens and the American dream are inspiring and enabling the worst and most destructive ideas about how to treat–no, see— other human beings.

    MAGA. Making Americans Great Apes again. Say it, with the lips curled and canines bared in the primate display of anger, because the worst that is within is breaking to the surface.

    We should give back the sapiens sapiens title. There’s no wisdom in these people. And they break faster than we can rebuild.

    Ok. Whew. I promise to be either better-tempered, or quiet, for the rest of the day.

    Thank you for not listening to me make a fool of myself with my rant. Maybe I can sleep now.

    G’night.

  26. 26.

    satby

    @opiejeanne: I’m so sorry, opiejeanne!
    My online friends are very dear to me too, a friend is a friend however you connect with each other. Such a fast progression and she was so young.
    Terrible for her friends and family. Condolences to you all.

  27. 27.

    Keith P.

    @SFBayAreaGal: I don’t quite get those shows. I guess it’s reality TV ruining things by fictionalizing so much of it, but I don’t know a single kid who talks like any child on any of these cooking shows. By that, I mean, the kids sound exactly (same phrase, sentence construction, adjectives, etc) as the adults when they’re making hyper-elaborate dishes. I guess I’m supposed to think that the kids all watch so much Top Chef/Chopped! that they pick it all up, but my cynicism makes me think they’re being fed lines, maybe in multiple takes.

  28. 28.

    TriassicSands

    In the photo: That’s Trump on the right and the world on the left.

    Today is another day and I despise that POS a bit more than I did yesterday. The forecast is for increased hatred for the next four years or however many days it remains in the White House.

  29. 29.

    bystander

    @Mustang Bobby:

    I have frogs thrumming in the South Florida Water Management District canal behind the house.

    Pro-tip: Never give a frog a ukulele. They’ll drive you crazy.

  30. 30.

    Jerry

    I love the Great British Bake Off. If you can find them (for me, on the PBS app on Roku), watch the Great British Baking Show Masterclass that is hosted by Paul and Mary. It’s just those two recreating their own challenges that they throw at the GBBO contestants. They have such great onscreen chemistry and it makes me sad that Mary will no longer be a part of the main franchise anymore. The new hosts will be Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig, so that part should be good.

  32. 32.

    RM

    @Betty Cracker: Oh man, I love that one. Nadiya is my all time favorite baker… although I’m pretty fond of Martha from PBS season one too. I actually just finished a rewatch of season three myself a couple nights ago.

    Honestly, minor YouTube piracy is just a fact of life when you’re into foreign shows that they take a while to release over here or never at all.

    (I would totally legally buy the whole thing if I could too, though.)

  34. 34.

    Betty Cracker

    @No One You Know: Rant any time, friend. Well said, and we all feel the same way.

    @RM: Martha — we love her too! My daughter and I were rooting for her (they’re about the same age), but we’re also fond of Nancy due to her run-ins with “the male judge.”

  35. 35.

    Jerry

    @RM:

    I read they’re going to put the Masterclasses on Netflix in April. I’m so excited.

    Excellent news.

    If you like the main show, you’ll really enjoy this one as well. Mary and Paul are hilarious together. Mary is always telling Paul, “you are worse than a child,” so that’s a new saying around the house with the wife and kid.

  36. 36.

    opiejeanne

    @PIGL: We met on David Emery’s Urban Legends forum (originally called The Mining Company), now defunct thanks to the allure of Facebook. A group of us have located each other on Facbook and keep in touch, and when she got sick she set up a private group to keep us informed, which her mother took over when she could no longer cope with the computer.
    It’s been a second heartbreak to read the tributes from her many former students.

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