Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

In after Baud. Damn.

It looks like winning debates is a black job!

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Never forget that he train is barreling down on Trump, even as he dances on the tracks.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

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

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Books are my comfort food!

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

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

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

Come on, man.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

I desperately hope that, yet again, I am wrong.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Let me file that under fuck it.

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When They Go Low

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This week seemed to be when a bunch of angry, impotent old (and not so old) men decided they were afraid of strong women and tried to publicly shame them. Vogue was having none of it:

Congresswoman Maxine Waters Has Always Fought for Women’s Rights in Style

by MARJON CARLOS

Last night on MSNBC, Congresswoman Maxine Waters stared intently into the camera and blithely dismissed the hypercritical remarks that conservative talking head Bill O’Reilly made about her hairstyle. Buttoned into a sharp, pale yellow blazer, her bejeweled necklace glinting under the studio lights, and not a hair out of place, the fierce California Democrat laid down the law. “Let me just say this: I’m a strong black woman and I cannot be intimidated,” she said. Unflappable, the striking 78-year-old went on to argue that O’Reilly’s comparison of Waters to soul singer James Brown was merely a tactic to distract from the embattled Trump administration. “Let us get on with discussing the real issues of this country!” she proclaimed.

They did a 12 photo spread of the Congresswoman, looking not only powerful but fashionable. See them all here.

Reader Interactions

57Comments

  1. 1.

    Mnemosyne

    OT, but is there a writer’s group post this weekend? I was traveling so much that I’ve lost track.

  3. 3.

    Omnes Omnibus

    She is a National Treasure in the same way and for much of same reasons that John Lewis is.

  4. 4.

    Robin G.

    78?!? Jesus, where’s that GIF of Wilmore saying “Black don’t crack” when you need it?

  5. 5.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Maxine is an inspiration. Way to sock it to these fucking white male asshole doofi.

  6. 6.

    Mnemosyne

    Like Adam Schiff, Maxine Waters has been locally known as a powerhouse for quite some time. It’s nice to see our So Cal politicians finally getting coverage for GOOD reasons, unlike the Republican assholes who usually suck up all of the attention.

  8. 8.

    MomSense

    “Be who you are. Do what you do.” Perfect. She’s a treasure especially now when we need examples courage.

  9. 9.

    Exurban Mom

    I read this earlier today and found it very awesome: Favorite quote:

    Where does she find the energy, y’all? She is trying to single-handedly strap this country to her back and carry it to safety. And, no, she doesn’t care if the country wants to go or not. Rep. Waters is that Auntie who attacks your face with a wet wipe at every cookout and has a ninja-like ability to whip a comb out and run it through your hair before you can ever protest. She is not trying to have you out in these streets looking a fool and embarrassing her, America! You need to straighten up and act like you have some good sense before she calls your mother on you.

    http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/news/a43244/maxine-waters-is-back-and-shes-not-here-to-play/

  13. 13.

    Dolly Llama

    Hate to be contrarian here, but Rep. Waters isn’t exactly a paragon of government ethics, and for that reason not much of a standard-bearer in this fight. Could be a net negative to the cause.

  19. 19.

    efgoldman

    @Dolly Llama:

    Rep. Waters isn’t exactly a paragon of government ethics, and for that reason not much of a standard-bearer in this fight.

    Who cares? She’s REALLY good at poking the bear, and willing to do it.

  23. 23.

    Dolly Llama

    Nevermind. She’s a model citizen. Not trying to troll anybody. This is why I lurk and don’t comment much anymore. Damn.

  24. 24.

    Mary G

    @Mnemosyne: Yeah, I’ve followed Maxine since she was in the CA state assembly in the 70s. She’s always been able to get under the Republicans’ skins. I loved this incident from Wikipedia:

    On July 29, 1994, Waters came to public attention when she repeatedly interrupted a speech by Peter King (R-NY). The presiding officer, Carrie Meek (D-FL), classed her behaviour as “unruly and turbulent”, and threatened to have the Sergeant at Arms present her with the Mace of the House of Representatives (the equivalent of a formal warning to desist). As of 2017, this is the most recent instance of the mace being employed in a disciplinary sense. Waters was eventually suspended from the house for the rest of the day. The conflict with King stemmed from the previous day, when they had both been present at a House Banking Committee hearing on the Whitewater controversy. Waters felt King’s questioning of Maggie Williams (Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff) was too harsh, and they subsequently exchanged hostile words.[6] [7]

    When they break out the Mace of the House of Representatives, you know they’re mad!

  25. 25.

    Mnemosyne

    @Dolly Llama:

    Dude, what part of “she was exonerated by the Ethics Committee” was confusing to you?

    You fell for Republican hype. It happens.

    ETA: She’s a showboat, but she’s not crooked no matter how many times the Republicans accuse her of it.

  28. 28.

    efgoldman

    @Mary G:

    When they break out the Mace of the House of Representatives….

    Izzat a spray can of pepper, or a big honkin’ stick with a ball at the end?

  29. 29.

    Dolly Llama

    @Sab: Lord, don’t give it another thought. It’s fine. I was being thoughtless in that thread, too. Swear to God I’m usually the least combative commenter you’d ever want to see, but here lately every comment I make is a “shit and fall back in it” moment. We all go through those stretches, I’d imagine. I love everybody, you included.

  30. 30.

    Sab

    @efgoldman: Don’t know but guessing it’s the big stick. Our Founders didn’t know about cans of mace or pepper spray. Weren’t they more into tar, feathers and rails?

  33. 33.

    Mnemosyne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Apparently the MPG for the Prius does best on trips of 10 or more miles. My coworker got great mileage when he was commuting from Irvine to Glendale, not so great now that he commutes from Burbank to Glendale.

  35. 35.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    I’ve heard it gets the best mileage in traffic. It’s rated higher city than highway.

    I’m chalking my subpar mileage due to not knowing how to drive it properly and the mountain climb last Saturday.

  38. 38.

    Kropadope

    @??‍? Martin: I’ve gotten up to 80 in the same car for similar length trips, but I have to be dainty on the gas to the point where I would only consider it on an empty road.

  39. 39.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I drove up to nearly Mt. Wilson on Saturday to get to the trailhead for the hike the kid and I took to Mt. Lowe(I’d recommend the hike, short and easy hike).

    The kid had her surgery* today, her mom says she looks like she got into a bar brawl.

    *Double eye-lid surgery.

  40. 40.

    Sab

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I used to have a VW(actually I had two, serially. One then the other. Made me LOL when their mpg scandal hit. I am a conservative driver. I first learned to drive with a stick, so I don’t madly accelerate and brake, because on a stick you have to work through all those gears again every time you stop or brake. But I never got close to what the VW folks promised , but I have always beat the Honda promise by about 10 mpg with my gas powered tiny Honda. Plus it can accelerate when needed so I don’t get squashed like a bug on the entrance ramp to theinterstate.

  41. 41.

    Peej01

    IMO, James Brown was the one with the weird hairstyle. Maxine’s is perfectly normal for a woman.

  43. 43.

    ??‍? Martin

    @Kropadope: Yes, dainty is a good description of it. Need to be moderate with braking to keep it in the regeneration window as well.

  44. 44.

    Sab

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Was their gas mileage as Promised? Otherwise they were pretty good cars but they needed maintenance, or at least trips to be blessed by the dealers’ shop. Hondas have to come 8n about every fifty thousand miles to be looked at but no problem. My last VW went in for a routine check and half a mile out of the dealer a maintenance light came on. My husband made me drive it to another dealer the next day for a trade in and we have never looked back. VW s are for wealthy Germans, not for normal people with reasonable expectations about car maintenance.

  45. 45.

    ??‍? Martin

    @Sab: I once got 90 MPG in our 91 Jetta. Granted it was in neutral for the entire descent down the grapevine and the ascent didn’t count in the mileage. So you just need to find a way to go perpetually downhill.

  47. 47.

    Sab

    @??‍? Martin: My sister, nominally an Ohio resident, begged her way out of a speeding ticket in Oregon , by pleading that since she was in flat Ohio she did not realize that cars speed up going down mountains. Complete b s because we have hills in eastern Ohio, but Oregon officials didn’t recognize this, so they fell for it.

  48. 48.

    Kropadope

    @Sab: The Prius seems to be all over the map mileage-wise on a trip to trip basis, but long term it seems to hit 50 pretty much on the nose.

  49. 49.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Sab: Both were probably in the range of 35 to 40 mpg. I sold the bug in 2009, but hadn’t driven it probably 25 years. I stopped keeping track of the mileage on the Jetta after about 15 years. The Jetta didn’t have a ‘check engine’ light, but had an OXS sensor light that would come on every 30k and it was RED(liked it was really important). They used to have the reset switch out in the open, but in the ’86 model year they hid it behind the coolant reservoir.

  50. 50.

    Sab

    We are on to a new thread above. I hope Cole gets his meet up. Reminds me of my own family. My husband says we will do anything to accommodate anyone as long as anyone else makes the actual decision as to when and where to meet.

  53. 53.

    Mnemosyne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    What is it with speeding tickets and out of staters in the PNW? My friend escaped a speeding ticket because she was driving my Arizona-registered car with a Michigan driver’s license with me in the passenger seat. I think the cop decided it was too much trouble to pursue a ticket since we weren’t that far over the speed limit (it was a speed trap in rural Oregon).

    Note that I said “a” MI driver’s license. She actually presented her sister’s DL as her own because she had misplaced her own license her first week in OR. The statute of limitations on that must be up by now, right? This was well over 20 years ago because she was unmarried at the time and now has kids in college.

  55. 55.

    Raoul

    So I was looking at a recent photo of Diane Feinstein, and dang if her hair doesn’t look kinda like James Brown too. Funny how bilious Bill-O doesn’t make that same rude comment about her. Huh.

  57. 57.

    Debbie1

    @Peej01: It was Bill O’Reily’s (sp: I don’t care) way of getting 2 Black people w/ one blow. Cuz he loooooves James Brown and Maxine.

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