Finally, a story that combines my love of pets with my hatred of Mark Halperin:
So it was the 10:45 red eye on delta. in first class the seating arrangement was A-BC-D seating. I had purchased 6A and 6B and Halperin was in 6C. The dog and I fly back and forth from California to NY 2–3 times a month. I am always aware to make sure to get the dog her own seat (she lays on the floor and sleeps) to ensure she doesn’t encroach anyone’s personal space. So I put Charlie (the dog) in 6A where she was great. She was in arms reach and everything was cool. Right before we took off the dog came and sat in between my legs for take off so she was secured. At this point halperin (I had no idea who he was) calls for a flight attendant and tells her that he refuses to sit next to a dog. Those were his exact words. At that point I noticed he took a picture of the dog which I just ignored. Next thing you know the lead flight attendant asked if I minded giving halperin 6A. It was so strange he wouldn’t even look or speak to me about it. If he would have asked me I would have obliged, no big deal. I couldn’t believe how rude this guy was carrying on as I sat right next to him. So I obliged, he moved into 6A and left his shoes and a mess in his little first class cubicle area. I politely brought him his shoes and belongings to which he literally looked the other way and that was that. I then woke up this morning to a friend sending me the article and was in shock reading his tweets. Mind you Delta did absolutely nothing wrong, the flight attendant were extremely accommodating to his wishes all while trying to make sure I wasn’t upset in any way. They handled the situation kindly and professionally.
Crusty Dem
He. Is. The. Worst.
ruemara
I just read that and sincerely wished the dog had pooped in Halperin’s abandoned shoes.
LAO
My favorite response to this, so far, courtesy of @dog_rates:
SiubhanDuinne
He was like an excited little puppy himself that time Trump took him for a helicopter ride.
stinger
If there were more happy, bow-tie wearing dogs on planes, I’d fly MUCH more often.
zhena gogolia
I like the one who said, “I’d drag Mark unconscious from the plane in order to sit next to Charlie.”
Tractarian
This whole thing is extremely disturbing. I hate Halperin with the intensity of a thousand suns but I just can’t get over the fact that there is a person on this earth who buys first-class cross-country plane tickets for his dog two to three times per month.
Villago Delenda Est
Halperin had best watch his ankles in the future. There’s a bounty on them now.
MomSense
@zhena gogolia:
Ha! That has to be one of the cutest dogs ever.
TenguPhule
@Tractarian:
I take it you’re not a dog lover then.
Roger Moore
FTFY
TenguPhule
@Villago Delenda Est: Payable in Kibbles and Bits or Bacon strips?
(((CassandraLeo)))
I’d certainly rather sit next to that dog than Mark Halperin.
Steeplejack
Dickweed pundit is dickweed. End of story.
rp
I’m not sure I believe this story. If true, it means that Halperin is 1000x worse than I’d previously thought, and that isn’t possible.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: At least he didn’t try to hu.mp his leg? That Mark sure knows how to behave in public.
ET
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Obama’s Barrage of Complete Sentences Seen as Brutal Attack on Trump
But ultimately is is sort of SAD! that the current president has trouble with sentences that make sense to anyone including his deluded fans.
Miss Bianca
@(((CassandraLeo))): I’d rather sit next to that dog than just about *any* person I can think of, but definitely rather than sit next to Halperin..
CaseyL
@Tractarian: From the story, I gather that Charlie’s human is a flight attendant, who probably needs to travel frequently to get to an assigned flight. He probably gets a much discounted fare – even for first class.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
I’m always appalled that here in the US, so many get incensed over dogs in business spaces, yet children are accepted everywhere.
mai naem mobile
@Tractarian: the guy is a flight attendant for Delta. It says he paid full regular fare not first class.
max
I politely brought him his shoes and belongings to which he literally looked the other way and that was that.
The final nail in the coffin of proving Halperin is a clueless dickhead.
max
[‘What a fuck.’]
MazeDancer
@LAO:
Halperin has 314K followers on Twitter. Dog Rates has 1.8 million.
Dog Rates trolled Halperin beautifully
Steve in the ATL
@Tractarian:
No shit. That dog probably has higher frequent flyer status than I do! “Sorry, Steve, you didn’t get upgraded this flight. We gave your seat to a dog.”
James
@(((CassandraLeo))): What is the difference? The dog is better mannered and doesn’t smell as bad.
Shell
Not much of a surprise, since the times Ive seen him his expression never changes from sucked-on-too-many-lemons.
lamh36
Obama trolling us all??
Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1
Obama: “So, uh, what’s been going on while I’ve been gone?”
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/856540028016701440
LAO
Agreed. Now they’re doing that name thing to him, as well. (It’s my favorite non-political twitter feed — he’s a funny kid.)
Barbara
@Tractarian: This was my exact first thought! Guy bought not one but two first class tickets and he does this two or three times a month on a cross country flight. I would think the airline not only knows him and his dog but has a ready supply of his favorite wine and dog treats.
NorthLeft12
BREAKING NEWS! Mark Halperin is a rude and entitled asshole. WHOCOODAKNOWN???
Applejinx
@Tractarian: Yeah. But this is not the place. Balloon Juice is like ‘I don’t understand. Don’t you like your dog enough to spend thousands of dollars a month on him? What kind of pet owner are you?”
Be careful, they will call you economically insecure and from that point on you might as well bark at them for all the good it’ll do ya ;)
TenguPhule
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Zing!
TenguPhule
@Barbara:
Not to mention what they have ready for the dog.
Hal
Wait, flight attendants don’t fly for free? Have the Simpsons lied to me? Or was it Family Guy?
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@NorthLeft12:
Yup. This qualifies as a winner of the Claude Rains Memorial Gambling Awareness Award with the coveted Four Claude rating!
Spanky
@Hal: Not only do they fly free, but their airline will happily assault and remove a passenger just so you can have a seat. How many employers would go that far to make their employees happy?
MomSense
@ET:
Hahahahaha!
Especially after the transcript of that WTF interview with AP. I’ve had more coherent conversations with tweekers.
Hmmm, now that I think about it
Juju
Mark Halperin is a Richard.
dogwood
I have little patience for people who rail about pets or children in public spaces, and I’m terribly allergic to cats and some dogs bother me as well. Some people seem to think that they are entitled to be be optimally comfortable at all times.
geg6
I’d much rather sit next to a dog than a kid any day. And I’d take a screaming one-year-old with an ear infection before I’d want that asshole Mark Halperin sitting next to me. Hell, I’d take a box filled with polonium with the top off before I’d take having to sit next to that disgusting hack.
rikyrah
Donald Trump’s ignorance keeps getting in the way
04/24/17 12:54 PM
By Steve Benen
There’s much to discuss in Donald Trump’s stunning interview with the Associated Press, but it’s worth pausing to pay special attention to the president’s explanation for his criticism of NATO.
“They had a quote from me that NATO’s ‘obsolete.’ But they didn’t say why it was obsolete. I was on Wolf Blitzer, very fair interview, the first time I was ever asked about NATO, because I wasn’t in government. People don’t go around asking about NATO if I’m building a building in Manhattan, right? So they asked me, Wolf … asked me about NATO, and I said two things. NATO’s obsolete – not knowing much about NATO, now I know a lot about NATO – NATO is obsolete, and I said, ‘And the reason it’s obsolete is because of the fact they don’t focus on terrorism.’”
For now, let’s put aside NATO’s counter-terrorism work and instead focus on Trump’s welcome concession: when he first started publicly discussing his perspective on the alliance, he didn’t “know much” about NATO. After all, his focus was on New York real estate, not international affairs.
He did, however, pontificate anyway, criticizing NATO while seeking the nation’s highest office.
We could, of course, focus on why a presidential candidate didn’t “know much about NATO” in 2016 – it seems like the sort of thing a would-be national leader would have firm opinions on before launching a White House bid – but I’m just as intrigued by the idea that Trump was comfortable publicly criticizing one of the key pillars of global security in recent generations without actually knowing what he’s talking about.
bemused
@lamh36:
I love this so much. I gotta feeling Obama back out in the public area is going to mightily irritate Pres Fubar. Mess with his head, Obama.
Spanky
Paging Nicholas Cage ….
rikyrah
Why I’m Not Interested in Being “Shattered”
by Nancy LeTourneau April 24, 2017 2:10 PM
Because I read so much news every day to do this job, I don’t have a lot of time or energy to read political books. That means that I need to have a pretty compelling reason do to so. I haven’t read the book that is the talk of the town right now by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes titled “Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign.” After reading a lot about the book, I’ve decided to give it a pass for several reasons.
First of all, it is clear that the authors got a few facts wrong. Some of those mistakes are minor, like the fact that they mis-stated Christina Reynold’s role in the campaign. But one of the revelations that has been highlighted in almost every review—that the Clinton team didn’t poll for the last three weeks of the campaign in key states like Michigan and Wisconsin—has been declared 100% wrong by Brian Fallon, the campaign’s communication director.
Second, on a related note, Pamela Engel documented that there has been a big push-back against the book from Clinton campaign staffers who say that it doesn’t describe their experience. There could be many reasons for this. But it is undoubtably true that each individual will have their own take on their own experience. So there will be thousands of takes on what did/didn’t happen. It seems clear that Allen and Parnes focused their book on a particular take from some of these people.
Third, Kevin Drum does a good job of challenging the book’s assertion that Clinton ran a particularly horrible campaign. Everyone has their own opinion about how to approach that question (i.e., “she lost to Trump!”). But given his insistence on data, Kevin looks at Alan Abramowitz’s model, which suggests that “Hillary Clinton did way better than any winning candidate of the past three decades, outperforming her baseline by 2.4 percent.”
Fourth, as I’ve listened to the authors talk about the book and read reviews like the one by Matt Taibbi, I am struck by the fact that they put a negative spin on things that actually impressed me about the Clinton campaign. For example, I think the fact that Hillary did a thorough autopsy of her 2008 mistakes was a good thing. I know that, for myself, the first question she needed to answer early on in the primaries was whether or not her campaign would correct what she got wrong last time. That was most notable in who she would bring on her team. Leaders like Robby Mook and Maya Harris were huge improvements over the likes of Mark Penn. For me, that signaled that Clinton had learned something, which is the only step towards growth.
Doug!
@Spanky:
Has anyone checked the kerning on it yet?
Bill
@Tractarian: This. Who the hell spends that kind of money on a dog?
I’ve traveled with a dog, and it involved a crate, sedative, and a nice trip in the cargo hold for her.
Sab
@Spanky: United, not Delta. The Delta guy paid for his dog’s seat.
Steve in the ATL
@Applejinx: chillax, WilmerBro. Since when do BJ posters shame anyone for being economically insecure? You must be confusing us with RedState or ZeroHedge.
dogwood
@geg6:
One of the best flights I ever had was a flight from Houston to Quito. I had the aisle and two little girls around 6 &8 had the window and center seats. They were adorable, smart and funny. Don’t really understand all the animosity toward kids around here. Just like adults, some are terrific, others not so much. Same thing with pets.
Roger Moore
@(((CassandraLeo))):
If you sat next to Halperin, though, you could spend the whole flight telling him what a worthless excuse for a journalist he is.
Bill
@(((CassandraLeo))):
I’d rather sit next to Halperin. I’m positive he’d never stoop to talking to a commoner, and silence is all I ever want from seat mates on public transportation.
NorthLeft12
I enjoyed reading the Slate articles, especially when you compare the two versions of the events. I have little doubt that Mr. Halperin was moved by his kindly, courageous, and generous nature to fight for the rights of dogs and their owners to fly together in first class.
It sounds like a cause that the hard working journalist that we have come to know and rely on for his “common man” take on the complicated issues of the day, would dedicate his valuable time to.
Villago Delenda Est
@rikyrah: Villagers. Wipe them out. All of them.
NorthLeft12
@rikyrah:
Let me help you with that….Deadbeat Donald and his scuzzy band of Alt-Right douchecanoes knew that this was a stand that would fire up his ignorant base and build on the myth that America is being “taken advantage of” by those lazy, cowardly, and weak “allies” because President Obama and the Democrats let them.
The Moar You Know
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Thank you.
I raise guide dogs for the blind in what little spare time I have. Through that, I have found that people are far bigger jerks than I could ever believe possible. People sic their dogs on Guide Dogs. We’ve had dogs killed before, and far more who can’t work again or be around other dogs. People have poisoned them, rat poison in hot dogs are a favorite. Shot them. People throw toys in front of guide dogs, trying to get the animal to chase the toy. A special variant on that are the people who throw the toys onto train tracks, trying to get the dog to drag the blind person onto them. Yes, those people are out there and there’s a lot more of them than you would think. Hell is not half big enough.
Halperin is merely representative of a large subsection of American society that will never, ever, ever publicly admit it, but they hate dogs with a fury. I’m sure he thought the “silent majority of dog haters” would show up and give him a safe space.
(((CassandraLeo)))
@rp: A thousand times infinity is still infinity, so sure it’s possible. ;)
PST
My favorite flight with an animal involved an a young woman traveling with an emotional support dog — a sweet friendly lab. My wife asked if she could say hello to the dog and was told no. A few minutes later the owner asked if I would hold the lead and take care of the dog for a few minutes while she went to the bathroom. Clearly, my wife has dognapper written all over he face. She admits it and did not resent the owner taking precautions.
Lee
Mark Halperin is getting roasted on twitter for this.
Sometimes I have faith in humanity.
JustRuss
@rikyrah:
Christ, they criticized her for that? I’m with you, it’s one of the things I liked best about her, she was capable at looking at her mistakes and correcting them. I mean, the alternative is to keep doing the same thing hoping for better results, which I believe is the definition of insanity.
Which, come to think of it, explains why conservatives continue to insist that tax cuts will pay for themselves, this time.
trollhattan
@stinger:
Exactly! Now who’s a good boy?
trollhattan
@The Moar You Know:
Genuinely wish I could unread your comment. Ugh, humans. :-(
TenguPhule
@The Moar You Know:
I fully support the death penalty for those people.
Mnemosyne
@The Moar You Know:
I suspect there that you’re running into that creepy cross-section of hatred for dogs and hatred for the disabled. There are some people out there so completely lacking in empathy that they think all disabled people are faking it. I bet if we get that “blind” guy’s dog to drag him in front of a train, the guy will take off his glasses and run and we’ll have proved he was faking the whole time!
See also the people who refuse to believe that other people have allergies and do things like sneak shrimp into their friend or family member’s food to see if they actually have a reaction.
gbear
@bemused:
It’s going to drive Trump insane that he’s still referred to as ‘President Obama’.
President Obama! President Obama! President Obama!
bemused
@gbear:
Lol.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
Now I want to get a bow tie for Iggy.
Sab
@Mnemosyne: Re:intolerance of disabled people. It’s kind of amazing. I had no idea until my elderly mother got wobbly late in her life. I would take her to classical music concerts that were supposed to have such a genteel audience, and getting her and her walker safely to her seat was like playing basketball. I am normally mild-mannered, but I would have to be out slamming people with my elbows and stomping on their feet to keep them from knocking the little old lady down. It was horrifying.
Mnemosyne
@gbear:
I have to admit, I always hated that annoying tradition of continuing to call former presidents “President Reagan” or “President Bush,” but now I’m changing my mind.
(((CassandraLeo)))
@Roger Moore: Unless I also get to punch him in his smug Backpfeifengesicht, I’m not sure that’s entirely worth it.
@Bill: Dogs don’t talk much either, from what I’ve observed. :p Plus, they’re cuddly. Halperin isn’t.
@rikyrah: Good review, which gets at one of the biggest complaints I’ve had with how the campaign was covered in general. Clinton was attacked for responding to popular pressure, as though it proved she was insincere or cared more about power than she did about helping people. But that’s the whole point of representative democracy. You’re supposed to elect people who represent your views. If Clinton’s views were out of touch with the country’s, she wouldn’t have been serving it, and she wouldn’t have been helping people in the way they wanted to be helped. She’s demonstrated a commendable ability to learn from her mistakes. And apparently, a lot of assholes think that’s a bad thing.
MoxieM
Since it’s a dog thread, sort of, I can share that I just came back from the vet–I had to put my most beloved, most süsse, schön, brave, fine Newfie girl to sleep–she was nearly 11 and in a world of pain. She was a champion of being a pal, a friend and everything good. I miss her like a phantom limb. Sorrow. Sleep well, sweet lady. Byron’s epitaph for his Newfie said: …
“Beauty without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferocity,
and all the virtues of Man without his Vices”
and it’s just so damned true. Love your dogs, cats and whomever… give them a skritch and a treat from Roxy and me.
Spanky
@MoxieM: Well ….. shit. I’m terrible with words at times like this. Give the rest of the day to be kind to yourself, and reminisce. To love and be loved by our pets is a wonderful thing, and at the end there’s pain. Then healing. Give yourself some time to get through the pain.
bemused
@Sab:
In those situations my mother was good at making people get out of her way using her walker as a sort of battering ram. I escorted her to the ladies room at a wedding reception and watching her do this was pretty awesome. She wasn’t taking no rude shit from inconsiderate people. I had a hard time not giggling. Gosh, I haven’t thought of that in years. She passed away in late 90’s. I’m smiling at the memory now.
Tokyokie
@Mnemosyne: And do the jokesters also keep an EpiPen handy to reverse the effects of anaphylaxis when it turns out they really are allergic to shrimp? And I don’t really like dogs — I’m a cat person — but I have no problem with them in public spaces, with two exceptions: grocery stores and healthcare settings. I hope that attitude doesn’t get me banned from here.
TenguPhule
@Tokyokie:
Somebody fetch the rope!
/do I even have to say it? FFS.
Sab
@bemused: Her mother was good at that, but she wasn’t, possibly because she was meek, having been raised by a fierce mother. Whatever, the disabled person shouldn’t have to be fighting through crowds when just walking is a major undertaking.
MomSense
@MoxieM:
So sorry, MoxieM. Hugs to you.
Sab
@MoxieM: So sorry for you. Lost my 14 year old mostly lab a couple of months ago. I still hear her toenails clicking in my dreams.
eschneider
@CaseyL: That sorta makes sense, then. The FA takes the dog along when he goes from home to wherever he’s based. I have pilot friends on the same schedule, though they travel sans-dog.
With employee discounts, the cost is probably reasonable. But yeah, I had to fly a horse from Europe to NYC two years ago and that cost less than a first class ticket going cross country.
lurker dean
@The Moar You Know: wtf, that’s unreal. people really suck.
@MoxieM: condolences, moxiem. :o(
(((CassandraLeo)))
@MoxieM: My condolences. Losing a pet is the worst. :(
@The Moar You Know: Ugh, that’s horrible. What is wrong with people? :(
Mnemosyne
@MoxieM:
I’m so sorry. It’s a hard thing to do even when you know it’s the right thing to do.
Miss Bianca
@eschneider: you had to fly a horse from Europe to NYC? *impressed*
@MoxieM: I’ve always loved that epitaph of Byron’s. Newfies are truly such gentle giants. Condolences on your loss. There are some dogs who just leave their paw prints all over our hearts, sounds like your girl was one of them.
Scamp Dog
@MoxieM: Sorry to hear the news! My dog is getting older (14 or so), so that time is coming up, sigh. I will give her some scritches and a treat tonight, as you suggest. And toss some toys around, too, since I don’t do that enough, either.
The Pale Scot
Halperin was on a show once and made a long dissertation about something. Then another person was asked to comment and promptly destroyed everything Halperin said. Halperin called the guy a dick during intermission. I thought the guy was Nate Silver but nothing is coming up on the google, any ideas?
Is anyone surprised by his inability to describe a situation correctly?
And, since Golam will eventually be successful in getting our troops into a war, A song about the reality.
Liam Clancy – The Band Played Waltzing Matilda
Bob Dylan on Liam, “After about thirty pints of Guinness, He says “remember Bob, no fear, no envy, no meanness”
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@MoxieM: I’m so sorry.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@The Pale Scot: I believe you’re thinking of Dana Milbank.
MoxieM
Thank you folks! Yes, I adore the big doggies. She was my 4th rescued Newf (can you imagine the need for such a thing?) But there’s a wonderful rescue org in Coventry CT, That Newfoundland Place; they are completely fantastic. They really are soulful dogs. Addictive, even.
J R in WV
@The Moar You Know:
Shocked, but sadly not surprised at your report on people mistreating guide dogs.
I have a firm policy – never turn your back on someone your dog doesn’t like. Don’t let them into your house, don’t let them even know where you live if you can help it. Because they are not trustworthy in any way, shape, or form. Some of them may not be actively evil, but I wouldn’t bet money on any of them. The Dog knows!!
Obviously, Halperin fits into this category!
stinger
@MoxieM: So very, very sorry to hear it.
J R in WV
@MoxieM:
So sorry for your loss. And you can talk about that kind of thing on any thread here as far as I’m concerned, and I’m sure John C would agree. We have made that last trip too many times, as we usually have 2 or 3 dogs and 3-5 cats. So someone is always in the process of aging out. Always hard, even when you know it is essential.
Connecticut is a long way from southern WV, hell other parts of WV are a long way from here! But we manage to find great dogs who need our help right here. Neighbors train assistance dogs, get them as puppies and have to give them up when they get them grown up and educated. They know their dogs are going on to do good work!
Take care, and know that our two mutts will get plenty of scritches and a couple of treats tonight!
Davebo
@Tractarian: Why?
The Pale Scot
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: Dana Milbank
Yea, once I walked away from the keyboard I thought it was Chuck Todd
Singing Truth to Power
@MoxieM: Like just about everyone on this thread, I have lost many beloved critters. The grief at the end of their journey is the price we pay for all of the love and joy and laughter they bring. It always comes too soon, and like a gut-punch. I am so sorry for your grief.
Raoul
Very late to this little party. But I just had to say, shit-eating-grin Halperin can fvk himself. I loved how much pushback he got on twitter, the rude jackass.