Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

“They not like us!” (that’s for sure!)

The new republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickel?”

I’m just a talker, trying to find a channel!

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

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

The US Supreme Court is on the ballot in november.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / They don’t know us at all

They don’t know us at all

by | 243 Comments

This post is in: 

Axios this morning:

David Anderson, the former health insurance official who writes a thoughtful health care blog called Balloon Juice, has a fascinating account of one reason the Iowa individual health insurance market is having problems. There’s one person with a severe genetic disorder whose medical care costs about $1 million a month — $12 million a year. Last year, this person alone was responsible for 10 percentage points of a massive rate hike by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which is now pulling out of the Iowa marketplace for next year.

They think we’re both thoughtful and a healthcare blog.  Oops.

When  we get new comers today, let’s remember to wear pants as we mop or look for mustard.  Let’s not scare them too much.

Open thread

Reader Interactions

243Comments

  3. 3.

    Betty Cracker

    OMFG, that’s hilarious! At least they linked your post instead of the main site; that’ll mitigate the shock somewhat. ;-)

  7. 7.

    The Moar You Know

    When we get new comers today, let’s remember to wear pants as we mop or look for mustard.

    That’s your ethnic tradition, not mine. Pantslessness is next to godliness.

  8. 8.

    daveNYC

    What’s funny is that if you do a quick read of the post, you’d think that the $12M a year person was a thought experiment you’d come up with as a simplified explanation for the Iowa situation. Except they’re actually real.

  10. 10.

    Adam L Silverman

    So I shouldn’t put up the post about how the DPRK announced they were prepared and preparing to sink the Carl Vinson?

  11. 11.

    rikyrah

    Uh huh
    Uh huh

    Senate investigation into Russia scandal faces GOP resistance
    04/24/17 11:30 AM
    By Steve Benen

    Nearly a month ago, the top two officials on the Senate Intelligence Committee held a press conference to discuss their probe of the Russia scandal, and one could almost hear the sigh of relief from the political world. Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Ranking Member Mark Warner (D-Va.), acting very much like grown-ups, said their investigation was on track, and operating in a cooperative, methodical, and bipartisan way.

    The point wasn’t subtle: while Rep. Devin Nunes’ (R-Calif.) bizarre antics had derailed the House Intelligence Committee’s efforts, Burr and Warner wanted to reassure the public that we could have confidence in the Senate Intelligence Committee’s work.

    So much for that idea. Yahoo News’ Michael Isikoff reports today that the Senate’s probe has not only failed to make progress, but it’s also “increasingly stymied by partisan divisions that are jeopardizing the future of the inquiry.”

    The committee has yet to issue a single subpoena for documents or interview any key witnesses who are central to the probe, the sources said. It also hasn’t requested potentially crucial evidence – such as the emails, memos and phone records of the Trump campaign – in part because the panel’s chairman, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has so far failed to respond to requests from the panel’s Democrats to sign letters doing so, the sources said.

    “The wheels seem to be turning more slowly than the importance of the inquiry would indicate,” said Richard Ben-Veniste, a member of the 9/11 commission and former Watergate prosecutor, one of a number of veteran Washington investigators who have begun to question the lack of movement in the probe.

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    When we get new comers today, let’s remember to wear pants as we mop or look for mustard. Let’s not scare them too much.

    Where’s my Subaru?????

  16. 16.

    rikyrah

    Why Do Trump and Republicans Want to Waste Money On a Border Wall?
    by Nancy LeTourneau
    April 24, 2017 10:37 AM

    …………………………..

    You’d think that he would use the flip side of that argument for things the Trump administration wants to spend money on. And yet when asked about Congressional support for funding the president’s border wall, he said that GOP leadership was on board because “they know it’s a priority for the president.” In other words, Trump made a campaign promise and now it’s time to pony up the money for it, regardless of whether or not it works.

    That quote from Mulvaney was part of an article by the Wall Street Journal that found this:

    Not a single member of Congress who represents the territory on the southwest border said they support President Donald Trump’s request for $1.4 billion to begin construction of his promised wall, according to a Wall Street Journal survey, testing the administration’s ability to reach a deal on government funding next week.

    Most lawmakers representing the region—both Democrats and Republicans—said they are opposed and many said they have unanswered questions. A few were noncommittal, but not a single member of the House or Senate representing the region expressed support for the funding request. That includes nine members of the House and eight senators across four states: Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

  17. 17.

    David Anderson

    @Barbara: I want to believe that I became aware of Balloon-Juice during John’s days of confusions as a Republican via Memeorandum pre-Schiavo days with some Iraq posts. I know I was part of this community as a lurker on his Fuck it, I’m registering as a Democrat post

  20. 20.

    Steeplejack

    [. . .] a thoughtful health care blog called Balloon Juice [. . .].

    Ha! Laugh of the day.

    ETA: Maybe this will push us into the coveted top-10,000 zone.

  23. 23.

    Adam L Silverman

    @David Anderson: I’m not planning on much posting today, maybe something for Yom HaShoa. I’ve got some work related writing I need to get done. So I will keep my pants on, but I will also leave the blogging to others today.

  24. 24.

    Pharniel

    @daveNYC: this is actually something covered a couple times. As gene treatments & other super tech is rolled out the cost is commiserate with the effect.

    It’s only going to get more common.

  26. 26.

    Kay

    We should all start referring to Trump’s wall as a spite fence.

    Spite fence is a term used in American property law to refer to an overly tall fence, structure in the nature of a fence, or a row of trees, bushes, or hedges, constructed or planted between adjacent lots by a property owner (with no legitimate purpose), who is annoyed with or wishes to annoy a neighbor, or who wishes to completely obstruct the view between lots. The fence or row of trees usually serves no purpose to the owner.

    The country is being run by a pack of mean-spirited assholes who are motivated by anger and resentment.

    We’re a nasty, small, petty country now. The only “infrastructure” we can manage is a stupid useless wall that goes nowhere and does nothing productive but boy it makes a good “fuck you” statement!

  27. 27.

    Steeplejack

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I came here via Andrew Sullivan’s blog in ’08. He had a link to one of Cole’s rants about something. Then, with the pets and the pants-optional format, I knew I had found my home on the Interwebs.

  28. 28.

    oldster

    Believe it or not, I remember back when the pre-conversion John was arguing with The Editors about Cindy Sheehan. It all ended in a Kokomo ear-worm that still makes me laugh whenever I think about it.

    Too damned long ago, and we’re still governed by morally vicious cretins. Still, some see the light. And in the long run, the truth will win.

  34. 34.

    chris

    I came to watch The Conversion of Cole because I didn’t really believe it. Been here ever since, eons in internet time.

    ETA: Probably via Atrios who turned 15 last week.

  35. 35.

    Kay

    Nate Silver‏Verified account
    @NateSilver538
    These were the lead news stories (per @memeorandum) over the final 19 days of last year’s campaign. Anything stand out?

    Nate Silver has been fighting with media people for like 12 hours straight about how they fucked up election coverage. Someone else has to take a turn :)

  36. 36.

    Hunter Gathers

    @Kay:

    We’re a nasty, small, petty country now.

    It’s what happens when stupid fucking crackers vote for the stupidest fucking cracker in known creation. Sure, we may have ceded world leadership to the fucking Germans, but I’m worried that an illegal from Mexico is going to take my Net Admin job and Black people scare me.

  38. 38.

    scav

    Well, given the pants restriction, can we edge toward tights and tutus camouflaged sutably for a unicorn food convention? With sporans for the traditionally minded? I’m sure a few could manage an impromtue Bollywood number for the guests. Let Mad as pants be the watchword of the day.

  40. 40.

    Kay

    @Hunter Gathers:

    The ability to build a wall is somehow an accomplishment? Not electric or sewers or power grids or airports or dams or bridges, but a giant wall.

    It’ll be a monument to nastiness and fear.

  41. 41.

    dr. bloor

    @Kay: The fact that the media feel compelled to muster that kind of opposition speaks volumes to what a preening, thin-skinned bunch of courtiers they are.

  43. 43.

    Tarragon

    @Barbara:

    I found my way here before the great conversion. I’m not sure why but maybe because I used to spite read RedState.

    I posted a few times under a different nym and got yelled at by John. Good times.

  44. 44.

    SatanicPanic

    “I was here when Cole converted” is the Balloon Juice version of “I have four digit User ID” at the GOS. Sadly I can claim neither.

  45. 45.

    Miss Bianca

    @Adam L Silverman:

    So I shouldn’t put up the post about how the DPRK announced they were prepared and preparing to sink the Carl Vinson?

    Is it thoughtful? Can you relate it to health care?

  46. 46.

    SiubhanDuinne

    “Aspirational.” “Pernicious.” “Astute.”

    Would Trump even know what these words mean, let alone be able to use them easily and correctly in a (completely unscripted, off-the-cuff) speech? I think not.

  47. 47.

    Shantanu Saha

    This was the way that I first learned about BJ. At the time, when Paul Krugman was blogging much more regularly than he does now, he mentioned this guy named Richard Mayhew on a blog called Balloon Juice. After a few warm mentions, I went over and discovered the wacky world that you all inhabit, and have stuck by it. I’ll have to admit that BJ is now my primary source of news and commentary.

  48. 48.

    Cowgirl in the Sandi

    @eclare:

    I remember a post on Firedoglake called something like ‘John Cole come on down’ that got me here. FDL is gone but Cole endures.

  50. 50.

    Juice Box

    I’m old enough to remember when Juan Cole was referred to as “the good John Cole” in comparison to the Republican John Cole. I think that was Atrios.

    Completely OT, but somebody gets angry with me whenever I point out that an incredible chunk of healthcare money is wasted in this country on very well-paid jobs for the function of insurance billing. Here is the NYT on the same subject:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/22/opinion/sunday/our-costly-addiction-to-health-care-jobs.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-top-region&region=opinion-c-col-top-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-top-region&_r=0

  53. 53.

    Mnemosyne

    I don’t always comment while wearing pants but that’s because, as a woman, I can wear skirts in public without causing a stir.

    (Well, sometimes I cause a stir because I still have really good legs for an almost 48-year-old, but I probably shouldn’t brag. ?)

  54. 54.

    Gravenstone

    @Adam L Silverman: Go for it. Might as well treat the newbies to another competent and thoughtful front page post, however apocalyptic.

    Also, our buddy derf is back a couple threads down if you care to confirm via ip and reapply your recently granted time out, if appropriate.

  56. 56.

    p.a.

    Hmmmpf… is Axios one of the top 10,000 blogs?

    I believe I was here pre-Schiavo, but I don’t remember when, or how I found it. I believe my first comment pushed BJ into the rarefied Top-10,000 atmosphere!

  63. 63.

    Adria McDowell (formerly LurkerExtraordinaire)

    Guess I better go put on a bra…..you know, for when company shows up.

  64. 64.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    Nate Silver has been fighting with media people for like 12 hours straight about how they fucked up election coverage. Someone else has to take a turn :)

    UH HUH
    UH HUH

  65. 65.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    The country is being run by a pack of mean-spirited assholes who are motivated by anger and resentment.

    We’re a nasty, small, petty country now. The only “infrastructure” we can manage is a stupid useless wall that goes nowhere and does nothing productive but boy it makes a good “fuck you” statement!

    continue to TELL THAT TRUTH, KAY!!!

  66. 66.

    rikyrah

    The ‘Never-Mind-What-Trump-Said’ foreign policy endures
    04/24/17 11:00 AM
    By Steve Benen
    ……………………………………………………..

    In reality, Trump didn’t really know anything about the agreement, and as the New York Times reported over the weekend, “this dumb deal” has now been reaffirmed by Trump’s administration.

    Vice President Mike Pence assured Australian leaders on Saturday that the United States was committed to the countries’ “strong and historic alliance,” and he reaffirmed that the Trump administration would honor a refugee deal that President Trump disparaged in a January phone call with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. […]

    On Saturday, Mr. Pence confirmed that the deal was still on. “Whatever reservations the president may have about the details of agreements reached by the prior administration, we’ll honor this agreement, out of respect for that enormously important alliance,” he said at a joint news conference with Mr. Turnbull in Sydney.

  67. 67.

    Mike J

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Would Trump even know what these words mean, let alone be able to use them easily and correctly in a (completely unscripted, off-the-cuff) speech? I think not.

    And that’s why Republicans always complained that “Obama thinks he’s better than you.” Because he actually was better than them and he didn’t feel it necessary to hide it.

  68. 68.

    Boussinesque

    I don’t rightly recall how I found this place…might’ve been someone linking a post from here at Pharyngula or the old Pandagon. Y’all left the door open and I wandered in and never left…although I didn’t comment for the first 6-7 years.

  69. 69.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mike J:

    Exactly. It would have been arrogant and patronising if Obama had talked down to his audiences. Instead, he has always paid us the ultimate compliment, by addressing us as intelligent equals.

  72. 72.

    Tim C.

    I came over about the time John switched party registrations. There was a good run-down on him and this blog over at Dkos and I was a regular reader, but not commenter, over there at the time.

    Also, should we mention the actual bag of ….. devices found in John’s basement?

  73. 73.

    SatanicPanic

    @Mike J: They expect black men to be humble. That’s why Kanye West gets so much hate. White men, OTOH, can brag about themselves 24/7 and get elected president.

  74. 74.

    Jacel

    @Iowa Old Lady: I think Balloon Juice was mentioned several times when Ezra Klein (on one of his old blogs) asked for recommendations of blogs and websites on the right worth reading. John Cole was spoken of as a Bush supporter who wrote honestly from his perspective as a soldier with war experience. Soon after I started looking at BJ, the Schiavo situation led John Cole to flip and flip hard.

  76. 76.

    LAO

    O/T : For those who may be interested, the jury has reached a verdict in the first “Bundy” Las Vegas trial. Linky. It’s expected to be read in Court at 10:00 am PST. (All three Bundy’ still await trial).

  78. 78.

    Aardvark Cheeselog

    @David Anderson: So, you actually remember the mustard episode from when it happened, as opposed to reading about it after the fact. I was wondering about that.

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne

    Since we’re sharing our how I discovered Balloon-Juice stories, I used to be a regular at Pandagon (started in the Ezra &a Jesse days, continued into the Amanda tenure) and then somebody linked to John after his conversion. I’m pretty sure it was in the early days of the Obama/Clinton primary when things were starting to heat up.

  81. 81.

    Aardvark Cheeselog

    @Mike J: This is what you get when you let the dumbest third of the minority party pick who gets to be President.

  83. 83.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Steeplejack: I can actually! I cannot do it in a grammatically correct manner…

    Here is the link to a US Institute of Peace briefing powerpoint on the DPRK health system:
    https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=11&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjv-4WKxr3TAhUC6CYKHRUgCTIQFghlMAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usip.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2FHealth%2FUSIP%2520Health%2520Care%2520in%2520North%2520Korea.ppt&usg=AFQjCNHawVSe-ZPDpEc481JJzshwyOt_Mg&sig2=6tptI5HCJ3C7jLbTQBQCeQ

    Here are links to two different Guardian articles on the DPRK’s health system:
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/23/north-korean-health-system-crumbling-sanctions
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/oct/08/north-korean-hospital-surgery-in-pictures

    From the first Guardian article:

    Universal healthcare was one of the country’s founding commitments; citizens see hospitals and schools as the last remaining benefits of the former command economy.

    But those too have deteriorated badly and some believe that sanctions are contributing to the problem.

    “The perfect storm of a financial collapse, loss of the Soviets as trading partner, a sequence of meteorologic disasters, and sanctions has left the health care system in shambles,” said Ricky Choi, a US doctor who co-authored a recent paper on healthcare in North Korea.

    “The downstream effects are food shortages, a shortage of domestically produced pharmaceuticals, breakdown of the sanitation system, shortage of medical supplies, a resurgence of infectious disease, and ultimately a rise in mortality and morbidity.”

    Compare the system to those of countries with similarly sized economies and it might not look so bad: as of 2009, Ethiopia, which had a similar level of GDP, had just 0.2 doctors and 2.4 nurses per 10,000 citizens to North Korea’s 33 and 41 respectively.

    But just 6% of the North’s government spending went on healthcare in 2008, according to WHO figures, while the proportion in Ethiopia was almost double that. And because citizens are used to better healthcare, they are even more aware of the shortcomings.

  84. 84.

    Gravenstone

    @rikyrah: Sure. Someone is going to have to be forced to take those ultra low paying jobs that the undocumented currently take, don’tchano?

  85. 85.

    Lee

    BTW, I read at work so I am usually wearing pants (except when working from home obviously).

    That seems important in this thread.

  86. 86.

    Adam L Silverman

    @JPL: That is the wrong question. The right question is does the President know what he wants in regard to the DPRK in the short, medium, and/or long term?

  87. 87.

    ArchTeryx

    They come in looking for solid healthcare discussion, and then they find my rant about burning down the 4-year university system. Success!

  89. 89.

    Immanentize

    @David Anderson: not s direct reply to your post but as you may be reading….

    So my wife and I were at her first post-chemo check up and aside from lots of very interesting talk about nausea and diarrhea, the NP told us an interesting thing. In a discussion about getting genetics testing, and the potential for future genetics discrimination by insurers, our NP said that chemo drug suppliers are already changing their pricing and subsidies for Medicaid and Medicare insurance holders. Any insight on this?

    Mille grazie

  91. 91.

    Alain the site fixer

    @David Anderson: yeah I was an occasional lurker back then before the change. I was so happy to see someone undergo public conversion, it made me realize that we are not all set in stone. I think the initial appeal for me was the snark and love for animals coupled with science and, of course, politics. Those strengths remain.

  94. 94.

    catclub

    @Pharniel:

    other super tech is rolled out the cost is commiserate with the effect.

    I think ‘commensurate’ is the expected word here. Commiserate works awfully well, I admit.

  97. 97.

    Gravenstone

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The right question is does the President know what he wants…

    This seems to be an evergreen question. Aside from the usual narcissist’s needs of attention and adulation, I’m going with “no” for every other possible iteration.

  98. 98.

    hitchhiker

    @SatanicPanic:

    I do have a 4-digit user ID @ dkos, but I rarely use it. I got there via the old Dean for America site, which was my intro to online political stuff. 2003 … lord, how innocent a time that was.

    The very first post I read here @ bj (most likely linked thru dkos) was the one where John described (in elegant swear-prose) how he injured his shoulder while doing somethingsomething hilariously related to his pets. Stayed for the consistently great writing, laughs, occasional tears, and insights from the front pagers.

  99. 99.

    Betty Cracker

    OOOO, Joy Reid is crossing swords with Greenwald and Assange on Twitter right now!

  102. 102.

    Cacti

    I like to think of the BJ comment section as a daily Thanksgiving Dinner between dysfunctional family members.

    Welcome noobs, and pass the f**king gravy, will ya?

  103. 103.

    Gravenstone

    @Immanentize: Discrimination based on genetic profile? Is that what you’re referring to? Curious where that discrimination might fall, against those who would have access to genetically tailorable treatments (pricey) or against those who currently do not? I realize this is hardly an academic exercise for you or your wife, but it does raise an important issue as technology moves forward.

    My alma mater recently rolled out a pharmacogenomics program. I wonder if this sort of thing is even touched on in the ethics classes included in the curriculum?

  104. 104.

    Lee

    @hitchhiker: Either Lilly or Rosie didn’t want to go to the bathroom outside & was just standing there being miserable.

    So the kind-hearted John decided to pick her up and bring her back in….

  105. 105.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Immanentize: I’m the wrong person to ask. Nuclear proliferation is not one of my areas of expertise. And the DPRK’s culture, society, politics, economics, religion, etc are almost no one’s. And definitely not mine!

  107. 107.

    Sab

    @Sab: Autocorrect got me again. I type “we” and it corrects to “wearing”. Isn’t “we” a commonly used word in English?

  109. 109.

    cintibud

    I rarely post but have been coming here for quite a long time. When I first started checking out blogs I decided I needed to look at some “conservative” blogs for balance but couldn’t stomach the absolute insanity of the vast majority I found. I settled on Andrew Sullivan and John Cole as the ones who seemed to think there was such a thing as non-partisan facts. I was able to observe first hand the transformation. I remember one post headline in particular “The Dirty Fucking Hippies where right!”. The conversion was complete!

    I love this community and feel I know a lot of people here even though most of them probably don’t ever remember seeing my name.

  110. 110.

    SatanicPanic

    @hitchhiker: I haven’t been to the GOS is years. Writing a really stupid GBCW post is on my bucket list, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

  111. 111.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @chris: I came here via Atrios also. I still read him, but this place and Wonkette are now home bases for me.

  112. 112.

    Spanky

    @Mnemosyne:

    (Well, sometimes I cause a stir because I still have really good legs for an almost 48-year-old, but I probably shouldn’t brag. ?)

    Pics, or it didn’t happen.
    Signed, another 3-digit GOS ex-pat. (Geez, have no idea what my nym used to be. Been a loooong time.) I came over here several months pre-conversion on a link from CrooksandLiars, IIRC. Might have been AmericaBlog, though.

  114. 114.

    tom

    @Iowa Old Lady: I came here quite a while ago via Andrew Sullivan (of all people) who called John an ‘honest conservative’. I didn’t think such a thing existed and had to check this phenomenon out. This was when John was migrating from the dark side to ours. I was going through the same conversion at the same time as John.

    I’ve been here mostly lurking ever since.

  115. 115.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Gravenstone: I looked the IPs aren’t even close. Is it the same person bouncing his IPs? Possibly. But one was in Texas and the other in Canada.

  116. 116.

    SFBayAreaGal

    I came here via Lawyers, Guns, Money blog or Daily Kos. The name Ballon Juice caught my attention, so I had to investigate. I’m glad I did.

  117. 117.

    rikyrah

    Trump administration can’t keep its story straight on ‘Dreamers’
    04/24/17 09:00 AM
    By Steve Benen

    While individual deportations are rarely the basis for national news, last week’s story about Juan Manuel Montes was different. The 23-year-old Montes, who’s lived in the United States since age 9, was taken into custody last week and returned to Mexico – making him the first example of a “Dreamer” to be deported since Donald Trump became president.

    As USA Today reported, Montes was “twice granted deportation protections” under the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which Trump has so far left in place, but which didn’t seem to protect the young man last week.

    It therefore came as something of a surprise late last week when the Republican president said “Dreamers” – who get their name from the “Dream Act” that GOP lawmakers blocked in Congress – should “rest easy” about his immigration policies. Trump told the Associated Press that he’s “not after the Dreamers, we are after the criminals.” He added, “That is our policy.”

    Trump might want to let his attorney general know.

    [Attorney General Jeff Sessions], in an exclusive interview Sunday on “This Week,” told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos, “There’s no doubt the president has sympathy for young people who were brought here at early ages.”

    He also said the Department of Homeland Security’s “first and strongest priority – no doubt about it” is to arrest unauthorized immigrants who have committed crimes. “They’re focusing primarily on that,” he said.

  118. 118.

    Barbara

    @rikyrah: Trump truly is an ignoramus whose many years in business have still not led him to an understanding of the concept of a “win-win” solution in anything. The comments to the NYT article on his bellyaching over how unfair NAFTA and Canada is regarding U.S. dairy products and the lumber industry were kind of amazing. Apparently, Canadians are well aware that, among other things, dairy and lumber are not actually covered under NAFTA, and Canada does not subsidize its dairy farmers the way we do.

    But here was the most recommended comment to give you an idea of what a complete fool our president is:

    I am not a Canadian nor a dairy farmer; I am a registered Republican who happens to track the Canadian dairy industry in my job as an international business and public affairs consultant. President Trump’s false description of the current friction over dairy trade, either from ignorance or design, merits correction. Canadian dairy farmers, unlike their American counterparts, do not receive billions of dollars in public subsidies each year, meaning the Canadians sell their milk at production cost. Canada charges a customs duty on American milk to redress the subsidy. To avoid the tariff American processors have developed a product called ultra-filtered milk that concentrates proteins, enabling Americans to export an undrinkable product for use in pizza cheese and other food products. Ultra-filtered milk is not sold in the US, only exported to Canada to evade legal tariffs. As this undercuts Canadian dairy farmers their government reclassified ultra-filtered milk to make sure it pays the applicable tariff. Killing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which might have expanded U.S. dairy exports to Canada, saddles President Trump with responsibility for the loss of market by Wisconsin farmers. Undoubtedly hard on Wisconsin farmers but the blames lies with President Trump and Paul Ryan for assuming other countries will not protect their interests. The U.S. is on track to lose a billion-dollar dairy export market in Mexico. Many more farmers will lose markets thanks to bluster.

    The article is here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/20/business/trade-canada-trump-steel.html

  120. 120.

    reality-based (the original, not the troll)

    @eclare: jeez, neither can i

    I know I was here around 2006 – or 2007? – wait, no must be earlier? I remember I used to read John as a “Not crazy for a conservative” voice, I think i started coming by every day around the time he gave up on Bush. Isn’t that strange? It’s like moving into an (intellectual, cultural, political) home with a bunch of new friends and living there for 12 or 13 years – but not remembering how you got here! )

  122. 122.

    dance around in your bones

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I’m trying to remember what led me to BJ the first time. Maybe a link in a blog list on another site? I’m not sure.

    When I was living in Mexico and had only an intermittent wireless connection I used to read The Daily Dish. Sully mentioned? was feuding with? mocking? John Cole and I got curious – visited Balloon Juice and never left. Dropped Sully. Due to aforementioned intermittent wireless, I used Read It Later (now Pocket) to save posts and comment threads to read offline later. I used to be jealous of the late night commenters ability to post snark and trade music videos …. felt like I was always missing the party!

  123. 123.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @rikyrah: The incompetence pervades the Donald malasstration from top to bottom. They say one thing, they act in another way. All the time. Anyone appointed by Donald should, once he’s removed from office, never be allowed in government ever again. This includes Gorsuch, who should be impeached and removed from the USSC since his appointment by Donald is tainted, every bit as much as anyone else.

  125. 125.

    Millard Filmore

    @rikyrah: Another angle of the Senate committee’s lack of progress comes from not having any full time staff

    https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141759530
    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/23/senate-trump-russia-probe-has-no-full-time-staff-no-key-witnesses.html

    The investigation does not have a single staffer dedicated to it full-time, and those staff members working on it part-time do not have significant investigative experience.

  126. 126.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Barbara: Oh, I don’t read the comments there anymore, but he’s useful for his usual rants about urban transportation and the regular “Worst Person” feature.

  129. 129.

    geg6

    Heh, I love all the how I found Balloon Juice stories. I used to hang at another non-political blog that had an off topic forum where we could talk about anything. I was always getting in trouble there to being too liberal and eventually got banned. A friend there recommended BJ to me as a sane Republican site, something I had maintained was a unicorn. This was just before John’s Schiavo rant. I stayed a lurked for a couple years and finally got brave enough to comment. Probably should have kept my mouth shut ;-). But then, I wouldn’t have my sweet babies, Lovey and Koda.

  130. 130.

    chris

    @Villago Delenda Est: Yeah, I still read Atrios but this is the first hit every day. And I still read DKOS (ducks) because the local and state coverage is in one place, very handy for a Canadian.

  131. 131.

    Sab

    I am disturbed by Axios’ description of the $12 million dollar patient as “responsible” for the 10% rate hike. As if said person chose to be profligate with healthcare spending.

  134. 134.

    TenguPhule

    @Adam L Silverman:

    So I shouldn’t put up the post about how the DPRK announced they were prepared and preparing to sink the Carl Vinson?

    You should, and to be extra shocking explain how Trump is going to get our people killed by being so incompetent.

  136. 136.

    TenguPhule

    @Sab:

    As if said person chose to be profligate with healthcare spending.

    Insurance has to spend $12 million to pay for their treatments. They’re responsible. They did make a choice, they choose to live.

  137. 137.

    TenguPhule

    @rikyrah:

    It also hasn’t requested potentially crucial evidence – such as the emails, memos and phone records of the Trump campaign – in part because the panel’s chairman, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has so far failed to respond to requests from the panel’s Democrats to sign letters doing so, the sources said.

    It seems Russia has naked pictures of Mr. Burr with a live boy or dead girl.

  139. 139.

    Roger Moore

    @Juice Box:

    Completely OT, but somebody gets angry with me whenever I point out that an incredible chunk of healthcare money is wasted in this country on very well-paid jobs for the function of insurance billing.

    Unfortunately, this is not an area where most single payer schemes would help much; it would just mean a lot of the people doing the insurance company part of the process would be on government salaries instead of industry salaries. If you want to eliminate the problem completely, you need to integrated payer/provider networks, either private (like Kaiser) or public (like NHS).

  140. 140.

    KithKanan

    @dance around in your bones: Similar story here. It took me a bit to think back, but I’m fairly sure I found the place through a Sully link. I started reading regularly sometime after John’s conversion but before the 2008 election and have stuck around ever since, though mainly as a lurker — I tend to read posts in-order and I’m on the west coast so by the time I read through an interesting comment thread it’s usually dead. :/

  141. 141.

    TenguPhule

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Anyone appointed by Donald should, once he’s removed from office, never be allowed in government ever again.

    Government, hell. They should be exiled from the country, stripped of their citizenship and dropped off in Syria for the locals to do with as they will. It’s the only way to be sure.

  143. 143.

    Marcopolo

    @SatanicPanic: Hah! I was an early supporter of Dean for prez (winter/spring of 2003) & found Dkos because of that. My user # was somewhere around 1500. I am pretty sure I wound up here about the time of John’s conversion as a result of that but I also spent time at Eschaton back then. Over the years, though, this is the place I’ve felt most at home–though mostly lurking during that time.

  144. 144.

    TenguPhule

    @Barbara:

    Many more farmers will lose markets thanks to bluster.

    On the plus side, most of them did vote for him. So no need to waste empathy, any concern about their fate can be purely pragmatic.

  145. 145.

    VeniceRiley

    @Juice Box:
    I work at the company referenced last in that article. That lady is a coworker of mine.
    It’s a very large non-profit FQHC in Los Angeles & Orange counties (so far.) We provide care for the uninsured as well as the insured, and the ACA has been (obviously) a blessing.

  146. 146.

    Gelfling 545

    @Steeplejack: I too discovered the existence of this blog via Sullivan. He also led me to TNC. Two different but elegant additions to my reading program. Seems rather unfair that I soon after gave up on Sullivan entirely. Ah, well.

  147. 147.

    Tokyokie

    Crap. I need to put on pants, and my leaving the computer all harsh the mellow of the loudly purring meezer on my desk.

  148. 148.

    TenguPhule

    @JPL:

    Looking for a sane republican now, is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

    That has been set on fire with molten lava.

  149. 149.

    TenguPhule

    @rikyrah:

    we’ll honor this agreement, out of respect for that enormously important alliance,

    And every word of what Pence said was a lie.

  150. 150.

    dance around in your bones

    @KithKanan: Heh! I had the same factors – West Coast time lag, lurker for the first couple years because I was intimidated, read posts in order (one thing I have never understood is folks who say they read the comments from the bottom up … wha? o.O )

    My husband never read BJ but he knew what was going on from my frequent “listen to this!” outbursts. Sadly, he’s not alive anymore to listen, so my frequent mentions of BJ to my family and friends garner mostly puzzled looks and concern that I spend so much time here.

  151. 151.

    Adam L Silverman

    Why is this not surprising:
    http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/04/23/mark_halperin_faces_harsh_criticism_from_a_dog_in_a_bow_tie.html

    Halperin’s recollection of that fateful red-eye doesn’t jibe with that of Charlie’s owner, Anthony Pisano. Pisano, who works as a flight attendant for Delta, reached out via Twitter to say that, not only did Halperin not offer to trade seats, but, rather than expressing concern that Delta was seating support animals apart from their owners, he told a flight attendant that he refused to sit next to a dog. What’s more, in Pisano’s telling, Halperin wouldn’t speak to him or even look at him while the situation was resolved. (Given recent confusion about United and their leggings policy, Pisano clarified that both he and Charlie had first-class “full fare regular passenger tickets,” and were not travelling as employees.) Here’s his account:

    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.

  153. 153.

    HeleninEire

    So Bernie is coming to Dublin in June. One of my meet-up groups (American X-Pats in Dublin) sent me an invite to his talk. They are advertising it as such “Many people say Sanders would have beat Trump.” OH HELL TO THE NO. h/t Whitney.

  155. 155.

    Nicole

    Hmmm… I posted a link to that very post before work this morning, inspired by your follow-up post about it (I read the Iowa post last week and enjoyed it). So, of course, I am, without any proof whatsoever, going to take full credit for Axios posting a link to it a couple of hours after I did. I would appreciate none of you trying to cure me of my self-congratulatory delusion, kthanxbai.

  156. 156.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Barbara:

    At some point, Atrios became a parody site and the comments are simply unreadable.

    Ain’t that the truth?

    No idea how I got here, but I’m sure you’re all delighted that I did. Probably Atrios or LGM or GOS (my number was -3, IIRC, so suck on that, three digit people) or my favorite that I still miss terribly, Bartcop.

    These days BJ is pretty much my only politics blog,though I occasionally check TPM or WaMo.

    The front pagers are great, as are the commenters (except SD–what is wrong with that chick?). It’s like my second family that is bigger but less eccentric than my first family.

    Keep up the good work!

  157. 157.

    JPL

    @LAO: So what does the verdict mean? Do the Bundy’s walk agan

    Jury reaches partial verdict – Gregory Burleson, former FBI informant, guilty of 8 counts. Todd Engel guilty of two. Hung on rest

  158. 158.

    Steve in the ATL

    @HeleninEire:

    “Many people say Sanders would have beat Trump.”

    Yes, many people who are rightwing trolls, Russian trolls, and pseudo-lefty useful morons. I hate to think what BS’s coattails would have looked like–how many people of color would not have bothered to vote if he had been the nominee?

  159. 159.

    patroclus

    I got here via Andrew Sullivan. The cool thing about BJ is that it constantly changes – now, it’s a health care blog, but it has also been a cat blog, Tunch blog, a Glenn Greenwald blog, an Obama v. Hillary blog, a Hillary v. Wilmer blog, an anti-Glenn Greenwald blog, an Adam Silverman military/foreign policy blog, a Bob in Portland blog, a Terri Schiavo blog and way back when, some guy named John Cole used to post a lot.

  160. 160.

    Mart

    @Adam L Silverman: As I recall from the AP interview, tRump wants to build 12 new aircraft carriers. He has no idea how much an aircraft armada costs to build, man, maintain, and fuel. But a dozen is such a nice number, no matter how vulnerable they are to being sunk and causing WWIII. I say anchors away, what could go wrong?

  161. 161.

    Immanentize

    @Gravenstone: Five months ago, everyone agrees , that there was no ability to discriminate against those with genetic pre-dispositions. Doctors told patients that they were conspiracy nuts to think that. Now, they are hedging. It is such a terrible world, Trump is creating. Frankly, the issue is not for my wife or for me, but rather for our son. My wife’s mother, against all odds, is currently also under treatment for stomach cancer. We are going to a geneticist to see if the two cases indicate genetic predisposition. So, he would suffer if we entered a world in which known genetic predispositions could affect insurance rates.

    Did you know that in Seoul, South Korea, where there are high gastric cancer rates, people get an annual endoscopy starting at the age of 40? Fun facts learned from the learned.

  162. 162.

    Adam L Silverman

    @LAO: There is something wrong with that man on the organic level. Watch the video of him sitting behind Comey during Comey’s July 2016 testimony to Congress about the HRC investigation. At the point that Comey explains that there was no intent, therefore according to statute no crime, Halperin get’s a look on his face like someone just took a dump on his tongue. From facial expression it is pretty clear he not only wanted to see Secretary Clinton get indicted, but that on a visceral level he needed it.

  163. 163.

    trollhattan

    @rikyrah:
    Pence’s coda on the Aussie refugee decision made his statement the equivalent of “Yeah, okay, we’ll take your stupid refugees, you pansy-waist koala-humping ingrates. Did you at least beat the Mooslim out of them?”

  165. 165.

    Goku

    I used to lurk here before a few months ago. I think I originally came here while looking up something about Ray Bradbury in high school around 2011-2012 or so when he died. We had to read Fahrenheit 451. It was here I learned that Bradbury was a wingnut in his later years

    Many years of laughing at Cole’s misfortunes, cute cat pics, and good political analysis ensued

  166. 166.

    JPL

    @Steve in the ATL: Ossoff did pretty good in John’s Creek. I waved signs at two different precincts in Roswell for a local city council candidate. There were several Ossoff folks at both places. If I could give him any advice, it would be to avoid those precincts, because his sign wavers encouraged turnout for the repub candidates.

  167. 167.

    LAO

    @JPL: Judge sent them back to continue deliberating. If they can’t reach a unanimous verdict — government could (and probably will) retry those defendants/counts.

    I’m gobsmacked! Where are these juries — why can’t I find one? SMH

  169. 169.

    dogwood

    I came here through a Sullivan link as well. Sometime in 2004. Cole was a die-hard Republican then, but I kinda liked him so I stuck around. And the comment section could be really hilarious.

  170. 170.

    Steve in the ATL

    @JPL: I saw two Ossoff signs in my neighborhood last week that were not there the week before! It was in Phase I of the development, but that’s still something–normally the only signs are for the rightest RWNJ candidate.

    Jon got around 55% in my neighborhood, which stunned and thrilled me.

  171. 171.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Steve in the ATL: another Eschaton refugee here– I think I bailed around the time Atrios first snidely referred to Obama as “Mr Hopey-Changey”, and bought into some of loonier PUMA commenters theory that Sotomayor proved that Obama was secretly anti-choice.

  172. 172.

    patroclus

    @trollhattan: Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Sinn Fein, Labour and the rest of the parties better get ready for some major red-faced yelling about what they’re doing wrong.

  173. 173.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Immanentize: It isn’t. But in this case I’m professional enough to know what I can and can’t do. Or at least do competently. This is one of those things.

  174. 174.

    Barbara

    @TenguPhule: Yeah, pretty much. Iowans panicking about losing corn exports to Mexico is actually pretty funny. There should be a new term for it, like “suicide by voting,” because it is amazing how many people are willing to vote for someone who is basically promising to cut their throats. All that economic anxiety clouded their vision.

  175. 175.

    Jacel

    @Barbara: This reminds me of looking into the original 1927 “Strike Up The Band” show by Gershwin for some background on the title song. The plot involves the United States and Switzerland going to war against each over due to a disagreement over cheese tariffs. The more things change…

  177. 177.

    MomSense

    @Steeplejack:

    I think I came here via Sully, too but maybe a year or so later. Sully complained about something here so I checked it out and have stayed since – even through the drone wars.

    I was never much of a blog reader thanks to crappy internet, grad school, kids, and small farm responsibilities. I think I started blogging in the old mybo days. I had been reading the posts there for months when I finally clicked on the comments link.

    Oh and I’m not wearing pants today. So there.

  178. 178.

    Joyce H

    I started reading Balloon Juice back when John was The Republican You Can Agree With. Found it via some lefty blog making some point that ‘even Republican John Cole can see that…’ So I was here for the great conversion; it was so exciting!

    Another blog that made the full turn from Republican You Can Agree With to F That Shit! is Charles Johnson’s Little Green Footballs.

    Are there any bloggers who’ve gone the other way? A wild-eyed lefty who decided that W was a god-king or Trump is the only one who can save us?

  179. 179.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Joyce H:

    Are there any bloggers who’ve gone the other way? A wild-eyed lefty who decided that W was a god-king or Trump is the only one who can save us?

    Jane Hampsher at FDL?

  181. 181.

    joel hanes

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    When I first read Balloon Juice, we were just getting our war on in Iraq, and Cole was a warblogger with a tanker’s perspective on the military stuff. As an ex Field Artillery guy myself, I bookmarked him, but the commentariat was pretty heavily jingo.
    (As was far too much of the nation in those just-after-9/11 days, awash in lust for vengeance)

    So I probably got here via a link from from Volokh, or Kim DuToit, or Gates of Vienna, or Instapundit. T

  182. 182.

    Jacel

    @Steve in the ATL: Last week I listened to a delightful segment of Garbage’s Shirley Manson on Craig Ferguson’s Sirius/XM radio show. I was wishing that Mr. Bartcop were alive to have heard that.

  184. 184.

    TenguPhule

    @Mart:

    But a dozen is such a nice number, no matter how vulnerable they are to being sunk and causing WWIII.

    Actually LG&M linked to a thoughtful article pointing out its not actually that easy to sink one of our super carriers as you might think. For all that Russia and China have boasted about their shipkiller missiles, its been pointed out that they still lack the eyes in the sky to direct those missiles accurately at moving targets in the middle of the ocean. And they’ve never actually fired them at targets with ECM and defensive escorts.

    So unless a carrier were to do something incredibly stupid like buzz the shore of a hostile country…..uh oh.

  186. 186.

    TenguPhule

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Halperin get’s a look on his face like someone just took a dump on his tongue.

    The story behind how you know what that look looks like must be fascinating.

  187. 187.

    Spanky

    @trollhattan:

    Bernie is going to lecture the Irish on how to fix themselves? The heck?

    Hopefully, he’ll cite Cromwell as a sterling example. How can we make that happen?

  188. 188.

    Immanentize

    @Adam L Silverman: I was seated next to Mary Matalin on a plane from Houston to D.C. one time and she acted even worse than Halprin. While I was sitting next to her, she called the attendant over and asked him to ask me to move to another seat because she was very tired. This was first class and she could have sprawled out without getting close to my seat. I of course moved. She never said a word to me and never looked at me. Her Riff Raff barrier was up.

  189. 189.

    frosty

    @KithKanan: No idea exactly when I found the site, but pretty sure it was after The Conversion. Before Lilly though. Reading all of the comments, it was probably a Sully link for me too. Haven’t been back there for ages.

  190. 190.

    HeleninEire

    @Spanky: No report until now. Here it is: the date went pretty well until the last hour. He insisted on talking about US politics even though I said at least 3 times No I do not want to talk politics, sometimes one needs a break. Well it turns out that he believes we should give Trump a chance.

    So no trip West.

  191. 191.

    joel hanes

    @David Anderson:

    miss Pandagon

    I miss The Editors The Poor Man.
    And Jeanne D’Arc’s Body and Soul
    And Rivka’s Respect for Otters
    And Fafblog
    And the glory days of Sadly No!
    And Hilzoy at Obsidian Wings
    And Bitch! PhD
    …

  193. 193.

    Steve in the ATL

    @HeleninEire: Dumbass. I assume you maced him, shoved your steak knife into his shriveled black heart, then pounded a shot of Jameson and walked out of the restaurant with your head held high?

  194. 194.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Immanentize: I would have told them to pound sand. I paid for that first class seat, one way or another, and if she wanted to move, she could.

  196. 196.

    TenguPhule

    @HeleninEire:

    He insisted on talking about US politics even though I said at least 3 times No I do not want to talk politics, sometimes one needs a break.

    A sure sign of a diseased mind.

  197. 197.

    JudyinSD

    @Steeplejack: Me too, came via Sullivan and at about the same time as yourself. It is one good thing The Dish did, besides the “outside my window” game of place recognition.

  199. 199.

    Spanky

    @HeleninEire: Ouch. Sorry. Been there. I had a date once back in ’86-’87 that started out amazingly, until she started talking very enthusiastically about how “we” managed to sell arms to the Contras.

    ETA: Or, what Steve in the ATL said.

  200. 200.

    Immanentize

    @Adam L Silverman: That would be my response these days, for sure. This was just after the impeachment effort. When we got to DC, I did get to annoy her some by going up to James Carville, who was picking her up, and thanking him for all his work on behalf of Democrats. He was so nice, shook my hand, thanked me and smiled that huge toothy grin. I don’t like him at all much these days, but he was a guy who went to National to pick up his partner which means something.

  203. 203.

    Miss Bianca

    @Spanky: “That Oliver Cromwell sure knew how to stick it to the 1%!”

    Actually, sadly, Oliver Cromwell *was* capable of some determined, principled action on behalf of the *English* 99%. But he succumbed to the English disease of treating the Irish as sub-humans to be exterminated.

  205. 205.

    Steve in the ATL

    @David Anderson: BTW, Doug! would have used a song lyric for the thread title. You could have gone with Kirsty MacColl’s “They Don’t Know About Us”. As an added bonus, it would have thrilled the Tracey Ullman crowd since her cover of it is better known than Kirsty’s original.

    Kirsty, Bartop, and Steve Gilliard, RIP. I miss all of them! Uh, plus my dad, of course.

  209. 209.

    Sab

    @Miss Bianca: Certainly not defending Cromwell, but wasn’t his problem with their Catholicism rather than with their Irishness (i.e. religious intolerance rather than ethnic?)

  212. 212.

    Ben Cisco

    I followed a link from the GOS here during the runup to Election 2008, and left GOS for good about 30 seconds before they lost their damned minds.

  219. 219.

    ruemara

    Boy, I think I came here from Rumproast? I mean, as a NYer, I couldn’t resist “Brooklyn’s Meatiest Blog”. And they linked to something JC wrote and I came over and decided to annoy all of you because bored now.

    @HeleninEire: You let them know the deal on Sanders. He shouldn’t even be in Dublin. It’s like he doesn’t have a job to do.

  223. 223.

    ruemara

    @Steve in the ATL: We were pragmatic, as usual. But if you think we seem pissy now, we’d be very pissy having to vote for this douche to make sure an even bigger douche wasn’t elected. Solution to police brutality being make sure people have jobs so they’re not hanging out on street corners. What? If he had been a republican, the leftier than thou types woulda been calling for his resignation.

    @Goku: High school. No wonder you’re a Saiyan.

  224. 224.

    Miss Bianca

    @Sab: I think it was both – Irish Protestants usually tended to be actually English, or Scots-Irish in origin – Protestants brought in deliberately by the Crown in an effort to make Ireland Protestant. So Catholicism and Irishness tended to be conflated in the English mind. Surely Protestant Royalists were treated differently than Catholic ones.

  225. 225.

    Steve in the ATL

    @ruemara: I’m not the 1% though I’m close enough that many in my social circle are. I’ve had a lot of very disappointing conversations lately with long-time friends who are perfectly capable of understanding that their lives are highly privileged through private school educations, lucrative professional careers, and inherited wealth (and careers), but who choose to ignore that and assume bootstraps, reverse racism, etc.

    I’ve told a couple of them not to mention anything political to me as I still value their friendship but will end it if they start carrying on about things we know aren’t true. And especially trump–we can disagree about political philosophy but trump is indefensible.

    Friday night I told my best friend from college to stop texting me when he started bitching about Jews being the real racists because there are lots of them in his upscale neighborhood in Dallas and he feels excluded sometimes (he was texting me from his daughter’s tennis match; she attends Hockaday). When I asked how many Jews were members of his country club, he responded that Charley Pride was a member of one of the clubs that his parents belonged to in the 1970’s. In my mind, he conceded the argument right then and there.

    In his defense, he did attend a public high school–Highland Park.

  228. 228.

    Barbara

    @Miss Bianca: The question is, why did Scottish people become Protestant when the Irish did not? It’s not like the Scottish weren’t at odds with the English during the period of the Reformation. Mostly, it was for historical reasons — among other things, no one translated the Bible into Irish for a long time (QEI funded a project to do so but it never got off the ground), and eventually, religious and national identity became fused. Poland, to name another country that is virtually synonymous with Catholicism, actually experienced quite a lot of religious conflict until they got a Catholic king strong enough to stamp out Protestant activity. The founder of unitarianism was Italian. Anyway, there is a recent definitive history of the Reformation that covers many issues such as these.

  231. 231.

    Tenar Arha

    @rikyrah: oh, yeah that’s the same guy that says the growth fairy will grace is with great gains if we cut taxes. /bwahahaha

  232. 232.

    Ruckus

    @Immanentize:
    I always have tried to be a good airline passenger. Elbows, knees, food tray, etc on my own. Have been upgraded numerous times. Have never requested to be moved or to have a seatmate moved. Thought about it a few times but just sucked it up and did the flight. Once I did have a very large lady force her way into her center seat while I was putting up my bag, so I pointed to my window seat and she just ignored me. The people waiting to get by were getting antsy so I just climbed over her, using the arm rests as stepping stones and dropped into my window seat. She was not happy so I stared at her for about 30 seconds and she left me alone for the rest of the flight. But get up because someone didn’t want to sit next to me? Fuck that, they can move. And I don’t give a damn who they are or think they are, their shit smells just like mine. And I have no problem telling them that.

  233. 233.

    Shana

    @Iowa Old Lady: I know what brought me here. It was a couple of mentions over at Kos several years ago. Who put up a link to the Cleek’s Law post during one of their mid-day roundups last week.

  234. 234.

    Seanly

    Have I been occasionally posting and mostly lurking here since 2006 or so? Maybe even before then? I forget how I found it – maybe a link off alicublog or eschaton? I remember I was googling “liberal blogs” at one point during the Bush presidency so that might’ve been it…

  235. 235.

    TenguPhule

    @Steve in the ATL:

    In his defense, he did attend a public high school–Highland Park.

    Did the Jewish gangs there give him swirlies every day to make him hate them so?

  236. 236.

    glory b

    @Juice Box:

    “Completely OT, but somebody gets angry with me whenever I point out that an incredible chunk of healthcare money is wasted in this country on very well-paid jobs for the function of insurance billing.”

    I can’t disagree that it’s a lot of money, but the article is right. I live in Pittsburgh and I know a lot of young people, especially young people of color, with a few years of college (or less sometimes) have gotten the best jobs they may hope to get this way. They’re paying around $15 to $17 to start.

    So I’m torn, they inject a lot into the local economy, and cutting them would cause a lot of hardship. There’s nothing else to replace those jobs at that pay rate. A lot of them are young women, but more young African American males than you might think work there too.

    Another problem that might rear its head with single payer.

  238. 238.

    TenguPhule

    @glory b:

    So I’m torn, they inject a lot into the local economy, and cutting them would cause a lot of hardship.

    Unfortunately their jobs generate nothing of value as an end product. Like modern bankers, they’re getting paid to do a lot of stuff that doesn’t really help other people.

  239. 239.

    J R in WV

    @David Anderson:

    My DKos ID is 9000 something, from 2004. I was at work a lot, when things were happening – and when they were not. My Slashdot userid is around 200,000 somewhere, also pretty early for that site.

    But we don’t have B-J userids, I has a sad!

    Haven’t logged into D-Kos in years!

  240. 240.

    J R in WV

    @Immanentize:

    And sorry to hear about your wife’s illness. Hope it will turn out to be relatively easily treatable over the short term.

    Best wishes!

  241. 241.

    J R in WV

    @Immanentize:

    Mary Matalin on a plane from Houston to D.C. one time … While I was sitting next to her, she called the attendant over and asked him to ask me to move to another seat because she was very tired.

    Gawd Forbid SHE should get up and move somewhere more restful!!! These people need that final ride in the worst way~!~! But, really, you were better off away from her. What a creep!

  242. 242.

    Jacel

    @Sab: Oh yes. I so wish we could be hearing Steve Gilliard’s voice currently. And during the Obama years, I suspect he would have provide a perspective that nobody else was speaking, and that we can’t even imagine what it would have been.

  243. 243.

    AnneWith

    This thread is dead but I’ll reply anyway: I first found Balloon Juice in fall of 2008 (September? October?), & I’ve been reading ever since. I was here for the “Jane Hamshers of the Left” thread. Good times. :)

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