Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

“Squeaker” McCarthy

In my day, never was longer.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Bark louder, little dog.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Everybody saw this coming.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

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Reader Interactions

66Comments

  1. 1.

    Villago Delenda Est

    I am not Yarrow, so I will not bother you with an email. But I’m sure something fascinating will result from this.

  3. 3.

    Raoul

    For 2.5 mins of fascinating relaxation, I offer a link to this Vimeo, from a cockpit cam of a Swiss Airlines night flight from Switzerland to Brazil. Amazing timelapse of a nearly cloudless moonless flight. Milky Way is very evident, and interesting to see the other aircraft at times.

  4. 4.

    Lapassionara

    Thanks, Adam. I have been thinking about Yarrow. I hope he will respond.

    I look foward to his comments.

  5. 5.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Kropadope: Not funny. Yarrow expressed suicidal thoughts earlier this evening. People have offered support. Adam is doing it now. Me, once Yarrow said that kind of thing – I backed away. It’s not what I am good at and I don’t want to barge in and say something stupid. You may want to avoid bad jokes too. In this case, i trust that you did not know the backstory, so I’ll just leave it here.

  11. 11.

    Ohio Mom

    It’s hard when you develop affection for anonymous people on a blog and don’t know how to best help them when they are suffering.

    Holding you in the light, Y.

  12. 12.

    Joy in FL

    @Raoul: That video is beautiful. Thank you for posting the link.
    Yarrow, I don’t know the back story, but I hope you are safe and will be ok.

  13. 13.

    MomSense

    Thanks, Adam.

    Please check in Yarrow. I’m worried. Sending support and hugs to you.

  14. 14.

    Adam L Silverman

    O/T: If MaryG is around. I saw your question the other night about defense spending. I had gone to bed and saw it the next day. I have not forgotten it, it is a good question, and I’ll do a post when I get a chance.

  15. 15.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    Red Shirt has been AWOL since the damned election. Trumplings are so destructive in insidious ways.

  17. 17.

    BruceFromOhio

    Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

    May all who must travel this night find their way to a place of light, peace, and comfort in the company of friends.

  22. 22.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    You know that when I say you can go blow a goat, I mean it in the best possible way.

    Sadly, this is the nicest thing anyone has said to me all day.

  23. 23.

    Felonius Monk

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    You know that when I say you can go blow a goat, I mean it in the best possible way.

    I’m sure all the goats will rest easy knowing this.

  26. 26.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Raoul:

    That was lovely. Thank you.

    I haven’t had much direct interaction with Yarrow, but I too hope he’ll check in with Adam. Yarrow, I’m concerned about you and don’t know what to do except to send you light. As Ohio Mom notes,

    It’s hard when you develop affection for anonymous people on a blog and don’t know how to best help them when they are suffering.

    This community never fails to amaze me.

  30. 30.

    Adam L Silverman

    Yarrow has sent me an email. Your comments and concern have been noted and are appreciated.

  31. 31.

    HRA

    Good! I wish him well and hope he comes on tomorrow. I like reading his comments.
    Goodnight all!

  36. 36.

    Yoda Dog

    Yarrow: I enioy reading your comments here and would very much like to continue reading them far into the future. You often speak my thoughts exactly. I just wanted you to know that.

    Cheers.

  42. 42.

    stinger

    @Yoda Dog:

    Yarrow: I enioy reading your comments here and would very much like to continue reading them far into the future. You often speak my thoughts exactly.

    This goes for me, too.

  43. 43.

    Mnemosyne

    So I had a thought this evening as I was driving around and running errands. Let’s see if I can organize it into something not too gigantic.

    After Amy Winehouse died, her friend Russell Brand wrote a beautiful essay where he said that when you’re friends with an addict, there are two calls you can get. The good call is from your friend saying they can’t live like that any more and they need your help to get well. The bad call is from your friend’s family telling you that s/he didn’t make it.

    The United States is like an addict. As a country, we’re addicted to racism, sexism, xenophobia, mammon-worship. We’ve been like this for a long time. When Obama was elected, a lot of us felt that relief that we feel when an addict who’s a friend or family member tells us that they’re going to stop using.

    But, unfortunately, the United States has had a relapse and, like most relapses, it’s worse than ever. Nixon is now starting to look like the high point of Republican presidents in my lifetime, with each of them getting progressively worse until we get to where we are now. We have occasional periods of sobriety, as when Clinton and Obama got elected, but the addiction just seethes beneath the surface until it has an opportunity to burst out again, worse than ever.

    So what do we do? I’m not sure yet. We have to set clear boundaries. We have to not be afraid to hurt the feelings of the people who are still wrapped up in the addiction. We have to protect ourselves and our loved ones as best we can.

    I don’t know how much further I can take this metaphor, but denial about what we’re dealing with is not going to do us any good.

  46. 46.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mnemosyne:

    We have to not be afraid to hurt the feelings of the people

    I’m pretty sure we’ve got that part covered based on the comments here at Balloon Juice.

  48. 48.

    MomSense

    Oh phew. Thank you Yarrow and Adam.

    BTW the Yarrow in my garden is poking through the earth. I’ll have to admire the shoots from inside since we are going to have about 4 or 5 more days of heavy rain.

    Night everyone.

  49. 49.

    Lyrebird

    @Adam L Silverman: Oh GOOD.

    Yarrow – more thoughts of light and support and whatever floats your boat. Which is probably not blowing goats.

    @Felonius Monk: You *also* win this thread!

    Thought I came to this blog for political analysis, but maybe it’s more that in dark stretches a good (comedic) demonstration of concern for goat satisfaction or insightful characterizations of chupacabrito as a restaurant offering can help me laugh till I cry in the getting-better way.

  50. 50.

    SWMBO

    @Mnemosyne: There’s a lot of domestic violence abuse in there too. Where one side is willing to hurt themselves in order to control and hurt the others. They can’t stop abusing the others so they blame the victims.

  51. 51.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Thank you, Adam, for letting us know! So glad Yarrow responded to you, and hope he is back among us soon, doing all kinds of jackal-y things with his jackal-y pals.

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne

    @SWMBO:

    Yep. It’s not a coincidence that abuse and addiction so often go hand-in-hand. And confronting an abuser or an addict within your family or social group is a good way to get yourself socially shunned if they decide to close ranks around the abuser and pretend everything is normal.

  53. 53.

    Ruckus

    @Mnemosyne:
    Not a bad metaphor but this is more than just the US. This is humans everywhere. As societies advance, some get left behind, even if there is no intent to harm. People who can’t see the possibilities in advancing always want to stop or retreat into what they know. It gets worse when the people who feel they are at the top of the food chain are willing to do anything/everything to stop any advancement, because they have the means to disrupt.
    Things to remember.
    1. Many people can not understand that life is not a zero sum game and will fight any change as being totally disruptive to them no matter the reality.
    2. Those that want advancement have to show those that don’t understand that it is positive and not a loss for them.
    3. This is a never ending process.
    The only example that I can think of off hand are 2 experiences that I had years ago.
    First I used to teach racing. At first I could not understand why so many had such a difficult time learning. And then it hit me, they don’t look far enough down the road, to where they are going. They have no idea how different that racing is than driving. One has to teach that first, how to look and see what is really in front of them.
    Second, I also tutored statistics in college. People who had done exceedingly well in math could not understand statistics until I showed them that it wasn’t actually math. Yes there are rules and yes you use math to get the results, but it is not a form of math as they understood the concept. And no one every explained the concept, just the rules. Explain the concept and they improved dramatically.

  54. 54.

    seaboogie

    @MomSense: What you said….

    I read this thread as I was packing up the jewelry in the shop, and on my way out of “The World’s Prettiest Little Parking Lot” behind our joint, I spotted a plant that looked like yarrow blooming out of the lower part of the trunk of our gorgeous big palm tree (wasn’t yarrow tho’ – different foliage), so maybe that was a harbinger of hope. Checked in here first thing once I arrived home in search of happy news…

    Yarrow – your comments and presence here are so welcome, and I’m glad that you reached out here…

  56. 56.

    J R in WV

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Seriously!>? A management side labor attorney?

    We have friends who are lawyers, but not on the dark side.

    Adam, thanks for reaching out to Yarrow. Hope Y is doing better.

    Grace upon you, Yarrow!

  57. 57.

    mai naem mobile

    Yarrow,I really enjoy reading your comments.I feel like we’re on their same wavelength. You just say it way better than I do.

  58. 58.

    seaboogie

    @Ruckus:

    And then it hit me, they don’t look far enough down the road, to where they are going. They have no idea how different that racing is than driving. One has to teach that first, how to look and see what is really in front of them.

    This is such a good analogy, and one that I experienced directly as a passenger in my friend’s car at Sonoma Raceway. (Said friend is a NASA racing instructor and also introduced me to BJ).

    As you come out of the last turn and into the straightaway, the driver – who is following the line of the track for best positition – drives REALLLLYYYY close to the barrier on the right in order to set up for the first uphill turn ahead.

    As a nervous passenger who hates speed – but had complete faith in my partner’s wisdom, safety, and knowledge of my nervousness – I felt really glad to get through the course the first time ’round and appreciated the slow-down at the last hair-pin-ish turn, only to find myself suddenly careening at 95 mph towards a concrete barrier…!!! My friend then told me to look far ahead towards where we were going, and I was able to settle down. And in fact, one of my favorite turns round a track with him was at Thunderhill where there is an off-camber blind turn downhill – a very disorienting experience. But trust in my driver and his knowledge of the track made it possible for me to let go and enjoy the experience.

    And Ruckus (and Mnem) – if you want a good analogy for the Dem party, watch a LeMons race – a feeling of free-spirited anarchy held in check by humor and sensible rules.

  59. 59.

    Ruckus

    @seaboogie:
    There are tracks that are more fun than Sears Point (don’t care, always going to call it by it’s proper name) and tracks that are decidedly not. But Sears is challenging precisely because it absolutely requires you to look where you are going, not where you might end up.

  60. 60.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Ruckus:

    And no one every explained the concept, just the rules. Explain the concept and they improved dramatically.

    This is so wise, and applicable to virtually any undertaking. So simple and fundamental, yet so difficult for many people to grasp.

  61. 61.

    Adam L Silverman

    In case anyone is wondering, Yarrow asked if I’d change the post title to remove the nym. And that’s why we’ve got a title change.

  62. 62.

    opiejeanne

    @Adam L Silverman: Thanks for doing this, Adam. I enjoy Yarrow’s comments and hope he is feeling better now. I look forward to reading his comments in the future.

  63. 63.

    SFAW

    Yarrow –
    Really glad you’ve checked in. You’re one of the commenters I regularly read — and I hope and expect to keep doing that for awhile, so please stay with us.

    Sending best wishes and hopeful thoughts your way.

  64. 64.

    Elie

    Late to the thread but Yarrow I send you positve energy to get your faith back in living. These are hard times even for the most optimistic. Please hang in there

  65. 65.

    Elie

    Thanks to Adam for caring. I deeply appreciate seeing that and in the community here

  66. 66.

    father pussbucket

    @Ruckus:

    could not understand statistics until I showed them that it wasn’t actually math.

    Your observation is obviously admired, so I am very frustrated in failing to understand. Could you please elaborate a bit?

Comments are closed.