• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

The words do not have to be perfect.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

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

Tick tock motherfuckers!

I really should read my own blog.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

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

The revolution will be supervised.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Nothing worth doing is easy.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

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

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

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

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Mobile Menu

  • Winnable House Races
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Balloon Juice 2023 Pet Calendar (coming soon)
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • War in Ukraine
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • 2021-22 Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Friday Evening Open Thread: Oh, Yeah — Infrastructure!

Friday Evening Open Thread: Oh, Yeah — Infrastructure!

by Anne Laurie|  June 9, 20175:39 pm| 143 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Dolt 45, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?

FacebookTweetEmail

This is happening now pic.twitter.com/anYsuzS7Ll

— Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) June 9, 2017

Remember “Infrastructure Week Forty-minutes-on-Friday”?

Per the Washington Post, “‘Infrastructure week,’ designed to challenge Democrats, finds no takers“:

… The Trump infrastructure push, meant to be at the very least a welcome political distraction in a scandal-dominated week, has become the latest example of the president’s vanishing clout. A White House “signing ceremony” had the president sending a toothless letter to Congress. A speech in Cincinnati offered few details and plenty of digressions. And an accompanying memo to reporters contained more about the problems with President Barack Obama’s 2009 stimulus bill than the details of Trump’s $200 billion infrastructure goals.

The result: Democrats, who once worried about the president barnstorming the country to take credit for new jobs and investment, are feeling no pressure to act on an amorphous and easily demonized plan.

“When he called for a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill, we thought that was great,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) at this week’s news conference. “What they’ve proposed is privatizing most of our infrastructure to give wealthy financiers tax breaks on projects they were probably going to build anyway … it’ll lead to ‘Trump tolls’ from one end of the country to the other.”…

What had worried Democrats, after a surprise 2016 defeat powered by a collapse of Rust Belt and labor support, was an infrastructure plan that would have doled out no-strings money to states… To the surprise of defeated Democrats, the infrastructure plan re-emerged as a tangle of public-private partnerships, where — according to the few available details — local governments would trade the traditional federal match for infrastructure projects with 80/20 or 90/10 private/public funding.

“It’s been the most convoluted thing you could imagine,” said Ron Klain, who was Vice President Joe Biden’s chief of staff and led the stimulus team in 2009. “I thought to some extent that when Trump had a highly simple message — I’ll spend money here — he’d learned our lesson. We had this bill that was like Noah’s ark for every project, and he’d just spend money. And instead it’s like Pharaoh telling people to build bricks without straw, because Republicans don’t want to spend the money.”

Could’ve been a yoooge opportunity for Repubs to steal — er, privatize — more of our common resources nationwide, if only Lord Smallgloves had been able to focus for more than fifteen minutes on anything beyond his own grievances…
***********

What’s on the agenda as we wrap up another hellacious week?

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Did the old songs taunt or cheer you?
Next Post: This Is My New Favorite Thing »

Reader Interactions

143Comments

  1. 1.

    TenguPhule

    June 9, 2017 at 5:40 pm

    I’m going to enjoy life today.

    Its been a nice day overall.

  2. 2.

    Sean

    June 9, 2017 at 5:41 pm

    Trump infrastructure plan – announce but don’t fund. When states sue for reimbursement, settle for 10 cents on the dollar.

  3. 3.

    nightranger

    June 9, 2017 at 5:45 pm

    ‘Trump tolls’

    You just know that ones gonna stick.

  4. 4.

    Archon

    June 9, 2017 at 5:46 pm

    Trump definitely had a small window to push some infrastructure and trade bills that would have forced Democrats to take some tough votes. The fact he choose to use his legislative political capital on a health care bill that is worse then Obamacare in literally every way makes no sense.

  5. 5.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 9, 2017 at 5:50 pm

    Another opportunity Trump squandered by constantly stomping on his own dick. It would be hilarious and sad if he weren’t in charge of the most powerful military in the world and quite possibly a stooge of our enemy.

    @TenguPhule: woohoo!

    @Archon: it makes perfect sense once you remember that he’s a fucking idiot and everything he touches turns to shit.

  6. 6.

    Karen

    June 9, 2017 at 5:51 pm

    the orange one is willing to testify under oath; so is this a “hold my beer” or a “what can go wrong” moment?

  7. 7.

    TenguPhule

    June 9, 2017 at 5:52 pm

    @Karen:

    the orange one is willing to testify under oath; so is this a “hold my beer” or a “what can go wrong” moment?

    Yes.

  8. 8.

    TenguPhule

    June 9, 2017 at 5:53 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I think I will also celebrate with a drink sufficiently hard enough to bounce a quarter off of.

  9. 9.

    TenguPhule

    June 9, 2017 at 5:53 pm

    @nightranger:

    You just know that ones gonna stick.

    ‘Do not ask for who Trump tolls, he tolls for thee.’

  10. 10.

    p.a.

    June 9, 2017 at 6:02 pm

    Atlanta area: Alton Brown’s fb page looking to adopt out some kittehs.

  11. 11.

    jl

    June 9, 2017 at 6:04 pm

    Bannon is so damned looney:

    [From the link, emphasis added]
    “With negative interest rates throughout the world, it’s the greatest opportunity to rebuild everything,” Bannon said. “Shipyards, ironworks, get them all jacked up. We’re just going to throw it up against the wall and see if it sticks. It will be as exciting as the 1930s.”

    Hmmm, the 1930s aren’t usually remembered as an exciting time, except for certain types of people in Italy and Germany.
    In general, the 1930s are considered an examplar of dicey unpleasant stressful times. They look good compared to the late teens and early forties, but those are two very very very low bars.

    Edit: also Bannon’s old fart steampunk chic is interesting. Shipyards! Ironworks! Coal mines! Gas plants! Salt peter pits and guano islands, for gun powder and dynamite! Quarries! Lumber jacks for ship masts! You know, he-man industrial activities!

  12. 12.

    Keith P.

    June 9, 2017 at 6:04 pm

    Is anyone taking Trump’s lawyer’s threat to go after Comey for leaking seriously? I figured he would be busy preparing all those lawsuits against his sexual harassment accusers.

  13. 13.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    June 9, 2017 at 6:04 pm

    And an accompanying memo to reporters contained more about the problems with President Barack Obama’s 2009 stimulus bill than the details of Trump’s $200 billion infrastructure goals.

    Barack Goldstein is the enemy of Yuge Brother! Time for the Two Minutes Hate.

  14. 14.

    TenguPhule

    June 9, 2017 at 6:06 pm

    @jl:

    In general, the 1930s are considered an examplar of dicey times.

    And according to Bannon, “Utopia”.

  15. 15.

    PsiFighter37

    June 9, 2017 at 6:07 pm

    @Keith P.: Democrats should be out there saying, “We’ll take the president at his word.”

  16. 16.

    Skepticat

    June 9, 2017 at 6:08 pm

    @Karen: To some people, testifying under oath might have some tenuous connection to telling the truth; tRump, not so much.

  17. 17.

    efgoldman

    June 9, 2017 at 6:08 pm

    ANOTHER REMINDER BOSTON ARE JUICERS
    Come to Fanueil Hall tomorrow, 1100am to 600pm for the Boston Festival of Bands
    Lots of great music
    If you’re going to the Pride March, it ends at City Hall. Just walk down the hill thru the plaza, Faneuil Hall is directly across Congress Street.
    Come say hello, the hall is air conditioned.

    ETA: It’s free!

  18. 18.

    LurkerNoLonger

    June 9, 2017 at 6:10 pm

    @Karen: Bullshitter is bullshitting.

  19. 19.

    moops

    June 9, 2017 at 6:11 pm

    They can’t hand out billions of dollars and still get their huge tax cuts through with reconciliation. So, the private industry has to pay for all the infrastructure and get paid back in tax breaks later and revenue from their investments.

    At this point I expect the GOP to just start selling federal assets to pay for a tax cut.

  20. 20.

    hellslittlestangel

    June 9, 2017 at 6:11 pm

    @jl: Horses and bayonets!

  21. 21.

    jl

    June 9, 2017 at 6:12 pm

    @hellslittlestangel: Brickworks! Don’t forget the brickworks! GOLD mines!!!!!

  22. 22.

    lamh36

    June 9, 2017 at 6:13 pm

    Evening peeps…

    For my fellow comic book movie fans…new Black Panther teaser poster dropped this morning. And this during the B-Ball game this evening, they will debut the first official teaser trailer for Black Panther.

    Marvel Studio’s ‘Black Panther’ Poster Released | Tom Lorenzo via @tomandlorenzo

    Someone on twitter pointed out the subtle significance of the new poster…

    @cheo_coker
    …Match it with the old Huey P Newton gun spear portrait and you get it.

  23. 23.

    TenguPhule

    June 9, 2017 at 6:17 pm

    @moops:

    At this point I expect the GOP to just start selling federal assets to pay for a tax cut.

    Already happening.

    The Strategic Oil Reserve and public lands across the states being proposed to be sold off in the budget.

    To pay for Tax cuts.

  24. 24.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 9, 2017 at 6:19 pm

    I guess this is a lot of people, especially considering it was a midday in the middle of the week, but this is still less than 10% of registered voters (per google search). And it maybe it doesn’t count people like me who listened on the radio (long drive yesterday) or live streamed

    Michael M. Grynbaum‏Verified account grynbaum
    Nearly 19 MILLION people watched Comey testimony live, nearly same as Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

  25. 25.

    jl

    June 9, 2017 at 6:21 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I sure do hope that the people who listened don’t turn into rat fink leakers tell anyone. Trump’s lawyers be on them like glue.

  26. 26.

    SFBayAreaGal

    June 9, 2017 at 6:23 pm

    @lamh36: I love the cast.

  27. 27.

    SatanicPanic

    June 9, 2017 at 6:25 pm

    What’s on the agenda? Some activist stuff, a party, some binge drinking, some surfing. The usual.

  28. 28.

    The Golux

    June 9, 2017 at 6:29 pm

    @efgoldman:
    Considering how long it’s been since we’ve knocked about in the Hub, I’m sorely tempted.

    Alas, the garden beckons (or is that an ultimatum?).

  29. 29.

    hovercraft

    June 9, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:
    “Another opportunity Trump squandered by constantly stomping on his own dick.”

    Stop trying to flatter him, you know it’s much too small for him to stomp on.
    That’s why he’s so insecure.

  30. 30.

    jl

    June 9, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    @hellslittlestangel:

    ” Horses and bayonets! ”

    And canals! I forgot canals. Bannon put any money for canals in the infrastructure plan? Damned Obama let the Eire Canal fall apart.

  31. 31.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 9, 2017 at 6:31 pm

    @hovercraft: when I was writing that I was thinking about the same problem, but I went ahead and hit comment anyway. Excelsior!

  32. 32.

    clay

    June 9, 2017 at 6:31 pm

    I know I’m going to regret this… but what is Trump doing with those binders in that video?

  33. 33.

    Baud

    June 9, 2017 at 6:31 pm

    To the surprise of defeated Democrats, the infrastructure plan re-emerged as a tangle of public-private partnerships,

    Who was surprised?

  34. 34.

    Peale

    June 9, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    Shouldn’t be too hard to find someone in the alternative investment space with an infrastructure fund who could be cast as a villain here. Or maybe George Soros could take one for the team. Just plant the idea that Trump is trying to get counties to sell their roads to George Soros and his Saudi friends. That should make for interesting town halls.

  35. 35.

    SatanicPanic

    June 9, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    @clay: looking for wife #4

  36. 36.

    hovercraft

    June 9, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    @Karen:
    As established downstairs, this will happen after he shows what his investigators in Hawaii found, Melania’s press conference to prove she never worked here illegally, and once his tax records are ready for release.

  37. 37.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 9, 2017 at 6:35 pm

    @Baud: Everyone. In the Captain Renault sense.

  38. 38.

    jl

    June 9, 2017 at 6:36 pm

    @Baud: Obviously Democrats are only feigning surprise for sinister partisan purposes and unfair attacks on Trump, and Deep State media are playing along.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    June 9, 2017 at 6:39 pm

    @jl: Democratic hubris will destroy us all.

  40. 40.

    Chyron HR

    June 9, 2017 at 6:40 pm

    @Baud:

    It won’t destroy us, they just cut a little bit of skin off the tip.

  41. 41.

    tobie

    June 9, 2017 at 6:40 pm

    @moops: I would think that tax credits for infrastructure investment would lead to nothing but cheating. A road paving company could claim they spent xxx amount on asphalt when that was in fact the amount they spent on multiple projects. Who could check this? Would the federal government be willing to hire millions in inspectors and auditors? That would at least be a jobs plan.

    Cheating in construction exists already but this would really up the ante.

  42. 42.

    Miss Bianca

    June 9, 2017 at 6:41 pm

    @lamh36: Deeply cool! Want to see this *and* Wonder Woman!

  43. 43.

    debbie

    June 9, 2017 at 6:42 pm

    @SatanicPanic:

    Lovely to see that Romneys’ binders of women have found a new home.

  44. 44.

    Mnemosyne

    June 9, 2017 at 6:43 pm

    I sneaked onto Schrodinger’s Cat’s website to let everyone know that Billy Wilder’s classic farce Some Like It Hot will be in (some) theaters on Sunday 6/11 and Wednesday 6/14. Check your zip code on the Fathom Events website to see if it’s in a theater near you, and stay tuned for my take on it next Saturday 6/17.

  45. 45.

    Bruuuuce

    June 9, 2017 at 6:44 pm

    I love my f’ing Senator Kirsten Gillibrand!

  46. 46.

    Miss Bianca

    June 9, 2017 at 6:45 pm

    @jl: I hear those new industrial looms Bannon is talking about are going to put the weavers out of business!

    ETA: WON’T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE WEAVERS??

  47. 47.

    jl

    June 9, 2017 at 6:45 pm

    @Baud: Trump has promised everything and its opposite. Criticizing him for anything is unfair and absurd.

    But, good news for Baudists. With Bannon’s 30s retro chic movement, full hobo will be back in style.
    You getting ready for your comeback? You’ll need a stick with your kit bundled up in a handkerchief tied to one end. Stove pipe hat with the top half ripped out.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    June 9, 2017 at 6:47 pm

    @Bruuuuce: I’m going to have to start using the C-word more if I want to win the primary. Let’s see Gillibrand top that!

  49. 49.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 9, 2017 at 6:47 pm

    @Miss Bianca: I think you meant to reply to somebody else, but: the steam-powered ones, right?

    ETA: I see you checked yourself before wrecking yourself.

  50. 50.

    Bruuuuce

    June 9, 2017 at 6:48 pm

    @Baud: Now I need to win Powerball so I can buy a big chunk of one of the media companies and get your campaign covered!

  51. 51.

    Baud

    June 9, 2017 at 6:49 pm

    @jl: Baud the Bum has a nice ring to it.

  52. 52.

    Baud

    June 9, 2017 at 6:50 pm

    @Bruuuuce: Not if I win first.

  53. 53.

    jl

    June 9, 2017 at 6:50 pm

    Springtime for Baudism!

    Riding the rails, the hot new extreme sport and political statement!
    https://www.pinterest.com/pin/556968678887382011

  54. 54.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 9, 2017 at 6:50 pm

    @Bruuuuce: Better get on that.

  55. 55.

    efgoldman

    June 9, 2017 at 6:52 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I guess this is a lot of people, especially considering it was a midday in the middle of the week

    The outcome of the testimony eventually is more interesting and suspenseful than the NBA

  56. 56.

    Baud

    June 9, 2017 at 6:53 pm

    @jl: Ha. I can’t believe that’s a thing. I’ll never get used to the internet.

  57. 57.

    debbie

    June 9, 2017 at 6:53 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Did you know a new Cary Grant documentary is on the very near horizon?

  58. 58.

    Peale

    June 9, 2017 at 6:53 pm

    @Baud: Throw the Bum In would be a good campaign slogan.

  59. 59.

    jl

    June 9, 2017 at 6:54 pm

    @Baud:

    ‘ Baud the Bum has a nice ring to it. ‘
    Being virtual, you can adopt this look for the Trumpsters. Just say you have Bannon approved surprise for them.
    http://i.imgur.com/PAJWy.jpg

  60. 60.

    Jeffro

    June 9, 2017 at 6:54 pm

    @nightranger: oh yeah it will!

    Running a little late to the Nats game but no worries …a Cold one is just gonna be that much colder when I get there…

  61. 61.

    Bruuuuce

    June 9, 2017 at 6:54 pm

    @Baud: @Major Major Major Major: Doing my best. Paid what a British friend refers to as my “desperation tax” earlier today for tomorrow’s drawing. Like her, I don;t count on anything, but you gotta be in it and all that jazz.

  62. 62.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 9, 2017 at 6:55 pm

    @debbie:

    Ooh, heard a brief promo for that earlier today on NPR! Yum, can’t wait!

  63. 63.

    Jeffro

    June 9, 2017 at 6:55 pm

    @jl: looney indeed – just throw around a trillion ? With a “T”?

    Sure that sounds like a responsible government

  64. 64.

    Baud

    June 9, 2017 at 6:55 pm

    @Peale: Like!

  65. 65.

    jl

    June 9, 2017 at 6:55 pm

    @Baud:
    AW shit. And I thought you learned some lessons from your last campaign.

  66. 66.

    Bruuuuce

    June 9, 2017 at 6:56 pm

    @jl: Is she Brazilian, which would make that Miss Bum-Bum the bum’s bum?

  67. 67.

    Mike J

    June 9, 2017 at 6:57 pm

    The want to sell the Bonneville Power Administration as part of the infrastructure push. They are a self-funding agency that owns most of the power lines in the west. Anyone who buys it will raise prices and be completely unaccountable.

  68. 68.

    jl

    June 9, 2017 at 6:59 pm

    @Jeffro: Bannon has targeted industries that have been completely hollowed out completely. Industries where the US has let other countries wipe us out. The marginal benefit of new lime kilns will be HUGE!

    How many modern buggy whip factories do we have now? Kerosene lamp factories? Zero, that’s how many. Thanks, Obama!

    @Gvg: Hellifiknow. Ask Baud.

  69. 69.

    Gvg

    June 9, 2017 at 6:59 pm

    @lamh36: I googled images of Newton and some of the pictures reminded me of Blazing Saddles. Sherif Bart looks a lot like some of Newton in the tan shirts.

  70. 70.

    Baud

    June 9, 2017 at 7:01 pm

    @jl: If I had, would I still be here?

  71. 71.

    jl

    June 9, 2017 at 7:01 pm

    @Baud: Hopeless, I’m out of here.

  72. 72.

    Baud

    June 9, 2017 at 7:02 pm

    @jl: At least you’ve learned your lesson.

  73. 73.

    geg6

    June 9, 2017 at 7:03 pm

    @jl:

    The Ohio River locks and dams are falling apart but they are cutting the funding that was going to fix them. This will cause major flooding danger and disrupt commercial and recreational river travel all the way to New Orleans. Prices will go up for everything that is shipped from Pittsburgh to NO and back. Fuck this bullshit infrastructure “plan.”

  74. 74.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 9, 2017 at 7:04 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I have managed to see a great many of those Fathom Events-TCM Big Screen films in the past few months. Am definitely going to see SLIH next week. Saw The Godfather a couple of days ago (first time ever!), have seen All About Eve, North by Northwest, Carousel, Dr. Strangelove, and many others since last autumn. I have already decided that I will see Casablanca next November all four times, I love it that much.

    The only one coming up I’m not sure about is Bonnie and Clyde. I’ve never seen it, and because I’m generally not a fan of violence, I don’t feel especially compelled to watch. But if someone wants to talk me into seeing it, I’m open to persuasion.

    Alas, I’ll be on the road/totally out of commission in mid-September when E.T. is the Fathom/TCM movie of choice. Sad, but at my age family reunions take precedence.

  75. 75.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 9, 2017 at 7:04 pm

    @Baud: Trump’s president and he’s still on Twitter.

  76. 76.

    jl

    June 9, 2017 at 7:06 pm

    @Baud: Not quite yet.

    @geg6: Write Bannon and tell him will make a lot of business for his ironworks and lime kilns. Slowly get the guy up to speed.

    Edit: actually, levees are old fashioned, but we could use a lot of work on them between Sacramento and San Francisco Bay. Doubt any skeevy corporations looking for a government handout will see much profit in them, so probably nothing will happen there in Trump’s proposed infrastructure scam.

  77. 77.

    Patricia Kayden

    June 9, 2017 at 7:08 pm

    @Karen: Didn’t he also promise to find evidence that President Obama’s birth certificate was fake? The man lies like we drink water. He says whatever he feels like at a given moment with no intention of following through. As he said during his campaign, he could shoot someone on a public street and still keep his rabid supporters. That’s exactly how he’s governing — like a man who can do anything without consequences.

    No way he subjects himself to a public hearing. No way his supporters allow him to do so. Just another Trump lie.

  78. 78.

    Baud

    June 9, 2017 at 7:09 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: There’s a role model.

  79. 79.

    Miss Bianca

    June 9, 2017 at 7:12 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I didn’t find the violence in Bonnie and Clyde to be excessive. Shoot, from what I understand about The Godfather, if you’ve seen that, you’ll find the violence in Bonnie and Clyde to be positively quaint.

  80. 80.

    eclare

    June 9, 2017 at 7:16 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I love that movie! still holds up.

  81. 81.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 9, 2017 at 7:16 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    Thanks, that’s reassuring. During some of the bloodier scenes in The Godfather, I just keep repeating to myself, like a mantra, “Hamlet Hamlet Hamlet Hamlet Hamlet.”

  82. 82.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 9, 2017 at 7:16 pm

    @Baud: You’re already doing better.

  83. 83.

    MomSense

    June 9, 2017 at 7:16 pm

    @Baud:

    I think your campaign slogan should be that you’re just running for the health insurance for life!

  84. 84.

    Karen

    June 9, 2017 at 7:17 pm

    it isn’t so much proof, but our willingness to to question and to be vocal about our questions, with so many people it is simply asking them something that makes them think
    I see sides, what I don’s see is asking people questions that make them doubt

  85. 85.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 9, 2017 at 7:17 pm

    @Miss Bianca: You haven’t seen The Godfather?

  86. 86.

    Mnemosyne

    June 9, 2017 at 7:19 pm

    @debbie:

    Cool! I’ll have to keep an eye out for it. He had a similar problem as Rita Hayworth did, who famously said, “My problem is that men go to bed with Gilda and wake up with me.”

  87. 87.

    Spanky

    June 9, 2017 at 7:19 pm

    @Mike J:

    Anyone who buys it will raise prices and be completely unaccountable

    So, Vlad then.

  88. 88.

    Uncle Cosmo

    June 9, 2017 at 7:20 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    ‘Do not ask for who Trump tolls, he tolls for thee.’

    For values of “thee” with net worth >$1bn, that is.

  89. 89.

    Punchy

    June 9, 2017 at 7:20 pm

    When they send a letter to Congress, who receives it? Snail mail to all 538 peeps? Email? Just to the Leaders?

  90. 90.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 9, 2017 at 7:23 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Hey, don’t judge Miss Bianca. Until two days ago, I had never seen it either.

  91. 91.

    Mnemosyne

    June 9, 2017 at 7:24 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Hmmm. I slightly disagree with Miss Bianca since I have seen both The Godfather and Bonnie and Clyde. The latter is not terribly bloody, but there’s a fair amount of emotional violence between the characters, especially once Gene Hackman shows up. Lots of yelling and crying, which tends to bother me more than actual gore.

    The one truly gory scene is the big shoot-out at the very end, which is the scene that Sonny’s murder in The Godfather pays tribute to.

  92. 92.

    Peale

    June 9, 2017 at 7:25 pm

    @Punchy: Mo the receptionist opens it and staples on a list of 538 congressmen listed alphabetically to circulate. Except Jim Sensenbrenner. That asshole never forwards anything, so his name is last.

  93. 93.

    Beatifulplummage

    June 9, 2017 at 7:27 pm

    @Baud: Who knew? Baud has a whole town named after him: https://www.baudville.com/ (or at least an employee awards & recognition company)

  94. 94.

    Mnemosyne

    June 9, 2017 at 7:27 pm

    @Spanky:

    Only if he gets outbid by the Chinese.

  95. 95.

    eclare

    June 9, 2017 at 7:27 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: There are so many cultural references though…besides it being a great movie.

  96. 96.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 9, 2017 at 7:31 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    there’s a fair amount of emotional violence between the characters

    Interesting, and now I think back, I believe I was more disturbed in The Godfather by the domestic violence between Connie Corleone and her husband (even though a lot of that was just screaming behind closed doors) than I was by the overt shooting scenes.

  97. 97.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 9, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Have you seen GFII yet? If not, judge i shall.

  98. 98.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    June 9, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    @debbie: Heard about it on Fresh Air in my car. Caught the tail end of it, but the quote to take away from it was about how everyone wanted to be Cary Grant.

    Grant’s response? So would I.

  99. 99.

    TenguPhule

    June 9, 2017 at 7:33 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    Democrats should be out there saying, “We’ll take the president at his word.”

    “But we still insist on cash up front.”

  100. 100.

    satby

    June 9, 2017 at 7:34 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Casablanca on the big screen? I’m so there!

  101. 101.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    June 9, 2017 at 7:35 pm

    @Mnemosyne: You want bloody violence? Watch Django Unchained. Or basically any other Tarantino Film.

  102. 102.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 9, 2017 at 7:36 pm

    @eclare:

    Oh yes, and I did recognise many of them. I certainly didn’t go into the theatre tabula rasa.

    In fact, it’s because I knew the film was such a cultural touchstone that I decided I’d better see it. It did not disappoint. Now I want to scroll back in the archives of Terry Gross’ “Fresh Air” and find the interview she did several months ago with Francis Ford Coppola, about the making of The Godfather. I suspect what they have to say will resonate much more powerfully now.

  103. 103.

    Mnemosyne

    June 9, 2017 at 7:38 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?:

    I’ve seen all of Tarantino’s films except Hateful 8. But if you want truly blood-drenched violence, you need to watch Japanese horror films. Crazy stuff.

  104. 104.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 9, 2017 at 7:38 pm

    @satby:

    Yup. Twice on Sunday, twice on Wednesday. Love that movie SO HARD (even the bits that are laughably out of continuity).

  105. 105.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 9, 2017 at 7:39 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Not yet, but it is now on my list.

  106. 106.

    TenguPhule

    June 9, 2017 at 7:39 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    The man lies like we drink water.

    Take that back. We do not drink that much water. We’d die of water poisoning.

  107. 107.

    satby

    June 9, 2017 at 7:39 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: @SiubhanDuinne: I’ve never seen it either. I am emphatically not a fan of violent movies.
    Also haven’t seen Bonnie and Clyde. My time mopping up real blood of gunshot victims in hospitals soured me on that as entertainment before I left (got tossed from) nursing school.

  108. 108.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    June 9, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    @jl:

    Nice bum.

  109. 109.

    eclare

    June 9, 2017 at 7:42 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Jealous you’re getting to see such good movies on the big screen! Which theater in ATL shows them? Lived there for 15 years, saw many at Toco Hills, Garden Hills, the one on Piedmont (can’t think of the name)…at a busy intersection. It was busy then, can’t imagine cars even moving on that road now.

  110. 110.

    TenguPhule

    June 9, 2017 at 7:42 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    But if you want truly blood-drenched violence, you need to watch Japanese horror films. Crazy stuff.

    Japanese cult horror/comedy films to be precise. The normal horror tend to be tame on the blood.

    But a Killer Robot Geisha with Flaming Bush attachment delivers by the tanker when it comes to bloody hilarious. And if you can’t enjoy an attack of literal Killer Sushi, you have no soul.

  111. 111.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 9, 2017 at 7:43 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?:

    Don’t know whether it’s in the documentary — and it may be apocryphal anyhow — but one of my favourite Cary Grant stories is about a junior studio PR person (think intern-level) who needed a bit of bio info. She sent a telegram:

    HOW OLD CARY GRANT STOP

    To which he replied, by return:

    OLD CARY GRANT FINE STOP

    HOW YOU STOP

  112. 112.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    June 9, 2017 at 7:43 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Not too narmy are they? I wish more horror movies made today wouldn’t resort so much to jumpscares.

    Creepy atmosphere in a film can go a long way. The X-Files is closer to the kind of horror I like

  113. 113.

    debbie

    June 9, 2017 at 7:45 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    It’s totally worth watching. The violence is very scripted and choreographed (like Clockwork Orange). It’s in slow motion which extends the scene, but it’s nothing like any of today’s violent movies. Warren Beatty, Faye Dunway (before she got full of herself), Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, Michael J. Pollard, among others, all give wonderful, wonderful performances. See it!

  114. 114.

    zhena gogolia

    June 9, 2017 at 7:46 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I lurve Cary Grant. Everybody criticizes his performance in Night and Day, but we watched it again last night, and I think it’s brilliant. He conveys Cole Porter’s ambivalence about his wife so subtly. Another great performance is in Destination Tokyo — he knows he’s in a propaganda film, and he plays it to perfection! Of course there are all the other fabulous performances that are too numerous to name.

  115. 115.

    debbie

    June 9, 2017 at 7:48 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?:

    Exactly!

  116. 116.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 9, 2017 at 7:51 pm

    @Mnemosyne: @TenguPhule: I’m a big fan of Korean-revenge-drama-level gore.

  117. 117.

    debbie

    June 9, 2017 at 7:53 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?:

    Watch the original version of “The Haunting.” It still creeps me out decades later. Not one drop of blood, only one (very minor) special effect.

  118. 118.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    June 9, 2017 at 7:53 pm

    @Archon:

    The fact he choose to use his legislative political capital on a health care bill that is worse then Obamacare in literally every way makes no sense.

    Sure it does, he wants to stick it to Obama and his voters.

  119. 119.

    Uncle Cosmo

    June 9, 2017 at 7:54 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?: To the tune of “(All Day, All Night) Mary Ann”:

    All day, all night, Cary Grant,
    That’s all I hear from my wife, is Cary Grant.
    What can he do that I can’t?
    Big deal, big star, Cary Grant.

    Allan Sherman (from one of his “Shticks & Stones” medleys IIRC)

  120. 120.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 9, 2017 at 7:56 pm

    @eclare:

    None of those you mentioned show the Fathom Events films. I see the Met Opera at Perimeter Pointe, everything else at Avalon in Alpharetta (new since your time) or sometimes Discover Mills in Lawrenceville. Alas, Garden Hills is no more. A great loss. Will sometimes go to Monroe Drive and 10th Street (near Piedmont Park) to the Midtown Cinema, or Tara on Cheshire Bridge, but only if they have exclusive screening rights in the area.

    Go to fathomevents.com and punch in your ZIP Code to see what theatres are close to you. There are bound to be at least a couple in greater Memphis!

  121. 121.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    June 9, 2017 at 7:56 pm

    @jl:

    Damned Obama let the Eire Canal fall apart.

    Guess he doesn’t know a Clinton built it.

  122. 122.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 9, 2017 at 8:01 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    Allan Sherman (from one of his “Shticks & Stones” medleys IIRC)

    Yup, it’s from either My Son the Folk Singer or My Son the Celebrity. Adored Allan Sherman. Everybody knows “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah,” but to this day I can sing you, word-perfect, “Sarah Jackman,” and “Sir Greenbaum,” and even “Let’s All Call Up AT&T and Protest to the President March” (and dozens of others, I daresay). When he was at his best, in the early days, he was brilliant.

  123. 123.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 9, 2017 at 8:01 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?: have you seen The Babadook?

  124. 124.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    June 9, 2017 at 8:12 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Nope. What it’s about?

  125. 125.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 9, 2017 at 8:14 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?: it’s an Australian psychological thriller/horror flick from a few years ago about a single mother and a children’s book. ETA: it’s on Netflix. I liked it a lot.

  126. 126.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    June 9, 2017 at 8:19 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Don’t have Netflix, but will look for it. I like plots like that, where the extraordinary and the bizarre meets the ordinary

  127. 127.

    The Golux

    June 9, 2017 at 8:31 pm

    @satby:

    Casablanca on the big screen? I’m so there!

    About 35 years ago, I saw Casablanca for the first time at the Wadsworth Atheneum. I’d never seen more than a few short clips before. The house was packed. The roar that went up when Captain Renault delivered the line “Round up the usual suspects” still makes me smile.

  128. 128.

    different-church-lady

    June 9, 2017 at 8:39 pm

    @Karen: Both a roof and a trampoline will be involved.

  129. 129.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    June 9, 2017 at 8:44 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?: Also, it sounds like it could be an episode of The X-Files

  130. 130.

    Mnemosyne

    June 9, 2017 at 8:48 pm

    @debbie:

    “Doc. I’ll let you have the house — cheap.”

  131. 131.

    Major Major Major Major

    June 9, 2017 at 8:49 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?: that’s what made me think of it. It’s pretty intense though.

  132. 132.

    debbie

    June 9, 2017 at 8:56 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    {shiver}

  133. 133.

    Uncle Cosmo

    June 9, 2017 at 8:57 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Meh. Dime-store Tom Lehrer – who (with 2 exceptions) wrote all the music for his songs as well.

    Do not make a stingy sandwich –
    Pile the cold cuts high.
    Customers should see salami
    Comin’ through the rye.

    When I was a lad I went to Yale,
    And I knew then that I could never fail,
    For I studied very hard, & furthermore
    I polished up the apple for the pro-fes-sor.
    I polished up that apple so frequently
    That soon I had a Phi Beta Kappa key…

    On graduation day I made a stop
    At a very exclusive clothing shop.
    I opened up a charge account & asked them for
    The best gray flannel in the clothing store.
    That suit was a part of a great intrigue,
    For it proved I was a member of the Ivy League…

    Then I bought a new hat and a sincere tie
    And for my first job I did apply:
    A job in an advertising agency,
    Sharpening the pencils for a big VP.
    I sharpened up the pencils so pointedly
    That soon I was a partner in the agency…

    I kept my ears open & I kept my mouth shut
    And I learned all the agency scuttlebutt.
    I learned who was going out with whom
    And who had the key to the powder room
    For the key to the powder room, you see,
    Is the key to the structure of the agency…

    [missing a line here]
    So now I am a partner in the agency.
    I keep my mouth open & I keep my ears shut
    And I gotta little palace in Connecticut.
    So I thank old Yale – and I thank the Lord –
    And I also thank my father who is Chairman of the Board!

    Holy Moley, that’s a whole season of Mad Men right there, ness-paw? =:^D

  134. 134.

    Kenneth Kohl

    June 9, 2017 at 9:03 pm

    @moops:

    At this point I expect the GOP to just start selling federal assets to pay for a tax cut.

    So, wat do you think the Russkies will ante up for Ft. Benning?

  135. 135.

    Uncle Cosmo

    June 9, 2017 at 9:03 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo: FTR I left out a bunch of stuff & got some other stuff wrong. Sue me.

  136. 136.

    Kenneth Kohl

    June 9, 2017 at 9:08 pm

    @Bruuuuce: yep, glad to call her “Our Senator”. Well, Chuck, too, but KG is top notch.

  137. 137.

    Kenneth Kohl

    June 9, 2017 at 9:10 pm

    @Baud: much better than “Baud’s Bum”

  138. 138.

    geg6

    June 9, 2017 at 9:10 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    You have to see it. It’s brilliant. Just brilliant. And Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are shining gods in it.

  139. 139.

    Immanentize

    June 9, 2017 at 9:39 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: my college roommate, Mark Cohen, wrote a great book about Allan Sherman. I highly recommend it.

    “My Son the Folk Singer” was part of my childhood sound track.
    Members of Hadassah!

  140. 140.

    frosty

    June 9, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I don’t see any place to punch in my zip code for fathomevents. Help?

  141. 141.

    Steeplejack

    June 9, 2017 at 10:13 pm

    @frosty:

    Pick an event, e.g., Bonnie and Clyde, then click “Purchase tickets.” You’ll get a dialog box asking for your ZIP Code. Enter that and then you’ll see a list of theaters (if any). You don’t have to actually buy a ticket.

  142. 142.

    randy khan

    June 9, 2017 at 10:47 pm

    @Keith P.:

    Is anyone taking Trump’s lawyer’s threat to go after Comey for leaking seriously?

    No. SATSQ.

    It’s really stupid. It will just stiffen Comey’s already-stiff spine, and there’s no good reason to think that it will go anywhere if it’s actually filed.

  143. 143.

    frosty

    June 9, 2017 at 11:01 pm

    @Steeplejack: KTHX

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8

Recent Comments

  • Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) on Late Night Open Thread: Taxing Prep (Mar 28, 2023 @ 2:10am)
  • Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) on Late Night Open Thread: Taxing Prep (Mar 28, 2023 @ 2:10am)
  • piratedan on Late Night Open Thread: Taxing Prep (Mar 28, 2023 @ 1:51am)
  • Major Major Major Major on Late Night Open Thread: Taxing Prep (Mar 28, 2023 @ 1:46am)
  • Alison Rose on Late Night Open Thread: Taxing Prep (Mar 28, 2023 @ 1:26am)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
We All Need A Little Kindness
Classified Documents: A Primer
State & Local Elections Discussion

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
TaMara
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Join the Fight!

Join the Fight Signup Form
All Join the Fight Posts

Balloon Juice Events

5/14  The Apocalypse
5/20  Home Away from Home
5/29  We’re Back, Baby
7/21  Merging!

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!