Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

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

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Stand up, dammit!

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

A tremendous foreign policy asset… to all of our adversaries.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Petty moves from a petty man.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

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105Comments

  2. 2.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    “The immediately striking thing about this fucking article is the generally negative, querulous attitude, the complete lack at all times of any constructive suggestion. There is little in it except the irresponsible carping of some douchebro who has never been and never expects to be in a position of power.”

    I mean, c’mon: Here you have a bona fide case of damaging center/center-left sniping about a candidate pre-election, have “the no whining rule is inconsistently applied across the spectrum” as a premise (debatable, but not illegitimate)…and rather than reaffirming that it’s always unacceptable, the lesson you derive is that you never ever need to stop whining. Ever.

  3. 3.

    lamh36

    ooh two post back to back from you John Cole…is everyone else sick?

    Anyone been watching American Gods on STARZ? Tomorrow night is the season finale already. It looks so good

  4. 4.

    jl

    @SiubhanDuinne: Animals are douchebags. Le’t be honest. No more liberal PC for you BJ snowflakes. I blame Darwin, a commie and an atheist. Damn you, Charles Darwin!

  5. 5.

    dmsilev

    I get emails, a continuing series:

    In the Hebrew word for Lord, a link between my initials “AD” and Artificial Intelligence; Adonai… the beginning of a series of a similar pattern tying the index “14” of “AD” to Christopher Columbus, to the element Silicon, and when adding my middle initial in, to the computer chip manufacturer AMD. The crux of the message here is that “Silicon” is the true “Fifth” element, and like many other patterns the logos involved corroborate the linkage and show a defined hidden hand preparing us for the future. The AMD logo connects to the signs of Mars and Sagittarius, tying directly to my name (as an example shows us that all of our names also contain this message) which begins with the acronym for “date of birth.” Born on December 8, the date of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception; this same symbol ties in the “t” of Christ, and the computer function “Chr.” The two letter symbol for Silicon also appears in “Genesis” and reveals a hidden message connecting “the Gene’s,” Wilder, Roddenberry, and Simmons to this map of the true “book of Names” that reveals careful planning and pertinent ties to the “rod of Jesus Christ” the “den of Adam” and both simulated reality and this coming Biblical Monday.
    […]
    This is a day to remember, all signs point to Lauderdale.

  6. 6.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I know I saw the movie, and I think I enjoyed it, but I can remember almost nothing about it. I’ve been thinking of watching the show. Think I’ll wait till fall, same for American Gods, especially since I know how that one ends

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    I have tried several times. But they are all idiots and drugged out douchebags. And not like brilliant but damaged douchebags. Just fucking douchebags that stole the worst parts of the moron gang Anthony Kiedis ran with in Point Break.
    Nothing redeeming about any of them or any of it. It does not get better.

  12. 12.

    lamh36

    Anyone with siblings know how fierce sibling shade can be…lol

    Case in point:

    How did @StephenBaldwin7 get all the brains in your family?… The rest of you Baldwin boys are bat shit crazy! @Potus #Trump #MAGA

    Funny you say that.. Alec & I both have Poli-Sci degrees, worked on Capitol Hill & have run nonprofit political orgs.
    Stephen.. not so much.

    twitter.com/BillyBaldwin/status/876031925722517504

  15. 15.

    Gin & Tonic

    The Big Sleep Just finished on TCM. Damn thing still doesn’t make sense.

    And Letterman looks like a guy you’d find sleeping in the floor in Penn Station.

  19. 19.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jl:

    Animals are douchebags. Le’t be honest.

    Cats are not douchebags. Cats are assholes.

  23. 23.

    Corner Stone

    @TaMara (HFG):

    Taking a break to watch Redford’s All The President’s Men revisited.

    I just could not give a darn about watching any of that, tbh. Just me, maybe.

  24. 24.

    dmsilev

    @schrodingers_cat: Nope, nor quantum mechanics. This guy brings to mind the old Far Side cartoon where a psychologist is looking at his patient and his notebook reads ‘just plain nuts’.

    And I don’t usually get this many …unusual emails. Three per week is a lot, I’m more used to getting one every month or so.

  25. 25.

    lamh36

    I know a few folks here (or at least 1 person) has issues with Malcolm Nance, but when they will likely say “good on Malcolm” for this…

    That moment when @MalcolmNance calls Breitbart’s @AlexMarlow out to his face about death threats Nance & family received b/c of fake news

    twitter.com/johnvmoore/status/876059614978158592

    Malcolm had Breibart dude so shook he had to go with the “why are you hysterical” defense

    wish more folks would call em out to their faces too

  26. 26.

    Adam L Silverman

    @dmsilev: The funniest one for me had to be getting an email at my work email address in Russian. Saw the Cyrillic letters, wasn’t quite sure what it was, got my boss at the time who was an old Russia hand. He came in, took a look, and said it’s the Nigerian prince scam email in Russian. First time he’d seen one done like that.

  31. 31.

    efgoldman

    @dmsilev:

    I get emails, a continuing series:

    It was way before emails existed, but my late college counterpoint and composition prof wrote a four-foot bookshelf (never published) analyzing all the music of JS Bach, and showing (he said) how it all fit in the Fibonacci series.
    Too bad you weren’t around.

    ETA: How did you become a crackpot magnet?

  35. 35.

    FlyingToaster

    @dmsilev: I have to second Adam on this; add those return addresses to a bitbucket, stat.

    I refuse to get a facebook account (and have various “don’t track me facebook” widgets on the browsers) because of the Bible Belters I grew up among. And the RWNJ from my mom’s side of the family.

    There are a couple of cousins who I’ll accept e-mail from; the rest, nope.

  38. 38.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Adam L Silverman: I have criticized him for professing expertise he does not possess. Not sure if I am who lamh has in mind, and also not interested in litigating his bona fides at this time.

  39. 39.

    catclub

    Navy ship collision with a Japanese container ship.
    IN 2001 it was a US submarine that hit a Japanese Fishing ship.
    The US sub was showing off for Bush VIPs.

  40. 40.

    Mike in NC

    Didn’t like American version of “Animal Kingdom”. Hated “Claws” trying to be an edgy “Breaking Bad” clone. Currently watching lame standup routine by T. J. Miller on HBO. Steve Bannon might be funnier and about as grungier.

  41. 41.

    jl

    @Omnes Omnibus: Oh I see, it’s the old ‘but I meant the TV show’ dodge. Too late buddy. How do you know Cole was typing something about a TV show? Cole wrote what he wrote.

  42. 42.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Very sad: The bodies of all seven missing Fitzgerald sailors have been found in flooded compartments. Sad, but not a surprise.

  43. 43.

    efgoldman

    @Adam L Silverman:

    it’s the Nigerian prince scam email in Russian. First time he’d seen one done like that.

    We actually got a snail mail Nigerian Prince scam last winter. Never actually saw one typed on paper before.
    We expect our check any day now…..

  46. 46.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jl:

    I thought douchebags included assholes.

    In some, but not all, taxonomies. It remains a matter of lively debate.

  47. 47.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @jl:

    How do you know Cole was typing something about a TV show? Cole wrote what he wrote.

    He called me to talk about it just before posting. Well, you can’t prove he didn’t.

  49. 49.

    Adam L Silverman

    @catclub: Here’s the latest.

  50. 50.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    @SiubhanDuinne: The main difference is: When have you ever heard a variant of “douche” being used complimentary? My link-fu above makes this point rather forcefully.

    “In fact, one of the only worthy contributions an Asshole can make to society is to go up to a Douchebag and inform him of how much of a Douchebag he is and to button his shirt up, change pants, put down that phone and shut the hell up. It is probably the only time an Asshole will receive, and be worthy of, a standing ovation.”

  51. 51.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @TaMara (HFG):

    Jeezus this place is becoming too negative to hang out on anymore.

    You noticed that too? I didn’t watch because my TV’s channel guide said it was a thing from 2013, not something new.

  52. 52.

    dmsilev

    @efgoldman:

    ETA: How did you become a crackpot magnet?

    Have an email address in a public directory listing of a university physics department.

    Mostly, they’re harmless. Every once in a great while, one shows up in person and that can be problematic. I had to basically scare one guy away about a year or so ago who walked into the building, went to the door of the nearest office (belonging to one of our admin folks) and insisted on being allowed to give a seminar on his new theory of gravity. After I (fairly politely) shooed him off, he came back later that day, at which point Campus Security was called and they were a tad less polite about it. That’s very rare though.

  57. 57.

    Lyrebird

    @dmsilev: You get emails from people testing out AI software that generates numerological spam?

    The storied rapper of Sta Barbara was funny, but this is just odd.

  58. 58.

    Suzanne

    We are having a heat wave this weekend—will hit 120 today or tomorrow—so I have been hiding inside all day, with lights off, blinds and curtains drawn, fans on. We went out at about 6:30 to get some groceries and dinner, and it was still 110 degrees. I’m rewatching the last season of Game of Thrones, getting excited for the next season.

    Mr. Suzanne saw the empty bottle of wine, the empty container of meringues, and the empty package of Brie, and pronounced them “the carcasses of [my] weekend”. I wonder what he is trying to tell me. I think I am just absolutely winning this weekend.

  59. 59.

    efgoldman

    @dmsilev:

    After I (fairly politely) shooed him off, he came back later that day, at which point Campus Security was called and they were a tad less polite about it. That’s very rare though.

    Two of our on-air personalities at my 15-year radio station were women. Neither used anything like her real name. I didn’t blame them – this was before the web and email, and you should have seen some of the scary letters they got.
    At a classical music station, no less.

  61. 61.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lamh36: How did @StephenBaldwin7 get all the brains in your family?… The rest of you Baldwin boys are bat shit crazy! @Potus #Trump #MAGA

    It may have been snark, but I think Alec once said he didn’t let their political differences get in the way of Stephen’s allowance, and neither did Stephen.

  62. 62.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Suzanne: You didn’t have the meringues with the Brie, right? Lie to me if you must. And bottle, not bottles? Piker.

  63. 63.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Suzanne: I was in Death Valley in July a few years back, talking to one of the park rangers, who said “once it gets above 120 you can really start to feel it.”

  64. 64.

    Lyrebird

    @Adam L Silverman: The spam that got the most hysterical laughter from me, though maybe over the edge beyond “funny”, was when an outbreak of “sad because of low degree?” spam messages came in after completing & defending my phd. I was sad because of horrid job market, but low degree was not the problem!

  66. 66.

    frosty

    @Mike in NC:

    Currently watching lame standup routine by T. J. Miller on HBO.

    I saw the ads for that and even they looked lame. He’s good in Silicon Valley, as is the rest of the cast, the writers, and the show. It’s taken over as my #1 favorite show.

  71. 71.

    Redshift

    @lamh36:

    Anyone been watching American Gods on STARZ? Tomorrow night is the season finale already. It looks so good

    I’m loving it. It’s one of my favorite Gaiman books. I’m an episode behind, but may watch both tomorrow.

  74. 74.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): @jl: A primer: Assholes just happen to piss people off, douchebags actively try to piss people off, and douchebags are far less skilled than they are egotistical.* (Terms that adequately explain these phenomena include: dicks, trolls and Dunning-Kruger effect, respectively).

    *and generally speaking there’s no inferiority complex involved, as douchebags are inherently unsympathetic.

  75. 75.

    Redshift

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Think I’ll wait till fall, same for American Gods, especially since I know how that one ends

    You may have to wait a while. They’re taking their time and adding material (Gaiman has expressed approval) and it’s supposed to run for five seasons.

  76. 76.

    efgoldman

    @Suzanne:

    the empty container of meringues…

    mrs efg makes killer meringues (one of the few thing my mom made well and enjoyed making). She makes them plain, with mini toll house morsels, and/or with crushed peppermint candies. Nom nom nom

  77. 77.

    Corner Stone

    Both Woodward and Bernstein are a couple of fucking gasbags that should have disappeared into the ether decades ago. Woodward is a fucking sycophantic hack and Bernstein is a full on hater. Somebody spoonfed them some info 50 years ago and it turned out to be a grudge fuck. An important grudge fuck but come on.

  78. 78.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Redshift: Probably my favorite Gaiman book, and Ian MacShane! But between the long days and travel and yard work, I have a hard time keeping up with an episodic TV show these days. Hard enough with Better Call Saul. I’ve always been a Michael McKean fan, but I think he’s great as Chuck.

    ETA:

    @Redshift: They’re taking their time and adding material (Gaiman has expressed approval) and it’s supposed to run for five seasons.

    Works for me!

  79. 79.

    Suzanne

    @Omnes Omnibus: No, I did not have meringues and Brie together. Gross.

    @Gin & Tonic: I think 110 is where it’s just fucking ludicrous. You open the door and the heat hits your face. Literally feels like impact. I’ll put it this way: we went to the park last night in order to finally get some exercise (just walking, still too hot to run), and it was north of 100 at 11pm, and I said, “Oh, this is nice that it’s cooled off a bit.”

  80. 80.

    ThresherK

    @Gin & Tonic: I heard they are recommending nobody hike below the rim at Grand Canyon, as it hit 116F in the shade today. I’ve never been, but doesn’t that configuration make a great place to hold heat?

  83. 83.

    Gin & Tonic

    @ThresherK: Never been there in summer, but had a great time once at the North Rim the last two days of the season (they close in mid-October).

  85. 85.

    Lyrebird

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Gemaryatrics isn’t just for old, ultra-Orthodox rabbis anymore.

    So true! Strange Spammer was very inclusive… usually that’s right up my alley – I find those old Dr. Bronner’s soap labels endearing with the “ALL ONE” stuff. But okay gemarya strikes me as a great activity for … let’s see… for OCD-ish folks living in seclusion with no internet to keep them diverted. Straight (oops!) i mean directly back to your point!

  86. 86.

    efgoldman

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Never been there in summer

    We took the train excursion up from Williams AZ some years ago. Really loved it. You could feel it getting cooler as the train climbed up to the high desert. We needed no a/c overnite in the hotel – got down into the 40s. They did warn us, however, to stay hydrated regardless.
    Apparently they’ve retired the steam locomotive that pulled out train. It was magnificent.

  87. 87.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Suzanne: That’s what I am talking about. Give enough, but not too much, to Mr. Suzanne and go have a lovely night.

  88. 88.

    Lizzy L

    The weather website says that Phoenix is going to hit 121 degrees next week. My brother lives in Phoenix, and numbers like that scare me, because he’s in very poor health: serious heart condition and cancer. I’ve been to Phoenix with temps in the low 100s; you pretty much can’t leave home between 6 am and midnight.

  89. 89.

    frosty

    @Suzanne:

    Literally feels like impact.

    True dat. For me it’s the hot humid Baltimore summer, around 95 or so when I walk out the door from work and literally say “oof” when it hits me.

  92. 92.

    J R in WV

    I had a great ball cap blow off and into the canyon on our first visit. I could see it down there, but of course couldn’t go after it.

    So I bought a Grand Canyon cap, to support the mountain lions. Not that AZ has a shortage… we have them all around the house out there.

  93. 93.

    efgoldman

    I bought a Grand Canyon cap, to support the mountain lions.

    Didn’t see any large carnivores when we were there. Did see a lot of those huge ravens, and families of the mountain goats that walk up and down along the edge, and an elk or two.

  94. 94.

    Yutsano

    I’ve been watching the clips for the new Ducktales and yeah I’m pretty good with it so far!

  95. 95.

    Ruckus

    @ThresherK:
    Have been to the south rim in July. 2 yrs in a row. Only there for a day and a half at a time so didn’t have time to hike into the canyon. But it really wasn’t all that hot either year.

  96. 96.

    catclub

    @efgoldman: I remember reading the article about the tracking collars on mountain lions and how fast they went from one rim to the other.
    Probably not using any trails that people use. But I wondered if they used the bridge at night.

  97. 97.

    Ruckus

    @efgoldman:
    The one day I was there I walked across the middle of the housing area to get to the market. Walking along watching kids play ball when they suddenly moved away. I know I can be scary but not that scary. So I turned around to see what was up and there was an elk about 15 ft away and walking towards me. Big son of a bitch he was. I removed my self from the area as reasonably fast as I could without pissing him off. Smart kids, they know not to fuck with the locals.

  98. 98.

    J R in WV

    @efgoldman:

    Well, maybe they do need help up there… they’re thick on the ground in Cochise County. My cousin had a cocker-spaniel taken in her yard, the big dog, Montana was scared to death.

    Then years later while we had a RV in her back yard one scared me when I rounded the corner of the house, the wind shifted and I smelled it. I often carry a big pistol out there in the wild country ever since!

  99. 99.

    efgoldman

    @Ruckus:

    I turned around to see what was up and there was an elk about 15 ft away and walking towards me. Big son of a bitch he was.

    The ranger/tour guide on our bus lives up in the canyon, as many of the employees do. She told about being awakened one night to look up and see a huge bull elk scratching his ass on her screen door. True? Who knows.
    There’s a private zoo just North of the MA border. Among their attractions is a semi-wild elk herd in a very large (acres) enclosure. You take a little jitney train to watch them. Man they’re HUGE. If they get in the way, the train just sits and waits.

  100. 100.

    efgoldman

    @J R in WV:

    I often carry a big pistol out there in the wild country ever since!

    As a good liberal and environmentalist, shouldn’t you just let the thing eat you?

  101. 101.

    Ruckus

    @efgoldman:
    That’s the housing area. It looks like a lot of neighborhoods I’ve seen, basic grid layout of streets and houses and this guy owned the place. I would not doubt her. This guy’s shoulders were over my head, he was bigger than a lot of horses. Add in the head and antlers and it’s an impressive sight up close. And 15 ft was way, way too close.

  102. 102.

    Tenar Arha

    @lamh36: OMG, I would watch that whole series just to see Orlando Jones as Anansi in the hold of a slave ship raining fire on history. (And that’s not the only good part!)

    ETA rephrasing to “raining fire on history”

  105. 105.

    J R in WV

    @efgoldman:

    I’m one of those country boy progressive types. My grandmother taught me how to shoot in about 1962. I don’t hunt, but shooting target

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