Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This fight is for everything.

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

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

Let’s finish the job.

After roe, women are no longer free.

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

Consistently wrong since 2002

This really is a full service blog.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

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

Peak wingnut was a lie.

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Reader Interactions

119Comments

  1. 1.

    BGinCHI

    John, is the WV media covering the loss of healthcare for locals?

    Curious whether people are aware of what’s coming of the Senate bill passes.

  6. 6.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @BGinCHI:

    If there were such reporting, would locals understand the implications, or would they just start blathering on about friggin’ liberals and, oh yeah, thanks Obama!

  9. 9.

    Betty Cracker

    Here’s a quote from a piece at Vox:

    The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that the 400 top income households alone would receive $33 billion in tax cuts between 2019 and 2028. This is equivalent to the amount that the federal government spends on Medicaid expansion in four states: Alaska, Arkansas, West Virginia, and Nevada. The Medicaid expansion there covers an estimated 725,800 enrollees.

    Evil bastards. But you know what? At least three of those four states will keep returning the same vile pricks who are fucking them with every rusty implement in the tool shed to congress.

  10. 10.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD):

    You working on a creative piece or doing academic research?

    Or if you got vampire troubles, I know a couple of guys — the Frog brothers — they’re the guys to go to in Santa Carla. Peter Vincent is good, too.

  12. 12.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    @Major Major Major Major: Seems like the original avian vampire motif was owl-based; the OG strigoi got their name from the Latin word for owl.

    Also: I present to you the refined form of Butthurt’s Purity of Essence Corollary to Cleek’s Law:

    “There is a sizable portion of the left for which eliciting disapproval from the ‘centrists and/or the center-left’ (however defined) is considered a necessary proof of their political self-identification — as opposed to actual distance from the ideological center. This doesn’t preclude their self-ID being accurate or them making efforts to accomplish said political goals, but ‘pissing off centrists’ has to be at least as important a goal as either one of the other criteria.

    By the same token, any advocacy of these leftists’ ideals by said ‘centrists’ is considered to be in bad faith, for political expediency, and or proof that said ideals were never really leftist at all.”

  17. 17.

    Mike in Pasadena

    One of Trump’s tweets confirmed that he said the Senate bill is “mean.” When it passes, he will sign it anyway. Will it be called TrumpDon’tCare?

  18. 18.

    trollhattan

    @BGinCHI:

    A vampire who turns into a turtle would be a new twist.

    Every victim would first have to first fall down and twist their ankle. That could get old and Michael Bey would definitely not direct.

    “Turtle Vampires Armed with Ball Bearings”

  19. 19.

    Laura

    I’d like to modify the headline for clarity thusly:
    With a rusty chainsaw sideways twice.
    Otherwise, I could not agree more.

    Also, everything old is new again.
    Republicans = the party of the rich.
    Democrats = the party of the working class.
    That should help focus the mind and clear up all the unnecessary fuss and lies that the Dems have no message and are in disarray.
    We do not care to return to the days of the Lochner Court and also will fight to not return to the end of the great depression and see what times would have been like if F FDR had been prevented from implementing any of the New Deal. But that’s what this is what the Republicans want and what they will not stop to get.
    https://youtu.be/a4kR1E6ltMk

  21. 21.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): I too am curious why you want to know so much about vampires all of a sudden ?

    As for the law, I feel like it should be broken down into several smaller parts, for readability and quotability. It also needs an additional corollary that appeals to nuance or realpolitik are signs of impure thinking, unless a figure of the left engages in behavior that goes against leftist dogma, in which case they are mandatory.

  22. 22.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    NPR has a story on their website about Pharma Bro Shkrelli going to court for securities fraud. Little shitstain is grinning like an idiot. Do his attorneys know nothing about presentation?

    Maybe lil Martin is just a psychopath who enjoys inflicting misery. Good god, does any woman willfully bed that skinny, smug slug?

  23. 23.

    hueyplong

    Going to have to admit that I’ve taken a field sobriety test within sight of the Morgantown establishment pictured in Cole’s post story.

    In my defense, I passed. And then I entered Crockett’s. Previous stop had been for fish bowls. Cole is likely to know what I mean.

  24. 24.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @WaterGirl: you know how people stuff cash in a sock or bra if they’re just carrying a few loose bills?

  25. 25.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @BGinCHI: Either “fictional vampires” is redundant

    that’s what the Man wants you to think. Fake News, Man.

  28. 28.

    InternetDragons

    I hope this is OK to post on this thread.

    I just heard that Rand Paul and Susan Collins have both committed to voting ‘no’ on the Republican healthcare bill.

    Calls really-by-gods matter right now. These are the other Senators leaning ‘no’:

    Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

    Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH)

    Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)

    Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO)

    Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV)

    Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)

    Call 202-224-3121 and leave a message. If lines are busy, try local offices in other cities.

    If your Senator is a Democrat, call and thank them. Ask them to resist through procedure. Ask them to filibuster by amendment.

    Help the ‘resist by amendment’ strategy by adding your name and health care story here (this is an Indivisible link): 
    http://www.ouramendments.org

  29. 29.

    NotMax

    Internet informs that the distance by road from Bethany to Morgantown is ~70 miles; driving time over an hour.

  33. 33.

    NotMax

    No experience having boobs, however my ankles do not sweat to any noticeable degree.

  35. 35.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    @WaterGirl: No one wants sweaty cash.

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): FWIW, a Spanish researcher theorized in the ’90s that vampire legends arose in large part from accounts of rabies* – one thing he cited was an (apparent) folk wisdom that a person was not rabid if they could maintain looking at their reflection. Which I ran with in my work – a heretofore-brooding mutant woman with vaguely vulturelike features suffers through the whole course of rabies** and becomes a Richard Chase–type “vampire.”

    *Strangely enough this doesn’t really seem to be a factor in therianthropy legends – research indicates that its roots lie in serial killers and certain psychotic breaks.
    **It’s set in 2025, so.

  38. 38.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Here is Susan Collins’s declaration. Let’s watch to see if she holds.

  41. 41.

    debbie

    I’ve been working on my fax to Senator Portman. I’m feeling a bit overwrought, so it might be better to walk away for a few minutes before hitting send:

    Senator Portman:

    How can you even consider voting for the BCRA, knowing that tens of thousands of Ohioans your age (or older) will not be able to live out the rest of their lives in any semblance of comfort? How is this kind of destruction of the healthcare system serving your constituents?

    I had to live without insurance for 15 years, so I know what a difficult dance it is to negotiate even the most basic of services. It was exhausting. How can you condemn so many elderly citizens to this kind of existence?

    Many of the Ohioans you’re abandoning voted for you. They trusted you. They are why you are in Washington, DC, not the lobbyists and special interest groups.

    All I see is that you’re about to cause so much pain to so many, when you yourself will be sacrificing nothing. No cuts to your healthcare or pension, right? No fewer donations from lobbyists, right?

    How can you even stand to look at yourself in the mirror, knowing what your party expects you to do?

  46. 46.

    Redshift

    Leftover from the previous thread:

    Trump is sort of McConnell’s dupe here. This is not what Trump ran on and the impacts will hit Trump’s base hard.

    This gives Trump way too much credit, painting him as too dumb/ignorant to know that the Senate bill isn’t what he promised. He’s no one’s dupe. He’s a BS artist who promised whatever would get people to vote for him and doesn’t give rat’s ass whether any of it happens or how badly his base gets screwed.

  47. 47.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: I would take out the word right near the bottom, remove the question marks that follow the word “right” and PRESS SEND RIGHT NOW.

    My two cents.

    P.S. Or go shorter: “You obviously have not heart; have you no soul, as well?” But yours is probably better.

  50. 50.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Betty Cracker:

    The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that the 400 top income households alone would receive $33 billion in tax cuts between 2019 and 2028.

    Fuck me, I picked the wrong household to be born into.

  51. 51.

    Angrifon

    @NotMax: Ugh. I used to love that movie, but now I can’t look at James Woods’s face without thinking about what an asshole he is. Still a great book, though.

  53. 53.

    patrick II

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD):

    I didn’t know what a “kappa” was, but I wiki-ed it and it fits. It is a Japanese water ogre who

    to the malevolent, such as drowning people and animals, kidnapping children, raping women and at times eating human flesh.

    It is always good to learn something in the comments here.

  55. 55.

    WaterGirl

    @Gin & Tonic: I believe that was the lack of forward thinking that was referred to in previous republican comments about the losers who will be hurt by this bill.

  56. 56.

    Major Major Major Major

    OK, so Collins is one of the two inconsequential “no”‘s that Yertle has released. She’s never been the decisive vote for anything anti-Republican, I wonder what will happen if they end up with three.

  57. 57.

    Hungry Joe

    In his brilliant novel “Blindsight” Peter Watts uses a genetically re-engineered vampire (they’d gone extinct) as the captain of a ship sent to explore a possible alien vessel at the far edge of the solar system. For the long trip, his DNA is useful for putting the crew into suspended animation (vampires sleep A LOT), and he’s a good captain, having been given meds to control his … appetites. And that’s not even what the book is about; it’s about artificial (maybe) intelligence, self awareness, linguistics, game theory, and a lot of other fun stuff, some of which I think I understood.

  58. 58.

    pattonbt

    @Cheryl Rofer: Is she concerned, very concerned, concerned-ish, concerned-lite, bigly concerned? She’d never put her neck out unless the outcome is known – 1) there enough other no’s that it is DOA or 2) she’s been let go because they have the votes. Given there aren’t any other no’s out there, I’ll go with option 2.

  59. 59.

    WaterGirl

    I spent part of last week catching up on this season ofScandal. Even the stuff they pull on Scandal that would have been shocking in earlier seasons seems less bad than the currently reality we are living in.

  61. 61.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Hungry Joe:

    I started watching “Preacher” yesterday, and kind of like it, but wife is iffy.

    Should I stick with it?

  64. 64.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    @Major Major Major Major: Rabies does seem to be a plausible factor; another (more definitively established) one was a rudimentary understanding of decomposition.
    @Major Major Major Major: Orwell covered a lot of that territory, notably in the parts of “Inside the Whale” talking about the British Communist Party. Since the law was already formulated as a corollary, that might border on overkill.

    As for the readability: The basic gist of the first half is that for certain leftists, actively pissing perceived centrists off (as opposed to letting the ideology speak for itself) is considered necessary to identify as left.* As is it’s probably too prolix. The second half was written more with Internet Law rather than meme-ability in mind, though I don’t think it needs work as is.

    *Basically contrarianism, but with a definite authoritarian character. Hmm…”authoritarian contrarianism?’

  65. 65.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Angrifon:

    For me, the book wasn’t nearly as good as the movie. Loved Woods in it (and yeah, he’s an asshole, but unlike Nick Searcy, actually made the whole plot).

  68. 68.

    SatanicPanic

    @Redshift: I don’t totally buy this. He was calling it mean behind closed doors, so this suggests he actually does understand what it’ll do to his base.

  71. 71.

    Kathleen

    @debbie: Nice. You may want to double check to see if Portman’s office takes faxes. I though I saw that he didn’t. It appears his main web site only offers call or email options. Easy enough to copy and paste them on an email.

  72. 72.

    D58826

    As I was switching between various online content I was mentally composing an enraged rant about the psychopaths that make up the GOP. It was hard watching a video of my healthy happy 7 year old niece and her two aunts as they get an autograph from every princess in the magic Kingdom, then flipping over to the heartbreaking stories of families that have lost their 7 year old to illness, and then to the articles about the Senators who have ‘concerns’ . We lost our only child as a result of a car accident when my wife was 7 mo. pregnant. No one was at fault it was a snow covered road but my Dad who was driving took that pain to his grave. The pain recedes over time but it never ever goes away.
    At lest some of the Senators were willing to express their concerns publicly. Most are hiding out because they know what they are doing would be labeled a crime against humanity if it was done in wartime. How can they go home at night and look at their own kids or grandkids? How can they go home at night and look at a family member or the child of a friend who is battling a life threatening illness? How can they even ask ‘what would Jesus do’> They know what Jesus would do – he would drive them into the streets just like he did the money changers in the Temple.
    Life is full of uncertainties. Accidents, like what happen to us occur. Children are sometimes born with illnesses that modern medicine still can’t fix. But the harm that this law will inflict is not the result of some accident or a bad set of genes. It is deliberate and these people are guilty of murder, even if there is a degree or more of separation. As sure as the sun comes up anywhere from 20k to 100k will die. It doesn’t make it any less murder just because you didn’t put a gun to the head of one of those peoples and pull a trigger.

    Beyond that I’m am just emotionally drained by the whole thing.

  73. 73.

    Jilli Brown

    @Mike in Pasadena: Nope, the bill will be called the “PSPMWCFTBDBW”

    Not very catchy, but the long version –
    “the poor should pay more for worse coverage to finance tax breaks disproportionately benefitting the wealthy”  – is just a little unruly, even worse, and, it doesn’t fit on a bumpersticker.

  77. 77.

    debbie

    @WaterGirl:

    You’re right. I’m getting rid of both “right”s. Thanks.

    @Kathleen:

    I faxed back in January and got a response, but I’ll check to make sure first. Thanks.

  78. 78.

    D58826

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I guess Yurtle has given her one of the 2 get out of jail cards. Where was she in 2009-2010 when a few GOP votes might have helped the D’s fix the short comings in Obamacare that she is now SO concerned about. A dollar short and a day late. Not one ounce of sympathy if the voters in Maine drive her a*** out of the state (preferable coated in tar and fears and firmly attached to a rail)next time she is on the ballot.

  80. 80.

    Smiling Mortician

    Whoa. Devin Nunes letting his freak flag fly. What do the Russians have on him, anyway? Must be big.

    “When I temporarily stepped aside from leading the investigation, that’s exactly what it means: It doesn’t mean I wasn’t going to be involved, it doesn’t mean I wasn’t going to be fully read in,” Nunes said.

    “Every decision I make is my own,” he continued. “I can go back right after this conversation and take the investigation over. Although I think everybody’s learning there’s not really much there because there’s no collusion—which is what I had said several months ago, I hadn’t seen any evidence.”

  84. 84.

    Quinerly

    @Johannes:
    Memories of my childhood…Dark Shadows…everyday at 4:00pm. Binged watched those episodes a few years back. A lot of great stuff.

  86. 86.

    lamh36

    Evening peeps!

    Guess who realized today that she has a 4 day weekend followed by the 4th of July off!

    ME!!

    So, since my sister doesn’t have the funds to come to me…I’m going to her! Gonna make that slow 8hr drive to DFW and see my niece Layla!!!

    Oh…and my sister too I guess…lol

  87. 87.

    Cheryl Rofer

    FBI has questioned Trump campaign adviser Carter Page at length in Russia probe

    FBI agents have repeatedly questioned former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page about his contacts with Russians and his interactions with the Trump campaign, according to people familiar with the investigation.

    Over a series of five meetings in March, totaling about 10 hours of questioning, Page repeatedly denied wrongdoing when asked about allegations that he may have acted as a kind of go-between for Russia and the Trump campaign, according to a person familiar with Page’s account.

    And he did it without a lawyer present, because, he said, he knew he was telling the truth.

    Not enough for an opening post, just wanted to note it. No surprises, just things moving along as one might expect.

  89. 89.

    jl

    Is this a good old fashioned Cole West by God Virginia post?
    Good.

    RAMPS have made to San Francisco. Bay Area. Been seeing then regularly last few weeks.
    I’m afraid to eat them. Maybe when a four day weekend comes up and I’ll be sequestered away from civilization, I’ll try them.
    Not sure what kind of scenario that will be, but I suppose it will come along sooner or later.

  97. 97.

    KithKanan

    @Angrifon: I grew up there (or at least in its real life counterpart Santa Cruz). These days the housing costs and the traffic are far more likely to kill you.

  98. 98.

    Kathleen

    @debbie: Good! The important thing is you know it got there! In retrospect I think I got the info from an Indivisible email that told us how to contact Senators and that’s where it said Portman didn’t accept fax. I will also blame Hillary, Obama, DWS, corrupt DNC, Roberta Lange, and anyone else who thwarted my valiant effort to be right without knowing the facts. Or in this case “The Fax”.

  100. 100.

    SFBayAreaGal

    @Quinerly: That was my sisters and I. Get home from school, change out of our school clothes and watch Dark Shadows at 4:00 pm.

    My brother hated the show. However my mom said take a vote and majority wins. Well with 4 young girls wanting to watch Dark Shadows and my brother wanting to watch something else, the 4 young girls always won. Needless to say this did not play well with my brother.

  102. 102.

    D58826

    [email protected] and Christ on a corkscrew. Chris Hayes is interviewing a GOP Critter. According to the critter it’s ok not to have hearings because everyone knows how bad Obamacare is. Hayes then asked for his reaction to the fact the the Senate will cram this bill down the throat of the House and the House will have to eat it. The critter then said – well no there is a ‘compromise committee’ (his term) that will iron these differences out. Hayes responded by say it is called a conference committee. The critter said that he would have to go back check on the exact process. Now I learned about the conference committee process in 4th grade civics. He then went on to say that while its true that the free market produces winners and losers, the magic asterisk of dynamic scoring will result in winners, winners every where, winners for as far as the eye can see. Now some one this stupid should not be in Congress. Some one this stupid should not be allowed out of the house without being on a leash. Then again he represents South Fla, (sorry Betty) so maybe it’s not so surprising

  103. 103.

    D58826

    Steve Schmidt is giving a long involved answer as to why the GOP is will to go over the cliff on this bill. I think the reason is much simpler – Obama. end of story.

    as has been said repeatedly if Obama said breath the GOP would hold it’s breath until they turned blue and died.

  105. 105.

    D58826

    And if you though that the Trumpcare explanations defied common sense, just listen to Faux news explaining that colluding with the Russians to hack our elections is not a crime. The argument seems to boil down to saying there because there is no statute that says ‘colluding with Russian to affect the election’ is a crime, then it must be ok. And whatever lemmings haven’t gone over the cliff on heath care will follow over Russia.

  107. 107.

    Kathleen

    @D58826: Whoa! Why didn’t we think of this sooner? Why doesn’t Obama tell the GOP he WANTS them to pass their bill, and then follow that by warning them of the dangers of drinking bleach. Win Win!

  108. 108.

    Ohio Mom

    @debbie: That’s nicer than some of my emails to Portman.

    The interns aren’t grading them on civility. They probably don’t read past the first paragraph. My philosophy is, I write to entertain myself.

    This morning’s email was basically calling them lazy slobs. I said that when I was in the paid workforce, we worked extra hours at crunch time. They can’t be bothered to empty the voice mail and start answering the phones til mid-morning at best.

  109. 109.

    Ohio Mom

    @Kathleen: And the email option is on his web page.

    I was late to the thread where I said, Great idea, let’s do a Cincinnati mini meet-up; might be too late here too…

  110. 110.

    JMG

    @D58826: People can believe what they want, but both arithmetic and the US Code have both their own opinions and their own facts. PS: Carter Page, who seems like some of the dudes I knew in the early ’70s who did too many psychedelics (except for the haircut), did five hours of interviews with the FBI without a lawyer. I met FBI guys in bars at Super Bowl 36 (first post 9/11 Bowl) and we got along great because I didn’t say a word except “another round here.”

  114. 114.

    Jeffro

    @Redshift: yup…Trumpov needs his republican friends to keep running cover for him in the Russia investigations, so he is going to sign whatever they put in front of him and fuck the base .

    The big-money boys on the Republican side are going to simply bribe these senators with very well-paid post-election-loss gigs if necessary (in addition to whatever bribes they are passing out just to get them their own cover for voting yes, like a “rural hospital fund” for Susan Collins

    First Democrat to pick up the baton and buy some air time to talk to the country for a half hour wins.

  115. 115.

    Feathers

    Oooh, oooh, oooh, vampires! i know!

    Historically, vampires started appearing (late 17th, early 18th century) after the witchcraft scares ended. Basically, the witch scares died out as people got wise to their essentially bullshit nature. So, new and batter bullshit. Stories began going around about how “improper burial” aka in Protestant or Catholic burial grounds/funeral rites, based on whichever one you were against would cause your dead relatives to rise from the dead and try to kill you. The prime ground for these waves of vampire sightings was in the Balkans, where Protestantism was competing with the Greek Orthodox church. It’s not as neatly religious as the witchcraft scares, but much of our vampire lore today comes from the writings of the times, many from priests and theologians. The most important was Dom Augustine Calmet, a priest/scholar/theologian, who wrote a book on vampires in 1751, which is the source of most of the classic vampire legends. The actual Balkan freakout over vampires ended when the Hapsburgs declared that there were no vampires and passed very strict anti-grave desecration laws, which stopped everyone from digging up graves to find vampires. However, Calmet’s book was an enormous bestseller and hugely influential. Voltaire was a fan, saw the Church as vampires.

    The modern, literary vampire was born as the bastard child of Calmet’s Balkan revenants and the fae of British/Celtic folklore. You can see it take shape in Coleridge’s poem Christabel, which is usually cited as the first vampire in English, but a close reading of the poem shows that Christabel has just as many features of a fairy as she does a vampire. The crossing the threshold shows up here, but interestingly the threshold is a castle bridge, with iron gates. Iron is fairy repellant, nothing to do with vampires. There is also a great deal of pure Coleridge trippiness, to be sure.

    At least this is the theory I came to after taking a course in vampire literature and one in the history of witchcraft in close sequence.

  116. 116.

    TriassicSands

    The C.B.O. estimates that average gross premiums would initially rise under the Senate bill, then drop by about 20 percent, compared with what it would be under the current law, in 2026.

    This would largely be achieved by offering skimpier plans with higher deductibles, and by pricing the old and the sick out of the insurance market.

    What sane person could have a problem with that? It shows the genius of Republican lawmakers. They promised to bring down premiums and they’re delivering. I mean, if you don’t have insurance, your premium is zero. Healthy young people (who bother to waste their money on health insurance) will have lower premiums because their plans won’t cover much of anything. I think the GOP has finally solved the country’s health care woes. Good job guys!

    Next up? Repeal EMTALA!

  117. 117.

    Achrachno

    @jl: Are you sure? Are these cultivated by someone? As far as I know there are no records of ramps growing wild anywhere in CA. Don’t poison yourself through misidentification.

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