Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Second rate reporter says what?

Fight them, without becoming them!

Shut up, hissy kitty!

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

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

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

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

People are complicated. Love is not.

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

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Saturday Afternoon Open Thread

Saturday Afternoon Open Thread

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Remember when I made a Shrek birthday cake upon request for a family member a while back? A Puss in Boots (from Shrek 2) cake has been requested by another family member. I’m baking that cake now.

It’s going to be harder to get the decoration on this one right, I think. The future recipient specifically wanted it to depict the scene where Puss is all pathetic with the huge eyes.

Anyhoo, I’ll share pics later, nail it or nah. Open thread!

Reader Interactions

278Comments

  1. 1.

    Elizabelle

    Eh. You mastered butter lambs. A PinBoots cake will go down just fine.

    Pictures, please.

    And thank you for putting up a fresh thread. I am sick of the Eeyore set, and those who would encourage them.

  6. 6.

    raven

    Well, the ac guy came. Sort of a goofball libertarian but he made a couple of Trump references and I said “well, I think he’s a loudmouth. punk ass motherfucker” so we didn’t talk about politics. He didn’t find anything major but decided it needed a good cleaning. $175 for a 90 minute saturday service call so I guess I didn’t piss him off too much.

  7. 7.

    Yarrow

    I adore Puss in Boots from that movie. “Pray for mercy from…..Puss…in Boots!”

  8. 8.

    Mike in NC

    Netflix just started streaming a new 10 episode crime drama called “Ozark” starting Jason Bateman and Laura Linney as Chicagoans who run afoul of a drug cartel and relocate to rural Missouri. Really liked the first episode and the critics seem to be impressed.

  13. 13.

    zhena gogolia

    @raven:

    Did you see that they have Georgia playing the Ozarks in this series? I find that a little hard to stomach!

  16. 16.

    WaterGirl

    @Elizabelle: As I was reading the let’s just slit our wrists now thread below, an image popped into my head: the Iowa caucus on Jan 3 – where you go stand in the corner of the room that is designated for your candidate. I was at the caucus as a volunteer, working for Obama, of course.

    Only this image wasn’t for candidates. You either stand with the group that is predicting the worst possible outcomes or you stand with ruemara and others say hell no, they can’t take our democracy away this easily!

    I know which group I’m standing with. The only way we have no control over the outcome is if we think the ending of this story has already been written.

    edited for clarity.

  17. 17.

    Yarrow

    I’m going to count on this being a stopped clock example.

    Prediction: There will never be a USS Donald J. Trump.— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) July 22, 2017

  21. 21.

    Betty Cracker

    @schrodingers_cat: We had strawberry pancakes for breakfast, and they were wonderful! I’ve seen yellow and white cakes with strawberry cream cheese or buttercream and strawberry icing but have never made one myself. I usually opt for strawberry pie.

  31. 31.

    WaterGirl

    @schrodingers_cat: There weren’t even any good strawberries at the farmer’s market this year. I do get strawberries from my hanging baskets every time I go out to water, but not enough to make anything. I just spray ’em off and eat them as I water. They are SO good!

  32. 32.

    raven

    @Yarrow: Well, the fan in the outdoor unit stopped work about 10 days ago. I replaced the capacitor and that seemed to fix it until last night. I found another capacitor this morning and it worked for a while then the fan stopped dead again. Decided it was above my pay grade so I called 3 different outfits and took the first one that showed up. Again, he found nothing specific but did test the capacitors and they were all good. He said the unit was really dirty (it was) so WE cleaned the coils and fired it back up. It’s running now but doesn’t seem to be hitting 80 on the thermostat. It’s really hot so maybe that’s just what ti’s going to be.

  33. 33.

    Gin & Tonic

    @WaterGirl: Absolutely. As I scan my family tree looking at the names of people I never had the opportunity to know because of their opposition to authoritarianism (which led to actuarially suboptimal outcomes) I cannot but agree.

  38. 38.

    Yarrow

    @raven: Ugh. What a pain. Did you have to clean it inside (like in the attic) or just the outside unit? The a/c guys told me to spray the outside unit with a hose every month or so to get the dust off it. Helps air pass through it better and it’s supposed to help it run better. I do it when I remember.

  43. 43.

    Elizabelle

    @WaterGirl: Thank you. I agree. Join the resistance, don’t lie down in the street and guess which car is likely to hit you. “If not this one, surely the next.”

    Fuck that shit.

  46. 46.

    Elizabelle

    The actor John Heard died. Home Alone dad, and Sharknado too. Always kinda liked him.

  48. 48.

    WaterGirl

    @schrodingers_cat: That’s an amazing price. I have heard you can get really tasty fruit at Aldi’s because they have the fruit that is maybe a bit older than they sell at regular supermarkets, so it is actually ripe and has flavor.

  49. 49.

    raven

    @Yarrow: It was the downstairs unit and we hit the outside part. The only thing nagging at me is that there are also coils in the air handler and a few years back they got dirty and caused problems. I brought it up more than once and he didn’t seemed to think that might be it.

  51. 51.

    WaterGirl

    @Gin & Tonic: I am surely not brave enough to give my life and I have always looked at anyone involved with the French resistance with awe, but we can’t just sit by and watch them drown our democracy in a bathtub.

    I think they will be shocked by the response once they cross that line that is a bridge too far, even for the people who are republicans.

  52. 52.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    Dunkirk is sticking with me more than I thought it would, both as an experience and a number of the creative choices.. I’m going to have to see it again sometime this week.

  54. 54.

    WaterGirl

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym: That’s how I judge whether something is a good movie. Not just a fun moving, but a good movie. Do I think about tit after I have left the theater? Do thoughts of the movie pop into my head over the next few days?

  55. 55.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: Or maybe he just wanted to get on to the next appointment! On the positive side, I’m sure you’ll have the answer in the next couple of days.

  56. 56.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Betty, I have high confidence that you can pull off the Puss in Boots cake every bit as well as you did the Shrek cake!

  58. 58.

    Yarrow

    @raven: Could you clean those coils on your own? Maybe not worth it if it’s too much effort.

    The a/c in my house is old and probably needs replacing at some point in the (hopefully not too) near future. I’ve gotten so many conflicting stories from the various a/c guys about what to do. It’s vary frustrating. There’s a coil in the unit in the attic they clean with a chemical. I’ve been told it definitely needs cleaning, is too old to clean (it’ll destroy it, it’ll need replacing and that’s expensive and not worth it in a unit this age), and it’s in perfectly good shape and whoever told you it needed cleaning was wrong. How am I supposed to know what to do?

  59. 59.

    Villago Delenda Est

    OK, about and hour and a half away from the showing of Valerian. Probably great eye candy, for sure, if the trailer is representative, but we’ll have to see about plot, script, acting, etc.

    Confidence is not high. Oliver Willis (@owillis on twitter) has advised avoid this like the plague.

    I will of course report back once viewing has concluded.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    @Yarrow: If it’s not broke, don’t fix it? With old computers, I tend to leave them alone, don’t upgrade the operating system, etc because in my experience, if you start to push them, you’re not gonna like the outcome.

    Maybe that’s relevant, maybe it’s not.

  61. 61.

    Yarrow

    @Villago Delenda Est: I don’t know anything about the movie, but I’ve seen a couple of commercials for it. I know about valerian root, so I was struck by the title. If the movie is like the root it should put you to sleep and reduce any anxiety you might have.

  63. 63.

    Yarrow

    @WaterGirl: That’s the option I’ve gone with. If it’s a part that should be cleaned to make the a/c unit run better and also increase its lifespan (which is what some of the a/c guys told me) then maybe I should have it done. The most frustrating thing is the conflicting info. How can one a/c guy give me one recommendation and the next one give me the exact opposite recommendation. It’s bizarre.

  65. 65.

    mai naem mobile

    @schrodingers_cat: thwre are strawbetry cakes. My niece had one at one of her birthdays. I happen to be the person who got it from a independent bakery here. It was really good but I have no idea how you make it. You could do a fruit salad or use them in a smoothie. If they start goong bad, you can freeze them and use them up later in a smoothie. You could make srikhand and use some up that way.

  66. 66.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    I’m also spending a lot of time listening to Hans Zimmer soundtracks. They’re really damned good, though I wish the film industry wasn’t so prone to chasing fads and would remember that there are other good styles for scores, too.

  67. 67.

    Mike in NC

    @Baud: Trump would only settle for the biggest Spanish galleon ever built, complete with a full cargo of gold doubloons.

  69. 69.

    Booger

    @WaterGirl:I saw ‘Das Boot’ in its first run at a theatre by myself. Left after the credits just wiped out. Had to sit in the car and cry for a few minutes before I could drive home. It was exhausting.

  72. 72.

    mai naem mobile

    They should rename one of those nightmare noro virus carnival cruise line ships after Dolt 45. He sure as hell is making a lot of Americans feel like they have norovirus.

  77. 77.

    WaterGirl

    Are any of the new TV shows any good?

    I used to watch 5 or 6 USA shows, but they cancelled all of them one by one and have mostly replaced them with shows that aren’t up my alley. I like Suits, but the ones I see advertised right now seem really dark. There’s something called The Sinner and Salvation, Shooter and Queen of the South, and a few others whose names I don’t recall.

    It seemed like there used to be a number of shows that would start in June and had 10 episodes in the summer. Wondering if I am missing all of them or if that’s a thing of the past.

  78. 78.

    schrodingers_cat

    @chris: Thanks, it looks like something I might be brave enough to attempt. BTW did you just tell me to go fuck myself in the last thread or is that another Chris? I am so confused.

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    @schrodingers_cat: Strawberry popsicles! If you don’t have popsicle molds, you can always pour the fruit mixture into little bowls and just freeze those and eat them with a spoon. 2 ups of strawberries & some simple syrup, a blender, and you’re good to go.

  81. 81.

    BBA

    @Yarrow: knowing Trump, he’ll order the Navy to rename every single ship after himself. In big, gold-plated letters.

  85. 85.

    NotMax

    @WaterGirl

    Looking forward to The Alienist, upcoming on TNT. Yes, intrinsically on the dark side (murder investigation) but lends itself to lush visuals.

    The book is solidly in the “can’t put it down” category (also meticulously researched) and reportedly its author is hands-on involved with the production.

  86. 86.

    schrodingers_cat

    @WaterGirl: Check out the last few comments in the last thread. At least three people did not like what I had to say, one who calls himself/herself Chris told me what I wrote in the comment to chris.

  87. 87.

    Elizabelle

    Storm passing through NoVA just knocked out the cable. Watching “Titanic.” How does it end? (/snark; gonna miss the actual sinking; darn.)

  89. 89.

    chris

    @schrodingers_cat: Warm crumble with real whipped cream (with a couple drops of vanilla) approaches nirvana. It also keeps well in the fridge so you can have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.

    Also, certainly not! Musta been that capital-C Chris.

  90. 90.

    JPL

    I have a neighbor problem. One of their pine trees died, and the likelihood is that it would take out my fence as well as a lot of landscaping that I put in. The worse case scenario is that it falls on my bedroom. I’ve already mentioned that I’m willing to chip in to take the tree down, but she had to speak to her husband. That was ten days ago. I’m tempted to offer to pay for the tree removal, and if that doesn’t work, then have my insurance company write a letter.
    ugh

    Yes they voted for Trump.

  91. 91.

    Aleta

    President Donald Trump’s administration has rescinded more than $2 million of grant funding intended for a Vermont nonprofit that is working to prevent teen pregnancy — decimating the group’s finances, according to one of its directors.

    The Charlotte-based Youth Catalytics has provided training and research to youth services organizations around the country for 35 years. During Barack Obama’s presidency, the group won a five-year federal grant for pregnancy prevention work that began in 2016 with $564,000 in funding. Earlier this month, the Office of Adolescent Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services informed the organization that it had terminated the remaining four years of the grant — a loss of about $2.25 million.

    “Due to changes in program priorities, it has been determined that it is in the best interest of the federal government to no longer continue funding for the Providing Capacity Building Assistance to OAH Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grantees program,” the July 5 letter read.

    The news came out of the blue, said Meagan Downey, Youth Catalytics’ director of special projects. “I’m on my honeymoon in Jamaica, and on July 5, I get this notice that our funding was being terminated June 30, 2017,” she said.

    “We were given no reason,” Downey went on. “The only change that we know of that has occurred are the appointments of some people who have led efforts to discredit and eliminate these programs.”

    The cut to the local organization is part of a more sweeping rescission, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting, which found that 81 institutions nationwide will lose a total of more than $200 million in teen pregnancy prevention grants.

    Trump has appointed several Health and Human Services officials who have endorsed an abstinence-only approach to pregnancy prevention and resisted sex education that includes birth control counseling. Among the appointees is Valerie Huber, chief of staff to the assistant secretary for health.

    Youth Catalytics, which reported about $1 million in revenue on its 2015 tax filing, was one of five groups whose grants were pulled at the start of July; most organizations were given one more year of funding, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting.*

    Through the now- revoked federal grant, the Vermont organization helped entities that run pregnancy prevention programs for vulnerable youth to improve their communications with teens, parents and other stakeholders. They also help groups with similar missions share their work with one another.

    -from Seven Days Vt

  92. 92.

    WaterGirl

    @NotMax: I’m fine with murder (also in the category of words I thought I would never say in a sentence!). Are there aliens involved? Or do alienist mean something else entirely? I added it to Tivo, which isn’t finding it in the next two weeks, at least, but it will record whenever an episode does show up.

    I like plenty of dark shows, I guess, I really like Broadchurch and that’s not a bundle of laughs, but devils and end of the world stuff isn’t grabbing these days (can’t imagine why!). I even liked Jericho and that was a catastrophic setting, so maybe it’s just the times we are living in. Whatever happened to TV as an escape?

  93. 93.

    Elizabelle

    @schrodingers_cat: Don’t change. You are one of the peeps who keep me here. The people who were having trouble with you can go stick their heads in the oven.

  94. 94.

    WaterGirl

    @schrodingers_cat: Oh I saw that, so I understood the context, but I just thought that was too funny: “thanks for the recipe, and by the way, did you just tell me to go fuck myself?” Only on BJ!

  96. 96.

    bystander

    @Elizabelle: Chilly Scenes of Winter was Heard at his best. A perfect Ann Beattie character, even if the movie is flawed.

    Coconut could make an awesome fur, but I don’t know what you do for those eyes except maybe muffin tops with royal icing.

  97. 97.

    NotMax

    @Elizabelle

    Oh, it was sad, so sad, too bad!
    It was sad when the great ship went down
    To the bottom of the sea
    Uncles and aunts, little children lost their pants
    It was sad when the great ship went down

    /campfire songs

  98. 98.

    WaterGirl

    @JPL: Ugh is right!

    I learned a bit about trees coming down when my huge tree crashed on my house 4 years ago. Part of my tree crushed my neighbor’s van – it was a huge tree! My insurance didn’t have to cover that because it was an act of god, but their’s covered it.

    Also, my insurance didn’t cover ANYTHING that was living. So it didn’t matter that I lost hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of plants and trees that had to be replaced. Not one penny! But if something was in a pot, and the pot was broken by the tree, they covered that!

    You might think about asking your insurance company if that’s how their coverage works, and find out if it’s a different story if a tree is actually dead and is very likely to fall and damage property.

    Also, it cost about $6,000 to have what was left of my tree taken down – it was a really big tree – so you might want to get an estimate of what the tree would cost to take down before you offer to pay for all of it.

  102. 102.

    Elizabelle

    @WaterGirl: And now the real Chris shows up (downstairs thread), afraid he’s been pied:

    to schrodinger’s cat: Two different commenters. Sorry, I hadn’t read the following thread yet and assumed that thanking me for a dessert cake-like substance was the euphemism of the day letting me know I’d just been pied/blocked.

    @bystander: Chilly Scenes of Winter. Zhena also recommended. Will have to see it.

  103. 103.

    JPL

    @WaterGirl: Tomorrow I’m going to ask what’s up, and offer to have it taken it down, but since it’s on her property, I need permission. She loves her bamboo, but in order to reach the tree, a section of that will have to come down. If that doesn’t work, I am going to call my insurance company for advice. At least they will have that on record and then can sue their company. I’m sorta tired of playing nice with them, though.

    My insurance company will cover acts of god, but I’m not sure they will cover their negligence.

  105. 105.

    WaterGirl

    @JPL: I went with the best tree guy in town, and they had to use a crane to take my tree out in pieces, taking it over my neighbor’s house!

    If you get a good tree guy, it might be that there is a way to take this one down without interfering with the bamboo.

    I have asshole neighbors for the first time in my life and it really sucks. It’s always best if you can get along with your neighbors, but I have learned that it takes 2 to get along.

  107. 107.

    WaterGirl

    @Karen: I can only have hanging baskets of strawberries because my dogs are total thieves! So they have to make do with their cherry tomatoes.

  109. 109.

    trollhattan

    @JPL:
    LOTS of pictures from various angles and distances. Document the conversation. Contact your insurance agent and ask for suggestions.

    It’s literally life-threatening, not merely a threat to your house. Tree in the foreground came down with a deafening explosion of shattered wood and branches while my buddy and I were asleep in the tent. Three in the morning, dead still night, took seconds with no Hollywood dramatic creaaaakkkkk SFX beforehand. A couple feet over and I wouldn’t be writing this.

    ETA borked the link

  110. 110.

    JPL

    @WaterGirl: The crane would have to go through their back yard, since mine has a chain link and wood fence. I do have a good tree guy though.

  111. 111.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @WaterGirl: Alienist is an old term for a psychologist. The Alienist of the title is what we would now call a profiler.

  112. 112.

    JPL

    @trollhattan: I think you are right.

    The neighbor said she doesn’t use email, and often her phone messages are full. I think I’ll start texting.

  113. 113.

    NotMax

    @WaterGirl

    Have begun watching El Barco on Netflix. Far-fetched premise (to say the least) but entertaining enough so far, although have a nagging feeling it will eventually go off the rails a la Lost.

    Oh, BTW, for those

    1) with a Roku
    2) fond of old movies

    you might want to add this hidden channel to your Roku line-up. Some gems, some clunkers; eclectic collection.

  115. 115.

    scav

    strawberries soaked rosé wine (or raspberries) and served chilled isn’t a bad way to go. Garnish with a little mint, maybe a little sugar if you’ve got that kind of tooth? I know I’ve done peaches in wine, but I forget which color . . . probably white? (the pear thing is red wine) . . . ok, yes, I’m clearly repetative with recipes.

  116. 116.

    Mike in NC

    The new show on CBS, “Salvation”, is yet another story that deals with an asteroid on collision course with Earth. After a couple of episodes we decided to pass.

  118. 118.

    geg6

    Making some bolognese for dinner. This is usually my favorite, but John specifically asked for my “good” spaghetti sauce (not that veggie only marinara for him!) for dinner. And I was quick to agree. Smelling yummy around here!

  119. 119.

    JPL

    @trollhattan: My lot is 3/4 of an acre which is partially wooded, and years ago one of their dead trees took out part of my chain link fence, which my son and I fixed. Then I had a tree guy take care of the rest. At least it wasn’t near the house.
    Fences don’t necessarily help.

  120. 120.

    Another Scott

    @trollhattan: Yikes!

    It looks like your tent is sticking its tongue out at you, also too. I’d be careful about it in the future!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  123. 123.

    Major Major Major Major

    Turns out I’m done with the conference earlier than I thought today, and I’m not even needed at it tomorrow, so I’m in a pretty alright mood all of a sudden.

    Two more hours.

  126. 126.

    trollhattan

    @JPL:
    Biggest crane I’ve ever seen on a neighborhood street was in front of a house a mile or so away. They were sectioning and removing a drought-killed Ponderosa pine, easily 80′ tall, from the backyard, OVER the house and out to the street. Can’t begin to guess what that cost.

  128. 128.

    Aleta

    @JPL: If the tree is completely dead, before offering to pay anything, I’d call the insurance co to get their advice, and then there’s a record started, so faster if claims on the neighbor’s insurance have to be made. Find out about your coverage at least.

    It seems like their insurance company might want to be notified; they may have influence since it might be their money.

    Then I’d ask for a free consult with a (calm-type) lawyer for advice, too. At the consult s/he should give you options and the cost, such as for sending one polite letter.

    Talking it over with the insur co and a lawyer can relieve some stress of worrying about how to handle it.

    If you decide to pay part, I’d make the offer through a lawyer’s letter instead of doing it yourself. The lawyer should be the calm, professional type, not confrontational or threatening. It gives a record of the agreement if it gets twisted, and a way to make sure the cost is shared and the work is done. A middle step might be having a tree surgeon give an estimate.

  132. 132.

    JPL

    @Aleta: I’ll call my tree guy on Monday. Every one should have a tree guy. A few years ago, they had another tree that was questionable, and he offered to write a letter to them for me. They did remove that tree simply because I said watch it sway in the wind. Tomorrow I’m going to knock on their door and see what they decided. If the answer is they haven’t had time yet, I’ll also call the insurance company Monday for advice.
    It shouldn’t be this complicated though. If you have a dead tree, remove it.

  133. 133.

    WaterGirl

    @trollhattan: You are right. One of the limbs of my tree came straight down through the ceiling in my bedroom. I was in the living room. The limb didn’t actually touch the bed, but if I had been in bed when it happened, I’m pretty sure I would still be rocking in a corner, 4 years. later.

    We are both lucky!

  134. 134.

    Raven

    @Aleta: we had a huge storm over the 4th with giant oaks felled all over our neighborhood. If it didn’t hit a structure no one got shit. It’s worth checking but don’t get yer hopes up.

  137. 137.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @WaterGirl: FTR I was in a local Aldi’s a couple of Tuesdays ago & they were getting rid of the last of the strawberry shipment @ $0.50/lb. Checked carefully for mold & rot, found none, bought 2 lbs, sliced up & kept in the coldest part of the fridge for cereal toppings etc.

    There is an excellent recipe out there for a quick & easy cream cheese pie, very low-carb except for the graham cracker crust (but that can be finessed). Slice up the strawberries, layer them with sugar substitute, refrigerate overnight, & use them as topping for it. This non-low-carb version looks good too.

  148. 148.

    schrodingers_cat

    @chris: Thanks chris. You were a grad student in international relations, right? I remember many congenial back and forths with you over the years. The go fuck yourself Chris appeared after this Nov.

  150. 150.

    WaterGirl

    @Major Major Major Major: I should have been more specific!

    I missed the whole recent Merry Christmas thing here on BJ, so I have no idea why people have been saying that here on Balloon Juice in the middle of the summer..

    Does that help?

  151. 151.

    Uncle Cosmo

    Let me make a comment about the “gloom&doom” thread below.

    There is a world of difference between WWWAAAAAUGHWEREDDDDOOOMED! and sober consideration of “This is what they might try, we need to work out a counter to it.”

    IMO there is far too little thought on our side to the latter. It seems like every time they come up with a different wrinkle it catches The Good Guys absolutely flatfooted, & we’re scrambling around & we grab at anything that looks like it might work & 9 times out of 10 we don’t take time to think through counter-counter and counter-counter-counter moves & we get our arses handed to us in the court of public opinion (admittedly biased by an unfriendly media environment, but still…).

    This can’t be allowed to continue. We need to stop shitting on people who bring up unpleasant possibilities & start recruiting the sharpest minds among them to think like Rethuglicans & imagine those worst-case scenarios & devise counters for them. So we’re no longer adlibbing & getting ourselves into trouble when shooting from the hip hits our foot instead.

    Voter suppression? We know they’re setting up to do it. We should be looking at every state legislature & every body of laws & imagining every stratagem they might try & be ready to oppose them in the courts, in the media, & if nothing else fund & staff projects to get our voters compliant. Same for everything else.

    Know your enemy. If it means you have to sully your saintly soul by lowering yourself to conceive the dirty deeds they might be about, then get a little besmirched – you can scrub up later. It beats the shit out of having them sneak up behind us & bite us in the arse.

    (Edited for jumping-cursor typos.)

  152. 152.

    WaterGirl

    @Major Major Major Major: oh my god, that’s so awesome in spite of the fact that the poor kitty looks like Jabba the Hut once they put the dreaded hat on her head. I say “her head” because that kitty looks just like my kitty, Miss Willow.

    edit: I can’t stop watching.

  154. 154.

    chris

    @schrodingers_cat:

    a grad student in international relations

    I wish, I’m a mostly retired jack-of-all-trades with a high school diploma living way back in the woods of Maritime Canada. But thanks and yes I have been quietly here since The Great Awakening.

  161. 161.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Booger: And the dialog would have fit on a 3×5 card.@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: And the dialog still would’ve fit on a 3×5 card.

    If you’re at all interested in the subject, look for the book U-Boat War by the author of Das Boot. Lothar-Günther Buchheim was an artist & photographer who was assigned to U-boats as a war correspondent. After the war he became a professional photographer in (IIRC) Munich. Decades later in his storage he ran across a pile of forgotten aluminum 35mm canisters that had exposed film in them. When he developed them he had an entire photographic documentary of the kinds of patrols he wrote about in the novel. Astounding.

  163. 163.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    President Donald Trump caused the name of a holiday to trend on social media over the weekend ― just not the one most Americans are about to celebrate.

    Speaking at an event to honor veterans and celebrate faith just days ahead of Independence Day, Trump brought up Christmas.

    “I remind you that we’re going to start staying ‘Merry Christmas’ again,” the president said at the “Celebrate Freedom” event at the Kennedy Center on Saturday night.

    Trump was speaking about the role of faith in American politics, including the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom, when he fired off what might be the earliest-ever salvo in the so-called “war on Christmas.”

    While many of his followers were filled with the holiday spirit ― in July ― others were mystified by the random shoutout to a holiday still nearly six months off, causing #MerryChristmas to rise like Santa’s sleigh through Twitter’s list of trending topics.

    from HuffPo
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-merry-christmas-july_us_59599f37e4b02734df332775

  164. 164.

    debbie

    @schrodingers_cat:

    A local bakery with the unfortunate name of “Golden Delight Bakery” makes a fresh strawberry cake. White cake with a nice crumb, fresh strawberries and whipped cream between layers, and a whipped cream frosting. Best part is that you don’t feel full after eating it.

  165. 165.

    Mnemosyne

    @NotMax:

    I remember singing that with a group of other kids on a ferry that was crossing a really big river. It kind of freaked me out, because it was bad luck to sing a comic song about a shipwreck while on a boat.

    Not sure which river, but it was somewhere in west central Illinois, so if it wasn’t the Mississippi, it was probably a tributary.

  173. 173.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    And Happy Holidays.

    Is it Groundhog Day again?

    And Happy Holidays.

    Is it Groundhog Day again?

  176. 176.

    Jeanne

    @chris: Where specifically are you? I’m guessing Nova Scotia, but PEI would be amusing. My mom was born and raised in Newfoundland (yes, not the Maritimes, but still) and I’m genetically predisposed to love all things Canadian, especially the far flung parts.

  178. 178.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: The family bakery my niece married into in Denver makes a cake just like that. They had that as one of their wedding cakes. I would kill for that cake. I hate frosting, but I love whipped cream. No one makes that around here. :-(

  181. 181.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Jeanne:

    Newfoundland (yes, not the Maritimes, but still)

    It’s interesting how graceful and mostly-under-the-radar was the shift from “the Maritimes” (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island) to “the Atlantic Provinces” (NB, NS and PEI plus Newfoundland & Labrador). I don’t recall any big deal being made of the change in designation; it just kind of slid into awareness and daily use.

  187. 187.

    debbie

    @WaterGirl:

    The first time someone brought it into work, I was very leery, but now I push people out of the way to get at it! A friend had it as a wedding cake and they piped the icing to look like a woven basked (very tough when using whipped cream). Almost too pretty to eat.

  188. 188.

    WTF

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    Predictions with regard to how this will all unfold are tempting but rarely have they conformed with the outcomes we have witnessed. Trump is such a wild card that it really isn’t possible to predict what he will do to screw himself, except to continue to ignore the advice of those around him whose job is to protect him from himself. I think it is safe to say we have reached the point where the deck chairs on the Titanic are being re-arranged. This does have the effect of keeping us “flat-footed” in our responses.

  191. 191.

    Lapassionara

    @Uncle Cosmo: Thank you. Take to the streets is not a plan. We need a plan for the various contingencies. That is not being defeatist. But we need more than slogans.

  193. 193.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Jeanne:

    Canadians are the masters of “no big deal”. A graceful society if there ever was one.

    “Peace, order, and good government.” It’s in the Constitution!

  195. 195.

    chris

    @WaterGirl: Thank you for that.

    Back to cake. Years ago I made a butter pecan cake for a friend’s birthday. Recipe from the internet was simple: 1 box butter pecan cake mix, 1 tub butter pecan ice cream, combine and bake. I made a real butter pecan icing for it and it was wonderful if I do say so myself. Wonder if the same thing would work if you mashed the strawberries. Just a thought.

  197. 197.

    Major Major Major Major

    @WTF: the problem with thinking you can plan against their moves is, at this point they’re operating entirely off of Cleek’s Law, and whatever we do, no matter what it is, will get used against us, and become part of “their moves.”

    Better to have some proactive things to do like building the party locally and fighting suppression, and keep our noses down and work towards goals there. Always room for reactive folks and people to fight rearguard actions, of course, but predictions of the enemy’s tactics aren’t especially helpful for a lot of what we want to do.

    See also that Ulysses S. Grant quote…

  198. 198.

    WaterGirl

    @chris: Real butter pecan icing? Is that like what goes on german chocolate cake, if you make it from scratch? Yum. That disgusting pecan icing in the can is, well, disgusting.

    Did you thaw the ice cream before you mixed it with the cake mix?

  199. 199.

    NotMax

    @chris

    Strawberries have a lot of water; heating them along with some sugar and lemon juice to make a thicker puree might work though.

  202. 202.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: What were they thinking? If they had a catering business for weddings and such, they would no doubt call it Golden Showers!

  206. 206.

    Just One More Canuck

    @chris: When I read ‘back woods of Maritime Canada’, I think northern New Brunswick. A couple of years ago, we drove from PEI to Toronto via Bathurst and then across the top of the province. We saw nobody, and I mean nobody, else on the road for very long stretches of time

  207. 207.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    So, the opposite of Trump!

    Actually, yes, as it turns out, although it was common in my day to contrast it with “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” But looking through your lens, I would hate, absolutely hate, to equate the greedy, selfish, hedonistic Trump with that ringing Jeffersonian prose.

    ETA: I don’t necessarily see an inconsistency between the two phrases.

  209. 209.

    chris

    @WaterGirl: A long time ago but it was something like this although the amount of sugar gives me the horrors now.
    I left the ice cream out overnight and made the cake in the morning.

  210. 210.

    smintheus

    Increasingly amazed at the obtuseness and timidity of various articles, such as this one, debating in all seriousness whether the president has the power to pardon himself for a crime. How hard can it be to figure this out?

    Consider the common Republican argument that such and such has to be rejected because the Constitution is not a suicide pact. Now consider that a president might hire someone to commit a crime (say, murder) and then pardon both the perpetrator and himself for the crime. How many Americans would we have to allow him to murder before we could agree that the president does not have the power to pardon himself?

    chiz

  211. 211.

    WaterGirl

    @chris: Sometimes it’s best to eat it without knowing the recipe.

    One year for my birthday my friend baked me some kind of cookie bar thing and it was so good that I asked for the recipe. She wouldn’t give it to me – she said I really didn’t want to know!

  215. 215.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl #213:

    So do you kind of feel like you’re Canadian, or at least part Canadian, even though you grew up in Oak Park?

    I feel very Canadian. Spent most of Grade 6 in Regina, have relatives who have lived in SK or ON steadily since 1954, visited countless times (especially during the nine years I lived in Michigan, when it was the easiest thing in the world to pop over for a meal or a weekend), and was employed by the Government of Canada for a quarter of a century.

  217. 217.

    TriassicSands

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Canadians. What is surprising about Canadians, to me anyway, is how much they are like Americans in some ways and how different they are in others. I moved not too long ago, same area, but at my old house I could see Canada from my front yard (for 20 years). I’ve spent a lot of time in Canada and made a number of Canadian friends.

    Fortunately for Canadians, almost all of their differences with Americans are positives for the Canadians. (I say “almost all” because there must be some things that aren’t better…) Proof they aren’t perfect — they elect conservatives. Of course, Canadian conservatives are not always trying to dismantle the safety net and attack poor people. Most of them, anyway.

  218. 218.

    WaterGirl

    @SiubhanDuinne: I knew you worked for them, but I had no idea you had all those other connections. Can I ask why you spent 6th grade in Regina?

  223. 223.

    debbie

    @Major Major Major Major:

    It sounds like one of those cheap Cantonese Chinese takeouts in New York City, the kind that are always shoving their menus under your front door, where the names of the dishes sound like bad Chinese translations.

  224. 224.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    Can I ask why you spent 6th grade in Regina?

    Sorry, just being a smartass. In 1953 my aunt remarried, and her new husband was a Canadian and a church musician. He got a job as organist/choir director at a prominent church in Regina, and he, my aunt, and my cousin Dave (three years my junior, who had been brought up with us, so basically like another sibling) moved north. Dave didn’t know how to be an only child suddenly, and was causing some low-level mayhem in the stodgy apartment building where they lived — so the family decided one of us should go up to keep him company and help in the transition, and I got picked. Of course I had no idea of the ulterior motive, I just thought it was very cool to live in Canada for a while.

  228. 228.

    ProudGradofCatLadyAcademy

    Hello!
    Hot in the North, humid, sticky and rolling thunderstorms. I decided to stay in and just do fun things today. One thing I love is to experiment in the kitchen. I bought a two quart instant pot type thing, and really like it, but I don’t know beyond pressure cooking dry beans and tough cuts of meat, what fun things I can do with it. I also had one quarter wedge of watermelon I ate for dinner,(yes just the watermelon, #joysofsinglehood) leaving me with a rind. Decided to riff on a recipe I saw in passing here
    The riff came about because I had no lemons, only limes and am finding Asian cusine to be inspiring:

    Here’s my take:

    Asian Inspired Instant Pot Watermelon Rind Pickles:

    1 quarter wedge of watermelon.(probably about a big enough chunk for 1.5 cups of watermelon cubed)
    1 lime, sliced thin and if seeds( mine never have seeds) deseeded
    3-4 tsp of sugar
    1 tsp of salt
    2 tsp of low sodium soy sauce
    2 tsp of Chili Garlic Sauce(Huy Fong Foods Is my brand)

    remove the red flesh of the watermelon and save for another use(dinner) . remove as much as the red flesh as you can from the rind, some pink flesh is okay. Peel the dark green skin from the rind with a paring knife or vegetable peeler. I actually found it easier to cut the wedge into large chunks, and peel with the paring knife. Once peeled, cut into cubes and put in your electric instant pot type pressure cooker. Sprinkle salt, sugar, soy sauce and chili garlic sauce over the cubes, and stir to coat. Layer sliced limes on top. Set pressure to 10(10 minutes). Once timer beeps, manually vent the pressure. Spoon rinds only in a clean half-pint mason type jar, and pour the brine over the mixture. Chill in fridge.

    I don’t like spicy as rule, having acquired the Minnesota Spice Scoville Taste Bud index (Dijon mustard can be too hot sometimes). But these, I keep sneaking in for a taste, which is going to ruin my plans to use them later in the week as a garnish for my noodle bowls.

  229. 229.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    @smintheus:

    How many Americans would we have to allow him to murder before we could agree that the president does not have the power to pardon himself?

    It would most likely take only one before he found out the hard way that homicide is generally a state crime, and thus not something the president can pardon.

  230. 230.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @TriassicSands:

    What is surprising about Canadians, to me anyway, is how much they are like Americans in some ways and how different they are in others.

    In a nutshell, you’ve just described the daily challenge of my 25 years with the Canadian Consulate General (EDIT: and anybody’s, of course; I was the smallest of insignificant fish).

    It’s a delicate balance between stressing the similarities and over-emphasizing the differences. Looking for and identifying common interests, while making certain our interlocutors understood that Canada is a sovereign country and not the 51st state — well, it was and remains a bit of a tightrope. I’m going to be watching the upcoming NAFTA renegotiations with great interest, having been there the first time around.

  232. 232.

    TriassicSands

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    In 1979, I was on my way to Alaska via the Canadian Rockies in both BC and Alberta. Given how often I’ve been back to those two provinces, we should have spent less time in them and more in Alaska, to which I’ve never returned.

    Anyway, the Canadians kept (playfully) giving us a hard time about our gas rationing — at the time Alberta was having an energy boom — and how could a civilized country have gasoline rationing? Fortunately, I had a much more powerful weapon in my arsenal — the breweries in Canada were on strike. What kind of civilized country would have a beer shortage? They conceded defeat.

  233. 233.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    Exactly! Neither Dave nor I had a clue until we were both in, I suppose, our 40s. At that point it was just funny — and Dave’s childish crimes seemed barely mischievous. But it turned out to be a great thing for me and arguably could have made the difference between my getting the job with the Consulate or not.

  236. 236.

    Steve in the ATL

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I feel very Canadian. Spent most of Grade 6 in Regina, have relatives who have lived in SK or ON steadily since 1954, visited countless times (especially during the nine years I lived in Michigan, when it was the easiest thing in the world to pop over for a meal or a weekend), and was employed by the Government of Canada for a quarter of a century.

    Not one mention of hockey or Tim Horton’s. You hate Canada.

  237. 237.

    dww44

    @WaterGirl: Count me in your corner. On Slate yesterday evening some commenters were weighing in that demonstrations did nothing, i.e. like the women’s march. Said that if T fires M, then demonstrations don’t accomplish anything. I disabree they actually energize those who participate. I’m old enough to remember the sit-ins and marches of the 60’s. Change didn’t happen overnight, but without them, there would be no voting rights act.

    I’ll be joining the resisters out in the streets pronto if and when T fires D. or pardons members of his family. We cannot be supine in the face of the authoritarian moves of this President.

  238. 238.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steeplejack:

    The issue is really that FYWP, at least as implemented here, is case-sensitive on nyms. So chris, Chris, CHris and CHRIS could all be different people.

    Is that true, though? I had occasion to pie someone a week or so ago. I don’t remember the commenter’s nym, but for the sake of argument let’s say it was Steeplejack (it wasn’t, I promise). Anyhow, I typed the nym into the box as steeplejack (uncapitalized) and the pie filter worked just fine. So I’m inclined to think it is NOT case-sensitive.

  239. 239.

    debbie

    @dww44:

    ome commenters were weighing in that demonstrations did nothing, i.e. like the women’s march

    They drive Trump nuts. That’s very rewarding.

  241. 241.

    TriassicSands

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    What made it worse for the Canadians is that they were always going on (and on…and on…and on…) about how Canadian beer was superior to American “swill.” This was before the countless microbreweries and many high quality American beers. But with the strike on, everyone was limited to something like one six-pack of Canadian swill. The supposed high quality brands were all gone.

    The strike may not have been national. It may have been limited to BC or BC and Alberta. My most vivid memories of exchanges with Canadians took place in BC.
    Since we were on our way to Alaska, we never ventured east of Calgary.

  243. 243.

    WaterGirl

    @SiubhanDuinne: @Steeplejack: You are actually both right. If FYWP wasn’t case sensitive for nyms, then once Chris or chris or CHRIS was taken, no one else could create a nym with those 5 letters in that order.

    It appears the pie filter is not case sensitive because it sees those 5 letters in that order and matches it to any nym that has those 5 characters in that order.

  244. 244.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    I wonder why no one told you guys sooner than that. Inquiring minds want to know.

    I just think it never came up before that. Nothing nefarious, I’m sure.

    Well, I’m pretty sure.

    Uh, reasonably certain.

  246. 246.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    It appears the pie filter is not case sensitive because it sees those 5 letters in that order and matches it to any nym that has those 5 characters in that order.

    So if somebody had the nym of, say, Socialist, and I wanted to pie that person, I could type Cialis and that would do the trick?

  250. 250.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Whenever I drive up to see my cousins in Owen Sound, I always stop at a Timmy’s in Guelph for a maple glazed donut. It’s tradition.

  252. 252.

    WaterGirl

    @SiubhanDuinne: Can you post something that has nothing to do with food? The first comment I saw was about donuts, is that close enough to pie to be part of the pie filter?

  253. 253.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @TriassicSands:

    But with the strike on, everyone was limited to something like one six-pack of Canadian swill. The supposed high quality brands were all gone.

    You know, now that you mention it, I do vaguely remember that. I’m not a beer drinker myself — Steve in the ATL would say I am No True Canadian — but I do recall some chatter about the beer being like cat piss.

  254. 254.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    We the People of the United States in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and provide the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.

    The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

    Able was I ere I saw Elba.

    That do?

  255. 255.

    WaterGirl

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes. Adding Duinne to the pie filter does not pie filter you.

    edit: and filtering by comment number does not help with the chris Chris issue.

  256. 256.

    TriassicSands

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I’m shocked! I used the more polite “swill” to avoid the more common (from Canadians) “piss.” The “cat” was optional.

    Sadly, while not being entirely correct about the quality of Canadian beer, they were correct about American beer. Back then, I was living in Colorado, home of the fascist Coors family and Coors Lite was everywhere. I couldn’t imagine how or why anyone could drink it. Chilled to 5 degrees above absolute zero maybe it was refreshing. Maybe. But at those temperatures the “piss” flavor is hidden by the oral frostbite.

    At that point, I’d lived in Europe, so I wasn’t a believer in the quality of Canadian beer.

  258. 258.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @TriassicSands:

    Sadly, while not being entirely correct about the quality of Canadian beer, they were correct about American beer. Back then, I was living in Colorado, home of the fascist Coors family and Coors Lite was everywhere. I couldn’t imagine how or why anyone could drink it. Chilled to 5 degrees above absolute zero maybe it was refreshing. Maybe. But at those temperatures the “piss” flavor is hidden by the oral frostbite.

    I remember accompanying my husband on a business trip to Colorado one winter in the late 60s/early 70s. We drove from Denver to Boulder with a couple of Ken’s colleagues, snow as far as the eye could see in every direction, and one guy said conversationally “Oh, look. Millions and millions of unborn cans.”

    Maybe you had to be there, but you’ve never heard four people laugh so hard in ever.

  259. 259.

    MoxieM

    @chris: My paternal grandmother was from St.John (New Brunswick, I know). Most of her 8 brothers and sisters ended up either in Halifax or all the way down in the Boston area. She married a Yankee. When I was a kid we visited all the aunties, from Fredericton to Moncton, to EecumSeecum and back. Then I sent my kid to Gaelic College for a bit, up in Cape Breton. It’s just a gorgeous, lovely part of the world.

  260. 260.

    Bess

    @WaterGirl:

    Years back I needed to remove a very large (~80 foot tall) Sugar Pine that had died.

    The first company that bid the job wanted significant thousands of dollar. They were going to have to pay the utility company to take down electric lines, hire police to block off the road, remove neighbors’ fences and shrubbery. All sorts of complicated stuff.

    The next company that came to bid wanted small hundreds. The guy put on his climbing gear (spurs, safety belt, etc.) and climbed up the trunk cutting off branches as he went. He cut the branches a few inches from the trunk which left him a ‘ladder’ and no more need for the spurs.

    When he got to the top he hollered down to ask me how big my fireplace was and proceeded to cut off rounds of that length. Each round fell onto the bed of cut branches as he cut and climbed down the length of the tree.

    Get multiple bids.

    But before you do that contact your insurance agent and ask their advice. I suspect they will take a look and probably give your neighbor’s insurance company a call. Often policies can require people to take reasonable action to lower risk.

  261. 261.

    WaterGirl

    @JPL: @Bess: Interesting story! I am including JPL in this reply since she is the one with the neighbor & tree problem. My tree problem was 4 years ago.

    Your guy was probably an old-timer who learned before they had all the fancy equipment? Or was surely trained by one.

  262. 262.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @WaterGirl: My parents have more than 30 trees on an ordinary city lot. They have an arborist with a degree in forestry and rock climbing skills. He trims their trees every so often – sort of like pruning roses and the like.

  263. 263.

    Chris

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Again, incorrect. I’ve been posting here since the fall of 2010. Sadly, I haven’t been a graduate student of international relations in a year and a half.

    By all means block me if you can figure out how to do the capital letter thing, but the “new Chris who appeared after November” is something you dreamed up.

  267. 267.

    WaterGirl

    @Omnes Omnibus: Nothing but shade, it sounds like. It must be a lovely old neighborhood? Maybe lots of groud cover that likes shade?

    I missed my shade terribly when the tree fell, but now I have my porch, so that’s good. I do like all the bright colors I get with my flowers now that they are in brutal sun, but damn, shade is awesome.

  268. 268.

    Chris

    @WaterGirl: @WaterGirl:

    No, I don’t, but with a person who randomly and baselessly accused me of being a new troll a few months back as part of the general “doomsayers are just trying to spread despair among us” shtick, and shows no sign of giving up that shtick even when it’s rarely targeted at me specifically, I don’t feel any particular obligation to be civil, either.

    I’m aware that there are two people with a capital letter difference, but I’m fairly certain neither started after last November. I definitely remember not being the only Chris on the blog well before that.

  269. 269.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @WaterGirl: Not a particularly old neighborhood. The people who built the house were just very particular and wanted their trees to stay. It is an interesting neighborhood. The street my parents live on starts on flat land about four blocks from the Wisconsin River and then goes up a hill. The flat land stuff is 1960s. The top of the hill has a couple of actual mansions (the East Bay shoe people) and just below a bunch of McMansions (Congressasshole Sean Duffy lives three blocks up and one over). My parents’ house is halfway up the hill. Their neighbors are an elementary school principal and the County DA (a Dem).

  270. 270.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Chris: Look, you have always been a reasonable commenter. So has s-c. You have seemed to be on a rather pessimistic track lately. She is rather adamantly against that. You should note that she decided to become a US citizen after the election. We talk about doing something rather than just talk. Her ass walked the walk. She’s demanding that we back her up. I don’t think that she is wrong.

  272. 272.

    Chris

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    As I’ve pointed out before, in the Trump era, there will be more pessimism than before, that’s the nature of the beast. It doesn’t mean people are giving up.

    But chiding people for excessive pessimism isn’t what I have a problem with. Paranoid delusion about longstanding commenters having ulterior motives because they’re not reacting to the Trump era in the approved way is.

  273. 273.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Chris: She was wrong in including you in the trolls. She wasn’t wrong in that there are trolls coming here to depress us. If you guys can’t work it out – although given your backgrounds – I think you could, that is cool. I just thought I might try to resolve what seems to be a misunderstanding between two reasonable people. I do this sometimes.

    ETA: Your ‘nym is common enough that she may have confused you with someone else. I try to assume the best interpretation of comments from regulars who seem decent. Sometimes, I am cranky and I fail. But I try.

  275. 275.

    Chris

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    A few like who, though? There are occasional trolls that are clearly here for ulterior motives, like the old Brinks Trucks dude – who are easily spotted and lampooned. But in the threads I’ve seen slammed for Eyeoreism, that’s pretty consistently not been what’s going on.

    Thanks for the good words in any case, however.

  276. 276.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Chris: Dude, I am trying to resolve a fight between two commenters who I respect. I don’t like disagreements between people i like. Work with me please,

  278. 278.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Omnes Omnibus: Thanks
    @Chris: I did not realize that there were two chrises until after the November elections. Your tenor after T’s election has changed considerably. Hijacking an existing nym is typical troll modus operandi, hence my confusion. Thanks for clearing it up. I have learnt a lot from your comments over the years. I most certainly don’t think you are troll and I have never pied you in the past or right now. I don’t pie comments in general.
    I do think that excessive pessimism is counter productive. If you don’t agree, that’s fine..
    As for the last thread, you were not even in the thread nor did I address any comment you had made directly and you came out of nowhere and told me to go fuck myself. So I was taken aback at that overt hostility.
    Any way that’s my side of it all.

Comments are closed.