Haha, not really! They’re still holding panels with Trump-voting idiots as if — instead of being the mush-brained goobers who have plunged our country into an interminable series of political, international and moral crises that they are — they were founts of homespun political wisdom.
But fuck it; instead of cursing the darkness, I’ll light a candle by interviewing a Clinton voter in a state that went for Trump. She is someone I know rather well — me. Here are her fascinating insights:
Q: It has been a little over six months since Trump was sworn in as president. Do you think the country has changed, and if so, are things worse or better?
A: Christ on a pony, so much worse! Not only is an addled, unqualified narcissist occupying the Oval Office and embarrassing us as a nation on a daily basis, the Republican Party — elected officials and base of voters both — have failed to live up to even my rock-bottom expectations for them.
An entire network of media outlets, chief among them Fox News, is devoted to excusing collusion with a hostile foreign power.
So-called “values voters” devote 100% of their social media output to constructing apologies for an admitted degenerate.
Alleged “fiscal hawks” are going to bat for an epically corrupt tax cheat.
And pretend-moderates are signing on for racist immigration policies, voter suppression schemes and a radical and cruel gutting of the social safety net, leaving their constituents to the tender mercies of insurance corporations. It’s an ongoing disaster.
Q: Since you live in a heavily Republican district, you must find common ground with your friends and neighbors, right?
A: Fuck no! A so-called “friend” who voted for that pussy-grabbing piece of shit is no friend of mine! If a Trump-voting neighbor stops by to borrow a cup of sugar, I’ll happily oblige — after I hock a loogie into their cup.
Q: Gross! What do you say to people who are disillusioned with the political system — folks who believe there’s really no difference between the two parties?
A: I say, “You’re a goddamned idiot who shouldn’t leave the house until your mommy pins a note with your name and address on your shirt.”
Q: Are you at all comforted by he fact that moderates like Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner have the president’s ear?
A: Are you fucking kidding me? That pair of worthless dilettantes are just as corrupt and clueless as the old man. They open their stupid yaps, and torrents of meaningless corporate buzzwords stream forth while they subvert our democracy for their personal gain. I’d love to see the two of them building a global brand from a medium-security prison.
Q: Do you think America can recover from this period of heightened partisanship?
A: Depends on whether actual patriots outnumber the arrogant shitheads in MAGA hats. The MAGAts are the minority, but they’ll press their advantage at every turn. Will the people keep opposing them? Will they stay strong and not lose heart? I hope so. The resistance so far gives me hope.
Q: Thank you, Clinton voter, a species more rare than the reticulated naked Dalmatian mole-bat, despite having won the popular vote by some three million. Are you willing to be interviewed by other media outlets?
A: You bet your ass I am! Call me!
The end. Open thread!
JPL
Thank you for the post. I just streamed a minute of Trump’s speech and did you know that people are hanging out of windows thanking him for making assholes great again.
Roger Moore
Fuck that shit. Supermax or GTFO!
Omnes Omnibus
I don’t think you said fuck enough.
Craig
Thanks Betty
Jeffro
I was gonna say, “Unpossible!” Betty…but fortunately you fessed up.
zhena gogolia
I want this on the front page of the NYT stat.
dmsilev
@Roger Moore: I’d (reluctantly) support keeping Gitmo open on condition that it opens a Trump Family Wing.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: Neither did Hillary.
different-church-lady
What’s the point of an open thread when the front-pager wins it right off the bat?
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: But Baud will?
Roger Moore
@Baud:
Neither did you. I expected it to be at least every third word in your posts.
geg6
I love you, Betty. ?
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: Fuck yes, fuck face. Ask me about my fucking emails.
Mnemosyne
If I smoked, I would be lighting up a cigarette right now. ?
Baud
@different-church-lady: Fucking trolls.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Fucking what about your fucking emails, you fuck?
Patricia Kayden
Clinton voters aren’t rare. We’re just rarely covered by the MSM.
JPL
@Baud: I’m glad that you haven’t gone off radar yet. The idea that Obama, Hillary and now you abandoning us is just too much to absorb.
Mnemosyne
Along those lines, Damon Young from Very Smart Brothas won himself the Internet today with his John McCain post.
gvg
Wasn’t there a tv show called America’s stupidest criminals? I think that is the true reason for interviewing and showing the most self hurting of this type of idiots. I was thinking today of a report of trump parents of a gravely ill 6 month old and thinking HRS should investigate them because they have decided they are tired of caring for an ill child. They havent admitted it to themselves but that is what I see. Like the lady shocked ins deported her husband…I said she was tired of her marriage or afraid of him.
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: You two need to get a room.
Omnes Omnibus
I want one of these for my birthday.
Patricia Kayden
@zhena gogolia: And the NYT will find Trump supporters to interview “for balance”.
Josie
Oh, Betty, you said all the things I wish I had said if I were just a more talented wordsmith. Thanks, and never quit writing the truth.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: None of your fucking business, you fucking cocksucking fuck.
JimV
Good answers. Why aren’t they among the choices on the polls the DNC keep sending me? I might bother to fill one of them out then, instead of just sending it back with DO THE RIGHT THING written over it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Now, that is Presidential.
Hal
Holy fuck. Mike Rounds on Chris Hayes just now. Amazing. Lower premiums! Lower deductibles! Medicaid isn’t being cut. We’re just reducing funding! Chris on a cracker.
Quinerly
@Baud:
I feel like I should cover Poco’s ears. He always asks that I read your posts to him.
lamh36
@Mnemosyne: Yes…he did…just read that, and he’s right to call McCain a coward…forget about his military career, politically, he’s been a coward…essentially voting w/his party 90% of the time, and don’t even get me started on the fuq’er voting to not have MLK day…
Mnemosyne
@JimV:
Really, the day that Republicans force through a vote to kill millions of your fellow Americans is the day you decide to bitch about the Democrats?
Fuck off until you manage to unwedge your head from your own asshole.
Hal
@lamh36: McCain is voting on the MTP so he can vote no on the bill. At least according to David Brooks.
Quinerly
@Hal:
Did you hear the “roundtable” on Chris Matthews’s show? All three of the journalists felt Trump would finish out his term. The Brit from Axios felt Trump would have two terms.
Mnemosyne
@Quinerly:
Hasn’t Poco ever heard that a running mate needs plausible deniability?
Omnes Omnibus
@Hal: Remind me to take umbrella that day; falling pig shit could be dangerous.
mai naem mobile
I love this post. It should be nominated for post of the year.
lamh36
what da fuq…so David Brooks is trying to educate folk on what being “woke” is…
for real ya’ll…whitesplaining folks is doing too much…smh
frosty
@Omnes Omnibus: But not every part of speech yet. Ahem …
Fuck! The fucking fuckers will fucking fuck us all!
Interjection
Adjective
Noun
Adverb
Verb
I can’t figure out how to use it as a pronoun or preposition, unfortunately.
Now back to the regularly scheduled Open Thread.
SiubhanDuinne
It makes me absofuckinglutely CRAZY. NPR’s “Here and Now” this afternoon interviewed a woman from Ohio who had always voted Dem until last November. Now she is a total Trump person. Well, no, she doesn’t agree with all his tweets necessarily, nobody does, probably, but he tells it like it is and Mister we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again….
Quinerly
@Hal:
Digby reminds us of something: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2017/07/about-that-incivility.html
The Dangerman
Speaking of which (in an extremely tangential way, but roll with me here), did we ever get a picture of the cake from last week before it was grabbed up?
schrodingers_cat
@Patricia Kayden: Fuck Vichy Times full of garbage.
Major Major Major Major
Ah, that was just the read I needed right now. Thanks!
I would just give them salt.
schrodingers_cat
@The Dangerman: We did, the kitteh’s eyes were huge and quite scary.
lamh36
SMH…Da Fuq!!!
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: Did it mention where in Ohio?
Mnemosyne
@SiubhanDuinne:
As has been observed multiple times, white supremacy is a hell of a drug.
Major Major Major Major
@different-church-lady: hey I said this in the earlier thread–feel free to email me if you want to chat WordPress, the menu on the site my nym links to has a contact form.
frosty
@lamh36: This appears to be another one of those days where I can’t even I Can’t Even any more.
Cheryl Rofer
There was a request on the previous thread for a Trump merit badge from the Vietnam War. There are actually several Trump merit badges on Twitter.
@Vets_vs_Trump has a whole series. Collect them all!
Omnes Omnibus
@Major Major Major Major: @different-church-lady: Don’t do it! It’s a tarp!
different-church-lady
@Major Major Major Major: Appreciate the offer. It will probably be a while before I can make it rise up the priority list.
Quinerly
@lamh36:
Is this a recent Trump tweet from the POTUS twitter account? I’m a bit confused and on overload.
different-church-lady
@Omnes Omnibus: This ain’t my first barn dance.
Cheryl Rofer
And here’s the Vietnam one. Or a Vietnam one. Didn’t show up well in my previous comment.
Major Major Major Major
@lamh36: that Brooks article was fucking terrible. Next time a totebagger friend links him I’m gonna ask them to explain that one.
Starfish
@SiubhanDuinne: I was tweeting about that. It was so terrible. Did they continue asking the dumbest person they could find “who here is dumber than you” until they found this lady?
SiubhanDuinne
@Mnemosyne:
The woman being interviewed apparently voted twice for Obama, so I’m thinking there’s some self-hating female stuff going on.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
I’m throwing my proverbial hat into the proverbial ring. I’m announcing my candidacy for Balloon Juice’s nomination for the Presidency today.
If elected I promise to put a pie in every oven and deport Donald Trump and his entire family, sans Barron and Tiffany, to Russia where they will likely be killed by oligarchs. Goodbye to bad rubbish I always say. Also Baud is a doo doo head.
Payed for by the Goku Campaign 2020
ArchTeryx
So basically another round of showing that Trump’s voters are, as a whole, bone-deep evil, deluded, or some combination of both. I’m in Upstate New York and it feels, to me, like I’m surrounded by Things. People that look, act, and talk like ordinary people, but are ready to explode into a monster any time they think they got you alone.
They aren’t as monstrous as the politicians they voted in, but they’re still moral monsters to me, particularly after this day’s events.
Starfish
@Omnes Omnibus: Mineral Ridge. She was super stoked to be going to the Trump rally in Youngstown later.
Central Planning
Did anyone watch/read the Trump rally so I don’t have to?
lamh36
@Hal: Fuq McCain and fuq David Brooks…
Nothing in McCain’s political careers makes me believe he’s gonna do any damn thing.
the day he kicks the bucket can’t be too soon…at least when the AZ GOP picks some crazy tea party idiot…we won’t have to listen to MSM fangirling over McCain and not hold him and his partisanship to the fire…
FUQ Him
NotMax
9 out of 10 dentists approve this post.
No sugarcoating.
lamh36
@Quinerly: No he just said it in a speech at another bullshit victory rally
Roger Moore
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
How much do you pay per vote?
Steeplejack (phone)
@Quinerly:
Yeah, I was surprised at that. Personally, I think Trump finishes out one term, but hopefully neutered after a Democratic wave election next year.
Unless some gigantic, undeniable, über-impeachable bombshell comes out, like Trump telling the Russian pee hookers on camera that he’s playing all the would-be coal miners and MAGA idiots for the fools they are. And even that’s a bit of a stretch to impeachment.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
I couldn’t watch it and I live around Youngstown. 2 protesters were apparently removed
Major Major Major Major
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: are you old enough?
@different-church-lady: fine, be that way!
Omnes Omnibus
@Starfish: That’s WWC country right there. I am sure her economic anxiety was intense.
schrodingers_cat
@Major Major Major Major: He said he was in his 20s. A baby by jackal standards.
NotMax
@Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe)
Not yet 35, I believe.
And taking issue against Baudiness? :)
(Also, your apology duly noted.)
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
McCain must not be very religious, because he just got a death sentence and yet decided to screw over as many poor people as he possibly could on his way out.
There is no cure for a gliblastoma. None.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Roger Moore: The market price of $100 per vote of course. Much higher than that cheapskate Baud
lamh36
@Steeplejack (phone): Nope, it’s a real possibility, cause Bernie is likely to run, and it’ll be the same shitstorm again…and this time he might actually win the primary, and Donald Trump is gonna roll the hell over Bernie Sanders…
Quinerly
@Steeplejack (phone):
I just don’t see him surviving the entire term. Have no idea how it will end but I have to have faith that it will end….not necessarily by impeachment.
schrodingers_cat
Guys I filled my voter registration form, now what? Will I get a letter from the town clerk’s office? Also too, I registered as an independent right now. Mass has a lot of tiny cray cray parties, I am wondering if they will send me their literature. How easy is it to change your party registration. I want to change to D before the primaries.
ETA: There is a pizza party. I am wondering if they will send me a pizza, or if I can order one that I want.
lamh36
Does McCain fly public air, or does he fly private via Cindy’s money? Cause if he does flies public air…here’s hoping he get a shit storm of reactions like this one…
Major Major Major Major
@Quinerly: he is not healthy, but he ain’t leaving unless it’s in handcuffs or a box.
schrodingers_cat
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: You must not speak ill of the Mahatma, jackal cub.
lamh36
the “update” to the BSA statement is as weak as the initial statement…once again…FUQ the BSA
https://twitter.com/markknoller/status/889978078600060929
Quinerly
@lamh36:
I think this we can agree on…if BS is the nominee in 2020, Trump (or Pence) will win.
Major Major Major Major
@lamh36: we know he doesn’t fly himself or he would’ve died years ago.
Starfish
@Omnes Omnibus: They said she was a former hospital administrator which made her views all the more insane.
Steeplejack (phone)
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
You are doomed to be a divisive, Sanders-like candidate here. The Balloon Juice hierarchy is strongly pro-Baud.
Plus you have already lost the small but crucial pedant vote with “Payed for.” Sad!
schrodingers_cat
@Quinerly: He won’t be the nominee.
WaterGirl
@lamh36:
I say this with love, it’s time for you to go look at some photos of Idris Elba to help bring you back to a safe place. :-)
My prediction for the democratic nominee is Tim Kaine, and he beats the crap out of fake populist Bernie Sanders.
lamh36
@Steeplejack (phone): besides, I am slowing becoming of the mind, that this Mueller investigation will come to nothing anytime soon…until then, we have to live with the cloud of bullshit that is Cheeto and his merry GOP minions…
Just looking at what 6 months of this presidency has done and the path of destruction the country is already on…and we still have at least 10 months until midterms…ugh
And there’s not much else to do about it…
schrodingers_cat
@Steeplejack (phone): Are you Steeplejack because you are tall?
danielx
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
Ooh! Ooh! Has Chris Cillizza started coverage of this grudge match? I can’t wait to read his measured yet trenchant analysis of the race.
Edit: I also want to see some transformational synergy. And a pony.
tobie
Bravo, BC! Please do an encore performance soon.
On another note: I was feeling pretty horrible that Republican donors buy up media operations and the good people never seem to do so or when they do, they have no success. Remember Al Gore’s Current TV? But then I remembered that Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post and while he’s not a good guy, he’s not Richard Mellon Scaife. And MSNBC is the most watched channel between 8 and 11:00, so something’s percolating and maybe one day we’ll get to hear interviews with Democratic voters on TV.
Zelma
@Mnemosyne: I started smoking again on November 9th and haven’t been able to quit since. That’ll show ’em.
TenguPhule
@Mnemosyne: Seriously Mnemosyne, get a second opinion on that burnt out snark detector. You’re snapping at everyone.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Was gonna mention that but chalked it up to the exuberance and rambunctiousness of youth.
lamh36
Dems are always Charlie Brown, when Lucy has the football…chumps
Steeplejack (phone)
@lamh36:
From a brief glimpse of film today, it looked like McCain was disembarking from a private jet.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
Arsenic wasn’t available?
lamh36
@WaterGirl: we’ll see WG…we’ll see…I have absolutely NO faith in the entire process right now….
WaterGirl
@lamh36: Wow, today you are sounding more discouraged than I have ever seen you. Step 1: eat some dark chocolate. Step 2: eat something spicy. Both of those things make us feel better because of various things they do physiologically. Step 3: Don’t give up!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@lamh36: Since efg isn’t around…It was 2 years and change between the Watergate break-in and the Crook resigning.
Major Major Major Major
@TenguPhule: no, I don’t keep arsenic laying around.
See, you joke about poisoning republican voters and then wonder why people think you advocate violence.
Kathleen
@schrodingers_cat: An effing room. Oh, wait…
lamh36
@Mnemosyne: can’t have a “come to Jesus” moment when u one of them fake Christians
Starfish
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Do we know that politicians care more about their voters than their donor class?
TenguPhule
@Mnemosyne:
The Moneyed Church of Jeebus Almighty demands the blood of blacks and browns because only white dudes go to heaven. And McCain is a devout believer.
Kathleen
@danielx: How will Front Pagers divvy up the “Winners” and “Losers” duties?
schrodingers_cat
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Your Milky Way photo was awesome!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Starfish: What difference does it really make?
Steeplejack (phone)
@schrodingers_cat:
To paraphrase Isaac Newton, I see a long way because I stand on tall things.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
Words to live by.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major: So because I use it in a joke, its supposed to mean I’m serious?
Here?
lamh36
@Major Major Major Major: I swear if I had the money I’d find someone with the time to follow McCain around until his dying day and shout out shit about his vote today…
TenguPhule
@WaterGirl:
Spicy is your pain receptors way of telling you that you really shouldn’t eat that.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@schrodingers_cat: Thanks, it was changed a bit from when I first posted it.
ETA: I’ve got another photoshoot in a hour and a half.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: I did both today, so I not only give advice, I follow it! :-)
WaterGirl
@lamh36: I would contribute to that. No, seriously.
p.a.
Well, I gots my box, my curtain rod, and… *oof*… *arrrrggghhhhh*… [lunges]… I’m gettin’ closer to dem sparrows every try…
schrodingers_cat
@TenguPhule: Depends on how spicy, some spice can enhance flavor but too much can kill a dish.
schrodingers_cat
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Milky Way or something else?
TenguPhule
@lamh36:
I can safely say that isn’t gonna happen.
germy
Al Franken will be questioning Manafort. Under oath.
So there’s that to look forward to.
lamh36
@WaterGirl: I’m not discouraged, I’m pissed, and when I’m pissed, I rant and rage.
Besides which, I’m a pessimist by nature…an optimistic pessimist…I hope for the best, but expect the worse…
So yeah sure, I hope everything will be rosy and sunny and they’ll be a rainbow after the storm, but the reality is it’s overcast, and rainy and humid…so that’s where I’m at.
btw, I’m trying to have a better relationship with food that doesn’t involve stress eating…
TenguPhule
@schrodingers_cat: I need a poking fun tag. Everyone is either taking me way too literally or seriously.
Mike in NC
@Steeplejack (phone): Per another poll in USA Today 3 out of 4 people didn’t think Trump would finish his term. Make it so!
chris
Thank you, Ms. Cracker, that’s great!
Have you considered running for office? The Dems could use someone who isn’t afraid to call a spade a fucking shovel.
weaselone
@WaterGirl:
We’ve been whining about the depth of the Democratic bench, but I suspect we’re going to have a solid field of candidates running in 2016. Because of that, it’s difficult to predict who is going to catch fire and take the nomination. My suspicion is that the eventual winner will probably be a dark horse like Jason Kander or a big city mayor with a great success story as opposed to someone with a lot of Washington experience.
TenguPhule
@lamh36:
You’re doing that deliberately, aren’t you?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@schrodingers_cat: Local pics of DTLA at sunset/night.
ETA: I did the initial processing at Joshua Tree with my Surface Pro, but I didn’t have the camera calibrations for my camera auto loading so the color wasn’t quite right.
Major Major Major Major
@TenguPhule: maybe try making your overall content lighter so people can see the contrasts more easily.
lamh36
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Welp 2 years is just enough time for Cheeto and the rest of the GOP to do enough damage to fuq shit up even after he might be gone…
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Major Major Major Major: @NotMax:
I will not stand these slanderous rumors! I will produce a long form birth certificate to prove my eligibility to hold office
(NotMax- thank youl
TenguPhule
@weaselone:
Cue Rimshot.
lamh36
danielx
And because THREAD NEEDS KITTEHS, a Boris and Natasha update….
So far the kittens adopted for thirty bucks each have cost $377 in vet bills, with another $400-odd coming up. Currently seeking another vet prior to that next visit, as I’m not fond of getting hosed. Deworming (and wasn’t THAT condition an absolute joy), shots, fecal exam…blah, blah, blah. Been worth it – close, but worth it. They do everything together – eat, sleep, play and yes, visiting the litter box too. They have doubled in weight and are thriving, which was a worrisome thing for Natasha for a while. Senior Cat and Queen of Her Domain Zoey is still exceedingly dubious about them, but only bops them around when seriously provoked, say by Boris sneaking up and biting her tail. I did sort of mess with Boris last night – he was stalking Natasha in the kitchen and sort of forgot I was sitting behind him. So he’s all crouched down and wiggling his furry butt back and forth and I go PSSSSST as loudly as I can. I’d seen him levitate, but didn’t know a three foot vertical bounce was within his capability. Constant vigilance, Boris….I haven’t laughed that hard in weeks.
TriassicSands
@lamh36:
And a quick check of Progressive Punch’s senate voting records shows that McCain is voting the party line more frequently this year than in the past. It must be his reverence for the Commander-in-Chief.
Major Major Major Major
@weaselone: I still want Gov. Hickenlooper to run.
NotMax
@TenguPhule
So variety is the pain of life?
;)
@lamh36
“The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true.”
– J. Robert Oppenheimer
Iowa Old Lady
@schrodingers_cat: The state will send you a voter registration card that tells you which precinct you are in for voting. Party registration rules vary by state, so I can’t help you on that one.
AMinNC
@SiubhanDuinne: I heard that too and wanted to crawl through the radio and shake some sense into her. Loved the interviewer pointing out that she says she voted Trump because he tells the truth but fact-checkers report he lies a majority of the time. And Princess Dumbass just says, well I heard fact-checkers were wrong this one time, so what’re ya gonna do? Followed by, well yes, we actually do have fewer jobs here in rust-belt Ohio now than we did a few years ago and no, I don’t really like how Trump bullies people, but despite the lies, and failure to improve the economy, and the insane Tweeting, he’s my guy!
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major: I’m working on it. I have other people issues.
schrodingers_cat
@danielx: How many meetings have they taken with Kushner and Don Jr?
Chris
There were more Clinton voters than either Trump voters or Sanders voters… or NeverTrump Republicans. Says a lot about the media that it had no interest in them.
weaselone
@TenguPhule:
Nuts. I had actually typed that comment up earlier and then FYWP. I guess I wasn’t paying attention when I retyped it.
WaterGirl
@germy:
Will that be on c-span?
TenguPhule
@NotMax:
Essentially yes. Pleasure is the absence of pain.
germy
@danielx:
In my experience, cats always have the last laugh.
Check your slippers every morning before putting them on, is all I’ll say.
schrodingers_cat
@danielx: Have you see that gif of a lion jumping sideways when startled by some bubbles. Big scaredy kitteh was funny!
Starfish
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I don’t have faith that they will do the right thing even before the election because they are busy gerrymandering everything and voter purging.
danielx
@schrodingers_cat:
None, they were solicited but refused. Very wise for their age.
TenguPhule
@weaselone: It was still funny, which is good enough.
germy
@WaterGirl: I assume.
SenyorDave
@lamh36: @igorbobic
Sen. Blumenthal says McCain’s vote was “in some ways less important than his speech”
3:56 PM – 25 Jul 2017
As long as the Republicans are the party of whining white people who feel that they are the ones facing racism, the Senate should be partisan as hell. I would defy any sentient person to come with an important issue the Republicans are on the right of.
Oh, and fuck Mccain, he can crawl off and die in a gutter somewhere while searching for his dignity.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Steeplejack (phone):
Not a problem. I’ll just get the superdelegates to pick me. Easy peasy lemon squeezy
TenguPhule
@Starfish: I welcome our Canadian and Mexican Overlords.
/rescue by our allies, the best case scenario
Omnes Omnibus
@TenguPhule: And in the army, they said that pain was just weakness leaving your body.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: Hickenlooper’s a funny name, what’s the chances of a guy with a funny name being elected President?
TriassicSands
@danielx:
I’ve notified the ASPCA. Expect a visit in the next day or so. Such cruelty to felines shall not be tolerated. World Feline Emperor Maru has also been notified. You’re toast!
Which one is Boris — the tabby?
lamh36
@WaterGirl: Yep…just follow him around, and shouting out just like this:
“John McCain… You ain’t shit
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
Baud has the superdelegates wrapped around his fingers.
Literally, because they’re kittens.
NotMax
@TenguPhule
Certain, um, exotic venues of an adult bent might take issue with that.
;)
Iowa Old Lady
@AMinNC: That tells you far more about her than it does about Trump. And it isn’t pretty.
germy
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: I thought Hickenlooper had a serious flaw on some important issue, which makes him unacceptable? And no, I can’t recall the issue.
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
At least 2 wins in one post.
Mnems, He has style.
Betty, that is a piece of art. Should hang in the louver.
TenguPhule
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’m pretty sure that was actually electrolytes.
Major Major Major Major
@?BillinGlendaleCA: he’s got big ears, too ?
@WaterGirl: he used to be in gas extraction, but he’s not anti environment or whatever.
ETA: he’s also a (small) businessman, which will make him unacceptable and impure to the Bros, but the business is a microbrewery, so maybe not.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Quinerly: If he somehow is, and he loses to Trump, maybe that will finally shut the bros the fuck up about Hillary losing to Trump
ArchTeryx
Man, can you tell that this entire horror movie called “This American Life, Starring Donald Trump” has turned me more misanthropic then I ever dreamed possible? Maybe ‘misanthropic’ is the wrong word. I don’t hate all people. Just the ones that want me and everyone like me dead. I dodged that bullet…for now. But I’m also under no illusion that they’re not coming for my insurance, too.
danielx
@TriassicSands:
They have the last laugh by forcing me to clean litter boxes 2x daily.
Yep, Boris (aka Baby Boris and Boris the Bully) is the tabby. He is possessed of a large personality.
kindness
Betty you make a wonderful Hillary crank. So say we all. Pray tell though, how come you didn’t field a question regarding Bernie, his supporters and the Democratic Party? (How’s that for a lob pitch?)
Omnes Omnibus
@TenguPhule:
Dear god, no. There are some things that you might be doing the wrong way if you think that.
NotMax
@Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe)
Superdelegates are so last year. Ultradelegates and hyperdelegates are the future.
TenguPhule
@ArchTeryx:
We need a shirt with that quote. Perhaps more then one.
TenguPhule
@NotMax: I don’t judge people in regards to that. My entire family thinks I’m crazy for not liking spicy foods.
I think they’re crazy for enjoying it.
Symmetry.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@ArchTeryx:
I feel like I’m living in a bad episode of the Twilight Zone
Major Major Major Major
@TenguPhule: I would wear something like that around the house. Once it was pithy enough, of course.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: Big ears? Then we’re doomed if he’s the nominee; big ears, funny name…
germy
Rejected Slogans for the Democratic Party’s New Agenda
WaterGirl
@germy: The end of the article at the link says they have dropped the subpoena and he won’t be testifying. Unless I read it wrong?
ArchTeryx
@Omnes Omnibus: The absence of pain can be its own pleasure if pain is what you live with most of your life. I have Crohn’s *and* a very low pain threshold, and I know pain from your worst nightmares. NOT having pain made me deliriously happy for a while.
Steeplejack (phone)
@AMinNC:
I have no proof, but I think a lot of these “new-found” Trump voters just hated Hillary Clinton, for whatever reason, and can’t admit that in public.
And, unlike Obama, she didn’t have a catastrophic predecessor who would help them look past their bias, as I think Dubya helped some voters get over their default racism vis-a-vis Obama.
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: You mean the Outer Limits. Twilight Zone Episodes usually had a good moral point. Outer Limits were nothing but cruel twist endings.
Omnes Omnibus
@ArchTeryx: I hear you, but you know what I meant.
WaterGirl
@lamh36: Oh, I was thinking they would be shouting a series of descriptive statements about McCain that would be written by our very own Betty Cracker. But I guess we can shake it up a little!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: Baud has the Ultradelegates wrapped up.
germy
@WaterGirl: Whoa! I didn’t see that update! The original story was that the testimony was tomorrow.
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: okay, thanks.
danielx
@Omnes Omnibus:
Right. “ ‘Tis but a scratch, sir!“
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack (phone): Agree.
weaselone
@TenguPhule: You can’t find a few good moral points in the whole election of Trump?
Major Major Major Major
@ArchTeryx: I felt the same way when I finally got the right medication mix for my various brain things. Normal and bored was such a relief of a feeling.
However, if this is your main source of pleasure, it still means something is wrong.
ArchTeryx
@Omnes Omnibus: I think so. If your ONLY source of pleasure is the absence of pain, then ur doin’ it wrong. Heck, I never thought the mere absence of pain COULD be a pleasure, until I met my fiancee during the time Crohn’s was destroying my large intestine. She’s a gifted masseuse and her hands could send me to sleep even when all I could feel was the pain. It’s our nightly ritual now.
I may be one of the snarling jackals most of the time but we’re on the same page here, I think.
Yarrow
@lamh36:
Can’t speak to how soon things will break, but we seem to be in, as someone else said, the second half of a “Law & Order” episode. Mueller’s team is hiring a lot of very experienced prosecutors. One he hired in June is an expert in flipping people against their coworkers, friends, family. I think when it breaks it’s going to be big. Meanwhile we wait.
Omnes Omnibus
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Shhh…. I thought those were a secret, neo-liberal conspiracy only to brought out in the event of a true populist progressive having a chance of winning.*
*Al least that’s what the DNC told me when they recruited me.
Have I said too much?
danielx
@kindness:
Too easy.
“Fuck them and the horses they should be dragged behind!”
WaterGirl
@germy: Yeah, now I’m super bummed.
NotMax
Made a dark pumpernickel in the super duper bread machine using strong coffee in place of water. Test sliver after it cooled rates a thumbs up.
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
I need the same help as lamh36 but what else ya got.
Can’t eat chocolate, especially dark, causes my brain to attempt to blow up. Or at least feel like it. And spicy food just doesn’t work for me at all any more. I think it has to do with some med I have to take.
Major Major Major Major
@Omnes Omnibus: no, it’s ok as long as you don’t talk about how we murder potential leakers.
ArchTeryx
@Major Major Major Major: On that I absolutely agree!! As I said to Omnes above, if that’s your ONLY source of pleasure, ur doin’ it wrong.
I may have taken the whole snarling jackal thing a bit too seriously since this shitshow lurched to life. Call it the fact that my ox isn’t lined up to be gored to death this time out, hasn’t diminished my anger one bit against these monsters.
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne: Damn. Love that headline. That whole rant is as righteous as any of Betty’s and JC’s.
JPL
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: We all do.
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack (phone): Yep. Apparently ven the guy in Indiana who said “I guess I’ll have to vote for the nigger” in 2008 because of McCain /Palin was saying “I’m not gonna vote for that lying bitch!” in 2016. :: sigh ::
Starfish
I have a question for the olds of Balloon Juice. Why are people treating John McCain as a Maverick and not discussing his involvement in the Keating Five ever? Do we just develop amnesia around financial misdeeds?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus: Just the identity of the Ultradelegates is secret; and yes, you’ve said too much.
TenguPhule
@weaselone:
Points yes. Good and moral are not the words that come to mind for them.
tybee
perfect
Major Major Major Major
@Steeplejack (phone): @WaterGirl: yeah, and on the re-election front Obama didn’t have to overcome as much animus with them because by then it was a personal relationship; he was one of the good ones.
@ArchTeryx: tracking, as Adam would say.
lamh36
@WaterGirl: nope…no need for any extra words…just simple and to the point…
Say it low: John McCain…you ain’t shit
Say it with flair: John McCain…you ain’t shit
rolls right off the tongue and straight to the point. and feels good go ahead try it right now…say it out loud
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Starfish: Keating Five was a bi-partisan scandal, that might have something to do with it.
TenguPhule
@Starfish:
Because our free press has the attention span of Mayflies. Or seriously deranged ferrets*.
*No insult intended to ferrets, deranged or otherwise.
Yarrow
@Starfish: Because John McCain is a Maverick War Hero and Shut Up, That’s Why.
AMinNC
@Iowa Old Lady: Nope, not pretty at all. And one more data point making me think that the path forward has got to be getting as many young people, people of color, and unmarried women as possible registered and to the polls. We are not not going to succeed in peeling off these reality-challenged cultists.
P.S. I lived in Iowa City for grad school – U of I was a great place to study, but the winters about did me in. Not the -20 degree days so much as the fact that it was still winter in May.
TenguPhule
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Doesn’t explain the media’s amnesia about it, since it would be a perfect “both sides!” for them.
Major Major Major Major
@TenguPhule: ferrets have a pretty good attention span and memory, if I recall from owning them. They just like to sense everything at once so they end up looking distracted.
Jeffro
Hey Betty – seriously, expand the “interview” a bit and send it to media outlets far and wide as an off beat op-ed. You might be surprised at the results!!
WaterGirl
@Ruckus: Well, damn, that sucks! Can you eat ice cream? I discovered Haagen Dizs Sweet Cream Coffee Caramel ice cream today and I think it’s the best ice cream flavor I have ever had.
No magic powers like dark chocolate and spicy food, but it might distract you for awhile.
ArchTeryx
I have to wonder what my ACCES-VR counselor-bosses are going to have to say about this. They dedicate their lives to helping the disabled, and many, many of the ones we help are on Medicaid. When one of them launched into an anti-Trump rant, I told them I really tried hard not to discuss politics in front of my bosses, even if I agreed with them. They took me for a Trump supporter until I told them two simple facts: 1) Obamacare saved my life, and 2) I know who butters my bread.
Can’t say if ALL of the counselors are anti-Trump, but my group certainly seems to be, which puts them head and shoulders over a lot of the white people I know in Upstate New York.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
They’re so aware of everything that they look unaware of everything?
Whelp, now we know what Moocher’s next White House Excuse is gonna be.
Gravenstone
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: By your previous comments, I’m not sure you’re old enough to run for President.
Iowa Old Lady
@AMinNC: I hear you. I used to tell my online Irish friend that I lived where it was cold enough to kill you.
tybee
and mccain deserves every fuckin’ second of it.
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
Oops. Did I spill the bea- –
Excuse me, there’s a sudden persistent loud pounding at the door…
p.a.
@Starfish: cookouts. tire swings. previous post venn diagram.
Miss Bianca
@danielx: awww, kittehs!
TenguPhule
Damn. Looks Like I have to lose the pants and break out the mop and mustard.
At least Baud isn’t around to gloat.
Miss Bianca
@WaterGirl: He’s an ex-oil and gas man, and supports fracking, so that makes him anathema to the purity brigade. Or something. There may be other issues, but that’s the big one among my cohort.
GregB
A Democrat just won a special wlection in the NH Senate. Thwarting the return of a Republican who held the seat previously.
The seat was held by a Democrat who died earlier this year. The GOP hoped to return to this seat again but he lost.
http://www.wmur.com/article/democrat-cavanaugh-pulls-upset-in-state-senate-special-election/10360495
TriassicSands
Hilarious NYTimes headline:
Man, that is one incredibly slow missile!
TenguPhule
Paging Adam Silverman, Middle East Expertise needed.
The term tap dancing on landmines is coming to mind for some reason.
Gravenstone
@danielx: Dude, my two FREE cats (they’d been in shelter long enough that the fee was waived) have cost me … several hundred in vet bills, four chairs (spite pissing little tomcat monster), 300 sq ft of carpet (granted, it was old anyway …). Still, I can’t imagine not having them.
NotMax
@TriassicSands
Heh. Must be the model with the big wind-up key on the side.
danielx
@Miss Bianca:
They are currently engaged in being cute.
TriassicSands
Just up at WaPo — Senate votes against bill to make sweeping changes to the ACA
Miss Bianca
@GregB: well, at least we seem to be making some headway taking back the states…
@danielx: kittehs cute. water wet. sun, east-ward in the morning. ; )
germy
@TriassicSands:
Steeplejack (phone)
@WaterGirl:
Exactly! That racist Obama voter is who I was thinking of. There was no analog to that for Clinton in the election last year.
Things were rockin’ along mostly okay, and so those people felt free to vent their spleen and vote for the reality-show star. And, in their minds, after 25 years of media vilification, Hillary Clinton was like Lady Macbeth on steroids. Whereas Obama was a clean, young up-and-comer—a veritable “credit to his race.” Much less baggage to overcome.
danielx
@Gravenstone:
Hasn’t been dull, and it’s been a while since we had one that likes being carried around. Boris lies there on his back like a baby and buzzes away. Since where you are going is where he wants to be, why not ride instead of walk?
lamh36
germy
Rick Perry thought he was talking to the Ukrainian prime minister. It was a prank call.
The energy secretary was the latest victim of two Russian pranksters in a winding, wonkish conversation about foreign coal exploration, natural-gas pipelines and pig manure as a power source.
Ohio Mom
@TriassicSands: Ohio Dad just shared that. They voted the BCRA down, barely.
They’re on a roll. I guess they’ll keep voting until something sticks.
Now my stomach hurts.
lamh36
Say it with me again everybody…
John McCain…you ain’t shit
rolls right off the tongue don’t it
Omnes Omnibus
@Major Major Major Major: Cool.
ETA: Wait a sec here….
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Oh, yeah? Well I have the Omegadelegates on my PAC’s payroll, so there!
Omnes Omnibus
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Oops?
Omnes Omnibus
@TenguPhule: Negative examples are still examples.
danielx
One would think that at this particular moment in time, John McCain would realize that where he is and where he’s going, there are no campaign contributors left to satisfy and no favors to return. That it might, even, be good for the soul not to take away from millions of people the same care he’s currently receiving.
Clearly, one would be wrong.
I wouldn’t wish his condition on anyone, and I don’t want McCain to suffer any more than any one else with his appalling diagnosis. But if there’s anything to reincarnation, it wouldn’t do his miserable soul any harm to spend a spell in the vessel of, say, a Syrian child in a refugee camp or hell, any poor person without health care in the US of A.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Ohio Mom:
They won’t stop until they succeed or lose control of at least one house of Congress.
They’re monomaniacally obsessed with destroying the ACA
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Gravenstone:
I was joking about that in that comment. I’m only 22
Omnes Omnibus
@danielx: He voted out of spite. His grand-father and his father were Admirals. He couldn’t make the grade. So he moved to the greasy world of politics. If he could become president, he would show his dad and his grand-father who the failure was. Just because they pulled strings to get him into aviation despite his grades. Just because they helped hush up the whole Forrestal thing. He would be president and that would be the equivalent of making Admiral. Obama took that away. Anything he did must be destroyed. Who cares who gets hurt.
Another Scott
@Steeplejack (phone): Reminds me: Ubersoft – Standing on the necks of giants.
Cheers,
Scott.
different-church-lady
@TriassicSands: The layover in Vancouver is a doozy.
cynthia ackerman
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
Fucking bless your fucking heart.
Fuck fuck fuck.
/ baud
Omnes Omnibus
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Isn’t that a Taylor Swift thing? How do you see it as a political positive?
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: Ouch. Could he really be that petty? Knock, knock, knocking on Hellmouth’s door? Oh, who am I kidding. Of course he could. I only wish Neil Gaiman got to design McCain’s afterlife. An eternity of bloating up and exploding with maggots only to regenerate and do it all again…yeah, that would be the ticket. I’m sorry, but this fucker DOES deserve to die of cancer. I say this as someone whose parents died of cancer, older brother died of cancer, and who will likely die of cancer herself. If anyone actually DESERVES to suffer like that before merciful death claims his hulk, it’s that asshole.
Another Scott
@schrodingers_cat: I assume he got some of the detergent on his nose when the bubble burst and didn’t like it (0:11).
Cheers,
Scott.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@cynthia ackerman:
Hey I thought Baud could use a little competition. He always runs around here uncontested
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Omnes Omnibus:
Fresh blood! Outsider. Taylor swift ain’t a negative as long as we’re talking about her post-country career
TriassicSands
@NotMax:
@different-church-lady:
I guess the spring is only strong enough to get it to BC.
Do you suppose a Canadian will agree to rewind it and send it on it’s way?
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca: I think that my analysis is spot on as far as what is going on in his head. Oddly, my artillery course had the “bag man” (graduate with the lowest GPA) for West Point. He had been quoted in Time as saying he wanted to be branched armor. When harassed about it, he stood up and said “Look, I was bag man; I am not very bright.” That guy could deal; McCain couldn’t.
Omnes Omnibus
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Show me.
Chet Murthy
@TenguPhule: Clearly you’ve never gotten a “capsaicin high”. That shit is legit. When I get lemongrass chicken, I keep adding hot oil while eating until I start sneezing. Then I know the heat is enough to get me to that high, high, high special place. Capsaicin, mang. Capsaicin.
Chet Murthy
@AMinNC:
All she’s saying is “he hates the people I hate, and that gives me permission to utter my hate out loud”.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chet Murthy: The dude is kind of a violence bro.
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
I enjoy eating ice cream. But I’m not supposed to. Hagen Dazs has some really good flavors but all of the good ones have that nasty, wonderful chocolate in them.
Ruckus
@danielx:
It’s nice of you to think that someone who has for most of his life worked towards riding the down escalator after his demise might have a moment of clarity, especially as he should by now have at least a rough idea of how long he’s got left. But then someone as committed to being an asshole as McCain, has to pay back all those people that realized he is an asshole, because he has proven it over and over again.
NotMax
@Ruckus
Pistachio gelato. No chocolate in sight.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
It’s not just the chocolate that’s the problem. The sugar, the milk/cream. Why I’m not supposed to eat ice cream. Calling it gelato, and I am half Sicilian BTW, doesn’t make it OK for me.
J R in WV
@Starfish:
Ya got me, Starfish, I’ve known McCain wasn’t worth a rabbit turd for a very long time.
I was in the Navy, unlike McCain I was avoiding being drafted into a Marine platoon in the SE Jungles and Swamps, but I did what I was assigned to do and kept my nose clean. McCain was shot down for not following his flight plan, i.e. failure to follow orders. He was the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy, with Admirals McCain both pulling for him. He crashed lots of airplanes, anyone else would have been relieved as a pilot way before he was shot down.
And as you say, he was a lousy cheater as a Senator AND as a husband to both wives. But he looks the part of a Navy Officer, talks a good line of bullshit that is more meaningless than most, which is actually good for the MSM TV whackaloons who have him on repeatedly. They need to have him back to explain more, forever.