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

Before Header

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

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

When I was faster i was always behind.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

“But what about the lurkers?”

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

The words do not have to be perfect.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Open Threads / Wednesday Night Open Thread

Wednesday Night Open Thread

by John Cole|  February 21, 201810:48 pm| 76 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

FacebookTweetEmail

CNN is having a town hall about gun violence and the students are throwing rocks at Rubio and Dana Loesch. It’s pretty awesome.

Here are the dinner pics:

I miss my pets.

*** Update ***

This bed and breakfast comes with a complimentary dog.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Open Thread: Notes from the “President”‘s “Listening Session”
Next Post: Two-Bit Grifter Open Thread: Apparently Donny Jr Is Jealous of the Attention Jared’s Been Getting… »

Reader Interactions

76Comments

  1. 1.

    condorcet runner-up

    February 21, 2018 at 10:55 pm

    Marco did not handle it well at all. Also, this kid who asked Marco to declare that he wouldn’t accept donations from the NRA just put all the beltway reporters to shame.

  2. 2.

    Waratah

    February 21, 2018 at 10:59 pm

    @condorcet runner-up: Cameron was amazing I wish he could run for President.

  3. 3.

    randy khan

    February 21, 2018 at 11:01 pm

    It would be delightful if the kids could shut Loesch up. She’s repulsive.

  4. 4.

    Suzanne

    February 21, 2018 at 11:02 pm

    @condorcet runner-up:

    Marco did not handle it well at all.

    Li’l Marco chokes under pressure. He repeats his crappy rehearsed lines, grabs for water, and just cannot handle himself when not in a highly controlled environment,

  5. 5.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 21, 2018 at 11:03 pm

    @Suzanne: Did he drink water?

  6. 6.

    RPh

    February 21, 2018 at 11:06 pm

    Yes …. but do your pets miss you?

    Steve : DIAF after what you did
    Rosie: meh
    Thurston: who? That Bunraku puppet who yells at me?
    Lily: Waaaaah/whiiiine

    All in all, you may be gong 1/4 tonight … not horrible …. pretty much what’s expected of the Pirate’s starting 8 this year.

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    February 21, 2018 at 11:06 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus

    Shotgunned the whole bottle.

    ;)

  8. 8.

    Waratah

    February 21, 2018 at 11:06 pm

    @randy khan: Yes she is. First time I have seen her.

  9. 9.

    cain

    February 21, 2018 at 11:07 pm

    Clearly, Rubio would be useless in a school shooting. He’d be running for the water fountain instead of you know trying to get kids into a room.

    I’m still imagining what it would be like for those kids watching one of their teachers getting shot while he’s trying to get them into his classroom (the story by Bill two threads back) I can’t imagine.. It would stick with me for all my days.

  10. 10.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 21, 2018 at 11:07 pm

    on MSNBC: Sam Zeif drags trump for having a crib sheet

  11. 11.

    cain

    February 21, 2018 at 11:08 pm

    I don’t remember much mass shootings in school in the 80s.. it just seems like it became a thing starting with Columbine.

  12. 12.

    rk

    February 21, 2018 at 11:10 pm

    I hope not taking money from the NRA becomes a litmus test. I got a notice from someone taking on Brian Fitzpatrick in our district, Scott Wallace, who has pledged not to take money from the NRA. His grandfather was vice president under Roosevelt (according to his bio). I hope we get rid of Fitzpatrick, but it’ll be hard. We had a very good guy running against Fitzpatrick last time, but no luck. Here’s hoping things change.

  13. 13.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 21, 2018 at 11:11 pm

    @cain: I blame Marilyn Manson.

  14. 14.

    condorcet runner-up

    February 21, 2018 at 11:13 pm

    @Suzanne: shocker, i know.

    I am really encouraged by the courage and poise of these kids.

  15. 15.

    CarolDuhart2

    February 21, 2018 at 11:16 pm

    My theory/ies: The drug war and the wars down in Columbia. It was not until crack/drugs became big business that we started having these guns in common use. Cocaine was once thousands of dollars per ounce, so the spread was limited as well as the profits. Crack, highly addictive created mass profits and bigger demand. The boomlet in drug money meant that many felt they had to defend against rival gangs instead of individuals. Also when you are carrying hundreds/thousands in illegal cash, the only security you had was either your mob/gang/or yourself. The wars in Central America flooded that area with high-powered weapons that were even easier to sell.

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    February 21, 2018 at 11:18 pm

    When Dolt 45 said, and I quote, “it’s called concealed carry” that’s a tell; he was first exposed to the term, if not today, then very, very, very recently.

  17. 17.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 21, 2018 at 11:18 pm

    @cain: 1979.

  18. 18.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 21, 2018 at 11:20 pm

    @NotMax: I’d bet money he heard it from DJTJ, speaking of people desperate to use weapons to compensate for short-comings.

  19. 19.

    MIke in NC

    February 21, 2018 at 11:21 pm

    @Suzanne: Sadly, there has been no software upgrade for the 2018 Marco Robotio.

  20. 20.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?

    February 21, 2018 at 11:21 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:
    I blame vidya games.

  21. 21.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?

    February 21, 2018 at 11:23 pm

    @MIke in NC:
    Ahem. That’s Macro Robotio to you, hu-man. Beep-boop-beep.

  22. 22.

    I'll be Frank

    February 21, 2018 at 11:23 pm

    @CarolDuhart2: Dirty wars have dirty roosters. Death squad Salvador leads to MS-13.

  23. 23.

    NotMax

    February 21, 2018 at 11:23 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Frankly, more likely from someone at Mar-a-lago over the weekend.

    And, as a stable genius, if it’s new to him he automatically assumes no one else has ever come across it before.

  24. 24.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 21, 2018 at 11:25 pm

    @CarolDuhart2: The unforeseen consequence of breaking up the mafia was deregulating organized crime and the drug trade. As with everything else we’ve deregulated, the results have not been optimal.

  25. 25.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 21, 2018 at 11:26 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?: I blame that pun, yeech.

  26. 26.

    NotMax

    February 21, 2018 at 11:31 pm

    @Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito)

    Little Macro?

    An oxymoron is born.

    @Major Major Major Major

    Blondes have more pun.

    (Rubio is Spanish for blond.)

  27. 27.

    khead

    February 21, 2018 at 11:31 pm

    “I was involved in basketball operations, but other than getting the financials and reports, I was not involved in the day to day [of the business side] at all….That’s why I just deferred. I let people do their jobs. And if there were anything like this at all I was supposed to be made aware, obviously I was not.” – Mark Cuban

    If this was something uttered on an episode of Shark Tank, I do hope ABC at least had the good taste to add a laugh track.

  28. 28.

    Belafon

    February 21, 2018 at 11:32 pm

    @condorcet runner-up:

    “These kids could teach a class called Follow Up Questions” – Preet Bharara
    https://twitter.com/PreetBharara/status/966513995028017152

  29. 29.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?

    February 21, 2018 at 11:32 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:
    This always makes me laugh when I see it:

    https://s4.eestatic.com/2016/02/10/mundo/Elecciones_EE-UU-_2016-Marco_Rubio-Partido_Republicano-Elecciones_primarias-Mundo_101250627_1002958_1706x960.jpg

  30. 30.

    condorcet runner-up

    February 21, 2018 at 11:33 pm

    Loesch looked like she threw up in her own mouth after that one mother asked a question.

  31. 31.

    Steeplejack

    February 21, 2018 at 11:33 pm

    This town hall is what I thought Trump’s “listening session” was going to be earlier. Apparently I was confused. I won’t be tuning in, because my outrage glands are depleted from the listening session and the aftermath, to the point that I had to turn off MSNBC for the night. Don’t even know if I can summon the energy for the usually palate-cleansing and restorative Colbert monologue and Perry Mason before I pack it in.

  32. 32.

    condorcet runner-up

    February 21, 2018 at 11:34 pm

    @Belafon: But then they wouldn’t get invited to all the cool kids’ beltway parties.

  33. 33.

    trollhattan

    February 21, 2018 at 11:35 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    And 1989.

  34. 34.

    Suzanne

    February 21, 2018 at 11:36 pm

    @MIke in NC: Rubio needs to get smarter STAT, because he’s losing his looks.

  35. 35.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 21, 2018 at 11:37 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?: Ha!

  36. 36.

    NotMax

    February 21, 2018 at 11:38 pm

    @Steeplejack

    Rest assured that Della Street didn’t pack heat.

  37. 37.

    sukabi

    February 21, 2018 at 11:39 pm

    @NotMax: but did he hold it with both tiny hands?

  38. 38.

    Steeplejack

    February 21, 2018 at 11:41 pm

    @NotMax:

    Remember when Trump invented the phrase “priming the pump”?

    Now he has given us a useful phrase for when you’re toting a gun that no one can see. Genius! Stable genius.

  39. 39.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 21, 2018 at 11:42 pm

    @Steeplejack: US Olympic women’s ice hockey? US V Canada!!!!

  40. 40.

    GregB

    February 21, 2018 at 11:43 pm

    Looking at the numbers in the Quinnipiac poll, it is almost as if the majority of people’s actual will was thwarted during the last election.

  41. 41.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 21, 2018 at 11:43 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Remember when Trump invented the phrase “priming the pump”?

    More and more people are hearing about it.

  42. 42.

    KS in MA

    February 21, 2018 at 11:44 pm

    @rk: Scott Wallace’s grandfather, Henry A. Wallace, was the real thing. Scott probably is too.

  43. 43.

    NotMax

    February 21, 2018 at 11:44 pm

    A-feared that Erik Prince is already salivating profusely over armed personnel in the schools as a business opportunity.

  44. 44.

    trollhattan

    February 21, 2018 at 11:45 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    We be watching. I’m getting bruises from here. #NoLoveLost

  45. 45.

    randy khan

    February 21, 2018 at 11:46 pm

    @condorcet runner-up:

    Loesch is getting totally crushed on Twitter right now.

  46. 46.

    condorcet runner-up

    February 21, 2018 at 11:46 pm

    @NotMax: yup. it is no accident that this proposed (and preposterous) “solution” doubles as a great opportunity for grift.

  47. 47.

    HumboldtBlue

    February 21, 2018 at 11:48 pm

    USA women’s hockey took a 1-0 lead into the locker room end of One. This is gonna be good.

    Oh, they are leading Canada.

  48. 48.

    MisterForkbeard

    February 21, 2018 at 11:49 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I feel ashamed for not knowing there was a women’s ice hockey competition. And that I can’t watch tonight. :(

  49. 49.

    GregB

    February 21, 2018 at 11:50 pm

    From Quinnipiac:

    That Russian Thing

    American voters think 76 – 18 percent, including 55 – 35 percent among Republicans, that the Russian government did try to influence the 2016 presidential election, the highest number so far for this question.

    A total of 68 percent of voters are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” that the Russian government might try to interfere in the 2018 elections.

  50. 50.

    Steeplejack

    February 21, 2018 at 11:50 pm

    @NotMax:

    Della was packing twin 34s. Boom! Phrasing.

  51. 51.

    lgerard

    February 21, 2018 at 11:51 pm

    @randy khan:

    Loesch is getting totally crushed on Twitter right now.

    Not to worry, she has another career path

  52. 52.

    Steeplejack

    February 21, 2018 at 11:54 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I don’t know why, but I have not been able to get into these Olympics. Every time I’ve tried to watch I’ve been put off by NBC’s chaotic coverage, and I always seem to tune into an event right at the worst time, e.g., the apparently mandatory slow, dying swan bit in the women’s figure skating/​ice dancing (whichever).

  53. 53.

    Steeplejack

    February 21, 2018 at 11:58 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    God, it is a testament to the fire hose of Trump bullshit this last year that I actually had to get on the Google to remind myself of exactly what was the phrase that he invented. Could not think of it to save my life. And yet in the “Hillary won” time line that would be worth six months of outrage and another item added to the articles of impeachment.

  54. 54.

    CarolDuhart2

    February 21, 2018 at 11:58 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I agree. The old mobs kept internal order and the trade low-key, due to older members being in charge. Also the incentive was too that if you kept your nose clean, you could lead a comfortable middle-class life as a member. The emphasis was on middle class and low-key, especially after Prohibition ended. The breakup denuded the adult leadership that could contain hot-heasd, and put thousands into the hands of angry teenagers who didn’t see themselves living until 21, much less buying a house and living until 30.

  55. 55.

    efgoldman

    February 22, 2018 at 12:01 am

    @Steeplejack:

    Della was packing twin 34s.

    Who could tel under those 1950s business suits

  56. 56.

    efgoldman

    February 22, 2018 at 12:16 am

    @CarolDuhart2:

    The old mobs kept internal order The old mobs kept internal order

    The widespread urban legend held that mob-controlled neighborhoods were the safest in any city. Helped along by Mario Puzo

  57. 57.

    HumboldtBlue

    February 22, 2018 at 12:41 am

    Canada is the worst.

  58. 58.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 22, 2018 at 12:44 am

    @cain: In the 80s kids shot each other in the street, like God intended!

  59. 59.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 22, 2018 at 12:51 am

    @trollhattan: It’s a good game. But what is the deal with Daoud’s obsession with flicking American player’s sticks across the rink?

  60. 60.

    CarolDuhart2

    February 22, 2018 at 12:53 am

    @efgoldman: What I meant was that the mob policed itself so not to disturb the neighborhood too much. They killed each other, not bystanders and rogue elements quickly got squashed. And if you were out of control, they quickly made an example out of your. Once they went away, it was a free-for all, with drive-by-shootings and the like,fueled by adolescent hormones and fatalism and too much money in too young hands.

  61. 61.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 22, 2018 at 12:53 am

    @MisterForkbeard: It’s the gold medal game. Drop whatever you’re doing and find NBCSports on the TV!!!!

  62. 62.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 22, 2018 at 12:54 am

    That better be a pair of 2s, a 5, and a game misconduct! If Poulin is allowed to stay in this game, there is a serious officiating problem.

  63. 63.

    different-church-lady

    February 22, 2018 at 12:54 am

    @GregB: yeah, but of that republican 55%, 50 percent of them probably believe they tried to influence it for Hillary.

  64. 64.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 22, 2018 at 12:56 am

    @Steeplejack: No argument that NBC’s coverage is terrible. It has made trying to follow different competitions very difficult.

  65. 65.

    Steve in the ATL

    February 22, 2018 at 1:08 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    As with everything else we’ve deregulated, the results have not been optimal.

    You should see the people they let on airplanes these days. [shudder]

  66. 66.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 22, 2018 at 1:09 am

    @Steve in the ATL: I am aware.

  67. 67.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 22, 2018 at 1:12 am

    GOAL!!!!!

  68. 68.

    HumboldtBlue

    February 22, 2018 at 1:12 am

    Goooooaaaaalllllll

  69. 69.

    HumboldtBlue

    February 22, 2018 at 1:14 am

    Oh my what a missed chance!

  70. 70.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 22, 2018 at 1:23 am

    @HumboldtBlue: They just need to keep the Lamoureuxs on the ice.

  71. 71.

    Ladyraxterinok

    February 22, 2018 at 3:24 am

    @CarolDuhart2: Was Mueller part of legal team that brought down Gotti? By following process similar to way he’s proceeding here? Did I read that on this blog?

  72. 72.

    Zinsky

    February 22, 2018 at 5:23 am

    @randy khan: Twitter means less than nothing. It is vaporous and unimportant, we need to get our asses off the couch and out talking to people the way humans have for thousands of years. God, I hate how people think a few LCD images on their iPhone actually have any importance in the real world…

  73. 73.

    Gvg

    February 22, 2018 at 6:11 am

    @Zinsky: actually those kids have been using pics of their slain friends saved on their phones to win arguments in the real world. That’s pretty important and real.
    Twitter is more of a mixed bag but you can’t dismiss it completely. It’s part of reality now, just not the whole thing.
    Right wingers are so used to just living in a world where their talking points are accepted wisdom, they aren’t understanding why the kids don’t say oh you are right. The dead friends pics show why. Don’t care about stupid 2nd amendment. Stop killing us.

  74. 74.

    randy khan

    February 22, 2018 at 7:31 am

    @Zinsky:

    I think Twitter’s a pretty good way to gauge immediate reaction to things. I won’t ascribe any particular power to that.

    Also, when a troll like her gets crushed, it’s kind of fun.

  75. 75.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    February 22, 2018 at 8:59 am

    @cain Shootings at schools in the U.S. are and have been, unfortunately more common than people think, most of them seemed to be personal vendetta’s and the shooter had one specific target in mind (and up until the 20th century weapons that could kill large number of people rapidly were not available). Many of them seem to have happened because both students and teachers came to school armed or had easy access to guns and arguments escalated to shootings.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_shootings_in_the_United_States#cite_note-23

    Resulting in incidents like this one from April 9th 1891 Newburgh NY:

    “70-year-old James Foster, fired a shotgun at a group of students in the playground of St. Mary’s Parochial School, causing minor injuries to several of the students”

    or this from March 26 1893 in Plain Dealing, LA:

    “During an evening school dance at Plain Dealing High School, a fight broke out. When the smoke cleared, two students were killed, two more were fatally wounded, and the high school’s Professor Johnson was wounded in the arm”

  76. 76.

    Older

    February 22, 2018 at 2:40 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: After the Columbine events, Marilyn Manson was asked what he would say to the students. He said “I wouldn’t *say* anything to them. I would *listen* to them.” Looks like maybe that will happen, at last.
    I

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - BarcaChicago  - Off the Gunflint Trail/Boundary Waters 8
Image by BarcaChicago (7/11/25)

World Central Kitchen

Donate

Recent Comments

  • Ruckus on Fox News Friday Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 9:02pm)
  • Ruckus on Friday Afternoon Distraction Open Thread: Get the Passport Stamped with All the Right Signals… (Jul 11, 2025 @ 9:00pm)
  • danielx on Fox News Friday Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 8:58pm)
  • danielx on Fox News Friday Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 8:56pm)
  • Elizabelle on Fox News Friday Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 8:56pm)

Balloon Juice Posts

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

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

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

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

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

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

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

Email sent!