Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

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

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

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

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Fight them, without becoming them!

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Washington Post’s Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

The revolution will be supervised.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

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

Elections aren’t won by handwringing, cowering, and/or bashing your own candidates.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

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

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

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109Comments

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    Currently, the Trump administration is arguing that its family-separation policy:

    – is a deterrent

    – is biblically compliant

    – is the Democrats’ fault

    – does not exist.

    — Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) June 18, 2018

  10. 10.

    ruemara

    My contribution to feel goodness will have to be twitter linking because I haven’t processed the 900 shots I took yet. About 40% done, I think. But this is Jessica Malone, who was fantastic this Sunday. High on the recommend list. Turn up the volume.

  11. 11.

    rikyrah

    Once again….
    Every Democrat needs the attitude of either
    Ted Lieu
    or
    Maxine Waters

    Dear @SecNielsen: You are lying. Period.

    How do we know you are lying Sec Nielsen? Because Stephen Miller pushed for the policy change & AG Sessions gleefully announced it.

    Also, 2000 kids didn’t voluntarily decide to leave their parents. You forced the separation. Get it? https://t.co/BNqyZa7P7D

    — Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 18, 2018

  14. 14.

    Nicole

    Pretty sunflowers!

    Finally getting back to the gym regularly. There’s a new stationary bike, that includes moving handlebars and digital “rides,” complete with other riders you can pass. I never knew I was so competitive with imaginary other people. I even tried riding right into one, but it didn’t cause a wreck. Disappointing.

  15. 15.

    LAO

    Ah, an open thread. I have a strange dog/pet related question. So my dog has a chew that she doesn’t eat but carries around with her so that she can bury in my apartment. It’s crazy. She buries it at least twice a day — sometimes in the couch, sometimes in her dog bed, I even once found it in the bathtub. Every night, when I go to brush my teeth — she un-buries the treat and puts on my bed. Then she lays down in her bed. I always remove the chew and put it on the floor and she looks at me like WTF lady. Is she trying to tell me something? Should I remove it discreetly, so she doesn’t see me?

    PS — I love the picture Betty. Are you on Instagram?

  17. 17.

    LAO

    @rikyrah: The internal polling numbers must be atrocious for Trump/Republicans,if Manchin’s signed on to the senate bill.

  18. 18.

    rp

    Does anyone have the stomach to see what Greenwald, Tracey, and the other “lefties” have to say about all of this? Are they blaming Obama or just ignoring? I’d like to know what line their paymasters want them to push, but can’t take their schtick at the moment.

  19. 19.

    Betty Cracker

    @LAO: Maybe it’s a present and she’s puzzled at your rejection of it?

    I am not on Instagram. The only social media I do is Twitter.

  21. 21.

    LAO

    @Betty Cracker: sad face (instagram)

    ETA: I wish she’d just eat the damn thing, it’s positively gross at this point but I can’t bring myself to throw it away because I’m pretty sure she’d try to kill me in my sleep.

  31. 31.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud:

    Hope people are don’t lose interest now that there isn’t a Dem to blame.

    When have the facts ever stopped the press from blaming Democrats?

    Next attack line: “Its Democrats fault that children are being turned into sex slaves because they didn’t concede to Republican Demands for internment camp funding.”

  33. 33.

    Fester Addams

    @Nicole:

    There’s a new stationary bike, that includes moving handlebars and digital “rides,” complete with other riders you can pass.

    Yea! Those things are great. Another fun thing you can do with it is to try to find all the ways you can cheat by (sufficiently quickly) leaving and re-entering the course.

  34. 34.

    TenguPhule

    @LAO:

    The internal polling numbers must be atrocious for Trump/Republicans,if Manchin’s signed on to the senate bill.

    Knowing Manchin. the Democratic whip must have held a literal gun to his head.

  35. 35.

    TenguPhule

    @rikyrah: Has anyone found out where the fuck they’ve been putting the girls and toddlers they’ve abducted yet?

  36. 36.

    MattF

    Well, now Manchin is a Democrat, as a matter of fact. Remarkable.

    At the moment, there is a visible difference between Rs and Ds.

  41. 41.

    Mnemosyne

    I spotted a really cool rose growing at Disneyland this weekend, and now I’m regretting not taking a photo of it. It was a deep-red rose with a yellow center. I think they chose it because it mimics (or is mimicked by) the “flowers” in Cars Land that are made of taillights. ?

  42. 42.

    TenguPhule

    Donald J. Trump
    ✔
    @realDonaldTrump
    If President Obama (who got nowhere with North Korea and would have had to go to war with many millions of people being killed) had gotten along with North Korea and made the initial steps toward a deal that I have, the Fake News would have named him a national hero!

    4:57 AM – Jun 18, 2018

    He lies about EVERY FUCKING THING.

  45. 45.

    rikyrah

    @LAO:

    Every night, when I go to brush my teeth — she un-buries the treat and puts on my bed. Then she lays down in her bed. I always remove the chew and put it on the floor and she looks at me like WTF lady. Is she trying to tell me something? Should I remove it discreetly, so she doesn’t see me?

    I don’t have a pet, but there’s a story that you’re missing with this toy. When you figure it out, please tell us.

  46. 46.

    Mnemosyne

    @M4:

    The only thing that worked for us was essentially crating Keaton in a really big dog crate. He didn’t mind all that much because he likes to have his own space, and it was really big.

    You may need to give him kibble at night again and then slowly reduce the amount every night rather than taking it away. Cats love ritual, and suddenly changing his kibble ritual probably freaked him out.

  47. 47.

    trollhattan

    @LAO:
    Seems like something certain dogs are hard-wired to do. Our first Dalmatian Bruno would bury treasures in the backyard. We could usually tell afterward because he’d come in with telltale dirt on his nose. (1. Dig, 2. place item, 3. shove dirt back into hole with nose until item hidden.)

    Rawhide bones, actual bones, tennis balls all got the treatment and I expect had he been exclusively an inside dog he’d have used bedding, laundry and the like in lieu of dirt. He did this less as he got older and we also amused ourselves giving him toys so large he couldn’t fashion a matching burial hole. None of our other dogs did this and we never unlocked the secret to make Bruno quit, either. After he was gone for years I’d find his hidden treasures, which always made me wistful since he was a great doggie.

    ETA Bruno and his successor Gracie, both adopted would also take a mouthful of food from the dish, walk away and eat it elsewhere. I figured it was because they’d all had to compete for food with other dogs in the past.

  49. 49.

    rikyrah

    @Calouste:

    @rikyrah: And I guess no (zero) Republicans, not even Jeff “Flake by name, flake by nature” Flake?

    Nope.
    Not ‘ oh so concerned’ and ‘ principled’ Flake
    Or Little Susie ‘ Moderate Republican’ Collins
    Or ‘brave’ Bob Corker

    Not ONE of these muthaphuckas.
    Nor any other GOP Senate MOTHER.

    Phucking Phonies!

  50. 50.

    Mnemosyne

    @Ms. D. Ranged in AZ:

    Somebody needs to carve “Matthew 25:31-46” into his forehead, Inglorious Basterds style.

    (For those who don’t want to look it up, it’s the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats. Sessions is a goat. ?)

  51. 51.

    kindness

    Thanks Betty. I am finding myself with Trump overload fatigue so these posts help.

  54. 54.

    delk

    Had to take my dog, Gav to the 24 hour emergency vet at 2:30 am this morning. Still dealing with the toxic levels of copper in his liver. It looked like he was doing better, but last night he was shaking so hard and unable to walk that we really felt that he could not wait until the regular vet opened.

    Just waiting now.

  55. 55.

    rikyrah

    Just a reminder…

    THEY ARE BEING DEPORTED WITHOUT THEIR CHILDREN!!

    WHERE.ARE.THEIR.CHILDREN?
    WHY haven’t their children been returned to them?

    WHAT is the process by where these children will be reunited with their DEPORTED PARENTS?

  58. 58.

    trollhattan

    @rikyrah:
    Republicans always fold.

    There is no Trump “he finally went too far” action to make Republicans oppose him. Despite anything to the contrary that may slip on a Sunday talk show, Monday they’ll be back to either openly supporting him or keeping their yaps shut and heads buried.

    Republicans always fold.

  59. 59.

    Mnemosyne

    @rikyrah:

    Nielsen and the rest of the Trumpistas are using the classic abuser’s excuse: If you didn’t want me to hurt you, you shouldn’t have made me mad! This is all your own fault!

    The sick part is how many of their toadies are echoing that online and claiming that if the parents didn’t want their kids taken away, they shouldn’t have asked for asylum. ?

  62. 62.

    Jim Parish

    @trollhattan: Both of my current dogs, both adopted from different families, carry food or treats away to be eaten in private. (My Yorkie’s name is Gracie; the other fella is Buster.)

  64. 64.

    TenguPhule

    @MattF: They aren’t bothering with fig leaves or implausible bullshit. Its just straight out lying now.

    I am increasingly certain there are dead bodies & sex slaves at the end of Nielson’s shithole.

  65. 65.

    M4

    @Mnemosyne: was thinking some kibble just before bed to tide him over, yeah. I’m also going to get some of that sticky paws stuff and put it (over some paper to protect the paint) around where his scratching height is.

  66. 66.

    QuaintIrene

    Beautiful flowers, so you can make wine from them?

    Fraid not, just some snacks to go along with your vino. (salted sunflower seeds)
    *********************
    One phrase that the craven Trump WH has made repellent and which I never want to hear again, “doubling down.”

  68. 68.

    ruemara

    @rp: They are fighting the Dem establishment for not getting the endorsements for the preferred leftier than thou candidates of folks like “Justice Dems”. I wish I was kidding. Plus, perpetuating the outright lie that HRC would’ve been at war with Syria and was the same/worse on immigration, plus Obama was tops in deportation.

  69. 69.

    burnspbesq

    The Supremes punted on the Wisconsin partisan gerrymandering case, remanding to the district court for a fresh look at standing. Justice Kagan’s concurring opinion laid out a detailed roadmap for plaintiffs to establish standing.

    The Republicans are fucked, but it’s going to take a while longer.

  70. 70.

    LAO

    @Manyakitty: It’s a pork skin chew (which sounds totally vile which it is!). I’d take it away but I expect she’d spend days “digging” in the apartment. The strange thing is a gave one to my dog walker and her Aussie Shepard also carries it around like it’s his best friend. Dogs can be very weird.

  71. 71.

    trollhattan

    Schlapp in da face!

    Whe White House director of strategic communications went on Fox News on Monday to lash out at Democrats for criticizing the administration’s policy of separating families at the southern border and detaining children. Mercedes Schlapp repeatedly claimed the administration’s “hands are tied” despite the fact the policy was voluntarily adopted and could end with a single phone call from President Donald Trump.

    “What does the president want us to know this morning as this debate rages on and seems to be putting a lot of pressure on Republicans?” host Sandra Smith asked. “Clearly, the president is fully committed to enforcing the law,” Schlapp replied. “This comes also with ensuring that the Democrats come to the negotiating table with immigration. It is because the Democrats want to play politics with this issue, using children as political pawns, that we are not able to solve this problem,” Schlapp claimed.

    Why do I get the feeling these two are going to be around and in our faces for a loooong time?

  74. 74.

    Manyakitty

    @LAO: Hmmm. Also, too, ewwww. It does sound like she’s trying to share her special treat with you. Can you fake enjoying it and give it back then?

  76. 76.

    TenguPhule

    @trollhattan:

    . It is because the Democrats want to play politics with this issue, using children as political pawns,

    Everything is projection with Republicans. EVERY. SINGLE. FUCKING. THING.

  80. 80.

    TenguPhule

    @rikyrah:

    WHERE.ARE.THE.GIRLS.

    One of the prior threads somebody reported that some of the girls were allegedly shipped from Arizona to Florida by plane.

    Florida is one of the major sex slave transit routes.

  81. 81.

    Amir Khalid

    @LAO:
    Have you lost weight recently? Maybe your doggie is worried that you’re not getting enough to eat.

    Some news: I have succumbed to an attack of GAS. Yesterday, I purchased online a Squier California Series Strat-o-Caster, brand new, for a crazy-low RM291 (US$73). That normally gets you a no-name guitar cobbled together from cheap spare parts, but this is a SQUIER! Designed and backed by Fender! Not a copy, not a counterfeit, but a real Strat! And for half the price of a bottom-of-the-barrel Squire Bullet Strat! And it’s in a colour I wanted, white with a maple fretboard! I’ve never used this many exclamation points in a comment here!

  82. 82.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @rikyrah:

    I just realised that at some subconscious level I’ve been singing The Coventry Carol to myself for a couple of hours now.

  85. 85.

    Duane

    @trollhattan: So the trump administration has admitted they’re holding children hostage in exchange for legislation. The evil oozes from these people.

  86. 86.

    rp

    @ruemara: God I hate these people. I know some will argue that we should just ignore them, but I don’t agree. Many if not most of them are getting paid to spew propaganda to divide the left, and I think we need to find a way to push back.

  87. 87.

    Amir Khalid

    @ruemara:
    Through an online market, from a music shop in Kedah state. They must have found a stash of unsold guitars in the storeroom when they did a stock take. It’s a discontinued series; it was sold only in Asia and South America until a year or so ago, for 2 1/2 times as much or more. It was just too good a price to miss out on.

  88. 88.

    Steve in the ATL

    @trollhattan:

    Bruno and his successor Gracie, both adopted would also take a mouthful of food from the dish, walk away and eat it elsewhere. I figured it was because they’d all had to compete for food with other dogs in the past.

    Had a Sheltie who did that. We got him as a puppy and he was an only dog though, so he never had to compete for food.

  90. 90.

    Miss Bianca

    @Amir Khalid: Yay! GAS strikes again! Meanwhile, I am seriously contemplating unloading a couple guitars, including a really nice acoustic I originally bought for my ex, which is just hanging on my wall collecting dust, most of the time. I either have to get serious about playing again or get off my ass and start shedding. Not woodshedding, just shedding.

    @delk: oh, so sorry to hear it. Hoping for the best for Gav.

  93. 93.

    Amir Khalid

    England failed to add to their early goal despite lots of pressure and many shots on target. Now Tunisia have equalised through a penalty. England have been reliably disappointing in major tournaments since after 1966.

  95. 95.

    efgoldman

    @ruemara:

    They are fighting the Dem establishment for not getting the endorsements for the preferred leftier than thou candidates of folks like “Justice Dems”. I wish I was kidding

    Useless and worthless.
    THEY DON’T FUCKING VOTE! (and won’t, no matter how much appeasement you try)

    Fuckem

  96. 96.

    Brachiator

    @ruemara:

    Plus, perpetuating the outright lie that HRC would’ve been at war with Syria and was the same/worse on immigration, plus Obama was tops in deportation.

    This crap from these people is just a tiresome evasion.

    @rp:

    God I hate these people. I know some will argue that we should just ignore them, but I don’t agree. Many if not most of them are getting paid to spew propaganda to divide the left, and I think we need to find a way to push back.

    The only thing I want to hear from these people is how they are going to fight back against Trump. Today. Otherwise they have nothing to say, nothing to contribute, no perspective that has any value. I got no time for hypotheticals about what they think Hillary might have done.

  97. 97.

    Amir Khalid

    @Miss Bianca:
    I wasn’t expecting to buy a Strat this soon after getting the Les Paul, but like I said this was just too good a deal to miss.

  98. 98.

    efgoldman

    @Amir Khalid:

    They must have found a stash of unsold guitars in the storeroom when they did a stock take

    Or they fell off the back of a truck

  99. 99.

    gvg

    this is the first year I have had any sunflower success. I picked up 2 6 packs at the farmers market this spring. one pack were dark red like those. i am trying some more from seed. lots of interesting new hybrids these days.

  100. 100.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Amir Khalid:

    I have succumbed to an attack of GAS

    Good man! Don’t fight it–it’s a perfectly healthy condition. Your life will be richer for it.

  105. 105.

    J R in WV

    The photo of the flowers is beautiful. And actually, I think the power lines add to the composition, putting direction in what would otherwise be a blank blue sky.

    If you don’t have a golden rectangle, a triangle is the next best composition tool. I don’t know why, I’m not sure anyone knows why, but trial and error over the past 3000 years shows that it works.

  106. 106.

    J R in WV

    @Amir Khalid:

    Congratulations !!!!

    I hope when you get to handle it, play it, it meets your expectations!!! Or do you already have it in hand?

    Lessee now, The Girl, Sister, how about Momma! Or maybe Poppa? ;-)

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