Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

We still have time to mess this up!

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Let’s finish the job.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

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

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

The revolution will be supervised.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

Good lord, these people are nuts.

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

Come on, man.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

We’re not going back!

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

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Readership Capture / Saturday Open Thread

Saturday Open Thread

by | 234 Comments

This post is in: 

There have been reports that the website is not functioning properly, particularly the mobile site, and website guru Alain is on it.

As many of you are aware, beloved gorilla Koko passed peacefully in her sleep this week (here is a great piece), so apparently Tammy decided to reproduce some images when I fell asleep last night:

Lily was protecting me by sleeping on my head:

And then there is Samantha, the most amazing little dog on the PLANET:

We’re off to the farmers markets and are going to hit a couple nurseries and ask around about rain gardens.

You all be cool and let’s not start a general hysterical panic about the website. Remain calm, keep your powder dry, we are on it.

Reader Interactions

234Comments

  9. 9.

    Suzanne

    @opiejeanne: I can’t imagine Steve being that thirsty for human validation. Maybe that is me projecting.

    I love Rosie. Rosie is my favorite Cole pet. More Rosie, plz.

  12. 12.

    Ohio Mom

    Was this a posed picture or were you really asleep? If it was a candid shot, where is the apnea mask, young man?*

    We want you around for a long time, and as I am sure you already know, untreated apnea can kill.

    Sign me,
    Yesterday I realized I am old enough to be your mother

    * this is a rhetorical question, I see the mask on the nightstand.

  13. 13.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    hee hee

    Sarah Sanders @ PressSec
    Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so

    as for “respectfully”…

    During one exchange, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said to CNN reporter Jim Acosta, a frequent sparring partner, “I know it’s hard for you to understand even short sentences.”

    I’m sure people who watch Jethrene Huckabeast more than I have other examples of her truculent bullying, and I’m sure those will be pointed out to her

  14. 14.

    germy

    I used to have a neighbor who knitted a cozy for her cpap tube.

    Because the cats would claw holes in it while she tried to sleep. The cozy worked great, a good workout for the claws without puncturing plastic.

  15. 15.

    Spanky

    For you guys that love to read Alexandra Petri’s articles in the post, too late!:

    There are two ways — I think! I was an English major! — of decreasing entropy in a given corner of the universe. One is by adding energy, and the other is by increasing order. What I am trying to say is that if you are reading this, I am married.

    Or, I will be soon. Assuming nothing goes too wrong. People have always told me that I will be late to my own wedding. So it is possible that I’ll be late. But if it’s Saturday afternoon and you are reading this, probably, I am married.

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    the website is not functioning properly

    This is what comes of no longer having food/recipe threads on a routine basis to appease the appetite of the FYWP gods.

    :)

  17. 17.

    germy

    @Ohio Mom:

    untreated apnea can kill.

    I wish I could invent some sort of mouth device to replace the mask.

    Not the dental things they sell nowadays that thrust the lower jaw out. I mean some sort of upper palate sling. It’s soft enough to allow the wearer to swallow, but firm enough to prevent airway collapse during deep sleep. It would be a molded mouth guard, but would feature a narrow “shoe horn” extension into the back of the mouth.

    Perhaps such a device is impossible. I don’t know.

  19. 19.

    Suzanne

    @Spanky: Petri is really funny. If anyone listened to the WaPo’s podcast “Presidential” (and I did…..every episode….and it took me a while to emotionally brace myself), she was a guest on two occasions, and she was really funny and engaging.

  20. 20.

    Mnemosyne

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Here’s the thing that conservatives love to misunderstand and that we have to be very clear on: any restaurant can refuse service to any specific person at any time. What the law generally does not allow is refusing service to people as a class.

    So it’s always been 100 percent legal for a restaurant owner to say, That woman Sarah Huckabee Sanders is an asshole and I refuse service to her.

    The MAGAts refuse to understand the difference between I refuse service to you, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, based on your personal actions and I refuse service to anyone gay regardless of who they are because Jeebus.

  21. 21.

    Catherine D.

    It’s a lovely cool and cloudy day here, and I’m wondering how many canvassers will stop by. The primary is Tuesday, and we have 5 Dems running for NY-23. I’ve heard from 4 of the 5. The fifth appears to be a Blue Dog.

    I want current congresscritter Tom Reed to go down in flames. He kisses Trump’s ass so much he’s morphed into a butt plug.

  22. 22.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @NotMax: the MAGAts are already trashing them in Yelp et al, announcing that they are frequent patrons of high-end dining establishments in Washington DC and when they went to Red Hen there were mice in their chicken fingers and MSNBC-13 terrorists in the women’s bathroom! They will go to the trump hotel DC for the all you can eat buffet from now on!

    The restaurant is in Lexington VA which I gather is a hundred miles from DC

  24. 24.

    No Drought No More

    IT’S NOT SIMPLY TRUMP, IT’S THE WHOLE ROTTEN LOT OF THEM…

    Today’s Daily Kos: “…Bolton is not the only one looking to take “a high level meeting.” Four United States Senators will be celebrating Independence Day in Russia and they’re all hopped up about an audience with Vladimir Putin as well. They are Richard Shelby, (R-AL) John Kennedy (R-LA) Steve Daines (R-MT) and John Hoeven (R-ND)..”.

    … IN LIGHT OF THE DAWNING POLITICAL REALITY NOW BEING FACED UP TO BY AMERICANS ACROSS THE BOARD, I’M MORE THAN COMFORTABLE WITH BELIEVING THE REPUBLICAN SENATORS AS ACTING AS SINISTER AGENTS OF CONSPIRACY; MORE TO THE POINT, I DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL THEIR BEHAVIOR THE SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITY OF DOMESTIC ENEMIES AND AMERICAN FASCISTS. AND THEY’RE GOING FOR BROKE*.

  26. 26.

    Michael Bersin

    I covered a social media organized protest yesterday afternoon in front of the district office of Representative Kevin Yoder (r) (KS-3) in downtown Overland Park, Kansas. Over 500 people showed up, along with two cliché counter protestors (seriously, is there a central casting requirement for guys in MAGA caps?).

    There were several iterations of Melania’s coat of a drab color.

    Immigration protest at Rep. Kevin Yoder’s (r) district office – Overland Park, Kansas – June 22, 2018

    That many people showed up in republican Johnson County, Kansas. Who’d have thought?

  27. 27.

    Amir Khalid

    Javier Hernandes makes it 2-0 to Mexico. They’ve been rather better than South Korea today and deserve the lead.

  28. 28.

    MobileForkbeard

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Funnily enough, I think that it took THIS long to start refusing to serve highly visible liars and thieves shows incredible restraint on behalf of the public towards a racist, corrupt regime.

    It SHOULD have started immediately after the lies about in the inauguration size.

  30. 30.

    trollhattan

    @Michael Bersin:

    (seriously, is there a central casting requirement for guys in MAGA caps?).

    Crisis actors!

    Nice to hear of good people speaking out in Kansas. Seems as though they’ve been pummeled into silence for a decade or three now.

  37. 37.

    p.a.

    @germy: Dentists can make a device. I have one, but I barely ‘survived’ the mold-making stage. Definitely can’t use the finished product (upper and lower that lock together.). Very trigger happy gag reflex.

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    @M4

    Should you find yourself in the neighborhood, read somewhere about what’s supposed to be a very nice food court recently opened inside the Columbus Circle subway station. On my list of places to check out come this summer’s (reluctant) sojourn.

  40. 40.

    Mike in NC

    Lexington, VA is three hours from DC. Possum Queen must have had a bigly desire to go to a Red Hen (which I’d never heard of before).

  41. 41.

    sixthdoctor

    SHS should be happy that she was confronted and kicked out of the restaurant. How many other times did everyone simply say nothing, then seasoned her food using the Tyler Durden Cookbook?

  46. 46.

    germy

    @trollhattan:

    I wonder what Possum Queen feels about the zero-gays Colorado baker now?

    “A baker or restaurant has the right to decline service to anyone. Unless I walk into a Red Hen. Then I expect a whole, flash-fried red hen, which I can devour. Beak, feet and crispy feathers. It’s in the bible.”

  47. 47.

    D58826

    @Mike in NC: While I don’t shed a tear for the Possum Queen, I really don’t like to see this kind of conduct. Remember first they came for the possum queen, then they came for…..’

  51. 51.

    Suzanne

    @J R in WV: I believe that social shaming is actually our most powerful weapon here. I firmly believe that the Left has won the culture, and that is a far bigger prize than the government in terms of changing society in the ways we want.

  52. 52.

    efgoldman

    @D58826:

    I really don’t like to see this kind of conduct. Remember first they came for the possum queen, then they came for…..’

    Too fucking bad.
    The best response to the “we won’t serve because reasons….” was the pizza place that put a sign in the window that they wouldn’t serve RWNJs

    Fuckem.

    ETA: Our commitment to fairness and process is one of the things that kills us. Bring a rubber stage knife to an artillery duel.

  53. 53.

    joel hanes

    @MobileForkbeard:

    It should have started when Reagan opened his campaign at the Neshoba County Fair with a speech about states rights.
    It should have started when Patrick Buchanan addressed the Republican National Convention.
    It should have started when people first noticed what Phil Gramm, or Tom Delay, or Newt Gingrich were saying.
    It should have happened when RON PAUL published those newsletters.
    It should have happened when Paul Ryan first explained his budget ideas.
    It should have happened when Ollie North became a hero to the right.
    It should have happened when no WMDs were found in Iraq.
    It should have happened when the first reports came back from Abu Ghraib and Bagram

  54. 54.

    Luthe

    @D58826: Ah yes, but that is based on people as a class usually* with immutable traits intrinsic to them. Being a famous asshole working for a bigger asshole is not an immutable trait.

    *Some traits, such as religion, can technically be changed, but are generally central enough to someone’s identity that such change would not happen. Though I suppose it could be argued being a GOP moron is central to some people’s identities…

  55. 55.

    M4

    @joel hanes: to be fair if you asked the average American about any of those they would say ‘huh?’ or have an inaccurate memory, eg re WMD in Iraq. This is the first time that who republicans really are has fully penetrated our consciousness.

  56. 56.

    J R in WV

    Figures that RWNJs can’t tell the difference between a restaurant in DC and one 200 miles away that actually threw Possum Queen out. I suspect she went that far so as to not be attacked by people who despise her despicable performances for trump which appear to be more common in DC now.

    But she is very recognizable, and won’t be able to go anywhere decent in the whole nation. She’s stuck at that Chicken Fingers place that serves their fried chicken sweetened. It is genuinely terrible, I went once before I learned that they were RWNJ religious crazies. It was awful stuff. Eat “Mor Chiken” with sugar on it! No thanks!

    Good luck Sarah honey~!!~

  57. 57.

    p.a.

    @germy: slightly: bottom teeth align with top, such that if you could close your jaws the incisor cutting edges would touch. I’ve considered using a dremel to shorten the molar parts of the plastic mold; that’s where my gag issue is, and that part isn’t necessary for the apnea allieviating effect.

    Funny thing is, I have no memory of being charged for the service or the gear, even though my dental plan is pretty basic. Maybe the office staff used creative coding.

  60. 60.

    MagdaInBlack

    @D58826:
    Say Hitler walks in. Do we refuse service?
    How much morally reprehensible behavior is enough before we stop being “courteous?”

  62. 62.

    Mnemosyne

    @D58826:

    As I pointed out in #20 above, IANAL but as I understand it, merchants have always retained the right to refuse service to specific people. You can’t say, “I refuse to serve Black people,” but you are allowed to say, “I refuse to serve Kanye West because he was an asshole the last time he came in.”

    They knew exactly who SHS was and refused to serve her specifically, not all white women or even all conservative women. I don’t have a huge problem with that.

  63. 63.

    lamh36

    @D58826:
    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    @BruceBartlett
    Should be noted that Sarah Sanders used her official White House press secretary Twitter account to try and hurt a private business and settle a personal score. If anyone in the Obama administration had done that she would have called for their immediate dismissal.

    11:51 AM – Jun 23, 2018

  65. 65.

    Ohio Mom

    @germy: I never wore an apnea mask so I don’t know. It took Ohio Dad a few tries to get the right mask setup, and when he did, all of a sudden, he was more energetic and in a better mood most of the time. But we do know several people who gave up on their apnea machines.

    Maybe someone can invent some sort of pacemaker for apnea and then everyone can toss their machines.

  66. 66.

    Jager

    Mrs J had a long day yesterday, she went to bed to read at 9. I stayed up until 11. When I went into the bedroom I was stunned to hear a 115 ib woman snoring like a 300 pound NFL offensive tackle. I retreated to the guest room and was joined by the 100lb Anze the Dog. Not only did he take up over half of a Queen sized bed, he snores just like his mommy. I just can’t win.

  67. 67.

    Tams

    @Ohio Mom: this was an action shot. I wouldn’t let him post a “posed” pic. But I did nudge him after to put his mask on. That’s what best friends are for!!!

  68. 68.

    efgoldman

    @MagdaInBlack:

    Say Hitler walks in. Do we refuse service?
    How much morally reprehensible behavior is enough

    Yup.
    Whatever the owner says it is. That’s the standard SCOTUS established.
    Shit cuts both ways

    Fuckem

  69. 69.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mike in NC:

    Most likely she has friends and/or family there, which makes the restaurant thing even more humiliating. ?

    Though I like to picture her thinking, I need to get away from this DC bubble and out into Real America where people will thank me for my service. I know — Alexandria! With all of the military people stationed there, I’ll probably get a standing ovation.

  71. 71.

    MagdaInBlack

    From Wonkette comments :

    “It was a pure business decision. How likely is it our other customers will stay if there’s a shambling mound of garbage drawing flies in the middle of the dining area?”

  74. 74.

    Ohio Mom

    @Tams: Good to know!

    I hope you stay around and keep commenting. I think we’d all like to get to know you better.

  75. 75.

    OldDave

    I see Ohio Mom has beat me to the “CPAP doesn’t work if you don’t use it” rant.

  79. 79.

    bluefish

    Sleeping on a Saturday to Sunday with the more evolved among us! Heaven on earth. I swear, I look at my dog these days and just kinda know that he is in fact more enlightened than I am and has already achieved a level of wisdom and transcendence that I will never know. Super cute fotos.

    PS … Fuck these people! To The Hague with their skanky too dumb to breathe asses.

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Yay! For once. I think I read an actual article written for laypeople that laid it all out.

    That idiot baker in Oregon could have saved everyone time and money if he’d just said, Oh, sorry, I’m already booked that weekend when a gay couple asked him to make their cake. But, no, dumbass wanted to be able to openly discriminate and dragged his ugly-ass cakes to court.

  83. 83.

    NotMax

    @germy

    Hm. Mercury was the treatment for syphilis in pre-antibiotic times. (Goes almost without saying that it came with its own dangers and toxic effects.)

  86. 86.

    efgoldman

    @Mnemosyne:

    dumbass wanted to be able to openly discriminate and dragged his ugly-ass cakes to court.

    Overreach is one of their best things

    Fuckem

  87. 87.

    Mnemosyne

    @efgoldman:

    Yeah, that’s why I said she’s probably there visiting. Or hiding out. ?

    I still love my vision of her driving from town to town looking for a restaurant that will serve her, though.

  88. 88.

    germy

    Some folks got excited when they saw Tom Arnold’s tweet about Cohen. He claimed “we’re working together to bring down trump!” or some such bullshit.

    In reality, he bumped into Cohn in a hotel lobby and asked for a selfie. There was no conversation beyond that, and no promises to work together or reveal any tapes.

    Arnold is playing everyone. He’s the flipside of his ex-wife, just on a different team.

    WATCH: When you put Final Jeopardy music over Tom Arnold's awkward avoidance of @PoppyHarlowCNN's Michael Cohen question, the interview gets LIT. pic.twitter.com/2RVLWxB2US— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) June 23, 2018

  90. 90.

    germy

    @NotMax:

    Hm. Mercury was the treatment for syphilis in pre-antibiotic times. (Goes almost without saying that it came with its own dangers and toxic effects.)

    “One night with Venus and a lifetime with Mercury.”

  91. 91.

    germy

    @The Ancient Randonneur:

    That claim can be easily verified if he applied it to himself and he disappeared

    But why would anyone in his audience require such a miracle in a tube? Being that they are all so virtuous and pure. Interesting that he knows such a product would be in demand from his fans…

  92. 92.

    Hitlesswonder

    @germy: I think liberals that want to refuse service need to use the same playbook as conservatives. In this case, I think service should have been refused “for the customers protection. While I myself am not anti-trump, many people are and I cannot guarantee your protection in this establishment. By serving you, I would open up myself to a liability problem, and that would infringe on my rights as a small business owner.”

  93. 93.

    NotMax

    @lamh36

    Mentioning this solely for informational purposes and not as a recommendation. There’s a kind of offbeat superhero series from South Africa on Amazon Prime called Jongo. Any commonalities with Black Panther are tenuous at best, and the acting often tends to veer towards, shall we say, unpolished. Occurred to me it might be something you’d want to give a glance at for curiosity’s sake sometime if have nothing better going on. Trailer

  94. 94.

    scav

    Should be some peoples needing distraction here so . . . the BBC’s got an audio drama series of Maya Angelou’s autobiographies going (episodes available about 30 days). Right now there are 5 episodes of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings up.

    Oh, and @germy: this miracle in a tube is probably all about building the base. They’re not making enough mad as hatters naturally anymore, so lapsed traditional methods of production need to be brought back online.

  99. 99.

    oldster

    samantha: remember ball, the kitten?
    lily: yeah, i’ve read about her
    samantha: yeah, so remember how her gorilla was really good at learning sign language?
    lily: don’t even start. we’ve been trying to teach this one for years.
    samantha: because i am totally doing the sign for “get your mammoth paw off me i’m dying down here”
    lily: and he’s like “snork ubba stillers wuh” and doesn’t move.
    samantha: so can we get a different gorilla? a trainable one?
    lily: oh, he’s trainable.
    lily: hopeless at sign-language. but we have had some success in other areas.
    lily: i’ll have my boy steve fill you in on details.

  101. 101.

    Barbara

    @efgoldman: I know this might be hard to believe, but nearly every incorporated city in rural Virginia is like a little blue island in a sea of red.

  104. 104.

    germy

    The owner didn't want a liar in the establishment. That's not bigotry, that's Biblical.

    No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes. – Psalms 101:7

    — MizFrizz ❄ (@MizFrizz) June 23, 2018

  106. 106.

    JPL

    @lamh36: The pres. asked Corey Lewandowski to fly on Air Force One today, so Sarah’s tweet will get praise at his little rally.

  107. 107.

    Gex

    @D58826: And this is how they have such a great advantage over us. We insist on not drawing a line even when tolerating intolerance will obliterate the concept of tolerance.

    I for one can see a huge moral difference between how society used to be (and sometimes still is) towards queers where social stigma and rejection pushed us out of the social sphere all together versus social stigma making people ashamed to publicly be Nazis. The inability to see the qualitative difference between such things is what let them rebuild and come back out in the open.

    No judgment. Just unthinking rule following. Yuck.

  108. 108.

    efgoldman

    @Hitlesswonder:

    I think liberals that want to refuse service need to use the same playbook as conservatives. In this case

    Assholes don’t understand consequences and follow thru. Like the OK lege that put ten commandments on the capitol grounds, then were gobsmacked when satanists sued to put up a statue of Moloch

  109. 109.

    JPL

    @efgoldman: Both republicans running for governor of GA said that they support the right to discriminate law (religious liberty). The owner should have simply said that her faith made her feel uncomfortable.

  110. 110.

    efgoldman

    @Barbara:

    nearly every incorporated city in rural Virginia is like a little blue island in a sea of red.

    I believe it. My daughter (and hubby) have lived in Arlington 10+ years, and she’s told me that.

  111. 111.

    Kelly

    @germy: Probably colloidal silver a long standing “alternative” to antibiotics. Turns your skin blue permanently if you take enough. Not even an effective antibiotic.

  112. 112.

    NotMax

    @JPL

    Sarah chats with Daddykins each morning before 6 a.m. to discuss what she’s going to spout that day, and he helps her craft the garbage as well.

    “I’ll call and say, ‘What do you think if I say this?’ He’ll say, ‘That’s really good. You might try to say it a little bit more like X,'” she said.

    (Fair warning: Linked AP article is overtly fawning.)

  113. 113.

    JPL

    Sarah’s treatment was mild compared to what happened pre-civil war.

    Philemon T. Herbert sauntered into the Willard Hotel in search of breakfast. Then things got weird.
    It was a little after 11 a.m. on May 8, 1856, when the famished congressman, a first-term Democrat from California, strolled into the hotel’s dining room. After ordering breakfast, Herbert left to buy a couple of newspapers. When he returned, he found part of the meal he ordered but was told the hotel office would have to approve serving a complete breakfast at that hour, according to the Washington Evening Star.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/06/23/a-hungry-congressman-didnt-get-the-breakfast-he-ordered-so-he-shot-the-waiter/?utm_term=.ac8874c359a7

  114. 114.

    JPL

    @NotMax: Some reporters acted with shock at Huckabee’s tweet about Nancy Pelosi, because he was so nice and folksy when they covered him.
    barf

  115. 115.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @NotMax:(Fair warning: Linked AP article is overtly fawning.)

    the Fournier taint remains

    The site failed to catch on, however, and Fournier returned to the AP in March 2007 as its Online Political Editor, after considering “a senior advisory role” with Republican Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign.[3]
    In May 2008, Fournier was named the acting Washington bureau chief, replacing his “mentor” Sandy Johnson.[4] Michael Calderone wrote that since taking over the position, Fournier has led a dramatic shift in the AP’s policy, moving it away from the neutral and objective tone it had become known for and toward a more opinionated style that would make judgments when conflicting opinions were presented in a story.[4]

  116. 116.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @JPL: This doesn’t have anything to do with the recent bakery case. A business owner has always had the right to refuse service to anyone (except if they are discriminating against a protected class) The owner could refuse to serve a drunk, a person wearing Bears jersey, or an obvious asshole.

  117. 117.

    MagdaInBlack

    I invite you all to google Ms Huckabees fathers latest racist tweet re Pelosi.
    It really turned my stomach and I’m going off to read some fluff to recover.

    ETA: I see its been mentioned, but none the less, ugh.

  118. 118.

    efgoldman

    @Gex:

    No judgment. Just unthinking rule following.

    For starters: Gay probably is genetic, being a nazi is absolutely a [bad] choice.
    People of any age need to be punished for bad choices.

  119. 119.

    NotMax

    @JPL

    Presumably her previous stance and statements regarding keeping families intact are now non-operative.

    In 2010 Time named her one of their 40 Under 40 notables. In the accompanying interview she applauded president Obama’s efforts on behalf of broken families.

    “America needs more fathers taking an active role in their children’s lives,” she told Time. “Kids who are the victims of broken families are more likely to end up in poverty, rehab, or jail.

    “I’m a Republican, but I respect President Obama for setting the right example and addressing this problem. I hope more people will join him in his efforts.” Source

  122. 122.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I like this guy

    Brian Schatz @ brianschatz
    I just heard about a restaurant kicking Sarah Sanders out of a restaurant and it’s got me thinking that Democrats have to be talking about health care today and every day till the election.

  123. 123.

    efgoldman

    @JPL:

    it would be funny for Sarah to be upset if the owner cited religious reasons.

    Nothing about her or any member or this maladministration has ever been, is, or will ever be funny.
    Pure malign evil. They don’t do “funny”, they don’t do irony

  125. 125.

    Sister Golden Bear

    My mother just was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two weeks and ago opted for hospice care only. (She’s 84 and decided that she’s had a good life, and that chemo and/or surgery weren’t worth it.) My brother and I flew into town to be with her in her final days.

    It’s shocking how fast it’s progressed. Thankfully, she’s spending most of her time sleeping, although we’re able to get short bits of time where she’s awake and alert. Hoping that things are mercifully quick.

    At least she decided to move into a retirement community about a year-and-a-half ago. She has her own apartment, which she’s able to stay at, but being here has meant things are far, far easier than had she been living on her own. There’s nurses and nurses aides available to give her pills, and more importantly, check in on her every two hours overnight, so at least my brother and I can try to get some sleep (and we can have them watch over her for short periods of time if we need to run errands). Still need separate hospice nursing services as well, but made the day-to-day manageable.

    I can’t imagine how we’d handle things if she was still living on her own (let alone have settled her estate, since she’s a packrat and had lived in her prior house for 47 year).

    Just trying to embrace the suck.

  127. 127.

    raven

    @Sister Golden Bear: The folks who just visited me lost their husband/father to that 6 years ago. He was a biology prof and made the same decision your mom did except that he was only 68.

  128. 128.

    Barbara

    @Sister Golden Bear: So sorry to hear this. My father and several colleagues died of pancreatic cancer. It doesn’t leave many survivors. I hope you can spend meaningful time with your mother in her waning days.

  130. 130.

    lamh36

    SMH…if you claim to have a blanket policy of askin for ID then you DAMN sure better do it for EVERYONE!

    And if you don’t and claim that the law is on your side, then you damn well better be correct, and if not, when called on your incorrectness…you dont’ then treat a paying customer like shit…smh

    @cmclymer
    Last night, I was told by the manager of @CubaLibreDC that I couldn’t use the women’s restroom, and after challenging his discrimination with D.C. law and responding to his threat of calling the police w/ “please do so”, I was forcibly removed from the restaurant. (thread)

    1:14 PM – Jun 23, 2018

    https://twitter.com/cmclymer/status/1010586785079013382

  131. 131.

    germy

    @JPL:

    it would be funny for Sarah to be upset if the owner cited religious reasons.

    No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes. – Psalms 101:7

  134. 134.

    JPL

    The owner has spoken, and she’d do it again. Several of the staff members are gay. The entire article is good.

    Stephanie Wilkinson was at home Friday evening — nearly 200 miles from the White House — when the choice presented itself.
    Her phone rang about 8 p.m. It was the chef at the Red Hen, the tiny farm-to-table restaurant that she co-owned just off Main Street in Lexington, Va.
    Sarah Huckabee Sanders had just walked in and sat down, the chef informed her.
    “He said the staff is a little concerned. What should we do?” Wilkinson told The Washington Post. “I said I’d be down to see if it’s true.”
    It seemed unlikely to her that President Trump’s press secretary should be dining at a 26-seat restaurant in rural Virginia. But then, it was unlikely that her entire staff would have misidentified the woman, who had arrived last to be seated at a table of eight booked under Sanders’s husband’s name.“I was babbling a little, but I got my point across in a polite and direct fashion,” Wilkinson said. “I explained that the restaurant has certain standards that I feel it has to uphold, such as honesty, and compassion, and cooperation.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2018/06/23/why-a-small-town-restaurant-owner-asked-sarah-huckabee-sanders-to-leave-and-would-do-it-again/?utm_term=.311adb0a5e42

  138. 138.

    germy

    @JPL: I notice the washington post link to the photo of the “86 Sanders” note was either taken down or made private on facebook.

    I assume that employee is already dealing with harassment and threats, unfortunately.

  139. 139.

    Jeffro

    @frosty: um it’s a rather royal blue here in Fairfax County ?

    ( harrisonburg and Charlottesville are rather dark blue themselves )

  140. 140.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Jeremy Peters (NYT) on MSNBC right now talking about his latest “but what do trump supporters think of trump?” piece, “Democrats need to take these people into account,” says Peters

    I wonder if MSNBC producers are on the ball enough to pick up that the featured MAGAt in his piece is the founder of a pro-confederate PAC

    southpaw @ nycsouthpaw
    Is this the most informative way to describe the cofounder of a pro-confederate monuments astroturf PAC?

    ETA: segment winding down… MSNBC weekend crew don’t follow Southpaw
    ETA, A: MSNBC host “can’t commend that piece enough”, because it’s such an original idea, I guess. Sweet jesus.

  143. 143.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Sister Golden Bear: When I lived in the US one of our local and very well respected attorneys Walter Vatcher (I loved him, he was the epitome of a southern gentleman, so much different from my arsehole boss) complained of a slight pain in his side while playing golf in April. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and by May he was dead DESPITE every medical procedure and treatment known to man conducted at Duke Medical Center. I often wonder if he would have been better off ignoring the pain and carried on playing golf for a couple of months. As it was he spent his last six or so weeks in bed and in unspeakable pain after surgery and procedure after procedure. He went from playing on the golf course with a “slight pain” to being bed ridden and in agony for the rest of his life. I think your Mom made the right decision.

  145. 145.

    Peale

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: this is just silly. The democrats do not need to focus on trump supporters. I will feel awful if it turns out that the blue wave never materializes, but if it doesn’t, it’s because our voters stayed home at mid terms. If they do, it won’t be because the democrats weren’t right wing enough on trade and should have demonized Somalis more and cut Medicaid.

  146. 146.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @JPL: but if Wilkinson says her restaurant is her art Jethrene et al have to STFU, right?

    @Peale: If I googled this woman now, I guess the results would be skewed by the attention she’s already getting, but wouldn’t you think that is, at this point, some pretty basic reporting about someone you’re going to present as representative of some political movement? Just last week there was a similar case, where the case study in trump loyalty turned out to be a former chair of her county R party. No mention of it in the original piece

  148. 148.

    frosty

    @Jeffro: True enough about Fairfax. The statement of islands of blue in a sea of red describes most of the US, I expect.

  150. 150.

    Denali

    @John Cole,

    Since it is an open thread, I’d like to congratulate you on your trip across the pond to sing along with Paul McCartney on Carpoool Karoake using your James Cordon alias. Its all over UTube.

  153. 153.

    Cckids

    @efgoldman:

    The best response to the “we won’t serve because reasons….” was the pizza place that put a sign in the window that they wouldn’t serve RWNJs

    I like Azucar bakery in Denver; they baked a giant rainbow wedding cake & made T-shirts that said “ Love is Love. Eat good cake!”

  154. 154.

    Mnemosyne

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    I’m so sorry. It sounds like she was able to make her decisions and prepare in a way that will make it easier on your family, so that’s something to be grateful for.

    One thing to keep in mind: if the final moment happens when you and/or your brother are out of the room, do not feel guilty. Sometimes people who are dying feel like they have to continue holding on while their loved ones are present, so they wait until a nurse or a less-close relative is in the room. This happened with both my father-in-law and my own father when they were dying, and we heard many stories afterwards of other people experiencing the same phenomenon. If that happens, it’s not because you failed to be there — it’s because your mother chose to spare you that particular pain.

  155. 155.

    Peale

    @JPL: basically bean bag tossing, but with bags of dried corn. Midwest picnic thing. Now it’s gone pro in the same way someone tried to make dodgeball or hopscotch professional years ago.

  158. 158.

    JPL

    @Peale: I made 100 bean bags filled with corn for my sons gym teacher in elementary school decades ago. That might have been the start of something big.

  159. 159.

    Steeplejack

    I don’t have a Twitter account, but I get on there daily to read various threads (usually linked from here). I was looking at Jethrene’s account (@PressSec), and it struck me how partisan it is. I don’t know whether you can even have an “official” account on Twitter, but there is a note saying “tweets may be archived: wh.gov/privacy.” So there is the whiff of something official there.

    The top three items in her “Who to follow” list are: GOP (“Join our team and get official updates from the Republican National Committee”), Seb Gorka (“Order my NEW book”) and Marco Rubio (“U.S. Senator for Florida”—snooze). I can’t see any more than that because Twitter insists that I log in.

    I wonder if Rubio is on there because the Huckabee clan has decamped en masse to Florida. I know Papa Huck built a big mansion there, but I don’t know if Jethrene and her family were living there before she got called up to the bigs.

  160. 160.

    p.a.

    Open thread, let’s talk something pleasant: tacos (friend, 52 y.o. was just diagnosed w stage 4 pancreatic, just so you don’t think I’m being callous. He’s declining treatment also.)

    Is there a ‘book’ on which fillings verde or rojo go with? Or personal preference?
    A friend from San Diego claims here in New England the meat, especially carne asada, is overcooked. Says in S.D. the meat often comes off a spit, gyro-like, which I’ve never seen here (and I patronize Mexican owned places, not national chains or Johnson & Wales wannabes.) Personally I don’t mind lettuce, dislike queso, find radish weird but tolerable, and like the option of pico, which some places don’t offer.

  162. 162.

    Tazj

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: There’s video out there of Peters, in the car with Steve Bannon of all people, and in the video Bannon congratulates Peters on his book deal. I think it’s from a Showtime documentary(I saw the clip on the Twitter Feed of Oliver Willis). It’s all about access, entertainment and money making with these people. They don’t care about the country at all.

  163. 163.

    Dorothy Winsor

    I know this is trivial but I want to know if Sarah HS was wearing her pearls when she entered the Red Hen. I’m fascinated by her old lady jewelry.

  165. 165.

    sukabi

    @JPL: the current administration and their enablers are competing on who can corn hole the country the hardest.

  166. 166.

    efgoldman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    “Democrats need to take these people into account,”

    Fuck them, fuck him.
    We’re democrats, we don’t truck with racists and fascists.
    Even if we try somehow to appease them, there are no votes to be had there, ever.
    The man is a delusional asshole.

  168. 168.

    debg

    John, thanks for linking the New Yorker piece. You’re right–it’s great. And I would have missed it if not for you.

    Hugs to Miss Lily and all the zoo.

  171. 171.

    Chet Murthy

    @Spanky: She’s one of the small-digit number of name-checked reasons I subscribed to WaPo. National treasure, that woman.

  172. 172.

    Brachiator

    @WereBear:

    I liked parts of the essay, disagreed with much of it. But this part really resonated with me.

    Though the most popular strategy of the left for doing nothing, so far as I can tell, is perfectionism: “I would support it but it’s flawed, I would work with them but they are impure, I would join but they’re not good enough (so I’ve written myself a ticket to the sidelines).” It’s another form of border patrol that in pretending to keep out everything imperfect keeps out every obligation to act or even justifies tearing down those who do.

    It is good to know that people are fighting back, and that empathy is not dead.

  175. 175.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Omnes Omnibus: It depends on what else you pair it with. They can look elegant or fuddy-duddy. I have a lot of pearl jewelry that I have inherited. My peeps are known for their love of pearls. My great grandfather owned pearl fields outside Mumbai.

  177. 177.

    tobie

    @Tazj: I can’t say it surprises me to hear that the NYT’s Jeremy Peters associated with Bannon. While Haberman has always struck me as someone who would do anything for access and didn’t have much in the way of political convictions (save insensitivity to her own enormous privilege), Peters always seemed to me to be something of a true conservative believer. I guess my instincts were right.

  179. 179.

    Peale

    @Omnes Omnibus: it’s the size of the pearl that matters. Women achieve the right to wear larger pearls as they age. Buying the “biggest south seas pearls” available because they are expensive isn’t the right thing for a woman under 50 to do.

  180. 180.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Peale: That makes sense in a way. Most of what I see is an almost choker-like thing of smallish pearls.

  183. 183.

    Mnemosyne

    @lamh36:

    Good. As people were saying in the replies, if politicians and the MSM are going to shut down dissent, people are going to (peacefully but angrily) take it into their own hands.

    You could see that the one bearded dude wanted to get into it with the protesters, but the cops wouldn’t let him. Ha!

  184. 184.

    zhena gogolia

    @lamh36:

    I wish I lived somewhere where these people eat out. I’d really enjoy screaming at them. (Husband would crawl under a rock — but he wouldn’t stop me.)

  187. 187.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Mnemosyne: Thank you all, and thank you Mnemosyne for that particular piece of advice.

    She’s stated repeatedly that she doesn’t want to live any more, so we’re hoping it will be quick. We’re having to steadily increase the pain meds, so it’s likely that soon she’ll be asleep and not feeling pain for the duration, which is a close as we can get to her desires. (She’d wanted to pursue assisted suicide — which thanks to a court stay, is temporarily legal in California — but she won’t last the 15-day waiting period anyway, so at this point it’s moot.)

    Just to add extra stress, I’m leaving in less three weeks for major surgery in Thailand. Something I can’t really move because the surgeon’s waiting list is at least 18 months. Mom gave her blessing to go, but it means my brother will have to settle her estate single-handling in my absence (I’ll be gone five weeks, and even when I return I won’t be in shape to do that much for at least a couple months). Thankfully, he’s understanding about it, but I still feel guilty about that.

    #EmbraceTheSuck

  188. 188.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    this cracked me up

    James Poniewozik @ poniewozik
    The Red Hen should have just taken Sarah Sanders’ order, then spent an hour saying, “We’ll get back to you on that.”

    and when she complains, say “I haven’t spoken to the chef directly on that, but I would refer you to your busboy, or to an outside server”, then pivot to the next table and ignore her

  190. 190.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    also, too

    Sarah Sanders @ PressSec
    Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so

    John Dinkel @ JohnDingell
    I REALLY DON’T CARE. DO U?

    and I really hope Nixon’s twitter-ghost is right about this

    Richard M. Nixon Retweeted John Dingell
    Some people try to say a kid runs this for Dingell but I don’t believe it. He’s a real son of a bitch.

  199. 199.

    sukabi

    @Sister Golden Bear: sending hugs…my uncle had pancreatic cancer 20 years ago, opted for chemo, and other treatments. Let’s just say his quality of life was horrible, and don’t think he bought any time, just misery. He went fast.

    Wishing Peace, hugs and a peaceful final journey surrounded by family and friends for your mom.

  201. 201.

    Elizabelle

    @Sister Golden Bear: Best to you and your brother.

    Wishing your mom a peaceful passage, and I hope hospice can keep the pain at bay.

    Your mom made a lot of good decisions with you two in mind.

  202. 202.

    cs

    @Michael Bersin: Johnson County split its vote almost evenly between Trump & Clinton. People in the county, and their politicians, have been at the forefront of the revolt against Brownback & the tax cuts. Johnson County was one of the key places where Brownback radicals were kicked out in 2016. They’re not so Republican any more.

    Looks like they’re following the pattern of many prosperous suburban counties across the country. Once solid red, now revolting against Trump.

  203. 203.

    Steeplejack

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I saw at least part of it on cable. You did well to avoid it.

    Even worse than Stallone as “gritty noir remake” poison is Mel Gibson. Ransom? Sucked. Payback? Sucked.

    And the remake of the remake—Parker (Jason Statham, 2013)—sucked too. Just stop. You’re not going to beat Lee Marvin in Point Blank.

    Recommended as a palate-cleanser is A Walk Among the Tombstones with Liam Neeson. Pretty damn good.

  206. 206.

    Mnemosyne

    The acoustics of the alley that runs behind our apartment must be great, because we seem to get at least one or two people outside practicing their singing every weekend. It mostly seems to be show tunes I don’t recognize, probably in preparation for a performance on a Disney Channel or Nickelodeon live-action kids’ show.

  208. 208.

    Dorothy Winsor

    Even if I were some sort of Steve King Republican (typing that makes me ill), I’d be shocked by the incompetence with which the policy was carried out. No wonder Trump’s businesses went bankrupt.

  209. 209.

    sukabi

    A different level of “Freeway Blogging”

    Activists in California altered a billboard on a busy highway to remind citizens what the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s priorities are all about.

    “We make kids disappear’ – I.C.E.” the billboard, changed Wednesday night, reads on Emeryville’s Shellmound St, referring to the U.S. law enforcement agency by its acronym. It previously read “We Make Junk Disappear” for an ad for trash removal, CBS San Fransisco reported.

    Video at the link.

  210. 210.

    sukabi

    @Dorothy Winsor: re his bankrupt businesses…quick grifts is all he’s ever been about…he’s never tried to succeed long term in his enterprises. His whole goal seems to be to cheat as many people as possible and squeeze as much money out of them for his personal use.

  211. 211.

    Mnemosyne

    @sukabi:

    On the Freeway Blogger’s Twitter feed, he explained how he’s able to get his signs up and get away before the cops catch him in the act — he uses bungee cords to secure the signs to the chain link rather than relying on tape.

  213. 213.

    Gexmobile

    @sukabi: and plan b is inmidate with lawyers and lawsuits. He doesn’t have to have a case. He just needs to bankrupt someone who tries to wn.

  214. 214.

    sukabi

    10 newborns and toddlers taken from mothers & incarcerated in “tender age prisons”

    At least 10 newborns and toddlers taken away from their parents after crossing the the U.S.-Mexico border are being housed in so-called “tender-age shelters” near Miami, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz told the Miami Herald on Saturday.

    The Florida lawmaker said the children — from newborns to 5 years old — are being sheltered at His House Children’s Home near Miami Gardens and Catholic Charities’ Msgr. Bryan Walsh Children’s Village in Cutler Bay, formerly known as Boys Town

  215. 215.

    Platonailedit

    US officials who have committed felonies — provable felonies like lying on clearance forms, which should have led to their dismissal long ago — are imprisoning parents who committed misdemeanors, and abducting and abusing children who did nothing.

    — Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) June 22, 2018

  216. 216.

    sukabi

    @Mnemosyne: yeah, he’s been busy too. I think the above is a different group…they are “re-imagining” existing billboards. ☺

  217. 217.

    sukabi

    @Platonailedit: it would be awesome if Rosenstein would implement a zero tolerance policy on the felonies being committed daily by the corrupt assholes in the administration.

  218. 218.

    Amir Khalid

    I have a question: I should be able to clean dried superglue off a polyurethane finish without damaging the finish, right?

  220. 220.

    NotMax

    @Amir Khalid

    FYI, some alternatives to using acetone:

    1) mineral spirits
    2) blot with olive oil (let it soak a bit and you may be able to peel the dried glue away a little at a time)
    3) laundry detergent (1:4 ratio mixed in hot water)
    4) petroleum jelly (rub vigorously, repeat as needed)

  223. 223.

    Michael Bersin

    @cs:

    I had a lengthy conversation at the protest with a newly graduated high school student from Overland Park (going to college in the Fall). He was heartened by the protest and the turnout.

  225. 225.

    jl

    Thnx 4 petpix. Nice to know that Cole’s adorable pets have a fun chew-toy to entertain them through the night.

  228. 228.

    Ruckus

    @Elizabelle:

    Get a clue, Trumpanzees.

    They can’t find, purchase or steal a clue.
    Which doesn’t matter as they are not capable of understanding a clue even if one smacked them upside the head.

  231. 231.

    frosty

    @Sister Golden Bear: My mom spent a few years with vascular dementia and in addition to a DNR notice she had one to not hospitalize and not treat. When she came down with a gall bladder infection my brother, sister, and I had to make the decision against surgery (easy) then decide to drop the antibiotics. She’d been living in a continuing care place for 20 years and had good hospice care. None of us were there af the end but some of the staff were.

    Your mom has made her choice, and probably a good one. Do your best to support her while she lets go of the world. It’s all you can do.

  232. 232.

    J R in WV

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    So sorry to see this.

    Don’t worry about going to do your business abroad, it was all arranged long ago, and you Mom has already told you to go ahead. And the estate business to deal with won’t even have started by the time you’re back and on your feet, ready to go.

    My dad was in Hospice care, they did a great job both his helpers at his assisted living center and his doctor and nurse from Hospice. Caring people who helped us children as well as my dad.

    Best of luck going forward!!!

  233. 233.

    singing truth to power

    @NotMax: My daughter was in D.C. this weekend. Apparently there is another Red Hen in the city, that is not the same ownership, but she said it was indeed swamped anyhow.

  234. 234.

    singing truth to power

    @Sister Golden Bear: I just finished my volunteer training for a biggish hospice in Madison, WI. My father, brother-in-law, and half-sister all died there. Lovely, peaceful, thoughtful care. I hope that your mother’s passing is as peaceful as my relatives was. I couldn’t wish for more for myself. The volunteering is something I have wanted to do since I read Elizabeth Kubler Ross’s “On Death and Dying” maybe 40 years ago. My best to you and your family –

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