Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

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

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

We still have time to mess this up!

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

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

I really should read my own blog.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Infrastructure week. at last.

“But what about the lurkers?”

You cannot shame the shameless.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2018 / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Soldier On

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Soldier On

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  1. 1.

    Pete Mack

    Grrr. Why post a cover of “first we take Manhattan”, when it’s not necessary? Leonard Cohen was a musical and poetic god who never got enough recognition. And I suspect this song in particular was partially inspired by this. And yes there are dozens of covers of this song, though not so many as there are of Hallelujah. But he sang it better than REM ever did.

  4. 4.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Elon Musk has questioned the expertise of Thai rescue officials who turned down his offer of a submarine, despite their having organised the successful rescue of all 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave. The entrepreneur had offered his help and posted footage of tests being carried out on the apparatus he proposed in recent days. But while Narongsak Osatanakorn, the head of the joint command centre co-ordinating the operation, acknowledged Musk’s offer he said that the mini submarine would not have been practical for the cave rescue.

    “Even though their equipment is technologically sophisticated, it doesn’t fit with our mission to go in the cave,” Osatanakorn told reporters.

    In response, Musk said Osatanakorn was “not the subject matter expert”, adding that he believed he had been “inaccurately described as rescue chief”, and should be more accurately referred to as the “former Thai provincial governor”. Osatanakorn stepped down as the governor of Chiang Rai during the rescue operation, but remained its commander.

    Musk posted an image of his email correspondence with Dick Stanton, the British diver who first made contact with the football squad and their coach, in which Stanton asked the inventor to keep working on a project that could potentially bear fruit. “Moreover, based on extensive cave video review and discussion with several divers who know journey, SpaceX engineering is absolutely certain that mini-sub can do entire journey & demonstrate at any time,” Musk added.

    The ego on this mf’er. And people are just supposed to take his word for the miracles his technology can accomplish at a time when the slightest mistake can kill. Just like the so called “autopilot” on his cars.

  5. 5.

    Anne Laurie

    @Pete Mack:

    Why post a cover of “first we take Manhattan”, when it’s not necessary?

    It’s one of my favorite Cohen songs, and I’ve used both his & Jennifer Warnes’ versions here before. (IIRC, Mr. Cohen said he preferred the Warnes/Vaughn version to his own… )

  7. 7.

    Shalimar

    a href=”#comment-6941737″>OzarkHillbilly: If there are subject matter experts on the use of mini-submarines in cave rescues, I am almost positive Elon Musk is not one of them.

    “Thank you for letting me test my new toy. Sorry everybody died. The data we gained is going to make it more effective next time.”

  8. 8.

    raven

    @The Ancient Randonneur: Funny you should ask! I rented a car. The reunion is Saturday night and I don’t fly out until later Sunday afternoon so I decided I wanted to drive around and see stuff!

  9. 9.

    David Evans

    Late to the party, but I think Jennifer Warnes has the best version of this song. Also, Famous Blue Raincoat. Mmmm

  12. 12.

    Schlemazel

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    The guy is an inflamed asshole, his ego could not fit in that cave. When you look at the “technical” stuff he does you will not see anything new there. He is trying to pull a Steve Jobs, take others work, put a lot of marketing behind it and making HIM the big deal. He has a legion of fanbois online though & if you dare point this out, particularly if you have examples you will be in for a waterfall of hate

  13. 13.

    Baud

    A majority of Americans now say the Supreme Court should base its rulings on what the Constitution means today, representing a shift in public opinion.

    Between Obamacare’s surge in approval and this, I’m getting tired of a contrian public that doesn’t know what it has until it’s gone.

  18. 18.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Heh:

    Police in Canada are reminding drivers not to leave electronic key fobs sitting in unattended vehicles, after a woman in Ontario accidentally stole a car for two weeks having mistaken it for her rental car.

    The woman rented a black Nissan Sentra in late June, according to police in Cornwall, a city of some 47,000 people in eastern Ontario. From there she headed to Walmart, where she did a little shopping before tracking down a black vehicle in the sea of cars parked outside. She climbed in the unlocked car, pushed the start button and drove home. Soon after, police received a report about a black Nissan Infiniti that had been stolen in the same parking lot. The owner said he had ducked into Walmart and returned to find his car missing from the parking lot, according to police.

    “For the next two weeks, the woman drove around and used the black car for her regular everyday activities,” seemingly oblivious to the fact that the car she was driving was not the same one that she had rented, the police said.

    The first hint of the swap came last weekend, when she attempted to return the car to the rental company. “Once inside, the woman spoke to the manager and commented about how unkempt the inside of the vehicle was and the fact that there was a set of golf clubs in it as well,” police said on Facebook. “The woman was not impressed and handed over the keys.” The keys she turned in belonged to a Nissan Infiniti rather than a Sentra, leaving the manager “slightly confused”, said police. “The manager observed the vehicle and asked the woman where she got it.”

    After a quick back and forth over which car the woman had actually rented, the pair began to retrace the woman’s steps. When they reached the Walmart parking lot, the rental car was still sitting in the same spot where it had been parked two weeks before, police noted.

    The woman – who police described as being “confused and a wee bit embarrassed herself” – contacted police, explaining that she had accidentally taken an Infinity and driven around in it for two weeks. Police located the owner soon after and reunited him with his car.

  19. 19.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    @raven:

    Plenty of fluke, bass and blue are caught on a 4 hour charter this time of year. As a single you should find a spot.

  20. 20.

    PaulWartenberg

    in NATO news, trump has already opened a salvo aimed at Germany, accusing Merkel and that nation of being under Russia’s control.

    this is akin to Hannibal Lecter accusing Will Graham of being the cannibal during the first chapter of Red Dragon.

    Merkel is not the one with 30 years of business dealings with the Russian Mob.

    Germany is not the nation worried about a goddamn Pee Tape.

    This is it, folks. trump is nuking NATO from orbit while Putin gets a hard-on thinking up all the ways he will punish Ukraine when he starts his full invasion.

  24. 24.

    debbie

    @PaulWartenberg:

    Why, why, why hasn’t anyone said to Trump’s face that his lack of gratitude for the allies’ support following 9/11 and Bush’s invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan is the real problem, and that he risks a lack of support from the world after the next attack?

  25. 25.

    Zinsky

    The party preference polls are all well and good but it’s all going to come down to the turnout of the 18 to 35 year olds at the polls in November. If youth show up to vote, we can crush this nascent fascism in its infancy. If they stay home, better get ready to leave the U.S., because we are one terrorist attack from losing all of our civil liberties. Poof!

  27. 27.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Barbara: The woman appears to be a bit of an airhead. My little sis is like that. It gets comical at times. Good thing she knows how to laugh at herself.

    @debbie: There is video of it at the link. It is a rube goldberg collection of bits and pieces slapdashed together by otherwise intelligent engineers who probably have open water experience but are wholly ignorant of what it is like to traverse thru a cave. It’s a joke. (not that the idea doesn’t have possibilities, but this was laughable) And yes, it is larger than 15″.

    @Schlemazel: He was wrongfully denied the opportunity to be the hero he deep down to the core of his being knows he is.

  34. 34.

    Lapassionara

    @debbie: He needs to keep them motivated. It would be interesting to know the back story on those pardons. Meanwhile, he is embarrassing the US daily.

  35. 35.

    WereBear

    @OzarkHillbilly: This has almost happened to me. Gray compact cars all look alike these days, and I have actually been tugging on the handle when I noticed bling hanging from the rearview (which I never do.)

  37. 37.

    Gin & Tonic

    @raven: What the randonneur said – there are half-day options out of Point Judith all summer. You’re an early riser, so should be no problem.

  39. 39.

    satby

    @rikyrah: Good morning ?!

    @Baud: how about it? When someone complains to my face I usually ask if they vote Republican normally, and then tell them they’re getting what they voted for. Fortunately, I haven’t ever cared about being popular ???

  40. 40.

    MattF

    Saw an online review of Musk’s latest adventures in car manufacturing, so now I understand much better. He’s not a complete fake, but he vastly overestimates his own competence and vastly underestimates the competence of others. Not a good combination.

  41. 41.

    Kay

    Robert Barnes
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    It’s a small world: One of the former Kavanaugh clerks signing a letter of endorsement for their old boss is Philip Alito, son of Justice Samuel Alito.

    Gross. Such a tiny and exclusive little club.

  42. 42.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Schlemazel:

    He has a legion of fanbois online though & if you dare point this out, particularly if you have examples you will be in for a waterfall of hate

    Oh, yeah. It rivals Cult 45 in its irrationality and imperviousness to facts.

    It was deeply irresponsible for him to act as a distraction and Monday morning quarterback everything.

  44. 44.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @WereBear: I have done the same with silver Dodge p/us. Many years ago My parents were leaving Powell Hall after a symphony performance. They walked down the street, came to their car, the old man unlocked it and they got in. He was unable to start the car however. No matter how he jiggled the key in the ignition he could not turn it. About this point my mother started noticing that there were things in the car that did not belong to them. They got out, relocked the car and soon found the car that really was theirs just a few more cars down the block.

    And neither got arrested for tampering with a vehicle.

  45. 45.

    satby

    @WereBear:,@OzarkHillbilly:
    when I was a road warrior, teams of us were sent to each location at once for weeks but we flew home weekends. After about a month, it wasn’t uncommon for people to try to open the rental car they had the week before that someone else now had, or to use their keycard on the hotel room from a previous week.

  46. 46.

    Baud

    @satby: You’re popular with me.

    @Kay: Scalia’s kid is a big shot lawyer also. I believe he does anti-labor stuff mostly.

  48. 48.

    ArchTeryx

    @Zinsky: “One terrorist attack?” You’re a rose-glassed optimist. We’re going to lose them anyway once this newly minted fascist Supreme Court really gets rolling.

  49. 49.

    Betty Cracker

    @OzarkHillbilly: That’s hilarious!

    @rikyrah: So Republican-appointed justices not only get a lifetime job, they get to hand-pick their successors. Another thing someone pointed out on Twitter: when R v W is overturned, four of the five Republican-appointed male justices who vote to strip us womenfolk of bodily autonomy will have been seated by white male presidents who lost the popular vote. We’re ruled by a Christianist bloc whose agenda is not endorsed by most of America. It’s not supposed to work like this, and I don’t see how it’s sustainable long-term.

  51. 51.

    OzarkHillbilly

    A former nurse has admitted tampering with intravenous drips in a mass poisoning case that police believe led to the deaths of dozens of patients at a hospital in Japan two years ago. Ayumi Kuboki, 31, was arrested at the weekend on suspicion of killing Sozo Nishikawa, 88, by injecting his intravenous drip bag with disinfectant when she was working at Oguchi hospital in Yokohama.

    She has since told investigators that she also poisoned another 88-year-old man, Nobuo Yamaki, who was being treated in the same fourth-floor room as Nishikawa, and may have killed another 20 patients using the same method, according to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

    This gets my nomination for understatement of the year:

    “We had had no inkling that she was a problem employee,”

  53. 53.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker: I think it’s sustainable as long as our side is more worried about making marginal improvements to the Democratic Party than it is fighting fascism.

    @Peale: I believe Trump is that smiting.

  55. 55.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:
    Kay,
    The more that I read about this Kennedy/Kavanaugh thing, I go back to your comments that you always knew that Kennedy was a fake, because of how he treated voting rights.

  58. 58.

    Peale

    @OzarkHillbilly: a few weeks after I got my Nissan, I also almost picked up an inifinity of the almost same color in a parking lot. I sat in the car and wondered why all the mirrors were wrong. Had the owner left his fob in the car, I probably would have started it.

  63. 63.

    randy khan

    It’s kind of funny how long it took the Rs to figure out that the candidate in NJ-2 was a loon, since he’s been pretty open about it from the start. And the guy he’s running to replace was about as moderate as Republicans get these days – among other things he was very unhappy with the Administration’s environmental policies, probably because his district covers about half of the Jersey Shore. (Yes, it’s capitalized. There is only one.)

  64. 64.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: Maybe we’ll continue to form circular firing squads as the Republicans build Gilead around us. I don’t think so, though.

  65. 65.

    dnfree

    @David Evans: one of the most touching Cohen songs is the one he and Jennifer Warned co-wrote and she sang, the Song of Bernadette. It expresses life’s regrets so poignantly.

  66. 66.

    MattF

    @Betty Cracker: Me neither. We’re all sensitive to sniping from the holier-than-thou Left, but no one else cares about that. I think it’s much more likely that the height and blueness of the coming wave has been seriously underestimated– but I know by now that wishful thinking is a bad thing.

  67. 67.

    BlueDWarrior

    @Betty Cracker: The next four years will show us the activists who are trying to build functional liberal majorities, and people who just want to be on the left for some misaimed notion of street cred.

  69. 69.

    Gex

    @Baud: As is usual, Republican talking points that suggest these things will hurt other people are very popular. The realization that they are among the other people who are going to be hurt is less popular.

  71. 71.

    MattF

    @Gex: Republican talking points are designed to evoke certain emotions. Period. ‘Realizations’, ‘thoughts’, and so forth are not involved.

  72. 72.

    germy

    @MattF:

    Republican talking points are designed to evoke certain emotions. Period.

    Resentment, hatred and fear.

  74. 74.

    BC in Illinois

    @WereBear:
    @OzarkHillbilly:
    Back in the days when I actually lived in Illinois, back in the days before cell phones – – i.e., back in the last century – – I got a call from my daughter at the mall in Belleville, 45 miles away. She had gone shopping with her high school friends and now she couldn’t get into the minivan. It was icy and she couldn’t get the key into the lock. She figured that the keyhole had iced up.

    Okay. So I got in my car, picked up a de-icer and began the one hour trip in sort-of icy conditions.

    While daughter and her friends were waiting inside the entrance to the mall, they saw someone walk to the van, put in his key, and drive away. “Oh. Maybe that wasn’t your van. Maybe THAT is your van.” Sure enough, another van, same color, who can tell them apart? They then just waited for me to arrive. (Pre-cell phones.) I was more relieved than ticked when I got there.

  75. 75.

    MattF

    @Gex: I guess talking points have a lifetime of a few months. Anything longer than that, you have to be cautious and leave yourself some wiggle room– you wouldn’t want talking points to congeal into policy. That would be an error.

  76. 76.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @WereBear: Happens to me regularly in the ‘hood – neighbor’s Nissan is almost the same color and size as my Kia. I’ve learned to keep the inside slightly messy so I can recognize my wheels by the crap inside…

  77. 77.

    NotMax

    @Uncle Cosmo

    Heh. One reason when I took Mom on a car shopping expedition I insisted she opt for a distinctive color.

    (Impossible to find a pic on the ‘net that shows the particular color accurately, but the linked one is close.)

  78. 78.

    stan

    Many years ago I had a green Plymouth Volare wagon, back when those were popular cars. I had to replace the driver’s door, so i got a blue one out of the junkyard. I NEVER had a hard time finding that car, and for sure no one else wanted it ;)

  79. 79.

    Gravenstone

    With rental vehicles, I can understand potential confusion. But does NO ONE think to double check their license plates before jumping into a vehicle if there is any uncertainty?

  80. 80.

    J R in WV

    @WereBear:

    Wife once was able to unlock the doors of a similar VW to ours, got in, was ready to start up, when she noticed that our trash was missing — in other words, the car was to clean inside to be the one she drove every day, which had many remains of fast-food eaten in the car en route to a newsworthy event.

    If it exploded, leaked, caught fire, caved in, or went on strike, she was there. Driving country roads to find the story of the moment. Oh, yeh, prison riots, also too. So a clean VW was NOT her VW.

    I expect if her plain old key worked for the door — it would have worked for the ignition switch too. . .

  81. 81.

    opiejeanne

    @OzarkHillbilly: I used to own a white Jeep Cherokee, ’92. So did half of the rest of the world. I unlocked my car with the key one time and the kids piled in, but the key wouldn’t fit into the ignition. Hmm. Then my youngest piped up, “This isn’t our car; it’s too clean!” Our car was parked a little farther down the row.

  82. 82.

    Ruckus

    @Betty Cracker:
    The sustainability isn’t an issue to the perps. First, they don’t think about the negatative possibilities of their ideas, they’re convinced they are 100% right at all times. Conservatism doesn’t need reality, cults never do. Second, they don’t actually care if it works, only that the cult rewards them for their devotion to it.

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