Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

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

Let there be snark.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Not all heroes wear capes.

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

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

I really should read my own blog.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Optimism opens the door to great things.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

Bark louder, little dog.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

You are here: Home / Fear and Self Loathing

Fear and Self Loathing

by | 48 Comments

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First off, I have no idea why there is a Newseum. If there needs to be one, it should be completely online with maybe a small building to house what little can not be kept in virtual space. As it is, here is the ridiculous monstrosity:

And then you have this:

If you’re looking to stock up on the famous red hats that bear Donald Trump’s favorite slogan, look no further than the Newseum’s gift shop.

On its website, the interactive news museum in Washington, D.C., sells $14.99 “Make America Great Again” hats alongside American flag accessories and ties that bear the preamble to the Constitution. A T-shirt that says “You are very fake news” sells for $24.99, but it’s on sale for $19.97.

Idiots.

Reader Interactions

48Comments

  12. 12.

    Matt McIrvin

    I always wondered who goes there–there are a huge number of awe-inspiring museums in DC, most of them have absolutely free admission, and if I recall correctly this place charges a hefty admission fee while not having as inherently interesting a subject as any of those.

    (I did go to the Spy Museum once, which is also not free; that place is silly but at least you can indulge James Bond fantasies in there.)

  14. 14.

    eemom

    To be fair, pretty much every place in deecee that sells tourist shit — which is a shit ton of places — sells that stuff. On, uh, both sides.

  16. 16.

    Olivia

    My 14 year old grandson was there a few months ago on a school trip. He said it was really a boring place and a waste of the short time that they had while they were there. I read that they are having a hard time keeping it going financially.

  20. 20.

    Steeplejack

    As someone who has actually been to the Newseum, I have to say that I think it’s pretty cool. They do a lot of great events. It’s also pretty “meta,” so I think those MAGA hats are being sold “ironically,” if that can be considered to be a thing.

  23. 23.

    Mike in NC

    Never had any interest in seeing the Newseum when we lived in NoVA. Didn’t miss anything I guess.

  24. 24.

    Mike in NC

    @Matt McIrvin: Went to the Spy Museum shortly before moving to NC and it was fun. We have no kids so museum visits are few and far between. Free is good.

    Just read that admission to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral is now $57 for “adults” (age 13 and up) and $47 for kids (12 and under). Why???

  28. 28.

    Major Major Major Major

    “First off, I have no idea why there is a Newseum. If there needs to be one, it should be completely online with maybe a small building to house what little can not be kept in virtual space.”

    You really don’t see why somebody might want to have a museum about journalism?

    As for “completely online,” most media has yet to be digitized (or done so with an intellectual property scheme that would allow free/nonprofit online distribution), so.

    That said, those are dumb gifts.

  29. 29.

    Original Lee

    @Steeplejack: I agree. I don’t find everything in it fascinating, but last summer (the last time I was there), most of the exhibits were very interesting. I took two teenage boys, neither of whom were history buffs but who had just finished taking AP European History, there and we spent a solid four hours going over it from top to bottom. The top floor is my favorite – it’s where they have front pages from all over the world of important historical events. The boys spent almost two hours just on the front pages. One would find an event and show it to the other one, and call me over, and tell me about it. They also loved the virtual Berlin Wall. Having been through Checkpoint Charlie back in the day, I was able to talk about it some. The sports video was also fascinating to them. So I guess it really depends on your attitude when you go.

  34. 34.

    Amir Khalid

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Selamat harijadi to you and Omnes. Speaking of birthdays, it’s the fourth of August on this side of the globe, and the birthday of a still-popular former POTUS.

  35. 35.

    Steeplejack

    In other Balloon Juice demographic news, I believe Anne Laurie’s wedding anniversary was Wednesday.

  37. 37.

    Joshua Norton

    To add insult to injury, they tore down the historic National Hotel, where John Wilkes Booth stayed while planning the assassination of President Lincoln, to build that monstrosity.

  40. 40.

    RandomMonster

    I’m going to say this is functionally equivalent to the nazi plans to build a museum to the exterminated races.

  41. 41.

    SectionH

    Finally home and can say Happy Birthday to Suibhan and Omnes!

    It’s our 34th anniversary today. We’re so married we finally just decided to log another “when we can figure out what to do with notional dinner money we didn’t spend” (Mr S’s birthday last month was the most recent). Yeah we’re big fans of Calvin Trillin, and I’m esp. fond of Mrs. Trillian’s way of accounting.

  42. 42.

    JCJ

    Happy birthday to SiubhanDuinne and Omnes Omnibus. Next year to make it shorter I will just say HBD to Subaru and Saab.

  43. 43.

    CaliMatt

    I’ve seen a number of events broadcast from there on c-span and they are almost uniformly complete wank-fests. I love the dc museums and visit there frequently but hasn’t ever even occurred to me to go there. Now I definitely won’t.

  44. 44.

    Lavocat

    “Gee, I wonder what this button labelled “self-destruct” does? Maybe I should push it.”

  45. 45.

    kingweasil

    “we can’t say ‘Make America Great Again’, because I already did that”

    “So our new slogan, this is on the assumption it happens, you can never be 100 per cent sure, is going to be, ‘Keep America Great’ – exclamation point.” – Big Orange

  46. 46.

    Tarragon

    @Major Major Major Major:

    You really don’t see why somebody might want to have a museum about journalism?

    But perhaps a museum dedicated to news should take a philosophical stand against a t-shirt that says “You are very fake news”

  47. 47.

    LAC

    @Steeplejack: i have been there as well and enjoyed it. My daughter’s class had a field trip there a number of years ago and she came back excited by it ( she is an journalist now so her geeking out about it was expected) It aint cheap and surprise, museum shops sell all types of shit. Other than that, do not understand the bostility towards something that one never went to. God, the dynamic never changes here.

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