Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

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

Human rights are not a matter of opinion!

Republicans do not trust women.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

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

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

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

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

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

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

You are here: Home / Music / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: To Begin Again

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: To Begin Again

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A trilogy for the new year:


 

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330Comments

  1. 1.

    Mnemosyne

    I’ve played this lots since 11/16.

    I was pretty sure I knew which song that was before I clicked, because I have it on a playlist, too. Great song from a sorely missed musical genius. Don’t smoke, kids!

  4. 4.

    JMG

    Happy New Year! We are spending the say striking the set in Bordeaux as we leave for Boston tomorrow morning. Will be very sad to leave my daughter, but as much I might dream of living here, Boston is my home.

  8. 8.

    Kathleen

    Happy New Year, Fellow Juicers & Jackals! Wishing all of you a prosperous, joyful and peaceful New Year.
    Would love to see 2019 meetup soon, per OhioMom post on thread from yesterday.

  9. 9.

    Raven

    I just walked Bohdi down to Bourbon Street, a doggie delight with pizza a puke all up in the street. It’ll be a long day with kickoff at 8 pm. We have to limit the walking today because I am shot. It is noisy as hell here even though we’re two blocks off mayhem,

  10. 10.

    Lapassionara

    @Raven: We used to drive a car load of children down Bourbon street every week day morning, to school. It always smelled like vomit and rotting garbage. Good times!

  12. 12.

    geg6

    Happy New Year, Jackals! Hopefully, a year in which the Cheeto in the WH starts to face some real consequences and the Dems in the House show us all who the real patriots are. I anxiously await our new Congress. May the FSM hold them and us safe in her noodly arms.

  13. 13.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Lapassionara: She got to the bottom of the 70′ entrance pit about 8;30 PM. The first report of her injuries was overblown (as is common, the adrenaline that helps the reporting caver get out quicker also kicks the imagination into overdrive). Her arm was broken, but it was not a compound fracture (I’ll assume it was bent but the bones were not displaced and protruding thru the skin) and her back injuries were extensive bruising but not limiting to the extent one associates with those words. So, she was able to self rescue.

    It is normally a 4-5 hr trip back to where she was injured and she made the trip in 14 hours so not too bad. They rigged a 5-1 haul system for the pit, put her in a litter and she was all the way out of the cave and off to the hospital in Mountain Home (I suspect) by 9:30 or so.

    A much much better result than so many, including me, initially feared.

  14. 14.

    JPL

    Happy New Year!
    After my company leaves, I’ll watch the parade and finish packing up the holiday decorations. I’m not one to make resolutions, but I am hoping to become more organized. The happy folder is such a great idea so I might try to incorporate that.

  17. 17.

    Lapassionara

    @OzarkHillbilly: Thanks. Much better result. I made the mistake once of reading “The Cave” by Robert Penn Warren, and I can’t help but think the worst when I hear about accidents in caves.

  19. 19.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Raven: My oldest son and I will be heading down to NOLA in late February to see my youngest and to pick up all the fresh seafood ingredients for a proper Mardi Gras feast that he and his wife are planning to put on for all their friends this year. He will probably try to get me down to Bourbon Street but I’m going to push for Avery Island.

  21. 21.

    RAVEN

    @OzarkHillbilly: We enjoyed Avery Island when we were there 10 years ago. The have glassed in the production area so you can’t get as close as you might like but it’s still cool. You know Mr McIlhenny was a Guadalcanal Marine and had his buddies there for reunions. The Jungle Gardens are cool as shit with lots of Buddha stuff.

    “McIlhenny would draw on his experience with the mid-century ‘C-Ration’ to produce the “Charlie Ration Cookbook or No Food Is Too Good for the Man Up Front”- bundled with a 2-ounce bottle of Tabasco sauce within a waterproof container, the humorous cookbook offered recipes for the production of diverse meals from standard C-Rations, combined with Tabasco sauce and other ingredients.[1]”

  22. 22.

    geg6

    @Raven:

    I just love Nawlins. I have a couple of good, old friends who live there. I should think about planning a trip. I haven’t been there since before Katrina.

  23. 23.

    A Ghost To Most

    @OzarkHillbilly: Once while stationed in Omaha, a Louisiana native made a run home and brought back a large amount of crawdads for a boil. A grand time was had by all.

    I’m glad to hear the caver is safe.

  25. 25.

    MJS

    Happy New Year to everyone. Your comments (with a few exceptions) constitute my “happy folder” or at least my “sanity folder”. I hope everyone has an enjoyable, hangover free day.

  27. 27.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Lapassionara: There was some in cave miscommunication. C put out a general call for cavers at 3 pm. The stand down was issued at 8:30. One buddy of mine was “15 miles south of Harrison when the stand down came. 5 hours back to STL” Sucks to be you R. ;-)

    He wasn’t the only one.

  30. 30.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Up early after my raucous 7-9 party last night. The best part was meeting the cool grey-haired lady sitting next to me who kept wishing aloud someone would bring her a gin and tonic. She wound up inviting me to come to her apartment some afternoon and drink the wine the Wall Street Journal keeps inexplicably sending her.

  34. 34.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @RAVEN: It’s on your recommendation that I want to go there. The other place I’d really like to get to is the Whitney Plantation. It’s been on my list to visit since I first read of it before it even opened.

    I also have a another trip to NOLA happening when my youngest finally makes it official and marries his GF of 14 years.

  38. 38.

    debbie

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    If I ever save enough, I want to go to NOLA. Some of my “people” come from there; my great great grandfather ran a photography studio on Camp Street before and after the Civil War.

  41. 41.

    Schlemazel

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    You may have already been there but if not Bourbon St is one of those places you need to experience once. I enjoyed my evening there people watching, listening to great music and just having a ball. The key I think is to not over drink. Part of the crowd I was with missed that bit & ended up on the curb at 4AM sharing hurricanes with strangers & adding to the ‘atmosphere’.

    Though I would vote for Avery Island or a couple other places first

  48. 48.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Baud: I think this may be the same little old lady I saw in the fall at a building meeting about the food and beverage services. When we were invited to ask questions or comment, she said she was sorry to see the summer hires go because she liked watching the young guys carry the heavy trays on one hand. Then she suggested they install a wine bar in the café.

    I’m falling in with a bad crowd.

  50. 50.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @debbie: My first trip to NOLA was last winter when my son got run over on the Pontchartrain Bridge. Outside of Gretna which I got to know very well on my early AM walks, the only “sightseeing” I did was of the hospital, a couple of junkyards and a grocery store.

    @JPL: We did try to get some seafood on that trip and it was a dismal failure as we had no time to seek out a proper NOLA eatery.

    @Schlemazel: My pumpkin hour arrives at 8:30 at night. So maybe a Bourbon Street afternoon, but if it starts to get too crowded I’ll make like a hockey player and get the puck out of there. .

  52. 52.

    satby

    I heard from my younger Mexican exchange son last night and my visit in just over two weeks is shaping up nicely so I’m getting excited. After 4 days visiting the oldest in Mexico City I’ll fly to visit his younger brother and family in their hometown of Aguascalientes. One overnight planned to Sierra Fria, a nature reserve too, so getting to see some of the countryside ?

  53. 53.

    JPL

    For those who can watch the tennis channel, Serena is playing in a mixed doubles event against Federer. Sadly I can only read about it.

  54. 54.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Schlemazel: Roosters are a pain in the ass. They don’t lay eggs, they will attack anyone they perceive as a threat to their flock dominance (even after you drop kick them a half dozen times or more) but cower in the corner like a coward if a hawk shows up and starts eating the hens, they are noisy and produce prodigious amounts of shit.

  55. 55.

    Schlemazel

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    Yeah, We started with an early (for there) dinner around 5 and the crowds didn’t start to get awful until 8. I was done by 10:30 and I think that is when the party really gets going. I don’t feel like I missed anything

  58. 58.

    satby

    I love New Orleans and the Gulf coast of Mississippi; my good friends lived in Waveland, MS when Katrina hit. I haven’t been back since my last volunteer gig there though, maybe later this year will be time. I could go for an oyster po’boy at any hour of the day!

  64. 64.

    satby

    @Baud: it’s just good to know they have happy memories of their time in Chicago. Because it was a real lifestyle challenge for them. I seem to remember that my electricity was cut off for a couple of days because I couldn’t pay the bill when the youngest lived with us. A bit more education than originally planned, for sure.

  66. 66.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    Thanks for the caver update, glad she’s (relatively) OK. Thus, starting off as a non-blech day. For me at least.

    And a Happy 2019 to all fellow jackals! May it be a year filled with impeachments and indictments for large numbers of those in the Party of Traitors, and super-filled with Nancy Smash doing her thing.

  68. 68.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Schlemazel: My current rooster is very pretty but I think the result of a mistaken mating as he does not appear to be any of the known breeds. He is also as useless as tits on a boar. I named him “Sir Robin”.

  69. 69.

    SFAW

    @MJS:

    or at least my “sanity folder”

    Um, not to put too fine a point on it, but the “sanity” part might get you booted from the “Not-So-Ancient and Not-Really-Honorable Legion of Jackals.”

  72. 72.

    glaukopis

    So today I’m off to spend a couple of days with my granddaughter in Cincinnati. She was diagnosed with cancer a week before Christmas and just started chemo. She’s seven. My first reaction was to vent a bit about how life just sucks sometimes, but she’s so brave about all this I don’t want to diminish that.

  74. 74.

    Barbara

    @glaukopis: Best wishes for your granddaughter and all your family. She is a person, not a diagnosis, and I hope you have a great visit.

  76. 76.

    glaukopis

    @Baud: They caught it early so prognosis is good, but still going to be a slog – she’ll probably have to be in the hospital until Spring.

  77. 77.

    Baud

    Never change, NYT. How they talk about foreign fascists is like how they talk about domestic fascists.

    Brazil Wanted Change. Even Before Taking Office, Jair Bolsonaro Delivered.

  78. 78.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby: At this time of year Mexico has wonderful weather. Way back when I was still caving in Mexico, we used to go to the Hotel Taninul just outside of Valles for the stinky pools. Also the beautiful grounds, the good food, the cerveza fria, and the mui hermosa senoritas.

  84. 84.

    satby

    @glaukopis: Best wishes for a full recovery to her. I’m glad the prognosis is good, they do have great success now with childhood cancers. But it is unfair and life does suck sometimes, so you’re entitled to feel that way in her behalf.

  90. 90.

    donnah

    @glaukopis:

    Our oldest son was diagnosed with leukemia when he was three years old. We were devastated. But five years of chemo and three more years of maintenance worked, and he’s a smart, handsome, clever guy who is 31 years old.

    Every child is different, and every diagnosis, too. Never give up. The developments in cancer treatment are amazing. What would have killed my son in the 1970’s is now treatable with a 90% cure rate.

    My heart goes out to you. Best wishes and many hugs!

  92. 92.

    MazeDancer

    May Health and Happiness crowd everyone’s schedule this year.

    Though, feeling like the real 2019 begins on Jan 3rd. May have to pop a cork just as Ms. Nancy takes the gavel.

  95. 95.

    NotMax

    Returned home after New Years’ gathering host’s gentle admonition to get the hell out and go home. Still wide awake. Soup won multiple plaudits.

  102. 102.

    plato

    Lieu is great at needling the totus thug and at pushing back against the totus thug’s daily dose of lies. So, where are the other dems?

    Um, Congress hasn't approved the USMCA. (I doubt there's a line that says Mexico pays for the wall). But whatever, it's #NewYearsEve so let's play make believe with @realDonaldTrump tonight.

    Then tomorrow Dems will get to work and pass a bill on Jan 3 to stop the #TrumpShutdown https://t.co/KbohuZCrYp

    — Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) January 1, 2019

  103. 103.

    Quinerly

    @rikyrah: Tail wags, meows, waves back at you. Trying to get motivated. Been under the weather with a sinus thing since getting back from Eureka Springs on Thurs. Happy NY!

  105. 105.

    Schlemazel

    @glaukopis:
    Having been down the cancer road it just rips me up to think of a child having to experience it. The universe sucks. The only positive is that modern medicine has made the odds very much in her favor. Wishing you and her the best

  108. 108.

    rikyrah

    I hope that a FrontPager sees this and decided to post the ENTIRE thread. Connects with the THREAD containing that whining bullseye AP article yesterday.

    I will say it again:

    PROFESSIONAL MALPRACTICE during 2016
    And
    The benefit of the doubt due to White Privilege???

    THREAD
    Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) Tweeted:
    1. Before the year is out….the evidentiary link between Wikileaks, Russian hackers, Kremlin disinformation outlet, and Donald Trump.

    In 2016, I received a phone call from someone in the intelligence world telling me to keep an eye on Sputnik that day. I did not know what….

    https://twitter.com/kurteichenwald/status/1079850037088342017?s=17

  109. 109.

    plato

    @glaukopis: My best wishes and prayers for your grand daughter for a quick and good recovery and for your family for staying strong through this ordeal.

  112. 112.

    CliosFanBoy

    @glaukopis: I hope she’ll be ok…. what Donnah said up-thread. medicine has advanced a LOT. We’re all pulling for her (and for your family)

  116. 116.

    Immanentize

    Happy New Year, All. Regardless how good last year was (or wasn’t) I wish a much better 2019 for each of you.

    I went to a pot luck dinner party at a friend’s house last night. It was, as expected, wonderful. But then it turned into a dance party. I danced for the first time in over a year and a half. It was perhaps the best way for me to send the old into the dustbin. Then I got home before midnight, shared a glass of prime bubbly with the Immp (who stayed home with the cat) and here it is, a sparkling new year!

  118. 118.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Baud: Are there ANY detectives (of maybe members of Mueller’s team), investigative journalists digging to discover why NYT has been pushing this propaganda for so long? Do we need a GoFundMe??

  119. 119.

    OzarkHillbilly

    A little good news on the childhood leukemia front: ‘For 30 years I’ve been obsessed by why children get leukaemia. Now we have an answer’

    Mel Greaves has a simple goal in life. He is trying to create a yoghurt-like drink that would stop children from developing leukaemia.

    The idea might seem eccentric; cancers are not usually defeated so simply. However, Professor Greaves is confident and, given his experience in the field, his ideas are being taken seriously by other cancer researchers.

    Based at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, Greaves has been studying childhood leukaemia for three decades. On Friday, it was announced that he had received a knighthood in the New Year honours list for the research he has carried out in the field.

    “For 30 years I have been obsessed about the reasons why children get leukaemia,” he says. “Now, for the first time, we have an answer to that question – and that means that we can now start thinking about ways to halt it in its tracks. Hence my idea of the drink.”

  120. 120.

    Immanentize

    @glaukopis:
    That sucks, and I am so sorry for her and for the whole family. But early is the key these days! One oncologist told me that they have made some impressive improvements in cures, but the key to success has been the vast improvement in earlier detection. Your visit will be a fabulous New Year’s treat for your granddaughter.

  125. 125.

    Baud

    @rikyrah:

    will Elizabeth Warren’s registration as a Republican in 1996 matter

    Only to the Bernie crowd.

    or will Ojeda’s vote for Trump in 2016 matter?

    Yes, absolutely. Dead in the water.

    Just trying to get a gauge of how hypocritical mofos plan to be.

    As much as it takes.

  131. 131.

    Kayla Rudbek

    Getting ready to go out and run/walk a 5k at noon today. Maybe some antihistamines will help with being able to run farther.

  135. 135.

    glaukopis

    Thanks for all your good wishes and encouragement. Juicers are a great extended family – even for those of us who are mostly lurkers.

  136. 136.

    Leto

    Happy New Year’s Day, everyone! Here’s to a better year for everyone, and the nation as a whole.

  137. 137.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud:

    will Elizabeth Warren’s registration as a Republican in 1996 matter

    Only to the Bernie crowd.

    At which point somebody should point out very loudly that Bernie has never been a Democrat.

  139. 139.

    Yarrow

    Happy New year, Juicers! Hope everyone had a nice New Year’s Eve and may 2019 be a great one.

    @OzarkHillbilly: That is fantastic news! Thanks for keeping us updated. So glad her injuries weren’t as bad as first feared and she could get out and to medical care.

  140. 140.

    Kay

    Adam Jentleson ?
    @AJentleson
    31 Dec 2018
    More
    Louis CK is a good reminder that when people with power ask for respect it’s called “civility” and is sacred, but when people without power ask for respect it’s called “political correctness” and is the butt of jokes.

  141. 141.

    Elizabelle

    @Leto: We are so happy to have you back among us, and to have “met” Avellune (sp?), albeit under rather difficult circumstances (for you). May 2019 be healing and happy for you.

    @Baud: And to you, irreplaceable Baud.

    Called my friend in Wiesbaden last night at midnight Germany time. You could hear the fireworks going off constantly, and she was inside.

    I think the world is ready for a better 2019.

  142. 142.

    Spanky

    @satby: Where is Cisco? Hope he’s doing well.

    @OzarkHillbilly: Christmas vignette: I gave my sister a stack of Skinluvvers soaps for Christmas. When she was reading the labels and came to “Ozark Spring”(?), she (without smelling it) said “Smells like Hillbilly!” I laughed but didn’t explain why.

    @glaukopis: Good luck to you all! Give a shout here if you need some support while doing your oh-so-important grandparent work.

  143. 143.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    I’d like to see the end of the use of the word “political correctness” in the new year. Or at least a common definition of it.

  150. 150.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    My wallpaper on my left computer screen is a photo of one large and two small “invisible” jets*, I’m headed out to my street in a half a hour to do this year’s photo.

    (According to the president*, the F-35 and B-2 are invisible.)

  151. 151.

    Kay

    I watched Michelle Obama on book tv with my husband last night- a series of interviews she gave while on her book tour. I’m pleased the book has done so well. I’m probably reading this into her responses, but they all sound like a repudiation of Trump and Trumpism :)

  156. 156.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    I seem to hear it a lot. But then, I spend a lot of time with Right wing lawyers. It’s like a warning- they say “this may not be politically correct…” and I think “now they’re going to say something mean about someone”. If we were talking about a person before they set up the intro I sometimes know WHAT mean thing they are going to say about the person.

    It’s the politically correct way to say something mean about someone, on the Right.

  158. 158.

    Elizabelle

    @satby: Hot Water!

    So glad you are going. Sounds like an OTR photos feature, does it not? Great to have that to look forward to, in between the freezing raindrops in HoosierLand.

  160. 160.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @schrodingers_cat: Sadly, “made just like Abuelita made it” means just that: A pinch of this, a handful of that, a couple heaping spoons of..

    @Miss Bianca: Go on over and suggest it. I’ve made my only allowable contribution.

  162. 162.

    Immanentize

    @Kay: There was an article over at 538 the title of which is something like, “Michelle Obama is not holding book signing gs, she is holding rallies.”

    And good on her for doing it, too!

  163. 163.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Miss Bianca:

    How about “Shitcan all your Bernie-fluffing coverage”?

    Yes to that! The Grauniad has some good articles, but its Bernie-luv is wearisome.

    Oh, and Happy New Year! It’s snowing in northern New Mexico and our new DEMOCRATIC governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, land commissioner (super important office here), state treasurer, and state auditor get sworn in today. We also have majorities in both houses of the legislature. Here’s to a true blue 2019 and getting some good shit done!

  165. 165.

    Yarrow

    @rikyrah: As a whole, our media has been appalling about Russia’s attack on us. It’s essential we investigate how many members of the media, and especially those higher up that are making decisions, are compromised.

  166. 166.

    Immanentize

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: The kids are alright and they are confident that they can call whatever they are doing whatever they like —

    But why do I have to drive them to and fro so much? :-)

  167. 167.

    Kay

    @Immanentize:

    One of the women interviewing her said that- in Brooklyn, I think- “there are 2000 people here for a book event”

    Michelle Obama is funnier than I remembered. She said her brother is her mother’s favorite so Michelle would, oh, introduce her mother to the pope or something and her mother would say “is Craig here?”

  169. 169.

    Miss Bianca

    @O. Felix Culpa: Woot! Our brand-new Democratic Governor, Lt. Gov, AG, Treasurer, SOS, and majority-Dem state house and senate will be taking office up here in CO, too!

    I will be coming down to NM sometime soon, hoping we can do a Blue, Blue New Year meet-up sometime! Cheers!

  171. 171.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Immanentize:

    But why do I have to drive them to and fro so much?

    QFT. The driving to and fro was a shock to my system when my kids were in junior high and high school. I grew up in a small town where it was expected [that is, my parents expected] we got to things on our own power – walking or biking. Then there was a new form of terror when my boys got their drivers licenses. One was ok, but the other…let’s just say his spatial awareness was less than ideal.

  172. 172.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    I think they’ve turned “politically incorrect” into “this asshole doesn’t believe what I believe.”

  175. 175.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Kay:

    I’m probably reading this into her responses, but they all sound like a repudiation of Trump and Trumpism

    Unavoidable. Trumpism is deliberately a repudiation of everything the Obamas stand for.

  176. 176.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Yarrow: Agreed. What they did is impossible to do just using programming algorithms. They had the targeting data and help from political operatives who had a deep knowledge of which attacks work on which groups.

  177. 177.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @schrodingers_cat: My wife makes it so no I can’t! :-) I can tell you she puts snow crab legs (never king crab), mussels, shrimp, calamari, and scallops in it. She made the broth last night with half a chuck roast and half an onion. She always uses Bomba rice (accept no substitutes), and saffron is one of the main spices. I’ll try and milk some more details out of her later.

    I will say this, it is one of the most beautiful dishes I have ever seen, very colorful.

  179. 179.

    Immanentize

    @Kay:
    The Robinson’s seem like quite the mighty family. One of my dearest colleague friends taught at Harvard
    Law in the Legal Aid Bureau (Clinic for poor clients) when both Michelle and Barack where there. Michelle was her student in the clinic and hated Harvard whereas Barack was like a (very fast and graceful) fish in water there. My friend said, among all the smarty pants she taught, Michelle was one of the most focussed, humble, smart, and funny students she worked with (dry humor is my friend’s specialite).

  181. 181.

    Yarrow

    @schrodingers_cat: Yes, but it’s not just the NYT. MSNBC has people like Chris Hayes who come at it from the other direction (Wilmer, etc.). Compromised people are all the way up the chain.

  182. 182.

    Immanentize

    @Yarrow: I agree about Parscale being a dummy, but he is a dummy with hubris and therefore a perfect target for Mueller’s flea-flicker offense when the moment comes. For some reason, I really really dislike Parscale….

  183. 183.

    WaterGirl

    @rikyrah: Speaking of Jane Curtin, I had a sad moment at our family Christmas gathering when I said “Jane, you ignorant slut” and everyone looked at me like I had gone mad. Trying to explain only made it worse.

  184. 184.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    Yeah, sadly, it’s dumber than that. About half of the comments I hear after one of these intros involve making fun of a woman’s appearance. You can’t even really cloak it in “beliefs”. They just feel they have the absolute right to issue running, mean-spirited and petty commentary on other people or huge groups of people. That right is being infringed upon.

    So much of this stuff can be simplified into “treat people decently”. I’m on a school committee and we had these long quasi-sociological discussions about bullying, like there were “pros and cons” to bullying. What if we just say “you cannot attack other people in this school”? I don’t care if “attacking other people in school” was okay in 1976. That was wrong then and it’s wrong now. This is a good lesson for their lives! They cannot attack other people at work either!

    They can meet the bullying standard really simply- they just have to leave other people alone. They meet this standard by doing nothing. By refraining from doing something bad and mean. That’s a REALLY low standard. They can meet that. And they ARE meeting it. Schools are better without tolerating bullying. They work better for everyone.

  185. 185.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Yarrow: Indeed. NYT is just one of the most influential, but hardly the only news organization that feels compromised. Also too, Nation. Especially Mr. Katrina.

    ETA: Also, the BJ favorite newspaper Guardian and its role in delivering Snowden to Putin has not been explored much with respect to the Russian operation , has it?

  187. 187.

    Miss Bianca

    @OzarkHillbilly: OK, here’s what I wrote:

    You’re missing the fact that Bernie Sanders and the Purity (read, “white”) Left is not the future of progressivism in this country. Spend less time fluffing Trump voters and White Herrenvolk Socialism*, and more time talking to Hillary Clinton voters who worked to elect actual Democrats.

    * h/t to Adam Silverman for that term!

  188. 188.

    Kathleen

    @glaukopis: I’ve been thinking about you and wondering how you are. So sorry to hear about your granddaughter and send you, her and your family in the light.

  189. 189.

    Immanentize

    @WaterGirl: Perhaps the problem was that there was a woman named “Jane” at your gathering?

    Seriously, so many of my allusions are now lost on my friends. At least that means I run with a younger crowd?

  190. 190.

    Quinerly

    I was waiting for him to get around to McChrystal. Trump on Twitter a few minutes ago (his 6th tweet of the morning). “General” McChrystal got fired like a dog by Obama. Last assignment a total bust. Known for big, dumb mouth. Hillary lover!”

    Note the quotes around General. Keeping it classy.

  192. 192.

    Miss Bianca

    @Immanentize: I’m not the poesy wordsmith that our badass jackal S-D is, but hmmm…

    of course, this means that I would actually have to listen to the lyrics of “Blue Christmas” again.
    ; )

    Glad you had a dance-y New Year’s Eve!

  193. 193.

    WaterGirl

    @Immanentize: Nope, no one named Jane! In all fairness to me, I have to say that the situation perfectly called for that reference.

    After I tried to explain and no one really got it, I said something about this being even more sad than the kid who came home telling his parents “hey, did you know that Paul McCartney was in a different band before Wings?”

    Glad to hear you broke the dance barrier last night. Seems like a sign of good things ahead.

  194. 194.

    Yarrow

    @Immanentize: They’re all kind of the same to me. Full of belief in their own greatness with little to back it up. Perfect targets to be compromised by an enemy state. And, as you said, perfect to be taken down by Mueller’s team.

    @schrodingers_cat: Just saw your update. Yes, The Guardian has it’s own role in this whole thing. The Snowden thing is one. More recently, Christopher Wylie who worked at Cambridge Analytica. As said, if CA is a front for FSB then Wylie is being put out there as part of a disinformation/distraction campaign.

    I feel like I’m living in a John Le Carre novel sometimes.

  195. 195.

    Ohio Mom

    @glaukopis: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital is a very welcoming place. They do their best to make everyone comfortable. The doctors are all top-notch. The food isn’t too bad either.

    Good luck finding your way around the underground garage however. And good luck to your granddaughter.

  196. 196.

    Kay

    @Quinerly:

    It’s instructive to see what Trump sees as a threat though, and he’s so stupidly transparent about it it’s also easy.

    I think he really knows his base and his base loved “The Generals” theme- that he was surrounded by “generals”.

    As far as a successful presidency though- which is measured by legislation passed, not executive orders which can (and will) be undone, Trump would have done better with a person who knows how to work with Congress. All of this shit he crows about is either executive or administrative orders or not laws and not passed by Congress. He can’t change US trade without Congress. He can change a lot of rules and make big announcements but if he wants it to last it has to be ratified or passed into law by Congress. On that measure all he’s got is the “tax cuts for rich people” law.

    It was dumb not to take a deal on immigration. He could have had a law and left a real legacy there. But he’s lazy and shallow and dumb so he focused on the idiot “wall” as a legacy.

  197. 197.

    Immanentize

    @Miss Bianca:
    The group “Low” has a great version of Blue Christmas a la Cowboy Junkies. Slow and kinda country. By the way, the Low Xmas album is probably my favorite one — even above The Black Boys of Alabama’s album. Probably can get them all on sale this week!

  199. 199.

    Kathleen

    @Kayla Rudbek: Good luck. I did my annual New Year’s Day “Rocky Run”, which consists of starting or ending run with a very steep hill of .5 or greater distance. I usually do Mt Hope hill which is in my neighborhood but today I did Monastary hill in Mt Adam’s about a mile from downtown. Perfect running weather today in Cincy.

  200. 200.

    Immanentize

    @Yarrow:

    I feel like I’m living in a John Le Carre novel sometimes.

    Exactly, but the writing is worse, the narrative is a mess, and the editor was thrown out of a St. Petersburg window.

  204. 204.

    Ohio Mom

    We’re about to sit down to a big brunch, with leftover cake for dessert. Trying to start the new year off right. I’ll be back later.

  208. 208.

    Kay

    @Quinerly:

    Any other President who switched from trying to get things thru Congress to executive and administrative action two years into his Presidency would be considered a weak President. But media have a special low bar for Donald Trump, so he announces some rule change or executive action and they pretend it’s a huge accomplishment. He almost immediately became a lame duck. He can’t even get funding for existing border security (which includes existing physical barriers- hundreds of miles of them) thru Congress. He’s an ineffective President, by the higher standard they have always used but which they lowered for THIS President.

    Obama’s “legacy” is the health care law for a reason- it passed Congress. That’s the standard for success on domestic policy and Trump hasn’t met it on trade and he hasn’t met it on immigration, which are (supposedly) his two big issues. Tax cuts for rich people is not what he ran on, but it’s the only thing he succeeded in actually putting in.

  210. 210.

    Yarrow

    @schrodingers_cat: I love that Mueller is so quiet. No leaks from his office–court documents do the talking. The consummate professional.

    @Immanentize: If someone sent in this story any reasonable editor would laugh in their face.

  211. 211.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Yarrow: He even came out of retirement like Smiley, to figure out what is going on. Guardian was one of the biggest cheerleaders for Assange.

    ETA: Do we know who put up the money to make the movie about Assange with Cumberbatch? That would be an interesting line of inquiry too.

  213. 213.

    debbie

    @Immanentize:

    Point/Counterpoint was a response to William F. Buckley’s Firing Line. Let’s put the blame exactly where it belongs. On snot-nosed, overgrown spoiled brat Conservatives.

  216. 216.

    tobie

    @OzarkHillbilly: @Miss Bianca: I couldn’t come up with anything nearly as catchy as your suggestions to The Guardian. Sent in the following:

    Please focus your attention on organizations and individual who make substantive policy proposals, not those who grandstand on twitter. I also think it would be worthwhile to explore the tension between populism and liberal democracy. ‘Vox populi, vox dei’ is after all a warning about demagoguery.

  217. 217.

    debbie

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Agreed. I eagerly await someone asking him about his financial acumen in light of the past year’s market performance being the single worst performance since 2008. Worse even than all eight years of that Obama guy!

  218. 218.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kay: Obama’s “legacy” is the health care law for a reason- it passed Congress. That’s the standard for success on domestic policy and Trump hasn’t met it

    A lesson the Purity Left also needs to learn. Josh Marshall made a sorta-kinda effort to defend the Sirota-Stoller crowd the other day, saying that their objections are about real policy, but they practice rhetoric divorced from actual politics

    3/ So I think you have both a fundamentally different policy perspective as well as a more aspirational (untroubled by actual need to govern, pass laws) view of politics. I think both of those figure in, and I at least think they’d agree on the first.

    “untroubled by the actual need to govern”– a perfect epitaph, if only, for Wilmerism. I think Marshall frames it right, but he’s too nice to the keening whiners of Wilmer Twitter

  220. 220.

    susanna

    @glaukopis: And what a supportive family that gathers for her, and one another as well. All thoughts of strength and resolve coming your way. Best of fortunes.

  223. 223.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    @debbie:

    The pros of bullying is we’re creating “snowflakes”. It’s really a “commons” problem in public schools. Who gets to be there comfortably and who does not. Since bullying is bad behavior this seems easy to me- the person not engaging in the bad behavior has the right to move around the school unmolested and NOT change and and the person who is engaging in the bad behavior has to change. It’s a different “norm” than 1976 but it’s a better norm. It’s a higher standard. I had complete faith that they could meet it and they HAVE met it. We have a huge reduction in bullying incidents. If you’re a kindergartner in this district you won’t know there was ever a lower standard. It’s just “them’s the rules”.

  227. 227.

    Yarrow

    @schrodingers_cat: I don’t know who put up the money for that film but I bet Mueller does. The Snowden film too. That one was directed by Oliver Stone, who Putin seems to love.

    The whole Snowden thing just didn’t seem right to me from the beginning. No one of any notoriety “hides” in Hong Kong without the Chinese knowing about it. And certainly they don’t then get to fly from Hong Kong to Russia without the Chinese being in on it. And going to Russia? WTF? That doesn’t just happen either. It never seemed like the actions of some guy just wanting to be a whistle blower. The whole thing seems like a Russian op, with Chinese assistance, from the beginning.

  230. 230.

    Baud

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: At some point, we decided as a society that expressing a point of view on Twitter deserved the same or more respect than winning elections. May that change soon for the sake of our democracy.

  231. 231.

    WaterGirl

    @Immanentize: I’m gonna go with a heartfelt YES! on that one. Aided by 24-hour “let’s all it news” but really it’s endless, mindless gossiping about the “other”.

  234. 234.

    Yarrow

    @Baud: Personally I have moved more to a “look at what they do, not what they say” version of assessing elected officials, candidates, media organizations and so forth. Trump is a practiced conman–it’s his one real skill–and he’s adept at getting people to look over there (Twitter distractions) so they’re not looking over here at what’s actually happening (any number of terrible things he’s doing).

    Perhaps that’s a suggestion for The Guardian. Focus on what people do, not just what they say.

  236. 236.

    Immanentize

    @debbie:
    I am so willing to put the blame on Buckley. So he is patient zero. But I think 60 minutes introduced it to a very wide audience that Buckley never reached.

  237. 237.

    WaterGirl

    @Yarrow:

    I love that Mueller is so quiet.

    I know. Think how disconcerting it is in a job interview where the interviewers are stone faced and no one wants to show any emotion, positive or negative. It’s the not knowing, no feedback that makes it so uncomfortable for me.

    Multiple that by a zillion and that’s how it must feel for Trump. Only worse, because he’s done shit ton of stuff that’s wrong, illegal, amoral and he doesn’t know what they know yet and he doesn’t know what will happen to him and his family.

    That would drive any normal person crazy, except that Trump has no heart and no soul, no awareness of morals. I’d accuse him of situational ethics, except that he doesn’t even have that. Lust for his daughter is the closest thing he has to love, but it’s not love, it’s a sickness. All those secrets, and Mueller is investigating them.

    No peace for Trump in the new year. I say Welcome! to the new democratic house.

  238. 238.

    Immanentize

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    Part of Marshal’s blindness is not just niceness and naivite (which he possess in abundance) but also his friendship with folks like John Judis who is a serious troll of the Democratic Party and “Elite establishments.”

  239. 239.

    Yarrow

    @schrodingers_cat: It is disappointing. Perhaps this terrible era has educated some people.

    I am half watching the parade. I have always loved the intricate floats. Had the TV paused so am way behind. They just showed mini therapy horses. So cute!

  241. 241.

    Kay

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    My most fervent wish is “Trumpism” isn’t resilient. Unless he gets some more laws passed, it won’t be. Most of what he has “accomplished” (other than the judges- I admit defeat there) can be undone immediately the same way he put it in- by Presidential decisions or executive action or rule changes.

    Media have decided that the same actions weak President’s take- they go overseas and hold meetings, they announce executive actions, they claim credit for existing programs when they’re really demanding funding, they change agency heads or rules- are in Trump’s case– the actions of an effective President.

    It’s a lower standard.

    Like every other President, Trump was most powerful the first two years and he was duped into blowing that on tax cuts. He doesn’t even crow about the tax cuts. His “legacy” achievement is not what he ran on and not what his supporters voted for.

    So, to my way of thinking – based upon the actual structure and process of the US government.- the midterms were a HUGE win, because the midterms may ensure that Trumpism lasts just as long as Donald Trump is in office.

    Which is fitting for a sleazy, mean-spirited con artist who came out of reality tv. Temporary. A footnote.

  242. 242.

    Baud

    @Yarrow: I think you have to do both. A lot of people, for example, dismiss what the Republicans say on the ground that “they don’t mean it.”

  248. 248.

    Yarrow

    @Immanentize: I sometimes read TPM but most of the time I don’t see the point. I don’t usually find any really great reporting and I don’t need to read Josh Marshall’s opinions on things. I’m not a fan of opinion pages in newspapers generally.

  250. 250.

    WaterGirl

    @Leto: Wow, 6-8 months is sooner than I dared t hope for. I know it feels like forever, but that is amazing. Love and hugs to you and Avelnune in the new year.

  252. 252.

    Yarrow

    @Baud: Which is why I pivot right to “look what they do” in my RL discussions with people. There is so much blather on TV, social media, etc. that actually looking at what people do feels like a refreshing change.

  253. 253.

    WereBear

    @Baud: A lot of people, for example, dismiss what the Republicans say on the ground that “they don’t mean it.”

    Which I don’t get. Why are you voting for someone who says things they don’t mean?

    It’s a cover for what they want, but won’t admit.

  256. 256.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Yarrow: This is my theory, that since America has been at the top of the global heap in geopolitical terms for so long that many Americans have lost their basic political survival instincts which includes the ability to detect bullshit. This applies to both the ends of the ideological spectrum.
    But then this seems to be a global phenomenon so my thesis doesn’t explain everything either.

  258. 258.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:
    He has been consistently underwater in approval from the beginning….yet, somehow, the curve for THIS Unqualified White Man is obvious ??

  259. 259.

    WaterGirl

    Okay, Balloon Juice, I have a problem for the collective to solve.

    I made tacos yesterday. I covered the pan that contained the taco meat so the kitties wouldn’t get into anything while I was eating in the other room. Now it is stuck!

    Stainless steel pan for taco meat.
    Stainless steel lid.
    Lid was smaller than the diameter of the pan, but it slid down and protected the food.

    Now metal lid seems permanently sealed inside the stainless steel pan.

    Put it in the fridge overnight.
    Didn’t help.

    Freezer?
    Screw the taco meat inside and soak the pan with all the meat inside and soak it in hot water?

    I love the pan the lid goes to and the sauce pan is one I use all the time, so I don’t want to just throw it all away.

  260. 260.

    Immanentize

    @Yarrow:
    He does have some reporters who occasionally report with accuracy, but I agree about his opinions. For a guy that thinks of himself as a great muckraking genius, they are pretty shallow and almost never on the edge, let alone the bleeding edge, of informed opinion. I come here for that.

    Wouldn’t it be wonderful if BJ had endless resources for fact investigations? Maybe Pro Publica is the closest to what I imagine could be done with good reporters and $$.

  266. 266.

    Kay

    @Yarrow:

    Josh Marshall gets huge credit from me for voting rights. The Bush US attorney scandal was about voting rights. Elite media dismissed it completely, just like they dismissed the threat to voting rights as overwrought Lefties screaming about something.

    The threat was real and it has come to pass and it’s (now) mainstream to talk about voter suppression. Josh Marshall was on it early and he flogged it. Before him it wasn’t even considered a real issue on the (white) liberal side. I used to write about voting rights here, on this blog, and I would get comment after comment that were like “what’s the big deal? Just get an ID”. Now we know it’s much bigger than ID- it’s state sanctioned discrimination specifically designed for no other reason that stopping certain people from voting.

    The tipping point was about 2012, but George W Bush was HUGE in voter suppression. That’s WHY he got rid of those USA’s. They wouldn’t bring phony voter fraud actions.

  268. 268.

    WaterGirl

    @WereBear:

    Which I don’t get. Why are you voting for someone who says things they don’t mean? It’s a cover for what they want, but won’t admit.

    Some people did that with Barack Obama, too. “He doesn’t really mean that, he’s just saying that to get elected.”

  269. 269.

    Yarrow

    @WaterGirl: Heat it up a little bit. First let it get to room temperature and then heat it a bit on the stove. It sounds like there’s still taco meat in there. The heat should create a bit of steam and that should hopefully help the lid slide some.

    My dad has this problem with something he makes, but it’s with a lid that fits. If he leaves it on the stove to cool down then the lid sticks. He just heats it up a small bit and the steam unsticks the lid. That’s where I got the idea. You’ll have to assess whether it will work with the lid that’s smaller than the pan.

  274. 274.

    WaterGirl

    @Yarrow: Will try that. Heat never occurred to me because it seemed like it was the heat, steam and condensation that caused the problem in the first place. But cold didn’t work, so will try heat again.

  275. 275.

    Immanentize

    @Baud: @Yarrow:
    It’s the same thing, but in a post-act way, with racist acts or statements. You can point out how the act was bigotted, but the immediate come-back is to muddy whether the intent was bigotted. There is a great viddy on this by Jay Smooth that I play for my first year students each year:
    How to tell someone they sound racist

  278. 278.

    satby

    @WaterGirl: @WaterGirl: it’s probably sealed in congealed fats and juices, so a low heat, even 150° is probably all you need. Or the lowest your oven goes, and keep testing every few minutes till it releases. Then you can have nice warm tacos again for lunch ?,
    Fats, not cats omigod

  281. 281.

    Another Scott

    @WaterGirl: I learned that lesson (~40 years ago, yikes!) in high school!!

    Glad I wasn’t the only one who didn’t realize until it was too late that that isn’t a line that is useful in real life!

    :-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  282. 282.

    sukabi

    @rikyrah: good morning fellow hater???

    Thanks for the link…I remember being told by someone here that that I should stop reading bad spy novels when I speculated on a more or less direct link between the drumpf campaign and the Russians…

    So besides GG, who was in on that “coordinated email” list of ‘journalists’ actively spiking that bit of the story and trashing Eich?

  284. 284.

    Immanentize

    @Kay: Very true. That was one of the biggest issues of the Bush admin. corruption. But just a shadow of the current DOJ crap fest. It’s funny how that has faded in my mind, bit you are right — so critical to everything happening these days. Remember when the Texas legislature redistricted under Delay’s guidance off-cycle in like 2005 or so?

  285. 285.

    sukabi

    @WaterGirl: heat the outside of the pan with hot water (try setting in sink filled with hot water) . then try and remove lid…try and keep lid cooler…

  288. 288.

    Brachiator

    @Kay:

    Any other President who switched from trying to get things thru Congress to executive and administrative action two years into his Presidency would be considered a weak President.

    Oddly enough, Trump often accused Obama of abusing his authority by issuing executive orders, but by the end of his first 200 days, Trump had issued more than Obama, Bush or Clinton.

    Obama’s “legacy” is the health care law for a reason- it passed Congress. That’s the standard for success on domestic policy….Tax cuts for rich people is not what he ran on, but it’s the only thing he succeeded in actually putting in.

    Clearly, Trump passed your test here. He ran on tax cuts, and successfully lied to his base while delivering big time to the plutocrats.

    The tax cuts continue to have a huge impact on the world economy and trade. Canada, for example, had to cut it’s tax rate and shift budget priorities in reaction. The EU may similarly have to deal with Trump’s actions.

    And of course many states are reeling as they deal with the federal tax cuts.

    Trump has also had tremendous negative influence through the actions of his cabinet.

    So while I hope that Trump can be defeated and his policies rolled back, I don’t think he can quite be labeled as weak. And this is even before we consider the impact of his judicial appointments.

    I think that he has not been as effective as he might have been, due to personal incompetence, the low quality of his staff and executive appointments and pushback by the courts and the Democrats. And hopefully there will be more pushback from the new House of Representatives.

  289. 289.

    Immanentize

    @rikyrah: Two are dead (Rhenquist and Scalia), O’Connor and Kennedy are off the Court. Senor Thomas? We are looking at you.

    This actually gives me hope reminding me how quickly things might turn around.

  290. 290.

    zhena gogolia

    @Kay:

    So much of this stuff can be simplified into “treat people decently”.

    That is exactly what it means, and why people use the pejorative label because they don’t want to be bothered.

  293. 293.

    Yarrow

    @Quinerly: My friend went to a national park between Christmas and New Year’s. She said dogs are not allowed on the trails but because there were no rangers or other staff that people were taking their dogs on the trails and allowing them off leash. Terrible!

  294. 294.

    Immanentize

    @Brachiator:
    Maybe it’s just how I look at what you and Kay wrote, but I don’t think of “weak” as related necessarily to “impactful.”. The weakest proponent of chaos can have huge impact. But that is sort of the opposite of strength. Trump is certainly having all sorts of impacts, but they come from structural weaknesses. Both his own (incompetence, personality weakness, etc.) And the Republican party weakness (couldn’t stop his nomination, won’t/can’t stop his chaotic crash tests.)

  296. 296.

    Brachiator

    @Yarrow:

    I heard on CBS news that some parks will be closed at noon because the small number of staff on duty cannot manage the problems being caused by the crowds.

  297. 297.

    J R in WV

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Glad to hear the rescue went OK… I’m sure she was miserable, but alive and above ground now, so all good for 2019…

    Having had major bruising in many and various places, non-trivial but tolerable to save one’s life.

    Thanks much for the update, lots of us were asking about the victim! PT will be her future now.

  298. 298.

    Immanentize

    @Yarrow:
    I hope you get black eyed peas, greens, and cornbread!

    “Peas for pennies, greens for greenbacks, and corn bread for gold,” my Comrade!

  299. 299.

    Ruckus

    @glaukopis:
    Wishing your granddaughter the best. As I quoted donnah below, it is very true and I have recent experience to back it up. And a lot of the research work as I understand it has been for children. May she stay strong and kick cancers ass. The one thing that donnah said that is vital, Never give up. And may she have a long and wonderful life.
    @donnah:

    Every child is different, and every diagnosis, too. Never give up. The developments in cancer treatment are amazing. What would have killed my son in the 1970’s is now treatable with a 90% cure rate.

    This is very true, many cancers are now quite treatable, with far more tolerable treatments than even 30 yrs ago.

  300. 300.

    Quinerly

    @Yarrow: The parks being trashed is so upsetting. I gave up on Zion in 2017…the spring breakers had trashed the bathrooms… no shut down but I was told staff had been cut. Most NPs don’t allow dogs on the trails. Oddly, Petrified Forest does. Poco has fond memories of a lot of “exotic” pees there. ?

  301. 301.

    Brachiator

    @Immanentize:

    The weakest proponent of chaos can have huge impact.

    I agree. Whether we judge Trump to be weak or ineffective, you can’t deny that his presidency has been destructive.

    But I also think that the Republicans have achieved much of what they wanted through Trump, even though they are foolish to trust him.

  302. 302.

    FelonyGovt

    Happy New Year to all! Actual “Presidential”New Year’s tweet this morning:

    HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE HATERS AND THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA! 2019 WILL BE A FANTASTIC YEAR FOR THOSE NOT SUFFERING FROM TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME. JUST CALM DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE, GREAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING FOR OUR COUNTRY!

    How can this be happening? Make it stop…

  303. 303.

    Ruckus

    @rikyrah:
    The republicans in that tweet have swallowed the propaganda hook, line, pole, reel, fisherman, bait pail, boat and motor. I doubt any of them have any real understanding of, well, anything political, except that they are victims of the liberal hordes, who want nothing more than to kill them, slice them up and eat them and then supply an endless amount of liberal ideals, such as universal healthcare, decent free schools for all, and a government of, for and by the people. It’s despicable what we want to do for them, making their lives better. How dare we?

  304. 304.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @plato: Lieu is great at needling the totus thug and at pushing back against the totus thug’s daily dose of lies. So, where are the other dems?

    Writing legislation? talking to constituents? reviewing testimony given under oath to then-Republican controlled committees? reviewing Mueller’s indictments for indications of where to take future investigations and hearings?

  305. 305.

    Ruckus

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    At 10am it says 54, two blocks from the start. And the heater just went on. I’ve spent the early morning when it was lots colder. And all we had was blankets and each other. Last year I walked about a mile of the route at about 10pm NY eve and there were so many heaters out there one almost didn’t even need a jacket.

  307. 307.

    WaterGirl

    I am 65 BJ threads behind. Are there any must-read threads that I missed, starting a week ago?

  308. 308.

    J R in WV

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    My current rooster is very pretty but I think the result of a mistaken mating as he does not appear to be any of the known breeds. He is also as useless as tits on a boar. I named him “Sir Robin”.

    We once had a giant red rooster, the size of a turkey, every bit of 3 feet tall! We also had a giant white and orange tomcat. There was a small footbridge over the creek to the chicken coop. 3 feet wide and 12 feet long.

    The rooster was at the far end of the bridge, scratching and acting all roostery.

    The 20 pound cat was at the near end, getting his rear feet dug into the ground, you could see that his temptation to pounce the giant rooster had overwhelmed his better judgement.

    Ralph made it to the center of the bridge with his first leap, at which point the rooster had jumped into the air and fully extended his wings, “talons” out towards the pouncing cat, who, when he landed back onto the bridge was in full reverse, trying to escape the suddenly three times as big giant rooster now in the air and lunging towards the big cat.

    Sadly, this was long before the advent of hand held video-capable cell phones, so no imagery of the giant rooster and the 20 pound white and red tomcat exists. No animals were harmed in the course of the adventure, Ralph never pounced on another poultry, although he did jump a fox creeping up to the cedar tree the chickens were roosting in a couple of years later.

    Ralph had a strong instinct to protect the farmyard from all other predators, to keep the livestock for himself.

  309. 309.

    Ruckus

    @Kay:

    Tax cuts for rich people is not what he ran on, but it’s the only thing he succeeded in actually putting in.

    Wasn’t the sum total of his involvement in that using a pen for 5 seconds?

  310. 310.

    Immanentize

    @WaterGirl: I generally treat BJ posts and threads like a river — you can never step in it twice. Or even once if the water has flown past.

    But sometimes Adam and Cheryl can send you back up-river for good reasons.

  311. 311.

    J R in WV

    @glaukopis:

    I was acquainted with a pediatric oncologist some years back, and commented that it must be a grim specialty. He said “Yes, in the beginning, when we lost 90% of the kids. But now we save way more than 90% of them, that’s how much progress we have made! So a pretty good job, now!”

    They really do work miracles today!!

    Best wishes, take care. And keep us posted!!

  312. 312.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: @Yarrow:@sukabi: @satby @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Victory! I put the covered taco pan on “2” on my electric cooktop for 10 minutes. When the timer dinged, I pulled on the lid, and off it came. Thanks so much for all the suggestions.

  313. 313.

    Ruckus

    @Yarrow:

    They just showed mini therapy horses. So cute!

    The people with those in the parade brought one to the VA hospital last month when I was there. A horse that’s barely waist high. Looks like a horse, acts like a horse, sounds like a horse, but smaller than a Great Dane. Also beautiful.

  314. 314.

    Brachiator

    @Ruckus:

    Tax cuts for rich people is not what he ran on, but it’s the only thing he succeeded in actually putting in.

    Wasn’t the sum total of his involvement in that using a pen for 5 seconds?

    Sometimes that’s what presidents are for. Trump did promise corporate tax breaks. And Trump and his Treasury Secretary lied big time about the benefits the tax cuts would bring. Meanwhile, in the background, the GOP wrote a sloppy bill which did everything it could to benefit the wealthiest taxpayers, and to absolutely fuck over lower class taxpayers and undocumented workers with children.

  316. 316.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @joel hanes: one of my favorite scenes in Lonesome Dove is when the rooster makes the bad life choice of pecking July Johnson’s fearsome sister-in-law, Peach.

  317. 317.

    Ruckus

    @WaterGirl:
    Heat expands, cold contracts. Except for water, which expands when it freezes. Warming the pan, gently should expand the pan, which has contracted to lock in the lid. If you heat it too fast or too much it may heat the lid enough to make it stick. Also the food cooling may have caused somewhat of a vacuum which warming may reverse.

  320. 320.

    Scotian

    @rikyrah:

    Thanks for the Eichenwald Twitter link, I normally stay away from such social media sites, but this was well worth the look. I remember watching him get crucified at the time for what seemed to me to be stating the fairly by that point obvious to anyone paying attention. I agree wholeheartedly this would make for an excellent piece of work for a front pager to expand upon, and hope to see it.

    General:

    Happy New Year and all that, I have mostly been lurking this past year, but I still read this site more than any other American political blog because of the quality of the writers both front and commentators. One of my core reasons for caring so much about the Russian interference is because what they did to you was not just a threat to American national security but all of us in the West, and since Canada relies more than most on stable international rule of law alliances and structures, what Vlad did to you folks has very serious long term security ramifications for my home. It does not help being the only country directly between you two either…*sigh*

    I love this site but will rarely be on it commenting these days despite so much interesting news because I am taking care of dying parents (normal end of life stuff, just a bit much having them both go bad within 4 months of each other, and my wife and I just moved in with one who has terminal cancer while the other was long term permanently inpatient/long term care level requirements). But despite all that I care about what happened in 2016 and all things to do with the Russian investigations and actions in that year and the amount of at best useful idiots at worst collaborating traitors (whether the legal definition fits the moral and ethical ones most certainly have been shown to already IMHO) being revealed is bad enough, yet it still feels more like an iceberg tip than the fuller picture.

  321. 321.

    Ruckus

    @Brachiator:
    Our shit for brains president talks about a lot of things, most of which he does nothing about, because he’s an idiot. What I meant was that he did none of the work of actually getting that bill written, or past congress, he signed it when it was presented to him. Just because he thinks he’s rich and would benefit from the law isn’t the same as working to get it written and past congress, such as President Obama did with the ACA. Of course this tax law benefits a number of congressmen and their owners and the ACA didn’t so getting it through congress took what, ten minutes?

  322. 322.

    tobie

    @Scotian: So sorry to hear about your parents. I can’t imagine what it’s like for you to have to face up to both your parents’ vulnerability at the same time. I hope they have a peaceful journey and that it’s a comfort to you to know you’re with them when they need you the most.

  323. 323.

    J R in WV

    @debbie:

    The anti-vaxers are probably cheering this news. :/

    I think you need to re-read the article. This is effectively an oral vaccine containing live bacteria. If it works as expected, it would be a slap in the face to anti-vaxxers, who would rather their kids be ill than be treated for their immune system issues.

  324. 324.

    glaukopis

    @Ohio Mom: yes,that’s why we’re here instead of closer to home, though the drive is going to be a bit of a grind. Glad I’m retired and can help. I’ve learned the underground garage well enough so I can park near her and it’s close to the freeway, so pretty easy getting around.

  325. 325.

    Brachiator

    @Ruckus:

    What I meant was that he did none of the work of actually getting that bill written, or past congress, he signed it when it was presented to him.

    Presidents don’t write tax bills. Trump did push for a corporate tax cut, which is a key part of the new law.

    Of course this tax law benefits a number of congressmen and their owners and the ACA didn’t so getting it through congress took what, ten minutes?

    Trump didn’t have to fight much with the Republican Congress, which was hot to cut taxes. Obama had to wrangle some Democrats on health care.

    And it is not just that the law benefits a number of congressmen and their owners. It changes every aspect of taxation, individual, corporate, estate and trust, to give the wealthiest taxpayers everything they ever dreamed of in the way of breaks and benefits, and shifts the burden onto the rest of us.

    It also gives Trump an unprecedented opportunity to accumulate wealth and make up for his past losses.

    And of course Trump will take credit for good times until the bubble bursts.

  327. 327.

    Ruckus

    @Brachiator:
    We aren’t disagreeing on this as much as talking past each other. I’m just not willing to give individual 1 any credit for this shitty bill. Presidents don’t vote on it in congress but they do sometimes have a hand in writing legislation. Individual 1 doesn’t have a hand in anything remotely resembling work of any kind. He is not a president, he thinks of himself as king. He’s possibly found out that he isn’t one though. I’m hoping he finds out he’s a criminal by having his lodgings supplied to him for a few years.

  329. 329.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Kathleen: I finished in just under 41 minutes which is not too bad for not having done an organized run in almost 30 years. Although I was keeping pace towards the end with a woman who was 70-something

  330. 330.

    Ben Cisco

    @Spanky: I’m back in my home state, with a good job, and as of a few hours ago, back in touch with a dear friend who I love dearly…

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