Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

He really is that stupid.

“But what about the lurkers?”

ha ha ha! Nice try weird people.

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

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

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

I’m just a talker, trying to find a channel!

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Donald Jessica Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

You cannot shame the shameless.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.

I really should read my own blog.

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Sunday Afternoon Open Thread

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Here’s Badger seated at the kitchen island counter. He just hops up on a bar stool and watches me cook.

I had some misgivings about this behavior at first, but since he’s been well-behaved and never attempts to put his paws on the counter, I guess it’s okay.

A Badger-related story: I was having lunch at a local diner yesterday. The restaurant occupies a long, narrow space, and we were seated near the back. The place was mostly empty, but there was an elderly gent seated near the front. I was wearing a t-shirt that said “Boston” with a logo like this on it:

After the elderly gent paid his check, he made his way toward us rather than the door. It took a while because he was using a cane and walked slowly. I had plenty of time to hope he wasn’t coming back there to ask us if we’d accepted Jesus Christ as our personal savior.

Finally, he arrived at our table and said to me, “So, are you really from Boston, or did you just go to Boston University?”

I replied, “Neither. I have a Boston terrier.”

He said, “Oh, well I didn’t expect THAT” and walked away. I was vaguely sorry to have disappointed him.

***

At the risk of turning this blog into an AOC fanzine:

SLAIN!

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

135Comments

  2. 2.

    Nora

    The woman who looks at Ivanka the way an adult would look at a 7 year old who burst into an adult conversation — priceless.

  4. 4.

    germy

    It may be shocking to some, but being someone’s daughter actually isn’t a career qualification.

    For a minute there I thought she was talking about Meghan McCain…

  6. 6.

    Another Scott

    Donnie probably still wants to appoint her to head the World Bank or something (what could be better than for a grifting family to control the World-freaking Bank, eh?!?). I assume that’s why she was trying to horn in on the conversation – to show them that she was a serious player.

    (groucho-roll-eyes.gif)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  7. 7.

    MattF

    If you read Lagarde’s Wikipedia entry you’ll get an idea what an actual serious player does. Ivanka shouldn’t even be in the same room.

  9. 9.

    sukabi

    @germy: think AOC will ignore that particular entitled twat as she’s not in a position to officially f-up the country.

  10. 10.

    Feebog

    AOC brings the heat once again. That one was a 98 mph fastball just under the chin.

  11. 11.

    Jeffro

    Wingnuts – just picture Hillz bringing Chelsea along, much less Chelsea trying to converse with world leaders on behalf of the US government. Y’all would have so very many strokes…

    (Never mind that Chelsea, at least, is clearly up on world events and governmental affairs..,it would still be wrong. And Jaysus would the Right ever have a week-long shit fit about it)

  13. 13.

    Adam L Silverman

    Apparently AOC had to do some cleanup:

    Stupid Shot:

    AOC’s Chaser:

  14. 14.

    Another Scott

    In other news, Twitter:

    Jeffrey Lewis Verified account @ArmsControlWonk

    After the collapse of talks in Hanoi, Kim set a very public deadline for significant sanctions relief — the end of the year. I don’t care if they shook hands and stepped into North Korea. There is no evidence that Kim has relaxed that demand.

    And … Kim puts us right on The #2020Commission timeline. If no agreement by the end of the year, things will then become “very dangerous.”
    8:52 AM – 30 Jun 2019

    Yay? (For those that don’t recall, 2020 Commission Report)

    :-/

    Also, Twitter:

    David Santoro @DavidSantoro1 12 hours ago

    “The United States has accepted North Korea as a nuclear-armed state”

    This is the headline.

    Look at the picture – really look at it – and tell me I’m wrong.

    12:21 AM – 30 Jun 2019

    And the US got nothing in return, of course.

    (sigh)

    (both via LOLGOP)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  16. 16.

    Sab

    Also, her dress looks like my 7th grade home ec project, or a costume from an elementary school christmas play. Everyone else is in business suits.

    The others should have switched to French.

  17. 17.

    laura

    I wish the kittens were as polite as Badger, they insist on project managing every aspect of the household – especially cooking and laundry – without increasing efficiency, health or safety.
    Them Trumps.
    The history of javanka’s global grift, swindle and treachery is going to be astounding imho.
    Also, the cruelty followed by sheer gall if and when questioned about it on the too rare occasion in interviews.
    A new LGBTQ emergency housing / transitional house opened in Sacramento this weekend. I think I’ll wander over and see if they’d be interested in the occasional or routine Sunday Dinner. My mom was so kind and empathic – especially with marginalized teens, and I’m searching for a project in service and remembrance.
    Sunday dinner dishes took forever to finish washing because her’s was a table of abundance.

  19. 19.

    prostratedragon

    @Nora: The double-take that precedes it is, if anything, even better.

    Before even an optimist (I’m one, believe it or not) has to admit that it’s broken forever, Today.

  20. 20.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Another Scott: It goes beyond that, Kim is watching how the President and his advisors are acting and reacting to the Iranians and drawing the appropriate conclusions.
    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/trump-s-iran-policy-deepening-mistrust-north-korea-experts-say-n1021901

    The sanctions and threats President Donald Trump has leveled at Iran will only deepen the anti-U.S. mistrust that’s felt 4,000 miles from Tehran — in North Korea, some experts say.

    However, the onerous task of reaching an agreement will be made harder by Trump’s policy toward Iran, analysts said, with the North Koreans seeing the president’s tactic of diplomatic pressure and ultimatums as the latest in decades of broken promises by successive U.S. administrations.

    “From the North Koreans’ perspective, the Americans just can’t be trusted — full stop,” said Tom Plant, director of the Proliferation and Nuclear Policy at the Royal United Services Institute, a London think tank.

    “It is so bizarre to say this, but there’s just not the stability of policy in Washington that there is in Pyongyang,” Plant said. “They will always be worrying about how certain they could be that a deal made with one president would be honored by another.”

    Sen. Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, was among those who pointed out that if the U.S. was seen to be reneging on the Iran deal, the North Koreans would view any agreement they signed as similarly vulnerable.

    In Pyongyang, Trump’s withdrawal from the deal came as “a clear signal to North Korea about the U.S.’ behavior,” said Kim Jina, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, a think tank funded by the South Korean government.

    Since then, North Korea has been “totally focused” on the Washington’s Iran policy “as a possible barometer for what may happen to them,” Kim said.

    More at the link.

  24. 24.

    trollhattan

    @Adam L Silverman:
    That’s the stuff! Nobody, in this instance meaning nobody, should engage AOC in a Twitterfight expecting to not lose an organ or three.

    And please tell us again, internet expert, how Ivanka not drawing a WH salary means one goddamn thing.

    Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner Report Up to $135 Million in 2018 Income

  26. 26.

    Another Scott

    @Adam L Silverman: Yup.

    How the Teabaggers and Donnie’s Minions can believe that they can lie about everything, undermine existing laws and treaties and multilateral agreements, and yet expect other countries to come begging for bilateral agreements with the USA is astounding.

    They are incredibly stupid. And dangerous.

    Grr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  28. 28.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    On a personal note…I got my Galaxy NX camera yesterday, it works really well, but I’m having problem installing apps that I’ve already paid for in the Play Store(I’ll figure it out).

    Also, sort of blog related, I’ve completed the section on my site that includes all my submissions to On The Road. Any of my future submissions will be posted there when I send in a submission(you can get a preview there and even purchase a copy if you like the picture).

  29. 29.

    HeleninEire

    @Baud: Yeah. Welcome to my world. I keep thinking I’m on a live thread then I find out the new thread started an hour ago.

  30. 30.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    The look on Christine Lagarde’s face when Nazi Spice tries to interject is priceless

    The horror. The horror.

  31. 31.

    Chris

    After watching that cringeworthy clip, and noticing that Trump has been aggressively elevating her lately, I told my husband that I predict she will be his 2020 running mate. His reelection kickoff rally was Trump 2020 not Trump Pence 2020. His enormous ego would love nothing more than to hold us all hostage to a Trump presidential dynasty.

  32. 32.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Piers Morgan @ piersmorgan
    Could be worse… Ivanka could have been a bar-tender 18 months ago.

    Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @ AOC
    Actually, that would make government better – not worse.

    Imagine if more people in power spent years of their lives actually working for a living.

    We’d probably have healthcare and living wages by now.

    some day, when it’s raining and all my laundry’s done and toilets are clean and I’ve sorted out my sock drawer and am bored staring into space, I’ll take the time to figure out why exactly I know, vaguely, who Piers Morgan is

  37. 37.

    sdhays

    @Another Scott: I don’t think “the US” has really accepted or agreed to anything. Trump destroyed that concept when he farted out of the Iran agreement. He’s a stupid and clearly illegitimate President, and nothing he negotiates will be treated with respect by the next President. Nor should it be.

    But he can clearly make the US negotiating position worse, and that seems to be his master plan for foreign policy.

  39. 39.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @germy: For a minute there I thought she was talking about Meghan McCain…

    somewhere on the internet I could probably place a bet that the Budweiser Princess will weigh in on this tomorrow in the most chef’s-kiss perfect manifestation of her own negative self-awareness

  42. 42.

    Jeffro

    If AOC could please just videotape a MasterClass for Dems on the subject of “bringing a flamethrower and grenade launcher to a gun fight”, our politics would be SO much improved.

  43. 43.

    hitchhiker

    Something small and practical to do …

    When FL legislators recently imposed their poll tax on people they don’t want to vote, I was thinking it shouldn’t be that difficult to sabotage that move by crowdfunding all those fees and fines.

    And here’s an organization leading an effort to do just that. CHIP IN, just to show those mofos.

    https://wegotthevote.org/finesandfees/

  45. 45.

    Kelly

    @laura:

    I wish the kittens were as polite as Badger, they insist on project managing every aspect of the household – especially cooking and laundry – without increasing efficiency, health or safety.

    This morning our almost one year old cat Phoebe was batting blueberries around the kitchen floor. She assured me she had not been on the counters snooping around. She insisted the blueberries were already on the floor.

  46. 46.

    JPL

    The first week that I had Finch he managed to dig under the fence and go to a neighbors claiming abuse. At least she wondered why my dog would jump on her lap. That weekend my son help me install chicken wire at the bottom of the fence. I made us both lunch and we stepped out of the kitchen without removing the dishes from the table. Yup the mutt jumped up and the table and helped himself to leftovers. I’m sure I mentioned this years ago when the event just happened.
    He really is a good dog though.

  48. 48.

    J R in WV

    Betty,

    Love that Badger wants to be up where he can see you at work. We used to have a giant white tomcat with red spots, for which we named him Rufus, like the birds named rufus so-and-so. He was around 20 pounds and never hesitated to jump any other critter, including a fox one evening that was lurking around the cedar tree the yard birds roosted in.

    Rufus was very polite, and expected a seat at the dining table for meals. He didn’t get a plate of his own, never encroached on the table top, but would fuss if there wasn’t a chair for him. We of course would present him with tiny bits of meat or fish, which he would accept gravely. Guests were astonished at his manners, which were better than some people’s manners.

    Lived to be around 20, a great cat. For his last few years when he lost some weight, he would gently creep into our bed, and lay against my bald pate to keep warm, which of course also kept me warmer as well. Gentle purr, all night long. Orange toms are the greatest cats short of Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest cats, who have very similar personalities.

    In the more distant past we lived with an earlier version, a giant white tom with red spots named Ralph, for the sound he made. I firmly believe Rufus was the reincarnation of Ralph, they were so alike in habit and attitude. Top cat in their world, both of them. Miss them most every day.

  51. 51.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: You’re probably just snarking, but I’ll still take this opportunity to say I think Dems in red and purple districts could benefit from some AOC-style sass, even if their policy agenda is much different. It should be offensive to every American to see Trump’s idiot daughter making a fool of herself abroad.

    Trump cultists won’t care, of course, but they aren’t going to vote for any Democrat. AOC calls these goddamned clowns out, and it’s heartening to see some real fight from someone on our side. See also Porter, Katie. More like them, please.

  52. 52.

    CarolPW

    @J R in WV: My first dog, Ambrose, would sit on a chair at the dining room table in the morning when we drank our coffee and read the paper and again at night when we ate our dinner. Never begged, just wanted to be in on the action. We never gave him anything at the table except on his birthday when he would get his own plate and a special meal. Miss him still.

  55. 55.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’m snarking in part because we have a bad habit of expecting every Dem to be as good as the best Dems.

    I think it’s always better to appear strong than to appear weak. But, I suspect a Dem who appears strong in the wrong way gets tagged as uppity and elitist (even if they’re white guys). I think it’s a tricky balance.

  56. 56.

    Bill Arnold

    Dems, Please Don’t Drive Me Away (Humor, Matthew Dessem, June 29)

    If you can keep the Dems from moving leftward,
    No matter what the voters say they want,
    If you can herd minorities bereftward,
    And give the one-percenters more to flaunt;
    If you can wait for years for single payer,
    And see no reason others shouldn’t too,
    If climate change is in your thoughts and prayers,
    Because you’re sure there’s nothing else to do;
    If you can dream—but only when in Aspen;
    If you can think—but not think me unkind;
    …

    I’m less kind; with all due respect for the Never Trumpers (a little bit, admitedly), I don’t want to make them happy. I want someone as POTUS who will help us loyal Americans to permanently destroy[1][2] the Destroy America Party.
    [1] Or transform it to something more centrist and less evil; that would work too.
    [2] Deleted a Sci-Fi rant that included cyborged bullet ants.

  57. 57.

    Bill Arnold

    Interesting piece about the US Attorney General who is attempting to turn the US into a dictatorship.
    Bill Barr’s Dangerous Pursuit of Executive Power – He is using the office he holds to advance his extraordinary lifetime project of assigning unchecked power to the president. (2019/06/29, Donald Ayer, Former U.S. Deputy Attorney General under George H. W. Bush)

    The facts simply don’t matter, under Barr’s understanding of the Constitution, in which “the President alone is the Executive branch …. the sole repository of all Executive powers conferred by the Constitution,”and Congress may not restrict his exercise of discretion in using those powers. Why worry about facts if, as Trump has claimed repeatedly, the president has unlimited power to direct or terminate any investigation, including of himself?

    Trump and his endless assertions of power offer countless opportunities to pick and choose those executive power claims with the best chance to succeed in court. Thus, in the Trump administration, Barr may have found the ideal setting in which to pursue his life’s work of creating an all-powerful president and frustrating the Founders’ vision of a government of checks and balances. His strange pursuit of an investigation of the investigators—on the supposition that the FBI may have been improperly “spying” on the Trump campaign when they investigated Trump associates who were found to have met with various Russians—may be the opening public chapter in that endeavor.

  59. 59.

    germy

    For the “Germy’s fun with contractors” file:

    We need a fence.

    April 2nd, guy comes out to measure and give an estimate. Gives me the price and tells me we’ll have the fence installed four weeks after signing the paperwork. I signed all the papers second week in April.

    It’s now almost July. Still no fence. I called last week and they said they’ll call me as soon as they’re ready.

    I hate when they say all kinds of stuff to Make The Sale, and then promptly disregard once the papers are signed.

  61. 61.

    germy

    @Kelly:

    This morning our almost one year old cat Phoebe was batting blueberries around the kitchen floor. She assured me she had not been on the counters snooping around. She insisted the blueberries were already on the floor.

    Our cat lies to me all the time.

  63. 63.

    Mainmata

    @Another Scott: I know a little about the WB (worked on contracts with them occasionally) and the WB president’s primary role is to be a diplomat, especially with the donor countries but also to lead on policy with other international organizations. The day-to-day business of the Bank is with the CEO and regional country directors. There’s just no avenue for a grifting. Sorry, Ivanka

  65. 65.

    trollhattan

    WWC players are trickling back to the NWSL. Sam Kerr is so exhausted from World Cup service for Australia she’s only scored two for Chicago in the first half.

  70. 70.

    Betty Cracker

    @J R in WV: Awww.

    @germy: We’ve got a similar tale of woe, only with a contractor who’s supposed to install a new shower. The existing shower reminds me of a shower at a Budapest hostel I stayed at in 1995. I wore shoes in that one, it was so gross!

  71. 71.

    FelonyGovt

    @Bill Arnold: This. So tired of Never Trump Republicans wanting to remake the Democratic Party in their own image. Don’t tell us who to nominate.

  72. 72.

    Juice Box

    @Jeffro: Chelsea Clinton has a PhD and two masters degrees. She probably knows a thing or two about health policy. Ivanka has a bachelors degree.

  73. 73.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Erin *crosstalk* Ryan @ morninggloria
    Somebody please photoshop Ivanka the unwelcome interloper boxing way above her weight into the following:
    – Megan Rapinoe’s goal celebration
    – Nixon-Elvis meeting
    – Beyoncé’s Coachella performance
    – Curies’ lab
    – constitutional convention
    – cast of Big Little Lies

    a long thread

  79. 79.

    Sab

    @Juice Box: What is her bachelors degree in?

    I was very sad to learn that Tucker Carlson’s was in history. I had thought better of Trinity. Third tier school at most, but still. I guess I was wrong about standards.

  80. 80.

    hitchhiker

    @debbie:

    The legislation that was just signed into law says that anyone with a criminal record who has unpaid fines or court fees cannot vote. It was designed to undermine the voters’ will last November, which said that felons who have served their time should have their franchise rights restored along with their freedom.

    It’s a poll tax b/c it’s designed specifically to make it hard for ex-prisoners to vote, based on their ability to pay old debts.

  81. 81.

    StringOnAStick

    One of our pair of 1.5 y year old sister kitties has developed an absolute terror of the vacuum (not that we use it often enough!). My husband was vacuuming upstairs yesterday while I was doing a bunch of cooking downstairs. They aren’t allowed on the kitchen counter but when my back was turned for just a moment they both used the counter to get to safety on top of the refrigerator. I decided this was extraordinary circumstance and it was OK this time. They don’t have any other good hiding place for when the Suck Monster comes out.

  85. 85.

    NotMax

    @HeleninEire

    Tough to tell on the desktop PC as well. Half the time a new FP post doesn’t show on the front page for an hour, the other half of the time there is no elephant ear tab to mark its existence for an hour.

    Any chance you could make a NYC meet-up in late July? (Date, time, place still up in the air, more info filling in the blanks to come along later.)

  87. 87.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Sab:

    I was very sad to learn that Tucker Carlson’s was in history. I had thought better of Trinity. Third tier school at most, but still. I guess I was wrong about standards.

    A truly whopping bit of snobbery from an unexpected source.

  88. 88.

    hilts

    @Bill Arnold:

    David Brooks has too many goddamn motherfucking platforms to spread his special brand of bullshit. Besides his NY Times column, he’s got his weekly spot on the PBS Newshour, a regular gig on All Things Considered, he’s a semi regular panelist on Meet the Press, he periodically shows up at the 92nd Street Y, and the last time I was in Barnes and Noble i bumped into a display of his latest bullshit filled book.

  89. 89.

    lamh36

    Kamala and her team knew the first debate was the first time many primary voters would see her and hear from her in a focused, semi-structural way, and they were ready to showcase her and run with it.

    If you take anything else from that first debate, being prepared is NEVER a bad idea.

    It would do Biden and his team well, to be more prepared next time, and tell their candidate to listen to his freakn advisors already.

    We’ll see if she can continue with momemtun or if she’ll stall again. They got a month until the next one to keep the momentum going

    @politico
    The number of Democratic primary voters who pick Kamala Harris as their first choice for president doubled after the first Democratic debates
    https://twitter.com/politico/status/1145459523588710401?s=20

  90. 90.

    low-tech cyclist

    @Baud:

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’m snarking in part because we have a bad habit of expecting every Dem to be as good as the best Dems.

    I think it’s always better to appear strong than to appear weak. But, I suspect a Dem who appears strong in the wrong way gets tagged as uppity and elitist (even if they’re white guys). I think it’s a tricky balance.

    Hell, I’d be satisfied if most Dems simply had the courage of their convictions. Even if you’re a centrist Dem, surely there are some core principles that drive your participation in politics, right? Then be loud and proud about those principles, and don’t go backing down and running away from them at the drop of a hat, even if they’re somewhat different from mine.

    I’m just tired of all the mealymouthing or just plain running away from themselves. Examples: Iraq war, ACA. Find positions you really want do defend and are comfortable defending, and then just do it.

  95. 95.

    lamh36

    Never Chumpers like Joe Scar don’t care about the Dem party at all. Would as soon throw the Dem nom under a bus if a “good” Repugn came alonge. Until then, they want 1-term Dem who they think they can manipulate by playing up fake bipartisanship while stabbing Dem Prez in the back

  96. 96.

    trollhattan

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
    She has to be in the conversation. Top scorer in the W League and the NWSL, and currently tied for WWC golden boot even though they were eliminated two rounds ago.

    Shout-out to Marta for bringing Orlando back to within 1.

  97. 97.

    debbie

    @lamh36:

    If you take anything else from that first debate, being prepared is NEVER a bad idea.

    This has got to be the stupidest complaint I’ve heard since I helped out with a preschool class back in high school.

  98. 98.

    raven

    @SiubhanDuinne: She proly went to Guido’s joynt.

    Economics? “Supply and Demand.” That’s it. Business is, “you buy something, and you sell it for more.” Theology, I’m gonna have a theology department, you know, since I’m a priest, and what you have to learn in theology is the answer to the question, “Where is God?”, and the answer is, “God is everywhere.” Why? “Because he likes you.”

  99. 99.

    Sab

    I am not a snob about state schools. Geniuses go where they can afford to go or where they feel comfortable, and good schools take them and educate them.

    I am a snob about private colleges. They have standards to maintain. Rich kids can buy their way in. The school has to not crank out idiots. It damages the brand.

    I used to worry a lot about my alma mater in that regard.

  101. 101.

    low-tech cyclist

    @Sab: Shit. It was bad enough sharing an alma mater with George F’ing Will, but Tucker Carlson too?! Damn, that’s far worse.

  103. 103.

    Jay

    It’s actually a business model in journalism now to deliberately antagonize, then get attacked by Antifa, take photos of your bruises, and then ask for money on PatreonAnd they say this industry is out of ideas— Will Carless (@willcarless) June 30, 2019

  106. 106.

    hilts

    @lamh36:

    It would do Biden and his team well, to be more prepared next time, and tell their candidate to listen to his freakn advisors already.

    If it was anybody else, I’d say what happened to Uncle Joe should have been a lesson to him. Only Uncle Joe is going to need more than one lesson. And he’s going to get more than one lesson.

    h/t inspired by Jim Gettys, Citizen Kane

  107. 107.

    Joy in FL

    @hitchhiker: Thanks for that link. I wondered if something like that would be created : )
    I will be donating small amounts multiple times over the next months.

    “When FL legislators recently imposed their poll tax on people they don’t want to vote, I was thinking it shouldn’t be that difficult to sabotage that move by crowdfunding all those fees and fines.
    And here’s an organization leading an effort to do just that. CHIP IN, just to show those mofos.
    https://wegotthevote.org/finesandfees/ “

  112. 112.

    Sab

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yeah, you are right about the snobbery. Tail between my legs.

    My alma mater has risen to the point where no way would they take me now, but I was phi beta kappa, honors, and magna cum laude. I don’t believe Tucker would have done so well.

  114. 114.

    Barbara

    @lamh36: I despise candidates who phone it in because they assume they can’t be challenged. That is basically how AOC won. Her primary opponent, the incumbent, literally did not show up for debates. Biden’s nonchalance and lack of preparation signal a lack of respect for voters and that really annoys me.

  115. 115.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    You know what? Ivanka couldn’t find the fuckin Pope in the fuckin pizza if you drew her a map with arrows.

  119. 119.

    artem1s

    Seven Hells, you know the Dolt Crime Family is trying to set her up as a successor to the throne. An even more humpable Caribou Barbie. blech!

  121. 121.

    trollhattan

    @artem1s:
    She’ll wilt like fern in the Gobi Desert. This is daddy’s idea of what a Trump Dynasty looks like.

  123. 123.

    Melusine

    @SiubhanDuinne: Former protestant here. Does the Pope often appear in pizzas? I know Mary has a fondness for appearing on grilled cheese products…Does a toasted crust have to be involved, or is it the dairy that imbues the sacredness? Does he only appear on wafer-thin pizzas, or would a deep-dish qualify?

    Catholicism is so complicated. No wonder Lutherans gave up and switched to those nasty styrofoam discs.

  125. 125.

    Ohio Mom

    @hitchhiker: I didn’t know anything about court fees until an old friend’s 20-ish year old son racked up one too many DUIs.

    Up until then, I thought being arrested and sent to jail was free. Nope, they not only charge you, they charge you.

    What gob-smacked me the most was they charged the kid for part of the cost of the alternative-to-jail half-assed rehab program he opted for. It’s run by a local non-profit, which is clearly raking in the bucks with this little project.

    IIRC, the whole thing set him back over $15,000 and he spent two years living on a shoe string and paying it off.

    He was very motivated and didn’t have any other financial obligations. Not sure how he would have managed if he did. The entire experience did scare some sense into him, so there’s that.

    Anyway, it would be an interesting news story (not that I ever expect it to be written) to trace what pocket Florida puts their windfall in, assuming the group at your link is successful at raising that three million.

    We should also remember that these people trying to get their vote back probably owe family and friends for such things as helping out with bail (here in Ohio, a fair amount isn’t returned, the court keeps it as a fee), and putting money in the commissary and the phone account (both wildly overpriced). The financial hole they are in is very deep.

  126. 126.

    Aleta

    The daughter’s giddy diplomacy and sil ‘s pretend negotiations consist of announcing profit-making “initiatives” tied to their own names in WSJ op eds — shoehorning themselves into photos and meetings w/ world leaders —and putting out across social media images of themselves having “a discussion before an audience” and “making a presentation” with “key stakeholders.” Then they call it an achievement for women’s rights, developing countries, peace in the ME. If the recipient does as they’re told.

    Meanwhile the WH is pretending that diplomacy and negotiations = Tp walking ponderously forward — Tp smiling and joking with dictators and clasping their arm — then complementing them in front of cameras. Thereby, we’re told, becoming friends. Followed by Ivanka telling us on twitter it was productive or historic.

    I thought government like a business was supposed to be about thinking up things you can measure, defining that as success and then citing numbers that (they tell us) translate as “be confident we know what we’re doing” and “progress! (if you look at them next to these other numbers).”

    But these jokers aren’t even good enough to finesse that. They just call power points “deliverables” and congratulate themselves for going to “very important” meetings.

  128. 128.

    chris

    I laughed at this tweet and then… The social democrats are creeping closer to the USA.

    Iceland seems to have lost the plot. Not only has it elected Katrin Jakobsdottir, a young, socially-savvy female as its Prime Minister, but it has also appointed someone who knows something about the environment as its Environment Minister. Whatever next? https://t.co/sPakoI5LJM— Peter Cairns (@PCairnsPhoto) 30 June 2019

  130. 130.

    mrmoshpotato

    A picture of the fat, orange, fascist, Soviet shitpile mobster conman in a Badger post? :(

    Hooray for Badger. Surprised he doesn’t beg for any tasty cooked meats.

    Time to cook some pork.

  131. 131.

    Ruckus

    @sdhays:

    But he can clearly make the US negotiating position worse, and that seems to be his master plan for foreign policy.

    Making everything worse is his only talent. I say talent because few others in the world are as good in making everything around them this much worse. Usually when someone is this good at making things worse, they usually do themselves in or someone helps them along that path. But drumpf has managed to become especially proficient at making every thing around him far worse.

  133. 133.

    low-tech cyclist

    @hilts:

    David Brooks needs to take a long vacation from pontificating.

    Let’s rephrase that: David Brooks needs to give the rest of us a long vacation from his pontificating.

  135. 135.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Just One More Canuck: He’s part of the Black Conservative pundit racket. He annoys me more than most because I recently learned a former student of mine is friends with him. Le sigh.

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