Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

We still have time to mess this up!

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

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

Tick tock motherfuckers!

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

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

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

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

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

This really is a full service blog.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

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

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

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

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Slow and Steady (Open Thread)

Slow and Steady (Open Thread)

by | 193 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Here’s a Florida cooter (yep, that’s what they’re called) catching a little sun before the afternoon thunderstorms commence:

It plopped into the water right after I took that shot, and sure enough, now it’s raining sideways. Not that a turtle minds the rain…

Have we discussed the media kerfluffle around Joe Biden’s amalgamated war story? I think Greg Sargent has the right take here. To sum up, he says it’s bullshit to conflate Biden’s unintentionally mangled facts with Trump’s deliberate lies but that it should concern us that Biden sees no problem with getting the facts wrong as long as his intentions were good.

As Sargent says, we have a president who is at war with the truth, so our commitment to factual accuracy has to be absolute. The contrast with Trump and his pack of prolific liars has to be sharp and unmistakable.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

193Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    They turned Hillary into a serial liar for less, so the concern is that the media’s attacks stick. But the media will always try to find something on any candidate.

  3. 3.

    NotMax

    First off, what is a naval officer doing on the ground in a landlocked country. Joe the schmo strikes again.

  4. 4.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    And yet they don’t seem to stick to Trump in any way that a Republican would acknowledge. Did you know he’s now clocked at more than 12,000 lies?

  5. 5.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    so trump got a security briefing and paid attention because he got to go nyah-nyah-nyah at a country he doesn’t like

    Donald J. Trump @ realDonaldTrump
    The United States of America was not involved in the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran. I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One.

    What I’m guessing was a satellite launch that went bad. He tweeted out a picture I am not a national security wonk, but this doesn’t look right to me, nor to a bunch of people on twitter

    Kai Ryssdal @ kairyssdal
    So this is…weird.

    Clearly, this came from briefing materials.

    Equally clearly, somebody just…took a picture of it.

    And then the President of the United States put it on Twitter.

  10. 10.

    Anonymous At Work

    I’m more concerned about the deep support (albeit few in number) for Gabbard, who felt the need to cry “Conspiracy!” on SEAN HANNITY’S WHITE-SUPREMACIST FLAGSHIP. And she wonders why she never took off among Democratic primary voters??

  11. 11.

    Yarrow

    I spent my morning at the tire place because I had a nail, with washer, stuck in my tire. Last night I had an event to attend and all the way there–thump, thump, thump coming from the passenger side of the car. I couldn’t see what was causing it but I sure could see it this morning when the tire was flat. The washer was making the nail stick up, which was causing the thumping. Fun.

  12. 12.

    Bill K

    I think Biden’s mistakes and Trump’s lies have the same justification – it’s OK as long as it serves my purpose. Trump is an evil person so his definition of purpose is much worse that Biden’s, but the way of thinking is still the same and it’s not OK. Facts should matter.

    Also, f*ck Trump and his staff for their total disregard for OPSEC. Trump has been our enemies’ biggest asset since he took office.

  14. 14.

    Brachiator

    @debbie:

    And yet they don’t seem to stick to Trump in any way that a Republican would acknowledge. Did you know he’s now clocked at more than 12,000 lies?

    Trump lies, exaggerates, takes credit for things he did not do, and blames others for his failures. He is also criminally incompetent. Oh yeah, and also a plain old criminal. But the GOP and his supporters will back him until the bitter end.

    But even this aside, I think that both Biden and Trump are too old to be president. Some old people are hale and hearty. But these two are more used up and decrepit.

  16. 16.

    Bill K

    @NotMax: Naval soldiers have been mixing with the Army since Vietnam. It stems from the fact that the Navy has had nothing to do since WWII, so they push for their troops to get involved in conflicts far from the ocean.

  17. 17.

    patrick II

    There is a type of false equivalence created by using general terms. For instance, Obama had a policy of removing immigrant children from their parents and so does Trump. Both things are true, but you don’t read very often, or repeat it as often as Trump and his minions repeat it was an Obama policy. It is the policy of every type of enforcement agency, state, local, or federal police or immigration agents to separate children who are suspected to be in danger for various reasons, most often suspicion of drugs or child trafficking. In Obama’s case that was three or four children a year because of danger to the child, in Trump’s case thousands a year not because of existent danger to the child but to put the child in danger of reasons of intimidation from purposely and egregiously harming children. But from Republicans — they both took children away from their parents. It is a policy Trump inherited from Obama, and in the false equivalent general sense, the same words are each true.
    So, Trump says things that are not true all of the time about important matters. Climate change, Kim Jung Un is a great guy, Duarte is a great guy, we aren’t going to have larger deficits, immigrant children are being cared for (even though the latest is he is sending very ill children home to their death.)
    And Joe Biden tells an old war story. In a general sense, neither man is telling the factual truth. But, though those words are true, that generality hides the truth of Trump’s insidious and important lies that harm us all compared to a guy telling old war stories.
    Part of the problem is the press repeats the story of Joe over and over again as a “balance” of their reporting on Trump. They are idiots. And no matter how much you like Biden (and I like him but won’t vote for him in primaries) it is harder now for an old storyteller in today’s environment because of a psychotic liar in the presidency and the media’s inability to be precise and factual rather than general and “balanced”.

  18. 18.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    A federal judge has denied congressional Democrats’ request to speed up their case seeking copies of President Donald Trump’s personal tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service.
    Thursday’s decision by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden makes it less likely that Democrats will win their lawsuit before November 2020, though nobody knows for sure how long the district court case and subsequent appeals might take. […]
    McFadden, a Trump appointee, wrote in his order Thursday that “the weighty constitutional issues and political ramifications it presents militate in favor of caution and deliberation, not haste.”
    And there’s another reason McFadden wants to wait: Duane Morley Cox, an 80-year-old Trump supporter who has been filing motions to intervene in this case and several others from Logan, Utah.
    Allowing this case to proceed could distract the president from his official duties, Cox argued in a brief filed in July. If Democrats had obtained the tax returns and were asking questions about them back in June, he suggested, Trump might have been too distracted to reconsider a retaliatory attack on Iran.

    The case is on hold while the judge considers the brief filed by Abraham J Simpson, Esq

  22. 22.

    Duane

    @Baud: It’s one of the problems I have with Biden. Our sick media will take a Biden misstatement, a Trumpov lie, and both sides the hell out of it.

  23. 23.

    Mary G

    O/T: Does anybody have a source for CBD oil gelcaps online that don’t cost an arm and a leg? My dealer retired and a good place I found online just disappeared without warning. I wasn’t sure how much good they were doing me until I stopped using them.

  27. 27.

    wasabi gasp

    Floridians should bring a class action suit against Trump for not nuking Dorian. Rachet up the crazy. #dorianspuppet

  30. 30.

    suffragettecity

    Seriously why the hell did he think he should run? Looking across the aisle there is no comity. That’s become a goddamn pipe dream. Joe could have been the beloved uncle statesman, but no . I don’t need a guy just a few years older than I saying he can take Trump on physically. REALLY? This is what I’m supposed to vote for ? Two old dudes duking it out? Not that it wouldn’t make hysterically funny great TV which I watch less and less of. And those Republicans he speaks so fondly of are lying to his face if he thinks they’ll come around. Bull hockey. What’s also pissing me off is how the msm keep pushing him..that stinks. Makes me think he’s being touted as the white man’s saviour..also bull hockey.

  31. 31.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @raven: A guy I work with is a retired navy E-8. He is a logistics guy. He was running warehouse facilities in both A-stan and Iraq in the 2000s.

  34. 34.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I know Biden isn’t malicious, but I’m bothered by his mangled story. I want the D president who replaces Trump in 2021 (god willing) to be careful with their words, careful with the truth, careful with our trust. Biden does not seem like the so-called safe choice to me.

  38. 38.

    patrick II

    Open Thread so:
    Today the internet made my life so much easier once again. I visited Wire and they had a nice Labor Day subscription deal of $5 for a year. So, I hit the subscribe button and used PayPal to pay. So PayPal sends them my old home address, which I removed as the primary a year ago, Wired’s first login refused my new password, and then locked me out. Then when I tried to login again it asked for my account number, which didn’t happen because they hadn’t sent it to me in an email yet and it had not been on the receipt screen, then I called PayPal and straightened that out, called Wired, and straightened the address out, and was told that my account was straightened out and to just log into Wired as a new subscription, which I did, but it still asked for my account number, called Wire back… etc. I am finally on now. I remember when you picked up the card from the floor, signed it, clicked the bill me later box and in a while you got your magazine. So, the ease of the internet cost me a couple of hours today, plus whatever time you have spent reading this gripe. Sorry, had to share.

  39. 39.

    NotMax

    @Mary G

    Cannot speak as to price comparison but will mention that this place gets excellent reviews. Also will say that stopped in a brick and mortar store of this company when in NY and was most impressed with the professionalism of the staff (although was taken somewhat aback to learn the store does not accept cash).

  40. 40.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Mary G:

    Does anybody have a source for CBD oil gelcaps online that don’t cost an arm and a leg?

    If it’s real and you’re buying it online, it’s not gonna be cheap. If you live in a legalization state, the stuff you can get in dispensaries is cheaper.

  43. 43.

    Duane

    @Baud: You’re right of course. What the media did to Clinton was shameful, but Biden’s a daily gaffe machine. Having to constantly explain yourself over unforced errors is no way to run a campaign.

  44. 44.

    Betty

    Agree that Biden will not make a good general election candidate. He has a certain disconnect from reality. It may not be at all intentional but still troubling.

  48. 48.

    debbie

    @Duane:

    a Biden misstatement

    I’m troubled by its closeness to Hillary’s story about running across a runway in a war zone. Déja vu all over again.

  49. 49.

    Sure Lurkalot

    I can see the avuncular in Joe, but I also see arrogance and condescension. I’m a broken glass voter but I would prefer almost all those to be in the pending debate over him. My spouse rails about my bouts of ageism, but he has lost the vigor he had not all that long ago as VP. I’m not sure I truly understand the depth of his popularity.

  50. 50.

    Oklahomo

    @patrick II: PayPal tried to verify my bank account with the send 2 small ACH deposits, then remove. My bank won’t display them on the website if they come in and out that quickly. But then suddenly a new button appears on PayPal that just lets them do an online check as if I was logging in. Worked like a charm. IOstead of waiting 2 – 3 days for transactions that won’t display. Frustrating.

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne

    I still can’t manage to get myself worked up about Biden, because he ain’t gonna be the nominee. He drops out by December, maybe even by Thanksgiving.

  55. 55.

    TenguPhule

    @Mnemosyne:

    He drops out by December, maybe even by Thanksgiving.

    Well shit, he’s gonna be there at least through the New Year’s then.

  56. 56.

    C Stars

    @Baud: Maybe. At that same time, it’s a little bit tired and it’s kinda all he’s got. If he lets his acolytes play the whole Pocahontas thing out to its natural conclusion at rallies and suchlike, it’ll only help to underscore his undeniable racism and vulgarity (something his campaign may or may not appreciate). In any case, she seems to have weathered that storm–not necessarily gracefully, but weathered nonetheless.

    I was just imagining a Warren/Trump debate the other day, after watching her rally in LA. I mean, he’s got “Pocahontas” and “Socialist,” but what else can he hit her with? Obviously he’ll take the easy path of misogyny, but she has such a folksy mom/schoolteacher vibe, it’s hard to imagine that Trump’s typical specious insults would really stick. And she’s just a really charismatic nerd who I can’t imagine being ruffled by Trump’s puerility. They’re like apples and oranges.

    It’s hard for me to picture, is what I’m saying. I can pretty much predict what Trump/Biden would look like (shudder), Trump/Harris, Trump/Buttigieg, etc. But a T/W faceoff is harder for me to pin down.

  57. 57.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: I understand the rationale, but I’m not so sure Biden is useful as a foil to Sanders. I remember thinking it would be good for Sanders to pull Clinton to the left in 2016. Boy was I wrong about that!

  59. 59.

    Another Scott

    Reuters:

    SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The account of Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) Chief Executive Jack Dorsey was hacked on Friday afternoon, sending public tweets and retweets including racial slurs and curse words to 4 million followers.

    Twitter in a tweet said that it was aware the account was compromised and investigating what had happened.

    One of the tweets claimed Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was innocent, while others contained racist comments against African Americans and Jews. There was also a tweet suggesting there was a bomb at Twitter’s headquarters.

    Shortly after the apparent hack, the offensive tweets and retweets were deleted.

    Twitter shares fell less than 1% in after-hours trade following the hack.

    Well, that’s Ok then.

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  61. 61.

    TenguPhule

    Donald J. Trump
    ✔
    @realDonaldTrump
    “One of the most disgraceful examples of an abuse of power by a government official…when you read this report…this is a systematic effort to go after Candidate Trump, President Elect-Trump, and President Trump….you could virtually call this an attempted coup.” @RepPeteKing

    :53 AM – Aug 30, 2019

    Must be another day ending in WHY GODS WHY.

  63. 63.

    Redshift

    @Baud:

    She might be able to overcome it, but nothing she can do will get the media off of it.

    There’s going to be something like that for any Democrat. It may be an advantage to know what it is ahead of time, and it being something people are likely to get bored with.

  64. 64.

    MJS

    Biden must withdraw. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. He is coming close to averaging a mistake a day. I do not believe he is a liar. I think he is becoming confused in his old age, and doesn’t seem to recognize, even though it’s been the case for a while now, that everything he says is being recorded. He seems to think he’s just out there pressing the flesh and telling stories, and if those stories are embellished a little, or he gets a little confused about some of the facts, oh well, the people he’s talking to know what he means. I don’t believe the media will try to portray him as a liar. Instead, they’ll portray him as “confused, doddering old Joe”. He will be deadly for us in the general election.

  65. 65.

    TenguPhule

    @MJS:

    Biden must withdraw. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

    Tell the fucking people getting polled to stop making him the front runner then.

  68. 68.

    jonas

    While it’s true that Biden is not bullshitting and lying at anywhere near Trumpian levels, he is clearly showing his age and making embarrassing verbal blunders on a nearly daily basis now. I have a feeling he’s eventually going to say something really offensive/inaccurate/unhinged and that will be it for him. My bet is that the primary eventually comes down to Harris vs. Warren.

  72. 72.

    dmsilev

    Huh.

    Shimkus, who was elected in 1996, made the announcement in an interview Friday with KMOX radio.
    He is the 14th Republican incumbent in the House to announce plans to retire, resign or seek another office.

    (Washington Post breaking news banner)
    Getting to be a lot of those retirements.

  73. 73.

    Raven

    Navy soldiers, sheesh. Ever hear of the Brown Water Navy? Mobile Riverine Force? The fucking Marine Corps????

  74. 74.

    Jeffro

    BC:

    we have a president who is at war with the truth, so our commitment to factual accuracy has to be absolute. The contrast with Trump and his pack of prolific liars has to be sharp and unmistakable.

    Yeah, but…it’s every Dem’s job to point out the constant double-standard in the media, no matter who the nominee ends up being and no matter what she says. That is on us and we need to take it seriously when talking with fellow Dems, blessed “independents”, or trumpublican losers. Now more than ever, we need to point it out and point it out and point it out some more.

    Joe Biden could gaffe his way through two straight terms, every single day, and it still wouldn’t do 1/100th the damage that Mr. $100M Golf Tab is doing to our country’s economy, national security, and unity.

    Kamala Harris, Liz Warren…they’re going to say something at some point that isn’t 100% on target. It’s up to us to point out to a trumpov-weary, perhaps trumpov-normalizing country that he is and always has been a threat (our own president*, a threat to the country!) and that an off-target comment or story by our candidate doesn’t mean jack shit compared to his lies.

  75. 75.

    low-tech cyclist

    sure enough, now it’s raining sideways.

    My wife and son and I have been on Anna Maria Island this week (back to Maryland tomorrow morning), and that’s the state of affairs here right now. Not to mention thunder and lightning that’s all but right on top of us. Kaboom!

  77. 77.

    Mnemosyne

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I think his family is going to pressure him to do it, and they’ll probably bring in some political friends as well.

    The stumbling block is that he is the front runner right now and he probably thinks he has a duty to keep going, but I just don’t think he has the stamina, and that’s going to be obvious even to him by Thanksgiving.

  78. 78.

    J R in WV

    @NotMax:

    First off, what is a naval officer doing on the ground in a landlocked country. Joe the schmo strikes again.

    They call them SEALS, I thot maybe you heard of them?… ?

  79. 79.

    TenguPhule

    So Gabbard is promising not to run as an independent when she loses.

    Hopefully she’s telling the truth this time.

  80. 80.

    TenguPhule

    @J R in WV:

    They call them SEALS, I thot maybe you heard of them?

    Big fat furry things that swim in the sea and steal fish from our nets? Low energy, sad. //

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne

    @Raven:

    I haven’t been following the story, so I assumed that Mayor Pete had gone there recently for a political visit and that Biden was referring to that, not to Mayor Pete’s stint in Afghanistan while he was still in the Navy. A political visit like that is where the “burnishing” would come in.

  82. 82.

    J R in WV

    @Yarrow:

    Have a friend who got a box-end wrench in his tire, destroyed it. Then not long after, he got a spark plug in another tire. Also ruined. The wrench lasted better than the spark plug, which was really worn out by the time he got to the tire shop.

  84. 84.

    MisterForkbeard

    @TenguPhule: I saw an article on that yesterday. I hope that she not only sticks to it but doesn’t flip out and try to deligitimize the entire party when she (and her preferred candidate) lose.

  88. 88.

    Raven

    From 2006

    David Bosco , a senior editor at Foreign Policy magazine, has written about the reconstruction teams from Afghanistan.
    Bosco said he knew the military had a shortage of officers with the right training and willingness to serve as commanders of reconstruction teams, but he wasn’t aware that the United States had turned the job over to Navy and Air Force officers.
    “There are so many political and tribal and ethnic considerations particular to various regions of the country, that it takes a long time for people to become effective in that environment,” Bosco said in an interview.
    “I think some of these people could be effective leaders,” Bosco said. “They are facing an uphill challenge.”
    Ingalls said the Navy’s contribution in Afghanistan will only grow.

  89. 89.

    schrodingers_cat

    @debbie: Well he did run for Mayor in 2011, I said political office not President. He joined Navy Reserves in 2009.

    From 2009 to 2017 he served as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant and deploying to Afghanistan in 2014.[6][7]

    Buttigieg was elected Mayor of South Bend in 2011 and reelected in 2015.

    ETA: I like that he is ambitious and works towards a goal. Those are great qualities to have.

  90. 90.

    Elizabelle

    @Mnemosyne: That’s what I think too re Biden. He is a placeholder.

    If he takes out Saint Bernard, a grateful nation will owe him thanks, and a peaceful retirement. I think it is happening.

  93. 93.

    Gbbalto

    @Yarrow: Roofing nails account for my last 2 flats. They are bastards. Last one was out of sight like yours, lastest 50 miles, then blew out on I-95.

  94. 94.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    was based on Gabbard’s allegations.

    Thanks. I did not know that. I’m convinced she’s working for conservatives- whether national or international I do not know but she’s not right.

  95. 95.

    PsiFighter37

    @Mnemosyne: I want whatever you are smoking. The person leading the race for the nomination in basically every poll that has been out, by double digits, will be out in less than 3 months? Reality check, please…

  96. 96.

    PsiFighter37

    @TenguPhule: She has no political future in Hawaii if she torpedoes the Democrat nominee, so this sounds about right. That won’t stop her from piping up and saying stupid shit, though.

  98. 98.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @schrodingers_cat: That, of course, is why everyone joins the military. In any case, my comment was intended to point out that navy personnel assigned to a landlocked country is not as unusual as it might seem at first glance.

  101. 101.

    BC in Illinois

    @dmsilev:
    John Shimkus ! (R – bottom of the barrel) !

    When the Mark Foley e-mails came to light, Shimkus was the Republican member with oversight of the congressional pages.

    Shimkus advised Foley not to contact the boy again, and Foley assured him he would not. Shimkus did not share the information with Reps. Kildee or Capito, the other [Democratic] members of the Page Board.

    Shimkus later described Foley as a “slimeball”, and regretted not pressing further. Unlike Reynolds, he had little difficulty winning re-election.

    He kept the whole matter inside the Republican family.
    In retrospect, he “regretted” this.

    Good to see him go.

    BC (used to be in) Illinois

    ETA – info from Wikipedia, from which all knowledge flows, and from my memory of that whole sleazy mess

  102. 102.

    Elizabelle

    Regarding news from across the pond: I was delighted to see former Tory PM John Major call Boris Johnson out. Proud of Mr. Major, who has always been a classy guy, Tory that he is. Country over party, and he is on record on it.

    I do wonder if the Queen and her associates have been chatting up some of the former British leaders, since she herself must appear nonpolitical. Elizabeth has to be horrified at what’s going on (and what is not happening, cowards, cowards all around).

    WaPost website:

    Ex-prime minister joins bid to derail Boris Johnson’s shuttering of Parliament amid Brexit crisis
    Former prime minister John Major’s decision is akin to a former Republican president mounting a high-profile legal assault on the decisions of a sitting one.

  105. 105.

    Raven

    @J R in WV: another of the dumb statements

    Naval soldiers have been mixing with the Army since Vietnam. It stems from the fact that the Navy has had nothing to do since WWII, so they push for their troops to get involved in conflicts far from the ocean.

  110. 110.

    Cacti

    I share your concern, Betts.

    Remember when Biden claimed a fictitious Native American ancestry, then got a DNA test to try and prove it?

    Wait, that was Warren.

    But Remember the time when he reminisced about listening to Snoop Dog and Tupac, years before they cut their first albums?

    Wait, that was Harris.

    But those are different, right? Because of reasons. ;-)

  112. 112.

    Another Scott

    @NotMax: Why did the Navy have a Naval Air station in Kansas?

    Navy people serve everywhere, especially these days, and have for a long time.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  116. 116.

    Baud

    @Cacti:

    The Snoop Dog story is fake. It’s based on a confusing back and forth with the radio host she was taking to.

  119. 119.

    TenguPhule

    BREAKING: On dietary guidelines, Trump administration limits scientific input, excluding issues such as sodium and eating red meat

    Just in from Wapo. Now they’re going after the USDA’s 2020 dietary guidelines.

  120. 120.

    low-tech cyclist

    @jonas:

    My bet is that the primary eventually comes down to Harris vs. Warren.

    I’m less certain of it than you are, but that would be my fervent hope. Wilmer doesn’t belong in the White House, and Biden just doesn’t have game anymore. But I’d be happy with either Warren or Harris as the nominee.

    I’d also like to see it come down to Warren and Harris because, did you see that clip where they ran into each other on the campaign trail? The good feeling between them was obvious. I’d like to see it come down to two candidates who genuinely like and respect each other, who argue policy (and perhaps even each persuade the other on a few points – wouldn’t that be a new thing under the sun?) without any cheap shots or personal animosity.

    I would totally love that.

  123. 123.

    Cacti

    @Baud:

    The alternative explanation is that Harris was smoking weed and listening to Tupac and Snoop while working as a prosecutor.

    Which is much, much worse.

  124. 124.

    JAFD

    Was a former USN officer, name of Brownfield, wrote pretty good book, _My Nuclear Family_, largely about his year with the US mission in Baghdad.

  125. 125.

    Kay

    @schrodingers_cat:

    the queen I don’t like is Victoria.

    Agreed. They were horrible. Mayor Pete is a phenom, though. There’s no way the mayor of South Bend should be in the top five, and yet there he is. He’s a politically talented centrist, and there’s room for one of those in the D party. Of course he’s ambitious- they all are.

  126. 126.

    Baud

    @Cacti:

    No, the alternative explanation is that the host asked her two separate questions at the same time and there was confusion about which one her answer related to.

    Unless you prefer right wing spins.

  127. 127.

    Bill Arnold

    The Very Best history of the Emu War, thread(s):

    I haven't done a military history thread for a while. So let's talk about the 1932 Emu War. In which the Commonwealth of Australia fought and lost a short but bloody war against……well. Against Emus. pic.twitter.com/P5oH8eRoaa— John Bull (@garius) August 30, 2019

    The Emus, however, had fully embraced the concept of mobile warfare. They didn’t just have superior numbers, their ENTIRE force could move at 35mph or more.

    “If we had a military division with the bullet-carrying capacity of these birds, it would face any army in the world.” Meredith wrote in his report. “They could face machine guns with the invulnerability of tanks.”

  128. 128.

    low-tech cyclist

    @Cacti:

    But those are different, right? Because of reasons. ;-)

    One big reason is that there aren’t a couple of those each week for either Warren or Harris, the way there are with Biden.

  130. 130.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    @TenguPhule:
    Are you fucking serious. This pisses me off as a nursing student. Consuming too much sodium is a problem in this country, especially for people with CHF and hypertension. I mean, this is proven science. This is derangement. Why fuck with the USDA’s dietary guidelines? Since when is eating too much red meat and sodium liberal propaganda?

  131. 131.

    Cacti

    @Baud:

    Charlamagne: “What was you listening to when you was high? What was on? What song was playing?”

    “Was it Snoop?”

    Harris: “Oh yeah, definitely, Snoop. Uh huh, Tupac. For sure, for sure,”

    And, we’re done here.

  133. 133.

    Baud

    @Cacti:

    Co-host DJ Envy asked the Senator, “What does Kamala Harris listen to?”

    “What was you listening to when you was high? What was on? What song was playing?” Charlamagne Tha God added.

    “Was it Snoop?” DJ Envy interjected.

    “Oh yeah, definitely, Snoop. Uh huh, Tupac. For sure, for sure,” Harris said.

    If your going to lie like Fox News, we are done here.

  134. 134.

    Mary G

    @raven: Looks good, thanks. They even offer a discount for disability.

    @NotMax: Somewhat more than I was paying, but not as astronomical pricing as I had been seeing. So two good alternative sources, thank you.

    @Major Major Major Major: South Orange County where I live has successfully kept dispensaries out, so it’s hard to arrange. My housemate bought me some in Anaheim, but it wasn’t good. I guess you get what you pay for.

    Thanks to all of you!

  138. 138.

    Calouste

    @Elizabelle: Major has been talking about taking the government to court over Brexit for a while, so it’s not surprising. Quite a few prominent former members of Thatcher’s cabinet (Major, Heseltine, Clarke) have been very vocally against a no-deal or even Brexit all together.

  140. 140.

    Chyron HR

    @Cacti:

    What possesses a man to become a fanatical slavering Bidenbro? I mean, at least Bernie has a vision for the country, as comically unrealistic as it may be.

  141. 141.

    Mandalay

    @Elizabelle:

    Mr. Major, who has always been a classy guy…

    Is that you, Edwina?…

    Norma Major forced her husband to end his affair with Edwina Currie by threatening to leave him, a family friend revealed today.

    The friend disclosed that the Majors’ marriage came close to collapse after Norma learned of the illicit relationship which was kept secret from the public for another 14 years.

    Bitterly upset, she initially turned to friends and family for solace – but then came out fighting by telling Mr Major to drop his mistress or lose his wife and family.

    The friend said: “People do not realise that Norma is a very strong-willed, tough-minded woman and she gave John a firm ultimatum. She said if he did not end the affair instantly and for good she would leave him. Had she done so, his political career would have been destroyed or, at very least, knocked back by several years. Certainly, he would not have succeeded in becoming Prime Minister if his marriage had collapsed at that moment and he knew it.”

    Classy guy.

  142. 142.

    Cacti

    @Chyron HR:

    Could you explain why it took the favorite candidate of Balloon-Juice until age 46 to figure out that Republicans suck?

    Asking for a friend. ;-)

  143. 143.

    zhena gogolia

    God willing, neither Biden nor Sanders will be the nominee.

    Then maybe these arguments can stop.

  144. 144.

    Betty Cracker

    @Cacti: Not familiar with the details of the Harris incident; will have to consult a reliable source, i.e., an account other than yours. As for Warren, she fucked up, and she apologized for it. That’s what you’re supposed to do when you fuck up — apologize and set the record straight.

  146. 146.

    J R in WV

    @TenguPhule:

    @schrodingers_cat:

    the queen I don’t like is Victoria.

    Who is still dead.

    Generalissimo Francisco Franco is Still Dead, says reports from Spain!!

  147. 147.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Kay: He is pretty talented, I agree. At the second debate I found myself nodding to a couple of he things he said. But the fangirling in the media and the comment section about PB especially about speaking multiple languages a couple of months ago was a bit hard to take.
    As someone who spent their childhood in India I know regular people who speak many languages. For national level politicians its a job requirement pretty much to be able to give speeches in multiple languages.

  149. 149.

    Kelly

    @Major Major Major Major: @Mary G:
    I have no idea if it’s any good but here in Oregon my grocery store started carrying CBD capsules this summer. Also several large hemp fields in the area with prominent signs that it’s not gonna get you high.

  152. 152.

    Another Scott

    @A Ghost To Most: Twitter:

    God @TheTweetOfGod

    At those darkest moments when it feels like I’ve abandoned you, remember: I was never with you to begin with.

    8:37 PM – 12 Jul 2019

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  153. 153.

    StringOnAStick

    @Another Scott: My grandfather was a captain in the US Navy. After amazingly surviving his Atlantic tours he was assigned to command a training base for creating new mechanics, cooks and ship maintenance personnel in….Dearborn, MI for the last 4 years of WWII.

  159. 159.

    Cacti

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Like I’ve said before, the real problem is fanatics – including fanatical atheists.

    Interesting position, counselor.

    Can you point me to the acts of terrorist violence being committed by “fanatical atheists” in the present day?

  160. 160.

    Fair Economist

    @dmsilev:

    Shimkus, who was elected in 1996, made the announcement in an interview Friday with KMOX radio.
    He is the 14th Republican incumbent in the House to announce plans to retire, resign or seek another office.

    Getting to be a lot of those retirements.

    Nothing compared to what we’ll see if McCready wins NC-09. That’s an R+8 district. There are 47 Republican Representatives from districts no more Republican than that. They will never control the House if they can’t win races like that.

  162. 162.

    A Ghost To Most

    @Omnes Omnibus: That stick up your ass is removable, you know.

    Oh the horrors of an atheist displaying atheist beliefs on an atheist’s blog.

    Fuck all religion. Cure this disease before it cures Earth of us.

  163. 163.

    StringOnAStick

    Hey Betty Cracker, we saw this very cool turtle on Sanibel Island that had a really complex set of patterns on it’s shell, like each rectangle a
    had a Viking rune on it or something similar; was I just too drunk from the food and wine festival or is that a type of native turtle?

  167. 167.

    Mandalay

    @Elizabelle:

    You sniffed that out, did you?

    Hardly. Though obviously unknown to you, Major’s extra-marital affair with Currie is probably as infamous over there as Clinton’s fling with Lewinsky over here.

    And there are plenty of other reasons to challenge your absurd claim that Major is a “classy guy”. But if you really think he is “classy”, feel free to explain why.

  169. 169.

    Gvg

    @Cacti: I don’t know about the present day, but the French Revolution and the Soviet era had plenty. And I am an atheist. Of course fanatics are a problem. It goes in cycles though. Is this really worth arguing?

  172. 172.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Cacti: Oh, FFS. This has been gone over repeatedly with regard to Harris and Tupac. She was being asked questions by two hosts at the same time and answered the first one, while people like you have decided she was answering the second one.

    @Baud: Thank you. Christ, Cacti is such a useless idiot. This is like claiming that Al Gore said he invented the internet, or that Hillary Clinton laughed at jailing children and so on. Horrible, easily disprovable nonsense that nevertheless keeps in circulation because of the right-wing and gullible idiots.

    ETA: Even better, Warren’s DNA test showed that she had Native American DNA one generation further back than she thought she did. Way to lie about “fictitious” DNA.

    The amazing thing is that you latched onto TWO right-wing generated bullshit scandals, not just one.

  173. 173.

    Bill Arnold

    Just for Cacti:
    Foul play unlikely in death of National Enquirer’s Jerry George: cops (Keith J. Kelly, August 20, 2019 )

    A former LA bureau chief of the National Enquirer who spoke openly about the supermarket tabloid’s “catch-and-kill” practices died suddenly on a street in Palm Springs, Calif., in the early hours of Aug. 13.
    Jerry George, 63, was found dead around 2 a.m. only a few blocks from home.
    “The police told me that he hit his head,” said John Toia, George’s husband of 11 years.

  174. 174.

    Mnemosyne

    @Cacti:

    Yes, how dare a Black AKA who graduated from Howard University pander to her fellow African-Americans? Who does she think she is?

  176. 176.

    Brachiator

    @StringOnAStick:

    he was assigned to command a training base for creating new mechanics, cooks and ship maintenance personnel in….Dearborn, MI for the last 4 years of WWII.

    Mechanics and ship maintenance personnel I can easily understand. Cooks? Takes a moment, but then I guess that the task of efficiently feeding large numbers of people is a very big deal.

    As someone who has not served in the military and who knows little about that life, I find these little tidbits to be very fascinating.

  177. 177.

    Ohio Mom

    @zhena gogolia: Yes, Randy does it all himself, in his apartment with his laptop.

    He’s very impressive. I hope he is able to make the transition to the post-Trump years successfully.

  178. 178.

    AM in NC

    @Mary G: Not gelcap, but Saving Grace CBD oil has been great for me. They aren’t cheap, but their products are whole plant, grown and processed in Colorado, CO2 extracted (rather than using toxic solvents like butane) and their mg. of CBD per ml. of oil makes them a good value. Oil is in dropper form. Good luck finding a good replacement!

  179. 179.

    VeniceRiley

    @Cacti:

    But Remember the time when he reminisced about listening to Snoop Dog and Tupac, years before they cut their first albums?
    Wait, that was Harris.

    This is a lie. L I E. I listened to that interview live and I know it is a lie. Did I mention it’s a lie?
    There was more than one host and they asked 2 slightly different music questions … talking over each other so they do on radio. She was answering one. It’s obvious AF to anyone who has seen it. So go watch it. Or, I dunno. Be a troll if that’s what you want to do with your life on the internet.

  180. 180.

    Brachiator

    @C Stars:

    I mean, he’s got “Pocahontas” and “Socialist,” but what else can he hit her with? Obviously he’ll take the easy path of misogyny, but she has such a folksy mom/schoolteacher vibe, it’s hard to imagine that Trump’s typical specious insults would really stick.

    Trump supporters don’t have much imagination. And lazy reporters will play this up because it is easy to do so.

    And she’s just a really charismatic nerd who I can’t imagine being ruffled by Trump’s puerility.

    Charismatic nerd. Very interesting turn of phrase, though something of a contradiction, I think.

    I agree that this stuff is stupid, but it will come up if Warren is the nominee. And no matter how well she responds, some in the media will try to make more of it than it deserves.

  181. 181.

    wasabi gasp

    It is a bit strange how Warren’s story of poverty brought her to republicanism. Especially considering her fondness for being a woman of color.

  182. 182.

    Brachiator

    @Cacti:

    Could you explain why it took the favorite candidate of Balloon-Juice until age 46 to figure out that Republicans suck?

    Susan? Susan Sarandon. That you?

  185. 185.

    Brachiator

    Here’s a Florida cooter (yep, that’s what they’re called) catching a little sun before the afternoon thunderstorms commence

    Before the thread dies, I must note that this is a very Wry Cooter.

  186. 186.

    WaterGirl

    @Mnemosyne: There is a hidden surprise for you on the new website. Well, not exactly for you, but I think you will appreciate it. Unless your tastes have changed in the past few months.

  187. 187.

    Mnemosyne

    @WaterGirl:

    Oooh! My tastes rarely change, though they do sometimes rotate.

    I can be kind of dense about stuff like that sometimes, though, so be prepared to have to point it out.

  188. 188.

    WaterGirl

    @Betty Cracker:

    Not familiar with the details of the Harris incident; will have to consult a reliable source, i.e., an account other than yours.

    Betty, your way with words is truly a gift. I wish I had the guts to use that on a certain family member of mine. I could maybe pull it off in writing. Maybe.

  190. 190.

    Cacti

    As I thought.

    Lots of handwaving, prevaricating, and excuse making for the yarns told by the cool kids’ candidates.

    LoL

  191. 191.

    Mnemosyne

    @Cacti:

    In other words, you can’t recognize right wing propaganda even when other people point out that it’s attached itself to your ass.

    Misogyny is a hell of a drug. ?‍♀️

  192. 192.

    Cacti

    @Mnemosyne:

    Maybe if KH hadn’t made a career out of incarcerating black men, she wouldn’t feel the need to make clumsy panders to them.

    Just a thought. ;-)

  193. 193.

    TerryC

    @J R in WV: When I left the Navy in the early 70s, I was offered operator (SEAL) status if I re-enlisted. Bonuses that were also offered were (a) splash-down crew for Apollo 13, and (b) training in high-altitude insertion and then underwater placement of a 55-pound nuclear mine based on the Davy Crockett weapon’s.

    I didn’t re-enlist because I would have had to go back to Vietnam for a fourth time. Let me tell you, those early SEALs were intense people.

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