Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Consistently wrong since 2002

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

The Supreme Court is corrupt. Democrats must win in November and force court reform.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

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

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

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Fuck

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John Prine died today of complications of a coronavirus infection.

Let me be as clear as I can be: Donald Trump and his criminal associates who through incompetence and a criminal disregard of the clear and imminent danger in service of a campaign advantage opened the US to this virus. He and they share direct responsibility for each and every death that the US has suffered: they were and are in charge; they were warned; and they chose explicitly to fuck up.

So, yes, in my eyes, Donald Trump is an accessory to the murder of John Prine, as he is to each one we’ve lost, famous or not.

Fuck.

That’s it. That’s all I got. I hate the suffering that’s spread around the country. I hate the losses we have endured, are facing, will suffer. I hate those who have led us into such misery. I hope for my son and all of us that we will find a way to banish them to the outer darkness, so that we can mourn those who matter to us without constant rage corrupting our grief…

…and that we can then take their memories for a blessing.

Good night, y’all.

 

Reader Interactions

71Comments

  1. 1.

    O. Felix Culpa

    I’m right there with you, Tom. A friend’s daughter was diagnosed with COVID -19 today. She’s 19 years old and I watched her grow up from a baby to a beautiful, talented young lady. We’re hoping for the best, but damn.

  3. 3.

    The Fat Kate Mddleton

    And I thought I was over my tears tonight. John Prine was a part of the fabric of our lives since the early 1970s. Thank you, Tom.

  5. 5.

    The Fat Kate Middleton

    And I thought I was over my tears tonight. John Prine was a part of the fabric of our lives since the early 1970s. Thank you, Tom.

  6. 6.

    Mallard Filmore

    One of the PBS shows mentioned that Trump wants to withdraw from the WHO. Says they were not worth the money we spend on them because they didn’t warn Trump about the horrors of Covid-19.

  8. 8.

    chopper

    this is a fucking hard one, that’s true. an even shittier part is, there’s gonna be more of this sort of stuff for a while.

    fuck. just, fuck.

  9. 9.

    charluckles

    @Mallard Filmore:

    Finding someone to blame for his coronavirus catastrophe is going to be critical for Trump’s reelection.  I expect the anti-China messaging to start going into overdrive.

  10. 10.

    Mike in NC

    I was blown away the first time I heard “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore” on the radio. He was one of a kind. RIP.

  11. 11.

    mrmoshpotato

    Everyone who told Hillary to fuck herself with their vote is also responsible for the death and destruction of the past 39 months and every other atrocity that happens before we throw all these fuckers out of OUR government.

    NONE OF THIS – NONE OF THIS! – had to happen.  It’s a hell of a life’s legacy that millions of Hillary-hating assholes have made for themselves.

  12. 12.

    wmd

    We need to dig deep. Our kindness and compassion have a lot of power. Grieve. Then fight to bring love and light to everyone.

    I finished my work day today chatting with an engineer in Beijing. Both of us agree that human lives are precious and our work should have meaning. People should have dignity in their daily lives, not be compromised in order to survive.

    Love and compassion.

    I’m blessed to have seen John live. it hurts so much that will not happen ever again.

    But love and compassion. Kindness to each other.

  13. 13.

    SectionH

    Just heard from Mr S, knew what that “Fuck” meant as soon as I got back to BJ.

    It’s 8:30 PDT here, but I’m going to bed. Fuckem.

  14. 14.

    Shalimar

    @charluckles: The problem with that is that Trump admires the authority Xi has over China.  He won’t be able to stay on a blame-the-Chinese-government message.

  15. 15.

    Mary G

    I am whipsawing between terrible sadness and incandescent rage. All my sympathy to his wife and family who could not be with him. It must be unbearable.

  16. 16.

    mrmoshpotato

    @charluckles: Why doesn’t the fatass, golf cart-riding, staminaless, Kremlin bitch just blame Hillary?  He projected all his manbaby bullshit on to her in 2016 anyway?

    And he could say none of this would’ve happened if she was President, and the pussy-grabbing orange shitstain would be right!

  17. 17.

    Tom Q

    I’ve had a week to prepare for this, but it still hurts deep.  He was so much a part of my (long-ago) college years.

    A line from Sam Stone, about a heroin addict — “There’s a hole in Daddy’s arm where all the money goes” — always struck me as a perfect piece of poetry.   And there was so much more.

    Fuck Trump, but that goes without saying.

  18. 18.

    NotMax

    Dropped off the radar are the people being held in cages. Lack of immediate reporting does not mean they aren’t suffering this pandemic as well, and it’s nigh impossible to keep physical distance when crammed into a a cage with so many others.

  20. 20.

    mrmoshpotato

    @NotMax: We remember.  We remember those hurt (or possibly killed) by the Muslim ban.

    We remember those children kidnapped from their desperate parents.

    We remember the asylum-seekers thrown out of the US to their deaths.

  21. 21.

    NotMax

    @O. Felix Culpa

    Received news that someone I know in NYC has been hospitalized for it. Not a close acquaintance; a wonderful. gentle, benevolent soul and brilliant person. Around 95 years old, former doctor. He has so many other extant health problems I cannot perceive this happening as anything other than his last roundup.

  22. 22.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Mallard Filmore:

    One of the PBS shows mentioned that Trump wants to withdraw from the WHO. Says they were not worth the money we spend on them because they didn’t warn Trump about the horrors of Covid-19.

    Wouldn’t that leave us as one as one of the few countries without WHO membership!? On top of that, the WHO, for all it’s faults, does a lot of good work. The US is the largest donor of it’s funding I believe

    And of course, WHO did warn him

  23. 23.

    DropKicker1

    The Donlad gives himself a 10 out of 10 for his response. I think he seriously underestimates himself.

    I give him a solid 12,888 out of 10.

    Currently.

    RIP, John.

  24. 24.

    dww44

    @Mallard Filmore: I saw that idiot say that today.  Just one more attempt to absolve himself of blame in his supporters eyes.  Just a few days ago Dr. Fauci defended the WHO and its head.  All of this is seeping up from the evils at Fox News, who seem to be after both of them.

  26. 26.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Shalimar: More to the point, the United States needs China more than China needs the United States. Xi knows how to play the long game. Trump doesn’t have the patience to microwave his Mickey D burger longer than thirty seconds.

  28. 28.

    dww44

    @mrmoshpotato: Being angry with Trump is an every day affair and often, these days, it spills over into absolute greater fury at those we know who KNEW what he was but still voted for him, because, in their view, Hillary was an evil liar.

  29. 29.

    chris

    @charluckles: It’s been pointed out by a number of people that the malignant shitfunnel stopped talking about the “China virus” the day after he spoke to Xi on the phone and found out that all the needed medical supplies come from China now.

  30. 30.

    Amir Khalid

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    In Trump’s book, if you warned him and he didn’t listen, then you didn’t warn him. So WHO* didn’t warn him, CDC didn’t warn him …

    *incidentally, because my inner pedant’s gotta pedant: I would avoid using the World Health Organisation’s acronym with a definite article, to avoid even momentary confusion with Pete Townshend’s band.

  32. 32.

    trollhattan

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Long games compared.

    Trump: I want to tap that ass, but first I want a taco bowl. MILLER!

    Xi: I now have my job for life. While we reclaim Taiwan and take control the China Sea, we will further cement our domination of African and South American natural resources and begin pulling eastern Europe away from Russia. And then I’ll put my kid in charge for Phase 2.

  34. 34.

    West of the Cascades

    @DropKicker1: The number of deaths in the USA from Covid-19 today passed the total number of deaths from H1N1 in 2009-2010. So all the fucking rightwingers who said this is no worse than the Swine Flu can all go [continue to] fuck themselves, and do so officially and statistically as of today.

  37. 37.

    artem1s

    But dreaming just comes natural
    Like the first breath from a baby,
    Like sunshine feeding daisies,
    Like the love hidden deep in your heart.

  38. 38.

    Tom Q

    @Amir Khalid: Reminiscent of the exchange between Idi Amin and the James McAvoy character in The Last King of Scotland.

    Amin: You should have told me.

    McAvoy: I DID tell you.

    Amin: But you did not PERSUADE me.

  39. 39.

    rikyrah

    A friend ‘s daughter, 42 or 43, baby just turned 2, admitted today to the hospital. Awaiting the test results. Black, with pre-existing condition (asthma). Been praying all evening.??

    Got a cousin in New Orleans. He and his wife are sick. Both are compromised health-wise. They are in law enforcement. I just…????

  41. 41.

    NotMax

    @Tom Q

    Ah, Idi Amin, who railed on about how the British were planning to launch a naval invasion of Uganda. When someone at the time publicly pointed out to him that the country is landlocked his response was “See how stupid the British are?”

  43. 43.

    Kelly

    @West of the Cascades:

    Worldometers USA Corona virus deaths yesterday 1,970

    Leading causes of death 2017 CDC

    Heart disease: 647,457 for the year divide by 365 for a daily ave of 1774

    Cancer: 599,108 for the year divide by 365 for a daily ave of 1641

    Accidents (unintentional injuries): 169,936 for the year divide by 365 for a daily ave of 466

    Coronavirus is the leading cause of death in the USA right now.

    https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm

  44. 44.

    CaseyL

    This pandemic reminds me more and more of the AIDS epidemic; chiefly, the indifference on the part of conservatives and Republicans to the toll in lives, health, and personal livelihood.

    Then, as now, your ability to find compassionate care and support depends on who is in charge at the state and local government level.  Then, as now, God help you if you’re in a Red state and get sick.

    The biggest difference is that we didn’t have quite so many predators and parasites in Washington DC diverting medical supplies to fatten their own wallets.

    The other epochal event this reminds me of is 9-11.  Then, in order to cover up and deflect from their own incompetence and indifference, the Bush Administration – with the eager help of the GOP – upended government, creating Homeland Security (there already WERE protocols for the intelligence agencies to pool information and analyze it; the Bush Admin simply wasn’t doing that) and upended the world by starting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  The parallel this time is Trump and the GOP striking out wildly in all directions looking for scapegoats, liking defunding WHO.

  46. 46.

    Cckids

    My mom, in Nv, was admitted to the hospital tonight. She’s got dementia, is having severe vertigo and some respiratory  issues. I’m supposed to be there, helping her out while my aunt; her sister, is having chemo after uterine cancer surgery. But of course, I can’t be there.
    My mom, who can’t remember what happened 30 minutes ago, is in hospital alone. Fuck.

  47. 47.

    rikyrah

    @CaseyL:

    There was an Twitter thread about how San Francisco responded to COVID-19, and whether it was rooted in the city still being haunted by the early days of AIDS

  49. 49.

    Mary G

    @rikyrah: @Cckids: As a preacher’s kid, I’ve always been cynical about religion, but this crisis has got me praying again just in case God exists and I will add your loved ones to my list.

  50. 50.

    CaseyL

    @rikyrah: Interesting.  Also, the network of support systems that came out of the AIDS crisis might still be there, or at least the knowledge of how to put the pieces together.

  51. 51.

    Old School

    @Cckids: Lord knows there are good nurses out there.  It stinks that you can’t be there, but hopefully they are helping as much as possible.

  53. 53.

    Cckids

    @rikyrah:

     

    @Mary G:

    Thank you both. It’s been devastating knowing I planned to  be there, but (I’m a grocery cashier in Seattle) right now,  it would be a terrible, bad thing to do, so I cancelled. And yet, there they are, two 75+ year old dear ladies, getting by as best they can day by day.  I’ve spent literally years in hospital  by my son’s side, I’m not used to not being allowed to be there for someone.

  55. 55.

    Cckids

    @Old School:

     

    @chopper:
    Thank you ? It’s almost laughable, my sisters & I had such a great plan, we were each flying in for one-two weeks to help out, everyone had a turn. We were coming from all over the US-Seattle, Maryland (she’s even an ER nurse!), Florida, Boise, Nebraska. Hot spots FTW!! Now it looks like a clever plan to either infect our mom, or spread COVID-19 throughout the country.

  59. 59.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    @Mike in NC: Re: “Your flag decal…” – yeah, that’s powerful.  One of the few times (especially in modern memory) that I heard someone talk about Jesus in a way that sounded like Jesus (“Jesus don’t like killin’…”).

    Some day, people will ask, “So, Nixon was a crook; and Reagan was a crook; and George Bush I pardoned crooks, to cover up their illegal behavior; and George Bush II started a goddamned stupid, pointless, useless, war, messed it up, tortured people, violated many laws, and the next Republican President was Trump. What made people so *stupid*?”

    And heaven help me, I won’t have an answer.

    I’ll just point  out, “you know, it really wasn’t Trump’s fault; it was the entire Republican Party that pretended he was doing just fine, even as thousands of Americans died. They  all knew that he was hopelessly incompetent, and ridiculously dishonest, and completely unfit for the job, but… it was like, they thought America couldn’t be really *hurt*, it could just be milked of its wealth and decency forever.”

    I just hope I’m remembering a bad time in the USA, rather than remembering how the USA completely imploded, when I say that.

  60. 60.

    BigJimSlade

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: my pleasure! I’ll have to do a dozen more posts minimum before I’ve shared as much as you.  Each time I drive by Leo Carillo I see the lifeguard towers and think, wait, which one was in his pictures, is it that big one there?

  61. 61.

    L85NJGT

    @rikyrah:

    I read a piece where someone doing body transport in NYC noted similarities, particularly in the fear, and lack of respect, in the treatment of the dead.

  63. 63.

    Paul T

    The Prine/Nancy Griffith duet uptop wipes me every time I see it. Something about the way they look at each other, trying to find the song…and about half way there, they do.
    I feel guilty mourning the loss of one person during this time of 2000 a day dying. I’m sure there is a Prine song about it.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXbEFTv9zr0

  64. 64.

    CaseyL

    @Cckids: I am so sorry you’re in this position.  My Mom is healthy and alert and I worry about her all the time anyway; with her in Florida and me in Seattle, and flying out there would be out of the question.

    Can  you call her? Skype with her? Just to let her hear your voice, see your face?

  66. 66.

    Schmendrick

    Ya’ know that old trees just grow stronger
    And old rivers grow wilder every day
    Old people just grow lonesome
    Waiting for someone to say, “Hello in there, hello”

    Life has been getting in the way of posting lately, but I couldn’t sleep tonight so I came here for some respite.  My father-in-law has been in the ICU for a few days now.  He has COVID-19, but ironically it is due to a series of other problems (mainly kidneys).  And even though something else will probably kill him, the virus is the reason none of us can be there with him.  And it is probably the reason he cannot speak.  So we endure the frustration of being unable to connect.

    But my day was not all bad.  Mrs. Schmend and I went on our first date 42 years ago today (well, actually yesterday, now) and we spent a few wonderful moments sharing our memories of that day.  And this afternoon I watched Moana with my granddaughters and I was deeply touched by the scene where Tala (the grandmother) tells Moana “There is nowhere you could go that I won’t be with you,” as she takes her last breath.

    Cckids:  I wish I could help.  We live in Nevada, but we are riding out the quarantine in North Carolina at our daughter’s house.  So what I will do is say to all of you jackals, “Hello in there.”

  68. 68.

    mvr

    Been sort of holding my breath after I heard he was sick about a week ago. Then started to hope when there was no bad news for a while.

    Used to hear his music in Jr high school on a sunup to sundown radio station out of Chrystal Lake Illinois – WIVS, where the one DJ, Rick Bellaires (son of a more famous radio personality from Chicago) played whatever he felt like from Jimi Hendricks to Classical in any order that made sense to him.  Then got to see Steve Goodman several times at a folk club called Charlotte’s Web when I was in high school. Got to see the two of them, Goodman and Prine in Portland in 1984 when Steve had lost his hair from chemo.  IIRC it was in a high school. They played a lot together – no opening act/headliner division. And the love and joy shone through.  Steve died not too much later, though I did not find out right away.

    Played the heck out of the album, In Spite of Ourselves, while visiting faculty in Tucson sort of on my own late at night as I was falling to sleep. And then got to see him and Iris Dement play in Lincoln not too long after 9/11/2001 when I think we were all a bit stunned and depressed.

    Glad he beat cancer twice. Wish it didn’t wind up like this.

    Got up cause I couldn’t sleep.

  69. 69.

    E.

    Thank you John Prine. I hope you are enjoying that cigarette and rotgut/ginger ale cocktail. Your songs have meant a lot to me my brother. You did a good job down here.

  70. 70.

    J R in WV

    @mvr:

    Got up cause I couldn’t sleep.

    Yeah, me too. Funny how that’s going around right now.

    Weather Underground, which I use from day to day to see what the weather is going to do later on, now has a little bug on their front page with the local county infection count and death toll.

    Really, all I want to know is how much it’s going to rain…  really!

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