Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Let there be snark.

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

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

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

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

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

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

No one could have predicted…

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

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

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

People are complicated. Love is not.

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

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Smells Like Freedom

Smells Like Freedom

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Smells Like Freedom

Now that President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris have addressed the Nation, I just thought I’d put this up to pass the time. I’ve written here on a few occasions that My Country Tis of Thee is my favorite patriotic song. Given what we’ve all been through since June 2015, I think this version – the abolitionist version – is appropriate.

Open thread!

PS: I’ll be back tomorrow to harsh everyone’s mellow and explain why the next 74 days will be the most dangerous days the US has ever faced. So you all have something to look forward to!

Reader Interactions

126Comments

  1. 1.

    dmsilev

    PS: I’ll be back tomorrow to harsh everyone’s mellow and explain why the next 74 days are the most dangerous days the US has ever faced. So you all have something to look forward to!

    Sigh. No surprise, though.

  2. 2.

    prufrock

    Your favorite patriotic song is a reworking of God Save The King? 

    Next you’ll say that the national anthem should be based on a British drinking song.

  4. 4.

    PsiFighter37

    Biden doesn’t have the greatest speech pacing. Ah, the times when that mattered.

    He should be wearing a mask, though. Trolling much?

  5. 5.

    Jerzy Russian

    Joe just gave a rocking speech, much better than I would have done.  For example, I would said “For those of you who voted for President Trump, fuck your mammas”, instead of what was actually said.

  8. 8.

    mad citizen

    Turned over to PBS, they had a reporter from AZ talking about hundreds of trump supporters demonstrating, etc.  Fuckers.

  9. 9.

    guachi

    All the music that’s being played is the kind of music I imagine Joe Biden actually listens to.

  16. 16.

    TS (the original)

    I love that Biden/Harris can play any music, anytime, no artists/composers saying otherwise.

  20. 20.

    Punchy

    Why not just tell us now?  IYO, is he going all “burn it down!” and will sabotage everything in sight, or will he go “i dont give AF” and do absolutely nothing?

    Not sure which is worse.  The latter sounds better….sorta….except the govt runs dry of cheddar on 11Dec and a shutdown would commence….I think.

  21. 21.

    oldster

    Dangerous period:

    I’d sure like to know why Trump fired the administrator in control of our nuclear stockpile.

  25. 25.

    piratedan

    each journey starts with a plan and an idea, in this instance, it’s nice to have our affairs in order and to have stepped outside our door to begin…

    I assume that we’ll be compiling receipts and keeping an eye on the progress made, but I know that there’s a lot to unfuck and just the thought that when Joe takes over, it will be staffed with people who believe in good governance and not by those seeking a quick buck.

    If Bill Barr wanted to give all this power to the executive, I assume that Joe will use it judiciously to right wrongs and I suspect that there’s a LOT of work to do…

    Just happy to have a good man and woman elected and hope that at last, the masks have been dropped and we know who our allies are and are not and that we understand that all GOP arguments are bad faith ones.

  27. 27.

    trollhattan

    @TS (the original):

    Not true! It’s well-documented Ted Nugent filed a cease-and-desist that time Biden ended his rally with “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang.”

    I think that’s why he lost Nevada.

  28. 28.

    Elizabelle

    I could watch that again.  Short and effective speeches; sense of purpose and decency. Joy and relief.

    And the Tom Petty song was on point, and bittersweet.

  33. 33.

    OGLiberal

    I cried in 2008 because we overcame so much.

    i cried this year because we overcame so much.

    Kamala was fantastic.  Joe was great.

    President Biden

    Vice President Harris

    Savor that.

  37. 37.

    TS (the original)

    @trollhattan:  I obviously don’t travel in the same circles as Ted Nugent. So it’s “almost all music” :)

    It is just so amazing to hear a normal speech, see normal families on stage. I am quietly content.

  39. 39.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Omnes Omnibus: I believe the little girls in white were Kamala’s grand-nieces

    FWIW, it doesn’t get talked about much, but a friend of mine without children mentioned how meaningful it was to see “someone like her” in Kamala, who also doesn’t have children.

  40. 40.

    OGLiberal

    And in an FU to everybody, when the speech ended and the families came on stage the first thing Joe did was hug Hunter.

    FU

  47. 47.

    PsiFighter37

    Ugh, Darrell Issa is coming back to DC. While I think our candidate was admirable the past 2 times, I think we have to find some retired white Naval officer who will kick his ass next time. That fucker deserves to never be seen again.

  52. 52.

    Felanius Kootea

    @Omnes Omnibus: Kamala’s grand-nieces, her niece Meena Harris’s daughters.  Meena’s husband is Nigerian-American, so my community has really been rooting for this family.

  55. 55.

    MomSense

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    Meena’s daughters.  I’ve been following Meena’s Instagram and she has posted some amazing videos of Kamala with her grand nieces.  You can tell they are a loving and close family.  I’m just beyond happy right now.

  56. 56.

    NotMax

    Cogitating a bit more on music to aim at the Dolt 45 White House, the ultimate in irony would be “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

    ;)

  58. 58.

    Jeffro

    Probably dumb to make predictions where the Whirling Orange Chaos is concerned, but…I can see him wilting away across the next couple of months.  Other than selling a few pardons here and there, and trying to get various cabinet agencies to destroy the evidence, that is.

    Saw a tweet from someone who I guess was talking on Fox that said trumpov was ‘open to talking about’ a peaceful transfer of power.  Isn’t that nice of him?  What a guy.  Every B-movie mobster is like, “He stole my whole routine!”

  60. 60.

    schrodingers_cat

     

    @mad citizen: And for half an hour before that they were discussing Republicans and their butthurt and how Did have to be mindful of their feelings.

  61. 61.

    Ohio Mom

    “why the next 74 days will be the most dangerous days the US has ever faced”

    That’s our Adam! (beams proudly)

    PsiFlighter37:
    I also noticed Biden’s awkward rhythm — i think that might be because of his stutter. I think it is something he is always working around to some degree.

    It was a great speech, hit all the right notes, as did Kamala’s.

  64. 64.

    Leto

    @Adam L Silverman: my first decree as Emperor of the Known Universe will be to eradicate every trace of Lee Greenwood from existence. I’d rather listen to nails on a chalkboard for eternity than to hear that song again.

  65. 65.

    Mary G

    Good: It’s pouring rain at my house in California, and it rained yesterday  too. Maybe no more big fires this year?

    Bad: 134,377 new cases of coronavirus in the US. On a Saturday. (WaPo number; they all seem to be a little different). No. Dakota’s graph just going straight up now.

  66. 66.

    Jay C

    @Jeffro:&nbsp

    Yeah: Team Trump has been, what. 0 for 10 in their election challenges so far? Or 0-1/2 because Justice Alito ordered the State of PA to segregate their ballots the way the state was segregating them anyway, so Big Win for the Trumpsters?

  68. 68.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @piratedan: If Bill Barr wanted to give all this power to the executive, I assume that Joe will use it judiciously to right wrongs and I suspect that there’s a LOT of work to do…

    Foolish Jackal. Every attempt Biden makes “to right wrongs” will be appealed as fast as possible to the Extreme Court where it will be struck down by Mister Roberts and the Fascist Five. And Joe will have no chance in hell to muster the votes for “expansion of the judiciary” to fix it.

    Tl; dr: WASF, still.

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    @Leto

    Scribbled out a parody of John Ashcroft’s ‘contribution’ to American music some years ago, Let the Beagle Snore.

    No idea where that particular piece of paper is now.

  74. 74.

    JMG

    Since Trump did so much by executive orders, Biden can just reverse them. If they were constitutional then, they’re constitutional now. To rule otherwise is to make the Trump orders void anyway.

  76. 76.

    jl

    I caught President Elect Biden’s speech, which I thought was very good. Vice-President Elect Harris spoke too? I saw references to her speech.
    Anybody have links?

    And, I’ll be referring to both using overly formal terms for the time being. Because… that’s why.

  77. 77.

    raven

    My wife has been giddy all day and a I hated to give her Adam’s quote as the reason I haven’t been quite as excited as she is.

  86. 86.

    Leto

    @jl: I know that’s been said here, and I agree. Don’t like my person? I’m naming this ultra-left/liberal person until you confirm my first choice. Suck it. Just following the Trumpov Doctrine.

  87. 87.

    Calouste

    @mad citizen: George Washington didn’t have kids of his own, and VP Rufus King never married, so that’s another. Can’t have been many though, due to the lack of contraception for the first almost two centuries and societal pressure in general.

  88. 88.

    cain

    @PsiFighter37:

    I wonder if Lelldorin is around – his name is a reference to a series of books called the Belgariad and one of the gods in there is an asshole named Issa. (well I think he’s an asshole, mostly he just sleeps a lot)

  89. 89.

    Mike in Pasadena

    Thanks, Adam.  Trump’s plan to subvert the election is just in it’s initial stages.  I’ll watch for your post tomorrow.  Glad you don’t want to harsh everyone’s celebration tonight.  I set a bottle of champagne in the fridge Tuesday afternoon before any tallies were announced.  I said to myself, “Self, we’re going to celebrate a win or a damn good try.”  Either way, I wanted to celebrate.  I waited until today and at least we can celebrate the media coming to its senses to call Biden the PRESIDENT ELECT!

  90. 90.

    Bill Arnold

    PS: I’ll be back tomorrow to harsh everyone’s mellow and explain why the next 74 days will be the most dangerous days the US has ever faced. So you all have something to look forward to!

    That will be a fun comment thread.
    There are also some possible exogenous (or otherwise unexpected and not directly related to DJT) events.

  91. 91.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @jl:

    “Fine, Mitch. I name Preet Bharara acting AG, with a specific brief to take a really close look at Elaine Chao and Ginny Thomas.

    Fuck around and find out.”

  92. 92.

    Jeffro

    @Jay C: my mom was going all conspiracy-nut on FB yesterday about that…”has this EVER happened before???  FISHY!!”

    Momz, please don’t follow dad and bro down the wingnut rabbit hole, seriously!  The Bad Orange just mouths all the religious words, he doesn’t believe any of them!

    sigh…

  94. 94.

    Matt McIrvin

    Like I said before: all the celebration and spiking the ball isn’t a sign that we don’t see the dangers. It’s part of how we establish a claim of legitimacy that makes it more difficult for Trump to mount a coup. Yes, even when Biden is safely in, McConnell and the Supreme Court are going to do their best to sabotage it all. But first things first.

  95. 95.

    NotMax

    @jl

    Temporarily. Long read – the Vacancies Act (.pdf file) applies limitations as to both whom and for how long service in an Acting capacity takes place.

    The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (Vacancies Act) generally provides the exclusive means by which a government employee may temporarily perform the nondelegable functions and duties of a vacant advice-and-consent position in an executive agency. Unless an acting officer is serving in compliance with the Vacancies Act, any attempt to perform the functions and duties of that office will have no force or effect.

  96. 96.

    Jeffro

    @HumboldtBlue: Yet…notice…no riots or violence!!

    LawnOrder types, I think I have a solution to all your anxieties!  It might leave you with a bad case of the munchies, tho’…

  97. 97.

    Mallard Filmore

    @Uncle Cosmo:

     

    And Joe will have no chance in hell to muster the votes for “expansion of the judiciary” to fix it.

    You are assuming a steady state political universe. Many people in Trump’s and GOP government need to end up on the good side of the new AG to have a voice in the future.

  99. 99.

    jl

    @NotMax: ” PEOTUS? ”

    I don’t know. To me that sounds a little too much like an obscure and unappetizing anatomical feature that makes medical students gag in the lab.

  100. 100.

    jl

    @NotMax: For our betters in high places, that kind of law crap is just boilerplate made to be bent and molded as necessary.

    McConnell drags his feet, obstructs, time for an acting cabinet, take it to the supreme court. See how much damage Porter, Sanders, Warren and Brown can do in the meantime.

  102. 102.

    Bill Arnold

    @Matt McIrvin:

    It’s part of how we establish a claim of legitimacy that makes it more difficult for Trump to mount a coup.

    It helps that the coup (well part of the legal part of it) was launched (apparently by accident) from in front of a landscaping company sandwiched between an adult bookstore/novelty shop and a crematorium. (As reported.) And that Rudy Giuliani did a lot of the talking.

  107. 107.

    J R in WV

    Jeeze, dude,

    You could have held off harshing the mellow until we had ONE good Night’s sleep, couldn’t you?

    Really Adam!!! Please?

  110. 110.

    Hoppie

    Back in the 80’s I got knowing tut-tuts from friends when I told them the most dangerous part of the future would be the Soviet Union’s collapse.

    I had lived in Italy in the middle 70’s. Knew the world was changing when direct-dial phoning to the west from eastern Europe started – Czechs were first. Lived in a student apartment in Bologna with several Israelis and an Italian communist, who hosted visitors from Eastern Europe (all CP members since that’s who were allowed to travel).

    It was a woman from Hungary who answered my question “What do you think’s in the future?” with “we just want to be a normal country”. Wow, that was informative, and led to my prediction.

    And it was wrong. The Soviet Union collapsed relatively uneventfully.

    But that is now what I want for MY country.

  113. 113.

    eddie blake

    @cain:

    wow. haven’t thought of those david eddings books in forever. i have them in a box in the closet.  loved them as a kid, they really don’t hold up to repeated readings, though.

  117. 117.

    Steeplejack

    Seems like someone was asking recently about the 1940 Pride and Prejudice with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson. It’s going to be on TCM at 6:00 a.m. EST tomorrow.

  118. 118.

    J R in WV

    @Felanius Kootea:

    Kamala’s grand-nieces, her niece Meena Harris’s daughters. Meena’s husband is Nigerian-American, so my community has really been rooting for this family.

    You’re a little off there, Meena is Kamala’s sister, and so the little girls would be Kamala’s nieces, not grand-nieces. Glad your community is happy about Kamala’s family being winners!!!

    We are too!

  119. 119.

    J R in WV

    @J R in WV:

    OK, I looked it up, and I was Wrong, Meena is Kamala’s neice. Duh.

    Sorry to all who had this correct. I should know to look this kind of thing up… Duh.

  121. 121.

    Nobody in particular

    FREEDOM, n. Exemption from the stress of authority in a beggarly half dozen of restraint’s infinite multitude of methods. A political condition that every nation supposes itself to enjoy in virtual monopoly. Liberty. The distinction between freedom and liberty is not accurately known; naturalists have never been able to find a living specimen of either.

    Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary.

    Adam: “PS: I’ll be back tomorrow to harsh everyone’s mellow and explain why the next 74 days will be the most dangerous days the US has ever faced. So you all have something to look forward to!”

    I will!  And Hello. But I may “harsh” yours, my friend. It may be worse than we’ve yet to imagine, and just a step in a process whose outcome remains undetermined.

    I’ve cogitated on your post from about a year ago often: The Only Way Out Is Through…

    And if that was “normal” we’re already two steps back and our work is cut out for us. 70 million Americans showed electoral support for fascism this week. The population of Germany in 1939 was about 80 million. I don’t socialize much but I felt it necessary to stop by and say hello, and thank you.

    I’m not a Jefferson Scholar yet, and still feral, but it’s definitely time for a roomier waistcoat.

  125. 125.

    LeaNder - once upon a time on SST

    @prufrock: 
    glad I found you after all these years.

    Glad to see you are well. Not only a great song but also mightily well done.

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