So after Halloween, I saw this mom’s post on FB and shared. Of course, Steve Hartman had to find out the whole story.
I wish I could tell you I’ll have recipes or even a climate solutions post sometime soon, but like most of you, I found it difficult to concentrate. I’ll be back on task later this week, I’m sure.
And if you didn’t see it, this thread by Cole is full of truth:
He doesn’t like to read, he doesn’t like music, he doesn’t care about art or poetry, or fine dining. He doesn’t laugh. He doesn’t laugh at himself. He is joyless. He doesn’t understand beauty in nature, in people, in architecture.
— John Cole (@Johngcole) November 8, 2020
Click on the little birdie to read the entire thing. And get ready to argue about bananas when you’re done.
Open thread
zhena gogolia
I agree with him about everything, including the bananas. I do miss the days when he would have shared this with us first as a blog post.
Jeffery
Donald enjoys dominating people and destroying them.
Tony Jay
I’m sure this is all very important and so on, but I’d just like to point out that Liverpool FC are currently ahead of Manchester City 0-1 after Mo Salah bangs in a penalty for an obvious foul on Sadio Mane.
Amir and I are very happy.
As you were.
John S.
My wife and I were struck by the same thing last night: the joy and happiness.
I love that Joe is just Joe, and how he held his grandson. And that Kamala dances when she’s happy. And that they were surrounded by such a diverse and loving family. I may not agree with them all the time, but they are just lovely and decent people. And I really missed having that as the public face of America.
Honus
I posted this below after Yarrow asked me to but it was pretty late and it’s so good everyone should see it.
https://mobile.twitter.com/nanglish/status/1325242917519233024
debbie
@Jeffery:
The only thing I can’t fault Trump for is his love of chocolate cake. ?
Mary G
One of my favorite writers:
Bill Arnold
Some neighbor up the cul-de-sac has been shooting all weekend, at least 500 rounds so far. I think it’s small caliber (like 22 rimfire) but not sure. Annoying. The neighbors who shoot are why I didn’t put up any political signs or have any partisan bumper stickers. (They or their friends called the cops on me at least once for walking at night with a hood. (white, so I didn’t get killed.)) I hope they’re just letting off steam after their Orange God Emperor was defeated.
Today I’ll be surfing the right wing zeitgeist (social media, regular media, comments, driving around a bit and looking at faces) a bit to see what’s up. Not looking forward to that.
Be nice to wingnuts… don’t reinforce their (dementedly false, mostly) Bayesian priors related to progressives. They, some of them, are genuinely worried about gulags and etc.
p.a.
Has the idiot “hearby declare(d) the dissolution of the Democrat Party” yet?
When the toxic narcissist tries to (further) burn the country down over the next 2 months, is there ANYONE in his circle jerk of degenerate support staff to play the role of Albert Speer?
MagdaInBlack
@John S.: That is what stood out to me too. People who enjoy life. A White House once again full of music, kids, dogs and people who show joy and pleasure matters. And I DID notice Joe holding that baby like he knew what he was doing.
germy
germy
The Moar You Know
Trump was joyless, his 70 million fans are joyless, and this country needs a whole lot more people rejecting that neo-Puritan bullshit and having a good time and letting others have a good time.
Tokyokie
@Tony Jay: Moi aussi.
Except it’s now 1-1. Dagnabit.
Amir Khalid
@Tony Jay:
Alas, Jésus has equalised for City. ☹️
ETA: City are awarded a penalty when the ball hits Joe Gomez’s arm, and Kevin de Bruyne MISSES!
Tony Jay
@Tokyokie:
1-1 now. Still happy, though. It’s a good game.
And Breaking News. Donald Trump is sad and angry, with an aftertaste of scared shitless.
David Rickard
I have an idea: let’s spend the next 73 days spamming the shitgibbon’s Twitter feed with “You have only N days left before Deutsche Bank and the New York State AG come for your ass” tweets.
Yarrow
@zhena gogolia: Yep. As soon as he found Twitter he basically abandoned posting here except once in awhile.
Tony Jay
@Amir Khalid:
I had to turn the sound down. Even to my jaded ears the commentators verbally fellating absolutely everything Citeh do is beyond graphic.
Oops, are Citeh going to get a penalty?
Yes, but Kev the Brown misses! Whoop! What a world we live in.
Suzanne
I said many times before that the aesthetics of the Trumps was one of the things I hated the most about them. All of them have just terrible, terrible taste. That’s not even a high/low thing; all of us know and enjoy great “low” culture. A rich man who pays over $100 for a burned steak and eats it with ketchup. Even the expensive stuff they had was gross. Just gross.
L85NJGT
The Cavendish is okay as far as it goes, but I’d like to try a Gros Michel.
Frank McCormick
Mary Trump’s confirmation of John’s missive was the cherry on top.
Ruckus
@Jeffery:
I’m not sure that shitforbrains enjoys anything, I think he doesn’t hate dominating people. It is the only thing that he can actually do. But I think as soon as he manages to dominate them, they become weak to him and he hates weakness, which of course means he hates himself, so he always has to try to make up for that and he can’t. It’s a constant war of stupidity with him, trying to one up himself in being a dick, which on the surface he’s good at, but that fucks up everything else in his life. trump is a fuck up deluxe, or better yet a round robin fuck up, it always comes back to him and he always fucks up.
Geo Wilcox
Just having dogs back in our house is going to result in lots of smiles.
Yarrow
A funny comment I saw somewhere is that Trump got the whole 2020 experience: he got Covid, he lost his job and now he’s getting evicted.
jeffreyw
I like pie.
zhena gogolia
@Suzanne:
Amen.
Suzanne
About a month ago, Mr. Suzanne and I took the Spawns to Ohiopyle to explore our new environs and enjoy autumn colors and outdoor exercise. It’s just spectacular. Some dickhole had brought a can of red spray paint and sprayed “TRUMP 2020” on the roadway in the park. Typical Trump aesthetic: spoiling and staining everything they come across,
jeffreyw
Fuck trying to heal the nation. No one on the other side thinks he’s broken. He thinks you are. Just buckle down and do the work that needs doing. As much as you can.
L85NJGT
I’ve never gotten that he even enjoys golf. Showing up at the courses is just part of the hustle.
raven
@jeffreyw: tell it
rikyrah
For Hamilton fans…
Brilliant???
Dorothy A. Winsor
I see on twitter that Bush called Biden to congratulate him.
different-church-lady
Cole’s tweet is nonsense: Trump gets great joy from being cruel to people.
Baud
What is RIP Alex Trebec.
germy
different-church-lady
@Baud: Aw, rats, really? Biden’s gonna be literally the only good thing about 2020, isn’t it?
bemused
John’s thread is right on. This needs threader.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I wonder if GOP Senators will start to speak up now. I believe the current count is Willard and Murkowski
The Pale Scot
So I read the twitter, and someone posts that a person who doesn’t own pets should be disqualified along with a link to a list of presidential pets. I think the list is a bit of a reach, I don’t think an alligator or silkworms (John Quincy Adams) can be considered pets. Some of the presidents had parrots of which I always wanted one, but seeing birds in cages gives me a sad. I figured you couldn’t let them roam around the house ’cause they’d poop everywhere. I occurred to me that maybe they could be house trained, and they can be trained to poop on command. All the websites said was to tell the bird “to poop”, well that’s dull I thought. Thinking of what to use instead took me about 5 seconds, “take a Trump”.
beth
@Baud: 2020 saying I’m not done breaking your hearts yet. What a sad loss.
germy
@The Pale Scot:
My favorite:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socks_(cat)
The cat had to leave when the Clintons adopted a dog.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Looking at Cole’s thread for the reply from Mary Trump, which I don’t see, but her book would answer this
Basically, his mother spent most of his pre-school years either in the hospital for long stretches, or coping with what reads like major depression behind a closed bedroom door. Fred didn’t give a fuck about his kids, a trait his son would later adopt and brag about, and The Little Beast was basically left in the care of a housekeeper who had no time, training or apparently inclination to be a nanny, and his not much older siblings. He showed a nascent sadistic streak in his treatment of his little brother.
Sure Lurkalot
Even before Adam’s danger danger Will Robinson post, after yesterday’s exuberance, it is distressing that the Sunday shows are still pumping air into the deflated balloon. That they just can’t or won’t quit Trump and move on, choose the windshield instead of the rear view mirror…
All the talk about the power of Trumpism and his inevitable 2024 comeback run is incredulous to me. I’m not going full Tom Joseph but it does seem he’s beset with some neurological and other health issues. There are clear differences in his speech over the years and the kick of his right foot is very similar to my sister’s gait after a stroke. Someone else will certainly try to fill his shoes if and when he fades but I’m not sure anyone will have the same “appeal”.
NoraLenderbee
It’s OK not to have pets. Love of pets isn’t a purity test.
JanieM
@NoraLenderbee: Thanks. :-)
glc
Tom Frieden used the phrase “The beginning of the beginning” which seems very suitable.
Coronavirus etiquette: https://zeenews.india.com/video/world/corona-taught-namaskar-to-the-world-now-politicians-dont-like-shaking-hands-2304220.html
@different-church-lady: Assumes facts not in evidence. I’ll go with this version: the man hates himself and is unlikely now to win the approval of his father, so there is nothing to be done for him.
The Pale Scot
@David Rickard:
We need to have a LOCK THEM ALL UP march at the Mall once the weather breaks, and talk about it constantly on social media to give them the willies and to get it noticed on the MSM. They cannot be allowed to just scurry under the floorboards for the third time in my life span. Yurtle and the gang can be vilified just like they vilified the Clintons and Obama. If Joe wants to have Rethugs in his cabinet make them publicly renounce the GOP and become Democrats.
PaulWartenberg
oh fck we need a new thread Alex Trebek died this morning.
dmsilev
@PaulWartenberg: This year really is determined to thoroughly suck.
Frank Wilhoit
What Cole is saying is that Trump thinks like a peasant. And so do very, very, very nearly all Americans. This is a long-historical phenomenon, but today the reasons for it are importantly different. Let us assume that the historical reasons are familiar. Today it is because Americans are infantile and the peasant mindset is infantile.
The exceptions have all sorted themselves into the Democratic Party, and we flatter ourselves that we are not entirely irrelevant in that context, but we are far too few to affect anything on the national scene. Proof? If we had any ability to influence anything, then everything would be totally different from what it is.
gene108
Agree with the blogfather. Trump’s inability to feel joy is disturbing. He is incapable of laughing. His smiles are forced. He has no normal human emotions.
Edit: I will never understand how anyone finds such an emotionally disturbed person as Trump appealing.
Frankensteinbeck
@Frank Wilhoit:
Trump would have lost the election. Oh, look, he did.
gene108
@Frank Wilhoit:
Dude, the problem is white people. Trump, and Republicans, get the overwhelming majority of white votes. Why? Fuck if I know. Fix what’s wrong with white people, and we can then move forward.
Amir Khalid
@NoraLenderbee:
Trump’s loathing of Pence’s pets is not a positive sign.
Baud
@Frank Wilhoit:
That makes no sense. “Influence” doesn’t mean “ability to control anything.”. You could have just as easily said
Which would be just as accurate.
Aleta
Jared and Melania have entered the image repair contest, hoping to signal they’re not on the Tuba’s side. Same old Ivanka-Jared method, using “sources” to whisper to CNN, etc. that they’re “approaching” him and “trying to convince.” I hope Ivanka will soon have a quiet word in his ear, as a loyal daughter, to gently architect the thought, in her role as amazing beauty and curator of the divine female entrepreneurial spirit.
grubert
My wife has said it many times: Trump *is* miserable. You would not want to live his life, despite all that money.
Luciamia
Not just Trump. Think of Don and Eric, the Brothers Grim. And that sour faced weasel, Jared.
mrmoshpotato
Topical
I Like Bananas (Because They Have No Bones)
Kathleen in NC
I am desperate to support Ossoff and Warnock and gain the Senate. My son suggested moving to Georgia and register to vote, but obvs not enough time for that. I don’t quite get phone and text banking – it doesn’t seem effective, at least it isn’t when I get ‘banked.’ And donating money didn’t quite do it in several races.
I need your thoughts on this idea: Tiffany Bond on twitter, I know you’ll look her up, suggests instead of donating to candidates, that we do a #RaisingGeorgia campaign of supporting local business, food banks etc and let them know why we are donating. The one that appeals most to me is the DonorsChoose support. All of the projects under $100 in Georgia were cleared this morning and I think it is growing. The most important part of donating is including a #GeorgiaRaising note such as: This donation is part of a #Georgia Raising initiative in support of senatorial candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. Rather than send them money to buy ads or mailers it seemed better to contribute something to make things better in Georgia. Please make sure you spread the work about these fine candidates. Good luck with your [french studies] project.
Opinions? Expertise? Would this be more impactful?
NoraLenderbee
@Amir Khalid: Nobody said it was. However, it’s not a disqualification either.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@grubert: Being Trump is both his crime and his punishment
SFAW
@Luciamia:
Fixed
Fleeting Expletive
Found a 1977 Rolling Stone magazine in a file cabinet.
“I’ll be in my bunk.”
rikyrah
@germy:
Yesssss???
MagdaInBlack
@NoraLenderbee: The reason one does not have pets is what matters. In trumples case, I suspect if is because pets require love and caring and empathy….and concern for something outside himself. He isn’t capable. So in this case, TG he doesn’t have pets. If he did they’d just be an ornament, like our dear Melamine.
( Melamine: cheap, plastic, easily replaced)
Proudgradofcatladyacademy
Speaking of joy and being excited about life and food, I’m of the firm opinion anyone who doesn’t enjoy at least one type of food or item needs to be avoided at all costs as someone who can’t enjoy at least one thing that unites humans the world over, food. For example my friend Phillip has the palate of an eight year old, and hates everything but Rum Raisin Hagan Daz and cinnamon raisin bread. I don’t understand it but okay he loves something that speaks to his soul, which is becoming my litmus test for being a decent human.There’s something wrong with a man who isn’t passionate about at least one food.
My own food passions run on the ebb and tide of oceanic whim waves and this is the soup that currently is in on high tide. It’s a vegan greek lemon soup and I love it. Awhile back I mentioned it in a rare delurking open thread post and someone asked for the recipe. I meant to circle back and post it but never did. This is the launchpad recipe but I always make tweaks, (vegetable broth for cubes etc etc) so to that someone who asked here you are, a warm bowl of bright comfort:
https://www.foodbymaria.com/vegan-greek-lemon-rice-soup/
***Typed on my phone, all spelling errors my phone’s fault.
Ken
Could be worse. The Koch brothers were raised by a Nazi nanny, like some weird twist on The Omen.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Thread about giving? Christmas is coming!
Amazon has the Wysman paperback on sale for $11.54 instead of its usual $14.99. Since this is something they do occasionally, I don’t know how long that will last. E-book is its usual $3.99.
Have a blurb: Street kids are dying. Does anyone care? Former street kid Jarka risks his new life as an apprentice Wysman when poor children begin disappearing and he suspects the monster grabbing them comes from the castle.
Amir Khalid
Manchester City vs. Liverpool ends in a 1-1 draw.
Brachiator
Holy hot damn, the piece about the little girl and Halloween was wonderful.
Trump likes power and grabbing p*ssy. Did he ever host any cultural or social events at the White House? I can’t recall any. But again, he is much like his resentful and insecure base.
It is also remarkable how much Trump resembles the miserable Me Potter in the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life.”
So glad he’s getting kicked to the curb.
mrmoshpotato
@The Moar You Know:
and rejecting the fascism.
Don’t forget rejecting fascism.
MagdaInBlack
@Brachiator: Didn’t his niece say of him” If it doesnt make money, it’s not worth doing?” Or possibly it was trumples himself who said it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Ken: I want Mel Brooks to write the Koch Bros biopic, and Cloris Leachman to play that Nanny.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@MagdaInBlack: I don’t know if we saw the same interview, but when she was asked if she had any knowledge of her grandfather going to a Klan rally, she said she didn’t, but the only reason she could think of for him not doing it was that it wouldn’t make him any money.
Brachiator
@Aleta:
Ivanka tried this lie early in Trump’s administration, that she would use her daughter power to lead Trump to become more moderate. Ultimately she shut up and went along with the grift and cruelty.
And, especially with his despicable actions in the pandemic task force, Young Jared confirmed that he was as much a vile creature as his master.
germy
Wasn’t there a monster truck rally on the White House lawn? Some kind of truck event, I think.
But even that was pandering to his base. I don’t think he gives a shit about trucks.
MagdaInBlack
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I am vaguely remembering something along those lines, that pretty much explained to me why he’s so joyless. I can’t find the quote tho.
germy
Brachiator
@Frank Wilhoit:
Your elitism is showing. Much of Trump’s base is resentful and shallow, but there are deeper reasons for this.
Did you miss that whole presidential election thing? Been going on all week.
LurkerNoLonger
When is the Sad White People account going to make a come back? That was so much fun after Obama won in 2012. It would be even more fun now.
WaterGirl
@Kathleen in NC: My personal opinion? Giving to Donors Choose does nothing for the Georgia runoff.
If you give to GASenate.com, which is Stacey Abrams and Fair Fight organizing for the Georgia runoff, your contribution is split evenly between Warnock, Ossoff, and Fair Fight.
If you look at Election Action! in the sidebar, you will find a BJ post with all sorts of links for where you can donate and how you can volunteer.
I suggest you do something more concrete and direct than Donors Choose
P.S. There will be an upcoming post that highlights some of the other organizations in Georgia that also helped us get this win.
different-church-lady
@Brachiator: Wait, that was last week?
dmsilev
@germy: She’s getting impatient to file for divorce?
Citizen Alan
I’m the son of a truck driver and the grandson of a sharecropper. And I’m here to say that there’s a difference between being poor and being a peasant.
A poor person is someone who has the misfortune of not having very much money. I’ve been poor, and I have nothing against people who are poor right now.
A peasant, IMO, is someone who is poor but irrationally proud of it. Someone who worships the very people responsible for their poverty. And someone who snaps angrily at anyone who offers them a hand up out of poverty.
In the Middle Ages, the peasant would fling themselves down into the mud and grovel as the Lord rode by in his fancy carriage and then go right back to blaming all their problems on Saladin holding Jerusalem or whatever. And their intellectual descendants do basically the same thing at Trump rallies.
debbie
@SFAW:
I like it!
debbie
@germy:
Not sure who he is, but resoundingly seconded!
Brachiator
@Citizen Alan:
That’s not a peasant. That’s a fool. But I take your point. Of course, no one volunteered to be a peasant or a serf. It was a condition forced on them. And they would be punished if they tried to rise above their station.
Some peasants would take that mud and fling it at the carriage. And if course if they didn’t grovel, they and their families might be punished.
But it’s sad that some peasants came to believe that there was no way out.
Another Scott
@gene108: He laughs at the insults of others.
There was also the “jokes” he told at the Al Smith dinner.
He’s a cruel bully. He loves punching down. It pervades his personality.
Cheers,
Scott.
prostratedragon
Joining late to add a resounding AMEN! to John’s tweets above. It was the first thing about him I noticed years ago, and the thing that told me what we were in for with him as President. It explains why he has no friends, and not even any respect among those he wishes were not his betters.
Betty
@L85NJGT: There are many great varieties, but Big Banana has limited most markets to the one with the longest shelf life. I understand it is now under threat globally from disease. Soon there may be no bananas.
Miss Bianca
@debbie: Damn it, you just hit on the ONE humanizing detail I’ve ever heard about him
@Dorothy A. Winsor: So, basically, GW Bush has more class than all other Republicans put together. That should give us all some pause.
(OK, Romney and Murkowski are apparently in there, too).