Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

The words do not have to be perfect.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

We will not go back.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

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

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

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

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

In my day, never was longer.

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

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Biden and Harris Live

Reader Interactions

150Comments

  11. 11.

    MisterForkbeard

    @germy: I made the mistake of reading the comments.

    It was actually not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Only a few “This is race baiting!” and so on.

  15. 15.

    ...now I try to be amused

    @Spanky:

    I’ve had enough mediocre white men to last a lifetime, and I’M A MEDIOCRE WHITE MAN.

    Amen. One of the many reasons I’m not a Trumpalo is that I want people in government who are better than me.

  21. 21.

    Jeffro

    actual Fox News dot com headline right now: “Biden announces controversial picks for top economic posts, as wide range of critics raise alarm”

    “controversial”

    “wide range”

    “alarm”

    I dunno…I just don’t thing those dogs are gonna hunt, Fox News

  22. 22.

    O. Felix Culpa

    OMG the diversity: a Black woman, a Black man, an Indian-American woman, and a short woman. Ms. O feels seen.

    ETA: There’s a white guy too.

  23. 23.

    Redshift

    @MisterForkbeard:

    It was actually not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Only a few “This is race baiting!” and so on.

    Ah, the ongoing conservative Orwell project, trying to redefine all terms about racism to mean the opposite of what they actually do. It started, I think, with insisting that “playing the race card” meant any mention of race. They rarely succeed, but they often muddle the thinking of a large segment of the population enough that everyone stops using the term entirely.

    I can’t help but be amused at their inability to grasp how racist it is to believe that choosing anyone but a white man must mean you’re lowering your standards.

  25. 25.

    Redshift

    @Gin & Tonic: And no people who are being introduced as being “straight out of Central Casting”? No people who were picked because the president-elect saw them on TV? No family members or people who did some random unrelated job for a family member?

    What is the world coming to?

  32. 32.

    Spanky

    @Jeffro:

    “Biden announces controversial picks for top economic posts, as wide range of critics raise alarm”

    “Wide range” here means the boobs on both sides of the blonde on the couch.

  33. 33.

    NotMax

    @germy

    *gasp* Not, say, a golf caddy who “looks right out of central casting” for the position?

    Radicalism run riot!

    //

  34. 34.

    sab

    @O. Felix Culpa: My whole lifetime they always said that they would hire something other than Ivy League frat boys if only anyone else was qualified. Then we learned with Obama that lots of very qualified folks out there.

  36. 36.

    Mike in NC

    I like the bust of Putin and the Confederate flag in that cartoon. Forever to be linked to the moronic Fat Bastard we just gave the boot to. Now back to watching “Zero Hour!”.

  37. 37.

    Brachiator

    @Emma from FL:

    Cecilia Rouse as head of Economic Advisors. Hot as they say damn.

    She attended Harvard. Isn’t that supposed to be a bad thing, per Little Marco Rubio?

    actual Fox News dot com headline right now: “Biden announces controversial picks for top economic posts, as wide range of critics raise alarm”

    Wow. I guess “controversial” means “no grifters, sycophants or incompetents.”

  39. 39.

    Just Chuck

    Turns out hiring actually qualified people for the job makes for boring TV.  Cable TV producers are desperate to punch this stuff up.

  41. 41.

    Benw

    @cain: haha!

    MMWMGA? Doesn’t really roll off the tongue, eh?

    I guess we’ll have to settle for building back better, with highly qualified people from all races and genders.

  43. 43.

    jnfr

    @TaMara (HFG):

    I watched live and didn’t even notice the boot.

    Sounds like a very good group. I like the consistent emphasis on unions, workers, jobs. So different from the usual Republican praise of corporations and rich people.

  48. 48.

    germy

    Heather Boushey
    Member of the Council of Economic Advisers

    • Core of her work as an economist centers on the intersection between economic inequality, growth, and public policy
    • Raised in a union family, and believes our economy is strongest when it offers dignity and respect to all workers and families
  49. 49.

    TaMara (HFG)

    Dear Anthony Fauci (speaking to our Gov right now). We are not Gov. Polis’ constituents, we are the citizens of Colorado. Just a minor point (it was grating on me, so I had to whine here). Other than that, thanks for telling it like it is.

  50. 50.

    Kent

    @Emma from FL:Cecilia Rouse as head of Economic Advisors. Hot as they say damn.

    According to her wiki bio, she is married to Ford Morrison, which makes Toni Morrison her mother-in-law.

    That is some mother-in-law!

  54. 54.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @TaMara (HFG): I have to add, he’s very reassuring and calm in his explanations and I’m glad he’s able to speak out now.

    Oh, and the Gov just sent me a little bit of money, I guess I should shut up and stop complaining.

  60. 60.

    Faithful Lurker

    The Google ads have taken over the site. I can see only the top half of my screen, above the stupid ads. I’ve tried everything to get rid of them and it only brings more. I’m on a Mac laptop. Help!! I’m being held captive by google ads!

  62. 62.

    Jeffro

    @Spanky: “We three here at ‘Fox and Friends’ polled ourselves and the results were SHOCKING!”

    (cue Pavlovian ‘Breaking News’ gong and graphics to really get the fear response going)

    “So-called Not-my-President-elect Biden is picking people who AREN’T rabid Randians for his economic team!   0/10 would not recommend…”

  63. 63.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @germy: it’s a remarkable example of horseshoe politics, Neera Tanden seems to be the Bête Noire of a certain kind of lefty because she 1) is actually a Democrat and 2) got crossways on twitter with the very odd (to be charitable) Matt Breunig, and he and his also odd but less obnoxious wife seem to be the social mascots of certain kind of very insidery, junior-league lefties of the Vox/Journo-list cohort

  65. 65.

    Lyrebird

    @Benw: @mrmoshpotato: that’s really hurtful to us mediocre white men. The Trumpers are shitty, SHITTY white men.

    Yes, and I hope we see a lot less of them and the shitty, SHITTY, downright EVIL supposedly good looking white women like McEnany and Schlapp (both of em) and Conway and that ghoul of a senator from GA (actually both of em)…

  66. 66.

    Jeffro

    @Brachiator: I think they meant to say “competent” and slipped

     

    I do have to thank Fox in some small way for putting an old Prince song into my head on this slow afternoon… =)

  72. 72.

    Jeffro

    @Cameron: well, these are a Democratic president’s picks, so in Fox-land they’re already going to be D+ at best.

    What we clearly need is someone on this economic team who’ll advocate for the forgotten rich man, the left-behind banker, the jilted job-creators!  WHO…who, I ask, will speak for the yacht paraders???

  73. 73.

    MazeDancer

    Poor Jared Bernstein – who has been on TV often over the years – got clipped out. So did Kamala’s summary appearance.

    Too bad.

    But loved them all. Smart, humble, dedicated, wanting what’s best for the most people. That Joe – and Kamala – can pick ’em!

  74. 74.

    karen marie

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:  I scrolled through a reply thread to a Greenwald tweet in which he lost his shit about Neeran.  The “me too” replies appeared to be almost entirely Bernie Bros.  I hung around for a while blocking account after account after account.  Bunch of fucking morons.

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    @NotMax: True, but I think it’s up to the site to not have such a ridiculous amount of ads that make the site nearly unusable.  So we need people to tell us when the ads are taking over.

  82. 82.

    NotMax

    @WaterGirl

    Of course it’s the site’s responsibility. Just pointing out an option for a temporary remedy on the user end.

    “Hey WG, I had to install a blocker because the ads were eating my iPad” is a heads-up, too. (randomly chosen example)

  83. 83.

    Faithful Lurker

    @WaterGirl: I’ve got it down to a half screen when the whole enchilada comes back I’ll send it to you. This is the first time this has happened on this computer and I’m here a lot. It’s not happening on my iPad.

    Thanks for helping.

  85. 85.

    Ken

    @JoyceH: I’m concerned about that great big lump under the carpet. Someone better check and make sure Trump isn’t hiding under there.

    Nah, just do what the professional carpet installers do, and hammer it flat with a chunk of 2×4.

    (There’s a joke about that, involving a lump that the installer thinks is his pack of cigarettes.)

  86. 86.

    germy

    @TaMara (HFG):

    Hope everybody is watching @OANN right now. Other media afraid to show. People are coming forward like never before. Large truck carrying hundreds of thousands of fraudulent (FAKE) ballots to a voting center? TERRIBLE – SAVE AMERICA!

    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 1, 2020

  90. 90.

    NotMax

    @Faithful Lurker

    AdBlock Plus or uBlock consistently are highly rated and mostly user friendly. AdGuard if poking around under the hood and tinkering with customization floats yer boat.

  92. 92.

    Kent

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:@germy: it’s a remarkable example of horseshoe politics, Neera Tanden seems to be the Bête Noire of a certain kind of lefty because she 1) is actually a Democrat and 2) got crossways on twitter with the very odd (to be charitable) Matt Breunig, and he and his also odd but less obnoxious wife seem to be the social mascots of certain kind of very insidery, junior-league lefties of the Vox/Journo-list cohort

    As far as I can tell, it really started at the 2016 Convention.

    Neera Tandeen was on the platform committee and one of the Hillary Clinton loyalists that pushed back against the Sandernistas’ efforts to seed some more progressive planks into the platform (that no one read after the convention).  In other words, she fought to have the platform reflect what Hillary Clinton and the Clinton campaign wanted it to reflect.

    Apparently some of the Sandernistas and their fellow travelers have never forgiven her for the sin of advocating for the positions of the campaign that she was working for instead of undermining the campaign by going full blown Bernie Sanders at the convention.

  93. 93.

    Ken

    @WaterGirl: I think it’s up to the site to not have such a ridiculous amount of ads

    So do most of the website designers and programmers I know.  If only their wishes were considered…

  94. 94.

    Jeffro

    @TaMara (HFG): maybe now that trumpov has grifted $150M from the rubes (plus all 6 trumpov-contested states have certified their votes) it’s time to “pivot” if they want to have a prayer of turning out the vote in GA?

    The MAGAt morons will swallow the ‘new narrative’ without a second thought.

  97. 97.

    Amir Khalid

    @TaMara (HFG):

    Bill Barr is frust* because the Democrats aren’t cooperating: they have refused to commit any election fraud.

    *Ancient Malaysian slang from the 1970s

  100. 100.

    WaterGirl

    @Ken: I can’t even describe how I feel, after having spent the better part of 6 months working on the site redo, to be as pretty and as functional as it could possibly be, to have it junked up and slowed down by the ads.

  101. 101.

    LuciaMia

    Large truck carrying hundreds of thousands of fraudulent (FAKE) ballots

    Funny, when this ‘report’ first surfaced it was only hundreds of ballots. Now its hundreds of thousands.

  106. 106.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kent: They’re currently complaining about positions she apparently advocated in 2010, which is six years before Bragman was making the liberal case for Donald Trump, so you’d think there would be a statute of limitations.

  109. 109.

    sab

    @sab: My blue-collar husband has lived his whole life here in  medium sized Ohio city and has never been in a diner. And he is 70. I think diners are an exurb thing.

  111. 111.

    WhatsMyNym

    @Faithful Lurker:   Try Brave as your browser.  Available on mobile or desktop.  Has an ad blocker you can turn on.  Also can block social media embeds, separately.

  112. 112.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @sab: They were a New Jersey thing when I was growing up. Mostly Greek-owned. Greasy, but good. (Pun only somewhat intended.

    ETA: I loved the food, but as DAW notes below, the coffee was typically terrible.

  115. 115.

    sab

    @WaterGirl: Ads have been weird. For a while the banner ads took over the whole site. Ads weren’t readable but they trashed the site. Ads aren’t supposed to do that. Defeats the whole point.

    Much better lately. Yay Watergirl. I knew you were on it.

  117. 117.

    germy

    Barr doesn’t want to play anymore.

    ?“There’s a growing tendency to use the criminal justice system as sort of a default fix-all, and people don’t like something they want the Department of Justice to come in and ‘investigate,’” Barr said. https://t.co/j2zOHid6tN

    — Jordan Fabian (@Jordanfabian) December 1, 2020

    Joint statement from Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, issued by Trump camp while Barr is at WH:

    "With the greatest respect to the Attorney General, his opinion appears to be without any knowledge or investigation of the substantial irregularities and evidence of systemic fraud"

    — Jordan Fabian (@Jordanfabian) December 1, 2020

  119. 119.

    NotMax

    @LuciaMia

    How do they think ballots are transported? By Pony Express?

    “Idiots — all of them.”
      – Mrs. Peachum (The Threepenny Opera)
    .

  123. 123.

    JPL

    @germy: Did you see this?

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Barr appoints Durham special counsel to keep investigating Russia probe origins under new administration

  124. 124.

    Faithful Lurker

    To all who helped, Ad Blocker seems to have taken care of the problem. If it fails later, I’ll look at Brave. I’m using MacOS 10.13.6. I need to upgrade it but I’m resisting. Water Girl, I can’t capture the ads since they’re gone. Sorry. They were just the standard Google ads, not very interesting but highly annoying.

    Back to the lurking for me.

  125. 125.

    WaterGirl

    @O. Felix Culpa: I think there should be a concerted effort to have every democrat who mailed in a ballot to check with their county on the status of their ballot.

    When it arrived, was it opened and verified, was it counted, etc.

    That’s the only way I can see for us to know how many mail-in ballots never made it to where they would be counted, or didn’t arrive in time for counting.

  127. 127.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @WaterGirl: My secretary of state’s website has an online tracker you can use to check the status of your ballot and I think that many other states have something similar as well. Not sure if it’s universally available though.

  133. 133.

    glory b

    @Spanky: To be fair, the people formerly known as cosplay socialists were unhappy. In fact, Walker Bragman, son of a real estate developer and biglaw partner, now is urging his brethren to join with the republicans to “flex our muscles” and show Biden and Harris that they mean business!

    So, the circle from the left to the right is now complete.

  134. 134.

    Miss Bianca

    @germy: Hey, I’m totally up for a little bout of “let’s him and them fight” if it keeps Barr from fucking with other shit, even if only temporarily.

  140. 140.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Matt McIrvin: There’s an out-of-context screen clip from when Obama was trying to get a bargain with Republicans in 2010-2011, where she says that maybe we can make some changes to social security if we get something good out of it.

    That’s pretty much it.

    The other big complaint is that she wasn’t opposed to Libyans paying us back with cheaper oil if the intervention there succeeded. This is being portrayed as “A tool of big oil and stealing Libya’s natural resources by being a warmonger”.

    Yeah. It’s stupid.

  141. 141.

    JustRuss

    @sab: Confession: I love diners.  And we do have them here in the People’s Republic of Oregon, though not always easy to find.

  143. 143.

    WaterGirl

    If you haven’t checked the Balloon Juice Calendar A to make sure all your guys are in there, that all the info is correct, that there’s a heart if there should be a heart, etc…

    Please do so now because we hope to have the calendar order-able sometime tonight, and if you don’t catch the error before you order, you are out of luck.  :-(

    Check the links in the sidebar to the spreadsheets so you know whether your guys are in Calendar A or Calendar B.  If all goes well, Calendar B is coming this evening.

    https://balloon-juice.com/2020/12/01/2021-balloon-juice-pet-calendar-calendar-a/?updated=1606858443#comment-7983367

  144. 144.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Suzanne:

    What’s the matter bro?  Don’t want your anti-gay ass seen at a 25-man orgy?

    And “fleeing through a window” is just (chef’s orgy)!

  145. 145.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @JustRuss: me too. To me diners are all about unhealthy breakfasts, a good tuna melt, stuff that would make foodies cringe

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