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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

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

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

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

Republicans do not trust women.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

In after Baud. Damn.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Books are my comfort food!

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

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

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

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You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / Thursday Morning Open Thread: Performative Outrage

Thursday Morning Open Thread: Performative Outrage

by Anne Laurie|  December 17, 20207:31 am| 131 Comments

This post is in: Cat Blogging, Excellent Links, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Our Failed Media Experiment

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someone did a collab tiktok with a cat and it's perfect pic.twitter.com/8ckEIRo51y

— Rob N Roll (@thegallowboob) December 15, 2020


It’s the cat’s expression that makes the bit. Must you, human? Can I not have one unmediated moment of joyful creativity without your vulgar stalking? …

Speaking of which…

Incoming Biden WH deputy Chief of Staff Omalley Dillon says she thinks big bipartisan deals are possible even though the Republicans are a “bunch of fuckers” and “mitch McConnell is terrible”https://t.co/1spD5B734q pic.twitter.com/I631xo97nm

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) December 16, 2020

Within an hour of the networks’ at last declaring Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election, his campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon took to Twitter to celebrate. In contrast with what we’ve come to expect from those who serve in the current administration, she wasn’t gloating or triumphalist. She was honest, elated, and grateful. “We can do hard things,” she wrote, “and you just did!”…

… She is the first woman to manage a successful Democratic presidential campaign, the first woman to run a campaign that ousted an incumbent president, and of course the first person to spearhead a winning ticket in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic.

Her task since she joined the Biden team on March 12, 2020—less than 24 hours after Tom Hanks announced he had tested positive for Covid-19, the NBA suspended its season, and the World Health Organization designated the brand-new disease a global pandemic—has been to do the hardest possible things: Win a virtual election. Fight a cascade of misinformation. Keep hundreds of staffers and the candidate himself safe. Do not flinch.

After Biden is sworn in, O’Malley Dillon will serve as his deputy chief of staff—her first White House role ever after two decades in presidential politics. But in the meantime, with the tiniest bit of breathing room now that Donald Trump and the GOP have lost almost 60 court cases in their futile, craven efforts to overturn the will of the voters in the 2020 race, O’Malley Dillon made some time to meet Doyle over Zoom and talk about—what else?—the hard things…

The scary pull quote, which seems extremely on-point for the campaign Biden just won:

That might be what we’re missing—is that redefining of compromise. That it is or it can be the ultimate victory.

Yes, exactly. And frankly, that’s what we need. The president-elect was able to connect with people over this sense of unity. In the primary, people would mock him, like, “You think you can work with Republicans?” I’m not saying they’re not a bunch of fuckers. Mitch McConnell is terrible. But this sense that you couldn’t wish for that, you couldn’t wish for this bipartisan ideal? He rejected that. From start to finish, he set out with this idea that unity was possible, that together we are stronger, that we, as a country, need healing, and our politics needs that too.

Which is not to say it is easy. It is like a relationship. You can’t do politics alone. If the other person is not willing to do the work, then that becomes really hard. But I think, more than not, people want to see impact. They want to see us moving in a path forward. They want to do their work, get paid a fair share, have time for themselves and their family, and see each other as neighbors. And this overhang of this negative, polarized electorate that politics has created is the thing that I think we can break down…

But the Democrat lady said a Big SWEAR!!1!!…

I can’t count the number of double standards involved here. The things that Republicans and men are allowed to say (“refreshingly frank”!) that Democrats and women aren’t (“beyond the pale”!) is amazeballs. https://t.co/IpVpnqa1c8

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) December 16, 2020

decorum aside, the degree to which i get upset about a staffer calling politicians “fuckers” depends in no small part on the degree to which those politicians are, in fact, a bunch of fuckers

this is subjective, i understand this

— Normie Transition Team (@CalmSporting) December 17, 2020

Remember when Republican congressional representative @RepTedYoho called Democratic congressional representative @AOC a “fucking bitch” in person? I sure do. But, sure, tell us more about the outrage over a comment in a magazine interview that was directed at no specific person.

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) December 17, 2020

we burned the harsh language fainting couch four years ago, we are not dragging it’s charred and ruined frame out just to let a few anonymous sources score cheap points

— golikecorpromachine (@golikehellmachi) December 16, 2020

yes, after the last four years, let alone the last six weeks, the dems should definitely be worried about (checks notes) hurting congressional republicans’ feelings https://t.co/ioKhkOeubu

— Gerry Doyle (@mgerrydoyle) December 17, 2020

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Reader Interactions

131Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    December 17, 2020 at 7:36 am

    Where I come from, “fuckers” is a term of endearment.

  2. 2.

    debbie

    December 17, 2020 at 7:37 am

    I seem to remember the zero amount of outrage from other conservatives when Dick Cheney used the same word. Fuckem.

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 17, 2020 at 7:38 am

    Fuck their feelings.

  4. 4.

    Baud

    December 17, 2020 at 7:38 am

    According to the news, Wilmer read The Art of the Deal and now thinks he would have done a better job negotiating with Mitch.

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 17, 2020 at 7:38 am

    @Baud: But they’re all celibate!

  6. 6.

    satby

    December 17, 2020 at 7:39 am

    And the correct response:

    Jane Lynch@janemarielynch

    If it walks like a bunch of fuckers and it talks like a bunch of fuckers it’s a bunch of fuckers.

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    December 17, 2020 at 7:39 am

    FYI.

    Zoom will be lifting its 40-minute meeting limit for free accounts globally in recognition of several upcoming holidays…

    Here’s exactly when Zoom will be removing the 40-minute limit:

    10AM ET Thursday, December 17th, to 6AM ET Saturday, December 19th, for the end of Hanukkah

    10AM ET Wednesday, December 23rd, to 6AM ET Saturday, December 26th, for Christmas Eve and Christmas

    10AM ET on Wednesday, December 30th, to 6AM ET on Saturday, January 2nd, for New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, and the end of Kwanza Source

    Doesn’t specify but those times are probably Eastern.

  8. 8.

    Baud

    December 17, 2020 at 7:40 am

    @NotMax:

    It’s says ET right in the quote.

  9. 9.

    satby

    December 17, 2020 at 7:41 am

    @Baud: There’s more than a few obituaries I’m going to really enjoy reading when they finally get published.

  10. 10.

    satby

    December 17, 2020 at 7:42 am

    @Baud: that’s just so they can zoom home.

  11. 11.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 17, 2020 at 7:43 am

    @Baud: :-)

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    December 17, 2020 at 7:43 am

    @a href=”https://balloon-juice.com/2020/12/17/thursday-morning-open-thread-performative-outrage/#comment-8001209″>NotMax

    Senior moment (collect them all!). Eastern time is specified.

  13. 13.

    Baud

    December 17, 2020 at 7:43 am

    @satby:

    Heh.

  14. 14.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 17, 2020 at 7:46 am

    @Baud: I am as tired of Vt Jesus and his band of performance art ? progressives as I am of the Republican fuckers.

  15. 15.

    debbie

    December 17, 2020 at 7:48 am

    @satby:

    Seconded resoundingly.

  16. 16.

    Van Buren

    December 17, 2020 at 7:49 am

    @satby: Other possible response: ” I  would like to retract that. I misspoke. They are, in fact, goddam motherfucking nazi wannabees. I regret the error.”

  17. 17.

    Spanky

    December 17, 2020 at 7:49 am

    Now wait a minute. She didn’t call them a bunch of fuckers. She said she’s not saying they’re NOT a bunch of fuckers.

    They are, of course, a bunch of motherfuckers, so I think she pulled her punches here.

  18. 18.

    NotMax

    December 17, 2020 at 7:50 am

    Couple of moderately entertaining recent finds on Prime.

    Not the best heist movie you’ll ever see but sufficiently distant from the worst – Logan Lucky. Stretches of adroit film making interspersed with stretches of goes-on-too-long time spent with characters (and plot) treading water.

    Lower key and strictly for gentle laughter is Make A Fake (originally Senza arte né parte). Italian hijinks poking a palette knife through the modern art scene. Trailer (no subtitles).

  19. 19.

    Betty Cracker

    December 17, 2020 at 7:51 am

    The “some advisors” who allegedly have the vapors over O’Malley Dillon’s language are probably the same tender blossoms who wanted to block Harris from the ticket because she threw some elbows during the primary. Ed Rendell and who else?

  20. 20.

    Suzanne

    December 17, 2020 at 7:51 am

    She’s not saying they’re a bunch of fuckers.

    But I am. They’re a bunch of deplorable fuckers.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    December 17, 2020 at 7:53 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Does Ed Rendell speak on background? To his credit, he usually stands behind his assholery.

  22. 22.

    NotMax

    December 17, 2020 at 7:54 am

    Dillon’s comment may be the quintessential example of impolitic.

  23. 23.

    Baud

    December 17, 2020 at 7:57 am

    I wonder if this will be like “deplorables” with republicans proudly calling themselves “fuckers.”

  24. 24.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 17, 2020 at 7:58 am

    Reposted from below: George Pell: Trump is a barbarian, but ‘in some important ways’ he’s our barbarian

    In the book, Pell muses on his court case and current events in the Catholic church and around the world, and at one point says Trump is unfortunately “a bit of a barbarian, but in some important ways, he is our [Christian] barbarian”.

    During the virtual press conference, Pell said Christians had an obligation to bring their values to the public sphere and said Trump had made a “positive contribution” particularly with his three supreme court picks, two of whom are Catholic.

    And some people think my hatred of the Catholic church is a bit too extreme.

  25. 25.

    ByRookorbyCrook

    December 17, 2020 at 7:59 am

    Good morning! First real snow of the year in the wilds of Central New York. Poor Binghamton got almost 3 feet. My dogs and kids are happy.

    So ‘fuckers’ is just too much for some of our donors? She could have gone with seditious, obstructionist twits to spare feelings.

  26. 26.

    Kathleen

    December 17, 2020 at 8:00 am

    @satby: I am giving you a virtual socially distant hug.

  27. 27.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 17, 2020 at 8:00 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Who is this fucker, never heard of him before. So many fuckers, so little time.

  28. 28.

    Betty Cracker

    December 17, 2020 at 8:01 am

    Politico:

    On Jan. 6, Vice President Mike Pence will oversee final confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Then he’ll likely skip town.

    As vice president, Pence has the awkward but unavoidable duty of presiding over the session of Congress that will formalize Biden’s Electoral College victory — a development that is likely to expose him and other Republicans to the wrath of GOP voters who believe President Donald Trump’s false claim that the election was stolen from him.

    But Pence could dodge their ire by leaving Washington immediately for the Middle East and Europe. According to three U.S. officials familiar with the planning, the vice president is eyeing a foreign trip that would take him overseas for nearly a week, starting on Jan. 6.

    I wonder how much this trip will this cost U.S. taxpayers?

  29. 29.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    December 17, 2020 at 8:02 am

    And our feckless beltway media corpse wonders why they’re so roundly despised?

    Oh wait, that would require introspection and analysis of their motives and operations.  Never happens.

  30. 30.

    Baud

    December 17, 2020 at 8:03 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    If they don’t bring him back, it’ll be worth the expense.

  31. 31.

    RepubAnon

    December 17, 2020 at 8:03 am

    Republicans know that the path to success is keeping their base fired up – which is why they try to make Democrats apologize for saying things that fire up Progressives.

  32. 32.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 17, 2020 at 8:03 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Pell left his job as prefect of the Vatican’s economy ministry in 2017 to face charges that he sexually molested two 13-year-old choir boys in the sacristy of the Melbourne cathedral in 1996. After a first jury deadlocked, a second unanimously convicted him and he was sentenced to six years in prison. The conviction was upheld on appeal only to be thrown out by Australia’s high court, which in April unanimously found there was reasonable doubt in the testimony of his lone accuser.

  33. 33.

    Baud

    December 17, 2020 at 8:04 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    At least he knows something about barbarians.

  34. 34.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 17, 2020 at 8:05 am

    @Baud: True dat.

  35. 35.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 17, 2020 at 8:05 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Nice, one sexual predator defends another. Birds of a feather.

  36. 36.

    raven

    December 17, 2020 at 8:05 am

    Pretty cool

     
    They came like gifts from a Secret Santa, $20 million here, $40 million there, all to higher education, but not to the elite universities that usually hog all the attention. These donations went to colleges and universities that many people have never heard of, and that tended to serve regional, minority and lower-income students.
    On Tuesday, MacKenzie Scott, the world’s 18th-richest person, publicly revealed that she was the one behind the donations to dozens of colleges and universities, part of nearly $4.2 billion she had given to 384 organizations in the last four months.

  37. 37.

    Amir Khalid

    December 17, 2020 at 8:05 am

    Why do I find myself thinkig of this South Park classic?

  38. 38.

    sixthdoctor

    December 17, 2020 at 8:06 am

    It’d be nice if someone in power pointed out publicly how these Republican fragile flowers, to a person, were happily dancing on Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s grave three months ago.

  39. 39.

    debbie

    December 17, 2020 at 8:08 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    And exactly why are Pence and his ball&chain getting the vaccine now? Neither are in any way essential.

  40. 40.

    NotMax

    December 17, 2020 at 8:08 am

    Also wanted to point out that Larry Gelbart’s Mastergate is also now available on Prime.

    Pace MAD, humor in a jugular vein.

  41. 41.

    satby

    December 17, 2020 at 8:09 am

    @sixthdoctor: They don’t care, and don’t care about what names they’re called. It’s simply to try to get the Democrats to own-goal by removing effective voices on our side.

  42. 42.

    debbie

    December 17, 2020 at 8:09 am

    @raven:

    This is great! I wonder what Bezos thinks about this?

  43. 43.

    Danielx

    December 17, 2020 at 8:13 am

    I don’t know why people are so upset, she could have said they were pigfuckers. Which would be insulting to that noble creature the pig, I realize.

  44. 44.

    Kathleen

    December 17, 2020 at 8:13 am

     

    @schrodingers_cat: I second, third and fourth that emotion.

  45. 45.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 17, 2020 at 8:15 am

    @schrodingers_cat: In the Covid thread, Van Buren had commented that, “I admit that I did not foresee that COVID would make strip clubs and churches allies against the government.”

    Satby replied, ” Why not? They both use women’s bodies to service and gratify men.”

    And then I saw the article which was kind of the bow on the wrapping of that discussion.

  46. 46.

    raven

    December 17, 2020 at 8:16 am

    @debbie: Hopefully he’ll match it!

  47. 47.

    rikyrah

    December 17, 2020 at 8:18 am

    She should have called them low-down no-good muthaphuckas ?

  48. 48.

    rikyrah

    December 17, 2020 at 8:18 am

    Good Morning, Everyone ???

  49. 49.

    rikyrah

    December 17, 2020 at 8:19 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Satby??????

    Brilliant response

  50. 50.

    rikyrah

    December 17, 2020 at 8:21 am

    Oh, and to the anonymous donor

     

     

    PHUCK YOUR FEELINGS ?

  51. 51.

    rikyrah

    December 17, 2020 at 8:22 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    ??????

  52. 52.

    Chyron HR

    December 17, 2020 at 8:22 am

    I’m offended that someone named their child “O’Malley Dillon”.

  53. 53.

    rikyrah

    December 17, 2020 at 8:22 am

    @satby:

    ????

  54. 54.

    rikyrah

    December 17, 2020 at 8:23 am

    @raven:

    Yesss ?

  55. 55.

    Ken

    December 17, 2020 at 8:24 am

    @Betty Cracker: I wonder how much this trip will this cost U.S. taxpayers?

    Depends on if it includes a return ticket, doesn’t it?

    (After all, we’ve established that he doesn’t have a house in Indiana, or perhaps thinks he’s still the governor.)

  56. 56.

    rikyrah

    December 17, 2020 at 8:25 am

    ??????

    French President Emmanuel Macron tests positive for Covid-19 after showing symptoms and will isolate https://t.co/Q7n9i6BTCF— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) December 17, 2020

  57. 57.

    rikyrah

    December 17, 2020 at 8:27 am

    ???

    These Marines made history today:Sgt. Ikea Kaufman Sgt. Stephanie Fahl Sgt. Stephanie JordiThey are the first women to graduate from integrated drill instructor course in San Diego. Congratulations!! pic.twitter.com/Ok0KNAo6Ru— José (@josecanyousee) December 17, 2020

  58. 58.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 17, 2020 at 8:28 am

    @NotMax:

    Doesn’t specify but those times are probably Eastern.

    Every one of the times listed specifies ET.

    :-)

  59. 59.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 17, 2020 at 8:28 am

    These guys can’t help declaring every time that they have a problem with competent, ambitious women. They all need to shut up and sit down.

    I’ve taken to saying “bunch of white guys” when I see pics of Republicans on the TV. Poor Mr DAW.

  60. 60.

    rikyrah

    December 17, 2020 at 8:29 am

    Nina Turner is about as anti-Democratic Party as Newt Gingrich is. The fact that she’s doing this lets me know they’re still a full go on their plan to revamp the party in Bernie’s image through hostile takeover. https://t.co/RPW4HpPrM4— (((RuggedAmethyst))) (@GrooveSDC) December 17, 2020

  61. 61.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 17, 2020 at 8:29 am

    @debbie: And exactly why are Pence and his ball&chain getting the vaccine now? Neither are in any way essential.

    But Pence is the one who needs to pardon trump, the very definition of essential.

  62. 62.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 17, 2020 at 8:33 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’m guessing it will be presented as part of the demonstration that it’s safe and good to get the vaccine.

  63. 63.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 17, 2020 at 8:34 am

    This is interesting.

     

    BREAKING: Michigan officials say the feds are cutting Pfizer's COVID vaccine shipments next week by 29%It's not clear why.https://t.co/HknPa0Hq8A#COVID19 #CoronavirusUpdates #CovidVaccine— Chad Livengood (@ChadLivengood) December 17, 2020

  64. 64.

    Amir Khalid

    December 17, 2020 at 8:35 am

    @rikyrah:

    Wait — Ikea is an actual girl’s name? I remember an episode of Friends where Phoebe was pretending to be Swedish. The only name she could think of for her Swedish persona was, well, Ikea, and nobody was fooled.

  65. 65.

    raven

    December 17, 2020 at 8:35 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: “Officials in other big states such as Florida and Illinois also have reported being notified of reduced quantities of the vaccine through the federal government’s distribution plans”

  66. 66.

    JMG

    December 17, 2020 at 8:37 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I’ll venture a guess the feds overpromised Michigan and a bunch of other states, say 49 others, on times and volumes of vaccine deliveries and are now admitting they can’t cash that check.

  67. 67.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 17, 2020 at 8:37 am

    @raven: I wonder what that’s about.

    JMG is probably right at #66

  68. 68.

    Baud

    December 17, 2020 at 8:37 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning.

  69. 69.

    NotMax

    December 17, 2020 at 8:39 am

    @Amir Khalid

    Her brother Woolworth and sister Sears don’t find it unusual at all.

    :)

  70. 70.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 17, 2020 at 8:40 am

    In the waning days of the Trump maladministration, and hopefully the twilight of Lukashenko, the Senate approves a good nomination for an Ambassador to Belarus.

  71. 71.

    raven

    December 17, 2020 at 8:41 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I think an effort of this magnitude is bound to have issues.

     

    The incident came to light as the first hiccups in the distribution of the vaccine in the U.S. emerged on Wednesday, including a holdup in delivering 3,900 shots to two states and the announcement that Pfizer would deliver about 900,000 fewer doses next week than are set to ship this week.

  72. 72.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 17, 2020 at 8:42 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:@raven:@JMG: Pfizer reported a problem with getting some raw materials and requested the admin invoke the Defense Authorization Act to get those to them. Supposedly the issue has been resolved. This may just be the lag on that hiccup in production.

    ETA <a href=”#comment-8001288″>@raven</a>: I suspect that comes from the same article I read. No doubt why the word ‘hiccup’ got stuck in my brain.

  73. 73.

    Geminid

    December 17, 2020 at 8:43 am

    @rikyrah: I have no use for Nina Turner, but the primary for that seat will not have a runoff, so she may be able to pull off a plurality win in a four or five candidate race. She’ll have plenty of money since she is a hero to many on the left. Some of them are lamenting that Turner is running as a Democrat after delivering such a forceful speech at the recent People’s Party convention. But these folks want power, so I think they’ll fall in line behind Turner’s Inside/Outside strategy.

  74. 74.

    NotMax

    December 17, 2020 at 8:44 am

    @Gin & Tonic

    As the U.S. does not recognize Lukashenka as head of state one wonders to whom she will present her credentials.

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    December 17, 2020 at 8:45 am

    @rikyrah: Oh man, that smirk makes that a very punchable face.  Virtually speaking.

  76. 76.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 17, 2020 at 8:49 am

    @NotMax: I’ve heard that Tikhanovskaya has been invited to Biden’s inauguration, but can’t confirm that. Maybe Fisher could wait and present credentials when the latter comes to DC?

  77. 77.

    burnspbesq

    December 17, 2020 at 8:52 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Which is a reminder of just how high a standard “beyond a reasonable doubt” can become when an appellate court wants a powerful defendant to skate. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t think Pell did the things of which he was accused.

  78. 78.

    Peale

    December 17, 2020 at 8:53 am

    @JMG: I’ll venture to guess that the COVID team spent all of 30 seconds on the problem of manufacturing and just assumed that a vaccine is just like shopping for clothing. The stores they shop at are never empty. Things just magically appear when you want them.

  79. 79.

    Cameron

    December 17, 2020 at 8:53 am

    A Zoom talk about the hard things?  I’m assuming Jeffrey Toobin is one of the participants.

  80. 80.

    NotMax

    December 17, 2020 at 8:55 am

    @Peale

    “Not available? Can you check in the back room?”

    :)

  81. 81.

    JAFD

    December 17, 2020 at 8:57 am

    @Chyron HR: Being on first cuppa, and not having read the article yet, would speculate that either A – she got married and add husband’s name to hers, or B – her parents did.

    As she’s a distant relative of myne, HURRAH !

    meanwhile, the weather in New Jersey has gone from 60 F and folks riding around in top-down convertibles Sunday to 30 F and 8″ of snow on ground this morn.  That kind of temp change me old bones do not like.  Blech.

    Stay healthy and keep warm !

    (I originally typed ‘and keep worm’ – problem with Dvorak keyboard is it’s easy to make ‘mistakes that seem to make sense’ – thot of leaving it in, seeing how yon jackals would react…)

  82. 82.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    December 17, 2020 at 8:57 am

    @raven:

    “Overpromising and Underdelivering as a Means to Profit” should be one of the chapter titles in “Art of the Deal”.

  83. 83.

    sab

    December 17, 2020 at 8:58 am

    @rikyrah: Nina Turner announced she wants to run for Marcia Fudge’s congresss seat. Then Emilia Sykes (Ohio Senate minority leader) announced she is thinking about running for same seat. This makes me happy. I really like Emilia Sykes.

  84. 84.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 17, 2020 at 8:58 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Did you have to look up how to spell that? Because if you didn’t, I’m deeply impressed.

    @Cameron: I see what you did. And aren’t you ashamed?

  85. 85.

    SFAW

    December 17, 2020 at 9:00 am

    @NotMax:

    Senior moment (collect them all!).

    We COULD, but you keep on making new ones! How are we supposed to keep up?

  86. 86.

    SFAW

    December 17, 2020 at 9:02 am

    @sab:

    Nina Turner announced she wants to run for Marcia Fudge’s congresss seat.

    I received e-mail from DKos asking me to “sign up” to help her. My reply was, in effect, “only if she were running against Louie Gohmert or Matt Gaetz or someone similar.”

  87. 87.

    Immanentize

    December 17, 2020 at 9:02 am

    Re, “not saying they are not fuckers” comment, my favorite clapback so far has been:

    That’s just how women talk in the locker room.

  88. 88.

    oatler.

    December 17, 2020 at 9:05 am

    What does “performative” mean? Is that  a word now? oh you kids!

  89. 89.

    Betty Cracker

    December 17, 2020 at 9:14 am

    @rikyrah: I read some of Turner’s interview with Democracy Now yesterday. I get that people who are running for office will make unrealistic promises and stake out stretch positions, but she’s not even in the vicinity of reality.

    One of the interviewers asked her about a recent interview with AOC in which AOC talked about Dem efforts to get another $1200 stimulus check for Americans without McConnell’s liability shield. Turner basically went off on the idea of a $1200 stimulus check, insinuating that it’s an insult that wouldn’t help anyone and that Dems need to go for a basic income program instead.

    #1, I’d like to see her tell actual working people that $1200 is nothing, and #2, has she met the U.S. Congress?

  90. 90.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 17, 2020 at 9:20 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I didn’t look it up. It’s easy.

  91. 91.

    zhena gogolia

    December 17, 2020 at 9:20 am

    Contrarian here, I wish she hadn’t said it. Why was it necessary?

    ETA: Reminds me of Tlaib. Just because we’re all thinking it, you don’t have to yell it in public.

  92. 92.

    J R in WV

    December 17, 2020 at 9:26 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    And some people think my hatred of the Catholic church is a bit too extreme.

    Not me. We could get together and argue over which of us hates those fuckers more properly, and neither of us could possibly be too extreme.

    I was going to list some of their perversions, both current and historical, and quickly saw it would be way too long a comment, and so gave up that goal.

  93. 93.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    December 17, 2020 at 9:26 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I see what you did there…..

  94. 94.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 17, 2020 at 9:29 am

    @Baud: According to the news, Wilmer read The Art of the Deal and now thinks he would have done a better job negotiating with Mitch.

    You don’t come back from being told to look out the window.

  95. 95.

    Peale

    December 17, 2020 at 9:38 am

    @Betty Cracker: Unemployment Extension, schumemployment extension. What the Democrats should be demanding is a federal jobs guarantee to be implemented by January 1!

  96. 96.

    Geminid

    December 17, 2020 at 9:40 am

    @zhena gogolia: To her credit, aftrewards Tlaib admitted she shouldn’t have said it. She seemed sincere.

  97. 97.

    artem1s

    December 17, 2020 at 9:44 am

    Love that Biden’s Deputy Chief of Staff has Rs pining for the good old, nice polite days of Rahm Emanuel.

  98. 98.

    debbie

    December 17, 2020 at 9:46 am

    @JMG:

    No, I think it’s MI’s blueness that is the offender.

  99. 99.

    debbie

    December 17, 2020 at 9:47 am

    @sab:

    Me too. Screw Turner.

  100. 100.

    sab

    December 17, 2020 at 9:47 am

    @SFAW: dKos wanted Ohioans to vote for Paul Hackett instead of Sherrod Brown back in the day, so I am skeptical of their recommendations. They don’t do their homework.

  101. 101.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 17, 2020 at 9:47 am

    @zhena gogolia: Maybe in perfect world every political operative will always say exactly the right thing.  We don’t live in that world, and this is, at worst, a Kinsley gaffe.

  102. 102.

    Immanentize

    December 17, 2020 at 9:53 am

    From upthread — seems like my Mom’s town got about 3 feet in upstate NY. We have about 10 inches here north of Boston so far. It’s beautiful and silent out.

    When the Immp arises -. Fire in the fireplace.

  103. 103.

    Immanentize

    December 17, 2020 at 9:56 am

    Hive mind question.  My receiver has a built in phono pre amp that works with MM style phono cartridges, but not MC (moving coil) cartridges.  So, I need a phono pre-amp!  Any suggestions?

  104. 104.

    Uncle Cosmo

    December 17, 2020 at 9:57 am

    @NotMax:

    On the other hand, cousin Tarzhé
    Considers it terribly declassé.

  105. 105.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    December 17, 2020 at 10:02 am

    Obama told this great joke once, “when Rahm lost his middle finger in an accident he lost half his vocabulary”  – it brought the house down because it was true, all Rahm does is swear.   But it’s okay if you have a brother who is one of the most feared, popular and powerful media agents.

  106. 106.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 17, 2020 at 10:07 am

    Suck an ass’s ass, you traitorous, seditious, Russthuglican Trump trash who slurp Kremlin assholes!

    Cry harder!

  107. 107.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 17, 2020 at 10:12 am

    @Immanentize:

    From upthread — seems like my Mom’s town got about 3 feet in upstate NY. We have about 10 inches here north of Boston so far. It’s beautiful and silent out. 

    Hot diggity dog!  Also green with envy.

    I thought pining for the storm was a little boy thing. Glad to see I'm not alone. https://t.co/8dPOVkyyeJ— Neil Steinberg (@NeilSteinberg) December 16, 2020

  108. 108.

    WaterGirl

    December 17, 2020 at 10:12 am

    @zhena gogolia: I think the response should be this:

    “What word would you recommend to describe the person behind all the obstruction, behind all the harm that has been done to millions of Americans, behind the indifference to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, what word to people who have totally abdicated their responsibilities to our country and to democracy?”

    “Find me a better word than “fuckers”, and I will be happy to use it.”

    I hope there is no apology issued for this one, I don’t care how many politicians have the vapors.  It’s time to tell the truth, even if I wish she had taken a more judicious approach.

  109. 109.

    rikyrah

    December 17, 2020 at 10:19 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

     

    THEY INTENDED TO USE THE VACCINE TO PUNISH THE BLUE STATES

  110. 110.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 17, 2020 at 10:19 am

    @WaterGirl:

    If it walks like a bunch of fuckers and it talks like a bunch of fuckers it’s a bunch of fuckers.— Jane Lynch (@janemarielynch) December 17, 2020

  111. 111.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 17, 2020 at 10:22 am

    @rikyrah: THEY INTENDED TO USE THE VACCINE TO PUNISH THE BLUE STATES

    Deplorable fuckers!

  112. 112.

    scav

    December 17, 2020 at 10:24 am

    Best thing to my mind us to remind them that Trump is, in fact, a lame fuck at this point.

  113. 113.

    Booger

    December 17, 2020 at 10:26 am

    Democracy Now yesterday

    That’s John Oliver’s show, right?

  114. 114.

    Kristine

    December 17, 2020 at 10:28 am

    @Immanentize:

    That’s just how women talk in the locker room.

    Stealing this

    Also, if I get push back, I’ll follow up with “Okay–let’s see them prove her wrong.”

  115. 115.

    Princess

    December 17, 2020 at 10:32 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Because Trump has found someone to sell them to or he’s using them as leverage for bribes.

  116. 116.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 17, 2020 at 10:34 am

    @WaterGirl: Here’s a good take, from someone we know

    Are we really talking about the f word in any context other than the f-ing people who stood by Trump as he boasted about “grabbing women in the pussy”, smeared “shit hole countries” called black NFL players “sons of bitches” and assaulted our democracy while ignoring covid?
    — Nicolle Wallace (@NicolleDWallace) December 17, 2020

  117. 117.

    chrome agnomen

    December 17, 2020 at 10:37 am

    @scav: I bet any number of women would say he’s b been a lame fuck since day one.

  118. 118.

    zhena gogolia

    December 17, 2020 at 10:37 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Nickay!!!!

  119. 119.

    ixnay

    December 17, 2020 at 10:41 am

    @JAFD: Wow. You use Dvorak? I do not think I’ve ever met one (user or keyboard) in person.

  120. 120.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    December 17, 2020 at 10:41 am

    @Gin & Tonic: She’s a firecracker

  121. 121.

    Kathleen

    December 17, 2020 at 11:09 am

    @Geminid: Yeah. Dems only hold 4 out of 16 Congressional Districts in Ohio. I’m going to hate to lose this one.

  122. 122.

    Kathleen

    December 17, 2020 at 11:13 am

    @sab: Sykes is awesome! I hope she runs. I attended virtual Ohio Dem Party Convention and was impressed by the event and the exposure to young talented Dems in other parts of the state. Sykes was one of them.

  123. 123.

    dnfree

    December 17, 2020 at 11:37 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: my husband has to put up with similar comments, but he fortunately doesn’t take it personally because he’s not a Republican, and he knows it’s been true for too long.

  124. 124.

    Another Scott

    December 17, 2020 at 11:46 am

    @RepubAnon: +1

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  125. 125.

    CarolDuhart2

    December 17, 2020 at 11:57 am

    @Betty Cracker: I bet he makes it longer than a week.  As long as it he makes it back before the 20th, his trip will be paid for. As for benefits from the the trip, it isn’t likely to be any.  Foreign powers know that he can’t deliver on any promise he makes, and are waiting for Biden Administration personnel and policies.

    But he’s far away from angry magats, which is what he really wants and needs.

  126. 126.

    lowtechcyclist

    December 17, 2020 at 12:02 pm

    @SFAW:  I received e-mail from DKos asking me to “sign up” to help her. My reply was, in effect, “only if she were running against Louie Gohmert or Matt Gaetz or someone similar.”

    Maybe I’m just weird, but I want the most liberal Democrat in each district that can consistently be re-elected there. OH-11 has a D+32 PVI, so the Dem representing that district should be pretty damn liberal.

  127. 127.

    Mike in NC

    December 17, 2020 at 12:07 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:  Last night I heard Nicolle Wallace refer to Trump’s “toxic and dysfunctional” presidency. Nobody is holding back anymore.

  128. 128.

    Miss Bianca

    December 17, 2020 at 12:17 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: Maybe I’m just weird, but I want the most *effective* Democrat to win, not the most “liberal”. I have yet to see any evidence that Turner really understands or cares how our government actually works. She appears to be more interested in…well..performative outrage than anything else. In that, she’s pretty much just like your average Republican these days. I’m going to be “represented” by one of these right-wing purity ponies for at least the next two years, so I may be uniquely out of patience here with this notion that the candidate with the most ideologically pure distillation of grievances “deserves” to win.

  129. 129.

    J R in WV

    December 17, 2020 at 12:17 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    Toxic and dysfunctional sounds like a good start in describing Trump’s time in office. Illegal, treasonous, hmmm, lots of words for what he did.

    We should have a pool for how many listening devices they find in the White House…

    ETA: maybe none, they just used his phone…?

  130. 130.

    Geminid

    December 17, 2020 at 1:02 pm

     

     

    @lowtechcyclist: I have often heard the general principle you express. You have an excellent opportunity to assess its value as applied to this actual race. Just look up former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner and current State Senator Emilia Sykes, a likely competitor. Read a few articles about each, like you live in the district and want to know who to vote for. It wouldn’t take long..                           I have a hunch this won’t be the last time this race will be discussed here.

  131. 131.

    lowtechcyclist

    December 17, 2020 at 1:17 pm

    @Miss Bianca: I don’t know Nina Turner from Tina Turner, but what I was hearing was ‘she’s bad because she’s a Berniecrat.’  Berniecrats cover an awful lot of ground; IMHO most of them want a better Democratic Party, while those who want a revolution and don’t care what gets burned down in the process get all the attention.

    And with respect to effectiveness, the vast majority of Representatives aren’t going to be majorly effective.  I’d love a House full of Katie Porters, but realistically if you’ve got a few dozen of them, you’re doing pretty good.  Most of them, you just want them to vote the right way.

    And for me, that means shifting the balance so that more liberal, less centrist outcomes become possible.  For instance, I want a House Democratic Caucus where defending Rep. Richard Neal, who has been keeping surprise billing alive in his capacity as Ways and Means chair, isn’t something that Dem leadership can get away with anymore.

    And the way you make it hard for them to get away with it is to increase the proportion of the caucus that don’t think that shit is acceptable.  Personnel is policy, and all that.

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