Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

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

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

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

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

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

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

The willow is too close to the house.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

No one could have predicted…

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Let there be snark.

Republicans don’t trust women.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

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

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Biden Live Announcing His Science Team

Reader Interactions

78Comments

  1. 1.

    germy

    His science team will be scientists.  This is my prediction.

    Refreshing, after four years of pillow salesmen and snake oil practitioners.

  2. 2.

    PsiFighter37

    I do hope that once all these people are in place and have the full lay of the land, they highlight just how destructive the Trump maladministration was when it came to any semblance of competence in managing these federal agencies. Most of these people are undoubtedly competent at the jobs they are signing up for, but they have to know that a big portion of what they will be doing is rebuilding the institutions and the morale of the executive branch.

  4. 4.

    Brachiator

    It will be nice to have sciency scientists doing science, understanding science, explaining science.

  5. 5.

    Ohio Mom

    germy @1:
    Somewhere in the blogosphere I saw someone remarking that Mr. Pillowman resembled Fred Trump. Maybe that is why he is a favorite?

  6. 6.

    Kent

    They have an enormous task on their hands.  First, to rip out all of the anti-science material that the Trump folks have embedded everywhere into the Federal government from climate to environmental protection to health care.  second, to bring science back into the forefront in Federal decision-making instead of the anti-science fundamentalist and pro corporate profits tilt that has been there for the past four years.  And third, to elevate the role and stature of science in our larger society.  The know-nothing anti-intellectual tilt of the GOP has been extremely damaging in so many areas from climate denial to anti-vax nonsense.

  7. 7.

    germy

    @Ohio Mom:

    It’s a possibility.

    I’ve always disliked him.  HIs commercials and his outlandish claims for his product. (In one commercial, he promised his pillows would cure sleep apnea.)  Inventing a “sleep institute” just so it could endorse his ridiculous pillows.

  11. 11.

    Mary G

    @Scout211: Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

    Justice Sotomayor wrote a blistering denunciation of Barr’s rush to execute more people this administration than we had in the last 60 years. Love this.

  12. 12.

    germy

    Access Sally (thanks to Roy Edroso for that name) has some inside info in her thread:

    I got a bit more information about the Lindell meeting. It was a brief meeting, Trump sent him upstairs to the WH counsel's office to be escorted by an admin official sitting next to Lindell in the meeting. That official, according to another official, was Robert O'Brien.— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 16, 2021

  13. 13.

    Brachiator

    Biden will introduce Eric Lander, his nominee for director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and a presidential science adviser-designate; Alondra Nelson, his pick for OSTP deputy director for science and society; and Frances Arnold and Maria Zuber, his picks for co-chairs of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

    Arnold won the 2018 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Some people say that Trump was up for that Nobel as well.

    //

  16. 16.

    cain

    @PsiFighter37:

    It won’t matter – as long as they continue to be exposed to right wing propaganda – they’ll follow whatever is being said by the propagandist.

    We have to really figure out how to muzzle Fox News.

  18. 18.

    germy

    @cain:

    They’ve moved beyond fox news.  Jenna Ellis is on twitter gloating about their drop in ratings.

    The hate/anger stuff is all over the web and social media now.  And local and syndicated talk radio.

  19. 19.

    Almost Retired

    Tuesday night – Trump and Melania’s last night in the White House.

    He discreetly helicopters to Walter Reed for a intravenous cocktail of vitamins, steroids and ED medication in the hope that Melania neglects to double bar her well-fortified bedroom door. The door is unlocked. She sighs and accepts his advances, determined, as always, to make the experience seem as much like necrophilia as possible. She feels nothing but his sweat dripping onto her liposuction scars. To make the experience somewhat bearable, she follows the advice of a wise illegal alien (her mother) to “lie back and think of Slovenia.”

    Eventually, Trump makes a guttural grunting noise — akin to the death rattle of elephants poached by his sons – and finishes the vile act with a quick emission of dust. He leaves. Melania gets up and pours herself a strong one. And she thinks about a boy she knew in school….

    There you go. Fan fiction of a sort…….

  22. 22.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Lander is not without controversy. I won’t go into it here, but don’t be surprised to see criticism. As a Berkeley alum, I take the other side. But he will be infinitely better than anyone Trump came up with.

    Also too, he is a life scientist, the first to be a presidential advisor. The physicists think the job belongs to them, but their credit comes from a long time ago, and a life scientist is the right choice now.

  32. 32.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @germy: It was a moment of intimacy she dreaded, although she knew it would be brief. It was the deal her parents had wanted, and she had wanted. She had married one of the most powerful men in the country, and the family business had prospered as she had hoped, as she had known, it would. Still, the physical contact filled her with a vague feeling of distaste.

    They approached in the hallway outside her bedroom. Mitch’s face was, as always, blank, no sign of what he thought about the approaching moment when they would come together as husband and wife.

    Mitch extended his hand, she took in hers, both hands cool and dry.

    “Sleep well, Elaine,” said Mitch in a quiet, calm voice.

    “Thank you, Mitch. Good night to you.”

    They shook hands and separated. Mitch turned and walked down the hall to his own room. Elaine entered her own room, closing the door behind her with a sigh of relief. She decided to finish The Crown before sleeping.

  37. 37.

    Yutsano

    @evodevo: Remember the Army sergeant* she danced with at the inauguration? Any chance she “kept up” with him. It would indeed be irresponsible not to speculate. It was the on;y time she had genuinely smiled that whole evening.

    *I honestly do not remember his rank. I do recall he was enlisted.

  39. 39.

    Ken

    @germy: According to Haberman,

    Said some of it related to reports Trump is now unable to see because he doesn’t have Twitter.

    As has been said many times, he’s the President of the United States, with (what were once) the finest intelligence services on the planet standing ready to provide him any information he wants; yet he gets everything from twitter, facebook, and select cable outlets.

  42. 42.

    Baud

    Online misinformation about election fraud plunged 73 percent after  sites suspended President Trump and key allies last week, research firm Zignal Labs has found, underscoring the power of tech companies to limit the falsehoods poisoning public debate when they act aggressively.

  45. 45.

    Quinerly

    Boebert’s communication director just resigned after 2 weeks. He previously was connected to Mitch McConnell. So rather mainstream Repug.

    Thoughts about the rumor that Boebert’s mother is the terrorist recorded with the bullhorn bellowing about “taking the Capitol” and seemed to know the layout? I haven’t seen the video.

  47. 47.

    WaterGirl

    @Quinerly:

    Thoughts about the rumor that Boebert’s mother is the terrorist recorded with the bullhorn bellowing about “taking the Capitol” and seemed to know the layout? I haven’t seen the video.

    Please please please let the be her mother.  I want Boebert out and gone.  Yesterday.

  49. 49.

    Quinerly

    @WaterGirl: it would be cool if it was her mother.

    New piece out on Madison Cawthorn by Olivia Nuzzi. Cawthorn seems to think if he and Boebert had stood on the Capitol steps that might could have stopped it. Never mind he spoke at the rally beforehand. The piece is well worth the read. NY Mag

  51. 51.

    Immanentize

    @Quinerly:

    New piece out on Madison Cawthorn by Olivia Nuzzi. Cawthorn seems to think if he and Boebert had stood on the Capitol steps that might could have stopped it.

    Thought that boy couldn’t stand.

  52. 52.

    Quinerly

    @Immanentize: excellent point. He in his wheelchair, she standing. My wording wasn’t that great, was it? Read it while at the dog park earlier. Another recommendation is the piece on the Don’t Tread on Me terrorist who was radicalized and then trampled for what could have been an hr. Warning… Video.

  59. 59.

    Quinerly

    @zhena gogolia: I enjoy Connie’s FB feed. Always interesting stuff that I miss from other sources. This church stuff should be getting more press.

    I think it was on her feed that I saw where one of these abortion clinic bombers was also there on 1/6 and has been arrested.

  61. 61.

    MoCA Ace

    @Almost Retired:

    I that some sort of cry for help?

    I was just skimming and got to “She sighs and accepts his advances” when it hit me where you were going with that.

    I baled… I don’t need that evil in my head.

  64. 64.

    Patricia Kayden

    New: @JoeBiden plans to begin his first term with a flurry of executive orders, including rejoining Paris climate accord, ending ban on predominantly Muslim countries, halting evictions & student loan payments during the pandemic and issuing a mask mandate on federal property.— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 16, 2021

  65. 65.

    Original Lee

    Maybe the Jacksls who are more tech-savvy than I am can help. We signed up for the virtual inauguration and got a card with a QR Code on it for various cool extras. I scanned the QR Code and got shunted over to a website that told me I needed to sign up for an account in order to activate the code. OK fine, 14-day free trial sucks but whatevs. Signed up, tried again, got told the code has been deactivated. At this point, I’m not touching it any more, but what should I do at this point?

  66. 66.

    trollhattan

    Put the SF Giants on the dead-to-me list.

    Christine Pelosi, a big deal in California politics and daughter of the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, is poised to quit the board of the San Francisco Giants Community fund after revelations that principal owner Charles Johnson and his wife Ann are financial contributors to a Republican legislator accused of endangering the life of Pelosi’s mother.

    The Johnsons each gave $2,800 to Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, who was live tweeting the movements of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as a violent mob ransacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

    Boebert’s sharing on Twitter that Nancy Pelosi was in the House chambers, and then tweeting again when she left the chambers, drew intense criticism from legislators. They accused Boebert of trying to aid rioters looking for the House speaker after the disrupted congressional ratification of President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory over President Donald Trump.

    News of Johnson’s financial support of Boebert broke on Thursday. Christine Pelosi, a 12-year member of the board, said she wanted to wait to hear from the Giants before she criticized the team or said anything negative.

    Then the Giants issued a muddled statement in which the team “condemned” the violence at the U.S. Capitol and reiterated its policy of prohibiting contributions to federal elections by the organization. But, the Giants said, political contributions by “employees and investors are considered personal in nature.”

    https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/article248548500.html#storylink=cpywww.sacbee.com/opinion/article248548500.html#storylink=cpy

  67. 67.

    Brachiator

    @Ken:

    Said some of it related to reports Trump is now unable to see because he doesn’t have Twitter.

    As has been said many times, he’s the President of the United States, with (what were once) the finest intelligence services on the planet standing ready to provide him any information he wants; yet he gets everything from twitter, facebook, and select cable outlets.

    Trump and Fox, Bad Twitter, etc, formed a perfect idiot feedback loop.

    Online misinformation about election fraud plunged 73 percent after  sites suspended President Trump and key allies last week, research firm Zignal Labs has found, underscoring the power of tech companies to limit the falsehoods poisoning public debate when they act aggressively.

    Interesting. Some techno libertarians think that you should never interfere with or delete falsehoods and just let people decide for themselves.  But propagandists take advantage of this and ramp up the bullshit.

  76. 76.

    Matt McIrvin

    his special friends on the TV were actually talking to him personally.

    (wait a minute, I’M living that dream now, and it’s not so great, they keep giving me work to do)

  77. 77.

    Ruckus

    @Ken: 
    Can’t hear lies, innuendo, bullshit and how great he is if you tell the truth. Also those are the only concepts he understands….

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