I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who participated in the looking forward threads, both the people who submitted and those who had fun in the comments. I have my own priorities that I want to discuss, but I have not finished writing them and will post them in a day or so, most likely at a time right before an Anne Laurie autopost and long after you all have lost interest.
I do want to say right now that I have just been more relieved this past week than at any time in the last four years. Just not hearing his fucking name or having to pay attention or waste any bandwidth on the motherfucker is in itself a blessing.
Villago Delenda Est
Amen.
Major Major Major Major
Yeah, having the ol baseline dread dropped down a few notches has felt great.
mvr
Unfortunately the fact that we can tell who you are talking about even with your not using his name speaks of just how bad it has been.
Thanks for hosting a warm place in the storm!
Wag
I really appreciate not waking each morning with a sense of dread.
Mousebumples
I’m on call for work this weekend, so it’s not really a “relaxing” weekend, but the mental break of not going, “Aw, what the fuck did Trump do today?” is amazing.
*exhales and feels the stress dissipate
West of the Rockies
Thank you, John, for this wonderful, healing community and for assembling an extraordinary group of writers.
And fuck Donald Trump.
MagdaInBlack
It is a relief to have shifted him in to the ” Don’t know, don’t care” category.
As in “whats old whatshisname up to?” “Don’t know, don’t care.” =-)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
I’m glad he’s gone too. The only time I’ll ever want to read about Trump and his spawn is when consequences befall them so I can laugh at them
Doc Sardonic
Emma from FL
Yesterday as I shuffled into the kitchen making grabby hands for the first coffee of the day my 86-year-old rock-ribbed conservative (first Democrat vote EVER: Barack Obama) father toasted me with his cup and said “not a single news item about the crazy guy from Mar-a-Lago.”
Yutsano
I’ll throw in a perspective. I’m amazingly fucking relieved as a federal employee. There isn’t this dread of a Treasury secretary* possibly ignoring all civil service protections and firing all of us when we were evacuated from our offices**. I can say now that there’s going to be some sense of a budget, that we’ll get the operational money we need to actually do my agency’s mission. I first came in under Obama, and inasmuch as I loved that man as President, he just did not have the institutional understanding of the civil service that Biden does. I predict there’s going to be an expansion of the federal workforce like hasn’t happened since the 70s. But it’s going to be a better and more responsive workforce that will respond to the needs of the American people.
*Mnuchin has some shit he’s been up to. I can’t see him stepping down from his multimillion figure position just to take a $350,000 [I’m guessing as I have no idea what the Treasury secretary makes) job unless he’s making bank on it somehow. You don’t snag the trophy wife who expects you to have bank without keeping her well sated.
** And by evacuate I mean just that. It wasn’t just the local offices. It was (initially) EVERY office. There were no lights on at the IRS for almost two months. I’m still dealing with mail dating from July. The whole reason the filing season date got changed is by the time people were slowly being let back into offices the back load of work was so massive we were struggling mightily with it.
EDIT: This might be my record for my longest comment.
jackmac
It was a very good week. President Biden and Vice President Harris were sworn in and the Dems claimed full power in Congress, the orange fart cloud left the scene and my wife and I got our first COVID vaccination shots. Things are looking up!
And like so many others, thanks to John for providing this safe haven over the past four years.
Another Scott
Via AngryBlackLady on TheRealHoarse:
There are still too many monsters out there, and FTFNYT is too often on their side.
Grrr…
Cheers,
Scott.
dmsilev
@Major Major Major Major: These last few years have really hammered home the whole ‘Doomsday Clock A Few Minutes Before Midnight’ thing. Setting the clock backwards a bit feels really good. Yes, there are enormous challenges that need to be faced, but at least we’ve (mostly) put this one in the past.
Another Scott
@dmsilev:
Speaking of which, Watch the 2021 Doomsday Clock Announcement on January 27.
Cheers,
Scott.
HumboldtBlue
The Irish remind the Brits they’re still part of the EU.
Brexit is both fascinating and worrisome.
Oh, and that smarmy wannabe Nazi Cawthorn got schooled today by the daughter of Phyllis George.
John Revolta
@Yutsano: To be fair, Mnuch’s wife has got crazy money herself, probably more than him. Her family is rich-ass Scottish Lords.
To be even more fair, what she married him for is not so much money as she wanted him to put her in the movies. She kinda had an acting career at one point.
Jean
I’ve so very much appreciated this blog every damn day even though I rarely comment. As so many others have said, I am just relieved that T is gone and with him, a whole lot of stress. I feel hope again.
trollhattan
Within the first month working from home I had to shut down news on the radio and television–the combined stress of COVID and Trump hijinks were spinning the anxiety off the charts. This week I allowed myself to have NPR back on and I find to at least a little amusement that the phrase “Today the president…” still triggers me, then after a beat I laugh.
Gonna take awhile.
Kiddo’s COVID test results today were negative. She felt sick Thursday–fever, achy, sore throat–and got the test on campus so we’ve been on pins and needles until the report. Mom was ready to drive to college and do what I’m not sure what, but this was a real test of freshman year and the empty nest. Anyhoo, a welcome coda to the week, (while I ask myself if she’s been doing all the correct COVID things how the hell did she catch the flu?)
Onward.
trollhattan
@John Revolta:
I have seen Mnuchin’s name listed in credit crawls and can only say Do Not Want.
Similar to The Weinstein Company listed in titles.
trollhattan
Insert Far Side “Oh please, oh please” cartoon just ahead of this tidbit.
citizen dave (aka mad citizen)
@HumboldtBlue: Damn this Pamela Brown on CNN has the knowledge and is quick with using it on the hapless guest. Thanks for linking!
CaseyL
@Another Scott: JFC. I can’t cancel my subscription, because I already did so years ago – over their political reporting.
Baquet was so scared of being outgunned or taken over by Murdoch that he pre-emptively Murdoch-ized his paper.
Bastards. Soulless, honorless, ratfucking bastards.
citizen dave (aka mad citizen)
@HumboldtBlue: I wonder if, when the Brits rejoin the EU, will the term be Brentrance?
Jean
@trollhattan: Maybe that “threat” could attract more Republicans to convict. Or maybe not. His power is fading fast.
Punchy
You, me, and 80, 999,998 other reasonable peeps. The idea that I can wake up and not worry about what country we’ve nuked is a YOOGE relief.
trollhattan
@Jean:
I’m fine putting him in the recycle bin but if the Republicans just plug in Cruz or somebody like him, then they learned nothing.
I do like that The Lincoln Project are going after Cruz now. He’s earned this.
NotMax
@citizen dave (aka mad citizen)
Breturn.
:)
Winston
https://digbysblog.net/2021/01/a-false-sense-of-security/ Some alarming news and I’m sorry. I get my first dose of vax next Tuesday. Y’all convinced me. My arm already hurts.
Watched a great movie tonight I don’t know how I missed. “Signs”, on prime. Mel Gibson 2002. Blew me away.
The Oracle of Solace
Thank you, Mr. Cole, for allowing us commentors to briefly share our thoughts. As a faux intellectual in faux furs, I welcome any opportunity to pretend to be smart.
And, of course, the commentariat here is amazing! I have a standing rule, “Don’t read the comments”, but this is one of only two places where I routinely make an exception. Well done, everyone!
prostratedragon
On the last thread someone mentioned the song about the snake. Pretty sure they were thinking of this one, which as the person said was popular during the Civil Rights era:
That a certain person keeps quoting it just shows how tonedeaf some people are.
HumboldtBlue
@citizen dave (aka mad citizen):
They’ve never seemed the repentant type.
Now they got an island.
So there’s that.
West of the Rockies
@trollhattan:
Kiddo could have gotten the flu by some phlegmatic slob barking into his/her hand and touching a doorknob a minute before your daughter did so.
My daughter leaves for Eugene, OR in two weeks. Gonna be a Duck.
NotMax
@prostratedragon
It’s that or quoting YMCA.
//
Jean
@trollhattan: Cruz and Hawley and Ron Johnson–they all deserve to be ousted.
trollhattan
@West of the Rockies:
Congrats, being a Duck is honorable. Unless you grew up in Seattle, then it’s Right Out. :-)
Eugene is very pretty and my kid hopes to have a track or XC meet there at some point, since it’s running nirvana.
Bethanyanne
Cancelled my Times sub. Firing someone over feigned bad faith outrage is shitty behavior
Jean
@Winston: That was certainly alarming, all right. All I can think of is getting the vaccine, and VA is lately just full of confusing information about when and where and how to get an appointment or on a waitlist. Not enough supply and high demand. Who’s going to administer and where.
Kelly
@West of the Rockies: When I went there in 1974 Eugene was the Big City to this country boy. Worked out great for me. Go Ducks!
HumboldtBlue
We’ve seen this article collectively written in the comment section here,
Why McConnell dropped Trump.
J R in WV
Thanks, John, for everything here!
I agree with you about the former president…
prostratedragon
@NotMax: Yeah, that too. And he was supposedly around and in the hip crowd in those days.
danielx
Just not to have to hear that braying ass’s voice….is a blessing in and of itself. Plus, of course, not having to worry about whatever insanity that voice would announce.
NotMax
@prostratedragon
“I’m shocked – shocked – there’s drug use going on at Studio 54.”
“Your Limoges ramekin of cocaine, sir.”
//
prostratedragon
@NotMax: May as well drop this here, an after-hours hit from that time, featuring George Clinton on lead vocals:
“All Your Goodies Are Gone,” Parliament
NotMax
@danielx
I do feel some slight sympathy for editorial cartoonists as there’s no outstanding cranial attribute to exaggerate as an indicator of Bidenness.
West of the Rockies
@Kelly:
It is a pretty town. My daughter is majoring psychology and queer studies. She’s just 19, but as the only child of academic parents is pretty mature. But I hear @trollhattan when he talks about empty nest syndrome.
Steeplejack
There was an interesting mini-documentary on TCM a while ago: Blackface and Hollywood, which is also available on YouTube. It’s a short (13 minutes) examination of black minstrelsy and its perpetuation in American movies. Some good commentary and some eye-popping clicks from movies that you don’t see much nowadays.
Kent
@West of the Rockies: congrats! I think my kiddo is UW bound. But the UO is in the back pocket if she doesn’t get into UW. Grew up there and still have family there.
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
“Clicks” = “clips.”
sab
@Yutsano: I wondered about the late first filing date this year. It’s going to ne fun for preparers to have everything compressed into two months this year.
Amir Khalid
@Jean:
That he is now a drag on the Republican party was made clear in the Georgia runoff elections. The evidence that he incited an
erectioninsurrection and wouldn’t send help to defeat it is conclusive and damning. Yet we still don’t know if enough Senate Republicans are willing to vote for convicting this menace to the republic and barring him from seeking federal office again. It says something about what the Republican party has become in his thrall.Steeplejack
But Joe Biden is wearing a Rolex! WTF.
prostratedragon
@Steeplejack: A few years ago they showed the Al Jolson movie with the “Going to Heaven on a Mule” scene mentioned in that doc. Part of me is still in shock, and I was already familiar with the genre.
Steeplejack
@Emma from FL:
That’s great!
Kristine
BJ is one of the first sites I check in the morning. Many thanks for the front pagers, the insightful commentariat, and the pets.
Cameron
Sorry, but must do: https://youtu.be/JMq6g6bMuq0
Beautifulplumage
@citizen dave (aka mad citizen): by then Melania will be a consultant and the term will be BeBack
Richard
@Yutsano: it might be your longest comment. Thank you.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott: I see that Chairman Jerry is the Executive Chair, fitting.
Yutsano
@sab: I see…extensions being filed. By just about everyone everywhere. I haven’t heard if the date for employers to file their W-2 information has changed. I do know part of the delay is due to programming issues with the mainframe system. So. Much. COBOL…
Yutsano
@Richard: De rien!
lgerard
Thankfully, someone has updated Scott Perry;s Wikipedia bio
Another Scott
@Jean: I am amused/amazed by the Teabaggers saying that they have to support Donnie because he drives turnout, while not recognizing that his electoral power peaked in November 2016.
Women’s March
2017 Virginia Elections
2018 Elections
2020 Elections.
He has been a disaster for the GOP. The only thing that they got was tax cuts and 3 SCOTUS justices.
Yeah, keep supporting him, GOP. You know that you want to…
Cheers,
Scott.
Steeplejack
@prostratedragon:
Yeah, they also showed some clips that are usually edited out when they run the movies. A well-done doc, short and to the point.
It came on the heels of my watching Episode 3 of Ken Burns’s Jazz on my PBS station. It covers the mid-1920s, when jazz music became phenomenally popular but strict segregation kept black and white musicians from playing together except in private sessions after hours.
I’m not a big Ken Burns fan, but Jazz is excellent. It’s available now on PBS Passport, for those who have a subscription.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Sidebar: The Ric Burns mini-series The Roosevelts should still be on the free All-Arts streaming channel. Good stuff.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@citizen dave (aka mad citizen): She’s sharp. Her dad was governor of Kentucky, after making a mint nationalizing KFC and owning the Celtics, and her mom was literally Miss America and television pioneer in her own right.
NotMax
@David Merry Christmas Koch
So old can remember when KFC merited a special trip to bring home as a welcome treat.
Steeplejack
@prostratedragon:
GTFO with your lightweight jazzy cover. Here is Al Wilson’s original version of “The Snake.” Straight-ahead R&B with a kicking horn section.
Redshift
@Yutsano: I hear ya. It’s not as big a thing, but I serve on my county’s citizen board overseeing the HUD Community Development Block Grant affordable housing funds. Things are normally on a somewhat tight but predictable schedule between when HUD tells the county what funding it will get and the beginning of the fiscal year. When Ben Carson and his band of know-nothings came it, we got “uhh, what? there’s actual work we’re supposed to do? we’ll let you know when we figure it out.”
The next three years weren’t quite as bad, but still had a general uncertainty about when the normal stuff was going to happen. I feel confident the Biden team will have people who care about doing their jobs and facilitating the routine stuff the career people bring to them, and everything at HUD will be functioning by May.
prostratedragon
@Steeplejack: It’s Oscar Brown’s song.
Steeplejack
@prostratedragon:
Inorite. I hadn’t seen that movie in years and had almost
forgottensuppressed that sequence.NotMax
@Redshift
Having to reboot government is a an unfortunate aftermath of the last four years’ wreckage.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
It’s on Passport, too. All of Ken Burns’s stuff (I think) is on there until sometime in mid-February. Including some stuff I didn’t even know that he did.
Steeplejack
@prostratedragon:
Okay, points off for my use of “original.” But Wilson’s is the canonical version.
Felanius Kootea
@MagdaInBlack: This! What a relief it is not to know or care.
mrmoshpotato
This is one of the least surprising things I’ve ever heard.
Glad things were somewhat less fucked during the following three years.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
No Burns involved but will again highly recommend Impossible Peace, available on Prime. Year by year summary of the inter-war period from WW1 to WW2. Incredible compilation of footage, spanning the entire planet.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
Will check it out.
Geminid
@prostratedragon: I hope trump keeps telling that snake story, especially if he tries a comeback. It so obviously applies to himself.
Geminid
@Geminid: My apologies to snakes everywhere.
Yutsano
@Redshift: It’s gonna take longer than that for the IRS. 26% of our workforce is eligible for retirement in this year alone. That (usually) doesn’t mean they will retire necessarily, just that they could. And right now there is zero hiring plan to account for that. Add in the IRS workforce has decreased by 20% since 2010 with added responsibilities on top of that, and it’s a miracle we can even function at all. I know we need some budget increases something awful. HUD is even worse off than we are.
West of the Rockies
@NotMax:
KFC used to be good! I think it went horrifyingly downhill about thirty years ago.
Mary G
You will be relieved to hear that the cat has tested negative.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Mary G: of course the cat tested negative, it has nine lives ?
mrmoshpotato
@HumboldtBlue: “What I’m saying here very clearly is – UK, you fucked yourselves.”
TriassicSands
@Yutsano:
The Secretary of the Treasury makes a little over $200,000/year. Mnuchin’s net worth is between $300 million and $400 million. The salary didn’t matter.
NotMax
@Mary G
Cats. Ugh.
mrmoshpotato
@Mary G: Did the ancient Egyptians worship cats because they were idiots who had just enough sense to know that cats were smarter?
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Mary G: I found a picture of the party (photo)
mrmoshpotato
@West of the Rockies: And now I have to watch The End The Final KFC Recipe Video.
NotMax
@mrmoshpotato
And then there’s … the movie.
:)
Redshift
In more general terms, I really appreciate not waking up every day ready to fight whatever the latest outrage is. I still have things I’m advocating for, but I know nothing terrible is going to happen with everything else.
Ruckus
@Redshift:
Well not everything is OK. About an hour ago in Tacoma, a cop drove over someone.
rikyrah
@Mary G:
????
rikyrah
@West of the Rockies:
YEAH ?
prostratedragon
@Steeplejack: All due respect to Al Wilson, whom I like, but not 1) back then; 2) in Chicago and the Movement.
To add, there’s nothing wrong with doing a cover.
prostratedragon
Couple more Oscar Brown compositions:
David Evans
@citizen dave (aka mad citizen): I suspect the Scots will be first to return but I can’t think of a good word for it.
Just Chuck
@David Evans:
I don’t know either, but if Wales follows suit I’m sure they’ll have a glib 40-letter two-syllable word for it.
Madeleine
Thanks to John and WaterGirl for the guest post series. Each post was so thoughtful and the comments responded in kind. Thanks to all.
WaterGirl
@Madeleine: Thank you!
Just a reminder that the guest posts will be up in the sidebar for about a week, in case anyone wants to check on one you might have missed, or check back for comments that were posted long after each guest post was on the front page.
Patricia Kayden
Kayla Rudbek
@NotMax: at the rate things are going with Scotland and Northern Ireland, it will be Engturn
Ruckus
@Jean:
Vet here and I get my first shot on Friday. I had to work to get an appointment, no one made it easy. Also they are only giving them at the hospitals as far as I can tell because of the storage – I was told the hospitals have the facilities, which works for me, that’s where I go for everything as the nearest clinic is almost that far away anyway. It took effort to get an appointment and a message trail with my primary on MyHealthy Vet website to find the phone number of the inoculation clinic and actually get appointments for both shots. They are now inoculating 65+, I don’t know if you have to have comorbidities or not.
Patricia Kayden
Another Scott
ICYMI, Jamie Lynn Crofts at Wonkette – I helped break Frank Luntz. An entertaining read about what it’s like to be on one of Luntz’s panels.
And she’s absolutely right about Luntz…
Cheers,
Scott.