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You are here: Home / Books / Today’s Nontroversy Open Thread: Hunter Biden Has Written A Book

Today’s Nontroversy Open Thread: Hunter Biden Has Written A Book

by Anne Laurie|  February 7, 20216:45 pm| 162 Comments

This post is in: Books, Open Threads, President Biden, Our Failed Media Experiment

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You know who shouldn’t be writing books? Journalist with proximity to the President. Bob Woodward sat on key information for months that the last president was willing to kill us to boost his election chances. https://t.co/NetTyNB4BT

— Jen Psaki Fan Account (@ArrogantNBlack) February 7, 2021

I heartily endorse this message, at least for Bob Woodward. Political memoirs have a history going back as far as written language, and 95% of the contemporary pearl-clutching over their impropriety seems to come from individuals who wish anybody might be interested in their memoirs, assuming they could ever get down to the hard work of writing them…

the trump campaign could never quite figure out how to weaponize hunter biden because the current president was like "my son has fucked up but he's a good kid and i love him" and it was a complete anathema to everything they understand.

it was great. https://t.co/1TYSOEMXTT

— Peloton InfoSec Analyst (Incident Response) (@CalmSporting) February 7, 2021

I’ll worry about this when joe puts him in charge of middle east peace and pandemic planning https://t.co/Tj13k4MWpi

— kilgore trout, back in some form (@KT_So_It_Goes) February 7, 2021

This is a laughably incoherent and unworkable standard. Countless books every year are published based on contingent fame, who gives a shit pic.twitter.com/HYBDwVjbxK

— Scott Lemieux (@LemieuxLGM) February 7, 2021

This explains a lot. Walter Shaub's Hunter Biden bashing is just Shaub having sour grapes pouts and ironically enough showing why the Biden Administration was wise not to hire a Twitter celebrity. https://t.co/JxSGGK3PRm

— Phoenix Woman ?? (@PhoenixWomanMN) February 7, 2021

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Reader Interactions

162Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    February 7, 2021 at 7:07 pm

    People shouldn’t have made Hunter Biden a public figure by using him to hurt his dad.

  2. 2.

    jackmac

    February 7, 2021 at 7:15 pm

    I recently found Don Junior’s book in a Dollar Store sales rack. (Just one step away from fireplace kindling).

  3. 3.

    GregMulka

    February 7, 2021 at 7:17 pm

    @Baud:

    But that’s contrary to the GQP policy of maximum pain for thee.

  4. 4.

    Mary G

    February 7, 2021 at 7:17 pm

    It took me quite a while to respond to Judd Legum, who should be better than this, and to get it all into 280 characters, I had to use the bullshit emoji, which I hate. These guys are flailing around for something to write about, and grasping at straws to prove they aren’t preferring one side to the other, and it pisses me off.

    Republicans put Hunter Biden in play, and he’s entitled to publish a book about anything he wants.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    February 7, 2021 at 7:18 pm

    President Biden should have said he barely knows Hunter Biden.  It worked for Trump.

  6. 6.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 7:22 pm

    Horrifying pic.twitter.com/XBeUUQR3zX— jordan (@JordanUhl) February 7, 2021

    Meanwhile, back at the Ranch.

  7. 7.

    Suzanne

    February 7, 2021 at 7:24 pm

    @Mary G:

    Republicans put Hunter Biden in play 

    Seriously. No one gave a crap about him until the GOP made him famous.
    Although the fact that he is publishing it at the same house that kicked Josh Hawley’s stupid book to the curb is really funny and I’m going to enjoy it.

  8. 8.

    Baud

    February 7, 2021 at 7:26 pm

    The book is about addiction, as far as I can tell. It might actually help some people.

  9. 9.

    Starfish

    February 7, 2021 at 7:29 pm

    Hopefully, Hunter Biden explains why he flew to the east coast to give one or three or fifty laptops repaired. ?

  10. 10.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 7:30 pm

    Around the time that Twitter suspended @realDonaldTrump, they also suspended ~100,000 or so other accounts. We (@uwcip PhD student Andrew Beers) overlaid those suspensions onto a network graph of “influencers” in voting/election Twitter discourse (black sections of this graph). pic.twitter.com/D8z0lLvsNC— Kate Starbird (@katestarbird) February 6, 2021

  11. 11.

    Elizabelle

    February 7, 2021 at 7:31 pm

    No Superb Owl thread?  For Raven?

    CBSSports.com has it streaming for free.  Very generous of them

    ETA:  I am agnostic on this.

  12. 12.

    Starfish

    February 7, 2021 at 7:32 pm

    They have been throwing ethics rocks at the families of both the President and the VP. After it didn’t catch on after they accused Harris’s niece of flying in a private jet with a large donor to the inauguration, they went after Hunter for renting a house, Hunter for writing a book, and Joe for flying to Delaware on Air Force One. So many straws to grasp at as we approach the impeachment that will not at all be treated seriously even though the President, the wife of a Supreme Court Justice, and others tried to organize having the Congress murdered.

  13. 13.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 7:34 pm

    @Suzanne:

    back in the day, Hunter/Burisma was a “big deal” amongst some. The “optics” were bad, not the actual substance.

    it looked like Burisma was trying to buy influence and support, and Hunter wasn’t the only one “hired”.

  14. 14.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 7:35 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    No Puppy Bowl thread for the rest of us?

  15. 15.

    West of the Rockies

    February 7, 2021 at 7:35 pm

    Totally random gripe:  I hate Tony Romo’s voice.  Clear your throat!

  16. 16.

    Baud

    February 7, 2021 at 7:38 pm

    @Starfish:

    Joe for flying to Delaware on Air Force One.

    Someone said that’s unethical?

  17. 17.

    Starfish

    February 7, 2021 at 7:39 pm

    @Baud: Weren’t Republicans who have not taken the pandemic seriously in the least saying he was not following CDC guidelines on travel? It may have not been a direct ethics accusation, but it was trying to call him out on pandemic hypocrisy when these assholes have gotten 400,000+ people killed.

  18. 18.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 7:39 pm

    Amanda Gorman wins. pic.twitter.com/XvVsXov4Md— Canadian Forces in ?? (@CAFinUS) February 7, 2021

  19. 19.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 7:40 pm

    @Starfish:

    yurp, Clowns to the right of me,…..

    and it’s fucking Delaware, where he has a home

  20. 20.

    citizen dave

    February 7, 2021 at 7:40 pm

    Tony Romo is a very average analyst IMHO, but somehow was seen as “hot” by CBS/others, gave CBS a figure of $17 million per year to sign a new contract,  and they matched it.  I really don’t understand the thinking that anyone cares who the analyst is.

  21. 21.

    burnspbesq

    February 7, 2021 at 7:41 pm

    Shaub knows better. Fuck him.

    Fuck Trevor Bauer, too.

  22. 22.

    CliosFanBoy

    February 7, 2021 at 7:42 pm

    @Jay:  Or the Dr. Pimple Popper’s “Popper Bowl” EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

  23. 23.

    burnspbesq

    February 7, 2021 at 7:43 pm

    Have we heard from Amir? Or Tony Jay?

  24. 24.

    smith

    February 7, 2021 at 7:43 pm

    @Starfish: the wife of a Supreme Court Justice, and others tried to organize having the Congress murdered.

    Those weird apologies Ginni Thomas was handing  out after the event suggests to me that she might have some serious legal exposure from her role in the insurrection, more than just from renting some buses. Do I dare dream of a Supreme Court resignation? Or would a Repub justice not feel enough shame to do that if his wife were indicted for sedition?

  25. 25.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 7:43 pm

    House Democratic leaders will unveil legislation Monday that would give millions of families at least $3,000 per child, advancing a key provision in Biden's stimulus package https://t.co/qUwq5wydoP— CNN (@CNN) February 7, 2021

  26. 26.

    CliosFanBoy

    February 7, 2021 at 7:44 pm

    @burnspbesq: I hate to be unkind but as a Reds fan I hope Trevor Bauer’s arm blows before the All Star Break.

  27. 27.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 7:45 pm

    @smith:

    the answer to your question is no.

    shame is not a ReThug emotion.

  28. 28.

    Mike in NC

    February 7, 2021 at 7:47 pm

    Republicans I know were absolutely convinced “Hunter Biden’s laptop” was going to be a huge scandal that would tank Joe’s election chances much worse than Hillary’s emails. I don’t know what planet they inhabit.

  29. 29.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 7:47 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    both Amir and Tony Jay were here in the early morning.

    they are probably both watching real football, and too engaged to post.

  30. 30.

    Starfish

    February 7, 2021 at 7:48 pm

    @smith: Men are rarely held accountable for the misbehavior of their women even though women are often held accountable for their men. ?

  31. 31.

    gene108

    February 7, 2021 at 7:48 pm

    @citizen dave:

    Analysts matter. They can make the viewing experience enjoyable or annoying.

    Edit: Romo’s usually good. He explains what’s happening, without getting into too many cliches. He’s not doing this in this game.

    Edit 2: TB’s defense is so damn good, even though Brady’s going to get all the credit.

    Edit 3: Never seen a punter screw up like KC’s, which could cost them the game.

  32. 32.

    burnspbesq

    February 7, 2021 at 7:50 pm

    @CliosFanBoy:

    come sit six feet away from me. I have a spare mask if you need one.

  33. 33.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 7:51 pm

    A California judge on Friday ordered OANN to pay $250,000 of MSNBC and Rachel Maddow's legal fees in a defamation case. The proceeding affords us a look at some of the hourly rates Gibson Dunn has been charging its media clients. https://t.co/dyXta70RAm pic.twitter.com/bqPNe9HLqZ— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) February 7, 2021

  34. 34.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 7:54 pm

    Denying a minimum wage increase really exposes the lie of the essential worker clap doesn’t it— Starlee Kine (@StarleeKine) February 7, 2021

  35. 35.

    Doc Sardonic

    February 7, 2021 at 7:55 pm

    @burnspbesq: Amir is probably mourning the demise of Liverpool’s title defense. Manchester City crushed the Liverpudlians today and have probably locked up the Premier League title

  36. 36.

    Cacti

    February 7, 2021 at 7:57 pm

    Now Janet Yellen is yapping about limiting stimulus checks to people making $60,000.

    What is it about some Democrats who feel it necessary to be as Republican as possible the moment they’re in power?

  37. 37.

    Amir Khalid

    February 7, 2021 at 7:58 pm

    @Starfish: ​
     As I understand, the Air Force One that flew Biden to Delaware wasn’t the 747, but a much smaller plane.

  38. 38.

    Amir Khalid

    February 7, 2021 at 7:59 pm

    @burnspbesq: ​
     Tony and I both commented in the culture thread downstairs.

  39. 39.

    Alison Rose

    February 7, 2021 at 8:00 pm

    @West of the Rockies: I literally said SOMEONE GIVE THAT MAN A FUCKING RICOLA about 90 seconds in.

  40. 40.

    Doc Sardonic

    February 7, 2021 at 8:01 pm

    Air Force 1 is the designation of the plane that the President is being flown in be it 747 or two seater Cessna.

  41. 41.

    Baud

    February 7, 2021 at 8:02 pm

    Crazies crash through the crazification factor.

    Less than 10% of Americans like QAnon

  42. 42.

    Starfish

    February 7, 2021 at 8:05 pm

    @Amir Khalid: That’s an interesting piece of information that I did not know.

    I feel like the right wing discussion on left wing COVID response has been to yell “hypocrisy” at anyone who sets policy.

    I mean, some of it sucks like the people going out to eat the day before they decide to shut restaurants again and the one traveling to see his family for the holidays after he has been telling everyone not to travel all week.

    I will take that over the “wearing masks is for wimps” nonsense.

  43. 43.

    Gretchen

    February 7, 2021 at 8:06 pm

    @Baud: “why was he travelling?  The CDC said not to travel!”  Reporter at press conference.

  44. 44.

    MisterForkbeard

    February 7, 2021 at 8:06 pm

    @Mike in NC: I know several for whom the complete lack of impact of the ‘laptop’ on the race was evidence of perfidy by the media.

    Not, you know, being skeptical of the laptop’s provenance and also that nothing on it reflected poorly on Joe Biden.

  45. 45.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 8:07 pm

    @Cacti:

    the ugly reality is that 90% of Politicians in the West, well meaning or not, have no idea of what it means to work in the “New Economy”.

    They are out of touch, overcompenstated and live off privilege.

    they think a laid off Walmart worker or Amazon Worker just goes on to a Board Position at a Hedge Fund.

  46. 46.

    Baud

    February 7, 2021 at 8:07 pm

    @Gretchen:

    I remember the dumbassery. I just didn’t classify it as an “ethics” violation.

  47. 47.

    Baud

    February 7, 2021 at 8:10 pm

    Was that a foul? I didn’t think the KC guy touched him.

  48. 48.

    WaterGirl

    February 7, 2021 at 8:10 pm

    @Gretchen: Jen Psaki was totally prepared for that stupid question.  Her first response was that we shouldn’t be traveling when it puts others at risk, but as you know the President has received both vaccinations and travels by private plane as all presidents do, and he will be spending the weekend with his wife.

  49. 49.

    Benw

    February 7, 2021 at 8:10 pm

    @Baud: looks like he got him on the foot. Ball could have been ruled uncatchable, I think

  50. 50.

    Cacti

    February 7, 2021 at 8:11 pm

    @Baud: Yeah.  That was a trip that he was trying to make not look like one.

  51. 51.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 7, 2021 at 8:13 pm

    @gene108:

    Have you watched Brockmire on HULU?

    Hank Azaria plays a gone to seed baseball announcer with a raging addiction problem and no filter. So good!

  52. 52.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 7, 2021 at 8:19 pm

    @Baud:

    I’ve never seen a team commit so many cheap shit, sneaky, deliberate penalties as this KC team. It is embarrassing.

  53. 53.

    Geminid

    February 7, 2021 at 8:20 pm

    @Mike in NC: Two weeks before Election Day, the trump campaign wasted valuable messaging bandwidth on a scandal that flopped. I remember Ted Cruz saying at the time that he thought this was a mistake. He didn’t seem too upset, though.

  54. 54.

    Starfish

    February 7, 2021 at 8:20 pm

    @Jay: They don’t understand that the numbers they are talking about are entry-level salaries in many fields.

  55. 55.

    citizen dave

    February 7, 2021 at 8:23 pm

    I’m hearing the local guy who runs a children’s hospital got named to the NFL hall of fame.

    I know I’m old but I think “The Weeknd” is one of the stupider names going for any artist.  Back in the 90s one of the big accounting firms thought about changing its name to “Monday”

  56. 56.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 8:25 pm

    @Starfish:

    yeah, $60k get’s you an apartment in YVR, and $300 left over for food for the month.

    80% of us are trying to survive on $36k or less.

  57. 57.

    Ken

    February 7, 2021 at 8:25 pm

    @Baud: Less than 10% of Americans like QAnon

    Insurrections have consequences.

  58. 58.

    West of the Rockies

    February 7, 2021 at 8:26 pm

    @Alison Rose:

    And now Boomer with his scratchy voice. Ugh.

    Simms and Esiason, overrated bookends.

  59. 59.

    Martin

    February 7, 2021 at 8:27 pm

    @Doc Sardonic: True, but the 747s (there are 2 – we have a fucking hot spare for the president to fly in) have a lot of defensive measures.

    Is there even an airport in DE that can handle a 747?

  60. 60.

    Brachiator

    February 7, 2021 at 8:27 pm

    @Gretchen:

     “why was he travelling?  The CDC said not to travel!”  Reporter at press conference.

    These dopes insist on being stupid. Also, did they ask why Trump ignored CDC guidelines? Did they ask why he let Americans die?

  61. 61.

    West of the Rockies

    February 7, 2021 at 8:29 pm

    Tampa Bay gets home field advantage and KC gets over-penalized.  Totally fair.

  62. 62.

    dmsilev

    February 7, 2021 at 8:31 pm

    @Martin: Dover AFB probably could handle a 747.

    Edit: on a brief Google, yeah easily. Main runway is 13,000 feet, which is more than plenty. Built for C-5s and similar.

  63. 63.

    Butter Emails

    February 7, 2021 at 8:31 pm

    @West of the Rockies:

    1. Tampa Bay was selected before it was known they would be in the Super Bowl.
    2. Don’t want lots of penalties, don’t commit lots of stupid, obvious penalties.
  64. 64.

    raven

    February 7, 2021 at 8:31 pm

    @Elizabelle: I think Cole made it pretty clear what the stance of BJ is on football. I don’t diddle around here on games I care about anyway so is it’s all good.

    thanks

  65. 65.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 7, 2021 at 8:31 pm

    Word on the street is Hunter Biden was seen wearing a tan suit

  66. 66.

    burnspbesq

    February 7, 2021 at 8:32 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    I’ve never seen a team commit so many cheap shit, sneaky, deliberate penalties as this KC team

    You must not watch much Premier League football. The Chiefs are just emulating Wolverhampton Wanderers.

  67. 67.

    Starfish

    February 7, 2021 at 8:32 pm

    @Jay: The places where you could live comfortably off of $60k do not have jobs where you can make $60k.

    The places where $60k is entry level salary, you cannot live on $60k.

  68. 68.

    citizen dave

    February 7, 2021 at 8:32 pm

    @West of the Rockies: Yup, it’s like two of the same guy.  I don’t watch much NFL and even less of the studio shows but they are generally insufferable.   I’ve never heard one Weeknd song before.  What even is pop music in the 21st century?

  69. 69.

    raven

    February 7, 2021 at 8:33 pm

    @Alison Rose: You are watching the Super Bowl??? Damn.

  70. 70.

    raven

    February 7, 2021 at 8:35 pm

    Who is this dude?

  71. 71.

    Benw

    February 7, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    SB halftime shows are drifting ever closer to just having a marching band

  72. 72.

    Starboard Tack

    February 7, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    @West of the Rockies:

    Could be worse. Put together they’re not as worthless as Dick Vitale.

  73. 73.

    frosty

    February 7, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    Who is Walter Shaub? I missed something in all my 2020 obsessive news reading? Yay!!!

  74. 74.

    Martin

    February 7, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: They’re self-destructing. Brady has that effect on teams, though usually not until the 4th quarter.

    Oh well, you invite a goat to the superbowl, shit happens.

  75. 75.

    Ruckus

    February 7, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    I don’t know what planet they inhabit.

    I don’t either but as they keep sticking their heads up their asses it may just be that they are just trying to clear their throats and the only sound they can manage is the sound of bullshit.

  76. 76.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    February 7, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    @citizen dave:

    You’re honestly missing out. His hit from last year, Blinding Lights, is great. Then again, I like these 80s-esque, synthy songs

  77. 77.

    Bill Arnold

    February 7, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    @Geminid:

    Two weeks before Election Day, the trump campaign wasted valuable messaging bandwidth on a scandal that flopped.

    The right-wing (dis)information system was(is) so tightly sealed that those theories fermented without any significant pushback from reality; there was truthful pushback, but it was ignored as lies. (And some enemies of Rs/Trump were cultivating/curating the insanity, fairly sure.)
    Helped that Rudy Giuliani was making so many high profile mistakes that the press was wired/predisposed to mock him.

  78. 78.

    citizen dave

    February 7, 2021 at 8:38 pm

    @dmsilev: For sure.  There was a post here with Biden talking about the irony of how they use Dover as practice for AF1 planes (yes realize when they are actually called that) and now he’s the President etc.

  79. 79.

    Alison Rose

    February 7, 2021 at 8:38 pm

    @raven: Eh, not really, just have it on in the background. Mostly it’s been muted while I’m reading.

  80. 80.

    Baud

    February 7, 2021 at 8:38 pm

    @raven:

    Don’t know the group, but their songs are all over the radio.

  81. 81.

    raven

    February 7, 2021 at 8:38 pm

    I want left shark!

  82. 82.

    Benw

    February 7, 2021 at 8:38 pm

    @raven: the Weeknd. He’s a pop and R&B artist. Not my jam, but good at what he does

  83. 83.

    Alison Rose

    February 7, 2021 at 8:38 pm

    I was Today years old when I learned The Weeknd sampled Siouxsie and the Banshees in one of his songs.

  84. 84.

    different-church-lady

    February 7, 2021 at 8:39 pm

    Well, it’s finally happened: this is the first Super Bowl halftime show where I recognize NONE of the songs.

  85. 85.

    raven

    February 7, 2021 at 8:39 pm

    @Alison Rose: What’s next, Katrina and the Waves?

  86. 86.

    citizen dave

    February 7, 2021 at 8:39 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I’m sure it’s fine, but it sounds like AI generated music to me.

  87. 87.

    Martin

    February 7, 2021 at 8:39 pm

    @frosty: Walt Schaub headed the Obama ethics office. Trump  booted him early on and he was an early critic of Trumps ethical  shortcomings and what government would normally do  to protect against them. That was particularly true with how various security clearances were granted.

  88. 88.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    February 7, 2021 at 8:40 pm

    @raven:

    The Weeknd.

  89. 89.

    raven

    February 7, 2021 at 8:40 pm

    @different-church-lady: We were at a Georgia Tech-Virginia Test game and Big Boi was the halftime show and we were the only people there who had no idea what the fuck was going on!

  90. 90.

    Martin

    February 7, 2021 at 8:41 pm

    @raven: The Weeknd. He’s good. The audio was terrible though.

  91. 91.

    gene108

    February 7, 2021 at 8:41 pm

    @Cacti:

    There’s a bunch of older Democrats are traumatized by the 1980’s. Bush, Sr. made the word “liberal” toxic for any politician to embrace, when he ran for President.

    Liberal is slowly starting to make a comeback 30+ years later.

  92. 92.

    H.E.Wolf

    February 7, 2021 at 8:42 pm

    @Cacti: A little less recourse to derogatory, contemptuous language when discussing the first female US Secretary of the Treasury would be welcome.

    Particularly when one recalls who had the job immediately before she did. Now *there* is someone who deserves our contempt.

    https://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/171115144720-louise-linton-steven-mnuchin-currency-780×439.jpg

  93. 93.

    Alison Rose

    February 7, 2021 at 8:43 pm

    @raven: Hey now, don’t put those two in the same group. Siouxsie is our Goth-punk Goddess.

  94. 94.

    Brachiator

    February 7, 2021 at 8:44 pm

    RE the halftime show, if someone asked, “How was your Weekend?” I would have to say “Kinda underwhelming.”

    The audio didn’t help.

  95. 95.

    raven

    February 7, 2021 at 8:44 pm

    @Alison Rose: Opps, sorry. Clueless as usual!

  96. 96.

    The Thin Black Duke

    February 7, 2021 at 8:45 pm

    Damned thing is, I live in Massachusetts. If Tampa Bay wins, they’ll never shut up about Tom Brady here.

  97. 97.

    Martin

    February 7, 2021 at 8:45 pm

    @citizen dave: Oh, right, Dover. Yeah, I’ll say they can land 747s in Delaware…

  98. 98.

    Amir Khalid

    February 7, 2021 at 8:45 pm

    @Ken: ​
     

    Insurrections have consequences.

    Or, as Chuck Schumer might put it, …

  99. 99.

    raven

    February 7, 2021 at 8:46 pm

    Back to the tilt boys and girls.

  100. 100.

    Alison Rose

    February 7, 2021 at 8:46 pm

    @Brachiator: Part of the problem is this weird “mash-up of 45 second snippets of 12 of your songs” thing they often do. For people who like the particular performer, it’s annoying to only get bits of the songs you like. And for people who don’t like them or aren’t familiar with them, it’s not going to do much to change those facts.

  101. 101.

    Starboard Tack

    February 7, 2021 at 8:47 pm

    @The Thin Black Duke:

     If Tampa Bay wins, they’ll never shut up about Tom Brady here.

    They hate him. They love him. They hate him. They love him.

  102. 102.

    frosty

    February 7, 2021 at 8:48 pm

    @burnspbesq: Or the Baltimore Ravens. Sigh.

  103. 103.

    Martin

    February 7, 2021 at 8:49 pm

    @The Thin Black Duke: Gotta give Tom credit here. It looked like a colossally stupid decision to go to TB. I sure thought so. If he wins this game, everyone really needs to STFU on whether it was Belichick or Brady.

  104. 104.

    The Thin Black Duke

    February 7, 2021 at 8:49 pm

    @Starboard Tack: They love to hate him. They hate to love him.

  105. 105.

    Baud

    February 7, 2021 at 8:50 pm

    KC needs better cleats.

  106. 106.

    SFBayAreaGal

    February 7, 2021 at 8:51 pm

    @The Thin Black Duke: Too funny

  107. 107.

    Starboard Tack

    February 7, 2021 at 8:51 pm

    @frosty:

    Or the Baltimore Ravens.

    They were better in Cleveland.

  108. 108.

    Starboard Tack

    February 7, 2021 at 8:52 pm

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Ayah.

  109. 109.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2021 at 8:52 pm

    @H.E.Wolf:

    Thank you.

  110. 110.

    The Thin Black Duke

    February 7, 2021 at 8:52 pm

    @Martin: If Brady wins tonight, Bill won’t have to imagine what hell will be like.

  111. 111.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2021 at 8:53 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Now explain Billie Eilish to me. I do not get it.

  112. 112.

    West of the Rockies

    February 7, 2021 at 8:53 pm

    @Alison Rose:

    The Super Bowl for us has basically been an excuse for a charcuterie board.  First game I’ve watched in two years.

  113. 113.

    Soprano2

    February 7, 2021 at 8:54 pm

    The first thing I thought when I saw what Shaub was saying is that it’s a First Amendment issue. You can’t keep everyone in the president’s family from writing a book! That’s nuts, and I think you’d have trouble enforcing it.  I didn’t know he wanted a job in the administration,  explains a lot.

  114. 114.

    Suzanne

    February 7, 2021 at 8:55 pm

    @West of the Rockies: We’re doing a charcuterie board for Valentine’s Day. I wish we’d done one today, too. I like it more than chicken wings.

  115. 115.

    frosty

    February 7, 2021 at 8:58 pm

    @Starboard Tack: And the Colts were better in Baltimore.

  116. 116.

    Suzanne

    February 7, 2021 at 8:58 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I was listening to New Order this morning, and then when he did Blinding Lights, it dawned on me how New Order-influenced that song is.

    I thought it was an okay halftime show. Glad he didn’t really have all that plastic surgery.

  117. 117.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 7, 2021 at 8:58 pm

    @zhena gogolia: You aren’t meant to get her.  And, fwiw, you are echoing older people from other eras.

  118. 118.

    different-church-lady

    February 7, 2021 at 9:01 pm

    @Martin:

    If he wins this game, everyone really needs to STFU on whether it was Belichick or Brady.

    Anyone who hasn’t already shut up about that is a moron.

  119. 119.

    Baud

    February 7, 2021 at 9:01 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I get her. But I’m a bad guy.

  120. 120.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 7, 2021 at 9:02 pm

    @Baud: Duh.

  121. 121.

    different-church-lady

    February 7, 2021 at 9:02 pm

    ESPN headline, February 2051: Tom Brady on the cusp of being the first quarterback to win a Super Bowl with every team in the league.

  122. 122.

    Starboard Tack

    February 7, 2021 at 9:04 pm

    @frosty:

    True that. Two bad decisions. Modell screwed Cleveland because of the stadium. Who did Balmer

    ETA: Blew the nym.

  123. 123.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 7, 2021 at 9:04 pm

    @Suzanne: I would say Depeche Mode rather than New Order.  Lacks the clinical precision of New Order.

  124. 124.

    Bill Arnold

    February 7, 2021 at 9:09 pm

    @H.E.Wolf:

    A little less recourse to derogatory, contemptuous language when discussing the first female US Secretary of the Treasury would be welcome.

    Yellen focuses on $60,000 threshold for stimulus checks (John Bowden – 02/07/21)
    If this characterization (bold by Jake Tapper) is correct, then Yellin is being a political idiot vocalizing this. Means testing, especially with very flawed tests such as pre-pandemic 2019 income, will do damage to the Democrats, and only the Republicans will gain poltiically. (Probably not even Manchin.)

    Speaking with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union,” Yellen indicated that she thought individual Americans earning $60,000 per year ought to be eligible for the direct payments, a higher figure than the one identified by senators such as Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who has called for the payments to phase out at the $50,000-per-year income level.
    …
    Yellen went on to add that the White House is negotiating with Congress “to define what’s fair” in terms of income level phaseouts for direct payments in a stimulus package, telling Tapper that struggling middle-class families “need help too.”
    “So, you definitely think higher than $50,000 per individual, but you’re not necessarily willing to commit to $75,000, is what I’m hearing?” Tapper asked, referring to the level at which payments were phased out in the package passed in December.

    She should be more focused on instabilities in the markets/economy. Things are pretty rickety right now and a collapse is a significant possibility. A weaker-than-needed stimulus could easily be a contributing trigger.

  125. 125.

    Soprano2

    February 7, 2021 at 9:10 pm

    OMG, someone did a commercial that was a takeoff on “Four Seasons Landscaping and Press Venue” and I laughed the whole way through.

  126. 126.

    Starboard Tack

    February 7, 2021 at 9:10 pm

    @frosty:

    True that.

  127. 127.

    Delk

    February 7, 2021 at 9:11 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: kinda Human League/Heaven 17

  128. 128.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 7, 2021 at 9:12 pm

    @Delk: I can see that as well.  Eighties synth-pop, but not New Order per se.

  129. 129.

    Suzanne

    February 7, 2021 at 9:21 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Good point. I’m probably drawing the New Order conclusion because I was listening this morning. Depeche Mode feels a little more gothy than Blinding Lights, tho.

  130. 130.

    Brachiator

    February 7, 2021 at 9:23 pm

    @Bill Arnold:

    If this characterization (bold by Jake Tapper) is correct, then Yellin is being a political idiot vocalizing this. Means testing, especially with very flawed tests such as pre-pandemic 2019 income, will do damage to the Democrats, and only the Republicans will gain poltiically. (Probably not even Manchin.)

    All the stimulus payments have been means tested. There is a stupid consensus growing to make the payments targeted to lower income groups. Pundits and some economists are pushing for a $40,000 or $50,000 threshold. The Treasury Secretary is fighting for a higher threshold.

  131. 131.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 9:28 pm

    The Army War College was all over the Heritage Foundation. And vice-versa. To the detriment of reasonable policy discussions. https://t.co/9Rvb2GOmLu— Dr. Sherifa Zuhur (@SherifaZuhur) February 7, 2021

  132. 132.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 7, 2021 at 9:30 pm

    @Bill Arnold: so she’s negotiating with Joe Manchin on TV? maybe that’s advisable, maybe it isn’t. But something tells me if Yellen had told Jake Tapper that anything less than a $75K threshold was a non-starter, Joe Manchin would not have have looked up from his flapjacks and said, “Oh well, I tried”.

  133. 133.

    Bill Arnold

    February 7, 2021 at 9:31 pm

    @Brachiator:

    The Treasury Secretary is fighting for a higher threshold.

    She is suggesting that a lower threshold than the one used for the first two stimulus packages is politically acceptable. (And unless something changed, based on pre-pandemic 2019 tax returns, which are very flawed indicators of means. Fix that, first.)

  134. 134.

    Butter Emails

    February 7, 2021 at 9:32 pm

    “So, you definitely think higher than $50,000 per individual, but you’re not necessarily willing to commit to $75,000, is what I’m hearing?” Tapper asked, referring to the level at which payments were phased out in the package passed in December.

    This type of thing just drives me nuts. When it comes to giving out a flat benefit to everyone, who gives a crap if it also goes out to the top 1%? We’re literally spending a ton of energy and making things that much more complicated, risking that those who need it won’t get the support to make sure a couple of % of the money doesn’t end up where it’s not needed.

  135. 135.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 7, 2021 at 9:33 pm

    @Butter Emails:

    who gives a crap if it also goes out to the top 1%?

    Joe Manchin. And probably three or four other Senators who are letting Manchin take the heat.

  136. 136.

    geg6

    February 7, 2021 at 9:34 pm

    @citizen dave:

    I’m an old and I really like The Weeknd.  Especially “Blinding Light.”  Gets turned up high on the car radio every time it comes on.  It’s in my phone playlist, too.  He’s really good, IMHO.

  137. 137.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 9:34 pm

    @Brachiator:

    the whole means testing is BS based on 2019 Tax Forms. A shitload of people who were surviving in 2019, were SOL in 2020.

  138. 138.

    Bill Arnold

    February 7, 2021 at 9:40 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Joe Manchin would not have have looked up from his flapjacks and said, “Oh well, I tried”.

    Yeah, my main complaint is with Manchin, If the money saved is being put elsewhere in the stimulus, I’ll find it intellectually acceptable. (Not personally, though, since I will be screwed out of this stimulus if he does this, with a well-less-than $60K 2020 income.) If it’s just making the stimulus package smaller, nope.

  139. 139.

    Brachiator

    February 7, 2021 at 9:42 pm

    @Bill Arnold:

    She is suggesting that a lower threshold than the one used for the first two stimulus packages is politically acceptable. (And unless something changed, based on pre-pandemic 2019 tax returns, which are very flawed indicators of means. Fix that, first.)

    What I am seeing on tax and accounting sites is that some key Democrats are already  seriously considering a lower threshold. Hellen is trying to argue the value of a higher threshold.

    Also, a lot of Democrats like to focus on the idea of targeting benefits to “those who most need it.” They are weak on the big picture of stimulating or maintaining the economy.

    The idea that the payments might help prep future expansion goes over their heads.

  140. 140.

    Brachiator

    February 7, 2021 at 9:48 pm

    @Jay:

    the whole means testing is BS based on 2019 Tax Forms. A shitload of people who were surviving in 2019, were SOL in 2020.

    This is not as big a deal as people want to make it. The 2020 tax rules already adjust for this for most taxpayers. What is truly wrong headed is the idea of sending taxable payments to everyone. This flat out reduces the amount of money you actually get into people’s hands.

  141. 141.

    Bill Arnold

    February 7, 2021 at 9:49 pm

    @Brachiator:

    They are weak on the big picture of stimulating or maintaining the economy.

    Yes. Drives me up a wall. The Republicans sell their giveways to the wealthy with lies like they are growing the economy by giving money to the job creators and (Republican) deficit spending pays for itself.
    Democrats get lost in the weeds of targeting, and end up doing stuff that is easy to malign. (Porkulous, they called the inadequate-by-a-factor-of-2 2009 package, IIRC.)

  142. 142.

    Jay

    February 7, 2021 at 9:52 pm

    @Brachiator: yurp

  143. 143.

    zhena gogolia

    February 7, 2021 at 10:01 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Wow, what an original observation.

    Those older people were right, too. Elvis Presley isn’t as good as Bing Crosby.

  144. 144.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 7, 2021 at 10:08 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I wasn’t the one being a cliche.

  145. 145.

    Geminid

    February 7, 2021 at 10:16 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Saturday’s Washington Post had an article about Thursday night’s Senate “vote-a-rama,” during which 45 amendments to the Administration’s 1.9 trillion dollar rescue plan were put to a vote. One was an amendment proposed by Senators Manchin and Collins that “upper income” Americans would not receive stimulus payments. It passed 99-1. And Senator Sanders, Chairman of the Budget Committee that will actually craft the measure, was on CNN recently defending a $75,000 individual income cap for recipients of the full $1400 benefit. It would be phased out as incomes are greater.       I’m not following this issue as closely as other people are, but it seems that for better or worse means testing is a given, and has broad support among Senators.

  146. 146.

    geg6

    February 7, 2021 at 10:20 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Huh.  I think she’s terrific.

    I must be some kind of anomaly.  An old who keeps up with and likes new music.  Maybe it’s being around college students all the time.

  147. 147.

    geg6

    February 7, 2021 at 10:26 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    My mom, a huge Bing Crosby fan, hated Elvis (as do I).  But she loved the Beatles and Tom Petty.

  148. 148.

    Ivan X

    February 7, 2021 at 10:41 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus @Suzanne: New Order is (well, ok, was) the fucking best. I appreciate your taking them seriously.

  149. 149.

    SFAW

    February 7, 2021 at 10:43 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Fuck Trevor Bauer, too.

    My daughter, a die-hard Mets fan (like her old man), was pretty upset when it appeared the Mets might buy him. She was quite happy when the Manny Machados a/k/a the Los Angeles Assholes bought him.
    And fuck Chase Utley.
    Yes, I know Machado is no longer on LA. Fuck them anyway.

  150. 150.

    SFAW

    February 7, 2021 at 10:45 pm

    @frosty:

    And the Colts were better in Baltimore.

    Until the Jets beat them in SB III, that is.

  151. 151.

    JML

    February 7, 2021 at 10:58 pm

    The anthem was too long and too boring tonight. I clocked it at 2:22, which is absurd. (the average over the last 30 or so Super Bowls has been around 1:55, which is still long)

  152. 152.

    dnfree

    February 7, 2021 at 11:21 pm

    @Benw: I don’t think it’s a real halftime show if there isn’t a marching band. I know this might be a minority view.

  153. 153.

    SFAW

    February 7, 2021 at 11:24 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Elvis Presley isn’t as good as Bing Crosby.

    From what I recall, probably a better father, though.

  154. 154.

    SFAW

    February 7, 2021 at 11:25 pm

    @dnfree:

    if there isn’t a marching band.

    Or Prince.

  155. 155.

    chopper

    February 7, 2021 at 11:46 pm

    @SFAW:

    i think we need to talk about that opinion *in the library

  156. 156.

    mvr

    February 7, 2021 at 11:49 pm

    @Bill Arnold: From what I can tell Yellen is pushing back against a lower number.

  157. 157.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 7, 2021 at 11:52 pm

    Means-testing benefits is one of those things that every political junkie in left-liberal online forums is passionately against to the point of outrage, and every normal person (even a Democratic-voting normal person) is passionately for to the point of outrage if you propose not having it, and it seems to be some kind of impossible impasse.

    It’s kind of like banning convicted felons from voting in prison–it’s bad, there are all kinds of baleful effects it has, but if you propose changing it, it offends the average American’s sense of justice in some way, so it has infinite political inertia.

    So for the time being, it’s probably something we have to live with.

  158. 158.

    SFAW

    February 8, 2021 at 12:01 am

    @chopper:

    i think we need to talk about that opinion *in the library

    How so? Or is there some reference (e.g., “in the library”) that I’m not getting?

  159. 159.

    PenandKey

    February 8, 2021 at 5:59 am

    @Geminid :And Senator Sanders, Chairman of the Budget Committee that will actually craft the measure, was on CNN recently defending a $75,000 individual income cap for recipients of the full $1400 benefit. It would be phased out as incomes are greater.

    This is exactly what was in effect for the first two rounds. If that’s all anyone was demanding I don’t think you’d see people getting upset. It’s when you start telling the middle class, “Nope, we’re dropping the threshold to $40-$50k”, thus screwing them out of money they very rightfully feel was already promised to many of them, that they get pissed off. I know I am just at the fact this is a point of conversation being considered. I had a six-month savings buffer wiped out, trashed my credit, and for a while was a check or two away from homelessness when my wife lost her job for just over 6 months at the start of last year. We still brought home more than the proposed threshold, but it’s absolutely not what we’ve built our life or financial obligations around. The idea that $50k/yr for individuals or $100k/yr for couples is wealthy is, quite frankly, insulting.

    And to be honest, if the Democratic party ends up passing that sort of stimulus, they’ll earn every bit of electoral thrashing they get in the cities and suburbs come 2022.

  160. 160.

    Booger

    February 8, 2021 at 7:28 am

    @Jay: Why is this quoting an eight-year old article? That seems weird.

  161. 161.

    evodevo

    February 8, 2021 at 8:33 am

    @Starfish: ​
      Yep. Here in KY, if you work at Toyota full time, you will make more than 60k, but housing in Georgetown is expensive. If you go up US62 15 miles, you can live in Cynthiana, where housing is cheap, but you better have a security system from hell, because the broke druggy locals will rob you blind…and jobs in Cynthiana will pay you $35k a year if you have two of them….

  162. 162.

    fancycwabs

    February 8, 2021 at 9:18 am

    I didn’t see anyone jumping up and down in rage when Mike Pence’s rabbit wrote that tell-all.

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