• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

In my day, never was longer.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

After roe, women are no longer free.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

No one could have predicted…

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

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

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Mobile Menu

  • Winnable House Races
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Balloon Juice 2023 Pet Calendar (coming soon)
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • War in Ukraine
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • 2021-22 Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Late Night Open Thread: Keeping Up with the (Death Cult) Joneses

Late Night Open Thread: Keeping Up with the (Death Cult) Joneses

by Anne Laurie|  February 11, 20211:14 am| 89 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Violent Insurrection at the Capitol

FacebookTweetEmail

People are dunking on this but it forthrightly paints a picture not of impoverished white working class…but a middle class spun into debt & tax nightmares chasing status trophies. Lashing out against non-whites for loss of status. The classic story of white grievance politics. https://t.co/5itymAYtqz

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) February 10, 2021

GIMME BIGGER MORE NOW is Trump’s personal motto, and his dedication to it is a real inspiration to the worst of his cultists:

… Nearly 60 percent of the people facing charges related to the Capitol riot showed signs of prior money troubles, including bankruptcies, notices of eviction or foreclosure, bad debts, or unpaid taxes over the past two decades, according to a Washington Post analysis of public records for 125 defendants with sufficient information to detail their financial histories…

The financial problems are revealing because they offer potential clues for understanding why so many Trump supporters — many with professional careers and few with violent criminal histories — were willing to participate in an attack egged on by the president’s rhetoric painting him and his supporters as undeserving victims.

While no single factor explains why someone decided to join in, experts say, Donald Trump and his brand of grievance politics tapped into something that resonated with the hundreds of people who descended on the Capitol in a historic burst of violence.

“I think what you’re finding is more than just economic insecurity but a deep-seated feeling of precarity about their personal situation,” said Cynthia Miller-Idriss, a political science professor who helps run the Polarization and Extremism Research Innovation Lab at American University, reacting to The Post’s findings. “And that precarity — combined with a sense of betrayal or anger that someone is taking something away — mobilized a lot of people that day.”…

In the Capitol attack, business owners and white-collar workers made up 40 percent of the people accused of taking part, according to a study by the Chicago Project on Security and Threats at the University of Chicago. Only 9 percent appeared to be unemployed…

Ties into modern gun culture too. AR-15s, fancy attachments, Instagrammed trips to the range it's all a pricy hobby meant to project wealth and power like a Corvette. Think how many insurrectionists you see looking like SEALs with knockoff OpsCore helmets. https://t.co/vGYCCVSQJS

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) February 10, 2021

I've been pushing back against the "forgotten man" and "the victims of a changing economy" narrative exactly on these grounds. This is a flight from adulthood and responsibility citizenship and self-discipline, not some reaction to an unfair world. Trump is their patron saint. https://t.co/cKWoZxoWgw

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) February 10, 2021

It's not about poverty. It's about the blunted expectations of a middle-class that thinks the bills never come due and that bad choices are always the fault of some shadowy cabal somewhere. These are not poor people. https://t.co/9PbFyxhuNM

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) February 10, 2021

This is a good point. Did they become radicalized because they have money and relationship troubles, or were their money and relationship troubles a red flag for the kind of person who is easy to radicalize? I believe the evidence from terrorism profiles says: the latter. https://t.co/DRd4WKjU38

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) February 10, 2021

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Respite Open Thread: WAFFLES & MOCHI !
Next Post: On The Road – Steve from Mendocino – Mendocino Village – second set On The Road - Steve from Mendocino - Mendocino Village – second set»

Reader Interactions

89Comments

  1. 1.

    Starboard Tack

    February 11, 2021 at 1:20 am

    “A hand full of gimme and a mouth full of fuck you.”

  2. 2.

    John Revolta

    February 11, 2021 at 1:28 am

    @Starboard Tack: LOL

  3. 3.

    Winston

    February 11, 2021 at 1:30 am

    If only we had more socialism.

  4. 4.

    The Thin Black Duke

    February 11, 2021 at 1:32 am

    @Winston: We do. It’s for rich white people.

  5. 5.

    CaseyL

    February 11, 2021 at 1:33 am

    I wonder how many of them are adherents of the Prosperity Gospel, where you are encouraged to spend money you don’t have because God will make sure it all comes out OK.

  6. 6.

    Winston

    February 11, 2021 at 1:36 am

    @The Thin Black Duke: That is called capitalism.

  7. 7.

    Pete Downunder

    February 11, 2021 at 1:37 am

    I think part of it is the declining real wages. If you have two people, one who had a million dollars and suddenly received 10 million and another who had 20 million and suddenly lost 9. Both would have 11 million but one would feel great and the other terrible even though they were now in the exact same financial condition. Trying to maintain the old standard of living on a lower income can only lead to debt and despair.

  8. 8.

    craigie

    February 11, 2021 at 1:44 am

    If they don’t buy boats, how can they go to the Trump boat rallies?

  9. 9.

    DMcK

    February 11, 2021 at 1:45 am

    A close relative of mine lives in the supposedly idyllic suburbs of Suffolk County, Long Island, and while she is one of the most hard working and responsible people I know, she’s surrounded by folks living on the precipice of financial disaster just so they can project a ballin’ lifestyle. Issues with substance abuse and gambling debt are pretty common as well. And, hoo-boy, the racism. Anyhoo, I’m sure the Harley dealership out there makes a mint off of what should be child-support payments.

  10. 10.

    Winston

    February 11, 2021 at 1:49 am

    I just want to update my recent increase in doctorism. My PCP was concerned about my heart. It has been broken on several occasions, like when my wife died, my brother died and my girlfriend died of covid. So, in the last three weeks I’ve been going to a cardiologist, taking all kinds of  tests (EKGs, stress EKGs, ultrasounds, cat scans} and lo and behold, I am okay. If I wasn’t on a socialist medicare, it would have cost me 10s of thousands. But my copays are 40 dollars. All for me saying “I feel good” .

  11. 11.

    MisterForkbeard

    February 11, 2021 at 1:50 am

    This may have been noted in another thread, but apparently noted Trumper Gina Carano (who played the rebel shocktrooper Cara Dune in the Mandalorian) will no longer be appearing in Star Wars. Evidently Disney was fed up with her tweets after repeated warnings, where she:

    Made fun of transfolk, attacked masks and spewed anti-covid propaganda, went after Democrats, and supported the 1/6 insurrection. The final straw was when she yesterday said that being a Republican in Biden’s America was like being a Jew in pre-nazi Germany.

    And nothing of value was lost.

  12. 12.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    February 11, 2021 at 1:52 am

    I could never understand how people go to a restaurant and take photos of their meal and post it on instagram or facebook. And they don’t do it to show how pretty the meal looks, because the vast majority of the time it doesn’t, they do it to display status in terms of how much money they spent. I know some of these people, they don’t have the disposable income, instead they max out one credit card after another.

  13. 13.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    February 11, 2021 at 1:57 am

    When Al Franken used to have a radio show he would have on one of his roommates from Harvard. Al said the guy was more liberal than him and had been so for decades but he went through a bad divorce and became a reactionary who listened to hate radio every day. Al believed that various people just need to find a scapegoat for their own personal failing.

  14. 14.

    Winston

    February 11, 2021 at 1:58 am

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Credit cards. I use them for everything, pay them off monthly and get cash back. Couple time a year I get $50. Love it and it saves me time going to the bank to get cash.

  15. 15.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    February 11, 2021 at 1:59 am

    This sounding more and more like a mass collective mid life crises with these guys.  I mean a 50 year old middle manager man dressing up as a SEAL?

  16. 16.

    Mary G

    February 11, 2021 at 1:59 am

    I’ve got an ex-friend who was always terrible with money. Her mom died and her share of the estate was $40,000, so she bought a $50,000 truck. She was way under water on her mortgage and lost everything after 2008. She changed from a lifelong Democrat to a raging, racist MAGAt. She had a good job with benefits and got fired for screaming at a client. It’s a nightmare.

  17. 17.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    February 11, 2021 at 2:01 am

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: I could never understand how people go to a restaurant and take photos of their meal and post it on instagram or facebook

    My nephew does it to be an ironic hipster bastard. Allegedly he wore a tie with “I don’t need this job” written on the back to and interview once.

  18. 18.

    Winston

    February 11, 2021 at 2:04 am

    I fell asleep watching the “peach” about the time the lady from Virgin Islands was speaking and didn’t wake up till midnight. That’s my life for the last year. No schedule. I get my second vax on 2/23. Looking to get back to normal a couple weeks after that. Wooo Hooo.

  19. 19.

    Sebastian

    February 11, 2021 at 2:08 am

    @Winston:

    I am so sorry, Winston.

  20. 20.

    df

    February 11, 2021 at 2:08 am

    @Pete Downunder: That’s what’s frustrating to me: the decline in real wages is, well… real, and the precariat gets larger while the middle class gets smaller. Nobody deserves to live on the edge like that, but it apparently never occurs to some of these people that their favorite politicians are the ones who make it possible for the becapitaled class to screw them over, over and over.
    Until you think of it in terms of race. The average rightwinger will vote against their own best interest time and time again if it means screwing over minorities too. (I don’t know if they do this intentionally or if it’s all automatic at this point.) I’m on my second Rittenhouse 100, so I forget the specifics, but a friend once shared a review for a book that talked about this in detail. The right wing hates everyone they consider inferior so much that they’re willing to die if it means taking The Other out with them.

  21. 21.

    Comrade Colette

    February 11, 2021 at 2:08 am

    @Winston: I’m so sorry. What a terrible series of losses. Glad to hear your heart is objectively OK as seen by an outside observer with machines that go “ping,” and hope it starts to feel better from the inside.

  22. 22.

    Winston

    February 11, 2021 at 2:08 am

    @Mary G: I dated a lady who inherited $150,000 after her husband died. She spent it all within a year. Now she’s broke and wants to borrow money from me.

  23. 23.

    swbarnes2

    February 11, 2021 at 2:09 am

    In the general population, 50% of bankruptcies are caused by medical debt.  Wonder if that’s true of this population.

  24. 24.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    February 11, 2021 at 2:11 am

    @Winston: ​
      Doesn’t medicare have a yearly deductible separate from the copay? Or do you have a medicare advantage or medigap policy?

  25. 25.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    February 11, 2021 at 2:15 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: ​
     

    the people who dress up like a Seal look ridiculous (photo)

  26. 26.

    Martin

    February 11, 2021 at 2:16 am

    The salient fact of American politics is that there are fifty to seventy million voters each of whom will volunteer to live, with his family, in a cardboard box under an overpass, and cook sparrows on an old curtain rod, if someone would only guarantee that the black, gay, Hispanic, liberal, whatever, in the next box over doesn’t even have a curtain rod, or a sparrow to put on it.

  27. 27.

    Kent

    February 11, 2021 at 2:21 am

    A lot of these people are just shitty people to begin with.  Hence they end up divorced.  Nothing will blow up your precarious finances like a divorce.   It’s all part of the package.

    I do remember when we lived in something of a MAGA suburb in TX and I was always just blown away by all the reckless spending by people who I knew were less affluent than us.  It is easy enough to figure out when you know what your neighbors do for a living, how much their houses cost, what kind of cars they drive, and they money they blow on shit like plantation shutters or vacations.

  28. 28.

    Sm*t Cl*de

    February 11, 2021 at 2:24 am

    They’re probably all divorced, too, but that’s not the CAUSE of why they’re terrorists, it’s just another symptom.

    If I had a dollar for every Q-cumber who blamed the Deep State for denying him access to his children, I’d be drinking a much better class of Akvavit.

  29. 29.

    Redshift

    February 11, 2021 at 2:25 am

    @Pete Downunder: There’s also the general effect of rising income inequality – no matter where you are on the income scale, you see the people above you pulling away. That by itself doesn’t turn people toward fascist populism, but it makes for fertile ground for grievance-mongering demagogues. (All while benefiting plutocrats directly.)

  30. 30.

    Winston

    February 11, 2021 at 2:26 am

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: I have medicare advantage thru CarePlus. Specialist copays are $10/visit. There is a maximum copay like $2300 per year, including drug, dental, eye, ear copays. etc. PCP visits are free (min 4 times/year). This plan pays $125/month part B medicare premiums. It’s not available everywhere but in Florida it’s very popular. They just over doctor in my opinion, but that’s how they make their money. I love my doctor. She is cute, but rejects my marriage proposals.

  31. 31.

    JCJ

    February 11, 2021 at 2:27 am

    @Martin:  It wasn’t long after I started reading balloon-juice that I came across this perfect distillation courtesy of Davis X. Machina.  That coupled with Cleek’s Law gives a perfect description of a significant portion of our society.

  32. 32.

    Kent

    February 11, 2021 at 2:27 am

    @Sm*t Cl*de: But divorce is probably the reason why they are bankrupt.

  33. 33.

    cmorenc

    February 11, 2021 at 2:27 am

    @Winston:

    @Mary G: I dated a lady who inherited $150,000 after her husband died. She spent it all within a year. Now she’s broke and wants to borrow money from me.

    One of the best decision I ever made in that respect was marrying a woman who has great financial sense and judgment with money, without being killjoy uptight.  For example, we don’t live beyond where we can pay off the credit cards in full each month, a corollary of which is we have always lived a bit below our means and invested the difference.  We have nice things, such as my Martin D18 guitar but no bling whatsoever.

  34. 34.

    Winston

    February 11, 2021 at 2:38 am

    @Winston: I might mention, medigap policies might be better for certain conditions. They cover everything medicare doesn’t but they have their own premium in addition to part B. My wife was diagnosed with lung cancer on her 65th birthday. We immediately got her a medigap policy. Between Medicare and Medigap, we did not pay a cent for chemo or any other medical service until the day she died.

  35. 35.

    the pollyanna from hell

    February 11, 2021 at 2:44 am

    Partisan misanthropy impels a spiral descent of heterodyning feedback loop, where I have to compete for wages with the wage-slaves my party’s platform is designed to punish. But misanthropy is younger by long millennia than its model pattern in misogyny, which leads to overpopulation, which leads to war, which leads to misogyny, and down and down through the chasms of time. I am counting on us breaking both cycles at once, any decade now. Maybe tonight!​
    ​
    ​
    ​
    ​
    ​
    ​

  36. 36.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    February 11, 2021 at 2:49 am

    @Winston: I know what you mean, my doctor is smoking hawt.  I go in twice a year for colonoscopes even though I don’t need them.

  37. 37.

    Winston

    February 11, 2021 at 2:52 am

    @cmorenc: Good thinking. Managing a budget in retirement can not be emphasized enough. Unfortunately,  as we get older and dementia starts taking its toll, it becomes harder and harder to make ends meet. My mother spent her money on lottery tickets. So did my last girlfriend.

  38. 38.

    Pete Downunder

    February 11, 2021 at 2:55 am

    @Redshift:  Agreed. Income inequality is a major problem. I’m old enough to recall my successful father complaining about the 91% marginal tax rate at the time (1960?) He still lived quite well. Many rich people just have too much money.

  39. 39.

    Ruckus

    February 11, 2021 at 3:06 am

    @Mary G:

    I lost everything in the 2008 recession. OK not everything, I ended up with $200 and had to take SS so I could eat. If a friend hadn’t put me up for a year, I would have been living on the street. I didn’t blame the democrats, I blame(d) the party/president that caused, it the party of ignorant fucks and robber barons known as republicans. Their work of turning capital into profit at the destruction of jobs and wages and putting a 2 trillion dollar war off the books so that we wouldn’t notice how much the spent and how much they wasted on their buddies companies to support said war, that they mismanaged so badly that we achieved nothing except a recession and worse world relations from their recklessness.

  40. 40.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    February 11, 2021 at 3:15 am

    @MisterForkbeard: Well, something of value was lost: a good character with potential, that had the misfortune to be portrayed by a horrible human being.

    I can’t help but compare and contrast Peter Cushing, who by all accounts was an absolute sweetheart and gentleman during the filming of the original Star Wars, while portraying (at the risk of starting a fight in the thread here) one of the vilest characters to grace the silver screen in the last half-century.

  41. 41.

    opiejeanne

    February 11, 2021 at 3:25 am

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR:  They should recast her part, just like Marvel recast The Hulk. Get someone good in the role and people won’t care. Adreienne Palicky could pull it off.

  42. 42.

    Amir Khalid

    February 11, 2021 at 3:31 am

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    A 50-year-old guy dressed up like a seal looks silly, but the same guy dressed up like a SEAL looks worse.

  43. 43.

    J R in WV

    February 11, 2021 at 3:44 am

    @Winston:

    I’m old too, and have lost several cousins I  was close to, as well as my parents. The only  inescapable thing I hate about getting old is that people I’m close to are either dying or becoming increasingly fragile mentally and or physically.

    Otherwise I’m doing well but for seeking our vaccinations,  which should come around soon.

    I’m sorry for your recent losses you tell us about!  More can be wrong with your heart than cardiac issues, I’m glad your doc took a close look at things for you! Take care of yourself in these troubled times.

  44. 44.

    rikyrah

    February 11, 2021 at 4:09 am

    @Winston:

     

    glad about your health.

    The losses????

  45. 45.

    rikyrah

    February 11, 2021 at 4:12 am

    @Winston:

    ???? for your shot

  46. 46.

    tokyokie

    February 11, 2021 at 4:28 am

    A new Glock-17 will set you back at least $500, a new AR-15, $1,200. A round of ammunition for an AR-15 is basically $1, so emptying your magazine at the gun range will cost you $30 for a thrill that’s over in seconds. The cost of these oafs’ pretties is not one that somebody can maintain without a high income — and as these guys are oafs, that’s not what they’re pulling down. So yeah, maybe these fellas are suffering from economic anxiety, but the same stupidity that leads them to keep up with their fees at the gun range while shorting the ex on child support is the trait that leads them to espouse racist tropes.

     

    And boy am I going to have some great Google ads from the research I just did about gun and ammo prices.

  47. 47.

    Jay

    February 11, 2021 at 4:35 am

    @tokyokie:

    sorry about that, the ads that is,…

    In an earlier video, Swinney discusses that he thinks police are now more friendly to people in his situation.

    “I just know how things would have been five or six years ago if I had tried walking around on the street with a pistol on my hip. Cops would be all over me six years ago,” says Swinney (Video one, 7:55).

    Bellingcat reached out to the Portland Police about the comments Swinney made about lenient police treatment of right wing demonstrators. A representative responded: “All individuals, no matter what affiliation they side with at the demonstrations, are subject to arrest if they break the law.”

    In Video 10, Swinney and his colleagues chant “Blue Lives Matter” (Video 10, 17:58) as the police arrive, and they spend time chatting with the officers and commending them on their service. “Cops appreciate the support. They feel comfortable with us,” says Swinney (Video 10, 19:33).

    https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2021/02/10/bodycam-footage-shows-far-right-figure-alan-swinney-preparing-for-portland-violence/

  48. 48.

    Jay

    February 11, 2021 at 4:40 am

    A Schrodingers paradox of the trial:

    (1) Trump’s lawyers will argue that Trump’s supporters on Jan 6 were not controlled by Trump.

    (2) Republican Senators will vote to acquit because they believe that Trump’s supporters are highly controlled by Trump.

  49. 49.

    sab

    February 11, 2021 at 4:42 am

    OT: Chrissy Teigan is right. Everyone is from Ohio. Ted Lieu’s family immigrated to Cleveland. He graduated from St. Ignatius High School then went to Stanford.

    East Asian immigrants’s kids tend to move from Ohio to the west coast as soon as possible, unless Japanese descent.

  50. 50.

    Jay

    February 11, 2021 at 4:44 am

    This doctor drove to two homes and invited four people over so he could use every dose before it expired. He then submitted paperwork for each vaccination and then told his boss and coworkers about it. The fired him and accused him of vaccinating too many South Asian people. https://t.co/ESv1GYDQAz— ᴋᴀᴛʜʏ ᴢʜᴀɴɢ (@kathyvsinternet) February 11, 2021

  51. 51.

    Jay

    February 11, 2021 at 4:46 am

    @sab:

    ?????? Missed that.

    she said what about why?

  52. 52.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    February 11, 2021 at 4:48 am

    @Jay: That story’s a couple of weeks old and it’s still utterly infuriating – that the doctor followed procedures, went through channels, still had doses left over with only a few hours left to administer them before they spoiled, and he got charged and put out of work for using them instead of throwing them away.

    Hopefully he’ll get decent job offers now that his story’s hit the FTFNYT, because it sounds like he’d be a significant asset to whoever hires him.

  53. 53.

    Jay

    February 11, 2021 at 4:52 am

    LMFAO,

    Somebody’s got to stick this on a front page,

    I know that we're still at the beginning of his Presidency, but I'm starting to get really worried that Joe Biden isn't going to follow through on his bold platform. pic.twitter.com/01CavXlHPE— KnowNothing (@KnowNothingTV) February 10, 2021

  54. 54.

    Jay

    February 11, 2021 at 4:55 am

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR:

    Yup. Good people are hard to find.

    If I were, in Medical, or MGMT, hire done.

  55. 55.

    sab

    February 11, 2021 at 4:56 am

    @Jay: Senators are mostly millionaires. They think they are therefore special. They are right. They are insulated.

    Capitol police getting battered and bashed and maimed and killed protecting Congress.

    Rob Portman fistbumps Officer Goodman to acknowledge what he did, but will still vote against impeachment because… Who knows. (Afraid of Ohio militias? Risk doing your job is only for little people) (Wants to get hired by more lucrative think tanks?) (Doesn’t want to hurt business among the sociopathic jerks that go to his family’s fancy restaurant?)

  56. 56.

    sab

    February 11, 2021 at 4:59 am

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: If he was in Ohio, he would have been following the governor’s explicit orders: don’t throw out vaccine. Get it in an arm.

  57. 57.

    sab

    February 11, 2021 at 5:02 am

    @Jay: She tweeted that a while back. She is not from Ohio, but her husband is. I think she was surprised by how many people are from Ohio. She is west coast born and probably never even thought about us.

    She tweeted it Nov. 23, 2020: ” I have come to realize that everyone on earth is from Ohio.”

  58. 58.

    Jay

    February 11, 2021 at 5:06 am

    @sab:

    sorry sab, yeah, so much fuck uppedness.

    I thought the absurdity, on one hand, would lighten the other hand,

    Then there is the other hand.

    Sorry, that I half to laugh, cynically.

    A year and a half ago, I figured out a suicide that would get SWMBO  the insurance money.

    Economic Insecurity my ass.

  59. 59.

    Amir Khalid

    February 11, 2021 at 5:12 am

    @Jay: ​
     

    A year and a half ago, I figured out a suicide that would get SWMBO the insurance money.

    You can’t be sure the insurance investigators/police won’t figure it out. Don’t do it.

  60. 60.

    Jay

    February 11, 2021 at 5:25 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    thank you Amir,

    it was fool proof,

    but, you know, you love, you know.

    We sucked it up. Moved. We are surviving .

  61. 61.

    Brachiator

    February 11, 2021 at 5:50 am

    @Winston:

    So sorry for your losses.

    Take care of yourself.

  62. 62.

    Van Buren

    February 11, 2021 at 5:57 am

    @DMcK:

     

    @Martin: I think we are up to 74 million of those folks now.

  63. 63.

    prostratedragon

    February 11, 2021 at 6:02 am

    From Paul Krugman and commenters, some remarks on acronyms:

    it may be helpful to think of the Biden plan as the fiscal equivalent of war. But this brings back memories of Carter’s Moral Equivalent of War energy policy; unfortunately, MEOW was not a good acronym 1/

  64. 64.

    Cermet

    February 11, 2021 at 6:15 am

    @Ruckus: First, so sorry for that all happening.

    You summed up whats really wrong with this country and why bush (the far lesser) was and is the worst president (not elected) since nearly forever. Now AGW will make those events look like a picnic in the park

  65. 65.

    Gvg

    February 11, 2021 at 6:31 am

    Maybe this explains to me why some people thought Donald Trump was a successful businessman. Mr. 7 bankruptcies is really one of them.

    i remember reading a comparison of the North and South financials years ago which mentioned the South’s culture had a lot more debt and ruination, a lot of buying too much for show and that slavery actually was financially bad for the free lower and middle class. Some of the reason many Northerners were anti slavery was it undercut their ability to get higher wages. Slaves were the ultimate scabs (union busters in wage negotiations) which also led to later unions being kind of racist. Anyway, plantations ran with a lot of debt and many weren’t that profitable. Investing in factories was a far better bet.

    Seems like some lessons don’t get learned.

  66. 66.

    hells littlest angel

    February 11, 2021 at 7:07 am

    @Winston: Me too. Our good fortune is made possible by others who can’t, for whatever reason, manage their money. It’s kind of creepy.

  67. 67.

    debbie

    February 11, 2021 at 7:15 am

    Can’t get past the paywall, but the statistic I’d like to see is the percentage of terrorists who did not vote in the last election.

  68. 68.

    trnc

    February 11, 2021 at 7:46 am

    @tokyokie: ​
     

    And boy am I going to have some great Google ads from the research I just did about gun and ammo prices.

    You can turn focused ads off in your google settings.

  69. 69.

    evodevo

    February 11, 2021 at 8:10 am

    @CaseyL: Try – MOST of them.  I know several neighbors who are into that kind of religious nuttery, and they are all MAGAts through and through…

  70. 70.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    February 11, 2021 at 8:15 am

    @tokyokie: What makes you think these guys go to the range? The hard core wingnut I knew had some expensive gun and the time he went to the range with us we libertards had to show him how to load it and clean it.

  71. 71.

    evodevo

    February 11, 2021 at 8:17 am

    @Martin: ​
      Yes. I quote this all the time on Facebook when friends ponder why nutjob MAGAts are so racist…
    All hail, Davis X Machina for that quotable quote..

  72. 72.

    Kristine

    February 11, 2021 at 8:25 am

    @Jay: I laughed at one of the comments: “Not even God can stop Anarcho-Bidenism.”

    Envisioning Joe the Smiling Malarkey Anarchist and laughing.

  73. 73.

    Tim C.

    February 11, 2021 at 8:26 am

    The “Trump as Patron Saint of Assholes”  is something I’ve noticed since 2015 myself as well.

  74. 74.

    SFAW

    February 11, 2021 at 8:52 am

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    Better a seal than a sea lion.

  75. 75.

    cope

    February 11, 2021 at 8:55 am

    @cmorenc: I was lucky enough to find myself married to a similarly smart woman.  She always paid the bills, managed our spending and kept us above water.  When we had carpets, before I tiled every fucking square inch of our house, we had a carpet guy come clean them every few months (kids, dogs, rabbits, iguana, etc.).  He told us that he did a lot of carpets in a toney development nearby.  Lots of those houses had hardly any furniture in them as the owners shot their wad buying the house behind the electronic gates.

    We own our house and two cars and pay off all debt every month.  Our income is fixed and we have a few diverse investment funds.  I owe it all to my wife’s vision.

  76. 76.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    February 11, 2021 at 8:58 am

    @opiejeanne: Dot-Marie Jones would be great in that role.

  77. 77.

    SFAW

    February 11, 2021 at 9:10 am

    @Sm*t Cl*de:

    I’d be drinking a much better class of Akvavit

    That’s like saying you’d be drinking a much better class of Mad Dog.

  78. 78.

    SFAW

    February 11, 2021 at 9:11 am

    @opiejeanne:

    They should recast her part, just like Marvel recast The Hulk.

    I can’t see Ruffalo in the role.

  79. 79.

    Slappy Kincaid

    February 11, 2021 at 9:34 am

    Tom Nichols has it right, I think.  Just as an anecdotal correlation:  I have a case where the opposing party is a MAGA, Proud Boy, fanatic.  He was at the Capital on Jan 6.  Prior to any of that, however, he had a long history of antisocial behavior, financial irresponsibility, divorce, domestic violence.  He buys one expensive toy after another (camper, boat, $70k truck, and on and on), but won’t pay his child support.  He plays the victim and is responsible for nothing.  He is a racist and a homophobe. He owns a successful business and makes good money.

    I think most of the people jumping on the insurrection bandwagon look just like this guy. And there are alot of people just like him out there.

  80. 80.

    StringOnAStick

    February 11, 2021 at 9:59 am

    @cope: We’re in pretty much the exact same position, and I notice that the people we know who are also are folks who don’t buy anything unless it’s with cash, so no debt. Sadly, I notice too that anyone younger than we are have been so hit by the high cost of housing that several have just given up on ever retiring and are doing what they call “retirement around the edges”, which looks an awful lot like “play now, save little, work forever.”

    My 88 yo wing nut rage addict father is refinancing the house they bought in 1968 for $28k; we paid our 2006 purchase of 15x that off 3 years later thanks to good previous real estate decisions, all of which fell under the rubric of buy only what you can afford.  My folks lived high on the hog via debt, and we did the opposite.  If it wasn’t for SS and a lifetime pension, he’d be living with my older sister the fellow wingnut.  He absolutely hated the fact that we retired a little before age 65 because not working until you drop is a moral failing in his eyes; we think of it as giving job openings to younger people who need it.

  81. 81.

    VOR

    February 11, 2021 at 10:24 am

    @Tim C.: Yep. Trump is an asshole, some of his voters think he is personally vulgar and crude, but he is THEIR asshole. He hates the people they hate and isn’t shy about saying so. They love it when he insults people.

  82. 82.

    DCA

    February 11, 2021 at 11:38 am

    There may be another kind of correlations here: poor impulse control (aka failing the marshmallow test), leading to too much buying of stuff, and easily becoming crazy while part of a mob. Admittedly, doesn’t explain the “become a MAGA” part unless it is admiring someone whose life has been defined by poor impulse control–and yet is rich and President.

  83. 83.

    Nutmeg again

    February 11, 2021 at 1:27 pm

    @Winston: My experience has been that regular docs aren’t great with actual heartbreak. Heart malfunction, ok then, but heartbreak, or life implosion, not so much.
    And yet it has such a dire effect on life as we experience it. Strange. (My sympathies for your losses.)

  84. 84.

    Nutmeg again

    February 11, 2021 at 1:32 pm

    @Kent: um. Some of us “end up divorced” because we married creeps. Of course we did not know they were creeps when we married them (d’uh!); some creeps are very, very good liars.  It’s far better to be divorced from a Cluster B creep than still married to one. And there is no shame in the divorce.

    Oh, and our finances get blown all to hell–through no fault of our own–by the process.

  85. 85.

    Yutsano

    February 11, 2021 at 2:11 pm

    I’m coming to this late but…

    I have to deal with people like this at work ALL THE TIME. Most are independent contractors who figure they can skate by without paying in their tax share because it expires in 10 years after they get assessed so it’s just another debt they try to skate. Then they can’t use their bank account, they call us claiming poverty, we try to get them into compliance, then after the phone call virtually nothing changes. So it doesn’t surprise me that these people have anti-government leanings.

  86. 86.

    Dopey-o

    February 11, 2021 at 2:28 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    @Winston: I know what you mean, my doctor is smoking hawt.  I go in twice a year for colonoscopes even though I don’t need them.

    Don’t forget those all-important prostate exams, which are best when frequently administered by my petite blonde Irish Primary Care Physician.

  87. 87.

    Martin

    February 11, 2021 at 3:06 pm

    @JCJ: I think Cole’s tire rims and anthrax is comparably insightful:

    I really don’t understand how bipartisanship is ever going to work when one of the parties is insane. Imagine trying to negotiate an agreement on dinner plans with your date, and you suggest Italian and she states her preference would be a meal of tire rims and anthrax. If you can figure out a way to split the difference there and find a meal you will both enjoy, you can probably figure out how bipartisanship is going to work the next few years.

  88. 88.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    February 11, 2021 at 3:59 pm

    @StringOnAStick: No. He hates the fact that you COULD retire before 65. He knows he isn’t good with money. He knows that is a moral failing. He is angry with you for being better with money than he is, so that he feels bad by comparison.

  89. 89.

    Sancho Panza

    February 12, 2021 at 11:28 am

    @DMcK:

    Don’t forget driving the 60K SUV instead of the 18k Hyundai compact sedan…

    90% of the time they do the exact same thing: get you from point a to point b in reasonable comfort & safety, and the three times a year you need to haul stuff rent a van.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

2023 Pet Calendars

Pet Calendar Preview: A
Pet Calendar Preview: B

*Calendars can not be ordered until Cafe Press gets their calendar paper in.

Recent Comments

  • UncleEbeneezer on Medium Cool – Give Us A Song and Tell Us Your Story (Jan 30, 2023 @ 5:46am)
  • UncleEbeneezer on Medium Cool – Give Us A Song and Tell Us Your Story (Jan 30, 2023 @ 5:36am)
  • Amir Khalid on War for Ukraine Day 339: The Strategist’s Enemy Is Time (Jan 30, 2023 @ 4:20am)
  • patrick II on War for Ukraine Day 339: The Strategist’s Enemy Is Time (Jan 30, 2023 @ 3:20am)
  • Jesse on War for Ukraine Day 339: The Strategist’s Enemy Is Time (Jan 30, 2023 @ 2:47am)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
We All Need A Little Kindness
Favorite Dogs & Cats
Classified Documents: A Primer

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup

Front-pager Twitter

John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
TaMara
David Anderson
ActualCitizensUnited

Shop Amazon via this link to support Balloon Juice   

Join the Fight!

Join the Fight Signup Form
All Join the Fight Posts

Balloon Juice Events

5/14  The Apocalypse
5/20  Home Away from Home
5/29  We’re Back, Baby
7/21  Merging!

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!