Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

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

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

T R E 4 5 O N

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Let’s finish the job.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Republicans in disarray!

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

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

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

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

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Happy Valentine’s Day From The Bidens UPDATED with Pups and Pig Video

Open Thread: Happy Valentine’s Day From The Bidens UPDATED with Pups and Pig Video

by | 93 Comments

This post is in: 

President Biden: “Valentine’s Day is big. Jill’s favorite day. For real.”

Q: “What inspired you to do this?”

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden: “I just wanted some joy. With the pandemic, just everybody’s feeling a little down. So, it’s just a little joy. A little hope. That’s all.”

Stick around till the end and watch Joe being Joe. Damn, how nice is it to have a loving family in the White House again?

Champ is 14 and showing his age a bit…but then aren’t we all.

It’s going to be in the minus degrees here for the next three days and I’ve got the ducks completely bundled up in their coop, which they will be stuck in. All the advice is, if they have a deep layer of shredded wood or straw and an enclosed space they’re good in the deep freeze. Their coop temp has been holding steady in the mid-20s, so those downy little bodies are toasty. Heat lamps are not recommended (and impossible where the hut is located), but I do use milk jugs filled with hot water all winter to boost the temps most nights.

This is the coldest snap we’ve had since the ducks joined us…so my first go-round of keeping them warm.

Don’t be surprised if you learn I brought them into the house (in a Dane crate) because I’m a wimp. Isn’t that what mudrooms are made for anyway, LOL?

In other news, I got my parents a same-day vaccination appointment yesterday and it felt like winning the lottery. Breathing a bit easier, because of course, they live in a state where precautions are laughed at.

Open thread

ETA: I can’t believe I forgot I promised you the video of the pups and the pig here.

Reader Interactions

93Comments

  1. 1.

    germy

    Remember the feral cats!

    Tips for building a cat shelter:

    • “When you make cat shelters, you do not use hay. You have to use straw. Straw repels moisture and straw has a coating on it, also works as an insulator, helps to keep the cat warmer. Hay is not good at all,” Mariani said. To help people remember she uses the phrase “Hay is for horses, straw is for strays.”
    • Place in a dry spot, protected from snow and rain.
    • For a low-cost shelter, take a large plastic tub and cut out a hole in the side that is just big enough for a cat to fit through.
    • For more information on building cat shelters, visit alleycat.org.
  2. 2.

    geg6

    That video made my day. He’s just such a great guy for these times and those puppies! And to see a couple who love each other so much and seem to take such great joy in each other soothes the heart.

  3. 3.

    Damned_at_Random

    Champ has some pretty significant arthritis going on. I’m an old dog myself and know the signs. Fourteen is a long run for a shepherd. I hope he has a nice heated bed in the house.

  4. 4.

    Lyrebird

    Thank you and thank Dr. Biden for reminding me what it feels like to read “FLOTUS” and not have a sick feeling…

  5. 5.

    dmsilev

    Nice video. It’s so …relieving to have normal decent people back in the White House. You wouldn’t think “President who loves his wife and his dogs” would be a difficult bar to clear, hell George W Bush managed that much, but well here we are.

  6. 6.

    Damien

    I love these positive and uplifting posts.  Honestly, being able to watch the president and feel like he’s a genuinely good, sweet, selfless person sometimes brings tears to my eyes.  It’s such a whipsaw feeling sometimes I can’t believe he’s really our leader.

  8. 8.

    The Moar You Know

    Totally shallow of me, but it is SO nice to have a President that doesn’t look like something fished from a massive clog in a municipal drain.

    Dude is looking good.  The German Shepherds help, of course.

  10. 10.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    Some may consider it inappropriate, but I love how one member of the press called out “Joe,” when asking a question about Champ and Major.

  11. 11.

    The Moar You Know

    Don’t be surprised if you learn I brought them into the house (in a Dane crate) because I’m a wimp.

    By tonight.  Kinda surprised you haven’t already.  Last heat wave here, by mid-morning, my mom had come by and collected all my dog crates and had the chickens inside.  My stepfather was not pleased, but that was part of the deal, buddy.

  14. 14.

    The Moar You Know

    Fourteen is a long run for a shepherd.

    @Damned_at_Random:  Well outside the warranty period.  It’s how we lost our last dog, just shy of fifteen.  I think he’s getting the best of care, but there is only so much that can be done when a big dog gets to be around 10-12.

    Still, I’d rather outlive my dog than the other way around.  I can make sure they get the best until the end.

  16. 16.

    Omnes Omnibus

    And before all the Presidential style critics jump in, I will say that jeans and a leather jacket were perfectly appropriate for a casual occasion like this. I mean, at least it wasn’t at tan suit.

  17. 17.

    mrmoshpotato

    @The Moar You Know:

    Totally shallow of me, but it is SO nice to have a President that doesn’t look like something fished from a massive clog in a municipal drain. 

    Massive clogs would like a word.

  18. 18.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    “which one’s the old one?” dude, really? You don’t have to be Doolittle

    I love the way, when Jill stops to pet Champ, Major does that run up like “I’m here too!” My sister and her two sons have six dogs between them, and when they’re all together, there are never enough hands

  19. 19.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Cheryl from Maryland:

    I noticed that too, and thought it was endearing. And I love that he’s wearing faded old jeans. It’s so … Joe of him.

    ETA: And I ? believe that Jill will bring doughnuts for the press the next time she does a casual stroll of the grounds.

  21. 21.

    Benw

    LOL the Bidens with their doggos.

    LOL a pile of duckos in a Dane crate.

    Awesome your folks got the vaccine.

    Just fuckin A all around.

  22. 22.

    Josie

    Fourteen is really good for a big dog. Mine (akbash) made it to thirteen, thanks to good care and good medicine. I still miss her so much.
    TaMara, go ahead and bring in those ducks. You know you want to.

  23. 23.

    The Moar You Know

    I’m telling you – the animals, the lost ones showing up, I know this is part of the reason I’m divorced, LOL.

    @TaMara (HFG):  I don’t want to say “you’re better off” but you probably are.  God’s creatures are important.  Being given “dominion over the earth and it’s creatures” doesn’t mean you get to exploit them, it means you’re responsible for them and their welfare!

    My wife is ALL IN on this.  The only reason that we don’t have ten dogs is that our current is a one-human dog, that human is me, and he gets very distressed if there’s another dog competing for attention.  But we’ve managed to find homes for anyone that shows up.  And one day, probably a decade from now, we’ll have ten dogs.  I’d be OK with that.  It’ll be the end of our nice furniture, but I’m OK with that.

  25. 25.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    hehehe, I think this subtle trolling on Trump by Biden here. Trump is so pathetically desperate to believe all the women love him and now Trump is going to have to listen to all weekend to woman on TV going on about what happy couple the Bidens are and how lucky Jill Biden is. ROFL

  26. 26.

    MazeDancer

    TaMara, Just bring the ducks in at sundown.

    You will be able to sleep.  The ducks will be safe.  And you won’t be trying to bring them inside in the middle of the night.

  30. 30.

    Mary Ellen Sandahl

    @The Moar You Know: ​
      “Municipal drain clog” is right up there with some of the Scottish inventions, bravo.
    Our Joe doesn’t look too bad in authentically broken-in jeans either. Imagine the previous occupant in something like that, if you can.

  32. 32.

    SiubhanDuinne

    FLOTUS organized a Valentine’s Day display behind the camera positions on the North Lawn. Aides say she is “Sending messages of healing, unity, hope and compassion, this is her Valentine to the country.”

    Nice to know that nowhere in the universe is there a recording of Dr. Jill muttering about “working my fucking ass off on fucking Valentine’s decorations.”

  34. 34.

    Ken

    Their coop temp has been holding steady in the mid-20s, so those downy little bodies are toasty.

    In my area, ducks and geese happily paddle around in a half-frozen pond, hopping out and standing on the ice when they want to take a nap.  Though that’s when it’s only a few degrees below freezing, I don’t know what they’re doing now because I haven’t been out for a week — I really should bundle up and get some exercise this weekend.

  36. 36.

    Steve in the ATL

    Castor Avenue in Philadelphia is named after Bruce Castor’s family. Perhaps someone should propose renaming it Obama Avenue or Biden Avenue?

  40. 40.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Steve in the ATL: Huh. Is it by any chance one of those old aristocratic families where the practice of marrying cousins went on a bit too long

    ETA:@Steve in the ATL: I’ve seen twitter rumors just this morning that Melanie is furious at the positive attention DrJ is getting.

  41. 41.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @Ken: Interesting thing about ducks – as long as the water is not frozen, they use it to keep their feet warm. That’s the only part of them that is usually at risk of freezing. They have so much down, if you pick one up, you’ll be shocked how warm they are under their feathers.

  43. 43.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    I got my first vaccination yesterday and my arm hurts like hell. Can’t lift it higher than my shoulder.

  46. 46.

    germy

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    I probably won’t be vaccinated until the end of the summer, but I can’t decide which arm.  The left arm that already hurts, or the right arm that doesn’t hurt?  If I choose the right arm, I’ll have two arms that hurt.

  47. 47.

    Josie

    Got my first Pfizer shot yesterday, thanks to some finagling by a relative connected to a hospital. I feel lucky but frustrated that, at 77, I should have to go outside state connections. Texas is such a crap shoot right now.

  49. 49.

    The Moar You Know

    also, Dr. Jill was never an escort!

    @Steve in the ATL:  TMI:  I had a girlfriend for two years, living together and the whole deal…who was an escort.  I got used to it very quickly.  It’s just another job.  I don’t have a problem with that as regards Melania.  Escorts can be wonderful and fascinating people.  Problem was, Melania is neither wonderful nor fascinating.

    I had a huge twofold problem with her; she had nothing but sneering contempt for the American people as a whole – that rankled.  And her only interest in life was extracting more money from anyone who would give it to her.  In that, she’s a perfect match for her husband, but it makes for a nasty, boring person.

  53. 53.

    NotMax

    @NotMax

    Which led down a rabbit hole to this from 2015.

    Cold Duck flew off the shelves in the 1970s and 80s for parties among the flares and fondues, afro wigs and cheese and pineapple on sticks.

    Jonathan Branton-Casey uncovered a bottle dating back to 1973 when he was looking for a Christmas tipple in his 88-year-old father’s Christmas cabinet in Blenheim.
    [snip]
    “I’m sure that aging it for 43 years will not have made it any more drinkable. From all accounts it was terrible when it was only weeks old let alone half a century.

    “It was bad from the moment it was bottled.

    “It’s a blast from the past. It was the height of civility to bring a bottle to a dinner party,” he said. Source

    Thing I do recall is it had a white plastic stopper instead of the usual cork, which one was loath to simply toss. “There’s got to be something we can use this for.”

    :)

  54. 54.

    laura

    @TaMara (HFG): well well, comes now Nikki Haley attempting to build herself a lifeboat and sail away from the trump stank. Burn that lifeboat and all the lifeboats. Everybody knows trump stank is forever

    Anyone else remember Ice cold beer makes you want to cheer. Ice cold duck makes you want to……  yeah, I don’t remember it either.

  56. 56.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @TaMara (HFG): Romneyan pundit (who’s presented as a political reporter by Politico) Tim Alberta has a puff-piece about Nikki today, I gather. I’ve long thought she and Christie were actually pulling off a strategy of close, but not too close, with trump. Seems like a near-death experience put Christie off (we’ll see), and Haley has figured out her chuckling “Give the guy a break!” of last week, as if trump were being criticized for a tan suit, may have been the wrong note to strike for people like Alberta, and the donor class that I suspect takes him quite seriously.

  58. 58.

    Miss Bianca

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: LOL, I was literally just saying to Pal D, “look, the Bidens’ dogs do that thing, too!” – the “no, me, no, MEEEE” thing when the older one is getting the pets and skritches and the younger one wants them ALL, NOW. Major is much better behaved about it than Watson, tho.

    (Could it *possibly* be that he’s better trained? Nah, that’s crazy talk!)//

  60. 60.

    Miss Bianca

    @NotMax: Oh, dear, I remember Cold Duck! What an awful name! And it probably was objectively awful, too, but it was the first “grown-up beverage” I was allowed to drink, under grown-up supervision, at holidays, so I probably remember it as being better than it actually was.

  63. 63.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @The Moar You Know: Yes on Moderna. I imagine at some point in the not so distant future, everyone will know which vaccine you got by what physical abnormality you exhibit. Moderna folks will have a baby arm growing out of their forehead. Pfizer will manifest as green alligator skin.

  65. 65.

    J.

    This post made my morning. Love Joe and Jill. Love the pig and the pups. And love that you were able to get both parents vaccine appointments. Woohoo!

  67. 67.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @WaterGirl: There is some concern they might inhibit the antibodies. If I remember correctly – there was a similar concern if you had Covid to not take nsaids. But I think they changed that recommendation.

  69. 69.

    Ken

    @Just Some Fuckhead: Moderna folks will have a baby arm growing out of their forehead. Pfizer will manifest as green alligator skin.

    Ah, hence the strong recommendation not to mix-and-match your two shots.

  70. 70.

    Elizabelle

    Love the video with Joe and Jill and Champ and [I’m here too!] Major.  Good to see loving and normal creatures on the White House lawn again.

    Now:  this LA Times link will take you to a photo essay about Surfing Goats.  Yes.  It is a thing.

    Photos: Surfing with goats at the San Clemente Pier

    It all started when longtime Pismo Beach surfer Dana McGregor would leave his pet goat, Goatee, at home when he would go surfing and she would cry all the time he was gone, much to the annoyance of his neighbors. So, he took her to the beach with him and taught her to surf and quickly became a tourist favorite.

    McGregor jokes that he is “The Goatfather” now and has turned his surfing goat hobby into a mission. He said he loves surfing, working with kids and his goats. His surfing goats are incorporated in his surfing camps, soccer camps, outdoor adventure trips and his Beautifully Abled Surf Camp, which helps special-needs kids.

    Pismo the Kid is an enthusiastic surfing goat. Grover, not so much. But he loves hanging out at the beach.

    surfinggoats.com

  72. 72.

    kindness

    Gung hay fat choy!  Anyone else here ever go to one of the Grateful Dead’s Chinese New Year shows?  Today is Chinese New Year.  The year of the Ox.  I know I have a shirt from a year of the Ox shows back in the 80’s in my closet.  Maybe I’ll wear it later today.  Anyway, those were always awesome shows.  I miss them but as with anything from our past am happy I got the opportunity to participate when I did.

    Bobby & The Wolf Bros are doing a livestream show tonight in homage to all the old Chinese New Years shows of the past.  I’m going to a friends house to watch it with them later tonight.

  74. 74.

    bluefoot

    I know it’s a low bar, but it’s nice to see normal people in the White House again. I didn’t vote for Biden in the primary, but damn, the man has really grown on me. He’s obviously learned over his career, and has obviously learned and grown since 2016. I know a lot of people a lot younger than Joe Biden who seem stuck in who they were 10 years ago. I love how he looks like just a normal guy, in his comfy jeans, out for a walk with his wife and dogs, taking a break from trying to make things better for all of us.

  75. 75.

    bluefoot

    @WaterGirl: ​
      NSAIDS can dampen your immune response. (That’s essentially what anti-inflammatory drugs do.) So for maximum efficacy, non-NSAIDs for symptom relief is better. Tylenol has a completely different mechanism of action. It’s also better not to take any pain killers prophylactically before getting the vaccine.

  77. 77.

    Steve in the ATL

    @NotMax: during our big school-wide party weekend in college, the fraternity next door had a champagne brunch on Sunday.  So we, in response, held a malt duck brunch.  Je ne regrette rien!

  80. 80.

    Lyrebird

    @Just Some Fuckhead: ​
     

    Good point, but I now live in not so magical NY, where the penalties against the trmps so-called charity have held them a little bit accountable, so I can hold out hope.

  87. 87.

    sab

    Champ is one old shepherd.

    Biden doesn’t need secret service with those boys. Notice how they cling to Dad?

  90. 90.

    JoyceH

    @zhena gogolia: ​
     

    I’m not one for fat-shaming, but his trim and energetic appearance is a relief.

    Oh, yay, it’s not just me. I feel like a hypocrite, because I’m substantially overweight myself. But it sure is nice.

  91. 91.

    df

    Ugh, my heart! Dr. Jill Biden is a national treasure. “So, it’s just a little joy. A little hope. That’s all.” It definitely worked.

  92. 92.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @Damned_at_Random: Yeah, I saw that too.  Sadly, he has noticeable trouble moving his back left leg. I had a Malamute mix who had to be put to sleep when his hips gave out so I, unfortunately, recognize the signs also.

  93. 93.

    J R in WV

    OK, I have gradually grown to distrust “The Hill” as a publication, and this headline closes them down for me:

    EPA’s plan to test
    for lead in schools will do
    more harm than good

    I’m not going to click on that story to read the flimsy reasoning behind it. There is no justification for not testing schools for lead, which is a deadly poison that affects the brain’s ability to learn and to reason.

    So Republicans would be hot to provide ample lead to kids everywhere, to keep party recruitment up.

    Just NO!!

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