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Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

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

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T R E 4 5 O N

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Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Let’s finish the job.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

He really is that stupid.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Infrastructure week. at last.

Second rate reporter says what?

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Tuesday Evening Open Thread: See You in Hell, Punk!

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: See You in Hell, Punk!

by Anne Laurie|  March 16, 20216:03 pm| 146 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, President Biden, Proud to Be A Democrat

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pic.twitter.com/q3O4D9URuY

— Classical Studies Memes for Hellenistic Teens (@CSMFHT) March 15, 2021


Gotta admit, this sounds a lot more like the Julius Caesar in the history books…

Entirely unrelated, probably:

*BIDEN TO HOLD HIS FIRST NEWS CONFERENCE ON MARCH 25

— Jordan Fabian (@Jordanfabian) March 16, 2021


Biden's new phrase: "Shots in arms and money in pockets."pic.twitter.com/lUDQctZHhr

— The Recount (@therecount) March 15, 2021

Finally: The federal government is set to launch a massive confidence-building campaign to encourage all Americans to get vaccinated against #Covid19, @levfacher reports. The previous administration's $300M effort never got off the ground. https://t.co/gObXGIGU6i

— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) March 15, 2021

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Previous Post: «Scientific Papers Are Hard To Read The Biden Doctrine
Next Post: Breaking: Mass Shooting in Atlanta. Alternate Title: Fuck Guns »

Reader Interactions

146Comments

  1. 1.

    raven

    March 16, 2021 at 6:05 pm

    Hi ya’ll

  2. 2.

    Starboard Tack

    March 16, 2021 at 6:07 pm

    Codens.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    March 16, 2021 at 6:07 pm

    @raven: Yo.

  4. 4.

    LurkerNoLonger

    March 16, 2021 at 6:08 pm

    Thirst!

    Firth!

  5. 5.

    Baud

    March 16, 2021 at 6:09 pm

    Biden’s new phrase: “Shots in arms and money in pockets.

    And chicks for free!

  6. 6.

    piratedan

    March 16, 2021 at 6:10 pm

    so when they mean there was 300M spent/allocated on promoting the vaccination program done by the 45 administration, that implies that 299M+ went into the pockets of the Trump family, right?

  7. 7.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    March 16, 2021 at 6:11 pm

    RIP Lt. Al Giardello

  8. 8.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 16, 2021 at 6:12 pm

    @Baud: Taco trucks on every corner or GTFO!

  9. 9.

    Danielx

    March 16, 2021 at 6:12 pm

    @raven:

    Dude.

  10. 10.

    different-church-lady

    March 16, 2021 at 6:13 pm

    FIRST QUESTION: “Why haven’t you held a press conference before now?”

    BIDEN: “I’ve been busy, in case you haven’t noticed.”

  11. 11.

    Ruckus

    March 16, 2021 at 6:13 pm

    Previous malmisadmiistration’s $300M program? Is that how much we were supposed to pay shitforbrains to do anything for us about Covid? A finders fee as it were?

  12. 12.

    zhena gogolia

    March 16, 2021 at 6:14 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: 
    I saw that. Such a great actor.

  13. 13.

    Starboard Tack

    March 16, 2021 at 6:15 pm

    March 25th. Prepare for nine days of nattering,

  14. 14.

    Ruckus

    March 16, 2021 at 6:15 pm

    @piratedan:

    Great minds think alike!

  15. 15.

    trollhattan

    March 16, 2021 at 6:16 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: 
    Amazing character in a show packed with amazing characters.

  16. 16.

    different-church-lady

    March 16, 2021 at 6:16 pm

    Today I found a web comic that was written about Jen Psaki in 2015.

  17. 17.

    mali muso

    March 16, 2021 at 6:19 pm

    And a chicken in every pot!

  18. 18.

    Nicole

    March 16, 2021 at 6:20 pm

    Anne Laurie, that clipping is the best thing I’ll read all day.

    My late father was very fond of telling me the old (terrible) joke, “Et tu, Brute?” “Nope, I ain’t et nuthin’ yet.”  I think he started telling me that joke when I was five, and had no idea who Julius Caesar was (or what Latin was, for that matter).  I’m sorry he’s not still here to share this bit of trivia about Caesar’s final words with; he’d have loved it.

  19. 19.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    March 16, 2021 at 6:22 pm

    If the Democrats have a hope in hell they have to be the square party now. Money in your pocket, the rule of law, a normal life.— Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) January 2, 2021

    Tricky Dick was a terrible person, but always sharp on politics.

  20. 20.

    TomatoQueen

    March 16, 2021 at 6:22 pm

    @different-church-lady: ​
      it certainly was.

  21. 21.

    Emma

    March 16, 2021 at 6:24 pm

    I like that one of the replies to the “Et tu, Brute” thread explained that kai su / et tu was used as a curse to reflect whatever the perpetrator did back to themselves. So really, considering Brutus’ end, Caesar’s curse worked. Makes me wish my Latin teachers spent less time on Cicero and more time on curses. My own pet translation before reading this was that “et” was often short for “etiam,” which is “even,” and I liked “Even you, Brutus,” better than “You too, Brutus?” (or much worse, “And you, Brutus?” Bleh, how does that even make sense in context.) But the curse is my new fave, that’s perfect for Mr. “I will hunt down your ship and crucify you all!!!1!1”

  22. 22.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    March 16, 2021 at 6:34 pm

    “Who’ll give me a hand up?” Psaki roared.

    Not a creature among us moved. Growling the foulest curses, Psaki crawled along the stage till she got hold of the podium and could hoist herself again upon her sword. Then she spat into the crowd.

    “There!” she cried. “That’s what I think of ye. Before an hour’s out, I’ll stove in your old block house like a rum puncheon.

    Laugh, by thunder, laugh!

    Before an hour’s out, ye’ll laugh upon the other side.

    Thems dat die’ll be the lucky ones.”

    Boy, Jen Psaki’s press conferences are really intense.

  23. 23.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 16, 2021 at 6:38 pm

    @mali muso: And a spooky skeleton in every body!

  24. 24.

    lurker

    March 16, 2021 at 6:43 pm

    @Baud: you’re trying to raise chickens? ‘cuz i’m not sure that mark knopfler guy is the right one to ask about farming…

  25. 25.

    Frank Wilhoit

    March 16, 2021 at 6:44 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Assumes total absence of sabotage.

  26. 26.

    kindness

    March 16, 2021 at 6:46 pm

    Biden will have his press conference and the usual MSM sources will still bitch about him.

    That the template returned so quickly to the old standard after 4 years of Trump hell just makes me think even less of our MSM betters…..as if that were a possible thing.

  27. 27.

    Another Scott

    March 16, 2021 at 6:47 pm

    @LurkerNoLonger: Does anybody really know what time it is the number??

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  28. 28.

    Cameron

    March 16, 2021 at 6:49 pm

    @Another Scott: Kenneth, what is the frequency?

  29. 29.

    Another Scott

    March 16, 2021 at 6:50 pm

    @different-church-lady: !!

    Malki! is great.

    Cheers,
    Scott

  30. 30.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    March 16, 2021 at 6:51 pm

    look on the bright side:  Biden’s presidency is really unlikely to be the inspiration for updated productions of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/theater/julius-caesar-shakespeare-donald-trump.html

  31. 31.

    Feathers

    March 16, 2021 at 6:52 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: A great Yaphet Kotto anecdote from David Simon: https://twitter.com/AoDespair/status/1371837558989148169?s=20

  32. 32.

    raven

    March 16, 2021 at 6:52 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: He was badass in Blue Collar

  33. 33.

    Phylllis

    March 16, 2021 at 6:53 pm

    Apropos of nothing, I fixed our St. Paddy’s day dinner today since I was working from home. Corned beef, slow-cooked in the dutch oven, then glazed with local mustard bbq sauce. Just enough left for hubby to have a sammich for his lunch tomorrow.

  34. 34.

    Keith P.

    March 16, 2021 at 6:53 pm

    @kindness: “When does President Biden plan on designing his own Air Force One paint job, as President Trump did?”

  35. 35.

    Jeffro

    March 16, 2021 at 6:53 pm

    @kindness: it is amazing…four straight years of non-stop golfing, lying, offending our allies and embracing our enemies, griftinggriftinggrifting, and more lying, and the DC snooze media is right back at it with the false equivalencies and GQP framing in under 2 months.

    Ah well.  It would explain why in addition to everything else, the Dems are pressing hard on the Jan 6th insurrection, voting rights, Kavanaugh, and an infrastructure bill.  Not only are they important for the nation…we have to keep our country’s snooze media busy or else they just default to their usual stupid stuff.

  36. 36.

    NotMax

    March 16, 2021 at 6:54 pm

    Caesarian selection.

    Also too, Yes, It’s True: “My Darling Clementine” and the “Ode to Joy” Use the Same Meter as a Song Sung at Julius Caesar’s Triumph in 45 B.C.

    ;)

  37. 37.

    M31

    March 16, 2021 at 6:56 pm

    Shots in arms, money in your pocket, trumpers in jail, oh yeah.

  38. 38.

    Baud

    March 16, 2021 at 6:58 pm

    @kindness:

    “Mr. Biden, Mr. Biden, do you think Americans should be concerned that you haven’t played gold yet?”

  39. 39.

    lollipopguild

    March 16, 2021 at 6:58 pm

    @piratedan: I was going to ask which family member got the $300 million but you beat me to it.

  40. 40.

    M31

    March 16, 2021 at 6:59 pm

    (today’s haiku)

    shot goes in your arm

    money goes in your pocket

    Joe gettin’ it done

  41. 41.

    zhena gogolia

    March 16, 2021 at 7:00 pm

    @Feathers:

    Wonderful.

  42. 42.

    Elizabelle

    March 16, 2021 at 7:04 pm

    Andy Borowitz, satirist in The New Yorker:

    Obama Persuades Republicans to Take Vaccine by Urging Them Not To

    WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In an effort to overcome the nagging problem of vaccine hesitancy among Republicans, former President Barack Obama is appearing in a new video urging them not to take the coronavirus vaccine.

    In the public-service announcement, Obama looks directly into the camera and says, “I’m speaking today to Republicans across the country. I know we’ve had our differences in the past, but now I’m reaching out to ask you for a special favor: to not take the vaccine. It would mean a lot to me and make me very happy.”

    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, since the Obama spot started airing, on Monday, requests for vaccines from members of the G.O.P. have skyrocketed, with Republicans reportedly lining up around the block at some vaccination sites.

    … Speaking to reporters, Obama said that he was “pleased” that his targeted message to Republicans appeared to be having the desired impact. “Looks like I’ve still got it,” he said.

  43. 43.

    jnfr

    March 16, 2021 at 7:05 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I live on a corner. Still no taco truck.

  44. 44.

    Baud

    March 16, 2021 at 7:14 pm

    @jnfr: You should move.

  45. 45.

    lurker

    March 16, 2021 at 7:17 pm

    @jnfr:

     

    @Baud:

    especially because most accidents happen close to home.  helps if you move …

  46. 46.

    different-church-lady

    March 16, 2021 at 7:18 pm

    @Elizabelle: The better strategy would be to convince republican men that blacks get the most benefit when whites reject the vaccine.​

  47. 47.

    NotMax

    March 16, 2021 at 7:19 pm

    Open thread? Bit of dialogue (paraphrased from memory) in a recently viewed WW1 movie which stuck with me.

    Scene: the subterranean warrens burrowed in the British trenches.

    Commanding officer: “What can we expect this evening?”

    Cook: “Cutlets, sir.”

    Commanding officer: “Really? Cutlets?”

    Cook: “Yes, sir. Meat cutlets, sir.’

    Commanding officer: “What kind of meat?”

    Cook: “I wouldn’t delve too deeply into that if I were you, sir.”

  48. 48.

    KrackenJack

    March 16, 2021 at 7:19 pm

    Got the Moderna jab 1 this afternoon at Safeway. I got the email with a registration link the evening before.

    Really badly managed. Spent an hour and a half in line standing inside the store. I don’t they administered more than 20 shots in that time. I had to ask several staffers to get a chair for the guy in front of me. He was looking really unsteady. One person working the line and giving out consent forms that duplicated everything entered on line. Another person giving shots and he was checking insurance cards and filling out the CDC cards, too. Two chairs in the waiting room for people who have gotten their shots to cool off for 15 minutes. I bailed on that.

    The poor execution sucked a lot of the joy out of the moment. Plus I couldn’t schedule shot #2 in less 4 weeks. Still happy to be on the way.

  49. 49.

    Ken

    March 16, 2021 at 7:21 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    FIRST QUESTION: “Why haven’t you held a press conference before now?”

    BIDEN: “I’ve been busy, in case you haven’t noticed.”

    Since we’re quoting from the classics, I suggest Augustine’s “Creating Hell for people who ask questions like that.”

  50. 50.

    Roger Moore

    March 16, 2021 at 7:22 pm

    @Chacal Charles Calthrop: ​
     

    look on the bright side: Biden’s presidency is really unlikely to be the inspiration for updated productions of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

    Somebody will always use the current person in charge as the inspiration for one of Shakespeare’s plays. Maybe it won’t be Caesar, but it will be something. It doesn’t have to make sense; they’ll just do it because the person currently in charge is always a big target.

  51. 51.

    germy

    March 16, 2021 at 7:24 pm

    @NotMax:   “I wouldn’t delve too deeply into that if I were you, sir.”

    Remember the diner scene from that old W.C. Fields movie?  His dialog with the waitress:

    “I didn’t squawk about the steak dear. I merely said that I didn’t see that old horse that used to be tethered outside here”

  52. 52.

    Just One More Canuck

    March 16, 2021 at 7:25 pm

    @different-church-lady: that’s so spot on

  53. 53.

    JMG

    March 16, 2021 at 7:27 pm

    “This steak still has marks where the jockey hit it” — Rodney Dangerfield in “Caddyshack.”

  54. 54.

    germy

    March 16, 2021 at 7:28 pm

    MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says he hasn’t been to his Minnesota home for 2 months over safety concerns, instead moves between ‘undisclosed locations’ https://t.co/Wdr1S2JuBc

    — Jacob Shamsian (@JayShams) March 16, 2021

    He’s avoiding the summons.

  55. 55.

    germy

    March 16, 2021 at 7:29 pm

    this dog literally failed every single test thrown at him to become a service dog and i am scream laughing. but imho he’s still a very very good boy. pic.twitter.com/fGdiUbmw5o

    — kim (@KimmyMonte) February 25, 2020

  56. 56.

    NotMax

    March 16, 2021 at 7:29 pm

    @germy

    Still surprising the powers that be at the time let a subsequent line in that scene referring to her, um, ample posterior slip by.

    :)

  57. 57.

    Another Scott

    March 16, 2021 at 7:30 pm

    @Ken: Wikipedia – “A 1970 Dear Abby column in The Milwaukee Sentinel said: “There is no such thing as a stupid question if it’s sincere. Better to ask and risk appearing stupid than to continue on your ignorant way and make a stupid mistake.”

    Emphasis added.

    I think Joe knows what to do if the question is in bad faith.

    It might be entertaining. ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  58. 58.

    Baud

    March 16, 2021 at 7:32 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Joe will handle the vapidity well.

  59. 59.

    germy

    March 16, 2021 at 7:33 pm

    @NotMax:

    By the way, the actress playing the waitress was an interesting and brave woman.  She stood up to the McCarthy people during the witch hunts of the ’50s.

  60. 60.

    Ken

    March 16, 2021 at 7:34 pm

    @NotMax: One of Pratchett’s Discworld novels had a food stall with menu:

    Rice……………………………….1 p
    Rice with meat………………2 p
    Rice with named meat….5 p

  61. 61.

    NotMax

    March 16, 2021 at 7:36 pm

    @Baud

    “Word is you had the diet Coke button removed. Why do you hate the great American Coca-Cola Company?”

    //

  62. 62.

    rikyrah

    March 16, 2021 at 7:36 pm

    @raven:

    Hey raven?

  63. 63.

    rikyrah

    March 16, 2021 at 7:36 pm

    @Baud: ???

  64. 64.

    rikyrah

    March 16, 2021 at 7:37 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    RIP ??

    Loved him

  65. 65.

    Dan B

    March 16, 2021 at 7:37 pm

    @KrackenJack: Sorry Safeway was a faster luck.  I had problems with Kaiser but once I found the unsigned street to the state headquarters (grrrrr!) the line moved until it got so busy they had to stop for ten minutes.  Otherwise it was efficient and had the best shot giver, almost no sensation.

    There’s a new site at the convention area by the stadiums that will be ramping up to 22,000 vaccinations a day.  Go Seattle!

    And stay away scary variants!!!

  66. 66.

    germy

    March 16, 2021 at 7:38 pm

    LEAKED RECORDINGS: Audio tapes of internal Parler meetings reveal conservative donor Rebekah Mercer is writing “big checks” to bring the site back online. https://t.co/TKOqoIJBBq

    — William Turton (@WilliamTurton) March 16, 2021

  67. 67.

    Elizabelle

    March 16, 2021 at 7:41 pm

    I saw Yaphet Kotto 1.5 times in “Fences” at the Arena Stage in Washington, DC.

    Yes, I was there the night he headed to his dressing room at intermission and … never came back out.  After a long delay, the understudy emerged and finished the play; received tumultuous applause.  Because:  would you want to follow Mr. Kotto?  On the same evening??

    I don’t recall what was Kotto’s beef, but he stayed gone.

  68. 68.

    KrackenJack

    March 16, 2021 at 7:44 pm

    @Dan B: I miss Kaiser. They used to hound me to get my flu shot, but their vaccination clinics were a well oiled machine. I think Safeway was just getting ramped-up and they’ll learn.

    No side effects, so far.

  69. 69.

    Mike in NC

    March 16, 2021 at 7:48 pm

    @germy:  But at each ‘undisclosed location’ he gets to sleep on one of his crappy pillows.

  70. 70.

    germy

    March 16, 2021 at 7:49 pm

    @Elizabelle: I don’t recall what was Kotto’s beef, but he stayed gone.

    Maybe he was ill that evening?

    I admit I was surprised when I learned of his passing, because for some reason I thought he’d died of a heart attack twenty years ago.  I don’t know why that happens to me sometimes.  I’ll think a particular celebrity is dead when they’re not.

    I have a memory of reading about the cast of Blue Collar a long time ago, and he was the one I thought had passed. So I guess it was a different actor.

  71. 71.

    Baud

    March 16, 2021 at 7:49 pm

    FWIW

    Trump encourages Americans to get the Covid vaccine

  72. 72.

    Dan B

    March 16, 2021 at 7:53 pm

    @KrackenJack: Kaiser in WA seems to be turning a bit petty rule following.  It may be just my experience but they took over Group Health.  That operation was more easygoing.

    Their website is being revamped and they seem to have a team that doesn’t pay attention to member experience.  Sigh.

    Safeway here has a unique method of making sure you spend 20 minutes in line no matter how few people are in the store.  Not a place for administering vaccines.

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    March 16, 2021 at 7:54 pm

    @Elizabelle

    Theatre memory. Saw Pearl Bailey in Hello, Dolly! at the Kennedy Center.

    For the scene at the Harmonium Gardens there was some problem with the elevator to bring her up behind the grand staircase and she missed her entrance cue. By a lot. Spontaneous applause when she eventually did appear at the top of the stairs.

    At which point she gestured to shush the audience, came down the staircase and announced with a broad smile that they were damn well going to start over and this time get it right. Which is what transpired.

    :)

  74. 74.

    debbie

    March 16, 2021 at 7:55 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    A brilliant actor.  ?

  75. 75.

    Baud

    March 16, 2021 at 7:55 pm

    Bob Menendez calls Ron Johnson ‘racist‘ on Senate floor over Capitol riot remarks

    The worst Democrat is still better than the best Republican.

  76. 76.

    The Moar You Know

    March 16, 2021 at 7:58 pm

    I miss Kaiser. They used to hound me to get my flu shot, but their vaccination clinics were a well oiled machine. 

    @KrackenJack:  I don’t miss Kaiser – their last act was to leave me with a raging case of c.diff – but agree on their vaccination.  Last time we had a pertussis outbreak here in SoCal, you got a shot when you walked in the door and you didn’t get a choice; you got it or they would turn your ass around and send you home.

  77. 77.

    Baud

    March 16, 2021 at 8:01 pm

    Harry Reid says Al Franken is talking to Joe Manchin about reforming the filibuster.

  78. 78.

    Elizabelle

    March 16, 2021 at 8:04 pm

    @germy:

    I thought he’d died of a heart attack twenty years ago.  I don’t know why that happens to me sometimes.  I’ll think a particular celebrity is dead when they’re not.

    There should be a word for that.  It happens to me, too.  It’s like:  “how sad can I be?  I thought this person was already pushing up daisies.”

    @NotMax:   I can see Miss Bailey doing that, and getting away with it too.  If Pearl is not happy ….

  79. 79.

    NotMax

    March 16, 2021 at 8:05 pm

    @Baud

    Gotta be a tie-in with Kevin Bacon, however tenuous, in there somewhere.

    :)

  80. 80.

    NotMax

    March 16, 2021 at 8:12 pm

    @Elizabelle

    All I could afford were SRO tickets, and didn’t regret for a second staying upright for the entire thing. Nor for the nearly an hour after the play when she and co-star Billy Daniels came out and sang a concert’s worth of songs as an unexpected dessert.

  81. 81.

    There go two miscreants

    March 16, 2021 at 8:12 pm

    @different-church-lady: ​Thank you for reminding me of Wondermark! I used to read it fairly regularly but fell out of the habit. It is really funny (in a warped kind of way)!

  82. 82.

    geg6

    March 16, 2021 at 8:13 pm

    @Baud:

    I love that so much.

  83. 83.

    Elizabelle

    March 16, 2021 at 8:16 pm

    @germy:   Moar of that pupper.  Another youtube video.  With music.

    Major is taking notes.

  84. 84.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 16, 2021 at 8:24 pm

    Broke ground on a novella tonight. Gotta keep myself busy somehow in between novel drafts!

  85. 85.

    Jeffro

    March 16, 2021 at 8:32 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: you writing people are making me think that writing a book is, like, hard or something.  ;)

  86. 86.

    Frank Wilhoit

    March 16, 2021 at 8:35 pm

    1. @NotMax: Verse meter, NOT musical meter!!
  87. 87.

    The Moar You Know

    March 16, 2021 at 8:35 pm

    Moar of that pupper. Another youtube video. With music.

    @Elizabelle:  I watched a lot of his videos. Not ever going to be a service dog because he’s far too energetic, but damn, he is smart and when he learns something it stays learned. Super high energy. I’d put him in rally training or police K9 training – or maybe both. You’d really need at least one and ideally two very physically fit people working with him all the time or he will get real destructive. A hard dog to place, but totally worth the time you put into training him.

  88. 88.

    gwangung

    March 16, 2021 at 8:35 pm

    @Jeffro: It’s not the writing….it’s making it GOOD.

  89. 89.

    jl

    March 16, 2021 at 8:40 pm

    @kindness: Even money that a good chunk of the press conference will be questions about why Biden didn’t hold a press conference until he did. Then a few days worth of pundits yammering that Biden couldn’t quash the press conference scandal.

    And then there is then 90 min trip to his home in Delaware on a few weekends.

    An administration staggering under an avalanche of scandals! What will Manchin say? Should Biden resign?

  90. 90.

    Kathleen

    March 16, 2021 at 8:40 pm

    I’ve proposed on Twitter that we crowd source stupid press conference questions and fake scandals until the Mewling Media regain its bearings.

  91. 91.

    jl

    March 16, 2021 at 8:42 pm

    @Baud: ‘Money in pockets’ is a secret message for Big Lotto. Yet another scandal.

    Biden better release some BidenGaffes during his presser to put all these scandals to rest.

  92. 92.

    Jeffro

    March 16, 2021 at 8:43 pm

    @gwangung: I have heard that!  ;)

  93. 93.

    NotMax

    March 16, 2021 at 8:44 pm

    @jl

    Presscongate!

    //

  94. 94.

    Timurid

    March 16, 2021 at 9:00 pm

    Mass shooting in Atlanta… I guess nature is healing.

  95. 95.

    zhena gogolia

    March 16, 2021 at 9:00 pm

    The Mitch McConnell part is hilarious.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6TUv3diZEU

  96. 96.

    StringOnAStick

    March 16, 2021 at 9:01 pm

    Is anyone going to front page McTurtle’s threats about if we eliminating the filibuster today?

  97. 97.

    Baud

    March 16, 2021 at 9:09 pm

    @StringOnAStick:

    I’m sure Anne Laurie is compiling the tweets mocking him as we speak.

  98. 98.

    jl

    March 16, 2021 at 9:13 pm

    @Baud: ” I’m sure Anne Laurie is compiling the tweets mocking him as we speak. ”

    McConnell has a point. If they get rid of the filibuster, the most important legislation in the Senate will grind to a halt!

  99. 99.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 16, 2021 at 9:14 pm

    Eight dead in three Atlanta shootings. Asian-American-owned massage parlours seem to have been the targets. Suspect in custody. Hate crime against Asians?

    ETA: Sorry, @Timurid. Posted before I saw your comment at #94.

  100. 100.

    Baud

    March 16, 2021 at 9:15 pm

    @jl:

    Schumer can keep them there 24/7 if he needs to.  That’s the power of the majority.  I hope our voters never want to give it up.

  101. 101.

    Geoduck

    March 16, 2021 at 9:15 pm

    @germy: “Well, scratch #24. He did pretty good though – right up to the jet engine test.”

  102. 102.

    gwangung

    March 16, 2021 at 9:16 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: First thing on my mind.

    Been a wave of beatings and attacks, mostly on Asian elderly (at least one death).

    Very concerning if it graduates to guns.

  103. 103.

    Baud

    March 16, 2021 at 9:16 pm

    Biden says he supports bringing back the Senate’s talking filibuster rule

  104. 104.

    Elizabelle

    March 16, 2021 at 9:20 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:   Photo was a 21-year old white male, with a reddish beard under his chin, and an archery-related hat.

    Le sigh.  A counterpoint to Dylan Roof, maybe.

    I was watching MSNBC, but Rachel repelled me — yet again — by all the verbiage around some insurrectionist yahoo being released by a judge.  Repetitive, repetitive.  Closed the tab.  She may be “brilliant”, but I think the woman has some cognitive processing disorder. Too many words.  We’re not that stupid.

  105. 105.

    jl

    March 16, 2021 at 9:21 pm

    @Baud: I think a good idea to go back to a talking filibuster, with some strong rules for staying on topic. That would allow for various votes whenever some starts reading the phone book, or given current GOP obsessions, the Cat in the Hat. Also, might get actual legislative activity on the corporate media and maybe even policy discussed.

    If that doesn’t work, then abolish it

  106. 106.

    Baud

    March 16, 2021 at 9:22 pm

    @jl:

    I think for political reasons, Biden supports what Manchin supports.  He’s trying to keep Manchin in the tent.

  107. 107.

    different-church-lady

    March 16, 2021 at 9:23 pm

    Gonna be interesting to see republican men now have to choose between their fervent belief they should reject the vaccine and their fervent support of Trump.

  108. 108.

    raven

    March 16, 2021 at 9:23 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: They got at least one 120 miles south of Atlanta.

  109. 109.

    jl

    March 16, 2021 at 9:23 pm

    @Baud: If we had a strong Baudist caucus in the Senate, the shocking spectacle of Senators searching their pockets for random small change, candy bars, and lotto tickets for bribes on the floor would shock the nation’s conscience. Will spur a great public outcry for some strong reform bills.

  110. 110.

    jl

    March 16, 2021 at 9:25 pm

    @Baud: If we can get some good news clips out of an especially ludicrous talking filibuster, I think it’s worth a try.

  111. 111.

    Baud

    March 16, 2021 at 9:25 pm

    @jl:

    I would implement the naked talking filibuster.

  112. 112.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 16, 2021 at 9:27 pm

    @raven:

    Part of today’s (presumed) spree, or unrelated?

  113. 113.

    Mike in NC

    March 16, 2021 at 9:27 pm

    Forgot to record it tonight, but you can stream the PBS Frontline documentary called “Trump’s American Carnage”. Well worth watching about the opposition and their God-Emperor.

  114. 114.

    cintibud

    March 16, 2021 at 9:28 pm

    @Baud: Why do you hate America?

  115. 115.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    March 16, 2021 at 9:28 pm

    @Baud: GOOD. Make that Droopy Dawg-looking mfer McConnell drag his decrepit ass down to the Senate floor and TALK AND STAND till he can’t go anymore.

  116. 116.

    raven

    March 16, 2021 at 9:32 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: The shooter in at least one, Robert Aaron

  117. 117.

    hitchhiker

    March 16, 2021 at 9:34 pm

    For the last two days I keep seeing people tweeting that Frank Luntz focus group of trump supporters as they question a doctor and work through their reasons for hesitating to take the vaccine.

    And I know I’m supposed to be glad when almost all of them indicate at the end that they’re now more open to the idea.

    But I’m not glad. I’m disgusted at the notion that we must all hold their hands and pat them on the head like toddlers who aren’t quite capable of using their words. I loathe trump voters. I don’t want to watch while they struggle with basic information-processing.

    I just despise them all so much, which I know is unhealthy and absurd, but honestly my gut reaction when I see one of them being quoted or interviewed is disgust.

  118. 118.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 16, 2021 at 9:35 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    I know Rachel annoys a lot of people, but I like her and don’t generally mind the over-explaining. On numerous occasions, in fact, I’ve been less than knowledgeable about the subject and have been grateful for her context and basic information. I figure during the times I’m bored and impatient with her, there are other viewers who are being educated.

  119. 119.

    jl

    March 16, 2021 at 9:35 pm

    @cintibud: It would get the avalanche of Biden media scandals out of the headlines. Great job creation program of video pixilation industry, maybe AI pixilation breakthroughs.

  120. 120.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 16, 2021 at 9:37 pm

    @raven:

    Oh right, thanks, I saw he was picked up down in Crisp County. I thought you meant there was an Asian shooting incident 150 miles south.

  121. 121.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 16, 2021 at 9:38 pm

    @Elizabelle: Then don’t watch her.

  122. 122.

    raven

    March 16, 2021 at 9:39 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: It looks like the first were in Acworth and then Atlanta so I think that increases the chances it is the same guy.

  123. 123.

    jl

    March 16, 2021 at 9:39 pm

    @hitchhiker: I’m very glad that after extensive handholding they’re open to the idea of vaccination. If we don’t have solid and stable herd immunity because of lower than expected uptake, we’ll have to put with continuing semi-emergency covid control BS. We need that done with.

    We need to turn covid into standard SOP public health outbreak control routine asap, like measles.

  124. 124.

    raven

    March 16, 2021 at 9:42 pm

    @jl: Our long lost fisherman buddy wrote this “As a public health measure, include in HR1, after, naturally, dispensing with the idiocy of the filibuster, that you can’t vote w/o a vax.”

  125. 125.

    cain

    March 16, 2021 at 9:44 pm

    @Elizabelle: ​
     
    She does it to build a story and then they sell you ads. It’s the shtick.

  126. 126.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 16, 2021 at 9:44 pm

    @raven:

    Probably. I’m glad he got picked up instead of opting for Suicide by Cop. And I hope there are lots of Asians on his murder trial jury.

  127. 127.

    cain

    March 16, 2021 at 9:46 pm

    @jl: ​
     

    current GOP obsessions, the Cat in the Hat

    Oh man, they should – because it would be comedic gold. The attack ads would be awesome.

    Announcer: “And what did Senator do as the representative of our great state? Was he looking out for us?”

    Senator Doofus: “No! Sam I am, I will not have green eggs and ham, not with a Trump. Not with McConnell. No. No, I will not have green eggs and ham.”

  128. 128.

    Another Scott

    March 16, 2021 at 9:48 pm

    @hitchhiker:  “Where you stand depends on where you sit.”

    They’re immersed in disinformation.

    I blame Murdoch and talk radio and all of the people who have been and are profiting from all of the lies. Average Joes and Janes shouldn’t need to spend time trying to figure out if they’re being lied to by the mass media. I don’t know how to fix it, but the FCC should come down hard on a lot of these operators (even cable uses the public airwaves (microwave and satellite bands)):

    In exchange for obtaining a valuable license to operate a broadcast station using the public airwaves, each radio and television licensee is required by law to operate its station in the “public interest, convenience and necessity.” Generally, this means it must air programming that is responsive to the needs and problems of its local community of license. To do this, each non-exempt station licensee must identify the needs and problems and then specifically treat these local matters in the news, public affairs, political and other programming that it airs.

    The FCC has power to make things better. They should use it.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  129. 129.

    KrackenJack

    March 16, 2021 at 9:48 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Now that just showing off. I have to go lie down between emails.

  130. 130.

    cain

    March 16, 2021 at 9:49 pm

    @Baud: ​
    I would implement the naked talking filibuster.

     

    I’m not interested in seeing Grassley’s naked body. But the attack ads write themselves:

    Announcer: “And what did Grassley do while at the Capitol? Was he working for us?”

    Naked Grassley: “No! I will not eat Green Eggs and Ham…”

  131. 131.

    Miss Bianca

    March 16, 2021 at 9:49 pm

    @NotMax: Without looking, I’m going to venture a guess it starts like this: – Ecce Caesar, nunc triumphant, qui subegit Galliam…

    Why yes, I did take Latin in school, how’d you guess?

    ETA: OK, almost right. It’s only been 45 years, after all…

  132. 132.

    Elizabelle

    March 16, 2021 at 9:54 pm

    Asians, yes, but with at least half the dead reported to be women — I don’t know the exact breakdown — this gives off vibes of that weirdo man who shot up women at an exercise studio maybe 10 years ago.  Another mass murder.

    Racial crime and possible incel involved.  Fusion.  Yuck.

  133. 133.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 16, 2021 at 9:59 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Hate is hate, whether aimed at Asians, women, or Asian women. Perhaps some motives will emerge as he is questioned.

  134. 134.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 16, 2021 at 10:00 pm

    This kind of sucks if true:

    $1,400 Stimulus Checks Could Be Seized By Debt Collectors

    The first batch of $1,400 stimulus check payments have started to arrive in the bank accounts of millions of Americans. The payments were included as part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed by the Democratic House and Senate last week and signed into law by President Biden. No Republican voted for the legislation, which meant that Democrats had to resort to a budgetary maneuver known as reconciliation to pass it.

    While this rule-making process allowed Democrats to pass the stimulus package with a simple majority vote, it also constrained their agenda. Specifically, reconciliation prevented Congress from including a provision to protect stimulus checks from being seized by private debt collectors. The result could be disastrous for millions of Americans and disproportionately for Americans of color who are relying on the payments as a financial lifeline.

    Wyden is introducing stand-alone legislation to shield stimulus payments from private third party creditors, however, it’s unclear if it would pass in this Congress with the filibuster, even though such provisions had bipartisan support before

  135. 135.

    KrackenJack

    March 16, 2021 at 10:00 pm

    @Baud:

    Would they also have to wield the talking stick – which happens to have a mop head – perchance?

  136. 136.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    March 16, 2021 at 10:04 pm

    @hitchhiker: Welcome, and come sit six feet from me.

  137. 137.

    jl

    March 16, 2021 at 10:08 pm

    @KrackenJack: Naked karaoke filibuster! I’m filing for a patent. Senate will come begging me for a license.

  138. 138.

    MisterForkbeard

    March 16, 2021 at 10:09 pm

    Biden’s in for the filibuster changes:

     

    https://www.npr.org/2021/03/16/978018267/biden-supports-changes-to-filibuster-returning-it-to-what-it-used-to-be

  139. 139.

    dnfree

    March 16, 2021 at 10:19 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: just going by appearance, who knows if the Atlanta shooter is competent to stand trial?

  140. 140.

    stinger

    March 16, 2021 at 10:22 pm

    @Elizabelle: I’ve read that her style is targeted to an audience of pink-collar workers, care givers, and other viewers who may not be sitting staring at the screen for any length of time, but instead may have to jump in and out of paying attention.

    One summer, many years ago, I watched a soap opera (The Young and the Restless) and could hardly stand the repetition from day to day. I thought I could watch once a week and still keep up with the various plotlines. In fact, that was the intent.

    Maddow isn’t targeting the politically informed but rather folks who don’t have the background and can benefit from repetition, especially if they’re called away from the TV for a time in the middle of her show. Anecdotally, I understand that a lot of viewers appreciate it and feel better informed.

  141. 141.

    NotMax

    March 16, 2021 at 10:25 pm

    @hitchhiker

    I don’t want to watch while they struggle with basic information-processing.

    Watching not mandatory. But anything, however elementary, however drawn out, which as an end causes them to wobble on or serves to jostle them off the tuffet of delusional ignorance upon which they are perched is welcome.

    Baby steps are still steps.

  142. 142.

    stinger

    March 16, 2021 at 10:26 pm

    @Elizabelle: And the guy 20 years ago who shot several women at a (?Canadian?) university because women had received fellowships or the like and he hadn’t. Some women, not necessarily the women he killed. He blamed “women”.

  143. 143.

    Another Scott

    March 16, 2021 at 10:41 pm

    If, like me, you weren’t aware of Vanita Gupta’s history with John Cornyn, you will get an eye-full from the latest piece by Nancy LeTourneau at her blog.

    Even if you are aware, click over. It’s a good read and worth getting out of the boat for a few minutes.

    Tuesday, March 16, 2021
    Who Is the ‘Radical Partisan Culture Warrior,’ John Cornyn or Vanita Gupta?

    [ image ]
    Texas Attorney General John Cornyn awards ‘Lawman of the Year’ to Tom Coleman in 1999

    In July 2002, Bob Herbert told the story of what had happened in Tulia, Texas.

    […]

    We must stand up for good people and not let the monsters win.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  144. 144.

    KrackenJack

    March 16, 2021 at 10:55 pm

    @jl: The market is global! Think of the all the aspiring Greatest Deliberative Bodies! I’ll be the Philo Farnsworth of legislative innovation.

  145. 145.

    hitchhiker

    March 16, 2021 at 11:01 pm

    @NotMax:

    I understand that.

    I object to the idea, though, that adults who have caused so much damage need to be coddled.

    I’m old, so I’ve done a shit ton of stupid stuff in my life — sometimes even out of being ignorant and stuck, as these people clearly are.

    But if my stupidity has been causing harm, and I come to understand that, then it’s on me to freaking own it. To say, clearly, “Damn, what a schmuck I’ve been. I’m sorry. Let me help make it right.”

    Yeah, they’ve been relentlessly lied to, and they ought to be angry about that. Instead there seems to be a patronizing expectation that we mustn’t ruffle their tiny feathers for fear they’ll hide their little heads under the sand again.

    These are adults. Refusing to get vaccinated in a pandemic is a lot like taking a dump in the community pool because someone persuaded you that there might be monsters in the restroom.

  146. 146.

    Another Scott

    March 16, 2021 at 11:22 pm

    The DC Circuit has decided now is the time for a font war. Nature is indeed healing.

    The DC Circuit has announced that it is officially anti-Garamond. pic.twitter.com/6B94IXWzCX

    — southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) March 17, 2021

    Listen to the John Mayer clip in the reply, also too.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

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