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You are here: Home / Politics / Politicans / NANCY SMASH! / Doing the Work Open Thread: Not *Officially* A State-of-the-Union Speech

Doing the Work Open Thread: Not *Officially* A State-of-the-Union Speech

by Anne Laurie|  April 14, 202111:11 am| 148 Comments

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

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NEWS: Speaker Pelosi has invited President Biden to address a Joint Session of Congress on Wednesday, April 28. https://t.co/RoH4rRH0G1

— Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) April 14, 2021

Per CBS:

President Biden on Tuesday night accepted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s invitation to address a joint session of Congress on April 28. The address is not an official State of the Union because a president’s first speech before Congress is not considered a State of the Union.

“Nearly 100 days ago, when you took the oath of office, you pledged in a spirit of great hope that ‘Help Is On The Way,'” Pelosi wrote in a letter to Mr. Biden. “Now, because of your historic and transformative leadership, Help Is Here!”…

Republicans will likely soon announce who will give their response…

Former President Trump’s final State of the Union in January 2020 ended in a dramatic fashion when Pelosi ripped up a physical copy of his speech after he finished.

“I tore it up,” she told reporters afterward. “I was trying to find one page of truth on there.” When asked why she had ripped it up, she responded, “It was the courteous thing to do considering the alternative.”

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Reader Interactions

148Comments

  1. 1.

    Nicole

    April 14, 2021 at 11:33 am

    “It was the courteous thing to do considering the alternative.”

    One of the great Speakers in our nation’s history. Love her.

  2. 2.

    Joe Falco

    April 14, 2021 at 11:33 am

    I suppose it’s more than likely a group of Repukes will tear up Biden’s speech in unison because owning the libs is all they have left to show for themselves.

  3. 3.

    cain

    April 14, 2021 at 11:36 am

    Hope the response is by Matt Gaetz.

  4. 4.

    cain

    April 14, 2021 at 11:37 am

    I love Nancy :-) That tearing up the speech channeled all of us.

  5. 5.

    BruceFromOhio

    April 14, 2021 at 11:41 am

    “It was the courteous thing to do considering the alternative.”

    When I consider the rancid sharts the GQP foist on that body as Speaker, it’s even more miraculous that we are blessed with this current Speaker.

  6. 6.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    April 14, 2021 at 11:41 am

    Cripes, I want out to write for two hours and came back to find four new threads. We’re chatty today.

  7. 7.

    BruceFromOhio

    April 14, 2021 at 11:44 am

    @cain: LOL there is no universe real or imagined that we could be that fortunate. Alas, the esteemed Representative from Florida is persona non grata in the GQP – when even that sad body doesn’t want anything to do with you, it’s game over.

  8. 8.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    April 14, 2021 at 11:44 am

    Query – I’m a dumbass, inasmuch as I’ve gone several years without doing heart worm preventative since 1) my Tervuren was not feeling great when we gave it to him and 2) we’ve never had a problem before with dogs getting them at my house or even in our neighborhood. We did have them tested annually, but the vet never pushed it.

    That was until the fox moved into the front yard last spring/summer, and ranged up close to the house hunting to feed babies. Apparently, they’re major vectors, because we found out after testing at the end of March that the dog has them, probably contracted mid summer. His only symptom had just started, that being some fatigue after about 1.5 miles of a walk.

    The medication is really expensive and hard on him; he pees about every hour and a half in a gusher. What I’m worried about is food – the past few days, he’s been on a bit of a hunger strike on his regular Iams that he’s loved since he was a puppy, despite getting anti nausea pills. He was doing his meds with cream cheese that he now spits out, and was pleased last night with some chicken scraps. We found that he will accept pills wrapped up in sliced deli chicken, also, wrapping them in chicken fat scraps worked, too. I also note that he likes to accompany one of the cats as he tries to flip the handles open on the plastic cat food bin – I don’t know if it’s just about the show or if he’s genuinely interested in our $90 a bag Hill’s metabolic cat food (don’t get me started).

    Anybody have any experience with a dog put off food by medications? I’d love some suggestions.

  9. 9.

    Gravenstone

    April 14, 2021 at 11:48 am

    @cain: You know TFG is howling into the wind that he has to be the one to respond. Any chance to lie bigly in front of actual cameras again must be seized.

  10. 10.

    Old School

    April 14, 2021 at 11:50 am

    @Gravenstone: Has the response to the speech ever been longer than the actual speech?

  11. 11.

    Gravenstone

    April 14, 2021 at 11:51 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I think boiled chicken (maybe with rice) is considered the bland “starter” food for cats or dogs that have gone off their normal food. If he was happy with chicken scraps, maybe just switching over to regular chicken for a while or for the course of treatment is the way to go?

  12. 12.

    MazeDancer

    April 14, 2021 at 11:51 am

    Gonna be humming “Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves’ the whole time watching Madame Speaker and Madame VP up there, side-by-side, behind POTUS.

    As it should be.

    Wonder if they’ll wear white? Or another coordinated color?

  13. 13.

    Hildebrand

    April 14, 2021 at 11:53 am

    @Joe Falco: Yep – they won’t be able to stop themselves from doing something truly inane and derivative.

    Of course, the media will both-sides the knavery, or at least try to.  Then some yahoo on CNN will wax rhapsodic about the bygone days of comity and collegiality.

    Time to take bets on who will pull the stunt, what it will look like, and how the press will react.

  14. 14.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    April 14, 2021 at 11:56 am

    @Gravenstone:

    Yeah, I guess I can do that. His food will keep OK, and I can get rice in bulk at my local Asian and halal markets.

  15. 15.

    MattF

    April 14, 2021 at 11:57 am

    Hate to say so, but TFG might demand to give the official reply.

    ETA: As @Gravenstone says.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    April 14, 2021 at 11:57 am

    @MazeDancer:

    Madame Speaker and Madame VP up there, side-by-side, behind POTUS.

    As it should be.

    QFT.

  17. 17.

    SFAW

    April 14, 2021 at 11:58 am

    Any chance the President will get up there and say to the Rethugs: “OK, here’s the deal: either you get your sorry asses on board with doing things FOR non-wealthy America, instead of doing it TO them, or I’m going to have your Partei — specifically, your elected officials, and your Proud Boy (et al.) supporters — declared a terrorist organization, with all the ‘benefits’ that go along with that.”?

    Hilarity would ensue.

  18. 18.

    Joe Falco

    April 14, 2021 at 11:59 am

    @Hildebrand: I expect fierce competition from the Georgia delegation of Republican dunces on who will show their ass the most. Between Greene, Clyde and Hice, I’m not sure what those Three Stooges will try to pull.

  19. 19.

    Jeffery

    April 14, 2021 at 12:00 pm

    I am sure the pissing and moaning has already started.

    @Joe Falco:

  20. 20.

    WaterGirl

    April 14, 2021 at 12:01 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I had a friend whose dog had to be treated for heartworm, and it was a real struggle.  Maybe the treatments are better now, I certainly hope so. Her dog did make it in the end, but it was touch and go for a few months.

    Hang in there, you may be in for a long fight.

  21. 21.

    Roger Moore

    April 14, 2021 at 12:07 pm

    @MattF:

    Hate to say so, but TFG might demand to give the official reply.

    The question is whether the Republicans will listen to him if he does. I could easily see McConnell telling him to pound sand.​
     
    ETA: What I expect is for every ambitious Republican who isn’t given the official response to give an unofficial one and to demand the media air it. I would not be surprised to see a dozen unofficial responses given airtime by different right wing media outlets.

  22. 22.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    April 14, 2021 at 12:07 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    The med protocol has changed – it is gentler now, and involves 60 days of preventative+prednisone+doxycycline,  followed by a three shot series spread across 90 days with something derived from an arsenic compound to kill off the adult heartworms (still following through with the doxycycline for infection control while the heart worm bodies break down).
    My wife blames herself and feels really bad about it for not running the fox off and for taking him on two walks a day (exposing him to mosquitos on long walks down by a creek). She’s super worried about him; he’s a sweet dog.

  23. 23.

    artem1s

    April 14, 2021 at 12:10 pm

    @Gravenstone:

    You know TFG is howling into the wind that he has to be the one to respond. Any chance to lie bigly in front of actual cameras again must be seized.

    OMG.  hadn’t considered that.  I’d like to think Moscow Mitch wouldn’t allow him the rebuttal, but can he prevent one of the other deplorables from inviting him?  Can Nancy have him arrested if he sets foot in the Capitol?

  24. 24.

    Ksmiami

    April 14, 2021 at 12:14 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: my husky is clever about removing the pill from anything it’s wrapped up in except for whole proteins. Think about giving your baby whole meats like chicken breast, lamb etc and creating little knife insertions where the pill can go in…

  25. 25.

    Frankensteinbeck

    April 14, 2021 at 12:16 pm

    @Gravenstone:

    You know TFG is howling into the wind that he has to be the one to respond.

    And if they don’t give it to him, it’s proof the Republican Party sees him as a Has Been.

  26. 26.

    MattF

    April 14, 2021 at 12:17 pm

    @Roger Moore: The  ‘official’ reply is usually given by someone whose name recognition is thought to need a boost— and TFG would likely see that as a deep state conspiracy to keep him off the airwaves. We shall see, I guess.

  27. 27.

    JoyceH

    April 14, 2021 at 12:20 pm

    @artem1s: If Trump wants to line up some cameras and give a response, who can stop him? Remember during the Obama years a few times there was something like three responses to the SOTU. There was the official Republican response and there was the Tea Party response and I forget what the other one was. It was pretty weird.

  28. 28.

    The Moar You Know

    April 14, 2021 at 12:21 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:  you did have the dog tested for heartworm BEFORE giving him the meds, right?

  29. 29.

    Roger Moore

    April 14, 2021 at 12:23 pm

    @MattF:

    My gut feeling is that if TFG isn’t given the official response, he will give an unofficial response and demand all the media outlets carry it.  How they respond will give some idea of how the media sees him.  I expect most of them will continue to ignore him, but companies like NewsMax and InfoWars will do it try to ingratiate themselves to him.

  30. 30.

    Roger Moore

    April 14, 2021 at 12:25 pm

    @JoyceH: ​
     

    If Trump wants to line up some cameras and give a response, who can stop him?

    They can’t stop him from talking in front of cameras, but the news media is under no obligation to give him a platform. Most of them have been ignoring him, and I expect them to continue to do so.

  31. 31.

    Old School

    April 14, 2021 at 12:27 pm

    @JoyceH: In 2014, there was an official Republican response, an official Republican Spanish-language response, a Tea Party response, Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) self-indulgent response, and a “prebuttal” from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

  32. 32.

    Suzanne

    April 14, 2021 at 12:29 pm

    “It was the courteous thing to do considering the alternative.”

    For some reason, dropping a Cleveland Steamer and then wiping one’s ass with the speech isn’t courteous. But it is equivalent.

  33. 33.

    James E Powell

    April 14, 2021 at 12:30 pm

    @Old School:

    That liberal media again.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    April 14, 2021 at 12:32 pm

    I think the GOP should decide who does the rebuttal the Republican way: by shootout.

  35. 35.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    April 14, 2021 at 12:33 pm

    @James E Powell: my recollection is the only one of those that was televised was the official one, and the Spanish language networks aired the Spanish language reponses. Rand Paul was talking to himself. Something in which I think he has extensive experience.

    I think Michelle Bachman started the “Tea Party response” things

  36. 36.

    VeniceRiley

    April 14, 2021 at 12:34 pm

    I can’t wait to see Pelosi and Harris sitting up there behind Biden. FTW.

    Our old ahole grumpy scottie, Barney, has the big C and has taken a sudden downturn. It’s not pretty. I think he’ll only have another day or two. hard to be on the wrong side of the planet for this.

  37. 37.

    Tom Levenson

    April 14, 2021 at 12:37 pm

    @Suzanne: File “Cleveland steamer” in the folder of “things I wish I hadn’t looked up.”

  38. 38.

    Tom Levenson

    April 14, 2021 at 12:37 pm

    @VeniceRiley: So sorry.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    April 14, 2021 at 12:38 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Unfortunately, it’s not a tactic that’s limited to their side of the aisle.

  40. 40.

    Baud

    April 14, 2021 at 12:38 pm

    @VeniceRiley:

    I’m sorry.

  41. 41.

    Raoul Paste

    April 14, 2021 at 12:41 pm

    It’s always sad to hear about dogs with ailments .    Science Diet makes a canned chicken dogfood designed for sensitive stomachs .  FYI

  42. 42.

    Jinchi

    April 14, 2021 at 12:43 pm

    @artem1s: ​

    Can Nancy have him arrested if he sets foot in the Capitol?

    Trump’s not going to the Capitol. He wouldn’t be able to sit still listening to Biden give a speech. Especially since Biden probably won’t mention him at all.
    If he gives the response, it would be from a gold plated room in Maralago.​

  43. 43.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    April 14, 2021 at 12:43 pm

    @The Moar You Know:  Oh yeah.

  44. 44.

    Baud

    April 14, 2021 at 12:44 pm

    @Tom Levenson:

    I still regret Googling “Balloon Juice.”

  45. 45.

    WereBear

    April 14, 2021 at 12:44 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: He’s looking for MEAT so I’d just give him some. Dogs in the wild are scavengers and omnivores as much as they are hunters, so real meat is going to be supertempting.

    Doesn’t have to be pricey: there’s all kinds of ground pork and poultry which can be cooked and served with a minimum of fuss.

    Good luck! Poor guy :)

  46. 46.

    rikyrah

    April 14, 2021 at 12:47 pm

    I am SOOOO excited about this. The visuals of it all..

    46

    with Nancy Smash and MVP sitting behind him.

     

    squeeee!!!

  47. 47.

    hueyplong

    April 14, 2021 at 12:47 pm

    @Jinchi: Might as well be honest.  Trump couldn’t sit there for the required time without soiling himself.  Everything else is just an additional reason.

  48. 48.

    Ksmiami

    April 14, 2021 at 12:49 pm

    @WereBear: yep and dogs that are being treated do really well recovering on a high protein diet with a little yogurt and orange vegetables…

  49. 49.

    matt

    April 14, 2021 at 12:51 pm

    It made Republicans mad when Trump lied in the faces of Democrats and then wasn’t treated with respect.

    Too bad, too bad!

  50. 50.

    James E Powell

    April 14, 2021 at 12:51 pm

    @Baud:

    I wasn’t sure what you meant, so I googled “balloon juice” and discovered this definition:

    WHAT DOES BALLOON JUICE MEAN?
    Balloon juice is a slang phrase that primarily means “hot air.” It inspired the name of an influential political blog.

    You guys see that? Influential!

  51. 51.

    Baud

    April 14, 2021 at 12:53 pm

    @James E Powell:

    I was joking, but your find is hilarious.

  52. 52.

    SFAW

    April 14, 2021 at 12:57 pm

    @James E Powell:

    You guys see that? Influential!

    Along with (almost) 9,999 (or more) of the blogs closest friends.

  53. 53.

    Brachiator

    April 14, 2021 at 12:58 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    My gut feeling is that if TFG isn’t given the official response, he will give an unofficial response and demand all the media outlets carry it.

    Why would he be expected by anyone to give an official or even unofficial response? Are the Republicans so stupid to want to declare him to be the head of the party? What, is he supposed to be the president in exile?

    Of course, any speculation about this just underscores how stupid it was that the GOP did not cut themselves free from the Orange Irrelevancy.

    I would be surprised if the media gave him any air time, unless the GOP formally appoints him as a spokesman for the party.

    Otherwise, he can yakk it up on Fox News.

  54. 54.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    April 14, 2021 at 1:03 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: My dog came from a high kill shelter in NC and was just a couple weeks past finished with heartworm treatment when we adopted her. So, we didn’t actually have to deal with the challenge of the treatment regimen but she came through and is perfectly healthy. It’s survivable so your dog is not done for.

  55. 55.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    April 14, 2021 at 1:03 pm

    @Baud: My belated listen to Berman’s Give Us The Vote has been a match in the large reservoir of gasoline that is my hatred for Bernie and his Hillary-hating cultists. And I’m not feeling a lot of love for Stephen Breyer theses days. “we can’t politicize the Court” my fucking ass.

  56. 56.

    JMG

    April 14, 2021 at 1:04 pm

    @Ksmiami: Liverwurst is great for this. You can mold it around the pill and at least the two dogs I have had, as a child then as an adult, could not resist the stuff.

  57. 57.

    Captain C

    April 14, 2021 at 1:04 pm

    @cain: ​
      That would really stick it to the libs.

  58. 58.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    April 14, 2021 at 1:05 pm

    @James E Powell:

    It inspired the name of an influential political blog.

    : blinking guy gif :

  59. 59.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    April 14, 2021 at 1:05 pm

    @Brachiator: Trump, who still isn’t president, response would only be about how unfair it was that the people he was abusing dare fought back.

  60. 60.

    Frankensteinbeck

    April 14, 2021 at 1:06 pm

    @Brachiator: ​

    Why would he be expected by anyone to give an official or even unofficial response? Are the Republicans so stupid to want to declare him to be the head of the party? What, is he supposed to be the president in exile?

    He has declared that this is exactly his goal, and many or even most commenters here predicted he would be. I am not one of them.

  61. 61.

    Amir Khalid

    April 14, 2021 at 1:09 pm

    Liverpool host Real Madrid in the Champions League tonight, trailing 1-3 on aggregate. I’m not hoping for anything, just a decent game.

  62. 62.

    Benw

    April 14, 2021 at 1:09 pm

    @VeniceRiley: sorry, that’s hard

  63. 63.

    Brachiator

    April 14, 2021 at 1:12 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: 

    Trump, who still isn’t president, response would only be about how unfair it was that the people he was abusing dare fought back.

    Putting this fool on the air would only be painful. He would probably go into one of his rants about the election, Pence and McConnell. His deranged base would eat it up.

    I’m tired of him and feel so relieved that I don’t have to pay attention to him. If the GOP wants to keep him politically viable, this is their stupid error.

  64. 64.

    Amir Khalid

    April 14, 2021 at 1:13 pm

    @Brachiator:

    What, is he supposed to be the president in exile?

    Putting “45th President Of The United States” on his letterhead makes it plain that TFG considers himself precisely that.

  65. 65.

    topclimber

    April 14, 2021 at 1:16 pm

    @Joe Falco: Ripping up the speech works when you are next to the President at the Podium, which is where the cameras aim. Not so much for GOOPs in the crowd. (GOOP stands for Ginormously Obnoxious Obstructionist Party–thanks for asking

    ).

  66. 66.

    Captain C

    April 14, 2021 at 1:19 pm

    @Amir Khalid: ​  I’m hoping that first Ramos tries to take out another Liverpool player and only manages to put himself out for the next year, after which Liverpool administers a 2014-World-Cup-Semis Mannschaft-style beatdown on Real (an Australia-American Samoa result is probably a bit much to hope for).​

  67. 67.

    Brachiator

    April 14, 2021 at 1:19 pm

    @Amir Khalid: ​
     

    What, is he supposed to be the president in exile?

    Putting “45th President Of The United States” on his letterhead makes it plain that TFG considers himself precisely that.

    He and Rudy Giuliani are the only people who share that delusion.

    And maybe a few diehard nutballs.

  68. 68.

    Just One More Canuck

    April 14, 2021 at 1:19 pm

    @Amir Khalid: As a fan of La Liga, it is stunning to see how many 50/50 calls miraculously go Real Madrid’s way

    Go Liverpool

  69. 69.

    lowtechcyclist

    April 14, 2021 at 1:19 pm

    @Joe Falco:

    I suppose it’s more than likely a group of Repukes will tear up Biden’s speech in unison because owning the libs is all they have left to show for themselves.

    And they don’t even have much game there anymore, either.

  70. 70.

    Geminid

    April 14, 2021 at 1:21 pm

    @Brachiator: I think the Republicans will have one of their freshman Congresswomen give their response. Not Boebert or Greene, but one of the less outrageous newcomers. At least, that’s what I would do.

  71. 71.

    kindness

    April 14, 2021 at 1:23 pm

    Remember when some of our ‘liberal’ fellow travelers said Nancy was too old, too out of it, too mainstream of a Democrat to be able to handle the job of Speaker of the House?  The whiney brats wanted to install their preferred people regardless of broad popularity within the delegation.  Yea, I’m talking about Bernie’s most horrible BernieBros.  I have several as friends and while I have stopped telling them to their faces that they are idiots (it doesn’t change them.  They like fighting with their fellow liberals), I ignore them for the most part now.  I’m happier and more satisfied politically for it.

    Go Nancy Smash!

  72. 72.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    April 14, 2021 at 1:25 pm

    Test . .

    ETA: Hmm, FYWP will not let me comment or reply in TaMara’s duckteen thread. Weird.

  73. 73.

    Amir Khalid

    April 14, 2021 at 1:30 pm

    News media are reporting that Kim Potter, the veteran police officer who shot and killed young Daunte Wright, is to be charged with second-degree manslaughter.

  74. 74.

    germy

    April 14, 2021 at 1:30 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    Refresh.  That helps sometimes.

  75. 75.

    germy

    April 14, 2021 at 1:31 pm

    Advice for writers:

    Write drunk, edit sober, submit on Adderall, read rejections on Xanax.

    — Sandra Newman (@sannewman) April 14, 2021

  76. 76.

    sdhays

    April 14, 2021 at 1:32 pm

    I actually think TFG won’t want to give the response. It’s a format he hates and is incapable of doing well, even by Republican standards.

  77. 77.

    Kristine

    April 14, 2021 at 1:32 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Late to respond, so you may have heard this already, but when Gaby was seriously off her feed in late 2019 due to arthritis pain and gall bladder issues, the vet prescribed Entyce. it’s a liquid dosed once daily, in Gaby’s case via syringe in the mouth. As I recall, it helped.

  78. 78.

    WaterGirl

    April 14, 2021 at 1:34 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): WordPress thought you were a spammer.  I freed all 3 comments.

  79. 79.

    catclub

    April 14, 2021 at 1:37 pm

    @kindness: 

    The whiney brats wanted to install their preferred people regardless of broad popularity within the delegation.

    This indicates a misunderstanding of why the speaker or majority leader is chosen – usually that person is the best fundraiser.
    And ‘broad popularity’ usually means ‘gives funds to fellow members for campaigns.’

  80. 80.

    Kristine

    April 14, 2021 at 1:39 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I’ll add that one of our dogs went through the older, rougher version of heartworm treatment in the mid-90s, when he was 10 yo, and while it wore him out, he came through it just fine. We had him another 4 years.

  81. 81.

    Poe Larity

    April 14, 2021 at 1:39 pm

    Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, we will be facing a bobapocolypse next week:

    Shipping containers from Asia are piling up at West Coast ports, delaying the arrival of much of the country’s supply of chewy tapioca balls. Boba wholesalers say their orders of boba just aren’t arriving, and they have no idea when they’ll get them. That means boba tea shops all over the Bay Area — and the rest of the country — are running out of their namesake boba.

    “In the next week or so, tapioca will be a luxury because no one is going to have it,” said Tommy Huang, senior sales manager at Hayward’s Leadway International Inc.

  82. 82.

    Keith P.

    April 14, 2021 at 1:42 pm

    @Poe Larity: Popping pearls too?

  83. 83.

    NotMax

    April 14, 2021 at 1:43 pm

    @Poe Larity

    After the dam breaks, will there be a boba fête?

  84. 84.

    Amir Khalid

    April 14, 2021 at 1:44 pm

    @Just One More Canuck:
    Alas. it is ever thus with the big team in any league.

  85. 85.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    April 14, 2021 at 1:46 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Thanks. You can delete the second and third ones.

  86. 86.

    NotMax

    April 14, 2021 at 1:49 pm

    @Amir Khalid

    Thought of Malaysia the other day in Costco when saw they had jugs of calamansi juice for sale.

    (Which fruit Wiki informs me is known as limau kasturi in your neck of the ocean.)

    ;)

  87. 87.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    April 14, 2021 at 1:50 pm

    @catclub: This indicates a misunderstanding of why the speaker or majority leader is chosen – usually that person is the best fundraiser.

    The whole “Person Who Said That One Thing That Got The Internet Left Excited For This High-Profile Job!” is one of the most annoying phenomena of the political inner tubes.

  88. 88.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    April 14, 2021 at 1:50 pm

    @germy:

    Did BJ “top of page” refresh, browser refresh, double-secret “click here to refresh” refresh, closed and reopened the page, rebooted my phone. All to no avail.

  89. 89.

    germy

    April 14, 2021 at 1:53 pm

    raise your hand if you would like to see Donald Trump testify under oath in front of Congress for 11 straight hours on live television to explain why Capitol Police were ordered to stand down on January 6th

    — Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) April 14, 2021

  90. 90.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    April 14, 2021 at 1:54 pm

    @VeniceRiley:

    Sorry to hear that. Wishing Barney an easy passage. ?? ?

  91. 91.

    Kristine

    April 14, 2021 at 1:57 pm

    @VeniceRiley: I am sorry.

  92. 92.

    West of the Rockies

    April 14, 2021 at 2:00 pm

    @NotMax:

    Groan…  ;)

  93. 93.

    germy

    April 14, 2021 at 2:00 pm

    President in Exile

    I think this was the former guy’s plan in 2016:  Lose to HRC, call the election rigged, then heckle from the sidelines while making a fortune from the rubes.

    And then the dog caught the car…

  94. 94.

    Mike in NC

    April 14, 2021 at 2:00 pm

    Just read where our former one-term governor Pat McCrory (AKA Pat McCrappy) is planning to run for the US Senate seat being vacated by lightweight Richard Burr. There’s some law of the universe that says that dirtbag politicians just never go away, do they?

  95. 95.

    CaseyL

    April 14, 2021 at 2:01 pm

    @VeniceRiley:  I am so sorry.

  96. 96.

    VeniceRiley

    April 14, 2021 at 2:03 pm

    Thank you everyone. News has gone silent on whatsapp and I’m fearing the worst already. Vet called for her to come fetch him as he does not want to overnight at the vet’s. Tore his IV out. Isn’t even needing a muzzle as he’s not feeling bite-y, poor old guy.

  97. 97.

    germy

    April 14, 2021 at 2:04 pm

    @VeniceRiley:

    This is sad.  He is lucky to have a loving human, though.

  98. 98.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    April 14, 2021 at 2:04 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:  Our little guy came from WV with one of everything. His first checkup after adoption, he tested positive for three separate parasites. I was also wondering how I was going to give meds to a picky eater, but it turned out that once he got over the parasites, he was not at all a picky eater. Very much the opposite.

    And then months later he got heartworm. The vet thinks he carried larvae with him from WV and somehow when we started the preventative they were already mature enough not to be killed by it. It affects larvae only.

    The hard parts for me were trying to keep him confined and quiet, and the shots. We weren’t present for the shots, we had to leave him at the vet for the day but they told us it was painful and not a good experience for the dog.

    He got through it all with flying colors and he is now fully active, full appetite, full strength. But his brain broke a little, he’s got a couple of weird phobias that seemed to have started at the time of the heartworm treatment. For instance hearing humans converse outside, especially children, will send him into a terrified run in the opposite direction. I don’t remember being like that before.

    I used to take him on errands, used to take him with me into the pet store (when I used to go into retail stores in the Before Times). No more. He still loves the car ride but around people is otherwise a quivering mess.

    And of course where he used to dislike the vet’s office, he now really REALLY hates it.

  99. 99.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    April 14, 2021 at 2:06 pm

    @Poe Larity: On one of those baking shows I watched a baker make those little tapioca balls.

  100. 100.

    germy

    April 14, 2021 at 2:09 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    My cat needs a tranquilizer before I can take her to the vet.  The vet insisted, and gave her a bottle. Expensive, too.

    I’ve had cats who didn’t mind the vet.  They’d sit quietly for the exam.  Not our current girl.  She objects to everything:  the car ride, the waiting room, the exam… everything.

    In better news, Prancer found a home:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYMzlGttBh8

  101. 101.

    WaterGirl

    April 14, 2021 at 2:12 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): done.

  102. 102.

    James E Powell

    April 14, 2021 at 2:14 pm

    @Geminid:

    I was really hoping for Taylor Greene. I would watch.

    If they were smart, they’d pick Michelle Steele or Young Kim. (Which reminds me, how the hell did Cisneros manage to lose that race?)

    New, Asian, relatively sane Republicans.

    Are they smart?

  103. 103.

    WaterGirl

    April 14, 2021 at 2:16 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I am so glad to hear that the protocol is much less hard on the pet.

    Write this on a note and put it on your fridge for your wife.  I have this on my fridge.

    The past is the past; it’s what we do now that matters.

  104. 104.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    April 14, 2021 at 2:17 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Thanks.

  105. 105.

    The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion

    April 14, 2021 at 2:19 pm

    @VeniceRiley: I’m so sorry.

  106. 106.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    April 14, 2021 at 2:22 pm

    @germy:

    That’s the (temporary) foster. Interest but no permanent home yet.

  107. 107.

    germy

    April 14, 2021 at 2:25 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): 

    Fingers crossed.

  108. 108.

    Jeffro

    April 14, 2021 at 2:33 pm

    @Geminid:

    @James E Powell:  Maybe Elise Stefanik (trumpie Rep from NY)?

  109. 109.

    J R in WV

    April 14, 2021 at 2:35 pm

    @VeniceRiley:

    Sorry to hear about Barney — never easy. Best wishes for you two-leg folks as you deal with his illness.

  110. 110.

    Jeffro

    April 14, 2021 at 2:36 pm

    OT but interesting: after weeks of just about zero coverage Matt “Icky Person” Gaetz’ foibles are now the #4 story on Fox News dot com.

    You know what THAT means, right folks? Bye-bye Mattie!

  111. 111.

    MisterForkbeard

    April 14, 2021 at 2:38 pm

    @Jeffro: Nah. Pretty sure they’re covering them in the context of the latest Project Veritas vomit, who recorded a CNN Technical Director talking about hypothetically going after Republicans and Matt Gaetz to benefit Democrats.

    Except that: He doesn’t say this happened, doesn’t say CNN did it, and as a Tech Director has no say at all on content. His job is to make sure the cameras and feeds all work correctly and show the right angles and so on. So basically, it’s another giant fail.

  112. 112.

    Nelle

    April 14, 2021 at 2:38 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:  I appreciate this comment so very much. Remember last spring when Cuomo was doing a great job playing Reasonable Leader and the hue and cry went up that he should be the next president? Someone makes a reasonable statement and then “He should be president.” Widespread disease, that is…

  113. 113.

    JoyceH

    April 14, 2021 at 2:40 pm

    @Jeffro: When the DEFENDERS of Matt Gaetz have to fall back on ‘she’d turned 18 before he had sex with her’, things aren’t looking good.

  114. 114.

    Old School

    April 14, 2021 at 2:40 pm

    From Politico, here’s the 10 moderate Republicans who really really want to negotiate with Biden:

    The “G-10” senators are: SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO of West Virginia, BILL CASSIDY of Louisiana, SUSAN COLLINS of Maine, JERRY MORAN of Kansas, LISA MURKOWSKI of Alaska, ROB PORTMAN of Ohio, MITT ROMNEY of Utah, MIKE ROUNDS of South Dakota, THOM TILLIS of North Carolina and TODD YOUNG of Indiana.

  115. 115.

    Ken

    April 14, 2021 at 2:43 pm

    @Jeffro: OT but interesting: after weeks of just about zero coverage Matt “Icky Person” Gaetz’ foibles are now the #4 story on Fox News dot com.

    The real sign will be when he’s “Matt Gaetz (D)” on the chyron.

  116. 116.

    Jeffro

    April 14, 2021 at 2:44 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: it’s actually a pretty straight-up story about what’s going on, w/ Greenberg talking, etc.

  117. 117.

    Jeffro

    April 14, 2021 at 2:46 pm

    @Ken:The real sign will be when he’s “Matt Gaetz (D)” on the chyron.

    Truth!  I thought about throwing that into my comment.  Great minds and all that.  =)

  118. 118.

    Geminid

    April 14, 2021 at 2:48 pm

    @James E Powell: This year’s CA 39 race was a rematch. In 2018, Gil Cisneros beat Young Kim by 8,000 votes. Last year, Kim beat Cisneros by 4,150. So I guess you could say how Cisneros lost was narrowly.

    But Young Kim was one of the few Republicans who voted to strip M.T. Greene of her commitee assignments. The Republican  Congressional leaders will try to come up with someone sane. But not that sane.

    If they are smart- and that’s a big if- Republican Congressional leaders could pick another of their first- or second-generation immigrant Congresswoman. But those clowns might well pick three, and have them read in unison a script provided by Karl Rove.

  119. 119.

    Poe Larity

    April 14, 2021 at 2:49 pm

    Kim Potter has been arrested per CNBC

  120. 120.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 14, 2021 at 2:53 pm

    @VeniceRiley: Sorry about this little one, I went though this a month and a half ago with my Yorkipom.

  121. 121.

    Uncle Cosmo

    April 14, 2021 at 2:55 pm

    @Amir Khalid: IMO your side would have a better shot vs Fake Madrid. You know, that half-baroquen movie set the railway workers built 5 km down the road last night…

  122. 122.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    April 14, 2021 at 2:57 pm

    OMG I have a vaccine appointment! Pfizer #1 on Saturday!

    I take back what I said about IT folks in PA. The governor pulled a surprise on Monday, announcing that Tuesday the vaccines would be available for everyone (moving the previous date up from Apr. 19 with no notice).

    On the scheduled day (yesterday), scheduling websites had words up that everyone was eligible, but everybody’s registration form was still screening and wouldn’t let you register unless you fell in one of the high-priority groups.

    They got it fixed today.

  123. 123.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    April 14, 2021 at 3:00 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Yeah my dog hates the vet too (different vet but still maybe the enough association). She’s fine around people. She was fine with thunder until about a year and a half ago and then that started freaking her out. Gunfire has always freaked her out. It does take her a while to warm up to strangers – like, she won’t let them touch her until she’s ready to have them touch her.

    But she’ll take treats from anyone and has no problem being around people as long as they’re not trying to grope her.

  124. 124.

    Uncle Cosmo

    April 14, 2021 at 3:02 pm

    @Jeffro: ​You know what THAT means, right folks?

    Yeah – it took the FauxNoise technical staff that long to figure out how to stick a “D” after his name on the chyron.​

    (ETA: And f’ing Ken beat me to it at #115 supra-dupra. Grrrrr…..)

  125. 125.

    Old School

    April 14, 2021 at 3:06 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Congratulations for being on the road to vaccination!

  126. 126.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 14, 2021 at 3:13 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Woo hoo!

  127. 127.

    JoyceH

    April 14, 2021 at 3:15 pm

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: My dog LOVES to go to the vet! You could stick needles in her all day, as long as you pet her and fuss over her and tell her she’s pretty.

  128. 128.

    Suzanne

    April 14, 2021 at 3:17 pm

    @Tom Levenson: This is the two-wetsuits-and-a-dildo blog. Don’t be precious.

  129. 129.

    pluky

    April 14, 2021 at 3:18 pm

    @Suzanne: I think the ass Madame Speaker was considering was his, not hers. And a “gentle wipe” was not the contemplated action; more like a “firm shove”.

  130. 130.

    Suzanne

    April 14, 2021 at 3:24 pm

    @pluky: That speech deserves to be toilet paper. I’m not too choosy about the particulars.

  131. 131.

    germy

    April 14, 2021 at 3:25 pm

    Gaetz is the subject of the latest Onion editorial cartoon:

    https://www.theonion.com/flood-gaetz-1846674627

  132. 132.

    Roger Moore

    April 14, 2021 at 3:27 pm

    @Suzanne:

    Green balloons! Green balloons!

  133. 133.

    craigie

    April 14, 2021 at 3:28 pm

    @Tom Levenson:

    I would have thought the context was enough.

  134. 134.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 14, 2021 at 3:51 pm

    @James E Powell:

    how the hell did Cisneros manage to lose that race?

    He barely won in 2018.

  135. 135.

    Tom Levenson

    April 14, 2021 at 3:57 pm

    @craigie: Evidently, I am an insufficiently imaginative person.

  136. 136.

    patrick Il

    April 14, 2021 at 4:00 pm

    @Ksmiami: ​
     
    Wrapping pill in liversausage worked for us.

  137. 137.

    rikyrah

    April 14, 2021 at 4:29 pm

    @VeniceRiley:

     

    So sorry :(

  138. 138.

    evodevo

    April 14, 2021 at 4:30 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: We’ve used Ballard’s pimiento cheese for years for pill giving, and it’s worked fine for us…it has a strong enough flavor to overcome any pill bitterness + the cheese bits in it confuse any sense of tongue-touch that might result in a spit-out pill…

  139. 139.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 14, 2021 at 4:35 pm

    @VeniceRiley:

    Oh, that’s sad. I’m really sorry.

  140. 140.

    Brachiator

    April 14, 2021 at 4:42 pm

    @VeniceRiley:

    Very sad news. Take care.

  141. 141.

    geg6

    April 14, 2021 at 4:46 pm

    @James E Powell: ​
     
    Name checking John Cole, no less. And the jackals! Although they just call us the BJers. I would be over the moon if they’d have called us by our proper name!

  142. 142.

    cliosfanboy

    April 14, 2021 at 4:53 pm

    @VeniceRiley: i am so sorry

  143. 143.

    debbie

    April 14, 2021 at 5:01 pm

    “It was the courteous thing to do considering the alternative.”

    This makes me miss my sarcastic mother and her sarcastic friends. Boom, Nancy, Boom!

  144. 144.

    Mike in Pasadena

    April 14, 2021 at 5:04 pm

    @Old School: that’s Rafael Cruz (R-Cancun)

  145. 145.

    WaterGirl

    April 14, 2021 at 5:11 pm

    @James E Powell:   @Baud:

    You should check out About Us in the white bar at the top of every page.

    edit: I knew that no one looked at half the stuff on the new site.  :: sniff ::

  146. 146.

    cain

    April 14, 2021 at 5:50 pm

    @Gravenstone:

    @cain: You know TFG is howling into the wind that he has to be the one to respond. Any chance to lie bigly in front of actual cameras again must be seized.

    I would love to see TFG give the response. It would be fantastic. He’ll still be talking about how he won and much he won by and that it was stolen but that’s okay – he’s coming back and he’s gonna wear a butt plug and everything – and he’s gonna have an awesome new VP one with a kung-fu grip!

  147. 147.

    cain

    April 14, 2021 at 5:52 pm

    @VeniceRiley:

    I can’t wait to see Pelosi and Harris sitting up there behind Biden. FTW.

    I demand a fist bump or a high-5. The occasion has to be marked somehow!

  148. 148.

    frosty

    April 14, 2021 at 7:32 pm

    @Suzanne: Great reply!

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