Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

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

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

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

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

We still have time to mess this up!

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

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

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

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

This blog will pay for itself.

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

The willow is too close to the house.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Second rate reporter says what?

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: President Biden’s Not-*Officially*-A-State-of-the-Union Address

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: President Biden’s Not-*Officially*-A-State-of-the-Union Address

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President Biden is expected to speak at 9pm EDT; television coverage will start an hour earlier.

President Joe Biden is expected to call for the most sweeping revamp of US benefits since the 1960s as he delivers his first address to a joint session of Congress.

Speaking on the eve of his 100th day in office, the Democrat will pitch $4 trillion (£2.9tn) of spending on child care, education and family leave.

He already passed a $2tn Covid package.

History will also be made as two women sit behind the president for the first time during a speech to Congress.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi will both wear masks at the rostrum during Wednesday night’s primetime address.

The US president’s State of the Union-style remarks will be followed by the traditional rebuttal speech from the opposing party – delivered on this occasion by Senator Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican…

(As the joke across social media goes, the GOP is set to announce they have a Black friend.)

Around 1,600 guests usually attend a president’s address to a joint session of Congress. But this time only about 200 people will get invitations because of virus-prevention protocols.

Buoyed by solid approval ratings, Mr Biden will look to the tens of millions of Americans that the White House hopes will tune in from home.

The president will seek to build public support for two massive packages – the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan – which analysts project would entail the most far-reaching reform of the US social safety net since the era of President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

The White House says both proposals if passed by Congress would be “fully paid for” by tax hikes on the richest Americans and corporations…

Reader Interactions

167Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    History will also be made as two women sit behind the president for the first time during a speech to Congress.

    Oh yeah. That’s what I’m waiting for.

  2. 2.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Broad Support for Spending Plans

    Monday, April 26, 2021

    Monmouth University Poll (link)

    Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure proposal is broadly popular, registering 68% support and just 29% opposition. Support for this spending plan – covering a gamut of projects from roads and trains to clean energy and internet access – comes from 94% of Democrats and 69% of independents, but just 32% of Republicans.

    ***

    Biden is also set to unveil a large spending plan to expand access to healthcare and childcare as well as provide paid leave and college tuition support. Nearly 2 in 3 Americans (64%) support this idea while 34% are opposed. The poll also finds nearly 2 in 3 Americans support raising taxes on corporations (64%) and individuals earning more than $400,000 (65%) to pay for these plans.

  3. 3.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Happy days are here again,
    The skies above are clear again
    Let us sing a song of cheer again
    Happy days are here again

  4. 4.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Of course, Biden has had an ASL interpreter for pretty much every public statement since he was campaigning, but this will be the first for a more-or-less State of the Union message. Didn’t Obama have them?

    Also, there is a rumor around that the Republicans will stay home. Colin Kahl was approved yesterday by the Senate without a need for Harris’s tie-breaking because the Repubs didn’t bother to have their full force there. Is this the way they’re going to go – not with a bang, but a whimper?

  5. 5.

    debbie

    I can’t remember who (Ernst?), but a GQPer, asked about Scott’s rebuttal speech, said it would be nice to end the evening on a positive, optimistic note.  ?

    (paraphrase)

  10. 10.

    NotMax

    And the following 24 hours will be non-stop talk about the size of Biden’s package.

    Oh my.

    ;)

  11. 11.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud: He keeps doing good stuff.

    Personally, I’d love it if he zeroed out the ICE budget (and slashed CBP as well) to pay for some small smidgen of his infrastructure bill.  But this is still moving in the right direction. I’ll take it.

  13. 13.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    President Joe Biden walks from Marine One with first lady Jill Biden on the Ellipse near the White House after spending the weekend in Wilmington, Del., Sunday, April 25, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit the 39th president, Jimmy Carter, and his wife, Rosalynn, while in Georgia this week, the White House said Tuesday.

    The White House had previously announced that Biden would attend a drive-in rally in Atlanta on Thursday to mark his 100th day in office, which comes a day after his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening. The Bidens will now add in a trip to Plains, Georgia, to visit the Carters.

    The 96-year-old former president and the 93-year-old former first lady were unable to attend Biden’s inauguration because of the coronavirus pandemic. Both couples are now vaccinated, and the Carters have resumed worshipping in-person at their longtime church.

    God’s not done with Jimmy

  16. 16.

    John S.

    The GQP response will be like a Mad Lib with all their silly red meat culture-war bullshit and fearmongering.

    As he’s demonstrated many times, Biden is a/an (synonym for radical) (synonym for communist). According to a Fox News poll, (fake statistic), (fake statistic) and (fake statistic) are all (synonym for scared or angry) with his assault on their (synonym for freedom) and (synonym for religion or gun). If we allow the Democrat party to pass this (synonym for radical) agenda, America will be (scary apocalyptic metaphor) for generations to come.

  19. 19.

    Kay

    Laura Italiano
    @Italiano_Laura
    Replying to
    @Italiano_Laura
    The Kamala Harris story — an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against — was my breaking point.

    “Ordered to write”. Wow.

  24. 24.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud:It’s a small thing in the scheme of things, but for the record, I think it’s a bad look.

    And totally unnecessary, IMHO.  Biden’s got easily the most liberal and far-reaching domestic agenda since LBJ’s.  Not saying progressives should sit down and shut up, but this sort of performative bullshit is, well, bullshit.

  25. 25.

    John S.

    @Baud: It’s two sides of the doom & gloom coin. Scott will be apoplectic that Biden is going to ruin America by spending too much and destroying the future. Bowman will be apoplectic that Biden is going to ruin America by spending too little and destroying the future.

    Only one of them even remotely has a valid point, but like you said, not a great time for performative bullshit.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    @John S.:

    I think Scott’s mission is to sell the idea that Republicans are still reasonable people in the post Trump era.  I don’t think his response will be hard hitting.

  30. 30.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    History will also be made as two women sit behind the president for the first time during a speech to Congress.

    Oh yeah. That’s what I’m waiting for.

    I sincerely hope I live long enough to see a female POTUS, Veep, and Speaker (ETA: simultaneously). That would be a treat of a trifecta!

  31. 31.

    Baud

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Isn’t that a conversation best left to Dr Jill and her most intimate friends?

    Tomorrow’s NY Post headline: The Bidens’ sex parties rock the White House!

  32. 32.

    Betty Cracker

    I’ll be leaving to get my second Moderna shot in about an hour. I have to drive all the way across the county and go inside a building because they folded up the tents at the drive-thru site where I got my first shot. Oh well. At least I have the means to do so.

    It’s probably overkill, but I took today and tomorrow off-ish in case of side effects. My hubby had a bad time the day after his second shot. He’s not a “man cold” kinda guy — usually powers his way stoically through any illness. But the second shot knocked him over for a day.

  33. 33.

    Princess

    Not only does the GOP have a Black friend, but they’re sending him into do the job no one else wants to do — argue against what is going to be a very popular set of spending priorities. Classic.

  34. 34.

    p.a.

    Click on my nym to see what got me a 24 hour fbook ban: violation of community standards.  It’s the first photo you’ll see.  (I assume it’s the “rona is a hoax” line, but the monitoring widget doesn’t do context.)

  36. 36.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Yes, and later she basically ruins her bold move by elaborately thanking all her colleagues at the newspaper for being wonderful, so not sure we’re getting anywhere here.

    One or more people did something bad, but definitely not the great colleagues.

    I’m kind of pleased they are such a mess. I feel like the coordination and planning on these hit jobs used to be tighter and more disciplined on the Right. They’re flailing. I think it’s just another indication of a decline in quality across the board- the individuals involved are dumber and clumsier. I genuinely believe some of the decline in quality is due to nepotism. They have to stop hiring and promoting their own adult children.

  37. 37.

    Princess

    Bowman saying the bills don’t go far enough will, paradoxically, shore up Biden’s fake moderate persona and will encourage more people who think of themselves as moderates to like and support the bill. Biden’s best political bet is to be progressive, but no so progressive he pleases everyone on the left.

  38. 38.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    Stouffer’s Welsh Rarebit is a staple in my freezer during the winter months. It’s one of my go-to comfort foods when the weather is blear. I always tart it up with freshly-grated nutmeg and pour it over English muffins.

    If it weren’t heading for 84° today, I’d consider having it for supper tonight.

  39. 39.

    Betty Cracker

    @John S.: I think you’re right about Scott but wrong about Bowman. He previewed his remarks last week [NBC]:

    Bowman, a freshman lawmaker who defeated a 16-term Democratic incumbent in a primary in a New York City district last year, said the response is intended not to be critical of Biden but rather to credit him as appropriate and cue him for what the left wants to see next.

    “It’s a balancing act. He’s already done a lot that I love. And he’s going to say a lot of things that I like, as well,” Bowman said in an interview. “But if we relent, it doesn’t mean that what’s been going on so far is going to continue. It’s important for us as progressives to continue to push and continue to organize.”

    I understand why some people think it’s not a good move to deliver post-speech remarks that will inevitably give rise to “Dems in disarray” narratives. But I understand Bowman’s point about staying organized and pushing for more too. IMO, reasonable people can disagree on this.

  41. 41.

    Princess

    @Kay: Yes, and that’s like saying that Hitler shouldn’t have invaded Russia. The whole reason they are on the right is to create and belong to a cadre in which they can pass power and wealth down to their own children and no one else. If you stop them from promoting their kids, there’s no point to anything.

  42. 42.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Here’s your reminder that corporations can set their effective tax rates to zero by spending money on wages, infrastructure, product development and dividends, rather than share price inflating gimmicks or retention.

  44. 44.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Oh, and I got twenty bucks that says Glenn Greenwald will be defending Wayne Lapierre within 48 hours. Any takers?

  51. 51.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    The 96-year-old former president and the 93-year-old former first lady were unable to attend Biden’s inauguration because of the coronavirus pandemic. Both couples are now vaccinated, and the Carters have resumed worshipping in-person at their longtime church.

    God’s not done with Jimmy

    Glad to hear this. Once I’m two weeks past my second Pfizer vaccination, I might just treat myself to a weekend in Plains and go to church for the sheer joy of seeing the Carters again. I’m also way overdue for a visit to Andersonville, which is the burial site of two of my ancestors, imprisoned Union soldiers both. It’s an impressive place, beautifully maintained, and I like being able to pay my respects to the great-great-greats.

  53. 53.

    p.a.

    @satby: I just posted the photo without comment.  My 1st ban (for a few hours IIRC) was for posting a Cole vulgarity-filled tweet, months ago.

  54. 54.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I agree but OTOH I wonder if it’s useful to Biden. As long as there’s a Left flank he’s the center :)

    Tim Ryan said last night on a Zoom call that he would support Medicare at 50, which surprised me. I feel as if that has now become the centrist position.

  59. 59.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Kay:

    I’m kind of pleased they are such a mess. I feel like the coordination and planning on these hit jobs used to be tighter and more disciplined on the Right. They’re flailing. I think it’s just another indication of a decline in quality across the board- the individuals involved are dumber and clumsier. I genuinely believe some of the decline in quality is due to nepotism. They have to stop hiring and promoting their own adult children.

    No, they should keep on doing so! Lo, even unto the tenth generation – although one hopes just one more generation will be all that it takes for the conservative movement to collapse into an ooze of incoherence.

  63. 63.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Suzanne:

    His last 72 hours have been doozies:

    1. A deflationary medium of exchange that facilitates money laundering, human trafficking and the narcotics trade is good because it is opaque to government oversight (Bitcoin);

    2. We should want an open, great relationship and lots of coordination with a white supremacist corrupt oligarchy (Russia);

    3. Public mask wearing, particularly by Biden and democrats, is bad because it scares people into wearing them.

  64. 64.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: The Kamala Harris story — an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against — was my breaking point.

    I’d give this a lot more credence if she had quit rather than write an “incorrect story”. Reporters don’t usually follow orders to write something they know is false, at least not ones who work for legitimate news outlets.

  65. 65.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Yeah. The moment you get to “you told them THAT? About US?”, you’ll wind up in a conversation that goes nowhere good.

  66. 66.

    Kay

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Some of it can move the needle, IMO. The NRA were Trump’s biggest donor in 2016. They collapsed into a giant mess of greed and self-dealing and bankruptcy and that probably helped us in 2020- and we didn’t even have to do anything! :)

    Here’s hoping the younger Murdoch continues the trend.

    We had a family-owned manufacturer here who went under. Each successive generation was worse than the one before it. They rent the facility now to a company who makes stamped trays. It’s just like an arrow pointing straight down.

  67. 67.

    satby

    @p.a.: Then one of your “friends” reported it as objectionable. Because not only did I share that days ago, but other people shared it from my feed. I blocked one right wing old acquaintance months ago and my repeated FB jailings ceased.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    I’ve always been skeptical of the left flank theory that supposedly makes a Dem appear more moderate. I have never seen it work in practice.

  70. 70.

    SFAW

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Would love to see him outlive TFG as well.

    Would love to see this year’s “crop” of cicadas outlive him. Hell, I’d love to see a mayfly born today outlive him.

  71. 71.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Soprano2:

    Reporters don’t usually follow orders to write something they know is false, at least not ones who work for legitimate news outlets.

    Bingo! She worked for the Murdoch-owned New York Post.

  72. 72.

    SFAW

    @germy:

    “The Republican vision can make that dream a reality for everyone …

    … who’s white and born into a wealthy family.”

  74. 74.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Kay:

    Most of the time that three generation rule does play out. I think the grandiose sense of entitlement in each successive group of spawn is what does the trick.

  75. 75.

    SFAW

    @Kay:

    Each successive generation was worse than the one before it.

    I’m sure there are other examples, but the only one I can think of where an offspring surpassed the father’s accomplishments was Tom Watson Jr. with IBM.

    I hope Racist Murdoch Jr a/k/a Lachlan destroys News Corp, but I don’t think we’ll be so lucky.

  77. 77.

    Heidi Mom

    @Betty Cracker: You may already know this (maybe everyone but me knew this) but:  the pharmacist who gave me the second shot said that staying hydrated is the key to minimizing side effects.  Good luck!

  78. 78.

    zhena gogolia

    Anybody want to throw up?

    Extremely powerful Dear Leader energy here.Hannity: "Why do I think Donald Trump crushes you on the golf course?"Lindsey Graham: "Because he's better than I am! He's gonna kick me around!" pic.twitter.com/jIVkJ60MWt— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) April 28, 2021

  80. 80.

    germy

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    The Overlooked Factor

    A Man that owned a fine Dog, and by a careful selection of its mate had bred a number of animals but a little lower than the angels, fell in love with his washerwoman, married her, and reared a family of dolts.

    “Alas!” he exclaimed, contemplating the melancholy result, “had I but chosen a mate for myself with half the care that I did for my Dog I should now be a proud and happy father.”

    “I’m not so sure of that,” said the Dog, overhearing the lament. “There’s a difference, certainly, between your whelps and mine, but I venture to flatter myself that it is not due altogether to the mothers. You and I are not entirely alike ourselves.”

    (Ambrose Bierce)

  82. 82.

    SFAW

    @germy:

    Or a person of color willing to parrot the opinions of RW oligarchs.

    Or RW Supreme Court justices. [Thinking of Clarence “Sock Puppet” Thomas and Fat Nino.]

  83. 83.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @debbie: Tim Scott should end the evening “on a positive and uplifting note” by announcing he’s changing his party affiliation & joining the Democratic caucus in the Senate. Then drop the mike & walk off. You wanna see some Gooper heads ‘splode…!

  86. 86.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: We had a family-owned manufacturer here who went under. Each successive generation was worse than the one before it.

    Back in 1989-1990 I worked for Prime, which is a huge family-owned trucking company based here in Springfield – I’m sure you’ve seen their trucks. The owners were relatively decent, self-made people, but their two kids were a mess. The older one was hers from her first marriage; he was in his early 20’s and couldn’t decide what he wanted to do with his life. He’d call his mom and ask for money for rent and utilities, and she’d give it to him (keep in mind, these people lived in a house where he could have had a whole floor to himself if he’d lived at home). He had dropped out of several colleges, and kept quitting jobs. The son they had together turned 16 while I worked there; I heard later that he was mad because they didn’t buy him a Porsche sports car like his mom’s; instead, they bought him a brand new Jeep (I know because I had to go get the license plate for it). I wonder what will happen to that company when the owners decide to retire; did either of those boys straighten out, or are they still screw-ups? Then there’s the sad, sad story of Campbell 66 Trucking, which was built by one man and destroyed by his daughter and her husband when they inherited it. I’ve read that family-owned businesses usually don’t survive more than 3 generations.

  87. 87.

    Ken

    @Baud: My impression is that it’s not all that opaque.

    I’m still expecting to hear that the mysterious inventor of Bitcoin is a pseudonym for a CIA-NSA consortium.

  90. 90.

    Baud

    @Heidi Mom:

     pharmacist who gave me the second shot said that staying hydrated is the key to minimizing side effects

     
    That pharmacist’s name was Adam Silverman.

  92. 92.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @SiubhanDuinne: Rarebit is easy to make. The Moosewood Cookbook has a good recipe. I think it’s just melt butter then add flour and saute until it browns a little, then add 12 oz of beer and a little prepared horseradish (there may be a clove of garlic in there) and simmer for like 5 minutes or so until it thickens a little then add a packed cup of sharp cheddar (it’s roughly an 8 oz block – maybe slightly less) and a dash of white pepper and keep heating until the cheese completely melts. Then spoon it over whatever.

    I chill the leftovers in the fridge and they solidify up to make a great beer cheese dip for soft pretzels. Or gently reheat and spoon over whatever again.

  93. 93.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    In the case of my ancestors, one died of dysentery and one of typhoid fever or something similar. Ailments they picked up at A’ville after they were captured and imprisoned.

  95. 95.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Laura Italiano
    @Italiano_Laura
    Replying to
    @Italiano_Laura
    The Kamala Harris story — an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against — was my breaking point.

    My hat is off to Laura. We’ve all done questionable things we were later sorry for. Making mistakes is the most human of things we do. Admitting this mistake in such a public way took a hell of a lot more courage than most people have.

    I have known way too many people over the years who haven’t the courage to admit a mistake, much less apologize for it.

    So again, my hat is off to her. Well done Madame, well done indeed.

  97. 97.

    dr. bloor

    @Cheryl Rofer:
    Can’t wait for the talking heads to start explaining that the Republican side of the chamber has so many empty seats because Biden has been bipartisan enough.

  98. 98.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    pharmacist who gave me the second shot said that staying hydrated frosty is the key to minimizing side effects

    That pharmacist’s name was Adam Silverman.

  105. 105.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Betty Cracker: Yay for getting your second shot! Hope the side effects are minimal.  It seems to vary widely – I got Moderna, and I was really expecting a reaction like I’d had with the shingles shots, but other than the sore shoulder, I didn’t have any problems at all.

    My wife gets her second shot (Pfizer) on Tuesday, so we’ll both be fully protected by the 18th, which by awesome coincidence, is our 30th wedding anniversary.  I think our version of ‘party hearty’ will be dining out at a restaurant with outdoor seating.  We haven’t eaten at *any* restaurant in fourteen months, so it’ll feel like a big deal.

  108. 108.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Kay: ​We had a family-owned manufacturer here who went under. Each successive generation was worse than the one before it.

    Never ever forget that the vast majority of those who start small businesses go to sleep dreaming of the business blossoming into a vast empire that makes them megawealthy. Inside the breast of (nearly all) shopkeepers beats the heart of a bazillionaire.

    …

    The problem with startup capitalism in a corpitalist world isn’t the startup, it’s the ending. A major flaw in the “build-a-better-mousetrap” myth is what happens after the founder – who may well have started out with a great idea and a passion to promote it, willing (even eager) to work 20-hour days 7 days a week to build the business – decides s/he’s lost a step/getting weary/due some major R&R. How often does the firm devolve to children who don’t share the founder’s passion or interest, may have no talent for management, and may even be hostile to the enterprise that had Dad or Mom neglecting or mistreating them while working those 140-hour weeks?

    And eventually (however many generations it takes) the business goes under – changing times, lack of interest or skills on the part of the inheritors. In the rare instance when it stays relevant and profitable, it becomes nothing more meaningful than the inheritors’ ATM. Eventually a corporate raider shows up with a buyout offer too good to pass up, and the new owners cut corners and cheapen the product, relying on the once-sound & reliable brand name to keep sales up as they loot the firm. Everything goes to shit and the raiders skulk off with their pockets full of ill-deserved lucre.

  112. 112.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @zhena gogolia:

    Well, independent journalistic voices are important to reduce the hegemony of the liberal Democrat military-industrial Deep State in the Anglosphere. In other parts of the world, they’re destructive to the notion of courageous foreign actors working to dismantle the liberal Democrat military industrial Deep State in the Anglosphere.

    Ive learned that from Glenn Greenwald.

  115. 115.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Would love to see him outlive TFG as well.

    Hell, I’m rooting for him to outlive Shrub, one of the biggest fuckups the US has ever produced.

  118. 118.

    Citizen Alan

    @p.a.:  I’m coming off a 7 day ban for sarcastically repeating a trump supporters own words back to her as part of my supply.

  119. 119.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I’m bitter so I got a weird amount of pleasure out of the Trump justices destroying Kennedy’s legacy on punishment for juveniles. So much for that, Justice Kennedy. I’m glad he got to see the ideology he supports take apart his life’s work.

  120. 120.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Headline of the day: ‘WW2 bomb’ found in Bavarian forest was sex toy, say officials

    A German police bomb squad called to investigate a suspected hand grenade in a Bavarian forest has revealed that the object was a rubber sex toy.

    A jogger reported finding a bag containing the device on Monday in a forest outside the city of Passau, near Germany’s borders with Austria and the Czech Republic.

    The discovery of forgotten or hidden munitions is a regular occurrence in Germany more than 75 years after the end of the second world war.

    When the bomb squad arrived and inspected the contents of the bag, they determined it was a rubber grenade replica. The condoms and lubricant in the bag helped point to the device’s intended use, police told the German news agency dpa.

    “An internet search confirmed the suspicion,” police said. “There are actually sex toys in the form of hand grenades.”

  121. 121.

    yellowdog

    @SFAW: On the female side we have Ann Richard’s, her daughter Cecile Richards and her grandaughter, Lily Adams. No decline in quality. I wonder why.

  128. 128.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Kay:

    Fits.

    The guy doing our front deck (long story) tells me that his son is a Centre College grad, and went to work at (commonly known mid market retail operation). They were having a frequent problem with weather-related flooding at a poorly located loading bay, and were advised by engineers that the only solution would be to install a pumping network. The business degree folks said that this was a big expense and that he had to come up with another cheaper solution. He couldn’t, and wound up out of a job.

    His solution was great – he now owns a successful plumbing operation.

  129. 129.

    Ken

    @OzarkHillbilly: First the croissant that terrorized a town in Poland, now a sex toy terrorizing a town in Bavaria.  This is starting to sound like a particularly weird Silver Age comic, probably a Batman and Joker story.

  130. 130.

    germy

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I think it’s time to retire the “If you see something say something” mentality that started under W. Bush.

    Too many people are calling 911 for ridiculous reasons. And then other people end up dead.

  132. 132.

    Soprano2

    @OzarkHillbilly: “I can’t believe I threw a 73-year-old on the ground.”

    That story was so gross and heartbreaking; I almost cried just reading it, and didn’t have the stomach to listen to the recording of it. If ever two people deserved to get fired, those two do.

  133. 133.

    WaterGirl

    @p.a.: That appears to be an image, so there is no automated way for the algorithm to know what the text in the image says.

    So this was surely because someone at facebook doesn’t like the political stance of making people wear masks and not putting up with their bullshit about it.

  135. 135.

    Kay

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    The worst part of that story is the reporter who resigned is an experienced reporter who covered NYC courts.

    How did she end up putting her name on information she knew to be false?  She must have known the Right would run with it and it would be checked. Jesus. Is it worth it? She doesn’t even get the giant paychecks of the cable tv and Facebook celebrities.

  139. 139.

    laura

    @Kay: I’m a graduate of the law school that Kennedy used to teach at and I’ve been spending some time fantasizing about asking/calling out his strategic retirement and his hand selected replacement with justice gang bang who is rapidly unspooling Kennedy’s legacy. It’ll probably never happen, but a gal can dream.

  140. 140.

    Citizen Alan

    @Kay:  The same thing happened with Sandra day oconnor. C gave Bush the presidency, and he repaid her by replacing her with Samuel Alito,  who has voted to overturn every moderate position with which she was associated.

  142. 142.

    Jeffro

    @germy: I’m anticipating a very large number of ‘bootstrap’-related comments from Senator Scott.  Which is fine, but much of America needs some basic, good-quality boots first.

  145. 145.

    germy

    @laura:

    Did you see that video with Kennedy and Trump walking together?  The former guy says something that stops Kennedy in his tracks.

    I wish I knew what was said.

  147. 147.

    L85NJGT

    The thing about that progressive response:

    Junior O’Daniel: We could hire our own midget, even shorter than his.

    Pappy O’Daniel: Wouldn’t we look like a bunch of Johnny-come-latelies, bragging on our own midget, doesn’t matter how stumpy.

  148. 148.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Chief Oshkosh: She wrote for the NY Post for ~20 years, and over the weekend wrote a completely false story about Kamala Harris and her book. When the blowback got too hot, she “resigned” while effusively praising the paper and her colleagues.

  159. 159.

    Soprano2

    @Uncle Cosmo: Never ever forget that the vast majority of those who start small businesses go to sleep dreaming of the business blossoming into a vast empire that makes them megawealthy.

    I don’t know about that; my sister built a pretty successful environmental consulting business before her untimely death in 2012. She made a lot of money, but mostly she was motivated by her desire to make the environment cleaner and better. The year after her death was a perilous time for her company; we eventually sold it to an ownership group of 5 employees, who struggled that first year to run it with the help of a board established by her trust. My sister was pretty much the whole sales force, so they had to build a sales force from the ground up. I talked to a couple of her key employees who said they got regular calls from headhunters in the industry who tried to recruit them because they were sure the business would fail. Luckily, after that first year they got better and pulled it out. It’s now a thriving environmental consulting business with offices in several states around MO, as well as in KC. She didn’t have anyone to inherit her business, so this would have happened sooner or later anyway. I feel a little bit proud myself every time I drive by their building; something good she built still survives, and that’s important to me.

  160. 160.

    Gin & Tonic

    @OzarkHillbilly: Probably beating a dead horse, but I’m not sure that fits in the category of “mistake.” If you write lies, which are then published, and *then* resign on principle, it seems you have a real problem with the concept of principle.

    I understand most people need employment and don’t necessarily have the luxury of resigning a 20+year position on a matter of alleged principle. But if you’ve spent 20+ years working in the gutter, I think you’ve demonstrated principles already, and if your resignation lavishes praise on the gutter you resigned from and your colleagues there, it rings hollow.

    Early in a career I held for a long time, I was asked to do something I thought was unethical. I had a mortgage to pay and mouths to feed, but I said no. I was scared shitless, but it ended up not only not harming my career, it established a reputation. Yes, I know the world doesn’t always work that way.

  166. 166.

    Miss Bianca

    @John S.:

    As he’s demonstrated many times, Biden is a/an (synonym for radical) (synonym for communist). According to a Fox News poll, (fake statistic), (fake statistic) and (fake statistic) are all (synonym for scared or angry) with his assault on their (synonym for freedom) and (synonym for religion or gun). If we allow the Democrat party to pass this (synonym for radical) agenda, America will be (scary apocalyptic metaphor) for generations to come.

    I love it. So swiping this.

    @Betty Cracker: It’s not overkill. Both Moderna shots knocked me on my ass for a day or two afterwards. Extreme fatigue.

  167. 167.

    Just One More Canuck

    @sab: True – would be funny though, from a conservatives-heads-exploding point of view.

    People have been asking after you

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