Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let there be snark.

A Senator Walker would be an insult to the state and the nation.

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

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

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

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

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

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

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

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

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

We still have time to mess this up!

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Consistently wrong since 2002

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

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

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

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Reader Interactions

119Comments

  1. 1.

    WaterGirl

    If anyone is having an issue with your comments disappearing, please try to add a comment here to say so.  If you comment doesn’t show up (!) then please send email to my nym at balloon-juice.com to let me know.  Thanks.

  2. 2.

    Betsy

    Welp. I’m still disheartened, dispirited, and depressed.

    The news. The prospects.  The future. And more.

  5. 5.

    Another Scott

    I was able to post downstairs. How about here??

    Most Popular
    ❤️ Red Heart
    ✨ Sparkles
    ? Fire
    ? Face with Tears of Joy
    ? Smiling Face with Smiling Eyes
    ❤️‍? Heart on Fire
    ? Thumbs Up
    ? Pleading Face
    ? Smiling Face with Hearts

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  8. 8.

    JPL

    @Betsy: That’s how I feel, but I did find a clip from New Day that made me hopeful.     link

    In case you weren’t able to watch it, a Delta pilot whose father was a holocaust survivro, flew a plane load of Afghans to America to start a new life.

  13. 13.

    debbie

    @Betsy:

    I made the mistake of tuning in to Glenn Beck, about when Bill O’Reilly made his weekly appearance. I want to rip their faces off.

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: When I was trying to find Another Scott’s comments in the back room, I did release some comments on the thread about your friend’s pup needing a home.

    Maybe go back and respond to those?

    Have you heard anything further about whether the dog has found a home?

  18. 18.

    jnfr

    I was in moderation, and then I wasn’t. Sorry to be a PITA again, WG.

    Still better here than LGM, alas, where I have been flagged as spam and have become a ghost.

  19. 19.

    Fair Economist

    Got thru another colonoscopy with only one small benign polyp. Good for another 5 years!

  25. 25.

    Another Scott

    @WaterGirl: It looks like most/all of my “moderated” comments downstairs did eventually appear.

    Strange.

    Thanks for your efforts!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  26. 26.

    Old Man Shadow

    @WaterGirl: California.

    The lunatics here have decided that Gov. Newsom is a tyrant for doing his best to keep us all alive and for not letting the Central Valley have all the water in the middle of a prolonged drought. Recall voting is going on now and if the recall passes, the fools will elect a right-wing talk radio fool to run the state into Texas and Florida territory.

  28. 28.

    Percysowner

    Then there are the people who roll up their sleeves and get shit done.

     

    With NO fanfare, Hillary Clinton has been organising flights, for endangered women & kids, out of Afghanistan

    Meanwhile, Sanders, Trump & their stans, continue to focus their efforts on white (working class) menhttps://t.co/Rd1B9jCCOF pic.twitter.com/CEzRzIhOip
    — T. Fisher King (@T_FisherKing) August 22, 2021

    She should have been President.

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    @Another Scott: It is strange.

    I did find someone who had been been banned for no obvious reason and released his comments.  I guess that’s the silver lining.

    That was Anonymous at Work.  So if you’re reading, your comments should start showing up now. :-)

  32. 32.

    Old Man Shadow

    I turned 47 in May and I feel as if I have lived 100 times that number.

    I wish to go away and be alone with my family somewhere nice where people are a twenty minute drive away and grow a large garden and have chickens and raise dachshunds.

  34. 34.

    WaterGirl

    @SiubhanDuinne: When I worked in IT at the University, I would show up to fix someone’s problem and it would suddenly be working again.  Computers love me, but copy machines HATE me.

    I’ll take it. :-)

  35. 35.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    Take your umbrella and it doesn’t rain a drop. Make an expensive after-hours emergency dentist appointment and the toothache miraculously disappears. Etc. etc. etc.

    ‘Twas ever thus.

  36. 36.

    Another Scott

    @VeniceRiley: Dunno.

    APNews:

    […]

    The decision was a major victory for the 77-year-old prisoner, though it does not assure his release.

    The ruling by the two-person panel at Sirhan’s 16th parole hearing will be reviewed over the next 90 days by the California Parole Board’s staff. Then it will be sent to the governor, who will have 30 days to decide whether to grant it, reverse it or modify it.

    […]

    Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, a former police officer who took office last year after running on a reform platform, says he idolized the Kennedys and mourned RFK’s assassination but is sticking to his policy that prosecutors not influence decisions to release prisoners.

    That decision is best left to board members who can evaluate whether Sirhan has been rehabilitated and can be released safely, Gascón told The Associated Press earlier this year. Relitigating a case decades after a crime should not be the job of prosecutors, even in notorious cases, he said.

    Sirhan has served 53 years for the murder of the New York senator and brother of President John F. Kennedy. RFK was a Democratic presidential candidate when he was gunned down at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles moments after delivering a victory speech in the pivotal California primary.

    53 years is a very long time. He’s not the same person he was.

    FWIW.

    In any event, it seems unlikely that he’ll be subject of any decision by the governor before the election.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  43. 43.

    MomSense

    @Old Man Shadow:

    I feel you.  This shit is exhausting.  I said in the morning Covid thread that I had to sign the COVID testing and protocols permission slip for my kid’s last year of school.  At least we have mask mandates.  I hope it’s enough.

  44. 44.

    Madeleine

    I finally terminated my sustaining donation to NPR. I’d maintained it because local coverage is good and some lweekend shows amuse me, but I’ve been furious about the treatment of Biden as he ends the Afghanitstan war. The beginning of All Things Considered this afternoon was just the last straw. And I’ve told them these are the reasons I’m not giving them any more money.

    Now off to help make dinner.

  45. 45.

    brendancalling

    Just completed my first week as a substitute study hall proctor at the high school where I interned last year and they asked if I’d be down for 27 hours a week.

    nice to have the offer, but I think I make more as a per diem substitute. Discussing with the principal Tuesday.

    Current listening, Nat Freedberg, Devil Rockin’ Man, from the “Better Late Than Never” album.

  50. 50.

    trollhattan

    @Another Scott: ​
    He was turned down last go because “he did not show remorse.” Wonder if he said “sorry” this time?

    Also wonder what % of Californians were alive when he murdered RFK? Bonus points for knowing who RFK was.

    On to the Manson family.

  52. 52.

    Ohio Mom

    The Sirhan news was a surprise to me, my first reaction was, He’s still alive?!

    I read that his plan is to live with his brother. I hope his brother is younger and healthier — what do you do when you are 77 without a penny to your name.

  54. 54.

    Redshift

    @debbie:

    Thank you. That is very sweet. It’s easy to forget kindness persists. 

    The newsletter I got today from Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service says that 40,000 people have signed up to volunteer to help arriving Afghan refugees. It was 25,000 a week ago when I signed up.

  59. 59.

    The Dangerman

    Cali Dude here. Haven’t voted in al long long time because CA is such a deep shade of blue. Sure, there are large pockets of red here and there but those are easily avoided (or one drives through quickly, only stopping if an urgent nature call can’t be ignored for a few miles).

    Got my ballot today and turned it right around. Having a Republican win a Governorship this way is ridiculous.

  61. 61.

    Old Man Shadow

    @MomSense: Thanks. Me too. I send my kids off to school next week. Masks required for now. My oldest gets his second shot on the first day of school. My youngest is still waiting for the FDA to sign off on 11 and under getting the shot.

  63. 63.

    Dan B

    @Quiltingfool:  Trae. Sigh… Who knew a Ninja caliber ranter would pull heartstrings.

    In other Southerin news, N’worlenz looks to get Cat4+ Ida. 170mph gusts over water.
    My neighbor wanted to move to N’wahlenz. I thought it could be fun until it wasn’t. He didn’t. Now has a beautiful girlfriend so things are okay.

  64. 64.

    OGLiberal

    @Ohio Mom: Same here – I never really gave it a thought but would have thought he died in prison a while ago.  I was not yet born when he did what he did so it’s history book stuff for me.  That said, the Manson stuff happened around the same time and he died only a few years ago. (and he was considerably older)

  66. 66.

    tim mcclellan

    @Madeleine:

    I finally terminated my sustaining donation to NPR. I’d maintained it because local coverage is good and some lweekend shows amuse me, but I’ve been furious about the treatment of Biden as he ends the Afghanistan war.

    What do you want from NPR? Wall to wall slobbering coverage of how brilliantly Uncle Joe has managed this crisis.  I voted for Biden over Trump, but it’s painfully obvious that he totally fucked up this withdrawal.  Just because the Republicans are far worse than the Democrats, does not mean Biden is entitled to a free pass from the MSM.  He’s an over the hill buffoon and if he has any common sense he’ll refuse to run for re-election

  67. 67.

    jnfr

    @trollhattan: ​
    Yep, yep. Big-time spammer, that’s me.

    The mods are really nice about fishing my posts out of the spam bucket, but honestly that’s more trouble than any blog comment is worth.

  75. 75.

    geg6

    @raven:

    Not quite.  It was a two person panel who approved.  Now it goes to the full parole board and then the governor.  They have 90 days to decide.

    All I can say about this is that RFK’s family are better people than I could ever be because they support his parole.

  77. 77.

    Squid696

    Sirhan Sirhan needs to stay in prison.  We are still paying for Richard Nixon being President.  Sirhan Sirhan has a lot of responsibility for that.  I have no idea what an RFK presidency would have been like, but it would have been better than Nixon. Every Republican President since Teddy Roosevelt has been bad for America, but since Nixon they have been monsters.

  78. 78.

    burnspbesq

    @Old Man Shadow:

    Don’t mean to pick on you specifically, but the Chicken Little behavior of alarmists in my former home state is really getting tiresome. What does anyone really think Elder or anyone else is going to do to f things up in the face of veto-proof Democratic majorities in both houses of the Legislature?

  79. 79.

    trollhattan

    Dang the luck, the wind flipped today and we went from good AQI to unhealthy, as smoke from the Sierra is pushed down into the valley. Gonna be a long weekend.

  80. 80.

    WaterGirl

    @tim mcclellan: Could not disagree more with what you said about President Biden.

    War is messy.  Withdrawing is messy.  Getting out is the right thing.  Evacuating more than 100,000 people in 10 days is an extraordinarily successful military venture.

    Whether you like his policies or not, seeing him as an over the hill buffoon just indicates a preexisting prejudice against him.

    Just one person’s opinion.

  81. 81.

    Chetan Murthy

    @burnspbesq: 1.  we don’t want to fuck around and find out.

    2. he’ll have lots of executive authority, and there’s lots that Newsom did with that, that Elder can undo.  Sure the lege can laws to constrain him, but that takes time.  And with a fast-burning epidemic, we don’t really have that time.

    3. For some things, I suspect the lege is going to be hamstrung anyway: e.g. water distribution.

  82. 82.

    Dan B

    @trollhattan: Locals are reporting that evacuation is a crapshoot.  You can get stuck on the road with no power in miles.*

     

    *It’s fun until it isn’t.   Sorta the motto for climate.

    BTW Our electric bill was $17.50 for two of the hottest months in Seattle history.  We ran AC (ductless heat pumps) for several weeks and a big attic fan.  I thought we’d be bankrupted for that.  Heat pumps and air sealing (stopping leaks) is a miracle for comfort.  There’s still visible damage from the day it was 110 (120 in our sunny backyard).

    It’s fun until it isn’t!

  83. 83.

    Old Man Shadow

    @burnspbesq: Unless the legislature wants to take the time to micromanage a lot of issues in law, there’s a lot of folly an executive branch acting in bad faith can get up to.

  84. 84.

    Dan B

    @trollhattan: Seattle got a weather change.  It sprinkled last night and this morning!!  Probably less than 1/100th inch.  Didn’t completely wet the pavement.  Was nice to hear raindrops on the ponds.  Sigh.

  88. 88.

    RSA

    @WaterGirl:

    All I did was poke around, I didn’t fix a thing.

    You don’t get enough credit for what you actually do—might as well take advantage of when things work out by themselves. :-)

  89. 89.

    Dan B

    @WaterGirl: Seconded!! Fourthed…

    Biden’s team got the speed of collapse wrong.  It’s amazing that so many have been evacuated even as it’s heartbreaking that so many can’t get to the airport.  There are reports they are already killing gay men.  Many of them had bern trying to get out for years but Trump’s Flying Monkeys had stopped all channels for escape.

    TFG abandoned the Kurds and did not evacuate anyone from the bloodbath.  It’s a chilling contrast.

  90. 90.

    OGLiberal

    @Squid696: Not sure if Bobby would have even gotten the nomination.  Like most Kennedys he had flaws (if I recall he was a willing accomplice of Joe McCarthy…not the entire time and I don’t think he liked Roy Cohn but he was into that “Red” hunting BS).  But he really did seem dedicated to racial justice and fighting poverty. (enough reason to mourn his death)  But those were still the days where winning primaries didn’t really guarantee you the nominations – the guys in the backrooms (often named Daley) chose the candidate.  Humphrey didn’t even run in the primaries.

  91. 91.

    the pollyanna from hell

    bug, or unbug report: after months of not working, visual editor worked a few random times recently for me, tho not this time. Firefox on ubuntu

  94. 94.

    cain

    @Ohio Mom: I read that his plan is to live with his brother. I hope his brother is younger and healthier — what do you do when you are 77 without a penny to your name.

    Oh you can bet he can get on the talk circuit and talk his brains out. I mean he is kind of famous.

  95. 95.

    WaterGirl

    @Dan B:

    TFG abandoned the Kurds and did not evacuate anyone from the bloodbath.  It’s a chilling contrast.

    I’m not sure the media ever even reported on the bloodbath when T**** abandoned the Kurds.

  100. 100.

    Quiltingfool

    @tim mcclellan: Despite your disdain of Biden, you voted for him, so good on you.
    I like to sit around and imagine how I would run things if I were President, and then I realize I am in no way, shape or form up to doing that thankless job.   Biden is damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.  I’d like to think he is making the best possible choices when  confronted with a shitty scenario.

  103. 103.

    OGLiberal

    @Quiltingfool: “you (I) voted for him” – so said about 50-60% of the Midwest diner folks about Obama when interviewed by the NYT during the Trump years.

    Pre-emptive deep apologies if “tim mcclellan” is not an obvious troll.

  105. 105.

    trollhattan

    @Chetan Murthy:

    +1. CA governor has a lot of direct authority, as Arnold demonstrated, and somebody with zero fucks to give–Elder–can rain havoc for more than a year.

    Do. Not. Want.

  107. 107.

    Betsy

    @WaterGirl: Eh.  Gads.  Where to start.

    The trash heap left in Biden’s lap. The planet cooking. Covidiots prolonging everything.  My elderly loved ones.  My young ones and their future.  My finances. Living with stupefying selfish people sprinkled / heaped  everywhere.

    And big things, like no one knows how to prune a crape myrtle any more.

  109. 109.

    Quiltingfool

    @OGLiberal:  I don’t know if that guy is a troll or not.  He doesn’t like Biden, obviously, but he said he voted for him, and, if so, good.  I do not agree with the rest of his statement.  I think he wants to rile folks up and he isn’t succeeding.

    As for diner folk who supposedly voted for Obama and then suddenly decided to vote for TFG, well,  I think that’s bullshit – they were lying.  Why, who knows?  To do a performative “I’m not a racist, I voted for Obama!”  The only reason I can think they actually voted that way was they had an irrational hatred of Hillary Clinton – or they were much more misogynistic than racist.

  111. 111.

    OGLiberal

    @Quiltingfool: I think those folks were about 50-50 bullshitting and a lot more misogynist than racist.  Like that anecdotal about the campaign worker in PA visiting a white folks home on behalf of the Obama campaign and yelling to his wife to tell the door knocker that they were “voting for the n-word”.  That likely didn’t happen to that person but my guess is that it actually did happen and that people like that did not vote for Clinton.  We split time between Central NJ and NEPA.  The rural areas of NEPA are hopeless but the Scranton-Wilkes Barre urban area has been pretty reliably Dem for years.  Even in the most recent statewide elections Wolf and Casey won easy there.  Very, very, very white…even in the cities.  Obama cleaned up there in both of his elections – not even close.  The swings to Trump in those areas in 2016 were enormous.  Clinton barely won Scranton and lost Wilkes Barre.  And her family has roots in the area.  And don’t think it was Joe who helped Obama because those areas didn’t swing back that far for Joe in 2020.  I think the “no lady folks as president” feelings played a role in 2016 and either these folks – whom Trump would despise – had some sort of special feelings for Trump or they just didn’t go back after the Dems threw some lady at them in 2016 and then threw some brown lady at them as VP in 2020.  Prbbably a combo of both.  People loves them some Trump up in NEPA and a lot of them are not “economically anxious”.

  113. 113.

    Another Scott

    @OGLiberal: Thanks.

    I only have a few personal anecdotes from an old friend who had a visceral hatred of Hillary.  The misogyny was so toxic and over the top…  :-(  I think it is still underappreciated in TFG’s “win”.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  115. 115.

    OGLiberal

    @Another Scott: The media fed the Clinton hatred but I said years ago we’ll have a black dude as president before a white woman and I was right.  I wasn’t exactly prescient…look at voting rights in this country.

    The media plays a big role in this.  And it is male and female journos alike.  And they also give GOP crazy ladies a pass because I guess they think, “well, conservatives elected them so guess I can’t criticize them.”  Also, the wingnut women I know are the biggest haters of Clinton, the “Squad”, etc, around.  The whole thinking that nominating a woman will win over conservative women is a complete fallacy…but I think everybody knows that already.

  116. 116.

    OGLiberal

    @Another Scott: Adding, the shifts in the Scranton-Wilkes Barre area are just nuts.  They are in two different counties – Lackawanna and Luzerne – and Luzerne – where Wilkes Barre is – leans a bit more rural and white.  But both are very, very white and have not seen major demographics shifts in ages.  Nor have the economics  – coals and trains here died a very, very long time ago…if out of control regulation was fucking them over in 2016 it was the same story in 2008, or even 1970.  The biggest difference is that Amazon and other distribution centers have become much larger employers.  Check this out:

    Lackawanna
    Luzerne

    Year
    DEM
    GOP
    DEM
    GOP

    2020
    54
    45
    42
    57

    2016
    50
    47
    39
    68

    2012
    63
    36
    52
    47

    2008
    63
    37
    54
    45

    That is just nuts.  I can’t explain it.

  117. 117.

    TiredOfItAll

    Re Sirhan Sirhan, so the RFK boys say he should be released, so what?  It’s nice that they have forgiven him, but isn’t the question whether America has forgiven him?  His crime wasn’t personal to them.  I don’t think their views should be considered relevant, whether they support his release or demand he remain incarcerated.  But’s that’s just my two cents, which ain’t worth anything.

    Apropos of being disheartened, depressed, etc.  —  yeah, me too.  The young people in my life say they and their peers are strongly considering never having children, as it’s such a miserable world to bring a child into.  I’m oh, so, tired of Covid.  I can’t stand this long, hot summer. And I read a Twitter thread today about why/how Invermectin caught on that has left me stunned at the level of stupidity/ignorance/magical thinking of my fellow Americans. What to do, what to do.  Put my own oxygen mask on first, I guess.  I think I’m going to retreat into some science fiction for awhile.

  118. 118.

    OGLiberal

    @TiredOfItAll: RE:  Invermectin.  I read what the menu these folks put together for when they get COVID and I have to think that the only reason horse parasite paste and bleach is any better than a tested vaccine and mask is either because you are an asshole, insane or both.  I mean, beyond being untested and/or mostly useless, it’s a huge pain in the ass…too much shit to remember, have to obtain from so many places, etc.  Or is that them pulling themselves up but their bootstraps?

  119. 119.

    OGLiberal

    @TiredOfItAll: Also, I respect the Kennedy kids’ support, and – really – the dude probably has done a lot of good on the environmental front (I actually read one of his books…not bad!) but Bobby Jr. is on the Jenny McCarthy front went it comes to anti-vax crap.  In these times, he does not help.  He gives the Fox folks “even the leftist…” opening.  Fuck him.

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