Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

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

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

This really is a full service blog.

Republicans in disarray!

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

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

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Bark louder, little dog.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

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

Consistently wrong since 2002

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

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

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Reader Interactions

131Comments

  6. 6.

    Jeffery

    The’ll be sorry. I would have adopted kids at least two if not three years old to avoid sleepless nights and diapers.

  10. 10.

    HinTN

    Congratulations Chasten and Pete.

    On another topic, I have just submitted the following to Phillips 66:

    I am removing the Phillips 66 credit card from my wallet. Your corporate HQ is in Texas and the Texas law allowing private citizens to target abortion providers and all who access their services is incompatible with individual freedom and dignity. Until Phillips 66 publicly repudiates this law I will not purchase your product.

  15. 15.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    Looks like a cheap idpol stunt to spit in the eye of the economically anxious worker that built the democrat party thru 1970 then got sacrificed on the altar of propping up slave-labor markets in asia & mesoamerica via one-sided unfree trade deals

  24. 24.

    Kent

    @JPL:@Kent: Just speculating, but sometimes twins have to stay in the hospital longer because of birth weight.

    I mean Chasten and Pete.  That’s an adult hospital bed not a bassinette.  I mean they are doing the classical shot of the mother resting in the hospital bed after giving birth.

  27. 27.

    eclare

    As someone previously noted, Chasten is going to the most in-demand person in DC for play dates.  No slam on Pete, but Cabinet Secretary is a demanding job.

    Very happy for them.

  28. 28.

    JPL

    @Kent: I wonder how old the picture is because they posted last August that they becames parents.

    For some time, Chasten and I have wanted to grow our family. We’re overjoyed to share that we’ve become parents! The process isn’t done yet and we’re thankful for the love, support, and respect for our privacy that has been offered to us. We can’t wait to share more soon.

  29. 29.

    frosty

    @Jeffery: ​ We adopted two boys: one as an infant and one as a toddler. I told my friends the second one came to us already housebroken.Both were sleeping through the night when we met them. Whew!!​

  31. 31.

    Kent

    @Jeffery:The’ll be sorry. I would have adopted kids at least two if not three years old to avoid sleepless nights and diapers.

    Seriously?  I raised 3 kids and was the primary caregiver for the last two as infants because my wife was a medical resident at the time.  It’s all good.

    Question for you.  Why would you want to farm out the first 2-3 years of raising your child to someone else?  Those are formative years in many ways in terms of health, learning, things like eating habits, socialization, etc.

  32. 32.

    Ohio Mom

    Could have been an IVF surrogate deal, multiples are very common with IVF (where several embryos may be transferred to the uterus in hopes that at least one of them successfully implants).

    Of course, it’s none of our business. All we are required to do is be happy for the new family, which is no effort at all.

  35. 35.

    Kent

    @JPL:

    @Baud: Two for the price of one..

    When they are teenagers, they might rethink their decision.

    They will be just fine.  Very dear friend of mine is a single gay man in his 50s and beloved HS social studies teacher.  He adopted twins about 10 years ago and they are doing just fine.  And he’s on his own other than help from his parents.

  41. 41.

    JPL

    I mentioned before that my son has a SNOO which is a miracle crib.   He was the son who didn’t sleep through the night until he was older than one.   They were both disappointed when it took over a week for the second one to sleep five to six hours straight, before mom woke him to nurse.   Sometimes it’s best not to say anything.

  42. 42.

    Kent

    @eclare:

    As someone previously noted, Chasten is going to the most in-demand person in DC for play dates.  No slam on Pete, but Cabinet Secretary is a demanding job.

    Very happy for them.

    That was me.   Our youngest two daughters came when my wife was in residency.  Her residency program happened to be mostly males and so there was a clutch of young doctor’s wives with young children doing their own social life and play dates.  They were always desperately trying to include me for the novelty sake I think.  None of the other male spouses had young children.  I went to a few of their scheduled play date events out of politeness but quickly got bored of it and didn’t really have the time anyway as I was doing full-time consulting work out of a home office while tending the child.

    But unless I miss my guess, Chasten is going to be the most in-demand invite by young DC-area socialite moms for play date gatherings.  Especially with twins.

  44. 44.

    Heidi Mom

    So happy to see this!  I was just wondering whether I had missed a follow-up to the initial announcement.

  46. 46.

    JPL

    Pete and Chasten have a right to privacy and it goes without saying the twins do,  but I hope they will share occasional pictures with us.

  50. 50.

    dr. bloor

    Can’t wait for Fucker Carlson’s rant about how Teh Gay Satanist Baby Traffickers aren’t even trying to hide their evil doings anymore.

  52. 52.

    JPL

    @WaterGirl: SNOO is a brand name, of a very expensive crib that rocks slowly when the baby stirs.   If after several minutes, the baby doesn’t fall back asleep, it will shut off, and notify you.     I wanted payback.

    They do rent them though.    link

  61. 61.

    Ruckus

    @JPL:

    That OWG looks too much like he’s been caught and nothing like an old cop on patrol, so acting is possible. If it is, he’s very good. I’d bet that man giving him grief, with a badge on his chest, is a relatively new upper level, maybe the chief. It does look like a setup though. It always makes you wonder when the photography is good, study, and in their faces. A cell phone would never have gotten that close.

  62. 62.

    Ken

    @JPL: Some of the comments suggest it was staged, and used for educational purposes.

    TRAINER: Officer Sikorski, what should the officer have done next?

    SIKORSKI: Shot the perps, sir.

    TRAINER: Wrong!  Officer Pendergast?

    PENDERGAST: Malfunction his body camera, then shoot the perps, sir.

    TRAINER: Exactly!  And why did the perps need to be shot?

    CHORUS OF BORED VOICES: I assessed the situation and felt in danger of harm so took action to protect myself resulting in an officer involved shooting incident.

  67. 67.

    BeautifulPlumage

    Agree with Watergirls’ first post – lotta love in that pic. Also think Ohio Mom’s conjecture has a lot of truth.

  68. 68.

    JPL

    @Baud:  Sometimes he’s even pleasant to converse with.   His last stronghold was Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, but he caught him spreading lies.   My niece gave him a choice, which was to turn it off, if he planned on seeing her again.   It took about a year for him to realize how bad it was.  He’s been clean for about four years now.

  74. 74.

    dww44

    @JPL: ​
      What does it say about us that there’s a good possibility we might have a gay President before we have a woman President?

  75. 75.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @JPL: out to lunch with some extended family in the spring of 2020, a cousin said she really liked Buttigieg. Her right wing father said, “He’s too young, he needs more experience”

  80. 80.

    germy

    https://january6th.house.gov/

    “Minority Leader McCarthy has recently made statements regarding the January 6th investigation. He has suggested, based on an anonymous report, that the Department of Justice has concluded that Donald Trump did not cause, incite, or provoke the violence on January 6th. When this anonymous report was first published, the Select Committee queried the Executive Branch agencies and congressional committees involved in the investigation. We’ve received answers and briefings from the relevant entities, and it’s been made clear to us that reports of such a conclusion are baseless. We will continue to pursue all elements of this investigation in a nonpartisan and thorough manner. We also remind Minority Leader McCarthy of his statements following January 6th, including his statement from the House Floor on January 13th—which are inconsistent with his recent comments.”

  84. 84.

    scav

    @dww44: That we can’t manage a single-body male gay female black latina First-nation atheist candidate yet? And, are we still playing by the ladies first rule?  The one who wins wins, especially if they all get a shot at it.

  87. 87.

    germy

    I know some folks are hesitant to get vaccinated, but the vaccine is safe, effective, and the best way to protect yourself and those you love. I sat down with Stephanie, who got the Pfizer vaccine after it received its full FDA authorization, to talk about her experience. pic.twitter.com/osdgY6Jggi

    — President Biden (@POTUS) September 4, 2021

  88. 88.

    scav

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: No, but I dislike the implication that there’s a necessary ranking of who gets to be president first, a ranking of oppression.  It’s the feminists dumping abolitionists and hiding black women.  etc.  I don’t care how many tits she had, I’m glad we avoided Margaret Thatcher. And I don’t think electing Obama before a woman has shamed the nation.

  91. 91.

    jeffreyw

    As long as you’re here, WaterGirl, comments are wonky today. Lots of all the way to the top on refresh, no cursor in visual box, back arrow unreliable etc. Comment box will not populate for edits.

  93. 93.

    BeautifulPlumage

    The comments on Pete’s twitter  post are so wonderful! Lots of parents of twins sending support and general congratulations. I didn’t know I needed this uplift today. Thank you WaterGirl for front paging this. ??

    eta various corrections *sigh

  100. 100.

    Anoniminous

    Don’t see what the Big Deal.

    It’s just the classic American family: a baby daughter, a baby son, and two dads.

  104. 104.

    Ken

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: One of the early ones, perhaps, when they were all in wigs and stockings.  Or that batch in the late 1800s when they all had beards and mustaches.

    Or we could just go with the not-quite-fictional scenario of a  president whose wife runs everything. Sure, her signature wasn’t on the legislation or orders, but he signed everything she put in front of him…

  105. 105.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @scav: I think, as a white woman, I always felt that there was a hierarchy of oppression. I knew I had privileges that Black people didn’t have. But the election of Obama and the loss of HRC, taught me that I shouldn’t be so sure of where I stood. Mind you, I don’t think electing Obama before a woman shamed the nation in any way. I’m just saying that our having a Black president and still no woman president made me reassess my situation.

  107. 107.

    Kay

    Matt Lewis
    @mattklewis
    ·6h
    I’m a Conservative Who Hates Abortion. The Texas Law Is a Disaster.

    I’m a conservative who gave zero thought to how we planned to radically rewrite pregnancy regulations, right up until I saw one.

    Not one of these people considered the ramifications of redefining “person” to mean “at conception”?
    They’re shitty, lazy, sloppy THINKERS.
    Of course it’s radical! You redefined “person” to include any pregnancy at any stage. It’s just the start too. It profoundly affects criminal law, probate law, property law and puts every pregnant woman at the mercy of far Right religious activists.
    It goes MUCH further than the legal scheme that was in place prior to Roe. Those were criminal laws- they reached specific acts. This redefines “person” and sweeps up every pregnant woman in the country. It’s never been done before. Brand new.

  108. 108.

    Gretchen

    @Kent: we called that the twin tax.  Two high chairs, two cribs, two graphing calculators.  Worth it though – twins are great fun after you get through the sleepless first year.

  109. 109.

    Woodrow/asim

    @Kay: They’re shitty, lazy, sloppy THINKERS.

    To a person. Even the backend folx who come up with this crap (lobbyists/”think-tanks”/etc.), are at this point mentally poisoned by gettin’ high on their own supply and/or C.R.E.A.M.ing the rubes for high livin’.

    I’m leaning into the idea that the Conservatives dug their little doggie teeth into the car’s bumper on this one. That Roberts and his ilk really thought they could spool out Roe for a thousand more cuts and cash grabs — then the Trump-blessed express line for Federalist Society asshole “judges”, blew that plan up. And a lot of Conservatives, today, don’t have new marching orders — if they did, Fox News would have not been near-silent on this ruling on Day 1.

    This is not good — a lot of people are, and will be, in horrific pain because of this and the other shit rulings to come. The only thing this does is put in stark relief what many people have been saying for decades, and hopefully we can all see more clearly, what must be fought against.

  113. 113.

    scav

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Of course there are gradations of oppression, but they’re not tidy. You, as a white women have easier access to certain things than a black male on average, but there are also things he benefits from due his gender on average.  All the fact that Obama came first and not HRC reminded me of is that people with phenomenal people skills — especially when allied to organizational groundwork — get elected first. But at this level, we’re having to deal with the skills and baggage and impedimenta of individuals.  Looking at the relative performance of white female and black male CEOs of largish firms might better reflect your expectations as well as average conditions. But even then, it’s not tidy.

  114. 114.

    Subsole

    @Kay:

    Why think about something that’ll never happen to you? Consequences are for the people I’m trying to hurt, not me. I’m the person throwing the punch, not taking it.

    I mean, conservatism is, in essence, that dipshit who breaks a bottle over someone’s head then stands there blanche-faced and gawping because their hand got sliced open to the bone.

    And then, often as not,  they expect the person they just concussed to sew them up and thank them for being so brave…

  118. 118.

    satby

    @Kent: It’s likely a shot of them meeting the babies soon after the birth in the bio-mom’s hospital room. The other bed is probably the only place they could both sit to be in the same picture.

    @WaterGirl: That’s just a weird statement.  You have no idea about twins, do you? And one father is a Cabinet Secretary who travels for his job, it’s not two stay at home dads.

  120. 120.

    way2blue

    Twins!  As a parent of twins I wish them every happiness on this new journey.  Twin babies will tap reserves of strength, patience & energy they likely didn’t know they had…

  121. 121.

    Brachiator

    @Ruckus:

    The ending years of Ronnie’s presidency we had a woman running things.

    Or an astrologer, if some of the crazy stories about the Reagan years are accurate.

  122. 122.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: That complexity of privilege and oppression is what intersectionality deals with. I.e. there’s multiple dimensions of both for individual.

    For example, post-transition I’ve given up/had taken away privileges I had when I appeared to be a cis-het man, now that the world sees me as a queer trans woman. But I retain my privilege as someone who’s white, middle-class, well-educated, etc. Plus while I mostly have privilege as an able-bodied person, there’s been periods of my life where severe pinched nerve pain left me temporarily disabled, and experiencing some of the oppression related to that, such as having difficulty navigating non-ADA compliant spaces.

  123. 123.

    Ohio Mom

    I only had one baby and that was exhausting — I think I have more than an inkling what two at a time would be like. I can also imagine that the new parents already have a housekeeper. They might miss some sleep but they aren’t going to worry about keeping up with the laundry or cleaning the bathrooms.

    And I thought was Satby said was obvious, but obviously it wasn’t: the hospital bed was “borrowed” during a visit to the birth mom and the newborns for this very much planned in advance photo op — if you are Pete Buttigeig, and you ask for a bed for a photo, you get it. It’s not like the maternity floor is being shared with Covid patients.

  124. 124.

    Juju

    @Kay:  It makes women chattel. That the law doesn’t include the ability to sue the woman who is seeking the abortion, says women have no agency and we aren’t capable of deciding for ourselves and we must be monitored at all times until we lose value and are not of child bearing years. If those rights can be rolled back, what comes next? Will it be too dangerous for us to drive, buy houses on our own, or even vote? It may be alarmist on my part, but this really has the potential to be carried to an extreme. I’m worried.

  126. 126.

    StringOnAStick

    I have friends who were selected to be the parents in a non-traditional adoption.  They were there in the hospital and given the baby immediately after he was born because the birth mother didn’t want to see it, know it’s sex, etc., just wanted it gone.  There’s photos of my friend in a hospital bed with the brand new baby so this is common.

  127. 127.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    @Subsole: i will say that in 2019, pete was one of three primary candidates to whom i donated (kamala & jay were the others)

  129. 129.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    @scav: my dream 2028 ticket — assuming kamala declines to run after 8 yrs as vp — is sharice davids, pres, & beto o’rourke, vp

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