Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Let there be snark.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

This fight is for everything.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

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

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

No one could have predicted…

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

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

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

Not all heroes wear capes.

The revolution will be supervised.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

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

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

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

I really should read my own blog.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / I Don’t Have The Patience for the Bullshit Anymore

I Don’t Have The Patience for the Bullshit Anymore

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Honestly, I never did. I stepped away from the blog for a little bit after my post the other day seemed to be dragging some of y’all down, and I didn’t want to do that. BTW- the title of this post is not referencing you all or this blog, just to clear things up.

I just could never be in politics because I just don’t have any patience for bullshitters. If you don’t like something, say it. If you want something, say it. I don’t have the time or the patience to deal with the kind of crap Biden and the vast majority of the Democrats on the hill are dealing with right now with Sinema and to a lesser extent, Manchin. It’s simply not in my nature to tolerate it.

If I run into people who do this sort of thing, I cut them out of my life. It’s just too infuriating to deal with someone who won’t just come out and say what they want or need. I get work related emails from time to time that have 4-5 paragraphs of just nonsense and groveling and I have been known to just send it back with a response that says “I didn’t read this, what do you need or want from me?”

I don’t need to be lied to, I don’t need things sugarcoated, I don’t need to be deceived, I don’t need your attempts to be cute. I’ll take a straight up asshole son of a bitch who tells me directly where he stands over someone tapdancing around wasting my time ANY DAY OF THE WEEK. You’re not going to vote for this no matter what? Fine. Get out of my face and let me find another pass forward.

And I definitely can not stand showboaters. Fortunately, there are some who feel like me on the Hill:

Bless her.

Reader Interactions

99Comments

  2. 2.

    WaterGirl

    John, I feel honored that I have never received that message from you.

    I have been known to just send it back with a response that says “I didn’t read this, what do you need or want from me?

    Edit: though you have asked me to just cut to the chase.

  8. 8.

    Ryan

    I think you speak for all of us Cole.  Sinema’s crap that she’s in the senate and she’s standing in front of the elevator, I don’t know, it’s just the worst.

  10. 10.

    Gretchen

    T-Rex on the Bob Cesca podcast to his brother’s awful ex who did the “ I won’t tell you why I am mad because if you loved me you’d know what you did “.

  13. 13.

    Omnes Omnibus

    There are two things at play here.  One, no one appreciates what Manchin and Sinema are doing.  Two, that doesn’t mean that phrasing things diplomatically is always the wrong choice.

  14. 14.

    MomSense

    @debbie:

    I’d be called into a meeting about not being a team player – which seems to me to be a sporty way of saying shut up and just go along with the bullshit.

  16. 16.

    Morzer

    @Omnes Omnibus: I suspect that a number of corpulent and corporate individuals of the feline persuasion appreciate Sinema and Manchin’s behavior to a degree that can be quantified in dollar terms.

  18. 18.

    piratedan

    that is the frustrating thing with Ms. Sinema, it’s not that she’s playing politics… because that’s what politicians do.  I expect our opponents to distort, to remove context, to even leave reason at the door… that’s expected to a degree, although if I was in Alaska, I sure as shit would be concerned about climate change as sea levels rise (and I suspect Florida and Louisiana would also start to show concern… but lets remove the abject duplicity of the GOP…)..

    What we’re all given to understand is that Sinema apparently has no fucking end game or she’s discovering that she has apparently misread her tea leaves.  She is still taking all of the wrong lessons from Senator Maverick… Arizonans aren’t happy about politicians that defy their own parties, they’re about applauding people who make a righteous stand.  Sure Johnny Maverick fucked over Trump (and McConnell) over screwing the ACA blowup and while I fully believe a healthy portion of that vote (say north of 80%) was inspired by fucking these guys over, he also understood that no good would come to his self-immolating party by trashing healthcare for the poorest among us and even the middle class to have a viable relatively affordable choice for health care.

    Kirsten thinks that drawing a fiscal line in the sand over shit that 75% and up in the country understand that we need shows that not only is she an idiot, she is selfish.  If you’ve been bought off, then by all means honey, tell these people who bought you to give you some boilerplate bs to spew to cover your ass, otherwise you’re just twisting in the wind and there you will stay.

  20. 20.

    MomSense

    @piratedan: 
    I think everyone is overthinking their motivations. Manchin is heavily invested in the coal industry and doesn’t want climate crisis provisions included.
    Sinema signaled she would be a hard vote to win so all the donors who don’t want this to pass have lined up to give her $.
    They are acting out of pure self interest. This is working quite well for them.

  22. 22.

    Omnes Omnibus

    One of the “interesting” things about elite media’s portrayal of Sinema is that they think she is cool.  But she’s not; she tries too hard.  McCain was.  Obama is.  AOC is.  And they just are without working at it – agree or disagree with their politics.  Biden has become cooler as he has aged because he just is Biden; he is not trying to be someone else or have an image.  Sinema is a wannabe, and it is telling that the elite media can’t tell the difference.

  32. 32.

    debbie

    @WaterGirl:

    When Sinema said she was at the elevator in response to a question about the infrastructure, etc. bills, the questioner should have asked her if she was actually a two year old.

  38. 38.

    eclare

    @debbie:  Seriously.  The child tax credit, dental for Medicare, free community college, is on the line due to you?  And you give a smart-ass, can’t be bothered by my responsibilities type of response?

    Fucking asshole.

  39. 39.

    PaulB

    I had a manager once who epitomized the “I’m so eager to be diplomatic that you will not be able to understand what I’m saying” way of communicating. Several times, after skip-level meetings with employees who reported to me, I had to follow up to explain to them what he had intended to say.

    I got in trouble more than once in my career because I wasn’t afraid to be honest. On the plus side, I always got top marks in upward reviews from everyone reporting to me because they knew I would be straight with them. I’ll take that.

  41. 41.

    bbleh

    @MomSense: true, and that’s to be expected from any politician; after all, they’re the ones who have to stand in front of the voters.  BUT, they are also elected by the voters to a legislature, and the very raison d’être of a legislature is to cut deals.  If you don’t cut deals, if all you do is collect donations and angle for some post-Hill corporate or lobbying position, you’re not doing your job.

    Manchin is, regrettably, my Senator now, and the thing that really p!sses me off about him is his squirreliness.  He just won’t cut a damn deal, won’t even make an ask, which makes me think he can’t cut a deal — he’s out of his depth.  And I do not want some 6-year old representing me in the deep end of the pool.

  42. 42.

    Morzer

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/live-blog/bidens-two-track-infrastructure-plan-is-back-on-track

    President Biden met with House Democrats on Friday afternoon, a meeting from which progressives emerged claiming vindication. The “two-track” strategy — both bills pass, or neither do — was apparently back on track.

    Biden, however, warned members that the price of the reconciliation bill would likely have to come down.

    Now negotiations resume. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has finally offered an actual counterproposal, announcing Thursday that his top line for the expansive social benefits and climate package was $1.5 trillion.

  46. 46.

    bbleh

    @Morzer: Yabbut what’s IN his “top line?”  He’s been throwing loose numbers around for months, but so what?  What’s he want in? What’s he want out? Does he have any actual language to suggest?  (Ok just working for laffs on that last one.)

    He’s a twerp.  And yes he’s bought and paid for, obstructing because he’s told to and doesn’t care, whatever. But if he’s gonna pretend to negotiate, he needs to, y’know, negotiate.

  47. 47.

    Geminid

    @MomSense: People definitely are thinking a lot about Sinema’s motivations. I am interested, but I try not to put a lot of energy into getting inside her head. I don’t think I can do this without her getting into mine some.

  49. 49.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie:  I think I described that as a snotty teenager who thinks they are being cool.  That was a swing and a miss for her.

    Also, that thumbs up stunt was childish.  All I see from her is self-promotion and  own goals.  Yet she still succeeds, at least so far.

  54. 54.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @PaulB: It has to be done appropriately to each person.  Some people will not recognize a critique unless it comes at them in an almost abusive format.  Others almost need to be babied.  Both can be good at what they do.

    I have found it is the same when communicating with clients – especially when breaking bad news.  Some people are like Cole says he is.  Give it straight from the shoulder and don’t sugarcoat it.  Some people think they are like that until someone approaches them that way and they discover that they are not.  And others need to have things broken to them very gently.  Being able to tell the difference is a marketable skill.

  55. 55.

    Geminid

    @Ryan: Some do. On the other hand, I think Jean Shaheen and Tim Kaine are good at their legislative jobs, and the better for their experience as Governors.

  59. 59.

    Another Scott

    @Omnes Omnibus: Sinema is getting her 15 minutes of fame because she is in the path to the finish line.  Similar to the way Paul and Cruz and Rubio are at times on the other side.  As long as we need her vote, there’s a danger of her acting out.  But she will be instantly forgotten when she is no longer needed if she continues to be obstinate for no apparent reason.

    And I think that she knows that and will be with the rest of the caucus soon, and will claim great success for Arizona when the bills are signed.

    She wants to be reelected, as all politicians do.  (I don’t buy the story that she’s looking to cash out already.)

    YMMV.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  61. 61.

    FlyingToaster

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    that doesn’t mean that phrasing things diplomatically is always the wrong choice

    It means that if you start that way, and the tech you’re addressing tells you to stop already, you need to stop.  Otherwise, they’re going to make you pay.

    I’ve been through this with clients, and they get one chance to stop beating around the bush.  And then I start raising my rates.  There’s a reason that clients from Iowa get quoted a much higher hourly rate than clients in New England.

  63. 63.

    Another Scott

    @bbleh: Manchin wanted to (according to the memo that he and Chuck signed that just came out) delay the RB until after October 1.  That happened.  Now things will actually move.  And Sinema will be on board too.

    Politics is frustratingly slow.  But it’s going to happen.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  64. 64.

    Quiltingfool

    Yikes! John, I hope my email quilt discussions with you didn’t make you crazy!

    On a related “quit telling me stories, just get to the damned point” story, awhile back I was in the tire shop for a tire repair.  Every person before me was telling the long-suffering manager a convoluted tale about their tires before getting to the problem.  I could tell he was not really listening until the customer got to the point (he said “uh huh” A LOT).  When it was my turn, I stated my request in one sentence, short and sweet.  The guy looked a bit relieved; he may have thought that since I was a woman, I’d tell an even longer story than the guys, lol!

  67. 67.

    FlyingToaster

    @Omnes Omnibus: And listen when they tell you what they need.

    “I need a functional outline:  what happens when you click the button?”

    “I’d like the button to be orange, and use SmackerComic font in rainbow gradient.”

    ???????????????

    [Not a real example, but I’ve had to deal with some doozys, like the clients who were told it was $20K cash-in-advance if they wanted to make a change in beta. And a 10 day delay so that we could crash-test the change. They tried.  7 times.  Sticker shock was the only thing that got that software out the door.]

  68. 68.

    eclare

    @MomSense:  Like the way they used to torture human beings over will we or won’t we kill the ACA?  People’s lives are at stake…meh, IGMFY.  And I’m gonna play with you like a cat plays with a bird just for my own giggles.

  69. 69.

    CarolPW

    @FlyingToaster: ​
     
    This is a reply to Flying Toaster because the mice fragments refuse to go away: my little company had three rates, friends and family, unknown person, and assholes and enemies. Assholes and enemies rate was high enough (like really ridiculously high) that we were surprised when asshole companies hired us at that rate, and we were quite happy to do their work at that rate.

  71. 71.

    MomSense

    @eclare:

    Exactly like that.  It was goddamned terrorism.  How many of us couldn’t sleep and spent months crying and panicking.  Then those narcissistic shits in the Congress had a frat party to celebrate their cruelty.

  72. 72.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Ryan:

    Screw top line numbers.  What policy changes do you people want cut?

    I agree with this approach. Like an HOA board going to homeowners with a fee increase…they all bitch and moan until you give them the list of covered items and their cost and ask…what services would you like to cut? None, usually.

    I hope the bill doesn’t get whittled down too much.  I guess I’d prefer a reduction in duration than a hatchet job serving special interests.

  80. 80.

    jnfr

    I applaud our ability to cut out the bullshitters from our life. I’m still glad that Joe Biden understands Congress the way he does, and knows how to act in that milieu. He’s very effective.

    I’ve been very happy with Jayapal and the Progressive Caucus, too. I love seeing them stand together with Biden, even though I know we won’t get what is needed. Hell, Bernie started his bid at $10 trillion, bless him. And I probably would have agreed with all of it. But in an electoral system, you have to cooperate with what you can get.

  81. 81.

    japa21

    @WaterGirl:

     

    Most of the media people seem to be examples of the Peter Principle in action.

    Wrong. The peter Principle states that people will be promoted to the level where their incompetence shows. The “elite” media have, in fact, been promoted beyond their level of incompetence.

  82. 82.

    Lavocat

    I believe that every one of your posts should be accompanied by a random track from Rage Against The Machine, cranked up to eleven.

  84. 84.

    brendancalling

    I would gladly back a $2 billion budget item for a rocket that launches Sinema and Manchin into the sun.

  86. 86.

    James E Powell

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Sinema gets some extra because she’s a flake, but it’s the standard press/media love for any Democrat who spends nearly all their time frustrating Democrats.

  87. 87.

    James E Powell

    @WaterGirl:

    Most of the media people seem to be examples of the Peter Principle in action.

    They do, don’t they? How does the most important newspaper make mediocrities like Baker & Haberman their White House correspondents?

  88. 88.

    Jaysails

    @eclare: I remember this so well. It was terrifying. I’d planned my life around it being available and the suddenly it might not be? Yikes!

  91. 91.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @brendancalling: No. A rocket that launches McConnell, Cruz, et al, into the sun so that the GOP no longer has a majority and we don’t need Manchin and Sinema’s votes.

  92. 92.

    Tony Gerace

    @piratedan: I’m about 99% sure that Sinema, like Manchin, is just bought and paid for — in effect bribed.  Sinema’s method of blowing smoke to obscure this simple fact is the high-school-style nonsense with the wacky hairstyles, wacky clothes and cool-girl (in her forties) persona.  This stuff might have been amusing a year ago.  I think that very few people (except for idiots in the news media) are amused now.

  97. 97.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    I get the feeling Biden find the bullshitting tedious too but is to good of a politician to accidentally show it, except maybe in those so called gaffes of his.

  98. 98.

    m.j.

    My complaint about this whole thing, if anyone cares, is that this rather large ask is not at all radical. It is in fact necessary for a nation looking to the future. It’s just basic stuff we need and it’s not going to be cheaper in the future.  Why procrastinate?

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