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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

Consistently wrong since 2002

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

How stupid are these people?

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

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

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Also, are you sure you want people to rate your comments?

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

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

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

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

Their freedom requires your slavery.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Squishable Saturday Morning Open Thread

Squishable Saturday Morning Open Thread

by Betty Cracker|  November 20, 20216:41 am| 243 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics

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Yesterday for the first time in U.S. history, a woman stood by to act as U.S. president* when President Biden temporarily transferred power to Vice President Harris for 85 minutes while Biden went under anesthesia for a routine colonoscopy.

I’ve pretty much given up on the notion that the U.S. will ever elect a woman president in my lifetime, but it’s progress that women are considered competent and electable enough to serve as VP.

Biden’s doctor says the POTUS is in good health for a man his age. Refreshingly, he did not say Biden is the healthiest man to ever hold the office because of blessed genes that the good lord gave him.

Following up on the postal service situation, POTUS not only removed a DeJoy ally on the board, he announced plans to nominate two replacements, so here’s hoping the DeCrook who’s DeStroying the postal service gets DeFired DeSoon.

And speaking of DeAssholes, according to CNN, Trump is increasingly irritated with his golem Ron DeSantis:

In a matter of months, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has gone from being a shining example in Donald Trump’s eyes of a MAGA leader molded in his image to an average politician who forgot his roots as he rose to Republican stardom.

People close to both men first noticed the palpable shift in Trump’s posture toward DeSantis earlier this year as enthusiasm for the Florida governor swelled among donors and GOP operatives who praised his laissez-faire response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The more DeSantis’ popularity soared, the more obsessed Trump became with receiving credit for his political celebrity…

A statement to CNN from Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich appeared to confirm Trump’s obsession with receiving credit for DeSantis’ success. Budowich said the former President’s 2020 victory in Florida “paved the way for Republicans, including Governor Ron DeSantis, to sweep the state in 2022” and suggested that Trump “catapulted” then-Congressman DeSantis “into the Governor’s Mansion” with his endorsement in the 2018 GOP primary for Florida governor.

I’ve never wished for Trump’s success in any endeavor since I first became aware of his flaming asshole existence decades ago. But if he decides to take DeSantis down a peg or 20, I’ll be cheering the orange skidmark on. Open thread!

*If you don’t count Edith Wilson. 

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Reader Interactions

243Comments

  1. 1.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2021 at 6:50 am

    Blech.
    Blech blech.
    Blech blech blech.

    Donald Trump’s first post-White House book will be, like so much else about him, a departure from other former presidents.

    Trump is publishing a hardcover collection of hundreds of photographs from his administration, featuring his own captions, some handwritten. “Our Journey Together” is scheduled for Dec. 7, but not through a traditional New York publisher. It will instead be released by a new company formed by son Donald Trump Jr. and campaign aide Sergio Gor, Winning Team Publishing.
    [snip]
    The web site [URL redacted*] for Winning Team Publishing offers few details — no masthead or listings for books besides Trump’s. (“Official Merch” is “coming soon”).… Source

    *by choice of li’l ol’ me

    Moving briskly along, this should provide fuel for Fox at least through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

    Florida family faces fine for early Christmas lights display

  2. 2.

    Betty Cracker

    November 20, 2021 at 6:58 am

    @NotMax: “Winning Team Publishing,” lol! I guess “Loo-hoo-hoo-Za-Her Publishing” was already trademarked.

  3. 3.

    ThresherK

    November 20, 2021 at 7:02 am

    I’m just leaving this famous typo here because of the Edith Wilson reference. (Apologies that it’s Hardball-setting up a new phone.)

    https://www.msnbc.com/hardball/the-washington-posts-famous-1915-typo-msna76080

  4. 4.

    Betty Cracker

    November 20, 2021 at 7:03 am

    @NotMax: Was unsurprised to read that it was the Westchase HOA that fined the Christmas lights people. They are notoriously restrictive.

    The mister and I agree that HOAs are the devil, so we’ve never lived anywhere that gives other people the power to dictate holiday lighting parameters, restrict boat trailer parking, etc. I mean, there are downsides, like having to drive past unsightly campers with dozens of rusting washing machines in the yard on the way home. But freedom, man!

  5. 5.

    Betty Cracker

    November 20, 2021 at 7:07 am

    @ThresherK: Lord, that’s unfortunate! The worst printed typo I ever saw was when someone failed to spell “label” correctly on a return envelope, which instructed recipients to “affix labia here.” Awk. Ward.

  6. 6.

    Betty

    November 20, 2021 at 7:07 am

    @NotMax: Some of these homeowner associations are full of the nitpickiest authoritarians alive. Not all, of course. There is a valid role for them, but they can be abusive.

  7. 7.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    November 20, 2021 at 7:13 am

    @NotMax: LOL. Every phrase in that announcement screams “We don’t know what we’re doing!”

  8. 8.

    Nicole

    November 20, 2021 at 7:16 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Was unsurprised to read that it was the Westchase HOA that fined the Christmas lights people. They are notoriously restrictive.

    And I guess the Grinch of a neighbor that ratted them out. I mean, I find the early decoration for the Christmas holidays annoying too (THANKSGIVING IS RIGHT THERE, PEOPLE), but seriously? It’s an extra two-and-a-half weeks; it’s not like they put them up in June.

    One of my mom’s neighbors goes all out with inflatable Christmas decorations at night in December, but deflates them during the day, so they are sprawled all over the lawn. I’ve dubbed her lawn display Christmas in Jonestown and I take a walk by every holiday season in the afternoon to see it. If anyone ever complains to the HOA about it I’ll go protest the complaint.

  9. 9.

    Quinerly

    November 20, 2021 at 7:16 am

    How do these delusional folks function day to day?

    https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-presidentialseal-blurred-idUSL1N2S91MZ

  10. 10.

    Geminid

    November 20, 2021 at 7:18 am

    @NotMax: They’ll make a lot of money on that book. I think that after the election trump got his fans to send him $200 million for doing nothing. This is one of those “coffee table books” that will sell for $100 or more.

    Now it occurs to me that most people don’t have coffee tables any more. That’s another opportunity! trump can sell fancy coffee tables to put his book on. A big gilded T (with real gold!) in the middle would make them kind of like altars.

  11. 11.

    Betty Cracker

    November 20, 2021 at 7:25 am

    @Nicole: “Christmas in Jonestown,” lol!

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2021 at 7:34 am

    @Nicole

    Just for your Mom’s neighbor.

    (Did a double take the first time on seeing an elephant float by.)

    ;)

  13. 13.

    Geminid

    November 20, 2021 at 7:39 am

    @Betty Cracker: Voice-to-text can be awkward too. I once tarped a leaky chimney right before a heavy rain, then texted a picture to the customer. She was very relieved, and voice-texted me,

    “Please forward your ass ASAP.”

    She was asking me to send her my invoice. I texted back that I had to keep my ass with me, but I would add the charge to a bill for repairs I’d do after the cold weather.

  14. 14.

    Anne Laurie

    November 20, 2021 at 7:41 am

    BettyC:

    *If you don’t count Edith Wilson.

    Or Nancy Reagan! Even before his Alzheimer’s diagnosis was made official, it was clear to anyone who watched the nightly news that Ronnie was *not* capable of anything more important than choosing whether his nightly TV dinner would be chicken or salisbury steak. Nancy took all kinds of grief, not just from ‘immoral minority’ hippies like me, as it became increasingly hard to ignore.

  15. 15.

    Nicole

    November 20, 2021 at 7:46 am

    @NotMax:  I suspect wind is why my mom’s neighbors deflate them during the day and I’m SO HAPPY THEY DO.  I have a (terrible) vague memory of my mom saying they moved in the past two years but I can’t remember for sure and I’ll be too depressed if I ask her and they did.  I’ll guess I’ll find out this holiday season since the 11-year-old will be fully vaxxed so we’re traveling home for the holidays.  If they did move, I hope their new neighbors appreciate what a treasure they’ve been given every December!

  16. 16.

    Ken

    November 20, 2021 at 7:48 am

    Fox vs. an HOA is definitely a rooting for injuries situation.

  17. 17.

    debbie

    November 20, 2021 at 8:00 am

    @NotMax:
    For once, I’m rooting for supply chain failure. If this book’s quality is meant to matter (as most coffee table books are), it will need to be printed overseas and (please, please) stuck in some offshore container until the new year.

  18. 18.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 20, 2021 at 8:02 am

    It’s too early in the day to get this pissed off, plus I have a funeral to go to, but here is an astoundingly stupid article even by Politico standards. Biden should appease Russia’s aggression by forcing Ukraine (how?) to change its Constitution to accept it. 40 million people have no agency? Fuck that noise.

    Read @scharap on the unpleasant, but necessary steps the United States can take to de-escalate Russia-Ukraine tensions and prevent more conflict. https://t.co/H9up5WGcg2— Emma Ashford (@EmmaMAshford) November 19, 2021

  19. 19.

    debbie

    November 20, 2021 at 8:03 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    I once sent out a letter for my boss that omitted the “l” in “public.” Yowsa! Also, I misspelled “account” as “acoc*nt.”

    My boss found my typing to be very amusing.

  20. 20.

    debbie

    November 20, 2021 at 8:06 am

    @Nicole:

    Maybe not in Florida, but here, people have already put up their decorations because it gets so cold around Thanksgiving. I love decorations and the earliness of them doesn’t bother me at all.

  21. 21.

    Betty Cracker

    November 20, 2021 at 8:08 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Any recs for a good English language source to follow developments?

  22. 22.

    Kalakal

    November 20, 2021 at 8:09 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Is appeasment now deemed  a Good Thing by our villagers?

  23. 23.

    MattF

    November 20, 2021 at 8:13 am

    So, open thread. Some of you may have wondered where I am. Answer.. in a hospital. I apparently went out grocery shopping Tuesday morning, had a seizure of some sort. I have zero recollection of what happened— Ifell, lacerated my forehead and was generally  combative, according to reports. Nurses say I’m looking vastly better, but they’re overlooking two huge black eyes and a fractured orbit. I expect to spend the next week in rehab. Nobody really has any idea what happened.

  24. 24.

    Benw

    November 20, 2021 at 8:14 am

    It’s cool that a woman was acting President! I never thought a black person would be elected before Obama came along, so I’m hopeful we’ll elect the first woman President soon. Of course, judging by 2016, the backlash to a successful woman President will probably a Sauron/Saruman Republican ticket!

  25. 25.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 20, 2021 at 8:18 am

    @MattF: Fuck.

  26. 26.

    Chief Oshkosh

    November 20, 2021 at 8:20 am

    @debbie: Heck, we’ve kept lights on our little outdoor Charlie Brown Christmas tree since Christmas of 2020 and turn them on on nights we need a bit of cheering.

  27. 27.

    Nicole

    November 20, 2021 at 8:21 am

    @MattF: Oh no! They will do an MRI or some other brain scan to check for damage from the fall, yes?

    I’m so sorry to hear this news and wish you a speedy recovery and that modern medicine can deduce what happened.  I can only imagine how disorienting it must have been to wake up in the hospital.

  28. 28.

    germy

    November 20, 2021 at 8:21 am

    They let Kamala be president for 4 minutes and she let Kyle get away
    — John Philup Mypousa (@nycguidovoice) November 19, 2021

    (sarcasm font)

  29. 29.

    debbie

    November 20, 2021 at 8:22 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    I like my idea better. Boot Russia and Belarus out of the U.N.

  30. 30.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    November 20, 2021 at 8:22 am

    @MattF:

    Dude, sorry that happened to you. Wishing you a speedy recovery. Sounds like your ordeal was pretty scary. I hope your healthcare providers find out what happened

  31. 31.

    germy

    November 20, 2021 at 8:22 am

    @MattF:

    Keep us updated on your progress. We’re rooting for you.

  32. 32.

    debbie

    November 20, 2021 at 8:23 am

    @MattF:

    Wow, that’s scary. I hope your recovery goes well.

  33. 33.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 20, 2021 at 8:27 am

    As editor of the European Heart Journal for more than a decade, Prof Thomas Lüscher led a team that sifted through 3,200 manuscripts from scientists and doctors every year. Only a fraction – those deemed “truly novel” and backed up with “solid data” – would be selected for publication.

    After stepping down from his role in charge of the world’s top cardiovascular medicine journal, Lüscher has given his verdict on one of the most frequently asked heart health research questions: are wine, chocolate and coffee good or bad for you?
    ……………………
    Dark chocolate is a “joy” when it comes to keeping your heart healthy, coffee is likely protective, but wine is at best “neutral”…

    OK, sounds good to me.

  34. 34.

    lowtechcyclist

    November 20, 2021 at 8:28 am

    @Betty Cracker: The mister and I agree that HOAs are the devil

    They don’t have to be.  I’m the treasurer of my neighborhood HOA, and we’re pretty low-impact.

    Basically, we collect dues of <$100 a year to pay for maintaining community property (mostly an area with a soccer field and a softball field) and throw a community picnic once a year.  And we only get on people’s cases if they leave rusty hulks in their yard, or let the front yard revert to nature.  (Both are very rare events, but have happened.)

    I’ve wondered for awhile if the bad rap on HOAs is because they’re mostly bad, or because you only hear about the bad ones.  I’d love to see a poll asking people if they have an HOA where they live now, and if so, how they’d rate their own HOA.

  35. 35.

    Quinerly

    November 20, 2021 at 8:28 am

    @MattF: oh my… So scary. Sending positive thoughts. Please keep us updated. Hang in there.

  36. 36.

    rikyrah

    November 20, 2021 at 8:28 am

    Good Morning, Everyone???

  37. 37.

    rikyrah

    November 20, 2021 at 8:30 am

    @NotMax:

    HE never got the big signing bonus that other Presidents did.

    ????

  38. 38.

    Nicole

    November 20, 2021 at 8:30 am

    @debbie: I watched the linked news article and the homeowner said the only time the company that installed the lights still had available was the first weekend in November so that’s what they booked.

    What’s dumb is, the homeowner said they’d keep the lights turned off until Thanksgiving, but now that the HOA is involved they said that’s not good enough.  Ugh.  Like I said, I prefer the hold off on decorations until the more recent holiday has passed, but it’s not the sort of thing I’d ever get annoyed about to the point I’d complain to an HOA.  And if I’m honest with myself, it wouldn’t bother me if a neighbor or twelve put up lights early; it’s more an irritation at retail stores that do it because in addition to the decorations, they start the Christmas music going too and I prefer one month of somehow always walking into a store just as, “All I Want for Christmas Is You”  starts playing than two months of it.

    I’m always curious what triggered a particular rule- did this neighborhood have someone who put up their decorations and didn’t bother to take them down?  Like, we had to take an extended stay out of town and brought our dog and while I was looking for places that accepted pit mixes, I found one that, at the end of a list of breeds they wouldn’t accept included, “No pigs.”  And I thought, well, okay, who ruined that last one for everyone? ;)

  39. 39.

    rikyrah

    November 20, 2021 at 8:31 am

    @MattF:

    ????????

    Get better. Do everything they tell you to do in rehab

  40. 40.

    MattF

    November 20, 2021 at 8:31 am

    @Nicole: MRI and echocardiogram have been done, both normal. No tumor, no stroke, no infarction.

  41. 41.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 20, 2021 at 8:31 am

    @debbie: It’s important to keep our adversaries in the UN as it is a venue for dialogue as opposed to other means of asserting our pov.

  42. 42.

    stinger

    November 20, 2021 at 8:32 am

    @MattF: Oh my goodness! Hope your recovery is swift!

  43. 43.

    sixthdoctor

    November 20, 2021 at 8:34 am

    @NotMax: I’d never buy this thing, but if there are pictures of the Scandinavian death metal album covers that served as Melania’s Christmas decorations, then it’s not totally worthless.

  44. 44.

    Other MJS

    November 20, 2021 at 8:34 am

    @MattF: Here’s hoping that gets sorted out.

  45. 45.

    Betty Cracker

    November 20, 2021 at 8:36 am

    @MattF: Scary! Glad you are on the mend.

  46. 46.

    mrmoshpotato

    November 20, 2021 at 8:37 am

    And speaking of DeAssholes, according to CNN, Trump is increasingly irritated with his golem Ron DeSantis:

    Awww….the Kremlin’s orange fascist shitstain is mad at DeathSantis.  SAD!

  47. 47.

    debbie

    November 20, 2021 at 8:38 am

    @Nicole:

    Here’s what I think most people think of when they think of HOAs.

  48. 48.

    Betty Cracker

    November 20, 2021 at 8:39 am

    @Benw: I used to think that too, but after 2016 and 2020, I’m much more pessimistic on the topic. Misogyny is an underrated force in American politics, IMO.

  49. 49.

    debbie

    November 20, 2021 at 8:40 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Okay, then just kick Russia off the Security Council.

  50. 50.

    rikyrah

    November 20, 2021 at 8:42 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    I fully admit that I didn’t see the depth of misogyny that Hillary faced in 2016. I simply didn’t see it in real time. Only post-election mortem did I see how far and wide it was.

  51. 51.

    Ken

    November 20, 2021 at 8:42 am

    @MattF: Wishing you the best, and hoping that the doctors can figure out what happened and tell you how to keep it from happening again.

  52. 52.

    Geminid

    November 20, 2021 at 8:42 am

    @MattF: Wishing you a fast and full recovery!

    You possibly may have fainted from low blood sugar.That happened to me once, or at least that’s why I think I fell.

  53. 53.

    John S.

    November 20, 2021 at 8:42 am

    @lowtechcyclist:

    My HOA is pretty decent. They pay for landscaping, insurance on our common buildings and general maintenance to keep things looking nice.

    In 17 years, I’ve never really had any issues with them. And I live in the most dreaded of dreaded areas for evil and restrictive HOAs: South Florida.

  54. 54.

    Jerzy Russian

    November 20, 2021 at 8:44 am

    I am in a situation like those androids in the Star Trek episode “I, Mudd”.   I want to wish Trump a long life so he can generally fuck things up for others like that governor of Florida.  On the other hand, Trump does not deserve a long life.  On the other hand, others in the GOP deserve to get fucked up.  What am I to do, other than “Norman Coordinate”?

  55. 55.

    Chief Oshkosh

    November 20, 2021 at 8:44 am

    @lowtechcyclist: We have a neighborhood association that takes on some of the roles of an HOA. Like your HOA, our association mainly functions to keep a couple of common areas tended and to hold social functions that add to a community feeling. We also publish a nifty newsletter quarterly. That said, when the presidency rotated to me, I was amazed at the number of neighbors who wanted me to resolve disputes or contact the county on their behalf for some issue personal to them or enforce some made-up rule or do some other thing that was none of my business. My consistent response was “Grow the fuck up and fix your own shit.” It was refreshingly effective.

  56. 56.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 20, 2021 at 8:45 am

    @Betty Cracker: Gotta run, sorry.

  57. 57.

    Chief Oshkosh

    November 20, 2021 at 8:46 am

    @MattF: Are there any store security videos that might add information to the event?

  58. 58.

    Geminid

    November 20, 2021 at 8:48 am

    @rikyrah: Patriarchy runs really deep. The misogyny and sexism we see are the tip of the iceberg. I sometimes think that in a couple generations people will look back and understand how much patriarchy held back the human race, but that probably is too optimistic

  59. 59.

    Ken

    November 20, 2021 at 8:49 am

    @lowtechcyclist: And we only get on people’s cases if they leave rusty hulks in their yard, or let the front yard revert to nature.

    There was a case in my area where an HOA got after a guy because he’d put in a small prairie bed*. He checked, and state law protects such plantings, so he re-did his entire front yard in prairie plants. So it may depend on how they let it “revert to nature”.

    * Gorgeous during a few two-week bursts scattered through the year, the rest of the time looks like weeds. You know, prairie.

  60. 60.

    pluky

    November 20, 2021 at 8:49 am

    HOAs face the same staffing problem that any small, local, political body faces. It’s the most hard-core, control-freak, busybodies that are most motivated to join the boards. Unless normal people step up to contest for the seats, the outrages continue.

  61. 61.

    VOR

    November 20, 2021 at 8:50 am

    Trump probably views DeSantis as taking media attention which rightfully belongs to Trump.

  62. 62.

    zhena gogolia

    November 20, 2021 at 8:50 am

    @MattF: Well, that’s good news. I hope you recover fully and soon!

  63. 63.

    Geminid

    November 20, 2021 at 8:52 am

    @Betty Cracker: I’ve noticed that @Cheryl Rofer retweets some people who are following Ukraine developments closely. They might be good resources.

  64. 64.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 20, 2021 at 8:54 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Can’t count the number of times I’ve seen in print that some piece of music or writing was in the “pubic domain.” A few of them might have been thanks to someone’s inner twelve-year-old, but I think the majority were legitimate typos.

  65. 65.

    Nicole

    November 20, 2021 at 8:55 am

    @debbie: Ha!  That was funny.  I don’t know if Geico is a good company or not (I don’t own a car or a house) but their advertising company does great spots for them.

  66. 66.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 20, 2021 at 8:57 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Every phrase in that announcement screams “We don’t know what we’re doing!”

    Including the fact that publication date is famously “a date which will live in infamy.” Hahaha.

  67. 67.

    Nicole

    November 20, 2021 at 8:57 am

    @MattF: That’s all really good news.  Geminid might be on to something with the drop in blood sugar hypothesis, especially if you were told you were combative during the time you don’t remember.

    But I’m glad your noggin appears to be otherwise okay!

  68. 68.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 20, 2021 at 8:58 am

    @Nicole:

    I’ve dubbed her lawn display Christmas in Jonestown

    LOL

  69. 69.

    Betty Cracker

    November 20, 2021 at 8:59 am

    @rikyrah: I’ve always known lots of men are sexist pricks, but I definitely underestimated what a force misogyny still is in women. It seems particularly bad in the U.S. among Western countries, possibly because patriarchal religions are stronger here.

  70. 70.

    Betty Cracker

    November 20, 2021 at 9:00 am

    @Geminid: Good idea — thanks!

  71. 71.

    Geminid

    November 20, 2021 at 9:03 am

    @VOR: And DeSantis is a real rival for the 2024 nomination. On his radio show recently, Hew Hewit described a straw poll at a dinner party he attended. Most of the twelve people picked DeSantis as the best nominee for 2024, and none picked trump. That’s a small sample of wealthy white assholes, but those kind of people used run that party. They got good use out of trump, but they never respected him. Their problem now is separating trump from his voters.

  72. 72.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 20, 2021 at 9:06 am

    @debbie:

    Do you suppose the publisher can be persuaded to put TFG’s portrait on the back cover so readers can at least have an idea of what the “author” looks like?

  73. 73.

    MagdaInBlack

    November 20, 2021 at 9:06 am

    @Betty Cracker: My experience has been that women are the enforcers, but I also did not realize how deep it ran.

  74. 74.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 20, 2021 at 9:11 am

    @MattF:

    Good Lord!! Thank you for checking in with us. I hope your recovery/rehab goes well, and that the diagnosticians can maybe figure out what happened so they can try to keep it from happening again. Feel better!

  75. 75.

    Rob

    November 20, 2021 at 9:16 am

    @NotMax: 

    but not through a traditional New York publisher. It will instead be released by a new company formed by son Donald Trump Jr

    I wonder if it will actually be available, or even printed

  76. 76.

    mrmoshpotato

    November 20, 2021 at 9:16 am

    his laissez-faire response to the Covid-19 pandemic

    Well, that’s one way to put DeathSantis not giving a flying fuck if Floridians died of COVID!

    CNN please fire yourselves – into the Sun.

  77. 77.

    Amir Khalid

    November 20, 2021 at 9:17 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Trump doesn’t actually disagree with DeSantis about anything, of course. He’s just starting to see DeSantis as a rival for top dog in the Republican party, so he wants to preemptively kneecap DeSantis.

  78. 78.

    Ken

    November 20, 2021 at 9:19 am

    @Rob: The books will be printed if that’s the only way they’ll make money. So if the web site has a way to pay for your copy in advance….

  79. 79.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 20, 2021 at 9:28 am

    @debbie: That video led me to this one: Geico rhetorical questions compilation. Not having TV I’d never seen any of them before but damn, laughed my ass off at most.

  80. 80.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    November 20, 2021 at 9:31 am

    It’s okay to wish for DeathSantis to be caught in the back-blast of TFG’s immolation, right? Or vice versa?

  81. 81.

    Betty

    November 20, 2021 at 9:36 am

    @MattF:  How awful . Sure hope they can find some explanation for you. If not, how do you go about your life without fear of it happening again? Wishing you a quick recovery from the injuries.

  82. 82.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    November 20, 2021 at 9:37 am

    @MattF: Holy cow. Are they trying to figure out what caused it?

  83. 83.

    mrmoshpotato

    November 20, 2021 at 9:37 am

    @MattF: Damn.  I hope you have a full recovery.

  84. 84.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    November 20, 2021 at 9:39 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Since the publisher is Junior, yeah.

    ETA: It costs a ton to produce something with pictures if you want any quality. Surely even MAGA people know better than to hand over their money in advance.

  85. 85.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    November 20, 2021 at 9:43 am

    Open thread? We just got back from an early morning grocery run. We were in a new store and my plan was to start at one side and work our way across because what else would you do? As we walked to one side, Mr DAW turned the cart down an aisle in the middle. That is wrong.

  86. 86.

    mrmoshpotato

    November 20, 2021 at 9:45 am

    @Amir Khalid: Yeah, because Dump is a narcissistic manbaby.

  87. 87.

    MagdaInBlack

    November 20, 2021 at 9:47 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Something tasty must have tempted him?

  88. 88.

    mrmoshpotato

    November 20, 2021 at 9:49 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: That’s a really big biscuit!

  89. 89.

    MagdaInBlack

    November 20, 2021 at 9:49 am

    @MattF: That’s frightening. Here’s hoping for full recovery and an answer the mystery of the cause.

  90. 90.

    Kalakal

    November 20, 2021 at 9:55 am

    @Betty Cracker: We don’t have one, a friend about a mile away does and they’re jerks. Lots of arbitrary crap about landscaping. One time we were using the communal swimming pool and this idiot was trying to enforce the ” no swimming after sunset” rule. Fine, perfectly sensible except we could all see a big round yellow thing in the sky about 2 inches above the horizon. We’d actually gotten out of the pool about 5 minutes before he showed up. He was literally screaming “ripples” at us as apparently ripples on an outdoor swimmin pool at  5pm in Florida are proof of after sunset swimming.

    Problem with HOAs in Florida is that there are too many retirees with nothing better to do, many of whom were used to authority & responsibility. Problem with Florida generally really

  91. 91.

    Kalakal

    November 20, 2021 at 9:56 am

    @Geminid: I hope you’re right. The last few years have been a shock to me

  92. 92.

    Kalakal

    November 20, 2021 at 9:59 am

    @MattF: Good lord. What a shocker. Here’s hoping they find the cause. Stay well

  93. 93.

    JML

    November 20, 2021 at 10:00 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: madness. you have to start on one side and work across! Rules control the fun. :P

  94. 94.

    mrmoshpotato

    November 20, 2021 at 10:01 am

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: Yes.

  95. 95.

    WaterGirl

    November 20, 2021 at 10:02 am

    @MattF: What a week, I’m so sorry you are having to go through that.

  96. 96.

    FelonyGovt

    November 20, 2021 at 10:02 am

    @Rob: My friend in the printing business says quality paper and other printing supplies are very scarce due to supply chain issues and are causing extensive delays. I think they’re going to rake in pre-order deposits and not deliver on time.

  97. 97.

    Kalakal

    November 20, 2021 at 10:03 am

    On a bright note personally, yesterday was the bi-monthly venom shots and the anti-histamines are finally starting to wear off.

    Having spent 24 hours as a zombie it’s lovely to wake up

  98. 98.

    WaterGirl

    November 20, 2021 at 10:04 am

    @Benw: I don’t think this country will elect a woman president until or unless we have first had a female VP move up to president because the sitting president could no longer serve.

    It’s a sad state of affairs.

  99. 99.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 20, 2021 at 10:05 am

    @mrmoshpotato: I worked for a general contractor on one job where everybody called me “Biscuit”. Why you might ask? Because I soaked up aaaalll the gravy.

  100. 100.

    Yutsano

    November 20, 2021 at 10:06 am

    @Nicole: ​ GEICO* has been my car insurer for well over 15 years now. When I had my car accident, they had an agent out the very next day getting my car in the shop to get fixed. Everything got paid. I even just paid my deductible to the shop and that was it.

    *GEICO is actually an acronym. Government Employees Insurance Company. Founded in San Diego to cover military families with decent rates. This was before USAA was created.

  101. 101.

    Yutsano

    November 20, 2021 at 10:11 am

    @MattF: ​ Oh my gravy! That sounds terrible. I hope you get better really quickly!

    Once you’re out, go neurologist hunting. Something doesn’t just go wrong like that and not leave a trace. Also have them check if you have some kind of infection. That’s what happened to me.

  102. 102.

    Johannes

    November 20, 2021 at 10:11 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Yes, let’s preemptively surrender chunks of Europe to Putin. Cant see any downside, there…

  103. 103.

    Kristine

    November 20, 2021 at 10:12 am

    @MattF:@Geminid:

    You possibly may have fainted from low blood sugar.That happened to me once, or at least that’s why I think I fell.

    I’ve dealt with low blood sugar a couple of times during stressful periods during which I didn’t eat or drink anything for 8-10 hours. I did get an accompanying headache along with the shakes and increasing inability to stand. Also, nausea. If I hadn’t caught myself and downed some juice and solid carbs, I definitely would’ve gone under.

    I hope you recover quickly and suffer no repeat events.

  104. 104.

    Citizen Alan

    November 20, 2021 at 10:17 am

    @NotMax: Tbh,  I’m kind of impressed that it’s not a pop up book.

  105. 105.

    Nelle

    November 20, 2021 at 10:17 am

    @Yutsano: Well, USAA has really gone downhill in service and ethics these last five to ten years.  They advertise on Tucker Carlson, who is openly contemptuous of mikitary leaders not sufficiently willing to bend to Trump.  My husband continues to battle with them on that front; I’d just as soon switch.

  106. 106.

    Steeplejack

    November 20, 2021 at 10:18 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    You might like the Progressive “parentology” ads. “Airport.”

  107. 107.

    Rob

    November 20, 2021 at 10:19 am

    @FelonyGovt:

    @Ken:

    Of course!

  108. 108.

    Steeplejack

    November 20, 2021 at 10:21 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    You think you know a person after all these years, but . . . I hope your marriage can survive this.

  109. 109.

    Yutsano

    November 20, 2021 at 10:22 am

    @Nelle: I’ve occasionally pondered switching before (Dad was in the Navy for 21 years) but my rate through GEICO is pretty unbeatable for full coverage. Hearing this pretty much seals that deal!

  110. 110.

    Amir Khalid

    November 20, 2021 at 10:22 am

    @WaterGirl:

    On the other hand, there was no VPOTUS of colour before President Obama. (Okay, that one half-Native American guy back in the early 20th century.) And there was no woman VPOTUS before Hillary won the popular vote in 2016. So I’m too sure about that.

  111. 111.

    Steeplejack

    November 20, 2021 at 10:23 am

    @MattF:

    Whoa. Hope you have a quick recovery and get an answer to the cause.

  112. 112.

    Barbara

    November 20, 2021 at 10:29 am

    @MattF: Whoa! Sending you wishes for a speedy recovery.  I hope they figure out the cause as well.

  113. 113.

    Kristine

    November 20, 2021 at 10:30 am

    I subscribe to a couple of Bloomberg newsletters for financial info and also to see what the center-right money side of the room is thinking. I hate-deleted Bloomberg Politics yesterday when I saw they referred to the months of Democrats’ BBB back-and-forth as “squabbling” because apparently “negotiating” is the hardest word. But last night’s Evening Briefing referred to the negotiations as “wrangling” and even managed to lay the blame on Manchinema for the halving of the original proposal.

    Words are everything. I always take note of how often a female legislator is described as “scolding” fellow lawmakers while male legislators instead argue, berate, or simply discuss. Scolds aren’t usually taken very seriously in my experience. They’re nitpicky and annoying and you stick out your tongue at them as soon as their backs are turned. There’s no authority there. It falls in with being labeled “hysterical” if we show any emotion. It trivializes at every turn.

  114. 114.

    mrmoshpotato

    November 20, 2021 at 10:30 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I see.  And now I’m thinking of biscuits and gravy!

  115. 115.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    November 20, 2021 at 10:32 am

    “Kyle Rittenhouse, whose violent actions I do not support, was perfectly entitled to go to a protest in another city while armed and looking for confrontation – and once that confrontation occurred, was entitled to aggressively defend his own life.”

    -by Glenn Greenwald

  116. 116.

    Barbara

    November 20, 2021 at 10:33 am

    @Nicole: We have noticed that during the pandemic people have left decorative lighting up throughout the year. I think it cheered them up. Unless it is so bright as to keep your neighbors up at night I don’t see why it even matters and you can always require that it be turned off by a certain time. Of course, we blew past house beautiful quite a long time ago.

  117. 117.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 20, 2021 at 10:33 am

    @mrmoshpotato: Your welcome.

  118. 118.

    WaterGirl

    November 20, 2021 at 10:36 am

    @Amir Khalid: I hope you’re right and I’m wrong.

    But the country is in a very different place than it was in 2007-08, and the hate propaganda machine is ramped up to 11.  No, make that 11,000.

    For a ridiculously high % of the population, the truth no longer matters.

    Barack Obama had the bulk of black people on his side, who were reliable votes.  In addition to the hate and loathing from men, some women seem to hate other women. Some people hate strong women.  Or at least they believe that women aren’t really equal and that they shouldn’t be in leadership positions.

    The mind boggles.

  119. 119.

    WaterGirl

    November 20, 2021 at 10:40 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:  That’s in quotes, did he actually say that?  Or write that somewhere?  I googled and it did not come up.

  120. 120.

    MomSense

    November 20, 2021 at 10:42 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    That’s as good as my personal favorite “Answer and Cunterclaim”

  121. 121.

    cope

    November 20, 2021 at 10:42 am

    @Kalakal: For reasons unknown, our HOA here in central Florida had had us in their crosshairs since we moved in over 30 years ago.  I characterize them as a bunch of old, bored hall monitors.

  122. 122.

    Ken

    November 20, 2021 at 10:42 am

    @Barbara: Unless it is so bright as to keep your neighbors up at night

    As “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” taught us.

  123. 123.

    zhena gogolia

    November 20, 2021 at 10:43 am

    @WaterGirl: No, he makes up these quotes by GG.

  124. 124.

    MomSense

    November 20, 2021 at 10:43 am

    @MattF:

    I’m so sorry.  I hope you continue to heal.

  125. 125.

    James E Powell

    November 20, 2021 at 10:47 am

    @rikyrah:

    I fully admit that I didn’t see the depth of misogyny that Hillary faced in 2016. I simply didn’t see it in real time. Only post-election mortem did I see how far and wide it was.

    I saw & heard it from right-wingers. It’s one of the things that drove me off facebook.

    What shocked me was the intense hatred of her from normally Democratic leaning white women. They showed great creativity in concocting non-misogynist explanations for their hatred.

  126. 126.

    sdhays

    November 20, 2021 at 10:47 am

    @Jerzy Russian: I find rooting for injuries works in these situations.

  127. 127.

    debbie

    November 20, 2021 at 10:47 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Ha! So long as the photo’s been oversharpened.

  128. 128.

    Barbara

    November 20, 2021 at 10:50 am

    @James E Powell: I feel like we should have figured this out after 2008. As sad as it makes me feel inside, I think nearly any male candidate would have beaten Trump.

  129. 129.

    Barbara

    November 20, 2021 at 10:51 am

    @Jerzy Russian: I have thought long and hard about this and I think it’s better if he sticks around for another presidental election cycle.

  130. 130.

    debbie

    November 20, 2021 at 10:57 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I remember those! Geico has had some great campaigns, as has Nationwide and MasterCard.

  131. 131.

    Chief Oshkosh

    November 20, 2021 at 10:57 am

    @Yutsano: I’ve had great service with GEICO. I’ve had three claims with them and all three were handled super fast and I was made whole.

    Progressive is good, too, in my limited experience. I’ve been hit twice by Progressive policyholders. Both times a Progressive adjuster was actually waiting at my house when I got home from the accidents and both times the adjuster wrote up some sort of ticket that allowed me to get the car fixed wherever, however, and whenever I wanted it done. I’m surprised they stay in business! :)

    OTOH, State Farm is a nightmare.

    And that, I guess, is an insurance accounting of the six times I’ve been hit by other drivers. So far I haven’t hit anyone — hopefully I didn’t just jinx myself.

  132. 132.

    James E Powell

    November 20, 2021 at 10:58 am

    @Barbara:

    I’m not so sure “any male,” but I believe Biden, if not for his son’s death, would have won. I do not think Sanders could have won.

    That 2020 was so close and that we had those devastating losses in the senate as well as losses in the house shows that Hillary was up against more than misogyny. The white supremacist revanche in response to Obama’s election has yet to crest in many parts of the country.

  133. 133.

    Suzanne

    November 20, 2021 at 11:03 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    The worst printed typo I ever saw was when someone failed to spell “label” correctly on a return envelope, which instructed recipients to “affix labia here.” Awk. Ward. 

    When I was in architecture school, the end of semester usually meant that we had to create a large set of displays of our projects with different drawings, descriptions, and models. EVERY. SINGLE. SEMESTER. Someone would use the phrase “public space” and misspell it in print as “pubic space”.

  134. 134.

    sdhays

    November 20, 2021 at 11:08 am

    @NotMax: It’s pretty fitting that Dump would “write” a book that he himself could and would read.

  135. 135.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    November 20, 2021 at 11:09 am

    @WaterGirl:

    Its my DougJ pitchbot type take on Greenwald’s demented scribbling. He’s saying essentially that.

  136. 136.

    Starfish

    November 20, 2021 at 11:10 am

    @Suzanne: Someone who teaches often has students remove the word “pubic” from their word processor’s dictionary so that they can never make this mistake. I thought that was an interesting approach to the problem.

  137. 137.

    James E Powell

    November 20, 2021 at 11:13 am

    From Chris Hayes:

    “Honestly if you can’t message ‘we took insulin from $500 to $35,’ get out of politics. And if you can’t deliver that for people, get out of politics…This is such a clear-cut win for all involved. Do it.”

    What he left out was:

    1)  Press/media will ignore it

    2)  Republicans who voted against will take credit for it

    3)  Republican voters who benefit from it will still vote for Republicans because they hate the rest of us

    We can fault Democrats for not running TV ads against every Republican stating it plain: Democrats reduced insulin costs; Republicans voted against it. But by next November, who will care?

  138. 138.

    PJ

    November 20, 2021 at 11:17 am

    @Betty Cracker: The most misogynistic person I’ve ever met, at least in terms of public statements, was a woman.  Sometimes self-hatred becomes so internalized that the bearers can’t recognize it, and enthusiastically pass it on to their children.

  139. 139.

    WaterGirl

    November 20, 2021 at 11:17 am

    @zhena gogolia:  Sigh.

    Then ending with something like “-by Glenn Greenwald, probably” would be better.

    I hate the thought of Balloon Juice inadvertently spreading disinformation.

  140. 140.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    November 20, 2021 at 11:20 am

    CNN via Betty Cracker @ Top:

    The more DeSantis’ popularity soared, the more obsessed Trump became with receiving credit for his political celebrity…

    Thus marking the historical first recorded instance in which Donald Trump ever became obsessed with receiving credit he actually deserves.

    I mean, let’s face it: Without Trump’s shining example of shameless self-serving effrontery and authoritarianism to model himself after, DeSantis would be just another faceless illustration for the banality of evil.

  141. 141.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 20, 2021 at 11:22 am

    @debbie: So did Timex back in the day. My favorite Timex commercial was the narrator and (iirc) Ted talking back and forth:

    Narrator: Timex, takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Just see what happens when Ted has this elephant step on the Timex watch.

    Ted places the watch on a stool and the elephant steps up on the stool and back off it. Ted picks up the watch…

    Narrator: So Ted, what time is it?

    Ted: Time to buy a new Timex.

  142. 142.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2021 at 11:22 am

    FYI.

    Three students were shot [Friday] during a fight in the parking lot of a high school in the Denver suburb of Aurora, the police chief said, only days after six teenagers from a nearby campus were shot and injured at a park.

    Those injured in the lunch-hour shooting outside Hinkley High School are expected to survive, Chief Vanessa Williams said. There were no immediate arrests, and police were trying to determine if any of the injured were among “multiple shooters” in the parking lot, she said.

    Friday’s shooting followed another Monday in which six students from Aurora Central High School were the victims of bullets fired from at least one car driving by. Police were working to determine if the two shootings were related, Wilson said.

    Police have not arrested anyone yet in Monday’s shootings. The two schools are 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) apart.

    Friday’s gunfire erupted during a fight in the Hinkley High parking lot shortly before 12:30 p.m. A school resource officer fired a shot during the fracas and also applied a tourniquet to one of those wounded, Wilson said. No weapons were immediately recovered, she said. Source

  143. 143.

    Ken

    November 20, 2021 at 11:23 am

    @WaterGirl: I hate the thought of Balloon Juice inadvertently spreading disinformation.

    How to break this in the gentlest way possible….

  144. 144.

    germy

    November 20, 2021 at 11:23 am

    Speaking of squishable…

    Meanwhile, in Istanbul…A beloved street dog named Boji, who became a folk hero for riding public transit, was slandered by some for pooping on the trains. Turns out, Boji is being framed, and video shows people planting the poop. https://t.co/ELaijUWP4J pic.twitter.com/hDJU2UbnWF
    — Bilge Ebiri (@BilgeEbiri) November 20, 2021

  145. 145.

    WaterGirl

    November 20, 2021 at 11:23 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: It’s the quotation marks that are confusing, because quotes indicate direct quote.

    Speaking just for myself, I think it would be better to change “by Glenn Greenwald” to “by Glenn Greenwald, probably” or to add some indicator that even though it looks like a direct quote, it is made up.

    Someone had made-up statistics here yesterday, and I feel the same way about that.  If it’s made up, then add the // or the word probably.

    My two cents.

  146. 146.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 20, 2021 at 11:24 am

    @James E Powell: Maybe enough to win a close race or 3.

  147. 147.

    germy

    November 20, 2021 at 11:28 am

    Here’s a great thread about a cat named Vixen (unfortunately passed away recently) who became a fan of great cinema late in life:

    Here's a weird little thread about movies and pets. (1/9)

    — Bilge Ebiri (@BilgeEbiri) January 9, 2019

  148. 148.

    Ellenr

    November 20, 2021 at 11:29 am

    @MattF: TIAs.  Transient stroke.  My husband is having them.  Check your carotid arteries for blood flow.  Ultrasound.  Simple test they can do.

  149. 149.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    November 20, 2021 at 11:31 am

    @Betty Cracker: I wasn’t a regular watcher of the X-files after the first few seasons, but I caught a few of the later ones and always enjoyed the ones with a touch of humor.

    One of my favorites of that ilk was the one with the HOA that was actually evil. As in summoning demons to deal with violations. Muller loads his front lawn with pink flamingos and plays basketball at midnight to get their attention.

  150. 150.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2021 at 11:31 am

    On the lighter side,

    Captain Snowpants; Yo Bro, No Snow; and Jennifer Snowpez are among the names that will be on some of Vermont’s snowplows this winter.
    ]snip]
    One child was so upset she had missed the visit from the snowplow named Super Snow Storm that the driver and plow will visit again, said Amy Tatko, spokesperson for the Vermont Agency of Transportation. Source

  151. 151.

    Sure Lurkalot

    November 20, 2021 at 11:33 am

    @WaterGirl: I don’t expect a woman President in my lifetime. The trajectory for that thought has pointed downward since the 80’s, with a little blip here and there.

    I agree with Ms. Cracker et al…we could perhaps temper the rampant misogyny in this country, especially the form inculcated by religion, if it wasn’t for women. Actually white women.

  152. 152.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    November 20, 2021 at 11:33 am

    So here’s a really bad idea. Somebody has figured out a way to have your dog give you a video call any time he wants to.

    Any jackals want to give it a try and let the rest of us know how it goes?

  153. 153.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2021 at 11:35 am

    @WaterGirl

    My two cents.

    Hm. Upon closer inspection, one of those is Canadian.

    ;)

  154. 154.

    sab

    November 20, 2021 at 11:36 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I used to call my young dogs at work to wake them up so that they would be tired when I went to bed at night.

  155. 155.

    germy

    November 20, 2021 at 11:37 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    If they can write novels they can make video calls:

    Still one of my favorite Edward Steed cartoons. pic.twitter.com/SWjX8Nv0g1

    — Randall Stephens (@Randall_Stps) November 10, 2021

  156. 156.

    jeffreyw

    November 20, 2021 at 11:38 am

    Most Favored Kitty, MFK runner-up, and a dog. pic.twitter.com/N2EEMdVbYV— jeffreyw (@imjeffreyw) November 20, 2021

  157. 157.

    Kayla Rudbek

    November 20, 2021 at 11:39 am

    @MattF: yikes! I hope that they find the cause!

  158. 158.

    Kalakal

    November 20, 2021 at 11:40 am

    @MattF: I once flaked out in midsentence. They never found anything and labelled it as Syncope, which while accurate doesn’t help. Do you normally have low blood pressure.? Can you remember if you did something like get an item from a low shelf and then straighten up fast?  were you suddenly sweating a lot? Were you really pale afterwards? Apparently I looked like a ghost

    I think in my case it was heat syncope. Seems the family has a low blood pressure thing, when I told my sister she was just “Oh yeah, happens to me loads”

  159. 159.

    Yutsano

    November 20, 2021 at 11:41 am

    @NotMax: No Plowy McPlowface? No respect for tradition I see. Lousy kids.

    :P

  160. 160.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2021 at 11:44 am

    @Yutsano

    That’s mentioned further down in the linked article.

  161. 161.

    debbie

    November 20, 2021 at 11:44 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Nationwide ad I can’t stop laughing at.

  162. 162.

    germy

    November 20, 2021 at 11:45 am

    @Sure Lurkalot:  I don’t expect a woman President in my lifetime.

    I do.  Problem is, it might be a Republican.  Some horrible hypocrite the beltway press will prop up with “You go girl, lean in!” energy.

    Blogs like this will point out all the horrible statements and policies, but the low-info crowd will be all “Girlboss!”

    I don’t expect an obvious loon like Boebert.  More likely a chamber of commerce realtor type who’ll erase chunks of old social media and explain away votes to end school lunches, etc.

  163. 163.

    James E Powell

    November 20, 2021 at 11:47 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    It’s certainly possible, but shouldn’t the ads be running now?

  164. 164.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    November 20, 2021 at 11:48 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Can’t believe I said “Muller” for Mulder.

    Shows how much of a fan I am, I guess.

  165. 165.

    Betty Cracker

    November 20, 2021 at 11:48 am

    @James E Powell: I saw some of that anecdotally too, but if you look at the data, Democrats and Dem leaners weren’t the problem in 2016. IIRC, Clinton outperformed Obama’s 2012 numbers with registered Democrats. My mistake was thinking at least some meaningful percentage of religious Republican or R-leaning independent women would refuse to vote for the grotesque sexist pig and at least stay home. Boy was I wrong about that!

  166. 166.

    Yutsano

    November 20, 2021 at 11:49 am

    @NotMax:  Okay yeah I found it. I found Snowbegone Kenobi to have some promise, but a lot on that list did.

  167. 167.

    Kayla Rudbek

    November 20, 2021 at 11:51 am

    Open thread: my latest finished knitting project makes me look like a slasher victim. Perhaps I should have known better than to  keep the color sequences the same as the original project (pink, gray with pink and red specks, red, gray with red and red-orange specks, red-orange)

  168. 168.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 20, 2021 at 11:52 am

    @germy: We’ve already had a woman president. OK OK, she actually belonged to Germany. Geezzzz… Picky picky picky.

  169. 169.

    WaterGirl

    November 20, 2021 at 11:52 am

    @jeffreyw: Take back what you said about Homer!!  Right now! :-)

  170. 170.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 20, 2021 at 11:52 am

    @Betty Cracker: More white women voted for the Orange person in 2020 than they did in 2016.

  171. 171.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    November 20, 2021 at 11:53 am

    @Kayla Rudbek: That sounds nice and bright anyway

  172. 172.

    James E Powell

    November 20, 2021 at 11:55 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    2016 and every day since have exposed the so-called moral voters & their organizations as frauds, but they have yet to pay any political price for it.

  173. 173.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 20, 2021 at 11:55 am

    @James E Powell: 11 months before the election when hardly anyone is paying attention? shrug

    I am the last person to consult on the proper ways to run a campaign, so I don’t really know. I am in agreement with the general idea of an ad campaign around it.

  174. 174.

    Fleeting Expletive

    November 20, 2021 at 11:57 am

    The second woman to serve in the US Congress was Rep. Alice Robertson from Oklahoma, who was elected and served from 1921-1923. My junior high school was named for her.

  175. 175.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2021 at 12:00 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly

    Not to mention passing a bill into law which includes that provision first.

  176. 176.

    JML

    November 20, 2021 at 12:00 pm

    Stevie G’s debut as manager comes off in a nice 2-0 win at home. Up the Villa! (A fine start to the Saturday)

  177. 177.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 20, 2021 at 12:04 pm

    @debbie: Some of the neighbors I’ve had over the years, I’d have loved to have that.

  178. 178.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 20, 2021 at 12:07 pm

    @NotMax: If it doesn’t pass, I’d run that campaign anyway, just with a slightly different flavor maybe. Something along the lines of “The GOP hates you, your parents, and your children, and would just as soon you die after you run out of money.”

  179. 179.

    Cameron

    November 20, 2021 at 12:08 pm

    @NotMax: If they’d stop teaching CRT and socialism, this kind of thing wouldn’t happen.

  180. 180.

    Ruviana

    November 20, 2021 at 12:12 pm

    @debbie: I reviewed a book once that had your first typo in it. Of course I mentioned it in the review!

  181. 181.

    Amir Khalid

    November 20, 2021 at 12:12 pm

    ?Who knew that someday pillowfighting would become an actual competitive sport?

  182. 182.

    Bill Arnold

    November 20, 2021 at 12:14 pm

    So, I adjusted my gmail spam filter to see more of the the donaldjtrump.com grifter emails. (My gmail address is easily guessed, from the time when gmail was invite-only, so lots of email intended for other Bill Arnolds.)
    They are still playing their old tunes. It’s genuinely pathetic. Examples:

    Friend,
    Violent crime across America is skyrocketing under the Biden administration’s soft-on-crime policies.
    To put it simply: Joe and Kamala are putting America LAST, which is putting YOU in danger. Enough is enough – it’s time we do something about it.
    President Trump is calling on YOU to make a public statement and add your name to stand with us against Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ AMERICA LAST AGENDA.

    This, from the leader of a movement that is deliberately killing a couple of Jonestowns a day of Americans, and is the most lethal force America faces, excepting Russian (and perhaps Chinese) nuclear weapons.

    Or this one. (Note every link and button on these emails is a tracker (random url), to confirm that they have a live and potentially gullible email address.)

    Friend,
    I always knew I could count on you.
    Despite the LIES and the SLANDER that has come from the Lamestream Media and their partners – the Democrats – YOUR support has never wavered.
    You’ve been dedicated to our movement to SAVE AMERICA from the very beginning and to thank you, I’m offering YOU a spot on the Official Trump Honor Roll.
    JOIN NOW >>
    The Trump Honor Roll is made up of an elite group of supporters who go above and beyond to put America First. YOU are a perfect fit.
    Spots on the Trump Honor Roll don’t come around often. I can only save yours until the end of the day before I’m forced to offer it to the next Patriot in line.
    I really hope you’ll accept my invitation to join the Official Trump Honor Roll.
    I’m reviewing the framed list of Trump Honor Roll members soon and I’ll be looking for your name. Will I see it?
    Contribute ANY AMOUNT RIGHT NOW to make sure your name is on the framed list of Official Trump Honor Roll members.

    Sadly, I lost my spot to the next Patriot in line.

  183. 183.

    Ken

    November 20, 2021 at 12:15 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I was expecting it to show up as an Olympic demonstration sport first.

  184. 184.

    germy

    November 20, 2021 at 12:15 pm

    How To Figure Income Tax.  It’s just a few months away, and Benchley’s video provides a good overview (until he’s escorted off the set by an IRS agent):

    https://youtu.be/6TkvD9RW0mY?t=22

  185. 185.

    lowtechcyclist

    November 20, 2021 at 12:15 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​
     

    11 months before the election when hardly anyone is paying attention? shrug

    YES, dammit. Because more people are paying attention than you think.

    If nobody was paying attention, CRT wouldn’t be a thing.

    This is one of the big differences between the two parties in terms of campaigning: the R’s come up with storylines early, and by the time September of election year rolls around, they’re so entrenched that nothing’s really going to get them out of people’s heads.

    Meanwhile, the Dems wait for September of election year because “nobody’s paying attention yet” and they run into that entrenched GOP storyline like it was a brick wall.

  186. 186.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    November 20, 2021 at 12:19 pm

    @sab:

    I used to call my young dogs at work to wake them up …

    Good for you. They shouldn’t be sleeping on the job.

  187. 187.

    ian

    November 20, 2021 at 12:21 pm

    @debbie:

    in Florida, but here, people have already put up their decorations because it gets so cold

    Is this real?  Is this snark?  What is cold for Florida

    Edit- nevermind, hit send too soon.  I see you are saying you are not in Florida.

  188. 188.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    November 20, 2021 at 12:22 pm

    @Kalakal:

    were you suddenly sweating a lot?

    I had that symptom for years, but there were extenuating circumstances: Donald Trump was President.

  189. 189.

    Redshift

    November 20, 2021 at 12:24 pm

    @NotMax: So, unsurprisingly, TFG’s “book” is a picture book. Where almost all the work is done by other people, because he’s nothing if not lazy.

    Folks who predicted it would be a collection of tweets lose that bet, though.

  190. 190.

    Anon

    November 20, 2021 at 12:26 pm

    Biden can make Kamala president (like real president) with a stroke of his pen. Just sayin!

  191. 191.

    sab

    November 20, 2021 at 12:28 pm

    @Lacuna Synecdoche: Define swearing. I think swearing is Lord’s Name in Vain. Phuck is just a vulgarity. Those are okay.

  192. 192.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    November 20, 2021 at 12:28 pm

    @debbie: I once sent out a letter for my boss that omitted the “l” in “public.” Yowsa! Also, I misspelled “account” as “acoc*nt.”

    Where I grew up, there was a local county community college that had to scrap a whole run of course catalogs because, somehow, everyone involved in printing it missed that the word county was lacking an o.

    It didn’t exactly inspire confidence in the college’s educational merits.

  193. 193.

    Redshift

    November 20, 2021 at 12:28 pm

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Meanwhile, the Dems wait for September of election year because “nobody’s paying attention yet” and they run into that entrenched GOP storyline like it was a brick wall. 

    I’d argue it’s more that Dems talk about issues (which arguably no one is paying attention to earlier) and not storylines. Not disagreeing on the effect, but the solution is a bit different, we need to be setting storylines and narratives, which Dems mostly don’t do at all, not just doing the same things we’re doing only earlier.

  194. 194.

    sab

    November 20, 2021 at 12:29 pm

    @Lacuna Synecdoche: None of that was swearing.

  195. 195.

    burnspbesq

    November 20, 2021 at 12:30 pm

    Be careful what you wish for, Betty. The only reason Trump would go after DeSantis (or Abbott) would be to replace them with someone even worse.

  196. 196.

    sab

    November 20, 2021 at 12:32 pm

    @Lacuna Synecdoche: That got my extremely grumpy today husband  to laugh. Thank you.

  197. 197.

    eclare

    November 20, 2021 at 12:32 pm

    @Betty Cracker:  You and me both!  And good point about the patriarchal religions in the US, which dominate in the south.

  198. 198.

    Cameron

    November 20, 2021 at 12:33 pm

    @Redshift: That’s his next book, “The Most Beautiful Philosophy of President Donald J. Trump.”

  199. 199.

    Redshift

    November 20, 2021 at 12:36 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Any recs for a good English language source to follow developments? 

    BBC has been covering the current Belarus crisis quite well, including an interview with Lukashenko that’s harder-hitting than anything TFG was ever subjected to. That’s on BBC World News; I assume it’s also on the website, but I haven’t looked.

    I also follow @franakviacorka on Twitter, who’s an advisor to the legitimate president of Belarus.

  200. 200.

    Redshift

    November 20, 2021 at 12:38 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    My mistake was thinking at least some meaningful percentage of religious Republican or R-leaning independent women would refuse to vote for the grotesque sexist pig and at least stay home. Boy was I wrong about that! 

    Jenn Rubin had a good column about that recently. The TL;DR is that voting evidence shows evangelicals care about white supremacy more than anything related to religion.

  201. 201.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 20, 2021 at 12:45 pm

    @germy: ​
      Conventional wisdom said that first Black President would have to be a Republican, someone like Colin Powell. Conventional wisdom is often wrong.

  202. 202.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    November 20, 2021 at 12:45 pm

    sab:

    Define swearing. I think swearing is Lord’s Name in Vain. …

    That’s profanity, as in profane – also includes damn, hell, etc. Basically all of the religion-oriented cuss words.

    Fuck is an obscenity (having to do with sexuality); shit is a vulgarity (coarse, common).

    Swearing, cursing, and cussing are more generic terms for all of the above.

    YMMV.

  203. 203.

    trollhattan

    November 20, 2021 at 12:47 pm

    @debbie: ​”pub[l]ic” is the typo that terrorizes we editor-publishing types. Hey, both are legit words and spellcheck happily accepts both!

    My battles with from/form will follow me to the grave, but those errors do not elicit the reactions of that other one.

  204. 204.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 20, 2021 at 12:47 pm

    @James E Powell: Perhaps we should wait until the bill is actually a law to start running ads on it.

  205. 205.

    sab

    November 20, 2021 at 12:48 pm

    @Lacuna Synecdoche: Useful distinctions.

  206. 206.

    Kent

    November 20, 2021 at 12:48 pm

    @Nicole: Around here people put Christmas lights early because that is the only slots they can get from the companies who install lights.  This is an affluent area with lots of tall houses and hiring crews to do it is really common.  Not everyone can get the weekend after Thanksgiving installation window.  Nor do they want to wait until say Dec. 18 to get their lights up.

    I still do it myself thanksgiving weekend but my wife is threatening to forbid it due to the heights.  But this year it is too late to schedule installation anyway.  Why HOAs get involved is beyond me.  We have an HOA but all they do is maintain the common areas and “approve” paint schemes which basically means if it is a natural color and not identical to your neighbors you are good to go.

  207. 207.

    Redshift

    November 20, 2021 at 12:49 pm

    @MattF: Sorry to hear that. It happened to a friend a number of years ago – as he tells the story, one moment he was eating lunch at his desk, the next he was strapped to a gurney in an ambulance because he was “combative.”

    He wasn’t supposed to drive for about six months (I think) in case it recurred, but other than that had no further ill effects. They never figured out anything about what caused it; apparently sometimes the brain just randomly crashes.

  208. 208.

    Kent

    November 20, 2021 at 12:50 pm

    FNYT does it again.

    Whole long feature article about a bunch of MAGA dipshits who drive massive SUVs and jeeps who are complaining about how much it costs to fill up their tanks.  Sheesh.  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/20/business/high-gas-prices.html

    And what is the NYT position on climate change?  Are they climate deniers or do they think it might be real?

  209. 209.

    trollhattan

    November 20, 2021 at 12:51 pm

    No booze, no coffee, high altitude = fast runners?

    BYU notched individual co-championships in the NCAA women’s and men’s cross-country race today in hilly Tallahassee. NC State and Northern Arizona University won the respective team titles. BYU is in my kid’s conference, representing a giant wall for the other WCC teams to bash their heads against. They’re bailing for greener pa$tures in two years, though.

  210. 210.

    debbie

    November 20, 2021 at 12:52 pm

    @trollhattan:

    This was at a publishing house, before computers. I’ve always sucked at reading my own words.

  211. 211.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 20, 2021 at 12:52 pm

    @Lacuna Synecdoche: ​
      Well played. Swearing pedantry. This is comment is one of the most “in the spirit of the blog” things I have ever seen.

  212. 212.

    trollhattan

    November 20, 2021 at 12:52 pm

    @Kent: ​SWAG when your office is on the 53rd floor the ocean’s height is not especially relevant.

  213. 213.

    trollhattan

    November 20, 2021 at 12:54 pm

    @debbie: ​Yeah, if you HAVE to review your own writing, put it away at least one day before doing so. And if you have a tight deadline, beg, bribe, blackmail somebody into a quick read. Our brains aren’t wired for parsing our own writing.

  214. 214.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    November 20, 2021 at 12:55 pm

    @sab: Wilkommen.

    We here at Chez Synecdoche live to amuse.

    And serve.

    But mostly amuse.

    @Omnes Omnibus:  Danke. That’s the name of my new tavern: The Swearing Pedant.

  215. 215.

    Kent

    November 20, 2021 at 12:55 pm

    @Redshift:Jenn Rubin had a good column about that recently. The TL;DR is that voting evidence shows evangelicals care about white supremacy more than anything related to religion.

    Actually it is more deep-seated than that.  I am related to tons of these people.  They aren’t choosing between white supremacy and religion.  It is one and the same thing and always has been.  The two original sins of this country (slavery and Indian genocide) are both inexplicably linked to Christianity.  Christianity as practiced by much of this country is a white supremacist religion at its core.   There is no “choice” because it is the same thing.

  216. 216.

    trollhattan

    November 20, 2021 at 12:56 pm

    @Redshift: +1 They even have a reporter on the ground on the Belarus side of the border.

  217. 217.

    Kay

    November 20, 2021 at 12:56 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    The anti-wokism crew are getting a little nervous now that the panic they incited about The Grave Threat of The Woke is subsiding.

    Andrew Sullivan@sullydish

    In which David Brooks seems to argue that there is no such thing as a woke revolution transforming all of our institutions. I’m against illiberal conservatism, but I’m not going to deny the new power of illiberal leftism.

    They’re boring. They all churned out an identical essay on Rittenhouse. There’s lots of proceedings related to the BLM protests and/or vigilantes they could look at, but they all went with the same one. The same one Fox News focused on, as usual.

    No analysis of this, for example:

    SEATTLE — When a U.S. Marshals task force killed a self-described antifa activist in Washington State in September, the Trump administration applauded the removal of a “violent agitator” who was suspected of murder. Last week, local investigators concluded a monthslong homicide inquiry with the announcement that the activist, Michael Reinoehl, had most likely fired at authorities first, effectively justifying the shooting. But a review of investigation documents obtained by The New York Times suggests that investigators for the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office discounted key pieces of contradicting evidence that indicate Mr. Reinoehl may never have fired or pointed a gun.

    Or, Rittenhouse rather than Arbery? Arbery is a Right wing vigilante case. Why did no Right winger or anti-woke essayist opine on that? Inconvenient facts in that one? Doesn’t fit the anti-woke narrative?

    For people who whine that they’re silenced for unpopular opinions, they all always have the same opinion. It exactly tracks Fox.

    You can purchase a bunch of anti-woke substacks or you could just watch Fox free with your cable package They cover the same things, at the same time, in the same way.

  218. 218.

    Sister Golden Bear

    November 20, 2021 at 12:57 pm

    I realize this is an almost-dead thread, so I’ll probably repost later today.

    Today is the annual Transgender Day Of Remembrance. 2021 was the deadliest year on record in the U.S. for trans and gender non-conforming people, with at least 48 of us killed. The actual number is likely higher, since even in death too often we’re misgendered and deadnamed by authorities, and sometimes families. As usual, nearly all of the victims were trans women, the vast majority trans women of color, in particular Black trans women.

    48 lives cut short and snuffed out forever. 48 voices silenced. Say their names.

    Tyianna Alexander, 28
    Samuel Edmund Damián Valentín
    Bianca “Muffin” Bankz, 30
    Dominique Jackson, 30
    Fifty Bandz, 21
    Alexus Braxton, 45
    Chyna Carrillo, 24
    Jeffery “JJ” Bright, 16
    Jasmine Canady, 22
    Jenna Franks, 34
    Aidelen Evans, 24
    Diamond Kyree Sanders, 23
    Rayanna Pardo, 26
    Jaida Peterson, 29
    Dominque Lucious, 26
    Remy Fennell, 28
    Tiara Banks, 24
    Jahaira DeAlto Balenciaga, 42
    Natalia Smüt, 24
    Iris Santos, 22
    Tiffany Thomas, 38
    Keri Washington, 49
    Thomas Hardin
    Whispering Wind Bear Spirit, 41
    Sophie Vásquez, 36
    Danny Henson, 31
    Serenity Hollis, 24
    Poe Delwyn Black, 21
    Oliver “Ollie” Taylor, 17
    Tierramarie Lewis
    EJ Boykin, 23
    Taya Ashton, 20
    Shai Vanderpump, 23
    Miss CoCo, 44
    Pooh Johnson, August 23
    Zoella Martinez, 20
    Disaya Monaee, 27
    Brianna Ulmer, 25
    Kièr Solomon, 21
    Mel Groves, 25
    Royal Poetical Starz, 20
    Jessi Hart, 42
    Jo Acker, 26
    Rikkey Outumuro, 39
    Jenny De Leon, 25
    Marquiisha Lawrence, 28
    Angel Naira, 36
    Danyale Johnson, 35

    Photos and the stories of most of the victims (Naira and Johnson were killed mere days ago, so they’re not on the list).

    I long for the day when we won’t have any new names to read, when we won’t have any new candles to extinguish.

    Today we mourn our dead. Tomorrow we fight like hell for the living.

  219. 219.

    Hob

    November 20, 2021 at 1:00 pm

    @Lacuna Synecdoche: Kind of the reverse of that story: I used to work at a transcription service that did rush transcripts of TV interviews – that is, typing up all the raw footage so they knew what they had prior to editing. One day they sent some archived tapes from 1986 of Richard Pryor being interviewed by Barbara Walters. Or rather, sent them again – complaining that the previous typist had done a sloppy job, so I got the task of re-listening and checking the transcript. And sure enough, I did have to fix a word when I got to the part where Pryor, not liking something Walters had said, asked – according to the inaccurate transcript – “Barbara, are you being country?”

  220. 220.

    Ruckus

    November 20, 2021 at 1:01 pm

    @Quinerly:

    I’m going to say – poorly. Being this delusional should have an upside, say free room and board for a while, till the acid has completely left the system or reality has actually had the opportunity to make an appropriate appearance.

  221. 221.

    trollhattan

    November 20, 2021 at 1:02 pm

    @Kay:

    Michael’s actual first name: Han.

    Hippies won’t be allowed to brandish guns in public, anywhere, no matter what.

  222. 222.

    Kay

    November 20, 2021 at 1:03 pm

    The defense in the Arbery case (a Right wing vigilante case that is currently at trial) claim “the woke Left mob” influenced the jury in their motion for a mistrial.

    Every single anti-wokester will be claiming that by next week. Fox is probably already on it.

    I think we can safely say the woke panic has reached its height and is on the downswing when defense lawyers who have absolutely nothing else are reaching for it :)

    Substack may collapse. They better start a new panic fast. This one has been wrung out and can’t be squeezed for any more profit.

  223. 223.

    Kalakal

    November 20, 2021 at 1:06 pm

    @Betty Cracker: There was an English actress called Diana Dors who was originally marketed as  the UK’s answer to Marilyn Monroe.

    Her real name was Diana Fluck. As she put it

    They asked me to change my name. I suppose they were afraid that if my real name Diana Fluck was in lights and one of the lights blew …

  224. 224.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    November 20, 2021 at 1:09 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Hippies won’t be allowed to brandish guns in public, anywhere, no matter what.

    There are no hippies with guns – a hippie with a gun is a biker. Or more specifically a Hell’s Angel.

    Or a member of the Manson Family.

    (/hollywood stereotypes)​

  225. 225.

    Nelle

    November 20, 2021 at 1:10 pm

    @trollhattan: I would tell my students that their spell check can’t tell the difference between friend and fiend but they might want to know the difference.

  226. 226.

    Kay

    November 20, 2021 at 1:12 pm

    @trollhattan:

    There are so many trials and proceedings related to BLM protests! All over the country. Going on for months.

    So why would the contrarian free speech and rigorous debate crew all glom onto Rittenhouse exclusively and churn out identical opinions?  There’s a lot of material for anyone who is interested in trials related to BLM protests. But we only got analysis on ONE. I mean, if I’m an essayist who is charging a premuim for my work I might go out of my way to look at a different case, just in the interest of producing original content. None of them did.

    Just Kyle Rittenhouse. Exactly what Fox News focused on.

    Right wing vigilantes. That’s the subject. Okay, there were TWO high profile Right wing vigilante trials ongoing last week- Rittenhouse and Arbery. For some inexplicable reason we only got blanket coverage of Rittenhouse.

    That’s because Arbery doesn’t fit the narrative anti-wokesters like Greenwald and Sullivan need. Arbery has some…inconvenient facts. Bury it.

  227. 227.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    November 20, 2021 at 1:12 pm

    @Hob: That is hilarious.

  228. 228.

    Kayla Rudbek

    November 20, 2021 at 1:23 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: not as bright as you would think; I was left with a lot more of the grays with specks than of the solid color yarns from the previous project. So it’s two large bands of gray with the red in the middle…

  229. 229.

    oatler

    November 20, 2021 at 1:38 pm

    @Lacuna Synecdoche:

    Bikers with guns can be redeemed, as we learned in “C C and Company”. Here Ann-Margaret takes biker Joe Namath under her wing and dresses him in a red tracksuit. Coulda happened, doncha think?

  230. 230.

    opiejeanne

    November 20, 2021 at 1:39 pm

    @Chief Oshkosh: We’ve been treated very well by State Farm. We’ve been hit by other drivers several times* and they took care of us, although the last time I was told I had to contact the other person’s insurance company to recover my deductible, but the check was in my mailbox that morning before I could. Some crossed wires somewhere in State Farm’s claims office.

    In the greenhouse fire last Christmas, they took such good care of us that we actually came out ahead and we now have a replacement that cost far more than we paid for the one that burned.

    *Rear ended while stopped at a red light, mostly. The last one was someone changing lanes on the freeway at dusk who just didn’t see us, then tried to say that we hit her. She also didn’t want us to report it to our insurance company, and said she’d pay her mechanic to fix everything and repaint it. Uh-huh.

  231. 231.

    grandmaBear

    November 20, 2021 at 1:43 pm

    @Kent: an acquaintance from the East coast once asked why we in the West had to paint all of our houses the color of dirt.

  232. 232.

    glc

    November 20, 2021 at 1:54 pm

    One of my favorite typos:

     

    … Beethoven was in a flurry of musical writing. Being dead did not stop him in the slightest from recovering quickly and going on with his music. Sure, it was much harder. But he got through it.

    And not/now is always something to watch out for.  Like a land mine.

  233. 233.

    Sister Golden Bear

    November 20, 2021 at 1:56 pm

    Photos and the stories of the final two Transgender Day of Remembrance victims this year.

  234. 234.

    Ramalama

    November 20, 2021 at 2:27 pm

    @Geminid: True. Patriarchy and its foul-breathed friend misogyny was the bread and butter for a burgeoning Rush Limbaugh. Which he then polished to glassy stones to regularly hurl.

  235. 235.

    Ramalama

    November 20, 2021 at 2:29 pm

    @Hob: My country ’tis of thee.

  236. 236.

    Geminid

    November 20, 2021 at 2:37 pm

    @trollhattan: From what I read about his killing, Michael Reinoehl probably did not have time to brandish a weapon. Officers tasked with arresting him for the murder of Aaron Donaldson opened up very quickly after they confronted him that night. If he had immediately stuck his hands in the  air they might have taken him alive.

    This was a singular case. Reinoehl’s writings and the interview he gave to Buzzfeed the day he was shot indicate that he was an accelerationist who thought he may have started a neccessary civil war by killing Donaldson. Reinoehl had a colorable plea of self defense in the Donaldson killing, but it was never heard at a trial because he did not turn himself in, and it looks like the cops did not care if they took him alive or not.

  237. 237.

    Soprano2

    November 20, 2021 at 2:51 pm

    @Betty Cracker: My boss at my first full-time job told me computers were wonderful because they prevented unfortunate typos like the one our company did on an invoice to National Shirt Company. You can imagine it….

  238. 238.

    Geminid

    November 20, 2021 at 2:51 pm

    Meanwhile, jury deliberations in the civil lawsuit against Unite the Right rally organizers will resume Monday. Sines v. Kessler started October 25 in a Charlottesville federal district courtroom. It’s legal basis is an 1871 anti-Klan statute. Judge Moon gave the jury members over 70 pages of instructions and verdict forms.

  239. 239.

    Geminid

    November 20, 2021 at 3:21 pm

    @Geminid: Correction: Michael Reinoehl gave an interview to a reporter from Vice, not Buzzfeed. It was aired the night he was killed. ProPublica has a long article giving a lot of detail and background concerning the Donaldson and Reinoehl killings. It was published November 2, 2020, and titled, “When the Political Divide Turned Deadly in Portland.”

  240. 240.

    smedley the uncertain

    November 20, 2021 at 3:23 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: Also, Golda Mier (sp); Israel.

  241. 241.

    Geminid

    November 20, 2021 at 4:20 pm

    @smedley the uncertain: Golda Meir, Israeli Prime Minister from 1969 to 1974. Meir was born in Kiev, Ukraine, in 1898. Her father was a carpenter, and her earliest memories were of him boarding up the front door because of a rumored pogrom.

    He emigrated to the U.S. in 1903 and brought his family to Milwauke three years later. Meir was an enterprising child who organized a fundraiser to buy textbooks for her elementary school classmates. She earned a teaching degree from what is now the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and with her husband emigrated to Israel in 1921. A committed Zionist, Meir made “aliyah” a condition of marriage.

  242. 242.

    Rozziegirl

    November 20, 2021 at 4:54 pm

    @MattF:

     

    @MattF: So that happened to me in April, unexplained loss of consciousness but luckily not any kind of damage aside from bruising, out for 5-12 minutes.  Lots of tests, up to but not including an electrophysiogram of heart activity (trying deliberately to induce cardiac malfunction and then observing what happens).  Upshot:  syncope still unexplained, or what your older relatives called ‘fainting’.  No driving for six months, though.

  243. 243.

    Comrade Colette

    November 20, 2021 at 5:17 pm

    @NotMax:

    Just for your Mom’s neighbor.

    (Did a double take the first time on seeing an elephant float by.)

    I did a double-take at the end when the Lowe’s house-shaped logo, just for a split second, had a menorah in the window.

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