Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

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

Our messy unity will be our strength.

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

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

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

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Things *Do* Get Better

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Things *Do* Get Better

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177Comments

  1. 1.

    satby

    in like twenty three days the shortest day will be over and the days will start getting longer. seasonal affected crew counting them days down like nobody’s business.

    True words. I don’t mind winter or cold as long as I can have some sunny days mixed with the overcast ones. It’s the weeks of overcast days that make winter SAD for me.

  2. 2.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Trees in state dining room decorated with old photos of first families.

    Imma guess that not every first family is represented. Just a hunch.

    Good morning, everyone!

  6. 6.

    NotMax

    Exhilarating emplacement or modernist Czech hedgehog simulacrum?

    It has been called beautiful, awesome and brilliant, a transcendent work of art that reimagines the holiday experience with local touches of the Jersey Shore.

    It also has been called ridiculous, ugly and hideous, something akin to a pile of Amazon shipping boxes or a giant cat-scratching post. Source

  8. 8.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Betty:

    @MagdaInBlack:

    I stand corrected, thanks. And true, Dr. Jill — not being a petty, spiteful bitch — would make a point of being inclusive.

    I’ll bet she gritted her teeth, though ;-)

  9. 9.

    Betty Cracker

    I’ve liked Andrew Bates’ style ever since he came to my attention during the campaign via a short video he did to debunk some Trumpian nonsense. He’s pretty combative for a Biden guy.

    On a personal note: got my Moderna booster yesterday evening, but aside from arm soreness, I feel just fine! I dreaded feeling tired and achy as I was after the second shot, so this is a pleasant surprise.

  10. 10.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @satby:

    It’s the weeks of overcast days that make winter SAD for me.

    That’s exactly why I moved to New Mexico. My last winter in Chicago broke all records for number of days without sunshine. I was done. (That, plus a job with a psychoboss that nearly broke me.)

    NM has 300+ days of sunshine per year. No more SAD for me. :)

  11. 11.

    SFAW

    @Betty:

    I don’t know. I think Jill Biden would be inclusive in spite of everything. Just to demonstrate we aren’t like them.

    I, on the other hand, like my Christmas trees decorated with photos of persons who don’t try to destroy democracy and the country.

  15. 15.

    debbie

    Look at that hallway in the second video. I believe that’s where those murderous red trees stood. What a difference! You can even see the ceiling lighting!

  18. 18.

    Betty Cracker

    @SiubhanDuinne: For some reason, this conversation reminded me of how Michelle Obama acted with such grace and class and patriotism when she had to welcome the grotesque Emperor Tang and his scowling concubine to the White House in 2016. That made her statement when they failed to reciprocate in 2020 extra magnificent, IMO:

    This week, I’ve been reflecting a lot on where I was four years ago. Hillary Clinton had just been dealt a tough loss by a far closer margin than the one we’ve seen this year. I was hurt and disappointed—but the votes had been counted and Donald Trump had won. The American people had spoken. And one of the great responsibilities of the presidency is to listen when they do. So my husband and I instructed our staffs to do what George and Laura Bush had done for us: run a respectful, seamless transition of power—one of the hallmarks of American democracy. We invited the folks from the president-elect’s team into our offices and prepared detailed memos for them, offering what we’d learned over the past eight years.

    I have to be honest and say that none of this was easy for me. Donald Trump had spread racist lies about my husband that had put my family in danger. That wasn’t something I was ready to forgive. But I knew that, for the sake of our country, I had to find the strength and maturity to put my anger aside. So I welcomed Melania Trump into the White House and talked with her about my experience, answering every question she had—from the heightened scrutiny that comes with being First Lady to what it’s like to raise kids in the White House.

    I knew in my heart it was the right thing to do—because our democracy is so much bigger than anybody’s ego. Our love of country requires us to respect the results of an election even when we don’t like them or wish it had gone differently—the presidency doesn’t belong to any one individual or any one party. To pretend that it does, to play along with these groundless conspiracy theories—whether for personal or political gain—is to put our country’s health and security in danger. This isn’t a game. So I want to urge all Americans, especially our nation’s leaders, regardless of party, to honor the electoral process and do your part to encourage a smooth transition of power, just as sitting presidents have done throughout our history.

    The paths they chose really underscored the difference, but in case anyone missed it, Mrs. O was there to spell it out! :)

  19. 19.

    rikyrah

    That’s easy.

    Another invasion from the Mexican border. They have already used Haiti. What country will be invading us next???

     

    Travis Akers (@travisakers) tweeted at 10:25 AM on Mon, Nov 29, 2021:
    Gas prices are dropping, shipping backlogs are clearing out, unemployment is at its lowest in over a half century, wages are increasing, the stock market is bursting, inflation has stabilized…

    I wonder what the next manufactured crisis will be?
    (https://twitter.com/travisakers/status/1465356373361840136?t=URBftySyuNS0gnlok-hGmw&s=03)

  20. 20.

    NotMax

    Had the things been prevalent at the time, bet yer boots the former occupants would have tried selling NFTs for the decorated trees.

  26. 26.

    Betty Cracker

    @debbie: I learned from one of my grandmothers that steely politeness can be far more cutting than rudeness, however justified.

  27. 27.

    rikyrah

    Elections Matter

     

    Lakota Man (@LakotaMan1) tweeted at 10:11 PM on Mon, Nov 29, 2021:
    Electricians installing power lines on the Navajo Nation reservation. $11 billion of the infrastructure bill has been allocated for Indigenous communities, some have been without electricity for decades — your vote played a part — your vote really does matter. https://t.co/AS9VGc4DD7
    (https://twitter.com/LakotaMan1/status/1465533926240178181?t=JnkLUZJeGJKtQVkfYzPMIA&s=03)

  31. 31.

    Betty Cracker

    @Betty Cracker: I’ve often thought of writing a Sun Tzu-style book based on my grandmother’s social warfare strategies. She never expressed them per se, but I watched her in action for 50 years. One axiom I gleaned from her example is that if you have the choice of making an enemy angry or ashamed, you should choose the latter 100% of the time.

  38. 38.

    germy

    The Supreme Court has turned away a group of health care workers who sought exemptions from their Boston-based hospital's COVID vaccine mandate.The request was denied without comment by Justice Stephen Breyer.— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 30, 2021

  39. 39.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @satby: No, not that hot at higher elevations (relatively speaking). We’re at >6k feet, so we have four seasons and even some snow, although that’s been reduced due to climate change.

    ETA: The temperature drop during summer nights helps a lot. At least a 20-degree difference, so the house cools off significantly. On the worst heat days, I don’t turn the a/c on until mid- to late afternoon, since the house stays cool until then

    ETA2: Added advantage of dry climate: NO LAWNS! (We’re not Arizona.)

  40. 40.

    lowtechcyclist

    Grey skies have a bad rap, but you can’t get snow without them.  And a few minutes ago, I was watching the first snow of the season outside my window.

    Just flurries, really, nothing that will stick.  But pretty nonetheless.

  43. 43.

    Spanky

    @lowtechcyclist: Yep, I was out filling the bird feeders when it started.

    I missed having snow last year. As I’ve gotten older I’m enjoying the subtle colors and quiet of winter. And you can hear the little wrens and chickadees bopping around the underbrush now. Winter has become one of my favorite seasons, though my arthritis disagrees.

    It was just a passing wave and has stopped now.

  45. 45.

    satby

    @lowtechcyclist: We’ve had 3 or 4 snows up here over the last couple of weeks but any accumulation melted within a couple of hours. Grey skies are fine for a few days, but after that snow falls a sunny, blue sky day is a beautiful sight. Plus, snowshoeing!

  46. 46.

    satby

    @mrmoshpotato: Well, I ended up making italian because I had tortellini to use up. And subsequent family stuff prevented me from cooking it until tomorrow. Now waiting for a pending gift of homemade sauerkraut to arrive so I can really enjoy that Reuben I’ve been craving. ?

    Hope your Thanksgiving was enjoyable.

  47. 47.

    Matt McIrvin

    @rikyrah: Currently they’re back to blaming Biden for COVID. “Why has he not made it go away? Hell no I won’t get the shot or wear a mask.”

  48. 48.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @lowtechcyclist: I grew up in Detroit, which is cloudy in winter because of the lakes. When we moved to Iowa, there were many cold but sunny winter days. I used to get all cheery when it clouded over. It took me a while to realize that was because it felt like home

  49. 49.

    Kay

    Marjorie Taylor Greene
    · 28m
    .@NancyMace is the trash in the GOP Conference.
    Never attacked by Democrats or RINO’s (same thing) because she is not conservative, she’s pro-abort.
    Mace you can back up off of @laurenboebert or just go hang with your real gal pals, the Jihad Squad.
    Your out of your league.

    Guffaw. The potential for this sort of thing to be good for us is underrated, IMO. The Ohio GOP Senate primary is a shitshow. They have this “moderate” who somehow wandered in but every time he opens his mouth the MAGAS boo him.

  50. 50.

    Betty Cracker

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I think shame avoidance is the animating force in the life of a toxic narcissist like TFG, even (because, really) he would sooner die than own up to feeling it. His shamelessness is a hysterical response to the destructive power the prospect of shame has over him.

    My theory is only sociopaths are truly impervious to feeling shame, and they are (fortunately) rare. But even though they’re incapable of feeling shame, they understand the social/political cost involved and try very hard to avoid it. Their shamelessness is more calculated, and they are even more dangerous. I put FL Gov. Ron DeSantis in this category.

    Not a psychologist, so I could totally be wrong!

  52. 52.

    Quinerly

    Good morning! JoJo and l are off for a few days to prowl about Las Cruces, Deming, Alamogordo, and White Sands. All dogs, especially black dogs, must experience White Sands! Rental is up here in Santa Fe today, and closing on the house is 12/8…maybe sooner.

    Things sure are moving fast! JoJo visited the yards at the new house Sat. His first time there. He was so enthusiastic that he thought he could walk on water. Ended up in the koi pond. Mistook the vegetation for a solid surface… At least that’s the excuse he is using.

  54. 54.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @rikyrah:

    Another invasion from the Mexican border. They have already used Haiti. What country will be invading us next???

    Well, Barbados just broke their ties to the British Crown, so maybe (feisty and flush with their newfound republican independence) they will decide to invade.

    “Beware the hordes of plundering Barbadians….”

    Nope, can’t make it work.

  57. 57.

    Ken

    @NotMax: It also has been called ridiculous, ugly and hideous, something akin to a pile of Amazon shipping boxes or a giant cat-scratching post.

    For a minute I thought you were re-posting this world record holder which IIRC* showed up in one of our morning threads a couple months ago.

    * I find more and more, INRC**.

    ** I Never Recall Correctly.

  58. 58.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    The Ohio GOP Senate primary is a shitshow.

    Heh. This morning, it was reported that the state party leadership had asked all potential primary candidates not to attack DeWine during the primaries. I say, have at ‘im, guys and gals!

  61. 61.

    Ken

    @NotMax: Had the things been prevalent at the time, bet yer boots the former occupants would have tried selling NFTs for the decorated trees.

    They’re probably kicking themselves because they sold the flags that were used at the White House campaign event instead of NFTs. After all, the flags are limited, while with NFTs — as even their proponents admit — you can create any number for a single underlying “asset”.

  63. 63.

    Ken

    @SiubhanDuinne: When is Baud returning to us?

    Probably just the season, but I’m sensing religious overtones here.  Makes me want to burst into Baud carols, or go around assuring everyone that as long as we keep Baud in our hearts he will always be with us.

  65. 65.

    Betty Cracker

    Didn’t former WH doc and current rabid wingnut kook Rep. Jackson already capitalize on the Omicron variant by claiming South Africans were invading Texas?

    Jackson really puts the REAR into the admiralty. I hope Jackson’s current insanity prompted close reviews of the processes that allowed a kook like him to rise through the ranks and be given a WH posting. It’s sickening that such a person was in charge of President Obama’s healthcare.

  68. 68.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: Mace made the mistake of thinking she could play both sides, but with the GOP there’s no way to do that. The minute she said vaccines were good, they decided she was a RINO, even if she only said it on CNN.

  69. 69.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    DeWine surprised me only in that he’s as corrupt as he is. I knew he was a shape-shifting go along with no real beliefs or standards, but I did not see the real sleaziness – the pay to play, the blatant scandals he all but endorses- as being part of his career. Oh, well. A late bloomer in corruption.

    We had a CLE (lawyer continuing ed) with a statehouse Republican as a presenter. He suprised me because he said there are fewer lawyers in the legislature than there used to be and that has affected the quality of the work coming out of there- that lobbyists draft it because they no longer have people who can really read it for themselves and take it apart, how it will work, how it interacts with existing law, etc. . My sense was he didn’t mean “lawyers” though, specifically. He meant there are more people who don’t know what they’re doing and don’t do any real work – like MTG in the US House and the Colorado bigot. I was suprised a Republican would admit this.

  72. 72.

    Nelle

    @Betty Cracker: Nothing like freezing a university classroom to silence as I stared down the back row of rowdy, big football players beyond their endurance.  Later, there was a quip about putting me on the defensive line.  If you know anything about U of Kansas football, it might have even helped.

  74. 74.

    dmsilev

    @Betty Cracker: The only thing I saw from him was a tweet claiming that Omicron was a ginned-up crisis to allow Democrats to commit ELECTION FRAUD in the midterms.

    (More lockdowns->Mail-in-votes->FRAUD)

  75. 75.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @rikyrah: They are all ready freaking out about Omicron Variant because first described in South Africa. So obvious racists dog whistle. Not sure how that will work in Flat Earth Land when most of the victims will be the unvacced whites.

  76. 76.

    Soprano2

    I’m so glad the White House actually looks like Christmas again, instead of whatever it was Melania was doing.  I think it’s hilarious that Trumpers were so far up TFG’s ass that they were willing to overlook how awful her Christmas decorations were. If a Democrat decorated the White House for Christmas like that the howling on Faux News would be never ending!

    I’ve got a co-worker who got invited to a WH Christmas party along with his wife because his wife was onstage for a George W. Bush event here in Springfield. He said when the WH first called he hung up because he thought it was a prank! They went; he said it was amazing to be in there and walking around in the rooms, actually allowed to sit on the furniture! He said it was amazingly beautiful to see the rooms decorated for Christmas. They got to have a picture taken with George W. and Laura; he said it was like an assembly line, people one after the other having their picture taken. Even if it was for George W., that’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

  78. 78.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    Is she really pro choice? These are the states I think will immediately ban abortion when the SCOTUS overturns Roe, with laws equal to or more draconian than Texas:

    Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, South Dakota, South Carolina, Utah, Oklahoma.

    I wonder if anyone can do anything with that, politically. These will be the “11 year old rape victim forced to carry pregnancy and deliver” states. In the United States.

  79. 79.

    BC in Illinois

    @rikyrah:

    And the first comment on Twitter, from someone with zero followers, is:

    Where are the droves of strategic competent marketing pros bombarding the public with effective messaging??????

  80. 80.

    Subsole

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I actually expect they are.

    Granted they may be on a low branch and towards the back, but I expect they’re there somewhere. The Bidens just seem like that kinda family.

  81. 81.

    mrmoshpotato

    @debbie:

    This morning, it was reported that the state party leadership had asked all potential primary candidates not to attack DeWine during the primaries. I say, have at ‘im, guys and gals! 

    LOFuck ’em all.  (And I don’t even live in Ohio.)

  82. 82.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Ken: Probably just the season, but I’m sensing religious overtones here.

    Some say Baud was born off by four women in a late 70s van and lies sleeping in a hidden cave in middle of a pile of pizza boxes until the nation needs him again.

  87. 87.

    Subsole

    @rikyrah:

    They’re already ramping it up.

    The new jackpot winner?

    South Africans!! All infected with Omnicron!

     

    So basically an Ebola panic retread.

    Because these people have managed to crush the capacity for innovation completely out of themselves.

  89. 89.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Betty Cracker: politics aside, he was apparently a pill-popping drunk, too. The O’Bros were very fond of him, not least– listening between the lines of their podcast when he first made news for claiming The Beast weighed 220 pounds–because of his free hand with a scrip pad during those long overseas trips

  90. 90.

    sab

    @Kay: The joys of term limits.There’s no point in learning your current job when you will always be hustling for the next one.

  92. 92.

    OzarkHillbilly

    in like twenty three days the shortest day will be over and the days will start getting longer. seasonal affected crew counting them days down like nobody’s business

    I never did. It was what it was. Beyond checking the weather every morning so I knew what to expect, it was just beside the point.

  93. 93.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I remember the O-bros embarrassing defense of Jackson. I think you’re onto something with that scrip motivation. In his previous role across administrations, Jackson must have been a glad-handing hypocrite who flattered everyone. Easy to see how that would cultivate Emperor Tang. Who knows if Jackson’s latest incarnation is sincere or tailored to the district? Doesn’t matter. Pretending to be a racist scumbag is volunteering to be one.

  96. 96.

    Subsole

     

     

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Easy. They’ll just lie some more to themselves.

    Fascism requires your enemy be simultaneously too weak to deserve mercy, but also too strong to resist.

    Rationality only works if you believe in standards. And consistency is a pretty significant component thereof…

  98. 98.

    terraformer

    The tweet about how Biden mentioned that 99&% of schools are open – I was hoping that he ALSO said the following paragraph (apparently he didn’t, that was written by the poster). The part where ALL Republicans voted against the legislation that allowed this to happen.

    This is why Dems suck at messaging. We MUST, at every opportunity, remind voters that all these good things are in spite of Republicans, not because of them. They voted against everything. That must be noted in every interview, every soundbite, every video.

  99. 99.

    Kay

    @geg6:

    Oh, sure. Michigan too. Which is a pain because my escape plan is Michigan. I like Minnesota too. I’m going to end up in Canada, aren’t I?

  100. 100.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    I got a few icy prickles of snow on my windshield driving to the dentist at 9:00. Didn’t expect that. Gray and 38° here in NOVA.

    Already done and now seated at the nearby IHOP for breakfast. Yee-haw.

  105. 105.

    Kay

    @sab:

    Latta is in my CLE area so he’s sometimes there. It was Zoom so I couldn’t scope it out. Probably thinking “don’t tell them!”

    “just between us and the 500 other people on this Zoom, let me express my concern that my Party is full of low quality hires, grifters and insane people”.

  108. 108.

    Cameron

    @Betty Cracker: I don’t think the swinish oaf is capable of shame; I do think he’s capable of embarrassment, which is the most horrible thing in his existence.  Shame requires a sense of guilt or remorse, or at least a suspicion that one should experience one or both of those.  It’s a judgment on oneself.  Embarrassment just means you look (or think you look) bad/foolish/clueless to others.

    Sorry – I’m being especially long-winded this a.m.  Nothing that banging back a couple of Sazeracs at lunchtime won’t cure.

  110. 110.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @eclare: We have some fruit trees (apple, pear, plum), but in general a lot fewer deciduous trees than in the east and midwest. That’s definitely a difference.

  113. 113.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @O. Felix Culpa: Oh, I forgot to mention the cottonwoods, which congregate around the bosque and other waterways. They’re gorgeously golden in the fall. Further up into the mountains you get aspens; also beautiful foliage.

  115. 115.

    Kay

    @eclare:

     Becoming the flip side of the GOP isn’t the solution.

    Yup. It’s a comment on a blog. I wasn’t offering “the solution”. God, I hope I haven’t depressed turnout again.

  118. 118.

    Steve in the ATL

    @O. Felix Culpa: I remember a conversation with a Phoenix-area Home Depot exec about a decade ago about their supply chains.  At the time, they sent the same merchandise to each store around the country.  His stores each received 30 riding lawn mowers.  Based on annul sales, that gave each store a 30-year supply!

    I never though much about winter weather in that area, having perceived it as sweltering desert, but I was in Sedona in the winter time few years ago and was startled to see snow-covered cactus.

    And then talking to our next door neighbors at Lake Oconee who moved from Flagstaff because they were tired of the snow.

    Who knew?

  120. 120.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Kay:  I offered my opinion in a response to your question of whether it mattered if the claims Biden made were true or not.  I said that it did.  It’s my opinion and that all anyone is expressing here.  If you want to take that as a scolding, that is entirely up to you.

  121. 121.

    germy

    @NotMax:

    Whatever happened to the red sweater undecided voter?  I can’t remember his name.  His fifteen minutes of fame came and went so quickly..

    EDIT:  Ken Bone

  122. 122.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Betty Cracker:

    I think shame avoidance is the animating force in the life of a toxic narcissist like TFG

    Absolutely.  If he were incapable of shame, he wouldn’t throw shit fits when he is criticized.  He would handle it strategically.  TFG is a miserable hollow of a human being.  He experiences happiness only for short periods when he is being effusively praised.  The whole ’45th President’ thing on his stationary is a perfect example of how fragile his ego is.  He can’t bear to give up the external validation of calling himself president.

    My theory is only sociopaths are truly impervious to feeling shame

    My understanding, and I am only psychiatrist-adjacent, is that sociopaths are incapable of empathy.  They not merely don’t use it, they are not able to value other people’s lives or feelings.  It is psychopaths who are incapable of feeling internal/moral guilt/shame.  Both are often good at faking it, because that is clearly a useful social tool and they have no reason to shy away from lying about it like we might.

  124. 124.

    Kay

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Oh, bs, Omnes, you scold me constantly. I’m sick of it. As you well fucking know it wasn’t an actual “question”,  but it was an opportunity to police what I say again, and I’m sick of it.

  125. 125.

    frosty

    @Kay: We’ll, it IS an almost top 10,000 Full Service Blog, after all. One doesn’t know how much influence one’s comments may have.

    // (if you couldn’t tell)

  126. 126.

    Anonymous At Work

    Disappointing Game 4 in Chess championship today.  I think Nepo showed some new ideas as black but Carlsen got into a position where he didn’t want to risk a lose and ended the game early.  This could be three straight championships where the winner doesn’t win a game in classic time controls.

  127. 127.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Betty Cracker: My side effects from 3rd Moderna came a tad over 24 hours later. But I did wake up feeling fine and had a nice day before the crash (which wasn’t long lived).

  128. 128.

    Geminid

    @Steve in the ATL: Flagstaff sits on the Coconino Plateau and has different weather than Arizona west and east. One pleasant memory of a trip west was climbing out of the desert on I-40. I passed through a hundred miles of desert, including the Painted Desert, and then in twenty miles was in a forest. Flagstaff is a cool stop, and the Lowell Observatory grounds are nice to walk.. My late friend Chris was a trucker, and he called Flagstaff “Flag,” a green waypoint on the way to “Cali.”

  131. 131.

    sab

    @Kay: I dunno. They had 12 years of Steven Harper. We look at them as some sort of political wonderland, but they are just another country.

  132. 132.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: You may, because the Supremes may rule in such a way that they say abortion is not legal in the U.S. That’s possible but not likely. It’s what they’d like to do, though.

  133. 133.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Subsole: Well the example is AIDs; only teh gay gets AIDs, because of reasons, so anytime one them gets AIDs they pretend it didn’t happen. That makes it hard to have a proper panic about  it.

  134. 134.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: I agree, Biden should say that. He should also mention every time that all the Republicans voted against the bill that made it possible to open schools safely. That has the virtue of being true!

  135. 135.

    Soprano2

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think our messaging is fine for the most part. Our big problem is that we don’t have a news network that’s devoted to repeating our message 24/7/365 like Republicans have. I don’t know how we overcome that. I also think some Democrats suffer from the idea that they think it’s condescending to keep repeating the same good things we did over and over again, but that’s how the message actually sinks into people’s brains.

  139. 139.

    hueyplong

    @Sure Lurkalot: Is the all-clear-you’re-fully-immunized lag time 2 weeks for the booster as it was for shot #2 in Round 1?

    Asking for a friend who got the booster yesterday, as did Cracker.

  142. 142.

    opiejeanne

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: You’re kidding, aren’t you? I witnessed old ladies yanking a wrapped stack of cups away from a gay man because he was opening the wrong end and would possibly touch the tops with his hands. There was panic among the straights who, even though they thought of it as the Gay Disease, worried that they could catch it from too-close contact.

  147. 147.

    sab

    Gov DeWine is contemplating weakening teacher certification requirements because there is now a teacher shortage, especially  for subs. They are considering allowing temporary certification for subs with only a high school degree.

    In my county most of the suburban schools are having real staffing problems with subs and schoolbus drivers. Maybe they should start passing their school levies.

  150. 150.

    sab

    @schrodingers_cat: AIDS came up late in my dad’s professional life. In his pathology lab the older doctors kind of took over and insisted on handlimg the AIDS cases so the doctors with young children didn’t.

  151. 151.

    Leto

    @SiubhanDuinne: personally I love watching choppers pass over. In my area we’ve had news choppers, and then military ones: Blackhawks, Cobras, Apaches, Chinooks, and Ospreys. Osprey’s are the strangest sounding ones due to their rotor configuration (twin rotors, side by side), with Chinooks right behind (twin rotors mounted fore and aft).

    As long as it’s not fighter aircraft, I’m good. Lived on Shaw AFB for 5 1/2 years and JFC, listening to F-16s morning, day, and night… never again

    Edit: also I just scheduled our booster shots. 14 Dec, we get a Pfizer booster. Had a choice for the Moderna booster, but first available appointment for that was 18 Jan. CDC approved mixing, there’s some benefits to mixing, our first two doses were Moderna, plus it was a month earlier… no brainer!

  152. 152.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Leto: ​
     I’ve heard differing opinions on mixing and matching with regard to the booster. Has a definitive opinion come out?

  153. 153.

    Eljai

    @Leto: I had the vice versa!  Got a Moderna chaser to my Pfizer shots.  I went out and got the booster as soon as I knew I’d be travelling to Missouri for Thanksgiving.

  154. 154.

    sab

    @Leto: Around my house the helicopters are either hospital medivac, or tv station weather and traffic. We also have blimps!

    In Vegas they were mostly police chasing criminal fugitives. That was unnerving.

    Around my brother north of SF CA they ate mostly multimillionaires avoiding traffic.

    ETA The new blimps are weird because they are almost silent. The old ones sounded like airborne lawnmowers. You couldn’t miss them, and every kid in town could recognize the sound.

  155. 155.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Soprano2:

    I’m so glad the White House actually looks like Christmas again, instead of whatever it was Melania was doing.  I think it’s hilarious that Trumpers were so far up TFG’s ass that they were willing to overlook how awful her Christmas decorations were. If a Democrat decorated the White House for Christmas like that the howling on Faux News would be never ending!

    They were so far up his ass that they also defended him serving fast food at the WH to high school/college athletes during the 2018-2019 government shutdown when WH kitchen staff left as him being a man of the people instead of cheap lol.

  156. 156.

    Steve in the ATL

    @schrodingers_cat: @sab: back in my misspent youth, I once had to represent a bank robber who had Hep A.  After each meeting with him, the federal marshals had to wipe down the entire meeting room with bleach.  We didn’t share any food or drink, or feces, but it still creeped me out and I worried about taking an infection home to my wife and very young children.

    Pro-tip: don’t rob a bank, then take a cab to your mother’s house and tell her all about it if she’s going to turn you in.  Maybe she was just sick of having an unemployed, drunken son hanging around her house.

    Pro-tip 2: don’t be an unemployed, drunken bank robber!

  157. 157.

    Steve in the ATL

    @sab: ​
     

    We also have blimps!

    I was playing a Little League baseball game back in the 70’s and the Goodyear blimp flew over us. Apparently we were that good! And it totally wasn’t just a coincidence as the blimp was repositioning for the weekend’s NFL game….

  158. 158.

    Ruckus

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    If they were capable of even minimal shame they would have all slashed their wrists long ago. Or at least slashed each others throats, they seem quite capable of that…..

  161. 161.

    debbie

    @sab:

    Here, there’s plenty of police helicopters circling, circling, circling. We had one bright bulb fly his helicopter in the shape of the letters C P D (Columbus Police Dept.) shortly after George Floyd’s murder. And a couple of times a year, we get a fleet of military helicopters flying south surprisingly slowly.

  162. 162.

    Ruckus

    @Betty Cracker:

    It’s my experience that the officer corps has it’s share of kooks, lowlifes, losers, dingleberries, shitheads, assholes and just plain idiots, like most any other collection of humans. And when they find one, they often boot them into some out of the way place where they can do the least amount of damage and more important, publicity. Which is why they don’t boot them out unless the transgression is extremely egregious, they don’t want anyone to see how looney, ignorant, full of themselves (and shit) they are and how they still managed to be moved higher and higher. And yes, the Peter Principle applies to the military, just like everywhere else in life, those who can do, those who can’t get promoted and become even more full of themselves.

  165. 165.

    Ruckus

    @hueyplong:

    Yes. It takes time for the body to process the vaccine, first, second or third.

    Having said that if you have the first two you nominally are vaccinated but the effectiveness drops after time and considering that this is a pandemic, the booster is there to insure that you have the maximum level of protection. If enough people were smart enough to actually get the free vaccine, boosters would very likely not be necessary. But they aren’t and didn’t, so boosters at least protect you better from them.

  166. 166.

    Betty Cracker

    @Ruckus: Hierarchal fuckery could certainly explain the rear admiral gig, but there’s something seriously wrong with a process that boots a kook and degenerate like Jackson all the way up to attending physician to the POTUS.

    I’d like to think he was at least board certified, but who knows? I’d like to think the Navy brass would be concerned about billeting a walking scandal that was waiting to explode in the White House, but apparently not.

  167. 167.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @opiejeanne: ; Did you not read about Lake of the Ozarks this summer with all the random sex going on like there is no ongoing AIDs pandemic??? Oh ya, I wonder were all that “I don’t need to wear a mask/get a vaccine” shit from the Right came from.  Sort of like “I don’t need to wear a condom because I am straight” nonsense. 

  168. 168.

    Ken

    @sab: Gov DeWine is contemplating weakening teacher certification requirements because there is now a teacher shortage, especially  for subs.

    And if that doesn’t work, they can eliminate the background checks.

  170. 170.

    Ruckus

    @Betty Cracker:

    Medical officers may be stationed by the medical corps. Maybe they put him there to do the least amount of damage. Prescribing meds get checked by the pharmacists, taking weight, temp, O sat and BP is pretty routine stuff, even I can do that, and do and that I think is about the limit of what he does, anything more the pres goes to the hospital, major tests get a specialist. I think his presence is as much for the country as it is for the pres. We see the one basic exam on TV but I’d bet most are given by a nurse. And yes military docs are board certified. Which I think means less and less as one ages out. I’ve run across one at the VA, older than dirt, knows more than any 12 other docs, just ask him, only doctor in my life I told to fuck off because he “knows more” than anyone and my physical response to a medicine is less important than his “knowledge” from decades ago.

    Also how many docs do you know who are flaming liberals? Or flaming assholes? Or still practicing way, way past their due date? I’ve met my share of all three. Doctors have a lot of schooling and training, yet they are still human, with all the attributes and deficits of the rest of humanity. For some their position and power go to their heads, just like others who react badly to power. Mental illness, bigotry, and stupidity can arise in any of us and often does as we age, especially if it was started far earlier.

  171. 171.

    satby

    @Cameron: I know there’s a difference, I’m saying to me it’s academic. I don’t like hot. My thermostat up here in the northlands is set at 63-64° in January. I’ll goose it to 67° if I have company. TBF, I also don’t like air conditioning, but I need it in July and August.

  172. 172.

    sab

    @satby: We have our house thermostat set at 61°  and we are comfortable all day. At night with blankets we start off cold and then roast in the middle of the night.The cats are always cold. The dog is in  sync with us.

  173. 173.

    RevRick

    Funny how Ms. Superville omits mention of the one building that makes Christmas comprehensible— the church. I know the Bidens take their faith seriously, and if asked, I suspect Joe would say it’s been his anchor in his worst times.
    No church, no Christmas.
    Oh, I can imagine there’d be some sort of winter solstice celebration, but I doubt peace, love, hope and joy would be a part of it. Probably more like the drunken debauchery of Saturnalia, which just reified the power structure of the Roman Empire.
    On December 12th, the Bidens will attend worship and hear these jolly words from the gospel according to Luke: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath that is to come?”

  175. 175.

    Bill Arnold

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Currently they’re back to blaming Biden for COVID. “Why has he not made it go away? Hell no I won’t get the shot or wear a mask.”

    We know full well that in an alternate hell-world where DJT won the election and was still POTUS, there would be right wing vigilante squads (perhaps with distinctive clothing, though not brown shirts) staking out the homes of anti-vaxers and organizing shaming campaigns, there would be mandatory vaccinations in the workplace with the “Trump vaccine” enforced with severe (employee, duh) sanctions, evangelical church members would be knocking on doors about vaccination-Jesus, and vaccination rates would be 10-20 percent higher than they are now.

  176. 176.

    RevRick

    @Subsole: Oh, I am definitely okay. I just get an ironic chuckle out of those words of John the Baptist I quoted. It certainly isn’t a Charlie Brown Christmas sort of thing. And yet the church insists on sticking this passage on the third Sunday of Advent once every three years. As a faithful Catholic Joe Biden has heard it 25 times in his life. I’m sure it makes him sit up and take notice.

    Thanks for asking.

  177. 177.

    Richard

    @satby: yes. I don’t celebrate Christmas,  it’s not my thing. I’m here for the lights and a poinsettia. Santa is ok because he’s not really Christian. Anyway these decorations are way better than that Hell vision that mrs bad thing inflicted on us.

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