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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Friday Morning Open Thread: ‘World, Meet Willow’

Friday Morning Open Thread: ‘World, Meet Willow’

by Anne Laurie|  January 28, 20228:26 am| 105 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Popular Culture, President Biden, Readership Capture

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The Bidens met Willow in 2020, when she jumped up on the stage while Jill Biden was speaking at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania.

via @MauraJudkishttps://t.co/Ex57V4vAzb

— Amy B Wang (@amybwang) January 28, 2022


The *most* important news at the top of the morning:

The long-awaited White House cat has joined the Biden family — and her name is Willow. Michael LaRosa, a spokesman for first lady Jill Biden, confirmed the 2-year-old, gray-and-white short-haired tabby’s arrival, saying the cat is “settling into the White House with her favorite toys, treats and plenty of room to smell and explore.”

Willow is named after Jill Biden’s hometown of Willow Grove, Pa. The cat comes from an unnamed Western Pennsylvania farm where the Bidens made a campaign trip in 2020.

“Willow made quite an impression on Dr. Biden in 2020 when she jumped up on the stage and interrupted her remarks during a campaign stop,” wrote LaRosa in a news release. “Seeing their immediate bond, the owner of the farm knew that Willow belonged with Dr. Biden.”…

No word yet on if Willow has been introduced to Commander — and whether the pair get along.

Obviously not a cat to be spooked by the limelight! Not to mention, one who isn’t afraid to go for what she wants…

she's one of the first press secretaries in recent memory who consistently challenges reporters when they use passive voice to try to play gotcha

— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachi) January 26, 2022

Inbox: President Biden is participating in an NBC special airing next week celebrating the life of Betty White. Lots of celebs participating as well.

— Morgan Chalfant (@mchalfant16) January 27, 2022

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Reader Interactions

105Comments

  1. 1.

    Elizabelle

    January 28, 2022 at 8:30 am

    Welcome Willow. Lovely cat.

    There’s been a bridge collapse in Pittsburgh. Not many details; I hope no injuries and fatalities. President Biden will be in Pittsburgh today to speak on infrastructure (previously scheduled).

  2. 2.

    Another Scott

    January 28, 2022 at 8:33 am

    This is a sign that Teh Meteor is near, right?? Like the Cubs winning the World Series??!

    (Insert DougJBalloon tweet here.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  3. 3.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    January 28, 2022 at 8:33 am

    When I saw the title of the post, I assumed it was about the willow in Cole’s backyard. It’s too close to the house, you know.

  4. 4.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    January 28, 2022 at 8:35 am

    @Elizabelle: Here are some CNN links to news about that bridge

  5. 5.

    Baud

    January 28, 2022 at 8:35 am

    ? ?

  6. 6.

    Another Scott

    January 28, 2022 at 8:36 am

    @Elizabelle:

     Frick Park bridge collapse

    :-(,
    Scott.

  7. 7.

    Spanky

    January 28, 2022 at 8:37 am

    ABOUT DAMN TIME!

    Nice cat!

  8. 8.

    Spanky

    January 28, 2022 at 8:39 am

    I was going to post about that bridge too. Collapsed during rush hour, took down a commuter bus and at least 4 cars. Actually one of the younger bridges in Pgh.

  9. 9.

    NotMax

    January 28, 2022 at 8:43 am

    A Friday funny. Just because.

  10. 10.

    germy

    January 28, 2022 at 8:44 am

    When we move stuff faster through ports, when bridges don’t have weight restrictions, when there’s less traffic on our roads — that’s how we resolve supply chain problems and get goods to people quicker and cheaper.

    The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is helping make it happen.

    — President Biden (@POTUS) January 24, 2022

    I thought weight restrictions were a good idea. What am I missing here?

  11. 11.

    Ken

    January 28, 2022 at 8:45 am

    @Elizabelle: I wonder which Fox News program will be the first to speculate the bridge collapse was engineered to support the speech

    (“Speculate” may be too strong. Breathlessly report that “some think” is more likely.)

  12. 12.

    Soprano2

    January 28, 2022 at 8:45 am

    That cat is beautiful, about time they got the cat. I guess they had to make sure Willow and Commander can get along first.

    I don’t know why reporters keep asking those kind of questions; I guess they’re hoping that she’ll fall for it. Funny how the reporter couldn’t tell Psaki who is asking those questions. LOL And yeah, I hope the next press secretary does the same thing, because it’s effective.

  13. 13.

    Baud

    January 28, 2022 at 8:45 am

    @germy:

    I think he’s saying reinforce the bridges so they can carry more load.

  14. 14.

    Spanky

    January 28, 2022 at 8:46 am

    @Spanky: Now reading that there were no serious injuries, which would be miraculous.

  15. 15.

    Soprano2

    January 28, 2022 at 8:46 am

    @germy: I think he’s talking about weight restrictions lower than what a bridge was initially built for because the condition of the bridge is so bad.

  16. 16.

    Nicole

    January 28, 2022 at 8:47 am

    The articles say minor injuries, but no fatalities, so that’s a relief.  Also says the last inspection of the bridge said it was in “poor” condition.

  17. 17.

    rikyrah

    January 28, 2022 at 8:47 am

    Good Morning Everyone ???

  18. 18.

    rikyrah

    January 28, 2022 at 8:47 am

    Awe Willow ??

  19. 19.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 28, 2022 at 8:48 am

    I know I’m not the only one who saw the title and thought something dire had happened with the tree in John’s back yard.

    ETA: And sure enough, DAW at #3 was on it immediately!

  20. 20.

    Ken

    January 28, 2022 at 8:49 am

    @Spanky: Or further proof that it’s a false flag operation with crisis actors in the vehicles, all to provide something Biden can point to in his speech.

  21. 21.

    zhena gogolia

    January 28, 2022 at 8:49 am

    First day at work and forgot to bring my lunch. Nothing’s open for faculty. Good thing I have a can of Pringles.

  22. 22.

    Geminid

    January 28, 2022 at 8:50 am

    @germy: Stronger bridges?

  23. 23.

    Baud

    January 28, 2022 at 8:50 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good morning.

  24. 24.

    Steeplejack

    January 28, 2022 at 8:51 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good morning! ?

  25. 25.

    germy

    January 28, 2022 at 8:52 am

    Thanks, all. Now I understand Biden’s bridge quote.   Fix the bridges so we’re not afraid to use them, basically.

  26. 26.

    Elizabelle

    January 28, 2022 at 8:52 am

    Talk about an incredible backdrop for Biden’s speech today.  Toomey voted against the infrastructure bill, FWIW.

    And we’ve got a massive snowstorm on tap for the weekend.

    And:  today is the 100th anniversary of the Knickerbocker Theatre collapse in Washington DC.  Roof collapsed under the weight of a heavy snowfall.  98 dead.  28 inches of snow had fallen over a 2-3 day period; that record for a single snowstorm stands to this day.  Theatre held 1,000; only 300 in attendance because of the weather.  A Harold Lloyd film screened earlier that week.  WaPost article.
    How the Knickerbocker snowstorm became D.C.’s deadliest disaster 100 years ago

    PS:  Sorry to be stomping on the very happy news of cat Willow Biden and her new digs.  The bridge collapse caught my attention, though, and a friend and I were already following the Knickerbocker anniversary.

  27. 27.

    Spanky

    January 28, 2022 at 8:52 am

    @Spanky: WTAE livestream:

    Fifty yar old bridge.

    Rated POOR on last inspection.

    10% of the bridges in Allegheny County are rated POOR. That’s over a hundred.

    Due to condition, weight limit of 26 tons was imposed, but in fact few vehicles were on it. (It’s snowing in Pgh.

    ETA: Only 10 people on bridge at the time, and 3 were injured. Big bullet dodged there

    ETA2: Prez is “grateful” for 1st responders. Still coming to town.

  28. 28.

    Subsole

    January 28, 2022 at 9:01 am

    @Soprano2: Why wouldn’t they expect it to work?

    It always worked when Trump did it to them.

  29. 29.

    Steeplejack

    January 28, 2022 at 9:01 am

    I don’t know who needs to see this, but if anyone is like “What’s the deal with Joe Rogan?” The Daily Show did a perfect explainer.

  30. 30.

    JMG

    January 28, 2022 at 9:05 am

    Two feet of snow expected here tomorrow, with blizzard conditions all along the Massachusetts coastline. Probably major power outages on Cape Cod, where gusts of 70 mph or more are expected. We haven’t had a real buster of a major snowstorm in greater Boston for a few years. We were due. Did our food shopping yesterday. Will get gas for snowblower this morning. We have a plow service, but belt and suspenders is a snow prep habit.

  31. 31.

    sdhays

    January 28, 2022 at 9:14 am

    @Spanky: What condition do bridges have to be in to be closed down??

  32. 32.

    O. Felix Culpa

    January 28, 2022 at 9:14 am

    We got maybe an inch of snow in our little corner of New Mexico. Santa Fe, which is ~1000 feet higher, got five inches. The state has about three snow plows to clear the roads (slight exaggeration), so we’re staying home and admiring the wintry view for a while.

    ETA: Welcome, Willow!

  33. 33.

    Chief Oshkosh

    January 28, 2022 at 9:22 am

    @Baud: I think he’s saying fix/replace so that the bridges can at least carry the loads they were designed to carry originally. The load restrictions exist because many older bridges can no longer meet the original needs/design specs.

     

    ETA: Soprano2 at 15 said it better.

  34. 34.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 28, 2022 at 9:22 am

    Willow the Cat is beautiful and sounds like a curious and affectionate moggy. She’ll be a lovely addition to the Biden White House.

    That bridge collapse in Pittsburgh may have been predictable, but it’s still a terrible thing. I hope it doesn’t affect any of our area Jackals.

    Had a nice surprise a few minutes ago. I have a wallet that I love, absolutely adore, but after 30+ years it is really raggedy, just peeling and ugly and falling apart. So I was emptying it out, all the little pockets crammed with old business cards and long-expired membership cards and out-of-date IDs and so on, and discovered — wedged among and hidden behind the aforesaid detritus — five crisp, neatly folded, $50 bills! Two hundred fifty bucks in found money! Comes at a good time, too, as I’m going to the Southeastern Stamp Expo later today and hope to buy some stamps and FDCs for my collection, and now I won’t have to stop at the bank on the way. Thank you, Universe!

  35. 35.

    Spanky

    January 28, 2022 at 9:24 am

    @sdhays: “Collapsed”?

  36. 36.

    SFAW

    January 28, 2022 at 9:25 am

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    New Mexico. Santa Fe, which is about 1000 higher, got five inches.

    Well, here in central MA, which is about 1000-plus miles higher (on the map, that is), we’re supposed to get 18-24 inches. The coast is supposed to get really slammed — heavy snow, high winds.

    Anne Laurie: I hope you get through this without losing power, and are able to stay off the roads tomorrow.

    Now, I have to toddle off to make sure my backup generator is working, and get my snow blower into the garage.

  37. 37.

    Geminid

    January 28, 2022 at 9:26 am

    @Spanky: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a good write up of the bridge collapse. The part that fell spanned a park. One scary aspect was a ruptured natural gas line that “sounded like a jet engine.” The gas was shut off before it ignited.

    President Biden will fly into Allegheny   County Airport in West Mifflin, then travel to Hazelwood to make remairks on the supply chain and infrastructure at 2pm.

  38. 38.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    January 28, 2022 at 9:26 am

    @Another Scott:

    Thankfully none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening

  39. 39.

    SFAW

    January 28, 2022 at 9:27 am

    I am outraged that the Bidens apparently didn’t even consider a white male kitty. Yet another example of Lie-beral affirmative action quotas.

  40. 40.

    satby

    January 28, 2022 at 9:27 am

    @Steeplejack: I love that. Spot on too.

  41. 41.

    satby

    January 28, 2022 at 9:28 am

    @sdhays: Collapsed.

  42. 42.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    January 28, 2022 at 9:31 am

    @Baud:

    @Soprano2:

    Whoever wrote that tweet should’ve made that clear. It really does sound like Biden thinks weight restrictions are a bad idea

  43. 43.

    PST

    January 28, 2022 at 9:31 am

    @Geminid: I believe I’ve walked across that bridge. Friends lived nearby until recently. (Like many people I know, they recently decided to grow old in a single story home.) It’s a beautiful park and a beautiful area.

  44. 44.

    Spanky

    January 28, 2022 at 9:31 am

    @Geminid: The P-G and I have a hate-hate relationship, so I’m not going to look, but there are a number of popular trails running under that bridge, but no one was under there (we hope!) due to the poor weather. It looks like the gas line that went down with the bridge was shut down pretty fast

    Hopefully Suzanne will chime in, and that she wasn’t involved.

  45. 45.

    PST

    January 28, 2022 at 9:33 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): To say that we ought to remove weight restrictions rather than that we ought to repair the bridges would be a very Trumpish-Deathsantish thing to say, wouldn’t it? Like testing less for Covid instead of vaccinating for it.

  46. 46.

    satby

    January 28, 2022 at 9:34 am

    You know, at the moment (because rescues) I have 6 cats. And I just don’t give a shit about what pets the Bidens own, though it’s nice they do. I wish our failing news media and gnat-attention-span citizens cared as much about policy that affects their lives as they do frivolous things.

  47. 47.

    Suzanne

    January 28, 2022 at 9:35 am

    @Elizabelle: Pittsburgh canceled in-person school today.

    After the last two years, I need a fucking vacation.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    January 28, 2022 at 9:35 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    I’m not wasting time nitpicking the wording of tweets.

  49. 49.

    Spanky

    January 28, 2022 at 9:35 am

    On the scene reporter on the WTAE website has a jackhammer going in the background. Also a couple of very large wreckers, so things are moving toot sweet.

  50. 50.

    satby

    January 28, 2022 at 9:37 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): It really does sound like Biden thinks weight restrictions are a bad idea

    No it doesn’t, unless you’re completely clueless about the national conversation about our crumbling bridges that’s been ongoing for the last 20 years.

  51. 51.

    Spanky

    January 28, 2022 at 9:37 am

    @Suzanne: I saw that. Apparently they decided that reeeeeealy late.

  52. 52.

    Baud

    January 28, 2022 at 9:37 am

    @satby:

    I wish our failing news media and gnat-attention-span citizens cared as much about policy that affects their lives as they do frivolous things

     

    They do, when it’s INFLATION!!!

  53. 53.

    Geminid

    January 28, 2022 at 9:38 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): The tweet was meant for an audience that would hear it good faith. Qualifying it might foil nit pickers, but a simpler message communicates best in this context, I think.

  54. 54.

    Leto

    January 28, 2022 at 9:39 am

    Jill Biden’s hometown of Willow Grove, Pa

    Well that’s pretty awesome. That’s where I retired out of, the former Willow Grove Air Base. It was a joint Navy/AF air base, but in the 2011 round of BRAC the military removed all planes from the base (F-18s and A-10s), the Navy gave control of the base to the AF, and the base changed its name to Horsham Air Guard Base. It’s now a very small base being mainly used as a communications hub.

    This has been your very local tidbit of trivia. We return you to cat pics and Psaki making clowns of our fourth estate.

  55. 55.

    PST

    January 28, 2022 at 9:39 am

    Speaking of snow, we are having beautiful lake-effect snow here in Chicago this morning. I have seldom seen as many happy dogs as I did this morning around dawn walking with Bernie. Lots of frolicking. I’m sure if they’d had thumbs they would have thrown snowballs, but all they could do was bat the snow at one another. One golden I saw decided to become a snow gopher and tunnel. When we got home my wife called in a panic because the car was stuck, so I realize it wasn’t fun for everyone. But in some ways this kind of day is a reason to live in the temperate zone. The wife extricated herself, so now I feel like a kid taking a snow day again.

  56. 56.

    Suzanne

    January 28, 2022 at 9:41 am

    @Spanky: Well, I got a call about 6 AM saying that the schools were going to 2-hour snow delay. Then just got call/text/tweet about 30 minutes ago that all the PreK-8th grades are doing a remote day instead.

  57. 57.

    BC in Illinois

    January 28, 2022 at 9:42 am

    I assume that Willow has been thoroughly vetted.

  58. 58.

    BellyCat

    January 28, 2022 at 9:42 am

    The bridge collapse is in my neighborhood. Major artery.

    Same day as President Biden comes to visit and talk about infrastructure. Coincidence?!?! Did he really need to have the Secret Service blow up a bridge to prove his point? It would be irresponsible to not speculate. // ?

    Stay tuned for this conspiracy to get floated, if it has not already.


    (Have not read the thread, so I imagine an astute jackal has pointed this out already)

  59. 59.

    Steeplejack

    January 28, 2022 at 9:42 am

    @JMG:

    We’re supposed to get the edge of that storm here in the DMV, anywhere from a “dusting” to a couple of inches in my little corner of NoVA. I’m having lunch with a friend at noon today, and after that I’ll hit the grocery store. I’m due for a run anyway, and that will get me through any snow that we end up having.

  60. 60.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    January 28, 2022 at 9:44 am

    @satby:

    @Baud:

    While I understand your points, I can just imagine the bad faith actors out there running with something like this because it plays into so many BS right-wing narratives about Biden. And I’m sure a lot of low-info folks won’t know what was really meant either, they’ll have the same reaction germy and I did

  61. 61.

    Suzanne

    January 28, 2022 at 9:45 am

    @BellyCat: We are over in Brookline. Staying away from crossing the Mon today!

  62. 62.

    Steeplejack

    January 28, 2022 at 9:47 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    LOL, make sure those bills are still negotiable. Sounds like they’ve been hidden away for a while.

  63. 63.

    Leto

    January 28, 2022 at 9:48 am

    @Steeplejack: we currently have a light amount falling. It’s pretty, not sticking, but that will probably change around 4-5pm as the main body of the storm moves in. Hoping that the storm follows the US model versus the European one.

  64. 64.

    Spanky

    January 28, 2022 at 9:49 am

    @Suzanne: Ah, so that’s where you are. There’s a couple of nearly unaltered Sears houses side by side on Pioneer Ave, one of which my uncle built before he married my aunt now nearly a hundred years ago. My cousin still lives there.

  65. 65.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 28, 2022 at 9:52 am

    @Steeplejack:

    Haha, they’re not even silver certificates. But I’ll bet they’ve been lurking there for a good four or five years!

    And they’re so crisp and crackling, I’m more concerned that the stamp dealers will think I just printed them :-)

  66. 66.

    Spanky

    January 28, 2022 at 9:52 am

    BTW, I just took a Google Streetview drive over that bridge, and it looks appalling. I’d have concerns about going over it irl.

  67. 67.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    January 28, 2022 at 9:53 am

    @Geminid:

    @satby:

    @Baud:

    Truth be told, it’s not a huge deal now that I think more about it. If it becomes anything, it will be forgotten about in a day or so and the vast majority of people will never even read this tweet

  68. 68.

    WaterGirl

    January 28, 2022 at 9:54 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: A going away gift from your beloved wallet.  How thoughtful!  :-)

  69. 69.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    January 28, 2022 at 9:56 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Sweet! What year did those bills come out? I’ve always liked looking at old money

  70. 70.

    Suzanne

    January 28, 2022 at 9:58 am

    @Spanky: All the bridges here look that shitty.

  71. 71.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 28, 2022 at 9:58 am

    @WaterGirl:

    Right?!

  72. 72.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 28, 2022 at 9:59 am

    GOLIKEHELLMACHINE @golikehellmachi
    she’s one of the first press secretaries in recent memory who consistently challenges reporters when they use passive voice to try to play gotcha

    I love that she pushes back on “people are saying…”

    She’s very sharp

  73. 73.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 28, 2022 at 10:01 am

    @zhena gogolia: I always have an apple and a cheese stick in my  purse for such emergencies.

  74. 74.

    normal liberal

    January 28, 2022 at 10:07 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Oh, for pity’s sake, let’s stop catering to the bad-faith merchants.  Anyone who regularly travels across a bridge knows what the tweet means. As to the constant critics, they will carp and complain no matter how carefully the tweet is composed. All the handwringing gives aid and comfort to the assholes.

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    January 28, 2022 at 10:08 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Clearly you raised your wallet right!

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    January 28, 2022 at 10:09 am

    @Suzanne: That’s scary.

    As it should be.  Minnesota cared about bridges for about 45 minutes after they had a bridge collapse.

    Hopefully the timing of this along with BBB and the bipartisan bill might help this be seen in a new light.

  77. 77.

    Spanky

    January 28, 2022 at 10:09 am

    @Suzanne: Almost all the bridges ARE that shitty. 175 rated POOR in Allegheny County alone. I suspect that was a reason Biden was going there to begin with.

  78. 78.

    matt

    January 28, 2022 at 10:12 am

    On the Psaki passive-voice thing – she’s showing the reporters how to do their jobs better, not that they’re interested.

  79. 79.

    Suzanne

    January 28, 2022 at 10:12 am

    @Spanky: When I was a kid, the Mill Avenue rail bridge in Tempe washed out in a rain storm. I remember that still. Then some years later, the dam burst, about a quarter-mile further down the river.

  80. 80.

    James E Powell

    January 28, 2022 at 10:16 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I don’t understand why Golikehellmachine thinks her cynicism is a negative. The general public doesn’t follow White House press. The only things they might hear about are the gotchas & the gaffes.

    And I reject the idea that Rs can attack & even promote violence against the press, but Ds have to be careful not to be cynical. The reporters who get those responses are a holes. Everyone knows that.

  81. 81.

    JoyceCB

    January 28, 2022 at 10:17 am

    More trivia, more trivial than most:  I did not know that Jill Biden was from Willow Grove.  My mother grew up just down the road in Abington PA.  Grandparents lived there until the late 60’s.  I well remember seeing the aircraft on display at the gate to the Willow Grove Naval Air Station, as it was then.  My mother and her friends volunteered at a canteen on the station during the war.

  82. 82.

    Baud

    January 28, 2022 at 10:22 am

    @James E Powell:

    I think that there are two ways people overreact to Republicans.  One is to think Republican assholery represents strength that should be emulated.  The other is to regard such assholery as an evil that we most avoid at all costs by forswearing any demonstration of strength, confidence, self-assurance or decisiveness in our actions and our words.

  83. 83.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    January 28, 2022 at 10:24 am

    @normal liberal:

    See my comment at 67

  84. 84.

    pat

    January 28, 2022 at 10:28 am

    I haven’t read all the comments yet.

    I can’t be the only one to note that the WILLOW is finally INSIDE the HOUSE…..

    Heh.

  85. 85.

    VOR

    January 28, 2022 at 10:28 am

    The reporter asking Psaki a question in that clip seems to conflate inflation with higher taxes. Not even remotely the same thing. Reminds me of the 2016 election when TFG didn’t understand the difference between the budget deficit and the trade deficit.

    Welcome Willow!

  86. 86.

    sdhays

    January 28, 2022 at 10:33 am

    @Spanky: Apparently. But then why bother with the expense of rating them in the first place?

    “First world country” my ass.

  87. 87.

    Edmund Dantes

    January 28, 2022 at 10:36 am

    @germy: additional weight restrictions beyond the original design load.

    weight restrictions added because the bridge is in such bad shape from its deteriorating condition that you can’t have the normal load you would expect go over it.

  88. 88.

    Geminid

    January 28, 2022 at 10:39 am

    @pat: And now Matt Iglesias will report that Democratic Senators are complaining that Willow is too close to the House.

  89. 89.

    Geminid

    January 28, 2022 at 10:42 am

    @Spanky: Pennsylvania’s bad bridges are a good reason for Biden to make this appearance in Pittsburgh. Another is that the state has critical races for Governor and Senator this year.

    The administration seems to target battleground states for visits by the President and Vice President. I noticed that Vice President Harris made two appearances in North Carolina shortly after the Infrastructure bill passed. And maybe battleground Congressional districts. When President Biden flew to Kansas City to tout the Infrastructure bill, Representative Sharice Davids (KS-3) met him at the airport.

  90. 90.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    January 28, 2022 at 10:47 am

    @Geminid:

    Speaking of, when do you think Infrastructure Bill money will begin to start flowing? I know there’s a process that has to be followed to allocate funding to specific projects, along with improvements being identified. I understand that’s well under way

  91. 91.

    Another Scott

    January 28, 2022 at 10:49 am

    @VOR: So much reporting on the economy is so very bad.

    Yesterday evening on Marketplace on the radio, a reporter – who reports for a show about the economy and should know this stuff backwards and forwards – was talking about the new GDP numbers and she said something like “the growth numbers were high but were accompanied by inflation”, muddling the fact that the GDP numbers are “real” – meaning after inflation is taken into account.

    It’s malpractice and such an elementary thing that it makes one wonder if it’s deliberate…

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  92. 92.

    Baud

    January 28, 2022 at 10:52 am

    @Another Scott: It’s deliberate.

  93. 93.

    Tdjr

    January 28, 2022 at 10:52 am

    I’m in Forest Hills PA just on the other side of Squirrel Hill. I’ve been over that bridge thousands of times. It wasn’t too surprising to have a bridge collapse in this area, since we have about 1200 or so. But that one is in an incredibly busy area between Squirrel Hill and Wilkinsburg. The fact that there were few injuries and no deaths is a miracle.

    Btw, I learned about the collapse here on BJ. ?

  94. 94.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    January 28, 2022 at 10:55 am

    @Another Scott:

    @Baud:

    Yeah, I’m going to go with Baud and say it’s deliberate

  95. 95.

    dww44

    January 28, 2022 at 10:58 am

    @Another Scott:  while I didn’t hear this I’ve often listened to that show in the past.  They definitely tilt right and this misrepresentation was likely  intentional.  Maybe you could send in a request for a correction and/or clarification?

  96. 96.

    Geminid

    January 28, 2022 at 10:58 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I think some Infrastructure bill is flowing already. Senate Candidates Tim Ryan and Val Demings have made a number of appearances talking up the benefits of the Infrastructure bill they voted for, but that may be prospective.

    It’s worth looking up, though. Your state newspapers and TV stations will report on new projects; they like that kind of story.

  97. 97.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 28, 2022 at 11:03 am

    @Baud: Another overreaction is to build up the Republican party as an all powerful apparatus with super human abilities that never makes any mistakes.

  98. 98.

    Geminid

    January 28, 2022 at 11:12 am

    @schrodingers_cat: And for now at least, Republicans seem to be using their shabby superpowers on each other. They still could close ranks after the primary season, but they will have spent a lot of money tearing each other down.

    Democrats, on the other hand, have a number of lightly contested primaries, and the contested ones don’t seem too divisive at this point.

  99. 99.

    jnfr

    January 28, 2022 at 11:28 am

    Lovely Willow kitty. I bet she and Jill will be good friends.

  100. 100.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 28, 2022 at 11:29 am

    @schrodingers_cat: the “Mitch McConnell will win!” reactions to Breyer’s retirement here were head-spinning

  101. 101.

    BellyCat

    January 28, 2022 at 11:33 am

    @Suzanne: Epic traffic issues for the 2-3 years, I suspect. Blah…

  102. 102.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 28, 2022 at 12:05 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah that was weird yet not too surprising.

  103. 103.

    J R in WV

    January 28, 2022 at 12:55 pm

    @sdhays: ​
     

    What condition do bridges have to be in to be closed down??

    They need to be like the Frick Park bridge in Pittsburgh, collapsed. Then they are closed.

  104. 104.

    dimmsdale

    January 28, 2022 at 1:50 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I used to be infuriated on her behalf when the Young Whelp Doocey would “ask” her all those propagandistic questions. Lately I’ve been appreciating how adept she is at caroming off those questions into a display of good faith, good humor, and a re-statement of the WH message.

    By the way, who the hell WAS that “reporter”? I can’t find a name anyplace.

  105. 105.

    Mo MacArbie

    January 28, 2022 at 3:10 pm

    I’m not sure I like this cat. She looks a bit like Melania to me. Clearly a plant…

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