Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I really should read my own blog.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

People are weird.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

A fool as well as an oath-breaker.

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

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

This fight is for everything.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

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

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

How stupid are these people?

Tick tock motherfuckers!

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Petty moves from a petty man.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Keep the Immigrants and deport the fascists!

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

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Wednesday Evening Open Thread: In A Happier Timeline…

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Yeah, I’m not at all sure Ms. Parton wants to be a Cabinet Secretary either, but still!

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55Comments

  1. 1.

    Starfish

    Since Biden decided to expand services for drug addicts, the Republican talking point has been “Democrats are giving people free crackpipes.”

    Watch what happens when a Republican (on Twitter) messes up his talking points.

  3. 3.

    Chetan Murthy

    I remember my surprise when I learned that gaming was a bigger business than movies.  Gotta believe that entertainment and cultural production generally are enormous contributors to the economy, and besides that, they’re a critical part of America’s soft power overseas.

    Maybe the Secretary of Culture shouldn’t be Dolly Parton.  Sure, if she doesn’t wanna.  But we really should take that entire industry segment more seriously.

  4. 4.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    I nominate Dolly for an honorary Damehood, Nobel Prize and Sainthood.  I know she turned down a Medal of Honor because it was TFG that was offering it to her but I am sure she would accept if it was from Uncle Joe.

    BTW if you haven’t checked out Margorie three names “Gazpatchio Gate” you are missing some serious comedy gold.

  6. 6.

    Feathers

    If interested in the unfolding, but not yet officially acknowledged figure skating doping scandal at the Beijing Olympics, The Skating Lesson, a very well informed YouTube channel, has an update on it  As The Blade Turns: Russian Doping Scandal

    Dave Lease worked in TV production, including several Olympics figure skating coverage and is an adult skater currently training with the coach who coached Oksana Baiul and Viktor Petrenko to their medals. He is constantly interviewed and his videos covered in the Russian press.

    One note: figure skating is huge in Russia. It is their marquee event at the Olympics with a history going back over 50 years. Taking away their gold medal and giving it to the Americans will not be popular. The “three girls” as Eteri’s students are called are expected to sweep the podium, as the did at last year’s world championships. This whole thing is already being called an American conspiracy.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    @Starfish:

    Since Biden decided to expand services for drug addicts

     
    Isn’t that a winning point for us? Shouldn’t we thank Republicans for making it an issue?

  10. 10.

    germy

    Ronny Jackson says Biden is a “brain dead figurehead for the radical democratic party”

    Obama WH photographer advises Ronny Jackson that he has receipts t.co/13sPoRODnt

    — John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) February 9, 2022

    Hey Ronny, I didn’t know you were a liar when you sat next to me in the spare limousine, but i could tell you were often hung over on foreign trips. I have photos in the archive to prove it (since we preserved all Presidential records). @RonnyJacksonTX pic.twitter.com/VmnRRwXEeS

    — Pete Souza (@PeteSouza) February 9, 2022

  12. 12.

    Brachiator

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    I nominate Dolly for an honorary Damehood, Nobel Prize and Sainthood.

    Yes! And the title “Dame” should be reired in favor of “Dolly.” And so, for example:

    Dolly Judith Olivia Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA, BHH, where BHH is the newly created Royal Order of “Bless Her Heart.”

  17. 17.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @germy:  Gets better than that.  West Ham have fined him £250,000 and are going to donate it to animal charities.  Adidas has kicked him to the curb, and one of West Ham’s sponsors have dropped them.  The French authorities are also investigating him because apparently French Citizens can be prosecuted for crimes committed in other countries as well as in France.  That kind of twat will move on from animals and if I was in charge I would have taken his wife and kids away too.

  19. 19.

    Ken

    Dolly would of course be perfect for the role, but I shudder to think what C-list Dancing with the Stars or Masked Singer second-round loser the next Republican president would nominate. Assuming they even aim that high.

  20. 20.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Baud: They are, aren’t they?  Between the covid quarantine mishaps, and the weird disqualifications, and … well, it seems like nobody’s actually paying much attention to them.  The PRC can probably declare victory b/c they won’t (so far) suffer a covid superspreader event, sure.  But aside from that, it seems a debacle, PR-wise.

  23. 23.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    I know she turned down a Medal of Honor because it was TFG that was offering it to her but I am sure she would accept if it was from Uncle Joe. 

    That was the Medal of Freedom.

  24. 24.

    Jay C

    @Baud:

    No, not really: AFAICT, Republican attitudes towards “drug addiction” in general are still mired in the 1970’s (at latest) – it’s mainly a “moral failing”, mostly a problem of *Those People*, and best dealt with by Law Enforcement – preferably as brutally as possible. Unless the addict  patient is a family member, someone they know, or (at least) a member of their own class, of course….

    Utter BS lie as it may be, “Democrats/Joe Biden want to give crack pipes to addicts” just feeds into every bad RW fear/stereotype/prejudice about “DRUGS”, so maybe it’s not quite the notion that should be promulgated too much. Though debunking the lies should be….

  27. 27.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @germy: i cannot believe Ronny Jackson was the WH physician. WTfuckity fuck? I am not expecting the best physician in the world for POTUS but, jeezus, at least a top tier one from the military. The person is responsible for all WH staff not just POTUS which is a fair number of people.  It’s a real physician job not just some emergency for POTUS only job.

  28. 28.

    Old School

    I mean, I love the arts, but Republicans have been trying to shrink the NEA and PBS for decades.  If you think that a cabinet position funded at a couple billion dollars could exist so Dolly Parton could be nominated, well, I’m not going to hold my breath.

  29. 29.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I think non Republicans are more supportive. A lot of people have drug addicted family members.

    Trump actually promised to help. He put Kellyanne Conway in charge of it. The low quality hires did exactly what one would expect low quality hires to do – nothing: 

    President Donald Trump’s war on opioids is beginning to look more like a war on his drug policy office.White House counselor Kellyanne Conway has taken control of the opioids agenda, quietly freezing out drug policy professionals and relying instead on political staff to address a lethal crisis claiming about 175 lives a day. The main response so far has been to call for a border wall and to promise a “just say no” campaign.

  30. 30.

    gwangung

    Arts ARE important. How many people in this country went through the pandemic without ANY art to ease their life? Without a book? No streaming TV series or movies? No music at all?

    Churlish ingrates. It’s a source of American power, and most conservatives want to destroy it.

  31. 31.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Kay: Dear god, close up she looks as rough as Steve Bannon. I’d say her drug of choice is alcohol, and a lot of it.

  35. 35.

    Kay

    Michael S. Schmidt
    @nytmike
    NEW: The National Archives and Records Administration discovered what it believed was classified information in documents Donald J. Trump had taken with him from the White House as he left office.

    If these people really think Donald Trump isn’t telling anyone he can corner at that tacky country club “classified information” they are morons. Whatever “secrets” we had that he or any of the other low quality hires were privy too are long gone.

  39. 39.

    danielx

    @Kay: ​
     
    Considering the actions of some of Trump’s idiot minions, nothing is better than what might have occurred. I mean, he could have put Charlie Sheen in charge on the grounds that he looks good on tv and who better to deal with drug issues than someone who knows the issue intimately?

  40. 40.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @gwangung: entertainment is a big $$$ maker.  Ask the facilities which had to shut down because of COVID.  Ask the businesses around them. Ask the temp workers who come in for security. The uber/cab drivers. The parking garages. NPR had a piece a few years ago on how California had let the graphics industry for entertainment  migrate to Canada because the Canadians give subsidies and California refuses to. High paying jobs gone. I would rather subsidize that then selling offshore oil leases and mining leases for dirt cheap.

  41. 41.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I always want to ‘lean in’, but this time they really should. There are tens of millions of these people. It’s fucking heartbreaking. Anyone who would take advantage of this is a real scumbag. He should go out angry and dare them to look at all those brothers and sisters and parents and grandparents and minimize this. Go down there to Manchin country. You could fill a high school gym in each decent sized town. Ask them to raise their hand if they know a drug addict personally. Every hand will go up.

  43. 43.

    Kay

    @mrmoshpotato:

    One of the first things I thought when he lost was “there go all the secrets”. He’s a braggart! NOTHING those people like better than info other people don’t have. And he hired braggarts, so it multiplies!  Please. It’s all gone.

  45. 45.

    Kay

    @danielx:

    The “stealing public documents” story amuses me a little because Trump loves celebrity and celebrities and that’s how he would see it- that famous people gave him letters and things and that would be the value. Plus I enjoy thinking about him in that awful hotel looking thru them, wistfully.

  46. 46.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Kay:

    One of the first things I thought when he lost was “there go all the secrets”. He’s a braggart! NOTHING those people like better than info other people don’t have. And he hired braggarts, so it multiplies!  Please. It’s all gone.

    Yup.  And let’s not forget all of the sucking of every dictator’s asshole in the known Universe.

  49. 49.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Baud: I don’t know the answer but when you’ve got a valuable industry that you’re losing to another country(bad enough when its another state) you need to do something.

  50. 50.

    Anyway

    @Jay C:

    Yes, this is the new Obama phone. We’ll be hearing about it in 2050.

    “Messaging” gets a bad rap aroubd here but Dems need better communication/ PR people .

  52. 52.

    NotMax

    @Jay C

    “Democrats/Joe Biden want to give crack pipes to addicts”

    Fox: “What? That’s outrage– !”
    Offstage whisper: “They’re required to be made in America, by military contractors.”
    Fox: “–ously positive! The good thing exception that proves the rule about Biden.”

    //

  53. 53.

    J R in WV

    @MagdaInBlack: ​
     

    Dear god, close up she [Kelly Anne Conway] looks as rough as Steve Bannon.

    Dead Girl walking from day one, really. Terrible looking. Sad for the kids. One girl was seeking emancipation, don’t recall if she won her freedom…

  54. 54.

    J R in WV

    REgarding the Olympics. NBC doesn’t cover them as a sports event. They cover it as a USA USA picnic. They will ID the top three finishers, and the American back in 11th place, and then break away for a pre-games biopic of that 11th place American, while ignoring the wonderful performance created by the gold medal winner, who barely gets named because no Red White and Blue wrapping.

    I remember when ABC did it, a long time ago, and so very professionally done. And when real news happened, like terrorists killing athletes, the sports anchors could cover that as well as or better than the NBC news anchors.

    I’m not sure when NBC became the bottom feeder of the networks, but they are embedded in the murk on the bottom now for sure. All emotions, no facts. No wonder no one is watching their dumb show.

  55. 55.

    Peter VE

    Why would Dolly stoop to a Cabinet position? Kamala to the Supremes, Ms. Parton as VP, then 2024 Dolly!

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