So, if I have this right, the thin-blue-line back-the-blue folks are reacting to a minor playground insult by doing a telephonic DDOS on police and tying it up at the expense of actual emergency victims?
https://t.co/EL30lo62bf— StandWithUkraineHat (@Popehat) March 11, 2022
… “If they don’t take care of it, then we’ll just flood 911,” Brase responded to a cheer from the crowd. “So they can answer the phone tomorrow or enjoy 911 calls. How about that!” Reached for comment by The Daily Beast, a Maryland State Police communications official said: “They certainly do not go unanswered. That is for sure.” The official added that the 911 number “should be reserved for emergency use only.” (The official confirmed that a driver flipping a trucker off is not an emergency.)
On Thursday, a trucker said of their daily Beltway laps that metro commuters continue to flip them off. “We go around the Beltway—birds are flying,” the driver said. “Birds are flying everywhere.”…
BUT MAH WOUNDED FEE-FEES!:
There is a lot of chatter over the CB radio today about Beltway drivers flipping truckers off. “He put his fingers up and pulled that type of crap,” a trucker complained during their Beltway loops, while another trucker insisted that he considers such a “terroristic threat.”
— Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo) March 11, 2022
Ironic that the People’s Convoy’s biggest enemy has consistently been the people.
— Ben Hebert (AY-bear) (@benhebertdotcom) March 11, 2022
Taibbi, scrounging Ted Cruz’s leftovers…
Now Taibbi’s pumping the trucker convoy. Major emphasis, as you might expect, is how MSM is mean to them, and how Joe Biden like Obama before them is Bad for the Working Man.
There’s no “horseshoe” anymore; it’s all just Republican propaganda. https://t.co/cdgr0aZVez
— Roy Edroso (@edroso) March 11, 2022
Scenes from the ‘People’s Convoy.’ Confederate flag in back. pic.twitter.com/xXzFkJdpOu
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) March 11, 2022
Something for the “People’s Convoy” claiming to be freedom fighters
pic.twitter.com/5Fw1Pl9dnP— Tony Michaels ?? (@thetonymichaels) March 10, 2022
The Audiovisual History of an Ear Worm
Obvious Russian Troll
These fucking people.
dr. bloor
End stage capitalism. These guys only have oxygen because technology has outpaced intellectual and moral capacity, and money can be made off that unpleasant convergence. It will be th end of us.
bbleh
I hadda couple drinks with Fauci and we agreed: next time, we just give the morons Plague. I mean, this COVID thing was really mild, and they had all the help available they coulda wanted, but nooooo. So next time, baby, the latex gloves are off.
Brachiator
Why don’t these grifters go do some actual work? Aren’t there still goods backed up on docks that need delivery?
mrmoshpotato
@Obvious Russian Troll:
Fucking whiny ass titty shitstains.
Roger Moore
The People’s Convoy represents the people about as well as the People’s Republic of China.
dmsilev
I hear George Soros paid off every single Beltway commuter to get them to flip the bird at these truckers.
In all seriousness, what do they expect the police to do?
FelonyGovt
What delicate sensibilities these truckers have.
bbleh
@FelonyGovt: Really, no wonder they canceled one day because of a little rain. The poor things!
Baud
The People’s Birds.
Martin
I’m at the slashing tires phase for anyone wasting gas for no reason.
debbie
There are fines for making frivolous calls to 911. Have at it, assholes.
Danielx
@Obvious Russian Troll:
This.
Calouste
I don’t know about Maryland, but there are jurisdictions where making false calls to the emergency number will see you end up in prison.
Danielx
Dear me, snowflake sensibilities under assault.
These people expected salutes from commuters, or what?
Baud
Isn’t Ted Cruz their new leader? That’ll surely deter people from flipping them off.
Sebastian
Buckle up. I have no idea if these letters are real but if they are, Russia is falling apart in front of our eyes.
FelonyGovt
@debbie: Maybe that will peel off some of their support from law enforcement types.
Baud
@Danielx:
Yes. Just like Jesus died for your sins, they drive for your freedom.
bbleh
@dmsilev: Give them an angry lecture about abusing 911, quote chapter and verse of the relevant laws and penalties, and take down their names and numbers for use against them?
Sebastian
@Baud:
Is it official yet?
FlyingToaster
I think that the ‘convoy’ should DEFINITELY come drive around 128 up heah in the People’s Republic.
“Peahbuddy to Quinzy Centah ‘n’ back”
They have seen the Casey Affleck dunks commercial; all 7000* Dunkin Donuts in Massachusetts have a guy like that. And every one of them will be flipping these snowflakes off on 128 (and 93, and the Pike, and Route 1, and 1A, and 3, and heaven help them on the Arlmont hill on Route 2…).
(* not actually 7K, it just feels like it; however, there are two across the street from each other on the Lynnway, and on opposite sides of Alewife Brook/Concord near the rotary at Fresh Pond.)
artem1s
WTH is wrong with these people and WTH is wrong with the MSM that they are giving them the time of day? I can’t even any more. Jesus wept.
Baud
@artem1s:
Is the MSM really paying attention to them? I honestly don’t know.
Josie
You would think they could find something more fun to do – a hobby or something. Such boring people.
debbie
Trucker Convoy undone by the Bird Convoy!
Martin
@Sebastian: The first 3 are verified. The 4th hadn’t been since I last checked on it.
FelonyGovt
Seriously, I wonder if these people really think that most Americans agree with them and in fact are cheering them on. If so, they are delusional (or live in their own bubble)
Redshift
They’re not even original. The Canadian truckers also flooded 911, and local officials begged them to stop because people with actual emergencies couldn’t get through and people could die.
AFAIK, the Canadians weren’t calling to whine about the “emergency” of people being rude to them, so I guess that part’s original…
Mike in NC
This wingnut trucker looks like a Brad Parscale wanna-be.
The Thin Black Duke
The old woman in Ukraine armed with a jar of pickled tomatoes could take out this lame-ass “People’s Convoy” without breaking a sweat.
Danielx
@Baud:
That explains so much.
Ohio Mom
I do like that Statue of Liberty costume, even if it’s being misused.
Today I managed two things. First, I got my phone fixed — took it to the You break it, I fix it shop and they cleaned out the goat cheese I managed to get crammed into the charger port. I did not appreciate how addicted I am to this phone until I couldn’t use it for twelve hours, and eight of those hours I was asleep.
The second thing I did was catch Ohio Dad’s cold. It’s not Covid, we tested, just a garden variety head cold. I haven’t had one in two years but it’s like riding a bike, it’s all coming back to me.
Wapiti
@Sebastian: interesting-scary, but as you say, who knows what is real.
cain
@bbleh: They’ll still blame Biden – because like children it is always the fault of the adults and the press will nod along. I hate this time line.
Kent
Every lap they take costs more than the previous. Pretty soon it is going to look like a highway in Ukraine with all the abandoned trucks that they can’t afford to drive back home. Heh.
cain
They expect the police to support them hook, line, and sinker. They get upset that they don’t get anything for their “blue line” flag.
Obvious Russian Troll
By the way, flooding the 911 lines was one of the (many) things that the truckers did in Ottawa. As was complaining about their treatment by the locals.
smith
Given everything else we have to think about, I actually welcome a little comic relief from self-important Goobers crumpling under a relentless onslaught of the traditional Beltway Salute.
Anne Laurie
@FlyingToaster:
To be fair, you *don’t* want commuters trying to slide across lanes on those particular highways before they’ve had their coffee.
(Srsly — it’s considered an accident mitigation measure by the state gubmint. Which I know, because in our town, a gas station got permission to add a rush-hour-only Dunkin drive-thru across the street from the big Dunkin in the office park on just those grounds. Our alderwoman is pretty fierce about defending ‘our’ turf, but she applauded this permit.)
cain
Perhaps we should heed what the folks in Idaho are doing. If you leave the state to block the beltway, you get a felony charge and then go to prison.
Ksmiami
Waaaaah these guys just can’t handle any pushback. They are such fucking losers. Go away
eclare
@Ohio Mom: Excellent news about your phone!
bbleh
@cain: Yabbut no protocol omega yet, so soldier on!
Christopher Mathews
So a guy wearing a sweatshirt with a picture of someone flipping the bird thinks that flipping the bird is a terroristic threat? Um hmm.
bbleh
@Ohio Mom: “Oh, see, here’s your problem. This is a vegan model…”
HumboldtBlue
On the real war front, if you are curious about some of the equipment being sent to aid the Ukrainians such as anti-tank and anti-air weapons, YouTube coughed up this on my feed, the Javelin.
Martin
@Anne Laurie: Relatedly, it’s part of consumer psychology where a given kind of purchase is allowed a certain cost for the transaction. You’ll spend 10 minutes in line to buy a $500 item, but skip buying a $5 item if you have to wait 1 minute.
This is why walkable/bikeable city centers have higher sales – because your car has a high transaction cost of finding a parking space, etc. but a person walking/biking doesn’t. It’s a lot easier for the latter to pop into a store than the former.
Jeffro
who’s asking the Freedumb Convoy folks how they can afford to be there, much burn up all that gas? C’mon snooze media, we’re not asking much here.
Unrelated, I think: my understanding is that Tucker is unable to move past his worship of Putin and is now flat-out repeated Russian “Ukraine haz bioweapons labs” propaganda. Could we get just a little forensic accounting going here on Tuckums’ checking account? Or barring that, a parking garage beat down?
jnfr
@Danielx:
I’m quite sure they’d convinced themselves that the majority of the people were on their side, even in DC. The 81 million people who voted against them don’t exist in their reality. Then they left their reality.
Rusty
Idiots, it’s called free speech. They express themselves with their flags, and others express themselves by flipping the bird. The bird is protected speech. Idiots
bbleh
@Rusty: Lol you don’t understand. Freedom means they get to do what they want. You, on the other hand, have to do what they say.
Jeffro
@Rusty:
@bbleh:
How about, “We’ll take your 911 call about someone flipping you the bird…provided you let us search your dresser drawers for a ‘Fuck Your Feelings’ t-shirt first? Deal?”
Martin
@jnfr: You sort of have this backward. It is an article of faith that this is a white Christian nation. Any evidence to the contrary must be wrong. They aren’t convincing themselves the majority is on their side – the majority MUST be on their side, just as gravity pulls you to the ground and the sky is blue. It’s a concept which is not in contention, therefore evidence around it which refutes it must be.
Kay
Misuse of 911 is a misdemeanor in Ohio. People get arrested for it.
Not these people though- they would get special treatment.
bbleh
@Jeffro: “Ooops, wait, what’s this? Waddaya think partner, that look like meth to you? Uh-oh, looks like somebody might be about to lose his rig … Oh, what, it’s your brother-in-law’s rig? Oh my, maybe somebody’s about to lose more than that …”
Kay
She’s black though.
Baud
I wonder how much it would cost to have a skywriter draw a middle finger above Hagerstown.
Baud
@Kay:
That’s funny though.
Soprano2
I worked at Prime trucking company for a year. Believe me, it’s not credible that truckers are offended by someone flipping them the bird. The word “fuck” was part of normal conversation there. It took me 6 months to clean up my language after I left that job.
Martin
Italy just seized another yacht.
Bezos is going to look like a real dick being the only guy out there.
bbleh
@Kay: Pure coincidence I’m sure. Also, even stating the fact is racism, and it makes me uncomfortable, which because I’m in Idaho is a crime for which you can be punished under state law wherever you are. Or is that Missouri? I’ve lost track …
Kay
All conservatism is now is “pay ATTENTION to MEEEEE!”
Just have your Republican rally! If people were interested in it they would have come.
bbleh
@Martin: um, I kinda don’t think Russian yachts have much to do with it, just sayin’…
Kay
@Baud:
I agree! Probably a joke. No sense of humor in Alliance.
Soprano2
@bbleh: That’s Missouri, where they’re trying to make it illegal to terminate an ectopic pregnancy, or to leave the state in order to do so. I guess we’re trapped in Missouri forever.
Jeffro
@bbleh: that’s creative and highly probable, come to think of it.
Some creative YouTuber ought to do a skit where they toss the dresser and keep getting close, but don’t specifically find a “Fuck Your Feelings” t-shirt.
“…let’s see…here’s a ‘Killary for Prison 2016’, size XXL…nope…”I’d Rather Be Russian than a Democrat, also XXL”…nope…’Journalist. Tree. Rope.’…hmm…sir, any comment on that one? No? Ok…”
and just keep going with all the offensive shit these goons have been throwing around for 6-7 years now…
Jeffro
@Baud:
@Kay:
There really should be a ‘991’ line that people can call when they’re ticked off about something, just to vent. The voice recordings could go straight to Trevor Noah or something.
Dial carefully, though, angry peeps!
bbleh
@Jeffro: “… and … what? A 2020 Nude Roger Stone calendar?! Oh God, my eyes…!”
MagdaInBlack
@Soprano2: Thank you. Been saying the same thing.
Kay
@Jeffro:
It’s practically a hobby in Ohio
Much like conservatives, he has many grievances and complaints.
debit
@Jeffro: 119.
Mallard Filmore
@Sebastian: My takeaway: this guy expects Russia to go feral.
Roger Moore
@Jeffro:
You don’t understand. When they say “Fuck Your Feelings”, what they really mean is “Fuck Your Feelings”. It’s not fair when someone tells them to fuck their feelings.
Sebastian
@Martin:
The second one is bananas. Numerology wtf
The third one, holy shit.
Sebastian
@Mallard Filmore:
Yeah, and he kinda knows what he’s talking about.
Mallard Filmore
@Baud:
Jeeesus died for your sins,
And he also died for Mansons …
A YouTube search for “even squeaky fromm loves Christmas” gives this:
https://youtu.be/grvZsPK6AU4
Sure Lurkalot
At least there’s no video of Cruz getting into the truck, thank dog.
Snarki, child of Loki
@Jeffro: “There really should be a ‘991’ line that people can call when they’re ticked off about something”
It should be a “999” number, and christianists should stand on their mushy heads to dial it.
@Jeffro:
Miss Bianca
@Soprano2: How the fuck are they even going to *know* that a pregnant woman is leaving the state for an abortion? That’s what I want to know. What, are they going to put ID numbers on every pregnancy test sold in the state? Are they going to insist that doctors violate HIPAA standards and *tell* state agencies who’s pregnant or who’s not? Or are they going to rely on people ratting out their families, neighbors, co-workers? I mean – fuck the whole privacy thing, that’s obviously not a concern of theirs, how the hell do they think this campaign is supposed to *work*?
jnfr
@Martin:
Of course. I see it all now.
bbleh
@Miss Bianca: Or are they going to rely on people ratting out their families, neighbors, co-workers?
This. “Well that so-and-so, I know what a slut she is, and I know where she’s going, and it’s just not right! I mean, it’s against the law!” etc …
But also, and to an even greater extent, they are going to rely on people fearing that these things will happen. They are going to fear that their test will be tracked, that some pharmacist assistant will phone a tip line, that their doctor’s lawyer will advise her she has no choice, that their neighbors will rat them out. And even if it’s not true, they’ll have to spend the time and money defending themselves against the state!
It’s deterrence as much or more as it is enforcement. And it worked very well for the Stasi for many years.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Sebastian: I don’t know how much weight to put in that, or this (repost)
a possibly interesting thread, I hope so, who knows? I don’t.
grasping for any straw of hope that someone will put a stop to him
Ella in New Mexico
@bbleh:
But what are his plans to target this Plague so that ONLY the morons manage to catch it? What if a moron is talking to his family at Thanksgiving dinner about how masks are bad and because all the mask mandates are lifted they all catch it?
Ella in New Mexico
@Kay:
Black people can drink too much and order shitty take-out food too
JoyceH
Are they still there? Are they all gung-ho for tomorrow’s ‘bomb cyclone’? I sure hope so.
BTW – Trump is scheduled to do one of his famous ‘rallies’ tomorrow – in South Carolina. They probably won’t get the snow and sleet and freezing rain, however, according to the Capital Weather Gang, “Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are possible from Florida to the Carolinas.” Sooooo… cool.
raven
@JoyceH: They just announced that he’s going to have a rally up in Commerce, about 20 miles from Athens, on the 29th.
Dangerman
There’s only one appropriate response, Maryland drivers; drive with your knees and double barrel the motherfuckers.
FlyingToaster
@Soprano2: I suspect that if you leave and don’t come back, they’re not gonna chase you down… They haven’t come after me (mind you, it’s been 43 years).
NoraLenderbee
@Sebastian: Here is a non-Twitter link to the letters, for those of us who find Twitter a pain in the ass.
http://www.igorsushko.com/
Ella in New Mexico
@Soprano2:
@Miss Bianca:
These laws legislatures are passing about not being able to leave a state to seek medical care are unconstitutional. People are free to come and go between states for whatever reason they want.
The REAL goal is to so enrage the oppsition as to get a case in front of
AmyConeyIsland/BrettBeerBoy/NeilFreezetoDeath/ClarenceMyWifePaidforanInsurrection/SamuelWhatAmIEvenDoingHere
to say no no no to the interstate thing but uphold other aspects of the law.
debbie
@JoyceH:
Hope he doesn’t have to navigate any slippery ramps. //
MagdaInBlack
@Ella in New Mexico: I was sitting here asking myself what was really behind this and of course that’s it. Thank you
Jeffro
@Roger Moore: truth
it’s double standards, all the way down
trollhattan
@Ella in New Mexico:
Plague is for sissies, I want the wingnuts to get anthrax-hantavirus. Take some horse pills for that, morans!
Jeffro
Essentially, “Let’s declare victory, and go home”. After two weeks(!)
schrodingers_cat
When I first started reading Balloon Juice, Matt Taibbi used to be a darling of this blog along with GG. There seems to be a persistent blind spot with respect to populist rhetoric among privileged liberals. I wonder why that is.
schrodingers_cat
Deleted
bbleh
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: @Jeffro: Yeah it was slightly schizophrenic. Like, both A and not A are true, because Putin wants A and other people want not A, so let’s agree and be happy, ok? It actually adds to its credibility …
Kattails
@Kay: Jim Wright has been offline for a few days but came back today with quite an essay on this topic at Stonekettle Station. He starts with the indignities of a colonoscopy, sidesteps to the pleasant practicalities of the old fixit shows like This Old House, and does a double-gainer straight into modern grievance culture.
Jeffro
Minor note: Nikki Haley is supporting Nancy Mace down in SC; Mace is being primaried by a trump nut.
Media calls it genius
Not “Republicans in disarray”. Not “Haley vs trumpov”. Not “trumpov’s on his way out” or “GOP officials with a 101 IQ can read the writing on the wall with trumpov’s many legal problems.” It’s just “Nikki’s very smart”.
p.a.
It doesn’t make them any less dangerous or vicious, but think of modern conservatives as (bad) performance artists whose target audience is idiots.
bbleh
@Ella in New Mexico: @trollhattan: Oh no, it’ll be a few years, and there’ll be vaccines and mandates and the whole shebang again, and we’ll be sure it’s a low-transmissibility pneumonic form. And by this time, most halfway intelligent people know not to have anti-vaxxers over for dinner when infection rates are still up.
Kay
@Kattails:
Thanks, that was good. I never liked Bob Villa though. I felt he talked too much on that show :)
When they would cut away to the tile man or whoever I would feel relief.
evodevo
@Miss Bianca:
Well…they tried it in KS for awhile…srsly…https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/kansas-abortion-doctor-ordered-to-show-records/
MagdaInBlack
@Kattails: Wow! He really nails it.
Soprano2
@Miss Bianca: I think it’s the ratting-out thing. It really pisses the antis off that Planned Parenthood put a clinic close to the border just east of St. Louis in Illinois. I don’t think they can do it anyway.
HumboldtBlue
When keepin’ it real hide-n-seek goes wrong because there’s a snitch overhead giving away your genius hiding spot.
Soprano2
@Kattails: Boy, he does nail it completely.
Peale
@Miss Bianca: they will mandate that you report your period to the secretary of state. And make it a felony to dispose of a tampon.
Robert Sneddon
@Anne Laurie: There was an Onion article a while back announcing the opening of the first in-store Starbucks counter in a Starbucks store. Same thing, sort of.
Miss Bianca
@Peale: I think women should just start sending their bloody tampons to these pests. Each Republican representative who voted for this thing gets a bunch of bloody tampons in the mail. Every day. Every week. Every month. Every year.
Matt McIrvin
“Fuck your feelings” doesn’t include fucking MY feelings–that’s a completely different story.
brantl
@Baud: I’ d help pay kickstarter for that, with a banner underneath it of: “Go home, Dumbothy!” but they wouldn’t get it.