Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

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

T R E 4 5 O N

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

We will not go back.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

How stupid are these people?

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

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Petty moves from a petty man.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

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

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Reader Interactions

127Comments

  7. 7.

    patrick II

    I just watched the national anthem sung at the NFC playoff game. With due respect to Whitney, Marvin, Jimmi, and Jose, most of the time I prefer my national anthem straight so the crowd can sing along.  The sound of 60,000 people has more resonance than someone who isn’t quite Whitney et al. trying to make the national anthem “their own”.

  11. 11.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Anodyne comment designed to express no disagreement with anything or contain any facts that might bother someone.

  16. 16.

    Mo MacArbie

    Dang. I finally get up to the moment in my lurking and even summon the gumption to comment. Then poof, vaporized. I guess I’ll meditate on impermanence.

    (Just kidding. Do what you gotta do.)

    So, how ’bout them, uh, who’s playing, anyway?

  24. 24.

    Heidi Mom

    Yesterday, as I was loading bags of groceries into the trunk of my car, a nearby shopper (male, White, 60ish) said “I really appreciate your [Biden] bumper sticker.”  I said ” And I appreciate you saying that.  We really made the right choice, didn’t we?”  He said “We dodged a bullet!”  For the record, this is in central PA, often derided by political commentators as “Alabama,” but specifically a college town (actually college/law school/US Army War College) and outer suburb of Harrisburg, the state capital.  Meeting a kindred soul always makes the day better.

  27. 27.

    Lapassionara

    Did anyone besides me see some headlines last night about mysterious explosions in Iran? Did I just imagine that, or did it really happen?

  33. 33.

    zhena gogolia

    @Heidi Mom: That is nice. I always wonder if tailgaters are more aggressive because of my bumper stickers that go back to Kerry-Edwards and continue through every Dem presidential ticket since.

  37. 37.

    Suzanne

    @Heidi Mom: That’s nice. I don’t put bumper stickers on my car because I am scared of getting tailgated or worse. I do yard signs, tho….so maybe I’m dumb?

    They are a great way to have those chance encounters which remind us that we are not alone!

  39. 39.

    TaMara

    @Steeplejack: OMG, I have no memory of that post, but it is epic, and had I known, I would have just reposted it here. He needs to come back, if only to post new puppy pics.

    ETA: Added link to post up top

  40. 40.

    Geminid

    @Lapassionara: The explosions definitely happened in 7 to 14 places (reports vary). Plus there was an earthquake that seems to be a coincindence. Many of the explosions occurred at sites where munitions are stored or manufactured.

    There was some discussion of this on last night’s Ukraine thread, and I expect it will be a hot topic tonight. Iran has been sending drones to Russia for use against Ukraine and its drone factories or stockpiles may have been targeted.

  43. 43.

    Honus

    @patrick II: I agree with Jimi. He and Billy Cox were in the 101st Airborne and they considered it their song.

    BTW, what was the problem with the last open thread?  I was reading about the dogs and refreshed it and it was gone.  Seemed pretty innocuous to me.

  44. 44.

    TaMara

    Well, as fun as this has all been 🙄 I have got to get some work done. I’d say play nice, but that seems to just encourage you guys.😘

  46. 46.

    HumboldtBlue

    Look at all those recognizable names from Sooner’s thread, names we never see anymore.

  47. 47.

    David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch

    @Layer8Problem: Maybe we can get one of the Senators we elected in Georgia to rename a post office after us – “The BJ post office”

  52. 52.

    James E Powell

    The Eagles are going to look pretty bad if they don’t beat the 49ers with their 4th string QB.

    ETA – I’ve been hearing Christian McCaffery’s name for years, but never really saw him play until this season. Left coasters don’t get a lot of Carolina Panthers games on the TV. He’s pretty good.

  53. 53.

    satby

    @HumboldtBlue: I was around and sort of remember that, but JustSomeFuckhead kept saying anything I would have first. We lost a lot of smart, witty commenters, for sure.

    Nowadays, I want to offer people tapioca pudding reading some of the posts.

  58. 58.

    Ohio Mom

    @Cameron: Carlisle! We drove through last May on the way to NYC.

    Great ice cream at Leo’s. Especially the sugar-free (for diabetic Ohio Dad). We decided right then and there we will always drive through Carlisle in the way to my NYC relatives, or at least as long as Leo is scooping out those cones.

  60. 60.

    Kent

    @James E Powell:

    The Eagles are going to look pretty bad if they don’t beat the 49ers with their 4th string QB.

    ETA – I’ve been hearing Christian McCaffery’s name for years, but never really saw him play until this season. Left coasters don’t get a lot of Carolina Panthers games on the TV. He’s pretty good.

    Yea,  He was pretty damn good at Stanford and I watched him in a lot of Pac-12 games back in the day when Stanford was beating Oregon

    But I haven’t seen him much in the pros since here in WA we don’t get Panthers games, like EVER.

  61. 61.

    CaseyL

    It makes me sad and a little mad that a Good News/Respite thread, of all things, had to be pulled because it was derailed into an argument over whether one of the offerings was really “good.”

    You can do that with anything.  You can always find something to complain about, get outraged about, puff up your “I’m More Enlightened/Caring/Aware Than You Are” credentials.

    (Yes, that includes me.  I watch those slide shows on YouTube of animals doing funny things, and worry about whether the animals were coerced or otherwise harmed by the funny things.  But I’m aware of the tendency, and try to suppress it.

    I do hate seeing it here on BJ, and hate even more that it happened to one of TaMara’s threads.

  62. 62.

    dmsilev

    Since I somehow snagged the first comment in that epic thread, I feel I should repeat it:

    Comment nitpicking a single sentence in post, with no real point to make beyond the nitpick.

  63. 63.

    Sure Lurkalot

    Hey a couple of youse commenters posted some Letters Live YouTubes on the deleted thread that I was looking forward to watching so I hope you repost!

  67. 67.

    sab

    @zhena gogolia: Wow. I didn’t know that anybody else in America still drives the speed limit except me. I gave up speeding for Lent one year, and discovered that it saved me about 25% in fuel, and I hadn’t been a fast speeder.

  69. 69.

    HumboldtBlue

    Niners defense is excellent. Thank you for the repeated defensive penalties.

    TOUCHDOWN EAGLES!!!

    E-A-G-L-E-S

    EAGLES!!!!!

    My brother from Dago and my Jersey nephew are at the game.

    They are singing.

    A lot.

  70. 70.

    Starfish

    @CaseyL: You are right. All positivity threads should be toxic positivity threads. If someone posts something problematic, the correct thing to do is to clap louder.

  74. 74.

    CaseyL

    @Starfish:

    I’m So Much More Aware of Injustice Than You Are, I’m Going To Ruin the Entire Thread… will definitely make the thing you’re complaining about get all better.

  76. 76.

    Starfish

    @CaseyL: Have you considered that people actually care about an issue and are not being performative in their awareness of injustice? It seems like a pretty cynical take to assume that people are being performative in caring about an issue.

  77. 77.

    Geminid

    @dmsilev: Magdi Jacobs, who tweets as Mangy Jay, had a comment on how the spirit of “one-upsmanship” was a blight on that medium. People aren’t willing, Jacobs complained, to use inferential reasoning and other language skills without which all normal conversation would grind to a halt.

    Her new gripe was people quibbling over modal verbs- “can,” “will,” “could” etc. She gave as an example:

    A reader to me: “I think you should replace “can” in that sentence with “would.” Perhaps delete “can” altogether.”

    Me: “I think I should stick your head in a toilet but we can’t always get what we want, can we.”

  78. 78.

    The Up and Up

    @CaseyL:

    People are just way more mean these days. They don’t hold back. That snide comment? Say it. Someone whom you dislike is online? Fight them! What social fabric? Do unto others before they do it to you.

  79. 79.

    Martin

    You guys always do your drama on EDT. It’s not fair. I needed to fix my garage door opener and missed the fun.

  83. 83.

    Michael Bersin

    Josh Hawley (r), the third Senator from Virginia, just tries way too hard.

    When he was Missouri Attorney General he had difficulty coping with being required to reside in Jefferson City (in the statuatory job description). Two years after Josh (r) ladder climbed, In 2021, the right wingnut Missouri General Assembly repealed that requirement. Any wonder why?

    Meanwhile, one of the running gags in Missouri politics is that Josh Hawley (r) doesn’t live in the state – apparently he has a nice house in Virginia. Josh (r) definitely doesn’t hold any open public town halls when he’s in Missouri.

    Knowing the state you’re supposed to represent used to be a requirement. Used to be.

    Today, true to form, Josh Hawley (r) used social media to expound on his bet with JD Vance (r) over the outcome of the sportsball playoff game this evening. JD Vance (r) wagered ribs from somewhere in Ohio. Josh Hawley (r) countered with barbecue from…Kansas.

    There was much hilarity in the comments.

    It all looks the same from Virginia

  86. 86.

    Jay

    @sab:

    @zhena gogolia:

    since the late 1980’s, the rule of thumb of driving in Vancouver, is you will get there, when you get there. Put on CBC Jazz, cruise the speed limit, keep your distance, don’t freak out when the road/bridge you are on gets shut down and you spend 8 hours parked.

  87. 87.

    zhena gogolia

    @Omnes Omnibus: I read it. The commenter who was being responded to is in a delicate state right now for numerous reasons. The commenters who responded to them didn’t necessarily know about it. But their tone was combative and (for a respite thread) abusive. There are ways of conveying information without being snotty and aggressive, especially in a space that was supposed to be soothing. We have plenty of threads on which we can throw brickbats at each other. It was also disrespectful of TaMara’s efforts.

  92. 92.

    James E Powell

    @Kent:

    here in WA we don’t get Panthers games, like EVER.

    Down here in Los Angeles, we would likely only see them if they were playing the Rams, Charges, or sometimes the Raiders. The Raiders are still the most popular team in Los Angeles.

  94. 94.

    James E Powell

    @CaseyL:

    I agree with you. I wish that we would all be less eager to get hostile with each other, but forget it Jake, it’s the internet.

  95. 95.

    Michael Bersin

    @sab:

    I gave up speeding after I had to pay a $300 fine – driving at 6000 feet altitude, ascending, on a two lane highway in a national forest at 6:30 a.m., with no one else (besides me and the county sheriff’s deputy) on the road. I had been driving the road for 40 years. The slaloms were fun, now they’re just sedate…

    Strictly the speed limit for me.

  99. 99.

    Steeplejack

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I looked up Verlaine’s (somewhat brief) obit in the Times and saw that Terry Hall of the Specials and Fun Boy Three died on December 18. Somehow I missed that. Detailed obit here (gift link).

  102. 102.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Steeplejack: ​
      As I said on the bird site, I was a little too young to discover Verlaine directly, but almost every band I loved in college cited him as an influence. So I learned. Hall, however, was more contemporary. That one was hard.

  103. 103.

    HumboldtBlue

    This game has really become a damp squib, what with the Niner injuries.

    TD on the drive may just seal the win.

    #7 on the Niners is playing great.

    But the Niners can keep giving Eagles breaks with the penalties.

    Niners have melted down.

  104. 104.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @sab:

    I gave up speeding for Lent one year, and discovered that it saved me about 25% in fuel, and I hadn’t been a fast speeder.

    Reminds me of an old Car Talk call during a previous spike in gas prices. A guy called in wanting to know how he could get better mileage, and the brothers responded in unison, Slow Down! and the caller chuckled and said, yeah, yeah, but seriously, is there anything I can do Slow Down! That went on for a couple more exchanges and they got a little more detailed in their explanation, but clearly all the guy wanted was some magic additive or secret strategy, but… drive a little bit slower? Never!

  105. 105.

    Jay

    @zhena gogolia:

    traffic is generally bad here. I commute counterflow, on transit, to minimize exposure to morons, a-holes and testosteroni’s, but when I drive, I drive like a Grandpaw.

    Food is great, most people are nice, rents are insane, it rarely snows, the sky is mostly gray or moist from October to April, the scenery is stunning, ( when you can see it), if you like outdoor activities it is heaven, and the fashion trend is GoreTex jackets, fleece, yoga pants and hiking boots,……….

    if that’s your kinda place, come on up,……..

  109. 109.

    CaseyL

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I did.  The first time the issue was mentioned was enough.  There is nothing any of us can do about the situation that was described.  Once “awareness” was made, the subject could have and should have been dropped.  Instead, the issue dominated, derailed, and crapped all over the thread.

  111. 111.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    That is one of the better channels I’ve seen. It is nice to know that many people have the capacity to write in a manor that informs, and entertains, and hearing their writings spoken is even better. Thank You.

  112. 112.

    Anyway

     

    @Suzanne:

    I don’t put bumper stickers on my car –don’t need my coworkers knowing my politics/ business …

    I had a Darwin-fish on my previous car …

  114. 114.

    Trollhattan

    @James E Powell: We know of him from his Stanford days, then he disappeared to the Panthers on the other coast. Not a Niners fan but he’s hugely entertaining to watch after the trade.

    Learning today he’s the #5 QB totally fits.

  117. 117.

    Heidi Mom

    @OzarkHillbilly: Beneath my Biden bumper sticker is Pete 2020, and beneath that is Clinton/Kaine.  I haven’t encountered any trouble because of them, although an old guy in a pickup did once wave his T**** hat at us.  I’ve often wondered if the influence of the original “peace churches” in PA (Quaker/Mennonite/Church of the Brethren) continues to the present day–people just don’t seem to get as excited about things as they do in many other places.

  119. 119.

    Heidi Mom

    @Ohio Mom:  Where others might head to a bar after a rough day, I head to Leo’s, hoping for either butterscotch ripple or peanut butter and jelly.  But really their plain vanilla is awesome too.  (Never developed a taste for salt caramel, though.)

  122. 122.

    HumboldtBlue

    @ian:

    I can’t find the photo, but a young woman at the Chiefs game last week brought a hot potato to the game and pulled it out of her pocket and ate in the second half.

  123. 123.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Philly suburbanite here who was only vaguely aware of the sportsball game today. We started hearing fireworks a few minutes ago and I was grumbling about “who the heck is setting off fireworks in January and for what?”

    A few minutes later I mentioned to my wife that earlier I’d seen a very specialized lawn decoration: A huge inflatable Santa wearing an Eagles jersey with one of those oversized #1 hands. Still didn’t make the connection to the fireworks.

    Then she said, “aren’t they playing today?” I said yes, I thought so and googled. Still didn’t make the connection. Google told me the score was 7-7 and I thought, “well if it’s not over, then why is somebody…?”

    The penny finally dropped when Google updated to the final score a minute later. So the Iggles are going to the Superbowl I guess. Yay!

Comments are closed.