Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When I was faster i was always behind.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Let me file that under fuck it.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Everybody saw this coming.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

You cannot shame the shameless.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Friday Morning Open Thread: Stay Positive

Friday Morning Open Thread: Stay Positive

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(h/t commentor HumboldtBlue)

I missed this last weekend — it’s great!



 

Elsewhere… I’m positive the walls at Mar-A-Lardo are newly ketchup-soiled:

Reader Interactions

132Comments

  1. 1.

    Jeffro

    Top of the morning to everyone!

    Reading through the late night thread about DeSantis, thinking about trump indictments dropping soon (today?), remembering that gas prices were pretty low yesterday when I filled up the tank…we really should take a moment and SAVOR.

    ‘Cause ALL the news is bad for Republicans, and it’s only going to get worse!

    Happy St. Paddy’s Day, peeps!

  2. 2.

    Baud

    We believe in freedom and liberty as Americans, and we fight for it

    Way to reclaim those words, MVP.

  4. 4.

    NotMax

    Prime media mention. In the mood for a good spy caper series?

    1) Noting that Deutschland ’83 is no longer exclusive to Hulu; listed now as included with Prime. Fingers crossed the two sequel series, Deutschland ’86 and Deutschland ’89 will follow suit so non-Hulu viewers can savor them as well. Primarily German with English subtitles.

    Personal ratings for all of them: ’83 – A+, ’86 – A-, ’89 – A.

    2) Also on Prime, although it is not new, TOTƎMS. Not the greatest thing since sliced espionage but is engaging enough to stick with and moves along fairly briskly. French and Russian with English subtitles. Quick look failed to ferret out a trailer with proper accompanying English captioning, so this one instead.

  9. 9.

    NotMax

    @Jeffro

    Happy St. Paddy’s Day, peeps!

    (slaps forehead) Knew I oughtn’t yesterday have tossed out some slices of cheese that were turning a fetching shade of green.
    ;)

  11. 11.

    Layer8Problem

    @NotMax:  I’ve been spending a lot of time in televised Germany lately roaring through Dark, and Kleo a few months back.  I started Deutschland ’83 and for some reason dropped it about two episodes in but definitely will give it a shot again.  And when in god’s name will frickin’ Netflix put the third series of Babylon Berlin on?  It finished its German run months ago.

  13. 13.

    satby

    Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona duit! Celebrate responsibly 😉

    Having bangers and mash for my Irish dinner today because I just couldn’t deal with the sizes of corned beef (huge) at the grocery stores. Hunkering down for another day of rain turning to snow.

  15. 15.

    lowtechcyclist

    Others can celebrate St. Patrick’s day, we’ve got bigger things to celebrate in my household.

    Fourteen years ago today, we brought a small boy out of Baby House #1 in Samara, Russia, and into our family.  We celebrate this anniversary every year, kind of like a second birthday.

    I still remember his stubby little legs when I’d take him for a walk back then.  Now he’s a tall, skinny, good looking 15 year old.  What an adventure it’s been, and continues to be.

  16. 16.

    mrmoshpotato

    @satby: Corned beef (and potatoes and cabbage) for days! :)

    Got a 4 pound point from Aldi a few days ago.  Yeah, 2.99 a pound!

  17. 17.

    Jeffro

    To brighten everyone’s Friday, here’s Brooksie, hoping against hope that his party won’t nominate trumpov or DeSantis

    The second reason we’re not seeing the two narratives [trumpism vs sunny, optimistic, GOP governors who focus on ‘pocketbook’ issues] face off is Ron DeSantis. The Florida governor should be the ultimate optimistic, businesslike conservative. His state is growing faster than any other in the country. But instead, he’s running as a dour, humorless culture war populist — presumably because that’s what he is.
    So right now the G.O.P. has two leading candidates with similar views, and the same ever-present anti-woke combativeness. The race is between populist Tweedledum and populist Tweedledee.
    The conventional wisdom is that it will stay that way — but maybe not. At this point in earlier election cycles, Jeb Bush, Rudy Giuliani, Scott Walker and Mike Huckabee were doing well in their polls. None became the nominee.
    Furthermore, the conservative managerial wing of the party is not some small offshoot of the Tucker Carlson universe. In 2022, the normies did much better than the populists. Look at Gov. Mike DeWine’s landslide win in Ohio. Millions and millions of Republicans are voting for these people.

    Are there any you know facts or GOP poll numbers to help Mr. Brooks understand that he’s high on his own supply?  How are Kemp, Youngkin, and Sununu polling these days with the GQP base?  LO

    (although in fairness, he does have this part right):

    The Republican donor class is mobilizing to try to prevent a Trump nomination, and DeSantis is overpriced.
    Do we really think a guy with a small, insular circle of advisers and limited personal skills is going to do well in the intimate contests in Iowa and New Hampshire? As voters focus on the economy, DeSantis massively erred in playing culture war issues so hard.

  23. 23.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Jeffro:

    Are there any you know facts or GOP poll numbers to help Mr. Brooks understand that he’s high on his own supply? 

    He has loved the smell of his own farts for years.

  26. 26.

    RandomMonster

    @Jeffro:

    Are there any maybe some facts or GOP poll numbers that show why Mr. Brooks is high on his own supply?  How are Kemp, Youngkin, and Sununu polling these days with the GQP base?  LOL

    Brooksie isn’t about to let facts stand in his way.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    @Jeffro:

    businesslike conservative. His state is growing faster than any other in the country.

    I assume he’s talking about population.  Florida state economic growth is worse than West Virginia and New Jersey and the same as California.

    stgdppi3q22.png (2070×1355) (bea.gov)

    Of course, every state owes credit to Biden’s economy

    ETA: That chart is only one quarter.  I’ll try to find an annual chart.

    ETA2: Can’t find an annual chart with recent numbers.

  28. 28.

    Soprano2

    So my local CBS station is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which I guess is part of NextStar. They’re having a carriage dispute with DirecTV, so we haven’t been able to watch the local CBS station on DirecTv since October 24th. However, we had access to CBS On Demand, so we could still watch Colbert and other stuff that was on there – until this week, when I suddenly found that we no longer have access to CBS On Demand. I cannot get an answer from DirecTv about why this suddenly changed, the guy on the phone just robotically kept saying it was part of a contract dispute and wouldn’t answer why it suddenly happened this week when we’ve had access to it this whole time. I was willing to wait it out until they settled as long as I had access to On Demand, but now they’re going to lose me as a subscriber. We need a new TV anyway, so it’s probably YouTube TV here I come. I’m so disgusted by this, they’re trying to blame Mission/Nextstar but they have NOTHING to do with my access to CBS On Demand – that’s all DirecTv’s doing. They try to say it’s because they’re trying to save their subscribers money. Let’s just say I don’t believe that, because all I’ve gotten during this whole thing is a $10 credit on my bill once.

    As soon as our contract at the bar is up we’re switching from them to cable too, because you can’t believe what we had to do to watch Chiefs games this season due to this stupid dispute.

  32. 32.

    MomSense

    My dad and I are going  to one of my favorite places today.  Corkscrew Audubon Sanctuary has beautiful birds and alligators.  The weather is nice and warm today so hopefully the alligators will be active.

  35. 35.

    BlueGuitarist

    Thanks AL for woke Toni Morrison on the new woke stamp, but can it be used in Florida, where the unwoke go to die of unwoke public policies?

  38. 38.

    trnc

    I hate to say it, but I was confused by Billie Jean King’s tweet for about 10 seconds before realizing I had mixed her up with Anita Bryant. Would love to blame it on lack of coffee, but sometimes there’s not enough caffeine in the world to get the synapses to fire in order.

  39. 39.

    lowtechcyclist

    Thanks, y’all!  Can’t believe the kiddo has the classroom part of driver’s ed coming up next month. Driving, college, all that is coming up.  Interesting times!

  40. 40.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @satby: probably more authentic anyway; according to  Diane Duane’s cookbook of Irish food, the corned beef is an Irish-American thing because the Irish immigrants couldn’t find the cuts of pork that they were used to.  Since she’s married to an Irish man and has been living there for decades, I would trust her.

    And here in the Diocese of Arlington, the Catholics have a dispensation to eat meat today.  Apparently the Archbishop of Chicago has a different take on it than the Archbishop of Boston. Mr.  Rudbek asked me why and I said it’s because Chicago has more German Catholics, and Boston has more Irish Catholics.

  41. 41.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jeffro: But DeWine won in OHIO? Brooks really thinks that’s a proof point that an anti-MAGA majority exists within the GOP base and will soon sweep the Trump trash out of the party? I wonder what he makes of Vance winning in the same fucking state? What a maroon!

    Joe Biden’s decision to exploit a GOP fissure by calling out the ultra-MAGA semi-fascist faction was smart, and it could help him get reelected. But we all know which type of candidate the base that decides nominees favors, and it ain’t people like Jeb Bush.

  45. 45.

    Gravenstone

    @satby: I just couldn’t deal with the sizes of corned beef (huge) at the grocery stores

    But the leftovers are the best part!

  46. 46.

    Suzanne

    In about two weeks, Mr. Suzanne is taking the kids to go visit his parents. I have to work, so I can’t go, but I am planning out what I am going to do when I have no obligations besides work! It will not include cooking.

  51. 51.

    artem1s

    @Betty Cracker: ​
     
    DeWine is hardly anti-MAGAt. Every time TFG wanted something he bent over backward to give it to them. He fired the HHS Director in OH because she was following sane COVID policy. Sure the deplorables hate him and the Chamber of Commerce GOPers hate him more. He didn’t cut off COVID unemployment nearly quick enough for them. The only reason he hasn’t been primaried is because the conservative Catholic church owns his ass. He was AG during the whole pedophile scandal – he’s got plenty of shit in his closet he wants to keep hidden and plenty of shit on them too. And he’s term limited. Expect the same terrible loons who ran for the Senate to jump into that race.

  53. 53.

    geg6

    @Kayla Rudbek: ​
     
    Same here in Pittsburgh. It was big news on the local news a few days ago. I may go get some fried fish at one of the many, many, many Lenten fish fries that pop up like daffodils this time of year around here just to be all oppositionally defiant to the Bishop and the Church.

  54. 54.

    Anne Laurie

    @Kayla Rudbek: according to Diane Duane’s cookbook of Irish food, the corned beef is an Irish-American thing because the Irish immigrants couldn’t find the cuts of pork that they were used to.

    Furthermore, corned beef seems to have become identified with Irish-American celebrations because Irish immigrant servant ‘girls’, starting in the 1870s, learned the recipe from the German (often Jewish) middle-class households where they worked!

  56. 56.

    brendancalling

    I’m trying to stay positive, but my make-up day for my [generally-failing] students has been pre-empted by “March Madness.” I am now in a high school gymnasium, grading makeup work while “watching” a 2-hour basketball tournament I have absolutely zero interest in. And which, frankly, hurts my ears, which are long-damaged due to a lifetime as a musician. I’m very hungry, and I am likely sneaking back to my empty classroom within the next 10 minutes or so.

  57. 57.

    kalakal

    @Baud: That doesn’t surprise me. A really big problem with Florida is the influx of rich (ish) MAGA retirees, they have money to spend

  58. 58.

    geg6

    @Anne Laurie: ​
     
    That’s how I learned the history, but who the hell knows at this point.
    I am one-quarter Irish (Foley is the family name of my maternal grandmother) and my mom one-half. We never had corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day. She made Irish soda bread, though. Usually we had a stew of some sort and the soda bread.

  60. 60.

    satby

    @Kayla Rudbek: Yes, The earliest Irish on the east coast, especially NYC and Boston, couldn’t easily find either lamb or mutton as well as cheaper pork, but they enjoyed the milder cured meats their Jewish neighbors cooked, so corned beef with cabbage and potatoes is Irish-American. But it’s migrated back to Ireland, where American tourists visiting on St. Padriag’s Day used to request it. So now the pubs cook it there too. And I keep using the Gaelic name, because I named #2 son it.

  63. 63.

    leeleeFL

    @Jeffro:  With the insurance mess here in Sunny FLORI-DUH likely to get worse rather than better, rents thru the roof, and prices right there with them, I think DeSatan’s tropical paradise for business is going to start smelling rather badly sooner than later.  I think there may be a mass exodus if underpaid, overcharged minions from this merry sh–hole and then where will they get their wage-slaves to power the tourist traps?

  65. 65.

    Layer8Problem

    @satby:  My local pub’s doing Irish bacon and cabbage today.  However, my partner does the corned beef and cabbage thing for me on the 17th as a salute to my heritage, which actually gets both our heritages.  True fact:  James Cagney was fluent in Yiddish, from growing up on the Lower East Side.

  67. 67.

    Jeffro

    @satby: bangers and mash sounds good!

    We had our Guinness Irish Stew last night, and Mrs. Fro was positively swooning (I don’t fix a whole lot of red meat here).

  68. 68.

    Kristine

    My St Patrick’s Day memory involves the nuns who taught at my high school. Some wore bits of green on SPD; then there was our principal, who wore something orange. Which is how I learned about the Orangemen.

  70. 70.

    leeleeFL

    @kalakal: i think it’s a combinations of all the stuff I mentioned, as well as ppl caught in the no trans, no gays, no woke BS who will feel less safe here as well as challenged on work situations with nowhere to live.    We shall see.  ’24 is far enough away to allow for the sh–storm to cause all sorts of mayhem for Little Ronnie

  71. 71.

    Jeffro

    OT but maybe not: there is a Fox News dot com piece up linking to a piece in the Telegraph about how President Biden is “The World’s Worth Catholic” who “cheapens Irish and Catholic identity”.

    I’m dying.

    The UnWoke are going after Uncle Joe for not being authentically Irish and Catholic enough!!1!  Identity politics!!!!!!

    I believe I’ll file this under “We Have Flung ALL The Poo, and This Is One Last Piece We Sure Hope Sticks (But Probably Not)”

  73. 73.

    Kathleen

    @Baud: I just love her. Her energy in her films is just awesome. I especially like “Just Wright” with Common.

  75. 75.

    kalakal

    @leeleeFL: It also wouldn’t surprise me if we have a serious measles outbreak down here, with all the encouraging of the anti vax/ moms for liberty cray crays. Add in that nutjob Ladopo in charge and it’s a recipe for disaster

  76. 76.

    Layer8Problem

    @Jeffro:  Jesus, because so many Irish and Catholics look to the bleedin’ Tory Telegraph for advice on Irishness and Catholicity.

  78. 78.

    leeleeFL

    @kalakal: To say nothing of the fact that COVID ain’t done, AND the firearms carry law they’re pushing and abortions being limited. Are young women still going to go to school here in Gilead?  And if Girl’s period info is required by schools for reasons that are obvious, I think there might be more exiting in the future.

    I honestly feel like there’s an apocalypse of sorts heading this way. If this next hurricane season is bad, FLORI-DUH may become Sh–hole by the Seaside!

  79. 79.

    Geminid

    @kalakal: Environmentally,these are fraught times for Florida. A huge glob of seaweed is headed for the Atantic coast and may start washing on shore in time for Spring Break. And I hear the red tide on the Gulf coast is making some people sick.

  84. 84.

    Kathleen

    @geg6: I worked for a woman from Ireland and she said corned beef would have been too expensive in Ireland so they used inexpensive cuts of meat.

  85. 85.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Jeffro: Happy St. Paddy’s Day, peeps!

    Wearing a green shirt (accidentally) and had potatoes for breakfast (on purpose).

    They’re a weird Philly local tradition, coconut rolled in cinnamon and made lumpy to increase their potato resemblance, which we have adopted as recent immigrants (only been here 20 years).

    I think I’m still an out-of-towner at my core, as I haven’t yet gotten into the habit of reading the local rag, the Inquirer. Nor do I tend to know the current fortunes of the sportsball teams.

  86. 86.

    waspuppet

    I’m positive the walls at Mar-A-Lardo are newly ketchup-soiled:

    I dunno about that, but I guarantee he’s walking down the halls in a filthy bathrobe screaming I EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE ALL OF YOU!! THANK YOU!

  88. 88.

    kalakal

    @Geminid: Yep, we have a , so far, small red tide outbreak here in Pinellas.

    Lots of dead fish floating around, foul smell, and respiratory difficulties doesn’t do much for tourism.

    @leeleeFL: If my daughter hadn’t already moved out of state she’d be packing her bags so fast.

  90. 90.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @WereBear: ​

    Heck my 40-pound beagle is a challenge when he spots the neighborhood fox trotting nonchalantly across the street 20 feet away.

    I love the big boys, I’ll always go over and ask permission to visit with them in the park. But I’m glad I don’t have to walk them. Thoughts of the cleanup are also kind of daunting.

  91. 91.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @brendancalling: I once got roasted by the comic at a comedy club in New York for saying “Philly” and then a couple of questions later admitting “suburbs, by the airport”. But unlike many of my suburban neighbors, I love the city of Philly and have spent a lot of time there. One of my daughters lives in the city and her kids are growing up as city kids.

  92. 92.

    Geminid

    @leeleeFL: They were really hyping that seaweed on the CBS radio news this morning: a mass of seaweed “as big as the US” is bearing down on Florida!

    I guess the seaweed broke away from the Sargasso Sea. Maybe some of it will get scooped up and turned into fertilizer. I read that seaweed is a good additive for cow fodder too, makes them belch less methane.

  93. 93.

    Skepticat

    After several years of our hoping/praying/begging to be negative, that’s a good headline.

    I worked on a nasty proofing job until 3 a.m., got up at 6:30 a.m., and am headed out to make an hour’s drive each way to have a weekly lunch with friends. It’s a Vietnamese place, so I hope we can avoid green beer. And I hope I can stay awake. I’m way too old for this.

  94. 94.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Geminid: Maybe some of it will get scooped up and turned into fertilizer.

    Bringing it back to Ireland, I remember reading that in one area on the west coast of Ireland, there was basically nothing but rocks. But they settled it anyway, pulling seaweed out of the sea to build up enough soil to farm.

  96. 96.

    jonas

    @Kayla Rudbek:the corned beef is an Irish-American thing because the Irish immigrants couldn’t find the cuts of pork that they were used to.

    I had heard somewhere a long time ago that Irish-Americans got the corned beef idea from their immigrant Jewish neighbors.

  99. 99.

    C Stars

    @Geminid: In the clip Mr. Stars showed me last night (CNN, I think?) there was an FL wildlife expert on saying that there was plenty of time to plan for this contingency because it’s been happening for years and if someone had planned ahead it could have been diverted, chopped up and sent to the seafloor–a great way to carbon capture. Then at the end the interviewer said something like, “Are you hearing this, Governor Desantis?”

  100. 100.

    C Stars

    I ordered the Irish dinner for four from Good Eggs, our local grocery/meal service, because this week has been too much. Corned beef is not my favorite but I love the potatoes and the cabbage after they have been stewing in the buttery spiced corning liquid. I lived in Ireland for four years as a younger one and culinarily I wouldn’t say that Irish cuisine is my favorite, but I did love the mashed potatoes/carrots/parsnip side, and rasher sandwiches on white bread with mustard, and the dense brown oat bread. You can get the lighter fruited Irish soda bread anywhere in the US it seems but I’ve never seen that particular dark brown Irish loaf over here.

  101. 101.

    Sanjeevs

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:  My Dad used to do that. He said pulling heavy sodden seaweed out of the freezing water was the worst job he ever had.

    But when he retired he moved back to the West coast of Connemara

    Buys all his fertilizer at the garden center these days though.

  102. 102.

    leeleeFL

    @kalakal: i expect that will happen quite a bit!  The brain drain will hurt as much as the brawn drain. I am always surprised the powers that be do not see it coming!  Since immigrants are frowned on, they really are screwing themselves.

  103. 103.

    Captain C

    @Jeffro:

    a piece in the Telegraph about how President Biden is “The World’s Worth[sic?] Catholic”

    Scores of priests busted for abuse would either like a word, or are relieved that they’ve been forgotten.

    Of course, it is the Telegraph.

  110. 110.

    Geminid

    @Ken: There could be all kinds of strange critters floating in with that seaweed. Between that and Spring Break, I sense the elements of a low-budget slasher movie.

  114. 114.

    Geminid

    @kalakal: I guess people won’t be feeding their cows too much of this seaweed. There’s so much no one could put much of a dent in it anyway. Sounds like a smelly summer for Florida’s east coast.

  120. 120.

    Bupalos

    @Jeffro: I have a really hard time cheering for low gas prices, even when I’m separating that out as a political variable.

  121. 121.

    gvg

    @Geminid: Uh spring break has already started. It always starts about the end of February somewhere and by mid march is pretty active. Schools stagger their schedules. UF and Alachua county are currently on break for instance. but nationwide, I think the snow schools are the most anxious to get away.

  122. 122.

    Another Scott

    @Jeffro:

    VOANews:

    ORLANDO, FLORIDA —
    Florida is the fastest-growing state in America for the first time since 1957, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The population in the southeastern state, which is known for its warm weather and sandy beaches, now tops 22 million.

    “I hate being cold,” says Kathy Bonini, 42, who grew up in Pennsylvania but moved to Florida in 2011. “Everybody loves sunshine and palm trees.”

    Nancy Sikes-Kline, mayor of the Florida port city of St. Augustine, agrees.

    […]

    Vote for Ron! He makes you warm!!

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  125. 125.

    Bupalos

    @artem1s: “He fired the HHS Director in OH because she was following sane COVID policy.”

    If memory serves she resigned, because of the magat hoarde. I don’t think she was pushed to it internally, she’s was just genuinely like “fuck this!”

  126. 126.

    PST

    @kalakal, commenting on the red tide:

    Lots of dead fish floating around, foul smell, and respiratory difficulties doesn’t do much for tourism.

    I visited friends near Sarasota last week and on our last day there we found a dead manatee washed ashore. Buzzards had been feasting. It made the dead fish seem innocuous.

  128. 128.

    Hoppie

    @Lapassionara: Well he was three years ahead of me in high school, but other than his family owning the local feed & grain outfit, yeah, he was a normie.

  131. 131.

    JAFD

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: ​
     Meself, was born in Ridley Park, lived there at various times, in Media, Drexel Hill, Upper Darby, West Philly and Fairmount. Was around for the toy soldier convention in Valley Forge last weekend, couple days extra visiting friends.
    So will walk up and see new monument soon. Pics may be later, as the three smartfones I own all need swollen batteries replaced
    Have great weekend, everyone, and Happy Spring Festival(s) Of Your Choice !

  132. 132.

    J R in WV

    @Amir Khalid: ​

    Idle question: I gave my cat an Irish name, can I celebrate St Patrick’s Day?

    Oh, come on Amir. Anyone can celebrate St PAddy’s Day. Either by drinking Guiness OR by eating corned beef and cabbage, or just by thinking of Ireland.
    Just go home early because the amateur drunks will be out trying to drive home later on.​
    ​
    ​

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