Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

All hail the time of the bunny!

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Let me file that under fuck it.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Usually wrong but never in doubt

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

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

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

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Mid-Morning Open Thread: Sing It!

Mid-Morning Open Thread: Sing It!

by | 175 Comments

This post is in: 

This is awesome:

ETA:

It early here, still, but I’m off to busy day of running around. What’s everyone else up to?

Open thread

Reader Interactions

175Comments

  1. 1.

    p.a.

    Oddball stuff: my android phone & my iPad, running through the same internet link, read out a 5 minute time diff.🤔

  2. 2.

    Jay C

    “American Pie”??

    OK: could have worse, I guess: at least Yoon stuck to the classics….

    But WTF is the bald guy in the gaudy uniform on the right? And WTF uniform is that?

    Space Corps Field Marshal????

  5. 5.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I love “American Pie”! We visited the crash site when we lived in Iowa.

    Today I’m supposed to be promoting a book. Also I’m reading the second book in the Thursday Murder Club series. That’s much more fun

  6. 6.

    Frankensteinbeck

    About to go do my daily exercise.  Waiting for my publisher to get back to me on fixing the Amazon preorder page for my book coming out on the 4th so I can properly advertise it.  I ought to go looking for a better sample later.  It’s a very difficult book for that.  The good segments don’t self-contain at 200 words.

  7. 7.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @p.a.: That’s just speed of light delay.

    Obviously one of your devices is bouncing a signal off Mars.

    What should be on my agenda today is a bit of gardening.

    I’ve got some seedlings, started from seed, that are looking a little crowded in their starter pots. Probably have to start spreading them out. I feel like it’s still too early to put them in the ground. My wife the Goddess of Plants assures me they can do fine having an intermediate pot and being transplanted twice.
    They could do fine if she did it.
    She moves plants around and they start growing the same day she gives them the TLC. Plants look at me and try to pull up their roots and run.​

  9. 9.

    Eunicecycle

    @eclare: I think Rep Kim is the representative who stayed at the Capitol and helped clean up the mess on Jan 6th. He seems like a great guy.

  10. 10.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I grew up in the era when American Pie was playing constantly on the radio. As with many songs, I had no idea what it was talking about, wasn’t till years later that I learned it was about that plane crash. I just thought “oh well, poetry. I never get poetry.”

  11. 11.

    dmsilev

    Today, I’m recovering from the first half of this week. Sunday afternoon/evening: Fly LA->DC. Monday/Tuesday: 22 hours (yes, I counted) of meetings. Wed AM: Fly DC->LA. Wed PM: Collapse.

  16. 16.

    Wapiti

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Yeah, when American Pie was playing, my father and the other ushers at his church heard the line “father, son, and holy ghost” and spent a lot of time trying to figure out the allegories. It was pretty funny years later to find out they were waaaaay off.

  17. 17.

    Tony Jay

    Can you imagine, I mean really, close your eyes and try your hardest, try to imagine that scene occurring in a MAGOP White House?

    Can’t be done.

    @Jay C:

    Dude, that’s Young Ming on a fact finding mission. Show some goddam respect or he’ll stuff your junk in an Arborian wood-beast.

  18. 18.

    Suzanne

    I can’t listen to “American Pie” because of how he sings “FEBUARY made me shiver”. It’s fucken unlistenable.

  19. 19.

    sab

    Silly memory. My junior year abroad in north of England I remember the NYC kids announcing that the British kids were wrong and that McLean was prounounced MacCleen. When I tried to say No it is McLane like the city in Virginia with the CIA they said I was just an idiot midwesterner who knew nothing. So hah hah to them fifty years on.

  20. 20.

    Ken

    @p.a.: That’s easily explained if you live on the surface of a neutron star and keep one of them on a high shelf.

    Here on Earth, not so much. But congratulations, you’ve shown we can still tell the old joke about a man with two watches never knowing what time it is.

  21. 21.

    Anonymous At Work

    What tickles me is that Biden had a guitar signed by Don McLean waiting as a gift.

  22. 22.

    Ken

    @Frankensteinbeck: I ought to go looking for a better sample later.  It’s a very difficult book for that.  The good segments don’t self-contain at 200 words.

    Use the “Bored of the Rings” approach. The front matter has an “excerpt” that doesn’t actually appear in the text, with the elf-maiden Lavalier seducing the boggie Frito to get the Ring….

  24. 24.

    Barbara

    I used to work for a hotel catering operation and a large Japanese company had a big bash to celebrate a proposed factory in the area (I don’t think it was ever built) and the evening ended with everyone in the room including the employees getting a glass of sake, and the CEO singing “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” accompanied by the band that had been hired for the evening.  It was fun, unlike most of the events we catered.

  25. 25.

    brendancalling

    1. I can’t stand that song, mainly because I’ve heard it too many times but also because the melody is cloying at best.
    2. As for what I’m doing today? Being frustrated, mainly. We are supposedly writing a CRQ in class today—that’s school speak for a 3-5 paragraph essay. I say “supposedly” because I don’t think anyone is doing it, except maybe one student, because they hate writing these things. And I DO mean “writing.” The standardized test they need to pass includes a brief essay question that has to be written by hand. So we have them do these essays every quarter as part of a “literacy initiative” but really it’s standardized test prep.

      Meanwhile, one kid has already taken a pass to the bathroom, and he won’t be back til the end of class. Another three are dicking around doing nothing, and one kid who is never in class decided to show up today, so I have him doing an alternative assignment.

      Yesterday, we had a lock-in during school: this is when there’s a big fight in the building or some other chaos that needs to be controlled that doesn’t include a gun. So this morning, after I hit the snooze alarm, I had a very detailed dream about leaving school for the day, right as a lock-down (which DOES mean there’s a gun involved) gets started. Fine way to wake up, and I’ve been on edge all day, because often a lock-in on one day is the precursor to a lock-down a day or two later.

  26. 26.

    geg6

    We actually get a treat at work today.  They started this Campus Social Committee about a year ago and, as I and many other have complained, the only functions they’ve set up are after work happy hours at local bars.  I haven’t attended a single one for two reasons.  One is that I have a pup at home that needs an insulin shot at specific times of day and my John is too squeamish to give it.  So I go home and do that the minute I get in the house.  Second is that I’m not really interested in wasting the small amount of personal down time to drink with a crowd, most of whom I don’t really like.

    So they finally got the message that not everyone wants to go drinking after work and have actually set up an event during work hours.  Today’s event is a luncheon catered by a pretty good local Mexican place.  Am glad it’s not our campus food service catering.  They make pretty good food, but we eat it almost every day.  And Mexican is not their best cuisine.  Serviceable but not in any way authentic.  So I’ll have a really good lunch today and can take longer than an hour if I like.

    Sometimes it’s the small things.

  27. 27.

    Trivia Man

    Joe is such a kind man at heart. Genuinely pleased when others do well, supportive, willing to NOT be the centerpiece every minute of every day.

  29. 29.

    raven

    There is a really nice Korea couple who I’ve gotten to know at the dog park. I have tons of pictures from Korea in the late 60’s and they are fascinated to look at them.

  30. 30.

    trollhattan

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: TBF it’s one of Iowa’s premiere locations. Because Iowa.

    Korea striving to be world’s top karaoke nation, so this checks out. Wonder if this visit will trigger a gigantic “very beautiful letter, believe me” from Li’l Kim in response?

    Another thing I wonder, did we dodge a gigantic literal bullet by uncovering and arresting Airman Teixeira? No bail sounding like a prudent move.

    A US airman suspected of leaking dozens of classified files had a history of making violent threats and researched mass shootings, prosecutors allege.

    Jack Teixeira wrote on social media that he wanted to kill a “ton of people” as a way of “culling the weak minded”, according to a court filing.

    The 18-page document also claimed the 21-year-old asked what type of rifle would be easy to operate from an SUV.

    On Thursday, prosecutors will argue he should remain in jail until his trial.

    Mr Teixeira will appear at the detention hearing in a Massachusetts federal court. His legal team have not commented on the case but are expected to argue he should not be detained.

    The filing from US justice department prosecutors on Wednesday outlined their case for keeping Mr Teixeira behind bars until his trial. It claims the IT specialist, who served in the 102nd Intelligence Support Squadron in Massachusetts, poses a threat to Americans and US national security.

    According to the prosecutors, he posted repeatedly about “troubling” violent acts including a potential mass shooting. He allegedly described building an “assassination van” and driving around shooting people in a “crowded urban or suburban environment”.

    He also allegedly searched for multiple recent mass shootings on his government computer, including Uvalde and the Las Vegas shooting.

    The filing also said a search of Mr Teixeira’s home had uncovered “a virtual arsenal of weapons, including bolt-action rifles, rifles, AR and AK-style weapons, and a bazooka” that were kept “just feet from his bed”.

    It added that he was suspended from high school when a classmate overheard him making threats and discussing Molotov cocktails as well as other weapons.

    He discussed violence and murder online and was prone to making “racial threats”, prosecutors wrote.

    They also said that, after his arrest, the FBI found a tablet, a laptop and an Xbox gaming console at his home that had been smashed and placed in a dumpster.

    Hair standing straight up is the proper response here. ETA, yes, it says “bazooka.”

  33. 33.

    Geminid

    @trollhattan: I read that the Air Force has suspended two of Texeira’s commanders from access to classified materials pending completion of the Inspector General’s investigation.

  35. 35.

    Kay

    @Trivia Man:

    He doesn’t get enough credit for the boldness of what will be two campaigns now. The conventional wisdom people are always screaming  at him to run on laundry lists of kitchen table issues and he always goes big instead, to “freedom” or “democracy” or “equality”. If this is a cautious, doddering old man I’ll take more of them. He’s really confident in his approach. Some of that comes with age.

  39. 39.

    snoey

    @trollhattan: The Dighton police chief wouldn’t sign his firearms id application when he turned 18. I live in another small town down here, and that just does not happen without very good reason. He somehow got one later.

  40. 40.

    Ken

    @trollhattan: TBF it’s one of Iowa’s premiere locations. Because Iowa.

    I wonder if that will fade, as the boomers die.  “Let’s visit that place where some musicians died, when your grandparents were teenagers….”

    Then again, I’ve thought the same thing about Wall Drug (“they served ice water during the Depression!”), and it seems to be hanging in there.

  42. 42.

    Betty Cracker

    I often wonder what goes on behind the scenes at events like this. I’m sure they’re highly scripted, so there’s no way President Yoon was pressed to sing without advance warning or at least advance knowledge that he’d welcome the opportunity. Maybe he’s a karaoke guy! ;-)

  43. 43.

    Betty

    @trollhattan: My guess is head of the Marine Band as he was communicating with the piano player.  If so, I have no idea how that would result in so many decorations.

  46. 46.

    Geminid

    @Betty: Most of that looks like trimming, for the dressiest Dress Uniform. Gold is one of the Marine Corp colors, so they may lay it on especially thick.

  47. 47.

    Kay

    It’s been exactly six months since Elon Musk took over Twitter, promising a new era of free speech and independence from political bias. But Twitter’s self-reported data shows that, under Musk, the company has complied with hundreds more government orders for censorship or surveillance — especially in countries such as Turkey and India.

    Surprise, you guys! Elon Musk is not actually a free speech warrior despite what you might have read on Substack or heard at House GOP hearings.

    Twitter hasn’t published a transparency report since Musk took ownership,

    Guffaw. Hope no one is waiting for that. That’s on the to do list after the Mars colony.

  48. 48.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Tony Jay:

    Can you imagine, I mean really, close your eyes and try your hardest, try to imagine that scene occurring in a MAGOP White House?

    Very thing I thought reading this post. I see Trump grabbing the mike away from President Yoon and his humorless dork minions applauding and laying their hands upon him.

  49. 49.

    Jeffro

    @Jay C: could have worse, I guess: at least Yoon stuck to the classics….

    “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”?

    that would have been HILARIOUS!

  56. 56.

    trollhattan

    @snoey: Good local intel there. However badly this dude hurt national intelligence he seems to have been heading in a much darker direction. Arsenal, check. Sharing fantasies of mass murder, check. Likely working on simulations, check.

  61. 61.

    Mel

    @Eunicecycle: He is. Such a good person.

    I cried when I saw the photo that someone had taken when they saw him, initially all by himself, trying to clean up the desecration done by the wannabe insurrectionists.

    He was quietly, determinedly doing the only thing that he could do at that moment to start righting the ship in some small way: refusing to let their vandalism stand.

  62. 62.

    A Man for All Seaonings (formerly Geeno)

    @Jay C: He’s wearing insignia indicating he’s a marine colonel, but I’ve never seen a marine uniform quite that fancy.

  63. 63.

    trollhattan

    @Mel: That was my introduction to Rep Kim and I could not have been more impressed nor appreciative of his thoughtful and patriotic response that day.

    I’d have gone home and curled up in a ball.

  65. 65.

    Sure Lurkalot

    Lawyers for automaker Tesla have argued that statements by Elon Musk about the capabilities of the company’s Autopilot software can’t be trusted as they could be deepfakes, according to reports from Reuters and Bloomberg.

    Tesla presented this argument as part of its justification as to why Musk shouldn’t be interviewed under oath for a lawsuit blaming the company for the death of Apple engineer Walter Huang in a fatal crash in 2018.

    Fucking entitled inheritors cannot be made to take responsibility for what they say or do. Now we’ll have to prove recordings of these sociopaths spouting their arrogant bullshit aren’t fakes?

    https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/27/23700339/tesla-autopilot-lawsuit-2018-elon-musk-claims-deepfakes

  69. 69.

    narya

    What am I doing today?  I went for a long walk, and filtered my cold brew (I make massive batches); meeting with the organization with whom I’m consulting this afternoon. In short: not much.

  71. 71.

    CaseyL

    I love “American Pie.”  And I was almost disappointed to hear what it was “really” about.  When it first came out, there were all sorts of theories.   The running favorites were that it was about JFK’s assassination; or the 60s generally, and particularly all the deaths of liberal leaders.

    Today will be a somewhat lazy day, which I could certainly use after the excursions and alarums from earlier in the week.  I’m WFH, so there are a few work-related items, but otherwise I may try to clean around the house a bit.  One of my blueberry bushes is leafing like crazy but the other one isn’t, so I may give it some fertilizer. (Everyone’s been composted and mulched, so I don’t know why Chippawa Blueberry is languishing.)

  72. 72.

    eversor

    @Jay C:

    That is what we in the service call full dinner dress.  It’s reserved for the highest state level functions and it’s not done to show you off, it’s done to show respect for others.  Service members use the basic combat cammies on base while working in their line of work or deployed.   We use working uniforms at more officy type work back in the states.  We use dress uniforms at our formal events, including funerals.

    I know what all the things he’s wearing mean and it’s a long list.  It’s not for show though.  Those things all hold a meaning, and it’s done for the person you are hosting.  It’s considered a high form of respect and trust me people hate wearing that stuff (it’s giant PITA).

    Also look up the various services full dinner dress, hint he’s not Space Force.  And yet again, we don’t do this for us, we do this out of respect for you.   So you know, shut your fucking mouth on this, nor nut up and join us.

  73. 73.

    Tony Jay

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    “I took the mic from… that guy… sang a few bars of ‘Leader of the Pack’ and… let me tell you… grown men… serious men… men with medals and… men who know what it means to kill… patriots… tears in their eyes… they came to me… two… three at a time… they said… it was a perfect song… perfect… the most perfect… everyone said… Mr President… they didn’t want to interrupt… they know perfect when they hear… but… Mr President… they said… thank you for this… they said… Kanye was there… he’s Ye-Haw now… I still call him Kanye… I can do that… he offered me a contract… a perfect contract… a billion dollars… I said… ten billion… I’m already in the best job… doing the best job ever…”

    “Mr Trump, the question was, do you think your candidacy can progress now that you’ve been found guilty of…”

    “President Trump has answered your gotcha questions, this Press conference is over!”

    Ah, Donnie Doll-Dick. How we’ve missed you. /s

  74. 74.

    Jeffro

    good ol’ Henry Olsen has literally the world’s most useless op-ed up in the Post today, praising Nikki Haley for how she talks about abortion.

    The reason it’s useless is because Olsen notes in the op-ed that she’s not really talking about it, and what she is saying won’t make the forced-birthers happy, and her lies about “abortion up until the moment of birth” will never make pro-choice voters happy, so…?

    And then he goes on to say that the forced-birthers need to win hearts and minds before pushing for draconian bans, and then says that Haley “did not provide any specific ideas to persuade people”(!)

    Henry, seriously, WTF are people paying you for?  Just musing aloud and making no sense?  Isn’t that trump’s gig?

  75. 75.

    Dangerman

    @trollhattan: James Dean soldiers on near Paso Robles, so perhaps.

    Been by that site scores of times; stopped once. Used to be a nice, out of the way, restaurant there, but it is closed. 46 used to be known as Blood Alley and it well deserved the name; now, it’s almost all divided.

    Now, the 46/41 interchange still requires a bit of attention and the 41, towards Kettleman City from that interchange, is just fucking dangerous. Speed limit? Pfffft. Speed limit are for wusses. 65 will get you run over.  Hell, 75/80 will piss off the drivers passing you. I’ve driven that stretch scores of times, too, and never seen anyone pulled over.

    ETA: I’ll see someone’s Wall Drug and raise you the Corn Palace. Why I stopped there is anyone’s guess but what else is there to do in Mitchell, South Dakota, I guess.

  76. 76.

    schrodingers_cat

    OT: Art haul update: I am waiting for my Faber Castell Albrecht Durer water color pencils to arrive.  Also got a set a fountain pen inks going to use them to write, draw and for calligraphy.  I have some calligraphy nibs and fountain pens which are gathering dust. They will see some use again.

    Plus a 36 set of Derwent Inktense pencils on eBay

    Has any BJer used drawing inks like the ones Ph Martin and Winsor and Newton sells?

  79. 79.

    dww44

    @Jeffro: ​  I read the Henry Olsen columns for the comments. Always go there first and this column was no exception in delivering the goods.
    Most Liked Comment:

    “abortion up until the time of birth” is an outright lie. There is literally no such thing, and no doctor anywhere that would terminate the pregnancy of a woman giving birth. Late term abortion is always because of some terrible medical situation: for the mother or for the fetus. So Nikki Haley is nothing new: a lying liar telling lies she knows are not true. In other words, standard GOP

  80. 80.

    eclare

    @sab:   When I volunteered at a zoo I had to put up with people calling the orange great apes “orangutangs.”

  81. 81.

    trollhattan

    @Dangerman: Heh. Having been hauled from Seattle to Iowa granny’s on I-90 it’s not an exaggeration to say that after you’ve left the Rockies, they’re two of the drive’s remaining high points. Those, and the fireworks warehouses.

  82. 82.

    opiejeanne

    I’m going to continue planting seeds in the greenhouse because I’m too sore from planting potatoes yesterday to pull weeds today. Today I think I’ll plant some corn seed and sunflowers and set up more starting trays. So far I’ve managed to start tomatoes and sugar snap peas. Yesterday we also set up a mason bee house, which we should have done two weeks ago because suddenly the fruit trees that need pollenators are blooming. Hopefully the little mason bees wake up and get busy soon.

  83. 83.

    brendancalling

    @Jeffro: Oh, you think THAT’S useless?
    Check out Gary Abernathy’s orgasmic ode to armed teachers. He also gets ripped to shreds in comments.

  84. 84.

    Jeffro

    @dww44: So Nikki Haley is nothing new: a lying liar telling lies she knows are not true. In other words, standard GOP.

    Yup.  Just insane.  Like trumpov’s little video rant the other day about how Democrats are for abortion up until the moment of birth…AND BEYOND!

    It’s bizarre how quickly this became a mainstream talking point on the right.  But I guess when GOP leaders embrace all the Q-crazy, nothing is out of bounds for them.

  87. 87.

    trollhattan

    @Tony Jay: Heh, letter perfect. My god, we had four years of him “normalizing” being an illiterate narcissistic monster and also “leader of the free world” in his spare time, of which he had lots.

    I feel for the archivists and historians who are tasked with documenting and…er…explaining the administration of our 45th president. “And then there was the time he threw his ‘hamberder’ against the wall.”

  88. 88.

    dww44

    @Jeffro: ​
      I’ve an otherwise mostly Democratic sister who is a converted Catholic and supported the outlawing of abortion. Refuses to engage in good faith argument that because they define a conceived sperm as a human doesn’t give them the right to force that view on others. She refuses to engage on the matter. I know others who spout the same thing….about late term abortions being outright murder and won’t acknowledge the rareness and the medical necessity.

  90. 90.

    raven

    @eversor: He’s a full bird.

     

    Colonel Jason K. Fettig is the 28th Director of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. He joined in 1997 as a clarinetist and soon became a frequently featured soloist with both the band and the Marine Chamber Orchestra. After serving four years in the organization, he was select­ed as an Assistant Director, and he conducted his first concert with the Marine Band on Aug. 1, 2001. He was commissioned a first lieutenant in July 2002, promot­ed to captain in August 2003, and became the band’s Executive Officer the following year. He was promot­ed to major in August 2007 and to lieutenant colonel in July 2014, one week before assuming leadership of “The President’s Own.” He was promoted to his present rank in August 2017 in the Roosevelt Room by President Donald Trump. He is the third Director of “The President’s Own” to be promoted to colonel in a White House ceremony.

  91. 91.

    Tony G

    Joe Biden was never my first choice or president (I would have liked to have seen President Elizabeth Warren) but he actually seems to be a likable human being.  That’s a big contrast to the sociopath who preceded him.

  92. 92.

    cain

    @eclare: My dad was recognized yesterday at Purdue University, a shinding with the president, the dean of engineering, and the head of the department and a bunch of others. I wasn’t able to make it because I had just returned from vacation.

    My parents do not look like anything of their age. My mom at 74 still looks stunning, dad looks dapper and handsome at 84 I hope that I look the same. :)

  94. 94.

    rikyrah

    Here is the Disney complaint against DeSantis.

     

    https://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article274740711.ece/BINARY/file-stamped-disney-complaint1.pdf

     

     

    It’s 77 pages long.

     

    I was wondering why Disney waited. I saw on a couple of TikTok’s that Disney waited until it had been ‘ damaged’ by DeSantis’ stooge board. They took their first votes yesterday and voided about 17 billion dollars worth of contracts put in place by the previous board. When that happened, Disney had been ‘ damaged’ and filed suit.

  96. 96.

    Kay

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    He said it onstage at the 2016 Code Conference in front of people and it’s recorded.

    They think they’re untouchable. It’s why I think they have to be checked, hard.

  97. 97.

    raven

    @JML: Our neighbor was in the band at Ft Gordon and is quite the musician. He’s also steeped in Scottish music and looks great in his kilt!

  99. 99.

    cain

    @Tony G: Same here – but he’s grown on me. I’m actually not sure that Elizabeth Warren would have been as effective IMHO. Of course, he is an old white male, so he’s got plenty of advantages. Madame President Warren would have to do a lot of trailblazing and get a ton of false equivalences from our oh so stately press.

  100. 100.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    He doesn’t get enough credit for the boldness of what will be two campaigns now. The conventional wisdom people are always screaming  at him to run on laundry lists of kitchen table issues and he always goes big instead, to “freedom” or “democracy” or “equality”. If this is a cautious, doddering old man I’ll take more of them. He’s really confident in his approach. Some of that comes with age.

    Because, he FEELS it to his bones.

    Those words ” Freedom”  ” Democracy”  ” Equality”

    He has absolute confidence when he starts talking about them. And, it shows.

    It also helps that the Republicans have completely shown themselves as to who they are. The ads phucking write themselves.

  102. 102.

    Jeffro

    @dww44: I’d like a full-on nationwide press to find out where exactly all these last-minute, whimsical abortions are taking place.  Other than in crazy peoples’ heads, I mean.

    Let’s hear it, snooze media: most of the GOP – including its likely 2024 presidential nominee – is flat-out LYING here and accusing Democrats of being the party of infanticide.  Do you think you might be roused to go report on it?

  103. 103.

    JoyceH

    I was stationed in Hawaii when the karaoke craze hit. Originating in Japan, it reached Hawaii first. I remember trying to explain it to my friends on the mainland and they were just baffled – ‘You sing? In front of people? And this is fun?”  Man, I’d go anywhere for karaoke! My standards were Coal Miner’s Daughter and Blue Kentucky Girl. After a few beers, I had a rendition of Born To Be Wild that just ripped up my throat.

  106. 106.

    misterpuff

    @Suzanne: But February DID make me shiver with every paper I delivered.

    Paper route in the Midwest when that song was a hit. With an AM radio strapped to my bike. Always needed a sound system on my rides.

  107. 107.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @rikyrah:

    I thought Disney put in place some ironclad deal to hamstring the DeathSentence appointees to the Reedy Creek Board for the foreseeable future?

  109. 109.

    trollhattan

    @cain: Was all in for Warren myself, and thought Joe entering, quite late, was just a distraction.

    Now convinced we’re a generation or more away from possibly electing a woman president, so deep is the misogyny. The “liberal Democratic” women I’ve heard mutter about how horrid a candidate Hillary was, over the last six years, has been deeply depressing and yet, they won’t offer up somebody they think would win. Meantime, Joe’s getting shit done and he’s used the hell of of his Rolodex (don’t even try to tell me he doesn’t still use it) to assemble a truly remarkable administrative team. Ego in check, he’s not afraid to bring in the best and brightest.

  110. 110.

    Cameron

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Corporate volunteers are really important for food banks, too, since packing food boxes is done entirely or almost entirely with volunteer workers.  I worked for Philabundance for a few years, and we loved corporate teams.

  116. 116.

    raven

    @TaMara: Here’s what he has on his chest

     

    • Legion of Merit.
    • Meritorious Service Medal.
    • Navy Commendation Medal.
    • Navy Unit Commendation.
    • Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation with two bronze stars.
    • Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal.
    • National Defense Service Medal.
    • Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
  120. 120.

    narya

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I have a LAMY Safari as an everyday pen, with a Waterman as a backup everyday pen. During the last Fountain Pen Thread, I decided to pull the pens out and use them (I have many . . .) and I got my ink from Andersonpens dot com. They have a very nice selection of ink, and it seems that their pen selection includes a lot of not-terribly-expensive pens as well. It’s made me remember why I started buying them to begin with.

  123. 123.

    Mike in NC

    Today’s newspaper had a piece about Florida’s fascist Senator Rick Scott, who has a less than brilliant idea to put an armed guard into every school in the country. That’s more than 98,000 public schools! The same stupid argument that the far right trots out every time there’s a school shooting: “We need MORE guns! MORE heavily armed cops!” What could possibly go wrong?

    A ‘good guy with a gun’ in a school with hundreds of kids? That solves zero problems, Batboy. Why not advocate 2 or 3 dozen armed goons in every school? That will improve the odds and sell lots more guns. Unless the guy with the gun gets disarmed and shot with his/her own weapon.

  124. 124.

    Tony G

    I was in high school when “American Pie” was a hit that got a lot of airplay on the radio.  I remember thinking to myself: OK, Don McLean made his point.  When will this song finally end?

  125. 125.

    trollhattan

    DOJ, interferin’ with mah states rights!

    The Department of Justice on Wednesday intervened in a federal lawsuit against Tennessee over the state’s controversial ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors, asking the court to halt the law’s implementation before it takes effect on July 1.
    In March, Gov. Bill Lee signed into law SB 1/HB 1, which bans gender-affirming care for minors. The law bans medications, such as puberty blockers and hormone treatments for children who identify as transgender or nonbinary. Surgeries are also banned.
    Children currently taking medications would have until March 31, 2024 to cycle off the treatments, under the law.
    “SB1 violates the constitutional rights of some of Tennessee’s most vulnerable citizens,” Middle District U.S. Attorney Henry Leventis said in a statement. “Left unchallenged, it would prohibit transgender children from receiving health care that their medical providers and their parents have determined to be medically necessary. In doing so, the law seeks to substitute the judgment of trained medical professionals and parents with that of elected officials and codifies discrimination against children who already face far too many obstacles.”
    The American Civil Liberties Union last week sued the state on behalf of three Tennessee families — Nashville residents Samantha and Brian Williams and their 15-year-old transgender daughter L.W.; Rebecca Roe and her 15-year-old son Ryan; and anonymous parents of a 12-year-old son. The plaintiffs also include Memphis-based Dr. Susan Lacy, who provides gender-affirming care for her patients.
    https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2023/04/26/department-of-justice-challenges-tennessees-transgender-health-ban/70156632007/

  127. 127.

    StringOnAStick

    @Betty Cracker: Karaoke is really big among businessmen in South Korea; it’s what they do after work, go to karaoke bars.  Japan too.

    I’m sure he had some warning, you want to be up on your chops when it’s a big audience!  I recall a discussion by I think Lady Gaga that the most difficult instrument is your voice; you have to use it often and an illness or allergies can really mess you up.  How I knew I was coming down with Covid was working on songs and my voice just not being there; it’s the thing that is still not fully back 5 weeks later either.

    Here’s a question for the group.  I had a day or two reaction to every Covid vaccination, lessening in impact with each subsequent dose, but as sick as I got, I’m sure that without vaccination I would have been in the hospital at some point.  Did folks who had reactions (fatigue, or more) to vaccination and then later caught Covid get sicker than those who felt no reaction other than a sore arm?

  128. 128.

    Tony Jay

    @trollhattan:

    “Fake News! It was just hamburder relish! Witch-Hunt! Send money now to fight back against the Radical Left Assault on YOUR Greatest President!”

  135. 135.

    Tony G

    @rikyrah: I’m not a fan of Disney (although I dutifully took my kids to their movies when my kids were little back in the nineties), but I hope they squash DeSantis like a bug.  I’m pretty sure that the Disney lawyers are among the smartest in the country.

  137. 137.

    Tony G

    @rikyrah: “Pro-life”, at best, applies only to the fetus — not to the child after he/she has been born, and certainly not to to pregnant female.  (Actually, “pro-life” doesn’t even apply to the fetus.  I’ve never heard of a “pro-life” activist who considers improved pre-natal care to be an important issue.)

  138. 138.

    StringOnAStick

    @schrodingers_cat: I use phMartin liquid watercolours and love them, vibrant and also nontoxic.  I have cats that like to go after my brush water glass so nontoxic is good.  A watercolour instructor turned me on to them.

  140. 140.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    My 8th grade history teacher brought in his guitar one day and played American Pie. He thoroughly explained every lyric.  Pretty good music education day for  13 year old.

  142. 142.

    Layer8Problem

    @schrodingers_cat: ​Jamie Bamber: Lieutenant Kennedy on Horatio Hornblower, if I remember correctly. Also a smaller role as an American officer on Band of Brothers.

  143. 143.

    Tony G

    @cain: Yeah, Biden is a (very) old white guy, and he’s been in Washington forever — attributes that are helpful as a politician.  Biden also seems to be a natural shmoozer — he likes (or at least pretends to like) people.  A big difference from Trump or DeSantis, both of who seem to just barely tolerate other human  beings.  Shmoozing used to be a core competency for politicians, like “being tall” for NBA centers.  I remember back in the seventies my father, a lifelong Democrat, once ran into Ted Kennedy when Kennedy was campaigning for somebody in Philadelphia.  Kennedy smiled and shook my father’s hand as though my father was a long-lost friend.  It’s a skill.

  144. 144.

    rikyrah

    THIS IS READY FOR AN AD.

    Spilling the end game before they can coat it in Frankl Luntz-Approved dogwhistles.

    Emerson Gravely (@Emerson_Gravely) tweeted at 7:07 AM on Wed, Apr 26, 2023:
    Ron DeSantis calls for a Constitutional Convention of the states in order to remake the Constitution and the nation into some form of far right authoritarian rule. https://t.co/gRCRUtS0T8
    (https://twitter.com/Emerson_Gravely/status/1651196180385128450?t=-rSTtp6iuKn4CCOT3widjQ&s=03)

  145. 145.

    Ruckus

    @Trivia Man:

    Joe is a normal human who happens to be very good at his job. He likes life, doesn’t need it to be scripted by someone with an IQ 3/4 of the way to the voltage in a house socket. He’s not condescending of others nor does he demand subservience. As you say, he appreciates life, his and others. I believe it’s one of the advantages of having done life for a while longer than many.

  147. 147.

    Ruckus

    @Tony G:

    A big difference from Trump or DeSantis, both of who seem to just barely tolerate other human  beings.

    Both of them know who and what they are. Crap. Of course neither of them can admit that because their egos are their defining ethos. And their egos are bigger than all outdoors, with absolutely zero anything there to justify an all outdoors ego. It seems to me that extreme conservatives all have extremely crappy and oversized egos and these are in absolutely no way justified. SFB and deathsanta are just extreme public displays of this. I’ve met humans like this before, they expect deference for their extreme, and fragile egos, none of which their actions and words justify in any way.

  148. 148.

    Josie

    @Tony G: ​
     This reminds me of my son’s experience years ago with President Clinton. He was in town campaigning and met with my son’s high school Constitution team at the airport. Kyle is usually pretty cynical, but he was over the moon about Clinton, saying that he gave the impression that there was no one else around when talking to him. His attention was totally focused on the person he was talking to. Truly a skill, and not one easily learned.

  150. 150.

    J R in WV

    @Paul in KY: ​
     

    That is a sweet uniform. Think he might be a waiter…

    So sad!

    He is a director of the President’s Own Marine Band, and that’s his dress uniform for this evening’s show. V. Prestigious job in the music biz, they are very competitive and have auditions to join the Marine Band. You have to have that swing to be in this band !!!

  152. 152.

    Soprano2

    @eversor: My husband can still wear his dress blues. He’s worn them to functions sometimes. People are always impressed with him when he does it.

  153. 153.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Jeffro:

    Let’s hear it, snooze media: most of the GOP – including its likely 2024 presidential nominee – is flat-out LYING here and accusing Democrats of being the party of infanticide.  Do you think you might be roused to go report on it?

    They’re happy to report the claims.

  154. 154.

    Soprano2

    @rikyrah: The most chilling quote from the NPR story about what happened to this woman is this:

    “I think one of the most frightening statements, which was at one of the hospitals, the person was trying to be reassuring and she said, ‘Oh, well, you know, in the case of a medical emergency, we would try to use the woman’s body as an incubator to just try to keep the pregnancy going as long as possible,'” Heisler says.

    It tells you how some of these pro-birth people think about pregnant women – they’re incubators for babies, nothing more. It’s grotesque.

  162. 162.

    Ruckus

    @StringOnAStick:

    I once spent 9 days in hospital from an inoculation with a fever of 105. I haven’t had one symptom from any of the 5 covid shots I’ve gotten.

    It always varies for each vaccination for every person. That time in the hospital was the only time in my 70+ yrs that I’ve had a reaction.

  163. 163.

    Tony G

    @Josie: Yup; it’s a skill, and I think that it’s also a basic character trait that starts in early childhood.  I could never be a politician (or a salesman) because, although I enjoy talking to certain people, I could never banter with strangers like that.

  164. 164.

    Tony G

    @Soprano2: This woman’s statement was a “gaffe” in the sense of being an honest statement.  This is how many (most?) “pro-life” people think of women’s bodies — incubators that can be discarded after the job has been done.  (Actually, the baby can be discarded too after God’s will has been satisfied by the birth.). The fact that this grotesque statement is coming from a woman is particularly depressing, but that’s the world that we live in.

  165. 165.

    Ruckus

    @Soprano2:

    I have my peacoat. But not one other piece of Navy uniform.

    And to be honest, I don’t miss any of it. And that started the second I stepped off the gangplank for last time with my discharge papers and honorable discharge certificate in my hand. I will say that my time in was very good in one respect, the VA.

  166. 166.

    Tony G

    @trollhattan: Unfortunately, you may be right.  White people were willing to vote for Obama twice, but I don’t know how many men would vote for a woman for president.  I’d like to be proven wrong.

  167. 167.

    Chris T.

    @Suzanne: But did you ever go to the lie-berry in Feb-you-air-ee to look for books about nukular energy?

    (Ugh, it hurt to write that sentence)

  168. 168.

    S cerevisiae

    Back around the turn of the century I was a karaoke host and American Pie was one of the “bathroom break” songs. Hell it was long enough to smoke half a J before you had to get back to the controls.

  170. 170.

    Uncle Cosmo

    Some modest shopping for things to bring my Czech friends; some laundry and first cut at packing. I leave Saturday afternoon for Berlin via Iceland, then DB train to Prague.**

    And TBH I am somewhat worried: So far preparations are going as swimmingly as they went badly before my last visit last autumn (when I left in a hurry and forgot things I needed and brought things that didn’t work that caused no end of hassle trying to find fixes) – I’ve tracked down everything I need except small items I can get at the local Dollar-And-A-Quarter Tree. I’ve already dodged one incoming round (my customary ride to the airport had to cancel but I had time to derange another). But I keep fantasizing Murphy the Trixter God skulking in a squad car behind each billboard itching to pull my wuthless butt over…

    ** Seems to save ~16 hours in layovers for the cheapest flights and a few hunnert ;^p buck$ over the lowest-cost one-stop direct flights, so we’ll see how that works.

  172. 172.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Geminid: Thanky kindly. As it happens I just stumbled across one of the last missing items (a foldup poncho) so I don’t have to rush to the $1.25-Tree for one. I wasn’t even looking for it, just unpiling some junk. This is getting scary. Now if my very slick Czech phrasebook turns up…

    European travel, like sex, is the opposite of law school: Even when it’s bad it’s good. We’ll see if I can stay in touch this time…

  173. 173.

    J R in WV

    @Soprano2:

    Yes… they don’t even seem to even grasp there was no pregnancy at all, just death slowly approaching.

    I’ve about decided the ob/gyn staffing in red states should all just leave late one night, simultaneously leaving town. And then not seeing new patients from Tennessee.8

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