• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

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

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

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

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

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

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

Tick tock motherfuckers!

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

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

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Republicans do not trust women.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

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

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Politics / I’m Sorry, But This Guy Is a Maroon

I’m Sorry, But This Guy Is a Maroon

by WaterGirl|  May 17, 20236:48 pm| 142 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics

FacebookTweetEmail

Posted without comment.

McCarthy: We caught more people in the month of February on the terrorist watch list than we caught the entire time in the last administration. pic.twitter.com/KRLfcqGrY8

— Acyn (@Acyn) May 16, 2023

Some people might think that it’s a good thing that we are catching more terrorists at the border.  He really is the stupidest man in Washington.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « This Is The Fight I Like To See (Open Thread)
Next Post: War for Ukraine Day 448: A Very Brief Wednesday Night Update spy v. spy flyouts»

Reader Interactions

142Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    May 17, 2023 at 6:49 pm

    What do you mean “we,” kimosabe?

  2. 2.

    WaterGirl

    May 17, 2023 at 6:51 pm

    @Baud: Boebert or Marge said something similar in a hearing at some point in the past few weeks.

    They don’t seem to understand that “catching more” does not mean that more are coming across.

  3. 3.

    JPL

    May 17, 2023 at 6:53 pm

    It’s a great ad that wil be playing soon.   imo

  4. 4.

    Ruckus

    May 17, 2023 at 6:53 pm

    @WaterGirl: .

    Both of them together are as smart as a very small box of very inexpensive rocks.

  5. 5.

    brantl

    May 17, 2023 at 6:54 pm

    @WaterGirl:  I don’t understand what you mean by that?

  6. 6.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 17, 2023 at 6:54 pm

    He really is the stupidest man in Washington.

    Gosar, Tuberville, Johnson…. Lots of competition.

  7. 7.

    Ken

    May 17, 2023 at 6:55 pm

    Well sure, now that they can’t pay that $2 million fee, split half between Trump and the border patrol agents….

  8. 8.

    Scout211

    May 17, 2023 at 6:56 pm

    Another open thread?  WaterGirl, you are on a roll today.  :)

    I’ll throw this in for discussion.  Not that it is surprising or anthing.

    Federal judge calls out judicial panel’s handling of 2011 ethics complaints against Clarence Thomas

    Leaders of the policy-making body for the federal courts repeatedly failed to inform its full membership of complaints raised by lawmakers and watchdog groups about Justice Clarence Thomas’ pattern of nondisclosure on his financial reports more than 10 years ago, a sitting federal judge testified to a Senate panel on Wednesday.

    In 2011, the Judicial Conference received a number of complaints from lawmakers and watchdog groups about Thomas after media reports revealed that he failed to disclose income his wife earned between 1998 and 2003 from The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

    The complaints asked the conference to refer the matter to the US attorney general to probe whether the justice’s behavior ran afoul of a federal ethics law. Thomas quickly amended his reports when the allegations were brought to his attention, leading the body to conclude that no further action was needed.

    But US District Judge Mark Wolf, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, said on Wednesday that the full Judicial Conference did not receive notice of the complaints sent to leaders of the conference and therefore couldn’t decide how the body should act on them.

    “This concerned me because the issues raised by the letters were serious,” Wolf said in testimony to a Senate Judiciary subcommittee looking into court ethics.

    “Pursuant to established conference policies and procedures, if the committee (on financial disclosures) had considered the letters, my colleagues on the Judicial Conference and I should have been informed of them in its reports to the Conference, even if the committee was not recommending any action by the Conference,” he said.

    “Such information would have afforded me and the other members of the conference the opportunity to discuss and decide whether there was reasonable cause to believe Justice Thomas had willfully violated the act and, if so, to make the required referral to the attorney general,” Wolf added.

  9. 9.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    May 17, 2023 at 6:57 pm

    @brantl:

    I took it to mean that just because you’re catching more people doesn’t mean there’s a massive increase overall

  10. 10.

    NotMax

    May 17, 2023 at 6:57 pm

    Magaroon?
    //

  11. 11.

    WaterGirl

    May 17, 2023 at 6:59 pm

    @brantl: Hmm.  Lets get rid of the pronouns in this sentence and add a couple more words and see if that helps.

    Marge and Boebert think it’s a bad thing that the Biden Administration is “catching more” terrorists than the Trump Administration caught.  Marge and Boebert do not seen to realize that maybe Biden et all are CATCHING more because they are more competent.

    Boebert and Marge seem to assume that just because Biden et al are catching more terrorists does NOT mean that it means that more terrorists are coming over the border.

  12. 12.

    WaterGirl

    May 17, 2023 at 7:00 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: You are right about that.

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    May 17, 2023 at 7:03 pm

    @Scout211: I keep checking the back room, but there wasn’t any action, so I put up another one.  After a couple hours, unless a post is really going strong, it seems like we need a fresh thread.

    Am I wrong?

    Yes, I had seen that the FORMER Federal Judge that is respected by conservatives came out and said that.  I want this to hound all the corrupt justices on the court until they exercise the “life’s too short” option and step down.

  14. 14.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    May 17, 2023 at 7:03 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I wish Johnson had gotten booted. I would’ve thought his talk about Social Security would’ve cooked his goose

  15. 15.

    Craig

    May 17, 2023 at 7:04 pm

    Is he dissing the Last Administration, TFG’s administration? What’s the internet tradition?, The Stupid It Burns.

  16. 16.

    Scout211

    May 17, 2023 at 7:05 pm

    @WaterGirl: Am I wrong?

    Oh no.  I meant it as a good thing.  The added open threads seem to keep the discussions going and more commenters contributing.

  17. 17.

    Elizabelle

    May 17, 2023 at 7:08 pm

    @Craig:  It’s the icing on the cake.

    Ted Baxter had more self-awareness than that guy.  (The blowhard newscaster on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.)

  18. 18.

    craigie

    May 17, 2023 at 7:08 pm

    Yes, when I first read it, I thought “Is he criticizing the T**** administration?” Because I take “we caught more” to be a good thing.

    Jesus F’ing Christ.

  19. 19.

    apocalipstick

    May 17, 2023 at 7:09 pm

    @brantl: Bugs Bunny reference.

  20. 20.

    Craig

    May 17, 2023 at 7:14 pm

    @WaterGirl: all the bullshit with ‘amending disclosure forms’ drives me up the wall. I’m incredibly small time and I have a tax guy. Seems like Clarence Thomas should have a tax guy. If he has one then who is it, cause my tax guy signs his name on my forms and is responsible for his work. When people are talking about Financial Disclosure forms are we talking taxes, or just some term of art? I think it’s really time to stop letting The Black Robes make up their own rules.

  21. 21.

    eclare

    May 17, 2023 at 7:15 pm

    @craigie:

    That initially confused me too.  So Joe is better at catching terrorists than TFG.

  22. 22.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 17, 2023 at 7:16 pm

    @Craig: No, there are literal disclosure forms.  Taxes are a separate thing.

  23. 23.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    May 17, 2023 at 7:17 pm

    I don’t understand this. This isn’t people at the border. It’s the terrorist watch list. So the former administration, ie, the Trump administration, wasn’t catching people on the terrorist watch list?

  24. 24.

    Jay

    May 17, 2023 at 7:18 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    saw one of the morons, (fsm, there are so many) claim in a twit today that MSNBC’s own graphic, contraindicated their story that crossings were down,

    moron didn’t know that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, come before Thursday and Friday,

    (it’s about a 4k drop per day)

    But I understand, they are “selling a product” to morons, and that product is fascism and genocide.

  25. 25.

    Jay

    May 17, 2023 at 7:19 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    nope, they were charging entry fees.

  26. 26.

    Elizabelle

    May 17, 2023 at 7:23 pm

    @brantl:  You raise an interesting point.  I personally love calling people maroons — a Bugs Bunny euphemism for morons — but there is a definition for “maroons” that makes that problematic.  Not in common usage, but once you learn of it, you do wince a little bit.

    It’s got an interesting etymology, although I am sure that Bugs Bunny was using “maroons” innocently.

    Wiki:

    Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas and Islands of the Indian Ocean who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures[1] such as the Garifuna and the Mascogos.

    …

    The American Spanish word cimarrón is also often given as the source of the English word maroon, used to describe the runaway slave communities in Florida, in the Great Dismal Swamp on the border of Virginia and North Carolina, on colonial islands of the Caribbean, and in other parts of the New World. Linguist Lyle Campbell says the Spanish word cimarrónmeans ‘wild, unruly’ or ‘runaway slave’.[5] In the early 1570s, Sir Francis Drake‘s raids on the Spanish in Panama were aided by “Symerons,” a likely misspelling of cimarrón.[3] The linguist Leo Spitzer, writing in the journal Language, says, “If there is a connection between Eng. maroon, Fr. marron, and Sp. cimarrón, Spain (or Spanish America) probably gave the word directly to England (or English America).”[6]

    Alternatively, the Cuban philologist José Juan Arrom has traced the origins of the word maroon further than the Spanish cimarrón, used first in Hispaniola to refer to feral cattle, then to Indian slaves who escaped to the hills, and by the early 1530s to African slaves who did the same. He proposes that the American Spanish word derives ultimately from the Arawakan root word simarabo, construed as ‘fugitive’, in the Arawakan language spoken by the Taínopeople native to the island.

  27. 27.

    Jay

    May 17, 2023 at 7:23 pm

    My hypersonic missiles suck. In unrelated news, 3 hypersonic missile scientists have been jailed for "treason".https://t.co/0skBft1Wo3— Darth Putin (@DarthPutinKGB) May 17, 2023

  28. 28.

    Elizabelle

    May 17, 2023 at 7:26 pm

    @brantl:

    You raise an interesting point.  I personally love calling people maroons — a Bugs Bunny euphemism for morons — but there is a definition for “maroons” that makes that problematic.  Not in common usage, but once you learn of it, you do wince a little bit.

    It’s got an interesting etymology, although I am sure that Bugs Bunny was using “maroons” innocently.

    Wiki:

    Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas and Islands of the Indian Ocean who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures, such as the Garifuna and the Mascogos.

    … The American Spanish word cimarrón is also often given as the source of the English word maroon, used to describe the runaway slave communities in Florida, in the Great Dismal Swamp on the border of Virginia and North Carolina, on colonial islands of the Caribbean, and in other parts of the New World. Linguist Lyle Campbell says the Spanish word cimarrónmeans ‘wild, unruly’ or ‘runaway slave’. In the early 1570s, Sir Francis Drake‘s raids on the Spanish in Panama were aided by “Symerons,” a likely misspelling of cimarrón. The linguist Leo Spitzer, writing in the journal Language, says, “If there is a connection between Eng. maroon, Fr. marron, and Sp. cimarrón, Spain (or Spanish America) probably gave the word directly to England (or English America).”

    Alternatively, the Cuban philologist José Juan Arrom has traced the origins of the word maroonfurther than the Spanish cimarrón, used first in Hispaniola to refer to feral cattle, then to Indian slaves who escaped to the hills, and by the early 1530s to African slaves who did the same. He proposes that the American Spanish word derives ultimately from the Arawakan root word simarabo, construed as ‘fugitive’, in the Arawakan language spoken by the Taínopeople native to the island.

  29. 29.

    Craig

    May 17, 2023 at 7:30 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: this is so not my area of competence, but if he’s not reporting income on his disclosure forms is he also not reporting that income to the IRS. I spent a few minutes on the Google, but I ran into an opaque hall of mirrors. Financial forms that are consistent across the Judiciary, or does the USSC have its own forms. Any insight welcome.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    May 17, 2023 at 7:30 pm

    @Craig: No, he THINKS he’s dissing the Biden Administration.  Because he’s stupid as a brick.

  31. 31.

    Jay

    May 17, 2023 at 7:31 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    bricks are useful, don’t dis bricks.

  32. 32.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    May 17, 2023 at 7:32 pm

    @Jay:

    The paranoia and recriminations among the russians is really getting going. A elderly woman was fined 40,000 rubles ($490) for “discrediting the armed forces of russia” a few weeks back just for simply saying she thought Zelenskyy was handsome

  33. 33.

    WaterGirl

    May 17, 2023 at 7:32 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: In their minds, catching more terrorists means that we have more of a terrorist problem than the Trump Administration did.

    It displays a lack of being able to process information in an intelligent, reasonable way.

  34. 34.

    WaterGirl

    May 17, 2023 at 7:33 pm

    @Elizabelle: I was trying to call them morons without using a phrase that is socially unacceptable.

  35. 35.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    May 17, 2023 at 7:34 pm

    @Jay:

    This was on MSNBC? Was it a right wing guest? Or an MSNBC regular?

  36. 36.

    WaterGirl

    May 17, 2023 at 7:34 pm

    @Jay: Can you supply some context for that?  Because on the face of it, without the backstory, it makes no sense.

  37. 37.

    Geminid

    May 17, 2023 at 7:36 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I saw a report recently that Russian officials can’t resign now. They are threatened with criminal charges if they do.

  38. 38.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 17, 2023 at 7:40 pm

    @Craig: Things would go on a disclosure form that are not income and thus not taxable.

  39. 39.

    PAM Dirac

    May 17, 2023 at 7:40 pm

    @Craig: In my time in government I had to file OGE Form 450 every year. It says Executive Branch on it, so I assume the Judicial Branch uses something different, but similar. I don’t think there was ever any cross reporting to IRS, only the Ethics office you reported to saw the info on this form. Filing your taxes is completely separate.

  40. 40.

    Elizabelle

    May 17, 2023 at 7:41 pm

    @WaterGirl:  Trust me, you and Bugs were using the phrase innocently!

    And I still like it, as a Bugs reference.

    I did not know about that usage for “maroons” before reading up on slavery.

    So:  guessing the term will be problematic in years to come.

    Although, we also might live in a country where people think Biden overturned Roe, and Katrina happened on Obama’s watch …

    And:  the term in that sense could not apply to McCarthy, because he is a pack animal and would not have the courage to run away.

  41. 41.

    Dan B

    May 17, 2023 at 7:42 pm

    OT The National Archives have given Special Counsel Jack Smith 16 documents that show that TFG knew the procedure for declassifying documents.

    Trouble ahead for TFG!

  42. 42.

    Sally

    May 17, 2023 at 7:45 pm

    @WaterGirl: It is the same as “if we don’t test for Covid, it isn’t there”. If we don’t catch any people crossing the border without entry visas, there aren’t any. Eradicate Covid by stopping testing.  Stop “illegal immigrants” by not catching any. Simple

    Republican solution to everything, close your eyes and it disappears.  Object impermanence.

  43. 43.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    May 17, 2023 at 7:46 pm

    @Geminid:

     I saw a report recently that Russian officials can’t resign now. They are threatened with criminal charges if they do.

    That implies that perhaps their might not be anyone to replace them. Or trying to stop mass resignations. An entire society beginning to run on fumes. Not the image of an invincible great power

    So they can’t resign for any reason?

  44. 44.

    Jay

    May 17, 2023 at 7:47 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    @WaterGirl:

    It was either Bobert or MTG, who twitted out a screenshot of MSNBC’s graphic, showing border crossings last week. The graphic showed that after Wednesday, crossings had dropped by about 4k a day. The moron tried to claim that the numbers showed that there was a surge, because they didn’t know that Monday comes before Tuesday which comes before Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

    But I understand why they were confused, it was actual numbers, not a graph drawn in crayon on a bathroom stall wall.

  45. 45.

    Baud

    May 17, 2023 at 7:47 pm

    Border crossings must be down because the government isn’t kidnapping any children.

  46. 46.

    Craig

    May 17, 2023 at 7:49 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: thanks. That gives me more of a framework I can work with. For some reason I feel compelled to give down this rabbit hole and figure this out a little more, because Clarence really seems to have problems with his disclosures.

  47. 47.

    dnfree

    May 17, 2023 at 7:49 pm

    Here’s something I worry about.  If something were to happen to Biden and Harris, Kevin McCarthy would become president.  That’s a ridiculous line of succession.  It always has been, but it’s obvious now—why should someone of a different party plus stupid and incurious become president after the president and vice-president, instead of someone from the cabinet appointed by the president? Why wouldn’t both parties want to change this?  It’s a possible motivation for assassination.

  48. 48.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    May 17, 2023 at 7:49 pm

    @Jay: I never saw the graph, but Beau of the Fifth Column did a video about it. Apparently it was designed to be read right to left.

    Essentially MSNBC wanted it to look like an illegal crossing surge to people who pay little attention

    Boebert and MTG represent people who pay little attention very well.

  49. 49.

    Baud

    May 17, 2023 at 7:50 pm

    @dnfree:

    Agree.

  50. 50.

    Jay

    May 17, 2023 at 7:50 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    being 200,001 is allowed.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    May 17, 2023 at 7:50 pm

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation:

    Sharia Law!

  52. 52.

    PAM Dirac

    May 17, 2023 at 7:50 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

     

    Things would go on a disclosure form that are not income and thus not taxable

    And vice versa. I didn’t have to report Federal Govt salary, holdings and earnings from money market funds, diversified mutual funds, government bonds, etc., etc. The purpose of the disclosure form was to identify potential conflicts and manage them, not to be a complete list of income and assets.

  53. 53.

    Baud

    May 17, 2023 at 7:51 pm

    @PAM Dirac:

    If you don’t report, there’s no conflict!

  54. 54.

    Lapassionara

    May 17, 2023 at 7:52 pm

    @Elizabelle: Come for the politics, stay for the etymology lesson. Thanks! I like the term “nimnut” myself, but I would not be surprised to find that it has problematic roots.

  55. 55.

    Geminid

    May 17, 2023 at 7:52 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): The report was from a Russian exile group with contacts in the country. It sounds like resignations for any reason are not tolerated. This policy applied to political and security officials.

  56. 56.

    Jay

    May 17, 2023 at 7:53 pm

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation:

    saw the graph, (well screenshot), it was laid out top to bottom, so Monday was at the bottom, Friday at the top.

    Only a moron would read it wrong.

  57. 57.

    Baud

    May 17, 2023 at 7:54 pm

    @Jay:

    Should have been a pie chart.

  58. 58.

    oatler

    May 17, 2023 at 7:55 pm

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation:

     people who pay little attention very well.

    Shakespearean!

  59. 59.

    Jay

    May 17, 2023 at 7:56 pm

    @Jay:

    crayon or sharpie?

    Are Rethug’s allowed Sharpies?

  60. 60.

    Mike in NC

    May 17, 2023 at 7:56 pm

    If the need is determined in the near future, I would recommend the federal government build a massive toxic waste disposal facility in Bakersfield, California.

  61. 61.

    Steeplejack

    May 17, 2023 at 7:56 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    The person was not on MSNBC; the graphic they were talking about was on MSNBC.

  62. 62.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    May 17, 2023 at 7:56 pm

    @Jay: Time on the Y Axis is also a somewhat weird choice, but I agree. That should be much more difficult to misinterpret.

  63. 63.

    Jackie

    May 17, 2023 at 7:57 pm

    @JPL: That’s exactly what I thought! The GQP is GREAT at making ads showing the great accomplishments of the Biden Administration 😁

  64. 64.

    WaterGirl

    May 17, 2023 at 7:57 pm

    @Dan B:

    Breaking the law.  Check.

    Intent.  Check, check.

  65. 65.

    PAM Dirac

    May 17, 2023 at 7:58 pm

    @Baud: Let’s just say that that wasn’t the rule for GS-15s when I was working. I’m sure there are different rules for the important people.

  66. 66.

    Delk

    May 17, 2023 at 7:58 pm

    @Dan B: I didn’t see you yesterday to wish you a Happy National Honor our LGBT Elders day! My life was a lot easier thanks to you and the others that came before me. xoxo

  67. 67.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    May 17, 2023 at 7:59 pm

    @Dan B: Of course he knew. Somewhere during his misbegotten tenure, Trump must have gone through the proper declassification process with something. He doesn’t have to know exactly what the process is to know the process exists.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    May 17, 2023 at 7:59 pm

    @Delk:

    Aka Ok LGBT Boomer Day.

  69. 69.

    realbtl

    May 17, 2023 at 8:01 pm

    @WaterGirl: Just use the generic, stupid assholes.

  70. 70.

    Steeplejack

    May 17, 2023 at 8:03 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Boebert and Marge seem to assume that just because Biden et al are catching more terrorists does NOT mean that more terrorists are coming over the border.

    Did you say the opposite of what you meant? I think Boebert and Marge assume that more catches automatically means more terrorists are coming in, not that more catches under Biden mean a higher percentage are being caught.

  71. 71.

    Jay

    May 17, 2023 at 8:04 pm

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation:

    It’s not a mess, if you can read and process information. It was arranged to cater to a Grade 8 reading and comprehension level, but apparently that’s at least 4 grades above what the Rethugs can muster.

  72. 72.

    Kay

    May 17, 2023 at 8:06 pm

    50,000th elite media article about cancel culture:

    Emma Green
    @emmaogreen

    A while ago, someone mentioned to me, offhandedly, that a friend of theirs had become akin to “the mother hen of the cancelled.” Naturally, I was like, “I need to know everything about this.” That’s how I met the Thought Criminals. (1/x)

     

    This boring, repetitive low quality work is what we get instead of informative articles about abortion or the debt ceiling.
    The cancel culture beat is an employment category created to subsidize lazy pundits.

  73. 73.

    tcblue

    May 17, 2023 at 8:08 pm

    @WaterGirl: they are just repeating the talking points that have been handed around the right-wing o sphere. every talk radio and fox, oan, et al talking head are hammering these

  74. 74.

    HinTN

    May 17, 2023 at 8:10 pm

    @Dan B: Even though “knew” is doing a heavy lift there, I say Fuckin’ A!!!

  75. 75.

    Baud

    May 17, 2023 at 8:10 pm

    @Kay:

    “Naturally”

  76. 76.

    Delk

    May 17, 2023 at 8:15 pm

    @Kay: the comments are great.

  77. 77.

    Kay

    May 17, 2023 at 8:16 pm

    Why are our elites such insufferable dumbasses? Is it because most of them are only elites because of nepotism? Is that where we created this poor quality group?

    The second rule of the gatherings is that Pamela has to like you. Pamela is Pamela Paresky, the gathering’s organizer, a fifty-six-year-old psychologist who lives in Chelsea. She has spent her life among the intelligentsia; she attended Andover and Barnard before going to the University of Chicago for her Ph.D., and spent years living near the tony ski town of Aspen, Colorado. In early 2019, while Paresky was visiting New York, a friend forwarded her a dinner invitation from the journalist Bari Weiss. “Dear Thought Criminals,” Weiss’s note began. Paresky found the greeting funny and decided to copy it when, during the first fall of the pandemic, she invited a few people to a dinner of her own. She began holding her gatherings on a monthly basis and eventually moved to the city. Now anywhere from a dozen to sixty people might show up at each event. (Some of the attendees I

    They sit around and talk about how people don’t like them because of how they are brilliant and contrary thinkers. They have a club where they are sure not to encounter anyone who recognizes that they are, in fact, coddled pampered dumbasses.

    We really need to open up immigration again. If we allow this calcified lump of whiners to constitute our “public intellectuals” quality will just continue to sink. Shake things up! Make these clowns compete!

  78. 78.

    JaySinWA

    May 17, 2023 at 8:16 pm

    @WaterGirl: I seem to remember similar statements about the rise in drug traffic interdictions meaning there were more drugs getting through. Same song, different verse.

  79. 79.

    Baud

    May 17, 2023 at 8:19 pm

    @Kay:

    They sit around and talk about how people don’t like them because of how they are brilliant and contrary thinkers

     
    Ridiculous. Everyone knows that’s why people don’t like us!

    Except no one would describe BJ as “tony.”

  80. 80.

    WaterGirl

    May 17, 2023 at 8:19 pm

    @Steeplejack: Yes, that’s what I was trying to say.  I re-worked that sentence partway through and failed to match things up properly.

  81. 81.

    Elizabelle

    May 17, 2023 at 8:19 pm

    @Kay:  Emma Green.  Now at The New Yorker (home to Mrs. Peter Baker — did you know Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal was a debacle!?!) and formerly of The Atlantic.  Gag.

    Beat is “Writing on cultural conflicts in academia, keeping an eye on religion and politics.”

    Uh huh.

  82. 82.

    Sure Lurkalot

    May 17, 2023 at 8:19 pm

    The republicans also whine when fentanyl is seized. They seem to not like any government agency doing its job…the IRS, the ATF, Post Office…I’m throwing in the towel because the list is likely endless.

  83. 83.

    Dr. Jakyll and Miss Deride

    May 17, 2023 at 8:19 pm

    @Scout211: Maybe.  But if I look at an old thread after a new one has gone up and I see that the last comment on the old thread was posted an hour ago, I assume that thread is dead.  (This is a chronic problem for those of us out west, who are always three hours behind blog time, unless we spend every minute of the day online.)

    Anyway, I had a point which would have been on topic on one of the last two threads, so I’ll post it now.  Someone observed that “shall” in statutes is unambiguous.  It ought to be, but it isn’t always.  In California, if the legislature passes a law saying someone “shall” do something, but forgets to prescribe any consequences for not doing it, the courts are likely to say that “shall” in that statute is not mandatory but only “directory”–i.e., the legislature would really like you to do it, but they’re not giving anyone a cause of action to sue you for not doing it.

  84. 84.

    Steeplejack

    May 17, 2023 at 8:20 pm

    @Kay:

    Wild how these asinine “cancel culture” features include admissions that the author found a hint of a far more interesting story and just . . . ignored it.
    https://t.co/ochXt3y3Tr pic.twitter.com/RKigJ8Z3Fv

    — Michael Hobbes (@RottenInDenmark) May 17, 2023

    I.e. (from the article): “They [the Thought Criminals] took a river cruise on the East River, sponsored by a sympathetic, unnamed nonprofit organization.”

    “A happy hour for ‘canceled’ conservatives is being bankrolled by a wealthy donor and no one wants to tell me who it is. Oh well! Anyway this one guy says he can’t get jobs because he’s white and I’m just gonna print that without comment.”

  85. 85.

    Kay

    May 17, 2023 at 8:20 pm

    @Baud:

    It is BY FAR their favorite topic. By a MILE. They cannot cover it ENOUGH.

    I love how she coyly mentions that some of the professors who were cancelled “broke university rules”

    Hmmm. I wonder which rules. The ones about dating students, perhaps? You’re supposed to infer that the “rules” they broke were the Woke Speech Code when actually they’re just pigs who target 18 year old students for sex.

  86. 86.

    Maxim

    May 17, 2023 at 8:21 pm

    @Jay: Only when modifying maps.

  87. 87.

    Elizabelle

    May 17, 2023 at 8:21 pm

    @Kay:  Oh Lord.  I subscribe to the New Yorker, that article’s title did not appeal, but … jebus.

  88. 88.

    WaterGirl

    May 17, 2023 at 8:22 pm

    @JaySinWA: Yes!  I remember that, too!

    Biden is catching more people at the border!  Biden is confiscating more drugs?

    My recent favorite was when the Biden Administration confiscated more fentanyl that Trump ever did!

    Extra points because they are always harping on how the fentanyl crisis is all Biden’s fault.

    Just mind-bogglingly stupid

    edit: posted before seeing Sure Lurkalot’s comment at #81

  89. 89.

    Elizabelle

    May 17, 2023 at 8:23 pm

    @Dr. Jakyll and Miss Deride:   Glad to have you here.  You make some good points, for us non-lawyer types.

  90. 90.

    Baud

    May 17, 2023 at 8:23 pm

    @Kay:

    They believe being held accountable for wrongdoing makes conservativism edgy and antiestablishment.

  91. 91.

    Old School

    May 17, 2023 at 8:24 pm

    Here is Boebert’s tweet about border crossings that confuses how time works.

    https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1658187015509139463

  92. 92.

    Kay

    May 17, 2023 at 8:24 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    It’s Harlan Crow I bet. Weiss’s fake university is on one of Crow’s commercial properties. Now THAT would be an interesting story – see if she’s paying market rent. I bet the anti cancel culture industry employees have a wealthy patron.

  93. 93.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 17, 2023 at 8:25 pm

    @Baud: Except no one would describe BJ as “tony.”

    Well, compared to what other sites?

  94. 94.

    Elizabelle

    May 17, 2023 at 8:25 pm

    @Delk:   Yep.

    Against all odds, these persecuted souls once again find themselves before a willing stenographer with a large platform

  95. 95.

    Baud

    May 17, 2023 at 8:26 pm

    @Kay:

    HE’S JUST A FAMILY FRIEND!

  96. 96.

    Mike in NC

    May 17, 2023 at 8:26 pm

    We started to watch “Grand Knighthawk: Infiltrating the KKK” on Hulu. Set mostly in northern Florida (including someplace called Lake Butler), the vast majority of the local white cops are KKK. ‘DeSantis Country’ for future GOP ads. Don’t leave home without your MAGA hat.

  97. 97.

    WaterGirl

    May 17, 2023 at 8:28 pm

    @Dr. Jakyll and Miss Deride: You can also check in on Recent Comments in the sidebar where you might catch it if an older thread catches fire again.

  98. 98.

    Jackie

    May 17, 2023 at 8:29 pm

    I watched this segment on Ari (MSNBC) earlier and the Hannity clip is even better watching than just reading it. Ronna is losing support following each election lol

    “Following Florida Republicans’ surprise defeat in Jacksonville, losing the mayoral election despite the DeSantis-supported candidate raising four times the money of winning Democrat Donna Deegan, political analyst Juanita Tolliver told MSNBC’s Ari Melber that even Fox News’ Sean Hannity, a firm cheerleader for the GOP, is demanding Republicans answer for their loss.”

    “The Democrats are killing the Republicans with mail-in voting, early voting, and ballot harvesting. They’re killing us,” said Hannity. “Why are they so far behind?”

    “There’s two numbers that you have to point out,” said McDaniel. “Democrats spent $600 million more in soft money in 2022, and the Senate candidates—”

    “Ronna, then go raise the money. because otherwise we won’t compete,” said Hannity.

    “We’re investing in all these states, minority outreach—” she replied.“

    Much more at the link – including the “much watch” video. Watch poor Ronna squirm!

    https://www.rawstory.com/sean-hannity-2660285419/

  99. 99.

    Baud

    May 17, 2023 at 8:29 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    Don’t leave home without your MAGA hat.

     
    Reposted from last thread.
    https://v.redd.it/oayrk183sg0b1

  100. 100.

    Kay

    May 17, 2023 at 8:31 pm

     

    What other “rules” could they have broken? They’re university professors. They don’t have access to anything that would get them in trouble for theft or book-cooking or any of the usual white collar rule breaking. Parking permit scofflaws? Other than I suppose plagiarism they’re not in a position to break any rules, other than inappropriate behavior with students.

    How dare we not allow these old men to creepily stalk 18 year old students. Is this COMMUNIST CHINA?

  101. 101.

    Elizabelle

    May 17, 2023 at 8:32 pm

    @Baud:  I was looking for that clip!  Larry David.  It was hilarious.

  102. 102.

    Baud

    May 17, 2023 at 8:32 pm

    @Kay:

    The Framers wept.

  103. 103.

    Eolirin

    May 17, 2023 at 8:32 pm

    @Jackie: Maybe, just maybe, talking about how early and mail-in voting is fraud and evil over and over again is dissuading Trump’s followers and Fox’s audience from doing it.

  104. 104.

    JaySinWA

    May 17, 2023 at 8:33 pm

    @Baud: We do have a few Tony comments from time to time. That Brit guy for one.

  105. 105.

    Michael Bersin

    May 17, 2023 at 8:35 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Bugs Bunny used “Ignoranimus” in the same sentence.

  106. 106.

    Steeplejack

    May 17, 2023 at 8:35 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Appropriate pic:

    Inside a monthly New York City hangout, where fired university professors and controversial TikTokers get together to have discussions they feel they can’t have anywhere else.
    pic.twitter.com/Rje8JIhmxk

    — Schooley (@Rschooley) May 17, 2023

  107. 107.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 17, 2023 at 8:36 pm

    @JaySinWA: I don’t think he is particularly posh though.

  108. 108.

    Dr. Jakyll and Miss Deride

    May 17, 2023 at 8:43 pm

    @WaterGirl: Good tip — thanks!

  109. 109.

    Mallard Filmore

    May 17, 2023 at 8:43 pm

    @Mike in NC: I’ve always wanted to grow a tail.

  110. 110.

    Eolirin

    May 17, 2023 at 8:45 pm

    @Kay: You know, I suspect one of the real issues here is that thanks to Twitter, they’re keenly aware of how much other people disdain them and are laughing at their ridiculousness. They’re all used to assuming respect and intelligence and they’re increasingly subject to scrutiny that’s exposing them as frauds.

    I’m sure it’s very distressing to them. (I’m sorry if this doesn’t come across the way I intend it, the tone really needs to be there.)

  111. 111.

    Manyakitty

    May 17, 2023 at 8:45 pm

    @Elizabelle: I’m watching the Mary Tyler Moore Show right now 😄.

  112. 112.

    WaterGirl

    May 17, 2023 at 8:46 pm

    People were asking about the new Fox schedule earlier.  Perhaps this will help clear things up?

    There's a big shakeup in Fox News primetime, so here is an update on their new lineup of hosts:

    8:00 PM — Racist Piece of Shit.
    9:00 PM — Racist Piece of Shit.
    10:00 PM – Racist Piece of Shit.

    — Frank Conniff (@FrankConniff) May 18, 2023

  113. 113.

    karensky

    May 17, 2023 at 8:47 pm

    @Scout211: Thanks for this!

  114. 114.

    Jackie

    May 17, 2023 at 8:47 pm

    Senate Democrats ask Biden to ready 14th Amendment:

    “Top aides to President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) continued negotiating directly over the debt ceiling and the federal budget Wednesday, but Democrats in both chambers of Congress started pushing for unilateral options that could head off a catastrophic default without the need for talks with Republicans, a sign of growing anxiety among liberal lawmakers over the contours of a possible deal,” the Washington Post reports.

    “Some Senate Democrats were circulating a letter urging Biden to prepare to invoke the 14th Amendment to resolve the debt ceiling standoff without involving Congress.”

  115. 115.

    Elizabelle

    May 17, 2023 at 8:48 pm

    @Manyakitty:  What fun.  A lot of beloved faces.

  116. 116.

    NotMax

    May 17, 2023 at 8:49 pm

    @Jay

    So sayeth Ignatz da mouse.
    :)

  117. 117.

    Jackie

    May 17, 2023 at 8:50 pm

    @WaterGirl: Oh, that does! Thanks for the clarification!😂

  118. 118.

    Dan B

    May 17, 2023 at 8:51 pm

    @Delk:  Thanks.  I’m glad my misadventures in the early 70’s made a difference

    We’ve got a steep resistance now that will take a multi-pronged resistance.  A survey out today shows that a majority of people don’t understand LGBTQ issues and think they are talked about too much.  Sigh.

  119. 119.

    Baud

    May 17, 2023 at 8:56 pm

    Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill banning TikTok in Montana, making it the first state to fully ban the app in the U.S.

  120. 120.

    Manyakitty

    May 17, 2023 at 9:00 pm

    @Elizabelle: I needed some comfort food TV tonight. It’s on Amazon, so I can pick it up again when I go to bed.

    It holds up.

  121. 121.

    Dan B

    May 17, 2023 at 9:05 pm

    @Baud:  Ha!  Gianforte hasn’t heard of VPN’s.  Banning Tik Tok in one state.  Interesting…

  122. 122.

    Elizabelle

    May 17, 2023 at 9:07 pm

    @Manyakitty:  I watch Perry Mason to relax.  The old series.  It … reminds me how much times have changed.  And I see a lot of living rooms and decor and fashions that are so familiar from childhood.

  123. 123.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 17, 2023 at 9:10 pm

    @Craig:

    Is he dissing the Last Administration, TFG’s administration? What’s the internet tradition?, The Stupid It Burns. 

    He’s giving Gateway Assclown aka The Stupidest Man On The Internet a run for his money.

  124. 124.

    NotMax

    May 17, 2023 at 9:11 pm

    @Manyakitty

    So many classic bits.

    Sue Ann Niven’s bedroom.   :)

  125. 125.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    May 17, 2023 at 9:16 pm

    @Baud: And the teens of Montana rise up and storm the governor’s office.

  126. 126.

    Steeplejack

    May 17, 2023 at 9:20 pm

    @Baud:

    Good luck with that.

  127. 127.

    NotMax

    May 17, 2023 at 9:20 pm

    Lombrum will have to wait a little longer.

    Since 2018, the U.S. and Australia have quietly been helping the government of Papua New Guinea restore a naval facility there known as Lombrum, which sits on a strategic waterway linking Australia to East Asia. American forces used the base to attack the Imperial Japanese Navy in the latter stages of World War II.

    Lombrum will now tie into a set of formal security agreements that the Biden administration has been negotiating with Papua New Guinea, and which U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to sign next week in Port Moresby alongside his counterpart Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape.

    The country’s outgoing foreign minister, Justin Tkachenko, told Reuters last week that, under the new pacts, the U.S. Coast Guard will help Papua New Guinea patrol its expansive surrounding waters — which are heavily fished by Chinese vessels — using American boats and satellite imagery.
    [snip]
    Dusting off an obscure old naval base and promising to prowl for illegal fishing boats may not exactly seem like front page developments. But the Biden administration’s moves in Papua New Guinea are squarely aimed at checking China’s recent advances in a strategically critical region of the Pacific, where both countries are now trying to eke out an advantage by winning hearts and minds one island nation at a time. Source

  128. 128.

    NotMax

    May 17, 2023 at 9:24 pm

    Ack! #126, wrong thread.

  129. 129.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 17, 2023 at 9:26 pm

    @Baud:

    @Dan B:

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    @Steeplejack: MT-headed gov must have no kids.

  130. 130.

    Sally

    May 17, 2023 at 9:29 pm

    @Sure Lurkalot: Were there awaiting delivery ….

  131. 131.

    TriassicSands

    May 17, 2023 at 9:40 pm

    @WaterGirl: Because he’s stupid as a brick.

    I hold in my hand one standard red brick. After intensive questioning, during which the brick was not at all forthcoming, I determined that the brick had also not made any unbelievably stupid statements.

    My conclusion? McCarthy should emulate the brick and just not say anything, because, when he opens his mouth, he sounds a whole dumber than any brick.

  132. 132.

    Kay

    May 17, 2023 at 9:45 pm

    @Eolirin:

    Twitter really is egalitarian. I liked that about it. I like how ordinary people can be “No MAGGIE HABERMAN, you are WRONG” :)

    Some of the “cancelled” are cancelled because they have lost friendships, allegedly due to the wokedy-woke.

    People lose friends for a lot of reasons. I’m not sure they should attribute it to their brilliant (yet contrary!) opinions. Maybe they’re just jerks and that was revealed to their friends over the last couple of (bizarre and stressful) years. Maybe they didn’t hold up well under that pressure and their friends thought “you know, he’s a real jerk. I didn’t see it before but I do now”.

  133. 133.

    knittingbull

    May 17, 2023 at 9:48 pm

    @WaterGirl: Try the British slang  “numpty” or “utter pillock”

  134. 134.

    TriassicSands

    May 17, 2023 at 9:48 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    That helps, but I was hoping for further details.

    For example:

    Blonde Racist Piece of Shit with lots of Botox.

    Goofy, Mindless, Racist Piece of Shit Who Couldn’t Find the US On a Map of North America.

    Drunk, Brunette Mindless, Incoherent, Racist Piece of Shit.

  135. 135.

    Mike in NC

    May 17, 2023 at 9:53 pm

    @NotMax:  My dad spent a couple of years in the jungles of New Guinea in 1943-44. Never recommended it for a family vacation.

  136. 136.

    TriassicSands

    May 17, 2023 at 9:55 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: And the teens of Montana rise up and storm the governor’s office.

    After which, Governor Gianforte individually body slams every complaining teenager in Montana. After all, true democracy demands absolute obedience!

  137. 137.

    Layer8Problem

    May 17, 2023 at 10:55 pm

    @knittingbull:  berk, bell-end, prat, . . .

  138. 138.

    Manyakitty

    May 17, 2023 at 11:07 pm

    @Elizabelle: yep. I’m also a big fan of the Bob Newhart Show. Just so cozy.

  139. 139.

    Manyakitty

    May 17, 2023 at 11:08 pm

    @NotMax: love it! Betty White RULED.

  140. 140.

    Elizabelle

    May 17, 2023 at 11:19 pm

    @NotMax:  “Yes.  A beast.”

    Had not seen that one.  Hilarious.

  141. 141.

    Daoud bin Daoud

    May 18, 2023 at 10:41 am

    @Ruckus: so, they’re not even pet rocks, more like chia pets?

  142. 142.

    WaterGirl

    May 19, 2023 at 10:09 am

    @TriassicSands:  Even better

    All these racist pieces of shit are not interchangeable!

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Image by GB in the HC (5/23)

Recent Comments

  • Gretchen on Why Raw Story (and other outlets) Make Me Crazy (May 23, 2025 @ 2:40pm)
  • Glory b on Why Raw Story (and other outlets) Make Me Crazy (May 23, 2025 @ 2:40pm)
  • Another Scott on Why Raw Story (and other outlets) Make Me Crazy (May 23, 2025 @ 2:38pm)
  • Baud on Why Raw Story (and other outlets) Make Me Crazy (May 23, 2025 @ 2:38pm)
  • ExPatExDem on Why Raw Story (and other outlets) Make Me Crazy (May 23, 2025 @ 2:37pm)

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
War in Ukraine
Donate to Razom for Ukraine

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Meetups

Upcoming Ohio Meetup May 17
5/11 Post about the May 17 Ohio Meetup

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Hands Off! – Denver, San Diego & Austin

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!