Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Come on, man.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

No one could have predicted…

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

In after Baud. Damn.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Ranting Open Thread: How Ridiculous Are the Media Elites?

Ranting Open Thread: How Ridiculous Are the Media Elites?

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They are this stupid and ridiculous.

Oh my god, Jack Smith was spotted at Subway!

I bet they have someone camped out at Subway since it was big news that he got a sandwich at Subway at least once before!  This is what I recall about the coverage last time.

Did you see the way Jack Smith carried his sandwich?  I think he was sending a message!  Did you notice ?  The way he was swinging his arm that held the sandwich?  He carried that sandwich so powerfully.  So deliberately and forcefully! I think he was sending a message.  Just a regular guy, like you and me.  But so strong and determined!

The stupid, it burns.  If I were an actor, I would rather play a bunny in a commercial, eating a carrot.  That would be less humiliating than a media person on TV introducing the BIG STORY of Jack Smith walking out of a sandwich shop – complete with video! – with the words “Jack Smith can’t resist a foot-long at Subway.”

How can so many people take them seriously?

Open thread.

Updated to say that I composed this complaint about the media before I saw Betty’s takedown of Jake Tapper.  It must be rage against the awful media day.

 

Reader Interactions

123Comments

  2. 2.

    japa21

    It must be rage against the awful media day.

    It’s a day that ends in y, so of course it is.

  3. 3.

    Burnspbesq

    It must be rage against the awful media day

    isn’t every day “rage against the awful media day?”

  5. 5.

    Old School

    Jack Smith is lying.  No one enjoys a Subway sandwich.  It’s just sometimes a convenient option.

  6. 6.

    hells littlest angel

    “Jack Smith can’t resist a foot-long at Subway.”

     

    I’m afraid he’s gonna have to. They haven’t sold them for years.

  9. 9.

    Lapassionara

    @Baud: Good question. I hope he got one with all the various Italian meats/sausages plus the pepperoncinis or whatever the hot peppers are called. That’s the lunch of champions!

  10. 10.

    Butch

    CNN especially, but more and more for cable in general I feel like I’d be better informed listening to a couple of squirrels chatter at each other.

  12. 12.

    tobie

    Depressing as hell…Mark Sumner, a very perceptive writer at DailyKos, thinks Cannon tipped her hand that she will grant Trump’s request for a delay. Specifically he points to her comment that the prosecution had yet to discuss matters with the defense.

    When prosecutors asked Cannon to issue a protective order over classified discovery, she denied it on grounds that there had been a “lack of meaningful conferral” with Trump’s defense team. But the reason the two legal teams didn’t meet over this matter was that Trump’s team dodged the meeting. They told government attorneys they were unable to meet at the proposed time, then failed to return phone calls to discuss a possible date.

    I hate this woman. She’s a Federalist Society tool and that’s the only reason she’s on the bench.

  19. 19.

    Old Man Shadow

    If you elect me as your president, all 24-hour news channels will be shut down and replaced with channels showing “Star Trek”, “I Love Lucy”, and “Twilight Zone” round the clock.

  21. 21.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Old Man Shadow:

    If you elect me as your president, all 24-hour news channels will be shut down and replaced with channels showing “Star Trek”, “I Love Lucy”, and “Twilight Zone” round the clock.

    Ah, but which series of Star Trek?

  24. 24.

    Shalimar

    @Manyakitty: Pretty much every sandwich chain is better than Subway.  They’re cheap, and everywhere.  Those are the only reasons anyone eats there.

  25. 25.

    jonas

    This is up there with “OMGZZZ! Biden briefly touched King Charles’s shoulder!!! Do all Alzheimer’s patients do that with the king? Or just ones hoping to start World War III?1!?”

  27. 27.

    Cameron

    Jack Smith chows down on Subway substance?  Fuck me on toast – who cares?  I don’t give a shit if he feasts on corpses fresh from the morgue.

  31. 31.

    Brachiator

    Did you see the way Jack Smith carried his sandwich?  I think he was sending a message!  Did you notice ?  The way he was swinging his arm that held the sandwich?  He carried that sandwich so powerfully.  So deliberately and forcefully! I think he was sending a message.  Just a regular guy, like you and me.  But so strong and determined!

    Okay. Was it a 6 inch sandwich or a foot long?

  32. 32.

    Chris

    How Ridiculous Are The Media Elites?

    The best film I’ve seen to date that’s totally accidentally about the high-level media punditariat (and by extension, much of Official Washington) is literally called Ridicule, about the Court of Versailles.  Whose thesis statement is that the entire thing ran on a nasty version of middle school rules, dominated by gossip and attention-getting, with no small amount of bumping up your own social value by tripping up the guy next to you and then pointing and laughing.

    (Which was in fact the whole point of the Court of Versailles: taking what used to be all the nation’s most powerful dynasties of warlords and turning them all into useless gossiping socialites working their way towards the king.  There was method to that madness.  Versailles-on-the-Potomac has no such excuse).

  36. 36.

    Spanky

    I saw Jack Smith drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic’s.

    And his hair was perfect.

  38. 38.

    Cameron

    @WaterGirl: TBH, I’m not sure.  I don’t recall hearing it from anybody else, but since I don’t remember the majority of my adult life I could well have picked it up somewhere.

  39. 39.

    WaterGirl

    There is a place in Michigan called Mancino’s – the sandwiches are toasted and they have the best thin-sliced ham in the world.

  43. 43.

    Burnspbesq

    @tobie:

    Mark Sumner, a very perceptive writer at DailyKos, thinks Cannon tipped her hand that she will grant Trump’s request for a delay. Specifically he points to her comment that the prosecution had yet to discuss matters with the defense

    IMO, that’s way off base. The reason that hasn’t happened is that the defendants’ lawyers inexcusably delayed submitting their SF-86s, thereby delaying getting their clearances. They’re fucking with her, and Rule One in federal litigation is “you fuck with a United States District Judge at your peril.”

  47. 47.

    hells littlest angel

    @Baud: Due to reduced testosterone levels in American men, Subway now sells the Fantastic Four-Incher. (Marvel Comics declined a tie-in deal.)

  53. 53.

    Ken

    Ridiculous. Alert me when there’s real news, about Biden’s sandwich order.

    (Come to think of it, is this “Jack Smith eats Subway” story more or less ridiculous than the “Joe and Jill order the same dish at an Italian restaurant” story?)

  54. 54.

    Ryan

    Dear God, are there no Jimmy Johns, no Jersey Mike’s?  And by the way, you carry Subway horizontal, not vertical, otherwise, all your toppings end up on one side of the sammich.

  56. 56.

    bbleh

    They do call this the “silly season” for a reason.

    I remember when people made fun of weather reporters as somehow less than serious.  Now in comparison the weather reporters are smart, competent and informative.

  57. 57.

    laura

    Can someone check in with valued commenter Villago Delenda Est- this is back to back media criticism (well earned) and it’s concerning that the subject matter expert is gone missing.

    Me, personally, I could not care about Jack Smith buying a subway sammich unless he then shoved half of it down the front of his pants and started acting like a common Mark Halperin.

  58. 58.

    Ken

    @bbleh: They do call this the “silly season” for a reason.

    Yes, but those of us of a certain age can remember when it meant five weeks in July and August, not three decades and counting.

  59. 59.

    John S.

    @catclub:

    When I lived in Florida, I never went to Subway. There were too many other better options between independent sub shops or even Publix.

    But here in the outer limits of western Washington, it’s really my only option.

  65. 65.

    Betty Cracker

    Vegetarian options at fast food places are scarce, and most Subways have a veggie patty that’s actually not too bad if you get it on the asiago cheese bread with more cheese, lots of toppings, fancy mayo, oil & vinegar, salt & pepper, etc. My point is, maybe Jack Smith is a vegetarian?

  66. 66.

    Tony G

    @Old School: I pity Mr. Smith for eating lunch at Subway.  It’s just awful (as is “Jersey Mike’s”).  I’m old enough to remember good subway sandwiches at local Italian delis, but those places are almost extinct now.   I’d like to see Mr. Smith indict the CEO of Subways for the felony of impersonating a decent sandwich!

     

    @Old School:

  67. 67.

    NotMax

    @Tony G

    Out of curiosity, ambled into Jersey Mike’s here – once.

    Nearly threw my back out bending over to pick up my jaw from the floor upon seeing the prices.

  70. 70.

    Brachiator

    @Chris:

    The best film I’ve seen to date that’s totally accidentally about the high-level media punditariat (and by extension, much of Official Washington) is literally called Ridicule, about the Court of Versailles.

    Oh yes, an excellent film. One had to be able to tell the sauciest joke, or the most witty and biting pun or turn of phrase to get access to those higher in the aristocratic social ladder.

    Meanwhile, ordinary people could die in the streets and be ignored.

  72. 72.

    rikyrah

    @Old School:

    No one enjoys a Subway sandwich.  It’s just sometimes a convenient option.

     

    I love their breakfast options. If they sold a breakfast potato, it would be damn near perfection for me.

  73. 73.

    Mai Naem mobileI

    @Betty Cracker: I don’t do Subway but they’re one of the few “healthy” veg friendly  places that open relatively early in the AM. Most sandwich places don’t open till around 10.

  74. 74.

    Brachiator

    @rikyrah:

    I love their breakfast options. If they sold a breakfast potato, it would be damn near perfection for me.

    Yep. When I commuted, I would often stop by a Subway for breakfast. Very tasty and reasonably priced.

    A breakfast potato would have been a delight.

  75. 75.

    coin operated

    If you’re ever in the Vegas area, I recommend Capprioti’s.  Their claim to fame is The Bobbie, which is essentially an entire Thanksgiving dinner on a sandwitch roll.

  76. 76.

    Jeffro

    Worthy of its own thread, maybe: the U.S. economy’s “vibe cession” is over and Americans are starting to feel it.

    1. I didn’t create the term “vibe-cession” and I think it’s sorta dumb, but kinda fits?
    2. Note that this is labeled as an ‘opinion’ piece, even though it contains more factual economic reporting than I’ve seen in months if not years (about two Biden years, I’d say…interesting, that)

    Nevertheless…Republicans everywhere are going to be scrambling for bad news, ANY bad news for the next couple of years.  No wonder Uncle Joe is busy talking about the benefits of “Bidennomics”!

    The U.S. economy is starting to look almost normal. The supply chain chaos is largely over. Most items are back in stock, and car lots are full again. Growth is solid. Recession risks are fading. It’s still easy to get a job, but companies are growing pickier about whom they hire. Inflation is cooling off. Consumers are selectively splurging (especially on Taylor Swift concerts), but being a bit more cautious overall.  Gas prices are down to about $3.50 a gallon — above pre-pandemic levels, but similar to the Obama years. Even the housing market is beginning to stabilize after a frenzied buying spree in 2020 and 2021, followed by an abrupt freeze in 2022 as mortgage rates surged.

    This doesn’t mean everything is perfect. It rarely is. But many parts of the economy have supply and demand more in balance now than a year or two ago. This is a welcome shift, and it should make it easier to bring inflation down further and avoid a recession.

    Both the stock market and gas prices, which play a big role in the economic “vibe,” have improved a lot in the past year, with the popular S&P 500 index up over 17% this year.  Politics also influences people’s views. Republicans rate the economy poorly right now, while Democrats give it high marks. (The reverse was true under President Donald Trump.) But the other factor that has lately become a key gauge is wages adjusted for inflation. In other words, whether a worker’s is pay growing faster or slower than prices are.

    Here’s where the story gets interesting. In May and June, the average worker’s pay in the United States finally grew faster than inflation for the first time since early 2021. To put it another way, from April 2021 to April 2023, inflation far surpassed wage increases.

  77. 77.

    Ken

    @NotMax: Also ricin, strychnine, oleandrin, coniine, ….  I think it was Michael Pollan who said “think of plants as small chemical warfare factories.”

  78. 78.

    Ruckus

    The media is big business. It is not the big business of informing the public. It is the big business of building big media empires and big bank accounts. End of story.

    First there was 1/2 hr of news. Then 1 hr. Then 2 hrs. Then 24 hrs of news reporting – the same 1/2 hour of news that was all there was when it started. How are newspapers doing, now that there is 24 hr TV news on how many channels? How many local newspapers still exist? It is no longer about the news it is about keeping an audience so that the owners can make a lot of MONEY.

  79. 79.

    Ruckus

    @Jeffro:

    Gas is not $3.50/gal here in the county that has a larger population than 40 states, or where there is rapid transit, trains that cross the county and buses in every direction but that the car is king. It’s not impossible to live without a car but it can be difficult.

    Cheapest gas here in the eastern San Gabriel Valley is $4.59 up to $5.19, within walking distance of me.

  80. 80.

    Citizen Alan

    @John S.: I have found that Subway sandwiches can be made decent if you make them toast the bread twice, once before anything is added and again after to melt the cheese and heat the other ingredients. The result tastes like reasonably acceptable toasted bread instead of (as Jim Gaffigan put it) “bread that tastes like it was cooked in a dirty dishwasher.”

  81. 81.

    NotMax

    @Ruckus

    Not to be a stickler but when it comes to TV daily network newscasts, first there was 15 minutes.

    Cronkite took point in fighting to expand that to 30. Which happened in September of 1963.

  82. 82.

    Kathleen

    @japa21: It’s impossible to rant too much about the Beltway Political Propaganda Complex. Especially since they’re so vested in restoring fascist rule. I take that personally.

  84. 84.

    Citizen Alan

    @Chris:  I have been referring to the MSM as “the modern court of Versailles” for years. Ever since their coverage of the 2008 Crash and Obama’s subsequent attempts at a recovery revealed them to be a bunch of bored courtiers who viewed the Stock Market as a popular and amusing parlor game in which wealthy dilletantes won and lost fortunes on every throw of the dice and a good time was had by all.

  85. 85.

    Ruckus

    @NotMax:

    To be fair, I wasn’t watching a lot of news in 1963. Some for sure but not a lot. I was more worried about being the shortest kid in school. 1963 was the year I started growing again after mostly not doing so at all for 7+ years.

  91. 91.

    Ruckus

    @NotMax:

    Went into a Jersey Mike’s once myself. The prices weren’t that much different here in SoCal from Subway, nor was the product. But it was slightly more. I think the rent/property values were the key to pricing here, this was in Old Town Pasadena.

  94. 94.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Omnes Omnibus: Then I’m glad I got to London while it was still open & I could walk in & note a decidedly lycanthropic chap chowing down on, not chicken chow mein, but a bento box of indeterminate protein. Aaaaoooooow!

  97. 97.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @NotMax: Never heard of Jersey Mike’s and was astonished to learn there are several in N CA.  I have no fear for the 2 Subways in Ukiah, however.  It was BIG NEWS when an In ‘n’ Out Burger opened in town several years ago.

  98. 98.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @NotMax: ​You’d probably say the same about the Subway’s in downtown Reykjavik that I wandered into a couple of days after 9/11 while waiting for US airspace to reopen so I could fly home. (Prices roughly double those in the continental US.) And probably for the same damn reason – nearly all the sandwich components had to be imported. (Unless you wanted Spam with pineapple slices, one supposes.)

  101. 101.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    That’s what I thought you meant.

    So you are 15 yrs younger than me. As I sit here now, retired, after working (at least part time way back then, but a job with a paycheck) 60 yrs I say, welcome to geezerhood next year. I say 60 is geezerhood because it’s still some yrs till you can start collecting SS and become an old fart. But you are thinking of it.

  109. 109.

    different-church-lady

    @Jeffro: ​
     

    In May and June, the average worker’s pay in the United States finally grew faster than inflation for the first time since early 2021. To put it another way, from April 2021 to April 2023, inflation far surpassed wage increases.

    It’s almost as those these two things are… I dunno… linked or something.

  110. 110.

    barbequebob

    @Tony G: Yes, In NYC where I grew up, we got “Hero” sandwiches at the local deli, lots of meat and cheese on fresh Italian bread, solid chewy outer crust and soft inside. Some even had Semolina Bread which, once you have had it, nothing else comes close too, well maybe a real Onion Roll comes close. And you don’t turn it into a sogwhich by dumping gallons of oil and vinegar on it.

  111. 111.

    Tony G

    @barbequebob: Yup.  In New Jersey they called them subs, and in Philadelphia (where I lived for a while in the seventies) they were hoagies.  The big difference seems to be the bread.  The bread they use in Subway and in similar chains is like a flavorless sponge.  It’s cheaper, I guess.

  113. 113.

    different-church-lady

    @barbequebob: ​
      Hey now, oil and vinegar on an Italian can be heavenly, but you have to have the bread-form to stand up to it. There’s a local deli in my town that knows how to do it, even if I can’t tell you what it is.

  114. 114.

    bbleh

    @barbequebob: @Tony G: pretty sure I read somewhere that the Irish government was considering whether to allow Subway to call its rolls “bread” because the amount of sugar in them technically makes them “cake.”

    (In fairness, I had a breakfast sandwich on flatbread one day when there was no other option, and it wasn’t too terrible.)

  115. 115.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I don’t know the exact year/age I am in my mind, but it sure as hell isn’t 74.

    OTOH, DAMN, I made it this far and am in relatively good health!

    Aways look at the bright side of life, the shitty side just isn’t worth the effort.

  117. 117.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Old School: I’m actually a weirdly big fan of a spicy italian with tomato, onion, pepperoncini, lettuce, and light mustard/mayo with alt and pepper. Untoasted.

    It’s a fantastic sandwich. And also, subway took the Spicy Italian off the menu so I hate them now.

  119. 119.

    eclare

    @MisterForkbeard:

    They also got rid of a spicy brown mustard condiment, which I used to get on the ham and cheese sandwich.  I have been back once since then, only option other than yellow was honey mustard sauce.  Nope!

  121. 121.

    CaseyL

    I grew up eating New Jersey hoagies, which will forever be my benchmark of excellence for the genre.

    Jersey Mike’s comes closest to the hoagies of cherished memory.  If they used a hard-crust chewy bread (which, alas, they do not) it would be closer still.

    @barbequebob: I didn’t even know there was such as thing as semolina bread, unless it’s aka Italian Bread

    Damn.  Now I very much want a hoagie…and there’s a Jersey Mikes not far from my house.

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