Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

No one could have predicted…

Let there be snark.

No Justins, No Peace

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Donald Trump, welcome to your everything, everywhere, all at once.

FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

He really is that stupid.

I really should read my own blog.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

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

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

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Reader Interactions

240Comments

  2. 2.

    TheOtherHank

    I might have to make a rhubarb crisp this weekend, if they still have some at the grocery store.

  3. 3.

    NotMax

    Cannot in all honesty say I’ve been in the mood to work since, oh, maybe 1969.

    Have been in the mood for cake much longer.
    ;)

  6. 6.

    Steeplejack

    I went out to dinner last night at Ted’s Bulletin in Ballston and got a piece of chocolate cake to go. (Friends I ate with caused a feeding frenzy.) I’ve been going through it a forkful at a time. Very good. One friend got carrot cake—also very good.

  10. 10.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    We had a thunder and lightning storm blow through our area last night.  I brought the wee one outside to watch.  This could have gone 2 ways.   Scared or excited.  She was super excited.  I said keep your eyes above the trees for lightning.  I was hoping for at least a little bolt but after about 5 minutes it was just the sky lighting up without any bolts in sight.  Patience running thin I suggested we wait a few more minutes.  And then……and incredible horizontal bolt  stretched across the sky. It looked like a trident.  I either said “HOLY SHIT” out loud or in my head.  I don’t remember. Before it disappeared I was thinking this will send her running back inside or maybe not.  When it was gone she shouted. “THAT WAS THE MOST EPIC THING I’VE EVER SEEN!”   Success!  MY grandma use to sit in the closet with a book and flashlight during thunder storms.

  11. 11.

    Jay

    Girkin/Streklov got arrested today and is on trial in a Moscow Court for “extremism”.
    He’s really upset about this because he’s looking at Ruzzian jailtime when instead, he could have had a comfy cell in the Hague.

  12. 12.

    laura

    I’ve got a less than quart of buttermilk giving me side eye every time I open the fridge. And a bunch of lemons. They’d probably make a really tangy cake if I had the gumption to mix it up and turn on the oven. The oven part thrills me not as we’re going to be around 106° today.

  13. 13.

    narya

    Smitten Kitchen has a one-bowl chocolate cake that I make a LOT. I use two whole eggs (instead of an egg and a yolk), and I use some black cocoa from King Arthur as part of the mix. When I had frozen strawberries to use up, I cooked them down and, after it cooled, made frosting with the strawberry jam, butter, and confectioners’ sugar–I do the frosting first, because I can make the cake in the same bowl w/o washing. (Yes, I use my mixer, and I have been reverse-creaming, because no matter what I did, my batter was breaking.) I’ve also done a mix of that cooked-down strawberry puree, plus cream cheese, a little sugar, and an egg, and put that as a layer within the chocolate cake. It’s particularly nice to whip up when I have veggies I need to roast, as that can happen while the oven is heating

    ETA: I save my soured milk to use as the liquid in the recipe.

  14. 14.

    NoOneOfConsequence

    I’ll be sure to join you for cake after escaping this evil computer and its maze of puzzles that I can only solve with this “portal-generator”. I know, I know, the only thing I have saying there will be cake is an evil computer, but, *who* would *lie* about *cake*?

  16. 16.

    Rachel Bakes

    It’s “war against the farm share” season here. Zucchini muffins and chocolate zucchini cake with chocolate ganache for our new neighbors. Then I experimented with baking with beets. Two different recipes for beet cinnamon rolls were the result. Made a gorgeous fuchsia colored dough, and I’ll make one of them again.

  17. 17.

    JML

    My union had a strike authorization vote this week. 93.5% participated in the vote. 97.5% voted to authorize a strike. that should tell you a little something about how well our contract negotiations have been going!

  18. 18.

    Brachiator

    I have been reading about Tony Bennett, fabulous singer and a nice man.

    I recall seeing him in one of the segments of the Ken Burns documentary about jazz. I was really moved by Bennett’s unabashed display of love and affection for Louis Armstrong.

  20. 20.

    frosty

    Ms F was going through an intersection on the green yesterday when some guy in a truck ran the red. She stomped on the brakes but still T-boned him.

    He jumped out of the truck and in classic intimidate-the-woman fashion hollered “You ran the red light!”

    She answered “No I didn’t, you ran it, and I have the dashcam to prove it.”

    Argument over. I have a dashcam on order now.

    PS No injuries, the airbag didn’t even deploy.

  22. 22.

    Martin

    Reading more about the climate effects. North Atlantic temps continue to climb, now 1.5C above the historical mean. Previous record was 0.9C above the mean, so this is a substantial change in pattern.

    One thing that hasn’t changed with it is that arctic sea ice melting isn’t as bad as you would expect with a bunch of warm water being pumped up into Greenlands. It’s not good per-se, but it’s as catastrophically bad as you might expect. Climatologists are pointing to three causes for this larger phenomenon:

    1. El Niño, which we already knew, pushing up temps at lower latitudes heating up the Gulf and pushing that heat up along the Gulf Stream.
    2. The North Atlantic atmospheric circulation is more or less non-existent. Trade winds that would move clouds and carry heat away aren’t blowing allowing absorbed heat by the ocean to pile up, reducing evaporation which has a cooling effect, etc.
    3. That shutdown of the circulation is causing smoke from Canadian fires to pile up in higher latitudes and remain fairly dense, so there’s a lot of smoke cover over Greenland helping to limit ice melt there, and that limited ice melt isn’t helping to cool the ocean water, etc. etc.

    Why is the North Atlantic circulation stalled out? I don’t think anyone knows that. Is it coincidental? Who knows. It is going to be an ongoing problem? Who knows.

    So, these are all chaotic systems that settle toward stable states. They’re like a wine bottle that you can bump, and it’ll stand itself back up after a bit of time, until you bump it too much and then it falls over and now it’s in a new stable state that requires a bunch of work to return to its old stable state. At some point we bump these systems enough that they fall into a new state. Have we done that this year? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But every year we get closer to doing that, and this really big swing, even if it reverts is a little bit like that moment when you bump the wine bottle enough that you get a lump in your throat not sure which way it’s going to go. Maybe you get to sigh in relief that it falls back, maybe it goes over. Dangerous game we’re playing.

    What we have learned recently, but apparently hasn’t hit popular news is that there’s evidence via ice cores that several hundred thousand years ago at current warming levels, Greenland had either no ice sheet or a significantly smaller one. That doesn’t guarantee that we’ve tipped over that line, but it sure raises the likelihood that we have. I think they’re planning on doing some more cores to verify that, which will take some months to do.

  23. 23.

    Jay

    Supper plans for tonight are bbq chicken, potato salad, green salad and blackberry apple pie in a shortbread crust.

  27. 27.

    Delk

    The Jewels had Eli’s cheesecake slices 4 for $5.00 front and center when you walked inside. I did my best Dionne Warwick.

  29. 29.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @TheOtherHank: I love rhubarb crisp! Especially with vanilla ice cream

    So, I’m back from seeing Barbie. The word “patriarchy” pops up a lot and there is critique of gender expectations and power. But mostly, it was fun. Recommended.

  30. 30.

    Yarrow

    @Brachiator:
    I loved this bit of his history, which I only learned today.

    He was reported to have been discovered by the legendary African American singer Pearl Bailey, who hired him to open for her in 1949.

  31. 31.

    Butch

    I spent 4 hours this morning watching a computer tech trying to fix a problem with my e-mail before he gave up and just installed a new system.  I should have been working and now I’m way behind.  I have a very rare headache (I never get headaches); I think wine rather than cake is in my future.

  33. 33.

    Emerald

    I missed the language app thread for learning languages.  I highly recommend Memrise–the website, NOT the phone app which is only vocabulary. It’s exactly what John said he wanted for learning Spanish. The website has hundreds of courses. The main Spanish course uses good short videos. There’s lots of repetition. I did German up to the A2 level. And all for $free.99. Try it!

  34. 34.

    Burnspbesq

    @Jackie:

    Speaking of cake… here’s hoping for an Indictment Weekend!

    Probably not for a couple of weeks. The former Trump aide Bennett refused to answer certain questions in front of a grand jury yesterday, interposing bullshit objections based on purported executive privilege. Biden is going to have inform the chief judge of the district court (who is responsible for supervising the grand jury) that he waives the privilege, and then DOJ will have to drag him back in and ask those questions again.

  35. 35.

    Jay

    @Old Dan and Little Ann:

    when we lived in the hills south of Kamloops, the summer always brought massive thunder and lightning storms, and occasionally, torrential rains.

    It was always a mixed bag. The lightning was always stunning, the dog’s didn’t like the thunder, and then, there was the forest fire danger.

    #1 cause of forest fires in BC are lightning strikes, so much so that BC has a satellite that maps them in real time.

    #2 Idiots and vandals.

  37. 37.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Burnspbesq:

    and then DOJ will have to drag him back in and ask those questions again. 

    While repeatedly slapping his Trump trash face?  So sick of these assholes.

  38. 38.

    cope

    @TheOtherHank: Half of the strawberry/rhubarb pie my wife made yesterday is still left. Mmmm. While rhubarb was still in the stores here in western Colorado, I bought a ton of it, chopped and bagged it and threw it in the freezer for future use.

  39. 39.

    Burnspbesq

    After baking at the cricket match in Grand Prairie last weekend, I’m going to broil at a minor league baseball game tonight. Expected game time temp 99 degrees F.

  40. 40.

    Sure Lurkalot

    Yesterday started out with a rare (for Denver) wee morning hours thunderstorm and was on and off rain and sun most of the day with a couple of good downpours. All gone today for one nice day before it heats up again.

    No to cake or just about anything sweet. Lost my sweet tooth about 15 years ago and honestly can hardly remember craving them (which I most assuredly did).

    Safe travels, WG!

  41. 41.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Delk: Hahaha!  I wish Jewel‘s deli prices were better, but they got good prices on everything else.  I enjoy their buy-one-get-two-free Hormel rack of ribs special!  Even BOGOF is ok.

  42. 42.

    Burnspbesq

    @mrmoshpotato:

    While repeatedly slapping his Trump trash face?  So sick of these assholes.

    If only. The Special Counsel’s folks are thoroughly professional, and will treat this jackalope and his counsel with far more respect than they deserve.

  44. 44.

    rikyrah

    I am in the mood for cake today, is anyone else with me on that?

     

    Why am I putting in a pickup order from my favorite bakery ? :)

  45. 45.

    MomSense

    I’m exhausted!  Going to see kid’s band play in Ogunquit tonight late.  Then heading upta camp tomorrow.  The traffic is going to be bad tonight.

    I think I’m burnt out.  I just don’t want to do my work – at all.  I just don’t want to.

  49. 49.

    Brachiator

    @Yarrow:

    He was reported to have been discovered by the legendary African American singer Pearl Bailey, who hired him to open for her in 1949.

    I knew a little about this. I love stories of artists discovering and helping each other. His obituary in Variety provides some additional details.

    A series of breaks raised his professional profile. An appearance on Arthur Godfrey’s talent show (where he placed second to Rosemary Clooney) led to a 1949 TV shot on Jan Murray’s “Songs for Sale.”

    On the strength of that appearance, songstress Pearl Bailey hired him as a club opener, and Bob Hope was in the Greenwich Village venue to catch the performance. Taking the youthful vocalist under his wing, Hope rechristened him Tony Bennett (an abbreviation and Americanization of his given name) and hired him for his stage show at New York’s Paramount Theatre.

    He certainly lived a long and productive life. I enjoyed his appearances on the David Letterman show.

  51. 51.

    twbrandt

    Baked a pecan pie to take with me to dinner at some friends this evening. The crust is Kenji López-Alt’s butter crust recipe on Serious Eats. I’ve made this quite a few times and it’s always a hit.

  52. 52.

    WaterGirl

    @Old School:

    M-F
    Michigan

    Will be seeing two of my relatives from Australia.  My dad’s brother served in Australia during the war, met my future “Aunt Peg”, came home after the war, then decided to move to Australia to live happily ever after with Aunt Peg.

    We will be seeing the son and his wife.

  54. 54.

    Yarrow

    @Brachiator:  He seemed like such a class act. I really enjoyed seeing his friendship with Lady Gaga in his last years and their collaborations were excellent. What a long and amazing life and career.

  62. 62.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @HumboldtBlue: To be honest, I don’t really like those sneakers.​
    ETA: I don’t have an objection to sneakers worn that way, but are those Skechers?

  63. 63.

    Yarrow

    @HumboldtBlue:  I see they’re pushing the Biden has dementia line again, “We’ve cared for elderly relatives. We know dementia when we see it.” It must be working or they’d stop doing it. They track things that closely.

  64. 64.

    Brachiator

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    So, I’m back from seeing Barbie. The word “patriarchy” pops up a lot and there is critique of gender expectations and power. But mostly, it was fun. Recommended.

    Glad you had a good time. I am curious to see Barbie and also Oppenheimer. I hear that the latter movie is around 3 hours, but unfortunately I just cannot sit through long movies anymore. Streaming at home, I can take a break.

  72. 72.

    Yarrow

    @Baud: Yes. I meant working for their audience. Fox watches that sort of stuff very closely. If a line or tactic isn’t working they drop it. They have dual goals of keeping people watching and electing their preferred candidates, so whatever furthers those goals is what they’ll do.

  73. 73.

    patrick II

    It has been a hot day, working in the yard.  I am trying to decide which will taste better — cold watermelon or cold beer.

  75. 75.

    Yarrow

    I accidentally heard a clip on the news last night of TFG speaking. I avoid him at all costs and haven’t seen or heard him in awhile. Apparently it was some fundraising video. He said, “The left is once again trying to destroy me because by destroying me they destroy you.” It stuck with me because I think that kind of sums up the MAGA cult. “I am you.”

  78. 78.

    Ken

    @Brachiator: I am curious to see Barbie and also Oppenheimer.

    Now I want a crossover. Nuclear physicist Barbie: comes with lab coat and vial of U-235.

  79. 79.

    Yarrow

    @zhena gogolia: The folks with bad dementia aren’t going to be voting. Their adult children are, though. That’s who the woman was targeting. “We’ve all cared for elderly relatives. We know what dementia looks like.”

  80. 80.

    Burnspbesq

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Round Rock and Reno. The Round Rock Express (Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers) rebrands itself two or three times a year, in a transparent (and typically successful) attempt to sell more t-shirts and hats. This weekend, they’re the Round Rock Donuts (if you’re from Austin, you understand).

  81. 81.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud: I had lunch with a normie yesterday. My trainer suggested we get together because we have the same politics. And she’s very nice, etc., etc., it was quite pleasant. She may be a bit to the left of me. But at one point, she said in a concerned voice, “So what do you think about Joe Biden running for re-election?” GAAAHHH.

    Did anyone ever before question the incumbent president running for re-election????

  82. 82.

    zhena gogolia

    @Yarrow: I was being (somewhat) facetious. Anyone who is worried about dementia and would vote for TFG has dementia themselves.

  83. 83.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Ken:

    Nuclear physicist Barbie: comes with lab coat and vial of U-235. 

    Why would nuclear physicist Barbie have a Nazi U-boat in a vial?

  88. 88.

    Yarrow

    @zhena gogolia:

    Did anyone ever before question the incumbent president running for re-election????

    Uh…yes. See Ted Kennedy when Jimmy Carter was the incumbent.

  90. 90.

    Yarrow

    @raven:  Ha ha. Advanced dementia, then. I know someone whose mom has dementia that’s still in a very early stage. She can still vote but at some point she won’t be able to.

  91. 91.

    Jackie

    @HumboldtBlue: Sneakers, huh? Was he biking or something? Or was he wearing them with his pocket hankie?

    Not that I care! He dresses just fine for whatever the occasion.

    At least they weren’t white go-go boots.

  95. 95.

    zhena gogolia

    @Yarrow: Primarying someone as an ambitious politician is not the same as pundits and media questioning why the person is running for re-election.

  98. 98.

    Scout211

    Dark Brandon just appointed a female admiral the joint chiefs of staff.

    CNN
    President Joe Biden has selected Admiral Lisa Franchetti to be the Navy’s top officer. If confirmed, she would be the first woman in the Navy’s history to hold the job, and the first woman in the joint chiefs of staff.

  99. 99.

    Yarrow

    @Jackie:  In the video they show him going up stairs of what look like a helicopter and then a plane. So maybe going to Camp David or something. Or getting on the plane on his way to a summit where he’ll emerge properly dressed in a suit when they arrive.

    The whole thing is just so dumb. I think it’s another way to push the “Biden is old, has to wear sneakers to be safe when he walks, just like your old dad does, plus he’s got dementia” line.

  101. 101.

    narya

    @WaterGirl: Here you go! I don’t make her frosting, though I’m sure it’s fine, and I would do that first to avoid bowl-washing. As noted above, I use both eggs, whole wheat flour (because that’s what I have), and sub a bit of black cocoa in that part of the recipe. It’s simple and pretty foolproof! I also line the pan with parchment to make it easy to pull out

    ETA: I make this a LOT. It is straightforward, simple, and I generally have everything I need. Also: great way to use up sour milk.

  102. 102.

    Yarrow

    @zhena gogolia:  I don’t know what the media and pundits did during Carter’s re-election campaign. Fox News wasn’t around then and the rightwing media ecosystem wasn’t fully up and running to do the same kind of damage it does today.

  103. 103.

    Jackie

    @zhena gogolia: “Did anyone ever before question the incumbent president running for re-election????”

    Absolutely! TIFG.

    Not because of age, but because he was/is trying to destroy America.

  105. 105.

    Martin

    @Butch: Wine and cake is always the right answer. Hell, I’ve done wine and cake for dinner as an adult. Some days deserve it.

  109. 109.

    Josie

    I’m doing tacos and charro beans for Friday family night dinner. The beans are cooking in the crockpot and smelling up the house. My daughter-in-law is in charge of queso, dessert, and wine. I’m hoping for tres leches cake. Our Friday night dinners are always a culinary adventure.

  110. 110.

    Maxim

    Not usually a cake person, but one of my cousins made me spice cake cupcakes for my birthday and they were yum.

  112. 112.

    worn

    @Suzanne: Yeah, I feel you. Two (1) 5 over 1 podium buildings on my desk currently, permit drawings for both are due next Friday. So this week is the pre-fry in anticipation of next week’s frizzle.

    Ain’t the building industry fun?

  113. 113.

    Jackie

    @Yarrow: Totally dumb! I would refuse to wear slick bottomed shoes or heels ascending/descending metal stairs! They are dangerous for anyone!

  114. 114.

    Martin

    @Scout211: The ‘if confirmed’ part is funny. Tuberville has ensured that Congress won’t be confirming/approving the majority of his picks in the military because they’re almost all going to be acting positions because nobody can get the necessary promotion. Biden can appoint transgender lesbian eskimos all up and down the military org chart right now if he wants – and I think he should.

  115. 115.

    Jay

    @Yarrow:

    Decades ago, and for the last 4 years, I had to either wear dress shoes, (Tech) or safety shoes,(Repair/ Factory) at work. Both are a pita to walk any distance in.

    So in summer, I wore  light hiker sneakers in summer and water proof light hikers in winter, to and from work.

    T has to adhere to a “professional” dress code at work, but when she is at the desk, she slips off her dress shoes and puts on a pair of pink bunny slippers with a traction sole.

  116. 116.

    Ruckus

    I am in the mood for cake today, is anyone else with me on that?

    I can not remember the last time I had cake. I try not to eat much in the way of sweets these days. My numbers a few yrs not that long ago were not all that good, at the point of very, very close to you can’t eat anything sweet for the rest of your life. So I cut back. Way back. My numbers dropped quite a bit. In the last few months I’ve lost a few pounds and am now down to almost skinny. Which I was a kid. Somehow that doesn’t bother me as much now as it did then. I won’t tell you my weight/height, some of you might get pissed off.

  118. 118.

    Old Man Shadow

    I am trying to get my anti-depressant/sanity pills refilled which I have had zero problem with for the past ten years but my insurance company has now decided, in its infinite wisdom, that I no longer need.

    Suffice to say, my miraculous recovery from chronic anxiety and depression was news to me and my doctor, so she is trying to get authorization for it, I have to pay out of pocket for a thirty day supply, and I can only assume my insurance company is hoping that I kill myself so they never have to pay for things for me again.

    I am feeling stabby today for obvious reasons.

  119. 119.

    Yarrow

    @Old Man Shadow:  That sucks! Check GoodRx to see if they can get you a better price. You just show the GoodRx price to the pharmacy and you get it for that price. Also check Costco if one is close. You don’t have to have a membership to use their pharmacy. They often have a better price.

  121. 121.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Scout211: ​ 

    That’s awesome, is it subject to Tommy dipshits current hold on military promotions and appointments?

  125. 125.

    Ruckus

    @Yarrow:

    What the hell is wrong with sneakers or shoes that are actually comfortable and have actual traction?

    Of course I’m the guy with A, as in one suit that is close to 30 yrs old that is in perfect condition because I’ve worn it twice for a total of about 4 hrs. I also owned a tux because it actually fit me and was cheaper to purchase than rent every year, which I had to do because of awards banquets, and it actually fit me. I gave that away when I quit that job. Life may not be fair but not wearing suits or a tux or the shoes that go with them is worth a hell of a lot. Now I only wear long pants when it’s below about 55 or it’s a funeral. And I don’t go to those very often as I’m the last of the family.

  127. 127.

    Baud

    @HumboldtBlue: What the hold does is require Schumer to use up floor time if they want to get an appointment through.  Most military promotions are done in bulk by unanimous consent, and it is obviously infeasible for Schumer to schedule individual votes.  He and Biden will have to decide whether this nominee is worth the time, or if they want to use the fact of the hold to make Tuberville look bad.

  128. 128.

    NotMax

    @zhena gogolia

    Did anyone ever before question the incumbent president running for re-election????

    LBJ, Truman. Lincoln.

    Pierce, Tyler, Fillmore, A. Johnson and Arthur all attempted running for another term while in office and each failed to win nomination by their own party.

  129. 129.

    JML

    @WaterGirl: We are feeling pretty united right now, which is great. But it sucks how bad it’s had to get for so many people to bring us to this point. I work at a university and 60% of my union brethren are working a second job now to meet basic needs like food, rent/mortgage, and child care. Many of the positions in our unit require a master’s degree, most have it as a preferred qualification. These are professional jobs with significant responsibilities (including state and federal compliance rules that could result in major fines) and we’re increasingly one of the lowest paid groups on campus. Starting salaries are so low we can’t hire qualified candidates, and increasing numbers of people are leaving for better wages in health care or other areas, despite loving their jobs. Two of the other bargaining units settled recently; management’s latest offer to us was 20% of what they got.

    They are acting as if we are utterly replaceable. I wonder if they’ll feel the same if we actually go out on strike!

  131. 131.

    cain

    @Brachiator: I totally loved the guy – his collaborations with Lady Gaga was sooo good. I just love their energy together.

    He lived a full life – and apparently did a big concert last year. I would have wished he could have stayed on a little longer and hit his 100 – but we are only allotted so much in this life.

    May his next gig be as amazing as this one on this plane.

  132. 132.

    eclare

    @Jay:

    Great scene in The Devil Wears Prada where the Anna Wintour character (played perfectly by Meryl Streep) comes to the office and all of the women ditch their slippers and put on their four inch heels.

  133. 133.

    Citizen Alan

    @Brachiator:

     Taking the youthful vocalist under his wing, Hope rechristened him Tony Bennett (an abbreviation and Americanization of his given name)

    This is one of the reasons why the overt racism of Scalia and Alito disgust me so much–if either of them had been born fifty years earlier, the idea of them becoming Justices would have been an absurd fantasy simply because of their names.

  135. 135.

    Martin

    @Baud: But it kind of doesn’t even do that. I mean, she’s going to be doing the job. Everyone is going to treat her as confirmed even if she’s acting. It’s going to be impossible for Republicans to not confirm someone who has been doing the job for a year. It completely neuters their authority, and hands everything to Biden.  It’s a very weird hill to die on.

  138. 138.

    Baud

    @Martin: Yeah, if she’s able to serve as Acting, that’ll affect how heavily  or quickly Schumer and Biden want to press the issue.

  139. 139.

    RedDirtGirl

    Does anyone have advice for my sister who is trying to find a new work-from-home career that will keep her busy until retirement? She is smart and good with language/words (think editing)? It seems like with so many people re-evaluating things over the past few years there might be more resources available for people who are looking to make a change. I know it’s kind of a long shot, but I thought I’d ask  the hive mind…

  141. 141.

    Baud

    @cain: Given the history of sexism and misogyny we have in the U.S., when do you think it should have happened?

  142. 142.

    Yarrow

    @Ruckus:

    What the hell is wrong with sneakers or shoes that are actually comfortable and have actual traction?

    Nothing. However, the President of the United States has to wear certain clothes, like suits with proper dress shoes, as part of his job. Not all the time but a lot of the time. Biden dresses fine. It’s a stupid issue.

    As I said upthead, this whole shoe thing is just another way to push the “Biden is old” topic. Everyone knows an older man who used to wear suits and dress shoes but now he wears sneakers because the traction is safer (also they’re more comfortable but that doesn’t support their agenda). The clip in the tweet went with that angle. The whole point is to push the issue with Biden’s age.

    I’m not sure how to counter it, or even if it needs countering, but it seems it has some traction because otherwise they’d drop it. Hopefully Biden’s team will figure it out. I generally like his strategy of ignoring the media and pundit class and Twitter. Seems to be working for him.

  143. 143.

    Jackie

    @Yarrow: Does Oppenheimer have an intermission? It should… snacks purchasing bonanza! And, the mad dash to the bathrooms!

  145. 145.

    Citizen Alan

    @Yarrow: A hideous mistake for which he spent the rest of his life struggling to atone. A second term for Carter and we would all be living in an immeasurably better world today.

  146. 146.

    kindness

    Anyone else here read Ann Althouse’s blog Althouse?  I’d seen links to it at a couple of other progressive blogs.  They seemed to use her as a good source for legal issues.  So I bookmarked her site and started reading it.  The site itself is not busy.  She probably only posts 5 or 6 posts a day.  And what she says is fine.  But I’ve started reading the comments over there and OMG!  It is nothing but MAGA nuts who eat and breath Breitbart level stuff.  Every one of them.  No one points out their preposterous shit.  It’s made me wonder where Althouse stands on issues.  I mean, if it was me, I’d have just closed the comment section down and continued posting my musings as she does.  At my age, there is still so much I don’t get.

  147. 147.

    Scout211

    @Baud:He and Biden will have to decide whether this nominee is worth the time, or if they want to use the fact of the hold to make Tuberville look bad.

    In his announcement of the most recent promotions including Admiral Franchetti, he already is working on making Tuberville look bad.  Well, it really doesn’t take much.  But I like his statement.

     

    I want to thank each of these leaders for their willingness to continue serving the nation and leading our brave women and men in uniform.  Each of them will help ensure the safety and the prosperity of the American people in the years ahead.  Given the national security challenges we face around the world, I urge the Senate to move quickly in confirming them, along with the other military nominations currently on hold. These leadership positions are far too important to delay filling while one Senator prioritizes his domestic political agenda over our military readiness.

    It has long been an article of faith in this country that supporting our servicemembers and their families, and providing for the strength of our national defense, transcends politics. What Senator Tuberville is doing is not only wrong—it is dangerous. In this moment of rapidly evolving security environments and intense competition, he is risking our ability to ensure that the United States Armed Forces remain the greatest fighting force in the history of the world. And his Republican colleagues in the Senate know it.

  148. 148.

    Baud

    @Citizen Alan: I agree it was a mistake, although I’m less certain whether Reagan wouldn’t have won anyway. Reagan Democrats were hungry for this brand of genteel racism. Maybe the combination of Kennedy and John Anderson gave Reagan the extra oomph he needed.

  150. 150.

    Baud

    After Biden wins reelection, I hope he does every State of the Union in a bathrobe and slippers.

  153. 153.

    bbleh

    @Old Man Shadow: that REALLY sucks.  I would encourage you to channel the stabbiness into badgering the living hell out of anyone and everyone at the insco that you can get on the phone.  This might be one of those more-or-less arbitrary denials that they’ll reverse just to get rid of you.

  157. 157.

    citizen dave

    @Martin: I really appreciate your excellent–as always–information, synopsis, etc.  Dangerous Game indeed!  I’ll see that and raise to a Wicked Game, Tenacious D style: https://tinyurl.com/yp7w7k9y

    Got my tix to Barbie tomorrow afternoon and the IMAX 600 pound film version of Oppenheimer at my local IMAX, but not until August 2.  Hope nothing goes wrong with our local film copy.

    I remember watching Gandi in the theater, it for sure had an intermission.  Once Upon a Time in America, 4 hours 11 minutes, I can’t recall if there was an intermission, but I did watch it in the theater.

  159. 159.

    Jackie

    The DOJ is going after Gov Abbott’s inhumane river barriers.

    “…the Justice Department has sent a letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott notifying him that the department will sue the state over the barrier if Texas does not commit to removing it by Monday afternoon.”

    WaPo gift link: https://wapo.st/3O5vNgY

  160. 160.

    Cameron

    @HumboldtBlue: They’re in a snit about his fucking shoes?  Maybe they need that Orwell thing, the boot crushing their faces forever, before they get the sweats over footwear.  Foxies need to STFU, and Simon T. Fraser University has nothing to do with it.

  161. 161.

    Yarrow

    @Citizen Alan:  Maybe RFK Jr got the Kennedy “I’m going to challenge the incumbent president” gene or something.

    Speaking of which, I had a meeting this week with someone who SERIOUSLY thought RFK Jr would be the person to bring the country together. I am not joking. I didn’t have the time or energy to get into a discussion about him but I did say that I thought his recent comments might mean he wasn’t a good candidate for that. This person didn’t know about the comments until I told them and after that they kind of backed down. I was astonished to meet someone like that for real.

  162. 162.

    Citizen Alan

    @kindness:  She used to be very aggressively anti-Obama. Obnoxiously so. Then, she fell off the edge of the earth because I haven’t heard from here since Trump became president.

  164. 164.

    Fake Irishman

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    One of my colleagues just point out tomorrow is 7/22, which if you put it in the ddmmyyy format is 22/7, functionally equivalent to pi. She bought us a nice pie for work today.

    She is an excellent new hire.

  165. 165.

    Jay

    @kindness:

    so, the NAFO rule is “don’t interact with the Vatnicks’, screen shot them don’t link, memorize the TOS and report, report, report, Article 5.

    If you are going to respond, spew nonsense or troll them.

    This blog is the only comment section I am active in, because almost all the other ones that are decent have a small group of commenters, or get trashed by MAGAt’s and trolls.

    So a good technique for a blogger or other social media forms, is for the owner to just engage with the worthy ones, if at all. Ignore the trash.

    It actually pisses them off more to be ignored, than have their spam deleted, and of course, if they violate the TOS, screen shot them and report them.

  169. 169.

    TriassicSands

    In the earlier thread, I mentioned what I’m going through right now with what we humorously call a health care system. I’m in the hospital right now so everything has to done by phone and I don’t have ready access to things I need. I just got off an 2 hour plus hold (now I’m back on hold). I finally decided that if I had a tombstone  it would say, “He Died On Hold.” (Cremation for me, there is no way I’m taking up precious land to inter my dead body — I once had a college summer job digging up and moving a cemetery. I should have received college credit for it, because I learned a lot. And much of what I learned argued strenuosly again burial. I saw some amazing stuff and none of it was pretty.)

  171. 171.

    Old Man Shadow

    Day keeps getting better.

    Picking up my kids, came across a dying cat that had been hit by a car that didn’t bother stopping. Tried to assess if it would make it to the emergency vet or not. Hell, I’m not a vet. I don’t know. But I tried. Judging from the amount of blood, it might have been dead already and just twitching out of reflex. I didn’t think I could save it and I didn’t have any way to make sure it was out of its misery.

    What a shit world.

  172. 172.

    Shana

    @Jackie: A friend of ours called the other day and said he has a bottle of champagne in the fridge for when the indictments come down and he’ll bring it over. He just lives down the street from us so he just has to stagger home afterwards.

  173. 173.

    Old School

    @kindness:

    Anyone else here read Ann Althouse’s blog Althouse?  I’d seen links to it at a couple of other progressive blogs.  They seemed to use her as a good source for legal issues.  … And what she says is fine.

    Can’t say I’ve seen anything from her in quite some time, but she certainly used to be nuts.

  174. 174.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @Yarrow: Re: President Carter and the media…

    Have you heard about how the TV show Nightline started?

    From Wikipedia

    The program had its beginnings on November 8, 1979, just four days after the start of the Iran hostage crisis. ABC News president Roone Arledge felt that the best way to compete against NBC‘s The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was to update Americans on the latest news from Iran. At that time, the show was called The Iran Crisis–America Held Hostage: Day “xxx”, where xxx represented the number of days that Iranians held the occupants of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran as hostages. Originally, World News Tonightlead anchor Frank Reynolds hosted the 20-minute-long special reports.

    Shortly after its creation, Reynolds stopped hosting the program. Ted Koppel, then ABC News’s State Department Correspondent, took on the hosting duties. It was not until a few days later that a producer had the idea of displaying the number of days on America Held Hostage (e.g., Day 15, Day 50, Day 150, etc.).

  182. 182.

    WaterGirl

    @narya: Thank you!

    I NEVER make frosting.  There was one Betty Cracker chocolate frosting that was really smooth and dark, made by a co-worker, but I never got the recipe.

    And I LOVE chocolate ganache.  Other than that, not a frosting person.

    But I will try the cake.  Thank you!

  188. 188.

    Martin

    The party of ‘think of the children’ are in Wisconsin trying to pass a law that would allow 14 year olds to serve alcohol because bar owners are complaining about having to pay workers.

    No, it’s illegal for you to read this Toni Morrison book, but here’s The Art of Mixology, please have it memorized by the end of the week.

  194. 194.

    Shana

    @Yarrow: One of the Foxbots talked about her 80-something year old father for whom wearing those kind of shoes is like going out in public with bedroom slippers on. They most assuredly know their audience.

  197. 197.

    prostratedragon

    cain@137: The first woman to be a four-star in the US military was Ann Dunwoody, promoted in 2008.

  200. 200.

    rikyrah

    @Yarrow:

    I’m not sure how to counter it, or even if it needs countering, but it seems it has some traction because otherwise they’d drop it.

     

    I don’t think it has traction, but, it’s literally all they’ve got.

  206. 206.

    Martin

    @rikyrah: I think this stuff isn’t working any more. The GOP has been 100% ‘energize the base’ for the last 8 years to the point that they’re emailing revenge porn of the kid of the current president, thinking it’ll juice turnout that much more.

    But I think they maxed out on that in 2020. I think at best this is wasted energy and at worst start to get more moderate voters to question what the fuck is going on. But it’s all they know how to do now.

  208. 208.

    Josie

    @WaterGirl: ​ No, but he swears by this woman’s recipes. He is the dessert baker in the family, so I tend to believe him.​
     ETA: He is the reason I will never be skinny.

  209. 209.

    Yarrow

    @rikyrah:  It’s probably doing the best of everything they’ve tried, even if that’s not very well. There have been “Is Biden too old” pieces in the political press. I think there was even something a few months ago where supposedly “senior Democrats” were worried about Biden’s age, or some dumb thing like that. Anecdotally I’ve heard/seen normies mention it, which is why I think it’s got a bit of traction.

  210. 210.

    persistentillusion

    @bbleh: I used to do Rx resolution for clients back in my long ago insurance days.  I found “I need to speak to your manager right now”, in a gentle voice worked wonders. HTH.

  212. 212.

    Roger Moore

    @Brachiator:

    I am curious to see Barbie and also Oppenheimer.

    I got tickets to see Oppenheimer at one of the handful of theaters that will show it in IMAX 70mm*.  It’s supposed to really benefit from the higher resolution of the 70mm, and IMAX allows it to show as closely as possible to the way Nolan imagined it.  Unfortunately, the demand is so high I could only get tickets at a decent location in the theater for the 10AM showing on Sunday the 30th.

    *Graumann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.  One of the fringe benefits of living near the movie capital of the USA.

  213. 213.

    Ruckus

    @Yarrow:

    Yes if he wore some sort of sneaker with his suit one day the shit would fly. But it really might be what it takes, a more casual president, now that a hell of a lot of people that used to wear what is considered dress up clothing really don’t. Even that tux that I owned I only wore 1 day a year. It was just far less hassle and even in the short run cheaper for me to buy a tux. The purchase cost was a fair bit less than 2 yrs of rental. And the company paid either way. And as my body is a bit weird, my inseam is more than 1/2 my height by a noticeable amount I never had a tux that actually fit, until I bought my own.

  218. 218.

    Brachiator

    @Yarrow:

    Nothing. However, the President of the United States has to wear certain clothes, like suits with proper dress shoes, as part of his job.

    Sez who?

  220. 220.

    Ruckus

    @kindness:

    I’m pissed off at Southern California Edison, which as of about 1 hr ago I had to call them to ask why I could not print anything off their website to send with my bill payment, or as my receipt because I get my gas and electric bills online and have been doing so for years. I was told that it’s not their fault, it’s my computer and software that I have been using for years. I have Apple computer and software and of course it isn’t SCE’s problem that their site is the only one I have problems with and didn’t up until this month. And that was after almost 1/2 hr waiting on my phone for someONE to actually answer and talk to. You may notice that I’m pissed off. Their site now doesn’t work on 1/3 of the computers in the world and it is the customer’s fault for all of that.

    It’s not just politicians that can piss us off. Some people we pay for their products, that profit off of us can, and are doing it as well. It’s just that in some cases we really have no other avenue for the product, such as utilities. There is one supplier in the southern half of CA, and it’s SoCal Edison.

  221. 221.

    Brachiator

    @Roger Moore:

    I got tickets to see Oppenheimer at one of the handful of theaters that will show it in IMAX 70mm*.  It’s supposed to really benefit from the higher resolution of the 70mm, and IMAX allows it to show as closely as possible to the way Nolan imagined it.

    I went to an IMAX theater to see the Dark Knight because I read that Nolan had used IMAX cameras to shoot some scenes.

    Hmm. For Oppenheimer:

    The film used a combination of IMAX 65 mm and 65 mm large-format film. It is also the first film to shoot sections on IMAX black-and-white photographic film.

    These days I will happily watch a movie on my tablet.

    I love the Chinese Theater. Still a great place to watch movies.

  222. 222.

    kalakal

    Meanwhile in England the Tories are getting very upset with the Evening Standard over their coverage of their candidate for Lord Mayor*, specifically the photo which for some reason they think is unflattering. Scroll down to the front page pic. Heh, heh, heh.

    Susan Hall

    *She’s a total loon and Sadiq Khan who was polling badly now looks like a shoo-in

  223. 223.

    Brachiator

    @Yarrow:

    Diplomatic protocol for certain meetings.

    Would a woman president have to wear a suit?

    I know what you mean, and there are certain occasions where certain attire is required by tradition and protocol.

    But traditions change and rules can be revised if circumstances require.

  226. 226.

    Brachiator

    @kalakal:

    Odd that the Tories would complain about the Standard.

    The Standard is owned by wealthy Russian businessman Evgeny Lebedev, who was handed a life peerage by Boris Johnson in 2020. The newspaper has endorsed the Conservatives in every general election since 2010.

    The Tories did poorly in some of the recent by election contests. Not a good week for them.

  227. 227.

    WaterGirl

    @Brachiator: He’s getting on a fucking plane.  Who cares what he’s wearing on his feet.  Get back to me when Biden wears tennis to a state dinner.

    Also, for all we know, he has a plantar fasciitis flare-up.

  228. 228.

    Ruckus

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Damn! That was amazing. As someone who worked in sports, watching any athlete break a world record is always amazing. Being around most people that participate in high end sports is electrifying. A lot of them really are good humans as well as great at a sport. And just like in every other endeavor – but not all of them.

  229. 229.

    Yarrow

    @Brachiator:  At the moment a woman president would have to wear professional attire for a woman. Probably a version of a suit, whether with a skirt or trousers. Or some equivalent.  It’s easier for men because it’s just “wear a suit.”

    Of course protocols and attire change. We’re no longer wearing what was considered appropriate attire when the country was founded. Thank goodness!

  230. 230.

    Roger Moore

    @prostratedragon:

    I think the main thing that’s kept women from reaching the Joint Chiefs is the general resistance to allowing anyone to the very top without serving in a combat arm.  Since women were allowed in combat arms relatively recently- they were first allowed to serve as combat pilots in the 1990s, with other combat roles coming more recently- it’s not too surprising they haven’t been able to get to the top until now.

    IMO, this kind of thing is one of the undercurrents behind keeping women out of combat.  There may have been some real worries about their physical strength, but that was never a serious reason for keeping them from being, say, jet pilots or radar techs on combat ships.  Serving with distinction in the military has long been a way of advancing in civilian life, and denying women (and Blacks, etc.) the chance to earn the highest distinctions has always been at least in part about denying them that opportunity for advancement.

  231. 231.

    Ruckus

    @zhena gogolia:

    Dementia isn’t a plus for anyone or anything.

    But you know that.

    It does mean that if one can still think they might not be a faux news customer because following is the preferred goal for faux news.

  232. 232.

    phein64

    @RedDirtGirl: My son grades tests online, you just need to be fluent in English and capable of applying criteria, i.e., just what an editor does.  He has to do it in the state we live in, for some reason, but if he lived in a different state, he would grade tests from that state.

  233. 233.

    Roger Moore

    @rikyrah:

    I don’t think it has traction, but, it’s literally all they’ve got.

    It’s largely preaching to the converted.  The people who lap this stuff up were never going to vote for Biden in the first place.  That said, other people here have talked about conversations with normies who have questions about Biden’s fitness because of this stuff.  I think those questions will largely be answered to their satisfaction when they start paying attention in the run-up to the election, but getting those thoughts into normies’ heads is the real objective.

  235. 235.

    Ruckus

    @Scout211:

    Dementia is such a horrible way to go that it almost requires people to make fun of it a bit.

    And yes I’ve been around dementia a fair bit. My father started showing signs almost 20 yrs before he passed away. I had to not let him come to work any more because he couldn’t remember how to work safely, in a harsh/dangerous working environment. He wasn’t the only person I’ve known with dementia.

  236. 236.

    zhena gogolia

    @Ruckus: I really don’t think anyone (including me) was making fun of dementia. I intended to make fun of Fox news.

  237. 237.

    Ruckus

    @Roger Moore:

    I was in the USN over 50 yrs ago and we had black men in charge of some parts of the ship. But women weren’t stationed on ships at the time. But they are and have been for some time now. And have been captains of ships. I don’t know the other services but I’d think that woman have a lot or even all opportunities in the military now. They have served in combat I’ve been told. And the VA has a large number of female ex service members because I see them there when I go. There are women’s clinics at every VA location I’ve ever been to. I do remember at boot camp a recruit made a pass at a female service member walking by and got his ass chewed out publicly and properly for it. IOW he deserved it. It almost made me laugh at his dumb ass.

  238. 238.

    Roger Moore

    @Brachiator:

    I love the Chinese Theater. Still a great place to watch movies.

    My favorite movie memory comes from the Chinese.  I went to Hollywood with a friend to see an art show, which was unexpectedly closed.  Instead of heading straight home, we decided to see the movie showing at the Chinese, which was The Matrix.  I think it was either opening night or the night after, and we hadn’t heard anything about it by word of mouth.  Of course it was a visually stunning movie, and watching it on the huge screen with a bunch of other movie lovers who also seemed unprepared was just amazing.

  239. 239.

    Ruckus

    @zhena gogolia:

    Wasn’t saying that you did, saying that I’ve seen it done. I’m an old and I have seen/known a number of people/relatives with dementia. I should have been clearer, it’s not the dementia per se that they were making fun of but sometimes the results of dementia can have a funny side. The disease doesn’t. My dad lived in a home for relatively early dementia patients, quite nice and one Sunday I went to visit him. Signed in, went to his room and he wasn’t there, bed hadn’t been slept in. Went back to the desk and asked the clerk, Pedro where he was. He looked at me sort of side eye and said he might be in room 215. That was his girl friend’s room, which I didn’t know. Turns out that this was not really all that uncommon. You are locked in the home so you don’t walk away, say into traffic, because you can’t remember you shouldn’t do that, and you met someone else in the home and you both hit it off and still like doing what comes natural to adults who hit it off….. Use your imagination.

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