Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

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

Be a wild strawberry.

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

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Second rate reporter says what?

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Last Week in Review – Clowns & Cartoons

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Last Week in Review – Clowns & Cartoons

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Saturday Morning Open Thread: Clowns & Cartoons

(Matt Davies via GoComics.com)

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Clowns & Cartoons 5

(Mike Luckovich via GoComics.com)

 

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Clowns & Cartoons 2

(Clay Jones via GoComics.com)

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Clowns & Cartoons 1

(Walt Handelsman via GoComics.com)

 

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Clowns & Cartoons 3

(Jack Ohman via GoComics.com)

Reader Interactions

225Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    Smart @ShaneGoldmacher piece on how GOP voters think anyone can beat Biden

    I wonder if I can beat Biden.

  3. 3.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Baud: How about “Baud 2024: Anyone can bet him!”?

    It will work well with your  “A couch in every crash pad” campaign promise.

  4. 4.

    OzarkHillbilly

    No pardons but I do not rule out a commutation of any sentence trump might receive.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    “A second term, 84, 85-year-old Joe Biden,” Honig said, could decline to pardon Trump, so the “conviction stands for history,” but commute his

    LOL. Like his age at the end of a second term matters to any such decision. But the media has it’s marching orders.

  8. 8.

    Another Scott

    The cartoons are all on-point in continuing to give him really tiny hands.

    And of course Kamala is 6’3 215. After all, aren’t we all??

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  13. 13.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: ​ Speaking for myself, I’d never want to see that, the brain bleach costs would bankrupt a small country.

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Discovered in the deep: an octopus’s garden in the shade

    Scientists have solved the mystery of why tens of thousands of octopuses cluster on the foothills of a giant underwater mountain, two miles down off the coast of California. The pearl octopuses, so named because from a distance they look like scattered gems, seek out warm water seeping through the seabed and use it to speed up the hatching of their eggs.

    This was the initial hunch scientists had when they discovered the “octopus garden” near Davidson Seamount in 2018, the second of four known deep-sea octopus aggregations.
    ………………………….
    The mauve, grapefruit-sized female octopuses each lay about 60 eggs and cement them to the bare rock, then guard them until they hatch. Temperature probes showed the water bathing the eggs ranged from 5C to 10C (40-50F), while less than a metre away it dropped to a frigid 1.6C.

    Revisiting individual nests, the team saw that rather than taking a decade or longer to hatch, as would happen in the very cold deep sea, baby octopuses emerge from their cosy nests after less than two years, dramatically boosting their chances of survival.

  15. 15.

    Kay

    Smart
    @ShaneGoldmacher
    piece on how GOP voters think anyone can beat Biden.
    Noticed something like this in June… many GOP voters think Biden’s so obviously feeble that the nominee will be Harris or Newsom, also easy to beat.

    This is true, but they’ve been like this for a while now. They also thought Obama was sure to NOT be re-elected.
    With the help of political media, they have convinced themselves they are the only “real” voters. No one else “counts”.

  21. 21.

    Kay

    We all know that NAEP test scores dropped substantially between 2019 and 2022, largely due to virtual teaching replacing in-person teaching. At least, that’s what we think happened.
    I got curious about this the other day: Did states that kept schools open during the 2020-2021 school year do better than states that closed schools?

    Answer is “no”. States and districts who closed schools did no worse than states and districts who kept schools open.
    So that’s interesting, right? If you actually cared about kids you would pursue that- if it wasn’t the school closures what was it that so set kids off track?
    But none of the people who screeched about closed schools actually cared about students, so none of them are following this, now that it can’t be used as a battering ram to attack public schools and teachers.

  22. 22.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Kay:

    Thats what 1/6/21 was about. Having lost all the legal challenges, they resorted to fraud in order to engage in political machinations.

  23. 23.

    Kay

    @chrome agnomen:

    It’s true. Extra thick bubble where I am, in 75% Trump country. They’re going to be shocked and angry when Biden wins again and they all will claim fraud.

    But how did it end up, then, that liberals are always portrayed as out of touch while Trumpsters supposedly have their finger on the pulse of Real America?

    It’s just bullshit. Pure narrative.

  24. 24.

    SiubhanDuinne

    The more I look at that Mike Luckovich cartoon, the more I love it. The roll of paper towels is an especially fine touch.

  28. 28.

    BretH

    Open thread? I can post what an absolute joy it was to see Al Stewart last night with my 24yr old son who loves the man’s music- especially the early historical stuff. (I confess because I played “Past, Present and Future” many times for him when he was young.

    A decidedly old crowd – I think my son was at least 20 yes younger than anyone else there. Oh, and the music was great and Al’s voice was as good (a relative term of course) as ever.

  30. 30.

    Betty Cracker

    Excerpts of two current letters to the editor in my (crappy) local paper from Trump cultists:

    Sadly, it is now time for the strongest fortitude a man can have. We are no longer the superpower we were and technology allows backwards, tribal terrorists to threaten our security on our own soil.

    We don’t need to be mamby-pandy, sipping tea. We need Teddy Roosevelt, John Wayne, and a heaping portion of Rick Flair, for intimidation. We need someone not afraid to demand we follow real science and make intelligent decisions instead of PC, emotional agendas.

    We need integrity. Everyone knows the current dictator regime is corrupt and has turned governmental agencies and our election process into fraud on steroids. The proof is there but some wish to overlook and deny it, but will condemn a soul over a mean tweet.

    We need the same man who brought record-breaking success in his first term. No one likes to swallow the medicine but everyone wants to get better.

    We need Donald J. Trump.

    Another:

    I know many people do not like President Trump. Forget his personality. His policies are what counts. If people do not wise up before it is too late, we will then be a communist country. Are you ready to give up everything?

    There goes your freedom and everything that you have to give up. Satan has a grip on some who think what the Democratic party is doing is good. They need to think again. I have said it before and I will say it again. What’s right is wrong and what’s wrong is right.

    This is serious. The ones who can not see what is happening, I will pray to God to open your eyes. Instead of hate, let’s work together. Once America is gone and we are not free anymore it will be too late to turn back. This is not the America I grew up in. How about you? I hope this letter wakes you up and decides the right thing to do. They are doing all of this to stop President Trump from running again.

    Yes I said President Trump. We all know the election was stolen. Even the judges are corrupt. Let’s bring our country back before it is too late. Yes, we were better off with President Trump, Then the Chinese Virus came. Coincidence? I do not think so.

    These people have gone bye-bye, and they’re not coming back.

  31. 31.

    Van Buren

    @Kay: I taught remotely that year and another teacher taught the same grade in person at my school. (It was family’s choice whether to go in person or not). I had 31 students, she had 9. My class tested higher.

    Small sample size and all, but I busted my ass that year trying to keep kids motivated and engaged.

  33. 33.

    2liberal

    @p.a.: Let him rot in prison.  As the true believers turn to violence they can then be excised from the body politic

     

    This times 1000.

  37. 37.

    BretH

    @BretH: Yeah, replying to myself… A note to older musicians: It’s perfectly OK to headline and mainly sing or whatever you do best and have an energetic young band absolutely kick your songs’ asses. Especially if you can find a great young guitarist who plays like you did when you were younger. Win-win as far as I am concerned.

  38. 38.

    Kay

    @Van Buren:

    That makes sense- that the quality might overcome the distance. They could look at that- if really strong schools had remote teaching that was better than in person teaching in weaker schools because of class size or other factors.

    We should figure it out. There will be another pandemic. Or, we can just keep attacking teachers and public schools because that gives Republicans and pundits something to yammer about.

  39. 39.

    2liberal

    @OzarkHillbilly: I will say that while I doubt Kemp would pardon, I don’t see a commutation as an impossibility.

     

    That is not how Georgia manages pardons and commutations.  Why are you feeling so merciful to this traitorous sedition-ist murderous swindling  bastard?

  40. 40.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    Everyone knows

    Yup. Just like “everyone knew” Obama was “toast”. They’re the same where I live.

    I have to say I have never in my life felt that I was somehow the definition or example of “America” and ALL these people do.

  42. 42.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @2liberal: ​That is not how Georgia manages pardons and commutations.

    Yes, I corrected myself in comment #35.

    Why are you feeling so merciful to this traitorous sedition-ist murderous swindling bastard?

    Give me a break.

    Everybody wants blood, or at least to see him behind bars. I am no different in that respect but I am realistic in recognizing that him being an ex president with SS protection and all the rest it entails makes this an exceptional case. I am just trying to stay grounded about the possible results.

    And believe me, nobody will be happier to see him in Supermax than I. I just don’t see it happening.

  43. 43.

    Ken

    @CliosFanBoy: Let him stew at least a year or two in custody. be hung like Saddam so that his head pops off.

    No professional hangman would tolerate such incompetence. They use the weight of the condemned to adjust the length of drop and get a clean break. So, starting with Trump’s known weight of 215 pounds, ….

  47. 47.

    Jeffro

    @Kay: that’s because America has been changing quite rapidly, and they want to cling to ‘their’ version, which has them at the center.

    (or them on top, take your pick of phrasing)

  50. 50.

    Scout211

    @Maxim: Spain football federation accuses player Jenni Hermoso of lying about kiss from its president Luis Rubiales and says it is taking legal action”

    That’s disgusting. I guess the most important people in the Spanish soccer federation are the men on the governing board. Not the players on the pitch.

    Jenni Hermoso was quoted by a reporter right after the incident downplaying the kiss. She said that she was misquoted and many of her teammates backed her up by quoting her statements to them about how uncomfortable that kiss on the lips made her feel.

    This feels like an ugly power play to force the team to back down from their boycott.  But it just shines a huge spotlight on the blatant misogyny of the federation.

    Link

    Rubiales refused on Friday to resign as RFEF chief over his actions and has called the kiss “spontaneous, mutual, euphoric and consensual.” At an emergency general assembly of the federation Friday, he said “I won’t resign” four times in quick succession and claimed he was a victim of a witch hunt by “false feminists.”

    He received some applause from the overwhelming male assembly after telling them that she had lifted him up in celebration and he asked her for “a little kiss?” and she said yes. “The kiss was the same I could give one of my daughters,” Rubiales said.

    That is truly disgusting.

  51. 51.

    Jeffro

    @Betty Cracker: also, I love the “forget his personality…I like his policies”.  God, as if we haven’t all heard that a gazillion times from his enablers in the GOP, the media, acquaintances, friends, and family.

    ’Policy’?  trump is about ‘policy’?

    No he isn’t.  He hates who you hate and he hates them out loud.  He’s the unapologetic white supremacist you wish you could be, Mr. Letter-Writer #2.

    period and also, full stop.

  53. 53.

    sdhays

    @OzarkHillbilly: In Georgia, the governor doesn’t have the power to pardon. Period. Republicans in the legislature want to change that because of Trump, but Kemp isn’t interested (so far, at least).

    The board which does pardons doesn’t hand them out until most time is served. It could happen, of course, but making it happen will be harder than putting pressure on Kemp.

  59. 59.

    snoey

    @Scout211: FIFA just suspended Rubiales and prohibited him and the Spanish federation from contacting Hermoso.

    Making FIFA look good is quite an achievement.

  60. 60.

    evodevo

    @Scout211: And why did he need a kiss at all? or why not do the French/European kiss on both sides of the face thingy? or why not a hug?  Yeah…just that Spanish macho thing in operation…

  61. 61.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Joe Delfausse didn’t intend to stop traffic on a recent Tuesday night in Brooklyn, but Saturn had other plans. The amateur astronomer, who has been a fixture in his Park Slope neighborhood for more than 20 years, regularly lugs out a telescope on clear nights and encourages passersby to take a look at the cosmos.

    Delfausse began his Tuesday night observation on the sidewalk, but he couldn’t see anything from that vantage point. He was about to pack up and go home before he realized he could get a perfect view of the ringed planet if he stood in the middle of the street. That’s when the line formed.

    As a crowd of people left an outdoor concert put on by the indie pop band Alvvays, Delfausse invited them to take a turn at the telescope.

    Daphne Juliet Ellis, a 26-year-old musician who was leaving the show, took a video of the scene, which showed Delfausse proudly working the crowd. “He was really this kind of Zen Buddha in the space, shepherding a bunch of hippie kids who just got out of a concert,” she said.

    Cars slowed to pass by, and despite his location, Delfausse managed to keep a smooth traffic flow.
    ……………………………..
    “The main thing I do is bring out my telescope where I know there are going to be people, so I can show them the heavens,” he said.

    New Yorkers are cautious by nature, but not when they’re around Delfausse. “All of a sudden, they drop their guard,” he said. “They’re talking to the people in front and behind them. I guess we’re all starved for connection, and when you see someone’s eyes widen because they’ve never seen anything like that, you feel like you’ve made a difference.”
    ……………………………..
    “I’m in my 80s, and you want to do something meaningful in your life,” Delfausse said. “I can’t think of anything that’s more meaningful than this kind of stargazing with people.”

    One can find beautiful people in some of the least likely places.

  65. 65.

    Tony G

    @kalakal: If, in an alternate universe, Trump could act like a human being, he could make a few self-deprecating jokes about his portly physique.  (Howlin Wolf’s “Built for comfort, not built for speed” comes to mind.)  Certainly a lot of American men (myself included) could identify with that.  But he is an emotionally fragile man-baby who never grew up.

  66. 66.

    Kay

    @Jeffro:

    Also, “personality” is different than “character”. He’s been charged with crimes four times not because of his (bad) personality, but because he lacks character and is a liar and a cheat, to the extent that he breaks laws.

    They’re like one category error after another. They don’t have basic things straight.

  70. 70.

    Tony G

    @Kay: Exactly.  As the father of two (now adult) sons, I can confirm that.  The boys had significantly different personalities from the time they were toddlers, but their characters are very similar because they grew up with the same values.

  71. 71.

    Baud

    @Jeffro:

    Plus, they can support Pence if they cared about policies.  Pence is awful in a lot of ways, but at least we know he won’t betray his country.

  72. 72.

    Tony G

    @Baud: Damn.  If that’s a sequential number then that’s more than a million inmates since they started counting.

  73. 73.

    Tony G

    @Jeffro: At least the handful of Trumpians in my extended family have the courtesy to shut the hell up about him while at family gatherings.  (That’s interesting because my relatives very seldom shut the hell up about anything!)

  74. 74.

    kalakal

    @Betty Cracker:

    We need someone not afraid to demand we follow real science and make intelligent decisions instead of PC, emotional agendas.

    Yes indeed, time to rake those forests, nuke those hurricanes, and stick a light bulb up your bum

    No one likes to swallow the medicine

    Bleach does leave a nasty aftertaste.

    everyone wants to get better.

    And who better to lead us to this goal than the 6ft 3, 215lb Adonis who assured us that he tested positive for everything in his medical

  75. 75.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Jeffro: I tell people that about Biden. A lot of liberals are not enthusiastic about Biden as a person. I tell them that policy-wise, with only a few exceptions, he’s the best President of my lifetime. But I think I can back that up.

  77. 77.

    Jeffro

    @Baud:Plus, they can support Pence if they cared about policies.

    It’s a GREAT point (and really, it’s probably true of all of them)

    “Policy”-wise, the only differences between the 8 folks on Wednesday’s debate stage were what?  Support for Ukraine and level of antagonism towards Anthony Fauci, maybe?  (oh and Ramaswamy thinks climate change is a ‘hoax’ – the rest of them just want to quietly keep burning every bit of carbon we can get our hands on and nod thoughtfully every time the consequences hit).

    Everything else is the same stuff:

    • outdo one another on closing the blessed southern border
    • restrictions on reproductive rights
    • restrictions on Dem constituencies voting
    • no restrictions on guns whatsoever
    • tax cuts for rich folks and corporations

    So it would make sense for the GOP to throw trumpov overboard, stat.  But he gives his voters that pure hate-hit that no one else can.

  79. 79.

    Mo MacArbie

    There’s one part of the “Perfect phone call” cartoon I can’t quite parse. There’s the can of Diet Crook and the Sharpie, but then there’s a spiral line on the center of the desk that looks like an opened-up paperclip, maybe? What is that, and to what does it refer? Dinner leftovers?

  82. 82.

    Jeffro

    @Matt McIrvin: I tell people that about Biden. A lot of liberals are not enthusiastic about Biden as a person. I tell them that policy-wise, with only a few exceptions, he’s the best President of my lifetime. But I think I can back that up.

    Oh hell yeah.  His policies absolutely rock.  It’s like getting a Warren administration in many ways (to the extent possible, with Manchin & Sinema there, anyway)

    But I like his personality, too!  He just happens to be pretty old (and following in the footsteps of one of the Democratic Party’s most charismatic politicians and best public speakers ever – PBO)

    And to Kay’s point, his character is stellar.  That’s why the GOP tries so hard to paint him as nefarious and corrupt: it’s important to them that all politicians be corrupt (ours especially!)…it helps them accept/settle for their lousy politicians.

  85. 85.

    Jeffro

    A little OT but just so the BJ community is aware: the Lincoln Project has a set of 6 “FAFO” shot glasses w/ trumpov’s, Rudy’s, Meadows’, Eastman’s, Powell’s, and Ellis’ mugshots printed on them.

    Here’s the link

    I’m half tempted to grab a set for use during their eventual trial(s)… =)

  86. 86.

    hueyplong

    You could argue that it’s an underappreciated narrative that shifts from “feckless AG and prosecutors will never indict” to “check out the set of mug shot shot glasses.”

  87. 87.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Jeffro: Not me, one look at any of those faces would sour the drink for me, not even the finest scotch would taste quite right.

  91. 91.

    gene108

    @Kay:

    Yup. Just like “everyone knew” Obama was “toast”. They’re the same where I live.

    I have to say I have never in my life felt that I was somehow the definition or example of “America” and ALL these people do.

    It’s ironic because I think after 2000 and 2016, Democrats are perpetually worried about somehow losing a presidential election.

  92. 92.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Jeffro: You know the saying how people love powerful women until they actually get in power, and then they flip a switch and decide they are too shrill or whatever? (see: HRC most admired woman for decades until she got closer and closer to actually becoming POTUS).  I think a similar thing is happening with Biden.  He has a great personality.  Everybody loved him as Obama’s VP.  Their were muscle car memes, etc.  He’s by far the funniest and most clever off-the-cuff of any popular Dem, imo.  But during the 2020 Primaries their was a big effort (probably stoked by Russia and GOP) to get people on our side to find something, ANYTHING to use to bash Biden (his age, personality etc.)  And sadly, a lot of people (especially those whose identity is being too cool to love the Dem Party, ie BernieBros) bought into them and still do.  It’s a lot of contrarianism because the Dem base does love Biden.  Even though he can’t say it out loud, Biden (and Kamala) are the only ones who really give the most sincere FuckTrumpForever energy.  You can almost feel the disgust any time Biden has to talk about him.  And I know a bunch of Black voters who cited that as one of the reasons they supported him in the 2020 Primary.  As they put it “Biden feels like he hates Trump as much as I do.”  One of my fave Black podcasters talked about it back then saying he felt crazy because all his super-Progressive friends were constantly bashing Biden and were in love with Bernie and Warren, then he’d go in the real world and talk to his Black Aunties and they’d all be like “They’re good, but I really like Joe Biden.”  I think reports of people disliking Biden are amplifying a small but very loud group that doesn’t really capture the sentiment of most Americans.

  93. 93.

    Yarrow

    Around like 2016 I used to think man I can’t wait until I don’t have to pay attention to politics anymore. Increasingly I’m realizing two things: I will never not be able to pay attention to it and I was extremely privileged to feel like I could in the past.

    This is such a good observation. I’m glad to see it stated.

  95. 95.

    Jay C

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Not me, one look at any of those faces would sour the drink for me, not even the finest scotch would taste quite right.

    That’s because those glasses aren’t meant for scotch: the only beverage they are intended for is “conservative tears of impotent rage”….

  96. 96.

    Yarrow

    @Scout211:

    “The kiss was the same I could give one of my daughters,” Rubiales said.

    Always with the daughters, these guys. And has anyone checked to see if he’s actually kissing his daughters on the lips without their permission? Because that’s not good.

  98. 98.

    Scout211

    @kalakal: That needs to be highlighted:

    from your link:

    Penny is real and her last name is Hopper. But DeSantis failed to note key details from her remarkable story: The person who tried to end Penny’s life in the womb was not a doctor or even an illegal abortion provider — it was her father. And his effort to abort his daughter with a coat hanger took place almost two decades before the Supreme Court’s seismic Roe v. Wade decision, which established a woman’s right to an abortion.

    The report also notes, “It could not be determined whether Hopper had been contacted by the DeSantis campaign, whether the campaign vetted her story or if she knew it would be told to a national television audience.

    A family member told the newspaper that “She doesn’t want to be used as a political pawn,” as “Hopper prefers to work quietly behind the scenes to help those she sees as victims of botched abortions.”

  99. 99.

    Cameron

    @Betty Cracker: That was in TBT?  As a bumpkin who reads the Bradenton Herald, I always assumed that TBT represented something less parochial.  Or less goober.  Or something.

  103. 103.

    Jeffro

    @UncleEbeneezer: I think reports of people disliking Biden are amplifying a small but very loud group that doesn’t really capture the sentiment of most Americans.

    Totally agree.  He’s a very likable guy!  So of course the usual suspects breeze right past it (media) or flat-out make negative things up (GOP)

  104. 104.

    Kay

    @Scout211:

    So DeSantis’ got his big story completely wrong because he doesn’t give a shit about actual women and didn’t bother to try to understand even the basic sequence of events?

    Very much a “pro lifer”, I must say. That’s consistent.

  105. 105.

    Jay C

    @Betty Cracker:

    Well, if these are examples of what the local paper deems “letter-to-the-editor”-worthy, then “birdcage liner” is way too elevated a use for it….

    What struck me about these imbecilic screeds is their triteness: they read like boilerplate form-letters that might have been submitted by Grumpy Old Cranks at any time over the past – well, forever: just with “Trump” or “Biden” inserted as needed.

  106. 106.

    Jeffro

    @OzarkHillbilly: I hear you – can’t imagine drinking out of something with Rudy’s face on it.  It would make the shot taste like hair dye (or worse!)

    BUT

    I may just cobble together my own version, for the eventual trial and/or (be still my heart) sentencing.

    Maybe I’ll just print out a small pic of trumpov’s mug shot and tape that to a shot glass.  I think that will work!

  107. 107.

    Cameron

    @Steeplejack: I sure hope so.  My not-too-well-informed impression is that the larger Florida papers are pretty good.  Certainly they seem far more capable/willing to call out Prince Puddinghands than Our National Liberal Media.

  112. 112.

    Nukular Biskits

    Speaking of clowns, unfortunately this one is one of my US Senators:

    US Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith: Women’s Equality Day

    I called bullshit on this given her insatiable desire to strip women of bodily autonomy, relegating them to 2nd class citizenship (especially when pregnant) & for demanding the gov’t dictate what health care they can & can’t access. She’s a lying hypocrite.

    Which is a feature, not a bug, when it comes to “conservatism”.

    Seriously. This kind of shit really pisses me off.

    /rant

  113. 113.

    Alison Rose

    LOLLLL just got an email from the Biden campaign store and they have the sender name as Dark Brandon. Think they’ve done it before but it makes me laugh every time.

  115. 115.

    zhena gogolia

    @Alison Rose: Me too. I was on the verge of buying some Dark Brandon merch (a tote bag for my books), but I’m always afraid somebody will misinterpret it as being anti-Biden.

  116. 116.

    kalakal

    @zhena gogolia:

    I couldn’t work out what the hell he was talking about.

    I think we can safely say that Honest Ron has excluded stenographer as a future career choice once he’s done wrecking his political future

  118. 118.

    Geminid

    @MomSense: Ramaswamy quickly became notorious on pro-Ukraine Twitter after Wednesday’s debate. People from all over were denouncing him. The next day, Pekka Kallieniomi put up a 16-tweet Ramaswamy biograghy as part of his Vatnick Soup series.

  127. 127.

    Alison Rose

    @Nukular Biskits: I like this response:

    And the irony of you constantly fighting to take away women’s rights, is not left unnoticed. 😏
    — 𝙸𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚂𝚎𝚌 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙹𝚘𝚍𝚢 🗣️📢 (@itsthejody) August 26, 2023

    Yeah, the hypocrisy is almost impressive. But the right is very good at that, isn’t it? Like when John Lewis died and they were all praising him, even though they’d spent years and years trying to thwart or destroy his work on voting rights.

  128. 128.

    zhena gogolia

    @Alison Rose: I got myself a Dark Brandon tote and my husband a Pride sunglasses tote. I don’t drink coffee or wear T-shirts or baseball caps!

    ETA: I wear T-shirts, but only V-neck. I have my great “Dude Gotta Go” V-neck, but now I can’t wear it because it seems to refer to Biden!

  131. 131.

    Alison Rose

    @zhena gogolia: I also only wear v-neck or preferably scoop neck shirts. I can’t stand when the collar is right up around my neck, even if it’s loose. I get so annoyed when I see a cute shirt, especially when it’s in women’s sizing/shape, but it’s only in crew neck. SCOOP NECKS FOREVER.

  132. 132.

    Bill Arnold

    Here’s a link to the Shane Goldmacher piece. It’s a good read, tangentially about the Republican info structure’s tendency to willfully promote underestimation of opponents. (Today, stopping page load early bypassed the NYTimes paywall, for me.)
    How G.O.P. Views of Biden Are Helping Trump in the Republican Primary – In interviews and polling, many Republican voters believe President Biden is so weak that picking the most electable candidate to beat him no longer matters. (Shane Goldmacher, Aug. 20, 2023)

  134. 134.

    ArchTeryx

    @Jay C: they might well have been. A lot of the right uses form Letters to the Editor so they all can repeat the same talking points endlessly. It’s what they do.

  139. 139.

    zhena gogolia

    @Omnes Omnibus: I have a million turtlenecks too, used to wear them all winter, but now I can only stand cowl-neck turtlenecks. They are my uniform once it gets too cold to wear dresses.

  143. 143.

    kalakal

    There’s criming and there’s criming

    This is such an odd story, the effort involved is like something out of Mission Impossible but the haul is chump change and from a charity

  148. 148.

    kalakal

    @MagdaInBlack:

    Had to wear them everyday for years as a kid at school. I can tie a tie in my sleep. Never worn them since, I hate them, they are utterly pointless. I really, really hate fastening the top button of a shirt as well

  149. 149.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @zhena gogolia: ​
      I don’t mind them at all. The shirt has to fit right, close against the skin but not actually tight. And don’t get me started on the people who tie those loose knots that are the size of a grapefruit (or Windsor knots, for that matter). Okay, I might have opinions on the subject.

  152. 152.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Alison Rose:

    it’s kinda pricey for a mug. I know campaign merch always is, but still.

    glad it’s not just me, it was cost of shipping that really brought me up short

  154. 154.

    MagdaInBlack

    @kalakal: He was blue collar, so it was not an every day thing, but he did not mind them, when the occasion called for it

    Eta: vanity, he knew he ” cleaned up nice.”

  155. 155.

    Steeplejack

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    What is your preferred knot? I only learned one way (about 100 years ago) and haven’t worn a tie in years, but I found myself thinking about ties—and actually looking at some on line—after being struck the other night by the mind-numbing mediocrity of all the pundits’ ties on MSNBC. Bland repp ties almost all the way. Give me a subdued paisley, at least.

  157. 157.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Steeplejack: Four in hand.  Simple and doesn’t create a huge lump.  I don’t do spread collars, so a knot that takes up space is unnecessary.​

  158. 158.

    kalakal

    @MagdaInBlack:

    I think in my case it’s a reaction to being forced to wear them everyday as a kid.

    I quite enjoy putting on the whole rig on special/formal occasions.

  162. 162.

    Miss Bianca

    @Steeplejack: Wow, that’s…kinda weird.

    (I was born in Springfield, MA, so that’s usually the only Springfield I pay attention to! I had no idea there were so many!)

  164. 164.

    Steeplejack

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Thanks. I’ll have to look that up, as well as the method I learned as a kid (which may be the same).

    Spread collars are of the devil. (Cf. Jared Kushner et al.)

    ETA. Yes, the four-in-hand is what I’ve always used.

  168. 168.

    Sure Lurkalot

    P01135809, when asked about his booking experience:

    “Terrible experience,” Trump answered. “I came in, I was treated very nicely. But, it is what it is; I took a mugshot, which, I’d never heard the words ‘mug shot.’ They didn’t teach me that at the Wharton School of Finance,” Trump said before railing about  what he called “election interference” by a “radical-left district attorney.”

    Emphasis mine.

    • since you brought it up, your transcripts would show what you were taught and how well you learned
    • elitist much, Mr. Man of the People?
    • never heard of the term “mug shot” but your fixer was Roy Cohn? Right.
  169. 169.

    Alison Rose

    @Sure Lurkalot: I love the “terrible experience” followed immediately by “I was treated very nicely”.

    Also, I don’t know if he meant that he’s never had the word mugshot said to him, but if he was actually trying to claim that he just never heard it at all, then jeez, how does he keep getting dumber all the time?

  172. 172.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @Omnes Omnibus: we need a better word than “lie” (or “bullshit”) for Trump’s statements.  He blurts whatever he concludes will benefit him the moment he says it.  It has no relation to truth, or even long-term planning.

  173. 173.

    Steeplejack

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    I seem to remember there was some controversy over whether Trump actually went to the famed Wharton School or just got a “regular” UPenn degree. Wikipedia does say Wharton, however. 🤔

  174. 174.

    hueyplong

    @Alison Rose: Translation: It was a horrible wrong, but the strapping men who processed me called me “Sir,” usually with tears in their eyes, and wished me luck in my holy crusade to Make America Great Again by becoming President for Life.

  175. 175.

    Brachiator

    @figgityfigs
    Replying to @figgityfigs
    The after the fact rationalization is obvious too: they’ve decided they both support Trump and also that they support “truth” in the abstract, so they’ve got to make those the same thing.

    Probably the saddest thing about hardcore Trump supporters.

    This is already a weird election cycle. I don’t know whether the GOP debates matter at all. The question is how well Trump does in the primaries.

    We may know early on how delusional his supporters are when they actually have to commit to him.

    And here the new variable will be any trial taking place.

    The GOP political news cycle will be entirely irrelevant if they remain oblivious to reality, especially if there are convictions.

    They will be praying for at least a hung jury.

  176. 176.

    Bupalos

    @Tony G: Why would he do that? Trump is an avatar of aggrievement, that’s where he makes his political living. If he’s fat, he both denies that he’s fat and collects the toll on non-fat “elites” saying he is fat. Any perceived vice reflected in his electorate is a chance to both deepen the shame of the vice and collect a toll paid in resentment.

  177. 177.

    RaflW

    @UncleEbeneezer: “he’d go in the real world and talk to his Black Aunties and they’d all be like ‘They’re good, but I really like Joe Biden.’”

    Up thread, Baud (I think) joked that Dems are ‘too diverse’ to be the real Americans.

    But it’s no joke that many in the press still yammer endlessly that working class people are MAGAs. Which totally erases the large percent of the working class that are non-white and may be anything from strong Biden Dems to independent and quite leery of Republicans.

  180. 180.

    Brachiator

    @zhena gogolia:

    How men can wear ties is beyond me.

    How times change. I remember old photographs where men wore hats, not baseball caps all the time. Then suddenly in the 1960s, hats practically disappeared.

    I had to wear a tie for my first job, and later for a time, a tie and jacket when I became management. Then somewhere along the way, casual attire became the norm.

    After a while, I only wore a tie for job interviews, weddings and funerals. And I don’t do formal job interviews anymore.

    I wonder if ties will ever disappear entirely.

  181. 181.

    WaterGirl

    @MagdaInBlack: I don’t like turtlenecks or anything tight around my wrists.

    I was a breach breech baby and was apparently all tangled up in the umbilical cord.  So that’s my theory of why I can only wear loose bracelets, etc.

  182. 182.

    LiminalOwl

    @Kay: Some hypotheses:

    1. The people who kept schools open did not extend their concerns to teachers’ well-being or pay, so: a. They couldn’t, or didn’t care to, hire the best teachers, b. Many of teachers they did hire were less motivated (as well as possibly less prepared) to teach

    2. The students in schools that were kept open saw anti-science and anti-intellectualism all around them, and a. were less motivated to learn b. received reinforcement for the idea that you gain status and power here through ignorance.

    (While I’m at it: @Van Buren, thanks for your service to students.)

  183. 183.

    RaflW

    @Omnes Omnibus: Turtle necks are of the Devil.

    Plus, they rarely look good on the wearer anyway! Just a totally mystery garment to me as to why anyone buys or wants them.

  187. 187.

    Brachiator

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    I think reports of people disliking Biden are amplifying a small but very loud group that doesn’t really capture the sentiment of most Americans.

    Totally agree with you.

    This is why the political media are trying to push stories that voters are “worried about Biden’s age” and are “uncomfortable” with Harris and might prefer other, always unnamed, Democrats.

    They can’t deal with Biden’s likeability and have to work the fringes with false narratives.

  189. 189.

    LiminalOwl

    @LiminalOwl: (tried to edit and it disappeared) Also too, I was not a breech birth AFAIK, but have survived one attempted strangulation. Plus two “not serious” attempts that, well, I’m not sure about. So there’s that.

  194. 194.

    wjca

    @OzarkHillbilly:

     I think the best we can hope for is house arrest in the trump tower with very limited communications with the outside world.

    Utterly unacceptable, IMHO.

    Confinement with very limited communication, sure.  But not on one of his fancy properties.  I believe there is a small cottage at Leavenworth which might do.  Not exposed to common criminals, which will make life easier for his Secret Service detail.  But not the luxury he feels is his due either.

  198. 198.

    Geminid

    @brantl: I was just making fun of the writer turning “namby-pamby” into “mamby-pamby.” I guess that happens when these phrases fall into disuse.

  199. 199.

    wjca

    @MagdaInBlack:

    I’m the same way with tight necks. Makes me wonder how I may have died in a past life. Noose?

    Reminds me of my father’s oft-stated reason for disliking neckties**:  “Clearly in a previous life I was hanged as a horse thief”

    ** A dislike I share.  Why has a vestigial Serbian neck scarf persisted so long as a fashion item???

  200. 200.

    wjca

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Let’s convict him first.

    Also requires Federal charges, of course.  But my (perhaps incorrect) sense was that the topic was “Appropriate punishment, assuming conviction.”

  202. 202.

    Citizen Alan

    @gene108: We’re not worried about losing an election. We’re worried about the possibility of not winning decisively enough to overcome Electoral College shenanigans. And also about the fact that roughly 70 million Americans are essentially Manson Family members who want to start a race war and will become violent if Uncle Charlie doesn’t become president again.

  207. 207.

    WaterGirl

    @LiminalOwl: Oh, gosh, I hope your deleted comment didn’t mean my comment came off badly.  That was my (probably awkard) way of acknowledging that that was a big deal and is likely part of the equation.

  212. 212.

    Soprano2

    @RaflW: I cannot stand turtlenecks on me, my neck is too short. I wear cowl necks. With T-shirts it depends on how high and tight the crew neck is, some are ok and some aren’t. I know when I try it on.

  213. 213.

    Quiltingfool

    If you have campaign tshirts, etc., but don’t like wearing them, consider turning them into a lap quilt!  I’ve made several t-shirt quilts.  It’s a nice way to preserve memories of events.
    When I make them, I don’t do the same size squares that are common for t-shirt quilts.  I find that boring, sorry, not sorry.  I like to jazz them up a bit, but you do have to do a LOT more math!

  215. 215.

    BarcaChicago

    This is good to see: Spanish football team Cádiz CF (men) expressed their support for Jenni Hermoso with a huge sign saying “We are all Jenni”. Solidarity! From El Pais (Spain’s main newspaper. I lived in Spain for 10 years.)

  221. 221.

    Quiltingfool

    @Lyrebird:   Vehement posts for or against fusible interfacing in a t-shirt quilt?  Ooh, love to read that!  Honestly, I do what works for me and mind my business, lol!

    I use fusible interfacing; it stabilizes the knit fabric by reducing the stretch and stretching is not good in a quilt top!

  223. 223.

    J R in WV

    @Scout211:

    You can’t quit  — you’re fired

    Speaking of the Spanish futbol guy!

    Regarding necks– I  have a 19.5 Inch neck, and have a ton of tee shirts with a slit to make them comfortable to wear.

  224. 224.

    Chris T.

    @WaterGirl:

    I was a breach baby…

    That’s breech (i.e., the butt, where breeches go), not breach (i.e., burst through). I don’t want to think about breaching babies that much! 😀

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