Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Human rights are not a matter of opinion!

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

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

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

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

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

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

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Their shamelessness is their super power.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Bark louder, little dog.

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

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / But Enjoy Your Weekend

But Enjoy Your Weekend

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Go Joe!  💕

Just saw this outstanding tweet that rikyrah linked to earlier.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

129Comments

  3. 3.

    lowtechcyclist

    I can see a busy week ahead, trying to get as much as possible done before an unscheduled vacation.

  6. 6.

    New Deal democrat

    @lowtechcyclist: I responded at length to your comment about house prices at the bottom of the thread earlier today. (Sorry, I had to step out for a couple of hours so I didn’t get to it sooner). I thought you might find it helpful so I wanted to give you a heads-up.

  11. 11.

    Geminid

    @lowtechcyclist: It is very easy for me to say, “every cloud has a silver lining.” So I said it.

    But if there is a shutdown, I hope there will be some good bicycling weather along with it.

  18. 18.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Alison Rose: I understand it but I personally only adopt slang if I understand how that word came to be used the way it was. Typically this arises naturally as the word starts appearing in my stream of consciousness.

  20. 20.

    Scout211

    AP Thursday afternoon, Gen. Randy George was confirmed as Army Chief of Staff, and Gen. Eric Smith was confirmed as commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. On Wednesday, the Senate confirmed Gen. CQ Brown as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, putting him in place to succeed Gen. Mark Milley when he retires at the end of the month.
    . . .
    The other two nominated service leaders for the Navy and Air Force have not gotten votes yet. Adm. Lisa Franchetti is the current vice chief of the Navy and Gen. David W. Allvin is the vice chief of the Air Force. Franchetti is currently serving as acting chief.

    The first female to have seat at the Joint Chiefs of Staff is waiting, Senator Schumer.  I feeling all kind of salty that she has not yet been confirmed.  She better not be last.  I’m just saying.

  25. 25.

    cmorenc

    Meanwhile, the fox news headline take on the confirmation votes on thr marine corps commander and head of joint chiefs of staff is “Schumer blinked” – ie Tuberville’s military promotion blockade tactic is a success

    in a separate article on fox about the specific three officers proted, they mention the vote in favor of  confirmation was 96-0.

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    I know you guys have been joking all day that most of the David Brooks bill at the airport lounge was probably liquor, but I did not know that was based on actual reporting.  Or were you guys just guess right?

    The ‘1911 Smoke House Barbeque’ in Newark Airport clapped back at the NYT columnist and revealed almost 80% of his bill was his bar tab.

  32. 32.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @WaterGirl: I have only gotten one explanation for the etymological roots of “based” and it has.to do with crack and free-basing.

    Weird choice for a word generally used to acclaim others, but can’t deny crack got you speaking your mind.

  33. 33.

    schrodingers_cat

    For back to school I got a 150 set of Crayola pencils which has the Colors of the world pencils in it as well. Will try my hand at coloring people. My first attempt was in Karlzon’s Daydreams with Fabercastell Polychromos pencils.

    I love my Crayolas as much as my Polychromos.

  36. 36.

    Alison Rose

    Oh man, I just saw that Valerie June is gonna be at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass this weekend. Waahhhhh I wish I could go! If any Bay Area jackals were planning to be there, make sure to catch her set if you can!

  46. 46.

    schrodingers_cat

    @WaterGirl: Thanks. There is an ultra fancy farm to table restaurant in my neck of the woods and their  steak dinner is less than $50. So I knew it must be booze.

    Airports in Europe are generally more expensive than US airports,  even so $20 will get you a fairly decent meal in Heathrow, for example.

  47. 47.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @HumboldtBlue: Interesting. When I think of “joint” I think of a place rather than a thing. Unless it’s a specific thing that gets me high.

  48. 48.

    Geminid

    @Jay: That’s like Turkish intelligence with Jamaal Khashoggi, except they had the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul under audio surveillance and listened to the journalist being murdered in real time.

  51. 51.

    Jackie

    TIFG’s niece, Mary Trump, knows EXACTLY how to get under his skin! 👏🏻👏🏻

    I’m sorry Donald, but calling Charles Koch a “very stupid, awkward, and highly overrated globalist,” is a clear sign to me… You must be getting nervous that Koch has already raised more than $70 million to oppose you in the Republican presidential primary. And there’s more coming. I can only imagine how off-the-charts your anxiety is especially since you know there is so much more trouble coming your way. Your childish name calling can only take you so far. Even more transparent than your anxiety is your jealousy. Charles Koch is at least 24x richer than you. You really shouldn’t let your emotions take over like this Donald. Your pattern of name-calling and grievance is wearing thin and it just makes you look like the weak loser you are.

    https://twitter.com/MaryLTrump/status/1705004607120814337?s=20

  56. 56.

    Jackie

    @HumboldtBlue:

    A federal judge just ordered that Donald Trump must sit down for an up to 9 HOUR deposition in a time and place of Cohen’s choosing on October 3.

    😂🤣😂🤣😂

  59. 59.

    Jay

    Sound familiar?

    The Oireachtas, Ireland’s legislature, was put into a virtual lockdown for hours on Wednesday by a small but abusive group of about 200 people.

    The protesters threatened staff and journalists and erected a mock gallows covered with photos of politicians from across the spectrum.

    The crowd was apparently united not so much by a cause – their messages included Covid conspiracy theories, anti-immigration messages and attacks on transgender rights – as by a willingness to use aggression in a bid to shut down the heart of Ireland’s democracy.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/21/alarm-over-fascist-like-protest-at-irelands-seat-of-government

  62. 62.

    Scout211

    Senator Schumer is starting the process since the Republican majority in the House is in disarray.
    Schumer sets up path for Senate to move first on funding stopgap

    Faced with the House stalemate over a government stopgap funding bill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday set up a path for the Senate to move first on a bill to fund the government beyond Sept. 30.

    Schumer filed cloture on a motion to proceed to H.R. 3935, the House-passed bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which could serve as a legislative vehicle to pass a continuing resolution to fund government through the Senate.

    “I have just filed cloture to move forward on FAA. As I have said for months, we must work in a bipartisan fashion to keep our government open, avoid a shutdown, and avoid inflicting unnecessary pain on the American people. This action will give the Senate the option to do just that,” Schumer announced on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon.

    Traditionally, the House moves first on spending and revenue bills but senators feel they must make the first move to keep the government funded because Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has not been able to round up 218 Republican votes in the House to move a stopgap funding measure.

  65. 65.

    Another Scott

    @Scout211:  [ Quoting TheHill.com ]

    Traditionally, the House moves first on spending and revenue bills …

    It’s more than “tradition”, it’s in the Constitution – Article I, Section 7, clause 1. The only way the Senate can move on a budget bill is if it takes something that has already passed the House first.

    (It’s also how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – H.R. 3590 – started life as the “Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009”.)

    I guess it’s too much to ask for reporters on this stuff not to unnecessarily dumb-down what our legislature actually does to pass things into law.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  67. 67.

    tam1MI

    The Senate held a hearing on book banning, and the book banners whined to high heaven…

    “It is not evil to want to be involved in your child’s education,” Neily said. “Every time a parent is falsely accused of wanting to ban a book because of a reasonable concern about subject matter appropriateness, neighbors are pitted against each other… Pretending that objections to minors accessing explicit sexual content is a threat to liberty and literature is a straw man,” she said.

    They are whining because the pushback against the book banners is working.  Keep it up.

  72. 72.

    tobie

    @Jay: That is one blockbuster story. It sounds a lot like something Russia would do. Assassinate a political foe abroad and then attack the country where the assassination occurred for not keeping foreign nationals safe.

  81. 81.

    RaflW

    @tobie: I didn’t remark on it yesterday, but of course the worst possible man at the NYT (Peter Baker) did an ‘analysis’ piece yesterday that made noises about how the Canada-India fracas is … of course … bad news for Biden.

  85. 85.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @tam1MI: Pretending that objections to minors accessing explicit sexual content is a threat to liberty and literature is a straw man,” she said.

    No, no. The straw man is pretending that teachers are presenting sexually explicit material to children as a routine matter of curriculum.

  87. 87.

    RaflW

    The other day my niece and her two friends had that leaving-energy on the cabin deck. “We’re gonna dip,” she said. For once I intuitively knew exactly what was happening.
    Her mom chimed in some sort of “Oh, kids slang. It’s so confusing.”

    A lot of times, yes. And I still don’t really grok “Based.” but that’s really online, and seems political to me.

  99. 99.

    Tony G

    @schrodingers_cat: I don’t know who Bobo’s constituency is at this point.  Thirty years ago, I guess it was mainstream Republicans.  But now mainstream Republicans are white supremacist theocratic fascists.  Maybe he’s just talking to himself now.

  100. 100.

    Almost Retired

    @Scout211:   I recall (I think) that you’re originally from Iowa?  Randy George, the new Army Chief of Staff, is from a small town near my own hometown in North Central Iowa. When Randy was in high school, he worked for my Dad.  I was away at college, and barely knew him, but my Dad acted as kind of a mentor for him.  Randy was kind of lost, and my Dad suggested the Army.  He never suggested that for me, btw, but the Army probably asked him not to.

    Anyway, Randy joined the Army around 1982 or so, at about the same time I moved to Los Angeles.  My Dad died 40 years ago, and I kind of forgot about Randy.

    And then he was nominated to be the Army Chief of Staff.  In his prepared statement, he credited his decision to join the Army to a former employer who was a Korean War veteran.  Dad served in Germany during the Korean War but wasn’t in the war, so we weren’t sure who Randy was referring to.

    Randy’s parents are still alive and living in that town.  A family friend confirmed that Randy was indeed referring to my Dad, even if he got a detail wrong.  My Dad would have been thrilled!

    ETA:  Thrilled about Randy.  Not about the current state of his (then) beloved Republican party.

  106. 106.

    Jeffro

    per Geminid’s and Roger Moore’s quick discussion in an earlier thread of the differences on D and R gerrymandering/districts and the level of quality

     

    1. The Democrats are more diverse than the Republicans.  To a rough approximation, the Republicans are the party of White bigots, and the Democrats are the party of everyone else.  That homogeneity among the Republicans makes it comparatively easy to win a primary with a simplistic appeal to their bigotry.  You can’t do that when trying to win the Democratic nomination; you have to speak to lots of different groups independently.

    2. The Republicans started down the path of radicalism earlier, so it’s more advanced among them.  It took a long time for the Republican party to shed itself of people who actually cared about policy.  The Democrats aren’t there yet, but that shouldn’t make us believe we couldn’t get there eventually.

    I think my thoughts are more along the lines of #2, but I’ll put it simply: Ds are there to at least try to deliver for their constituents; Rs are there for performative radicalism, period, full stop (ie, their people don’t give a shit about policy save “moar for rich folkz!!1!”

    They’re aiming for completely different outcomes.  Ds want more punch available to everyone in the punch bowl; Rs are competing to see who can drop the biggest turd in the bowl.

  107. 107.

    mvr

    @Another Scott: ​
    We and especially the press uses misuses “traditionally” a lot. Some things are written into rules or laws of nature. Some things have happened before. That does not make them traditional.

    I went to Reed College in the late 70s to early 80s where “tradition” was often used in arguments and often referred to something that had happened once before. It always made me laugh since it was used to defend the student body buying 60 kegs of beer for Renn Fayre  as opposed to a mere 55 (which put me in the “anti-beer” faction since I thought the money for the last 5 kegs was better spent on other things).

  108. 108.

    C Stars

    @schrodingers_cat: Hilarious. Brooks is disingenuous in his every word and action. He could have actually found some item that IS overpriced and might have resonated with people, but he was either too drunk to be that discriminating or (also likely) he has a personal assistant do all his grocery shopping for him.

  112. 112.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @mvr: [Tradition] was used to defend the student body buying 60 kegs of beer for Renn Fayre  as opposed to a mere 55 (which put me in the “anti-beer” faction since I thought the money for the last 5 kegs was better spent on other things).

    How many kegs did you go with? Were they all used?

  114. 114.

    Lyrebird

    @schrodingers_cat: thanks!

    FWIW even though I am not always big into name brands, we are big Crayola fans in this house.  Crayons themselves are too coarse for much of what you have been doing, but we use them a lot, and you might not think there’s much difference… but the Crayolas are way better than generics.

     

    A long way of saying, glad you are enjoying your new goodies!

  117. 117.

    karen marie

    @WaterGirl:  You have to be pretty drunk to forget you drank almost $60 worth of alcohol with your burger and fries.  So why is Brooks drinking alone in an airport and drunk rage posting?  Has his trophy wife threatened him with divorce?

    Could be!

  118. 118.

    Matt McIrvin

    @RaflW: I still cringe at “based” because the first people I saw using it were basically Nazis, so I think of it as a white-supremacist word meaning “politics I like”. But they apparently didn’t originate it, they got it from Black slang.

  121. 121.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @karen marie: You have to be pretty drunk to forget you drank almost $60 worth of alcohol with your burger and fries.

    Maybe he got into Maureen Dowd’s edibles.  Not good to mix weed with alcohol, it helps you drink A LOT.

  122. 122.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Jeffro: But what their constituents want delivered is performative radicalism. These are people who decided that getting a vaccine is a sign of untrustworthy politics and have to express public regret for getting a shot 2 years ago.

  123. 123.

    mvr

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation: I was in favor of 55 kegs (for a student body of 1200 students back then); that made me anti-beer.

    Let me tell you there is nothing like watching drunk students scale the roof of a dorm when you have voted to fund the free beer at a Renn Fayre to put you in fear for your future.

  124. 124.

    BruceFromOhio

    These extreme Republicans are proving time and time again to be anti-Veteran and anti-Military.

    First they came for not-me, and I didn’t say anything because it was not me.

  126. 126.

    Ken

    @Origuy: Charlotte Clymer on Threads did the research.

    Good, but I suspect she’s slightly off in thinking he gave a 20% tip. I’m sure she’s wrong when she says “I’m assuming Mr. Brooks is decent enough to tip at that rate.”

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