Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

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

The willow is too close to the house.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

When I was faster i was always behind.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

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

Not all heroes wear capes.

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

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

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

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

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

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

You are here: Home / Politics / Impeachment Inquiry / Wednesday Evening Open Thread: ‘Speaker Johnson’ Earns His Bat Wings

Wednesday Evening Open Thread: ‘Speaker Johnson’ Earns His Bat Wings

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MAGA Mike can, and will, lie and smarm and lie some more, no matter how obvious his lies are. This is golden, for today’s GOP. He’s probably earned himself a free pass from the Angry Toddler Tantrum Caucus for at least another round or two of budget ‘debate’ — he might even still hold the Speakership until January, assuming no really revolting skeletons fall out of his ‘Louisiana constitutional lawyer and proud evangelical’ closet before then.

Philip Bump, at the Washington Post, “James Comer’s most dishonest Biden attack yet” [gift link]:

During a news conference Wednesday morning, House Republican leaders escalated their push to impeach President Biden. Those efforts have proved to be a pastiche of superficial allegations, relying heavily on investigatory work that predates the formal impeachment inquiry and that primarily implicates his son, Hunter Biden, in some questionable activity. But if you tell your fervently anti-Biden base of support you are going to try to impeach the guy, you have to try to impeach him.

The intent of the news conference was to show progress. They unveiled a logo for the investigation and pledged a new website containing the evidence they had accumulated to date. The most noteworthy element of the news conference, though, was a revelation about how dishonest they were willing to be to insinuate wrongdoing by the president.

Last month, the House Oversight Committee and its chairman, James Comer (R-Ky.), made public two checks that had been written to Joe Biden by his sister-in-law, Sara Biden. She is married to the president’s brother, James Biden, who had partnered on business deals with Hunter Biden.

The two checks, one from 2017 and one from 2018, were identified on the subject line as “loan repayments.” Documents shared with The Washington Post reinforce the idea that the money was meant to repay loans from Joe Biden, who was then a private citizen. On July 28, 2017, Joe Biden wired $40,000 to the account of James and Sara Biden. Sara Biden wrote a check several weeks later repaying that amount on Sept. 3. Then on Jan. 12, 2018, Joe Biden wired $200,000. On March 1, that loan was repaid…

The value to Comer and House Republican leaders, though, was in how James Biden purportedly got the money to repay his older brother. The $40,000 repayment was made a few weeks after a consulting group led by James Biden received a $150,000 payment from an entity that was basically Hunter Biden’s law firm…

All of that context becomes important when considering what Comer said about the check during the news conference Wednesday. “We’ve also revealed,” Comer said in promoting the work of his committee, “how Joe Biden received $40,000 in laundered China money in the form of a personal check from his sister-in-law.”

It is hard to imagine a more obviously dishonest claim. The failure to note that this was very credibly a repayment of a loan, as though Joe Biden is morally culpable for how his brother earns money to pay him back. And the assertion that this is “laundered China money,” as though, first, this money is proved to have been from that energy-company payment and, second, that it was filtered through some nefarious process to hide the source…

Not to be outdone, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) went even further when summarizing the “evidence” against the president that had been accrued to date.

“The Oversight Committee recently released two checks,” Johnson asserted. “You see the graphics up here today. These checks are to Joe Biden! One is for $40,000 from China.”

It is not. It is from Joe Biden’s sister-in-law. It is in repayment for a loan Joe Biden made. It says so right on the check. But this, according to Johnson, is one of the four most important pieces of evidence the committee has obtained against Joe Biden.

Make of that what you will.

But look at that earnest, scrubbed, smiling white face! Would a face like that lie to you?

Not to be outdone in the Contemptibles Sweepstakes, Jim Comer blames it on… the (((Jews)))

Every one of these craven cultists deserves to be publicly smacked with a large fish.

Reader Interactions

117Comments

  2. 2.

    rikyrah

    Prez (@PrezLives2022) tweeted at 10:04 AM on Mon, Nov 27, 2023:

    The Washington Post is concerned about political consequences and the effects on the institution of marriage.

    It appears that Democratic women are rejecting Republican suitors for both marriage and dating. They find their views, attitudes, and values abhorrent, and incompatible with someone they’d want to share their life with.

    As the editors note

    “The problem with polarization … is that it has effects well beyond the political realm, and these can be difficult to anticipate. One example is the collapse of American marriage. A growing number of young women are discovering that they can’t find suitable male partners. As a whole, men are increasingly struggling with, or suffering from, higher unemployment, lower rates of educational attainment, more drug addiction and deaths of despair, and generally less purpose and direction in their lives. But it’s not just that. There’s a growing ideological divide, too. Since Mr. Trump’s election in 2016, the percentage of single women ages 18-30 who identify as liberal has shot up from slightly over 20 percent to 32 percent. Young men have not followed suit. If anything, they have grown more conservative.”

    Bottom line is that Liberal Women are just not into MAGA…

    Seriously who wakes up and says I’d like to date a fake Christian who worships false deities, treats their weapon as a phallic symbol, lacks rationality, and is incapable of self thought. Not to mention racist and misogynistic.

    Women have a right to be happy and if not marrying MAGA accomplishes that then so be it

    (twitter.com/PrezLives2022/status/1729169221991432661?s=02)

  4. 4.

    Anyway

    OT Türkiye
    I was unable to stay and answer questions on Thanksgiving about my Turkiye trip. It was a quick Jackal drive-by while I was in’n’out of wi-fi range and then there was a 6-hr delay in Heathrow and work …

    @montanareddog

    How have you been getting around? I am curious about a visit to Türkiye and would prefer to avoid hiring cars as much as possible.

    By bus. I was skeptical of bus tours but wanted to check out all these places and a friend who’d been on one recently talked me into it. I was happy with the decision – we went to so many sites and not having to deal with all the hotel and travel logistics was nice.
    Roads and tourism infrastructure are great and it would be easy to rent a car and use GPS to get round (outside Istanbul). BUT. The language barrier is huge especially as you get away from IST.
    Turkish is a hard language to pick up even a few rudimentary phrases and most people do not speak and understand English.

    I liked our guide and felt he added to the experience. I loved the road trip – seeing all the different parts of the country was great.

    You can fly to many of the locations. But would need a car to get to the interesting places

  6. 6.

    Anyway

    OT Türkiye

    @ Dorothy A. Winsor: Isn’t Ephesus amazing?

    Yes, Amazing! Especially the agora and the library. One advantage of being there mid-November instead of summer was the relative dearth of tourists. I heard that it’s not unusual to have 80-100 buses in Ephesus in the summer, there were 6 or 7 when I was there.

    I also liked Pamukkale/Hierapolis which was kind of similar but with travertine terraces, an ancient pool, beautiful teatro, and my fave – the martyrium of St Philip – enjoyed wandering the sprawling ruins. It was freezing and there were few people once you got away from the hot springs. I had the place almost to myself. It was pretty neat.

    That and Istanbul are the only places I’ve been in Turkey. You really are getting around.

    Yes, that’s the reason I went with the bus trip – got to see a lot. Some small sites too like a  cool 12th C caravanserai in Arkasay. Passed many geo-thermal stations taking advantage of the hot springs around Pamukkale.  Got to see the huge variety of fruits and nuts and agricultural products grown in the southwest. Everywhere we went we heard about how awful this year’s olive crop is and the expected effect on the price of olive oil.

  7. 7.

    artem1s

    So I take it Comer is still running away from holding public hearings and he needed Mikey to deflect from that?

  8. 8.

    Anyway

    OT Türkiye

    @Geminid: I’m curious though: how have the local Turkish people treated you? What are your impressions of Turkish people and society?

    As others mentioned people in Instanbul are friendly and very accustomed to tourists. In the Grand Bazaar and Spice market store owners would ask if we were American and launch into hard-sell mode. Nothing offensive just hard-sell. As I said in another post cabbies, waiters etc did not speak
    much English and there were few opportunities for Tom Friedman-style convos. Funnily the two waiters that spoke English and wanted to chat were from Syria and Afghanistan. The city itself is amazing — bustling, cosmopolitan etc. Of course traffic in the touristy old city was chaotic but public transportation – trams, metros, buses- was good (one of my indicators of a functioning city).
    I did a lot of touristy things- Suleimaniya mosque, Aya Sofia, Topkapi palace, Beylerbeyi Palace/museum, ferry along the Bosphorus which was interesting — so many cool things to see on both sides, walked across the Golden Horn on the Metro bridge and along the promenade and back on Galata, walked around Balaat and other interesting ‘hoods …something unexpected – went to a club-type place with middle-eastern+techno music, belly dancers and a party scene – it was fun, stayed out till 2 am. It sounds cheesier than it was :-)

    Despite not knowing the language parts of the city we visited felt pretty safe. There were no demonstrations or anything that I saw. There were protesters with placards in the Hippodrome area and scattered “Free Palestine” signs in the old City but they weren’t in your face.

    There are a lot of mosques, A LOT– not surprising given that the country is overwhelmingly Moslem.
    Got to go inside some of the famous ones — beautiful with lots of architectural interest. Apparently the mosques are maintained by the government/municipalities (“my taxes” acc to our IST guide)
    Noticed a huge variety of mosques as we travelled around the country – many small ones with just one minaret. Roughly half the women wore head scarfs. Outside of Ankara didn’t see many men in Arab-style clothing

    There were few free-standing bars  (exception was Canakkale a university town) but beer and wine were available in all the hotels/restaurants we went to.

    Overall very impressed with the country, the people, totally lived up to my positive expectations.

    Jackals with a crush on Turkish twitter should try to visit. :P

  15. 15.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @rikyrah: They really and truly believe they should suffer no social consequences for their shitty views.  This is one of those central beliefs of White Supremacy.

  16. 16.

    cain

    So, not sure if you all saw this but:

    justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-attorney-announces-charges-connection-foiled-plot-assassinate-us-citizen…

    Looks like the Indian govt is about get real embarrassed – that attempted assassination led by some guy from the Indian embassy – that was a huge blunder. Fucking around with Canada is one thing – but it’s a different kettle of fish when it’s the U.S.

    I expect some shit to go down. I also expect some some emo-aggro shit to happen in India with flags being burned and so on. This should be interesting to see how the political class here react to that.

  18. 18.

    Anyway

    @Suzanne:

    Exoticca. My first time using them and first time with a tour group. Mixed group of Brits, Canadians and USAns. Our guide and our driver were really good.

  23. 23.

    Anyway

    @Elizabelle:

    Down-side of “out-of-season” – had to miss the hot air balloon rides in Cappadocia. They were cancelled all the days we were there due to weather (too windy). That’s another place that’s really cool – natural rock and lava formations are other-worldly. Then there’s the earliest Christian frescoes and monasteries in Goreme — just amazing and underground cave city in Kaymakale that was started by the Hittites and used by early Christians to take refuge from marauding tribes.

    This is one place I hated being tied to someone else’s schedule…

  24. 24.

    different-church-lady

    They unveiled a logo for the investigation…

    Hey, why not? It’s just a product for consumption, after all…

  25. 25.

    Elizabelle

    It’s great that Wapo writers can put a gift link in their tweets.  Paywall can be a problem.

  30. 30.

    satby

    @Anyway: I’ve been eyeballing several of their tours and am happy to hear you felt it was a good company. The first time I went to India I used Friendly Planet for the first 8 days and stayed a week solo. Gave me a chance to see a lot of sights, and get my bearings before flying to Hyderabad alone.

  31. 31.

    Anyway

    @cain:

    he can pull an Elon and go to Israel and get his dick given the full spa treatment by Bibi.

    I was surprised by that – doesn’t Netanyahu have enough to do? Playing tour guide to a jerk celebrity – wonder how that played in Israel.

  33. 33.

    bbleh

    It’s faith-based politics.  Contradict it with messy “facts” and you get confusion, followed by high dudgeon, followed by (yet more) anger, followed by a robotic return to their talking-points.  And this stylized form of a childish tantrum is seen by their base as evidence of righteousness.

    Their base does not want to hear anything but focused repetition of the Catechism, and that’s what they’re serving up.  They’re not talking to anyone else.

    The Republican Party — very much including their Christianists — are a cult.

  35. 35.

    Geminid

    Yes, these lying Republicans deserve to be smacked with a large fish…and then doused with a bucket full of bong water!

  40. 40.

    Geminid

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: I know. I want to be a humane person, but these Republicans have gone too far!

    I’m like, screw a guillotine. Set up one of those Foucault Pendulums with a 400 pound halibut instead of a heavy bronze ball, and knock those Republican politicians down one by one. And then, when they’re lying on the ground moaning, revive them with a bucket of chilled bong water.

  43. 43.

    Bill Arnold

    @Geminid:

    doused with a bucket full of bong water!

    Then, state laws permitting, arrested, tried, convicted and jailed for possession of THC.

  44. 44.

    wjca

    @Bill Arnold: I will watch the IN nationalist outrage machine spin up with great interest.

    Especially when the identity of the Indian government employee in charge (CC-1) comes out.  Which, given the details about him which were made public, seems fairly certain.  However unofficially.

    EDT Although I do wonder if part of their outrage will be for his incompetence in arranging the assassination attempt.

  46. 46.

    Quinerly

    @Harrison Wesley: he has a relatively new memoir out that I want to read. Saw him about 10-15 years ago at a small venue in St. Louis. Very, very good show. Also saw him at our old St Louis Big Muddy Blues Festival. Big fan!

  47. 47.

    Almost Retired

    @Harrison Wesley:  Wow!  Time passes quickly.  My wife (then girlfriend) was a cocktail waitress at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, which was mostly a jazz venue in the 80s (it was featured in LaLa Land).  He played there at least twice when she was working there.   Probably 1984 or 1985.  An extraordinary musician.  And not that old at the time…….sigh

  49. 49.

    topclimber

    @Geminid: A followup to an earlier post about Liz Cheney. I don’t remember if you were one of the most who thought her electoral prospects dead, but in any case, here’s the question.

    If more Red states (see Montana) adopt jungle primaries, does this give an opening for candidates like her? That is, someone at least somewhat respected by Dems, with name recognition among independents for helping to finally bring Trump down (yes, it is going to happen) and the support of never Trumpers might well cobble together a coalition that beats a flaming MAGit in a district that would never elect a Dem.

  50. 50.

    dmsilev

    Elon is loosing what little shit he had left:

    Elon Musk targets advertisers who boycott X with expletive-filled rant

    Amid a growing advertiser exodus over antisemitism on his social media site, Elon Musk told advertisers he doesn’t want their money — in no uncertain terms.

    “Go f— yourself,” Musk said at the New York Times DealBook conference Wednesday, addressing the growing list of advertisers who have stopped spending money on X, formerly Twitter, over concerns that Musk himself was amplifying antisemitism and racism on the social media site. He appeared to specifically call out Disney chief executive Bob Iger, whose company is among those who paused advertising on X, saying “hi, Bob.”

    “What this advertising boycott is going to do is to kill the company,” Musk said, vowing not to bow to pressure from outside companies or critics. If X does go bankrupt, the public will blame censorious advertisers, not him or his actions, Musk said.

    Cry harder, apartheid boy.

  51. 51.

    RaflW

    “As a whole, American men are increasingly struggling with, or suffering from” a desire to have an authoritarian, right wing government that will control women.

    And in shocking news, women are recoiling in horror.

    Men could realize their politics suck fetid donkey nuts, recalibrate, and see if they can make amends and get some dates.

    Or, tah tah, they can whine like pathetic brats to credulous journalamalists. Alas they’re making the stupid choice.

  54. 54.

    sab

    OT: I read BJ on the internet via my little Nook. I don’t want to infect my computer with icky stusff from the internet and Nook seems to protect us to some extent.

    A couple of nights ago my Nook fell off a shelf and banged its connection.

    I plugged in other chargers and no go. Apparently our charger was an antique. So I plugged the slow charger in… Life continued.

    Now today my Nook is feeling weak. Can’t hold a charge. I am online now but that won’t last.

    OT: In accounting over the last two decades I ran repeatedly into computer updates/ improvements that cost a lot and obsoleted my system. I have old computers underfoot. None of them are useful. Mostly they wasting space in case we need to read them. Is this a way to run an accounting syestem? Your computer burps, and suddenly you are lost?

    They still make multicolumn green ledger paper. Eighty year old ladies and eighteen year old interns can still make that work. And if your computer bursts into flame tomorrow, the green ledger paper will still work if they use ink not pencil.

    Anti-corruption is not hard before the sharks move in. You just need to want to do it. After the sharks move in it is hard and good people die.

  55. 55.

    Baud

    @dmsilev:

    If X does go bankrupt, the public will blame censorious advertisers, not him or his actions, Musk said.

     

    That’s who I plan to blame on BlueSky, Threads, and Mastodon.

  56. 56.

    Geminid

    @topclimber: Cheney might .benefit from a jungle primary system. The only two of the ten House Republican Impeachers to make it into this Congress were in jungle primary states. That would be Dan Newhouse (WA) and David Valadeo (CA).

    But I don’t think Cheney could parachute into a Washington or California district and win. Ed. Eventually, other states will move to jungle primsaries, ranked-choice voting or like Alaska, a combination of the two. But I think that will be too late for Liz Cheney.

    So, I think Cheney has hit a dead end electorally. Adam Kinzinger might stage a comeback, but he is younger, an Air Force Reservist, and a man.

  58. 58.

    eclare

    @sab:

    If your computer bursts into flame, there should at least be a backup from the prior night.  If your paper catches fire…

  60. 60.

    Subsole

    @Anyway:

    Especially given Elon’s blatant discount-rack Daily Stormer shit immediately before.

    It wasn’t Bibi playing tour guide. It was Bibi helping launder an anti-Semite while also claiming to be the Great Protector of Jews.

    I imagine it went down the opposite of smooth.

  61. 61.

    topclimber

    @Geminid: On the other hand, if a fossil(/s)  like Biden wins in 2024, maybe we have to re-calibrate what the upper bounds of electable age are in other offices as well.

  64. 64.

    cain

    @schrodingers_cat:

    @cain: RWNJs who run India will deny it and then do some chest thumping.

    Yeah, but regardless – a court case has been filed. Someone is gonna get arrested. Like I said, I expect a shit ton of bad emo coming from the bakts since this is an embarrassment for Modi and India. The folks there are going to be mad.

  65. 65.

    Geminid

    @topclimber: The upper bounds for other offices are already pretty high. But I don’t think Joe Biden will start a trend. Among Democrats in Congress, the trend is already in the opposite direction and I think it will continue so.

  69. 69.

    sab

    @eclare: They never burst into flame. They just quietly die offline after being replaced. Then if you want their five year old data nobody knows how to revive it.

    Promise you the cops, who are dinosaurs, know how to revive data that is dead to you.

  70. 70.

    Subsole

     

     

    @sab:  Huh. I ask because I remember a summer job I had cleaning up and organizing old records for some company. Box upon box of carbon-paper copies, faded with age.

    I remember being profoundly grateful I didn’t have to pin any of my legal or financial hopes on that paperwork. Because I don’t think God could have read some of those sheets.

    Yes. Yes, the xerox machine is much better.

  73. 73.

    Another Scott

    @Anyway: Thanks very much for the pointers.  A retired colleague and his wife went to Turkey many years ago and raved about it.  If they talked about how they got around, I’ve forgotten it.  Being reminded about logistics is very important!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  74. 74.

    lowtechcyclist

    @sab: ​
     

    I have old computers underfoot. None of them are useful. Mostly they wasting space in case we need to read them.

    If you need the space, they make hard drive readers that you can pop a hard drive into, plug it into the USB port of a working computer, and read it just like another drive on your computer. IIRC, one of those costs maybe $40-$50.

    So you can pull the hard drives out of all those computers that are cluttering up your office, put them in plastic storage boxes that they make for that purpose (good labeling is advised), stack the boxes on a corner of a shelf in a closet, and store the reader with them. Once you’ve done that, you can toss the old computers, you don’t need them anymore.

    It’s unfortunate that your computers get obsoleted so frequently, but that’ll solve the resulting space problem.

  75. 75.

    JaySinWA

    @sab: They sometimes burst into flames with litium batteries. But often the batteries just swell and burst.

    ETA If you want to stick with NOOK it looks like B&N has a discount for updating

    ETA2 I’d recommend a Chromebook for safe-ish web surfing.

  77. 77.

    sab

    We had a plumber in today, fixing a flaw and leak in our shower plumbing. He did a great job and fixed it.

    Also too he knew an insurance person who likes our insurance company who thinks it was covered.

    Woo-hoo!

    Our pitbull spent five hours locked in our bedroom, barking to protect us, and we did nothing to protect the house. I think we can expect a week of sulks ahead. But I won’t discount her. She will be enthusiastically on board protecting tomorrow. Good girl and good dog.

  78. 78.

    lowtechcyclist

    @sab: ​
     

    @VeniceRiley: Fucking asshole. Not real? Just scaring us. Pie filter forever, asshole.

    I doubt that was deliberate on his part, just the wrong word to choose all caps for emphasis, rather than bolding or italicizing, especially right after someone’s name.

  79. 79.

    Martin

    @topclimber: Probably not too much. The population curve peaks with births in 1950 I think. So 73 year olds are, just statistically, our likely high point and it fell off pretty steadily from there for the next two decades at least. I doubt immigration had much impact on that nationally, and would have no impact on the president since they can’t run.

  80. 80.

    SiubhanDuinne

     

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Amanda Marcotte RIP

    Man, you had me scared there for a second.

    Me too!

    I mean, me too scared there for a second, not me too RIP.*

    *Good Lord willin’ and the crick don’t rise.

  82. 82.

    cain

    @Bill Arnold:

    The thing is unlike the Indian newspapers they are not going to be able to come in and do raids and what not. This is going to be international news and they don’t really have the skill to really manage it because they are used to doing heavy handed stuff within India.

    I suppose you can run the outrage machine – which I think is super dumb because they would realize it would trigger the GOP fascists and now both sides will have a new enemy to point at each other at. The GOP have been ignoring the illegal immigration coming from Indians but you can bet suddenly that’s gonna be a thing.

  83. 83.

    cain

    @Anyway: It didn’t play well at all. He got flamed for bringing and toasting an antisemite – but you know Bibi doesn’t give a fuck. He’ll embrace anyone if they have their hate on for Palestinians.

  86. 86.

    Geminid

    @Anyway: I appreciate yours and other’s responses about Turkiye and its people. I started paying attention to Turkiye because of its role in the Ukraine war, but I have since tried to learn more about Turkiye’s history and culture.

    I’ve also had friendly interactions with some people on Turkish Twitter. Just a few days ago, a discussion about F-16 purchases led to a more general conversation about American-Turkish relations, and then an invitation to stay over if I visit there.

    This friendliness seems all the more striking because I’ve seen surveys of Turkish attitudes towards other nations, and the US ranks pretty low when it comes to favorability. But this seems to come from political differences that do not result in animus towards Americans as people, at least among the people I talk to.

    Turkish people seem very conscious of their position between the Arab Middle East and post-Christian, secular Europe. It’s geographical, but it’s also social and cultural. My impression is that despite their economic stresses and political divisions, Turks believe they have the best of both worlds, and I think they could be right.

  87. 87.

    trollhattan

    Just learned Jezebel will live on–they’ve been acquired by Paste, who cover media, arts and entertainment, and are not tainted by any Thiel leakage. Huzzah for small victories!

    We’re thrilled to announce that Paste Magazine has acquired and will shortly be reviving Jezebel, the influential media platform known for its fearless, female-empowering content. When we heard that the iconic site had been shuttered, we moved quickly to try and save it. The deal was first reported by The New York Times this morning.

    Jezebel, a beloved platform with a strong focus on women’s issues, pop culture and social commentary, has long been at the forefront of cultural and political conversations. With this acquisition, Paste Magazine aims to amplify Jezebel’s impact with a shared focus on great writing, while delighting and informing their respective audiences.

    The acquisition means that the critical information and content that Jezebel readers have come to rely on will live on. Paste’s mission has always been to provide insightful, thought-provoking content that resonates with a diverse audience. Jezebel’s unique voice and commitment to storytelling make it a perfect addition to our portfolio.

    Josh Jackson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Paste Magazine, expressed enthusiasm about the acquisition, stating, “We are honored to bring Jezebel back to life and excited to welcome the site into the Paste Magazine family. The acquisition means that the critical information and content that Jezebel readers have come to rely on will live on. Our mission has always been to provide insightful, thought-provoking content that resonates with a diverse audience. Jezebel’s unique voice and commitment to storytelling make it a perfect addition to our portfolio.”

    The acquisition is poised to bring together the strengths of Paste Magazine’s established presence in the media landscape with Jezebel’s influential position in addressing contemporary issues. This collaboration will offer audiences an even richer and more comprehensive perspective on culture, entertainment, and the world at large.

    pastemagazine.com/media/jezebel/paste-acquires-jezebel-com-prepares-for-relaunch?mc_cid=89bfcd3317…

  88. 88.

    Gin & Tonic

    @cain: Note that both Elmo and Bibi have declined invitations from Zelensky to visit Ukraine. Bibi also told Z, a Jew, not to come to Israel.

  89. 89.

    topclimber

    @Martin:

    @Geminid:

    The median age of a Senator in 2023 is 65, an all-time high, and the  10-year trend is steeply upward. House checks in at 58, with a steadier but still strong upward slope.

    Check out the first graph here.

    Any kind of normal distribution would have a fair number of members older than that. So perhaps an older Liz will still have a shot or at least won’t necessarily be handicapped by age a decade or so from now.

  90. 90.

    wjca

    @cain: The GOP have been ignoring the illegal immigration coming from Indians but you can bet suddenly that’s gonna be a thing.

    And, since they don’t do (or even vaguely comprehend) nuance, they will probably flip out over legal immigration from India as well.  Could be a new hurdle for Nikki Haley.

  91. 91.

    Percysowner

    @wjca: ​
     I’m sure DeSantis will play it for all he can. I’m doubly sure that the Repubs will hammer Kamala Harris with it even though it makes NO SENSE.

  93. 93.

    wjca

    @topclimber: The median age of a Senator in 2023 is 65, an all-time high, and the  10-year trend is steeply upward. House checks in at 58, with a steadier but still strong upward slope.

    For assessing the impact of age on Cheney’s chances, wouldn’t the age of first term Senators be a better metric than looking at the age of all Senators?

  95. 95.

    Geminid

    @cain: Netanyahu is desperate and would do anything to salvage his political position. And his wife might have told him that meeting Musk was a good idea.

    According to Israeli newspapers, Sarah Netanyahu has inordinate influence over her husband. I call her Lady MacBibi.

  96. 96.

    patrick II

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: ​
     
    I am upset too. Perhaps I was too glib in my response. For people of average or better native intelligence being smart starts with being honest. The right answer can lead to pain and people avoid that and the skill to struggle for truth atrophies. Most of the people we mutually dislike are cowards. Their ability to struggle to find truth and honesty atrophies. They can seem clever but they are not smart . I think it is sadistic because it is a form of self harm. Most of them are not happy people except when they can diminish others.

  97. 97.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    @Geminid: turkey is a great place to visit – the Roman ruins from Ephesus are so beaux arts high Victorian in their splendor  that I half expected to come across a ruined train station. The other fun point is visiting ancient, rediscovered Troy. After all the elaborate Roman ruins, the bus stops at which is basically a field of rubble & all the classics majors freak out, crying to each other, there’s the plain! And there’s the river that Achilles fought! while everyone else  is completely mystified as to why anyone would ever care to look at this nondescript heap of old stones. Also the food is awesome, the Ottoman palaces are great & frankly, everyone should go. Highly recommend!

  110. 110.

    Queen of Lurkers

    @Anyway: I did a solo trip from Istanbul (where I was with friends) to a number of places (Cappadocia, Ephesus, Izmir etc.) about a decade ago. I booked a tour that used a combination of planes and buses. It was extremely efficient and absolutely wonderful.

  111. 111.

    Mike in NC

    @Suzanne:  Absolutely. War criminal Kissinger finally shuffled off this mortal coil. Somebody put a stake in his heart just for good measure.

  112. 112.

    Denali5

    We went to Turkey with a small group of 16 with Overseas Adventure Travel. Turkey has great food, incredible history, and  a beautiful coast. It is amazing. I think it is a little  less advisable  now to cruise the Black Sea, but we found the people to be very friendly.

  117. 117.

    Anyway

    @satby:

    Yep. I did the 12-day tour and tacked on 3 days in Istanbul at the end. Worked well. FYI there were some other fees on top the listed price.

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