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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Getting Old and Out of Touch

Getting Old and Out of Touch

by @heymistermix.com|  February 8, 20244:12 pm| 186 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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In yesterday’s post on the Governor of the Mount Rushmore State, I mistakenly called South Dakota the “Sunshine State”.  Well, that was the motto on the flag for probably 100 years, and certainly through my childhood and young adulthood.  I’m just out of touch with changes in a state that I only visit occasionally, so I didn’t know the motto had been changed to something more fitting (even if the sun shines when it’s -20F outside, it’s hardly fair to advertise yourself as a “sunshine state” with weather like that).

Similarly, the other day at the gym I was on the bike in front of the CBS screen, and the Price is Right came on.  I haven’t watched that show for probably 20 years, and I was surprised to see that one of the spokesmodels was a man.  When did that happen?  2012!  Of course, it was long overdue considering the mainly female demographic of that show.  (As an aside, wow was “spay and neuter your pets” Bob Barker a sleazy piece of shit.)

Anyway, before I researched the Price is Right spokesmodel changes, my first question was why there hadn’t been a right-wing freakout about it.  The answer, probably, is that it happened in 2012, because that kind of change is freakout fodder in 2024.  Right wing media has convinced their audience that being out of touch is a problem with the thing you’re out of touch with, not with you.   And, boy howdy is Trump the poster child for someone who wants society to be frozen somewhere around his early adulthood.  That guy loves the 80’s and 90’s, when New York was the center of the world, and sleazy fuckers like him (and Bob Barker) got a big old “boys will be boys” pass when they were acting like pigs.

I know it’s not as simple as “vote for me and you won’t have to worry about being out of touch” — racism, sexism and a bunch of other factors are inextricably intertwined with Trump’s appeal — but the notion that being out of touch is the world’s problem, not yours, is sure part of why the old at heart like the guy.

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Reader Interactions

186Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    February 8, 2024 at 4:16 pm

    I’m out of touch but am still a decent person (at least on political matters).

    But I agree with what you said.

  2. 2.

    Barbara

    February 8, 2024 at 4:21 pm

    Well, maybe the key for me is that I have always felt like I was out of touch.  It’s nothing new or unusual. Some changes I like, some I don’t but I definitely understood from an early age that the world would never cater to my particular sensibilities.

  3. 3.

    Chetan Murthy

    February 8, 2024 at 4:21 pm

    Teh Kidz [sic] are more alright than we ever were at their age.  Lots of us have trouble with that realization.

  4. 4.

    Baud

    February 8, 2024 at 4:21 pm

    @Barbara:

    Me too. I’ve never felt in touch with the world.

  5. 5.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 4:23 pm

    I got told “boys will be boys” so many times as a young girl, and it always made me wonder why people defending boys think that being a boy (or man) means being an abusive, dangerous, violent, hateful piece of shit? Because the people who say “boys will be boys” are usually the same ones who call little boys “princes” and “kings” and talk about what “ladykillers” they’ll be (some of them literally! because they were raised to believe girls and women owe them attention and sex! and when they don’t get it, some of them turn stabby!) and generally act like boys are the best thing God ever made. And yet they also apparently think they’re the worst, because they attribute the most horrendous behaviors to simple “being a boy”.

    They say feminists hate men, but it’s the rest of society who defines men by their worst acts, not us.

  6. 6.

    JustRuss

    February 8, 2024 at 4:28 pm

    I had no idea SD was ever referred to as “The Sunshine State”.  Who do they think they’re fooling?

  7. 7.

    trollhattan

    February 8, 2024 at 4:32 pm

    Latest motto: “Winter is Coming.”

  8. 8.

    Ken

    February 8, 2024 at 4:35 pm

    Other poster children include all the 60-year-old comedians who tell the same jokes they’ve been using since the1980s and get angry when no one laughs.

  9. 9.

    Eduardo

    February 8, 2024 at 4:39 pm

    SD as “the sunshine state” reminded of the time when ND wanted to drop the “North” from its name.

  10. 10.

    Sister Golden Bear

    February 8, 2024 at 4:39 pm

    @trollhattan: And since they call us “snowflakes” let’s bury them in an epic history-making blizzard.

  11. 11.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 8, 2024 at 4:41 pm

    @JustRuss:

    I had no idea SD was ever referred to as “The Sunshine State”.  Who do they think they’re fooling?

    Hey, I’m in a perpetual state of sunshine and merriment!!

    Love, SD

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    February 8, 2024 at 4:42 pm

    That guy loves the 80’s and 90’s

    More like the heyday of Studio 54, which burned the candle at both ends from ’77 to ’80.

  13. 13.

    rikyrah

    February 8, 2024 at 4:44 pm

    I always thought the Sunshine State was Florida.

  14. 14.

    RevRick

    February 8, 2024 at 4:44 pm

    @Alison Rose: You have identified one of the contradictions at the heart of patriarchal systems. On the one hand, boys and men are counted as superior beings: more intelligent, more honest, more capable, and less subject to emotional overreaction. On the other hand, men are excused for all sorts of reprehensible behavior that negates all the claims of superiority. But then that’s typical of reactionary beliefs.

    Fox News manifests this all the time, spewing “facts” that are in complete contradiction with each other, sometimes managing to do so within the space of an hour. And I get the feeling that not only is the audience unaware that opposing claims are being made, but also the true believers spouting them aren’t aware either.

  15. 15.

    RevRick

    February 8, 2024 at 4:46 pm

    @rikyrah: It is, and clearly many of the residents have been out in it far too long.

  16. 16.

    Jay

    February 8, 2024 at 4:46 pm

    Growing up, “boys will be boys” was a common refrain in our house, but

    it was never about being sexual predators,

    it was about that time my brother shot me in the leg with an arrow, the time that my brother and I, and the Trenholm boy’s discovered Nunchuks and proceeded to beat the crap out of each other and ourselves, getting caught in metal shop making throwing stars, us almost drowning trying to swim out to Copper Island, black eyes, broken limbs, various explorations into things that went bang,  retracted testicles, (cliff jumping at the Black River, nude), etc.

  17. 17.

    NotMax

    February 8, 2024 at 4:46 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne

    SublimeDiane, purveyor of a source of innocent merriment?
    ;)

  18. 18.

    gene108

    February 8, 2024 at 4:46 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Latest motto: “Winter is Coming.”

    Should be “Winter Never Leaves (but it does take a nap for a couple of months) and SUNSHINE!”

  19. 19.

    Geminid

    February 8, 2024 at 4:48 pm

    Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers is only 54, but she’s decided to hang it up. She announced today that she will not run for relection to her eastern Washington seat. It includes Spokane. McMorris entered Congress in 2005 and is currently Chair of the powerful Energy And Commerce Committee.

    I saw this on Jake Sherman’s twitter feed. Sherman also posted on a statement today by Hakeem Jeffries. Evidently, the Minority Leader expects the Senate to pass the Ukraine/Israel aid bill:

    JEFFRIES STATEMENT: “House Democrsts are prepared to use every available legislative tool to make sure we get comprehensive security legislation over the finish line.”

    [Sherman]: Every available legislative tool is the key phrase here.

    I like Jeffries’ terse messaging. He doesn’t waste words.

  20. 20.

    teezyskeezy

    February 8, 2024 at 4:48 pm

    Hm, seeing the news and it seems the “mErRiCk GaRlAnD hAs ThIs!!!” crowd needs a moment to regroup.

  21. 21.

    catclub

    February 8, 2024 at 4:50 pm

    @RevRick: and less subject to emotional overreaction

     

    Yeah, bring that up when the defendant says “I killed her in a fit of rage because I could not help myself.”

  22. 22.

    Splitting Image

    February 8, 2024 at 4:51 pm

    @Ken:

    Other poster children include all the 60-year-old comedians who tell the same jokes they’ve been using since the1980s and get angry when no one laughs.

    Coincidentally, Broadway Danny Rose was released 40 years ago. It opens with a pair of 60-year-old comedians who have been telling the same jokes for years completely befuddled by the fact that no one laughs any more.

    I guess what’s changed is that befuddlement is now white-hot anger.

  23. 23.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 4:51 pm

    @Geminid: A quick Google tells me we’re probably not gonna flip her seat, alas.

  24. 24.

    Sparkedcat

    February 8, 2024 at 4:53 pm

    Bob Barker was not a “sleazy piece of shit”. He did more for animal rights than almost any other human being in my lifetime. His decades long admonition to have your pets spayed or neutered has in all likelihood prevented millions of unwanted animal births. Bob Barker gave away over 200 million dollars in merchandise to everyday Americans. The cars alone that were given away on The Price Is Right changed hundreds of lives. If I should be fortunate enough to live to ninety-nine years of age and be a national figure and the only mark on my character would be a few dubious lawsuits  I would take that distinction in a heartbeat. If you are looking for a “sleazy piece of shit” than I would direct you to a man named Donald Trump.

  25. 25.

    Chief Oshkosh

    February 8, 2024 at 4:53 pm

    @Barbara:

    Well, maybe the key for me is that I have always felt like I was out of touch. It’s nothing new or unusual.

    Going all the way back to being 4 yo, which is my earliest memory, I’ve always felt that it’s the rest of the world that is out of touch with me.

    Ha!

  26. 26.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 4:54 pm

    @catclub: Exhibit A.

  27. 27.

    catclub

    February 8, 2024 at 4:56 pm

    CNN on Trump lies – wow!

    Pelosi and January 6
    In comments to reporters on Thursday, Trump blamed the January 6 riot at the Capitol on Pelosi, the Democrat who served as speaker of the House at the time.

    “I think it was an insurrection caused by Nancy Pelosi,” Trump said.
    Facts First: This claim is complete fiction – an abject lie. Pelosi did not cause a mob of pro-Trump supporters inspired by Trump’s lies about the 2020 election to storm the Capitol.

  28. 28.

    Frankensteinbeck

    February 8, 2024 at 4:56 pm

    Anyway, before I researched the Price is Right spokesmodel changes, my first question was why there hadn’t been a right-wing freakout about it. The answer, probably, is that it happened in 2012,

    Yeah, they were too busy freaking out about that Superbowl add where the Star Spangled Banner was sung by brown people in multiple languages.

  29. 29.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 4:57 pm

    @Sparkedcat: So, Trump is the only one allowed to be a sleazeball? Because he’s one, no one else can be called one? Did you even click the link?

    In 1994, former model Dian Parkinson filed a lawsuit against Barker alleging sexual harassment following a three-year affair while working on The Price Is Right. Parkinson, who alleged that she was extorted by threats of firing, later dropped her lawsuit, claiming the stress from the ordeal was damaging her health.

    In 1995, model Holly Hallstrom left The Price Is Right and later filed suit against Barker, alleging that the reason she was fired was not so much because of her 14-pound (6.4 kg) medication-mediated weight gain (as documented) but because, to Barker’s displeasure, she refused to give false information to the media regarding Parkinson’s suit, as she alleges Barker had requested she do. Barker countersued for slander, but Hallstrom prevailed, receiving a settlement in 2005.

    In October 2007, Deborah Curling, a CBS employee assigned to The Price Is Right, filed a lawsuit against CBS, Bob Barker, and The Price Is Rightproducers, claiming that she was forced to quit her job after testifying against Barker in a wrongful-termination lawsuit brought by a previous show producer. Curling claimed that she was demoted to an “intolerable work environment” backstage, which caused her to leave the job. Curling, who is black, also alleged that the show’s producers, including Barker, created a hostile work environment in which black employees and contestants were discriminated against.

    Yeah, he was nice to cats and dogs. Too bad he didn’t treat human women as well as animals.

    Calling the lawsuits “dubious” really gives your game away. Those bitches are always lying about good men!!!!!

  30. 30.

    japa21

    February 8, 2024 at 4:57 pm

    @Sparkedcat: Bob Barker didn’t give away anything, he hosted a show that gave the stuff away.  Yes, his promotion of spaying and neutering were commendable, but some of his private behavior appears to have crossed major lines.

  31. 31.

    Ruckus

    February 8, 2024 at 4:59 pm

    @Alison Rose:

    I’m a male and I heard all that boys will be boys crap and it seemed to me very long ago that it was just bullshit. Maybe it was my family, maybe it’s me but I thought that this country was founded upon the concept that all of us are equal. Of course while that was the concept that was no where near the really – and that was and may still have a certain amount of truth to it. Females in this country were for a long bit of my life, if not legally, certainly overall considered less than full citizens. And a lot of that was because of who/what the vast majority of elected officials were – men. And it was blatantly obvious. That started to change a few decades ago. But it has and will continue to take a long time to completely and totally necessarily change, because for many it is hard to admit that they were and are wrong.

  32. 32.

    MattF

    February 8, 2024 at 4:59 pm

    Somewhat OT. Remember Mark Meadows? TFG’s last Chief-of-Staff. I can put on my Jackal costume and point out that he’s a hypocritical, conniving, back-stabbing, lying asshole— but Roger Draper has done better. This (gift link) is a NYTMagazine article by Draper that lays out at length and in detail why so many people despise Meadows. Read it and weep.

  33. 33.

    catclub

    February 8, 2024 at 5:00 pm

    @Splitting Image: It opens with a pair of 60-year-old comedians who have been telling the same jokes for years completely befuddled by the fact that no one laughs any more.

     

    I remember a “This American Life” when the subject was George Burns doing his act in rundown clubs when he was 115 or so. He did not know anything else.

  34. 34.

    Geminid

    February 8, 2024 at 5:00 pm

    @Alison Rose: It’s still a good sign though that McMorris decided to step back from Congress. Her Caucus is a mess and she doesn’t see any point in sticking around to try straightening it out.

    I think Tom Foley was the last Democrat to represent the 5th CD, until he was beaten by McMorris’s predecessor George Nethercutt.

  35. 35.

    Bobby Thomson

    February 8, 2024 at 5:00 pm

    Pretty sure Florida has been the Sunshine State at least since Walt started buying up orange groves.

  36. 36.

    raven

    February 8, 2024 at 5:02 pm

    And here I thought this thread was about this:

     

    Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” they wrote, adding that Biden “is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt.”

  37. 37.

    Yutsano

    February 8, 2024 at 5:02 pm

    @Alison Rose: ​ I don’t know if that’s true. Spokane is actually getting more blue, and there is a small blue dot where Wazzu is. If they nominate in the jungle primary the right Democrat and someone crazy like Loren Culp to run it might just end up being a pick up. But that’s a definite blue tsunami thing.

  38. 38.

    TriassicSands

    February 8, 2024 at 5:03 pm

    Males can’t help themselves — testosterone. There isn’t a great deal of evidence that human beings in general use their brains to overcome bad behavior, selfishness, greed, short-sightedness, etc., so why would human males take a moment to think about and modify their behavior before acting like — I don’t want to use the word “animals,” because we don’t usually consider other species to have the ability or awareness to overcome instinct and survival oriented behavior. And, yet, there are remarkable instances of that kind of behavior in many species.

    There was a fascinating story in the paper about a gigantic elephant seal bull that dropped everything (which means fighting with other males to gain dominance and mating rights and, yes, mating) to enter the water and assist a young pup who was struggling and in danger of drowning back to shore. None of the scientists questioned had ever seen a male elephant seal act in a way that looked suspiciously like altruism.

    “Boys will be boys” is, when applied to young people, just recognition that they are not yet mature enough to use their brains to control their behavior. In the case of adults, it’s simply an excuse for men being too stupid, cruel, or selfish to use their brains to reconsider disgusting words and actions. That means the “boys will be boys” expression is, by default, recognition that many men will never be mature enough to control their behavior. The thought process seems to be: “Me Want! Me Take.”

  39. 39.

    trollhattan

    February 8, 2024 at 5:03 pm

    @gene108: Flew into Rapid City on a trip to see Iowa granny–late March I think–and plane was filled with returning Dakotans, most of whom huddled at the windows as we neared our destination.

    “Oooh, look how green it is!” which prompted me to peer down. All I saw was white and patches of brown where the snowcover had melted off.

    Unlike the Inuit and their many descriptions of snow, Dakotans have twenty versions for green.

  40. 40.

    Splitting Image

    February 8, 2024 at 5:05 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Yeah, they were too busy freaking out about that Superbowl add where the Star Spangled Banner was sung by brown people in multiple languages.

    As I recall, the story of the year was that Hillary Clinton, as Secretary of State, travelled to Libya and personally murdered four members of the embassy staff, including one Ben Ghazi.

    They didn’t throw a hissy fit about the Price is Right because they didn’t think they would need to.

  41. 41.

    teezyskeezy

    February 8, 2024 at 5:05 pm

    @raven: Yeah that was some fucking bullshit. Campaigning for Trump in a special counsel report.

    There was no obligation for Garland to appoint a Republican sycophant to do this investigation. Garland does not, in fact, “have this.”

  42. 42.

    raven

    February 8, 2024 at 5:06 pm

    @trollhattan: I flew into Fargo one August and drove to Fergus Falls and was stunned by the sunflower fields.

  43. 43.

    Geminid

    February 8, 2024 at 5:07 pm

    @Yutsano: That’s the spirit. Never underestimate Republican dysfunction and the possibility of a big Blue Wave. I hope Dems come up with a srrong candidate.

  44. 44.

    Redshift

    February 8, 2024 at 5:07 pm

    The answer, probably, is that it happened in 2012, because that kind of change is freakout fodder in 2024.

    I’d say it’s more likely it’s because they had a Black man in the White House to freak out over in 2012, and because men moving into spaces dominated by women isn’t really freakout-worthy, because it doesn’t involve men thinking something is being taken away from them.

  45. 45.

    Old School

    February 8, 2024 at 5:07 pm

    @catclub:

    “I think it was an insurrection caused by Nancy Pelosi,” Trump said.

    So we agree it was an insurrection?

  46. 46.

    Baud

    February 8, 2024 at 5:08 pm

    @Old School:

    Baby steps.

  47. 47.

    NotMax

    February 8, 2024 at 5:08 pm

    @Jay

    black eyes, broken limbs, various explorations into things that went bang, retracted testicles

    Yours truly apparently experienced a deprived kidhood.
    ;)

  48. 48.

    Frankensteinbeck

    February 8, 2024 at 5:09 pm

    @teezyskeezy:

    Garland does not, in fact, “have this.”

    Looks like Garland had this just fine.  Biden was cleared and another conservative whined that Biden is Old, which will disappear in the shuffle because there was no legal finding.  The political landscape is changed not one drop by this except ‘no charges filed’.  The dipsticks who will use this to say Biden is Old… are already saying it.

  49. 49.

    Sparkedcat

    February 8, 2024 at 5:09 pm

    @Alison Rose:

     

    @Alison Rose:

     

    @Alison Rose:

     

    @Alison Rose: According to the link you cited Bob Ba

     

    @Alison Rose: So by your logic all of the lawsuits filed against Bill Clinton prove that he was a “sleazy piece of shit”.

  50. 50.

    Ruckus

    February 8, 2024 at 5:09 pm

    @Sparkedcat:

    First – see my comment above.

    Second, just because ShitForBrains is a bigger asshole than some other humans does not mean that some other humans are not complete and utter assholes. And yes I’ve known assholes on both sides of the gender aisle but more of the men I’ve known in my near 3/4 of a century set the mark for the very definition of asshole. My question would be – Does his decent actions towards non humans change his assholeliness towards half the human race? The correct answer is NO.

  51. 51.

    $8 blue check mistermix

    February 8, 2024 at 5:10 pm

    @Sparkedcat:  Wow, didn’t realize that anyone would stan for Bob Barker.   Also:

    “Barker sued her for libel and slander (Barker v. Hallstrom), claiming that she was lying, but he dropped the suit 48 hours before the trial was to begin. The court declared Hallstrom the prevailing party and ordered Barker to pay Hallstrom’s legal fees. ”

    “Hallstrom has never married and has no children, which is why she believes that she was the one member of The Price Is Right who could fight what she called “miserable tyranny at the hands of a mad dictator” (referring to Barker). During the nearly ten years in which her lawsuit was in the courts, she spent all of her savings, sold her house and lived from her car.[6]In an interview,[which?] she said: “I refused to give up and let that evil old bastard win.”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holly_Hallstrom

    Barker lost that one, sorry to report.

  52. 52.

    teezyskeezy

    February 8, 2024 at 5:10 pm

    @Yutsano: Spokane is really getting more blue? Interesting. The only thing I thought I liked about Spokane was their canned salmon pizza…kidding (if you don’t know the reference look up the not at all real “spokane style pizza” tik tok)

  53. 53.

    dexwood

    February 8, 2024 at 5:12 pm

    New Mexico first used The Sunshine State as it’s motto until 1941 when The Land of Enchantment came into use. Florida didn’t officially adopt it until 1970.

  54. 54.

    teezyskeezy

    February 8, 2024 at 5:12 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: I really strongly disagree, but will happily* (but METAPHORICALLY) eat my hat if we get through this.  I just disagree with you, but am willing to admit I am wrong if and when that’s clear.

     

    *the unfair advantage of pessimism, I acknowledge.

     

    EDIT: I mean I can see your point but “the stupid media narrative” has settled on “biden is old and senile” for at least a few weeks now and as annoying and dumb as that is…it’s what it is.   A report that didn’t include this bullshit would have been better, even *if* we can get past it.

  55. 55.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 5:13 pm

    @Sparkedcat: Um, looks like you need to do some editing, but to respond to the one thought you managed to complete: I have never denied that Clinton behaved atrociously toward Lewinsky and likely others. Some of the claims, when looked into, did not seem to hold water, while others did. I think he was a jerk who abused his power and charisma while also being a very intelligent person who did some good things in office but also a lot of terrible things. But I’m not sure what you expect me to do about that now? I mean, I definitely won’t vote for him for president.

  56. 56.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 5:14 pm

    @$8 blue check mistermix: Maybe Bob made sure Sparkedcat got spayed and they’re very grateful for that.

  57. 57.

    NotMax

    February 8, 2024 at 5:14 pm

    @raven

    Drove through Fargo once while heading to East Grand Forks, MN for a celebratory party and the only memory of it is the pervasive aroma of stale potatoes.

  58. 58.

    FelonyGovt

    February 8, 2024 at 5:15 pm

    I don’t really think Trump is a throwback to the ‘70’s or ‘80’s. I think his comfort zone- even if he wasn’t yet old enough- is the “ring-a-ding” 50’s, where there wasn’t yet even lip service to the idea that women should be represented in business or the professions, and casual sexism and misogyny of the “pinch the secretary’s butt” variety was an “accepted” part of life.

  59. 59.

    Jager

    February 8, 2024 at 5:16 pm

    @JustRuss:

    A lot of people considering they didn’t require a driver’s license until 1954, no exam required.

  60. 60.

    Mai Naem mobile

    February 8, 2024 at 5:17 pm

    @JustRuss: they were thinking ahead with global warming.

  61. 61.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 5:19 pm

    @RevRick: target nailed.

  62. 62.

    Baud

    February 8, 2024 at 5:21 pm

    @FelonyGovt:

    I think the 50s may have existed through the 80s in Trump’s social circle.

  63. 63.

    catclub

    February 8, 2024 at 5:21 pm

    @teezyskeezy: Have you read this section of the report, which CNN is already pointing out:

    Unlike the evidenceinvolving Mr. Biden, the allegations set forth in the indictment of Mr. Trump, ifproven, would present serious aggravating facts.Most notably, after being given multiple chances to return classified documents and avoid prosecution, Mr. Trump allegedly did the opposite. According to the indictment, he not only refused to return the documents for many months, but he also obstructed justice by enlisting others to destroy evidence and then to lie about it. In contrast, Mr. Biden turned in classified documents to the National Archives and the Department of Justice, consented to the search of multiple locations including his homes, sat for a voluntary interview. and in other ways cooperated with the investigation.”​

  64. 64.

    Sparkedcat

    February 8, 2024 at 5:23 pm

    According to jackals being sued makes one guilty of unspeakable affronts. Bob Barker was a good man and I am willing to sue anyone who says otherwise.

  65. 65.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 5:23 pm

    @japa21: I saw raw footage of Bob B. in a documentary film (wish I could remember the title) and yes, that man was a piece of utter shit.  Misogynist, narcissist, racist to his rotten core.

  66. 66.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 5:24 pm

    @Baud: LOL. Reminds me of one of my favorite movie quotes, from Field of Dreams:

    “And I think if you have experienced even a little bit of the 60s, you might feel the same way, too.”

    “I experienced the 60s!”

    “No, I think you had two 50s and moved right on into the 70s.”

  67. 67.

    NotMax

    February 8, 2024 at 5:25 pm

    @FelonyGovt

    Obligatory?
    :)

  68. 68.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 5:25 pm

    @Sparkedcat: Jeez, was he your grandpappy or something?

  69. 69.

    Sparkedcat

    February 8, 2024 at 5:27 pm

    @TBone:

     

    @TBone: I saw raw footage of Donald Trump in a documentary film (wish I could remember the title) and yes, that man was a piece of utter shit.  Misogynist, narcissist, racist to his rotten core.

  70. 70.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    February 8, 2024 at 5:29 pm

    @Ruckus: That boys will be boys crap came into play during the Kavanaugh hearings. If I were a man, I’d be insulted.

  71. 71.

    Baud

    February 8, 2024 at 5:29 pm

    @Sparkedcat:

    Is that…uh… an attempt at reverse psychology?

  72. 72.

    Baud

    February 8, 2024 at 5:29 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    And that’s why you could never be a man.

  73. 73.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 5:30 pm

    @Sparkedcat: Explain this. Is it your contention that because Trump is a terrible person, we are not ever allowed to think anyone else is terrible? Only one person in all of humankind can be terrible, and it’s all used up? No one here is saying Trump isn’t garbage, or even that Barker was anywhere near as bad as Trump. Someone doesn’t have to be the worst ever to be bad.

    Jeez, you are really showing how good it is to be a mediocre white man.

  74. 74.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 5:30 pm

    PSA the film ‘Harold and Maude’ is on TCM at 9pm if anyone needs cheering up.  Maude is my shero!  Parents took us to see this in theater when it came out and it’s given me something to aim for ever since.

  75. 75.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 5:32 pm

    @TBone: Love that movie. We actually watched it in photography class in my senior year of high school. The reactions from the class the first time we see them in bed together were hilarious.

  76. 76.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 5:34 pm

    @Alison Rose: 🤣 the black humor is marvelous and Ruth Gordon is SO great, I can’t say enough good about this movie.  PLUS it’s about fighting fascism, really!

  77. 77.

    NotMax

    February 8, 2024 at 5:40 pm

    @TBone

    If ever a modern remake produced, they’ll use an electric hearse.
    ;)

  78. 78.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 5:41 pm

    @NotMax: his mother is SUCH a fascist! And the one-armed Uncle makes me howl with laughter! ❤️

  79. 79.

    wenchacha

    February 8, 2024 at 5:43 pm

    @raven: Goddammit. Is Joe feeble, unable?

    I haven’t thought so. But this report? Just pisses me off.

  80. 80.

    TeezySkeezy

    February 8, 2024 at 5:43 pm

    @catclub: I know! But *we* actually read this shit in detail. Most dont.
    I can see how you think this will all pass though, and I dont want to keep pissing you all off. If me convincing you mattered I might keep pushing but I guess I should respect the social norms more. I just disagree…but also desperately want to laugh at my own foolishness along with you in november when we win. Please let me be stupid.

  81. 81.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 5:43 pm

    @wenchacha: consider the source, please.

  82. 82.

    Sparkedcat

    February 8, 2024 at 5:44 pm

    @$8 blue check mistermix:

    President Clinton reached an out-of-court settlement with Paula Jones yesterday, agreeing to pay her $850,000 to drop the sexual harassment lawsuit that led to the worst political crisis of his career and only the third presidential impeachment inquiry in American history.

    After more than 4 1/2 years of scorched-earth legal warfare, Clinton and Jones brought a sudden end to the case with a four-page deal in which he acknowledged no wrongdoing and offered no apology. The agreement, which will be filed with a federal appeals court considering whether the lawsuit should go forward, requires the president to pay within 60 days.

    @$8 blue check mistermix:

     

    @$8 blue check mistermix:

  83. 83.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 5:46 pm

    @NotMax: 😆 that’s how I got my first job too, after Dad dropped me off out front and growled “Go in there and GET A JOB.”

  84. 84.

    TeezySkeezy

    February 8, 2024 at 5:47 pm

    @wenchacha: yeah, tell me about it.  All Republicans are bastards. Don’t acronym that one though. Trust me, don’t.

  85. 85.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 5:47 pm

    @Sparkedcat: WHAT IS YOUR FUCKING POINT?

    God damn, are you eversor on a new trip?

  86. 86.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 5:48 pm

    @Sparkedcat: what is your fucking point?  Yes, TWO men can both be pieces of shit ferfukksake

  87. 87.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 5:49 pm

    @Alison Rose: punch buggy yellow! 💛

  88. 88.

    karen gail

    February 8, 2024 at 5:49 pm

    I remember a sex ed movie that was made for the military, early 60’s and local schools were showing them as part of our sex education classes; what got me was how females were blamed for being loose, giving STD’s and getting pregnant. After a lecture about how girls lure boys into trouble I felt compelled to question why boys weren’t being told to keep their pants zipped and their hands to themselves. The male teacher reply that boys don’t have self control and it was up to girls to make sure they didn’t get pregnant.

  89. 89.

    NotMax

    February 8, 2024 at 5:51 pm

    @TBone

    Speaking of Ms Gordon, ever see 1953’s The Actress?

  90. 90.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 5:52 pm

    @NotMax: of course but thank you can’t have too much Ruth!  It’s like cow bell 🥰

  91. 91.

    wenchacha

    February 8, 2024 at 5:52 pm

    @TBone:  Got it. I’m pissed about SCOTUS and this just feels like icing on the cake. It will be all anybody wants to talk about, I fear.

  92. 92.

    Baud

    February 8, 2024 at 5:53 pm

    @wenchacha:

    You’re right.

    But success requires powering through the noise.  

  93. 93.

    Sparkedcat

    February 8, 2024 at 5:54 pm

    @Alison Rose: My point is that Bob Barker was not  based upon lawsuits filed by creditable or uncreditable litigants.

  94. 94.

    Ivan X

    February 8, 2024 at 5:55 pm

    @Alison Rose: Yeah, but, to be fair, men are gross.

  95. 95.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 5:55 pm

    @wenchacha: worry is a waste of imagination.  It’s gonna be a very long ride on the back of the flying chaos monkey that is this year’s election season.  Take care of yourself and guard yourself against the onslaught.

  96. 96.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 5:56 pm

    @Sparkedcat: By “creditable or uncreditable litigants”? So…even if you think they’re creditable, he’s still not a bad person because…why? WHY? You are making zero sense.

  97. 97.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 5:56 pm

    @Baud: 👍👊

  98. 98.

    RevRick

    February 8, 2024 at 5:56 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: The get out of jail free card, which boys will be boys, avails men, erases the insult for all too many.

  99. 99.

    karen marie

    February 8, 2024 at 5:56 pm

    @TriassicSands:  I didn’t get the memo you speak for everyone.  I’ll keep that in mind.

  100. 100.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 5:56 pm

    @Ivan X: Well, at least some of you make good music.

  101. 101.

    karen gail

    February 8, 2024 at 5:57 pm

    @TriassicSands: I was born in early 50’s and spent most of my life listening to excuses for male behavior; by not catering to men women were branded with so many nasty names, I have probably been called most of them.
    When I hear “boys will be boys” used as an excuse for childish behavior in “adult” males it makes me sick and angry; we excuse terrible behavior on a sliding scale of how much money and power that male has. The sleazy used car sales man will get prison while the rich many will laugh, joke and rape his way through life with little or no punishment.

  102. 102.

    JustRuss

    February 8, 2024 at 5:57 pm

    @Sparkedcat: I’ve seen raw footage of Bill Cosby.  He was…not very nice.

  103. 103.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 5:58 pm

    @Alison Rose: damn I wish I could remember the name of that documentary that erases ANY doubt about what kind of person he was.  Raw footage, open mike stuff when he didn’t know he was being filmed, and some even more galling where he DID know.

  104. 104.

    Ken

    February 8, 2024 at 6:00 pm

    @karen gail: The male teacher reply that boys don’t have self control and it was up to girls to make sure they didn’t get pregnant.

    Was he arguing for castration?  It would solve both problems, improving their self-control by reducing libido and aggressiveness, while also making it impossible for them to impregnate the female.

  105. 105.

    JustRuss

    February 8, 2024 at 6:01 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:  I shall hereafter refer to you as Siubhan “Sunshine” Duinne.

  106. 106.

    Sure Lurkalot

    February 8, 2024 at 6:01 pm

    @TBone: Thanks for the Harold & Maude heads up!

    If you wanna sing out sing out, and if you wanna be free be free, there’s a million ways to be, you know that there are…..

  107. 107.

    gwangung

    February 8, 2024 at 6:01 pm

    @Sparkedcat: You’re more desperate than convincing. That edges toward the trollish.

  108. 108.

    Baud

    February 8, 2024 at 6:03 pm

    @karen gail:

    Women have responsibility but not authority.

    A key component of patriarchy.

  109. 109.

    raven

    February 8, 2024 at 6:04 pm

    Stop feeding this moron.

  110. 110.

    NotMax

    February 8, 2024 at 6:04 pm

    FYI.

    The Federal Communications Commission is making it illegal for robocalls to use AI-generated voices. The ruling, issued on Thursday, gives state attorneys general the ability to take action against callers using AI voice cloning tech.
    [snip]
    Although state attorneys general could already go after the bad actors behind robocalls based on the scam or fraud they’re perpetrating, this new ruling gives them the power to hold scam artists accountable solely because they’re using an AI-generated voice. The FCC first proposed banning the use of AI voices in robocalls last month. Source

  111. 111.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    February 8, 2024 at 6:05 pm

    Trolls will be trolls. Also, pie is delicious.

  112. 112.

    Miss Bianca

    February 8, 2024 at 6:07 pm

    @Alison Rose: My mom used to love this columnist named Sidney Harris, and I remember him writing one time (this was back in the 70s,.so my memory may be somewhat hazy) something to the effect of “People who say ‘Boys will be boys’ never seem to stop to think that these boys going to be ‘boys’ with someone else’s daughter.”

  113. 113.

    Jay

    February 8, 2024 at 6:07 pm

    ruZZia has deployed StarLink in occupied Ukraine using registered accounts.

    Apartheid Clyde has gone all in on ruZZia.  SpaceX will be next.

  114. 114.

    karen gail

    February 8, 2024 at 6:08 pm

    @Ken: I think he was making excuses since he was caught with a cheerleader naked in back seat of station wagon; the one his wife used for hauling around their children.

  115. 115.

    karen gail

    February 8, 2024 at 6:09 pm

    @Ken: I believe he felt the need to excuse his football team, he encouraged the cheerleaders to do everything they could to keep them happy.

  116. 116.

    dmsilev

    February 8, 2024 at 6:11 pm

    Some good news: Climate scientist Michael Mann won his defamation lawsuit against a couple conservative bloggers.

    Michael Mann, a prominent climate scientist, won his long-standing legal battle against two right-wing bloggers who claimed that he manipulated data in his research and compared him to convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky, a major victory for the outspoken researcher.

    A jury in a civil trial in Washington on Thursday found that the two writers, Rand Simberg and Mark Steyn, defamed and injured the researcher in a pair of blog posts published in 2012, and awarded him more than $1 million.

    “I hope this verdict sends a message that falsely attacking climate scientists is not protected speech,” Mann said in a statement.

  117. 117.

    NotMax

    February 8, 2024 at 6:11 pm

    @karen gail

    Remember this?

    While [Rep. Henry] Hyde was spearheading the impeachment of President Bill Clinton amid the revelations of the Clinton–Lewinsky affair, it was revealed that Hyde himself had conducted an extramarital sexual affair with Cherie Snodgrass, who was also married. Hyde admitted to the affair and attributed the relationship as a “youthful indiscretion”. He was 41 years old and married when the affair occurred.… Source

  118. 118.

    Baud

    February 8, 2024 at 6:12 pm

    @dmsilev:

    👍

  119. 119.

    wenchacha

    February 8, 2024 at 6:15 pm

    @TBone:  Thanks. I was foolishly hoping SCOTUS would slap around Trump a little bit. I should know better by now.

    And yes the next several months are gonna suck, media-wise. Must gird my loins.

  120. 120.

    Frankensteinbeck

    February 8, 2024 at 6:17 pm

    @JustRuss:

    I’ve seen raw footage of Bill Cosby. He was…not very nice.

    No surprise to me.  I remember my horror when I realized how much of his humor depended on treating brutal physical child abuse as normal.

  121. 121.

    Sparkedcat

    February 8, 2024 at 6:18 pm

    @TBone: Damn I wish I could remember that footage of where Hunter Biden was waving his cock around and paying money to sex workers. This is a two way street.

     

    @TBone:

  122. 122.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    February 8, 2024 at 6:19 pm

    @dmsilev: This is great news! More of the people victimized by right-wing propagandists need to sue them to oblivion. I wish this scientist had started that lawsuit years ago.

  123. 123.

    Jay

    February 8, 2024 at 6:20 pm

    Can we haz a Troll Ban?

  124. 124.

    karen gail

    February 8, 2024 at 6:20 pm

    @JustRuss: I saw Redd Foxx and Don Rickles live, in laws had front row seats for both performances; I wish I had had the courage to get up and leave. They were disgusting, vile men; both felt free to use female member of audience as targets; the males in audience ate it up so much that I heard them retelling the jokes and the reactions women had.
    I did like Phyillis Diller, her live show was the same as those saw on TV and she spent more time poking fun at herself than she did with making jokes about “Fang.”

  125. 125.

    JWR

    February 8, 2024 at 6:22 pm

    @dmsilev: That is excellent news. Good for Mann and good for the planet!

  126. 126.

    karen gail

    February 8, 2024 at 6:24 pm

    @Baud:  It makes me physically ill that so many police still ask a rape victim what they were wearing or what they did to provoke the attack.

  127. 127.

    NotMax

    February 8, 2024 at 6:30 pm

    FYI.

    You can stream the Super Bowl for free with this one-month Paramount Plus deal

    Now through February 10th, new subscribers can stream Paramount Plus and Showtime content free for one month.
    [snip]
    The promotion means you’ll have access to a whole library of content to keep you entertained once the Big Game is over. In addition to live sports, Paramount Plus and Showtime’s catalog includes thousands of TV shows and movies such as Star Trek, 1923, Yellowjackets, Scream VI, Dexter, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and more. Just make sure to cancel your trial period before it ends to truly stream them all for free. Otherwise, you’ll end up being charged $11.99 per month. Source

  128. 128.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 6:30 pm

    @Sure Lurkalot: 🥰❤️💙🌼✌️💜

  129. 129.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 8, 2024 at 6:31 pm

    @NotMax: How the hell are they going to enforce that?

  130. 130.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 6:32 pm

    @dmsilev: 😊

  131. 131.

    Ivan X

    February 8, 2024 at 6:32 pm

    @Alison Rose: <3

  132. 132.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 6:33 pm

    @wenchacha: I am still foolishly hoping that!

  133. 133.

    Matt McIrvin

    February 8, 2024 at 6:33 pm

    @karen gail: Just thinking about how I saw the Irish comedian Dara Ó Briain (a fixture of UK panel shows) perform at the Wilbur on Monday, and the guy did a long set that was utterly hilarious, worked the crowd, and did none of that. NONE of that.

  134. 134.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 6:34 pm

    Hmmm that pie looks mighty appetizing…might have to slam it.

  135. 135.

    Jay

    February 8, 2024 at 6:37 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/key-facts-in-canada-s-robocalls-controversy-1.2736659

    Bow down before your new AI Overlords

  136. 136.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 6:37 pm

    @Ivan X: 😉

  137. 137.

    trollhattan

    February 8, 2024 at 6:38 pm

    @NotMax: Or “Where’s Poppa?” Between that and “Harold and Maude” she kept me very entertained.

    She began in the pictures in 1915!

  138. 138.

    trollhattan

    February 8, 2024 at 6:39 pm

    @NotMax: Confess I subscribe, but only for NWSL.

    That league needs help–matches are sprayed across four platforms.

  139. 139.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 6:40 pm

    @trollhattan: am now FOMO, must rent that if I can.  Have not seen that yet!

  140. 140.

    Ruckus

    February 8, 2024 at 6:42 pm

    @Jay:

    Right above the comments there is a picture of a pie. Click on that and you can block any commenter on BJ, all you have to do is click their handle to put them in the pie filter. Works like a charm. I don’t use it much, but as of about a minute ago I now have 2 non commenters. The most I’ve had at any one time was 4 pied but 3 of them were no longer commenting. It’s effective, it’s minimally invasive to the process and they no longer get to crap all over your version of BJ. Seems like a win-win to me

    And if you desire you can click on the comment and see what they said. Even more fun.

  141. 141.

    Elizabelle

    February 8, 2024 at 6:45 pm

    @raven:  I know.

    I think the blogpost title should be changed, asap.

    And fuck the fascist-fellating FTF NY Times.  I hate them.  Hate them.

  142. 142.

    catclub

    February 8, 2024 at 6:49 pm

    @NotMax: Yes, I nearly posted it here.

  143. 143.

    Jay

    February 8, 2024 at 6:50 pm

    @Ruckus:

    Thank you, I know how to pie.

    I don’t pie, not even you know who, no not Baud,…….. the other one.

    While I enjoy trolls taking their pants down for everyone to see,

    I think that at some point, the banhammer needs to come out. Some (pop up) commenters need to be spayed or neutered quite quick, or we wind up with “that guy”, (no not Baud) derailing threads for months.

    But again, the pie filter is something wonderful, (not just pie, but cupcakes), and thank you for the reminder that it is always there.

  144. 144.

    geg6

    February 8, 2024 at 6:53 pm

    @NotMax:

    Exactly right.

  145. 145.

    karen gail

    February 8, 2024 at 6:53 pm

    @NotMax: Yes, I remember the hypocrisy of Hyde. I have seen proven so many times that which people accuse others of are guilty of the same “sins.”

  146. 146.

    JWR

    February 8, 2024 at 6:54 pm

    Get ready. With reports like this one, who needs Fox?

    ‘A nightmare’: Special counsel’s assessment of Biden’s mental fitness triggers Democratic panic

    […[ “It’s a nightmare,” said a Democratic House member who asked to speak anonymously to provide a frank assessment, adding that “it weakens President Biden electorally, and Donald Trump would be a disaster and an authoritarian.

    “For Democrats, we’re in a grim situation.”

    Screw this anonymous House member.

  147. 147.

    Baud

    February 8, 2024 at 6:56 pm

    @JWR:

    said a Democratic House member who asked to speak anonymously

     

    Oh, you, Dean Philips.

  148. 148.

    TheOtherHank

    February 8, 2024 at 7:03 pm

    re: Harold and Maude. The place where he drives the car off the cliff is Mori Point in my town of Pacifica

  149. 149.

    karen gail

    February 8, 2024 at 7:05 pm

    @Miss Bianca: I remember reading that comment; didn’t remember who first wrote it but it stuck with me especially since a elderly man said that to a bunch of beer drinking idiots who were ogling girls.
    I know it had to be early 70’s since my hair was nearly as long as my miniskirt was short.

  150. 150.

    karen gail

    February 8, 2024 at 7:05 pm

  151. 151.

    JWR

    February 8, 2024 at 7:05 pm

    @Baud: And what are the odds this Dem operative is James Carville? From the same story:

    “This is beyond devastating,” said another Democratic operative, speaking on condition of anonymity to talk candidly about Biden’s shortcomings. “It confirms every doubt and concern that voters have. If the only reason that didn’t charge him is because he’s too old to be charged, then how can he be president of the United States?”

    Asked if Hur’s report changes the calculus for Democrats who expect Biden to be the party’s nominee, this person said: “How the f— does it not?”

    Another Biden ally called it “the worst day of his presidency.”

    Yeah, I bet it’s Carville.

  152. 152.

    Jay

    February 8, 2024 at 7:06 pm

    @JWR:

    @Baud:

    It is bad, CBC, BBC, and as Tony Jay calls it, the Gruniad, that’s basically the lead headline and graph.

    It’s utter bullshit, but it’s an arrow just like the DOJ scumbag planned.

  153. 153.

    BellyCat

    February 8, 2024 at 7:06 pm

    IIRC, full development of executive function for males is delayed beyond that of females (by something like four years?). Age 28 is what I recall. Testosterone is apparently to blame.

  154. 154.

    Baud

    February 8, 2024 at 7:08 pm

    @JWR:

    I thought Carville was pro-Biden.

  155. 155.

    Elizabelle

    February 8, 2024 at 7:08 pm

    @Jay:  I am just gutted.

    And after all the instability of yesterday.

  156. 156.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 7:09 pm

    @BellyCat: 😄

  157. 157.

    Miss Bianca

    February 8, 2024 at 7:19 pm

     

    @Jay: Sorry, not getting out of the boat for this one.

  158. 158.

    karen gail

    February 8, 2024 at 7:21 pm

    @BellyCat: I recently read, don’t remember where since was websurfing; that scientists now believe that males don’t really begin to mature until after 35. Not that being a walking bag of hormones who think with small head is any excuse but it might explain “mid life crisis’s.”

    I firmly believe that our society rewards “boys will be boys” behavior, we see it playing out in pro sports all the time.

  159. 159.

    JWR

    February 8, 2024 at 7:22 pm

    @Baud: Well [eta Carville] is pro-Biden, ostensibly, but what was it he said a few months ago when that NYT/Sienna poll came out with devastating numbers for Biden? I don’t remember exactly what he said, but he was quoted everywhere, telling anyone who would listen, that Biden was toast. He’s at best an unreliable witness.

  160. 160.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 7:22 pm

    @JWR: I just don’t understand why they think everyone should believe a random report by a random dude who is obviously not a Biden fan, rather than what they see every day with their own damn eyes.

  161. 161.

    Jay

    February 8, 2024 at 7:22 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    fuckin MSM.

    Can’t even buy a clue, just run with what they are sold.

    Biden is “ooold”, can’t remember his exact testimony from 2012, or 2009.

    fuckin Morons.

    DOJ needs to clean house. Top to bottom.

  162. 162.

    TriassicSands

    February 8, 2024 at 7:31 pm

    @karen gail:

    I’m old now, but I’ve heard that excuse my whole life. There are instances among children where the expression makes sense — there are things that are stereotypical behavior in boys where the words match the behavior, and that behavior is often described as being “mischief.” But it never makes sense, to me anyway, when it is applied to bad behavior in older males. It’s always seemed like a way to ignore bad behavior in people who should know better, but have a sense of superiority and entitlement. I think you’re right about the sliding scale.

  163. 163.

    lowtechcyclist

    February 8, 2024 at 7:32 pm

    @Sparkedcat:

    Damn I wish I could remember that footage of where Hunter Biden was waving his cock around and paying money to sex workers.

    And??

    Seriously, so what??

  164. 164.

    Elizabelle

    February 8, 2024 at 7:32 pm

    @Jay:  Robert Hur is incredible, isn’t he?  Who knew he was a neuroscientist specializing in geriatric patients too?

    What, he isn’t?  But he WAS a clerk for William Rehnquist.

    Well, alrighty.

    I think it’s so cruel.  I tire of the ugliness and bad faith shown Joe Biden.

  165. 165.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    February 8, 2024 at 7:32 pm

    It is *long* past time that robo/spam callers should get themselves drone-struck.

    If Biden sez he’s going to see about that, he’ll win in a landslide.  Then Trump would be all “oh yeah, I’ll do it MOAR”, but first one wins.

    (AI-generated youtube videos of spam-callers being drone-struck might help to reduce it, also, too.)

  166. 166.

    Ruckus

    February 8, 2024 at 7:33 pm

    @Jay:

    You’re welcome.

    Some seem to just want to derail the conversation, some seem intent on trying to destroy it.

    As I stated I very seldom use the filter, after all it isn’t this supposed to be about communication of ideas, ideals, news of the day, or century, and otherwise just humanity?

    Computers have come a very, very long way since my first one in 1978, and it is because they do so much more than be a fancy calculator and have the ability to type. OK and phones as well…..

  167. 167.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 7:36 pm

    @Elizabelle:

     I tire of the ugliness and bad faith shown Joe Biden.

    SAME. Same same same.

  168. 168.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 7:39 pm

    @Ruckus: We got our first home computer in 1985 or 86, and my brothers and I spent so much time on it (and arguing over it), and I remember one time our dad complaining that the computer took up too much of our attention.

    If he only knew what would transpire in a couple of decades…

  169. 169.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 7:41 pm

    Sheldon Whitehouse was just on The Reid Out ⚡ being truly common sense. Important.  I’ll find the video ASAP

  170. 170.

    Elizabelle

    February 8, 2024 at 7:43 pm

    @TBone:  On what topic?

  171. 171.

    TBone

    February 8, 2024 at 7:46 pm

    @Elizabelle: the Supremacists, in general and in detail.  I missed some of it, maybe Hur report too.  I’ll have to find video, can’t paraphrase right now.  But it was important info.

  172. 172.

    Alison Rose

    February 8, 2024 at 7:46 pm

    Here’s Biden addressing the report, and he sure as heck doesn’t sound feeble or whatever to me.

  173. 173.

    Eyeroller

    February 8, 2024 at 7:47 pm

    @JWR: ​If it’s a real concern the “House member” should be willing to speak on the record. And the press should not keep his (probably a “he”) identity secret.

  174. 174.

    Eyeroller

    February 8, 2024 at 7:49 pm

    @Alison Rose: ​Good, but we need a full-court press against these lies. Not “anonymous Democratic House members” moaning about how devastating it is.

  175. 175.

    wjca

    February 8, 2024 at 7:49 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:  That boys will be boys crap came into play during the Kavanaugh hearings. If I were a man, I’d be insulted.

    I am and I was.  “Scum will be scum” seemed like a more accurate description of Mr Justice Rapist.

  176. 176.

    Uncle Cosmo

    February 8, 2024 at 7:52 pm

    @BellyCat: ​The way I heard it,

    The average American male attains emotional maturity at age 35.

    And it lasts an average of 1 hour and 17 minutes.

  177. 177.

    Soprano2

    February 8, 2024 at 8:01 pm

    @TBone: Bob Barker is an alumnus of my college. They named a street for him here. He gave a lot of money to Drury to study animal ethics, or something like that.

  178. 178.

    Marcopolo

    February 8, 2024 at 8:04 pm

    @JWR: prolly Dean Phillips, after all, it’s what he’s been saying as he campaigns. and look, what the Biden campaign will need to do (and they hopefully plan to do this already) is find time for Biden to do an interview w/ a decent journalist (there must be a few) every week or so where he can demonstrate his mental chops.  the sugar to get the journalists/networks to engage is “here’s your chance to show joe is a feeble old man.”  i think he’s sharp enough to do this.  hell, he can use these occasions to blow his horn over all of his accomplishments and his campaign should get as much coverage as is possible for each event.

  179. 179.

    wjca

    February 8, 2024 at 8:04 pm

    @Snarki, child of Loki: It is *long* past time that robo/spam callers should get themselves drone-struck.

    And the floods of drones doing that will make it harder for the Russian air defense to identify Ukranian drones with other targets.

  180. 180.

    JWR

    February 8, 2024 at 8:10 pm

    @Marcopolo: Sounds good to me, just so long as there’s time to do it right.

  181. 181.

    karen gail

    February 8, 2024 at 8:39 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo:  1 hour and 17 minutes? that explains so much.

  182. 182.

    NotMax

    February 8, 2024 at 9:48 pm

    @karen gail

    That’s in total, not all in one unbroken chunk.
    :)

  183. 183.

    BellyCat

    February 8, 2024 at 10:38 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo: Now THAT is funny.

  184. 184.

    Ruckus

    February 8, 2024 at 11:58 pm

    @Alison Rose:

    Yep.

    I built a 5 vacuum tube radio kit when I was about 12 – AM of course and it worked and it was as most other electronic stuff at the time – crap. Ship I was stationed on in the Navy (very early 70s) was not all that old and had transistor based equipment so the repair work load was far less than ships built prior to the mid/late 60s. But it was absolutely nothing like the electronics of today.

  185. 185.

    Ruckus

    February 9, 2024 at 12:01 am

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    As a male I’m insulted – and laughing my ass off – because if it’s not true – it’s very close to it.

  186. 186.

    Gravie

    February 9, 2024 at 10:52 am

    I’m out of touch as hell these days, and mostly I don’t care, but back in the ‘80s a group of friends were lamenting the death of playwright Preston Jones while other, less worthy individuals lived on. We wrote a long serio-comic poem about it, in which Bob Barker was identified, newspaper-style, as “dessicated joyboy Bob Barker.” We knew, even then.

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