Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Even though I know this is a bad idea, I’m off to do it anyway!

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

It’s a new day. Light all those Biden polls of young people on fire and throw away the ashes.

People are weird.

Trump makes a mockery of the legal system and cowardly judges just sit back and let him.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

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

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

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

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

A consequence of cucumbers

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "Stories from the Road" / Wednesday Night Open Thread

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102Comments

  6. 6.

    raven

    I went card shopping at the drugstore yesterday. There was young woman stocking cards and she asked if she could help me. I said “yea, I need a card from me and one from the dog. She just pointed!!

  7. 7.

    cain

    @Bupalos: My wife hates valentines day and would kill me if I did anything for it.

    She’s in India right now – she and her mom went to the new Ram temple (the one that replaced the Masjid Mosque that was so controversial) and then went to Varanasi the plan was for my wife  to submerge her dad’s funeral shroud in the Ganga but instead she decided to do it Triveni Sangam where 3 rivers meet. Likely be less crowded and more intimate. Her died some time ago but this is the last bit. Her mom has wanted to go to Varanasi since she was a young woman.

    It’ll be a good day with plenty of tears I’m sure.

  8. 8.

    Suzanne

    Have you gone to DeFalco’s yet? Best Italian deli in PHX. On Scottsdale (Rural) between McDowell and Thomas. Mr. Suzanne and I liked to go there on Valentine’s Day, because we are Italian and too cheap to go out for a fancy meal on lovey holidays.

  9. 9.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Bupalos:

    Yup. My wife and I have picked a day for ourselves well after the mandatory day of love is over. Normal traffic while out, easy parking and pure enjoyment of our time together.

    Commercial Love Day is too commercial. Besides that, love is every day and not just that day.

  10. 10.

    Renie

    John, thanks for mentioning Chef Merito seasonings.  My family loves them.  Being in NY I got them online.

  12. 12.

    Gvg

    @raven: Great looking card! I never thought of a card from the dog. I googled them just now, and most of them aren’t as nice as that one. Too cutesy. That one was great.

  13. 13.

    piratedan

    fond wishes for everyone on this day, regardless of romantic encumberments.

     

    just slogging thru the news and despite all of the tragedy that we witness at home and abroad, feel like we’re moving closer to putting Trump behind bars and then getting Dems elected to enact policy that makes sense and start beating back this onslaught of GOP crap and putting rights to wrongs…

  14. 14.

    JML

    I properly recognized Feb 14th by wearing all black, to reflect the darkness in my soul. Or lack thereof.

  15. 15.

    Renie

    LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) –“Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that he preferred Joe Biden to Donald Trump but was willing to work with any U.S. president.”

    A lot of ketchup will be flying tonight.

  21. 21.

    CaseyL

    @Suzanne: ​

    They helpfully note that it “rarely causes cardiac arrest”.

    …and also, that the more sex you have, the less likely you are to have cardiac arrest during.

    In the US, during the Free Love 1970s, people were screwing around like crazed mink. I wonder if overall heart attacks dropped within that cohort.

    I saw a lovely thing today: that Valentine’s Day shouldn’t be just for people who are in romantic relationships. Friend love is also love. I took that very much to heart and wished my closest friends a Happy Valentine’s Day.

    And, on that note:

    Happy Valentine’s Day back at you, John and Joelle. Happy Valentine’s Day to all the Jackals.

  23. 23.

    schrodingers_cat

    @cain: The mosque was demolished by BJP and RSS in 1992. I was in India then. Rivers of blood flowed for months. That temple is built on grave of  3000 plus Indians.

    I was in Mumbai, the atmosphere of the city was like a war zone. Rampaging mobs looting and burning Muslim shops.

    Nothing will wash that stain. Ever

    The entire city was a tinderbox for months.

  24. 24.

    Joelle

    Thai Basil on University.  A neighborhood favorite.  I took Cole out on a date because he had been so gosh darn wonderful and doing so many nice things for me.  He got his favorite green papaya salad with shrimp 🍤 and pork gyoza.  I had mango 🥭 salad 🍤 and orange chicken, which I never order in Thai restaurants and rarely in Chinese restaurants.  But I had been craving fried chicken drenched in peppery tangy sweet bbq sauce all damn day and I had heard their version of the dish was exceptional.  And it truly was.  Liquid 🔥 🍬  on the tongue with a tall Thai iced tea to wash it down.  It was Low key splendid.  Just what I wanted to give Cole for Valentine’s Day.

    Then back to the chateau for cookies and nooky.

    All in all I would say it was a perfect date by Bunny standards.

  25. 25.

    Chetan Murthy

    open thread, so ….

    This is hilarious: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/14/brexit-tackle-politics-children-football

    Apparently kids in the UK in youth football have invented a name for “tackle somebody when there’s no chance of getting the ball”: “the Brexit tackle”. While tackling somebody (again, with no chance of getting the ball), the kid yells out “Brexit means Brexit”. Too funny.

    The comments are a scream!  So much hilarity!

  27. 27.

    Jackie

    This is my kind of Valentine ♥️

    Mike Johnson is close to losing control of the House – complete with football terminology!

    NOTUS: “Speakers in recent decades have kept a tight grip on the House schedule, blocking politically perilous votes and bills that might undercut the majority’s negotiating power.

    But having fumbled the seat previously held by expelled Rep. George Santos to Democratic candidate Tom Suozzi in Tuesday’s special election in New York, Johnson will soon be able to lose only two Republicans on a given bill if all Democrats oppose it.”

    “A united Democratic caucus needs to win over only a handful of Republicans to temporarily take control of the chamber. Several Republican legislators who might be inclined to support more aid for Ukraine are retiring and more immune to pressure than their colleagues, so picking off GOP allies could be easier for Democrats than usual.”

    Bolding mine 😁

  41. 41.

    Jinchi

    Well it only took a day, but Slate is now assuring us that the Democratic victory in New York is actually a problem for Democrats. The reason the polls were off is that Democrats are just capable of dealing with snow in a way that Republicans aren’t.

  44. 44.

    dmsilev

    @Jackie: I’m not sure Mike Johnson ever really had any ‘control’ over the lunatics in his caucus. He got the job by default, nobody owes their committee chair or their seat or anything like that to him, so what levers does he have? McCarthy at least raised a lot of money for the GOP, which of course wasn’t enough in the end, but the only thing Johnson has protecting him is that even the lunatics seem to dimly realize how goddamned stupid they looked taking endless votes trying to pick a Speaker and are a bit averse to repeating the exercise.

  45. 45.

    geg6

    @Joelle:

    Local Chinese place here, Taiwan 101, has the most delicious orange chicken I’ve ever eaten.  Spicy and citrusy…OMG, I love it.  Damn, now I want some!

  47. 47.

    Kayla Rudbek

    Salmon, asparagus, and rice pilaf for dinner at home tonight, and an in-person interview tomorrow afternoon with the government agency that I’m currently working for as a contractor.

  52. 52.

    dmsilev

    On the Mike Johnson Sucks theme, here’s Politico:

    Republicans admit it. Kevin McCarthy has never looked so good.

    For nine months in his speakership, Kevin McCarthy seemed like a man with a title but no power — desperately improvising to keep his job amid factions ready to turn on him in an instant.
    Now, in his fourth month in alleged power, Speaker Mike Johnson has accomplished what once seemed unthinkable: making McCarthy seem like a skilled strategist and master of the House.
    Interviews with multiple Republicans over the last few days across multiple House factions — people who consider themselves on Johnson’s team, as well as those who were never enthusiastic about his rise — describe a speaker who seems to be winging it on major questions of strategy, messaging and basic vote-counting.

    Dismay over Johnson’s seemingly limp grasp on the speaker’s gavel has even produced a new trend of sorts: McCarthy nostalgia.
    “Kevin would have a strategy, he’d shop it around, then he’d make a play call,” a senior Republican lawmaker said. “The more I’m around Johnson, the more it’s clear to me he doesn’t have a plan.”
    Some are even going on the record. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a libertarian gadfly who was never considered a McCarthy ally, openly pined for the former speaker last week after Republicans suffered another embarrassing floor defeat.
    “Getting rid of Speaker McCarthy has officially turned into an unmitigated disaster,” he tweeted.

    In other late-breaking news, Nancy Pelosi was very very good at her job.

  54. 54.

    Another Scott

    Speaking of food… Science.org:

    Scientists in South Korea have come up with an out-of-the-box idea for providing the world with nutritious, sustainable food: coating rice grains with cow cells. The advance, reported today in Matter, aims to provide an ever-growing human population with tasty meals while preserving land that would otherwise be needed to raise livestock.

    To make the “microbeef sushi,” as the scientists call it, they first created an edible coating for rice grains from fish gelatin; that gave cow muscle and fat cells something to stick to. Then, they incubated the grains with each type of cell. The final result—steamed “hybrid” rice (pictured above) contained more carbs, fat, and protein than ordinary rice. According to the researchers, eating 100 grams of hybrid rice is nutritionally like eating 100 grams of regular rice plus 1 gram of beef brisket.

    Perhaps more importantly, the researchers estimate the cost of their new rice could be only $0.03 more per kilogram wholesale than ordinary rice. And its production, they claim, would emit less carbon than the equivalent amount of rice and beef, largely by offsetting the need for carbon-intensive livestock operations.

    […]

    Yum?

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  57. 57.

    Princess

    @dmsilev: Not only was Prlosi good at her job, she was great at creating apprenticeships so younger people could learn the skills to do her job. Speaker is not a position conducive to on the job training. When Jeffries becomes speaker, he’ll know how to do the work. Johnson, who was plucked out of no where,  doesn’t have a clue.

  68. 68.

    Shalimar

    I was never a believer in Valentine’s Day anyway.  Better to celebrate the important days in each relationship rather than an overcrowded day doing what everyone else does too.  Also, my dad died on Valentine’s Day many years ago so it isn’t a happy family day since then.

  70. 70.

    Renie

    @Jinchi: What a ridiculous statement Slate made.  I live in NY CD3 and the snow stopped by mid-afternoon and the amount was only about 4-5 inches.  Unless you are a senior citizen that’s not going to stop people from going anywhere.  Roads are cleared throughout the day; they don’t wait until snow stops.  CNN reported that people they talked to who voted for trump last time, voted for Suozzi cuz they said GOP can’t get anything done.  Plus Mazi Pilip was unknown and everyone knows what happens when you vote for an unknown.  You get George Santos.

  72. 72.

    Jerry

    19 years ago today, my now wife and I had our marriage license paid by a divorce attorney firm and then we had lunch at the wonderful and yet to be gentrified Mecca Restaurant in downtown Raleigh. One of the greatest days of my dumb life.

  74. 74.

    laura

    As per usual, I made heart shaped meatloaf and mashers. As usual, spouse was wildly pro that dinner, especially because I fenced in the lake O ketchup with a hedge of fried onions.

  77. 77.

    Jerry

    @laura:

    As per usual, I made heart shaped meatloaf and mashers. As usual, spouse was wildly pro that dinner, especially because I fenced in the lake O ketchup with a hedge of fried onions.

    Your spouse is the luckiest person alive. Care to share that recipe and outcome with photos?

  78. 78.

    dexwood

    Valentine’s Day 1974, Baltimore. Early in the morning, I left my girlfriend’s apartment with my dog. I took him to my parent’s house, left there,  picked up a friend and set out for Albuquerque. A month later, I went back for the dog.

  81. 81.

    dmsilev

    @Jerry:

    19 years ago today, my now wife and I had our marriage license paid by a divorce attorney firm

    “Here’s our card. Keep it, just in case.”

  82. 82.

    Hoppie

    @Bupalos: Completely forgot the “holiday” when we went to our fairly frequent “wine Wednesday” place for St. Michelle fizz.  Duh!  That’s what almost a half century of marriage does, I guess.

  85. 85.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    We had a late UPS delivery (8:30) and it looks like I am going to be changing out out waterbed mattress, liner and heater tomorrow. I’ve had the bed for 38 years now and this is the fourth mattress set for it. I do one every 12 years or so to reduce the likelihood of waking up and needing to swim out of bed. The mattress is made in America and heavy enough to kill someone if you throw it at their head.

    I won’t be testing that.

  86. 86.

    Redshift

    We went to an evening with Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody (his wife, for those who didn’t catch any of their online pandemic events.) They were lovely and very funny. Their son “interviewed” them (sort of), they chatted and told stories. As Kathryn said at the beginning “please understand, we have no idea what is going to happen here.”

  87. 87.

    gene108

    I feel bad. My mom was away for a month. I didn’t water her plants enough. The largest one isn’t doing well at all. I used to be good with plants.

    I think I’m really slipping at this being a functional adult thing.

  88. 88.

    prostratedragon

    @CaseyL:  Thank you, and same to you! Agree about the need to broaden that concept of love — maybe use different words,  like the Greeks.

  89. 89.

    cain

    @dmsilev: Mike has a plan – he calls Trump, he says yes or no on something and that’s that.

    I mean what else? The Orange King has Spoken.

  90. 90.

    Alison Rose

    I just had a YouTube ad for “Duck Plump Gloss” from Nyx Cosmetics, and they have the words in giant letters on a set with people in very odd duck costumes dancing around in front of it, and when it first started they were obscuring parts of the letters in the first word and I swear to God, I was like DOES THAT SAY COCK PLUMP WHAT THE HELL.

    I should go to bed.

  91. 91.

    SFAW

    @cain: ​
     
    I’m thinking his plan is 50 percent whatever-TFG-wants, and 50 percent “Jesus take the wheel.”
    Of course, he seems to be having a tough time distinguishing between Jesus and Toonces

  94. 94.

    TriassicSands

    I wrote a comment on the NY Times today. Part of it was very critical of the Times’ political coverage and part was a scathing critique of the Republiclowns. Someone replied to my comment and said I was “partisan.” I hope the Times will print my response — I avoided bad language and calling the commenter names, but I explained in some detail that I am absolutely partisan — and not a little — and why.

    The initial comment was about the Mayorkas impeachment.

  95. 95.

    sab

    Woke up 2 hours ago with an Amber alert blaring on my cellphone. Hope the little one is okay,

    One of the good aspects of retirement is insomnia really doesn’t matter. I’ll just sleep in tomorrow.

  96. 96.

    TriassicSands

    @dmsilev: describe a speaker who seems to be winging it on major questions of strategy, messaging and basic vote-counting.

    Of course he’s winging it. It isn’t possible to have a plan or strategy to “lead” (laughter) a mob of dysfunctional clowns. There is no Republican Party now. There are just factions, some of which live to serve Trump and others that simply do what they’re told. None of them have any idea of how to govern or have any legislation to propose that will ever get through the Senate right now or do anything positive for this country.

    If Biden wins and the Republicans take back control of the Senate and retain control of the House in 2025, I expect Biden will set a record for the number of vetoes any president has issued in a single week, month, year, or term — take your pick.

    Nancy Pelosi, one of the best, most effective Speakers in our history, couldn’t make any headway with this assemblage of idiots, sycophants, assholes, fascists, lunatics, and idiots. It goes without saying that Mike Johnson is no Nancy Pelosi.

    History will have to decide who is the worst Speaker ever. Kevin McCarthy and Mike Johnson will have to be in contention. When dealing with 218+ representatives, a Speaker, any Speaker, is going to face disagreements and problems. However, when everyone is a dishonest, unprincipled POS, the job is hopeless.

  97. 97.

    sab

    @TriassicSands: But we shouldn’t forget that Mike Johnson is also a dishonest unprincipled grifting POS himself. As have been most of the Republican Speakers in my adult life. It is hard to herd cats when you are an untrustworthy liar and the cats all know it.

  98. 98.

    TriassicSands

    @sab: ​
     
    Yes, but the “cats” are also “dishonest unprincipled grifting PsOS.” The entire Republican Party is rotten to the core.

    When I called them an “assemblage of idiots, sycophants, assholes, fascists, lunatics, and idiots” I was remiss in leaving out “dishonest,” a word that should never be omitted when describing Republicans. I wrote “idiots” twice to make the point that what they are doing is ultimately going to come back to haunt them, because if the time comes when they are in complete control of the government, they will screw things up so royally that they may wish they were still the minority party in a functioning society where they had steady jobs and decent pay.

  100. 100.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @JaySinWA:

    I can’t give them up. They hit all of the right spots with me and my wife loves to slip into a warm bed.

    The cats like it because they get to play Feline Jesus and walk on it. Our Scottish Fold, Morty just about lives on it.

    @sab: “But we shouldn’t forget that Mike Johnson is also a dishonest unprincipled grifting POS himself.”

    Long way to say that he’s a Real Conservative Christian.

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