I’ve been super busy with end of the semester stuff, so I fortunately have not had the time to pay too much attention to politics. What I have seen, though, is rather grim.
The wingnuts on the Supreme Court were on especially bad behavior this week, confirming that EVERYTHING we ever said about them was exactly true. On one hand, it’s terrifying that they think these things and have the power they do, but on the other hand, it’s nice having them be unable to pretend they are principled jurists who just have a “textual” or “originalist” approach. They’re just political hacks and opportunistic scumbags, every one of them.
The other big news is all the protests occurring all over the country regarding the War in Gaza. I’ve been saying this for years, but I’ll say it again. There is fundamentally NO DIFFERENCE between the majority of college and university administrations and every corporate hack out there. None. That’s one of the dirty secrets about colleges that Republicans, in their 60 year war on the academy, don’t want anyone to know. There may be faculty and students with liberal sensibilities, and a smattering of actual radicals, but the majority of administrators could just as easily be lying to congress about whether tobacco is addictive or that climate change is a hoax. The only real difference is that university admins are versed in the language of liberalism, but only enough so that they can brandish it at as a weapon against their enemies, which is usually faculty and staff and students.
So am I surprised that the gut instinct of all of these assholes is to immediately call the cops on students? Not even remotely. All they care about is that the donor cash keeps coming in and their record is not blemished with the people who matter- their corporate donors, fellow administrators, and Republican politicians. Are there some bad actors who have said inexcusable things and peddled anti-Semitic tropes? Of course. Are they the majority? No. Not even close. I’ll just leave it to you to parse why the most ardent critics of trigger warnings and safe spaces are now cheering on… the arrest and violence inflicted on them in the process of those with whom they disagree.
Today is Breyana’s 15th birthday, and her parents are both at work, so we went out for a late lunch/early dinner at a Mexican place in Wheeling:
We both had delicious cokes and burritos. It was good and fun, and she’s just always a delight to be around.
On the way there and back, I kept looking at all the signs for local elections, and realized just how disengaged I am from WV politics. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to go enthusiastically vote for the Democrats I like, but I’m not devoting any time and energy to any candidacies. I know that sounds awful, but none of them have a snowball’s chance in hell. It’s MAGA maniacs as far as the eye can see running around here- a confirmed christofascist, a certified lunatic, and all the rest of them are just as bad. WV is going to be deep red and stupid for the rest of my life, and there’s just no point trying to fight it.
If there was a chance we cold even go a light shade of purple here, I would feel differently. But we won’t- in fact I would be surprised if the current makeup of the house of delegates becomes even more Republican and crazy- currently there are 89 Republicans and 11 Democrats. The Senate is the same, with 31 Republicans and 3 (THREE) Democrats. We’re a failed state and will be for quite some time, and if the Biden campaign spends a fucking dollar here they are insane.
In some good news, it finally broke seventy today, and man is it pretty. At multiple points on the drive the fragrance from the flowers and honeysuckle was so strong as to be almost cloying. This really is a magical time of the year, with everything coming to life. I love having my windows open and hearing all the birds and just watching as things get greener and greener.
So there is that. Joelle is well and sends her regards, as well as this picture of Thurston, whose diet is going well:
He’s still an irritating barky asshole, but now he is thinner and will live longer. So yay, I guess. Regardless, I would still never take him to the gravel pit and shoot him, because I’m not a fucking sociopath.
Hope you all are well. I just gotta make it through the next week at work without losing my mind, and will be back more regularly.
Baud
Thurston looking good.
WaterGirl
Thurston looks happy! It’s amazing how much better life is when you are around people who like you and appreciate you.
Tom Levenson
It’s sad to note that “I am not a fucking psychopath” would both rank you ahead of almost every GOP candidate out there–and would disqualify you for way too many of our fellow citizens.
Baud
Politico pretending that Republicans had good faith, via reddit.
WaterGirl
LOVE THE CUSHIONS!!!
zhena gogolia
Breyana is adorable as always, and Thurston looks so great!
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Hahaha, now that is funny.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
I’ll give them half credit for at least mainstreaming the hypocrisy, rather than ignoring it.
WaterGirl
Happy Birthday, Breyana!!
You must not be spending enough time with John because he hasn’t called me from the car lately when you guys are hanging out.
dr. bloor
Why would you hire an academic to oversee an enterprise devoted to real estate development and managing an enormous portfolio to maximize growth?
Another Scott
Thanks for the update. Best of luck for the end-of-classes sprint.
The WHCD dinner is tonight. AlJazeera is reporting that attendees are being jeered by some (critical of them being there at a fancy party with Biden while many of their compatriots have died covering Gaza).
Dunno if I’m going to watch. Colin Jost is the MC. His humor is Ok, but… I expect Biden to be fine.
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
@Another Scott:
Looking forward to clips of Biden’s segment.
Spanky
Good grief! Miss B is looking adulter and adulter. Please do your best to keep her a kid as long as possible.
dr. bloor
I’ve missed out on the best way out there to spend a Saturday night. Some things never change.
Spanky
Ehhhhh never mind.
O. Felix Culpa
Breyana is becoming a lovely young woman. At 15, she still has more time to think about college plans, but I hope she opts to go somewhere out of state.
Quinerly
I’ll just leave this here. I am sure we here at BJ aren’t surprised. I am glad that some of this info is getting out before the election. Hopefully the less politically engaged start paying attention.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/coat-hanger-unlock-mar-lago-storage-room-trump/story?id=109716197
Another Scott
@Baud: Do you suppose A. G. Sulzberger was invited??
Cheers,
Scott.
MomSense
I just need to get through the next few days. All the furniture is out of the house and it’s just the whatever the heck the stuff is that doesn’t actually pack or seem to fit or go anywhere. Tomorrow we will move the rest of the ugh stuff out and then I need to clean the house. I thought my house was super neat but it feels so dirty now.
The kids didn’t want me to stay but my best hours are now between 6am and 1pm so it just makes more sense for me to crash on a sleeping bag so I can start when I’m fresh.
Hopefully this time tomorrow I’ll be on the couch looking at the lake and listening to loons.
scav
I wonder if the biting off the head of a live chicken to prove political incorrectness qualification will precede or follow the swimsuit parade. I’m assuming the judges will award more points for even more innovative sacrifices demonstrating fierce anti-wokeness (endangered species bonus points?). Style points for doing it on 5th Avenue or demerits for plagiarizing the god-king? Sarah Palin, although a trail-blazer, clearly failed this basic task of VP adequacy by having someone else do the on-camera slaughter behind her. Cheney went big with his choice of target, muffed the execution but regained points with having the victim apologize.
JoyceH
I had training sessions today for each dog individually. Had to crate the dog not being trained. I’ve learned that when both dogs are loose, if I’m trying to train one dog, the other one tries to muscle them aside and take their place. But I need to remember, next time, do Whimsy first. This time I started with Jazzy, the old pro with years of classes, and remembered what a heel is SUPPOSED to look like, then later I was started to get exasperated with Whimsy and had to remind myself that she’s just starting. Once I remembered that, she did quite well for where she is. And I was rather delighted to discover that Jazzy, who I’ve started to think of as elderly and a bit mobility-challenged, can still do a roll-over.
Baud
@Another Scott:
I hope DougJ was invited.
in the hills
to Ms,noem,
there is no way I can express my scorn and contempt to you.
O. Felix Culpa
@MomSense: Good luck with your move! We went through that horror last year, so you have my full sympathies. There will be an end, though, and a new home. Just don’t overdo it and hurt yourself in the process (ask me how I know).
ETA: Looking at the lake and listening to the loons sounds a perfect end to your labors.
Anne Laurie
Glad to hear you’re doing well enough, Cole.
And that Joelle is working miracles with Thurston, as she did with you!
Baud
@MomSense:
Moving is the worst. Hope it’s quick and painless as possible.
Quinerly
@in the hills:
Check out the Lincoln Project YouTube PSA.
“Dog owners know our furry friends can be a lot to keep up with. But when those tough moments come, you have options. Shooting your dog in the face should not be one of them. And if you do happen to shoot your dog in the face, please, don’t write about it in your autobiography.”
trollhattan
@Baud:
We’ll be learning “Just how much shit can one teen girl accumulate in four years?” next month, when we move her out of the apartment after graduation.
The house, she has no capacity for storing the overload. I’m a-skeert.
Baud
@in the hills:
@Quinerly:
Reddit is all over this story with memes galore. I’m sure Twitter is even worse. I no longer reposting stuff because the story is horrific.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@MomSense: A lake and loons sounds wonderful. May you get there quickly.
WaterGirl
@MomSense: Be sure and take pictures of your new place. I think we’d all love to see them! You can send me the pics in your spare time. :-)
lowtechcyclist
@MomSense:
Plenty of loons to listen to right here, what do you need a lake for?
I kid, I kid! Hope your move goes smoothly.
HumboldtBlue
Holy hell, even the NFL is trolling Kristie Noem!
zhena gogolia
@JoyceH: Great!
Quinerly
@Baud:
It is horrific. But I am hoping the story is mainstreamed and blasted daily for awhile. I wasn’t going to bring it up but Cole referenced it.
The Lincoln Project video is very good. My favorite meme so far was just posted by a Navajo friend on FB. Cute doggie riding in the passenger seat giving the driver the side eye. Captioned “Every dog with Republican owners today.”
To me, probably the bigger story is she told it on herself. And the ghostwriter, publisher, her advisors thought it was OK to be told. We need to start accepting that these people….these Trump disciples, the mainstream GOP are truly different. Wired differently. I know we talk about it….but it should really start sinking in we are dealing with sociopaths.
Folks have done horrible things to animals since the beginning of time. But these folks don’t go around bragging about their cruel deeds in order to get tapped for a job. To me the entire event also shows a lack of self control. She lost her temper with an untrained puppy and a male goat and grabs a gun and shoots them. Somehow she thinks telling this story gives her “credentials.” That this is acceptable behavior. It’s more than an animal cruelty story. A lot more.
SuzieC
Did you enjoy WaterGirl’s pet thread?
Chacal Charles Calthrop
“fuck your feelings” only applies to sympathy or empathy for the poor or the brown. The second a conservative feels a tremor of disrespect, it’s time to call the cops.
All this insane over-reaction to a few protests is going to do nothing but expand them. Watching friends getting arrested and expelled is going to engage a lot of students who otherwise wouldn’t care.
I went to a protest Tuesday night that was structured like a seder, complete with seder plate (but with more speeches) and there are a lot of kids who’ve sat through a lot of boring Seders who had unpleasant things to say about their parents’ complicity in genocide. I didn’t stay until the end, but the ones who did got arrested, loaded onto an NYPD bus, only for the NYPD to discover that none of their officers knew how to drive a bus: https://hellgatenyc.com/nypd-officer-learns-how-to-drive-mta-bus-transporting-arrested-jvp-protesters
Baud
@Chacal Charles Calthrop:
That could very well be the goal.
Martin
@dr. bloor: In fairness that’s only some universities. We never had any ability to do either – that was some other enterprise entirely and I don’t think they were even versed in the language of liberalism.
But those are generally just things in service of institutional reputation which is the real driver whether it manifests as chasing donor money, grants, or Supreme Court justices. It doesn’t matter how big your endowment is as long as it’s bigger than everyone elses so you can move up a slot on the list. Or research expenditures. Or number of members of the National Academy or Nobel Prizes. The real game is the ‘list’, because the ‘list’ influences your career, it influences how seriously your grant application is, whether you can fill your enrollment.
The thing worth noting is that none of it depends on what the students learn. There’s a minimal standard there to meet, and you get a lot of individualistic attention from faculty that are willing to invest in that, but at least at research universities that’s not the job faculty are there to do. Their job is to raise that reputation, and use their spare time to make sure educational quality doesn’t fall too far. If you didn’t know that when you were hired, you’ll know it before you get tenure. They could have gone to a teaching university, but they too wanted the reputation. Everyone is complicit in this system.
Note, to Johns point, there are VERY few protest problems at teaching universities. Humbolt is the only one that comes to mind and that’s a bit of a trap because recently the campus cracked down on students living in their cars in campus parking and kicked them out (there’s not enough housing in that area), so they were already primed to protest. Our protest camps always got a bit of a population boost from the homeless students that may or may not have cared about the cause, but got a housing opportunity that was better than a Corolla.
Maybe I was one of those administrators that Cole is speaking to, but I certainly tried to not be. I think the fact that my career got increasingly difficult is probably a sign I was doing at least something right.
lee
Since it is an open thread I want to give a quick endorsement of BlueSky.
It is coming along nicely. In the past couple weeks there seems to be an increase in the number of Journalists posting.
Lots and lots of cat pics
Nature photography seems to be dominated by birds.
Baud
@lee:
Thanks. I keep meaning to use it but never get around to pulling the trigger.
TBone
@Chacal Charles Calthrop: holy hell. I was hired for a summer job once by Ugly Duckling car rental (rent a heap), had just got my license. My first assignment: drive an empty 12 passenger piece of shit huge van up the Jersey Turnpike. Those protesters are brave.
David 🏀Caitlin Clark🏀 Koch
I don’t think the revolution is going to be televised
Mousebumples
@Baud: there is a Balloon Juice jackals feed. I can’t remember who runs it or how you ask to be added, though.
(unsurprisingly, I’m @mousebumples.bsky.social, if anyone wants to add me. If I know you’re a Juicer, I’ll follow back :)
Jackie
@Quinerly: Sigh… I guess I need to avoid BJ for another day.
John, I’m so happy Thurston is thriving with Joelle!
Cacti
After the SCOTUS hearing on “One free insurrection for Republican Presidents” I’m more sure than ever that the American Republic died January 6, 2020. Or November 8, 2016, depending on your point of view.
The Biden Presidency has been the dead cat bounce.
WaterGirl
@Martin: Did you get my email message from 2 or 3 days ago?
Baud
@Mousebumples:
I was already following you.
WaterGirl
@Jackie:
Favorite dogs and cats Saturday Open Thread was safe.
lee
@Mousebumples: FlyingToaster runs it. I’m too drunk to type the entire BS name in lol
Quinerly
@Jackie:
whatever works for you. I go months now not reading the comments.
laura
@MomSense: there was a goodly period of my youth I spent moving, and I found that tomato boxes were the best because you could get for free from the grocery store and you couldn’t pack them so heavy that you couldn’t tote them from and to. I always tried to have the most important box that rode with me. Contents: paper towels toilet paper coffee filter newspapers, coffee maker, fixings, radio, light bulbs, a bath towel, a flash light and a jug of water. That’s the key box- first in, last out, rides with you. Also, batteries and pet food. Duh!
HumboldtBlue
Just a little guitar on a Saturday night.
Honus
I’ve had to shoot dogs for killing chickens before. It was always painful and tragic. Never felt the need to boast about it as a sign of personal responsibility and strength of character.
HumboldtBlue
@Jackie:
Here, check out these hiking boots.
@Honus:
It happens more often than people think, but as you point out, it’s not an accomplishment to broadcast, and I think most people are rightfully blaming Noem because she’s the failure to train the dog properly, not the dog.
MagdaInBlack
@HumboldtBlue: Wow!
TBone
@HumboldtBlue: I think I dated that guy 😆
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@laura: oh yeah, moving tips: always remember toilet paper & a shower curtain for the new house, always keep a box of stuff that Cannot Be Lost (passports, checkbook, medications including disposable contacts if you wear those, etc.) and of course a box or suitcase of stuff you’ll need immediately (which should be easier as we’ve all packed for travel).
The only thing I’d add is don’t feel pressure to get everything right at the new home immediately; it’s ok to not unpack more than you need at first. Your stuff don’t need to come out of boxes as fast as they went in.
Nukular Biskits
I’ve been a lurker for years and a semi-occasional commenter for maybe a couple.
Nonetheless, maybe I need a flowchart or something so I can understand all the Six Degrees of Separation from John Cole.
Sure Lurkalot
Seemingly universal condemnation with respect to animal cruelty but this is also Kristi Noem this week:
Unfortunately, many people hugging their dogs and shaming Noem on Twitter agree with her stance on abortion. They have more empathy for dogs than a 10 year old rape victim.
Quinerly
@Sure Lurkalot: thanks for posting this.
HumboldtBlue
@MagdaInBlack:
Right?
@TBone:
He’s hilarious.
Martin
@Baud: A little bit. I think we turned the corner on this on Thurs.
There’s two parts to that:
But the student voice is coming through louder since the police action. It’s really hard to get the public to side with the institution over students when you roll cops. Most people have kids and a sense of what it’s like to be 19 and full of ideas.
The GOP won’t be punished here, but the faculty censures of administrators may help nudge things back into a slightly better balance. But really, everyone will return to chasing reputation until this happens again.
Melancholy Jaques
@Cacti:
If forced to pick a date, I’d go with December 12, 2000. But I don’t think these are dates of death anymore than December 20, 1860, or March 2, 1877 were dates of death.
We are in the middle of a crisis, just as the people living at those times. We have to fight through it, just as they did. We have to win this election and we have to win it across the board.
HumboldtBlue
Wow, just wow.
Paulína Ovádková and a fantastic performance of “DER HÖLLE RACHE”
mrmoshpotato
@TBone:
@HumboldtBlue: You two are confusing the hell out of me.
Martin
@WaterGirl: Sorry, just noticed it. I have been working on something – need to see if it comes together (it hasn’t yet).
Ivan X
@Chacal Charles Calthrop:
Would you care to expand this a bit?
HumboldtBlue
@mrmoshpotato:
Please point to the spot on the blog where we are confusing you, and we shall clarify, edify, stupefy, purify or indemnify as needed.
mrmoshpotato
@HumboldtBlue: That guitarist is clearly not a guy.
Chief Oshkosh
@Martin:
Or maybe they wanted to conduct research?
Old School
@mrmoshpotato: The “guy” was in the boots video at #55. Not the guitar video at #53.
cmorenc
@Melancholy Jaques:
Or, April 15, 1865, the date Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and was succeeded by his alcoholic VP Andrew Johnson, who was a Democrat from Tennessee selected to run with Lincoln in 1864 as a gesture toward national unity. Without Lincoln’s shrews political instincts, he result was a far more contentious and less successful Reconstruction period, ending in 1877 with resolution of the tight Presidential race in favor of Republican Rutherford Hayes becoming president over Democrat Tilden, in exchange for end of reconstruction and the re-subjugation of the black population in the South for many decades.
Mousebumples
@Baud: I thought so, but I wasn’t sure if there’s a Baud!imposter. One never can tell these days…..
@lee: thanks for the reminder!
mrmoshpotato
@Old School: Oh. Divided attention here.
NotMax
Oh, snap.
Biden at the WH correspondent’s dinner. “Age is a factor in the race. I’m a grown man. Running against a six-year-old.”
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@Ivan X: a lot of them were reciting prayers in Hebrew, which I couldn’t follow, and then they’d stop and say, well, how does this apply to genocide? I think it kind of does, don’t you? And then they’d say another Hebrew prayer, and then say in English, what does that say about destroying all the hospitals? Or all the schools?
or they repeat one of the four questions in Hebrew, and say, now this is my question, and again say something in Hebrew which I couldn’t understand.
the part I did get (because it was in English) were complaints about Schumer, our government’s funding of Israel, etc.
The fact that so much of it was in Hebrew was part of why I didn’t stay past the second (virtual) cup of wine. But the protesters were pretty fired up, and very explicitly welcoming of everyone who was there because they were no longer on speaking terms with their family as a result of arguments that took place the night before, Monday night (the first night of Passover).
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Same. I miss reading Popehat.
MagdaInBlack
@NotMax: Oh my! 🤗
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: Haha, no lie told. Gonna have to watch that later.
WaterGirl
@Martin: No apologies!
You know how to reach me if you want.
Old School
Biden at the WHCD:
Ivan X
@Chacal Charles Calthrop: Thanks. I think it’s entirely appropriate to use the Passover Seder to ask challenging questions, and this would be one of those. But, I ask, a) is it a fait accompli that what Israel is doing is genocide (as opposed to war crimes, which are pretty unambiguous in my view), and b) you cited their parents’ complicity — did they say anything specific about that, or is that your interpretation?
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Quinerly:
Open thread kinda says it all. Please continue as you wish, I enjoy reading what you have to say.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@Ivan X: more than one speaker said something along the lines of, “everything my parents taught me was a lie.” But beyond the explicit statements, there was a raw sense of resentment, with at least one speaker saying I always thought we were on the right side of history because we were righteous people. Turns out we were merely on the winning side.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@Ivan X: it was this demonstration:
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/4/24/headlines/seder_in_the_streets_hundreds_arrested_in_brooklyn_protesting_us_arming_of_israel
Ivan X
@Chacal Charles Calthrop: Thanks for explaining. I respect their expressions, though I don’t agree with them, at least as blanket statements.
SiubhanDuinne
@HumboldtBlue:
That was just a snippet. It was so impressive, I searched out the whole Queen of the Night aria
.
NutmegAgain
Thurston looks an awful lot like a short haired Tasmanian Devil.
Princess
Co-sign everything you say about universities here, John.
Manyakitty
@MomSense: godspeed!
Quinerly
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
Thanks. Very late back to this thread. Yes, an Open Thread, Cole mentioned it, I believe someone up thread mentioned it before me. I then shared my thoughts. No biggie from my end, though. It’s a story that troubles people, like it should.
I mostly chuckle at a lot of stuff said here. I miss a lot of the old commenters from years back. I had a “down day” in several respects and took some time to catch up on all things BJ. Do that so rarely now. Honestly, I don’t have the time to read all the threads and comments…and then comment in every thread like many do. I am amazed that people have the time to. I am unable to keep a scorecard on what subjects some people feel like have been beaten to death. It’s easier to skip the discussions in the comments and just peruse for links. Have a nice week. Take care.