Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

“But what about the lurkers?”

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

This fight is for everything.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

“Joe Biden deserved better than he got from some folks in his own party.”

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

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

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

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

Republicans do not pay their debts.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

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

If you’re looking for someone who’s young and athletic, go watch a fucking movie.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

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54Comments

  2. 2.

    Mousebumples

    The bottom quotetweet in the photo is probably because 1960, hurr durr OLD.

    The lifeguarding one I don’t get.

    I was a lifeguard for 5 summers and never had to jump in to rescue someone. Had to whistle at and stop people from doing stupid stuff more times than I can remember.

  3. 3.

    Jackie

    How ‘bout those M’s!

    Joe Biden still has a great smile and a twinkle in his eyes 😊

  8. 8.

    sab

    OT. My dad just died at 99 1/2. He spent 7 years in a nursing home (at vast expense)  that we could have avoided if we had parked him into a wonderful house we had bought. Mom couldn’t bring herself to part with all the crap that her mother in-law and she had accumulated. So we sold it at a loss six months after she bought it. And her husband who financed it died in a nursing home.

    My other siblings have other thoughts and I was Mom’s favorite and I didn’t much like Dad. But Mom did this. It was unforgiveable.

  9. 9.

    Scout211

    My goodness, Mr. Biden sure looked fine as a young man.  What a great smile.

    Oh my, I sound like a fan* . . .

    *True story.

    My two older kids had summer jobs as lifeguards and swim instructors from the time they were 16 through college (summer jobs).  They actually did do many saves over the years but most of them were just scooping kids out of the water when they were in distress.  Those are still called saves.  So there, RNC Research (whoever you are)!

  10. 10.

    Sure Lurkalot

    “You wanna be an apologist for Donald Trump…that may be your role BUT IT AIN’T MINE.”—Nancy Smash to MSNBC ass licker, 4/29/24

    Just had to see that again.

  11. 11.

    stacib

    My kids are convinced that the thing that will take me from this planet will be my head exploding from watching Cubs games.  :-)  I’ve loved this team since I was seven years old.  There have been a lot of years when I really wished I could break up from this emotionally, abusive relationship, but love prevails.  LOL

  12. 12.

    Ohio Mom

    @sab: My deepest condolences. Whatever quality of life your dad had in his final years was because of you. I hope that is a comfort, that you did everything you could for him.

  13. 13.

    Ohio Mom

    @sab: There are some, um, impractical decisions being made by Ohio Dad’s mother in what are her final years (shes 92 and increasingly frail). I come from a family of pragmatists, watching bad decisions based on denial and watching those decisions cost loads of money, irritates me no end. So I think I get your mixed feelings.

  18. 18.

    Martin

    @Mousebumples: My dad was a lifeguard. Saved multiple people and had to help the local cops fish a dead body out of the water once (fell off a boat and drowned).

    He said the ocean lifeguard job was the most active with rescues – even good swimmers get caught out in changing conditions. He worked two pool jobs – one in the city where there were a lot of rescues because kids generally didn’t learn to swim there, and one in the suburbs which was a walk in the park because generally kids did learn to swim. Since Biden tells of working at a predominantly black pool before civil rights, I’m going to guess not a lot of swim lessons were being offered to that crowd at that time

    I should add I’m the beneficiary of a rescue after nearly drowning in a local pool – and it was legit – I was under, panicking, and making my situation worse. Dad wasn’t around that day. I still have trouble swimming in chlorinated pools but saline ones and the ocean are fine.

  19. 19.

    WaterGirl

    @Martin:

    Since Biden tells of working at a predominantly black pool before civil rights, I’m going to guess not a lot of swim lessons were being offered to that crowd at that time.

    I had the same thought but couldn’t figure out how to word it.  Nice job on that.

  20. 20.

    Mousebumples

    @Martin: fair point. I worked as a lifeguard (and taught swim lessons) in the suburbs at a pool. A little longer drive, but I didn’t really want to lifeguard in a pond where I couldn’t see the bottom of the pool.

    I liked to think that I was more proactive so I didn’t have as many saves (“jumps”) as others I worked with.

  23. 23.

    Martin

    @WaterGirl: My dad’s 4 years younger than Joe so if anything there would have been slightly more swimming proficiency. I don’t think public swim lessons were widely available to black populations at least until I was born – when he was in the Navy. I learned to swim at summer camp. I wasn’t *required* to know to swim until college.

    A lot of kids learned to swim in scouts, but scouts wasn’t desegregated until 1974. Who knows if the black troops got the opportunity before then.

    “USA Swimming conducted a study in 2010 which found 31% of Black children and teenagers and 58% of their white counterparts were skilled swimmers”

    So, assuming that’s _better_ than 50 years before, well, yeah…

  25. 25.

    TBone

    Cease and Desist letter to Fux threatening defamation suit.

    On behalf of Hunter Biden via Mark Geragos, Bryan Freedman and Tina Glandian:

    “For the last five years, Fox News has relentlessly attacked Hunter Biden and made him a caricature in order to boost ratings and for its financial gain. The recent indictment of FBI informant Smirnov has exposed the conspiracy of disinformation that has been fueled by Fox, enabled by their paid agents, and monetized by the Fox enterprise. We plan on holding them accountable.”

    https://crooksandliars.com/2024/04/hunter-biden-lawsuit-foxnews

  26. 26.

    stinger

    @sab: ​
     Condolences. I hope the bad aspects of your loss recede soon and you can focus on the good memories.

  30. 30.

    mrmoshpotato

    @stacib:

    My kids are convinced that the thing that will take me from this planet will be my head exploding from watching Cubs games. :-) 

    LOL!

  32. 32.

    OzarkHillbilly

    As a caver, I’ve saved 2 lives. It wasn’t a big deal either time. It was just what one did.

  33. 33.

    columbusqueen

    The Biden men are indeed a good-looking bunch. Must be their Irish blood.

     

    @sab: I’m so sorry.  Hugs.

  34. 34.

    David 🏀Caitlin Clark🏀 Koch

    RICHARD “MOUSE” SMITH, Biden’s friend:

    He was a lifeguard. He was one of two white guys. He was a tall, slim, young-looking, good-looking, Elvis Presley-looking kind of guy.

    JAMES BAKER, Fmr. mayor, Wilmington:

    That’s how he got to know some of the guys who were in the gangs. He just seemed to have a natural instinct for getting to know people, getting to understand them, but not being afraid to be around them.

    RICHARD “MOUSE” SMITH:

    We became friends. We became friends. I was a very troubled child, OK? Leader of a gang, no food at home, electric cut off, no soap, sometimes no soap and water to take a bath, no hot water.

    NARRATOR:

    Joe and Ricky—he likes to be called “Mouse”—forged a lifetime friendship. Mouse introduced Joe all around the neighborhood. Over the years Biden kept in touch, building relationships in the Black community that would pay off.

    PEGGY NOONAN:

    Some people are in politics because they’re in love with policy, but they’re not necessarily in love with humans. He loves the game of it. He loves the dance of it. He loves meeting people. He loves hugging strangers.

  37. 37.

    Wapiti

    @sab: My Dad is a hoarder. I’ll have to empty his house and sell it. He couldn’t stay in it because it’s split level and he’s now wheelchair-bound. He’s in an assisted living space and has his old newspapers and aluminum cans squirreled away in every spare drawer.

    I think a lot of old people have lingering damage from the Depression or other poverty events. Even for people who skipped the bad old days, getting rid of stuff takes mental effort at the same time as life may be causing other pain. A lot of us are damaged in one way or another.

    (I’m not a huge fan of my Dad and his hoarding, but now I think he was probably ADHD or something for most of his life.)

  38. 38.

    mrmoshpotato

    @WaterGirl: I see. :)

    Was listening to the game on the radio and, Cubs win!  3-1 over the Mets.

    Got Rays-Brewers on TV.  Go Rays!

  41. 41.

    Raven

    @OzarkHillbilly: I was the Aquatics Director for the City of Athens in 1985.  We trained our guards that LAST thing you did was go in the water after someone and then you stay as far away from them as possible.

  43. 43.

    sanjeevs

    @Martin: Asked my son (UCB undergrad) how things were on campus and he said they were fine as everyone is used to protests there.

    Which tracks with what you’ve written here on that subject.

  44. 44.

    Rusty

    @Wapiti: I’m going through a very similar situation with my parents.   In their late 80’s and their house is a horder nightmare with most of rooms so full you can’t even go in them.  My mom has deteriorated mentally and is no longer capable of taking care of herself without my dad their to manage her medications etc.  He almost died from RSV in January and it became clear how precarious their situation is with us 7 hours away.  I did get them to look at assisted living places where we are, and they even liked one enough to get themselves on the wait list.  Now however, they are starting to backslide and say they can wait.  I need to get them to move before the next crisis, but it’s going to be very difficult.

  45. 45.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Rusty: my parents finally found a house closer to my mom’s family so they will be moving after 40-something years in one place. They’re calling in the assistance of someone who does estate sales to clear out some of the furniture and knickknacks before the move.

  46. 46.

    Honus

    @mrmoshpotato: I remember this really beautiful obituary from the Pittsburgh paper a few years ago:

    Wayne Olexa, 76, of Crafton PA, formerly of Swissvale, PA passed away on Sunday, November 14, 2021, after a long bout with the Steelers. He was at his home with family when they went into overtime against the 0-8 Detroit Lions and that was all he could take.

  47. 47.

    frosty

    @Raven: Reach, Throw, Row, Go. Lifesaving Merit Badge.

    ETA They also taught us to dive at the final approach, come up from underwater behind the victim, grab them with the cross-chest carry (IIRC) and get into the sidestroke fast. If done right, theoretically, the victim’s face is out of the water, under control, and the panic subsides. If the victim grabs you, you both drown.

    Practically, if the rescuer is less than 100 pounds sopping wet, it might not work as well.

  48. 48.

    Jackie

    @Wapiti:

    I think a lot of old people have lingering damage from the Depression or other poverty events.

    This. My dad was a Great Depression kid, and as the result saved everything material.

    My mom was a WWII child, and hoarded food. As in buying cans and cans and cans of food. Then when one can was used, replaced with three. Her freezer was stuffed full of freezer burnt items so old and frosted over, there was no way to identify the original products.

    We’re doomed to be the era of closets full of toilet paper and sanitizing products – thanks to the Covid epidemic.

  50. 50.

    Starfish

    @sanjeevs: I went to a graduation for UMN, and honestly some of the acts of protest go swooshing over everyone’s heads. A number of people wore keffiyehs to graduation, and I was wondering what the shawl was until I saw someone in the audience wearing one. It was not really disruptive to anything.

  51. 51.

    wjca

    @stacib: My kids are convinced that the thing that will take me from this planet will be my head exploding from watching Cubs games.

    To be a Cubs fan is to live eternally with blighted hope.  Along, to be fair, with a (rare) burst of joy when they actually come thru.

    Our family, even in California this generation, have been Cubs’ fans since my dad spent several years in their farm system in the late 1930s.  We go way back.  And my sister still watches every game.

  53. 53.

    Miss Bianca

    @Jackie: I am currently suffering from a bit of PTSD (and a persistent headache) from just one day of exposure to my brother’s apartment. He is currently in the hospital with a stroke, and his apartment  – where he is not going to be able to live anymore – is a nightmare. Food everywhere  – stuffed into cabinets, freezer and fridge overflowing, under the bed, under the furniture…so far I’ve thrown away two huge garbage bags full and that’s hardly a dent in the foodstuffs, to say nothing of everything else.

    Not a Depression baby, but one hell of a depressed one, seems to me. Woke up in the middle of the night still haunted by how little of his struggles he was willing to share with me till now, when he has no choice. :(

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