Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

“But what about the lurkers?”

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

I am pretty sure Katy Tur wasn’t always such a bootlicking sycophant.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

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

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

When they say they’re pro-life, they don’t mean yours.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about it’s history.”

Let there be snark.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Second rate reporter says what?

You are here: Home / Politics / Giant Babies or Freaking Snowflakes? You Decide.

Giant Babies or Freaking Snowflakes? You Decide.

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Righteous rant from Jared Moskowitz.  Very fun!   I love that this guy is in the House.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

92Comments

  8. 8.

    Van Buren

    It took me 203 minutes to drive 36.7 miles from Brooklyn to Long Island this afternoon. Not to be outdone, my son’s flight into LaGuardia is now just leaving Charlotte, rather than arriving in NY.

    Holiday travel sucketh.

  10. 10.

    opiejeanne

    OT, bringing this up from a dead thread:

    There’s a poster whose name I can’t remember right now that I haven’t seen here in a long time. He used to post about going to his brother’s house to take care of the dogs when the brother and his parter were on vacation. I think the brother had a couple of kids.  He referred to his brother’s place as Sighthound Hall.

    Does anyone else remember him or his name,  or know if he’s been here and I’ve just missed him?

  11. 11.

    RevRick

    @Van Buren: It took me 60 minutes to go about 3 miles. Of course I was walking and picking up litter and recyclable cans along the way. Were you making your trek on the world’s longest parking lot, aka the LIE?

  12. 12.

    Jackie

    @HumboldtBlue: Apparently not only words were thrown 🤭:

    “Donald Trump won’t be speaking to his usual self-selected crowd of adoring red-hatted MAGA fans when he addresses the Libertarian National Convention on Saturday,” Politico reports.

    “As delegates gathered at the Washington Hilton on the eve of his speech, the party’s decision to host the former president, which had split the organization, erupted Friday into open revolt. Fuming delegates at the convention said they plan to protest Trump’s speech, and one group sought unsuccessfully to remove the former president along with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., from the agenda — a move that resulted in thrown punches and obscenities between supporters and opponents of the move.”

  15. 15.

    Betty Cracker

    I was a bit wary of Moskowitz early on because it seems like a lot of local Dems who call out Repubs with the contempt they so richly deserve are useless and/or actively harmful grandstanders like Alan Grayson.

    Also, I didn’t know much about Moskowitz since he reps a South FL district, which is far away from where I live (my region is physically and psychologically closer to GA). But as his profile rose and Moskowitz’s name was increasingly mentioned as a potential gubernatorial candidate, I looked up his career.

    I’m reassured. He came up through local and state politics and has the kind of experience that may indicate he understands how the government actually works. He doesn’t seem to be just another a rich dilettante.

    So, go Moskowitz! He’s absolutely right about the giant babies who can dish it out but can’t take it, of course. That can’t be said too often.

  17. 17.

    Villago Delenda Est

    The Libertarians are in the midst of a civil war. A seriously radical faction ( Mises Caucus) that seems to want to bring feudalism to America has seized control of the apparatus of the party. A number of state parties have defected from the national party as a result.

  22. 22.

    sab

    @opiejeanne: That’s Steeplejack. I think he is on a different schedule than you. I am pretty sure he is east coast (DC area?) so eastern time zone.

  23. 23.

    Trollhattan

    @Van Buren:

    Nice, or the inverse of nice.

    Kid flying home from her track meet arriving 3 hours late, midnight, and due on campus at seven a.m. to graduate. Good thing she’s young.

  24. 24.

    A Man for All Seasonings (formerly Geeno)

    @RevRick: Long Island includes Nassau County. Queens County and Kings County (Brooklyn) are part of “the City” and exist independently of physical or cartographic restrictions.

  25. 25.

    frosty

    @opiejeanne: As everyone has said, it’s Steeplejack, whose brother lives at Sighthound Hall. He of course, abides at Threadkill Lane. Perhaps the reason you haven’t seen him is that he’s killed every thread you looked at.

    I love the names he gave the places.

    @sab: Northern Virginia, AKA the other World’s Largest Parking Lot. Funny note: when I was stuck in it one evening I looked over and saw a great bumper sticker:

    Welcome to Northern Virginia. Expect Delays.

  26. 26.

    Jackie

    Jack Smith may have finally cornered Judge Cannon!🤞🏻🤞🏻

    Special Counsel Jack Smith’s latest filing in the Florida classified documents case is carefully tailored to expose a jurist who has tipped the scales for defendant Donald Trump, legal experts said Friday.

    Smith on Friday asked Judge Cannon, who is overseeing the case, to gag Trump to prevent the former president from making further statements that could endanger law enforcement officers. The filing is based on Trump’s recent repetition of a false conspiracy theory that mischaracterized the search of his Mar-a-Lago golf club as an attempt to take his life.

    But the filing is a trap for Cannon, who has been accused of slow-walking the ex-president’s case such that the trial has been indefinitely postponed.

    Roger Parloff, a senior editor at Lawfare, noted that the special counsel’s new motion, seeking to halt the recent lies about an assassination attempt, “is crafted to highlight Judge Cannon’s bias and hypocrisy if she fails to take action.”

    “The motion twice cites Cannon’s order ‘ECF 101’ in which she, on her own, invoked her ‘independent obligation to protect the integrity of this judicial proceeding’ in order to probe a dubious defense allegation of a prosecutor’s ethical breach,” according to Parloff. “Jack’s new motion challenges Cannon to act on Trump’s outlandish attacks on the FBI–which have already triggered an armed attack on an FBI office in Cincinnati–with a fraction of her solicitude for policing special counsel’s ethics.”

    Andrew Weissmann, the former top prosecutor on former special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, hailed the move by Smith’s team.

    “Smart move by Smith as Judge Cannon won’t be likely to grant the gag order, will show her patent bias, and Smith can then appeal to the 11th Circuit,” he said Friday.

    https://www.rawstory.com/jack-smith-smart-move-trump-cannon-bias/

  27. 27.

    BeautifulPlumage

    @HumboldtBlue: ​
      a truly enjoyable clip!

    Anyone have recent news from GOP state parties in MI, AZ, or NV? Seems like they’re all facing schisms and money woes.

  28. 28.

    Kayla Rudbek .

    Trying to find some specific yarn kits in the stash tonight; I found two of the kits I wanted, but I am still looking for he flamingo yarn. Maybe tomorrow.Although I did find the purple allium shawl which is smaller and will go faster than the 11-color beaded one currently in play.

  30. 30.

    frosty

    @Jackie: Sounds positive on Jack Smith’s part. I will try to avoid consuming too much Hopium based on this one note. I OD’d at Fitzmas and it’s been a cautious slog ever since.

  32. 32.

    Steeplejack

    @opiejeanne:

    I’m not quite dead yet! (And thanks to Betty Cracker, Jay, eclare, sab and frosty for remembering me.) I think this is the first time I’ve ever gotten a “Hey, whatever happened to . . .,” and I’m genuinely touched.

    I haven’t been commenting much the last few months because I’ve been going through a slough of despond—maybe even a trough of despond. A lifelong friend of 40-plus years died suddenly after a car wreck last November, and that brought mortality—mine and everyone’s—into sharp focus. It got me motivated to start on some long overdue estate planning (although my “estate” is laughably small), some general post-pandemic decluttering and Swedish death cleaning and even more morose rumination than usual. And then a couple of weeks ago Chip, the non-sighthound of Sighthound Hall, had to be put down because he bit a kid on the lip. That hit me hard; he and I were really bonded. And Betty Cracker’s situation also hit me hard.

    And there are other big changes afoot. The Sighthound Hall mob is moving to London next month, and that will leave a big gap in my life. In fact, one of my projects is to do a “Garden Chat” or “On the Road” post about the Sighthound Hall grounds before they leave. And I will be thinking about whether I want to stay in NoVA or move somewhere else. There’s a lot going on.

    Well, this all came out in a rush. I intended to write about everything at some point, but I was procrastinating because I couldn’t summon the energy to do it. Opiejeanne’s query provided the spark, and I thank her for that.

    ETA: Apologies if you just wanted to ask me about a recipe or something. 😹

  34. 34.

    frosty

    @Steeplejack: ​Thanks for checking in. I’m sorry to hear about all the changes, particularly the loss of a favorite pup. The move of your brother is tough too, especially if it means your social circle shrinks.

    I started the decluttering and Swedish Death Cleaning I was going to focus on after retirement. Four years and hardly anything done! The easy part is deciding what to get rid of. The harder part is getting it to someone besides the dump.

    But I unloaded an unfinished furniture kid’s suite today! FB Marketplace works faster than anywhere else: This, a brand new marine battery, weight bench, and rowing machine gone to someone who can use it! (Looking around) What else can I get out the door?

  36. 36.

    Librarian

    @RevRick: While Brooklyn and Queens are geographically part of Long Island, psychologically they are not. Long Island begins at the Queens-Nassau border.

  42. 42.

    sab

    @Steeplejack: Yikes. I am so sorry about the changes, especially the dog put down. I’m guessing the bitten kid might have deserved it?

    I keep telling my autistic grand-daughter not to tease or rough house with our pitbull because if  the dog gets too excited and bites her the dog would have to be killed. My husband thinks I am being to hard on the kid, but I look at possible consequences. There is no justice or fairness in people/dog relationships. Just the law.

  44. 44.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Jackie:

    She’ll just refuse to rule on it. Just like the other motions Jack has made regarding this case. I’m tired of people saying “This time…!” and it yet again fizzles out. As it is she’s delaying the case due to all of the unanswered motions sitting on her desk so here’s another one to add to the pile.

    We’ll see but I’m not gonna get my hopes up.

  49. 49.

    Steeplejack

    @Betty Cracker:

    Thanks. You made my day—er, night—with “A thoroughly good guy!” I’d be happy to have that on my tombstone. Many years in the future, of course.

  50. 50.

    Steeplejack

    @frosty:

    Hat tip to you as I write late this evening from my modest rooms in Threadkill Lane. I’ll probably be calling on you for advice about getting rid of stuff. If I do decide to move, I’m going to jettison a lot of stuff and take only things that I really care about or can’t replace.

    My vague plan right now is to ride out the summer here in NoVA and see how it feels with the family gone. I don’t know very many other people here, although I do have one friend that I’ve known since college. Then in the fall I’ll start to think about whether I want to move, and where. Probably wouldn’t move until January.

    All subject to change, of course.

  51. 51.

    Steeplejack

    @sab:

    Chip is a very sensitive subject for me now. I’ll be able to write more about it later, but I agree with what you said.

  53. 53.

    Steeplejack

    Grace descends unbidden. This thread has given me great comfort. Thank you all. 🙏

  56. 56.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Steeplejack:

    I hope things look up for you soon. I’m sorry to hear about the pupper having to be put down, that really sucks.

  57. 57.

    eclare

    @Steeplejack:

    That makes sense, to take it slowly, when so many emotions are (understandably) raw right now.  As others have said, be gentle with yourself.

  60. 60.

    laura

    @Steeplejack: the doughty Kia- please include in an on the road.  Hang in there, better days lie ahead, she said from “on the road” for the second memorial/celebration of life of the month.

  62. 62.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    I’m considering getting/making a Dark Brandon 2024 yard sign and adding red LEDs to the eyes so they glow in the evening. I would have to bring it inside at night because I live among a lot of red hat wearing knuckledraggers who would have no problem trespassing and vandalizing anything Biden.

    I have the hardware to make it happen and Amazon has a Dark Brandon sign that would work nicely. Hmmmmmm….

  64. 64.

    SFAW

    @frosty: ​

    He of course, abides at Threadkill Lane. Perhaps the reason you haven’t seen him is that he’s killed every thread you looked at.

    Absolutely no disrespect to Steeplejack, but I was under the impression that the late, lamented J R in WV and I were the commenters most prone to killing threads. Well, when I was commenting more frequently, at least.

    @Steeplejack: ​
    Sorry to hear about all the recent travails. I’m hoping things get much better for you in the coming days.

  65. 65.

    Betty Cracker

    @Odie Hugh Manatee: That’s hilarious! Do eet!

    I sport a plain white Biden-Harris 2024 sticker on the rattletrap Jeep, which is about as much as I dare in this (red)neck of the woods.

  66. 66.

    SFAW

    @Odie Hugh Manatee:

    I would have to bring it inside at night because I live among a lot of red hat wearing knuckledraggers who would have no problem trespassing and vandalizing anything Biden.

    Or, you could “accessorize” with an M60 wired to detect and respond appropriately to MAGAt incursions.​

  68. 68.

    Steeplejack

    @SFAW:

    Not recently, especially with Balloon Juice developing more of a night shift, but 12-15 years ago I was often the last one in. Working at Barnes & Noble and would come home amped up after the closing shift.

  69. 69.

    sab

    Steeplejack:

    Dobby says Hi! You rooted for him back when I thought he was an irredeemable demon cat. Now he is mostly a pleasant housecat with an occassional (unfortunate) tendency to bite (not hard).

  71. 71.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Betty Cracker:

    Oh boy, I got the Betty Cracker Seal of Approval on the idea? Now I have to do it. I’ll order the sign in a few and send pics once I have it put together. I know it’s gonna piss some assholes off but then again, they’re assholes!

    @SFAW:

    I do have a ‘sentry’ on our garden on the south side of our house. It’s a motion-sensing rainbird to keep the deer away from our goods.  It fires across the garden and into the front yard. Unfortunately it’s not an automatic flamethrower so bringing the sign in at night is the solution…lol!

  73. 73.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    The sign is ordered, plus yarn for my wife plus cat food for our chonky cats. Midnight shopping!

  76. 76.

    NotMax

    Went to Costco ’cause of an attractive sale on a model of Skechers slip-in footwear.

    Trying to look through the stacks of boxes on display, was concerned I’d topple the whole shebang over onto the floor in the search for a specific size. So dragooned a Costco employee to engage in the search before I ruined the whole display (9 boxes high, 4 deep, 8 wide). Eventually she found one (one!) box marked size 12. Loads of 9s, 10s, 10½s,, 11s and 13s.

  78. 78.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Betty Cracker:

    Thanks for the warning but have cops who live in my neighborhood so I should be…uh, maybe not… Our crazy to sane voter ratio here is 2-1 so I know to keep an eye out for trouble. Maybe I’ll get a trail camera to aim at it just in case.

    @eclare:

    I agree. I’m sure that I’ll get more than a few comments and am I ready for them! I have some LED tea lights that flicker that ought to work nicely after I change out the white LEDs for red.

  79. 79.

    opiejeanne

    @frosty: I was trying to remember the name he gave to his home, but my grandfather’s farm in the Ozarks was called Thralekill and that kept derailing my memory.

    I often wondered as a kid what a thrale was and why it needed to be killed. It’s a villein, a serf, a bondsman.

  82. 82.

    Sid

    @sab:

    I can tell you exactly what to say when the dog injures her (or someone else)- it’s what every owner of a pitbull says when their dog maims (or kills) someone: ‘I don’t know what happened- they’ve never done anything like that before’.

  87. 87.

    RevRick

    @NotMax: I have many fond memories of driving down I-95 from CT, taking the Throgg’s Neck to the Cross Island and then to the Southern State to the Lynbrook to visit my gf back in the early 70s. Bumper to bumper at 50 mph and merge was a reflexive verb.

  89. 89.

    Ramalama

    @prostratedragon: wow. I am writing a scene involving Vermouth and this song is the perfect accompaniment. Perfect now, until I add in some drag queens and ruin the mood.

  90. 90.

    RaflW

    Josh Marshall was speculating that its likely that Niki Haley admitted she’s utterly pathetic – and voting for Trump – because she believes he’s gonna train wreck so hard that she may get to pick up the (useless) pieces and be the fill-in candidate. She can’t do that if she’s apostate.

    Or she’s said she’d voting for the man she labeled dangerous and unfit because the GOP is in such a weakened state that she feels she must in the vain hope of dragging Republicans across the finish line. And her role is to try to get Rs to win, not to be a consistent, honorable person, of course.

    IOW, the narrative that Repubs ‘knuckle under’ to the power of Trump’s MAGA may be more Oz & curtains than we currently suspect.

  91. 91.

    opiejeanne

    @RevRick: I didn’t think of the possible Dutch connection; most of the population in the area was of English descent. That makes some sense. My grandfather rented the house and land from a Dr Thralekill. I met his son 20 years ago; he lived in Peculiar, Missouri. His wife was a distant cousin. My favorite aunt told me we had family in Peculiar, and they certainly were.

  92. 92.

    moops

    @Jackie:

     

    pfft.   Cannon will grant the gag order.  All it will do is gag him for this one new conspiracy theory and change nothing else about the case.  Then, she will not enforce the gag order, or will just hand Trump meaningless fines each time he violates his gag order.  The media will take all this as a sign that she is open to being nonpartisan, while changing nothing.

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