Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

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

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

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

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

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

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

No one could have predicted…

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Bright, Sunshiny Day

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Bright, Sunshiny Day

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Respect to our own DougJ!


(Where former theatre critic Frank Bruni frets about Trump’s ahmazing command of The Optics… )

Warning — earworm!

Reader Interactions

199Comments

  2. 2.

    Chief Oshkosh

    Heather Cox Richardson notes:

    MAGA senators were even more strident. Republican senator Mike Lee of Utah melted down on X last night over the verdict, and today he led nine other Republican senators in a revolt against the federal government. Lee, J. D. Vance of Ohio, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Rick Scott of Florida, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Marco Rubio of Florida, Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin issued a public letter saying they would no longer pass legislation, fund the government, or vote to confirm the administration’s appointees because, they said, “[t]he White House has made a mockery of the rule of law and fundamentally altered our politics in un-American ways. As a Senate Republican conference,” they said, although there were only 10 of them, “we are unwilling to aid and abet this White House in its project to tear this country apart.”

    It would be great if Schumer gracefully accepted their resignations, had all the shit in their federal offices tossed out in the street, changed the locks, stopped paychecks and any other compensation (including healthcare and pensions), blocked passwords, and took away all other access and perks normally accorded Senators. If there’s any actual overreach, well, those newly-minted private citizens can seek redress through their representatives and the courts…just like the rest of us.

  4. 4.

    Uncle Jeffy

    No, Donnie – the real crime is the one you were just convicted of, 34 times over.

  7. 7.

    OzarkHillbilly

    My Senators will receive a sternly worded email from me. That’ll teach ’em.

  8. 8.

    different-church-lady

    Are these the same people who kept telling us Dobbs wouldn’t matter?

  10. 10.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Baud: Ha! Good point.

    But if they’re going to lob a slow pitch right over the plate, may as well take your swing.

  11. 11.

    p.a.

    … Republican senator Mike Lee of Utah melted down on X last night over the verdict, and today he led nine other Republican senators in a revolt against the federal government. Lee, J. D. Vance of Ohio, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Rick Scott of Florida, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Marco Rubio of Florida, Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin issued a public letter…

     

     

    The MENSA Caucus 😂

  12. 12.

    Kay

    One of the first polls conducted since a New York Jury found Donald Trump guilty of falsifying business records find that a significant minority of Republicans and Independents want him to drop out and a majority of registered voters approve of the jury’s decision.
    Why it matters: The Morning Consult poll conducted on Friday offers some of the first clues about how voters are reacting to the unprecedented situation.
    By the numbers: 54% of registered voters “strongly” or “somewhat” approve of the guilty verdict compared to 34% who “strongly or “somewhat” disapprove.
    49% of Independents and 15% of Republicans said Trump should end his campaign because of the conviction.
    The polls found the race effectively tied nationally in a 1-on-1 with Biden at 45% and Trump at 44%.

    45/44 doesn’t tell you anything though – they probably both start with that.

  15. 15.

    Scout211

    From Axios so it’s a bit shouty, but (I think) good news from the Biden-Harris campaign.

    Biden goes all-in on calling Trump a “convicted felon”
    Throughout the day Friday, Biden advisers and Democratic strategists on congressional campaigns said they wanted to know more about how Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts is playing with voters before launching a full-throated attack strategy.

    But by the evening, Biden’s campaign apparently had made the call. It sent out a press release  clearly designed to get under Trump’s skin, listing “34 Lowlights from Convicted Felon Donald Trump’s” speech.

    Maybe they saw this Opinion poll.

    WASHINGTON, May 31 (Reuters) – Ten percent of Republican registered voters say they are less likely to vote for Donald Trump following his felony conviction for falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Friday.

    The two-day poll, conducted in the hours after the Republican presidential candidate’s conviction by a Manhattan jury on Thursday, also found that 56% of Republican registered voters said the case would have no effect on their vote and 35% said they were more likely to support Trump, who has claimed the charges against him are politically motivated and has vowed to appeal.

    Keep hitting the “convicted felon” with his 34 crimes in your campaign, Biden-Harris.

  17. 17.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    Remember when Democrats said that a little thing like rape should disqualify Kavanaugh from the highest judicial post in the land?  Republicans freaked the fuck out.  They foamed at the mouth with anger.

    That they should never, ever face any consequences is their holiest moral principle.  Just like only they can legitimately rule, the Law’s only legitimate use is to hurt their enemies.

    Guilt is irrelevant.  The righteous cannot be guilty no matter what they do.  Trump being convicted strikes at the core of their twisted beliefs, and yeah, they are enraged.

  20. 20.

    Jackie

    Dark Brandon is ready to rumble!🕶

    “After a day of holding its fire, the Biden campaign late Friday blasted Donald Trump as a ‘convicted felon’ — an indication the president’s team has decided to seize upon Trump’s conviction to question his fitness for the White House,” Axios reports.

    “The broadside from Biden’s campaign — in a press release chiding Trump for his ‘unhinged’ rant earlier in the day — put President Biden in the same camp as many Democrats who are now mocking the ex-president.”

    “It also marked a departure from Biden’s approach in remarks at the White House hours earlier, when he danced around the ‘convicted felon’ label while criticizing Trump’s attack on the U.S. justice system.”

    From the Axios story:

     Throughout the day Friday, Biden advisers and Democratic strategists on congressional campaigns said they wanted to know more about how Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts is playing with voters before launching a full-throated attack strategy.

    But by the evening, Biden’s campaign apparently had made the call. It sent out a press release clearly designed to get under Trump’s skin, listing “34 Lowlights from Convicted Felon Donald Trump’s” speech.

    The linked press release is a twitter. Fun reading!🕶😂

    ETA Scout211 beat me!

  21. 21.

    Baud

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    The righteous cannot be guilty no matter what they do.

     
    Technically, they can hold themselves accountable for harming those in the in-group.

    But accountability at the hands of their lessers is verboten.

  22. 22.

    mrmoshpotato

    (Where former theatre critic Frank Bruni frets about Trump’s ahmazing command of The Optics… sucks Dump’s fat, orange, traitorous, Kremlin-humping, fascist ass while having his head up his own ass)

    Some corrections are needed.

    Corrected. :)

  25. 25.

    Kay

    @Another Scott:

    Agree.I don’t think anyone can predict. I always believed Biden would firm up the D vote in the last months which would by itself will close any gap with Trump but if this tilts independents that’s great.

    The NYTimes has another hedging article by their Nate today too. They called the race too soon :)

  28. 28.

    dmsilev

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    Lee, J. D. Vance of Ohio, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Rick Scott of Florida, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Marco Rubio of Florida, Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin issued a public letter saying they would no longer pass legislation, fund the government, or vote to confirm the administration’s appointees

    So, let’s see, we have Rand Paul’s sidekick who reflexively votes against everything anyway, we have the Senator from kinda-sorta-Alabama who held up hundreds of military promotions because he wanted to throw a stupid-even-for-him hissy fit, and also reflexively votes against everything. The Senator from Missouri best known for giving a thumbs-up to the Jan 6 rioters. Batboy. The Senator best known for drinking from a bottle of water. Ron Johnson.

    I am ….not impressed. Nor will it matter; as already noted, this crew is an automatic no vote on pretty much everything already.

  29. 29.

    Ken

    On the bright side, the media may get that dramatic nominating convention they wanted, with factions arguing whether the front-runner should step aside. It will just be in Milwaukee, not Chicago.

  34. 34.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Ken:

    On the bright side, the media may get that dramatic nominating convention they wanted, with factions arguing whether the front-runner should step aside. It will just be in Milwaukee, not Chicago. 

    😃 Don’t threaten me with a good time!

  35. 35.

    Jackie

    The Fixer and the Porn Star were right all along!

    “The jury that found former president Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony charges delivered not only a historic verdict, but an unusual form of validation for two historically offbeat and divisive witnesses: Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels,” the Washington Post reports.

    “Fixer and adult-film actress, the pair made up the unlikely axis of the first-ever criminal case against an American president, bearing the uneasy hopes of Trump’s critics and the tireless mockery of his supporters. As they parlayed their roles in the hush money saga into popular books and repeated news media appearances, they were ridiculed, threatened, doubted, dragged in and out of courtrooms and, in Cohen’s case, locked up in prison.”

    “On Thursday, the criminal justice system appeared to affirm that the most important parts of their stories had been true all along.”

    Gift link: https://wapo.st/3x0Pm5I

  37. 37.

    Ken

    @dmsilev: The Senator from Missouri

    Virginia, though he may own property in Missouri. Tuberville is also a carpetbagger, though at least from an adjacent state. Eric Hovde, the Republican challenger for Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, lives in California.

  38. 38.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Ken: Well, Milwaukee needs something to do between Bastille Days and the Brady Street Festival.

  39. 39.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    My Senators will receive a sternly worded email from me. That’ll teach ’em.

    Heh heh, yeah, knowing your two Senators, it’ll teach em…something.

    The descent of Misery into abject right-wing crackpottery over the years has been a sight to behold.

  41. 41.

    zhena gogolia

    @geg6: This is always their response — “If you read the article, it’s really XYZ.” PEOPLE DON’T READ THE ARTICLE, THEY READ THE HEADLINE

  42. 42.

    TBone

    As far as the election is concerned, I’m not rilly giving much weight to what is said by who until October.  Gotta keep my powder dry all through the Summer of Outrageous Flaming Clown Antics.  There will be important news that eclipses anything trivial.  That said, the winner of my flaming clown competition during the most recent criminal trial was Dumb Son We’ll Win Cuz We’re White.

  43. 43.

    OzarkHillbilly

    So the Saga of the Spider Bite from Hell continues.

    To fill in some gaps, let me recap:
    Monday- A Doc on the Block in Washington. Given antibiotics.
    Tuesday: My wife saw her doctor in Sullivan. Given more antibiotics.
    Wednesday: Went the ER. Given intravenous antibiotics.
    Friday: Went to the ER again. More intravenous antibiotics and admission to the hospital.

    All along it has slowly turned uglier and uglier and uglier, to the point where it occurred to that maybe the spider she killed was not the one that bit her, that maybe she was bit by a brown recluse. The light bulb moment came to me after I left the hospital last night and kept pondering where I had seen such a wound before. Finally I placed it as the scar on a friends thigh that she had been given by a brown recluse. Either that or my wife is allergic to spider bites in addition to wasp stings.

    Anyway, heading back to the hospital in a bit in hopes of bringing her home. Lord knows, the dogs are bereft with out her. They are used to me disappearing from time to time, but not her.

  44. 44.

    sdhays

    @Ken: I thought Tuberville’s actual residence was in Florida.

    ETA: I see now that’s what you were saying.

  48. 48.

    dmsilev

    @Ken:

    On the bright side, the media may get that dramatic nominating convention they wanted, with factions arguing whether the front-runner should step aside. It will just be in Milwaukee, not Chicago.

    That’d be absolutely hilarious, but sadly I think the Republican Party is too far gone into Trump-cult-ism to make it happen.

  49. 49.

    sdhays

    @Kay: They called the race too soon :)

    They do that a lot. I remember when they called the 2022 midterms in February 2021.

  50. 50.

    Jackie

    Biden would be wise to decline this future shitshow!

    X and cable news network NewsNation are planning to host live town halls with former President Trump and independent presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr., two sources familiar with the plans told Axios.

    State of play: The pair have agreed in principle to separate live interviews as part of a new video series, titled “The People’s Town Hall,” per the sources, though the dates and locations have yet to be set.

    • The Biden campaign has not agreed to take part.
    • A spokesperson for the Biden campaign declined to comment. The Trump and RFK Jr. campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.

    https://www.axios.com/2024/05/30/trump-rfk-town-halls-twitter-news-nation

  55. 55.

    Tony Jay

      NYT GUEST ARTICLE 

    By Maureen O’Dowdy

    “How putting ‘Conviction’ next to ‘Trump’ in the nation lexicon was a Democrat mistake we’ll all pay for – but not in the way you think.”

     

      WAPO GUEST ARTICLE

    By Meghan McGargle

    “Only someone as old as Joe Biden could have forgotten the first rule of US politics – We Americans love a comeback story”

     

      POLITICO PLAYBOOK GUEST ARTICLE

    By Ben Slapiro 

    “We Find You Guilty Of Presidenting While Republican – How the Biden White House Overreached In Manhattan And Why Only Joe Manchin’s Indie Gravitas Can Save Us Now”

  57. 57.

    Nukular Biskits

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    MS says, “HOLD MY BEER!”

    With the exception of one state senator, Bruce Wiggins, nearly every other MS Republicans circled the wagons to defend Trump against a “lawless” verdict (don’t ask me how verdicts handed down in a court of law are “lawless” ) and screaming about how President Biden forced this NY state jury to convict.

    Bruce Wiggins (no liberal) had the temerity to post this on social media:

    All jurors deserve thanks and respect. They are the foundation of the best judicial system in the world (though not perfect). The @GOP @MSGOP leadership has a lot of soul searching to do.

    #convictedfelon

    and he was figuratively ripped to shreds.

    We also have a real kook as state senator who has repeatedly compared Trump to Jesus. Seriously.

    https://x.com/jallen1985/status/1796633298061365648

  60. 60.

    Nukular Biskits

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Sounds like a spider bite, definitely.

    I’m mildly allergic to bee/wasp stings but I don’t have reactions like that.

    Never been knowingly bitten by a brown recluse but what you’re describing sounds like that was the culprit.

  64. 64.

    smith

    @dmsilev: The College Republicans had the temerity to say the verdict should be respected (while, of course, claiming it was a political prosecution). It did not go over well with their confreres in the party.

    Given how many state and local Republican meetings have been devolving into fistfights, I think we may see a very dramatic convention.

  66. 66.

    TBone

    The best the tankies can do:

    “What about Hunter Biden!?” (*Insert meme of children’s book cover with dress-wearing bunny eating a carrot while waving to the book title above “What About Hunter Biden, A Child’s Guide to Defending Trump” here)

    “It’s not illegal to pay hush money!” 😆

  72. 72.

    BR

    Excellent piece from Josh Marshall:

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-bit-of-trump-trial-campaign-advice

    Donald Trump’s superpower is his impunity. He can do or say things that would end another politician’s career, marriage, freedom, and so much more. But he emerges always unscathed. It’s the root of his opponents’ revulsion and the anchor of his devotees’ devotion. That’s because Trump, as we’ve noted many times, is about power. And impunity is one of the great expressions of power. When you see Trump and his toadies turning their rage up to 11 you know they can see, if only intuitively, that the most damaging part of Trump’s conviction is the loss of the aura of impunity it represents, the damage to his brand.

    He committed the crime — one we knew about and which Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to and later went to prison for all the way back in 2018. Trump was charged with the crime. He want on trial for the crime. A jury of his peers found him guilty on every count. Done and done. No levitation in defiance of the laws of gravity. No skating on the crime a mere underling did time for. Guilty. Done and done.

    Very off brand. Sad!, as the man himself might say.

    But let’s go back to Trump’s now damaged superpower of impunity. Trump’s play is always dominance. The weapon of choice against that puffed-up pro-wrestling-like dominance spectacle that is at the heart of Trumpism is mockery. And this provides such a wonderful opening.

    Trump was convicted of a felony. So the trial was rigged. Just like when Donald Trump lost a whole presidential election. Remember that? And he said that was rigged. He couldn’t just take it like a man (or woman) like the other … what, 44 guys who lost, and just admit he lost? And remember back in 2016 when it looked like he was going to lose, well … that election was rigged too. And then he won so it wasn’t rigged anymore. And the lawsuit that dissolved his company for decades of serial fraud. Also rigged, surprisingly!

    Don’t we all know that guy? From our own lives? It’s not his fault? Someone always set him up? It was rigged!

    …

    The way to constantly inject Trump’s felony conviction into the campaign, other than remembering that “convicted felon” is now his first name, is to simply make his pathetic whining, excuses and demands for never-ending life mulligans the center of the campaign against him. He’s a disgrace but more than that an embarrassment. It won’t be hard because he’ll be making this claim non-stop through November, just a constant cue up for the same lethal mockery. It is the heart of his politics to always be jacking the conversation up to higher and higher levels of drama, even when the drama is his own menace, indeed especially when the drama is his own menace. That’s his power. What cuts him down is to zero in on the pathetic excuse-making and whining, a trait all of us associate with the most odious and pitiful people we’ve ever known. And let that pull the disgrace of his many crimes and prosecutions along with it.

  80. 80.

    Kay

    There’s a counter event for the Pride event today. They have a fundie Christian band. I’m completely unsophisticated about music – I know nothing- but I think it’s really weird how fundie Christian pop music portrays Jesus as the listener’s boyfriend. I completely support their right to counter, but I hope it isn’t hostile for our people.

  83. 83.

    catclub

    @BR: Yes. The response can be (again and again); “excuses, excuses… LOSER.”​
     

    also, along the lines of “There you go again, Loser.”

  85. 85.

    RaflW

    Regarding the Bruni column, yeah there’s a uuuuuge Beltway investment in the “inevitable” idea of Trump. But I think the verdict this week really does shift that.

    For example, this epic rant by a Fox Sorts Radio guy (I was tipped to this by Bsky, not a sports radio listener myself). Colin Cowherd apparently went off:

    “He’s trying to sell me an America that doesn’t exist,” Cowherd said on his latest podcast episode for The Volume. “I don’t see crime, I’m not stumbling over homeless people. I see happy people. Dodger Stadium is full, leads Major League Baseball in attendance. Laker games are full. NFL games are full. People have money in their pocket. LAX is packed, I just saw record airline revenue over the weekend. I’m constantly being sold an America by Donald Trump of ‘crime rates are skyrocketing.’ No, they’re actually not. Starting in 2023 they have plummeted coast to coast…you can’t keep selling me on how bad the country I live in is, because it’s not bad for me and my friends.”

    “Donald Trump is now a felon,” Cowherd said. “His campaign chairman was a felon. So is his deputy campaign manager, his personal lawyer, his chief strategist, his National Security Adviser, his Trade Advisor, his Foreign Policy Adviser, his campaign fixer and his company CFO. They’re all felons. Judged by the company you keep. It’s a cabal of convicts.” …

    “If everybody in your social circle is a felon, I don’t think it’s rigged,” Cowherd continued. “I don’t think the world’s against you. And to get people to agree on anything, 34 counts? 0 for 34? That’s a batting slump even the New York Mets could be impressed with. …

    That’s a significant flip for Cowherd, who less than two years ago predicted a “red wave” before the 2022 midterm elections, writing, “Don’t mess with people’s kids.”

  88. 88.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Men and other mammals live longer if they are castrated, says researcher

    Whether it is the fountain of youth or the elixir of life, men have travelled the world looking for the key to increasing their longevity.

    They should be looking a bit closer to home, according to one leading researcher – although after they do, they might end up taking the years God intended for them.

    When it comes to increasing the lifespan of any male mammal, “there is one way you can intervene”: castration.

    Cat Bohannon, the celebrated author of Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution, said men went through life “smuggling two little death nuggets”, with research suggesting an orchiectomy can lend a few more precious years.

    Keep yer dirty hands off my death nuggets.

  91. 91.

    catclub

    Hitting them in the pocketbook eventually has an effect:

    Right-wing media company Salem apologizes, stops distributing 2020 election conspiracy film ‘2000 Mules’ after lawsuit

  92. 92.

    WaterGirl

    @Kay:

    I think it’s really weird how fundie Christian pop music portrays Jesus as the listener’s boyfriend.

    Oh my god, you are so right about that.  I haven’t listened to much of it, but you absolutely nailed it.

  95. 95.

    JPL

    @Kay: A local coffee shop is having Pride brunch with a drag queen show following.   If I didn’t have other plans, I would go.

    On NextDoor someone is offended that a family friendly town could allow it.   tsk.   Most people pushed back on her rude comments which was nice to see.

  96. 96.

    catclub

    When people want Biden to drop out, ask them if they want Kamala Harris or Hillary Clinton to replace him on the ticket.

  97. 97.

    TBone

    @Kay: that’s because of all the sex they’re having. Nun!

    I have a friend who is afraid to masturbate because Jesus is watching 👀😆

  98. 98.

    RevRick

    @Nukular Biskits: “Lawless verdicts?” Well, if any state knows about lawless verdicts, it would be Mississippi, where lynchings were just another day that ended in “y”, and acquittal of a white man accused of anything against a black person was a given.

  105. 105.

    mrmoshpotato

    @TBone:

    I have a friend who is afraid to masturbate because Jesus is watching 👀😆 

    And will say “That’s not how you do it!”

  110. 110.

    kalakal

    I really appreciate the title. The last 3 weeks have been a bit much

    Week 1 was at an Archivist’s convention, which was great but…

    Week 2 was spent with some weird respiratory virus, not covid, where I turned into a mucus factory

    Week 3 crazy busy playing catchup and having both ankles zapped by blister beetles

    Thursday was a fantastic lift, I’m more or less caught up and am spending the morning sneering at the weeds in the backyard*

    Take it away Jimmy Cliff I Can See Clearly..

    And Mr Cliff has something to say about

    Thursday’s verdict as well

    The bigger they come

     

    A very happy weekend to you all!

    *Have to confess they don’t seem intimidated

  111. 111.

    Tony Jay

    @WaterGirl:

    They’re all awful, ridiculous people with the credibility of Russian weightlifters and the ethics of Yersinia Pestis bacteria. There are no words you can put in their mouths more discrediting than the ones already tumbling out.

    ETA – But I amuse myself by trying.

  113. 113.

    Juju

    @Nukular Biskits: If you’ve been bitten by a brown recluse you would know. I have been and for me, there was a very painful spot that turned into a blister like thing that then sloughed off. Then the flesh layers sloughed off over several days. My father was a physician and took care of me. I had to keep my foot elevated and off my feet while the spider venom dissolved my outer ankle skin over about 7-10 days. It took more than a month for me to recover completely. This happened over 30 years ago and I still have an indentation where the bite happened. It took about 20 years for the red scar to fade. I have the yard checked every year for brown recluse spiders. I never want to go through that again. Mrs. Ozarkhillbilly has my deepest sympathies. Brown recluse spider bites are horrible.

  116. 116.

    Tony Jay

    @TBone:

    For Christmas I sent a lot of my friends cardboard cut outs of Jesus angled to fit on the corners of door frames with the words “I saw that!” in a speech bubble.

    Never fails to amuse me.

  117. 117.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Maybe some of the Evangelicals will come around if they understood that Stormy is the modern day Mary Magdalene.

    Nah, they don’t even understood what Jesus was all about.

  118. 118.

    RaflW

    @Chief Oshkosh: How many of these 10 despicable senators went on RonJon’s partisan Dependence on Putin Day trip to Moscow (on Independence Day, 2018)?

  121. 121.

    Another Scott

    A good statement from yet another one of TCFFG’s victims.

    Yusef Abdus Salaam
    @dr_yusefsalaam
    May 31

    #PowerPost🙌🏻🙌🏼🙌🏽🙌🏾🙌🏿™️!!!!!

    Even though Donald Trump wanted us executed even when it was proven that we were innocent, I do not take pleasure at today’s verdict.

    [ image ]

    May 31, 2024 · 12:41 AM UTC

    (via nycsouthpaw)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  122. 122.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Juju: My wife does not yet have anything quite like that, but her arm looks like she has some deep tissue necrosis happening and the looks of it make me nervous. It’s a black and blue blob about the size of an avg woman’s fist and it changes back and forth over time (better at night, worse during the day, so I suspect it has to do with blood flow and activity) but her whole forearm is red with streaks going up at the bicep.

    I’m still hopeful it’s just an allergic reaction but only time will tell for certain.

  124. 124.

    RaflW

    @Scout211: Aha. Ten percent of Republicans peeling off would be catastrophic for Trump. And if even one third of that 10% decide to stay home and not vote for Rs down-ballot, it could be massive for our House — and maybe even Senate — chances in Nov.

    I’ve seen tell of one D.C. repub in office saying DJT shouldn’t top the ticket, I think. Or was it a former office holder? Hogan didn’t go that far:

    Maryland’s Republican Senate nominee, Larry Hogan, staked out an island among the GOP faithful …  “Regardless of the result, I urge all Americans to respect the verdict and the legal process,” he posted on X, formerly Twitter. “We must reaffirm what has made this nation great: the rule of law.”

  128. 128.

    Juju

    @OzarkHillbilly: I hope everything heals and she makes a full recovery. That sounds worse than a brown recluse bite. The thing that was an advantage for me was that my father knew immediately what had happened and treated accordingly and it was not on a fleshy part of my body. I didn’t have health insurance back then and was very fortunate that my father was a physician.  I’m sending my best wishes for a smooth recovery for your wife. I wish I could do more. Take care of your wife and yourself.

  133. 133.

    Ken

    @BR:  Josh Marshall: never-ending life mulligans

    Also the way Trump wins every golf game he plays.

  139. 139.

    Betty Cracker

    @Another Scott: He’s a better person than me. I take great pleasure is all 34 convictions and have been positively giddy since I heard the news on Friday!

    BTW, it was weird timing for me. My brother and I were driving to meet aunts and uncles at a steakhouse in North Florida when the verdict dropped. Bro is in his mid-40s and a Rogan-listening meathead about politics.

    The aunts and uncles are MAGA dopes. We were playing music during the drive, so I didn’t hear the wonderful and unexpected (by me) news until we stopped at a convenience store and I saw a bunch of celebratory texts from lib friends/family.

    I couldn’t help but crow just a tiny bit but mostly contained my glee.

  140. 140.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @WaterGirl: Me too. As I suggested yesterday, I think that the Exonerated Five should attend the sentencing hearing. You know, maybe to offer the convict some advice about surviving on the inside

    ETA: If nothing else, Merchan should be reminded of their story and the role Loser McLoserface played in it.

  142. 142.

    WaterGirl

    @Timill: Only after the Biden campaign basically said “okay then, we’ll work around you.”

    Ohio Republicans look like the petty shits that they are, and finally voting on this doesn’t help them any.

    If I were Biden, I would still have some sort of (quiet) but official nomination in case Ohio or any other state tries to pull anything at the last minute.

  143. 143.

    kalakal

    @WaterGirl: look forward to it

    Jimmy Cliff always inspires me

    @Another Scott:

    He’s better person than me, I take great joy in see that odious wretch face the consequences for his actions for the first time in his miserable existence. And I shall positively exult when in November he and his lickspittles lose bigly.

  144. 144.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @OzarkHillbilly: I can’t see that working except by the method used by some people over here to deliver the occasional sternly-worded letter to the US Embassy. In those cases, by “letter” I mean “grenade”, and by “sternly-worded” I mean “rocket-propelled”. There’s a … history of that sort of thing here, on occasion, though it’s less frequent in the last decade or so.

  145. 145.

    Ruckus

    @Baud:

    But accountability at the hands of their lessers is verboten.

    That should limit the people they think has accountability over them to somewhere below the bottom 5% of the population. You know multiple murderers, serial rapists, serial bank robbers, active arsonists…..

  148. 148.

    Another Scott

    @WaterGirl: @Betty Cracker: and @kalakal:

    What I really, really liked about it was the rhetorical call to arms at the end.  It wasn’t some sort of “ok, he’s convicted, time to move on,” it was a reminder that we all saw what happened on 1/6/2021 and we have to remember that when we vote.

    Forgiveness is often portrayed as an empty platitude like “thank you for your service.”  I think that instead, at its best, it means the victim can live their life again without that monster or that event dominating everything going forward.  Maybe that’s me putting more emphasis on the “and forget” part…

    Of course, celebrating a correct result in a court of law is a very good thing too!  :-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  149. 149.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @OzarkHillbilly: Wow, that’s a terrifying sequence of events. A reminder amid all the horrible people we read about everyday that there are also tiny little things in dark places to avoid, yikes. Hope your wife is able to come home and gets well soon.

  151. 151.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​
    When it comes to increasing the lifespan of any male mammal, “there is one way you can intervene”: castration.

    Nonsense. Sewing goat testicles into your body is the key to rejuvenation. Just ask John Brinkley, the man who popularized country music, handshake politics, and brand name medicine. Also he won the election to be governor of Kansas and the Democrats and Republicans together had to unite to pass a law to overturn it.

  152. 152.

    wjca

    @RaflW: 0 for 34? That’s a batting slump even the New York Mets could be impressed with. …

    Zing.

    Also a record this year’s White Sox could only envy.

  154. 154.

    RaflW

    @OzarkHillbilly: I just yelled at Ron Johnson. “Get back to work. How dare you waste taxpayer money announcing that you will do nothing for the citizens of Wisconsin for the next six months.”

    I expect a staffer to delete the message after reading the first six words or so.

  155. 155.

    SteveinPHX

    @OzarkHillbilly: JFC! I missed early news.

    I wish your wife a most speedy recovery. Whole thing sounds like a really HORRIBLE saga. Hope you’re able to put it in the rear view mirror soon.

    Hang in there!

  156. 156.

    Ruckus

    @dmsilev:

    That’d be absolutely hilarious, but sadly I think the Republican Party is too far gone into Trump-cult-ism to make it happen.

    You think?

    I’m sure. Shitforbrains is, as my not all that extensive study of history shows, the worst president we’ve ever had, with the chance that one or two may have been worse but were never found out. Which, considering that we’ve been able to see most of it on TV or the internet with our own eyes, and as the worlds largest jury as to how actually shitty he is – he is the absolutely worst president in our history. It’s not even a contest, he wins absolute worst president award, hands down.

  157. 157.

    wjca

    @WaterGirl: But anyone Democrat who is feeling doom about the election this week is doing it wrong.

    FTFY

    Because, after all, any Republican who is feeling doom is having a moment of clarity and reality.

  158. 158.

    Harrison Wesley

    @Kay: Hopefully somebody will display that satirical billboard: “Troubled by the sin of masturbation?  Ask Jesus for a hand, and we’ll beat it together!”

  159. 159.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Damn, I probably should have been clearer that I was responding with hyperbole to what I understood to be sarcasm. Eh, that’s the internet; nuance gets lost somewhere in the tubes.

    As for your representatives in Congress, I’m trying to think of what would teach them. About all I can find is … lessee … ah ha:

    …being tied to a lit keg of explosives and tossed into a pit of acid filled with mutant, acid-resistant flying piranhas equipped with flame throwers and battle-axes while mechanical, missile-launching morris dancers armed with liquid nitrogen harpoon guns are overhead, riding giant, rabid killer bees with side mounted death rays…

    …that might do it. Then again, maybe not.

  160. 160.

    suzanne

    Spawn the Youngest has her dance recital tomorrow, so Mr. Suzanne and I took her to  a stage rehearsal this morning. While we were there, one of the dads of the other girls had an absolute screaming meltdown fight over the phone with the girl’s mom (exes? still together? don’t know). In front of all these other people, including little girls, he screamed “I FUCKING HATE WOMEN”, then saw me standing right there and said “Not you, you’re cool”. Then he said that she should kill herself and called her “Maleficient”.

    Men are not OK.

    No, I did not do anything about it. I’m pretty sure he has a gun.

  161. 161.

    Tony Jay

    @TBone:

    “Jesus is watching me through the window again!”

    “How do you know it’s Jesus?”

    “We live on the 19th floor!!”

  162. 162.

    Scout211

    @OzarkHillbilly: Oh no!  I just saw this.  All good thoughts for healing for your wife.  Yikes!  It sounds scary, but it sounds like she is being well cared for.  I hope she recovers quickly.

  163. 163.

    RaflW

    @Jackie: Ugh. I see Melon Husk has devised an all too perfect excuse for Trump to bow out of the June debate with Biden.

    “I’ll be at making an appearance talking on  whats that show the X show or on Twitter  why isn’t it on TruthSocial  anyway I challenge the madman in wershagton  erm  in the White House to come on my twitter  I mean X and town hall against me. It’ll be amashging”

    (Just trying to imagine the incoherence that the press will dutifully type up as “Donald Trump today announced he is withdrawing from the televised debate and challenged mister Biden to appear on an X town hall.”)

  164. 164.

    E.

    @RaflW: I think the verdict is going to free more traditional Republicans to say things like this. They will feel they have the freedom/safety to say it.

  165. 165.

    RaflW

    @suzanne: Preferring bears is sadly rational these days.

    And, that sounds truly awful. Not least because I’d assume the girls could hear this too? So his own daughter hears him say “I hate women” and, yep, he has a future one as his kid. I’m flabbergasted.

  166. 166.

    wjca

    @Ruckus: Shitforbrains is, as my not all that extensive study of history shows, the worst president we’ve ever had

    He not only surpassed Buchanan as the worst president we ever had.  He also blew past Harding, to be the most currupt president we ever had.

    So much winning!

  167. 167.

    Betty

    @Jinchi: Ah, you haven’t heard. Thing is Biden sent one of DOJ’s top prosecutors to New York to lead the prosecution team. So, obviously it was all a big conspiracy to get Trump.

  168. 168.

    suzanne

    @RaflW: Yes, I’m sure all the girls (preschool and kindergarten age) could hear. He also had a baby boy with him, who I assume will be raised to consider women the same way.

    I don’t know how to break this cycle.

  169. 169.

    Another Scott

    @suzanne: Urgh.  ☹️

    I’m sorry that you (and she, and everyone there) had to experience that.

    You’re right – men are too often messed up. Another example…

    :⁠-⁠\

    Hang in there.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  170. 170.

    RaflW

    Oh, also, Happy Pride Month!

    I’m in the 2007 archival photo that was selected to top a new story about small town Pride celebrations in Minnesota. It ran in the Star Tribune two days ago. Not gonna say which person, but if anyone looks close, the name tags are just barely legible :)

  171. 171.

    Villago Delenda Est

    That photo of Pride Month at the WH should destroy the notion, for all time, that gay men have fashion sense.

  172. 172.

    TBone

    @Tony Jay: 😆 FOMO Jesus

    I like to upset her sometimes just because it’s so easy.  A person who still uses the word “fornicate” in the year 2024 needs some kind of spice on her white bread.  Miracle Whip!

  175. 175.

    Another Scott

    @suzanne: Understood.

    You’ve been through a lot since leaving AZ, and this was pretty bad.

    But, of course, bad interactions can (and do) happen everywhere because people are everywhere.  And even if a neighborhood is great when you arrive doesn’t mean it will stay that way.

    :-(

    Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  176. 176.

    Tony Jay

    @TBone:

    In my experience fornicate can only be used erotically by 93 year old Spaniards on GreyDate or by very in-character Vulcan cosplayers in the late-night Pon Farr tent.

  178. 178.

    smith

    @Betty: According to ace parking garage lawyer Alina Habba, the evil mind pulling the strings behind this travesty is none other than Barack Obama.

  179. 179.

    Tony Jay

    @M31:

    “Oh yeah, that’s hot. What you say we give your friend J’anet a call and, uh, activate our tricorders?”

    “………….”

    Sigh “I’ll get my bat’leth.”

  180. 180.

    NeenerNeener

    @smith: Her name always reminds me of the King Kong song “Old Man on the Bridge”:  heyba heyba hobba hooba habba….

  182. 182.

    Ken

    @smith: That would explain why Trump keeps saying he’s running against Obama. Though dementia also explains that, and so much else.

  185. 185.

    Ohio Mom

    @OzarkHillbilly: Streaks going up your wife’s arm?!!! Yikes. Sounds like cellulitis. Which, if I remember correctly, can kill you.

    On the bright side, your wife is following my first rule of getting sick, which is get something doctors know how to treat. They are very familiar with treating infections.

    Sending wishes for a swift and complete recovery, I won’t say “please keep us posted” because I know you will.

  186. 186.

    WaterGirl

    @suzanne:

    This is the kind of thing that makes me want to move.

    There are people like that everywhere.  Plus, you current job site is in Florida, so you’ll be exposed to it all anyway.

  187. 187.

    Spanky

    @suzanne:

    I don’t know how to break this cycle.

    “With a baseball bat” springs to mind, but I’m pretty sure that’s yet another one of those guy things.

  190. 190.

    Ruckus

    @suzanne:

    I’ve heard the other side of this before.

    And no, I do not believe that it is the woman’s fault. That is bullshit. It is humanity, all of us are flawed in various ways, some small, some massively. And we all have to learn to not view ourselves as the head of something, but to be a part of a relationship. Many of us, and yes I believe mostly men, even me being one of them, most often viewed themselves as the HEAD of the family. I can remember when that was the concept of a marriage and women, who often ran the home and raised the kids, because the men worked 50-60 (or more) hrs a week. And some/many women worked at least a part time job for the money. How do you think we got the 40 hr week and overtime?

    And I think that much of humanity is still adapting to the concept of equality of gender, nationality, skin color….. I wish it would get there a hell of a lot faster, but I’m not holding my breath, it is after all, humanity, with all it’s faults, positives, humanity and bullshit. We can make it better or we can continue down the road, but it takes a large majority of all sides to fix this. And I’m not sure a large majority actually want/have any desire whatsoever to fix it.

  193. 193.

    jimmiraybob

    @Chief Oshkosh: ​
      “…Eric Schmitt of Missouri, … Josh Hawley of Missouri, …”

    I guess all that’s left for my MO senators to do now is declare a formal secession from the Union.

  194. 194.

    Dan B

    @RaflW: I’ll guess: standing, bill cap, goatee.

    BTW I’m supposed to be on the lead off float for Seattle Pride’s 50th.  I was at the first one that drew 60 people.  This year should be 300,000.  I was also in the Chicago Gay Pride March in 1970.  There were maybe 80 but we “counted” 200.  It’s 1,000,000 now and reported to be very corporate.

  195. 195.

    Chris T.

    @Nukular Biskits:

    We also have a real kook as state senator who has repeatedly compared Trump to Jesus. Seriously.

    We could always string him up on a cross, wait for him to die, and see if he comes back to life in three days…

  198. 198.

    Heidi Mom

    @OzarkHillbilly: A good friend of mine was bitten by a brown recluse spider last year.  I just checked in with her so that I could tell you how it went for her, for whatever help that may be to you.  Her son took her to the ER and she was admitted for what turned out to be a 3-day stay for IV antibiotics.  She had a total of 4 courses of antibiotics.  She did develop cellulitis.  She saw a wound-care specialist for outpatient care over the course of 2 months.  Collagen was needed to fill the open wound.  Overall it was several months before recovery was complete.  So it sounds as though your wife’s recovery may take longer than anyone would hope, but she will get there.  All the best to you and her.

  199. 199.

    Gvg

    @mrmoshpotato: my local one is also very good for finding lost pets.  A local woman posts nature photography of animals, birds and insects she sees in her yard and on neighborhood walks with interesting facts.
    There are whiners but they aren’t popular.

    It’s good for repair recommendations.

    The annoying things about my Nextdoor is the promotional emails from the company itself which amount to nuisance spam. I had to figure out how to stop those. They self classify the emails about 4 different way so I had to opt out of 4 kinds of emails hidden in different ways before it got tolerable.

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