Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

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

FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Come on, man.

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

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

“woke” is the new caravan.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

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

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

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

This blog will pay for itself.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

You are here: Home / Music / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Thriving

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Thriving

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Rolling Stone reports:

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus, and more convened on the White House lawn on Monday evening for a celebration of the upcoming Juneteenth holiday.

Comedian Roy Wood Jr. MCed the concert, which featured appearances by Gladys Knight, Patti Labelle, Ledisi Anibade Young, Kirk Franklin, Patina Miller, Doug E. Fresh, and Brittney Spencer. The concert was filled with memorable moments including Knight’s joyful performance of her 1967 hit “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” which she first debuted with The Pips…

“In many ways, the story of Juneteenth and of our nation is a story of our ongoing fight to realize that promise, our ongoing fight to build a nation that is more equal, more fair and more free — a nation where every person has the opportunity not to just get by, but get ahead,” said Harris when speaking to the crowd gathered on the South Lawn, before announcing that on Juneteenth, the Biden administration “will hold a national day of action on voting.”

Harris continued, “While Juneteenth is a day for celebration, it is also a day for dedication … a day to renew our commitment to defend our freedoms, to honor our history and to continue to fight for the promise of America.”…

Following the night of performances, Biden took to the stage and commented that the “White House lawn’s never seen anything like this before,” and called the evening a “fitting tribute to Juneteenth.” In reference to Republican lawmakers backing a slew of bills targeting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, Biden continued, “They are taking away your freedoms, making it harder for Black people to vote or have your vote counted. Closing doors of opportunity, attacking the values of diversity, equity and inclusion. If you can believe it, banning books about Black experience.”

“Our history is not just about the past, it’s about our present and our future,” said the president. “It’s whether that future is a future for all of us, not just for some of us. Black history is American history.”

Gonna be an interesting Saturday night, too…

… The event, to be held on June 15 in downtown Los Angeles, also will feature George Clooney and Julia Roberts.

Kimmel is the latest late-night host to take part in a Biden event. In March, Stephen Colbert moderated a fundraiser for the Biden campaign that featured a conversation with the president, Obama and former President Bill Clinton. That event took place in New York and raised $26 million, according to the campaign.

Tickets to this event start at $250 per person and rise to $500,000 for an “event chair” listing. The latter includes four tickets in the center front orchestra, photo line access and a reception and after party. Proceeds go to the Biden Victory Fund, a joint committee of the Biden campaign, the Democratic National Committee and state parties…

Reader Interactions

271Comments

  3. 3.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Baud:

    If he did, that would be another first.  Once a federal holiday happens, it never unhappens.

    But Hair Furor is a President of Firsts…ex-President of Firsts, etc.

  4. 4.

    RevRick

    @Baud: During his administration Trump only had performances by the Marine Band at the White House.
    There is a joyfulness to the celebrations at the White House that will be totally absent under Trump, or any future GOP administrations.

  7. 7.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Today in Wildlife:

    Elephants call each other by name, study finds

    Elephants call out to each other using individual names that they invent for their fellow pachyderms, according to a new study.

    While dolphins and parrots have been observed addressing each other by mimicking the sound of others from their species, elephants are the first non-human animals known to use names that do not involve imitation, the researchers suggested.

    For the new study published on Monday, a team of international researchers used an artificial intelligence algorithm to analyse the calls of two wild herds of African savanna elephants in Kenya.

    The research “not only shows that elephants use specific vocalisations for each individual, but that they recognise and react to a call addressed to them while ignoring those addressed to others”, the lead study author, Michael Pardo, said. “This indicates that elephants can determine whether a call was intended for them just by hearing the call, even when out of its original context,” the behavioural ecologist at Colorado State University said in a statement.

    Wild horses return to Kazakhstan steppes after absence of two centuries

    A group of the world’s last wild horses have returned to their native Kazakhstan after an absence of about 200 years. The seven horses, four mares from Berlin and a stallion and two other mares from Prague, were flown to the central Asian country on a Czech air force transport plane.

    The wild horses, known as Przewalski’s horses, once roamed the vast steppe grasslands of central Asia, where horses are believed to have been first domesticated about 5,500 years ago.

    People are known to have been riding and milking horses in northern Kazakhstan nearly 2,000 years before the first records of domestication in Europe. Human activity, including hunting the animals for their meat, as well as road building, which fragmented their population, drove the horses close to extinction in the 1960s.

    Filip Mašek, Prague zoo’s spokesperson, said: “These are the only remaining wild horses in the world. Mustangs are domesticated horses that went wild.”

    The horses reintroduced into Kazakhstan are descended from two groups that survived in Munich and Prague zoos.

  9. 9.

    Bupalos

    @RevRick: I wanted to object to this anti-USMC band bigotry on behalf of tuba players everywhere, but I thought it would be too tough a hill to climb. Then I moved on to the next (previous) OTR post and see the USMC band praised for its surprising joyfullness!

  11. 11.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @JPL: She’s OK. Her arm is ugly as all hell but she saw the doc yesterday and they have decided against amputation.

    OK, OK, that was never under consideration but it is rather ugly in a stellar way. It has a resemblance to the Ring Nebula.

  14. 14.

    Geminid

    South Carolina holds primaries today. The 1st CD contest between incumbent Rep. Nancy Mace and Catherine Templeton has drawn a lot of attention. An Emerson College poll relesed tbree weeks ago showed Mace with 47% support and Templeton at 22%, with a third candidate at 7%. Mace has Donald Trump’s endorsement.

  15. 15.

    Kay

    The US says the onus is on Hamas to accept the deal, since Israel has already agreed to the ceasefire’s terms. On Tuesday Reuters reported that a senior Hamas official had accepted the plan but Washington is still waiting for word from the militant group’s leadership. While Israel has agreed in principle, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly opposed certain aspects of the plan, including the staging of a withdrawal of forces from Gaza and recognition of a formal Palestinian state. “Israel will not engage in meaningless and endless negotiations, which can be exploited by Hamas as a means to stall for time,” an Israeli representative told The Washington Post.

    So Israel agrees “in principle” but not to the two main pillars of the deal, yet the US insists only Hamas is holding it up. Not true.
    With the single moderating force gone (Gantz) they’ll just keep killing and starving civilians for months hoping they can get Trump instead of Biden.

  20. 20.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Speaking of yawns, I’ve been awake since 1 AM. I think I’ll try to get 47 winks or so.

  21. 21.

    Trivia Man

    @Bupalos: side note to tuba lovers everywhere: many cities have tuba Christmas concerts for free. Ive watched in SLC and NJ. Generally about 100+ tubas* belting out carols. All skill levels welcome to join.

    *purists beware! They allow sousaphones, barritones, and other low brass. Maybe even trombones but definitely NO WOODWINDS ALLOWED

  26. 26.

    TBone

    Hannity floating trial balloons (🥸) for Dotard backing out of debate.

    So obvious.  Sooooo obvious.

  28. 28.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I wondered why and had to know. Thought others might.

    This horse gets its name from Russian General Nikolai Przhevalsky who searched for and observed the horse in 1881 after hearing rumors of its existence. “Przewalski” is the Polish spelling of his name.

  30. 30.

    Geminid

    @Baud: I had high hopes, but Trump’s endorsement makes a big difference in Mace’s case.

    It may make the difference next week in Virginia, for the Trump-endorsed  challenger to Rep. Bob No-Good. State Senator John McGuire is outspending Good and a lot of the money goes to attack ads.

    Politico has an article about the Mace and Good primaries, that also covers 3 Republican primaries for open Congressional seats in Colorado. Besides the 4th CD where Lauren Boebert is competing, there are hotly contested primaries for the 3rd CD seat that Boebert is deserting and one to replace retiring Rep. Lanborn(?).

  32. 32.

    Suzanne

    I keep thinking about Martha-Ann Alito saying this:

    “Look at me, look at me. I’m German. I’m from Germany. My heritage is German. You come after me, I’m gonna give it back to you. And there will be a way — it doesn’t have to be now — but there will be a way they will know. Don’t worry about it. God — you read the Bible. Psalm 27 is my psalm. Mine. Psalm 27, the Lord is my God and my rock. Of whom shall I be afraid? Nobody.”

    I mean, I have a big swath of German heritage, too (but Jewish, so does it count?). And not one time ever did anyone in my family ever make any reference to German-ness being about retribution. That sounds like…. she’s insinuating Nazi shit. Like, am I reading subtext that doesn’t exist?

  33. 33.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @TBone: Hannity is one of those people who cause me to remember that Norway repealed their ban on the death penalty just long enough to put Vidkun Quisling in front of a firing squad, and then promptly banned it again.

  34. 34.

    Spanky

    I had to show proficiency in French, German, or Russian to get my BS. Today I wish I also had learned Spanish. We have landscapers.

  37. 37.

    Suzanne

    I will note that the family made jokes about German heritage being to blame for dourness/depression….. also some comments about being highly organized/well-engineered.

    I think Martha-Ann is Nazi-adjacent?

  40. 40.

    Kay

    @Suzanne:

    It’s just the whining. Lady, get free of the “nonsense”. Ask your husband to quit. Please. Move to a wingnut gated community in Florida and you’ll never again have to encounter anyone who disagrees with you.

    Why are they our problem, these low quality hires? Go work somewhere else. They all worship the private sector – go work in it.

  41. 41.

    Geminid

    @Spanky: The landscapers are likely used to communicating with Anglos. They’ll even teach you a few relevant Spanish words if you show an interest.

  43. 43.

    Suzanne

    @Kay: Dude. Samuel Alito is 74. Retire. He and his wife are obviously well into their slide-into-paranoia years. Start going to Denny’s at 4 PM already. He can keep busy with old-people shit, maybe serve on a board to keep busy a couple of days a month.

    Why can’t some of these people just fucken let go?!

  45. 45.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Suzanne:

    Yikes! She’s a horror. Martha-Ann and Sam deserve each other.

    My German family retains grudges forever against each other, but I’ve never heard anything like that about retribution generally. These privileged people are absolutely poisoned–and poisonous–with toxic resentment. What’s up with that?

  48. 48.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @Suzanne: I’m German on my mom’s side and no, revenge and retribution are not a common German stereotype to my knowledge. Italian with mafia connections? Yes. German? No.

    But I’m Swedish on my dad’s side and used to joke that the Swedish Mafia was the most ruthless and powerful in the world. Then someone always says they didn’t know there was a Swedish Mafia and my response is “see, nobody ever survived to tell tales of them. That’s how ruthless and powerful they are.”

    Same could be said for the German Mafia assuming such a thing exists.

  50. 50.

    jonas

    @Suzanne: There is the famous old joke about heaven being where the Italians are the lovers, the French are the cooks, the British are the cops, the Germans are the auto mechanics, and the Swiss organize everything. In hell, the French are the car mechanics, the Swiss are the lovers, the British are the cooks, the Germans are the cops, and the Italians organize everything.

  51. 51.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I think Thomas definitely will but Alito won’t – he’s a true believer. Another one on a mission From God. Ugh.

    Justice Roberts really comes out well in his exchange with the activist. He defends religious tolerance and plurality with what sounds like real sincerity. I was genuinely surprised he defended Muslims – key to Right wing religious thought and practice is Christians and Jewish people fighting Muslims.

  61. 61.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    Roberts seems like someone who wants to be seen as a old school genteel right winger.

    ETA: Even apart from the reactionary ideology, his stewardship of the court is a mess.

  62. 62.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @JPL: Man, that was WILD that the judge sentenced Young Thug’s attorney to the maximum jail time for a very, very controversial charge of contempt. Judge need to curb his ego. Hopefully he will be slapped around by the appellate court, but who knows these days.

  63. 63.

    Glidwrith

    @Suzanne: Wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if the Alitos are Nazis. What would they be doing differently if they weren’t?

  64. 64.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @satby:

    She was definitely insinuating NAZI shit. The Alitos are revolting people.

    Agreed. On all counts.

    I’m glad this stuff is coming out now. I have normy friends who are finally waking up to the danger. They gamely tolerated my ranting previously (assuredly because of my winsome personality). Now they see, and I am refraining from any and all “I told you so’s.” (See abovementioned winsome personality.)

  65. 65.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Geminid: ​[…] 3 Republican primaries for open Congressional seats in Colorado. Besides the 4th CD where Lauren Boebert is competing, there are hotly contested primaries for the 3rd CD seat that Boebert is deserting and one to replace retiring Rep. Lamborn [5th CD]

     Mousebumples sent up the Postcards To Voters signal yesterday for the 4th CD: they’re writing for Democratic candidate Trisha Calvarese, who is pro-choice and pro-union.

    Calvarese is running in the June 25th special election to fill the CA-04 seat until November, and in the Democratic primary for the November election. https://www.trisha4colorado.com/

    To sign up to write postcards:
    [email protected]
    [ minimum number of cards is 4; you get 4 business days in which to write; 3 required sentences are provided, plus a slew of optional add-ons]

    If you’re already signed up:
    [email protected]
    [address request bot – the format is: “send me X addresses” in the subject line and the body of the email]

  67. 67.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @satby:

    I loved Betty’s old place, Rumproast. It was my gateway drug into the political snark blogosphere.

  68. 68.

    M31

    @Suzanne: seriously, someone should offer her a job as an HOA leader (or, in the original German, Führer) in the Villages, she could police her neighbors’ flag choices all day long and be so happy

    but only if she makers her odious husband retire and go with her

    what a pair of whiny little privileged creeps

  70. 70.

    Geminid

    @Steve in the ATL: Or “…Bob Good, graduate of the ironically named Liberty University…”

    One interesting aspect of the 5th CD race is that it will be Good’s first primary. Good defeated Denver Riggleman in 2020 by means of a caucus/convention process, and he won the nomination in 2022 the same way. Evidently the General Assembly now requires a primary, and Good is facing a strong Republican opponent in an actual election for the first time.

  71. 71.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Baud:

    Hmm, I understand the sentiment, but I’d rather they become allies, even if on a slower timetable. Hopefully enough people wake up in time before doom is upon us. I think there’s a good chance they will.

  73. 73.

    Ken

    @Baud: Roberts seems like someone who wants to be seen as a old school genteel right winger.

    Which is why a typical Roberts opinion starts with “Although not accepting Justice Alito’s use of the phrase ‘abomination before God and Man’, I nonetheless concur…”

  74. 74.

    Baud

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    Yeah, hopefully. But at some level it’s pretty insulting. And long term I question whether pleading with them makes them crave the attention and encourages inaction. But I have no good solution.

  76. 76.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    Judge need to curb his ego

    If I had a nickel for every time I’ve thought this, I could send Clarence Thomas to every Walmart in the country and have money left over for a new flagpole at the Alito residence.

  79. 79.

    satby

    And unmentioned in the coverage above (but hinted in the link from Quondi who’s one of them) is that a lot of the higher profile young black TikTok activists like Knowa, and 2RawTooReal were there as well as lots of younger black Democratic elected officials like Rep. Kenyatta. All doing aggressive voter outreach and education in their physical as well as online communities.

  80. 80.

    Suzanne

    @What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: My mom’s side is a mix: British (specifically Cornish and Welsh), German Ashkenazi Jewish from Hamburg, some French, some Irish. My dad’s side is half Italian (Napoli), half German Catholic (specifically from Baden-Wurttemburg). All the German ancestry appear to have crossed the pond well in advance of WWI.

    My mom’s father hated my father, hated Italians, and dealt in plenty of ethnic stereotypes. Not one time did I ever hear anything about Germans supposedly being full of vengeance. That sounds like some new shit.

  83. 83.

    Belafon

    @Suzanne: She’s from Germany in the same way that the rest of us are from the ocean. She wasn’t born there. Her family growing up wasn’t stationed there.

  84. 84.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Baud:

    Same. Sometimes I want to scream, “do you know that I live, eat, and breathe this stuff, and know what I’m talking about?” But I don’t. Too many people prefer the cottonwool comfort of denial. Nevertheless, I try to keep chipping away at their stolid resistance to reality.

    My mom and her siblings grew up in Nazi Germany, and I grew up thinking about what I would have done when the Nazis came to power. So perhaps my antennae are more finely attuned to these threats. My child-self decided that she would do what she could to oppose them, and I’m trying to honor that resolve now.

  85. 85.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Baud:

    I didn’t realize …

    Couldn’t that apply to pretty much everything ?

    ETA: sorry, that was meant to be directed at Omnes

  86. 86.

    Trivia Man

    @O. Felix Culpa: TBogg was hilarious.

    The mist creative, consistent political humor i recall was at the GOS. Someone regularly posted annotated transcripts of “the Scotty Show” – the W press secretary briefings. Cant recall details but always hysterical. When Scotty quit he kept going with the schtick for “Girl Scotty”.

  87. 87.

    TBone

    Joyce Vance on the latest Supremacists Court bullshit.  I like this part (I recently advocated getting low down and dirty to meet the present circumstances of our, shall we say, situation).

    Windsor is working on a documentary, “Gonzo for Democracy,” which Rolling Stone says “will chronicle the growth of Trumpism, election denial, and religious extremism.”

    Many people will find her tactics questionable. This was the justification Windsor offered: “Because the Supreme Court is shrouded in secrecy, and they’re refusing to submit to any accountability in the face of overwhelming evidence of serious ethics breaches, I think that it’s justified to take these types of measures.”

    https://angrybearblog.com/2024/06/alitos-admission-and-approach-to-religion-and-the-law#more-148388

  88. 88.

    Baud

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    I’m certainly not going to give advice about how to relate to people, but I can’t help thinking that whatever approach liberals are taking could be improved upon. But maybe it’s not just me. Maybe there is no better solution.

  91. 91.

    Jeffro

    it’s funny…that JC tweet about Maxine Waters prompted me to tell y’all: Froette says that Rep Waters is TINY!  As in significantly under 5′ tall.

    (“tiny but mighty“, I reminded her =)

  92. 92.

    Kay

    @Belafon:

    Agree. Just her saying “I’m from Germany” is odd. The Right wing spouses are bonkers. She’s as nuts as Ginni Thomas. We had a heads up on this, btw. Remember her crying because the Senators asked her husband questions? 

    Martha-Ann Bomgardner was overcome with emotion after Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) lambasted Kennedy for trying to smear the nominee as “a closet bigot.” “I am sorry that you have had to go through this,” Graham said. As she sat right behind her husband, Bomgardner’s lips trembled and she wiped away tears. Her sister-in-law Rosemary – herself a top lawyer – put a reassuring arm around her, but Bomgardner hastily fled the room.

    The Alitos have been feeling sorry for themselves for almost 20 years now.

  93. 93.

    Bupalos

    @Suzanne: I don’t think it’s a Nazi thing, but I do think it’s weird.

    I don’t do a lot of essentialist right/left psychology on here because too much of it happens for my taste and I consider it mostly marginal and something that is abused by partisans to the detriment of common democracy BUT…..

    This particular phenomena you’re talking is one I’ve noticed before, because it can be absolutely ridiculous. Basically, some people will do this thing where they mint any given impulse out of their claimed ethnic heritage, and then they’ll try and spend this coin freely despite the fact that it has absolutely no broader cultural currency. Germans and revenge? Huh? Wrong part of the Axis lady. I’m guessing “shame” in Italian is due to her husband’s ethnicity, is she ascribing his morality obsessions with… Italian heritage??!! Another swing-and-a-miss in this game of Genetic Destiny.

    But I’ve heard even weirder versions of this thing. I think it really does have some right wing race-essentialist ancestry, way down deep.

  94. 94.

    Juju

    @Suzanne: I have German in my background and I don’t recall any of the German side  of my mother’s family being that way. I think she’s just an asshole.

  95. 95.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @satby: So much of the stuff that comes out of the mouths of Evangelical Xtians is frighteningly, Nazi-adjacent.

  96. 96.

    TBone

    @TBone: furthermore

    A statistic about Alito’s jurisprudence that has stuck with me has to do with his rulings on the doctrine of standing—whether a particular party is entitled to bring their claims to court. “An empirical analysis of the Court’s ‘standing’ decisions … found that Alito rules in favor of conservative litigants 100% of the time & against liberal litigants in every single case. Alito has been described as the Court’s “most reliable partisan.” No Judge in our country should embrace that description of him or herself. But with his comments at dinner, Justice Alito did so.

    Any other federal judge would be facing a judicial ethics inquiry at this point and the certainty of forced recusal.

    – Joyce Vance

  97. 97.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Baud:

    Maybe there is no better solution.

    I think the best solutions might come from the psychologists/therapists in our midst. How to convey discomfiting information that might shake the normies’ worldview and require some action.

    Seems to me liberals have done a much better job of staking out their (our) position in recent years. The post-Reagan defensive crouch has largely been abandoned, and we have folks from Biden on down being out and proud liberal Democrats, articulating both the danger from the other side and the benefits of our policies. MSM negative framing and lack of reporting remain hurdles, along with normies and low-info voters preferring to stay that way. Would love to know how to overcome at least the latter!

  100. 100.

    satby

    @O. Felix Culpa: @Baud: well, we really get into politics and a lot of people don’t. It’s as mysterious to them why we’re so opinionated about it as discussing the finer points of which Dr. Who was better, or how batting averages are calculated is to us (well, me anyway). 

    And lots of us aren’t good persuaders; in my case the frustration starts to surface at about the 3 minute mark talking to an unengaged voter /non- voter. Molly Ivins once wrote a great article about how people in general don’t understand that politics (which they don’t like) controls the policies which is everything they live under.

    Unfortunately right wingers focus on harmful policies like a laser and vote on them. So do our voters. The disengaged middle doesn’t. And it almost is the size of both parties put together. But I think Biden and his team are really making inroads there with the surrogates doing voter outreach.

  102. 102.

    Baud

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    Agreed. From my perspective we’re the best we’ve been in my lifetime. I’m pretty satisfied, but that also makes my more intolerant of excuses and games.

  103. 103.

    Geminid

    @Baud: Evidently the legislature can require primaries in Virginia. At least, I saw this reported in connection with the 5th District race.

    Virginia Republicans have long fluctuated between primaries and caucuses to select their nominees. This allows the state Central Committee and the various lower-level committees to use the process to shape outcomes.

    A notable example was the nomination for Governor in 2013. Lt. Governor Bill Bolling likely would have won a primary, but the state committee mandated a caucus/convention process that gave Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli the inside track. Bolling passed on the contest and Cuccinelli went on to a narrow defeat at the hands of Terry McAuliffe. I’m pretty sure Bolling would have won.

  105. 105.

    TBone

    @satby: a friend once told me “Why should I care? Nothing they do affects me.”

    I sent this to her.

    The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he doesn’t hear, doesn’t speak, nor participates in the political events. He doesn’t know the cost of life, the price of the bean, of the fish, of the flour, of the rent, of the shoes and of the medicine, all depends on political decisions. The political illiterate is so stupid that he is proud and swells his chest saying that he hates politics. The imbecile doesn’t know that, from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies.

    Bertolt Brecht

  108. 108.

    Bupalos

    @Belafon: I think she means IN THE GENES.

    Which could be the only attitude she’s expressing here that does conform to a broader cultural German stereotype. The other one she’s just making up to distance herself from her grudgy bitterness while celebrating it.

  109. 109.

    Baud

    @TBone:

     

    @satby:

    Yeah, I agree with satby here.  I feel you, though.

    ETA: The fact is, most people won’t feel direct effects from any particular administration.

  110. 110.

    Steve in the ATL

    @satby: speaking of which, can someone please get rid of Russell Davies  before he completely destroys Dr. Who?  He’s worse than the Daleks!

    /nerd

  111. 111.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @satby:

    Well, I used to be into baseball statistics, FWIW.

    I tend to be better at debating than persuading. Must be because I’m (half) German.

    /s

  112. 112.

    TBone

    @satby: this particular friend respected me and actually went to vote after that upbraid.  Gotta know your audience.  This was a long time ago though.

  116. 116.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Baud: there has been a great reduction in fecklessness, which was long overdue and is much appreciated.  Also, the previous sentence cries out for an editor.

  117. 117.

    Ken

    @Kay: Remember her crying because the Senators asked her husband questions?

    Not really, in fact I hadn’t even heard of her until Alito blamed her for the apple flag incident. To me, it feels like there’s some Streisand Effect here, which I’m perfectly happy with.

  122. 122.

    satby

    @Baud: which is why I said my frustration starts at the 3 minute mark, though clearly it can be shorter. The assumption that uninterested in politics people are stupid tends to come across pretty clearly if I’m not careful; and I have to mentally remind myself that I’m pretty stupid about a lot of subjects I’m not interested in*.  Plus, some are stupid, but stupid people get to vote too. Better to convert than insult. And conversion isn’t one of my skills.

    * Which clearly include Dr. Who and baseball statistics. 😴

  123. 123.

    gene108

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    Seems to me liberals have done a much better job of staking out their (our) position in recent years. The post-Reagan defensive crouch has largely been abandoned,

    Helps when the policies Reagan pushed were embraced by Bush, Jr. and the end result was the Great Recession. At least prior to the Great Recession, there was some theoretical framework that was thrown together to defend those policies as plausibly being effective.

    Trump rose, in large part, due to the practical failure of Reagan economic policies and the intellectual hole it left for the Republican Party about how to mask the ineffectiveness of their policies.

  124. 124.

    Belafon

    @O. Felix Culpa: If you don’t go into it thinking “What have they done to the Doctor?” yes. If you are one of those who clings to the idea that things should be as they were before, no.

  125. 125.

    jonas

    @Omnes Omnibus: One of their greatest opera arias is “Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen”. Don’t tell me Germans don’t know revenge. Or at least that their Queens of the Night don’t.

  127. 127.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @satby:

    And conversion isn’t one of my skills.

    Nor mine. Which is one reason why I like the Postcard to Voters effort. Someone else writes the script.

  128. 128.

    TBone

    @Baud: my friend was a smart cookie whose parents couldn’t afford to help her get to college.  I bought her a huge encyclopedic book about what’s taught in college so she’d have it at her fingertips for life.  Her face when she opened the gift: priceless.  I wish I could remember the name of that huge book.

  129. 129.

    Jeffro

    @Steve in the ATL: If I had a nickel for every time [insert situation here], I could send Clarence Thomas to every Walmart in the country and have money left over for a new flagpole at the Alito residence.

    Annnnnd now I have a new favorite way to phrase that type of thing – thanks!

    Runners-up:

    “…I could almost afford to pay trump’s legal bills.”

    “…I’d be able to buy my own GOP Supreme Court justice”

    “…I could hire another couple hundred folks to show up at trump’s rallies.”

  134. 134.

    Kristine

    @Steve in the ATL:

    speaking of which, can someone please get rid of Russell Davies before he completely destroys Dr. Who? He’s worse than the Daleks!

    A number of my friends feel exactly the opposite.

    I’m enjoying it.

  136. 136.

    Steve in the ATL

    @O. Felix Culpa: I’m no Whovian, and also hadn’t seen it since the Tom Baker days, but the David Tennant version was on several times a day on the only English language channel we could get on a recent trip to Istanbul   And my wife loves her some David Tennant, so we watched while eating takeout donor kebabs and such.

    She has watched some of the rest of it while convalescing, and these new Russell Davies episodes are just awful. Unless you’re a fan of musicals.

  138. 138.

    Geminid

     

    @gene108: I think the second Bush’s disastrous Iraq war also did a lot to discredit the Republican establishment in the eyes of conservative voters. Plus, it seemed to detached a smaller number of voters from the more moderate side of the party who never returned. These two changes together tilted the balance of power away from the establishment types.

  139. 139.

    Layer8Problem

    @Omnes Omnibus:  I’m getting MHz Choice on the TV box specifically for Babylon Berlin fourth series, and Spiral comes along with that I think.  And next month the sillier but fun Kleo shows up on the Netflix.

  140. 140.

    satby

    @jonas: There’s no ethnic or tribal entity in the world that has a sole claim on owning the notion of revenge, or we wouldn’t be in the second millennia of worldwide conflicts. Talking about getting revenge is a threat. Using her German ancestry made it a NAZI -ish threat.

  142. 142.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Steve in the ATL: Interesting. I wouldn’t expect to see “Dr. Who” and “musicals” in the same sentence.

    Istanbul is on my list of places to go sooner rather than later. I hope you had a good visit. And that your wife is fully convalesced.

  143. 143.

    Jeffro

    @Geminid:  I think the second Bush’s disastrous Iraq war also did a lot to discredit the Republican establishment in the eyes of conservative voters.

    That and the immediate 2nd-term pivot to trying to privatize Social Security.

  144. 144.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Omnes Omnibus: I see you and raise you Florestan’s aria in “Fidelio”. :)

    “Fidelio”-related family trivia: in the first few days after my grandfather arrived in the US in 1936, having fled Nazi Germany, he attended a production of “Fidelio” in NYC… whose plot revolves around those who are unjustly imprisoned being set free.

    For my college graduation gift, he gave me a recording of “Fidelio”. <3

    ETA: Bingo. https://archives.metopera.org/MetOperaSearch/record.jsp?dockey=0366969​

  145. 145.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Omnes Omnibus: was in Austria last month and they do not let you forget that!  No such bragging about Hitler, though….

    @O. Felix Culpa: aren’t they worse than the Germans?  Like New Zealanders say they are more British than the British?

  146. 146.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Steve in the ATL: ​
    What about Falco?  Also, when I was living in Germany and an skiing in Austria a lot, we used to joke that the Austrians are basically Germans with a sense of humor.  Both Germans and Austrians somehow found that insulting.

  147. 147.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Steve in the ATL:

    I don’t know about worse, but they’re harder to understand

    ETA: Although I’m acquainted with an historian who stridently maintains that Vienna is the center of the artistic and intellectual universe. So yes, worse. :-)

  149. 149.

    WaterGirl

    @Omnes Omnibus: Am I crazy or did you write something like that in a comment yesterday?  Only that time I had to read it 3 times because I swear you said you were watching the fifth season as a refresher before the fourth season drops.

    I was so confused.

  151. 151.

    smith

    Something to talk up:

    The Quarterly Uniform Crime Report (Q1), January-March, 2024, provides a preliminary look at crime trends for January through March 2024 compared to January through March 2023. A comparison of data from agencies that voluntarily submitted at least two or more common months of data for January through March 2023 and 2024 indicates reported violent crime decreased by 15.2 percent. Murder decreased by 26.4 percent, rape decreased by 25.7 percent, robbery decreased by 17.8 percent, and aggravated assault decreased by 12.5 percent. Reported property crime also decreased by 15.1 percent.

    Since this is a comparison to 2023, my guess is that this is not so much the tail-end of recovery from the pandemic, but more the effect of a good economy. Of course, if you asked any man on the street or MSM reporter at random, they’d probably tell you that crime is soaring and we’re in a recession.

  152. 152.

    Layer8Problem

    @Steve in the ATL:  Thank you.  Teevee-wise it’s taken years of training myself since I was a tiny tot thanks to inattentive parents leaving me with a black-and-white Magnavox, starting with F Troop and McHale’s Navy.

  153. 153.

    Eolirin

     

    @Steve in the ATL: This is actually one of the most diverse seasons of the show. The musical stuff is all of two episodes.

    It is unabashedly queer now, though. In subtle and tonal ways even when the content isn’t being such, and it’s often being such

    I think people also forget that Who is a kids show. Despite the scary monsters.

  158. 158.

    Cacti

    @Spanky: I’ve not known a lot of Germans personally, but I have wondered now and then…

    Do Germans ever feel bitter that Austria got to skate on being a villain of the world wars?

  160. 160.

    Belafon

    @Eolirin: And the Moffett episode was a massive dig at the Military Industrial Complex and right wing sentiment. “Thoughts and Prayers”

  163. 163.

    Eolirin

    @Belafon: Followed up with an intensely anti-social media and anti-racist screed in Dot and Bubble, with one of the most unsettling and odd episodes the show has ever done in between, yeah.

    It’s increasingly explicit anti-fascist messaging is well in alignment with its embracing of queerness.

  164. 164.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Ken: ​
      If you want to limit it to the western artistic and intellectual universe, Vienna and Paris have to be in competition for top dog.

  166. 166.

    RaflW

    Since the GOP has severe oppositional defiance disorder, I’ll offer this, which is of course embarrassing to Trump, but the essential bit can be thrown in the faces of MAGAs who will say we don’t need a Juneteenth holiday (Theodore Johnson, via Brennan Ctr blog):

    “Make Juneteenth a National Holiday.”

    Donald Trump buried that five-word campaign promise in his 2020 “Platinum Plan,” a two-page laundry list of economic and social enticements to win over black voters in his bid for a second term. Trump lost, so we will never know if he would’ve honored this commitment, which was made just six weeks before the election.

    But we do know that he made no attempt to create the holiday during his four years as president. And, despite his administration putting out historical statements commemorating Juneteenth every year of his presidency, Trump admitted that he had only learned of the holiday’s meaning after being informed about it by a black Secret Service agent just a few weeks before it appeared in his reelection materials.

  169. 169.

    RaflW

    @Suzanne: Frau Alito also had some weird notion for a new right wing flag based on some Italian nonsense. All she needs is to add a bit about Japan and she’ll have the full Axis trifecta.

  171. 171.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Suzanne:

    I keep thinking about Martha-Ann Alito saying this:

    “Look at me, look at me. I’m German. I’m from Germany. My heritage is German. You come after me, I’m gonna give it back to you. And there will be a way — it doesn’t have to be now — but there will be a way they will know. Don’t worry about it. God — you read the Bible. Psalm 27 is my psalm. Mine. Psalm 27, the Lord is my God and my rock. Of whom shall I be afraid? Nobody.”

    Quoting the Bible and saying “You come after me, I’m gonna give it back to you” with not even a pause in between – that’s impressive.  “You read the Bible”?  She might want to start with the Sermon on the Mount, if Jesus isn’t too ‘woke’ for her.

  173. 173.

    UncleEbeneezer

    The stereotype of Italians as being great lovers, seems like something Italian men concocted to justify their culture of rampant misogyny.  It’s the sort of thing my Italian-American friends, cousins and Uncles would absolutely glow about with pride, while treating their girlfriends/wives like complete shit.  The HBO series My Brilliant Friend illustrates this quite well, as does Goodfellas and numerous other mafia/Italian-American-centric films.  We tried watching the movie Malena, starring Monica Belluci, the other night because…beautiful Italian scenery and Monica Bellucci…but after about ten minutes we were both totally grossed out.  The whole vibe was “Aw, look at these pubescent boys chasing, cat-calling, harassing this pretty Italian woman as she’s walking to work.”  Obviously Italian/Italian-American culture has no monopoly on misogyny, but damn the way it is so romanticized and even celebrated is gross.

    As a Sicilian-American, it really burns my cannoli (Simpsons joke I couldn’t resist)

  174. 174.

    Jeffro

    Geminid, I don’t know if you follow VPAP ( The Virginia Public Access Project (vpap.org)  ) but they have a new “So You Think You’re a Pundit!” contest up about the upcoming primaries here in VA (9 congressional nominations and one Senate race – Kaine’s)

    I had to take a couple wild guesses here and there!

    Here are the tiebreaker questions:

    Tiebreaker 1: In the CD 10 Democratic primary, what percentage of the total vote will the winner receive?

    Tiebreaker 2: In the CD 5 Republican primary, what will be the difference in the percentage of votes received between Rep. Bob Good and Sen. John McGuire?

  175. 175.

    RaflW

    @Baud: Though I’m deeply frustrated that the scandals haven’t gained enough traction, the Robert’s Court IS the most corruption-scandal plagued Court in my lifetime (somewhat approaching six decades now).

  176. 176.

    Geminid

    @O. Felix Culpa: Turkiye sounds like a great place to visit. I read recently that Greece and Turkiye have cooperated to make it easier for tourists to pass back and forth between the Greek Dodecanese Islands and Turkiye.

    This includes Turkish tourists, and journalist Ragip Soylu* reported on Turks sending out social media posts from Chios, raving about the high quality, low cost restaurant fare on the island. Evidently, Turkiye’s high inflation rate has hit its restaurant industry especially hard, and restaurants on Chios are now a relative bargain.

    * Soylu heads up Middle East Eye’s Istanbul bureau, and does a lot of good reporting on Turkiye. I like the picture in his Twitter heading, taken from a ferry sailing the Bosphorus with passengers in the foreground and a few city buildings visible in the far distance. It’s right after sunset, with some pink in the sky and the Bosphorus in shadow. I can almost see the ghosts of Jason and his Argonauts pulling their oars against the current, going after the gold at the other end of the Black Sea.

  178. 178.

    TBone

    Can’t have icky lady parts havers in charge of anything as important as our imaginary mandate of Dominion over all things!  Pardon the FTFNYT link but this piqued my interest, especially in light of Martha Ann.

    The group is expected to vote on Wednesday on whether to amend its constitution to mandate that Southern Baptist churches must have “only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.” The group’s statement of faith already forbids female pastors, and in recent years messengers have ousted several churches over the issue, including Saddleback Church in California, which had been one of its largest and most prominent congregations. The amendment would strengthen enforcement and remove the ability of individual Baptist churches to make their own leadership decisions, a defining feature of Baptist life.
    “We understand this to be a major cultural battle line,” said William Wolfe, the executive director of the Center for Baptist Leadership, a new advocacy group founded out of concern that the denomination was drifting leftward. “If we can’t hold the line here, we won’t hold the line five years from now, and you and I will be talking about whether to affirm homosexuality in our churches.”

    Gift link

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/11/us/southern-baptist-meeting-women.html

  179. 179.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @lowtechcyclist: ​
      I always liked the military version of Psalm 23: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil for I am the baddest motherfucker here!

  181. 181.

    kindness

    I voted for Kamela when she ran for California AG.  And again as Senator.  Now I never voted for her because she was multi-racial.  I’m a liberal.  That wasn’t in the equation.  She was always better than the Republican.  And it was never a hold my nose and vote for her like we did with DiFi.   I do see there are a whole lot of people (Republicans) who would never vote for her explicitly because she’s black/asian (and Democratic).  Vote blue people.  No excuses.

  182. 182.

    Kristine

    @Eolirin:

    It’s increasingly explicit anti-fascist messaging is well in alignment with its embracing of queerness.

    I recall both Classic and New episodes over the decades with profoundly political overtones. The anti-corporate/anti-fash sense was always there, at least to me.

    Expressions of queerness are more explicit now, but there were hints as far back as the Eccleston episodes.

  184. 184.

    CaseyL

    Re SCOTUS: Previous corruption among judges and Justices was generally straightforward bribery or personal messiness. (William O. Douglas, deservedly a titan of liberal causes, had a… complicated private life.)

    The Federalist Society, OTOH, is a very focused corruption vector, creating “landmark” cases in vitro, organizing conferences and whatnot that Justices and judges attend to be briefed on exactly what arguments will be made and what outcomes are required. This is in tandem with training, recruiting, and hiring just the right (and Right) lawyers to argue them. It’s a difference in kind as well as degree.

  185. 185.

    Soprano2

    @smith: People always think crime is going up whether it is or not. I think that’s the effect of seeing it in the news all the time.

  186. 186.

    Anoniminous

    @Suzanne:

    A leading cause of World War II was a desire for revenge for the deliberately punitive Treaty of Versailles. 

  187. 187.

    Geminid

    @Jeffro: Someone could win the crowded 10th CD primary with 30% or less. Whatever the total, I hope state Senator Suhas Subramanyan comes out on top.

    I think the Good/McGuire race will be close, and the one thing certain is that 5th CD residents will be really glad when advertising blitz ends.

  189. 189.

    TBone

    Tom Sullivan nails it using President Biden’s admonishment.  Yesterday I used the words “king” and “fiefdom.” It’s never a good bet to bet against America!

    What we see today is feudalism trying to reassert itself. It did not vanish with the Magna Carta and The Enlightenment. It just went underground for a few centuries. It was present in the “Cotton is King” days under slavery in the South. It popped up again for a time during the Gilded Age before Progressive Era reforms. It’s been trying to crawl out from under its rock ever since FDR.

    https://digbysblog.net/2024/06/11/betting-against-america/

  191. 191.

    Nelle

    @TBone: At the conservative end of my family, my niece’s husband, a Baptist minister, has led his church out of the Southern Baptist Conference over this and other issues.  I have a lot of problems with them, but they really put their time and money into responding to families without food and shelter.  Atypical for the Baptist congregations I know.  And I try to know as few as possible.

    (I don’t attend extended family gatherings anymore.  At the last one, a cousin assured me that Trump is God’s instrument for bringing about the End Times.  She said it with such smug satisfaction that I couldn’t even respond.  I’m rarely speechless.  As I drove away from the community that my family on that side settled in 1875, I thought, I may never come here again.  I’ve loved the countryside there, where my mother grew up, where my ancestors are buried.  But the insularity and the sel-righteousness overwhelm me.  And blasphemy!  Thinking God wants them to engineer the End Times.  I shudder.)

  192. 192.

    Kay

    @TBone:

    Priorities!

    A sexual abuse scandal has shaken up the Southern Baptist Church. A report issued just over a week ago confirmed that survivors who came forward alleging they were sexually abused by church leaders, ministers, workers and volunteers were ignored or silenced by church leadership and often disparaged. Meanwhile, the church kept a secret list of over 700 offenders. The list was even kept secret from most of the church’s leaders. This new report was commissioned by the Southern Baptist Convention in response to a series of articles investigating widespread sexual abuse in the church.

    But in our own reporting, I mean, we found 700 victims, and nearly all of them were children. I believe the youngest were 3. And, you know, there were a handful of people who filed lawsuits about, you know, pastoral abuse and counseling abuse. But overwhelmingly, it was children.

  194. 194.

    Baud

    @Geminid:

    Someone could win the crowded 10th CD primary with 30% or less.

     
    I’ve always disliked that. Ranked choice or run off, please.

  196. 196.

    VFX Lurker

    @O. Felix Culpa: Heh. I haven’t watched Dr. Who since the Tom Baker days. Have a lot of catching up to do. Would it be worth my time?

    If you can, watch the third season episode called “Blink.” Best darned TV ever, and it introduces one of the most memorable Doctor Who dangers.

    Here’s the 17-second “next time” video for “Blink.”

  197. 197.

    Spanky

    @Baud: Oh, sure!

    A proposed constitutional amendment to bar any Southern Baptist Convention church from giving a woman the title “pastor” gained steam — and opposition — this week with publication of a list of 170 SBC churches said to have women serving as “pastors.”

    “Many have claimed that female pastors in the SBC is not a growing problem, but the data says otherwise,” begins a page on the website created to promote the constitutional amendment proposed by Mike Law, pastor of Arlington Baptist Church in Arlington, Va.

    The published list is 218 pages long and includes detailed information — such as photographs, website captures and staff listings — for all the churches accused of being out of step with SBC doctrine on women in ministry.

    I ain’t gonna link. A google search on “SBC women pastors” ought to be sufficient.

  198. 198.

    Bupalos

    Just seeing from normie media that the wingers got some Biden senior moment video out of this event.

    It…. doesn’t look great.

    I can talk myself around to each of these things blowing over, I can comfort myself with Trump moments… But goddam does this shit terrify me. Feels like walking on a trap door we’re hoping doesn’t open. Leaving aside the extent to which this is media-amplified, I really think this is already why Biden can’t open a lead despite a kind of objectively great record and very good fundamentals. Rather than me going once again into woulda-coulda-shoulda mode, how do we talk about this to normies?

  199. 199.

    TBone

    Goddamnit 😓😡

    This family have been through enough.  Hunter, hold your head up and walk proudly.

    Leniency is my prayer.

  201. 201.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    Agreed. Poor guy. He and Jill must be just wretched right now.

    Verdict is Guilty on all three counts.

  203. 203.

    Spanky

    @smith: Should come as no surprise. He was ready to plead, but they figured they had enough to convict at trial, so they blew up the plea and here we are.

  204. 204.

    Baud

    Via reddit

    In a sweeping change that could improve millions of Americans’ ability to own a home or buy a car, the Biden administration will propose a rule Tuesday to ban medical debt from credit reports.
    The rule, which will be announced by Vice President Kamala Harris and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra, comes as President Joe Biden beefs up his efforts to convince Americans his administration is lowering costs, a chief concern for voters in the upcoming election.

  205. 205.

    Geminid

    @Baud: I also like runoffs, and there doesn’t have to be a 50% requirement to advance. I think North Carolina requires 30%, and New York City used to require 40%, before the last election when they switched to ranked choice. Under the old framework, Eric Adams would have faced Kathy Garcia in a runoff because he got only 33% of the vote in the first round.

    I don’t think runoffs will make a comeback, though. We’re an impatient people now, and ranked-choice voting is quicker and apparently easier.

    Ed. I would add that while their wins with less than 30% of the vote inspired a lot of grumbling at the time, Massachusetts Rep. Jake Auchingloss and New York Rep. Dan Goldman have proved to be respectable additions to the Democratic Caucus, and they seem to be popular back home.

  206. 206.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    I don’t see that happening. Can you explain more, please?

    ETA: It might be a while before I see your response — about to go into class.

  207. 207.

    Baud

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    There are legal challenges to the constitutionality of restrictions on gun ownership. If successful, that would mean Hunter cannot be guilty of a crime.

  208. 208.

    Dave

    @O. Felix Culpa: On the plus side my parents who are probably best described as between moderate and old school small c “we should care for people but order is important and change should be managed so it’s not to fast” have fully awaken to the threat and see Trump as a true threat to democracy.

    My mom voted for Trump in 2016 because Catholic and abortion but even she is aware that it’s more complicated than that and has finally realized that the people pushing these laws are mean controlling freaks.

    My dad has been reasonably aware since “W” voted for him in 2000 but was able to recognize the shit show that the GOP has become.  Hopefully more people like my parents will move that way as the election enters their consciousness.  We will see.

  210. 210.

    Dave

    @Baud: You almost have to be correct by default the odds that we are approaching things in the best possible way are well not great.

    That said figuring out a better way that actually is better and bringing people on board with that isn’t really as easy as arm chair pundits make it seem.

  212. 212.

    RandomMonster

    Hunter Biden was charged in federal court in Wilmington with three felony counts tied to possession of a gun while using narcotics. He had pleaded not guilty.
    Two of the counts carry maximum prison sentences of 10 years, while the third has a maximum of five years. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000.

  214. 214.

    Bupalos

    @Baud: No thank you.

    Hunter did a crime. He’s being prosecuted in an unusual way because of who he is, but I’m not rooting to toss out parts of the law for his sake.

  218. 218.

    Spanky

    Our new Washington Post, ladies and gentlemen:

    President Biden said last week he would not pardon his son Hunter Biden if he were convicted in his felony gun trial in Delaware.

    Joe Biden said “Yes” when asked in an ABC News interview Thursday whether he would rule out pardoning Hunter Biden, according to the network. Joe Biden also said “Yes” when interviewer David Muir asked whether the president would accept the trial’s outcome.

    Although the president has been saying that for months, some Republicans have insisted he will pardon his son.

  220. 220.

    TBone

    @Nelle: I’m sorry.  I’m glad you escaped that fate though.  But I’m sorry that you had to live through that so personally and painfully.

    @Kay: have been well aware of that systematic coverup.  Neighbor Rumper family frequently has Youth Pastor sleep overs (all male).  I’m like, really?  A man in his early to mid twenties is allowed to sleep over with your teenaged sons???

  223. 223.

    Ruckus

    @Suzanne:

    Like, am I reading subtext that doesn’t exist?

    Possibly, but I don’t give that possibly a lot of credit. Because this could be taken 2 distinct ways – on opposite sides of the spectrum of possibilities. She is in the shadow of her husband, and may be not wanting that to be her only story – or she is nuts. I could go either way.

  224. 224.

    Tazj

    Have to hand it to David Frum here on Twitter, “ Rest of the planet stunned the US even has gun laws.”

    I’ve read that there are things that can be appealed in the case. One being that the judge excluded evidence that the guns sellers doctored the form for the gun sale. IANAL, so I don’t know whether or not that’s right.

    If the verdict does stand I certainly hope he doesn’t get years in jail.

  225. 225.

    Miss Bianca

    @Spanky: “Because how can we keep sexually abusing children if we start ordaining women pastors?!”

    *barf*

    White Christian patriarchy is severely messed up.

  226. 226.

    TBone

    @Baud: this crime is rarely prosecuted except in the case of a convicted felon.  Hunter is not a previously convicted felon so I’ll be sure to be watching carefully for sentencing guidelines – they might set precedent.

    Also, Rump must now turn in any firearms in his possession and must lose all liquor licenses at all of his establishments. Most felons are not allowed to be in the proximity of any firearms.  Special boy is special, though.

  228. 228.

    Spanky

    @Ruckus:

    She is in the shadow of her husband, and may be not wanting that to be her only story – or she is nuts. I could go either way.

    I don’t usually go both ways, but on this I’m gonna have to. She definitely wants out from the shadow of her husband, AND she’s frickin’ nuts.

  230. 230.

    Jeffro

    @Geminid:

    I think the Good/McGuire race will be close, and the one thing certain is that 5th CD residents will be really glad when advertising blitz ends.

    I have no idea if there have been a lot of tv ads (I suspect there have been) but we get a pro-McGuire or anti-Good mailer most days and have for weeks now.

  232. 232.

    JPL

    @Baud: The president could commute his sentence after the election too.  I still think he should say my finges were crossed and pardon him.

  233. 233.

    MomSense

    Finally saw The Felon Guy’s shark clip.  I thought he said awhile ago that if you put batteries in water they stop working. So why is he afraid of getting electrocuted by a submerged ship’s battery?

    I also love how he says no one has ever asked that question before.  Nope no one ever has, Donald because it’s so pathetically stupid.

    He is clearly not mentally fit (or any other kind of fit) for office.  Why are the media going along with this madness?

  235. 235.

    Ruckus

    @Suzanne:

    Why can’t some of these people just fucken let go?!

    Because they are always right! Just ask them. Their way is the only possible way. The concept of differences or of them possibly, maybe being, if not wrong at least not right is beyond, miles beyond who they think they are. They are the true and guiding light.

    This country, built around the possibilities of difference, of incorrect interpretation of being, of history, of humanity does not bode well for the concept that they are 100000% correct all the time, that they have all the answers, when they can’t even ask the correct question, let alone find a reasonable, humane answer that leaves room for differences of opinion, reality and that humanity part. We are here, there may be no god/guiding light/concept of right and wrong, and zero afterlife to justify human existence. Or it may be they are 100000% correct. But living never actually answers that question, nor provides the evidence that even asking the question is reasonable. Humans are capable of far more than most animals but we are also capable of being 1000000% wrong about everything. I say give it a wait and see attitude.

  237. 237.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @satby:

    we really get into politics and a lot of people don’t. It’s as mysterious to them why we’re so opinionated about it as discussing the finer points of which Dr. Who was better, or how batting averages are calculated is to us

    Not arguing with you, because what you say is true about people. But my counter to this sentiment is that while tastes and opinions differ on all manner of subjects, politics is different. This is a democracy and each citizen has a duty to participate and, I would also argue, a duty to be informed about things like how the government works, which candidates or parties are working for which policy outcomes.

    I understand that this might interfere with recreational activities, but so do other duties like our jobs, our bills, and our household chores.

    I get a little facial spasm, like Chief Inspector Dreyfuss when he hears Clouseau’s name, whenever I hear or read someone saying that it’s the Democrats’ fault that Trump got elected because they failed to offer whatever pet policy they put at the top. I say, no, dude, no. It is our job, each and every one of us, to take actions to make things better. Even if the Democrats nominate a candidate who we may not want to have a beer with.

    And “lesser of evils” – a juvenile characterization – is better.

  238. 238.

    smith

    @JPL: As with the Felon’s cases, with appeals it will be a long time before Hunter’s sentence, whatever it is, will actually be carried out. Biden will certainly wait to see what happens, and may feel obliged to stick to his decision not to pardon in any case. He may feel that it’s worth underlining a respect for the justice system in contrast to the lack of respect shown by the Felon and his acolytes.

  241. 241.

    RandomMonster

    @Baud: There should be sentencing guidelines and hopefully the judge will follow.  He shouldn’t get the maximum.

    No, I wouldn’t think he would get the maximum.

  242. 242.

    Ruckus

    @MomSense:

    He is clearly not mentally fit (or any other kind of fit) for office.  Why are the media going along with this madness?

    Simple. Because it sells. Never, ever, in any way, forget that money is the basis of, well basically most everything for most people. Either they have way too much and are greedy or they don’t have enough and are desperate. Many, (Most?) people like money, like more money, it is the basis of many groups of humans existence, no matter what they claim is the basis. Money is supposed to be freedom, but it is often the exact opposite, especially for greedy bastards.

  244. 244.

    satby

    @Melancholy Jaques: I totally agree with you about the duty citizens owe to be informed and participate. But, in this country voting is not mandatory and people are free to be as informed or as poorly misinformed as they want. Our job is to try to reduce the numbers of apathetic, poorly informed voters, which clearly is hard to do without pontificating or insulting them. Glad we have pros for that, though I try to help.

  246. 246.

    Citizen Alan

    @O. Felix Culpa: There was a music-themed episode set at Abbey Road Studios in 1963 (the day of the Beatles first recording) in which a lot of music was played, including a hilarious Beatles song that the Beatles never played in real life. The plot involved an extra-dimensional god-like being mucking around with “Music” as a concept. And a big flashy production number happened at the end after the Doctor defeated them.

  247. 247.

    NotMax

    @Suzanne

    (but Jewish, so does it count?)

    Thanks for playing. Enjoy your consolation prize of out home game.
    SATSQ.   :)

  249. 249.

    NotMax

    @MomsSense

    He’s been dragging out the shark/electrocution thing for at least six months as a standard part of his blather.
    Maybe the MSM finally broke down and bought a clue?

  250. 250.

    Spanish Moss

    I see lots of articles that mention the max sentences for the charges. Are there minimum sentences, and if so, what are they?

  251. 251.

    JPL

    Statement from President #Biden:

    “As I said last week, I am the President, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today … As I also said last week, I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal. Jill and I will always be there for Hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. Nothing will ever change that.”

    copied from Laffy at Mastodon

  258. 258.

    smith

    @TBone: He’s known to be terrified of sharks, and with all he’s facing from his trials, it’s not surprising one of his long time terrors is close to the surface. His impulse to talk about it in an inappropriate situation is just another symptom of his dementia.

  259. 259.

    NotMax

    Food for thought.

    We all know Dolt 45 has outstanding loans up the wazoo. Many (all?) such contracts include a clause addressing any transgressions by the loan recipient which if breached trigger immediate repayment in full.

    So on July 12, the day after his conviction is indelibly etched in stone, will the lender banks move to enforce the terms?

  262. 262.

    Ruckus

    @Suzanne:

    All humans, from all walks of life and from any square mile of dirt are capable of being good, reasonable, likable, human beings. All humans, from all walks of life and from any square mile of dirt are capable of being the shittiest, most unreasonable, unlikable human beings. Some are capable of being both within seconds/minutes. It is one of the gifts of humanity. Now that said, some/most are also in the middle rather than swinging from both completely opposite sides of humanity within those seconds/minutes. Thankfully it seems that most are somewhere in the middle. Now that lessens the possibility that someone is going to give you a million dollars in the next ten minutes, but it also lessens the possibility that someone is going to stab you and steal all your money in the next ten minutes. It doesn’t remove either possibility, but it does make life better overall because most of us are in the middle. Now if you’ve ever known someone who is bipolar, you will understand that the possibilities are endless. (I have stories about my sisters….)

  263. 263.

    Ruckus

    @Suzanne:

    Why can’t some of these people just fucken let go?!

    They are IMPORTANT PEOPLE!

    Don’t you understand that – or did you forget to ask them?

    I’m sure they would have told you how important they are, if you had asked….

  264. 264.

    Citizen Alan

    @Steve in the ATL: I hope that was sarcasm because RTD is my new God. I knew Who would be better than under the catastrophe of the Chibnall years, but I never dreamed he would come out swinging with aggressive attacks on capitalism, religion, the military-industrial complex, and racism/elitism among the super-rich (and done in a way where white viewer completely miss the constant micro-aggressions against the (black) Doctor until the very end when they suddenly become macro-aggressions).

  265. 265.

    Citizen Alan

    @Omnes Omnibus: Well, whatever it was called before it became Abbey Road studios. I believe the Doctor mentioned the fact that it wasn’t called that yet.

  266. 266.

    Soprano2

    @Bupalos: The presidency isn’t just Biden, it’s his VP and the people he surrounds himself with. And those are very, very good people who are good at their jobs and care about the American people.

  268. 268.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @TBone: Oh well, I’m not surprised, given that historically, the Southern Baptists broke off from the Baptist church in the 1860s over slavery. Southern Baptists were for it, and objected to Baptists being against it.

  269. 269.

    scav

    @Citizen Alan: Yup, very much so and he may have negative fucks to give.  He’s also not been shy about nailing down that everything in Chibnall’s era is indeed canon and with Richard E Grant in the last one, we seem to be moving on to all sorts of sources being canon, bring on the wibbly wobbly.  It’s often good not to get trapped in a box and painted into a corner.  Canon may be canon, but it’s not concrete nor a straitjacket.  Regeneration is real.  I’m thoroughly enjoying Gatwa’s doctor.  (& very much relieved it’s not been a dalek of the week season.)

  270. 270.

    Chris T.

    @Nelle:

    At the last one, a cousin assured me that Trump is God’s instrument for bringing about the End Times.

    Matthew 24:36 anyone? (Perhaps long with “pride goeth before a fall”…)

  271. 271.

    Chris T.

    @MomSense:

    I thought he said awhile ago that if you put batteries in water they stop working.

    No, that was “magnets”. (I doubt he realizes that electromagnetism is actually a thing.)

    (Anyway, yes, it’s idiotic, as is TCFG himself.)

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