Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Everybody saw this coming.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

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

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

Russia bombs Ukraine’s maternity hospitals; Republicans in the House can’t sort out supporting Ukraine.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

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

“woke” is the new caravan.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

If marriage is the equivalent of selling yourself into slavery, women with self respect should reject the offer.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Speaking Of the Week Ahead

Speaking Of the Week Ahead

by | 60 Comments

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Really busy today doing everything except what I am supposed to be doing.  I had to move a lot of stuff out of my closet room so the plumber could get to the crawl space, and now the temptation to get that room cleaned up and organized seems impossible to resist.

Unlike my sister, I am not someone who enjoys cleaning.  But it’s just begging to be straightened out instead of just dragging everything back in there.

I saw some news last week, and I’m not sure what to think of it.   Something about the Senate working to pass a bill that would increase the number of judges started in 2025, maybe at the district court level?   If anyone saw that and has a better idea of what that’s about, please chime in.

I’m sure I’ve missed tons of news, what’s  been going on today?  Or is this the calm before the storm?

Speaking of which,

Totally open thread.

Reader Interactions

60Comments

  1. 1.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Yes on the judges expansion, IIRC a bunch in ’25 and a bunch more 4 years later.

  2. 2.

    Leto

    Watching Italy v Croatia, and Spain v Albania, via split screen. Euro2024 soccer. The tournament so far has had really good games. Tour de France starts from Florence, Italy on Saturday. The past 5+ years, at least, they’ve started the tour in other countries and that’s been pretty nice.

    The decisions will drop when they drop, and the only thing to do about them is to win the House/Senate/Pres in November, and reform the fuck out of the judiciary. Term limits, expand the court, add more judges at every damn level, and dismantle every part of the conservative judicial farm network. Win as many state level seats/positions as we can. Just eternal anger at conservatives.

  3. 3.

    JoyceH

    I just toured Biltmore and the Chihuly exhibit, which was fun and interesting but I learned I’m no where near the shape I need to be in for the Italy tour this fall.

  4. 4.

    WaterGirl

    @OzarkHillbilly: That seems like a bold move with such a big election coming up.  I mean, if the Rs win the Senate then they will have a ton of control over what judges a chance to be confirmed.

    I keep trying to figure out what their thinking is.  I can shoot down every idea I come up with.

  5. 5.

    WaterGirl

    @JoyceH: Well, you had fun and saw some cool stuff.  The question is whether you can get in shape enough for the Italy tour in a small number of months, or whether you should think about postponing for a year so you have more time to get in shape.

    What are your options?

  7. 7.

    JoyceH

    @WaterGirl: Oh, I’m definitely going! But I’ve got some work to do to make it easier. And four months to get somewhat buffed up. That’s doable.

  8. 8.

    HumboldtBlue

    HOLY COW!!!! Italy scored a goal in the 98th minute to stave off elimination from the Euros! Stunning!

  11. 11.

    Almost Retired

    I have a bruised rib.  No big deal, but the PA asked how I did it.

    “Did you recently fall down or trip over something?  Did you bash into something?  Did you lift something improperly?”

    The answer was yes…all of those things. All over the weekend.

    So the diagnosis is essentially that I am a total klutz.  Good to know.  No ice pack can fix that.

  12. 12.

    gvg

    @Geminid: I thought I read something about the deal to go through Congress was 1/2 now 1/2 after the elections as in the republicans think they will win the next election….but the democrats think they will.

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    @JoyceH:  Maybe this was just the kick in the butt you needed?

    As I was going through stuff in my closet room, there were SO MANY cute tops that I can’t wear because they don’t fit me anymore.  I would love to wear them again, so I might just have to lose some weight.

  16. 16.

    rikyrah

    UH HUH

    UH HUH

     

    Andrew Bates (@AndrewBatesNC) posted at 3:17 PM on Mon, Jun 24, 2024:
    .@mmfa on one of the biggest double standards benefiting Trump: “144 articles focused on either or both Biden’s and Trump’s ages or mental acuities in the period studied, with 67% focused just on Biden’s age or mental acuity and only 7% on just Trump’s.” https://t.co/RyOT6h9a9a
    (https://x.com/AndrewBatesNC/status/1805334488945508391?t=Vdx4eUJHMojhnfjS_LKrDA&s=03)

  17. 17.

    Leto

    Politico: Inside the $100 million plan to restore abortion rights in America

    A new coalition of abortion-rights groups is marking the second anniversary of the fall of Roe v. Wade with a pledge to spend $100 million to restore federal protections for the procedure and make it more accessible than ever before.

    In plans shared first with POLITICO, groups including Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and Reproductive Freedom for All are banding together to form Abortion Access Now — a national, 10-year campaign that will both prepare policies for the next time Democrats control the House, Senate and White House, and build support for those policies among lawmakers and the public. At a private event Monday evening in Washington, they will pitch a group of influential progressives on going on offense at a time when abortion is outlawed in a third of the country.

    “Dobbs was a really devastating outcome, but we’re going to win back our rights much faster than they think,” Mini Timmaraju, the president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, said in an interview. “We’re not going to let the anti-abortion extremists define this moment. We’re coming for them and we’re going to make sure that they become increasingly irrelevant.”

  19. 19.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Almost Retired: Funny thing, every time I have a chest x’ray they tell me I have many healed broken ribs. I always ask, “How many?” because I am curious as to the number of “bruised ribs” that I have suffered were actually broken (I don’t need no stinkin’ doctor, they’re just bruised!)*. The reports never enumerate them.

    *I worked rehab in STL for several years and falling thru half rotten floors was an “occupational hazard.”

  22. 22.

    PAM Dirac

    @HumboldtBlue:

    HOLY COW!!!! Italy scored a goal in the 98th minute to stave off elimination from the Euros! Stunning!

    And almost certainly sending Croatia home, which in my opinion is a good thing.

  26. 26.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Leto: ​ The nurse who works at the practice (Jennifer, and I love her dearly, we have too much fun on my visits) just snorts.

    After I collapsed a lung, I was no longer so “Ain’t nothing but a thing.” about them.

  29. 29.

    TBone

    @Leto: ❤️💜❤️💜✊

    Just made my entire day!

     “We’re not going to let the anti-abortion extremists define this moment. We’re coming for them and we’re going to make sure that they become increasingly irrelevant.”

  31. 31.

    TBone

    @OzarkHillbilly: I broke every rib on my left side and one rib punctured a lung.  Left arm was put back together with a titanium rod and my pelvis was fractured too, all from one horrendous fall on to a concrete pad.  Then I rebroke several of the same ribs a few years later in a scooter incident.  Broken ribs are always very painful!  You can’t even breathe and wearing a bra is not happening!

  35. 35.

    TBone

    Katie Phang says “Judge” Cannon berated one of the prosecutors who argued for a gag order today.  Ugh.

  36. 36.

    lowtechcyclist

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    They weren’t all occupationally bruised. I have at least one hilarious story about self inflicted stupidity.

    Yeah, I’ve got a story like that about when I ruptured my Achilles tendon. The kiddo and I were down in the woods, and I jumped on a loose rock in the stream. Next thing I knew, I was lying on my stomach, half in and half out of the water, and testing my foot to see if it was still load-bearing.

    It wasn’t, of course, so I was alternately crawling and hopping the roughly 200 yards back to the house, with the kiddo (5 years old at the time) keeping me company, so my wife could drive me to the hospital.  Laughing my head off the whole time at my own stupidity, because the leg didn’t hurt a bit.  Didn’t know what I’d done to it yet – break? sprain? no idea – just that trying to put weight on that foot would be an extremely bad idea.  All because of jumping onto a loose rock, just like they tell you not to.

  37. 37.

    Jackie

    The unSupremes have extended their term into early JULY😡

    “The US Supreme Court signaled it will take the unusual step of extending its term into July as it finishes work on about a dozen cases, including Donald Trump’s bid for immunity from prosecution for attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss,” Bloomberg reports.

    “The court, which had already scheduled Wednesday as an opinion day this week, updated its website to show it will issue rulings on Thursday and Friday as well. Because Chief Justice John Roberts traditionally announces the last day of the term from the bench, the announcement indicates the Friday opinions won’t be the last ones.”

    Before, or after the 4th of July weekend???

  38. 38.

    bbleh

    In re courts, what the ever-loving FK is Judge Loose Cannon doing asking questions about spending?!?

    I know judges have great discretion in handling cases before them, but at what point does this kind of meandering, amateur-hour justice absurdly and pointlessly delayed become justice denied?

  39. 39.

    lowtechcyclist

    Went out and picked more wild raspberries this morning.  A neighbor whose house is on the corner diagonally across from us (the one where the taco truck would be if Hillary had won ;-) has a much bigger patch of wild raspberries next to the street than I have in my yard.  She said to feel free to pick them, and I promised her a raspberry cobbler in return.  I came back with enough berries for three cobblers, and there’ll be more berries ripening every day for the next several days, so even after she gets a cobbler, I’ll have plenty left over for me, especially since neither my wife nor the kiddo likes raspberries.

    I’ll wind up freezing a bunch of berries so I can make more cobbler later in the summer – the season for these berries is only about 2 weeks long. They’ll be all but gone by July 4.

  40. 40.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Jackie: ​
     

    Before, or after the 4th of July weekend???

    Maybe during! After all, the 4th is on Thursday this year, and the 5th is NOT a Federal holiday.

  41. 41.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @lowtechcyclist: Mine involves a playground, my 2 young sons, a visit to an ER at a hospital where my little Sis had just gotten out of brain surgery for cancer because I knew I’d have family there to help with the boys, a very angry and paranoid nurse, my oldest Sis showing up to take them and little Sis saying “What???” upon being informed of my travails.

    And afterwards in the cafeteria, getting very disappointed looks from the old man, “You fucked up again, didn’t you.”

  46. 46.

    Jackie

    @lowtechcyclist: Hmmm… maybe a slow writing justice’s dissent is being threatened to miss his all expenses -paid exotic vaca if he doesn’t get his ass in gear?🤔

  47. 47.

    Leto

    @bbleh: because she was Senate confirmed, she has unlimited power to just fuck this up six-ways-from-Sunday. She could be impeached, but you won’t get the votes in the Senate to do it. I don’t know how many more fuckups she can do before Smith will try to bring it up to the 11th to have her removed. The whole, 1 shot at the king idea.

    But this is the FedSoc’s best and brightest, what they’ve spent the past 40 years aiming for: basically total capture of the judiciary. I don’t know how we fix the issue of these worthless fucks having lifetime appointments to these positions.

  48. 48.

    artem1s

    @Jackie: ​ 

    @lowtechcyclist: Hmmm… maybe a slow writing justice’s dissent is being threatened to miss his all expenses -paid exotic vaca if he doesn’t get his ass in gear?

    More like they haven’t gotten their pre-written opinions from the Federalist Society yet.

  50. 50.

    wjca

    @Leto: I don’t know how we fix the issue of these worthless fucks having lifetime appointments to these positions.

    They have lifetime appountments “during good behavior.”   Seems like you could make a solid case that her behavior fails to meet that test.  (Ditto with that idiot in Texas.)

  52. 52.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @geg6: HA!

    A buddy of mine once dislocated a shoulder (again…) in a cave from which there was no rescue. To hear him and his comrades tell the tale, it was scary as all fuck.

  53. 53.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Leto: I don’t know how we fix the issue of these worthless fucks having lifetime appointments to these positions.

    I do, but I can’t say in polite company.

  54. 54.

    kindness

    I don’t think Democrats will lose the Senate.  Sure we’ll lose WV, but I think nationwide people are aware Republicans aren’t stopping at abortion.  Contraception and gay marriage are next.  Even women in red states don’t want to lose their contraception.

    Stay calm.  Get out the vote…. everywhere.

  55. 55.

    lowtechcyclist

    @geg6:

    😮 How is it possible to not like raspberries????

    It’s a mystery to me.  I can’t get enough of them!

  56. 56.

    lowtechcyclist

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    A buddy of mine once dislocated a shoulder (again…) in a cave from which there was no rescue. To hear him and his comrades tell the tale, it was scary as all fuck.

    How would it not be??

    That’s a situation I’d never want to be in, that’s for sure.

    I presume ‘no rescue’ means incredibly tight, twisty crawlways or shit like that.  Can’t imagine having to wriggle through places like that with a dislocated shoulder.

  57. 57.

    Jackie

    @geg6:

    How is it possible to not like raspberries????

    I don’t get it either; BUT that means MORE RASPBERRIES FOR ME!😋😋😋

  58. 58.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @kindness: The ultimate goal is to reduce women to the status of chattel.  Never forget this.  These people hate anything invented after the 800s.

  59. 59.

    wjca

    @geg6: How is it possible to not like raspberries????

    For example, by having the good taste to like blackberries.  Especially when combined with a surfeit of raspberries growing up.

  60. 60.

    frosty

    @WaterGirl: I’ve lost my final 10 pounds in the last six months by tracking macros. Talk to a dietician and give it a try. (Dead thread)

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