Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Bark louder, little dog.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Optimism opens the door to great things.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

The willow is too close to the house.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

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64Comments

  6. 6.

    sab

    OMG I love that first picture. That’s why I love the French so much. Boom2  and colors and it makes such a national statement without offending anyone but local birds.

    ETA Reposted slightly different to here, the better thread.

  7. 7.

    cmorenc

    Hoping for most of the coverage being of the actual athletic competitions and far less competitor personality profiles – Coverage of the winter olympics when ABC had that franchise was especially infuriating – show 3 or 4 competitors skiing in the downhill event, and cut away for 10 minutes profiling Hans the Swiss cowherder.  Few of the competitors would be worth special attention but/for their athletic performance skills, which is why we’re watching.

  10. 10.

    Jackie

    I hope the Olympic discussions stay to dedicated posts… HA! Who do I kid?!

    I just want to avoid spoilers for those who can’t watch “Live.” I’m recording so I can watch on what works for my schedule; probably a lot of us are.

  11. 11.

    lamh47

    Listen…I am looking forward to the “distraction” of the Olympics.

    Even before the excitment of Harris for Prez…I was ready for the Olympics.

    I even bought Peacock so I could watch the events I wanted LIVE on the West coast instead of hoping for NBC to show it.

    I would love a daily Olympics thread!

  16. 16.

    Anoniminous

    Once again the wusses are using laser pistols in the Pentathlon and the cross country riding is show jumping.

    The Standards.  They have fallen and can’t get up.

  25. 25.

    Geminid

    @Anoniminous: “Why, in Patton’s day….”

    Actually, George S. Patton was the U.S. Army’s entrant in the 1912 Olympic Pentathalon. At the time, this was a military event and Patton competed against 41 other officers.

    Patton’s best events were fencing and horseback riding. They did not have drug testing back then; this was fortunate for Patton because the team doctor dosed him up with opium before the final event, the cross country run.

  26. 26.

    Jay

    @Geoduck:

    https://theins.ru/en/politics/273350

    France arrested a ruZZian “chef” who’s job as a ruZZian FSB agent was to disrupt the Olympics.

    The ruZZian FSB/SVU have been engaged in “active measures” against France for over a year, ranging from “stunts” like coffins, through stenciling swastika’s, to bomb plots.

    They have been “hiring” ruZZians from the Donbas, ( a good way to escape becoming a meat cube), Serbs and Macedonians to try to stay at “arms length”.

    Meanwhile, in ruZZia, various groups of the Russian* Resistance have been burning down switching relays and signal relays as a short term means of stopping Military trains from travelling. ruZZian Train Troops can’t guard every where, and all it takes is a container of fuel and a match.

    It would appear the the busted “Chef” did get a network together, planned a coordinated attack, and copied the attacks the Russian Resistance are doing.

    All high speed rail headed to Paris, from all across France was targeted and disabled.

    *I use ruZZia and ruZZian for the evil ones, Russian for the Resistance.

  28. 28.

    Mousebumples

    @Baud: glad to see you around, Baud. Are you busy with the Veep stakes? Harris/Baud seems like a winning combination…

  29. 29.

    prostratedragon

    Didn’t realize it was today. My provider lets me rerun things, so I’m seeing Lady Gaga now.

  31. 31.

    eclare

    @raven:

    Yeah, I had to look that one up, and I’m generally pretty good with geography!

    It used to be Swaziland.

  32. 32.

    Baud

    @Mousebumples:

    I stand ready to assume the nomination when the NYT decides Kamala isn’t good enough for us.

     

    @rikyrah:

    Hi! Looking forward to seeing you in the morning threads next week.

  33. 33.

    sab

    2 o’clock today. Normally I would be out about or planning another event.

    I think today was okay. So I just want to go home to bed. Cats healthy and happy. Ditto the one dog.

    Also too  our Democratic lineup. Go guyz!

  34. 34.

    trollhattan

    Pretty sure I spotted the kid’s HS classmate during a quick shot of Team USA’s boat. A CKMHS first!

    Rain in July. Can’t even conceive of it, but would gladly accept some.

  36. 36.

    eclare

    Nice salute to the first moving picture, the train.

    The audience was afraid the train in the film would run over them in real life.

  38. 38.

    raven

    @eclare: A good friend has just finished his doc and is taking a position at UM! He’s a  Memphis native so he knows what’s up. We’re having a going away party for him this evening and it is especially sad because he has been a mainstay at the dog park!

  40. 40.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @cmorenc:

    Always a big gripe and always called for.

    Alas, with streaming and subscriptions, NBC won’t change it’s basic vapid broadcasts.  Instead you gotta get online and and watch the competition either as it happens or tune out for any results and watch it later.

    If you’re an Olympic junkie, it’s great in that you’ll see every athelete do everything in that particular event.

  42. 42.

    Matt McIrvin

    @eclare: I’ll always think of Philomena Cunk’s take on that: “when Pump Up The Jam first aired, audiences were terrified that the jam was real, and would be pumped directly into their homes.”

  46. 46.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Jay: re train disruptions/ France/ olympics

    I’m upset! I just saw it on my news feed; so glad there’s already information.

    This is really hard on so many, in a trains dependent country. I’ve been on these trains. People want to get into and out of Paris, see olympics, attend to their regular lives.

    rather devastating. Thanks Jay for the update on who’s behind it. Last Olympics messed up by Covid, can’t we just have a pleasant inspiring Olympics, to watch world excellence, and the culmination of years of focus and dedicated hard work? I’m ready for some inspiration.

    ps I took a week long bike ride in France, in June one year. It rained every day. We went anyway. My pal said, shall we just get a room for the night, since it’s raining? I said, nah, it’ll rain tomorrow too, let’s go. Wool is warm when it’s wet. It was a great trip. (It didn’t rain all, all day.)

    I look forward to seeing how they adjust the outdoor competitions for the wet, and rain. It might change conditions, surfaces, safety, times, traction… I’ll remain curious.

  48. 48.

    raven

    @eclare: Indeed he is. He thought his position was going to be at the Jackson Campus when he took it but someone left the Memphis location so he’ll be there!

  49. 49.

    eclare

    OK, the Minions bit, the “Despicable Me” movies were produced by a Paris based studio.

  55. 55.

    Balconesfault

    After spending an hour in one of Paris “Fanzones” in the rain, the big screen died as the Liberians were on the screen. Mrs Balconesfault and my cue to jump on a dry Metro back to our Airbnb.

  56. 56.

    Citizen Alan

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Nothing will ever top the London Olympics Opening Ceremony, in which Doctor Who, James Bond, and Mary Poppins teamed up to save the NHS from Voldemort.

  59. 59.

    japa21

    Just want to say, this is one of the most “woke ” opening ceremonies I have ever seen.

  60. 60.

    Balconesfault

    Watching in a French bar now, enjoying a hot bowl of onion soup and a good beer.

  62. 62.

    tam1MI

    @raven: “Imagine” on the Seine with a flaming piano!!!

    How many Olympics has it been played at now? They should make it into the official Olympic anthem!

  63. 63.

    raven

    @tam1MI:

     

    The tradition seems to have started when Stevie Wonder sang “Imagine” at the Closing Ceremony for the 1996 Atlanta Games (after singing “Very Superstitious”) and was picked up again when Peter Gabriel contributed his rendition to the Opening Ceremony for the 2006 Winter Games in Turin. It was elevated to a real event for the 2012 Summer Games in London, and then made a comeback at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games Opening Ceremony, which was peace themed. It made the most sense in the U.K, where Lennon is still a national hero. That year, Ono premiered a short film called Imagine Peace at the sites throughout the U.K. where people could gather to watch the Games on large screens. Still, it drew some degree of controversy at the time, best seen in reports that Turkish state TV censored the “Imagine no religion” line.

  64. 64.

    Neal

    Peacock has already proven to be a good investment in our household. Wife and I watched the gymnastics warm up segments. No commentary, just the men, and then today, the women’s team getting in some practice.

    The camera angles were fantastic as they gave you the impression that you were standing right next to the apparatus watching the athletes work their routines. So much better than the views of yesteryear that were a ways from the action.

    In fact, an hour of watching each was worth ten hours of past coverage.

    Wish they would do this as some of the other events get underway.

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