Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself. We’re allowed to grow past that.

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

Bark louder, little dog.

Everybody saw this coming.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Biden: Oh no. We’ve upset Big Pharma again.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

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

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

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

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

Tick tock motherfuckers!

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

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

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Wednesday Night Open Thread

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236Comments

  5. 5.

    Betty Cracker

    He phrased it “post-menopausal FEMALES,” which is even more offensive somehow. He’s lucky his mamaw doesn’t rise from her grave to thrash him with an extension cord!

  9. 9.

    schrodingers_cat

    What does Usha see in that potato face, I wonder. He also insulted his MIL who is a professor and  a provost in California. What an ingrate. Pissing off your MIL is never a great idea.

    He also called Indians weird. Now KH will get 90% of the Indian American vote instead of the getting around 70% that Obama, Clinton and Biden got.

    JD Vance agrees with a podcast host who says having grandmothers help raise children is “the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female.” He also agrees when the host says grandparents helping raise children is a “weird, unadvertised feature of marrying an Indian woman.

    They probably call him potato face to his face in Telugu.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    JD Vance must be thinking “How come Trump gets to insult everybody and get away with it? It’s not fair.”

  20. 20.

    Ken

    @schrodingers_cat:  He also agrees when the host says grandparents helping raise children is a “weird, unadvertised feature of marrying an Indian woman.”

    Yes, that never happens in other cultures.

    I’m beginning to think the crazies claiming Vance is a space alien may be on to something.

  21. 21.

    Chet Murthy

    @Baud: He’s really bad at this.  I mean, if he were any good, he could have said something like:

    Helping raise your grandchildren is a part of Indian family life – something I hadn’t expected — and something really refreshing after the rootlessness and disconnection of modern America!  Imagine a country where children kept in touch with their parents, where families helped each other out, where mothers had the time and space to take care of their children, instead of having to scurry off to work every day!  That’s the America we want to bring back!  MAGA!

    I mean, it’s not even hard (sure, it still takes a bunch of lies, but still) and he can’t manage it.  How the fuck did he get a law degree if he’s so bad at the speaking-to-persuade thing?

  22. 22.

    wjca

    @schrodingers_cat: May be there is something to Omnes’s theory that he is a Democratic sleeper agent.

    Well, except that the kind of long range planning required has not, in the past, been a Democratic core competency.  Unfortunately.

  24. 24.

    M31

    yeah, the ‘females’ thing is totally incel-speak, it’s so creepy. Reducing everything to biological function (in the service of his stupid couch-fucking penis, he assumes).

    I posted this downstairs but he also (just today, I believe) said that he didn’t think suburban women were worried about abortion rights, they “cared about normal things”

    let’s see, direct insults to childless women, menopausal women, cat women, suburban women? He’s running out of women to insult, but no worries he’ll get to urban women and exotic pet women soon.

  26. 26.

    Almost Retired

    @schrodingers_cat:  JFC, doesn’t her mother teach molecular biology at UC San Diego, something she continued doing even after she stopped ovulating?  Vance makes Sarah Palin seem like an inspired choice.  The appalling level of racism against his own wife’s family is breathtaking.

  28. 28.

    3Sice

    Tic…. tac?

    I’ve seen that bit before, and honestly find it a bit stale. He should smash a watermelon all over the press pool. They’ll love him for it.

  29. 29.

    Lyrebird

    @Baud: That would seem to insult a lot of non-Indian grandparents too.

    Yeah… Potato face (I’m with ya totally on this one @schrodingers_cat: ) LOOKS less condescending than Ted Cruz does in a still photo, but then he opens his yap and insults most grandparents everywhere with an extra dig at his… own in-laws?  Creepy and unwise.

    I would estimate that the percentage of conservative Christian white grandmas in Ohio who a) rearrange their lives significantly to help out and hang out with their grandbabies and who yet b) consider their own lives as having additional purposes beyond this is frickin’ high.

     

    ETA: Baud, I probably sound like a broken record agreeing with ya re: winning elections is work work work, I don’t think any one thing will give a guarantee.  But this JV character… talking about chiming in and doubling down on stuff that would make you edge away from someone at a bus stop (per some KamalaHQ tweet I think), he’s a pro!

  33. 33.

    Scout211

    @schrodingers_cat:

    ”weird, unadvertised feature of marrying an Indian woman.”

    I read that earlier today and was appalled at how many levels of insults that this idiot can say in one horrible sentence.

    Insult his MIL, check

    Insult his wife, check

    Insult his marriage, check

    Insult Indian women, check

    Insult the institution of marriage, check

    Insult grandmothers, check

    And I think he was trying to make a cool inside joke that all men would go ha, ha, he’s so cool, amirite?  Ugh!   Instead of being cool to all the dude Ross, he looks like a creepy uncool misogynist idiot.

  35. 35.

    mrmoshpotato

    I don’t have anything to write about other than that JD Vance has also declared war on post-menopausal women, many of who are divorced or widowed after a lifetime of putting up with another man’s bullshit. This will not end well.

    And this doesn’t even mention the pussy-grabbing, dictator-humping, traitorous, orange shitstain who wants to bang one of his own daughters.

  36. 36.

    Paul M Gottlieb

    He didn’t say “post-menopausal women,” he said “post-menopausal females.” The use of the term “females” is the infallible tell of the true misogynist, since they regard  women as more like to some kind of domestic animals instead of fellow humans

  38. 38.

    RevRick

    Clearly, they’re seeing the polls that show that the race they thought was in the bag has completely flipped. They see the crowds and energy of the Harris/Walz rallies, and it drives them crazy. So, they’re flailing and angrily saying the quiet parts out loud.
    Harris, in particular, pushes all their buttons of race and gender and their worldview says she can’t possibly win. But she is… and it’s killing them. They’re only answer is to double down on the racism and misogyny.

    They… Just… Cannot… Bear… It.

  40. 40.

    Ken

    @M31: He’s running out of women to insult

    All part of the campaign’s master strategy to capture 100% of the incel vote.

  41. 41.

    Almost Retired

    @Paul M Gottlieb:  It could be worse.  He could have said “post-menopausal sows.”  Waiting for that audiotape to surface.

    Hard to believe, but I believe I despise Vance more than I do Trump.  A nearly insurmountably high bar, but he cleared it.

  42. 42.

    Lyrebird

    @M31: Yes, I appreciated your posting that other outrage, just had to get back to work.  What’s that line about when your enemy is screwing up, don’t interrupt them or something?  I think I’ve seen “gift that keeps on giving” like 5 times today, so true.

    @Chet Murthy: How indeed?  I guess grievance is his one note.

    @Almost Retired: This comment thread is giving me life tonight.  Did you ever see that “Misses Palin” comedy video, by the way?  But yeah, she’s a brilliant statesman (wording?) by comparison.

  49. 49.

    Scout211

    @Scout211: typo alert:  “dude Ross” was supposed to be “dude bros” but I guess autocorrect was busy watching an episode of Friends tonight.  🙄

  52. 52.

    Suzanne

    @M31:

    let’s see, direct insults to childless women, menopausal women, cat women, suburban women? He’s running out of women to insult, but no worries he’ll get to urban women and exotic pet women soon. 

    I have kids, am not in menopause, don’t have a cat (right now), and I live in a city….. and I’m totally fucken offended by this asshole.

    I was looking back at my “memories” on my Book of Faces, and I had written some years ago about a conversational strangeness that I encountered multiple times: I was vegetarian for many years, and occasionally it would come up in conversation. There were multiple times that I would say that I was vegetarian, and the person I was talking to — often no more than an acquaintance — would reply, “Wow, I bet you’re regular.” Like, what the ever-loving fuck? Why do some people, including assholes like Vance, feel like they can talk about other people’s bodies, menopause, poop schedule, weight, whatever?! It’s so fucken bizarre.

  58. 58.

    Citizen Alan

    @Almost Retired: Vance does not have the excuse of senile dementia. Also, while his childhood was troubled, I don’t think Vance was physically abused as I assume Trump was by Fred.

  59. 59.

    Chet Murthy

    @twbrandt: You jest, but lemme tell ya a story.

    • I grew up in a small shitKiKKer town in North Texas
    • Went to college at Rice
    • got an NSF postgraduate fellowship for grad school

    Now, I was all-fired proud of myself, and for sure, I was a smart kid, sure/sure.  But when I got to Cornell, I learned that it was pretty likely that one of the reasons I got that NSF fellowship, was that I’d been a kid from a shitKiKKer small Texas town.  Not a lot of smart kids come out of those hellholes (gosh wonder why) and so the NSF had a policy of putting a thumb on the scales for ’em.

    Affirmative action for crackers.  But hey, they did it by zip code, not by paper-bag, so I got the benefit.

  62. 62.

    hitchhiker

    Vance apparently spent a lot of time being interviewed by obscure incel-adjacent podcasters in his pre-Senate years. The point would be to make himself a name in crazy world as that guy who went to Yale or whatever and got rich and is still totally cool.

    This interview was in 2020. I wonder how many of those the Dems have dug up and placed in a lock box, to be dribbled out whenever they feel like jerking his little chain.

    Also, as stupid as the podcaster (“post-menopausal females”) sounds, Vance sounds WAY stupider at the end when he’s babbling some nonsense about macro-economics and how it makes great sense for his highly educated, professional scientist mother-in-law to take a full year off work so that he and his wife don’t have to. I mean… WUT.

  64. 64.

    Chet Murthy

    @hitchhiker: There was a time when this was what vetting and oppo research was all about.  It sure seems like TCFG’s campaign has forgotten this.  Then again, it’s such meticulous work, I can’t imagine anybody who works for him has the work ethic to do it right.

  68. 68.

    RSA

    During Vance’s bid for the Senate in Ohio, he said in a Fox News interview that “we are effectively run in this country via the Democrats,” and referred to them as “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.” He said that included Harris, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat.

    “How does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?”

    I don’t have kids, but I do have lots of nieces and nephews. Do I lack a direct stake in the future of this country?

    Vance seems to think that people only care about the future for the sake of their own progeny.  I checked online to find that he has a half-sister with three kids.  I wonder if anyone has told those kids that he doesn’t give a shit about them?

  69. 69.

    Geminid

    @lamh47: I saw Ravid’s post on Laura Rozen’s Twitter feed. She also reposted Fred Walton’s report that State Department special envoy Amos Hochstein had a long meeting today with Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri: “the US talks to Hezbollah indirectly through Berri.”

    Laura Rozen is a good news aggregator, and she also reposted this headline from The Beacon|Kansas City:

        “Missouri Democrats, tired of seeing uncontested Republicans, are recruiting more legislative candidates.

    The Beacon|Kansas City says they “publish news that empowers well-informed and actively involved communities.”

  72. 72.

    Chet Murthy

    @RSA: I don’t have kids,, but I’d like to retire and live comfortably to a ripe old age.  Who will farm the food, run the power plants, make the appliances, run the cities, staff the hospitals, be my doctor, my nurse, and on and on and  on?  These people will need to be educated, fed, housed, clothed, get vacations, have their own children, and on and on and on.

    You can’t eat money, J Divans.

  73. 73.

    schrodingers_cat

    Vance is a poster boy for traditional Indian parents everywhere selling the virtues of arranged marriage to their reluctant children. See we can find you a better match than J D Vance

    ETA: I wouldn’t be surprised if the Usha V’s parents were not initially thrilled with Mr. Hillbilly.

  74. 74.

    H.E.Wolf

    @schrodingers_cat: ​They probably call him potato face to his face in Telugu.

     And it would serve him right.

    I have fond memories of my production-floor co-worker from Azerbaijan, who taught us how to say “the boss is a cabbage-head” in Russian.

  77. 77.

    M31

    @Lyrebird: ​
     

    “never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake”
    I always heard Napoleon, — looked it up and he said something pretty close (“when he is destroying himself” hahaha works for me) then filtered through many others.

    but yeah, the Harris campaign is wise to just keep going with their feel-good tour, spreading the joy, and needling the MAGAs as necessary with a quick but rapier touch, and oh yeah have they been doing it, reminding people of the insanity of Trump and his mini-but-somehow-grosser-me

  79. 79.

    Chet Murthy

    @Fake Irishman: Yeah, uh, I made a mistake and chose Sid Rich (back when it was single-sex).  So, y’know, got to postpone actually learning how to behave around women for an extra four years.  Sigh.  Though I was such a …. feral robot until sometime in my 30s, that maybe it made no difference.

  81. 81.

    sentient ai from the future

    @RSA:

    as i asked before, i seem to recall that LGBT+ parents have trouble accessing fertility services or adoption in some areas.

    we got that totally solved, then, the issue of minorities who want to be parents and are thereby asking to have a *clears throat* direct stake in it?

  82. 82.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: Laura Rozen is a veteran reporter on diplomatic matters; I believe she is on JustSecurity’s editorial board. Rozen writes long-form pieces for her Diplomatic Substack, and mainly uses her Twitter and BlueSky to aggregate reports from other reliable journalists. I encountered Rozen through Cheryl Rofer’s posts.

  87. 87.

    M31

    lol and I just noticed that this is how Vance uses the word “weird” — (“weird, unadvertised feature of marrying an Indian woman”) — not prompted by Harris and Walz.

    So that’s what he truly thinks is weird.

    What a rancid piece of shit, and also, just not a normal human being who lives in the normal world.

  93. 93.

    Chet Murthy

    @RSA: Did you know J Divans is a bigamist?   He took his furniture wife’s name!

    ETA: I didn’t coin it!  I’m just doin’ my part to spread it ’round.

  96. 96.

    NotMax

    @WaterGirl

    Early evening (blog time) maybe? Perhaps on a Friday or sometime over a weekend?

    You have a more intimate knowledge of the ebb and flow of blog engagement than I.

  99. 99.

    Ohio Mom

    I’ve said this before, though it’s a few years off (if I’m counting correctly, four years) I am hoping that Vance’s embarrassing behaviors help to sink his Senate re-election bid. It’s mortifying to have him represent me.

    I know, memories are short.

  100. 100.

    M31

    lol now I’m reading that RFK Jr. has approached the Harris campaign to lobby for a cabinet appointment

    hahahahahahahahahahahah hahahahahahahaha hahahahahaha

    That dead bear from Central Park would be a more effective cabinet secretary.

  102. 102.

    Ken

    @matt: Frank Luntz is saying Trump is committing political suicide.

    Perhaps he’s not worried about prison, now that he’s got that Supreme Court immunity ruling and plans to flee to Venezuela. Taking all that lovely, lovely money that the RNC has collected, of course.

  105. 105.

    NotMax

    @WaterGirl

    Heh. Checked that e-mail account this afternoon (my time) about an hour or so before your reply showed up today.

    Thanks in advance.

  106. 106.

    M31

    @WaterGirl: lol the number of times that the real thing people are saying is “I am not a crackpot” and “don’t put it in the newspaper that I’m mad” has gotten way too high lately

  107. 107.

    BR

    @lamh47:

    This is a really nice idea. Reminds me a bit (in a very different way) of the 30 minute biographical ad / video Obama did in 2008.

  110. 110.

    S Cerevisiae

    @Lyrebird: I think the line is from Napoleon: “never interrupt your enemy when they are making a mistake “

    ETA- beaten by M31, hard to be  faster than an entire galaxy

  111. 111.

    sab

    @Ken: Most of the Ohio grandmothers I know of any ethnic background watch grandchildren or would like to if the mothers said okay. My sisters-in-law all do. My Mom did.

    My Mom said she would never watch grandchildren. Then she did, the moment she had them.

    That doesn’t mean she liked the kids’ father at all..

  114. 114.

    Ken

    @matt: Luntz: “The issues and conditions favor Donald Trump.”

    I guess Luntz assumes the electorate is thinking “The Democrats fixed the economy, so now it’s safe to vote for the Republican.”

  115. 115.

    Fake Irishman

    @Chet Murthy:

    Oof. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law were there, but wife was at Brown. Was Beer Bike still a live bike race through Houston back in your day? (Now Sid Rich’s men’s team just tries to lose in the most creative way possible)

  116. 116.

    Chet Murthy

    @Fake Irishman: I graduated in ’86, and yeah, it was a live thing.  I have to say, looking back, the culture was pretty toxic.  I had friends who were nice people, but the general culture of Sid Rich was ….. toxic.

  117. 117.

    wjca

    @Chet Murthy: There was a time when this was what vetting and oppo research was all about.  It sure seems like TCFG’s campaign has forgotten this.

    You can’t forget what you never knew.  The level of ignorance of those around TCFG is hard to overestimate.  (Note that ignorance is orthogonal to stupidity, which is also a specialty of the house.)

  119. 119.

    Chet Murthy

    @Fake Irishman:

    Was Beer Bike still a live bike race through Houston back in your day?

    I never attended, but people did train for it, both riding and drinking.  No idea what the race course was back then.  I last visited Rice when a sibling graduated in 2000.  last time before that was giving a talk in 1991.  No other times.  I mean, it’s in TX, and I don’t visit TX as as rule.

  120. 120.

    Danielx

    @Ken:

    I’m thinking Dubai, more like. More congenial than Venezuela, where there are a shit ton of people who are not fond of yankees. Long as you have the bucks, Dubai has the welcome mat out. Or Paraguay maybe, hang out with the Nazis.

  122. 122.

    Geminid

    @Ken: I think Luntz knows better about “conditions and issues” favoring Republicans, and is just throwing them a bone. His core analysis is devastating for the GOP.

  124. 124.

    wjca

    @WaterGirl: That is so good, it is now a rotating tag.

    Praying that, by the end of the year, it can be retired as no longer relevant.

    EDT In deference to our friends in Ohio, should probably retain until he’s turfed out of his Senate seat….

  130. 130.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @M31: lol now I’m reading that RFK Jr. has approached the Harris campaign to lobby for a cabinet appointment

    Cabinet? Shirley Ewe Geste. Bottom shelf in the broom closet, tell him to bring his own roadkill.

  140. 140.

    Geminid

    @Danielx: Dubai is an attractive place for the wealthy, but Trump might not like the neighborhood. Iran is right across the Persian Gulf, and the Iranian Revolution Guard Corps will not forget the assassination of its charismatic leader, General Soleimani, that Trump ordered.

    The Orange Churl would be looking over both shoulders too, because Yemen is several hundred miles to the west. In early 2022, the IRGC blew up some Emirati oil infrastructure with drones they fired from Yemen, just to show they could do it.

  141. 141.

    Fake Irishman

    @Chet Murthy:

    I taught a term there in 2014. Wife graduated in ‘05. The university as a whole is a pretty diverse quirky live and let live sort of place. Some tech-bro/rich kid stuff, but a lot of really impressive people with good heads on their shoulders come out of there.

    And as for Texas, well, we’re working on it. We’re not there yet, but the trend lines are good.

  142. 142.

    Chet Murthy

    @Fake Irishman: Oh, even when I was there, it was filled with smart kids.  I got a great education, and no complaints whatsoever.  I was only speaking about Sid Rich (when it was single-sex).  As for Texas …. well, I’m no longer holding my breath.  Maybe someday Texas will turn the corner.  Maybe not.  I’m done with the place.

  143. 143.

    TS

    @Suzanne:

    Why do some people, including assholes like Vance, feel like they can talk about other people’s bodies, menopause, poop schedule, weight, whatever?! It’s so fucken bizarre.

    I will love you forever for that statement – my reply is always “too much information”.

  145. 145.

    matt

    @Ken: He’s thinking that inflation and immigration favor Republicans. I can’t really say he’s wrong about those things.

  146. 146.

    wjca

    @Ken: Luntz: “The issues and conditions favor Donald Trump.”

    I guess Luntz assumes the electorate is thinking “The Democrats fixed the economy, so now it’s safe to vote for the Republican.”

    Well, he can hardly remain a Republican pollster if he says that the issues favor Harris now, can he?

    Admitting that (economic) conditions favor the Democrats would be pushing the envelope.  Better, careerwise, to just say it’s an enthusiasm gap.

  149. 149.

    frosty

    @sab: When we told my parents that we were adopting my mom immediately said: “I’m not going to watch them.” OK, mom, but I didn’t even ask. I wasn’t surprised.

    My MIL was very happy to have a grandchild and occasionally would watch him.

  150. 150.

    Betsy

    @Baud: The really  interesting part of all this (since JD wants to talk about *policy*)

    is that her employer gave her time off and kept her job available for her after she was done helping raise the children

    It’s almost like human cultural practices and employer norms about worklife balance are *more important* than raw gender biology in terms of what choices people make about parenting,  and how families are able to meet their child caring needs.

  152. 152.

    West of the Rockies

    @Ohio Mom:

    Maybe he’ll pull a Palin and quit before his term is finished (and then get a program on the Discovery channel:  J.D. Vance’s Appalachia.

  155. 155.

    Jackie

    @Almost Retired:

    Hard to believe, but I believe I despise Vance more than I do Trump.  A nearly insurmountably high bar, but he cleared it.

    Give him a gold medal! That would piss off his boss BIGGLY!

  156. 156.

    RaflW

    Spent a wonderful day with the BF, and my brother and sis-in-law. Toured the Frank Lloyd Wright UU church in Madison, WI, then did the medium-length (2.25 hr) tour of Taliesen. Followed that up with a visit to the WI capitol, a look around UW and the fabulous Memorial Union (BF did undergrad at UW). Capped it all with Italian dinner al fresco back by the Capitol. Really a top 5 day of summer!

    Oh, and JD Vance is probably the worst VP campaigner in my lifetime. I thought Sarah Palin was bad, and her stupidity was pretty freakin’ legendary. But Vance is too green and arrogant and foolish to even be ‘junior varsity.’ He’d be cut from any team except Trump’s. Ha-ha!

  157. 157.

    Chet Murthy

    @Betsy: What I’d read was that she’d taken a sabbatical?  I don’t know if it was a paid sabbatical, but typically those are built into the academic career schedule: every N years you take a year off for sabbat.

  159. 159.

    Betsy

    @Ken: It happened specifically because the grandmother in question works for the University of California, which gave her time off and kept her job open for her.

    Dumb, ungrateful  Shady Vance doesn’t even acknowledge the importance of employer practices in achieving work and family balance. It’s amazing how as a Republican he is free to talk about the benefit to him of such asemployee-friendly, family-friendly policies, but doesn’t think they  should be required  for other people and their families.

    Once again, in his world, women are just supposed to pop out children and not remain childfree — that would be selfish and not invested in the future of the country — but Republicans  are certainly NOT going to support  any policies as a society that would help women be mothers.

  161. 161.

    Betsy

    @Ken: It happened specifically because the grandmother in question works for the University of California, which gave her time off and kept her job open for her.

    Dumb, ungrateful  Shady Vance doesn’t even acknowledge the importance of employer practices in achieving work and family balance. It’s amazing how as a Republican he is free to talk about the benefit to him of such asemployee-friendly, family-friendly policies, but doesn’t think they  should be required  for other people and their families.

    Once again, in his world, women are just supposed to pop out children and not remain childfree — that would be selfish and not invested in the future of the country — but Republicans  are certainly NOT going to support  any policies as a society that would help women be mothers.

  162. 162.

    way2blue

    @Betty Cracker: JD probably thinks ‘A Handmaid’s Tale’ is a roadmap.  And apparently.  A woman’s only, only acceptable function is as a breeder.  Good to know…

  164. 164.

    John Revolta

    The Mouse is plumbing new depths of cartoonish evil

    Disney argues wrongful death suit should be tossed because plaintiff signed up for a Disney+ trial
    NEW YORK (AP) — Does signing up for Disney’s popular streaming service mean you have agreed to never sue the entertainment giant over anything forever?

    That is what Disney argues in a wrongful death lawsuit involving a 42-year-old New York doctor whose family claims had a fatal allergic reaction after eating at an Irish pub in Disney Springs in October.

    Disney is asking a Florida court to dismiss a lawsuit brought against it by Jeffrey Piccolo, the husband of Kanokporn Tangsuan, a family medicine specialist with NYU Langone’s office in Carle Place, on Long Island.

    The company argues Piccolo had agreed to settle any lawsuits against Disney out of court through the arbitration process when he signed up for a one-month trial of Disney+ in 2019 and acknowledged that he had reviewed the fine print.

    “The Terms of Use, which were provided with the Subscriber Agreement, include a binding arbitration clause,” the company wrote in its motion. “The first page of the Subscriber Agreement states, in all capital letters, that ‘any dispute between You and Us, Except for Small Claims, is subject to a class action waiver and must be resolved by individual binding arbitration’.” https://apnews.com/article/disney-allergy-death-lawsuit-nyu-doctor-florida-4bdaf74e2c889882b23b319ec720680a

    The woman informed the waiter that she had severe nut and dairy allergies and he “guaranteed” that the dish she ordered was allergen-free. She collapsed 45 minutes after eating and died in a hospital despite using an EpiPen.

  166. 166.

    Betsy

    @Scout211: ignore family-friendly employer policies that helped his mother-in-law do that —CHECK

    Specifically, she was on a sabbatical from the University of California, which kept her job open for her after she was done with that period of caring for the child.

     

    Any normal person would conclude that it would be good public policy to require employers to have family-friendly policies of that nature, if we want American women (not “females”) to have babies — like he says he wants them all to have.

    But Republicans are not normal and JD  is weird.

  168. 168.

    Prometheus Shrugged

    @Chet Murthy: She would be eligible for a sabbatical in her capacity as provost, but not in her capacity as teaching professor (a title formerly known as lecturer).  However, the University of California system also allows for a variety of other family leave (e.g. child care or eldercare), so she could have also taken advantage of these programs.  I don’t know for sure–she’s not in my department, though I’ve had some interaction with her.  Anyway, the important thing is, as everyone has said, that Vance–like most glibertarians–is completely oblivious to, and insulting of, the privilege that he enjoys.

  169. 169.

    wjca

    @WaterGirl: Does everyone refer to Walz as “feisty grandpa”, or is that a one off on the podcast I listened to last night?

    It might be how he comes across.  But in the real world, his kids are a bit young for that.

  171. 171.

    prostratedragon

    @Ken:  Just arriving to the thread, but — wasn’t Vance partially raised by his grandparents? Isn’t that their surname thst he took? Weird.

  177. 177.

    hitchhiker

    @wjca: I actually think that the people trump is listening to (Tucker, Elon, Junior) are so deeply embedded in their incel bubble world that they simply don’t see anything that might spoil the illusion.

    Remember when Jared persuaded trump that firing Comey would give him a big boost with American women, because they were all so mad at Comey for screwing HRC?

    That’s the kind of distorted logic that produces a JD Vance as VP. Plus, as trump himself said, JD liked him more than anybody else did.

    Sold!

  179. 179.

    Jackie

    Heh Great news! (For Dems. Not so much for MAGA😉)

    “Republican National Convention delegates erupted in applause last month when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott doubled down on his commitment to send buses full of migrants to blue cities,” NBC News reports.

    “But the buses have not been rolling on a consistent basis for months because of a steep drop in the number of migrants apprehended at the southern border, according to officials and migrant shelter operators in Texas and in a half-dozen big cities across the U.S.”

  181. 181.

    brendancalling

    @Scout211: not that I have any love or sympathy for JD’s equally grasping and power-hungry wife, but I hope after this is all over Usha divorces him and takes him to the fucking cleaners. I want him selling dick-enhancement pills at 3:00 AM.

  183. 183.

    Jackie

    “This month, GOP operatives and others close to Donald Trump have grown increasingly nervous over trends they’ve seen in recent private polling data produced by different Republican organizations and conservative allies.” Rolling Stone reports.

    “It’s not just the swing-state polling or the national surveys that are causing distress lately. The anxiety-spiking numbers are coming out of Trump strongholds like Ohio and Florida, according to three GOP sources, including two people close to the former president, who have reviewed the private polls.”

    Said one GOP operative: “They’re looking worse than they should. Donald Trump is not losing Florida or Ohio, but that isn’t what’s concerning… It’s a trend of softening support.”

    I dunno, I’ve seen suggestions that FL could be in play… 🤔

  184. 184.

    JaySinWA

    @wjca: Maybe if you’re both vegan…?

    On Golden Pond introduced me to the expression “suck face”, and  more modern parlance adds “leopards eating peoples faces party” making that imagery a bit too graphic for me.

  187. 187.

    karen marie

    @Chet Murthy: I would well believe they saw nothing wrong with any of the wild shit Vance has said. He merely expressed what Republicans believe.

    “Looks good, boss!”

  189. 189.

    StringOnAStick

    @Kelly: All white border collie?  Unique, and beautiful blue eyes. Might need sunblock on her nose for extended sun time; I had a friend with an all white dog who would put sunblock on the top of her muzzle after a skin cancer scare, and because the vet recommended it.

  191. 191.

    Darkrose

    @Betsy: Yup–the UC system has many issues, but as a public university, they follow state law. That’s how us ~scary California liberals~ roll.

  196. 196.

    HumboldtBlue

    Kyle Schwarber hit a grand slam tonight with the Phillies down 5-2 to give them the 6-5 lead, and it still pales in comparison to DougJ.

    We are ignoring the Trump email leak because it was a hack carried out by a foreign adversary. But if the same thing happens to the Harris campaign, Fox will publish everything and we will probably have to follow suit.

  197. 197.

    SectionH

    Mr S, who’s from Ohio, well from Yellow Springs, just said “Moron from Middletown.” Sez it all (and don’t get me on Dewine, who’s also from Yellow Gulch). This Vance  creature is from Middletown. OK.

  198. 198.

    Warblewarble

    For tRUMP to flee the country while under indictment (documents case etc.) would require more than a dash to the airport shouting “Take me to Dubai or wherever” Others would have to be involved  Secret  Service, air crew , flight planning etc.  As usual tRUMP is  running his mouth and has no clue.

  200. 200.

    thalarctosMaritimus

    divorced or widowed after a lifetime of putting up with another man’s bullshit

    On a related note, I think the architects of Project 2025 have not thought through what’s going to happen to the widowhood rate if they succeed in taking divorce thoroughly off the table.

  202. 202.

    BR

    @BR:

    In this video, there are a lot of great testimonials from students in this video. One that stood out to me was a Korean-American woman who reflects on growing up in rural Minnesota in the 90s and what the Walzes meant to her. Worth sharing with folks.

  203. 203.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @Betsy: Didn’t Vance also describe his mother in-law’s help as “weird” and that he would have preferred cash from her to hire a proper babysitter.

  205. 205.

    thalarctosMaritimus

    @Ken: Yes, that never happens in other cultures.

    I thought he was raised by his own mamaw and papaw.

    Maybe he didn’t read his own book?

  207. 207.

    Chet Murthy

    @Kathleen: Yes!  I mean, sure, maybe J Divans isn’t the  best YLS has to offer, but still, you’d think that even a middling-to-mediocre YLS grad would be better than this.

  209. 209.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    JD Vance agrees with a podcast host who says having grandmothers help raise children is “the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female.

    Couch Fuckers is ignoring by the same logic the whole biological purpose of males is to be a sperm donor, and Vance should have been eaten by an ocelot by now (it goes without say Vance would never meet the standards of Pallas Cat and found sadly wanting. In that alternative universe were JD Vance is a stone age hunter gatherer, his body will be found with a note saying “flesh is both pasty and slimy, I am so disappointed, try better you hairless monkeys”)

  213. 213.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @JaySinWA: Potato face, Cabbage head, just terms of endearment, amirite?

    Secret Service code name could be “Champ:” **

    The word champ has also been adopted into the popular Hiberno-English phrase to be “as thick as champ”, meaning to be stupid, ill-tempered or sullen.

    Fits, though “Chump” might fit better.

    ** More properly colcannon, if Wikipedia is to be believed –

    Champ is similar to another Irish dish, colcannon, which uses kale or cabbage in place of scallions

    but who’s counting?

  214. 214.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @strange visitor (from another planet): ​ the incels are wanna-be bene tleilax.

    Nope. Kzinti. A race whose females are non-sentient.

    And before anyone gets shirty about Larry Niven (who IMO has been a damn fine sf writer despite his glibertarian tendencies), let me remind all & sundry that this descendant of the Doherty oil fortune designed his “ratcats” as a near-parody of toxic human masculinity who lost every war they ever started with humans because they exploded into rage at the slightest provocation and always attacked too early.

  215. 215.

    VOR

    I saw some polling which claimed the top demographic for the Trump campaign was divorced white males. Vance is sure leaning into that base.

  217. 217.

    wenchacha

    @frosty: If your parents’ response was no surprise, I gather you did not enjoy your time with them. I’m sorry you had that experience. Childhood is a lot better with parents who really want to do the job well.

    Glad your MIL was helpful.

  226. 226.

    Misterpuff

    Trump only cares about post-menopausal women for their residual trade-in value on the new model (and Vance’s key value raising his kids).

     

    Of course, if Trump allows himself to think of them  at all.

    Once stuff starts saggin’, they get gross, creepy and weird to him, not like his Ivanka.

  230. 230.

    Ruckus

    @Ken:

    He’s not a space alien.

    Space aliens are more human than that. And smarter. After all they’ve figured out how to travel in space, he seems to be having a hard time getting oxygen to that thing in his head which most humans think with and he uses to store stupid and hate.

  231. 231.

    Ruckus

    @Chet Murthy:

    How the fuck did he get a law degree if he’s so bad at the speaking-to-persuade thing?

    That’s why he has to have money, it’s the only thing he can use to persuade people to think of him as human.

  233. 233.

    Ruckus

    @RevRick:

    They’re only answer is to double down on the racism and misogyny.

    Well, at least they are true to who they really are. Assholes.

  234. 234.

    Ruckus

    @Suzanne:

    It is actually quite simple.

    They think/believe they are better than everyone else. They must be better – look how different they are….. They have just never had the concept of better/worse properly explained to them. Or they are so simple they can’t understand the concept when it is explained to them – but no one has ever done the explaining forcefully enough to get it through to that whatever it is inside that thick skull.

  235. 235.

    Ruckus

    @Betsy:

    It is difficult to feel entitled unless you actually are. vance wants to be entitled but he’s earned doodly squat. Which is a way to say he’s earned nothing because first and most of all he thinks he’s superior to everyone else. And of course humanity doesn’t actually work that way. People like him rarely to never figure that out. They are too busy patting themselves on the back.

  236. 236.

    Ruckus

    @Warblewarble:

    shitforbrains is also seemingly riding towards/over the last horizon. Planning his last meal. His only answer is to double down on the racism and misogyny, because that’s all he’s got. Really, it’s all he’s ever had. He’s never found that clue – mainly because while he’s been looking, he has zero idea what for. He’s the idiot that thinks money gets him everything, while the reality is that a reasonable life is not actually something that can be bought, it has to be lived. And he doesn’t even get that breathing is autonomic – till it isn’t. He got far more unlucky when he cheated his siblings out of their inheritances, because it put him someplace he had zero idea how to live in. He thought he knew because he’s always been a pompous ass who thought he was the top of the heap. He was but it was a heap of dog  _ _ _ _. He just didn’t know or understand the difference.

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