Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

No one could have predicted…

Let there be snark.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

“Joe Biden deserved better than he got from some folks in his own party.”

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

It could be worse. Vance could have said “post-menopausal sows.” Waiting for that audiotape to surface.

Donald Trump, welcome to your everything, everywhere, all at once.

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

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

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

In after Baud. Damn.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

It looks like winning debates is a black job!

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

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

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Because Stuff is Still Going On

Open Thread: Because Stuff is Still Going On

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Open Thread: Because Stuff is Still Going On

Reggie in my $2 thrift store find this week.

I see from Twitter that John Roberts is having a bad summer. Slate link to the article here.

Fuck him and the corrupted justices he rode in on.

I’ve walked the dogs and now I must get some gardening done. Gonna harvest the green tomatoes today. No chance of a freeze anytime soon, but I need to get the garden cleaned up before I leave town.

Here’s an open thread to discuss whatever.

 

Reader Interactions

73Comments

  1. 1.

    TaMara

    And leaving a comment so it shows up in the sidebar. Cheers!

    And as I mentioned earliier, I’ll be haunting my mailbox because my ballot arrives today!!! So excited to vote!

  2. 2.

    Baud

    Fuck him and the corrupted justices he rode in on.

    Attorneys historically opened supreme court arguments with “Mr. Chief Justice and may it please the court,” but I like your opening better.

  3. 3.

    Betty

    Reggie is adorable.

    John Roberts is betraying the country.  I hope Democrats soon have the votes and the will to hold this Court accountable.

  5. 5.

    Scout211

    Hell hath frozen over.  Or rather, losing the lawsuit made him ‘fess up.

    The far-right website The Gateway Pundit   for the first time on Saturday that there was not any fraud during ballot counting in Atlanta in 2020 when Donald Trump lost the presidency, a significant concession from one of the most influential conservative sites that plays a key role in spreading election misinformation.

    The statement, the first acknowledgment from the site that there was no proof of fraud in Atlanta, came days after the site settled a defamation lawsuit with Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, two local election workers who the site falsely accused of wrongdoing. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed publicly, but the site appears to have removed all mention of the two women.

    “Georgia officials concluded that there was no widespread voter fraud by election workers who counted ballots at the State Farm Arena in November 2020,” the site’s co-founder, Jim Hoft, said in a statement posted on Gateway Pundit on Saturday. “The results of this investigation indicate that Ruby Freeman and Wandrea ‘Shaye’ Moss did not engage in ballot fraud or criminal misconduct while working at State Farm Arena on election night. A legal matter with this news organization and the two election workers has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties through a fair and reasonable settlement.”

  6. 6.

    Melancholy Jaques

    I guess I go against the consensus on Roberts. I see a guy who is and always has been a radical right-winger who would like to repeal the 20th century. His moderate demeanor and careful maneuvering through the earlier years on the court were solely due to the court’s composition. Once he got three more radical right-wingers on the court, he was free to do the work he was all about his whole life.

    Fuck him. Fuck everybody who did not vote for Al Gore. Fuck every Ivy League elite dickweed who pimped for Roberts.

  8. 8.

    narya

    In honor of this blog, I just did another 18 postcards for Deluzio in PA-17. Gonna take a walk and mail them.

  9. 9.

    Jackie

    I see from Twitter that John Roberts is having a bad summer.

    WTH did Roberts expect when everyone outside of RWNJ-World expected the SCOTUS to respect and concur that NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW – INCLUDING POTUS?!?

    The SC spit on the Constitution and thought there’d be no hard feelings – especially following their Dobbs decision??? 😡😡😡

  11. 11.

    TBone

    …John Roberts, the uncannily keen reader of the public sentiment…

    IDGAF which John Roberts we “lost.” His supremacy is supposed to rest on the principles of justice within the law, not in the court of public opinion, where he is now summarily fucked.

    Equal Justice Before the Law is now suum cuique.

  14. 14.

    Eunicecycle

    Lithwick states “when and if the court loses the confidence of the public” or words to that effect. I believe that’s already happened. I saw court approval is around 25%.

  15. 15.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @TBone: Mr. Roberts is now in the running to displace Taney in the history books.

    Honestly, I’d hope Harris opts to be sworn in by someone other than Mr. Roberts. Preferably an actual Justice rather than one of the Sinister Six.

  22. 22.

    trollhattan

    Balls und Strikes dude entered a court already containing one Clarence Thomas, and there’s zero chance he was unaware of everything Clarence and Ginny.

    I will grant Roberts one thing, and this only: his vote and majority opinion on National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (the Obamacare decision). The rest of the Sinister Six would like to string his ass up, for that.

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    @Omnes Omnibus: Do you have any thoughts on Wisconsin candidates who are in close races where our money wouldn’t be salt in the ocean?

    Planning to check with Mousebumples, too.  Any other WI peeps have a thought?

    I sent email to RevRick to ask about PA, and am talking to Blue.  Other PA peeps in here have a thought?

    Ohio peeps, anybody you would recommend for consideration?

  26. 26.

    Czar Chasm

    KIITTTEEHHHH

     

    Now that that’s out my system…

     

    With Roberts, this is what happens when you get high on your own supply:  Eventually, you get so overconfident that you expect your overinflated self-view to be mirrored in the real world.  It doesn’t help that the echo chambersphere that is his conservative network has regularly re-affirmed JR’s self-delusion to a point where that mirroring is what you get when being in a funhouse for too long…at some point, you need to exit back to the real world, enduring the shock of its accompanying reality shift.

     

    BZZZZZZT, motherf—ker.

  27. 27.

    Eunicecycle

    @WaterGirl: in Ohio 13 Emilia Sykes is the incumbent and has a well-funded opponent it seems. It is considered a toss-up by Cook. You all helped her last election so if there’s any room for her we here would appreciate it! She’s the first Democratic rep I have had except for a 1 termer who voted for Obamacare and was tossed out.

  28. 28.

    gwangung

    @Czar Chasm: These bozos don’t recognize the real world; they think their conceptions actually are reality, instead of the highly filtered, indoctrinated viewpoint that they are.

    Science doesn’t matter to them. Objective measurements don’t matter to them. I expect if they bring creationism back up before them, they’ll rule it has to be taught as science.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    @Eunicecycle: Yeah, I’d like to look at all our Purple House candidates from 2022 and see how everybody’s doing and whether they could use our help

    I haven’t had any time to learn about any new folks who are inspiring running for the House for the first time.

    The more everyone can help with research, the better.

  31. 31.

    HumboldtBlue

    Geez, Washington is getting embarrassed by Iowa. Did not see that coming. A tough road trip for sure, but Iowa puttin’ a whoopin’ on the Dawgs.

  32. 32.

    trollhattan

    There are accidents and then there are “accidents.”

    I totally love her, man!

    A husband cleaning his new gun accidentally shot his wife while she showered inside their home, California police say. After getting a call about an accidental shooting, officers arrived at the Buena Park home just before midnight Thursday, Oct. 10, Sgt. Jon Shaddow, a spokesperson with the Buena Park Police Department, told McClatchy News in a phone interview.

    Officers learned a 35-year-old man was cleaning his newly purchased gun and “manipulating it” when he accidentally fired, Shaddow said. The round went through a door jamb and into the shower, hitting his 26-year-old wife in the shoulder, according to Shaddow. She was taken to a hospital with a “minor wound” and is in stable condition, Shaddow said.

    Officers confiscated the man’s gun, which was legally purchased and registered to him, according to Shaddow. Officers spoke with both the husband and wife, who gave similar statements, and did not arrest the man, Shaddow said. The incident is being investigated as a negligent discharge, according to Shaddow.
    https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article293840809.html#storylink=cpy

    OTOH, frickin’ guns.

    Seargent Shaddow has to be a noir character. Hast to be.

  33. 33.

    JoeyJoeJoe

    @WaterGirl: not from Wisconsin, but the 3rd congressional district has a competitive house race, I believe.

     

    In Ohio, the 1st, 9th, and 13th congressional districts are competitive

  34. 34.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Smack dab in downtown Denver on the disaster that is the 16th St Mall, there’s a neo-nazi march going on as I type this.

    There’s no local media coverage, none.

    On the plus side, the clusterfuck that is the Mall “revitalization” project means that the only people there today are those clowns.

  41. 41.

    Jackie

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Washington is getting embarrassed by Iowa. Did not see that coming. A tough road trip for sure, but Iowa puttin’ a whoopin’ on the Dawgs.

    GOOD. I’ve disowned them.

  43. 43.

    Scout211

    Just for fun and science:

      CNN  A recently discovered comet, known as C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS, will make its closest approach of Earth on Saturday. Sky-gazers won’t want to miss the event since it may be the last time the comet will be seen in the night sky for another 80,000 years.

    The comet successfully reached perihelion, its closest point to the sun in its orbital path around the parent star, on September 27, and was visible for those in the Southern Hemisphere in September and early October. Now, the icy body is on its way out of the inner solar system and will be visible to those in the Northern Hemisphere in mid-October through early November, according to NASA.

    On Saturday, the comet will come within about 44 million miles (nearly 71 million kilometers) of Earth. The comet is making its first documented flyby of our planet, according to NASA. With its 80,000-year orbit, the celestial body would have been last seen from Earth at the time of the Neanderthals.

    . . .

    Those looking to catch a glimpse of the once-in-a-lifetime event will want to look in the western part of the night sky, shortly after sunset, according to EarthSky.

    The comet will look like a bright fireball in the dark sky with a long, extended tail. Bill Cooke, lead of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recommends a pair of binoculars for enhanced viewing of the comet.

    “It’s not going to zing across the sky like a meteor. It will just appear to hang there, and it will slowly change position from night to night,” Cooke said. “If you can see (the comet) with your unaided eye, (using) the binoculars will knock your socks off.”

  47. 47.

    TBone

    @Scout211: I share a birthday with Samuel and am always just the tiniest bit trepidatious when viewing comets.  But my catlike curiosity always outweighs any sensible (and/or irrational 😂) fear, so thanks for the heads up reminder.

    https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/mark-twains-weird-but-perfect-ending

    Local legend claims that the name “Mark Twain” actually came from his saloon order of two shots of whiskey at one time, with the bartender scrawling two chalk marks on the back wall under the patron’s name, to mark his bar tab.

  50. 50.

    lowtechcyclist

    Saw this on Time.com:

    The Internet Can’t Get Over This Moment From Trump’s Speech
    Social media users reacted to a statement made by Donald Trump during his appearance in Wisconsin.

    I went, “Trump actually said something that could be characterized as a statement?? That would be news!”

    Didn’t click through though, because Trump.

  52. 52.

    Other MJS

    @Melancholy Jaques:

    Fuck him. Fuck everybody who did not vote for Al Gore. Fuck every Ivy League elite dickweed who pimped for Roberts.

    Also, fuck Ralph Nader and the ego he rode in on.

  53. 53.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Spanky:

     “Accidental discharge” is probably how he ended up with a nine years younger wife, too.

    Hey now! He’s 35 and his wife is 26.  When we got married, I was 37* and my wife was 26.

     

    *”Not old” – Dennis the Peasant

  54. 54.

    noncarborundum

    @Scout211:

    The comet successfully reached perihelion, its closest point to the sun in its orbital path around the parent star, on September 27, …

    I don’t understand journalists these days. “Successfully” reached perihelion?  Was there some chance that it might not? I would have thought that, except in the case of a plunge directly into the sun, there would have to be some point in its orbit that was closest to the sun, by definition, and the comet would invariably reach it. (Of course, you could argue that in the case of a direct plunge, there is still a perihelion, just one whose location is inside the sun. But even with such an orbit, perihelion would inevitably be reached.)

  58. 58.

    Ilefttxwhenannlost

    Just wanna give props to MVP soon to be MP Kamala Harris

    I’ve been on SF since 1995 and have voted for her at every opportunity. First for SF District Attorney replacing the incumbent Democrat Hallinan in a squeaker election

    She has always been highly impressive, smart as a whip, fair and an effective happy warrior.  We are so lucky to have her

  61. 61.

    Citizen Alan

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: i think he’s worse than roger taney. That guy oversaw dred scott and was a vicious racist. But outside of the slavery question, taney is not associated with any historically awful supreme court opinions that I can recall. Meanwhile, I have lost count of the number of opinions handed down by the roberts court that I would consider to be on par with dred scott and koramatsu in terms of how much damage they have done to this country.

  62. 62.

    Citizen Alan

    @noncarborundum: not an astronomer, but I would assume that there is always a possibility that gravity could tear the comet apart  add or near perehelion and cause it to break out of its  ellipticall orbit. So I figured that’s what the expression meant.

  63. 63.

    Another Scott

    @Betty: Someone commenting at Kevin’s Drum place seemingly figured out the “Biden circles” thing.

    USAToday from 9/22/2020 – scroll down to the 3rd picture with the flag.

    (The circles were for distancing during the pandemic.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  64. 64.

    cmorenc

    @trollhattan:

    I will grant Roberts one thing, and this only: his vote and majority opinion on National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (the Obamacare decision). The rest of the Sinister Six would like to string his ass up, for that.

    We should worry that the now-farther RW SCOTUS will revisit that decision in some alternate form that fatally undermines its viability.  Recall that at least 5 of the justices in that decision held that it was NOT a legitimate exercise of the commerce clause, but rather only permitted under the “tax and spend” power, and a very thin reed even under that because of the modest income tax surcharge on people who failed to buy health insurance under the mandate (which mandate was subsequently repealed in the 2016-18 interim when the GOP had a troika of both houses and the Presidency.  The newly empowered RW6 may yet still decide to go after it because the tax surcharge is gone. (Thomas and Alito would gladly do so at first chance, if three of their colleagues would go along).  The legal-logical problem the RW6 will run into in going as far to undermining the scope of federal social spending is the risk is a ruling that effectively makes Social Security and Medicare unconstitutional.  That would set the last shreds of SCOTUS legitimacy on fire with the public.

  65. 65.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:  are you f__ing kidding? Could’ve gone to notice if anyone I recognized.
    jfc

    s’pose they’re celebrating after the rally at near DIA/ aurora. Riding their wave of excited hate after their inspiring orange hero came to town.

  66. 66.

    cmorenc

    @Citizen Alan:

    i think he’s worse than roger taney. That guy oversaw dred scott and was a vicious racist. But outside of the slavery question, taney is not associated with any historically awful supreme court opinions that I can recall.

    Taney’s position, repugnant as it was, can at least be logically defended as arguably consistent with the bargain the slave states thought they were agreeing to in the seamy compromises built into the original Constitution as it was drafted and ratified 1787-89.  The core of the Dred Scott decision was to deny the “personhood” of negroes who were born as slaves in slave states, which was legally correct in slave states at the time of ratification of the original US Constitution.  Slaves therefore did not cease to be property merely by being transported to a free state, and thereby had no legal standing.  Overturning that restricted view of who qualified as a person was among the chief purposes of the 13th and 14th Amendments post-Civil War.  However, the original logic still prevailed for many decades post-14A with respect to native americans, who had status as members of separate tribal nations than the US, and hence excluded from US Citizenship as not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the US in the same sense as non-NAs.  Of course, under the modern usage of “native american” rather than “indian” the twisted logic of earlier times stands out in laughably bold relief, but was consistent with the dominant mindset of 19th Century white citizenry.  Technically sound legal logic can be monsterous if built on morally monsterous fundamental principles.

    Consider these aspects as but some of many perverse results of the original Constitution,  including the fact that for purposes of census count, slaves were counted as “persons”, but not for purpose of who was a person for citizenship.  Again, this contradiction was exactly the bargain slave states thought they had made in agreeing to ratify the constitution.  It’s easy to overlook how morally repugnant much of the original US consitution was, for all the lofty regard of its democratic governing elements (regarded as a ‘republic’ of states) and the original Bill of Rights (first 10 Amendments).

  69. 69.

    Gloria DryGarden

    It’s late. Today had several anniversaries and holidays of note

    Matthew Shepard

    Yom Kippur

    International day of girls

    zowie!

  70. 70.

    Splitting Image

    @MagdaInBlack:

    I WANT to see Roberts have to swear her in.

    Eta: the mfkr.

    It probably still eats away at Roberts’ shriveled, depraved soul that he had to swear in the first black president. Having to swear in the first woman president will probably kill him.

  72. 72.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Splitting Image: choosing between vengeance against Roberts, or joy in her predecessor welcoming her to the presidents club, I’d rather go for the joy.
    i don’t know what the rules are for who swears one in as president. Could it be one of the lady justices?

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