Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

This blog will pay for itself.

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

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

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

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

He really is that stupid.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Let me file that under fuck it.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

You cannot shame the shameless.

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Reader Interactions

81Comments

  1. 1.

    RepubAnon

    The Democrats need to buy space on a billboard near the entry to The Villages with a countdown calendar showing how many more days before Elon and The Donald take away their Social Security

    With a “Told You So” after it happens.

  3. 3.

    MagdaInBlack

    That’s a medium one?!

    I had 2 goals today: Get out of bed. Drink coffee. So far my day is a success =-)

  4. 4.

    lowtechcyclist

    Can we arrange for a meetup between the gators and the humans migrating from the north?

    ETA: You know, just a little ‘get acquainted’ event?

  5. 5.

    Chetan Murthy

    Betty, can I say, I like your little bits of travelogue from Florida?  I like them a lot.  B/c I’m still so damn bitter about November, and ….. not reading about that is a balm.

  8. 8.

    oldster

    Sweet Jeebus — I don’t think I’ll ever be able to find a reptile like that a cute thing to coo over. I feel about it the way my oldest proto-mammalian ancestors felt about the last of the dinosaurs: we are on fundamentally different teams. I’m on team fuzzy, and I just cannot with team scaly.

  10. 10.

    Old Man Shadow

    Not that I want those pretty dinos to suffer indigestion, but it would be nice if they ate the Village fuckheads until Florida was closer to normal.

  11. 11.

    trollhattan

    Kiddo texted a pic of her hand holding a coconut with a straw poking out, branded with “Fontainebleau Miami Beach.”

    IDK if she’s technically even “seen Florida” but whatever it is she’s enjoying the hell out of it. I’d say “be on the lookout for Crockett and Tubbs,” but that’s simply too obscure a reference now.

    By my count she’s now collected six Confederate states since decamping for NC last spring, with bonus competition trips to WI and MA. Her state count is approaching my life list.

  13. 13.

    trollhattan

    @oldster: I’m fond of the turtles, as long as they’re not the snapping type. Sunning themselves with heads poking waaay out is just adorbs.

  15. 15.

    MazeDancer

    Interesting that you put that gator in the “what’s right” column.

    But the many kinds of birds in FL you frequently feature are, indeed, quite right.

    And in the, possibly, what’s wrong with these people sorting, goes this report on Luigi Mangione from MSNBC earlier today:

    “Meanwhile, investigators are still working to identify a motive…” 

  16. 16.

    Josie

    @oldster: I’ve always liked lizards and snakes and such, but I’ve never been around gators. I like their looks, although I would want to keep a safe distance. My primordial fear is of spiders and cockroaches.

  18. 18.

    Harrison Wesley

    @scav: Those signs are everywhere. They’re on Route 41, where you’d be evaporated instantly if you went the wrong way.

  20. 20.

    lowtechcyclist

    @MagdaInBlack: We can all use more Jimmy Buffett in our lives!  Whatever Paradise may be like, I’m sure he’s there, and I hope he’s got a cheeseburger in one hand and a cold beer in the other.

  22. 22.

    lowtechcyclist

    @trollhattan:

     Her state count is approaching my life list.

    My state count’s been stuck at 44 for years: the six I haven’t visited are Alabama, Arkansas, Alaska, Iowa, North Dakota, and Nebraska.  Just haven’t had a good time for a trip to Alaska, and the other five, I’m just not in any hurry to see.

  24. 24.

    laura

    @trollhattan: You should request a photo of her on the Fountainebleu’s staircase to nowhere. FYI, there’s a hole in the wall, nondescript diner a block behind and about two blocks south of the Fountainebleu that has the most delicious empanadas and how I wish I had a greasy bag full of savory and fruit empanadas right now.

  25. 25.

    Harrison Wesley

    @Suzanne: I’ve read a few stories about people down here who tried that, and none ended well. You would think it should be unnecessary to put up “Do not feed alligators” signs. Unfortunately…,

  27. 27.

    Harrison Wesley

    @Betty Cracker: There was a local incident around here a few months ago when an intoxicated young man tried to handfeed a gator and lost an arm. He didn’t seem exceptionally bitter, but did admit to using poor judgement.

  28. 28.

    Jackie

    O/T Nancy Pelosi had hip replacement surgery at the US military base in Germany, after her fall, and is doing well.

  29. 29.

    zhena gogolia

    Looking for something else, I just found a meticulously typed letter I sent to Walter Mondale on Nov. 7, 1984, telling him how ashamed I was to be an American! So I’ve had this feeling before!

  34. 34.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Harrison Wesley:

    There was a local incident around here a few months ago when an intoxicated young man tried to handfeed a gator and lost an arm. He didn’t seem exceptionally bitter, but did admit to using poor judgement.

    The alligator?  Or the young man?

  35. 35.

    Quiltingfool

    @Jackie: As I understand it, hip replacement recovery is not as difficult as knee replacement.  My husband’s boss was back in the office 3 days after his hip replacement.  There is no way in hell I could have done that 3 days after knee replacement!

    Although I heard a story about a guy who “felt so good” one day after knee replacement, he mowed his yard.  He regretted that decision, spent the next few days on the couch.  His drugs must have been way better than mine, lol!

  38. 38.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Jackie:

    Nancy Pelosi had hip replacement surgery at the US military base in Germany, after her fall, and is doing well.

    That’s good to hear!

    O/T

    What, there’s a topic to be off of? ;-)

  39. 39.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Jackie: God bless her.

    No issues with insurance coverage to slow it down, was my very first thought, however bitter that thought may have been.

  42. 42.

    Jobeth

    @Betty Cracker: We stayed at the Fountainbleu way back when and got upgraded to the Burt Reynolds suite.  Only time I’ve been in a hotel room with a doorbell.  Pictures of Burt and his movie posters all through the suite and his Playgirl centerfold over the bed IIRC.  I think the place has been renovated since then and the BR suite is no more, what a shame.

  43. 43.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Ever wonder what the fuck is wrong with Florida

    To many white people cosplay as rugged individualist farmers, who don’t need any government handout, collecting social security.

  44. 44.

    raven

    Shit head and his butt boy are at Army-Navy game. It makes me puke to see that motherfucker saluting.

  47. 47.

    HeleninEire

    Nope Nope Nope. I have said it before and I will say it again.  I do not swim in the ocean and I don’t go camping. Cuz there’s nature in there! I would rather deal with the muggers and pickpockets.

  49. 49.

    Bill Arnold

    How lazy are gators? That one looks active.
    I was on a safari (small, 8 people plus guides, 2 minibuses) in Kenya roughly 2007, and one night, stayed at a posh complex inside an electric fence in one of the huge protected wildlife parks.
    It was right by a river, with crocodiles along the banks.
    Outside the restaurant building, there were a few tame-ish very very well fed crocodiles who were fed meat scraps.
    Sometimes meat would land in an open mouth, and the croc wouldn’t bother to move.

  50. 50.

    narya

    @lowtechcyclist: I would think it would be a cheeseburger and a margarita, but what do I know.

    I was going to make gnocchi today–I bought a wad of potatoes from the farm share in anticipation of doing so–but I am very much not in the mood for doing that much work. I’m trying to convince myself that I should age them for a few weeks anyway. The meal was going to be venison, caramelized onions, wine-soaked mushrooms, potato skins–leftover from the gnocchi-making–and cheesy broccoli in the skins. But baked potatoes sounds just fine; I’ll use the purple ones to make the meal extra colorful.

  53. 53.

    tam1MI

    @scav:My absolute favorite place-name road-sign combo was an offramp for Normal, IL: Exit Left.

    There is a highway in Michigan where you will come across a sign that says, very forebodingly:  “PRISON ZONE.  DO NOT PICK UP HITCHHIKERS”.  And the next sign – THE VERY NEXT SIGN! – says, “Rest Stop, Next Right”!

  58. 58.

    Currants

    Oh Betty C, I love your photos!  Also your commentary. You crack me up on the regular, and often voice in exactly the  perfect way views of things I am seething about.

    This blog is one of the world’s good things, and IMO you’re one of the big reasons for that. ♥️

  59. 59.

    Renie

    @Betty Cracker: ​
      When I was very young my family use to go to Miami Beach during winter. One time I remember we went to the Fontainebleau to see The Jackie Gleason. It was a real treat since we had seen him on tv. I don’t remember what year but we stopped going to M.B. in 1966 when my father died, so it was probably a year or so before that. In the 1980s my husband and I were in M.B. and we went to the Fontainebleau to look around. I have great memories of M.B.

  60. 60.

    Jeffro

    Mrs Fro and I have been crushing it today, getting almost all of our home and work Christmas presents wrapped in record time!

    (we’re still waiting on some stuff to arrive, but it’s just a few things)

    Also, our local Indivisible chapter is up and firing on all cylinders (I just got their meeting summary, complete with links to affiliated orgs and next steps.  HIGHLY encouraging.  =)

  61. 61.

    Jeffro

    @Betty Cracker:When I was a kid, we had a neighbor lady who would feed jumbo marshmallows (which she threw) to a gator she called “Nixon.”

    LOL

    That is making me think of a scene from “Where The Buffalo Roam”, where Bill Murray (playing Hunter S. Thompson) gets his dog to go nuts and attack a mannequin wearing a Nixon mask by going…”NIXON!”  The dog, a doberman, proceeds to chomp heartily on the mannequin’s gonads.

    I love, love, love that movie.

  63. 63.

    Jeffro

    btw if anyone is looking for a neat gift idea, give a friend or family member a 3-, 6-, or 12-month membership in the Dive Bar Shirt Club.  They’ll mail your recipient a new shirt promoting some sleazy hole in the wall each month.  What could be better?

    (no I’m not getting paid commission…I just thought it looked like fun!)

  64. 64.

    Jeffro

    Jamelle Bouie with some truth today:

    The American public is exceptionally fickle and prone to sharp reactions against whoever occupies the White House. It wants change but continuity, for things to go in a new direction but to stay mostly the same. It does not always reward good policy, but it usually punishes broken promises and perceived radicalism from either party.
    Ignore for a moment the high likelihood of chaos and dysfunction from a Trump administration staffed with dilettantes, ideologues and former TV personalities. It appears that what Trump intends to do, come January, is break his most popular promises and embrace the most radical parts of his agenda.

  68. 68.

    CaseyL

    I love all critters – the only exception being cockroaches – but have a particular frisson-ish love for the ones who’ve been around umpetty million years and haven’t changed much. Crocodilians are in that group. Living geologic history!

    The Villagers… cripes. Why have no hurricanes washed them away?

    I keep thinking about how the hippies turned out. There seem to be two main categories, and I think it comes down to what made them hippies in the first place: whether it was the Peace-Love-Age-of-Aquarius stuff or the anti-authority stuff. The former grew up to be sweet, slightly daft old hippies who still drive VW buses and go to poetry readings…. and the latter grew up to be hateful, selfish, no-one-is-the-boss-of-me assholes. Like the denizens of The Villages.

  69. 69.

    Betty Cracker

    @CaseyL: Plausible theory. I know some sweet old hippies who live in The Villages. They’re definitely outnumbered by the knuckleheads! I am too where I live, but at least they’re not all up in my grill in the swamp.

  70. 70.

    CaseyL

    @Betty Cracker: ​

    Maybe they’re not up in your grill because you are a child of the swamp and might feed them to the gators. I have a feeling you kind of radiate that vibe (and good for you if you do!).

  71. 71.

    sab

    @Sister Golden Bear: My trans niece came back to Ohio for her grandfather’s funeral and found that her Republican cousins were quite nice and welcoming. She hadn’t met them before. We had gotten somewhat estranged when their grandfather and my mother were bickering (spouses of siblings). There are several gay guys on their side of the family (a great uncle and a cousin) which explains a lot, but it was still nice and unexpected.

    She was terrified to come back here but it went well. I still agree with her that this isn’t a safe place for her to live.

  76. 76.

    Barry

    @tam1MI: ​

    “There is a highway in Michigan where you will come across a sign that says, very forebodingly: “PRISON ZONE. DO NOT PICK UP HITCHHIKERS”. And the next sign – THE VERY NEXT SIGN! – says, “Rest Stop, Next Right”!”

    That’s 15 miles from my house. They tore down the rest stop.

  77. 77.

    Matt McIrvin

    @lowtechcyclist: I think I’ve visited 40 states. Never been to Alaska or Hawaii, to Montana-ND-Minnesota-Wisconsin, or to Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama.

    And… I don’t think I’ve ever been to Kentucky. I’ve visited every state surrounding Kentucky, I’ve lived in three of the states bordering Kentucky, but never set foot in Kentucky.

  78. 78.

    cmorenc

    @lowtechcyclist:

    My state count’s been stuck at 44 for years: the six I haven’t visited are Alabama, Arkansas, Alaska, Iowa, North Dakota, and Nebraska.  Just haven’t had a good time for a trip to Alaska, and the other five, I’m just not in any hurry to see.

    In the southern half of Alabama, you might wonder whether the Souith won the Civil War after all, because you’ll drive past so many yards adorned with a Confederate flag.

  80. 80.

    rekoob

    @Gin & Tonic: @Betty Cracker: My prediction — The VW ID.Buzz, inspired by the 60s Combi, will probably get favorable treatment as a *lease* rather as a *purchase*. The technology is moving fast, and within 3 years there will be new battery chemistries and charging infrastructure.

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