Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

Fear and negativity are contagious, but so is courage!

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

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

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Second rate reporter says what?

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

Fight them, without becoming them!

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

Bark louder, little dog.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

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Saturday Night Open Thread: For the Historical Archives

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Sometimes I feel like future historians (assuming such exist) will hunt for some logical explanation of our current media’s consistent failure to treat the current Republican party, as exemplified by TFG and the SC(R)OTUS, as a potentially civilization-ending threat: Microplastics crossing the blood/brain barrier, or epigenetic damage caused by food services at upper-end universities. But it’s really simple: Our Very Serious Media Betters have spent so many years, and grown so prosperous, recycling sewage… that they’ve developed a taste for it!

(2/X) praising this account. First things first…Jon Chait and some obscure Reason bro lecturing James Fallows about journalism is ludicrous. Fallows is a legend, a five-time National Magazine Award finalist. More on this later…

(3/X) But first, Maggie admits “The systems are just fundamentally – they were not built to deal with somebody who says things that are not true as often as he does or speaks as incoherently as he (Trump) often does.” That’s exactly the point of all the criticism…

(4/X) of her and the Times’ coverage of Trump. It’s not built for Trump. Trump is hold to lower standards. Let’s just take a couple examples. The Times played a big role in forcing Biden out of the race (which has worked out great for Dems)…

(5/X) Two or three times a week, Trump does something that is more strongly indicative of dementia than anything Biden did during that debate. Is there any move to force him out?
——
(7/X) Likewise, there has been coverage of the hacked Trump campaign emails. I agree it is better not to cover them. But there is no way they wouldn’t be getting covered if they were emails from a Democratic campaign.

(8/X) I don’t think anyone can dispute either of those two points: that there’s been no coverage of Trump’s dementia comparable to the discussion of Biden’s age and that hacked Democratic campaign emails would be getting covered.

(9/X). That’s a different standard and one that is markedly lower for Trump. It’s that simple. It doesn’t mean that the Times hasn’t taught the public a lot about Trump. There have been a lot of revealing stories. But they are easier on Trump than on other candidates..

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War for Ukraine Day 948: Russia Double Taps a Hospital in Sumy

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(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Two quick housekeeping notes. First, Rosie is still doing great. Thank you for all the good thoughts, well wishes, prayers, and donations.

Second, it was a long week because of the storm, so I’m just going to run through the basics tonight.

Russia has targeted another hospital. This one a double tap drone attack in Sumy.

Sumy. Russia hit one of the city’s hospitals with “Shahed” drones. As of now, we know that 8 people have been killed. My condolences to their families and friends. Eleven others have been wounded, and 113 patients have been evacuated from the hospital.

The rescue operation is ongoing as we continue to address the aftermath and save lives. We are doing everything possible to provide our people with the help they need.

Everyone in the world who speaks about this war must pay attention to what Russia is targeting. They are waging war on hospitals, civilian objects, and people’s lives. Only strength can force Russia into peace. Peace through strength is the only right way. I thank everyone who supports us on this path.

The death toll currently stands at 10.

And, of course, the Russians continue their targeting of civilians in Kharkiv:

Russian attacks killed four civilians today in Kharkiv Oblast. A Supreme Court judge delivering humanitarian aid to locals was among the victims, with his car directly struck by a russian FPV drone. An aerial bomb strike claimed three more lives.

I can’t embed the tweet at the link because X/Twitter won’t generate an embed code for it.


I want to make something very, very clear here, though I know most of you are aware and tracking this already. There is no legitimate military target at any of the hospitals, medical clinics, residential buildings, hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, groceries, book binderies, post offices, and all the other civilian targets the Russians have attacked in Ukraine. These aren’t dual use facilities, nor have the Ukrainians emplaced weapon systems or ammo depots or barracks next to them. Each and every one of these Russian attacks on civilian targets and infrastructure is a violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC).

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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Saturday Night Open Thread

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Another lousy day here, but not as lousy as WV’s neighbors to the south are going through. I’m just so mad about the whole fucking thing. They’ve been warning us my entire life about climate change and this happening, and no one did anything. Christ, it’s been twenty years since Tim F. was screaming about it on the front page here.

Such a damned mess.

I have nothing to say. Cabbage soup (again) for dinner, couple hours at the gym, afternoon nap, some work. Really all there was to the day. I just want to sit back and watch tv for a few hours and then fall asleep and do it again.

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Trying It On Open Thread

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For whatever reason, my neighborhood has a steady stream of stray cats flowing through it at any given time. I feed them when I see them, and I’ve even managed to get a few of them to the vet to be fixed. I’m guessing word has got around that I’m a soft touch, as other local fauna are trying to get in on the act:

totally a cat, not a foxYou can just hear her asking, like a true Brummie, “Oi, bab, got any more of them Whiskas?”

Wound up having to give our local Dems Abroad event a miss due to The Child feeling unwell this morning. Sounds like our team was able to get quite a few people to check on their registrations or request their ballots.

Meanwhile, in local politics, things aren’t going well for the new government. More about that tomorrow.

For you, this thread is open.

 

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Saturday Morning Open Thread: Everybody’s Geared Up for the Election…

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Showing up now, leaving shortly after the election…

Saturday Morning Open Thread: <em>Everybody's</em> Geared Up for the Election...

(Mike Luckovich via GoComics.com)

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Late Night Open Thread: Trump’s Tequila Tax

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It’s so real. Per Rolling Stone:

… On Thursday, the Harris campaign launched “Trump’s Tequila Tax,” a social media campaign aimed at tying Trump’s proposed 10-to-20-percent universal tariff plan — depending on the day you ask him — on all imported goods.

One TikTok produced by the campaign features a young man warning that “the Trump tequila tax is insane,” and that a 20 percent tax on all imported goods means “he wants to tax your tequila, and your Coronas, your Modelos, your Hennessy all of it.”

The man then notes that Harris “wants to support small businesses like mom-and-pop liquor stores and locally owned bars,” by enacting a $50,000 tax deduction for small businesses. “If you want to stop the Trump tequila tax vote for Harris-Walz,” he concludes…

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War for Ukraine Day 947: The Statesman & the Fool

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Three quick housekeeping notes. First, Rosie is doing great. We got a short walk in, about a third of a mile, late this afternoon. She doesn’t have the stamina she did before the chemo, but as long as we don’t over do it, she does great.

Second, we came through everything fine. I did a quick site survey last night before I racked out and we had one Bismark palm frond down; another Bismark palm frond snapped near the boot, but still attached to the tree; a large tree limb by the front bed that came down away from the house and that was it other than some small branches blown around. We were very lucky. There are parts of the area still underwater from storm surge and flooding. And that’s not counting all the damage and destruction in GA and NC.

Third, I’m slowly making my way through this very deep dive into the Biden administration’s attempt to manage and mitigate the Israel-Hamas, Israel-Hezbullah, and Israel-Iran crises over the past year. This particularly passage from the first substantive section stood out to me and is, I think, a good and succinct description of the Biden doctrine:

Above all else, Joe Biden—who could remember the dawn of the atomic age, when schoolkids practiced hiding under their desk—feared escalation. When presented with the chance to send more potent arms to Ukraine, he would ask, “Will this increase the likelihood of nuclear war?” And four days after the Hamas attack, it seemed as if his abiding fear of a crisis spinning out of control was about to be realized.

I highly recommend you take the time to read the entire article.

President Zelenskyy met with Trump today. It went like this:

Trump: “So we have a very good relationship. And I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin… If we win I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly.”

Zelensky: “I hope we have more good relations between us—”

Trump: “Oh I see. But it takes two to tango, you know.”

I had a very productive meeting with @realDonaldTrump. I presented him our Victory Plan, and we thoroughly reviewed the situation in Ukraine and the consequences of the war for our people. Many details were discussed. I am grateful for this meeting. A just peace is needed.

We share the common view that the war in Ukraine must be stopped. Putin cannot win. Ukrainians must prevail.

President Zelenskyy had to go through with this because 1) Trump has a 30% chance, the same 30% chance he had in 2016 and 2020, 2) to mollify Republicans in Congress, in order to 3) increase the miniscule chance that if Trump is elected, Ukraine won’t be punished too badly by a second Trump administration.

While this was going on, the Russians, led by Putin who Trump assured the world wants peace and the war to end immediately while standing next to Zelenskyy, bombarded Zelenskyy’s home town.

President Zelenskyy did make an address earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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