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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Too little, too late, ftfnyt. fuck all the way off.

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

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

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

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

If you’re gonna whine, it’s time to resign!

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

In my day, never was longer.

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You are here: Home / Archives for 2024

Archives for 2024

RNC Open Thread: The Dream of A (Nineteenth) Century

by Anne Laurie|  July 16, 20246:18 pm| 75 Comments

This post is in: Elections 2024, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality

So the Project 2025 Festival has finally kicked off.

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 15, 2024

Another Trump term is an opportunity for a "shutdown of that administrative state," targeted at govt bureaucracy, Vivek Ramaswamy told Iowa delegation in Milwaukee.

"Why didn't President Trump do all that in the first term? There's a good answer for that question, actually. The… pic.twitter.com/d3nOURrj53

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) July 16, 2024


The most hyperbolic salesman-candidate gets his moment in the spotlight, saying the quiet part out loud…
RNC Open Thread: The Dream of A (Nineteenth) Century

Outside RNC, conservative group defends its Project 2025 guidebook as Democrats ramp up critiques https://t.co/HhvOoQmGnO

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 16, 2024

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RNC Open Thread: <em>The Dream of A (Nineteenth) Century</em>Post + Comments (75)

Tuesday Afternoon Rant

by WaterGirl|  July 16, 20245:50 pm| 95 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics

I seriously can’t take anymore of the “what if Biden stuff”.   Some Democrats have apparently moved past shooting ourselves in the (collective) foot to shooting ourselves somewhere even more critical.

Joe Biden says he’s in it.  He says he’s not stepping down.  A bunch of nameless people are gossiping to the media and it appears that a whole bunch of smart people are gobbling it right up.

In this moment, I surely wish I hadn’t gone to Catholic grade school where the nuns drummed into us that you can’t take the name of the Lord in vain, because otherwise I would be talking about Jesus Christ right now, with the middle name of Fucking.

Anyway, at least I can listen to Trae Crowser who is making a shitload of sense.

h/t M31 who mentioned the Liberal Redneck, so I went looking for it on YouTube.

Open fucking thread.

Tuesday Afternoon RantPost + Comments (95)

Overconfidence

by @heymistermix.com|  July 16, 20243:19 pm| 387 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

Overconfidence

Picking JD Vance as the VP pick is, in my mind, of a piece of the rest of the lazy, overconfident campaign that Trump is running.  He has few public appearances, and the Vance nomination shows that he has zero interest in outreach to blacks, hispanics or women — Vance is a bigot and an misogynist just like Trump.  Once we start talking about the shit that comes out of his mouth, and the bullshit in his book, this fake hillbilly will not be popular with anyone.  This is a ticket for fascists and incels, and we need to make that point clearly.

I’m resigned to another week more of the Biden replacement shitshow.  After that, either Biden or Harris will be nominated and we’ll be done with it.  At this point, it just needs to be done, and we need Democrats who are ready to talk issues. I also think that interest in the assassination attempt will be short-lived because we sure forget school shootings pretty quickly, don’t we.

Also, some Democrats just need to quit with the quitting.  Josh Marshall [paywalled]:

But here’s the thing. The folks talking to the Capitol Hill sheets didn’t say, we’re dropping the swap Biden idea. They apparently said, well, we’re giving up on presidential race altogether. That is just the kind of toxic loserdom that makes me see red every time. Can’t stand it. I’m agnostic on the replace Biden thing. If the big party players want to do it then do it. And if not then Biden’s the candidate. I go back and forth on which option I think has the better shot at success. What I’m hearing now is that these ringleaders are just going to take a pass on the whole race or have their contribution be giving demoralizing quotes to Politico if they can’t get their way. The truth is we don’t have any time for whining. If members of Congress want to replace Biden on the ticket, they can. They need to get together and do it. If not, then drop the idea and move on. But again there is just no damn time for whining.

I’m actually seeing people write articles comparing those raised fist images to the iconic flag raising on Iwo Jima or various paintings from the Revolutionary War or Christian iconography. A column ran today on The New York Times op-ed page in which the author explained that Saturday’s events convinced him that Trump was what Hegel described as a “man of destiny” on the model of Napoleon, a figure “whose own particular aims involve those large issues which are the will of the World Spirit.”

JESUS CHRIST.

If you can’t take in this nonsense and say, nope, I’m going to head straight to Milwaukee and make the case against this dangerous degenerate, than you just need to resign or get out of the way and make room for someone who can. No complaining, no whining. Act.

Trump/Vance is a beatable ticket.  Biden can beat it.  Harris can beat it.  But only if we can talk about their positions and plans instead of the last 3 weeks of crap.

(Edited to add:  Apparently JD is in the 6-ish foot range, according to some commenters and current google wisdom.  Apparently, 5’7″ was listed as his height in the first hit you’d get from google a while ago, which gave rise to this tweet.)

OverconfidencePost + Comments (387)

Gold Bar Bob Convicted

by Betty Cracker|  July 16, 20241:24 pm| 143 Comments

This post is in: Elections 2024, Open Threads, Supreme Court Corruption

Breaking via The Post: (gift link)

The jury in Manhattan federal court found the once-powerful New Jersey lawmaker guilty on all 16 felony counts. They include bribery, extortion, wire fraud, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt from 2018 to 2022, when Menendez was at the height of his influence in Washington, serving as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee or as the panel’s top Democrat while his party was in the minority.
..

Menendez did not testify in his own defense. His team is expected to appeal, and legal experts say he could be helped by the Supreme Court’s rulings in recent years narrowing the scope of federal bribery laws.

But the 70-year-old senator’s political downfall is essentially complete. New Jersey Democrats abandoned him after his indictment. He declined to seek the party’s nomination for a fourth term and instead mounted a long-shot bid as an independent in a state where Democrats have held both U.S. Senate seats for more than 50 years.

Good. I hate public corruption in all circumstances, but it’s especially odious to me when perpetrated by a Democrat because it lends false credence to the “both sides” lie.

Here’s hoping Gold Bar is soon a guest at the Gray Bar Hotel and New Jersey is represented by a better man in Andy Kim.

Open thread!

PS: Figures that the corrupt SCOTUS is now Gold Bar’s only hope. It’s the last refuge not only of unaccountable wannabe dictators but also of malevolent scalawags of every stripe.

Gold Bar Bob ConvictedPost + Comments (143)

Pets one request – Ferd of the Nort – Puppies Day 6! (Open Thread)

by WaterGirl|  July 16, 202412:45 pm| 15 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging

You know the collective noun concept? Murder of crow, parliament of owls?

we have a Wrestle of Puppies

 

OPEN THREAD

Pets one request – Ferd of the Nort – Puppies Day 6! (Open Thread)Post + Comments (15)

On The Road - Ferd of the Nort - Puppies! 4

Enhanced to not be simply a Black Tube

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Always Look on the Bright Side

by Anne Laurie|  July 16, 20247:52 am| 528 Comments

This post is in: Elections 2024, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Tech News & Issues

Just nine more sleeps till the start of the Paris Olympics!

From Biles to Sha'Carri, Team USA packed with star power heading into Olympic Games https://t.co/eZYtZWNPVT

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 15, 2024


 

Absolutely true. The same, however, cannot be said of Yale. https://t.co/8IFIxvdCNU

— Always Be Historicizing 🥃 (@ThatHoberekGuy) July 15, 2024

Incase y’all were wondering — @KatherineJeanes has done it again(!) #ncpol pic.twitter.com/nqgUvrt2cR

— Anderson Clayton☀️ (@abreezeclayton) July 15, 2024


Tuesday Morning Open Thread:  Always Look on the Bright Side
 
Speaking of J.D. Vance shifty-eyed critters wearing too much eyeliner…

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Always Look on the Bright SidePost + Comments (528)

On The Road – arrieve – Olympia, Greece

by WaterGirl|  July 16, 20245:00 am| 21 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging

arrieve

Before my cruise through the eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea over the holidays, I took a wonderful three day tour of Classical Greek sites. We had perfect weather, the food was delicious, and there were only three of us plus a guide. I had never seen much of Greece outside Athens, but being able to visit places like Delphi and Mycenae made me fall in love with it.

Our guide was living proof of the years of education required to be certified as a tourist guide by the Greek government. He managed to weave together history and mythology and culture in a way that was impressive but occasionally overwhelming. So many gods! So many heroes! So many wars! He had a tendency to fire off questions (“Who won the Peloponnesian War?” “Um, Sparta?”) and when I misspoke and said Odysseus when I meant Oedipus, he looked like a disappointed schoolteacher whose prize pupil had just failed the pop quiz.

With the Olympics in Paris starting soon, I thought I’d share these pictures from Olympia, where the original Olympic Games were held from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD.

On The Road – arrieve – Olympia, GreecePost + Comments (21)

On The Road - arrieve - Olympia, Greece 9
Olympia, Greece

The archaeological site at Olympia is huge but not overwhelming; there are ruins of dozens of structures, but also grass and trees and birds singing. And very few other people. In the summer it’s hot and crowded, but on a pleasant day in late December it was idyllic.

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