Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

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

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Fight them, without becoming them!

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

So fucking stupid, and still doing a tremendous amount of damage.

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

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

They spent the last eight months firing professionals and replacing them with ideologues.

That meeting sounds like a shotgun wedding between a shitshow and a clusterfuck.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Back to Work

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Don’t think this drawing is political, but given the past few days (both IRL & online) somehow it feels right for the moment.

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On The Road – frosty – 8th Annual Snowbird Road Trip / 3rd Annual National Park/COVID Challenge Part 2 – Anza Borrego Desert State Park

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The previous posts took us down the East Coast, all over Florida, then jumped to Texas and New Mexico. The ones in Part 2 will take us up through California, through two state parks and three National Parks.

We spent five days in Anza Borrego, in a great campsite with a view of Palm Canyon and the mountains. The only downside is that we’ve had high winds every day (20-30 mph, gusts to 40, trailer rocking). We braved the wind and hiked the Palm Canyon trail which leads to an Oasis. It was pretty easy, a three mile round trip with a stream crossing, which was also pretty easy because it was dry. The high point was a group of nine Bighorn Sheep on an adjacent slope.

We also drove around Borrego Springs to see the Sky Art in the surrounding area. These are 130 full-sized metal sculptures of contemporary and ancient animals, dinosaurs, and historical figures that were created by artist Ricardo Brecada and commissioned by Dennis Avery. They are dispersed on the Galleta Meadows Estate, the desert land Avery owned and are accessible to the public.

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On The Road - frosty - 8th Annual Snowbird Road Trip / 3rd Annual National Park/COVID Challenge Part 2 - Anza Borrego Desert State Park 8
Anza Borrego State Park

View from our campsite.

Darkest Before the Iowa Dawn (Open Thread)

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I’m disappointed in the Iowa results, but just barely. I’d hoped Trump would have a weaker showing, but he topped 50%. He’s crowing about that, but should he? It’s true he squashed DeSantis and Haley, but almost half of Republicans in that Trumpy state caucused for someone else.

Having brainwashed a majority of Republicans into thinking he actually won in 2020, Trump is the de facto incumbent. So maybe he shouldn’t be so smug about his “historic” 51% in Iowa.

Since I hate him so very much, I wanted to see DeSantis humiliated by a third-place finish, but he took the silver in Iowa, coming in 30 points behind Trump and edging Haley with 21.2% to her 19.1%. Because both are dishonest boobs, DeSantis and Haley tried to spin their lackluster results as a juggernaut.

Orlando Sentinel: “They threw everything but the kitchen sink at us,” DeSantis said at a caucus watch party. “… But I can tell you because of your support, in spite of all they threw at us [and] everyone against us, we’ve got our ticket punched out of Iowa.”

Politico: “I can safely say tonight Iowa made this Republican primary a two-person race,” Haley said to applause and cheering.

On the bright side, it looks like DeSantis will continue to be absent from Florida for at least another few weeks. If Haley is delusional enough to believe she’s in a “two-person race” after coming in third, she’ll soldier on, maybe weakening Trump in future contests without gaining anything like genuine momentum for herself. And Ramaswamy dropped out and will hopefully go away forever.

So maybe not such a bad night after all.

Open thread.

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Late Night Open Thread: Feds Against ForPol Outrages, Anyone?

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Hey guys — let’s make it a four-day weekend!

Per Al-Monitor, “US government employees plan walkout over Biden’s Gaza policies”:

US federal employees across nearly two dozen agencies plan to walk off the job Tuesday to protest the Biden administration’s handling of the Gaza war, according to organizers of the dissent effort who spoke to Al-Monitor.

The group — calling itself Feds United for Peace — consists of dozens of government employees who will be observing a “Day of Mourning” to mark 100 days of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The organizers, who are choosing to remain anonymous, say they expect “easily hundreds” of others to join in their walkout after securing commitments from individuals at 22 federal agencies…

One of the walkout organizers said that rather than quit, they felt “a moral obligation and a patriotic duty” to influence change from inside. They blamed the White House for policy decisions they lament, including the obstruction of cease-fire resolutions at the United Nations and weapons sales to Israel that have bypassed Congress…

IIRC, that ‘change from the inside’ defense was endlessly mocked when those in the Trump administration used it.
 
The press release is, of course, being seized as a precious gift by the GOP. Per Axios:

Top House Republicans plan to press federal agencies to punish workers who participate in a planned walk out next week in protest of the Biden administration’s support for Israel…

What they’re saying: “Any government worker who walks off the job to protest U.S. support for our ally Israel is ignoring their responsibility and abusing the trust of taxpayers,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a statement.

– Johnson said he and House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) will “be working together to ensure that each federal agency initiates appropriate disciplinary proceedings” against anyone who participates in Tuesday’s demonstration.

– “They deserve to be fired,” Johnson said.

Between the lines: The conservative magazine National Review made the case that the protest violates federal law, pointing to a statute punishing any federal employee who “participates in a strike … against the Government of the United States” with a fine or up to a year in prison…

Okay, Johnson can’t wrangle a budget resolution past his Angry Toddlers Tantrum Caucus, and Comer can’t find any actual Biden impeachment-worthy facts for all his ‘inquiries’, but — Look! Over there! Dems in possibly criminal disarray!

The sterling FUD idealists are, of course, entitled to do as their consciences dictate. But I’m not tremendously impressed (and I may have been prejudiced in advance by the recent spate of anonymous ‘official’ letters of protest) by those whose proudly shared concerns extend as far as taking a workday afternoon off, but not so far as to give up their jobs supporting the Inferno.

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War for Ukraine Day 691: Confirmed Kill! The Ukrainian Air Force Downed the A-50 & the IL-22!

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We have confirmation: the Ukrainian Air Force shot down the Russian A-50 and IL-22 over the Sea of Azov yesterday!

Before and after on the Il-22:

I’m sure that’ll buff right out!

The Kyiv Independent has the details:

The Ukrainian Air Force destroyed a Russian Beriev A-50 spy aircraft and an Ilyushin Il-22 airborne control center, Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi reported on Jan. 15.

The announcement comes a day after Ukrainian media outlets reported on the downing of a Russian A-50 plane over the Azov Sea, citing an unnamed source in the Ukrainian military.

“I thank the Air Force for a perfectly planned and executed operation in the Pryazovia region,” Zaluzhnyi said.

He didn’t specify other details, but according to media reports, the A-50 plane was shot down after the taking off in the Kyrylivka area of Zaporizhzhia Oblast at 9:10 p.m. local time.

Russia’s A-50 aircraft provides several critical functions for the ongoing war in Ukraine, such as detecting air defense systems, guided missiles, and coordinating targets for Russian fighter jets. Russia only possesses nine of these planes.

Ukraine has destroyed at least seven Russian aircraft since December, a landmark military achievement for the country and a significant blow to Russia. The sharp uptick in downing planes in recent weeks emerges as a bright spot for Ukraine amid a lack of progress on the battlefield.

The A-50 alone reportedly costs $330 million, and although estimates vary, Western sources say that Russia has fewer than 10 in its fleet. Belarusian partisans attacked another A-50 aircraft at an airbase near Minsk in February 2023, causing an unknown amount of damage.

Russia’s supply of the Il-22 plane is not extensive either. During the short-lived rebellion of the late Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group in June 2023, the mutineers reportedly shot down an Il-22 and six Russian military helicopters. At the time, the U.K. Defense Ministry said that Russia only had 12 such aircraft.

Both the A-50 and Il-22 are important Russian assets in the air. The A-50 provides several critical functions for the ongoing war in Ukraine, such as detecting air defense systems, guided missiles, and coordinating targets for Russian fighter jets.

It is unclear how the planes were brought down, but Ukraine received several pieces of advanced air defense systems in 2023, including Patriots from the U.S., which some analysts have reportedly alleged could have been responsible.

President Zelenskyy was in Switzerland today. As of now  – 8:50 PM EST – there has not been a daily address, nor a press conference regarding the trip posted.

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Monday Night Open Thread

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I kinda have to admit that I am LOVE LOVE LOVING the freeze in Iowa, because no matter the outcome, everyone in the GOP running can legitimately claim that it wasn’t a real primary and just keep savaging each other for a couple more weeks.

On the homefront, had quite a scare today with Steve. I took him out of his crate and had him loose in the kitchen, took the crate outside and was hosing it down and bleaching it, scrubbing litter boxes, etc., came back inside and Steve was not in the kitchen. I have no idea how he got out, and did not know if he was in the house or outside.

It was extremely unlikely he was not outside given what would have had to transpire for him to get out, but after searching the house, I walked around for a while and did not find him. Finally I just gave up. Joelle, who had been running errands while this happened and returned home, was about to cry, and I was kinda subdued about things.

I mean, there’s nothing you can do. It’s a cat. You can take every precaution but still the fuckers are gonna do whatever they want if they can. Steve’s made his choices. He’s probably inside in some place you we don’t even know exists but he found in under a minute because cat. Obviously I was upset, but at the same time, normal rules just don’t apply to cats.

At any rate, about six hours later, Joelle was really starting to get upset and said “I don’t think he’s in the house” and I said “me either but we can’t do anything about it,” and Steve came around the corner into the living room in between the three dogs (two of whom he doesn’t know), walked right through them and sniffed Jack, the biggest one, and acted like he owned the place.

Because cat.

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MLK Day Monday Evening Open Thread: What Are the ‘Democratic’ Candidates Up To?

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(TBF, RFK Jr claims his father & uncle didn’t really want the FBI to do those terrible things, they were just setting things up to give them an excuse to break the agency during a second term… )

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