Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A tremendous foreign policy asset… to all of our adversaries.

In after Baud. Damn.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

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

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

“But what about the lurkers?”

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Keep the Immigrants and deport the fascists!

This chaos was totally avoidable.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

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

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Tuesday Later Night Open Thread

Tuesday Later Night Open Thread

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WHITE Washing is right!

Image – h/t Felony Govt.

Also, is anyone else besides Jackie getting an error message for the site?   I suppose if you are getting an error message instead of Balloon Juice you won’t see this and therefore can’t respond. :-)  So I guess I’m looking for confirmation that the site is still up for most of you. (Okay, she’s back in business, but I would love to hear if anyone else was getting a Cloudflare error besides Jackie.)

Also, too, I am trying to figure out whether it’s worth keeping Apple TV+ or if I should just watch a few shows and then cancel.

Apple TV+ shows I’m curious about are:

I’m caught up with Slow Horses.

I plan to watch Bad Sisters 2.

No idea about The Morning Show.

Seems like maybe Blackbird, Presumed Innocent and Prime Target might be good?

I’ve only seen 2 seasons of Ted Lasso, and I’ve forgotten most of the details of the first 2 seasons, which I liked.  Worth watching?

Severance and Silo look like my kind of thing.

Open thread.

Update: I kind of feel like maybe I need to find a pet pic to  add to the post to counteract the oh-so-white-and-awful image up top.

Here’s Henry sleeping with his favorite baby, which was Tucker’s favorite, too.  He drags his babies from the dog bed to “his” chair and back again.  And out to the porch when the weather is nice.

1

Reader Interactions

88Comments

  1. 1.

    WaterGirl

    Hmm, no comments yet.  Maybe there was a site issue, but it’s been working for me the whole time.

  8. 8.

    Avalune

    I 1000% recommend Shrinking while you are there.

    i have been knitting the “emotional support chicken” pattern for people in my orbit and thought I was finished but now more people would like chickens. Very dignified administrators over here talking about getting pictures of the flock, having parties for them? Dressing them up? Getting them eggs and nests? I appreciate the enthusiasm for sure makes me feel good but yall is crazy.🤪

  9. 9.

    NotMax

    Apple TV+ recommendations.

    For drama, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey.

    Strictly for funsies and to decompress, Schmigadoon.

  10. 10.

    Leto

    Yes, Ted Lasso is worth watching again. Silo and Severance; add For All Mankind to that as well. Manhunt, about the hunt for John Wilkes Booth, was pretty good. Shrinking was very good. Really enjoyed Physical. Bad Monkey was entertaining. I’ve heard good things about Dark Matter (another sci-fi series). Oh, how can I forget: Foundation. The boy and I really enjoyed it. Graphics were amazeballs and it’s a good story. Masters of the Air is for the Air Force what Band of Brothers was for the Army.

    So, to recap:

    Ted Lasso
    Shrinking
    Silo
    Severance
    For All Mankind
    Foundation
    Manhunt
    Physical
    Bad Monkey
    Dark Matter
    Masters of the Air

    Also seeing that a six part Vietnam War documentary just dropped, so I’ll check that out later as well.

  11. 11.

    Shane in SLC

    Silo is pretty good. Time Bandits was fun for a few episodes but dragged on too long. Foundation starts slow but pays off if you like political sci fi.

  12. 12.

    WaterGirl

    @Starfish: I think there was a Hallmark series called The Morning Show, that I tried to watch once but was TERRIBLE.

    I presume this isn’t that one! :-)

    @kalakal:   Was it you who recommended 19-2?  I am 2/3 of the way through season 3.  Really good, but thinking about pausing it to watch any Apple TV+ shows before I give it up.

  13. 13.

    Jeffro

    OT but I saw the Drive-By Truckers tonight and 1) they sound better than ever and 2) they are spoiling for a fight with these racist clowns

    People, I think the least we can do is not let the DBTs down…punch a Nazi or three tomorrow! ;)

  16. 16.

    Bupalos

    This is…what? Literally just a photo from a particular angle that makes “white house Washington” into “white washing” and that’s the post??

    seems pretty frivolously algorithmic.

  21. 21.

    PsiFighter37

    Apparently almost all USAID workers have been put on leave, basically on the pathway to termination.

    What a swift and utterly unnecessary decapitation of American soft power. I have a feeling that the next war that America fights in won’t be WW3, but will be Civil War 2. This country, on the back of an ancient 250+ year old framework, is not going to sustain itself into the 21st century much further.

  23. 23.

    dmsilev

    Severance is deeply messed up, in a really good way. I just hope that the show writers have an actual roadmap and they’re not just winging it like e.g. Lost did.

    Silo also very good, and also a pretty messed up society.

    You’ve caught up on Slow Horses.

    For me anyway, those are the top shows on AppleTV+ so far.

  27. 27.

    dmsilev

    @Sister Golden Bear: Apparently coming soonish to TV. And even vaguely on-topic for this thread, since it’ll be an AppleTV show. We’ll have to see how good it is, but Apple so far has a decent record with SF shows.

  32. 32.

    Bupalos

    @PsiFighter37: We hosted a career USAID administrator last week, who retired 5 days before the purge.

    Career as in raised her kids through jr high in Africa, in different places, every couple years. Mostly AIDS work.

    1000 yard stare.  nightmares of the faces of the doctors and nurses of local clinics. The people she knows  will have nightmares about the patients who will die. Nightmares on nightmares.

  33. 33.

    kwAwk

    My thoughts for today are that Democrats need to start laying down some markers.

    I agree with choosing  your battles with Trump and not reacting to every stupid thing he says, but they need to make it clear that if Trump takes the Panama Canal under false pretenses, they’ll fight it in Congress with everything they have and the next Democrat President will return it to Panama.

    Same goes with Gaza.   No need to get hysterical in the media.  The fact that Trump bothers people on the left is a feature to his supporters not a bug.    Stay calm and in the pocket, but resist and keep the message simple.

  35. 35.

    OCD

    The 2nd season of Bad Sisters is great. Blackbird is very good. Presumed innocence is not as good as the original.

    Silo is wonderful. So is Severance.

    Morning Show is good if you want to watch that type of drama/show. It’s full of actors just chewing up the scenery.

    Palmer and Cherry are also good.

    Loot and Sugar are decent. And the recent one, Bad Monkey is very funny. Best I’ve seen Vince Vaughn since Arkansas.

    Shrinking is better than all of them.

  37. 37.

    hitchhiker

    I wouldn’t bother with Presumed Innocent on apple+

    Some books just don’t stretch into miniseries length.

  39. 39.

    dc

    Machos Alfa on Netfix is a fun Spanish comedy, three seasons, highly recommend. Don’t know if the humor will translate, obviously, watch with subtitles if you don’t understand Spanish from central Spain. I can’t imagine watching it dubbed.

  40. 40.

    prostratedragon

    Photo at link:

    Trump’s Chief of Staff with the Deborah Birx Inject Bleach Face as Trump says we are going to invade Gaza.

    I do agree with those who think we’re better off paying more attention to events here at home.

  41. 41.

    Hungry Joe

    “Silo” is good, if a little slow/drawn out sometimes. “Severance” is different, brilliant, and great fun; I think about it A LOT. Season 3 of “Ted Lasso” was a bit of a letdown, but still worth watching. Season 2 of “ Bad Sisters” was even better than Season 1. Ms. Joe and I got tired of “Shrinking” after a while: a good shtick, but the same over and over and over. “Slow Horses” is worth watching twice — and never skip the theme song/intro, which is one of the best ever.

  42. 42.

    Redshift

    I’m in a similar boat, WG, I’m in my 3-month free trial of AppleTV+. Also, I don’t generally spend that much time watching TV. So far we’re getting through Silo, which I’ve enjoyed, though a couple of episodes were a bit more tension than I would have liked with everything going on this week. I’ve watched a bit of Slow Horses, and I’ll try to squeeze in some more. Trying to decide what else to sample.

    If I don’t keep it, I’ll have to start it up again whenever Murderbot starts. I’m a huge fan of the books, and the cast looks promising.

  43. 43.

    Cathie from Canada

    @Leto: I second your recommendation for these — thanks for the suggestions too because there are several we haven’t watched yet.

    We really liked Ted Lasso, For All Mankind, and Masters of the Air. Our son also loved Severance, Silo, Shrinking. We will try the others you listed — we are presently looking for some new series to watch (just finished Ozark, starting Arrested Development — we didn’t like Night Agent season 2 unfortunately, though I had really been looking forward to it.

    And I’m not sure if What We Do In The Shadows is on this network? We recently finished it too, its hilarious.

  46. 46.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @dc: if only I had Netflix. I’ll ask around. Surely some spanish speaking friends have Netflix

    There was a recent free weekend on Apple TV +, And I git to watch Lessons in Chemistry, which I loved. I started on Slow Horses. I think y’all said it took awhile to pick up… I love Kristin Scott thomas though. If I ever catch up, a 3 month free trial would be amazing.

  47. 47.

    Gretchen

    I loved Bad Sisters season 2, but I was continually annoyed by all of them yakking away to police and insurance adjusters who didn’t have any particular right to question them. I wished they’d seen the lawyer’s video about Shut the Fuck Up Friday: youtube.com/watch?v=uqo5RYOp4nQ

    It would have saved them a lot of trouble.

  48. 48.

    Gloria DryGarden

    Im thinking  I’ll go on YouTube and bing watch all of politics girl. She conveys what I’m feeling, with enough urgency and sharp clear brevity to make me happy. I just attached one of her shorts on the evening thread. 

  49. 49.

    VeniceRiley

    For All Mankind is a deffo watch! Best SF on TV.

    The Morning Show is fantastic. Highly recommend it.

    Silo if you want anxiety 24/7. Very low key menacing and impressive vibes.

    In the mood for camp? Only Murders In The Building.

     

    My plan is to wait for a full new season of to or 3 shows, sign up for a month, binge and cancel. Rinse and repeat.

  50. 50.

    Rusty

    The stunning part of this entire shit show is the complete capitulation of the Republican party.  There are Republicans who have dedicated their careers to foreign policy, and they are watching the complete destruction of foreign aid and anything remotely approaching a coherent foreign policy with uttering one word.  For everyone complaining about the Democrats,  it’s the Republicans who have failed to a degree that I didn’t think possible.   The complete loss of US soft power is unbelievable for the richest nation in the world.  And there isn’t any reaction from the entire Republican foreign policy establishment.   I would have thought that unbelievable three weeks ago.

  53. 53.

    FelonyGovt

    There’s a new Apple TV show called Prime Target, about a brilliant British math student and a smart American woman working for the NSA. Interesting so far.

    And there’s another show on Apple TV that’s really sweet called. Acapulco.

    I just love Ted Lasso.

  54. 54.

    Lumpy

    I watched a couple of episodes of Severance and moved on. I’m not really in the mood for bleak dystopian themes (I can just look at the news for that). I am probably not the typical Apple TV viewer though – I didn’t care for Slow Horses (watched Season 1 and called it a day), and same with Ted Lasso. I just wasn’t interested in going any further with those characters. Slow Horses  S1 reminded me a little of the movie Hot Fuzz (comedy from the team behind Sean of the Dead). I’m in the mood for light entertainment these days. I recently enjoyed the movies Bottoms and My Old Ass on Amazon Prime… funny and fun, with good writing and performances.

  55. 55.

    JoyceH

    @kwAwk: We need to start discussing Trump’s Gaza thing differently. It’s not a plan, it’s a symptom. Trump’s mental condition is getting worse and he’s regressed thirty or forty years. He wants to redo Atlantic City and not go bankrupt this time.

    When I heard him talk about his grandiose vision, it reminded me of the first time I’d ever seen Trump. I’d never even heard of the guy until the evening I was channel surfing (like we did back then) and chanced across Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. They had a segment on Trump, and he was in the process of getting the Trump Taj Mahal ready to open. I watched with stunned disbelief at that gaudy tacky mess and Trump rushing hither and yon gushing, “Look at the QUALITY!”

    Today I hear him talking about “ownership position” and how Magnificent it will be and it hit me – he’s back there, he’s not in 2025 anymore.

  56. 56.

    mapanghimagsik

    @JoyceH:
    Good observation. I mean, the guy who failed at casios thinks he can build a resort in that hot spot. And lets say this *isn’t* some fever dream and then you have American troops dying for his resort in Gaza. (If the news actually gets out)

    Part of me thinks this is just noise that won’t happen.

    ETA: Started watching Severance and I’ve been quite entertained.

  57. 57.

    JoyceH

    @mapanghimagsik: Of COURSE it will never happen! The leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia would cut off their own hands and feet before they agreed to any such thing. If we do this, we do it all on our own and we lose every Arab ally we have and sink the region into bloody chaos not for a generation, but for a century. We’d probably lose our European allies for that matter if we travel halfway across the globe to indulge in an ethnic cleaning.

  60. 60.

    Viva BrisVegas

    Getting angry will not get anyone anywhere.

    When Democrats respond to Trump’s nonsense, the message shouldn’t be “this is outrageous”. That’s positive feedback for magats. It should be “how stupid are these people?”.

    Nazis love to be hated, they equate it with being feared. Laugh at them instead. They hate that.

  61. 61.

    Rose Judson

    @dmsilev:

    Severance is deeply messed up, in a really good way. I just hope that the show writers have an actual roadmap and they’re not just winging it like e.g. Lost did.

    Severance is my current coping mechanism. The performances are amazing, the world of the show – a town dominated by a company with a utopian 19th-century founder – is fascinating, and I trust Ben Stiller and the other show runners will be able to stick the landing.

    Plus season 1 featured THE most tragic love story I’ve seen on TV in a while.

  62. 62.

    VeniceRiley

    Disney + in UK: Paradise is a political murder thriller to start, Faye of planet and asshole billionaires, then takes a surprising twist. Not sure what channel over there, but great actors and a very interesting story

  63. 63.

    Fair Economist

    A US Gaza invasion will never happen. The way Democrats should respond to this is “we demand Trump back down from his outrageous threats to the people of Gaza”. Then, when Donny Dementia does indeed back down, we should say “We’re glad that Trump did what we demanded and he needs to to more of it.” Make it sound like he’s caving to our pressure.

    Similar tactics could be used for most of his threats – Greenland, tariff wars with allies, etc. And if he does go through with something catastrophic, we should say “we told you so; Trump can’t run the country.”.

  64. 64.

    bobbo1

    No error message here.

    I would add Severance to the list. It feels to me like Apple+ has taken over the “prestige cable” slot from HBO.

    What I do is wait until all the shows I want to watch are done with their seasons, or nearly, and then I just subscribe for a month. I plan to do that in March to watch Severance, Bad Sisters, and Prime Target at least. I’m all caught up on and highly recommend Slow Horses and Presumed Innocent. Disclaimer isn’t bad and it has Cate Blanchett.

  65. 65.

    Betty Cracker

    I liked the first season (or maybe season and a half?) of “Morning Show,” but the quality of the writing seemed to suddenly plummet, as if the whole team quit and was replaced by interns or AI. Maybe it recovered its footing later?

    I don’t know. Also, when a show gives you the option to skip the intro, it should immediately take you to the episode, not subject you to another 15 seconds of the annoying theme song. It’s a small thing, but it pisses me off.

    Will second the “For All Mankind” recs. We really enjoyed it. Have not seen “Severance” yet but it’s on my list. I love Adam Scott.

    Am currently halfway through the 2nd season of “Bad Sisters.” Fun so far! I love the dynamic between the sisters; it feels so real. 

  66. 66.

    Citizen Dave

    We’re also new Apple+ viewers and have been making our way through the cheesy Morning Show.  The theme song is god-awful.  Reminds me of Survivor–incoherent vocalizing over bad “music”.  Also, I can’t ever see Billy Crudup and not also see Survivor host Jeff Probst.  It’s the same guy

    No one ever mentions the Emily Dickenson series on Apple–worth watching?

  67. 67.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Viva BrisVegas: ​
     

    When Democrats respond to Trump’s nonsense, the message shouldn’t be “this is outrageous”. That’s positive feedback for magats. It should be “how stupid are these people?”.

    Or “what did the figurehead say now?”

  68. 68.

    David_C

    @Betty Cracker: Yes, watch Severance. The first 2 or 3 episodes of Season 1 can be baffling but then it picks up and the last 3 episodes are 🔥. A whole group of us Severance fans was on tenterhooks for 3 years.

    My 3-month trial that came with my iPad at the beginning of the pandemic turned into a year and 3 months, and I’ve paid the fee annually. We get gas perks when we buy gift cards at our local grocery stores.

    My life for the time being is a dystopia. Using some political connections behind the scenes to get heard in a little bit more personal way.

  70. 70.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Rusty: It’s not capitulation when it’s really what they want.

    They’re not poor, innocent victims, they’re all active co-conspirators, the fuckers.

  71. 71.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @JoyceH: Once again, they’re Nazis. Going into other countries and taking over?

    NAZIS.

    Every single goddamn thing the OG Nazis did, these Nazis WILL do.

    Bank it.

  72. 72.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @prostratedragon: the one thing that draws me back to Twitter.

    I don’t see a lot of The Menswear Guy on Bluesky, and tbh, the shiteweasels of Twitter are his favorite targets.

    Kinda like how cannon cockers love enemy infantry in the open.

  73. 73.

    glory b

    @prostratedragon: And now you see half the reason he has such a loyal fan base.

    The other half is for his devastating responses to his critics. He’s the guy in school who even the bullies know better than to taunt, they know that even if they beat him up, his burns will follow them forever.

  74. 74.

    Chris Johnson

    @PsiFighter37: No no. This was it. We’ve lost… for now.

    This war was fought on the Internet and out of troll farms, and our job is now to have as many of us survive through what comes next.

    There’s gonna be some kind of backlash to essentially the government’s dousing itself in gasoline and setting itself on fire. The purpose is to leave nothing behind that can grow.

    So, grow. And survive. We’re a big country with many resources that are not immediately destroyable, and one of those is courage.

  76. 76.

    randy khan

    Lessons in Chemistry.  I was worried it would be disappointing after reading the book, but it was quite good.

    And season 2 of Bad Sisters definitely is worth watching.

  77. 77.

    AM in NC

    @Viva BrisVegas:  I am with this 1000000000000%.    Don’t show them anger.  Show them that you see and laugh at their ignorance, stupidity and insecurity.           The true-believers, I mean.

    Normies who haven’t been paying attention?     Treat them with kindness, love, patience, and laugh WITH them AT the crazy, stupid, harmful actions of the MAGAS, and lay out for them the ways Democrats have over and over and over again made their lives better and their opportunities greater.

    Creepy Weirdos who put 20 year old interns in charge of running  Social Security isn’t what we voted for, right?    Why did MAGA invite the richest man on the planet, a South-African billionaire, in to cut Meals on Wheels for poor American Seniors?  Seems like cutting food off to poor American grandmas so Elon can buy another private offshore island with the coming Oligarch Tax Cuts is a really ridiculous way to run America.

  85. 85.

    Quiltingfool

    @Avalune: These are so whimsical and cute!  I used to collect chicken “decor” and your knitted chickens would fit right in!

    Now I collect cat “decor,” lol!

    Wish I didn’t hate knitting – I can do it, but don’t care to do it.  I am in awe of knitting divas, though!

  88. 88.

    Sis

    If you haven’t seen them already, both Masters of the Air and Manhunt are insanely good. And Anthony Boyle has one hell of an acting range! He’s the good guy navigator in Masters of the Air and in Manhunt, he’s John Wilkes Booth, and he’s equally brilliant in both roles.

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