Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

Second rate reporter says what?

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

People are weird.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

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

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Petty moves from a petty man.

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

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

“Loving your country does not mean lying about it’s history.”

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Monday Morning Open Thread: Is There Still A ‘Superbowl Hangover’?

Monday Morning Open Thread: Is There Still A ‘Superbowl Hangover’?

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Back in the day, so many people spent Superb Owl Sunday celebrating, the subsequent Monday was rather like Boxing Day in the Commonwealth — even if workers did show up, not much work would be accomplished. The NFL is no longer what it was, but I suspect there’s a certain portion of our own Jackaltariat that isn’t in the best shape for charging into a new work week right now, regardless.

Meanwhile:

Sometimes it’s important just to say it out loud… Per the Washington Post, “To watch Musk, Senate Democrats start whistleblower platform for workers”:

Senate Democrats, led by Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York), have set up a whistleblower complaint portal for federal workers to submit any reports of what they see as unlawful activities in their respective agencies in response to Elon Musk and his group’s efforts to downsize the federal government.

President Donald Trump and Musk, the world’s richest man, have taken a sledgehammer to 15 government agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Treasury Department and the Office of Personnel Management. Allies of Musk and representatives of the new office he runs called the U.S. DOGE Service — short for the Department of Government Efficiency — have fanned out across Washington, burrowing into computer systems and disrupting operations in an effort to cut costs and shrink the government.

While Democrats — who hold the minority in both chambers of Congress — have limited power to oppose Trump and Musk, they have started to raise the alarm over the potential unconstitutionality of their actions. The moves have also troubled some constitutional scholars and budget experts, who say the White House’s steps could upset the nation’s delicate system of checks and balances…

In a letter sent to public servants and obtained by The Post, Senate Democrats said that they are ready to support any whistleblower seeking to share information about “wrongdoing, abuse of power, and threats to public safety.”

Democrats emphasized the role of the Whistleblower Protection Act in prohibiting retaliation against federal employees who disclose evidence of possible wrongdoing. They also vowed to investigate the Trump administration’s actions through oversight requests, hearings and inquiries…

“As Senate Republicans refuse to fulfill their constitutional duty to provide a check on the Executive Branch, Senate Democrats remain steadfast in our commitment to uncovering the truth,” Democrats wrote. “We are prepared to issue demand letters, preserve public records, conduct public hearings, and pursue legal action where necessary.”

The online form is similar to one available on Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) website, in which Grassley calls for whistleblowers to submit information “regarding wrongdoing within federal agencies or misuse of public dollars.”

Republicans in the House and Senate, however, have largely remained supportive of Trump and have not criticized Musk’s actions. Republicans, however, have attacked civil servants in agencies such as USAID and the OPM, blaming them without evidence of misusing taxpayer dollars.

 
And, of course, I still love my senior Senator…

Reader Interactions

231Comments

  2. 2.

    Suzanne

    Speaking of the Superb Owl, I deeply enjoyed the halftime show — both for the performance as well as its politics! Also enjoying the spectacle of white people on Xhitter saying that they didn’t like it. Not everything is for you, assholes!

    I used to work for a firm based in Philly. I was thinking about checking in this morning with some friends…. but I’m going to wait a few hours, LOL.

  4. 4.

    Spanky

    Does Chuck actually think that at this late date “the legal protections of being a whistleblower” means more than “jack” and “shit”? Because I think most govt employees have seen evidence to the contrary.

  5. 5.

    different-church-lady

    @Suzanne: Conversation with friend about 2/3rds of the way through the halftime show:

    ME: Have you seen a white person yet?

    FRIEND: No.

    ME: I hope it’s making Trump’s head explode.

  8. 8.

    Soprano2

    I don’t think anyone voted for Musk to do what he’s doing right now. People who voted for FFOTUS probably thought his panel would examine the books and make recommendations to Congress for things to cut. Him and his minions just going in and doing stuff wasn’t anything FFOTUS campaigned on.

  9. 9.

    sab

    @different-church-lady: I went to bed early in protest of no puppy bowl viewing in our house.

    Asked my husband this morning about the halftime show, and he said ” It wasn’t aimed at my demographic.” Poor old white guy.

    ETA Sad when poor old white women are laughing at poor old white guys.

  10. 10.

    Betty Cracker

    @Suzanne: Re: the halftime show: I’m getting old and am not the target audience, so the cultural references were as unintelligible to me as Nirvana’s “Nevermind” was baffling to my mother. But I did enjoy reading about the fury of the MAGAs, so great job everybody!

  11. 11.

    Soprano2

    @Suzanne: I didn’t even watch the halftime show because I wasn’t interested in it, but white people whining that they didn’t like it or understand it is funny. As I tell my husband about other things I see on TV, “We’re not the target audience for that”. LOL It’s just another form of entitlement, that so many white people think everything has to be aimed at them.

  14. 14.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @Betty Cracker: They don’t like that they’re not being catered to? Screw ’em. They need some time as outsiders to understand the depths of their own privilege. (I didn’t truly understand the depths of my own privileges until I moved overseas and lost a lot of them – but not all.)

  16. 16.

    Suzanne

    @Betty Cracker: I saw a great Xheet: “Kendrick’s performance seems to have triggered every white person that wears wraparound sunglasses they got at the gas station counter.”

    Related: I got my annual eye exam on Saturday and ordered some new sunglasses. I was trying on a bunch of styles, and the salesperson offered some that were….. not quite a full wrap-around style, but a little too adjacent for my liking. And, despite the fact that I am trying to keep quiet about politics in interactions like this, I said, “No thanks, I don’t want to look like a Republican.” Fortunately, she laughed and said, “I get you”.

    And, to get to the end of the story…. I ended up just going with another pair of gold aviators. Exact same frame style. I am a bore.

  17. 17.

    different-church-lady

    @Betty Cracker: Early 90s, we’re listening to “Fear of a Black Planet”. Friend says, “It’s just a bunch of noise.”  I reply, “That’s what they said about Elvis.”

  18. 18.

    narya

    Rikyrah had a review of the halftime show in an overnight/late night thread that was really helpful. I mean, I understand Kendrick’s genre as much as I understand opera, which is pretty much not at all, so the explainer was a great way to understand what I was seeing. And, honestly, I knew enough to know that the Bluesky skeets about the whole crowd singing A MINOR was a thing; I made my Superb Owl-watching friend actually watch the performance with me (I was ignoring the game).  Thanks, rikyrah!

  23. 23.

    Geminid

    @sab: I talked to the guy who runs the little store near me about the upcoming Superbowl. We both agreed that the game itself did not hold much interest because we did not like either team.

    So we moved on to the halftime show, and agreed it would pitched to a younger audience, not us. He was philosophical about it: “That’s what happens when you get old. You get left behind.”

  25. 25.

    sab

    @different-church-lady: I was sulking in my room so I missed it. I did like Baptiste’s national anthem. I liked the three repetitions of ” land of the free” to cancel out the next two verses we never see performed, which are about anything but freedom.

    What is wrong with “America the Beautiful”. Nice singable tune, pretty words, not political, and America is beautiful.

  27. 27.

    Spanky

    @Suzanne:

    ” … wears wraparound sunglasses they got at the gas station counter.”

    I never see guys (it’s always guys) wearing them on their face. The glasses are always parked on the bill of the ubiquitous cap.

    Rugged individualists, they all are.

  29. 29.

    Suzanne

    @Soprano2:

    It’s just another form of entitlement, that so many white people think everything has to be aimed at them.

    I think it’s actually one of the biggest manifestations of privilege: the idea that the market should provide things you like and that reflect your aesthetics. It’s a form of social status.

  30. 30.

    different-church-lady

    @Geminid: Oh, I dunno. At my new job my role is shaping up to be dragging the youngsters into higher professionalism behind me.

  31. 31.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Geminid: boy, that’s exactly how I’ve been feeling lately.

    Left behind.

    And that that’s been making me listen to a lot of older music lately. Dammit, I’m listening to oldies!

  34. 34.

    cmorenc

    @Suzanne: There is a profound difference between the sorts of “white folks” who comment that they didn’t like the SB halftime show because it was black stuff catering to blacks, vs others who simply dislike rap/hip-hop, but will happily spend hours listening to black blues music and other elements of black culture.  I did not like the halftime show, but I didn’t resent it – i simply decided this rap show isn’t my thing at all and went downstairs made myself a halftime snack while it was ongoing.

  36. 36.

    Suzanne

    @Spanky:

    The glasses are always parked on the bill of the ubiquitous cap.

    Or on the back of their heads (dafuq) or on the dashboard of the truck.

    They’re so bad.

  38. 38.

    Jackie

    @different-church-lady:

    Conversation with friend about 2/3rds of the way through the halftime show:

    ME: Have you seen a white person yet?

    FRIEND: No.

    ME: I hope it’s making Trump’s head explode.

    Even before FFOTUS’s team imploded, he knew what the halftime was about – and had absolutely no plans to watch.

    His only petty remark I heard was his gleeful satisfaction of Taylor Swift being booed when she appeared on the jumbotron screen in the first half.

  40. 40.

    RevRick

    Musk and his vandals are carrying out the agenda that has long been the desire of national Republicans, but which they never dared try, because it would have required taking ugly votes. Now, all they have to do is sit on their hands while the internal coup takes place. Musk is destroying the government they secretly loathe.
    The question is, how can it be stopped?
    This isn’t an idle question since JD Vance is already floating the possibility that the Trump administration will simply defy court rulings. And then what?
    Fortunately, they can’t cancel elections in blue states, or in purple ones where a Democratic governor controls much of the apparatus. Republicans there may pretend like they don’t care about popular opinions, but they know that they are treading on thin ice.

    Meanwhile, my son-in-law is exceedingly happy and will join his friends, fellow Eagle fans, in Philly for the parade. Bosses throughout the area are already saying, “Sure, you got the day off.”

  42. 42.

    Jackie

    @Betty Cracker:

    so the cultural references were as unintelligible to me as Nirvana’s “Nevermind” was baffling to my mother. But I did enjoy reading about the fury of the MAGAs, so great job everybody!

    Halftime was bathroom break and reload my plate time. I wasn’t the target audience, either, but giggled with your same thought re MAGAts… the same MAGAts who booed TS.

  43. 43.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @narya: it was a great explanatory guide, made me want to watch it later. I don’t watch football games. But I catch Súper bowl highlights later. I’ll seek it out.

  45. 45.

    Elizabelle

    Didn’t watch the halftime show that closely, but it did get me interested in Kendrick Lamar.  Want to follow up on what he was saying (and he raps very clearly; I just needed lyrics too because he moves rapidly).

    Didn’t he win a Pulitzer a few years ago?  Am I thinking of someone else??

  51. 51.

    Soprano2

    @RevRick: I said to my husband yesterday that they’re acting like they never have to face the voters again. I know FFOTUS doesn’t, but Vance does, as do all the R’s in Congress. Remember how they howled that Joe Biden was acting like a king with his EO’s?

  53. 53.

    Baud

    @Geminid:

    “That’s what happens when you get old. You get left behind.”

     
    Speak for yourself. I’m completely hip to all the groovy new vibes.

  55. 55.

    Belafon

    @Betty Cracker: And it should go into the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest dis of a single person, Drake in this case. SZA and Serena Williams were part of that as well.

  56. 56.

    sab

    @Betty Cracker: Actually it kind of freaks me out that my forty year old step son follows the music of the late sixries, early seventies. Music has happened a lot since then.

    I am embarrassed that ignored all of rap and hiphop because the rest of the world is following it, but it just struck me as extremely misogynistic. That was a first impression only, and lots of women are doing it now.

    It was kind of a repeat of my reaction to rock. I passed. There was folk and classical as an alternative.

  58. 58.

    Phylllis

    @Geminid: I’ve learned to just look up crossword puzzle answers that are ‘young people’ culture-specific. I’m pretty good at sussing out words or phrases with just a few clues, but I don’t know what I don’t know. I’ve had to rethink my stance on ‘cheating’ when it comes to solving them.

  59. 59.

    Belafon

    Plus, I liked the moderately subtle message of the red white and blue clothes: We’re Americans, too, deal with it.

  60. 60.

    zhena gogolia

    @Phylllis: I try my best not to google, but the Atlantic puzzle is sometimes so “of-the-minute.” I wonder who they think is doing these puzzles.

  61. 61.

    lowtechcyclist

    @sab:

    Actually it kind of freaks me out that my forty year old step son follows the music of the late sixries, early seventies. Music has happened a lot since then.

    A good friend of my (17 yo) son is into music from that era. I gave her a couple of my old LPs that I knew she’d like (her dad has a record player) that I might have listened to once or twice in the next decade if I’d kept them.

    A lot has happened since then, but there was still a lot of damned good music made back then.  Classic rock stations playing the same relative handful of tracks over and over again got me to seek out more recent music, though.

  62. 62.

    Belafon

    @sab:

    Let’s talk about “Baby It’s Cold Outside”.

    My first introductions to rap were, beyond the Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince that every white person owned, Ice Tea and NWA. That was definitely on the political side.

  64. 64.

    Betty Cracker

    @sab: The way I look at it, people like what they like. As long as they’re not insisting that everyone else listen to the same stuff they do, that’s okay. There are lots of genres I don’t care for. I like some genres that others find abhorrent. That’s okay!

  67. 67.

    Suzanne

    @Betty Cracker:

    It’s beyond narcissistic to insist that the culture of your youth reign forever.

    It’s specifically the way texting and social media that has changed their language to create maximum punch with extreme brevity…. that is specifically what makes me realize that this is not for me, I am a merely a spectator.

  68. 68.

    Belafon

    @lowtechcyclist: That’s why I like my local NPR attached station, kxt.org here in the DFW area. They’re mostly member supported, and play both old and new music. Today, in honor of Black History Month, they are only playing black artists. Most days it’s a mix of old and new, with a slight bias towards local artists, I can get an Aretha Franklin song next to the Cure next to Mumford and Sons possibly followed by Willie Nelson. On friday it will be anti-love songs. The DJs pick the music, and so I have heard quite a few Australian bands as well. You can stream it.

    Edit: Also, no commercials, though an occasional announcement by the DJ of a sponsor.

  70. 70.

    Kay

     

    ‘People Are Afraid of Going Out’—Trump Immigration Moves Hurt Small Businesses

    https://www.wsj.com/us-news/trump-immigration-businesses-migrants-c89c6d40?st=CQRgqG&reflink=article_copyURL_share

    Anti woke media and Republicans said they would bring back “common sense”

    I guess it didn’t occur to them people stop spending money when they’re afraid to leave the house

    ICE are using flash bangs in these made-for- media raids. Absolute clowns. Just completely unnecessarily terrorizing people. They should be ashamed.

  71. 71.

    Nukular Biskits

    Good mornin’, y’all. Running a little late … headed to the treadmill.

    Just called my US Rep, Mike Ezell (R-of course).  Staffer hung up on me.

    Junior senator Hyde-Smith’s office ain’t answering the phone. Again.

    Senior senator Wicker’s office had an intern answer. Poor kid.

  72. 72.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Elizabelle: All my favorites these days came from Zenni; including the last pair I ordered, big, square frames with photochromic no-line bifocal lenses; cost me less than $100.

  75. 75.

    hueyplong

    I’d be hesitant to call all booing of T Swift MAGA-related. Eagles fans are quick to boo and could have rightly seen her first as a fan of the opposing team and only secondarily as a dreaded woke liberal.

    That said, sports fanatics and people who can afford SB tix/accommodations lean right wing.

  76. 76.

    prostratedragon

    @Betty Cracker:  Talked about that with Little Brother last night. I didn’t watch the game, so fervent was my desire not to see any enraging sights by accident, so I missed the show. LB said that, though the show seemed impressive, he realized that he has crossed that threshold.

  77. 77.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @sab: I just didn’t get it; and mostly still don’t— it seemed like it was all about “I’m the biggest, I’m the baddest, I’m this, I’m that, look at me I’m the greatest…”

    But then, some of the diss tracks got to me— especially “Hit ‘Em Up.”  There was so much rage in those lyrics.

    Still not my thing; but I really enjoyed that half-time show, even if I couldn’t figure out what he was saying most of the time!

  81. 81.

    Spanky

    @Baud:

    Speak for yourself. I’m completely hip to all the groovy new vibes.

    The Nehru jacket with no pants is quite the look.

  82. 82.

    Jackie

    @Nukular Biskits:

    Just called my US Rep, Mike Ezell (R-of course).  Staffer hung up on me.

    Report that via fax or email to both of Ezell’s offices. Even jerkass MAGA congressmen know that’s not acceptable.

  84. 84.

    different-church-lady

    @Jackie: I think TS booing had more to do with Philly fans vastly outnumbering KC fans. You could really hear it during the team intros.

  86. 86.

    BlueGuitarist

     

     

    @H.E.Wolf:
    original lyrics include

    America! America!
    God shed his grace on thee
    Till selfish gain no longer stain
    The banner of the free!

  91. 91.

    Jeffg166

    I heard the first firework go off and put my earplugs in. The noise in my part of the city lasted about an hour if that.

    The half time show is geared to the 18 to 49 year old male.

  97. 97.

    different-church-lady

    @Kay: ​

    Trump Immigration Moves Hurt Small Businesses

    Media is still unclear on the concept: hurting people is the point, not a side effect.

  105. 105.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Jeffg166: Went out with the dog at 6 pm. Fireworks went off. We came in.

    Tried again at 7 pm. Fireworks went off. We came in. At that point I realized they were firing every time the Eagles scored. (No explanation for the premature ejaculation half an hour BEFORE kickoff though).

    I actually ended up watching nearly the entire game, which I don’t usually bother with. So I also saw most of the commercials and most of the half-time show. I’m clearly not the target demographic for that show, but I did wonder if MAGA fans were getting pissed off.

  110. 110.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @H.E.Wolf: girl cooties is pretty rough. Some of those folks shoulda never been born; only way to void getting those girl cooties from your mom.

    oh jeez.

  115. 115.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    The only reason we tuned in and figured out where to stream it in the first place was to hear Jon Batiste do the National Anthem. He’s a guy we’ve followed and admired for years. Amazing talent, amazing human being. And we’ve also followed the saga of Suleika Jaouad, his wife, now struggling through her third bout of chemo for leukemia. She painted the piano.

    But then by inertia once I’d tuned in, I kept it going on the headphones. My wife had already lost interest before the coin flip.

    Now I have to figure out what Tubi is and whether I’ve added another paid service and how to get out of it.

  116. 116.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @different-church-lady: you’re saying that something wasn’t about him,

    the orange sun king, the center of all attention, trying to photo bomb the Super Bowl? They were booing the other team, and didn’t give a rip about mr Mara algo?

    gonna leave that typo right there, it’s giving me ideas..

  119. 119.

    Leto

    @Nukular Biskits: you’ve seen the reports that we have one headed our way, right? It’s a low chance, 1%, buy hey! It’s not zero. Also predicted date is 2032, so not sure how that helps us now…

  120. 120.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Nukular Biskits: I was at a supermarket a while back, not really paying attention, looking through the aisles, and quietly singing along with the music.

    Long about the 4th track I realized I knew the words to ALL of them; and then it hit me: if you can sing along to “supermarket symphonies,” YOU ARE OFFICIALLY OLD.

  121. 121.

    p.a.

    If you meet any Patriot fans bad-mouthing Mahomes, ask them what Brady’s SB record was after his first 5.  (Same as Mahomes’, 3-2.)

     

    I read one of tRump’s ECs (I was on an empty stomach) and he really used his magic word: “hearby”.  Honest to FSM the idiot really thinks that makes something official…

  123. 123.

    Betty Cracker

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Tubi is free, but be warned it is owned by Fox Corp, so it might sneak hard-right propaganda in during commercial breaks. (I haven’t seen that happen, but I’ve observed the Fox MO work that way on other free streaming apps, such as their weather channel.)

  124. 124.

    NotMax

    Keeping the tradition alive, ignored the whole megillah yesterday.

    Instead reveled in the choices of empty parking spaces close to the entrance at Costco and Target and Spectrum (monthly bill paying there).
    ;)

  127. 127.

    TBone

    @NotMax: ha!

    Another winning moment from yesterday:  Hubby went to market for some last minute fortifications (Philly Cream Cheese for today’s breakfast and shrooms, etc. for Yardbird Marsala) and happened upon some older folks exclaiming about the $8.19 eggs.

    “THANKS TRUMP!!!” he bellowed through his black N95 mask, causing a murmuration and much consternation hahahaha!

  129. 129.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Betty Cracker: Dammit, I was in a hurry and clicked the “sign in with Google” button. So now they’re connected to my Google account. DO NOT WANT.

    Edit: Yay, they have a mechanism which in theory will delete the account! I’m sure Fox Corp is completely trustworthy and will honor my request.

    Edit 2: “This option is only available if you created a password”. So it appears I may not actually have a Tubi account, that it was a one-time thing.

  131. 131.

    NotMax

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Tubi is free, but if you’re going to use it suggest signing up on their site (also no charge). That way it remembers where you left off when watching multiple episode series or interrupting watching a movie.

  132. 132.

    Belafon

    One of my favorite parts of America is that two rappers I used to listen to, Ice T and Ice Cube, who sang about the struggles of blacks and especially dealing with cops, play a cop and did comedy movies.

  136. 136.

    Redshift

    For those in range of the DC area, rally at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this afternoon.

    On a related note, a friend in Australia expressed on social media that she thought it was time to get out in the streets, but had heard that we’re exhausted. I explained that was the media narrative from before last week, and things are definitely stirring.

  138. 138.

    Miss Bianca

    @sab:

    ETA Sad when poor old white women are laughing at poor old white guys.

    Sad?! That’s a typical Tuesday up at my place!

  141. 141.

    Melancholy Jaques

    The Super Bowl Ads usually get more discussion. Although there were many with big shot celebrities, I thought they were kind of ordinary.

    I did notice that FOX was using some of the premium spots – half time, two minute warning – to promote its own shows.

  142. 142.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Professor Bigfoot: ​

    @H.E.Wolf: If that’s the case, then NOBODY can hold a candle to France.

    BLOODTHIRSTY, is La Marseillaise.

     Exactement, mon camarade! :)

    I had that one in mind. Happy to be on the same wavelength with you this morning!

  144. 144.

    Spanky

    @Professor Bigfoot: I think I mentioned this here once before.

    I was at the supermarket many months ago and an employee at the back shouted “HEY JOE!!”. Four gray-haired white guys in my aisle simultaneously mumbled “Where you goin’ with that gun in your hand”, then looked embarrassed.

  145. 145.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @narya: Thank you.

    I never bloody heard of Pierre Bourdieu, and now I have to read “Distinction”— but the summary seems obvious: 

    It’s a social critique that explores how cultural taste is used to create and maintain class hierarchies.

    Needful to say, it’s just been added to my reading list.

  146. 146.

    Jackie

    @Nukular Biskits:

    I’m sure Kidd Rock will do next year’s half time show, restoring balance to the universe.

    I hope a comet strikes the Earth before that happens.

    Or 99.9% of TVs switch channels and America’s water pressure reflects millions of toilets flushing all at once…

  147. 147.

    TBone

    Hubby’s Black ex-military bestie kept me bizzy flirting all night long, hubby better check on us hahahaha! (Text only, no real worries, I think…)

  150. 150.

    ArchTeryx

    @rikyrah: While I’ve never been a huge fan of rap and hip-hop, as a white dude I’ve always considered it a form of street poetry that hit the big time in the music industry. And some of it is very pointed and in fact desperately needed. I’m actually sorry I missed the halftime show. It sounds like the ONLY part of the Superb Owl worth watching this year, other than FFOTUS’ team get beat like a rented drum.

    Frankly, and again I say this as a white dude. Kendrick Lamar deserves a medal for going up and bringing the goods to a hostile audience, and for pissing off the MAGAts something fierce. Right now, I’ll take any messages of resistance I can get, I literally do not care who the source is and I can think of far, far worse examples than Kendrick Lamar.

  151. 151.

    Chief Oshkosh

    Schumer’s call for whistleblowers is OK as far as it goes. I guess it’s good that he got a tiny bit of press out of it, but it’s fundamentally weak. It’s awfully hard to see how anyone is going to be protected. It’s clear with the firings that DOJ would use a whistleblower communication as simply the next victim self-identifying for special attention from the flying monkeys. How in the fuck Schumer doesn’t get that just beggars belief. It’s also a pretty cynical move to essentially place even MORE responsibility on the shoulders of beleaguered federal workers when he and his ilk are so thoroughly protected compared to them.

    Tom Sullivan over at Digby’s has a post that gets at some of this. Warning: it’s a call for thinking outside of the box, so it somewhat bashes some Senate Dems:

    https://digbysblog.net/2025/02/10/a-prophecy-of-passivity

    ETA: I’m pulling triple duty on no coffee (and yet still posting here!), so apologies if I’m not understanding Chuck’s play and am just being to pessimistic.

  154. 154.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Leto:

    Similar to everyone else here, half-time show wasn’t my jam but that’s ok. I enjoyed the visuals of it,

    That’s me.  Per above, I’m not the target audience/demographic anymore and the music does nothing for me but I love watching the stagecraft and production that goes into it.  Simply from that stand point, halftime shows are amazing.

    Hell, even back when I was the target demographic and “knew” the music, the actual performance was always one big “meh”.  One exception was Prince and the irony there is I’m not a Prince fan.

  155. 155.

    Redshift

    @different-church-lady:

    Trump Immigration Moves Hurt Small Businesses

    Media is still unclear on the concept: hurting people is the point, not a side effect.

    Ah, but business people are the ones whose faces the leopards weren’t supposed to eat, so I’m good with anything that publicizes that at this point.

  157. 157.

    Trivia Man

    @Betty Cracker: But did you see Serena Crip Walk!!!

    (I needed interpretation from blackpeopletwitter on Reddit to appreciate most of the nuances. But i enjoyed the show, cachy riffs snd beats and visually spectacular)

    Nuances like Uncle Samuel is using a more positive connotation of Uncle (unk) than white people jump to when they hear Uncle about a black man.

  158. 158.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Melancholy Jaques: I do remember one of the ads made me laugh out loud (causing my wife to complain, as she was trying to get some actual work done), but I don’t remember which one. Might have been the Willem Dafoe / Catherine O’Hara pickleball one.

    Yeah, not a great crop of ads.

  160. 160.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Suzanne:

    I describe toxic nostalgia as the tendency to define “the best time ever” as only the years between being a child with zero obligations up through your teens and early 20s when your body was tight and unsaggy, and all the tingly bits were on fire constantly.

  162. 162.

    Spanky

    @Chief Oshkosh: I think it could be distilled down to one line in there:

    People on social media last week asked Chuck Schumer to please not lead chants anymore. It’s a public embarrassment, and he doesn’t know it.

  165. 165.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    Sullivan’s piece is another variation of what gets said here, at least in some quarters, and that’s a good thing.

    And he’s right, we’re in a “war”, a cold civil war is the best way to describe it but that’s where we are.

    And our elected leaders need to be made to see that.  That’s why it was encouraging to see our two Senators, no profiles in political courage, listen to the retired, pissed off white Dems with time on their hands, go to their offices last week and ask for a shift in their approach.  And at least with Hick, for now, it seemed to have worked.

  167. 167.

    Shalimar

    @TBone: Elizabeth Warren was my first choice in 2020 (my admiration for her is even stronger now) and I thought Biden did a great job and shouldn’t have been replaced as nominee a month before the convention, but still, no.  If she won in 2028, Warren would turn 80 five months into her term.  Enough with the ancient presidents.

  170. 170.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @NotMax:

    I’ve been thinking that a dark R rated version of Gilligan’s Island would be fun.

    Skipper would be somebody like Russell Crowe or Hugh Jackman.

  171. 171.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @NotMax:

    For most of the MAGA dudes, they only really love the time their dick last worked reliably, probably in the mid-teens.

    For MAGA ladies, the regression into nostalgia goes back to the time they’re kindergartners.

  173. 173.

    Kay

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    Not a fan. It sounds like “I’ll hold your coat”. Go get ‘em, Mary in accounting!

    Rank and file federal workers are not powerful Senators. Why should they take risks if Schumer won’t?

  174. 174.

    Librettist

    Advertising to cranky old white men is a lot cheaper on MeTV or Discovery.

    NFL has to go full on four quadrant to get those TV numbers and ad dollars.

    Drake ran out of talent, and should have shut his yap, a long time ago.

  175. 175.

    narya

    @Professor Bigfoot: If you want to do a read together, lemme know and I”ll go get another copy. Doesn’t have to be now; you know where to find me when it gets to the top of your pile. Only if you wanna, though.

  177. 177.

    Suzanne

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:

    I describe toxic nostalgia as the tendency to define “the best time ever” as only the years between being a child with zero obligations up through your teens and early 20s when your body was tight and unsaggy, and all the tingly bits were on fire constantly.

    Agreed.
    Another weird thing I observe in my profession is that lots of people are nostalgic for design styles of the past, but often ones that predate them.

  180. 180.

    Librettist

    White olds believe non-whites in commercials are a function of equal rights run amuck rather than targeting core demographics.

  183. 183.

    kindness

    When rap first hit, I was uncomfortable with gangster rap.  Didn’t like calling women whores or the desire to shoot/kill things.  I liked the beat and danceability.  In no time Rap/Hip hop dropped that and now it’s all good as an appreciated genre.  I’m still a late 60’s early 70’s rock & roller at heart.  If the Maga types got offended last night, good!  Fuck ’em (not literally…please).  Remember when MTV would run their own special during the half time?  I used to watch that instead years ago.

  184. 184.

    gene108

    @Redshift:

    Ah, but business people are the ones whose faces the leopards weren’t supposed to eat, so I’m good with anything that publicizes that at this point.

    These are Latino/Latina owned businesses. They were meant to be devoured.

  186. 186.

    Betty Cracker

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Yep. I think it’s pretty normal for individuals to be nostalgic for the music, etc., that was cool when they were young. The insistence that everything that came after is garbage is where toxicity enters the chat.

    PS: I firmly believe that people should be able to like what they like without judgment from the likes of me. But I do admit to shooting pitying looks at fellow old farts who blather about their enthusiasm for current stuff. As the kids say, it’s kinda CRINGE!

    PPS: Good to see you.

  190. 190.

    Bupalos

    @Soprano2: I was slightly shocked when my wife, a striving anti-racist, stated during the show and very much in the context of “this will drive MAGA’s nuts” that the chosen artists are usually black…. That she practically couldn’t think of any that weren’t black. Which just reminded me that she grew up in a very “white” place, and that when you grow up that way whatever your convictions you will always have a trait of way way way over-noticing and over-weighting the presence of different ethnicities. Despite me usually calling it out, she’ll often narrate a story of something that happened to her with ethnic identifiers for anyone other than white that appears in the story. Which leaves me waiting to hear the significance of the identifier, which pretty much never appears.

    Anyway this sent me to Wikipedia where I discovered as I expected that in fact even in recent times there have been more acts I’d characterize as “aggressively white” than even “marginally black.” (Eg. Coldplay, Katie Perry vs. Bruno Mars, Rihanna). But throw in one very black performance and it’s Katie Perry bar the door!

  192. 192.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @TBone: I loved that one too.

    But then I thought, “is this funneling girls into a lesser version of the sport, the way girls play softball but boys play baseball, even though most of the skills are exactly the same?“

    Of course, I am the cynical and suspicious sort; and the patriarchy is one of those “once you see it, you see it everywhere” things, and I notice there are no women playing in the MLB— an ostensibly non-contact sport.

  195. 195.

    TBone

    @Professor Bigfoot: I’m fond of touch football because no one could catch me back in the day. The neighborhood boys stopped letting me play! I won our 6th grade track school competition.  I had an advantage (besides being small and wiry).  My grandpa coached high school track and basketball for 40 years on top of teaching biology and I was his star running pupil for years – sprints and long distance.  I could also handle hurdles back then.  Ah, yute!

  198. 198.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’ve been trolling Threads a lot and Blue Sky some.  Plus, it was a huge travel year, and unfortunately, I spent like I didn’t believe that we were going headlong into pure GOP governance, which always drains the economy.

    Now I’ve got a daughter marrying in October, and we’ve had serious discussions about 1) expatriating our semiliquid assets and 2) expatriating ourselves.

  201. 201.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    ICE are using flash bangs in these made-for- media raids. Absolute clowns. Just completely unnecessarily terrorizing people. They should be ashamed.

     

    Ashamed?

    That group?

    Absolutely not.

  203. 203.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Elizabelle: I think the most I’ve paid for a pair from Zenni has been about $150… which is why I have four or five current pairs that I swap on mood or need.

    (Of course, my prescription is almost entirely for the bifocal, close-up part— I still have 15/20 and 20/20 for distance; but the sheer convenience of being able to look up and see distant stuff but look down and read my watch, too)

  206. 206.

    Bupalos

    @cmorenc: I didn’t like it much, despite thinking a lot of the choreography was really cool, because INMYDAY you could actually hear the lyrics in rap. I literally have no idea what he was saying most of the time, and as a politics freak mostly trying to figure out the politics, the message I take from this rapid-fire stuff is “no one is listening or processing this anyway.” Takes a shitload of skill, but when you’re saying words I wanna know what they are. Definitely an “old man wants his Chuck D back” take.

  207. 207.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Betty Cracker:

    I have aged parents and am an only child. Mom is a militant MAGA devotee and Fox News addict, I know she’s been covering for Dad’s mental decline and they’ve been hoarding antiques for 60 years.  They’re continuing to buy things and are in a fuckton of debt.

    It is all going to be a problem, and makes bugging out problematic.

  210. 210.

    Elizabelle

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:  Good to see you again.  You have been absent lately, no?

    Expatriating, at least for a while, makes a lot of sense.  You could still vote for POTUS and maybe Senators/congresscritters, right?

    ETA:  I am awful to say this, but maybe your parents are making their own trouble.  You would never be stuck with their debt, I hope??

    @Professor Bigfoot:  Lucky bug with the vision!  Got stuck with glasses in mid-elementary school, and ever since.

  212. 212.

    Citizen Alan

    @Soprano2: Bullshit. People voted for trump because they thought burning the country to the ground was better than having a black woman become president. And now he is burning the country to the ground. Some people may have naively thought that he could burn the country to the ground without burning them in particular. But everyone knew the national arson was coming if he was reelected.

  213. 213.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Betty Cracker:

    Adding:

    The travels were great.  Dives in Florida in January.  Milan and Malta in February, plus I got to meet Hugh Jackman. Melbourne and Tahiti in May. Sydney and Fiji in July. Florida dives in September.  Paris, Lyons and Provence in October.  Brisbane and the Great Barrier Reef in November. Cayman Brac last month.

    We have Italy for two weeks at the end of April and Switzerland in August.

  215. 215.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Elizabelle:

    Not stuck with their debt per se, but the hoard is a major issue, because they’ve refinanced over and over, so there is still a mortgage.  I’d need about 2500 square feet of climate controlled storage for the hoard, which I couldn’t dump on the local market without crashing prices. I figure I could stock an antique store with enough inventory to last three years.

    I’d also need an appraisal, and that will probably come to five figures, plus travel and lodging for the appraiser.

  216. 216.

    TBone

    @Professor Bigfoot: awww shucks! *blushes

    My first Black boyfriend taught me the meaning of the word playa, he was too handsome as I imagine you are too, except NOT a playa!  I love a gentle man.

  218. 218.

    Kosh III

    “others who simply dislike rap/hip-hop, but will happily spend hours listening to black blues music and other”
    I grew up on Motown and classic twangy country(Patsy Cline!) and in the 70s black gospel like James Cleveland and Dorothy Love Coates.   Now I mostly listen, if at all to 40s and 50s and, you may find this odd: Russian Orthodox liturgies.

    I despise (c)rap music and have ever since 30 years ago I heard my teenage niece listening to a song where the guy was saying he was so big and hard that he would roughly rip out the side of her vagina.

    As for the stuporbowl, we have zero interest in watching sports; instead we watched some old britcoms on Britbox.  We love Dame Penelope Keith!

  220. 220.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @TBone:

    It was beyond fun – outside of the Florida jaunts (my oldest daughter is living in Fort Lauderdale), each adventure was two weeks long. Saw amazing stuff on the dive portions, and did some really incredible cultural, museum and culinary experiences.

  221. 221.

    Soprano2

    @Bupalos: What’s interesting is that a lot of white people I know said they enjoyed the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show, and that was black artists also. I generally don’t like rap or hip hop, but I don’t care that other people like them and I certainly don’t care that the Super Bowl halftime show isn’t directed at 63-year-old women. LOL

  223. 223.

    Soprano2

    @Citizen Alan: I still don’t think that many FFOTUS voters (not the hardcore MAGA’s) voted to have Elon Musk rooting around in the private information the government has on them, or for him to arbitrarily cut off spending to agencies because they’re investigating him. I agree, the hardcore MAGA’s I know are enjoying all the destruction, but I don’t think the average citizen is in favor of it.

  225. 225.

    WTFGhost

    “That’s what happens when you get old. You get left behind.”

    It’s true for general disability too.

  226. 226.

    Betty

    @Phylllis: That’s my policy as well. I have been out of the loop for a lot of movies and tv shows for some time. No shame in acknowledging a gap in cultural references.

  231. 231.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @rikyrah: I liked it although I know that a lot of things were flying over my head. I’m going to need the lyrics and your notes from last night to fully appreciate it.

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