Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

We still have time to mess this up!

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

In my day, never was longer.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

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

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

When we show up, we win.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

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

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

People are complicated. Love is not.

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

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

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  • A Ghost to Most
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    130Comments

    9. 9.

      Jackie

      @Baud:

      The first Cabinet meeting of the second Trump administration

      I didn’t watch a second of it. Did all the members individually go around the table telling FFOTUS how special he was ala 2017?

      Reply
    16. 16.

      TBone

      I’m watching Cary Grant in the Hitchcock movie Suspicion for the umpteenth time for tips and humorous swagger while menacing people with my resting bitch face.

      Reply
    20. 20.

      TBone

      @TBone: I switched to Gran Prix with James Garner and Yves Montand for hubby who just woke up from his daily nap.  Suspicion will be continued later.  Hubby is a former street car and 1/4 mile auto racer.

      Reply
    22. 22.

      Geminid

      @Baud: That is so weird. Trump never used to tolerate bring upstaged. Now Elon Musk is running his cabinet meeting; they’re all looking at Musk except for Trump. He’s  looking at the table.

      Ladt weekend a friend and I discussed the power relationship between Musk and Trump. We agreed that Musk appeared to have the upper hand– but why? How?

      My friend hypothesized that Trump has long been under Vladimer Putin’s control, which is not a stretch. The kicker is: Putin and Musk are partners now, and Putin has let Trump know that control has been transferred to his friend Elon

      Ed. And Trump won’t do a thing about it. He’s a physical coward and knows  he is expendable. His replacement is ready to serve Putin and Musk if he won’t.

      Reply
    30. 30.

      Geminid

      @Baud: Trump even looks the way he looked after his meeting with Putin in Helsinki; like a whipped dog instead of the tough guy he almost always pretends to be.

      I saw that look in the notorious Oval office meeting earlier this month, the one where Musk brought his kid. Trump looked like a beaten man.

      Reply
    33. 33.

      Jeffro

      @Geminid: Putin and Musk are partners now, and Putin has let Trump know that control has been transferred to his friend Elon

      Running half a dozen multibillion dollar corporations AND running the world’s greatest formerly greatest democracy AND being trumpov’s handler AND trolling 24/7 on Twitter?

      I gotta get me some of this ketamine stuff!

      Reply
    37. 37.

      Jeffro

      @thruppence: I canceled mine three months ago and have not missed it one bit.  And that’s as a NoVA native/DC kid who read it daily even when I lived well out of the area.  Oh well.

      I used those funds to subscribe instead to the Philadelphia Inquirer, and that has been a hoot, let me tell y’all.  Did you guys know that Philadelphia has a football team?  The Inquirer has reported on them once or twice…the ‘Eagles’, I think they’re called?  (although locals mistakenly sometimes call them the ‘Birds’ ;)

      Reply
    41. 41.

      BethanyAnne

      Musk is the “richest man in the world”. Trump knows that means he is lower on the totem pole than Musk. If you believe in hierarchies, then you know your place, and who is over and under.

      Reply
    46. 46.

      Kirk

      So doubling down on the AP ban,

      Reuters, Huffpost, and Der Tagesspiegel were barred from being present/reporting on Trump’s first cabinet meeting.

      Oddly, I feel like I’m receiving suggestions for media subscriptions. Anyone know if Der Tagesspiegel has an English edition? Or do I need to learn more German?

      Reply
    50. 50.

      The Other Bob

      I guess I missed the bad behavior.

      I would like everyone to know, that while I was not able to read or comment during the election, I was able to come here afterward and receive some comfort from great, like-minded folks.

      I appreciate John Cole and the Balloon-Juice posters and commenters.

      Reply
    54. 54.

      p.a

      Speaking of FAFO & leopards: any moves against FDIC?  Is that quasi-gvt and kind of out-of-range of DOGEShit?  Fuck with that, that MIGHT get even MAGATs’ attention.

      Reply
    55. 55.

      oldgold

      Every damn day these bastard light my hair on fire. What country am I living in? The same one that worried about Carter owning a half-assed peanut farm?

      Days after Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency cut hundreds of jobs at the Federal Aviation Administration — including critical safety roles — his company, SpaceX, has secured a contract with the agency to use Musk’s Starlink satellite internet to help manage U.S. airspace. Yes, it’s a massive conflict of interest.
      According to Bloomberg, which first reported the deal, the billionaire approved the shipping of 4,000 Starlink terminals to the FAA last week. In a statement released Monday, the FAA wrote that one such terminal is already being tested “at its facility in Atlantic City and two terminals at non-safety critical sites in Alaska.”

      Reply
    61. 61.

      Dorothy A. Winsor

      Nobody elected Musk to anything, so he has no need to please the voters. And he has more money than he could ever spend, so he doesn’t need to worry about that. Trump appears happy to allow him to run the government while Trump plays golf and talks or posts about his various obsessions. We’ll see if the courts can make any difference.

      Reply
    65. 65.

      Elizabelle

      @Jay:  I wondered if it was a parody of Trump’s plans — it actually is — and he grabbed it because he could not tell the difference.  And then he posted it, because that is The Felon’s intelligence and maturity level on display, for the world.

      And the fucker has nukes.

      Reply
    66. 66.

      Geminid

      @Jeffro: Musk is not doing this alone. He has own agents at work, but I think he has allies. That OMB guy seems to be one, and he can bring people from the Heritage Foundation’s network. These operatives are ideologues with particular loyalty to Trump.

      The part I want to know: how many of Trump’s own people are in on the plan, or can guess it well enough to go along.. I don’t think Wiles was in on this plan, but if her boss is controlled she can’t do a thing about it. She has no power except through Trump.

      Trump’s mental decline is a factor here. Who’s gonna risk anything– and it might be a lot– to defend Trump when he can’t defend himself, and might not even know their names two years from now?  The people he brought in are loyalists, but they are ambitious too. Their loyalty to Trump will be tempered by that ambition because their first loyalty is to power.

      Reply
    68. 68.

      EmbraceYourInnerCrone

      Damn it. Michelle Trachtenberg(Dawn from Buffy and a bunch of other stuff) died. She was only 39, that sucks. I know she had a liver transplant last year but thought she was doing ok… We lost Roberta Flack this week too, she was wonderful. Damn it.

      Reply
    69. 69.

      EmbraceYourInnerCrone

      @Jay: I may need a few gummies before watching that or my head might explode for real. We are living in the stupidest time line.

      Reply
    70. 70.

      mrmoshpotato

      @Dorothy A. Winsor:

      I’m beginning to think I’d enjoy seeing Musk in jail even more than seeing Trump 

      I can see that.  No one voted for the South African Nazi after all.  POS shouldn’t be playing President.

      Reply
    73. 73.

      ArchTeryx

      Maybe I’m behind in the times but what did poor Steve do to get shaved like that? LOL.

      (We’ve had to have our orange derp cat shaved for surgery once. Let’s just say he was NOT thrilled about it, nor about the Cone of Shame he had to wear afterward. He’s a very sweet FIV+ rescue kitty, but when forced into a Do Not Want situation then we get DRAMA).

      Reply
    74. 74.

      Marc

      @TBone: I switched to Gran Prix with James Garner and Yves Montand

      also Toshiro Mifune and Eva Marie Saint.  I saw it with my family (I was still preteen) when it first came out.  We sat a few rows from the front at the old Boston Cinerama theater (like IMAX except louder).  Both mom and dad were sports car nuts.

      Reply
    75. 75.

      TBone

      @Marc: WAY cool – I’ve been remarking to hubby about how it must’ve felt to be in a dark theater with a big screen for this one!

      I saw The Blue Planet and another movie about how water and water infrastructure works at the Franklin Institute IMAX in Philly (and also the planetarium, SO cool when they turn that on).

      Aaand another one bites the dust, dammit

      Opened in 1990, the domed cinema was shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic. The museum says it’s no longer financially viable

      We had been going to the Institute for weekend outings since I was a small child – that part’s still open.

      Reply
    76. 76.

      Trollhattan

      @Marc:

      Good movie and perfect timing for a wee lad who had a slot car set at home.

      Another great racing flick from the era that does not sound even a little like a racing movie is A Man and A Woman. While the cast is 1.5x French, Jean-Louis nevertheless pilots a Mustang in the Monte Carlo Rally.

      Reply
    78. 78.

      Old School

      Gov. Tim Walz said Wednesday he’s staying out of Minnesota’s open U.S. Senate race in more ways than one.

      The two-term Democratic candidate has ruled himself out as a candidate for the seat in 2026. And he told MPR News that he’s not planning to endorse another DFLer for the post.

      Reply
    81. 81.

      Geminid

      @Marc: I saw Grand Prix for the first time four years ago, on Turner Classic movies. I was fascinated, and the racing was the least of it. What stood out was the glamorous, sophisticated European society. Those people knew how to to dress!

      Also, Toshiro Mifune’s character impressed me. An outsider, with the confidence to claim his place in the exclusive club of racing. That movie seemed to to capture an historical moment.

      Reply
    84. 84.

      TBone

      @Geminid: I see you caught my spelling error, thank you.  I watch so much classic film that the 60s and 70s styles (even European) are like second nature now, which proper spelling used to be!

      I watch to learn about history, fully aware that is almost like being in Plato’s Cave.

      Reply
    88. 88.

      scav

      @mrmoshpotato: To an extent, by governing directly, His DOGEness is just the oligarchs cutting out their traditional middleman (front or beard) aka elected repub official.  Business as usual.  Still, keeping the Orange Pet-in-Chief on the payroll without having to justify his role using bulletpoints does rather refute their cost-cutting schtick.

      Reply
    89. 89.

      tobie

      It sounds like Ukraine has outfoxed Trump:

      Volodymyr Zelenskyy joins Claudia Sheinbaum, Justin Trudeau, Xi Jinping (technically Liu He) and Jean-Claude Juncker in the exclusive and honourable club of people who have bamboozled Trump by signing deals in which he gets nothing. Heroes all. They should get badges and membership cards made up.

      Reply
    90. 90.

      Fair Economist

      @greenergood:

      Might be because Trump is losing it cognitively, so Muskrat is the alternative – and the MAGAt repugs need to cover up, so gawd help us …

      That’s what I’m thinking. Dementia Donny isn’t up to running anything at this point, so Eloon gets to run the show.

      Reply
    91. 91.

      AM in NC

      Fucking  Fatherfucker Jeff “Lex Luthor” Bezos just fully embracing the evil  now and rubbing our faces in it – not to mention being completely, self-servingly delusional:

      Letter to WAPO staff:

      I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages. We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.

      There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader’s doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views. Today, the internet does that job.

      I am of America and for America, and proud to be so. Our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America’s success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion — and practical — it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity.

      I offered David Shipley, whom I greatly admire, the opportunity to lead this new chapter. I suggested to him that if the answer wasn’t “hell yes,” then it had to be “no.” After careful consideration, David decided to step away. This is a significant shift, it won’t be easy, and it will require 100% commitment — I respect his decision.

      We’ll be searching for anew Opinion Editor to own this new direction. I’m confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America. I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I’m excited for us together to fill that void.

      Jef

       

      ETA – and I see that Thruppence got there first.

      Reply
    92. 92.

      Gin & Tonic

      @tobie: ​Interesting sentence in there: “For the avoidance of doubt, such future sources of revenues do not include the current sources of revenues which are already part of the general budget revenues of Ukraine.”

      Reply
    94. 94.

      Fair Economist

      @oldgold:

      According to Bloomberg, which first reported the deal, the billionaire approved the shipping of 4,000 Starlink terminals to the FAA last week. In a statement released Monday, the FAA wrote that one such terminal is already being tested “at its facility in Atlantic City and two terminals at non-safety critical sites in Alaska.”

      That’s the most shameless waste and corruption. There’s no need for a pricey satellite internet connection where there’s already wired internet, which includes every airport in the country.

      Reply
    95. 95.

      Elizabelle

      From the Los Angeles Times:

      They voted for Trump, but now they’re losing their U.S. government jobs

      They voted for Donald Trump for president, but now they’re losing government jobs. They wonder why Trump and Elon Musk aren’t focusing on real waste and inflation.

      No!

      Illustrated with the worst photo you ever saw of hipster Musk running around the CPAC stage brandishing a chainsaw, and Argentinian whackaroo Javier Milei celebrating behind him.  It looks like the worst TV reality show still you ever saw.

      Oh, wait.

      Truly.  Someone should pop the photo into this thread, if you would.  We can still laugh.  Sadly.

      Reply
    96. 96.

      TBone

      @Fair Economist: easier to hack into than wired connection?  My brother is a CWA union member, and official pole climber.  He ran a lot of line – seems like anything like that would be easier than pole climbing.

      Reply
    98. 98.

      TBone

      @Elizabelle: apparently, if I understand correctly, the minerals “deal” is subject to a pre-Deal deal, part of why Donold “J. for Jenius” gets NOTHING.  GOOD DAY, SIR.

      Reply
    99. 99.

      lowtechcyclist

      Can we say it’s a cult now?

      WaPo (sorry, no gift link):

      Starting on Tuesday of last week, Trump took a sharp turn against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He falsely accused Ukraine of starting the war with Russia and called Zelensky a “dictator” who wanted the war in his country to continue “to keep the ‘gravy train’ going.

      The Republican base, it turns out, has followed that up by taking its own sharp and sudden turn against Zelensky.

      An Economist-YouGov poll conducted largely before Trump’s comments showed Republicans were about evenly split on Zelensky. While 40 percent had an unfavorable view of him, 38 percent had a favorable one.

      Today, Zelensky’s numbers have fallen off a cliff with Republicans. Fully 56 percent now dislike him, compared with 20 percent who still hold a favorable view.

      The percentage of Republicans with a “very unfavorable” view of Zelensky doubled, from 16 percent to 32 percent.

      Zelensky hasn’t been a popular figure with the Republican Party since about 2023. But that 36-point overall negative split is by far his worst to date. It makes him one of the most unpopular world figures with the right.

      So Republicans with an opinion about Zelenskyy went from evenly split in their views about him, to regarding him unfavorably by about a 3-1 margin, practically overnight, in response to Dear Leader’s whims. And that’s about a figure who’s been well known to Americans for several years now.

      We need a graphic showing a bunch of sheep wearing red hats.

      Reply
    100. 100.

      tobie

      @Gin & Tonic: That’s a tough sentence to follow. I felt like I had to draw arrows to determine the flow of funds. The good thing is that whatever proceeds would be earned from the extraction of new resources in the future would have to be reinvested in Ukraine. It also seems important that this agreement is merely the framework for a future agreement in which all the snarly details would be worked out.

      More detailed terms pertaining to the Fund’s governance and operation will be set forth in a subsequent agreement (the Fund Agreement) to be negotiated promptly after the conclusion of this Bilateral Agreement.

      Reply
    101. 101.

      tobie

      @Elizabelle: I don’t have the experience to interpret the memorandum of understanding included in the report. But Alan Beattie does, so I will keep my fingers crossed that he is right.

      Reply
    102. 102.

      Elizabelle

      @lowtechcyclist:  But we are the sheeple, right?  I cannot keep up.

      It is the power of repetition.  Rightwing studied Joseph Goebbels as a how to lesson.  Simple concept, and bring the emotion.  It shows.

      It might be interesting to ask these weasels WHY they now dislike Zelenskyy so much.  Give me three reasons.  OK, two reasons …  [ETA:  Oh wait, your WaPost excerpt has three easy to remember reasons in the first paragraph.  Truthful, no.]

      Reply
    103. 103.

      HopefullyNotcassandra

      @Old School:

      Perhaps our new Secretary of HHS should look in the mirror.

      “Measles was considered eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, the CDC said, because of widespread use of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR).”

      We did not used to have any measles outbreaks at all.

      The new Secretary also falsely claimed the children were hospitalized in Texas for “quarantine” purposes.  They were not.

      Several are in intensive care and one child has died. The pediatrician and Chief Medical Officer of the hospital  said “the patients who were hospitalized were admitted because they were having trouble breathing and needed supportive care such as supplemental oxygen.”

      https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/person-dies-measles-west-texas-outbreak-rcna193812

      Reply
    105. 105.

      Fair Economist

      @TBone: Satellite internet is easy, but it’s extremely expensive. It makes sense only for very remote sites or temporary ones.

      Edit: as to hacking, I don’t know.

      Reply
    106. 106.

      A Ghost to Most

      I’m a cat whisperer, and they really trust me,  but shaving a cat sounds like a recipe for trouble. In Arizona, it just makes sense, but I hope you tip well.

      Reply
    109. 109.

      TBone

      @A Ghost to Most: smirking in solidarity.

      Poor Noah is shaved on both forelegs and in the neck area.  His neck bandages are frequently stifling for him, and he’ll make wheezing noises to let me know me he needs attitude bandage adjustment.

      Reply
    110. 110.

      lowtechcyclist

      @Jeffro:

      I canceled mine three months ago and have not missed it one bit.  And that’s as a NoVA native/DC kid who read it daily even when I lived well out of the area.  Oh well.

      I’ve got a $1 per month subscription that has another few months to run on it.  Once that goes, so do I.

      Reply
    111. 111.

      sab

      @A Ghost to Most: I laughed at Cole for years, but we had our elderly cat shaved last year. He was initially shocked, but a couple of days later he was comfortable. Six months later he is disgruntled about all his matted fur. He feels he is too old to bother with grooming

      ETA He did viciously bite the groomer. They called to see if he was up on his rabies shot. He didn’t bite while they groomed. He bit when they stuffed him back into the carrier.

      Reply
    113. 113.

      Lenore

      Hi. It’s been a while, and you won’t recognize the name. If you remember a disabled mouth artist named Larime who was struggling to support their also-disabled, undocumented Canadian partner through cancer and such, did portraits (people and pets) for some of you, etc., then you remember me. You guys did a lot for us over the years, and when the day came and Sylv passed, it wasn’t cancer that got them. You helped make that happen.

      My earliest childhood memories are of being a girl, playing the princess, the damsel… I’ve always known, but being disabled has made it really easy for me to compartmentalize dysphoria and dysmorphia, and so I mostly just ignored it. Sylv was also trans, also unable to do much about it, but we knew each other as we truly were and that was all we needed.

      And now they’re gone. They passed a little over a year ago. It took most of that first year to realize that I felt like I was suffocating because no one knew ME anymore. I gradually came out in steps. I don’t present in person as being severely disabled means I have no real ability to groom or do makeup, and my incredibly cool, supportive aid is not, for all his great qualities, a stylist. I’m almost 49, hormones and surgery would do little for my comfort or quality of life, and so I just accept that I am as I am. Online I can truly be me, use art to portray myself, a voice filter to sound how I want, and it’s enough.

      I want to talk about something else, though. I’m white, born and present male, and other than severe disability, have a lot more privilege than many others, and as I’ve come out, I’ve spent a lot of time processing all of my internalized “isms”. I regularly look at my words and actions for male privilege, toxic masculine thinking, white fragility, and I will honestly say I still see it, though I’m getting better and better.

      I say this now to all my fellow white people, regardless of gender, and to all my fellow AMAB people, regardless of ethnicity, and to all the ableds of all kinds:

      “When you bristle at something or someone saying something or making you feel a certain way that you feel is unfair, that sting is your pride fucking with you.”

      If you are not being called out by name? It’s not meant for you. If you don’t feel a need to justify why you’re different? It’s not for you. But if you DO feel that sting, do not give into it. THAT is when you ask yourself the hardest question.

      “Why do I feel stung?”

      I can only speak for myself, but for me? It’s usually because it hits closer to home than I want to admit. That sting is my pride, fucking with me. It’s called hard work because the human mind doesn’t want to be wrong, or bad, or at fault. We want to be the good guy.

      What we have to understand is that we can be wrong, be at fault, and still be the good guy, but we have to accept our error, own it, and try harder. We have to feel the sting and trace the fucker down, understand it, accept that we FEEL that way, but that we are wrong, and we can do better.

      This, more than anything, is the most important thing I’ve learned, and I work every day to catch it myself before I do or say something that will sting me, later.

      The sting is not thin skin, it’s not hyper-sensitivity. It’s pride, fucking with you.

      Reply
    122. 122.

      Darkrose

      @Geminid: I also think Trump is checked out. He can sign things and be on TV and play golf and he’s fine with that. The main reason he ran was to stay out of jail. He doesn’t give a shit about anything else.

      Reply
    127. 127.

      Geminid

      @Darkrose: That could be so. But Trump is a vain man, and very conscious of presentation and optics. It seems out of character for him to tolerate another Alpha dog dominating such a high-profile event.

      And Trump’s body language is off. It’s like he’s under duress somehow.

      Reply
    129. 129.

      CatFacts

      Wait, a thread that’s not fighting? Where people are happily talking under a picture of a shaved cat? Who are you people and what on earth have you done with this website??

      Nah, but seriously this little moment is great. So glad folks like Lenore and Sister Golden Bear are part of it too.

      Reply

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