Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

Come on, man.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

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

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

“They all knew.”

Republicans do not trust women.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

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

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

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

The willow is too close to the house.

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

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

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

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

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Unity (For Now)

Unity (For Now)

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Popped to Sainsbury’s this morning to pick up a few things I’d forgotten to add to my Saturday grocery order, and was pleased to see all the papers front-paging their support for President Zelenskyy (and even, to an extent, the PM). Someone on Bluesky helpfully put together a montage for me:

Unity (For Now) Unity (For Now) 1

If there’s one thing the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday hate more than Labour politicians, it’s being told what to do by foreigners. (N.B.: British papers often have separate titles and editorial teams for their Sunday editions; this BBC reference for high schoolers is helpful for understanding some key differences between the UK and US press.) The summit meeting underway down in London seems to be going well, too, per the Guardian liveblog. It is painful to recall the footage of that shameful ambush in the White House on Friday, but it is a relief to know that at least one of the countries I pay tax to is doing the right thing vis a vis Ukraine.

Fresh, open thread for you. Bonus Monty under the fold.

The big shiny himbo cat I live with has been sulking since Thursday, when I ran out of the Friskies treats my mother sends him from the US. Here he is casually lounging in my eyeline, letting me know he requires the goodies:

Unity (For Now) 2

Fortunately for him, I’ve started my spring cleaning this week. I cleared out a kitchen cabinet a little while ago and found an unopened packet of the Friskies buried in a storage bin.

I suppose you could say it’s fortunate for me, too, as he won’t try to trip me on the stairs and then eat me instead.

Reader Interactions

69Comments

  2. 2.

    Professor Bigfoot

    We’ve started that here, too; and is there anything more frustrating AND funny than finding things tucked away unopened that you’ve already gone and replaced? LOL

  4. 4.

    Rose Judson

    @Professor Bigfoot: In our home, which is occupied by two ladies with longish hair, there are SO MANY forgotten packages of hair elastics lurking in cabinets. I’m better about this than I was years ago, as I do go through everything twice a year now, but UGH.

    One friend of mine has a spreadsheet for tracking this stuff, but he’s an accountant, and so is wired differently from me.

  5. 5.

    TBone

    Heee is gorgeous and your home warm & lovely!

    ETA I have decided to hire Spring cleaning help this year for the heavy lifting so hubby and I can catch up on some projects put off too long. Touch up painting (bigger job than it sounds), etc. replacement of certain home goods that will require careful searching which takes up cleaning time better left to yutes my neighbor recommended.

  7. 7.

    Betty Cracker

    Lovely cat!

    Re: the ambush: as you mentioned yesterday, the King should rescind the state invitation issued to the orange fart cloud now that the latter has switched sides in a genocidal war against an ally. From the vast expertise on the British monarchy I acquired from watching The Crown, I gather the odds of that are low? Maybe he’ll surprise us.

  8. 8.

    Betty

    So happy to see the British and European leaders demonstrating sound principles and leadership against the tyrants.

    ETA:  For your sake and for Monty’s, I hope some additional treats arrive soon.

  9. 9.

    trollhattan

    So glad it’s boring ol’ Starmer and not BoJo or that salad lady who wanted to cut UK taxes, to victory!

  10. 10.

    Rose Judson

    @Betty Cracker: I’m genuinely not sure whether he could get away with that unless there were signals that there’d be mass unrest. Which there probably would be! I don’t think we know exactly when the visit is meant to go ahead yet.

    @Betty: My parents are coming to visit in April, and Mom is aware of the supply situation. In exchange I’ll be making them many omelettes.

  11. 11.

    Anonymous At Work

    If literally everyone supports Ukraine, maybe Starmer will have the balls to act on that support.  So far, he’s been a disappointment since he won’t *act* for fear of isolating or disappointing anyone.

  14. 14.

    Elizabelle

    Monty has more patriotism in his little tuxedo bones than The Felon will ever have.

    Good for the UK and EU and everyone supporting Ukraine.  The Felon has turned this country into a Rogue State, but please let us be able to do something about that.

    Today is Fasching (OK, almost a week) in Germany, and its equivalent Mardi Gras is Tuesday.  We need spring and renewal.

  16. 16.

    Hildebrand

    The folks we’ve talked to since arriving (first London, now York) have been unanimous in their disgust with Trump’s antics – and I just can’t imagine they are all Labour voters.

  18. 18.

    Spanky

    @Professor Bigfoot:

    is there anything more frustrating AND funny than finding things tucked away unopened that you’ve already gone and replaced?

    I have concluded that it is the natural order to only find something lost after you have replaced it.

  20. 20.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Spanky: I’ve actually USED that undocumented cosmic law– literally gone out and bought a replacement for something in an effort to find it.

    IT DOESN’T WORK. The Universe is not only slicker than we think, it’s slicker than we CAN think.

  21. 21.

    kindness

    We here at BJ are not shocked that world leaders find Trump an abomination, not to mention bought and paid for (sure there is blackmail too) by Putin.  It’s funny, we agree about most big things but frequently get caught up in minutia.  I’m wondering when the torch and pitchfork protests hit Washington DC.

  23. 23.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Rose Judson: It’s kind of a binary thing, isn’t it?

    One either supports Zelenskyy and Ukraine, the victims of this war, or one supports the aggressor, Putin’s Russia.

    MOST decent humans will side against the aggressor; but that shows just who our “conservatives” really are.

  25. 25.

    kindness

    @sp98: I’d be so happy if the EU were to kick Hungary out.  It’ll be easier to do when Trump pulls the US out of NATO.

  27. 27.

    sp98

    @kindness: ​
     
    Hungry, Slovakia & Serbia would contribute more to world peace by fighting each other over their mutually disputed territories.

  29. 29.

    Scout211

    SNL’s cold open last night was good, parodying the Oval Office nightmare, with an added appearance by Mike Myers as Musk. Worth a watch, if only to see the parody of JD Vance, Musk, Rubio and “Big Balls.”

    Elon Musk Cold Open

    I know it’s hard, but laughing at the horrors helps me cope a little.

  30. 30.

    pieceofpeace

    @Betty Cracker:   Yes, he could use as a cover the need to step back and for the forseeable future let the countries reconsider their positions, blah, blach.  So putting off this visit to deter further confusion and dis-unity for England. and maybe other countries.

    I’m sure other pro writers could frame this better, but I see this as an opportunity for British politicos to regain some points with the EU as well.

  32. 32.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Rose Judson:

    They are very unlikely to be just Labour. Boris Johnson was a loud early supporter of Zelenskyy, and even the far-right Reform, headed by Nigel Farage, is generally pro-Ukraine. 

    Wow.  Both BoJo and Lying Red Bus Farage being on the correct side of history on Ukraine.

    I no longer want to know what Putin has on the orange shitstain because it has to be absolutely horrific.

  35. 35.

    TBone

    @mikefromArlington:

    Bescumber is a new to me word I picked up this year for the occasion.  I thought I needed some new cuss words.

    Oxford English Dictionary (OED):

    The earliest known use of the verb bescumber is in the late 1500s.

    OED’s earliest evidence for bescumber is from 1598, in the writing of John Marston, poet and playwright.

  36. 36.

    Elizabelle

    Hmmm.  Thatcher.  Horrible Prime Minister, but she certainly inspired Elvis Costello to some of his finest. Tramp the Dirt Down.  The lyrics.

    SO:  who else from the UK was really good at opposing Thatcher and the Tories?

    And who from the US left some good music protesting Reagan?

    Used to know this, but have not thought about it in years.  Maybe we will get some good music protesting The Felon, but it is too high a price to pay for art.

    Also, FWIW, Rest in Power to David Johansen of the New York Dolls; later adopted the Buster Poindexter persona.  Had not followed him much, but he seems like he was quite a raconteur as well.  (As is Iggy Pop.)

  37. 37.

    Elizabelle

    Elvis Costello:

    When England was the whore of the world, Margaret was her madam
    And the future looked as bright and as clear as the black tarmacadam
    Well I hope that she sleeps well at night, isn’t haunted by every tiny detail …

  40. 40.

    Elizabelle

    More from those Elvis Costello lyrics.  If Dylan got a Pulitzer Prize, Costello deserves one too.  Dipped in acid, perhaps.

    And now the cynical ones say that it all ends the same in the long run
    Try telling that to the desperate father who just squeezed the life from his only son
    And how it’s only voices in your head and dreams you never dreamt
    Try telling him the subtle difference between justice and contempt
    Try telling me she isn’t angry with this pitiful discontent
    When they flaunt it in your face as you line up for punishment
    And then expect you to say “Thank you”, straighten up, look proud and pleased
    Because you’ve only got the symptoms, you haven’t got the whole disease
    Just like a schoolboy, whose head’s like a tin-can
    Filled up with dreams then poured down the drain
    Try telling that to the boys on both sides, being blown to bits or beaten and maimed
    Who takes all the glory but none of the shame?

    He got the “oppressors expect you to thank them for their actions” into his lyrics.  We are learning that ourselves, now.

  41. 41.

    trollhattan

    @arrieve: We know what mother thought of Trump and I’d imagine His Majesty’s views are if anything, even harsher since they’re approximately the same generation. Donny has yet another reason to be jealous of Zelenskyy. Pity.

  42. 42.

    Elizabelle

    @arrieve:  Love it.  Trump and Vance disgraced and unmasked themselves.

    And Zelenskyy is on a victory tour of his allies in Europe.

  43. 43.

    trollhattan

    Wow, they can’t keep their mitts off the stove burners, can they?

    “The Social Security Administration is preparing to lay off at least 7,000 people from its workforce of 60,000,” the AP reports.

    “The workforce reduction, according to a second person who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, could be as high as 50%.”

  46. 46.

    Sloane Ranger

    @Betty Cracker: The King would only do that “on the advice of his Government”.

    Currently, as things stand, I don’t think the invitation will be publicly withdrawn, there might, however be “scheduling conflicts” or the King needing to take things easy for a while due to delayed reaction to his cancer treatment. With a bit of imagination, this could be dragged out for quite a while.

    There’s also a possibility that, depending on how the the Foreign Office  and the SIS assess the importance to Trump of a State visit with attendant rubbing shoulders with King Charles and other members of the Royal Family, the Visit could quietly be made contingent upon him taking a more co-operative tone/position.

    Whatever happens, I suspect that Starmer won’t do anything without careful consideration of all the factors involved. It’s boring, but that’s who he is.

  47. 47.

    Citizen Alan

    @Scout211: i wILl never forgive SNL we’re seizing every opportunity to make home horrifically ageist jokes about Joe Biden for  pretty much the whole year preceding the election. The last time I watched the show, they had a family feud parody with trump versus kamala. For the GOP side, they had Trump,  Vance and Don Jr.  for the Dem side, they had Kamala, Doug, Tim… and they added an extra slot on the Dem side just so that aging hack Dana fuckin Carvey could let’s do an impression of joe as completely lost to senility.

  48. 48.

    Citizen Alan

    @Betty Cracker: As much as I detest margaret thatcher and as awful as her policies were for britain, the trump maga croud is worse than the tories under thatcher by orders of magnitude. She might have had an unhealthy obsession with privatization, but she would never have countenanced entire sectors of the british government being handed over to the sort of lunatic oligarchs we are contending with, let alone with the connivance of the russians. She might have been cynical about her patriotism, but I think she was still a patriot.

  49. 49.

    trollhattan

    @Elizabelle: From the era, The English Beat.

    I said I see no joy I see only sorry I see no chance of your bright new tomorrow

    So stand down Margaret Stand down please Stand down down down down down Down down down down down
    * * *

    You tell me how can it workIn this all white law What a short sharp lesson,What a third world war

    I sometimes wonder If I’ll ever get the chance Just to sit with my children In a holiday jam Our lives seem petty in your cold grey hands Would you give a second thought Would you ever give a damn, I doubt it Stand down Margaret Awar! Everybody shout it Stand down Margaret!

    Work, white law Shell shock World war War, war, war, war, war War, war, war, war, war War, war, war, war, war War, war, war, war, war War, war, war, war, war

    IOW she was beloved.

  50. 50.

    Elizabelle

    @Citizen Alan:  Agreed.  The Tories are not the radicalized Republicans, and the UK is not the US.

    We have fallen much farther, and too many here magically believe in American Exceptionalism, and the go it alone toughness of the frontier.  Which.  Was not what they have been led to believe.

  54. 54.

    greenergood

    @Rose Judson: Rlly?? As far as I’ve seen, Farage is a Putin toady – might try to escape in the next few days as the anti-Putin heat builds up, but Nige has been a Vlad-fan for ages … the idea that European countries (with even Brexit UK on the sidelines) are starting (finally) to band together for Ukraine will be absolute anathema to the Brexit boys and their UK ‘Reform’ Party. This might be a defining (defeating?) moment for the Brexit boys, but we’ll see …

  56. 56.

    trollhattan

    Runner Girl at her final NCAA indoor track meet this weekend. In her mile heat is the #2 fastest gal in the nation. Dad’s not going to tell her “don’t get lapped” because of prior lessons learned.

  62. 62.

    WTFGhost

    No complaints, no rush, but, scanning the front page to find an open thread is taking a bit of scrolling – might be time for a new one.

  64. 64.

    Jay

    Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧
    @DefenceHQ
    4h
    The UK will supply Ukraine with more than 5000 air defence missiles to keep people and infrastructure safe from attack.

    The deal delivers on the UK’s commitment to Ukraine and will create hundreds of jobs here in the UK.

    🇬🇧🇺🇦

    #StandWithUkraine

    Mar 2, 2025 · 5:22 PM UTC

    nitter.poast.org/DefenceHQ/status/1896249742939607355#m

  65. 65.

    Sloane Ranger

    @sab: Thanks. I’ve been trying to take a break from politics because events weren’t doing my blood pressure my good. Then you elected Biden and things were boring, but predictable. Then I watched the Oval Office ambush and now I’m incandescent!

  66. 66.

    Frank Wilhoit

    Years ago I had two kittens, in the toe-biting stage. Someone gave me a coupon for Friskies. I said, that’s the last thing I need — if they made a cat food called Sluggishes, I’d buy that!

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