Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

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

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

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

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

How stupid are these people?

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

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

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Everybody saw this coming.

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

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

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

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Here’s Another Open Thread

Here’s Another Open Thread

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A little birdie told me that Maxwell Edison is celebrating his birthday today and is six years old. I would say something to him but he is outside panthering because he discovered that there is a ginormous bunny rabbit in the back yard. For years there has been a rabbit warren in the back yard underneath the shed. That whole time, though, Thurston and Rosie were on the prowl (not Lily, of course, she would see a rabbit and think “Friend???”) in the backyard, so they only entered through a hole on the alley side of the fence, not into the backyard. It used to make Thurston absolutely mental because he could hear them and he would stand at the shed barking until I dragged him inside.

That’s absolutely what I like the most about being back. I really like all the greenery, the lushness, the wildlife, and the birds. I have nests everywhere. Does anyone know anything about mourning doves? Are they territorial? Because I honestly think there are four nests in the willow tree and two of them I think are doves. At any rate, all the birds are so loud in the morning and I love it.

New pope seems like a decent enough chap to be pope. Plus the right hates him, which is, unfortunately, a real selling point for me right now. This made me laugh out loud:

Cassocks are red
Conclaves are dope
Wake up babe we got a

[image or embed]

— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn.bsky.social) May 8, 2025 at 2:40 PM

Looked into the Augustinian Order and they seemed interesting. As you all know I’m not into all that religion stuff in the slightest degree, but this Pope seems to understand boundaries and I can live with him. I mean, they are all going to be anti-abortion and for some things I disagree with, but the social justice aspect is appealing and honest to fucking god what I would expect from a religion.

Regardless, I am tired and going to wrap this up.

Reader Interactions

93Comments

  3. 3.

    YY_Sima Qian

    When I read that the new Pope is American, my heart sank for a bit, given how reactionary American Catholic Cardinals tend to be. However, it seems Leo the XIV is very much simpatico w/ Francis, & Peruvians are calling him the 1st “Andean Pope”, given the decades he had spent there. He also holds Peruvian citizenship.

    Overall, I am encouraged by the result of the election. The Vatican did not take a reactionary turn, I am counting my blessings.

  4. 4.

    SpaceUnit

    I’m writing a poem to commemorate this extremely profound occasion.  So far I’ve got:

     

    Pope, pope, pope of Rome.  Hat like a cone.

    Something, something, something, trombone.

     

    Sure, doesn’t sound like much yet, but it’s a work in progress.

  5. 5.

    geg6

    We get tons of mourning doves.  We had them at our old house and, after downsizing and moving several blocks away, we still have them.  Don’t know if it’s new ones that live here or the others followed us because we are (well, John is) the most generous purveyors of bird seed around.

  6. 6.

    Trivia Man

    From earlier thread, we have our first scandal! Wrigley posted a brag that Leo is a Cubs fan. His brother disputes that – “MOM is a Cubs fan, HE is a Sox fan.”

  8. 8.

    seefleur

    Mourning doves are seed eaters mostly. And they are very entertaining – I have them as regulars in my yard. They get along with everyone – even the jays, and grey squirrels. Very entertaining, and when they flock together in the winter under the birdfeeders, they remind me of wind-up toys, the way they waddle around…

  9. 9.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SpaceUnit:

    Pope, pope, pope of Rome.  Hat like a cone.

    Something, something, something, Play for Laura Loomer with a sad trombone.

    You’re very welcome.

  11. 11.

    SpaceUnit

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I’ll go down alongside poets like Virgil and Milton, T.S. Eliot.

     

    Okay who am I kidding.  T.S. Eliot will mostly be remembered for Cats.

  12. 12.

    Suzanne

    The Chicago Pope memes are already pretty good.
    I hope JD Vance is pissed off.

  13. 13.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Suzanne:

    There’s a lot I hate about this particular timeline we’re in, but I must admit I’m really glad to be alive during the Golden Age of Internet Memes. There have been some fine ones today, especially for a Chicago girl.

  15. 15.

    Chetan Murthy

    @SpaceUnit: I remember him most for The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.  We never studied Cats in high school.  But we studied the Love Song.

  16. 16.

    Anne Laurie

    Augustians are known for clever networking — they had the reputation the Jesuits now claim.

    Martin Luthor, IIRC, was an Augustinian, and it was rumored he started his breakaway sect when he realized the Italians had an unbreajable lock on the papacy..

  17. 17.

    West of the Rockies

    Anyone know what sort of bird seed I should have on hand for a pair of quails that hang out in the yard?

  18. 18.

    CaseyL

    “Pope Bob” seems like the best we could hope for, given the Church’s theological and institutional constraints. That the RW is furious is definitely a point in his favor.

  20. 20.

    SpaceUnit

    @Chetan Murthy:

    Prufrock was actually pretty good.  Eliot had a gift but fell under the unfortunate mentorship of Ezra Pound who encouraged him to indulge his many pretensions.

    And the two of them spent most of their time chasing their dicks among the parlors of Europe.

  21. 21.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SpaceUnit:

    I’ll go down alongside poets like Virgil and Milton, T.S. Eliot.

    I sing of trombones and the man.

     

    They also serve who only sit around and play trombones.

     

    I have heard the trombones playing, each to each.                I do not think that they will play to me.

     

     

  24. 24.

    danielx

    @SiubhanDuinne: ​
     Still a sore subject, trombone was my junior high band instrument. I liked it and was starting to get good, and then I ran both arms through a plate glass door pane chasing a girl at some church function. Nine stitches and my trombone playing days were over.

    Still haven’t forgotten those lidocaine shots to get the stitches, boy howdy.

  25. 25.

    Aussie sheila

    @YY_Sima Qian:

    The fact that Francis chose the current Pope to Stack  select Bishops for him, tells me Francis was both tactician and strategist. He has remade the CoCs the way he wanted and reached down into the Bishoprics.

    Excellent work.

  26. 26.

    Spanky

    @danielx:

    Now, the other night I took my wife down to a Music Hall.
    And ever since that blooming night it has been her downfall.
    She sat beside the bandsman, and he filled her with delight,
    The fellow that played the trombone, he stole my wife that night.
    With his rum-she-ra-ra, rum-she-ra-ra, rum-she-ra-ra-day,
    The fellow that played the trombone, he stole my wife away,
    He pulled that long thing in and out, he made her feel so gay,
    He really tickled her fancy with his rum-she-ra-ra-day.

    Now she said she liked his music, she’d go there every week,
    I said it would be her downfall if she didn’t stop her cheek,
    She took no notice what I said, and when from time to time,
    I stayed home and nursed the kids while him and her did shine.

    Now the other night I woke and found she’d gone with all her clothes,
    She’d gone with that bandsman, to a land where no-one knows,
    But if ever I should find ’em, I’d spoil their honeymoon,
    I’d smash his bloody instrument if I catched him playing a tune.
    With his rum-she-ra-ra, rum-she-ra-ra, rum-she-ra-ra-day,
    The fellow that played the trombone, he stole my wife away,
    He pulled that long thing in and out, he made her feel so gay,
    He really tickled her fancy with his rum-she-ra-ra-day.

  28. 28.

    CaseyL

    Defector magazine (self-billed as “the last good website”) ran an article about the new Pope being from Chicago, which led to a discussion about Chicago’s various sports teams, which in turn led to this gem from the comments:

    To me it’s just a wonderful thing that we finally have a Pope who has, without a shadow of a doubt, uttered the phrase “Are you fucking kidding me, Jay Cutler?” at least once or twice out loud.

  30. 30.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Aussie sheila: Agree. I have always been impressed by Francis on multiple levels, especially after the decades of JP II & Benedict promoting conservative & reactionary theologies. (At least Benedict had the good sense recognize the increasingly untenable position the Church had found itself in, to resign & allow for the possibility of a shift.)

    Never understood Francis’ blind spot wrt the Russian re-invasion of Ukraine. I supposed one should not expect (or want) that the Pope be a martial figure advocating for Just War, but Francis could have put the onus on Putin to the end the invasion.

  32. 32.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @CaseyL: No one has that kind of influence/leverage over Putin, not the Pope, not Biden, not Xi, not Macron/Shultz, not Modi/Lula. However, Francis sullied his own reputation here.

  33. 33.

    Aussie sheila

    @YY_Sima Qian:

    I suspect the long term aim of healing the Orthodox v Catholic schism lies behind the very bad quietism on that conflict he exhibited.

  34. 34.

    sentient ai from the future

    okay, maybe he was a marxist. maybe he still is. but you gotta understand, he is the right age for that radio adult contemporary shit, and ol richard was also a chicago boy.

    so maybe he’s still got a cd kicking around there. he might be afraid to acknowledge it. but i will be right here waiting for you, pope. *flicks lighter

  35. 35.

    danielx

    @Spanky:
    If I’d known of that song back then, I’d have healed and gone back to it. I was thirteen or fourteen at the time and a walking gland.​

  36. 36.

    Gin & Tonic

    @YY_Sima Qian: He also offended the Catholics in Ukraine, a significant minority there. Particularly weird since Francis and the leader of Ukraine’s Catholics know each other well from the time both served in Buenos Aires.

  37. 37.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @danielx:

    Yikes yikes yikes. I’m cringing at the very thought! And I’m genuinely sorry that it put an end to your trombone-playing days.

  38. 38.

    danielx

    @NotMax:

    Um, no. This was in the days before safety glass and I can testify that I could look into my arm for half an inch at least in about (inspecting scar) three inches.

    Although I have heard of people using duct tape that way just to slow blood loss.

  40. 40.

    Aussie Sheila

    @Gin & Tonic:

    The eastern Catholics by definition are loyal to Rome. The Orthodox need to be coaxed. I’m not defending his stance, tbc, simply trying to get inside the global politics of a globalist! //

  41. 41.

    JetsamPool

    @SiubhanDuinne, @SpaceUnit:

    If you all want to commemorate the occasion in song, Pa-Pa-Pa from Die Zauberflöte springs to mind:

    Baritone: Pope pope pope

    Soprano: Pope pope pope

    Baritone: Pope pope pope pope

    Soprano: Pope pope pope pope

    Etc.

    The YouTube link isn’t the German version but I like it because of the clearer diction.

  43. 43.

    Quaker in a Basement

    I’m just shocked that he’s officially been Pope for nearly a whole day and I haven’t yet had to hear Trump make his selection all about himself.

  44. 44.

    MobiusKlein

    In my old age, I’ve come more to the view that folks are easier to work with when they have values, and are true to them.  I may have some different values, but two people working both honest and true to their values can reach a compromise, or otherwise work together.

    The folks who shift their purported values like the wind, or only value their own self interest – there is nothing to do but block them.

  48. 48.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Jackie: They used to say Li’l Donnie watched his speeches (and others’ speeches) with the sound turned off.  He’s a very visual person, they say.  And of course, the priority for him is how his underlings look on teevee.  Gotta be from central casting.

  50. 50.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    Does anyone know anything about mourning doves? Are they territorial?

    Yes. No. Asked and answered.

    Longer answer. Mourning Doves are monogamous forming a strong pair bond. Female builds a flimsy looking nest out of small sticks, pine needles and whatever else the male brings in. The way to locate nests is to note a bunch of rejected male offered building material and dove poop littering a spot of ground underneath a limb or human built overhead object. Easier to notice when the sticks are on my freaking deck underneath my awning cover. It is funny , however, to watch the male fly in and offer a twig to the lady builder who then often rejects it to fall to the ground (wrong color? Too big around? Who knows?). If you do find the nest, you will quickly wonder how in the hell they can hatch a couple of eggs on top of such a weak ass pile of twigs.

    There are two really cool phone apps that are a must for birders. iBird Pro ($15 when last I bought it a few years back) and Merlin Bird ID (free from Cornell U). They each have their strong points and I use both but usually open iBird Pro first.

  52. 52.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JetsamPool:

    Not only clear diction, but the best tempo I think I’ve ever heard. It’s a great duet, but most conductors and singers seem to think it’s a speed trial and rush through it as though they were running to catch a departing train. Very glad to know of this recording, thanks.

  53. 53.

    YY_Sima Qian

    WRT to the “trade agreement” w/ the UK:

    Richard Baldwin@BaldwinRE

    Kind of strange that such an important trade agreement and only the UK ambassador in the photo op Not even a minister from the Britain in attendance to say nothing of the prime minister
    was it so rushed? Or was it not really a big deal? Or maybe not really a deal at all? Just a verbal contract?

  54. 54.

    YY_Sima Qian

    LOL:

    Richard Baldwin@BaldwinRE

    Face saving climb down for Trump (like VN War: declare victory & go home); a unilateral “fact sheet” =“historic trade agreement”. Fairness restored!
    Now clear no going back to old US tariff levels; it’s 10% on almost all plus some add ons>>bad but won’t meltdown the bond market
    By comparison to the usual chaos, this was business-as-usual trade policy. But still violation of many norms
    Worrying willingness of UK to offer non-MFN to USA without even a figleaf excuse
    Rules-based trade system will be saved from USA systems breach only if rest of world follow the rules

    & this gem (click through the link for the “fact sheet” released by the US):

    Bert Hofman（郝福满）@berthofmanecon

    Don’t call it a trade deal. It fact it is not even a deal. Ah what one does to uphold the constitution…. “Both the United States and the United Kingdom recognize that this document does not constitute a legally binding agreement.”

  58. 58.

    prostratedragon

    President Trump fires Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden

    “Carla,” the email began. “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service.” A spokesperson for the Library of Congress confirmed that the White House told Hayden she was dismissed.

    Hayden, whose 10-year term was set to expire next year, had come under backlash from a conservative advocacy group that had vowed to root out those standing in the way of Trump’s agenda. The group, American Accountability Foundation, accused her and other library leaders of promoting children’s books with “radical” content and literary material authored by Trump opponents.

    How Libraries Keep Serving as a Hub of The Community [2021 interview with Carla Hayden]

    Carla Hayden on institutional knowledge at the Library of Congress [2016]

  61. 61.

    Darkrose

    @prostratedragon: I am absolutely furious about that, not least because of the fucking disrespect. Her name is not Carla to you Trumpist fuck—it’s Dr. Hayden.

    Sen. Padilla did post about it on Bluesky. I asked him yet again to deny unanimous consent and refuse to confirm any Trump nominees until Dr. Hayden is reinstated. I’m going to call his office tomorrow with the same request. I doubt it’ll go anywhere, but…I need to do something.

  66. 66.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @danielx: I went through a plate glass door in the late 1970s. I was pretend boxing with a friend from the neighborhood and my corner was by our front door. When round 1 started instead of coming out and sparring he just ran straight at me and plowed into me like an offensive lineman going at a down field linebacker.

    Amazingly I emerged unscratched. The window was covered by a gauzy translucent curtain and that, my clothes and sheer luck combined to save me from serious laceration.

  69. 69.

    Princess

    @Quaker in a Basement: oh, he did. He talked about what a huge honour it was to have an American pope, as if they picked an American to honour himself, Trump. I’m sure he sees it that way — nothing exists that isn’t refracted by his ego.

  70. 70.

    Geminid

    @Princess: Tom Bonior:

       I’ll be damned, the tariffs worked. We’re even making popes in America now.

    Someone here may have put this one up already.

  72. 72.

    prostratedragon

    @Betty Cracker:  My understanding is that the President does make that appointment. It’s for a term, like FBI and the Fed. Also like those positions, even when parties have changed in the White House, they are usually left to finish their terms. In fact Dr. Hayden was appointed by Obama. 45 left her in place, unlike Comer and Yellen.

  74. 74.

    Joey Maloney

    @CaseyL: To be fair, the Professionally Furious right wing would have been furious no matter what, unless the new pope came out in a MAGA hat throwing Tesla salutes and ordered everyone in St Peter Square deported.

  75. 75.

    Princess

    Oy. Mattel says they won’t bring all their toy production to the US. That made Trump angry. He  referred to Mattel as a country and said he was going to increase tariffs on them 100% so they wouldn’t sell a single toy in the US. Even aside from calling them a country, threatening to raise tariffs to target one single company sure gives the game away. He’s addled and corrupt in equal measure.

  77. 77.

    prostratedragon

    In fact, death is not conquered:

    the stunning claim that in 🤡’s first 100 days, the Department of Justice’s seizure of 22 million fentanyl pills—at the president’s direction—has saved more than 258 million lives.

    The article exposes the “math.”

  81. 81.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Princess: I’ve seen people pointing out even in response to American liberals, who speculate that this was a thumb in the eye to Trump, that they’re exaggerating the extent to which this is about us, since they consider Prevost more Peruvian (examining the whole of his career and where he’s lived most of the time).

  82. 82.

    Don_K

    @CaseyL:

    It’s refreshing seeing two popes in succession who take all of the teachings in the Bible seriously, unlike the cafeteria Catholics of the right wing. I’m not a believer, and don’t look to the church for my own moral guidance after all of the scandals that have come to light, but it JD and the rest are outraged, I’m happy.

  83. 83.

    Matt McIrvin

    @prostratedragon: The silliest thing about this is that when Biden was in office, the same people warned of Biden’s high rate of fentanyl seizures as a bad thing, evidence of a flood of drugs streaming in over an “unsecured” border.

  87. 87.

    YY_Sima Qian

    The Indo-Pakistani clash not looking good, unsurprisingly facilitating reactionaries on both sides:

    Siddharth@svaradarajan

    I want folks to reflect on the logic which the government is following on the flow of information.

    1. Indian news channels ran programming for hours last night reporting that the Indian Navy had been deployed and had bombed and destroyed Karachi Port.
    2. Indian news channels ran stories that the Indian army had entered Pakistan.
    3. Indian news channels ran stories that India has captured Islamabad.
    4. Indian channels ran stories about suicide terror strikes in Rajouri

    All of this ‘reporting’ by major new channels was not just fake news but also inflammatory and provocative and clearly intended to ensure the very escalation (from the Pakistani side) that the Indian government has cautioned against from the outset.

    Earlier, channels described an Indian Muslim victim of Pakistani shelling in Poonch as a Lashkar-e-Tayyaba terrorist. Instead of firmly clearing the air with respect to this kind of dangerous reporting, the government issued instructions to Internet Service Providers across India to block access to The Wire — one of the largest Indian news platforms that has been reporting on the emerging situation with responsibility and restraint.

    The blocking order is unconstitutional. It is an attack on press freedom and on the right of every Indian to access information. It must be lifted immediately.

  89. 89.

    azelie

    I’m late to the thread but I have done some research that involved Augustinians in the Middle Ages.  I’m pretty sure that the Augustinian order that Pope Bob belongs to is a mendicant order like the Franciscans and Dominicans.  That means that at least in the beginning they wanted to de-emphasize property (though they quickly found loopholes, like “using” property instead of “owning” it).  In many monastic orders, people were not supposed to own anything individually but the monastery owned property and had revenue sources.  Part of the reform that the mendicant orders represented is that the monastery was not supposed to own land or have stable revenue sources, either.  Francis was the most rigorous about this.

    In the mid-thirteenth century, there were a lot of small groups that were dedicated to poverty, and the Augustinians were formed when a pope united a few of these small groups to give them more stability/definition. As such, this order has a strong tie to the papacy from the beginning.  The order is sometimes called the Augustinian Hermits (or sometimes Augustinian Friars) to distinguish them from other groups that use the Rule of Saint Augustine, though they were never really hermits.

    If people have heard of the Augustinian Hermits, it’s often because Martin Luther was in that order before his break with the Catholic Church.

    I really don’t know much about how this group might see itself in comparison to other religious orders in the modern era.  It makes me curious to look into the Augustinian Hermits beyond the 16th century. I’m guessing that the origins as a mendicant order might lead them to have a special embrace of poverty, which would resonate with Pope Francis’s orientation toward simplicity and humility.

  90. 90.

    Sasha

    This is the kind of pope that is designed to make a certain class of conservatives cry.

  91. 91.

    Frank Wilhoit

    @Sister Golden Bear: ​
     Obligatory Kipling (ca. 1890): “I have now seen Chicago. Having seen it, I urgently desire to never see it again. It is inhabited by savages. Its air is dirt.” But I think he would have cut it half a break for Malört. A warrior’s drink, he might have said. All of which is very anachronistic.

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