Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

… gradually, and then suddenly.

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

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

“They all knew.”

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

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

Petty moves from a petty man.

Let there be snark.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

We will not go back.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

You are here: Home / Elections / Local Races 2018 and earlier / Friday Morning Open Thread

Friday Morning Open Thread

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Now our President is just funning with his critics. Per NBC News:

When outgoing Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts began the final WGBH-FM radio call-in show of his tenure, he probably didn’t expect to hear a tongue-in-cheek complaint from a former resident – who now happens to be the leader of the free world.

Patrick, who has routinely done the “Ask the Governor” show during his eight years at the state’s helm, was surprised to discover that a caller “formerly of Somerville” was actually President Barack Obama, who called in to congratulate his pal, with a little ribbing first…

(Well, it’s better publicity than the other seasonal Commonwealth story making the national news… )
***********
Apart from that, what’s on the agenda as we wrap up another week?

Reader Interactions

60Comments

  1. 1.

    Schlemazel

    I have not paid attention but what kind of Governor has Patrick been? I saw a piece on him someplace recently & he seemed like a good guy.

  2. 2.

    eric nny

    I think he’s actually enjoying lame duck status. He seems to be in a good place without elections to worry about, no budget to worry about for a year (yes awful deal). I wonder what else he has up his sleeve.

  3. 3.

    raven

    It’s my bride’s birthday and I found this really cool, handmade bicycle planter! It was at a local clothing store for years and I guess they got rid of it. It is painted with a couple of pastels and has four plant baskets on it. I’m going to stick it outside the front door and surprise her!

  4. 4.

    ThresherK

    Offhandedly I don’t know whose “moderate R” govs have been worse: MA’s or CT’s.

    In MA they got Mitt, and Paul Celucci. As a Nutmegger I get to brag that one of ours went to prison.

    Tried (and failed) to get a decent card at a Hallmark store because it was next to a store I was going to*. If someone puts chocolate in your stocking, and it tastes funny, ask them if they bought it at a card store. I think the large amounts of overwhelmingly scented stuff on display there will leach into the chocolate.

    (* I’m picky about cards for my wife, and veer away from sentimental cards with more than a dozen words inside, unless it’s a quote from an author or poet. Little wonder that all the mushy cards I give her I buy in museums.)

  5. 5.

    ThresherK

    @raven: Do you get to be the hero, making her near-Christmas birthday special after a childhood of “neglect”? Cos that’d be cool.

  6. 6.

    raven

    Meanwhile they started cutting down the water oaks yesterday and the company that is doing it seems a bit shaky. Their bobcat wouldn’t start because of a dead battery, their bucket truck was in the shop so they had to scale the trees with ropes and then their big chainsaw wouldn’t start. The dude was working on it and had the air filter off so I brought him a can of carb cleaner. “I don’t really know where the carb is”!!!!!!!

  7. 7.

    raven

    @ThresherK: Nah, she had a really good childhood although she does recall when her mom gave her the same xmas present two years in a row. Actually I surprised her with a macbook air yesterday. I just put it where her (my old) plastic macbook goes and put a big Merry Christmas Card as the screen saver. I have some other stuff but I don’t like letting utilitarian stuff sit around when they could be used. . .like my new (used) camera!

  8. 8.

    David Koch

    “I’m very proud and grateful that President Obama has shown such wisdom and also I think political courage in taking these long overdue steps.” ~ James Earl Carter, Jr.

  9. 9.

    ruemara

    I’m up. Again. FedEx has been here for 9 days straight, 15 days out of the last 19. The tension from that has made my sleep a mess. Combine that with an awkward tendency for the roommate(s) to be up all hours with the lights on and I’m awake at 3 am on Balloon Juice. On the plus side, I did make what looks to be an awesome loaf of bread for a dinner tonight. I just hope I fall back to sleep now.

  11. 11.

    Mustang Bobby

    Last day at work until January 5. The final rehearsal for the one-act went well last night; we have tech on Saturday at 1:00 with the first performance later that afternoon. Fortunately I have a great cast to make the playwright (me) look good.

    In news from Karmaland, the week after our 2% raise went through, the Mustang needs a whole new tranny, the TV in the bedroom went phfft, and I suspect termites in the garage.

  14. 14.

    raven

    @ThresherK: Years ago there was a really cool painting a friend had done that she liked. I had him make a color print of it and gave it to her at a birthday dinner. When we came home I had the real deal on the wall. THAT was a good one!

    Now I have to sneak out and ge a big bow for the bike/planter!

  16. 16.

    JPL

    The top story on google news is

    Evidence in the Sony Attack suggests possible involvement by Iran, China or Russia

    hmm I wonder who wrote that headline. Could it be the bomb, bomb, bomb,guy?

    Happy Birthday Mrs. Raven.

  18. 18.

    David Koch

    @JPL: “There is some indication, and I don’t have the conclusions, but some of this anthrax attack may — and I emphasize may — have come from Iraq.” ~ Johnny Walnuts

  21. 21.

    NotMax

    Know there are some opera lovers here. Just found one of my favorite performances of Die Fledermaus on YouTube, complete. Also unusual in having the part of Prince Orlofsky performed and sung by a male.

    Still have a videotape made of this when it aired on PBS back in the early 80s. Like that one, this is subtitled in English, but the subtitles are different and not as skillfully and cleverly phrased as on the broadcast then. But that’s a minor criticism.

  24. 24.

    ruemara

    @raven: roommate’s girlfriend. She absolutely, positively has to be here overnight. Without a word to me, it seems.

    Oh, and happy birthday to the Mrs. Raven.

  25. 25.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    The landlord finally cut down the tree in front of my door, which thankfully didn’t fall down in Tuesday’s storm. My home automation is proceeding nicely and I ordered a door lock that should be compatible. On the down side, the battery in my Note8 died and won’t take a charge.

    JoeScar seems to think we should invade North Korea. I don’t think that Joe has ever been to the peninsula. The reason we can’t do anything militarily in Korea is that Seoul is 25 miles from the border and more than 10 million people live there. DPRK can’t do much to us here, but they sure can make a mess of Seoul and kill a bunch of folk.

    Happy b-day to your bride, raven.

  28. 28.

    satby

    I baked 4 smaller banana bread loaves for the neighbors that taste good but look lousy because I used instant oatmeal instead of wheat germ and didn’t discount sugar in the rest of the recipe. So now I have to bake 4 more, but first I have to go get more bananas. Ugh! But the dogs are enjoying the rare treat of banana bread.

  29. 29.

    Elizabelle

    Happy birthday, Mme Raven. Thoughtful gifts.

    PBO does a press conference today, then jets off to his pretend birth state of Hawaii.

  33. 33.

    Elizabelle

    @Mustang Bobby:

    I’d guess all America’s theatre seat commandos will get to see “The Interview”, earlier rather than later sometime in 2015. It’s got even more buzz now.

    After it’s figured out who hacked Sony.

  35. 35.

    raven

    @Violet: It’s getting funny, I put the bike right in front of the front door. I just asked her to look and see if the tree crews were parked in front. She looked out the window and didn’t even see it!

  37. 37.

    Gin & Tonic

    I suspect at least raven, and maybe someone else can help. I have a photo of some friends at a mutual friend’s plot in Arlington, and at the bottom of the stone there are two lines: “BSM W/V & OLC” then “PH AM”. I can guess the Purple Heart, but the rest is a mystery.

    And Happy Birthday to the missus.

  39. 39.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    @raven: @Mustang Bobby:

    A couple of weeks ago, my mechanic told me my transmission was shot (never knew a manual transmission could fail)

    One used transmission and 2800 bucks later, it feels like a new car.

    Protip, a $2250 car always costs more than that. I keep telling myself that a $4500 subaru might have had a failing tranny, busted steering rack, and two fucked hubs as well. Oh well.

    Good luck with the mustang. Is it under warranty?

  40. 40.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Gin & Tonic: “BSM W/V & OLC” = Bronze Star with V device and Oak Leak Cluster. The V device means that the medal was awarded for valor and the oak leaf cluster means the medal was awarded a second time (not necessarily twice for valor). PH = Purple Heart. AM = Air Medal.

  41. 41.

    Mustang Bobby

    @GHayduke (formerly lojasmo): The Mustang is a 2007 with 97K on the clock. The new tranny will have a 3-year warranty on it, which means that it will last until it is paid off. This is the first anomaly in an otherwise flawlessly performing car. I hope it’s the last for a long, long time.

  43. 43.

    danielx

    An ever so contradictory column by…..wait for it….David Brooks this am. Perhaps contradictory is the wrong term – the column title is The Union Future. Since it’s by Brooks, the uncrowned king of polite Republican bullshit, I was prepared for some tut-tutting about how unions are a bygone reminder of different times and have outlived their purpose, etc etc, and was not disappointed by the opening paragraphs:

    Over the past decades, the case for enhancing union power has grown both stronger and weaker. On the one hand, as wages have stagnated while profits have soared, it does seem that there is something out of whack in the balance of power between labor and capital. Workers need some new way to collectively bargain for more money.

    On the other hand, unions, and especially public-sector unions, have done a lot over the past decades to rigidify workplaces, especially government. Teachers’ unions have become the single biggest impediment to school reform. Police unions have become an impediment to police reform.

    Yep, there we go – in the first paragraph, yes, yes, “something is out of whack” and “workers need some new way to collectively bargain for more money”. The new way being magic unicorns and/or the three spirits of Christmas that enlightened Uncle Scrooge, perhaps, since the only thing I’ve ever heard of that caused employers to give workers more money was coercion, either by market forces (scarcity of labor) or withholding of services (strikes/slowdowns). Particularly since your average CEO of large corporate employers (Walmart or McDonalds, say) regards all issues pertaining to compensation as zero sum games – more for thee, less for me and the shareholders and therefore be grateful for the dime raise after eighteen months of employment, you miserable wretches! If you deserved more you’d be doing something else!

    Second paragraph: public employee unions bad! Barriers to reform! Bad unions! Yep, pretty much as expected, no surprises so far.

    But then Brooks goes completely off the rails into a pretty well reasoned discussion of the difficulties posed by police unions to various proposals put forward in the aftermath of the Michael Brown and Eric Garner incidents (and a host of others not mentioned). Whether it’s getting rid of bad cops*, wearing cameras, demilitarization or whatever, police unions appear to be pretty much opposed to all of them. In the first case, because union solidarity forever – gotta stick up for the brothers in blue even if they’re out and out assholes. In the second because wearing cameras “will distract officers from their duties, and hamper their ability to act and react in dangerous situations.”, meaning they really don’t want video records to impede their ability to shoot, verbally abuse, or beat the dogshit out of people with impunity. In the third, because they get a lot of expensive and deadly toys from the Feds at no cost and without public oversight and they don’t want to give those toys up whether they need them or not.

    All good points, which is why I never cease to be amazed to Brooks’ capacity for clear vision on the limited occasions when he displays it. Granted that it’s outweighed by his even more impressive capacity fir willful self-deception, but the latter is part of his meal ticket/rice bowl, which is to make Republican insanity sound semi-reasonable. An exhausting and difficult job; perhaps he does earn that six figure salary – though I’m sure he could make a lot more as a Colmestrato to Sean Hannity.

    *Further info by Conor Friedersdorf, amazingly enough. A topic of some considerable interest locally since the local gendarmes do seem to be having their issues at the moment, what with the local Gannett rag this morning reporting one cop being arrested for stealing guns and one from another agency arrested for rape.

  48. 48.

    Betty Cracker

    @raven: Happy birthday to Mrs. Raven! And what a cool gift!

    @ruemara:

    She absolutely, positively has to be here overnight.

    Hahaha! That’s so damned inconsiderate. Once in awhile is no biggie, but if “FedEx” is that constant, she should pay rent.

    I once had three roommates, and we all shared a bathroom. That’s four women all trying to shower and get ready for work in the morning with one bathroom. And one of the roommates had a “FedEx” boyfriend, which upped the bathroom competition to five. The other three of us always resented the hell out of that, though as a rule we all got along well. But still, it’s just rude and inconsiderate to do that.

  50. 50.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Omnes Omnibus: It’s funny, because I knew the guy as pretty much a weed-smoking layabout. I guess you never really know how people will act in difficult times.

  59. 59.

    cckids

    @raven:

    Now I have to sneak out and ge a big bow for the bike/planter!

    I’m late here, but I’ve just gotta say, you seem to be the most awesome spouse & partner, with a wonderful big heart.
    Also great photog skills. Your bride is lucky, and, I’m sure, happy. Good on you.

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