Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not all heroes wear capes.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

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

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Their shamelessness is their super power.

This is dead girl, live boy, a goat, two wetsuits and a dildo territory.  oh, and pink furry handcuffs.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Dear legacy media: you are not here to influence outcomes and policies you find desirable.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

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

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

How stupid are these people?

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

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69Comments

  2. 2.

    General Winfield Stuck

    There is nothing wrong with your intertrons.
    Do not attempt to adjust the web.
    We are controlling transmission.
    If we wish to make it louder,
    we will bring up the volume.
    If we wish to make it softer,
    we will tune it to a whisper.
    We will control the horizontal.
    We will control the vertical.
    We can roll the image, make it flutter.
    We can change the focus to a soft blur
    or sharpen it to crystal clarity.
    For the next hour, sit quietly
    and we will control all that you see and hear.
    We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your intertrons.
    You are about to participate in a great adventure.
    You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to.
    Teh INTERTRONS.

    And you thought you were in control.

    Bwaaa Haaaa Haaaa

  3. 3.

    Mike Kay

    Sure, longing at the tee vee, while poor Harold Ford is at the Lincoln Center in his private balcony box, texting his blonde masseuse at The Plaza with instructions on how to chill the chocolate strawberries.

  4. 4.

    SGEW

    Think I am done with the intertrons tonight . . .

    Which means we’ll soon see five or six more posts within the next few hours, right?

  8. 8.

    gwangung

    Which means we’ll soon see five or six more posts within the next few hours, right?

    If it’s about Leverage and the wonders of Ginal Bellman, we can excuse him…

  10. 10.

    Violet

    Anyone following the Late Night Wars, Part II? I’m enjoying all the comics’ takes on the whole thing. Jimmy Fallon doing his show in full Leno get up was hilarious.

    You really do have to wonder how someone as bad at his job as Jeff Zucker just keeps failing upwards. He’s destroyed everything but the infomercials.

  11. 11.

    slashdotcom

    Cole couldn’t leave the intertrons if you held a gun to his head filled with…or no, if you held a gun to Tunch’s head filled with,.. or no, Lily’s head filled with…

    I know this is a weird question since nobody here knows me and/or trusts me, but does anyone want to take on some Firebaggers with me until I decide to make dinner (i.e., for the next thirty minutes)? I feel outnumbered. I like Digby, but her readership is killing me tonight, re: her endorsement of Martha Coakley, who’s not batshit crazy like Scott Brown is.

    What I’m trying to say: blogwar anybody?

    Love, Slashdotcom.

    Also, me failz teh HTML, so copy and paste:
    digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/hitting-wall-by-digby-according-to.html

  12. 12.

    Midnight Marauder

    @Violet:

    Anyone following the Late Night Wars, Part II? I’m enjoying all the comics’ takes on the whole thing. Jimmy Fallon doing his show in full Leno get up was hilarious.

    That would be Jimmy Kimmel who did his entire show with the full Leno chin and hair (complete with a hilarious mocking “Jaywalking” segment and the band punctuating every terrible punchline from every terrible joke, one after the other).

  14. 14.

    freelancer

    @slashdotcom:

    Withdrawal happens when the person does not take the substance or engage in the activity, and they experience unpleasant symptoms, which are often the opposite of the effects of the addictive behavior
    Difficulty cutting down or controlling the addictive behavior
    Social, occupational or recreational activities becoming more focused around the addiction, and important social and occupational roles being jeopardized
    The person becoming preoccupied with the addiction, spending a lot of time on planning, engaging in, and recovering from the addictive behavior
    Signs of Addiction
    Symptoms can only be experienced by the person with the addiction, whereas signs can be observed by other people. You can never know what someone else is experiencing unless they tell you, so if you are concerned that someone else may have an addiction, look for signs as well as for symptoms.
    …
    You might see some signs in an addicted person but not others. These are signs which occur across many (but not necessarily all) addictions:
    Extreme mood changes – happy, sad, excited, anxious, etc
    Sleeping a lot more or less than usual, or at different times of day or night
    …
    Changes in energy – unexpectedly and extremely tired or energetic
    …
    Weight loss or weight gain
    Unexpected and persistent coughs or sniffles
    Seeming unwell at certain times, and better at other times
    Pupils of the eyes seeming smaller or larger than usual
    Secretiveness

  16. 16.

    Violet

    @Midnight Marauder:
    Sorry, mixed up my Jimmys. Heh. Yeah, I meant Kimmel, but typed Fallon. How did there end up being two Jimmys doing late night shows? There aren’t that many spots available to have two with the same first name.

    That would be Jimmy Kimmel who did his entire show with the full Leno chin and hair (complete with a hilarious mocking “Jaywalking” segment and the band punctuating every terrible punchline from every terrible joke, one after the other).

    The “Headlines” bit was hilarious. The headlines were so lame, he had the Jay act down cold, complete with laughing before the headline is put on the stand, and even the band had the exact same music.

  18. 18.

    Comrade Coffin

    From GOS:

    “..at 6:10 EST the day’s five hottest fundraising pages at ActBlue were all for Coakley, coming from Kerry, Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer, Balloon Juice, and Patrick Leahy.”

  20. 20.

    demkat620

    @John Cole: I love you for reminding me. I thought it started next week.

    John Rodgers is an evil, evil man. I loved the whole Weaton guest spot and all the little inside jokes Rodgers throws in there.

    Leverage is good stuff.
    Oh it’s White Collar that starts next week. Now I got it.

  22. 22.

    RedKitten

    Wish me luck — I am trying my hand at sewing a sleep sack for SamKitten, as he is outgrowing his current one. (The child is only 5 months old tomorrow, and is already 28 inches long.) Plus, I’m operating on a 1963 Singer machine that belonged to my husband’s great-aunt.

    This should be interesting. I need a beer. Just one, though, or else the kid will wind up with god-knows-what instead of a sleep sack.

  24. 24.

    JGabriel

    GOS viaComrade Coffin:

    … the day’s five hottest fundraising pages at ActBlue were all for Coakley, coming from Kerry, Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer, Balloon Juice, and Patrick Leahy.

    The John Cole of 2003 just shot himself in the face.

    .

  25. 25.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @RedKitten:

    I’m operating on a 1963 Singer machine that belonged to my husband’s great-aunt. This should be interesting. I need a beer. Just one,

    Beer + sewing machine = ouch!!

  26. 26.

    JGabriel

    Seriously, competing in fundraising, for an outside of your state Democratic candidate, with Kerry, Schumer, Durbin, and Leahy?

    You’ve come a looong way, John.

    .

  27. 27.

    Parole Officer Burke

    @JGabriel:

    The John Cole of 2003 just shot himself in the face.

    John Cole, June 24th, 2004:

    Although it was rude, and impolite, and the Democrats are going to try to make a big deal out of it, if there was anything Dick Cheney could have done to re-affirm my suppoort for the man, it was to tell Pat Leahy to “Go Fuck Yourself.”
    . . .
    I just wish he had time to throw a couple F-bombs at Ted Kennedy, Jay Rockefeller, Robert Byrd, Frank Lautenberg, and Chuckie Schumer.

  29. 29.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Rachel Maddow just said the best line anyone has said in the past 28 hours:

    “Behold Pat Robertson, the unintended consequence of your First Amendment.”

    I’m still laughing, and in awe of her writing staff for coming up with that.

  30. 30.

    Chat Noir

    @John Cole: Craig Ferguson is a scream; we finally remembered to set the DVR to record him. I like when he (or any other British comedian) does an American accent.

  32. 32.

    Parole Officer Burke

    @General Winfield Stuck: Merely thus: Mr. Cole of 2004 re-affirmed his suppoort (sic) for Dick Cheney due to Mr. Cheney’s public excoriation of Sen. Leahy, and expressed a desire for such insulting language to be directed at Sen. Schumer as well; Mr. Cole of 2009 is on a short-list of support for a Democratic candidate along with Mssrs. Leahy and Schumer (and, incidentally, has stated that he believes Dick Cheney is a war criminal).

    A “looong way” indeed.

  33. 33.

    Spork

    You need an intervention. Just stop, John. Just stop trying to tell us you’re going offline. If you need to be offline, be offline. But you sound like me arguing with my wife, “That’s it! I’m done talking about it!”. “And by the way!…”. If we get scared and worried about you, we’ll call.

  35. 35.

    Emily's Forests

    I have a golden retriever, 3 years old, adorable, very sweet . . . and I always had more than one dog in the house growing up, so I can’t stand being a one-dog person anymore. I also have two sons (ages 7 and 11) and a full-time teaching job, so I can’t really be a good doggie mommy to a dog that requires lots of grooming or fussing. My first thought was another golden, but a woman walking two goldens down our street pointed out that “two goldens is MORE THAN TWO GOLDENS” which I can believe (not that I care about the back yard anyway). My sister–who is good and reliable as far as dogs go, since she trains them at the Seeing Eye–suggested a beagle, but I’ve heard they’re a bit hyper/crazy/can leap tall buildings in a single bound.

    So, all you doggie people out there: what do you suggest? If it matters, part of the reason I asked my sister for suggestions about a smallish dog is that my smallish son asked for a dog that would “stay a puppy forever” and I finally figured out that what he meant was, “a dog that won’t outweigh me in 6 months” (my smallish boy is VERY smallish–40 lbs, 3rd percentile height and weight for seven year-olds. Evens out the biggish boy, 5’4″ and 160 at age 11 . . .). ANYWAY . . . puppy this summer! What do you think I should get???

  36. 36.

    psychobroad

    @SGEW–no shit! Gee John, you’re right, you suck at going Galt! What, were you away a whole 15 minutes? Not that I’m complaining…

  38. 38.

    Darryl

    @John Cole:

    All the networks should just simulcast Craig Ferguson for two hours every night.

    Oh hell yeah. I heart Craig Ferguson. It annoyed me when he started wearing a tie, but he’s still the best thing on late night by a country mile. He doesn’t even have to tell jokes, he’s just inherently funny.

  39. 39.

    Darryl

    January 13th, 2010 at 9:23 pm Reply to this comment
    Chat Noir
    @John Cole: Craig Ferguson is a scream; we finally remembered to set the DVR to record him. I like when he (or any other British comedian) does an American accent.

    I’m still laughing over something Ferguson said months ago.

    “Alcohol changed my life! …I changed from living in a house, to living in a dumpster.”

  42. 42.

    Max

    From Ben Smith’s blog thing @ Politico…

    A reader e-mails a passage from the Jan. 24, 2006, Cook Political Report as a reminder of how futile it is to predict the midterms this far out.

    From Cook: In the Jan. 17 issue of the Rothenberg Political Report, my good friend and competitor Stu Rothenberg upped his House projection from a 4- to 6-seat Democratic gain to 5 to 8 seats. But he also noted that there was a “bias toward even greater Democratic gains,” meaning that he thinks the most likely outcome is that Democrats pick up between 5 and 8 seats but that the likelihood is greater that the number will be higher than lower. Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report’s specialist on House races, puts it a bit wider at 4 to 8 seats, but agrees with Rothenberg that there is more upside than downside risk for Democrats. Chuck Todd, editor of The Hotline, puts his range at 6 to 8 seats… The Democrats picked up 31 seats.

    In other words, the talking heads don’t know shit.

  43. 43.

    Sentient Puddle

    So before leaving work today, I discovered that the deadline that was the root cause of all my stress (which was plenty) was pushed back two weeks without anyone letting me know. Holy crap did that make me happy.

    I’m celebrating by instead stressing out over random WoW PUGs, where the mages think casting blizzard over swarms of mobs is a good idea, the tanks constantly fuck up my (roguish) positioning, and there’s enough illiteracy to make me wonder why the fuck I ever got into the field of writing in the first place.

  45. 45.

    demkat620

    @RedKitten: What is a sleep sack? Is it a bag for your kids cause I could go for that. Or is it like the blanket sleepers with the zipper in the bottom cause they are great. Nothing like fighting with footie pajamas at three am to change a diaper.

  46. 46.

    Anne Laurie

    @Emily’s Forests:

    ANYWAY . . . puppy this summer! What do you think I should get???

    Wonderful as PUPPY! can be, given your circumstances, I’d go for an adult or near-adult dog. A dog around its first birthday still has lots of puppy-energy and cuteness, but will be able to “hold it” in a crate for more than 3-4 hours while you’re all at school/work. It won’t tire out as quickly when your sons want to spend an entire day running around & wrestling. You can have your new teenager neutered before s/he comes home with you, so you won’t have to worry about possible “challenges” between the new guy and your Golden. And if you decide to get a shelter dog, or a breed-group rescue, getting a grown-up dog will just about guarantee no “surprises” about its final size & temperament.

    The two big drawbacks to Beagles, as a general rule, is that they can be NOISY and they can be REALLY hard to train. They will howl (‘bugle’) at the worst possible time, and they can keep howling forever, and of course they’ll set your Golden to howling along in sympathy. So if you have near neighbors, how tolerant are they about noise? And part of the legendary Beagle ‘kid-friendliness’ is that they’re tough, stubborn dogs who can stand up to a pack of kids… but that same mental / physical toughness means that they don’t always have a Golden’s instinct to please, so getting them to pee outside, stay off the kitchen counters, and not yank you off your feet in pursuit of stray squirrels and fascinating odors can be a full-time job. Also, like the other short-coated sporting breeds intended to spend long hours running in all weathers, many beagle lines have a rather waxy coat that can smell pretty funky & unpleasant when they’re kept indoors, even when they’re bathed on a regular basis.

    YMMV, but I would not automatically rule out a Cocker Spaniel or a medium-sized (i.e., Mini or oversized Toy) Poodle. If you keep them “field clipped”, groomed to just-beyond-crewcut length, they’re no more trouble on a day-to-day basis than your Golden. And there are lots of small, tough terriers — many of them with rather, ahem, assertive reputations, but Cairns, Westies, and Norwich terriers can be quite as “soft” and eager to please as Goldens. Again, one advantage to choosing a not-puppy is that you’ll be able to get a better idea of that particular dog’s personality.

  47. 47.

    slashdotcom

    @ freelancer…

    See, I fail teh hyperlinks, too…

    I should note that I gave up before the half hour had expired, made dinner (delicious), and now feel better about life.

    Plus, I’m going to India in a week. Which makes me feel even better about life, if you can believe it.

    I know I used to be a lurker, but I’m going Galt nonetheless, motherfuckers, because politics is driving me bonkers these days.

    When I get back in three months, after having fallen in love with a beautiful woman, can you all promise me that we’ll have a sane political discourse? I would appreciate it.

    Thanks in advance.

  48. 48.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Yutsano: Rachel’s *Canadian*? I had no idea, and I’m usually pretty good on the “did you know so-and-so is from Canada?” game.

    But I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she came up with that herself. “Unintended consequence of the First Amendment.” Heh. Good one.

  49. 49.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Yutsano. Oh, okay. Google tells me Rachel’s mother was from Newfoundland.

    That works. (I think Canadianism, like Judaism, is matrilinear.)

  50. 50.

    mvr

    Can you throw that Coakley Act Blue link to the front again.

    I paid my dues and I want others to do the same so we reach the $10K goal ASAP.

  51. 51.

    RedKitten

    @demkat620: It actually goes over their pajamas. It’s a wearable blanket of sorts — keeps them nice and toasty without the danger of them hauling a blanket over their face.

    Here’s a pic of one.

    I’ve made good progress tonight on the one I’m making. I’ve got the neck hemmed, the shoulders sewn together and the zipper pinned in. Tomorrow night I’ll sew on the zipper, sew the two sides of the sack together, and hem the armholes, and it’s done! Not too bad considering that one Halo sleepsack is $25 + shipping, and for about $13 worth of supplies, I’ll be able to make two of them.

  53. 53.

    slashdotcom

    I think that I must quit posting comments in response to retards (it is okay for me to use this term, because I once actually took care of retards for income), otherwise I will drive myself crazy.

    Again, and since no one is listening, I love Digby. But her commenters today are overwhelmingly bad. That said, I think I won the battle, if not, alas, the war:

    digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/hitting-wall-by-digby-according-to.html

    You can also help me win. Go there, and comment, and help me win, because I’m about to pass out drunk on a Wednesday night for no apparent reason. Or, rather, no. Yes. The reason is general drunkenness.

    Good night.

  55. 55.

    Midnight Marauder

    @Brachiator:

    The InterTubes is reporting the death of singer Teddy Pendergrass at age 59.
    __
    Rest in peace, Teddy.

    Oh man. That’s a shame. I grew up on some Teddy P.

  56. 56.

    Emily's Forests

    @Anne Laurie: oooh, thank you. Yes, my whole life I’ve dreamed of puppy-from-scratch and have invariably ended up with rescue/otherwise rejected beasts and they’ve been the most wonderful thing ever. Thanks for the warning about beagles being hard to train . . . and we had Westies growing up; they’re real sweeties. This will be a fun summer!!!

  58. 58.

    asiangrrlMN

    @arguingwithsignposts: I love that little girl. I am so glad you do, too.

    @slashdotcom: I would help you out, but I have a longstanding agreement with myself that I will NOT engage the idiots. It just drives me batty, and believe me, that’s not a far drive.

    Cole, I like the fact you announce you’re going Galt and then don’t. It’s very endearing. I can haz Tunch, plz? kthxbai.

  59. 59.

    Gravenstone

    @Sentient Puddle:

    I’m celebrating by instead stressing out over random WoW PUGs, where the mages think casting blizzard over swarms of mobs is a good idea…

    Um, as a mage, if the tank shows me he can hold aggro, you can damn well bet I’ll be spamming Blizzard on any group larger than 3 (unless they’re multiple bosses, eg. ToC).

  60. 60.

    Yellowdog

    @Emily’s Forests: I have a mostly Beagle (adopted from the Humane Society-I don’t know what the mix is but he is bigger than a regular beagle). I’ve never found him to be hyper but he can be LOUD. He has, in fact, won multiple awards for vocal performance at our local Pride of Pets fun dog show. You might want to look at a bagle-a beagle/basset mix. Bassets are very laid back dogs.

  62. 62.

    mandarama

    @Emily’s Forests:

    Are you me? B/c I have 2 little boys, a golden, and a teaching job too!

    But you’re braver than I for taking on another pupster. I have two kitties as well, and I feel overwhelmed. On the other hand, goldens love to play with other dogs so much that you’ll have built-in entertainment for both. Hmm. Now I wonder if I need to adopt another golden.

    P.S. We have beagles in the neighborhood. Everyone in a 5-mile radius knows if a squirrel passes by their house.

  63. 63.

    Sentient Puddle

    @Gravenstone:

    Um, as a mage, if the tank shows me he can hold aggro, …

    In this case, not really, but I’m not entirely sure it was the tank’s fault. The mage was obsessed with running up his DPS per fight number, demanded that the tank grab as many mobs in each encounter as possible, and let loose. The mobs got more than a few swings in on him, and more than once I was tempted to just sit back and let him die.

    I don’t now, maybe a viable endgame strategy? But in the case of Blackfathom Deeps, I personally prefer something a little more traditional, where the DPS classes actually bother to manage their aggro.

  64. 64.

    Michael D.

    If you are a Verizon Wireless customer, text “HAITI” to 90999 and a $10 donation will be made. It will appear on your phone bill. Text as many times as you can afford. Also, see if your company matches your donation!

    EDIT: This is not just for Verizon customers. Sorry. Misunderstood. It’s for everyone, apparently.

  65. 65.

    Gravenstone

    @Sentient Puddle: Oh hell, I thought you were talking about the 80’s dungeons. Yeah, lower level instances the mage can’t put out the DPS required to whittle down the groups before they take a dislike to him. For a situation like that, grabbing a cold one and watching the mobs make a couple servings of mage paste is definitely called for. Then if the idiot still doesn’t get it, vote to kick his ass (assuming you’re using the PUG utility).

  66. 66.

    Hob

    Hey San Franciscicanists. What’s the deal? Is there a get-together tonight or what? I thought I followed all those discussions but never saw a decision.

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