Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

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

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Their shamelessness is their super power.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

That meeting sounds like a shotgun wedding between a shitshow and a clusterfuck.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

We will not go back.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Fucking consultants! (of the political variety)

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

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

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How about some springtime respite?

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Hello Juicers! Reporting in from fatherhood. Camille is four months this week…
…and doing great! She’s ahead on most of her benchmarks, starting teething, and still super chill, at least by baby standards. No complaints, 10/10.

Boy it sure is a disaster out there, though, isn’t it? Fortunately I’ve got a lot to keep me busy right here. Camille isn’t even the only baby in the neighborhood…

But they grow up so fast, don’t they? Ten days later…

They weren’t even there the last time I walked by. Flown the coop! I’m an empty-nester now. Oh, and the yard is coming along really well, too. Thanks to a big assist from TaMara a couple years ago, we now have these lovely and prolific irises, which gave us quite a show this year!

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Why Raw Story (and other outlets) Make Me Crazy

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One of our commenters sent me a link to an article on Raw Story, which I appreciated because I never go to Raw Story.  They won’t even let me see an article with my ad blocker on, and their style with all the ads and flashing, etc is an assault on my eyes, and my brain!

Still, I can see that they raise an excellent point, even as I am appalled by parts of the article.  h/t Jackie

Here’s the excellent point.

Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-TX), 70, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), 77, and Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), 75, all died since March, the latest being Connolly, who died Wednesday and was the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. Eight Democrats have died since November 2022, according to Axios.

This is also noteworthy.

Young House Democrats demanded what Axios called an “age reckoning” on Thursday after a third Democrat died while in office, with some remarking that President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” passed through the chamber this week, and the “difference is the number of members who passed away.”

Here’s where it starts to make me crazy.

  • “Young House Democrats” is capitalized.  Is that an organization?  Who are the members? Is that a Dem caucus?
  • “according to the report”.  What report, no report was referenced before that.  Just a vague mention of Axios.
  •  This feels like pure gossip and shit-stirring.  No one goes on the record.
  • Is this article a reference to David Hogg?

Young Democrats demanded their older counterparts take note — and make moves, according to the report. The party’s age was “keenly felt” on Thursday as House Republicans passed their controversial tax bill by just one vote, the report said.

Several Democrats pointed to the vacancies created by the deaths as a factor.

“You see where we are, we can’t afford to lose anymore members. … We’re down three people because they passed away,” one lawmaker told Axios as the House voted on the bill.

Another told the outlet: “The tragic reality is, when … this vote passes and the difference is the number of members who passed away this Congress, I think it’s going to really infuriate many of our supporters.”

“Some folks have given their life to this place, and we’re so grateful and commend them for it — you don’t have to die in this place,” the first House Democrat said.

Another Democrat told the outlet, “we just look so f—ing out of touch,” with yet another saying they think they can “force a conversation.”

So yes, it’s absolutely noteworthy if this bill wouldn’t have passed if the Democratic members hadn’t passed.

As a party, why can’t we have a constructive conversation about this?  Let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater!

Can we have a constructive conversation about this aging issue (in the House and the Senate) on Balloon Juice?

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PA Supreme Court Election Angel Match & Action Opportunities

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We have $250 left on our Angel Match from Wapiti.   Wapiti’s Angel Match is complete!  (yay!)  We are back to 4x matching.

With the double-match for the next $6,500 or so, plus the Angel Match for the first $250, donations up to $100 per person are 6x matching.

With the double-match for the next $6,500 or so, all donations are 4x  3x  matching.

Even more critically, once that angel match is met, we will still have about *$11,000  to go in order to meet our goal for The Civics Center.

*We are at $11.6k as I type this.  Let’s say we get to $12k with the remaining Angel Match.  Our Balloon Juice Angel adds their $1k to the thermometer, that’s $13k.  And our previous BJ Angel is a “check” person, so that takes us to $14k, even though it will only show $13k in the thermometer.  That leaves $11k to go!  Can we do this?

Josie signed up with Postcards to Swing States, where you can choose your campaign or select “wherever it’s most needed“, and they sent her postcards for the Supreme Court race in Pennsylvania.

I think that’s telling – it’s outside confirmation that we are on the right track in our focus on this race.

Sign-ups for our postcard programs for this November’s elections in Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are off to a great start — click here to order those now. So far, volunteers have signed up to write 4 million postcards with us this year.

In Virginia and New Jersey, our efforts will help make sure both states elect Democratic governors and majorities in their state legislatures. In Pennsylvania, our focus is to make sure three Democratic Supreme Court justices are retained, which is critical to preserving a liberal majority on the court in one of the most important swing states.

We still need your help to write 7 million additional postcards by October. This includes our upcoming and innovative News Boosting postcard program, sign-ups for which will begin on Tuesday, June 3.

Here’s everything you need to know about this new program — or watch the section of our recent webinar that talks about it in more detail.

Read more about news boosting below.  I love this idea.

What is News Boosting?

We’ll send postcards with useful news headlines to Democratic-leaning voters in Virginia to combat disinformation and to make sure they learn about how harmful the Trump/GOP agenda is for most Americans.

What is the goal?

We’ll measure how well the postcards work to persuade voters to support Democrats, as well as the impact on overall turnout — it’s a large statistical study that will inform Democratic strategy in the post-2024 era.

How does it work?

After you sign up — starting June 3 — you’ll receive postcards with a news headline (like the one below), and instructions for exactly what to write on the back. You’ll either receive Message 1 (see below), which reinforces our credibility as the messengers; or your instructions will specify a message specific to that headline that connects to our values and models the emotion we want to elicit in those receiving the postcards (see Message 2 in the example below)

When will you mail the cards to voters?

We’re sending each voter 10 total postcards between July and October — you will receive just one headline and mailing date, and you’ll have roughly 3-5 weeks to write your cards before the instructed mailing date

Who is Informed Voters of VA?

The messenger really matters. We’re calling this new initiative Informed Voters of VA, because that reflects exactly what our goal is — to provide factual and useful news headlines to voters who might otherwise only hear disinformation.

I really like this news boosting idea and I hope this method is picked up by organizations in other states.

What do you think?

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Friday Dawn Open Thread

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I didn’t sleep worth a damn, so it’s going to be an extra long day. Spent the long hours of dark reading, mostly. First news, and when that got too depressing, short stories from one of Bill’s sci-fi anthologies.

Now that the sun is up, I spotted my first flamingo of the day — the plastic one that lives on a windowsill.

Plastic flamingo on a windowsill

Bill got it for me at Rural King, which is a kind of a redneck Walmart. It commemorates my mostly unsuccessful stint as a flamingo chaser a couple of falls ago, when I drove all over the western coast of Florida looking for flamingos that had been blown off course by hurricanes.

Here’s another type of pink bird that I see often around here for real:

A pink Roseate Spoonbill flying against a blue sky

I’ve always admired the way they use their feet for rudders in flight. When I was a kid, we almost never saw Roseate Spoonbills this far north, but now we do.

Someday, I firmly believe a flamingo will land in our lagoon, but today is probably not that day.

Open thread!

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War for Ukraine Day 1,183: A Quick Thursday Night Update

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I am still fried, which has been exacerbated by assembling something for my mom this evening. So I’m just going to run through the basics tonight as quickly as I can.

All of eastern and most of north and central Ukraine is currently – 10:40 PM EDT/5:40 AM local time in Ukraine – under air raid alert for drone swarms.

Another day, another Russian war crime:

Russian occupiers are receiving orders to kill Ukrainian soldiers who are taken prisoner, according to CNN.

Radio intercepts of conversations between Russian troops indicate that they are being instructed to execute captured Ukrainian servicemen.
t.me/c/1377735387…

[image or embed]

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) May 22, 2025 at 10:46 AM

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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Proof of Live – Ohio Meetup

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Proof of Life!

This was apparently so much fun that columbusqueen is already planning for next year’s meet-up, and I am told that you’ll all be invited.

Pics from Ohio Mom

Left to right: Ohio Mom, Ohio Dad and Manyakitty

 

From back wall to front: columbusqueen, Ohio Dad, Manyakitty, Mrs. Professor Bigfoot and Professor Bigfoot

 

Left to right: Goku, Ohio Farmer and Shaun/Temp Decloaked Lurker (all the way from Michigan!)

 

Left to right: Sab, two lurkers whose names I didn’t catch (it was noisy at Planks) so they will have to come out of hiding and identify themselves, and columbusqueen with a big wave

Camera shy: Suzanne (all the way from Pittsburgh!) and Mr. Sab

 

Starting with the red Indycar P1 hat: Ohio Farmer, lurker Shawn, lurker, Suzanne, sab, I think i see hair by the chalkboard next to sab – is that Josie? -, then columbusqueen, Ohio Mom, Ohio Dad, Manyakitty, Mrs. Professor, Professor Bigfoot, and then Goku at the head of the table.

Pic from manyakitty (taken by Mr. Sab?)

If someone wants to supply names for the bottom pic, in order, starting with the (surely not MAGA hat) red Indycar P1 hat I can add to the caption list!

Clues on names:

Take 1: Goku is at the head of the table. Ohio Farmer is wearing the red hat, Prof. Bigfoot is on the other side of Goku, Ohio Mom is next to Ohio Dad, I can’t remember nym for the woman next to Ohio Mom, or the man to her right. I think Josie is next to the man, Suzanne is next to her, then sab. The man next to Ohio Farmer is a lurker but I can’t remember his exact nym.

Take 2: Nice lurker 1 and 2, Suzanne, sab, temporarily decloaked lurker S., Ohio Farmer, Goku, Prof. B. and his lovely bride, Manyakitty, Ohio Dad, Ohio Mom, and columbusqueen!

Is this our biggest meetup ever?

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House Bill Passes (Open Thread)

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According to WaPo, Trump’s big ugly bill narrowly passed in the House a little while ago and is now headed to the Senate. Here’s the summary from the linked article:

Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, as the measure is formally known, extends trillions of dollars in tax cuts from his first term along with new campaign promises — including no taxes on tips and overtime wages — and hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending.

But the legislation, carries a hefty price tag. The latest projection from Congressional Budget Office, lawmakers’ nonpartisan bookkeeper, showed it will add $2.4 trillion over 10 years to the national debt, which already exceeds $36 trillion.

To offset the cost, the measure would slash spending on social safety net programs by more than $1 trillion over 10 years. Even then, the mammoth legislation could also force nearly $500 billion in cuts to Medicare over the next decade to keep the national deficit within legal limits, unless Congress later adjusts the limits. The legislation could strip Medicaid coverage from 8.7 million people and lead to 7.6 million more uninsured people over 10 years, CBO projected.

To sum up, billionaires like Trump, Musk, Zuckerberg, Bezos, etc., get to keep NOT paying their fair share of taxes, and ordinary citizens who depend on Medicare, Medicaid and other programs get screwed. Same as it ever was when Repubs hold power, only worse because Trump makes everything worse.

The retiree ceremonial head of state took a brief break from golf and crypto grifting yesterday to lean on House Repubs to get the bill passed. But elected Repubs interpreted Trump’s incoherent and uniformed comments on the bill in ways that confirm their priors.

In the meeting, the president scolded blue-state Republicans seeking a higher cap on state and local tax deductions (SALT), and he chided GOP hard-liners not to “f— around with Medicaid” benefits. A consensus, lawmakers said, appeared in the offing.

But lawmakers raced to put their own spin on Trump’s words. To some, the president’s comments about SALT meant refusing to raise the tax deduction, and to others, he meant accepting moderates’ demands.

To one group, his remarks about Medicaid meant searching for only egregious abuses, while another handful thought it meant finding “waste” within the program’s DNA.

A similar dynamic will probably take hold in the Senate, where a modified version of a bill that screws working people in favor of billionaires will almost certainly pass. At the policy level, right-wing “populism” is indistinguishable from the plutocratic agenda, as it was in Trump’s first term.

When millions lose healthcare, when rural hospitals close and nursing homes nationwide are shuttered, when seniors can’t access the benefits they’ve paid into for decades, etc., Trump will either ignore the situation or claim ignorance. Pretending not to know what’s happening under their own watch is a hallmark of the Trump cabinet, and it comes from the top.

I’ll contact my shitty Republican senators today to register my objections, but it feels entirely pointless. Because it is. The only thing we can do is ride this nightmare out and try to shift the balance of power through the next elections. Depressing!

***

I played hooky yesterday to attend the Tampa Bay Rays baseball game. They beat the Houston Astros 8 to 4, so the curse is lifted! (The curse was that the Rays lost every game my sister and I attended.)

Last year’s hurricanes shredded the dome at Tropicana Field in St. Pete, so this year, the team is playing at the New York Yankee’s spring training facility in Tampa, a much smaller and open air venue.

Lord, it was HOT! I’m not used to watching baseball outdoors since the Rays have played in a dome since their inception. I applied sunblock copiously and wore a hat, but I still got fried. Our plastic stadium chairs were so hot we had to pour water on them to avoid scorching our butts.

We entertained ourselves during lulls in the baseball action by watching unwary fans arrive late, sit down in their blazing hot seats and then leap up fanning their flaming hot tushes. We agreed that for the rest of the season, we’ll consider attending night games only.

Open thread!

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