Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Second rate reporter says what?

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Bark louder, little dog.

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

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

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

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

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And He’s Still Rambling On…

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I only know that because I went to turn on the 10 pm news and there he was…how long has it been?

Pretty much this…

 

And I want to post what Adam said down thread:

Second, I just want to make a quick point about all the sturm and drang around whether President Biden needs to stay or go. It is important to remember that the Democratic Party today is really a coalition of what would be medium to smaller parties that have a lot of overlapping interests and objectives, but also some significant differences. As the GOP has consolidated into a party with a much narrower constituency, everyone else either finds their way to the Democratic Party of just gives up on political parties. So the Democratic Party absorbs everyone that either is not tolerated in the Republican Party of 2024 or is repulsed by it. And this gets us to the point I want to make. If this whole dispute over if Biden should remain the nominee or withdraw and turn things over to VP Harris or there should be a three week primary or the convention should just be brokered were an actual political warfare operation to break the Democratic Party into smaller parties that can’t garner a majority, what would be done differently? My professional assessment is nothing. Nothing would be done differently. Whether this really started as a political warfare operation or whether a variety of domestic and foreign actors just latched on to and amplified the vendetta that Sulzberger at The NY Times started and is pursuing because President Biden won’t give his paper an interview doesn’t really matter at this point. All that matters is the effects being achieved.

I’m off to put the ducks to bed…they’ll bitch at me because I’m late, but I got busy.

Let me know when the orchestra plays him off….

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War for Ukraine Day 876: A Brief Thursday Night Update

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Two quick housekeeping notes. First, Rosie is still doing great on her off week between treatments. Thank you all, again, for the good thoughts, well wishes, prayers, and donations.

Second, I just want to make a quick point about all the sturm and drang around whether President Biden needs to stay or go. It is important to remember that the Democratic Party today is really a coalition of what would be medium to smaller parties that have a lot of overlapping interests and objectives, but also some significant differences. As the GOP has consolidated into a party with a much narrower constituency, everyone else either finds their way to the Democratic Party of just gives up on political parties. So the Democratic Party absorbs everyone that either is not tolerated in the Republican Party of 2024 or is repulsed by it. And this gets us to the point I want to make. If this whole dispute over if Biden should remain the nominee or withdraw and turn things over to VP Harris or there should be a three week primary or the convention should just be brokered were an actual political warfare operation to break the Democratic Party into smaller parties that can’t garner a majority, what would be done differently? My professional assessment is nothing. Nothing would be done differently. Whether this really started as a political warfare operation or whether a variety of domestic and foreign actors just latched on to and amplified the vendetta that Sulzberger at The NY Times started and is pursuing because President Biden won’t give his paper an interview doesn’t really matter at this point. All that matters is the effects being achieved.

Last night, once again, the Russians launched overnight airstrikes on Kharkiv Oblast:

President Zelenskyy addressed the Fourth European Political Summit today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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Thursday Evening Open Thread (and pet habits and strategies)

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First off, in Balloon Juice pet news…

I don’t care how adorable Pete is, I am totally on Team Badger.  Sitting on your housemate’s head is a bridge too far.

And Soprano2 found her kitty!  Two doors down, yay!

So… pet strategies.

To wake me up in the morning, the kitties jump on the bed, but I ignore them if it’s too early.  Except that Mr. Bear gives me a single lick on my forehead, which I take as a declaration of love, and I say “thank you Mr. Bear, that’s so sweet.”  Phase 2 of their strategy is wake up Henry, who  then cries in his crate, right on cue, until I get up.  Which doesn’t take long because Henry has a skill at sounding desperately pathetic when they kitties have told him that it’s time to get up.

Mealtime strategy is to gaslight me into thinking I haven’t fed them, which can occasionally happen when I’m super busy with work.  But I tell them “too early!’ in a chipper tone of voice.  Which used to work.  The latest, though, is that Henry tells me that he really really really has to go out, right this minute, so I get up and walk toward the porch and then he just stands there by the kitchen.  Since I’m already up, there’s a decent chance that they get their way.

My guys can’t be the only ones who stay up late thinking of ways to get what they want.

Moving on to  mocking the creeps in the other party.

Thursday Evening Open Thread (and pet habits and strategies) 1h/t Jackie for these two pics.  And Subaru Diane for the one at the bottom!

I think maybe we should get Almost Retired’s mom to caption this photo.

And I’ll only post this one of Gaetz as a thumbnail. Click to embiggen at your own risk.

Thursday Evening Open Thread (and pet habits and strategies)
Is it possible that some plastic surgeon did this to him on purpose?  I bet the 17-year-old girls will love this look!

Has Everyone Gone Mad?

Anyhoo, (mostly) Open Thread. No discussion of will he or won’t he, should he or shouldn’t he, etc, in this thread.  PLEASE.  Lots of other threads where you can talk about that.

Oh, and I am baking peach cobbler, and it’s starting to smell really good.

I’ll add a photo once it comes out of the oven.

 

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Farts, Birds & Dogs (Open Thread)

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First, a relevant contribution to the current discourse:

Bad Janet from The Good Place with the cc stating “farting loudly.”

Ahhh! Better out than in, as my old gran used to say.

Second, I saw my first Whooping Crane in the wild today! No photo. I saw it from a moving car.

The bird was on the wing, flying maybe 50 feet overhead. At first I took it for a Sandhill Crane due to the large size, but a closer look revealed the bird to be white with black-edged wings.

Third, dogs:

Farts, Birds & Dogs (Open Thread) 2

Farts, Birds & Dogs (Open Thread)

Farts, Birds & Dogs (Open Thread) 1The photo directly above captures Badger’s fury at having his head sat upon by Pete, and you really can’t blame him…

That’s all I’ve got. Open thread!

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Alexandra Petri’s Latest

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Here’s a break from the other topic.  She nailed this one [gift link]

Now is the time for unity. Now is the time for healing. We need to stop saying things that are tearing Americans apart. Hateful, awful things like, “I, Joe Biden, am running for president of the United States.” That is not what America needs to hear right now.

It was good that Biden pulled down his ads and stopped his events and unequivocally condemned the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, but his speech was not enough. As former Republican senator Jim DeMint complained online, Biden mentioned in his speech that he was seeking reelection.

Now is just not the time for such divisive rhetoric! Now is the time to lower the national temperature. Stop raising it by saying, “I still find the things that Donald Trump has said he would do if elected scary.” That kind of language has gotten us where we are and must stop. Hush, and let us instead hear from the unifiers.

 

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Here’s Something to Look For

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Here's Something to Look For

As I mentioned in the comments yesterday, Jaime Harrison called the question on the people pressuring Biden to quit by specifying that the nomination vote will be done by August 5.  So it’s fish or cut bait, and Schumer and Jeffries have apparently both asked Biden to step aside.  If it happens, it will happen soon.  I still think it will be chaos, but I’m pretty much at the point where anything that happens needs to happen so we can regroup and get on with the business of winning elections.

Biden has COVID, which will take him off of the campaign trail for a few days.  Whether or not he steps down, what I’m looking for from his campaign is to give Kamala Harris a bigger role.  As the VP candidate, her job is to go after Trump and Vance hammer and tongs.  Vance, especially, is little known by normies, and he’s basically the worst kind of privileged white man.  The VP’s role is to fill in for the President when he’s not able.  He’s not able for a couple of days,  so she needs to hit that Yalebilly as hard as she can in the events that Biden would have attended.  And don’t doubt that she’ll get attention, because of course the press will make a huge deal of her taking over.

I think the “hit” of press speculation about Harris’ role in the campaign going forward — if it is even a hit — is worth taking to get some attention on the deep misogyny of Trump/Vance.  Vance wants to be part of the Paw Women’s Uteri Patrol, and there’s nobody better than Harris to make the case of how awful he is, and how much worse he makes the ticket.  Also, the reality is that there’s a decent chance that the VP will become the President in the next four years, no matter which ticket is elected.  Harris needs more exposure to show that she’s by far the better choice as a potential replacement for the President.

If the Biden campaign is so wrapped up in protecting him that they can’t deploy Harris, this indicates a real problem to me.

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This Will Be the Last Word on This from Me, and I’m (mostly) Outsourcing it to Eolirin

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I am heartsick at the spiraling anxiety, and angry at the own-goals.  This madness needs to stop – if not in the media, then at least in Balloon Juice threads that I put up.

So until something changes, this will be my last post related to “Biden, will he or won’t he, should he or shouldn’t he”.

We are wasting so much time and energy on this, at a time when there is so much work to be done. There is so much work to be done.  So much work, and so little time.

I’m sure there will still be plenty of Balloon Juice threads where anyone who wants to can continue to endlessly hash this out, with both sides endlessly repeating the same things, over and over, sincere people and trolls, alike.  But I’m done.  And I’m pretty sure the other side is laughing.

I am saying ENOUGH.  Please, not in the comments of my future posts.  

If you don’t like that, and you want to skip my posts, I’m okay with that.

Balloon Juice is my on-line home, and I need a safe space on Balloon Juice to talk with, and work with, my internet friends and not feel like my head is going to explode.  And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who feels that way.  When times are hard, we need our friends.  We need our allies.  We are stronger together, and it feels like this is tearing us apart.

So, here’s one last post from me – outsourced to Eolirin – where we can hash this out all day long, if you like.

Eolirin, written on July 6

Also, not to you specifically, but to everyone.

I just want to say, it is deeply fucking infuriating to me that we are in a political crisis for what is the effective equivalent of the press going “Don’t you think she looks tired?”

Even our new ditch Biden advocate isn’t complaining about a cognitive issue, they’re complaining that he looks and sounds feeble. At least some of the commentary post debate was about him struggling to finish sentences and losing his train of thought in that first 20 minutes, which can lead to some good faith questions about his ability to do the job. But the events and the interview show that that’s not actually an issue.

He’s not showing signs of dementia or cognitive failure. And people (who aren’t right wing propagandists) aren’t pushing that anymore. So now it’s all, well he’s still old and he looks old and that’s disqualifying.

We’ve got his opponent over here going off into bizarre tangents about sharks and electrocution from batteries, inbetween saying racist ass shit and promising to round up millions of brown people, and seek vengeance against everyone who’s wronged him and we’ve got people obsessing about whether someone seems feeble nevermind what they’re capable of actually doing, and this is getting enough oxygen that it feels like it has some chance of getting Biden to step aside, at least enough that he’s having to come out to say that he isn’t, over and over again? What the fucking fuck is wrong with everyone?

And so we’re moving through a political crisis because of that, that could help hand an election to a fascist with an explicit set of plans and now a preemptive okay from the supreme court to remake our government into a dictatorship.

And we’re not taking about that.

Because we’re too busy being concerned about how feeble his opponent might seem. Not that he has health problems. Not that there’s an actual issue with his ability to carry out his responsibilities. Pure fucking optics. You can’t fucking fix it because there’s nothing objective to disprove, and the goal posts on “old” are super simple to move around.

This is 100% the same as the crooked smear on Hillary.

Since there were no crimes anyone could ever actually point to there was no way to refute it. No one’s actually concerned with any kind of specific on how Biden’s visible age might affect his ability to do this job, so there’s no way to refute that it’s an issue.

You show how one specific isn’t a problem, people will move to another hypothetical and then it’s some future thing or vauge vibes and there’s nothing you can do with that. Especially when no one is willing to accept the pivot back to, THE FELON IS PROMISING TO GO FULL NAZI AND ROUND UP PEOPLE TO PUT IN CAMPS IF ELECTED, WHY DOES THIS EVEN MATTER?

This entire moment is a fucking indictment of not just our media, which is by far the worst offender, but also of our entire fucking society for being this fucking shallow and this fucking stupid, to the point that we may be literally too fucking stupid to continue to exist as a country or as a species.

I cannot fucking even.

Addendum, written on 7/17:

I want to provide a little bit of additional context here, because I’m not really interested in engaging in an argument about polling or whether dumping Biden is the better play. This isn’t about whether Biden should stay in or not.

Even if Biden is forced to step down here, even if he chooses to do that, even if it’s the right thing for him to do, everything about this is fucking stupid.

To the extent that there is a real issue here it’s that the American people can’t be trusted to make decisions based on substance, even in matters that are existentially threatening to them.

And I’ll note, that’s also the thesis of anyone wanting Harris. (I’m going to ignore the arguments from anyone calling for an open convention, because they’re stupid arguments.) Substance is irrelevant, truth doesn’t matter, Biden looks too old and feeble to be able to beat Trump, Trump’s negatives, despite being what they are aren’t similarly disqualifying, so if this doesn’t happen Trump will win, and if it’s Harris, we may have a better chance. That’s the argument for Harris. It’s the only good faith one. I’m willing to grant that most people here and elsewhere are making it in good faith.

I’m not going to say if that’s reasonable or not, because I don’t think it matters. Biden has to choose to step down for it to happen. And I think elected Democratic officials publicly calling on him to do that aren’t helping the overall cause of beating Trump. But Biden can do that if he feels he should, and if people want to lobby him in private, that’s fine. Shrug.

But still, the core of that line of reasoning, the thing that makes it make any sense, is an assumption that the American people (or at least the part of the electorate that’s going to decide the election) are fucking shallow, stupid halfwits who can’t see Hitler coming when he’s standing there with a megaphone going “It’s me Hitler!” (and yes I’m aware that the reason why things are even close enough for any of this to matter is because way too many Americans are pro-Hitler. That’s also a problem)

That’s more of a indictment of the fucking electorate, our media, and our country than it is of Biden, whatever faults you may feel he has. Everyone looking to dump him is even more forcefully making my point just by holding that position. Especially if they’re right!

Again, everything about this is fucking stupid.

THE END.

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