Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

The lights are all blinking red.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

The words do not have to be perfect.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

Petty moves from a petty man.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Hot air and ill-informed banter

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

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Republicans in disarray!

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

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

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Breaking the 11th

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From In The Agora:

Most holidays are occasions for celebration, but ITA announces a new holiday with a grave message. We declare today “Breaking the 11th,” in honor of Ronald Reagan’s famous 11th Commandment, “Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican.” Of course, Reagan himself often broke this rule, with good reason, and so shall we.

With Republican control of the House, Senate, and Presidency, perhaps now more than ever in recent history, it is important for rank-and-file Republicans to loudly proclaim our dissatisfaction with the way our leadership have become heady with unchecked power. Too often these days, we are asked to support the Party as an end rather than a means. And also too often, the policies, positions, and rhetoric of our elected Republicans run contrary to the principles that lead us to identify with the Grand Old Party. And, unfortunately, too often Republicans are complacent or silent in the face of such betrayal.

Heh. I think I am automatically in… My question- what is my excuse the other 30 days of the month?

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To Lay Him Down

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I had to read this several times before I believed it:

The Grateful Dead ceased to exist on Aug. 9, 1995, when the band’s lead guitarist and most recognizable figure, Jerry Garcia, died at age 53 of a heart attack at a drug treatment center. Yet 10 years later, the man and the band remain alive for millions of fans, and the once notoriously ad hoc Grateful Dead business operation has become a model for a music industry struggling with the Internet and digital democracy.

I simply have a hard time believing Jerry Garcia has been dead for ten years, and even though I am still pretty young, this just made me feel old. Indeed, all those old shows feel like a different lifetime. I still remember sitting on top of my M1A1 Abrams at Gun II in Grafenwohr when I found out that Brent Mydland had died, just a few days before Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.

Weird how it all goes by so fast. At any rate, check out the NY Times piece on the legacy of Jerry Garcia’s music.

I should probably add that the last time I saw the Dead was on June 30th, 1995, at Three Rivers Stadium in Pitsburgh. I remember the rain starting as they played a ‘rain’ set of Box of Rain, Samba in the Rain, and Looks Like Rain. Garcia was dead a little over a month later.

One of my favorite shows was in 1992 at Buckeye Lake, when the Dead and the Steve Miller Band got together for an excellent show, including an encore where they played the Baba O’Riley.

*** Update ***

Ed Cone has more. Deadheads everywhere. I wonder how many of you are aware that John Kasich was a huge Dead fan.

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No Strikes and You’re Out

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Radley Balko has a piece in the WaPo about the insanity of approach to underage drinking laws, and how MADD is encouraging underhanded and offensive police behavior.

And, if you don’t understand what kind of ‘liberties’ the police are taking to fight underage drinking, read this piece. (via Radley Balko):

Saginaw Valley State University honors student Katie Platte was 19 last year when Thomas Township Police in Saginaw County asked her and some friends to take the test, which gives an indication of a person’s blood-alcohol level. She faced a $100 fine if she refused.

“I don’t think it’s fair for young people to have to choose between a $100 fine and an invasion of privacy,” said Platte, who wasn’t drinking. “With this, you’re guilty until proven innocent.”

Another plaintiff in the suit, Ashley Berden, was forced to take a Breathalyzer when Thomas Township Police showed up at her family’s home at 4 a.m. because she had left her purse at a high school graduation party that was later busted by police, the ACLU said. The test showed the 18-year-old hadn’t been drinking.

The ACLU says Michigan is the only state in the country where pedestrians under age 21 can’t refuse an alcohol test if police don’t have a search warrant.

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Jacked Up

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Jack Shafer is shrill:

The larger point that the boneheads who so despise the media need to appreciate is that the mainstream American press is better than it’s ever been. If you don’t believe me, visit your local library and roll through a couple of miles of microfilm of the papers you’re currently familiarly with. By any comparison, today’s press is more accurate, ethical, reliable, independent, transparent, and trustworthy than ever. Skepticism is a healthy disposition in life. I wouldn’t be a press critic if I regarded the press as hunky-dory. But mindless skepticism is mainly an excuse for ignorance. Even the people who denounce the New York Times as the bible of liberals ultimately get most of their useful news from it.

Your average reader is not to be trusted because he just doesn’t know his own mind. In addition to the Jayson Blair finding, the Annenberg survey offers this gem. When asked how important it is to them to live in a country in which they can criticize the government, a resounding 81 percent of respondents say “very important” and 14 percent say “somewhat important.” The verdict is almost unanimous.

Now, one would assume that what’s good for the individual—rip into your government the best you can—would also be good for journalists, who are paid to watch-dog politicians. But the average reader can’t keep a consistent thought in his head for two minutes. When the same Annenberg survey asked if government should have the right to limit the press in reporting a story, an appalling 68 percent said either “always,” “sometimes,” or “rarely.” Only 29 percent said “never.” Let’s hope the First Amendment never comes up for a vote.

I’ve had it with all you unreliable, inconsistent, and detestable blockheads. I’ve given you every possible chance and you’ve failed me miserably. Tonight I’m ordering a custom bumper-sticker that reads, “I Don’t Trust the Mainstream Media Audience.”

Due in large part to the tone of this piece, my personal opinion of Jack Shafer just went up a few notches.

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