Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans in disarray!

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

Second rate reporter says what?

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

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

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

People are weird.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

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

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

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

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

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This and That on a Sunday Morning

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I don’t know who this is, but he is an excellent surrogate for President   Trump   BIDEN BIDEN BIDEN BIDEN BIDEN.

I imagine this is old news by now?

Once again, we have the foxes guarding the henhouse. Sigh.
I really appreciate Sheldon Whitehouse.

This 2-minute video of Sheldon Whitehouse is devastating to Clarence Thomas. Whitehouse has to be one of the hardest working and hardest hitting senators we have.

Bernie Sanders telling the truth.

We talked about this last week, but when we did I had forgotten this very important point. I talked about Judge Henderson (conservative judge appointed by a Republican) having the most seniority, and therefore she has first dibs on writing the opinion, and I suggested that she might be slow-walking the opinion. What I had forgotten was that Henderson had voted AGAINST expediting this case. The other two voted FOR expediting the case, so they took up the case very quickly. But there are no rules about how quickly/slowly rulings have to be issued. Hoping Judge Henderson is not one more person who is willing to trash her reputation for Trump.

It seems like we might be playing the child’s tile game – with 15 numbered moveable tiles which can be moved around in a plastic frame with room for 16 tiles. Only this time, it’s not tiles we are moving around in order to get the desired result – it’s Trump cases. With the DC case officially off the docket for now (see above) it’s possible that the Alvin Bragg NY trial could move into the March slot.

Not sure how closely everyone is following this with Fani Willis.  Some may care about her choice to have an affair with a co-worker, but legally it looks like she is in pretty good shape.  We shall see.

I guess Biden did well in South Carolina.  No one could have predicted!   As far as I’m concerned, Haley should say in the race and keep bashing Trump in ways that would be hailed as unsportsmanlike if our side said it.

Open thread.

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Win, Place, Show (Open Thread)

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In the first two GOP early state primary/caucus contests, Trump notched wins with 51% and 54% of the vote, which analysts called dominating performances. And they were big wins in the sense that losers DeSantis and Haley got clobbered.

But this is what it looks like when a party leader has a unified base behind him:

Win, Place Show (Open Thread)

According to the most recent poll I can find for South Carolina, Trump is beating Haley 58% to 32% in her home state. That’s embarrassing for her, but alarm bells should be ringing at Trump HQ since Orangemandias still ain’t cracking 60% so far.

We’ve known for almost a year now that, barring a black swan event, Trump is going to be the GOP nominee. A plurality of Republican base voters are hard-core cultists, and a not-insignificant number who don’t directly worship the buffoon nonetheless experience vicarious transgressive thrills from Trump’s antics. I think of the latter as the “just want to watch the world burn” faction.

But while it remains frightening and repulsive that tens of millions of our fellow citizens are such feckless fuck-squibs, this is not a strong start for Team Trump. Maybe the candidate himself dimly senses that, which might explain why last night he begged cultists on his tumbleweed-choked, knock-off social media platform to participate in his pathetic delusion that he looks like…Elvis Presley. Who died in 1977.

Win, Place Show (Open Thread) 1

And speaking of pathetic, in South Carolina, Rep. Dean Phillips finished third behind the Crystal Blue Persuasion lady with a whopping 1.7% share of primary votes. Sadly, it appears no one loves him enough to tell him he’s humiliating himself and should slink back to the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Open thread.

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Saturday Night Open Thread

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This post is a shout to everyone who read my post earlier in the day and mentally thought to themselves “there’s no fucking way they are getting all that done” because you are tonight’s big winner. And a hearty fuck you to all of you, btw.

At any rate, to elaborate on what is going on, Joelle’s living room has the front door (that we do not use) and is connected to the galley kitchen with a door to the carport (that we do use) and on the other side connects to the hallway to the two bedrooms at the end, the bathroom in the middle, and a sun room that we call the dog room that connects to the patio and the backyard. We had a bunch of indoor outdoor 50’s tiki furniture that was gifted to her in that room that I picked up in Flagstaff a couple weeks ago.

So what we did is we threw out her aged couch and end table that she wanted to get rid of (that she put on FB marketplace and was GONE in an hour) deep-cleaned the living room, chose our paint colors from the samples we put up, and cleaned the tiki furniture and moved it into the living room temporarily. Tomorrow we are deep cleaning the sun room/dog room, and then while she is at work next week I am going to pain the sun room and the hallway. Once those are done, we will move the tiki stuff back into the sun room/dog room, and then we will paint the living room. Exhausted? Me too.

I was a spaz all day long and could not figure out what Joelle wanted me to do and she is quite frustrated with me right now, but what can I say, it’s a fucking package deal. I was unwittingly working against her because I thought we were painting the living room first- the list never got made, btw.

Another thing I keep forgetting is that I am an ogre. I would have no problem living for a week with the living room completely torn up and there being no other “space” to live. I mean I can get to the kitchen, the shower and shitter, the office, and the bed. What else do I need? Not all people ‘live’ like that or can just completely blot things out.

The other thing is that she is also very sentimental so this is all a big deal for her. I’m not so much. I look at something and scan for threats and utility, and in that order. Aesthetics follow, to varying degrees. She doesn’t think that way. She just has a different worldview that I will never fully understand but can respect and need to learn to get better at being sensitive to or in a couple years you might hear Josh Mankiwiecz on Dateline talking about a woman who slowly poisoned her husband to death by putting thallium in his topo chico. At any rate, the temporary living room with sunroom furniture while we do the other room and hallway. From the front door angling across the room to the galley kitchen:

Saturday Night Open Thread 3

A side view from one of the tiki seats against the wall.

Saturday Night Open Thread 4

And from the galley kitchen door:

Saturday Night Open Thread 5

If you look at the first picture, yoiu will see a picture of Marilyn Monroe, except it is not! It’s Joelle back in her youth when she worked in Wheeling and someone asked her to be a hair model. I think she looks like Ana de Armas in the picture:

Saturday Night Open Thread 6

At any rate, that was today. Currently I am researching textured walls to figure out what the fuck they are made of and what I can do to hang a picture or shit in them without destroying them.

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War for Ukraine Day 710: The House Majority GOP Caucus Announce’s the Abandonment of Ukraine To the World

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And there it is:

NBC has the details: (emphasis mine)

WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Republicans on Saturday that the House will vote next week on a stand-alone bill to provide aid to Israel, with no offsetting spending cuts.

Johnson made the announcement in an afternoon letter to colleagues while criticizing the impending Senate legislation that would pair Israel aid with funding for Ukraine and a package of tougher border security and asylum laws.

“While the Senate appears poised to finally release text of their supplemental package after months of behind closed doors negotiations, their leadership is aware that by failing to include the House in their negotiations, they have eliminated the ability for swift consideration of any legislation,” Johnson wrote, adding that the House “will have to work its will on these issues and our priorities will need to be addressed.”

Johnson blasted the Senate for what he called its “failure to move appropriate legislation in a timely fashion,” arguing the House needs to act in the absence of leadership from the upper chamber amid “the perilous circumstances currently facing Israel.”

“Next week, we will take up and pass a clean, standalone Israel supplemental package,” he wrote. “During debate in the House and in numerous subsequent statements, Democrats made clear that their primary objection to the original House bill was with its offsets. The Senate will no longer have excuses, however misguided, against swift passage of this critical support for our ally.”

The bill is set to include $17.6 billion in military aid to Israel “as well as important funding for U.S. Forces in the region,” Johnson’s office said. A prior bill passed by the House, early in Johnson’s speakership, would have provided $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, attached to IRS cuts that Democrats said were a poison pill.

The legislation, called the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, is set to be introduced by Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., the speaker’s office said.

The unexpected move indicates that Johnson is digging his heels in against an immigration compromise and Ukraine funding, while suggesting that Israel aid is the only part of President Joe Biden’s national security supplemental request that House Republicans are prepared to pass.

It’s unclear whether the Senate will take up a stand-alone Israel aid bill. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said he wants to start voting next week on the broader supplemental and immigration bill, with text expected to be released on Sunday.

The White House has previously signaled opposition to a stand-alone Israel aid bill, with the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, John Kirby, saying in November, “The president would veto an only-Israel bill. We — I think that we’ve made that clear.”

Johnson also, apparently, reiterated this week, in public, and caught on video that the Deity told him he was Moses.

https://twitter.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1753172582860275911

People that believe that the Deity has given them specific orders and that in carrying out those orders will ensure they are right with the Deity CANNOT be negotiated with. They can also not be deterred or persuaded using any conventional means. This is why Israel is not getting their hostages back, why the Gazans are going to be the real long term victims of that war, and why playing whack a mole with the Houthis won’t work. Also, why there will be no negotiating with Speaker Johnson or his caucus.

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

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Local Races Open Thread: Does Colin Allred Stand A Chance Against Ted Cruz?

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I know Texas is heavily gerrymandered / wired for Republicans, but Allred seems like a good legislator, which Cruz is… not. Apart from being a notorious sports jinx, looks like Cruz has decided to respond to criticism of his ‘Flight to Cancun’ epic in the most Cruz manner possible:


Per Politico:

… The Texas Republican — infamously photographed by a gawker while en route to Cancún in 2021 — is proposing a bill amendment that would offer lawmakers a dedicated security escort at airports, along with expedited screening outside of public view. That could make it much less likely that the politicians’ comings and goings would become fodder for embarrassing news reports and late-night comedy mockery.

The measure would also provide the same special treatment to federal judges and Cabinet members, as well as a limited number of their family and staff. Cruz is trying to attach the amendment to a major aviation policy bill, S. 1939, that is expected to be marked up in the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday.

Asked about the need for his amendment, Cruz told POLITICO that it’s about ensuring that political VIPs aren’t endangered as they pass through public spaces in airports. The draft says the extra security would be available to those who are currently or have previously “been the subject of a threat.”…

Political leaders’ air travels could become harder to decipher under Cruz’s draft language, which was obtained by POLITICO. The amendment would mandate that the TSA help “arrange” a security escort — which the provision says could be local law enforcement — for “the entirety of the time” the VIPs are at an airport. In addition, it would grant lawmakers under protective escort the ability to be screened without delay…

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Climate Solutions: Positive Stories On Solutions and Innovation

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I’m still not sure how I will disseminate the information I have compiled, but I’m going to just jump in. At the moment I’m fascinated with soil regeneration as a way to capture carbon and solve problems like raging wildfires, till farming/factory farming climate damage and that pesky “cows are the problem” myth (spoiler alert, it’s not the cows it’s the factory farming). There will definitely be Wooly Mammoth information and beaver rewilding to restore areas.

I’m going to embed some brief videos interspersed in this post so you can see where I’m headed.

Carbon Cowboys – Roots So Deep is the same team that produced Cabon Nation they bring all the feelz with this series of videos.

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Balloon Juice – It’s That Time Again (Daytime Peeps Version)

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Posting this again this morning for the daytime and weekend Balloon Juice peeps.

 Thanks to everyone who jumped in yesterday!

Balloon Juice went ad-free over 2 years ago, and I hope you guys still appreciate that as much as I do!

It’s been quite awhile since we’ve had one of these posts, but it’s time, because we have on-going expenses.   Web hosting is monthly, and it’s not cheap.  Other expenses are annual (dropbox, design software for the calendar and postcards, Balloon Juice email addresses, Zoom, etc.)

And we like to keep the safety net so Cole doesn’t have to worry about the “what-ifs” of surprise expenses in a no-ads world.

If you donate, I promise that not one penny of what you donate will be used to supply Henry with a never-ending supply of furry friends to snuggle with.  Pinky swear!

Balloon Juice Is Still Ad-Free

How can you help?  (But only if you can afford it!)

°If you have signed up for a monthly donation but you’re in a different financial position than you were when you signed up, please feel free to cancel your monthly donation, with our thanks for having supported the site.

°If you keep thinking you’ll set up a monthly donation, but haven’t gotten around to it, or if the timing is right for increasing your donation, this would be a great time to do it.

°  If you have a monthly donation set up through PayPal, please consider switching that to Patreon. Patreon takes taxes off the top before the funds go into John’s account, so there are no surprises at tax time.

°  Make a one-time donation to the Safety Net. It turns out that having the safety net has already been helpful, as John gets clobbered with the tax bill for the the donations that come through PayPal, etc. Before you ask me exactly how much the tax bill was, I do not know the actual amount and Cole hates to talk about money, so I am not going to press him on that.

° If you want to send a one-time check for expenses or for the safety net, send me an email message I will send you Cole’s address.  (P.O.box)

You can donate to the safety net with Patreon, Venmo, Zelle, and paper check.  And even PayPal if that’s your only option, but please mark it as personal / gift and not payment for services.

Big thanks to everyone who helps keep Balloon Juice going!

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