Balloon Juice - Open Threads Archives

It is remarkable how many people preferred a labor market with higher unemployment because it meant that people were forced to cater to their every whim to survive. The issue isn’t that nobody is working—it’s that *everybody is working*, and the guy at the desk has a better job! https://t.co/bYCIHC4Dst

— Armand Domalewski (@ArmandDoma) September 7, 2023

Again, one reason "the vibes are off" is that lots of people prefer a world where people are desperate for jobs and willing to take anything they can get. https://t.co/3qGLAJ8WVH

— Matt Darling ????? (@besttrousers) September 7, 2023

Even people with normal middle class incomes have been frustrated with the increased wealth, income, and options for people at the bottom.

They don't expect servants per se, but all the understaffed stores and restaurants are making people furious. https://t.co/fsBekaiQuR

— Mom for Gliberty (@fakegreekgrill) September 7, 2023

The eternal ‘conservative’ plaint: What good is my ‘freedom’, if I can’t use it to oppress other people?

Friday Evening Open Thread: Too Hot for AutumnPost + Comments (87)

Not a Good Day for Trump, Part Infinity + 1

by WaterGirl| September 8, 20233:57 pm| 125 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you are talking about real money!

New court filing: Trump's net worth was inflated by billions *more* than what the New York AG's office initially found.

Citing an extensive new analysis, James' office found Trump's net worth in any given year between 2011 and 2021 was overstated by $1.9 billion to $3.6 billion.

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 8, 2023

Totally open thread!

Not a Good Day for Trump, Part Infinity + 1Post + Comments (125)

Fani Willis Claps Back at Trump Chihuahua, Jim Jordan

by WaterGirl| September 8, 20231:24 pm| 153 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics

I loved that phrase so much, I couldn’t resist using it for a post.

I hope the phrase Trump Chihuahua sticks to Jim Jordan. Maybe we can do our part in making that happen?

https://twitter.com/7Veritas4/status/1699933807980228672?s=20

Direct link to PDF file if you don’t want to click on twitter.

I don’t understand the “oh my gosh, Fani Willis can’t possibly think she can try all 19 defendants together” bullshit that is coming from the internet legal eagles who otherwise appear to be in favor of prosecution.

I am not a lawyer, but I know that – if history is our guide – maybe half of those people are going to turn state’s evidence in exchange for a reduced sentence, or no sentence at all.

Can’t Fani Willis just say that as part of her response to Judge McAfee? It has the advantage of being true, and 18 of the 19 can look around and think, hmm, which set of 9 or so would I prefer to be a part of at the end of the day.

Somewhat related, I will not be surprised if we see a new Trump indictment today from blog favorite Jack Smith. It’s been so quiet for the past week, it just feels like something must be humming just below the surface.

Not really related to Trump, except that they are both narcissist and wanna-be authoritarians, are any BJ peeps planning to read the Ronan Farrow book in fairly short order? I can picture a couple of guest “book reports” about the book. Soon, though. Anyone planning to devour the book soon, who might like to share?

Totally open thread.

Update:

I just saw this, does anyone know the context? Or does it not matter who DeSantis is going to kill?

https://twitter.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1700189154351657226?s=20

Fani Willis Claps Back at Trump Chihuahua, Jim JordanPost + Comments (153)

Reaping the ‘Pro-Life’ Whirlwind

by Betty Cracker| September 8, 202310:05 am| 223 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, The War On Women, Women's Rights Are Human Rights

Because they have no regard for democracy and zero respect for women, Repubs didn’t think through the possible electoral consequences of their decades-long quest to rescind a longstanding constitutional right by overturning Roe. They gave even less thought to the healthcare ramifications — agricultural boards spend more time pondering how grazing land policy affects cattle than your average Repub lawmaker thought about the impact abortion bans have on women’s health.

So, when the Leo Court obliged and effectively made half the population second-class citizens, empowered state-level Repubs to insert themselves into millions of people’s private medical decisions, and forced healthcare providers to change standard care protocols to conform to religious dogma, Repubs were caught flat-footed by public reaction. And now they are belatedly alarmed because the Dobbs decision blowback has been measurable in most elections held since June 2022.

Public responses by individual Repubs are all over the map. House Repubs and Senator Potato Head from AL act as if governing with a mandate to ban abortion nationwide. Chickenshit candidates like Ron DeSantis sign bans in the dead of night and avoid the subject on the trail. But according to NBC News, Senate Repubs held a messaging workshop this week to try to rebrand their way out of this conundrum:

At a closed-door meeting of Senate Republicans this week, the head of a super PAC closely aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., presented poll results that suggested voters are reacting differently to commonly used terms like “pro-life” and “pro-choice” in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, said several senators who were in the room.

The polling, which NBC News has not independently reviewed, was made available to senators Wednesday by former McConnell aide Steven Law and showed that “pro-life” no longer resonated with voters.

“What intrigued me the most about the results was that ‘pro-choice’ and ‘pro-life’ means something different now, that people see being pro-life as being against all abortions … at all levels,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said in an interview Thursday.

Well, maybe those polled have seen stories about women who seek emergency treatment for miscarriages being advised to quietly bleed out in their homes until the local archbishop and megachurch pastor deem their lives sufficiently endangered to warrant medical intervention. Or maybe they’ve read about Orwellian laws that encourage random busybodies to monetize their neighbors’ deeply private situations.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said the polling made it clear to him that more specificity is needed in talking about abortion.

“Many voters think [‘pro-life’] means you’re for no exceptions in favor of abortion ever, ever, and ‘pro-choice’ now can mean any number of things. So the conversation was mostly oriented around how voters think of those labels, that they’ve shifted. So if you’re going to talk about the issue, you need to be specific,” Hawley said Thursday.

“You can’t assume that everybody knows what it means,” he added. “They probably don’t.”

Yep, that will surely do the trick because if there’s one thing all American women are demanding with a single voice, it’s additional and more specific mansplaining from Josh Fucking Hawley! (Who represents a state that bans abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest, BTW.)

Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., summarized Wednesday’s meeting as being focused on “pro-baby policies.”

Asked whether senators were encouraged to use a term other than “pro-life,” Young said his “pro-baby” descriptor “was just a term of my creation to demonstrate my concern for babies.”

These fanatical dingleberries will never land on the actual word that describes their position on reproductive healthcare, which is “anti-woman.” But it seems like many voters have reached that conclusion all by themselves. I don’t think more branding workshops will keep Repubs from reaping the whirlwind they sowed for generations, but this is America, so who knows.

Open thread.

Reaping the ‘Pro-Life’ WhirlwindPost + Comments (223)

Dank Grey Dawn Open Thread: Senator Tuberville Gets the Spotlight He Craves

by Anne Laurie| September 8, 20233:29 am| 52 Comments

This post is in: Excellent Links, Military, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality

A lot of people are saying what Senator Tommy Tuberville is doing to our troops is wrong. Not enough are saying it's STUPID.

Take it from someone who actually knows how our military works. pic.twitter.com/REk3xYUTSw

— Lucas Kunce (@LucasKunceMO) September 7, 2023

Be careful what you wish for, goes the proverb, but maybe ‘Coach Tubby’ believes his Alabama voters *like* making the United States military suffer for his ‘religious’ beliefs. His procedural obstructions have now gone well beyond a MAGAt-friendly earned-media stunt, and (Murphy the Trickster God willing) Tuberville may be looking at the pointy end of the FAFO projectile…

The Pentagon estimates that about three-quarters of the generals & admirals in the Defense Department — 650 of 852 — will be affected by @TTuberville @SenTuberville 's hold. This is having a massive affect on military readiness and U.S. national security. https://t.co/yDdJfXm2uX

— Alexander S. Vindman ? (@AVindman) September 5, 2023

Every Congressional reporter not asking Republican senators why they’re tolerating this is a cowardly hack https://t.co/uMvyuHN4gL

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) September 6, 2023

If a Democratic senator did this Republicans would scream treason https://t.co/0zLQQ3vmes

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 5, 2023

Per Politico, “Pentagon goes on the attack amid Tuberville blockade”:

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Pentagon leaders have launched a new, more aggressive campaign this week to pressure Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville into finally releasing a nine-month hold on senior military nominations they say is harming national security.

The Defense Department dispatched the civilian leaders of three branches of the U.S. military to slam the senator for the blockade, first in a WashingtonPost op-ed on Monday and then during a CNN interview on Tuesday. On Wednesday, DOD took the rare step of putting out a news story highlighting the hold’s impact on its official media webpage. Also this week, the Pentagon released a slate of new senior nominations, including for the Air Force vice chief of staff.

During the CNN interview, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro — a Cuban-born Navy veteran — went so far as to accuse Tuberville of “aiding and abetting communists.”…

While DOD leaders have continued to talk publicly about the hold through the August recess, the Pentagon is amping up the pressure on lawmakers now that the Senate is back in session. This week has seen a concerted effort to highlight to the American public how harmful the holds are, according to a senior DOD official, who was granted anonymity to discuss the strategy behind the media push.

The media strategy does not mark the first time Pentagon officials have spoken on the matter, but the volume of speeches, interviews and op-eds this week make clear the effort is intensifying.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has not spoken with Tuberville directly since a July phone call, but the Pentagon chief has engaged with senators on both sides of the aisle about the holds through the August recess, according to the official. Austin’s and Tuberville’s staff members are also in contact.

The senator, who objects to the Pentagon’s new policy of reimbursing service members who must travel to obtain abortions and other reproductive care, has shown no signs of letting up despite the new pressure campaign. He shot back at Del Toro, saying attacking him “wasn’t very smart to do.”…

Congressional Democrats at the same time ramped up their criticism of Tuberville’s hold and implored his fellow Republicans to step in, an approach that has so far come up empty.

“Basically, what Tuberville and others are saying is they don’t believe in democracy,” House Armed Services ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said at the Defense News Conference.

“If you don’t like the travel policy … get someone elected who will change that policy,” Smith said. “Don’t stop the ability of the Department of Defense to do its job.”

Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) charged that Tuberville is “flirting with disaster” through the vacancies on the Joint Chiefs resulting from the hold….

There are currently five military bases in Alabama.

There's no real reason they have to stay there. https://t.co/QlwOc84GK6

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) September 7, 2023

After Navy secretary accused Tuberville of “aiding and abetting” US adversaries, the senator told me: “It is concerning that you got people that are in secretary positions like that — that would say something like that in our country, instead of getting on the phone and calling” pic.twitter.com/LnsrSQGB52

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) September 6, 2023

Whether this is Tuberville’s real motive, I don’t know, but I have no doubt that Trump will populate the military with loyalists, and there are at least some disgruntled guys in the officer corps who would be the military equivalent of Jeff Clark. https://t.co/LUHX8cGcDq

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 4, 2023

The national anthem of these United States is the first part of a poem written by a man while aboard a warship. https://t.co/t0gT2RwfXb

— Andy (@trtx84) September 7, 2023

If a Democrat was doing what Tuberville was doing for liberal reasons, it would be the end of the Democratic Party as a major political organization for 20 years. We all know this, right?

— Starfish Unexpectedly Cancelled For Hating Hitler (@IRHotTakes) September 5, 2023

Dank Grey Dawn Open Thread: Senator Tuberville Gets the Spotlight He CravesPost + Comments (52)

Thursday Night Open Thread: GOP Buzzards Circling Their ‘Leader’ Mitch McConnell

by Anne Laurie| September 7, 20239:01 pm| 100 Comments

This post is in: GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Republicans in Disarray!, Schadenfreude, The Republican Crime Syndicate

Mitch McConnell looks like a medieval artist's depiction of the Black Death. Here's why that's a problem for Joe Biden.

— Not up for trouble, please stop asking (@agraybee) September 7, 2023

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he has no plans to retire early and has reminded his colleagues of his unparalleled fundraising prowess amid recent questions about his freeze-ups. https://t.co/dTaac0nlfj

— Axios (@axios) September 7, 2023

… Between the lines: McConnell claimed that he’s had no freeze-up incidents beyond the two documented on camera.

= Now that he’s back in D.C., he’ll repeatedly be on camera during long work days.

President Biden and McConnell were born in the same year

Biden is clearly still fit mentally and physically

McConnell is not

Age is a red herring and was always just a cudgel to go after POTUS

Republicans and many in the media are sad their go to criticism is in tatters https://t.co/omlEw8ktZT

— Qondi (@QondiNtini) September 7, 2023

No they don't, most elected Republicans(especially those in the senate) have rallied behind McConnell in the last few weeks defending his health.

But it's nice to make shit up I guess, right?

— Hewie (@dahughjestanus) September 7, 2023

show full post on front page

McConnell tries to downplay questions about his health pic.twitter.com/JQCiwRuLr9

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 6, 2023

NEW: During a closed door lunch, McConnell went over his health history & said he was given a “clean bill of health” by doctors, per Sen. Kennedy. And McConnell told GOP members he has only experienced freezing episodes twice — and they just happened to be in front of cameras.

— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) September 6, 2023

In his first press conference since freezing for the second time, McConnell says that Biden "has been too slow" in giving more aide to Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/J53oyAMrpl

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 6, 2023

Response from ‘Ex-Newsmax & Ex-OANN WH Correspondent. Named Top 10 Twitter Influencer’ with 625,000 followers:

When discussing buzzards in the GOP, Little Prince Rand will not be out-media’d:

Sen. Rand Paul does not buy the "dehydration" explanation for Mitch McConnell's "freezing" event.

“I think it’s an inadequate explanation to say this is dehydration… Well, I practiced medicine 25 years and it doesn’t look like dehydration to me, it looks like a focal… pic.twitter.com/dNp65GeHbs

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) September 6, 2023

Knife in back. Twist to come. https://t.co/PBx03JbSXf

— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) September 5, 2023

2/ Piece is also good reminder that Rand Paul is unquestionably the biggest raging cock in American politics, almost regardless of where you stand in politics. He and his dad both OG white supremacists but at least the dad had a congenial personality.

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 6, 2023

But Josh ‘Hawlin’ Arse‘ Hawley is a real contendah!

Hawley: I did not vote for Mitch McConnell for leader. He is not my choice for leader. I think we need a change. pic.twitter.com/Y2dWbYTPox

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 7, 2023

Excellent annotations from Jim Newell, at Slate:

… Some context is useful here. When Florida Sen. Rick Scott challenged McConnell for the leadership position late last year, Hawley was in Scott’s corner. And he reiterated that a number of times to reporters on Tuesday. When I asked Hawley whether it was time for McConnell to step aside as leader given his health issues, he said, “You’ll have to ask somebody who voted for him.”

In a shocking correlation, it’s the Senate Republicans who’ve had antagonistic or frosty relationships with McConnell in recent years who seem most concerned about his recent health issues hampering his ability to stay on as leader. But that’s always been a small bloc. McConnell fended off Scott’s leadership challenge last year by a 37-to-10 vote. And those 37 senators, along with several of the 10, are still in lockstep behind McConnell’s leadership.

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney won the planned response of the day.

“We might lose from Mitch McConnell 20 seconds a day,” he told reporters, “but the other 86,380 seconds are pretty darn good.”…

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who’s had a long up-and-down but more frequently down relationship with McConnell, offered a Cruzian master class in prepared ambiguity.

“The health scares he’s had were frightening,” Cruz said when I asked how concerned he was about McConnell’s leadership ability. “But age comes for us all, and Mitch is stubborn as a mule, and he’s tough. And so he’s been in my prayers in recent weeks.” (Stubborn as a mule: It works as both a compliment and a dig.)…

There had been some chatter last week from Senate Republicans about calling for a “special meeting” to discuss McConnell’s health. Since Senate Republicans already have three meetings a week in a format known as “lunch,” calling for a “special meeting” would’ve served little other purpose than to embarrass the man.

No such special meeting materialized. McConnell did, however, use the first 10 or so minutes of Wednesday’s lunch to give a personal status update. For someone so thoroughly disgusted at ever having to talk about his health, this mustn’t have been easy for him. But it appeared to have done the trick…

The most interesting part of Republicans’ lunch, though, may not have been what McConnell said or reiterated. It was the sequencing of lunch speakers. (If you’ve followed McConnell’s meticulous planning over the years, this seemed far from a coincidence.) As soon as McConnell finished speaking, Steven Law—a former McConnell aide and the chief of the “McConnell-aligned” super PAC the Senate Leadership Fund—“made a presentation about McConnell fundraising,” per Punchbowl News.

In other words: There was a reminder that McConnell controls the money…

The Pitchbot finds it unnecessary to gloss further:

‘The Devil They Know’: McConnell’s Health Issues Worry Democrats – The New York Times https://t.co/soyD5qISHY

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) September 7, 2023

And before y’all start getting bright ideas…

I keep seeing this idea. This is not legal.

Kentucky law mandates that if McConnell retires, Beshear picks someone from a list of 3, selected by the Republicans. And he is required to do this within 21 days. He does not have the ability to appoint a RINO, a Dem, or nobody. https://t.co/taK11km77t pic.twitter.com/jQbgzlXKM5

— Lakshya Jain (@lxeagle17) September 5, 2023

Thursday Night Open Thread: GOP Buzzards Circling Their ‘Leader’ Mitch McConnellPost + Comments (100)

sab on Friday Night Open Thread (Nov 15, 2025 @ 12:50am)

YY_Sima Qian on Friday Night Open Thread (Nov 15, 2025 @ 12:48am)

rikyrah on Friday Night Open Thread (Nov 15, 2025 @ 12:48am)

YY_Sima Qian on Friday Night Open Thread (Nov 15, 2025 @ 12:44am)

sab on Friday Night Open Thread (Nov 15, 2025 @ 12:37am)

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

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

You cannot shame the shameless.

The way to stop violence is to stop manufacturing the hatred that fuels it.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

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

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

In my day, never was longer.

Republicans do not trust women.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

This really is a full service blog.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

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

Mark Meadows Loses His Bid to Move to Federal Court

Friday Evening Open Thread: Too Hot for Autumn

Not a Good Day for Trump, Part Infinity + 1

Fani Willis Claps Back at Trump Chihuahua, Jim Jordan

Reaping the ‘Pro-Life’ Whirlwind

Dank Grey Dawn Open Thread: Senator Tuberville Gets the Spotlight He Craves

Thursday Night Open Thread: GOP Buzzards Circling Their ‘Leader’ Mitch McConnell