Balloon Juice - Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue Archives

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Another Day of Ugliness

by Anne Laurie| December 4, 20196:29 am| 137 Comments

This post is in: Impeachment Inquiry, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Trumpery, All Too Normal, Let A Thousand Watergates Bloom, Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue, Nobody could have predicted

The projection. And the abject fear. https://t.co/UOoLn5tLjt

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) December 4, 2019

I’m still like 40% convinced that if Pelosi held a press conference to announce her view that Trump is too stupid to have demanded that Ukraine investigate Biden in exchange for aid, he’d just blurt out a confession.

— Josh Chafetz (@joshchafetz) December 2, 2019

Schiff says “it’s deeply concerning” that there may have been members of Congress “complicit” in Trump seeking dirt on political foes – responding to phone logs uncovered Nunes interactions

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 3, 2019

For those who've questioned impeaching now while evidence is still unfolding, Schiff has a response: "This repeated & pervasive threat to our democratic electoral process added urgency to our work." Trump is cheating to win in 2020. Schiff felt the country couldn't afford to wait

— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) December 3, 2019

As Democrats prepare to draft articles of impeachment, "you could wind up with 3 or 4 articles," sources tell NBC News:

•One to two on abuse of power
•One on broader contempt/obstruction of Congress
•One related to the Mueller report and obstructionhttps://t.co/S86Qqnw2qo

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 3, 2019

I haven’t been able to watch all the way through this, but from what I have it’s a good, if crowded, recap:

My friend Jack Bryan with @ActMeasuresDoc has done a great service and condensed the impeachment hearings so far into an easy to digest 60 minutes. https://t.co/V6mzfyTHon

— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) December 1, 2019

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Another Day of UglinessPost + Comments (137)

Regrets, I Have a Few: Trump’s Young Black Leadership Conference

by TaMara| October 5, 201912:45 pm| 49 Comments

This post is in: Go Fuck Yourself, Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue, Someone Somewhere Is Having More Fun Than I Am

Please, please, please, someone provide a photo/video of this conference. I need to see all the young people of color at this "Young Black Leadership Summit". Because otherwise, I'm just gonna assume it's Candace and Diamond and Silk. ?

— Miss T (@TaMarasKitchen) October 4, 2019

I made a snarky response on twitter, forgetting what Trump supporters are like. Now I’m in a whirlwind of approval and equal nastiness.

But honestly? Can anyone blame me for thinking it would be another “Hispanics for Trump” and “Blacks for Trump” signs being held up by a sea of white faces?

News reports say there were 200 attendees – black, white and orange. There is a real lack of photos of the audience. Just the front two rows.

Anyway…I’m about ready to delete my tweet because I’m over the interaction. LOL, I prefer my tweets unread.

What are your thoughts on this rally?

Regrets, I Have a Few: Trump’s Young Black Leadership ConferencePost + Comments (49)

Things moving faster

by David Anderson| September 24, 20192:35 pm| 159 Comments

This post is in: Impeachment, Open Threads, Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue

We have been informed by the whistleblower’s counsel that their client would like to speak to our committee and has requested guidance from the Acting DNI as to how to do so.

We‘re in touch with counsel and look forward to the whistleblower’s testimony as soon as this week.

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) September 24, 2019

Things are moving fast. If DNI(acting) allows for testimony, the law is followed. If DNI(Acting) claims privilege, there is another article of impeachment to write up.

Open thread….

Things moving fasterPost + Comments (159)

Late Night Open Thread: New Winner in the All-time ‘Worst 9/11 Take EVAR’ Sweeps

by Anne Laurie| September 11, 201911:34 pm| 53 Comments

This post is in: Ammosexuals, Grifters Gonna Grift, Open Threads, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome, Fucked-up-edness, Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue

These two hallowed #handguns, found in the rubble of the 9/11 ruins, are a reminder that #freedom is not free. — https://t.co/PnhEQghpU2 — #NRA #NeverForget #Remember911 #FirstResponders pic.twitter.com/AoDG0nzodN

— American Rifleman (@NRA_Rifleman) September 11, 2019

.
And I, for one, sincerely hope this remains the worst take!

Ah yes, let us not forget the true victims of terrorism, the guns.

— Pizza Las Vegas (@muyrando) September 11, 2019

Their time cut short, these juvenile guns never had a chance to mature into assault rifles.

— Ethan Jacobs (@ethanjacobslaw) September 11, 2019

You, posting this: pic.twitter.com/b6u8KqeTRp

— ?Greg | Liveware Problem ? (@Greg_Sideyr) September 11, 2019

Hallowed hand guns deal +2 to damage to undead.

— Every Billionaire is a Pedophile. (@shewz) September 11, 2019

All it takes is a good handgun to stop a bad plane from flying into a building

— ?‍♂️☕️? (@bikescoffeebeer) September 11, 2019

On a scale from Golden Calf to US flag where does this fall in the idolatry hierarchy?

— ☠Techno Druid☠? (@M_Cookchin) September 11, 2019

a moment of silence for our hallowed handguns today everyone; or the shootings will continue

— Toothpetard (@Toothpetard) September 11, 2019

a nation of gun owners undone by a few guys with box cutters

— JAFO (@BadIdeaBandit) September 11, 2019

Late Night Open Thread: New Winner in the All-time ‘Worst 9/11 Take EVAR’ SweepsPost + Comments (53)

Election 2020 Open Thread: Be Careful What You Wish For, Climate Debate Edition

by Anne Laurie| August 27, 20198:03 pm| 95 Comments

This post is in: 2020 Elections, Climate Change, Open Threads, Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue

DETAILS for our seven-hour @CNN Climate Crisis Town Hall event on Sept. 4:

5pm – Castro
5:40pm – Yang
6:20pm – Harris
7pm – Klobuchar
8pm – Biden
8:40pm – Sanders
9:20pm – Warren
10pm – Buttigieg
10:40pm – O’Rourke
11:20pm – Bookerhttps://t.co/RkDJzddz3j

— Liz Stark (@stark_talk) August 27, 2019

Every interested party will watch their candidate, and only their candidate; every campaign (plus the RNC and all its dark-money donors) will assign intern(s) to watch all the other candidates’ interviews, looking for soundbites to take out of context. Joy.

… Ten Democratic presidential hopefuls will appear in New York at back-to-back town halls on Wednesday, September 4, taking audience questions about their climate plans as scientists sound the alarm about global warming.

Along with the candidates, the network also announced the CNN journalists and the approximate appearance times for the presidential hopefuls during the seven-hour, live event…

CNN previously announced that Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir will join in the questioning throughout the evening.

A CNN poll conducted in late April showed that 96% of Democrats favored taking aggressive action to slow the effects of climate change. And Democratic activists in recent weeks have sought to elevate the issue, urging candidates to make climate change a priority…

Or then again, one or more candidates will provide answers so stunning in their brilliance that all existing rankings will be overturned, and the Sunshine Movement will focus their attention on getting that candidate elected. (Now *you* tell one.)

Election 2020 Open Thread: Be Careful What You Wish For, Climate Debate EditionPost + Comments (95)

Late-Night Mobius Nest of Vipers: Jeffrey Epstein, Keyser Söze

by Anne Laurie| August 16, 20191:25 am| 25 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Open Threads, Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue, Our Awesome Meritocracy, Riveted By The Sociological Significance Of It All

My timeline is half people being shocked and appalled that the president is promoting nonsense conspiracy theories about Epstein's death and half people offering their own nonsense conspiracy theories about it. (Occasionally these are the same people.)

— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) August 11, 2019

v strange that Epstein would off himself considering his bright future of *checks notes* decades in prison for sex crimes

— The Online-Normie Complex (@canderaid) August 10, 2019

Occam's Razor says Epstein was Q.

— MCC Suicide Prevention Officer (ret.) (@agraybee) August 12, 2019

Since life is not as neatly plotted as a movie, we can be (reasonably) sure that Jeffrey Epstein actually existed, even if almost every detail of his adult life seems to be open to (mis)interpretation. Whether any of those details will be believable to future historians — assuming there are such — may depend on the survival of the term ‘Rashomon effect’…

Breaking News: One of Jeffrey Epstein's guards was not a full-fledged officer, and he was not checked on for hours in the short-staffed jail where he died https://t.co/HV6am3eQ4Q

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 12, 2019

Barr went on to say “I was hoping to obstruct justice so he could die of natural causes as a free man years from now.” https://t.co/3S7qAXQU6u

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) August 10, 2019

conspiracy theory: Barr was actually desperately and incompetently trying to keep Epstein alive because he know he’d be immediately suspected if he died https://t.co/IbdKqaPRLH

— The Online-Normie Complex (@canderaid) August 10, 2019

It's not so much that there's an actual conspiracy as it is that we have a government that likes to moderately stoke baseless, vacuum-filling conspiracy theories as a political asset.

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) August 10, 2019

Just in:
Jeffrey Epstein's guards fell asleep and falsified records to cover up their failure to check on him for three hours before he died.https://t.co/XXewTzcMe9

— Clifford Levy (@cliffordlevy) August 14, 2019

Rumsfeld finds his Lynndie England. https://t.co/S5Qc0zx9yF

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) August 14, 2019

10,000+ suicides by gun every year in the US, and half the country says, "Don't blame guns–those people would've found a way." A serial rapist with nothing to live for kills himself weeks after trying, and suddenly you're all "This doesn't add up"? Okay.

— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) August 10, 2019

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Late-Night Mobius Nest of Vipers: Jeffrey Epstein, Keyser SözePost + Comments (25)

Late Night Horrorshow Open Thread: The Repub Revanchists

by Anne Laurie| August 15, 20192:34 am| 29 Comments

This post is in: Civil Rights, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality, Decline and Fall, Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue, Nobody could have predicted

No matter how grotesquely sexist / racist / classist the GOP as a whole devolves, Rep. ‘Pigmuck’ King will strive to be that little bit worse. From the Des Moines Register – “U.S. Rep. Steve King: If not for rape and incest, ‘would there be any population left?'” —

U.S. Rep. Steve King told the Westside Conservative Club on Wednesday that humanity might not exist if not for rape and incest.

“What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were products of rape and incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that?” he said at the event in Urbandale, Iowa…

The Kiron Republican was defending his position of not allowing exceptions for rape and incest in the anti-abortion legislation he tried to pass in Congress. Republican leadership had prevented the bills he sponsored on banning abortions from advancing through the House, despite GOP support for the measures, King said…

He actually said that, in front of the cameras — there’s video. Of course the whole forced-birth ‘But what if that aborted baby would’ve been the next Einstein?’ trope has been in use for at least the last forty years, but count on Rep. Pigmuck to bring his own personal touch. And he’s not sorry, either; he insists the outcry that’s greeted his flapmouth bigotry is nothing but a plot by his enemies…

… In the hours after his remarks to the breakfast meeting, condemnation of his comments poured in from Democrats, including those running for president, as well as some Republicans…

“People think it was an organic media feeding frenzy, but no, it was orchestrated from the beginning,” he said Wednesday. “They had told me, ‘Heads up before Christmas: They’re going to try to drive you out of office and get you to resign.’ Within 24 hours, you had people saying, ‘Resign, resign, resign.’ Why? Because the New York Times misquoted me?”

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Late Night Horrorshow Open Thread: The Repub RevanchistsPost + Comments (29)

As long as McCarthy is Speaker, the House will never be in order.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

The willow is too close to the house.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

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

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

He really is that stupid.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

The words do not have to be perfect.

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

This fight is for everything.

T R E 4 5 O N

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

People are complicated. Love is not.