Again, a late post. Sor-ree. The usual stuff — work, boredom, more work, Thursday night. Eastern Market After Dark, a design-festival thing that filled the neighborhood with suburbanites telling themselves they were enjoying an authentic urban experience. On the sidewalk, a DJ on every corner:
Question for the room: Do any DJs use PCs, or is DJing a Mac-only game?
Detroit-vs-Everybody is the current hip T-shirt, although based on the Detroit Hustles Harder showing last night, it might be making a comeback. Five or so years ago, everyone wanted Detroit Hustles Harder. It even inspired parodies: Detroit Hustles? Hardly. Me, I’m holding out for Grosse Pointe-vs-Everybody.
Anyway, it’s fun to get out on a school night, drink a little draft beer, watch a fashion show. My friend Dustin was trying to get me to pull a Sacha Baron Cohen, but by then my phone was blowing up with Work Problems, so work problems must be my focus today.
Fortunately? There’s much good linkage.
One of the funniest things I’ve read lately: Married role play.
Something else funny: Neil Steinberg gets reader mail. It’s useful as a guide to the People of Trump, but also as an indication of the sort of mail people send you when you write for a newspaper. People call you unbelievable names, attribute all sorts of vileness to your name. And sometimes they make you laugh. (Sometimes they turn out to be Brian Stouder.)
One reason those folks get stirred up? They’re being manipulated. Even allowing for the usual bias of editing, there’s something about this mashup of conservative media reacting to the (then-upcoming) papal visit that is sort of jaw-dropping. There are people who have this stuff piped into their home more or less all day. No wonder they’re angry.
And even though he already seems like yesterday’s mashed potatoes, Roy is always worth a read, and just the headline on his Scott Walker postmortem is worth a click.
With that? Work Problems. See you Monday.
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 25, 2015 at 8:45 am
I put my e-mail at the end of the weekly column, and it is a deep-sea trawl of a netful. You get gems, and coelacanths, and grey rubbery slime creatures.
This will amuse most, here: http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/she-said-what_1035823.html
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coozledad said on September 25, 2015 at 9:34 am
Dead-ass shit sack sued. Loses.
http://wonkette.com/594245/dead-breitbarts-ghost-forced-to-pay-up-for-murdering-shirley-sherrods-career
He was the bloated shrieking soul of the Republican party. It’s good to be reminded he’s among the rotting dead.
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Julie Robinson said on September 25, 2015 at 9:38 am
Speaking of bloated, shrieking souls, NYT says John Boehner will resign from Congress at the end of October. Buh-bye!
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 25, 2015 at 9:40 am
Hel-LO. That’s unexpected. Bye bye Boehner . . . and welcome to? No idea. I am so out of it.
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brian stouder said on September 25, 2015 at 9:40 am
Jeff – great article about Ms Coulter
Just saw a news flash that Boehner is resigning…!
I was struck by how teary-eyed he was w/the Pope yesterday
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Suzanne said on September 25, 2015 at 9:46 am
The Pope’s speech to the Congress brought out some interesting comments on Facebook. One guy was upset that that he didn’t specifically mention abortion (I thought his talk of honoring life from the womb on covered that). Others were upset that he didn’t mention Jesus in his speech (let’s see. He’s the leader of the Catholic Church. I think we know where he stands on Jesus). It wasn’t a sermon to the Congress, but a speech. I’ve been amazed at the Pope’s energy. I mean, the man is nearly as old as my parents!
And John Boehner just resigned.
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Jolene said on September 25, 2015 at 9:58 am
Not sure it’s a great thing that Boehner is resigning. He’s doing it because he can’t get the most conservative members of the House to cooperate in passing reasonable legislation on more or less any topic.
Boehner is not a great political thinker, but he was a dealmaker who, left to his own devices, could have compromised with Barack Obama in lots of areas, but he couldn’t bring his people with him.
They’re about to pass a short-term budget, but the only way it will pass is with support of the Ds. Whoever invented the Hastert rule is, in my view, an idiot, but, under present circumstances, a Speaker who must rely on the opposition is, by definition, ineffective.
When we see who comes next, we may miss him.
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nancy said on September 25, 2015 at 10:09 am
Here’s your end-of-week amusement, Alex. And anyone else. It goes on for several more paragraphs.
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Julie Robinson said on September 25, 2015 at 10:30 am
Doesn’t Boehner cry at the drop of a proverbial hat? Also, he’s Catholic.
His replacement may be worse, yes. That’s another day’s battle.
To answer Nancy’s question at the top, our son used to DJ a bit, and he’s a PC person. He never did it for money, just at parties and when he was a camp counselor, but thought it was a blast.
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Suzanne said on September 25, 2015 at 10:33 am
I do wonder if Boehner had a come to Jesus moment during the Pope’s speech yesterday. He was openly weeping during the speech and, according to news reports, his resignation came as surprise to friends and staff. Interesting to watch what happens next.
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brian stouder said on September 25, 2015 at 10:39 am
Busy morning, altogether!
Whenever it was that Nancy first came to my attention, in the ol’ News-Sentinel (had to be 5-10 years ago…errr..15-20 years ago…uhhh…25-30.. nevermind!!), she immediately struck me as the very best thing IN that paper!
My dad used to be a fan of her predecessors (Dan Luzzader?), and would occasionally spend 8 cents on a stamp to react to him with a paragraph or two…so I blame it* on my dad!
*where “it” means reading a paper and every once in awhile (so as not to be a pest) answering back…which in the age of the internet now means (as Mr Steinberg says) every goddamn day!
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coozledad said on September 25, 2015 at 10:39 am
There is no centrist wing of the Republican party. That ship sailed with Kevin Phillips’ southern strategy. The sole purpose of any remaining Republicans is, as a reactionary party, to fight efforts to change the current power structure from below. Its only policy objectives are to gather the remaining wealth of the country into the hands of a few families, incarcerate as many blacks as possible, deny blacks, and ultimately poor whites, the franchise, and pursue an end-of-days pillaging of the earth’s natural resources. John Boehner never showed any inkling of resisting these objectives. If his drunkenness and weakness can be construed as moderation, we’re hosed. I know the narrative of “moderate” Boehner is moving into the slop trough of conventional wisdom, but whatever freak he gets replaced with will get the same tongue bath, whoever he is, even if it’s a Jeff Sessions, because the rightward shifting of a national consensus is the business of our suckass news interpreting organs.
The fact we still have the same reporters and pundits on deck as we did when Bush fucked the country up shows how successful an essentially racist party has manipulated the national dialog. It’s a new Dunning school of history, thoroughly committed to whitewashing the actions of a criminal cult.
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brian stouder said on September 25, 2015 at 10:40 am
Suzanne – my bet is, this means a government shut-down is almost a certainty
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Jolene said on September 25, 2015 at 10:44 am
Here’s how a roomful of so-called Christian conservatives reacted to the news of Boehner’s resignation. Fear the future.
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Jolene said on September 25, 2015 at 10:50 am
Suzanne – my bet is, this means a government shut-down is almost a certainty
No, his resignation is what is going to prevent a government shutdown. He’ll pass the continuing budget resolution with the support of Democrats, thereby keeping the government open, but also providing a final indicator of his powerlessness among GOP House member.
He’ll then step down, as his speakership will be unsustainable after he concedes, through the budget vote, that he doesn’t have the support of a significant segment of his party.
Make sense?
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Jeff Borden said on September 25, 2015 at 10:52 am
Brian, It’s early, but from what I’ve read, Boehner’s departure will actually prevent the shutdown. Supposedly, it gives the radical right-wingers their pound of flesh this time around along with the hope they can place someone in that chair who will give in to more of their tantrums. I strongly dislike Boehner and think he is the epitome of a political hack, but this boils down to the devil you know versus the one you don’t. As hard as it is for me to type this, we may wish Boehner were still around in the near future.
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alex said on September 25, 2015 at 11:08 am
Dear Editor:
As an animal lover and long-time paid member of the Humane Society I am concerned about the impression left by the cartoon “Peanuts” carried by your paper. Readers of the cartoon could possibly get the impression that a beagle is an all-white dog with a solitary black spot on its back.
Worse still, it seems quite often that the story line of the cartoon depicts Snoopy flying his doghouse as if it were a military fighter plane and discharging weapons at an imaginary German enemy. This is wrong on so many levels. If anyone were to take these frames seriously, they might mistake the beagle for a vicious breed, and one with a predilection for selectively attacking doughy white people. This is a disservice to one of the most docile of canine breeds and I ask that the Schultz family cease and desist immediately from promoting this false impression of the beagle. Or that at the very least your newspaper stop being a party to this horrid slander.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 25, 2015 at 11:09 am
Shorter Boehner: après moi, le déluge.
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Dave said on September 25, 2015 at 11:38 am
Hilarious, Alex, you read that silly letter, too. I think, although I’m not sure, that man is a member of the family who became known for their pole vaulting abilities, perhaps the father. Carroll High School, circa 2001, may have been a classmate of my daughter.
Oh, I see our hostess linked to it.
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brian stouder said on September 25, 2015 at 11:45 am
Jolene/Jeff – ahhhhh! I see your point
And as was said – I agree that this bodes ill.
The R’s constant response to every damned question seems to be harder to the right. Their primary voters fired Eric Cantor, and their congressional caucus (apparently) fired Boehner.
Here in Indiana, when the lunatics fired Richard Lugar, they saddled themselves to a shit-for-brains stooge for the Senate (Mr ‘Rape was God’s plan’) and lost the general election…but such examples of fighting fire with fire and then getting a better outcome (despite what the fire-eaters actually wanted) sounds altogether risky and uncertain
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brian stouder said on September 25, 2015 at 12:10 pm
btw – don’t miss Nance’s link to ‘married role play’…!
It’s a great palate cleanser, for what promises to be a rocky news day
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Jeff Borden said on September 25, 2015 at 12:11 pm
When Marco Rubio announced at a fundraiser that Boehner was stepping down, the crowd erupted in cheers. As terrible as Boehner was, he at least believed in a functioning government. I think many people who follow politics have seen this kind of thing coming. GOP leadership loved the Tea Party uprising and the backlash to President Blacky Oblackma. Hell, they encouraged it, but now they can no longer control the lunatics within their own party. And the big money backers, aside from the occasional billionaire loon backing a Ted Cruz or a Scott Walker, are going to be pissed off. They want to make money, not ban abortion. They want profits, not an end to gay marriage. Too bad, rich guys. You are fucked. As are we all. . .
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beb said on September 25, 2015 at 12:57 pm
I step away from the computer for a couple hours and the whole dang internet blows up! Nancy posts a Friday page and Boehner announces his resignation. The Friday night memory hole is going to be so big that you could sweep the whole VW scandal in it and have room for the DOD’s embarrassingly negative assessment on Syria!
As a Republican who believed in a working government Boehner has to be considered a moderate, probably the last moderate in Congress. And no question whoever replaces him will make us all yearn for Boehner’s return. I’m thinking Ted Cruz as Speaker since there’s no requirement that the Speaker be in the House or even in Congress.
I don’t know about Macs, but for a time in the 90s(?) Atari’s were big for DJ. Supposedly because their timing system was not as messed up as IBM XT’s. But I have no personal experience there.
Boehner talks like he’s been thinking about this for a while, which I doubt, and I doubt that anything the Pope said yesterday had anything to do with it. More likely was that he was told there would be another insurrection and this time he wouldn’t have the votes to survive. Rather than be humiliated he’s quitting at his time and on his own terms. I fear the only way the government will continue to work is for the president to declare martial law and run the country by fiat.
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brian stouder said on September 25, 2015 at 1:47 pm
Zippidy Doo da?
Zippidy Aye?
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Brandon said on September 25, 2015 at 2:03 pm
Lucky I live Hawaii.
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Dexter said on September 25, 2015 at 2:15 pm
Il Papa Francesco was a hit at the UN, then went to Ground Zero but I ran out of time to watch that…he’ll be at a huge Mass in Philadelphia on Sunday. Next week, pope outta this country, Yogi Berra buried, back to normal.
Time to schedule a furnace inspection…the furnace is two years old now and I don’t want any funny business when the temperature plummets in just a few weeks.
🙁
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brian stouder said on September 25, 2015 at 3:51 pm
the only way the government will continue to work is for the president to declare martial law and run the country by fiat.
See, I almost missed Beb’s sly Pope reference, there…
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LAMary said on September 25, 2015 at 5:06 pm
The Pope’s favorite painting is Mary, Untier of Knots aka Mary, Undoer of Knots. Interestingly, I have been the one called upon to untangle fishing lines and undo knots in soccer cleats for years.
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David C. said on September 25, 2015 at 7:02 pm
That was some letter. I didn’t know people wrote in longhand with the caps lock on. Of course, he’s a tRump guy. I heard an interview with Frank Rich this morning. I talked about an article of his in either “The New Yorker” or “New York Magazine”, I forget which. Anyway, he said tRump has only two core convictions. First is “I am Donald tRump, and you aren’t”. Second is everything I say is right and you are stupid if you don’t agree. It’s exactly what I see in most any conservative. I have a very conservative friend and we’re fine if we don’t get into politics, and we don’t. Anyway, once he sent me some nonsense bit on Obama and I sent him back the Snopes debunking and others. His response was that even if it wasn’t factually correct it was essentially correct. In other words, he didn’t do it but it’s something he would do. So there. They’re so (straight) married to a certain set of beliefs that no amount of evidence can shake the belief. I’m not sure if the Donald even believes half the crap that comes out of his mouth, but he’s tapped into their limbic system and he’s there for good. Rich says tRump will eventually do good by essentially making the rot in the system obvious. I’m not so optimistic, myself.
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Catherine said on September 25, 2015 at 7:10 pm
This HBR article about leadership might deserve another look right about now. It explains a lot about Trump, and really the rest of ’em, and how we will deserve what we get when he’s elected. https://hbr.org/2013/08/why-do-so-many-incompetent-men
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Suzanne said on September 25, 2015 at 8:37 pm
Excellent article, Catherine. Excellent but depressing. Goes all the way back to middle school-find the loud, obnoxious kid and you will usually find a bunch of kids following him.
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Sherri said on September 25, 2015 at 9:01 pm
His response was that even if it wasn’t factually correct it was essentially correct.
A conservative friend of mine has this same sort of response. There’s a higher TRUTH, and it was embodied by the sainted Reagan.
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Deborah said on September 25, 2015 at 9:43 pm
Catherine, thanks for that link. I’m definitely sharing that.
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brian stouder said on September 25, 2015 at 10:37 pm
Sherri – that’s like that “higher law” that Ollie North and Fawn Hall
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/catching-up-with-fawn-hall/2012/04/18/gIQAipAuRT_story.html
I did not know that Ms Hall became a crack addict – but she beat that addiction, and looks none the worse for the wear.
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Deborah said on September 26, 2015 at 6:15 am
Brian, that photo with the article was from 1987. I didn’t see a current photo. But then I’m looking at it on my iPhone so I may have missed something.
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alex said on September 26, 2015 at 7:36 am
If Fawn Hall were wearing that tired ‘do in 2015 she’d pass for a crack addict.
Speaking of “higher law,” the Gipper was famous for whoppers and nobody seemed to care. Lying for the supposed greater good has since become the GOP’s stock in trade, and at this point Republican reality has become such a colossal house of cards that no undermining facts can make it fall.
As for all of the pessimism about Boehner stepping down, I’m not joining that party. What harm can the insurrectionists of the House GOP do at this point? I mean, besides further ruining the GOP’s slim chances of victory in 2016? I get the feeling that Boehner’s tears were tears of joy as he contemplated his big “fuck you” to the people who have made his life hell for the past seven years.
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coozledad said on September 26, 2015 at 9:54 am
You won’t hear any Bushies saying we need to deport this Saudi trash.
http://gawker.com/three-more-women-accuse-saudi-prince-arrested-this-week-1733162626
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Sue said on September 26, 2015 at 10:41 am
Holy gods. She feels ‘undeserving’. This is such a broad caricature that Roger Ebert would have made fun of it if this was a movie.
These are the same people who think Pope Francis is a menace.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/christian-group-honors-kim-davis-with-award/ar-AAeO1O6?li=AAa0dzB&ocid=DELLDHP
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brian stouder said on September 26, 2015 at 11:50 am
Alex – a good point, re Ms Hall’s big ’80’s hair. So I revisited Uncle Google, and on the third Google page I found this
http://www.gettyimages.ie/detail/news-photo/fawn-hall-news-photo/116750587
Which includes the ’80’s big hair, but then if you scroll down you make it to some 2012 pics, and her enduring beauty looks very like Senator Elizabeth Warren (to me, anyway).
I think the old saw about how advancing age is kinder to the looks of older men than older women is no longer true (if it ever was). Or, maybe I’ve just gotten older…
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alex said on September 26, 2015 at 12:40 pm
Advancing age is kinder to the looks of older women than the surgical scalpel, anyway.
One of the things about Fawn Hall that stood out to me was the condescension she received in those congressional hearings. They treated her as badly as Anita Hill, and that’s when they were paying her a compliment. I vaguely remember one of the old farts in Congress telling her, “Why, you don’t come across like a bimbo at all despite your name. You’re really a smart young lady.”
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 26, 2015 at 12:54 pm
In case he reads these over the weekend: my apologies to Neil Steinberg, on not having read “You Were Never in Chicago” until last night. I got it when it came out, then just never got to it, but was reminded by way of Nancy’s link on this post, and after the game got home and picked it up. If you have a connection to Chicago, if you have written for a living at all, if you like good writing in any way, you will enjoy this narrative/memoir/travelogue. And I’m really sorry I didn’t read it sooner to plug it earlier!
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brian stouder said on September 26, 2015 at 1:34 pm
Here’s a non-sequitur; a small plane crashed on the way into Smith Field, just before 4 in the morning this morning. The pilot is OK, and the passenger…..is gone.
http://wane.com/2015/09/26/police-searching-for-missing-fort-wayne-airplane-passenger/
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MichaelG said on September 26, 2015 at 2:08 pm
I wonder if Ratzi is sitting in his villa in Castel Gandolfo or wherever he is, watching Francis on the tube and eating his liver.
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alex said on September 26, 2015 at 2:52 pm
Passenger fled the scene, Brian:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/police-fire/Small-plane-crashes-in-residential-area
Returning from an extramarital excursion perhaps? I’m sure the local news will stay on top of it.
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coozledad said on September 26, 2015 at 6:02 pm
Boehner must have really got on Obama’s last nerve:
President Barack Obama said on Friday he was taken by surprise by U.S. House Speaker John Boehner’s plan to resign next month, adding that he called the Republican leader after hearing the news.
“John Boehner is a good man. He is a patriot. He cares deeply about the House, an institution in which he has served for a long time. He cares about his constituents and he cares about America,” Obama told reporters at a joint press conference with China’s president.
That is stone cold. Boehner’s going to have to flee the country.
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alex said on September 26, 2015 at 8:05 pm
Just got us some new iPhone 6ses. Wasn’t gonna but what the hell. Anyhoo, they cautioned us not to upload the new iOS 9 for a coupla weeks, even if prompted to do so, because it’s been frying peoples’ new phones. So in case any of yall bought one and they didn’t warn ya.
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brian stouder said on September 27, 2015 at 5:05 pm
Looking forward to the Super-moon/lunar eclipse tonight….although it’s a bit cloudy
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David C. said on September 27, 2015 at 6:09 pm
No eclipse for me tonight. Heavy clouds rolled in just after noon. Too bad, I don’t remember an eclipse so conveniently timed as this one.
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basset said on September 27, 2015 at 7:07 pm
sitting in a bar just down from the Ryman Auditorium right now, waiting for the Kraftwerk show to start. Janet Jackson’s on at the same time in the sports arena a block away. Cooz, what’s your over & under on who pulls out a tit first?
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Deborah said on September 27, 2015 at 8:35 pm
I’m not sure why but for some reason I watched a video of Cruz speaking at the Values Voters summit in DC this weekend. It turned my stomach and made me extremely depressed. I couldn’t make it to the end, the guy was smug and mean, what a bully. Jeff (tmmo) please tell us you would not vote for this asshole (or Trump) if either gets the nomination.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 27, 2015 at 9:47 pm
Couldn’t vote for Cruz if you gave me a fresh hot cup of black coffee for doing so (and most days, I’d do anything for a FHCOBC), and I wouldn’t vote for Trump even in return for a lifetime supply of Evan Williams. Good enough? 😉
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 27, 2015 at 9:48 pm
Clouds still thick. I’m hoping for some shredded gaps in the eastern sky, but it’s not looking promising for our #SuperBloodMoon.
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Deborah said on September 27, 2015 at 10:15 pm
The moon is disappointing in Santa Fe tonight. The foothills to the mountains blocked what we assumed might have been the dramatic blood red, harvest, super moon and now that the eclipse is in progress it just looks like a less than full moon. Ho-hum.
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jcburns said on September 27, 2015 at 11:42 pm
Alex, the new iPhone 6s COMES with iOS 9. (It wouldn’t run on anything earlier.) But they’ll be out with 9.1 in a few days to fix a bug or two.
PS: I wrote you this on my new iPhone 6s.
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