Betty Cracker – Balloon Juice

Squirrel! (Open Thread)

August 23, 2017 /108 Comments/in Critters, Domestic Affairs, Open Thread /by Betty Cracker

This squirrel was hanging out on a post near one of the bird feeders. It kept staring at me for some reason, even though I was minding my own business inside the house and am famously tolerant of squirrels raiding my feeders: I figured if I pulled out my camera, it would go away, and […]

“Back Up, You Creep”

August 23, 2017 /324 Comments/in Assholes, Election 2016, General Stupidity, Not Normal, Open Thread, Politics /by Betty Cracker

NBC obtained an excerpt of Hillary Clinton’s upcoming book, in which Clinton describes that whack moment during a town hall-style debate when Trump was lumbering around behind her like a sour-faced, spray-tanned golem: “My skin crawled,” Clinton said. “It was one of those moments where you wish you could hit pause and ask everyone watching […]

Tuesday Afternoon Open Thread

August 22, 2017 /149 Comments/in Assholes, General Stupidity, Open Thread, Politics /by Betty Cracker

I originally titled this “Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread” because it just cannot be only Tuesday. But alas, it is. Here’s a lovely shot taken by faithful reader cope of a pre-dawn Atlas rocket launch at Cape Canaveral: I’m on the opposite coast, but if it’s clear enough, I can see launches from over here on […]

Eclipse Open Thread!

August 21, 2017 /148 Comments/in Domestic Affairs, General Stupidity, Open Thread /by Betty Cracker

I saw it! I saw it! The eclipse started about 10 minutes ago in my area, will peak just before 3 PM and be over shortly after 4 PM. We have a lot of fat, puffy white clouds, which I thought were going to ruin it — and still might. But I went out into […]

Afghanistan Address Spoilers

August 21, 2017 /86 Comments/in Assholes, General Stupidity, Open Thread, Politics, Republican Stupidity, War /by Betty Cracker

Even if you don’t use Twitter, you’ve probably heard about the amazing predictive powers of Trump’s Twitter archive. For every stupid action Trump takes as president (and there are no other kind), there is an equal and opposite reaction tweet from the Trump Twitter archive. The many Trump tweets criticizing President Obama for golfing or […]

Hope Votes

August 20, 2017 /79 Comments/in Assholes, Domestic Affairs, General Stupidity, Goddamned Traitors, Not Normal, Open Thread, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Trump Crime Cartel /by Betty Cracker

Somewhere around the year 2042 or so, I hope to remove from my pocket a shimmering, translucent, flexible square about the size and weight of a hanky and use it to read this B-section article in the NEW New York Times: Hope springs eternal, mostly. And yet. Ryu Spaeth published a piece in the New […]

Moral Clarity and Vanilla ISIS

August 18, 2017 /143 Comments/in Assholes, General Stupidity, Gun nuts, MOAR GUNZ PEW PEW PEW, Not Normal, Open Thread, Politics, Republican Stupidity, This is not where you come to do your madness! /by Betty Cracker

Heather Heyer’s mom isn’t interested in talking to Trump: WATCH: "You can't wash this one away by shaking my hand and saying I'm sorry." Mother of Charlottesville victim speaks out. pic.twitter.com/vNiGNgFERi — Good Morning America (@GMA) August 18, 2017 Ms. Bro says she received “frantic messages” from Trump’s press secretaries during her daughter’s funeral (these […]