Keep fucking that chicken…

Wow – a 4-month gap between posts is likely a new record for this humble blog. That is not going to be good for business. Indeed, that is not going to be good for anyone.

It would be quite an understatement to say that I care a great deal about this blog. Going by blogspot, the first post dates back to July 2003 — when I was but a young man (who didn’t know what he wanted to be). The times offered fertile grounds for the Sadly, No! variety of blogging, at a time when there wasn’t much of it (blogging that is — inane commentary predates this blog and the internet). Bush II was a terrible president, and those who supported him and were around in those days, whether they fancied themselves honest intellectuals (David Frum), always wrong timepieces (Bill Kristol), plain crazy alternate reality would-be economists (Donald Luskin), or those who decided that throwing away their reputation in the service of incompetent power (Colin Powell, Tony Blair), deserved every profanity-filled blog post ever written.

The army of court jesters that also appeared (Justin Darr and Amber Pawlik come to mind) was the icing on the cake. So from that day on, and thanks to a large number of extremely funny and great writers over the years, the blog continued. Eventually, as student life became working life, and as working life became married life, and married life became father of 1 and then father of 2 life, I had to, as we say at work, prioritize. So that over the last few years 99% of my contribution has been paying the bills. (Granted the traffic no longer requires much bandwidth, but a database that comprises over 800K comments and over 9,000 posts does limit low-cost options).

Fact checking Donald Trump is probably most like explaining gravity to a chicken. Neither one cares, and even if you did find the best way of explaining it ever, it wouldn’t make a difference. Some Republican officials may pretend to be shocked at Trump’s behavior, but corporations and rich folks can never have enough money so unless Trump starts pushing for an increase to the minimum wage he need not worry. As for the Fox News viewers contingent, I can’t decide if they believe everything Trump says, or if they are simply happy every one of his pronouncements is a big fat “fuck you” to people they don’t like (which is the overwhelming majority of Americans at this point). So as much as Trump and his enablers can never get enough ridicule, it’s been harder to find the time and energy to contribute.

A lot of really awesome blogs continue to be around — and while no one may care what I think, I don’t see how one gets by not reading LGM, No More Mister Nice Blog, or alicublog. Many of the blogs I read daily many moons ago are still around, though I often wonder why. When things have reached a point where your blog consists exclusively of open threads, daily reminders that self-driving cars are a stupid idea, and posts that would have been interesting had they gone on for more than 3 sentences rather than limiting themselves to Twitter-length (because why not I guess?), then why bother at all?

At various times over my years of Sadly, No! neglect I’ve come back to say I am back — only to disappear again. So my aim for this first 2018 post is simply to say hello. Let’s see what happens.

 

Comments: 31

 
 
 

Happy New Year, Sadly No! I’ve been a loyal subscriber for nearly 15 years. You inspired my inferior blog.

Also: I’m a stable genius!

 
 

Thanks. Happy new year to you as well.

 
 

Are there ways others of us in this blog corner can get involved? I recall SN being of immense comfort to me during the dubya[spit] era. I am thinking along the lines of both inviting new long form (compared to twitter) snark as well as minimizing the costs of maintaining such an important memento encased in amber. Shoot me an email?

 
 

Hello !

[ echoes ]

 
 

“I can hear you.” -Vegetable lasagna

 
 

“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”

Not sure how that applies to anything beyond the observation that things have certainly taken a turn toward the weird.

 
Pupienus Maximus
 

This place needs more profanity. Happy fucking new year!

 
 

Bonjour et Bonne Annee!

Glad that the gerbils can still spin the wheels in 2018.
Let snark be snark!

 
 

I wish the president’s lawyers had sent ME a “cease and desist” letter about my book.

I signed a copy for GW Bush, who sent me a hand-written thank you note. I have mixed feelings about that, since he’s not exactly my favorite politician.

 
 

Hey, just wanted to say, I check in from time-to-time, only b/c, yeah, like others, in the dark days of Shrub, you were a cheery spot of mirth and “fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke”. Even if you never restart regular posting again, that was an enormous boon for many, many folks.

 
 

Excellent…my muse is still on walkabout, which is a shame, because we have ourselves such a target rich environment…

Fortunately, or unfortunately I am still afoot…and waiting…

 
 

Stop blogging? Sadly, NO! Still going since June ’03 here…good to see you back on the force.

 
 

I,too, no longer have a job that allows 7 and a half hours of unsupervised internet play time, but I value the time I spent here in 2005-2007. Nice to see some of the same players.

 
 

Hello.

I’m still alive — glad all of you are too.

 
 

Fact-checking Trump and his enablers/dupes still remains necessary tho, as it will remain necessary for whoever comes after it.

So THANK YOU for all your efforts in this, and for your humanity also.

Happy to check out those other blogs as well, but also this one is great and has been great and maybe will continue to be great. I do hope so.

 
 

PENIS

 
 

This blog, The Poor Man (RIP) and The Rude Pundit (Lee’s still in business!) kept me sane through the darkest W days, when it seemed obvious to me that the “wrecking [of] all things virtuous and true” (REM) was going to proceed towards its logical, inevitable conclusion, and “the grownups” either didn’t care or were actively supporting the plundering. Now we’re all getting a good Clockwork Orange-style look at where this goes, and still the enablers are treated like ‘serious’ people whose opinions must be respected. I appreciate how exhausting it is to write about or even think about this stuff, let alone get off one’s old ass – almost 59 in my case – and actually do something about it. So – too many words – sincere thanks to you, Provider, and the others who have kept pointing out that the empire is being managed by a cadre of naked assholes. As we Buddhists say (to people whose efforts we respect), please keep at it for a long, long time!

 
 

Kids, your best weapon in the fight against hunger is the industrial slotted spoon. Green beans don’t drain themselves! Mashed potatoes need a little air now and then or they forget where they put their new lipstick. You haven’t seen it, have you?

 
 

The fact Is, TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP. You liberals hate it and I love it. America is ours again hear in the heartland. No more media bias and class warfare We win. We will throw out all the trash and that includes you, so swim to Cuba.

 
 

Back in the aughties, the comments section of Sadly, No was hands down the funniest, wittiest place on the internet. From the nym-swapping one-liners to the never-ending Gary Ruppert beat-downs, it was epic. I rarely participated, but I sure do miss lurking there. Here’s hoping the new year brings some of the old spark back.

 
 

Good to see someone’s still minding the place.

 
 

Not even for John McCain? ???

 
 

Hey,Seb, good to see you. I occasionally run into M Bouffant or the Bastard or Helmut or Provider at Alicublog but I don’t usually say much.
Sadly,No was my intro into the world of American lefties.I loved it back then and I still do because it can bring the funny like no other site can when the fun-lightning strikes.Also, where else can I get updates on The Adventures of Pups and Teh Ho in the Land of Cowboys? I miss the good times but I’m glad I was here for them
Thanks, gang.

 
 

So, um, does anyone here know if Cerberus is alive? :/

 
Enraged Bull Limpet
 

Present and pining for resurrection of the insurrection. SADLY, NO! ISREAL!

 
 

So many cool amazing thingies over the years.

What Engorged Bull Limpet said!

 
 

Also, if this is Word Press, fuck you!

 
 

Nevermind, disregard my previous comment 🙂

 
 

Ha, nice slam on Atrios. Well-deserved.

 
 

Sorry you got stuck in moderation.

 
 

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