You don't have to love Bolton to know when you see a politically motivated investigation and a show trial soon to come. Serious journalists are speculating that the FBI had instructions to plant incriminating evidence. Because that's how dictatorships work. We are now at the "Darkness at Noon" phase of the coup.
I had a little softening of my opinion of him when he allegedly said "I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up" in reference to an investigation of Hunter Biden and Ukraine.
And this is the kicker. Bolton was willing to "spill the beans" for personal gain via his book deal, but wouldn't testify in front of Congress because it might hurt the party.
I don’t feel sympathy for Bolton; this is his reward for saving the good stuff for his book instead of testifying before Congress when it might’ve actually been some help. I just feel that this is just the start of the public humiliation of his enemies list.
Somehow I don't think he will go after Liz Cheney though. I mentioned this a couple months ago, but I'm not sure I would mess with the daughter of Dick Cheney and I think they know that (granted they are pretty stupid people).
The man who brought us the "Brooks Brothers Riot", thus inaugurating the concept of using violence to prevent the election of a Democrat, is now on the hit list of Trump--the would be beneficiary of the concept. Can one OD on irony?
I’m pretty sure Mr Bolton will be fine. With all of the incredible royalties from his (kind of) recent book, he can afford legal representation. It’s the people being held in crocodile concentration camps that I will lend my sympathies to. I’m not advocating or approving the Trump Bureau of Intimidation’s actions or tactics. But when it comes to updating my ‘Sympathy Pie’ allocations, Mr. Bolton only gets the same crust crumbs as poor Eye-Leen Habba-Dabba-do.
Bolton's case is just part of an emerging pattern of how Trump and his sycophants intend to treat his critics. We've already seen the extraordinary EO calling on DOJ to investigate Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs. Everyone on Kash Patel's enemies list should be worried - and not only them.
Agree 100%. And that (even the likes of a John Bolton, arch-conservative) is exactly the point, I guess. I have no doubt they will attempt something similar with { crooked } Hillary, Barack {Hussein} Obama, the Bidens, Gov. Newsom. Maybe even Swifty! No Figure will be safe - and they’ll use Bolton as a false equivalent that they will intimidate anyone, regardless of party affiliation, “investigation” and indictment for any, ‘crimes against the state’. It’s how authoritarians operate and is the natural progression of ending the liberal democratic order and replacing it with a, ‘dear leader’ for life. Many of these moves will occur in concert with multi-layered efforts to win, and in the event they lose, delegitimization of the mid-terms and consolidation of power. Please accept my apologies for any perception of my default setting of flippancy. I recognize the dire circumstances that we are living in.
I am with you. The Overton Window has shifted significantly. Still, in the absence of responsible foreign policy people that have experience, integrity, and credibility...Bolton in charge of some policy decisions, particularly in regard to Russia? Yes.
I don't have sympathy. He dislikes trump a lot, even though he went to work for him. He has more spine that all GOP members of Congress, governors, and state AGs.
But he also wanted to have a books and not talk to the Jan 6th committee. He went on TV specifically to trash Biden and trump. He is making cash talking and writing. And he wanted government security paid for by the taxpayers.
I have never been a Bolton fan. One thing that concerned me was that he appeared to be a bomb thrower who might get us into a shooting war. I also never thought he was corrupt or a traitor; just misinformed! IMHO corrupt and ignorant Trump is far more of a threat than John Bolton has ever been. Bolton at least has integrity. Donald Trump has none!
There was a time I thought Bolton's criticisms of Trump might wake up some of the MAGA faithful, but it turns out they have a special hatred for former supporters who turn against them.
We should have seen this coming once Liz Cheney became a liberal darling, and we found ourselves saying "in retrospect, maybe W. wasn't so bad?" You'll know we've reached the end point when the Nixon hagiography starts gaining steam.
I really feel uncomfortable with Liz Cheney-bashing. It's true that I would never have agreed with any of her policies, but she showed courage in becoming a front-line opponent of Trump, and she willingly sacrificed her career to speak against him. Even a lot of Dems haven't shown that much courage. Concepts like 'good' and 'bad' are ALWAYS relative, and they also always shift as situations change. I say this as a retired psychologist.
I agree. I'm not advocating for Liz Cheny bashing; it's just strange that she's become beloved the left (despite being opposed to most of the democrat's policy positions) simply because she has the courage of her convictions. It's just sad that the bar is now so low for conservative politicians.
You do make a good point…. I guess the almost wholesale abdication of their values by the R party makes her stand out. Plus there are plenty of Dems who have yet to show her kind of courage. I disagree with her politics but admire her as a person. Don’t disagree that the bar is very low now!
Thanks for the lightness of the Cracker Barrell story and this was hilarious: "It’s just that younger consumers are nostalgic for their own childhoods, not Chuck Grassley’s" And could not have been more succinct
Based on the photo, it looks like Grassley is endorsing Cracker Barrel as the ideal location to host a 70-year high school reunion party. MAGA folks should be pleased to know that there is a place for their great-grandparents to sit down and socialize, and eat foods that they are mostly uninterested in putting into their own mouths.
The funny thing is I hadn’t eaten at Cracker Barrel in almost 2 decades until a few months ago by accident. When I used to drive across the country, I sometimes stopped at Cracker Barrel if it was convenient. I went to one a few months ago because a friend was treating me to breakfast after I drove him to a hospital appointment in east Mesa, Phoenix metro, which has an older population (admittedly I’m 67). I admit I enjoyed the biscuits (no gravy) and coffee.
We have a Cracker Barrel in our city, and the only time that I've been there in the last ten years or more was to get my mother a hearty Thanksgiving dinner platter with traditional foods that she likes. In contrast I usually wind up at Culver's, for a burger-and-fries basket that is cheaper and a quicker in-and-out in a busy life. Which is pretty much the essence of the problem that Cracker Barrel faces, especially the fact that those under age 50 or so didn't really grow up with or learn to care about comfort food. I like its meals, but it's not a place that fits my lifestyle at this point. MAGA's objections simply sound petulant and out of touch with reality.
Who has time to wait 30 or 40 minutes to eat breakfast any more? Outside of a few holiday occasions, most folks have a lines deep weekend agenda of things to do and places to be.
Stopped at a Cracker Barrel a while back. (It was, as noted, conveniently just off the highway.) Didn't want to, but choices were limited. I hadn't been in one of those places in many years.
Wanted a salad. There was one on the menu, but it sucked. A bowl of lettuce. Kind of like they needed one to satisfy the niece with the green hair that got dragged to the Cracker Barrel because that's where grandma likes to eat. There wasn't anything else on the menu I would have considered eating. Everything was covered in gravy or involved biscuits of some kind. Lots of deep fried stuff. Grits.
My kids -- college age -- would NEVER go to a Cracker Barrel.
Again, as noted, this chain isn't catering to current dining tastes. They've tried to change the menu to fix that problem and the right wing MAGA loons jumped all over them. So now they're stuck. They want and need to change, but find they can't (or don't have the runway for it). They're on the path of Howard Johnson's and Big Boy at this point.
I think Denny's might have a different franchise model. (Just speculating here...) Our local Denny's is pretty good and they've taken a kind of "America's Diner" approach. The place was recently remodeled, so it looks good. They serve diner food, but there's pretty much something for everyone there. (When I want a salad, they have a decent one.) Decent food, decent prices, decent service, clean restaurant, open all night... It probably helps that ours is across the parking lot from a movie theater.
Anybody remember Stuckeys? Another southern chain off the highways. My sister and I both remember them from our childhoods. (We're in our early 70's now.)
My appreciation of Andrew’s brilliant writing and wit has only increased the more I read his work, but nonagenarian Chuck Grassley catching a stray this morning brought me unreasonable joy.
As a 35 year old, I lost interest in Cracker Barrel when they stopped serving real maple syrup. I took my son a few years ago, and while he loved the checkers and rocking chairs it was clear that they were cutting corners food wise (the free biscuits of my childhood had also disappeared).
I know this angers corporate America, but constantly making your product worse will discourage a subset of consumers from patronizing the business.
And not just in the restaurant setting. Today, first time in a long time, I had a Hostess cupcake. It is literally half the size that they were when I was a kid. What the hell? Poor value for the money for anyone with a memory bank that goes back more than a few years. I'll buy something else next time and remember the reason why.
Just remembered this... the last time I went there, with my sister and cousin last summer (at which point we decided the food really was not very good), I thought it was hilarious that some of the menu items boasted of having 'a hint of margarine'!
I remember sitting in a piano bar decades ago where a band was playing something along the lines of Ain't She Sweet and A Bicycle Built for Two and the other customers were singing along. My thought at the time was than 40 years hence that same piano bar would be playing In-A-Godda-Da-Vida, Smoke on the Water and Satisfaction - and here we are.
It's ridiculous seeing right wingers go nuclear ape shit over a moderate rebrand of a store they don't care about and never go to. None of these shitposters has been to a Cracker Barrel in their entire adult lives, yet suddenly decluttering the shop is some Woke affront that is the biggest travesty of the 21st century. This is the world social media has bequeathed us. Thank you Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg, and all the rest.
Cracker Barrel has been on a slow decline for many years. Its primary demographic has been dying off and no new demographic has stepped in to replace it. The pandemic probably accelerated the process.
If some of these belly-aching MAGAts actually went to a Cracker Barrel and spent some of the monthly federal benefits they'll soon be cut off from, then perhaps everything would be peachy-keen at Cracker Barrel and they'd be no need to rebrand and modernize their image and their menus. But doing that would require a 30-minute waddle to the car sitting in the driveway, then raising holy-heck because Cracker Barrel didn't have enough mobility scooters available for them. Nope. It's far easier to park their wide-load butts in front of the computer, use the special-order keyboard with the big buttons (to accommodate each of their Costco hotdog-sized fingers), and repeat whatever message they heard from their favorite right-wing Grifter, all while munching on buckets of Uber Eats-delivered processed glop that's actually worse than the processed glop they serve at Cracker Barrel.
I could go my whole life and be violently happy if "influencers" fell off of the edge of their own flat earth. In my own simple mind I'm thinking of all the normal, nice people I meet in my neighborhood and I can't see them believing all the hate BS generated by these folks. Then I read some of the comments on our Nextdoor sites and YIKES!
some google hit ... "Some 43 percent of Cracker Barrel guests are at least 55 years old, while just 23 percent are under the age of 34, according to company data."
and thar's ur problem. well not to mention the gop among other institutions are in a similar crash n burn decent. can't happen fast enough i say.
Yet again we see that the movement of F Your Feelings is stunningly thin-skinned about anything that they don't want to see or hear, with no end to their ability to both create scarecrow enemies and whip up their passions over trivial things that rational, active adults can't find the time and energy to care about.
If that is the biggest concern that they have, they have remarkably soft and easy lives. I wish I were that lucky on any given day.
There are people with way too much time on their hands and a system that rewards them. I have to be selective in what I spend time on outside work and family&friends. These people (commenters and their followers) appear to have infinite time and there's somehow a source of money that feeds the content creators. Follow the money and this cloaca will go away.
tai I know several people who have met Bolton, who do not share his views they all say he is a likeable decent person. I suspect the problem the administration has with him is that his outlook is based on facts and they don’t understand why he would distance himself from them.
I only saw him on TV. He obviously knows his stuff but I had a hard time understanding him saying he was going to vote for Dick Cheney after Liz endorsed Kamala. But I appreciate him speaking out against Trump and we must support him fighting persecution by the regime.
I don’t think he’s in real danger. This is a roundabout way to whitewash Trump’s crimes. After all, it was such a big deal that FBI agents “raided” Maralago a few years ago. Now it’s not such a big deal. Trump can say “See! The FBI raids people wrongfully all the time.”
Most people will not follow the logic and will just swallow the explanation that raiding Trump was “lawfare”.
Great analysis by Andrew this morning. This line is going to stick with me for a while: "The rage at “wokification” is actually despair at the vanishing image of a past that was imaginary to begin with."
It’s funny that MAGA calls liberals snowflakes. The MAGA movement is about feelings. Seriously, go check X. The MAGA conservatives time is spent whining about Cracker Barrel, Bud Light, Chik Fil A and etc. everything and I mean everything with MAGA is projection.
I was born in 1942 and clearly remember traveling on dirt roads and reading Burma Shave signs but no kitsch hanging on kitchen walls. Our one phone hung on a wall though.
Side with Hitler???? It amazes me that after all we know about the horrors perpetrated by the Third Reich, there are still morons like Professor Collum who make such ignorant and asinine statements like the one he did. In July I went on a Normandy Campaign tour in France, and one of the sites we visited was the Abby d’Ardenne Massacre Memorial, where the murderous thugs of the 12th SS Panzer Division executed 20 Canadian soldiers in cold blood, one by one. Their individual pictures line the outside wall of the Abby, with a list of all their names. And Professor Cullum believes that we should have fought alongside the SS and the Wehrmacht, who were collectively responsible for some of the worst atrocities in history? Perdition to him and all the other Nazi fanboys out there.
I saw those films in the 60’s in college. To this day, I can’t unsee them. To give credibility to any fool who refuses to acknowledge the horror the NAZI’s inflicted on humanity, is to be one with Nazis and inhuman.
These people need to visit Normandy or a few of many sites in Europe related to WWII and the Holocaust. My emotions when at these places go on overload. But, maybe these people have no hearts, are all psychopaths. Not sure what other explanation besides utter stupidity there can be.
Tucker would be writing speeches for Goebbels. Others would be considering how efficient Zyklon B is and how cheap. And they could use crematoriums for heating in the winter.
I wish I could say the above was sarcasm, but I really think it would be true.
Yes, absolutely! My feeling is that every American should visit Normandy to understand the sacrifices that all the Allies made to defeat one of the most evil regimes in history. And having visited Auschwitz-Birkenau a few years ago, I believe that every human being should go there and bear witness to that dark chapter of human history.
Let the record very clearly reflect that John Bolton on October 2024 felt the need to muse about not writing in Dick Cheney for president (very brave and intellectually sound!) on the basis of Cheney’s endorsement of Harris. He also said this:
“I am not going to vote for either Harris or Trump. Neither one are qualified to be president,” he argued.
So while I continue to fear the erosion of our rights, my tears shed for JB are pretty low in quantity. To be fair, maybe he was also concerned about egg prices and state intervention in the economy.
As his memoir title, Bolton borrowed “The Room Where It Happened,” from a song in “Hamilton.” Though the phrase is a perfect fit, it represents an annoying example of how the right wing reaches across the aisle to select tidbits of culture created by the progressives whom they otherwise abhor.
“We wonder, though, whether Trump’s venture onto TikTok will sour him on the place faster than U.S. law or the warnings of security experts could. His posts are, of course, getting a lot of traction—but every single one is also being buried instantly by a monsoon of flippant mockery in the comments. Maybe the big guy will decide the kids’ app isn’t so noble after all.”
Make no mistake, I bet the group of investors who will ultimately buy TikTok will be led by Kushner and Trump will have a 10% stake (at least). And the sad part is what Trump will give China in return. Let that sink in!
That said, when it comes to being “above the law,” oh, the irony:
Can you find me 11,700 votes
Egypt, illegally gives $10 million to Trump’s 2016 campaign; investigation killed by Barr
Sending Fake electors to the Capitol
J6th pardons/insurrection
Lying about taking TS/SAP documents from the Whitehouse and refusing to give them back
SCOTUS’s unconstitutional immunity clause
SCOTUS justices taking bribes: Winnebago’s and million dollar vacations.
Exactly; however, in the same breath he said, “you can’t introduce “intent” for any criminal charges done outside the scope of his “normal” duties”; HUH????
It can be, but SCOTUS decided intent can’t be introduced. It’s their way of making it impossible to charge him with a crime. It’s more protection from any future prosecution.
These right-wingers viewed his criminal record as an affront on their party, never mind he was guilty as hell. It’s confounding!…:)
I guess "lightness" is in the eye of the beholder. I know exactly why you described today's column as "light;" I am not completely clueless or humorless, at least on my better days. But because of the relative unimportance of the subject, the report on the by now predictable and de rigeur response of the MAGAts is just terminally depressing.
I'm just flat out sick of their whining, their faux grievances, their even faux-er outrage, the complete merger of "DEI" with any and every woman or person of color no matter what their qualifications (not that they even bother to check qualifications, all they need is a picture), the oversensitivity that makes their "snowflake" insult ironic, and the constant madness of living turned up to 11. "Further evidence that the end is near" used to be a cute-ish response to all of this, but nobody even says that anymore because the tsunami is overwhelming.
MOCKERY. Gavin Newsom has it right. These wastes of space deserve nothing bot MOCKERY. We tried reasoning, sympathy, and helping them out. None worked. Trigger the fck out of them and mock them mercilessly. No more sanewashing, bothsidesing, etc. They don't deserve them.
Seriously, this. I have also started calling them politically incorrect words that I put away some decades ago because I know it gets under their skin.
This is it. No more kid gloves. Sanewashing etc. Does not work. Did you notice how insane this looks when Newsom does it? Insane enough for Fox (!!!!) to start bitching. Didn't bother them when orange ooze was going all caps batshit crazy, and the throngs of mouthbreathers followed. Let's go guys. No mercy. There are TONS of material out there to use. South Park & Newsom for the win.
It should be noted Cracker [sic] Barrel has the best pancakes in the United States. It's a great place to eat cheapo slop and buy Cheerwine and weird candy.
When I drove long-distance, it was a decent place to pull off, get non-fast food, write postcards to friends, and buy said postcards. Last time I was in one, I couldn’t find any postcards. Food didn’t seem as good, but there’s still more choice than Mickey D’s. If you’re traveling, in a town for a family whatever, it’s often one of only a few options. It filled a need. The new logo is pretty blah from a design standpoint. The old one was messy and could have used cleaning up. Don’t mistake noise from a few for genuine thought/emotion/concern. That’s perhaps been the biggest problem and benefit of the internet age: amplification truly a double-edged sword. I didn’t see any sources on sales, store closings, customers, etc. if they are in slow decline, maybe that has more to do with other changes than a logo and DEI.
I hate that this administration is making me even consider sympathy for John F'ing Bolton.
This FBI raid of Bolton's home is an ominous development. I can't shake the feeling that we are over the cliff already.
You don't have to love Bolton to know when you see a politically motivated investigation and a show trial soon to come. Serious journalists are speculating that the FBI had instructions to plant incriminating evidence. Because that's how dictatorships work. We are now at the "Darkness at Noon" phase of the coup.
Agreed
Check out Rick Wilson's latest (this morning) on YouTube. He's spitting nails.
We are and it is irreparable. Ask conservative Judge Luttig. We can't wait until 2026. We must stop the destruction NOW.
It just underscores the extent to which it's not about mere policy differences any more.
I had a little softening of my opinion of him when he allegedly said "I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up" in reference to an investigation of Hunter Biden and Ukraine.
And warning Fiona Hill to CYA 'cause Rudy G and his quest for Ukraine dirt on Biden was a grenade about to go off.
And he still refused to talk to Congress about any of it.
And this is the kicker. Bolton was willing to "spill the beans" for personal gain via his book deal, but wouldn't testify in front of Congress because it might hurt the party.
it was at that point bolton became dead to me.
You’re in good company…:)
I don’t feel sympathy for Bolton; this is his reward for saving the good stuff for his book instead of testifying before Congress when it might’ve actually been some help. I just feel that this is just the start of the public humiliation of his enemies list.
Start with the least popular name and work your way through the list.
Somehow I don't think he will go after Liz Cheney though. I mentioned this a couple months ago, but I'm not sure I would mess with the daughter of Dick Cheney and I think they know that (granted they are pretty stupid people).
They are that stupid, Dave, and vindictive.
Cheney has been really quiet since the election. never trumpers treated like a saint, yet she is still silent.
The man who brought us the "Brooks Brothers Riot", thus inaugurating the concept of using violence to prevent the election of a Democrat, is now on the hit list of Trump--the would be beneficiary of the concept. Can one OD on irony?
I'm for the Walrus...goo-goo-ga-joob!
Automatic +1 like for any Beatles reference to articles and thread contents, every time.
The walrus was Paul.
+1.
And We are the Eggmen!
Like Mark Twain but serious as a heart attack.
I’m pretty sure Mr Bolton will be fine. With all of the incredible royalties from his (kind of) recent book, he can afford legal representation. It’s the people being held in crocodile concentration camps that I will lend my sympathies to. I’m not advocating or approving the Trump Bureau of Intimidation’s actions or tactics. But when it comes to updating my ‘Sympathy Pie’ allocations, Mr. Bolton only gets the same crust crumbs as poor Eye-Leen Habba-Dabba-do.
Bolton's case is just part of an emerging pattern of how Trump and his sycophants intend to treat his critics. We've already seen the extraordinary EO calling on DOJ to investigate Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs. Everyone on Kash Patel's enemies list should be worried - and not only them.
Agree 100%. And that (even the likes of a John Bolton, arch-conservative) is exactly the point, I guess. I have no doubt they will attempt something similar with { crooked } Hillary, Barack {Hussein} Obama, the Bidens, Gov. Newsom. Maybe even Swifty! No Figure will be safe - and they’ll use Bolton as a false equivalent that they will intimidate anyone, regardless of party affiliation, “investigation” and indictment for any, ‘crimes against the state’. It’s how authoritarians operate and is the natural progression of ending the liberal democratic order and replacing it with a, ‘dear leader’ for life. Many of these moves will occur in concert with multi-layered efforts to win, and in the event they lose, delegitimization of the mid-terms and consolidation of power. Please accept my apologies for any perception of my default setting of flippancy. I recognize the dire circumstances that we are living in.
Gallows humor is totally understandable at this point.
We should have just waited for JVL’s piece (just posted). Would have saved our fingers from risk of a ‘carpal tunnel’ exposure.
Bolton will be fine. What matters is that Trump is willing to go after everyone who has the audacity to disagree with him.
I am with you. The Overton Window has shifted significantly. Still, in the absence of responsible foreign policy people that have experience, integrity, and credibility...Bolton in charge of some policy decisions, particularly in regard to Russia? Yes.
I don't have sympathy. He dislikes trump a lot, even though he went to work for him. He has more spine that all GOP members of Congress, governors, and state AGs.
But he also wanted to have a books and not talk to the Jan 6th committee. He went on TV specifically to trash Biden and trump. He is making cash talking and writing. And he wanted government security paid for by the taxpayers.
Bolton was the easiest house to raid.
I have never been a Bolton fan. One thing that concerned me was that he appeared to be a bomb thrower who might get us into a shooting war. I also never thought he was corrupt or a traitor; just misinformed! IMHO corrupt and ignorant Trump is far more of a threat than John Bolton has ever been. Bolton at least has integrity. Donald Trump has none!
There was a time I thought Bolton's criticisms of Trump might wake up some of the MAGA faithful, but it turns out they have a special hatred for former supporters who turn against them.
Yup. I remember the day I first agreed with David Frum. Strange days, friends.
We should have seen this coming once Liz Cheney became a liberal darling, and we found ourselves saying "in retrospect, maybe W. wasn't so bad?" You'll know we've reached the end point when the Nixon hagiography starts gaining steam.
I really feel uncomfortable with Liz Cheney-bashing. It's true that I would never have agreed with any of her policies, but she showed courage in becoming a front-line opponent of Trump, and she willingly sacrificed her career to speak against him. Even a lot of Dems haven't shown that much courage. Concepts like 'good' and 'bad' are ALWAYS relative, and they also always shift as situations change. I say this as a retired psychologist.
I agree. I'm not advocating for Liz Cheny bashing; it's just strange that she's become beloved the left (despite being opposed to most of the democrat's policy positions) simply because she has the courage of her convictions. It's just sad that the bar is now so low for conservative politicians.
You do make a good point…. I guess the almost wholesale abdication of their values by the R party makes her stand out. Plus there are plenty of Dems who have yet to show her kind of courage. I disagree with her politics but admire her as a person. Don’t disagree that the bar is very low now!
Thanks for the lightness of the Cracker Barrell story and this was hilarious: "It’s just that younger consumers are nostalgic for their own childhoods, not Chuck Grassley’s" And could not have been more succinct
Based on the photo, it looks like Grassley is endorsing Cracker Barrel as the ideal location to host a 70-year high school reunion party. MAGA folks should be pleased to know that there is a place for their great-grandparents to sit down and socialize, and eat foods that they are mostly uninterested in putting into their own mouths.
The funny thing is I hadn’t eaten at Cracker Barrel in almost 2 decades until a few months ago by accident. When I used to drive across the country, I sometimes stopped at Cracker Barrel if it was convenient. I went to one a few months ago because a friend was treating me to breakfast after I drove him to a hospital appointment in east Mesa, Phoenix metro, which has an older population (admittedly I’m 67). I admit I enjoyed the biscuits (no gravy) and coffee.
We have a Cracker Barrel in our city, and the only time that I've been there in the last ten years or more was to get my mother a hearty Thanksgiving dinner platter with traditional foods that she likes. In contrast I usually wind up at Culver's, for a burger-and-fries basket that is cheaper and a quicker in-and-out in a busy life. Which is pretty much the essence of the problem that Cracker Barrel faces, especially the fact that those under age 50 or so didn't really grow up with or learn to care about comfort food. I like its meals, but it's not a place that fits my lifestyle at this point. MAGA's objections simply sound petulant and out of touch with reality.
"I’d been under the impression Cracker Barrel had already been canceled for its woke crimes"
I have to be honest, I personally was under the impression that Cracker Barrel had been canceled because it sucked
Who has time to wait 30 or 40 minutes to eat breakfast any more? Outside of a few holiday occasions, most folks have a lines deep weekend agenda of things to do and places to be.
Stopped at a Cracker Barrel a while back. (It was, as noted, conveniently just off the highway.) Didn't want to, but choices were limited. I hadn't been in one of those places in many years.
Wanted a salad. There was one on the menu, but it sucked. A bowl of lettuce. Kind of like they needed one to satisfy the niece with the green hair that got dragged to the Cracker Barrel because that's where grandma likes to eat. There wasn't anything else on the menu I would have considered eating. Everything was covered in gravy or involved biscuits of some kind. Lots of deep fried stuff. Grits.
My kids -- college age -- would NEVER go to a Cracker Barrel.
Again, as noted, this chain isn't catering to current dining tastes. They've tried to change the menu to fix that problem and the right wing MAGA loons jumped all over them. So now they're stuck. They want and need to change, but find they can't (or don't have the runway for it). They're on the path of Howard Johnson's and Big Boy at this point.
Exactly! And Denny’s isn’t far behind. I’m 77 and I don’t remember cracker and pickle barrels except in tourist traps.
I think Denny's might have a different franchise model. (Just speculating here...) Our local Denny's is pretty good and they've taken a kind of "America's Diner" approach. The place was recently remodeled, so it looks good. They serve diner food, but there's pretty much something for everyone there. (When I want a salad, they have a decent one.) Decent food, decent prices, decent service, clean restaurant, open all night... It probably helps that ours is across the parking lot from a movie theater.
My kids DO go to Denny's with their friends.
There are no Cracker Barrels in Oregon. (Another good reason to visit Oregon.) I have never been to one and I don’t think I’ve even seen one,
Anybody remember Stuckeys? Another southern chain off the highways. My sister and I both remember them from our childhoods. (We're in our early 70's now.)
The last time we decided to have some food from Cracker Barrel we vowed to never eat there again. Our breakfasts were expensive and awful.
I threw up all night
😢🤮
Never seen them in Canada.
All three of the people at that table have beaten the actuarial tables. BY A LOT!
And I don’t think they go there by eating regularly at the Cracker Barrel.
A quick question- was Grassley's childhood during the Pleistocene or Jurassic era?
Does it really matter when no one else can remember the era either?
My appreciation of Andrew’s brilliant writing and wit has only increased the more I read his work, but nonagenarian Chuck Grassley catching a stray this morning brought me unreasonable joy.
As a 35 year old, I lost interest in Cracker Barrel when they stopped serving real maple syrup. I took my son a few years ago, and while he loved the checkers and rocking chairs it was clear that they were cutting corners food wise (the free biscuits of my childhood had also disappeared).
I know this angers corporate America, but constantly making your product worse will discourage a subset of consumers from patronizing the business.
And not just in the restaurant setting. Today, first time in a long time, I had a Hostess cupcake. It is literally half the size that they were when I was a kid. What the hell? Poor value for the money for anyone with a memory bank that goes back more than a few years. I'll buy something else next time and remember the reason why.
tell me about it ! my favorite power bar went up to $4 ea ! i'm pissed about it !
Just remembered this... the last time I went there, with my sister and cousin last summer (at which point we decided the food really was not very good), I thought it was hilarious that some of the menu items boasted of having 'a hint of margarine'!
May Chuck Grassley become nothing more than a bad memory as soon as possible.
Yes, nostalgia moves on: brought a huge smile to my 82 yo face. Maybe someday there will be a museum to Tiktok?
I remember sitting in a piano bar decades ago where a band was playing something along the lines of Ain't She Sweet and A Bicycle Built for Two and the other customers were singing along. My thought at the time was than 40 years hence that same piano bar would be playing In-A-Godda-Da-Vida, Smoke on the Water and Satisfaction - and here we are.
Reminds me of songs my grandmother used to sing to us at times, and she got married about the beginning of WW2
Perfect
It's ridiculous seeing right wingers go nuclear ape shit over a moderate rebrand of a store they don't care about and never go to. None of these shitposters has been to a Cracker Barrel in their entire adult lives, yet suddenly decluttering the shop is some Woke affront that is the biggest travesty of the 21st century. This is the world social media has bequeathed us. Thank you Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg, and all the rest.
This is what happens when people have too much time on their hands. It’s Bud-light all over again!…:)
Or even sadder, Green M&M all over again. 😀
Tucker got all upset because he didn't know who to masturbate to anymore.
What's weirder, Tucker and the M&M or JD and the couch? 😀
I sure don't broadcast the odd stuff that I find exciting. 😀
Touché!…:)
And I've noticed that Bud Light's ads are now very football and he-man appropriate.
My thoughts also.
Cracker Barrel has been on a slow decline for many years. Its primary demographic has been dying off and no new demographic has stepped in to replace it. The pandemic probably accelerated the process.
If some of these belly-aching MAGAts actually went to a Cracker Barrel and spent some of the monthly federal benefits they'll soon be cut off from, then perhaps everything would be peachy-keen at Cracker Barrel and they'd be no need to rebrand and modernize their image and their menus. But doing that would require a 30-minute waddle to the car sitting in the driveway, then raising holy-heck because Cracker Barrel didn't have enough mobility scooters available for them. Nope. It's far easier to park their wide-load butts in front of the computer, use the special-order keyboard with the big buttons (to accommodate each of their Costco hotdog-sized fingers), and repeat whatever message they heard from their favorite right-wing Grifter, all while munching on buckets of Uber Eats-delivered processed glop that's actually worse than the processed glop they serve at Cracker Barrel.
Love this lol!
I could go my whole life and be violently happy if "influencers" fell off of the edge of their own flat earth. In my own simple mind I'm thinking of all the normal, nice people I meet in my neighborhood and I can't see them believing all the hate BS generated by these folks. Then I read some of the comments on our Nextdoor sites and YIKES!
Eric bringing it today! Love it!
Eric needs to go Full Gavin Newsom on these dregs. Mockery triggers MAGA. Let's go.
some google hit ... "Some 43 percent of Cracker Barrel guests are at least 55 years old, while just 23 percent are under the age of 34, according to company data."
and thar's ur problem. well not to mention the gop among other institutions are in a similar crash n burn decent. can't happen fast enough i say.
Yet again we see that the movement of F Your Feelings is stunningly thin-skinned about anything that they don't want to see or hear, with no end to their ability to both create scarecrow enemies and whip up their passions over trivial things that rational, active adults can't find the time and energy to care about.
If that is the biggest concern that they have, they have remarkably soft and easy lives. I wish I were that lucky on any given day.
Remember it's f "your" feelings. Their feelings are the paramount concern of society!
There are people with way too much time on their hands and a system that rewards them. I have to be selective in what I spend time on outside work and family&friends. These people (commenters and their followers) appear to have infinite time and there's somehow a source of money that feeds the content creators. Follow the money and this cloaca will go away.
I'm so angry! Let's all boycott this place where we don't go! What a sacrifice we are making! Mash the subscribe button!
Because Trump had something to say about it and because Trump is interested in anything that is not the Epstein files.
I suddenly wondered if Mark paid to have the first letter of his last name changed from the sixth letter to the last one, and, if so, how much?
And they call us snowflakes!
We need a Free Bolton movement. He is pompous and a partisan but we must defend his rights with all our might.
tai I know several people who have met Bolton, who do not share his views they all say he is a likeable decent person. I suspect the problem the administration has with him is that his outlook is based on facts and they don’t understand why he would distance himself from them.
I only saw him on TV. He obviously knows his stuff but I had a hard time understanding him saying he was going to vote for Dick Cheney after Liz endorsed Kamala. But I appreciate him speaking out against Trump and we must support him fighting persecution by the regime.
I don’t think anyone who actually knew anything about foreign policy would be able to bring themselves to vote for a candidate aligned with Biden.
Bolton has committed the unforgiveable sin of making Trump look bad.
I don’t think he’s in real danger. This is a roundabout way to whitewash Trump’s crimes. After all, it was such a big deal that FBI agents “raided” Maralago a few years ago. Now it’s not such a big deal. Trump can say “See! The FBI raids people wrongfully all the time.”
Most people will not follow the logic and will just swallow the explanation that raiding Trump was “lawfare”.
Great analysis by Andrew this morning. This line is going to stick with me for a while: "The rage at “wokification” is actually despair at the vanishing image of a past that was imaginary to begin with."
Yes, where white men ran everything and were served by everyone.
Well that part was mostly true for a long time. The part that wasn't true is that everyone was blissfully happy with that.
It’s funny that MAGA calls liberals snowflakes. The MAGA movement is about feelings. Seriously, go check X. The MAGA conservatives time is spent whining about Cracker Barrel, Bud Light, Chik Fil A and etc. everything and I mean everything with MAGA is projection.
I agree with you. They get the whining from Daddy.
Because "woke" poses no actual threat to anyone, MAGA has to interpret every market-driven change as an attack on traditional American culture.
My grandma was born in 1895. I remember eating in her kitchen, but there were never road signs and farm implements nailed to the walls.
MAGA has been force-feeding nostalgia for a past that never existed to people who wouldn't have been around for it if it had.
I was born in 1942 and clearly remember traveling on dirt roads and reading Burma Shave signs but no kitsch hanging on kitchen walls. Our one phone hung on a wall though.
me too, only I was born 1943...
Side with Hitler???? It amazes me that after all we know about the horrors perpetrated by the Third Reich, there are still morons like Professor Collum who make such ignorant and asinine statements like the one he did. In July I went on a Normandy Campaign tour in France, and one of the sites we visited was the Abby d’Ardenne Massacre Memorial, where the murderous thugs of the 12th SS Panzer Division executed 20 Canadian soldiers in cold blood, one by one. Their individual pictures line the outside wall of the Abby, with a list of all their names. And Professor Cullum believes that we should have fought alongside the SS and the Wehrmacht, who were collectively responsible for some of the worst atrocities in history? Perdition to him and all the other Nazi fanboys out there.
They need to watch the films taken when the Allies went into the concentration camps. Absolutely horrifying.
I saw those films in the 60’s in college. To this day, I can’t unsee them. To give credibility to any fool who refuses to acknowledge the horror the NAZI’s inflicted on humanity, is to be one with Nazis and inhuman.
Agree totally
Yes
These people need to visit Normandy or a few of many sites in Europe related to WWII and the Holocaust. My emotions when at these places go on overload. But, maybe these people have no hearts, are all psychopaths. Not sure what other explanation besides utter stupidity there can be.
Tucker would be writing speeches for Goebbels. Others would be considering how efficient Zyklon B is and how cheap. And they could use crematoriums for heating in the winter.
I wish I could say the above was sarcasm, but I really think it would be true.
Yes, absolutely! My feeling is that every American should visit Normandy to understand the sacrifices that all the Allies made to defeat one of the most evil regimes in history. And having visited Auschwitz-Birkenau a few years ago, I believe that every human being should go there and bear witness to that dark chapter of human history.
Exactly
Makes a person want to eat at Cracker Barrel again.
I wasn't aware they sold food until today.
I wasn't aware they sold non-food until today lol
I guess I thought they sold gifts and notions, including barrels and crackers. Maybe gingham dresses?
I never have eaten there. By itself, that’s a religious experience.
Then you never experienced true mediocrity.
One could say, “Americana”.
Let the record very clearly reflect that John Bolton on October 2024 felt the need to muse about not writing in Dick Cheney for president (very brave and intellectually sound!) on the basis of Cheney’s endorsement of Harris. He also said this:
“I am not going to vote for either Harris or Trump. Neither one are qualified to be president,” he argued.
So while I continue to fear the erosion of our rights, my tears shed for JB are pretty low in quantity. To be fair, maybe he was also concerned about egg prices and state intervention in the economy.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4914028-bolton-reassessing-cheney-vote/amp/
As his memoir title, Bolton borrowed “The Room Where It Happened,” from a song in “Hamilton.” Though the phrase is a perfect fit, it represents an annoying example of how the right wing reaches across the aisle to select tidbits of culture created by the progressives whom they otherwise abhor.
Ha yeah that too! Another brave move of his to let us know after the fact and at his financial benefit.
He's on Kash Patel's enemies list, and if he committed a crime it is not what their fishing for now.
It's revenge
That’s why Bolton is a “safe” target. He’s completely unlikable.
“We wonder, though, whether Trump’s venture onto TikTok will sour him on the place faster than U.S. law or the warnings of security experts could. His posts are, of course, getting a lot of traction—but every single one is also being buried instantly by a monsoon of flippant mockery in the comments. Maybe the big guy will decide the kids’ app isn’t so noble after all.”
Make no mistake, I bet the group of investors who will ultimately buy TikTok will be led by Kushner and Trump will have a 10% stake (at least). And the sad part is what Trump will give China in return. Let that sink in!
That said, when it comes to being “above the law,” oh, the irony:
Can you find me 11,700 votes
Egypt, illegally gives $10 million to Trump’s 2016 campaign; investigation killed by Barr
Sending Fake electors to the Capitol
J6th pardons/insurrection
Lying about taking TS/SAP documents from the Whitehouse and refusing to give them back
SCOTUS’s unconstitutional immunity clause
SCOTUS justices taking bribes: Winnebago’s and million dollar vacations.
And the band played on! IMHO…:)
You forgot "I need 5 R house members from Texas".
According to Roberts, president is only immune for things he does in his normal duties as President. Eh What???
Exactly; however, in the same breath he said, “you can’t introduce “intent” for any criminal charges done outside the scope of his “normal” duties”; HUH????
Interesting. Why can’t his frequent saying he was going after his “enemies” can’t be in viewed as intent?
It can be, but SCOTUS decided intent can’t be introduced. It’s their way of making it impossible to charge him with a crime. It’s more protection from any future prosecution.
These right-wingers viewed his criminal record as an affront on their party, never mind he was guilty as hell. It’s confounding!…:)
I guess "lightness" is in the eye of the beholder. I know exactly why you described today's column as "light;" I am not completely clueless or humorless, at least on my better days. But because of the relative unimportance of the subject, the report on the by now predictable and de rigeur response of the MAGAts is just terminally depressing.
I'm just flat out sick of their whining, their faux grievances, their even faux-er outrage, the complete merger of "DEI" with any and every woman or person of color no matter what their qualifications (not that they even bother to check qualifications, all they need is a picture), the oversensitivity that makes their "snowflake" insult ironic, and the constant madness of living turned up to 11. "Further evidence that the end is near" used to be a cute-ish response to all of this, but nobody even says that anymore because the tsunami is overwhelming.
MOCKERY. Gavin Newsom has it right. These wastes of space deserve nothing bot MOCKERY. We tried reasoning, sympathy, and helping them out. None worked. Trigger the fck out of them and mock them mercilessly. No more sanewashing, bothsidesing, etc. They don't deserve them.
Seriously, this. I have also started calling them politically incorrect words that I put away some decades ago because I know it gets under their skin.
This is it. No more kid gloves. Sanewashing etc. Does not work. Did you notice how insane this looks when Newsom does it? Insane enough for Fox (!!!!) to start bitching. Didn't bother them when orange ooze was going all caps batshit crazy, and the throngs of mouthbreathers followed. Let's go guys. No mercy. There are TONS of material out there to use. South Park & Newsom for the win.
Cheapo slop is a rather harsh and pretty unfair description of their fare. Lighten up dude.
As an American I say it with all love. I usually have a great time eating cheapo slop, including at Cracker Barrel.
It should be noted Cracker [sic] Barrel has the best pancakes in the United States. It's a great place to eat cheapo slop and buy Cheerwine and weird candy.
Cracker Barrel is a great bargain. 1 meal and you are digesting it for 3 days
Just like Mounjaro
Pretty good breakfasts to be had for a country boy who can tolerate friendly, helpful staff and 'kountry kitsch' decor.
When I drove long-distance, it was a decent place to pull off, get non-fast food, write postcards to friends, and buy said postcards. Last time I was in one, I couldn’t find any postcards. Food didn’t seem as good, but there’s still more choice than Mickey D’s. If you’re traveling, in a town for a family whatever, it’s often one of only a few options. It filled a need. The new logo is pretty blah from a design standpoint. The old one was messy and could have used cleaning up. Don’t mistake noise from a few for genuine thought/emotion/concern. That’s perhaps been the biggest problem and benefit of the internet age: amplification truly a double-edged sword. I didn’t see any sources on sales, store closings, customers, etc. if they are in slow decline, maybe that has more to do with other changes than a logo and DEI.
Quite likely.
"The rage at “wokification” is actually despair at the vanishing image of a past that was imaginary to begin with."
Not sure if you intended it, but in 20 words you have completely captured the zeitgeist of our unfortunate times.
So on point … all of maga’s rage emanates from their futile war against change and more generally , the future .
They're upset at a corporate simulation of their grandparents' past. I just don't understand.
They know how to choose their battles. That’s a joke.
Andrew hit it out of the park this morning. The Cracker Barrel story had me laughing out loud and all the hubba hubba about Habba was delicious.