Kirsten Gillibrand relates a few experiences with her esteemed colleagues in the cooling saucer:
In one incident from her early days in the Senate, Gillibrand describes an older senator who approached her from behind and squeezed her waist. “Don’t lose too much weight now,” she recalls him saying. “I like my girls chubby.”
Orrin Hatch, butching it up, is my guess. You?
Crusty Dem
I don’t believe her.
Sincerely,
Politico
Elizabelle
Lindsey Graham is probably in the clear on this one.
I still want to know which male Senator put his hand on David Bobo Brooks’ thigh, and Bobo is too coy (or protecting access) to say. Any guesses there?
Baud
@Crusty Dem:
Nah. More likely, the response would be, she asked for it.
c u n d gulag
ZOINKS!!!
WTF?!?!?!
I mean, really – WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
You like your girls chubby, Senator?
Take your sister to a McDonald’s for a few weeks, then.
“Ol’ Boy’s Club, ” indeed!
c u n d gulag
ZOINKS!!!
WTF?!?!?!
I mean, really – WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
You like your girls chubby, Senator?
Take your sister to a McDonald’s for a few weeks, then.
“Ol’ Boy’s Club, ” indeed!
c u n d gulag
ZOINKS!!!
WTF?!?!?!
I mean, really – WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
You like your girls chubby, Senator?
Take your sister to a McDonald’s for a few weeks, then.
“Ol’ Boy’s Club, ” indeed!
c u n d gulag
Triplicate?
How did that happen?
My word-turd’s don’t rate being in triplicate!
Let’s see how many times THIS comment appears.
c u n d gulag
Triplicate?
How did that happen?
My word-turd’s don’t rate being in triplicate!
Let’s see how many times THIS comment appears.
MomSense
@Crusty Dem:
Why is she so sensitive? Those good ole boys are just trying to be nice.
c u n d gulag
Oy.
c u n d gulag
Oy.
c u n d gulag
Time for a new laptop – ZOINKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Allen
Don’t get any smarter; I like my men stupid.
MattF
I’m just trying to picture someone attempting that with my Senator, Barbara Mikulski. Picture doesn’t focus. Picture turning red.
Roger Moore
Sen. Gilbrand don’t care. Sen Gilbrand don’t give a shit. She just takes what she wants.
Alex S.
I believe this is what is called a ‘blind item’.
lol
@Baud:
I shit you not, a Politico reporter’s initial reaction on Twitter was “I challenge this story. Sorry, I don’t believe it”.
MomSense
@Roger Moore:
I love that video!!
Baud
@lol:
So much for stenography.
Tommy
OK WTF. I am the dude that flirts a lot. I am not trying to get you in bed, I just like to chat and might poke some fun at you. Flirt! But touching you. Much less saying “Don’t lose too much weight now. I like my girls chubby.” Who says or does something like that?
Poopyman
I think this is one time we can safely eliminate McCain, given his, erm, past history with wives.
@MattF: Mine too. I’d love to be watching the CSPAN feed if that ever happened on the Senate floor.
Belafon
And this is the world a little over 50% of whites are fighting to preserve, including changing the rules to make sure they win.
Bobby B.
“How To Pick Up Girls” copyright 1975, page 44.
Poopyman
@Tommy:
Someone secure in his sense of power over other people to the point he doesn’t give a shit how he comes across. AKA, a senator.
Or a troglodyte, although I may be repeating myself here.
TG Chicago
I wonder how often this sort of thing happens to Chris Christie. Yep.
For the title of this post, I would have accepted “What the hell am I doing here? I don’t belong here.”
Poopyman
Another gem from the TPM article:
Chris
Wonder if Bush said anything like that to Merkel that time he gave her an unsolicited shoulder rub.
SFAW
Orrin Hatch? As much as I hate the guy, I don’t think it’s his style.
Now, if the unnamed Senator had talked about getting into KG’s “magic underwear,” or showing her his own, that would be different.
@Allen:
That is one awesome comeback. Someone should forward it to Senator Gillibrand, for use the next time some Rethug says something like the “chubby” comment.
Poopyman
Also at TPM is the article on the Politico guy (Bresnahan) who didn’t believe the Senator’s claims. He later apologized for “popping off”, not for the challenge.
Tommy
@Poopyman: Agreed. I often joke that before my brother was born, he is almost ten years younger then me, only single males were born in my family for 100+ years. Not a single daughter. I don’t have any kids myself, but my brother and his wife, brought a wonderful little lady into this world. I don’t know, maybe we are raising her differently (she is 6), but a man does that to her I am 110% sure she’d get all up in their faces. Just as sure if it was ongoing and didn’t stop, and I doubt she’d need our help, that person might get a visit from her father, myself, or my dad. That would NOT be a fun visit for said person.
Roger Moore
America, your Republican governors:
Oops: Rick Perry Forgets Which Criminal Charges He’s Facing
Gov. Corbett: Reform Liquor Laws So It’s Easier For Women To Make Dinner
Activist To Georgia Guv: Did You Think I Was Undocumented Because I ‘Look Hispanic?’
Tommy
@Poopyman: Wow. If I am not mistaken the women has lost more then a few pounds since winning election and changed her appearance 24/7 to where I find her an attractive lady. Kudos to her!
MomSense
@Roger Moore:
I was just going to post the Corbett story. WTF??
srv
Clinton was more personable and just handed out hotel room keys.
Rob in CT
Negging, in the US Senate. Nice.
rikyrah
This shyt is absolutely CRAZY
………………
NRA Tweets About Kids Having Fun At Shooting Range After Uzi Accident
ByCatherine ThompsonPublishedAugust 28, 2014, 7:13 AM EDT 1136 views
The NRA Women’s Twitter account blasted out suggestions for making practice at the shooting range fun for kids on Wednesday, less than two days after a 9-year-old girl accidentally shot her shooting instructor at an outdoor range in Arizona.
The instructor, 39-year-old Charles Vacca, later died of his injuries. He suffered at least one gunshot wound to the head after the girl lost control of a 9mm Uzi that was put into “fully automatic” mode.
The tweet from the @NRAWomen handle was deleted without explanation a little over an hour after it was posted, according to the Huffington Post.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/nra-tweets-kids-having-fun-guns-after-uzi-accident
Tommy
In a non-related manner, totally off topic, my Bento Boxes arrived in the mail yesterday. You might wonder what is a Bento Box? Well they are these things, a Japanese style lunch box for lack of a better phrase. I work out of my house. Spent a ton of money making my home office like the deck of the Starship Enterprise. But need to get out of the place and head to the local community college. Want to take my lunch with me. So I got a Bento kit. Happy camper here. I can say they are as cool as they sound and/or outlined online.
rikyrah
I believe the Senator.
Period
MattF
@rikyrah: Idiot in question has sorta retracted his statement. Doesn’t say he believes Gillibrand, just shouldn’t have said in public that she’s lying.
SarahT
@Allen: YES!!!! Gotta remember that one !
StringOnAStick
Speaking as someone who used to be in a male-dominated profession, those comments to Senator Gillibrand were all about making sure she understands that she is NOT equal to those penis-possessing senators. Little boys (and big boys too, just more subtly) constantly maneuver/negotiate for where they are in the pack; little girls (and big girls) do the same but for whether you are even allowed into the pack or not. She was getting a taste or two of the message that “you are bottom of the pack lady, and don’t you forget it”.
OK, off to work. It will help me keep my mind off my BIL’s cancer diagnosis.
Randy P
@Tommy: Yes, but do you know how to fill them?
I first ran into the concept of Bento in a Nat Geo article a woman wrote about her time in Japan. Early on, one of her neighbors pulled her aside and offered to help her with her bento skills so her kid would not be laughed at in school for having an insufficiently artistic lunch.
Betty Cracker
The Politico “reporter” — John Bresnahan — had to walk it back, but 100% of women were unsurprised by his initial incredulity.
PurpleGirl
@Tommy: A jerk.
Belafon
@rikyrah: If you think you need anything beyond the splody gun thing to keep it interesting, you may have the wrong focus.
Tommy
@rikyrah: My dad was taught to use a gun at her age.* But a small gauge rifle. I think a 22. Who gives a kid an Uzi? I have been to AZ. Love the state. But my experience from a tourist point-of-view they embrace the out of control. We went three/four wheeling in the desert. The people told us we could shoot guns. Anything we wanted. It was like an upsell. Basically do anything you wanted. We were like we are not into that. But it was just something they offered. Seems the gun ran, and that lady was not local (from NJ) and her parents bought into it.
*I am a stud with a bow, but never wanted to use a gun, so my father never pushed it on me. I’ve fired a gun like 5 times.
WereBear
@Allen: LOL! That’s a keeper.
...now I try to be amused
I’d smile if Senator Gillibrand went all Preston Brooks on her not-so-esteemed colleague, to teach him that actions have consequences even for a United States Senator.
Tommy
@Randy P: I do not know. They are smaller then I though. I consider myself something of a foodie, but there are a lot of pockets to fill? I am not saying it might make me rethink how or what I cook, but you never know.
Botsplainer
@MattF:
The candyassousity of the white portion of the American electorate should never be underestimated. To them, no buttoned down collar, suit wearing conservative politician ever took a piss, a shit, masturbated, had an orgasm, or said inappropriate things to someone they were attracted to. It goes triply for what they perceive of the architects of the American Revolution (I refuse to use Founding Fathers anymore).
Kirsten Gillibrand is a really attractive woman, with or without a few pounds. The comments she heard were those from men who have power but no game, trying pathetically to game one with equal power. I can understand why they’d try, but think their efforts laughable.
ETA: life is messy. When we deny fundamental truths of biology, we deny our humanity.
Randy P
@Tommy: Don’t look at me for advice. All I know is the Japanese put a lot of thought and artistry into presentation, even for school lunches. I’ve been to restaurants where they do bento boxes and they’re really quite beautiful.
Around our house we’re also fascinated with Indian stacking lunch boxes as depicted in the film The Lunchbox . Not to the point of actually wanting to buy one though.
Alex S.
@Tommy:
He must be from a state that takes pride in being overweight. That’s probably a state where obesity is a more frequent phenomenon.
According to this list: http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/f-as-in-fat-top-15-fattest-us-states/16/ , Mississippi ranks first. So, Thad Cochran or Roger Wicker?
Alex S.
OMG! Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are married (to each other)!
boatboy_srq
Two thoughts immediately:
1) It’s no wonder that sexual harassment, discrimination and other similar legislation has such a hard time in Congress if Congresscritters behave like such dogs.
2) Events like this one just scream of some closeted pol overcompensating by hitting on all his female colleagues.
Tommy
@Randy P: I like well designed things. At the core a simple design. Often IMHO simple can be elegant. These/those boxes are just that. Elegant. I will try to do them justice.
Elizabelle
@Roger Moore:
Never tire of Randall and the Honey Badger.
We all have to be honey badgers, in 2 velvet gloves.
Elizabelle
@Alex S.:
Saw that. Wish them years of happiness. Two very talented people. (Life is not fair, exhibits A and B. But they’re so likeable too.)
Look forward to Angelina’s Unbroken this December.
SFAW
@boatboy_srq:
Nah, it’s just some conservatard who thinks he’s a latter-day (as opposed to Latter Day) Smoove B.
SixStringFanatic
@Alex S.: Can’t get a divorce without getting married first.
Belafon
@boatboy_srq:
Not everyone that hits on a female is a closeted gay. They were probably treating her like they would any of the other staff females. You know, like they treat a certain black man in the White House who they can’t understand isn’t setting the table.
gian
@Alex S.:
Depends which southern state
David Vitter would probably ask about diaper changes.
SFAW
@Belafon:
Wait – is Forest Whitaker now the President? I missed that one completely.
SFAW
@gian:
Outstanding
Roger Moore
From NoiseMax: “Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Terrorists at Our Border, on Newsmax TV, Click Here”. So there are terrorists on NoiseMax TV?
Jamey
My money’s on Olympia Snowe…
jibeaux
The only one I’ll halfway defend is the Corbett one. PA has these stupid liquor laws and you can’t buy a six pack in a grocery store, you generally have to go to a beer store and you have to buy a casr. He said people, women especially, kept telling him they wanted to go to the grocery store, get wine or a six pack and get dinner. If I lived in PA that’s what I’d be telling him. I hate making multiple stops if I don’t have to. He didn’t really have to include the “women” part and couldve just said constituents, but maybe he is hearing mostly from women.
EconWatcher
Sadly, I’m guessing that at least some of the unnamed clowns were Dems. She named Corker. Why not the others? Party loyalty?
The Moar You Know
As far as who the chubby-loving senator is? Well, I’m betting that this fine example of humanity is male. Could be anyone, and I’m sure as hell not going to leave any of the Dem guys off the list either.
Hawes
Could you imagine being hit on by Mitch McConnell?
This reminds me of the greatest opening in SNL’s history: their take on the Thomas-Hill hearings, where each of the Senators give Thomas sexual harassment tips.
The sad part, of course, is that was 25 years ago.
Hawes
@jibeaux: Yeah, I hate to defend the guy, but we have the same laws in CT, and it drives my wife crazy.
Me, I like the separate trip to the liquor store.
hoodie
@EconWatcher: I don’t know the context, but what Corker said might have been considered a compliment, especially given Gillibrand’s reputation for doggedness, so she may have felt is was ok to identify him. The Honey Badger is described as having “thick skin and ferocious defensive abilities” which might describe Gillibrand without being particularly sexist. They called Tyrann Mathieu of the AZ Cardinals the Honey Badger when he was a DB at LSU.
Mike in NC
@jibeaux: 20+ years ago I had to go to Philadelphia every quarter for Navy Reserve training. The stupid, convoluted rules about how to buy beer and wine were something I never get tired of telling people about, so apparently nothing has changed.
Villago Delenda Est
@lol: Tiger Beat on the Potomac is everything that is wrong with American journamalism in the 21st century.
Allen and VandeHei both need to be invited to take long walks off of short piers into shark infested waters.
(I will now await outrage from shark protective types)
Roger Moore
@jibeaux:
I can accept that Corbett is talking about a real problem that his state ought to deal with. I live in California, which lets you buy beer, wine, and even liquor at grocery stores without any obviously bad consequences. But what he said is totally tone deaf and sounds like the way some retrograde, 50’s era sexist would talk about it. This would be a great time to break out more modern Republican bromides about the government strangling business in red tape.
Villago Delenda Est
@Roger Moore: Well, yes. Terrorists such as Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
feebog
Back in the day I taught sexual harassment classes for a large government agency. This was a two hour class for newly promoted supervisors. I always started with this statement:
“In understanding what women go through in the work place, there are only two types of men; those that don’t get it, and those that don’t get it but get that they don’t get it.”
Still true today.
jibeaux
@Roger Moore: in the bit TPM quoted, nothing about it stood out to me. What particularly stood out to you? And it’s from July.
bemused
This is not surprising at all. That the men she describes as being mostly 60 or older is no surprise either. Guys in that age group got away with that from the time they were teens in that era and now in powerful postitions see no reason to stop. Heck, they are just kidding and women are too sensitive.
demit
@jibeaux: Longtime PA residents have adapted. You don’t buy every dinner’s groceries that day, you buy ahead. Same with beer & liquor. Corbett makes it sound like we’re all in babushkas trudging up the hill with baskets holding that day’s loaf of bread & the fish we just picked out from the fishmonger in the village. Sheesh. You include a trip to the beer distributor & the liquor store in your weekly errands. And, mirabile dictu, they’re generally located near one another!
It’s a longtime Republican wish to get rid of State Store workers’ unions.
schrodinger's cat
@Mike in NC: Western Massachusetts and NY are the same way. Although you can get beer but not any other form of alcohol in NY at the grocery store.
gene108
@jibeaux:
PA is more than not being able to buy booze at grocery stores, which is a fairly common thing in this area. In NJ, you can only by booze -beer and wine, included – at liquor stores and not in grocery stores, 7/11’s, etc.
What makes PA different is all the liquor stores are run by the state.
There’s a big push to privatize / break the state’s monopoly on alcohol sales.
Proponents of the state run liquor stores point out they pay their employees a relatively decent wage, I believe they get state benefits, and the state makes a profit on these stores. Therefore, if you took the liquor sales away from the state you’d need to plug that hole in the budget, which Corbett does not want to do.
So to conclude, as screwy as PA is by having state run liquor stores, privatizing them – by either going the NJ route or allowing sales in grocery stores, etc. – will probably cost a few thousand employees fairly good jobs, and cost the state revenue, which Republicans do not want to plug by increases taxing anywhere.
boatboy_srq
@Belafon: BEG TO DIFFER HERE.
Because the alternative is that all male Congresscritters – every last one – are dogs who don’t get that Congresswomen are not there for their personal entertainment. That’s more despicable than even I care to think of the current crop of Capitol Hill denizens.
You’ll also not that I did not explicitly call out every handsy Congressman as a closet case – I only observed that the behavior seems tailored to silencing the whispers. Getting slapped by a Congresswoman for doing something inappropriate in a public setting is an effective antidote for the time he got spotted with a rentboy in a limo on Dupont.
@SFAW: That’s why that was my second thought, with your comment in line with my first.
jibeaux
@demit: I wanted to pick up a six pack of something local traveling through PA. The beer store said they were only allowed to sell cases. So, no sale. That seems like a pretty dumb law to me. As someone who runs most of the errands, I found it very plausible that people would complain and that probably more women would complain. What words or phrases that he used struck you as offensive?
gene108
@demit:
The main goal of trying to get rid of state run liquor stores in PA.
Everything else the Republicans tell you is a lie.
Mnemosyne
@StringOnAStick:
Here’s a joke about that to help cheer you up:
One day, a little boy and a little girl are playing on the playground. The boy is feeling a little competitive, so he says, “My family has a big-screen TV.” The little girl says, “So does mine.” He says, “My daddy drives a Prius.” The little girl says, “So does mine.” So the little boy pulls down his pants and says, “I have one of these.” The little girl looks in her own pants and runs home crying.
The next day, the little boy is feeling pretty good about himself, so he tries playing the same game. The little girl says, “My mommy says that when I grow up, I can have as many of those as I want!”
EconWatcher
@demit:
Sorry, but you lost me. I lived in PA for 5 years and hated their friggin’ beer regulations. No, I don’t want to plan my life around beer purchases. And in my town, I had to go re-park (there was never enough parking) to get to the beer store from any other shopping. You don’t create retail burdens just to create employment.
JGabriel
Speaking of GOP charmers, TPM has a story on Bob McConnell’s defense strategy – Blame The Wife:
That’ll play well with women voters … and jurors. GOP outreach strikes again.
Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to marry Republicans.
Mnemosyne
@demit:
I have to admit, I do not get the whole “state liquor store” idea. I’ve never lived in a state that had them, so it would be very weird to me to not be able to grab a six-pack of beer or a bottle of wine (or even a bottle of rum) wherever I was at the time. CVS carries it; World Market carries it; even 7-Eleven.
We still have liquor stores as well, both small/locally owned and big box stores (like BevMo), but it’s a strange concept to me that I would have to buy alcohol directly from the government.
ETA: The three states where I have lived are Illinois, California, and Wisconsin. We did do a beer run to Wisconsin while staying in Illinois this summer, because they only sell New Glarus in-state. We went about 50 yards over the border and bought it at a Citgo gas station across the state line.
JGabriel
@boatboy_srq:
Or for the time he put his hand on David Brooks’ thigh all night long.
henqiguai
@Mnemosyne (#88):
New Hampshire. They have state operated liquor stores, even though you can buy beer and wine at the grocery store. Not sure of the details about their setup.
mai naem
I think she lost weight around 2010. She was on some run with Mika on Mornin’ Ho. I am guessing a Southern Republican. I don’t see any of the old fart Dems being that huggy/touchy. Possibly Baucus or Ben Nelson. I just don’t see Levin/Kohl/Harkin/Rockefeller doing that. More likely Chambliss/Sessions/Shelby/Isaakson/Wicker/Blunt/Grassley/Burr.
Elizabelle
OT: Balloon Juice DC area meetup, tonight and again on Tuesday, September 2nd.
Murphy’s Irish Pub, Old Town Alexandria, 7:00ish to whenever.
Tonight in honor of Mr. and Mrs. efgoldman, visiting from New England.
Tuesday in honor of Siubhan Duinne, up from Atlanta-land.
Sorry for short notice, but please join us if you can. And it’s $14.95 steak night; they have good brews on tap …
Hoping Anne or DougJ will put up a meetup thread soon; sorry for the virtually no notice on tonights …
Elizabelle
@JGabriel:
Jury has like 8 males, though. I am worrying that it will only take one for Governor Transvaginal Bob to walk.
Villago Delenda Est
@Botsplainer:
The problem here is identifying which rules are fundamental truths and which ones are social constructs derived from very possibly mistaken observations of “fundamental truths”. The scientific method isn’t as old as the social constructs, and the social constructs have a nasty habit of persisting no matter what the scientific method might find.
Villago Delenda Est
@JGabriel: Frankly, I don’t buy Brooks’ story. His a known fabulist. How many Applebees’ have salad bars, for example.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Tommy: I have to ask: in what universe does “poke some fun at you” constitute flirting? I’m confused.
demit
@EconWatcher: Hyperbole much? Plan your life around beer purchases, lol? It must drive you insane that you can’t buy auto parts for your car in the same place you get gas. Or be able to pick up your dry cleaning at the shoemaker’s. Such a retail burden!
Look, the peculiar retail setup wasn’t “created” to make jobs, it arose out of very old blue laws. We’ve been bitching about them for years, and over time the laws have been loosened. I don’t disagree that it’s a pain, but if you are buying small quantities of things each day instead of a larger quantity once a week, it’s probably better that you relocated to another state where beer purchases are more convenient for you.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Tommy:
Way to show you’re not about the looks dude. You did not “find her an attractive lady” prior to weight loss? File that under things best left unstated. There are other (better) ways to says “she looks great now.”
demit
@jibeaux: The beer distributor could have pointed you to where you could get a six pack—a bar or a deli that has a cold case. I agree it’s much less convenient than, e.g., Florida, where you can put a six pack & a bottle of wine right next to the eggs your food cart. It’s only a little less convenient than NJ, where you buy beer & liquor from the same store, tho not your groceries.
The thing that stuck in my craw about Corbett’s statement was that he singled out women. It was a stupidly gratuitous thing to say, from the man who said women can just close their eyes if they don’t want to watch as they’re being vaginally probed. It’s all of a piece with this guy.
Tommy
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I think you are confused a little. I did not find the women attractive to me. Does change how I think about her. Her beliefs. I found she changed her appreciate. IMHO doesn’t change what she is for. Just something I noted, which I think is close to a fact.
mai naem
I can’t be bothered to do the google but Gillibrand had a baby either while she was serving in Congress or had had one a little before she started serving and there wasn’t a huge age difference between the two kids so I think she was carrying around post-baby weight. I just remember reading one of those gushing profile stories about her around the Patterson/ HRC successor time.
mai naem
@demit: What’s the connection between the liquor law change and unions? Is it one of those situations where they’ve tacked some anti-union legislation on so it’ll pass unnoticed because the other piece is so popular?
Tommy
@henqiguai: I lived in VA for a year before I moved into DC for 15+. You had to buy a bottle of scotch from a state store. It was kind of strange to me to say the least.
Tommy
@mai naem: I don’t know. The liquor laws around me are strange. Like in many places you can’t buy alcohol on Sunday. You know “gods” day. But VA was the first place I lived here that the state ran shit. But they did.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Tommy: Thanks. I’m still confused, but that seems to be more my issue than anyone else’s. I’m still fascinated by how chatting and “maybe poke a little fun at you” is flirting? I’m not so young anymore, but that would get you at best a strong glare from me. Poking fun is what my friends do, not people I don’t know. I’m genuinely curious.
Roger Moore
@Villago Delenda Est:
It’s worse than that. The scientific method is great at testing hypotheses, but it doesn’t provide a good toolbox for constructing new ones. That is left to the creativity of individual scientists, who tend to be as influenced by social constructs as anyone else. As a consequence, science can be just as bound by those constructs just as thoroughly as the rest of society.
demit
@Mnemosyne: Pretty much what a lot of Pennsylvanians do, cross state lines to do liquor runs. Sometimes Maryland, sometimes New Jersey—which has the added benefit of cheaper gas. And you don’t have to pump it yourself! What a luxury!
As I said upthread, the original premise of State Stores was a bunch of bluenoses who wanted to restrict the populace from obtaining that ole demon rum etc. Also, I seem to remember driving thru the Southwest & seeing “package stores,” which I think were also govt controlled. I know it’s startling to new arrivals to PA, to whom it seems very backward compared to wherever they just left. But it’s hardly a draconian burden. It’s a quirk you find a workaround to or adapt to, like a lot of other things in life.
Roger Moore
@mai naem:
The state-owned liquor stores are unionized, and there’s an assumption that privatized ones would tend not to be. My suspicion is that this is more of a desire to privatize a line of business that could be very profitable than it is a way of going after unions, but I’m commenting from the opposite side of the country. There are plenty of conventional Republican reasons for wanting to abolish a state monopoly business, some of which are actually valid in this case.
henqiguai
@Tommy (#104):
The ole Virginia ABC stores; remember them from my youth when the adults would stop right outside DC on the way down to the ‘clan’ homestead in Lynchburg. New Hampshire’s setup is nowhere near that silliness; well run operations which, for some reason, seem to cluster around the more well-traveled routes out of, and back into, Massachusetts…
henqiguai
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q) (#105):
Maybe because I’m (technically) a Southerner, I understood immediately what Tommy was saying. The ‘poking fun at you’ should be read, I believe, more at ‘kidding around’. And I lived for a few years up in Mpls; I believe even up there ‘chatting’ was part of the flirting process (even as I recall my Jamaican girl friend, after ‘chatting someone up’ would turn to another friend and say ‘Knock me up in the morning, would you?’; now look, dammit! I’m the dude in love with you; if there’s gonna be any knocking you up, it’s gonna be me! So young, so innocent (me, not her; she thought I was a nut-case).
JGabriel
@Villago Delenda Est:
That’s a good point, but even if Brooks made up his thigh story, it’s still hysterical – because then you have to wonder what makes Brooks think a story of him passively compliant all night long with an unwelcome hand on his thigh is a story that reflects well on himself.
In other words, true or false, Brooks’ thigh story has hilariously ironic* Freudian connotations either way.
(*Using ironic here in the sense of dramatic irony: irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play.)
Randy P
@Roger Moore: I have “The Mismeasure of Man” on my bookshelf. Gould has a depressingly large number of appalling examples of your point, and not all of the worst ones are from the 19-th century. “The Bell Curve” is only the most recent example of prejudices coloring not only the hypotheses, but the data you choose to analyze and the data you choose to dismiss as “outliers”.
West of the Cascades
@SFAW: No way it’ was Orrin Hatch — he was my Senator for 16 long months that I lived in Salt Lake City in the late aughts, and I got the distinct impression that he is a gentleman in the very traditional sense. The only time I ran into him was in a supermarket, talking amiably with a constituent who happened to be black, and being very polite and seemingly attentive to what the fellow was saying (considering Hatch was there alone, probably to pick up milk or eggs – he didn’t have a shopping cart and was back in the Dairy section – I thought he was being very decent to listen and have a conversation and not run away like so many GOPers seem to be doing recently).
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Randy P: I wish I still had my autographed copy of The Mismeasure of Man that Gould signed after a talk he gave at school. Needless to say he was a fascinating speaker. And indeed there is a depressingly large number of examples in the book, and too recent.
Cervantes
@Randy P:
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
Gould was a good and dear friend — but do bear in mind that some of what he says in that book has been challenged by various people, including reputable scientists but also charlatans. Tread carefully.
Montarvillois
I’ll never forget that little dandy, Orrin Hatch, lighting into Anita Hill at the Clarence Thomas hearings. His opinion of women is low but that’s par for the course with Republicans.