Our serial Rapturization continues. I’m wicked busy. Plus I have a headache. And furthermore, I’m depressed about the state of US politics and cascading tragedies around the world, so there’s that. Please feel free to discuss whatever. I got nothing.
Reader Interactions
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Mary G
There is a huge Doug J-shaped hole in the blog. Miss him.
Amir Khalid
I got nothing too, except to note that if you’re learning a foreign language YouTube is a godsend.
shelley
And a serious drought of pet posts/pictures.
kindness
Sorry you aren’t feeling up to par this AM Betty. Take two pups (out to play) and call us in the afternoon.
Amir Khalid
@Mary G:
DougJ is DougJ, and there’s no one else like hm. The return of Dennis G has to some extent made up for DougJ’s retirement from political blogging, though.
Punchy
I looked up the definition of “futile”, and it showed me a picture of the US Senate attempting to pass a bill that overrides the Ho-Lo SCOTUS abortion.
karen
@Punchy:
Actually it’s worse than that. This bill is as much a waste of time as the 30+ times that the House GOP voted to kill Obamacare.
piratedan
@Punchy: at least they’re making the effort, make it a focal point of “this is what happens when you elect Republicans”. Better than sitting on their hands and continuing to let the GOP spew it’s nonsense making it seem legitimate.
cleek
@karen:
it’s not a waste of time for the teabaggers – it keeps their base happy.
burnspbesq
@Punchy:
A legislative fix is the right answer. It’s only futile because progressives sat out the 2010 elections, and gave Republicans control of the redistricting process in far too many states.
And they appear poised to do the same in 2014, putting Democratic control of the Senate in doubt.
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is … y’all know the rest.
SatanicPanic
@Mary G: We should all dedicate ourselves to trolling and making hipster music references to make up the difference.
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: Probably not a godsend if you’re learning Ukrainian, which apparently you can only learn from the CIA or from fascist refugees.
Gin & Tonic
I read where dudebro hero Snowden has filed paperwork to remain in Russia. Quelle surprise.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
I know misery loves company, but I do wish we could get some news eventually that didn’t make me want to take up whiskey. It’s just…meh. I’m just starting to approach a certain numbness about it all now.
Omnes Omnibus
@burnspbesq: People have posted the numbers here multiple times showing that the problem in 2010 wasn’t that progressives stayed home in droves but rather that teahadis showed up in force and angry.
schrodinger's cat
Betty Cracker@top
How is the mister holding up?
burnspbesq
@Amir Khalid:
“The cemeteries are full of irreplaceable men.”
Either David Ferguson (the Artist Formerly Known as TRex) or Cole’s fellow West Virginian Christy Hardin Smith would be major upgrades. And somebody needs to entice TBogg out of his current semi-retirement.
Feminist MRA
You’re depressed now?
Wait until 2016 when the GOP retakes control. It’s going to suck.
Hope I’m wrong.
SatanicPanic
@Feminist MRA: In 2016 we’ll have a Democratic president, a do-nothing congress full of idiots and total gridlock. Not sure how that will be any worse.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@Omnes:
That plus the usual host of casual voters that show for presidential elections but not for mid-terms.
SatanicPanic
Second season of Orange is the New Black is awesome. Watching it for the second time already
Amir Khalid
@Gin & Tonic:
I wonder, where did our friend in Portland learn Russian?
Oh, wait …
Goblue72
@SatanicPanic: is that a buddy comedy where a recently divorced President becomes roommates with a bachelor Speaker of the House, and various fish out of water hyjinks ensue?
gbear
I got nothing either. I’m home sick with a depression day today. Work is putting me over the edge this spring/summer. I’ve got four years until retirement but I’m thinking that I should be exploring going on disability. I was out for 3 months a few years ago because of this. I’m feeling uncertain and scared of what’s in store for the next four years. Every day sucks.
Feminist MRA
@SatanicPanic:
You really think the Dems are going to win the Presidential Election in 2016?
I hope so, but I doubt it.
SatanicPanic
@Feminist MRA: Absolutely. Calling it right now- no way they will lose.
raven
@SatanicPanic: Don’t fear the reaper.
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: So, I don’t need you to tell me the result, but I bolted out of a meeting the second it ended yesterday and rushed home figuring, well, at least I’ll catch the second half of the game, which proved to be a pretty pointless exercise — so, should I rush today as well, or have you ordained a result in which the last 30-40 minutes might actually be significant?
raven
Well, I went to the VA and had my hearing test. The audiologist said it’s moderately bad and hearing aids would really help but there may be some allergy component so I have to go back in September.
SatanicPanic
@raven: That was so satisfying. Sometimes the only thing that can stop a badass is an even bigger badass
Amir Khalid
@Gin & Tonic:
I could tell you, but then you’d know.
gbear
@burnspbesq: Are you refering to ex-FDL blogger TRex who only shows up here when he needs to blogwhore or bleg? I got screamed at on his site for linking to someone he didn’t like in the comments. He’d be a horrid addition to BJ.
Botsplainer
@Feminist MRA:
So does it smell like VICTORY?
Citizen_X
@Feminist MRA:
This prediction being based on…what? Anything at all?
burnspbesq
@Omnes Omnibus:
Even some progressives take a more nuanced view of the data than that.
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/general/report/2010/11/04/8648/election-results-fueled-by-jobs-crisis-and-voter-apathy-among-progressives/
Money quote:
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: Yeah, but it’ll just be between us. I won’t tell anyone else.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: that’s my understanding, 2006 was the exception, 2010 was the rule. The difference wasn’t so much in partisan or demographic turnout, but the Republican primary system dragged the whole mess to the right, Bob Ingliss, Mike Lee, Mike Castle all thrown aside as impure, and I can’t remember exactly what happened in Nevada, if “pay your doctor with a fresh killed pullet from the coop” beat “second Amendment Remedies”, or vice versa.
as to the utility of the anti-Hobby Lobby bill: A lot people here say “If Democrats can’t get people to the polls after X, I give up!”. They’re trying to keep this issue front and center, giving people a focal point for their disgust. “If you don’t like the Corporatist theo-fascists of the Supreme Court, here’s how to push back, and Mitch McConnell Tom Tillis and whoever the fuck is on their side.” I’m pessimistic about the result, but I think this is something they should be doing.
catclub
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: The economy is getting better. The murder rate is at a 50 year low – which the press seems to neglect to mention.
We are extracting our armed forces from Afghanistan.
Go read Andrew Tobias. He is able to remain incredibly happy – and is also the Treasurer of the Democratic Party.
burnspbesq
@gbear:
In what year? IAmTrex.com effectively shut down in 2009. David has changed in the interim.
SatanicPanic
@gbear: How about a few commenters get a call up? I can think of a few nyms
Amir Khalid
@SatanicPanic:
I’ve been asked myself more than once, but I’d really rather not.
ETA: It’s partly stage fright.
SatanicPanic
@Amir Khalid: Do it! You’re one of the most interesting voices here.
schrodinger's cat
@SatanicPanic: Seconded
@Amir Khalid: Don’t worry, we will be gentle.
schrodinger's cat
@raven: Have you tried doing neti? Really helps with my allergies.
Pogonip
@schrodinger’s cat: It’d be the first time.
gbear
@burnspbesq: I think his site had the Whatever-ville name when I got bitched at. I linked to Jesus’ General and apparently there was a ton of animosity between them so I got an earful. I haven’t been to either of those sites in years now. TRex has been blogwhoring here within the last couple of weeks, but I don’t click to his site so I have no idea how much he’s changed. His posts here always seem emo-prog.
bemused
@cleek:
Happy, maybe, but it doesn’t reduce their rage. Nothing would satisfy them. If they didn’t have their rage, what would they live for?
raven
@schrodinger’s cat: Yea I have. I don’t think allergies has diddly to do with my hearing problems but I realize the VA has to go through the steps.
catclub
and that is saying a LOT.
So an election where a third of the population is disenfranchised is not as corrupt as this one.
raven
@gbear: Citations please. The only time I’ve seen David here was when there was a cat in our neighborhood that needed help and he was able to find someone who could.
catclub
@schrodinger’s cat:
Fibber!
donnah
I’m down, too. My husband lost one of his part time jobs, which means we won’t be able to afford our shiny new insurance coverage. Devastating, since we had gone without it for twenty years and were so happy to be covered again.
It’s hard for fifty-somethings to find jobs, too.
Another Holocene Human
Betty, I am depressed too. I was in tears yesterday. I feel like the racists are very angry and there is a real danger of civil society breaking down in some regions if enough of a trigger is out there. There is a ton of bad faith, starting with SCOTUS and of course GOP national leadership and their greedy donors.
Things are just fucking ugly out there. Some bright spots, certainly some continuing political activism/ferment by African-Americans in MS, deBlasio in NYC and NYC certainly feels so, so different from upstate NY these days, sustained private sector hiring and a slight uptick in state/local gov’t hiring which is very good for women and members of minority groups because of their differential employment in gov’t. Florida is going for marriage equality. ATL is about to open a streetcar line that runs to the MLK historic sites, connecting a historic African-American neighborhood and site of Civil Rights tourism/history to the public transit system and the center of the city for the first time since they plowed through town with that interstate. Florida’s All Aboard Florida bond issue sold out which means that FEC has the capital to go ahead with their Miami-Orlando Airport bullet train, finally bringing faster-than-a-snail rail travel to Floridians who have been trying and failing for 20 frigging years to make this happen. Union participation is up in the South. Unemployment is down. Voluntary part-time status is up thanks to ACA, which frees up FT jobs for those who want them as they’re exited by those who held them only for the health insurance. Univision, who seem to be the only outfit doing real TV journalism any more, is doing a hard-hitting series on temp labor. I hope they inspire more activists on the state level for labor law reform. Obama is still President and he has been appointing women and people of color to the judiciary. NLRB is actually functioning again. HL has a silver lining in getting to ACLU worried about the first amendment again and not fucking snowden-concern-trolling with their thumbs up their butts as if Trayvon Martin and dozens of incidents of police brutality since then hadn’t happened oh noes the gubmint is reading my spam folder. The internet lets us go around the curated media which means being able to access stuff like TWIB broadcasts or diaries on DKos or Orac’s blog and sometimes you have people like Denise Oliver Velez who patiently and doggedly educates the ignorant in a text forum where sometimes you can reach people without that weight of visuals and instantaneous judgment that comes along with it.
But I do feel depressed about where this country is at. My wife nudged me to watch some Square One TV reruns from 1987. They were produced by CTW and funded in large part by IBM. The cast was highly talented and racially diverse. In fact, I blame them for getting interested in Noir without warning me about all of the racial and sexist baggage the genre has (some of the most famous Noir films are actually much less bad than contemporary noir pulps or, in many ways worse, the noir revival shit that’s out there). The show was well-funded and has good production values and was even “cool” in a late 80s early 90s kind of way, with music videos, Harry Blackstone guest spots, and the Devo-inspired intro. I did not get all the Boomer-pitched jokes as a kid. CTW believed in shows that parents and children could watch together. PBS and CPB have been horribly defunded. I saw some math shows made for PBS about ten years ago and they were miserable crap. Most of the “learning” stuff on network TV during that brief era where they were required to produce a small amount of educational broadcasting treated science and learning as dorky and stupid. Beakman’s World, for example. (Bill Nye is the counter example who quickly ended up on PBS anyway.)
It seems like none of the terribly talented cast members of Square One had much of a career afterwards (especially the actors of color) although I saw Larry Cedar in a McDonald’s commercial once.
Wait… could Larry Cedar be actor212? Heh, I’d hate to find out he was that much of a perv.
geg6
For all of you who are depressed about politics right now, I understand (since it depresses me, too). But I remembered the other day that it’s the silly season and that brings out the worst in the Teahadis, hard as that is to even imagine. I’m, personally, refusing to let it get me down. It has helped a lot that I’ve been involved in Tom Wolfe’s campaign for governor here and things look quite good for a new governor here in the Commonwealth, dog bless it (to paraphrase Mr. Pierce). Get involved and shut off the MSM. It will improve your quality of life immeasurably.
Elizabelle
I would LOVE to have Amir Khalid blogging here.
Seconded, thirded; it should happen.
A view from across a couple of ponds could be enticing.
scav
@gbear: Now I’m confused. There was Trex who I thought wandered off and did something more music etc oriented (at least that’s what I paid attention to with him) and there was the Pottersville guy who could very well be the jurassic pork can-rattler who’s always shaking the sofa cushions. Are we possibly all the same dog on the interwebs?
eta @raven: sounds closer to what I remember.
Another Holocene Human
@gbear: I struggle with depression too. It’s too easy to say “just unplug the internet” because we’re both scared of them coming for us, we’re looking over our shoulder with good reason.
I would say maybe find a hobby/volunteering gig where you are making a positive difference for someone. Kids are good because they won’t bring you down with moaning/complaining like fellow adults will. Maybe there is some skill you have you can share or maybe it’s not a skill thing just showing up thing. Some churches do a lot of outreach but a lot of communities are looking for volunteers for senior programs, guardian ad litems, library pages, all kinds of stuff. If you’re working with people and helping them it really sets up this positive feedback loop that makes you feel useful and needed and not questioning yourself and your life all the time. I used to have a job that did that for me and I still miss it.
raven
Buck the fuck up people. If you have personal issues that are bringing you down that’s one thing but all this collective gasping about how horrible things are from the rest of you? Get up off your asses and DO something.
Another Holocene Human
@SatanicPanic: I would never say never but just given the fundamentals and what both parties have been horking up lately it would be a massive, massive upset.
I would be afraid of rightist political violence just as I was in 2008. Don’t ever believe they won’t try it.
Another Holocene Human
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: You’re absolutely right, and there is a big difference between the total wanking that the 50 ACA overturn bills in the House represent and a deliberate bit of community-activist-inspired theatre that a RFRA fix in the Senate would mean. The fight is in the Senate, this is about the Senate and reminding the D base why they need to fight like hell this year to remain in control of the Senate (and hopefully pick off some House seats at the same time).
Reid’s very good at what he does. Everyone here already knew about the Koch’s when Reid started twitter-bashing them, and everyone here knows or thinks they know the endgame of a HobbyLobby bill, but he’s not pitching this at us. He’s pitching it at wishy washy Dems we pull our hair out talking to.
imonlylurking
Getting over the Summer Cold from Heck. My roommate is suffering from it now. At least my fever didn’t get as high as hers-it was 101.5 last night, AFTER aspirin. She says she feels better today.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Goblue72:
No, that’s Orange AND the New Black. Laff riot.
Another Holocene Human
@raven: I do a ton. You post on BJ all day and night and at your worst moments pick pointless fights and bitch people out and engage in 70s nostalgia-fests. Please.
Ben Cisco
@geg6: Indeed. I had already deemed this the #SummerOfStupid and have completely weaned myself from TV Newz, where Newz = an undefined, semi-gelatinous mass of indeterminate particles.
Sort of like genuine imitation vienna sausage. And yes, it is a thing.
raven
@Another Holocene Human: Read well too don’t you?
Paul in KY
@Feminist MRA: We won’t if moaning myrtles like you stay home & don’t vote & don’t help our cause out.
SatanicPanic
@Another Holocene Human: they probably will do some terrible things in 2016, that’s true. A lot of innocent people will be hurt.
Another Holocene Human
Okay, in complete WTF-ville, Ted “Hair Like A 1970s French Movie Star” Cruz thinks that Cochran stole the runoff election and blames the Republican party for, ya know, defending incumbents even though, like, duh, that is what parties do.
Cruz scares me. If he ever gets any serious power, look out.
Paul in KY
@Elizabelle: I think Amir would do a great job. However, it appears to be a lot of work & I’m sure Amir has other things to do in meat space.
mai naem
Well, I get depressed about the state of US politics. I mean,jeebus, Obama wins a second term and the GOP mofos are still playing their hostage games. I think of all that O could have done and is not going to get done. etc. etc. etc. and then I remember he fcuking got the ACA through. It ain’t perfect blah blah blah but, seriously, not Truman, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Carter nor Clinton got it done. This may not be as big a deal as the Civil Rights stuff LBJ got through, but it’s a BFD.
brendancalling
@piratedan: agreed.
the more that the Senate Democrats bring this up, hell the more that ALL OF US bring it up, the better a chance we have at defeating the drooling cretins on the right.
Also, Scalia and Kennedy need to have heart attacks or strokes or embolisms.
mai naem
@Another Holocene Human: Ted Cruz looks like an ugly drag queen. Just sayin’
Elizabelle
@raven:
I agree with you about bucking the fuck up.
This blog is a complete and utter downer too much of the time lately. It’s cheap cynicism and despair.
People: we are winning more than losing, but don’t look to the media (and we’re all media consumers, it would seem) to clue you in on that. Everything is framed as “this could be bad for Democrats!” — maybe it draws eyeballs.
I’m glad that Balloon Juicers can speak honestly about their challenges and fears, but some days this place is beyond depressing.
Why don’t some front pagers make a point of finding good articles on what is going in the right direction, rather than just “Look, another Republican being an asshole”, which is MSNBC’s stock in trade weeknights.
There are some thoughtful articles out there. PAY ATTENTION TO MARTIN LONGMAN!
Item: I am Optimistic about the Senate Races.
FWIW, I pretty much cannot watch Chris Hayes at 8 Eastern because I can’t stand the screeching at me about political idiocy so soon after dinner. Can tolerate some Hayes surfing on the rebroadcasts.
kindness
@Another Holocene Human: If Ted ever gets any Federal roles outside his Senate gig we will all be buying guns. Or should be.
raven
@Elizabelle: Nah, I’m just picking “pointless” fights and engaging in 70’s nostalgia.
SatanicPanic
@Elizabelle: Seriously. Things are not that bad. We’re just dealing with an outbreak of nuttiness on the right, but that will pass. Overall things are getting better.
schrodinger's cat
@Elizabelle: The constant negativity and gloom and doom is completely unproductive.
ranchandsyrup
A 2 hour layover in Houston Bush airport does wonders for one’s perception of their body image.
piratedan
makes it tough to fight on when you see a media that is fully complicit in enabling the rage-click phenomena, ignoring what is actually being accomplished and manifesting the magical balance fairy principals to even the most idiotic of beliefs and ideas and giving them traction.
yet, we continue to press on because it’s too fucking expensive to move on and relocate to the space colonial frontier. We’ve all become primary school teachers in government civics because too many of our current classmates spend too much time in front of the TV being told that none of this is their fault, just trust in the rich guy and believe that everyone else is out to get you….
ranchandsyrup
Current airport music: I was country, when country wasn’t coooooooooool. ♬♬
Gin & Tonic
@schrodinger’s cat: We’re all going to die!
SatanicPanic
@ranchandsyrup: That song is BS. Country has maintained the same level of cool for as long as I can remember.
Cervantes
@Elizabelle: Re Longman’s take on the Senate this November, I’d say retaining control comes down to Alaska and North Carolina, both of which are toss-ups right now.
bemused
@ranchandsyrup:
Ha, ha.
Did you also see women carrying big ass purses with blingy crosses on them? I hear those are very popular with conservative Texan women.
Mike E
@imonlylurking: I hear ya on the Summer cold…Santaria, or, roasting a chicken, helps a lot IMO.
I am also dealing with personal stuff: ACA, or DHHS seems think I’m scamming them with my two paltry p/t jobs and are demanding “proof of income” from me when I can’t predict what I’ll be making (tho my original estimate seems to be coming true since I lost out on a f/t position and got my hours cut way back); my daughter is in a tail spin lately and is making some poor decisions, but that’s teenage life amirite? I fear she is avoiding help for mental health issues which is the nature of her illness; she now wants to travel with her boyfriend to Central America and everything about this screams “Bad decision” to me. Life…
ranchandsyrup
@SatanicPanic: Same for me. It’s not getting any cooler either.
@bemused: I’m surrounded by a cluster of conservative ladies right now and 2 of them have the big crosses on their purses. My focus now is on a large gentleman doing some damage to a plate of ribs. It’s hypnotizing/disgusting me. He puts a whole rib in his mouth and it comes out clean.
PurpleGirl
@raven: I think gbear has TRex mixed up with Jurassicpork. He has been by here to blogwhore/bleg a few times in recent weeks.
raven
@PurpleGirl: Yea that must be it, David wouldn’t do that stuff.
catclub
@Elizabelle:
wow, that is encouraging!
Feminist MRA
@SatanicPanic:
Really? Why do you think that?
I think the Dems have a real weak candidate base – the best they got is Hillary and while she is competent and experienced, she is neither youthful not charismatic and has some specific baggage too. They will also be in the position of defending the status quo (which isn’t that hot). Hillary will essentially be a relatively boring candidate running on largely continuing things as they are with some minor tweaks to specific policies. Her slogan might as well be “Hillary: A competent manager who will continue to nurture the slow economic recovery along and not rock the boat too much”. Of course, this obviously means her REAL slogan will be just “Hillary: Because Republicans are Assholes!”.
The Republicans, on the other hand, have some younger and somewhat more charismatic candidates. They will also be in the position of running on a platform of more radical change. Whether it’s Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, or someone else, the general message will be “GOP Guy: He’s got a fire in his belly and he’s ready to being some more radical change to Washington”.
In even mediocre conditions, “Change” will almost always beats “No Change” and “I’m going to mix things up and vote for me if you want real change” beats “I’m going to keep doing the same shit but vote for me because my opponents are assholes”.
Josie
@ranchandsyrup: Is the music really loud? The last time I was in the Houston airport It was so loud I could barely talk on the phone. Continental had cancelled my flight late on a Sunday night and I was trying desperately to solve the problem. Closest I have ever come to having a complete meltdown. I haven’t wanted to go back to that place since then.
Elizabelle
@ranchandsyrup:
People of Houston Bush, hmmm?
If you’re still on layover, you can amuse yourself looking at Bush the lesser’s “ranch”, in Architectural Digest. Slideshow link at bottom of article preview.
Got to say, I like the decor, for the most part. And the setting is gorgeous.
Don’t know I’d entitle anything about GWBush “Texas Triumph”, though.
Still think the owner belongs in prison blues, having testified against VP Cheney at the Hague. Not looking at bluebonnets. Blues and tattoos.
Also a cool AD article, from 2008, on Matthew McConahey and his Airstream (first of many).
gene108
@gbear:
I’ve had problems with depression and can understand wanting to get on disability. Knowing people, who have gone on SSDI, the big issue is whether you have the money to cover living on a fixed income or not.
Basically, if you’re on a fixed income can you cover rent/mortgage/property taxes and have money left over for food, utilities and car insurance payments.
I don’t think SSDI and Social Security retirement payments stack. I believe it is one or the other, if you qualify for both.
Also, if you are feeling worse maybe consult your doctor/psychiatrist to see if changing meds are in order. I got put on Wellibutron, in April, along with my other meds and that has helped me out and calmed my anxiety down.
Betsy
Hey Betty. I am sorry you are feeling lousy and low. Here’s wishing you a good and better day. Have a glass of cool water and look at some Florida greenery for me, if it will take your mind off things; and may something good be just around the corner for you.
Elizabelle
@Cervantes:
I like Hagan’s chances in North Carolina. All those Moral Monday folks going to sit home on their hands? Voter registration not a front and center issue?
Buyer’s remorse for Art Pope and his sockpuppet? Probably.
re Alaska: We don’t have Senator Joe Miller. People learned to spell Murkowski.
From what I’ve seen, Mark Begich looks re-electable.
A lot of Alaskans may not have liked being the butt of Palin jokes. And some of them may realize they need government spending.
raven
@Feminist MRA: So crawl under a rock.
mai naem (mobile)
@Feminist MRA: I don’t think the dems have a weak base, it’s that Hillary sucks all the oxygen in the room. To make matters worse, the Clinton are known for holding grudges so that intimidates any possible opponents to even show up. That said I would gladly vote for Hillary over any whack job gopr.
Elizabelle
@Feminist MRA:
Who are you? Which think tank? Are you dougJ, missing us? (Or that you, Morning Joe wannabe?)
Fire in the belly turned into incendiary devices against the economy and middle class. We got radical change with GW Bush.
It’s why America elected a black Democrat, two times in a row. Fair and square, too.
eemom
@PurpleGirl:
That’s what I thought too, and I was wondering how in the world anyone could confuse those two — one a multi-talented and all around great guy and the other a charmless panhandler — until I just now got the dinosaur thing. Oh.
Elizabelle
@Feminist MRA:
Did you crib that from President Unskewed Romney?
SatanicPanic
@Feminist MRA: Pshaw, keep dreaming. Voting doesn’t work that way. You goopers don’t have the demographics. Too bad so sad.
raven
Man it is pouring!
Elizabelle
@eemom:
Howdy eemom!
catclub
@Feminist MRA:
So its better the devil ya don’t know? Huh!
in 2008 if the economy had not gone off a cliff in SEPTEMBER, McCain would have had a far better shot.
The change outsider only got his chance because things were as bad as they were. So I am not buying it.
George Bush in 1988 was not exactly the change candidate. And he is the most relevant comparison to Hillary in 2016 versus the GOP equivalent of Mike Dukakis – who is a great guy but was a not a very good Presidential Candidate.
BushvGore 2000 is an outlier. Gore ran away from Clinton and I do not expect Hillary to run away from Obama.
Feminist MRA
@raven:
What are you some fucking peppy cheerleader who gets all out-of-sorts when someone near you isn’t also shaking pom-poms and shouting “Go Team”? Jesus Christ. Get a fucking life and stop acting like a Tea Partier.
I haven’t said shit about staying home or that the Dems should be more “centrist” and give in the the GOP. I simply said that my dispassionate analysis tells me the odds are in favor of the GOP. Anyone who thinks that merely saying such a thing out loud is some sort of treason or dereliction of duty is the fucking Emo Crybaby.
JGabriel
@cleek:
I’m not sure how enabling sociopathic rage addicts to keep them happy constitutes not wasting time.
Mike E
@Elizabelle: Yep, Hagan benefits from running against an asshole, but she is Blue Dog’n it and the local media gets sidetracked from Thom Tillis’s deficiencies when they see her needlessly walking on eggshells. She’s too timid on environmental issues and we’re getting steamrolled by frackers and a utility monster, I’m sure you’ve noticed this, but she seems to think befouling our water resources is a sure business winner, somehow.
raven
@Feminist MRA: You ain’t said shit, period.
Trollhattan
@Feminist MRA:
Nobody thinks Ted Cruz is “charismatic.” Nobody. His own mother tried to drown him in the bathtub.
Feminist MRA
@SatanicPanic:
Where the fuck did you get the idea that I’m a Republican?
Hmmm…. assuming that someone who disagrees with you in a blog thread is an enemy agent Sockpuppet …. sounds la lot like a Tea Partier to me……
Feminist MRA
@raven:
Ah. You’re words have pierced my soul. I am defeated.
Go back to roleplaying vampires, you teenage drama queen.
raven
Makato is back!
Feminist MRA
@raven:
What is wrong in your personal life that you get so emotional over something that has no personal significance. You’re like a Twilight fanboy or some little blonde Fundamentalist bimbo .
Elizabelle
@Feminist MRA:
If you’re anything, you’re “dispassionate” and a whip smart “analyst.”
Figured the thread was boring, I think.
SatanicPanic
@Feminist MRA: No Democrat would suggest that Rand Paul or Ted Cruz are charismatic. At least, not to anyone outside the 27%.
raven
@Feminist MRA: You can do better than that.
SatanicPanic
@raven: Troll sightings really have been rare here the last 2 years.
raven
@SatanicPanic: This one is fun.
Feminist MRA
@catclub:
I disagree about McCain. I think he had the odds against him because of more than just the Financial Crises. Bush had 4 solid years of fuckups before that even happened. I think it hurt but I think people still wanted to change for more than just that.,
Jim, Foolish Literalist
The GOP will never be dumb enough to nominate either of those two. But then I never thought we’d elect the black guy with the funny name or that Christine O’Donnell could win a primary held at her family reunion and including the votes of the doll collection I’m sure she has, so what do I know?
Booman has a post up speculating that Rob Portman could be a serious candidate, and while grey flannel suits don’t get much grayer, most of them do have more charisma.
Gin & Tonic
@raven: Sounding more like Timmeh, no? Def not m_c, but I’m starting to recognize the voice, just can’t place it yet.
raven
@Gin & Tonic: I think you are right.
Feminist MRA
@SatanicPanic:
Lol. I’ve found a lot of popular people to be douchebags … but for some reason other people still liked them. But whatever, you’re obviously emotionally committed. Arguing solves nothing. The data will out in Nov 2016. I hope the Dems win. I think a GOP win will have seriously bad consequences. Fuck, depending on development they damn well may bring us back into Iraq. Won’t that be a fucking party?
Trollhattan
@raven:
You cudlips knock this right off! You’ll curse the joint.
Feminist MRA
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Really? I think Ted Cruz has a shot at the nomination for sure. Of course, their voter base is fickle to say the least. They fall in and out of love faster than a teenager.
Trollhattan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
For the moment I’m sticking with Scotty.
gogol's wife
@ranchandsyrup:
Oh God, you mean I have to go to Houston? I’ve avoided it all my life.
Feminist MRA
@Gin & Tonic:
Damn. The Koch brothers told me the new voice modulator would cover my tracks. My cover is blown! I must FLEE!!!!
Mike E
Fatalism MRE, methinks…DougJ iz bored!
Gin & Tonic
Washington Post columnist goes on a tirade against bicyclists and suggests, in print, that motorists running them down with their cars is a valid choice.
eemom
@Elizabelle:
back atcha!
Hope we can do another local meetup this summer….was really sorry to miss the last one.
gogol's wife
@Feminist MRA:
But you forgot UNLIMITED CORPORATE CASH
SatanicPanic
@Trollhattan: Walker? Isn’t he being investigated? I honestly have no idea who is going to lose to Hillary. If I had to guess it would be Rand Paul.
Feminist MRA
@Trollhattan:
Um … I think you may have forgotten to call me names and tell me to fuck off. Or am I supposed to do that to you? We can;t just disagree and see what happens. That seems …. wrong.
gogol's wife
@Trollhattan:
LOL
Trollhattan
@Gin & Tonic:
Jesus Christ, way to be, “Courtland Milloy.”
That can’t be a real name, right?
gogol's wife
@Gin & Tonic:
Definitely not Timmeh or M_C. Not smart enough.
Paul in KY
@SatanicPanic: Agreed. The ‘capsule review’ of the dead eyed granny starver & the rapture obsessed nutwad give it away.
Paul in KY
@Feminist MRA: How about 7.9 years of solid fuckups?
eemom
@Gin & Tonic:
Sounded like Tim to me too, except for this:
One of Tim’s schticks was how he didn’t vote anymore since the Democrats fucked him over — him personally — by handing the election to Bush in 2000/2004. Or something.
gogol's wife
@Paul in KY:
The whole thing about new ideas was also the theme of the cover story in the NYTimes magazine this weekend (which I could not read). They’re going to be the party of intellectual vigor.
Trollhattan
@SatanicPanic:
I think so, but like surviving the recall it will simply give him cred with “da base.” (Short of a conviction and prison, of course.)
I find his combination of blandness and evil intentions and white maleness ideal for a Republican presidential candidate.
Violet
Doug retired? When did that happen?
catclub
@Feminist MRA:
Agreed. He is most likely to lock up the far, far right that could not decide whom to back against McCain or Romney.
But I think he will be absolute poison in the general, rather than a change candidate that becomes popular. As a Democrat, just put up a poster with a picture of him and Joe McCarthy side by side.
gogol's wife
@Violet:
He’s retired from political blogging for the next 3-6 years because of some unspecified life change. Some of us suspect he got elected department chair. But he will still do music threads.
rikyrah
Shifting Tactics, Moral Monday Movement Launches a New Freedom Summer
Barry Yeoman
July 3, 2014
Fifty years after the murders of Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman, North Carolina activists move from civil disobedience to big voter mobilization push.
by Jenny Warburg for The American Prospect
The North Carolina NAACP’s Moral Freedom Summer organizers, shown here at a Raleigh protest, are fanning out across the state to register and educate voters in advance of the November 2014 elections.
“I normally wear cuff links,” the Rev. William Barber II told the 75 activists, black and white, who filled the pews at Davie Street Presbyterian Church in downtown Raleigh Monday night. “But it’s time to roll up our sleeves.”
With those words, the president of the North Carolina NAACP launched the next phase of the Moral Monday movement, the broad faith-based response to the state’s recent sharp-right policy turn.
The movement, founded by Barber in 2013 and backed by dozens of church and advocacy groups, is temporarily shifting its attention away from the civil-disobedience protests that yielded more than 1,000 arrests. Between now and Election Day in November, Moral Monday leaders plan to concentrate on local communities and a federal courtroom, confronting what Barber calls “the most regressive voter-suppression law passed by any state in this country since Jim Crow.”
http://prospect.org/article/shifting-tactics-moral-monday-movement-launches-new-freedom-summer
Violet
Gah! That was supposed to be DougJ. Stupid autocorrect.
Paul in KY
@SatanicPanic: The powers-that-be in Repub party would never allow Rand Paul to get the nomination. Unless he has a come-to-Jesus moment & becomes a neocon. Then he could win the nomination.
Violet
@gogol’s wife: Thanks. Was there a thread announcing it?
Paul in KY
@gogol’s wife: They must have focus grouped that.
catclub
@Gin & Tonic:
Not the best way to put his arguments. I think he would like more bike lanes in the poorer parts of DC, but all that got put in the end of the article. Ridiculing bicyclists’ requests/demands for a tiny bit of infrastructure, but ignoring the other 99.9% of infrastructure dedicated to cars, does not put him in my good books.
His use of ‘terrorist’ might be a little overdone.
SatanicPanic
@Paul in KY: Maybe Jeb then? I seriously have no idea. It’s the most wide open field I can remember. Also, the shallowest and dumbest, and that’s saying something.
Feminist MRA
@catclub:
I think he’s smart enough to know to lie about his views and generally do the old “tack to the center” thing in the general.
Also, I would put him next to this guy. They really do look alike.
bemused
@ranchandsyrup:
No surprise to see that Hobby Lobby has a whole section of assorted crosses.
Yup, I can imagine you saw some pretty hefty people there. When we travel through the southern states to visit family and stop to eat, it’s always startling to see so many obese people.
Gin & Tonic
@catclub: It was called a “tirade” by one of his fellow WaPo columnists.
raven
@Violet: here ya go
Xantar
Rooftop solar in Australia is so prevalent now that even if coal became free, it still wouldn’t be able to compete:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/07/solar-has-won-even-if-coal-were-free-to-burn-power-stations-couldnt-compete
Elizabelle
@eemom:
Will use that to guilt you into attending the next one!
Stay tuned. Maybe August?
Paul in KY
@SatanicPanic: I’m thinking Jeb would be a good ‘establishment’ pick. I just don’t think he’s going to run. His wife is a bit of a nutcase.
I guess either Walker (if he gets re-elected) or another go by Romney.
Paul in KY
@Feminist MRA: Ted Cruz is mentally incapable of ‘tacking to center’ in any kind of general election. If he tried, he would be so obviously lying that it would hurt his chances more than just continuing his ‘The 13th Century was Great’ political philosophy.
Elizabelle
Proto-hedgehogs in the news.
A teeny tiny one lived in British Columbia eons ago, when the American Great Plains were tropical rain forests. And what times it lived through:
11 degrees over 20,000 years. Pikers.
Elizabelle
I don’t know that Americans are ready to elect a President who didn’t understand the subtext of Green Eggs and Ham.
With an Ivy League education, yet.
Paul in KY
@Elizabelle: It was already hot when those 11 degrees were added.
Violet
@raven: Thank you! I see the date and that was in the middle of the chaos with my parents. I was only able to check in sporadically. Sorry to see DougJ stop posting.
Elizabelle
@Paul in KY:
And volcanically exciting.
Trollhattan
@Xantar:
Wow, a positively startling article.
Cervantes
@Feminist MRA:
I don’t know, either — but that whole attitude is just a mistake longing to be ignored.
Mnemosyne
@Feminist MRA:
We all saw Paul Ryan in 2012. “Charismatic” is not exactly a valid descriptor, unless you use the qualifier “when compared to other Republicans.”
The problem with the Republicans you named — and most of the “young turks” who have been pushed as the Next Big Republican Thing — is that they wilt the instant you take them out of the conservative hothouse. Notice that no one is pushing Bobby Jindal anymore? Or Marco Rubio?
They look hot and young and fresh standing next to Mitt Romney or John McCain, but they look weird and stilted when you put them among normal people.
Ted Cruz is never going to hit the big time. I’m sorry, but he’s not. “Charismatic when compared to Louie Gohmert” is not a category that works with the general electorate. Rudy Giuliani found that out in 2008.