Underrated 2014 story: Al Franken’s incredibly effective populist campaign. http://t.co/O4yMcPwHO4 Many have tried, he nailed it.
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) November 6, 2014
This summer, the Dems made a calculated decision to shut up about economic inequality. How'd that work out for them?
http://t.co/AuL5UVXHIQ
— Kathleen Geier (@Kathy__Gee) November 5, 2014
Problem is, the .001% have 99.001% of the microphones. On the other hand, there’s a lot more of us…
***********
Chill & dank & rainy here, but at least we’re in a good takeout-delivery reception area. Apart from high-caloric consolation, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
Marcion
We need to learn a lesson from the Tea Party. Progressives need to be running for every office, starting with the bottom: school board, precinct captain, state representative. We need to take the party machinery back from DNC types that have settled in comfortably on top, starting from the bottom. We need to to take the state houses back starting from the bottom. The local level is the foundation of the state is the foundation of the federal and controlling the top (ie the Presidency) will do no good without that firm foundation.
Cacti
The GOPers ran on fear and resentment.
But the Dems ran on nothing in particular.
Even bad principles will bring more people out than no principles.
Just Some Fuckhead
We need blah blah blah.
We need to get a better coalition of progressive voters. The one we have fucking sucks.
BR
@Marcion:
You’re on to something there. I go back and forth on whether such folks should run on a different party ticket or not. (I’ve heard the suggestion of the American Peoples Party thrown around — sometimes in jest, sometimes not, but it might be a good generic party name to use.)
Major Major Major Major
Last time I’ll post this but my friend has been missing for a very long amount of time http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/06/sf-engineer-dan-ha-has-been-missing-since-halloween-night/
Marcion
Like, seriously, let’s look at some of these races we lost. Florida. Florida, a state of nearly 20 million people. And the best candidates for governor we can find are party hack Alex Sink and careerist party-flipper Bill Crist? WTF. The Tea Party has used their knowledge of party machinery to put all kinds of looney tunes people on the ballot. And maybe they have a money advantage from ALEC $$$, but shit, look at Eric Cantor. He had 10x the money of whatsisface and he got blown away. That’s people power. People power can win over money power with a sufficiently organized core, who know exactly the rules of the game they’re playing and are willing to find any edge in those rules that they can use to take over. Are we ready yet?
We need to infiltrate our local Dem organizations and kick the losers running them to the curb.
mai naem
@Marcion: I have to agree with this. We didn’t even have a Dem candidate for state treasurer in AZ. Disgusting. Why not have some for sure loser in a lower race run in the State Treasurer.
I’m still feeling pretty down on what happened on Tuesday. I don’t remember feeling this bad even when Gore and Kerry lost.
Omnes Omnibus
@Marcion: All you need to do is walk down to the local Democratic HQ with some friends and volunteer. Do that and the process starts.
Marcion
@BR:
Terrible idea. The institutional advantages are too great for a third party to overcome. And why bother reinventing the wheel trying to build new institutions when we have a party lying here waiting for us to renovate?
It should be easier than it was. Blue Dogs got massacred. The proportion of existing pols who would support us is greater than the past.
The key problem will be finding an issue to organize people around. And that is – money out of politics. A campaign finance amendment. Get the $$$ out of Washington and get real citizens in. The Tea Party has had massive success on their phony populist version of this message. But we have the real deal – they’re too in hock to their big $$$ backers like the Koch bros to ever come out for real campaign finance reform. We need to find a way to connect the $$$ to politicians with the $$$ disappearing from regular Americans’ wallets. That is what 95% of the country can get behind and it will get people to understand the need to organize.
Schlemazel
Even Franken ran a campaign that was too quiet for my tastes. I understand he is trying to downplay his ‘star’ status but I just didn’t see him out thumping the tub as much as I would have liked. But that is probably just me. Still for the rest why were we not hearing endlessly about the low unemployment, the huge drop in the deficit, The historic stock market highs? Why run away from Obama when he was tied to Dems anyway? There was no upside for that lemon in Kentucky or anywhere else. The GOP was going to tar you with the Obama brush so why not embrace it and make it a positive. I don’t see how we could have done worse.
srv
@Just Some Fuckhead: If you need the millenials to show the fuck up on election day, you might want to start bending over for them.
I know, I know, the old farts here hates the dudebro.
Belafon
I posed this in an earlier thread:
I live in Ralph Hall’s old district. I don’t know the name of the new guy who beat him in the primary, in part because all I did was look for “Dem.” on the ballot. But I would like for someone to tell me how I would run a populist campaign in an area that thought that Hall wasn’t conservative enough?
Karen in GA
@Major Major Major Major: I just shared it on FB. Hoping he turns up safe and sound.
mai naem
@Marcion: You don’t get campaign finance reform until you have some major scandal and nowadays it’s got to be some seriously awful scandal – we’re talking a lot of people dying or being poisoned or something with somewhat salacious videotape of bribes. Or you need a supermajority of Dems to pass the legislation.
One of the small things you can do is in blue states and Dem controlled legislatures they need to have good liberal voting rights in the state’s constitution. It’s got to be done in such a manner that to undo it would take a lot of energy. Also too, individual state props placing liberal voting rights in the state’s constitution. Get it done now before the GOP vandalizes any more states.
srv
@Major Major Major Major: I hate to do this because of the implication, but I really think the techgeeks need to leverage people who have been through this:
https://www.facebook.com/MissingCalifornia5
I don’t see any post for your friend there. These people are organized.
Schlemazel
@Omnes Omnibus:
but its not very glamorous. I gave up a lot of nights this summer & fall being abused on the phone by people who were annoyed at being called, yet again. Stuffing envelopes, driving loads of signs around, a lot of crumby jobs. It is not fun (although there are many very nice people involved) and once they know you will work they want to drag you into a lot of things that need to be done because there are never enough people willing to miss an episode of “Shitty Housewives of East Armpit” or “Egotistical Asshole Family” doing something as stupid as trying to help decent people get elected.
Just Some Fuckhead
@srv: Trust me, I know. No one is to blame except the person who can’t figure out how to get Democratic voters to vote. Me, firmly in the Republican cohort by every possible measurement, can take 10 minutes every two years to vote for the more progressive candidates expecting zero in return, but Democratic voters can’t be bothered. How about a free xbox raffle at the polls?
mtmofo
Reffing Cole’s piece (yesterday?) about the Army policy authorizing the use of “Negro” on certain forms and how he thought a change would happen in record time.
The policy was changed today. For any branch of the military that is indeed record time.
mai naem
@Schlemazel: I think you’ll see Franken out more now. It’s his second term. He doesn’t have to worry till 2020, also a presidential year. I wonder if he should take over the DSCC. He should at least be able to get $$$ out of Hollywood.
geg6
Another evening of the wingnuts screaming at me on Book of Faces about what an awful person I am to care about others.
I am a pretty nice person and will put up with a lot. I’ve only ever unfriended someone for blatantly racist language. But I am sorely tempted tonight.
Oh, and go Pens!
Howard Beale IV
@Major Major Major Major: It’s so fucking sad that its come to this…..
Gin & Tonic
@mai naem: Here in solid blue RI, the lege passed a strict photo ID law, with the enthusiastic support of the black legislators.
Gin & Tonic
@Schlemazel: I ran for elective office once. It’s a really shitty job.
trollhattan
Set your timers for February, and you’d better call Saul.
Linda Featheringill
@Major Major Major Major:
I’m sorry to hear that. Hope you find him soon – and still alive and kicking.
Belafon
@geg6: Are they doing the “they’re lazy and don’t deserve my hard earned money?” For those people, I keep this link around: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/nyregion/3-jobs-plenty-of-dreams-and-the-fatal-consequences-of-one-dangerous-decision.html?_r=0.
Major Major Major Major
@srv: He was… is… part of the gaymer community out here. They’ve been pulling out all the stops. I just figured one more stop couldn’t hurt. I know how you folks feel about missing cats, after all
srv
@Major Major Major Major: This family has boots on the ground:
http://www.seansidi.com/
There are just too many of them. Someone needs to put pressure on the Feds, as SFPD is AWOL.
Schlemazel
@Marcion:
Most third party moves in the US are simply a cult of personality, usually based on the personality being a bit of a blank slate that people can cast their own beliefs on. Perot was anti-deficit but, how? What else did he want? Nobody supporting him could tell you that. Here in Minnesota we got stuck with Jesse The Boobie Ventura based on many idiots assuming he believed whatever stupid shit they believed. He got in office with no fucking clue what he wanted to do or how to do it. All he managed to do was get registration fees on his toys (snowmobile, atv & boat) lowered as part of a 3 way deal with Ds getting some pay back on stolen school funds & Rs getting yet another tax cut. The party died when boobie found out governing was hard work & it didn’t pay as well as the XFL.
The ‘Independent PArty” of Minnesota (fuck them sideways) had a bunch of volunteers and something like a party structure in place but could not find any policies they all could agree on except to be against anything done by D or R. They died after handing the state to the GOP for a decade.
Marcion
@mai naem:
The ongoing fucked up situation in Washington is the scandal. We need people who are willing to refuse to take corporate cash and are willing to connect (no matter how tenuously) EVERYTHING negative that an opponent has done to their participation in the campaign finance whorehouse. Link deeds to dollar numbers, then turn around and be able to say that our candidate’s number is zero. This is why the bottom up part of the strategy will be important, because we will have to forfeit the money advantage. It will be a double edged sword, though, because that would be the source of our credibility. We need to have an education campaign in the progressive base, like the Tea Party did for the GOP’s, on the party rules, bylaws, and structure of the party so we can get involved. Help lift the veil so ordinary citizens can participate. We need to get GOOD at the primary turnout games and the precinct level games because that will transmit results up to the next level of the organization. Clean the house out one level at a time, until we have one party standing for money in politics, and the other against it. This will alienate the donors and they may go to the GOP – but that just makes the differences more stark. The whole big donor cesspool would lie entirely on their side. Turn their strength into a weakness.
BR
@Marcion:
The point isn’t to try to run a third party in national elections. But the working peoples party has demonstrated that even at a state level it’s a viable approach, and it’s definitely viable at the local level. At the national level, such candidates would run as Dems. (Aren’t there such populist parties in Wisconsin and New York that are loosely affiliated with Dems?)
Schlemazel
@Gin & Tonic:
My dad did years ago & damn near won. Its a shame he didn’t he would have made a good COunty COmmissioner. Then it was grunt work, attending a lot of community events, evenings at meet & greets in private homes. Now on top of that I think begging is top of the list. It is hard work to run, serving may be restful.
I would love to run myself, I’d make a great Hennepin County Commish myself but I do not have the personality that would allow me to make positive connections with people when we first met.
Iowa Old Lady
@geg6: Aw, go ahead and unfriend the people annoying you. FB should be a way to connect with people you want to keep track of and hear from. Everyone else can go be nasty on someone else’s feed.
geg6
@Belafon:
Yes, but that would not even help. They’d just scream about how she was irresponsible, if not lazy. No joke. I wrote about wanting the best for everyone, even them, and I’m told I’m a horrible liberal ideologue who is just seething with hate and I should look in the mirror and see how awful and closed-minded I truly am.
PsiFighter37
The stress from the elections triggered my cold sores to start breaking out on my lips and make me sick (mainly cold and lightheaded, along with a sore throat). This started out of nowhere last year, and it’s really irritating – I have no idea where it came from.
Another thing I can blame on the Democrats losing a shitload of seats. Wheeeee!
Major Major Major Major
@PsiFighter37: We all ended up with strep throat somehow, one of my friends was actually hospitalized. ’tis the season, I suppose.
Schlemazel
@geg6:
Then why not just block them if you won’t unfriend them? Life is too short to have to put up with assholes up close.
askew
Outsiders views of Franken are so different from what Minnesotans see. He never portrays himself as a liberal or progressive. Almost his entire campaign was focused on the small pieces of legislation he worked on and how he helped people in the state.
If you want someone who ran on progressive ideas, you want Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton. He raised taxes on the wealthy, he bragged about his record on the economy, increasing spending on education, his all-day kindergarten program that just passed.
Franken ran a middle of the road inoffensive campaign. Dayton swung for the fences. Big difference.
Belafon
@geg6: At that point, on twitter at least, I’ve just been telling people I’ll see them in hell.
Marcion
@BR:
But how do you get the visibility you need to get one of those parties off the ground. I’m picturing people trying a bunch of unsuccessful attempts, squashed by both parties trying to defend the two-party system. In places that don’t have friendly laws like NY it would be very tough.
I think you have a point that we need something like one. But we don’t need a third party; we need, let’s call it a second-and-a-half party. We need a brand, like the Tea Party created. A party-within-the-party dedicated to taking it over. Call it the Money Outta Politics party (To MOP up the mess in DC?) or something snappier, IDK I’m not a marketer. It will have to hammer the theme: every $ in politics is ten $ out of your wallet.
mb
RE: Franken: Great, glad he won. Now he needs do something with it. To start speaking up. Make some waves. Lay out a progressive agenda for America. Use his fucking celebrity instead of lying low protecting his incumbency.
He’s been a real disappointment, imo.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
I’m sitting at urgent care because YOU PEOPLE insisted I go get my (probably) broken toe checked out.
Schlemazel
@mb:
I assume he has been worried about his reputation as a comedian and a Hollywood guy. I’m hoping it opens it up a bit. As far as his work in the Senate it has been very good but he has not pushed himself in front of the cameras. I think that has been on purpose & given the camera hogs in the Senate not altogether a bad thing. I do want to see more of the Wellstone model of public stands though now that he has 6 years under his belt.
Currants
Saw citizenfour. Thought we should take up heavy drinking afterward. (But alas, we are still who we are.)
Schlemazel
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Waste of time. If it is broken they can’t do anything for it. Suck it up & soldier on.
trollhattan
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Aaaaand, we killed Kenny.
Good luck with the toe and the Obamacare. Could be a long night.
PsiFighter37
Also upset that my iPhone 6 Plus did not show up today as promised. I am sick as shit of having had a mostly-broken iPhone 5 for nearly 2 years and really, really need a new phone ASAP (it’s now becoming hard to charge it).
rikyrah
What’s wrong with Franken being the Senator from Minnesota? I can’t be mad for him being a workhorse from his state. I don’t worry about him not being a Democrat….he runs on it.
Karen in GA
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): Oh, no. Sending healing thoughts.
burnspbesq
@Gin & Tonic:
That sucks, but it is what it is. While it’s being challenged in litigation, start NOW to get the people affected by it the IDs they will need to vote in 2016. It’s a shit job, tedious and time-consuming, but it needs doing and there’s a big payoff on the back end.
trollhattan
Pierce front-pages Edroso reminding us Ann Althouse still is among the living, just not the living-and-thinking cohort.
Has Edroso landed a gig yet?
danielx
Sanding drywall….again. Which ranks above watching paint dry but way below sleeping, say.
Mike in NC
Bought a new car today, which I wasn’t even thinking about. The old one was starting to look like a money pit with expensive maintenance issues which I was assured would only get worse over time.
We took my 2004 Honda CR-V to the local dealership merely to get an appraisal of its value. With 206K miles on it, the Kelly Blue Book value was estimated at about $4000. The sales manager immediately offered me $3000 trade-in value, which I thought was a great deal. They were anxious to move their remaining 2014 inventory to make way for the new models, so I got a fabulous deal on the CR-V EX built in Ontario (the LX is made in Mexico and I pretty much ruled out buying a Mexican car, even if it was a Honda). To sweeten the bargain, Honda will finance at the rate of 0.9%. The best rate I was going to get from USAA was 3.5%. I thought I really made out well on this transaction.
beltane
@trollhattan: I haven’t thought about Ann Althouse since the days of Sadly, No .
Schlemazel
@rikyrah:
There is nothing wrong with him. I think a lot of us are wishing he would be more out front, more bold and more loud of a Democrat. I am satisfied with his work but was hoping for more Elizabeth Warren & less Amy Klobuchar.
Omnes Omnibus
@mb: Some senators are show horses; others are work horses. Franken is a work horse. There is nothing whatsoever wrong with that.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Alert: Gun Crazy, with the not yet denatured early incarnation of Peggy Cummins, on TCM at 10:45 p.m. EST Friday.
Preceded at 9:15 by Ida Lupino’s odd but worthy B-movie The Hitch-Hiker (1953), with William Talman (Hamilton Burger on Perry Mason) as the killer.
And followed at 12:30 a.m. by Terrence Malick’s Badlands (1973). Martin Sheen and Sissy Spaceck on a crime spree. (I know you know; info for lurkers and non-cimema majors.)
Anne Laurie
@PsiFighter37:
You ever been tested for allergies? This is the time of year when all the heating systems come on & dump a ton of irritants into the newly bone-dry indoor air. When your immune system is going bugfvck targeting all the wrong “invaders”, then recurrent lurkers like herpes get a chance to blossom…
If nothing else, running a humidifier in your bedroom/office cubicle can help more then you’d expect. Also, find a lip balm stick you can stand to use every 20 minutes you’re awake, and then use it — if you’ve got a “cold”, you’re breathing through your mouth, your lips are cracking, and those micro-cracks are where the herpes sores take hold. It’ll feel weird & greasy at first, but if you experiment & find a brand that works, it really helps. (I like Out of Africa but there’s plenty of good brands.)
Schlemazel
@Omnes Omnibus:
I agree although he could put on more of a show, we know he has it in him. I am in no way disappointed in him, I worked hard for him again this year . But I want more.
Some look at their Senator and say, Why? I look at mine & say, Why not? :)
Howard Beale IV
Franken called for a roll call vote which put some senators in a unwelcome light, which was a good thing. OTOH, he sucked up to the entertainment and government secrecy industrial complex, which isn’t necessarily a good thing.
ilefttxwhenannlost
How about a game app along the lines of “scratch a lie, find a thief”
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Schlemazel:
I mostly did it because we’re leaving on vacation Saturday and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t overlooking anything so I didn’t have to search out urgent care in Hawaii. All is well, though, and the doctor said I did my self-care correctly.
@Karen in GA:
As one of my friends at work said, it was a cat-related injury. I tripped on the ottoman while trying not to step on one of them.
Anne Laurie
@Gin & Tonic: I swear, we’re gonna have to start campaigning for mandatory (i.e., free, or at least income-supported) national ID. And mandatory voting. And, while we’re at it, that Constitutional amendment stating that all adult citizens have the right to vote!
Howard Beale IV
@Anne Laurie: +1 on the mandatory voting. That’ll fuck the GOP six ways from sunday. And it’s not without precedent-it’s the law of the land in Australia.
Omnes Omnibus
@Schlemazel: I actually think that he is working hard at being a good serious senator in order to make sure his colleagues take him seriously. Working hard and keeping his head down. Once he has “paid his dues” so to speak, I expect the he will become more public – perhaps in a leadership role. Neither Obama nor Clinton worked that way; it was fairly obvious that the senate was a way station for them on the way to running for president.* Franken is showing that he is there for the long haul.
*Nothing is wrong with what they did, but it doesn’t lead to collegial relations.
Omnes Omnibus
@Howard Beale IV: Go ahead and find me a senator about whom nothing like that can be said.
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
Other than getting a prescription for anti-pain pills (if you feel you need them), there’s not much to be done, and certainly nothing urgent. They’ll immobilize it as best they can, which you could do at home.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
A funny from Wiley about what the GOP needs.
Hal
I’m not sure if this has been covered, because my work filter won’t let me access the main site because of the mention of a certain now legal in several states herb, but the dissent from one of the 6th circuit appeals court judges was gold. I just can’t believe some judges are still using the “marriage is for procreation” defense.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/06/1342704/-Supreme-Court-here-we-come-6th-Circuit-rules-against-marriage-equality
Elie
@Schlemazel:
there has to be a better way. Did this also and the return is horrible. It seems like no matter what data we gather we still have poor information on what leads to what. Thousands of calls and doorbells and we had the flip opposite result of our off year election from last year for Whatcom county council. WTF! Why??? We just never ever seem to answer that no matter what we do with the data…
Gin & Tonic
@efgoldman: From what I’ve read, the bill was supported by the black reps in the lege because of the inroads being made by the Dominicans in South Providence, which the former thought of as fraud (taking “their” seats). Combine that with the apocryphal stories of Dem machine fraud, and you had critical mass. Now every mouth-breather RWNJ can say “hey, voter ID isn’t racist, see, the black reps in RI supported it.”
Elie
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Sorry M — I am late to the thread but yes, please get your toe checked out. Take your pain killers and ice it plenty tonight but it will get better each day. Taping it does wonders!
Sorry that you had that happen
Omnes Omnibus
@Hal: Fucking Jeff Sutton.
Mnemosyne
@NotMax:
The doctor actually complimented me on my buddy taping — Dr. Google did, in fact, tell me the right way to do it.
(FWIW, what people usually forget when buddy taping the baby toe to its neighbor is to put a small piece of cotton or gauze between them so you don’t overstretch the toe.)
Mnemosyne
@Elie:
Just got home from seeing Dr. Dmitri at the urgent care place (don’t tell G, but he was kinda cute ;-) Rest, ice, elevation, buddy taping, and ibuprofen for both pain and swelling.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Couple of silents coming up on Monday/early Tuesday worth an early mention as well.
Monday, 8 p.m. Eastern, The Sheik. While probably more overwrought than torrid to today’s audiences, still worth it in order to see what Valentino mania was all about.
Tuesday, 5:30 a.m. Eastern, He Who Gets Slapped. Lon Chaney in top form. And for Batman fans, Chaney’s clown bent on revenge in this film was purportedly a partial inspiration for the creation of The Joker.
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
Kudos on your acumen. If out of ice, a bag of frozen veggies works quite well.
Personal experience is that the little toe takes the longest to bounce back, but YMMV.
SFAW
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Despite what some are saying: unless things have change drastically in recent years, they will not set a broken toe, nor do anything else for it, other than suggest you dose up on Tylenol or Motrin. It will heal when it heals, and setting it will not do much, if anything, for you.
Semi-related: I heard a rumor – possibly from Steve Doocy – that broken toes have been shown to be caused by the Kenyan Mooslim Bocialist Fascist in the Black House. So, you should be saying “Thanks for nothing, Obama!”
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Wasn’t Badlands an inspiration for Springsteen’s song “Nebraska?”
Omnes Omnibus
Also too, could someone loan me around $53,000? I badly need this.
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
You’ll shoot your eye out!
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne: I.Don’t.Care.I.Love.It. It is beautiful and can do 185.
ETA: Yes, of course I am watching Bullitt.
Tommy
@Hal: Some don’t seem to realize they lost this battle. My brother married into this huge, Republican family. The grandparents and the parents my age not so happy about gay marriage. Their kids and grandkids are are all under 25, think they are dinosaurs. They were raised where there were openly gay people on TV shows. They have friends that are openly gay. I am very happy to say they don’t see what the problem is.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
Forgot to say earlier — if you want it front-paged, I would email the information directly to Anne Laurie. Her contact info is in the sidebar. She’s usually pretty on top of her emails and front-pages all kinds of appeals.
Baud
@Mnemosyne:
I initially read that as buddy tapping. Which also would help you forget about your broken toe, I guess.
Omnes Omnibus
@Tommy: I have seen polling indicating the people ~53 and older are fairly iffy on gay rights and equality. People between 32 and 52 tend to be pro-gay rights, but kind of see gay people as a bit different. People under 32 just don’t care – but in the good way. I don’t have the links at hand, but it does not conflict with my anecdotal observations.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: Send me the check and I’ll buy the drinks at the meetup. For both you and Mrs ef.
raven
So this is what the late night weenies do! Back from the Cirque and wired from the drive.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Omnes Omnibus: Don’t we all.
Omnes Omnibus
@raven: It is a fairly quiet night so far.
Omnes Omnibus
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Some more than others.
Botsplainer
Just saw Interstellar on an IMAX XD screen. Visually stunning, surprisingly strong performance by McConaghy, less strength from a couple of others.
I liked the basic premise, but it was confusing and needed more backstory with about 70% less family drama. Also, the cars and clothing were a mental distraction, as was the absence of anything resembling a smartphone, whiteboard or tablet.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: done, thanks
raven
@Omnes Omnibus: Peoples is wore out.
Tommy
@Omnes Omnibus: I had an openly gay aunt and her partner move in around the corner from my parents a few years ago. I wasn’t so sure how that was going to work out. It worked out well. They are my parents best friends. And I am a firm believer it was just exposure. That stereotypes they might have held were wrong. They were just like my parents. But they just needed exposure.
Mnemosyne
@SFAW:
The doctor didn’t set it, he just looked at it to make sure I didn’t have either of the two symptoms of a potentially big problem (sticking out at an angle or visible blood/bone). He tapped on my metatarsals a few times and seemed satisfied that it was just the toe itself and nothing else on the foot. I can wiggle it, so no ligament/tendon damage. He did say that if the pain hasn’t subsided in two weeks, I should see my regular doctor.
As far as it being Obama’s fault, the injury was caused by at least one mammal that’s half-black and half-white, so ….
ETA: The mammals in question. You can see how untrustworthy they are just by looking at them.
trollhattan
If y’all can stand one more election story, the nation’s most expensive (anecdotally, but who the heck knows?) House race is still a tossup with the trailing Dem incumbent closing the gap as they count the mail-in ballots.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: Okay then, it’s a deal (subject to the terms of loan repayment, interest, credit checks, and such). Excellent.
trollhattan
@Omnes Omnibus:
Sa-weet! How many V12 manual trans cars can there possibly be?
3x the typical Saab cylinder count.
satby
@raven: Wore out, burned out, and depressed. But tomorrow is another day.
Tommy
@trollhattan: Interesting. I read an article yesterday that I can’t seem to find that made the case it is time for the Progressives in the House and Senate to take a stand. Not let the middle of the road moderates try to work with the Republicans to do gosh knows what. I’ve heard that said a lot and it never seems to happen, but I guess you got to have hope.
Omnes Omnibus
@trollhattan: Well, only 88 of that model were made (GT and manual). Seriously, that car will rocket in value in the next 10 years. I think that the DB7 is Ian Callum’s best work.
Tommy
@trollhattan: Not many. I have a V6 1999 VW Passat. 32,000 miles on it and sits in the garage most days. I wanted a manual transmission. Had to special order it from freaking Germany to get it. All the dealers in the area seemed to think I was somewhat crazy I didn’t want the Tiptronic shifting. I just said if I buy a car that has some “go” to it I want a manual.
BTW: I am a huge fan of Top Gear (the British version) and I don’t even recall the last time I saw a car that hand a manual transmission. Who wants to buy a $300,000 car with like a jet engine in it and not have a manual?
Omnes Omnibus
Johnny Rotten Watches “Katy Perry: Part Of Me”
Omnes Omnibus
@Tommy: So many of the modern dual clutch automatics are better than you are. I am kind of sad because I love the idea of the manual tranny, but technology is taking it away. OTOH, my little dream car, as posted above, has three pedals.
trollhattan
@Omnes Omnibus:
Funny! and holy crap, dad Perry–that’s one revival tent I’d steer well clear of.
dww44
@geg6: I am convinced that many of those who post on Facebook are truly deranged and unhinged. During Michelle Nunn’s campaign, I’d go to her Facebook page ( I volunteered all summer and fall) after her debate appearances to see how others viewed her performance. Each and every time there’d be a couple or 3 conservative types who were there only to trash her.
One more reason I am convinced that the GOP and the conservative movement is made up of the meanest and vilest folks on earth. Their statements since the elections, barring McConnell’s but including Boehner’s today, only corroborates my take. Golly gee, how did they get rewarded for campaigning on their hatred for all things Obama? The heirs of Lee Attwater are alive and well.
Tommy
@Omnes Omnibus: OK that is pretty darn funny. I try to be “hip” and often fail. Attempt to listen to “newer” and “popular” music. I don’t get most of it. I mean sure she is “easy on the eyes” but her music is terrible IMHO. I know Lady GaGa isn’t a “new” thing but I hated the songs I heard on YouTube. I bought a few of her albums and she has some pretty good music. Makes me wonder if her record label/producer forces her to perform songs they know will be a hit yet won’t promote some songs she also does on the same album that are far superior.
ThresherK
Artie Lange was listed as a panelist for Comedy Central’s “At Midnight”on the cable tv menu, but has been replaced by Jesse Joyce. The show is recorded same-day in the late afternoon in NYC.
Makes me wonder if there’s a backlash afoot.
Tommy
@Omnes Omnibus: I learned to drive on a MG. Of course it was a manual. I often think most people younger then myself can’t even drive one. My father (long, long story) bought a 57 Thunderbird a few years ago. I couldn’t wait to drive it. Handed the keys to my brother and he said he didn’t know how to drive a manual. I was like WTF. How is that possible? I come from a car family.
But then again my brother and I are kind of “dead” to my father as cars go. I drive a VW and my brother a Lexus (which is a really nice car BTW). You couldn’t get my father in a car that wasn’t American made.
Morzer
http://www.pressherald.com/2014/11/04/so-close-lepage-with-lead-over-michaud-as-votes-flow-in-amid-high-turnout/
Sounds like it’s time for the “independent” Eliot Cutler to receive his share of the spoils from his GOP sugardaddy.
Omnes Omnibus
@Tommy: Dude, you are a self-confessed jam band person. Musically, no offense, you are really my sworn enemy. My biggest disagreement with Pat Leahy, even more than his vote to keep Gitmo open, is that he he is a fan of Phish. What the fucking fuck?
KS in MA
@Omnes Omnibus:
Nice … but you could have the MG for only 45.9 !
ruemara
@Schlemazel: What are you dissatisfied about? I’m curious, since I’ve seen some of the things he’s worked on and I’ve been impressed. I’d like to know what makes you & mb dissatisfied.
Tommy
@Omnes Omnibus: I listen to all kinds of music, but yes I am a Jam Band guy at my core. But Ambient music is what I am listening to the most now on Pandora. I think we have had this conversation about Phish. I know I have with others here. I feel like I should like them. I’ve forced myself to listen to them. I can’t stand them. I joke, and I am not really joking, I pay for a Pandora membership just so when I listen to one of the Jam Band channels I can skip the Phish songs.
Omnes Omnibus
@ruemara: He is keeping his head down. I talked about it upthread.
Tommy
@ruemara: I am very impressed by Al. I think he has only done one national interview since winning his seat. With Rachel on MSNBC. She asked him about this and he said he was just keeping his head down. Learning the ropes. Trying to build relationships and he didn’t need to use his fame to be on TV all the time. Thought that would be counterproductive to helping his state. I thought that maybe if a few other people did the same thing we’d get a little more stuff done.
Omnes Omnibus
@KS in MA: Why would I want a TC? the DB7 GT is beautiful, currently underpriced, and damn near as fast as exotics 10 years more recent.
Tommy
@Omnes Omnibus: I came to his Air America show late in the game. Honestly I thought he was just this dude from SNL. Then I started to listen and found the man knew what he was talking about. I was kind of stunned. I can only assume anybody that assumes he is an “empty suit” playing off his SNL days would be making a huge mistake.
Steeplejack
@trollhattan:
Shrank! Jee-sus.
/my contribution to the “We’re all a little out of sorts after the election” friction
Mnemosyne
@Tommy:
I’ve posted this before, but Alice Cooper (or, more likely, his much younger band members) is a Lady Gaga fan.
(You can see that he’s reading the lyrics off a teleprompter at the bottom of the stage, which is what makes me think he didn’t know the song very well, but he really gets into the song once the crowd responds to it.)
Tommy
@Mnemosyne: It is something I see all the time, not just with Lady Gaga. Clearly there are a few songs that are supposed to be the “hits.” Get the radio play and promotion. They often turn me off to newer artist. Then I get the album and am stunned by how good many of the songs are. The positive is with YouTube, Pandora, iTunes, and Google Play (where I get most of my music now) we have the chance to experience all kinds of music in seconds. Literally at our fingertips. As a guy that first listened to music on an 8-track and then LPs, this is a very welcome development!
Morzer
@Steeplejack:
“hath enshrunken itself”
trollhattan
@Steeplejack: @Morzer:
Heh, and double-heh. The beshrunkening.
It is a newspaper named for an insect, after all.
Tommy
I am stunned by the emails I get. I was in DSW (the shoe store) the other day. When asked if I want this card or savings membership I usually say no. But they gave me $25 off of the couple hundred I spent for a few pair of shoes. So I gave them my contact info, although I really didn’t want to. I just got this email subject line:
My gosh they have me peg wrong. Sure I bought some high-end shoes, but riding boots. Really. Who buys riding boots? I am thinking that is a pretty niche market. And their analytics of me buying Doc Martins, Columbia hiking boots, and Johnston & Murphy dress shoes … how they think I would then buy riding boots is beyond me.
Steeplejack
@Morzer, @trollhattan:
My people.
Just checking in before I pack it in. I’m dog-sitting at Sighthound Hall, and the eponymous beast is giving me the fish eye because we’re up too late. Had two good episodes of my stories tonight—White Collar and Elementary—and started in on the first episode of Dirty Money, White Lies on the Eurotrash micro-channel MHz. It looks like the theme is bad cops. Bad Norwegian cops. Yes, they’re pasty and blond, but they’re bad. Okay, maybe not The Wire bad, but still. Bad. Paused about half an hour in and will pick it up tomorrow.
I guess it’s off to read in bed with the tablet and/or the Nook. I think the greyhound still gives you credit if you’re in bed but not actually asleep.
Steeplejack
@Tommy:
Er, riders? Let me know if that was a trick question.
Morzer
@Tommy:
John Cole when attempting to impress lonely debutantes with his southern gentleman routine?
Tommy
@Steeplejack: Well clearly. But as I said, kind of a niche market isn’t it? When I lived in DC I had a friend that lived in Middleburg, VA. Horses everywhere. Steeplechases. Polo. Kind of a way of life.
Now I live in a place, Southern Illinois, where I can’t recall the last time I saw a horse.
Maybe my comment was a little meta. I work in online marketing. They should know more than a little about me. Sending me that message just makes me wonder what the heck is going on over there. Oh and I am that “sane” online marketing person. I don’t SPAM. I try to respect the people I market to. They just basically showed by have no respect for me.
Morzer
@Steeplejack:
I am going to try and source a copy of Why Don’t You Play In Hell?
It sounds like just the thing for my currently somewhat jaundiced view of my demographic (white male) and its relentless, cretinous, self-destructive urges.
(Yes, yes, stipulating in advance that there are good, sane, decent white men – just not as many as there should be by a long chalk.)
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
I was really, really dubious about Franken when he announced he was running for Senate. A large part of that is that I didn’t even think he was a good comedian and that his books were lousy and not funny. So I had no idea what he thought he had going for him. Given that his opponent was Norm Coleman, I was sure as hell going to vote for him.
Then I learned what his college major was. I knew he’d gone to Harvard but assumed that he’d been a theater major or something. Nope. Statistics. The guy’s a math nerd. As a fellow stats major, I was won over immediately.
No, he’s not lying low to build cred and what have you. He’s a policy wonk. That’s what he is and what he does. He’s not going to be a populist tub thumper. You’ll have to find someone else for that role. And I doubt very much that he really wants to be president, either.
Tommy
@Steeplejack: White Collar is the next show up for me. So happy to hear you watch it. I think it is one of the most intelligent shows on. I fear it will get canned, because my experience is when I like a show it is about to end.
Morzer
@Tommy:
Algorithms know only what the best probability matches are as assigned by the person who coded them. You are, in the view of the great algorithmic eye, the sort of person who fits into the buyers of riding boots demographic. Mazeltov, comrade!
For years I’ve tried to game the Amazon algorithm into offering me more and more improbable combinations. Some day it will recommend “Keith Olbermann’s Finest Rose Gardens For The Lesbian Biker In Your Soul” to my unworthy self.
But not, alas, today.
Tommy
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): I disagree with you on several levels. Where I don’t is I didn’t think he was very funny on SNL. Now with that said he has openly said he was “keeping his head down.” Not my words, his own. Now I start to write this, and reread what you wrote, I guess I agree with you more then I figured. He is a policy wonk. Kudos to him. We need more of them. Government is a complex thing and we need smart people thinking about the function of government.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@Tommy: More than just smart people, we need smart people who understand numbers. And statistics, rather than pure math, also inherently promotes a skeptical outlook on its practitioners, which we also need.
Tommy
@Morzer: True. If they had done any research they would have found I bought 7 to 7.5 shoes. I am a short male. I went to five stores to find the shoes in my size. A perfect email would have been they have those sizes. DSW had them all in my size. That would seem to be a selling proposition.
Steeplejack
@Tommy:
Well, it has been announced that this is the last season. It was a good premiere episode tonight.
Morzer
@Tommy:
I envy you. My shoe size is 13 to 14, depending on the shoe in question. As a bonus, one of my feet is perhaps half a size bigger than the other. Shopping for shoes is an endless delight.
Tommy
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): Numbers are not sexy. I have a little background in stats. I can look at them and most days understand them. But I also know what I don’t know. I wanted a career that needed my ability to do statistics, I failed. The math was above my paygrade. I/O psychology was out of my reach.
Tommy
@Morzer: Not sure I have seen a 14. Lots of 12. I scan the shoes and never see my size. No shoes fit me. Never bought pants that I did not need altered. Just the way things are.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@Tommy: I love stats. Numbers are most definitely sexy. Then again, I’m the guy who got into options trading because I loved the math behind them.
mai naem
@trollhattan: Amii Bera is a No-Labels guy – no, seriously a fucking California guy is a No Labels guy. See how well that worked out for him? I’m sure Mark McKinnon sent his scarf to Amii Berra to help him in reelection bid.
Pity, because Amii Bera actually has a good biography. I was really disappointed to hear him on No Labels radio on XM.
Also too, I saw a tweet that the Dems lost their Super Majority in the state legislature so they’re back to needing the GOP for tax bills???
Also also too, I saw another tweet statistic – National Dems spent more on getting Alison Grimes 40% vote than on all state legislature races. That’s cuh-razee.
mai naem
I remember hearing Al Franken on his Air America show on how he wanted to be an actuary partially because it was a high paying career. I believe his brother’s a physics professor who either also graduated from Harvard or another top tier school. I was at college fair with my niece a few weeks ago and there was this kid walking around going up to each school asking them if they had an actuary(actuarial science?) major. I would have thought it would just be statistics. My sister tried convincing my niece to become an actuary because she’s so good at math but,nah, she’s not interested.
Anne Laurie
@mai naem:
I spent fifteen years working (*not* with numbers) for the actuaries in an international-insurance-megacorp branch. It seemed to be the career of choice for very math-skilled, insecure people — men who were the first in their families to go to college, women whose dads told them they’d better have a career to fall back on because they weren’t pretty enough to get married. Math-minded people are not generally considered the life of the party, even at nerd parties, but the “sure, being an actuary means having the accountants make fun of your social skills, but it’s a secure career, you’ll always have a job” mindset never seemed to be far from the surface. So maybe you should be glad that your niece has too much self-confidence to be an actuary!
NotMax
@Anne Laurie
Actuaries were created in order to make bookkeepers look cool, daring and sexy in comparison.
BlueDWarrior
@mai naem: it would not surprise me if they did. It’s a poor year for Democrats, there are no competitive statewide races as far as I can see from the (real) LA, and it is really hard to hold a super-majority in a state legislature unless the other party just basically gives up.
ThresherK
@NotMax: There must be some room in here for Monty Python’s “chartered accountancy” sketch.
Another Holocene Human
@Marcion: Crist may be a careerist, but he also cared about the future of Florida and was not a racist. To me that put him in the automatic ding ding ding column but apparently that wasn’t good enough for South Florida. They never liked him and stayed home this time. They’re a day away from Tallahassee and apparently don’t really give a shit what goes on there. At least that’s what I’m concluding here.
Crist started his term by getting rid of a racist song and ended it with felon’s rights restoration. He fought to save education funding and teachers’ jobs at the expense of being cast as a RINO by his own party and primaried in his Senate run. He tried to save his political future and surf on the crest of a party realignment but failed.
Another Holocene Human
@Schlemazel:
Because the base is still taking up the ass, that’s why! One way to look at the Democratic party is as an alliance between overeducated grad-school professional elites (by income or just education/social status) and people who didn’t even finish high school. Well, guess what, those downmarket Dems outnumber you and when they don’t show up to vote YOU LOSE. All of those things you mentioned are things happening in other places to other people. Dem base voters are getting fucked right up the ass and know it. In fact in most of the states Dem lost on the state level they can’t even fucking get Medicaid. John Roberts is the GOP’s most valuable political operative.
Another Holocene Human
@Just Some Fuckhead: Step one to get Democratic voters to vote: build a free, universal K-13 education system that teaches civics and critical thinking skills, a firm foundation in real history, and graduates every student with high reading proficiency in the English language, with equal quality and total support in every single square inch of the United States.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Tommy: Your life sounds like my life. The only difference is I’m older and fatter.
Tommy
@BillinGlendaleCA: I was giddy they had shoes that fit me. I have a 32 inch waist. When I buy pants I have to cut off like a foot of them. I wonder who wears those pants?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Tommy: Giants.
bemused
Republicans were furious that Al Franken was way too smart and knows them far too well to play the wingnut game and give them even the tiniest amount of soundbites for them to distort out of all recognition. R’s are the pros at this able to smear a sweet, newborn baby if they think it would be advantageous for them. Seriously, he gave them absolutely nothing which is quite impressive. It must really piss them off.
I listened to and watched Al Franken on AA from the beginning and he had a lineup of great guests from across the political arena. He has been a lifelong friend of Norm Ornstein who was on frequently. Pretty funny guy. I was not surprised he was serious about politics and would do something someday. I just didn’t know he would jump so soon and so big but very happy he did.
dww44
@Another Holocene Human: Well, too lat to the thread but, must say that your idea re education is rather pie-in-the-sky when in this state the GOP is all about defunding and weakening the public school system via charter schools and private schools. All of those folks are now 2 to 3 generations away from having gone to a public school themselves.
Primary plank for our Dem candidate was to restore funding to public schools and maintain that budget separate from general funds so that it doesn’t get dinged so badly during the down times. Of course, I believe that the economic downturn was just as excuse for Deal and the GOP to do what they wanted anyways. They simply do not believe in public education. We’ve a lot of building to do. Seriously.
Fred
Al Franken always nails it and has been doing so for years. I feel torn about his political success because I think it is a great loss that his voice has been channeled into such a low key venue as the senate. When you’re “The Esteemed Gentleman from Minnesota” it’s just not kosher to make jokes about big fat idiots on the radio. I was almost hoping he would lose his reelection bid. Almost.
God bless and keep ya, Al. If we only had 99 more like you.
Cervantes
@bemused:
What finally pushed him was the way Republicans abused Paul Wellstone — not so much his life but his death and, more precisely, his funeral.
someofparts
Speaking of pizza, do we have a national pizza locator website yet? People around the country would call in to report the best places in their localities. Then, those who travel could check the site and immediately find the best pizza in an unfamiliar town, even if they were just driving through from out of state.
MCA1
@Omnes Omnibus: I think that’s right, although I don’t know how much he’ll change going forward. Franken needed to be in the Senate for a period of time in order to become known more as Senator Al Franken than Al Franken, SNL guy, poseur politician blowhard who mocks wingers. Everyone on the progressive side of the aisle just wanted him to show up on Day 1 and be the Barney Frank of the Senate, skewering Republicans for their stupidity and mendacity. That wouldn’t have worked, as he would just be dismissed as a joker, misusing the privilege of serving in the U.S. Senate, and 45% of his constituents would loathe and resent him as the living embodiment of their totemic, condescending liberal stereotype.
Paul Wellstone, while a true liberal and not afraid to let you know it, became more powerful after a few terms when he became known as a professional first, and someone who worked really hard for the State of Minnesota. Even my parents, typical old school Republicans in their late ’60’s who are blinkered enough to not grasp how far the GOP has moved from Eisenhower, voted for Wellstone despite their ideological differences with him, because they respected him and liked how he stayed true to his principles. I think Franken sees that as his template. Over time he’ll probably become somewhat looser and use the platform differently and somewhat more vocally call out the bullshit from the other side, but he’s never going to just start lobbing bombs all over the place. He sees himself as a public servant now, not the court jester.
I actually really like some of those ads he had this year. They may not have been as outwardly progressive as Dayton’s, but he uses simple, clear language to communicate to people “Hey, the game is rigged. They’re trying to screw you.”
MCA1
@Another Holocene Human: That’s a perfect chicken and egg problem, though, isn’t it? Neither of those things occurs until the other one does.