.
I believe Mike Luckovich has more fans among the Balloon Juice commentariat than… some other cartoonists.
And work like this is why I am a Charles P. Pierce fangirl:
There are weeks on the Sunday Showz in which you just throw your hands into the air and shout terrible imprecations at Gutenberg for afflicting mankind with the curse of mass communication. This was one of those weeks. I do appreciate the magnitude of the problem now facing our elite political press. One entire political party has become completely unmoored from reality. This was amply demonstrated on Thursday night in Cleveland. The Republican party held two debates in which one candidate explained about how the EPA should be reduced in size and influence only to the point at which he could sic it on Planned Parenthood. Another candidate proposed biblical tithing as a mechanism for that plutocrat’s friend, the flat tax. Two candidates proposed giving Zygote-Americans Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. It was downright remarkable how unremarkable these lunatic propositions seemed to be. All the attention centered on whether or not a ferret-headed plutocrat was mean to the nice lady from Fox who believes that Santa Claus is white.
Now comes Sunday morning, and we discover that it continues to be impossible for our elite political press to admit what is plainly before its eyes – that one of the two political parties that we have allowed ourselves through inertia and custom to have has become demented, and that the political health of the nation in general is in peril unless that dementia can be overcome. Because of this inability to attach itself to obvious reality, the elite political press has rendered itself incapable of performing the necessary function of calling out con-men and identifying nutty ideas before they reach the mainstream political life of the country and turn it into a SuperFund site….
Jim, Foolish Literalist
if John Harwood ain’t a Villager there ain’t no Village
Not that I expect it to take root.
redshirt
Right? The Republican Party is insane and actually dangerous and yet we all treat it like a respectable thing.
Gin & Tonic
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: What is that in English?
lamh36
Good to see the candidate…”evolving”…sure hope his supporters follow suit!
Emma
@lamh36: Finally, somebody talked sense into him!
And as to the weird dis-connection between the media and the real world — come on! They would sell their grandmothers in Rio for “access.” Making believe Republicans aren’t crazy is a piece of cake.
Benw
Even under Cheney, and his minions like W, I felt like they had some connection to reality. Like they knew what it was, even while they were lying through their teeth about WMD. Palin was the first time I thought, wow, they really believe the shit that comes out of their mouths. But the current crop seems to have no tether to reality, or what might actually work politically. Or maybe they do know what’s up, but just don’t have RR’s or W’s skill at lying with a lovable twinkle in their eye.
Redshift
@Gin & Tonic: Harwood appears to actually be saying “both sides don’t do it”!
ruemara
@lamh36: He needs to talk to his supporters and tell them cut it out already.
beth
Just watched a discussion on CNN about whether Trump has a “woman problem” in which the Republican pundit explains that Hillary went after Rubio today because Marco’s the one candidate that makes her “clutch her Life Alert in fear” and that she knows the power of a fresh new challenger because of her experience with her husband’s campaign and because “she’s been around for 347 years”. So I’m guessing HILLARY IS OLD! is going to be a centerpiece of the Republican strategy this time around. I’m sure that implying a 67 year old woman is over the hill is going to resonate really well for them with women voters, especially older ones. Don’t they ever learn?
MomSense
@ruemara:
Yup.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Gin & Tonic: what Pierce is talking about, basically, one party has gone off the rails, the other has shifted from (Bill) Clintonism to Warren-leaning Obama-ism
skerry
@beth: Trump is older than Clinton. Did they mention that?
Origuy
@beth: Donald Trump is two years older than Hillary Clinton.
danielx
@beth:
No.
This has been another edition of Simple Answers To Simple Questions.
srv
Ralph Nader has had enough of Bernie ignoring him:
beth
@skerry: @Origuy: When has logic ever stopped them before? It’s not like anyone on CNN is going to point out that obvious fact.
Tree With Water
I had hoped that Elizabeth Warren would by now have announced that she had withdrawn her support for Chuckles Schumer, the man who represents certain parochial interests-of-some-New Yorkers so ably. Maybe tomorrow she’ll come to her senses.
Mike J
Fred at Slacktivist points to progress:
Benw
@beth: unfortunately, they had a bunch of attack ads about how Hillary is super-mean because she’s on the rag all ready to run, and then Big D Trump wrecked those plans, and now maybe Hills is tots old is the fallback?
SiubhanDuinne
I luvs ya, Anne Laurie, but I have never understood your seeming affection for Ted Rall. As for Mike Luckovich, I take an unwarranted pride in the fact that he is the house cartoonist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution — a paper which I mostly ignore — and I’m really delighted that his brilliant cartoons reach a much wider audience than the denizens of metro Atlanta.
Brachiator
Next to the WaPo article detailing Hillary Clinton’s college tuition proposal was a fun story about Trump’s appeal. I know that the hardened conventional wisdom is that Trump is just like the other GOP candidates, that he is at best the unhinged id of the Republican Party, and that the people who like him are just the usual suspects of Tea Party and crazy conservative faithful.
However, the story, “What Trump supporters are thinking – in their own words” doesn’t totally destroy the myth, but does complicate it. This is from reddit posts, and is obviously not statistically significant.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/08/10/what-trump-supporters-are-really-thinking-in-their-own-words/?tid=pm_business_pop_b
Most fascinating is this segment:
There is, however, this important and surprisingly honest caveat:
When Trump finally stumbles out of the race, these folk, if they decide to vote at all, will not necessarily be easy pickings by the GOP. And there may be others, not as vocal, who will also need to be given a strong reason to put their faith in the Democrats, and who are not hearing what they want to hear from the mainstream candidates.
redshirt
By the time the Rethugs have selected a candidate, it will be too late.
The Donald will have already ruined everything.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Tree With Water: As someone pointed out, the fact that Schumer did not appear on any Sunday shows, and it’s hard to imagine he wasn’t asked by at least one, suggests that the response may not have been what he was expecting.
Schatz (HI) and Klobuchar came out for the deal today, which brings the total (I think) up to 19. I haven’t seen any sites keeping track of the Senate (or House) votes, anyone know of one?
ruemara
@Brachiator: Sincerely, I have no idea why anyone would expect Democrats to pick up Trump voters.
srv
Wow. Even Derrick Jensen is calling for an end to Liberal McCarthyism.
You people better get a handle on this, or Jonah is going to have been proven right.
Mandalay
Looks like Hillary Clinton may be getting some fresh competition:
lamh36
Hmmm…I did kinda wonder this too? It’ll be interesting to see what happens at box office this weekend. The 2 big movies out are from like 2 different generations of material right?
So I’m taking an informal poll…any of you old BJ foagies more likely to see Straight Out Of Compton or The Man from U.N.C.L.E.?
srv
@Mandalay: Just what we need, a Harvard Liberal!
This is good news for Donald Trump.
ruemara
@lamh36: As a black person, I’m far more likely to see Man from U.N.C.L.E; because I see movies about action, not black people or white people. So Jeff Pearlman can eat a bag of popcorn dicks, since whites are the biggest consumers of rap. And I personally never got into the rap or the hippety-hop.
the Conster
@redshirt:
Exactly this. The candidate left standing will be because of a naked power play everyone will see. Trump has blown up all the artifice, and now we see their innards.
Mandalay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/10/politics/iran-nucearl-deal-whip-list-democrats/
beth
@lamh36: This old white fogie has no desire to see Man From UNCLE – didn’t care much for the series the first time around (although I’ll cop to having a Tiger Beat poster of Ilya on my wall). I do want to see Straight Outta Compton if only because the commercials and trailers for it have been excellent. My 19 year old wants to see it too and I can’t remember the last time we both wanted to see the same movie.
rikyrah
@Brachiator:
I understand why some would vote for Trump.
I understand why some would vote for Sanders.
But the path of logic that would take you from Sanders To Trump-THAT, I do not understand, in any way,, shape or form.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Mandalay: THanks, it never occurs to me that CNN might be useful
ETA: kinda surprise not to see Franken on that list, I thought he had come out for it. EFG at 39, I’d be shocked if Whitehouse came out against it
Joel
@lamh36: I don’t know, probably?
I haven’t seen a movie in the theater in three years — having a kid will do that — but an NWA hagiography isn’t going to convince me otherwise. I think I’ll just stream “Fear of a Black Hat” in the interim.
jl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Just found a whip count for the Iran vote at WaPo:
Whip count: Where the Senate stands on the Iran deal
Yes or leaning yes (34 needed to uphold veto, keep the deal): 28
No or leaning no (67 needed to override veto, kill the deal): 58
Unknown/unclear: 14
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/07/14/whip-count-where-the-senate-stands-on-the-iran-deal/
rikyrah
@lamh36:
I will never pay to see this movie. I do think that it will be#1 this weekend.
Mike in NC
@srv: Fuck off, moron.
The Thin Black Duke
@lamh36: Man from U.N.C.L.E., of course. The leads look interesting and Guy Ritchie has been on a good run lately.
lamh36
@ruemara: Yeah. I see movies for the sake of movies and rarely if ever cause of the subject matter, although I freely admit, that I like to give good movies with people of color my money on opening weekends because sadly in the case of those movies, if they make money, we can expect to see more of them. If they don’t, at least, break through, then Holly-weird likes to label those movies as flops and will be hard-pressed to make more.
ETA: Also too, I’ve never been into “gangster rap”, but I did come of age during the era of NWA and so the music and the story are part of my memories
Gex
@Brachiator: so Trump has Gamergate if Hillary’s the nominee. Not surprising at all.
Steeplejack (phone)
@lamh36:
I’ll probably see Compton. Fluff like UNCLE I just wait until it “premieres” on HBO on a Saturday night and helps me pretend I’m getting my money’s worth from my cable subscription. (Unless the previews look awesome, which they didn’t for this.)
Mandalay
@efgoldman: Yes, I don’t understand why so many remain uncommitted. Perhaps they want to give the illusion that they need time to deliberate, and not rush to judgement, or some such pompous twaddle.
And I guess there are some who are sitting on the fence because they want to be able to make a protest vote if and only if it doesn’t scuttle the deal. I’m guessing DWS is firmly in that cowardly camp.
But as for the rest of them….if they are going to eventually support the deal anyway, then support your President as well, and come out and express your support ASAP!
Brachiator
@ruemara:
Any vote that goes to the Democrats and does not go to a Republican is a win.
If there are disaffected Sanders voters who pull a Nader, every vote the Democrats get will be important.
A Trump voter who is in play when Trump drops out, and who does not care for the other Republicans is a vote worth picking up if you can prevent it from going to the Republicans.
Why would anyone treat a potential voter as if they have cooties? A win in a win.
@rikyrah
Some people want what they think is an anti-establishment candidate. They don’t care who it is.
Matt McIrvin
@rikyrah:
They both have penises. One is currently opposing a woman for the Democratic nomination, and the other just distinguished himself by picking a fight with a woman, which both concerned and involved his use of misogynistic language.
I don’t think this voter’s reasoning is about policy positions.
srv
@rikyrah: Even I think Sanders could beat Trump. But once Hillary steals the nomination from him, his white base will go Full Metal Trump.
They’ve had enough hopey changey, they’re going to get their pony.
pseudonymous in nc
Well, that’s it settled then: One Redditor Has Spoked. For the sake of fuck.
(I saw someone with a Bernie bumper sticker head towards a Burger King tonight. My non-voting mind is Made The Fuck Up.)
RK
Only a minority of the GOP is nutty; they’ll nominate an establishment candidate like they always do.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@lamh36:
Now I feel psychic, because I said in the thread below that that’s what he should do to prevent more takeover attempts.
Matt McIrvin
@skerry:
It’s almost as if there’s a double standard operating.
Mandalay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Schumer is a very nasty piece of work. He is shamelessly misrepresenting the vote on the Iran Deal as “a vote of conscience” (WTF???), and today in Greece he said the US should go back to the table and try to get a better deal (WTF???).
Whatever happened to the unwritten rule about politicians not saying bad things about your country when on foreign soil? Not only is Schumer still trying to scuttle the deal, but by implication he is sticking the boot in to the president as well.
And the really crazy thing is that as a practical matter it really doesn’t matter how the vote on the deal goes because the rest of the world is going to embrace working with Iran regardless. All the vote determines is whether we cut off our nose to spite our face, and Schumer is a nose cutter.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@lamh36:
I am old (46) and never got into hip-hop because of said oldness, but the trailer for “Straight Outta Compton” blew me away. If I had to choose, I would 100 percent go see that over “Man From U. N. C. L. E.” despite being a 60s version U. N. C. L. E. fan.
Frankensteinbeck
@rikyrah:
There isn’t one. A certain subset of Republicans, especially of the ‘young, white, male, internet-using’ variety, are proud of not actually being Republicans, because everybody knows that Republicans are hyper-religious bigots. Sure they vote Republican if they vote at all, and they agree with Republicans on the majority of issues, but they definitely want you to know they have a black fri- uh, would totally vote for a Democrat.
Humanity is not monolithic and there are exceptions, but they are insignificant in number.
danielx
Think of it this way: the elite political press has become a bureaucracy, sort of, and the primary function of any bureaucratic organization is to perpetuate the existence of that organization in its present form, above and beyond any public statement of mission. (Such as, you know, informing the public that all Republican presidential candidates are depositing large, steaming piles of bullshit and lies all over the landscape.) Part of that present form is that ever precious resource, access. Because you have to have access to people who will talk to you, whether that be at a Georgetown or Great Falls cocktail party or an airport bar or a CPAC hotel room*, otherwise you can’t really do your job, which is ostensibly to inform the public about topics of public interest and concern. But if you print or broadcast the unvarnished, pustulent and putrefying truth, then you will lose access, which might/will be needed to get information from Newt Gingrich on something really important like whether Hillary Clinton is too old for the presidency**. I mean, without access, you’re a fucking nobody in Sodom on the Potomac; might as well be some hapless blogger out there in West by god Virginia or some other flyover location.
*And never mind your nasty thoughts about CPAC hotel rooms, if you know what we’re talking about, and we know you do.
**Note: at 67 she would be three years younger than Ronald Reagan when he started his first term, speaking of people who were around forever before gaining the office.
Tree With Water
@efgoldman: I ran as a write-in candidate in 2008, after Obama double crossed me on the FISA legislation. Almost..
Mnemosyne (tablet)
“Straight Outta Compton” trailer:
http://youtu.be/-F5WcFPDzko
Seriously, it just looks like damn good filmmaking.
RaflW
The inescapable conclusion is that over half, maybe well over, of our press corps(e) is infected with the dementing disease. And, like the GOP, they are rapidly becoming the sorts of useless, gangrenous appendages a healthy body knows it must cut off.
Brachiator
@lamh36:
Did you see “Dope” during its theatrical run?
Probably will catch an afternoon screening of “Straight Out of Compton,” unless I see very negative reviews.
The trailer for UNCLE did not impress. And I don’t know if it will even sell to the retro-nostalgia crowd. Also, while Henry Superman Cavill looks good, the other guy (from The Lone Ranger and The Social Network) seems to be a nice guy in interviews, but doesn’t have much in the way of screen presence. It’s also a bad sign that I cannot remember his name. Armie Hammer.
lamh36
Police in Ferguson arrest 12 year old girl? Someone says StL police says she’s 18?
divF
@lamh36:
since you asked…
The original “Man from U.N.C.L.E.” is a 60’s period piece, kind of cringe-worthy even in its first appearance. The only thing I liked about it at the time was Leo G. Carroll’s Alexander Waverly, but that’s probably because I like pretty much everything that Leo G. Carroll has done. I don’t expect it to have aged well, better FX notwithstanding.
So by process of elimination, “Straight Outta Compton” is the one I would go to first.
ETA: Some 60’s period pieces have held up quite well, e.g. Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee in the Avengers.
Belafon
@Brachiator:
I’m pretty sure Tea Party and GamerGate voters are ripe pickings for the Democratic party.
Any money that could be spent on them would be far better spent on GOTV.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Brachiator:
So white men are saying they would vote Republican, just like every other election since 1980?
Next you’ll tell me that water is wet.
Belafon
@pseudonymous in nc: My oldest has a Sanders sticker. I saw a Clinton sticker the other day. Strangely, here in Texas, I have only seen one other sticker, and it’s for Cruz.
RaflW
@skerry: @Origuy:
Med gain experience with age, women just gain more rudeness and insults. The Medic-alert one was a doozy.
lamh36
@Brachiator: I missed seeing Dope in theatrical release. Everyone I know who saw it, LOVED IT!
This isn’t cause I didn’t want to. This summer has been a bummer for me when it comes to movie watching. It’s been both busy summer, between work and personal life, I just haven’t been able to go to the movies AT ALL.
But I plan to remedy that next weekend. I’ve got some days off coming and I’d like to use them to catch up on some movies I’ve missed
Omnes Omnibus
@lamh36: I will see both. But, to be honest, I am more excited about “Straight Outta Compton.”
Brachiator
@pseudonymous in nc:
Nobody said this article was statistically significant, especially me and I posted the damn link.
But I keep seeing and hearing people say they like Sanders and Trump because they are tired of the same old BS from candidates. This may not mean much and it is certainly not intended to sway your vote. But I’m old fashioned. Sometimes I’m curious to learn what Trump supporters actual opinions might be rather than see them created for them by people who don’t like them and who just want to assume that they are typical Republican nutjobs.
Gian
@lamh36:
have kids, can’t really afford the sitter.
so the sheep movie or the 7th dwarf or whatever other kid thing is out there.
could’ve gone to a drive in a little while back but the older kid will be away for the 2nd feature.
having seen trailers for both movies Compton looks better than Uncle. And I’m really f-n sick of “rebooting” 60s 70s and 80s TV shows into shit movies
(the avengers – not the marvel one, bewitched, starsky and hutch, the flinstones, the a team, the equalizer, charlies angels, dark shadows, dragnet, Garfield, Scooby doo, GI Joe, the transformers, Yogi Bear…
and more, that I can’t think of.
So If I was to go see one of the two, I’d go compton
danielx
@RK:
Can we agree to disagree on this?
There is no GOP establishment as such any more, there’s only money and craziness. If there was a functioning GOP establishment, a la Reince Priebus and the RNC, there wouldn’t be
seventeensixteen fucking candidates in the mix, all competing to see who can attract the most primary votes from the most deranged, deluded and enraged portion of the Republican base. I mean, the candidate leading in the polls is a guy wearing a dead furry creature on his head and whose stock in trade is being a roaring, screaming asshole, and who has so far managed to insult virtually every voter group except the ever decreasing “old racist pissed off white guy” demographic cluster*. If I was a “Republican establishment” strategist, I’d look at the current clusterfuck and be hard pressed to keep from throwing up in my wastebasket before the “how does this further our goals and how do we polish this turd” meetings were over.*Shotguns and Pickups for certain, but those folks don’t play well with Blue Blood Estates. Thank you, PRIZM.
Anne Laurie
@rikyrah:
They really want to vote for President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho. Right now, Sanders is the “totally sticking it to the Establishment” candidate — they’ve glimpsed him on the teevee, while waiting in line at JiffyLube or Starbucks, and there were angry people yelling who weren’t wearing suits — but Trump is their natural spokesman.
They’re not voting for Hillary, cuz she reminds them of their mom giving the “I’m not hurt, I’m just disappointed” lecture, again. Clinton has this effect on some men, especially those who pride themselves (incorrectly) on their “anti-authoritarian” nature. The smarter ones (hi, Cole!) eventually age out of that id-iopathic resentment, and realize they’re voting for a political leader, not a reality-show representative.
divF
@Gian:
+1
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne (tablet):
Bernie Sanders is a Republican? When did that happen?
One poster wrote: “I don’t want Hillary to win. At all. I just don’t care about either side (besides Sanders or Warren)… So I guess deep down it would be amusing to see a jack@ss like Trump win. To see if it would shake up the establishment….”
Did you look over any of the posts at all or just assume that your biases would be confirmed?
lamh36
@Gian: I was born in ’76, so these 60’s tv/movie reboots really aren’t my thing. It has to really grab me or be really iconic and still relevant for me to actually even be interested.
The majority of the things they are rebooting, I’ve seen thanks to syndication rights. I grew up farily poor and so we didn’t have cable until I was much older. So syndicated “nick at night” kinda shows was the only way I would even know what these shows were.
Man from U.N.C.L.E. is not one of the shows I recall seeing in syndication. But like you said, I do like Henry Cavill and Hugh Grant is in it as well, but ur completly right about Armie (or Arnie?) Hammer…dude is boring as fuq and is no scene grabber to me.
lamh36
@Mnemosyne (tablet): Old…lol.I’m 38, soon to be 39 in November and of course 40 next year…48 ain’t that much older than me…lol.
Though I do love to tease folk I know over 40, til I remember that I’m knocking at 40 myself…lol
Xenos
@Origuy:
I think their point is that women age in dog years.
Brachiator
@Anne Laurie:
So why would any of these goofballs, as one did, express any support for Elizabeth “The Mom Scold” Warren?
This is America, where lots of dopes select their candidate on the basis of who they would like to have a beer with.
Its like back in the 2008 campaign, when Hillary was selling herself as a “real person” unlike that effete sophisticate Obama:
Now, I loves me some Hillary Clinton, and the bottom line is that she and most of the Republican candidates have some problems appealing to people who claim to want something new and fresh. And yeah, some of these people were misguided into voting for Palin in 2008.
But you can either treat them with disdain, or try to woo them, as even Hillary tried to do during her 2008 run. That’s politics.
divF
@Origuy:
It ain’t the age, it’s the mileage. Trump looks unwholesome and unhealthy, and (once you get past the bluster) sounds a little … confused. Hillary looks and sounds like she’s all set to go another ten rounds with the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
If Schumer is passing up an opportunity for publicity, it means he doesn’t really want publicity. My guess is that he only came out against the deal once it was clear that there were enough votes for it. In this scenario, he has zero interest in drumming up support for the deal and really just wants everyone to forget it. All he’s doing is making sure that no one can put up a TV ad saying that he was for it come next election.
I agree with everyone here that the guy is a complete shitheel, but that’s based upon lots of other things and not this particular incident. His behavior the last few days just isn’t what you’d expect if his heart was in this fight.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Brachiator:
I assume that, like every other year, white men will claim they’re considering voting for the Democrat but will end up voting for the Republican. Again.
Right now, the only white men who vote for Democrats are the ones who already vote for Democrats. If new information shows up in the actual primaries — like an unusually large number of newly registered white male Democrats who vote for Sanders — then I’ll change my opinion. But for now, logic dictates that I assume that the majority of white men will vote the same way they’ve been voting since 1980 rather than assume that this is the year that everything suddenly changes. I guess we’ll see what happens when the Democratic primaries actually start.
yodecat
@redshirt: No we don’t. The ‘Pubs are clearly insane. And I know the crazy when I see it: it makes the hair on your neck stand up.
Omnes Omnibus
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
I think that you probably are correct.
Anne Laurie
@srv: LOL. From your link:
Bill Maher and Larry the Cable Guy — how shall we survive such mockery?!?
We covered the college-kids-these-days media whinging over the weekend. Try to keep up!
Brachiator
@lamh36:
I know the feeling. I was fortunately able to see “Dope” and just had fun with it. And I see it is doing well at a second run theater.
One of the digital broadcast stations here in Southern California runs The Man from UNCLE. And I think another station did a binge thing, where they showed every episode of the series in order. The did the same with some other action shows like The Saint and The Avengers. Fun stuff.
yodecat
@redshirt: No we don’t. The ‘Pubs are clearly insane. And I know the crazy when I see it: it makes the hair on your neck stand up.@lamh36: This fogie isn’t going to watch either one.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I hope you’re right, but he still could have waited a while and not give Republican over a month (if I have the date of the vote right) to talk about “biparstian opposition, including one of the members of the Democrat Senate leadership”.
@Mnemosyne (tablet): my Rush Limbaugh loving uncle voted for Kerry, we think he may voted for Obama (against Palin) but he’ll never admit it
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne (tablet):
Reality trumps logic. Every time. And the reality is that some of the people in the article expressed a strong preference for Sanders or Warren, not for any of the Republican candidates (aside from Trump).
But you are right that we will see how it all shakes out when people start actually voting.
Matt McIrvin
@Belafon: The only candidates for which I’ve seen 2016-cycle bumper stickers and signs in the wild so far are Bernie Sanders and Ben Carson.
Carson has a loyal, intense fan base, though it’s not huge by presidential-campaign standards.
dww44
@beth: In this deep red Southern state the most committed, the most strident Tea Party Republicans are women. All of them plus the females less strident than they who also faithfully vote for the GOP are bonafide Hillary haters and bashers. They were in 2008 and they are now. So they will gleefuly join in with the Hillary bashing.
They also don’t have problems with the assaults on Planned Parenthood. IMO, these women have forgotten the quite recent history of the struggle for gender equality and seem to be willing to cede back to the neothons* many of the gains that were so hard won. My god, there’s Carly Fiorina out there on the stump speaking against government mandated paid maternity leave for all working women. Let the private marketplace do it willingly, a la NetFlix,she says. The national firm for whom I worked made a big deal about granting unpaid family leave back in the 90’s, for Pete’s sake.
* I think I made that word up.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@efgoldman: It’s like saying that a rich guy could spend money on something. You don’t become a U.S. Senator if you’re the sort of person who ever thinks that you’re completely safe in your seat.
srv
@Anne Laurie: But these are REAL liberals whinging – Jensen is to the left of Chomsky.
And we real men don’t hate Hillary because she reminds us of our mom – our moms are cool. I’d vote for mom every day of the week. Except Sundays.
We don’t like Hillary because she reminds us of that weird aunt who was always wanting to take us to a movie that we were too cool for – who wants to see Rugrats when you’re 16?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
From TPM, Joe Lieberman has a new job
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Brachiator:
Since we see these stories about white men maybe possibly finally going back to the Democrats every presidential election cycle, I don’t view them as reality anymore. I’ll believe something new is happening when I see it at the primary voting booth.
Mandalay
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
Hardly. He was whining about the deal in front of the cameras from Greece today. (If you locked Schumer and Trump in a room with nothing but a microphone one of them would end up dead.)
The only reason Schumer missed the Sunday morning shows is that he was probably flying over the Atlantic at the time.
danielx
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
More importantly, why does anybody need Joe Lieberman for anything politically related?
RK
@efgoldman: @danielx:
The GOP always nominates “established candidates” (if that suits you better) so to claim that even more than a minority of the national primary electorate is off their rocker seems mistaken to me.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mandalay: No, he is avoiding comment where he can be asked questions.
ellie
@lamh36: My husband and I are going to see Straight Outta Compton on Friday when it opens. We can’t wait! We are middle aged white people. I can’t believe I am 50. In my mind I am still in my 20s.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@lamh36:
I just spent two weeks hanging around with a 17-year-old, a 15-year-old, and a 9-year-old (nephew and two nieces). Trust me, I now know that I am O.L.D.
Though I do at least still listen to the cool alternative rock station, so that was one point in my favor with them.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne (tablet): Need to barrow my walker?
Mandalay
@efgoldman:
Not that I am aware of. The only way I could envisage Schumer losing his seat would be if Bloomberg ran against him as an independent, and that won’t happen now – Bloomberg is getting old, and the job is probably beneath him anyway..
Barring a scandal or a health issue Schumer has the job as long as he wants it.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@Mandalay: If he really wanted publicity, he’d be making those comments in New York or Washington, not Greece. And it’s not like there’s much coverage on these comments. USA Today has a short piece, but other than that, even most of the New York papers don’t seem to have given more than a paragraph or so.
For Schumer, this is like being under a gag order.
Omnes Omnibus
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Subtleties like that tend to escape Mandalay.
danielx
@RK:
Hey, in 2008 a majority of the Republican primary electorate made it possible for Sarah Palin to be within a heartbeat of the presidency, and they weren’t as crazy then as they are now. Who de cap fit, let them wear it.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: Even more telling. Chuck is entitled to his view and his vote. OTOH, it should come with a consequence. I think this decision on his part should cost him the Dem leader position when Reid retires. Durbin should get the job.
Betty Cracker
@lamh36: The Compton album came out when I was in college, so it’s more aligned with my generational cohort than UNCLE, which I have no memory of at all. But I never could abide rap, so I probably won’t see Compton unless my little bro drags me to see it. I do like a good spy movie, so I’ll probably catch UNCLE, but only when it makes it to a streaming platform.
RK
@efgoldman: @danielx:
I know where you’re coming from but I think the case is overstated.
oldgold
Apparently, Fox is pursuing detente with The Donald. For Fox, ratings are trump.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/08/donald-trump-and-roger-ailes-make-up-for-now.html
Ruckus
@efgoldman:
You and I are old enough to have grandkids who are of legal drinking age.
ruemara
The #ferguson feed is fucking depressing and although I felt pretty good after today’s writing session, the fact that when I do some job huntin’ I just become immobilized is also depressing. It really does not matter if I apply or not, they’re not interested in me. I feel like I’m at a massive impasse.
Mandalay
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
Right, even though Schumer gratuitously went in front of the cameras in Greece and told Obama to get back to the negotiating table? Some gag order.
Redshift
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: There was a brief story on NPR, I think, which allows me to confirm that, as the White House reported, his “concerns” are verbatim AIPAC talking points, with no basis in fact. While that’s unsurprising, what’s especially infuriating is that this makes them identical to the establishment Republican line.
Redshift
@Mandalay: Thirty seconds of coverage on the news vs. thirty minutes on a Sunday talk show? Yes, for Schumer, that’s nearly a gag order.
Mandalay
Apparently Rick Perry has put his campaign out of its misery with a formal disemboweling:
Rick Perry’s Campaign Denies He Said ‘Ronald Raven’
Mandalay
@Redshift:
If he was under a gag order he wouldn’t have been saying anything, yet he told the President to go back and negotiate a better deal.
And he probably wasn’t even in the country on Sunday morning.
Some folks here are wearing tinfoil hats.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@Mandalay:
There wasn’t anything gratuitous about it. He was in Greece (this is Greece, New York, by the way, which is up on Lake Ontario, not Greece the country) to talk about restoration money for Braddock Bay. He was speaking at a press conference concerned with that project, and someone asked him about his opinion on the Iran deal; he didn’t bring it up himself.
As I said, if Schumer were really interested in making a big deal of this, everything about him suggests that he would have successfully made a big deal out of it. That he is only discussing it when he’s asked suggests that he doesn’t want to generate publicity for it.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@Redshift: I didn’t say that Schumer isn’t wrong; he most certainly is and, yes, his arguments are bogus. My point was that Schumer doesn’t seem very committed to this. He seems to think that an EPA project on Lake Ontario is more worthy of his time than this issue.
Betty Cracker
@Mandalay: LMAO! Needs more glasses.
Bubblegum Tate
I bought Straight Outta Compton (the cassette) right off the shelf and played it religiously. I know that album inside out and backward. And I have zero desire to see that movie, which looks like a total pile of shit. I don’t need a stupid bullcrap Hollywood version of the story behind it. I already know the actual story, and it’s way better.
Joel Hanes
@Mnemosyne (tablet):
I am old (46)
No, my dear; you are just no longer quite as young as you were.
“Old” is still off a way in the future.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@jl: I have been emailing both of the U.S. Senators from Washington for a couple of weeks now, urging that they support the Iran deal.
No comment from either of them, yet.
Betty Cracker
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne): One of my senators (Nelson) has come out in favor of it. The other is Rubio, so that’s a lost cause.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne): I’ve heard that both Boxer and DiFi as well as my Congresscritter(Schiff) are for the agreement.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@BillinGlendaleCA: Not surprised that DiFi and Boxer are for it.
My rep is for it, Suzan DelBene. What has surprised me is that Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray still haven’t committed. This is a blue state and they really don’t have to worry about losing their seats.
gene108
@rikyrah:
Anti-etablishment
Neither Trump or Sanders are from the mainstream Republican or Democratic parties, therefore a vote for them is about as anti-establishment as you can get in our politics.
I think a lot of Perot’s appeal, in 1992, was largely due to people’s disaffection with the Republican and Democratic parties, as much as what Perot’s platform was, and they voted for the most visible anti-establishment candidate out there.
People are again fed up with both major parties, though it is really only one party, the Republicans, who have gun totally insane and should be abandoned.
Betty Cracker
@gene108: You’re right about the anti-establishment angle; it’s definitely a protest vote. But Trump strikes me as a very different sort of specimen than Perot. IIRC, at least Perot had some policy proposals on offer. He was a crackpot with crackpot policies, but all Trump has is argle-bargle and swagger.
Baud
Jeb’s exclamation point may have to be replaced by a question mark.
RK
@Betty Cracker: Trump probably rightfully believes that lack of definition is an asset but he’s going to have to offer policies at some point if he’s serious which I still have a hard time believing.
Amir Khalid
@RK:
The “serious” Republican candidates, the governors and senators, aren’t offering policy either. So you couldn’t say the Donald was behind them on that score. Whereas Hillary and Bernie are all about policy.
RK
You may’ve forgotten or missed this gem from Letterman exposing Trump’s hypocrisy via the Maddow show.
@Amir Khalid: Not entirely true and Trump has no record to look at but point taken.
Schlemazel
I love when typo reflect reality!
BillinGlendaleCA
I think my roommates are trying to off me. They messed up a throw rug so I will trip on it. They’re like a pack of dogs those two.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA:
A subtle yet devious plan.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: It almost worked, but I’m on to those two.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA:
When you come at the king, you best not miss.
Betty Cracker
@BillinGlendaleCA: One of my dogs likes to sneak up when I’m standing at the kitchen counter or washing dishes or something and lay down right behind me. When I subsequently trip over her, I always accuse her of trying to kill me.
Schlemazel
@Betty Cracker:
our cat – mostly black – loves to lay across the stairs about midway down. I am convinced she is hoping to catch me still blurry-eyed in the dark and send me to my death. She also will occasionally wait at the top until I am half way down then run like hell between my feet as I walk down. She is not subtle about trying to kill me.
Zinsky
The Republican Party has no answers to the most pressing questions facing this problem. NONE. Giving tax breaks to the wealthy isn’t going to solve climate change. Supporting giving vouchers to people who send their kids to religious schools isn’t going to end gun violence. Since the GOP has no viable policy solutions to anything, they have drifted off into some weird morality play they now call politics, where fetuses are people, only white people are worthy to hold good jobs and live in nice houses and women’s rights are wrong and should be repealed. They are trying to overcome their irrelevance with bombast and spectacle.
brantl
@srv: I think I speak for the majority here, when I say ESAD.
Elie
@Baud:
Well said!!! or is is ??????
Also, way upstring, efgoldman said he was considering a run as President cause he was retired and looking for something to do. EF, you have my primary vote. Why not, I say!
Elie
@Zinsky:
I will say in all seriousness, the implosion of the Republican Party is a serious problem for our system. I have no idea when or if some of their former leaders who had a brain and are sitting on the sidelines will step up and call it what it is, but this is not good for our country and not good for the world. Since Reagan, the GOP has winnowed out logic and responsible governance as a strategy. They have punished all their leaders who had brains and logic and now they have a hard core of crazy. They are amplifying messages from crazy and sick people out in the populace rather than providing voice to principled opposition from rational people. While part of me enjoys watching their bizarre spin into oblivion, the other part is truly alarmed that this could happen.
Applejinx
Oh my God. I was just looking at a slideshow of Trump moments and apparently he said this:
He just said it. Apparently IN the debate?
On the one hand, he correctly called all the other Republicans and Hillary Clinton a whore. Everybody but say Elizabeth Warren, Bernie of course, and maybe a few no-hopers. He straight up said, I buy all these people and they do what I want, I know this because I do it (and I am super rich so I do the buying and nobody can buy me).
On the other hand HE IS RIGHT. They are there for him and it is a broken system. How can any of us, us of all people, at Balloon Juice bitching about that for years, deny it? That’s the simple truth.
The part that shocked me was, he called it broken. That is also true but it shows a self-awareness I wouldn’t have predicted.
I don’t know if it would get me voting for him over Hillary, but I have looked at the list of Hillary’s biggest donors, the ones we know of, and that’s not counting the dark money. That is just what we KNOW of. Trump is right, the system currently demands this and he has been one of the buyers and has called in his favors and seen pleasing results.
Can somebody ask him if he intends to FIX this broken system, and if so, how? I do know Bernie is hot to reform campaign finance. Will we end up with both nominees decrying the system in unison?
That would be nuts!
Sanders: The system is corrupt! Big special interests buy our elections and the elected just do what they’re told to do!
Trump: He’s right you know. I’ve done just that and it’s true! It’s more honest for me just to become President rather than buy more of them.
Sanders: More of them?
Trump: The white ones. Hey, I have standards!
Sanders: Well, I’m a white one. You can’t buy me!
Trump: I don’t need to, Bernie. I’ll just beat you.
Oh, how I look forward to seeing that debate!
WaterGirl
@Applejinx:
Please tell me you are not even remotely considering voting for trump as president of the united states.