Has it ever occurred to the GOP that instead of dumbing down the debates they could smarten up their candidates?
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) November 3, 2015
SCOOP: Trump to deal directly w/ networks, blowing up group GOP debate effort, with @daveweigel https://t.co/3bwnsMP1mG
— Robert Costa (@costareports) November 2, 2015
Well, that certainly went well. From the Washington Post, company paper in the town whose monopoly industry is national politics, Monday evening:
The format and content of upcoming Republican debates became increasingly uncertain on Monday after Donald Trump’s campaign said the real estate mogul would negotiate his terms directly with television executives instead of as part of a joint effort with his rivals.
The move by Trump, coming just hours after his and other campaigns huddled in a Washington suburb to craft a three-page letter of possible demands, thwarts an effort to find consensus after what most candidates agreed was a debacle hosted by CNBC last week…
Parties control fewer things in super PAC era. So RNC tried to seize what was left. But that's now in jeopardy. https://t.co/f3wJ3JwuXK
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) November 2, 2015
Lost in debate freak-out: 2012 debates were overwhelmingly *good* for Romney until Newt blew out SC. Primary, not debates, pulled him right.
— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) November 2, 2015
Back story, from Jim Newell at Slate – “The GOP’s Presidential Contenders Are Hijacking Their Own Debates“:
In a Godfather-esque gathering of rival political concerns, representatives of the Republican presidential campaigns gathered in an Alexandria, Virginia Hilton on Sunday evening to draw up a list of conditions for their participation in future presidential debates. The campaigns still are all het up about the completely unfair questioning that business-Republican network CNBC subjected them to last week, such as, Marco Rubio, your tax plan is really good for the wealthy, no? or, Ben Carson, why were you in bed with this snake-oil company for so many years? If the moderators had asked fair questions, see, the candidates wouldn’t have been forced to lie. What’s so complicated about that?…
The campaigns and their consiglieres put together a list of demands to which future debate hosts must agree to ensure the candidates’ participation. The finalized version, as obtained by the Washington Post, is hilarious in its granularity. Not once but twice does the document inveigh against “lightening [sic] rounds,” which must be banned “because of their frivolousness or ‘gotcha’ nature, or in some cases both.” The letter also implores networks to agree not to “ask the candidates to raise their hands to answer a question,” “allow candidate-to-candidate questioning,” “allow props or pledges by the candidates,” “show an empty podium after a break (describe how far away the bathrooms are),” or “leaves microphones on after breaks.” What about allowing hot mics in the distant bathrooms? There’s no clear rule on that, though it would certainly violate the spirit of the letter…
What was the point of having the RNC serve as middleman in the first place? To navigate the party through the primary process in a way that didn’t damage the eventual nominee too much before the general election. Priebus was able to cut the number of debates roughly in half, and he ensured that no mischievous entity like MSNBC was granted hosting duties. The candidates have found his efforts lacking, though, and are using the leverage that’s available to them as a group to run the show themselves. So far, it looks like they’ll use that power to ensure that they don’t, for even a hot second, have to factor general-election considerations into their primary strategies…
Letting the RNC pick the moderators and the format while letting the networks keep the ad profits seems like a good win-win to me.
— Joseph Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) November 2, 2015
Good test of which networks really see themselves as news orgs, & which just want broadcast rights to a big fight https://t.co/G2aW2tgD9e
— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) November 2, 2015
Candidates remember they're competing against one another! Trump liaison of convenience w Carson not so convenient! https://t.co/5kg9dH0qYh
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 3, 2015
The Post, again:
… The consternation marked the latest turn in a debate process that has grown more problematic by the day. Officials with the Republican National Committee took control of the process for the 2016 presidential election after a long and eventful debate season that many in the party thought hurt its chances in 2012.
But the campaigns have been quietly irritated by the rigid process all year and broke into open revolt last week. The RNC responded by suspending NBC from hosting its Feb. 26 event, and it put a new staffer in charge of managing the debates.
RNC spokesman Sean Spicer, who had been overseeing the deliberations before being replaced last week, said he supports Trump and others as they negotiate directly with television executives. “These debates have always been about the candidates,” Spicer said. “The candidates will be and always should be determining the best format for them.”…
My emphasis. Dear ex-bosses: Fvck you very much, you fvcking bunch of fvckers. Luv, S. Spicer.
.
So, really, the GOP candidates just unionized and are presenting their contract demands, right?
— OKnox (@OKnox) November 2, 2015
too bad the Scott Walker campaign couldn't get in on the GOP 2016 collective petition for better working conditions
— Simon Maloy (@SimonMaloy) November 2, 2015
IDEA: Apply the Laffer curve to debates. Cut overall time to 90 minutes, and all 14 candidates will get 15 minutes to talk.
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) November 2, 2015
There's something so delicious about the GOP's collective demand for a "safe space" for debates.
— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) November 2, 2015
Simon Maloy, at Salon, “Why These Clowns Should Be Laughed Out of the Room“:
… To be clear about what’s going on here: the candidates have precisely zero intention of fostering “substantive” discussion at the debates. The CNBC debate was a travesty largely because the moderators completely lost control of the forum and allowed the candidates to reframe their substantive questions as inappropriate expressions of “liberal bias.” They allowed themselves to be cowed by the bullying of self-interested actors whose chief concerns are protecting their own images and controlling the flow of information. The RNC’s letter to NBC and this list of demands from the candidates are just an escalation of what was already a pretty flagrant attempt at intimidation.
There is no good reason why any media outlet should consent to aid the candidates in executing their public relations strategy. And there is absolutely no justification for ceding any degree of editorial control to the candidates – even if it’s over something as annoying and reviled as “show of hands” questions, you’re still letting a politician dictate how you do journalism, which sets a horrible precedent. Such requests should be squelched as violently as possible. Moderators asking bad questions is a problem, but the solution is not to empower the campaigns to determine which questions are permissible.
If the candidates threaten to boycott, fine, let them. It’s doubtful that many would follow through on that threat given the exposure they’d be sacrificing and the mockery they’d be opening themselves up to. If they do boycott, invite the JV debate participants to take their place. Leave an empty lectern on stage with the name on it. Explain that they declined to attend because they were uncomfortable with certain types of questions that might be asked. The candidates already view the media as the enemy, so the media should be highly reluctant to give them any quarter…
Amazing how campaigns will freak out on RNC but are worried about making Ailes mad. That's power.
https://t.co/3J5IfFH3ly
— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) November 2, 2015
Debates shouldn't be interviews, they should be about "revealing the differences between candidates" —@RonBrownstein https://t.co/oVTY5gCS5e
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 2, 2015
And back to the WaPo, for the closer:
… Most Republican aides who came to Sunday’s conclave were not especially hopeful about finding consensus. Ginsberg, who oversaw the two-hour conversation, also made clear in his remarks to the group that his goal was to give them advice about how to deal with the networks, not necessarily urge them to work together.
Mark Levin, a talk-radio host and author suggested by some Republicans as a possible moderator, told Breitbart News on Monday that the RNC had lost control of the debates. “Reince Priebus should be fired or should resign,” Levin said of the RNC’s chair…
Yeah! Reince and all GOP candidates should only go on Fox News, period. But only the loyal Fox News people!!! https://t.co/Un3BAXVwlY
— Daniel Drezner (@dandrezner) November 2, 2015
Time for Paul Ryan to step up and moderate all the GOP debates.
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) November 2, 2015
Item: Fiorina floats Glenn Beck as a possible GOP debate moderator. pic.twitter.com/vGL8wlVOXK
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) November 2, 2015
Glenn Beck, Alex Jones and Karl Rove would be great moderators. https://t.co/aBQ6n9parO
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) November 3, 2015
I can't wait for the Animal Planet debate. "Gov Bush, first question. Well, less a question and more 'there's a bear behind you'"
— OKnox (@OKnox) November 2, 2015
M. Bouffant
Oh, do excuse me, I thought this was Balloon Juice. Nice place ‘though.
ThresherK (GPad)
It was easier to get Notre Dame into whichever post-season football agreement is current than plan for Trump.
Then again, the Irish have higher favorability ratings and a more widespread and diverse fan base.
ThresherK (GPad)
PS I am just seeing, for the first time, the stick figure slam his head into a bloody pulp, in the downstairs post.
Trying to not wake up my wife with my laughing. She is in another room.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
I just came by to say how much I love the arrows to the next or previous thread.
Now I”m going to sleep. Goodnight all.
amk
The same third rate, fourth estate are the ones who spent the last 7 years bemoaning how the kenyan was not making efforts to get along with these immature bratty bastards in the name of bipartisanship.
JPL
Ahmad Chalabi has died of a heart attack.
Amir Khalid
Lieber Gott in Himmel. Do these candidates for President not realise that they’re embarrassing their country? I remember Obama scolding the 2012 Klown Kar for not defending that gay soldier when he got booed by a debate audience. That was a failure of courage, to be sure. This is a failure of the basic decorum they teach in kindergarten.
Baud
@Amir Khalid:
No. In their bubble, they are being tough and courageous.
Central Planning
From WaPo link:
They were for it before they were against it. Flip floppers. But we all know that won’t stick.
sm*t cl*de
I’m picking Cruz as the first candidate to reject all this talk of “moderators” and demand “exaggerators” for all future debates. For FREEDOM.
MattF
Ahmed Chalabi dies of a heart attack.
MattF
@sm*t cl*de: Cruz’s view is: “We don’t need fire extinguishers, we need flamethrowers.”
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Will you stand up to the DNC?
Baud!2016!!!
Schlemazel
@ThresherK (GPad):
I thought that was hilarious. I figured out after the last redesign to avoid the place for about a week after any major change. I don’t get why people drop a deuce in the middle of actual comments to whine about the same thing 30 other people have in previous threads over and over. “COLE! DO SOMETHING ABOUT X THIS SUCKS!!11!!” when you can find the exact same thing complained about in every thread. They have a history and have mentioned that they tweak stuff as they go because it takes time and they would rather be online that to stay off line for a week while they do some of this.
While I feel bad for John I do wish he would develop a tougher hide. He knows by now that this is going to happen with every major change and he should not take it personally, he should tell everyone once (hell, make it a perm link on the side bar for a couple of weeks) to expect changes & give the thing some time then simply point and laugh at those who go to 11 over every little thing.
BillinGlendaleCA
@JPL: I normally don’t speak ill of the departed; I’ll make an exception in this case. Fuck Him.
raven
@Schlemazel: Fuck these people if they can’t take a joke.
BillinGlendaleCA
Oh joy, Joe and Mika are interviewing their friends the Kock brothers.
Schlemazel
@JPL: @MattF:
Yup, only 20 years too late! I truly wish there were a hell so he could know eternal torment for the evil he fomented. In that hell he, Boy Blunder and Darth Cheney would pick each others pineapples every day and have to listen to the screams of the dying that they were responsible for. Bastards.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA:
If they continue to exclude virtual candidates, I’ll just have to host my own one-man debate.
Baud
@Schlemazel:
The new site had improved in the one day since the initial roll out.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: One-man debate… Are you a good debater, possibly a master?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: I wonder how the new site is polling, better than jeb??
raven
@Baud: Be kinda nice to see Corner Stone get his punk ass banned on the new site!
BillinGlendaleCA
@raven: He was being more of an ass than usual, last night.
tybee
@BillinGlendaleCA:
is that possible?
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA:
I can hold my own.
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Higher than Jeb, still below chlamydia.
Baud
@raven:
For better or worse, it’s hard to get banned here.
raven
@Baud: Don’t I know it!
Baud
@raven:
This ain’t FDL.
raven
@Baud: They are trying to keep it going with a Facebook page.
raven
Noonan too!
sm*t cl*de
@Central Planning:
This is the party that’s reneged on every deal since the Contract with America. WTF did the executive expect?
Baud
@raven:
Oh, that’s almost as sad than Jeb’s campaign.
JPL
@Schlemazel: I have to agree with that. He had a lot of blood on his hands.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: I didn’t know it was possible.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: The ban hammer has been slung.
JPL
City Council elections are today. On the agenda is waving signs near polling stations. Since all politics start locally, it’s important to keep track of who supports your electors. Ours is currently owned by developers, that want to rezone land near me from 3 houses every two acres to ten or more. f.k…em
Schlemazel
@tybee:
dang, you beat me to it!
I am unable to get the pie filter to work on chromebook/chrome but I have become adept at skipping his sludge. I wasn’t here last night at all partly for the reason I gave above but mostly because I had a lot of stuff to do.
Schlemazel
@raven:
As in ‘put in its sling’? As in ‘on someones head’? is the latter, was it the mighty corner stone? I have not seen r2r here recently, didn’t know if he got laid off from the campaign of whacked.
BillinGlendaleCA
Hey Joe, when you apply for most jobs, they want to look at your credit report. So why isn’t that relevant for a candidate for President of the United States?
Baud
@JPL: Good luck.
Randy P
@Schlemazel: The John Cole “fuck you all” rant is part of Nature’s Site Redesign Cycle, as autumn colors are part of the year. And many of us look forward eagerly to that part of the cycle, as many people look forward to the fall colors.
Seriously, I was curious when that shoe would drop and wondering why it was taking so long.
Patrick
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Republicans always talk about running the government like a business. With that in mind, a credit report is very relevant. If you can’t handle your own credit rating, how can you handle the US credit rating?
Sherparick
To answer Mr. Malloy, for the cable networks the reason to host the debates, particularly with Trump and Carson, is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. When CNN was the only cable news show in the 1980s and early 90s, it could “afford” journalism. Further, it was run by a guy, Ted Turner, love him or hate him, who knew that his whole reputation was wrapped up in that network, which he could use to cross promote his money making entertainment cable networks TBS and TCN. That all started go south with the sale to Time Warner, one of the many great merger disasters of the last 30 years.
I do like the fact that Trump spent the last 24 hours laying the ground work for a dozen negative ads against Marco Rubio (disloyal, flipflopper, lightweight, and so many more).
Matt McIrvin
@MattF:
Well, I guess that takes one brokered-convention scenario off the table.
Mustang Bobby
I am growing to like the new look but sympathetic to those who are not. That happens when you move the food dish. It reminds me of work when we rolled out a new ERP system to replace the Reagan-era MSDOS based system. Oh, there was consternation and monkey house; people who could zip their way through an Amazon order were suddenly struck stupid by a new and more efficient system. Those of us on the development team knew it would go something like: Week 1-5: WE HATE IT; Week 6-10: Well, okay… Week 11-present: Can’t live without it. That was five years ago.
Sherparick
Ahmad Chalabi it appears was a little older than I thought. If, as possible, he was what the spooks call an “agent of influence,” he will have to be regarded as one of the most successful of all time. There is strong evidence that Chalabi was and remain in cahoots with leading figures of Iran’s Government and Revolutionary Guards, who of course had, for very good reasons, a deep and simmering hatred of Saddam Hussein and the Sunni Arabs of Iraq, and could see opportunities, as well as dangers in American invasion of Iraq. https://www.stratfor.com/weekly/ahmad_chalabi_and_his_iranian_connection Of course, Bush, Cheney, and the neo-cons had to be very willing buyers for the snake oil Chalabi was selling. 12 and 1/2 years and at least 250,000 deaths later, I hope the all rot in hell.
MattF
Well, of course, the problem is not the debate format– it’s the candidates. Leaving out the liars, loonies, and assholes leaves… let’s see… Maybe Bush, maybe Kasich. Any ‘debate’ format besides just letting them say whatever is going to be a nightmare.
Another Holocene Human
@Schlemazel: RTR popped up with some stupidity about Jeb’ll Fix It. New nym but obviously same poster.
raven
@Mustang Bobby: The peoples are revolting!
Mike E
@Baud: tbf chlamydia has an effective campaign strategy.
Mustang Bobby
@raven: You said it! They stink on ice! (HT Mel Brooks)
Mustang Bobby
@Another Holocene Human: My best #JebCanFixIt was “Is your cat in heat?”
BillinGlendaleCA
@raven:
And they smell bad as well.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mustang Bobby: Damn it!
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mustang Bobby:
That is not my cat.
Baud
@Mustang Bobby:
I would like to see that set to jingle.
OzarkHillbilly
@Mustang Bobby:
That is me with anything to do with computers, hence my refusal to complain about anything to do with the redesign.
@MattF: If you leave out the liars, you have an empty stage. That goes for Dems too. Mastering the art of politics is first and foremost having the ability to bend the truth, sometimes beyond recognition.
cokane
@Amir Khalid: you must not know any conservatives in real life
Sherparick
This story speaks about so much that I have witnessed and seen over the last 40 years. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/health/death-rates-rising-for-middle-aged-white-americans-study-finds.html?action=click&contentCollection=The%20Upshot&module=MostPopularFB&version=Full®ion=Marginalia&src=me&pgtype=article
Somehow, I don’t expect Squint and Sock Puppet to mention this inconvenient article, or all the inconvenient catastrophes in Kansas under Brownback, while interviewing the Koch brothers on Morning Spew this morning.
By the way, although it of course does not fit the American “myth,” something similar happened in the 1920s and 30s, particularly as small, middling farms failed and the standard of living for perhaps most Americans, particularly rural white Americans, fell from the mean that had existed in in the first two decades of the 20th century.
BillinGlendaleCA
@cokane: I’m sure Amir knows some conservatives, just not American conservatives.
ETA: I think our’s may have not had their shots and have become rabid.
Frankensteinbeck
@MattF:
I guarantee you that Bush is at least two out of those three categories. He is certainly a gigantic, arrogant, whiny, malicious, privileged asshole with anger issues. He’s just not very good at it, because he’s always gotten everything he wanted by going ‘Mommy said you have to give it to me!’
@raven:
What? Corner Stone has been banned? I can’t say I like the guy, but I’ve never seen him rise anywhere near the ban level. What did he do?
Patricia Kayden
Hope all of you Virginians are going out to vote today and help the Dems squeak out a win. The political ads are pretty hard hitting and interestingly enough many of them use Tea Party affiliation and the holding of anti-same sex marriage sentiments against the Republican candidates.
bemused
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Vomitus blech. This isn’t the first cozy chat Dumb and Dumber have had with the plutocrat bros. The Koch groupies, Joe and Mika, must be on cloud nine getting a second shot at throwing their panties at their idols.
Every time I see Mika, I remember the bizarre tabletop cheesecake photo she did with Joe for a show promo. She wants to be taken so seriously with her women’s voices thing, etc but I think she wants to be a celebrity more than anything else.
BobS
@Sherparick: Cabbagehead?
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@JPL: State Senate, House and assorted County office elections here in NoVA. The morning fog is just starting to burn off. It looks like a beautiful day. Here’s hoping we have a good (meaning much higher than the predicted ~ 30%) turnout and we turn the tide away from the apathy that controls so much of our politics. If the postal flyers are any indication, it should be a landslide for Team D. (And it should be anyway, but won’t be if people don’t vote!)
There are important elections in KY today, also too. Get out there and do your civic duty people!!
Cheers,
Scott.
MattF
@Sherparick: Interesting stuff. I remember, back in the ’80s when, back in the USSR, death rates were rising. That always seemed to me to be the real giveaway about QOL in Russia.
Baud
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
Good to hear. Fingers crossed for you.
OzarkHillbilly
@Sherparick: Meh. I can’t get too worked up about it. Life is hazardous to one’s health.
debbie
@JPL:
Today we vote to legalize dope in Ohio. Should be a natural fit. I kid…
I’ve read the entire amendment and it sure feels like ALEC is lurking somewhere in the wording. Out-of-state investors, a guaranteed monopoly, not allowing the legislature to change any part of it ever or change the tax rates ever, allowing stores and growing fields to be anywhere that wasn’t zoned 100% residential as of January 1, 2015. This thing stinks worse than a 90-year-old dead fish.
Baud
@debbie:
Big Pot has gotten into the game.
srv
People trust Trump. People do not trust her.
Baud
@srv:
Yet the news this morning is about a new poll showing Carson in the lead.
Gin & Tonic
@MattF: Rising again, actually. And still really terrible, compared to the US or Western Europe. Actually, compared to most of the rest of the world. This problem, by the way, includes Belarus and Ukraine as well.
Gimlet
@Sherparick:
Maybe it’s related to an attitude I see a lot in the oldsters “tired of living”.
Germy Shoemangler
@Baud:
Trump can fix it!
OzarkHillbilly
@srv:
Once again you make the mistake of thinking Republicans are people. The jury is still out on that assertion.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@debbie: I hope it gets voted down and a more sensible proposal is put up next year.
Maryland had some similar “special people can put monopolies in special places” rules put in place for cas i nos a few years ago. I understand the need to regulate such things, but it seems a guaranteed roadway to corruption. The latest is they want to be able to reduce their payouts from the video spinny and clanky machines.
Locking-in a particular way of growing, distributing, and selling pot so that only the well-connected can grab the state-controlled profits seems to me to be a bad idea.
Good luck.
Cheers,
Scott.
srv
@Baud: When Trump is polling below Jindal like Bush is, get back to me.
BobS
@srv: I can understand that — I wouldn’t trust Fiorina (or most of the rest of the Republicans) with a fucking microwave, let alone nuclear weapons.
Baud
@Gimlet:
This is admittedly speculation, but I can’t help but wonder if constantly living in the outrage bubble that is white conservatism is taking a toll. The article can’t really explain why white rates are the only ones increasing.
Baud
@srv:
Why would I get back to you? I couldn’t care less which clown they nominate.
BobS
@Gin & Tonic: While at the same time…
Germy Shoemangler
http://www.chaunceydevega.com/2015/11/white-privilege-and-killing-useless.html
Cervantes
@BobS:
And yet these are ostensibly the best people the Republicans could find to run this year.
It’s the stuff of nightmares.
bemused
@debbie:
Chris Hayes had interesting segment on big pot last night. Wil Hylton of New York Mag interviewed Willie Nelson who is leery of big pot investors and concerned about industry farm chemicals getting into mega marijuana production.
Baud
@bemused:
One would have to be pretty high not to realize that legalization would eventually lead to GMO weed.
Gimlet
@Baud:
More speculation – baby boomers show up in this demographic, there used to be poor houses now there is prison and living on the streets, once in prison no chance for decent employment, no independent means with cuts in social programs – little family support with two wage earners just getting by, in the oldsters a lot of alcoholics in the recently retired with time on their hands and no real pension just SS.
ThresherK (GPad)
@Randy P: Ha. Yes. Part of the circle of life, it is.
Paul in KY
@JPL: Excellent, if true!
Baud
@Gimlet:
But why would that affects whites only?
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
I say let them ditch ALL moderation. They have none in their policies, why pretend they have any in their debates? Turn the stupid up to 11, then break the knob. Let them be the gibbering loons anyone with an IQ over 50 knows they are.
Gimlet
@Baud:
Still speculation – Conditions already present in black social structure with perhaps more adaptation, higher black prison population in this age group, some help from VA for blacks in this age group, hitting black population at a younger age.
Baud
@Gimlet:
Yeah, accoridng to the article, the black rate is still much higher than the white rate, but not increasing, I presume. Interestingly, the Latino rate is significantly lower.
Applejinx
@Germy Shoemangler: I agree with this guy, and I’m one of those college-dropout 47 year old whites trapped into a little box by life. I’m frequently trying to talk myself out of suicidal thinking and am looking forward to when this shitshow ends and I can get off, all the more since I’ve chosen not to destroy myself with drugs and alcohol (one of the more good things in my life is the years of clean time that gets me some props in recovery circles)
So, I figure since I AM that demographic and can endorse everything the article says about us, I’m in a position to say: no wonder Ferguson erupted, no wonder tumblr is full of people flipping out over various affronts and offenses. Some of us old white male types assume that EVERYBODY is starting from the same position of basic privilege and then when they flip over a police car or invent pronouns, they’re demanding extra privileges because they’re all greedy and stuff.
More like, they can’t stand the pressure anymore and lash out in various ways. Well, you know what? Now some of us are feeling that pressure, and we don’t like it either. If old white guys without degrees are breaking under the strain, maaaayyyyybe it’s worth looking at our culture of strain and breaking, and listening to the outrage of so many people who have been complaining all this time even though it was societally unacceptable to do so because ‘everything’s fine’.
The answer is not to stamp out minorities and immigrants and women so even unedumacated old white guys can be privileged, and it isn’t to stamp out the old white guys and replace ’em with whoever wins the fight for dominance. The only answer is to think bigger and re-examine what the hell we’ve been doing, and whether it works as a functioning society.
So I’m blaming capitalism (or at least vulture capitalism?). If it can’t even sustain freaking adult male white guys, who at least have a shot at LOOKING like ‘the people who win this game’, what good is it? Everybody loses. Time to get off the ride—in a more productive way than cosigning all the bullshit and committing suicide to concede defeat in a game you never signed up for.
Peale
@debbie: I don’t think I could vote for that. It’s like is was written by laid off tobacco industry lobbyists.
Amir Khalid
@cokane:
I don’t know any American conservatives in person.
Germy Shoemangler
@Applejinx: I think people like the Kochs see this phenomenon as simply the “Invisible Hand” brushing some lint off its shoulder.
You made some excellent points.
OzarkHillbilly
@Cervantes: God is a comedian.
Germy Shoemangler
@OzarkHillbilly:
low-tech cyclist
@amk:
And it’s the same worthless Fourth Estate that threw a hissy fit when the Kenyan said Faux News didn’t qualify as a real news organization. But they won’t defend NBC.
No. How the fuck would they be able to do that anyway? Bring in a bunch of Dems, perhaps?
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Germy Shoemangler
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/11/speaker-ryan-cleans-up-the-house-literally.html#
Hastert’s portrait was also taken down…
rikyrah
Kentucky has seen the largest drop in its uninsured rate of any state in the country. It’s currently 9 percent, down from 20.4 percent before Obamacare, according to the Louisville NPR affiliate.
And yet, they have an election today, and they are actually considering electing a muthaphucka that would take away their health insurance.
and, if they do….no sympathy for them.
if they’re too stupid to understand that
KYNECT=OBAMACARE
No sympathy at all.
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 11/2/15
Keystone pipeline dead? Company requests suspension of permit
Elana Schor, energy reporter for Politico, talks with Rachel Maddow about the broader context and likely political calculations behind TransCanada’s request that their U.S. permit for the Keystone XL pipeline be suspended
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/permit-withdrawal-could-mean-keystone-demise-557767235846
Steeplejack (phone)
@Baud:
A fireside chat would be nice.
OzarkHillbilly
@rikyrah:
I doubt it.
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 11/2/15
9/11 first responders wait for GOP to act on popular health bill
Dan Moynihan, 9/11 first responder, talks with Rachel Maddow about the lobbying effort to generate support for the Zadroga Bill to help with the health care of 9/11 first responders. The bill enjoys wide support but needs House Republican leadership, including new Speaker Paul Ryan to bring it to a vote
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/9-11-responders-bill-waits-for-house-gop-557776451942
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: White suicide rates in the US have been far higher than non-white ones for a long time. I remember noticing that when I was trying to figure out the breakdown of gun deaths. I think it’s somehow culturally bound: white Americans think of suicide as a possibility to a degree that other Americans simply don’t. And men kill themselves far more often than women do, as you might expect.
It may be connected to crises of masculinity and power: white men are more likely to think of life as not worth living if they perceive themselves as losing control. I think spree killings could be connected.
Matt McIrvin
…White American men are also, I think, the most likely people to have a lot of guns around, which provides them with an opportunity.
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: As I said the last time one of those popped up, I really, really hate these stories analyzing individual polls, because they’re mostly looking at noise and they’re biased toward sensational outliers. If you look at the average of all polls over the same time period it’s obvious that Carson is not leading Trump, though he’s narrowing the gap.
MattF
@rikyrah: My recollection is that McConnell made a little ruckus by muddying the waters on that one– deliberately and with malice aforethought. And he was called on it, and got away with it. One assumes that all other Republicans will do the same.
Of course people should be told the truth and should be able to figure out where their actual interests lie– but in places like Kentucky, they aren’t and they can’t and they don’t.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
If I were running a network I’d agree to all their demands and then tell my moderators to ignore every aspect of the agreement once the debate starts. They want to change the rules on a whim, I’d change them right back. Maybe that means my network only gets to host one debate. So be it – it doesn’t seem like anyone other than Faux News is going to get more than one anyway.
The Other Chuck
@Schlemazel: I updated the Troll filter to work with the redesign: https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/13588-balloon-juice-troll-b-gone
And the Better Balloon Juice stylesheet still works somewhat (it still alternates grey/white for replies). https://userstyles.org/styles/63141/better-balloon-juice
April
Re: the Ohio pot legalization, it seems a bad bargain to allow continued arrests for possession, and all of the destruction that brings, because we don’t like the sound of monopoly pot. The black market for pot is not a free market now, and we don’t like those who are getting rich off black market pot any more than we would like the monopolists getting rich off legal pot. The cost in lives damaged because of possession busts should carry the argument. It feels like holding out for single payer rather than taking the ACA half a loaf.
lol
@Matt McIrvin:
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that gun ownership is significantly higher for this middle-aged white guy with a high school degree demographic.
Gun ownership means that when they do decide to try killing themselves, they’ll actually be successful. The advantage of “slower” suicide methods (overdose, cutting) is that you frequently realize “I’ve made a huge mistake” and call for help before its too late. With a gun, you pull the trigger and that’s it.
So there might not necessarily be anything that’s causing them to *attempt* suicide more often than other demographic groups, but the presence of a gun means any attempt will probably be successful.
Howlin Wolfe
@Schlemazel: Screams of the dying are probably music to their ears.
sukabi
@Germy Shoemangler: look for the new speakers budget to be substantially increased to make way for a massive remodel of the office. Probably be remade with all the extras….with an undisclosed amount of $$ never accounted for.
J R in WV
@BillinGlendaleCA:
And Raven said: “Be kinda nice to see Corner Stone get his punk ass banned on the new site! ”
So I’m being glad I’m not the only person in the Innertubes that had a run in with Corner Stone.
Even if I can be hard to get a long with sometimes, I’m trying to not be a butthead. Some people are trying to find opportunities to get shitty.
We had a neighbor who had the local Oil and Gas company come out and show them which pipes were old and abandoned (and could be dozed up and gotten rid of) and which pipelines were full of gas under pressure or full of crude oil, and shouldn’t be messed with.
He was bringing in a trailer for the family, so they wouldn’t have to live in spare rooms in the old farmhouse.
So first thing they go to remove old obsolete pipelines, and 90 barrels of crude oil rushes out into the creek!
Bobby phones the gas company, and when they show, he just goes off on them!!! The worker bees are spreading straw and giant pamper-like absorbant things to keep the oil from running too far downstream.
But the local site manager, Bobby has him by the ear, screaming at him about how they told him which pipes were safe to bulldoze and remove, and which ones to leave alone, and they WERE WRONG!!!
Later on, after the boss had left the scene, and the worker bees (who were neighbors, mostly) were getting the job done, Bobby said he understood that people make mistakes and that sometimes you need to give people room to mess up. “But sometimes, with some people, you just have to get shitty right off the bat!”
So that’s the theme, when management fucks up bad, sometimes, you just got to be shitty, right off!!
But here, Tommy and his partner(s) have done a good job so far, and I expect them to make more improvements right along.
The Republicans, and their non-debates – on the other hand, we need to be shitty right off. They can’t answer polite questions from a journalist? Then they can’t be trusted to talk to the leaders of Russia or China, or North Korea, or Japan, or Ireland, or anyone!!! They’re too stupid to talk about their ideas, much less the world geopolitic!!
Thank FSM they’re stupid so obviously!!
groucho48
The Republican race is turning out just about as one would expect it to if you realize that the candidates all pay lip service to the Ayn Rand school of morality and all think of themselves as John Galts who have the obligation to impose their will on the plebes. RNC? House Leadership? Generally accepted debate protocols? Pffft…no one is the boss of me!!!