I'm not sure this is what @TxDOT meant for this road sign to say… #Dallas @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/4iPldtM9gJ
— Tim Ciesco (@TimCiescoNBC5) May 31, 2016
The Lizard Shape-Shifters Anti-Defamation League will be in touch, hackers!
Today is our 19th anniversary, and the mister and I are wandering around Southwest FL in search of exotic birds to spy upon. Nice weather for it, if a bit on the warm side.
Hope your reentry into the commercial activities today was painless (if applicable). Open thread!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
So to a Floridian that means “barely over 90 and the humidity only about 75%”? I’m hoping I lose my extreme aversion to heat while I’m still young enough to explore the hot and humid parts of the planet. Especially since we’re making so many more of them.
jeffreyw
Thread needz moar kitteh!
dmsilev
Objection! Lizards don’t have pseudo-hair things on top of their heads. I’m afraid that, whatever else Trump may be, we do have to accept that he’s a mammal.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
This surprises me, DWS’s primary challenger is against the Iran deal, and buys into Beltway groupthink on at least one big issue
Roger Moore
And here I was thinking he was a vulgar talking yam. I’m glad to be corrected.
Shell
Looks like TCM has finally gotten thru its entire catalog of war movies.
swiftfox
Caracaras and snail kites, if the kites have not dropped dead from AVM.
D58826
@dmsilev: That was decided several threads ago. Ted Cruz was the only reptile in the GOP primary
satby
Going to be hot here. Moved a fledgling into tall grass away from critters and it looks like the parent robins already found it to feed it, I hope. And taught Valentina how to make soleseife (brine) soap, because I wanted to try it. And did a load of laundry. Because as soon as it hits 85° I become useless.
SiubhanDuinne
Happy anniversary, Betty, to you and Mister Cracker!
boatboy_srq
Fitting that the sign is near a presumably-being-closed express lane entrance…
boatboy_srq
@D58826: Given how many of the remainder are annelids in human suits, is that significant?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
this could be interesting
@D58826: yeah, I see Trump as more mammalian, something Dr Seuss saw in a nightmare and never dared draw in daylight, or something spawned next to a dumpster behind the Mos Eisley Cantina when Chewbacca’s halfwit cousin was drinking mescal
Shell
Has Trump addressed these ‘haters’ yet on his Twitter feed?
MattF
It’s karma. Trump will be a lizard in his next life. Or also possibly, like Mrs. Duckman, a germ.
ETA: I’d never noticed before that Mrs. Duckman’s first name is Ivana.
D58826
@boatboy_srq:
Are you referring to Rick Perry or Rick Santorium?
RaflW
Flat tire last night! Spending time today maybe buying up to 4 new ones (Subaru AWD is fussy about differential tire diameters)
Cat48
@jeffreyw:
Where does that kitty live? Im thinking of adopting again. So sweet
Emma
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: It’s Florida. Trust me, after all is said and done, she might be the lesser of two evils.
bystander
@Shell: Looks as if some Mexican has infiltrated TxDOT. They’re taking over everywhere.
Miss Bianca
@jeffreyw: I can’t even cope with that much screaming cuteness this morning.
Ex Libris
My pet shape-shifting lizard (“Zelig” – duh) is not pleased. He/she/they, along with many other Metamorphosing Reptiles, are pretty sure Trump is some sort of amphibian. Amphibians are such losers.
Ramping Up
SHOCK POLL! None other than Oregon is now in play!
Trump is expanding the map. That screaming sound you hear is panic coming from Brooklyn…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Emma: I’m no DWS fan, in fact I’m more than a little surprised she voted with Obama on the Iran deal, but from what I’ve read she’s about as popular in her district as she is despised by the progressive left. I’ve never liked her, but sticking up for payday lenders was the breaking point for me. I think postal banking is Sanders’ best (domestic) idea, I wish he would push it more.
C. Isaac
@bystander:
It has to be an outside hacker. TxDOT’s too busy turning our highways into toll roads for private companies to take the time to do this.
Aimai
Happy anniversary,Betty and Mr cracker!
Scout211
Mailing my California ballot today. I am so surprised that we are still in play this late in the nominating process.
I’m happy to report that the mister changed his vote at the last minute, so this household is Hillary 2, Bernie 0.
It looks like our open senate seat may be 2 Dems for the general election this fall.
D58826
@boatboy_srq: And given the general wisdom of Shakespeare
I guess that makes our very own Newt an amphibian/salamander.
Roger Moore
@boatboy_srq:
What do you have against annelids? Even leeches have medical uses.
The Dangerman
I still don’t think Trump wants to win; he wants another 5+ months of slobbering adulation and building out the brand…
…but win? I think he knows he’d be in it so far over his hair plugged topped head that it would be a disaster (and bye, bye brand; see “Bush Family”). I think he wants to lose (extra credit to be able to say it was stolen from him).
Now, I most certainly don’t want him to win, don’t get me wrong, but I think the cruelest possible result for this shit would be to win; it would interesting to watch him suffer through it (do hair plugs gray?).
Miss Bianca
@The Dangerman: If the cruelest possible outcome for Trump didn’t happen to be the cruelest possible outcome for this country, I’d almost sign up to watch that show. Almost.
Cat48
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I dont think people realize her main job is to raise money & she’s very good at that. Pelosi, Difi, & Sen Mikulski are strong supporters.
boatboy_srq
@D58826: I was thinking of Rubio, HEB?, Huckster and Paul, but you’re welcome to fill-in your own names…
Roger Moore
@Scout211:
That’s what I’m hoping for, though I couldn’t bring myself to vote for Sanchez to help make it happen.
Amir Khalid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Bernie is supporting Canova purely to settle a score with Wasserman Schulz — at a time when he should be focusing on the primary race. You can question whether he should still be contesting a primary when his chances of wining are all but gone; but if he is still in it, then that’s where his priorities should lie. A president shouldn’t be distracted by a personal grudge.
boatboy_srq
@Roger Moore: what does D58826 have against lizards?
The Dangerman
@Scout211:
This would please me greatly. I haven’t been watching; I assume it’s Harris and Sanchez (I have seen zero commercials for whoever the Right is putting up).
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
I hate people.
This is a direct quote from a guy I’m talking with at this moment:
Of course, he’s had several jail stretches, some of which involved domestic violence against the kid’s mom. Then there was the time he got locked up for DUI with the kid in his car, blew a .145.
rikyrah
Political Animal Blog
May 30, 2016 9:45 AM
Buchanan Calls Trump “The Great White Hope”
By Nancy LeTourneau
A lot of people have suggested that Donald Trump’s candidacy this year is heir to the Pat Buchanan campaigns of the 1990’s – including Buchanan himself. The former candidate provided his explanation of Trump’s appeal in an appropriately titled article: The Great White Hope.
Buchanan starts off by referring to the much-discussed (and little-understood) research by Angus Deaton and Anne Case about the rising mortality rates of middle-aged white people and their economic woes. He attempts to explain it all by saying that it is a result of cultural changes. To illustrate, he points to his own view of history in which our heroes were all white men and then says this:
…………………………………….
The sentence about statues and flags is clearly a reference to the recent reactions to confederate symbols after the shooting of nine black people in South Carolina. A card-carrying member of the KKK couldn’t have said it any better. Compare Buchanan’s words to those of Richard Spencer – who the Southern Poverty Law Center calls, “a suit-and-tie version of the white supremacists of old.”
…………………
In some ways it is helpful to have the fore-runner to the Trump candidacy lay this all out so blatantly. For years we’ve been subjected to dog whistle racism from conservatives. Buchanan is articulating what has been brewing under the surface for a while now and has reached its peak as a confederate insurgency during the Obama years.
An assumption that equality for people of color is somehow a threat to white people is at the heart of white supremacy. It has always been about a zero sum game.
Chyron HR
@Ramping Up:
I forget, how many of the EXPANDING MAP states did President-Elect Romney win?
dmsilev
@Amir Khalid:
Are you GASP suggesting that Donald Trump might not make a good President?
dmsilev
@Chyron HR: Bookmark it, libs!
Amir Khalid
@dmsilev:
I could be …
Cat48
Trump is scolding the press at a press conference.
Chyron HR
@dmsilev:
Oh, he’s repetitive enough that you can just Google this shit when you need to reference it.
MattF
@rikyrah: I’ve always regarded Buchanan as a throwback to 1930s fascism. Fascism was quite popular for a while, but, somehow, became less popular during the 1940s.
Anyhow, the accepted euphemism for Buchanan is ‘paleoconservative’, but it’s clear what that means. And yeah, Pat doesn’t care much for Jews, but he tends to keep that quiet.
MattF
@Chyron HR: I’d wait until RU learns what ‘variance’ means before bothering to reply to him.
jeffreyw
@Cat48: I’m on a tablet right now and can’t link. It’s in Southern Illinois. What’s for dinner site has links to the shelter.
D58826
@boatboy_srq: Thed animal kingdom has so many possibilities. Let alone the plants and the bacteria and lets not forget the lowly virus.
Patricia Kayden
@Emma: Her Challenger sounds like a gem. Yikes!
Bex
@Cat48: Wait until Trump hears that Stephen Hawking has said that He Trump appeals to “the lowest common denominator.” Vile insults on the way.
Cat48
Kitty is too far then :(. I can’t adopt him. Show more kitties though.
Emma
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: She has to finagle her constituency somehow. And yeah, sometimes she’s as republican as they come. But look at the other options.
Patricia Kayden
@rikyrah: So what are racist Whites like Buchanan going to do when they are no longer the majority of the US population? There will be no Apartheid policies to protect them as their share of the population continues to decrease. I suppose many of them will emigrate to Whiter European countries. Will be interesting to see.
D58826
@rikyrah: Well if there was ever a doubt about the GOP and the southern strategy then ‘old little hands’ has removed it
Cat48
@Bex:
His ego is huge so nothing bothers him.
He’s criticizing press now bc they’re not praising him enough!
Patricia Kayden
@Cat48: And the press is perfectly ok with that. For some strange reason, the media will not challenge him about all of his blatant lies.
Miss Bianca
@srv: You’re actually the second person I’ve encountered who has raised Cory Booker’s name. The first being the chairman of my local Democratic Party this past weekend.
burnspbesq
@Scout211:
Spoilt for choice, as the Brits would say. I’m a Harris supporter, but we could do,a whole hell of a lot worse than Sanchez.
burnspbesq
@srv:
Nope. Booker has the same downside as Warren and Brown: a Republican governor would name his replacement.
lwestsd
@Patricia Kayden: For media, abuse is some form of credibility?
benw
Happy anniversary, Crackers!
If Senor Cracker is paying attention, Betty should get a nice set of fine china next year.
Cat48
@Patricia Kayden:
The press is afraid of him unfortunately. They’re asking questions now abt Hillary. Do u think she committed a Felony?? What a shitshow! We need a new press.
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
She is your average DLC democrat. Her district is heavily Jewish, so she did stick her neck out to support the Iran deal. The fact that this jackass is attacking her from the right on this is stupid. Democrats overwhelmingly support the deal. Even with Jewish democrats it’s 50 50. So given her popularity and Hillary overwhelmingly winning the district, I think she’ll be okay. It may cut down on her margin of victory but I don’t think she loses. I’m not a big fan of DWS but this is Sanders trying to get back at her for her support of Hillary.
CaseyL
Happy Anniversary to Betty and Mr. Cracker!
I’ve been meaning to ask if you’ve ever gotten out to the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp out by Naples. (Well, more like 50 miles NE of Naples.)
I went there oh, about 10 years or more ago, and loved it. The wood storks were in town and nesting, which was a great bonus.
Aqualad08
Well, THAT was a press conference…
WaterGirl
@RaflW: Glad you seem to know more about this than I do! When this happens to me, I invariably have one place telling me you have to get all 4 tires because reasons, and a different place telling me that you only have to get 2 tires because reasons. Needless to say, I find that all very stressful because I don’t actually know what is true.
hovercraft
@The Dangerman:
I’m waiting for someone to ask him about the alleged $ 60,000 weave that he has secretly done in Trump Tower. If that’s the best he can get for that kind of money, he is the worlds worst negotiator.
SiubhanDuinne
@Bex:
The sad thing is that at this point just about any one of us could write half a dozen Trumpish Parody Tweets being vile to Stephen Hawking, and they’d be indistinguishable from whatever he actually ended up writing. Pathetic!
MattF
@hovercraft: Hey, it’s an issue. That’s what reporters are for– explore those issues.
WaterGirl
@Aqualad08: what did I miss?
hovercraft
@Amir Khalid:
Another thing that he has in common with the Trumpster. Can you imagine if Hillary took everything as personally as these two men do. She would be called petty vindictive emotional and many worse names. Bernie wanted Frank and Malloy removed for revenge.
Central Planning
@dmsilev: That is not true: liz pic
redshirt
@satby: I’ve read that once you touch a baby bird the parents will reject it due to the human scent. Hope that’s not always the case.
hovercraft
@rikyrah:
I just read that and was like when will these people ever learn, progress only goes in one direction. You can piss and moan, and call yourself a victim, but in the end we still go forward. You may win a couple of short term victories (prop 8), but they are temporary.
There is a movement to have more white babies but not enough people have signed on to it. After all one would have to house and feed those kids.
Gin & Tonic
Marginally related, but here is who Trump’s current campaign honcho, Paul Manafort was working for, before he signed up with Il Donaldo. Sorry, the linked article is in Russian, but it details approximately $66M in bribes paid out during six months of 2012 by the Party of Regions in Ukraine, deposed stongman Viktor Yanukovych’s party and Paul Manafort’s long-time client. If I recall correctly, they were Manafort’s client at the time these bribes were being paid.
redshirt
Also, in other Florida news: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXn1g0xtUMk
I hope there’s a perspective trick here.
Shell
So, the court papers of Trumps upcoming trial are going to be released today. Is anybody expecting any bombshells in there?
Gin & Tonic
@efgoldman: I have found the “Southeast Expressway” to be manageable, usually between about 1:00 and 5:00 in the morning.
daryljfontaine
@rikyrah:
One part the Führer
One part the Pope
The inevitable return of the Great White Dope
–Bloodhound Gang, 1999
D
redshirt
@Gin & Tonic: Yeah, except then there’s construction.
gogol's wife
@Bex:
Yeah, he’ll use his excellent skills as an impressionist, no doubt.
Another Holocene Human
Coming at this from a civil engineer standpoint rather than software engineer (or hacker) here, but variable message signs (VMSs) have turned out to be laughably easy to hack. They weren’t designed with security in mind and, being engineers, the engineers never anticipated what a attractive target they were.
You have to admit that the static message sign (SMS?) above the VMS is pretty funny as well. “ENTRANCE” above a black hole? Suggestive.
Matt McIrvin
@hovercraft:
I don’t believe anything is inevitable. Their hope is to lock in a white-supremacist, fascist government before whites become a minority, and after that… demographics can be changed. Trump is the best chance yet for this to actually happen; there’s a reason neo-Nazi groups love him so much.
burnspbesq
Jerry Brown endorses HRC.
http://www.jerrybrown.org/an_open_letter_to_california_democrats_and_independents
Ultraviolet Thunder
@Shell:
I expect tiresome greedhead mendacity. The ‘university’ was only ever a scam. I hope the MSM will run with the docs and keep the story of this pathetic fraud in front of the public.
But then I wish I had a pony, too.
Surreal American
@Ramping Up:
You misspelled “schlock”.
Mnemosyne
The boiler at work went wacky over the long weekend and it’s 67 degrees at my desk. Hypothermia threatens.
hovercraft
@Matt McIrvin: \
I don’t think it’s inevitable that as soon as we are all minorities, we will all suddenly be equal. I don’t think that even if they were somehow to get white power candidate elected they would not be able to keep him/her there. Even with voter suppression and the court shenanigans, there would be too big of a backlash. I’m not talking a Bernie revolution, I’m thinking more along the lines of a Pete Wilson backlash in California. Like I said above there may be a temporary setback, but eventually we would self correct. I think maybe because I am one of “the blacks” I tend to take the long view that we will get there, two steps forward and one step back.
Mike J
@burnspbesq:
Of course he does. Jello Biafra told me Jerry Brown was a Nazi way back in the 70s.
Patricia Kayden
@Shell: Yes. I would expect several juicy bombshells. Hopefully some which will appear in Secretary Clinton’s anti-Trump ads.
Jay C
@Bex: @SiubhanDuinne:
Somewhere in the Intertubes I saw what purported to be a Donald Trump tweet in response to Stephen Hawking: it was along the lines of “If Hawking is such a genius, why hasn’t he cured his own illness”
But like SD says: the line between Real Trump and Trump Parody is a pretty thin one….
Capri
@redshirt: Most birds have no sense of smell. Vultures are one of the rare exceptions. So, urban legend.
Miss Bianca
@Gin & Tonic: Why is this not a BFD in the news?
Mike J
@Miss Bianca:
Because Tad Devine worked on the same campaign?
hovercraft
So what we learned from the presser, media are sleezy, he wanted to keep the donations private, because he’s that kind of guy.
Patricia Kayden
@Bex: Trump may actually take Hawkings’ comment as a compliment since Trump has made it clear how much he loves the “poorly educated”.
Happy 19th wedding anniversary to you, Betty! Hubby and I have survived 16 years so we’re catching up to you all.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I heard two questions, one about what Bill Kirstol is saying about Donald Trump, and one about what the still alive Fred Malek said about Donald Trump, and the start of a Trump tantrum when a reporter suggested he only got 30% of the vote in the primaries. I’m sure I just missed the questions about his flip-flopping on Social Security and his various tax plans and the Wall and the Muslim ban and… , and about his secret plan to defeat ISIS, which in fairness is his most consistent position
Chyron HR
@burnspbesq:
You’ve made a powerful enemy today, Moonbeam.
Gene108
@Miss Bianca:
Booker would be a bad pick. He’s O.K. in the Senate, but I think he had enough ups and downs as mayor of Newark, NJ that he should stay away from the executive branch at any level.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Chyron HR: Day-yum that cracked me up. Mike Royko meets Mr Burns meets Bernie!
Miss Bianca
@Gene108: Not saying I’m for it. So far none of the VP pick names floated around has struck me as a “hell yeah”.
Gravenstone
@MattF:
Seems like a very long wait.
Miss Bianca
@Chyron HR: You think Bernie Sanders is going to start pushing for a recall election?
(I was going to add the snark tag, and then realized I’m not at all convinced that he *wouldn’t*, the creature.)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Gene108: also trolling the Iran agreement up to the last minute, generally following that idiot Melendez on foreign policy– Rachel Maddow somehow never noticed this when scorching Melendez for his neocon shit– and that embarrassingly desperate audition to be the new Joe Lieberman when asked about Obama’s campaign against Romney. I trust him about as far as I can throw him.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: It would be nice if her side were presented in the overwhelmingly negative series of reports on DWS and Payday lenders.
E.g. Miami Herald from last year:
Back then, it wasn’t just DWS, it was the entire Florida delegation except for 1 (a GOPer) who opposed the proposal.
What’s the answer? I dunno. But why is she portrayed as evil on this issue while Murphy and Grayson are hardly mentioned?
She gets lots and lots of heat for being somehow ineffective as DNC chair, but I’ve never heard anyone say that Tim Kaine was some brilliant strategist or something when he was there… Why the double standard? Why do we get so riled up about things like this when the GOP is so much worse? (sigh)
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
Villago Delenda Est
@Jay C: Poe’s law in action, all the way though election day.
Gene108
@hovercraft:
She is usually called worse and has been for 25 years by right-wingers.
Sad thing is many Bernie supporters have bought into the name calling.
schrodinger's cat
I don’t think I can take 5 more months of the Trump Show.
Miss Bianca
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
Really. It’s because she’s a WOMAN.
HRC gets no slack – none – for Wall Street speeches, even tho’ Trump gets paid far more per speech. She gets no slack – none – for the AUMF vote, even tho’ Uncle Joe Biden, among a host of other Democrats, also voted for it.
So with DWS. Grayson and Murphy don’t get any shit about it, but DWS does? Hmm…what could the missing factor *be*, after all? She’s a woman trying to get another woman elected. Which a lot of people apparently have a lot of problems with.
hovercraft
@Miss Bianca:
There you go again playing that woman card.
We have so many advantages, don’t you know!
Fair Economist
@Scout211:
I’d rather not because the Republicans would vote in Sanchez. Not that she’d be bad, but I’d much prefer Harris.
Cacti
@hovercraft:
His attempt to get Barney Frank kicked off the DNC rules committee was also an act of pure personal pique.
Quite the vindictive little man lurking beneath the grandpa goodness façade.
Cat48
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
I hate to say it’s bc she’s female, but it might be. Some look at females as easy marks to blame for everything. Paul Waldman joined Other males in complaining that Hillary wasn’t very good at running for president. He also thinks she screams too much. Thanks Paul for writing that at WaPo. It went well with everyone there whining about emails. Bernie & Trump voices sound just as bad. Not everyone can sound like Obama.
Snarkworth, short-fingered Bulgarian
Had to rush my Maine Coon to the vet ER for what turned out to be some kind of bowel blockage. Not a tumor, fortunately. His prognosis is good, but my financial prospects have taken a turn for the worse.
Roger Moore
@Matt McIrvin:
Or ignored. The US has a long history of voter suppression, and with the federal government in the hands of white nationalists it would be perfectly possible to reinstate many of the techniques that worked so well before the Voting Rights Act. Hell, with Shelby County there are plenty of ways they can do that without needing control of the federal government; control of the federal government just makes it a lot easier.
Major Major Major Major
To the airport! Wish me luck. Or don’t, you’re probably sick of that by now.
Roger Moore
@Capri:
Most birds have a very weak sense of smell, but they have some sense of smell.
sherparick
What awaits America under Trump Administration, with Ryan as Speaker and McConnell as Senate Majority Leader. South Carolina, Louisiana, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kansas, Texas, etc. on a grand scale. http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a45346/south-carolina-republicans-infrastructure/
Roger Moore
@Chyron HR:
This is NFTG Governor Moonbeam. He’s termed out after 2018, and he’s unlikely to run for anything after that.
Miss Bianca
@Major Major Major Major: Air kisses! Say hi to Denver for us!
@Snarkworth, short-fingered Bulgarian: Oh, ouch. On all levels. : (
SiubhanDuinne
I think we need something fun and cute and uplifting and nice. Here’s a video of FLOTUS visiting school and community gardens. The kids didn’t know she was going to stop by, and their reactions wil make you laugh — and possibly bring a little tear to your eye.
low-tech cyclist
Happy 19th to you and the mister, Betty! My wife and I celebrated #25 just a couple weeks back.
As Rita Rudner said, “I love being married. It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.”
Mnemosyne
@Miss Bianca:
To be fair, I wasn’t excited about Biden, either. It took a while to realize what a great team he and Obama made.
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
I’m not sick of wishing you luck, so I will. And am.
hovercraft
@Cacti:
This is the asshole that all his colleagues know and do not love. She’s spent 40 years building relationships so of coarse they support her. Being an independent on the outside allows you to lob grenades. But when you need superdelegate support, the people who have been on the receiving end won’t be there for you. Like Trump he’s happy to dish it out but can’t take the return fire. Frank and Malloy have the right to be critical of you, that doesn’t make them ineligible to serve.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: that’s some interesting context, thanks.
FTR, I don’t generally join in the “terrible chair” thing. DWS got the job when Jennifer Granholm turned it down, and word is nobody wants it cause it’s some thankless bullshit. Whenever I see somebody say “Why don’t we have candidates in every district?” my first response: “Do you want people, crazy people, stupid people, reporter people, Michelle Malkin people, going through your garbage, financial affairs, search history and dirty laundry?”, then the question of what kind of candidates in which districts. How much money do we want to spend running against Louie Goehmert in a district sad and crazy enough to elect him in the first place? Do we want to recruit people like Dan Lipinski and Stephen Lynch (think I have that name right– conservative professional Catholic Dem from MA?) ?
hovercraft
@Roger Moore:
Isn’t he really popular in California. Or is there a silent majority that’s gonna launch a recall ?
ruemara
That progressives think that Trump doesn’t want the presidency really & that cultural movement is only forwards scares me a bit. OK, it scares me more than Trump. Point one, I ask when have you ever seen those born to wealth, power & privilege ever turn down more power when it’s offered to them? They can’t begin to assess the realities of their own abilities that way. No one has ever checked them. Point two, please review all those wonderful shots of the Shah’s Iran & Afghanistan back in the day. Review the rights of women & people’s of the book in the Ottoman Empire. Review the economic power of Rosewood and other successful AA cities. Not only are several steps back for sizable periods of time very possible, so is a massive tumble that could ruin several generations of gains. I’m not saying be paranoid, I’m saying history should have taught you to be paranoid. And to trust that people are who they say they are.
Leaving that somber thought, Happy Anniversary, Betty!
hovercraft
@SiubhanDuinne:
Thank You
schrodinger's cat
@ruemara: Word!
Patricia Kayden
@sherparick: Not just America. Trump would make a mess of things overseas as well. It would be an intergalactic disaster.
Mnemosyne
@ruemara:
I’ll take the Shiny Happy side of that bet — I honestly think that Hillary is going to be able to hold the Obama coalition together and maybe even increase our margins if we get out there and work our asses off.
It’s not that Trump isn’t a threat or that he wouldn’t do horrible stuff once in office, but he truly is beatable as long as people don’t panic and stay home because they buy into his “inevitable” schtick. Progress is not inevitable, but this is only Trump’s year if we let it be.
Major Major Major Major
@burnspbesq: sort of.
Bob In Portland
We must stay vigilant in case Russia invades Latvia.
Cat48
Bernie & friends are lobbying the press to not call the race for her on June 7 when she will have required delegates. They say it must be decided at the convention.
The convention should be Hilary’s show, not Bernies. I have huge resentment for his selfishness. He Lost, stop acting like you did not.
Miss Bianca
@SiubhanDuinne: Thank you. I feel cleansed.
Patricia Kayden
@ruemara: Agree with you but most of the Progressives I know personally or come across on the web seem terrified of a potential Trump presidency. I’d go as far to say that Progressive media outlets are the ones leading the cry against Trump, while the mainstream media is lapping up his babblings for ratings.
Major Major Major Major
@ruemara: Those *are* steps backwards that you mentioned but many of the examples were not governments we would consider legitimate by consent-of-the-governed standards. Unlike in the US where change is intentionally hard and we’re more or less a legitimate government.
Gin & Tonic
@Bob In Portland:
Hey, thanks, Bob. I’ve had a long several days and really needed a laugh.
Mnemosyne
@Gin & Tonic:
I do sometimes click through on BiP’s links to see if there’s anything there other than incoherent paranoid nuttiness. I have to admit, that one was particularly high on all three scales.
hovercraft
@Cat48:
I really want the media to point out to Sanders that the superdelegates are part of the democratic primary process, therefore they get to be counted in the tally of delegates each candidate has. If he wants to exclude them from the tally, then the number of delegates required to clinch 2383 also has to exclude them 2025, in which case she will still clinch the nomination on June 7. She’s at 1769 now.
Besides Obama did not clinch with just the pledged he needed superdelegates. Don’t come into a party that has it’s own system, and then bitch about the rules. No one forced you into the party, you choose to come in so you got to live by our rules.
redshirt
@Capri: Thanks for the knowledge. As mentioned above they do have some sense of smell, it ain’t much. And the “don’t handle baby birds” is actually a well intentioned urban myth since most people shouldn’t touch the birds anyways. But you’re right, the mother doesn’t automatically reject them if you do. I learned something today!
schrodinger's cat
@Major Major Major Major: Examples of regressive policies in the United States rolling back the progress made earlier
*Woodrow Wilson resegregating the Federal government
*Jim Crow policies implemented in the South.
* Curtailing of reproductive rights in many states.
* Japanese internment during WW II
* Chinese Exclusion
Major Major Major Major
@hovercraft: Don’t hold your breath.
Davis X. Machina
Jerry Brow spent two election cycles booming Mondragon cooperatives in his stump speeches and Sanders still couldn’t land this particular fish. The Left is fissiparous-but this fissiparous?
Major Major Major Major
@schrodinger’s cat: yes but what I meant is that those aren’t the same as say “overthrowing the entire government and instituting a theocracy,” it’s a difference of both kind and degree.
The Golux
Happy anniversary, Betty! We observed our 44th on Friday. Interesting fact: on the following day, the Watergate break-in began.
hovercraft
This couldn’t be happening to a nicer guy.
Roger Moore
@hovercraft:
He was recently reelected with 60% of the vote, and he’s done nothing since then to lose that support. Endorsing Hillary may piss off a few Bernie dead-enders, but it’s not going to be enough to overturn that kind of support, especially because a lot of people are generally against recalls on principle.
Gin & Tonic
@hovercraft: Link?
schrodinger's cat
@Major Major Major Major: Trump with nuclear launch codes is a scary enough proposition.
Cat48
@hovercraft:
I agree with you on everything. Please stop telling Democrats how to run their party.
I’m just really upset with him bc Hillary has ran twice. Let her have her Convention when she wins. She did everything to make sure Obama’s Convention went smoothly. I admired her for that bc I know it was hard for her.
hovercraft
@Gin & Tonic:
I’m not good with the whole linky thing. But it’s from HEATSTREET and the article is written by Rick Wilson, who is a republican strategist. Or you can go through the GOS it’s on the rec list as GOP Broke.
yellowdog
@dmsilev: Technically not a lizard but…
hovercraft
@Cat48:
Amen.
Major Major Major Major
@schrodinger’s cat: I wasn’t saying I *want* it to happen! You know that. And this is a difference in kind maybe than we’ve seen before. He wasn’t supposed to win, it’s true. The system was supposed to nominate Rubio or Jeb!… or at least Cruz b
schrodinger's cat
@Major Major Major Major: Trump was always in the lead, that he would lose the nomination was based on wishful thinking. I think Hillary can win this and the sooner the Bernie sideshow is wrapped up the better it is.
Major Major Major Major
@schrodinger’s cat: Oh, I know he was always in the lead. He just wasn’t “supposed to” be, just like the nativists were “supposed to” think that tax cuts for the rich would trickle down and, failing that, were the vegetables they had to eat to get the racist red meat. Trump cut out the oligarchs as middlemen. Oops.
hovercraft
@schrodinger’s cat:
Exactly, they are applying the wrong lesson. Trump led almost from the beginning , but they refused to believe their lying eyes. Now Hillary is leading but we shouldn’t believe the numbers because they were wrong before. See it’s the Mark Halpern school of thought, even when it doesn’t seem to be “it’s always good news for John McCain/ Mitt Romney.
Uncle Cosmo
@D58826: Joke:
Variation:
Ya pays yer money, ya takes yer cherce…:D
yellowdog
@Another Holocene Human:For years was a sign in Baltimore that said Future Exit. We figured that you had to be going 88 mph to use it.
Uncle Cosmo
@boatboy_srq: Giant annelids in human suits, slithering through the lithosphere of a world covered with nightsoil to an average depth of 250 meters. The planet is officially named Wingnuttis, but better known throughout the risible multiverse as Dung…
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
This. Trump dropped the dog whistle and picked up an air horn, and now the oligarchs are shocked, shocked to discover that conservative voters were responding to the thinly veiled racism, not the 1 percenters’ economic program.
Uncle Cosmo
@hovercraft:
FTFY!
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: The fact that they didn’t see it coming kinda makes you wonder about this whole ‘meritocracy’ thing.
schrodinger's cat
Mitch McConnell and company think they can control Trump, they are wrong and stupid.
ruemara
Guys, I’m confident that a sizable portion of the Obama coalition will turn out. I’m saying dismissing or downplaying the precarious nature of the Trump problem has a depressive effect on those non-coalition, no paying attention people we have to pretend are suddenly savvy every 4 years. If you wonder how common wisdom becomes common, listen to who keeps saying it. We built the Hoover Dam, but government is ineffective and its employees are lazy? I’ve heard our postal service is worthless because FedEx is so much better, coming from liberals. Half the attacks on HRC are verbatim right-wing nonsense from the 90’s. And you also can’t completely count out long term human history for short-term history. I take all your points in and I see them, but think about the rally for sanity and the turnout that election. Consider that I’ve hardly ever heard Senator Sanders urge people to get registered to vote. Apathy and “meet the new boss” is a standard position. I’m just saying. I can be more Pollyanna if we see the GOP crushed for several elections and a more cowed media. Until then, I look at real long term history. Jim Crow came after blacks were gaining in economic & political success in the south, not before.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
I’ve always assumed that when Hayes talked about “the meritocracy,” he meant it as a deliberate piece of Newspeak, because our current system is self-evidently no such thing. If we had an actual meritocracy, the Koch brothers would be running a McDonald’s franchise and Trump would be selling timeshare condos in Branson.
Mnemosyne
@ruemara:
Here’s the problem, though: overemphasizing the Trump problem can ALSO have a depressive effect on turnout, because people figure there’s no way to beat him, so why should they show up to vote since it’s hopeless?
People like to be on the winning side. We can be the winning side as long as people don’t get depressed and assume it’s hopeless and a Trump victory is inevitable.
I realize that talking to all of those Yolo County assholes is bringing you down, but IMO faking confidence will work better to win them over than mirroring their panic.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: Well, yeah, duh. Too many layers of snark on my comment I guess.
What galls me is that there *are* very successful, long-term-thinking people in this country, and on the old money side you still have people sharp enough to know that the proles need a sop now and then, but they’re drowned out by the screaming second-generation lizard people like Trump and the Kochs and to an extent people like Romney who are kind of in between royalty and 2nd-gen grifters.
Cat48
@Mnemosyne:
Hayes is interviewing Hillary today at 4pm. I’m sure he’ll treat her like an email felon. He interviews Bernie & his wife & overlooks misinformation. I probably shouldn’t watch.
PatrickG
@redshirt:
This may have been responded to already (EDIT: @Capri: did indeed get to it!), but as a orniphile myself….
Myth. See, e.g. here, here, or here for more information.
That said, it’s important to recognize if the bird you’re attempting to rescue is a fledgling or a nestling. If it’s not fully feathered, back in the nest; otherwise, leave it alone. Also keep in mind that birds are very prone to shock, so should not be handled more than absolutely necessary by our big meaty hands.
J R in WV
@Gin & Tonic:
So, we are learning that “Uncle Duke” in Doonsbury is the same guy who is running Trump’s Campaign? Amazing!!
I always enjoyed Uncle Duke and his ability to work for the worst sleazeball dictators in the world as humor in a cartoon.
But… It’s a little disconcerting to see it at work in the real world of American politics, to say the least.
boatboy_srq
@Major Major Major Major: 21st Century Old Money is built on exploitation, with a solid understanding of what happens when that exploitation doesn’t build in safety valves. 21st Century New Money is grift, plain and simple; grift doesn’t recognize that it depends on the little people to persist.
satby
@redshirt: old wives tale, not true according to this resource.
satby
@satby: and mom a robin has been sighted apparently feeding it, so all is well. It fledged too close to the catio, so I moved it over to talk grass in the unused dog run. I really need to get those sheep, the grass is almost waist high.