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You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / What this is really all about

What this is really all about

by Betty Cracker|  May 4, 20177:02 pm| 218 Comments

This post is in: 2020 Elections, Austerity Bombing, Election 2018, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Ryan Lyin' Weasel, Trump Crime Cartel, Assholes, Decline and Fall, General Stupidity, Get Angry, Not Normal, Rare Sincerity

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Here’s a tweet from The Hill a couple of days ago and my response:

Here’s a link to the article. I think it’s spot on regarding Trump’s goal here, and I’m glad the writer used the word “brand,” even though it’s usually annoying to see life-or-death matters discussed in the language of an ad campaign.

It’s appropriate because Trump thinks in those terms. Fellow citizens, our country has empowered a malignant narcissist with a massive inferiority complex. And he is bent on unmaking President Obama’s legacy because it drives him insane(r) that Obama is more loved, accomplished and respected than Trump will ever be.

Does Trump have a fucking clue what’s in the AHCA? Nope. He might actually believe the lies he’s telling about the bill covering more people and costing less. More importantly, that’s not what matters to him. Probably the only thing that confers wood to the flaccid little appendage Trump’s wife dreads is the prospect of undoing something Obama achieved.

What’s worse, the Republicans have figured this out, so they’ll continue to manipulate Velveeta Voldemort to their nefarious ends with “wins,” like ripping away healthcare for millions, unleashing predatory bankers, getting rid of consumer protections, disenfranchising voters and persecuting women, gay people, black and brown people, Muslims, immigrants, etc.

They’ll stop at nothing, the GOP — both in Congress and their hate-filled base — including collusion with a hostile foreign power. So we have to stop them. We simply have no other choice. Suit up, Juicers. We’re in for the fight of our lives, and I don’t know about you, but if I’m going down, I’m going down swinging.

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Reader Interactions

218Comments

  1. 1.

    Trentrunner

    May 4, 2017 at 7:04 pm

    Shorter GOP:

    “Get that nigger.”

    “Fuck that cunt.”

  2. 2.

    chopper

    May 4, 2017 at 7:05 pm

    i feel like i need a vacation from america.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    May 4, 2017 at 7:05 pm

    Ironically, by wiping away Obama’s legacy, they’ll probably just make him more beloved.

    But the better path is to stop them from succeeding.

    Tally Ho, motherfuckers!

  4. 4.

    lamh36

    May 4, 2017 at 7:07 pm

    Reposting from last thread, cause the events of today has this weighing heavy on my mind and I’m genuinely trying to decide what to do and how to plan ahead?

    My mother has congestive heart disease brought on by her Type 2 diabetes. She had 2 stints placed and she has an implantable cardioverter defibrillator. She also has sporadic, debilitating back pain. Along with other health issues related from all those conditions, she is unable to work a steady 9-5, 40 hrs a week job. She’s not quite old enough for SS or Medicare/Medicaid, but she does get disability.

    She is currently insured via the state’s People’s Health insurance, which I believe is governed by Obamacare. After the election, I tried to talk to her about how the election of Cheeto Prez could effect her healthcare. I told her to talk to her docs and insurance provider.

    Today I’m reminded of that conversation, and now am wondering…what do I tell my mom to do now?

  5. 5.

    raven

    May 4, 2017 at 7:08 pm

    And campus carry is signed by the asshole governor of Georgia.

  6. 6.

    Mathguy

    May 4, 2017 at 7:08 pm

    “Probably the only thing that confers wood to the flaccid little appendage Trump’s wife dreads is the prospect of undoing something Obama achieved.”

    I wish I could insult the ferret-wearing shitgibbon half as well.

  7. 7.

    Cacti

    May 4, 2017 at 7:09 pm

    Days like today leave me with the inescapable feeling that America’s best days are behind, not ahead, and that Obama was our final appeal to our better national character.

    But in the end, it didn’t matter because racism was our national sin and cancer, and it will end up devouring us.

  8. 8.

    Droppy

    May 4, 2017 at 7:11 pm

    It is weird to keep feeling inspired and depressed simultaneously- but that’s what I’ve been doing since November. Today’s vote should be the marker going forward- anyone who voted for this atrocity is a slave owner, a Nazi, a Republican.

  9. 9.

    Archon

    May 4, 2017 at 7:14 pm

    How do I get back to the universe where Hillary Clinton won the election?

  10. 10.

    Sab

    May 4, 2017 at 7:15 pm

    @lamh36: Keep re-posting this. Lots of us also need advice.

  11. 11.

    Yarrow

    May 4, 2017 at 7:17 pm

    Does Trump have a fucking clue what’s in the AHCA? Nope. He might actually believe the lies he’s telling about the bill covering more people and costing less. More importantly, that’s not what matters to him. Probably the only thing that confers wood to the flaccid little appendage Trump’s wife dreads is the prospect of undoing something Obama achieved.

    Congress could re-pass Obamacare, call it TrumpCare, he’d sign it and tell everyone it was so much better than Obamacare. Content means nothing to him; it’s all about image.

  12. 12.

    A Ghost to Most

    May 4, 2017 at 7:19 pm

    We’re in for the fight of our lives, and I don’t know about you, but if I’m going down, I’m going down swinging

    Hell yes.

  13. 13.

    skerry

    May 4, 2017 at 7:19 pm

    @lamh36: After 2 years of SSDI, she’ll be eligible for Medicare.

    Best wishes.

  14. 14.

    TK

    May 4, 2017 at 7:21 pm

    Absolutely. Hatred of Obama has become this small, pathetic man’s animating principal.

  15. 15.

    rikyrah

    May 4, 2017 at 7:22 pm

    You have nailed it, BC

  16. 16.

    debbie

    May 4, 2017 at 7:23 pm

    “Trump seeks to wipe out the Obama brand.”

    That would certainly explain the tawdry healthcare bill he’s so proud of. Just like his steaks!

  17. 17.

    Chet Murthy

    May 4, 2017 at 7:23 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Content means nothing to him; it’s all about image.

    I know we’d all like to think this. And yes, he’s amazingly inept. But he -does- care about content. Specifically, he wouldn’t sign “Obamacare rebranded” b/c he wants those sweet, sweet tax cuts. For himself. And for his cronies, but esp. for himself. He kicks gay people b/c he’s always been a homophobe. He kicks people of color b/c he’s always been a racist. He kicks women b/c he’s always been a misogynist and a rapist. I feel like, it’s a mistake to pretend that he doesn’t have -some- level fo shrewdness. A man with even his level of inherited wealth doesn’t keep whatever he’s kept in the face of his colossal mistakes, without being brutal about grabbing what he can. He’s been mobbed-up for decades, and this is the NY mob, not the Russians.

    I think it’s a mistake to underestimate his avarice and cruelty. No, that’s not the same as intelligence. But it can be a decent substitute when all a man’s trying to do, is cause harm.

    ETA: OK. So no, he doesn’t care what the label on the box says. Truly, he couldn’t care less. But he DOES care that the box contains money for him&his cronies. And if it contains sharp kicks for people he hates, that’s a bennie.

  18. 18.

    Archon

    May 4, 2017 at 7:23 pm

    @TK: Hatred of Obama carried Trump into the White House. So in that sense Trump is the symptom, not disease.

  19. 19.

    SatanicPanic

    May 4, 2017 at 7:24 pm

    They’ll stop at nothing, the GOP — both in Congress and their hate-filled base — including collusion with a hostile foreign power. So we have to stop them. We simply have no other choice. Suit up, Juicers. We’re in for the fight of our lives, and I don’t know about you, but if I’m going down, I’m going down swinging.

    QFT! We all imagine we’re going to be in a huge, epic battle and we come out the victors. Lucky us*, we get that chance.

    *by this I mean, the opposite. this really sucks, but here we are.

  20. 20.

    geg6

    May 4, 2017 at 7:27 pm

    Today should have been a good day. Last day of finals, I made plans to see Chris Rock with an online friend I’ve had for a decade and never met IRL until we go to that show and made our hotel reservations for Bradenton Beach so we can visit John’s daughter there right after she has his first grandchild. But I feel as horrible as I did on November 9. Just in a really dark, dark, angry place. And I feel helpless again. I hate this feeling and I really, really hate the people, elected and voters, who made me feel this way.

    Anyway, wondering if my trip will bring me anywhere near you, Betty. And if you’d be up for a meetup if you are. Will be there June 18-23.

  21. 21.

    SC54HI

    May 4, 2017 at 7:27 pm

    @Chet Murthy:

    I think it’s a mistake to underestimate his avarice and cruelty. No, that’s not the same as intelligence.

    The phrase “animal cunning” comes to mind.

    Put another way, stupid people are nearly always very smart about doing what’s in their best interests.

  22. 22.

    Mnemosyne

    May 4, 2017 at 7:29 pm

    @Chet Murthy:

    I am completely convinced that Trump is a clinical narcissist. One of the ways that narcissists get ahead is by being willing to do things that most people won’t, and counting on the shock of the people around them to get away with it. This is why my narcissistic sister-in-law thought she could show up on the doorstep of my brother’s house six hours after he died and we would be too shocked to stop her. Fortunately, we were not, and she was only able to take the stuff that belonged to her daughter.

    Narcissists count on other people being too shocked to take action. We need to push through that and resist immediately.

  23. 23.

    HeidiMom

    May 4, 2017 at 7:29 pm

    @A Ghost to Most: Many years ago I read a Graham Greene novel (I think it was The Comedians, set in Haiti under Papa Doc) in which one character asks another why he bothered to undertake a noble fight against impossible odds. The answer: “To slow the bastards up.” If nothing else, that.

  24. 24.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 7:30 pm

    @raven:

    And campus carry is signed by the asshole governor of Georgia.

    Jesus fucking Christ

  25. 25.

    Corner Stone

    May 4, 2017 at 7:31 pm

    I don’t know about you, but if I’m going down, I’m going down swinging.

    “We’re going down, down in an earlier round
    And sugar, we’re going down swinging”

  26. 26.

    lamh36

    May 4, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    @YNB 30s31
    I wonder how the 52% of white women who voted for ol’ dude feel knowing that their next pregnancy is a pre-existing condition. #MAGA!

  27. 27.

    raven

    May 4, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    @HeidiMom: Interesting film too, Burton, Taylor and Alec Guinness.

  28. 28.

    lamh36

    May 4, 2017 at 7:33 pm

    @aravosis
    GOP @RepBrianMast of Florida can’t explain his vote to repeal Obamacare, immediately after his vote. This is unbelievable. Please retweet.
    https://twitter.com/aravosis/status/860240955311624194

  29. 29.

    germy

    May 4, 2017 at 7:33 pm

    @geg6:

    I made plans to see Chris Rock

    We saw him a few weeks ago, he’s funnier than ever. But no cell phones allowed, it’s in his contract.

  30. 30.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 4, 2017 at 7:33 pm

    @raven:

    Oh fuck it all.

    Back when I was, among other things, the Academic Relations Officer for my employer, I visited campuses all over Georgia (and five/six other states). If I were faced with that job requirement today, I’d be exceedingly conflicted, to say the least.

    Sooner or later, there will be a tragedy. Hey Nathan! Enjoy whatever you’re getting from the NRA while you can, because I guarangoddamntee you there will be blood on your hands before we are much older.

  31. 31.

    LurkerNoLonger

    May 4, 2017 at 7:34 pm

    I’m comforting myself with reading the Facebook comments to Faso’s ridiculous justification for voting for the AHCA. There are 1300 of them and none of them are positive. It’s making me hopeful we in the 19th can get rid of this guy.

  32. 32.

    efgoldman

    May 4, 2017 at 7:34 pm

    @Mathguy:

    I wish I could insult the ferret-wearing shitgibbon half as well.

    Betty’s got the knack. She has found the way to channel her inner George Bernard Shaw and HL Mencken. I am both in awe and afraid of her awesome powers

  33. 33.

    Corner Stone

    May 4, 2017 at 7:35 pm

    My ex keeps asking me to explain how any of this makes sense. How in the world is sexual assault a pre-existing condition, etc?
    I explained this had nothing to do with providing health care but was just about killing poors in order to provide a massive tax cut to the wealthy donor class.

  34. 34.

    Yarrow

    May 4, 2017 at 7:35 pm

    JUST IN: Lewandowski leaves lobbying firm over accusations he used it to sell access to Trump: report https://t.co/LLRaJ7qg0U pic.twitter.com/ZcGH4PnsBL— The Hill (@thehill) May 4, 2017

  35. 35.

    eclare

    May 4, 2017 at 7:36 pm

    Thank you for buoying our spirits.

  36. 36.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 4, 2017 at 7:36 pm

    A sizeable cohort seems to be inviting political violence by being heavy handed in enacting policy. I’m thinking that when limousines and high end sports cars start blowing up, society events get attacked, drunken spawn get kidnapped from clubs, think tanks and lobby shops suffer attacks from terminally ill people, scabs get the shit kicked out of them by striking workers and corporate HQs and mansions start suffering arson, I’m not going to shed a goddamned tear.

    1917 bears some parallels…

  37. 37.

    Yarrow

    May 4, 2017 at 7:39 pm

    @Corner Stone: lamh posted this in the previous thread:

    missed this nugget before–> Page 33 of CBO estimate of #AHCA: $3 billion in savings because earlier deaths result in fewer benefit payments pic.twitter.com/tIJ70KMVYa— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) May 4, 2017

  38. 38.

    Corner Stone

    May 4, 2017 at 7:39 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    1917 bears some parallels…

    1917 where?

  39. 39.

    sapient

    May 4, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    @lamh36: Haven’t read the comments yet, but if it hasn’t already been answered, what state are you in?

  40. 40.

    efgoldman

    May 4, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    @TK:

    Hatred of Obama has become this small, pathetic man’s animating principal.

    Obama has a 500 year lease inside Velveeta Voldemort’s head.

  41. 41.

    JeffH

    May 4, 2017 at 7:41 pm

    @raven: Well fuck. I thought I was at my current job until I retired, but with this I’m not so sure.

  42. 42.

    JPL

    May 4, 2017 at 7:41 pm

    @raven: New meaning for duck and cover.

  43. 43.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2017 at 7:41 pm

    @efgoldman: Poor bastard.

  44. 44.

    hovercraft

    May 4, 2017 at 7:42 pm

    I feel like I did on November 9th last year. I knew that this was possible just like what happened that night, but I just couldn’t bring myself to believe that it would happen.

    These people are evil incarnate, they are ghouls celebrating the passage of this atrocity like it became the law of the land, so not just evil, stupid. Yes I get the apparent need to get his troops fired up because the GOP feels that all the intensity is on our side. The party in power is never as intense as the opposition, this is going to push our side up to eleventy.

    He’s not fit to kiss Obama’s shoes let alone his ass, no matter what he tries to dismantle, history will NEVER deem him more accomplished than Obama, NEVER!
    The insane diehards may love him, but the vast majority either hate him or think he’s a lying sack of evil shit.

  45. 45.

    lamh36

    May 4, 2017 at 7:42 pm

    @sapient: We live in New Orleans

  46. 46.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2017 at 7:42 pm

    @Corner Stone: Czarist Russia, of course. We are all Russians, now and we just elected our Czar Nick.

  47. 47.

    waspuppet

    May 4, 2017 at 7:42 pm

    @Trentrunner: Precisely. The AHCA is more accurately titled the That N!&&@r Was Never Really President Act.

  48. 48.

    eclare

    May 4, 2017 at 7:42 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: People are capable of a lot when they have nothing left to lose.

  49. 49.

    Corner Stone

    May 4, 2017 at 7:44 pm

    Molly Ball Alert! Could she possibly be as awful as she was recently on MSNBC?

  50. 50.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2017 at 7:45 pm

    BTW did you see the new book on Obama, I read the book review on Wash Post, seems more like a character assassination, than a biography. Orders must have gone out to so called reporters to go after O and his character so that he won’t be an asset to the Dems in 2018. First the whole hoo-ha about the speaking fees and now this.

  51. 51.

    zhena gogolia

    May 4, 2017 at 7:47 pm

    @LurkerNoLonger:

    This is the district I’ve “adopted” via Swing Left. I’m in deep-blue CT, so I’m turning my attention to NY-19!

  52. 52.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2017 at 7:47 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I posted a link to that turd last night.

  53. 53.

    Roger Moore

    May 4, 2017 at 7:48 pm

    @raven:

    And campus carry is signed by the asshole governor of Georgia.

    Because it’s been working so well at preventing shootings on campus in Texas.

  54. 54.

    opiejeanne

    May 4, 2017 at 7:48 pm

    @lamh36: And that their contraceptives won’t be free any more.

  55. 55.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 7:48 pm

    @hovercraft:

    I feel like I did on November 9th last year.

    Me too. Drowning my sorrows in Pancho’s Dip (it’s a Memphis thing) and pinot noir.

    These people are evil incarnate

    QFT.

  56. 56.

    zhena gogolia

    May 4, 2017 at 7:49 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Yes, and to be fair, I learned of it from the NYT’s Michiko Kakutani, who pulled no punches. Not usually a fan of hers, but her review was brutal.

  57. 57.

    Sab

    May 4, 2017 at 7:50 pm

    @Corner Stone: When I graduated high school in 1972 being female was a preexisting condition. I eventually got a terrible catastrophic coverage policy (10,000 deductible, 100,000 cap, 3,000 premium) after major arm twisting of our insurance agent when my father threatened to pull all his policies. Other women didn’t have my limited leverage.

  58. 58.

    Josie

    May 4, 2017 at 7:50 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I’m currently writing an historical novel about the Mexican Revolution and am starting to get some interesting thoughts about parallels.

  59. 59.

    Oatler.

    May 4, 2017 at 7:51 pm

    “Let his name be stricken from all the monuments of Egypt. So let it be written,so let it be done, bigly.”

  60. 60.

    Goku

    May 4, 2017 at 7:52 pm

    @raven: Don’t know if this was mentioned, but couldn’t campus carry create a culture of fear among students and faculty. Especially in light of that deranged Trump supporter who stabbed people on their campus if they didn’t support Trump

  61. 61.

    Mnemosyne

    May 4, 2017 at 7:52 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Kessler has retracted and deleted that tweet — he read the report incorrectly.

  62. 62.

    Spanky

    May 4, 2017 at 7:52 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I’ve long thought that the unintended consequences to something like this are absolutely obvious. When people get cut off from their literal lifeline and see they have nothing to lose, the stuff you list will start to happen.

    I won’t be surprised if America’s first home-grown suicide bomber turns out to be somebody with a terminal disease that they’re unable to get treatment for, taking as many with him as he can.

  63. 63.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2017 at 7:53 pm

    @Sab: I want to apologize for antagonizing you last night. My only intention was to play pedant because I always find it amusing when someone includes a typo while being a pedant. It happens to me as often as not. In any case, I did not mean to upset you to the extent that I clearly did.

  64. 64.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 4, 2017 at 7:53 pm

    We’re in for the fight of our lives, and I don’t know about you, but if I’m going down, I’m going down swinging.

    Betty? Over at Outside the Beltway (in one of the brief periods of times when the spambot did NOT block me) this question came up. My reply?

    “When the time comes, and I have to die so some rich MF’er can get a tax break? I’m not going out alone.” (or something like that)

    And no, I’m not taking one of their lap dogs in Congress with me. I am 58 yrs old. I have pre-existing conditions. Name me a 58 yr old who doesn’t.

  65. 65.

    Patricia Kayden

    May 4, 2017 at 7:53 pm

    Love love love your “woman screaming at the heavens with giant chicken leg in hand” avatar, Betty. It captures how many of us feel today. Anger doesn’t even cover how I feel right now. Hope this spurs more people to resist and protest and express their anger to their Reps.

  66. 66.

    tobie

    May 4, 2017 at 7:54 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: My holier-than-thou leftist friends were telling me all about it at work today. I assume it’s a hit job, orchestrated by Vlad via one of his minions (tad devine??), to divide the Dems.

  67. 67.

    Yarrow

    May 4, 2017 at 7:55 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I saw that. He retracted not long after I posted it. I can’t edit–too late.

  68. 68.

    JPL

    May 4, 2017 at 7:56 pm

    @Yarrow: Oh well. . I sent it on also, because the number is probably higher.

  69. 69.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 4, 2017 at 7:57 pm

    @raven: MORE GUNS!!!!!

    Yeah, that’ll fix it.

  70. 70.

    LurkerNoLonger

    May 4, 2017 at 7:57 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I’ll gladly be your adopted son.

  71. 71.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2017 at 7:57 pm

    @tobie: WAPO review.

  72. 72.

    Mike in NC

    May 4, 2017 at 7:58 pm

    Fat Bastard has always been a vindictive, thin-skinned prick. Can’t put him in orange coveralls soon enough.

  73. 73.

    Millard Filmore

    May 4, 2017 at 7:59 pm

    @waspuppet: The secondary goal after reducing taxes on the rich is to erase the darkie president from history and the culture.

  74. 74.

    Ohio Mom

    May 4, 2017 at 7:59 pm

    @lamh36: If you haven’t, please talk to an elder care attorney. It will be a chunk of change but you want to make sure she can qualify for whatever government support she is entitled to. You might be surprised what can hang a person up.

    My BIL’s mother almost didn’t qualify for Medicaid to pay for her nursing home after she used up all her savings because a few years earlier, she had loaned money to another child for an attempt at owning an ice cream store that failed — it was during the infamous look-back period. Somehow, they found an attorney who was able to make everything right. Else Irene might have spent her last year on someone’s couch, like in the good old days/possible future.

    How are you supposed to know in advance that you have just entered the look-back period? How come it’s okay to spend all your money on wine, women and song, but you are not allowed to give a penny to your children? I digress, but the point is, eligibility rules are complicated and counter-intuitive.

  75. 75.

    opiejeanne

    May 4, 2017 at 8:00 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: I want to ask you some questions about the plants and trees in your part of the Ozarks.
    I’ll email you through Anne Laurie.

  76. 76.

    Corner Stone

    May 4, 2017 at 8:00 pm

    @Spanky: Not related, I think. But I think I recently hit Peak Get Off My Lawnism.
    I came across pictures of where the “real” party was at the recent Met Gala – the coed bathroom.
    Lots of pics of young and youngish rich people, most of them rail thin and beautiful.
    Not sure that would have normally done it for me as I usually try to let live to let live. But for some reason all the posed pics of people smoking a cigarette just set me to Furious setting 11.

  77. 77.

    Yarrow

    May 4, 2017 at 8:00 pm

    @JPL: Yeah, he retracted it and put out a six part set of tweets explaining. Including this:

    Lower subsidies and changes in the cost of insurance mean fewer people retire early and buy insurance through the marketplaces. /5— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) May 4, 2017

    So, retirement age goes up, people have to work longer. Would expect that could lead to earlier death.

  78. 78.

    Sab

    May 4, 2017 at 8:00 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Sorry. It was late and I was stupid/tired. Went to bed confused, woke up forgetful. Thanks. Always liked your comments. So glad it wasn’t irreparable idiocy on my part.

  79. 79.

    Corner Stone

    May 4, 2017 at 8:01 pm

    GOD DAMMIT Chris Hayes!!! NO MORE FUCKING BERNIE SANDERS ON WHAT DEMOCRATS SHOULD DO! ABOUT ANYTHING!!

  80. 80.

    Brachiator

    May 4, 2017 at 8:01 pm

    Yep. This pretty much nails it.

    Fellow citizens, our country has empowered a malignant narcissist with a massive inferiority complex. And he is bent on unmaking President Obama’s legacy because it drives him insane(r) that Obama is more loved, accomplished and respected than Trump will ever be.

    I blame Colin Powell. I wonder whether the GOP would have suppressed the racist nutballs had Powell run as a moderate Republican. Sad that Powell was not as audacious as Obama, even though I understand his reservations.

    Trump is the nightmare from which we are trying to awake.

  81. 81.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 4, 2017 at 8:02 pm

    I think it’s really important to put the blame where it belongs — namely, on Republicans. Just returned to FB after a few days of being in lurk mode, and saw that a friend, distraught over what happened today, wrote “I am so horrified at what Congress thinks of the people. This is tragic.” I pointed out that every single Democratic member of the House voted against this anti-health legislation, and that her anger needs to be directed to the Republican Party.

    No response so far. We shall see. If we can make even a tiny dent in the (lazy, default) “bothsiderism” mindset, it’s effort well spent.

  82. 82.

    Baud

    May 4, 2017 at 8:03 pm

    @Corner Stone: But it’s Thursday!

  83. 83.

    Corner Stone

    May 4, 2017 at 8:03 pm

    @Josie:

    I’m currently writing an historical novel about the Mexican Revolution

    Who might be the good guy/person in this novel?

  84. 84.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 4, 2017 at 8:04 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I always find it amusing when someone includes a typo while being a pedant.

    Your a good person.

  85. 85.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 4, 2017 at 8:04 pm

    @opiejeanne: OK. If it does not work, do not hesitate to ask in any morning thread.

    PS: not sure I can help. my ignorance is boundless.

  86. 86.

    lamh36

    May 4, 2017 at 8:05 pm

    Really Chris Hayes…Bernie fuqn Sanders AGAIN..

    https://m.popkey.co/eecb1e/87q84.gif

  87. 87.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    May 4, 2017 at 8:05 pm

    Soonergrunt‏ @soonergrunt

    My daughter’s life expectancy just dropped noticeably.
    And my probability of bankruptcy just went up noticeably.

    28 replies 285 retweets 372 likes

    on the other hand, Susan Sarandon just got a sweet tax cut.

  88. 88.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2017 at 8:06 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Arrggghhh!

  89. 89.

    Baud

    May 4, 2017 at 8:06 pm

    @lamh36: But it’s a day ending in “y”!

  90. 90.

    Chet Murthy

    May 4, 2017 at 8:06 pm

    @Corner Stone: Corner Stone is my Wilmer-frustration made flesh.

    P.S. Seriously, I’m not laughing -at- you. I’m laughing -with- you, b/c …. well, I feel the same way, and it’s nice that you can express it so …. fluently. I’d just descend into cursing and unprintable epithets.

  91. 91.

    Yarrow

    May 4, 2017 at 8:07 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Here’s a handy vote count article from the Washington Post. It’s got a lovely list of how many Dems voted for the bill. Answer: zero. Sometimes seeing something like that can help people visualize the situation better than words.

  92. 92.

    Peale

    May 4, 2017 at 8:07 pm

    @Corner Stone: simple. They should move left for assured victory! Look at how labor has been revived in the U.K. So much new energy!

  93. 93.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 8:07 pm

    @Josie:

    an historical

    Good lord not again!

  94. 94.

    Josie

    May 4, 2017 at 8:07 pm

    @Corner Stone: That’s a secret at this point. In about a year, when it is finished, I will let you be one of my beta readers.

  95. 95.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 4, 2017 at 8:07 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Arrggghhh!

    You have problem’s with that?

  96. 96.

    Josie

    May 4, 2017 at 8:08 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Did I do it wrong?

  97. 97.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 8:09 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Arrggghhh!

    “Arrrggghhh!” not “Arrggghhh!”

    Your welcome.

  98. 98.

    Patricia Kayden

    May 4, 2017 at 8:09 pm

    @lamh36: Randi Rhodes claimed that blue states probably won’t be negatively impacted by the AHCA because they’ll keep the pluses of the ACA. Not sure where you live and if that will help your mother but hopefully you guys are in a blue state.

  99. 99.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 4, 2017 at 8:09 pm

    @opiejeanne: And oh yeah, I am horrible about email. Do not despair if it takes me a week or 2 to reply. I yams what I yams and I yams a Luddite.

    Sorry.

  100. 100.

    Ohio Mom

    May 4, 2017 at 8:10 pm

    @Corner Stone: I don’t know if sexual assault was a pre-existing condition before but domestic violence was.

    Which makes sense in a sick way: if you’ve been beaten once, you are probably a bad bet to remain unscathed.

    I say this as a breast cancer survivor who is also a bad bet: my chances of a new cancer are higher than normal, and the long-term chances of a recurrence aren’t clear.

  101. 101.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2017 at 8:10 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: I’ll try to be good.

  102. 102.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2017 at 8:11 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Your write.

  103. 103.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 8:11 pm

    @Josie: A historical, not an historical.

    Do you live in an house?

    It’s an affectation of pretentious historians that sometimes spreads to otherwise normal people (@Sab, you’re cool) and, possibly, a pet peeve of mine.

  104. 104.

    Patricia Kayden

    May 4, 2017 at 8:11 pm

    @Yarrow: Good for the Democrats. Pelosi knows how to hold her side together.

  105. 105.

    Goku

    May 4, 2017 at 8:12 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: The sad thing is that’ll probably hasten our slide into a police state

  106. 106.

    lamh36

    May 4, 2017 at 8:12 pm

    @Ohio Mom: I’ll def steer her that way, but my mom isn’t “elderly”. She’s young, 57…so still some years from 65…but she has the heart of someone who is def older thanks in large part to her unchecked type 2 diabetes.

    I don’t know how much her age affects her coverage eligibility for Medicaid/Medicare?

  107. 107.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 8:12 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I’ll try to be good.

    Clearly you meant “try AND”

  108. 108.

    efgoldman

    May 4, 2017 at 8:12 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    GOD DAMMIT Chris Hayes!!! NO MORE FUCKING BERNIE SANDERS ON WHAT DEMOCRATS SHOULD DO! ABOUT ANYTHING!!

    WHY DO YOU WATCH THAT FUCKING NETWORK??!?! HITTING YOURSELF OVER AND OVER WITH A BALL PEEN HAMMER WOULD BE MORE USEFUL. I CAN MAIL YOU ONE IF YOU NEED IT.

  109. 109.

    Yarrow

    May 4, 2017 at 8:13 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: The people live tweeting the vote said two Democrats pressed the wrong button when they went up to vote, so for awhile it showed two Democrats for the bill. Their job is to vote and they can’t press the right button?

  110. 110.

    Baud

    May 4, 2017 at 8:14 pm

    @efgoldman: I think you meant “AN BALL PEEN HAMMER.”

  111. 111.

    lamh36

    May 4, 2017 at 8:15 pm

    I try my best not to put anything out in the ether that could boomerang back to me and mine…that’s gonna be harder after today..

    But I this twitter thread describes what I feel today…check out the entire thing…

    @Karnythia
    As usual @blackamazon is right. Run through their motherfucking faces. I want their political careers & their actual careers to end.

    Make them scared to run again. To even think about writing policy on a napkin. Make Ryan wish someone taught him when to shut the fuck up.

    Make them all wish they had been better people. Foist on them the suffering they were so willing to hand out. They work for us. Fire them.
    https://twitter.com/Karnythia/status/860251458440187904

  112. 112.

    Timurid

    May 4, 2017 at 8:15 pm

    @Spanky: This will lead to violence if passed. Of that I have no doubt. Assassinations and other terrorist acts. Maybe even significant civil unrest. Because if and when it’s passed, we will cross a line where the moral calculus concerning political violence changes. The AHCA is state terror on the level of a Pinochet or a Saddam Hussein. It will kill tens of thousands of people. It’s normally understood that it’s ethical to use deadly force when you or others are threatened with death. As I’ve said before, Osama bin Laden was shot in the face for much less than this. Any reservations about using violence now are practical, not moral. And no, I am NOT advocating violent resistance as things stand now. If it comes to shooting war, we will almost certainly lose (even if the US military does not get involved). The vote, working with what institutions remain and nonviolent civil disobedience will likely be the most effective choices (unless things get significantly worse). But again, this is now a practical choice, not a moral choice. Other people who are confronted with their imminent death or those of their loved ones might calculate things differently…

    If AHCA does pass though, more Women’s Marches and Science Marches won’t cut it. Turning out millions on a Saturday afternoon is simply brandishing a (metaphorical) gun. If AHCA passes, we’re going to have to start firing some shots. As in full on, shut down everything, disruptive (Pick a Color) Revolution stuff. Yes, 2018 is the obvious chance to fire the proverbial gun, but this regime can still do incalculable damage in the intervening year and a half… and we can’t be sure the election won’t be compromised in some way.

  113. 113.

    EBT

    May 4, 2017 at 8:15 pm

    Pull them down. Destroy their personal businesses, hound their personal lives, dig up their graves. Never a moment of rest again.

  114. 114.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2017 at 8:16 pm

    @Yarrow: Come the fuck on. You want to complain about that? It is something they could fix and they did. I am not really down with criticizing Dems today.

  115. 115.

    TenguPhule

    May 4, 2017 at 8:16 pm

    @Corner Stone: The Indians.

  116. 116.

    NotMax

    May 4, 2017 at 8:16 pm

    1947 cartoon all the more timely today.

  117. 117.

    Chet Murthy

    May 4, 2017 at 8:17 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: From this Vox explainer

    She might be right for people on the exchanges who get little-to-no subsidies. Those who get subsidies …. well, it depends on whether their state is going to top those up — b/c otherwise, poor folks (and esp poor old folks) will get creamed, right? Age-based, not need-based subsidies, Plus the 5-to-1 rate ratio for old-to-young, instead of 3-to-1 today.

    But the ones really getting screwed are those on Medicaid. It gets closed-out in 2019, and the funding mechanism changes to block grants, so states with more beneficiaries have an interest in being stingy. Downward spiral.

    I guess I can see where she might say “probably won’t be negatively impacted by the AHCA” b/c she’s thnking “moderately healthy, not-very-old people”. Uh …. tryin’ to be generous to her, but I’ll stop now, b/c don’t wanna rant.

  118. 118.

    Josie

    May 4, 2017 at 8:17 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: My abject apologies. I’ll try to do better next time.

  119. 119.

    Corner Stone

    May 4, 2017 at 8:18 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: An honorable attempt to assist an habitual instigator.

  120. 120.

    MomSense

    May 4, 2017 at 8:18 pm

    Took a walk in the woods, had a glass of wine, and now I’m going to knit and listen to some music.

    The GOP deatheters are all on record as voting for misery and death for millions.

    Tomorrow the calls start to our Senators. Then we need to kick it up a notch. House parties with all our interested neighbors, group visits to their offices, marches, press avails, letters to the editor, and more.

    We have to fight for this. Even though today was awful, at least we know who our enemies are. I hate the outcome of the vote today but I really appreciate everyone here who made calls and shared their support and their fears.

    Back at it tomorrow.

  121. 121.

    Spanky

    May 4, 2017 at 8:19 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Don’t be an hasshole.

  122. 122.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 8:19 pm

    @Baud:

    I think you meant “AN BALL PEEN HAMMER.”

    This is quality stuff. Baud/Wilmer 2020!

  123. 123.

    JPL

    May 4, 2017 at 8:19 pm

    @Brachiator: There were rumors that he might run against Bush in 2000. The repubs leashed an attack against his wife. She might have taken anti-depressants.

  124. 124.

    TenguPhule

    May 4, 2017 at 8:20 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Only with more guns and dumber villains.

  125. 125.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 4, 2017 at 8:20 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    The Czar’s family. Nick the entitled idiot, Alexandra the aloof and clueless, the giggly, clueless girls. They even had a goofy doctor.

  126. 126.

    Corner Stone

    May 4, 2017 at 8:21 pm

    @Yarrow: I actually looked up at the count as I saw one Yea D vote and I almost peed myself scrambling to find out what suicidal fool had just done that. And before I could direct my righteous hate-on to goog it, it changed to Nay. And all was well again. Well, as well as given the shit going on I mean.

  127. 127.

    Sab

    May 4, 2017 at 8:22 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Urk!

  128. 128.

    Yarrow

    May 4, 2017 at 8:23 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’m not complaining. I thought it was kind of funny. So did the people I was following who mentioned it.

  129. 129.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 8:24 pm

    @Josie: grammar nits aside, yours sounds like the type of book I would read. Love history and historical fiction. My two favorite Mexico-related books in those categories would be “Fire and Blood” and “Aztec.”

  130. 130.

    TenguPhule

    May 4, 2017 at 8:24 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    How in the world is sexual assault a pre-existing condition, etc?

    Once an evil dick enters a good girl’s cat, she’s defiled forever. Her only honorable alternative is to kill herself before that happens. Otherwise she turns into a dirty slutty slut who doesn’t deserve any of the good things in life.

    /This was actual damn policy for more then a few places until just last century. Still is in some unfortunate areas.

  131. 131.

    Sab

    May 4, 2017 at 8:24 pm

    @MomSense: Also town hall meetings. They have to crawl out of the woodwork at some point before the next election.

  132. 132.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 4, 2017 at 8:25 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Thanks. Will bookmark it and share with the FB person if it seems useful to do so.

  133. 133.

    Sab

    May 4, 2017 at 8:26 pm

    @Spanky: Which side are you on?

  134. 134.

    TenguPhule

    May 4, 2017 at 8:27 pm

    @Sab: Spanky’s, apparently.

  135. 135.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 8:27 pm

    @Josie: and on really fun nights, we sometimes nitpick over French grammar. I have no way of knowing for certain, but I assume those are the most popular posts on B-J.

  136. 136.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 4, 2017 at 8:27 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Also keeps workplace management “locked in” to a demographic that can’t afford to retire, freezing out younger workers who should be advancing per their career stage and learning management skills.

    Lots of ripples.

  137. 137.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2017 at 8:28 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: You make us seem demented.

  138. 138.

    Ohio Mom

    May 4, 2017 at 8:28 pm

    @lamh36: Oh my, that is young. I’m sorry to hear how many health challenges she has.

    Still, no matter what her age, it is always a good idea to get one’s affairs in order. Does she have a will? Everyone should.

    The attorney will see to it that she gives someone power of attorney — say she is too sick to take care of her finances or make medical decisions, that will allow you or someone else to step in legally. Other protections, like a DNR order (or not) will also be discussed.

  139. 139.

    TenguPhule

    May 4, 2017 at 8:28 pm

    @Brachiator:

    I blame Colin Powell.

    In every conservative black Republican is a little white asshole trying to escape.

  140. 140.

    TenguPhule

    May 4, 2017 at 8:29 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Nani?!

  141. 141.

    Josie

    May 4, 2017 at 8:29 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Yup. History and historical fiction have always been my favorites. I have found only one historical novel (translated from the Spanish) about the Revolution, The City of Palaces. I am not familiar with the ones you mentioned, but I will look for them. Thanks for mentioning them.

  142. 142.

    Lizzy L

    May 4, 2017 at 8:29 pm

    @lamh36: If she qualifies for Social Security Disability, which it sounds like she would, then after two years on it, she can get on Medicare early. Go online to the Social Security Admin website for the SSDI application. I suggest you talk to a professional social worker about Medicaid eligibility in your state. The rules are different in every state, so what applies in CA is not what applies in LA. Good luck.

  143. 143.

    MomSense

    May 4, 2017 at 8:29 pm

    @lamh36:

    Move. Hate to say it but Massachusetts and California are the two best states for ridingnout whatever the GOP do to healthcare. I’m trying to find a job in Mass and hopefully move this summer.

    One of my friends has an ICD and similar heart issues but her mother is able to assist her financially if she loses her Medicaid. She should be ok in the short term because she has disability.

    You would do really well finding a job in your field in Mass. It sounds desperate but these are desperate times. I’m happy to look at the available jobs for you.

  144. 144.

    Sab

    May 4, 2017 at 8:31 pm

    @Ohio Mom: Great advice. Often if you don’t choose, the probate court will give the decisions to their campaign contributing flunkies.

  145. 145.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 8:31 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Si la chaussure convient…

  146. 146.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2017 at 8:31 pm

    @MomSense: But one New England boiled dinner would send her straight back to NOLA.

  147. 147.

    Sab

    May 4, 2017 at 8:32 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Aren’t we?

  148. 148.

    Baud

    May 4, 2017 at 8:33 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    So it’s sorta social, demented and sad, but social.

  149. 149.

    Ohio Mom

    May 4, 2017 at 8:33 pm

    @lamh36: Also, you don’t have to be elderly to go to an elder law attorney. We have one because we wanted to make sure we didn’t do anything to prevent our autistic kid from recieving SSI or Medicaid. Which would happen if we died and he inherited our estate outright, those meager assets would put him over the limit.

  150. 150.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2017 at 8:33 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Mais bien sûr.

  151. 151.

    NotMax

    May 4, 2017 at 8:34 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Rasputin may have been a quack (among a lengthy list of much more vile things) but he was not a doctor.

  152. 152.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 8:34 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: beignet > lobster roll

    Not sure about Patriots v. Saints–they are both horrible to us Atlanta folk.

  153. 153.

    eclare

    May 4, 2017 at 8:35 pm

    @Baud: Hehehe….

  154. 154.

    efgoldman

    May 4, 2017 at 8:35 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    The Czar’s family.

    Who’s Rasputin in this analogy? President Bannonazi and Granny Starver aren’t competent enough. Ayn Rand is dead already. Yertle McTurtle?

  155. 155.

    JPL

    May 4, 2017 at 8:35 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: snob

  156. 156.

    Yarrow

    May 4, 2017 at 8:36 pm

    @Ohio Mom: I saw you mentioned that your inbox was full of emails from freaking out disability organizations. Have you had any contact with the Trump-voting parents of kids with disabilities that you have mentioned before? I wondered if any of them have seen this vote and recognize what it might mean for their families.

  157. 157.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2017 at 8:36 pm

    @JPL: Pleb.

  158. 158.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 4, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    @Brachiator:

    The awakening, I’m afraid, will require a horribly mismanaged domestic disaster and/or a catastrophic foreign blunder or three to get our idiot populace to notice.

    The median vote in the rust belt is 44 years old, white, suburban and community college educated.

  159. 159.

    efgoldman

    May 4, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    You make us seem demented.

    And?

  160. 160.

    Felonius Monk

    May 4, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Good lord not again!

    Relax, Steve.

    Articles with Words Beginning with ‘h,’ a or an

    The consonant giving us the most trouble is probably h. When the h begins a word and the first syllable is strongly pronounced, you should use a.
    a history of Europe (accent falls on his) a hero (accent falls on he)
    But when the beginning h is weakly pronounced (historic, habitual), you may use an, especially in British English.
    an historic occasion (hisTORic) an habitual offender (haBITual)
    But these usages are becoming increasingly old-fashioned, so you may also use a.
    a historic occasion a habitual offender

    (Source)

  161. 161.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    @JPL: Mais bien sûr.

  162. 162.

    debbie

    May 4, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Makes no never mind to me. Wall Street stole my IRA, so I’ll be working til I’m dead.

  163. 163.

    Chet Murthy

    May 4, 2017 at 8:38 pm

    I read a few comments on this thread like @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: contemplating violence, viz when terminally ill folks think they have no other choice. And ISTM this is just …. well, both irresponsible talk, and also foolish.

    (1) foolish b/c we’re merely returning to the status quo ante (before the ACA). Yes, it’s awful. But is it any worse than it was pre-ACA? So lots of people will be hurt soon. Lots of people were getting hurt then, and there was no insurrection. The aged, the sick, are the -last- who take up arms. It takes at least some minimal training, and that stuff ain’t happenin’ when you can’t walk 50 yards without having to rest for 20min.

    (2) it’s irresponsible b/c when and if something like that happens, places like this -will- be searched for such rehetoric, and utterers of such rhetoric will regret their words. Reichstag fire comes to mind.

    Look: I understand the need to vent. But discussing the utterly fanciful — insurrection — is of no use to anybody. The only possible outcomes are downsides for yourselves, and no upsides for anybody else.

    ETA: Wishing ill upon them is fine. As long as those wishes involve no human agency. We’re still dealing with authoritarians here, gotta remember.

  164. 164.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2017 at 8:39 pm

    @efgoldman: I was merely making an observation.

  165. 165.

    frosty

    May 4, 2017 at 8:39 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: LOL! We saw what you did there!

  166. 166.

    MomSense

    May 4, 2017 at 8:39 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    You will never catch me eating that crap. Gross.

  167. 167.

    Sab

    May 4, 2017 at 8:39 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: You is too

  168. 168.

    Yarrow

    May 4, 2017 at 8:41 pm

    @Chet Murthy:

    we’re merely returning to the status quo ante (before the ACA). Yes, it’s awful. But is it any worse than it was pre-ACA?

    Some of the healthcare wonky types I’ve read have indicated that this bill is worse than pre-ACA. I’m not sure in what way.

  169. 169.

    TenguPhule

    May 4, 2017 at 8:42 pm

    @Chet Murthy:

    Yes, it’s awful. But is it any worse than it was pre-ACA?

    You missed the NEW part about gutting employer coverage or the state lines race to the bottom with exemptions to not cover critical care items?

    Or that people were DYING due to lifetime caps and denial due to pre-existing conditions?

  170. 170.

    Sab

    May 4, 2017 at 8:42 pm

    @Josie: Not you didn’t!

  171. 171.

    efgoldman

    May 4, 2017 at 8:44 pm

    @Chet Murthy:

    I understand the need to vent. But discussing the utterly fanciful — insurrection — is of no use to anybody.

    You contradict yourself

  172. 172.

    lamh36

    May 4, 2017 at 8:45 pm

    @MomSense: I was actually REALLY close to moving to San Fran for a job, but the money wasn’t what I wanted so I declined…now I’m in a new job, but I’ve got at least a 2 year commitment due to accepting a sign on bonus…but after the 2 years, I’m planning to look into California again…I’ll be able to transfer within the company I’m in if a position becomes available.

    My mom lived for years in Cincy, but moved back home to NOLA bout 5 years ago…but she misses her Cincy life for some reason, so she may actually be going back there…but who knows.

    As for Mass…I DO NOT LIKE WINTER WEATHER…So…no to Mass…lol

  173. 173.

    Chet Murthy

    May 4, 2017 at 8:46 pm

    @TenguPhule: From my recollection, none of what you list was prohibited pre-ACA. None of it. I could be wrong.

  174. 174.

    efgoldman

    May 4, 2017 at 8:46 pm

    @MomSense:

    You will never catch me eating that crap. Gross.

    I can’t even be in the house when it’s cooking. mrs efg loves it

  175. 175.

    TenguPhule

    May 4, 2017 at 8:47 pm

    @Chet Murthy:

    The aged, the sick, are the -last- who take up arms. It takes at least some minimal training, and that stuff ain’t happenin’ when you can’t walk 50 yards without having to rest for 20min.

    People are bloody inventive at killing other people. Guns won’t be needed when the sick people get within hands reach of them. I’m sure they’ll figure it out themselves.

  176. 176.

    Chet Murthy

    May 4, 2017 at 8:48 pm

    @efgoldman: Talking about Mother Nature (or God, or the FSM) smiting down these evildoers, is fine. Talking about hating them, same. But talking about some terminally ill guy being a suicide bomber? I’m sorry, but someday whoever writes that might wish he hadn’t. As might his like-minded friends.

  177. 177.

    Brachiator

    May 4, 2017 at 8:48 pm

    @JPL:

    .. ..There were rumors that he might run against Bush in 2000. The repubs leashed an attack against his wife. She might have taken anti-depressants.

    It was more that his wife was already sensitive and worried about eruptions of racism, and potential violence against her husband.

  178. 178.

    EBT

    May 4, 2017 at 8:49 pm

    @Chet Murthy: A car is both amazingly lethal and has an amazingly low skill barrier to operate.

  179. 179.

    efgoldman

    May 4, 2017 at 8:51 pm

    @Brachiator:

    It was more that his wife was already sensitive

    Doesn’t matter. He’s now just a historical footnote and an afterthought, if that, in national politics.

  180. 180.

    TenguPhule

    May 4, 2017 at 8:51 pm

    @Chet Murthy: You’re wrong. The State lines thing has been on the GOP wish list forever. It would Delaware the entire medical insurance industry and threaten employer medical coverage as an actual useful benefit.

    The useless garbage policy high deductible insurance was technically legal in some states before ACA banned it, but was not accepted nationally. This would change that and not in a good way.

  181. 181.

    TenguPhule

    May 4, 2017 at 8:52 pm

    @EBT: Your average person can figure out how to turn car keys into a means to cut a throat in about sixty seconds.

  182. 182.

    efgoldman

    May 4, 2017 at 8:52 pm

    @Chet Murthy:

    someday whoever writes that might wish he hadn’t.

    So: self-censoring does their work for them. Terrific. You’ve already surrendered.

  183. 183.

    Ohio Mom

    May 4, 2017 at 8:53 pm

    @Yarrow: Tomorrow I am having breakfast with two moms, one who is almost as die-hard a Democrat as I am, the other a generally loyal Republican who actually voted for Hillary. But she did vote for our POS Rep (who voted yes today) and POS Senator (Portman).

    I know we are having breakfast because the Republican mom’s kid is having the sort of crisis only an autistic teen could have, but I am having trouble feeling particularly supportive right now.

    I did call up the national Autism Society’s hotline today and scold them for sending a single email asking us to call our Reps at 1:58 pm today! With advocacy organizations like that…

    That didn’t answer your question, did it? Most of them still don’t get why block-granting Medicaid is going to be a disaster because our advocacy organizations never explain anything to them (looking at you, The ARC, too).

  184. 184.

    TenguPhule

    May 4, 2017 at 8:56 pm

    @Chet Murthy: All anyone needs to do is spend a little time on the internet looking at Iraq. The locals pretty much wrote the new manual on how to retaliate against your enemies for fun and profit. Every other conflict since has taken a page from it.

  185. 185.

    Chet Murthy

    May 4, 2017 at 8:57 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    You’re wrong. The State lines thing has been on the GOP wish list forever.

    And that’s not in the AHCA. Yes, Dampnut says it’s coming in phase 2&3. But it’s not there -now-, and there’s no evidence it ever will be.

    Look: I’m not downplaying how awful this is. But to call this “the worst thing that’s ever happened” is just wrong. It’s a reversion to the status quo ante. That’s already bad enough.

    Re: high deductible policies, as far as I know, states STILL have the ability to regulate insurance whatever way they want. That hasn’t changed. Some states (e.g. CA & MA) will forbid such policies. Others won’t.

    Look: I’m just as angry as you are. I just don’t see the point in hyperbole. The facts are already bad enough.

  186. 186.

    Ohio Mom

    May 4, 2017 at 8:57 pm

    @Chet Murthy: as it stands now, it WILL be worse for those who have always depended on Medicaid: the elderly who have gone through their savings; low-income mothers and children; and adults with disabilities, who depend on Medicaid to pay for their supervised living situations, day programs, transportation, etc.

    Medicaid is getting cut a LOT.

  187. 187.

    Ruckus

    May 4, 2017 at 9:01 pm

    I don’t know about you, but if I’m going down, I’m going down swinging.

    There’s a time to walk and a time to run.
    There’s a time to turn your back and a time to stand up.

    This is the time to stand up.
    I didn’t run when I was 20. I’m not running now.

  188. 188.

    Yarrow

    May 4, 2017 at 9:01 pm

    @Ohio Mom: Thanks. I was just kind of curious since you’d expressed so much frustration before. Perhaps the WaPo link I had in one of my comments that has info on the bill and how they all voted might help illustrate any points you choose to make. Not sure if it got into the weeds with Medicaid block grants though. Hope the breakfast goes well!

  189. 189.

    Chet Murthy

    May 4, 2017 at 9:02 pm

    @efgoldman: EFG, with all due respect, Are. You. Kidding. Me. You -served-. You know the difference between civvies with weapons making play-soldier, and real trained soldiers. And you know how efficient the organs of state security can be when they want to be. The ONLY chance that freedom has, is to stand on the correct side of that bright line. And loose talk about crossing that line can only invite the repression.

    And that’s got nothin to do with self-censoring. Do I think Colbert should stop insulting Dampnut every night? NO. Do I ever use his name? No. I -always- insult him. When I call my reps. I always pick on of the handy epithets. But that’s different from discussing violence. Shit, this should e elementary. When I RSVP for one of these marches, there’s always a page of rules I have to subscribe to. And “no violence” is always there. There’s a reason for that.

    OK. I’ll stop.

  190. 190.

    Ohio Mom

    May 4, 2017 at 9:04 pm

    @lamh36: I append my advice. Don’t spend a lot of money on an attorney now before asking them if what they create for your mother will still be valid in Ohio if she is going to move back here to the Queen City.

    Because this is something I do t know. Maybe some of the attorneys on this thread know?

  191. 191.

    efgoldman

    May 4, 2017 at 9:07 pm

    @Chet Murthy:

    And loose talk about crossing that line can only invite the repression.

    Pure defeatist bullshit.

  192. 192.

    Chet Murthy

    May 4, 2017 at 9:10 pm

    @Ohio Mom: Ah, right. You’re right, that this is the ONE place where things will be worse than the status quo ante ACA.

    (1) the medicaid expansion will be capped and eventually cut off (b/c only continuous enrollees will be allowed to remain) — might as well say it gets zeroed out

    (2) and medicaid will be block-granted

    But only the second is actually worse than the status quo ante ACA.

    Again: I’m not saying this isn’t AWFUL. IT WILL KILL PEOPLE. Just like people were dying before the ACA. And yet, there wasn’t insurrection. Heck, as I remember, W. even won an election or two back then.

  193. 193.

    Kathleen

    May 4, 2017 at 9:11 pm

    @lamh36: You might want to start with an organization like Council on Aging or any senior services group in your area. Cincy has a Council on Aging which advised a friend about what resources were available for his father and he said the Council was really helpful. Cincinnati also has a non profit which helps seniors obtain free or low cost legal advice. You may want to see if New Orleans has a similar organization.

  194. 194.

    Sunny Raines

    May 4, 2017 at 9:15 pm

    a vote for a republican is the empowerment of sadism.

  195. 195.

    Yarrow

    May 4, 2017 at 9:16 pm

    @Chet Murthy: It’s one thing not to have something. It’s another thing to have it and have it taken away. The second one makes people angrier.

  196. 196.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 9:26 pm

    @Sunny Raines: a vote for a republican is the empowerment of satanism.

  197. 197.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 4, 2017 at 9:37 pm

    @NotMax:

    I’m talking about Botkin.

  198. 198.

    HeidiMom

    May 4, 2017 at 9:38 pm

    @raven: Haven’t seen it, thanks for the recommendation.

  199. 199.

    TenguPhule

    May 4, 2017 at 9:40 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Slander! The Satanists are in good standing with common human decency.

  200. 200.

    TenguPhule

    May 4, 2017 at 9:42 pm

    @Chet Murthy:

    And that’s not in the AHCA

    They apparently snuck it into the revised version they just passed.

  201. 201.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 4, 2017 at 9:43 pm

    @Chet Murthy:

    The number of fucks I give about getting hunted out by authoritarians are zero. I’m not all that invisible, and don’t really care.

    I live a decent, law abiding life, pay my taxes, pay my debts and raised nice kids. I’ve traveled well, have uplifting hobbies, and don’t inflict needless strife on people due to race, gender or orientation.

    Somebody wants to investigate me, maybe detain me, they can knock themselves out, because if things go to that level, we’re all fucked and I won’t want to be “safe”.

  202. 202.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 4, 2017 at 9:45 pm

    @Chet Murthy:

    Further, we’re not “returning to the status quo ante” – we’re getting truly exploded insurance markets. Expensive, non responsive, won’t cover shit. We’ll be blowing up equities, too.

    Sticking your head in the sand “because I might get in trouble” is no way to be a man.

  203. 203.

    Brachiator

    May 4, 2017 at 9:46 pm

    @efgoldman:

    .Doesn’t matter. He’s now just a historical footnote and an afterthought, if that, in national politics.

    Funny thing about history. We don’t yet know whether Trump will be a minor footnote, or the precursor of the end of the American experiment with Democracy.

  204. 204.

    Miss Bianca

    May 4, 2017 at 9:46 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: To be sure, the man needs no help in that endeavour.*

    Quel dommage!

    *British spelling specifically inserted to inflame our righteous, godly, and sober Episcopalian buddy to the south. Cuz I’m just that kind of wicked, contumelious, pretentious type of dog.

  205. 205.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 4, 2017 at 9:47 pm

    @Chet Murthy:

    You’re wrong. State lines were sacrosanct.

  206. 206.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 4, 2017 at 9:50 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    Doesn’t take many foot-pounds for a sick person (or a teenaged son or daughter with wrecked life plans) to pull a trigger on a Bushmaster, either.

  207. 207.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    @Miss Bianca: “Episcopalian” and “sober”–it’s well after 5 pm; you’re going to have to pick one or the other!

  208. 208.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    @Miss Bianca: I feel ya.*

    *Metaphorically.

  209. 209.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 4, 2017 at 9:53 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Satan is actually a good guy compared to these assholes.

  210. 210.

    Miss Bianca

    May 4, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    @Chet Murthy: Do you know when insurrections and revolutions happen? Not when things are already flatter than hammered shit – it’s when things *start* to get a little better, then suddenly threaten to get a whole lot worse. When people suddenly realize that they’re back to facing bankruptcy, or death, when they can’t pay for medical treatment, well…it’s not like they’re all going to shrug and say, “oh, well…”. People will be pissed. Some people may well be lethally pissed.

    ETA: Or what Yarrow said.

  211. 211.

    Miss Bianca

    May 4, 2017 at 10:02 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: “Righteous” and “godly” are also a bit problematic in relation to “Episcopalian”, come to think on it… ; )

  212. 212.

    randy khan

    May 4, 2017 at 10:08 pm

    @Chet Murthy:

    So, in other words, the bill would be worse than pre-ACA for a substantial part of the population, and probably no better than pre-ACA for anyone buying health insurance.

  213. 213.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 10:11 pm

    @Miss Bianca: in my defense, I don’t set foot in a church unless I’m attending a wedding or a funeral

  214. 214.

    efgoldman

    May 4, 2017 at 10:13 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    to inflame our righteous, godly, and sober Episcopalian buddy to the south.

    There are Episcopalians in the South? Isn’t that against the law in Traitor states?

  215. 215.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2017 at 10:14 pm

    @Miss Bianca: FWIW I am drinking brandy and have tomorrow off. All social bonds are loosed. Or not, depending on how deep my WASPy repression is.

  216. 216.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2017 at 10:21 pm

    @efgoldman: the Methodists have to be nice to us or they won’t make partner or get into the country club. The Baptists are more dangerous because we won’t let them do either of those things.

  217. 217.

    Librarian

    May 4, 2017 at 11:10 pm

    @NotMax: He means Dr. Botkin. Rasputin was killed in December 1916,

  218. 218.

    TenguPhule

    May 5, 2017 at 3:49 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Gin and tonic did not make me sloshed enough to see any bright sides. I may have to look at something stronger.

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