Saw my political idol Sen. Elizabeth Warren in person for the first time this evening, since she was holding a town hall (her thirty-second, she said) at a time and place which made it impossible for me not to succumb to vulgar curiosity. And I’m very glad we went — even the Spousal Unit, who is far less of a political animal than I am, was impressed and heartened by her performance. She must be a wonderful teacher; she kept her audience of 500-600 continually engaged, responded to every question asked with relevant information, and never lost sight of the larger arc. Pretty good turnout for a Wednesday evening in August, too!
First Sen. Warren spoke for about 40 minutes; then there were half a dozen questioners, chosen by lottery ticket. The questions covered a fair sample of the current Big Topics; student debt (she’s *very* invested in taking the profit sector out of student loans, of course), the rapidly increasing cost of prescription drugs (she explicitly used the word corruption several times in that response).
Another older lady asked how she could ‘not despair about Roe v. Wade’; Sen. Warren led us through the fight to save the ACA right after Trump’s inauguration (‘I have that image seared on the back of my eyeballs — whenever I think about giving up, I remember seeing him there, and that re-energizes me’), pointing out how collective action by individuals made *just* enough of a difference to peal away three Repubs and save “our” healthcare, and stressing that the only way to keep Brent Kavanaugh off the Supreme Court is to commit the same level of sustained effort before the GOP can gavel him through.
Then came the inevitable True Progressive (I was kinda surprised we only got the one TP, but this is not a chic hipster town, yet). He spent rather more time than any of the previous questioners took in total to explain his impeccable credentials (‘Early supporter — wrote you so many checks!’) before sharing his laundry list of complaints. She congratulated Scott Brown when he was appointed ambassador to New Zealand! She called Mitch McConnell ‘my colleague’! Worst of all, she wasn’t On The Front Lines, calling for IMPEACHMENT NOW!…. How could “we” ever trust her again, after such behavior!?!
And Warren handled him impeccably. She said she was happier to have Scotty in New Zealand than in New England, and then she led us through the steps necessary for impeachment: It’s the House that has to take a vote in favor; only then can the Senate proceed. But, she stressed, the first step is to allow Robert Mueller to complete a full, thorough, and fair investigation; calling for impeachment before investigation is not a wise path for either Democrats *or* Republicans just yet!
(That got the second-biggest round of applause for the evening.)
The final question was from a middle-school teacher, who said that ‘even her students’ wanted to know what they could do, right now. Senator Warren handled this wisely, too — she reiterated that we all need to be registering voters, holding signs, knocking on doors, sharing information & listening ‘even with people who might not agree with us on everything.’ That mini-speech drew a standing ovation.
Afterwards, it had been arranged for anyone who wanted to take a selfie with the Senator… but I’d estimate there were almost a hundred people lining up for their chance by the time we left the auditorium, and I’m actually quite shy in person, so you’ll have to take my word.
The Midnight Lurker
I am so jealous. I really like Ms. Warren, but never met her. Guess I don’t travel in the right circles.
HumboldtBlue
Our congressman referred to Trump as President Sh**-for-brains.
So there’s that.
Site acting weird again on desktop, works fine, just weird.
Omnes Omnibus
She is a wonderful person. Please let her choose to continue to be a Senator.
PS: Fix the damned blog.
smike
Sounds a whole lot like my experience seeing Beto O’Rourke a couple of times. Well worth it.
feebog
Warren is far from my first choice as our Democratic nominee in 2020, but she is smart, tough and pragmatic. I think she has already made up her mind and is in.
Brickley Paiste
I thought the consensus among serious and committed democrats, such as those whose thoughts populate Balloon-Juice threads that the key is mock, ridicule, and completely disregard anyone falling into a demographic which did not support Clinton in the last elections and this specifically would include: white men, white women, people whose household income fell between 50 and 200K, etc.?
debbie
Love her, but I’m just not in the mood for two years of “Hey, Pocahontas!”
Platonailedit
Wanna bet he is ‘economically anxious’ too?
Amir Khalid
@HumboldtBlue:
I must respectfully differ with Representative Huffman. If Trump really had shit for brains, he wouldn’t be this stupid.
Omnes Omnibus
@Brickley Paiste: Fuck you.Troll.
Jay
@Brickley Paiste:
Nice Strawman, burns brightly.
Went out of fashion the same time AOL did.
The Dangerman
@feebog:
Kinda where I’m at … but she’ll be 71 in 2020. In comparison, Obama was 47 when he first won. I’d like to see someone younger on the topline (so Biden is out). Warren as VP might be interesting though.
I’ve been a big Kamala Harris fan but she might not be ready for the prime time. I dunno. Until I heard Obama for the first time, I would have guessed he wasn’t ready for the primetime, either. And I would have been woefully wrong.
NotMax
@feebog
She’ll be 71 in 2020. Much as there is to like, that’s an age to step aside from a presidential run and make way for fresher blood. Plus she has been crystal clear that she does not intend to run for anything other than senator and I prefer to take her at her word on that.
Mary G
I like her more than I used to, because of that great interview with Rebecca Traister in NY Magazine. Her learning curve has been steep and she has been up to it. The Democrats should come right back with a woman in 2020.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
OT, but I’m so pissed that I can’t find my associates degree. My university is one of those that automatically issues you one when you complete two years’ worth of coursework based on your general area of study eg, science. It represents two years worth of work and if I can’t find it I’ll order a replacement.
Frankensteinbeck
Thank you for this report. I like her much more hearing how she dealt with the TP, and that the answers she gave had detail and nuance. I have gotten antsy over her before, but this convinces me she knows that there’s a time to talk broad brush strokes and a time to get into the weeds.
Amir Khalid
@Pasty Bricks:
You mistake the jackals’ amusements for their actions.
Platonailedit
The Dangerman
@Mary G:
Sure, if she’s the best candidate. Picking a woman because she’s a woman won’t work.
BruceFromOhio
Was fortunate to catch her at a fundraiser for Sen. Brown. She is the real deal, and seeing her in person is very energizing.
Brachiator
Great summary of your town hall experience. Thanks very much. Sounds as though Warren knew how to engage with the crowd. Her replies to the questions even those of the True Progressive, just great stuff. Her honesty is a refreshing contrast to what we get from the Orange Gas Bag.
NotMax
@NotMax
Also would prefer that the Ds nominate someone not in Congress and that people such as Warren, Harris, etc. stay there, utilize their seniority after 2020 and bolster the D president.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Pasty Bricks:
No, just moron trolls like you, Pasty Bricks. By the way, how much of a pathetic person do you have to be to think trolling an obscure poltical blog like BJ is a great use of your time?
BruceFromOhio
@Platonailedit: These fuckers need to burn in the lowest depths of the filthiest hell for all eternity, so help us, Gaia.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Platonailedit:
And how the fuck do they expect to do that?
LOL. Sessions can’t “unrecuse”, not if he doesn’t want to end up in a world of legal and ethical shit. Besides, despite all the abuse he takes from Trump, he still agrees with his agenda and wouldn’t take such a risk in damaging Trump by “unrecusing”.
NotMax
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
“We’re not Russian to judgment.”
:)
Yutsano
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: That’s easy. Just obstruct any real investigation of his administration and keep harping on Democrats like Clinton and Obama. Repeat until he’s out of office.
Jay
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
QAnon kicked him out so he’s back over here.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Yutsano:
Somehow I doubt they could keep that up for 6 years straight (assuming he could even win reelection) especially if the economy tanks. And the midterms, if OH 12 is anything to go by (fingers crossed), are going to be a bloodbath for them.
Adam L Silverman
@Platonailedit: The Lajes Communication: Not Supposed to Be Known Nunes!
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/secret-recording-shows-gop-s-nunes-saying-rosenstein-impeachment-would-n899031
Yarrow
Great description of the town hall, AL! Elizabeth Warren is a very good Senator and I hope she chooses to stay in the Senate.
The Dangerman
@Adam L Silverman:
Goalposts moving (“But Trump didn’t release the emails”)
Ruckus
@Amir Khalid:
I read the twitter thread that HB linked. There really are a lot of people who share shit for brains as a moniker. “He’s our leader and deserves our respect.” I wonder if they understand that respect is actually a two way street, and shit for brains is always driving the wrong way on what he thinks is a one way street.
Jay
@Yutsano:
Ain’t gonna happen.
Nunes and the Liberty Caucus are dumber than a bag of rocks. They think they can PR Trump/Nunes/Russia away even though the Court’s ontop of them.
The only demonstrated stupidity greater so far is Dolt 45’s Legal Team.
Uncle Cosmo
@Broccoli Pus: The consensus is that your best shot (pun intended) at making the world a better place is to swallow the business end of a loaded shotgun & work the trigger with your big toe.
MisterForkbeard
@Adam L Silverman: The “We can’t get voted out or we lose our ability to subvert the justice system” is.. kind of blatant.
Uncle Cosmo
@Jay: I’ll give you credit – for once you didn’t misspell Mueller‘s name here. Of course that’s only because you didn’t use it in your post – if you had, you would’ve.
Adam L Silverman
@The Dangerman: Bless his heart!
Adam L Silverman
@Uncle Cosmo: Can we dial it back a skosh? Or two?
Jay
@Uncle Cosmo:
Probably,
Ruckus
@Uncle Cosmo:
Not sure about your solution, it is after all somewhat messy, all things considered, and even using a shotgun it is possible that the target will be missed, being such a small, inaccessible and unused organ and then of course, someone will have to clean it up.
Nice name for the offending troll.
The Dangerman
@Adam L Silverman:
I’ve said it here previously; I’ve met Nunes a couple times (OK, once in a reasonably small meeting, a somewhat larger meeting the second time around). He’s an empty suit and dumber than a box of hammers. If it wasn’t for the fact that his district is beet red, he’s on the farm milking cows. As for heart, he’s the cowardly lion; if he’s ever indicted, if it were to come to that, you’d see a meltdown of the highest order.
Adam L Silverman
@The Dangerman: And he’s an idiot for using the Portuguese example, as he’s been accused of leaking classified information to Portuguese officials in Lajes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/magazine/how-devin-nunes-turned-the-house-intelligence-committee-inside-out.html
The Dangerman
@Adam L Silverman:
Color me shocked. Tulare/Visalia is heavily Portugese. Great Portugese food, FWIW.
Adam L Silverman
@MisterForkbeard: These morons haven’t learned that every person is now potential audio and/or video recording them. That there is no longer, unless one is in a SCIF where the alarms go off if a cell signal is detected, any expectation of privacy at any of these closed events. McMorris-Rogers is already in a far tighter race than she expected and Nunes just provided free oppo because he’s stupid. The guy has an ag degree, not a law degree. He has no idea what is and isn’t criminal, even though in this case he seems to have gotten his assessment correct.
Adam L Silverman
@The Dangerman: The Intel Community can’t stand him.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Ruckus:
It’s because they’re authoritarians and fascists.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Adam L Silverman:
Isn’t Portugal an ally of ours?
Adam L Silverman
@The Dangerman: Per my comment 43, he’s been trying to move the JIAC to Lajes since he got to Congress. Why? Because his extended family and their friends are the landowners and business owners and local officials that would profit from the move to Lajes. It makes no logistical sense, but there’s money for his cousins to be made, so damn if he’s not going to keep trying.
Ruckus
@Adam L Silverman:
Really, the number of things Nunes has no idea about is about as close to infinity as it is possible to be.
Adam L Silverman
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: It is. But what’s happening in this case is that Nunes has been trying to move the Joint Intelligence Analysis Center, which we keep colocated in England because of GCHQ and the Five Eyes intel sharing alliance and the logistics involved with it, to Lajes in the Azores. Because this would enrich and empower his extended family on Lajes and their friends.
Adam L Silverman
@Ruckus: Bless his heart.
Ruckus
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Some of them just like abuse and can’t get enough.
Jay
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Yup, but Nunes was leaking Intel so that his family in the Azores could get a big chunk of MIC money, from a boondoggle the Pentagon was trying ( for the first time) to avoid.
Ruckus
@Adam L Silverman:
Don’t count out that he probably has been told that moving it will also pretty much render it meaningless. Not that he might understand that…..
FlyingToaster
@Brickley Paiste: Like Everyone Else of Quality says, Fuck Right on Off with That Shit.
(Treating you with the not-too-random capitals that you deserve, dickslap!)
The only people who are not included in your “attraction” thang are white male asshats. And ‘Bros. Neither of which we could get, even if we wanted to. We’re all insufficiently white-male-bro to attract them. Yay us.
Jeebus, can’t we attract a better, or at least more entertaining, class of trolls?
MisterForkbeard
@Adam L Silverman: I understood his reference to McMorris Rodgers was hypothetical – is this a thing that actually happened?
JWL
Left wing loons have always been around during my lifetime. I came of age during the 1960’s-early ’70s, and was more alert to politics back then than a lot of kids my age. Still, I found myself appalled at the idiotic rhetoric of the left during those years as chronicled in the book Nixonland. I was too young at the time to recognize how bombastically overblown so much of it was, and how unhinged it sounded. That said, those same unhinged people wanted the War in Vietnam ended, too. No matter their silliness, therefore, I will always count them among the generation’s wiser heads for their opposition to it. They were a small minority that stood with other, more sensible Americans, and united they ultimately forced American withdrawal from that goddamned nightmare of a war. They helped stop it, in spite of the sick protestations of America’s war lovers. However ridiculous they may have sounded, then, or actually been, their good judgement was otherwise borne out, when the chips were down, and the stakes no less than war or peace. For comparisons sake, that’s more than a lot of democrats today are able to say aboutt their own judgement when the War in Iraq commenced.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Adam L Silverman:
@Jay:
So if Nunes wasn’t telling Portugese officials intel to move the JIAC to the Azores it wouldn’t be a problem?
This is also reminding me of that scene in the The Right Stuff where a reporter is trying to report over the phone on Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier only to be stopped by an air force general, saying he doesn’t want the Soviets to know. The reporter replies incredulous, “The Russians?! But they’re our allies!”
Uncle Cosmo
@Adam L Silverman: Send the troll packing (into the outer dorkness where there is the meeping & the gnashing of tweets) & I’ll be all sweetness & light. Well…mostly sweetness & light…
Adam L Silverman
@Ruckus: He was told repeatedly, for years, over and over that given Lajes’ location relative to where the actual infrastructure is that is necessary to support the JIAC, that moving it to JIAC was just not feasible. That this wasn’t simply repurposing an old US air field into something else DOD funded that would help keep the local economy, which had developed in relation to having a US base, growing. Made know difference.
As the NY Times profile at the link indicates, he has a sweet tooth for conspiracy theories and is at real risk of being taken advantage of by people pushing ideas, concepts, explanations, etc that conform to his preexisting beliefs, regardless of whether there is any factual backing for what is being pitched to him and/or what he already believes. This was a real problem when Congressman Rogers, who was a Supervisory Special Agent in the FBI, was the HPSCI chair before he retired.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/magazine/how-devin-nunes-turned-the-house-intelligence-committee-inside-out.html
Ruckus
@JWL:
People were told that we were attacked as a nation, that we had to respond and overwhelmingly. Of course the reason we were told that was stupid, incorrect and bullshit but not everyone caught on to that right away, or even now. People had their generation’s Pearl Harbor. Well sort of, a little bit, OK not at all. But still it was a shock to a lot of people. I was on a plane in the east that morning and when the pilot told us what had happened and then the second plane, there was a palpable pawl over that airplane. Many people lost the ability for rational thought. People didn’t have a clue what if anything might be next.
So I give the immediate reaction a bit of a pass. It was the major panic that followed about having to do something, anything that was not at all realistic and bullshit. And of course the irrational war that followed that we will be involved with for a very long time that is the criminal response by a fucking idiot president.
L85NJGT
Lot of white boy progressive angst out there today.
Booman was floating a branding trial balloon – re-labeling hard working white Trump voters as Obama-Trump voters. I like Martin, but this seems is loco.
Duncan Black eviscerated Obama for destroying organized labor, and the Democratic Party for not being, well… Labour. It was bitter, small and nasty. He’ll end up over at Fox News explaining how the Democrats are doing it wrong.
Adam L Silverman
@MisterForkbeard: He used her and Portugal, because it was a fund raiser for her and because he’s of Portuguese descent, in place of using the President and Russia to try to make a point. Unfortunately he’s either 1) demonstrated he doesn’t understand what is being alleged regarding the President, his campaign, and his business and their dealings with Russia or 2) has just made news by telling everyone, using this example that switches out McMorris-Rogers and Portugal for the President and Russia that the President and his campaign were, in fact, given stolen emails and other documents by the Russians from the GRU hacks of the DNC, DCCC, John Podesta, and others and that the President and his campaign then utilized them.
As of now, no one that I know of is alleging item 2 happened. But, as was the case a week ago with Giuliani, when he claimed that there was a prep meeting on 7 June 2016 to prepare for the 9 June 2016 meeting with Veselnetskiya et al and that Michael Cohen was at that meeting, this may be a classic political gaffe where Nunes told the truth about something that no one not on the HPSCI, the Senate equivalent, and/or in the Special Counsel’s Office knew about.
Adam L Silverman
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: His monomania to move the JIAC to Lajes in the Azores would still be a problem as it is a strategically, operationally, logistically, technically, and functionally stupid idea. But providing the Portuguese officials the Americans were meeting with classified material is a major operational security breach. The only reason he still has access is that as a constitutional officer of the United States, it is almost impossible to revoke his clearance.
Adam L Silverman
@Uncle Cosmo: I’m not complaining about the troll control patrol per se, just the recommendation for self selecting out of existence.
Jay
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
“So if Nunes wasn’t telling Portugese officials intel to move the JIAC to the Azores it wouldn’t be a problem?”
Naw, there’s some legal codes that cover selling National Security Secrets to another country, even allies.
Adam L Silverman
@L85NJGT: All the empirical data shows that these Obama to Trump voters moved away from the Democrats by 2014 and they did so because President Obama is African American, not because they’re economically anxious.
Ruckus
@Adam L Silverman:
Oh I know and understand. But he is a fucking moron, of the highest caliber, or should that actually be the lowest caliber, ,mmmmmm…..
Really the operative concept here is that he is a fucking moron, that in a rational world he wouldn’t be able to run for dog catcher on the third moon of Jupiter because he just isn’t capable of normal human thought or emotions except greed and he’s not even capable of using that one trait to any positive use for anyone, including himself.
Ruckus
@Jay:
I don’t believe he sold them anything. I’d bet he gave them away for free. That’s what I meant about his greed being his only trait and even that he gets wrong.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Jay:
“for the first time” is far from accurate, the Pantagon has had a number of stuff pushed on them from Congress.
L85NJGT
@Ruckus:
We’re still suffer the effect of collective PTSD over 9/11. Cheney got his war, and that was that.
I can’t believe they built fucking office towers on hallowed ground. May as well let Trump sells himself the air rights to the USS Arizona.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@L85NJGT: Duncan doesn’t seem to understand that Labor left the Democrats in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Teamsters endorsing Nixon in ’72.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Adam L Silverman:
The rise of BLM probably had a lot to do with that. Because how dare black people demand that police be held accountable. Those Thin Blue Line flags are also desecrating the American flag in my opinion. Also when you say those voters moved away from the Democrats by 2014 do you mean they moved away in 2014 or had already begun before 2014?
Jay
@Ruckus:
His immediate family was set to profit. That’s the “sell”. He gave the intel to the Portugese Government, ( probably for free) because if the base was relocated, his family would reap millions.
I’m old enough to remember when Senate and House Commitee Chairs and seats were given to people with a passing knowledge of the subject, not as Loyalty Cards.
The House Intelligence Commitee chair is never more empty than when Nunes is sitting in it.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@L85NJGT:
They didn’t. The original site was made into a memorial. The areas where the towers once stood are large reflecting pools now.
Jay
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Well, there’s a bunch of blame on both houses, a pox on both sides.
L85NJGT
@Adam L Silverman:
Yep. Wishful thinking that they could be reliable ticket splitters like southern dems 68′-94′.
Ruckus
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
A lot of people were going to go way overboard after President Obama. How dare a black man get elected and then actually be, not just a decent president but a damn good one… As a group, humans do over react rather often. Add in the racism that exists here and you have a recipe for a massive shit sandwich. Add in all the bullshit about HRC. Now add in vlad and his fuckery and are you ever cooking. And the results? One massive, racist, greedy, moronic, shit sandwich, one DT. And that has let all the freaks let their freak flags fly. It may ruin us all. It doesn’t have to but it is possible.
L85NJGT
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Those are not to scale.
L85NJGT
@Jay:
Two institutions with their own interests. Insisting Democrats move in lockstep with 10-11% of the workforce (<20% of the electorate), many of whom are Republicans, or non voters, is all kinds of yer doing it wrong.
The Lodger
@The Dangerman: Their Italian restaurant sucks rocks, though. On the flight back from Fresno, one passenger was actually getting people to sign a petition to get an Olive Garden in Visalia. We signed enthusiastically.
J R in WV
@Brick-O-Paste:
Never so glad for the Pie Filter.
Thanks cleek, Thanks Major^4, thanks so much!!
J R in WV
@The Dangerman:
I first saw and heard Obama at the 2004 DNC convention, where he gave a prime time speech … it was a barn-burner, in the Obama way. Wife and I looked at each other, and nodded. I said, “We’ll see that guy again, you wait and see…”
Never so glad to be right, ever. What a great American person!
Panurge
@Ruckus:
Freaks are fine. These aren’t freaks. These are the natural conclusion of “so square I’m freaky”. We could USE some actual freaks.
Procopius
Everything I’ve heard about Senator Professor Warren makes me like her. If she chose to run for President I’d gladly vote for her, and even send small contributions when I could spare them, but I believe she’s more valuable where she is, in the Senate. I get the impression that’s where she feels most comfortable, too. If she’s bullied into running for President, and wins, she’s going to be distracted by so many other responsibilities she won’t be able to pay attention to the details of a myriad of less important financial policies.
Procopius
@Brachiator:
Hell, her honesty is a refreshing contrast to what we get from the Centrist (i.e., right wing) Democrats.
Procopius
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I think the real departure from labor came a little later, under the Democratic Leadership Council. They had a specific goal of separating from organized labor and embracing the banksters, which Clinton actively pursued. See Al From’s The NEW Democrats and the Return to Power.