Is this the first dab on the House floor?@RashidaTlaib pic.twitter.com/JyqwJWet8l
— jordan (@JordanUhl) January 3, 2019
Paul Ryan's nameplate is OFF the speaker's office doorway at the Capitol.
— Arthur Delaney (@ArthurDelaneyHP) January 3, 2019
Hakeem Jeffries officially nominates Nancy Pelosi for House Speaker: pic.twitter.com/BudYBYm8SD
— Frank Dale (@fwdale) January 3, 2019
Seth Moulton casts a quiet vote for Pelosi for Speaker
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 3, 2019
Tim Ryan votes for Pelosi
— Cameron Joseph (@cam_joseph) January 3, 2019
McCarthy hands Pelosi the gavel: pic.twitter.com/6Br5tjSLtR
— Frank Dale (@fwdale) January 3, 2019
A moment of silence for all the 2018 punditry saying that Pelosi would cost Democrats the majority and that her House colleagues wouldn’t elect her Speaker again.
— Seth Masket (@smotus) January 3, 2019
… Also SCHADENFREUDE!
Pelosi says the House will vote on legislation to reopen government. All the Dems start clapping.
Republican Mark Walker starts clapping for a moment, then realizes he's the only Republican. He transitions the applause into a phone check, looks around to see if anyone noticed.
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 3, 2019
Future only White House employee Mick Mulvaney doesn't appear thrilled about Pelosi becoming Speaker again: pic.twitter.com/1hiEYP35ic
— Frank Dale (@fwdale) January 3, 2019
#BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: GOP senator calls on Congress to reach deal ending shutdown without border wall funding https://t.co/dECoTCZ95X pic.twitter.com/156xjws9vI
— The Hill (@thehill) January 3, 2019
clearly not enough Americans watched the Paul Ryan self-hagiography videos https://t.co/o3zNPjs0Vj
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) January 3, 2019
eemom
SO TRUE!! On this we can all agree.
?Go tell it on the mountain….?
Yarrow
Loved seeing all the kids there today. They had such a good time participating in their parents or grandparents voting. Loved that Nancy Pelosi invited all the kids up to the podium. So cute.
khead
“I extend to you this gavel”.
Nancy Smash.
sukabi
Love Frank Dale’s tweet.lol
Elizabelle
I want accountability for all the pundits who dissed Nancy Pelosi every chance they got. I want names.
But mostly, I am relieved to have the House under new management, and trust the Democrats to do their utter best for our country. They care.
plato
Why didn’t the granny starver fraud hand over the gavel to Nancy Smash? The final cowardly act by the thug?
Elizabelle
The GOP senator is Cory Gardner of Colorado, as we heard on earlier threads. From The Hill story:
Miss Bianca
I didn’t get to watch the live coverage, but just the photos were enough to make me feel happier than I have for a long, long time – the diversity of our party makes me proud and hopeful for the future,
Plus, of course, Nancy SMASH! : )
Yarrow
@plato: He was no longer a member of Congress so he wasn’t even there. Coward.
Miss Bianca
@Elizabelle: And as I noted earlier, Cory must be feeling really, really nervous. His internal polling must be for shit. Frankly, I hope Hickenlooper doesn’t declare for President, I hope he declares himself for Senate candidate in 2020. He would clean Cory’s clock, and we’d be rid of the smarmy, useless mofo.
Mary G
Imagine the State of the Union speech later this month, with Nancy SMASH standing behind Twitler and in his head. He’ll be snorting and twitching and rambling all over the place. Isn’t it usually in the evening, like 9 p.m. Eastern? Even worse with the sundowning added in.
Elizabelle
@Miss Bianca: Yeah, I hope Gardner is unelectable. I was so sad he made it through the first time. I forget who bankrolled all those negative ads, but even I saw some …
Kelly
My Blue Dog Rep Schrader stuck with his idiocy and voted against Pelosi. I take some comfort that the rest of the Oregon Dems supported Pelosi.
plato
@Yarrow: Duh.. Head smash.. Forgot the coward quit much earlier. Thanks.
Mary G
@plato: His cowardliness goes back months. He didn’t run for re-election because his polls told him the blue wave was coming and he didn’t want to have to hand over the gavel, so he quit.
Yarrow
@Mary G: I was thinking about that today. He’s not going to be able to handle having a woman behind him watching him. Heh. Bring it on.
Cheryl Rofer
Feeling so much better that committee chairs will be people like Maxine Waters, Adam Schiff, Elijah Cummings, Jerry Nadler, intelligent responsible people who know what they’re doing. Congress will be half working again.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Not to split hairs, Ms Rampell, but that’s the tax-payer-funded Paul Ryan self-hagiography videos
Yarrow
@Cheryl Rofer: Been wanting to ask you if you’ve seen “Active Measures” yet? I finally watched it a few days ago. It’s really good and comes from a similar place as I was in your thread a few days ago, about how the whole thing is bigger than Trump. I knew so much of it already but it’s good if you want to introduce someone to it and also for an overall narrative.
kindness
The gnashing of teeth (gums) on the right has been a source of joy I’m sorry to say. Sorry because I shouldn’t gloat. Sorry because my Ma raised me better. Sorry Ma. More crow Rightwingnutz? No, no, I insist. More.
plato
@Cheryl Rofer: Give him hell and burn him down, dems.
geg6
@Mary G:
@Yarrow:
Great minds, I guess. That was what I thought about, too. It will drive him crazy.
Quinerly
@plato: I have been wondering that. I’m assuming it’s because he was officially retired. In the past the outgoing Speaker remained in Congress.
lamh36
Suzanne
@Mary G: A recession is also coming, and Ryan knows that Trump and the GOP will get all of the well-deserved blame. Better for him to get out now and get that Fox News gig, or become a lobbyist.
I can’t say I blame him, because I would also happily take less work and less responsibility and less hassle for more money.
Marcopolo
@Mary G: I hope she gives that high school kid from MT a run for the title of “best faces made whilst behind Trump talking.” Or she could take a straw & some paper & shoot wads at the back of his neck while he is talking.
Elizabelle
@Quinerly:
I’m assuming it’s because he
wasofficiallyretiredfled.lamh36
H.E.Wolf
@Cheryl Rofer:
Thank you for posting that link! I’ve been lurking near the US House Committee websites like Snoopy cosplaying a vulture from the roof of his doghouse, waiting for the Democrats’ names to move into the majority column. That may not happen until the govt. re-opens, so I’ll make do with my homemade list until then….
humboldtblue
Say what you will about Jerry Brown, the man is one of the best politicians and leaders I have seen.
Take a look at the diversity Brown has managed to create throughout courts across the state, the list of “firsts” appointed to judicial positions is extraordinary.
tobie
I feel like I’m breathing little easier today, knowing that the House is now run by Dems. Good day overall.
patrick II
I just saw a full transcript of today’s White House briefing.
“Look, squirrel!!”
Yarrow
The gif in this tweet of Nancy SMASH showing off her gavel is everything right now.
laura
@Cheryl Rofer: @Cheryl Rofer:
Reclaiming Our:
Democracy
Constitutional role
Rule of law
Decency
Representational form of governance
Hope
Oversight and accountability
Standing among nations
Capability
Ability to multi-task
Plan for the present and the future
Sleep soundly through One Damn Night
…….
Punchy
Half serious Q — how does Ryan dip below (and so far below!) the Crazification Factor? I thought that was a universal constant with the GOP, representing the floor on any favorability polling…Ive never seen such a low favorability ratimg on a R.
Is he the first pol to violate CF orthodoxy?
lamh36
Evening BJ.
As a movie nerd…this list of dates for awards season has me soo excited!
DON’T JUDGE ME…LOL.
Miss Bianca
I just watched the video clips of Nancy being nominated and then wielding the gavel and L’dOL for sheer joy.
It’s a new year, it’s a new dawn, it’s a new day!
Quinerly
@Elizabelle: ?
Cheryl Rofer
@Punchy: I can’t answer for Ryan, but I saw some polling today that indicated that people identifying as Republicans dropped below the crazification factor. Of course, that could be because people are embarrassed to admit they’re Republicans. Could be something similar happening with Ryan. Paul who? Never heard of him.
Mnemosyne
@Kelly:
I’m curious to see if anyone has a list of the Dems who signed the anti-Pelosi letter vs the ones who just pledged not to vote for her during their campaigns.
It sounded as though some Democrats were strategically released and allowed to vote for someone else, while ringleaders like Moulton and Ryan had to affirmatively vote for Pelosi.
patrick II
@Suzanne:
So, would you blame a man who starts a fire in a crowded apartment building and then walks out before it burns down?
plato
Yup. Yup. And a Big Yup.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@lamh36: a movie-buff friend calls this her playoff season, in which she tries to see all nominated movies before the big game, which is the Oscar prizes distribution show
Did they find a host? I’d be tempted to watch if they picked Patton Oswalt
TS (the original)
@Elizabelle:
Waiting for the media’s new BFF republican Sen Romney to agree with Gardner
Mary G
I am choosing to think that AOC’s white pantsuit was a nod to Hillary as well as the suffragettes.
Robin Givhan at WaPo has some thoughts on NANCY SMASH’s dress:
That’s right, fuchsia roars, motherfuckers.
Also, Ava:
plato
@Punchy: How bad a con you had to be to fail in a party full of cons?
divF
@humboldtblue: Jerry Brown has a mixed reputation with the left. However, he is a man who has spent almost all of his adult life in public service. I think that he deserves kudos for that.
Mr Stagger Lee
@kindness: The sight of the first Somali-American Congressperson with a hijab on that floor,knowing that caused RWNJ heads to explode is warmth on a cold day. Also Congresswoman Talib swearing in on Jefferson’s Koran caused extreme butt-hurt on Twitter.
Marcopolo
I really hope 20-25 years from now we can look back at this Congress as the same kind of groundbreaking election as Obama in 2008. And that we maintain & expand the profound progress of getting Congress to look like all of America between now & then.
God knows, and I was raised an Ethical Humanist so not sure what exactly that means, I won’t be taking any more elections for granted in my lifetime.
Dan B
@humboldtblue: This is a feel good read. The high percentage not white and women is amazing and the 6% LGBTQ is mind boggling given that we still don’t have civil rights at the federal level and marriage rights are only a few years ago.
A jury of your peers is still aspirational far too often but to have a court system of your peers in any state is mind boggling.
Ken
@Punchy: The Crazification Factor was established 15 years ago in the Obama-Keyes election of 2004. Perhaps it’s like the drop in crime rates, attributable to having a smaller percentage of the population exposed to lead as children.
(Suddenly the EPA’s changes to mercury limits make sinister sense.)
Aleta
@Miss Bianca:
Like you say.
Feeling good
Punchy
@Dan B: And those marriage rights for the gay community may not last beyond an inevitable future SCOTUS challenge…
joel hanes
Paul Ryan … 12% favorability rating
Holy moly. That’s Cheney territory.
Mary G
I don’t know if this picture is real, but I hope it is:
joel hanes
@Elizabelle:
I want accountability for all the pundits who dissed Nancy Pelosi
Barring future mitigating conduct, I want Seth Moulton primaried.
japa21
@Mr Stagger Lee: Didn’t Ellison use the same Koran?
plato
@Mary G: A pj suit? What a fucking clown in his pathetic political and his real life.
Baud
@Mary G: They failed to break Hillary but they broke America in the attempt.
Kelly
@Mnemosyne: Schrader was against Pelosi for speaker the last time around. He’s never specified what he’s against or really put much effort into his opposition. Our CD has been a Blue Dog kinda district since before there was a Blue Dog Caucus. His predecessor Darlene Hooley voted for the awful inheritance tax and Bankruptcy Deform bills back in the the days of Bush the Lesser.
At least I’ve got Wyden and Merkley in the Senate;-)
Steeplejack
@Mary G:
My fantasy is that right before Trump starts to speak at the State of the Union, Pelosi leans forward from behind him and tells him, sotto voce, “Hillary says hi.”
Dan B
@Mr Stagger Lee: A Somali woman in a hijab is so like the progressive groups I’ve worked with. They seem to be among the most energetic and fun to be around. They practice the Kuran, not Wahhabism. They are Muslim, not Saudi extremists. They are religious, unlike conservative Chritianists.
Suzanne
@patrick II: Dude. Paul Ryan was not going to make anything better with his presence. Good riddance to bad rubbish. GTFOutta dere. We are better for his absence.
Mnemosyne
@patrick II:
Come on, man, how often does a criminal stick around the scene of his crime waiting to be caught? I’m surprised Ryan even showed up for the lame duck session.
Mandalay
@Miss Bianca:
From hearing him speak and reading about him, he comes across as competent, smart, decent and grounded, and I like him. If he does run for President does he have any baggage (apart from being a white male)?
Baud
@Mandalay: Not sure if you consider this baggage, but he’s fairly centrist.
A Ghost To Most
@Elizabelle: Cory Gardner is toast. Will Hickenlooper be the next senator from Colorado? Signs point to yes.
Dan B
@Punchy: Our friends with kids have all looked at emigrating. It’s tough to witness their fear. Reassuring statements like “your marriage is grandfathered in” are a cruel false hope. Christianists groups believe they must rescue the kids from evil. They’ll never stop trying to demonize gay families.
A Ghost To Most
@Ken:
Also known as Keyes’ Constant.
Jackie
@Steeplejack: Red wine snorted/spewed through nostrils and mouth burns like hell! Thanks for that visual!
germy
joel hanes
@Dan B:
Somali woman … seem to be among the most energetic and fun to be around
You’d like the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport.
Mnemosyne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Oswalt has been the host of the Annie Awards (for animation) for years now. They may stream the show — check http://www.asifa.org
WaterGirl
@Yarrow: That brings up memories of his creepy stalking of Hillary Clinton on stage at one of the debates or town halls. Ugh. Super creepy. Hope it spooks him to have Nancy SMASH up there behind him.
Dan B
@Steeplejack: Best laugh of the day!
“Hillary says hi!” Can’t be improved upon.
A Ghost To Most
@Dan B: Come to Colorado. We even have a gay governor. Fuck the christian fascists.
Quinerly
More on Kryrsten Sinema today……Virginia Heffernan, a contributing editor at Wired and a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, was more forthright: “If there is a gender on earth that doesn’t want to have sex with Kyrsten Sinema I don’t want to be right.” Talk amongst yourselves.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Steeplejack: Remember this chilling moment from the Inauguration?
I’d love to see his face go through what Melania’s does here while Nancy whispers something we can’t hear.
Yarrow
@WaterGirl: It certainly does. He’s so creepy and gross. It’s awful that he also has power.
Yarrow
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Have they found an Oscars host yet? Or are they going to skip the host altogether?
Dan B
@joel hanes: We love our neighborhood. In 8 blocks walk there are two mosques, three halal groceries, Hmong Buddhist monastery, Vietnamese Buddhist temple, Philipino Community center, two Chinese churches, two black churches, etcetera….
A Ghost To Most
@Miss Bianca: I think Hick is going for name recognition now , before taking Gardner’s job from him.
Quinerly
@Quinerly: here is the link to the piece. It’s a hoot. I love her fashion sense. I guess I would have loved our Adam’s grandmother too. ?
https://amp-azcentral-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.azcentral.com/amp/2477146002?amp_js_v=a2&_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQECAFYAQ%3D%3D#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.azcentral.com%2Fstory%2Fentertainment%2Fmedia%2F2019%2F01%2F03%2Fkyrsten-sinemas-outfit-draws-attention-senate-swearing%2F2477146002%2F
germy
@Quinerly:
germy
Elizabelle
@germy: I think it should be before they are the nominee. Very honestly. Candidate. Not nominee. Why are the Democrats being so shy there?
How does that stop Senator Blowhard of the North from running? It does not. And if they don’t comply with releasing their taxes, what? You play a game of chicken until Election Day?
No. That is loopy. Disclosure in order to participate in the debates and to be seen as a major party candidate. Period. Full stop.
Elizabelle
@A Ghost To Most: Oh, I hope so.
germy
@Elizabelle:
I agree.
Baud
@Quinerly:
SILF
WaterGirl
@Quinerly: I hope that her sexuality scared the bejesus out of Mike Pence. “Mother, where are you?”, he (surely) cried helplessly.
Quinerly
@germy: I love this. See that AZ Central piece with the crazy long link I posted above. Fun stuff in it.
Elizabelle
@germy: We need to make that happen.
I wonder if it’s “nominee” because some of the politicians saw how Hillary’s tax returns were weaponized against her, whereas Trump’s are … still in the ether.
(No. They are on RM III’s desk. Soon to be on Nancy’s and Maxines’s too.)
Arclite
The Republicans had two entire years in full control of the government, all three branches essentially. What did they accomplish?
A tax cut.
West of the Cascades
If I had a gavel,
I’d gavel in the morning,
I’d gavel in the evening,
All over this land.
I’d gavel out danger,
I’d gavel out warning,
I’d gavel out love between my brothers and my sisters*
All over this land.
*excepting Republicans. They’d get gavelled in a different way.
Arclite
Save my name for next time.
Quinerly
@WaterGirl: I hadn’t heard the pink tutu story. I really dig her.
plato
JWR
@Mandalay:
See eg. all the hooplah over a Kasich/Hickenlooper ticket! Those two are BFFs, appearing all over the country as true bi-partisans™. I think that alone should be a disqualifier.
joel hanes
@Elizabelle:
How does that stop Senator Blowhard of the North from running?
Aha.
You have discerned that his purpose is to run (and make trouble), not to win.
Could you possibly alert the media ?
‘Cause they haven’t a clue.
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle:
I can’t imagine that would be constitutional. But of course IANAL. Regardless, we both know the purpose of the legislation is not to punish Bernie. Some Democrats tried and failed to institute such a rule for their own primary last year anyway.
Quinerly
@Baud: oh, my! ?
Dan B
@A Ghost To Most: Now the one upmanship begins… Seattle has a lesbian mayor who replaced the gay mayor. We’ve got a lesbian on the Supreme Court (elected twice), 60% of Seattle metro churches are gay friendly, there is at least one openly gay priest (at the second biggest church), the gay caucus in the ledge is active (don’t know the current count) and 500,000 show up for the pride parade.
There are some bright spots but dark clouds loom with many lawsuits moving towards the Supremes.
germy
Ken
@Arclite: Don’t forget the three shutdowns in one year, a new record – made more impressive because a single party controlled both chambers of Congress and the White House.
japa21
@Major Major Major Major: The parties run the nomination process and Congress cannot interfere with that. The general election, however, falls into their domain.
cain
@Elizabelle:
Cory Gardner is dead meat in 2020. Denver has been growing and it’s growing blue. Everybody is sharpening their knives and eyeing that seat. Colorado is going full blue next election count on it.
Mnemosyne
@germy:
I keep telling you guys, Pence has some extramarital affairs with women hidden in his closet. No wife bans her husband from one-on-one meetings with other women without that kind of history. (Or I suppose it could be an abusive relationship with his wife as the abuser, but Pence and Mother don’t seem to have that type of relationship.)
Also, Synema was clearly cosplaying as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. At first glance, I thought she’d gone so far as to bring a purse pooch with her, but it was her faux-fur scarf.
plato
@Arclite: And a trillion dollar deficit.
Major Major Major Major
@japa21: right, which is why I said a law mandating tax return releases to participate in primary debates would be unconstitutional.
VOR
IIRC favorables for VP Dick Cheney polled well below 20% near the end of his term. And Keith Ellison, a former congressman from MN who used to hold the same seat as Ilhan Omar, was also sworn in on Jefferson’s Koran several years ago. Ellison is now AG for Minnesota.
germy
@Mnemosyne: It’s clearly not a relationship built on trust.
HumboldtBlue
Modern technology is amazing in many ways such as the regular long text threads shared among my brothers sisters and dad with various youngins (all 20s at this point) thrown in on occasion.
But that tech can’t erase the helpless feeling you get as your sister describes the saga of her second grandchild, born at just after midnight and who was medevaced to UCLA medical center two hours ago due to — breathing/lung/arteries/oxygenated blood going to liver and not lungs — issues.
I almost feel like an imposter responding because it feels so impersonal and useless. And yet, we use it every single day as a family and remain connected in a way that was impossible just 20 years ago.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
This would actually be far less creepy than the stuff the incels are actually scouring the internets for
gwangung
@WaterGirl: Though, to be honest, I feel much more comfortable mooning over her than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (much more age appropriate).
A Ghost To Most
@Dan B: Perhaps my view of the Supremes is too sanguine, but I believe Roberts cares more about his legacy than anything else, and will become the swing vote to protect it. I hope I am not wrong.
randy khan
@Dan B:
I was thinking maybe “I’ve seen the draft Mueller report” might have an appropriate effect.
Suzanne
@Quinerly: Kyrsten Sinema is going to be a deeply disappointing senator. Just a hair to the left of Joe Manchin. Just saying this so no one sees her awesome clothes and mistakes her for someone smart, cool, or principled.
One pet peeve: the media screw up her name all the time. She is Kyrsten, not Krysten. Sinema, not Synema. Not snarling on you…..it gets butchered in print all the time, so I’m not surprised that the misspellings make their way around the internet. But it does go to show that the fact-checkers don’t even check the most basic of details.
A Ghost To Most
@cain:
Yup. Like I say to the wingnuts around here, “There’s christian fascist paradises in three directions. Pick one.”
kindness
California passed a law last year requiring anyone who wants to appear on a California Presidential Primary ballot must have released their income tax returns or they won’t get a spot on the ballot. Not sure how many years back it will require disclosure. But most politicians want to appear on the California ballot. Especially because now it is moved up to an early spot.
I suspect some will sue, but lose. I sure hope it helps. I think it will.
Quinerly
@gwangung: I do too. And I’m a boring, middle aged straight woman. And I don’t care if she’s wearing our Adam’s grandmother’s clothes ?…. As my mother would say…. “that woman’s got “it.”‘
Quinerly
@Suzanne: h@Baud:
Poor Baud. Who’s going to explain this to him? ?
Mnemosyne
Yahoo! News compiled a “best of” article with Tweets and photos from the new women reps:
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/try-not-cry-looking-pictures-204400020.html?fbclid=IwAR1Tx21LqE0CWpKxJTf_3LEcKYxcAkGw8epMcTj-2DgnLM5jJRl3WxqbkLg
Gin & Tonic
May be too late in an open thread, but here goes: depending on how a project goes, I may have a Sunday free in Chicago next weekend (Jan 13.) Anything interesting worth spending a half-day or day on?
Steeplejack
@Quinerly:
Making Pence uncomfortable in his swimsuit area. (Borrowed from a @jvanleir tweet.)
JoeyJoeJoe
@lamh36:
And before that, it was represented by old time southern conservative Democrats. When Newt Gingrich ran against the Dem who eventually retired, he actually ran to the left of the incumbent, particularly on environmental issues. Gingrich lost twice before winning in 1978.
Quinerly
@Steeplejack: ?
Mnemosyne
@Gin & Tonic:
You mean something other than the Art Institute, one of the planet’s premier art museums?
Be sure to see Chagall’s “America” windows and the Georgia O’Keefe painting so huge that they had to hang it in a stairwell.
KithKanan
@kindness: The CA state legislature passed the tax return requirement, but Jerry Brown vetoed it. He didn’t think it would survive in court, and worried about the sort of precedent it would set if it did.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@HumboldtBlue: it guts me to think about a newborn and new parents going through that– best wishes to your family
Mnemosyne
@Suzanne:
Sinema seems sufficiently careerist that if Arizona started veering left, she would follow. All of yinz need to keep steering your state to the left as best you can.
Bobby Thomson
@Mnemosyne:
But Moulton being as dumb as a post, he cast a spotlight on them so that they drew unnecessary flak from out-of-staters and may have trouble raising money in 2020.
HumboldtBlue
@kindness:
Jerry Brown vetoed the last measure and the legislature re-introduced the measure and it passed again and could be signed into law by Newsom. Brown’s veto statement on the bill brought to his desk is worth a read.
Twice during his career, Brown declined to disclose his tax returns during an election.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Gin & Tonic: the Art Institute would top my list, especially in January, and it’s probably a little cold for a river tour, but the Chicago Architecture Foundation does some really interesting tours
HumboldtBlue
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Thanks, Jim, just so goddamn frustrating being in the same state but so damn far away.
Steve in the ATL
@plato: I’m proud to be from Memphis!
@lamh36: proud to have her as my new rep!
Suzanne
@Mnemosyne: I’m doing my best! But there’s a lot of dumbfucks here!
StringOnAStick
@Miss Bianca: I completely agree. Hickenlooper is far too centrist to run for POTUS but he could be very useful for defeating Gardner for Senate. I want two D senators for this state. Did you see Gardner’s proposal to give weed businesses access to legal banking? That’s when I knew his internal polling was giving him big reason to be nervous.
Also about Gardner: my cute blonde young co-worker was in her hometown of Walsh last fall drinking in the bar and who should also be there getting quite drunk and being a bit of a lad but Senator Cory G.
plato
Frankensteinbeck
@Bobby Thomson:
I’m wondering if the so-called revolt against Pelosi didn’t share the thought process of assholes like Comey going after Clinton. Secure in the knowledge she would win, they could afford to take The Bitch down a peg.
Steeplejack
@HumboldtBlue:
Sending healing thoughts to your sister’s grandchild.
Miss Bianca
@Mandalay: Our state level purity ponies don’t like that he’s an ex-oil and gas man, and think he’s too soft on fracking. Other than that…he is all that you say.
Mnemosyne
@Suzanne:
Don’t forget, my parents were snowbirds who lived in Fountain Hills for 20+ years. I know all about Arizona dumbassery. ? But hopefully better days are ahead.
Ken
@randy khan:
Might as well shut down the internet for the night, nothing’s going to top this.
Major Major Major Major
@Miss Bianca: he does have that annoying “can’t we all just be sensible centrists” vibe though.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Frankensteinbeck: I think it was a similar but distinct way of thinking way too common in Democrats: Thinking that the sort of pundit who describe themselves as “radical centrists” speak for and to anybody but themselves, at least in the case of Moulton, whatsits from Ohio and the other whatsits from IIRC Long Island
Ezra Klein IIRC once told the story of riding on the Senate elevator with two Dems early in the Obama years, and one said gravely to the other, “Did you read Friedman today?”. I can’t imagine many Dem Senators asking each with Concern, “Did you read Krugman today?”
Mnemosyne
@HumboldtBlue:
Oh no! I hope all goes well. UCLA has very good pediatric and neonatal care, so hopefully they’ll be able to help.
Quinerly
@Suzanne: Don’t know about dumbfucks. I just think some are just enjoying your new senator’s sense of whimsy. If her sexuality made Pence’s pants uncomfortable for the few minutes it took to swear her in, then more power to her. I really don’t know… maybe Joe Manchin dressed in pink could have gotten the same rise out of Pence.? I’m a transplant to Missouri so I just can’t imagine Claire protesting the Iraq War in a pink tutu. ?? Right now at this very moment, KS is a tad more interesting to me than AOC. ?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Suzanne: What do you think of Gallego as a challenger to McSally in 2020 (doesn’t she face a new contest as McCain’s replacement?)? I only know him from the TeeVee but he seems unstupid.
HumboldtBlue
@Steeplejack:
Thanks. My poor niece won’t be able to see him until Saturday.
My heart breaks.
James E Powell
@Suzanne:
I doubt anyone is expecting a liberal senator from AZ. Our occasional senate majorities never come easy.
Ohio Mom
@Gin & Tonic: I was going to say that one of my favorite off-the-beaten-track places in Chicago is the drawbridge museum but I just checked and it is closed during the winter.
@HumboldtBlue: Holey moley, that is scary. Hopefully whatever is misplumbed in this newest family member is something the doctors are familiar enough with that they have developed a good protocol for it.
Miss Bianca
@A Ghost To Most: From your mouth to FSM’s ear…
Steve in the ATL
@Quinerly:
Knowing what your career was, this statement is patently false!
BruceFromOhio
@Quinerly: The Senator has a splendid smile.
HumboldtBlue
@Mnemosyne:
Thanks.
Yes, very fortunate UCLA was an option. Neonatal critical care doctor flew out on the helicopter, she seems like a badass according to those who were there and the pediatrics at UCLA are truly world class. Latest word is a procedure to be done right quickly has an excellent chance of success.
In general: What does being a “Fellow” mean in the medical context?
Quinerly
@James E Powell: I’m looking at the new Senator from AZ as obviously an improvement over Goldwater, McCain, and Flake… With the obvious pizazz to startle the old Repug farts. I mean IT IS Arizona. At least my adopted state gave us Tom Eagleton. ?
Miss Bianca
@germy: ok, gotta admit the pink coat didn’t do it for me, but that dress with those arms? Yowzah! No wonder even Mike Pence looked human for a change!
Quinerly
@BruceFromOhio: Rachel Maddow just did a very short piece on the new senator from AZ’s swearing in. I missed it in real time. So it was cool to just see it while in the middle of such a serious BJ thread. ? Pence is clearly uncomfortable and took a few steps back from her and that great smile. She really upstaged that other new female senator from Arizona. ?
HumboldtBlue
@Ohio Mom:
Hopeful that is close and I sure hope their plumbers are as good as advertised. Lot of confidence but man the toll is terrible.
One of the fascinating things for me, a single man with no kids, is reading the interchanges between my sisters — all moms of at least two — of birthing, the language they use, the thoughts about what’s next, that sort of thing.
And then there is the expert information provided by another niece who is a pediatric RN and not only do I feel really fucking old but convinced women live far more interesting lives.
Gin & Tonic
@Ohio Mom: Too bad it’s closed, it sounds fascinating. See, anybody can recommend something like the Art Institute or the Metropolitan Museum (no disrespect to those who did), but I’d go out of my way to see the world’s largest ball of twine or something. Heck, I still have fond memories of my visit to the Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Facility or the locks of the Welland Canal.
Ohio Mom
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: When you say Whatist from Ohio, do you mean John Kasich, the Republican who was just term-limited out of being Governor, or Sherrod Brown, our Democratic Senator? Both are thinking of running in 2020.
Not going to waste any pixels on Kasich but Brown is a good guy, a solid liberal. He’s smart and dependable — Kay likes him, and what higher compliment is there? I’m not sure he has the charisma for a successful run though.
Elizabelle
@Quinerly: I saw it. And the joking about “spouse.” That was perfect.
I am liking this new senator. And I have to give kudos to Pence for poise. He did well with the “spouse” quips.
Miss Bianca
@StringOnAStick: that fuckstick. I cannot *stand* him. I hope he gets shellacked, big time, in 2020.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Ohio Mom: Tim Ryan, D from Youngstown, who seemed to have wandered out on the anti-Pelosi ledge and then was surprised to see there was a steep drop. I could be wrong but my recollection is he started out bleating about the need to win back the WWC and after pushback tried to hide behind Marcia Fudge.
I am a Brown fan and would love to see him in the White House, but the thought of who would replace him in Ohio is scary.
Kasich drives me nuts as he pretends Medicaid expansion is some great non-partisan idea he came up with, and his sad ass is doing anything but implementing Obamacare. He scares me a bit, because I think he could run as an indy and tip the EC back to trump. I could just as easily see him pulling a Perot and running against trump out of sheer rage. His ego makes him unpredictable
BruceFromOhio
@Quinerly: And that outfit, simply marvelous. AZ had done well.
Miss Bianca
@Major Major Major Major: Which is why I think he’d be a dandy Senator for our state, but not Prez.
Quinerly
@Elizabelle: you can’t spell her name either, can you? ?
Ohio Mom
@HumboldtBlue: A Fellow is someone who has finished his/her residency and is taking an extra year to be mentored in a speciality or sub-speciality rather than go straight into practice. They are the future super stars.
Also, shhh… it’s a secret that women have more interesting lives than men.
Elizabelle
@Quinerly: Um. Probably not. But we could learn!
“Not McSally” will not get us that far.
Quinerly
@BruceFromOhio: I don’t know whether you were around for it… But on a previous thread there was a rumor going around that she had raided our Adam’s grandma’s closet. I’m impressed. ?
HumboldtBlue
On a brighter note, here is Twitter having fun on behalf of Ocasio-Cortez who had the temerity to be fun attractive and more fun as a college student.
chopper
@Arclite:
according to liz cheney’s speech today, that made it the most accomplished congress evar.
joel hanes
@Gin & Tonic:
I’d go out of my way to see the world’s largest ball of twine or something.
The Bily Clock Museum in Spillville, Iowa is just made for people like you.
Quinerly
@Elizabelle: I’m blaming my dumbfuck of a smarty pants phone and its dumbfucking tiny keyboard. ?
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic:
See if you can get a tour of the Chicago Auditorium Building.
Ohio Mom
@Gin & Tonic: Yeah, you would have liked the drawbridge museum. You get to see the motor that pulls the bridge up, and also an exhibit on how the Chicago River was redirected to flow in the opposite direction.
Mnemosyne
@Gin & Tonic:
Oh, you wanted unusual museums in Chicago. You should have said so. Try this list.
To me, the most interesting ones on that list would be the surgical museum or the toby jugs, with the button museum coming in at #3, but ymmv.
Elizabelle
@chopper: I thought I heard Skirted Cheney say that today too.
With that and Kevin McCarthy’s going on and on about Congress’s purpose: George Orwell would have been in a stupor.
Gin & Tonic
@joel hanes: Gee, and only a 5-hour drive from Chicago.
Gin & Tonic
@zhena gogolia: Mondays and Thursdays only.
HumboldtBlue
@Ohio Mom:
Thanks.
Ohio Mom
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I agree with everything you said — hopefully Kasich’s general air of goofiness keeps him from getting too far, like it did the last time.
Mnemosyne
@Gin & Tonic:
Also, too, for the old hippies, the American Writers Museum’s Bob Dylan exhibition runs through the end of April:
https://americanwritersmuseum.org
Gin & Tonic
@Mnemosyne: Thanks. The Sunday thing looks like it may be working against me, though.
Suzanne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I like Gallego very much, but I think he would lose a statewide race. AZ has two districts (of nine) that are intentionally drawn to be majority-minority. Gallego represents one, in south Phoenix, and Grijalva represents the other (west half of Tucson and southwest Phoenix suburbs, with a bunch of empty space in between). Those districts are much more progressive than the state as a whole.
Of the Arizona Dems who I think could be competitive statewide, I would look to Grant Woods, and maybe Greg Stanton. Woods used to be a Republican, was the state AG, and was McCain’s Chief of Staff for a while. Greg Stanton just became my congressman, winning the AZ-9 seat held by Sinema for the last three terms. Before that, he was mayor of Phoenix, and he was mostly regarded as a good mayor. The Phoenix PD is problematic AF (see the recent NYT story), but Stanton kinda pissed off the Phoenix PD.
I cannot stress enough that Arizona is increasingly purple, but that I cannot see a truly lefty candidate winning here any time soon. Sinema won because she ran as an independent. And she is going to piss us off. A lot. Unfortunately, that is likely the best we can expect.
Suzanne
@Mnemosyne: Fountain Hills is concentrated dumbassery. Only worse place is Sun City.
Steve in the ATL
@Suzanne: and I would take her–or Manchin–over any statewide elected official in Georgia
Ohio Mom
@Gin & Tonic: A few final ideas:
Are you going out via O’Hare? If you like Japanese food, there is a Japanese superstore, Mitsuwa, with a fabulous food court not too far from the airport. Although I wouldn’t go out of my way for it, it’s an interesting experience walking through a grocery store of foods you don’t recognize.
In the big famous museums, one of my favorite exhibits is the miniature rooms in the basement of the Art Institute, each representing a different era of archtecture and design from around the world. The craftsmanship is amazing, and peering into the rooms, you are a giant.
I also love the exhibit on soil at the Field. It sounds corny: you walk past a ten foot high penny to show you have been shrunk, and then you enter a hall that looks like an underground tunnel, complete with giant ants, roots, molds and bacteria. It changed how I think about dirt. It’s a busy place, and there are only a few inches of it before you hit bedrock — and everything on the earth depends on that thin layer.
I guess between the minirature rooms and the dirt exhibit, you can pretend you’re Alice.
Have a good and safe trip!
Mnemosyne
@Gin & Tonic:
Yeah, small museums are going to have small staffs and limited hours. Given your preferences and limited time, my “mainstream” suggestion would be the Museum of Science and Industry. Lots of cool machinery, including a German U-boat and a Zephyr train, a coal mine, and a human body sliced into 1/2 inch thick pieces and preserved. That last one will put you off eating steak for a while.
Ohio Mom
@Mnemosyne: Oh yes, the coal mine! I’m very fond of it, how could I have forgotten it?
The Bob Dylan exhibit is very appealing. I *am* an old hippie and against my better judgement, I love him (let’s face it, he might be able to write a song but he is a jerk human being). Alas, no long weekends for a Chicago trip in the Ohio Family until summer.
Mnemosyne
@Ohio Mom:
I found put fairly recently that the Art Institute only has half of those miniature rooms made by that artist. The other half are at a children’s museum in Phoenix.
I was impressed by the Field when we went there a couple of years ago for the firat time in 20+ years. They’ve done a great job of making the exhibits much more interactive and interesting. For some reason, one of my favorites was the Pacific Islands section where they had a modern street scene in Tahiti, a shack on the Marshall Islands, etc. Plus they had some interesting pieces from modern artists in that part of the world that replaced or augmented older pieces that maybe weren’t acquired in the most ethical way back in the day.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
I remember seeing that U-boat over 55 years ago. Dad was stationed at Chanute AFB in Rantoul, outside Champaign-Urbana, from 1960 to ’64, and we went to Chicago occasionally.
There was a big stamping machine near the U-boat that would punch out a small, crude replica of the submarine for you from a wafer of plastic. Can’t overestimate the effect on young kids of big, complicated machines doing noisy mechanical things. Almost better than the submarine.
Origuy
I was just in Chicago doing the round of museums. I hit the Art Institute and the Field, of course. They’re both too big to see everything in one visit. The Field has moved Sue the T-Rex upstairs in a large new dinosaur exhibit. I also went to the Driehaus Museum and the Loyola University Museum of Art, both in the River North area. The Driehaus is a Gilded Age mansion filled with Tiffany glass and other antiques. The Loyola had an exhibit on creches from around the world. Nice, but I wanted to see the permanent collection of Renaissance paintings. That section was closed because they were understaffed.
I also like the Oriental Museum on the University of Chicago campus, but I didn’t make it there this trip.
Anya
@lamh36: this is so beautiful ?❤️