Joe Biden is not going to save us all:
I found my way to the holding room for the speakers, where everyone was chatting, taking photos, and getting ready to speak to the hundreds of voters in the audience. Just before the speeches, we were ushered to the side of the stage where we were lined up by order of introduction. As I was taking deep breaths and preparing myself to make my case to the crowd, I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. “Why is the vice-president of the United States touching me?”
I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, “I didn’t wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual fuck? Why is the vice-president of the United States smelling my hair?” He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldn’t process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused. There is a Spanish saying, “tragame tierra,” it means, “earth, swallow me whole.” I couldn’t move and I couldn’t say anything. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me. My name was called and I was never happier to get on stage in front of an audience.
By then, as a young Latina in politics, I had gotten used to feeling like an outsider in rooms dominated by white men. But I had never experienced anything so blatantly inappropriate and unnerving before. Biden was the second-most powerful man in the country and, arguably, one of the most powerful men in the world. He was there to promote me as the right person for the lieutenant governor job. Instead, he made me feel uneasy, gross, and confused. The vice-president of the United States of America had just touched me in an intimate way reserved for close friends, family, or romantic partners — and I felt powerless to do anything about it.
His politics are way outside what is the mainstream of where the party is now, and his brand of centrist white guy straight talk ain’t what the country wants or needs, and this kind of stuff, of which there is literally thousands f hours of video of, will be the end. Hopefully after fucking up the Abrams trial balloon, someone who cares about Joe will explain to him the best thing for him is a well deserved retirement.
B.B.A.
Reposting what I said on a previous thread:
This story should end Biden’s campaign all by itself. The fact that it won’t shows how far we have to go – as a party, as a country, and as a species.
Believe women.
Adam L Silverman
Yep, he’s handsy. And a hugger and a kisser. This isn’t surprising in terms of retail politics for someone who started in politics over 40 years ago. It is unacceptable today. And there are large numbers of photos and many minutes of video of him doing this. The attack ads from the President and his supporters write themselves.
Keith P.
It might actually help his chances, given the current president brown-nosed blue collar audiences and had unprotected sex with a prominent porn star (and is probably getting horny enough watching Fox News to hire some potential blowjobs*, on the taxpayer dime)
I am, of course, speaking of Seb Gorka’s potential.
Aleta
Boy I’m listening to this and Michael Tracey is pitifully going down in flames
(starts just before 1:20) https://majorityreportradio.com/2019/03/29/casual-friday-benjamin-dixon-judy-gold-3
jl
And no Biden policy proposals at all. What is he going to do? I think voters, particularly Democratic primary voters want policy up front for all the candidates. Biden gets the a not passing grade there too. One commenter suggested a few days ago that we shouldn’t expect policy proposals from Biden until he announces. But in current political environment, no reason for policy trial balloons before an announcement, IMHO.
But, on the bright side, if Biden runs and his poll numbers (for once) don’t go down the more the voters see of him, he beats Trump in some current polling. In fact, all the most popular Dem primary pres candidates beat Trump in PA.
Poll: Trump Trails Every Top 2020 Dem In Pennsylvania
“Biden and Sanders both lead Trump by 10-point margins at this point, 55 percent to 45 percent.
Trump fares significantly better against the other Democrats the poll tested — all those matchups are within the poll’s margin of error — but he doesn’t lead in a single one. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) leads him by four points, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) leads him by three and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) leads him by two in the survey. ”
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/poll-trump-trails-every-top-2020-dem-in-pennsylvania
So, if Biden announces, not the end of the world. But if he can’t give any definite policies at all, I don’t see how his polling numbers hold up after contact with BS, Warren, Harris, or even Klobuchar, on debate stage, since they all have actual specific policy positions, and AFAIK, Biden has exactly zero. No one is in the mood to vote for a kindly avuncular ‘reacher’ (across the aisle or across some woman’s shoulder). I think Harris would face the same fate if she tried to run on her very excellent and compelling ‘DA face’, but she isn’t. Harris has plenty of good policy proposals.
Edit: I read someplace that Trumpsters are showing up to Trumpser rallies with signs with ‘Jobs?’ written on them. So, Dems and independents really want policies. And even might get a few of the remaining Trumpsters with good policies (assuming those rally attendees are actually Trumpsters).
Just One More Canuck
I think Barack needs to do it. Who else would Biden listen to?
Adam L Silverman
@Just One More Canuck: Better send Michelle.
JMG
As a Delawarean, I have always hoped someone from my state would be President. I have also known (very, very slightly) Biden for some rtime. He’s a delightful old-fashioned guy who don’t mean no harm, but he shouldn’t run and I hope won’t.
hilts
It would be good if several individuals held an intervention with Biden, but I suspect he’s too goddamn stubborn to follow their advice.
I’m very grateful to Lucy Flores for telling her story and applaud her courage. I hope more women who had similar encounters with sleazy Joe will be encouraged by Flores and step forward with their accounts. I’ve never liked Biden and I’m beyond disgusted that he’s gotten a free pass for his well-documented creepy behavior towards women.
Donald Trump is a malignant carcinogen who must be removed from office. His jaw dropping corruption and malevolence coupled with his breathtaking incompetence present an incredibly target rich environment for any opponent to exploit. The last democrat I’d like to see prosecute the case against Trump is an old serial groping asshole and gaffe gushering buffoon like Joe Biden.
jl
@hilts: I think Biden is listening to a gaggle of old school out-of-date political consultants. If so, he’ll probably run as long as his poll numbers hold up.
Mike in NC
Wife just read that nutjob Kentucky Governor Bevin has signed a bill outlawing sex between humans and animals. That guy is going to be the next GOP presidential candidate!
Zinsky
Joe needs to go. America doesn’t need another geriatric pervert in the White House.
A Ghost To Most
Go away, Joe. It’s time to pass the baton. You too, Elizabeth.
Another Scott
Joe needs to stay retired.
I was struck by some local political news that I read tonight:
These were 500 politically-aware, engaged, motivated people who live in the shadow of the Capitol and want Democrats to win every seat.
And almost 40% of them want Biden.
:-(
It’s disheartening, and it shows just how much work our candidates need to do to break through the “he’s next” and “America isn’t ready for X” and all the rest.
A lot of work await[s] us. We have to do our parts.
Cheers,
Scott.
Major Major Major Major
I can’t tell if I’ll be surprised if he announces after this or not.
plato
plato
SiubhanDuinne
Do. Not. Run.
Joe, I implore you. Retire gracefully to your grandchildren. Rest on your considerable laurels as Obama’s loyal and effective VEEP for eight years.
Joe, you’re old and out of touch, and you have very heavy, cumbersome baggage.
Go, Joe. Just, please, GO.
Mary G
My late mother once commented that he was “awfully handsy” sometime during the Obama years. He was creeping on somebody’s teenaged daughter whose mother or father had just been sworn in. He is the only person I ever heard her say that about.
Another Scott
@plato: I’ll bet Barack’s next one sells pretty well, also too. He’s supposedly nearing the end of writing it, according to a story at the Washington Examiner (RWNJ newspaper – no linky).
Cheers,
Scott.
jl
it’s a free country, so if Biden meets the qualifications, and decides to run, he can run. It’s up to him. So, if he announces, certainly fine to gripe on this here miserable lefty almost top 10,000 blog.
But, best thing people can do to memorialize a Biden announcement is to contribute to your favorite candidate. If Biden announces, I’ll certainly make another contribution to my favorite candidates (which are all not Biden, and also not BS). Warren and probably Harris.
TaMara (HFG)
I love me some Uncle Joe – but not as a presidential candidate. Go out and do the public speaking circuit. Maybe write a book about your time in the Obama administration. Go have lunch with Bernie and plan a looooong comical road trip the two of you can take like Bob and Bing, for the next 20 months. That’d be helpful.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mike in NC:
Outlaw sex between humans and root vegetables, or GTFO.
SiubhanDuinne
@TaMara (HFG):
All of this.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
Amen. I love How Biden, but he isn’t going to be president, and he needs to wake up to that now and get the fuck out of the way.
Nicole
Dear XY Politicians: Do not physically touch XXs in a way that you do not touch your fellow XYs.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Major Major Major Major:
I hope he doesn’t for his sake. I always sort of thought his tendency to touch women inappropriately in public was pretty creepy during the Obama years but everybody just went, “Oh, that’s just Joe being Joe” and everybody just laughed it off.
These sorts of stories will destroy him now. It’s a different world
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@SiubhanDuinne: Word.
Jay
@plato:
Very Brexit Problems, @SoVeryBrexit is full of mean snark.
Sadly, it’s the sanest thing about Brexit.
Steve in the ATL
@Mike in NC: well, he just lost Alabama, South Carolina, and large swaths of the Midwest
James E Powell
Talking to Joe about this is not going to do any good. Some people need to ask Jill out to lunch and have a serious talk.
jl
@Jay: I remember when people talked about how the EU would be all mean and cranky to make an example of the UK in order to dissuade other member countries from leaving. I don’t know if anyone anticipated that pathetically inept UK politics and government were going to make the best case against trying to leave, all by themselves, even before they left.
Steve in the ATL
@Jay: per your comment on a prior thread, I also try to eat local when I travel. Turns out that’s not possible everywhere. Best I could do was eat at two regional chains before my Brooksian meal.
Amir Khalid
As a foreign observer, I’m less familiar with these stories about Joe Biden being a bit too hands-on, as it were, with women. Maybe he’s unaware that the boundaries of respectful conduct have shifted with time, maybe he’s always been a little too hands-on and thought it was harmless. (A strike against his judgement either way, alongside his apparent obliviousness to the reality that Republicans simply don’t do fair dealing.) But Biden hasn’t made himself heard on policy — he hasn’t put forward any ideas that with some work could make it to the eventual nominee’s platform. Nor has he given a sense of what he’d be like as a chief executive. And you need that information to assess any candidate for one of the toughest CEO jobs — maybe the toughest — on the planet.
Name recognition and personal charisma are always good to have, but they shouldn’t be Biden’s primary selling points; especially when other candidates are offering more substance.
hilts
@TaMara (HFG):
How many accounts of Biden touching women/girls against their will or violating their personal space do you need to read for you to stop loving Uncle Joe?
h/t https://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/100590
h/t https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/3/29/18241598/joe-biden-lucy-flores-touching-women-media-history-explained
NotMax
It’s never been Joe time.
Redshift
@Another Scott:
Meh. I’ve been to Connolly’s event before (this year I was at a hockey game) and it’s heavily county party bigwigs, so it skews older and whiter than even the Democratic primary electorate.
It’s not nothin’, but it’s not entirely representative of local activists. And from what I hear from local politicos, if McAuliffe had announced, he might well have won.
Steeplejack
Katy Tur is a master at asking really stupid questions in a very intelligent tone. Subbing in for Lawrence O’Donnell tonight.
Over to My Lottery Dream House.
Ooh, wait: there’s probably baseball on!
Ruckus
Answer every email you get from Joe,
DON’T RUN.
Walk away gracefully. Joe, you have been in politics a long time, retire, enjoy your family. You are out of date, out of time, out of the running. As someone nearing your age, I know you are too old. We have several better candidates, all of them younger. No one I know is going to support you.
Percysowner
Of course, the media also wants Biden to be the candidate. They understand him. He’s the kind of candidate they have covered for years. They are comfortable with him. I’m not too worried about him leading polls currently. The media has talked him up and people know his name. I don’t think he will win the nomination, or at least I hope not. I’m really hoping that once other candidates get traction, Good Old Joe will fade.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
I don’t know why people don’t remember this, first of all him.
zhena gogolia
And by the way, GWB is kind of creepy like this with M. Obama.
Nelle
So he’s as handsy as Franken was accused of? Gillibrand, want to say something?
B.B.A.
I will add this much: I think the real reason why Gillibrand hasn’t broken above 1% in the polls is because she admitted that Bill Clinton is a sexual harasser and should have resigned for it. It’s absolutely true, but it’s something that virtually nobody in our party wants to hear.
Sadly, Gillibrand doesn’t practice what she preaches, if the Politico leak from a former staffer is anything to go on, so I can’t support her campaign any longer. I’m staying neutral for now, maybe slightly leaning Harris. But Biden ranks dead last among actual Democrats in the race.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
So a step above Brian Williams.
;)
jl
@Amir Khalid: We should be the founding members of the ‘policy first’ club. I think all the candidates who are weak on strong and specific policy will have problems holding their polling numbers against those who do have them. Good think that debates are starting early to sort that out. I hope we are correct, since I think good strong policy positions will be important in the general.
@Percysowner: And related, most of the big media hates policy and loves BS, so will strongly favor candidates that allow them to avoid policy. If Biden has been too handsy in an inappropriate way, and concentrated attention will be given to that issue only now (partly because there is almost nothing else to talk about wrt to his candidacy), that is important to confront. But, oh boy, will the media love to natter about that issue pointlessly and endlessly. They won’d do it to any constructive end to change norms or correct problems, but for clicks, ratings, shits and giggles with dumbass pundit panel fights, and a way to avoid ever talking about policy at all.
James E Powell
@Redshift:
Everything you said plus this: the politically savvy can be amazingly dense. I recall being at a bar with a gaggle of Grey Davis people who were high fiving each other when Al Gore lost.
See also, Cory Booker. Kamala Harris is saying we ought to give teachers a raise while Booker is playing kissy face with people who want to destroy public education. I may be going to Iowa with the single goal of ending his campaign. I am sure there are many teachers who will do the same.
Steeplejack
@Another Scott:
You live in NoVA, I think, so you know this, but I can almost guarantee that the audience at Connelly’s bash skewed white and old. Not that they’re the only ones who live in his district, but they are the ones who are probably the mainstays of the (non-election-season) party and would see a St. Patrick’s Day party with Gerry as a neat thing to do. So, yeah, Biden is in their comfort zone.
I live next door in Don Beyer’s VA-8.
J R in WV
@SiubhanDuinne:
Haw!!!
I love me some potatoes, but not quite like that….
Mary G
Rebecca Traister at NY Mag has just addressed this very issue: Joe Biden Isn’t the Answer
Like the saying goes, read the whole thing. It’s fucking fierce. I love her. She’s one of the best feminist writers on politics out there right now. And now I must add my ongoing complaint that NY Mag puts her in “The Cut” with articles about makeup and other shit they consider of no interest to men. They did frontpage this piece.
Millard Filmore
@Steve in the ATL:
The good chefs go to the big cities, where the money is.
Amir Khalid
@B.B.A.:
Bill Clinton’s reprehensible conduct is 20 years in the past, like his career in politics, and is probably not in the forefront of people’s minds right now. The real reason Gillibrand hasn’t cracked 1% is surely more immediate than that.
jl
@Percysowner: Biden has a history of driving his poll numbers down the more he campaigns for national office.
But you put it better than I did. With a Biden candicacy, the corporate media can produce endless infotainment content at almost zero marginal cost. Beats actual reporting for the corporate ROI.
hilts
Biden’s spokesman Mike Memoli tweeted a response to Lucy Flores’ story
@mikememoli
Vice President Biden was pleased to support Lucy Flores’s candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of Nevada in 2014 and to speak on her behalf at a well-attended public event. (1)
@mikememoli
Neither then, nor in the years since, did he or the staff with him at the time have an inkling that Ms. Flores had been at any time uncomfortable, nor do they recall what she describes. (2)
@mikememoli
But Vice President Biden believes that Ms. Flores has every right to share her own recollection and reflections, and that it is a change for better in our society that she has the opportunity to do so. (3)
@mikememoli
He respects Ms. Flores as a strong and independent voice in our politics and wishes her only the best.
(4)
h/t https://www.mediaite.com/online/breaking-ex-nevada-dem-assemblywoman-accuses-joe-biden-of-blatantly-inappropriate-and-unnerving-behavior
Fuck Uncle Joe and all the enabling assholes who’ve given this creep a free pass for decades.
polyorchnid octopunch
@Aleta: Gee, that’s too bad.
Gin & Tonic
@Millard Filmore: You can get good honest food in lots of little towns. It doesn’t always have to be Michelin-starred places.
B.B.A.
@Amir Khalid: Denouncing Bill is seen as implicitly criticizing Hillary, and we can’t have that.
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
For a long minute, I couldn’t think who Brian Williams was. Kept thinking of the Beach Boys, but that felt a bit off.
Figured it all out eventually. Carry on.
Brickley Paiste
Well, to be objective about this: a democratic candidate who has an established track record of gross and perhaps criminal abuse of women might peel some votors away from Trump.
Amir Khalid
@B.B.A.:
That comes uncomfortably close to the thinking behind the Republican plan in 2016 to hang Hillary* for Bill’s infidelities.
*Figuratively speaking.
Barbara
@Steeplejack: Connelly’s bash is a fun event but it probably gets more diverse participation in gubernatorial election years.
Millard Filmore
@Gin & Tonic: I used to drive across the country to my parent’s house for Christmas-NewYear vacation. Small town hole-in-the-wall restaurants did not live up to their myth.
Amir Khalid
@Brickley Paiste:
Joe’s handsiness is obnoxious and upsetting to the women involved. But does it rise to the level of criminal conduct? Not that I’ve heard.
Jay
@jl:
Resentment, check,
Victimhood, check,
Whinging, check,
That all you need to confirm a Winger meme has seeped into the conversation.
Once the UK voted Leave, the EU’s only responsibility was to the EU, and Article 50 clearly spells out the Exit Process.
Instead of following the process the inbred gits and Upper Class Twits of the Year tried to “play” politics.
Pretty damn sure that Brexiteers know even less about the EU now, than they did 4 years ago.
TomatoQueen
Definitely not Joe Time, not now, not ever, I’ve just read both Flores and Traister back to back and want to gag.
Gin & Tonic
@Millard Filmore: All in managing expectations, I guess. If I’m paying $750 for dinner I’ll expect one level, if I’m spending $17.50 I’ll expect another; but even then I’d rather that money go to somebody trying to make a go of it in the local community as opposed to giving that money to Darden Restaurants.
Mary G
Not Biden-related, but a funny meme:
Brickley Paiste
@Amir Khalid:
Varies by jurisdiction, of course, but a decent generic definition of battery is any intentional touching that is harmful or offensive. If someone walks up behind you without any invitation and puts his hands on your waist and hugs you and pulls you towards them — well you could probably get a fair number of juries to agree that that is offensive.
Would never be prosecuted probably ((pssst …..because American legal system is pretty much just another tool of oppression)).
Gin & Tonic
@Mary G: I did not need to see that.
Peale
@Mary G: yep. I guess to put it in other terms, Joe Biden might be one of the reasons why only conservatism is ever allowed to have a “backlash” these past 50 years. It’s possible that there’s never a right time for women or minorities to have one moment that lasts more than a year or two. If there is going to be a way forwardhough, it’s not going to be with him as a leader.
Millard Filmore
@Gin & Tonic: No issue with that. My problem was likely the towns I stopped in were too small to afford the better quality (middle-middle class) food stock.
I got off the Interstates and motored along the US highway routes.
Steeplejack
@TaMara (HFG):
The Road to Irrelevance (with Tulsi Gabbard as Dorothy Lamour).
Jay
@Millard Filmore:
Doesn’t have to be a Chef, just a cook.
I used to spend a lot of time hunting down Indian restaurants. When the wait staff would as me what I wanted, I’d always say, bring me the family food.
I’d get, ooh, no, too spicy!
I’d respond with “I’m from Vancouver BC”
They’d then ask me if I knew so and so, then duck into the back and come out with a platter of naan and a bowl of daal to get me started.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@Gin & Tonic: There are some locally owned restaurants with quite good food and interesting cocktails, even in the lower midwest, so your approach is a a good one.
hilts
@Brickley Paiste: @Amir Khalid:
Regardless of laws, this story and similar accounts should make it abundantly clear that Joe Biden is a pathetic fucking prick who does not deserve to be President.
Jay
@Millard Filmore:
The middle class food stock on the road is quite often Applebees etc.
Quite often the trick is finding the one, old “ethnic” restaurant, like Greek, Italian.
For decades the Grand Hotel in Grandforks, ( until the fire/flood) had the best perogies in Western Canada, but you’ld never know that from the menu or decor. It was local knowledge, but there was one tip,
The big standing freezer by the cashier full of hand packed and crudely labelled pyrogi’s than would slowly empty as you sat.
Horrible coffee though.
Jay
@hilts:
Sadly, Joe needs an intervention.
Maybe a dozen doyenn’s of Democrats who can teach him how to knit.
Steeplejack
@Gin & Tonic:
Yeah, there’s plenty of good food in places that don’t involve “chefs.”
TaMara (HFG)
@hilts:
Yes, I like Joe Biden. Did I stutter?? I”m a full grown woman with a lifetime of experience. I’m actually able to look at a person as a whole and make my own decisions. And I don’t need some anonymous commenter lecturing me.
I’m sorry whatever life experience made you so angry, but anger doesn’t sway a lot of people. And, you must be new here if you think it’s going to move me. I hope you find some peace.
Brickley Paiste
@TaMara (HFG):
Hmmm….
eemom
Oh come on y’all. You’ve been beating Uncle Joe like a rented mule for weeks now.
I don’t think he should run either, but demonizing the man 24/7 is a little over the top. And please don’t get me started on that “believe the woman” bullshit again.
eemom
@TaMara (HFG):
Preach it sistah.
@hilts:
So it’s Groupthink or the highway, huh? I thought we were better than that.
Brickley Paiste
@eemom:
Seeing comments like this make me think we are seeing a great wave the instant after it crashes against the shore and you see the shore held and the water must now retreat …
TaMara (HFG)
@eemom: I was going to let it go and if it was just directed at me, I would have…but hilts has been spewing that anger in every Biden thread at a lot of people who don’t deserve it.
Steeplejack
@Millard Filmore:
This is another area where the Internet has drastically changed things. That is, it is very easy now to see what restaurants are around you anywhere and to get at least a basic idea of what to expect.
I have discovered that I have a minor superpower for finding good restaurants on the road, mostly using Google Maps and Google reviews. I go to Philadelphia or Baltimore occasionally, to Rehoboth Beach, DE, a bit more often and also here and there in the DMV (local TV news lingo for D.C./Maryland/Virginia). Usually with Bro’ Man or a friend.
My tips are:
1. Use Google reviews rather than Yelp. The latter reviews tend to be kind of trollish, with lots of people trashing the restaurant for some minor problem or something unrelated to the food, like they showed up at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night and had to wait for a table. The horror!
There’s some of that in the Google reviews, but much less. They’re sort of like Amazon product reviews; you can get a pretty good sense of the restaurant even as you triangulate around the negative reviews and obvious shit-posts.
2. Look for a Google aggregate review rating of at least 4.0. This rating, once you get past a very small number of reviews, is usually pretty accurate.
3. Calibrate your judgment by looking up restaurants that you know and see what the Google ratings say about them. You’ll get a sense of what to look for and what to discount.
4. It never hurts to look at the website of the restaurant, if there is one. It might give you only a vague sense of the place, but usually there are pictures of at least some of the dishes.
Bottom line, you can find a decent place to eat almost anywhere. Certainly you can avoid awful food. Worst-case scenario, you’ll have to decide between McDonald’s at the next exit or try to hold out until Shelbyville.
J R in WV
@Gin & Tonic:
We went to a local high-end restaurant for dinner. We go there every few months, have for years. Has been great since it was founded. The founding chef died as a young man playing tennis a very few years ago, and his wife inherited it.
Not long ago the employee general manager bought it from the founder’s wife. I understand she needs to make money to pay off that purchase.
But the food, from beginning to end, was not good. Even the cocktails before dinner were not much good. I didn’t eat my entree, and there was no bread for salad or soup, which was a fair lobster bisque.
They comped the soups and my entree, it was still a really high bill, and I wanted to tip the waiter, the food wasn’t his fault. The wine I ordered was “out” and the waiter showed me a bottle of Dom… no thanks! Nice try, tho!
Someone, perhaps a manger, showed up and asked what’s wrong? I wanted to help, but it’s hard to say the Calimari was like frozen from Krogers and the crab cakes (which they were known for once upon a time) were like hushpuppys with crab flavoring. The asparagus was limp overdone, and it’s spring, thin stalks only need 90 seconds!! Awful
Won’t be going back, there are fortunately many locally owned and operated foody joints in bum-fuck WV, believe it or not. Sad, though.
TaMara (HFG)
@Steeplejack: TripAdvisor has some good review resources. They’ve served us well on our travels.
Jay
@J R in WV:
Sadly, it’s often not the Chef or the cooks, but the Management.
They have three products,
Food, service and booze,
Food is the teaser, service is the standard and booze is the money maker,
But you need all three.
hilts
@TaMara (HFG):
@eemom:
I won’t tolerate a male politician with a track record of disrespect towards women and girls regardless of whether that man is a Republican, a Democrat, a conservative, or a liberal.
I find it ridiculous that in the face of so many examples of Biden’s inexcusable and indefensible behavior people are willing to give him a pass or play down the sleazy nature of his character.
Biden does not rise to the level of Trump’s creepiness, but he’s demonstrated that he’s enough of a creep that he does not deserve to be our next President.
After reading Lucy Flores’ account of her interaction with Biden, I found your sentence “I love me some Uncle Joe” tone deaf and inexplicable. Excuse me if I don’t find Joe Biden to be an avuncular and pleasant fellow after reading multiple accounts of his boorish and unacceptable behavior towards women and girls.
david
Oh, ffs, we laughed at Uncle Joe’s creepy touching of preteen kids at photo ops all during the Obama years.
Ohio Mom
@Steeplejack: While looking for restaurants on the road, my google search word is vegetarian. That often finds me a locally-owned place with fresher food than a chain.
Steeplejack
@J R in WV:
You’d really do them a service to tell them about the problems. They could fix them, or at least then they’d know why they were going down the tubes. (If they weren’t deliberately cutting corners.)
Steeplejack
@TaMara (HFG):
I haven’t used TripAdvisor much. I have this vague feeling that there’s some hidden agenda going on that I don’t know about, where I feel like the Google reviews are more “naked,” or uncurated. All subjective, of course. I’ll take another look at TripAdvisor. Always looking for more info. Especially about seafood restaurants. For some reason those are the hardest to get a line on, at least for me.
TaMara (HFG)
@hilts: You seem to have totally missed the point of my comment. But hey, stay angry and go ahead and treat me in an unacceptable way, diminish me and my right to make my own decisions and then go on and tell me how other people are supposed to behave. I’m sure that’s working for you IRL, too.
CatFacts
@Mary G: Thanks for this article. Seeing it all laid out like that…
Origuy
One trick for finding good local restaurants is to go to a college town and find out where the students get their parents to take them. Downtown Laramie has some good restaurants, but you won’t find them near the interstate.
Steeplejack
@Ohio Mom:
Good point. And even committed carnivores can go vegetarian when it’s good.
ETA: Have to admit that my brother and I are both huge Tex-Mex sluts, so that’s the first thing I look for when we’re on the road. Have found some good places in reddest America.
Steeplejack
@Origuy:
That’s another good point: does it really crimp your trip to detour 10 or 15 minutes off the interstate to go to a decent restaurant? Otherwise just admit that you’re on some sort of self-inflicted Cannonball Run and eat at McD.
TaMara (HFG)
@Steeplejack: That’s what we did in Cuba and it worked really well. Definitely got fresh, flavorful meals that way.
Definitely Tex-Mex west of the Missouri. And Italian will usually serve you well on the East Coast — every small town has a great Pizza/Grinder/Pasta mom and pop place. They take that seriously. One of the best grinder (meatball sub) I’ve ever had was in my dad’s tiny, tiny hometown in MA.
Steeplejack
@TaMara (HFG):
Yeah, Italian is a go-to around here, especially up around Philadelphia. But, with the foodie revolution of the last 20(?) years, you can find unexpected treasures anywhere. I can’t remember the name now, but we found a great Thai place in some nowhere town down the Delmarva peninsula.
Darkrose
@Jay: I have the opposite problem with Indian restaurants. I tell the servers that I want it as mild as possible, and they always assume that means “will only burn off half of your taste buds” because surely the black lady doesn’t have zero tolerance for spicy food.
Uncle Cosmo
@B.B.A.:GullyBrained is circling the drain because so many Democrats are aware that the primary** reason she so obviously & gleefully slammed the shiv into Franken’s back was that he was standing between her & the spotlight she wanted for herself.
(And I will say this: Your posts have been consistently full of shit since you showed up here. Even that slimy troll Prickly Waste makes more sense than you. Were I a fan of pie (I’m not) yours are the first ones I’d pastrify. )
(ETA: ** Pun unintended but I’ll accept the award on behalf of my subconscious.)
Uncle Cosmo
@J R in WV: Check out the meaning of the verb “root” in Australian slang.