Monday Morning Open Thread: Building the Grift Waaaahl
who didn't see this coming?
A group raised over $20 million to ‘build the wall.’ Now its supporters want answers. https://t.co/FJ6wf3ar10
— Cake or Death (@Johngcole) May 12, 2019
… The now-famous border wall GoFundMe was conceived by Purple Heart recipient Brian Kolfage, who wrote at the time he was upset by “too many illegals . . . taking advantage of the United States taxpayers,” and the “political games from both parties” when it came to border security. Kolfage, a triple amputee, pressed onward despite falling short of his $1 billion goal — launching a nonprofit to build portions of the wall on private land for a “fraction of what it costs the government.”
While the majority of donors continue to believe in Kolfage’s efforts, the nonprofit’s clandestine operations and assurances of progress are insufficient for others. Some have taken to social media, seeking photos, videos — anything — for evidence they aren’t being misled…
Reporting on the apparent lack of progress on the private wall, published early Friday by the Daily Beast, drew criticism from Kolfage. The veteran called out the story’s author, Will Sommer, who indicated he’s repeatedly asked Kolfage for proof they were close to a groundbreaking.
“Omg this is PERFECT timing by the liberal rag news site. They are about to look more stupid than @hillaryclinton on election night 2016!” Kolfage wrote. “I guaranteed we would build the wall . . . and I’ll leave it at that!”
Kolfage did not respond to an email and message from The Washington Post requesting comment Friday. While the nonprofit has floated various groundbreaking dates in the past, it’s not exactly clear when, or if, construction will begin…
This might be excused as a classic example of a well-intentioned amateur getting involved with something beyond his capacity to execute, except… Kolfage’s prior record is less than reassuring. Per NYMag:
… As the Daily Beast reports, Kolfage “was a prolific operator of hoax pages on Facebook, and money he raised in the past to help veterans’ programs in hospitals never actually went to those hospitals.” The vet, who lost three of his limbs in a rocket attack in Iraq in 2004, founded sites including FreedomDaily, which ran headlines like “Obnoxious Black People Lose Their Minds When Victoria Secret Models Say This 1 Word On Live Video.” The site was shuttered after it was sued for misidentifying a Michigan resident as the driver of the car that killed a protestor in the Charlottesville riot.
To help promote his crowdfunded wall-building effort, Kolfage recruited Trump-world all stars like Steve Bannon; former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach; pitcher and the bane of Rhode Island Curt Schilling; Blackwater founder Erik Prince; and ex-Milwaukee sheriff David Clarke to join the group’s advisory board…
Boy howdy, if only we well-intentioned Democrats could show that kind of solidarity when one of our own proposes a worthy project!
On the other hand, it’s pretty clear the Usual GOP Suspects there have their own (grifting) objectives for jumping on the bandwagon before the wheels fall off..
BREAKING: A source close to the Florida man who raised over $22 million on GoFundMe in the “We The People Will Build the Wall” campaign just revealed today that the money has been diverted to pay for a ‘million dollar’ yacht and high-flying lifestyle https://t.co/pxPiKUsach
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) May 12, 2019
Good Morning, Everyone 😄 😄😄
Water wet, Sun yellow.
@rikyrah: Good morning. I’m off to bed.
I’m still kicking myself for not getting in early on the we-take-care-of-your-pets-after-the-rapture scam.
@rikyrah: Good morning.
A high of 53 yesterday. A high of 85 on Thursday. At least the rain has stopped. Of course now we will go into a drought.
Blech.
@Baud
You could set up a subscription e-mail domain:
@trumpisgodschosen.com.Of course, no one of any worth would give you the time of day afterwards.
@NotMax:
I’m more worried about what you guys would think of me.
@Baud:
Oh my, you obviously lack the basics for successful grifting.
@SRW1:
Yeah, it’s probably why WaterGirl didn’t bring me into her “Donate to the BJ Site Redesign” scheme.
@Baud: No problem, just give us a cut and we’ll think you’re the greatest guy on earth.
This line from the Stern Facts report cracks me up:
Trying real hard to come up with comparable DEMs and coming up blank. Surely there are some?
(for the record I don’t think tulsi gabbard counts as she is not that well known or that much of a failure, yet)
(can’t count wilmer either, he’s not a DEM)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/09/pornography-public-health-crisis-states-adopt-measures-against-porn/1159001001/
I blame porn.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/05/13/wikileaks-julian-assange-swedish-prosecutors-resume-rape-probe-extradition-us-hacking-charge/1186403001/
@Baud: I declare that white Republican men are a public health crisis.
Hey ya’ll
South Carolina Poll — Post and Courier — May 9 (link)
Uncle Joe……..46%
Wilmer………….15%
Kamala…………10%
Pete……………….8%
Warren…………..8%
Booker…………..4%
Beto……………….2%
So this rebuild is great except I can’t use it on safari because of the gigantic attack every time I try.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/athletics/48254367
I’m sure any number of scammers would be willing to pay Kolfage huge sums for a list of the 300K dumbest, most gullible Americans with disposable income. Pure gold, that list is.
@Baud: sheeeet
https://sports.yahoo.com/kawhi-leonards-game-7-buzzerbeater-did-more-than-just-save-the-raptors-it-altered-the-nb-as-future-060012666.html
@Raven:
Good for him.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Harold Ford Jr.?
@Baud: I told my class that this was a likely first outcome. I mean, he can’t really complain about extradition for a rape investigation, can he?
Oh, of course he can.
@Raven:
They haven’t rolled out the rebuild yet. What’s happening in Safari?
@OzarkHillbilly:
Green Party election lawsuits and recounts. Not just in 2016 either.
@Betty Cracker: He’s a real piece of work: Brian Kolfage; A Pattern of Cons. How low does one have to go to lose the Daily Caller?
@Immanentize: Harold Ford Jr who? (must be frequent participant/analyst* in “news” shows)(* analyst= someone capable of spouting absolute bullshit in response to a “question”)
@Kay:
Green Party, I specifically said DEMS not leftists because while there are con artists on the left the DEM party doesn’t appear to have much tolerance for them.
@OzarkHillbilly: hope this con job finally lands him in jail as he so richly deserves.
@rikyrah: Good morning 😊
@satby:
He deserves an appointment in the Trump administration.
$542,000- in addition to his salary.
@Baud:
When did you start worrying about that?
@Kay:
How awful is the NRA that Ollie North was the one with integrity!
The Internet assured me Pelosi and Schumer got played by Trump.
@Immanentize: There’s a pop-up ad that takes the whole (phone) screen almost immediately, and the only way out is to close that browser window/tab. It makes reading B-J on an iPhone essentially impossible.
@Baud:
I love that he has a driver. Oliver North probably has one too. What’s amazing to me about cable “opinion” news is how much PAY it generates. They get paid so much! It’s just crazy sums. I feel like you could just cut it in half across the board and they would all still appear. It’s not like there’s somewhere else that employs hundreds of people for 5 minutes on tv. Where would they go? You don’t see them on network news.
@Baud:
Right where you left it asshole, in the corporate bank accounts.
eta and the corporate board members pockets.
@Kay: I think I could live pretty comfortably on $542,000 in lieu of salary.
@Gin & Tonic: I had to download an ad blocker app to combat that stupid pop up.
@Kay:
Trickle down!
@Baud:
Assumes facts not in evidence.
@Gin & Tonic:
Someone should look into the expenses. The summer intern’s rent was 3450 a month, if “summer” is 4 months.
@Kay: I’ve heard DC is expensive.
@OzarkHillbilly:
That anyone takes them seriously on budgets is a failure. Trump said he would spend any amount of money on the military.
Any. Amount. They must think they died and went to heaven. No limit. Just submit any number at all.
What a coincidence!
@Kay: White working class folks will make the sacrifices for our military. Just like the white farming folks did. I am just awesome, believe me. / totus thug
This thread 😪😪😪
iResist like trump facing a subpeona (@ThomboyD) Tweeted:
My next door neighbors are a couple in their 90s. She may be in early stage Alzheimer’s, and he has a number of serious health Issues, but still he does some light yard work and she tries to stay active. Lovely people, both, but with real health challenges. 1/ https://twitter.com/ThomboyD/status/1127413332632170496?s=17
@Kay:
that’s some bullshit.
you can rent a high end jaguar in London for $125 a day.
@plato:
That’s probably more accurate than you realize.
Why don’t these assholes just stay home and ‘preach’ their venom to murkkkans?
Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) Tweeted:
Chinese exporters to the US do not pay one penny of Trumps tariffs. US importers pay all tariffs which are then paid for by US consumers.
Thank Trump for his tax hike. https://twitter.com/acnewsitics/status/1127628153604714497?s=17
@Raven:
Wanted to thank you for the pictures you posted in the threads last week. They were really nice 🤗🤗
@plato:
Liberals are so uncivil.
Re: The NRA $$$: Makes more sense if you were to find the “summer intern” and “driver” were attractive 20-something females with certain skill sets.
When I read about this this weekend, all I could do is laugh. This isn’t a case of folks finding out later that they had hooked up with a con man. I remember vividly that people brought the receipts on this guy while this was happening. In real time.😒😒
@Baud:
👏👏👏👏
@Baud:
Tax cuts….they don’t care where the money comes from 😒😒
@rikyrah: Democrats should point out that it’s the largest middle class tax hike in history.
@Gin & Tonic:
Intern. DC is not Manhattan. You can live in the suburbs, close to the Metro for far less than $3400/month
@David 🎅🎄Merry Christmas🎄🎅 Koch:
Why do they keep on talking to The Intercept 😠😠
@Spanky: I’m betting the interns name is Summer.
@Gin & Tonic: I got the basic AdGuard app and now I don’t have that problem anymore. Not intending this to be product placement or anything, but it was recommended about a month ago on an open thread.
@plato:
Republicans actually had this discussion. After Romney lost in 2012 they had two weeks where they all said there were too many grifters on the Right and their supporters were being treated like chumps.
It’s just exploded under Trump. It’s 10X worse than it was then, because they added all the Trump people to the existing grift payroll.
@David 🎅🎄Merry Christmas🎄🎅 Koch:
Honestly, at this point it’s like, “Tough shit, what did you think was going to happen?”
@Kay: The flock must be fleeced.
Yes, and the American Right Wing is fertile ground (he needlessly added).
You’d think after being wounded like that in Iraq, he would have returned home with a little perspective on life and our country’s place in the world. Maybe he would have looked to someone like fellow-veteran and multiple amputee Max Cleland, who dedicated his life to public service. But no, he returned home and went “you know, I think I’ll become a huge, grifting asshole and punch down on poor refugees!”
@Spanky: I remember a certain Republican saying in 2016 ‘I love the uneducated’.
@OzarkHillbilly: Does Bob Menendez of NJ count? He’s as crooked as a dog’s hind leg, though since the SCOTUS made bribing politicians legal a few years back in the case of another corrupt pol named Bob (McDonnell), I’m not sure he counts.
It’s supposed to ❄️ ❄️ ❄️ tomorrow morning.
@Gin & Tonic: I was getting this on my iPad too. I had Adblock & Adblock plus , but had turned off Adblock – because ‘plus’ is better, right? Anyway, following some advice here, I turned off Adblock plus, turned Adblock back on & haven’t seen the problem since.
I’m pretty much convinced the Game of Thrones writers have done something stupid for the series ending, and everyone will be unhappy with it.
@Michael Cain:
Westerinos elect a real estate developer to sit on the Iron Throne? Cuz it doesn’t get more stupid than that.
@Baud: Not sure that’s a believable plot line.
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Exactly. Dragons I can see, but why go out of your way to embrace gratuitous stupidity?
@Michael Cain:
Those of us who don’t watch will be fine.
Fools and their money; easily parted.
Dow down 551 pts
so much winning.
@rikyrah: There are two people running for D nomination that have said positive things about tariffs in the past, Warren and the senator from Vt. Have they been asked about their stance?
@Betty Cracker: Menendez is certainly as crooked as a dog’s hind leg but he is not a “least successful DEM political figure” in the same vein as Kris Kobach, Rick Santorum, or David Clark as he is still in office, yet those 3 continue to get invited on TV as tho they are relevant.
Also, I am making the distinction that straight up corruption is different from political grifting, in that one is illegal and the other, while very dubious and highly immoral, is legal. For some it may be a distinction without a difference, and if I had to argue the point I’d probably fail. It just feels like there is a whole host of snake oil salesman in the GOP, spouting off provably false bullshit on multiple TV shows and there is an infrastructure in place to support them.
I just don’t see anything similar with DEMs. Our failed/former political figures seem to fade away. Mind you, I don’t watch cable news so maybe I am missing something, but I don’t read about them on the internet either while I have to make an effort to avoid the GOP equivalent.
@Michael Cain: I long ago came to the conclusion that the show was going to end with nobody being happy, I figured it would be because it was messy, not because it was stupid. People like clean endings where everything is resolved. I don’t see that happening. I’ll find out 6 months from now when I can buy the DVD.
Doris Day died.
Que sera sera.
🤔🤔🤔
Marcus H. Johnson (@marcushjohnson) Tweeted:
Why do the candidates who are struggling the most with Black voters always talk about how much they dislike identity politics? Its like they don’t even want to win. https://twitter.com/marcushjohnson/status/1127679052805021697?s=17
Buttgieg shows his true colors agains, concern trolls about identity politics. Which is kinda funny because if he wasn’t famously gay and religious he would be an asterisk in the polls right now behind Inslee.
@Brachiator: A long and full life. RIP.
I’ve really liked Pink Martini’s take on Que Sera, a very different mood.
@rikyrah: We must have had a mind meld!
@Michael Cain:
Well, there is a fair amount of unhappiness with this most recent episode.
@rikyrah: He is auditioning to be the White Grievance Whisperer, BS understudy just in case BS flames out. Is Russian among one of the languages he humble brags about?
@schrodingers_cat:
I haven’t paid much attention to him. Despite the press he is getting, I think he is inconsequential.
@plato:
What these people should be told but will never hear:
They sow your anger to reap your dollars, and your eyes are too clouded with fury to ask or see where the money is going. You are the perfect mark.
From my perspective, the good thing is that now they have even less money to spend on bona fide political campaigns.
@Brachiator:
Loved her in those movies with Rock Hudson :)
RIP :(
Uh huh 😒
Our Governor refused to help block oil drilling in the Everglades.
Oil drilling. In the Everglades.
This is what happens when election year environmentalists win.https://t.co/ziN1oGs4Dw
— Andrew Gillum (@AndrewGillum) May 13, 2019
@Brachiator: I made the mistake of thinking that about T and BS both and here we are.
ETA: He is not inconsequential because Beltway Boys love him.
ALL LIVES MATTER!
Rape Survivors?
•No
Black Lives?
•No
Jewish Lives?
•No
Muslim Lives?
•No
Migrant Lives?
•No
LGBT Lives?
•No
Iraqi Lives?
•No
Afghan Lives?
•No
Syrian Lives?
•No
Yemeni Lives?
•No
Asylee/Refugee Lives?
•No
Then Who?
•6 week old fetuses
🤔
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) May 12, 2019
@OzarkHillbilly:
I think you are right. I keep hearing people talk about redemption arcs and heroes journeys, and I think, “have you actually been watching this show?”
But I guess the question is, can the writers deliver an unresolved ending in a satisfactory way?
🤔🤔🤔
If you can’t guarantee clean, safe abortions in every state, how the fuck you gonna pass MFA?
If you can’t stop teachers from carrying guns in schools, how you gonna break up Amazon?
If you can’t get Medicaid expansions in every state how you gonna pass a wealth tax? pic.twitter.com/XVdc6xptsj
— Kurt Nice (@KurtNiceHHL) May 13, 2019
It’s telling that the very last line of the Mueller Report ends with “no person in this country is so high that he is above the law.” And then cites to U.S. v. Nixon. Then it ends. Methinks Mueller ending with that was not happenstance. pic.twitter.com/IK9zD4fRmz
— Ian Bassin (@ianbassin) May 12, 2019
@OzarkHillbilly:
As a rule, I actually find that white Republican women are worse than Republican men.
@rikyrah:
Some of those movies were pure corn. And yet, very enjoyable. And she always had an engaging screen presence. And yep, she and Rock Hudson were very good together.
My favorite quote about her:
“I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin.” – Oscar Levant
@schrodingers_cat:
I never thought that Trump was inconsequential. Wilmer was more a pest than anything else. I don’t know how he will ultimately figure in the 2020 election.
Let’s see what happens in the primary elections when people actually vote.
@Brachiator: BS was a significant factor in HRC’s defeat.
@rikyrah:
I don’t think that these are valid questions.
They confuse what can be done on the state and federal level.
@Brachiator: As always when you see Buttigieg (or any other Democrat, for that matter) dragged online, it’s a good idea to read what he or she actually said instead of interpretations. Here’s an excerpt from a USA Today article that quotes the speech:
In other words, the “working class” isn’t all straight white dudes. Kamala Harris made a similar point recently, and she was 100% right.
Sunday Discussion and Open Thread-
We have white politicians trying to connect with black voters using a racist framing of Identity Politics.
Rather than confront White Privilege or Supremacy, they attack Identity Politics.
This attacks OUR Civil Rights Movements.
Discuss https://t.co/31078kQ2Wq
— Bianca Delarosa Harris Warren Castro O’Rourke (@Bravewriting) May 12, 2019
@Citizen Alan: Stockholm Syndrome.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I still say it’s gonna end with Dany waking up to the sound of running water and finding Ned Stark in the shower. That or the whole thing was a dream for Tommy Westphall who, btw, has grown up to look like Hodor.
@Brachiator:
I’ll add her to the list of people I’d assumed had died 20 years ago.
@Betty Cracker: I will give him props for that sentiment, but it is still a problem that many politicians, including some I really like, always seem to frame “working class” exclusively as workers in the manufacturing sector. The idea that we are going to bring back a manufacturing heyday is not only ridiculous, it also happens to miss perhaps the most important issues that are actually affecting today’s working class — the gig economy, conditions among health care workers at the lower rungs, and so on. Of course I support manufacturing workers’ efforts to obtain job security and fair treatment and to have their interests at least considered during trade negotiations, but that doesn’t really help the many, many millions of workers in non-manufacturing industries.
@Citizen Alan:
I have a list of people I’d wish had died 20 years ago
@Barbara: Yeah but what was the word salad about identity politics? He is trying to both-sides the statement, a yes-but
The ACLU might be able to tell you about that. Also several organizations to elect women. Times have changed, even if the Narrative remains eternal.
@Spanky:
Given the modern GOP, what makes you think the females were even 20 years old?
@schrodingers_cat:
In a race Trump won by a hair’s breadth, any of a dozen things would have changed the outcome. Sanders is certainly one of them. I personally think he did a lot rather than a little damage, but he sure as Hell did enough with his ‘We were robbed’ conspiracy theories to tip the balance.
@schrodingers_cat:
Or it was Comey or the Russians or voter suppression or or Wilmer not getting his people out or Clinton not campaigning hard enough in battleground states or the weather on election day.
A couple of factoids. About 12 percent of Sanders primary voters voted for Trump. And a piece of another voter survey.
I agree that Wilmer had an impact. But significant?
Not sure about that one.
Link to voting results story.
http://www.centerforpolitics.o.....residency/
@plato: Go Fund Me got their 20% or thereabouts, what do they care if it is an illegal scam?
@Barbara: Agree with you there. Kay made a great point about that recently. She said when Republicans yammer endlessly about coal miners, auto workers, etc., Democrats should talk about home health aides, retail employees, etc. All working class! And in fact more numerous than people in traditional “working class” jobs. More people work at Arby’s than in coal mines.
ETA: I also wish our candidates would talk more about the gig economy and how workers get screwed. It’s nothing new to me; I’ve been a gig worker for ages, but my circumstances are unique enough that it works for me (example: I can get health insurance through my spouse’s employer). Lots of folks who are scraping by as Uber drivers, Task Rabbit contractors, etc., are really getting screwed.
@jonas:
FTFY. I had an asshole for a boss once – a card-carrying sociopath – & once I found out some details about his past, I realized that was exactly his attitude – & the easiest “someones” to make pay were his employees.
@Brachiator: T won singing from the BS hymnal
Rigged elections
Corrupt Hillary
Corrupt DNC
Warmonger
Wall street speeches
etc etc etc
Both covered Putin provided syllabus faithfully.
ETA: JS voters exceeded the margin of T’s victory in more than one of the narrowly won states.
ETA2: 12% is statistically significant.
T’s win was a EC victory. He did not win the popular vote. So yes even the numbers prove that BS had a significant impact in electing T.
@Brachiator:
And yet his supporters claimed that Black votes for Clinton shouldn’t count because AAs aren’t progressive enough.
@Betty Cracker: context and understanding is for … not jackals, evidently.
And the hostile atmosphere that comes up here when the primary candidates are discussed has been mentioned in another online place. << Edited to explain that as a result people asserted they don't comment on that topic any more.
@Betty Cracker:
I don’t want to jump on a story that’s going to be beaten to death but I really don’t get Buttigieg’s frequent digs at the party whose nomination he seeks. I can think of countless policies put forth by Democrats that are for the common good (the fight for $15, the fight for universal healthcare, the fight for worker protections and environmental protections, etc.). But I would add one more policy that is for the common good, even if Buttigieg says otherwise. It’s the fight for EQUALITY in all aspects of public life. Why criticize the party for this?
@Brachiator: Concern troll Frank Luntz says Wilmer will be the Democratic nominee.
@schrodingers_cat: I know. The problem with Buttigieg’s framing (and that of Sanders as well) is that for many people, maybe including them, even raising an issue that disproportionately affects minorities is considered to be “elevating” one group’s interests above another’s. So if you highlight the problem of disproportionate law enforcement resources directed at low level marijuana infractions among African Americans, somehow that gets translated into “elevating” the interests of African-Americans above white people’s.
It’s not that I want to elevate one group’s welfare above that of another, it’s that I want to highlight some issues because they disproportionately affect one group’s welfare over another. That’s a totally different thing, and it’s maddening when politicians pretend like it’s the same thing.
ETA: Just as an example, is it elevating the interests of gay people, clearly in the minority, to work so hard to eliminate the DADT policy or to actively pursue equality measures including permitting gay marriage?
@David 🎅🎄Merry Christmas🎄🎅 Koch: If you put Warren and Harris’s poll numbers together, they are in front ofSanders, in the number two spot.
I continue to believe both of them running is not good. They appeal to the same sort of voter and they are splitting that vote.
I don’t know what could be done about this, other than havd the two of them do that “The odd finger is it” hand game, on TV with the public watching.
@satby: Who are the democrats he is talking about and whose interests are they promoting.
.
@Barbara: He made some condescending references to SJWs in an earlier speech. But his clean up squad will come and condescendingly tell us how we don’t get the context of the great one’s utterings.
He is like a fucking Holy book, like the Bible or the Koran or the Geetha where we need to understand the “context” of how all the obnoxious things he manages to say are not really obnoxious given the context. He is just misunderstood the poor dear.
@Betty Cracker:
Who in the Democratic Party is saying we need to choose between an auto worker and a trans woman of color?
The way Harris defended identity politics is not at all the same – starting with she defended identity politics.
@Ohio Mom: Probably. For instance, I give monthly donations to both, but at this point I would say that I would probably vote for Harris in the primary, but that is definitely not set in stone. I think that Harris needs to be able to show that she can peel off support from Biden, and Warren needs to continue peeling off support from Sanders. I like Biden, I would vote for him willingly, but I view him mostly as a caretaker who does not really have the creativity or willingness to address the real and pressing problems that Trump voters have tried to imagine away.
Stock market indices are stumbling now that China has announced retaliatory tariffs in response to Trump’s trade war. Trump’s supporters don’t give a damn about his lawlessness but when things start to hit their pocketbooks they might care. We’ll see.
@Frankensteinbeck:
Why assume they’re female?
@Brachiator: I have a best of collection of Doris Day singing jazz tunes as a youngster. Amazing pipes.
@schrodingers_cat: I believe that Buttigieg’s support has a low ceiling that he might already have hit. It is not clear to me that he can attract the full gamut of actual Democratic voters. Yes, he has that awful whiff of “third way” about him.
@satby: Thanks.
@Mart: The reality is that singers like Day were basically forced out of jazz by recording and movie studios because of racism — their’s and that of their audience. Not that she had to go along with it, but the stuff that she is best known for is mostly awful.
@Barbara: Very Clintonesque.
@Mart:
Interesting. I always thought that she had a pleasant singing voice, but I didn’t know much about the extent of her singing career.
@schrodingers_cat:
Gonna say it again. The Democratic JD Vance.
@schrodingers_cat: I don’t see where he made that warning. That is the writer’s phrasing not his. I think he said we have to trelize that when we talk about differentiating between two groups that we have to realize there is crossover and that the groups are not automatically exclusive of each other.
@Brachiator: I think there are a couple ways of looking at BS’s impact. The first is voters, but that is relatively a minor aspect. Rather I think he solidified the thinking that Clinton was a corporatist whore who was also probably pretty corrupt. This provided Trump the ability to make himself appear to be the person who cared about the working class. Plus, a lot of Trump’s arguments against Clinton were just repetitions of BS’s. Personally, that, to me, was always the worst aspect. And when he “campaigned” for her, he was really just campaigning against Trump. He never talked about reasons to vote for Clinton, just reasons to vote against Trump. Contrast that with Clinton’s campaigning for Obama.
@MomSense:
That’s the crux of the matter for me too. The fight for equity in all aspects of public life is a fight for the common good. I hope some Democrat underscores that point soon.
@Ohio Mom:
So were Hillary, Obama and (so I thought till he imploded) Edwards. It was a very tough primary battle between Hillary and Obama and I had an extremely hard time deciding who to vote for when our primary came around, as I would have been ecstatic with either one. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a good position to be in. They showed us how to have that kind of primary fight and still come out as a unified party, or as unified as the Democrats ever get.
I guess I’m saying I’m not worried about Harris and Warren.
But Biden and Wilmer worry me deeply, because their strategy is to destroy the party.
@Brachiator: I don’t have an exhaustive knowledge, but when talented female singers, both black and white, met recording studios, they were pushed in a direction that appealed exclusively to older white audiences. This was true even of Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul! If you watch the documentary Muscle Shoals, it explains how CBS records tried to use her big voice in a way that erased its soulfulness. Think Whitney Houston.
Steph Curry vs Seth Curry.
What a soup for the mom to be in.
@MomSense: No Democrat acting in a political capacity as a candidate or a strategist would say “fuck auto workers, let’s focus on civil rights issues” because it would be dumb to say that out loud. But tons of folks — including me — have noted that Democrats’ constituency has shifted away from traditional blue collar labor groups like auto workers in the Midwest (which tend to be more white and male than the general population, though not exclusively so) and toward people in cities with non-union jobs, which tend to be more diverse but which include plenty of straight white men too, of course.
I get why people like Biden, Klobuchar and Buttigieg make their traditional Midwestern blue collar worker appeal a centerpiece of their campaigns; in all three cases, that’s their political roots. And I think they’re right to point out that even traditional blue collar jobs aren’t held exclusively by straight white men anymore. They’re trying to walk a line and avoid alienating groups that may have competing interests. Whoever the eventual nominee is will also do that, as did Clinton and Obama, etc.
@plato:
Daddy Dell would be a monster in today’s NBA.
Mariana Trench: Deepest-ever sub dive finds plastic bag
@schrodingers_cat: OK, you don’t like the guy, but condescension overload isn’t helping your case.
@plato: The family of hockey’s Esposito brothers had the same “problem,” although I don’t know that Phil and Tony ever faced each other in a post-season match up. I remember as a kid seeing an interview of them explaining how conflicted their mother was when they played each other.
ETA: And just imagine how the Williams’ Sisters parents feel when they play each other. Apparently, the sisters both hate it.
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
I don’t want Biden, but he’s not going to destroy the party.
@Betty Cracker: I don’t think these groups have competing interests in the sense that helping one hurts the other. If their interests are competing, it’s because they are competing for attention.
@Baud: Nor do I see that as his intent, whereas it may well be BS’s.
@Betty Cracker: He can appeal to crossover voters without pissing on key Democratic constituencies.
The market correction appears to have arrived.
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I don’t think the comparison is apt at all. When it was finally Hillary v. Obama, there wasn’t anyone else who was worse and ahead of both of them. We would have been fine no matter which one finally triumphed.
Can you say that with confidence about the two current frontrunners? We don’t just have to defeat Trump, we need someone who can start righting things, and I don’t think that describes Biden or Sanders.
@Barbara: Agreed — it’s not a zero-sum situation, and it’s about attention, but attention is really important politically, IMO. In some ways, I think it’s easier for a politician who is a woman, a person of color, gay, etc., to address all the constituencies in the party because it’s not as hard to prove to women, POC, gay folks, etc., that a politician who reflects their demographic sees them and gets their struggle. Of course, that’s balanced out (and sadly, sometimes outweighed) by the latent misogyny and bigotry in the electorate. It takes a lot of skill to deflect that. Obama did it with uncommon grace.
@khead: I suppose I needed a boost to my motivation to keep working. It’s been flagging recently. Ugh. But almost certainly overdue . . .
@germy: That would require mental engagement, something that only a few media types seem inclined to aspire to.
I bet the private wall is also a secret wall, possibly double secret. So they cannot tell their donors where it is.
@Barbara:
I go back and forth between believing it’s mental laziness or them simply following orders.
@khead:
Misplaced faith in Trump’s power as a deal maker will result in significant correction.
@khead: Two percent loss is hardly a market correction. But, it’s early in the tariff war game, and we’ve yet to see how it plays out.
Maybe it’s just my pessimistic nature, but I had expected a stronger, steeper drop this morning after China’s announcement. But again, still early in the game.
@schrodingers_cat: Targeted tariffs are just a tool of trade. They are not in and of themselves evil. Indiscriminate and over broad tariffs implemented by a moron are more like tools of mayhem. That’s the situation we find ourselves in at the moment.
@rikyrah: Shorter, we can’t fix everything so why even try?
Attention Walmart shoppers! Is there anything at Walmart not made in China?
Could this be where Trump voters stop and think “wait a minute …”?
HAAAAAhahahahahahaah!!!! This is somehow Nancy Pelosi’s fault, with a heapin’ helpin’ of Hillary Clinton.
@germy: I’m amazed at the number of (mostly male) politicians who seem to be caught off guard by the simplest, most obvious questions. It’s like Wilmer with the question about white supremacy at that recent event. And I know the answer is in part that Booker doesn’t want to piss off FB just as Wilmer doesn’t want to piss off the WWC, but they’ve had PLENTY of time to come up with some BS response to those questions. It’s not that hard.
@Barbara:
I don’t know very much about the deep history of the music industry, and appreciate your insights.
However, I was very very good friends with a woman whose father arranged Aretha’s first album for Columbia, and wrote six songs for the album. He was an African American composer and arranger, John McFarland, who also wrote songs for Elvis, Lou Rawls and even Bill Haley and the Comets. I agree that ultimately, his talents were not a good match for Franklin, and he erased her soulfulness. But he was trying to make her a more jazzy singer, not just trying to sell her to older white audiences.
ETA: I have got to watch the documentary Muscle Shoals. I have seen clips of a documentary about the Wrecking Crew. Just wonderful stuff.
@Spanky:
4-5% in the last week with no signs of stopping. We’ll see.
TBH, I’d rather talk about how Dell Curry never got enough credit.
@Brachiator: You could be right. They might have exaggerated a bit in the documentary, but Doris Day was like the anti-jazz singer by the time Hollywood got done with her. She practically embodied white bread as a musical style.
@rp: Aren’t Booker and Zuck good buds? Didn’t Zuck pledge some big $ to “fix” Newark schools, or am I mis-remembering something?
@rikyrah:
That’s even assuming the Thought Masters of the Trump administration were able to implement their tariffs. At work we get a lot of the basic stuff done in China and little talk about the tariff impacting us. Makes me suspect one of Trump’s Only the Best Hires didn’t know how file the paper work.
@catclub: Private wall, eh? So only a select group of people can sit on it, or what?
Also,
Fixed.
@Gin & Tonic:
one hundred million
@Bex:
I don’t care.
At this point, I am not obsessing over polls or punditry. I am just waiting for the primaries. I expect for Democratic Party candidates to make the case to Democratic Party voters as to which of them should be the nominee. And then, on the outside, there is Sanders, doing the weird shit that he does. If he is successful and wins primaries, then we will have to deal with him.
@schrodingers_cat:
What can I say. We disagree, and I think that at best you can say that Sanders was just one of many factors that affected the election. I can understand that you might want to stress Sanders’ impact, but that is not the only way to read the data.
But even so, I think it too early to compare Mayor Pete to Wilmer. But as always, your mileage may vary.
@jonas:
Being wounded doesn’t make people better, it makes them wounded. The person can take from that what they see, and that’s not always some great theory of life. He may have been an ass before he was wounded, he may not have been. Some will feel they are lucky to be alive and do whatever they can to reward that luck. Some will be bitter that they are wounded so badly while others are not wounded at all. There is an old saying, “It takes all kinds” and it’s true. For all the Tammy Duckworths of the world there will be the opposites. Both groups may rebuild their shattered lives in far different ways, both good and bad. He’s a rabid Trump supporter, you think his wounds made him that?
@Gin & Tonic: Yes, which is exactly he should have a thoughtful response on FB and its various issues ready to go.
I burst into flames at a photo of the newest purchase for the SC bench.
Dow down -612 points
@Barbara:
singers like Day were basically forced out of jazz by recording and movie studios
Doris Day, and movie studios, yes.
Anita Day avoided movies and stayed in jazz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8D1I6UKzNY
@Barbara:
Ha! I think you are right on the money here.
@Brachiator:
Might it be that he is getting the press because they think he is inconsequential as well?
Drive the story to be about him so that people won’t hear the story of the real candidates? Think about 2016 and HRC. BS continues to be an ass long after losing, gets constant press, all that HRC seems to get is negative press.
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Well, I have heard that some companies have moved production out of China to other available places if it is feasible. Obviously, this is not feasible on a grand scale. And that would be one way China might be hurt, but this effect, like others, is basically, at the margins, compared to the impact on U.S. consumers as well as manufacturers relying on parts from China.
@Barbara: @Betty Cracker: I think what’s being called out is the either or thinking, the idea that supporting one elevated it over the other. And in reading the excerpt quoted it sounds more like talking about the schismatic Democratic party members than the actual Democratic party officials.
As evidenced in discussions on this blog for example.
@Aleta: I’m just catching up on the news that the Supreme Court cavalierly dismissed a 40 year precedent today. I now wonder if the 1974 decision in US v Nixon, forcing Nixon to hand over subpoenaed material will hold. The 5 conservatives seem quite comfortable legislating from the bench.
“Que sera, sera,” Sly and the Family Stone
@schrodingers_cat: and you have become a hectoring, bullying scold every time you weigh in on the primary candidates or anything that pisses you off (like constantly bugging Adam about “the generals” or front pagers who quote people you don’t like).
So I’m not going to engage with you on this.
@germy:
Booker is a personable and likable guy, but I don’t think he is the brightest bulb in the lamp. This demonstrates that perfectly!
Should go home and be quiet til after the election next year. Or pick another candidate to push.
@joel hanes: That’s Anita O’Day.
@J R in WV: Booker really has done nothing to make himself stand out. The answer to that wasn’t to say it sounded like Trump (somehow I think that is going to be a go to for more than a few people) but to say that it’s not clear what breaking up Facebook would even mean or how it would protect people from privacy incursions or trolling by bots in other social networking venues or whatever remains of Facebook. It reflects lazy thinking on both Warren’s and Booker’s part, IMHO.
@prostratedragon: hey thanks.
@germy: Just absolutely shameless.
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
I don’t think Biden’s role is to destroy the Dem party. I don’t think he believes or thinks that at all. I’m not sure he sees the Dem party the same way most of us see it but him destroy it? I don’t see that at all, what I see is him thinking he can save what he thinks the Dem party is and should be. I think he’s a liberal politician. That his liberalness isn’t the same as yours or mine isn’t the point, because yours and mine may be different, it’s not like there aren’t wide differences between all liberal positions, we are an inclusive lot of people and ideals, while conservatives are the exclusion party, all for one and one for self, outsiders need not apply.
@satby: Model minority no longer model after presuming to speak up for herself and questioning the conventional wisdom, and that of some frontpagers. Why don’t you call me uppity while you are at it.
@Gin & Tonic:
You’re right. Neuron fail. Thanks.
Regardless, it’s a swell performance by someone who wasn’t lured into the insanity of Hollywood, and stayed in the different insanity of jazz.
Relevant : Lambert Hendricks and Ross
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXwMgIlmoaM
@germy:
(Ark. Times in Jan.)
He also recently joined a bipartisan group proposing a tax benefit to Gold Star families.
No word on any personal sacrifice he intends.
@Aleta:
What kind of a politician are you if you can’t help your friends, especially if it helps them not pay as much tax?
(Nothing says he has to be friends with the people who voted for him…..)
I read that as WAAAAGH and realized that there’s not much difference.
@schrodingers_cat: As definitely not a member of a minority, I am irked by many of the same things you are with Buttigieg. But what irks me most is that symbiosis between him and the press corps that allows each of them to ignore that they are supremely more comfortable and laudatory when it comes to keeping a white man in the quarterback slot. The fact that SO MANY of the men covering the Clinton campaign — Lauer, Halperin, Charlie Rose, Glenn Thrush — have been shown to be misogynist hacks with a firm ulterior agenda in being able to stomp all over women of their choosing makes everything the press does now subject to the presumption that they are as self-serving as any politician who ever lived.
With all of that, I still think we are mostly better off not overly personalizing the conflict with respect to candidates. It’s so frustrating.
@germy: WTF?
These tariffs might fuck you over, but other people made bigger sacrifices, so stop complaining. SOLDIERS DIED SO YOU COULD GET ECONOMICALLY FUCKED BY THE REPUBLICANS!
-Senator Tom Cotton
Gotta hand it to him for the military-humping non sequitur, and by hand, I mean the back of my hand.
@Spanky:
IN the grocery section! Mexico!
@NotMax: The sun’s not yellow. It’s chicken. *don’t care how often this repeats today.*
@Barbara: I agree with you.
@Aleta:
Wow. The GOP is returning to their Big Lie Playbook. Family farms have never, never, never been hit hard by the estate tax. But the Walton family would get extra gravy from estate tax reform, even though they already get huge benefits from how their family trusts are structured. Goddam these GOP ass wipes. They know that Trump’s supporters are absolute suckers. They not only believe the bullshit, they are totally immune to reality. When the suckers are biting this hard, you just have to reel them in.
@catclub: Pfft. Everyone knows Mexico’s going to cover the cost of all Dump voters’ groceries.
@Bex: nope fu@tobie: the Supreme Court is over. I think we should disband it along with the Senate
@TomatoQueen: Fried, rotisserie, baked, grilled, or smoked?
I’m to the point where I think Warren sends these emails to me, personally and specifically :)
At 3 bucks a donation we’re going to be hitting double digits here shortly.
We had prom this past weekend and I took a quick visual survey of the room, boys, and about 1/4 of them are rejecting Big Prom and wearing ordinary (dressy) clothes instead of rented tuxedos. I think this is good. Sensible.
The end of the prom industrial complex? Perhaps. The tuxedos were horrible anyway.
@Betty Cracker:
There you go, being judicious and reasonable.
@schrodingers_cat: Why don’t you try removing that chip on your shoulder? You could probably get a fair amount of wood from it by this point.
@schrodingers_cat:
Wow, that is a pretty disgusting comment.
Who here ever referred to you as a “model minority”? Certainly not satby.
@zhena gogolia: I never said she called me that, that’s your interpretation. I have been commenting on Balloon Juice since Obama’s first election. I only started getting nasty comments when I expressed my frustrations, yes sometimes in anger and exasperation as an immigrant not too happy about T’s ascension. That’s what I was referring to.
Since I have worn out my welcome on this blog. I will take break. Better for my health too.
Wish T had never been elected so we could all still be friends.
@Kay: There was an organization in San Diego (whose name escapes me at the moment) that gave out prom dresses for free to anyone who needed one, no questions asked. I am not sure if that contributes to the breaking apart of “Big Prom”, but at least families of the girls did not have to spend a lot of money. I don’t have a son, so I don’t know if there are similar organizations for the boys.
@schrodingers_cat:
We all wish T had never been elected. Can’t we discuss the various candidates without getting so personal about it?
I got one of these popups today browsing this site using Chrome on iOS. (Annoying waste of time while at work, because I’m paranoid.)
Mobile VPNs Promoted by ‘You Are Infected’ or ‘Hacked’ Ads. Basically the VPN company has an affiliate program and some affiliates abuse it. (That one used cloudflare for anonymity; grr – some people actually need it for something other than fraud.)
Ad blockers for iOS (iPhone) are pretty much nonexistent as far as I can tell (AdBlock doesn’t have any apparent effect on Chrome), but looking around found that Firefox for iOS has ad blocking built it; just make sure “Tracking Protection” is enabled in settings. (And send John money if it’s a habit.)
@Ruckus:
I don’t know. Maybe some of the media want to be kind to Mayor Pete because he is gay.
And some people want to complain constantly because the MSM they love to hate don’t spoon feed them the stories they think they are supposed to be getting. I just don’t hear a lot about Mayor Pete in my small bubble of acquaintances. I don’t see that he is a big fund raiser. And I can easily get news about candidates that I am more interested in learning about. And frankly, right now, none of the Democratic candidates seem more than tepid. This is not to say that they are not good, don’t have good policies, etc, but they are all kinda bland, and don’t seem to know how best to attack Trump or to stir up the party. But your mileage may vary on this. And looking back, I can’t remember when I decided that Obama was my guy.
HRC was going to get negative press no matter what.
@Jerzy Russian:
I was glad to see it. One of the boys had black pants and a black turtleneck and a lot of them were commenting on it- like they wished they had done it. It would be funny of they just quietly ended that tradition. There’s no dress code. They can really wear anything they want.
@schrodingers_cat: you haven’t confined your comments to Trump’s election and have gotten snotty and personal with people, including that “model minority” crack which was directed at me as if it was my reaction. People can certainly have legitimate issues with any of the candidates (Buttigieg’s lack of experience is one example). Those haven’t been the arguments you’ve made. And to pretend that those of us who prefer to go deeper than a Twitter meme are misogynist or Trumper racist apologists has gone beyond the pale. So get off the cross.
@schrodingers_cat:
Well, I hope you come back when you’re ready. Primaries are always tense and this one is just getting started.
A lot of them will be out fairly quickly. They have to get some early wins. I’m imagine Bernie stays in until the bitter end but the rest will drop out if they can’t show strong support.
@Kay: Thanks Kay. You are one of my favorite BJ commenters both on FP and off. You are wise and fair.
@Baud: TBH porn is related to a real public health crisis, just not in any way those folks would recognize.
Freaking out about kids seeing porn while ignoring all the actual bad shit going down is a symptom of the delusional insanity currently afflicting huge swaths of the US population. We’re going to have to treat this soon or it’s going to literally kill us all.