.
Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Do not become bitter or hostile. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. We will find a way to make a way out of no way. #goodtrouble
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) July 16, 2019
I guess if Rep. Lewis can keep fighting, so can we… even if the well-intentioned members of the DNC seem to be trying to kill me:
NEW: Three tiers for CNN debate drawing
1) — bennett, bullock, de blasio, delaney, tulsi, gillibrand, hickenlooper, inslee, ryan, williamson
2) — booker, buttegig, castro, amy, beto, yang
3) — biden, harris, bernie, warreneach tier gets divided up into the two debate nights
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) July 17, 2019
And then, if I had my way, the members of the B Ark Tier One would be locked in a nicely stocked hotel annex until mid-November 2020. (Sorry, Sen. Gillibrand.) But nobody ever takes my advice, possibly because they’re afraid of insufficiently sanitized telephones.
It’s not as though this rigamarole is making anyone but the ad salesguys and the Media Horse Race Touts happy. (Seth Moulton, predictably, is making a very public fuss already.)
lmao pic.twitter.com/oZoTXmQVZw
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) July 17, 2019
Also from CNN's logistics calls with the 2020 campaigns:
Candidates are required to leave their phones and watches in the green rooms.
Each campaign gets 30 tickets.The Inslee campaign asked if the national anthem will be sung. It will be sung.
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) July 17, 2019
I hope to Murphy the Trickster God that the Inslee campaign was being sarcastic.
Baud
What does John Lewis know? Does he think he’s smarter than Twitter?
Dan B
I could check on Inslee because connections, but seriously, he’s got a good sense of humor that his staff should polish. Good retail humor with flashes of gold.
Then again Climate Crisis is a laugh riot.
OzarkHillbilly
Just shoot me.
NotMax
No tanks, please.
Baud
For the sake of bipartisanship, they should also sing the Russian national anthem.
RAVEN
The morning crew is a breath of fresh air.
OzarkHillbilly
@RAVEN: You misspelled ‘fetid’.
Raven
@OzarkHillbilly: You ain’t around at night.
OzarkHillbilly
@Raven: I have better things to do at night. You know, like watch ‘Die Hard’ for the 1,387th time while eating Cheetos and drinking flat Diet Coke. Or maybe just sleep. Kind of, sorta.
RAVEN
@OzarkHillbilly: I made it till 3:30 and I’m glad they teed off at the British Open at 1!
Baud
Anya
I was hoping the “well-known former prime minister” with ties to Epstein was Benjamin Netanyahu but since he’s calling for inquiries I doubt he has any ties to the child rapist. I am just wondering who was Bush’s DOJ covering for? It must be someone so prominent. I just hope all of these perverts and enablers are exposed and shunned. These guys get away with these horrific acts because of their enablers.
Raven
@Baud: Fuck him
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
@Raven:
The words don’t seem as harsh as the words he had for us during the hearing.
Baud
Baud
R-Jud
@Anya: I imagine it’s Tony Blair.
Princess
John Lewis’s words are very welcome. I’ll be honest — when I have despaired in these last two years, what has kept me going has been the knowledge that black people in this country have fought for far longer, against much greater odds, often without hope of any success, and they still keep fighting to this day. If they can, surely I can too.
Ben Cisco
@Baud: @Raven: What Raven said. That’s some weak shit after the performance art he pulled at the House hearing in front of a committee that was alreadysset to move forward on the bill. Wonder if he understands NOW that it’s not Congress but rather the GOP that’s the problem. Wonder if he’ll EVER have the ballsto admit it. Wouldn’t bet on it.
Baud
Baud
p.a.
What have Raven and RAVEN done with raven??!
Baud
Juju
For everything except John Lewis, oy.
Baud
@p.a.:
There can be only one.
Nelle
@Princess: in on your bench. Look to the people who have been in the struggle for decades and centuries,despite powerful and moneyed opponents. To get at real truth after all the myth-making that Americans have indulged themselves in and blinded themselves with is thankless work of the ages. And there will be no gratitude. Impeachment may be the least of it and won’t “cure” the sick body, politic and societal. Not a time for the well-trained desire for instant gratification. No magic coming down the road. We all have to shoulder our part of the burden, knowing results may not come in our lifetime.
Still, today, make small steps.
eclare
@Princess: Seconded. I have had it easy.
p.a.
@Baud: some years ago there was a mayfly hatch on the upper Mississippi that showed up on weather radar. Weeks later there were a few around my house in Providence. Never saw mayflies there before, or since
Tony Jay
@Anya:
Calling for inquiries by who, though? There’s a world of difference between “We must get to the bottom of this ASAP” and “You can keep me out of this, can’t you?”. Unfortunately he’s not a “well-known former Prime Minister”, since he’s – currently – still clinging onto office.
@R-Jud:
Oh that would be soooooo sweet.
p.a.
@Baud: Maybe 2; like Sith
hueyplong
John Lewis has the most elegant and supportive way of telling you to stop whining and get on the road to winning when you can’t see any road at all.
We can take some smug comfort in knowing that the other side as presently constituted has no John Lewis and by definition cannot.
debbie
Fucking Stephen Miller. I just heard Trump say “screed.” As if!
debbie
@Baud:
Time for his neighbor to intervene.
zzyzx
This is why I wasn’t worried about Trump’s alleged massive win in the post last night. Winning the news cycle on a random day 18 months out of the election isn’t that important and Trump hates people not talking about him more than he cares about any short term victory.
Baud
@zzyzx:
What win?
rikyrah
Receipt ?
Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) Tweeted:
I’m old enough to remember during last campaign in 2015-16 when people like me called Trump a racist, and others — including other journalists! — called us hyperbolic and extreme. Well… https://twitter.com/CharlesMBlow/status/1151673581367169024?s=17
ThresherK
They’re putting Dem candidates in pools, a la the World Cup? Cool. I was one of the many suggesting this, and of course as with many things, wasn’t sure if I was kidding or not.
Maybe we can assign the Tier I candidates to a storage room in the basement to watch a bee in a jar for the next 16 months.
Kay
Ugh. I thought these two were gone. I had a very negative impression of Delaney. I had no opinion of him before the last debate and 30 seconds after he started speaking I felt trapped and wished he would stop. DeBlasio just randomly yells “working people!” so he’s annoying and a distraction, but less so than Delaney who issues whole hectoring paragraphs.
BC in Illinois
On the National Anthem being sung at the Democratic Debate:
In 2015, Sheryl Crow sang the anthem. It’s on YouTube.
It’s worth watching, not just for Cheryl Crow, but to see how the closed-captioning dealt with early 19th century poetry.
Extra points, if you can name all five candidates standing on stage.
rikyrah
Marcus H. Johnson (@marcushjohnson) Tweeted:
@vexedinthecity Yeah after nearly 4 years of saying Trump voters are motivated by anything but racism, now they wanna front like they knew it all along. Most of these people were saying Dems had to stop talking about identity politics and focus on economic issues ?? https://twitter.com/marcushjohnson/status/1151330556535353347?s=17
Betty Cracker
Trump has made it clear that white nationalism will be on the ballot in 2020 even more emphatically than it was in 2016, when “shake things up” and “send a message” and “no more dynasties” provided flimsy cover to the racist demagogue-curious. We have to pass this test.
rikyrah
Marcus H. Johnson (@marcushjohnson) Tweeted:
Of course this means everyone who said “Deplorable” was a mistake should apologize. Clinton talked about racism and white privilege more than any Presidential candidate through 2016 and the mainstream press (and the class first far left) crushed her for it https://twitter.com/marcushjohnson/status/1151338071604047872?s=17
Baud
@rikyrah:
If only someone had warned us.
Thankfully, the Guardian was there to give us a reality check.
OzarkHillbilly
Very interesting, and long, article on the intersection of the church and the Duterte regime. The Catholic rebels resisting the Philippines’ deadly war on drugs The church seems to be fractured at best, but a few stand out:
I’m not sure about sainthood but definitely on the road to martyrdom.
Kay
@rikyrah:
Lara Trump set up the chant. It was scripted, probably by her. She’s their marketing person. That’s what they think she’s good at. Like all of them, this is (now) her full time job.
I don’t think the Trump Family women take enough responsibility for their role in the Trump Family regime, so I make an effort to include them. They choose all of this. Ivanka covers for him, Melania chose to give interviews promoting birtherism, Lara leads racist chants. I don’t think Ivanka and Melania should use children’s groups for photo ops anymore. I don’t think that’s fair to black and brown children. The political campaign these wealthy adults are running harms those children. They shouldn’t be exposed to the architects of it and every one of those women is either running it or complicit. They’re not good enough to visit schools. Poor role models.
Gin & Tonic
A matter of some concern, perhaps, to some of us: it appears that the price of clams is way up in recent weeks. Several factors at play, but primary may be a fairly strong job market keeping people from doing seasonal clam-digging (which, if you’ve never done it, is back-breaking work.)
mrmoshpotato
@BC in Illinois: ?Conseco can see by the dawn’s early light?
Ken
@ThresherK:
Just curious, is this a reference to a movie or maybe a video game?
SRW1
@Anya:
Two cents that the “well-known former prime minister” is Silvio Berlusconi. He is well known for ‘liking them young’ and occasionally having struggled with the ‘of age’ concept.
Cheryl Rofer
Who even are Delaney and Bullock? I haven’t heard those names as candidates before.
ETA: Don’t bother to answer. This is a rhetorical question. I’d just like to see them go away.
Tony Jay
@Baud:
It’s the Guardian, Mr President-in-Waiting. That’s how their US Political coverage rolls.
Ken
@Baud:
Maybe he means the commenter who counted editorial cartoons, and found 80% were about Trump and the concentration camps? In Trump’s mind that would be a win, like Bill Murray shouting “You can’t buy publicity like this!” in Scrooged.
Tony Jay
@SRW1:
(slaps head) That makes a lot of sense.
Quinerly
@Betty Cracker: so embarrassed for my birthstate of NC yesterday. That rally in Greenville was 12 miles from where I grew up and held at my and my mother’s Alma mater of East Carolina University. This area of the state is over 50% Black, and now with a huge Hispanic population. Many of those attendees had to be bused in.
mrmoshpotato
@Gin & Tonic: New England clam chowder
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
Yup. This is cold but I can’t decide whether I should rely on the flighty, indecisive, incredibly shallow “independents” or the crabby, pouty but intense Lefty part of the base – neither group is reliable. Centrists act like I’m getting this solid turnout relying on “centrists” but that’s not true at all. It’s one group of unreliable voters or another. That to me is the choice I have between a more centrist candidate or a more Lefty candidate. One or another group of unreliable voters.
mrmoshpotato
@SRW1: Any mention of “also likes bunga bunga parties”?
Villago Delenda Est
The stupid motherfuckers at CNN are covering this like ESPN covers the NFL draft.
With open utter ridiculousness. Both events are nothing but naked infotainment clickbait.
Our media paradigm is hopelessly broken. Burn it to the ground.
Gin & Tonic
@mrmoshpotato: The topic of chowder could start a war.
OzarkHillbilly
@Quinerly:
And now you live in Misery. Batting 1.000 you are. ;-)
Baud
@Kay:
Truth.
mrmoshpotato
@Gin & Tonic: Aaaaaaalllllll righty then! :)
Quinerly
@Kay: Lara Trump is originally from NC. Deep NC roots, as I recall. North Carolina State University graduate.
Kay
So here’s the practical, logistical problem with centrist Democrats like Biden. Take ideology out of it. Democrats had a kind of machine in the states Biden is strong in and that’s a good part of what drove turnout and why they were able to win those states. It was based and grounded in labor unions. They haven’t had that for a long, long time. That’s why Obama was extraordinary. He built his own. Clinton did not build her own. Biden will not build his own. Biden is running on a guarantee he can’t make – he may attract less engaged voters but he still has to turn them out. And they often DON’T turn out for Democrats.
I think the candidates have to tell us two things- who are their voters and what is their plan to organize them and turn them out. Just being “acceptable” to a broad group of voters is only half what’s needed. If Warren is less “acceptable” than Biden (and I think she is) but she’s a very good organizer she might be the better choice.
Just One More Canuck
@BC in Illinois: I’ll go with Hillary, Wilmer, that guy from Maryland, Mike Gravel and Baud
Quinerly
Interesting piece from local Greenville paper. I have to “stand up” for my birth county. From the piece: “Pitt County voted for Secretary (of State Hillary) Clinton by a wide margin in 2016 (52 percent to 45 percent) and for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. In 2020, Pitt County will vote overwhelmingly for the Democratic nominee for President, whomever the nominee is.”
http://www.reflector.com/News/2019/07/18/N-C-Democratic-Party-leaders-hold-Trump-accountable-at-press-conference.html
rikyrah
Marcus H. Johnson (@marcushjohnson) Tweeted:
You can’t say Trump is a racist and then say nothing about his voters. It doesn’t work like that. https://twitter.com/marcushjohnson/status/1151331602858991617?s=17
Baud
@Just One More Canuck:
Can’t be me. I support the Imperial system over metric.
satby
@Villago Delenda Est: 100% this.
Just the description of how they will select candidates is a travesty.
Sorry, not feeling the good mornings today, been going back and forth with a right winger on FB for two days who won’t STFU.
And I have to work in a metal hut for the next three days of the heat wave and it’s making me crabby.
Quinerly
@OzarkHillbilly: At least I live in the city of St. Louis and I pulled these stats from local Greenville paper:
Pitt County, NC voted for Secretary (of State Hillary) Clinton by a wide margin in 2016 (52 percent to 45 percent) and for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.
Baud
@Tony Jay:
Sometimes our dreams can cloud our judgment.
ThresherK
@Ken: It’s from The Simpsons, where Homer and two others are assigned to do this when the NEC inspectors visit the plant.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
any chance she’ll just pack it in?
Ken
@ThresherK: Ah, thanks. I may even have seen that one, though I haven’t watched The Simpsons for a very long time.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@satby: Block the fool on FB, Satby. Don’t waste your breath, er, pixels.
SFAW
@Baud:
Well, Hillary’s comments were interesting, but she was too shrill, and there’s just something about her …
Quinerly
@SFAW: I heard she used email to communicate at some point in her life. ?
ThresherK
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: In the Year of Our Common Era 2015 Susan Collins had a 78% approval rating?
I’m not calling anyone a liar, but as a New Englander who’s been on to her shit for years, I can’t imagine what she did to be that popular then.
MomSense
@Kay:
I think the mistake is thinking that the trump women don’t agree with the racist policies or the concentration camps and that they are somehow working behind the scenes to change needy amin’s mind.
The trump women are racist. They don’t care about brown or black children and women. They don’t even consider them part of the category women and children.
The only reason they have those calm, sort of serene expressions is because they’ve injected so much fucking Botox into their faces. They’re not suffering in silence or being stoic – their facial muscles are paralyzed.
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Oh, sure. The senator who concocts a huge fake dramatic event (will she or won’t she? Let’s ask her again!) on every vote will just “pack it in”. Murkowski is Collins with one quarter of the bullshit and twice the integrity. But Collins allows media to pretend there’s still some flinty New England Republican strain they all worship and Alaska doesn’t so Collins gets all the coverage.
SFAW
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Absolutely. There’s also a chance that the Racist-in-Chief will have an epiphany in the next 24 hours, and stop being a lying, racist, fascistic, traitorous asshole.
Not sure whose chances I rate higher.
OzarkHillbilly
@Quinerly: Where as I live in Washington Co. I detect a steep downward trend in my locales. Pretty sure I’m going to end up in Hell.
MomSense
@Gin & Tonic:
I ended up getting a fish basket Tuesday night because the clam basket was 26.99! That’s twice the price. Hate to tell everyone this but clams and mussels are on the way out in Maine. A bunch of the local clam diggers have given up because the normal flats don’t produce anymore. Warming waters, toxic algae, and increase in predators are killing them off. I’m priced out and I lost my friend/supplier.
Kay
@MomSense:
I agree. AOC said something in the press conference about wanting to tell black and brown or immigrant children that the President is wrong and they’re included and part of this and welcome. I don’t think I’m excessively sentimental about children but I do like them- more than adults, mostly, a few children are horrible, don’t get me wrong, but as a group I like them. I DO think adults have to show children they’re included and welcome and wanted. That’s important to and for them. So I don’t want the Trump women in front of them in schools. That’s not fair to them. We can and should be picky about who we put in front of them, because they’re a captive audience- they don’t make any decisions. I’m on a school committee and I once heard a teacher object to presentation for students that was pitched by a community group. She said “I don’t think that’s good enough to put in front of mine” – it stuck with me. That people should have to earn their audience. That we can be choosy about who we invite in. They’re not good enough. There are better role models we can tap.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: lol
I live in GA so probably should refrain from laughter, but what the heck.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Raven
@Quinerly: nevermind
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: We come a long way baby.
Quinerly
@OzarkHillbilly: my retired contractor who drives in from the Bourbon to work for me does not speak fondly of Crawford County. ?
NotMax
@MomSense
Well, you down-easters still have this.
;)
MomSense
@Kay:
I still resent the Ron and Nancy just say no video we had to watch in a mandatory all school assembly in high school. Of course I was one of 2 people out of 700 who felt that way.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
I think today is a special day for you? If I’m remembering correctly, have a great birthday! If not, have a great one whenever it is :-)
MomSense
@NotMax:
Oh god! That is for the tourists. Bet a bunch of locals laugh their asses off every time someone orders that flavor.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I’m still reeling from Trump’s rally last night. It feels like a step down from where he and his followers were before. I still feel sick from it. This is George Wallace in the school doorway bad, only it’s worse because it’s the president.
Another Scott
@Villago Delenda Est: Brought to you by Brawndo.
(sigh)
Cheers,
Scott.
Amir Khalid
@Cheryl Rofer:
I know, right? The only first name I associate with Bullock is Sandra.
Tony Jay
@Baud:
I think you’ve found your election slogan.
VOTE BAUD/TBC 2020
“Sometimes our Dreams can cloud our Judgement”
Solid.
MomSense
@Kay:
The Susan Collins flinty New England Republican moderate bipartisan Senator is a total lie – but it’s a lie people want to believe in.
Gideon is a good candidate but we’ve had a lot of great candidates go up against Susan. She’s tough to beat and she’s got boatloads of cash.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: Oh you can laugh. All humor is based on other people’s misery. You just have to be ready to laugh at your own as well.
Quinerly
Just checked Trump’s Twitter. He was manic yesterday Tweeting. Multiple tweets all day.
Nothing in over 8 hrs…..
I don’t recall a morning he hasn’t Tweeted.
NotMax
@Quinerly
Gift horse. Mouth.
;)
Baud
@Tony Jay:
I would spell it “judgment” because USA! RULES!
But otherwise, I love it.
MomSense
@NotMax:
If anyone is visiting Acadia/ Bar Harbor this summer go to MDI ice cream. It’s across he street from the restaurant Havana – which is another great place to go.
plato
How ‘social media’ is actually creating more sociopaths.
Amir Khalid
@Just One More Canuck:
Are you sure? I always thought the guy who wrote MacArthur Park was one of the five.
Another Scott
@Kay: You make some good points, but I’d be wary of trying to make too strong a story of X voter types vs Y voter types.
We just had a historic win in the 2018 election. 41 House seats – biggest ever in an off-year election.
I don’t think that we won that many seats because voters were overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the Democratic candidates (though we did have many, many great candidates). (Spanberger won with 50.4% of the vote.)
You’re right that it’s having a ground game.
But it’s also making sure that we get every Democratic vote we can by fighting to register people and keep them informed and putting in the infrastructure so that they can get to the polls even as the GOP tries to shut them out. The state parties need to be working to get people registered NOW and continuing up until the deadlines.
Yes, it’s The Message and being able get people to be enthusiastic. But it’s also about nuts and bolts of the voting process. We need every Democratic-leaning voter to pull the lever, even if Biden or Gillibrand or Beto aren’t the nominee.
“The GOP is working to make sure that you cannot vote for your leaders. Are you going to stand for that?…”
Cheers,
Scott.
OzarkHillbilly
@Quinerly: I was the *most hated* man in Bourbon for 10 years or so, I know Crawford Co well. It has it’s bright spots, few and far between tho they may be.
** most hated is probably a bit hyperbolic but I was probably subjected to the most death threats for a couple years.
MomSense
Scotian, Eric and Emma, Imm and Immp – thinking of you today. Sending healing and strength to you. Hope you can check in and let us know how you are holding up. We are all rooting for you!!!
Dorothy A. Winsor
@OzarkHillbilly:
That’s the OH we know and love.
Betty Cracker
@MomSense: I went to high school in the same province of Redneckistan in which I now reside, but my high school peers reacted very differently than yours to the Ron and Nancy video. It was greeted by near-universal jeering IIRC. (I was probably stoned during assembly though, so grain of salt…)
OzarkHillbilly
@Quinerly: Still basking in the afterglow.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
from 528, Collins has almost 3X as much as Gideon, but IIANM that doesn’t include the Anybody But Collins fund, which IIRC is about $3M. Also probably wouldn’t include Koch/Mercer/etc money, would it? Surprised to see Kelly way up in $$ over McSally, and that race listed as toss-up
OzarkHillbilly
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Not possible. You know the saying, “To know is to love”? I am the exception to that rule.
Gin & Tonic
@NotMax: Yeah, no. I’m going to hold out for quahog ice cream.
MomSense
@Betty Cracker:
I wish I had been stoned. I looked around at all the Alex P Keatons nodding their heads in agreement and wished for a tidal wave.
Kay
@MomSense:
Right, they’re subjected to a lot of junk, but do they have to be subjected to providing an audience for white supremicists to launder their “brand”? This is about who they are as human beings, those children. Birtherism was about denying Obama’s status as a human being. It wasn’t subtle (unless you’re a multimillionaire CNN personality- they took two years to get it). It said “you’re not a real person and you don’t belong here”.
Should that be IN their fucking school, a place they MUST be? It isn’t a college campus. They can’t look away. In what possible way would that benefit them, and shouldn’t they get something out of it?
NotMax
@Gin & Tonic
Pales in comparison to snail ripple.
;)
OzarkHillbilly
@Gin & Tonic: I’m holding out for Ocelot Nose ice cream.
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
Ya gotta try the Chunky Donkey.
rikyrah
@Baud:
He is the poster boy for FLIGHT RISK.
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: “Man, I got so drunk last night I blew chunks…”
“Don’t worry, dude; we’ve all done that at some point”
“You don’t understand, Chunks is my dog…”
rikyrah
@Kay:
Kamala is out here building her own.
rikyrah
@MomSense:
Never forget…HOTUS is the Birther Trophy Wife.
Tony Jay
@Baud:
You should know you’ll always have the heartfelt support and sadly irrelevant loyalty of the BJ International Desk.
Not Voting – Just Cheering
Just One More Canuck
@Baud: Baud 2020!!! Vote for the imperialist running dog!
mrmoshpotato
@SFAW:
Negative probability now counts as a chance? :)
Gin & Tonic
@OzarkHillbilly: Get in touch with these folks.
Kay
@Another Scott:
You can break it up any way you want, you’re talking about state suppression of voting- that’s a group- but I’m just saying the centrists have the same burden as the Lefties. They have to show me who their voters are and how they are going to get them voted. Some of these states are non-negotiable. They have to be won. We can bitch all we want but Michigan and Pennsylvania have to be won, because there’s nothing to replace them. It always comes down to putting together pieces for Democrats. All Biden is showing me is some vague “appeal” and he seems to think that’s enough. It’s not enough. Obama knew it wasn’t enough. He was like “I need 15k in THIS county in Wisconsin” – that’s what all that organizing was about. They were counting. We got an actual number with Obama- 8000. That’s what this county had to contribute in votes. They had thousands of those numbers. It’s a HUGE job.
mrmoshpotato
@Tony Jay: @Baud: Baud 2020! An Illegally International Campaign
p.a.
Civet coffee ice cream. It HAS to have been done.
I’ve had Cabernet ice cream. Quite nice. I don’t know if they use bottle cab or some low alcohol concoction, but the texture was a bit like soft serve.
tokyokie
@SRW1: Berlusconi would be my guess as well. And he’s the closest contemporary figure to Trump in terms of corruption that a Western democracy has produced.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: Do reporters even ask Ivanka or Melania about their racist father/husband’s racist statements anymore? Haven’t seen any quotes from them regarding the latest outbursts, but I may have just missed it.
Melania seals herself off wherever she lives (White House? in her “chain migration” parents’ no-doubt opulent estate? Who knows?) and doesn’t expose herself to the media all that much. So there are probably few opportunities to ask the “Be Best” anti-internet bullying ambassador how she feels about her husband tweeting racist lies to gin up death threats against members of congress.
But I know the White House is still trotting Ivanka out to take credit for worker training programs or, preposterously, to assert she has something to do with “women’s empowerment.” Maybe someone should ask her about the latest racist garbage directed at women with actual jobs. I don’t see any reason Ivanka should be immune to questioning since she voluntarily took a White House “job.”
Quinerly
@MomSense: ??❤️??
chris
@Tony Jay: Seconded!
rikyrah
@Kay:
Collins has voted in lockstep with the awful judicial nominees. Wish a PAC would just put ads over the air for every awful decision these judges have made since confirmation and attach her vote to them.
Kay
@rikyrah:
I hope so. IMO, AA mayors are underrated as organizers but Obama knew they had constituencies who could be mobilized. When I went to the ’08 convention I was in the Ohio group and three Ohio AA mayors were given this place of prominence because everyone knew how important they were – not in a “first AA President” historical way, but in a very practical turn out way. Clinton had rural county chairs but Obama had mayors, and in Ohio one needs mayors more than rural county chairs. I imagine the same is true in PA, although maybe not Michigan, which is a weird spread out state :)
rikyrah
@Quinerly:
Morning to Poco and the tribe :)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@rikyrah: I’ll defer to MomSense and other locals on the politics on the ground, but in ’96 Collins campaigned on a self-imposed term-limit of two. She’s currently running for her fifth term. That kind of thing can sometimes soften up a candidate, and force her to say “You need to send me back to Washington to help Donald trump advance his agenda, to put more Kavangaghs on the Supreme Court”
ETA: and her political patron Bill Cohen was almost in tears on TV a few months back, when he and a bunch other retired Senators signed some too carefully phrased, almost anti-trump manifesto. If he doesn’t campaign for Collins opponent, we’ll know he was full of shit. I know what I’d bet on.
Kay
@rikyrah:
I’m thrilled she’s unpopular. Well deserved and long time coming. I’ve been sick of her act for years.
I saw she and Murkowski denounced the Trump Administration racism. Big deal. Just talk. Blah, blah, blah.
rikyrah
Trump cranks up racist demagoguery in latest distraction gambit
Rachel Maddow looks at reports that Donald Trump is pleased with the divisive fire he has set in American politics and notes that Trump commonly uses racist demagoguery and other outrageous stunts to distract Americans and the media from things that are causing him greater anxiety than mere controversy.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Did they say racism, or some mealy-mouthed “divisive rhetoric from both sides” crap?
Gin & Tonic
@rikyrah: Here’s video from his next MAGA rally.
Eolirin
@Kay: I think if Warren or Harris are going to win the nomination, it’s going to be on the back of that kind of effort. Biden can probably take it if no one really puts that kind of work in. And I think if it comes down to Warren or Harris it’s going come down to which one of them is better at it.
So I hope, and expect, the primary will help select for that. Whether whoever comes out is anywhere near Obama level good is something else though.
We also have more background organizing through activist groups going on now than we’ve had in a long time I think. 2018 showed signs of mobilization that seemed to me to transcend individual campaigns. It’s not the labor union driven politicial machines, but it’s something. Whether it’ll be durable post Trump is another big open question.
rikyrah
Prospect of jail could move Epstein to offer up other names
Rachel Maddow explains the prosecution’s case that Jeffrey Epstein is a flight risk and should not be allowed out on bail while he awaits trial on sex trafficking charges. The prospect of what Epstein might offer to avoid jail may be weighing on his past friends.
Quinerly
Read.
https://news.yahoo.com/had-nobel-prize-trump-learns-yazidi-activist-murad-232042464.html?soc_src=hl-viewer&soc_trk=tw
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
They mostly stick Ivanka with DeVos, because it’s just kids and literally anyone can “work” on their unimportant issues. Low priority. Stick any hack who needs a job in that slot. I don’t think reporting on education is a prestige job in media. They have a rigid, conventional, prestige “ranking” and issues that pertain to children are not respected as serious. That’s “mommy” stuff- not like intoning on the constitution or foreign policy. That’s for daddies.
Republicans and media used to admit this ranking. Remember how all “kitchen table” issues were relegated to the “Mommy Party”, which was Democrats? That actually happened. They did that.
rikyrah
Loose ends left in Cohen case; judge set to unseal new details
Rachel Maddow reports on the compelling foreshadowing by the judge in the Michael Cohen case ahead of the unsealing of previously redacted parts of the case, and notes the curious disconnect between the number of wrongdoings by others exposed by the Cohen case and the fact that the case is reportedly being closed without further charges.
Quinerly
@rikyrah: right back at you. ?
rikyrah
NM to send evidence of Epstein survivor victims to NY prosecutors
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas confirms to Rachel Maddow that investigators in his state looking into Jeffrey Epstein’s ranch there have communicated with people who say they were victims of Epstein and will be communicating that evidence to prosecutors in New York.
rikyrah
Record shows close Donald Trump relationship with Jeffrey Epstein
Rachel Maddow reviews the well-documented evidence of Donald Trump’s close relationship with sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, evidence that may be freaking Trump out a little as the new case against Epstein builds momentum.
Hoodie
@Kay: Obama did a lot of little things that added up to lot, particularly in the 2008 primaries. His organization helped him do well in Iowa, which he was able to used to leverage the practical black vote away from Clinton in SC (with some help from B. Clinton). From then on, Obama was able to take advantage of the historic moment of being the first non-white with a realistic chance of becoming president. Obama also used the caucus system in some states very effectively, while Clinton was unprepared.
The general election was a different story. Obama had the advantage of enthusiasm in the African American base (worked here in NC), and a tail wind from an economic catastrophe and a disaster of second Bush term.
Honestly, I think the best thing to do is just constantly hammer on Trump’s negatives. A lot of people are average schmuck risk averse voters who only turn out when they feel threatened, and Trump scares the hell out of a lot of them, especially when he gets in this Klan rally mode. I don’t think a lot of the marginal voters you’re looking for to put you over the top are going to be wanting any big social or economic revolution because, by their very nature, they are risk averse. Odds are that the economy is going to be softening next year, which only increases their risk aversion. So, if you keep Trump’s outrages as a constant theme, that keeps the base riled up and scares the mushy middle into wanting to get rid of him. Pick a “nice” candidate who doesn’t have some scary big reform agenda, but with enough of an edge to be good at getting under Trump’s skin. Harris is probably best suited for this of all the current top tier candidates, but that’s what I’ll be looking at in the upcoming debates in case someone else emerges. Let Trump kill himself and take the GOP with him.
OT, saw Jamie Raskin last night on MSNBC talking about impeachment resolutions. That guy is really smart and a good communicator, he definitely should be a candidate for managing any impeachment inquiry.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I was listening, but I also thought he explained the thinking behind what the Dems are doing well. I’m team Pelosi, but she’s a backroom pol (and I mean that as a compliment), and should avoid giving unprepared remarks to pundits (like Maureen Fcuking Dowd)
Uncle Cosmo
@OzarkHillbilly: Congratulations, let us present you with the Thomas E. Dewey Memorial Trophy. (“You have to know Tom Dewey well to hate him” – a remark credited to the widow of Kenneth Slmpson, GOP national committeman from New York.) The award is a faux-brass statuette in the size & shape of “the little man atop the wedding cake” (Alice Roosevelt Longworth).
satby
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
She’s arguing because she’s uncomfortable, and I feel it’s incumbent on me to discomfort the conservatives whenever possible. Occasionally it may lead them to questions, but I don’t expect it. Don’t know if you saw that discussion, but it’s under that Guardian article I shared about the racist in chief.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
That is the most interesting thing I have ever heard about Dewey. My father has a short bio on his bookshelf, he said it was interesting. Maybe I’ll finally borrow it.
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
Shit like this happens constantly with DeVos and Ivanka. Two weeks ago they took credit for an apprencticeship program that was utterly and completely OBAMAS. It gets no coverage because covering “education” is low status in media.
They don’t know this place was used to illustrate how teachers in SC are underpaid because they don’t read or prepare or do any actual work. They don’t think they have to because they have absolute contempt for people who actually put effort into these issues. It’s the arrogance of NOT KNOWING anything and assuming you can do anything.
Low quality work. That’s all this is. There’s no real effort or thought put into any of it. They got away with it their whole lives because they are privileged and they were surrounded by people who told them they were extraordinary, and they’re not. They’re just bottom of the barrel hires who are only there because of an accident of birth.
Quinerly
Epstein doesn’t wear the same shirt twice. And, yes, this IT contractor has regrets over working for him. $400,000 later.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/contractor-jeffrey-epstein-quit-concerns-revealing-pictures-topless/story?id=64406022
PAM Dirac
@Hoodie:
Raskin is my representative. Might not be next time, but with the Supreme Court decision I don’t know if Maryland is going to go though with the redistricting plans. I saw him a fair amount in 2018. He came out to support a lot of local candidates. He knew his seat was safe and even said to donate money to the local candidates, he had enough. He really came off a someone who isn’t afraid to grind out the work that needs to be done, even if it isn’t stuff that will attract media glory.
Kay
@Hoodie:
I have this new crackpot theory (I have a million of them!) that the generic congressional ballot matters, so I looked. Obama was + 9 D in 08 and Clinton was + 1 D in 16, which is even.
D’s are + 9 right now. Which is good, if they can hold or expand it. Pursuant to my crackpot theory. Obama did have tailwinds. Good point.
I actually think Pelosi probably keeps an eye on Congressional D numbers. I don’t know why she wouldn’t. That’s part of why I give her more leeway than many. She has a specific area.
Kay
@Hoodie:
And I would like Democrats to do more of that. Focus on their respective areas as part of a team. I think it would work better. Pelosis political area is House D’s- keeping a majority. I know this makes everyone mad and they want to go to broad strokes but I don’t think they should. Split up the work. Specialize.
rikyrah
Trump cruelty policy provokes protests from religious groups
Rachel Maddow reports on another shocking story of Trump administration cruelty to immigrant children in which a 3-year-old was made to choose which parent would be deported, and Jewish and Catholic groups organizing protests against Trump’s policies.
Zzyzx
@Baud: sorry so late. The front page post from yesterday saying that the impeachment no vote was some incredible win for Trump. In a matter of hours it’s off the news in favor of covering that chant.
Barbara
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: She is Exhibit A for my belief that “everything Trump touches turns to shit” is too simplistic, the truth really is, “Trump’s touch exposes the shit that was always lurking beneath the surface.” She is weak, unprincipled and, maybe worst of all, allows herself to be deluded by her own wishful thinking.
Barbara
@Zzyzx: I didn’t participate in that thread but I would like to observe that it’s probably wrong to try to amplify the importance of every symbolic or procedural vote, on impeachment or anything else. It’s allowing yourself to spend way too much time and energy arguing over the importance of things.
Kay
@Hoodie:
This is entirely anecdotal but one of my sisters is a “centrist” D- a “Party person” as they say around here and SHE is now backing impeachment because she just thinks the lawlessness has reached a terrifying tipping point. That brought me up short a little, because she’s really transactional, and she’s now at “fuck it- roll the dice- it’s the right thing to do”
MomSense
@Kay:
I’m expecting MAGA Youth chapters. You know it’s coming.
Another Scott
@Quinerly: Pence is (most likely) the one pushing the religious persecution angle (with Pompeo). Donnie obviously doesn’t care one bit. There’s no money-making angle in it for him, so he doesn’t care.
Cheers,
Scott.
Tony Jay
@mrmoshpotato:
BAUD 2020 – FOREIGN DONATION CENTRE
“It’s Not a Crime If You Don’t Have to Do Time”
the Conster
@Villago Delenda Est:
Is this the same media we’re supposed to put all our faith in to cover *impeachment* hearings 24/7 with the proper amount of earnest due diligence so that those mythical low-information voters who have somehow avoided all the reporting of Trump’s treason and crimes will wake up and storm Mitch McConnell’s office demanding a Senate conviction?
Mandalay
@Betty Cracker:
They don’t AFAIK, but what would be the point anyway?..
– I despise those Trumps as much as anyone here, but it’s tacky, and very low journalism, to ask anyone to badmouth their husband/father in front of a camera, even if the reporter lamely tries to link it to Melania’s anti-bullying campaign or Ivanka’s empowerment of women nonsense.
– It could easily backfire.
– I don’t have the slightest doubt that Trump might try to fuck up the life of any reporter who seriously embarrassed his wife or daughter.
The people to aggressively ask about Trump’s racist statements are the cowardly Republicans in Congress. They are fair game, but are not going to willingly expose themselves to hostile questions.
rikyrah
@Another Scott:
I thought it was obvious from the get go that all the religiously based hatred stuff, especially targeting the LGBT community is ALL Pence based.
Why do people forget that interview that Kasich did, telling what Dolt45 offered him to be VP. That basically, Dolt45 would be ‘ Chairman of the Board’, but that Kasich, as VP, could handle the day to day stuff. WHY do we think it’s any different with Pence? ALL the religious stuff has Pence written all over it. The targeting of Trans folks. The attempt to erase gay families by invalidating their adoptions. …Smells of Pence.
Kay
@MomSense:
Agreed. AOC said it was bad for black and brown kids and she’s right, but it’s also bad for white kids because these sleazebags are going to go back to their lives as private sector crooks at some point and those kids will (still) all be Americans and the Trump Administration behavior is actually unacceptable in an ordinary workplace. They can’t behave as poorly as the Trump Family and Administration when they are ordinary adults who have to meet bare minimum societal standards. I’m not fucking hiring any of these people and I live in rural Ohio. About 20% of my customers are Latinos. I can’t have “go back to where you came from”. I don’t want that and I won’t have it. It’s bad. If I can do better than that here as far as employees who aren’t horrible assholes anyone can, anywhere.
Hoodie
@Kay: Most centrists I know are just risk averse people in the “can’t we just all get along?” vein. They only tip when things start to scare them. I was talking about this with my son last night. I think a big reason for Obama’s success is the guy is so freaking calm and reassuring, the whole no drama thing. That alone was reassuring to a lot of centrists, irrespective of policies. Looking back, a lot of the most popular presidents just had good temperaments, even if they weren’t all that successful from a policy point of view. Ultimately, the presidency is an executive job, not a policy position. Most people don’t want a scary president.
Getting back to Trump, he is becoming scarier by the day, so we may be to the point where normally disengaged voters will want to get rid of him like a bad date, the kind that may have seemed intriguing at one point but turns out to be a creep. That doesn’t mean they want to sign on to ending private health insurance.
Gin & Tonic
@MomSense: Proud Boys. Already here.
Another Scott
Reuters has the least surprising story, ever:
IOW, “Donnie says only he can fix it, so I’ll ignore my own lying eyes,” probably.
Obama saved the RV industry in Indiana, but they decided that they’d vote for Rmoney and the Teabaggers and Donnie instead. The industry is shrinking again, but they refuse to see that GOP policies have anything to do with it. They’ll (most likely) overwhelmingly vote for Donnie and his minions again unless they wake up… I won’t hold my breath.
Cheers,
Scott.
frosty
@Kay: “We got an actual number with Obama- 8000. That’s what this county had to contribute in votes. “
Exactly. Our precinct captain said the same thing a little differently. “If our county goes 34% Democratic we’ll take PA.” We were a couple points higher and we did. Meanwhile I’m depressed as hell about it – 34% is good???
James E Powell
@Baud:
If Jeffrey Epstein can depart for a country that doesn’t have extradition, why wouldn’t he?
Also, and this is because I’ve seen too many movies, does Epstein have reason to fear for his life?
rikyrah
EEEEEKKKK!!!
Nearly 100 Types of Hummus Recalled for Potential Listeria Contamination
By Cookinglight.com
They have the entire list of the brands at the link.
rikyrah
@James E Powell:
His co-conspirators/clients/blackmail victims….
Betty Cracker
@Mandalay: I see it differently because they volunteered for these jobs, especially Ivanka, who has ensconced herself in a West Wing office. She’s as much fair game as any elected Republican in my book — perhaps even more so since we can’t unelect her — and since she pretends to serve women and POC in her “job,” her attitude toward her father’s racist/misogynist statements is pertinent, IMO.
different-church-lady
It occurs to me: Going by 20th century mythology, Trump is the most UN-American president we’ve ever had. The supposition is that America was built on a foundation of inclusiveness and tolerance. Trump is trying to undo “The Melting Pot.”
Someone who is a better wordsmith than I ought to take this and turn it into campaign material. “Trump: against American values.” Take patriotism back.
Yes, the obviously reality is a hell of a lot more complicated (and ugly) than the mythology, but to hell with it, grab the fuckin’ mic and work all that shit they drummed into us in grade school.
Kay
@frosty:
That’s a hard truth but it’s exactly the way I think so I was suited to it. I completely believe in inches :)
I saw it work once, after ’08, for a school levy. They gave me “these east side precincts” and that’s all I did. I love that! My thing will be perfect :)
I also don’t mind, at all, being a political minority. I kind of revel in it, honestly. I think you have to be confident and solid in your beliefs which is why I find all this conservative whining about how everyone doesn’t love them enough amusing. A lot of liberals live in their areas. We’re not demanding to be loved.
the Conster
@Another Scott:
When are we going to accept as a country that the majority of white people – at least the ones who vote – will pay ANY PRICE for white supremacy? That they’re NOT voting against their interests, at all. THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT, and hopefully are going to get it good and hard.
Kay
@frosty:
I read that Tiffany Trump is mad because she has some bug up her ass about how “Google” – the search engine- isn’t subservient enough to her father.
So, a gross moron too, and another one who petulantly demands we LOVE her. They’re so fucking needy. Go get a life Tiffany. Make yourself useful. We don’t owe you shit. It’s not enough that they’re mean-spirited assholes, they’re mean spirited assholes who insist that everyone love and admire them. No. You’re bad.
Another Scott
In other news, Twitter:
Good, good. More please.
I’m sure that too many savvy commentators will dismiss this as just “pointless virtue signalling”, but this is good. Nancy knows how to do politics. Let real people (especially women!) know that they’re passing good bills that will actually help them (especially women!), and that the GOP is blocking them. It’s not a panacea, but it’s how to fight against Donnie’s distractions.
Cheers,
Scott.
James E Powell
@Betty Cracker:
There is no reasonable explanation for the deference that the press/media give to Ivanka and Jared. They would never do it for any Democrat. Imagine if Hillary Clinton had won and then hired Chelsea and Marc Mezvinsky for any position. The New York Times would have gone DefCon1.
the Conster
@James E Powell:
Is this the same media that will give deference to Democratic hearings on all of Trump’s crimes? Like the skepticism shown with Barr’s summary of the Mueller Report?
Omnes Omnibus
@satby:
I really do not understand why people have long drawn-out political fights on FB. Hide the fucker’s feed. With only a couple of exceptions, my FB friends are people I know and like IRL. I very seldom get the fake news articles that I am told are out there and my feed seldom sees political arguments. Part of that is probably due to the fact that most of my circle of family and friends are Democrats. I do get message from FB more of less telling me that I am Facebooking wrong and that I should check out blah blah blah. FB also keeps suggesting friends of friends as people I may want to add including a bunch of people I suspect to be commenters here. Given the agita that many of you seem to experience with your FB accounts, I will stick to my method and simply use it to keep up with people i know. No offense intended toward anyone here.
Barbara
@Omnes Omnibus: I barely look at FB anymore and have never accepted friend requests except from people I know IRL as more than just casual acquaintances. Part of that is so that I feel free to say things without precipitating nastygrams. Even so, I see what some people (e.g., my husband’s nephew) post and wonder what they think of me.
Gravenstone
@Amir Khalid: Jim Webb (politician) and Jimmy Webb (song writer) are not the same fellow.
Citizen Alan
@Another Scott:
I want Elkhart, Indiana to be a fucking ghost town. I want it to be completely devoid of people under the age of 35 and dominated by bitter old people who complain endlessly about Democrats while they stand in line for food stamps.
Raven Onthill
The AP published an opinion piece entitled Trump v. Dems: ‘Racist’ and ‘socialist’ lines drawn for 2020. Not health care. Not foreign policy. Not the Supreme Court. Racism vs. socialism.
My local newspaper front-paged this opinion piece.
Good job.
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: I am hardly on FB anymore these days, because I’ve been putting off culling down my list of “friends”. Bleccch.
That said, you are one of the jackals I wish I actually had in my feed, I am sure I would find it tres amusant.
Ksmiami
@MomSense: if it happens we fight. I’m there
Ksmiami
@Citizen Alan: I just want them to die of obesity and opioid addiction then cut of federal funding but that’s just me
J R in WV
@rikyrah:
Quoted for truth!! You and Marcus are on track today!! Despicable Deplorables!!
misterpuff
@SFAW: And then the Thugs would impeach him.