Warren typically does everything she can to avoid criticizing the other candidates. Looks like that’s changing with Bloomberg’s entrance into the race –> https://t.co/9obomZ8SaJ
— Kevin Robillard (@Robillard) November 25, 2019
Mike Bloomberg did enter the presidential race, after all. But he’s given my favorite candidate a very useful punching bag, so there’s that.
I’d be more concerned if I had the impression that this was actually about Bloomberg winning the Democratic primaries, and not just trolling his old NYC enemy…
NEW — @MikeBloomberg in first TV ad touts his bio & targets Trump.
Ad closes with “jobs creator, leader, problem solved. Mike Bloomberg for president.” pic.twitter.com/Bd6O00uGDH
— Kendall Karson (@kendallkarson) November 24, 2019
“I’m Mike Bloomberg, and I’m everything the current Oval Office occupant pretends to be. Choke on it, Rich Man’s Failed Kid.”
… Not to mention, the celebrity-chasing horse-race media:
After standing outside @Mike2020’s HQ for 14 hours, ?@MikeBloomberg? surprised reporters and walked out the front door. I asked him if he’s excited to be in the race as he was getting into his car pic.twitter.com/fNi9r9IEUL
— Christopher Donato (@chrisdonato04) November 25, 2019
We're about to see how much money can buy cause prior to him getting in Bloomberg's polling is not good to put it mildly.
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) November 24, 2019
This should move him in the polls from 0.00903% to maybe all the way up to 0.01004% https://t.co/ep0o1DMQGA
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) November 24, 2019
He probably doesn't, which is one of a number of reasons why this whole thing is implausible and why the tone of the press coverage is too credulous this morning. https://t.co/qSJbDbYpYy
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 24, 2019
Seriously, the guys hate each other. Good story, from back in January:
Mike Bloomberg on Trump just now, "I think I know how to beat him. I have beaten him a number of times before."
For the best read on the relationship of the two Manhattan big shots, read @postkranish https://t.co/iz1kxZWJna
— michaelscherer (@michaelscherer) November 25, 2019
… For more than a decade, the two New York billionaires appeared together at charity golf events, ribbon cuttings and even on Trump’s reality television shows, a relationship of political and business convenience if not genuine friendship.
The alliance imploded the moment Trump launched his bid for the White House in 2015, exposing raw differences of policy and personality that have become only more stark as President Trump has carried out a series of measures that are politically anathema to Bloomberg, such as withdrawing from a deal to combat global warming.
Trump, in an interview this week with The Washington Post, said, “I really liked Michael and I think he liked me, but it went really strangely haywire once I ran for office.” He said Bloomberg did not care about his political views when he was merely a New York City developer, but now “he probably doesn’t like my policies. I’m for guns, he’s against guns . . . A developer is a lot different than as a candidate.”…
Bloomberg, in a brief interview this week during a visit to the first-primary state of New Hampshire, said, “My objection to Donald Trump is the way he’s filling his current role, in terms of representing the country, in terms of representing the public. There’s an attitude, and a style, and lack of civility that I think is bad for the country, and I find offensive.”…
While both are among the wealthiest Americans, Bloomberg is much richer. Bloomberg ranks tenth on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans, with $52 billion, compared with Trump, ranked 259th with $3.1 billion.
Rep. Peter T. King, a New York Republican who was reelected last year with fundraising help from Bloomberg even though he continues to support Trump, said the battle of billionaires has gotten deeply personal…
Hey, Pete ‘the Mucker’ King has already announced he won’t run for reelection. Wonder if he could be persuaded (by a sufficient consultant’s fee) to air his personal disappointment at the many failures of the Trump administration?…
Probably too much to fantasize. But if Mike wants to spend what amounts to couch change doing media, paid & otherwise, pointing out that Trump is a two-bit wad-of-singles bigmouth who’s broken or bankrupted everything he’s every done, then you go get ‘im, Mr. Bloomberg. Just make sure your aides forward all the nastiest clips directly to the WH.
Bloomberg’s campaign is what happens when a billionaire nurtures an abiding confidence that he’ll be president one day, along with the enabling conviction that at some point the world would call upon him to run. And then it doesn’t. But mortality is creeping, so you do it anyway.
— Adam Jentleson ?????? (@AJentleson) November 26, 2019
satby
BLECH
OzarkHillbilly
Bloomberg running against trump for President. What more proof is necessary that we need a wealth tax?
<a href=”#comment-7486996″>@satby</a>: Indeed.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
Jim, Foolish Literalist
There’s some fun to be had in knowing that every time somebody calls Bloomberg a real billionaire, it’s gonna get into the folds of trump’s brain like a large and sharp grain of sand, but how much is MB paying Wolfson and O’Brien to tell him that the Democrats and GE voters are just dying for a President who thinks people like him pay too much in taxes and the social safety net is too strong?
So basically, a pro-choice, pro-climate Mitt Romney, with less charm and an actually larger sense of entitlement.
WereBear
I will give Bloomberg this: he actually invented something and made his money semi-honestly. Unlike:
Jeffrey Epstein: insider trading and blackmail
Elon Musk: Family stole an emerald mine from their country.
Facebook idiot: Russian cash!
and so forth. These are only ELITE criminals, and just look at the competition.
RICO the lot of them!
(((CassandraLeo)))
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Eh, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it, personally. It’s not like Mike will even notice the money he spends on this campaign. As for the sycophants – if it weren’t those dudes, it’d be someone else. Whatever.
Ceterum censeo factionem Republicanam esse delendam.
David ??Booooooo?? Koch
Being Mayor is a hellva drug.
Lindsey ran for president.
Koch was dying for a presidential run, but Cuomo defeated him for Governor in 82, which Koch wanted to use as a stepping stone.
Ghouliani ran for president
De Blasio ran for president
and Bloomberg always wanted to run for president.
I’m sure, ten years from now, the next Mayor will run for president.
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@David ??Booooooo?? Koch: As is said about Senators, NYC mayors look into the mirror each and every morning and President [insert mayor’s name here].
Quinerly
@rikyrah: Good Morning from Poco and his chauffeur!
OzarkHillbilly
Keystone XL: police discussed stopping anti-pipeline activists ‘by any means’
?BillinGlendaleCA
We’re getting ready for the rain to arrive, probably by this time tomorrow morning. They say that the snow level should get down to 2,000 feet by Friday morning.
Betty Cracker
Bloomberg is 77 years old.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Ok Bloomberg.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: What do you call a gaggle of old white guys who are running for president? Besides “entitled”, of course.
germy
“Okay, I was wrong”
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: OK Boomerberg?
Joe Falco
Since this is an open thread, I’m up earlier than usual making a dish for a potluck at work. I’m trying out a recipe for roasted root vegetables (parsnips, carrots, butternut squash and turnips). Veggies are almost halfway done and I’m making an apple cider glaze to mix into it once it’s all done.
Butter Emails
Are we sure that Bloomberg isn’t a secret Warren fan? Her campaign stalls, Buttigieg starts to climb in Iowa and New Hampshire and here’s Mike Bloomberg riding in with his vote for me, I’m sorta like Trump but actually rich.
germy
@Betty Cracker:
In Billionaire Years, that makes him about 55.
Baud
@germy:
A republican saying he was wrong about a conspiracy theory is pretty big news. We should have a holiday today to contemplate what this means.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Maybe we could call it Thanksgiving.
germy
@WaterGirl:
A “shame”
germy
Question for the handy:
Does the main water supply for an entire house need to be shut off before one can install a new toilet?
Nicole
Funny how Warren having been a registered Republican in the 1990s was worthy of Twitter outrage, and yet, as far as I can tell, no one cares that Bloomberg was a Republican when he ran for Mayor the first time, and then registered as Independent at some point. He’s never held elected office as a Democrat.
I am aware he was a registered Democrat prior to wanting to be Mayor- he knew he’d never make it through the Democratic primary in NYC. So he switched parties to game the system, just like he gamed the system when he ran for the third term.
But I guess that’s okay because he’s a man.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@germy: You should just be able to shut off the valve behind the toilet. Now if you’re replacing that valve, then you’d need to shut off the house water supply.
Baud
@germy: No.
@Nicole: I think it’s because he’s not running as a progressive and no one thinks he has a shot.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
A better answer.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: I’ve replaced a number of toilets.
germy
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Thank you, And thank you, Baud.
Unfortunately, in this old house, every time a valve gets turned off or on, it ends up needing to be replaced.
I need Bloomberg to throw some money at me.
OzarkHillbilly
@germy: Generally there is a shut off valve behind and below the toilet on the water line feeding it. If you don’t see one there, you have to turn off the water where the main comes into the house. Presuming you have a valve there. If you don’t have one there, it has to be shut off at the standpipe outside with a street key.
PPCLI
@Baud: Spreads the disinfo on Fox, covers his ass on CNN, which Fox voters never watch and reflexively dismiss as fake news… Kennedy is a pro at this.
The man has a postgraduate law degree from Oxford, he’s no amateur in the sleazy propagandizing department.
germy
@OzarkHillbilly:
This old house seemed like a good idea at the time.
debbie
@germy:
And the condemnatory tweets from Trump will start when? //
OzarkHillbilly
@germy:
A quite common occurrence, especially if one has hard water.
debbie
@germy:
A pathetic disappointment.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I’ve worked on a few but have never had the confidence to replace them myself.
Baud
@PPCLI:
Good point.
debbie
Okay, I have a question. Nunes was hitting up Ukraine about Biden in late 2018. Google tells me Biden announced his candidacy on April 25, 2019. Was this preemptive oppo research? Seems too forward-thinking to be true.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@germy: I believe the proper term at this here blog is “This fucking old house”.
Ken
@germy: But will it last, or will he revert after a “golf outing” with Trump?
Which reminds me, has he played golf since his “medical exam”? Skipping that would be definite evidence that he’s had a significant medical event – aside from his enjoyment of it, those golf trips represent a major source of income for his failing properties, what with charges to the Secret Service for rooms, meals, greens fees…
germy
@OzarkHillbilly: Our water is about as hard as it gets.
I need to soak our shower head in vinegar about once a month.
debbie
@germy:
My water’s so hard, my jade plants have white mineral deposits coming out of their pores. :(
OzarkHillbilly
@germy: I love old buildings, they have… personality. Yeah that’s the word. But I never liked working on them. Not only because you couldn’t always tell what you were getting into before you started, but because quite often the last 3 people to work on it had fucked up while trying to fix the previous person’s fuck up because none of them knew what they were doing.
Plumbing story: I had a 2 family flat in STL that was built in the 1890s. It did not have a shut off valve in the house. So I called a plumber. Smart move. The main was as old as the building: a 1 1/2″ lead pipe. The outside shut off valve was just as old. The plumber could get it almost shut off, but not quite. So as he tried to sweat the valve onto the pipe he had to battle constantly rising water. Took him forever.
I forget how much he charged me for it but I remember thinking it was cheap at twice the price.
debbie
Good luck to holiday travelers. If the live video of the very long lines at the airport at 6 a.m. is an indication of what’s to come, it’s going to be a bitch getting anywhere.
Baud
@debbie:
People were talking about him running well before he announced.
Chyron HR
@Nicole:
Oh, yeah. Totally. Progressive Twitter can’t get enough of their new favorite candidate (checks notes) Mike Bloomberg.
Immanentize
@WaterGirl: A Coronary of Candidates?
zzyzx
I heard an interesting case for Bloomberg’s run from a source that I didn’t expect. It was that Bloomberg isn’t running to be president. He’s running to use tons of money to attack Trump and since he actually is a billionaire, Trump won’t be able to keep up with it.
I’m not sure if I buy that, but it would be nice if that’s what happens.
Betty Cracker
@Ken: That’s a great question. I think I read somewhere that the shitgibbon will spend Thanksgiving at Disgraceland in Florida, where it will be perfect golfing weather. If he doesn’t hit the links, that’s a big tell…
Betty Cracker
@zzyzx: The campaign launch ad spent approximately a nanosecond on the Trump menace and the other 149.9 seconds extolling the greatness of Bloomberg.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: I suspect he was just trying to set up the “Ukrainians were the real interference in the 2016 election” conspiracy at that point.
@germy: We’re on a well. Our water is about half limestone. The first decision I made when we bought this place was to put in a water softener. The 2nd decision I made, after looking at the parts and reading the directions and looking into the closet where the pump and hot water heater are and the very limited space I had to shoehorn the ws into, was to, you guessed it, call a plumber.
Have I mentioned lately how much I hate plumbing? I hate it a lot.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Agreed. Like they were trying to make something happen.
Immanentize
I took the Immp to a Pot Doc yesterday to start the process of getting a medical marijuana ID card. It is a month long process here starting with a visit to a specialist (regular docs cannot certify one for use), you get a 14 day permit, then you register with the state, they give you another 14 day permit on-line, then send you a plastic permit. We are hoping we can find a solution to his no hunger issue….
zzyzx
@Betty Cracker: That’s still OK but obviously less good. My general philosophy is that as long as he doesn’t go after the real candidates and is just launching a mix of ego boost and Trump hatred, that’s also fine.
Ultimately with him not being on very many ballots, I don’t see him as anything other than a weird option if the Biden/Pete and Warren/Wilmer camps end up so divided that we’re on ballot 253 at the convention and people get desperate.
Gin & Tonic
@Immanentize: From what
I recallpeople tell me, the weed is pretty good at stimulating appetite. Good luck to him.Immanentize
@zzyzx: You forgot DEVAL!!!
Actually, I have it on good authority that BAUD! will win at a brokered convention in ballot number 251.
Immanentize
@Gin & Tonic: The range of products in the medical dispenseries is quite impressive. Because the Immp has, you know, no stomach, they suggested sublingual products (spray, tinctures, even aerosols). Impressive. And a whole different quality than the recreational stuff.
Baud
@Immanentize:
And the cry spread throughout the convention hall, “Fuck it! We’ll go with Baud!”
satby
@Immanentize: hope he finds something that works for him. You’ve both been through so damn much. Virtual hugs.
Immanentize
@Baud: “Let’s get loud! Vote for BAUD!”
Gin & Tonic
Tucker Carlson supporting Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine. Not metaphor. Direct quote: “Why shouldn’t I root for Russia? Which I am.”
The Russian takeover of the Republican party is the greatest propaganda/disinformation success of my lifetime.
Kay
@Nicole:
I care. He campaigned for Bush in 2004. Was a speaker at the GOP convention that year. Then he campaigned for Rick Snyder’s re-election in Michigan. That’s just the two I remember.
This is his whole political philosophy- jumping in to insist Democrats be more like Republicans and when they won’t he backs the Republican. He’s a control freak. It’s not enough just to be a moderate Republican. He sees himself as surveying the political scene and correcting course.
A control freak with an authoritarian bent- no thanks.
Immanentize
@satby: Truth be told, I think the Immp is weathering this all better than I. Youthful resilience is a marvel. But considering all we have been through, we also have so much to be thankful for. Not a bad Thanksgiving really.
Baud
@Gin & Tonic:
Don’t forget extortion and bribery.
Calouste
@?BillinGlendaleCA: IIRC, no New York mayor has ever held higher office. Not President, not Governor, not Senator, not even Representative.
RedDirtGirl
@Nicole: I will never forgive him for taking that 3rd term. Not that I liked him much to begin with, not til he started working on gun violence. SNL nailed it this weekend when they had Fred Armisen (sp?) as Bloomberg say something to the effect of:
”just what we need, a New York Jewish billionaire with his own media empire”.
Betty Cracker
@Gin & Tonic: It really is astonishing. Ronald Reagan was president when I was in high school. Back then, if I found a note from my future self that said the Republican Party would be co-opted by a former KGB agent in the second decade of the 21st century, I would have assumed it was written from a locked facility with padded walls.
OzarkHillbilly
@Gin & Tonic: But he was only kidding! He said so at the end of the show!
Richard Guhl
Bloomberg wants to burn money trashing Trump?
Go for it, Mike!
Better still, he’s investing serious money in voter registration.
He won’t be the nominee, but he can still be quite useful.
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic:
I haven’t even been able to watch this yet. It’s stomach-turning. And the scary part is, he’s telling the truth for once.
Ascap_scab
He doesn’t want to debate anyone in a setting where he can’t control the outcome. That’s why he’ll bombard the airwaves with ads.
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic:
I just watched it. It’s worse than I could have ever imagined. I showed it to my husband, whose jaw is now on the floor.
Emma
@Gin & Tonic:
See, I don’t see it as they being taken in by Russian disinformation. That’s for the rubes. For people like Carlson, Russia offers that mixture of white authoritarianism and racism/anti-Semitism that they crave.
Kay
@Ascap_scab:
Agreed. However. I think he will have more influence than will appear in polls or number of delegates or states won, because he is going to spread his money around and offer it to state parties and causes and they will take it. He’s been doing that for years. His daughter too. She has her own political action committee and her reach extends to state school boards and school boards in larger cities.
JPL
Unless Bloomberg rises in the ranks, he should be ignored. At least Tom Steyer is using his money to go after the idiot in chief.
Butter Emails
@JPL: I think you might want to do a bit of research.
JPL
@Immanentize: You both are amazing in my eyes. I would have gone through a bottle of tums when he went to NYC for a weekend. Next year is gonna be tough but we will be here for you. I have no doubt he will shine when he starts college.
Kristine
Yeah, and then there’s the people dying part.
Ken
@Betty Cracker: There is of course an XKCD for that.
laura
@Baud: Hold up a minute – what that Senator “corrected” was that Russia hacked the DNC server and he went on to AGAIN suggest that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election. He’s still beating the crowdstrike horse.
Kennedy was one of 7 Republican Senators in Moscow on 4th of July. He’s owned and just barely trying to appear to be what hes not – compromised.
JPL
@Butter Emails: Steyer has a great ad about impeachment but then does move into me, me, me..
Jeffro
@Kay: @Kay:
If he really wanted to shake things up, he should have run as what he is – a relatively moderate Republican.
AND
he should also throw a couple hundred million at voter registration/anti-gerrymandering/anti-voter suppression drives.
Chew on THAT, national snooze media! Can you say “game changer” eighty gazillion times? I bet you can…
sherparick
Donald Trump and Stephen Miller need to be prosecuted for murder since their policies on the border are intentionally killing people in U.S. custody. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-11-19/la-na-border-patrol-migrant-flu and https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/migrant-children-us-flu-vaccine-molest-custody-a9072331.html
Gin & Tonic
@laura: He throws red meat to the base on Fox, then sorta walks it back on CNN, which his base will never watch. Mission accomplished.
Butter Emails
@Jeffro: You mean like the 15 to 20 million he’s spending to register voters in key states?
p.a.
Bloomberg’s lament: why o why can’t the Democratic base be stupid like the Republican base.
Butter Emails
@JPL:
I was mainly referring to Bloomberg. He’s already announced additional resources for antitrump campaigns as well as voter registration.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@WaterGirl: I think the old Yiddish word altekockers works well. ( I used to think the second half of that word meant something innocuous like “dogs” but when I asked an elderly Jewish aunt she blushed and refused to translate. Alte means “old”.)
Anyway I think these guys are interchangeable with the groups of altekockers who you see at their regular table every morning. Every cafe has one.
We just need to find these guys their cafe home, sit them down, buy ‘em some coffee and waffles and let ‘em jaw at each other for the next 12 months instead of at us.
OzarkHillbilly
Obviously the problem is we don’t have enough guns in our schools.
OzarkHillbilly
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
I hear Denny’s is a great place for that.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@OzarkHillbilly: I thought the Republicans has solved this problem of horrible school shooting reports by refusing to allow statistics to be collected or reports to be written.
Obviously we need stronger laws against collecting facts.
gene108
@Immanentize:
From having kidney failure, I find I am a lot more relaxed than someone, who is not me – like my mom – is about what’s going on.
I can feel what’s happening with my body and if I am O.K. or not.
Other people just go from it’s bad to worse to I’m going to die
Immanentize
@gene108: I hadn’t thought of it that way. I am observing, he is experiencing. He is pretty good at communication when he doesn’t feel well. Thank you.
Immanentize
@JPL: Tums, shmums! Break out the costly vino.
O. Felix Culpa
@Immanentize: Given that we’re such a caring community, we should set up an Imm GoFundMe costly vino/tums account.
Chris Johnson
“America”
NotMax
@Calouste
DeWitt Clinton (a senator before he was elected mayor) was elected lieutenant governor and also elected governor after being mayor.
Baud
@debbie:
https://www.justsecurity.org/67480/timeline-rep-devin-nunes-and-ukraine-disinformation-efforts/
PQuincy2008
@germy: It’s not a bad idea to turn off the main water before replacing a toilet, since the little valve on the wall at the toilet is often corroded or mineralized. When you try to shut off the water, this valve has a tendency, in my experience, either (a) to leak even when turned off, or (b) to break/freeze/strip when you try to close it.
Depending how old the wall valve is, there’s thus about a 20% chance you will have to replace it, as well as the hose to the toilet and the toilet itself. Replacing the valve is more likely a job for a plumber, though if it’s a screwed on (not soldered on) valve, you can at least try to unscrew it and replace it (with the main water DEFINITELY off first!). Don’t try too hard, as breaking the pipe in the wall escalates the repair another step… if the valve body doesn’t start turning relatively easily when you put a wrench on the valve (this is assuming you tried to close it and it either froze/stripped, or leaks heavily even when closed), don’t try to force it.
So: first step, try closing the valve on the wall behind the toilet, then flush the toilet and see, once it’s empty, if any water comes into the tank. If the water is completely stopped, then you can proceed without turning of the main water (but keep a tray under the valve as it may drip a little even when closed.
NotMax
@PQuincy2008
If replacing a toilet or sink shut-off valve (either yourself or having a plumber do it) suggest opting for one of the newer quarter turn types.
PJ
@debbie: Biden dithered about entering the race this time, as he did in 2016, but polling throughout 2018 consistently showed him beating Trump by a higher margin than other likely Democratic candidates, and a potential Biden campaign was widely discussed in the media. If you peruse back through this here blog, you will also find discussions from 2018 about the wisdom of having Biden as a candidate.
L85NJGT
He was the largest single Democratic donor in 2018 house races – IIRC his PACs won like 21 out of 24 targeted races. They did this by targeting districts with high educational achievement, not engaging in fantasies that Democrats will win back rural regions, industrial labor isn’t fading into history, and most districts are +40 D vote sinks ringing in the revolution.
There seems to be frustration building about a bunch of boobs endlessly arguing about how to fuck up Obamacare, and insisting that Toys R Us wasn’t a hopeless dumpster fire. The entire field seems to be missing that whole vision thing – and as a result not capable of fabricating a winning message & organization.
Chris T.
@debbie: This ought to be the start of a whole series of “my water’s so hard” one-liner jokes: “My water’s so hard … I turn on the garden hose to get a hammer!” “… when we take showers, we have to wear eye protection!”