Here’s the latest cone on Hurricane Elsa. I’ve decided to take comfort in the idea that early tracks are almost always wrong.
Speaking of Florida and always wrong, here’s how a super PAC is pitching FL Governor Ron DeSantis as Trump’s heir, and it’s coincidentally (wink-wink) also how Ron DeSantis is pitching Ron DeSantis as Trump’s heir as he swans around thumping his chest and focusing almost* exclusively on formulating lib-owning solutions to non-existent problems that will be covered on a Fox News “own the libs” segment.
I think this is one of those situations where the reaction depends entirely on preexisting opinions. If you think Florida is a ridiculous, corrupt, lawless, alligator-infested hellhole where some of the very worst people in America live, you’ll find the notion laughable. If you marinate in wingnut media, it makes sense because Florida is where Orange Himself decided to squat officially, and you like that the governor owns the libs on Fox News all the time.
IMO, DeSantis would be worse than Trump because a dumb narcissist is at least predictable, whereas a smart sociopath could get up to mischief an idiot like Donald Trump couldn’t dream up. I oscillate between thinking an arrogant, uncharismatic prick like DeSantis is going nowhere and believing a DeSantis presidency is a terrifyingly real possibility. I’ll take comfort in the idea that the Beltway hacks’ early tracks are almost always wrong.
Open thread!
*Credit where it’s due: DeSantis recently signed an important piece of environmental legislation, though technically we can credit Biden and Democrats for it because it would be mostly meaningless without American Rescue Plan funding.
Spanky
Break out the Sharpie, Betty. I hear they’re magic.
Spanky
I notice Deathsantis doesn’t spend a lot of time swanning around where 150 of his constituents are trapped under rubble. Wonder why that is.
Baud
Make America Florida seems like a good slogan for the pro-climate-change party.
A Ghost to Most
@Baud: Florida: enjoy it while it’s still there.
Lacuna Synecdoche
Betty Cracker @ Top:
That sentence didn’t go where I expected it to. I thought it was going to land like this:
TheOtherHank
Florida may be a “ridiculous, corrupt, lawless, alligator-infested hellhole where some of the very worst people in America live” that is chock-full of nasty non-native species. But I recently found out that capybaras are also numbered among the invaders. So that’s cool. I feel a kinship with them since they’re roundish, hairy, and like the water.
krackenJack
I’d gladly re-use that tag in a general election ad. Collapsing buildings, hurricanes, flooding, concluding with a picture of DeSantis subtitled “Foriduh Man.”
Betty Cracker
@Lacuna Synecdoche: As a lifelong resident, I have a more nuanced view. It is all of those things you quoted. It is also amazingly diverse, breathtakingly beautiful and endlessly surprising.
Lacuna Synecdoche
@Betty Cracker: I’m sure it is. Apologies if I offended, I just couldn’t resist the setup.
Alison Rose
My grandparents moved to Florida when I was in high school (as is the rule for retired New York Jews) and we visited them there, in Delray Beach, a few times. There were a few things I liked but mostly, my mom and I spent the whole time whispering to each other “Oh my God, when the hell do we get to leave???” It’s cliché but the humidity just drove both of us Californians insane. Plus the bugs and the whole “being surrounded by old people” thing.
The flea market was fucking awesome though.
dp
Stay safe!
Betty Cracker
@Lacuna Synecdoche: No offense taken! I complain about it all the time too.
catclub
@Spanky:
What is with sharpies and Alabama?
MattF
This is the order preventing enforcement of that patently unconstitutional Florida social-media law. First Amendment yadda yadda.
ETA: It’s not so much Florida as the ‘Well, y’know, palmetto bugs are actually flying cockroaches’ sort of thing.
Carol
A de Santis/Tim Scott ticket scares me because it has a good chance of winning. Between the likely lethargy of the Democratic left and leaning-D independents, I believe a de Santis/Scott combination has an excellent chance of winning. I believe de Santis would draw enough moderate republicans back “home” and Scott might even siphon off some otherwise D Black voters. And I agree that they would be many levels worse than the orange man if they were to win office.
Fingers crossed that Elsa stays away from you neck of the woods. Stay safe.
Steeplejack
No Sharpie extensions?! How can this be legit?
mmolleur
The thing that separates DeSantis from Cruz, Hawley et al is that he does seem popular with the base, despite you calling him uncharismatic. No single digit ratings for Ron! IMO, he’s got that smarmy obnoxious thing that Trump had; it’s just the racism isn’t front and center. Maybe that’ll be too big a handicap; maybe he’ll move in that direction. When I was a kid, we all thought California was America’s future. Now we realize it’s Florida. PS I love it here despite the fact that the good-ole-boy-real-estate-developer club has done its best to kill off everything good about it.
catclub
@MattF: I thought the exemption in the law – ‘for any social media platform jointly owned with a large Florida theme park’
Hello Disneyworld! was amusing.
rp
Is “Make America Florida” even a good slogan for the base? I would imagine that there are plenty of RW a-holes in places like Texas, Ohio, WVA, etc. who will say “why the hell would I want to be like FL?”
mmolleur
@Spanky DeSantis is on the TeeVee about every other day from Surfside. Just like he was with Coronavirus press conferences daily, till he decided to declare victory and open everything up. He’s definitely Trump’s protégé in that regard.
Martin
I’ve never met a republican that thought favorably of Florida, so it’s an interesting tactic, I’ll give it that.
Tom Levenson
I am so far from expert in this that you can’t see expert from here, but I remember years ago talking to hurricane scientist Kerry Emanuel about his research on storm surges associated with particular coastal geometries. Tampa, which is the target in the track above, is vulnerable if certain conditions of tide and wind coincide. And by vulnerable, I mean, at risk of devastation. That combination remains very unlikely, but not as unlikely as it was before climate change shifted into its current, higher gear, and not impossible.
The worst case: a 38 foot storm surge.
I repeat. I’m not an expert. I’m not a regular reporter on this beat. The last intensive climate change/ weather reporting I did was in the 80s. Don’t listen to me; I’m just a guy who talks to folks who do know stuff. But do listen to actual experts, and as the storm makes it’s direction clear, listen to the people who know hurricanes.
Everyone down that way: if/when the storm people say go, go.
taumaturgo
“The $2500 per seat lobbyist fundraising dinner she’s holding in California in August would indicate she’s gonna keep being trash.” Sinema is a quick learner as she readily understands that she works for Exxon, not the Arizona voters. Corruption is an affliction that pervades both parties.
Splitting Image
A few other people have beaten me to the Sharpie jokes, but the pic at the top is another reminder of how glad I am that the rantings of Orange Himself no longer have a place in the public eye.
Also, stay safe. Hopefully the storm will blow itself out over the sea.
cope
@Betty Cracker: As a 30 year resident who moved here from Colorado (yes, THAT Colorado), you are right about the many and diverse positive aspects of living here. I spent my first few years ranting and railing and hating Florida but once I realized we were here for the long haul, I forced myself to find and appreciate the unique aspects of sub-tropical life. Maybe it was the first time I was snorkeling in the gin clear water of Alexander Spring and surfaced slowly next to a log along the shore on which a three foot alligator was recharging.
In any event, everything bad and good people think about this state is true.
Martin
I am not going to blow wishes regarding the storm. Everyone in FL, please plan, hunker down, evacuate – whatever the safest course of action is. We can’t wish our way out of climate change – we need to act on it. Please all stay safe.
Kay
@Baud:
Niche marketing the whole state as the land of the Trumpsters is a mistake, in my opinion. It doesn’t really matter if it’s true, it’s just dumb to put it in that box.
SiubhanDuinne
@Tom Levenson:
I smell a new Tom Levenson book. I think you’d be incredible on the history of climate change.
The Pale Scot
Nothing planned this weekend?
You could GETTR
Anonymous At Work
Unless you think it’s also gonna hit Category 4, or you live in a mandatory evacuation zone, how DARE YOU think a Tropical Storm is worth considering! (/sarcasm)
The only damage Elsa will do is accelerating the cancelation of official firework celebrations. Private celebrations…well…what can stop drunken yahoos from setting off explosives, provided they still have all their fingers?
taumaturgo
Florida is daily losing ground-literally- to rising sea levels and the tipping point is not in the distant future. Santis has made the calculus that doomsday seems inevitable and he is taking a page from Trump. Why not cash on it while the going still good?
https://gizmodo.com/ron-desantis-signs-a-bill-that-mandates-cities-keep-usi-1847176182
Spanky
@Anonymous At Work: If the history of Florida Man is any guide, he will attempt to destroy the storm with explosives.
Tom Levenson
@SiubhanDuinne: That was actually my first book, published in 1989. We know more now, but the enraging thing to me is that there’s nothing in that book that’s wrong, more than 30 years later. For writing on a fast moving area of science, that’s…unusual But the basic science of climate change is robust and has been for a very long time.
Baud
@The Pale Scot:
That’s considered “niche” now?
germy
Anonymous At Work
@Spanky: “Drunken yahoos with explosives” aren’t limited to Florida Man. Worst cases I’ve seen are Ohio Suburban Man and, well, Jason Pierre-Paul (who was a NY Giant at the time, but since ended up in Florida). They are so universal a threat, I am wondering whether stimulus checks were a good idea…
Tom Levenson
@Tom Levenson: I’m reliably informed that the static track in the post is being amended regularly, and potential landfall may be further south. At least some of the coastal-geometry/storm surge interaction may still be in effect, even if Tampa itself dodges a direct hit. Worst cases don’t usually happen, and I deeply hope that nothing bad comes of Elsa. But again: please, everyone. This is a potentially more-dangerous-than-we’re-used-to storm and if people who are genuinely knowledgable sound the alarm, do not pass go, do not collect $200, just get while the getting’s good.
Betty Cracker
@mmolleur: You’re right — the hardcore Trumpy base does seem to love DeSantis in a way that they don’t latch on to Trump’s other would-be successors. I didn’t get Trump’s charisma, so I don’t trust my evaluation of that quality in DeSantis either.
That said, I think DeSantis sort of lucked into the governor’s office. He sucked up to Trump just as establishment GOP infighting in FL presented an opening. He drew an opponent who had a lot of baggage. To me at least, he seemed something of a nonentity until the pandemic gave him an issue to demagogue.
That’s when he went full Trump and started rising in the party. I hope he fizzles just as quickly, and it’s a real possibility. A lot can happen over the next year.
JoyceH
Open thread stuff- I’ll be getting a new sofa soon and I’ve started thinking about leather. Can those who’ve experienced a leather sofa in a house with cats and dogs tell me if that’s doable or crazy?
germy
piratedan
i wonder where all of this “lethargy on the left” narrative is coming from?
yes, the GOP is tilting the playing field and moving goalposts as we speak, and they are doing it brazenly..
the last few special elections have shown good trends for the Dems and even wins…
we’re seeing grass roots folks getting engaged and stepping up, people like you and me, WE KNOW that Democracy is under assault, the only ones who do not, are those paid to set the framing that is delivered into living rooms everyday and that model is plainly not as effective as it used to be.
I’m not saying we can coast, in fact, I’m not seeing THAT sentiment anywhere, but this forgone conclusion that the GOP is taking back the House is plain fucking bullshit.
There’s no Trump at the top of the ticket, there’s no gas left in that tank, and the lightning rod qualities that he had will not play in this landscape.
These people are losing and I sense a growing resolve to help to fucking bury them.
Leto
OT: (WaPo) U.S. military vacates main air base in Afghanistan, underscoring withdrawal expected within days
A lot of mixed feelings with this. Mainly sadness and resignation.
Spanky
@Baud: Ohhhhh, don’t play innocent, now.
MazeDancer
Netflix’s “We The People” – a kind of hip Schoolhouse Rock update, done with the Obamas – debuts July 4th.
Here is the “Bill of Rights” episode on YT.
Great animation. Adam Lambert hitting all the impossible notes. Gonna have people singing “These are your rights…can’t take them away…”
Which is good.
MattF
Oh, and good old Mike Flynn. His calls for a military coup have dropped any pretense of ‘really’ meaning anything else.
Matt McIrvin
@Betty Cracker:
When I was in Newburyport I saw someone flying a professional-looking “DESANTIS 2024” flag that was clearly modeled directly on the Trump 2020 flag. The clear implication was that DeSantis is Trump’s true heir.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Betty Cracker:
One of the main reasons they liked TFG is he wasn’t a politician, he wasn’t part of the political establishment and could claim to “drain the swamp”. Even though those of us here knew he was the swamp creature.
Ken
@MattF: Someone really needs to recall him to active duty so he can have a frank and open discussion with a military board of inquiry.
cope
@JoyceH: Leather furniture is actually a very appropriate material for furniture if you have pets. We have only had leather furniture in our living room for the last 30 years as a multitude of dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters and such (not to mention kids) have shared our domicile. It’s easier to clean and tougher standing up to pets.
Kay
@Leto:
I saw that and I wondered what that’s like for people who were involved.
Zeecube
@JoyceH: Anecdotal: leather chair in my living room is only thing untouched by our 2 dogs and 2 cats. May be because they go to town on the upholstered stuff surrounding it. But our leather office chair looks like a pin cushion that was stripped searched and skinned. Difference between the 2 is living room chair has thicker leather (skin).
Quiltingfool
I just finished baking 185 cookies – chocolate chip, peanut butter and snickerdoodles. I used Penzeys cinnamon for the snickerdoodles and Wow! Their cinnamon blend is fantastic, highly recommend. The cat was VERY interested in the cookie, she really likes sweets. Silly animal.
We’re having our annual 4th bbq tomorrow. Our one social for the year – my husband loves it; me, I always worry about the food amount (do we have enough?) but it always works out. I can do sociable very well, but I really prefer small groups.
Skepticat
Unless your pets are extremely well behaved and never scratch or get on the furniture, it may be doable but probably ought not be done. I’ve had friends who saw a pricey leather sofa become tatters within weeks—and the dog lifted his leg on it. However, I came back after seeing other comments and guess I ought to say your mileage may vary.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
I still think it’s Gatz who be the nominee because he is vicious, stupid, morally depraved and just looks like he tortures small furry animals as a hobby, so everything Republican voters like.
germy
Why isn’t Wohl in jail yet?
Gravenstone
@JoyceH: I have a faux leather loveseat and four cats. It looks like it’s been uniformly perforated at the factory. Not recommended. Real leather may be more resilient, but at the cost premium that’s an expensive gamble.
Cameron
I like Florida a lot, but it wouldn’t devastate me if I had to move back to Philadelphia. Where I live has been pretty lucky as far as hurricanes go (in the 5 years I’ve lived here); worst was a Cat 1 a few years ago. Even with all the wingnuts in Pennsylvania, the state isn’t dominated by them the way Florida is. Being an Old living in Oldland, wingnuttery isn’t that present in my life, since even MAGAzines are afraid to touch Social Security and Medicare.
Gravenstone
@germy: When MAGAts and fascists fight? Film
at 11never, one hopes…Baud
Hmmm.
Gravenstone
@germy: So, they’re trying to discredit Weisselberg? I don’t really see their end game here.
Cameron
@Baud: Didn’t Elvis do a version of that, “In the GETTR?”
FelonyGovt
@JoyceH: Our cat (RIP) did not seem to scratch at our leather sofa. However, the leather is now torn and unsightly and hasn’t worn as well as other, fabric-upholstered pieces of similar vintage.
Kay
Imagine how different the last 30 years would have been if we had made this miraculous scientific discovery earlier.
Skepticat
I’m leaving for the States tomorrow for medical reasons, but seeing some of the Elsa spaghetti models targeting the northern Bahamas is even better impetus to get out NOW. When I whine about having to leave things undone, everyone says, “Oh, it’ll all be there when you come back.” They said that before Dorian too, and all that was left was a cistern and a pile of debris. I hope no one has problems with this one and it just evaporates.
germy
@Gravenstone:
Who knows? Maybe “He was the mastermind of the whole thing!” or something.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Trump base is there because he had a TV show for years and they are fan bois. That isn’t something that transfers.
Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)
My late father in-law (died in October of ’19) got endless mail from six different TFG groups begging for money, including Beavis and Butthead. We sent them all back, postage due, with commentary. Today he got mail from Governor Death Sentence with his mug to the right, and TFG’s front and center.
The 2020’s are turning into a long century.
Skepticat
Oh, look, they misspelled gutter.
germy
Our cat hasn’t touched a piece of furniture since we bought her a bunch of cardboard scratchboxes. She goes to town on them and leaves our chairs and tables untouched.
Cameron
@Skepticat: Accuweather says if it hits Hispaniola, it will probably break up. But who the hell knows?
Delk
I think the window for desantis is now. Trump can fuck that up for him and probably will. I don’t think tfg likes that desantis is popular.
germy
@Skepticat:
Should have called it “Grabher”
barbequebob
In defense of alligators they were there long before all these people showed up and started altering the natural landscape. They are not responsible for FL being a hellhole.
Brachiator
I think that conservatives will like what they see as DeSantis goes national. He knows how to push their buttons, especially with respect to one of their biggest issues, “restoring traditional American values.”
Didn’t he recently sign a bill mandating a few minutes “moment of reflection” in public schools? This is nothing but an attempt to sneak school prayer back into schools, a longstanding hot issue for conservatives.
I don’t know how far he might go, but I can definitely see him as a strong contender.
Anonymous At Work
@Cameron: Philly in the east, Pittsburgh in the west, ‘Bama in the middle. Wingnuttery is limited since the wingnuts are outnumbered by the sane and have to obfuscate themselves.
cmorenc
@Gravenstone
…you cannot even give away ripped leather furniture to an outfit like Habitat for Humanity – because it’s not economically repairable. We had a nice leather chair which our daughter’s cats ripped tears in, just through normal use of their claws to clamber about onto the chair.
Betty Cracker
The Gettr launch saga is pretty hilarious, at least from what I’ve seen on Twitter:
In other words, it was a thorough Trumpy rollout.
Kay
@germy:
It’s amusing though– it looks exactly like Twitter except..with a bad, but different, name.
germy
@Betty Cracker:
What would right wing trolls do without stock photos?
It’s one of the most important tools in their bag.
Delk
@Betty Cracker: gettr was bankrolled by Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui
germy
@Kay:
Cameron
@barbequebob: Yeah, but the Burmese pythons and African frogs are a whole ‘nother ‘nother.
Kay
@germy:
Trending is exactly what one would expect.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
You left off the big loop that reaches into Alabama.
Cameron
@Anonymous At Work: Some of the smaller cities are pretty cool, like Carlisle and Lancaster, and Harrisburg isn’t really that nutty considering it’s in the middle of the state.
LongHairedWeirdo
This is a bummer of a thought, but with my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, *having* a thought, and realizing I *could* share it, is so precious, I’d hate to waste the opportunity.
I’ve seen people say we are approaching civil war. I’ve seen another person say “civil wars *aren’t* violent, most of the time; they’re usually soft wars, with political pressure, abuse of office, occasional violence, etc..” That is to say: the US was probably in a cold civil war before the Civil War.
What would be the one line the Republicans would never cross, under any circumstances, if they were at “civil peace” with the Democrats? Can you say that they *never* crossed that line, given the past five years? They let a President break the law, and helped conceal his misdeeds, They allowed retaliation by the President, pointed at good people who’d done their jobs; they allowed a pandemic to rage, they allowed false claims of election fraud lead to violence, and then allowed the claims to continue!
germy
@Kay:
I’m actually reluctant to click on the link.
I worry Miller and his gang would infect my computer with malware if I visit his site.
You’re a braver soul than I.
Delk
@JoyceH: I swept up a pile of my dog’s hair and put it in a plastic bag when I was looking for a new couch. I wanted to find a complimentary fabric helped to mask the hair.
Kay
@germy:
Like when Trump was in office, I like to think about them sitting around coming up with these things. I was thrilled when the photo of Bannon’s whiteboard came out because that is exactly how I pictured it. I knew that happened. His big dumb scrawlings and they all sit around pretending to work.
Brachiator
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
One of the main reasons they liked TFG is he wasn’t a politician, he wasn’t part of the political establishment and could claim to “drain the swamp”. Even though those of us here knew he was the swamp creature.
The larger point is that his base loved Trump because he simplistically promised to give them what they wanted.
They saw Democrats and Chamber of Commerce Republicans endlessly negotiate over immigration. Trump promised to throw all undocumented people out of the country and to keep all others from coming in. Simple. No deals. No compromises.
Trump’s base will fall in line if he runs again. Barring that, they will back the person who most strongly pushes Trumpism.
This transfers very easily.
catclub
wasn’t there a Carl Hiaasen book with that plot?
Kay
@germy:
Well, I’ll just say that with a no moderation policy they are going to have a big problem with insanely racist posts on that site. In 2 weeks there isn’t going to be anything but racist posts.
So good experiment.
germy
@Kay:
2 weeks?
I thought it happened immediately.
JoyceH
Those of you with bad experiences with cats and leather furniture, do you happen to know what type of leather it was? I’ve been googling, and sounds like ‘bonded leather’ is the least durable and ‘top grain leather’ is the best.
Kay
Tell people this if you know anyone. I went to a D event yesterday and a woman told Sherrod Brown that she had lost her job in the pandemic and she was freaking out looking at COBRA but found out she qualified for Medicaid. She was crying in that way people do when they start out fine and then just get very emotional when they didn’t expect to. She thanked him.
Kathleen
@krackenJack: the Ultimate Florida Man campaign shot of DeSatan would be a picture of him pointing an assault weapon at an approaching hurricane while astride an alligator
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@LongHairedWeirdo: The US Civil War had slavery as the driving issue – the Southern Slave Holders saw Slavery as an economic necessity while the Capitalist and Workers in the North saw Slavery as threat to their economy. What is the equivalent to that today?
The whole issue the MAGA twits are pissy about is they have to treat blacks as human beans and their doctor is Indian, the horrors. This is just the same old Racists bullying that’s been going on since the Civil War, nothing new. There is a reason why the icon for MAGA head is an over weight woman with a strange hair cut and whose only joy in life is abusing a Target employee.
catclub
I would be VERY surprised if the site has malware tuned to linux.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: Jesus. You’d think they could automatically exclude the n-word from trending topics. Wouldn’t even require a human being who needed a paycheck!
WaterGirl
Anne Laurie’s soccer finals thread is up. Game at 3pm.
Brachiator
@Delk:
And Guo has links to Trump advisor Steve Bannon, also an investor in GETTR. From a Politico story:
JoyceH
More open thready stuff –
1) Hey, we’re (mostly) old-timers here – remember Hurricane Andrew? In 1992, the FIRST named storm of the season formed in mid-August! Now on July 2, we’re already to E!
2) Isn’t it some sort of journalistic malpractice to headline that a firefighter’s seven year old daughter was found in the rubble, and leave out ‘the body of’ before the daughter part until you open the article? Shouldn’t a headline telegraph whether this is a happy or a sad story?
Leto
@Kay: for me personally, like I said: sadness and resignation. Iraq will always be a absolute failure, Afghanistan was at least justified but we still absolutely fucked it up. The profile of Rumsfeld really helped to explain why. I think about how we could’ve used $3T to improve the country (infrastructure), the lives lost on both sides, the fundamental restructuring of how the world viewed the US via these two wars…
I’ve also viewed it this way: relations with Vietnam eventually normalized to the point that US service members could go back and visit. I honestly don’t see that ever happening with Iraq/Afghanistan. I’m sure Vietnam vets said the same, but this is just too different. Idk, maybe when in 30 years when I’m 75 I might make a trip to my old FOB in Iraq, or visit North Kabul Airport where I spent 8 months. I just don’t know.
Leto
@JoyceH: 1) Yup. My family and I had just gone through Hurricane Hugo, then two years later Andrew arrived and was so much worse. Holmstead AFB was permanently closed due to just how much destruction on base occurred. And then almost ten years later, to the day, I was stationed at Keesler AFB (Biloxi, MS) when Katrina arrived. I think my hurricane punch card is good.
Matt McIrvin
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: The closest equivalent is white Christians seeing voters who are not white Christians as a threat to their political dominance of the country. They already know they’re losing cultural and economic dominance.
Betty
Here in Dominica Elsa has almost finished with us. We were under a tropical storm warning. She came a bit closer than predicted and grew stronger faster. Sending prayers to those still in the path. As always, hurricanes do what they please, generally fooling the experts at least to some degree. Have to keep a close eye on them.
Kayla Rudbek
Oof. More than halfway through the radiation treatment and today my appetite is way decreased. I managed to have buttered rye bread and instant pad Thai soup for lunch, but I lost count of how many ginger chews I had to eat during my drive home in order to keep my stomach in line. I should probably go take another long nap like I did on Wednesday afternoon.
Gravenstone
@JoyceH: Mine is bonded and yeah, it has zero resilience against claw punctures. It has held shape and form, but like I said it looks like it was factory perforated.
Brachiator
@Kay:
This could be a huge deal for many people. I hope the word is getting out.
July will also see monthly advance of the Child Tax Credit go out to millions of eligible people. The IRS has created a couple of online portals that people can use to verify eligibility and to make adjustments.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: That’s part of it as well.
Frankensteinbeck
@LongHairedWeirdo:
Widescale violence. Not because they wouldn’t morally. They would love to. Because the movement is specifically a chickenshit one, with one of its major foundations being validating mean-spirited bravado instead of actual bravery. Even the specific incident of 1/6 required a perfect storm of events that made the rioters think they were being handed their victims on a platter with no more resistance than kicking a puppy. There are dangerously violent conservatives, but very few. They have a vast army of armchair warriors who love nothing more than making semi-anonymous death threats, so there’s that.
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
I believe the transgender issue is huge for them, unfortunately. It strikes to the core of toxic masculinity, and even ten years ago open mockery of ‘men in dresses’ was a standard and acceptable joke. It’s not just racism that’s becoming unacceptable. It’s casual bigoted cruelty on a wide scale, and it’s now including some of their favorite punching bags that they assumed they could freely attack forever.
JoyceH
@Leto:
One thing that really struck me about how Iraq and Afghanistan were different from other wars we’ve fought was the absence of war brides. I could kind of see Afghanistan, but women in Iraq were out and about and living 20th century lives, so I was surprised not to see some Iraqi war brides.
Betty
@Leto: Absolutely no fun!
barbequebob
@Cameron: That’s for sure. FL native wildlife under pressure from so many directions.
mrmoshpotato
STUPID Soviet shitpile mobster crime family!
Oops: The Trump Organization Kept Literal Spreadsheets of Its Crimes
vanityfair.com
They’re all the Kremlin’s bitches too.
mrmoshpotato
I hope everyone in Florida and Georgia is able to stay safe – well, except the Kremlin’s orange fascist shitstain.
Baud
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
It’s hard, Betty. It is so unfair how things are hard. Can’t they just have a wildly popular social media site without all this WORK? That they can’t is unconstitutional. Clearly.
TomatoQueen
@JoyceH: When I lived in Florida (in the 80s), we had a semi-leather sofa. That is, the public-facing surfaces were a very soft, pliable leather, porous, with top-stitched seams. The non-public surfaces were whatever plastic matched the leather. This was a curved sectional, with rolled squishy soft arms and a rolled upper back, just enough, not too enormous. No welt seaming or trim. It was just the right size and shape to seat a nursing mom at one end, and have the center and the other end occupied by stretched out babies. The cat sat on the laundry piled up on top at the far end. It was not a style I would’ve chosen at all, having grown up in the Federal style, but I was persuaded by the sales pitch and by sitting on it. Comfy. Cat was too well-behaved to damage it, but every furniture salesperson will tell you cats can hurt leather just as they can with everything else, so be sure you have a scratchy post available. Conclusion: a sofa you will not find in today’s showrooms new, you might find used, and five years after purchase still looked new, after cats, kids, drunken husbands. I miss that sofa. The leather was soft, like ballet shoes.
Ken
@catclub: Trump once suggested nuking a hurricane. Which wouldn’t work, unless the goal was wide distribution of fallout.
Baud
@Kay:
6-3
Kay
@Leto:
Eight months there would give one a completely different perspective than “we” have, having never been there.
Brachiator
@JoyceH:
From a 2006 news story.
Kay
@Baud:
I wish the Dominion lawyers would go to Boards of Elections and depose GOP members. They were harmed and I think it would be really persuasive testimony. Our local bd of elections discussed it- they cannot have any association with those companies because the Trumpsters will go insane.
They destroyed that company. They should have to pay damages. Just the absolute cavalier recklessness of them utterly destroying something someone else built, like they’re entitled to just blow thru like a hurricane. The wreckage they leave in their wake. I hope they get hammered in money damages.
prufrock
@Tom Levenson: The last time it happened, it put south Tampa under water. The difference is there wasn’t much there a hundred years ago, and now it would cause billions of dollars in damage.
Gravenstone
Oh goodie, Justices Thomas and Gorsuch think it’s time make it easier for public figures to (potentially) sue for defamation. Wonder where they got that idea?
Leto
@JoyceH:
We (entire military) were under very strict orders to not interact with the Iraqi women in any way. Told to respect their customs, plus we weren’t just hanging out with them during our downtime. We were always secluded away on our bases. Just another one of the differences versus Vietnam/WW2.
JoyceH
@Brachiator: Oh! Okay. I find that reassuring. I hadn’t seen anything in the news coverage, and wondered about it.
LongHairedWeirdo
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I think I know a better way of explaining the situation to take slavery out of the question.
When the civil war over slavery started, the one side demanded complete control of the government, on certain subjects, and that any other result, any result other than complete, uncontested control, is/was/would be wrong and unacceptable. There might even be an attitude of “…and your neighbor, who says ‘well, they can have a *little* control…’ is, in ways, more dangerous than the enemy – because you*expect* that behavior from the *enemy*!”
Betty Cracker
@JoyceH: I’ve seen plenty of storms with trees downed and roofs blown off and boats on highways, etc., but I remember being truly shocked by Andrew’s destruction. A friend was a reporter in Miami at the time, and she drove me through Homestead weeks after the storm. It really did look like it had been bombed to rubble. I remember an overturned car with the paint sandblasted off. It’s amazing more people weren’t killed.
Leto
@Brachiator: I don’t know where they’re meeting them, but, paraphrasing Goldblum, “Uhm… uh… love… finds a way.”
JoyceH
@Leto:
That’s sort of what I figured – that the military was just too isolated from the civilian population. Figured there were surely still some lovable guys joining up.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Ken: Trump was dying to use nukes for something.
Re DeSantis, I think he might be hitting peak crazy too soon. 2024 is a long way away. But what do I know? There’s probably no such thing as peak crazy.
Another Scott
The Navy’s tropical cyclone model shows it going right over Tampa, but with with only ~ 55 knot winds. Nothing to be complacent about, of course.
Good luck, plan ahead as Martin says, and keep an eye on the various models.
Cheers,
Scott.
Leto
@Dorothy A. Winsor: It’s a slow ramp up to 2024 Crazy Town. Gotta pace themselves, can’t peak too early… /s
mrmoshpotato
@germy:
A fugitive billionaire, eh? Because of course it is!
Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)
@Delk: If memory serves, didn’t Dr. Silverman explain the “exiled” billionaire is actually a CCP agent?
Jeffro
It’s really dumb for a potential presidential candidate to align with trumpov in any overt way at this point, and it’s not terribly creative either.
But hey, whatever keeps our base/party unified and fired up in 2022, 2024, etc! =)
mrmoshpotato
@Leto: Haha, tell us about “peak wing nut” too. ?
Cameron
@Kathleen: I thought you were supposed to use nukes on hurricanes.
Steve in the ATL
@mrmoshpotato: light rain earlier today in my part of Atlanta. Had to wait a short time to grill my salmon. Again.
Oh, and a 40-foot pine tree fell on my house.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud:
Out at first or double play?
Jeffro
And…and…just about every GQP official in the country has tied themselves to trumpov’s fortunes/lack thereof with their slavish obedience, willingness to overturn elections, and go all-in on voter suppression.
Not ONE of them is offering anything resembling a ‘conservative solution’ to problems that workers, families, or the country as a whole are dealing with. It’s all white grievance and yet more bags of cash for billionaires.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Brachiator: I think what you’re missing here is that TFG brought out a good number of infrequent voters that came out for the reasons that Enhanced Voting Techniques and I noted. The 2018 midterms showed that they don’t transfer well or vote if TFG is not on the ballot.
trollhattan
@Another Scott:
After Harvey and Houston I worry as much about a slow-moving storm dumping two yards of rain, as much as a hurricane with 100+ mph winds.
Hopefully, this presents neither.
Old School
@Steve in the ATL:
Ouch. Any significant damage?
Kay
@Brachiator:
I have heard more people talk about this than any other government program, ever. I feel like it’s “sleeper” in the sense that it’s more important than it has been portrayed. I think it’s because it’s only barely means-tested. People don’t perceive it as a poor people program or something “someone else” gets that they don’t. More and more I think “universal” (or near universal) is the way to go. It seems to get past all the resentment and resentment is what feeds the Right wing.
Betty Cracker
@Another Scott: Nifty page — added to my weather folder. Thanks!
mrmoshpotato
@Gravenstone:
I look forward to the court case Hillary Clinton v the entire god-damned Rethuglican party going back at least 30 years.
Oh Newt… Lawyer up!
Ruckus
@germy:
He’s too stupid to actually commit any crime with lock up time. Plus he always broadcasts that someone else has done something so someone else should do something about it. Fucking morons get caught, he has to move up to get to fucking moron, and he’s not capable of that.
MaryLou
Sadly and ominously, DeSantis easily wins the charisma contest vs. Hawley, Cotton, and Cruz. And does anyone think girls like Noem or Haley stand a chance with the Magats?
Steve in the ATL
@mrmoshpotato: DeJesus to Buckner: Trillo was not involved. Am I showing my age?
@Old School: thankfully not. Clearly TFG was looking out for us! Though I did have to get up at 5 am and saw off a bunch of limbs so my dog could get out the back door to his bathroom.
gvg
@JoyceH: I have not had one myself, but have been reading up. From what I gather, most “leather” out there even from high priced brands is not always real leather and even”real” comes with a lot a issues that make it less than tough. Only what is called I think, top grain is actually a whole animal skin. The rest are bonded leather which is parts of skins joined together in some near invisible way and the joints are less strong and liable to come apart later. Also the cheaper leather has an unattractive texture which gets disguised by slathering a bunch of, well paint on top which then flakes off years later. It’s tricky to know what you are getting and I think I would be easily fooled, not that it matters, because I can’t afford the good stuff. I had one chair that never showed cat claws. It was what I have come to find out made of “cut velvet”. There were no loops on the surface for the cat claws to hook on. Or maybe he just liked it and didn’t choose to claw it. Fake leather attracts claws, I can tell you that.
Brachiator
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
But we are not talking about the midterms. We are talking about Trump and Trumpism. Trump didn’t just bring out infrequent voters. He brought back people who had given up because the GOP was not extreme enough for them. These people now have expectations that must be met by any presidential contender. This is not the same thing as just falling in love with a tv celebrity.
Trump has pushed the party further to the right. Candidates who might pivot to the middle need not apply. And the GOP still happily defers to Trump. This is the current GOP political reality.
Old School
@Steve in the ATL: Hopefully your dog wasn’t too inconvenienced.
Kay
@MaryLou:
He does. He’s a concern. I think people tend to overestimate governors though- many times they don’t translate nationally. It’s different. Let’s hope not.
mrmoshpotato
@Steve in the ATL:
The fish wouldn’t mind. It’s a fish – and dead.
One hell of a light rain!
Ruckus
@Leto:
I think there are also some basic differences between the wars.
The why, and the what. We made strategic mistakes in both of course, like should we have even been there, who did we support, did we actually listen to anyone or just charge in because it’s war and that’s what we do. And Afghanistan and Iraq we made so many blunders up front that it seems like we never were going to be successful. Just my take, and I wasn’t on the ground in any of it.
laura
@Kayla Rudbek: after your nap get yourself some Canada Dry BOLD ginger ale it is excellent! My mom lost her appetite for everything except lemon sorbet or any flavor of sherbert – the cold and the tangy just hit the spot that nothing else did for a couple of months. Hang in there gal- keep on keeping on.
My comment on Florida – I am jonesing for LaCarreta pastries and empanadas. Please send a greasy bag my way.
Cacti
Does “Make America Florida” include the collapsing buildings?
Betty Cracker
@MaryLou: Haley is no dummy, but she’s shown terrible political instincts for navigating the post-insurrection era as a Republican. First she threw Trump under the bus, then she hauled him out and dusted him off when that became inconvenient. Then she thought he was toast and tossed him under the bus again, and when that proved premature, she had to walk it back again. It’s just embarrassing at this point.
Trump is one of the thinnest-skinned people on the planet, so I’m guessing he knows exactly who said what when. I’m also guessing he reserves special rage for someone whom he thinks he bestowed a grand favor upon who then turns on him like Haley did.
McCarthy did that too, but Trump still sort of needs McCarthy, who’s an elected official still in power, whereas Haley’s someone who is no longer officially in public service who’s waiting to pounce on an opportunity. And when she does, I bet Trump will stomp on her like a bug.
Leto
@Ruckus: Those are good points. Honestly it’s like baking; if you fuck up the prep, it’s very hard to save it. And after it’s already baked, whelp…
Matt McIrvin
@Brachiator: If the Republican Party can count on their nominee simply being installed as President by Republican state legislatures, all a presidential candidate needs to do is win the Republican primary–general-election popular votes aren’t needed, so there’s no motivation to play to the center.
Old School
@Kay:
While there have been plenty of failed candidates, for a while there, being a former governor was basically a prerequisite. From 1976 – 2008, there were only four years of a non-governor.
Leto
@Betty Cracker: past few SC governors (Appalachian trail Mark Sanford, Haley, current gov McMaster) have all been pretty bad. Not quite Florida level, but not too far off either.
Mike in NC
Front page of the weekend edition of USA Today: “Charges muddy Trump’s future”.
Um, Trump’s future is to be tied forever to a seditious attack on our federal government by neo-Nazis, neo-Confederates, and other fascists on January 6th. That stink can’t be washed off, no matter what some pundits believe. That fucking criminal snake oil salesman doesn’t get a do-over.
Steve in the ATL
@Old School: once we fed him, he was fine!
@MaryLou: that’s about as low as low bars get
@Kay: I’m not sure that people outside of Florida are blown away by Florida governance, and the last Florida guv didn’t fare too well in the GQP primary.
mrmoshpotato
@MaryLou:
No, because a big part of the Trump trash vote was and is misogyny.
Ruckus
@Kayla Rudbek:
When I did radiation it did that to a degree to me as well. Not as much as it sounds like it’s doing to you but then each of us is different and I’d bet we are being radiated in different areas, which can account for a lot. Hang in there the docs seem to know what they are doing pretty well these days, and my cancer is gone and my numbers continue to get better, I moved at the end of last yr to checkups once a year, rather than every 6 months. It’s taken a while but my doc seems to be rather safe as far as treatment and all that goes. Good luck
Brachiator
@Kay:
Oddly enough, some of the increased popularity of the child tax credit may be due to the Republicans increasing the income threshold and making more households eligible for the credit as part of the 2017 tax law.
And now Biden’s expansion of the credit will help millions of children and lift families out of poverty. It is difficult for anyone to argue with that.
The tough fight will be extending these increases in the credit beyond 2021.
Cacti
@Steve in the ATL:
Obviously we’re all biased here, but I’m not really seeing the big allure of Florida outside the base.
It’s a popular retiree destination, due to warmth and coastline. Its economy is dominated by low wage agriculture and hospitality jobs.
mrmoshpotato
@Steve in the ATL: That stache could catch a baseball itself.
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
I was in Homestead a couple of years later and it looked like nature had bulldozed the place almost completely. With the worlds largest and fastest bulldozer.
Brachiator
@Matt McIrvin:
We will see what voting procedures end up being approved. But what you are suggesting that ultimately voting would not matter and even the electoral college count would be nullified by state legislatures. Right now, that is a bit too cynical.
Another Scott
Arizona news…
When everyone has a high resolution camera and microphone and lots of storage on their person their every waking hour, it’s inevitable that just about every important conversation will be recorded these days, isn’t it??
(via Popehat)
Cheers,
Scott.
mrmoshpotato
@Mike in NC:
Damn fucking right.
Skepticat
@germy:
SPOT ON!
Ruckus
@Leto:
Yep.
And I personally thought we should have been out, oh say 20 yrs ago. The strategic concepts – what strategic concepts – never made any sense whatsoever. It was, “We are going in to kick some ass and all will be fine.” There was seemingly never any actual thought to why we were bothering at all, with only the possible money to be made, at a huge cost to every one but the robbers. Which of course, given the “thought” leaders of the day, nothing was ever done in any constructive way. It was pure hubris and nothing more. War, brought to you by the guys that can’t find their way out of a wet paper bag, with instructions and diagrams with pictures and arrows.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Brachiator:
We’re talking about a national election without TFG on the ballot, the 2018 midterm was a test of that. TFG brought out folk who hadn’t voted in year, if ever. Sure, they liked his message, but the other factors were there as well. I said back in 2016 that him being on the TV machine was probably worth 1-2%, not being a politician was probably worth about the same if not more.
sdhays
@Betty Cracker: I’m not “expecting” anything, but the fact that DeathSantis is/was buddy-buddy enough with Matt Gaetz to have him run his transition makes me wonder if he’ll show up in the Greenberg/Gaetz investigation.
Just knowing what we know now about just the things that were being shown and said on the floor of the Florida House suggest there’s something at least sleazy there, even if he’s not directly implicated in any of the most sordid, absurdly criminal elements of Greenberg and Gaetz’s actions.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Brachiator: The legislatures would have to change the criteria for selecting electors ahead of time, they couldn’t do it just because they don’t like the way the people of their state voted. It also means that if they DO change it, a lot of them would be up for election on that same ballot.
J R in WV
@Steve in the ATL:
Any damage? We had a black oak fall on our house last April of 2020. Maybe not quite 18 inches thick at the base, something like a little more than a dozen holes in the rubber membrane roof. The front door fits a little tighter than it used to, and half-a-dozen sheet-rock nails popped out of their joint compound coverage…
The tree guys (Davy tree) roped it, lifted it, and took it out as small chunks the very next day… IIRC they charged something over $5k for the removal, but they didn’t damage anything doing the lift.
Betty Cracker
@sdhays: Yeah, I was hoping DeSantis would get questioned relentlessly about his association with Gaetz — like any Democrat who pals around with a sleazeball would be. But Gaetz himself hardly gets hounded these days, let alone DeSantis. IOKIYR really does seem to be written in stone somewhere.
I don’t think DeSantis is anywhere near as stupid as Gaetz and Greenberg, probably because he’s not a rich man’s failson like those two are. It doesn’t make DeSantis virtuous, but it probably does make him less likely to do breathtakingly stupid and reckless things because there wasn’t always someone there to bail him out of trouble.
MattF
@Another Scott: So, the Trump ‘allies’ knew exactly what Trump wanted, and their demands were all recorded.
sdhays
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Aren’t they writing clauses in to allow themselves to intervene in the vote counting after votes have been placed so that they can ensure the “correct” outcome?
sdhays
@Betty Cracker: You’re right about how Gaetz isn’t getting hounded anymore. I expect the lazy press is just waiting for the Fed’s to announce whether he’s going to be indicted or not.
Jay
@JoyceH:
good leather is great, cheap leather, nope.
the key features of good furniture is:
a) frame, ( hardwood or steel are best)
b) suspension, springs or belts are best, just sticking a cushion on a box does not last,
( says dude with a 40 year old, Italian leather couch, foam replaced once, survived 6 dogs and 8 cats, still going, still comfortable, still fashionable)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@sdhays: They are changing the responsibility for vote counting in some states, but the Constitution allows the Legislature to choose how electors are choosen, including selecting them themselves. But they would have to do this ahead of the election, not afterwards.
Matt McIrvin
@?BillinGlendaleCA: The idea is that they pass laws saying, in advance, that the legislature can throw out any result they deem fraudulent and appoint their own electors. Then if the Democrat wins they just declare it fraudulent, and nullify it on the basis of the law.
Brachiator
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
But we are not talking about the midterms.
Sorry, midterms and presidential elections cannot really be compared. And who knows whether Trump might run in 2024.
Again, it is not just that he was not a politician. It was that he promised to give his voters what neither of the parties were willing to do.
His phony tv persona helped him push his message and convince voters that he was some kind of populist. But Trumpism has now been firmly rooted in the conservative psyche.
Uh, yeah. Isn’t that what some states are currently doing?
Another Scott
@?BillinGlendaleCA: It’s all so transparently stupid and obviously slanting the playing field.
“We’re protecting the system from the terrible fraud that happened last time!!1”
Also
“We were elected fair and square – no problem there; it’s only the TFG election that was unfair. We have to be able to over-ride the election results for that particular office.”
Grrr….
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
Legal twitter is fun.
rofl.
How do these guys make hundreds of dollars an hour??
Cheers,
Scott.
cope
@Cacti: No state income tax and protection of your home from bankruptcy also appeal to a certain “class” of people who move to Florida.
Another Scott
In other news, …
Zooks!
(Pemex is claiming the fire is under control now.)
Cheers,
Scott.
James E Powell
@Brachiator:
Agree that they will glom onto a New & Better Trump. After all, the core energy of the R base is their hatred of the rest of us.
I wonder if the press/media will be as eager to promote & protect the New & Better Trump. They do love Republicans who connect with old white people in diners, but will they continue to pretend there is no racism, etc., like they did with Trump?
RepubAnon
@krackenJack: DeSantis saw the. Trump Presidency and said “hold my beer…”
pat
@JoyceH:
Crazy. We had a new sofa when we got our first cats and fortunately we could return it with just a couple of claw marks.
Don’t do it.
prostratedragon
@mrmoshpotato: She should file now, just because it would be such fun to see the brakes being slammed on, dentures being gulped down, eyeglasses and wigs flying …
Cermet
@Leto: I’d say no; Vietnam and its people are a very different situation. Vietnamize both liked and admired the US before we got into their civil war (they even tried to get us on their side.) This was due to our driving out the Japanese in WWII. After our so-called police action there, they both recalled that history of us helping them and still hated the Chinese (long, bad history) and also saw us as a counter weight to a growing China. As such, they were ready to put the war behind and get on good terms with us. Glad we too decided to do the same.
That will never be the case for Afghanistan and unlikely for Iraq.
WaterGirl
@Leto: I totally get that. Leaving is not going to be good. But staying can’t get us a victory or make it safe.
We either leave, or we stay forever, without a good outcome.
Sadness and resignation makes perfect sense. Biden is a grown-up who is willing to make the hard choice. Good on him.
Martin
As someone who does a lot of trend analysis, I will warn you that Jan 6 resets everything. How, we don’t know, but anyone assuming 2022 turnout will follow any prior trend is just wrong. Recognize we have the following Dept Homeland Security active advisory:
2020 did bring out increased turnout among Republicans, and it brought out even more turnout among Democrats. How much of this will carry over to 2022? No idea. People agitated to the point of violence tend to be pretty reliable participants if they believe the election aligns with their aims, which historically it hasn’t but did in 2016/2020. Similarly, Democrats responded to those threats with their own turnout.
My guess is that the current landscape favors Democrats. The things Democrats care most about are far more directly connected to keeping the House and Senate, while a lot of what Republicans care about aren’t, which is having a bully pulpit.
Uncle Cosmo
Microscopic change of that happening. Hurricanes are stoked “over the sea” by surface evaporation of hot water and subsequent condensation at altitude releasing the heat of vaporization. If a storm is going to “blow itself out” it will happen over land, where the energy source is cut off – and only presuming it’s not strong enough to lunge back over water and revive.
Matt McIrvin
@Frankensteinbeck:
There are the police, who are already used to doing the violence piecemeal. The Jim Crow South could be a model, with the police tacitly or overtly supporting terrorist paramilitaries and giving them the impunity they need.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Matt McIrvin:
This would be pretty unconstitutional, even with this court. They have to choose, either they select the electors or not.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Brachiator: His TV show convinced a certain percentage of folk that he was an outsider and a good businessman. That was enough to sway enough for the win.
Brachiator
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
the legislature can throw out any result they deem fraudulent and appoint their own electors.
The Republicans are trying to work this angle:
The GOP dominated states are looking for ways to tip the scales in favor of a Republican candidate, using the pretext of “correcting” defective or unreliable election results.
This might also work to their advantage if they regain the Congress and a tie lets the House decide who becomes president.
This is only part of it. And it is not relevant to where we are now. We live in a country in which Trump has convinced a chunk of citizens that it is fine for them to overthrow democracy.
Another Scott
@Another Scott:
Cheers,
Scott.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Brachiator: They have to decide how to select electors BEFORE THE ELECTION, they can’t have a process selected and then say ‘never mind’.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Brachiator: 27% have always been nutz.
Soprano2
@Kay: You’re right about that. “Why do they get help but I don’t? I follow the rules and get punished for it” is a very real thing among the working class.
Brachiator
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
They can create a new process to deal with supposedly defective or contested results. They are giving state legislatures additional authorities over state election boards. Lots of room for mischief.
TriassicSands
I am only absolutely certain that there is one good person in Florida, though I suspect the spousal unit, Cracker-man, is probably OK, too. My only problem with alligators is that they obviously consume way too few Republicans. Apart from those 2-1/2 factoids, yeah, it’s laughable.
If I somehow woke up and found myself living in Florida, the only things that could keep me there would be prison or monitored house arrest. Otherwise, gone with or without the wind!
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@Kay: & she’ll vote for J.D. Vance in 2022.
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@Leto: shifty shellshock did nothing wrong.
WayneL140
I know no one is going to read this, but just to keep the record straight, this is wrong.
Last year, the National Hurricane Center predicted the track of a hurricane south of Cuba, five days before landfall in Louisiana. They missed by 30 miles. So much for getting it wrong.
Steeplejack
@WayneL140:
I read it. Point taken.