Balloon Juice | Anne Laurie, Author at Balloon Juice

Anne Laurie has been a Balloon Juice writer since 2009.

Election 2020 Open Thread: Kamala Harris Is Out — For the Moment

by Anne Laurie| December 3, 20195:41 pm| 161 Comments

This post is in: Election Year, Kamala Harris 2020, Open Threads

To my supporters, it is with deep regret—but also with deep gratitude—that I am suspending my campaign today.
But I want to be clear with you: I will keep fighting every day for what this campaign has been about. Justice for the People. All the people.https://t.co/92Hk7DHHbR
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 3, 2019

It has been the honor of my life to be your candidate. We will keep up the fight. pic.twitter.com/RpZhx3PENl
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 3, 2019

Really bummed Harris is dropping out. But on the bright side, I look forward to her being back in the Senate dismantling administration witnesses who show up before her committees.
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) December 3, 2019

C(ash) R(ules) E(vrything) A(round) M(e):

Was talking to a big time liberal Dem donor last night & he was lamenting the state of the Dem field of candidates. I asked him what he thought we needed in the race, what the ideal candidate would look like & he said, "Well, between us, I really think it should be a white male."
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) December 3, 2019

To all the candidates, staff, and volunteers who have worked their hearts out for presidential campaigns that have ended—remember that fighting for what you believe in is always worth it.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) December 3, 2019

Thank you @KamalaHarris for your commitment to fighting for the people, for justice, and to holding Donald Trump accountable.
Kamala is right—our system is deeply broken when billionaires can buy their way in. I'll fight with you to make sure our government works for all of us. https://t.co/EU0Esl2oBN
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) December 3, 2019

VIDEO: @JulianCastro commends the campaign @KamalaHarris ran and says the media’s coverage of her campaign has been “something else.”
Says she was held to a double standard and it was “grossly unfair and unfortunate.” pic.twitter.com/jbgyOVXrGf
— Tim Perry (@tperry518) December 3, 2019

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Election 2020 Open Thread: Kamala Harris Is Out — For the MomentPost + Comments (161)

Kamala is a good friend and incredibly strong public servant. Sometimes campaigns can tear friendships apart but we have grown closer. Her good work will continue.
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) December 3, 2019

My dear friend @KamalaHarris is a trailblazer. I've loved serving with her in the Senate and every moment we've run into one another on the trail. Her campaign broke barriers and did it with joy. Love you, sister. pic.twitter.com/HzLXw88NrM
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) December 3, 2019

Reporters informed Joe Biden after an event that @KamalaHarris was suspending her campaign. Biden returned to the scrum: “She’s a first-rate candidate and a real competitor and I have mixed emotions about it because she is really a solid, solid person and loaded with talent.”
— Natasha Korecki (@natashakorecki) December 3, 2019

A year ago two different people plugged in to Democratic politics told me they think the ticket will be Biden/Harris and as candidates rise and fall it still looks like we could end up exactly there. And I’ll vote for that ticket because the alternative is unthinkable.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) December 3, 2019

The people who had their knives out for her before she even entered…I will remember each and every one of them. I will unify behind whoever the nominee is but that doesn’t mean I will forget.
— Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) December 3, 2019

Where will all that vitriol be directed now that Kamala Harris is out?
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) December 3, 2019

Victory lap by her (our!) enemies:

New details, from a senior aide: Harris did a financial audit of the campaign over the weekend before coming to the decision on Monday. She will travel to early states this week to personally thank staff and volunteers. https://t.co/yL4FJXeEUW
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) December 3, 2019

… Ms. Harris’s online fund-raising slowed in recent months and large donors increasingly turned toward other candidates. In the third quarter of the year, she spent more than $1.41 for every dollar she raised, burning through millions of her treasury. She stopped buying ads, both online and on television, slashed staff in New Hampshire and retrenched to Iowa, where she spent the Thanksgiving holiday with her family…
Even as she struggled, Ms. Harris had assembled a coveted list of more than 130 bundlers who had raised at least $25,000 for her campaign, more than half of whom were from her home state of California, one of the deepest wells of Democratic cash. Ms. Harris canceled a scheduled fund-raiser with some of her top bundlers in New York on Tuesday just hours before the event. On Wednesday, she had been scheduled to attend an event in Los Angeles at the home of Sean Parker, the billionaire tech entrepreneur…
In addition to the financial troubles, some of Ms. Harris’s supporters worried that a poor showing once voting began, particularly in the California primary, would leave Ms. Harris vulnerable to a Senate primary challenge in 2022…

I find this enraging. https://t.co/Kk2zuTpCGI
— Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) December 3, 2019

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Winter Is Here

by Anne Laurie| December 3, 20194:45 am| 80 Comments

This post is in: Dog Blogging, Impeachment Inquiry, Open Threads, Trumpery, All Too Normal

Current status, but with *two* little dogs:

UK Weather Update:
"fuck THAT"
??: Reddit user Superbaker123 pic.twitter.com/HNjgZtkKj9
— Paul Bronks (@SlenderSherbet) November 19, 2019

(Normally papillons are snow dogs, but our rescues are now 15 and 13, so they can’t run as fast as they once did. And the latest ‘band’ of this prolonged nor’easter is wet enough that the falling slush balls up in their coats. I’m not looking forward to shoveling the predicted additional 8″ or so once it finally ends this afternoon, myself.)

Hoyer makes it official: The House will be in session during the week of December 16th. (The calendar previously had the House on recess that week for the Christmas break.) Expect House Dems to use at least some of that time for the impeachment inquiry.
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) December 2, 2019

The question is not whether Trump has committed impeachable crimes. He has.
The question is whether Republicans in Congress will affirm that an American president is not above the law.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 22, 2019

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Winter Is HerePost + Comments (80)

Late Night Open Thread: When Narwhal Tusks Are Outlawed…

by Anne Laurie| December 2, 201910:52 pm| 69 Comments

This post is in: Gun nuts, Open Threads, United Kingdom, War on Terror, Riveted By The Sociological Significance Of It All

I’m not even mad at 2019’s screenwriters. I’m impressed. https://t.co/9v3i40rQbH
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) November 30, 2019

Bloody foreigners. Coming over here, saving lives. https://t.co/0RrjlHap6N
— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) November 30, 2019

honestly this is a better argument for giving everyone narwhal tusks than it is for making it easier for the terrorist to get an ar-15 like he could in the US https://t.co/GrajCpUz23
— John Cole (@Johngcole) December 1, 2019

also, you fucking moron
— John Cole (@Johngcole) December 1, 2019

… Actually, as far as I can tell from a cursory google search, because the narwhal is a protected species, only pre-1972 narwhal tusks are legal in the U.S. (The one spontaneously repurposed in London was a pub ornament, date of its collection unspecified.) And given the legal ones are hella pricey, there’d probably be fewer stories like this…

A 65-year-old Maine man who outfitted his home with a device designed to fire a handgun at anyone opening the front door unintentionally shot and killed himself on Thanksgiving night. https://t.co/z9N1nIanKa
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) December 1, 2019

I’m not fond of unannounced drop-ins either, but jeez.

I’ll just leave this right here … pic.twitter.com/xVpIExGGVK
— Tyff ???? ???? ???? (@mojo_girl) December 1, 2019

Late Night Open Thread: When Narwhal Tusks Are Outlawed…Post + Comments (69)

Trumpschemes 2020 Open Thread: Normal Parscale Grandiosity, or Fear of A Breaking Story?

by Anne Laurie| December 2, 20196:30 pm| 172 Comments

This post is in: Election Year, Free Markets Solve Everything, Open Threads, Trumpery, DC Press Corpse

Trump campaign says it will no longer credential @business reporters to campaign events pic.twitter.com/BpfDqZUUSL
— Justin Sink (@justinsink) December 2, 2019

On the one hand, it’s extremely in character for Brad Parscale, drunk on his self-perceived “power” to announce that You guys don’t get to sit at our table so there!!!, should make an outsized fuss about the media outlet owned by a real billionaire who is now challenging Brad’s boss.

On the other hand, it’s extremely in character for Brad Parscale, strip mall PC specialist turned campaign ‘data expert’ by the grace of the GRU, to try and preempt a(nother) breaking-news investigation by a major media outlet that will (further) damage Parscale’s direct report. Per Politico:

News organizations reacted warily to the Trump campaign’s announcement Monday that it will no longer credential Bloomberg News reporters for campaign events in response to the outlet’s decision not to investigate its owner, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, or his Democratic rivals for president.
Trump Campaign manager Brad Parscale said the move, which Bloomberg News said would ensure equal footing for each Democratic candidate, indicated a bias against Trump because the outlet would continue to cover him critically while going easy on his Democratic rivals…
The move is reminiscent of the 2016 election, when the Trump team denied press credentials to numerous outlets, including POLITICO, The Washington Post, and BuzzFeed News, because of coverage the campaign considered biased or unfair.
The 2020 campaign’s policy may extend beyond Trump’s rallies, with Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican Party, announcing that the GOP will “no longer credential” Bloomberg representatives. It could also affect White House coverage, given that Bloomberg reporters regularly travel with the president to events as part of the White House pool…
Bloomberg News, a global news organization of 2,700 journalists and analysts, has long had a policy of not initiating investigations into the billionaire businessman, his family or his foundation, and announced last week it would extend that practice to his 2020 Democratic rivals, in the wake of Bloomberg’s entry into the race.
Bloomberg News will continue to investigate the Trump administration, though it plans to reassess its policy if Michael Bloomberg becomes the Democratic nominee…
Dean Baquet, executive editor of the New York Times, took issue with the move against Bloomberg News. “We condemn any action that keeps quality news media from reporting fairly and accurately on the presidency and the leadership of the country,” he said in a statement.
But Bloomberg’s policy of not covering its owner has also drawn criticism from journalists for departing from how news organizations typically handle such situations. The Washington Post, for one, doesn’t restrict reporters from digging into its billionaire owner, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos…

Trumpschemes 2020 Open Thread: Normal Parscale Grandiosity, or Fear of A Breaking Story?Post + Comments (172)

Monday Morning Open Thread: Back to the Daily Leap of Faith

by Anne Laurie| December 2, 20194:56 am| 113 Comments

This post is in: Dog Blogging, Election Year, I'm With Her, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Warren for President 2020, Daydream Believers

This is Toffi. She tried her best and that’s all we can ask for. 12/10 and the couch is cancelled pic.twitter.com/dRfHhclbZL
— WeRateDogs® (@dog_rates) November 27, 2019

And a little start-the-week-well self-indulgence, because she’s not just my favorite candidate…

Seems the ?@ewarren? campaign scheduled this Chicago town hall perfectly to ward off the impending narrative about dwindling enthusiasm pic.twitter.com/4bkKuhnQ6j
— Zak Hudak (@cbszak) December 1, 2019

Later, in Iowa:

Asked by an audience member about healing divides in the Democratic Party, Warren says the debates make it seem like Democrats are more divided than they really are: pic.twitter.com/yB6JKPEx05
— Iowa Starting Line (@IAStartingLine) December 2, 2019

I was waiting to see if/how Warren would shake things up; this event definitely has. Long, game answer on Medicare-for-all (walking through each step), some goofball crowd work.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) December 2, 2019

One woman asks Elizabeth Warren about a Senate impeachment trial, says she’s worried it’ll mess up her campaign by keeping her in DC
“Some things are bigger than politics, and one of them is the Constitution of the United States of America,” Warren responds pic.twitter.com/w2nnmlW7RU
— Iowa Starting Line (@IAStartingLine) December 2, 2019

Another not-so-typical Q from the town hall in Marion tonight. A lawyer asked Warren if McConnell should be disqualified from voting on impeachment
"On this one, you gotta let all of the folks who took the oath of office in the House in the Senate, come in and live that oath…" pic.twitter.com/h8fdotLE6K
— Deepa Shivaram (@deepa_shivaram) December 2, 2019

Ahead of the next phase of the impeachment inquiry, @ewarren tells #FoxNews she’s caught up on previous testimony, saying she’s also “done a lot of reading around it as well.” Says Trump used “American taxpayer dollars as bait & [used] a trip to the White House as a sweetener.” pic.twitter.com/ccMJTQ9YZ7
— Tara Prindiville (@taraprindiville) December 1, 2019

Monday Morning Open Thread: Back to the Daily Leap of FaithPost + Comments (113)

Election 2020 Open Thread: We Can’t Have Nice Things, Because Some People Don’t Deserve Them

by Anne Laurie| December 2, 20193:10 am| 42 Comments

This post is in: Education, Election Year, Open Threads

I really wish Pete wouldn't use this bullshit argument that free college is bad because then someone who doesn't need it might take advantage of it. That's same talking point Republicans use to deny people social services like food assistance and healthcare.
— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) November 29, 2019

New Pete ad in Iowa taking aim at Warren and Bernie over college affordability/debt (but not by name), arguing they’d alienate half the country by insisting it be “free even for the kids of millionaires”. H/t @McCormickJohn
pic.twitter.com/SEAcOdHcAq
— Alex Thompson (@AlxThomp) November 29, 2019

Mayo(r) Pete, having decided that ‘sensible moderate’ is the best lane for him right now, scores an own goal. (He’s the son of two college professors; he knows perfectly well how financial aid programs work — or don’t.) It was over a holiday weekend, so only the politically obsessed paid attention, but boy howdy did they pay attention:

Yes, for sure, the wealthy people illegally paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to get their kid into USC are going to jump at the chance to send their kids to public college for free
— laura olin (@lauraolin) November 29, 2019

Means-testing access to public education is not progressive.
I wouldn't expect @PeteButtigieg to understand this, but when a program is for the poor? We're treated like shit.
When the wealthy are in the pool with us? We're treated much, much better. https://t.co/iNWXXSUn5r
— Matthew Cortland, Esq. (@mattbc) November 30, 2019

Why are we letting rich people send their kids to public elementary schools?? Or letting them use public libraries? https://t.co/AF3TzcImim
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) November 29, 2019

In order to solve this dramatic problem, we would have to financially screen *all college students*.
So, to prevent .1% of the pop from getting a free ride, we’d require the entirety of the United States population of college-aged families to complete financial applications.
4/
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) November 29, 2019

(But it would be a bonanza for the financial-aid prep/certification industry!)

That’s the difference between empty sloganeering and policy.
Policies actually have to work and make sense.
Pete is sloganeering.
He’s a smart guy. He knows the difference. He just doesn’t think you do.
7/7
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) November 29, 2019

It’s (comparatively) early days, yet; maybe Buttigieg will learn something from this.

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Sunday Pharisees Open Thread: The New Failson Falkirk Center

by Anne Laurie| December 1, 20197:15 pm| 106 Comments

This post is in: Grifters Gonna Grift, Open Threads, Religion, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality, Assholes, I Read These Morons So You Don't Have To

Jerry Falwell Jr. and Charlie Kirk had to come up with a name for their new think tank, so they just mashed up their two names and called it the Falkirk Center. https://t.co/dFVxfPaJ26
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) November 30, 2019

Jerry Jr. (last seen defending himself against charges of real estate fraud, self-dealing, misappropriation of funds from the university he inherited, and nightclubbing in Miami Beach) has gotten together with Charlie Kirk (founder of TP-USA, last seen bulk-buying failson Trump Jr’s ‘best seller’) have a new grift, per the Washington Examiner:

Growing concerns in conservative circles that liberals are trying to convert young Christians into socialists by distorting the Bible and U.S. Constitution have prompted Virginia’s Liberty University to form a new center to push back on the media, academics, and Democratic politicians.
The new think tank, announced Saturday in Lynchburg and previewed to Secrets, was co-founded by two key leaders in the Christian youth movement, Liberty President Jerry Falwell Jr. and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
The Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty, a combination of their names, will “play offense” against efforts by liberals to water down Judeo-Christian values in the Bible and Constitution in their bid to build support for big government, said Kirk.
“The fastest-growing religion in America is atheism and secularism and with that is the rise of leftism and statism and, as people veer away from the church and veer away from the Judeo Christian values that built our country, people are more likely to embrace statism,” he said in an interview…
It will operate under a 501(c)(3) charter and is owned by Liberty.
The plan to go on offense is similar to how President Trump operates, and it’s no coincidence that both Falwell and Kirk are leading defenders of the president.
Kirk, who stressed that it was an “honor” to work with Falwell in the bid to “organize an army of believers in faith and liberty,” said he expects to be attacked as he and Liberty’s president have for their support for Trump…
“If you want to be loved today as a political conservative, go against the president. You’ll get the best press you could ever possibly imagine. But if you want to stand for what’s right, if you want to stand for truth, defend our country, then you have to stand behind this president,” said Kirk, who has been accompanying Donald Trump Jr. during his book tour to colleges and universities to promote Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us.

All the failsons gotta hang together, it’s both natural affinity and a defense against their (many, legitimate) enemies.

The Falkirk Center's mission, according to Charlie Kirk, is to find out whether Jesus was a socialist. pic.twitter.com/xhHV1LWPC6
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) November 30, 2019

That Jesus dude notoriously condemned religious profiteering, promoted multiculturalism and sharing material goods across the community, and gave away free food and healthcare. (Also, He preferred hanging with his group of fellow believers to getting an honest job, and when one of the overworked women of the movement asked for a little help in the kitchen, slanged her off for not properly valuing the worth of intellectual labor.) So: Signs point to YES!

Falkirk “will operate under a 501(c)(3) charter and is owned by Liberty.” So Charlie Kirk will keep running fake charities to hide political activity. And Trump’s IRS ensures wealthy Evangelical donors take 100% tax write-offs. #nonprofits https://t.co/yvBiFMMNXP https://t.co/sBaytQrGWH
— Nancy Levine ?? (@nancylevine) November 30, 2019

@JerryFalwellJr and @charliekirk11 should do like Trump's buddies Lev and Igor and call it Fraud Guaranteed
— Birmingham Weekly (@BhamWeekly) December 1, 2019

Sunday Pharisees Open Thread: The New <del>Failson</del> Falkirk CenterPost + Comments (106)

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Appreciating the Evanescent

by Anne Laurie| December 1, 20194:30 am| 76 Comments

This post is in: Garden Chats

Fleeting miracles, from the gifted (in every sense) Ozark Hillbilly:

Last year, conditions never managed to come together for us, but in the first week of November we had 2 1/2 days of soaking rain followed by temperatures dropping to 18 degrees on the morning of the 7th. Being a betting man I grabbed my camera and headed for the creek bottoms, high in expectations of a superbloom. I was not disappointed.

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Appreciating the Evanescent 1

From the first rays of the sun peaking over the hill tops till I was just plain and simply ODing on it all, was about an hour and half, during which I took 173 pictures in 3 different locations ending up along the roadsides of Hwy 185 outside of Meramec State Park. Of the dozens of cars that drove past me while there only 1 stopped to see what I was doing and even tho he had a camera he hadn’t taken a single frost flower picture, choosing to spend his morning photographing one of our local bald eagles instead. The rest probably thought, “WTF is that idiot doing crawling around in the litter along side the road?” Other than the one guy, nobody else even bothered slowing down.

I find frost flowers wondrous to behold,each one a unique and stunning expression of natures endless works. As with so much on our home planet, indeed Mother Earth herself, they are oh so fragile and only here for a very short while. Every time I see them I know I have been blessed all over again.

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Late Night Open Thread: Vroom!

by Anne Laurie| November 30, 201911:41 pm| 45 Comments

This post is in: Because of wow., Open Threads, Science & Technology

The best use of technology is to improve the quality of life pic.twitter.com/CqE0aNIcYi
— Akki (@akkitwts) November 30, 2019

I want one of these cycles, and I’m not even chairbound (yet)…

I think this is in Germany. They have bike lanes and don't use helmets a lot. I don't think this reaches the speed of a motorcycle and is much safer.
— Ásdís Lára Runólfsdóttir (@asdislr) November 30, 2019

For those looking for the specific device in the video?
It's the Pendel Wheelchair Scooter:https://t.co/yRG1U3CmWN
— Gen'Challa (@Gendou) December 1, 2019

Late Night Open Thread: Vroom!Post + Comments (45)

Open Thread: Some Good Dogs Just Need the Right Job

by Anne Laurie| November 30, 20195:24 pm| 160 Comments

This post is in: Dog Blogging, Nature & Respite, Something Good Open Thread

This is Bear. He was abandoned as a puppy due to his OCD, but quickly found a new life as a koala detection dog. As wildfires devastate Australia’s east coast, Bear is doing his best to locate any injured or misplaced koalas. He’s their unexpected savior, and our thirteenth 15/10 pic.twitter.com/dWe8tWbEJo
— WeRateDogs® (@dog_rates) November 21, 2019

Also look at these bear boots! pic.twitter.com/byaUxv8RkI
— Kitsu (@Kitsunenokuro) November 21, 2019

(My motto: Whenever possible, choose the red ones.)

Australia needs knitters and sewing done, they need drawstring pouches and mittens made for all the young and injured animals found after the fires. They have patterns available and instructions, I'll put a link below, https://t.co/Si7YdydxWB
— Vicky Spackman?? (@VickySpackman) November 24, 2019

This article lists several organizations helping koala’s & other wildlife in the area in need of help. https://t.co/6uUC8mLxgd
Links:https://t.co/kBh4fIgOim https://t.co/OubBqByqui
— Kat Packer (@PackerKats) November 24, 2019

Open Thread: Some Good Dogs Just Need the Right JobPost + Comments (160)

Saturday Morning Open Thread: No More Diner-Diving, Pundits

by Anne Laurie| November 30, 20194:22 am| 235 Comments

This post is in: Election Year, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Warren for President 2020, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome, Our Failed Media Experiment

It’s bad for your cholesterol, and your takes:

i'm from a very small town in the midwest & the people who spent all day hanging out at the downtown cafe tended to be the sad, lonely, and/or angry people. weird that reporters take the temp of america at the sad sack hangouts. go to a park or community food drive or something
— Erin ?? Ryan (@morninggloria) November 25, 2019

one final thought: coastal reporters elevating the voices of lonely loudmouths at the expense of the real community-builders in small towns stokes misunderstanding/ amplifies division in a way that isn't representative of reality
— Erin ?? Ryan (@morninggloria) November 25, 2019

is small town america chock full of assholes? sure. there are assholes everywhere. but there are a lot of actual honest to goodness good people whose voices are perpetually drowned out by the angry racist hillbilly safari narrative
— Erin ?? Ryan (@morninggloria) November 25, 2019

all your small towns and hollowed out rust belt cities have exponentially more tired people wolfing a bowl of Froot Loops while their hair dries than they do people holding court over sausage links at diners.
Guess which one feels more left out of the political process.
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) November 27, 2019

Meanwhile…

Pundits: it’s important to find a candidate who can appeal to Trump’s WWC base
Trump’s WWC base: we like the wealth tax
Pundits: not like that, we meant with racism https://t.co/H2MWorm8O4
— Will Stancil (@whstancil) November 29, 2019

Warren's wealth tax enjoys broad support except among Republican college-educated men https://t.co/MivenGffvq
— Rachel Cohen (@rmc031) November 29, 2019

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Open Thread: Revenge of the “Rockies”

by Anne Laurie| November 29, 20199:46 pm| 86 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Post-racial America, Republican Stupidity, Trumpery, Riveted By The Sociological Significance Of It All

obviously this is ridiculous as a matter of correspondence to reality. but as a symbolic representation of what trump means to his supporters, it is kind of perfect. (thread) pic.twitter.com/iICM1zQ8Ui
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) November 27, 2019

Since Trump theoretically didn’t have access to his own twitter account when it first appeared, it’s possible he didn’t personally retweet that ridiculous Rocky Balboa photoshop. (His diligent minions should’ve known better than to retweet it, but ‘should’ve known better’ is not a skill for which Trump minions are selected.)

Interesting riff from Jamelle Bouie on the trope:

when CREED 2 was released, my friend @adamserwer wrote on the first CREED as a subversion of the Rocky franchise. The first three Rocky movies, he notes, are the story of a working-class white man humbling the black man who dares to claim America. https://t.co/f6Vo4cni7g
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) November 27, 2019

Whoever created this meme image of Trump as Rocky just wanted to show him as a powerful man. And Trump obviously wants to present himself as such. But when you consider the racial politics of the film itself, it’s hard to imagine a more apt piece of political symbolism.
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) November 27, 2019

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Open Thread: Revenge of the “Rockies”Post + Comments (86)

Schadenfreude Open Thread: Soft, Soft Targets

by Anne Laurie| November 29, 20195:55 pm| 153 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Trumpery, Assholes, Decline and Fall, Schadenfreude

Coach of the American sycophancy team arrives at the Olympic Village for the opening games. pic.twitter.com/zMeEg4NwIk
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) November 29, 2019

Well, THIS is embarrassing: Nine conservative groups or officials have been accused of inflating sales of Donald Trump Jr.’s new book by purchasing it in bulk. https://t.co/ibT306z3J7
— Jon Cooper ???? (@joncoopertweets) November 28, 2019

this is doubly hilarious because they’ve got these books that they purchased to butter up to don jr. stacked under a sign that says ‘capitalism not cronyism’ https://t.co/AOPsEXXuPI
— Alex Thomas (@AlexThomasDC) November 28, 2019

The NRCC is supposed to spend money on house races, so if they want to waste it fluffing book sales for Uday instead, totally fine by me. https://t.co/nivH8jkk2x
— Greg Pinelo (@gregpinelo) November 28, 2019

Speaking of TP-USA, what’s triggering its leader Charlie Kirk, this week?

Chick Fil A betrayed us.
We stood by them for years during every attack and controversy
Despite this they announced they will no longer support Christian organizations
Even worse, it has come out they support the Southern Poverty Law Center!!
No more Chick-Fil-A, ever!
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 27, 2019

ah yes, the SPLC, with its craven tactics of *checks notes* tracking and occasionally bankrupting white supremacist terrorist groups. https://t.co/U2bNC11AFt
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) November 28, 2019

You see, when liberals were mad at chik fil a because of their funding of anti-LGBT causes, that was left wing PC totalitarianism. But now that conservatives are mad at chik fil a because they donated to *checks notes* the SPLC, that’s just free speech. Any questions? pic.twitter.com/d4RslWnG20
— Adam Serwer🍝 (@AdamSerwer) November 28, 2019

Literally all that happened was Chik Fil A realizing that owning the libs was not a sustainable business model.
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) November 28, 2019

Schadenfreude Open Thread: Soft, Soft TargetsPost + Comments (153)

Daydream Believers Open Thread: One Step Forward

by Anne Laurie| November 29, 20199:41 am| 45 Comments

This post is in: Civil Rights, Military, Proud to Be A Democrat

Elizabeth Warren has introduced a bill to revoke Medals of Honor from U.S. soldiers who slaughtered hundreds of Native American women and children in the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890. Several Native tribes and descendants of the victims support the bill.https://t.co/YPoei0lYcU
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 27, 2019

This didn't start with EW. It started in the House, last spring, and the conversation started decades before. Then in 2001 the Congress of American Indians asked for this to happen. https://t.co/1lG3805kpf
— paulaptb (@paulaptlb) November 28, 2019

We can’t change history, but we can (sometimes) stop lying about it. Per the Washington Post:

… On Wednesday, two Senate Democrats unveiled legislation to strip the Medals of Honor from the American soldiers who participated in the Wounded Knee massacre. The bill, known as the Remove the Stain Act, was announced Wednesday by Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (Ore.), and serves as the Senate equivalent of a House bill introduced this year.
In a statement, Warren said the bill was “a step toward righting wrongs against Native peoples.”…
The Medals of Honor awarded to soldiers at Wounded Knee have long been criticized as unjustified decorations for a lopsided massacre where little fighting occurred, and where evidence has pointed to many U.S. soldiers wounded by their own men rather than by Lakota Indians…
As the Medal of Honor gradually evolved to become the nation’s most rare and distinguished military award, Native Americans have fought to have them rescinded for participants in the massacre. In 2001, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe passed a resolution requesting the U.S. government revoke the medals. The National Congress of American Indians has issued resolutions dating back to 1997 that make the same request.
Later, in 2019, the NCAI issued another resolution that supported the House bill introduced by Reps. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), Denny Heck (D-Wash.) and Paul Cook (R-Calif.)…
Upon unveiling the new House legislation in June, Haaland said she hoped that it “shows the continued work and strength of the Native American people who have fought for over a century for the United States to acknowledge the genocide of our people that has taken place on this soil,” Stars and Stripes reported.
“We have a responsibility to tell the true story of the horrific Wounded Knee Massacre,” Merkley said in a statement on Wednesday. “We cannot whitewash or minimize the dark chapters of our history, but instead must remember, reflect on, and work to rectify them. The massacre of innocents could not be farther from heroism, and I hope this bill helps set the record straight.”

The great grandchildren of the victims are very much alive, and very much aware of this. So for the federal government to be willing to tell the truth would be huge.
— paulaptb (@paulaptlb) November 27, 2019

Wounded Knee was a massacre of hundreds of defenseless Native men, women, and children at the hands of U.S. soldiers. We must take steps to address this horrific injustice. Today, I am proud to join my colleagues on a bill to revoke Medals of Honor awarded for Wounded Knee.
— Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) November 28, 2019

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by Anne Laurie| November 29, 20195:04 am| 102 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Pet Blogging

"it's still November, Laura"
??: @semco89 pic.twitter.com/rVrf6mulBI
— Paul Bronks (@SlenderSherbet) November 16, 2019

Spouse: I guess you're not putting up a Christmas tree this year.
Me: Of course I'm putting up a tree.
Spouse: But we have a kitten.
Me: Dude, we have a kitten.
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) November 17, 2019

Anchovy didn't get a tree in her kitten year since we were out of the country for the holidays, but Paisley's kitten tree experience was glorious. pic.twitter.com/ap1DQR4wMB
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) November 17, 2019

Cats 'n trees
Rule #1: I don't care if you have the Fort Knox of tree stands, always anchor the tree to the ceiling with fishing line.
Rule #2: Shatterproof ornaments.
Rule #3: No tinsel.
Rule #4: You're the idiot who decorated a tree. No whining when the cat undecorates it.
— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) November 17, 2019

At least this year I know where my treasured (unbreakable!) ornaments are… unless the Spousal Unit decided to move them again. And after forty years, he should know better than that!

Friday Morning Open Thread: The Countdown ContinuesPost + Comments (102)

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