Dan Savage likes to say that the reason breeders don’t have a pride parade is because they already have Halloween, so I’m getting my drink on to celebrate our special day.
Also, too: 215K, bitches.
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Xecky Gilchrist
215K, bitches.
But most of them were conservative infiltrators there to make the liberals look bad.
Hal
Don’t ask me why, but I still find myself amazed at Palin’s stupidity.
Wow, really Sarah? Two years in a term that lasts four, to fix problems created over the last 8?
gbear
But you don’t have Carl Paladino telling everyone how vile your costumes are.
Tim
Wait. Dan Savage said that?
WTH? Halloween is the gay Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year all in one!
Let a thousand Elvira drag queens reign!
sherifffruitfly
I blame Obama for Halloween.
Lolis
I am working. Yeah, it sucks.
James Hare
The wildest part about the whole thing was seeing Metro completely overwhelmed. I’ve lived in the Washington area for my entire life and I’ve never seen it so packed.
It was also the most polite crowd I’ve ever seen on the national mall. I wish I had stayed for the whole rally but the group I was with decided to ditch it to a bar shortly into it. The view at the bar WAS better, and it did have drink service.
JGabriel
Hal — More Sarah from TPM:
Forget for the moment that there is already a right-wing group of business and political leaders in Alaska who referred to themselves as the “Corrupt Bastards Club“.
Instead, just savor Palin’s acronym formation skills.
.
freelancer
@Hal:
To be fair, two years out of four is how long Palin thinks governing is necessary.
Also, for Straight People Pride night, what’s with the Gaydar.
comnet ads?gbear
And I bet not one restaruant clerk had a sandwich thrown in their face.
asiangrrlMN
I think you should dress up as Glenn Beck, Cole.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
My hair is pink. The spray can said it would make my hair orange, but it is definitely pink.
I blame Obama. And Jon Stewart.
Linda Featheringill
@Lolis:
Sorry you’re working.
I just finished. Finally.
A good thought to hold onto while you slave away:
Dems rock. According to DCCC, in the last couple of months we have talked to over 8 million people door-to-doo and over 15 million folks by telephone. And there are about 140,000 volunteers contacting people today.
Aren’t you proud of us?
BGinCHI
Please complete:
I wanted to dress up as Dick Armey for Halloween, but I couldn’t find a big enough _______.
Winners will go on to compete in the Show Fucking Dick Fucking Armey Some Respect finals.
BGinCHI
@Linda Featheringill: If the calls to our landline represent even a small fraction of the Dem ground game, we might just see gotv make a big difference.
Let’s hope so.
Dems also buying LOTS of ads on all kinds of network and cable. Thing about there being so incredibly much money is that once you hit saturation, it’s just a waste of time.
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: Vileness?
Suck It Up!
@Hal:
Was that Sarah or a liberal?
Mnemosyne
Clearly Dan Savage doesn’t know that the gays have stolen Halloween back.
I always aspire to go but can never find anyone willing to brave the massive crowds.
Mnemosyne
@BGinCHI:
We’ve reached the stage in California where Leonardo Di Caprio and Martin Sheen are calling me.
mr. whipple
@Linda Featheringill:
Did you see Obama today?
Suck It Up!
@freelancer:
ha ha ha ha ha lol haaaaaa!!! very funny.
Litlebritdifrnt
I gave a large bag of candy for my neighbor to hand out as is usual at our household. Restraining Cueball from eating trick or treaters 20 billionty times a night is not my idea of fun. Cueball not only sees a knock “ON HIS DOOR DAMMNIT” as an affront to his sovereignty but when I open said door, he immediately feels the need to devour whatever is standing at the door, even if said person happens to be a seven year old girl dressed as Cinderella. We tend to leave the entire “Halloween” thingy to our neighbors who are much more into the “holiday” thingy. Also, too, my cats (who are for the most part black) do not have good memories of Halloween, which is why Alpha my darling black and white, she of the broken jaw and collapsed lungs, is firmly glued to the top of the bookcase right now.
For those who have not heard it, here is her story:
“One week prior to Halloween I got home and found blood at the front door. I was of course horrified. I walked into the house and found another trail of blood leading into the bedroom. There sat Alpha on the end of the bed, covered in blood and crippled. I immediately phoned the vet and told him we were coming in. Meanwhile, my mother (who was visiting at the time) answered a knock at the door and was greeted by a neighbour. The neighbour told a tale of such horror that it assaulted my ears to hear it. A pick up truck full of teenagers had driven down our road. After they had passed Alpha decided to cross the road. On a whim, the teenagers reversed and ran over her…. once they had hit her with the truck they got out to view their accomplishments…, they found her lying in a ditch, they kicked her in the head, and bent her legs to make sure they were good and broken. Then they left. So when I came home Alpha was pretty much on deaths door. I took her to the vets and almost unable to speak explained to them what had happened to her. They told me to leave her and they would call me “if there were any developments.” (obviously not expecting her to live.) They did surgery, wiring her jaw which had been broken (as well as several teeth). It was when they were doing the x-rays to figure out if there was other damage other than her jaw and her legs that they discovered she had blood in her lungs. They did not expect her to last the night. As it was when I called the next morning she had made it through the night and they were more confident than the day before. One front leg was okay but the other one was completely useless. The vet explained to me that they could amputate the leg and she would be fine, there were lots of three-legged cats running around, in fact they had one as the surgery cat. I took her home with instructions on how to feed her her liquid diet and to be a good nurse. A week went by and I was still feeding her her liquid. One day, as she was sat on my lap while I was feeding her I noticed that the toes of the “bad” leg were trying to “knead” me. I made a mental note to tell the vet. On her next follow up I told the vet. He got a pair of pincers on the “bad” leg and sure enough when he squeezed she drew the leg back. It was going to be alright. Okay so she is not the prettiest cat in the world, her jaw set crooked so now she looks a little like a bulldog chewing a wasp but she is fine, she can walk on all four legs and her only problem is that she cannot retract her front claws. Of course that is not a problem for Alpha that is a problem for anyone who is the recipient of Alpha’s kneading. So whenever Alpha comes into the kitchen telling me the most tortuous tale of her journey from the deck to the food bowl I tend to listen. I mean any cat that has been through what she has deserves to be listened to. ”
We don’t do “halloween”.
General Stuck
We can enjoy this last weekend before the rumored gooper wave of stoopid washes away the last vestiges of sanity in this country, and let’s loose the left wing dogs of butthurt, together with the Palinista flesh eaters.
And we get to amp up the “see spot run” explanations for all the “told you soes” squared to the eleventy billionth power set on loopety loops. I’ve hooked a drool cup up to the gray water line to carry away the wasted effort and time.
BGinCHI
@Mnemosyne: If Charlie Sheen calls you, hang up immediately and seek shelter away from the windows.
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)
I’ll repost my comment from the earlier open thread (below). I have to say some of the costumes at the rally were awesome. I abandoned the Metro when I saw the lines to buy tickets were six people wide and 30 people deep at 9:30 a.m. (The line to get in after buying tickets were another story). I got a friend to pick me up instead and that worked out much better because most people decided to take the Metro. We got parking pretty close to the Mall too.
lamh32
Hey guys,
CBS UStream has live coverage at the White House as President Obama and First Lady pass out candy!!!!
Here’s the link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/522594
Suck It Up!
@General Stuck:
too bad we don’t get to go with Obama on his multi-country tour after the election.
Suck It Up!
@lamh32:
there he goes again with the handouts.
Is that grandma next to them? haven’t seen her in a long time.
lamh32
@Suck It Up!:
yep that’s grandma.
My first thought was “Oh Oh, where the white kids at?”..
/snark
gwangung
@lamh32: The reactionaires are keeping them away from the “strange man handing out candy”?
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)
@Linda Featheringill: And this is why I think things won’t be so bad. I was really encouraged by the phonebanking I did. Since many of those calls were to younger people with cell phones who gave their numbers to the Obama campaign in ’08, I have a feeling that the pollsters have an important missing piece in their estimates.
Ross Hershberger
I’m working, if putting stuff I don’t want up on eBay is work. It pays well, anyway.
The dog is losing his mind. Anything that walks on his sidewalk is a bark target. There’s lots of walking going on out there at the moment & he’s putting up stiff resistance.
Restrung
@lamh32:
Hah. What’s he supposed to be?
Suck It Up!
@lamh32:
who are those people by the way? how did they get invited? Is this staff, a school, etc.
lamh32
@Suck It Up!:
I was wondering the same thing. I have no idea! I think it’s maybe WH employees?
Bnut
I think it’s funny that Sully is destroyed on this site for his cheer leading of the Iraq War, but Dan Savage gets crazy love, though he did the same thing. Just sayin….
JPL
@lamh32: In the past, I know they opened up the white house for ghosts and goblins.
I assume it’s the same thing this year but let go check and see what Sarah says on her tweet.
gbear
Oh great. I’m giving out little Snickers bars for halloween and a kid just came up to the door and at the bottom of their bag was a full size Snickers bar. Now I look like a cheapskate.
Bnut
@gbear:
Unless you are the dick who gives out pennies or candy corn, I think you are ok.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people):
I think the cell phone thing is the key. The cell phone people do not respond to polls. The cell phone people screen their calls. The cell phone people are an unknowable. The cell phone people rule.
freelancer
@Bnut:
This.
Omnes Omnibus
@Bnut: I remember getting a biblical pamphlet at one time as a kid.
asiangrrlMN
@Bnut: Co-sign on this. Candy is candy is candy. And, as to your note on Dan Savage, I like him only a leeeeetle bit better than I like Sully.
ETA: Which is, not at all.
@Omnes Omnibus: That’s the best treat of all! The creamy, gooey treat of Jeebuz’s love.
@BGinCHI: I screen all calls. If I don’t know you or don’t like you, I don’t pick up the damn phone.
gbear
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Unless you’re sitting next to them on the damned bus.
Ross Hershberger
Hey, speaking of the cent coin, Lincoln is getting the shaft. He saved our country from being torn apart and got murdered in the bargain. And we thank him for that by putting his face on a coin so worthless that most people don’t bother to spend them or even bend over to pick them up. We owe Abe better treatment. The $500 bill is history, but maybe we could come up with a $200 bill for Abe as compensation for being assigned to that worthless copper.
And retire the cent once and for all.
BGinCHI
@Litlebritdifrnt: It’s worse than that. Who answers their land line if you don’t know who’s calling?
Old people.
Or shut-ins.
Omnes Omnibus
@Ross Hershberger: He is on the five dollar bill as well.
BGinCHI
@Ross Hershberger: I think you can get put in jail for saying that in this state.
FYI: you can use pennies at the tolls here. That’s why we’re first in the nation in……oh, forget it.
Mark S.
Has anyone seen the trailer to Sarah’s new show? Sarah says she prefers the outdoors to a stuffy old political office. Why isn’t the media on this like stink on shit? The way they follow her tweets, they should be interrupting the World Series for an hour long discussion of this.
suzanne
@gbear: My mom is such a buzzkill that she gave away single-serving boxes of cereal one year. Not even Lucky Charms or Cocoa Puffs or anything good. Like Raisin Bran.
I told her that I fervently hoped that her house got pelted with eggs.
suzanne
@gbear: My mom is such a buzzkill that she gave away single-serving boxes of cereal one year. Not even Lucky Charms or Cocoa Puffs or anything good. Like Raisin Bran.
I told her that I fervently hoped that her house got pelted with eggs.
Bnut
Now the people who gave out NICKELS, now those were the true capitalists.
Ross Hershberger
@Omnes Omnibus:
I know that. I spent a fiver on a coffee today and got coins back in change. The penny still insults me, as much for the piles of them that accumulate (34 lbs worth at last count around here) and for Lincoln’s face on the poor worthless things. We need more Lincoln in our political lives and less copper (Zinc, actually) underfoot.
Omnes Omnibus
@Ross Hershberger: 34 pounds of pennies? I am impressed.
freelancer
@Mark S.:
Her fucking voice is maddening to me.
Ross Hershberger
@Omnes Omnibus:
We’re lazy. The last time we scraped all of the dimes and quarters off of the visible surfaces and rolled them up it paid half the mortgage that month. Coins come in individually and leave rolled up and boxed.
When did they start fooling with the reverse of the cent? I have 3 here and they’re all different. One with the familiar memorial, one with the shield symbol and one with Mr. L. standing in the foreground of a grand building with a dome.
EDIT: I wikipedia’d it and now I’m up to date on the tinkering with the penny.
PurpleGirl
@Mnemosyne: I’ve a Democratic call from Bill Clinton, which I listened to through the end and calls from Republicans Rudy Guiliani and Peter King, which I hung up on.
debit
I didn’t bother buying candy this year. We never get any kids and I don’t need to eat a bowl of candy on my own.
@ open thread: Ever since I adopted Chloe, she has never played with toys. She had no interest whatsoever. I persist in buying toys for her, because I’m convinced that if I can just find the right one, she’ll play with it. The most recent purchase was a squeaky chipmunk that Chloe ignores and Oliver likes to snuggle with. Until today. Today she decided to bite down to hold it still and sort of knead it with her paws. That’s all she does. I have no idea what satisfaction she gets out of it, but she’s been doing it all day.
TaMara (BHF)
@Litlebritdifrnt: WTF. I had not heard that before. Now I’m a puddle. Please tell me that while the neighbors observed all this happening (did they do anything to stop it?) they got a license and the sociopaths were punished.
Serial killers in their larvae form.
MikeJ
@lamh32: I thought it in poor taste when that kid showed up dressed as a birth certificate.
stuckinred
Fun article on old school phones in the Times today.
jwb
@Litlebritdifrnt: Let’s hope that you are right and that the uncontactable cell phone users take the time to come out and vote.
TaMara (BHF)
@debit: I just bought my cats a crackle chute. I don’t know why, was in the aisle, felt guilty about how ‘horrible’ their lives must be and got them an $8 wire sprung tunnel that crinkles and crackles.
Turns out they love it and fight over who gets to roll around it in. But now the ones left out realize they can leap on the one inside and get just as much crinkle sound and much more fun
Good times. Good times.
Chloe – I’ve never seen a dog knead, ever. That is so cool.
jwb
@BGinCHI: After never having been polled previously, I’ve now been polled four times this month, once on my cell phone, and I live in a very blue part of Texas. Go figure.
stuckinred
Sounds like a bloodbath in the church in Iraq.
Ross Hershberger
I get push-polled and robocalled by GOP related interests a couple of times a week. I don’t know if it’s better to hang up immediately or just put the phone down and ignore it, tying up their line. Any opinions for next time?
Maody
@debit: that’s a mating demand fo sure.
change
Only two days until the end of Democrat power in Congress…
stuckinred
@Ross Hershberger: String them out as long as you can. Any kind of cold call op wants volume, if you jive them they can’t be messin with more vulnerable schmucks.
debit
@TaMara (BHF): It’s possible she’s been hanging around the cats too much. I’ll try the crinkle chute. If she doesn’t like it, no doubt the cats will adore it.
@Maody: How so? And she is fixed so I can’t imagine she has any urges of that type whatsoever.
Linda Featheringill
@mr. whipple:
No, I didn’t get to see Obama today, although he was in the neighborhood [sort of]. I had to work today. I understand that people were thrilled.
Breezeblock
Had a great time at the rally. We went down Thursday night, did touristy crap on Friday, saw the ACTUAL Star-Spangled Banner. Pretty cool. You HAVE to do that.
Oh, and did a scary Muslim Turkish Chef Wine/Food pairing dinner last night after the rally.
Good beer drinking city too.
And less than 4 hour drive from NJ?
Ross Hershberger
@stuckinred:
I’m torn. I used to work in the Teleservices (call center) industry and know how awful those jobs are. No harm in tying up a robocall line, though.
Maody
@debit: my cat Mao Mao has been fixed for years and still exhibits desire to get taken. watch the way your dog keeps kneading the neck while holding with the bite? that’s what old doggies do also, too – even after being neutered/spayed.
and for Halloween, snickers in any size are mmmmm.
Comrade Mary
@gbear: I’ve been giving out mini-bars(1), too, while my next door neighbours are giving out full sized bars.
Of course, they ran out 30 minutes ago, while I have enough bars left for a few stragglers. I know what kind of guilt I can live with because I’m a liberal Canadian: better that everyone get a little something than some get lots and some get none.
(1) “Mini-bars” as in teeny tiny snack bars, not overpriced alcohol in tiny bottles. That shit is for ME at the end of trick or treating, not the kids.
Ross Hershberger
I can’t think about politics any more today. Gonna go watch The Men Who Stare at Goats with wife & dog.
Just get me through Tuesday so we can start the recriminations.
Maody
this
PurpleGirl
@Mark S.: I’ve seen that commercial several times now and that line sticks out at the end. I want shout at her… “Well, then stay out of politics.” Stay the hell at home!
Bruuuuce
@Ross Hershberger: I wish I had 34 lbs of pennies here. My daughter’s school has an annual penny drive, and as well as the money going to a good cause (I forget what this year’s is, but last year’s was, IIRC, either a local food bank or City Harvest), the class that contributes the most gets stuff. 34 lbs would decimate all the other classes, and do good at the same time.
Linda Featheringill
@mr. whipple:
According to newspaper-on-line reports, with pictures, Obama and Biden were in Cleveland together, on the stage together. What a security nightmare!
I know we have an election coming up but Cheez! Show a little caution, guys!
Bruuuuce
Also, too, re trick or treaters: http://www.facebook.com/WSBYSO#!/photo.php?fbid=163508557005186&set=a.123290884360287.13113.113544412001601
PurpleGirl
@Bnut: I did that last year but can’t afford to do so this year.
Luckily, the complex’s office made up door knob signs that with “trick or treat here” or “sorry, not this year” to hang out so the kids would know where to knock.
morzer
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Anyone who abuses an animal like that ought to be publicly castrated and impaled. No exceptions.
Bruuuuce
@Linda Featheringill: I’d hate to lose the two of them, but if it had happened today, we could have had President Pelosi. I’ll bet she’d have been better than Obama (not that he’s been all bad, but she’s gotten even more done than him).
stuckinred
@Ross Hershberger: Hmm, do you figure the political calls are made by people being paid? We have a big Dial-America operation here and there are some really nice folks stuck there.
Ross Hershberger
@Bruuuuce:
Shirt cuff calculation says 34 lbs of coins is $61 if they’re all post ’82 zinc ones. Less of they’re real coppers. Now you know why they’re being used as a doorstop instead of being hauled next door to the bank. They hate us already for the quarters and dimes episode.
Maody
@morzer: and made to wear this in a minimum security facility of some kind
Ross Hershberger
@stuckinred:
The personal interview calls are contracted out to call centers by bid. Poor schmucks on the phones take who knows what abuse from at least 50% of the people who answer. Call center staff turnover goal is 115%/year.
The recorded calls are from big automated operations. I don’t know that side of the biz.
Joe Bauers
215K? No, no. It was at least 215 million. If not 2.15 billion. Or more.
Zuzu's Petals
@Tim:
Yeah, makes you wonder if he’s ever been to Halloween in the Castro.
Xecky Gilchrist
@stuckinred: Fun article on old school phones in the Times today.
There’s been some effort to update them. :)
Zuzu's Petals
@JGabriel:
Omigod, I literally laughed out loud. What a dolt.
Bruuuuce
@Ross Hershberger: Quite a doorstop. I hope you don’t have to move them out of the way to let the door close too often :-)
jwb
@Joe Bauers: No, no, no. You are applying the wingnut multiplier. Clearly, this rally requires the wingnut divisor, so only 215 people showed up. Come on, get with the program!
Suck It Up!
@Bruuuuce:
yeah, I’m sure the Republicans and blue dogs would have been much more receptive to President Nancy Pelosi.
Xecky Gilchrist
@Suck It Up!: I’m sure the Republicans and blue dogs would have been much more receptive to President Nancy Pelosi.
Heh, no doubt.
Here in Salt Lake City they have ominous black signs all over the place saying MATHESON = PELOSI, meaning that a vote for Democratic (well, Blue Dog) congressman Matheson keeps Pelosi in power and that’s supposed to be scary. I keep forgetting how much she’s been demonized by the fRighties.
jwb
@Xecky Gilchrist: Yeah, we have those “scary” black signs here as well, except the name has been changed: Doggett = Pelosi. Given Doggett’s district, I think this one is a particularly poor tactic, but we’ll see.
MikeJ
@Ross Hershberger:
No harm tying up a call with a live person either, as long as you aren’t rude. One of their stats is call completions, that is, people who didn’t hang up or tell them to fuck off before they got to say the spiel. If you tie up the line, like with a robocall they aren’t talking to someone more vulnerable, but as a bonus you’re helping the person working in the call center up his or her call completion number. Of course ideally you’ll also drive down their calls per hour, but the two stats are pretty much mutually exclusive.
(Never worked on the floor, but set up the IT side of a new call center.)
change
Grim Democrats await huge losses:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/44448.html
Lysana
@Bnut:
He gets no love from me. That fuckstain talks a big game with those It Gets Better tapes when he is part of the problem for bisexuals and transgender people. He hates on both groups every chance he gets and claims it’s because he has proof we/they are in need of getting bitchslapped. He even questions whether bisexuality even exists.
Fuck Dan Savage. And fuck Sully. Both of them are bigots and liars.
jwb
@change: I keep telling you that no one is buying the strawberry rhubarb pie you are selling.
Ross Hershberger
@MikeJ:
I helped set up the 750 seat OnStar outfit in Charlotte. That’s one industry I NEVER want to be on the bottom rung of. Business Analyst for customer statistics was OK though.
Workforce management are the real wizards of the business.
Bnut
@Lysana:
Does he think Bi and Trans people don’t have the “balls” to come out? I have a few friends who think that way.
Anne Laurie
@debit: __
Wow. On that video Chloe really looks like she’s remembering her tiny-puppy days, kneading & “suckling”… but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog do that. Maybe she was fostered by a cat!
(She is, whatever her dreams, totally adorable. You may have to buy Oliver a duplicate… )
Nick
I was one of the 215,000
SiubhanDuinne
@debit #58:
I like the eyeroll at ~ :20. Whole video is approximately as lively as a Tunch action cam, but Chloe seems contented, and after all, that’s what it’s about, yes? And I have to say, she is one beautiful puppeh! Hope to see her inthe BJ calendar.
Zuzu's Petals
@Omnes Omnibus:
I give out little party favor bags full of ten-cent toys: bubbles, crayons, squishy frogs, funny eyeballs and or teeth, etc.
The little girls tend to go for the ones that have the bright sparkly rings, but Luke Skywalker just asked for one, so ya never know.
Ellie
The problem with the rally estimate is that by the time many people (including my group) were able to get there due to ungodly traffic and jam packed metro, there was no way to get anywhere near a jumbotron.
We got there at 12:30 and finally got to a place where we could sort of hear but missing every third or fourth word. We milled around looking at signs and so forth but finally bailed about 1:30. Many others did the same. However, as we were heading back to metro, the number of those just arriving and streaming in was still about 2 or 3 times the number leaving.
My point is that if everyone who attempted to go was actually able to arrive and stay, I think the number would be considerably higher. We were disappointed but not sorry we went. It was a beautiful day and a great crowd.
Silver Owl
215K for sanity. America is 310 million. Wev on the United States is an “active” nation. 90% are telling everyone to shut up because it looks bad. lmao.
Samhain. Have a fun, happy and blessed Samhain. May the new year bring you wisdom, strength and happiness.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@jwb:
Fix’t.
debit
@Anne Laurie:
Luther seems to think she’s an oddly shaped, smelly and socially maladjusted cat. He’ll groom her head (sometimes pinning her in order to do so) and then present his head for her to reciprocate. Poor Chloe freezes and just looks at him with utterly panic stricken eyes until he gives up and walks away.
@SiubhanDuinne: She’s in the calender, but I can’t remember which months. And I need to capture her “we’re going for a walk!” antics sometime. Manic doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Bob In Pacifica
Every year we buy a couple of bags of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. The porch light goes on at dusk, it stays on for a few hours. No one comes. We turn out the lights and go to bed. And over the next week I eat those Reeses.
Same tonight.
ruemara
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I think that’s the most horrifying thing I’ve heard this halloween. My sincere apologies to Alpha for the casual cruelties of humanity and I’m so glad she made it back. May their rewards find them, those foul bastards.