Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

How stupid are these people?

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2012 / Sunday Evening Open Thread

Sunday Evening Open Thread

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A little somethng for the Obots, from the Los Angeles Times, via Taegan Goddard:

Final Tally Shows Election Wasn’t Even Close…
“In the weeks since the election, as states have completed their counts, Obama’s margin has grown steadily. From just over 2 percentage points, it now stands at nearly 4. Rather than worry about the Bush-Kerry precedent, White House aides now brag that Obama seems all but certain to achieve a mark hit by only five others in U.S. history – winning the presidency twice with 51% or more of the popular vote.”

(I can’t believe the Muppets never did a version of ‘We Are the Champions’, but this is the closest I could find on Youtube, and it just didn’t seem appropriate.)
***********

What’s on the agenda for the ragged end of the weekend?

Reader Interactions

85Comments

  2. 2.

    Violet

    Maybe this can be a thread to discuss anything other than the terrible events of Friday. Plenty of other places to discuss that if desired.

    Has Romney dropped to 47% yet? I know GOS was on 47% watch for awhile but I got busy and didn’t keep up.

  3. 3.

    James E. Powell

    But any win by any Democrat will always be treated as if it were close. We are, after all, a center-right country.

    Similarly, any win by any Republican will always be treated as if it were a landslide, the adults back in charge, a return to where we all want to be.

  5. 5.

    smith

    @James E. Powell:

    A Democrat could win with Reagan-like numbers (like when he won all but one state against Mondale) and it will still be considered a “close” or “narrow” Democratic victory.

    A Republican wins by 10 votes? MANDATE, baby!

  6. 6.

    Linda Featheringill

    I’m thinking gardening thoughts. The internets tell me that there’s a way to start seeds outside in the winter time. The freezing and thawing is an important part of the process. If it works, I’ll have baby plants ready to go when spring gets here.

    And the internet is never wrong. So I’ll try it. I never have had good luck with starting stuff inside, so I figure I have nothing to lose here.

  7. 7.

    cmorenc

    The final talley of both popular vote and electoral votes wasn’t really all that close, but most of us have to admit that the interval between aftermath of the first debate and election night itself had most of us extremely scared and nervous that Romney had a realistic chance of winning, despite Nate Silver’s statistical projections and the Obama campaign’s projections of confidence.

  9. 9.

    Mnemosyne

    I came across a 1934 movie version of Anne of Green Gables on TCM, so I’m watching that. I’m a little surprised by how much of the dialogue they pulled directly from the book (though they felt free to combine characters).

  10. 10.

    huckster

    The Falcons totally kicked the Giants ass today, so there’s that. Maybe they’ll get a little respect now.

  11. 11.

    James E. Powell

    @cmorenc:

    but most of us have to admit that the interval between aftermath of the first debate and election night itself had most of us extremely scared and nervous that Romney had a realistic chance of winning

    Very few will admit that now, of course. I never had the feeling that Romney was ahead or going to win, but the first debate and the press/media pumping Romney made me feel like it could go that way. I was terrified that some other shoe might drop and change the outcome.

  12. 12.

    Poopyman

    Well, the Steelers just Shit the Bed, as Cole would say, so expect him along any second now to stomp all over this thread.

  13. 13.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    When our Republican country elects Democrats, they are giving Democrats a mandate to be bipartisan with Republicans and get the stuff done that Republicans want to do.

  14. 14.

    Violet

    @Linda Featheringill: There is no freezing where I am. Well, it freezes for a few hours off and on, but the ground doesn’t freeze. I garden year round. My concern this year is that it is not going to get cold enough for the fruit trees to have enough chill hours to produce. My peach tree still has most of its leaves. Sigh.

  16. 16.

    Poopyman

    @James E. Powell: There was a very real danger, given that an obviously (to those of us on the left, anyway) incompetent was within striking distance of upsetting a sitting President. Hell, I still find it disturbing that 47% voted for Romney, and I’m not optimistic about 2016, unless a Dem star emerges RSN.

  18. 18.

    The Dangerman

    @Poopyman:

    Well, the Steelers just Shit the Bed…

    30+ seconds in regulation and a TO…

    …and they played for OT. Yes, they were at the 20, but I don’t see the risk (other than getting your QB whacked, as the O-line was getting beat with Philips-like regularity).

  19. 19.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Linda Featheringill:

    I don’t know how your finances are but my DH bought me a greenhouse last year from Harbor Freight Tools. It was not terribly expensive if I recall (especially as he had a 20% off coupon that I gave him) and has held up well since then. I have every intention of starting out lettuces and other veggies from seed over the winter. I also dug up a whole bunch of my “tender perennials” (sold as annuals around here such as Angelonia) and put them in pots in the greenhouse and so far they are doing quite nicely. I also have two tender tree hibiscus in there which again are doing nicely despite having had at least two hard overnight freezes.

  24. 24.

    Narcissus

    Did Romney really get 47 percent?

    That has to be on purpose. God was like, “Subtlety is lost on these people”.

    “I mean, Jesus, do I have to put up a sign?”

    And Jesus was like, “Yes, yes you do.”

  26. 26.

    Spaghetti Lee

    @Poopyman:

    I’m optimistic about 2016 for three big reasons:

    -The demographic changes that have been helping Democrats will likely continue.
    -The Republicans have shown no signs of being able to moderate, step back from the brink, etc.
    -The economy will probably be better four years from now.

  28. 28.

    Linda Featheringill

    @efgoldman: #13

    Weather has been warm. I’m in the greater Philly area and it’s been quite mellow for December. I’ll probably die when real weather gets here.

  29. 29.

    Linda Featheringill

    @Violet:

    Lazy peach tree! Tell it to get with the program!

    But you have a point in that the plants we are used to depend on a cold dormant period.

  32. 32.

    Mnemosyne

    @Maude:

    I liked the TV version (the one with Megan Fallows and Colleen Dewhurst). Unfortunately for them, Dewhurst died long before her character did — I’m still not sure how they got around that.

    Plus they ended up doing weird things like putting Anne and Gilbert in World War I. Saw the commercials for that but never actually saw the series. That was going WAY off from the books (where their sons went to WWI).

  33. 33.

    Violet

    @Litlebritdifrnt: It’s so warm that things that should be kind of dormant here now, like carrots, are going gangbusters. Fruit trees still have leaves. Bananas haven’t frozen back. Papaya and mango are still okay. Citrus is good–ate some today.

    I would like to have a winter but am not holding my breath.

  35. 35.

    Mnemosyne

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    One of my coworkers buys things from Harbor Freight all the time (not a greenhouse, though). He’s always been very happy with the service and quality.

  36. 36.

    Rosie Outlook

    @Raven: Thank you, Raven!

    I’m addressing Christmas cards to my colleagues, to be passed out tomorrow as many of them will be gone the last 2 weeks of the year due to use-it-or-lose-it holiday time; having been sick a lot this year, I’m not that lucky. Which I don’t really mind; a deserted office is a peaceful office. Also mailing the last present for this year, tomorrow .

  38. 38.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Linda Featheringill:

    Mine is 6′ by something, plastic, pretty easy to put together once you break down and read the instructions (as opposed to winging it and ending up putting it together inside out for a while :) ) I think after the coupon it was $99.00. It has already been well worth every penny, if only for the amount I have saved on buying lettuce for my husband’s salad every night.

    ETA and it came through Hurricane Sandy just fine. I wanted to point that out lest anyone thought it was too flimsy.

  43. 43.

    JPL

    Question.. I am watching a live event and when Muslims pray, their hands are open and Christians hold them together. Why? I was taught that holding your hands together upward towards God but I’m not sure about symbolism with Muslims.

  44. 44.

    Poopyman

    @Linda Featheringill: No! Long term forecasts for the East Coast are for a pretty average winter, and usually things really don’t get cranking until after the holidays.

    If this weather holds through January 15th, I might start to think things are going to be mild, but right now it seems to me like a pretty average pre-holiday pattern but minus precipitation, which concerns me – and the farmers.

  45. 45.

    Kristine

    Watching the George C Scott iteration of A Christmas Carol on AMC. My desert-island version is the Alastair Sim Scrooge, but Scott is supposed to be very good as well. We’ll see.

    Fifth warmest December on record here in NE Illinois, although there are rumblings of a White Christmas. Ground has yet to freeze, but it’s bound to eventually–if/when I start seeds, it’ll be indoor grow trays in late February. I have so many different varieties of tomato seeds that I’m reluctant to buy more, but I keep hearing about Paul Robesons.

  46. 46.

    Mark B.

    @Ron: that was a heck of a Christmas present that Ben gave to Carr. That was a fun game to watch. The defenses couldn’t stop anyone. Until they did.

  47. 47.

    Mark B.

    @Poopyman: most of the tools that HF sells are from the third world, but not all from china. I have no problem with their hand tools, which mostly come from India.

  48. 48.

    RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist

    Having a swanky Sunday dinner alone at the Hotel Presidente Intercontinental in Puebla Mexico. Been here since Thursday and going home in 2 days.

  56. 56.

    handsmile

    @Kristine:

    If you have access to it, TCM will be broadcasting the version of A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim at 9:30pm EST.

    Never much cared for the version with George Scott, but he himself portrayed a forbidding Scrooge.

  58. 58.

    Linda Featheringill

    @Poopyman: #45

    Thanks. I’m a newcomer to the East Coast. Cleveland might still have snow on the ground, left over from Thanksgiving.

  59. 59.

    RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist

    @Elizabelle:
    Insalata tricolore. Sopa poblana. Cerveza Leon. A light dinner, as I have to be up early tomorrow. This restaurant is really the business, man.

    RiD +2

  61. 61.

    Svensker

    A cousin is in animal rescue in Philadelphia. There’s a place that specializes in older pets and this one, Bishop, is a 15 year old pit who was given up by his family. The face just slays me.

    Anyway, see their facebook page “The City of Elderly Love: Save A Senior Pet”

    Thanks for looking, any folks in the Philly area.

  64. 64.

    RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist

    Yesterday I drove through an appaling slum. Collapsed buildings blocking the street and block after block without an intact window pane. I think the cabbie knew that would freak me out and it really did. Post-armaggedon landscape. I’ve decided to shut up about my missing suitcase and just …. pretty much STFU…

  70. 70.

    mai naem

    @RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist: They had a couple moving to Puebla on a House Hunters International. It looked nice. Anyhoo, I was talkingto a Mexican friend about that episode and he said Puebla is known for it’s citizens being short. This coming from a guy who’s about 5’7″.

  71. 71.

    RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist

    @mai naem:

    My 3rd trip (work) to Puebla in 3 months. The winter weather is awesome. The volcano is amazing. The people are super. Food is wonderful. But I don’t know if I could ever get used to the poverty and decay. And I live 6 miles from Detroit.
    Well, here comes the check.
    RiD + 2

  73. 73.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mnemosyne:

    We’re Tivoing it for the second showing (on Saturday 12/22) because we’re kind of getting sucked in. “A Christmas Carol” as updated by Rod Serling? Yes please!

    G just pointed out that Aaron Sorkin is the 21st century Rod Serling. Think about it.

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    Muppets. Is the such a thing as too much Muppets? That would be like too much “Far Side.” Limitless demand.

    My contribution is the Amazon consumer ratings on the Hultzler 571 banana slicer. Not since the Halcyon days of the ‘hoff’s Greatest Hits and Tuscan Milk have so many waxed so profoundly over so little.

    After reading some rave reviews for this product I thought I should get one for myself as I would dearly like to turn my life around like so many others seem to have done with this product.
    I was however, hugely disappointed, as Amazon, and/or the makers of this product, have failed to advise that the 571B is a Region 1 Banana slicer and hence totally useless outside of the United States. I live in Australia and need a region 4 slicer. I now have a whole bunch of bananas sitting on my kitchen counter that I can’t slice and a life slightly more woeful and abject than it was before I received the slicer.

    This is the greatest kitchen utensil ever! Can’t believe how much time I used to waste with a ruler and pencil, marking my bananas to get those perfectly uniform slices. I was terrible at geometry and trigonometry so it was hard for me to get exact measurements on curved bananas with a straight ruler. Then I had to go back and remove the pencil marks after slicing. There was always that tiny eraser smudge on every slice. This wonderful gadget frees up much more time that can be spent marking my cantaloupes for perfect slices–and boy do I need all the help I can get. It’s even harder to use my ruler to mark round fruit than curved fruit. Hutzler, you’re the best. All my friends are getting one of these for Christmas.

    amazon.com/Hutzler-5717-571-Banana-Slicer/product-reviews/B0047E0EII/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF…

  75. 75.

    trollhattan

    @Raven:
    Uh, how does one get a gigantic bay window from point A to point B? For that matter, how does a thrift store end up with a hunk of a building?

  76. 76.

    Edo

    @JPL: Hands open was how everybody prayed when Islam was getting started in the 600s. (The Eastern churches still pray open-handed now.) Folded hands only became a thing in the Western Church 500 years later, after the Great Schism.

    Not sure if there’s any specific symbolism to it; the Sunni sources are behaviorist, and talk about *how* stuff is done more than *why.*

  77. 77.

    trollhattan

    @Anoniminous:
    Official California Statement of Vote has been published. I’m happy to note Willard got his magically clad ass delivered to him in a Champagne bucket. To wit:

    Barack Obama 7,854,285 60.2%
    Random Dude 4,839,958 37.1%

  79. 79.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kristine:

    Robert Shaw is one of the ghosts. Peter Sellers plays one of the people in the future (and, as G snarked, demonstrated why he did not play a Texan in Dr. Strangelove).

    It’s actually pretty interesting if you like Rod Serling/Aaron Sorkin-style speechifying, which I do. It’s worth Tivoing if you have one.

  80. 80.

    lawguy

    It does appear as though the original article doesn’t count Washington, Jefferson, or Monroe. Nor does it count the Sainted Ronny who if you round up his first election from 50.7% also accomplished it.

  84. 84.

    Davis X. Machina

    @JPL: Early Christians prayed arms out, palms up. Frescoes, mosaics and stuff from late antiquity have it frequently — figures in that pose are called orantes ‘praying ones’ in art history…

    Seems to be borrowed from the Jews.

    (@Edo: See you here first…)

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