Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Bark louder, little dog.

Maybe you would prefer that we take Joelle’s side in ALL CAPS?

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

When we show up, we win.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Fight them, without becoming them!

The jury literally has a bell they can ring to force Trump to show up on command. Greatest thing ever!

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

White supremacy is terrorism.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

People are weird.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

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

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

If marriage is the equivalent of selling yourself into slavery, women with self respect should reject the offer.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

You are here: Home / Elections / Local Races 2018 and earlier / Open Thread: Markey Did It!

Open Thread: Markey Did It!

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Whew. Per the Boston Globe:

Veteran Democratic US Representative Edward J. Markey beat Republican businessman Gabriel E. Gomez today in a special election for US Senate in Massachusetts that was marked by its brevity and by low voter interest.

Gomez gave a concession speech shortly after 9:30 p.m., thanking his family and supporters. At the beginning of the race, he said, “Nobody knew who I was outside of Cohasset, a couple of Little League baseball teams, and the amazing people I worked with. But look at us now.”

Markey had 55 percent of the votes, compared with 45 percent for Gomez, with 96 percent of precincts reporting….

The race struggled to gain public attention. First, a number of high-profile names dropped out of the race, including Brown, who lost a reelection battle in November to Democrat Elizabeth Warren. Then, other news events grabbed the media’s attention, including the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15.

Early on, some observers even suggested Bay State voters had a case of election fatigue, with tonight’s election the third US Senate race in just over three years.

Not surprisingly, given the challenges, turnout today appeared to be lackluster. Secretary of State William F. Galvin predicted record low voting numbers statewide, perhaps about 37 percent. By 6 p.m., only about 18 percent of voters had turned out in Boston…

What this means, for the 99.99% of Balloon Juice readers who do not live in Massachusetts, is that President Obama has one less corporatist sockpuppet/social-issues teabagger to contend with “just for the next seventeen months” (as the Gomez ads have been whinging for the last ten days or so).

The President, Joe Biden, and of course Senator Warren all endorsed and campaigned for Markey. The GOP threw a ton of money into tv ads, but there’s not a lot of photogenicity among that crew. Scott Brown wouldn’t be seen in public with Gomez until about 36 hours ago, and even then he looked like a man thinking “don’t let this luzer get his stench on me.”

Turnout seems to have been weighted — no surprise — towards the Cranky Old Pharts demographic, not least in my own town, which seems to have give the Twelve Visions dude his fourth-highest tally. (I never heard of him, either; from the front of his website it seems to be a form of get-off-my-lawnism too cranky even for the Free Staters.)

Reader Interactions

288Comments

  7. 7.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I know it was expected, but I’m still breathing a sigh of relief, cause of guys like this I read about at TPM

    But David Wanders, 43, of Stoughton, said he voted for Gomez because he felt Markey had been in Washington too long.
    “He’s a lifer,” said Wanders, an independent who voted for Obama in the last election. “I don’t think he lives here. He lives in Washington.”

    Never ceases to amaze frustrate me how people, especially “independents”, will base their votes on everything but actual issues, and more than likely congratulate themselves on it.

  10. 10.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    @Baud: yeah, that’s one of my concerns too. Go Sen. Davis!

  11. 11.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @Baud: I wouldn’t be too concerned, in part because the best she can hope for is to prevent the bill from being voted on today. I will bet you that Perry calls another session. Then, someone would have to filibuster for 2 weeks. So, being a Texan, I will count anything as a victory.

  12. 12.

    maryQ

    My town went for Gomez, which I figured from the signs in my neighborhood, and from the fact that there were like 10 people at the polling place when I voted at 8:30, and I was the only one under 70. Surprised at how blue western MA is.

  14. 14.

    PsiFighter37

    Good on Massachusetts for not fucking up as badly as they did in the 2010 special election…well, and for Markey + the rest of the Democrats actually playing hard to win in this one.

    On another note, is the state senator in Texas still filibustering? By my count, she probably has another 2.5 hours to go…hope someone has a bunch of food and water for her once it hits midnight!

  15. 15.

    Baud

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent):

    That would make sense. Pass the thing when people aren’t looking, rather than try to compete with Davis. On the other hand, these are Republicans, so “sense” isn’t necessarily in the cards.

  16. 16.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    @Baud: well, given that they tried to pass it already at 3 a.m. on a Saturday, that bird has already flown the coop.

  18. 18.

    Poopyman

    @Baud: Just checked the live feed and there’s a big conference up at the front and no audio. What’s up?

  21. 21.

    Felinious Wench

    @Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS): That will be interesting. She’s more than 10 hours in. If they do it looks like they’re shutting down that nice little girl from Ft. Worth. It’s ungentlemanly; they’d have to have a VERY good reason to do it or there will be backlash.

    Texas Conservative Male culture is somewhat conflicted when it comes to women. Respect your momma, protect the ladies, be respectful in public or you’re an asshole. Say what you want about us in private but treat us respectfully in public. She’s doing this WAY out in front of the cameras, it’s gone national, and she’s a tiny, pretty woman that Texas culture says needs protectin.’

    No one understood this like Molly Ivins, God rest her sainted soul.

  23. 23.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    @Poopyman: parliamentary maneuver by some repub. woman physician who says she’s off topic.

  27. 27.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    @Felinious Wench: I spent the first 35 years of my life in Texas, so I know exactly what you’re saying. Still, I never saw anything like this.

  34. 34.

    askew

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent):

    @Baud: I wouldn’t be too concerned, in part because the best she can hope for is to prevent the bill from being voted on today. I will bet you that Perry calls another session. Then, someone would have to filibuster for 2 weeks. So, being a Texan, I will count anything as a victory.

    Are they not allowed to filibuster in groups like the US Senate? A group of Dems should be able to filibuster for 2 weeks.

  35. 35.

    lamh35

    IDK but ya know what I have the same feeling in the air that I had during the Rodney King trial, between the SCOTUS decisions the past week/days and tomorrow’s decision (I figured VRA will get brunt of conserv actions and hopefully the gay rights issues become like the twin who lives on his sibling in the womb and prevails. if ya know what I mean) and the Zimmerman trial (particularly if Zimmerman is acquitted or given a lesser conviction), things seem to be simmering right underneath the service. I don’t expect riots are anything but the Zimmerman trial and it’s outcome seems like it will be the pot boiler that pisses people off who were already pissed about the VRA decision.

    And all right before 4th of July (maybe)…God Bless America indeed…huh.

    Yeah, “simmering” seems like the right word right now.

  36. 36.

    peggy

    Brown’s election scarred people in Mass. Never again is the watchword.

    My very liberal section of Boston (pop. 20,000) was not as organized as we were for Warren, but the campaign headquarters was humming at noon. Of the 10-15 people, curiously, all were women, except for the tech guy and the male intern.

  37. 37.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @amk: well, Coakley was candidate of legendary incompetence, but IMHO as a non-Mass-er, from what I saw from a distance Gomez was almost as bad and not too bright. I hope those numbers analysts at OfA are poring over teh results figuring out how to mobilize non-habitual voters in 2014.

    Also, too, MA is a blue state that has, like CA, NY, IL and CA had more Republican govs than Dem over the last 25 years.

  40. 40.

    Spaghetti Lee

    @amk:

    I’ll admit I’m a bit surprised by the amount of red, but it doesn’t look that different from Warren beating Brown in 2012. Those areas of Massachusetts have always been pretty Republican. And as always, maps can be deceiving. That knot of blue around Boston is probably home to at least 40% of the state’s population.

  41. 41.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @askew: The rules are pretty nutty and pretty tough. Rachel Maddow ran them down. IIRC: Only one Senator can filibuster, no breaks for food or toilet, can’t leave her desk, must stay on topic, can’t sit or even lean. There may be more

  42. 42.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    This is worse than the VRA act. Fucking fascist motherfuckers!

  44. 44.

    Spaghetti Lee

    @maryQ:

    From what I’ve heard about Western MA, it’s kind of a resettlement community for old hippies and artisanal types, plus you can’t walk 50 feet without hitting a liberal arts college: Smith, Amherst, Williams, Bard (OK, maybe that’s it.) Maybe I should move there-sounds like my kind of people.

  48. 48.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    @SIA: They ruled her comments were not germaine, and now they’re trying to end the filibuster.

  51. 51.

    Redshirt

    80K watching. I’m sure as a result the Texas senate will get rid of any livestream capabilities. Can’t let the people see true democracy.

  53. 53.

    burnspbesq

    The Texas Senate YouTube feed is being funky, but it sure looks like (as the legendary Dr. Dick used to say back when FDL was a place worth being) there’s fuckery afoot. I’d say the good ol’ boys have had enough of this.

  54. 54.

    askew

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    @askew: The rules are pretty nutty and pretty tough. Rachel Maddow ran them down. IIRC: Only one Senator can filibuster, no breaks for food or toilet, can’t leave her desk, must stay on topic, can’t sit or even lean. There may be more

    Thanks. Why am I not surprised that the Texas rules are even more fucked up than the US Senate’s rules.

    So, Texas Republicans think shutting a woman up on a parliamentary motion and then kicking out thousands of women because they were “disruptive” is going to help them in 2014? Good luck with that.

  55. 55.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    @burnspbesq: Oh, I don’t know. The parliamentarian is a young female. It’s not all good ole boys, esp. seeing as how the third point of order was from a female physician senator.

  56. 56.

    Felinious Wench

    @Redshirt: Exactly. This is not about victory, the bill will pass eventually. This is political theater. By shutting her down the Republicans just handed us a HUGE victory, live, across the country.

    Best thing they could have done is let her finish and bring the bill up again in special session, and it would pass. They’re too stupid to know that.

  57. 57.

    max

    @Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS): They ruled her comments were not germaine, and now they’re trying to end the filibuster.

    Why, gosh! That’s undemocratic! That’s what Carl Levin and Mitch McConnell say! I do declare, the Texas Legislature. Undemocratic. Why, next thing you know, you’ll be telling me Rick Perry is a pig ignorant crook and that Louis Gohmert (such a name) is a pinhead.

    The GOP threw a ton of money into tv ads, but there’s not a lot of photogenicity among that crew.

    Well, hey, I threw some money too! Apparently, that was enough. So, yay!

    max
    [‘Wendy Davis was awesome before this, is awesome now, and will continue to be awesome for some time to come I expect. Might even be the next Democratic Senator from Texas, when we get a shot at electin’ one.’]

  58. 58.

    Paddy

    Ugh. Just checked the stream and some Perry wannabee was waxing stupid. Couldn’t take it, I’ll wait until the cut and dry comes out. Looks like they may have stopped her.

  60. 60.

    Redshirt

    There’s a filibuster of the ending of the filibuster, and then within that, a request for a recap from a Senator who just arrived from a funeral.

  62. 62.

    askew

    @Felinious Wench:

    @Redshirt: Exactly. This is not about victory, the bill will pass eventually. This is political theater. By shutting her down the Republicans just handed us a HUGE victory, live, across the country.

    It’s too bad that @CNN and @MSNBC couldn’t carry more of this live like they did with Rand Paul’s filibuster.

  63. 63.

    David

    Isn’t the point that you have to have 3 departures from “germaneness” and this was only the second one? The back brace was a different issue.

  66. 66.

    Burnspbesq

    Hopefully a friend of mine who’s in the Senate gallery in Austin will be dropping by in a bit.

  73. 73.

    texbetsy

    Hi from the floor outside the tx debate chamber. 1500+ sitting or standing and waiting for the ruling on the challenge. Three dem reps came out to ask us to please stay and wait quietly until a final ruling. I’ve been here since 9am.

  74. 74.

    Anne Laurie

    @Keith:

    Gomez didn’t have a campaign pickup truck?

    The neighborhood Gomez lives in, if they see a Hispanic fella in a pickup, they’ll assume he’s the landscaper.

    Gomez’ hook was “(former) Navy SEAL! Navy SEAL! Navy SEAL!” I’m sure there are columns being written as we type, explaining that the Tsarnaev brothers’ Marathon stunt made us fickle voters forget who really killed bin Laden…

  76. 76.

    PsiFighter37

    What’s going on now? Looks like a bunch of parliamentary mumbo-jumbo right now going on.

  81. 81.

    Burnspbesq

    @texbetsy:

    Welcome, Betsy. Thanks for coming by and supplementing the squirrelly YouTube feed. You’ve been there every day of this thing, correct?

  82. 82.

    texbetsy

    So we don’t have a video feed here in the rotunda, though both overflow rooms had screens. You may know what is happening before i do. Burns asked me to pop in.

  87. 87.

    Spaghetti Lee

    @PsiFighter37:

    Don’t know what the letter of the law says, but the effects as I’ve heard them would close almost every abortion clinic in Texas.

  88. 88.

    slag

    @PsiFighter37: Whether or not the chair is an idiot. He doesn’t understand that the guy wants to appeal the chair’s ruling about who is in order. It’s a very simple point.

  89. 89.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    @Burnspbesq: The youtube feed has been ok. But not the same could be said for the Texas Senate. I don’t know the players here, but I feel like some of the GOP are at least on Sen. Davis side re: the filibuster.

  90. 90.

    texbetsy

    I was here Thursday night, Sunday afternoon until 2am Monday, but missed the 6:46 am non vote and the 10:00 votes. Arrived 8:45 this morning.

    Btw, thanks to folks all over the US who sent us foods and water and ice.

  92. 92.

    PsiFighter37

    @Spaghetti Lee: Yeah, I know what’s at stake. I just have no flipping idea what what on earth is going on right now. All I see is a (presumably) Democratic state senator who is NOT Wendy saying something about appealing a point of order or a ruling or a motion or whatever, and the chair (presumably the dumbass Lt. Gov. who lost to Ted McCarthy-Cruz last year) going back and forth.

  94. 94.

    Mike in NC

    Isn’t Cohasset noted for some kind of a dinner theater? I seem to recall having a Navy Reserve unit CO who was chief of police there, back in the day (1980s). I used to say to people, “For a fucking cop, he’s not so bad.”

  95. 95.

    Sean

    I can now officially forgive you Massholes for allowing Scott Brown to temporarily occupy Teddy Kennedy’s seat. Yes, I know today’s election was not for that seat, but I had to reserve my final judgment on your collective good judgment until this race was over.

    I know you are all relieved to read my post and care deeply about it.

  96. 96.

    texbetsy

    @Burnspbesq:

    No, i left gallery to make room for people coming after work, and you can talk and eat in overflow room 2, so i stayed there.

    Can someone change stroke to strike in my previous comment please ?

  99. 99.

    Felinious Wench

    @Burnspbesq: That would be awesome. If we do manage to shut down the vote tonight I will be traveling to Austin to protest for the next one. Already warned the hubby.

    Sorry we hijacked the thread, Mass residents. Fact is, even Scott Brown would be a Commie Librul in Texas. You guys almost always get it right. These days, Texas rarely does.

    Trying to put into words why this matters so much…

    In Texas right now, women’s voices are irrelevant. They don’t even bother trying to suppress us or fight us because our voices simply don’t matter at all. The sense of entitlement by Conservatives over women’s rights is so absolute that we simply do not matter.

    Yelling at the wind gets exhausting. You start getting hoarse and light headed and think “why do I bother? People just see me as a shrill little woman who is kinda cute when she’s mad, easily brushed off.” You develop such self-doubt even though you KNOW you’re right because you are constantly dismissed.

    So, to see one of us stand up and say, “Look, assholes, I’m not shutting up. I will keep talking for over 13 hours if I have to and you are going to have to sit and listen to me the WHOLE time. You can’t ignore or dismiss my voice because I am in your way and I refuse to sit down.”

    It’s a huge moment for Texas women like me who have spent years fighting off onslaughts to our rights.

  102. 102.

    GregB

    Markey’s seat is up for a special election and it will stay in the Dems hands most assuredly.

  106. 106.

    Cassidy

    Sen. Davis is a gotdamn beast! And people here were actually calling Snowden some kind of hero.

  107. 107.

    burnspbesq

    @Chris:

    There was actually a time when I thought Rand Paul might be a slight upgrade over Jim Bunning. WTF was I thinking?

  108. 108.

    Poopyman

    @burnspbesq: Well, the live feed still says “Fillibuster in Progress”, but I don’t know if that’s an oversight, or is technically still the case.

  110. 110.

    Suffern ACE

    @burnspbesq: I would not put it past them to put these as far away from the population centers as possible. Require an overnight stay and put them in towns without hotels.

  111. 111.

    Redshirt

    They were supposed to vote to end the filibuster. They didn’t, instead the Pres said “over”. Everyone flipped out and a bunch of Dems have been challenging that move ever since.

  120. 120.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    This parliamentarian is a dipshit, but probably just following orders.

  122. 122.

    burnspbesq

    Why didn’t the Dems all flee the state, the way they did a couple of years ago when the redistricting map was up for a vote?

  127. 127.

    Punchy

    @Steeplejack: Im basing my comment on the woman they showed on my local news. Looks like someone at my local NBC affy felt they needed her to be black.

  131. 131.

    texbetsy

    The organizers ate walking around with the leftover pizzas. Everyone is telling them to give them to the homeless down the block. I love liberals.

  132. 132.

    Paddy

    Jeebus wept. The second thing they dinged her for was a colleague came over and helped her with her FREAKING BACK BRACE.

  136. 136.

    goblue72

    @Spaghetti Lee: Bard is in NY state, in Hudson valley. The Western MA Little Ivies are Williams & Amherst. Two of the Seven Sisters are in Western MA as well: Mt Holyoke and Smith. On top of that there is Hampshire College (a highly regarded alternative without grades), as well as UMass-Amherst, the flagship of the state university system. You can’t stumble around the Berkshires without bumping into a college out there.

    @amk – the election day map of Massachusetts always looks like that. Mostly solid Blue around Boston inside the the Rte 128 corridor, at the tip of the Cape, and out in the Berkshires around Springfield. Rest of state trends a light shade of Red. Trick for Democrats running statewide has been to hold their base and then keep the working class & middle class suburbs from being too much a Republican blowout – there’s a lot of surly white flight, racist-y, Irish American a-holes in the Boston burbs. Interestingly, the really wealthy Boston suburban towns like Arlington, Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, etc. vote Blue.

    Likewise, Republicans that win statewide (like Romney) did so by running the tables in the suburbs, forcing the Democrat to rely solely on urban (read: Boston/Cambridge/Somerville) and far Western MA votes.

  139. 139.

    burnspbesq

    Dems are doing their damnedest to run out the clock. They’re in the old North Carolina four corners offense.

  143. 143.

    Spaghetti Lee

    @Paddy:

    Seriously? Wow. Is there any evidence out there suggesting that elected Republicans aren’t all soulless ghouls? I’d love to hear it.

  147. 147.

    burnspbesq

    Not sure who the woman who has the floor is, but I think she’s got the chair all confuzzled.

  148. 148.

    Steeplejack

    @Punchy:

    S’okay, we all make mistakes. Like that time I believed Just Some Fuckhead when he said he was an original member of the Osmond Family who got kicked out for boning Marie.

  150. 150.

    Steeplejack

    @Redshirt:

    Watson, Watson, Watson.

    ETA: I got the mojo.

    ETFA: Just kidding. I believe you. I just used my jedi voice to get past FYWP.

  151. 151.

    Redshirt

    120K viewers and climbing. So when the Repukes break all the rules, they’re will be plenty of people who will know, and talk, and share.

  152. 152.

    askew

    So, it doesn’t matter that the President ruled incorrectly according to the rules? That is too bad and so sad then?

  155. 155.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    @Redshirt: Damn, I just had the same thing happen. Could Wats0n be finishing her filibuster for her?

  159. 159.

    WaterGIrl

    Hi guys. I’ve been off the grid for about a month – my huge silver maple fell on part of my house during some straight line winds nearly 4 weeks ago. Now we’re having a really bad storm and we are all huddled (me, my dog and my two kitties) in the hallway right outside our bathroom. Instead of loving the storm as I usually do, I am sitting here shaking. Just thought i’d say “hey” and see if anybody can talk me down.

  160. 160.

    lamh35

    Dang. I gotta work tomorrow, but I can’t go to bed yet, I’m still STANDINGWITHWENDY! 39 minutes

  164. 164.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    @texbetsy: zaff was basically saying the pres. was full of shit because there was only two instances of germaineness. There was a long pause.

    @burnspbesq: I will agree. This is poli sci geek heaven.

  165. 165.

    Felinious Wench

    34 mins. Still debating procedure. Part of me wants the win, another part of me wants the Repubs to shut it down while so many people are watching.

  166. 166.

    Steeplejack

    @WaterGIrl:

    Not a good time. We’re all standing with Wendy! Can you get back to us later?

    Sorry, joking. It’s good to hear from you. And all I can tell you about storms is that they usually sound worse than they are. And remind yourself that you’re a little gun-shy because of the previous one and the damage it caused.

    Casting a white light around your house . . .

  170. 170.

    Steeplejack

    @Redshirt:

    Does no one actually control the FYWP filter?

    Oh, you lovable maroon. That you should even ask. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.

  174. 174.

    Jewish Steel

    My god. I have never seen so much lightning. A Texas amount of lightning in Central Il. It was like the shelling of Belgrade out there.

  175. 175.

    Petorado

    A Texas Democrat is one hell of a brave person. Watching the livestream is a pretty incredible thing. Way to go people! No Jimmy Stewart movie ever had me on the edge of my seat like this.

  176. 176.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    Wow, there are some cheap ass shits in the Texas Senate.

    ETA: I’m amazed Sen. Davis is still standing!

  178. 178.

    burnspbesq

    Or maybe not. That was a genius move, asking that the motion be reduced to writing.

  181. 181.

    Felinious Wench

    @texbetsy: I’m with ya, but I also know even if we win tonight we’ll probably lose this battle later. Note: I am NOT saying this is not incredibly important at all. But if we’re going to lose, I want it televised, I want the cockroaches visible, I don’t want people to stay apathetic, I want a rallying cry. And if we DO win tonight, I will be right there in Austin with you to protest the next vote on this bill. Glad you’re there.

  182. 182.

    PurpleGirl

    @Yatsuno: What is it supposed to be? I get a plain, regular Google logo. Yesterday was the 161st birthday of Gaudy and the doodle was nice.

  183. 183.

    elaine benis

    Who’s the woman in the white suit telling the president (? guy with mic running things?) what to say. I find it weirdly ironic.

  190. 190.

    askew

    So, basically they are just going to jam this vote through and throw out the Senate rules. Texas is a banana republic.

  193. 193.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    Go Parliamentary Inquiry!

    ETA: Oh, damn!

  197. 197.

    David Koch

    Van de Putte “At what point must a female senator raise her voice & her hand to be heard over her male colleagues?” Thunderous applause

  198. 198.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    who’s the guy in the purple? He’s been solid all night.

  199. 199.

    YellowJournalism

    @MarthaPlimpton: “At what point must a female senator raise her hand to be recognized over the male colleagues in the room?” Gallery goes wild!
    #SB5

  200. 200.

    burnspbesq

    A woman Senator made a parliamentary inquiry along the lines of “what does it take for a woman to be recognized in this chamber” and the gallery went OFF. Been going on for about four minutes while the roll is trying to be called on a motion.

  201. 201.

    askew

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent):

    Good point. I am still in denial of what happened to a one great state.

    “At what point must a female senator raise her hand to be recognized over the male colleagues in the room?”

    That was a great comment.

    What the hell is going on now? Is it the final vote or on a motion?

    And how stupid is this Senate President?

  204. 204.

    eemom

    @texbetsy:

    Well, fer fuxsake — you are the Texbetsy Of Blogs Past, aintcha. Great to see you again after all these years!!

    — she who was formerly known as oddmommy and e

  209. 209.

    MomSense

    @WaterGIrl:

    Hey Watergirl, Oh my! I am so glad that you are ok after the last storm. Given your experience, of course this one has you frightened. I have a dog and two kitties too–but I actually had to kick mine out of the living room tonight due to the offensive gas situation. Starting to think that the boys let him out unsupervised which they are definitely not supposed to do and he ate something that didn’t agree with him. He is stinking me out of my own house!

    We have the opposite of a storm here–no wind, none and it is wicked hot and and humid. I wish you could give us a bit of your storm so it wouldn’t be as scary for you and so we could get a little relief from this heat. Between the dog and the heat, we could use a breeze!

    The storm will pass and you will be fine–but the Republicans in Texas will still be assholes tomorrow! It is incredible what is going down there. There is a parliamentarian on my facebook feed and everyone is peppering him with questions about the rules for filibusters in Texas. Like crack for political nerds.

    Ok, keep us posted about the storm and how you are doing. Sending you a hug.

  210. 210.

    Petorado

    I don’t remember the Alamo, but what I’m watching from Texas at this moment I definitely will. This is amazing!

  212. 212.

    PurpleGirl

    @WaterGIrl: Hang in there, BJers will be thinking of you. A lot going on right now but we will think of you (and the dog and two kitties).

  216. 216.

    Steeplejack

    @Redshirt:

    You’re right. Not a goddamned one of the “24/7” news networks is covering it. Talk about our failed media experiment.

    ETA: Wonder if this will get as much coverage as 20 teabaggers putt-putting to a “death panels” town hall meeting in their Hoverounds.

  224. 224.

    MomSense

    Something tells me that Ms. Davis is the next Governor of the once and soon to be again Great State of Texas!

  225. 225.

    burnspbesq

    Sounds like the gallery just looked at their watches and liked what they saw.

  228. 228.

    Killjoy

    There aren’t many people I enjoy watching eat shit more than Texas Republicans. At least we won something today.

  230. 230.

    burnspbesq

    The secretary is trying to call the roll on something. It’s after midnight, the session is over. Are they really going to try and have a vote on the legislation?

  234. 234.

    WaterGIrl

    @MomSense: @Steeplejack: Thanks, guys. The worst of the storm has passed. The spooky thing about when the tree fell is that it came out of NOWHERE. Two small claps of thunder, maybe a minute of steady rain, then out of nowhere came this sound like the whole world was crashing in on itself. I thought it must be a tornado because it was certainly loud enough to be a train right outside my house. Then the lights went out and while I was trying to figure out how to round up my kitties who flew to the back of the house, the earthquake started. At least that’s what I thought it was – whole house shaking, chandelier falling. Then the shaking stopped and I was back to thinking it was a tornado. I went to the back of the house to try to round up the kitties and heard the sound of rushing water from my bedroom. The tree had landed on my deck and house and a limb had come through my bedroom ceiling and was impaled straight down over my bed. Oh, and then the fire… my tree fell on the power lines and the neighbor’s tree caught fire, and we were all worried for about 3 hours that our houses would catch since they couldn’t fight the fire because the wires were still live. Finally the transformer burst into flames and that worry was over.

    As I tried to explain to my sister, once you know a refrigerator can fall out of the sky, out of nowhere, the world looks different.

    Thanks for the good thoughts, the hug, and the white light tonight.

  239. 239.

    askew

    Are they really claiming that they suspended the session so they can start it back up after midnight? That has to be unconstitutional.

  240. 240.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @burnspbesq: Texas Republicans learned in 2003 when they violated the law by redistricting in an off year that they don’t need to actually follow rules.

  241. 241.

    WaterGIrl

    Finally made it through the whole thread – I am standing with wendy! How can they vote after midnight? Bastards, all of them!

  244. 244.

    YellowJournalism

    @mikestatesman: West: Vote didn’t start until 12:01. It doesn’t count. The special session is over. #txlege

  245. 245.

    burnspbesq

    Austin American Statesman website is useless. Houston Chronicle and Dallas Morning News, ditto.

    Nobody seems to know what actually just happened.

  246. 246.

    Petorado

    The last utterance from the rostrum was a vote for sine die, or as Wikipedia calls it: adjournment sine die (from the Latin “without day”) means “without assigning a day for a further meeting or hearing.” I believe that was the white flag.

  247. 247.

    slag

    Interesting profile on Wendy Davis:

    According to a 1996 Fort Worth Star-Telegram profile of Davis, written when she first ran for Fort Worth city councilor, she chose to marry right out of high school and await the birth of her older daughter in a mobile home she shared with her first husband outside Dallas. Davis got on the path to a legal career after her first marriage ended and she joined a community college paralegal program, working two jobs to attend school.

    Damn. She’s going for it. She is not passing go nor collecting $200.

  251. 251.

    MomSense

    @WaterGIrl:

    So glad you and the dog and kitties are safe!

    What is going on now in Texas? I don’t have sound and do we know if that 12:01 vote counted??

  254. 254.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik

    I’m getting conflicting things from people, saying that the vote happened and passed, while others saying it was the motion for adjournment, and I came into the stream AFTER the midnight mark, so I’m lost.

  255. 255.

    YellowJournalism

    Republicans are claiming a vote took place at midnight while Dems say no way and some didn’t know it had happened.

  258. 258.

    burnspbesq

    Either way tonight turns out, the passion that we’ve seen in Austin the last few days needs to go viral, statewide, and get translated into electoral success or it was all just sound and fury.

  259. 259.

    Gnome de Plume

    I recognize a bunch of bloggers from days of yore here. I am watching the live feed, but can’t tell what is happening. The president of the Texas Senate is the Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst who was beaten for the US Senate Seat by the illustrious Ted Cruz in the primary. He is the one who reportedly talked dumbass Perry into putting the abortion bill on the Special Session agenda. He needs to prove his conservative bona fides. If Perry doesn’t run for permanent gubner in 2014, Dewhurst wants the job. I don’t know that we have anyone in Texas who could beat a known Repiglican in a state-wide race. The Dems have been shut out for years.

  260. 260.

    gwangung

    @burnspbesq:

    Either way tonight turns out, the passion that we’ve seen in Austin the last few days needs to go viral, statewide, and get translated into electoral success or it was all just sound and fury.

    Surest way to keep the passion going is for Republicans to pretend the vote happened and to keep going. If they were smart, they’d accept the defeat and just call another session.

    Guess what they’ll do.

  261. 261.

    eemom

    @texbetsy:

    eggzellent, and eleventy kinds of awesome sauce! Now that you’ve found this place, hope you will not be a stranger.

    And how totally great it is, on this of all dismal days, to see actual democracy in the actual works in one of the states on the supreme court’s “oh, that shit’s all fixed now” list.

  262. 262.

    burnspbesq

    dallasnews.com headline:

    Confusion reigns as midnight deadline passes; Some GOP senators say the abortion bill passed in a vote begun before midnight, but Democrats dispute this.

  263. 263.

    YellowJournalism

    People in the gallery are being arrested. Major news outlets are saying it passed. People are screaming that rules were violated. This is the definition of chaos!

  265. 265.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    Whatever the outcome, hats off to Sen. Davis and her co-conspirators. That was some wild shit.

  269. 269.

    Felinious Wench

    I am so proud of Sen. Davis and Texas Democrats tonight. Don’t know the outcome yet, but either way, we won.

    See? We’re here.

    Have to get some sleep now so I can work tomorrow. Good night, all.

  270. 270.

    mch

    Don’t be. I’m from the Berkshires (the “real western Mass”), and we’ve always been deep deep blue. (Not that we’d expect anyone east of the Connecticut River to notice us.)

    Spent today canvassing in North Adams. Waste of time. Either nobody home, or people tired of the whole business, or already actually getting off their butts to votes Markey without my visit. Huge contrast with the days I spent canvassing for Warren in Adams and Pittsfield (especially Adams — go Polish Catholic union folks!), when people were really fired.

    We have to figure out how to galvanize (I mean to reinvigorate that metaphor) the working classes (under- and barely middle) who have been and will be the backbone of a truly progressive party. Get people registered to vote (no VRA excuses here in MA) and out to vote. (Libertarian thinking a real problem here, if you ask me. On the other hand, you wouldn’t believe the response of women to the idea that R v W might be overturned…. Go Wendy Davis!).

  271. 271.

    max

    @David Koch: TexLegs just committed Voter Fraud

    They’ve got control of the clock, so they can make a lot of claims about what ‘time’ it is (Official Legislature Time) as opposed to the actual time.

    I’m surprised they didn’t cheat sooner but the fact that they always always cheat, and then throw a hissy when anybody else so much as brushes the line, is why people like Mitch McConnell should be laughed at when they start trying to act indignant. Some folks in DC ain’t learned that yet.

    max
    [‘Davis made a good stand, and it would be nice if some national Democratic politicians took a lesson from that.’]

  272. 272.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @MomSense: Only if we get people to vote, and since Dewherst has already announced his intention to make it harder to vote, we have a lot of work to do.

  273. 273.

    eemom

    @mdblanche:

    All in all, it’s been a slow news day.

    ain’t seen nuthin compared to whatever CJ Roberts and his merry band of constitutional thugs come up with on marriage equality tomorrow.

    On the positive side, the name Snowden will go back into literary history where it belongs.

  274. 274.

    burnspbesq

    Wonder what St. Molly would have had to say about tonight’s proceedings if she were still around.

  275. 275.

    TriassicSands

    I watched Sen. Davis tonight as a way to support her efforts. But reading all the BJ commenters cheering her on, I can’t help but wonder how many of them want Harry Reid to go “nuclear” on the filibuster in the US Senate. The problem with the filibuster is that it could be the only thing standing between us and Republican Hell should things go badly in November 2014 and 16. Of course, in retrospect, Reid will look like something of a fool if he maintains the filibuster and when the GOP regains control of the Senate, Majority Leader McConnell shitcans it the first time the Dems try to stop some cherished piece of right wing legislation (like getting rid of the PPACA).

    We’re in one hell of a mess in this country and as long as tens of millions of Americans continue to elect thugs, racists, and lunatics from the Republican Party the mess is going to continue.

    I realized many years ago that there is no reasonable way to always be consistent in political and economic matters if doing the right thing is one’s priority.

  276. 276.

    tc

    The Texas Observer is reporting that the vote started at 12:03, according to the “official timekeeper,” whoever that is.

  279. 279.

    slag

    @TriassicSands: For the record, I’d be on board with the filibuster in the US Senate if it required people to do what Wendy Davis just did. I’m pretty sure that’s a fairly common view.

    The problem we have with the filibuster in its current state in the US Senate is that it’s essentially invisible, thereby creating a phony 60 vote requirement.

  280. 280.

    David Koch

    @max: you say people were fired up for Warren and not for Markey, but Markey’s margin of victory is larger than Warren’s.

    Also too, for all the enthusiasm blogs have for Warren she severely underperformed President Worst than Bush’s numbers. He carried the state by 23 pts while Liz only won by 7. In electoral politics, 16 pts is a landslide.

    Someday the blogosphere is gonna have to explain how their icons consistently underperform the dreaded obummer, or worst, admit they were wrong and he was right.

  282. 282.

    David Koch

    @TriassicSands: The problem is the Dems don’t use it when they have it. They had plenty of chances to use it during Shrub’s regime but they were to scarred of the raft of the beltway Broader and being disinvited from Sally Quinn’s parties. So what’s the use in having one if you’re only going to the let the other side use it.

  283. 283.

    slag

    @MikeJ: That’s kind of the point. The Texas rules are insanely strict (esp in this case). If those rules were in place in the US Senate, the filibuster would be a different story there.

  284. 284.

    joel hanes

    @burnspbesq:

    Susan Duquesne at Juanita Jean’s is not Molly Ivins, but I’m sure her stuff would have made Molly laugh out loud.

    IMHO every Texas Democrat should read Juanita Jean’s. It’ll give you hope.

    “Stand With Wendy” has been the talk of Juanita Jean’s since yesterday some time.

  285. 285.

    mdblanche

    @David Koch: And Warren won more than a million more votes than Markey. Even Martha Coakley won more than 400,000 more votes. Turnout was way, way down. It’s Massachusetts’ third Senate race in as many years and the next one will be in less than a year and a half. It was a day any sane person would rather be at the beach. The campaign was both mostly under the radar and never really in doubt compared to the last two races. The Bruins just lost. It’s no wonder the type of people who aren’t political junkies weren’t fired up.

  287. 287.

    Thlayli

    Dead thread, but just to put it on the record:

    When Kerry-to-State was officially announced, there were a lot of comments on this blog saying “Nice going, Mr. President, you just handed that seat to the Repubs.” How many of those people apologized for saying that on this thread? Zero.

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