Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

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

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

“Joe Biden deserved better than he got from some folks in his own party.”

People are weird.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Monday Evening Open Thread: Covering

Monday Evening Open Thread: Covering

by | 173 Comments

This post is in: , ,

obamacare not covered toles
(Tom Toles via GoComics.com)

Greg Sargent asks, gleefully, “Are Republicans surrendering on Obamacare?“:

As #Benghazi fever rises among Republicans, the Hill reports this morning that the House GOP has “gone quiet” on Obamacare. There are no scheduled votes or hearings on the Affordable Care Act. Contacted by the Hill, most GOP campaign committees won’t say whether they will be launching any new attacks on the law.

As the Hill puts it: “The lack of action highlights the GOP’s struggle to adjust its message now that enrollment in the exchanges beat projections and the uninsured rate is going down.”

At the same time, the Hill notes that GOP operatives overseeing Senate races remain “conscious of the need to keep a drumbeat going against the law.” The question now: If Republican officials really are backing off on Obamacare, will the base go along?

A new CNN poll illustrates the situation nicely: It finds that far more Americans want to keep Obamacare than repeal it. At the same time, only majorities of Republicans want repeal and only majorities of Republicans think the law is already a failure.…

Mr. Sargent’s emphases. Truly, it will be a fine thing this fall if the Repubs can’t get their base to turn out unless they’re vowing to repeal Obamacare… and every time they reiterate that vow, they lose more low-information voters. Every single Democrat needs to campaign on “If you don’t show up in November, the GOP will steal your shiny new affordable healthcare benefits!”
***********
Apart from good news, what’s on the agenda for the evening?

Reader Interactions

173Comments

  1. 1.

    Comrade Mary

    Holy shit: Clay Aiken To Suspend Campaign After Congressional Opponent Dies Suddenly In Fall.

    Congressional candidate Keith Crisco, who was challenging American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken for the Democratic nomination, died today in a fall at his home in Asheboro, N.C., the Courier-Tribune reports.

    Crisco was reportedly dead when emergency officials arrived at the scene after a fall that occurred around 1 p.m. His death was confirmed by officials with Asheboro Elastics Corp., the textiles company the candidate founded in 1986.

    The 71-year-old was trailing Aiken, 35, by 369 votes in last Tuesday’s primary for the 2nd Congressional District nomination, according to unofficial totals. The race was ultimately considered too close to call, and the candidates were waiting from word on an official canvass before deciding whether to request a recount or go to a July runoff, Crisco said in a statement last week.

    Crisco allegedly planned to concede the election, Raleigh political consultant Brad Crone told WBTV.

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Every single Democrat needs to campaign on “If you don’t show up in November, the GOP will steal your shiny new affordable healthcare benefits!”

    exactly.

  4. 4.

    brendancalling

    on my agenda? Looking for work. The curse of the freelancer is the job often ends without warning. Mine did, this morning.
    Anyone know of -or more importantly have contacts at- any organizations or agencies that need a writer, editor, copy-editor, proofreader, video editor or [sigh] a grant writer, let me know. Philadelphia preferably, but i am willing to move depending on the situation. My email is bfskwire AT gmail DOT com. I have a substantial resume. My reel can be seen at youtube.

    This is not a fun place to be. Relevance to the post: I just paid my first premium for health insurance purchased with subsidy through the exchange, I have an appointment pending with my doctor for a checkup, and now I have no idea how I’m going to pay my premiums, because as a contractor I’m not really eligible for unemployment. USA USA!

  5. 5.

    lamh36

    WTF is Donald Sterling’s problem with Magic Johnson? What the hell has Magic ever done to him? And to make it bad, dude actually was in Magic’s presence often and smiling in his face.

    Man, Donald Sterling, this is for you. The O’Jays had it right!

    “Smile in your face, all the time want to take your place…”

    The O’Jays – Backstabbers

  6. 6.

    MomSense

    @brendancalling:

    You can call the 800 healthcare.gov number and report your change in employment. They will modify your health insurance premium. You have 30 days to do this after a ‘life event’ but why wait! There are some local non-profits that are often looking for grant writers. I’ll have a look and email you if I see something.

  9. 9.

    Mnemosyne

    @lamh36:

    What the hell has Magic ever done to him?

    Magic is far, far more successful financially than Sterling, and at a younger age. And he didn’t have to become a slumlord to do it.

    It’s also racism, but flat-out envy of Magic’s success and business acumen is a huge part of it.

  13. 13.

    MomSense

    @PurpleGirl:

    I went rooting around in the cupboards for an old SwissAir overnight kit that had earplugs in it–and was unsuccessful. :(

    May try cotton balls.

  14. 14.

    Baud

    @Mnemosyne:

    Sterling’s racism overshadowed this aspect of his rant:

    V: Do you know that you have a whole team that’s black, that plays for you?

    DS: You just, do I know? I support them and give them food, and clothes, and cars, and houses. Who gives it to them? Does someone else give it to them? Do I know that I have—Who makes the game? Do I make the game, or do they make the game? Is there 30 owners, that created the league?

    That’s pure Romneyism. (Can’t really call it classism given how much basketball players make.) But it hasn’t seemed to have gotten much play.

  15. 15.

    Belafon

    Every single Democrat needs to campaign on “If you don’t show up in November, the GOP will steal your shiny new affordable healthcare benefits!”

    If Hagan is any indication, I think the Democrats are going to do exactly that.

  17. 17.

    Patricia Kayden

    @raven: Yes, Sterling is much richer. Sounds like Sterling is jealous of Magic for some other reason.

  18. 18.

    Suffern ACE

    @lamh36: magic was a big time player, but apparently with few sexual morals at one time, and those poor choices led to his early retirement. He’s not a good role model for children. Donald Sterling is a man of…well, he is a man who lives in a glass house.

  20. 20.

    rikyrah

    There are FIVE MILLION WORKING AMERICANS being denied access to healthcare because their GOP Sociopathic Governors will not expand Medicaid.

    SOME of them have GOT TO BE SICK.

    Sick with Chronic Diseases where they are scimping if not actual not getting the medicines they need because they can’t afford them.

    THE DNC NEEDS TO GET THEM INTO ADS

    like yesterday.

    AD after AD after AD of working Americans who have no access to healthcare because of sociopathic Governors.

    Their faces should be on tv every 90 seconds, and we should hear their voices every few minutes on the radio.

    PUT A FACE to the FIVE MILLION PEOPLE.

    Goddamn.

    This is not rocket science, people.

    Make those mofos justify hurting those people.

  21. 21.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Comrade Mary:

    The guy was 71. When I heard the story a few hours ago (and again when I read it here), I thought, well, that is too bad, but the guy was 71, he had a good run. I mean, the guy was 71.

    =+*=+*=+*=+*=+*=+*=+*=+*=+*=+*

    I will be 72 in a couple of months.

  22. 22.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Baud: Is there 30 owners, that created the league?

    No, actually, Don, there isn’t. The NBA sort of started with 17 teams, almost immediately consolidating to eleven.

  24. 24.

    Keith G

    Every weekday afternoon a (new) podcast is published, The Gist with Mike Pesca. It’s a great daily wrap-up of news, politics, and culture. It is a witty production – well worth the 25 min it takes.

    Aside from the show page, it can be found at iTunes.

  27. 27.

    ulee

    Here’s hoping that little miss backstabber ingrate gets visited by the IRS. Sterling spoke his thoughts in what he thought was a private conversation. This is a country of vultures.

  28. 28.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    Not to worry, I’m not running for anything.

    But I do seem to have a warped view of age.

  30. 30.

    Botsplainer

    @Baud:

    What nobody in sports media ever says during player strikes is this:

    nobody comes to see the owners own or the front office manage. Fans don’t buy suit and tie team gear, the don’t seek out the owner’s autograph. The league management is similarly invisible to fans. Team value and revenue are set by player performance and crowd engagement.

    Instead, we get a bunch of shitty “getting rich from playing a game” nonsense, along with stuff like that stupid Keanu Reaves movie glorifying mediocre sports scabs.

  32. 32.

    Gin & Tonic

    And, in another development which will surprise absolutely no one (I know, that thread’s downstairs) except perhaps our illiterate Bob, the separatists of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” — who hate to be called separatists, thus leading to our Bob’s calling them “federalists” — wait a whole several hours after the conclusion of their “referendum” to ask to join the Russian Federation.

  34. 34.

    The Dangerman

    @lamh36:

    WTF is Donald Sterling’s problem with Magic Johnson?

    Two possible explanations:

    (1) Donald Sterling is the biggest shit you will ever meet; LA’s known about this asshole for decades

    (2) Magic’s still getting some without paying for it

  37. 37.

    Suffern ACE

    @Botsplainer: unfortunately, the most valuable and engaged fans actually do like to watch general managers manage, and talk endlessly about what they’d do if they owned the team, and who they would trade, or cut. Those folks call into radio shows and like to listen in to people talking about that. And that practice is worth a lot of money.

  42. 42.

    Suffern ACE

    @MomSense: well, if it’s any consolation, the drummer is usually the healthiest one in the band. There are very few obese drummers. Although they do meet with more than their fair share of accidents according to this documentary I once watched.

  43. 43.

    lamh36

    I mean…ugh! This goes beyond jealousy right? I mean he says he’s talked

    @AC360
    Follow
    “He acts so holy. I mean he made love to every girl in every city in America and he had AIDS” #DonaldSterling on @MagicJohnson.

    In the interview Sterling said”

    “If I said anything wrong, I’m sorry. He’s a good person,” Sterling said. “I mean, what am I going to say? Has he done everything he can do to help minorities? I don’t think so. But I’ll say it, he’s great. But I don’t think he’s a good example for the children of Los Angeles.”

    After the interview, Anderson Cooper tweeted:

    @andersoncooper
    Follow
    Fact: @MagicJohnson has raised tremendous amounts of money for HIV/aids awareness, education, under served communities.

  44. 44.

    Tommy

    @OzarkHillbilly: I say this over and over again. I work for myself. I am paying $76 a month less for my insurance for a plan that is like twice as good.

    An amazing thing happened Sunday. In with the extended family my brother married into, you know Mother’s Day. The people my age and older are “birthers.” But their kids and grand kids, not so much. Why I have hope!

    I was sitting next to a lady, 23, she is going to graduate from college with a degree in speech therapy tomorrow. Her grandfather next to me. He is ranting about Obamacare and all this BS. Normally I am the dude that will have to step in. Not this time. She went off on him saying he didn’t know what he was talking about.

    She beat him down in a polite way, again saying he didn’t understand what he was talking about. Outlining how the law helps her. I was like you go Jessica.

  45. 45.

    hildebrand

    @efgoldman: Morphing? Ulee started there and has gone down hill since. I mean honestly, it is not a good day unless this happy person pisses on someone’s cornflakes. I suppose everyone needs a hobby. Must be fun at parties.

  48. 48.

    ulee

    @hildebrand: I don’t go to parties. My hobbies are walking my dogs, hanging out with my girlfriend, and pissing on your cornflakes.

  49. 49.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    Loks like both Eastern Conference semis are going seven games, because the Habs are up 3-0 halfway through the 3rd.

  51. 51.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Tommy: Good for Jessica. And I think that kind of personal testimony is powerful. Gramps will never be an ACA fan but he’ll hear her and maybe grudgingly admit the law at least did one good thing.

  53. 53.

    Schlemizel

    @hildebrand: I did not know that but caught on right away to the scent of troll so I have ignored it.

    Some happy news, mAnn Coulter mad a fake #bringourgirlsback picture & the folks on reddit have had a field day changing the text on her sign.

  54. 54.

    ulee

    @Schlemizel: yes, this coming from the person who thinks that women should get a license before giving birth. You can make up excuses but you can’t hide from your thoughts.

  55. 55.

    gbear

    I spent the day going to my sister’s funeral. It was a bare-bones service, but the Pastor who gave the service knew of my sister’s family’s love of sci-fi and fantasy, and actually managed to fit a reading from a fantasy novel into the service. My brother-in-law’s family was wonderful, and it turned out that some of his aunts had gone to school with my mom and dad, so we were talking about family history at his grandmother’s house over sloppy joes and home-made cookies after the service.
    My neice has been on kind of an emotional roller coaster ride for a while – she’s flunked out of her junior year in high school – and the local family are hoping that their brother can get her daughter grounded again, although he’s kind of off balance now too.
    The only thing that pissed me off about the funeral is that my brother-in-law showed up for his wife’s funeral wearing sweatpants, t-shirt and a hoodie. That’s just too flakey for me…

  56. 56.

    Fair Economist

    @rikyrah:

    There are FIVE MILLION WORKING AMERICANS being denied access to healthcare because their GOP Sociopathic Governors will not expand Medicaid.

    SOME of them have GOT TO BE SICK.

    THE DNC NEEDS TO GET THEM INTO ADS

    This x1000

  60. 60.

    Tommy

    @Iowa Old Lady: It was wonderful to hear. She was pissed off by what he said and telling him about it. My mom and dad don’t like her much. I ask why and they say she never talks to them. She talks to me. They are like how does that happen. On Mother’s Day I just said to her “what is new in your life?” Funny thing I found out a lot of stuff. Guess I have to explain to my parents that younger people don’t bite :).

  61. 61.

    Schlemizel

    @Gin & Tonic:
    they demonstrated a lack of reading comprehension yesterday & then tried to repeat the mistake tonight. Best to just let them talk to themselves

  63. 63.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @gbear: Oh, that just sucks hugely! I am so sorry. But how lovely that the pastor honoured your sister’s love of SciFi by doing appropriate readings.

    Big {{{{{hugs}}}}} to you, your niece, and everyone who loved and mourns your sister.

    Still sucks.

  64. 64.

    Tommy

    @gbear: I am sorry to hear you went to a funeral, but also happy to hear there was good banter. I often joke when I went to the funeral of my grandfather, he was only 93, I went outside for a smoke. It was at this time some random person asked about my mom. How she was doing. Her first husband. I was like wait, my mom was married before my dad? Asked my dad and he said this is something we don’t talk about, you will never mention it again. Never know what will happen at a funeral (I guess that is both good and bad).

  66. 66.

    Schlemizel

    @gbear:
    I imagine it was a very trying day. Glad that the minister at least had a clue. I have been to too many funerals where the offical wouldn’t know the deceased if the jumped out & bit them. Empty platitudes and nonsense are of value to nobody.

    As for proper attire, the whole world is going to hell. I have stopped being disappointed & just realized I am old enough that modern sensibilities make no sense.

  68. 68.

    lamh36

    Ok, ok, I know I should just let it go, but the complete quote from Sterling just has to be read in it’s entirety to be believed!!!!

    “He acts so holy. He made love to every girl in every city in America, and he got AIDS,” said Sterling. “I didn’t criticize him. I could have. Is he an example to those children?”

    Johnson has HIV, not AIDS.

    Later, Sterling returned to the subject of Johnson, asking Cooper: “What has he done?”

    When Cooper attempted to answer that Johnson is a business person, Sterling interjected: “He’s got AIDS…I think he should be ashamed of himself. I think he should go in the background.”

    Sterling seemed to believe that Johnson’s race had something to do with his inability to give back to the community. (For the record, Johnson has a Magic Johnson Foundation that has given millions back to the community.)

    “Jews, when they get successful, they will help their people,” said Sterling. “Some of the African Americans, they don’t want to help anyone.”

    If I was Jewish, I’d be like “why come he gotta bring us into this”???

  69. 69.

    J.D. Rhoades

    @Belafon:

    If Hagan is any indication, I think the Democrats are going to do exactly that

    .

    She’s been so supine in the face of the early attack ads, I was wondering if she’d ever fight back. Glad to see her starting.

  72. 72.

    gbear

    @Gin & Tonic: @Iowa Old Lady: I’m nervous about how my brother-in-law and neice are going to do now, but I was happy to find out that he’s got good family nearby and my neices friends who came to the funeral seem like really decent kids. The day went about as well as it could have gone.
    My neice was allowed to pick the pre-funeral music and she was playing Aqualung by Jethro Tull because her mom liked it so much. I was the one who turned her mom on to that album when I was in high school. I hadn’t listened to it for so long I didn’t even recognize it when I first walked in. It was such a weird record to be hearing there. It got turned way down when the aunts started arriving.

  75. 75.

    Another Holocene Human

    @lamh36: Arguably dissing Magic is exactly what put him where he is today. White America could have overlooked the other stuff as drunken talk.

    So maybe he’s doubling down because he has a psychological issue about being wrong.

    Although, seriously, the whole thing is weird as fuck.

    ETA: @Memnosyne

    Magic is far, far more successful financially than Sterling, and at a younger age. And he didn’t have to become a slumlord to do it.

    Okay, this is funny. Living well IS the best revenge.

  76. 76.

    ulee

    Everyone around here claps and congratulates themselves. When someone digresses it’s a felony. Well good, you can all sit around and suck each other’s dicks or you can open up your minds.

  77. 77.

    Tommy

    @lamh36: “

    Jews, when they get successful, they will help their people,” said Sterling. “Some of the African Americans, they don’t want to help anyone.”

    If I was Jewish, I’d be like “why come he gotta bring us into this”???

    UGH. I know a few Jews. This isn’t a start to a joke. When I lived in DC, first moved there, I knew nobody. This family would invite me over for things like Thanksgiving. But also Passover. Went on for almost two decades even when I could have gone someplace else.

    Ponder for a second folks take you in, like you are their kid. Think more that until that time you didn’t even understand anything about Jews or their history. As you might think it was a wonderful experience.

  78. 78.

    Schlemizel

    @gbear: Hope you are holding up OK. I feel particularly bad for your niece, sounds like she was struggling to begin with & this is not going to help.

  80. 80.

    Schlemizel

    @Another Holocene Human: If the bozo has a PR guy he probably put a bullet through his brain when his guy went off script to take pot shots at Magic. Up to that point it was pretty bland bullshit that would have gotten him some converts from the mushy middle. The poor old coot managed to shoot both feet while they were in his mouth.

  81. 81.

    StringOnAStick

    I had a wonderful day back country skiing, on May 12, in a full-on, mid-winter-like powder day. I can’t recall the last time we’ve had snow like this so late in the season. This is the 3rd time in the last 6 weeks we’ve had a day like this, and each time we’ve thought “OK, this is the last powder of the year so get all you can!”.

    So, plus side: great skiing. Negative side: hard freeze warning tonight in Denver and still lightly snowing off and on after a big day of snow yesterday. Too bad I have to go to work tomorrow, so all my plants that are under buckets or tarps outside will have to wait until I get home to get some fresh air and sunshine. The moisture sure is nice though, it had been completely dry for weeks and even the wild flowers were looking a bit wilted.

  82. 82.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Schlemizel: And twitter and reddit also asked people to stop calling her Man Coulter. So please stop.

    She is vile and us trannies had nothing to do with it.

  83. 83.

    Schlemizel

    @Tommy:
    Boy he just brought out every stereotype he could dredge up – did he mention that the asians are good with electronics and Hispanics have strong family ties and are deeply religious or is he saving that for when he justifies his justification?

  84. 84.

    Another Holocene Human

    @lamh36:

    “Jews, when they get successful, they will help their people,” said Sterling. “Some of the African Americans, they don’t want to help anyone.”

    Wasn’t there an African American woman who released a book a couple of months ago about giving and was on public radio talking about giving habits in different communities and the difficulties talking to people about giving because of certain cultural beliefs and the way in which African American giving is often hidden to outsiders and sometimes even within the community? Pretty rich coming from a guy all too eager to have his name plastered all over for doing nothing (hey kids, free Clippers tickets!). Keep talking, show us how ignorant you are.

  85. 85.

    ulee

    schlemizel is still trying to figure out how we can get women licensed to give birth. He working on it, and at the same time denying it.

  86. 86.

    StringOnAStick

    @Tommy: My husband is Jewish, and nothing sets his teeth on edge like these “Jews help each other, are a better community,” etc. stuff.

    I told him about an email my wingnut father sent that compared the scientific and cultural successes and accomplishments of Jews with that of Arabs, all with the point being “Jews great, Arabs less than human”; wow did he get pissed about it. He hates it when he gets put in a category, good or bad, simply because he is Jewish, and having his ethic group’s history being used to denigrate another really angered him.

  89. 89.

    scav

    @hildebrand: I find her cheaply manipulative. Despite the rapid changes in personality and apparent moods, it’s not as though ulee has come up with any new ways of being annoying. It’s all about inserting herself center stage using the cheapest and fastest way possible (the whiney little boots phase was a fun one). She just drives whatever schtick she’s borrowed into the ground and beyond, flutters some reported psychological issues as an excuse and continues pounding. Could even be true, but I don’t get the impression she’s even trying. Everyone must adapt to her. Excuse her. Whatever. Wonder what kind of self-medication or validation she’s getting out of repeatedly playing this game? Our own little cover band of trolls.

  90. 90.

    danielx

    The question now: If Republican officials really are backing off on Obamacare, will the base go along?

    Fuck no.

    This has been another edition of Simple Answers to Simple Questions.

    Extended version: the base is not interested in going along with anything, and the people who have spent the last three years whipping the base into a frothing frenzy over ACA are well aware of this. The teahadis in the House of Representatives know it as well, and they may well continue to try to repeal even if it’s impossible to do so. Almost have to, lest yesterday’s new right wing Savonarola become tomorrow’s bear bait. The base is mean, in many cases stupid, and crazy, and the meaner and crazier the next new Louie Gohmert (R-straitjacket) is, the better the base will like it. The base could give two toots on a flute about the success of ACA; if it’s working at all, it’s working for the wrong reasons so it must be destroyed. Besides, sez the 27 percenter, it’s not working. I heard all about it on Fox. But even if it did work it would be soshulism and eeevil.

  91. 91.

    gbear

    @Schlemizel: No, this is not going to help my niece. It was hard to get a feeling for where she’s going to bottom out and her home live isn’t stable. She adored her mom but her mom would be constantly berating her whenever I was on the phone with them. I don’t understand their family dynamic at all. I’m feeling kind of helpless – I don’t feel like I can do anything helpful right now. I was kind of estranged from this sister.

  93. 93.

    Schlemizel

    @gbear: Sounds sorta like Stockholm syndrome. I know your feeling though. My brother constantly berated his kids, nothing they did was right. It was our dad’s thing too. I wanted to help the kids and would take them to events & try to let them know they were OK etc. I don’t think it helped, not sure its possible to overcome that much programming in a few hours a few times a year. The oldest ran away at 17 and refuses to see anyone in the family, the younger son is 40 and still lives at home totally dependent on them.

  94. 94.

    lamh36

    @ESPNNBA
    Commissioner Adam Silver releases a statement in response to Donald Sterling’s CNN interview: pic.twitter.com/Fj6n01zrJd

  95. 95.

    gbear

    @Schlemizel: Ouch for both sons, especially the 40 year old. Damn. I won’t be surprised if my niece runs away from home, but she might be willing to run to one of my sisters or adult nephew’s homes.

  97. 97.

    Schlemizel

    @efgoldman:
    I don’t know how you can tell. With a couple of exceptions they all smell the same because they all spread the same BS. Clowns like “UNLIMITED CORPORATE CASH” stand out because they at least have an original shtick. Mostly I notice an uptick in trollism around elections an when middle school is on break.

  99. 99.

    SiubhanDunne

    @efgoldman:

    What’s your excuse?

    Old age? Senility? Geriatric privilege? AARP membership?

    A little respect for your elders, please, if you don’t mind.

  101. 101.

    mai naem

    @Schlemizel: I was listening to Smerconish today and he didn’t understand why Sterling didn’t have a crisis team around him. I wanted to call in and tell him – Duh, obviously the guy is an old fart tightwad and thinks he can do his own crisis management, thank you very much! He doesn’t need some black chick like Kerry Washington telling him what to do!

    Also the Magic Johnson thing – I have not watched the interview but this is another duh! for me. Black man. White man. What usually seems to be at the bottom of white man having problem with black man? Watch out !They’re gonna steal out wimmens! To make matters worse for Sterling, Magic Johnson is rich, younger, athletic, famous, well liked and better looking. Sterling might be wealthier but really who cares at that level of wealth and, furthermore, Magic’s forty+ years younger. Nothing saying Magic’s not going to be as wealthy as Sterling in forty years.

  102. 102.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @efgoldman:

    What’s your excuse?

    Old age? Senility? Geriatric privilege? AARP membership?

    A little respect for your elders, please, if you don’t mind.

    ETA: Ah, now I see why I was tossed into mod hell. Corrected.

  103. 103.

    Schlemizel

    @gbear: I hope it is to a friend or relative that can help, the street is no place for a kid. My nephew worked at a turkey processing plant for a few years & then started working in kitchens. He was head chef at a country club after a few years & now has a job managing food services at a university. We ate at his place & he introduced us to his wife & kids. He seems to have done OK but imagine there are demons. The younger one works occasionally but can’t hold a job, he acts like he he has no self-confidence, is always trying to ‘disappear’ and apologizing for everything.

    Its past my bed time – g’night all. We should get together & do it again some time.

  104. 104.

    Schlemizel

    @mai naem: I bet thats it. Someone with that much at stake should be smart enough to get professional help. But between his massive ego & greed I bet you nailed it.

  110. 110.

    Mnemosyne

    @raven:

    Honestly, I’m a little suspicious of Sterling’s purported net worth. Real estate “moguls” are notorious for inflating their numbers.

    When I say that Donald Trump claims to be worth $3.5 billion, you can see where I’m coming from.

  112. 112.

    ulee

    I think we should take a moment and dump on the 80 year old Donald Sterling. Who doesn’t enjoy attacking a guy who was double-crossed by his 30 year old girlfriend? Just be careful. Anything you say in private can and will be used to destroy your life.

  113. 113.

    wasabi gasp

    @MomSense: If your kids pursue this, you might consider rounding up some old/cheap yoga mats and cutting them up to fit the heads and cymbals to act as mufflers.

  115. 115.

    Steeplejack

    @gbear:

    [. . .] my brother-in-law showed up for his wife’s funeral wearing sweatpants, t-shirt and a hoodie.

    I think you said your sister and brother-in-law had serious money problems. One thing I learned while going through a patch of dire poverty was that you do without a lot of things, and that can include clothes—not that you go without, obviously, but you have only the kind of clothes that you need (or can afford). For a while the most “dressed up” I could get was a polo shirt and khaki slacks (and those from the Targét pour Homme collection). I did not have a single button-up shirt. If your BIL works a blue-collar job or is unemployed, sweats and hoodies might be close to all he’s got.

    The other thing is that when you get that down and out some people develop a “Fuck you, I’m not even trying” attitude. “I can’t afford to get a decent suit for my own wife’s funeral, people are going to criticize me and look down on me no matter what, so fuck it, I’ll wear sweats and a hoodie.” Throw in the fact that the guy may not be thinking straight after the sudden death of his wife and there’s a lot of room for an explanation other than that he’s just a dick.

  116. 116.

    ulee

    Mnemo says, “Oh, this won’t do. This won’t do at all!” She shambles off, muttering of dullards and trolls. Cleans out the fridge. Pasta and dirty rice and raw hot dogs. Life is suddenly good.

  117. 117.

    Mnemosyne

    @Steeplejack:

    The other thought of mine about that was undiagnosed mental illness. Which could also be part of the reason why their daughter flunked out of high school.

    gbear, I really hope your niece has some local family or friends she can move in with for a while. The more you say about her dad, the more it looks like he may not be capable of taking care of her by himself.

  118. 118.

    ruemara

    @gbear: My condolences. Sounds like you had a good pastor, tho.

    @lamh36: Adding that into the lolwut file. Fuck that idiot.

    @Another Holocene Human: This. She’s not half the woman or the person that a transgender person is. She’s Ann Coulter and that’s a pretty vile appellation.

  121. 121.

    Roger Moore

    @mai naem:

    To make matters worse for Sterling, Magic Johnson is rich, younger, athletic, famous, well liked and better looking.

    And, though nobody seems to mention it, a Laker from one of their great dynasties. Don’t discount jealousy over Magic’s fist full of championship rings with LA’s other basketball team as a motivating factor.

  122. 122.

    Ruckus

    @gbear:
    There is hope.
    I have a cousin who’s mom died when she was about 12. Most obnoxious person I’d ever met and I hated going to their house because of it. Six years later before I see her again. Not even the same person. She is wonderful, one of the nicest, warmest people I know. This was decades ago and she hasn’t changed at all since she was 18. I don’t know what changed her, her siblings are about the same as I remember them before their mom passed, they are OK, and one black sheep. IOW a normal family. I’m not going into more detail but if this person can live through this and grow the way she did, anyone can. Advice? Give her support and let her know she has a shoulder if she needs one. I hope she surprises you like my cousin surprised me.

  124. 124.

    Ruckus

    @Steeplejack:
    Went to the funeral of woman who she and her husband worked for me. Other than the husband and myself, no one wore a suit or even a tie or more than a plain dress. These were rural, somewhat poor people, they didn’t/couldn’t afford fancy. I was the one out of place.

  125. 125.

    Ruckus

    @gbear:
    I wasn’t saying your niece was a horrible person, just pointing out that some people can grow in ways that surprise you, especially in the face of adversity. I also have another friend who lost her mom at eleven, was raised by her heroin addict/drunk father and she is one of the nicest, well adjusted people I know.

  126. 126.

    Suffern ACE

    @Roger Moore: maybe. But I never thought sterling was all that interested in winning games, let alone championships. If he didn’t share a building with the lakers, no one would follow his team.

  127. 127.

    Kropadope

    A good illustration on why Republicans, as currently constituted, can not win votes from me: A bill in the Senate with huge bipartisan support comes up for a vote. Rs try to tack on amendments for restricting Obama administration action on climate change and approval for the Keystone Pipeline. The bill “fails” with 55% of the vote.

    So, they really can’t just pass a simple little bill with broad support that will help the American people save a little money. They have to tack on some controversial measures and sink the whole thing. I actually support the Keystone Pipeline. I think since the tar sands will be extracted anyway, as long as we plan to prevent environmental impact from the pipeline itself, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t build this and benefit from the industry.

    Rs just can’t respect matters of process. They want their way now. That’s how they manage to advocate for policies I theoretically support and still make me look at them like a bunch of raving lunatics. That’s why I can’t support these people.

  128. 128.

    schrodinger's cat

    Day 4 in India, I finally got a good night’s sleep (7 hours), since last Thursday and I am feeling like a member of the human race again.
    How is everybody in Tunchland?

  129. 129.

    ulee

    ok. I just watched Anderson Cooper interview Sterling. This is an old man. That bitch set him up. It’s obvious. He may be an Archie Bunker bigot but he seems like a decent guy. Her. Well, I don’t have anything good to say about her. Cole can say she is a victim all he wants. She’s not. She’s a horrible person.

  130. 130.

    Kropadope

    @ulee: I don’t care who you are, what you do for a living, or what you said. You should not be punished for a private conversation held in your own home.

  131. 131.

    ulee

    And he’s right. Magic Johnson banged women all over the place and he got HIV. This makes him a hero? I’ve not nothing against the guy getting laid, and then getting HIV, but it doesn’t make him a wonderful person.

  133. 133.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    Interesting things going on with the NFL team in NOLA:

    The grievance hearing over Graham’s franchise-tag designation has been scheduled for June 17-18, according to a league source. It’s unclear whether a third-party arbitrator has been selected.

    At stake is how much the Saints will be required to pay Graham under the franchise tag. The NFL’s management council declared Graham a tight end when he was franchised in early March, requiring the Saints to offer him a one-year salary of $7.035 million.

    Graham, however, filed a grievance through the NFL Players Association last week asking to be declared a receiver — a position that comes with a franchise-tag salary of $12.3 million.

    If I’m Jimmy Graham, I don’t know that I’d split the difference, as did the Ravens’ Terrell Suggs in ’08 (frnchised as a DE, slightly more money had he been franchised as an OLB). The difference in the gap between TE and WR is much more substantial than that between a DE and an OLB.

    This could cause a serious reworking of the franchise tag in the NFL.

  135. 135.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @ulee:

    Who’s claiming it does make him a hero?

    AFAIK, the reason post-playing-career Magic is considered a hero is because he gives back to the African-American community, he opens cinemas in inner cities, and he advocates for more African-American-owned businesses.

  137. 137.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @Suffern ACE:

    He’s the new prototype. The Lions just drafted Eric Ebron in the first round as a “Jimmy Graham type” tight end.

  139. 139.

    wonder gir.

    OT I’m sorry but can I just say that Dinesh D’Souza is a DICK! See to nights Mahar!.. He’s Shit.

  141. 141.

    wonder gir.

    Sister Simone wiped his ass. Okay I’m sorry moderaters, but he just pushes my buttons!. I’ll try to be respectful maybe.

  142. 142.

    Tommy

    @Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): Graham is pissed off. If I am not mistaken one of the first things he did was argue that he should be paid wide receiver, not tight end money if they were going to use the “franchise” tag on him, since about 65% of the time he lines up as a wide receiver. That little difference, him being a TE or WR was worth millions. They kind of laughed at him.

    So not sure why it is funny he now will suing them. If I owned a major sports team I’d pay my players whatever they wanted. But maybe that is why I don’t own a major sports team :).

  143. 143.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @ulee:

    Tell that to the Kansmen out looking to lynch someone. “Oh, you’re financially successful? Be on your way, Mr. Johnson. We apologize for the inconvenience!”

  144. 144.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @Tommy:

    If I owned a major sports team I’d pay my players whatever they wanted.

    Which would be great if you owned the Yankees, Red Sox or Dodgers. Not so much any other MLB franchise or a franchise in the other three major N. American sports leagues- which all have salary caps.

  146. 146.

    Tommy

    @Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): I used to live in NE DC. I am a white dude. Where I lived I was about the only white dude around. 95% African American. I could walk four blocks and be in Union Station, the US Capital, Supreme Court, Library of Congress. Walk four block the other direction around where I lived nothing. I mean literally nothing. Not even a grocery store.

    Magic came in there and changed things. Or worked to change things. Now the house I owned there is worth like three times what I paid for it, the “hip” place to live in DC. I feel like everybody that lives there ought to send me a few bucks, because I was the first to get the place/area rocked :).

  147. 147.

    Tommy

    @Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): The team I follow daily is the St. Louis Cardinals. They have a salary of $100 million. More then half of say the Yankees or Dodgers. But still almost a top ten payroll.We find a way to pay our players. Sure we let Albert Pujols go, but we offered him more than $200M. The Angles just offered him $257,000,000.

    I just don’t buy that a team, a small market team, can’t pay their players close to market value if not straight up market value.

  148. 148.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @ulee:

    It’s easy to assimilate when you look like the crowd into which you’re assimilating. One of my sets of great-grandparents came from County Mayo and faced discrimination in Boston. Three generations later, my sister and I are just white people.

    Problem is that my niece and nephew- whose fathers you can tell are African-American just from seeing their kids- have to fight that battle all over again, no matter how they speak, act, study, worship, etc., etc…And if you don’t get that, if you pretend that there’s something those kids can do differently to counteract the racism in others, you’re an idiot- and I’m being very kind.

  151. 151.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @Tommy:

    (I shouldn’t have shortened Cardinals, so here I go again)

    Yeah….The Cardinals aren’t exactly a small-market team. They’ve still got a huge traditional fan base throughout the South and Midwest that wasn’t lost to expansion franchises. St. Louis and its immediate environs ain’t exactly huge, yet the Cardinals sell out home games, and their fans make up at least half the crowd at any series played in Chicago. I think its easier to see what a big franchise they’ve got there if you’re looking at it as an outsider.

    I’m a Tigers’ fan. Mid-market team, right on the cusp of being a major-market team. Mike Ilitch has probably tapped into his casino money to pay Cabrera and Verlander, but there’s no way he’s going to re-up Max Scherzer. I wish he could, but it ain’t gonna happen.

  152. 152.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @Tommy:

    (HOLY FUCKING SPAM FILTER, WORDPRESS!)

    Yeah….The Cardinals aren’t exactly a small-market team. They’ve still got a huge traditional fan base throughout the South and Midwest that wasn’t lost to expansion franchises. St. Louis and its immediate environs ain’t exactly huge, yet the Cardinals sell out home games, and their fans make up at least half the crowd at any series played in Chicago. I think its easier to see what a big franchise they’ve got there if you’re looking at it as an outsider.

    I’m a Tigers’ fan. Mid-market team, right on the cusp of being a major-market team. Mike Ilitch has probably tapped into his casio (slide an “n” between the “i” and the “o”) money to pay Cabrera and Verlander, but there’s no way he’s going to re-up Max Scherzer. I wish he could, but it ain’t gonna happen.

  153. 153.

    Tommy

    @ulee: I just feel the need to say this. My family came here in 1867. From Scotland. I come from a family of letter writers (maybe why I am here). I got letters from the first person that came here, to the US, talks about digging coal out east and “working the rails” until he got to Southern IL (where my family still lives).

    In one letter, I kid you not a direct mail letter, he says he wants to ask for their vote, to be a judge. His plea for the vote in the letter is stunning. Now I know the 1870s isn’t 2014. But I ponder this all the time, he didn’t even have to wait a generation to run for office, which he won BTW, and that gives me hope.

  154. 154.

    ulee

    @Tommy: It’s amazing, isn’t it? All these people coming to America and saying–Well, we’re here–. I do like this country.Though what we’ve done with it, as George Carlin said, it’s fucking embarrassing.

  155. 155.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @ulee:

    The sooner they get past that label, the sooner the difference won’t matter.

    THEY are past the label- THEY are not the problem. But until those with the problems get past theirs, there is no better way to point out that certain people face the daily ordeal of having to navigate other people’s stupid fucking problems than by identifying those which are the stupid fucking peoples’ problems.

    You need to bring this weak shit over to TNC’s blog and see how long you last before he bans you for being so fucking obtuse.

  157. 157.

    Tommy

    @ulee: It is stunning actually. He openly says in his campaign mailer that he came from the Isle of Skye in Scotland. A poor man. But he found something here. Now he wants to give back. My two favorite things about the letter is he says (1) if you entrust your vote to me I will endeavor to ensure your concerns are heard and addressed (2) this letter is impersonal. I will try to address everybody in my district face-to-face and shake your hand.

    That was pre-1900. Always felt if I ever ran a campaign today, I’d suggest those two points.

  159. 159.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @ulee:

    I’m having a conversation.

    No you aren’t. If you were, you’d admit the facts as they are now. No one gets pulled over for Driving While of Irish Descent. Those of Italian descent aren’t the last hired and first fired. No neighborhood of nothing but white people ever got redlined into a ghetto. Jews aren’t incarcerated at levels many times higher than their percentage of the overall population of the country. The death penalty. “The Bell Curve” gets taken seriously by “respected” columnists. Cycles of poverty….

    I saw your comments on the earlier GG thread, I picked up your tone. You need to think about this: The same white men who gave us the First and Fourth Amendments not only protected race-based chattel slavery, but also gave slaveholders a hand up with the Three-Fifths Compromise.

  160. 160.

    ulee

    @Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): Well, I am having a conversation, despite your investigation. No, people don’t get pulled over for being Irish. But once they did. There used to be a law about walking while Irish. It’s not a coincidence that so many Jewish people have altered their last names. Yes, black people are targeted, but if they would stop killing each other all the time then attitudes might change. And don’t tell me violence isn’t a big issue in the black community.

  161. 161.

    ulee

    And I live in Maine. You want to know where the most diverse racial population in the state is? Maine State Prison. And please don’t tell me these poor bastards are being persecuted. There’s a problem. Let’s just be honest about it.

  162. 162.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @ulee:

    Yes, black people are targeted, but if they would stop killing each other all the time then attitudes might change. And don’t tell me violence isn’t a big issue in the black community.

    Fer chrissakes…Violence is a big issue in poor communities. Poverty is disproportionately high in black communities.

  163. 163.

    ulee

    You’re right. I grew up outside of Washington DC. I learned attitudes and violence. There were the rich and the poor. Then I moved to Maine. There were the rich and the poor but it’s just a rough country town up here, not killing and killing some more.

  164. 164.

    ulee

    Until those idiots from New York come up here and get busted. It’s in the papers every day. Note: Stay the fuck out, assholes.

  165. 165.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @ulee:

    Not densely populated, either, I’d hazard to guess. Thing is that when you adjust for that, there are about as many violent crimes per 100K in the sticks as there are per 100K in the inner city when you adjust for income. It just seems as if there are less in the sticks because in many states that rural population is spread out over five or more counties, sometimes hundreds of miles separating a murder in county A from a murder in county B. Since they’re so far apart, the people in A and B don’t know about the murder in the other. Northern Michigan (the Lower Peninsula north of the Rust Belt urban centers of, let’s say, Grand Rapids and Flint) and the Upper Peninsula are like this.

  167. 167.

    ulee

    But these guys are ill, or recovering from it. I’d rather hang out with them than spend a day in Detroit.

  168. 168.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @ulee:

    Yeah, I bet.

    One last thing before I go to bed: Black markets police themselves through violence. People living in poverty will often turn to the black market to make their livelihoods. In the second half of the ’80s we saw a lot of black men killing each other over control of the crack market. Now it’s white men killing each other over control of the meth market.

  170. 170.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @ulee:

    I’m not in or from the D, but there are places you can go in the city without problems. I wouldn’t want to take my chances alone in the majority of the city (I’ve got a few friends who are native to the city proper who I’d go nearly anywhere with), but Downtown, Greektown, Indian Village…Not bad. Up near the borders of Macomb and Oakland Counties? Not bad, either.

Comments are closed.