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You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2014 / Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  October 8, 20145:23 am| 58 Comments

This post is in: Election 2014, Open Threads, Daydream Believers

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Sooo not my demographic, but I’m sure the rest of you will be more than happy to explain what I’m missing. Remember, Dems – sharing is caring!

And kudos to the First Lady, per BloombergPolitics:

Michelle Obama campaigned for both Democrats and her husband’s legacy during a stop Tuesday in her hometown of Chicago, offering a vigorous defense of his presidency at a time when it has been stung by low approval ratings and global problems.

“Barack’s last campaign wasn’t in 2012,” she told a heavily black audience of more than 5,000 inside a half-full university arena on the city’s West Side. “Barack’s last campaign is this year, 2014.”…

The first lady is ramping up her appearances ahead of the midterm elections. The Nov. 4 balloting will determine control of the Senate and the political comfort level at the White House during the last two years of residence there by the Obamas.

Democrats are seeking her help, even as they avoid campaign appearances with her husband, whose job approval rating has dropped to the low 40s. In contrast, the first lady is viewed positively by roughly two-thirds of Americans…

“When we stay home, they win,” Michelle Obama said. “It’s on us to get this done.”

***********
Apart from rallying the troops, what’s on the agenda for the day?

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Reader Interactions

58Comments

  1. 1.

    raven

    October 8, 2014 at 5:25 am

    The blood moon eclipse has started and it’s clear as a bell here.

  2. 2.

    Jerzy Russian

    October 8, 2014 at 5:39 am

    @raven:

    The blood moon eclipse has started and it’s clear as a bell here.

    Same here. We get to see most of the eclipse from the west coast.

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    October 8, 2014 at 5:44 am

    @raven: I just missed it. Didn’t know there was one. Puttered around in the kitchen from 4-4:30. Noticed the moon had gone away but just thought a cloud was passing by. Came upstairs, saw the Yahoo post and said “Shit.” Went outside and watched the shadow pass away.

    Story of my life.

  4. 4.

    Mustang Bobby

    October 8, 2014 at 5:52 am

    @raven: I was watching it from the parking garage as I walked into the office just now, and clouds filtered in and obscured it.

    Maybe we should sacrifice a goat to keep the gods happy.

  5. 5.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 8, 2014 at 5:58 am

    @raven: Clear here in LALAland as well. I’ve got the camera on a tripod in the yard

  6. 6.

    Raven

    October 8, 2014 at 6:00 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: No, it’s now! Total eclipse and then red.

  7. 7.

    Mustang Bobby

    October 8, 2014 at 6:09 am

    The skies have cleared over Miami and I just tried to take a couple of pictures of it with my cell phone camera. Not exactly Ansel Adams quality.

  8. 8.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 8, 2014 at 6:12 am

    OMG the moon is red, it must have Ebola and we’ll all get it from the moon. We’re all gona die!!! Either that or IS/ISIS/ISIL will kill us in our beds.

  9. 9.

    Schlemazel

    October 8, 2014 at 6:12 am

    Clear weather here & the view is good. Sneaking out & catching a peek now & then.

    Bill Maher was in Northfield with his traveling freak show last night. He put on a version of “Real TIme” to discuss Congressman John Kline, a guy with a voting record worse than Batshit Bachmann but smart enough not to get caught saying insane things. Maher has decided to make Kline the target of his “flip a district” campaign, although other than mentioning him on his show I don’t think he is doing much.

    The 3 conservatives on his panel were the retired Speaker if the State House, who other than making a point of noting that Maher was a HOLLYWOOD liberal did a decent job, smartest guy on that side. Some mousey little guy from some front group who pretty much noticed he was in over his head & said next to nothing all night and some Ann Coulter wannabe from the local chapter of the Heritage Institute who masterfully displayed a level of both ignorance and clulessness that was breathtaking. At one point she explained that women don’t need the Lilly Ledbetter Act, they need no not be such a B-I-T-C-H at work – and, yes, she actually spelled it out.

    A lot of sound and fury signifying nothing I am afraid.

  10. 10.

    Botsplainer

    October 8, 2014 at 6:13 am

    Woke up after yesterday’s super shitty day a little gut crampy (suffered all night) and slightly feverish, which means I have ebola.

    Thanks, Obama.

    Anyway, the eclipse is cool. I’m walking the dog, sky perfectly clear and full of stars, and the moon is dripping blood.

  11. 11.

    raven

    October 8, 2014 at 6:13 am

    I have had the camera set up for an hour and a cloud bank just hit it. I’m hoping to see thr red but I don’t know.

  12. 12.

    jacy

    October 8, 2014 at 6:16 am

    Trying to figure out why I am not asleep. Woke up at 4 AM and all attempts to go back to sleep have been fruitless. I suspect I will pay for this at some time during the day.

    Oh, and I love Michelle Obama so much.

  13. 13.

    Schlemazel

    October 8, 2014 at 6:17 am

    The Blond stick figure had on the shortest dress possible while sitting on a stage facing an audience. (what is it about this brand of dim bulb that they all share anorexia, peroxide and a penchant for showing their underwear to crowds? I saw for a fact that yesterday was TUE

    When towards the end of the night she finally hiked the dress down & my wife said “thank-you” It got a cheer from the crowd.

  14. 14.

    Mustang Bobby

    October 8, 2014 at 6:20 am

    @Schlemazel: Some Republicans don’t seem to know the difference between doing their business or just showing it.

  15. 15.

    Raven

    October 8, 2014 at 6:21 am

    Well I put my hearing aid in and I can hear every cricket from here to Atlanta!

  16. 16.

    Mustang Bobby

    October 8, 2014 at 6:26 am

    @Raven: My mom got the Bluetooth-enabled ones and it’s a great help in theatres that have the sound system. Even helps on the phone (landline) for some reason, although that might be the placebo effect. She hated her old ones; they went through batteries like crazy.

  17. 17.

    Schlemazel

    October 8, 2014 at 6:27 am

    @Mustang Bobby:
    Great line! I’m gonna use that, thanks!

  18. 18.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 8, 2014 at 6:29 am

    Total, angry overcast here.

  19. 19.

    Raven

    October 8, 2014 at 6:36 am

    @Mustang Bobby: This thing is badass. It’s a resound linx9 and hooks right into my iPhone. The princess just took off with the dogs and I couldn’t hear her. It going to be a drag if I keep having to say “what” all the time. The VA will send free batteries.

  20. 20.

    OzarkHillbilly

    October 8, 2014 at 6:45 am

    @Raven: Damn, I’m an idiot. I could have sworn I saw the shadow decreasing. So low in the west maybe I had a tree branch in front of it. Did seem to move awfully fast. Thanx.

  21. 21.

    tokyo expat

    October 8, 2014 at 6:45 am

    Clear here in Tokyo. I have a great view from my apartment balcony. It’s not over yet.

  22. 22.

    Mustang Bobby

    October 8, 2014 at 6:47 am

    @Raven: Mom’s had progressive deafness for about twenty-five years now, but she’s still a mom. When I was visiting in August and sitting at the breakfast table, she didn’t have them in and we had to shout everything. But when I barely sniffed a little (runny noses drive her nuts), she shouted “Get a Kleenex!”

  23. 23.

    raven

    October 8, 2014 at 6:47 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: yo

  24. 24.

    Bjacques

    October 8, 2014 at 7:01 am

    Was the middle of the day here in Melbourne. But I did come down with man flu.

    What would it take for Maher do a Dennis Miller and go over to the other side? IS?

  25. 25.

    OzarkHillbilly

    October 8, 2014 at 7:13 am

    Too low now. Still a good one for me. My favorite is still the January 2000 one. Danced naked around a bonfire with a dozen or so other idiots who also wanted to bring in the new millennium in style. I was thanking Pope Gregory’s astronomers. The first full moon of the millennium being a blood moon a coincidence?

    I think not.

  26. 26.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 8, 2014 at 7:18 am

    Eclipse here in Glendale

  27. 27.

    Mustang Bobby

    October 8, 2014 at 7:30 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Wow, what a great photo. May I post it — with full credit, of course?

  28. 28.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 8, 2014 at 7:36 am

    @Mustang Bobby: Sure, no problem. Show’s over now, much better here than the one earlier this year.

  29. 29.

    Sherparick

    October 8, 2014 at 7:40 am

    Duncan Hunter and Tom Cotton, channeling some Breitbart bullshit, came out with an ISIS claim concerning the Mexican-American border. A trifecta of National Security fear, Islamphobia, and anti-immigrant Mexican bashing to fire up the base on Faux News. Both of these guys, along with Gardner and Ernst, are just complete nuts who live in a conservative media bubble so they buy their own con. What is terrible is listening to to so called journalists on CBS, CNN, NBC, ABC, NY Times, Time, etc. reporting this in the “he say, they say, you respond narrative.” Hunter and Cotton alleged things that are either facts or not. Journalism is suppose to be telling us the facts of the world, what is happening and what is not. MSM news is no longer journalism, but simply entertainment (with the exception of Chris Hayes).

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    October 8, 2014 at 7:41 am

    I do have one correction tho, that wasn’t a Blood Moon, that was a Cardinal Red Moon!

  31. 31.

    Wag

    October 8, 2014 at 7:45 am

    I’ve been watching with my daughter. There’s something really magical about sharing celestial events with an 8 year old.

  32. 32.

    Mustang Bobby

    October 8, 2014 at 7:48 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Thank you.

  33. 33.

    satby

    October 8, 2014 at 8:03 am

    @Mustang Bobby: I snagged a quick pic on my phone at about the same time! Yours is way better. Thanks!

  34. 34.

    satby

    October 8, 2014 at 8:06 am

    Finally finished sending out all the thank you soap to all the wonderful Balloon Juice donors this week. Takes 3 weeks for handmade soap to cure, and I was blown away by all the people who chipped in for Biggie. Hope everyone enjoyed them! Now we’re waiting for Friday and his lumpectomy.

  35. 35.

    Valdivia

    October 8, 2014 at 8:07 am

    @Sherparick:

    as Greg Sargent never tires of pointing out, the national media jumps on anything the dems in those races say but totally ignores the batshit insanity from these guys. Truly terrible

  36. 36.

    Betty Cracker

    October 8, 2014 at 8:07 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Beautiful!

    @Wag: True. I can’t pry my teen out of her bed these days for early morning events. But when she was a little one, I used to regularly get her up for meteor showers and such. We also used to watch Space Shuttle launches from her tree house. She used to call it the “Space Shovel,” which I thought was pretty cute.

  37. 37.

    Betty Cracker

    October 8, 2014 at 8:08 am

    @satby: Hoping for the best for Biggie. Definitely keep us posted!

  38. 38.

    satby

    October 8, 2014 at 8:10 am

    @Betty Cracker: Thanks! Me too.

  39. 39.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2014 at 8:14 am

    Today’s agenda:
    1) Finish my current project
    2) See if I can find 3,000-plus missing voter registrations in my junk drawer
    3) Look for Boehner’s “missing” 5-point “Jobs” Plan (via TPM, don’t want to risk Purgatory w/too many links)
    4) Head down South, to stand guard on the Mexico/Arkansas border, to prevent ISIS from attacking with Ebola
    5) PROFIT!!

  40. 40.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2014 at 8:17 am

    @Sherparick:

    Journalism is suppose to be telling us the facts of the world, what is happening and what is not.

    As Barney Frank might say: “What color is the sky on your planet?”

  41. 41.

    Wag

    October 8, 2014 at 8:18 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Space shovel! I like it!

  42. 42.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 8, 2014 at 8:21 am

    The clouds cleared away just in time for the eclipse to be over.

  43. 43.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 8, 2014 at 8:23 am

    @Betty Cracker: Thank you very much.

  44. 44.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2014 at 8:28 am

    Mrs. Obama:

    “It’s on us to get this done.”

    She’s right.

  45. 45.

    Southern Beale

    October 8, 2014 at 8:39 am

    It appears concealed-carry trumps open carry: dufus open carry enthusiast has his gun stolen at gunpoint. Woopsies.

  46. 46.

    Elizabelle

    October 8, 2014 at 8:48 am

    It makes me angry to see Democrats running from President Obama, as is alleged in the New York Times today.

    Democrats: Get out there and counter the narrative that “everybody” knows Obama is a failure. And unpopular. Because that’s a media/plutocrats narrative, and it would not stand up to truth-telling.

    Remind people what Obama has accomplished, and how Republicans are actively working against the middle class.

    Is it that hard?

  47. 47.

    OzarkHillbilly

    October 8, 2014 at 8:51 am

    Now approaching 35 states with legal gay marraige.

    Writing for a unanimous panel, Judge Stephen Reinhardt sharply criticized the defendants in a 34-page opinion that called state bans on same-sex marriage “cruel” and “repugnant”.

    …

    As for the argument that same-sex marriage could negatively affect heterosexual marriages, Reindhardt said: “We seriously doubt that allowing committed same-sex couples to settle down in legally recognized marriages will drive opposite-sex couples to sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll.”

    I wonder what is wrong with sex, drugs, and rock and roll?

  48. 48.

    Baud

    October 8, 2014 at 8:55 am

    @Elizabelle:

    Unfortunately, it may be that hard. I share your view about Obama, but it seems like a lot of people have simply closed their minds.

  49. 49.

    OzarkHillbilly

    October 8, 2014 at 8:56 am

    @Elizabelle:

    Is it that hard?

    Apparently

  50. 50.

    Elizabelle

    October 8, 2014 at 8:57 am

    @Baud:

    In which case, they are not thinking with their minds, and that needs to change. Shame them.

    Seeing the “Obama is unpopular” narrative, constantly, reminds me of Kay’s “Reagan was a great, great president” that’s entered the subconscious. Placed there, deliberately, by constant repetition.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    October 8, 2014 at 9:02 am

    @Elizabelle:

    they are not thinking with their minds

    No, they’re not.

  52. 52.

    Tone In DC

    October 8, 2014 at 9:40 am

    Missed the moon and its bloodiness.

    After that ballgame last night, I just wanted to turn off the TV and go to bed.

    A guy is on third, late in a tied game, and the Nats’ brilliant pitcher bounces one that got past the catcher and allows the winning run to score.

    Not just a game, but a playoff game. And, an elimination game. Just fucking brilliant. Gave it away, like Halloween candy.
    /rant

    Go Orioles.

  53. 53.

    Amir Khalid

    October 8, 2014 at 9:48 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    “Sex, drugs, and rock and roll” — now there’s an antique turn of phrase. For crap’s sake, Chuck Berry is nearly 90; even a 1970s guy like Bruce is well north of 60.

  54. 54.

    Shazza

    October 8, 2014 at 10:04 am

    @Elizabelle: THANK YOU!!! These spineless Dems are the main reason I went Independent.

  55. 55.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2014 at 10:33 am

    @Shazza:

    THANK YOU!!! These spineless Dems are the main reason I went Independent.

    That’s great, but do you ever wonder why Obama did not?

  56. 56.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2014 at 10:44 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    And Ian’s dead, the blockhead

  57. 57.

    gussie

    October 8, 2014 at 12:05 pm

    Is it that hard?

    Apparently, yes. Even Obama sucks at it, and he’s, y’know, got a pretty big megaphone. But I guess we mock that as ‘Green Lantern’ thinking …

  58. 58.

    rikyrah

    October 8, 2014 at 2:47 pm

    @Wag:

    Just the image makes me smile. Enjoy these moments.

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