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You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2016 / Gosh, Guys, I Didn’t Notice You Loved Me So Much

Gosh, Guys, I Didn’t Notice You Loved Me So Much

by John Cole|  October 17, 20155:16 pm| 145 Comments

This post is in: Election 2016, Clap Louder!, Clown Shoes

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Putting the vanity in vanity candidate:

I had an idea. It proved right. It proved wrong. Can I act on the right bit, despite the wrong?

In July, I decided to try something that no one else had done: to launch a campaign for a “referendum president,” focused on ending the system of corruption that has crippled our government. Whether it’s a minimum wage that’s a living wage, or making social security secure, or assuring clean air and safe water, or taking on Wall Street, or health-care reform that would make health insurance affordable—none of these issues, or any other important issue, can be addressed sensibly in America until we fix this corruption, first.
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This corruption has a cause. Its cause is inequality. Not the inequality of wealth—though that is made more extreme by the inequality I mean. Instead, the inequality of citizens. Americans have allowed an extraordinary inequality among citizens to grow within our so-called “representative democracy.” The consequence is a “democracy” ripe for capture by cronies and worse, while unresponsive to average voters. Corruption is the disease. Equality is the cure. My campaign would be a referendum demanding the changes that would restore citizen equality, so as to crack the corruption that has crippled our Congress and hence our government.

The idea of a “referendum president” has three parts:

First, it is focused on the need to fix our democracy first—to take it back from the billionaires and corporations, so we’d have a chance of addressing sensibly the host of critical problems that we face as a nation.

Second, it would be led by a political outsider, someone we could trust who was not tied to the system, and was thus free to change it.

And third, it would be self-limiting: Once the reform was enacted, the referendum president would step down.

On August 11, I launched an exploratory committee, promising I’d enter the race if we raised $1 million in commitments in less than 30 days. We crossed that line early, with more than 10,000 donations. On September 9, I entered the race at an event in Claremont, New Hampshire. Immediately after, I began campaigning across New Hampshire and the country.

Lawrence Lessig had one issue he was running on- elect me, I will change how politics work, then quit. Seriously- that was it. It was the underpants gnome campaign:

1.) Elect Lessig and enact Citizen Equality Act.
2.) …
3.) PROFIT!

And that really was it. He would resign after somehow getting a Republican House (because he would have no coattails as an outsider) to pass a bill the Senate would not filibuster and the right wing junta in the Court would not strike down, he’d sign it, and then we’d be in the land of milk and honey, bitches!

Some of us pointed this out. Some of us noticed he might probably not get elected on one issue that has no chance of passing and that he might just possibly want to expand his campaign to cover, I dunno, the other 10,000 issues out there. Instead, he complained about the Democrats not including him in the debate and so on and so forth. So back to the drawing board it is, and his lesson was…

The people want him so badly he would change his plan and not resign. Seriously, that was his takeaway:

Had Westen’s survey shown that both ideas were a flop—the idea of a reform campaign, and the idea of resigning once reform was passed—then it would be back to the drawing board, and home to my family.

Had the survey shown that both ideas were winners, then I would power on, more disciplined about controlling the message, but reinforced in the truth of the ultimate plan.

But what’s the right thing to do when the substance of the idea is confirmed, but its implementing strategy rejected? Is there a way back from the commitment to both?

(Cue Lyle Lovett, from “Here I am”:

He’s also begun to discuss the other issues, although not on his website. He’s not too bad on the issues, I will add, but appears to be completely clueless and indifferent regarding the entire political process.

Personally, I would not mind him in the debates- yank Webb and Chaffee and put in Lessig. But he still has no chance.

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Reader Interactions

145Comments

  1. 1.

    some guy

    October 17, 2015 at 5:18 pm

    No Labels as an algorithm

  2. 2.

    Davis X. Machina

    October 17, 2015 at 5:20 pm

    I will add, but appears to be completely clueless and indifferent regarding the entire political process.

    That’s only because he’s right, and the entire political process is wrong.
    It has to change to conform to him, not the other way round.
    It’s not an ego thing, not at all.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    October 17, 2015 at 5:23 pm

    Personally, I would not mind him in the debates- yank Webb and Chaffee and put in Lessig. But he still has no chance.

    Agree about Chafee. Webb is really out of touch with the Party and has no shot, but there is no legitimate reason to yank him if he retains the bare minimum in the polls.

    ETA: And add me next time, of course.

  4. 4.

    Baud

    October 17, 2015 at 5:28 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Lawrence fucking Lessig? Really?

    Good point. Open thread?

  5. 5.

    FourTen

    October 17, 2015 at 5:30 pm

    Is he running as a D? Why not try to get on the R’s debate? Plenty of room there. Or better yet, why doesn’t he just fuck off, the neo-naderite glibrial shit weasel.

  6. 6.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 17, 2015 at 5:31 pm

    @Baud: I vote yes. Do we have a quorum?

  7. 7.

    Baud

    October 17, 2015 at 5:35 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Jim Webb would love it.

  8. 8.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 17, 2015 at 5:35 pm

    @efgoldman: put a NSFW mopping video up on auto-play?

  9. 9.

    Germy Shoemangler

    October 17, 2015 at 5:39 pm

    From now on I get all my political news from TMZ:

    Ben Stein threw shade on Hillary Clinton Friday night, saying she’s had a reputation for years as a cheapskate.

    Ben, who ate some grub at Craig’s in WeHo, talked to us about our story that Bernie Sanders tipped 15% at a Burbank-area restaurant.

    Ben says the preferred Presidential tip is way higher, and says there’s one President who was generous beyond measure in the tipping dept.

    Hint: Ben was Richard Nixon’s speechwriter.

    [article accompanied by photo of Ben Stein with mouth open in mid-blab.]

  10. 10.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2015 at 5:40 pm

    Larry Lessig: the first presidential candidate made of pure energy.

  11. 11.

    Gin & Tonic

    October 17, 2015 at 5:41 pm

    Dude, I keep pointing this out, and nobody (except Baud) listens. Chafee. One “F.” I know he’s irrelevant, and possibly more clueless than Lessig, but at least get his name right. It ain’t Mstislav Rostropivich or Wojciech Jaruzelski or something.

  12. 12.

    Kay

    October 17, 2015 at 5:42 pm

    I didn’t mind Chafee. I thought it was fascinating that he told the truth about that Senate vote. I think it’s good for Clinton that they present her with exchanges she didn’t prepare for.

  13. 13.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2015 at 5:43 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I hear Rostropivich is outpolling Chaffing… er, Chafee.

  14. 14.

    Gin & Tonic

    October 17, 2015 at 5:43 pm

    @Baud: No less than authority than efgoldman says every thread’s an open thread.

  15. 15.

    Emma

    October 17, 2015 at 5:44 pm

    He’s a law professor. They get used to getting what they want without argument.

  16. 16.

    jl

    October 17, 2015 at 5:44 pm

    @Baud:

    Dude, you’re running for president, what is your gimmick? But I am sympathetic to your plea above, the fact that BJ has devoted exactly zero front page space to the Baud campaign is a comment of some kind on something or other. Only sure lesson is that Cole is at fault and he is a bad, very bad, person, and willfully so.

    Anyway, I cannot figure a lot of things about the Lessig plan. Exactly what is the magic thing he will do that will cause effective anti-corruption reform to happen? How will he get it into law? Referendum. Sheeeyit… WTF, is there even a mechanism for a national referendum on anything in the US that will survive legal challenge? After the Magic Lessig does his Magic political something or other and resigns, how will he craft his reform so it survives all the fiddling that Congress and SCOTUS can commit on it? I guess a Magic VP will watch out for it, but who is that?

    It’s weird. He’s not really running for president, since he is effectively saying he doesn’t really want the job. So, he should get the media to put him on TV for the Referendum-Resign Party, and he can debate himself for an hour or two. The linked piece makes it seem like he is going to do that anyway.

    His idea of getting that One Weird Trick enacted is goofy, and people recognize it as goofy. So, OK, Lessig should throw that part away, say he’ll do the damn job he wants, and then try to get enough support to merit a place in the Democratic Debate. If Webb and Chafee can make the cut, it can’t be that hard for public figure to pull off. Edit: instead of writing navel gazing BS.

  17. 17.

    Gin & Tonic

    October 17, 2015 at 5:44 pm

    @different-church-lady: I guess being dead isn’t that big a handicap when you’re up against Linc.

  18. 18.

    Gin & Tonic

    October 17, 2015 at 5:45 pm

    Uh, no less *an* authority. Now I sound illiterate.

  19. 19.

    Baud

    October 17, 2015 at 5:47 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Dude, I’m pretty sure it’s Lesig.

  20. 20.

    trollhattan

    October 17, 2015 at 5:48 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler:
    Perhaps, after somebody plants a size 12 deep into Ben Stein’s ginormous balls, they can inform him of how Carli, every Republican bidnez person’s dream girl, stiffed her fucking senate campaign staff and vendors. What is idiot Ben’s takeaway?

  21. 21.

    Baud

    October 17, 2015 at 5:48 pm

    @jl:

    Dude, I’m pretty sure it’s Web.

  22. 22.

    geg6

    October 17, 2015 at 5:48 pm

    He’d make a great college professor! Oh…wait.

  23. 23.

    Baud

    October 17, 2015 at 5:50 pm

    @jl:

    Oh, and my gimmick is that I will be America’s first virtual, online, pseudonymous president.

    An Internet president for the Internet age!

  24. 24.

    John Cole

    October 17, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    @efgoldman: I honestly don’t know what you are mad at me for, so please explain.

  25. 25.

    jl

    October 17, 2015 at 5:52 pm

    @Baud: No, it’s Webb.

    So, you’re gimmick is you will be the first totalitarian incorrect surname spelling-Nazi president? That’s a new one, but might make a good reality show.
    Sorry, I didn’t know you running for GOP nomination.

    Go, Bawd for President!

  26. 26.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 17, 2015 at 5:54 pm

    I’m feeling guilty. My cats are inside my car in an enclosed parking garage (no sun anywhere near the car). Weather Underground says it’s 80 degrees. The apartment is being cleaned, so I don’t know what else to do. It’s not like I can take them to Starbucks like I would a dog. Driving them around for an hour seems like a waste of gas.

  27. 27.

    jl

    October 17, 2015 at 5:54 pm

    @John Cole: I think he just getting in his BJ commenter whining quota.
    @Baud: Wow, that should definitely be worth a slot in the GOP debates. Vote Bod for president!

  28. 28.

    Baud

    October 17, 2015 at 5:55 pm

    @jl:

    You know who else didn’t spell surnnames correctly?

    Hiller.

  29. 29.

    jl

    October 17, 2015 at 5:58 pm

    @Baud: FYWP ate my devastating reply that would have destroyed your political carreer.

  30. 30.

    Baud

    October 17, 2015 at 5:58 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    I’d drive them around.

  31. 31.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 17, 2015 at 5:58 pm

    @John Cole:

    There was some Bernie Sanders-related frothing earlier. Aisles may need some cleanup.

  32. 32.

    TG Chicago

    October 17, 2015 at 5:59 pm

    The idea of a one-issue candidate demanding to be in debates is so obviously ridiculous.

    Is he supposed to just stand on stage silently while the others talk about other issues? I mean, that’s the only way I see for that to work.

    If a moderator asked him about, say, ISIS, what does he do? If he refuses to answer, he comes off as entirely unpresidential. If he answers, he’s no longer a one-issue candidate. Did he not consider this?

    Plus, the entire concept is just silly. Imagine if Obama had been a one-issue president on healthcare reform. Well, shortly before the election, the economy fell apart. So Lessig would’ve just done nothing about that?

    And Obamacare took 14 months to get signed. Does President Lessig just sit back and do nothing about other things happening in the country or in the world? David Souter resigned during those 14 months. Lessig wouldn’t nominate a new justice? He wouldn’t do anything to oversee all the departments within the Executive Branch? It appears we’re still going to have troops in Afghanistan on 1/20/17. But under Lessig, they apparently wouldn’t have a Commander-in-Chief.

  33. 33.

    Baud

    October 17, 2015 at 5:59 pm

    @efgoldman: Someone probably tweeted him your comment.

  34. 34.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 17, 2015 at 6:01 pm

    @Baud:

    If there wasn’t a UCLA football game between me and the place I get their nails cut, I would do it, but that bright red freeway is making me nervous.

    Can cat fleas jump over concrete? The building has a central patio with some shrubbery at the sides.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    October 17, 2015 at 6:03 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    Don’t know. I just get nervous with the idea of pets in cars, even on mild days.

  36. 36.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 17, 2015 at 6:06 pm

    For the record, it’s apparently some other Rose Bowl event clogging up the freeway, not a UCLA game. Not that it matters.

  37. 37.

    raven

    October 17, 2015 at 6:11 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Antique Market?

  38. 38.

    Elliott

    October 17, 2015 at 6:12 pm

    cueing Lyle “Here I am”

    https://youtu.be/KvDPezXTzlI

  39. 39.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 17, 2015 at 6:13 pm

    @raven:

    Possibly a Tofurkey Trot (not kidding — that seems to be what’s on the calendar). Or it’s just mysterious LA traffic.

  40. 40.

    WaterGirl

    October 17, 2015 at 6:13 pm

    @Baud: I would drive them around or sit with them in the car.

  41. 41.

    Brachiator

    October 17, 2015 at 6:14 pm

    O/T I didn’t see this little nugget earlier, just heard about it on the radio

    CBS refuses to air promos for Truth

    The network has confirmed in a statement first published on Fox News’ website that it will not air commercials promoting the drama, which opened in limited release on Friday….

    Through an outside advertising agency, Truth’s distributor Sony Pictures Classics attempted to buy commercial spots on Late Show with Stephen Colbert, CBS Evening News, CBS This Morning, and 60 Minutes, and was turned down for all of the programs.

    http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/16/cbs-truth-rathergate-advertising-boycott

    Talk about snit fits and sour grapes

  42. 42.

    Baud

    October 17, 2015 at 6:16 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Yeah. The horror stories about that freak me out.

  43. 43.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    October 17, 2015 at 6:17 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    Just be with them and endure their withering stares.

  44. 44.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 17, 2015 at 6:18 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): I’d drive them around too, don’t want somebody to see them and call animal control or the cops. I guess you could sit in the car with them and not drive.

  45. 45.

    bystander

    October 17, 2015 at 6:19 pm

    @Baud: Don’t forget to bring the kittens and go ahead and introduce your vp.

  46. 46.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 17, 2015 at 6:19 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Yup, UCLA didn’t play on Thursday up at the Farm. So no Bruin game today at the Rose Bowl.

  47. 47.

    Baud

    October 17, 2015 at 6:22 pm

    @bystander:

    Intriguing. I could get the women, African Americans, the youth, and the southern vote in one swoop.

  48. 48.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2015 at 6:22 pm

    @jl:

    Dude, you’re running for president, what is your gimmick?

    That’s it! Just as stand up comedy went through a phase where you had to have gimmick — Emo Phillips, Andrew Dice Clay, Bobcat Goldwaith, Steven Wright, etc… — we’re in the gimmick phase of Presidential Candidates.

  49. 49.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2015 at 6:24 pm

    @Baud: Will you resign before you take office?

  50. 50.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2015 at 6:25 pm

    @jl:

    So, you’re gimmick is you will be the first totalitarian incorrect surname spelling-Nazi president?

    Dude, I’m pretty sure it yourr.

  51. 51.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 17, 2015 at 6:25 pm

    @efgoldman:

    UCLA played the other night. You mean USC?

    I reject your contention that UCLA played the other night, someone who had their uniforms showed up at Stanford on Thursday(could be Taft High School, their unis look like UCLA’s). U$C is in South Bend tonight.

  52. 52.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2015 at 6:26 pm

    @Baud: Dude, I’m pretty sure it’s HIler.

  53. 53.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2015 at 6:27 pm

    @efgoldman: Ah, so he’s going to hold office in perpetuity.

  54. 54.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 17, 2015 at 6:29 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Never mad at you, as long as you keep this place going (I reserve the right to change my mind after the rebuild goes live).

    I think Baud also expressed concern about the rebuild and wanted someone to hold him.

  55. 55.

    bystander

    October 17, 2015 at 6:30 pm

    @jl:

    FYWP ate my devastating reply that would have destroyed your political carreer.

    Calling him “Bod” should do the trick.

  56. 56.

    Baud

    October 17, 2015 at 6:30 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    My first executive order will ban threaded comments.

  57. 57.

    Felonius Monk

    October 17, 2015 at 6:32 pm

    Just what we need. Another clueless, self-absorbed, arrogant piece of shit who thinks he has all the answers. The Republicans have a whole Klown Extravaganza full of these kind of people. Go home, Lessig, stop wasting people’s time.

  58. 58.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 17, 2015 at 6:33 pm

    @Baud: I think that’s rather extreme.

  59. 59.

    Baud

    October 17, 2015 at 6:33 pm

    @Felonius Monk:

    Whew, I thought you were talking about me for a sec.

  60. 60.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 17, 2015 at 6:34 pm

    @Felonius Monk: No, Lessig seems to only have one answer. Other than that, I’m in agreement with you.

  61. 61.

    Felonius Monk

    October 17, 2015 at 6:37 pm

    @Baud: Baud 2016 — Vote Early, Vote Often, Vote Everywhere.

  62. 62.

    Ruckus

    October 17, 2015 at 6:40 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):
    I live about 3 stone throws from the Rose Bowl and just drove west on the 210 to get to Pasadena and traffic was lighter than usual, with no signs about an event at the Rose Bowl. That’s not to say the traffic was light, just lighter than usual.

  63. 63.

    mclaren

    October 17, 2015 at 6:41 pm

    We need a second round of presidential debates called “Empty-headed fools reveal their cluelessness.”

    Lawrence Lessig can debate Jeb Bush.

  64. 64.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 17, 2015 at 6:42 pm

    @Ruckus: Teh Google Maps shows the 134 east as pretty good but shitty traffic on the 210 east.

  65. 65.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2015 at 6:43 pm

    @mclaren:

    We need a second round of presidential debates called “Empty-headed fools reveal their cluelessness.”

    We could easily do three rounds of that alone.

  66. 66.

    shell

    October 17, 2015 at 6:45 pm

    Dude, you’re running for president, what is your gimmick?

    You can pull all the stops out
    Till they call the cops out
    Grind your behind till you’re bend
    But you gotta get a gimmick
    If you wanna get a hand

    You can sacrifice your sacharo
    Working in the back row
    Bump in a dump till you’re dead
    Kid, you gotta get a gimmick
    If you wanna get ahead

  67. 67.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 17, 2015 at 6:45 pm

    @different-church-lady: That would probably only be watchable AFTER 3 rounds.

  68. 68.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2015 at 6:46 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Too many LOLs on this thread to keep up with…

  69. 69.

    Splitting Image

    October 17, 2015 at 6:47 pm

    Lessig may already have a newspaper endorsement lined up.

    For those of you not following the Canadian election, the Globe and Mail, Canada’s “national newspaper”, endorsed the Conservative party in Monday’s election but demurred about Stephen Harper deserving another four years. So effectively they are asking Canadians to award Harper and his party another mandate, while suggesting that Harper ought to view his re-election as a cue to step down.

    Canadians are apparently not quite as jaded about this sort of thing as Americans are, not having had years of exposure to the Washington Post, and the Globe is being pilloried mercilessly on Facebook and Twitter.

  70. 70.

    jayjaybear

    October 17, 2015 at 6:50 pm

    @shell: “Banned”, not “bend”. /pedantic theater queen

  71. 71.

    shell

    October 17, 2015 at 6:53 pm

    @jayjaybear: Oops. Copied those lyrics from a Bette Midler site. Blame The Rose.

  72. 72.

    jl

    October 17, 2015 at 6:57 pm

    @bystander: I did I did, I called Baud ‘Bod’ and FYWP ate my comment. I swear it
    s true. FYWP is in the pocket of Big Bod, the crooked pol.

  73. 73.

    PhoenixRising

    October 17, 2015 at 7:05 pm

    Seriously, though, am I the only person reading this old enough to recall John Anderson? Very nice man, good intentions, but…Reagan.

  74. 74.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 17, 2015 at 7:13 pm

    @PhoenixRising: I voted for Jimmy.

    ETA: I think I may still have a “Carter/Mondale” button. I know I’ve got a “Teddy” button from 1980.

  75. 75.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    October 17, 2015 at 7:14 pm

    I ended up feeling guilty and went down to the car to sit with them where there is no wifi or data. I still wish I could have them up on the patio in their carriers where we could all be a little more comfortable, but I really don’t want to have to deal with fleas.

  76. 76.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    October 17, 2015 at 7:16 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    Withering stares I could deal with. It’s the unearthly banshee howls in an enclosed space that get to me. And Keaton can keep it up for the entire hour.

  77. 77.

    catclub

    October 17, 2015 at 7:16 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Mstislav Rostropivich

    What about Rostropovich?

  78. 78.

    Baud

    October 17, 2015 at 7:18 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):

    Good mom.

  79. 79.

    PurpleGirl

    October 17, 2015 at 7:19 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Were you planning on sitting in the car with them? What kind of carriers do you have? You have 3 cats, right? Would they fit in a common carrier, and would you take the carrier into a Starbucks?

    As others have pointed out, if someone saw them and called the cops or animal control, you could have a problem.

    I’d sit in the car with them.

  80. 80.

    Gin & Tonic

    October 17, 2015 at 7:20 pm

    A very long and surprisingly powerful article in the NYT about a random guy who died alone in NYC, and the process of discovering his life and settling his death. Written by N.R. Kleinfield, who (IMO) has been one of their best writers for a damn long time.

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    October 17, 2015 at 7:20 pm

    @Ruckus:

    It’s the eastbound 134 through Glendale that’s the killer.

  82. 82.

    ThresherK

    October 17, 2015 at 7:20 pm

    @PhoenixRising: Anderson knew a bit about how things worked, unlike Lessig.

  83. 83.

    Gin & Tonic

    October 17, 2015 at 7:21 pm

    @catclub: Nothing, just used as an example that popped into my head of a name harder to spell than Chafee.

  84. 84.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 17, 2015 at 7:22 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): Google Maps sez it’s all green.

  85. 85.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 17, 2015 at 7:22 pm

    @trollhattan: Ben is just an idiot, period. The only work in his entire life he has any reason to be proud of was in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

  86. 86.

    Cervantes

    October 17, 2015 at 7:25 pm

    @Kay:

    I didn’t mind Chafee. I thought it was fascinating that he told the truth about that Senate vote.

    Yes.

    As opposed to insinuating that past votes no longer need to be discussed because meanwhile a cool person appointed him Secretary of State!

  87. 87.

    Cervantes

    October 17, 2015 at 7:29 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    From now on I get all my political news from TMZ:

    Famous last words.

    @different-church-lady:

    Larry Lessig: the first presidential candidate made of pure energy.

    That’s good.

    That is very good!

  88. 88.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    October 17, 2015 at 7:30 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    It is now. It wasn’t 2 hours ago.

    I’m contemplating ordering Chinese delivery for dinner, but trying to decide if I should go to the restaurant instead. G is out of town, so I’m trying to go to the places he doesn’t like while he’s gone. ?

    ETA: All humans and cats are back in the freshly cleaned, air conditioned apartment, in case that wasn’t clear.

  89. 89.

    Cervantes

    October 17, 2015 at 7:30 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Well, you proved your point.

  90. 90.

    PhoenixRising

    October 17, 2015 at 7:31 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Recommend it, then? I couldn’t tell whether it was one of this year’s better long-form reporting pieces, or just seemed so to me due to special circumstances.

    Which are: Last week sometime, my neighbor died. She was 69.6, multiple chronic health conditions, two pets. Had she died when we were away, no one in the area would have had her next of kin’s contact data, and her sister (73) and brother in law (74) would have found the body this morning instead of the EMTs sent in by the neighborhood watch lady 9 days ago.

    The interior shots of the apartment in Queens could have been her house.

  91. 91.

    satby

    October 17, 2015 at 7:31 pm

    @Baud: omigod I luv you!

  92. 92.

    PhoenixRising

    October 17, 2015 at 7:32 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):

    It’s the eastbound 134 through Glendale that’s the killer

    Ordered for my tombstone.

  93. 93.

    satby

    October 17, 2015 at 7:37 pm

    @PhoenixRising: Nope, because my friends and I voted for him. And learned a life-long lesson about unintended consequences and how our political system works.

  94. 94.

    Gin & Tonic

    October 17, 2015 at 7:37 pm

    @Cervantes: Indeed I did.

  95. 95.

    Gin & Tonic

    October 17, 2015 at 7:40 pm

    @PhoenixRising: I do recommend it, and have no similar stories to share. But, as I said, I’ve long admired Kleinfield’s writing.

  96. 96.

    PhoenixRising

    October 17, 2015 at 7:40 pm

    @satby: I was in primary school. My wife, however, worked on his campaign. John Anderson had an influence, just not the one he hoped for.

  97. 97.

    sigaba

    October 17, 2015 at 7:42 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Sounds like last week. Me and my companion spent three hours trying to get into the JPL Open House in La Cañada only to find about half of the greater Los Angeles area had the same idea.

  98. 98.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    October 17, 2015 at 7:46 pm

    @Baud:

    Hilter.

  99. 99.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    October 17, 2015 at 7:48 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    There’s a documentary that was made here in Los Angeles on a similar subject that G really liked:

    A Certain Kind of Death
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0342180/

    The story he found most powerful was the guy whose longtime partner had died of AIDS years before, so the surviving partner made sure to leave very detailed instructions and enough money to carry them out because he was pretty sure after that that he was going to die alone, because he didn’t have any close family and wasn’t going to be able to handle going through the death of a partner a second time.

  100. 100.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    October 17, 2015 at 7:50 pm

    @sigaba:

    A couple of people at work said they had to give up, too. I’m not sure if there was more publicity this year, or more interest because of Pluto, or what. We went a few years ago and while it was busy, it wasn’t “clogging three freeways for miles around” busy.

  101. 101.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 17, 2015 at 7:52 pm

    @PhoenixRising: The 134.

  102. 102.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 17, 2015 at 7:53 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):

    or more interest because of Pluto

    Couldn’t they just go to Disneyland instead?

  103. 103.

    gogol's wife

    October 17, 2015 at 7:54 pm

    @efgoldman:

    He was adorable. He was on some talk show once (can’t remember whose, probably Cavett), and he wanted the host to call him by his affectionate name, Slava, so he said with a big grin, “Tell to me Slava.”

  104. 104.

    Renie

    October 17, 2015 at 7:55 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I read that too. Sad how often it happens. Was surprised at the process and agencies involved in settling the matter. So strange how the settlement of his estate reached so far to involve unknown people. Very good writing.

  105. 105.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2015 at 7:57 pm

    @Cervantes: Yeah, it’s all good until he decides the Europans have a better shot at evolution than we do.

  106. 106.

    debbie

    October 17, 2015 at 7:58 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Wow. Reminds me of Doctorow’s “Homer and Langley.”

  107. 107.

    craigie

    October 17, 2015 at 8:01 pm

    @PhoenixRising:

    I just found my John Anderson for President T-Shirt the other day. Now there’s a collector’s item. Somehow, it doesn’t fit me any more. I can’t understand it…

    The slogan on it was “American can’t afford to lose this election”

    Which turned out to be true.

  108. 108.

    Gin & Tonic

    October 17, 2015 at 8:05 pm

    @gogol’s wife: I always get a kick out of people who aren’t comfortable in a Slavic language trying to do “Mstislav”

  109. 109.

    Kay

    October 17, 2015 at 8:07 pm

    @Cervantes:

    As opposed to insinuating that past votes no longer need to be discussed because meanwhile a cool person appointed him Secretary of State!

    I just thought the reaction to him was overly negative. Seems kind of mild-mannered and obviously very ethical as I believe he mentioned once or twice.

    His father died and he was appointed and it was his first vote. I don’t know what you people want. I think he and “crazy Jim” Webb were a solid addition for entertainment value.

  110. 110.

    Gin & Tonic

    October 17, 2015 at 8:12 pm

    @Kay: Seems kind of mild-mannered

    He just seems deeply uncomfortable around people, which makes his decision to run for President incomprehensible (yes, I have met him.)

    A while back, Omnes described him as that boho uncle who can get you the good weed, and I don’t think that’s far off.

  111. 111.

    ruemara

    October 17, 2015 at 8:15 pm

    Finally, the day is done. Or rather, I’m done. I don’t have the energy to eat a dinner so I just cut straight to pajamas. 5 more days to principle shooting. and some of my cast have scheduled auditions during days they’re supposed to be on camera. Actors. Pastries went over well, but I think they will be better with some dried cranberries.

  112. 112.

    Cervantes

    October 17, 2015 at 8:21 pm

    @Kay:

    I just thought the reaction to him was overly negative.

    I agree.

    Sincerity is highly under-rated.

    Seems kind of mild-mannered and obviously very ethical as I believe he mentioned once or twice.

    He may have!

  113. 113.

    Ruckus

    October 17, 2015 at 8:24 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):
    I used to drive 210-134-5 every day for work and the usual, biggest jam up was 210 at the 134 and 134 at the 5 and west of there. Now I just take the 210, off at Fair Oaks and in the evening westbound the usual is fairly open to Hill then stop and go till Fair Oaks. Weekends are far worse, it’s bad in both directions on the 210. Ahhh living in LA and still having to drive……anywhere.

  114. 114.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    October 17, 2015 at 8:25 pm

    Yes, if there were no money in politics, then things could get done.

    Doesn’t matter what. Just, you know — “things”.

    Paraphrased/stolen from:

  115. 115.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2015 at 8:25 pm

    Since this has now been unilaterally declared an open thread: I’m defrosting the pork shoulder I’ve had in the freezer for a while now and looking up recipes. Found one I want to try but…

    http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Pernil-Asado-Roast-Pork-Shoulder

    Can anyone tell me why it calls for a done temperature of 190? Last I checked (a few moments ago) the current safe recommendations are as low as 145.

    All my previous (and limited) experiences with large cuts of pork indicate that 190 would bring it up to shoe leather consistency. Is there something different about the slow roast?

  116. 116.

    Ruckus

    October 17, 2015 at 8:35 pm

    @PhoenixRising:
    45 yrs ago the older gentleman living downstairs and one door over (that’s important, I’ll get to it), who we talked to occasionally and who might be gone for several days at a time, didn’t show up for two weeks. The girl the lived below me, next door to this man began to notice a smell. The smell went up the walls and then my neighbor and I could smell it. We called the manager and he called the police and they went in to find him in the tub, he’d slipped and hit his head and drowned. He did not look good or recognizable at all. He was a single guy with no known family. When you are old and alone you most often die alone as well.

  117. 117.

    Cervantes

    October 17, 2015 at 8:38 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    Can anyone tell me why it calls for a done temperature of 190?

    Collagen.

  118. 118.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2015 at 8:42 pm

    @Cervantes: OK, let’s see if I can guess: the shoulder cut isn’t going to fall apart unless the collagen breaks down, which needs a higher temperature? As opposed to something like a chop or a loin, which just gets tough when it’s that hot?

    ETA: bingo, that’s the word I needed. Pop “pork collagen” in the old search box and get:
    http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/16156/cooking-slow-roasted-pork-to-190f

  119. 119.

    Cervantes

    October 17, 2015 at 8:43 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    unless the collagen breaks down, which needs a higher temperature?

    Hole in one.

    I’m out. You have a great evening.

  120. 120.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2015 at 8:46 pm

    @Cervantes: You too and thanks!

  121. 121.

    Ruckus

    October 17, 2015 at 8:46 pm

    @different-church-lady:
    I occasionally slow cook pork (my own recipe) and find that it doesn’t get tough at all. But then I’m cooking it in really good whiskey and in a crock pot. Similar to carnitas. Roasting it would seem to dry it out but then it has been marinaded for hrs so maybe not.
    ETA And I see you found a much better answer than mine.

  122. 122.

    Gin & Tonic

    October 17, 2015 at 8:50 pm

    @different-church-lady: I’ve always cooked pork shoulder for a good long time, but I don’t use a thermometer and I’m not as smart as Cervantes, so I don’t know how hot it got or why, but it seems to get better the longer you cook it.

  123. 123.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2015 at 8:50 pm

    @Ruckus: Your answer involved whiskey, so I’m not sure I would consider mine “better”.

  124. 124.

    Kay

    October 17, 2015 at 8:58 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    (yes, I have met him.)

    That is odd, that he doesn’t like to be around people. I met Ted Strickland once and he was stiff and awkward. It’s funny because he is good speaker- he sounds like a preacher when he gets going. My husband asked Strickland why he voted for the bankruptcy bill in the House 2 seconds after we met him so maybe that made him uncomfortable :)

    I just didn’t see any harm in Chafee being up there, and it gave Clinton an opportunity to say “no” in responding to him, which I thought was genuinely funny and shows people something about her.

  125. 125.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    October 17, 2015 at 8:58 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: One thing I noticed about him at the debate – when he was in the background, he often seemed to be chewing his lips. It seemed a little strange – surely he’s been on stage and TV enough to have been coached not to do distracting things like that…

    He may have a good head on his shoulders, and may have made many correct calls in the past, but his statement of being proudest that “I’ve never had a scandal” and that his not-so-subtle jab at the Clinton “scandals” really turn me off. We don’t need another Holy Joe Lieberman on the ticket. I’m convinced that the biggest (of several) mistakes that Gore made was picking him to be his VP.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  126. 126.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 17, 2015 at 9:11 pm

    Forgive me for mentioning the GOS, but after the debate, someone posted a diary about watching it with their 5-year-old daughter. For some reason, she said Chaffee was scary. I have no idea why him rather than psycho Webb.

    Btw. she wound up saying she hoped “the girl” won.

  127. 127.

    PurpleGirl

    October 17, 2015 at 9:13 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: A very affecting article. Thank you for the link (I no longer surf through the Times so I wouldn’t have seen it otherwise.)

  128. 128.

    Brachiator

    October 17, 2015 at 9:13 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):

    A couple of people at work said they had to give up, too. I’m not sure if there was more publicity this year, or more interest because of Pluto, or what.

    JPL scientists feature in The Martian.

    “You’ve seen the movie, now see the nerds behind the real tech. They will science the shit out of stuff for you.”

  129. 129.

    PhoenixRising

    October 17, 2015 at 9:15 pm

    @Ruckus: Drowned. Whoa. That must have been quite an odor.

    I live in the desert, so it wasn’t immediately clear from the front yard *why* her papers were not being taken indoors. Once they pried the door open, though…it was bad. Like, washed the dog before I took him inside my house, although he’d been guarding the remains for days and was quite agitated, as well as dehydrated and too hungry to eat.

    Sad part is, this was exactly what she feared, and we had an agreement that if her paper was still under her tire at my nighttime dog walk, I’d check on her. But the neighborhood watch lady went to a class last year put on by the PD, who explained that if your neighbor’s papers are piling up you should take them inside so the house doesn’t look empty because that leads to crime…so she did, so I thought the older lady who had been hospitalized 3x in 2 years for what she died of, was bringing them in.

    Nope; she had collapsed again and not made it to the emergency call button this time….at some point in the first week of October. And she was a hoarder with no social contacts she let inside the house when she was alive. The smell was…okay, for real, I can tell you guys: I opened the garage and the doors, with a VIcks’ed up mask on, and left it like that overnight so that when her relatives arrived from out of state, they wouldn’t have to think about it.

    That story just…slugged me in the gut. If my family hadn’t moved in and been consistently kind to the drunk old hoarder, such that I had her relatives’ contact info, it would have been another mystery.

    Some people can’t stop drinking even though they know it’s killing them. Terribly sad.

  130. 130.

    Kay

    October 17, 2015 at 9:21 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I watched it w/my 13 year old and he liked them all. He watched the first hour. It reminded me of watching (state) returns with him when he was much younger. The local station had the numbers in red, blue and green boxes, for Democrat, Republican and Green. He asked me which color I wanted and said he wanted Green to win. Poor baby. Green is never, ever winning.

  131. 131.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 17, 2015 at 9:23 pm

    @PhoenixRising:

    Ugh. That poor neighborhood watch lady probably feels guilty now.

  132. 132.

    gogol's wife

    October 17, 2015 at 9:24 pm

    @efgoldman:

    He was a great pianist. I love his accompaniment of his wife.

  133. 133.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 17, 2015 at 9:26 pm

    @Kay: I remember when my son was maybe 10 watching a documentary about Nixon with him, he kept turning to us saying, “Is that true?” in this shocked tone. He could not believe what a crook a president had been.

  134. 134.

    Ruckus

    October 17, 2015 at 9:26 pm

    @different-church-lady:
    Your answer to if it got dry or not, not the final dish. I’m going with my recipe, if for no other reason than, whiskey!
    Now of course because I no longer drink……..

  135. 135.

    Ruckus

    October 17, 2015 at 9:37 pm

    @PhoenixRising:
    Some drinkers are more afraid of life without the alcohol than of death. Not sure if they just get used to it, are actual alcoholics, if they think it makes life less scary or simply easier. Maybe a combination and I’m sure, different reasons for many. There is a reason (or many reasons) that so many societies have figured out how to make alcohol over the eons and why so many of us like it. Some of us a whole lot.

    ETA And yes it was quite a smell when they opened the door. Had to bring in a specialized cleaning crew and still wait a couple of months to rent out the unit.

  136. 136.

    PhoenixRising

    October 17, 2015 at 9:41 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Weirdly, she’s apparently never speaking to me again, because I pointed out that there had been a system in place to prevent this precise outcome…which we didn’t report to her because who the hell would move a week’s worth of papers on behalf of the drunk lady no one talked to? Without asking the people across the street who *did* talk to her whether she was out of town? (Pro tip: most drunken, aging hoarders with expired driver licenses and tags don’t fly to Aruba on a whim, leaving their pampered pets running around to bark at passers-by…but I guess the PD’s little talk didn’t cover that.)

    While I was in shock and trying to find a neighbor who would take the diabetic kitty and figure out how to get the dog clean enough and fed enough and watered enough to go in with my dogs instead of to the vet for IV fluids or the pound, and sneaking him past animal control, with the help of the EMTs and cops who were super about bribing him away from ‘the suspicious death scene’ using canned cat food I provided instead of shocking him with the Taser which they were discussing when I rolled up because he wouldn’t leave his person’s body and was growling at them…I wasn’t at my most diplomatic.

    It’s possible I may have had a bit of a trauma myself, looking at all this typing.

  137. 137.

    gwangung

    October 17, 2015 at 9:49 pm

    @ruemara:

    . 5 more days to principle shooting. and some of my cast have scheduled auditions during days they’re supposed to be on camera. Actors.

    Of course they did. This is what actors DO.

    Sigh.

  138. 138.

    Smiling Mortician

    October 17, 2015 at 9:53 pm

    @PhoenixRising: That shit’s hard. I too read the NYT article, and I too was moved by it in ways that make me want to both recommend it and not recommend it. Excellent story, but not so excellent to relive it — from pretty much any personal-experience perspective.

  139. 139.

    Ruckus

    October 17, 2015 at 9:58 pm

    @PhoenixRising:
    Death is traumatic. Someone who is real old who dies peacefully in their sleep is less so, someone with a horrific disease they’ve had for 20 yrs, that there is no cure of, that die peacefully in your arms is still traumatic, if not to the same degree. Someone you know that goes like your neighbor or mine, and it somehow involves you, if you are a good person, it’s still traumatic. And the smell makes it far harder to think about because you know that you wouldn’t want anyone to find you in that condition. A lot of people in combat come back with PTSD because of the trauma of death. No amount of rationalization makes that better for you, unless you are a sociopath or at least have sociopathic tendencies.
    That brings up another point, we rarely know all that has gone on in another person’s life, they could have had some very traumatic event(s) in their lives and they are self medicating with alcohol. At some point that becomes their way of life, rather than their escape.

  140. 140.

    different-church-lady

    October 17, 2015 at 10:00 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Well great… now I’m depressed.

    It really is a brilliant article. Why can’t the Times do more of that and less claptrap?

  141. 141.

    Ruckus

    October 17, 2015 at 10:01 pm

    @different-church-lady:
    Crappy claptrap sells paper. Or at least that’s their story and obviously they are sticking to it.

  142. 142.

    PhoenixRising

    October 17, 2015 at 10:14 pm

    @Ruckus:

    they could have had some very traumatic event(s) in their lives and they are self medicating with alcohol. At some point that becomes their way of life, rather than their escape.

    We have a winner!!! at least in the case of my neighbor. My wife invited her to some meetings when we first moved in 15 years back, and she was kind and polite about saying it wasn’t that kind of drinking problem.

    Choice quote: Honey, those meetings are for people who want to *stop* drinking, and I am perfectly happy. Not so healthy, but happy.

    Everyone deserves choices.

  143. 143.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    October 17, 2015 at 11:13 pm

    @PhoenixRising:

    Yeah, maybe just a leetle (perfectly understandable) PTSD.

    When I took First Aid a few months ago, they talked about how it’s so common for people to have some psychological issues after trying to help with a trauma situation that they now make sure to discuss it in First Aid 101 so people aren’t blindsided by it. So, yes, you’re having a completely normal reaction to being thrown into a traumatic situation.

  144. 144.

    Terry Ott

    October 18, 2015 at 1:12 am

    @Baud: Perhaps put the felines on top of the car while driving around. Some candidate gave his dog the pleasure of that thrilling experience, and he almost won … finished second as I recall. Do cats not deserve equal treatment?

  145. 145.

    The Other Chuck

    October 19, 2015 at 12:15 am

    @Germy Shoemangler: Wow, thats shotty copy even for a gossip rag. It reads like chatter from a high school girls’ bathroom.

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