Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

This blog will pay for itself.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

White supremacy is terrorism.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

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

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Everybody saw this coming.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

No one could have predicted…

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Cheers! Open Thread

Cheers! Open Thread

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gretz-slide-31

Friday night drinks with my sweetheart. Two Caipirinhas – slightly more tart than I like, but just what I needed after an arsehole of a week. Sweet vermouth (Punt e mes, I suspect) on ice with an olive and a slice of orange for me, and a London Calling for him. A Gretzel with beer and cheese sauce. Tuna crudo with fermented chilli, onion, dill and flat bread. Shots of Tapatio Reposado to celebrate Gregory’s birthday. Some concoction with Poor Tom’s gin and who knows what else whipped up by Jamie, the adorable Scottish bartender. Two perfect replications of a McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish, except crunchier and cheesier and oh-so-much-more-Filet-O-Fishier. An Old Fashioned made with rye, and a Red Hook. Two chocolate chip cookie and blackberry ripple ice cream sandwiches. Whisky from some damp and peaty god knows where, and a spectacular rum from Guyana that tasted of brown sugar toffee, even though we were just a little bit drunk by that point, because Jamie did the sexy eyebrow thing. One taxi home for special snuggles.

Don’t mind if I do, thanks.

Drunk posting on Balloon Juice very late at night and oversharing while giving your local a plug.

Life could be worse.

Happy Friday, kiddies. How have you all been?

I should inset some witty comment here about how the evil squirrel that lives in Donald Trump’s hair and controls him with little levers connected to steam-driven pistons has been huffing antifreeze and getting his Mexican birth certificate rape babies on, or how our entire political system is even more fucked than Jeb!’s chances of securing the Republican nomination.

But it’s time for bed – or maybe another drink.

Seriously though, come to Sydney. Come and see my friends Gregory, Naomi and the rest of the team at the Gretz. They’re lovely. And Gregory’s American. So you folks will understand what the fuck he’s saying.

This is your open thread.

Much love, and fuck you all.

Sarah

P.S. The real me is somewhere in the photo above. It’s like Where’s Waldo if Waldo was a grumpy, fictional old lady with impulse control issues and a pottymouth.

Reader Interactions

123Comments

  1. 1.

    Betty Cracker

    I can’t express how much I wish I was there right now having fancy drinks and gorgeous nibbly things instead of home on a dreary morning cleaning up dog vomit and waiting for a pest control inspector.

  2. 2.

    c u n d gulag

    Have some drinks on me!

    Just don’t charge me for them.
    My SSDI, only goes so far – and that ain’t far at all… :’-(

  4. 4.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    The mere fact that your bar calls something a London Calling proves that it’s cooler than the bars I go to.

    On the other hand I don’t want to be the customer who drags a bar’s cool quotient down with my mere presence. Seeing as I make my wife Cosmos from scratch, I could be That Guy.

  6. 6.

    Germy

    Has anyone heard anything about the TimeWarnerCable data breach? I read they were hacked. I suspect they sent a warning notification to an old email account I haven’t used in years, because I haven’t heard anything from them about it…

  7. 7.

    Lamh36

    I’m actually planning a trip to Australia for my 40th bday in November. Honestly I don’t know where to start. I’ve already begun to marginally look at flight pricing but it’s so far in advance I’m honestly not even sure if I can go for the actual day of my birthday or just near enough to the day. Also haven’t even decided how many days to spend and where…decisions…decisions…decisions

  9. 9.

    raven

    (CNN)President Barack Obama on Friday vetoed legislation that would have repealed the Affordable Care Act and cut federal funding for Planned Parenthood. The bill goes back to the Republican-led Congress, which does not have the votes to override the veto.

  10. 10.

    2liberal

    for any job hunters who want to live somewhere warmer and drier, a list of arizona companies hiring 100 or more this January (you can probably skip the amazon warehouse job however)

    LINK

  11. 11.

    Gin & Tonic

    I love Sydney. If it weren’t for this job thing and this family thing and this house full of stuff I’d move.

  15. 15.

    Betty Cracker

    @raven: It’s a good thing there are no serious problems in the USA to address. Otherwise, it would seem irresponsible for those wankers to waste time on show-bills that everyone knows will go nowhere.

  16. 16.

    Humboldtblue

    Harold Meyerson has an excellent piece on how the right wing has always exploited immigration and how it worked in the short term for Pete Wilson and remains front and center in 2016.

    No matter the particulars, the GOP’s determination to exploit and engender anxiety and bigotry for political gain, even, or especially, when it requires blatant and repetitive falsification, has a long and storied pedigree, as more than 80 years of the party’s border propaganda makes sickeningly clear.

  17. 17.

    Sherparick

    If Trump or Cruz or Rubio or Christie is our next President, we may all be moving in with you.

  20. 20.

    MomSense

    @MomSense:

    I was a bit late to the edit function but he has previously threatened to “blow up” a newspaper he didn’t like and to “shoot” a cartoonist. We wonder why the jamokes feel emboldened to say and do violent things.

  21. 21.

    Peale

    @Humboldtblue: And I guess I have to say, so? Sometimes nativism works and sometimes it doesn’t. it would be great if we could ask ISIS knock it off for a bit so we could elect Democrats, but I guess they don’t see it that way. Much as I assume that most Eastern and Southern Europeans and Jews would have preferred it if the anarchists would have had the decency to calmly work within the system rather than assassinate presidents and get all scary with the black hand business. In the long run this hurts Republicans, but we don’t vote in the long run. We vote next year.

  22. 22.

    Paul in KY

    @Lamh36: I would want to go to that beach on the West coast that is bright red sand. Don’t know how hard it is to get there, but pics I’ve seen are stunning.

  23. 23.

    The Other Chuck

    @Lamh36: Wow. LePage clearly isn’t familiar with the saying “When the dirt is level with your head, stop digging.”

    Frankly I hope he keeps on digging, because maybe then even a fucking Mainer can see what he’s about.

  26. 26.

    Iowa Old Lady

    I’m reading Axelrod’s book and it’s interesting to see the view of DC pundits from inside the WH. According to Axelrod anyway, Obama is good at recognizing petty stuff and staying focused on what matters. Also, Mitch McConnell is a cynical sob.

  27. 27.

    TaMara (BHF)

    How I’ve missed you! Have I mentioned I hate winter? It’s snowing again…we had to cancel our Friday plans.

    On the plus side, going to see my first roller derby bout tomorrow. This was after I wisely decided I was too old to try out for a position.

  31. 31.

    Big Ol Hound

    My wife and Elvis share the birthday today. She was born first by a few year in Perth Australia. The west coast is absolutely beautiful and has far more Aussie tourists than American ones which means it is still great. Beautiful beaches and towns on the southwest coast.

  32. 32.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @The Other Chuck: wait till all those good, sensible, old-fashioned Maine moderate Republicans come after him. I wouldn’t wanna be the target of Susan Collins’ rabbit-like indignation. Someone may even coax Olly Snowe out of oblivion to make tremulous declaration of bewilderment. Is Bill Cohen still with us?

  34. 34.

    schrodinger's cat

    @MomSense: Last week I got some lobsters on sale but nothing beats a fresh of the boat, Maine lobster. My source was my husband’s student, he was a lobster fisherman in Cutler ME. Husband kitteh, even got to make a fishing trip with the crew!

  35. 35.

    Kay

    I can’t post this directly – I don’t know how- but scroll down and look at what Bill Clinton said to Tony Blair about the Florida recount. “They hate us more than we hate them it’s all about power to them”- which he can’t say publicly because he “has to be President here”.

    PRESIDENT- not like a blog commenter or something :)

    Also, people actually say “blimey”

  36. 36.

    Keith G

    So you’re somewhere in the picture?

    Hmmmm

    I vote for the cute bartender with the ponytail.

  37. 37.

    satby

    @2liberal: Thanks! I’m basically starting to look anywhere, and hoping for Florida or a remote position because of the mom issues.

    Thought I’d pop on to see what’s going on, my internet is down till payday when I can pay my ISP bill. Been jonesing for Balloon-Juice.

  42. 42.

    satby

    @MomSense: Let me know when the lobster party is! I’m going to be moving from MI as of the end of June- to mid July timeframe. as I’m driving down, I was thinking of a bit of sightseeing to console myself as I went for having to walk away from my house in MI.

  44. 44.

    dexwood

    @JCJ:

    A misleading clue, perhaps. I think it’s the woman in glasses talking with the guy to her right.

  46. 46.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I wouldn’t wanna be the target of Susan Collins’ rabbit-like indignation. Someone may even coax Olly Snowe out of oblivion to make tremulous declaration of bewilderment.

    Quoted for truth and guffaws!

  48. 48.

    Germy

    quote of the day:
    “I don’t think we can be beaten. There’s a momentum that we have, there’s a momentum that we have that is so unbelievable—I thought I heard a little voice over there. Alright, get him out. Take him out. Get him out of here. Ya, don’t give him his coat. Don’t give him his coat, keep his coat. Confiscate his coat. You know, it’s about ten degrees below zero outside. No, you can keep his coat. Tell him we’ll send it to him in a couple weeks.”

  52. 52.

    catclub

    Rich Lowry argues that Ted Cruz is Nixon, not Goldwater. Plausible! And not, I would think, reassuring to conservatives. But note: Nixon would have been a disaster at the top of the ticket in 1952.

    Actually, VERY not reassuring. Nixon won when the Democrats were a)divided b)totally fractured and split.
    If Cruz can engineer that part of Nixon’s wins he is dangerous. I am not seeing it.

  53. 53.

    Germy

    This week, House Republicans voted to repeal Obamacare and restore the health-care status quo. But what about replacing Obamacare with an alternative plan that does all of the wonderful stuff without any trade-offs, the one they’ve been promising since 2009? “Just wait,” a smiling Paul Ryan told reporters.

    Today brings shocking news from Politico, which reports, “Senior House Republican aides and lawmakers say they do not plan to hold votes on many of the agenda items the party plans to unveil — such as a health care plan to replace Obamacare, or tax reform — because of a tight legislative calendar over the next few months and the reality that none of the bills would be signed by the president, anyway.”

    A cynic would say this is all another bait and switch. Republicans in Congress have been promising to unify around their own health-care plan since 2009, but they have refused to do it, because then they would own the details of that plan and wouldn’t be able to posture for an idealized alternative plan that avoids any trade-offs.

    But this argument about the calendar seems pretty legit. The House does have a tight legislative calendar this year. Ryan has to work around plans that include summer vacation, which will require the House to adjourn July 15 through September 6, and then adjourn again for autumn break from September 30 through the elections. No way you’re gonna write a health-care plan in that time.

  56. 56.

    catclub

    Ross Douthat is deceiving himself:

    There is no credible scenario in which a consistent 30 percent of the vote will deliver the delegates required to be the Republican nominee. So for Trump to lose, he doesn’t actually have to collapse; he just has to fail to expand his support.

    he is totally wrong. All it requires is three other candidates about evenly splitting the rest of the vote.
    if there are 4 or five? even better. Even I know about the winner takes all GOP primary system.

  57. 57.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @JCJ: :-)

    My guess would be the person to her immediate left, with the pink ♀ on her back.

    Welcome back SP&T! We’ve missed you.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  59. 59.

    Poopyman

    Weather follies:

    A tropical storm has formed in the Central Pacific Ocean, the earliest on record there. A swirl of low pressure in the North Atlantic is being closely monitored for signs of strengthening. And south of the equator, a rare tropical depression briefly appeared east of Brazil earlier this week.

    This story may read like June, but alas, it is January.

    Tropical Storm Pali became the earliest tropical cyclone on record in the Central Pacific Ocean when it formed on Thursday morning, close to the equator southwest of Hawaii. Ocean temperatures in the region are plenty warm to support tropical storms, due to El Nino….

  62. 62.

    satby

    So, funny story. My new job coaching job? It’s as a home health aide; turns out the place where they needed a client coached cut hours before I was hired and they wouldn’t need a coach. But since during the interview I said I was willing to crosstrain as a home health aide, guess what they do need?

    Oh, and not 20+ hours with potential of full time soon. 11. So far this week I’ve worked 4.

    The FSM wants me out of Michigan ASAP is my guess, because in 40+ years of working I have never had stuff like this happen. I get it, I’m GOING!

  65. 65.

    Germy

    @satby: Home Health Aide is a job they can’t export overseas. In my opinion it should be one of the highest-paying jobs in the country.

  67. 67.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @trollhattan:

    Nope. Apparently back in his home town, with Mexican and US DEA agents working together.

    But yeah, that tunnel escape just screamed “the fix is in!” to me at the time.

  70. 70.

    Germy

    @satby:

    The FSM wants me out of Michigan ASAP is my guess, because in 40+ years of working I have never had stuff like this happen. I get it, I’m GOING!

    Looking back over my life, the times I didn’t listen to The FSM were the times I had the most trouble: I lived in a place I hated for twenty years, I took jobs I disliked, thinking they’d only be temporary, etc. I’m learning to listen to FSM. And Ceiling Cat (my newest deity) as well.

  71. 71.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Germy:
    But I’ve got bad news for you, sunshine
    Jeb isn’t well
    He’s back at the hotel
    And they sent me along
    As a surrogate man
    To find out where all of you fans really stand…

  74. 74.

    Nellie

    So, I’m on holiday in Newport, NSW till February and the only real concern at the moment is the date and time for the next meet-up at Gretz. Being out of ‘murica for a month is just what I needed but I’ll bet the Yeehawds will still be in place when I get back. Grew up in eastern Oregon so I can assure you that Burns in winter, on the paradise scale, is exactly 180 degrees out from where I’m at the moment.

  75. 75.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Lamh36: But the alleged drug dealers referenced in his comments weren’t White or he wouldn’t have made a point of stating that they were knocking up White girls. LePage must think that everyone is stupid at the same time.

    @Germy: No one in his/her right mind believes that Republicans have a replacement for the ACA. We know they don’t. Poor people can kick rocks and die for all they care.

  77. 77.

    MomSense

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I was just saying today that I need to get back to Jasper Beach!! My friend’s husband lobsters which is great. He just stops by with a bucket full and we drop everything and cook them up.

    @satby:

    Absolutely you are invited! I also need to get to your Etsy shop ASAP!

  78. 78.

    Germy

    I knew they were crazy and mean, but I didn’t know they were THIS mean…

    North Dakota man arrested in plot to kidnap Obamas’ dog

    WASHINGTON — A man who plotted to kidnap the Obama family’s pet dogs was arrested in Washington on Wednesday with a cache of weapons and ammunition in his car, the U.S. Secret Service said.

    Upon his arrest, Scott D. Stockert, 49, of Dickinson, North Dakota, made a series of outlandish claims to officers – that he was Jesus Christ, that he was the son of John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe, that he planned to run for president, and that he was there to kidnap Bo or Sunny, the Obama’s dogs, the Secret Service said in a court document.

    According to a filing in District of Columbia Superior Court, the Minnesota field office of the Secret Service first learned of Stockert’s intention to kidnap one of the Obamas’ Portuguese water dogs.

    After Stockert drove his pickup truck from North Dakota to New York to Washington, Secret Service officers found him at a Hampton Inn at 901 6th Street NW, the court document said.

    When agents asked him whether he had any weapons, he told them he had two firearms in his truck and then directed them to the truck.

    Agents found the two firearms under the backseat – a 12-gauge pump shotgun and a bolt-action .22-caliber rifle. They learned that he was not registered to own a gun and arrested him, the court document said.

    They also found more than 350 rounds of ammunition, a billy club and a machete with a 12-inch blade.

    He was charged with carrying a rifle or shotgun outside of his home or place of business, which is illegal in most cases in the District.

    At a preliminary hearing Friday morning, a judge found probable cause for the case to move forward. The judge ordered that Stockert be released into a high-intensity supervision program pending a court date to be set later.

    During his release, Stockert cannot possess any real or imitation weapons, or go near the White House or Capitol, the judge ordered.

  79. 79.

    Brachiator

    For those interested, this might be a good week/weekend to catch “The Force Awakens.” The box office has declined sharply (mainly due to the end of the holidays) from the $30 million daily level of a monster hit to the $6 million daily level of a regular hit.

    Disney may be worried a bit that the film might not be huge when it opens in China tomorrow. “The Force Awakens” fell to second place behind “Ip Man 3” in Hong Kong, and the Star Wars prequels did horribly in China (as they rightfully did poorly everywhere in the known and unknown universe).

    Worse case scenario, Disney may have to settle for the third or fourth highest grossing movie of all time. The Dude abides, but the Box Office Force is with Cameron’s “Avatar” and “Titanic.”

  81. 81.

    satby

    The girls are ready to go home from the library, so no more snarling jackel chat for me tonight. Have a great one y’all!

  82. 82.

    catclub

    @Germy: 1. I think that is mostly just crazy.
    2. I am Impressed that he was picked up and arrested by the Secret Service.

  83. 83.

    catclub

    Funny pair of comments on another website:

    A vehicle game-changer will be when the SUVs and pick-ups come in hybrid models. All of a sudden, they will have average gas mileage in the 30s instead of teens and low 20s. I think the drivers will appreciate when their range on a tank jumps to over 600 miles.
    Log in to Reply

    UsertheSecond
    January 8, 2016 at 9:33 am

    ISIS terrorists will use that range to infiltrate and take our women! STOP THE EPA FROM SUPPORTING RAPE AND MUSLIM VIOLENCE!

  84. 84.

    Brachiator

    @Cacti:

    Happy B-day to the King and Ziggy Stardust.

    There was a fun BBC news story about young David meeting Mary Finnigan back in 1969. I guess she’s writing a book about the encounter. 2 days left to listen to the story at the BBC site.

    The clip might also be downloadable.

    One of the oddest cool performances ever may be of a drugged up David doing “Fame” on Soul Train. Thin White Duke gets funky.

  85. 85.

    Matt McIrvin

    @catclub: SUVs already do come in hybrid models. The bigger ones get gas mileage that is more like high 20s; it’s not spectacular, since hybrid powertrains aren’t magic and they can’t do that much for fuel efficiency driving on open highway. On the other hand, you have to figure consumption differences in gallons per mile rather than miles per gallon, so that’s actually a considerable benefit over high teens/low twenties.

  86. 86.

    trollhattan

    @Germy:

    Read about that. Missing from his evil scheme was when the presidential dogs were supposed to be presenting themselves at a place his vast weaponry and ninja skills would be put into play for said dognapping. He’d have had about as much chance if he’d just circled the White House with a porkchop hanging from his neck and toting a leash.

    On the upside: no more North Dakota winters.

  87. 87.

    Mike J

    @Brachiator:

    the Box Office Force is with Cameron’s “Avatar”

    Do you know anybody who can quote one line or even name one character from that abomination?

  89. 89.

    trollhattan

    @Matt McIrvin:
    Missing from the concept so far: shedding at least 2k pounds along with the hybridding.

    I just “love” that SUV/light truck sales are way up while we enjoy tyrant Obama’s cheap gas. Do these people not remember the wallet-draining days of nearly five bucks?

  91. 91.

    Matt McIrvin

    @catclub: The earliest primaries this cycle are actually proportional, with a threshold for delegate eligibility that varies from state to state.

    But the later ones tend to be winner-take-all. And I suspect Trump is doing better in the later states.

    Douthat is also deceiving himself just about Trump’s percentage. Trump is pulling about 30% support in the earliest primary states, but closer to 40% nationally.

  92. 92.

    chopper

    @catclub:

    me neither. the democrats are always fractured and split in some way or another, but the party in 68 was a complete and utter shitshow.

    likewise, nixon in 68 had spent years and years consolidating power in the GOP. by the time he ran everybody in the party owed him. cruz on the other hand has spent years pissing off at least half the people in the party. nobody owes him a thing.

  93. 93.

    Ruckus

    @trollhattan:
    American car consumers seem to have the cost memories of a fruit fly. Or, I want a huge truck now before all the gas is gone. They really seem to not see the irony in that idea.

  95. 95.

    Brachiator

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Is that a series of movies about intellectual property lawyers?

    Yes. The challenge each other to see who has the strongest Torts Fu.

    Actually, the Ip Man movies are pretty good.

    Here’s the trailer for the latest. With Mike Tyson?!

  96. 96.

    Matt McIrvin

    @trollhattan: Well, there are all the “crossover SUVs” that are really smallish hatchbacks or wagons with all-wheel drive and SUV-like styling. Very popular around here, where some people don’t want a huge car but everyone worries about snow. They get mileage in the high twenties/low thirties even with a standard transmission, and do a little better than that as hybrids.

    But nobody who would buy a Chevy Suburban is looking for those.

  97. 97.

    trollhattan

    @Ruckus:
    Ain’t it the truth? It also doesn’t help that dudes constantly lie about their mileage. Every one of my truck-owing in-laws (most of them) says things like “Mine gets twenty-nine on the highway when I use cruise control” or “My diesel gets the best mileage when I’m towing” or similar nonsense. Waiting for one to tell me a crew cab has the best aerodynamics.

    None, however, “rolls coal.”

  98. 98.

    Matt McIrvin

    @trollhattan: My little car has one of those gas-mileage meters on the dash (which I’ve determined to be fairly accurate); it’s fun to see how high it can go under unrealistically biased conditions. If I start the meter going with an already-warm engine, and drive it only on open highway in the summer, and never stop, I can get something like 43 mpg. But that means nothing; realistic consumption over an actual week of real-world use is more like 31 or 32 mpg, depending on the season.

    Something like that is probably going on there…

  99. 99.

    Brachiator

    @Mike J:

    Do you know anybody who can quote one line or even name one character from that abomination?

    I see you.

    But yeah, “Avatar” has not held up well. But Cameron is promising two more Avatar films.

  101. 101.

    Peale

    @chopper: Yep. Our question since 1992 has been “will our voters show up” and getting them out the door. As fractious as some debates are and as angry as the Bernistas are about big money and whatnot, and the liberterrornuts are about foreign policy, this isn’t 1968 and and the question about who belongs inside the tent is pretty much settled. There’s no one trying to keep anyone out. And it’s not like Hillary Clinton is not Dean Rusk or Robert McNamara running for a higher office during Vietnam.

  102. 102.

    Matt McIrvin

    @catclub: I’m seeing Democrats starting to fret openly that the Sanders movement represents a threat in the general election, that most of these people are going to go full Naderite. But it smells funny to me; I don’t really buy that the situation is way out of the ordinary for a primary campaign.

    There was some CBS poll back in October that claimed that 14% of Democrats had already promised not to vote for Hillary Clinton in a general election. If you take that seriously and assume they’re all Berniebots, it’s something like 10 million voters, and about 50% of Sanders supporters. Easily enough to throw an election of ordinary closeness to the Republicans.

    But if that’s going on, why aren’t most head-to-head polls already showing her losing?

    Note, October was also the absolute nadir of Clinton’s support while the email scandal was breaking, which might have had something to do with it.

  103. 103.

    ruemara

    I loved Avatar. So it’s not what you like, big deal.

    Aus, looks pretty good. Maybe New Zealand. My rent will increase and I have a month to decide if I wish to be here for another year. Other places are looking very good to me.

  104. 104.

    Brachiator

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I’m seeing Democrats starting to fret openly that the Sanders movement represents a threat in the general election, that most of these people are going to go full Naderite.

    Primary voting hasn’t even begun yet, and no one knows what will happen, what Sanders’ level of support might be, nothing.

    I don’t see a reason to pay attention to any of this, for now.

  105. 105.

    catclub

    @Matt McIrvin: @Brachiator:

    I don’t see a reason to pay attention to any of this, for now.

    I DO remember there were lots of promises not to vote for Obama in 2008. (There were probably promises not to vote for Hillary if she got the nom, either.) By June they had mostly melted away.
    By September ( ie. an eternity from now) they were distant memories.

  106. 106.

    Mike J

    @Matt McIrvin: I often wonder about the sincerity of the brogressives online. Not that they aren’t authentically misogynistic. I just wonder how many of the most vocal aren’t the same people who write LttE starting with, “as a lifelong member of the Democrat party…..”

  107. 107.

    Gimlet

    @catclub:

    Not quite sure what happens with “The Working Families Party” putting Sanders at the top of their ticket as well.

  108. 108.

    Gimlet

    Even more instability in society

    http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2016/01/gov-greg-abbott-calls-for-constitutional-convention-to-take-back-states-rights.html/

    Gov. Greg Abbott, aiming to spark a national conversation about states’ rights, said Friday that he wants Texas to lead the call for a convention to amend the U.S. Constitution and wrest power from a federal government “run amok.”

    “If we are going to fight for, protect and hand on to the next generation, the freedom that [President] Reagan spoke of … then we have to take the lead to restore the rule of law in America,” Abbott said during a speech at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Policy Orientation that drew raucous applause from the conservative audience. He said he will ask lawmakers to pass a bill authorizing Texas to join other states calling for a Convention of States.

  109. 109.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Mike J: I don’t know about them, but I suspect that a lot of the “Democrats” in that old CBS poll were not Berniebros at all, but the same kind of Democrats who have voted for every Republican presidential nominee since Reagan.

  111. 111.

    jl

    @Gimlet: Thanks, I was just going to give a link to that.

    ANOTHER REASON TO CALL YOUR REPS AND MAKE A FUSS ABOUT THE CRIMINAL INSURRECTION AT MALHEUR (even it if has a comedic side).

    Apologies for caps.

    Feinstein hasn’t gotten back to me yet. Next, I make a pissy call.
    This is homeland security crap and she should be on it, right? Looks like only certain ‘colors’ and ‘shades’ of homeland security are really important in some people’s eyes, if you get my drift.

    I will be baud damned if a tiny minority of racist reactionary white wackos manage to get themselves even more federal welfare grift out this BS.

    Edit: only really bright news in this is that it gets the Paiutes from PR, which they need. Hope if a miracle happens, they end up getting some justice out of this. I have joined in the jeering fun, but that is not enough to make for having to tolerate this garbage from deadbeats and criminals.

    (Edit: And after they extract the last penny of benefit out of federal lands, they leave all the costs to by paid by the rest of us)

  112. 112.

    Peale

    @Gimlet: Yeah, somehow “We don’t want gays to marry” and “We want to throw out the Muslims” and “Let’s not issue birth certificates to Mexicans” are lawful positions and following the actual court rulings and laws is lawlessness running amok. Let’s just wrap ourselves in Reagan and keep it simple.

  113. 113.

    Brachiator

    @catclub: I DO remember there were lots of promises not to vote for Obama in 2008.

    Before primary voting even began?

    By September ( ie. an eternity from now) they were distant memories.

    This part I remember, the fade into something resembling unity.

    But again, let’s get some voting done and see how things line up.

  114. 114.

    jl

    @Brachiator: Yeah. So far, things are so much more chummy between the two Dem primary candidates than in 2008. If it keeps up, this Dem primary will be a love fest compared to 2008, and 2008 was nice and unified by the end.

    Been watching all the Sanders interviews that come on youtube, and so far he has been very disciplined in not responding to the toddlerite media pleas to make personal attacks, and very focused and direct in telling them to shove off and setting them straight when they try to portray a policy difference as a personal attack. Hope he keeps it up (he will, if he wants my money).

    Also been watching HRC and she is good too (though I think she be doing more interviews).

    And, having watched all I can find of both, one thing that stands out is that the US corporate media is worse than worthless. What do those overpaid slobs and sloths do, other than chase sensationalistic BS? Nothing that I can see. Ignorant, uninformed, and either stupid or willfully pretending to be stupid, in order to churn out their marketing plan for the day. I loathe at least 3/4 of them, even more than before (I did not know that was possible).

  115. 115.

    Gimlet

    @jl:

    I thought Hillary was going to jail because she sent classified emails over an unsecure server to persons without the necessary security clearance.

  116. 116.

    redshirt

    @Mike J: Avatar seemed to leave public consciousness the moment it left theaters, which is exceedingly strange for the all time most popular movie. People still make Titanic references, but it’s like Avatar never existed.

    I don’t know how to explain it.

  123. 123.

    Matt McIrvin

    @redshirt: I remember the pitch for Avatar being “wow, 3D doesn’t suck now, and this is the one movie you absolutely have to see in 3D.” That feeling lasted for basically part of a summer, and then most people decided that 3D did suck after all, or else that they didn’t care much about it one way or the other.

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