'Daily Show' host Trevor Noah to be a keynote speaker at Dem retreat https://t.co/VK151usptZ | AP Photo pic.twitter.com/AHUfcZiYZ8
— POLITICO (@politico) January 22, 2016
This seems like a career mistake… https://t.co/pBG2slI5Ia
— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) January 22, 2016
It’s not as though the RNC was going to showcase an African immigrant! Even the NYTimes risked making a funny:
Looking to chart a road map for the election year ahead, House Democrats will huddle next week in Baltimore at a three-day strategy session that will include speeches by President Obama, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and the comedian Trevor Noah, the new host of “The Daily Show.”
Aides in Washington said Friday that Mr. Noah, who last year replaced Jon Stewart as host of Comedy Central’s signature evening show, would counsel Democrats on navigating the logistical and emotional challenges of replacing a beloved celebrity leader as they head into Mr. Obama’s final months in office.
Actually, no one said that. Mr. Noah, by all accounts, is simply supposed to show up and give a funny speech, possibly about the nature of the modern infotainment industry.
Officially, the House Democrats have chosen “United for Opportunity” as the theme of their annual retreat — a nod to the crucial role of party allegiance in their effort to impede the agenda of the Republican majority. The theme also seems to be a jab at some of the divisiveness that has characterized the Republican presidential race…
In addition to Mr. Obama, Mr. Biden and Mr. Noah, House Democrats are expected to hear speeches by Richard L. Trumka, the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. labor union federation; Tom Steyer, the billionaire founder of NextGen Climate, an advocacy group focused on mitigating the consequences of climate change; Simon Sinek, a writer and lecturer on inspirational leadership; Salman Khan, the founder of the Khan Academy online educational platform; and Tom Toles, an editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post…
The predictable suspects [*cough*Breitbrats*cough] are outraged, per Inquistr.
Don’t remember seeing much reporting about the Repub retreat, weekend before this one, but here’s the USNews take: “GOP Retreat Reflects Divide Between Ryan and McConnell on 2016 Goals”.
***********
How badly has winter storm Jonas affected your area?
Apart from being proud that we’re Democrats — or at least not Republicans — what’ on the agenda as we start the week?
Mustang Bobby
Of course the Republicans/Breibrats have their tails all puffed up at the Dems bringing in a comedian; their idea of a comedian is David Mamet.
Yes, the winter blizzard affected South Florida: visitors can’t fly out of MIA to places like New York and D.C. so they’re stuck here where it’s a chilly 51 F this morning. Oh, the horror.
NotMax
One request – can we stop giving (and using) anthropomorphic names to every non-cyclonic weather event, please? Teeth-grindingly cringe inducing practice, that.
It’s winter. It snows.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mustang Bobby: I almost got stuck in Hawaii on 9/11/2001.
BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: Yeah, when did this start? I’ve not heard of this being done on the west coast.
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: Yes.
@Mustang Bobby: I thought Dennis Miller was what passed for a Republican’s Idea of a comedian.
BillinGlendaleCA
“It seems like a career mistake”, for who? Trevor or the Dems?
BillinGlendaleCA
@OzarkHillbilly: Nope, Bob Hope.
ETA: And no, it doesn’t matter that he’s dead.
amk
rw shockjocks at each other’s throat. fun times.
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
All made up on a whim by non-governmental weather reporters, diluting and confusing data culled from official sources.
Imagine:
Drought Larry.
Heat Wave Tiffany.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@BillinGlendaleCA: It’s Twitter’s fault. The Weather Channel was hoping that the names would become Twitter hashtags for storm reports and discussions.
Schlemazel
Seems like it is a good time to be a Dem. I was making dinner the other night & the Mrs had the evening news on (which is what drove me to the kitchen in the first place) and the national anchor actually used the phrase, “the Republicans are in disarray”. This made me happy.
I start the week with a battery of tests to see why my 1 gallon bladder refuses to remain infection free. I have no faith in the new doctor as he, like the last one, does not seem to hear a word I say or have an imagination capable of comprehending a bladder that can hols 4 liters of fluid.
amk
@amk:
“Many Republicans view the growing influence of conservative media as the root, not a symptom, of the GOP’s problems winning the White House and effectively running Congress.”
“It goes beyond finding an electable nominee and affects governing,” said Brian Walsh, a former NRSC spokesman. “They create unreasonable expectations with voters and talk about things that they themselves know aren’t possible, but they demagogue the issue and that has created a problem for Republicans being able to actually govern.”
no shit, sherlocks. you fed these snake for decades and now it’s payback time. like citizens united fuckfest.
Mustang Bobby
The closest thing the Republicans have to a real comedian — one who gets that in order to really work as a comic you have to punch up, not down — is P.J. O’Rourke. And since he has a regular spot on NPR’s “Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me,” he’s on the GOP shit list. Dennis Miller is the poor man’s Andrew Dice Clay.
NotMax
@Schlemazel
Noticed a pull (ever so slightly, even) skyward by the Moon?
BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax:
I’ve seen pics, she’s pretty hot.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Ah, that’s why I’m so puzzled; I’m not a twit.
Schlemazel
@NotMax:
yeah, I feel the tides
BillinGlendaleCA
@Schlemazel: “Tide comes in, Tide goes out; you can’t explain that.”
NotMax
@Mustang Bobby
Examples of oxymorons:
Jumbo shrimp
Original copy
Republican comedian.
BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: You left out the clasic, Military Intelligence.
Schlemazel
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Don’t feel bad, you made the assumption that they care about the weather & helping people deal with weather. They don’t. They only care about marketing & branding, if they could sell “The Weather Channel’s Winter Storm Larry” they would but twits need shorter brand names.
Your assumptions are rational and reasonable, it is the world that has gone insane
pacem appellant
I’m stuck awake after a series of pages. Of course this happens on the last night of on-call. And even more typical, no page was critical enough to justify the late night/early morning alerts. There is not much to read on the Internet between 2am and 4am PT. I tried Cracked, but it looks like they update L.A. time. I’d watch the YouTube, but I don’t feel like waking up the whole house while fumbling around trying to find decent headphones.
Noah is no Stewart, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he’s working on it. Stewart wasn’t born Stewart. He worked hard to become the beloved pundit/comedian that he is. Mr Noah just needs more time and better writers, I suspect.
Schlemazel
@BillinGlendaleCA:
True that but it is irksome to have to let my belt out or take it in twice a day
BillinGlendaleCA
@Schlemazel: Yet another reason I have my own weather station.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Schlemazel: Per Bill-O, it’s God’s fault.
@pacem appellant: I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Trevor.
Schlemazel
@pacem appellant:
It seemed to me he had the same writers, or at least they were writing the same stuff. What I thought changed was that Noah does not have the cynical edge that Stewart developed. The kid seems a bit too new & fresh-faced. An ingenue when the role calls for someone a bit more world weary.
Schlemazel
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Ah but they have spent a bazillion dollars on fancy high tech crap to package the same information the national weather service will give you for free so it would be unAmerican of you not to watch.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
When you’ve lost the militia….
Militia in Flint join calls for justice in water crisis
NotMax
@Schlemazel
Suspenders (braces) are overdue for a resurgence.
;)
One hit film with Idris Elba or Dwayne Johnson sporting them while shirtless ought to do it. Hollywood, take note.
OzarkHillbilly
@Mustang Bobby: Hmph… All this time I thought Andrew Dice Clay was the poor man’s Andrew Dice Clay.
satby
@Schlemazel: that’s got to suck. When I was younger I went through a similar situation, but that’s common in women. Hope that even if the new Dr. hasn’t got much of a bedside manner he can uncover what’s going on and get it resolved. It’s a urologist, right?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Schlemazel: Well, the painters that the landlord hired fucked up my satellite; I’m not watching anything right now.
ETA: I’ve actually enjoyed it so much, I may pull the plug.
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
That’s one honkin’ lo-o-o-o-ong ladder.
OzarkHillbilly
@Schlemazel: That sounds to me a little bit like “If only this Trevor Noah guy was more like John Stewart.” which I get it, I wish John Stewart was still doing it too. I think that given time, TN will grow into the role and make it his own. Or not. But he can’t succeed as anyone other than himself.
Schlemazel
@satby:
Yup, this is the 4th one in 3 years and they don’t seem to have a clue or a bedside manner. I am beginning to wonder if the poorer med students tumble to urology instead of proctology.
Schlemazel
@OzarkHillbilly:
Agreed. All I was saying was that Noah seems to be using Stewarts material but he does not have the personality to pull it off as well. A few years of seeing what news and politics has become in the US may give it to him.
OzarkHillbilly
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: “What do you use to purify your water with?”
“A Mac-10.”
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
Part of it is undoubtedly writers learning and feeding the cadence, tempo and preferences of a comedian.
Some can adapt, some cannot.
BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: The connection to the satellite dish, or the alignment of the dish.
amk
@Schlemazel:
Noah is doing fine. Who needs stewart redux?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Schlemazel: A good number of the writers left(Sam Bee…).
OzarkHillbilly
@Schlemazel: @NotMax: Yep. If CC is smart they will give TN & Co the time they need to succeed or fail on their own terms. And over the years CC has proven pretty smart.
Schlemazel
@amk:
Imagine Bob Newhart doing Lenny Bruces routines. It doesn’t work. TN needs to find his own style. I am not saying he has to be Stewart but that he is doing Stewarts material with a different personality. It does not work as well. The show is still good & TN is doing fine but it does not have the edge it did before. That is not a complaint, it is an observation.
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
Don’t watch the show, but sometimes comedians just don’t mesh with certain program formats.
Witness, for example, the giant smoking crater debacles of Jerry Lewis (1963) and Chevy Chase (1993) in their respective attempts at late night shows.
Schlemazel
@BillinGlendaleCA:
There was always a rotating cast of performer/writers but I assume many more writer/writers. Given that they are doing the same style of jokes I assume many of those folks stayed.
About Sam Bee, is it just me or do the ads for her new show look dreadful? They make me want to run screaming from the room not tune in.
Matt McIrvin
Sane article with a clickbait title about the Democratic primary at TPM.
I remember people insisting in 2008 that Clinton had the nomination locked up because of the superdelegates, so I wouldn’t count that particular angle too highly. But Iowa/NH are really unrepresentative on the Democratic side.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Schlemazel: I’ve only seen the ad for Sam’s show once, and I wasn’t really paying attention.
Schlemazel
@NotMax:
Nat a fair comparison as both guys you mentioned have egos 10 times the size of their talent. To do a chat show you have to at least pretend you are interested in the guests. Neither of those two could pull that trick off.
Those of us around here old enough to remember Paar, Allen & Carson saw hosts that always let the guest have the spotlight or the punchline. Starting with Letterman & Leno the host regularly hogged the attention and stepped on punchlines. People talk about how much more interesting stars used to be but I think part of that is that the hosts used to allow them to be the star & now they are forced to be bit players.
And, yes, get off my lawn!
debbie
@amk:
The real fun is listening to them argue with their listeners who support Trump. You can almost hear the blood vessels popping.
NotMax
@Schlemazel
Perfectly fair in pointing out that sometimes the talent and the format simply don’t mesh.
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
It’s good until this:
Missouri and Indiana aren’t in the same group with Ohio and Pennsylvania (!) for Democrats, and she knows it.
Paul Begala continues his decades-long role as the high profile Clintonite most likely to say things that are actually true, I see.
Steeplejack (phone)
@BillinGlendaleCA:
It’s marketing hype from the Weather Channel.
NotMax
@NotMax
A favorite example (although not talk show or late night) is Tammy Grimes, who was a Big Name on Broadway.
Her TV series remains high up on the list of shows most quickly yanked off the air. Story at the time was that a corner office panjandrum dropped the axe during the first commercial break of the premiere but the network had nothing up and ready for the time slot so was compelled to let the show run for 1 month.
Germy
Has anyone else seen this video of Ted Cruz, age 18?
The video was recorded in 1988 for Second Baptist High School in Houston, TX.
Matt McIrvin
@Kay: McCaskill’s from Missouri, so she’s going to mention Missouri. Indiana… yeah, Indiana (and that one district in Nebraska) was the cherry on the sundae for Obama in 2008, but there was no way he needed to win it.
Schlemazel
@NotMax:
I was more referencing that TN has more talent than ego (apparently) so is more likely to adjust & succeed. But you are 100% correct about the mix of talent & personality.
Schlemazel
@Germy:
Yeah. And as much as I hate Crudz I am very grateful there is no video of 18 year old me floating around. The only difference is that I grew up and Teddy has only grown older.
Iowa Old Lady
@Germy: I’m trying to wrap my head around the idea that Cruz was that awful at 18 and someone still married him.
OzarkHillbilly
Snyder’s shit is getting weaker all the time:
Exclusive: Gov. Rick Snyder’s Men Originally Rejected Using Flint’s Toxic River
Germy
@Iowa Old Lady: love comes to everyone
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
I don’t mind how aggressive she is- I think it was smart how she promoted the lunatic Republican in a primary and thereby kept her Senate seat.
But Missouri and Indiana aren’t in the same group of must-win states as Pennsylvania.
Next she’ll add Arkansas. As goes Arkansas so go the Democrats.
Baud
@Kay:
Are there Senate races in those states? Maybe she’s thinking about coattails effect?
ETA: re-read it. Clearly talking about the presidency. I agree, it’s wrong.
Patricia Kayden
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: The people of Flint want clean water not the taking up of “arms” in their defense. My understanding is that it will take close to 1 billion dollars to fix the water delivery system. Governor Snyder should be focusing on securing those funds and redressing the medical conditions resulting from the poisoning of the water system.
I hope this is not a story which gets pushed to the back burner in a few weeks.
Matt McIrvin
@Kay: I think we can count Missouri as a safe red state these days; it’s not even a swing state any more. Clinton won it both times, but he also won Tennessee and Louisiana.
Patricia Kayden
@Germy: Yes, and I’m impressed at how he has remained the same over the years. He was a douche when he was 18 and he’s even more of a douche now. Very consistent dude.
Iowa Old Lady
@OzarkHillbilly: The world has changed enough that I blinked at the use of “men” in that headline. The story only mentions males as rejecting the Flint River, so the headline is probably just accurate.
Betty Cracker
@Schlemazel: Have you tried drinking cranberry juice? It’s not my favorite beverage, but it seems to clear that condition up for some reason.
Central Planning
I heard Baud was invited to speak.
Baud
@Central Planning:
That would be wrong. Can’t show bias in the primary.
Kay
@Baud:
I think they’re both “likely R”. McCaskill herself was endangered in Missouri last time.
Paul Begala manages to be a very strong advocate for Hillary Clinton without making stuff up. It’s true about the superdelegates. They committed earlier than they did in ’08. They have the advantage. They don’t have to go nuts on Sanders.
Iowa Old Lady
I’m enjoying Trevor Noah. I liked Colbert better on his own show though. The guests at night are one endless stream of people promoting and selling things.
Punchy
@NotMax: From what I’ve read, Chase is the Cruz equiv in comedic circles. A pompous, forever-insulting shitbag that everyone hates with gusto. Not surprised his TV would fail….Im guessing they had a hard time booking guests.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: I think what Claire is trying to say is that Dems need to be able to compete in states like IN and MO. Most people don’t remember that Obama damn near won MO in ’08. It took a month of counting before they declared it for McCain. Of course that was followed by the racist backlash in 2010 that gave the GOP full control of the state legislature and redistricting, soon to be followed by near Texas like control of everything governmental.
If MO is going to retain anything at all resembling sane governance after 2016, it’s going to be because of GOTV in STL and KC.
Baud
@Kay:
You think if Sanders wins, the superdelegates will swing the primary? That would clearly sink the election.
Schlemazel
@Betty Cracker:
Oh yeah, I also flush with an acidic solution (recommended by Dr.) regularly (cranberry is supposed to lower the pH levels).
.
Don’t read down unless you want more gory details
.
.
imagine a balloon capable of holding a gallon of water jammed into the area not designed for it. When you start taking fluid out of it the balloon collapses & pockets of fluid are going to remain. It is the inability to empty those pockets that causes the problem.
Randy P
How badly has winter storm Jonas affected your area?
Not bad, but I haven’t yet left the house because there was no pressing need to. That was kind of nice. Things started re-opening yesterday morning, will probably be pretty normal today here in the Philly area.
Because I’ve taken courses at Johns Hopkins I’m permanently on their text announcement list, so I got the word they have no classes today. Apparently Baltimore is still digging out. My employer is also closer to Baltimore and they are closed today.
Unfortunately, my tele-commuting agreement says that on snow days, I work. So I’m technically at work right now and in fact I do have a lot to do and a looming deadline. But still, there are worse ways to work than barefoot at home, and I’m pretty much guaranteed no interruptions, even by email.
Kay
@Baud:
I don’t think Sanders is going to win the primary.
I just hate this about Democrats, this kind of impatience with process and “we can’t go with the loser” attitude. On the one hand they make all this noise about “we must compete in every state and with every group of possible voters” and at the same time they’re incredibly risk-averse.
Eventually losing doesn’t mean he shouldn’t try as hard as he can. Nothing bad will happen. We can have an election and he can try to win it. They can’t control every aspect of the process. They shouldn’t try.
Central Planning
@Baud:
They can’t, or you can’t? IOKIYAB.
Baud
@Kay:
I don’t know whether he’ll win or not. I’m not the kind of person who takes things for granted. I’m perfectly fine awaiting the outcome of the process. But if he does clearly win, the superdelegates shouldn’t swing the result, and I hope they don’t.
Baud
@Central Planning: I’m quite biased as to who should be the nominee. (Hint: me.)
PurpleGirl
Back when I was working I would save a week (or ten days) of vacation time to use as bad weather days. It was a system that worked well for me. Luckily, I don’t have any medical appointments this week. I can stay home as the snow melts and I see how the buses are running later in the week. I get concerned about ice, and especially black ice, and walking. It’s helpful that there is a grocery store in our commercial building.
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
Sanders would say he can compete in those states. He does say that.
Randy P
@amk:
Hee, hee. Birtherism is, of course, idiotic and insane. But so are the GOP base and Breitbart. Wonderful.
Kay
@Baud:
For me, Claire’s constant repetition of this talking point brings back memories of a particular kind of 90’s era Democrat who were always chasing after Reagan Democrats. There are no Reagan Democrats. They’ve been Republicans for decades.
NotMax
@Punchy
Typical of the reviews:
What struck this viewer the most was his very noticeably physically trembling in abject fear, almost non-stop, for the entire program.
Baud
@Kay:
Everyone is chasing the missing white voter. All (non-virtual) candidates on both sides.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: Sanders needs to get out more. ;-) I like Bernie, I really do, but it is statements like that push me away.
MomSense
@pacem appellant:
Thank dog for that. I’ve started watching again. The youngs in my house prefer Noah as well.
NotMax
@PurpleGirl
Mom (coming up fast on 88, living on North Shore of L.I.) told me that she had no intention of driving but was planning to walk into town and beyond on Monday for a French class.
After confirming she had a more than ample supply of food and things like toilet paper in her co-op apartment, extracted a promise that she would not attempt to set so much as a toe outside until Tuesday at the earliest. Her Italian class on Tuesday is cancelled so she can’t go very far, at least.
Her NYT was not delivered on Sunday; if delivery resumes on Monday, that’s a sign that things are clearing up.
amk
@Kay: yup, their latest scare ghost is a washed-out mayor billionaire.
Baud
@MomSense:
Yeah, I gave up on the Daily Show several years ago. Glad to hear that Noah has a following. A show like that is important given the state of our media.
Punchy
We got arselves a game-changah! Dick Perry just endorsed Theodore Cruz. Although the headline “Perry’s on Cruz” probably got some of The Dumz to believe that Katy’s in the sack with Tom.
Baud
@Punchy:
Who’s Dick Perry?
magurakurin
@amk: You think that the Democrats asked Bloomberg to announce he will run if it is Trump and Sanders? Wow, the conspiracy really runs deep if that is true.
Sanders.isn’t.going.to.win.
He just isn’t. He probably isn’t even going to win Iowa.
Baud
@magurakurin:
Read John’s post from last night. Some random guy on Twitter is now the Clinton campaign.
amk
@magurakurin: no, he is the ghost that had many here doing omg’s.
Raven
It’s the usual chaos at Lil Bit’s eye vet. The vet is a top notch veterinary opthamoligist but her office is wild. People come from all over the Southeast to see her so we just live with it.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: Snyder almost makes me think there’s justification for the death penalty. What an evil fucker.
Baud
@Raven: My dog has cataracts, but not bad enough to need surgery yet. The process sounds stressful so I hope it never comes to that.
Germy
How Washington coped with a deadly blizzard in 1922
Baud
@Germy: That’s one way to cope, I guess.
ThresherK
@NotMax: Greg Gutfeld?
I mean, he was never even funny as Dennis Miller. (And that was before Miller said the most unfunny thing one can say for topical humor, “I”m giving George W. Bush a pass”, circa 2003.)
But the right fluffs him like Charles Foster Kane’s newspapers promoted Susan Alexander’s opera career.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Patricia Kayden: They’re not just waving guns:
Also, the “official story” isn’t getting any traction with them:
Keith G
@Germy: Another bit of evidence on how deadly it can be to be a theater patron in DC.
Randy P
@NotMax: I love that your mom is taking French *and* Italian at 88. Gives me hope for the long list of languages I want to learn/improve after 60. Few things make me bristle like claims that you can’t learn languages after your 20s, or learn anything at all after your 50s.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Patricia Kayden: Dammit, I still can’t edit.
“We’ll take up arms if necessary” is one of the strongest expressions of support the militia culture has.
I’m all for them coming out to rally against the poisoning.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: Not an exact analogy. She worked for Obama. She voted for Obamacare. She should have been toast in 2012. Obama lost MO badly in that election. She won it anyway.
Steeplejack
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
But I bet a lot of these jackholes can’t be bothered to vote.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Steeplejack: I think there’s a good chance they pulled the R lever.
Raven
@Baud: that was years ago for us. She also had no tear ducts so she gets 5 meds (2 added today so 7) twice a a day. Her vision is fading but we’re doing all we can.
japa21
As to what is on the agenda for the week? As usual, work.
I am looking forward to 3 months and a week from now when I will be able to answer that question with “Nothing.”
Betty Cracker
@OzarkHillbilly: I like McCaskill despite her sometimes maddening centrism.
Punchy
They can, as long as libs can live with the “Democrate-lite” version of the Dem they’d get. Missouri has gotten really red in local politics, as the state is packed with racists and havin a blah in the WH has massively exacerbated things. The only way a (non-incumbent) Dem could win in MO against a competent Repub is….actually, I have no idea. Dont think it’s possible.
Elizabelle
Good morning, all. Pretty sunny and white here in NoVA.
NYTimes had a major story this weekend on Flint’s water. A lot of blame to go around, but people should be put on trial for this. Follow the horrible decisions all the way up the trail, and name names.
When the Water Turned Brown
And here’s an excellent NYTimes reader comment by “Kathleen” of Colfax, CA:
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
I don’t like how she’s including everything Sanders says under “socialism”. I know she has limited time to say something but as I said for me it harkens back to the days were Democrats ran from everything that was even slightly non-conventional and they always used their perception of the electorate to do so.
It’s limiting, especially if your objective is to run a Democrat in every race in places like Missouri and Indiana. Limiting that possibility to “only those Democrats at or to the Right of the Democrat who ran last time” is too careful. Losing states like Missouri and Indiana shouldn’t inspire caution, because there’s less to lose. It was an uphill climb anyway. Take a risk.
PurpleGirl
@Randy P:
or learn anything at all after your 50s.
Letty Cottin Pogrebin (a 60s feminist writer and magazine editor) wrote a book about aging and staying young (Getting Over Getting Older) in which she proposed that as you age you need to keep to learning new things to keep a young attitude and keep your mind agile. While she was writing from a feminist POV, I think the idea applies to any one.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: She drives me nuts with that stuff too, but what ever else you say, she knows how to fight.
Botsplainer
The heroic bootstrapping welfare ranchers are taking a hit to reputation as knowledge percolates.
*chortle*
Public Lands Hunt Club
I guess the notion is no bag limit, size limit, sex limit or tags for grazers from ranchers who aren’t paying their allotment fees. Just lots of tasty, tasty beef for the freezer.
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
It worries me as a smoking gun because Snyder can say the crucial distinction is “over the long term”. They had a project in the works to tap Lake Huron. The Flint River source was temporary.
I’m …interested in the privatization angle that same source is following, though. I hope they pursue that. Not who sought to save money for the good people of Flint, but who stood to make money.
Essential services privatization is a big deal internationally. Places like Germany are “remunicipalizing” essential public services they privatized. There it’s electricity but water? They could privatize that.
I wish Marcy Kaptur would weigh in. She’s the expert on devious conservative schemes for the Great Lakes :)
OzarkHillbilly
@Punchy: Dems regularly win statewide elections despite everything you say being mostly true.
@Kay:
Can’t agree more. It is that kind of tarring that has me pretty well tuned out at this point.
NotMax
@Randy P
Well, she’s fluent in eight languages (including the two mentioned).
Taking classes to keep from getting rusty and as an opportunity to go out and socialize.
Once I pointed out the parallels of learning to use a computer to learning a new language, her fear of tech diminished markedly.
Steeplejack
Now the aftermath. When I got up Sunday morning here in NoVa the snow had stopped, the wind had stopped, and we even had a bit of bright sunshine. So that was nice. It’s sunny again today, temp currently 21°.
I have been a little surprised at how long the aftermath apparently is going to take. Area schools and most government offices are closed today—no surprise there—but some already have announced that they’ll still be closed tomorrow. And Virginia DOT is vociferously telling people to stay off the roads so they can continue plowing and clearing snow.
Except for a narrow plowed lane down the middle of the street, Threadkill Lane is still snowed in. There’s one car down the street that is parked a little askew, like the driver tried to get out and then decided, Screw it, I give up. I have seen a truck or SUV go by occasionally. I haven’t been out of the apartment since Thursday night, but I might put on the YakTrax later and take a tour of the neighborhood.
It’s supposed to rain a lot this week, which could help melt the snow but could contribute to black ice, depending on the temperature fluctuations.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: I noticed that too, but I think as weasel words go, that one is pretty weak. Especially when soon after the switch all kinds of problems started turning up. Had to be more than a few “I told you so”s
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
ETA: Flipped on the TV news, and apparently I’ve got it better than a lot of people. Many complaining that their local streets have not seen a snow plow at all; state of emergency still in effect in some areas. Metro trains are running a very limited schedule, and Metro buses aren’t even starting until noon—and will quit at 5:00 p.m. And it’s “lifeline service” on only 22 routes (a tiny minority).
The woman who is house- and dog-sitting at Sighthound Hall (in Arlington) while my bastard brother is on vacation in sunny Brazil tried to go to work this morning and had to turn back.
My whole (short) street is a condominium complex, so the association probably paid for the plowing we got. Groundskeeping crew also did a great job of clearing the sidewalks.
TV weather person just said that this blizzard is the second worst ever in the D.C. area. Missed the record by a tenth of an inch.
D58826
What passes for adult decision making in Texas (and probably to many other states
better a dead student than have a teachers word disobeyed. It does seem odd that with asthma being a relatively common ailment that the teacher wasn’t better prepared to deal with the situation and had to sit by and do nothing waiting for the nurse to respond. Once the girl fell out of the chair it was no longer a run of the mill asthma attack. The school district can’t respond publicly due to student confidentiality even though the incident has hit the intertubes. But confidentiality provides a good excuse to not respond to the obviously stupid response of the teacher
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
Oops, that “second worst ever” was for New York City, not D.C. My bad.
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
On the whole, the various advocates have done a wonderful job. I listen to Michigan radio in my work travels and I have learned so much about Flint water.
We rented an old house when our two oldest children were small. I still remember the fear I felt when their doctor asked me some polite and seemingly casual questions about my recent move to what had been a long-vacant house and then said ” they’re both doing great but I want to test them for lead”. They didn’t have elevated levels but it’s terrifying.
MomSense
@D58826:
The teacher/school district cannot be serious. I had students with all manner of serious health issues. We had trainings with the school nurse–and we held trainings in each class so the students would know what to expect and how to respond (usually to stay calm and move away to give the student privacy). Send an email during an asthma attack and wait for a reply????? Unbefuckinglievable.
OzarkHillbilly
@Steeplejack: The NWS snow gauge in DC got buried. They still stand behind their 17.8″ figure but….
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: I have never been prouder to be a card carrying member of the ACLU. They need to put more reporters on staff.
Iowa Old Lady
@Kay: At the end of The Big Short, there was a notice saying the guy who predicted the mortgage collapse is now investing in water. Privatizing public supplies of it sounds ominous.
Marc McKenzie
Close to thirty inches of snow thanks to Jonas–but the roads were cleared very quickly. The sidewalks will take a while, though….
But at least it inspired me to crank out a quick drawing: http://redshoulder.tumblr.com/image/138019896674
Bill
Are we talking about Hizzonner’s potential run anywhere?
Seems like it would be Nader 2.0. I’m wondering if he’s actually serious about this, or if he’s just trying to help Clinton.
Matt McIrvin
@MomSense: I also like Trevor Noah so far. I suspect the main reason he hasn’t retained Stewart’s audience is, sadly, the obvious one.
D58826
@MomSense: yep. I don’t expect teachers to be EMT’s but at least to have enough training to know when to take action. If the policy is to wait on the nurse then there has to be a way that the nurse can be pinged instantly, like a pager, rather than wait on e-mail that the nurse might not see immediately. Not sure if the fact that it was a disciplinary middle school had anything to do with it. These are ‘throwaway’ kids anyway.
Steeplejack
@OzarkHillbilly:
Government doesn’t work! Privatize! Privatize!
Betty Cracker
@Matt McIrvin: Another explanation is that Noah hasn’t really carried on Stewart’s anti-Fox jihad. Slate has a piece up on why Noah is failing to resonate. Here’s an excerpt:
I’ve never been a faithful watcher of TDS under either hosts’ tenure, and in the clips I’ve seen of Noah’s show, he is better than I thought he’d be (his Twitter controversy lowered my expectations before he took over the show). But my favorite bits from the Stewart era were when he pantsed Fox News. If Noah has moved away from that, I can see why he’d lose viewers who also considered that the heart of the show.
Matt McIrvin
@Kay: I’ve been seeing people fretting again about Sanders being the second coming of McGovern in 1972. The thing is, you don’t get 1972 unless your Ed Muskie has a glass jaw, which implies that he probably couldn’t have carried the general election either. Muskie got successfully ratfucked by Nixon’s people; if not the primary they’d have done it in the general. It’s hard to blame McGovern for that.
I have some trouble worrying too much about Sanders somehow getting Trump elected because I think the range of parameter space in which
1. Bernie Sanders would get clobbered in the general election,
2. Hillary Clinton wouldn’t get clobbered in the general election, but
3. Sanders can nevertheless somehow beat Clinton in the primary,
is narrow to nonexistent. You can imagine that scenario if you imagine that the Democratic electorate is dominated by its crunchy granola super-liberal wing, but it’s not.
Shana
Here in Oakton, VA (Fairfax County) our neighborhood hasn’t been plowed yet. According to the VDOT map I have pulled up, it looks like they’re still working on major roads in this area and haven’t begun on side streets yet. I predict Wednesday at the earliest for our street.
We used to have a neighbor with a bobcat that had a plow attachment. He lived beyond a rise in the street as visible from the main street that leads to our neighborhood. He would routinely plow his driveway and the street out to the main road. Of course when the VDOT plows would drive down the main road they’d look at our street as see (as far as they could tell) that it had been plowed and pass on by. It would take multiple calls to VDOT from numerous neighbors before anyone would come back and actually plow us out.
I tried for years to get VDOT to code it into their system that this was happening and they NEEDED to drive down the street to make sure it was actually plowed. Never worked. Then, one day at a local Dem event I ran in to our district supervisor. I explained the situation and my frustration about getting the problem fixed. Haven’t had the same problem since.
Meanwhile our snowblower (electric) died yesterday so we’re stuck with just shovels trying to get the last part of the driveway cleared. As we have over 2 feet, it will be a chore.
MomSense
@Matt McIrvin:
Probably is the reason. Ugh. I think he is funnier than Stewart and he definitely focuses on the insanity of the Republicans. The other thing I appreciate is that they definitely address the non-stop racism and dog-whistling without trying to explain it away.
MomSense
@D58826:
Teachers should know what to do until the nurse gets there at the very least. Teachers absolutely need to be able to alert the nurse if there is an emergency.
I’m also not understanding why an asthmatic student can’t carry her own rescue inhaler.
Anya
@Schlemazel: I think the format is the same but TN is edgier and does more stuff around race and racism. I enjoy TN the same way I enjoyed JS. Some nights they rock and other nights they’re meh.
Matt McIrvin
@MomSense: It wouldn’t even need to be overt and conscious racism on the white audience’s part; it seems to me that the show under Noah has more black guests on and does more sketches directly concerned with race, and at some point some fraction of white viewers are going to think “oh, this show is for somebody else now, not for me.” When in fact they’d probably learn something if they kept watching.
Steeplejack
@Shana:
A little while ago I watched a WUSA reporter driving around with a dash-cam. He clearly showed and talked about the problem. On a lot of the main roads—he was driving on a four-lane road in Bethesda with a median divider—the curb lanes are half full of piled-up snow, and it varies, going from almost two full lanes open to barely one lane open (with the occasional pedestrian walking on the street because the sidewalk is still snowed in). And once you turn off the main road you’re likely to run into streets that haven’t been plowed at all yet.
JCJ
@Schlemazel:
Actually urology is a difficult specialty to get into – quite competitive. The problem is that in medicine being an asshole is often considered a positive.
Rob in CT
Politico transcript of Obama podcase:
A lot of good stuff in there (including some self criticism that matches up with a lot of people’s frustrations w/him).
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
That has been going on for years, though. Democrats used that threat for 20 years. “Centrism” is supposed to get you somewhere. It’s supposed to produce something- supermajorities, big legislation, governors and statehouses in 30 out of 50 states. It isn’t a goal unto itself, unless it is, and then they should say that.
amk
@Betty Cracker:
All those years of mocking pox news did jacksquat in diminishing them and their power to distort politics.
Betty Cracker
@amk: Fox News still has a hold on its dwindling viewer base, but I think Stewart did open a lot of younger voters’ eyes to its bias.
catclub
@Matt McIrvin:
My understanding is that in 1972 there was a tremendous split in the Democratic Party. The Unions revolted against McGovern.. Today, the unions have a good deal less power. and 2) If Sanders wins in the primaries, the Democratic party will still be much more united than it was in 1972. Whether it will be sufficiently united — I don’t know.
amk
@Betty Cracker: and to what effect? did they get involved in politics? or did they turn out for elections? we all laughed and they got all the political points.
Matt McIrvin
@catclub: Also, in 1972 the electorate was super-white by today’s standards. Today’s Republican Party would be winning Nixon/Reagan-sized landslides over today’s Democrats in every single election with those demographics. It would call for completely different strategies.
Now, I’m not actually sure Bernie Sanders gets the implications of that either. But that’s also why I don’t think he’ll win the nomination.
Matt McIrvin
I can 100% guarantee that if the Republican nominee wins, the fans of whichever of Clinton or Sanders didn’t get nominated will construct a plausible-sounding argument that their candidate would have done far better. I can even imagine more or less what the arguments will be.
Brachiator
@Matt McIrvin:
Way back in 2008,there were people who were sure that Clinton would have been a better candidate than Obama until the actual election rendered the speculation moot.
Elizabelle
@Shana: Hey Shana. Good to hear from you.
They plowed our street last night about 10:30 p; have not seen any of the neighbors use it yet, although hear tell of one neighbor with a Jeep who got out.
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
Obama says it best, I think, about how long this divide has been going on:
“In comparing Clinton with her main rival in the Democratic presidential primary, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Obama told Politico that “they’re both passionate about giving everybody a shot.”
He said that Sanders’ message “has an appeal.”
“There’s no doubt that Bernie has tapped into a running thread in Democratic politics that says, ‘Why are we still constrained by the terms of the debate that were set by Ronald Reagan?'” Obama said.”
The President doesn’t dismiss it. He’s treating it like a legit disagreement.
Betty Cracker
@amk: You’re right — Democrats never win elections because the Daily Show’s target demographic doesn’t turn up at the polls. That’s why Fox News dominates the media landscape, President McCain is wrapping up his second term and we’re all dreading the upcoming Palin administration.
D58826
All other things aside in the differences between Sanders and Clinton, if the GOP slander machine could take a genuine war hero like Kerry and swift boat him into being a coward and traitor what will they do with the self identified socialist Sanders. By election day most of the country will be convinced that Sanders was the ghost writer behind Marx’s Das Captal. That doesn’t mean that they won’t slander Hillary as well but socialism generates a special fear in Americans. The GOP has tried to brand Obama as a socialist but outside the Faux news crowd it hasn’t really stuck because it doesn’t fit what Obama is doing. Bernie is running as one. He hands the GOP the room full of dynamite to blow himself up with. It doesn’t matter that Sanders vision of socialism is more like Norway than the USSR, or even post war Britain, most people will not get past the word.
amk
@Betty Cracker: may be you should google how many youth, who you claimed to be educated by js, turned out 2010, 12 and 14. And right now, you are all dreading a palin endorsed president. Everything is not Obama centric.
Betty Cracker
@amk: Young voter turnout in non-presidential years is a serious problem, and I’ve never said otherwise. You seemed to be claiming that Stewart’s show had zero influence. I think you’re wrong, but that doesn’t mean I believe The Daily Show was the vanguard of a glorious Democratic future. My opinion is that there was some utility in exposing Fox News’ lies before millions of younger viewers. YMMV.
Karen
I’m in Silver Spring and we had about 20 inches by the time the storm ended. Didn’t lose power or internet so except for my Direct TV (because show probably fell on the satellite dish) and the pain in the ass of being trapped it barely affected me.
Tom
@amk: Agreed. Stewart got too tired and bitter towards the end. I like Trevor’s fresh take. He’s charming, funny and he brings a refreshing outsider view of American politics and news.