.
.@PressSec says President Obama will likely spend a “significant portion of weekend” reviewing material about potential SCOTUS nominees
— Arlette Saenz (@ArletteSaenz) February 19, 2016
I think this Washington Post headline would be even more truthful if reduced to just the first three words…
Sen. Grassley lies at center of Senate’s Supreme Court drama
As the White House shifts its vetting of potential Supreme Court nominees into high gear, the handling of that nomination is set to rest largely with the 82-year-old chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Charles E. Grassley.Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a Washington Post op-ed published Friday, co-authored with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), that the Senate should “withhold its consent” for anyone President Obama nominates to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
But in earlier public comments, Grassley did not rule out holding hearings or votes on the nominee — which have emerged as points of division for Senate Republicans determined to block an Obama nominee but also blunt political attacks that could threaten their majority in November…
Last year, Grassley became the first non-lawyer ever to chair the Judiciary Committee, passing up opportunities to helm the powerful Finance or Budget panels for a chance to oversee judicial confirmations and influence many other legal matters… [A]fter spending his entire Senate career on the Judiciary Committee and participating in confirmation hearings for 13 Supreme Court nominees, the senator might find it difficult to pass up the chance to chair one himself. He is also seeking election to a seventh term this year, and while he has not attracted serious competition, he may wish to avoid becoming a symbol of Washington obstruction…
***********
Democrats caucus in Nevada today (Repubs wait till Tuesday), and so is the South Carolina GOP primary (Dems wait till next weekend). Apart from the cries of monkey-mischief and rodent-copulation, what’s on the agenda for the day?
Baud
Let’s go, Nevada! Baud needs a new pair of delegates!
MikefromArlington
Who do you trust more? Obama or Hillary with a SC justice?
Anyways, Obama should recess appoint and have the DOJ press charges against the senate republicans for circumventing the constitution with thier Shennanigans and take it up to the SC if need be. This should become the loudest federal legal battle of the decade.
Zinsky
Grassley and McConnell’s column can be boiled down to “let’s disrespect the unworthy Negro president one more time”. Fuck them! I’m heading to work out, then take the car in for servicing and write letters to both Senators urging them to hear and confirm Obama’s SCOTUS nominee before November. I urge all BJ contributors to write similar letters!
Baud
@MikefromArlington:
I trust both, and Sanders too, on that issue.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
I’ll be going home and to bed soon, with plans to be up in time to watch the Senior Day celebration at the last regular season game of the year. Wisconsin may have clinched the league title by virtue of winning the shootout in their tie against North Dakota, while we lost ours, but if we administer the same sort of beatdown today that we did last night, I’ll be plenty satisfied.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@MikefromArlington: Who in the world would accept a recess appointment to the Supreme Court that would last about six months? On top of which, a US Supreme Court deadlocked at 4-4 can’t overturn the precedent already set.
A recess appointment is a pipe dream. Let’s focus on something useful.
Applejinx
Who needs Supreme Court Justices when you have the Onion? I hadn’t heard about this one. Thanks Hillary :P
Unable To Out-Satire Republican Party, Onion Becomes Existential Joke
In a great victory for comedy everywhere, Univision chairman Haim Saban has thrown his weight behind the Onion’s struggles for satirical relevance by purchasing it in order to better control its comedy output.
Saban vows to bring the fairness he learned from founding ‘Fox Family’ with Rupert Murdoch to his new acquisition, and has outlined a bright future for The Onion as an additional wing to the Clinton presidential library. “Now that’s Yakety Sax!” he enthused. His previous donations to the Clinton library total $5 million dollars, with $7 million to the Democratic National Committee for a new headquarters. Plans include a ‘yuks hotline’ between the two, operating at ISDN speeds. A honorary tin-can-and-string line is said to be in the development stages, dedicated to Bernie Sanders jokes because ‘he is old’.
Saban hastens to assure comedy fans everywhere that the humor associated with The Onion will not change. “It’s the same irreverent, clever Onion as ever,” he promises. “They will still enlighten the world with barbed humor and an unmistakable, distinctive brand and voice. They’re just doing it from now on in service of the greatest Secretary of State and public servant in the history of the world.”
p.a.
Danziger put Mitch right where he belongs.
OzarkHillbilly
Gonna do a little 5 mile float on the Meramec with friends. Gonna hit 70+ again today and should be able to alleviate some of my broke leg enforced cabin fever. The snow geese have been flying over my house daily on their way back north, my daffodils are poking up and I actually saw a crocus bloom, but the only wild plant I expect to see blooming is witch hazel. One week ago it was snowing and temps were dropping to single digits, so I’m going to enjoy this while it lasts. I have a feeling winter is gonna drive by one more time at least.
@MikefromArlington: The courts wouldn’t touch it. “It’s a political question” is all they’d say..
satby
@Applejinx: we get you hate Hillary, thanks. I hardly think anyone looked to the Onion for anything other than snark anyway. It doesn’t turn into the paper of record just because someone else bought it.
satby
It’s going to be a nice day here too, low to mid 50s and sunny. I wanted to try to get stuff done around the house, but the teenagers signed up for a volunteer thing near school, and it’s short enough not to bother driving back but long enough to take 5 hours out of the most productive part of my day. So I’m going to go volunteer at the place I usually do too.
PurpleGirl
Don’t have plans yet for the day. It should be windy but approaching the 50s today. A good day to go shopping up the Boulevard. Or maybe go to Trader Joe’s.
OzarkHillbilly
@Applejinx: Well, who needs the Onion when we can just go read Bernie’s economic policy paper?
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: Oh, here we go…
satby
Someone mentioned it on the previous thread, but the huge cat 5 cyclone now crossing Fiji destroyed 80% of the crops in Tonga as well as all the other damage it caused. It’s going to be a catastrophe in Fiji.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: Applejinx opened the door, I just walked thru it.
Iowa Old Lady
It’s been warm enough that I’m hoping to finally pry the Christmas decorations off the lawn.
Mustang Bobby
My baby brother (who hits 60 next month) is in town for the weekend from Seattle after dropping in to visit our parents at their “life enriching community” in Cincinnati. We’re going to take a tour of Vizcaya, the estate built by James Deering as his winter “cottage” on Biscayne Bay. Then tomorrow we’re going to Boca Raton to infiltrate the Republican Establishment as judges at the 10th annual Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance. I get to judge American estate cars (station wagons) while he looks over pre-war Packards. Since he and I live on the opposite ends of the contiguous U.S., it’s great to be with him even if it’s only for 48 hours.
Betty Cracker
Watching CNN with the sound off in my little rented cabin on Lake Okeechobee. Mostly for the light. This is a truly tiny space, so I’ve had to curtail my insomniac habits out of consideration for the mister.
Off to town for breakfast soon, then out to the lake for fishing (him) and reading (me). It’s in the 50s now but supposed to reach low 70s later. Yay Florida!
Applejinx
Bold Re-org Swaps Roles Of Satirical Website And Presidential Candidate
In a striking and ambitious strategic move, noted media mogul Haim Saban has taken steps to reverse the boring, traditional roles of his properties, the website The Onion and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
“Disruption!” said Saban when asked for details. Beyond that, he did not elaborate.
Future comedy articles for The Onion will include “Imaginary Unicorns: Seven Lies From Bernie Sanders’ Fever Dreams”, a scholarly article that takes an uncharacteristically serious tone and draws on research from Saban’s Univision team and experts at the Brookings Institution, where Saban founded the Center For Middle East Policy in 2002.
Presidential candidate Clinton, in turn, has barked like a dog in support of this new vision statement, and Saban promises that if he raises ten million dollars the former Secretary of State will crawl around on all fours to amuse the audience.
“We’re seeing surprisingly high donations from Republican backers,” adds Saban, “and every penny of that is a penny not going to Donald Trump. Trust the system!”
Stretch goals include a leash, and Henry Kissinger.
OzarkHillbilly
@Mustang Bobby: Enjoy.
Major Major Major Major
Open? Kühl. New small chapter on my fish story https://imjustthisguyyouknow.wordpress.com/2016/02/20/the-fish-2-11/
Go me.
What, open threads. Shameless plug time.
Major Major Major Major
I thought link text wrap was fixed?
Major Major Major Major
did we buy a bad troll again
hi applejinx love ya
Applejinx
@Major Major Major Major: Live ta serve ya <3
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Weaselone
Uh-oh. It’s looks like Hillary’s dirty tricks squad drank the last of the coffee and refilled the pot with decaf at one of Bernie’s campaign offices again.
Hiiiillllaaaarrrrryyyy!
OzarkHillbilly
@Applejinx: Ummmm…. linky says nothing at all about what you appear to be quoting. Was that accidentally on purpose?
Raven
@Betty Cracker: the big bass!
MattF
@Zinsky: I agree with this, pretty much. McConnell’s version of ‘collegiality’ in the Senate isn’t merely the usual political hogwash, it’s ‘We have to stop that uppity *****’. Period.
Applejinx
@OzarkHillbilly: As far as I know, Henry Kissinger walking Hillary Clinton on a leash as a fundraising stretch goal is still a silly joke, nothing more :)
Let me know if that changes and I’ll concede that reality has out-satirized me too! The whole trick to ‘Onion style’ is to keep many things plausible, go for broke on the absurd angle, but do it deadpan. Try to set up the punchline in as few words as possible and don’t overplay: I specifically left it for the satire reader to connect the leash and Kissinger as concepts. Let the reader write part of the joke for themselves.
MattF
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: This is the problem with a recess appointment– Maybe Loretta Lynch would agree to it, since she’ll be out of a job regardless, and has already been through the mill wrt the Senate. It would be a good tactic, since it places McConnell’s politics front and center.
satby
@Applejinx: dude, that is so obviously satire.
Raven
Looks like I have to put in a brick sidewalk. I did one in the garden last yea and made the mistake of buying a truck load of “dirty” bricks from a buddy. Cleaning the concrete off the old bricks was a nightmare. I’ll get the colored concrete pavers and have at it.
Keith G
I am more than a bit perplexed as to why McConnell was unable to envision a smarter strategy (for him) wherein Obama was allowed to name a nominee and that nominee would be brought in front of the Senate for confirmation. At that point, all the GOP would have to do is filibuster the shit out of the nominee.
I would still view that as being reprehensible, but the GOP would have a bit of political and historic cover as they would be doing something that has been done before albeit it to a much lesser extent.
OzarkHillbilly
@Applejinx: Humor doesn’t always translate, and after rereading what you said I finally see what ties the joke to the link. Maybe it’s just the insomnia asserting itself. Been up since 2.
Applejinx
@satby: Thank you :) if the Onion is now directed to write ‘push jokes’ like Female Presidential Candidate Who Was United States Senator, Secretary Of State Told To Be More Inspiring and Hillary Clinton Inspires Young Girls To Form Presidential Exploratory Committees, all I or any of us can do is shoulder the burden of snarking ourselves.
This website used to LOVE ‘The Onion’, and constantly talk about how tough it was for them to stay ahead of the absurdities of the Republican Party.
It is with sorrow and relief that I acknowledge their long struggle is over… must be kind of nice for them, though. Everything just got much, much simpler and less funny.
It hadn’t occurred to me we could lose the Onion :P they’re sort of a cultural touchstone, or were.
Darkrose
@Applejinx: The “Hillary on a leash” bit says a lot more about you than you may have intended; and not at all in a good way.
Jeffro
South Carolina primary day, oh boy – can’t wait to hear the things that the Cruz campaign gets up to today!!!
After this, it’ll be bye Jeb, bye Ben, and maybe bye John, too. (Hope not because Kaisch has a town hall here in NoVA on Monday, and I thought it’d be educational for my kids to see what a slightly sane Republican looks like)
Then the great 3-way battle begins! Just wait until the American public gets a load of Trump, Cruz, and Rubio unloading on each other all spring. Truly, it warms the heart…
OzarkHillbilly
@Keith G: The GOP no longer cares about “appearances”. They have wholeheartedly embraced their id.
Iowa Old Lady
@Jeffro: I see Trump’s numbers are slipping. I’m torn between wanting him to be a LOSER and wanting Cruz and Rubio to fail.
Applejinx
@Darkrose: Regrettably, there was no other punchline available after the former Secretary of State barked like a dog to ingratiate the audience. I’d also point out that’s not the real punchline at all: it’s the setup, and the actual punchline is Kissinger.
As it should be. Always ;)
Reposting welcome, and I don’t need credit: it would be goddamn hilarious if this went viral and all the Clintonistas decided it was serious bsns, to be authoritatively debunked.
If you didn’t want homemade snarking, people, maybe you shouldn’t have bought and subverted the Onion…
satby
@Darkrose: Applejinx is on the spectrum (they’ve mentioned) and has a hard time with social cues. I’m assuming that the above satire is too subtle for them to pick up.
Edited to correct autocorrect.
PurpleGirl
@Betty Cracker: OOH, OOH, Lake Okeechobee. My friend who lived in Boca Raton bought a house at the base of the lake after he sold the house in BR. He sold the house just before the real estate bust, too. I haven’t been to visit him in more than a decade, so I’ve not seen the house and the lake. Have fun.
Applejinx
@satby: Applejinx is also, apparently, more subtle than you know… ;)
Chyron HR
@Applejinx:
My favorite Onion joke article was the one that said the Sanders campaign staffers who hacked the DNC database were actually double-agents planted by Hillary to discredit Bernie, and that their leader is secretly DWS’s nephew.
Oh, wait, sorry, that’s what you sincerely believe. My mistake!
John S.
@Mustang Bobby:
Have fun at Vizcaya! I got married there in 2003. It’s a beautiful place to spend a day.
MomSense
I woke up super hungry and there is no food in the house but the last thing I want to do is see every damned person in town at the grocery store.
Small town, first world problems.
Any suggestions for wheat bread heels, half a container of ricotta, a small amount of semi wilted spring mix, chick peas, and onions?
Jeffro
@Iowa Old Lady: Once Carson, Bush, and Kaisch are out of the race, I find it hard to see any of the 3 remaining candidates breaking out much (and certainly can’t see 1 candidate gaining a majority of delegates). They’ll each have their bases within the party and will likely keep clawing at each other to little avail all spring long.
Plus, they’ll all have the money to stay in, and there’s no party authority or leadership that can make them get out. Fun times!
(In all seriousness, though, I hope the Dems – as in the Dem leadership, the national party, etc – are paying attention. It’s fun to watch while it happens to the GOP, but a variation of this could happen to the Democratic Party almost as easily.)
bystander
The news that Cruz and Carson had a meeting in a closet to sort out their differences reminded me of the great Stimpy and Sven Hoek in the closet sequence. Ren and Stimpy is second nly to Phineas and Ferb in its inventiveness.
Joel
@Iowa Old Lady: He still looks to be in a strong position going into today, though: 34-19-16 (Trump-Cruz-Rubio) is the polling aggregate for South Carolina.
Joel
@MomSense: Do you have curry powder? Eggs?
Bobby Thomson
@Applejinx: fight the 1%! of jokes that aren’t pro-Sanders.
randy khan
@Applejinx:
This has popped up in my Facebook feed, and one of my friends who knows someone at the Onion has reported that there has been no interference on the editorial side since the purchase. Take it for what it’s worth (third hand report from an anonymous Internet commenter, etc.).
BTW, the headline about her being told to be more inspiring struck me as classic Onion.
MomSense
@Joel:
Curry yes, eggs no.
ETA if only I had eggs, this could be my Sabrina make a soufflé with some cracker crumbs.
Darkrose
@satby: It struck me as unnecessary in a way that seemed like a callback to “Citizens United Not Timid” and that kind of bullshit–taking every opportunity to call Hillary a bitch. Really not making me inclined to feel the Bern.
John S.
@bystander:
Just make sure that you don’t whizz on the electric fence!
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Applejinx: Since you’re reposting from a couple-of-threads below, I’ll do the same.
(Really? A BoingBoing 9/11 Truther thread?)
Univision bought 40% of the outfit. It doesn’t sound like Hillary had much to do with it. Maybe they really wanted Clickhole?
Was Univision buying Skip Gates’s The Root site a Hillary Conspiracy™ too?
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
satby
@Chyron HR: does anyone know whatever happened to askew?
oldgold
The key here might be Grassley’s huge ego. His “aw-shucks Mayberrish persona” is as phony as a 3 dollar bill.
This grasping egotist, comically unaware of his limited intellect, that has been further diminished as he enters the autumn of his dotage, will want to take his turn in the center ring of our political circus.
Applejinx
@randy khan: This bit certainly is:
Funny because it’s true. These are still Onion pieces: there’s still lots funny about them. Expect to see lots more Onion pieces poking fun at how Clinton was Secretary of State, First Lady, and the greatest public servant ever, but gets noooo respect.
Controlling interest means never having to say you’re sorry.
For that matter, it means never having to explicitly issue orders, much like the times that Clinton spoke to Wall Street. She didn’t have specific orders to frame her wisdom in such a way that the Wall Streeters were made out to be the axle of democracy and the fulcrum of liberty. The amount of money they spent merely suggested such conclusions.
John S.
@satby:
If you really were dealing with someone on the spectrum, it is entirely likely that they would have a hard time with sarcasm or satire (at least on the Asperger side of the spectrum).
satby
@Darkrose: I hear you. And you’re probably right. I try to make allowance for the autism stuff, but the constant harping on nefarious plots by Hillary (all ridiculous) does get tedious.
But what disinclines me to support Bernie is Bernie, not his posse.
satby
@John S.: I worked with people on the spectrum as a job coach, and I totally get that.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Watching interviews with JEB supporters is just mind blowing. Bill Maher had Ana Navarro on his show last night, and she’s one too. The “he kept us safe after 9/11” should be a clinically approved test of mental illness.
Immanentize
@MattF: anyone not shooting for the Supreme Court in actuality in their career would accept a recess appointment. The appointment would last until next January (or until the new justice was actually confirmed) and whoever was appointed would sit on some of the most consequential decisions in history (unions, contraception, voting rights, death penalty, campaign finance). That person would also shape the next term’s case load through cert grants. Additionally, they would be ably to sit on and decide a slew of cases between the first Monday in October and the beginning of the next Congress.
After which, they would have a lifetime pension at the same pay as an associate justice and they could write their ticket (at least their book) and get pretty much any position in law they wanted.
Not bad for 10 months work.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Immanentize: It looks like a Justice has to serve 10 years to get a SCOTUS pension.
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
@Jeffro:
People keep saying this, but I’m not exactly sure what they’re supposed to do. If people are in an anti-establishment mood, then there’s nothing that establishment can do about it. Except Go Galt, and I’m sure they would be criticized for that also.
Baud
@satby:
Askew has disappeared. So has Dance Around in Your Bones and Valdivia.
Phylllis
I’ll be getting the primary results for my (small, rural–abt 15K population) county for the local paper this evening. My editor asked me yesterday who I thought would win here & I said Trump, mainly because these stuck in the 50’s folks around here (and by that I mean the 1850’s) aren’t likely to go for somebody with one of them there furriner names.
debbie
I hope to get a chance to prowl my neighborhood, stalking the elusive snowdrop, the first sign of spring around here. And because my apartment stinks of grout, caulk, and some kind of etching acid, I hope to open my windows for most of the day.
Arm The Homeless
@Betty Cracker:
Just saw this last night. The amount of foot dragging, can kicking, and general glibness about SoFlo’s water woes is astounding.
I hope you are having a peaceful retreat. We need your snark and irreverence tanks at full before this clown-show of a primary gets into full swing.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: But I’m still here. Guess you can’t get lucky all the time.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: This blog badly needs to be gentrified.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Baud:
Valdivia is on twitter, and so is dengre. I don’t know where askew is – I guess the Martin O’Malley non-starter probably landed hard.
satby
@Baud: Dance and Valdivia have popped up once in a while. I just wondered about askew because the B vs H threads should be like catnip to her.
And Applejinx reminds me of her.
Baud
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Everyone’s moving to Twitter, which I don’t really do anymore.
@satby: Thanks. I missed them. Can’t remember the last time I saw one of their comments.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
(Sorry satby for clogging up another Open Thread with more HRC vs Bernie stuff, but this is too good to pass up.)
Kevin Drum is in my head.:
Writing a hypothetical speech for HRC:
This.
Maybe Bernie really can run an effective “revolution”, too, but HRC seems better positioned to make that case.
J is a big HRC critic and big Bernie fan. She was talking to her twin sister on the phone last night, saying she was so tired of the “50 state strategy” stuff and that “… all it got us, maybe, was Pelosi as speaker…” I understand where she’s coming from, but it makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@satby:
I’d be curious if her distaste for Hillary is transferred to support for Sanders. I don’t think so, but I agreed wiwth her on many threads about Hillary, and still would – but we’re in binary mode now, and I vote Democratic. Also, Sanders supporters have all gone up my ass sideways.
satby
@Baud: we’re trying ;)
Wait, I thought you said GERONTIFIED.
Arm The Homeless
@bystander:
Ren and Stimpy may be one of the defining pop-cultural experiences of my life. The pinnacle, imho, has to be Space Madness.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Baud:
140 characters doesn’t allow much discussion of nuance. It’s like trying to put all your thoughts into haiku. Which is a good exercise, but not exactly conducive to fleshing things out.
satby
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: substantive comments about the platforms, merits, methods are interesting.
“Hillary trying to cancel democracy” not so much. ;)
Bobby Thomson
@satby: hanging out at DailyBern.
Baud
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
FWIW, I think Hillary has been trying to avoid a direct confrontation with Bernie as you would see in a normal primary. But she might not be able to avoid it if he keeps doing well.
Peale
@Baud: you be less establishment now! So I can criticize you for being a phony when you promise to do what I want!
Baud
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: We do a much better job here. ;-)
Immanentize
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: thanks — very interesting. I admittedly was analogizing between that appointment and an interim Senator. I guess Congress has a better Union? (Just kidding fact obsessed folks).
In any case, the pension would in no way be the deciding factor for anyone.
I think Obama will never take this path. In large part because it would assure his choice would never be confirmed. But really great judges with long noble careers have certainly already let it be known in the White House that they would be happy to serve for a short while.
Baud
@Peale: Exactly.
Elizabelle
@satby: A Clinton Derangement Syndrome vic? Even so, I wish he/she would come back, or lurks. Hi Askew. (waves)
Good morning all. And it is a good morning. Warming temps; 60s in Virginia. Nice day for a funeral. Antonin Scalia, dead and gone, and soon to be residing underground. Dog be praised.
Interesting NYTimes reader comment on their story, Why is Mitch McConnell Picking this Fight? [why indeed?]
I hope some enterprising journalist has been working on this feverishly; perhaps they were waiting until beloved Nino is buried to publish.
But: private jet? Private guest? Dinner gathering where none of the other guests’ names have leaked out?
One can still speak ill of the decedent’s practices (and rulings), and one must. It’s cleansing.
If our lapdog media won’t get on it, maybe TMZ will. Someone could tell them Kanye or Kim or Leo were there and make them disprove it.
Applejinx
What if she doesn’t care about the same things you do?
This is the problem. What if she isn’t being a rebel because she doesn’t want America to be any different than it is now? Just ‘do no worse, and stay the course’.
Everything I’ve seen suggests that Hillary Clinton does NOT care about the same things I do, and I feel it’s disingenous to suggest she does.
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@Applejinx:
Hey, unlike certain blog commenters, she’s accomplished a lot with her life thereby commanding a price for speeches.
She’s actually been gainfully employed for many years and has genuine accomplishments in her professional field, making big decisions. In contrast, you can’t even figure out how to make minimum wage at WalMart or McDonalds.
I’d say she’s light years beyond your dumb ass.
satby
@Bobby Thomson: whoa, went to check that out and, umm, interesting. Especially the article where they warn Elizabeth Warren not to endorse “anybody but Sanders”.
lamh36
Good morning BJ. I find myself up early on a Saturday morning because I was supposed to run an errand that fell through…now I’m up, but I’ll be darn if I stay up.
I’m getting back in ma’bed.. Just wanted to wish the early risers a Good morning, until I really get out of bed at lunch time!
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Sticking it to Obama voters seems to be the only principle of Trump supporters.
Trump has done exactly what we thought he’d do – destroy the Bush Establishment GOP, and now Republicans are only what Trump says they are, since conservatism’s only principle for the last 8 years has been Obama hatred. The only question left is whether being supported by a bunch of racist morons will destroy Trump’s brand, then the circle will be complete.
satby
@Elizabelle: That IS interesting. Too bad our media can be counted on not to investigate.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Immanentize: I am so tired of this “recess appointment” fantasy crap.
It’s very, very easy for the Senate to keep from going into recess. There was maybe a window of opportunity this past week, depending on what the Senate actually did during that time.
There will not be a recess appointment.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Elizabelle
If Askew happens to be a Virginian, he/she can vote for Martin O’Malley. His name is still on the ballot.
Absentee in person (early voting) is already available. I voted yesterday at the Fairfax Govt Center. Five minutes, including filling out my application and providing my (mandatory) reason for not being available on primary day (March 1, Super Tuesday).
Voted for Hillary. It felt good. Although I wish Bernie well too; appreciate his keeping his ideas in the race, and will work vigorously to support our nominee this summer and fall.
Info from Virginia’s Department of Elections on absentee voting.
I guess I could have voted in the GOP primary, for giggles, but wanted to support Hillary. Don’t want her getting too beaten up, because you know Andrea Mitchell and the NY Times are already out there with shivs.
Immanentize
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: well you are tired of it. I guess that settles it! And as I have said all along, I agree it won’t happen.
This particular conversation was started when Scott suggested no one would take the appointment if offered. I disagree with that because I know a bunch of judges who would.
And I am sorry you are tired.
MomSense
Made some croutons, did a chiffonade of the salvageable greens, added chopped onion, lots of pepper and a little salt to the chickpeas. A little lemon and some herbs would make this a keeper recipe. Some capers could work too.
NotMax
Oy vey.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Immanentize: Eh? Wasn’t me. Matt, maybe?
:-)
Cheers,
Scott.
debbie
@Elizabelle:
I’m skeptical. McConnell doesn’t seem selfless enough to put himself out like that. Though he is stupid enough to say stupid things (like promising to make Obama a one-term president).
NotMax
Strictly a thought experiment, or a plot for an alternate universe short story.
Never gonna happen in a gazillion years, but wouldn’t it be a hoot if Obama nominated McConnell?
Watching him develop acute whiplash opposing himself in the Senate would almost be worth it.
tsquared2001
@rikyrah: Good morning to you, too! What links do you have to share this cloudy morning? I am avoiding doing my taxes and need a time suck.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: I found Dengre’s twitter account. He is NOT feeln’ the Bern. He’s a 100 times worst than me. He makes me look like a pacifist sticking daisies into rifles.
but I couldn’t find Valdivia. What is her twitter account?
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
valdivia
Bartholomew
@satby: Satby et all, why don’t you leave Applejinx alone? Is it your inner belief you are entitled to shout over and throw shit over all minority groups?
I think the leftist takeover of the Democratic Party base is why liberals keep losing … so please attack me as well. I hate bullies, and I’m not as decent as some that have been destroyed by the left … and I have a memory which most leftists apparently don’t.
You know, if the spite monkeys weren’t busy trying their leftist bullying, some MIGHT wonder if pushing a woman half this world hates with a vengeance is really in the interests of women in high office. Might ponder the future by considering the past. Hmmm. But leftists aren’t much known for critical thinking, which is another of the countless reasons they are losers and I don’t wish to associate with them. Besides the poo smell wherever they go.
Pfft. Anyway for anyone serious, and there are some here, this article refutes the faked analysis attacks from yesterday. Not everyone manages to slip on every banana peel thrown:
“A considered response to this objection might well be LMAO, but it is clearly another sign of the political establishment’s determination to marshal its resources against any insurgent candidate who defies the reigning conservative orthodoxy in economics.”
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mainstream-democratic-economists-join-effort-to-discredit-bernie-sanders-2016-02-19
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: I tried that. I dont’ think this is it.
https://twitter.com/valdivia
JPL
The GA House voted on a religious liberty bill that said that pastors could not be forced to marry gay couples, but unfortunately, the Senate added other amendments to that bill. If the house votes on and pases the Senate version, open discrimination will be allowed in GA.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@debbie: I decided to look at McConnell’s statement again. He’s not stupid. Biden said he came out so forcefully so soon to get out ahead of Cruz. Maybe. Reid says he’ll back down. I sorta expect that there will be hearings and a vote, but it’s still a tossup (leaning toward approval, I think) as to whether Obama’s first choice will be seated.
I think McConnell did leave himself some wiggle room by saying “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President.” – Should rather than Must is important here, I think. He knows he has the power to prevent a vote, but didn’t explicitly say he would.
We’ll see.
The trolling had its intended effect, though, didn’t it? Gotta keep the Teabagger Outrage Machine going. :-/
Cheers,
Scott.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
sorry – Valdivia@TheCorollary
Princess
Latest rumour I heard, from someone with connections, is that it might Amy Klobuchar, because she’s on the judiciary committee and everyone on it loves her. Apparently.
satby
@Bartholomew: I was defending Applejinx while disagreeing with them.
pamelabrown53
@Bartholomew:
Are you okay? Feeling feverish?
Anyway, good morning all. Light day today: walk at least 2 miles and make a yuuuuge pot of Southwestern Chicken/Vegetable soup. Follow the returns in SC and NV. Hope your candidate wins unless it’s Bernie :-) .
tsquared2001
@Bartholomew: THIS might be the funniest thing I read today.
Leftist takeover of the Democratic Party, spite monkeys, a plea for civility while casting aspersions on personal hygiene, equating the US with the entire world AND a contention that Bart is the SERIOUS one.
JPL
@Princess: From CNN
It seems unlikely that she will accept
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@Bartholomew:
Fuck you. Applejinx is an accomplishment-free asshole nihilist who just wants to watch the world burn and wreck the lives of tens of millions.
satby
@Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class: Bots, ease up on Applejinx a bit. They have stated they’re on the spectrum multiple times and so can struggle with the social nuances.
Edited to add I don’t at all feel the Bern, but I think what you’re interpreting as nihilism is actually just a disability.
tsquared2001
@Princess: Senator Klobuchar was Lawyer of the Year as Hennepin County attorney, is strong on choice and voting rights. That said, she hasn’t ever sat on the bench and I do believe she wants the presidency
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@Raven:
You do clean sand and a level for the base?
Applejinx
@Bartholomew: Don’t worry about it. I’ve been enjoying the fact that Satby’s spent the whole thread sneering at me for taking a satirical bit about Clinton seriously, because I’m autistic and know no better.
When (a) I am autistic, no lie, and (b) I wrote that, right here. I would know it’s satire because I wrote it as such.
Me being SERIOUS is more like this:
The thing that bugs me about this is not the partisan supporters insisting for the Nth time that a rich Clinton partisan buying the Onion means nothing, will change nothing. I liked the Onion pretty well, took it as a sort of cultural touchstone for merciless snark, but it doesn’t really do me any harm to have it neutered or assigned partisan duties. Just as it doesn’t do me harm to have Clinton flattering Wall Streeters for money and being paid handsomely to do so.
What bugs me is this: a rich Clinton partisan who’s extensively funded the Clinton library, who’s on record about buying up media properties in order to manipulate them and worked with goddamn Rupert Murdoch of all people, has bought the Onion which immediately started putting out ‘push comedy’ (I don’t know how else to describe it).
It’s not that people are behaving like rich powerful people just do this stuff for no reason, expecting no quid pro quo (I find this an astonishing suggestion. Really? Then why do it, for heaven’s sake? Do YOU spend millions of dollars to do nothing and influence nobody?)
It’s that some rich partisan guy REFLEXIVELY did this to help his buddy Hillary, one of a whole series of things he’s done for his buddies the Clintons. I don’t even care that much if he was ordered by Queen Hils to do so: I doubt it but it’s possible.
It’s that buying up a potentially troublesome media outlet to neuter it, a tactic learned directly from Rupert Murdoch through working WITH Murdoch and soaking up his way of thinking, was done by our side, which I would not have guessed before I learned about this.
OUR people don’t buy up critical media to stifle awkward speech, except when they do. Except when it’s to benefit Hillary Clinton. And then they say the guy who’s said openly that one of his ways to be influential in American politics is to ‘control media outlets’ (The New Yorker) will not be controlling the media outlet he bought, nor trying to influence American politics through this control.
I’m sorry, but when you don’t leave that sort of thing to the Rupert Murdochs of the world, it undermines your attempts to paint yourself as the progressive friend of the people, and tends to highlight suggestions that you’re running a dishonest and ruthless operation that cares only about power and will stop at nothing to seize it, and at that point the line between you, and the actual Rupert Murdoch and the actual rightwingers who behave exactly the same way, is blurred.
And I didn’t blur that line, just like I wasn’t the one barking like a dog on stage to amuse an audience.
mike in dc
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
Except Bernie is the only one who’s supported a revival of the 50 state strategy and Clinton, to my knowledge, has said nothing about it. DWS is essentially considered to be in alignment with Clinton, so the prospects that we would take a more holistic, less Beltway-driven approach to mid-term elections and Congressional elections seem dim.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@JPL: I saw her on TeeVee and she made the point that there are more women currently on the Court than the Judiciary committee.
I wondered about that, too.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Yup. He’s said so many times. He’s a great one for saying things. What has he done to advance that goal?
Raven
@Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class: Yes but I’ll use crushed granite for the base.
Immanentize
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: sorry. But you did provide very useful info. that I didn’t know before. One reason such conversations about improbable things are valuable. Thanks again.
tsquared2001
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Exactly. When has Senator Sanders stumped for Hassan, Duckworth, Feingold or raised money for the same? When the revolution comes, he will need those votes
Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)
@Princess:
Not everyone! I have never forgiven her for voting with Bush on several key measures early in her career & then having her staff lie to me about it when I called her on it.
mike in dc
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Is Hillary stumping for anyone at the moment, or is she busting her ass trying to win the nomination? I believe Sanders has raised money for and endorsed Democrats before, actually.
bystander
@John S.: So many pearls of wisdom from R&S.
@Arm The Homeless: Immortal episode. The episode in which they introduced the full version of Happy Happy Joy Joy is another top ten.
Princess
@Schlemazel (parmesan rancor): Sorry! Meant to say “loved by everybody on the judiciary committee.” Apparently. I remember those votes.
tsquared2001
@mike in dc: Well, that belief and 8 bucks will buy a cup of coffee.
Shell
Im making some homemade Scrapple. A dish that does not exist outside of the Mid-Atlantic states.
Ultraviolet Thunder
I’m home. Put in a 10 hour workday in Charleston WV Friday, got in the car at 5:30 pm to go to a hotel and decided “screw it. I want to go home.”. I was in Detroit by midnight.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
He has a certain reputation for not doing so, I don’t know if that’s merited. I know he called for a primary challenger to Obama in 2011, and at one point considered making that run himself. Chuck Todd asked him about it and his answer was laughably disingenuous– that was just a radio show… that was many, many years ago (less than five). Are his Iowa and New Hampshire armies of Blessed Youth signing up for House and Senate campaigns? I can’t say, but you’d think that would’ve attracted some attention.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@mike in dc: She specifically called out other people running for office in her recent event in Nevada. I’m sure she’s doing similar things wherever she’s campaigning, but I saw that on C-SPAN. And KD says in a post today (excerpted above) that she raised $18M to help other Democrats get elected in just the last quarter.
If Bernie is smart, he’s doing similar things. If he is, he should be talking about them. A revolution of one office-holder isn’t effective.
Cheers,
Scott.
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@Raven:
Nice! I really need to redo my walk, but it is currently deck construction, and unless I want to do some engineering in building up a slope, I have to think about rerouting.
NotMax
@Shell
Can buy real scrapple in the frozen food aisle at the supermarket here any day of the week.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Ultraviolet Thunder: Thunder be truckin’! Google Maps says there was 4 stretches of construction in Ohio – that must have been fun. Roads always seem to be under construction in “what’s high in the middle and round on both end?”.
Cheers,
Scott.
Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)
I doubt there could be many places that would warm the hearts of the gooper shitheels about their chances this November than to read the shit being posted here. Neither side is innocent of being demeaning, degrading, dismissive, insulting, inconsiderate and just plain pigheaded assholes. There are things I like about both Sanders and Clinton, there are things I don’t like about them both also but the childish slandering and name-calling going on here is really ridiculous. Put down the crack pipe kids, neither of these 2 are the second coming of the Christ, neither is Beelzebub. How about everyone just take 2 steps back, breath deeply and count to 10 then start over? You are not changing minds (in a positive way at least) you are not winning converts and you are not helping your chosen one but you are aiding and abetting the actual evil presented by the GOP. If you cannot speak civilly of one of the 2 Dems then don’t speak of them at all. Not even obliquely in that sly assholish way by pretending we don’t know who you are talking about when not mentioning them by name. Instead of replying in kind to that sort of bullshit just call the poster out on it, refuse to engage & move on.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: s /end/ends
(sigh)
Cheers,
Scott.
(I blame the keyboard, naturally.)
Bobby Thomson
@mike in dc: he’s supported it? With zero dollars. Only words! Bernie’s worse than Bush he sold us out!
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Keith G: I don’t really get their strategy at all given that there’s no guarantee they’ll hold onto the Senate in November. Suppose they lose the POTUS and their majority in the Senate? They’ll have no power to even provide advice and consent. At least they have some bargaining power at present and can basically say no to anyone who is on the liberal fringe. That constrains Obama to nominating a relatively moderate candidate. If The HildeBerniest wins in a landslide they get nothing – with Ginsburg likely to step down the new POTUS could confirm two new, young, liberal firebrands in their first term, solidifying liberal control of the SCOTUS for decades. They’re shooting themselves in the foot unless they are absolutely sure they’ll win this November and I really don’t see where that certainty could be coming from, given that they have a terrible field of POTUS candidates.
Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)
@Princess:
I am pretty sure she is loved by almost everyone in the Senate (assholes like Cruz don’t count). She has made a point of being very middle of the road, go a long to get along and very bland. I accept that but there were promised made when she ran the first time that were discarded as soon as the votes were counted. What would there be for even a gooper not to love? Still not the end of the world but I ended up calling her office several times on those issues and even talking to her personally and instead of trying to justify the change or defend the votes she lied to my face about them & her staff was just as dismissive. It was all rather disappointing. I didn’t work on her re-election run nor did I donate to it but she has so much support I know she didn’t miss it.
tsquared2001
@Schlemazel (parmesan rancor): Well said.
I lurk for far TOO many hours on Balloon Juice but when I see a TBogg unit of comments – I run the fuck away.
Bobby Thomson
@mike in dc: he hasn’t raised a fucking dime for others this cycle. Clinton has raised 18 million. That’s one of the reasons his revolution of one rings hollow.
Amir Khalid
I am seated here before my laptop, watching a Google Translate Sings video on YouTube. This young woman whose channel it is runs song lyrics through a few passes of Google Translate and sings the results, which are silly but often unexpectedly amusing.
Immanentize
@Shell: oh man. I am from the Penn./NY border and scrapple was beloved by one side of my father’s clan while head cheese the other…. Good luck!
Ultraviolet Thunder
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
Yeah, I-75 through northern Ohio has been under construction for as long as I can remember. I never see anyone working on it, but it’s all barriered off and low speed limits.
Weirdest experience of this trip; on I-75 through Toledo around 10:30 pm, a large bale or bundle against the left Jersey barrier engulfed in flames and smoking heavily. Nothing else near it. Cars creeping around. It stank. There’s no way for anyone to have done that intentionally so a flicked cigarette must have found flammable material. It was very windy so that helped the blaze.
It’s 375 miles from DTW to Charleston WV. I drove down on Thursday, worked Thu & Fri and came home. I could have stayed over and driven back this morning but I have to spend next weekend in Ontario and I didn’t want to lose half of this Saturday.
I drove 30,000 miles last year and so far I’m ahead of that pace for 2016.
Applejinx
@Schlemazel (parmesan rancor): I don’t think anything could warm the heart of Donald Freaking Trump more than reading about this debacle over ‘The Onion’ and I think it’s worth objecting to on the grounds that it’s handing ammunition to the other side.
I’ve seen John Cole driven to exasperation for just this reason, and I share his frustration.
How does a Clinton-aligned multibillionaire literally buying up media outlets to manipulate them, help our side in the general election? Not only would Trump be able to run left of Clinton on foreign affairs and economics, but he could also say she had rich backers buying up media to control it, and then he could simply point to the freaking New Yorker to back him up. That New Yorker article has the multibillionaire in question being a little contemptuous of President Clinton, talking in Yiddish behind his back and belittling him. Trump is a New Yorker and doesn’t need me reminding him of this: his campaign is specifically attacking just such people as this, and he is more than happy to exploit racist attitudes to do so.
I really don’t think allowing Clinton to be the Dem nominee is wise at this point, especially if we’re running against Trump. She is setting up for a series of relatively truth-based attacks from Trump or any Republican (but Trump would be particularly damaging) and cannot seem to avoid being the person Trump would say she was. How did we get into a place where potentially Donald Trump would be the less corrupt (but more racist, more idiot, infinitely less experienced in government) option?
Steve in the ATL
@Mustang Bobby:
You have a non-wingnut sibling? Lucky bastard.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Dunno about RBG retiring even if the Senate flips. She’s tough and very determined and a credit to the Court. As long as she can do the job, I expect she will. Stevens didn’t retire until he was 90.
We’ll see.
Cheers,
Scott.
Chyron HR
@Applejinx:
Always Unbearable Totally Incoherent Simply Mind-boggling
Immanentize
Thanks all. I am off to try to find some maltose sugar. I am making Peking duck for the first time evah this weekend which is a couple day affair. I hope to be back in a little later, so if anyone has any advice for a novice please share. I am using this serious eats recipe: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/09/peking-duck-mandarin-pancakes-plum-sauce-recipe.html
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Ultraviolet Thunder:
Yikes. :-(
My mom lives in OH and had to drive about 150 miles a day for a job for a few months. It’s really hard on old cars, and drivers! Here’s hoping you don’t have to do it too much longer, but for < 500 mile trips it's really hard to beat the time efficiency of driving. Unfortunately.
Cheers,
Scott.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Applejinx:
A candidate who doesn’t connect with the single most loyal and recently most active Democratic constituency will find it almost impossible to win.
Applejinx
@Chyron HR: I just wonder, do you understand how much damage these people are doing to the Democratic Party? There is no reason Hillary should drop out, she’s got a right to run and she has all the Beltway people lined up to support her. I do not see why she needs to tolerate multibillionaires acting like Rupert Murdoch, which is a whole level of horrible beyond things like the remarks of Steinem and Albright.
I think there’s a world of possibility between dropping out, and going full Murdoch on things we collectively appreciate such as the Onion. This blog has gone on for YEARS about how the Republicans constantly pose challenges for the Onion, but I don’t think anybody would have guessed their undoing would be getting captured by Clintons.
I would _prefer_ it if it was all being directed by the Clintons, because then at least they’d be effective supervillains (note: SARCASM). This multibillionaire fellow has acted like he is their puppetmaster, with open contempt for the clod in his boxers from Arkansas (see the New Yorker article). We’re being governed by a pack of Shkrelis from behind the scenes, each with their own causes, such as the nuclear obliteration of Iran.
I don’t endorse any of that.
Florida Frog
@JPL: Such a bill is completely redundant and pointless. Because we enjoy separation of church and state, the state cannot dictate what types of services churches perform. Catholic priests are not required to perform marriage ceremonies for divorced people either. Gay people now have full marriage rights in the civil sense of that term – the one that matters for inheritance, benefits, etc. In addition to civil marriage performed by a JP, there are plenty of churches (UU, UCC) that are thrilled to perform these marriages but none are forced to.
Amir Khalid
@Applejinx:
If a pro-Clinton billionaire wanted to help Hillary out by buying a major publication, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be The Onion. That would be like the Koch brothers buying MAD magazine to help out their favourite candidate.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Amir Khalid: Hey! Don’t give them any ideas!!
Cheers,
Scott.
(Yikes! Mad is owned by Time Warner!)
Steve in the ATL
@JPL:
Our neighbor to the west has been having so much fun spending millions on legal fees while losing every case that we couldn’t resist. With SCOTUS in its current form, righties can no longer use it to overturn various pieces of the seminal case Grant v. Confederate States of America.
magurakurin
@Applejinx: you need to take a break from it all. Go outside, look at the sky, feel the sun and the wind. A lot of all of this is completely out of our hands and there is very real limit to how we can affect it. But sometimes it is more important to limit how much it affects us. It is in motion now. Cast your vote and then que sera sera.
Applejinx
@Amir Khalid: I’m not sure you’re quite keeping up with this story.
This is a real guy, and he did buy controlling interest in the Onion, and he tried to buy the LA Times and offered to team up with Sheldon Adelson to buy the New York Times. In this conversation, he was substantially more hawkish and aggressive towards Iran than Sheldon Freaking Adelson, saying quote
Him and Sheldon Adelson would like to buy the New York Times, together. To them, there’s little distinction between Democrat and Republican: that’s not their issue, their issue is Israel (rather obviously).
This is a real guy and has contributed more to the DNC than just about anybody, and has given tens of millions of dollars to the Clintons, and this is not hypothetical at all and he’s bought the Onion which promptly started running humor like ‘Female Presidential Candidate Who Was United States Senator, Secretary Of State Told To Be More Inspiring’.
So what do you mean by ‘IF’ a pro-Clinton billionaire wanted to help Hillary out by buying a major publication? He is extensively on record about doing just that, and he has indeed bought The Onion.
Applejinx
@magurakurin: yeah, you’re right magurakurin.
It is supposed to be mighty warm today. Saban will continue to own the Onion, and will still be looking to buy the New York Times by teaming up with Sheldon Adelson whether I’m talking about him or not. And he’ll still be more of a hawk than Adelson, and in tight with the Clintons, having given them waaaay more than Wall Street ever will. Nothing I say or do will change that.
I’m gonna take a nap. cheers, magurakurin. <3
magurakurin
@Applejinx: it’ll all work out in the end. And if it doesn’t, there is always ice cream.
Applejinx
@magurakurin: I do have some of that! Have fun in the thread, us old BJ hands know it’s okay for things to get lively. That’s the peculiar charm of this blog.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
huh
daves910
@Baud: I could be up on the Tahoe Meadows snowshoeing today but instead will be caucusing.
Shame on Nv,-and everywhere else that caucuses- for giving up democracy for this crap sandwich.
Elie
@magurakurin:
Well said truth… and for me, with caramel sauce :-)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Amir Khalid
@Applejinx:
I am well aware that Haim Saban is a real person. There are publications in America far more influential than The Onion. My point is that if Saban is seeking to extend his already-considerable political influence by buying it, he’s starting in the wrong place. And his political history suggests he knows that too.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
Sent Mrs. Cisco on her journey yesterday. My mom and brother have both flown home. Back in bed and trying to rest.
Have to go see the doc next week to discuss my test results. My risk for a future cardiac event is apparently well outside the normal range. Go figure.
I want to thank all the well-wishers I missed responding to before. For a pack of unhinged snarling jackals, you folks are aces.
Hang in there, and beat the sh*t out of every REPUBLICAN you can this election.
Iowa Old Lady
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): Rest is good. Taking care of yourself in general is good. Blessings on you.
Betty Cracker
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): Peace, love and courage to you. Take care of yourself.
Brachiator
@Applejinx:
Just saw this story, and it’s kinda sad, one of many shivers of dying media.
The Onion is not a major publication. It’s not a major anything. It’s much like Saturday Night Live, nearly dead and running on the fumes of its reputation. The Onion barely survived its death as a printed publication, and is struggling as a digital offering (from an NPR story):
It also doesn’t much matter that a group of these guys tried to buy the LA Times or the NY Times, two other dying dinosaurs.
And it is a joke better than anything ever published in the Onion to think that buying this media entity will help Hillary Clinton.
Brachiator
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):
This is good news, right?
Sounds like quite a scare. Best wishes to you.
Emma
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): Take your time. Walk yourself back to health and emotional stability at your own pace. The pack will wait patiently for your return.
Emma
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Funny. Ha.Ha. I hope the Secret Service stomps all over his ass.
CaseyL
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): Take care; we here at
DS9BJ need you :)Steve from Antioch
I’m watching Scalia’s mass.
It is an understated affair in keeping with the man’s humility.
El Caganer
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Jesus Christ. That’s Ted Cruz-type shit.
El Caganer
I can never read a story about or see a picture of Mitch McConnell without this coming to mind: https://youtu.be/doIFt4h9DeE.
Yes, that makes me a bad person, but I’m trying to change.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Brachiator: No, it is not.
Brachiator
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): Sorry to hear it. I know that you have been through a lot.
My sincere good wishes.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Brachiator: I should clarify. When I said well outside the range, I meant above the range, by a significant margin.
They’re hopeful that the condition is temporary and related to events of the last week, and toward that end there will be retesting several weeks out.
MomSense
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):
Thanks for checking in with us. Please take care of yourself. We are all rooting for you.
Frankensteinbeck
@Applejinx:
Here is a big part of the problem:
What you did is not satire. It is conservative style ‘can’t you take a joke’ assholery where you say a slightly exaggerated form of your own hate and then claim it doesn’t count. You do that a lot. Every time you use a wink emoticon, for example. You can add to that relentless conspiracy theories that suggest Hillary is trying to destroy the democratic process.
You have said you’re autistic, and have trouble with this stuff. Okay. Listen to someone who is not, and who studies the effect words have on people: You are being insulting, not funny, and frequently make people honestly worry about your sanity.
You know how Hillary supporters got very nasty toward Sanders supporters here for awhile? It is because of you. Because you keep doing this, and it is more insulting than direct name-calling because it is passive-aggressive. Others backed you up, but you started and you are the most persistent.
Remember that when people get insulting. You may not see yourself doing it, but you insult them first.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Frankensteinbeck:
Thank you.
Applejinx
@Frankensteinbeck: Nope. You’re gaslighting. (winky omitted).
Usually it’s not Hillary directly trying to destroy the democratic process, but damn do her supporters get out of hand at times, and she shows no interest in controlling them.
I think there are plenty of reasonable Hillary supporters, plus a number of them here that are just nasty by nature. And there have been plenty of pro-Sanders people who were or are out of line, sometimes I’ve even remarked on it (not often: I don’t usually mind that).
Nope. It is not because of me. That is a rather amazing suggestion. I’ve seen way more extreme on both sides.
Brachiator
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):
Got it. Thanks for taking a moment to clarify. I know there’s a lot you are dealing with right now.
Kindest regards.
Jeffro
@Elizabelle:
I’m fighting the same temptation, but will be voting Dem on 3/1 (very nearly the same polling place, no less!)
Peale
@Chyron HR: part of me wants the kids to get their Bernie so I don’t have to listen to their whining for 20 years about how we wouldn’t have all these troubles if we’d just vote him in.
Frankensteinbeck
@Applejinx:
Yes, it is you. It is you specifically, more than the people who are obviously insulting. I understand that you don’t see the insults when you give them, but you give them constantly. Others have their own guilt, but you do it first, most often, and in nasty ways I will accept you do not understand.
You just did part of it. In previous comments you developed your conspiracy theory into an accusation that Hillary is destroying the democratic process through surrogates. Hiding behind deflections that you’re not specifically targeting her insults Hillary supporters, because it is a tactic to frame the conversation as if you are assumed correct and there is no legitimate way to disagree. Pretending it is humor compounds that dishonest deflection.
That is called ‘passive-aggressive behavior.’ It makes people very angry. You do it constantly. Yes, Applejinx, you are being insulting, even if you don’t see it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Frankensteinbeck: I am not convinced of the sincerity of these posts or any of the info, political or personal, contained therein.
Frankensteinbeck
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Fair enough, but if Applejinx is sincere, and is autistic and cannot easily grasp the subtleties of conversation, someone should try to explain it. I don’t even expect this to work, but it should be tried.
I would not even think of being this patronizing if I had A) not been subjected to so much patronizing first, and B) be dealing with a self-confessed autist who might legitimately not understand.
I am having way too many flashbacks to Matoko-chan, but at least without the racism.
Just One More Canuck
@Frankensteinbeck: what Conster said – thank you – very well said
pamelabrown53
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):
Please take good care of yourself and if you ever feel alone, just post here and we “jackals” are ready to cradle you in love and light. Sending virtual {{{{{hugs}}}}}.
Matt McIrvin
@Peale: I sort of felt that way about George W. Bush in 2000. At least if we elected him, it’d shut up the conservative lunatics railing about the Klintons and how they murdered Vince Foster and Ron Brown.
Of course, it didn’t work. Having total power and massive public support in the hands of their guys after 9/11 just made them louder.
The difference here is that Bernie Sanders is actually a candidate I’d happily support on his own merits.
Fair Economist
@tsquared2001:
Isn’t wanting the Presidency basically a job requirement for Senators?
Marc McKenzie
Of course, one can look back on the Congressional elections of 2010 and 2014, where we had chances to make sure that McConnell and the GOP crazies were not given control of the House and Senate. But noooooo….too many of us just had to sit home and pout because we wanted to send messages about how mad we were that we didn’t get the public option or how Obama hadn’t brought about a progressive Utopia with a snap of his fingers.
And of course, the GOP doing this nonsense about not wanting to approve PBO’s nom to replace Scalia has nothing to do with Obama’s skin color, right? Right?
Applejinx
@Frankensteinbeck: I try to distinguish between posting seriously, and being snarky, and furthermore I don’t make a practice of being THAT snarky as I did in this thread this morning. On the other hand, damned right I was targeting Hillary and her backers when I posted Onion-style, and it absolutely was humor, and there was nothing kind about it nor do I think snark has to be kind.
There’s not a lot of point breaking it down gag by gag, but those extra-snarky posts are in fact aggressive-aggressive behavior, like much humor, and it absolutely is insulting. I think it’s distressing to people to the extent that it blurs the lines between made-up and reality: for instance, having Saben vow ‘Disruption!’ is less pointed as it equates him with tech douches when he’s got quite different values. If I had him vow to obliterate Iran, well that’s less funny as he’s actually said that.
The genuinely hurtful thing about building to a punchline with ‘stretch goals include a leash and Kissinger’ is not that anyone expects this to be real: it’s that Hillary Clinton is in favor of Kissinger and proud of his approval. In seeking the approval of an obvious war criminal, and in barking like a dog, her actions fill in the gaps around the hurtful snarkiness making it seem a lot more plausible than it is: even though it is aggressive-aggressive snarkiness supposedly too extreme to read as anything other than a silly joke.
And THAT is why it’s making you very angry. It is very insulting to Clinton because it exploits things she’s done, like barking (why, for God’s sake, did she do that? Horrible optics, so exploitable) and treating Kissinger like someone whose approval is worth having (why? Surely even beltway Very Serious People have to have some limits, some decency?)
Iowa Old Lady
@Marc McKenzie: Someone said if you want to send a message, call Western Union. Old fashioned, but apt. Voting is not messaging. It actually puts people in office.
Frankensteinbeck
@Applejinx:
You have recognized and publicly admitted that you try to be insulting. That is enough for me. Keep it in mind when you are insulted in turn, and when your claims you are engaged in legitimate debate are not accepted.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Marc McKenzie: @Iowa Old Lady: There was a lot of internet chatter about Disappointment, and certain journalists/pundits loved to find them some Disappointed Youth who felt Obama hadn’t been bold enough (Joan Walsh stands out in my memory) and David Broder and his ilk declared that Obama had gone too far for good, sensible centrists, but I think data suggests the voting patterns (older, whiter, more rural) were consistent with past mid-terms. The still crappy economy was obviously a driver, and (I think) old whites who had voted D because of Social Security and Medicare couldn’t accept that the scary man in the White House didn’t have it in for them somehow.
Applejinx
@Frankensteinbeck: Am I supposed to be shocked? Are people to have only one mode of discourse, which they’re assumed to occupy at all times, even when their snarky fits are so obvious as to take Onion form complete with fake headline and a lot of (I would have thought) obvious nonsense?
More relevantly, when have I denied posters’ right to insult, snark, and carry on quite freely here… and given that I’ve seen how people post here, why do you think I’d notice the slightest difference? ;)
FlipYrWhig
@Applejinx: FWIW, your endless torrent of breathless, conspiratorial opinions puts you in the company of mclaren and the late and unlamented matoko. Except that I think you would be reachable under other conditions. But, really, it’s exhausting.
Applejinx
@FlipYrWhig: I don’t always agree with mclaren, but often do. There are times I just scroll past mclaren when things get too intense. I feel we do tend to get the same trouble: get serious and try to outline, in depth, some angle on things.
And I confess I’m super interested in people like Saben. When you’re joking around with Sherman Adelson about buying the New York Times, talking about obliterating Iran in shockingly blunt terms, AND you’re incredibly central to establishment Democratic fundraising, that’s super interesting to me.
If anything, I’m curious why other people show much less interest in this. The guy’s influence dwarfs Wall Street in real terms. Some people, such as me, don’t have a huge influence on things. Other people, like Saben, can afford to have an extraordinary influence. I didn’t know who Saben was yesterday, and I’m genuinely startled by him. This is our side now?
TallPete
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: I wonder how many women are in that binder
Germy
Saban is the asshole behind “The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers” that my kids got addicted to when they were in grade school. Absolutely horrible TV. Then there was a movie; my kids insisted on seeing it, and little by little I could see their dawning realization that it was utter and complete garbage.
A few years later I read an interview with him where he admitted the Power Rangers were garbage. I hated him even more, because he was knowingly filling my kids with garbage.
He’s a producer who has never produced a single worthwhile thing in his life.
For example, from teh wikipeeedia:
FlipYrWhig
@Applejinx: People were complaining about Haim Saban and Hillary in 2008. He’s like Soros, one of the rich guys with something to do with liberalism and/or the Democratic Party.
I don’t think reading the web of interpersonal associations around politicians gets you very far because it’s all so inçestuous. Everybody knows everybody in that world, which makes it much less tenable to suggest that knowing a person or taking his money means sympathizing with his worldview in a general, encompassing way. I get that Bernie Sanders is outside that world and his supporters lionize him for it, but having some contact with that world isn’t like being in that room of anonymous people running the conspiracy in X Files.
Germy
@FlipYrWhig:
He also donated to the Bush 04 campaign.
I think he’s one of those people who throws money at all sides, looking for influence wherever he can find it.
Germy
Speaking of “The Power Rangers” a new feature film is due out in 2017. In keeping with the comic book superhero trend, it will most likely be a “dark” and “serious” reimagining of this crap. Directed by someone named Dean Israelite.
So a whole new generation of kids gets to line up and give him their money.
Applejinx
@FlipYrWhig: That is a good point. Cuts both ways, a bit: a world where ten million dollars isn’t all that much, is awful different from anything I know.
But you’re absolutely right, in those circles the people aren’t as beholden as you would be if you had nothing and the guy gave you seven or ten million. I do wonder to what extent they close ranks to protect what they have in common, but I think we’re seeing that in an informal way, and that’s what people find upsetting.
My circles of friends include musicians and songwriters, so I’m not troubled by Saban making crappy TV but I find it dismaying that he got rich through song-sharking the publishing away from young composers. Back in the day it was the music business that liked to do that, and people found it appalling. I’m not surprised this was lucrative: on the one hand he was sharking music publishing, and on the other he wasn’t selling to the record labels, but television networks. Well played, but utterly unethical behavior just like the music business sharks of old.
satby
got busy with other stuff, but I will let this thread be the last time I try to stand up for the jinx while still disagreeing. Because I was honestly trying to explain to and defend s/him and obviously it wasn’t understood. Since he/she said I was sneering at them.
Bartholomew can pound sand, however.
SFAW
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):
As MomSense said:
Ruckus
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):
Once again sorry for your loss.
On your medical issues. I, and I’m sure others here as well, have cardiac issues. I’ve had one heart attack and a couple of periods of serious high blood pressure. But with care it is a livable condition. Follow docs instructions, they seem to know what they are doing. Ask questions, be blunt about everything. You aren’t sure about something, make them explain, in detail. That helps me to get to grips with issues and lifestyle changes, otherwise it’s just my willpower, which wouldn’t light up a 5 watt LED bulb. Good luck with yourownself.
J R in WV
@Betty Cracker:
Honey, it’s nearly that warm today in West Virginia.
I talked to Mrs J and she was going out with the puppies and kittehs, out into the outside, without a wood stove or anything!