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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

How stupid are these people?

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Not all heroes wear capes.

When I was faster i was always behind.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

Their shamelessness is their super power.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Results Open Thread

Results Open Thread

by John Cole|  April 5, 20166:30 pm| 249 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Lily heard me say that it is time to check on the results, so she’s keeping her eyes and ears peeled:

results

I wish I could describe how much I love this dog. She and I are inseparable- more so than even me and Tunch. Thurston is a close second. Rosie wants nothing to do with anyone unless it involves, food, treats, or walks, and Steve just sort of roams the manor and comes for a nightly brushing and one on one after the others have settled down. But Lily is with me all day every day.

At any rate, Sanders is probably going to win tonight, which means that the next two weeks are going to be horrible, as the intensity and nastiness ramp up the closer we are to the finish without having someone having won. I hate it.

I had a long time commenter email me about the general nastiness in the comments- just the attacks and hostility with one camp versus the other. I know there are some people who simply can not control themselves, but try to remember that the people you are talking to are not just pixels, but actual people. And remember that regardless who wins, we’re in a lot better shape than the Republicans.

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Reader Interactions

249Comments

  1. 1.

    Big Ol Hound

    April 5, 2016 at 6:47 pm

    Great dogs bring the ultimate calm to me too. I hope all of you have had a wet lick today cause you’ve earned it.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    April 5, 2016 at 6:47 pm

    Sanders is probably going to win tonight, which means that the next two weeks are going to be horrible, as the intensity and nastiness ramp up the closer we are to the finish without having someone having won. I hate it.

    We agree!

  3. 3.

    stinger

    April 5, 2016 at 6:49 pm

    I vote for a Lily/Thurston ticket (sorry, Baud!). Even just photos of critters lower my blood pressure. This campaign is too stressful on both sides.

  4. 4.

    geg6

    April 5, 2016 at 6:49 pm

    Awwwww, love me some Lily! She’s pure sweetness, just like my Koda.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    April 5, 2016 at 6:50 pm

    @stinger: No worries. I would choose dogs over me also.

  6. 6.

    scav

    April 5, 2016 at 6:51 pm

    Speaking of Elephants, BS, and warfare: Dung clue to Hannibal’s Alpine crossing

  7. 7.

    geg6

    April 5, 2016 at 6:51 pm

    @stinger:

    If Thurston is anything like Lovey (and Cole tells me he is), it is unlikely that exposure to him will be good for your blood pressure. ;-)

  8. 8.

    redshirt

    April 5, 2016 at 6:52 pm

    How much is Sanders favored in WI?

  9. 9.

    Baud

    April 5, 2016 at 6:53 pm

    @redshirt: Last poll I saw said 8 points.

  10. 10.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    April 5, 2016 at 6:53 pm

    @redshirt: Biggest margin I’ve seen is 8 points

  11. 11.

    hitchhiker

    April 5, 2016 at 6:56 pm

    You would love my dog, Utah, too. He has an almost mystical ability to get perfect strangers to meet his eyes — and once that happens they’re lost.

    We spend about two hours out stomping around in the Capitol Hill area just east of downtown Seattle every day. It’s an eclectic place. Uber wealth, hospitals, social services, tiny businesses, street dwellers, churches, a university, and a few parks thrown in.

    At least two people (and usually more) will ask permission to touch him every single day. Then I get to watch while he does his mind control on them. You are calm, you are kind, the world is going to be okay.

    It’s really something.

  12. 12.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    April 5, 2016 at 6:57 pm

    Iggy likes to stand on the couch, put his front paws in my lap, rest his head against my chest, and gaze up at me lovingly while he waits for me to hug him. The weird thing? He only does this if I’m upset or angry about something. He does it every time.

    Muppet’s an adorable, smart little sweetie of a girl — but Iggy’s something else entirely.

    Also: Primary? Yay [candidate], boo [other candidate].*

    *Yeah, I’ve read some of the Daily News-Bernie interview. Disappointing. Gonna go pet the dogs.

  13. 13.

    singfoom

    April 5, 2016 at 6:59 pm

    Wait wait wait. We can’t have honest good faith disagreements here. Obviously, if someone on the internet in general and more specifically here on Balloon Juice disagrees with you, it’s because they’re

    A)A troll (also known as someone who disagrees with me)
    B)A ratfvker (even if they’ve posted here for years, especially even)
    C)A loon or a naive college student (or both!)

    Bonus points if you can use guilt by association in your attacks by invoking comments made by a 3rd party, whether another commenter here or another person from outside of here that agrees with their views.

    But seriously, this is going to get nasty, everyone hold onto your butts.

  14. 14.

    eemom

    April 5, 2016 at 6:59 pm

    And remember that regardless who wins, we’re in a lot better shape than the Republicans.

    imho, most of the nastiness results from folks who REFUSE to remember that. It has been said over and over and over by commenters on both sides of Bern/Hillz that they’re cool with the other — AS LONG AS WE ALL AGREE to support the eventual Dem candidate, whoever it is.

    There are, however, some folks who will NOT agree to that. Further to mho, the ONLY thing I can’t abide is a so-called “progressive” who won’t commit to vote for whoever the Dem nominee is. They deserve all the nastiness they get; and — as one might expect of head-up-the-ass delusionaries — they usually have plenty to dish out in return.

    I will also note that I’ve never seen a Hillz person here — or anywhere — who said s/he wouldn’t vote for Bernie if he’s the nominee.

  15. 15.

    Drunkenhausfrau

    April 5, 2016 at 6:59 pm

    Thank you, Cole, for the gorgeous and calming photo of Lily. The extreme nastiness has made me avoid FB, Twitter, and comments, even here. Honestly, people, we have bigger enemies than each other. I fear for my kids’ future.
    Hausfrau+1

  16. 16.

    Mike J

    April 5, 2016 at 6:59 pm

    Pixels? I’m pretty sure half the comments here are produced from three lines of perl.

  17. 17.

    Brachiator

    April 5, 2016 at 7:01 pm

    At any rate, Sanders is probably going to win tonight

    The primary season is also our opportunity to evaluate the candidates.

    Bernie is a nice guy. I got nothing against him and thought hard about supporting him. But his recent interview with the New York Daily News should be essential reading for any potential Bernie partisan.

    Quite honestly, here he does not appear to be ready for prime time. His answers, even concerning his signature campaign theme of breaking up Wall Street, are shockingly inadequate.

    The WaPo summary is devastating: This is what happens when the dog catches the car.

    This has been a surprisingly devastating week for both Trump and Sanders. A lot of folks thought that The Donald was just winging it, and his abortion fumble was a huge disaster which should scare the pants off his most devoted followers.

    But with the NYDN interview, Sanders doesn’t appear competent enough to belong in the Senate, let alone to be running for the presidency.

    ETA: Lily is just da bomb.

  18. 18.

    Anya

    April 5, 2016 at 7:02 pm

    “I had a long time commenter email me about the general nastiness in the comments- just the attacks and hostility with one camp versus the other.”

    Maybe I miss the flame wars. I haven’t seen any nastiness. Maybe, there are isolated comments here and there but I don’t think it’s widespread or particularly nasty. I think 08 was nastier, and more stressful. The difference is in 08, I never suspected Obama or Clinton not to support the eventual nominee. I think they both had a lot to lose within the party, and they were more committed to party unity. However, I am not so sure about Bernie Sanders.

  19. 19.

    Linnaeus

    April 5, 2016 at 7:03 pm

    I agree that it’s gotten a bit nasty at times here at Balloon Juice, but I don’t think it’s necessarily been any worse than it was back in 2008.

  20. 20.

    dedc79

    April 5, 2016 at 7:04 pm

    I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it– too many of the hardcore supporters of Clinton/Sanders spend their time searching for the worst thing a supporter of the other side has said/done, broadcasting it as far and wide as they can, suggesting that this conduct is somehow attributable to all of the other side’s supporters, and then responding in turn. It happens here, it happens on other progressive blogs, on twitter, facebook, etc… If the aim is to sway people in the middle, it is not succeeding. It is more likely to turn potential supporters away. And it needs to stop and soon.

    Frankly I think Ann Laurie isn’t helping much in this regard with some of her recent posts. Cole and Betty Cracker are Clinton supporters too (as am I) but seem to be striking a much better balance. [fixed]

  21. 21.

    John D.

    April 5, 2016 at 7:05 pm

    Sigh. Every time I think we have a chance to pull together and take advantage of what appears to be a once-in-a-lifetime collapse of the GOP, shit like this has to happen.

    Doxxing is not cool, no matter the target. Intraparty doxxing goes beyond that into just abysmally stupid territory. Thanks, random Sanders supporter. You’re really helping make the world a better place by riling up internet mobs against people. That *always* works well.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    April 5, 2016 at 7:06 pm

    @Anya:

    The difference is in 08, I never suspected Obama or Clinton not to support the eventual nominee. I think they both had a lot to lose within the party, and they were more committed to party unity. However, I am not so sure about Bernie Sanders.

    The big difference for me is that I expected either Clinton or Obama to easily win in 08. This year, it’ll be a struggle regardless of who the nominee is (and depending on who the GOP settles on).

  23. 23.

    WereBear

    April 5, 2016 at 7:07 pm

    Thurston is second? I’m so happy. Since he wasn’t chosen, but sent by fate.

    My Tristan was a foster kitten that we had to keep because cuteness. But he’s also turned into a special cat o’ mine.

  24. 24.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    April 5, 2016 at 7:07 pm

    @John D.: Oh FFS.

    (ETA: Agreeing with you. Not cool. Not cool at all.)

  25. 25.

    Anya

    April 5, 2016 at 7:08 pm

    @Brachiator: that interview shocked me. Me and my disaffected friends can come up with a better platform and better answers. Honestly, I felt embarrassed for him. I have never once felt Barack Obama was ill prepared or lacked basic knowledge of the issues, and he was a junior Senator.

  26. 26.

    singfoom

    April 5, 2016 at 7:10 pm

    @John D.: Wow, that’s awful. I’m glad the campaign distanced themselves from Thayer. We don’t need that kind of shit.

  27. 27.

    stinger

    April 5, 2016 at 7:10 pm

    @geg6: I have a couple like him (and her). They do raise my stress levels! But there usually comes a point, late in the day, when they settle down and take the stress levels down too. And they never call me names because of my political preferences.

  28. 28.

    singfoom

    April 5, 2016 at 7:14 pm

    @Brachiator: That was disappointing. As someone who has been railing about the banks since 08/09 and wanting prosecution, I was pretty damn disappointed by his answers.

    Hell, all he had to say was “Robosigning” in response to the question about specific illegal incidents. It was widespread and systemic and it would be easy to use RICO to go up the chain.

    Being the candidate, he should have been able to recount 4 or 5 examples like robosigning and how one might prosecute them….

    Seriously shocked.

  29. 29.

    joel hanes

    April 5, 2016 at 7:15 pm

    Having figured out where I stand, and having heard a great many engaged Democrats of every stripe, at length, through several iterations, I’m just going to withdraw from political blogs for a while.
    Today I’m building a new desk/home office; when that’s done, I’ll do some serious settlement-building in Fallout 4, which seems a lot more productive than another 500-comment shoutfest between people I mostly like and respect at all other times.

    Y’all have fun until it’s time to take down the Rs in the general.

  30. 30.

    Mike J

    April 5, 2016 at 7:16 pm

    @singfoom:

    Wow, that’s awful. I’m glad the campaign distanced themselves from Thayer.

    He stole the idea from the campaign itself.

  31. 31.

    dr. bloor

    April 5, 2016 at 7:20 pm

    @Baud: That’s like a 32 point spread when you factor in the enthusiasm bonus.

    In (semi)seriousness, I’ll guess Sanders 57-43 tonight. Polls have pretty consistently underestimated him.

  32. 32.

    Origuy

    April 5, 2016 at 7:20 pm

    Some guy named Spencer ThⒶyer (that’s the anarchy symbol in his name) who claims to be a Sanders supporter, posted a list of superdelegates including home addresses, phone numbers, and social media accounts. He is urging fellow Sanders supporters to “harass” them into voting for Sanders. Yeah, that’s going to work. Obviously, Bernie has nothing to do with this, except that the campaign did make the list available. I don’t know if this ThⒶyer guy is really a Sanders supporter, a ratfucker, or just an asshole.
    ETA. John D beat me to it.

  33. 33.

    singfoom

    April 5, 2016 at 7:21 pm

    @Mike J: I’d say trying to get superdelegates to vote for you is part and parcel of the primary politics, so that in and of itself does not trouble me.

    What’s troubling here is the stalking / doxxing /harassment, which I don’t think the campaign wanted.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    April 5, 2016 at 7:22 pm

    @dr. bloor: Man, if the enthusiasm bonus were real, I would have cleaned up.

  35. 35.

    The Sheriff Endorses Baud 2016

    April 5, 2016 at 7:23 pm

    @Origuy: An edgy white boy is doxxing women for harassment? It must be about ethics in superdelegates.

  36. 36.

    debbie

    April 5, 2016 at 7:23 pm

    I know there are some people who simply can not control themselves…

    It’s as if the real purpose of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers was to turn previously sane people into Republicans. Or, maybe Scotsmen

  37. 37.

    Mike J

    April 5, 2016 at 7:23 pm

    @singfoom: The campaign had their own portal with info on supers up, which they wound up taking down because Sanders supporters assumed that they put all the info up to facilitate harassment, and used it that way.

  38. 38.

    The Sheriff Endorses Baud 2016

    April 5, 2016 at 7:26 pm

    @Mike J: That’s a staggering lack of awareness from the Sanders campaign that makes me wonder if they’re all connecting on iMacs through AOL.

  39. 39.

    Elie

    April 5, 2016 at 7:27 pm

    @dr. bloor:

    Don’t forget, this is an open primary that will have plenty of crossover — like MI. He does not do nearly as well when the primary is closed to just Democrats…

  40. 40.

    japa21

    April 5, 2016 at 7:29 pm

    Big turnout throughout Wisconsin, but specially in Milwaukee which expects 50%, almost unheard of in a primary. That can be particularly good for Clinton. Haven’t heard about Madison yet, which would be good for Sanders. I suspect Sanders will win by 3-4 points and pick up 2-3 delegates, thereby keeping hopes alive that somehow or other it can be pulled out.

    I expect after NY, it will be pretty much declared over (even more than it has to this point).

  41. 41.

    Anoniminous

    April 5, 2016 at 7:30 pm

    On the GOP side delegates will be awarded:

    24 district delegates are to be allocated to presidential contenders based on the primary results in each of the 8 congressional districts: each congressional district is assigned 3 National Convention delegates and the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in that district will receive all 3 of that district’s National Convention delegates. [Republican Party of Wisconsin Constitution Article X Section 5.]
    18 at-large delegates (10 base at-large delegates plus 5 bonus delegates plus 3 RNC delegates) are to be bound to the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in the primary statewide.

    On the Democratic side the 96 delegates will be awarded by proportion formula:

    During the primaries, caucuses, and conventions delegates are “won” by candidates as follows:

    District Delegates are proportionally allocated according to the vote in each Congressional (or other) District.

    At-Large Delegates are proportionally allocated according to the statewide vote. (Fine point: If a presidential candidate is no longer a candidate at the time of selection of the at-large delegates, that candidate receives NO at-large delegates In most jurisdictions, the delegates are selected [according to the results of the primary or caucus] some time after the primary.)

    Pledged PLEO Delegates are proportionally allocated according to the statewide vote.

  42. 42.

    Brachiator

    April 5, 2016 at 7:31 pm

    @dedc79:

    I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it– too many of the hardcore supporters of Clinton/Sanders spend their time searching for the worst thing a supporter of the other side has said/done

    Politics ain’t no ladies social. Fer example, let’s go to the Waybac Machine:

    On Election Day of 1853, [John] Kelly and his men marched to the Fourteenth Ward’s polling place at the corner of Elizabeth and Grand Streets. Firemen, shipyard workers and the local Irish gang, all of whom were looking for a fight, joined him. Upon entering the polling location, they smashed tables “into splinters” and ripped apart ballots that didn’t have “Kelly” written on them. They menacingly told those who were voting for the Know-Nothing candidate to reconsider their choice.

    Within minutes, the Know-Nothings reinforcements showed up and an all-out battle ensued. Fists were thrown, buildings were set ablaze and ballots were ripped to shreds. When the dust finally settled, John Kelly and his Irish-Catholic cronies had won the skirmish and the election against the Know-Nothings. Though order was restored, this wasn’t exactly the democracy that America’s founding fathers had envisioned.

    More seriously, I take your point about excess and angry zeal, and wish that folk would be nicer. But I understand how healthy enthusiasm can degenerate into unhealthy zeal.

    At least the chairs we throw are only virtual.

  43. 43.

    dr. bloor

    April 5, 2016 at 7:31 pm

    @Elie: Yes, there were several comments over at GoS today about how totalitarian it is for Democrats in some states to limit voting in their primaries to, um, registered Democrats. The fact that you can register just a few weeks out in NY was largely lost on them.

  44. 44.

    singfoom

    April 5, 2016 at 7:31 pm

    @Mike J: Yes indeed. I’m going to give the campaign the benefit of the doubt, but that doesn’t look good in the slightest.

    I really doubt the campaign said “Let’s get people to harass them.” But I could certainly be wrong.

  45. 45.

    Baud

    April 5, 2016 at 7:33 pm

    @dr. bloor: I think it’s a legitimate question to ask, just like the order of the states in the primary and primaries v. caucuses. But there’s no point debating them in the middle of the primary.

  46. 46.

    lollipopguild

    April 5, 2016 at 7:33 pm

    Puppeh thoughts- Here comes the Mailman. Here comes the mailman. Here comes the Mailman! MAILMAN! MAILMAN!

  47. 47.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 5, 2016 at 7:35 pm

    @japa21: Madison anecdata: My polling place crowded when I voted around 10:00 am.

  48. 48.

    Anoniminous

    April 5, 2016 at 7:35 pm

    Somebody saying they are a supporter of a candidate and then doing something obnoxious, annoying, or repulsive is a Rat-Fvck trick first recorded in Periclean Athens.

  49. 49.

    Baud

    April 5, 2016 at 7:35 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I was just thinking about you. Any thoughts as the man on the ground?

  50. 50.

    bemused

    April 5, 2016 at 7:36 pm

    @joel hanes:

    Too many people lose their minds during presidential campaigns and it’s definitely much worse this time around which I didn’t think was possible. I’m not quitting the blogs but not watching much msm “news”. Watching a lot more PBS and other similar shows when we can find them among all the reality show crap. DVDs when there’s nothing watchable on the gazillion channels. Last night we watched PBS Independent Lens about the white supremacist that tried to take over a tiny ND town. Tonight PBS has 10 Homes That Changed the Way We Live. Tomorrow night is Vikings Uncovered, satellite photo discovery of newly discovered possible Vikings sites on North American coastline.

  51. 51.

    Mnemosyne

    April 5, 2016 at 7:36 pm

    @singfoom:

    Don’t forget, some of us work for the CIA, or the DOD, or are paid by the Koch brothers.

    My husband laughs every time I tell him mclaren is convinced that I’m secretly a 19-year-old male PFC trolling the site from a DOD basement, which doesn’t really explain how I’ve been commenting here since late 2007, but anyway …

  52. 52.

    Elie

    April 5, 2016 at 7:37 pm

    @dr. bloor:

    Well how about the caucuses which favored Bernie but were completely not one person one vote…

  53. 53.

    John D.

    April 5, 2016 at 7:37 pm

    @singfoom: I strongly suspect that the Sanders campaign had nothing to do with this — further, I expect that the campaign thinks this is a godawful idea.

    That doesn’t change the effect this will have on unification no matter who the eventual nominee is. It’s gonna suck, and suck hard, and threatens to splinter the Dems at a time we NEED to unify and crush the GOP. So again, thanks random asshole anarchist, you’re doing a bang up job. Now go fuck off and die, Thayer.

  54. 54.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 5, 2016 at 7:39 pm

    @Baud: No idea. Although I did see my first Kasich lawn signs on Sunday and radio stations have been playing an ad with Spike Lee endorsing Bernie. “For years, we’ve been sold the okie-doke….”

  55. 55.

    TriassicSands

    April 5, 2016 at 7:40 pm

    @eemom:

    They deserve all the nastiness they get;

    I disagree, I support Sanders over Clinton, but I will vote for Clinton (and, if my health allows, work for her, not because I think she will be a great or even good president, but because the alternative is horrifying).

    Instead of being nasty, I’d suggest calmly laying out why a Democrat must win and why not voting for the candidate you didn’t support is an act of folly. It is easy to make the case for either Sanders or Clinton over any Republican, but nastiness is more likely to further alienate those claiming they won’t support the “other” Democrat.

    I’m not being nasty in saying that refusal to vote for either Democrat reveals a severe lack of maturity. But being nasty to an immature person — that is one who is declaring he or she will throw a tantrum if his or her candidate doesn’t win — will just make things worse, while a calm explanation of why their votes are critical may succeed with at least some of them.

    Insisting on being nasty to those who are immature is really just another form of immaturity and needs to be reconsidered. I’ve already convinced several people that refusing to vote is shortsighted and destructive, but I did so without any nastiness. Many of the people who are 2016’s “refuseniks” are young and lack experience. They can’t visualize what thirty or forty years of radical right wing Supreme Court decisions will mean. The goal is to get the maximum number of votes for the Democratic nominee — not to display contempt for people who are behaving foolishly.

    If you want to be nasty to someone, find a Republican and do your worst. Unlike many or most Democrats and progressives, Republicans today are not susceptible to rational argument. The more facts you throw at them to support your case, the more sure they’re likely to be of their own positions. Decades of evidence that supply side economics really are voodoo (and maybe more accurately pure “doodoo”) only convinces Republicans that the problem is we weren’t extreme enough.

  56. 56.

    Mnemosyne

    April 5, 2016 at 7:40 pm

    Also, too, contrary to previous plans, I will NOT be having a biopsy tomorrow after all, because my medical group is run by assholes. Yes, they informed me of this TODAY, the day before I had it scheduled at the “wrong” facility. Now I have to pick up a CD of my medical records from the other facility and drive them 20 miles roundtrip to the “right” facility so their radiologist can evaluate them and THEN I can make an appointment.

    When your insurance company thinks that your medical group are a bunch of overly pedantic assholes, it’s time to find a new medical group.

  57. 57.

    John D.

    April 5, 2016 at 7:40 pm

    @Anoniminous: Well, if he is a ratfucker, it’s a very, very, very long-laid plan — his Twitter feed is solidly pro-Sanders for months, and this superdelegate hit list is far more recent. He appears to be a genuine Sanders supporter, just a complete asshole as well.

  58. 58.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    April 5, 2016 at 7:41 pm

    I have been trying to talk my daughter off the ledge. She insists it is Bernie or nobody. True, she is a young but she is so much smarter than that. If you can’t see the difference between Clinton and every Republican choice there is something deeply wrong in your brain pan. Maybe it is a lifetime of seeing evil Republicans elected and having only average Dems to pick from. I think the end of the fever madness is close & better Dems are going to be there but voting to make things worse is just going to make things worse for longer. I wish there was a choice other than BS or HC but there is not & there isn’t going to be in 2016 so lets all just grab an oar and try to do the best we can.

  59. 59.

    peej01

    April 5, 2016 at 7:42 pm

    I hate open primaries. I’m of the belief that members of a party should be able to choose their own candidates to represent them. And if you don’t want to be a member of the party, tough.

  60. 60.

    Brachiator

    April 5, 2016 at 7:43 pm

    @Schlemazel (parmesan rancor):

    I have been trying to talk my daughter off the ledge. She insists it is Bernie or nobody.

    Send her a link to the New York Daily News interview.

  61. 61.

    Mike J

    April 5, 2016 at 7:44 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Madison anecdata:

    Just sick of these trendy names. Couldn’t you give it a normal name like Susan or Linda?

  62. 62.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 5, 2016 at 7:44 pm

    @Mike J: I liked “Splash.”

  63. 63.

    singfoom

    April 5, 2016 at 7:45 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Condolences, shit like that sucks. Awesome that you have to do the data transfer yourself. Of course, I’m sure that’s due to HIPAA. Are they going to charge you for the CD?

    I’d seriously fire that medical group if I were you. Healthcare can be stressful enough without the paperwork people being shitty.

    If you do end up switching, write a polite letter to the doctor who heads the medical group as to why you switched and how his group fucked up. Not to get people in trouble, but to hopefully make them better.

  64. 64.

    Mnemosyne

    April 5, 2016 at 7:46 pm

    @The Sheriff Endorses Baud 2016:

    An edgy white boy is doxxing women for harassment? It must be about ethics in superdelegates.

    Congratulations, you win today’s internets!

  65. 65.

    different-church-lady

    April 5, 2016 at 7:46 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Send her a link to the New York Daily News interview.

    Schlemazel’s trying to get her off the ledge, not make her jump.

  66. 66.

    Brachiator

    April 5, 2016 at 7:49 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    When your insurance company thinks that your medical group are a bunch of overly pedantic assholes, it’s time to find a new medical group.

    What a horror show. Hope everything is OK when you are able to get through all the hassles.

  67. 67.

    SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer

    April 5, 2016 at 7:49 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    And because when you’re facing a medical/surgical procedure of any kind, the more stress in your life the better, amirite?

    So sorry this is being prolonged. I’m still sure it will all be fine, but it’s ridiculous that the insurers/providers can’t get their act together.

  68. 68.

    Richard Mayhew

    April 5, 2016 at 7:49 pm

    @Mnemosyne: yep

  69. 69.

    TaMara (BHF)

    April 5, 2016 at 7:50 pm

    I love that picture. Other than that, I’m staying as far away from this thread as possible.

    I will say one thing – not that it has happened here – but there are three separate Sanders mainstream facebook groups that out right lie about things and are down right nasty about anyone who does not support him and it’s not helpful to the cause. I’d go as far to say they are toxic.

  70. 70.

    Anoniminous

    April 5, 2016 at 7:50 pm

    @John D.:

    And some people are obnoxious dorks.

  71. 71.

    dr. bloor

    April 5, 2016 at 7:50 pm

    @Baud: @Elie: Regardless of who wins, my completely unrealistic hope is that some sort of standardization is put into place for selecting presidential candidates. I have problems with a selection process wherein one completely unaffiliated mischief maker can walk in and vote in a primary in one state, while a die-hard party member with child care issues is excluded because s/he doesn’t have the resources to spend three hours being hectored in a gymnasium-based caucus in another state.

    I understand that political parties are essentially clubs and not governmental structures, but geez.

  72. 72.

    Brachiator

    April 5, 2016 at 7:51 pm

    @different-church-lady: RE: Send her a link to the New York Daily News interview.

    Schlemazel’s trying to get her off the ledge, not make her jump.

    Yeah, ya got a point.

    Put down some mattresses. Send a parachute.

  73. 73.

    JPL

    April 5, 2016 at 7:51 pm

    @Brachiator: Barney is a dreamer. If I were your daughters age, I’d support him also, but dreamers don’t save us . Berney did allow Hillary to move to the left. I’m not thrilled about her hawkish views, but I think she can win. If not, we’ll be the United States of Kansas or Louisiana. That’s not who I want to be.

  74. 74.

    different-church-lady

    April 5, 2016 at 7:52 pm

    @singfoom:

    Hell, all he had to say was “Robosigning” in response to the question about specific illegal incidents. It was widespread and systemic and it would be easy to use RICO to go up the chain.

    Jesus, I was reading that very crap at Daily Kos five years ago.

  75. 75.

    Mnemosyne

    April 5, 2016 at 7:52 pm

    @singfoom:

    Yep, I’m asking around for referrals to a new group even as we speak. Because fuck them. The first time I called to ask them about a problem referral, the idiot on the other end of the phone couldn’t pull up my record even though I GAVE HIM THE REFERRAL NUMBER. And my full name, birthdate, SSN, and insurance number. After 10 minutes of that, he then got snippy with me because I’d gone to the “wrong” place for the diagnostic, even though they didn’t tell me it was wrong until the following day.

    Anyway. Regal Medical Group in Northridge CA. Fuck them right in the ear.

  76. 76.

    Baud

    April 5, 2016 at 7:55 pm

    @JPL:

    Barney is a dreamer.

    You would be too if you were a purple dinosaur.

  77. 77.

    Davebo

    April 5, 2016 at 7:56 pm

    With some exceptions, I don’t think attacks in the comment threads has been that bad. Certainly not nearly as bad as those flaming assholes on pro Hillary blogs or the excrement devoid of any worth at all that comment on Bernie blogs.

  78. 78.

    guachi

    April 5, 2016 at 7:58 pm

    I’m a Clinton supporter so take that under advisement, but I, like many of you, found the NY Daily News interview shockingly bad for Sanders.

    “I don’t care. However they want.” isn’t much of an answer to how you’d break up big banks. I read another reaction to the interview that basically said Sanders doesn’t have policies, he has enemies.

  79. 79.

    Anya

    April 5, 2016 at 7:58 pm

    @Baud: you don’t think our nominee can easily win against Trump or Cruz? To tell you the truth, I am not sure about Sanders. The Daily News interview showed his lack of command of issues & policy. I think Hillary is underestimated, and her “negatives” are overly exaggerated. She’s a formidable candidate. My only fear is the people she surrounds herself.

  80. 80.

    Mousebumples

    April 5, 2016 at 7:58 pm

    Wisconsin Primary voter weighing in. I live in the NE part of the state (near-ish to Green Bay), and turnout was really good in my area and a bunch of new voter registrations. I went after work, but there was definitely a good mix of ages at my polling place. I expect that Trump will outperform expectations – but hopefully Cruz will bit him handily to throw more schadenfreude into the mix.

    I also think Bernie will probably win – and since I’d be happy with either Bernie or Hillary as my Democratic nominee, I voted for Cruz to try to do what I could to keep Trump from winning Wisconsin delegates as much as I could. We’ll see if I succeeded – but I doubt I was the only one to vote Republican with that line of thinking ….

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne

    April 5, 2016 at 7:59 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer:

    Luckily, the Giant Evil Corporation has healthcare coordinators that we can call, so a very nice RN named Clay called the other facility with me on the line and we at least got the records drop-off figured out.

    Still, I do not handle unexpected medical changes well. At all. I once burst into tears because they wanted to give me a shot in the butt before surgery when I didn’t expect it, but I may already have been partially sedated at that point.

  82. 82.

    Baud

    April 5, 2016 at 8:01 pm

    @Anya: It won’t be as easy as 2008. And I’m less confident that Trump will be the guy.

  83. 83.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    April 5, 2016 at 8:02 pm

    Dog Philosophy

  84. 84.

    JPL

    April 5, 2016 at 8:03 pm

    @Baud: hahaha.. Freudian slip or something like that. Bernie..
    I’m a dreamer, that hoped you would run.

  85. 85.

    Germy

    April 5, 2016 at 8:06 pm

    @Mnemosyne: horrifying yelp reviews, although I know I shouldn’t give yelp reviews weight. (but I can’t help it)
    http://www.yelp.com/biz/regal-medical-group-northridge

  86. 86.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    April 5, 2016 at 8:07 pm

    @Baud: I don’t think Barney is electable. But he is popular with the yoots.

  87. 87.

    debbie

    April 5, 2016 at 8:09 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Medical SNAFUs really suck. You’d think with the big bucks, they’d have their acts together. I remember once showing up for ambulatory surgery, having fasted for 24 hours, and sitting in the waiting room for almost an hour before they came out, apologized, and said something had broken in the OR and I’d need to reschedule. My hunger was the only thing that kept me from going postal in the hospital.

    Hope you’re able to resolve this quickly and as painlessly as possible.

  88. 88.

    Icedfire

    April 5, 2016 at 8:12 pm

    FWIW, I posted this comment on a friend’s FB post last week. It got largely reasonable feedback, and is a pretty succinct summary of where this Bernie supporter stands.

    This primary is the first time in my life that I’ve been able to vote for a presidential candidate who largely represents my values and beliefs across the board, rather than voting for someone who I am occasionally in agreement with but who I believe will do far less damage than the alternative. That’s a really powerful feeling, and even for someone as hyperpolitical as me it’s not easy to set it aside.

    That being said, Clinton has my vote when she is likely the nominee unless it is absolutely perfectly clear that she is cruising to a massive landslide…which is not entirely unlikely. If that is the case, I may consider voting closer to my values (Jill Stein) at the top of the ticket while voting for Dems down the ballot.

  89. 89.

    MomSense

    April 5, 2016 at 8:14 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I’m really sorry. The anticipation is tough. I was a wreck waiting for my biopsy. Sending healthy, calm thoughts your way.

    I’m sitting by the fireplace knitting with a dog sleeping on my feet. Not watching the returns and I feel fine.

    I did sign up for a recurring contribution, good Hillzilla that I am.

  90. 90.

    Elie

    April 5, 2016 at 8:19 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Biopsy? eh — whatsup (if you don’t mind sharing, that is)

  91. 91.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    April 5, 2016 at 8:26 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    Greatest gadammed medical environment in the gadammed world I tells ya!

    I have dealt with this exact same shit on several different issues including my throat cancer. It is fucking ridiculous to treat humans this way. I hope it turns into nothing more than a temporary pain in the ass insurance fight for you.

  92. 92.

    Mike J

    April 5, 2016 at 8:27 pm

    @dr. bloor:

    I understand that political parties are essentially clubs and not governmental structures, but geez.

    What’s more, they’re a bunch of different clubs, a different Democratic party in every state,

  93. 93.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    April 5, 2016 at 8:28 pm

    @different-church-lady:
    I have not read the interview – is it that bad?

  94. 94.

    schrodinger's cat

    April 5, 2016 at 8:28 pm

    @Mnemosyne: {{{ }}}}. Any progress on your novel?

  95. 95.

    JPL

    April 5, 2016 at 8:28 pm

    @Mnemosyne: This very site, calmed me while waiting for a biopsy, eight or nine years ago. It is stressful.

  96. 96.

    Origuy

    April 5, 2016 at 8:31 pm

    @Schlemazel (parmesan rancor): Take a look at Cole’s latest tweet. He just read it.

  97. 97.

    Mnemosyne

    April 5, 2016 at 8:35 pm

    Thanks to everyone for the support! I had mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the biopsy was recommended, so I didn’t want to leave people hanging.

    @MomSense:

    Oh, I’ve already bookmarked a couple of knitting stores to check out after the drop-off tomorrow. Yarn and cupcakes will make me feel better.

    @Elie:

    They did an ultrasound follow-up to my mammogram and found a small anomoly (about 1 cm). In order of likelihood, it could be nothing, the very early stages of a minor cancer, or the last sign of something truly nasty. Since I’m a hypochondriac already, you know where my mind went.
    ;-)

  98. 98.

    aimai

    April 5, 2016 at 8:35 pm

    @efgoldman: Well, pixillated, anyway.

  99. 99.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    April 5, 2016 at 8:35 pm

    @Origuy:
    I’m reading it myself at the moment.

    It is . . . disapointing

  100. 100.

    Mike J

    April 5, 2016 at 8:36 pm

    @Origuy: And tomorrow’s Daily News front page

  101. 101.

    sinnedbackwards

    April 5, 2016 at 8:36 pm

    @redshirt: Last averages: Bernie plus 3% at HuffPost and plus 2.6% at RCP, fyi.

  102. 102.

    Mnemosyne

    April 5, 2016 at 8:37 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Not yet — I’m still researching. I got some great research leads the other day and am impatiently waiting for a package from Better World Books.

    I have a decent plot outline, so now I need the research to help me fill in some gaps and make the characters more believable.

  103. 103.

    Mike J

    April 5, 2016 at 8:38 pm

    @aimai: Like Mr Deeds.

  104. 104.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    April 5, 2016 at 8:40 pm

    @efgoldman: Shit, I ain’t even pixels. I’m just a nym with an alias who culturally appropriates holidays from a number of regions and religions for a boozy mash up with sweets.

  105. 105.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    April 5, 2016 at 8:45 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
    I like the way you think, do you have a newsletter one could subscribe to perchance?

  106. 106.

    Emma

    April 5, 2016 at 8:46 pm

    @Mnemosyne: ouch. Yeah. It can make one crazy.

  107. 107.

    dogwood

    April 5, 2016 at 8:46 pm

    @Schlemazel (parmesan rancor):
    The interview is pretty bad. If campaign staffers are actually trying to brief him on a wide range of issues, it ain’t working. He was bad on the banking questions which really shocked me. I fear this has been his habit for most of his career. Many people on this blog could answer those question pretty impressively.

  108. 108.

    different-church-lady

    April 5, 2016 at 8:47 pm

    @sinnedbackwards: That’s all?

    @Schlemazel (parmesan rancor): The bits I’ve seen of it are. Everyone kept using the word “shocking.” So I read some bits of it and I’m like, “….. ….. uh… …. holy…. …. no, wait… how….”

  109. 109.

    dogwood

    April 5, 2016 at 8:49 pm

    @different-church-lady:
    I think the fact his supporters aren’t here defending the interview speaks to its overall failure.

  110. 110.

    opiejeanne

    April 5, 2016 at 8:50 pm

    @Mike J: In light of whatever it was that happened in Nevada that ended up excluding a lot of Hillary’s delegates, do you think that’s going to be a problem on the 17th in Washington at the district caucuses? I thought I understood how caucuses worked and now I know that I was wrong-o!

  111. 111.

    Renie

    April 5, 2016 at 8:50 pm

    @Schlemazel (parmesan rancor): I have the same issue. Both of my kids in their 20s are Bernie supporters. Since we live in NY they don’t see a problem not voting for Hillary but voting for Jill Stein. My son is even more annoying about it cuz every time I saw something about Hillary he brings up Henry Kissinger.

    Can’t believe I have purity ponies in my home.

  112. 112.

    ThresherK

    April 5, 2016 at 8:52 pm

    UConn is pushing pace and it’s working pretty well so far.

  113. 113.

    jayjaybear

    April 5, 2016 at 8:52 pm

    Full disclosure: I plan to vote for Bernie when PA has its primary later this month. That said, some rather large segment of my fellow Bernie supporters really worry me. The Bernie contingent is starting to develop an alarming messianic minority who are looking at this as almost a religious thing. It kind of scares me.

    It’s something I’m NOT seeing on the Hillary side, really. It’s making it a bit difficult to not be ambivalent about that primary vote coming up, to be honest.

  114. 114.

    different-church-lady

    April 5, 2016 at 8:52 pm

    18 Brachiator “shockingly”
    26 Anya “shocked”
    29 singfoom “shocked”
    79 guachi “shockingly”
    109 dogwood “shocked”

    I can’t say I’ve ever seen one adjective chosen so consistently.

    Myself, I’d go with “stunned”

  115. 115.

    Roger Moore

    April 5, 2016 at 8:53 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    which doesn’t really explain how I’ve been commenting here since late 2007

    Or how some of us have met you in person. I suppose those of us who would vouch that you’re actually a middle-aged woman living in the LA area, just as you claim, must be shills as well.

  116. 116.

    Mike J

    April 5, 2016 at 8:54 pm

    @opiejeanne: Nah, I think it will work better here.There’s less reason to snipe around the edges with a big win. Which isn’t to say that our people should stay home!

    Washington did ok last time we did this, we’ll do ok this time.

  117. 117.

    Mnemosyne

    April 5, 2016 at 8:55 pm

    To go back to the thread’s topic, how is it that my cats know to lay on top of my car keys when I go home for lunch? I had to move Keaton off them so I could go back to work this afternoon.

  118. 118.

    dr. bloor

    April 5, 2016 at 8:56 pm

    @ThresherK: UConn could spend the first half in the locker room playing beer pong and send Stewie out by herself for the second half, and that would work pretty well too.

  119. 119.

    Mnemosyne

    April 5, 2016 at 8:57 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    The pictures are Photoshopped and we’re all secretly working for the CIA. Wait, was I supposed to say that?

  120. 120.

    different-church-lady

    April 5, 2016 at 8:57 pm

    @dogwood: I was going to comment that the GOS was relatively sane today. Perhaps we now know why. But I’m sure they’ll eventually come up with something.

    I really think this is going to go viral, and I don’t usually put a lot of stock in these kinds of things.

  121. 121.

    MomSense

    April 5, 2016 at 8:57 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Yarn and cupcakes sound delightful.

    I think this weekend I’m going to check out a LYS that is closing and see if they have anything stash worthy. They are running big sales and I have some other shopping to do in that area.

  122. 122.

    elftx

    April 5, 2016 at 8:57 pm

    There has been a DCMadam data dump of phone records 2004-2008 on Pastebin

  123. 123.

    opiejeanne

    April 5, 2016 at 8:57 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I’m so sorry you’re going through this, if I haven’t mentioned it before. I hope you will be ok.

    When I was pregnant the last time the doc discovered a heart murmur. They sent me for all sorts of tests and brought in a group of experts, and a whole month later in the pregnancy they met with me and brought along an intern whose wife had the exact same issue. They admitted it was a crap shoot whether I was going to be ok or would need to terminate (really, at 4-5 months, who wants to do that?) but they thought the dice were loaded in my favor and that the specialists would keep a careful eye on me.
    But during that month while they were running tests and discussing things, my brain ran amok. Some days you feel great when you’re pregnant so those days I figured it was nothing, and on the days when pregnancy made me feel like crap I knew I was going to die.
    I didn’t, she’s 33 now, and getting married this summer.
    The murmur went away after delivery. I am now twice her age.

  124. 124.

    dogwood

    April 5, 2016 at 8:58 pm

    @Origuy:
    Making the list available was asking for trouble. Lots of people are going to get harassed.

  125. 125.

    Kathleen

    April 5, 2016 at 9:00 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Sending good thoughts your way. I had a biopsy in 1998 and cried before, during and after because I was so afraid (my mother died from breast cancer) and am the first one to curse the jerk who lit the gd candle in the dark room. Mine turned out to be from fibers so I was OK and haven’t had a problem mammogram since. Here’s hoping yours is that simple, but I truly empathize with your fears.

  126. 126.

    Baud

    April 5, 2016 at 9:00 pm

    Too early!!!!

  127. 127.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    April 5, 2016 at 9:01 pm

    30 s after the polls closed, it’s too close to call on both sides!!11 I guess we have to keep watching the TV!!11ONE

    ;-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  128. 128.

    Amir Khalid

    April 5, 2016 at 9:02 pm

    @jayjaybear:
    If you’ve read the NY Daily News interview, as I did, you must be having doubts about his readiness for the job compared to Hillary’s . The Daily News told Slate it’s working to get an interview with Hillary.

  129. 129.

    burnspbesq

    April 5, 2016 at 9:03 pm

    @TriassicSands:

    Instead of being nasty, I’d suggest calmly laying out why a Democrat must win and why not voting for the candidate you didn’t support is an act of folly.

    Been tried. On almost a daily basis. To no avail. You should see some of the childish, petulant nonsense in my FB feed.

  130. 130.

    StellaB

    April 5, 2016 at 9:03 pm

    @different-church-lady: May I have “gobsmacked” please?

  131. 131.

    jayjaybear

    April 5, 2016 at 9:04 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I have to admit, that interview didn’t help. And neither did the reactions to it online from other Bernie supporters. At some point, screaming “IN THE TANK FOR SHILLARY!!” has diminishing returns, ya know?

  132. 132.

    SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer

    April 5, 2016 at 9:04 pm

    @Germy:

    I went ahead and clicked and read the reviews, and it sure sounds as though Mnem’s experience is far from unique. I find it particularly infuriating to read this stuff because almost by definition the people who are being cavalierly tossed aside, lied to, wrongly billed, sent to the wrong place, hung up on, put on hold for long periods, etc. etc., are people who are either in pain/distress themselves or are worried about a family member who has medical issues.

  133. 133.

    Mnemosyne

    April 5, 2016 at 9:05 pm

    @opiejeanne:

    We’ve had a run of bad health luck in the family over the past couple of years, which is why I haven’t told my mom or brother in IL yet. Seriously, my poor brother has had someone close to him die EVERY year for the past 5 years, so he doesn’t need the stress of even knowing there’s a scare.

    @Kathleen:

    My mom died of breast cancer before she was 40, so that’s not helping. No one else on either side of the family has had it, though, so the odds remain relatively low.

  134. 134.

    Amir Khalid

    April 5, 2016 at 9:05 pm

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
    Bernie needs to win big in big states to have any hope of catching up. To close to call between Bernie and Hillary in any state now is like a win for her.

  135. 135.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 5, 2016 at 9:05 pm

    @efgoldman: Why wouldn’t she?

  136. 136.

    jayjaybear

    April 5, 2016 at 9:05 pm

    @burnspbesq: This. The serious, down-the-rabbit-hole BernieBros don’t consider Hillary an actual Democrat, and do, in fact, see no difference between her and a Republican. Which seems to me to be a cognitive defect of epic proportions.

  137. 137.

    Iowa Old Lady

    April 5, 2016 at 9:06 pm

    @Mousebumples: Do you have any sense of whether the new voter ID laws were having an impact? I saw a report earlier today that college students were having trouble.

    The only good thing about troubles now is that they give people time to get the right kind of ID before November.

  138. 138.

    Elie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:06 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Well, being a survivor myself, something that tiny, if interductal ca or in situ — is “probably” a pretty good prognosis and cytology. Mine was small and low grade cytology. I got radiation and a lumpectomy and have been doing ok since then (12 years +). Of course, you still have to worry with it as I did cause you don’t know until you know… but the odds are in your favor — I care and I send you all my positive mojo.

    Elie

  139. 139.

    Baud

    April 5, 2016 at 9:06 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Chris Hayes just said it was.

  140. 140.

    ThresherK

    April 5, 2016 at 9:06 pm

    @dr. bloor: I still don’t know about that brick motif on much of the court. I mean, yeah, The Brickyard and everything, but Indianans (or the NCAA) are supposed to know something about the argot of basketball.

    I can hold the idea of Syracuse getting (10) threes (as their coach says they always plan to) and simultaneously the idea of them not being able to score enough points against this particular opponent.

  141. 141.

    StellaB

    April 5, 2016 at 9:07 pm

    @singfoom: You forgot
    D) post-menopausal corporatist sell-out totebagger who wants to pull up the ladder.

  142. 142.

    prob50

    April 5, 2016 at 9:08 pm

    @TriassicSands:

    If you want to be nasty to someone, find a Republican and do your worst

    I thought that’s what spouses are for. (j/k)

  143. 143.

    dmsilev

    April 5, 2016 at 9:08 pm

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: Are there even exit polls this time to aid in the instant prognostication? Seems to me that whatever consortium does those has been skipping a bunch of states this time round.

  144. 144.

    opiejeanne

    April 5, 2016 at 9:09 pm

    @StellaB: They didn’t accuse her of becoming a grandmother to sway public opinion???

  145. 145.

    Feathers

    April 5, 2016 at 9:09 pm

    @Mnemosyne: My world changed totally for the better when I learned that my tearstorms were due to ADHD-induced frustration and not “depression that fit enough of the symptoms for diagnosis, but did not feel like depression.”

    Also, I cannot find the article, but will keep looking because I keep wanting to quote it – basically women’s tears are often about anger, not sorrow. Basically the same triggers that make men want to punch a wall, will make women cry – it’s about the estrogen/testosterone split. The google got me a bunch of PMS bullshit, but I remember it from a reputable research roundup.

  146. 146.

    West of the Cascades

    April 5, 2016 at 9:10 pm

    Reading about the disaster that is the Wisconsin Voter ID law … shouldn’t it be easier to vote than to buy a gun?

  147. 147.

    ThresherK

    April 5, 2016 at 9:11 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Hey, hope greeting from a celebrity knitter helps you feel better.

  148. 148.

    Schlemazel (parmesan rancor)

    April 5, 2016 at 9:11 pm

    @Renie:
    It can happen in the best of homes, don’t blame yourself. :)

    I tried to raise my kids to balance realism with aspiration but I guess it is not unusual for kids in their 20s to not have a large view of history & to be impatient.

  149. 149.

    agorabum

    April 5, 2016 at 9:11 pm

    @eemom: I’d agree; the key nasty index is if someone says “but I’ll vote for the nominee.” If they say that, they are generally spirited about their candidate, but grounded in reality.
    Also, maybe I’m wrong here, but I seem to find that it is more Sanders folks who are usually independents (not Democrats) who talk about ‘burning things down’ if they lose. Hillary partisans say “Sanders isn’t realistic”, Sanders partisans say “Hillary is the devil who will kill you and sell your organs to the 1%” (ok, maybe hyperbole there). There just is a lot more frothing at the mouth on one side. (disclaimer: #notallpartisans. Just saying on the aggregate, one side has more of a certain type)

  150. 150.

    different-church-lady

    April 5, 2016 at 9:12 pm

    Master trolling:

    Clinton campaign emails entire transcript of Sanders interview with Daily News editorial board. Just calls it a “must read”

    (via Sam Levine)

  151. 151.

    burnspbesq

    April 5, 2016 at 9:14 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    By pure dumb luck, I have a fantastic oncologist, but from your perspective the fact that he”s in Santa Ana might be a tiny problem.

  152. 152.

    ThresherK

    April 5, 2016 at 9:15 pm

    @opiejeanne: What I’ve heard about Hillary re her daughter’s child’s conception I won’t even type here.

  153. 153.

    schrodinger's cat

    April 5, 2016 at 9:15 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Have you already bought Scrivener? I remember you mentioning going through their tutorial.

  154. 154.

    Elie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:16 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    The biggest problem is that she could destroy him if she could attack — but she has to “curl her talons” so to speak to sit on the young eggs of party unity for the future once she has the nomination. He took advantage of the knowledge that she would not rip him to pieces because of that need. One reason that I personally like the long long campaigns in this country is that you run the field — you put them under pressure then see what you got once their tongues hang out. Bernie and Trump are showing their character and their endurance under unaccustomed pressure over a long period. The process works….

  155. 155.

    opiejeanne

    April 5, 2016 at 9:17 pm

    @ThresherK: It’s been ugly, but it started on the Republican side. Are you saying that some of Bernie’s fans went there?

    (I was being a smart-ass, not expecting this)

  156. 156.

    prob50

    April 5, 2016 at 9:18 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    Myself, I’d go with “stunned”

    I’m shocked that you are stunned.

  157. 157.

    Baud

    April 5, 2016 at 9:19 pm

    @Elie: It has been a fear of mine that she will decide she needs to go fully negative.

  158. 158.

    Roger Moore

    April 5, 2016 at 9:20 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    To go back to the thread’s topic, how is it that my cats know to lay on top of my car keys when I go home for lunch?

    The same way they know to sit on anything else you set down. Cats seem to have a strong preference for sitting on things that are new to the environment. I think they also like to sit on things their humans interact with, because it’s a way of forcing the humans to interact with them.

  159. 159.

    Aleta

    April 5, 2016 at 9:20 pm

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: thanks for that !!

  160. 160.

    ThresherK

    April 5, 2016 at 9:20 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Here’s a celebrity kntter to help you feel better.

  161. 161.

    PhoenixRising

    April 5, 2016 at 9:21 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    I read the interview at the gym and literally fell off the arc trainer. Is that stunning, astonishing or…crippling?

    It’s bad, y’all. He doesn’t know what Dodd-Frank empowers the executive branch to DO, which is troubling in light of his contention that it’s too weak to make any difference. He doesn’t know the phrase ‘capital mobility’ which is 4 syllables that could replace about 20 minutes of his stump speech (spoiler: it’s bad for workers).

    And, in the final blow, it’s fucking April and either no one has taught him that the term is ‘developed countries’ or he just DGAF that ‘major countries’ is offensive to our allies around the world that are developing nations. If which we have quite a few during this second competent SOS under Obama.

    Someone get this man ready for a nomination for POTUS, stat. He is unprepared and doesn’t even know the subjects that are in his wheelhouse, technically.

  162. 162.

    different-church-lady

    April 5, 2016 at 9:21 pm

    BERNED!

    sweatyb
    Apr 05 · 06:39:00 PM

    One note candidate flubs note.

  163. 163.

    schrodinger's cat

    April 5, 2016 at 9:22 pm

    Apparently we need to be concerned about Bernie’s wife. I am more concerned about him. From the interview

    To me, what moral is, I’ve got to be concerned about you. You’ve got to be concerned about my wife. That’s moral to me. That’s what I believe in.

    This is Palin level gibberish.

  164. 164.

    Psych1

    April 5, 2016 at 9:22 pm

    Seems to be the general consensus here, board & thread, that if Bernie gets the nom, Hills boosters will, however reluctantly, vote for him. But it must be clear that a good percentage, 20-30?, of Bernie’s boosters, like me, will NEVER vote for Hillary (Wall St, Emails, Iraq-Libya-Syria). Plus, independents strongly back Bernie. Plus, Liz W. or the Hawaii Rep. or someone else good will likely run with him and take over after 4 years. Doesn’t this make him more “electable?”

  165. 165.

    Betty Cracker

    April 5, 2016 at 9:23 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Damn, that sucks. Hope everything turns out well and that your medical group gets its shit together so other patients aren’t jerked around like that.

    @Brachiator: Yep. That interview was definitely a train wreck. Reaffirmed for me that I made the right decision when I voted for Hillz last month.

  166. 166.

    Elie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:24 pm

    @Baud:

    So far she has been the model of self discipline, for the most part. She is in a tough spot. She could eat his lunch in two minutes but its just not worth it and I hope she retains he willpower. Bernie is gonna get a lot more follow up scrutiny after that interview. There are lots of ways to “triangulate” or bank shot more negatives his way…. For one thing, I wanna know about them damned tax returns of his… no fair throwing the wife under the bus….

  167. 167.

    dr. bloor

    April 5, 2016 at 9:24 pm

    @Baud: If she or someone on her team actually came to that conclusion at this point, it’d almost be dumb enough to disqualify her as a candidate.

  168. 168.

    raven

    April 5, 2016 at 9:24 pm

    @Psych1: Thank you Mr Nader.

  169. 169.

    burnspbesq

    April 5, 2016 at 9:25 pm

    I was shocked to see Drum call Trump a “fuckwit” today. He’s usually not prone to expletiving. However, the details of Trump’s plan to get Mexico to pay for the wall were ample provocation.

  170. 170.

    opiejeanne

    April 5, 2016 at 9:25 pm

    @Psych1: Sorry, not going to change my vote to accommodate your view of the world and the way it should be.

  171. 171.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    April 5, 2016 at 9:34 pm

    @Psych1: No, because he’ll be red baited and crushed by the corporate media just like they did to Dukakis.

    He’s just not a fighter and his campaign staff is a joke.

    And while Hillary hasn’t gone medieval on him, there is a ton of material in his background that will disqualify him. In a general election the corporate media won’t hesitate to grind him up into dust.

    Plus you can’t count on women and minorities to turn out in record numbers for a candidate who has been so dismissive of their concerns and issues.

  172. 172.

    debbie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:34 pm

    @Baud:

    Fifty cents says she’ll go there. She won’t be able to help herself.

  173. 173.

    burnspbesq

    April 5, 2016 at 9:35 pm

    @Psych1:

    Speaking of things that are “clear,” is it not clear that failing to vote for the Democratic nominee is morally equivalent to voting for the Republican nominee, i.e., utterly immoral.

  174. 174.

    magurakurin

    April 5, 2016 at 9:35 pm

    @Psych1:

    No. It makes you a dumbfuck.

  175. 175.

    divF

    April 5, 2016 at 9:35 pm

    That was weird. FYWP was trying to get me to sign in as the account admin. That happen to anyone else ?

  176. 176.

    Anya

    April 5, 2016 at 9:36 pm

    @MomSense: I’m sending good vibes and positive thoughts your way. The wait and the fear of the unknown is torture. My mom had a cancer scare few months ago. Her sister died of breast cancer at age 29, so it was specially scary.

  177. 177.

    Pogonip

    April 5, 2016 at 9:36 pm

    Lily’s awake?

    Cole read his mail?

    Has Hell frozen over?

    Good luck, Mnenosyne!

    I myself just discovered that my blood pressure is different in both arms. This could be (a) nothing or (b) deadly. Since my dr app’t is the 25th I’m leaning towards (a)but of course they always worry you with (b).

  178. 178.

    Peale

    April 5, 2016 at 9:36 pm

    Commenting on the first part of the Bernie interview. Yeah. I agree. Its pretty bad, although not awful. When he talks about not being up to speed with the legal ramifications of of the Metlife decision, I’m fine with that. He is campaigning and the decision was just last week. But he does need to address the the issue of the courts. It wasn’t that that the government simply tried to hand money to the large banks in 2009 and then said “please, pay your bonuses”, but the courts had a lot to do with that victory for the banks. Does he think that after 8 years of appointments, his forced breakup plan is going to pass the courts? Has there been enough turnover there? That decision makes me think that perhaps there hasn’t been. The composition of the court had a lot to do with the government seeking settlements. Also, too, they didn’t plan on bailing out the banks so that they could turn around and destroy the financial system.

    I don’t get the sense that Bernie understands what the banks do. And it oversimplifies 2008 to lay the recession on the TBTF institutions. I think he does that. His promise that breaking up the banks will unleash prosperity is also a pipe dream.He seems to be running against the banks as they existed in 2007 and it does come off as a vengeance campaign with empty promises. The banks are brought to heel. GE is brought to heel. But I don’t think it matters much. We had had real estate bubbles burst before, but they were regional. This was a national real estate bubble and I don’t think it would have been much less catastrophic if 40 banks were involved or 400 or 4,000.

  179. 179.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 5, 2016 at 9:36 pm

    @debbie:

    She won’t be able to help herself.

    Please explain.

  180. 180.

    Betty Cracker

    April 5, 2016 at 9:37 pm

    @Psych1: Democrats get to decide who the Democratic Party nominee is.

  181. 181.

    Anne Laurie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:37 pm

    @Origuy:

    I don’t know if this ThⒶyer guy is really a Sanders supporter, a ratfucker, or just an asshole.

    I’m guessing the correct answer is “Yes.”

    @singfoom

    : I really doubt the campaign said “Let’s get people to harass them.” But I could certainly be wrong.

    It’s the sort of honest error made by a very inexperienced campaign. “Everybody knows” that more information is always a good thing, right? — so sharing the details about superdelegates would be good civics! Except that a group of workers with experience even at the PTA/HOA level also knows the political version of Gresham’s law: Trolls drive out sincere people. Trolls will inevitably misuse personal information, sometimes with dire consequences, even to the trolls. So you always have to be aware of the grey area between “let’s share this civic information” and “let’s give the trolls a key to the liquor cabinet.”

    @The Sheriff Endorses Baud 2016:

    An edgy white boy is doxxing women for harassment? It must be about ethics in superdelegates.

    You snark, but I’ve seen exactly that argument made by Bernie supporters twitter- arguing with people like Al Giordano and Dan Pfeiffer!

  182. 182.

    Elie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:39 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    “Jake, leave it alone — its Bernietown”….

  183. 183.

    schrodinger's cat

    April 5, 2016 at 9:39 pm

    The fonts have become huge.

  184. 184.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 5, 2016 at 9:40 pm

    I am not sure that updating the site as the results come in for a primary was the best of all possible decisions.

  185. 185.

    Baud

    April 5, 2016 at 9:41 pm

    @dr. bloor:
    @debbie:

    I don’t follow the math like the campaign does, so who knows. Depending on how far she takes it, I don’t blame her if Sanders is competing hard. She owes it to her supporters to do the same.

  186. 186.

    Mary

    April 5, 2016 at 9:41 pm

    @Feathers: I don’t have any helpful research for you on this point except to say that probably 90% of my crying episodes stem from anger, frustration, and/or anxiety. I suspect that even beyond testosterone vs estrogen, social conditioning has to play a role in it. In general, women are trained not to show anger and men not to cry.

    Also, like you, I discovered looong after my initial diagnosis of depression that I actually have inattentive type ADHD, the frustration of which led to feelings of depression and anxiety. Isn’t psychiatry fun?

  187. 187.

    debbie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:41 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I think she still harbors some resentment over 2008. That video of her jabbing her finger at the Greenpeace activist and angrily denouncing the Sanders campaign for bringing up the GS fees, to me, showed her true emotion.

  188. 188.

    debbie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:43 pm

    @Elie:

    I beg your pardon?

  189. 189.

    Baud

    April 5, 2016 at 9:44 pm

    @debbie: FWIW, I don’t think that relates to 2008. I think that relates to her campaign’s strategy this year so far of not going negative. That must be frustrating at a certain level.

  190. 190.

    Elie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:44 pm

    …One pill makes you larger AAAND one pill makes you small — and the ones that mother gives you don’t do anything at all…..

  191. 191.

    Anya

    April 5, 2016 at 9:45 pm

    @Psych1: 20-30%. Nah. History says otherwise:
    Relax — Bernie’s Supporters Will Back Hillary if She’s the Nominee

    Last week, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found a third of Bernie Sanders’s supporters saying they wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton in November if she’s the Democratic nominee, and nearly 60,000 people have signed the “Bernie or Bust” pledge. This is causing plenty of hand-wringing, with one Salon writer warning that “Bernie supporters could blow this election,” and a Huffington Post columnist calling it “the Democrats’ worst nightmare.”

    But if history is any guide, a mass defection of Democrats and Dem-leaning independents is the last thing anyone should worry about. We’ve seen this before and we know how it will play out.
    Ironically, in 2008 it was Clinton supporters vowing to stay home—or vote for John McCain—if Obama became the nominee. At the time, that same HuffPo columnist warned that “balkanized Democrats could give the White House to John McCain.” That May, primary exit polls found less than half of Hillary Clinton’s supporters in Indiana and North Carolina saying they’d consider voting for Obama in the general election. Even in early July, after Obama had secured the nomination, only 54 percent of Clinton backers said they planned to vote for him.

  192. 192.

    debbie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:46 pm

    @Baud:

    Doesn’t speak well for politics, does it?

  193. 193.

    Anne Laurie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:46 pm

    @Psych1: Vote your candidate, or you’ll shoot every American not in the top 5% in the head? How ’bout you just put that rhetorical pistol to your own head, for verisimilitude?

  194. 194.

    Elie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:46 pm

    @debbie:

    She “can’t help herself”?

    Its not worth exploring with you, Ms. Debbie… You can’t help yourself…

  195. 195.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    April 5, 2016 at 9:47 pm

    @Elie: White rabbit (photo)

  196. 196.

    Baud

    April 5, 2016 at 9:47 pm

    @debbie: Or voters.

  197. 197.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 5, 2016 at 9:48 pm

    @debbie: So eventually her true nature will come out? Is that what you are saying?

  198. 198.

    Elie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:49 pm

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    LOVE it!

  199. 199.

    Aleta

    April 5, 2016 at 9:51 pm

    @Feathers: @Mary: If you will, what course does one follow after figuring that out ? What things help the anxiety and frustration from becoming depression?

  200. 200.

    lollipopguild

    April 5, 2016 at 9:51 pm

    @different-church-lady: Get thee to a Thesaurus.

  201. 201.

    debbie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:51 pm

    @Elie:

    Excuse me again, but I don’t stand in either camp. Check your comprehension skills. What has bothered me is the nastiness of many Hillary supporters here. Reading your posts, you’re like the Susan Sarandon of the Clinton camp.

  202. 202.

    Elie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:52 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Yes, doncha know she is a rabid attacker with no sense of self control (hence she cannot help it) It being attacking little gentle bunny rabbit Bernie of the gentle and small….

  203. 203.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    April 5, 2016 at 9:52 pm

    Dream Team

    Talk about a golf round of a lifetime. The White House announced that Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers played in a foursome Saturday at The Courses at Andrews Air Force Base with President Barack Obama, as well as astronaut Mark Kelly and Tony Kornheiser of ESPN.

    Obama and Rodgers have shown a mutual admiration for each other before. Obama said last year that as presidents go, he is like “Aaron Rodgers in the pocket.”

    Rodgers said at the time he was flattered, especially since Obama is a fan of the Chicago Bears — Rodgers’ team’s biggest rival.

    (Photo)

  204. 204.

    sinnedbackwards

    April 5, 2016 at 9:52 pm

    @Psych1: No.

  205. 205.

    debbie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:54 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    No, not true nature. More like the frustration she must be feeling at not having this wrapped up by now. Not saying it’s wrong, but can you imagine how it would play in the gazillion GOP ads this fall?

  206. 206.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    April 5, 2016 at 9:54 pm

    I’d point out that Ted Cruz sounds just like Dana Carvey’s George HW Bush impression, but it wouldn’t be prudent at this juncture.

  207. 207.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 5, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    @debbie: I don’t really have a problem with her throwing an elbow or two.

  208. 208.

    Anoniminous

    April 5, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    Very strange. I can get to this thread but going to +14 sends me to:

    https://balloon-juice.com/wp-admin/setup-config.php

    The file ‘wp-config.php’ already exists. If you need to reset any of the configuration items in this file, please delete it first. You may try installing now.

  209. 209.

    debbie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:57 pm

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:

    Check the front page photo of him on TPM.

  210. 210.

    Elie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:57 pm

    @debbie:

    I am not. But I do want whoever wins the Democratic nomination to have a good chance in the fall. I will swallow a fair amount to make sure that happens. I surely will not want to upset anyone who seems to actually have that motive…. I can’t say that I truly find your comments middle of the road, but for now, I assume you are honest about that and that you say what you say you say.

  211. 211.

    Aleta

    April 5, 2016 at 9:58 pm

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: That picture reminds me of Harvey, a b/w Jimmy Stewart movie I loved on TV as a kid.

  212. 212.

    debbie

    April 5, 2016 at 9:59 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Even knowing how the Right will exploit the lack of self control?

  213. 213.

    Anoniminous

    April 5, 2016 at 10:00 pm

    AP is giving Sanders 44 delegates and Clinton 28.

    Cruz won the state wide 18 and we’ll have to wait on the congressional district delegates.

  214. 214.

    Mary

    April 5, 2016 at 10:01 pm

    @Aleta: proper treatment and medication that is tailored to your diagnosis. I’ve also found that giving myself permission to show anger has helped a great deal. That has come with maturity and confidence. Wish I could give more comforting advice, but this shit is definitely hard.

  215. 215.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 5, 2016 at 10:02 pm

    @debbie: Throwing an elbow isn’t necessarily a result of a loss of self control. Sometimes it is a deliberate act.

  216. 216.

    Anoniminous

    April 5, 2016 at 10:04 pm

    Cruz “We are not here to curse the darkness, we shall be in danger of losing the future”

    The man is a Demosthenes, I tells ya.

  217. 217.

    magurakurin

    April 5, 2016 at 10:04 pm

    @debbie:

    Oh yeah, game changer, fer sure.

    Did you read the NYDN interview?
    If you did, and are still undecided then there isn’t much left to talk about. Vote for who you want. I’m going to join those helping Clinton. You can join anytime anywhere, no questions asked, all forgotten. Cheers.

  218. 218.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    April 5, 2016 at 10:06 pm

    @Aleta: If you loved “Harvey” then this (photo) will be a treat.

  219. 219.

    debbie

    April 5, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I get that, but then I remember what was made of her leaning against a wrought iron chair (“OMG, she needs a walker!”). Hillary is such a magnet for this stuff, and I’m afraid that is what the 2016 campaign will end up being about. Did you see my post earlier tonight? There are yard signs saying, “Hillary for Prison 2016”.

  220. 220.

    Betty Cracker

    April 5, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Unsurprising that PBO doesn’t relate to his hometown team QB, who is a big crybaby. ??

  221. 221.

    Mousebumples

    April 5, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Wasn’t really an issue for me, but the wards for my voting place didn’t really include the colleges in the area, so it’s hard to say. I’m a pharmacist IRL, and it’s amazing how many people don’t have valid photo IDs, which are now required by state law to pick up medications that are Schedule 2 or 3. (i.e. Adderall, Oxy, Hydrocodone, Codeine, etc.) If it didn’t have an impact, I’d be surprised.

  222. 222.

    debbie

    April 5, 2016 at 10:10 pm

    @Elie:

    Well, aren’t you the generous soul, allowing that I might be honest? I can’t tell you how much better I’ll sleep tonight knowing this.

  223. 223.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 5, 2016 at 10:12 pm

    @debbie: So what? If she throws elbows, they will attack her. If she doesn’t, they will attack her.

  224. 224.

    mclaren

    April 5, 2016 at 10:12 pm

    Oh, I don’t know about how “horrible” the next few weeks will be, John. The mild friction twixt Sandernistas and Hillbots on this forum hasn’t been much to write home about. A few minor tiffs. But nothing like the really fratricidal warfare back in 2008. I was around then and remember the fuming rage of the Hillary supporters when Obama pulled ahead.

    Hillary has pulled ahead of Bernie, and I’m a Bernie supporter, and you know what? It’s all good. Yes, I have pointed out that Hillary’s proposals are mostly tired old 90s nostrums that won’t do much to solve our 2016 problems. But Hillary won’t be a bad president, just a mostly ineffectual one. Will Hillary get us into more endless unwinnable foreign wars? Yes, but Bernie has a bad track record on foreign wars (though he did vote against the Iraq invasion) so Bernie will probably get us into some new endless unwinnable foreign wars too.

    Both the Democratic candidates are pretty good this time around. That’s not to say that they weren’t pretty good back in 2008, it’s just that Obama created the impression that he was really going to do something transformational, and he had the opportunity. But that never panned out.

    Part of the reason this rivalry twixt Sanders and Clinton is so low-key this time around is that we all recognize the sheer magnitude of the Republican obstructionism. It’s hard to get thrilled about either candidate when we realize that the Republicans will be making fanatical bonzai charges to stop anything that either Hillary or Bernie try to do as president.

    So, no, the next couple of weeks will mildly ruffle some feathers. But nothing really unpleasant. If you want to talk about nightmarish cannibalism, look at Cruz going after Trump with a meat hook.

  225. 225.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 5, 2016 at 10:14 pm

    @mclaren: The GOP is attacking with tiny trees?

  226. 226.

    mclaren

    April 5, 2016 at 10:16 pm

    @stinger:

    I vote for a Lily/Thurston ticket (sorry, Baud!).

    Traitor! Heretic!

    It must be a Steve/Thurston ticket!

    Steve! Steve! Steve! If it’s not Steve THEN I REFUSE TO VOTE FOR ANYONE!!!

  227. 227.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    April 5, 2016 at 10:17 pm

    @debbie: Jazz hands!

  228. 228.

    mclaren

    April 5, 2016 at 10:17 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    The GOP is attacking with tiny trees?

    The GOP will attack with miniature policemen, flying trees, and self-licking doorknobs. It’s going to be hell, I tell you, sheer hell.

  229. 229.

    Mnemosyne

    April 5, 2016 at 10:18 pm

    @Aleta:

    Honestly, the only thing that helps with anxiety and depression due to ADHD is treating the ADHD, either with therapy from an ADHD specialist or medication, or both. You should also make sure to get fully screened for some of the common comorbid conditions like bipolar or clinical depression, because unfortunately you can have both clinical depression and ADHD.

    @Feathers:
    @Mary:

    There have been some really interesting studies lately about depression and ADHD. Some researchers now think that the diagnoses of dysthymia and/or atypical depression are actually reactions to untreated ADHD and not true mood disorders.

    And emotions for people with ADHD are definitely much more volatile and (in some ways) impulsive. One of the reasons it can be hard to diagnose between ADHD and bipolar is that both groups can easily do 0 to 60 when it comes to mood swings, but ADHD mood swings tend to be traceable to actual events.

  230. 230.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 5, 2016 at 10:19 pm

    @mclaren: Self-licking doorknobs?

  231. 231.

    debbie

    April 5, 2016 at 10:19 pm

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:

    Exactly!

    My local channel just excerpted part of his victory speech. Crowing about winning 6 delegates in Utah???

  232. 232.

    opiejeanne

    April 5, 2016 at 10:19 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I see what you did there.

  233. 233.

    Anoniminous

    April 5, 2016 at 10:19 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    First it was mandatory haiku, now we’re being assaulted by bonsai.

    Almost like the Japanese won WW 2.

  234. 234.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    April 5, 2016 at 10:20 pm

    That little hipster shit behind and to the right of Bernie Sanders is getting on my last nerve and ruining this fucking election.

  235. 235.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 5, 2016 at 10:23 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: That’s why Bernie hired him.

  236. 236.

    Mary

    April 5, 2016 at 10:26 pm

    @Mnemosyne: There’s tons of interesting stuff coming out, too, about how ADHD generally manifests in girls and women. It’s very different, and much more difficult to diagnose if you don’t know what to look for.

  237. 237.

    Mnemosyne

    April 5, 2016 at 10:32 pm

    @Mary:

    Sari Seldon’s book about women and ADHD is really good.

  238. 238.

    Mary in Ohio

    April 5, 2016 at 10:36 pm

    @Anne Laurie:

    http://fox8.com/2016/04/05/police-response-to-alarm-at-u-s-senators-home-takes-2-hours/

    This is especially concerning since the Bernie supporter has released the names and addresses of the Superdelegates. Can’t wait until December gets here.

  239. 239.

    sinnedbackwards

    April 5, 2016 at 10:53 pm

    @debbie: We never had the votes of those who post signs like that. Never will.

    Personally, I think that level of vituperation backfires. Sort of like there is evidence that obvious voter suppression increases the intesity of the suppressed group and backfires.

    Your typical civics class assumes all sorts of nonsense about voter rationality, etc.

    The actual value of democracy is that it provides a way to throw the assholes out when they become sufficiently egregious, or not elect the ones who are over the top. Republicans are now so much into the crazy I think that last scenario is in effect.

  240. 240.

    fourlegsgood

    April 5, 2016 at 11:05 pm

    @Baud: I hate it too. I’m actually neutral in the race – I thing they’re both great, smart, well intentioned people – there’s no reason for nastiness.

    I’ll happily support who ever wins. Period.

  241. 241.

    MomSense

    April 5, 2016 at 11:09 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I think Omnes and I are in a basement at the CIA. It could be DOD. I should probably get my cover story squared away.

  242. 242.

    Timurid

    April 5, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Why are they expecting people to Sneakernet all that data?

  243. 243.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 5, 2016 at 11:23 pm

    @MomSense: I’ve never been to Langley.*

    *But, of course, I would say that.

  244. 244.

    StellaB

    April 5, 2016 at 11:25 pm

    @debbie: In 2004 we were assured that John Kerry wouldn’t be attacked like Bill Clinton because Kerry had served in the military. In 2008 we were assured that the Obamas wouldn’t be attacked like the Clintons had been because Michelle would keep her head down and no one would dare attack the first African American president. If Bernie is the nominee, he’ll be attacked with just as much vigor as Sec. Kerry, the Os, and even the Clintons. Guaranteed.

  245. 245.

    sinnedbackwards

    April 5, 2016 at 11:34 pm

    @different-church-lady: Yes, that was as of this morning. Turns out polls are once again a little off from voters. That’s not too unusual in open primaries, where you don’t have to be registered with the party you vote for. Those are really hard to poll.

  246. 246.

    Mnemosyne

    April 5, 2016 at 11:47 pm

    @Timurid:

    Because I need an appointment ASAP — it’s already been 2 weeks since the ultrasound where they found the abnormality and now a new radiologist has to look at everything. Having me hand-deliver it is more efficient than mailing it.

  247. 247.

    J R in WV

    April 6, 2016 at 8:10 am

    @Mike J:

    Wow, that’s some big type, and a tense looking candidate.

    I wonder who they support in the NY Dem primary? ;-)

  248. 248.

    J R in WV

    April 6, 2016 at 8:32 am

    @Pogonip:

    It’s always different between your arms. They always check both my arms at a routing Dr appointment, they’re always a little different. It the difference changes or is big that’s also something else to study. My Doc also does an EKG annually.

    My BP is always higher when the nurse takes it, and then lower when Doc takes it, which is normal.

  249. 249.

    Paul in KY

    April 6, 2016 at 9:13 am

    @Psych1: You are a dipshit.

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