Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

He really is that stupid.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

“Alexa, change the president.”

Republicans in disarray!

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

We still have time to mess this up!

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

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

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

This fight is for everything.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

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Day of Thor Open Thread

by | 221 Comments

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I don’t know about y’all, but this primary race makes me want to eat a platter of pot brownies and wash them down with a quart of moonshine. Here’s a musical interlude to take our minds off it:

And also a visual reminder to keep Thor in Thursday:

IMG_4018.JPG

Open thread!

PS: Analysts at Sabato’s Crystal Ball are now talking about the potential for a Democratic wave in the House: “More than a dozen rating changes, almost all favoring Democrats.” Let’s not fuck this up, umkay?

Reader Interactions

221Comments

  2. 2.

    J R in WV

    Still no one else? OK.

    I’m all over swinging the House of Reps our way. We were already looking for the Senate to swing our way, so YAY, maybe a sea-change in politics.

    Thanks, Donald! Thanks, Rafael!!!

    ETA, so, someone was working in this while I was working on this.

    I don’t need to watch (can’t stand to watch!) any more Democratic debates, especially not to see how big a prick Sen. Sanders can be. I’m betting on bigger than the USS Zumwalt, but not as big as the Titanic.

  3. 3.

    boatboy_srq

    eat a platter of pot brownies and wash them down with a quart of moonshine

    Funny you should mention that. There’s wonderful routine Liz Torres used to do. She portrayed Maria Callas (as a girl from the Bronx) losing out to Leontyne Price for Carmen at Covent Garden, throwing a party for the cast (including Ms. Price) before the show, discovering too late that Ms. Price is a chocoholic after she’s eaten all the pot brownies – and then going into Ms. Price on stage when the buzz hits at the start of Habanera. Too too funny. And I can’t find the footage anywhere (and no, it doesn’t seem to be on Youtube).

  7. 7.

    Germy

    Interesting remarks by commenter West at the LGM blog:

    My cohort came into the work force in the teeth of the late 70s stagflation, then got the Reagan recession in the teeth. And then we got our first growth era in Reagan’s mid-term years. There’s a more pessimistic average outlook among my cohort than the 60s coming of age cohort.

    And so pretty much all my adult life has overlapped with the “Reagan revolution”, i.e., the relentless dismantling of safety nets, the relentless shifting of power to employers, and so on. I really do see it as structural, and years in the making, and deeply insidious. That is, I agree with folks your age who see it as structural, even if not all of it is structural (and even if I’m lucky enough to be avoiding the worst impact of it).


    I can relate; I’m about two years older than West. Entered full-time work in the late 1970s. I witnessed outrageous behavior from bosses and management. It felt to me like they were empowered by what was being said in the GOP. I hope the pendulum swings back somewhat for the careers of my spawn.

  10. 10.

    Mnemosyne

    I keep telling you guys, public sentiment is against conservatives this year. We can make this one a blowout if we stay focused on our goals and not get distracted by infighting. Who’s with me?!

  12. 12.

    J R in WV

    Looks like with 246 Rs and 188 Ds, we need 29 or 30 to switch… lots of work there.

    But maybe a handful of Rs with thoughts and knowledge will get elected, and do the correct thing sometimes? Naw, not gonna happen. We need to elect some Democrats in purple districts, bad!

    I remember those Thor comics from the late 50s and early 60s, vaguely. But I haven’t seen any modern cartoons or movies with Thor.

    And from the mythology, Thor was a bigger prick than the Titanic. Petty, carrying a chip on his shoulder the size of a redwood, holding grudges, taking everything anyone ever said around him in the worst possible light.

    Wow!

    Thor sounds like my late F-I-L on a binge… not gonna spend any money on that loser!

  13. 13.

    hedgehog the occasional commenter

    Thank you–how have I not heard (or heard of) Joan Osborne before?

  16. 16.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Betty Cracker: Not to gloat, but Mr. Q and I will be at a concert in the People’s Islamofascist Kenyan Sharia Republic of Louisville tonight. I won’t be joining the livejuiceblogging of the debate, since I’ll be enjoying listening to the Dave Rawlings Machine at the Lyons Brown Theatre while the debate is streamed/broadcast.

    Oops, I think I may have accidentally gloated for a minute there. Forgive me Thor (please).

  17. 17.

    boatboy_srq

    @Mnemosyne: As long as loons like Bryant, McCrory, Bevin and the like keep signing itiotic pieces of legislation like NC’s HB2, they’re doing our work for us.

    More popcorn, please.

  20. 20.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @MattF: Sure Happy It’s Thorsday! :D

    You know the story about the morning after the big orgy in Valhalla? Bodies, alive but insensate, slumped all over the tables, trestles & floor of the big banquet hall.

    The God of War bestirs himself, an awful throbbing in his head. He looks up–& there, in one of the archways, stands a Valkyrie in a scarf & a sneeze & a flurry of long blond tresses.

    The God of War, again, bestirs himself. Dagnabit, he thinks, this god stuff can be hard work sometimes, but I got a reputation to uphold–

    He levers himself up on one arm, smiles broadly at her & says, “I don’t believe we met last night. I’m Thor.”

    “You think you’re Thor!” she replies. “I’m tho thor I can’t even pith!”

    { rimshot }

  21. 21.

    Miss Bianca

    @hedgehog the occasional commenter: This song turned me into a total fan of Joan’s, first mindworm of hers heard on WXRT in Chicago.

    I posted this question late in a thread a few days ago, but don’t know if you ever saw it: any chance of you coming with yr hubby to the state delegates’ convention?

  22. 22.

    Major Major Major Major

    @J R in WV:

    And from the mythology, Thor was a bigger prick than the Titanic. Petty, carrying a chip on his shoulder the size of a redwood, holding grudges, taking everything anyone ever said around him in the worst possible light.

    “Thor was the god of thunder and, frankly, acted like it.” –Douglas Adams

  23. 23.

    burnspbesq

    Republican gerrymandering makes the House a tough nut to crack. Even in my giddy moments, I don’t see a path to 218, but something in the 200-205 range would be a great start. We need to win back a bunch of state houses in 2020.

  25. 25.

    pamelabrown53

    @Betty Cracker:

    If you’re gonna watch tonight’s debate, it’s of little wonder that you’re touting pot brownies and moonshine. Wolf Blitzer alone…
    At a time when the Republicans are doing their best to destroy themselves, I wish we could exercise a little more self-control instead of joining in an internecine toxic stew.

  27. 27.

    Immanentize

    @Mnemosyne: I am.
    @J R in WV: I think there might be an opening to get some republicans to switch to D after the election if there is a general repudiation of conservative jerks in the election. The R party will stay conservative and remain jerks. I already see a couple of R Senators who might rather switch than fight?

  32. 32.

    hedgehog the occasional commenter

    @Miss Bianca: I must have missed seeing that, sorry! I don’t think I’ll make it up–I have a funeral to attend in the morning and a reception after, and I’m not sure how long those will last.

  34. 34.

    MattF

    @Mnemosyne: Well, sure. Something to reflect on– all those complaints from the peanut gallery that Der Trump isn’t a conservative– that might just be why he’s getting any votes. Of course, he’s no librul either, but still…

  35. 35.

    hedgehog the occasional commenter

    @Bill: OH!!! Right–now I recall. mr. h LOVED Joan of Arcadia. Me, I was “meh” about it. But I loved the song. Thanks for the memory-jog. (Imma blame the Dayquil and muzzy-headed congestion for not remembering). I’m an Old so I do remember 1995 :)

  38. 38.

    Miss Bianca

    @J R in WV: Posted something about this way down in another thread, but I’m posting again here, because Relevance!

    I keep forgetting that I’m in the 3rd Congressional District now in CO, and that we have actually elected Democrats to the House from this District before! And we may again! Two Democrats looking to oppose Scott Tipton, who is only slightly less horrible than Doug Lamborn, whom nothing short of a Hastert-style scandal would unseat (thank you, Colorado Springs). One of them was my state rep/senator, Gail Schwartz! I’m hoping to catch up with her at the CO 3 meeting Friday night. I interviewed her back in the day for Colorado Central, hoping to bag another interview now that she’s running for the House. She is AWESOME. She definitely deserves some nationwide liberal love, if she scores the nomination.

  39. 39.

    Joey Maloney

    @burnspbesq: Plus, I don’t know for sure but I’m betting these predictions haven’t factored in voter suppression. Because then they’d have to admit it exists.

  40. 40.

    Calouste

    I wonder if Clinton is going to give Sanders some help during the debate by pointing out that he can get three years worth of tax transcripts in the mail within 5-10 days by going to the IRS web site and clicking the “Get a Tax Transcript” link.

    In case, you know, his wife still can’t find them.

  41. 41.

    Keith G

    Let’s not fuck this up, umkay?

    We sre the modern Democratic Party. What in Heaven’s name could possibly go wrong?

  42. 42.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Villago Delenda Est: I always thought that was funny.

    “We must get the Pagan calendar traditions out of the language. Let’s make Sunday the first day and get rid of that terrible Odin’s Day. We can call it… Middle Of The Week!”
    “But what about the Moon’s Day, Dean’s Day, Thor’s Day, Frey’s Day…”
    “Middle Of The Week it is!”

  43. 43.

    J.

    “Nana and Zadie are getting a divorce!” Though as Samantha Bee notes, what’s been happening on the Democratic side is a love fest compared to what’s been going on with the G.O.P. (or as I like to refer to it, the Grand “No” Party).

    Am planning on watching the debate tonight, but don’t know how long I will last. (Sadly, I can’t drink alcohol or consume pot, so I will have just have to change the channel when it gets to be too much.)

  44. 44.

    Miss Bianca

    @hedgehog the occasional commenter: Oh, too bad, I am so sorry to hear about that – the funeral and all, I mean. One of these days we will raise the Green Balloon on the Front Range!

    Speaking of Joan, tho’ you gotta hear this, if you haven’t already: Joan blowing the *doors* off a Motown cover, and the original Snakepit crew egging her on. Definitely one of the highlights of “Standing in the Shadows of Motown”.

  45. 45.

    hedgehog the occasional commenter

    @Miss Bianca: Excellent news! Would be grand to get rid of Tipton (and the odious Lamborn). I’m in CD 1 – Diana DeGette’s district. The lines were redrawn (2011, I think?) so we were moved from CD 6, currently represented by Mike Coffman (spit).

  46. 46.

    Hungry Joe

    Debate? Meh. “Orphan Black” starts up again tonight; counting the minutes till then. Tatiana Maslany for president!

    Except she’s Canadian.

    Which apparently doesn’t matter.

  47. 47.

    hedgehog the occasional commenter

    @Miss Bianca: Thank you. My friend passed of brain cancer (fuck cancer) and his wife needs all the support she can get.
    Indeed, someday Green Balloons will rise on the Front Range!

  49. 49.

    Anoniminous

    @burnspbesq:

    Oddly the extreme gerrymandering makes flipping the House more likely this year. Gerrymandering relies on elections following a statistical pattern. This year a combination of total disarray at the top of the ticket and the dying of the GOP base (white people, by and large) has modified the pattern, setting the stage for a flip.

    Flipping does demand the various state parties nominate candidates people want to vote for.

  50. 50.

    Mnemosyne

    My #Hamiltome update: just reading about “It’s Quiet Uptown” made me cry. You win again, Lin-Manuel Miranda, you evil genius.

  52. 52.

    Gravenstone

    Likely I missed an explanation in some earlier thread, but what the fuck is with the sudden appearance of the row of monster icons following each post?

  56. 56.

    WereBear

    this primary race makes me want to eat a platter of pot brownies and wash them down with a quart of moonshine

    Up for it anytime, just give me a holler.

  60. 60.

    Major Major Major Major

    @laura: Well, it ran long and we seemed to hit it off and they took a looooot of notes, but, as I’m me, I’m sure that what actually happened is they hate me and will not only not hire me but find a way to preëmptively fire me and also I’ll never be happy

  64. 64.

    Elie

    @J R in WV:

    I really enjoyed your comment on the hawks and spring the other day… I didn’t respond then because had to jump off the thread, but I did see and like it….(it was in response to my comment on hummingbirds in the NW)

  65. 65.

    Anoniminous

    @Major Major Major Major:

    2012 was the first election under the gerrymandering based on the 2010 census. 2014 was possible but the Dems decided to nominate “safe” candidates* and voter turnout collapsed.

    * Kentucky Senate candidate Alison “I Can’t Remember Who I Voted For in 2012” Grimes being the poster kid.

  71. 71.

    Germy

    @gex: Saw on the news last night there is now a mighty effort to cure cancer. A billionaire has pledged funds; inspired by Obama’s pledge during his last SOTU

  72. 72.

    NR

    Well I’m sure glad we had over 300 comments earlier to tell us how horrible and evil Bernie Sanders is.

    Meanwhile, the presumptive Democratic nominee’s unfavorable numbers have hit an all-time high, at 56%. You’d think that might also be a topic worthy of discussion.

  74. 74.

    Bodacious

    Betty Cracker, come to Washington!!!! The brownies are here to stay………not so much the moonshine.

  75. 75.

    elmo

    @Mnemosyne:

    We can make this one a blowout if we stay focused on our goals and not get distracted by infighting. Who’s with me?!

    Oh yeah? Whose goals should we focus on? The goals of the corporate whore sellouts or the goals of the empty-headed teenage communists? Why should we focus on your goals?

    And what’s with the violent language and imagery, anyway? Talk about a “blowout” and “infighting” only reinforces the heteronormative patriarchal framing of what should be a holistic collaborative process of healing and safe spaces.

    The whole system is corrupt and unsalvageable. Only Donald Trump can save us!

  77. 77.

    Miss Bianca

    @elmo: Somehow, seeing the words “heternormative” and “Donald Trump can save us!” in the same post is seriously twisting my melon, maaaan…(oops, I meant “maaaan” in a totally nonheteronormative way, of course).

  79. 79.

    Gravenstone

    @boatboy_srq: I think they’ve given up on the dialect work. He’s sort of the Aussie San Connery, without Connery’s body of work to justify it.

  81. 81.

    Shell

    Watching “What We Do In The Shadows”. A very funny documentary about four vampires sharing a house in New Zealand. (A little like an ‘Odd Couple’ of the Undead.)

  82. 82.

    Roger Moore

    @NR:

    Meanwhile, the presumptive Democratic nominee’s unfavorable numbers have hit an all-time high, at 56%.

    You don’t think that might have anything to do with the other Democratic candidate slagging her as much as possible, do you?

  83. 83.

    ruemara

    @Mnemosyne: I’m with you! Let’s talk down ticket choices per state. Let’s talk about who’s doing something to register voters, orgs that are helping people get their IDs. I’d rather do than complain and I am all out of fucks for whatever Trump or Sanders is doing. Or Bill Clinton, currently stashed in a closet with a sock in his mouth.

  85. 85.

    Germy

    @ruemara:

    Or Bill Clinton, currently stashed in a closet with a sock in his mouth.

    Bill Clinton is coming to Albany NY. He’s still giving speeches, no sock.

  91. 91.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @MattF:

    Jeebus. “Peculiar” doesn’t begin to describe the utter and total weirdness of this guy. That’s honestly one of the most bizarre things I’ve read about him, and it’s a pretty big category.

  92. 92.

    Chyron HR

    @NR:

    So all those posts from your friends throwing shit-fits because people criticized Bernie were a demonstration of how horrible and evil Bernie is?

    A bold (if completely unintentional) admission.

  94. 94.

    NR

    @Roger Moore: Right, I forgot, Bernie Sanders is the source of all evil in the universe. All Hillary Clinton’s problems are his fault.

    The fact is that the weakness of our presumptive presidential nominee is a huge elephant (no pun intended) in the room for November that people seem to think will just go away if we ignore it. That’s really dumb, to put it mildly.

  96. 96.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @MattF: @cleek:
    I’m eagerly awaiting a new GW cd. They’ve both said that the Harrow and the Harvest took so long after its predecessor because they didn’t believe any of the songs they wrote before that were good enough. Which is part of the reason my thesis is that he gets “his” voice with the Machine by releasing the songs that aren’t up to release as GW. I like the GW stuff better also, too. But he is just a monster on that 80 year old archtop, so I’ll take what I can get that’s sort of in the neighborhood.

    ::waves at Hubert Minkle::

  98. 98.

    kilgore trout jr

    @J R in WV: also thanks to NC,Mississippi, Kansas, Jindal, etc etc
    the GOP can’t govern and folks are waking up to that fact.

  101. 101.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Major Major Major Major:

    You’ve been dipping into the Norman Vincent Peale again, haven’t you?

    Seriously, I totally get all that worry and self-doubt (being similarly afflicted), so I know that encouraging words from random blog commenters won’t change things much, but do try to focus on the “hit it off” part. Wishing you well in all aspects of your life.

  102. 102.

    LAO

    @Shell:

    Watching “What We Do In The Shadows”

    Love that movie. Did you know they are going to make a spinoff about the werewolves. Called “We’re Wolves”

  104. 104.

    patroclus

    @Benw: Here’s some lyrics for your new band: “I’m just a corporate Democratic whore who was born in the Deep South, so I don’t matter. The Night Bernie Drove ol Dixie down. And all the people were singin’.”

  106. 106.

    Betty Cracker

    @NR: Nah, “really dumb” would be refusing to vote for whichever Dem wins the nomination and thereby doing your part to ensure that Ted Cruz or Donald Trump get to make a few Supreme Court appointments. In fact, “really dumb” doesn’t begin to cover it — “criminally fucking stupid” is closer.

  107. 107.

    bemused

    Loving Booman’s piece today on Rude and Stupid Trump’s strongly negative numbers among key voting blocs. Worse for the Donald is that his current success is driven entirely by his popularity with 64% of white Republican men and that’s not enough. “If you take the electorate and subtract every laid off mechanic and guy over 40 who obsessively fantasizes about be a successful golf pro, Trump’s support approaches zero.”

    Booman goes on to say the GOP has been denuded out of ordinary people, devolved to the point that the asshole vote is big enough to decide their nomination, Trump or the main alternative Cruz. Booman seems to think it’s possible Trump will be denied the nomination but the GOP will be dealing with the beast they created. Great job, GOP.

  111. 111.

    low-tech cyclist

    Betty – a playlist rearranging Joan Osborne’s Relish album used to be my wake-up music back in the mid to late ’90s. I’d start with “Lumina” which is the most low-key song on the album, and gradually work towards the livelier stuff like “Right-Hand Man” and “Ladder” with “St. Teresa” somewhere in between. Time to dig out that CD again.

  115. 115.

    NR

    @Betty Cracker: If this election is so important, maybe the Democrats should think twice about nominating a candidate who 56% of the country dislikes and two-thirds think is dishonest. That sounds like a pretty good way to lose, don’t you think?

  116. 116.

    Immanentize

    @Germy: Does anyone think that Bill’s small altercation with BLM protesters hurt Hillary in the NY primary? I hated it and thought Bill sounded old and clueless — even his apology (although I believe it was very real) suggested he just doesn’t get it….
    But I felt the whole thing seemed a little Sister Souljah and might have actually resonated with a (particularly upstate) New York crowd. Thoughts?

  117. 117.

    Miss Bianca

    @NR: Oh, Lord…seems like you used to make sense every once in a while, but now you’re becoming a one-trick purity pony. Can you just give the Hillz_h8te a rest for a moment? Or find another sand-box for it?

  120. 120.

    Calouste

    @p.a.: That need a clip of the Dowager Countess from Downton Abbey saying “A weekend? What’s that? […] Oh, interesting concept.”

  121. 121.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Major Major Major Major: Did you ever read any of young Vonnegut’s stuff? In a foreward to one of them, he tells of submitting his first manuscript and receiving a response along the lines of

    with your last name it’s gotta be a lot better than this

  123. 123.

    Bill

    @NR: @Chyron HR: Can we have one goddamn thread that doesn’t devolve in to Bernie and Hillary supporters rumbling under the west side highway. At the very least, have a fight to the death so the rest of us don’t have to listen to the two of you argue every damn day.

  124. 124.

    Mnemosyne

    @NR:

    It’s weird how Hillary is simultaneously the most admired woman in the US and disliked by a majority. Almost as though misogyny was a real thing.

  125. 125.

    aimai

    @Miss Bianca: I don’t have Cleek’s pie filter and usually I’m a glutton for punishment/interested in the behavior of creepy and crazy people but after the last few threads I just skip anything NR has to say. It just makes you lose brain cells to keep reading this kind of crap.

  126. 126.

    Betty Cracker

    @NR: I don’t think Hillary is going to invite you to the inauguration if you keep up this talk.

  127. 127.

    NR

    @Miss Bianca: How is anything I said inaccurate?

    Do you agree that nominating a candidate with sky-high unfavorable numbers that are only continuing to get worse, not better, is an incredibly stupid and risky thing for the Democratic party to do?

    If not, why not?

  128. 128.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    =@Immanentize: there was some speculation that it was deliberate, but as little as I think of Bubba, that’s a little too convoluted for me.

    @Miss Bianca: @NR: Oh, Lord…seems like you used to make sense every once in a while

    Really? it must have been an accident.

  133. 133.

    NR

    @Mnemosyne: I have no doubt that some of that dislike is rooted in sexism.

    But I don’t think you get all the way up to 56% unfavorable on sexism alone. That 56% number includes quite a few women.

  135. 135.

    Miss Bianca

    @NR: Git along, little dogie, git along…I ain’t a-coming down to play.

    @cleek: So the famous Pie Filter really is a thing!

  139. 139.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Hungry Joe: Howdy! Did you see our creation of St. Purim’s Day a couple of weeks ago in an evening thread? If you did, I hope you didn’t find it too irreverent, or, at least amusing, even if you did.

    I seem to have a surfeit of commas today. Anybody know if Omnes needs any? Which combines 2 inside jokes in way that perhaps only one (EDT) daytime poster will recognize.

  141. 141.

    boatboy_srq

    @Gravenstone: His fake Scots accent in what I refer to as “Snow White and the Underwear Model” was actually halfway decent, And his Middle Ahmurrrca (as George Kirk) is pretty good too. It’s his uppucrust BBC English (Thor) that he fails at so badly.

  142. 142.

    NR

    @Miss Bianca: It was a simple question. If you want to ignore our presumptive nominee’s huge weakness, that’s your choice.

    Just don’t be surprised when November doesn’t go the way you think it will.

  147. 147.

    Mnemosyne

    @NR:

    If you’ve never met a sexist woman, you need to get out more.

    Trump’s unfavorables are even higher, so “favorable/unfavorable” ratings aren’t telling us much this year.

  148. 148.

    J R in WV

    @Elie:

    Thanks.

    Spring is really doing it here and now. Piliated woodpeckers going to town on hardwood trees, which are in bloom big time. The colors of spring are more pastel and less in-your-face than autumn leaves, but there’s a ton of colors, even the new green leaves have a lot of variety.

    Ferns are popping up, even those that got burnt by the freeze the other day. And the barred owls are hooting at each other in the late afternoon and early evening, it’s the most amazing sound.

    Check this owl out!

  152. 152.

    NR

    @Mnemosyne: First, you’re assuming Trump will be the nominee. That’s not certain at this point.

    Second, blaming all of Hillary’s problems on sexism is just as dumb as blaming all of Obama’s problems on racism. They were certainly factors in both cases, but also in both cases the problems run deeper than that. And it’s not useful to pretend they don’t.

  153. 153.

    Brachiator

    @boatboy_srq:

    His fake Scots accent in what I refer to as “Snow White and the Underwear Model” was actually halfway decent, And his Middle Ahmurrrca (as George Kirk) is pretty good too. It’s his uppucrust BBC English (Thor) that he fails at so badly.

    Accents are tough. The comic book nerds are still trying to figure out what version of Ahmurrican Benedict Cumberbatch is strangling in the Dr Strange teaser.

  154. 154.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Immanentize: Did this (much funnier when it was published, but still) xkcd?
    @LAO: ZOMThor that’s quite comical. They always get promoted.

    @both of you and anyone else interested:
    Does this read to you like an nod to Mr. Hastert that the sentence bargain may face sort an an upward departure:

    “That’s not conduct that’s 40 years old. That’s conduct that’s less than a year old,” U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin told lawyers. “Among the aggravating factors in this case, that’s a big one.”

    Referring to the false extortion claim to FBI when structuring investigation was underway.

  157. 157.

    LAO

    @Immanentize: attorneys. We had a June date, but one of them was busy. All the defendants are in the care and custody of the federal government. I’m pissed because I have an actual issue, 2 (of my 3) co-ds don’t. They don’t care.

  158. 158.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Miss Bianca: It’s such an old riff from the late evening crew that I can’t remember how I butted into it, but I did. It was quite comical (to me) at the time, and, perhaps to others as well.

    @Hungry Joe:
    1) I agree, and you should look it, when you’ve got the time – it was in the neighborhood of the actual holiday.
    2)Sure, Be didactic Hungry Joe. Be didactic !

  159. 159.

    Brachiator

    @Immanentize:

    Does anyone think that Bill’s small altercation with BLM protesters hurt Hillary in the NY primary? I hated it and thought Bill sounded old and clueless — even his apology (although I believe it was very real) suggested he just doesn’t get it…. But I felt the whole thing seemed a little Sister Souljah and might have actually resonated with a (particularly upstate) New York crowd. Thoughts?

    I don’t know if it hurt Hillary, but it hurt Bill. It made and makes him a less effective campaigner and surrogate for HRC. He seemed to forget that this election is not about him and his record, and was spending more time defending his decisions than discussing Hillary.

    I don’t see the Sister Souljah thing at all. That incident supposedly was about Bill showing that he could be “tough” on blacks, or something. There is no great advantage to be had in trying to spank BLM people. It would cost the Clintons far more than they would ever gain.

  160. 160.

    Betty Cracker

    @J R in WV: We had a pair of woodpeckers raising hell in our yard yesterday. I’m not sure if it was two males in a territory dispute or a courting pair (didn’t get a super-close look at the markings). But they were loooouud!

  161. 161.

    Soylent Green

    @NR: Dude, get a clue. Suppose Sanders got the nom. Wait till the electorate, most of which hasn’t tuned in yet, gets a load of his finger-pointing Old Man Yelling at Clouds routine, and his inability to discuss policy or foreign affairs with any fluency. Wait till you see what the GOP noise machine does with the word “socia1ist.” Wait till they get the word out that he is (1) not a Christian and (2) possibly an atheist. You want to see unfavorables higher than 56 percent? Bernie is a good bet.

  166. 166.

    cleek

    @Soylent Green:
    nonsense.

    everyone loves Sadners. it is self-evident.

    and the fact that Trump’s polling at something like 67% unfavorable just proves that only Sadners can beat him.

  167. 167.

    NR

    @Soylent Green: So because the Republicans might be able to make people hate Bernie, we should nominate the candidate who people already hate. Makes perfect sense.

  168. 168.

    Mnemosyne

    @NR:

    Cruz also has higher unfavorables than Hillary. So, again, it’s not a useful metric, especially during a primary.

    Are all of Hillary’s issues due to sexism? Of course not. But the nebulous, emotion-based ones like “likeability” or “favorability” are much more likely to be affected by sexism than questions about specific stances or issues.

  169. 169.

    Immanentize

    @LAO: This is a real but sad tale — My friend and co-counsels were representing some teenagers (white and black) in Hondo Texas and he had figured out that there was an error in the indictment. He filed a motion to dismiss — Mark had a white client. One co-counsel looked at the file before the hearing and quickly filed a motion to join Mark’s motion. His client was also white. The other yutes were black and their attorneys had not filed a thing. Judge comes in, grants the motion, the two white kids leave and the black kids go on to be prosecuted….

  170. 170.

    Immanentize

    @LAO: Oopsie — I am still a member of the Fla Bar…. If we work together I promise not to be a jackass….

  171. 171.

    Soylent Green

    @NR:Yes, it makes perfect sense to nominate the better prepared, better qualified, better known, already vetted, more widely admired candidate, the one who has the party’s full support. Which is not Bernie.

  172. 172.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Soylent Green: are you suggesting “I’m going to raise your taxes… FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!” is not a winning campaign slogan?

    H8TR, as the kids used to type

  173. 173.

    Immanentize

    I gotta go teach about nuclear non-proliferation and some such. Catch you all on the flip side!

  174. 174.

    Immanentize

    @Brachiator: I agree — the whole thing made me sad about Bill. I couldn’t help remember his shining speech at the ’12 convention…

  176. 176.

    LAO

    @Immanentize: wow. That’s infuriating. And disgusting. This morning, I had a sentencing and I was fairly sure my client would get probation (which she did). Right before we walked into the courtroom, she turned to me and asked how I was feeling because “I had her life in my hands”. Defense lawyers who don’t recognize that, should not be practicing law.

    ETA: I’m sure we’d work well together!

  177. 177.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Immanentize: It’s those kinds of stories that, well, you can imagine how they affect me, even as I don’t practice these days.

  178. 178.

    AdamK

    Of course Thursday isn’t named after Thor, but after the Anglo-Saxon equivalent, Thunar. None of you people are nearly pedantic enough.

  180. 180.

    NR

    @Soylent Green:

    more widely admired candidate,

    Please show me the poll that says that Hillary Clinton is more widely admired than Bernie Sanders. Because I can show you several dozen that say the opposite.

    And no, polling BJ commenters doesn’t count.

  181. 181.

    Brachiator

    @Soylent Green:

    Dude, get a clue. Suppose Sanders got the nom. Wait till the electorate, most of which hasn’t tuned in yet, gets a load of his finger-pointing Old Man Yelling at Clouds routine, and his inability to discuss policy or foreign affairs with any fluency. Wait til you see what the GOP noise machine does with the word “socia1ist.” Wait till they get the word out that he is (1) not a Christian and (2) possibly an atheist. You want to see unfavorables higher than 56 percent? Bernie is a good bet.

    Arguing for or against HRC or Bernie on the basis of “unfavorables” is dumb.

    I agree that Sanders is weak on policy or foreign affairs, but he has some time to bone up, if he wants. His biggest problem is that he seems bored by anything which is not free college, breaking up the banks and single payer.

    HRC, on the other hand, can drown you in policy detail and lose the point. This might not work against Cruz, who is a good debater, if not much else. It won’t work against Trump, who doesn’t care about facts. Neither do his supporters.

    But Benghazi Hillary can hold her own. And I am betting that Brooklyn Bernie can counterpunch well if he has to.

    Yeah, Bernie is going to be branded an unAmerican zozia1ist. Ironic, ain’t it, since the GOP said that this is what Obama was. But I would love to see the GOP go after Bernie because he is Jewish. Yeah, “GOP loves Israel, hates Jews.” That’s max fail.

    I don’t see the GOP ever peeling away the younger voters who love Bernie. Nah gonna happen. And ultimately, both Sanders and Clinton will have solid support from most women and nonwhites of all genders.

    We have seen in both 2008 and 2012 that you don’t have to fear the GOP smear machine. And this year, the GOP has the extra problem of trying to get out of the way of their own craziness.

  182. 182.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @AdamK: Of course Thursday isn’t named after Thor, but after the Anglo-Saxon equivalent, Thunar. None of you people are nearly pedantic enough.

    Whatever happened to “Cervantes”?

  187. 187.

    patroclus

    @NR: I tend to vote on issues, not favorability polls. Because of the spate of gun-related mass shootings lately, I’m particularly concerned about allowing gun manufacturers to be sued by victims of gun violence. What is Bernie’s position on that issue? I like Bernie a lot and would respond favorably to a favorability poll about him, but this issue is much more important to me than just that.

  189. 189.

    cleek

    @NR:
    you wrote:

    Please show me the poll that says that Hillary Clinton is more widely admired than Bernie Sanders.

    and now you have seen just such a poll.

    but you can’t stand that. so now you’re going to play games ! yay !

    (see that word in bold? keep that in mind.)

    trying to pretend 13% is bigger than 56%?

    of course i’m not. just like i’m not pretending “admired” is the same as “favorable”.

    b.t.w., the most admired man in the US, or whatever the fuck you’re claiming Sadners is, got 3%. is 3 more than 13 now ?

    are you paid to be a clown ?

  190. 190.

    NR

    @cleek: Okay dude. Hillary Clinton is disliked by a majority of the country and even more think she’s dishonest, but 13% of the population voted for her for “Most admired woman” so everything’s going to be fine in November.

    P.S. If you have an unfavorable opinion of someone, that means you don’t admire them, because admiration is a favorable opinion. But I guess words mean different things in BJ land.

  191. 191.

    patroclus

    @NR: Okay dude, I asked you a serious question, and you’ve ignored it and instead posted yet again about a favorability poll. Why do you ignore issues? Do you think you are convincing anyone with your exclusive focus on a favorability poll? Why, dude, do you think dozens of posts on a favorability poll are more important than actual issues? Are you ever going to answer my question about policy or are we gonna see yet another post about a favorability poll?

  193. 193.

    patroclus

    C’mon dude. Is it going to be yet another post about a favorability poll or are you going to address a serious issue? Please, dude – I want to see a post from you about gun violence and suing gun manufacturers and not yet another silly post about a favorability poll. Are issues important to you at all, Dude?

  194. 194.

    patroclus

    Let’s try again, dude. What is Bernie’s position on liability of gun manufacturers for gun violence? I’m beginning to think that he opposes it and you just don’t want to answer. Why should I vote for Bernie if he opposes my position on such a serious issue? Please explain in detail and please do not yet again mention an irrelevant favorability poll.

  195. 195.

    patroclus

    I’m beginning to think you’re not gonna answer, dude. Consider me unconvinced by your entire shtick.

  196. 196.

    Yutsano

    @patroclus: I’ve asked this before: someone give me reasons to vote FOR Bernie. Voters don’t (always) vote against people. They vote FOR things. And yeah his unrealistic plans aren’t enough, sorry. I already know the scant details there. Give me something more to hang my hat on. And yeah, the NYDN transcript was devastating to me. No one with that shallow of an understanding of even his own issues should be anywhere near the Oval Office except as an invited guest.

  199. 199.

    patroclus

    @Yutsano: @Miss Bianca: Well, I tried. If NR was really attempting to convince me to support Bernie, the dude would have responded in some fashion. I like Bernie and think he’s been a good Senator in many ways and I don’t think insulting his supporters is a particularly good idea. But my attempts to actually engage on issues have (virtually) always failed with them. I guess I’m just a corporate Democratic whore who was born in the South so I just don’t matter.

  200. 200.

    Calouste

    @Brachiator:

    I agree that Sanders is weak on policy or foreign affairs, but he has some time to bone up, if he wants.

    Sanders has been in Congress for twenty-five fucking years. If he didn’t bone up on policy or foreign affairs in that amount of time, he never wanted to and he never will. He should have acquired more knowledge than he shows about policy and foreign affairs in that time by sheer osmosis.

    At least Trump has the excuse for his lack of knowledge that he was a real estate developer and a television personality for the last 40 years, not a politician. Sanders first ran for Senate in 1972 and he still needs to bone up on policy or foreign affairs? Give me a fucking break. Sanders, just like Trump, is a lying, lazy, underprepared bullshit artist with an ego that can be seen from the moon.

  203. 203.

    Miss Bianca

    @patroclus: Who knew all you had to do was to bring up the issues?

    btw, where’s Achilles? I haven’t seen him around lately, I hope he’s OK…

  204. 204.

    patroclus

    @Calouste: Maybe he thought I was insulting him. If so, I apologize. Like I said, I LIKE Sanders; and I’m open to supporting him if he gets the nomination. I don’t think he’d be all that effective of a President, but he’d be WAY better than the proto-Fascist who seems likely to get the Republican nomination, who wants to torture, deport millions, spend billions on a useless wall in the middle of the Big Bend National Park, install religious tests etc… But my efforts to engage in issue talk with Sanders supporters have been abject failures, both here and on other blogs and in real life. It doesn’t strike me as a particularly good campaign tactic.

  206. 206.

    Bobby Thomson

    @NR: there have been focus group studies done. It doesn’t take much at all to get people to turn on Bern.

  207. 207.

    Betty Cracker

    @patroclus: My husband supports Sanders (we cancelled each other’s votes out in the FL primary), and we argue the merits of the Clinton and Sanders candidacies all the time. Neither of us has changed the other’s mind. But the mister isn’t an idiot who will pout during the general if his candidate doesn’t prevail and thus help elect Trump or Cruz. IMO, people like that really aren’t worth talking to unless you find some entertainment value in it.

  208. 208.

    Brachiator

    @Calouste: RE: I agree that Sanders is weak on policy or foreign affairs, but he has some time to bone up, if he wants.

    Sanders has been in Congress for twenty-five fucking years. If he didn’t bone up on policy or foreign affairs in that amount of time, he never wanted to and he never will. He should have acquired more knowledge than he shows about policy and foreign affairs in that time by sheer osmosis.

    He has not run for president before. He has a fairly strong base. He could be the nominee. He has to show that he is more than a one hit wonder purity pony to seal the deal. He has come across OK in some interviews, weak in others. HRC was not consistently strong in 2008.

    At least Trump has the excuse for his lack of knowledge that he was a real estate developer and a television personality for the last 40 years, not a politician. Sanders first ran for Senate in 1972 and he still needs to bone up on policy or foreign affairs? Give me a fucking break. Sanders, just like Trump, is a lying, lazy, underprepared bullshit artist with an ego that can be seen from the moon.

    Everybody running has an ego. HRC is not superwoman and has her own vulnerabilities. And she sometimes over explains and sounds more like a lawyer covering all the bases than a human being who cares about issues. This makes her look calculating and insincere, and undermines her grasp of the topic discussed.

    I am not being partisan here. I’m just chilling to the next primary round. And even though HRC is in command, she does not have a lock on the nomination yet. And Bernie is not the strongest opponent, but he is not exactly chopped liver.

  209. 209.

    cleek

    @NR:

    But I guess words mean different things in BJ land.

    you asked a question. you got an answer to your question. now you’re trying to pretend you didn’t ask that question.

    have some pie.

  210. 210.

    Jack the Second

    Jeezus, can you people lay off NR?

    Hillary Clinton has terrible favorability, has been slandered by the right wing noise machine for around a quarter century, voted for the Iraq War, is still married to Bill, has been accused of murder, racketeering, accepting bribes, treason, and poor IT decisions, gave paid speeches to bankster wankers, and carpetbagged New York.

    And she is still beating the pants off Bernie Sanders in every way that counts and will likely be the next President of the United States.

    Can you imagine how much that hurts? Can’t you see he’s had enough already?

    So just cut it out and leave him alone.

  211. 211.

    laura

    @Major Major Major Major: I hope that they hire you (and if so, I’d love to speak to you about my late friend Tom Healy; the King of Cafe Flor), and that you don’t hate them.
    If it doesn’t work out, please consider a move to Sacramento to continue your search.
    Fingers crossed!

  212. 212.

    Elie

    @J R in WV:

    I particularly like the pair “catarwalling” — what a cool sound! What a “hoot” so to speak…

    Here the colors are gentle with all the fruit and berry trees blooming. Its raining and the green things are just sucking it up and getting more lush…. A month or so ago the orchard mason bees were coming out of hibernation. They do a lot of the pollinating early on and are excellent pollinators just like the honey bees. People mistake them for large house flies, but they are bees. You can put up nests for them. They nest in old wood from dead falls. People tend to clean this stuff up so they have less habitat… They cannot be herded like the honeybee from orchard to orchard, and they do not produce marketable honey but they are very effective pollinators and we need to support them right along with the honeybee. I avoid all sprays in my yard and it would be good if most people did. We’d have a lot more good insects — butterflies included.

  215. 215.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Unfortunately, I don’t. But Vox reports today that two-thirds of Sanders supporters are unwilling to pay more than an additional $1000 in taxes for his proposals. It doesn’t take Karl Rove to bury Sanders with the truthful cost of what he wants to do. it would be nice if there were big majorities willing to spend government revenues to do those things, but there aren’t.

  217. 217.

    mclaren

    Analysts at Sabato’s Crystal Ball are now talking about the potential for a Democratic wave in the House: “More than a dozen rating changes, almost all favoring Democrats.”

    Well, well, well. I did mention this as a possibility this election cycle…but everyone pooh-poohed me for being “unrealistic.”

    Just goes to show that realism in politics is a quicksilver thing. The situation can change awfully fast, and what is “unrealistic” today may be a commonplace and obviously sensible tomorrow.

    This is what Sanders was talking about when she mentions “we need a political revolution.” And this is how easy it is to accomplish: all you need is a lot of people getting fed up with the status quo.

    Not unrealistic. Not ridiculous.

  219. 219.

    Paul in KY

    @Anoniminous: God, was that a fuckup. You’re a fuckin superdelegate!!! If you didn’t vote for the Pres or if you did, just fuckin own up to it.

  221. 221.

    boatboy_srq

    @Brachiator: Accents are tough. Which is why dialect coaches are necessary, and why actors who can’t get the necessary accent shouldn’t take the part.

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