Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Bark louder, little dog.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

This fight is for everything.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Consistently wrong since 2002

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2016 / Monday Morning Open Thread: Never Off the Wheel

Monday Morning Open Thread: Never Off the Wheel

by | 149 Comments

This post is in: ,

Just in case anyone is a television completist — I won’t be able to watch the first one for sure, and I’m not sure I’ve got the stamina for the second. On the other hand, at least we’re not Republicans, or this guy….
.

Now there is a man who’s wondering whether the chronic rash from shoveling dung is worth the glamor of being in show business. And the new Cruz-Kasich non-aggression pact is liable to end almost as badly and a whole bunch sooner than the most notorious alliance by that name, one suspects.

Apart from politics, what’s on the agenda as we start another toilsome week?

Reader Interactions

149Comments

  2. 2.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    I have a staff member, who will not be named — because it might embarrass her a little bit — who, generally, on foreign trips, does not leave the hotel or the staff room because she’s constantly doing work making this happen. She has had one request the entire time that I have been President, and that is, could she accompany me to Windsor on the off-chance that she might get a peek at Her Majesty the Queen.

    And, gracious as she is, Her Majesty actually had this person, along with a couple of others, lined up so that as we emerged from lunch, they could say hello. And this staff person, who is as tough as they come, almost fainted — (laughter) — which was — I’m glad she didn’t because it would have caused an incident. (Laughter.)

    (Photo)

  4. 4.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    London — (AP) President Barack Obama went from Shakespeare to Harry Potter during his visit to London.

    The boy wizard’s creator, J.K. Rowling, dined with Obama at the U.S. ambassador’s London residence Saturday. Earlier the president visited Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to mark the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    I’m almost curious to watch the town halls just to see if the questions are different for once. But I think I already know the answer.

  7. 7.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    CBS NEWS: Sir, if you’d indulge all of us back in the U.S., sir, Prince passed away. You were a fan. You had invited him to perform at the White House. Can you tell us what made you a fan?

    PRESIDENT OBAMA: I loved Prince because he put out great music and he was a great performer. I didn’t know him well. He came to perform at the White House last year and was extraordinary, and creative and original and full of energy. And so it’s a remarkable loss.

    And I’m staying at Winfield House, the U.S. Ambassador’s residence. It so happens our Ambassador has a turntable, and so this morning we played “Purple Rain” and “Delirious” just to get warmed up before we left the house for important bilateral meetings like this. (Laughter.)

    But leave it to John Kasich to expose the empty soul of conservatism.

    KASICH: I feel badly about Prince.

    Uh, not really, no.

    I never really … I never saw him in concert.

    And he’s the “reasonable” one.

  9. 9.

    Chyron HR

    Watch out, Hillbots, Sanders is going to turn this thing around tonight by hitting Hillary on her little-discussed speaking fees.

  10. 10.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @Baud: MSNBC hates Hillary, so I expect a bunch of loaded questions.

    Q. Madam Secretary, how many dalmatian did it take to make your coat?

    Q. Senator Sanders, did you feed five million or fifty million with five loaves of bread and two fishes?

  11. 11.

    Gravenstone

    I wonder if Reince is plotting some sort of revenge on Walker for basically getting him the RNC gig?

  14. 14.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Joe of the Morning was going off about how Hillary is more cozy with Wall Street, more of an interventionist that Trump or Cruz, and has take oil money(as a note, back when I worked for Satan; any money I contributed would have been “oil money”). Asshole, CLICK!

  15. 15.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: Mika hasn’t.

    ETA: I’m gonna go back and edit my pics from last night on my “night about town”.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    Watching a recorded episode of Veep. Given recent events, it’s no longer outrageous enough to be interesting.

  22. 22.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    meta ‏@metaquest

    Angela Merkel thanks President Obama profusely for his commitment to his work on climate change, not seen previously in U.S.

    30 retweets 30 likes

    LiberalPhenom ‏@LiberalPhenom

    Aww, Merkel refers to POTUS as “Dear Barack.” #Hannover

    17 retweets 18 likes

  23. 23.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    OzarkHillbilly: I feel badly about Prince. Uh, not really, no. I never really … I never saw him in concert. And never listened to his music, mainly because when he came on the scene I was no longer listening to Pop/Rock.

  25. 25.

    bystander

    When you see Obama with Trudeau or Cameron or Hollande, am I kidding myself or do they all genuinely appear to like Obama? Yet when the rwns start blithering it’s all about how he commands no respect, his foreign policy is not that of a leadery leader and all that awe Jr commanded around the globe has been squandered.

  26. 26.

    Mustang Bobby

    Good morning, everyone. I made it back from Kansas without being hit by a tornado (great weather this last weekend).

    Wow, that state is hurting. Rick Scott in Florida looks like a flaming commie compared to the nutsery running that state.

  27. 27.

    debbie

    How difficult would it have been for Kasich to just say he knew it was a loss for many? Just one more reason why he’s a dick in dick clothing.

  30. 30.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Prince – the first black artist on MTV.

    Prince’s 1999 video had premiere on MTV in december 1982, according The Vault book.

    MTV started in August of 1981. It was white-only for it’s first 18 months. Incredible how they were able to get away with such shit.

  31. 31.

    bystander

    @BillinGlendaleCA: The topsy-turvy world where down is up and bad is good.

    Speaking of which, there’s a call from the crew at allthatchat.com for the heads of the two lead theater critics of the NYTimes. Seems Brantley dissed American Psycho, and now Isherwood dinged Waitress. Thanks for killing new Broadway musicals, you haters!

  35. 35.

    Jeffro

    Cruz to Kaisch: “John, how about you jump on board with my superior organization, much higher delegate count, and hey did I mention my superior organization? I mean, we keep racking up delegates in places like East Idaho and New Dakota, fer chrissakes! Whoops. Anyway, you can be the friendly VP face on the ticket, reassure everyone who hates my guts, be the one who put us over the top and saved the party from Trump. Not to mention, win or lose, you’ll be well-positioned to be the GOP’s next presidential nominee without question.”

    Kaisch, if he has any sense at all: “Sure thing Ted!”

    Kaisch, in this version of reality: ???

  38. 38.

    Kay

    This is interesting. Trump did poorly where I live, and it’s white working class. We have no letter-writing Trump supporters, no loud ‘n proud Trumpsters. My sense from talking to them is they think he’s too over the top-he swears, he never shuts up, he brags, he’s a loose cannon. He’s just TOO MUCH. I love regional differences in national campaigns and I wonder if there’s a regional slant towards Trump that goes against the conventional wisdom that he’s broadly popular. You don’t generally see the NE and the South linked, however :)

    The only majority he’s gotten so far came from New York — not Alabama or Mississippi — and the very Trumpiest country in the country so far is Staten Island, an affluent, leafy, fundamentally prosperous and suburban section of the northeastern megalopolis. This region of the country isn’t very friendly to Republicans, and Trump won’t carry it in November, but for the purposes of a GOP primary it’s his promised land. New York is Trump’s home state, but the forces that powered him to victory there will offer further wins — from Maryland and Delaware north through Connecticut — in primaries to come.
    In past cycles, the northeast has served as a stronghold of moderate Republicanism — checking the advance of pure conservative true believer candidates and helping deliver the nomination to relatively electable mainstream alternatives.

    This is Trump’s basic brand of politics. You may not know exactly what he stands for, but you do know exactly who he stands for — or at least who he stands against.

  39. 39.

    sherparick

    David Brooks is gobsmacked that average people in the United States and Europe are upset about the way the elites run the world. They simply don’t understand the complex forces of “globalization” and the “efficiency of modern capitalism” as highlighted today in the Financial Times Alfphaville Blog. http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2016/04/25/2160082/would-11000-bhs-workers-still-have-jobs-if-tina-green-hadnt-siphoned-1bn-out-of-the-business/

    Assholes run the world.

  40. 40.

    PurpleGirl

    Cruz-Kasich Non-aggression Pact: Historically don’t they have a bad record of failure, think Russia-Germany circa 1939.

  41. 41.

    Kay

    @sherparick:

    They’re going to scold them into loyalty by telling them they don’t understand anything. It’s insufferable but they don’t even hear it, let alone see any reason to change.

  42. 42.

    J R in WV

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    So Pesident Obama says:

    I have a staff member, who …. has had one request the entire time that I have been President, and that is, could she accompany me to Windsor on the off-chance that she might get a peek at Her Majesty the Queen.

    Yes, but Americans aren’t supposed to worship, or even be fond of, a reigning monarch.

    We fought and died to be free of the bloody monarchy, because you can never tell when the next monarch is going to be cruel, sneaky, bloodthirsty, etc. Crazy seems to run in royal families, just read European history, any century.

    I just don’t understand the inclination of otherwise well-educated people to become enamored of royals anywhere, history says a monarchy is the worst form of government next to anarchy in the midst of war and famine. Very next to war and famine. No matter how cute little George the Nth may be, he will grow up, and could become ruler of a bloodthirsty land.

  43. 43.

    Aimai

    @Kay: of all places in the world you would expect trump to carry its staten island. It is new Yorks own moated island of white Ressentiment. But millions more voted for Hillary in New York alone than voted for all three republican. The righ way to read this info is that the Donald is broadly popular among people who don’t need a nice cover for their racism.

  44. 44.

    bemused

    Rained all night and looks like rain most of the day with 3 restless Samoyeds going out and coming in wet with muddy feet. Oh joy.

    I’m astonished but shouldn’t be that Charles Koch said Trump and Cruz are horrible role models and won’t be putting money into their campaigns. How did they not notice that their hundreds of millions of dollars over many years supporting ultra right wing groups and agendas have created precisely these type of candidates?

    Chris Wallace says the trans bathroom laws are a solution in search of a problem. Hey, Chris, take a good look at the GOP platform which is one, big fat agenda in search of “problems”.

  45. 45.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @J R in WV:

    I just don’t understand the inclination of otherwise well-educated people to become enamored of royals anywhere

    One thing a monarchy does is separate the Head of State from the Head of Government, the US is unusual in combining the two in the Presidency. Many countries, have a Prime Minister and a President, others with a tradition of monarchy have a king.

  47. 47.

    Kay

    @Aimai:

    He genuinely wasn’t popular here. Our version of the establishment rejected him outright, but there was no Trump groundswell among the “common folk” either. I felt like it was the “flashiness”- there was an eye-rolling, like “too much DRAMA!” I knew they would think he was on tv too much :)

  48. 48.

    Kay

    @bemused:

    They’re not funding national campaigns because they’re conquering states one by one. By now I think they’re down to the school board level. Buying up some public libraries.

  49. 49.

    Chyron HR

    @J R in WV:

    I have a staff member, who …. has had one request the entire time that I have been Prime Minister, and that is, could she accompany me to the White House on the off-chance that she might get a peek at President Obama.

    Like, hel-LO, people? Have you not noticed how many American Presidents have been cruel, sneaky, bloodthirsty, etc? No matter how nice Barack Obama may seem, his replacement could be a Republican.

  50. 50.

    Eric S.

    I’m starting a short work week. Thursday The Lady and I are taking in a Cubs game with a couple of friends. My first game of the year since I was sick opening day. Friday my brother, his family and I leave for Cincinnati. We will be visiting mom and running in the Flying Pig half marathon.

  51. 51.

    low-tech cyclist

    Reince Priebus calls on G.O.P. to back nominee, even if it’s you-know-who

    I didn’t even know Voldemort was in the running. Didn’t Trump say Tom Riddle was ineligible on account of being a Brit?

  52. 52.

    J R in WV

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    See, that’s not historical. Historically, even the most civilized government led by a royal with loyalty from all the plebes can turn back into one-man rule in the face of national troubles.

    Then it’s Katy-bar-the-door as far as star courts, secret chambers, laws made post hoc to confiscate the estate of a local enemy. Be reminded that Princess Diana died mysteriously, just a little while ago. And that GB has the same secret services that George Bush used so, well, so poorly.

    I barely trust a democratic government with little history of royalty and strong-man rule. A government in a nation with the history of England, not at all. It’s why I probably won’t flee to Canada in case of a Cruz government.

  53. 53.

    bemused

    @Kay:

    Their money is supporting the same type of candidates at the state, county, school board levels too.

  55. 55.

    J R in WV

    @Chyron HR:

    You have a good re-imagining of that quote. And I’m fully aware of what a Cruz theocracy might look like. Mexico, with all the drug-lords might look better than a Cruz led government. Imagine what DHS would be getting up to, searching for homes with the wrong Bible on the shelf. Etc.

    What would be the punishment for reading the wrong bible? Work camps, re-education camps, auto-de-fa? I know which one Cruz would prefer, which one do you think he would try to get away with? I guess it partly depends upon the voting statistics regarding the military and DHS…

  56. 56.

    low-tech cyclist

    @PurpleGirl:

    Cruz-Kasich Non-aggression Pact: Historically don’t they have a bad record of failure, think Russia-Germany circa 1939.

    Hey, the Russia-Germany pact held up for almost two whole years! A Cruz-Kasich pact would only have to hang together for three lousy months!

  57. 57.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @J R in WV: I think you missed my point. You’re point to potential of a monarch becoming an absolute monarch in the UK. The chances of that happening are much less than the chances of an American President doing the same(though both are about nill). The advantage of having a separate Head of State is the state is above politics.

  58. 58.

    gvg

    @J R in WV: No not really. The British royal family has no real governmental power. They are a democracy and the royals are a sentimental quaintness.
    Now I don’t get the royal worshipfulness either, but then I don’t get celebrity/actors/musician worship either. In fact I actually felt like defending Kaisch saying he didn’t miss Prince. I’d have a lot of trouble pretending to care if I was a politician but I also think it doesn’t matter. Our population requires that out politicians pretend to be hip and care about the same entertainment we do and actually evaluates this. People ask the President what music he has on his phone, etc. Well I am never going to get it, but people are still going to feel what they feel.
    Just don’t think they have any influence on England’s policies.

  59. 59.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @efgoldman: They rarely bring the kids on trips cuz they’re in school. But JK Rowling did come to the Easter egg hunt one year. (photo)

    and there’s a cute story on how star struck Obama asked her for her autograph

    BARACK Obama took a personal souvenir of his visit to Britain back to the White House yesterday – the autograph of JK Rowling.

    The President made straight for the Harry Potter author at a 10 Downing Street party.

    He told her how his daughter Malia was a huge fan of the schoolboy wizard books and that he had read them out loud to her.

  61. 61.

    Kay

    @Aimai:

    Too, he starts the piece by saying “GOP voters” and that Trump won’t carry those states.

    I think there’s a media promotion of eastern candidates that isn’t “bias” but is instead geography- that’s where most national media are. I’ve just seen it again and again- Rudy G, Christ Christie- an assumption that what plays in the east among the GOP will play nationally.

    I was sort of curious if Trump would start to fall into that group. East and south is a weird configuration. I guess if he adds California it’s “coasts and south”, which is even weirder.

  62. 62.

    Emma

    @J R in WV: We are a bloodthirsty land. While we were fighting for our freedom we were moving westward eliminating anything that moved. People simply admire a 90 year old woman who has dedicated herself to her country from the moment she was thrust from a quiet country life to the throne by her uncle’s abdication. No complaints, no whining, always gracious, always doing her duty.

  65. 65.

    imonlylurking

    I went to the Prince memorial at Paisley Park yesterday, after it stopped raining. I hope there are plans to do something with the art people are leaving. Some of it is lost already-unprotected paper-but there are 3 large canvases worth saving.

    I’ve linked the photo album to my signature if anybody wants to see. It’s set to public.

  66. 66.

    Joel

    @Kay: Trump could easily carry Staten Island — they’ve elected their fair share of asshole republicans — but he sure as shit ain’t carrying New York.

    Every candidate has regional popularity; this is something people were ignoring when Sanders and Cruz were rolling in the upper Midwest.

  68. 68.

    Randy P

    @OzarkHillbilly: And yet the music I remember of my young days is overwhelmingly dominated by Motown. And I did most of my listening on AM Top 40 stations (which was a thing then. You had to use an onion to tune them in). If there had been an MTV then I would have been really surprised not to see those same acts.

    Not saying I disbelieve you. I remember when MTV started but I never got into watching it. I remember a series of spots of rock stars including Mick Jagger lobbying people to ask their cable company to include it. I’m just saying I’m amazed at the stupidity of the executives for shutting out all that talent from MTV, given how they dominated radio.

  69. 69.

    Kay

    @Joel:

    I always think it’s interesting, and we don’t get a lot of that type of analysis from places like NY because they usually have such a boring primary.

    I thought about it too with the problems with voting. FL and OH aren’t a particular mess with voting, it’s just that they’re swing states so people notice. Voting is a mess all over.

  70. 70.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    Neoliberal, neoliberal, neoliberal, neoliberal, neoliberal, neoliberal, neoliberal, neoliberal, neoliberal, neoliberal, neoliberal, neoliberal, neoliberal, neoliberal, neoliberal, neoliberal, !!

    Thought I would save our resident shit fer brainz the trouble.

  72. 72.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kay: Voter registration and vote access in Massachusetts need a serious overhaul. We have relatively early deadlines, no early voting, no vote-by-mail without an excuse; and while there’s no voter ID as such, you have to actively respond to a snail-mail town census every year, or you could get put on an inactive-voter list that requires you to present proof of residency or vote on a provisional ballot.

    But few people usually care nationally, because Massachusetts is seen as such a solid blue state. But sometimes it does matter, as in the election of Scott Brown.

  75. 75.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Randy P: Some stations played Motown (IIRC mostly AM, mostly ‘black’ stations) a whole lot of others wouldn’t touch it. My point of view is no doubt skewed by growing up in STL, which has a long history of racism. I came of age in the 70s and it was a very racially tense time. The greater STL area deseg didn’t even begin until after I graduated in ’76. It was a very different world, as exemplified by Reagan’s “State’s Rights” speech in 1980. That wasn’t even close to a dogwhistle and yet it barely raised an eyebrow.

  77. 77.

    Russ

    @bystander: Yeah, he squandered all of GW’s cred. Whichever R is elected, these same world leaders would lock the front door and turn out the light were they to show up on their doorsteps.

  78. 78.

    Matt McIrvin

    @bystander: When they say “respect” they mean fear. Their concept of respect is an abusive parent’s. Their ideal in international relations is for the rest of the world to be cowering in terror at the feet of the US President, wondering queasily what he might do next.

  79. 79.

    PIGL

    @J R in WV: actually, history shows that Constitutional Monarchies are pretty darned good places to be: Great Britain, the former Dominions, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium. For instance. Maybe if more Americans got over themselves for 1776 and learned a little more about the rest of the world, they would be able to adopt more sensible policies, and stop with the teabaggery.

  82. 82.

    rikyrah

    Go Joey B!

    ………………

    Joe Biden’s 2016 campaign: The Senate

    The vice president has quietly embarked on a year-long legacy project to win back a Democratic majority.

    By Edward-Isaac Dovere

    04/25/16 05:30 AM EDT

    PHILADELPHIA—Not long after putting a final pin in his presidential plans in the Rose Garden last October, Vice President Joe Biden started talking to staff about a different mission for 2016: helping put his beloved Senate back into Democratic hands.

    Within weeks, incoming Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was at the Naval Observatory for breakfast, talking over the details. Not long after, he returned with Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair Jon Tester (D-Mont.) for a 90-minute briefing on their top races.

  83. 83.

    rikyrah

    Kerala mosque breaks 1,000-year-old tradition, opens its doors to women
    April 25, 2016 14:40 IST
    For the first time in its history, the 1,000-year-old mosque at Thazhathangady in Kottayam, Kerala famous for its rich architecture and wood carvings, has thrown open its doors for Muslim women.

    Women were allowed to enter the mosque on Sunday to take a look at its famed architecture.

    Thousands of Muslim women, including tourists, flocked to the mosque from various parts of Kerala and abroad. The move comes at a time when the demand for permitting women at places of worship is gaining ground.

    “This is a 1000-year-old mosque. Our women had not seen it so far and had a great desire to visit the holy place. So the mosque committee decided to allow women to visit it on April 24 and May 8,” Advocate Nawab Mulladom, president of the mosque committee said.

    The mosque was not opened for “any celebrations or for offering prayers. It was only to allow women to see the place”, he said, adding the men were asked to leave the mosque before the women were allowed in.

    Muslim women wore their traditional attire during the visit.

  84. 84.

    Matt McIrvin

    @J R in WV: In the 21st century, the monarchy/republic distinction is mostly cosmetic. It’s not what it was. There are still a few despotic absolute monarchies, but there are despotic nominal republics as well, often with a flimsy pretense of democracy. The majority of monarchies are constitutional ones with a symbolic figurehead that are functionally not much different from a parliamentary republic.

    It would be pointless and ahistorical for the United States to adopt a monarchy, but it doesn’t appear to me that politics in Canada, the UK or the Netherlands is particularly worse than what we have; it’s often better. I would personally find it difficult to swear allegiance to the Queen, but pledging allegiance to the American flag is just as bizarre and is essentially the same thing.

  85. 85.

    pluky

    @Jeffro: My thoughts exactly, especially given Kasich’s otherwise unexplainable vetting of VP candidates (hey, it worked for Cheney).

  88. 88.

    rikyrah

    hmmmmmm

    ……………………..

    Saudi Aramco set to be valued at more than $2 trillion

    Saudi Arabia confirmed on Monday that it planned to sell a stake of its state oil giant Saudi Aramco which was expected to be valued at more than $2 trillion.

    The sale would be less than 5 percent of the company and would be via an initial public offering (IPO), Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a television interview with the Al Arabiya News Channel.

  89. 89.

    japa21

    Sitting at my desk beginning my last week as a working stiff. Figure I will cut out at noon on Friday.

    I realize that after a month or two of retirement, one of two things will happen. I’ll actually miss working, although not this job, and take a part time job somewhere to bring in some mad money.

    Or, and more likely, my wife will be tired of having me around all the time and the result will be the same.

  90. 90.

    rikyrah

    Cleveland settles lawsuit over Tamir Rice shooting for $6M
    Apr. 25, 2016 9:38 AM EDT

    CLEVELAND (AP) — The city has reached a $6 million settlement in a lawsuit over the death of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old black boy shot by a white police officer while playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation center.

    An order filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland on Monday says the city will pay out $3 million this year and $3 million the next.

    The wrongful death suit filed by his family and estate against the city and officers and dispatchers who were involved alleged police acted recklessly when they confronted the boy on Nov. 22, 2014.

    Video of the encounter shows a cruiser skidding to a stop and rookie patrolman Timothy Loehmann firing within two seconds of opening the car door. Tamir wasn’t given first aid until about four minutes later, when an FBI agent trained as a paramedic arrived. The boy died the next day.

  91. 91.

    BR

    @rikyrah:

    I hope the $6 million comes out of the police brass bonus and overtime pay rather than the city’s general fund…

  92. 92.

    Kay

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Do early vote. It’s good government- convenient. People love it. They can do a better job if they don’t get hit with a big whomp of voters in one 12 hour period and it reduces the “amateur” influence of poll workers. Some pollworkers are great but some are clueless.

  94. 94.

    rikyrah

    @Matt McIrvin:

    When they say “respect” they mean fear. Their concept of respect is an abusive parent’s. Their ideal in international relations is for the rest of the world to be cowering in terror at the feet of the US President, wondering queasily what he might do next.

    you nailed it.

  95. 95.

    rikyrah

    @Bobby Thomson:

    Still, MTV’s early racism is well documented. CBS had to threaten them with a boycott to get Michael Jackson played. In 1983.

    Michael Jackson is who broke the dam so that other Black artists could be on MTV.

  96. 96.

    aimai

    @Randy P: I never watched MTV at all. I was totally out of the entire scene by then. Not interested in concerts or in dancing (sad face). I’ve spent the last few days trying to come to grips with the Prince phenomenon but although I can see his charm, skill, talent, genius, and impact I don’t experience any of that when listening to his music. If you don’t attach music like that to your own formative experiences, hormones, grief, love, smell of a summer night, etc… its hard to find that place. I am amazed at his lyrics, but a lot of his music (if I hear it for the first time now) just isn’t my thing. Well, I can’t say a lot. But people are talking about how powerfully they are affected by songs like When Doves Cry but I don’t really feel it. Love the lyrics. but I’m not attuned to the music.

  97. 97.

    Iowa Old Lady

    I lived in Detroit, so Motown was everywhere on the air.

    We’re meeting with an attorney later today to update our wills. The current ones are old enough to name a guardian for our son who turned 40 a couple of weeks ago.

  98. 98.

    karen marie

    Yeah, pretty much:

    This is a political superhero team assembled out of a kill-priced remainder bin of bad ideas.

    Ted Cruz comes off like a Martian whose sleeper-agent research on humanity was conducted by watching six hours of The Junior Christian Science Bible Lesson on public access TV.

  99. 99.

    rikyrah

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Voter registration and vote access in Massachusetts need a serious overhaul. We have relatively early deadlines, no early voting, no vote-by-mail without an excuse; and while there’s no voter ID as such, you have to actively respond to a snail-mail town census every year, or you could get put on an inactive-voter list that requires you to present proof of residency or vote on a provisional ballot.

    Everything you say sounds so wierd to me.

    We have Early Voting.
    We have No Explanation needed Mail Ballot
    We have Grace Period – which is Registration and Voting at the same time – it begins the day AFTER formal Voter Registration closes.
    We now even have Election Day Registration.

    Now, we do have an annual Canvass that, if you don’t return the card, will make you Inactive. But, you only need to show 2 pieces of ID in order to get back to Active Status. And, ID can go from a piece of mail up to an U.S. Passport and a lot of stuff in between.

  105. 105.

    Immanentize

    @OzarkHillbilly: Well, there it is — not only are we just the same age almost, but my music experience was much like yours where I grew up in pale upstate New York. Mowtown and R&B — Backstabbers, Smilin’ Faces, Power to the People, anything Marvin Gaye and Me and Mrs. Jones were the party favorites in my crowd. Foghat, etc. in other friends’ groups.

  106. 106.

    Boots Day

    The Specials were on the 58th day. Still, MTV’s early racism is well documented. CBS had to threaten them with a boycott to get Michael Jackson played. In 1983.

    MTV played the Specials on its very first day of broadcasting.

    The problem was that MTV initially thought it was a rock & roll station. They were more than happy to play a band like the Bus Boys (most remembered now for their appearance in 48 HRS.), which played Bob Seger-like rock & roll. It took them a while to figure out that they were really a pop music station.

  108. 108.

    WaterGirl

    @japa21: Not if you’re doing it right! Volunteer at the animal shelter. Take up gardening. Volunteer at the library. Whatever floats your boat, do it.

  109. 109.

    hamletta

    @Boots Day: Yeah, there was a definite rock tilt to MTV in the early days. Also, Michael Jackson excepted, record companies didn’t put any money into videos for their black acts. They were pretty low-budget, with local access production values.

  111. 111.

    Betty Cracker

    @Boots Day: Okay, that makes more sense. I was glued to MTV when it debuted, and even though I am white and was at the time a clueless teen, I’m pretty sure I would have noticed if MTV was all white for 18 months.

  113. 113.

    Matt McIrvin

    @rikyrah: People always seem surprised when Massachusetts shows its reactionary streak, but it definitely has one… and the state’s election system is downright backward.

    At least our ballot system is reasonable (all optical-scan paper ballots these days, no wonky touchscreen machines).

  114. 114.

    Cermet

    @J R in WV: I believe for the same reason some people are so enamored by the mafia – both groups (the british so-called royals) are murderous cowards that are utter parasites and pure evil. A strange class of people just love those types…

  115. 115.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kay: Now I have to correct my earlier statement, because Massachusetts apparently enacted early voting in 2014, and we’ll be doing it for the first time in the general election this year! This is a major step forward.

  117. 117.

    A Ghost To Most

    @japa21:
    Congratulations! How does the light look at the edge of the tunnel? I can see the light, but it is still a short way off.

  119. 119.

    Kay

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Well, yay! Voters will love it. It really is easier and for Democrats organizers like it because there’s less of a crazed rush and they have time to do the obligatory 3 visits before our coy voters will agree to…vote. They’re shy or something :) Republicans catch on quick, though. They’re as good as it as Democrats were in Ohio now. It won’t be an advantage in ’16.

  120. 120.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kay: It sounds as if cities and towns are only required by law to have a single early-voting location, and a lot of them are still kind of uncertain as to how they’ll manage it, so the launch this time may be a little chaotic. I might try doing it and see how it goes, because I’m curious now. The head of the town elections board is my daughter’s former Girl Scout leader.

  121. 121.

    Eric U.

    here in Central PA, it seems like Confederate flags are sprouting like the dandelions in my yard. OTOH, I haven’t seen any Trump signs. In fact, the farmer that always has the biggest Republican sign possible doesn’t have one at all. I assume he will have a Trump sign up for the general, but for now he’s sitting it out. Not a lot of signs out for anyone, which is weird. We have a competitive primary for Dem senate seat, but no signs.

  122. 122.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Eric U.: Massachusetts Republicans love them some Trump signs. They’re basically the only political yard signs I see around here. And they’re YUUUUGE.

    When you’re driving into town on South Main Street, there’s somebody living up on a hill who has this ginormous Trump billboard in their yard, positioned so that it’s the first thing you see dead ahead of you when you cross the town line. “This town is Trump territory” is the message, though I guarantee these people are a minority of town voters overall.

    Today I saw a dump truck with a Trump sticker on the back that was poster-sized. The awe-inspiring power of sheer bigness seems to be a major part of the message here.

  123. 123.

    rikyrah

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Now I have to correct my earlier statement, because Massachusetts apparently enacted early voting in 2014, and we’ll be doing it for the first time in the general election this year! This is a major step forward.

    Early voting is cool. I usually Early Vote on a Friday, after work or Saturday Morning. It really is terrific.

  124. 124.

    Miss Bianca

    Someone referenced this article in an another thread. Is it just me, or is this guy not playing with a full deck?

    http://www.phillyvoice.com/why-i-blame-bernie-sanders-john-fettermans-low-senate-race-poll-numbers/

    Let me see if I’ve got this straight…he acknowledges that Sanders is not doing anything to help a downticket candidate he admires and thinks would really benefit from the help, In fact, he says this:

    I couldn’t quite fathom why Sanders (for whom I will also be voting because he also represents the status-quo rejection this nation needs; and, fair warning, I won’t respond to story comments that reference “socialism”). Turns out I wasn’t alone in thinking that.

    It was illogical and spoke to a detachment on behalf of the man seeking to best Hillary. That detachment speaks to why Sanders’ “revolution” warrants quote marks around the word itself.

    Sanders isn’t doing the *first thing* you’d need to do for a successful political movement (as opposed to a “revolution”, in quotes) – i.e., do what you can to make sure that *like-minded elected officials get, you know, elected*, but you’re gonna vote for him because he “represents the status-quo rejection this country needs”? W.T.F.? “Gee, this guy is going to do nothing to actually help, but hey, *protest vote*! This strikes me as so wrong-headed as to be completely frivolous. Does this guy even listen to himself? “Hello, cognitive dissonance”?

    I’m sorry – I just can’t take any Bernie Sanders supporters – or anyone who “protest votes” for *anyone* – remotely seriously anymore.

  125. 125.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @japa21:

    Congrats!! Are they going to throw you a party? Not that I want to be any older then I am now but it’s 5 more years for me. I’d quit tomorrow if I could afford it, and do animal rescue or sell ice cream cones.

  126. 126.

    Mike J

    @Miss Bianca: Some people think that voting is supposed to make them feel good about themselves. Some people think voting is about getting the best person in office. In 2008 those groups settled on the same candidate. In 2016 they’ve gone opposite ways.

  127. 127.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Miss Bianca:

    That article is so stupid in so many ways it’s hard to tease out any logic in it all, and wonder where his editor was. Back in early January I got in a long FB comment thread back and forth with over the top Bernfeelers about how there’s no such thing as revolutions in this country because bills are introduced in the House and passed by both House and Senate, and both would need to be flipped for Sanders to get any of his proposals passed – and was called a know it all, smug, arrogant, how I represented everything wrong with the system, etc. This column represents that whole clap harder idiocy, and now they’re wondering why there isn’t a revolution.

  128. 128.

    redshirt

    @Matt McIrvin: It boggles my mind that businesses would advertise their political beliefs via signs and stickers. No matter which candidate you support, you’re guaranteed to piss off a large percent of potential customers.

    I was going to buy a kayak in 2014 from this local place and then they put up LePage signs and I was like “nope”.

    There’s a convenience store down the street with Trump signs in the windows. Nope!

  130. 130.

    Jeffro

    @pluky: Kaisch’s just trying to keep up appearances. If it comes down to a Cruz offer of VP, he’ll take it in a heartbeat. Rubio’s gonna get left in the dust.

  131. 131.

    Matt McIrvin

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: The hardest-core Bernie fans I know are now entering a phase of depression about the impending Trump presidency, after he easily crushes Hillary over the secret Wall Street speech transcripts. It’s actually unnerving.

  132. 132.

    japa21

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: The other 6 people in my department threw a little one last week. That will be about it. Which is fine with me. Not necessarily real comfortable with all that stuff.

    Not sure we can totally afford it right now either, but I am going to be 69 in a couple months, my dad never made it to retirement and my father-in-law lived 1 year past his, so my wife and I decided we can cut back on our standard of living and live and enjoy our grandchildren.

  133. 133.

    Matt McIrvin

    @redshirt: And yet, they keep doing it. These people may be under some delusion that they’ll get more affinity business than they repel. For some specific types of business (e. g. gun shops) I can see it, but not so much for the landscaping contractors and such who actually seem to do it the most.

  134. 134.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @japa21:

    Good for you! You’re making the right decision. I have heard of way too many people who got sick or worse right after retirement, and those stories just break my heart. My brother being one of them – he just got recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma which is very treatable, but jeebus, not what he was waiting for all those years.

  135. 135.

    Mike J

    @Matt McIrvin: And one really annoying thing that humans do, they would prefer to have horrible things happen and be right rather than being pleasantly surprised and have been wrong.

  136. 136.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Their biggest delusion of all is that the country somehow has just been waiting for Bernie Sanders to scold everyone into agreeing to raise taxes an enormous amount to fund programs that significantly large numbers of people won’t want or need, and dislocate and/or abolish large sectors of the economy based on an economic growth forecast that even JEB thought was too fanciful to promote, and that somehow that wouldn’t be scrutinized and demagogued. Where do these people live, that they don’t see how ridiculous it is? The first thing Trump bellowed the night of the NH primary about Sanders was “he wants to give our country away, folks! We’re not going to let him!”. Who do the Bernfeelers think Trump meant Sanders was going to give free stuff to? How can they remain so blind to the political facts on the ground, right under their noses???

  137. 137.

    Tripod

    Speaking of regional flavors, there is some some background chatter from Bernie’s campaign that Kentucky is looking like a tougher climb than expected.

  139. 139.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Tripod:

    Whites in Kentucky not feeling the bern? The same Kentucky where poor whites voted to take away their own Obamacare provided health care, because it encourages laziness and dependency?

  141. 141.

    Brachiator

    @Matt McIrvin:

    The hardest-core Bernie fans I know are now entering a phase of depression about the impending Trump presidency, after he easily crushes Hillary over the secret Wall Street speech transcripts. It’s actually unnerving.

    I guess there is a certain sad consistency in their beliefs here.

  142. 142.

    bemused senior

    @Kay: Staten Island is a refuge for middle class white flight in NYC. ETA: aimai beat me to it.

  144. 144.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Brachiator: The strongest argument they’ve got is that Clinton’s approval numbers are genuinely low, and it’s not something I like at all. But the only two plausible opponents she could have on the R side are genuinely loathed.

  145. 145.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kay: Massachusetts didn’t score high on that racial-resentment map, but I can tell you that when it comes to our minority of Republicans, Massachusetts is Trumpland, out and proud. I think that until NY it was his best state.

  146. 146.

    Elie

    @Matt McIrvin:

    She would have had to spring onto the political scene in the last 5 years to avoid the negative fall out from being a target for so long. She is the first woman who has a great shot at being President and she is running in a time of great turmoil and resistance to change even as we also want radical change… Obama himself is just past 50% approval and we acknowledge how great he is — even as a sizable minority abhors him…What does it all really mean?

  147. 147.

    Brachiator

    @Matt McIrvin:

    The strongest argument they’ve got is that Clinton’s approval numbers are genuinely low, and it’s not something I like at all. But the only two plausible opponents she could have on the R side are genuinely loathed.

    I’m not sure how approval numbers relate to the final November voting, but you’re right that, for now, the disdain that voters appear to have for the GOP candidates gives Clinton a relative advantage.

    @Elie

    She would have had to spring onto the political scene in the last 5 years to avoid the negative fall out from being a target for so long. She is the first woman who has a great shot at being President and she is running in a time of great turmoil and resistance to change even as we also want radical change…

    There is a lot to untangle here, but I think that there is a strong thread of Clinton hatred.

  148. 148.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Jeffro: Um, just FYI, the Governor of Ohio spells his name Kasich, not “Kaisch”. If the consistent misspelling (4 times in this thread alone) is an attempt to allude to something, it’s gone waaay over my head (& probably everyone else’s as well) & it just makes you sound ignorant.

  149. 149.

    Misterpuff

    @MattF: He was supposed to pave the way for Walker and the Koch Bros, We got Drumpf and the Trump Bros instead. Great Job Rebus!

    Go Hawks!

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