.
Trump's concession speech on night of November 8th after electoral college wipeout will be epic. Rigged voting machines! Dead people voting!
— David Plouffe (@davidplouffe) June 26, 2016
Excellent argument by Jamelle Bouie, at Slate:
… What Brexit suggests, to many American commentators, is that Trump could in fact win… I’m skeptical. What’s striking about the results of the EU referendum is the extent to which they matched the polls. Every survey of Brexit showed a close race between the two sides—a coin toss. The balance of the polls suggested a narrow—but far from dispositive—lead for “Remain.” The final result was in line with the projection: a contest with no clear advantage for either side in which “Leave” won an extremely modest victory. Here in the United States, our polls show a substantial Trump loss in the general election against Hillary Clinton, just as they showed a substantial Trump win in the Republican presidential primaries. The chief reason is that, unlike the U.K., the U.S. has a large voting population of nonwhites: Latinos, black Americans, Asian Americans, etc. In Britain, “black and minority ethnic” people make up about 8 percent of the electorate. By contrast, people of color account for nearly 1 in 3 American voters. In practice, this means that in the past two national elections, there has been an electoral penalty for embracing the most reactionary elements of national life. And we see this in the polling between Trump and Clinton. If the United States were largely white—if its electorate were as monochromatic as Britain’s—then Trump might have the advantage. As it stands, people of color in America are acting as a firewall for liberalism—an indispensable barrier to this surge of ethno-nationalism. Complacency isn’t called for, but confidence isn’t wrong either…
It’s not hard to see how global capitalism and the elevation of financial markets have transformed the world over the past 30 years, upending our societies in ways we’re still trying to grapple with. What’s less obvious is the extent to which global capitalism has also upended racial hierarchies by degrading whatever material benefits accrue to those deemed “white.” For as much as capitalist economies entrench racial inequality, the logic of capital doesn’t especially care. It will impoverish black, white, and brown all the same.
Trump supporters are largely white Americans. Brexit backers are largely white Britons. And on both sides, they’re older, often elderly. In addition to everything else—all of the particular concerns of particular communities in the United States and the United Kingdom—we are witnessing a backlash to the weakening of a hierarchy that gave real status to people at the top, that protected them from the whims of capital or gave them prime social status as the expense of nonwhites…
Along the same lines, by all reports (including some of our most constant BJ commentors), actor/activist Jesse Williams “stole the BET Awards on Sunday night with a wildly inspirational, confrontational speech that is bound to become a cornerstone of the Black Lives Matter movement”. Excerpts via Billboard:
… “There has been no war that we have not fought and died on the front lines of. There is no job we haven’t done, there is no tax they haven’t levied against us, and we have paid all of them.
“But freedom is always conditional here. ‘You’re free!’ they keeping telling us. ‘But she would be alive if she hadn’t acted so… free.’ Now, freedom is always coming in the hereafter, but the hereafter is a hustle: We want it now.
“Let’s get a couple of things straight. The burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the bystander — that’s not our job so let’s stop with all that. If you have a critique for our resistance then you’d better have an established record, a critique of our oppression.
“If you have no interest in equal rights for black people then do not make suggestions to those who do: sit down.
“We’ve been floating this country on credit for centuries, and we’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil — black gold! — ghettoizing and demeaning our creations and stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit.
“Just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real. Thank you.”
There’s video of Williams’ whole speech at the link — well worth six minutes out of your morning.
The BET Awards also included some very fine Prince tributes; I’ve embedded Janelle Monae’s below the fold, because unfortunately it autoplays. (Also, mildly NSFW, for a brief flash of Monae’s tribute to Prince’s butt-cutout costume. Other performances & list of winners at Bet.com — but, again, watch out for autoplay video!
Amir Khalid
I don’t see Janelle Monae’s video, just a gaping hole where it should be.
OzarkHillbilly
Another sleepless night. Gonna be a long day.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: You should have turned on the Copa, it put me to sleep!
Steeplejack
Janelle Monáe’s performance is here.
Poopyman
@OzarkHillbilly: I don’t know what it was, but I kept waking up from dreams of being chased, and out of breath. So I’m just gonna pin this one on lack of oxygen and probably snoring, despite wearing a snoreguard mouthpiece.
Now off to work. Yeah, gonna be a long day.
Applejinx
That Jesse Williams speech is AMAZING. More like that please.
Amir Khalid
@Steeplejack:
Thanks.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: I fell asleep, but woke up at 1:30 due to arthritic shoulder and then I heard the TV going. Realized the wife wasn’t in bed, not like her. Made me wonder if she had a migraine or maybe… Once I started thinking, I was done. Then the TV went off and she came to bed. I soon realized it wasn’t a migraine that kept her up, it was restless leg syndrome. With that I was really awake. Gave up at 3.
She is still awake. At least I’m used to doing without. She isn’t.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Amir Khalid:
Nicht problemo. Didn’t show up for me either, and I ran it down. I think she’s great.
rikyrah
Good Morning ?, Everyone ?
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: Ack!
OzarkHillbilly
@Steeplejack (phone): You sound a little confused this morning.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
ABC News Poll — June 20 thur 23
Is Donald Trump qualified to be President?
Yes……………..34%
No……………….64%◄
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Turtle is part of the 64%.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
BillinGlendaleCA
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: But, but…I wanted to send a message.
Baud
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Is there a video up yet?
Baud
@rikyrah: Back at you.
OzarkHillbilly
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Ummmm, John? Here in the good old USofA we have a do-over for President once every 4 years. Jus sayin’…
Baud
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Not again anyway.
Mustang Bobby
@Poopyman: I’m in the same kind of dream state; always trying to get out of a place that has a very circuitous exit. Last night as I was driving somewhere (in the dream), I heard my blog being quoted on Morning Edition, although I don’t remember what it was they were saying. Robert Siegel sounded bemused.
Cat48
Pres. Hollande wants a “quick & bloody divorce” if anyone dares to leave the EU. That’s just so French, made me laugh.
The dreaded part of summer has arrived for me. Daily humidities of 90+ 24/7 for at least the next 60 days. Not a good morning since it’s hard to breath outside.
OzarkHillbilly
@Mustang Bobby: Too funny.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@Baud: Here ya go (video)
Cat48
@Baud:
Well, evidently the pundits feel it’s going to happen. Even Dan Balz wrote an article comparing Hillz/DT message & felt Trumps would win bc it’s spreading everywhere. I hadn’t noticed bc Obama’s approval would not be in the 50’s & 64% think Trump is not qualified. Sure it could happen, but I’m doubting it today.
Baud
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Danke.
TS
To MorningJoe there is only one politician in all of the United States. Hour upon hour of Trump. Why does the media do this?
OzarkHillbilly
Via LGM
Geoduck
I just want to say that David Plouffe is being silly with his post. Trump will never bother with a concession speech, those are for losers, and Trump is a winner, even if the 2016 GOP presidential candidate suffers a Mondale-like shellacking.
Luthe
@OzarkHillbilly: I feel this pain. These days the pre-dawn twilight wakes me up and I can’t really get back to sleep because I know the alarm is coming. I doze, but it’s not the same.
@TS: Ratings.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
****
Who ya gonna believe, me or you’re lyin ears?
Baud
GMA is nervous about Trump’s low poll numbers. He needs to act quickly to change the story. Ratings could suffer if this goes on. (the last bit was implicit).
Baud
@TS: The entire media seems to have gotten the same memo.
Elizabelle
@TS:
Why all Trump, all the time on Morning Joe?
1) to normalize his presence and message, because he is the GOP presumptive nominee and
2) GOP is all about tax reduction and avoidance on wealthy corporations and individuals, plus Supreme Court nominees that put corporations above people, plus, as Luthe said,
3) ratings.
Fuck them.
NorthLeft12
More of this please. I have not been able to see the speech, but reading it was pretty inspiring. I understand Mr. Williams is speaking to a particular audience about a particular issue, but dang, his words should resonate with everyone.
Iowa Old Lady
@Cat48: Yeah, my husband’s French co-worker says his obligatory French reaction is “Let them rot on their island.”
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
So the Supreme Court rules on former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s corruption case today.
Anthony Kennedy lives in Virginia and is part of the country club circuit. I bet they know each other. Now he should recuse himself, but of course IOKIYAR.
I suspect there is some horse trading going on. In his 28 years on the court, Kennedy had never voted in favor of a affirmative action case until last week.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Kennedy did that to get one of the liberals to go soft on McDonnell.
Baud
@Iowa Old Lady:
Qu’ils pourrissent sur leur île.
According to Google.
Mustang Bobby
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Translation: Hey, at least he didn’t call him a spic.
OzarkHillbilly
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Brewer needs to come out of the racist closet.
debbie
@Applejinx:
It’s guaranteed to be better whenever anyone can speak in paragraphs than in taglines and slogans.
JPL
@Elizabelle: Following a candidate on a business trip, so the depths the media will go to keep Herr Trump on the air. I don’t think that has happened before.
TS
@Elizabelle:
That seems to cover it.
debbie
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
That’s been their only defense: “He doesn’t mean it.” Are these clowns all clairvoyant?
JPL
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: I saw the interview and I was waiting for someone to ask Brewer to give an example of a racist statement the President made.
Baud
@JPL: In their minds, the oath of office.
rikyrah
Jesse Williams was amazing last night. He fed my soul.
NorthLeft12
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: As Yoda would say;
“Ahhhhh Brewer…….the butthurt is strong with this one.”
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
British Pound is down 3.2% today.
Down 13.7% in 2 days of trading, even though their central bank intervened and pumped in liquidity. Now Moody’s has lowered their credit rating outlook from stable to negative and S&P is following
Congratulations, nativists. William Poole would be proud.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle: I’m giving up TV(save the local news) for the next week.
amk
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Go MOM. Pity, bs sucked out all the air out of primaries. He would have been a worthy contender.
rikyrah
There was also a humble sweetness and sincerity in Sam Jackson ‘s speech.
He also reminded us:
Get out and vote. And take 8 people with you. You don’t want to get tricked like those folks in London
Iowa Old Lady
@JPL: He called Trump’s comments racist, silly! Don’t you know calling out the racists is the most racist possible thing? Except it’s a one-time thing, so when Brewer calls Obama racist, that doesn’t bounce back on her. I admit it’s confusing.
BillinGlendaleCA
@OzarkHillbilly: She’s too drunk to find the door.
Elizabelle
@BillinGlendaleCA: Good to hear, and hope it goes longer.
Drop an email, or call the networks/cable channels to tell them you’re gone, and why.
Baud
@amk: I was always surprised that he did so poorly.
Baud
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: I wish I had a trip planned to the UK.
bystander
@TS:
@Luthe:
Moanin’ Joe should rename itself The Donald Trump Show. I agree it’s ratings but what it underscores is that it’s easy. You don’t have to know anything to be able to discuss his inanities and b/s, so it’s perfect for know nothings like Joe and Meeka.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: He was kind of boring, especially compared to Baud!.
Cat48
@Iowa Old Lady:
I know it would take a while to adjust if I lived in France. They’re quite blunt. That’s good and bad. I do enjoy it though sometimes. I’m sorta miffed at the British too. Can’t we just have one country as an ally that’s dependable? We have Canada at least. France is also an old ally too. It’s worrying.
Matt McIrvin
@Cat48: As a normative GOTV warning for Democrats, comparing the Brexit victory to a hypothetical Trump win makes perfect sense. As a prediction, I don’t think it does, for one reason and one reason only: the ethnic makeup of the British electorate resembles that of the US electorate in the age of Reagan. Not today.
But we need to run up the score.
Patricia Kayden
Jamelle Bouie:
Thank goodness for that! Otherwise we would have a Trump Presidency.
Immanentize
Hello All, Spending the week at my inlaws with my son, the Immp, while Ms Imm makes some bacon back in Boston.
Sorry for the poor night’s sleeps for folks. I chalked my restlessness up to a strange bed, but maybe there is a disturbance in the force?
Finally, I have a suggestion for Brexit — and I doubt I am the first to think of it — but the EU should get on with the exit of the U.K. but allow a fast track re-application. But no special currency deals (ditch the pound), no labor accommodations, no special side deals — straight up EU membership or pound salt.
Cat48
@Matt McIrvin:
Absolutely, run up the score! We blew thru “Mitts Momentum” the press told us about constantly last year.
OzarkHillbilly
@Cat48:
So who does Canada have that’s reliable?
hovercraft
@JPL:
It’s the you smelt it, you dealt it defense. If you called me a racist you are the racist theory. Never mind that he never called them racists, the fact that other people have called them out for – sticking fingers in his face, supporting Arizona Bill 1070, calling a ‘Mexican’ judge biased, makes the people critiquing them are the racists. Obama did not denounce the critics, so he is responsible.
Cat48
I gave up on MoJo about a year ago. I went ahead & got BBC World & watch it in the a.m. I get news but not a lot of nonsense.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: Superior Hockey players enough for all the NHL.
Amir Khalid
@Cat48:
I don’t think the problem here is Britain. I think it’s David Cameron. Who knew he could be such a pillock?
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: The EU has issues, serious issues, that they just plain and simply won’t deal with, not least of which is the common currency with out common governance. See Greece.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
If it wasn’t for internationalism, the brits would be speaking german
Patricia Kayden
@Baud: Even if Trump has low polls, he can still be very “entertaining” and watchable for large segments of the population. It’s always fun to watch and laugh at someone, especially someone with an ego as huuuge as Trump’s. It’s like Palin. I watch her to laugh and shake my head, not because I like her. As Trump continues to disintegrate, he’ll draw huge ratings because many of us want to see how he’ll handle being challenged by Secretary Clinton during the general election season (their debates are eagerly anticipated) and how he will handle his eventual electoral beatdown in November. His November 8th speech should be epic and I will be watching it with glee.
Cat48
@Amir Khalid:
Do,you think he gave in to the wingnuts? I know he promised this to get reelected.
Patricia Kayden
@JPL: The President pointing out that Trump is a racist who lacks the gravitas to be presidential is enough to make him racist and divisive in Rightwingistan. It’s always projection with those people.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: I agree completely that the EU has problems that need addressing right now. And sadly Brexit will likely delay those needed reforms. But the problem isn’t single currency per se. And having one floating currency in the union causes more problems for stability. The single currency problem is largely because there is not shared responsibility for the currency float. Germany pretty much decides monetary and fiscal policy for the union based on their national goals. BAD!
Kay
@Baud:
He needs to go away for a little while. Just shut up for 5 seconds. He can rely on persuasive surrogates! Oh, right. He doesn’t have any.
I guess he’ll just have to blab non-stop for the next 5 months until people can’t stand to hear another word out of his big, flapping mouth. I bet it’s impossible for him to imagine that he talks too much and is over-exposed. That’s beyond his imagination.
Patricia Kayden
@rikyrah: And forget about casting a “protest vote” for someone other than the Democratic nominee or we could end up with President Trump by default.
I watch the Majority Report on Youtube and wince whenever Sam Seder tells one of his listeners that if they live in a “safe” state, it’s ok for them to vote for someone other than Secretary Clinton. I keep thinking that if too many listeners do that, we could end up with the Democratic vote splitting, thus electing Trump. My “safe” state of Maryland now has a Republican Governor because too many voters sat out the mid-term election in 2014.
hovercraft
@bystander:
They are making sure to disregard the national polls to instead focus on the state polls where the race looks closer. I know that state polls are what really count but when the national polls were very tight that was the focus, now that she’s looking stronger there the focus is now on the state polls. This weeks talking point is why isn’t she doing better after his last month of gaffs.
satby
Good morning rikyrah and campers!
I feel for all the insomniacs because the entire time I had the girls here I basically operated on 4-5 hours sleep a night at most, with a wake-up in the middle that could last an hour or more. To even get that much I wore one of those blackout eye masks. It helped a bit.
Amir Khalid
@Cat48:
When you think about whom he promised the referendum to, the most reactionary people among the Tories, yes i do think he gave in to the wingnuts. But that’s not to say he is solely to blame. Jeremy Corbyn’s refusal out of pique to join Cameron in what could and should have been a nonpartisan Remain campaign certainly didn’t help.
Baud
@Kay: He should declare bankruptcy and get a fresh start.
Tenar Darell
@debbie: OMG! How many times does the big orange baby have to moon the world on the record before he means it Gov. Brewer?
They’re definitely not clairvoyant. To me this sounds like every excuse for every nasty kid who used to tease me at recess. Apparently the media is full of people who will start making excuses for some kids on the playground, probably in the playpen. It’s like the media is every adult that ever normalized this stuff at me FFS.
Shorter: You are all right; fuck cable news.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: The problem with the single currency is that not all European countries have the same economy. Greece (and Spain) would have been far better off if they had had some kind of flexibility with their currencies. Imagine where we would be if the Fed had been unable to step in and pick up at least some of the GOP enforced slack.
Amir Khalid
@Patricia Kayden:
This seems to be quite a popular point of view among the Bernista talking heads on YouTube.
Baud
@Patricia Kayden: This primary has taught me that there is a thin line between pushing the party to the left and free riding on the work of others.
Cat48
@OzarkHillbilly:
We try to b good to Canada. I’m not sure we’re always reliable. That is the first visit for a new president – Canada. Maybe they have all the Intel:). We’ve always used the Brits for that.
gvg
If any in the media are trying to scare people into not getting complacent about Trump I think that is a valid reason to write about a possible Trump presidency. Ratings aren’t the only thing they consider but they are pretty important.
An impending possible Trump presidency would be good for ratings. An actual Trump presidency would be a disaster for media. He has talked about making it easier to sue them for defamation or just being “unfair” with definition shifting daily. He has treated media worse than other pols a
Brewer is racist.nd really hates them in a way that is an actual threat to them not some normal pol avoid talking to the twisters of words. Actually wasn’t it around when he started to propose changing the laws for media, when his ratings started to sink and all the stories of negative stuff started actually being reported?
Brewer is racist. See her own actions in office. I guess she doesn’t like to see that. Trump is racist. see his own words and actions over decades. If we didn’t say that, we’d be complicit. People can change Jan. It up to you. Until then you have my contempt.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: we totally agree — imagine if California could determine dollar policy based on its current situation (like Germany). Their currency union has not included some form of central policies. It’s like the articles of confederation only a bit worse centralization-wise.
ETA. There are some in Europe who believe that if the British had given up the pound, those reforms would have already happened. But who can say? They are all a bit feckless….
hovercraft
@Amir Khalid:
The belief that ‘Remain’ was going to win, allowed many Britons to vote ‘Leave’ to register their protest to government policies. Look how that turned out.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@TS: Why? Because white males from one of two major parties have always been elected president, therefore Trump will win. And because the Democratic party holds the White House now so they have to cover the Republican candidate for Balance. And because America is a Center-Right Nation™. And because History Says that the White House changes hands after two Democratic terms. And the taller candidate always wins (unless he doesn’t). And because Trump is a Popular Game Show Host™. And …
Oh, it was a rhetorical question.
Sorry.
Cheers,
Scott.
(Who notes that MJ has around 600k viewers – just a blip of the US population).
MattF
The narrative ‘Hillary is going to win’ doesn’t attract eyeballs. Therefore, we don’t see it. QED.
Baud
@hovercraft: I still don’t get that. The polls were never that far apart that Remain was a sure bet.
OzarkHillbilly
@Cat48: I think ‘reliable’ is a word not often used in relation to us just now, considering our present electoral confusions.
Cat48
I know. it seems like we were boring & reliable before Bush Jr. I won’t live long enough to see that stature returned to us.
sunny raines
most whites are not at the top. The many impoverished whites only allow themselves to be manipulated by those at the top with the creation of “the other” as bogeyman coming to take away their non-existent superiority, also promoted by those at the top as part of the scam on whites. What hierarchy there is is 100% scam.
It is the curtain being drawn back from the scam that has the manipulated whites ruffled. trump, the republican party, the conservative movement, nothing but fevered attempts to close the curtain to keep their multitude of stupid whites voting against their own interests in favor of the interests of those at the top.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Not sure how one can expect these black artists to get the kind of popularity to get paid in their life time without appealing to white culture Mr Williams and getting pushed aside, ripped off and plagiarized is the arts no matter what one’s skin color it is. And what the Internet has dpne to music likely makes Williams complaint irrelevant. But perhaps pushing for access to better jobs than sports or entertainer might be a better solution?
Matt McIrvin
@Patricia Kayden:
It does freak me out a little because I remember the heights of cleverness to which Naderites aspired in 2000 on this score. There was a website where people could do strategic “vote-trading”: a Nader voter in a swing state would promise to vote for Gore in exchange for some Gore supporter in a deep-blue state voting for Nader on their behalf. In the end, of course, I doubt any of that cleverness made any difference.
Cat48
@Amir Khalid:
I saw quite a few people who were irritated with Corbyn for not being clear & campaigning enough. People interviewed on the street–so he must have fallen down badly. I’ve like Cameron ok, but his policies are bad. He was always pleasant with Barack. Heh
Immanentize
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: so, considering you are up for critiquing the oppressed perhaps you can share your history of criticizing the oppressors?
I like that construction VERY much.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
In other words retirees or about to retire. So economics isn’t the issue, it’s about throwing a temper tantrum to get the young people pay attention and give them the respect they think they are due.
I see this with my dads friends – a core group are respected by the younger generation as the wise elders, but a lot of these guys never got their heads out of being a teenager and now they are 70 something and everyone laughs at them They all act like Donald Trump long before Trump came on the scene.
rikyrah
@Amir Khalid:
He played himself. Was trying to be too cute by half and phucked himself, and unfortunately, the country over.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Immanentize:
no
Poopyman
@OzarkHillbilly:
You know how your cat hides her head under the covers and thinks no one can see her even though her ass is showing?
Yeah, like that.
rp
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s 8-0 or 7-1. There are compelling arguments why his behavior shouldn’t be criminalized.
Cat48
I don’t think I’ve heard the prez really go after someone like he has Trump. I would still b angry about all the Birther crap, if I were him.
He’s gotten testy with his opponents before in elections, but never like he did about the Muslim ban. Just so much disgust and anger that day w/Trump, without mentioning him. He was upset about Orlando too.
rikyrah
which is why she should stay IN THE SENATE:
If You Fail to Plan, Then You Plan to Fail
by D.R. Tucker June 25, 2016 3:30 PM
Like my colleague David Atkins, I think a Hillary Clinton-Elizabeth Warren ticket would be a strong one for the national Democratic Party; on MSNBC this morning, Joy Reid also noted Warren’s merits as a running mate for Clinton. However, as a Massachusetts native, I cannot dismiss concerns that Warren’s departure from the Senate upon becoming Vice President would quickly become a disaster for the state Democratic Party.
Under current Massachusetts law, a special election to fill a vacant US House or Senate seat must be held at least 145 days (but not more than 160 days) after the seat becomes vacant. Between the time the vacancy commences and the day of the special election, the governor–in this case, Republican Charlie Baker–must appoint an interim US Senator.
In the two most recent Bay State US Senate vacancies (the passing of Ted Kennedy in 2009 and the resignation of John Kerry to become Secretary of State in 2013), the appointed interim Senators–former Democratic National Committee head Paul Kirk and prominent attorney Mo Cowan, respectively–agreed not to run for the office while serving as interim Senator. It is quite likely that Baker will also have his interim appointment agree not to run for the office–because Baker, highly popular in Massachusetts, will not be able to resist the urge to run for the seat himself.
This should scare progressives in Massachusetts; as I have previously noted, the state Democratic Party seems uninterested in confronting Baker on the more offensive aspects of his record, presumably due to his tremendous popularity. It is difficult to imagine the state party suddenly moving from legarthic to lithe when it comes to making the case against a Senate candidate Baker–and it is also difficult to imagine the national Democratic Party and/or progressive Super PACs doing enough damage to Baker to substantially diminish his popularity going into a special election.
rikyrah
Memphis man raises close to $250,000 for teen who offered to carry groceries in exchange for some food for him and his disabled mom. “He is a straight-A student who is doing his best to make it in a world with no money and very few resources.”
rikyrah
Burying the Beast: Why the 2016 Election Needs to be a Democratic Landslide
Trevor LaFauci June 26, 2016
There are two sides to every coin.
Over the past two weeks, I’ve been traversing Palm Beach County, Florida for a crash course in political organizing 101. I’ve been to multiple call banks, house parties, and voter registration events. I’ve met local officials and precinct leaders. I’ve sat in on a conference call led by Robby Mook. I’ve seen and heard strategy sessions regarding messaging, talking points, goals, and strategies for the general election campaign. I’ve made hundreds of phone calls in an effort to recruit both new and seasoned volunteers. I’ve seen staunch Democratic supporters open their homes to complete strangers to offer supporter housing. I’ve spoken with new organizers who quit their cushy jobs to join the campaign. I’ve seen veteran organizers who have been consistently working 70-hour weeks since last summer. I’ve seen a network of driven and dedicated Democrats who will do whatever it takes to elect Hillary Clinton as our 45th president.
But I’ve also seen the other side.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Immanentize: Actually now I think about it…
Bobbyklins, can I call you that Immantized? Just because I am older, white and male doesn’t mean I am not allowed to have an opinion, and apparently we white old men control the world. So let’s consider what you just did; I said something you didn’t like, you are trying to shut me up by shaming me. Now here’s my question Bobbykins; do you think that will change my opinion, or get me just to ignore you and me just keep on doing what you think isvwrong, and since I am a older white male, THE OPPRESSION(tm) continues?
Tony J
@Amir Khalid:
I’ve heard this line about Corbyn a lot and it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
It’s no secret that Corbyn is deeply ambivalent about the E.U. but he did get out there and make a case for staying in. What he didn’t do, and I’d argue couldn’t do, was stand on a stage with Cameron and make the only case that could have reached the many disillusioned Labour voters (and ex-Labour voters) along the M62 corridor and down the East Coast, namely that the cause of their economic and social malaise wasn’t Europe or immigration like they’d been told over and over again for years, it was the conservative economic policies of every government back to 1979 and the insane austerity budgets imposed on the country by the moon-faced pig-shagger standing next to him at the podium. It would have imploded the entire Remain campaign and guaranteed an earlier revolt by the Blairite majority in the Parliamentary Labour Party who really, really, really don’t want to be held responsible for any of it.
That was the issue for the people Corbyn is being blamed for not reaching, not the blah-blah ‘Sovereignty’ rubbish favoured by the further Right, but “Immigrants are taking all our Jobs and Services!”. How was he supposed to counter the mountain of propaganda pushing that line without cutting the Remain campaign’s bollocks off?
MattF
After debacle of the May FEC report, the Trumpites claimed that they started soliciting donations and received huge amounts of money in a short period of time. But professionals in the field, looking at the Trump fund-raising operation, beg to differ.
Chris
@OzarkHillbilly:
@Poopyman:
I was also in the “shitty sleep” community. In my case, I apparently rolled out of bed in the middle of the night and slammed my shoulder on the ground. Nothing broken, just painful. I thought I was done with that before I was ten years old, but apparently not.
The Thin Black Duke
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Sure, you’re entitled to have an opinion. I just think you’re wrong. But then again, this is what usually happens when black people stop entertaining white people and have the audacity to express an opinion. White people start getting nervous when black people stop smiling.
FlyingToaster
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: You just convinced everyone that you’re a troll.
Go away, dickslap.
Patricia Kayden
@sunny raines: Good point. Your comment reminds me of “Joe the Plumber” railing against President Obama’s stance on increasing taxes on the rich although Joe would not have been the target of those taxes. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/joe-in-the-spotlight/?_r=0
Patricia Kayden
In moderation. Thanks. Anne.
Immanentize
@FlyingToaster: As an old friend of mine used to say: “They do reveal themselves.”
Paul in KY
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Great point. On Brexit, it was a referendum, nothing binding.
Parliament has to pass an act, etc. No act passing & no exit.
Paul in KY
@Iowa Old Lady: I can hear him sneering that now! With a wuhuhuhuhuhuh laugh that they do!
hovercraft
@Baud:
I think it’s the fact that the consequences were so bad that it was inconceivable to many people that it could actually happen. They simply refused to believe it would be close, they thought it would be like Scotland, where they thought the vote for independence would be close and it wasn’t. The same way the MSM saw the polls showing Drump winning the nomination, but refusing to believe that he would win. Unfortunately they’ve taken the wrong lesson, they are still disregarding the polls and insisting he’s doing better than he is. The focus on the closeness of the polls forgets that each side has a floor of roughly 45% barring something extraordinary.
Randy P
@Chris: I just replaced the glasses that I apparently broke when I did that a few months ago and landed on them. For some reason they were on the floor that night.
Wait, I waited months to fix them? Yes, because they waited months to break. The optometrist bent them back into shape that day and all seemed fine. Then one day a couple of weeks ago I was quietly sipping coffee at the cafe and Sproing! The frame spontaneously opens right in the center and two separated eyepieces slide slowly down off my face.
Paul in KY
@Kay: Kay, we will fix it so that by November 8, everyone & every dipshit who would or will vote for Der Trumpenfuhrer will know he’s a complete liar & fraud & everything he says is a lie & he’s lying to them about everything they think or hope that he will do.
If they still pull the lever for him, then it will be on them, as everyone will know exactly how much of a tool The Donald is.
Paul in KY
@Baud: I just think the losers who voted for ‘Exit’ are saying that they thought ‘Remain’ would win so…
Complete BS.
amk
@
Enhanced Voting Techniquesvoter suppression pathetic tactics:You convince me how the present fucked up scenario world over isn’t due to smart and capable whites.
Major Major Major Major
Well, I’m off to my first day at my new improved salt mine. Wish me well!
Shell
No, no. We know from “The Simpsons” that the dead vote Republican.
Paul in KY
@Cat48: Any Tory is a suck-up-to-the-Rich, I-wish-we-had-3-people-for-every-job asshat. Cameron and all of them.
Problem is that Labour is a bad as the Florida Democratic party right now..
TS
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
Can’t reply to your post – the reply option jumps to your link
It actually wasn’t. I cannot understand why a political media morning show can spend 3 hours talking about ONE candidate for election when
1. There are 2 major candidates running for President (and a couple of others who still think they are in the running)
2. There are hundreds of candidates running for the senate and the house
It is an insult to millions of voters that MJ and MSNBC think only one candidate is worthy of their discussion.
cleek
@TS:
to quote an editor from a large political website:
that was in response to an email where i pointed out that their site had more than 5 times as many mentions of Trump on their front page as they did for Clinton (and that Clinton was only ever mentioned in relation to Trump).
Paul in KY
@rikyrah: That’s why Sen. Warren needs to stay Sen. Warren.
EBT
@Amir Khalid: How can you tell it’s not one of the usual always there Gaping huge white spaces in the layout and not something special?
danielx
Yep yep….there’s a reason for all the various voter suppression legislation of the past few years, and it isn’t (nonexistent) voter fraud. More like a desperate last ditch defense before the music stops. Everything comes to an end sooner or later, including gerrymandered House districts.
hovercraft
@rikyrah:
The entire British leadership shares the blame.
Jeremy Corbyn
This is what happens when politicians are willing to harm a country for their own gain. This is not your normal F-35 engine boondogle for parochial gain, this is potentially drag your country back 50 years and leave the phucked for the next generation.
Hey purity ponies look where it got the brits, Corbyn maintained his purity (sort of), how did that work out for you.
Cameron
ruemara
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I was wondering the same thing. Since that’s your answer, I’m sure to give your critique the consideration required.
Paul in KY
@Tony J: He could have said that, IMO. In fact, if he’d had some balls, he would have said it.
Immanentize
@Major Major Major Major: I wish you well, Sir! And enjoy the learning curve while it lasts….
Paul in KY
@Major Major Major Major: Hope that salt is pink Himalayan!
Chris
@debbie:
I’m so fucking exhausted with every racist statement in the country immediately being excused with “he didn’t mean it.”
Ironically, I wonder if this didn’t contribute to the rise of Trump in the first place. Racists getting tired of the way polite, presentable Republicans snatch the mike from them as soon as they’ve said what they think and go “what this troubled but well meaning wholesome small-town country boy meant to say was…” while patting them on the head not at all condescendingly. And wanting somebody who’s not going to overwrite their message with dogwhistles, but is going to repeat what they say loudly and proudly.
Aimai
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: fuck you.
Cat48
Labor is having a a Civil War trying to remove Corbyn. They need to straighten that up to regain power. Obama has not had the power to get anything thru the GOP House, for job growth. Every year, he tried a different way to try pay,for it, but they always said No. At least he was able to block them from doing too harmful & Judges’
danielx
@TS:
They don’t care about millions of voters, they care about Villagers.
JPL
The abortion ruling should come down, anytime.
Gin & Tonic
@EBT: I hate this, but every time I see the phrase “gaping huge spaces” I shudder a bit inside while I recall goatse.
Aimai
@The Thin Black Duke: bingo! Or i should say this voting guy is demanding Jesse Williams give Bill Cosby’s pull up your pants speech over and over until Sandra Bland’s job miraculously undeads her.
ruemara
@Major Major Major Major: Best of luck!
JPL
Fifth Circuit is overturned..
hovercraft
@Aimai:
He’s just proving Jesse’s point, we’ll give you your due once you’ve earned it.
We more than any other people built this country and have received the least amount of benfit.
hovercraft
5 – 3 Against Texas on abortion case.
So Scalia is still dead and would have lost anyway.
JPL
@hovercraft: Mississippi was trying the same thing, so it’s a win for the woman in the south.
Poopyman
@JPL:
Which one?
Gin & Tonic
@hovercraft: HRC’s team already on Twitter praising the decision.
Aimai
Woo hooo! 5-3 texas abortion law stopped!!!! Scalia’s death still relevant!
Corner Stone
@JPL: Fuck yeah!
Matt McIrvin
No “might”. WOULD CERTAINLY have the advantage.
Soylent Green
This, from author John Scalzi, bears repeating.
Glidwrith
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Hmmm. Miscalling someone’s name: check. Immediately taking offense when called out on behavior: check. Demanding that black entertainers kowtow to white culture or they’ll end up poor and broke: check.
Ladies and gentlemen, I do believe we have a candidate for the banhammer.
Anyone care to take a bet on how long it will be before it crosses the line?
Corner Stone
@Gin & Tonic: Hell yeah they are!
Aimai
Also im typing this while sitting in the lobby of a catholic hospital waiting for my daughter who is interviewing for an internship in the obgyn department. As she just texted me frim upstairs this place is rendered extra creepy , besides all the crucifixes, by the extreme lack of patients. I am hoping that celebrating the abortion ruling wont get me struck by a lightning bolt.
Iowa Old Lady
@hovercraft: Yes! And Scalia is still dead.
Gin & Tonic
@Aimai: Scalia is still dead, but 5-3 suggests that didn’t affect the outcome.
MomSense
The used car I bought my son had a mixtape in the cd player. It was a medley of love songs from the 70s and early 80s. I am now the subject of much good natured ridicule from the 20 something summer resort employees in Bar Harbor.
JPL
@Aimai: Actually not for this case. Roberts and Alito seem to be upset that the majority thought this was about abortion and not overall women’s health issues. .
wtf it was about abortion
Corner Stone
Damn I am pumped! I don’t know why I am so amazed that SCOTUS actually did the right, fucking obvious, thing.
Also, too – I love Wendy Davis
Corner Stone
@Iowa Old Lady:
Always worth a “like” re-posting.
Glidwrith
@Aimai: YES!!!!!!
YES YES YES YES!
Kay
“Experts” say Trump lied about fundraising haul:
You wonder when this stops being at all surprising. It’s fascinating that this family have been able to maintain this “brand” for this long- it really corrodes my faith in the wisdom of markets. “Markets” are really pretty dumb, turns out.
Poopyman
@JPL: Crocodile tears from those two. And while I don’t miss Scalia’s whiny unhinged dissents, I do kind of miss his tantrums when he didn’t get his way. Which wasn’t nearly often enough.
Shell
And Trumps latest little statements are making Sarah Palin look like a Rhodes scholar.
JPL
Decision in McConnell case is vacated and remanded.
Paul in KY
@Kay: Consider me gobsmacked…
hovercraft
@JPL:
Yes and apparently Roberts and Alito wanted to send it back to the 5th circuit to gather more evidence about how it made women safer. Thomas want to uphold it as written because of course he did. Bryer who wrote the decision said bullshit to all of your claims, he basically codified the arguments of the women’s rights side even going so far as to say the law made women less safe. Ari Melbur is saying this is the biggest advancement to abortion rights since Casey. Basically by pushing so hard to restrict abortion rights they have in fact set themselves back . Going forward any new restrictions must be able to show a health benefit.
rp
@JPL: Called it: 8-0.
Calouste
@Immanentize:
It’s been that way for the last 30 or 40 years, way before the Euro was introduced. The German central bank would change the interest rate, and all the other European central banks would follow with exactly the same amount within 24 hours.
Capri
@Geoduck: What I would like to see is Trump win exactly the same states that Wallace won when he ran for president.
Miss Bianca
@The Thin Black Duke: You know, I think this country would be better off if every white person in America just shut up and let African-Americans talk, as long as they wanted, in whatever terms they wanted, about the legacy of 400 years of systemic oppression. Just shut up and listened stead of rushing in with excuses, explanations, or ‘solutions’. It wouldn’t solve all our societal problems, but it might get us to the place where they *could* be solved.
OK, shutting up now…
@Major Major Major Major: Except to say, wishing you well!
Calouste
@Tony J:
Corbyn is the leader of the second largest party in the country. It’s his fucking job to find a way.
And as he obviously can’t, it’s time for someone else to take that job.
Calouste
[David Cameron] welcomes the new MP for Tooting, Rosena Allin-Khan, who has just been sworn in. He advises her to keep her mobile phone on. She could be in the shadow cabinet by the end of the day, he jokes.
Zing!
rikyrah
@hovercraft:
This is ridiculous.
I guess it’s because we live in a country where the hurdles were placed originally – the lunacy of the Senate; the Electoral College; the high percentages of states needed to ratify amendments..
that the Brits would leave something as potentially devastating as the destruction of the United Kingdom to
50% +1
THAT, I cannot fathom.
rikyrah
@Aimai:
Amen.
nutella
@Patricia Kayden:
I’ve been trying to think of a punchy way to make this point by using the clip from the idiot in the UK who voted for Exit but didn’t really mean it and the very poor turnout of young people (both here and in UK). There are so many people who think their vote doesn’t count but it counts HUGELY, even in California and Maryland. It’s hard to explain in a punchy slogan though so a lot of people won’t accept it.
There must be a way to get the point across. I hope we can come up with something convincing before the election.
Paul in KY
@rikyrah: It is not a binding referendum. Parliament is not statutorily compelled to act.
Emma
@rikyrah: I keep thinking Cameron must be secretly addicted to gambling. Or, alternatively, that he’s been sucking lead paint. What gets me is that nobody seem to have slapped him upside the head and said “you moron!”
Emma
Boris’s got a problem!
ruemara
@Kay: I know a couple of Sanders campaign staffers who’ve been using those stats to concern troll online. I looked at the returns and if those figures were even halfway accurate, his rates would be above every precedent.
Regarding the decision, I’m cautious regarding this development.
aimai
This seems interesting:
J R in WV
So local TV news anchor said about the 5-3 abortion decision “They got their decision…” clearly indicating his viewpoint on women’s healthcare.
Well, I’m not watching local new shows to get advice on healthcare politics, more for the flash flood warnings.
Mnemosyne
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
You expressed an opinion. Someone else expressed a contrary one. Welcome to free speech. Suck it up, cupcake.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
Just remember, it’s natural to spend the entire first week (at least) wondering what the fuck you’ve gotten yourself into. It will pass. As long as you remember how to find the bathroom without getting lost, that first day is a win.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
We need to have an extended conversation about race and discrimination in the US. We have deep, deep roots of racism and bigotry in the core of our foundations. Anyone denying this is ignorant or purposefully stupid (and likely racist and bigoted).
But I think the conversation is doomed if we keep up with the y’all need to shut up and listen approach. That is not a conversation, it is a lecture. I ABSOLUTELY agree that white people (I am numbered among them) need to do the yeoman’s effort in listening.
But the white folks who would benefit the most from listening won’t listen when the dialogue begins with “Shut up, don’t speak, and listen to me talk for as long as I want while hurling (deserved) insults and paying no attention to tone.”. Be honest: do you really think Archie Bunker, Sarah Palin, Joe the Plumber, and Ricky Bobby will be engaged and (more importantly) changed by this approach?
The honest, informed whites will get it. Some will need assurances that they have done no purposeful wrong BUT have benefited from privilege (to which they may be blind). Keep in mind that the concept of privilege is fairly new to a lot of people.
My roots are Native American and Polish primarily. I grew up hearing lots of “Polack” jokes. Genocide is a part of my NA heritage. Still, I know I have white cismale privilege. I also know I would be told that I am not specifically the audience who needs to SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP but that for me to ask for that assurance is bad form.
I guess I’m saying that this is a very complex problem that won’t be resolved by righteous indignation, ban hammers, insults, or shouting down. It sure as hell won’t be solved by maintaining the status quo, by the likes of Jan Brewer, et al, having a board of directors’ seat at the table during the national conversation, or pretending that white privilege only applies to dude bros and the wealthy.
What place does nuance have though?
NorthLeft12
@OzarkHillbilly:
Well, we can usually rely on you guys to do something to make us shake our heads and say “Jaysus, Mary, and Joseph! They’ve gone and done . I don’t think they can ever top that.”
Although I will say that we are very thankful to you for electing Obama twice. You did the right thing.
Applejinx
@MattF:
ROFL! Cannot stop laughing at that. Had to be intentional. Tim Mak at the Daily Beast has a wicked sense of humor.
NorthLeft12
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I think you missed one of Mr. Williams’ points completely and the responder was kinda pointing that out to you. Sorry for your butthurt.
Paul in KY
@West of the Rockies (been a while): A lot of those perceived ‘insults’ are the truth. Also, the Joe the Plumber group has had many years of conversational monopoly. Why can’t they just STFU for a bit?
Applejinx
@Paul in KY:
I think we should go farther than that. Trump’s driven by racism and isolationism, but also by deep economic insecurity rightly blamed on every ruling political party in the last couple decades, just the same as it is in the UK. Without that, nobody would ever have heard of Bernie (who is a very poor draw for outright racists, even if he’s been clueless on the subject he simply is not setting out to be racist to gain racist votes)
Not ONLY is everything Trump says a lie, but everything and anything he promises other than racism is better gained through voting for Hillary Clinton. We need to make a compelling case that, if it’s the economic thing motivating you, Clinton is the only choice that can make government function at all, and will be intervening to bail out Main St. and give us time to rebuild. Under Clinton, people will have money again.
Technically that ought to happen in order to reinvigorate a consumer class which the Eurozone abjectly depends on, giving us the international economic clout to do whatever we want in a world increasingly governed by capital flows and backed by US T-Bills. Us having money again doesn’t mean we become exporters, it means we run trade deficits and depend on being indispensable to everyone else, which we are.
But ‘have money again’ sums it up nicely, because we can’t do that unless the Main St. American has money again.
Paul in KY
@Applejinx: Agree with you that those points (yours & mine) need to be made over & over & over again.
I think we will.
Tripod
@Geoduck:
Like he would forgo the opportunity to hawk some Trump branded garbage.
No One You Know
@Major Major Major Major: Hope your day in the new and improved salt mines went well!
I am trying to rev up for a change, myself. Just need to believe that there are jobs out there that don’t suck—and I speak from years of experience.