Here’s Tampa this morning as seen from the southeastern approach. It was about 6:45 a.m. when I took the photo:
We were out and about early because we were on our way to help some folks move. Moving is not our profession, but we have a truck, so people ask to borrow it, and contrary to the impression you may have gained from my output here, we’re basically nice and helpful people.
However, as I noted to my husband on the way home, I think we’re getting too old to schlep furniture, especially up stairs. We started super early because a) it’s not as hot just after sunup, and b) there is usually less chance of rain.
But as the cloud pictured suggests, we did have to dodge storms all day. Now we’re just chilling. You?
PS: I just now saw that Trump responded to Mr. Khan’s DNC speech with the insults and clueless self-congratulation one would expect from such a thoroughly despicable sociopath. He is beneath contempt, and anyone who supports him is too. So is this country if it elects him.
Baud
Your PS is exactly correct, Betty.
gogol's wife
I turned on PBS to see Queen Christina, and three women are screaming about how Last Tango in Paris wasn’t sexy. I think they’re kind of missing the point of that film. This show is called “Science Goes to the Movies.” WTF?
The Dangerman
Whew; I feared this thread might be an out of Baud experience. Settled at 1.
Snarki, child of Loki
In future years, if we survive, the Wikipedia entry for “sociopathic narcissism” will have a picture of Trump.
debbie
It is amazing that Trump cannot let even one comment pass. I think the answer is for everyone to pile on him. In his fury to respond, maybe his mouth will overheat and his head will explode.
Keith G
As far as this country possibly electing Trump, the 1st poll taken completely after the DNC shows Hillary with a 10-point bounce. I would suspect that this is not the most accurate of holes coming out the next couple days, so there’s that.
Baud
@The Dangerman: I wish I were tech savvy enough to create a Baud bot for Balloon Juice.
dmsilev
Ever since helping a certain classmate of mine in grad school move, I’ve measured the difficulty of such things in units of “Jonathans”. As in, “that move was a 50 milli-Jonathan move”. Who the hell, as a graduate student, owns a full sectional sofa and something like 1000 CDs and another 1000 cassette tapes (kids, ask your parents)?
debbie
@efgoldman:
Cleveland and Columbus have the same kind of buildings and skylines. Must have been a blue light special at Architect U.
hueyplong
I am tying and failing to avoid to the temptation to view one’s opinion of Trump as something other than an intelligence test. Your position on the political spectrum should be irrelevant to noticing his cringe-worthy narcissism at a glance.
History should treat his apologists very poorly.
The Dangerman
@Baud:
Oh, there’s a naughty limerick in there someplace.
dmsilev
So, have either Paul Ryan or Mitch McConnell said anything yet about their Party’s nominee’s behavior? I’m going to go waaaaaaaaaay out on a limb and guess that they’ll either try to ignore the latest eruption or issue some mealy-mouthed statement about honoring our troops.
Baud
@hueyplong: It’s a morality and decency test for me.
dr. bloor
@dmsilev: Books and CDs go with the territory, but the general rule of thumb should be “If you own a grown-up sectional sofa, hire a mover.”
rikyrah
He will not clap back at Cuban.
Cuban has his number.
You saw that he only did that one tweet against Bloomberg.
Those who are ACTUALLY billionaires…he doesn’t seem to attack them.
jl
@dmsilev: Probably go on expressing very qualified support for something called ‘the nominee’, an ineffable political essence, the nature of which always lies just beyond their ability to articulate.
hueyplong
@Baud: I’m going to revise and extend my remarks to adopt Baud’s view on the Trump test. I blame the wine for not getting it right the first time.
dr. bloor
@debbie:
I’ve been observing The Donald’s antics since the early eighties, and he’s always been a flaming narcissist, but outbursts like the one today are astonishing, and atypical of 90’s Donald. I’ll bet an MRI of his head would show a lot of vacant real estate that his frontal lobes used to occupy.
dmsilev
@efgoldman: “A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.”
jl
As long as we are dreaming into the clouds, I think a 538 to 0 electoral college total for HRC is a worthy and lofty goal.
Maybe we can start a state-by-state campaign to get as close as we can. We will appeal to people to uphold the honor and reputation of their respective states. Do they want to live in a place branded as a ‘Trump state’?
Mnemosyne
We hired movers for our last move because we did decide we were too old for that shit. We moved our own books etc but they moved our furniture.
PigDog
@dr. bloor:
He’s the third high-profile pol I think has had an undiagnosed stroke or something leading to a total personality shift
Cheney somewhere between 1993-1999
McCain probably around 2003
Trump’s may be more gradual and harder to pin down
Dee Loralei
OMG Betty Crackr, please go to comment 169 in the previous post and make the poem and draw a Trumpimandious statue please pretty pretty please . I swear I will buy that if you get it onto a poster in the bj store!
D58826
@dmsilev: Ryan said that he disagreed with Treump on some things but here is funding appeal for trump. So he owns Trump just like Christie and Pence.
I think Hillary should set up a name a special office for getting under Trumps skin. It would report directly to her. Prof. Senator Warren is doing a great job but she does have a day job so best to make it a full time position
Baud
@jl: Maybe too optimistic. But I think Clinton is doing some things in Texas.
bago
Well, Trump has insulted the mother of an American Soldier, lied about the NFL, and it’s not even nighttime yet. I’m gonna go play the Witcher before he does something obscene to an Apple Pie.
Prescott Cactus
@efgoldman:
Do Boston architects winter in Tampa ?
Schlemazel Khan
@efgoldman:
I am always surprised that so many American city skylines are indistinguishable from any other. We are homogenized.
Though in truth a big part of that is that so many buildings are now designed by a small community of architects in California. This leads to some interesting results. FOr instance out county government building is specially earthquake resistant but has huge expanses of hard to heat windows and a plaza that was paved with stone that became a deathtrap when it snows (which it does out here on the tundra). There is also the American Express building which has a waterfall that runs down the huge glass front of the building. Yeah, that made it till the first winter then it died. I only give 10% of the blame to the morons who designed them and 90% to the idiots who agreed to let them build that sort of stuff.
Anoniminous
How Trump sees himself.
As the rest of us see him.
Baud
@Schlemazel Khan: For that, you can thank the Supreme Court for striking down DOMA.
JPL
@bago: That lying George of that failing network, made him do that.
Someone better hide his phone, cuz the tweets will come fast and furious.
The Other Chuck
@Anoniminous: There is a lot of weird shit going on in that first picture…
PigDog
@efgoldman:
No argument here.
Thought experiment: how would a Trump run in 2000 have looked/sounded different than now? Pre-Apprentice, pre-birther BS…?
M31
@The Dangerman:
There was a Balloon Juicer Baud bot
Admirers of which were an awed lot
Its humor was timely
Its rhymes they were rhymely
——- fraud slot?
——- pawed cot?
——- slaw’d pot
——- broad, hot
——- oh Lawd! NOT
nope, you finish it
The Other Chuck
@PigDog: He’s always been a raging asshole. On that much at least, finally, we can call Trump faithful and constant.
Schlemazel Khan
@efgoldman: I revised & extended my remarks to say much the same in a lot more words. Thanks
Anoniminous
@The Other Chuck:
Yeah. I almost didn’t post it because of Bernie’s face in the background. But the rest was so good I decided to overlook that.
bluehill
Trump’s comments don’t surprise me. To the repubs respect for the military is not more important than gaining power. It was clear to me when they attacked Kerry’s military service. I couldn’t believe it at the time but that made me realize that they would say whatever and do whatever they needed to in order to gain power. The current repub leadership all know that Trump is destroying their party but because there is a slim chance he could win, they say nothing. Cpt. Khan and his parents have sacrificed so much and Ryan, Priebus, McConnell are too afraid to denounce Trump. It’s disgusting.
The sad and frightening thing is that repub supporters have been conditioned now so that the next outlandish statement or unconstitutional act will not seem so bad relative to the previous ones. This is the proverbial slippery slope and it has to stop in November.
ThresherK
@Prescott Cactus: I don’t see the big Citgo sign.
SiubhanDuinne
@debbie:
So, kind of a Reverse Gish-Gallop?
M31
@Dee Loralei:
I was thinking I’d love that to be a poster, but I’d need an artist. HMMMMMMMMMM
dr. bloor
@PigDog:
Scalia was an ambulatory poster boy for terminal drop in recent years. I sometimes wonder if that’s what we’re seeing here. Although it could just be the acute/chronic effects of being a pill head, I suppose. If it’s just the rigor of the campaign that’s getting to him, it’s really a textbook case of a personality disorder fragmenting into little pieces under stress.
hovercraft
@debbie:
I’m still trying to figure out how he determines who he can get away with insulting and who he just has to take it from. Michelle had several zingers aimed at him and yet he just swallowed and said thank you very much, Mr. Khan was universally praised to the point that the RWNJ’s who tried to attack him were mostly beaten back by their own side (comment threads in the fever swamps not withstanding), and yet he feels safe attacking him. This attack on a gold star family will dominate the Sunday shows, maybe he thinks that will limit the discussion of how much better the DNC was than the RNC, but in this case the media will do both.
Anoniminous
@efgoldman:
Then my job here is done.
SiubhanDuinne
@efgoldman:
I lived in Tampa (okay, Temple Terrace, close enough) for six years and always loved the sight of the Tampa skyline. As you know, I’ve been to Boston only a few times and don’t have the intimate familiarity with it that you have, so I never noticed the similarities. But I must say, that photo up top is lovely, and while I would never in a million years move back to Florida, that sky and that city skyline remind me of a couple of the things I actually enjoyed about being there.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: I was only on Tampa once for a brief visit, but I thought it was a pleasant city.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: @Anoniminous: You’re both bastards.
/flounce
eldorado
@baud – feel free to @ me with bot requirements
Mike J
Always good to learn the local vernacular:
Prescott Cactus
@PigDog:
TIA’s. Mini-strokes over a period of time. Usually followed by a big one.
Shana
@dmsilev: Haven’t seen anything from McConnell, but Ryan had some mealy-mouthed “I don’t agree with his position on muslim immigration” statement.
Also, I helped my older daughter move from her law school apartment back up here to NoVA to her new apartment just yesterday. Younger daughter helped, as did younger daughter’s boyfriend once he got off work – thanks Andrew we couldn’t have done it without you. At 57, I’ve decided I’m done with moves that involve furniture, boxes are OK, but I draw the line at furniture.
SiubhanDuinne
@PigDog:
Please say more about this.
Prescott Cactus
@ThresherK: Fenway: the smell of the crowd and the roar of the popcorn.
Baud
@eldorado: Thanks. I’ll have to think about that. Definitely needs to be good looking. And a Democrat, of course.
SiubhanDuinne
@Dee Loralei:
Second this, bigly!! In fact, I think the whole poem should be turned into a picture book, with one of Betty’s illustrations on each page, one for each line. I would buy that very fast and in quantity (for holiday gifts).
(Also, ::waves:: to Dee Loralei! How’ve you been?)
The Dangerman
@hovercraft:
Coming back at Michelle would be “expected”; normal politics, no eyeballs.
Taking a dump on a 4 Star General or a grieving Family? Lots and lots of eyeballs.
I’m having trouble deciding if he’s NPD or he really just wants to lose.
Omnes Omnibus
@The Dangerman:
Both/and.
hovercraft
@hueyplong:
I think you’re inclination is correct about their intelligence, a alot of his voters brains have been rotted out by the right wing media, as for the rest, there is a great deal of cynicism, people who know better but for the moment figure that they need to support him for their own political future. If as I expect he falls way behind and looks like he is going down in flames, they will run for the hills claiming that the offensive thing he says on that day was the final straw. The only problem is that their opponents will be able to replay everything up to that point and say really, all that was okay, but this was a bridge too far, really. They are screwed.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mike J: Wanker. There is no bigger wanker in the world than Donald Drumpf.
PigDog
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’m not a medical professional, so I don’t have particular skills beyond a mediocre critical thinking faculty, but since you asked…
Dick Cheney was SECDEF and not, to my knowledge, particularly irrational in that role. He would have had a pretty good understanding of how the US can project power in an efficient manner. Yet he went all in on fear and military action after 9/11.
Much has been said about McCain 2000 vs. McCain 2008 that I think would be well known to Juicers.
Keith G
Has it been noted hereabouts that my hometown paper, The Houston Chronical just endorsed Hillary?
The Headline:
These are unsettling times that require a steady hand: That’s not Donald Trump.
The Dangerman
@Omnes Omnibus:
Would an NPD want to go down in flames losing? Seems contradictory. My “wanting to lose” thing is more along the lines of he wanted to get his name out there for his new restaurant (DC?), it spiraled out of control, and he’s never found an exit strategy.
japa21
@Shana: Ryan is probably counting on people realizing that Trump’s Muslim ban is unrealistic because the House would have to approve it so his disagreeing with Trump is okay. But he can’t say that Trump’s ban could never go into effect because then he would be a target.
He is really between a rock and a hard place. I actually think, if his Dem opponent is any good, he could be defeated this fall.
Keith G
@PigDog:
Or maybe he has spent a lifetime doing the hard work to become a total piece of shit.
Omnes Omnibus
@The Dangerman: Why worry about logical consistency with Trump? That way madness lies.
SiubhanDuinne
@Anoniminous:
That first picture (how Trump sees himself) could so easily be a Jon McNaughton!
(Drifting off into long-ago memories now): At this point I have no recollection of what the topic was that started things, but I remember one night on Balloon Juice years ago when we all kind of simultaneously found out about Jon McNaughton, and the whole thread went on for hours and hours and got funnier and funnier, to rival the LULZ of the “Balloon Boy” thread. Anyone else remember that? I was by myself but weeping with mirth and hilarity.
Shana
@Prescott Cactus: My daughter, who will be starting a job next month in the personal injury department of a law firm that specializes in traumatic brain injury cases, was given a book to read that posits several people had concussion-related brain injury: Henry VIII after a jousting accident and Howard Hughes after a plane crash as a couple of examples. Not that Trump has had any injuries that could have resulted in concussion that I remember hearing about, but who knows.
hovercraft
@PigDog:
No he would not, he’s been a racist piece of shit for decades. He went on Japan stealing our lunch back in the eighties. he ran that full page ad about the Central Park Five deserving the death penalty back in the nineties, he was prosecuted by the justice department for housing discrimination back in the 70’s or 80’s. This is who he has always been. The media just let him re-invent himself at the beginning of the campaign.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: I only noticed and clicked on it because of you. So there.
/triple-flounce.
Zippity
So, pet story to share with BJ peeps. A couple days ago I stopped at Petsmart to pick up cat food. Was also looking for a sling to help my old lab who is having trouble with her back legs. I usually don’t go past the cages of cats from the local shelter, but did this time. A petite diluted tortie just stared at me with these huge eyes-her face looked like an owl. Against my better judgement, I went in and looked at her information. She was found almost 2 years ago in terrible shape, dehydrated, matted and covered in fleas. She spent some time at a vet’s office before ending up in a no kill shelter. She’s at least 10 years old. The thought of her spending almost 2 years in a shelter broke my heart. I have 3 cats and a 13+ year old lab already. They all get along great and I really didn’t want to get another cat. I couldn’t stop thinking about her though. So, yesterday after work, I went in and filled out the application. I picked her up this afternoon. She’s now laying on the back of my couch in the basement, looking out the window.
Doug R
@PigDog: Cheney’s heart troubles explain any blood to the brain problems. I’d bet his shooting that lawyer in the face was probably due to a temporary heart stoppage. The device he had in his chest at the time required his heart to stop before restarting it.
Baud
@Zippity: Yay! Congrats!
Trentrunner
@PigDog: Or, to use Michelle Obama’s model, maybe circumstances have REVEALED their true character.
I think that’s exactly what’s happening with Trump. Before, his ego was NYC-sized. Now, on a national and international stage, we’re seeing his narcissism play out with commensurate awfulness.
Mnemosyne
Okay, you guys, I have something I may want a little advice on, and it’s a good thing.
Thanks to our anti-racism cartoon making over $1 BILLION worldwide, I got a bonus from the Giant Evil Corporation, and I want to donate a portion of it to some nonprofits, because I can get matching funds for them from the GEC. (Political donations cannot be matched for legal reasons.)
So far, the charities on my shortlist are:
Americans for Responsible Solutions (Gabby Giffords’ gun control PAC)
The Center (Orlando GLBTQ center that helped after the murders there)
Fisher House (veterans charity)
Vote Riders (voting rights)
Doctors Without Borders (my perennial)
Any other non-profit orgs out there that you think really need to have a few dollars thrown to them right now? I’ll be checking them against the list of approved orgs from the GEC to see if I can get matching funds, but you’d be surprised how extensive their list can be, especially in CA and FL.
Doug R
@Prescott Cactus: I think it’s a groupthink thing that depends on the years major buildings go up.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@efgoldman: I’m traumatized as well. Clowns frighten me.
ThresherK
@efgoldman: Rats.
My wife is a Worcester girl; she cares litlle about baseball but knows she hates the Yankees. The Citgo sign will be missed, unlike those Coke bottle things. (Wait, are those still there? I guess that makes my point.)
PigDog
@Trentrunner:
I can get behind this.
Perhaps instead of a medical explanation, his awfulness was instead enhanced psychologically by his reality-stardom, Twitter nonsense, etc. feeding and frankly validating his narcissism over a period of years.
MomSense
@Zippity:
Yes! Good for you and hooray for new old kitty. I hope she settles in well and the other animals accept her.
Jeffro
@Mnemosyne:
I don’t want to pretend like it cost nothing, having ‘real’ movers last time we moved, but it was SOOO worth it. I think we packed a few days’ worth of clothes and the truly irreplaceable stuff and that was it.
Anoniminous
@SiubhanDuinne:
Oh god.
Jon McNaughton is the only American artist that made Thomas Kinkade look like Picasso.
Prescott Cactus
@Shana: if you can get me the title of that book. . . It would be greatly appreciated…
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: As someone born and raised in Tampa I can honestly tell you that there is no rhyme nor reason to any of the architecture in downtown Tampa. City of Tampa and Hillsborough County don’t do planning. They have no interest in it, as well as zoning or anything else of consequence. Despite the city’s on time motto of “America’s Next Great City”, the elected officials in charge couldn’t organize a one car funeral if you spotted them the hearse.
ThresherK
@Zippity: Good luck. I’m a sucker for torties and calicos. Let us know when she gets her “tortitude” back.
Jeffro
@Keith G: Gonna be a lot more of this before November rolls around…and thank goodness.
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne: Have you read any Dennis Lehane novels? The Given Day is set in Boston; the sequel Live by Night (soon to be a movie starring Ben Affleck!) follows the story to Tampa. That would cover both cities for you, albeit a few years back. The Tampa history was interesting to me as I don’t think of cities on the Gulf Coast of Florida as having histories (no offense, Betty!), but I’m biased as my family history is on the East Coast.
SiubhanDuinne
@Keith G:
Dunno if it’s been acknowledged here on BJ, but I’ve seen plenty of my FB friends link to it.
divF
@efgoldman:
An architect once told me that architects are as subject to fads and fashion as anyone else, as could be seen at any major university campus that has had waves of development over multiple decades. You can date the fads as clearly as strata in an achaeological dig.
This conversation took place during the height of the brutalist movement in the late 1960’s, and the new buildings on campus at the time showed it.
Shana
@Zippity: Bless you. I’m trying to integrate a new cat into our house that already has an alpha cat who tolerated our dog only because he was bigger than her. Tonight is actually going well, very little hissing and scrapping so I have high hopes. I’m always amazed when people are able to easily integrate a new animal into a household.
hovercraft
@efgoldman:
This. He’s an attention whore. He’s simply stumbling along, taking the country along for the ride, as he lives out his life long dream of being the most discussed person in the world.
Mnemosyne
@hovercraft:
This. When he was first picked for “The Apprentice,” I was surprised that they would pick someone that controversial. He’s been a well-known asshole for decades now — I remember some of his antics from the 1980s.
As someone else said above, he only seems like a bigger asshole because he’s on a bigger stage.
JPL
@Mike J: That was a term, that I was unfamiliar with. It’s the great google or not conundrum .. Finally, I did and it’s an apt, although polite description, of the ass running for President on the Republican ticket.
hovercraft
@efgoldman:
Amen.
Mnemosyne
@Zippity:
Awww! That’s how we ended up with our (now) oldest cat. I was walking through Petco at the end of a pet adoption event and he reached out through the bars of his carrier and grabbed my arm. It took about a month for me to wear my (then brand-new) husband down, but the cat was still available when things finally settled down from the wedding and we grabbed him up.
Shana
@Prescott Cactus: Conquering Concussion by Mary Lee Esty.
JPL
@hovercraft: That’s about right.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: You want a Baud bot? I can get you a Baud bot. I can get you a Baud bot by sundown. You don’t wanna know, dude, there are ways.
debbie
I was just checking out Trump’s TwitterSwamp and came across this jewel. Projection much?
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@PigDog:
Cheney’s can be explained by his bypass surgery.
divF
@Major Major Major Major: Thank you, Igor.
ETA: Although I thought you would have to work between sundown and sunrise.
MomSense
@Mnemosyne:
I donate and volunteer time on a local backpack program. It’s run by the food pantry. We full backpacks with healthy food that students on food assistance can take home weekends during the school year. During the summer vacation we provide food every week to these same kids. Especially with all the cuts to SNAP, food insecurity is a growing problem.
Wapiti
@Anoniminous: As soon as I read your post, before I looked at the pictures, the idea of the Piss Christ art jumped to mind. I’ll leave it to someone more creative than me to create the Piss Trump art.
Jeffro
@hovercraft:
Both of these things are true.
He was born with a big pile of bucks and sees everything – even the “sacrifice” of having to pay people for their work, even the disabled-access he had to put into his buildings, you know, by law – as subtracting from that pile. We’re all taking from him, in his mind.
He’s also – by birth, and temperament, and 50 years’ worth of being indulged like this – the ultimate narcissist. It is all about him. He has an unbelievably low E.Q. How else could he not have had the least, shallow, fake bit of sympathy for the Khans and tried to co-opt their love of country like a ‘regular’ evil GOP pol?
Many have said it before: he is simply the GOP id, fully unveiled with no filters and no brakes. Let’s work ourselves to the bone through Nov 8 and teach his enablers a lesson they’ll never forget.
Mnemosyne
@Keith G:
Possibly weird question: what are Sen. John Cornyn’s constituent services like? The other Keith in Texas (Keith P.) is in a bad employment and health situation and we were brainstorming ways to help him. I’m assuming Cruz’s constituent services are shit, but Cornyn seems like a slightly more traditional politician.
lamh36
@AP
A pocket version of the US Constitution has become a best-seller on http://Amazon.com after speech at DNC.
Anoniminous
@efgoldman:
This.
With the GOP bringing their F-Team we have an opening to take seats up and down the political scale.
Mnemosyne
@MomSense:
Ooh, food pantry is a good one. I know the LA Food Bank is a matching donation charity. Thanks!
lamh36
@AP
A pocket version of the US Constitution has become a best-seller on Amazon after speech at DNC.
Major Major Major Major
@divF: I actually literally have some code laying around that I could reconfigure and deploy in like fifteen minutes.
SiubhanDuinne
@Anoniminous:
Succinct, and so very true.
Mary G
@Zippity: Trump makes me fear for my country, but then I see a story like yours. Thanks for that.
JPL
@Mnemosyne: Love does conquer all.
bystander
@The Dangerman:
There once was a troll with a screw loose
Whom…
Steve in the ATL
@Shana:
Plaintiff’s side? Start picking out airplanes to buy. Those cases pay big bucks.
Jeffro
@Mnemosyne:
This is why I take heart that he will not only lose, but lose resoundingly. This isn’t the GOP primary/base voters. This isn’t “The Apprentice”. This isn’t the WWE. This isn’t even a normal day of ops at Trump Tower, where everyone tells him he’s great and helps him stiff vendors & not pay his bills.
This is the full-throttle, Obama Coalition, 2016 America. And we are not going to put up with this crap.
SiubhanDuinne
@Zippity:
Goddammit. Why do you want to make me weep in front of a bunch of strangers?
Prescott Cactus
@Jeffro:
Might be a local thing, but Fire Dept helps moves the olds by me. They rent a truck and you pay for the truck and them by hour. Local inner-village moves only.
@JPL: Chicago variant includes “Jack”.
ETA: Thank you Zippy !
bystander
Doesn’t foot but more importantly I was not suggesting that Dangerman is a troll.
patrick II
@Doug R:
Meanwhile the architects in Shanghai have been having some fun.
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: You want to go through your Congressman or Congresswoman. The constituency is smaller than a state wide rep like a US Senator. If you can get the specific member of Congress on board, then they can take the issue to the Senator and other members of the delegation.
dmsilev
@Mnemosyne: ACLU is usually good. SPCA, or the animal shelter of your choice. Planned Parenthood.
Just a few that come immediately to mind.
Svensker
@Zippity:
Oh, you! What a good person. Best wishes for kitty’s acceptance into and happiness with the pack.
James E Powell
@Prescott Cactus:
Not the book, but worth a look – Henry VIII & TBI
Percysowner
A testament to why Hillary Clinton deserves to be President.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mnemosyne:
Planned Parenthood.
I also like, and donate every year, to The Heifer Project (Heifer International).
dmsilev
@divF: Oh, God, Brutalism. Boston City Hall has got to be one of my least favorite buildings anywhere. It looks like it was built to be a post-apocalyptic evil-warlord fortress, complete with the wind-swept plaza out front. All you need to complete the look are an array of heads up on pikes out front near the T station.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: Now I want to know what the cartoon was.
Mary G
@Adam L Silverman: Adam, I keep reading on Daniel Larison’s blog how terrible the Saudi Arabian war on Yemen is and what a humanitarian crisis is unfolding. Why are we going along with it? Is it just the sweet, sweet petroleum or what?
jl
@debbie:
” lose cannon ”
I like to think of Drumpf as a ‘lose cannon’. I hope he’s projecting there.
Glidwrith
@Mnemosyne: RonnieRoo at the last BJ meet up in SD lives out in Texas and told me Coryn was very responsive and polite regarding a letter she sent on gun control. She wants to hate him, but his response really gave her pause. Besides, if your friend is in bad way, what can it hurt go ask?
Baud
@Percysowner: That’s pretty powerful.
divF
@Major Major Major Major: That easy? I thought you would have to dig it up in a graveyard. Oh, the wonders of the digital age!
Anoniminous
@Wapiti:
A political campaign can routinely use images to create great propaganda. It takes talented artists like Picasso or Max Beckmann to create a work of Art that also has a political impact and it will longer than a political campaign to do it.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Pete Wehner is a hard core Republican apologist. Some how, “progressives” still aren’t convinced.
hovercraft
@Jeffro: @Jeffro:
Exactly right his act will not play well on the national stage. People forget that most American’s still haven’t really started paying attention to the election, and won’t really do so till September. Trump does not wear well. Much like the Civil Rights Act lost the democrats the South, nominating Trump and the establishment endorsing him should lose the gop the white educated voters that have been a large part of their coalition for at least a few elections, until they show that they are no longer insane. He is so beyond the pale that he has forced people to take a good long look at the gop, and they aren’t liking what they are seeing.
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: Maybe the code was deactivated for a reason. Need to build Baud!bot from scratch. It’s the only way.
germy
@dmsilev: I remember back in college walking around a modernist building trying to find the entrance. It was hidden somewhere on the side of the building.
Jeffro
@PigDog: Yeah I don’t think he’s had some stroke…other than sleeping even less than usual (which according to him is not much to begin with) just being on a bigger stage and spotlight and not toning it down but instead amping up has gotten him here.
Btw I think folks would do well to look at what ‘dry drunk’ symptoms look like. Just saying.
lurker dean
@Zippity: what a wonderful thing for you to do for that poor kitty, esp since the older ones are often overlooked. hope she fits in well with the others.
germy
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
The flip side of that coin is that every time another republican confesses they’ll support HRC, the progressives all say “Ah ha! I told you she’s a neoliberal!”
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G: I’d have to go and see what Larison wrote. Here’s a good, but now year and a half old, report on US-Yemeni relations:
fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL34170.pdf
And here’s the most recent update on US policy from the administration:
whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/05/12/notice-continuation-national-emergency-respect-yemen
Baud
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: I’ve said before that I have more in common with the Republican who votes for Hillary than the progressive who walks away. Maybe this is what realignment looks like.
Prescott Cactus
@Shana:
@James E Powell:
Thank you both very, very much.
germy
@Jeffro: excessive and prolonged use of diet pills (speed)?
Cain
@Zippity:
I literally had tears in my eyes. Thank you for helping her.
Jeffro
@dmsilev:
Wow these are our faves too! ACLU, PP, and Red Cross. Shelters are of course awesome.
If I could, I’d also recommend that you consider local teen/family shelters…there’s usually a very low-key home for moms and/or moms w/ kids who are abruptly homeless due to divorce or spousal abuse. I know the Alternative House in VA is a fave of mine.
M31
I wonder how many hours in a day Trump has ever had to actually work.
divF
@dmsilev: I know that building (*shudders*).
Anoniminous
The Austrian architect and artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser designed some very cool buildings each with unique features that didn’t cost anymore than the standard glass-and-steel monstrosity.
Mnemosyne
@Percysowner:
That story was what made me wonder if it would do Keith P any good to contact Cornyn. It’s ALL over Facebook right now.
@dmsilev:
@SiubhanDuinne:
Planned Parenthood is another good one (and ties in with the story Percysowner linked to above — the guy who wrote it got his initial cancer diagnosis and treatment through PP, because that’s what they do). I’m going to be a bad lefty and say I feel a little meh towards the ACLU. The rescue org where we got our cats from could probably use a few bucks.
OldDave
@Mnemosyne:
Gary Trudeau recently released a collection of Doonesbury pages featuring Trump that span some 30 years. The collection is titled YUGE!. He’s always been an asshole.
Chris
I think that at the heart of a divorce and some bankruptcies lies a lie. I really assume bankruptcies 4 through 6 had a lie at their heart definitely… (not speaking of the two previous wives.. They were probably not lying but Donald was) this man’s whole life and life strategy is lie based. It’s not hard to see.. Sad!
Cain
I am helping out a friend and doing some pet setting this weekend. Walked into the house, went upstairs and found the two dogs and cat all laid out on the bed peering out at me through the door with a whole “WTF.. who are you and what did you do to the guy who usually hangs out here and feeds us?”
A greyhound, a husky and a long haired kitty were sitting on a bed.. “
Mnemosyne
@efgoldman:
We have a lovely new Museum of Neon Art out here. I don’t know if BillinGlendaleCA has pictures yet.
Jeffro
@hovercraft:
Yes and yes and yes.
And letting him throw this garbage out there, and continuing to put it right in front of voters, and continuing to hammer GOP officials, is the kind of steady game that Clinton knows to play & win. Just imagine if we had an equally egotistic, short-tempered, low-info candidate running against this clown.
Actually…that’s not a bad point to help win over some folks in the middle. “Hey, I know you’re not crazy about Clinton…but just picture if the Ds had put up someone as equally low-info, reactionary, offensive as Trump? Boy, we’d really be screwed then, wouldn’t we? I know you might not be thrilled, but it’s probably pretty clear we’ve gotta make sure he’s not calling the shots in Nov…”
Baud
@Mnemosyne: I can’t believe that guy was a Bernie guy initially. The only way I can imagine supporting a Republican in this day an age is if I had received the same type of personal help that this guy did. (Thankfully, it’s never been an issue for me — moral conflict averted). Anyway, all’s well that ends well. It was a good piece.
Gin & Tonic
@Jeffro:
The American Red Cross is a very iffy charity. Here’s a good place to start reading, or here.
Baud
@efgoldman:
Cool. More granddaughter time.
Mnemosyne
@Jeffro:
Hmm. I hadn’t thought of a teen/family shelter, but I’m sure there are quite a few of them since Los Angeles still attracts a lot of runaways.
rikyrah
Wajahat Ali @WajahatAli Jul 29
#KhizrKhan’s daughter in law told me he’s kept that worn out copy of the Constitution in his coat pockets for as long as she’s known him.
jl
@OldDave: As some commenter and an Adam Silverman links have demonstrated, Donny Drumpf has been spouting ignorant BS that revolve around a few obsessions for decades. One is bigotry, and another is con-man shake-down artist attitude towards international relations, finance, and economics.
When he was trying out as a moderate Democrat, he was calmer and more placid in his pronouncements, he would present them as if he were a reasonable person.. Maybe because he has gone funny in the head, or maybe due to bitterness at not having his universal and huge genius immediately acclaimed, or both, he’s turned into a vicious hateful nutcase.
Edit: to make it clear, I think he’s always been a nutcase, but one that could long ago put up a reasonable and if you squinted hard enough, moderate facade. Not anymore.
Villago Delenda Est
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: At this point I’m convinced that the hardcore Berniebros are racist, sexist assholes at their core. MRAs who hate ni*CLANGS*.
Schlemazel Khan
@bystander:
There once was a troll with an R
who backed up an armored car
It should have held cash
but it flopped with a crash
something something not far
schrodinger's cat
@Zippity: Don’t forget to send AL photos! Thanks for sharing your story. Give the kitteh some skritches and gooshie fuds on my behalf.
Shana
@Steve in the ATL: Yes, plaintif’s side. As a kid whose summer jobs since high school were on democratic campaigns, who started the Young Dems club at her high school as a 9th grader, and worked with the Anchorage, AK public defenders office last summer, volunteered with her local chapter of the Innocence Project during the law school years, she likes the idea of “sticking it to the man” if “the man” is an insurance company. We’re insanely proud of her.
Mnemosyne
@Jeffro:
This. The biggest complaint about Hillary is that she’s a plodder and a grinder, not a flashy campaigner. But we all know what happened when the tortoise went up against the overconfident hare …
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: oh! The Trevor Project, they do suicide prevention for LGBT youth.
Baud
@Villago Delenda Est: There was always speculation that some Paulines gravitated to Bernie’s campaign. So, what you said.
Capri
@Mnemosyne: This is self-serving since I am the faculty member in charge, but PetSafe at Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine can always use some help. We take care of pets whose families are temporarily homeless. Most of the time that’s women entering the local shelter. This is important because one of the important reasons women don’t leave domestic violence situations is because they can’t take their pets with them. Pets serve as an important support for women isolated in violent households, and are at high risk of abuse themselves. For allergy/health reasons the pets can stay with at the women’s shelter (although I did convince the administrator that sea monkeys were OK), so we take care of the animals until they can be reunited with their families.
raven
@Capri: The UGA vet school recently entered into an similar agreement with the women’s shelter in Athens. Great work!
Jeffro
@Gin & Tonic: Ok. You can always donate to your local RC
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Villago Delenda Est:
Some certainly are, but for the most part I think they’re mostly clueless careless thoughtless self absorbed poorly raised dudebros who thought their unexamined entitled privilege automatically confers on them deference from their perceived lessers. Losing isn’t really a thing that happens to them, and they’re just getting a taste, for the first time, of what it means to be marginalized.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mnemosyne:
There are so many good ones. There are gun control/safety, PP, civil/voting rights and civil liberties, DWB/MSF, for me the Metropolitan Opera, Heifer International, various literacy organizations, and then all the individual Democratic/liberal/progressive candidates and the orgs that support them (DNC, DSCC, DCCC, EMILY’s List, and so many more). I’m sure I’m forgetting some key charities (TBH, I never bother anymore with the Red Cross and similar huuuuge organizations these days, even in the aftermath of a disaster).
It’s really hard. When I was working I was able to be a lot more generous. As a retiree on a fixed income, I am obliged to be much more careful (which, to me, just feels “cheap”). But I trust that even my tiny $15-25 contributions, given regularly, help the campaigns do a bit of planning. And I buy the mega lottery tickets a couple of times a year, so who knows?
Jeffro
You’re going to love the area – give us NoVA folks a shout when you get here (and/or see you at a future BJ meet up here!)
Matt McIrvin
@hovercraft: It may depend on whether somebody he currently trusts specifically tells him not to jump on this or that particular person. If Ivanka forgets to mention Mr. Khan, then he’ll happily fire away.
Baud
Never mind.
Jeffro
@Mnemosyne: They often fly under folks’ radar, for obvious reasons…but they will appreciate any & all support!
Major Major Major Major
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: the one who was explaining to me this morning that patriotism is bad fits in that group, I think.
I think a lot of these folks–especially out in the Bay Area–are also not used to being relevant enough to be on the receiving end of what turns out to be a fully operational battle station.
Jeffro
@Baud: Yes, absolutely – let’s give low-tech Jeffro a pass, just this once. I only made it back in time to delete the link to your comment, not add in a note to efgoldman
People, you have to meet me where I’m at, not where you’d like me to be, tech-wise. Because I’m not actually ever going to be where I should be, tech-wise. ;)
ThresherK (GPad)
@efgoldman: I have not seen that sign. I remember the Ditto (autocorrect!) sign in person twice (once in my only Fenway trip) and the rest on TV.
scav
@jl: We could also think of dainty fingers as a loose canon, maybe along the lines of
You are losing You are loosing
Donald Trump Tronald Dump
Tiny hand are flailing Tiny hands are flailing
Take your lumps, Humpty Dump
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
Now I’m wondering if I can combine yours and Jeffro’s suggestions and throw some money to the Youth Center in Hollywood, which is a center specifically for LGBTQ teens who have nowhere else to go.
p.a.
@hovercraft:
Don’t think so. Beginning as a slow drip with Goldwaterism, then a scouring blast of hate radio and Fux agitprop, a considerable (at least 27) percentage of Americans have had critical thinking and basic decency scrubbed from them. The demographics say Trump should lose, but to rely on people who supported Bush/Cheney, Gramps/Palin and RMoney/Ryan to be turned off by Trump is optimistic in the extreme. There’ll be no ‘Tail Gunner’ Don moment of revulsion. Pace Orwell, but for this crew Decency is Weakness.
Major Major Major Major
@efgoldman: I suppose that *is* the programmer version of “hold my beer, watch this”
Prescott Cactus
@Shana:
You should be ! Also of yourselves !
Matt McIrvin
@hovercraft: As Adam pointed out earlier, the weird idea about leaving NATO and hitting them up for money goes back to the Eighties too–he was running newspaper ads advocating it!
divF
@efgoldman:
In my case, it was Berkeley. The Math building (Evans Hall) and the Environmental Design (!) building (Wurster Hall). The joke was that Evans was the packing crate they had shipped Wurster in.
Brutalism has survived as a trope for CGI-generated imperial / fascist backgrounds. When I just looked at the pictures of Boston City Hall on line, I immediately thought of the triumphant procession through Rome in Gladiator.
p.a.
@Major Major Major Major: DEFEND THE GODDAMN EXHAUST PORT
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.
SiubhanDuinne
@efgoldman:
I’m waiting until after the election to decide what I want to do. If Trump wins (or if the margin is so close that I know his supporters will be a major influence in this country for years to come), I’m outta here. Canada, Ireland, or Scotland.
If I end up staying in metro Atlanta for a while longer, I’m definitely moving to a smaller unit. Currently I’m in a 3-bedroom townhome, but that is way more space than I need at this point. I like my apartment complex, and would like to stay in the same place but in a flat with a smaller square-footage footprint. Cheaper, and forces me to downsize a bit. Anybody want a shitload of books?
lollipopguild
@Cain: When in walked 2 corinthians.
magurakurin
@efgoldman: I agree. 270 is the number…not 538. Even if she did win 50 states she won’t get a mandate.
Shana
@Baud: More granddaughter time, and occasional BJ socialization.
Adam L Silverman
@raven: Let me guess they only take bulldogs?
(I’ll be in the corner looking properly embarrassed…)
Baud
@magurakurin: Much like obituaries, the major newspapers have probably pre-written the “she only won our center-right nation because she was against Trump” articles.
Matt McIrvin
@Zippity: I had a petite diluted tortie adopted from a shelter who was a wonderful pet, one of the best cats I ever had. Bit of a drama queen though. Had weird little eyebrow tufts like a scottie dog.
A picture I took of her once became a minor Internet meme.
Shana
@efgoldman: The Foreign Languages building at the University of Illinois is another prime example of Brutalism.
Major Major Major Major
@p.a.: as usual, the Clintons left the plans documenting the Death Star’s structural flaws just laying around ? but they’ve got the best pilots in the galaxy!
Lizzy L
@Mnemosyne: 1) Your local no-kill pet shelter, 2) Your local women’s shelter, 3) The Innocence Project. 4) Southern Poverty Law Center.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
OK, how did we all miss this?
Hillary Clinton’s Super Hot Nephew
Prescott Cactus
@Mnemosyne:
The Reverend Barber down in North Carolina
The NAACP.
ETA: BLM and / or Mothers for BLB (?) who were at convention.
stinger
@Zippity: Thank you. Please keep us updated on how she settles in.
Zippity
Thank you all for the kind words! I agree that this election season is really distressing. I’ve decided to try to counter the negativity by trying to do something positive for someone else every day. I learned a lot about HRC watching the convention-a lot of it thru tears in my eyes. Taking her lead on “do all the good you can…”
Two of my cats have walked near her and looked at her but are keeping their distance. She’s moved off the couch and found a dark corner, but she knows where the food, water and litter boxes are. She just needs some time.
raven
Jesus, a kid from Metro Atlanta who was starting at Harvard drowned in the Charles river last night.
Baud
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: I guess we now know how Hillary plans to do outreach to female and gay millennials.
Zippity
@Matt McIrvin: That is great!
SiubhanDuinne
@rikyrah:
I noticed that the copy he pulled out on Thursday was a bit dog-eared. That told me it was a well-read, well-thumbed, and well-loved copy of the Constitution. Not a prop for the cameras. I doubt seriously that Donald could even recite the Preamble, let alone name the principles of the Bill of Rights. We already know that he is completely ignorant of how many Articles there are.
I don’t think he could come close to passing the Citizenship Test all immigrants are required to pass before they take the Oath of Allegiance. (It shows up on Facebook now and then. The people that do best on it invariably are my Canadian and European friends.)
Mnemosyne
@p.a.:
Just remember, in the four contests that those tickets represent, Republicans won more votes in exactly one (1) of the four since the Supreme Court had to step in to hand the victory to W in 2000.
So we’re not relying on the people who voted Republican in 2008 and 2012 to magically change their minds. We’re relying on the people who voted Democratic, and if McCain or Romney voters want to tag along for the ride, that’s fine.
stinger
@Mnemosyne: Planned Parenthood. Local animal shelters. Local domestic violence shelters. Plus the ones you listed!
raven
@Shana: I started there when they were building IMPE!
Yikes, The FLB was going up a the same time.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
What? Fuck, that’s not right.
Shana
@Prescott Cactus: Well we did name her Elaine, a name we found in a Robyn Hitchcock song called Freeze that has a lyric “There’s a justice in this world, and I know just what it’s called. It’s called Elaine.” Of course we were also naming her in memory of my husband’s father, Leonard, and as a Classics major as an undergrad by husband knew that L names and EL names had the same root in Greek.
SiubhanDuinne
@Zippity:
When she’s ready — not before — please try to get some pictures and send them to Anne Laurie for an early morning share.
And bless you.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: Apparently it’s a new student ritual. goldie will let us know.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Zippity:
I donate a lot of money to my local animal rescue – you’re the reason why. They give these helpless souls a chance to find their forever home. Thank you.
p.a.
@Major Major Major Major: Fortunately the Emperor can’t generate much Force-lightning from such stubby fingers.
Mnemosyne
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
Huh. Assuming the reporting is correct, he went to my grad school alma mater, Loyola Marymount University.
He’s also young enough to be my son (and shares a name with one of my nephews) so I can’t admire him too much, but my teenage nieces would probably think he’s dreamy.
Zippity
@SiubhanDuinne: Will do!
ruemara
@Zippity: Welcome, Lucky Tortie! And, you’re a boss babe, Zippity. Smooth house integration to all of you and yours.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: deal me in!
schrodinger's cat
Has Paul Ryan been asked to defend Trump’s rants about Mr. Khan, yet?
hovercraft
@p.a.:
I don’t disagree, after the 2004 re-election of the shrub, I cannot put anything past a certain percentage of the population. But McCain and Romney did lose to a guy named b. HUSSAIN Obama, a black man to boot. I may be naive, but I have faith that as long as we GOTV we will win.
I’d say I’ll move to Canada, but Trump will destroy the whole planet, so I may as well stay put and await the end.
Sad.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Anoniminous: Nice.
It’s hard to beat The Donald though. (Be sure to check the high-mag version.)
Cheers,
Scott.
mkro
I guess not everyone has received your message that Trump is a despicable sociopath. Check out Nate Silver’s 538 prediction today: Trump has a 50.1% chance of winning. Looking forward to 8 years of Mein Trumpf …
Major Major Major Major
@p.a.: did you ever see the thing about the economics of the Death Star? here
Ruckus
@Percysowner:
That is a biggie. And all this time I’d bet no one other than the poster and Hillary Clinton knows that this even happened. Clinton knew what should be happening and why and that what was happening was bullshit.
I had a situation decades ago that my representative helped fix, not by doing any thing wrong, just by getting the federal agency involved to do their job. And he was a member of the John Birch Society, so I didn’t expect any help at all. Times have changed.
Prescott Cactus
@Shana: I will listen to song later tonight. What a nice way to weave your child’s name.
Omnes Omnibus
@mkro: Stop being a Chicken Little.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@mkro: Election Update: Why Our Model Is Bullish On Trump, For Now
dmsilev
Mr. Khan has even fewer nice things to say about Trump now than he did on Thursday:
hovercraft
@Baud:
Well you do remember that Obama only won because Bush screwed up so badly that McCain never stood a chance, and he beat RMoney only because on the 47% tape and Obama cheated by running negative ads against him when he didn’t have any money, and he was very stiff and a bad campaigner, and Bain, and he was a moderate, and he didn’t attack Obama, but other than that he totally would have won.
Dee Loralei
@SiubhanDuinne: @SiubhanDuinne: I’m good, and you? Oh and on another page she could do a pic of Hilary as Galadriel doing the ” all would look upon me and despair” speech. So many talented artists in our mist. Let’s come up with other things to put in the book.
Prescott Cactus
@dmsilev: I hope he stops before he gets the next 10 other things said.
Miss Bianca
It’s not just Trump who is acting despicably in a reaction to the Khans’ speech, or the speech from the lady who introduced President Obama.
A bit of background: I just had a rather disturbing exchange with an old friend, a Bernie-or-Buster who, to my surprise and displeasure, I last saw at the Colorado State Convention in March, where he basically got up and exalted his preferred candidate by trashing the Democratic Party, and the Clintons.
At any rate…I still get emails from him, and he made an allusion to feeling badly at the end of the convention, and how he didn’t know what he was going to do, and blah blah. I had the distinct impression he had probably been reprimanded at the local radio station – we had met as fellow DJs there – for expressing his political opinions a bit too freely on the air.
At any rate…I girded my loins and wrote him back, trying to point out all the reasons why it was necessary, whatever his feelings, to vote for HRC. To which he responded civilly, but also by forwarding on something written by Margot Kidder, which contained the following extraordinary passage:
It went on in this sort of vein for a while, reviling the display of American might and American exceptionalism – and so forth – and how she wanted to move back to Canada. And my friend obviously, heartily, approved of this sentiment.
And I’m afraid I lost it. And this is what I wrote in response:
“In my 20s, I might have said, “right on”.
In my 50s, knowing what it takes to win an election in this country, knowing what the stakes are, and knowing that things are way more complex both domestically and internationally when you are the lone remaining “superpower” than when you’re a relatively insignificant world player like Canada – and knowing, and acknowledging, that Obama’s foreign policy is way more nuanced and cooperative than George W. Bush’s was, I say:
Fuck you, Margot Kidder.
Fuck you with a rusty chainsaw. Put your money where your mouth is, you self-righteous fucker – I won’t call you a bitch, you don’t deserve the compliment. Run for public office. Change things. Go into office on a national level. Why not? You’ve got money. You’ve got name recognition. You apparently know everything already about how this country OUGHT to be run. Why are you depriving us of your divine wrath, sunshine? Run for office. See what you have to say to get elected, to do what you think is right. Who you have to associate with, schmooze, maybe even bribe – to see things your way. To actually, you know, GET THE RIGHT SHIT DONE.
But do it from Vermont, or Oregon, where you only have to deal with white people who think like you. You’ll have better luck that way.
Or don’t. Keep to your sense of purity, and do nothing but bitch. Or fucking leave the country, since you have that right and privilege. And don’t let the door hit you on your self-righteous ass on the way back to Canada.”
I don’t know what’s happened to me – it’s true, 20 or 30 years ago I might have been in total sympathy with her. Now I’m so…not.
I hope I haven’t lost my friend forever – who simply emailed back: “Well, chacun a son gout. Later.”
NickM
If Trump wins, I hope someday to live to see the Nuremberg trials that will surely follow, and I hope to see Ryan, McConnell, Pence and all the rest answer and pay for their crimes. Republican will be the same shorthand as Nazi is today. It won’t be worth the suffering Trump will cause but it will be a motivating vision during a dark time.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Ruckus: Jesse Helms, for all his faults, was known for his constituent services. The Dem senators in the other seat, not so much.
debbie
@dmsilev:
Smart wife.
Mnemosyne
@efgoldman:
I keep having people recommend that to me but I haven’t gone yet. I think G’s schedule is finally settling down now that he has his new promotion, so maybe we’ll have a chance to go.
(Yes, he’s now a Staff Assistant at the public library making $19/hour part-time instead of $10/hour part-time! Yay!)
eemom
@Shana:
Nice name. There are very few of us amongst the young’uns.
japa21
As someone mentioned above, it doesn’t matter how badly Clinton beats Trump, whether by 1 EV or 200 EV’s. The GOP will never allow her to have legitimacy. Despite rather large victories twice, they have never viewed Obama as having a mandate, but Bush’s 2 victories (one where he lost the popular vote) were both considered mandates.
In 1964, Goldwater lost to LBJ (obligatory fuck LBJ inserted here for raven) 43 million to 27 million. Yet, the rallying cry for the GOP was “27,000,000 Americans can’t be wrong!” Apparently however, 43,000,000 could.
hovercraft
@efgoldman:
I suspect that he lies so much he can no longer tell the difference between what’s true and what he makes up. He believes his own lies, and even when he doesn’t he just steamrolls his way through. He knows the media lacks the time to debunk his avalanche of bullshit before the next eruption.
Prescott Cactus
@Miss Bianca:
36 years in construction and I never heard that one. . . Very nice !
Mnemosyne
@Miss Bianca:
Uh, yeah, that “utterly inane story” about crying on Obama’s shoulder? Was about how losing her son to war and meeting Obama energized her into running for political office herself … and winning.
So, yeah, I’m with you. I don’t have any more patience for this carping from the sidelines. Run for office yourself, or STFU.
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: You’re just about here:
youtube.com/watch?v=9IKVj4l5GU4
That’s what happened.
J R in WV
@Zippity:
Dog bless you! We have two dogs and two cats, ( on work days the neighbors’ 3 dogs come down as soon as their people leave ) and are considering kittens and a new puppy. But not yet.
Different topic:
You know, some people are just evil, and when they find a position that allows them both power and freedom to act, they are compelled to do great evil. George Walker Bush spent his life being a small time bad boy, bailing on his Fighter Pilot career in his youth, chortling about executions as Texas Governor. Then he got elected Republican President and personally directed falsehoods and conspiracies leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths, still going on today.
Trump has been a bad boy all his life, philandering, racist landlord, small time shit. The more his business has grown, the bigger his frauds can be, but he still does the little ones, like he can’t resist grifting people for steaks and neckties, while he’s grifting major corporations and small contractors for millions. Now he’s shooting for the big time, seeking to outdo W in the evil sweepstakes.
Cheney never really hit the big time, he was a minion. Evil, good at it, but just a minion. When he found out he was limited to being a minion, that must have been a good day. I would pay for hi-def video of that day, when W put Cheney in his place, told him “No, go away, don’t come back unless I call!” Whoot!
Nixon, of course. Reagan, hmmmm, I think so. Rafael Cruz, striving, wants to be, but not yet, may never.
I’m not going abroad, not that it’s unique to the USA, but I’ll let an international expert pick up at the border, How About It, Adam? Thoughts?
Poopyman
@Zippity: You done good. Real good.
This describes to a Tee our Maxxie, and if she’s anything like ours (and torties are all awesome, imx) you’ll be thankful you made the choice you did.
hovercraft
@dmsilev:
This is another case much like the Melania speech story where Trump should just STFU. He cannot win this fight against the father of a goddamn war hero who died for his troops and for his country. No one but this sociopath and his acolytes thinks that making yourself rich is a sacrifice. Stop digging. Actually, carry on Herr Trump.
Joel
@Miss Bianca: was Margot Kidder in Tombstone?
cckids
@Zippity: Wonderful ! Good for you, you have a huge, loving heart.
Adam L Silverman
@J R in WV: I’m not sure what the question is. Also, I highly recommend Furry Friends Network. They routinely take pets into foster from as far away as OH to the west and will do placements in WV. I got both my current girls from them.
furryfriendsnetwork.com/
Miss Bianca
@eemom: Are you an Elaine?? I’ve always loved that name. Ever since I was a young, young one – about 3 years old, in fact, the summer of 1967, when “Penny Lane” – still my favorite Beatles song – was a big hit on Detroit radio. And I remember running round the house singing to it – only I thought it was about a girl named Elaine, and so I was singing, “And Elaine/is in my ears, and in my eyes…”
lollipopguild
@hovercraft: Romney was going to win, you betcha! Romney and others KNEW IT! Until the voters actually voted and The Secret Moslem Terrorist who will kill us all in our beds while we sleep(TM) was reelected. Sad!
Hal
@Miss Bianca: Margot Kidder? Someone actually took political advice from Margot Kidder. Huh.
I did notice not one, but two, maybe Bernie or busters going pro Hillary on Facebook since the convention. Even if not enthusiastically I hope your friend and Margot are just a blip on the political radar come November.
J R in WV
@Mnemosyne:
YES! The Heifer Project, donations lead to rural farmers all over the world getting new livestock, from a bee hive or chickens, all the way up to a water buffalo or sheep herd.
Wonderful benefits to people living on the edge, it allows them to do better at what they already do for a living. I think founded by socialist farmers. I knew a wonderful North Georgia mountain college professor Marxist Bishop labor organizer who believed firmly in the Heifer Project. Don West, a little bit famous poet and folklorist, newspaper printer, college professor, teacher and activist.
I took a class from him, did a good job if I do say so myself (Don agreed) but I couldn’t get him to give me a grade to save my GPA. PASS was the best he would do, didn’t believe in grading classism. Antioch. Now gone.
But the Heifer Project is still doing well, so look into it!
And thanks for asking!
Uncle Cosmo
@Adam L Silverman: Nor (for the dyslexic & fumblefingered amongst us) is it a mountain in Alaska.
Miss Bianca
@Hal: I do, too. And yet, sometimes…I wonder. I seem to know an *awful lot* of people who talk like this guy. They’re in their 50s and 60s, mostly. And white. What’s UP with that?
KS in MA
@Zippity: Good for you! I hope the kitty and you will be very happy.
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: OMG, I thought you thought I needed to see that wonderful, awful moment that Margot Kidder was referring to during the DNC. You are a bad animal!
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: Didn’t Kidder have a psychotic break or nervous breakdown or something a few years ago? Knocked out all her own teeth?
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca:
A lot of my fellow palefaces are fucking loonies.
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: Great gasbags! I have no idea! But you must know, the only thing I know about her is that she played Lois Lane.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
IIRC, she has bipolar disorder that has not always been well-controlled.
J R in WV
@rikyrah:
I’m sure he got it not long after landing here, to see if it was safe for them long term. So far so good, but not positive on long term yet. Someone said those were handed out by Westlaw? Maybe to law students?
It was obviously well handled when he pulled it out that night! Not a prepared snow job, in other words.
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne: Oh, dear. Do I have to take back all the wrathful things I said and thought about her, in the light of that revelation?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: I haven’t really been inside, but I’ve got a few from the outside; very cool place.
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: @Mnemosyne:
Here it is. Happened in 96:
independent.co.uk/news/world/missing-superman-actress-found-frightened-in-bushes-1306667.html
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: did you see my comment response about starting with the member of Congress?
dogwood
@J R in WV:
When I was still teaching we would pass the hat every day in my 11th grade English classes and collect money for charity. it culminated in a research project where students had to make a case for giving to the charity they found worthy. The Heifer Project was selected a couple of times. But I must admit the most gratifying experience has been with a class in 2004 that chose KIVA as the recipient of their $800.00. I’ve been retired for 5 years and I’m still reinvesting that money on their behalf.
Prescott Cactus
@J R in WV: They are (or were) widely available on the Internet for free. Mostly right wing outfits.
A winger told me after I asked what he was reading at lunchtime.
Might not be a bad idea to pull one out on a winger if they start talking mass deportations or torture. Nice visual.
Fair Economist
@japa21:
A mandate plus 4 bucks gets you a latte at Starbucks. Mandates and legitimacy mean diddly. What matters is Congressional majorities. If we have a working majority in the House (meaning about 10 seats to spare) most of Hillary’s platform will be implemented regardless of how narrow her own win is. If the Republicans have a majority in the House nothing will, even if she wins every state.
Ruckus
@efgoldman:
Years ago we used to do work for their company, Merle Norman Cosmetics. I have been through the restoration shop a number of times. It is a fantastic place.
Dadadadadadada
@rikyrah: So Clinton needs to get as many billionaires on board as possible. Bloomberg and Cuban are already publicly behind her. Musk, Gates, Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Buffet, Oprah, should all fit in quite well with her general message.
On one side, Trump lashing out at Gold Star Mothers and their dead sons because he can’t not. On the other, a barrage of attacks from people who’ve actually done what he dubiously claims to have done…and Trump responds with deafening silence. Play up that contrast, Clinton people!
Aleta
@Zippity: Oh those torties. I never meant to get mine. I was only there to meet my niece at the animal shelter where she volunteered. I just stopped for a second to look at a cage with little kitten and someone reached out and patted my head.
She’d been there for 3 months, long enough to get physically healthy after rescue from a very abusive home. I had reasons why I couldn’t take her, and made excuses on top of that, and a couple of days later I picked her up before driving 600 miles home. Stopped to get gas and a guy looked at her through the car window and said, “Torties. I had one too. They’ve all got that attitude. Fantastic cats.” She’s something all right. Sometimes highstrung with the other cats, worth the effort, quite the survivor, never seems to age, 150% deserving of a good home.
Dadadadadadada
@PigDog: Around 1994, Dick Cheney gave an interview to explain why he and HW Bush had decided not to invade Iraq and depose Saddam Hussein during/after Desert Storm. He correctly predicted the broad strokes of the actual Iraq invasion of 2003: guerrilla warfare, fractured society, long hard counterinsurgency slog with no redeeming features…it makes you wonder why THAT guy wasn’t in charge of things in 2003, and then when you realize he was, your brain just gives up on anything ever making sense.
Dadadadadadada
@The Dangerman: Narcissists don’t mind losing if they think they look noble in defeat, or that they can make it look like they were cheated.
Ruckus
@Miss Bianca:
I think I can answer this one. I’m in my late 60s, white and male. I’d probably be one of those guys if I hadn’t been raised as much by people I worked with as a kid as I was by my own parents. Two men in particular, both black, both 2 of the best people I’ve ever met. One took me under his wing when I was 13 or so, he is the one I respect for teaching me humility and respect by showing me what it really was. He was about 10-12 yrs older than me. The other was about 5 yrs older than me and came along about 4-5 yrs later. Just a guy with a shitty start in life, a great wife and 3 kids, the twins surprised them. He taught me about being human, no matter who you are, where you are in life, and what you have to do to survive. Both of them were huge men with arms bigger than my legs, and yet were the most gentle of people.
But being a person who has seen his ups and downs and has hit damn close to rock bottom on a couple of occasions I see that people who have always had it OK, if not good, are lost without a compass when shit hits the fan. And GWB brought the shit and the fan. Someone comes along and tells you that all you need to be on top again is to vote for him and if you are the least bit naive, a bit lost for direction and satisfaction, maybe a bit of a racist, even if you don’t think so and most likely a bit misogynist as well, there’s the hook line and sinker. That was Sanders entire stick, affected white people and their lack of money and getting ahead. And there are lots of them. Add in the Clinton hate that’s been fermenting for the last 25-30 yrs and you have the BoBs.
Dadadadadadada
@p.a.: Those last two examples clearly lost, and the first one needed two of the closest, shadiest elections of the last 100 years to get and stay in office. If their supporters are all Trump can bring, this election is already over.
Aleta
@Adam L Silverman: “Knocked out all her own teeth?” Not according to the story you linked. Met her in a Montreal hotel years ago, and I was reminded of the behavior of my family member who has a fluctuating mental illness. It’s one of the cruelest illnesses there is, and it takes huge courage and intelligence to live with. My personal feeling, because I’ve seen it in action, is that inaccurate or semi-humerous comments aren’t fair or respectful of the pain. I don’t mean to offend, and I know you’re not one who intends to either. My apologies for my personal need to comment due to my family.
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: Now I feel like I’ve just machine-gunned a seal. But evidently my friend approved what she said. What does it mean? Because what she said sounded nuts to me, but not to *him*.
Mnemosyne
@Miss Bianca:
It is kind of that weird fine line between not discriminating against people with mental illness and wondering if public figures who have acknowledged that they have a mental illness might be having a skosh of trouble with it at the present time.
It’s like when reports were going around that Carrie Fisher was drunk at an appearance on a cruise ship and, because she’s been very open about her bipolar disorder since she was diagnosed, she came out and said, Nope, not drunk, just had some issues getting my medication right.
And, of course, these days it’s a little hard to tell who’s a genuine Jill Stein/BoB supporter and who’s having a little trouble keeping their meds on track.
eemom
@Miss Bianca:
I am, and thank you! My Mom liked the name too, back in the early 1960s, which is how I got it.
Used to have a huge crush on Dustin Hoffman when I was a teenager, so it always pleased me immensely that Elaine was his love interest in The Graduate.
Amir Khalid
@Miss Bianca:
There was a bit of fuss a few years ago when it turned out that Penny Lane is named after a slave trader, John Penny. (As a major port city, Liverpool was also a centre for the slave trade before it was banned in Britain.) The city of Liverpool briefly considered renaming the street.
Tehanu
@Mnemosyne:
My two favorites:
Southern Poverty Law Center — because I lived in Alabama for a year in the 1950’s.
Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation — because my dad was a music teacher.
The SPLC is all about fighting injustice; the MHO group has a much narrower scope, donating musical instruments to schools — but the world needs artists and musicians as well as justice for the downtrodden.
redshirt
I’m (not) Batman…..
sukabi
@Mnemosyne: reality tv, needed someone who would out “Springer” the contestants… all those shows the “hosts” are raging, ego driven assholes of the 1st order. And this may be drumpfs only area where he can rightly claim to be #1.
Barb2
Last night we watched Kahn’s speech once again. Gold star parents.
Trump hits back – and shows he is missing empathy. He had no idea what Kahn was talking about. Vox had one of the best responses to Trump’s racist vomit re gold star parents.
________________
One trick for a smooth integration of new cat and the rest of the furfamily. The car can be considered neutral territory. We drove back from eastern Washington to western Washington with the new puppy and our two cats. We took lots of rest stops – so gang could sniff and do their meet the new furkid.
By the time we got home all was calm. Cat and dog played chase – dog runs into bedroom with cat chasing. On the way back dog is play chasing cat.
This moving intro has worked well for several generations of furkids. The Japanese Bobtail cat thinks tails are his toys. He is so laid-back, the more tails the merrier he is.
Contrary to mythology cats are social animals. Animal behavior research in Japan backs this new model of cat behavior.
What you are doing now with slow introductions is also a well proven to work. Poor little dear is still in shock. We speak pidgin cat with our cats. Cats in a colony rarely meow. The meow is used to communicate with lessor two leggeds. We are in need of training.
Vhh
@efgoldman: just saw article about making CITGO sign an official Boston landmark.
The Lodger
@Mnemosyne: If you think the list is too short, I’d recommend adding Mercy Corps.