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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

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You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

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Maybe you would prefer that we take Joelle’s side in ALL CAPS?

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

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Nothing worth doing is easy.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

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Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

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

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

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… gradually, and then suddenly.

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You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2016 / Friday Morning Open Thread: Onward & Upwards

Friday Morning Open Thread: Onward & Upwards

by Anne Laurie|  November 4, 20165:26 am| 169 Comments

This post is in: Election 2016, Hillary Clinton 2016, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Woman in the Whitehouse 2016, Daydream Believers

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BREAKING:
WOW.
The notoriously reticent Rosalynn Carter is going to be stumping for @HillaryClinton in Georgia.

— Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) November 3, 2016

Apart from GOTV, what’s on the agenda as we wrap up this busy week?

Clinton leads Trump by 6 points, same as before FBI announcement: Reuters/Ipsos https://t.co/BuVLHZ8lOC

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) November 2, 2016

Speaking of GOTV…

@AlGiordano Want to volunteer? Here's a site (per Sam Wang) that shows local competitive congressional districts https://t.co/tzICd2NPIl

— I'm With Nasty Woman (@HalloweenBlogs) November 3, 2016

some Obama fam built an amazing app to identify people in your contacts who could tip the scale if they vote. ? https://t.co/YEOgTiwJ3p pic.twitter.com/SZdOP7H7qd

— laura olin (@lauraolin) November 3, 2016

taking 30 min to call or text the 10 people it identifies for you is an extremely efficient way to make a difference. please check it out.

— laura olin (@lauraolin) November 3, 2016

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Previous Post: « Late Night Music Open Thread: Crossover
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Reader Interactions

169Comments

  1. 1.

    NobodySpecial

    November 4, 2016 at 5:34 am

    Time today to head towards 5k on my “novel”. Yesterday was really slow.

  2. 2.

    Mike in NC

    November 4, 2016 at 5:46 am

    Waiting for Moaning Joke and Tweety to unskew them nasty polls this fine Friday morning.

  3. 3.

    WereBear

    November 4, 2016 at 6:01 am

    @NobodySpecial: you are drafting. Just say anything ;)

  4. 4.

    rikyrah

    November 4, 2016 at 6:06 am

    Good Morning ?, Everyone ?

  5. 5.

    Hal

    November 4, 2016 at 6:11 am

    So by Monday morning we’ll be back to Clinton winning and the press will start they’re “duh, obviously she was going to win” stories Wednesday morning.

  6. 6.

    p.a.

    November 4, 2016 at 6:12 am

    Good morning.
    The stretch run is here. GOTV.

  7. 7.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    November 4, 2016 at 6:17 am

    The new guy is finally in training! So, only about a month more of running short staffed, though he seems really competent and may be cleared to go quicker than that. I hate sharing the office if anyone (if I wanted to interact with people, I’d work day shifts), but it’s better than the alternative of not getting him trained in. And, once he’s ready, I go to Mon-Thurs nights and have my weekends free for hockey road trips.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 4, 2016 at 6:22 am

    @WereBear: Anything. Draft done. Now comes the hard part.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    November 4, 2016 at 6:22 am

    @Hal: But will she have a mandate? /media

  10. 10.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 4, 2016 at 6:30 am

    @Baud: She’s a Clinton. She’ll have an impeachment hearing.

  11. 11.

    hueyplong

    November 4, 2016 at 6:35 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: That won’t take long. After they agree (to laughter among themselves) that she doesn’t have a mandate, it will be: Hillary Clinton, the most compromised president-elect in American history. Will Congress vote articles of impeachment before or just after she is inaugurated? We’ll ask our panel of experts, comprised of Mark Halpern, Hugh Hewitt and special guest Newt Gingrich. Unfortunately, Phyllis Schlafly couldn’t be with us tonight, so Michele Bachmann joins us from Branson, MO.

  12. 12.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    November 4, 2016 at 6:36 am

    I’m working through 2 LA historical mysteries: first is the brick building I see from the train as we get to Union Station and the second is a multi story turreted building in old photos in what is now Chinatown.

    I’ve partially solved both. The old brick building used to be Macy Elementary School, I’m just trying to figure out now when the brick building was built(it was after 1921 and there was an earlier wooden building next to it). The multistory building with the turrets is still in Chinatown, but is now only a single story(with no turrets) and I’m trying to figure out when it was built. It shows up on maps from the 1890’s.

  13. 13.

    Immanentize

    November 4, 2016 at 6:37 am

    Hello All. I am actually worried someone in the FBI will try to arrest her this weekend. But those guys probably value their jobs more than their Hillary hatred.

  14. 14.

    Botsplainer

    November 4, 2016 at 6:40 am

    Something that has occurred to me about the flurry of “lock her up” coming from GOPers.

    I’m referring to it as “The Appalachianing” of the electoral process.

    It is based on what I’ve seen in different regional styles of Kentucky politics.

    See, for the 2/3 of Kentucky running west of the strip of counties through which I-75 runs, politics is normal. A candidate gets beaten in a race, their opponent takes office and the spoils go to the winner. Everybody moves on in life, and aside from some yammering about “failed policies of my predecessor”, there are seldom retributive acts taken for anything other than open, visible corruption.

    In the bulk of the country, election defeats work the same.

    No so in the mountain counties, where electoral victory is a hunting license to pursue grudges born of decades old slights and missteps. In that environment, a paperwork error, a poor vendor choice or a decision to allow a contract to go to a known acquaintance contractor (aka someone with a proven track record) will be the subject of a gleeful investigation with the goal being actual prison time, because Jesus and wholesomeness.

    It is a sick, pathological practice most like what we mocked in the banana republics, and which is being mainstreamed. The baseline of peaceful, businesslike transitions is being erased by this election.

  15. 15.

    Baud

    November 4, 2016 at 6:41 am

    @Immanentize: Yeah, and she has Secret Service Protection.

  16. 16.

    Thoughtful David

    November 4, 2016 at 6:44 am

    I found out yesterday that my monthly health insurance payment is going to decrease by 10% next year.

    Gee, thanks, Obama.

  17. 17.

    Immanentize

    November 4, 2016 at 6:46 am

    @Baud: kinda like the Ultimate Showdown, huh? I wonder which side Scully and Mulder are on inside the Bureau?

  18. 18.

    Baud

    November 4, 2016 at 6:46 am

    @Botsplainer:maybe dueling will make a comeback.

  19. 19.

    Central Planning

    November 4, 2016 at 6:51 am

    @Thoughtful David: How can you put up with such an oppressive decrease?

  20. 20.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    November 4, 2016 at 6:51 am

    @Baud: There are ten things you need to know.

    Eh. More like a one-sided feud.

  21. 21.

    Thoughtful David

    November 4, 2016 at 6:54 am

    @Central Planning:
    Yeah, that kind of opression is just misery.

  22. 22.

    Botsplainer

    November 4, 2016 at 6:59 am

    @Baud:

    Kentucky’s kludgey 1890 constitution requires public officers to swear they’ve not fought in a duel. Lawyers have to swear it, too.

    Sometimes an ass kicking is necessary. Had Cruz been a man, he should have nutted up and punched Trump in the face on stage for insulting his wife and his dad.

  23. 23.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    November 4, 2016 at 7:01 am

    I did a self guided walking tour of downtown LA yesterday afternoon, it seems our bloghost has a side business.

  24. 24.

    Baud

    November 4, 2016 at 7:02 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Is a French dip sandwich one without mustard?

  25. 25.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 7:05 am

    @Botsplainer:

    Except…it’s looking more and more like the FBI jumping into the election is petty payback for the DOJ removing the NY agents from the Eric Garner investigation. It’s a NY-centered vendetta.

    Someone needs to do a think piece on how the most racist, backward major candidate of my adult life didn’t come out of Mississippi or Alabama or Kentucky or Indiana, but instead came out of NYC.

  26. 26.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    November 4, 2016 at 7:07 am

    @Baud: It depends, I’ve only been to Coles once and it was probably 20 years ago so I don’t remember. I usually go to Phillipe’s and hot mustard is served on the side.

    I’m also slow this morning. Cole’s would have mustard, if they could find it.

  27. 27.

    liberal

    November 4, 2016 at 7:09 am

    @Kay: someone needs to make sure those agents are fired and jailed.

  28. 28.

    Betty Cracker

    November 4, 2016 at 7:09 am

    @Kay:

    Someone needs to do a think piece on how the most racist, backward major candidate of my adult life didn’t come out of Mississippi or Alabama or Kentucky or Indiana, but instead came out of NYC.

    QFT.

  29. 29.

    debbie

    November 4, 2016 at 7:16 am

    @Kay:

    He couldn’t have had any influence, but the FBI’s lack of action is a page right out of Rudi’s playbook. There is a very ugly underside to New York politics.

  30. 30.

    Botsplainer

    November 4, 2016 at 7:17 am

    @Kay:

    I think the answer about the NYC connect is right here:

    Boy the way Glenn Miller Played
    Songs that made the Hit Parade
    Guys like us we had it made
    Those were the days.

    Didn’t need no Welfare states
    Everybody pulled his weight
    gee our old LaSalle ran great
    Those were the days

    And you knew who you were then
    Girls were girls and men were men
    Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again

    People seemd to be content
    $50 paid the rent
    Freaks were in a circus tent
    Those were the days

    Take a little Sunday spin
    Tonight I’ll watch the Dodgers win
    Have yourself a dandy day that costs you under a fin

    Hair was short and skirts were long
    Kate Smith really sung the song
    I don’t know just what went wrong

    THOSE WERE THE DAYS!

  31. 31.

    Baud

    November 4, 2016 at 7:18 am

    @Kay: That’s even pettier. I would respect them more if the motive were Clinton hate.

  32. 32.

    satby

    November 4, 2016 at 7:18 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning!! Going to the parade?

    And good morning everyone else! I heard from both of my exchange daughters this week, both are working hard at school and though they’re happy to be home they miss the craziness of here. Both are watching the election. And Valentina’s debate team may go to an international competition in Thailand, she’s excited about that.

  33. 33.

    Botsplainer

    November 4, 2016 at 7:24 am

    @Baud:

    I’ve often said that NYC is the most conservative big city in the world. Sure, you have the Village and some other enclaves tucked about, but there are a lot of knuckledraggers about outside Manhattan (and even big chunks of that tend toward RWNJ-curiosity).

  34. 34.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 4, 2016 at 7:28 am

    @Kay: I’ve been thinking about that all year.

    As I’ve said many times before, I keep hearing people say they don’t see many Trump signs in the deep red states. I see them all over around here… in Massachusetts.

    At heart, Trump is the candidate of the blue-state, Northeastern bigot. That’s his core support. These people feel like they’ve been down forever, surrounded by liberals and urban blacks and immigrants who run the state and the cities, and they just go nuts for him. Finally they’ve got a guy in contention for the top of the top, and he’s going to give everybody what’s coming to them, just crush them and grind them into the dirt. These guys have a contempt for democracy that is boundless, because it never locally reflected their preferences.

    You won’t easily see it in the electoral map, because he’ll lose all those states. But Trump has usually polled ahead of most Republicans in the blue states.

  35. 35.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 4, 2016 at 7:29 am

    @Baud: from the Guardian: ‘The FBI is Trumpland’: anti-Clinton atmosphere spurred leaks, sources say

    Haven’t read it yet. Just too depressing for a beautiful Friday morning.

  36. 36.

    Iowa Old Lady

    November 4, 2016 at 7:32 am

    @NobodySpecial: Go you!

    I once heard Corey Doctorow talk about how he wrote, and he said he wrote a double spaced page every day first thing. Then he went off to work and the rest of his day. Sometimes he wrote more, but he never wrote less, and he usually thought about it during the day. But he did that consistently, and at the end of a year had the draft of a full novel. Point being, if you’re persistent, the words add up.

  37. 37.

    NorthLeft12

    November 4, 2016 at 7:32 am

    @Botsplainer: Uh huh, that song screams white male privilege.

    Guys like us we had it made
    Those were the days.

  38. 38.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 4, 2016 at 7:33 am

    @satby: Nice that you hear from them.

  39. 39.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    November 4, 2016 at 7:35 am

    This was the first stop on my walk yesterday, the Morrison Hotel. Yes, that’s the building where they shot The Doors album cover.

  40. 40.

    rikyrah

    November 4, 2016 at 7:37 am

    My morning train has people up already going downtown for the Cubs rally.

  41. 41.

    Van Buren

    November 4, 2016 at 7:37 am

    Was forwarded an email this AM that because of Obamacare all Catholic hospitals are going to close and since Muslims don’t give to charity (and don’t fly flags at mosques – still have not figured out how that fits in the narrative) we are all doomed to long waits at government run hospitals so please vote for Trump you’ll be glad you did.
    Missing was any explanation why Obamacare is targeting Catholic hospitals but I assume it has something to do with birth control.

  42. 42.

    rikyrah

    November 4, 2016 at 7:38 am

    The Crown has dropped on Netflix ?????

  43. 43.

    Betty Cracker

    November 4, 2016 at 7:40 am

    Anyone watching “The Crown” on Netflix? Probably not since it was just released today, but insomnia is a premiere ticket. Claire Foy from “Wolf Hall” is QE2. Jon Lithgow is Churchill!

  44. 44.

    Betty Cracker

    November 4, 2016 at 7:41 am

    @rikyrah: Ha, didn’t see your comment before I posted mine, obvs. Have you watched any of it? The first episode sucked me in.

  45. 45.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 4, 2016 at 7:41 am

    @NorthLeft12: The song (if you don’t recognize it, it’s the theme from the sitcom “All In The Family”) was a really deliberate parody of the attitude; it’s unsubtle but clever.

  46. 46.

    Mustang Bobby

    November 4, 2016 at 7:43 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I don’t know about L.A.’s history at all, but if it was a brick school building after 1921, chances are it was built during the 1930’s as a WPA project. Lots of schools across the country were built that way and are still in use.

  47. 47.

    gogol's wife

    November 4, 2016 at 7:43 am

    Did anyone watch “Kisses for My President” last night? We made it through 45 minutes. Basically Fred MacMurray as the First Husband had to deal with the trauma of feminine furniture in his bedroom and office, and not being able to get his wife the President into bed because she was too busy.

  48. 48.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 4, 2016 at 7:44 am

    @Van Buren: “Trump Hospitals! Where you get the ca$ino experience in health care!”

  49. 49.

    satby

    November 4, 2016 at 7:45 am

    @Van Buren: Catholic hospitals are raking it in, so they aren’t going to close. And charity is one of the five pillars in Islam, giving to the needy is a core obligation of the faith.
    Jeebus would be very annoyed by the lies in that email.

  50. 50.

    Botsplainer

    November 4, 2016 at 7:50 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    It is really dangerous, the things unleashed. The deplorables are about as numeric as those who were fairly supportive of the Nazi Party in the early 30s. Outside of those, there are significant numbers of white people who have been propagandized to believe that the loss of privilege is oppression.

  51. 51.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 7:50 am

    @debbie:

    He couldn’t have had any influence

    I don’t know why he couldn’t. People have relationships in politics just like they do in other fields. I don’t mean that in any conspiracy theory “they’re all connected!” way- it’s just true. That’s how he rose to fame- law ‘n order.

    It’s the NY agents and the former mayor of NYC, along with Chris Christie, who was a NJ-based federal prosecutor.

    He most definitely could have had influence and probably did. In fact, based on his (one) statement it’s sounding like they kept him in the loop on their political crusade.

  52. 52.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    November 4, 2016 at 7:52 am

    @Mustang Bobby: No, it was on the 1921 real estate map(it shows the wooden building and the brick building). That’s how I know it was built before 1921. I’ve seen a drawing of the wooden building, so the brick building was probably built in the early 1900’s. This was the one school that was closed during the plague outbreak in the 1920’s.

    ETA: The main Post Office(called Terminal Annex) and the (newly old*) US District Courthouse were WPA projects.

    *They just moved into a new US District courthouse last month.

  53. 53.

    Botsplainer

    November 4, 2016 at 7:53 am

    @NorthLeft12:

    “Guys like us” is a big tell – you could be white and mediocre, and still get the way smoothed for you at the expense of minorities and women.

  54. 54.

    NorthLeft12

    November 4, 2016 at 7:53 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    surrounded by liberals and urban blacks and immigrants who run the state and the cities,

    Yeah, you have to step back a bit to appreciate the fantastical level of delusion that leads them to believe that minorities actually “run” anything. I know and deal with some people like that up here in Canada too. When you get down to it, they mostly object to the presence or visibility of those minorities, whether they are protesting or just going about their everyday life. They complain about working with, under, over, or around them. They complain about how things have changed in Canadian society because of the influence of immigration, whether those “immigrants” are first, second, third, or fourth generation Canadians or not. They are all outsiders and do not belong in the lily white Canada that they remember and that they want. Again.

    Fortunately, they are very much outnumbered, and the more progressive people are not afraid to voice their opinions and put pressure on their elected officials.
    I know it is a slow process, but the bigots are becoming less influential and fewer in number too. Just have to let time and exposure to POC work their magic.

  55. 55.

    Paul in KY

    November 4, 2016 at 7:54 am

    @Kay: Agree, Kay. How did that happen?

  56. 56.

    Mustang Bobby

    November 4, 2016 at 7:54 am

    @satby: The anti-Islamic shit sounds so much like the anti-Semitic stuff from the 1930’s… and I don’t mean just in Germany, and it didn’t end after the war. When I was a kid I heard stuff from my elders that would have made Goebbels quit the business; it was only toned down a little for the anti-Catholics because it was hard to pick them out in a crowd, or so they said…

  57. 57.

    kd bart

    November 4, 2016 at 7:54 am

    For those who care about polls. Today’s ABC/Wash Post tracking:

    Clinton 47
    Trump 44

  58. 58.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 7:57 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    That was my big disappointment with the NYTimes. I thought “this is a NY race! 100%! There will be plenty of investigatory work on Trump- he has a 40 year record in the city they are centered in“.

    There was one good piece on his business interests and it didn’t come out from the political reporters, it came from the city reporters.

    With Obama they were acting like Chicago is this wild hinterland so “no one” knew anything about him, but what is the possible explanation for lack of investigatory work on Trump?

  59. 59.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 4, 2016 at 7:58 am

    @Baud: Yes, dang it, she will have a mandate. And she’ll have a Senate so she can appoint sensible, progressive Judges to SCOTUS and other federal courts.

    Go Hillary!! She is about to beat Trump, Republicans, the media, and the few remaining Bernie or Busters (looking at you Susan Sarandon) to make history. Can’t wait for Tuesday.

  60. 60.

    Paul in KY

    November 4, 2016 at 7:58 am

    @Van Buren: Yeah, that noted institution that doesn’t care about money (Catholic Church) will close down all their money making hospitals! It’s so obvious.

    They’ll probably put us under papal interdict & stop giving the sacraments out too,dontchaknow.

  61. 61.

    Botsplainer

    November 4, 2016 at 7:58 am

    @Kay:

    Oldest story in human interactions – you do business with people you know and trust to act a certain way. It’s when you go outside the circle and act against instinct when you’re most likely screwed.

    Sure, I’ll do business with Trump, but he has to post a performance bond and agree to binding arb. Need a road contract for your city? Decision maker will go with the no drama on time, at budget bid (with the guy he knows) instead of the slightly cheaper unknown.

  62. 62.

    gf120581

    November 4, 2016 at 8:00 am

    @Betty Cracker: And I believe Matt Smith is Prince Phillip. A million Doctor Who jokes come to mind.

    @kd bart: @kd bart: As expected, with the Comey nonsense behind her, Hillary is reasserting her lead again.

  63. 63.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 4, 2016 at 8:02 am

    @Thoughtful David: Nice! Keep hearing the opposite horror stories about Obamacare premiums and out of pocket expenses increasing exponentially. Thanks Obama, indeed.

  64. 64.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 8:02 am

    @Paul in KY:

    Agree, Kay. How did that happen?

    You knew it though :)

    I’m pretty far north, approaching Canada, and our solid Democrat former county chair told me Obama was “colored” so would not win.

  65. 65.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 4, 2016 at 8:07 am

    Only 9% are without healthcare. Thanks Obama!

  66. 66.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 8:09 am

    @Botsplainer:

    That’s why the kind of overheated rhetoric on “insiders” drives me crazy. Every profession is like that. I get hired by people in Michigan and Indiana (border) for a “home field advantage” which I absolutely have. I send people with issues to lawyers in Michigan and Indiana when I want them to have a home field advantage in those places. This idea that everyone is operating at arms length strictly based on data or something is just nonsense. They’re people and people develop relationships.

  67. 67.

    Gindy51

    November 4, 2016 at 8:10 am

    @Patricia Kayden: My daughter loses her employee heath care Nov 30 and her premium for 2017 on the exchange is lower as well, lower than her current payments for health care with her job. We have yet to discover what her bridge health care costs will be for Dec, but whatever it is, she is getting it. I’ve read too many horror stories about folks who try to go without it.

  68. 68.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 4, 2016 at 8:10 am

    @Mustang Bobby: And they think Jews and Hindus should be with them because those people hate Muslims too, right? Of course they’ll always find a few…

  69. 69.

    Poopyman

    November 4, 2016 at 8:11 am

    Large sign high in a tree on a hill:

    Trump/Pence
    Make America Great Again

    Fine. Whatever. Been there a couple of months now.

    This week there were some additions:

    HILLARY FOR JAIL
    .
    CHRISTIAN DEPLORABLES LIVE HERE

    Two foot-high block letters.
    Floodlit!
    Anne Arundel County, MD

  70. 70.

    NorthLeft12

    November 4, 2016 at 8:11 am

    @Matt McIrvin: Matt, I may be Canadian but I am almost sixty years old so yeah I know who Archie Bunker is.

    I just googled the song and did not realize that it was written specifically for that show. I had always assumed it was a song from an earlier era, although the term “welfare state” should have given it away.

  71. 71.

    Botsplainer

    November 4, 2016 at 8:11 am

    @Kay:

    Wife’s extended family is from Western Connecticut. The olds and those who don’t commute to NYC are pretty much teatards.

  72. 72.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 4, 2016 at 8:16 am

    @NorthLeft12: I always assumed it was an old song too, when I was a kid. Thinking about the lyrics now, it’s clear that the song is specifically expressing resentment for the Great Society and hippies, and couldn’t be older than the Johnson administration at the earliest (I don’t think the “freaks were in a circus tent” line was in the short version played at the beginning of the show).

  73. 73.

    liberal

    November 4, 2016 at 8:17 am

    @Patricia Kayden:

    And she’ll have a Senate so she can appoint sensible, progressive Judges to SCOTUS and other federal courts.

    What’s going to happen if Breyer and notoriously narcissistic RBG don’t step down, and then the Republicans retake the Senate in 2018?

  74. 74.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 4, 2016 at 8:22 am

    @Poopyman: Franklin County MO, just east of Sullivan:

    TRUMP!
    brought to you by the Deplorables

    They’re pretty proud of that last part, don’t know why so many people thought Hillary should apologize.

  75. 75.

    satby

    November 4, 2016 at 8:29 am

    @liberal: you’re an ass to constantly pick on a beloved and extremely competent, though old, lady.

  76. 76.

    japa21

    November 4, 2016 at 8:30 am

    @satby: liberal is an ass for many reasons beyond that.

  77. 77.

    Latino J

    November 4, 2016 at 8:32 am

    Good morning pre-election support group!
    The polls are getting over their Comey scare and are coming home to HRC. New Hampshire polling is still in the middle of Comey letter scare so there is some consternation there, but I imagine things will return to normal in a day or 2.

    The Senate is going to be a nail biter – but I will trade a 50.01% Kander win for a 60% Bayh win if I had to chose 1. I think every time there is a discussion about gun control in the Senate, Kander should go up there with his blindfold and his rifle when he speaks. That might be the most effective above-the-waist, non-swiftboating political ad in a very long time.

  78. 78.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 4, 2016 at 8:33 am

    The long-running nuclear talks were a magnet for the world’s intelligence agencies as they sought to find out more about the Iranian nuclear programme and the negotiating positions of the six nations involved.

    When the talks shifted to a luxury hotel in Vienna, the microwave radiation from the surveillance efforts of competing intelligence agencies was so intense that diplomats had to walk some distance from the venue to use their mobile phones.

    The US secretary of state, John Kerry, would take walks with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in what was seen as a publicity stunt, but which was also a practical means of dodging electronic bugs.

    When diplomats attending talks in Lausanne wanted to call their capitals, they would stroll around the grounds of the venue, another five-star hotel, rather than call from their rooms.

    I am shocked, SHOCKED to find spying going on around here.

  79. 79.

    Poopyman

    November 4, 2016 at 8:35 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Ah, but the “Christian” part is the part that I smile at. As if.

    Jesus would kick their asses.

  80. 80.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 4, 2016 at 8:35 am

    @satby: Your reply is 12 words too long.

  81. 81.

    SenyorDave

    November 4, 2016 at 8:38 am

    One of the first things my wife does each morning is look at her phone and check a few things. First our investments, then the daily news feed. She saw a story about Melania Trump and how she’s interested in the issues of bullying and respect for women. My wife is not much into politics but her comment on this one was “are we living in a complete alternate reality?”. Trump’s wife complaining about bullying and lack of respect for women!

  82. 82.

    satby

    November 4, 2016 at 8:38 am

    @japa21: true.
    @OzarkHillbilly: doubly true. I’ll edit next time.

  83. 83.

    Botsplainer

    November 4, 2016 at 8:40 am

    Can we get this morning’s Eichenwald story front paged?

  84. 84.

    NobodySpecial

    November 4, 2016 at 8:41 am

    @WereBear: That’s not really how this is working for me at all. My personality doesn’t let me ‘draft’, so I’m constantly revising.

    @Iowa Old Lady: I’m trying to do a chapter a day. We’ll see how it goes. Two down, however many more to go. Thanks for the encouragement, both of you.

  85. 85.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 4, 2016 at 8:41 am

    @Poopyman: They need to read the WHOLE Bible, not just the old Testament parts about slaves behaving their masters and stoning non-virgin wives on their wedding nights.

  86. 86.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 8:43 am

    @SenyorDave:

    The most bizarre part of it was her qualifier- it’s for “youth” because adults are tougher. It’s a crazy way to look at it. Bullying teenagers are just the younger selves of bullying adults. That’s the whole fucking point of anti-bullying. Raising fewer adult bullies. They have to do it in schools because adult bullies refuse to do it at home.

  87. 87.

    satby

    November 4, 2016 at 8:43 am

    So I leave for the wedding in India one week from today and I’m still working on a dog sitter for a coverage gap while my regular guy goes to a job fair in Chicago.

    The foster cats will be up at PetSmart for adoption so not worried about them. We might be able to get some pictures tonight when we take them for immunizations. They’ve mostly been hiding, but two of them are cuddlers who want snuggles all the time.

  88. 88.

    Oldgold

    November 4, 2016 at 8:44 am

    Kurt Eichenwald’s article in News Week titled “Why Vladir Putin’s Russia is Backing Donald Trump” is excellent and damn frightening.

    http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-russia-hillary-clinton-united-states-europe-516895

  89. 89.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 8:49 am

    @SenyorDave:

    She’s also really late to the game. We’ve made big strides on insisting children treat other people like human beings in schools over the last ten years, and conservatives sat there sneering about “political correctness” the whole time.

    Conservatives now believe basic good manners in human interactions are limiting their freedom to be assholes. That’s true. That’s what social norms are- mechanisms to limit their propensity to be horrible assholes to other people who aren’t exactly like them.

  90. 90.

    WereBear

    November 4, 2016 at 8:56 am

    @Kay: Conservatives now believe basic good manners in human interactions are limiting their freedom to be assholes.

    Apparently we now have social mechanisms which really can herd many of the troublesome types of people together for easy identification :)

  91. 91.

    JPL

    November 4, 2016 at 8:56 am

    @Botsplainer: Unless it’s about sex, MSM won’t care.

  92. 92.

    Latino J

    November 4, 2016 at 8:58 am

    @liberal:

    Though I’m not sure I’d describe her the way you did, I’m not entirely sure that The Notorious one would step down from the court solely to keep some sort of liberal advantage.

    I tend to have a differing view of SCOTUS justices than a lot of folks – even the “worst ones'” strike me as fairly apolitical compared to everyone else in government. Do they have beliefs? Heck yeah. But they aren’t self serving Machiavellian machinations.

    For RGB to step down when she still feels capable and excited to do the job solely to preserve a liberal tilt to the court for a generation is a purely political move.

  93. 93.

    NotMax

    November 4, 2016 at 9:02 am

    @gogol’s wife

    Yup, as mentioned.

  94. 94.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    November 4, 2016 at 9:03 am

    @Baud:

    But will she have a mandate? /media

    My prediction for Nov 9th headline is still “Clinton landslide highlights Democratic Party crises”

  95. 95.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 9:05 am

    Good Morning
    @Baud:

    But will she have a mandate?

    Of coarse she doesn’t!
    Morning Joke told me that normally in a change election the late deciders break for change, but this year Donald may have disqualified himself in the eyes of too many voters. So they are defaulting to safety, not to her if she wins. It took Bill effin Kristol to say that actually the feelings of the country, which he doesn’t agree with, people when asked if they are better off than they were 8 years ago, say yes, and that combined with Obama’s approval rating, means she will win.
    Then Kasey Hunt jumped in with how Hillary’s rallies are small and her crowds are not that enthusiastic, whereas Obama’s rallies are huge, and he’s greeted like a rock star, filled with young screaming crowds. Joke stepped out of character to say that back in 2012 Mika and him went to a huge PA rally #)k, filled with wildly enthusiastic supporters, the weekend before the election, then they went to a Obama rally in NH, and it was the deadest, flattest rally evah! But look how that turned out.
    I’m not sure if this is good news for us or a sign of the apocalypse.
    That was all of 10 minutes of watching, then I turned it off.

    I will note that last night Tweety seemed perplexed that Obama was going to colleges, and speaking to young adoring crowds, he wondered what the point was since they are already on his side, why wasn’t he out turning out AA voters who are lagging behind 2012 levels. I guess since the narrative this week is that AA turnout is down even though that refers to the percentage, not the raw number which is up, the millennials are not enthusiastic about voting for Hillary has been forgotten, so no need to turn them out.

    We’re ahead, and as long as we GOTV, we will win.

  96. 96.

    Ceci n'est pas mon nym

    November 4, 2016 at 9:05 am

    @Botsplainer: Archie Bunker is the character who came immediately to mind for me as well.

    Let’s not forget that Archie and Edith are smiling and singing that song together. I think Norman Lear was saying something interesting there too. As I recall, Edith did not have any explicitly mean-spirited bigotry. But now I’m wondering if I there was some ignorant racism her character expressed which I’m not remembering. The kind your sweet old auntie says when she thinks she’s being tolerant and “not a racist bone in my body”.

    It’s clear in interviews that Jean Stapleton, for whatever reason, hated that character and was glad to be killed off. But Lear adored her and tried several times to get her back.

  97. 97.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    November 4, 2016 at 9:06 am

    Incidentally, according the the You Tubes Assange is on Russia Today bemoaning how the fix is against Trump.

  98. 98.

    Ceci n'est pas mon nym

    November 4, 2016 at 9:12 am

    More on NYC and racism. Let’s not forget the 1863 draft riot, where the white people took to the streets and protested Lincoln’s draft by… killing as many black people as they could find.

  99. 99.

    WaterGirl

    November 4, 2016 at 9:14 am

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym: That’s great news. The end is in sight!

  100. 100.

    srv

    November 4, 2016 at 9:15 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Julian Assange: Isis and Clinton Foundation are both funded by Saudi Arabia and Qatar

    Huh, objectively true.

  101. 101.

    liberal

    November 4, 2016 at 9:18 am

    @Latino J: Your stupidity duly noted.

    But they aren’t self serving Machiavellian machinations.

    LOL. Yeah. Shelby County wasn’t politically motivated.

    I don’t understand why some people, like yourself, aren’t more inhibited about displaying their blatant stupidity in public.

  102. 102.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 9:19 am

    They have their closing argument and they are sticking to it, they know that even if they are getting shot down by the hosts, they are still getting it out there, she’s a crook. GOTV.

    Conway: False Indictment Story Trump Pushed Did Political Damage To Clinton

    “This has been walked back, the indictment portion, by Fox News who originally reported it and by NBC News which has done subsequent reporting on this,” Williams said. “Will Donald Trump amend his stump speech to walk back the same thing?”

    “Well, the damage is done to Hillary Clinton,” Conway replied. “No matter how it’s being termed the voters are hearing it for what it is—a culture of corruption.”

    GOPer Insists Clinton Faces Indictment Because She’s ‘Hearing About It’

    “She is under—facing indictment,” Ellmers told host Chris Cuomo. “We’re in a situation where the Clinton Foundation—”

    “No proof she’s facing indictment,” Cuomo replied.

    “There is proof,” she insisted.

    “There isn’t any proof,” Cuomo pushed back.

    “There is.”

    “What’s the proof?” he asked.

    “The proof is the FBI investigators,” Ellmers said. “This is coming out everywhere. I’m hearing about it. I don’t really have all that many connections and yet I’m hearing about the investigation.”

    “Of course it ain’t true, but I want to make the son-of-a-bitch deny it.” -Lyndon B. Johnson

  103. 103.

    D58826

    November 4, 2016 at 9:21 am

    REadd this on my IPHONE so can’t link. Newsweek has a big article on the scope of the cyberwar that the Russians are conducting against the west and US.

    Two nuggets:
    1. In Aug. they pulled back their pro Trump campaign because they figured with his attack on the Khan family he was just too nuts to remain on the GOP ticket. I guess Putin isn’t infallible after all.
    2. They penetrated the unsecured State dept. server for a year starting in 2014. So Hillary’s e-mails would have been compromised anyway if she had used the State dept. system.

  104. 104.

    satby

    November 4, 2016 at 9:22 am

    @NotMax: I did too. Very dated, but it was meant as a bedroom farce anyway.

  105. 105.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    November 4, 2016 at 9:22 am

    @hovercraft:

    o they are defaulting to safety, not to her if she wins. It took Bill effin Kristol to say that actually the feelings of the country, which he doesn’t agree with, people when asked if they are better off than they were 8 years ago, say yes, and that combined with Obama’s approval rating, means she will win.

    And now the Democrats and the left have taken stability away from the Republicans – in other words the very definition of “conservative”

    All that rage everyone is hearing from the Right is utter terror.

  106. 106.

    Peale

    November 4, 2016 at 9:23 am

    @Ceci n’est pas mon nym: it’s funny to watch interviews with Jean Stapleton. When she starts to speak you expect Edith’s queen’s accent to be there and when it isn’t, it’s a bit of a shock. It’s quite possible that she got tired of fans gasping when they met her.

  107. 107.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 9:23 am

    @hovercraft:

    I saw CNN had yesterday “FOX News under fire for false reporting”

    Like CNN is the ombudsmen of “real” reporting.

    Good God. Just shut all of all cable news down. It’s broken beyond repair. They actively misinform people. They’re a goddammed menace and they need to rebrand as entertainment, pronto.

  108. 108.

    srv

    November 4, 2016 at 9:24 am

    ISIS has been getting too much attention apparently:

    U.S. intelligence is warning of a possible terror threat for the day before the election next week, CBS News reported Friday.

    Intelligence officials have told joint terrorism task forces about the possibility that al Qaeda is planning to attack three states on Monday, sources told CBS.

    The states with the potential to be targeted are believed to be New York, Texas and Virginia.

  109. 109.

    liberal

    November 4, 2016 at 9:25 am

    @satby: She’s a selfish, egotistical fuck, so shove it up your ass.

  110. 110.

    liberal

    November 4, 2016 at 9:25 am

    @japa21: GFY.

  111. 111.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    November 4, 2016 at 9:26 am

    @srv:

    I beat my self with a hammer to Roxie Music for fun

    What’s with the misquoting dude? Replies broken again?

  112. 112.

    NotMax

    November 4, 2016 at 9:26 am

    Just read the Newsweek piece in full.

    Creditable (though not all encompassing) summary of what has been reported previously, nothing much newly revelatory in there.

  113. 113.

    satby

    November 4, 2016 at 9:27 am

    @liberal: evidently takes one to know one, huh? Poor you.

  114. 114.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 9:28 am

    @D58826:

    So Hillary’s e-mails would have been compromised anyway if she had used the State dept. system.

    It doesn’t matter. The email story stopped being about anything real 12 months ago. 20 months of non-stop coverage of Hillary Clinton’s emails. That’s what they did and they did it because it’s an easy frame and they’re comfortable promoting the idea she’s deceptive. They didn’t know what to do with Trump so they did nothing. They simply weren’t up to covering Donald Trump. He falls outside what they’re familiar with.

  115. 115.

    WaterGirl

    November 4, 2016 at 9:29 am

    @satby: How nice that you heard from the girls! Do they keep in touch with each other?

  116. 116.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    November 4, 2016 at 9:31 am

    @liberal:

    I don’t understand why some people, like yourself, aren’t more inhibited about displaying their blatant stupidity in public.

    We have you for that.

  117. 117.

    WaterGirl

    November 4, 2016 at 9:33 am

    @liberal:

    What’s going to happen if Breyer and notoriously narcissistic RBG don’t step down, and then the Republicans retake the Senate in 2018?

    That’s highly unlikely. As my dad used to say, don’t borrow trouble.

  118. 118.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 9:33 am

    Do you think the public employees at the FBI can possibly restrain themselves from breaking any more laws for the next 3 days?

    We don’t want their candidate and since we’re paying their salaries they should maybe find something else to do at work. I would suggest protecting AA churches but surely they can come up with something useful to do on the crime-fighting front. Are they making any progress on who hacked the DNC emails or should we contract that out to people who aren’t in the middle of a political campaign?

  119. 119.

    MomSense

    November 4, 2016 at 9:35 am

    @Ceci n’est pas mon nym:

    Plus Archie sat around on his ass all day pissed off at the world while Edith was the only one doing anything. She did all the cooking, cleaning, errand running, grocery shopping, etc. If she had a moment to think she probably would have realized how messed up it all was.

  120. 120.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 9:35 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:
    A cornered rabid dog is a very dangerous animal, you may love dogs, but it is too dangerous and must be put down. (I’m not advocating killing the deplorables, just their vision for the country.)

    @Kay:
    And it was Bret Beir no less who ‘reported’ this bullshit story, and his ‘walkback’ was the most mealy mouthed non retraction I’ve ever heard. All last night the Trump surrogates refused to accept the story wasn’t true, they kept insisting that she was under ‘criminal investigation’, and I’m sure the will keep at it till the bitter end, it’s all they have.
    GOTV

  121. 121.

    amygdala

    November 4, 2016 at 9:37 am

    Daveed Diggs, speaking to millennial about the difference between the “racist, misogynist, Cheetos-dusted human trash fire” and Hillz (referring to her as “badass”): totally worth 6 minutes of your life.

    Preach, Daveed!

    ETA: some roughish language (as one would expect when taking it to the Donald)

  122. 122.

    waysel

    November 4, 2016 at 9:39 am

    @Kay: I fully anticipate daily anti-Hillary FBI “leaks” until the election is over. I’d be very happy to be wrong.

  123. 123.

    WereBear

    November 4, 2016 at 9:40 am

    @NobodySpecial: My personality doesn’t let me ‘draft’, so I’m constantly revising.

    I hear ya, I used to be that way. But it does make it hard to get to the end :)

    I stopped when I realized I was polishing things I wound up cutting. But that’s plot driven things for you. Character pieces might be different.

  124. 124.

    chopper

    November 4, 2016 at 9:40 am

    @Baud:

    if you go to Cole’s and ask for mustard when your plate comes out the server just looks at you sheepishly and mutters as they walk away.

  125. 125.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 9:41 am

    I’d also like to see any communications between the former mayor of NY and NY FBI agents. Maybe they can seize a couple of their own laptops. Shouldn’t someone be getting a warrant for phone records?

    It’s absolutely ridiculous that they’re on our payroll while working for the Trump campaign. I resent every nickel I’m paying the Trump campaign agents. Do the right thing. Don’t accept pay from people you’re not working for. Get on the Trump payroll, where you belong.

  126. 126.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 9:42 am

    @Kay:
    To the people who care about it, it will never be over, to the rest of us who were done with it a year ago, it’s a whatever. Mika cares deeply about it, and takes every opportunity to bitch about it, apparently it’s the worse thing ever done by a presidential candidate. This morning when Donnie Deutch said that to think this was all because Weiner was sexting with a 10th grader, Mika jumped in to say no it wasn’t Weiner’s fault it was Hillary’s fault. So I expect that for the next 4 years every time POTUS Hillary does something wrong, the e-ghazi saga will be brought up, because everything that befalls her or she stumbles over is because of the sever. As the GOP congriscritters are launching investigation after investigation, Mika and Co. will blame Hillary for having a server.

  127. 127.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    November 4, 2016 at 9:44 am

    @Kay: An investigation of Baylor University’s Title IX violations regarding rape cover ups. Oh wait didn’t Ken Starr already do that?

  128. 128.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 9:46 am

    Steve Benen

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that the U.S. economy added 161,000 jobs in October, which is roughly in line with projections. The unemployment rate inched lower, dropping from 5% to 4.9%. It’s the 13th consecutive month the rate has been at 5% or lower.

    As for the revisions: August’s job totals were revised up, from 167,000 to 176,000, while September’s were also revised up, from 156,000 to 191,000. Combined, that’s a net gain of 44,000.

  129. 129.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    November 4, 2016 at 9:47 am

    @Kay: I’d like to see all the emails from the NYT political reporters and their editors as well.

  130. 130.

    Peale

    November 4, 2016 at 9:48 am

    @Kay: I think we should look at that veterans charity that Trump says he donated $1 million to this summer, since it is run by the same FBI station chief whose office is currently running amuck. I bet you it will turn out to be not all that charitable in a tradional sense of the word

  131. 131.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 9:49 am

    @hovercraft:

    Mika cares deeply about it,

    Oh, she does not. She knows perfectly well it’s bullshit. My favorite leak of this whole cycle were when Rice and Powell exchanged emails admitting the Benghazi frenzy was utter, trumped up bullshit.

    Because it was.
    Jake Tapper’s almost solely responsible for promoting that lie, incidentally, and he’s supposedly a journalist.
    Cable news is a disaster. They create misinformation. That would be okay because they don’t have that big an audience except they drive all other coverage. They’re like Donald Trump. He smears shit on everything he brushes up against.

  132. 132.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 9:49 am

    @hovercraft:
    From GOS

    The best news in the report was that nominal average wages rose over last month by a substantial 0.4 percent and from October 2015 to October 2016 by 2.8 percent. That’s the best showing since the financial crisis eight years ago.

  133. 133.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2016 at 9:50 am

    @Peale: I love how “veterans” was auto-changed to “veranda.”

    Anyway, not that it matters much, but it’s retired FBI guy Kallstrom. He used to be head of the NYC office, not sure of the correct name for the office or his position, who heads the supposed USMC charity that Trump gave the $1M to.

  134. 134.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 9:52 am

    @Peale:

    Right? Such a shame we don’t have a national law enforcement agency who could look into that.

    Nothing will happen to any of these people. They’re flagrantly breaking the law and they’re completely untouchable. There will be some bullshit “reform” which will just cause them to throw another tantrum and threaten the public some more.

  135. 135.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2016 at 9:52 am

    @Peale: Oh, and you fixed it after I posted my comment, ruining the humor (if any.)

  136. 136.

    Peale

    November 4, 2016 at 9:53 am

    @Gin & Tonic: I couldn’t let that one stand. Although I also liked the concept of a veranda charity.

  137. 137.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2016 at 9:54 am

    @Kay: Not completely untouchable. A director with balls and integrity (I know, I know) could transfer some of them from NYC to Fargo or Fairbanks. Make an example, and the rest will fall in line.

  138. 138.

    satby

    November 4, 2016 at 9:55 am

    @WaterGirl: I’m not sure, they haven’t mentioned it but they mostly talk about school. Being a senior looms large ?

    Fucking autocorrect

  139. 139.

    Peale

    November 4, 2016 at 9:55 am

    @Kay: yep. Maybe, oh maybe, there should be someone looking into the validity of the tax exempt missions of these charities that get involved in politics.

  140. 140.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 4, 2016 at 9:56 am

    @waysel:

    I fully anticipate daily anti-Hillary FBI “leaks” until the election is over. I’d be very happy to be wrong.

    You are wrong–they’ll be happening until her re-election is over.

  141. 141.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 9:58 am

    @Peale:

    No one will though because Republicans made up a story about the IRS targeting Tea Party groups and hauled them all in for bullshit hearings, smeared all of them, and cut their budget.

    They’re threatening these people. Making sure they don’t do their jobs.

  142. 142.

    Bupalos

    November 4, 2016 at 9:59 am

    @Botsplainer: you know, an “those were the days” hat would have been just the ticket for a “hipster’s for Hillary” wing, perfect statement of ironic appropriation.

  143. 143.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 10:02 am

    Gov. Mike HuckabeeVerified account
    ‏@GovMikeHuckabee
    Trump may be a car wreck, but at least his car is pointed in right direction. Hillary is a drunk-driver going the wrong way on the freeway

    Mike Huckabee is right up there with Ed Rendell in the top tier of ancient former pols who made a second career out of spouting bullshit.

    Can we term limit these people? Huckabee’s DAUGHTER is now on the cable payroll. Can they not find real work?

  144. 144.

    Tami Ross

    November 4, 2016 at 10:03 am

    @gogol’s wife: Then you didn’t stay for the ending, where she resigns the Presidency because she is preggers? That scenario pissed me off, even as a kid!

  145. 145.

    JPL

    November 4, 2016 at 10:04 am

    @NotMax: That’s what I thought.

  146. 146.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 10:04 am

    @Peale:
    The entanglements with Rudy, the Mercer family, Kellyanne, Brietbart, Citizens United.
    Rachel had a long segment on that last night 20 minutes. (If you can get it to play, good luck) Here is a clip of the part of her segment with Spencer Ackerman from Crooks & Liars.

  147. 147.

    satby

    November 4, 2016 at 10:09 am

    For Mnem and the other Hamilmaniacs

  148. 148.

    hovercraft

    November 4, 2016 at 10:10 am

    @Peale:
    The IRS has been defanged, first through budget cuts, and them with the whole singling out conservative groups, and the ongoing efforts to impeach the current IRS commissioner who wasn’t even in the job when the non existent singling out supposedly happened. Lois Lerner is a cautionary tale for the agency. They wanted to make sure they would never be bothered again, so the attack has always been two pronged, and now they are free to do as they wish, knowing that the IRS has been cowed.

  149. 149.

    Elizabelle

    November 4, 2016 at 10:16 am

    @Kay: Good morning Kay. Good on you for keeping your cool with that fellow speaker who was acting vilely. Maybe the kids noticed.

    Anyway: it is terrifying to have FBI agents injecting themselves into our presidential campaign, and I, Pollyanna, do think we the public could do something about that. We’ve called Congressional offices before.

    Why don’t we do a writing campaign to the FBI’s office of professional responsibility — or whatever they have — and let them hear, from hundreds of people [not just us, obviously ;-)], that we do not appreciate this incredible breach of professional responsibility AND that we want to see those public employees who pulled this caper either terminated or transferred to an office where they have less influence.

    If we have time to whinge on a blog, we have time to do that. Some letters to the editor too.

    The norms are falling fast and furious this year, and we cannot allow them to get away this.

    Of course, Comey should be gone, and the FBI should clean house.

    Further, we should email and call the MSM when they start their whingeing in the event Obama and Clinton do start shaking the tree after the election. We need to have their backs; you know they’ll hear from the flying monkeys.

    And, perhaps, calling our Congresscritters, to give them cover for investigating after the fact, or to let them know that we won’t stand for this abuse of office. By the FBI, and by those who would tear down the IRS and defund us all of tax revenue.

    I know it’s tough, but am picking up a lot of resignation and learned helplessness on this blog, and the bad apples did not manage to ruin so many of these institutions by sitting around whining how hard and futile it is.

    (Kay: not speaking of you with that last paragraph. Appreciate everything you do and say, and know it’s got to be awful to live in Ohio this election year. But to many others: all the cynicism and despair here is cheap and not helpful. It’s not “highly intelligent.” It is demoralizing.)

  150. 150.

    D58826

    November 4, 2016 at 10:19 am

    @Major Major Major Major: Your both wrong, they will continue thru the Chelsea Clinton administration:-)

  151. 151.

    divF

    November 4, 2016 at 10:27 am

    I loved the Girl Club video. I watched it with the sound off (I’m sitting in an airport). Without the sound, I focused more on the faces of these intelligent, interesting, powerful women. The opposite of what we see from comparably powerful GOPers. Vapid, narrow bigots of both sexes – their souls have been BoToxed.

    Vultus est index animi.

  152. 152.

    gogol's wife

    November 4, 2016 at 10:28 am

    @amygdala:

    Fabulous.

  153. 153.

    gogol's wife

    November 4, 2016 at 10:30 am

    @Tami Ross:

    I read that in Imdb and couldn’t stand to stick around for it. I will say that Polly Bergen did a damn good job of looking like a hardworking president.

  154. 154.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 10:30 am

    I have a black cat who is an inside cat- she never leaves the house. There is an almost identical stray black cat who is often on my garage roof and people keep telling me my cat is out.

    I had no idea they even knew I had a cat- I got her from the pound 2 years ago, put her inside and she never went out again.

  155. 155.

    Iowa Old Lady

    November 4, 2016 at 10:32 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Why punish Fargo and Fairbanks?

  156. 156.

    waysel

    November 4, 2016 at 10:37 am

    @Elizabelle: I like this a lot. Could you email your post to some front pagers here?

  157. 157.

    Kay

    November 4, 2016 at 10:37 am

    @Elizabelle:

    I’m just venting.

    I’m fairly shallow. I’ve already moved onto to how all these people know I have a cat :)

    Once I solve this cat mystery I’ll deal with the FBI.

  158. 158.

    waysel

    November 4, 2016 at 10:42 am

    @Elizabelle: Focused call/ letter campaigns seem like a great idea. I’d like to see more of them promoted here, and maybe a spot for them in Quick Links. This little group,+ our RL friends, has a bit of power available to us . Lets use it.

  159. 159.

    amk

    November 4, 2016 at 11:03 am

    bbc is telling me that melania is on a anti-bully ‘crusade’. So, a 15-20 min speech is considered a crusade now?

  160. 160.

    Miss Bianca

    November 4, 2016 at 11:36 am

    @Latino J: to say nothing of ageist and sexist. Funny how it’s always the female SCOTUS justice who is expected to retire for the good of the body and the country, ain’t it? I wonder….hmm…I wonder what that could be about.

    NAH! I don’t wonder at all.

  161. 161.

    Botsplainer

    November 4, 2016 at 11:38 am

    @amk:

    The same people who say Melania’s “single trip to the toilet” length speech is a “crusade” are the same people who praised Princess Diana’s love for the impoverished as she held babies at arms’ length so as to not get drool on designer dresses. They’re the same people who titter about the “outrageousness” of Anna Nicole, Mama June and Honey Boo Boo, and they’re the same people who foist the Duggers and the duck people on us.

  162. 162.

    satby

    November 4, 2016 at 11:43 am

    @gogol’s wife: that’s why I called it dated, in 1964 that was pretty standard for pregnant women. Lots had to leave their jobs when they became pregnant. If they were white and middle or upper class anyway.

  163. 163.

    Elizabelle

    November 4, 2016 at 11:52 am

    @Kay:
    @waysel:

    You guys are on! After the election, and solving The Mystery of the Secluded but Apparent Buckeye Cat, we need to write some letters to encourage cleaning house at the FBI.

    We all know lots of people who are ticked about it, in our private lives; let’s turn that energy to heading off more trouble for the next administration. (President Hillary! Must be!)

    I will email the comment to Tim F; he is good about that kind of stuff.

  164. 164.

    J R in WV

    November 4, 2016 at 11:53 am

    @Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap:

    I would rather see emails from the Fox/CNN/MSNBC management to their “reporters” and between those businesses and the Trump campaign staff than to see N Y Times information.

    Though, on reflection, I guess adding the NYT to the list I typed above couldn’t hurt and might help!

  165. 165.

    Miss Bianca

    November 4, 2016 at 11:59 am

    @liberal: Has anybody told you to fuck off lately?

  166. 166.

    Elizabelle

    November 4, 2016 at 12:00 pm

    @satby: Tried to watch “Kisses” a few years ago; didn’t last 20 minutes. Google search informed that First Husband Fred McMurray (!) finally knocked up President Polly Bergen, and that was that. Silly girl. Can’t president and gestate at the same time. Was doubly glad to have missed it.

    There’s a reason that movie did not become part of the women’s empowerment canon, or even remembered much. A little surprised more people weren’t pointing and laughing (like as a standard joke at Ms. Magazine).

    It could be cool to have expectant mother Kamala Harris** in the White House in an administration or two. Mostly, one is much older by the time one attains the White House. No small kids since JFK, and before that, it was … who?, in the 20th century, with young kids? Do you have to go back to Grover Cleveland and Baby Ruth?

    (** born 1964, I think the year that ridiculous movie was released)

  167. 167.

    Elizabelle

    November 4, 2016 at 12:02 pm

    @J R in WV: Yeah, I’d love to see those some NY Times emails too. They need to clean out that whackjob “political reporters” stable too, including the desk editor and ombuds-idjit (Liz Spayd, formerly of the Villagers’ Washington Post).

    Hope Mrs. J R is recovering nicely from her surgery.

  168. 168.

    J R in WV

    November 4, 2016 at 12:02 pm

    @Kay:

    Probably your indoor cat spends time in the windows looking at the birds around the place. Especially when you’re away from the house at work, and cat is bored.

    Or maybe the CIA/FBI accidentally let her out when they were “repairing” your phone/modem/internet connections and made fools of themselves trying to catch her and put her back inside for “security’s” sake.

  169. 169.

    J R in WV

    November 4, 2016 at 12:05 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Doing very well thanks. According to both PT and Surgeon which we saw on Wednesday and Thursday. Surgeon said, keep that knee elevated! But hard to do in the car!

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