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You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Open Thread: Proud to Be A Masshole

Open Thread: Proud to Be A Masshole

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That’s my Congressional rep, Ed Markey’s replacement. I haven’t seen any Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Hillary bumperstickers yet, but maybe I just don’t get out enough. From the Boston Globe:

In a break from tradition and from the rest of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, Representative Katherine Clark plans to boycott the upcoming inauguration of Republican President-elect Donald Trump as a form of ceremonial protest…

Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, two fierce critics of the incoming president, confirmed their attendance through statements.

Representative Seth Moulton of Salem, who considered not attending the inauguration, said in an interview he later decided to go because he thought it was “the best thing to do for our democracy.”…

Representative Michael Capuano of Somerville said he could have a scheduling conflict that would prevent him from being in Washington.

“If I don’t attend, it would not be to make a statement,” he said.

Representative Jim McGovern said he’s “attended every presidential inauguration” since he was elected to Congress in 1996 and will attend this year.

Representative Stephen F. Lynch of Boston said he always planned to attend. “I will be there,” Lynch said. “It’s out of respect for the office you should attend the inauguration. It’s a basic courtesy that you extend to the president of the United States.”…

McGovern said he plans to attend the women’s march scheduled in Washington for Jan. 21, the day after the inauguration. Moulton, who plans to attend the same protest, said he is chartering a train car so a group of Massachusetts residents can attend.

Because interest was so high from his constituents, Moulton is looking into procuring a second car. Each holds more than 80 people.

“I’m trying to empower people,” Moulton said.

Clark — whose office said Thursday that she had won a coveted spot on the Appropriations Committee — said she respected the opinion of others who disagree with her choice.

“People will come to different decisions,” Clark said. “But there is nothing about this presidency and his rejection about his core American values that I want to normalize.”

Seth Moulton‘s a progressive up-and-comer in the Democratic party, but he’s also an ex-Marine. Mike Capuano‘s got larger (state-wide) ambitions, while Jim McGovern is part of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Steve Lynch is our token voice for the ‘economically anxious white working class’, aka the Howie Carr demographic — he’s got his current job for life, as long as he doesn’t do anything reckless like giving it up to run for something larger.

More happy news, Senator Professor Elizabeth Warren is running for re-election:

… In an interview with the Globe, Warren said her decision to run for a second term had been growing on her for some time. With the election over and questions back home mounting, “I just wanted to make it clear. I love this job,” she said. “I fight every day for working families across our Commonwealth. This fight is about to get a lot harder, and I want everyone to know I am in all the way.”

Warren suggested that Trump’s unexpected victory was among the factors that swayed her. “Trump has made the fight for working families a lot harder and more urgent,” she said, when asked if Trump’s White House win had influenced her decision. “I feel so strongly about the need to be in Washington and fight to protect the things that we have built, fighting Trump’s dangerous Cabinet appointments,” she said, pointing to Trump’s pick of Tom Price, a Republican congressman from Georgia, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services as one example.

Price, she said, wants to privatize Medicare, which would hurt the 1.2 million Massachusetts residents who receive health benefits under the government program. Warren is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee which will hold a confirmation hearing on Price later this month.

She also vowed to fight Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, weaken post-crisis financial laws, and defang Warren’s brainchild — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau…

The usual unicorn-hunters perennial optimists point out this doesn’t preclude Warren running for President in 2020, but I (selfishly) believe she’ll have as much fun as she can stand getting under the President-Asterisk’s thin skin, and maybe smacking around Curt Schilling for a change of pace.

Reader Interactions

203Comments

  1. 1.

    Davis X. Machina

    Warren’s just the kind of fresh young charismatic candidate the party needs in 2020.

  2. 2.

    StringOnAStick

    I’m glad Senator Warren wants to continue being a Senator. I wish we had several dozen more just like her.

  4. 4.

    Anne Laurie

    @Davis X. Machina: Bingo. There’s plenty young Dems will be ready to chomp the Repub carcass once Trump’s spent a year or so damaging his own party. Why should Warren give up a powerful Senate seat now?

    Of course the dudebros are hungry for a replacement HRC straw-woman upon whom they can vent their mommy issues, but those ‘alt-left’ fellas will be even less popular with actual Democratic voters come the President-Asterisk’s ascendance.

  5. 5.

    Mike in NC

    Boycotting the coronation of the Manhattan Mussolini is an excellent move. More power to those people.

  7. 7.

    FlyingToaster

    She’s my Representative too (who knew that the district ran through most of Middlesex County, modulo Cambridge/Somerville/Everett).

    Whadda ya mean, Mayor Congressman Mike has statewide ambitions? I don’t think he can beat Setti Warren to take Charlie Baker’s seat. I thought he was holding out for the next Senate seat, or D Whip.

  8. 8.

    Major Major Major Major

    Went today and voted in the election for assembly district delegates out here in San Francisco. It’s a state party position that eventually has a voice in selecting the DNC chair. The Berniecrats were out in force, which I wouldn’t have minded if their endorsement handout didn’t say they were there to “fight Trump and the corporate Democrats who allowed him to become president.”

    I in fact only voted for people who said nothing about the primary at all and focused on issues, especially local issues, especially housing.

    There was a woman heckling us smoking a joint and wearing a Jill Not Hill shirt, as well as some candidates working the line for those of us who hadn’t been able to see the speeches. In contrast to this was a man who had on one of the stickers from the Berniecrat group who walked by recording us on his phone narrating “and these are the LOSERS who didn’t bother to show up on time…” as we’re standing in the rain waiting to vote.

    I at one point overheard an older couple saying dismissively that they’d never seen so many people turn out to vote on an issue they know nothing about.

  14. 14.

    JMG

    Clark my representative as well. Good for her. Why does anyone go to an inaugural if they’re not part of the proceedings?

  16. 16.

    PsiFighter37

    @bystander: I would like to see her run in 2020. Her and Kamala Harris would be my top 2 choices (and Jerry Brown, if he was 20 years younger). Al Franken would sure be an interesting possibility, although I don’t think he wants it.

    I prefer Warren stays in the Senate. Frankly, I don’t think she will play that well nationally, nor do I think she will do anything to bring back those ‘economically anxious’ folks of a certain persuasion back to the fold.

  17. 17.

    russell

    Clark has introduced HR6340, which would remove the conflict of interest exemption for POTUS and VPOTUS. I think it’s in committee, where it will likely be strangled in its crib, but if you are calling your Rep about something, you might want to ask for their support for it.

  18. 18.

    debbie

    @Davis X. Machina:

    Young or not, charismatic or not (and I think she is), Warren’s a very good choice. She stands up to criticism, she’s very well spoken, and she’s got the context to know what she’s talking about.

    Youth for youth’s sake is not always a good thing.

  20. 20.

    Mnemosyne

    @Major Major Major Major: .

    The Berniecrats were out in force, which I wouldn’t have minded if their endorsement handout didn’t say they were there to “fight Trump and the corporate Democrats who allowed him to become president.”

    But remember, the reason there’s still rancor between the two wings of the Democratic Party is that the Clintonistas won’t stop being. mmmeeeaaannnn to the poor, beleaguered Berniecrats, who are always so nice and polite to Hillary’s supporters.

    In case it wasn’t clear, fuck these bullying fugitive Paulites. Typical dudebros — they break something and then demand to know why everyone else let them break it.

  21. 21.

    SuzieC

    Go Liz Warren! The idea of her heckling and needling President Pussygrabber Shitgibbon and getting under his thin tangerine skin warms my cold heart.

  23. 23.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Mnemosyne: Fuck the Berniebros/crats and the “Jill not Hil” idiots. And you’re right…they’re actually Paulite trash.

  24. 24.

    J R in WV

    Sanders has turned out to be the least progressive national politician still involved in today’s politics. I’m not surprised that he still attracts bullies trying to have an effect on politics in CA.

  26. 26.

    Roger Moore

    @Davis X. Machina:

    A helpful sign — that’s the GOP’s secret.

    Yes to the turning out part, but no on the ignorance part, TYVM. That willingness to show up and vote on stuff they know nothing about is also the reason the GOP has gone completely off the rails.

  27. 27.

    gene108

    @PsiFighter37:

    prefer Warren stays in the Senate. Frankly, I don’t think she will play that well nationally, nor do I think she will do anything to bring back those ‘economically anxious’ folks of a certain persuasion back to the fold.

    She comes off like a school marm, who is constantly lecturing.

    I agree with what she says, but I do not think it will sell well nationally.

  29. 29.

    Firebert

    They won’t say it out loud, but I firmly believe that The Left will discover party loyalty as soon as marijuana decriminalization is added to the Dem platform.

  33. 33.

    gene108

    Gillibrand’s husband works on Wall Street. Given the freak out people had about a couple of speeches by Hillary, I do not see how she would get passed the Bernie Brigade, without being damaged by calls of corruption, because of her husband’s job.

  35. 35.

    Starfish

    @PsiFighter37: I think that she would do better nationally than most politicians from Massachusetts.

    New Englanders come across as condescending and unfriendly for things that they are doing to be polite in their own weird New England way. Warren may be smarter than most people, but she at least bothers to look people in the eye and explain her ideas in words that other people have a chance of understanding.

  36. 36.

    Starfish

    @gene108: After Trump’s preferred cabinet? Is anyone allowed to say anything bad about Wall Street anymore before Trump deregulates everything and they steal everything that is not nailed down… again.

  37. 37.

    James Powell

    @Davis X. Machina:

    Warren’s just the kind of fresh young charismatic candidate the party needs in 2020.

    Serious question: Are the Democrats going to have to nominate a midwestern white male, married with children, in is late 40s, with military experience, no record of ever doing anything useful for non-whites, blue suit, white shirt, red tie? If so, we are in trouble because I don’t think we have any of those any more.

  38. 38.

    PsiFighter37

    @Firebert: Spare me, please. Legalizing pot is a cause to support, but that is not the be-all, end-all that would clinch fringe leftist support for the Democratic Party.

    The GOP platform is unpopular, and Obama’s 2012 campaign proved it. They had a choice of painting Mittens as a liar or as an ultraconservative. They went with the latter and won. Clinton should have done the same, and she would have won. Their GOP platform is still unpopular as shit, and when they start passing all the stuff they REALLY want, people are going to wake up.

    The only kind of normalization of Trump that should be done is that he’s just like the rest of the GOP – corrupt and highly conservative. He’s already stiffing contractors who worked on his D.C. hotel – the 2020 ads are already writing themselves.

  40. 40.

    Lalophobia

    The GOP platform is unpopular, and Obama’s 2012 campaign proved it. They had a choice of painting Mittens as a liar or as an ultraconservative. They went with the latter and won. Clinton should have done the same, and she would have won. Their GOP platform is still unpopular as shit, and when they start passing all the stuff they REALLY want, people are going to wake up.

    The problem with Trump was he changed gears so much the only thing that was consistent was that he was a horrible person.

  41. 41.

    HeleninEire

    OK y’all. NO SPOLIERS BUT…

    Tonight’s Sherlock is the absolute best of the show.

    A couple of thoughts: NO SPOILERS

    1. Sherlock is struggling. Guess what he went back to?
    2. Mrs. Hudson IS THE BEST.
    3. The text is humming.
    4. Microft MAY get laid.

    Are these spoilers? I don’t think so. If you think so let me know. If not I will post them again tonight on your 8:00 thread.

  43. 43.

    gene108

    @Starfish:

    After Trump’s preferred cabinet? Is anyone allowed to say anything bad about Wall Street anymore before Trump deregulates everything and they steal everything that is not nailed down… again.

    From what I have seen over the last few years, I do not think the far Left deals well with nuance.

    Either you are with them and want to jail bankers, or you are a corporate whore.

    They have no particular love of actual Democrats and really do not care that any Democrat would be tougher on Wall Street than any Republican.

    They will come in force for the next Bernie-esque huckster or absent that work to tear down people, who do not meet their purity test.

  45. 45.

    gene108

    @Lalophobia:

    Trump won the GOP primary, in part, because he went against GOP orthodoxy on trade, Social Security, etc.

    He was all over the place, so it is hard to attack him as a granny-starve, like you could do with Romney and Ryan, because he kept talking about making Medicare and Social Security better, without going into specifics.

    The only thing Trump showed is openness is for losers. If everything about you is dark and hard to find out, the media will not bother to look and will eventually lose interest.

  47. 47.

    burnspbesq

    @Anne Laurie:

    Of course the dudebros are hungry for a replacement HRC straw-woman upon whom they can vent their mommy issues

    I imagine (and hope) that Sen. Gillibrand will be happy to hand them their shriveled, dysfunctional dicks.

  48. 48.

    FlipYrWhig

    @gene108: I think that’s (challenging orthodoxy that is) been oversold as a reason for the Trump phenomenon. He caught fire because he’s such an asshole. Nothing else mattered.

  49. 49.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    @Starfish:

    . . . she at least bothers to look people in the eye and explain her ideas in words that other people have a chance of understanding.

    The problem is that sometimes the words she chooses to help people understand mean that her explanation is no longer accurate. A perfect example is the way she goes on at length about how we need to reinstate Glass-Steagal as the focus of her position on financial regulation. Unfortunately, the repeal of Glass-Steagal had pretty much nothing to do with the financial crisis, which was centered in companies to which Glass-Steagal wouldn’t have applied.

    By demagoguing this, she’s helped to create a legion of leftist voters who think that reinstating Glass-Steagal is the litmus test as to whether or not we should support a candidate, rather than being an irrelevancy that should be ignored while looking at the parts of a candidate’s platform that actually matter.

  50. 50.

    dm

    I know Bernie is persona non grata around here (at least in Anne Laurie threads) but this past week I got two messages from his organization(s) (“Our Revolution” and “Democracy for America”):

    – one about a special election in Virginia in which a Democratic victory would mean the Virginia state Senate has a Democratic majority
    – one about the Atlanta mayor’s race.

    That’s good, important stuff that I hope to see more of (and actually, I saw some of that before the election, too).

    I’ll agree there are obnoxious Sanderistas devoid of political maturity, but I always saw the prolonged Bernie campaign to be a means of building a movement — having influence over the party platform (something of a chimera). Unfortunately, using a campaign to build a movement led to keeping the campaign on party-divisive life-support, which led to fauxtroversies over super-delegates, and breathing life into Goldman-Sachs speaking fees and concern about email servers.

    Of course, I expected that Obama’s Organizing for America would be used for party-building and local organizing, too, but it was pretty quiet in non-Presidential campaign years. I’m hoping that they understand the need to turn their considerable talents to party-building now, too.

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne

    @gene108:

    Gillibrand’s husband works on Wall Street. Given the freak out people had about a couple of speeches by Hillary, I do not see how she would get passed the Bernie Brigade, without being damaged by calls of corruption, because of her husband’s job.

    This. And yet if we were talking about a male senator named Christopher Gillibrand whose wife worked on Wall Street, it would be a non-issue, just like Joe Biden’s long history with Wall Street was a non-issue for the Hillary haters who say they would have voted for him instead.

  54. 54.

    Feathers

    My congresswoman too!!!! So proud. Total Masshole.

    Gas leak update from thread below: The gas crew is still here for the leak. Over 30 hours now. I am so ready for this to be over. There have been generators running outside for the last 24 hours and somebody coming in to take readings in the basement every hour. I am truly grateful and appreciate all this work and effort being done in this weather, but I am very tired.

    ETA – not watching football, but finally catching Jessica Jones. This is far superior to Captain America: Civil War which I watched last night.

    Adding for this thread – the person who stayed overnight and did the readings in the basement was (and probably still is) a woman. I wonder if that was for me or just a woman had the job. It was a woman doing the readings again during the day. I

  59. 59.

    Major Major Major Major

    @dm: that’s good to hear.

    I always saw the prolonged Bernie campaign to be a means of building a movement — having influence over the party platform (something of a chimera).

    I believe that this was his original intention but both him and his supporters got drawn into a cult of personality, leading to the next thing you note.

  62. 62.

    Baud

    @FlipYrWhig: Don’t know.

    @StringOnAStick: Sad to say, I think that’s right. Coupled with the fact that Hillary was not shy about standing up to it. She lost because she overestimated people’s decency. How ironic is that!

  64. 64.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Baud: I think everyone underestimated Trump’s ability to pull off the absurd “he’s so rich he can’t be corrupt” and “he’s such a dick he must be being honest” arguments.

  70. 70.

    gene108

    @Mnemosyne:

    I am amazed at the transformation of Joe Biden in the eyes of liberals. He has the same policy drawbacks as Hillary, and then some.

    I guess the laid back V.P. persona sort of made people forget the Sen. Biden (D-MBNA) tag or the Clarence Thomas SCOTUS confirmation.

  73. 73.

    dm

    @Baud: She lost because she overestimated people’s decency.

    Not just overestimated their decency, but also over-estimated her ability to overcome the twenty years of bullshit flung at her.

    She doesn’t have Mark Penn to blame this time, but do you remember the 2008 primaries with Obama’s campaign skillfully outmaneuvering her in the caucus states (where his motivated organization could achieve clear victories) and using the resulting momentum to keep her off-balance in the non-caucus states? Clinton getting out-maneuvered in the Electoral College reminds me a bit of that.

    (About my earlier note: I was confused. Yes, DFA probably is Howard Dean’s old group. The two groups send out such similar mail that I hadn’t paid much attention to their differences. DFA wrote about the Va state Senate, and Bernie wrote about the Atlanta mayor. I admit to thinking that DFA was the new name for OFA, too.)

  78. 78.

    mai naem mobile

    My nephew is going to a major NE public university. He has a hard science/engineering major. Anyhoo, he said they’ve bagged a big-name-in-his-field UWisconsin at Madison professor and another hard science department is working on another big-name-in-his-field professor from Madison. Thanks Scott Walker for your state education cuts, you fucking moron. BTW, let me day again, these aren’t some frufru liberal arts professors spreading their commie pinko ideology. This is hard science engineering research stuff that,you know, bidness likes making money off. Bidness that,you know,moves to your state and creates jobs.

  80. 80.

    J R in WV

    @Baud:

    Emotion, his continued refusal to claim membership in the Democratic party, his continued refusal to support multi-culturalism, Black Lives Matter, his continued focus on economic issues to the exclusion of other progressive issues, and finally, Emotion.

    I don’t like Bernard Sanders, I don’t like the way he ran his primary campaign after he had no way of winning the nomination, I don’t like the way his delegates acted at the Democratic National Convention. He’s an Ass.

  81. 81.

    Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap

    @dm: Yeah, but he couldn’t even persuade some of his “followers” to do the right thing and vote for the only person that could have stopped Trump. Will they listen in these other races ?

  82. 82.

    Baud

    @J R in WV: I’m angry about the convention and about the faithless electors, and I’m skeptical about his approach generally. But he and his people exist, and I’m not sure what to do about it except give him a chance to succeed or fail.

  83. 83.

    Yutsano

    @gene108:

    I guess the laid back V.P. persona sort of made people forget the Sen. Biden (D-MBNA) tag or the Clarence Thomas SCOTUS confirmation.

    All of that would come back as oppo research if not in the primaries in the general if Joe had gone for it. Personally after losing Beau I think he’s done with DC.

    @Gravenstone: Zapp Brannigan Vs the Joker!! Who will win the Game Of Tweaks?

  84. 84.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    @mai naem mobile: The guy who runs that Marquette Law School polling operation is a close friend. He used to teach at UW-Madison, and left for many of the same reasons. For him, the final straw was when the legislature decided that they would use their power to read professors’ emails in order to hunt out political enemies. (They’re public employees, so all of their emails are considered public records.) Aside from all of the problems that has for most people, you can’t run a political polling operation if you’re worried that the politicians will subpoena your communications.

  85. 85.

    jayjaybear

    Have we, collectively, just lost all sense of the effects of the kind of stress the presidency creates on people? Especially for the elderly (and, love Hillary and Warren and Biden and even Bernie as I do, they ARE elderly)? Why are so many Democrats enamored of people for whom the Presidency could be a death sentence? Why aren’t we cultivating a younger, deeper bench of party leaders?

    The GOP had 17 candidates for president in 2016, 3/4 or more of which were younger than 60 (although one of the oldest won the nomination). The Democrats had 3 and only O’Malley was younger than 60. We need to bring younger people up to leadership or we’re going to keep trying to hand a 40-ton weight to 80-year-olds.

  88. 88.

    dm

    @Yutsano: …and Biden’s behavior with women would have been used to both-siderize Trump’s pussy-grabbing (Bill’s behavior was, to some degree).

  89. 89.

    StringOnAStick

    @dm: No, DFA is not the new name for OFA; they are not at all the same. OFA was originally Organizating For Action, now it is Organizating For America and President Obama has said he plans to work through this organization once he’s a private citizen again.

  90. 90.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @HeleninEire:

    Spoiler-ish, as in diminishing others’ surprised enjoyment of plot developments (even if minor). Ix-nay on reposting.

  100. 100.

    hovercraft

    @Mnemosyne:

    But remember, the reason there’s still rancor between the two wings of the Democratic Party is that the Clintonistas won’t stop being. mmmeeeaaannnn to the poor, beleaguered Berniecrats, who are always so nice and polite to Hillary’s supporters.

    Have you not learned anything yet?

    Here’s the way it works, when/if Hillary wins, it is up to her and her supporters to be extremely solicitous towards her defeated advisory and his supporters. She and supporters must not celebrate too much, they must not spike the football, they must be understanding of the disappointment that the other side has suffered. When/if Hillary loses, she and her supporters must understand that they are to blame for the loss, if only they had agreed to lose much earlier, and allowed someone else to win, thus showing her willingness to take one for the team, she would not have forced her erstwhile allies to be forced to abandon her for the good of the party. Hillary and her supporters should just get over her loss, they were beaten period, do not mention any irregularities, or any foul play, she lost, get over it.

  102. 102.

    MazeDancer

    Hillary, Bill, and Chelsea went to the final performance of The Color Purple this afternoon.

    HRC got a gorgeous standing ovation from the Broadway Crowd, which had more than a few celebrities.

    You want to watch this video of the audience cheering.. And why, yes, that is a tear, or two – or or 2,864,974 – in my eye.

  104. 104.

    Patricia Kayden

    @FlipYrWhig: Or the “we don’t care if he’s rich and corrupt” and “he’s dickish to people we hate so we love that he tells it like it is” dynamic.

  106. 106.

    Mnemosyne

    @hovercraft:

    Hillary and her supporters should just get over her loss, they were beaten period, do not mention any irregularities, or any foul play, she lost, get over it.

    Don’t forget, any irregularities in Bernie’s loss were all Hillary’s fault (even when they happened in places that Hillary has no control over, like Arizona), but any irregularities in Hillary’s loss were solely her own fault for being a bad candidate that everyone hated, with no one else to blame at all.

  107. 107.

    StringOnAStick

    @jayjaybear: I agree that younger candidates woukd be better. We don’t know right now who’s out there, just like we didn’t know about Obama many years before he hit the scene nationally. We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves though, because if we don’t get organized to win state elections then we will never again win at the national level thanks to gerrymandering.

  108. 108.

    Patricia Kayden

    @MazeDancer: O-o. They cheer Secretary Clinton while booing and lecturing Pence. Why is Broadway so dang mean to Conservatives? Don’t they know Broadway should be a safe space for GOP politicians?

  109. 109.

    rikyrah

    ABC News Verified account
    ‏@ABC

    Black college band’s plan to march at inaugural spurs opposition: “Our ancestors are jumping out of their graves”

  110. 110.

    Spanky

    @Patricia Kayden: Maryland is pretty red outside of the urban areas, and we have a Republican Governor, although he would pass for a Dem in most places. These good ol’ boys here in Calvert County are the same ilk as in Garret and on the Eastern Shore. I.e., assholes.

  111. 111.

    magurakurin

    @Davis X. Machina: this. I’ve only read this first comment in the thread…but so much this.

    I.Do.Not.Want.Warren.To.Run.

    No.More.Old.White.People.

    How fucking hard is that to get through people’s heads?

    Oh, and just to toss gasoline on a fire my thoughts on Bernie Sanders. Regardless of what you think of him…savior or destroyer, hero or spoiler, enlightened or deluded, would have won or would have lost, too…he ain’t gonna be around much longer (and sadly neither will many of us.) Time to move on.

    Younger leaders, please step up and tell the old people to sit the fuck down.

    I’ll be 57 in 2020 and if the Democrats are running someone 20 years older than me…or close to it…we’ll lose again. I want to vote for someone younger than me in 2020.

  112. 112.

    Mnemosyne

    @Baud:

    Trump is not well-liked in his own hometown, which I like to think burns him every single day. New Yorkers were suspicious of Hillary when she first arrived to run for the senate, but she won them over and they consider her a hometown girl now.

  113. 113.

    debbie

    I find this to be pleasing:

    @kurteichenwald:

    Reality: If Trump wont let ethics office do normal vetting of nominees, reporters will be winning Pulitzers for 4 yrs exposing their secrets.

  114. 114.

    Another Scott

    @dm: There are 3 special election races on Tuesday the 10th. Blue Virginia has more (from December 29):

    Virginia has three special elections on Tuesday, January 10th. One of these races will determine the balance of the State Senate. The deadline for Voter Registration/Updates for these races is Tuesday, January 3th. For quick links to their pages, click here.

    House District 85: http://www.vpap.org/…. “Republican Norman “Rocky” Holcomb, a captain in the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office, and Democrat Cheryl Turpin, a teacher in the city’s public schools, are running in a special election Jan. 10 for a state House of Delegates seat. They’re seeking the 85th District position held by Del. Scott Taylor, who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 8.” (pilotonline.com/…)

    Senate District 9: http://www.vpap.org/…. “[Del. Jennifer] McClellan is a virtual lock to win the Democratic-leaning district, which is coming open as Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, prepares to resign early next year after winning a congressional seat.” (www.richmond.com/…)

    Senate District 22: http://www.vpap.org/…. “Former Fluvanna County Sheriff and Buckingham native Ryant L. Washington thanks fellow Democrats for giving him the nod to run as his party’s candidate in the special election next month, filling the soon-to-be-expired Senate District 22 seat.” (www.farmvilleherald.com/…) THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PICK-UP FOR SENATE DEMOCRATS. There are two Republicans running — one as an Independent — so a Democrat could win this seat.

    A Democratic win here puts the Senate at 20 Democrats (up from 19) and 20 Republicans (down from 21) giving LG Ralph Northam the tie vote. Early voting is in-progress!

    Fingers crossed, but the last time the Democrats had control over the VA Senate, the GOP managed to flip one of the D Senators with some winks and nods…

    Politics ain’t beanbag in Virginia.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

    Cheers,
    Scott

  115. 115.

    Matt McIrvin

    I see the Bernie people already insisting on Bernie or nobody in 2020. He’s going to be 79 years old.

  117. 117.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Spanky: True. I live in Southern MD which like PG County, Baltimore and Montgomery County is pretty deep blue. I don’t really go to the parts of MD which are red. Hopefully Hogan was a fluke and will be out in 2 years.

  119. 119.

    Another Scott

    @Another Scott: Wow. FYWP let me post more than 3 links (unfortunately, the 3 in the blockquote are truncated – see the original link for the full locations.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (Who hopes he hasn’t let some secret out of the bag.)

  120. 120.

    Taylor

    @debbie:

    Reality: If Trump wont let ethics office do normal vetting of nominees, reporters will be winning Pulitzers for 4 yrs exposing their secrets.

    Thanks, I needed a good laugh.

    ETA as Josh Marshall has pointed out, all of the information about deals that Trump has been negotiating during the transition comes from foreign press.

  123. 123.

    hovercraft

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I think this and the neighboring district were supposed to be sort of national bellwethers so we’ll see!

    You do know that if hey lose, it’s only because the Clintonistas and the establishment rigged the vote, you know by getting more votes.

  124. 124.

    HeleninEire

    So I tried to wire some money from Citibank to Ireland. Of course it took 2 hours on the phone with a CB rep to do it. I went through 3 authorizations when I tried to move the money. Well, I just got a message from Citibank that they need more “authorization.” I keep my money in the bank cuz they will protect it for me. I certainly don’t keep it there for the .0000000001% interest. Isn’t it Citibank’s job to keep my money safe? Why the fuck is it my job? Yeah I know. First world problems.

  126. 126.

    Spanky

    @Patricia Kayden: Dems lose the governorship when they put up weak candidates (see Townsend, Kathleen Kennedy). And they don’t even have to be terribly weak, just ….

    Hogan beat former Lt. Gov Anthony Brown. Can’t quite put my finger on why he lost in Blue Maryland.

  127. 127.

    rikyrah

    yes yes yes

    Weekend Box Office January 6-8: A Solid Opening for ‘Hidden Figures’ (Continued Strong Word of Mouth Should Give It Legs)

    January 8, 2017
    Sergio Mims

    As for this weekend, I’ll give you just one guess which film was
    number one… Of course it was yet again “Rogue One”. Though the film’s box office fell almost 56% from last weekend, it did well enough to stay on top for another week with $21.9 million, for almost
    half-a-billion-dollars domestically to date, aiming for a billion
    worldwide with $914.4 million so far.

    But in a very close second was “Hidden Figures” which earned a solid $21.8 million. In fact, the film actually beat “Rogue One” on Friday out-grossing it by $1.5 million. But those “Star Wars” geeks had their say and “Rogue One” beat “Hidden Figures” on Saturday and won the weekend, but just by a whisker. Although “Figures” had the highest per-screen average for any film in the top 20 this weekend, and was made on a very modest production budget of $25 million (though it looks like it cost twice that amount on the screen); the extremely positive word of mouth that it’s getting should help it become a very successful and profitable film for Fox.

  128. 128.

    Yarrow

    @James Powell:

    Serious question: Are the Democrats going to have to nominate a midwestern white male, married with children, in is late 40s, with military experience, no record of ever doing anything useful for non-whites, blue suit, white shirt, red tie?

    I don’t think so. I think Democrats need to nominate someone with more charisma than the Republican nominee. Someone here mentioned the charisma factor and looking back on presidential elections in the modern era it seems the person with more charisma won. I think it’s harder for a non-white non-male candidate, but if that candidate oozes charisma they might stand a chance. President Obama has charisma to spare and he beat two white guy candidates.

    Maybe all we need is someone whose charisma is off the chart.

  129. 129.

    Spanky

    @Spanky: I actually do have a point, and it’s that we in MD still have a lot of work to do, because there’s a lot of hard-core Republicans at large here. Five of five of my county commissioners are Tea-Partiers or TP courtiers.

  130. 130.

    StringOnAStick

    @Matt McIrvin: How old is Dr Jill? The only diehard Bernie supporter I knew was going to vote for Stein until I to!d her Bernie had said vote for Hillary. It was the day of the election and she was angry at all the phone messages from Hillary’s campaign, asking her “if I’m with her, of course I’m not with her!” was what she said to me, like that was so, so obvious and how could any Bernie supporter do anything but vote Stein. She went googoo eyed when I told her what Bernie had said; it was almost creepy and cult-like in the way she melted at the mention of his name and freaked me out a little to be honest. She’s currently at a yoga retreat in a South American rainforest, looking for yogic enlightenment or ayuhuasca, whichever works better I guess.

  131. 131.

    jayjaybear

    @Baud: I did. It was moot, since I live in PA and by the time I got to vote in the primary, O’Malley was out.

  132. 132.

    magurakurin

    @Matt McIrvin:

    He’s going to be 79 years old.

    and that is assuming the flicker of his essence is still burning in this earthly realm by then. Still, what better way to challenge a 74-year-old white man than with one who is 79? A winner for sure.

  133. 133.

    Suzanne

    @magurakurin:

    Younger leaders, please step up and tell the old people to sit the fuck down.

    That’s some truth right there. I want the Democratic debates to start looking like H&M ads: good-looking people of every color and race, dressed in more modern style. Looking forward, not back. I want a visual contrast with Trump and his trashy suits, McConnell and whatever that thing is under his face, the Zombie Eyed Granny Starver and the handles on the side of his head. I know this stuff shouldn’t matter, but it does. We need to project youth or at the very least health, vigor and energy, intelligence and modernity.

  136. 136.

    Suzanne

    @Yarrow:

    Maybe all we need is someone whose charisma is off the chart.

    We do need that. The trouble is, we also need a lot of other things, and it’s a rare candidate who has all of it.

    Having said that, we need to do a much, much better job of marketing and storytelling.

  137. 137.

    Eljai

    @Major Major Major Major: Late to the party, but I voted for delegates in the county to the north of you. I used much of the same criteria – looked for people who understand the threats at hand and focused on issues. Each person running got one minute to speak. One guy bitched about voter purges in NY in the primaries. He did not get my vote. Fortunately, there were a number of good people I could vote for.

  139. 139.

    Mnemosyne

    @Suzanne:

    It took a little too long to land on it, and it wasn’t emphasized enough, but I still think Stronger Together was our best rallying cry and slogan. I would be completely comfortable carrying that forward.

  140. 140.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    I thought Warren was declared a “Sell Out” and “No Different than Trump” by the purity pones because she actually is involved in government and not sitting on the side lines telling how everyone how awesome her ideas are if only.

  148. 148.

    Yarrow

    @Suzanne: I don’t know if we need other things. Maybe we do. Or maybe we just need someone with a lot of charisma. I think a lot of people don’t care or understand much about issues. Like the idiots who hate Obamacare but love all the individual provisions in it. How could they be voting on the issues?

    Find a candidate with tons of charisma. The other things – youth, experience, intelligence, good looks, etc. – are bonuses but maybe not necessary.

    And yes, we need better marketing. That marketing needs to be all day every day. All Dems speaking on a single theme. Easy to understand. And be on offense against the Republicans and Trump all day every day. Do not stop. Do not let up.

  150. 150.

    Patricia Kayden

    @StringOnAStick:

    She’s currently at a yoga retreat in a South American rainforest, looking for yogic enlightenment or ayuhuasca, whichever works better I guess.

    Good for her. Perhaps the yogic enlightenment will lead her to a more sensible vote in 2020. We can only hope.

  151. 151.

    Patricia Kayden

    @rikyrah: I didn’t get to see it this weekend but definitely will do so ASAP. So glad that it’s doing well at the box office. It’s the kind of film about Black women that I love. I tend to avoid the slavery movies and while I have watched several of his movies, Tyler Perry’s formula needs a shake up.

  152. 152.

    Mnemosyne

    @Yarrow:

    All Dems speaking on a single theme. Easy to understand. And be on offense against the Republicans and Trump all day every day.

    I know that. You know that. The Berniecrats, not so much. If that single theme is not their single theme, they’re going to take their ball and go home, and then insist that the cancellation of the game was everyone else’s fault.

    For a representative example, see rikyrah’s link at #139.
    /headdesk

  153. 153.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Spanky: To be honest, I went to bed thinking that Brown had it in the bag. When I woke up the next morning and heard that Hogan had won by 54%, I was in absolute shock (as were my co-workers and friends). I guess we underestimated how badly Democrats failed to turn out in that mid-term — especially in vote-rich Prince George’s County.

  154. 154.

    JMG

    Charisma is a bullshit quality applied after the fact by the courtier media. No President ever will start with worse approval numbers than allegedly charisma-laden Trump. A candidate who speaks directly to what they believe is all you can hope for. Does anyone think there’s the slightest possibility the country will be in better shape in October 2020 than it is now? If the Democrat’s best possible nominee in 2020 is a woman, and that why’s she loses, well, fuck the voters then. It’s their problem. If racism and sexism is more important to them than peace and prosperity, there’s nothing anyone can do.

  155. 155.

    Cacti

    @dm:

    I’ll agree there are obnoxious Sanderistas devoid of political maturity,

    It starts at the top.

  156. 156.

    Mayur

    @Suzanne: actually, the realistic take is that we need an affable face to do messaging and a hand to sign the veto pen. Our days of building constructive policy are over until my daughter gets to college (she’s 2).
    This was a fever-dream toss-off idea, but I really would love to draft George Clooney. Young enough, enough Dem contacts, and would destroy any of the (R) yokels in a debate (I’ve heard him ex tempore about politics). Fuck substance.

  158. 158.

    Cacti

    @rikyrah:

    Bernie Sanders/RoseAnn DeMoro intend to undermine Democrats fight to save the ACA by making their own push to replace it with single payer.

    Bernie is content with real people suffering and dying if it gives him a chance to feel self righteous. It’s the M.O. of his entire political career.

  159. 159.

    JMG

    It would be good for this site, and wonderful for the Democratic party, if we could spend one week, no, hell, one day, discussing politics without the names Bernie and Hillary appearing. That’s over. Bringing it back up is past useless.

  162. 162.

    Mayur

    @JMG: Um, you mean “Fuck ethnic minorities, women, poor and middle-class people, and the environment.”

    Trump doesn’t have charisma except to his followers (which, IMO, means no charisma), but his SIDE does have a powerful messaging machine: megachurches, hate radio, RW internet and TV, and a Vichy media. We need someone who can get past that web of bullshit to reach the uneducated assholes and apathetic purity trolls whose fucked-up decision-making metrics are going to decide the next election.

    If I believed in a hell, Obama 2012/Trump 2016 voters, abstainers, and swing-state third party voters are people whom I would like to spend eternity impaled through the rectum by red hot pokers. In this life, it appears that we need their votes.

  166. 166.

    Mnemosyne

    @JMG:

    It sure would. Do you have any plans to get the Bernie fans to stop doing that? Because I’m getting pretty tired of hearing them tell me that Hillary was the worst candidate who ever ran and we totally should have gone with the guy who got 3 million fewer votes.

  168. 168.

    Another Scott

    @Baud: I watch The Simpsons reruns on FX when I don’t see anything else on. They have lots of ads for it (but I’ve not watched it yet).

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  169. 169.

    Anne Laurie

    @gene108:

    [Warren] comes off like a school marm, who is constantly lecturing.

    To be fair, ‘school marm’ was her actual dream job — she says that when she was a little girl, she would collect the younger kids and get them to play ‘school’ with her.

    May not be what *you* want in a President (and remember, I don’t want her to run for president) but let’s leave being dismissive about ‘school marms’ — people who think education is important — to the Repub know-nothings.

  170. 170.

    Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones)

    @rikyrah: Hooray. I saw it today, was so impressed by Henson, Spencer & Monáe together. Can’t rave enough about how good they were as a powerful trio giving each other mutual support.

  171. 171.

    JMG

    @Mnemosyne: When it comes to letting go, somebody has to go first. That’s us. After that, those who persist are professional assholes who can be ignored.

  172. 172.

    Anne Laurie

    @Baud:

    Never even heard of this show Atlanta. I’m so outside the pop culture loop.

    I like NYMag‘s pop-culture Vulture blog; it lets me know as much as I usually need to about The Latest Hot Show/Book/Music/Artist, without requiring me to actually watch or read all of it.

  173. 173.

    Original Lee

    @Patricia Kayden: Since I live in P.G., I can say that Brown was not popular in some segments of the county. People I know did not vote for him in the primary for any of the following reasons: 1) He took the county for granted; 2) he only supported College Park and Upper Marlboro needs and wants, and let Accokeek, Croom, Aquasco, and other south county areas fend for themselves; or 3) he didn’t stop National Harbor. I have no idea if those acquaintances voted for Stein instead in the general or not, or they might not have bothered to vote for governor at all. My two cents.

  174. 174.

    JPL

    @Mnemosyne: According to Cruz

    “This is not about the PRC. This is about the U.S. relationship with Taiwan, an ally we are legally bound to defend.”

    In the olden days, we were legally bound to protect NATO countries.

  176. 176.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    * DVR Alert *

    Short notice, but I just noticed this: Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love (2000) is on TCM at 2:15 a.m. EST. “Two neighbors, a woman and a man, form a strong bond after both suspect their spouses of cheating.” Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung.

    Lushly romantic, beautifully photographed, avoids clichés. Highly recommended. Trailer here.

  177. 177.

    dm

    @Cacti: Don’t let the Bernie Derangement Syndrome rule your life.

    rikyrah’s summary isn’t really accurate. Follow the links and see for yourself.

    The head of the National Nurse’s Assn wants to campaign for single payer, and intends to work with Bernie on that. This undercuts the Democrats’ fight to preserve ACA how? By moving the Overton window in their direction? By scaring Republicans with a movement for something they’d like even less than Obamacare? Even Obama said last week he’d support replacing Obamacare with something better, saying “They could even call it Trumpcare”.

    (To be fair to rikryah, the Nurses’ Assn. head does say she’s willing to embarrass Democrats to get single payer.)

  178. 178.

    Calming Influence

    On a chessboard I would rather be a queen than a king. Leave Warren where she is.

  180. 180.

    Another Scott

    @Original Lee: I live in NoVA and don’t pay all that much attention to MD politics, but about the only thing I heard about Brown before the election was that he was (nominally) in charge of getting the state ACA exchange running and it apparently fell flat on its face. Given how much the national exchange rollout was in the news, having the state exchange also fall over must have been a huge boat anchor for him as well.

    I hope Team D candidates have learned from the last few cycles (in MD, VA, and elsewhere, and nationally) that:

    1) We can’t trust polls.
    2) We can’t take our base for granted.
    3) We have to fight for voting access and for every single vote.
    4) We need to fight like hell for the better candidate in the primaries (without destroying the party, and knowing when to quit), and fight even harder for the Democratic nominee in the fall. The way things have been since 1981, there’s no excuse not to realize that Team D is the only path for progress when the GOP is insane…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  182. 182.

    tobie

    @dm:

    Clinton getting out-maneuvered in the Electoral College reminds me a bit of that.

    I think you’re on to something but I’d frame it differently. In her effort to to help down-ticket Democrats, she ended up neglecting her own firewall states. Then again…so much in this election was unprecedented from Trump himself to the interference of the Russians, the FBI attacks, the hostile media, the divisions within the Democratic party that it’s hard to blame the loss on any one thing. I’m still grateful to her for the care she put into her policy proposals and I hope they won’t be forgotten by the party in its lurch toward populism. She really did have concrete ideas about how to make college affordable, achieve universal health care coverage, jump-start manufacturing, address systemic racism in the justice system, move the US toward a green economy, etc. These are valuable goals and she crafted paths toward achieving them.

  185. 185.

    Anne Laurie

    @James Powell:

    Serious question: Are the Democrats going to have to nominate a midwestern white male, married with children, in his late 40s, with military experience, no record of ever doing anything useful for non-whites, blue suit, white shirt, red tie? If so, we are in trouble because I don’t think we have any of those any more.

    We have a pretty close contender right in this here post; his name is Seth Moulton. And to bolster his genuine military experience — which he didn’t talk about during his first campaign; reporters dug it up on their own — he’s from an upper-middle-class WASP family of near-Mayflower ancestry.

    He doesn’t hate on women or people of color, and he doesn’t publicly praise Jeebus (while breaking every one of Jesus’s commandments). Since we’re Democrats, we’re not supposed to pick candidates who make those their top electoral priorities. But yes we do have “conventional” white-guy white-bread candidates — we just don’t treat them as the be-all and end-all of How A True President Must Be.

  186. 186.

    Cacti

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Bernie couldn’t get single payer in his own state, right?

    I don’t think he made much effort, to be honest. That was the governor’s baby.

    In the last election, Colorado went for Clinton while rejecting the shit out of a ballot proposition to create a single payer system. Single payer is a left wing hobby horse.

  187. 187.

    Mnemosyne

    @JMG:

    Also, too, this isn’t really directed against you, but it’s something that’s been bothering me:

    In an election year where we genuinely, no shit have proof that a foreign power meddled to get their preferred candidate elected, it really chaps my ass that we still have idiot conspiracy theorists on the left running around screeching about the DNC and how Hillary conspired to thwart them at the polls in Arizona.

    There genuinely were hostile forces working against the Democrats in this election, and they preferred to cling to their sense of grievance rather than work together to prevent Russia from deciding our election.

    So fuck them. They are not my friends, and they are not on my side. We needed them to prevent Trump from winning, and they refused to help.

  188. 188.

    James Powell

    @Anne Laurie:

    I was really not hoping for yet another generic white guy and if I sounded like I did, I wasn’t clear.

    I will be sad if after this defeat the party will retreat. I would like to see more men and women of color in leadership positions in this party.

  189. 189.

    tobie

    @Yarrow: Jason Kander seems like a promising candidate when it comes to charisma. I saw him on TV on Friday and was impressed. Does anyone know much about his politics? I know he’s a good campaigner (even if he lost to Blunt) but I’d like to learn more about his positions. Why isn’t he running for DNC chair?

  190. 190.

    randy khan

    @Another Scott:

    I was at a Democratic fundraiser in Alexandria today – a packed house, I should mention – and the special guest was Ralph Northam, who specifically mentioned the S-22 race during his remarks. Fingers crossed.

  192. 192.

    Anne Laurie

    @Baud:

    I feel like [O’Malley] got a bit of a raw deal in this primary.

    He did, kinda. But he’s young, for a politician, and I’m pretty sure we’ll see him again in the future.

  194. 194.

    Another Scott

    @Major Major Major Major: Single Payer is probably doomed unless it’s nationwide because of the huge changes that would be required (including increased taxes) that a single state almost certainly can’t bear. In Vermont’s case:

    Public disagreement over single payer was clear in an April 2014 survey showing 40% public support, 39% opposition, and 21% undecided.1 Though Shumlin’s team had worked hard on policy development between 2011 and 2014, they had neglected to launch a serious and sustained effort to educate the public — a crucial missed opportunity. Indecision was evident in the Vermont legislature, where strong support for single payer was hard to find. Also, the administration’s disastrous launch of its ACA health insurance exchange website, Vermont Health Connect, created doubts about the state’s capacity to assume management and administrative responsibilities for the entire health care system.

    Asking the legislature to approve a new 11.5% payroll tax on employers and income taxes on households as high as 9.5% to finance Green Mountain Care would have increased the size of Vermont’s 2015 state budget, set at $5.6 billion, by 45%. Even though the taxes would have replaced private insurance premiums that employers and individuals currently pay, and even though the Internal Revenue Service had agreed that the taxes would be federally deductible, in political terms it would have been a mammoth increase that would have been glaringly evident on every Vermonter’s tax bill, unlike employer-based health insurance premiums, which most workers fail to notice. According to research in behavioral economics, people pay more attention to hypothetical losses than to hypothetical gains. The political furor that would certainly have erupted over Shumlin’s tax plan — as foreshadowed by the political uproar over the ACA — would have left most Vermonters believing they would be losers. Shumlin’s decision to withdraw the plan represented a failure of political will — but sometimes making decisions because of likely political consequences is the necessary, albeit regrettable, thing to do.

    In many states, legislators continue filing bills to establish state single-payer systems. Because of Vermont’s failure, their path is both clearer and more difficult. Any other state considering this path will find obstacles similar to Vermont’s.

    Even California would probably have a hard time going it alone.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  197. 197.

    Mnemosyne

    @dm:

    The head of the National Nurse’s Assn wants to campaign for single payer, and intends to work with Bernie on that. This undercuts the Democrats’ fight to preserve ACA how?

    By giving Republicans an opportunity to kill Obamacare now with a promise to implement Medicare for All later, and then either not doing it at all, or making their planned Medicare voucher system into one that everyone gets, but is still about as useful as a McDonald’s coupon when it comes to getting healthcare.

    “Medicare for All” would be an empty slogan if the “all” is an increasingly valueless voucher.

    ETA: However, I suspect there will be a rash of press releases from people trumpeting that they’re “going to work with Bernie” that Sanders’s staff will never have heard of. It’s just what happens in politics.

  198. 198.

    randy khan

    @Another Scott:

    The fundraiser was for a friend of ours in the House of Delegates. We’ve been to a lot of her fundraisers (and hosted a few) and we’ve never seen turnout like today. It was great to see.

  199. 199.

    pluky

    @Starfish: Sen. Warren is not a New Englander; she’s from Oklahoma as I recall. But, we in Massachusetts are more than happy to have her (eat that Curt Schilling).

  201. 201.

    Ithink

    @Davis X. Machina:
    Can’t tell whether or not this is sarcasm but I’d love her to be a VP or head of something like the Financial Regulations bureau that will hopefully come to fruition in the next Democratic administration come 2020. As it stands, she’s one of the most useful & knowledgeable senators we have that actually seems to love and do the damn job well. No need to (unnecessarily) share Team D when they actually ARE taking the right steps to winning national elections.

  202. 202.

    Ithink

    @Mnemosyne: THIS all damn day. I love how the m’fers (Kanye West & Susan Sarandon to name but two famous culprits) who didn’t even vote or did so third party as a vain purity pony are remotely disturbed by the myriad of fuck-ups and Actual Issues afflicting millions of ordinary Americans that are likely to be disastrously exacerbated by Manhattan Mussolini’s ascendancy. If your still holding grudges about Bernie not winning the damned primary (and I say this as somebody who voted for him) or because you wanted to give Hillary the metaphorical middle finger by sitting out, you’ve co-signed EVERY nightmare that is impending upon our world & country.

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