Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

White supremacy is terrorism.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

Republicans in disarray!

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Infrastructure week. at last.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Because of wow. / Daughter of Friday Evening Open Thread: Floriduh Man! Russian Edition… Wait, What?

Reader Interactions

172Comments

  5. 5.

    robert thompson

    https://extranewsfeed.com/?source=logo-lo_7fa83b1e8fd9—7ab714ab058c

    The Curious (And Dangerous) Emergence Of Jared Kushner
    I’ve known Jared Kushner for well over a decade. And there are a few things I’d like to say to him.

    Can’t vouch for the medium or the source. Don’t want to be seen as anti-Semitic, but Kushner seems to be a firm hyper-Zionist who sees a window of oppurtunity to do what? How does that square with Bannon. Who is using whom or am I overthinking the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. Don’t mean to be beating a horse here but the SIL worries me more than almost all of them.

  8. 8.

    Barbara

    I gather that maybe the old jeans were destroyed in the process of being removed. Not every male would view these consequences as a deterrent.

  9. 9.

    Iowa Old Lady

    The EU Parliament has voted to end visa free travel for Americans. We’re taking one of those Viking cruises on the Danube in May. That’s multiple countries. What a pain.

    I realize that’s literally a first world problem.

  13. 13.

    NotMax

    Repeating for the evening time crowd.

    Especially inconvenient scheduling for most of the U.S., Z on TCM at 4 a.m. Eastern time Saturday.

    If you’ve ever seen it, no further recommendation required. If you haven’t, you owe it to yourself to experience it.

  14. 14.

    robert thompson

    @Iowa Old Lady: The Deplorables never leave the county much less the country. So it didn’t impact them and so it really never happened. Sorry for the trouble you are gonna go through. The Danube would be very nice.

  19. 19.

    robert thompson

    @Baud: Didn’t see the Meschovsk mention. I just assumed Florida. ( Judy Tanuta voice ) “It could happen.”

  22. 22.

    Pogonip

    She floored him with one kick? I want her as my next teacher! I’ll skip the Viagra-then-I-buy-you-pants part of the curriculum.

    Florida.

  24. 24.

    Pogonip

    Adam, can you please take me out of moderation? I foolishly used the “V” word. Sorry.

  29. 29.

    NotMax

    Just in: Sessions announces he will file “amended testimony” with Senate Judiciary committee.

  32. 32.

    Adam L Silverman

    @NotMax: Not going to get him off the hook. However, you want him where he is: recused and weakened. If he resigns there’s no guarantee that his replacement wouldn’t be worse.

  36. 36.

    NotMax

    @raven

    Nope. Simpson is a person/topic very high on the ‘have no interest of any kind, shape or form whatsoever’ list. Would prefer rubbing ground glass into my eyes, frankly.

  37. 37.

    robert thompson

    @Adam L Silverman: yeah I apologize, can’t get the link to work. I’ll just paste the last paragraph:

    Jared, you want power. You’ve got it. You want people to respect you. I’m sure you have a lot of people respecting the hell out of you these days. You also want people to know your name, and to speak it with gravitas and awe. You will get both of those things; surely you already have. But I also want you to think, for just a moment, about how people will speak your name decades from now, when you are nothing more than a figure from the past. I want you to think about the history books that your great-grandchildren will read, because you, my friend, are going to be in them. And I think you know what they’re going to say.

    I think this is fairly close to the real Jared.

  41. 41.

    Schlemazel

    @NotMax:
    Saw it back in the day. Had just been involved in an anti-war demonstration and found the sound effect of polce clubs hitting skulls too authentic for my liking.

    Might dvr it though, it is an amazing piece of film & (as I understand it) a true story.

  43. 43.

    dm

    Too lazy to link, but Talking Points Memo is all over the Republican Platform Ukraine-plank-transformation story. Trump’s representative on the committee says that Trump told him to get the plank changed, another committee member (a Cruz delegate) says, “I’ve been telling people that for months, glad he finally cleared it up”.

  49. 49.

    efgoldman

    @Adam L Silverman:

    You want more gloom and doom tonight? Or something like this?

    I fully expected Evil Leprechaun to resign tonite, which would certainty not be doom & gloom.
    Are Doom & Gloom a Dickensian law firm or accountants?

  51. 51.

    amk

    now that petey is toast and all, what is the next bright object the msm (and bloggers) will move on to next week?

  52. 52.

    Schlemazel

    Here is a moving obit from this year. It will bring tears to your eyes:
    http://obit.carnesfuneralhome.com/leslie-ray-charping

    At a young age, Leslie quickly became a model example of bad parenting combined with mental illness and a complete commitment to drinking, drugs, womanizing and being generally offensive. Leslie enlisted to serve in the Navy, but not so much in a brave & patriotic way but more as part of a plea deal to escape sentencing on criminal charges.

  54. 54.

    Gin & Tonic

    @dm: I tried to post this earlier and failed – I’d posted the name of the Trump guy in the room about a month ago, when somebody asked; I said he was just a bag man, which he was. But I assumed/alleged he was a bag man for Manafort, because I never thought Trump was stupid enough to not use a cut-out, and leave his fingerprints all over this. I was wrong. He was stupid enough, and now the bag man doesn’t like the way the underside of the bus looks.

  55. 55.

    robert thompson

    @japa21: Josh Marshall is on it. From his article at TPM, the lead:

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-march-meeting

    “In the previous post I explained that Trump national security advisor, J.D. Gordon, who monitored platform deliberations for President Trump at the 2016 convention now admits he did push to soften language on arming Ukraine. He says he did so at the direction of President Trump.”

  56. 56.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Eric S.: I’ve just been looking at more reporting and the parliament made a recommendation but it’s not binding. We’ll see what happens.

    The issue is that the US allows visa free travel from most of the EU countries but not Bulgaria, Croatia, and three others. The EU says they need to be treated the same as other EU members.

  57. 57.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Schlemazel: This part was particularly emotional for me: “passed away January 30, 2017, which was 29 years longer than expected and much longer than he deserved.”

    Something tells me, though, that that can’t be real.

  58. 58.

    Miss Bianca

    Somewhere, somehow, I had heard this story, and remember finding it disturbingly hilarious – or was that hilariously disturbing? Keep thinking it would be a great set-up for a Coen Brothers movie.

    Now I’m wondering what she did with the salon for that few days – did she just cancel all her appointments? Post a sign on the door – “sorry, something came up? Tied up for next couple days?” The mind reels.

  59. 59.

    efgoldman

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    We’re taking one of those Viking cruises on the Danube in May.

    Jealous, jealous, jealous. Would SO love to do that. Not financially possible for us.

  62. 62.

    robert thompson

    @Gin & Tonic: The fact of at least a cosmetic approach to an investigation is flushing out the rats. Trump’s impulsive ego is going to be his downfall.

  63. 63.

    efgoldman

    @NotMax:

    Sessions announces he will file “amended testimony” with Senate Judiciary committee

    Purest bullshit. It’s not like an amended tax return. They RWNJs will try to cut him all kinds of slack. Fuck him and the jackal he rode in on.

  64. 64.

    Brachiator

    Florida wins again as the center of WTF USA.

    Some studio needs to get the movie rights and get Margot Robbie to star as Olga, immediately.

  65. 65.

    Chet Murthy

    @robert thompson: It would be irresponsible NOT to speculate as to why Gordon ‘fessed up now. My wild speculation is that (as reported) he’s on the outside, and angry about it. In short, Lord Smallgloves’ penchant for stiffing his contractors is -finally- bearing fruit (of a sort). If Twitler had just made sure Gordon had a -job- in the administration, this might have all been avoided.

    I sure hope some Dem’s having a heart-to-heart with Christie right now. Imagine everything he knows, and how that knowledge could be used for a plea-bargain re: the GWB affair, and for his future political career.

  68. 68.

    TKH

    Don’t worry about visa requirements to Europe for the upcoming summer travel. This was a vote in the European Parliament, until this gets turned into a rule, if ever, by the European commission much water will flow down the river Danube.

  70. 70.

    sigaba

    Worst Penthouse Forum letter ever.

    (Also I’m pretty sure this was literally the plot of a Red Shoe Diaries episode. Or so I’ve been told.)

  79. 79.

    Chet Murthy

    @Gin & Tonic: Oh c’mon. Play along! I despise the man as much as anybody, but still, if he were the man who delivered the dirt that took down this cabal, he’d be a national hero. All he’d have to do is …. become a Dem. Sure sure, *impossible*. But like I said, it was just speculation. Friday night, man, and I’ve only had a single beer!

  81. 81.

    NotMax

    @raven

    Added a documentary about Nicola Tesla to the Netflix queue the other day (haven’t viewed any of it yet). More up my alley.

  83. 83.

    robert thompson

    @Adam L Silverman:Thank you. I felt a lot of trepidation regarding that article, but it was a personal story and did shed some light on such a murky character.

  84. 84.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Andrea Mitchell‏ @mitchellreports

    Senator Chris Coons says FBI has transcripts that could show Russian leaders colluding w/ Trump campaign

    170 replies 1,580 retweets 1,581 likes

    Ooops

  86. 86.

    Jeffro

    @dm: no joke I was telling people about that aspect (how the Ukraine bit was the only change to the GOP platform that the Trumpkins insisted on at the RNC) of the Trump scandals at dinner tonight… and these are people that think they’re up on politics… they were like “wait, what?”

    So…
    1) the people who have been drip drip dripping information out about the Trump/Russia connections are doing a good job of building public awareness before lowering the boom
    2) there’s “inside baseball” and then there’s “balloon juice level inside baseball”

  89. 89.

    dm

    Anyone know what David Fahrenthold has been up to lately?

    Well, besides collecting awards for his reporting on the Trump Foundation last year, I mean. Looks like just a couple of articles on Trump businesses and the emoluments clause lately.

    If I were a Trumpshevik, I’d find silence from him to be ominous. “Sure is quiet. Too quiet.”

  90. 90.

    J R in WV

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    We’re supposed to fly through Paris to Florence to spend a week in Tuscany with old friends. First trip to Italy… What a mess. Trump could fuq up a good dream.

  91. 91.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    your liberal media, ladies and gentlemen

    John McCain and Lindsey Graham proved not everything is terrible in Washington
    By Chris Cillizza March 3 at 8:59 AM
    At the end of the 90-minute discussion, Bash asked McCain and Graham what they each admired most in the other man. This is what happened:
    [here is a video of the two of talking about their man love for each other]
    You can hate McCain. Or Graham. Or both. Or Republicans. Or the Senate. Or politics.
    But if that exchange doesn’t make you feel good, you need to go to the doctor because you don’t have a heart.

  92. 92.

    Ridnik Chrome

    So I went and saw Robyn Hitchcock play on Wednesday night, and during the show he changed the lyrics to “Give Me A Spanner, Ralph” as follows:

    “Well there’s guys like Trump
    Who just make you wanna dump
    And there’s guys like Bannon
    Who should be shot from a cannon
    And there’s guys like Pence
    Who just make no sense.”

    Got a big laugh and much applause…

  93. 93.

    NotMax

    Florida trivia, from the days when travel was an arduous undertaking.

    Tallahassee became the capital of Florida during the second legislative session. It was chosen as it was roughly equidistant from St. Augustine and Pensacola, which had been the capitals of the Spanish territories of East Florida and West Florida. The first session of Florida’s Legislative Council—as a territory of the United States—met on July 22, 1822 at Pensacola and members from St. Augustine traveled fifty-nine days by water to attend. The second session was in St. Augustine and required western delegates to travel perilously around the peninsula on a twenty-eight-day trek. During this session, it was decided that future meetings should be held at a halfway point. Two appointed commissioners selected Tallahassee, at that point an abandoned Apalachee settlement, as a halfway point. In 1824 the third legislative session met there in a crude log capitol building. Source

  94. 94.

    efgoldman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    your liberal media, ladies and gentlemen

    Saw the byline and immediately assumed “satire.” I mean, no REAL journalist could/would write dreck like this for a major national newspaper, right?

  96. 96.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Miss Bianca: Actually I just changed the bulbs in the fridge. After five years the ones that came with it have gone to the great Tesla coil in the sky.

  97. 97.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @efgoldman: Cillizza has been trying to pass his trump-suckery off as truth-tellin’ contrarianism. He needs to draw the regular attention of someone to chronicle his chronicles like Pierce does for BoBo. Tbogg? you out there? We could go fund you, or whatever the fuck.

  100. 100.

    Mnemosyne

    @Gin & Tonic:

    The woman who wrote it came forward and said that it’s real, and the rest of the family confirmed it. Frankly, there was nothing that rang false in what she said — her dad sounded like a pretty typical alcoholic asshole, only most families aren’t willing to admit what Dad is really like, which is part of the reason we’re in the fix that we’re in.

  102. 102.

    Adam L Silverman

    @NotMax: Nope, I opened the door earlier this evening and they turned on and then both went out at the same time. So I changed them.

  103. 103.

    efgoldman

    @ThresherK:

    Hey, you.mentioned OSJL having a very good pasta sauce, starting with ‘V’, cheap. Is that Victoria brand?

    Cross blog posting!
    Yup. I didn’t feel like going into the kitchen to find the jar.
    I tend to avoid Job Lot, but mrs efg goes every week

  105. 105.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @Adam L Silverman:

    This is what he said:

    “There are transcripts that provide very helpful, very critical insights into whether or not” [collusion occurred].

    That’s like someone from 1974 saying “there are transcripts that provide very helpful, very critical insights into whether or not Nixon ordered a cover-up”

  106. 106.

    efgoldman

    @Adam L Silverman: Our fridge light lasts ~five years. Not a big deal, it’s right up front.
    We just had to change the oven light for the first time since we bought the house (with the stove already here) 15 years ago last month. Of course, the fridge light gets way more on/off cycles.

  107. 107.

    J R in WV

    @Schlemazel:

    Sounds a little like my father-in-law, who was a good guy sober, but a mean SOB when drunk. His children all suffer from his attention. My wife is doing OK, under the care of a good psychiatrist. We’ve been married over 45 years now.

    Quite a job to write that obit! I hope it helped his kids get over his life.

    Thanks for posting the link! Maybe those folks should get the F out of Texas!?

  108. 108.

    FlyingToaster

    @Schlemazel: I swear to dog, I am writing one of these for my FIL.

    I once sent a bio to my HS reunion folk — “Having given up on her dreams to become an astonaut, FlyingToaster has become the chief concubine/whip in a North African sheik’s harem. She regrets being unable to attend.”

    They NEVER asked me to do that again.

  116. 116.

    Frankensteinbeck

    For an interesting look at our society’s biases, gender-swap this story.

    @Adam L Silverman:
    In this I disagree. Sessions won’t be significantly weakened as long as he holds the job. And I don’t think there is anyone worse. Sessions is the true horror show appointment, a competent arch bigot. If anyone can calculate exactly the maximum legally possible amount of voter suppression and see it through, he can. Most likely he’d be replaced by an incompetent lunatic, who would be bad, but do less damage.

  117. 117.

    Millard Filmore

    @Jeffro:

    there’s “inside baseball” and then there’s “balloon juice level inside baseball”

    I forget what brought me here to balloon-juice, but it is the massive number of high quality comments that makes this place so worthwhile … and of course, Adam.

  119. 119.

    efgoldman

    @FlyingToaster: You live in Watertown, right?
    A band with which I’m affiliated received a solicitation from Watertown high for ringers to play in the pit orchestra for their musical. They’re offering 500 bux for run of the show (three nights).
    Last I knew, their performing arts program was in its death throes (like so many others). Have they found money in the school budget, somehow? Do they have an angel?
    Whatever, I’m glad to see it.

  120. 120.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @lgerard: he’s had scalp reduction surgery to reduce his baldness and like someone who is excruciatingly vain, he doesn’t want a hair dresser to see the scars and to leak it to the media.

  121. 121.

    dm

    @Jeffro: Was it my fevered imagination, or did I get the impression that Schiff thought they were witholding info because they were afraid certain Congressmen would pass the information on to the subjects of the investigation?

  123. 123.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jeffro: I think that the Counterintelligence investigation information is being withheld. And I’m pretty sure its being withheld because 1) it isn’t concluded and 2) both the House and Senate Intelligence Committee chairs are tied to the President. The House Intel chair is actually a transition official. Moreover, if the CI investigation has turned up potential connections to GOP officials beyond the campaign, then the last thing you want to do is brief this stuff to members of Congress until you’re complete done and everything’s gone to the prosecutor’s. I know its frustrating. And I’m sure its maddening for the Democratic members of those committees, but if the choice is between upsetting some members of Congress in the short term or having your CI investigation compromised by disclosing everything to Congress as it comes in, you’re better off upsetting them in the short term.

  124. 124.

    Mnemosyne

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    At least she got arrested, too, presumably on rape charges.

    Society is definitely changing, though. I was looking at reviews of a romance novel written about 30 years ago where the author cheekily reversed the then-current trope of the hero raping the heroine, and modern readers are horrified to find this non-consensual scene in their book. Times are a’changing, however slow it seems sometimes.

  130. 130.

    efgoldman

    @Mnemosyne:

    I wouldn’t be surprised if they took up a collection to hire the musicians

    Historically, not at all typical of that town. Of course, as Ms Toaster and Tom Levenson (and many others) could tell you, it’s become gentrified/yuppified over the years.

  131. 131.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Frankensteinbeck: Kris Kobach. Ted Cruz.

    And he’s weakened. He’s the subject of an active counterintelligence investigation with a valid FISA warrant. Part of the leak reported on last night was that there was a call, in addition to the meeting in his office and at the Heritage Foundation sponsored conference, between then Senator Sessions and Ambassador Kislyak. That means that the CI folks have the transcript of the conversation. As do the Brits, the French, the Germans, the Finns, the Bulgarians, the Estonians, the Latvians, the Ukrainians, the Israelis, and several other countries Intel Communities. Because we, and they, have standing SIGINT collection of all communications by the Russian Ambassador in DC. This is why AG Sessions answers have been so shallow and general. If he says anything that doesn’t line up with what is on that transcript, he’s toast. That’s why he was even more mealy mouthed than usual in his presser yesterday. This is the same problem that LTG Flynn has. And is going to be the same for everyone one of these folks.

  133. 133.

    Mike J

    @Ridnik Chrome: At Bowery Ballroom with YLT? That would be a good house for him.

    I’ve seen him at the 40 Watt in Athens and the Croc in Seattle. Basically, If Peter Buck marries a club owner, Robyn Hitchcock will play, and I’ll show up.

  134. 134.

    Adam L Silverman

    @chris: I had spare bulbs that fit the fridge and a couple of other lamps. So I’m pretty sure I didn’t buy them for the fridge, but they fit and work.

  136. 136.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Adam L Silverman:
    At most, they are just as bad. I think Cruz would be much less dangerous. He’s too big a preening, narcissistic prick to do the job with the necessary care and deliberation. He’s the supervillain that spends more time on his monologue than his evil scheme. And those weaknesses may mean that Sessions is in legal trouble, but unless he actually loses the job, they will not inhibit him from his agenda in the slightest.

  138. 138.

    Mnemosyne

    @efgoldman:

    I’m assuming that the kids who are in the play have parents, and it’s probably those parents who raised the money. I’m assuming that parents whose kids are in the actual play have a stake in wanting it to be successful, but since I don’t have kids, you may be right and it wasn’t that set of theater parents after all.

  141. 141.

    Mnemosyne

    @Millard Filmore:

    This is probably the biggest uncovered story about the election. Russian hackers were used to attack Democrats in down-ballot races to make sure that Republicans were in control of all three branches of the government.

    That’s why the Republicans don’t dare break from Trump. They’re tied together by their broad-based election tampering, and if Trump goes down, he takes the whole party with him.

  142. 142.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Millard Filmore: Yep, I remembered that article. But I think it goes beyond that. Both Adam Khan and Scott Dworkin are doing the slow, steady, unglamorous work of combing through campaign disclosures and other financial documents. A lot of this was the President’s, the Trump Organization, and those close to him in the campaign. They’ve started branching out to GOP members of Congress. And what they’re finding, and posting in their twitter time lines, is significant amounts of campaign contributions coming from the US branches of multinationals owned/controlled by Russian oligarchs. Or US companies owned by Russian emigres. Things like that. Another downside of Citizens United.

  143. 143.

    FlyingToaster

    @efgoldman: No money in the school budget, and they need ringers because the music program is in shambles. Our principal’s son attends, and she’s pretty clear on “this part works (basic academics, special needs, some sports), and this part is broken beyond recognition (art, music, drama, debate, post-HS counselling). My next door neighbor’s son told me that the system broke down in middle school, and everyone at Watertown High was just trying to survive.

    I assume that they got an angel. There are plenty of folks (not just parents) hereabouts who would pony up for that. Hell, in a couple of years I’d have WarriorGirl go for it (she’s almost as tall as I am and she’s not even 9 1/2). She’s already even with the middle school orchestra at her school, so by the time she’s in 6th grade, she should be more than competent for that.

  144. 144.

    chris

    @Adam L Silverman: Lucky you. I was thinking of those little 30 watt incandescents that used to be standard equipment. The one in my fridge died and I had to go to the next town to get a bulb. No such thing as A bulb of course but two in a blister pack for 2 bucks. Then the fridge died but I’ve still got that extra bulb, call me if you need one because it doesn’t fit the new fridge. /grump

  145. 145.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Frankensteinbeck: I agree on Senator Cruz. I think Kobach would be as bad, and maybe worse, then AG Sessions.

    As for Sessions, yes he’s in place, but he’s wounded. And wounded is weakened. It doesn’t mean he’s not going to try to implement his agenda. It also doesn’t mean that he won’t be successful. But he is still wounded and weakened.

  149. 149.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mnemosyne: They don’t dare break from him because he has more support within the GOP base than they do. They are scared of having the Trump campaign (Bannon and Conway using Cambridge Analytica all financed by the Mercers) turn on them when they’re up for reelection next year. Until either the numbers on support change or they become convinced that even without them changing they’re going to lose reelection, they will not do anything other than try to look like they’re doing anything.

  153. 153.

    FlyingToaster

    @Mnemosyne: The backstory is that Watertown discontinued music in the grade schools (except for one roving teacher and one part-time aide) in 2011, and grade school art (ditto) in 2012. In 2014 the middle-school headmaster barred private music lessons from using the school (they used to use it from 4pm on). In response, people who valued these subjects either moved out of town (my neighbors across both streets) or sent their kids to private school (waves).

    The parents of theater kids certainly did contribute, but you’d need an angel to get enough money to rescue the musical.

  154. 154.

    Ian

    @Chet Murthy:
    NO! He is a criminal. We obey the laws! I know we have been handicapped by this for years, and it has never seemed to work out for us, but we play by the rules! That is the difference between them and us.

  155. 155.

    efgoldman

    @FlyingToaster:

    this part is broken beyond recognition (art, music, drama, debate, post-HS counselling).

    Pretty much as I remember it from the 80s and 90s. But football is fully funded, I bet.

  156. 156.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @FlyingToaster: I started violin in 4th grade which is probably late. My niece was wasn’t given the chance to start an instrument until 6th grade. That school district is guaranteeing that no one without access to private lessons will ever be great – no matter how great their potential.

  158. 158.

    Lyrebird

    @FlyingToaster: This makes me want to cry, and not in the nice-lookit-that-heartwarming-story kinda way. Kids NEED recess and art (incl music) to learn and retain other stuff, too!

  160. 160.

    FlyingToaster

    @Omnes Omnibus: I started clarinet in 4th, and played through grad school.

    6th is too damn late.

    That school district is guaranteeing that no one without access to private lessons will ever be great – no matter how great their potential.

    True dat.

    Watertown is financially in bad shape. The loss of manufacturing jobs (Bye, Raytheon) and conversion of the old properties to either retail (Arsenal) or housing (Pleasant St. Corridor) means proportionally lower revenue. And the town councillors didn’t factor in “oh, apartments mean poor people with kids, not just middle-class grad students”. So the schools are dealing with overcrowding, immigrant children (primarily armenian, greek, and farsi-speakers), and crumbling infrastructure. When they realized that they needed more classrooms (after they’d closed and sold 3 schools), they shut two “dedicated” classrooms at each grade school (art & music) and converted them to regular classrooms.

  163. 163.

    FlyingToaster

    @efgoldman: Hell, girl’s Field Hockey is fully funded. Channel 13 is all HS sports reruns.

    I lived in Somerville from 87-02. They tore down and rebuilt schools and moved 6-8 into the grade schools. And no matter how you gentrify around Davis Square, 50% of the students in the anthill are children of immigrants. They’re not rich, but they don’t make these kinds of mistakes.

  164. 164.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @FlyingToaster: My niece liked playing viola, but she was embarrassed at how far behind the privately taught kids she was. At the same time, she has done private soccer and basketball stuff enough to ensure that she will be a high school star in both. Taxes should have ensured that my brother didn’t have to fund her development out of pocket.

  165. 165.

    FlyingToaster

    @Lyrebird: That was my dilemna, back in ’12 when we had to decide what to do for WarriorGirl. Send her to public school and spend money on lawyers to fight the system, or send her to private school that met our parameters. I decided I’d rather just pay the teachers.

  166. 166.

    efgoldman

    @FlyingToaster:

    The loss of manufacturing jobs (Bye, Raytheon) and conversion of the old properties to either retail (Arsenal)

    I didn’t know Raytheon was gone. When we lived at that end of town (early 80s) we had to remember not to try to go by there near 300pm, lest we get stopped and wait as long as 20 minutes for the police to let the factory traffic out.
    With the way real estate prices have gone, their tax base should be fine. The Arsenal pays taxes, which it didn’t when it was a government installation. I remember som3e of the selectmen had been on the board since the town was founded, it seems, but they all have to be long gone, now.

  167. 167.

    FlyingToaster

    @efgoldman: Raytheon Cold Storage on Pleasant St. is now two 350-unit complexes (Repton Place and The Mews). The Waltham St side is now Bell Watertown (175 units). On the Waltham side of the line, along Seyon, they built a BJs, Watertown Ford’s service center (the old service center is a Tesla repair bay) and 10 townhouses. The parking lot at Waltham and Stanley is now JCDS’.

    The tax rate for residential is about 1/5 of the industrial (commercial is 1/3). It’s a big hit; they’re not breaking even. And two more complexes are being built on the north side of Arsenal between Irving and Beaconwood.

  169. 169.

    evodevo

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: hEY! I resent the uncomplimentary reference in regard to ferrets everywhere. They are competent, affectionate little killing machines who can run the rats out of your barn in a New York minute. Unlike the current administration.

  170. 170.

    (((CassandraLeo)))

    Regarding the discussion above about school districts cutting arts funding, one of my high school classmates recently won the Academy Award for Best Picture. I was involved in our (relatively small) high school drama program with her, and I have to think that program must have at least contributed a certain amount of experience that later led to her success. Cutting funding for the arts means less revenue for the entertainment industry in the long run. But then, Moonlight is a film about the lived experiences of black and queer people, so averting the creation of more films like this is a feature, not a bug.

    As for instruments, it’s certainly the case that if you don’t pick them up early enough, you may never actually be able to catch up. The same may also be true for foreign languages.

  171. 171.

    Shana

    @Ridnik Chrome: Love Robyn Hitchcock! Was it a best of show or does he have something new out?

    BTW, our older daughter is named Elaine from the song “Freeze.” “There’s a justice in this world and I know just what it’s called. It’s called Elaine.” She’s a lawyer now.

  172. 172.

    Miss Bianca

    @Omnes Omnibus: Way late to this thread, but that was the case even when I was a kid taking violin in 6th grade – the school provided access to the instrument and music class and the orchestra, but in order to excel – or even be competent – I would have had to be having private lessons, which my parents didn’t think to provide me with. Ca y est, even in the 70s in an affluent suburban public school system.

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