Join you local Science March 4/22/17!!!#marchforscience @americanmclass @judycampbell192 @firedancer71 @MrSpock2017 pic.twitter.com/b2PAZxpf7X
— ?MotherofDragons? (@gellibeenz) April 17, 2017
No real balloons permitted at the DC march, or probably some of the other larger marches as well. Maybe y’all can carry signs that say ‘green balloons’.
After my post yesterday, there were comments announcing that members of the Balloon Juice community will be at the March(s) in St. Louis (hi, Quinerly!), Pittsburgh, DC, Boston, San Francisco, San Jose, Madison, St. Paul, Raleigh NC, London, ‘the Bay Area’, Buffalo, small-town Ohio (hi, Kay!), Sarasota, San Diego, Chicago, Philadelphia, ‘Maryland’, Chico CA, Denver, Hartford CT, ‘Dallas or Denton’, Seattle, Greenville NC, and Kansas City (tell Michael Bersin hello!).
I’ve done my best to strip out the relevant comments, which will (should) be mostly below the fold here. If you can’t organize through comments to this post, send me an email at annelaurie dot verizon dot net, and I’ll forward your message to the commentors in the community you flag.
Here’s who’s spoken up, so far:
geg6 says:
I’m going to the Pittsburgh march
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frosty says:
I’m Planning on the DC march this Saturday. Early arrival, but my colleagues will be leaving before 2:00. I’d be interested in meeting up during the day (if it’s even possible)
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Another Scott says:
I’ll be at the DC march, probably collecting with the DC, NoVA, MD IEEE group.
https://meetings.vtools.ieee.org/m/44343
Here’s hoping for a big turnout!
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Wyatt Derp says:
I’m going to the Boston march. Currently just planning on showing up at the Common around 1 pm
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Quinerly says:
Thanks, Anne Laurie! Not sure how many people I’ve gathered for our St. Louis area march and possible meet up. I’ll be at Howards in my beloved Soulard neighborhood in the City of St. Louis by noon for a 12:15/12:30 launch to Union Station. Howards is at the corner of 13th and Lynch, down by our Anheuser Bush Brewery. Would be cool if any area peeps gather after the march for a meet up, drinks, food. Very good Blues band playing…. If you want, pipe in on this thread. I’ll check it later and get a reservation for a head count. Bartenders know me.??
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pamelabrown53 says:
Spouse and I are eagerly anticipating meeting Quinerly and hopefully other Juicers in St. Louis at Howard’s and the March!
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Origuy says:
I’m going to the one in San Jose. It ends at a park near the convention center, where Silicon Valley Comic Con will be happening. There will be Comic Con activities in the park after the rally, so it should be a lot of fun.
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ceece says:
I’m going to the San Jose march, with some students from my school. The lineup of speakers at San Jose is very diverse, with some overlap of people from the Silicon Valley Comic Con. The march ends at Chavez Plaza, where the free public portion of Comic Con is scheduled, and where the Tech museum is having a free kids day. Definitely take the bus or train, as there will be very little parking downtown.
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Larryb says:
Mrs. Larryb has signed us up to go to the march in San Francisco.
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lytic says:
Heading to the march in San Jose. Science!
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mousebumples says:
I’m going to the Madison, Wisconsin march with some friends on Saturday
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skyweaver says:
I don’t post much but I’d be glad to meet up if the schedule allows. I’m in the DC area and my college-aged daughter and I will be down for the march on Saturday.
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Spanky says:
I’m hoping to make the DC march, but I have to leave early so I can run an astronomy program that evening.
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newdealfarmgrrrlll says:
I hope to go to the St. Paul march
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Summer says:
I’m going to the Raleigh march. Any NC peeps up for meeting?
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NorthLeft12 says:
My daughter is attending the march in London, England.
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amygdala says:
Finally finished my brain beanie the other day. I guess I should decide which Bay Area march I’ll attending
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Gelfling 545 says:
Going to the Buffalo march which reminds me it’s time to harass my fb friends about attending.
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Kay says:
My 8th grader wants to go to one so I will take him.
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El Caganer says:
Will be going to the march in Sarasota.
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Marcopolo says:
Have my lab coat & will be at the St Louis march w/ friends. Hoping the weather winds up being more cooperative than is currently forecast (rain & about 50). 50/50 on whether I wind up down @ Howards afterwards to witness the actual physical existence of fellow BJers.
More importantly will folks post their bestest/favoritest Science March sign ideas? I really haven’t seen all that many good ones.
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Seth Owen says:
I’m planning on going to Boston’s march.
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SatanicPanic says:
I’ll be at the San Diego march!
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Louis says:
Will be marching in Chicago. Who’s with me?
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themann1086 says:
My mom’s going to the Philly march!
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Paula says:
Hubby and I are meeting family in Maryland and will be going to the march with them
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West of the Rockies (been a while) says:
Anyone in it near Chico, CA? Our Science March will be smallish but dedicated.
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hedgehog the occasional commenter says:
mr. h will be marching in Denver. I’ll be in Farmington, NM for an SCA event.
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maurinsky says:
I am volunteering at the Science March in Hartford, CT.
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Uncle Cosmo says:
@Another Scott: Might just come down from Bawlmer, hon. Might bring along a real scientist (I’m a retired sadistician) who’s visiting from the Czech Republic. (When she asked Could I be arrested? I replied Well, there’s always a chance…). Ask a FPer to dig you up my e-mail address if you want to get in touch.
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Mart says:
@Quinerly: wife and I thinking of going. Live in west county (with one other liberal family in the hood), so a haul to get downtown.
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FlyingToaster says:
I’m sending HerrDoktor to the Boston Science Rally (not really a march, just overfilling the Common) while I do WarriorGirl stuff.
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Lee says:
I’ll be going to either the Dallas or Denton march.
If anyone else is in the area let me know.
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Kristine says:
Late to the thread, but I will be at the Chicago March.
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planetjanet says:
I will be there. Who hashould the green balloons?
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zzyzx says:
I’m going to the Seattle one.
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sheila in nc says:
@Summer: I’ve just signed up for the Raleigh march also. Don’t yet know when I will get there. Maybe I’ll try to bring a balloon!
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Ceci n est pas mon nym says:
I’m going to the Philly March. Anyone else here planning on attending that one?
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Thrasius says:
Lurker, but I will be at the Greenville, SC rally Saturday.
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Ohio Mom says:
Planning on the Cincinnati March. I can’t say any of our local marches have been all that inspiring — there aren’t enough of us. Though I think that makes my attendance more important.
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Michael Bersin says:
I plan on covering/attending the march/rally at Washington Square Park in Kansas City. I’ll post photos/story at Show Me Progress. I’ll be the tall guy, glasses, gray hair, holding a camera with a 200 mm lens on a monopod. Say hello.
tobie
I’m trying to reschedule some family events this weekend, so I can go to the march in DC.
Suzanne
I am signed up to go to the Phoenix march, but I am currently dealing with a sinus infection that has absolutely kicked my ass.
Jim Kakalios
Hi – long time lurker.
I’ll be at the DC March, and in fact will give a talk at one of the Teach-In tents (Tent 6 at 11:30 AM) on the National Mall. My talk will be on THE PHYSICS OF SUPERHEROES.
Interestingly, we recently found out that there is no electrical power available, and there are extensive regulations concerning setting up a generator on the Mall. So how to display images of comic book pages to describe physics without having access to powerpoint or an LCD projector. My hosts, the American Physical Society and the Optical Society are creative problem solvers. So, we’ve converted parts of my talk to discs. What kind of discs?
Viewmaster discs! They’ll have ~ 50 viewmasters to lend to the audience (if there are more – everyone will have to share) to view the images I’ll be discussing.
Never did something like this before – should be fun.
Florida Frog
@Jim Kakalios: That sounds fascinating. Mr. Frog and I will be there with the mother of our very first environmental science employee. The mom is near 80 and a scientist in her own right. We will check out your tent. Thanks for participating in the teach-in.
zhena gogolia
@Jim Kakalios:
I adore Viewmaster!
The Moar You Know
@Jim Kakalios: That is a truly bad-ass solution to the “no electricity” problem. I’d have used a car battery in a cooler with an inverter, but your way is SO much more awesome.
I’m an IT guy who’s more than a bit of a Luddite and I am all over lo-tech solutions to tech issues, and yours is one of the best I’ve heard in a long time. Kudos to you.
Origuy
@Jim Kakalios: A 12volt marine deep cell battery and an inverter can drive a couple of laptops for about six hours. Don’t know about a projector, but I wouldn’t think it would take much juice. Kind of heavy to drag around, though. Should cost about $250 for both. You need the marine battery because it delivers a constant current. Auto batteries are designed for short-term draw.
Elizabelle
@Jim Kakalios: Everything old is new again. What a great idea.
Wish I was going to be in DC. Good luck with the talk. Maybe a guest post here, after?
ETA: I mean, really. ViewMasters, for the win!
Barry
I will be at the Ann Arbor, MI march.
hovercraft
@Jim Kakalios:
Good luck with your speech/presentation. Enjoy yourself and let us know how it goes.
PAM Dirac
@Jim Kakalios: Cool stuff. It kind of epitomizes what I’m marching for; understand and accept reality, understand your options, get something useful done. Rinse and repeat. I plan to be in DC, so I’ll try to stop by.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Jason may be resigning to spend more time with his family.
geg6
@Jim Kakalios:
That sounds like fun! Wish you were going to be here in the ‘Burgh! I’d definitely stop by. I loved my Viewmaster when I was a kid.
geg6
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Fascinating. Wonder what it really is. Guess we’ll find out soon enough.
Spanky
@Jim Kakalios: Clearly, a heliostat feeding a slide projector would maximize the Cool Factor, but tough to pull off in 48 hours. As it is, I have a couple of these, which would probably last through your talk – if they’re allowed on the mall.
Dunno if I’ll be down there too early, but if I am I’ll stop by.
hovercraft
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
and the plot thickens. He can run but he can’t hide, we’ll find out soon enough why he’s quitting.
ETA: Wasn’t it Jason who announced back in January that he was going to keep on investigating Hillary Clinton because there were still questions about Benghazi, E-MAILS!!!, and her ability to still be standing after having a tone of bullshit thrown at her?
Karma.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Sounds like it was quite contentious for Rep Labrador
Elizabelle
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: He might not finish his term?
Wait a minute. He’s going all Palin on us. Mind you, not sorry to see him leave sooner. But what in hell?
tom
I’m going to the Ann Arbor march too.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Elizabelle: from what I’ve seen of Chaffetz, I find it equally believable that he sees the writing on the wall (it says “Evan Mcmullen”) and wants to get on a gravy train while there’s still a choice of seats, and that he thinks he has a great future (rumors are his staff is buying up presidential campaign-like domain names for 2024 or 28). Either way, it seems like he see the near-term best option as getting away from trump.
rikyrah
Why Richard Cordray is still on the job at the CFPB
04/20/17 11:22 AM
By Steve Benen
In an era of Republican dominance, the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is very much in doubt. Ask congressional Republicans which federal offices they’d most like to eliminate, and it’s a safe bet the CFPB would be the first agency most of them mention.
But at least for now, the CFPB still exists, and its director, Richard Cordray, is still on the job – a dynamic a Wall Street Journal piece recently described as “the greatest mystery in Washington.”
Why hasn’t Donald Trump kicked him to the curb? Let’s unwrap this mystery.
The way the CFPB is structured, its director is not just another member of an administration. Instead, when President Obama chose Cordray for the post in 2013, it was for a five-year appointment, which doesn’t end until 2018.
Trump, of course, would love to replace Cordray with someone who’d be far friendlier with the financial industry and less aggressive on protecting consumers, but as USA Today recently reported, “the law says the director may be removed by the president only for ‘inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.’”
The estimable David Dayen explained the White House’s dilemma this week.
Professor Purple
Add in Moab, Utah’s march for science. Science not silence.
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Yeah they weren’t having any of his shit. Turns out being a member of the freedum caucus who just bitches about everything and refuses to govern is not what your constituents wanted when they voted for you. Obama and his evil liberal blackness are gone now it’s time for you to actually do something.
SAD!
amk
rikyrah
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
IDAHO?
amk
@hovercraft: Who is more stupid, the ones who took their balls and went home, or the ones voting for the same shitheads over and over?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@rikyrah: these town halls, a lot of them, are going like they were scripted by the Indivisible people, who say there’s nothing MoCs fear more than bad local press, especially video. I doubt Labrador’s in real trouble, but Jeff Flake and Dean Heller and a bunch of others are probably very nervous
hovercraft
@rikyrah:
Oh please, oh please, just do it, you know you want to.
I don’t really want Cordray gone, but we know that the Shitgibbon hates being told what to do, and he’s determined to undo everything Obama did, so at least this way something positive can come of it. McTurtle will try to defang the agency as long as he has the power to, he hates it.
amk
yup.
Frankensteinbeck
@geg6:
By the way, after the last twenty-four hours’ threads, I want to thank you for the work you, personally, have done to get Democrats elected. So… thank you.
mdblanche
I’ll be at the Providence RI march, unless life has other plans which it unfortunately might.
Mike J
@amk: And that’s something Bernie will do everything in his power to prevent.
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Speaking of bad local press…
Twitter war erupts between Raul Labrador and Donald Trump
UPDATED: Thu., March 30, 2017, 10:37 p.m.
The spat was over the failure of TRyancare. So part of the problem for hardliners like him is that they are getting it from both sides, the hardliners who want full repeal full stop, and the people who were at the town hall demanding to know what was going to replace it. He’s not vulnerable to a democrat, but Idaho is Twitler country and he could be vulnerable from the right hard as that is to believe. I don’t really care if scenes like this cost assholes like him their seats, I’m just happy their constituents are making them squirm.
FlyingToaster
It turns out that my BIL and youngest sister are in NYC; she’s hieing down to DC for the march. He’ll probably join the NY one in progress, as he has a speaking engagement that am.
These marches and rallies are likely to exceed turnout expectations (like Jan. 21), so be warned — public transit is your only sane option, but it’s likely to be a fucking madhouse. In January, I hopped on the RedLine outbound from Harvard, all the inbound platforms were full to Alewife (EOL), and the train back inbound was filled at Porter. Crossing the Charles at the Longfellow saw both sides’ sidewalks packed with people walking from MIT. The exodus at Park was insane :) This will replicate itself in NYC, DC, and Chicago for sure. Pack your patience with your water bottle and granola bars.
hovercraft
@amk:
All of them Katie.
Though I’d say one group actually succeeded, they may be waking up to the fat that the face eating leopards actually eat faces, but they got what they wanted, the others not only didn’t get what they wanted, they got everything they didn’t want, but still think that enabling the face eating leopards was better than getting some of what they wanted. So two sides of the same coin, self deluded morans all of them.
hovercraft
Trump stuck with low approval ratings
By Niall Stanage – 04/20/17 06:00 AM EDT
President Trump in recent weeks has avoided major controversies and won plaudits from unexpected quarters for his handling of foreign policy.
Trump has shifted on several policies toward the GOP establishment and appears to have diminished chief strategist Stephen Bannon’s influence — another change in a conventional direction.
Yet Trump’s approval ratings remain low by historic standards for someone in the first 100 days of their presidency, and some of his moves have provoked criticism from the right.
The situation highlights a central dilemma for Trump. His shock election win came despite the lowest favorability ratings of any major-party presidential nominee in recent history. He badly needs to expand his popularity beyond his hardcore supporters.
But seeking to do that by moving toward the center risks alienating his base voters, who backed him because of his loud and proud defiance of the Washington establishment. The intensity of those voters was a key part of Trump’s victory.
“It is difficult to square that circle,” said Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), cautioning that the problem would likely persist at least through next year’s midterm elections.
“Either his hardcore supporters will come to the view that he has got to do certain things to build and expand the base, to protect the party’s interests and to set himself up for reelection — or they will be highly offended and take that out on the president,” Steele said. “We saw that in 2006, when core supporters of George Bush deserted him.”…………….
Two new polls this week, from Marist and the Pew Research Center, both pegged his approval rating at a lowly 39 percent. In Gallup’s daily tracking poll, his approval rating has hovered between 38 percent and 42 percent since late March.
Those ratings are lower than for every president of the modern era at a comparable point in his presidency.
One number in a recent Gallup poll is particularly worrisome from the Trump political team’s perspective.
It found his standing had declined on a number of important qualities, most notably whether he keeps his promises. The share of adults who believe he does so has fallen to 45 percent, according to Gallup, a drop of 17 points in just two months.
…………But how Trump finds his way out of the predicament is not clear.
“To deliver on some of his promises in the first term, he is going to have to cut deals to bring Democrats along,” said GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak, a contributor for The Hill.
But, he added, this goal was made more difficult by the president’s low approval ratings.
“The current dynamic is not putting any pressure on Democratic elected officials,” Mackowiak said. “In fact, the pressure is really not to partner with the White House on anything right now. Democrats are saying it is less risky to oppose Trump than to support him.”………….
………But the greater danger, acknowledged even by some Republicans, is that the divisiveness of Trump’s political persona is a millstone. They say that means he needs to rack up some big achievements — and soon — if he is to escape it.
“His personality doesn’t lend itself to broad-based popularity,” said GOP strategist Rick Tyler. “People are either going to like him, or they’re not going to like him. The bigger question is whether they like what he does.”
mapaghimagsik
I’ll be in San Francisco … FOR SCIENCE!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
from the newly proposed version of RyanCare
Nothing says “pro-life, pro-family” like making a baby prohibitively expensive for most of the country!
hovercraft
Ellison: Obama deserves blame for Democratic losses
By Jonathan Easley – 04/20/17 10:19 AM EDT
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) said former President Obama is partially to blame for the Democrats’ poor showing at the polls in 2016.
Ellison, now the deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, blamed Obama for ignoring party politics while he was in office, which he said had put the president’s legacy at risk.
“Look I’m a great fan of President Obama. I totally voted for many of the things he supported — Dodd Frank, Affordable Care Act, Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act — I could keep going,” Ellison said at an event Wednesday at the University of Minnesota.
“Wonderful achievements. But Barack Obama could have been a better party leader, and I think the fact that he wasn’t put his legacy in jeopardy,” he said.
Ellison added that Obama was “great at getting himself elected” but said he should have worked closer with party leaders to ensure the Democrats were in power to protect his accomplishments.
“Your legacy is not a building that he’s going to construct in Chicago housing his presidential papers,” Ellison continued. “His legacy is the work he’s done, which I believe is tremendous. But given we lost a lot of statehouse seats, governorships, secretary of states, his true legacy is in danger, and I think he can’t say that he wasn’t part of those losses. Who else, right?”………………
Frankensteinbeck
@hovercraft:
OH, no. Don’t you EVEN blame Obama for American racism, Ellison.
Ian G.
Don’t have time to make it to the NYC March on Saturday, but I donated $50.
Kay
I’m taking my youngest son and his friend to this one in Toledo. They’re 8th graders.
Timurid
I will be attending (Lafayette, LA).
Quinerly
Thanks for all this!
Hill Dweller
@hovercraft: No mention of Citizens United, gerrymandering, voter suppression, and/or Dems running from President Obama early and often.
Chris
I got a prior engagement on Saturday. Gotta mosey down to the French embassy and cast my ballot for – well, someone who’s not Marine Le Pen. Will catch up to the others later.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@hovercraft: @Frankensteinbeck: so fucking stupid– pure, ego-driven wanking “I could’ve done better than Obama”. Chuck Schumer did the same thing a couple of years ago.
Tom Levenson
I’ll be at the Boston march (already got my T shirt), probably with my spawn. We’ll most likely be joining an MIT contingent, heading to the march from campus.
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
It’s horrible that conservatives treat pregnancy as an illness. I don’t get it. Whether you have a baby or not everyone was born. Who paid for it? Not them! They were babies!
Iowa Old Lady
I see Chaffetz told a local radio station he might not finish his term. Hm. Dead girl or live boy?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Chris: I’d be interested in hearing your choice and your reasons, if you feel like sharing. I haven’t followed the race closely but it does get curiouser and curiouser. Just saw a blurb today about how all three candidates, except Macron, share some degree of affection for Putin.
germy
@amk:
Steve in the ATL
@Kay:
I haven’t read the plan, but I assume that along with making pregnancy prohibitively expensive, they have made birth control and abortions inexpensive and easy to access. Right?
germy
@Iowa Old Lady: Doesn’t want to find himself in the uncomfortable position of having to investigate POTUS.
He’d been licking his chops waiting for HRC to win. Drooling at the thought of it. He had high hopes of four years of building his career on hounding her to death. Sort of like Nixon in the ’50s.
And then…. cheeto won.
bemused
@hovercraft:
I’ve just started reading McKay Coppins’ piece, Trump the outer borough president, in Atlantic about Trump always wanting to be accepted by NYer’s and Manhattanite “elites ” and never succeeding. It didn’t take me long to think that the flyover Trump voters have/had the same issues. They “don’t get no respect” from those who they think look down at them.
Elizabelle
re Chaffetz: the Salt Lake City Tribune. Not much info in the article, but the reader comments are fun. Some suggest Chaffetz is doing this to set up another wingnut with name recognition before the 2018 elections, but others think he’s in trouble over Russia or something else. One suggests he should have another Town Hall before he flees so that his constituents can weigh in on what they think of him.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Mnemosyne
G managed to schedule his return flight from Chicago in such a way that I probably can’t make it to the LA March. Grr. We’ll see how bad traffic is and if I can make a late appearance.
LAO
Totally O/T: very funny 4/20 tweet.
ETA: here’s a better version
germy
@Elizabelle:
zach
I’ll be out in Lisboa, Portugal, but most I’m posting to note Liz Warren’s burn just now:
Elizabelle
@germy:
And the rest of us all fucking lost. Some Americans don’t recognize that, yet.
One big silver lining is that we are spared the compleat and utter ugliness and investigations and Emails!Emails!Emails! that would be spewed at Hillary 24/7. Bitter, but maybe it’s better the Republicans blow their own damn party up.
I hope we see a lot of Republicans go to jail over what they did.
Doug R
Probably dragging the family to the Vancouver BC March.
Elizabelle
@zach: And his new constituent, Peter Thiel.
low-tech cyclist
I’ll be at the DC march.
Frankensteinbeck
@bemused:
This kind of thinking is omnipresent in racists, narcissists, abusers, and assholes of all kinds. As Trump demonstrates, there is no concession, no victory, that will soothe their resentment. Trump has also demonstrated how virulently widespread this psychology is.
@germy:
Maybe I give him too much credit, but I think that for Sanders, this is about ideology, not his own power. He truly believes all his socialist bullshit ideology, not just the parts we respect about how the government should help people. He believes that race is a sideline of the real class war, and that the proletariat are waiting to rise up if someone will just represent the struggle as poor vs rich. The primary was devastating to him. The people did not rise up. But socialism cannot fail, so it must have been failed – and sure not by him.
Chris
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Would you believe I still haven’t decided? (I know, I know).
The thing is, not only have I not actually lived in France for seventeen years, but the political scene is much more chaotic compared to a two-party system – it usually doesn’t matter, but it does this year. So not only am I less well informed in general, but it’s a really muddled scene right now especially. The candidates of the two major parties both look like they’re in real trouble, with the LR (center right) one being under investigation for corruption, and the Socialist polling under ten percent. The candidates who’ve benefited are those of the far left and those of the center. And like I said days ago, I’m kind of terrified that we’re going to end up with one of those two facing Le Pen – and then, thanks either to a ton of pissy centrists who don’t want to vote for a left-wing extremist, or a ton of pissy leftists who don’t want to vote for a centrist establishment stooge, Le Pen pulls it off.
Honestly, I’ll probably end up going for Macron (the centrist) because I like the fact that somebody is unapologetically pro-EU – for all the beef I have with it (I did plenty of bitching about the Greece crisis on this blog a couple years ago), it’s still something I’d rather have than not have. Especially true in the age when Putin is trying to break it up, and when foreign policy, in the sense of presenting a united front against Russia, is something that matters more and more to me. And let’s face it, France has nowhere near the level of grievances against the EU that Greece did.
But you never know: I might end up talking myself into voting for the Socialist despite his very low chances. (My family – at least, the one member of it who’s outspoken about her politics – tended to lean UMP/LR, but I voted Socialist pretty much entirely in reaction to Sarkozy’s “let’s win back voters from the FN!” shtick. The last thing the country needs is a Southern Strategy).
mdblanche
@rikyrah: IDAHO!
germy
@Frankensteinbeck: You’re probably right. But it sure looked like he was digging the adulation towards the end of the campaign. And Jane was literally strutting like Mick Jagger next to him when they’d walk onstage.
Steve in the ATL
@Frankensteinbeck:
So…when was the last time he read a newspaper or a history book? Is he frozen at a point in the past like trump and sessions are, incapable of understanding changing times and nuances and complex factors?
Chris
@bemused:
What I’ve always found eyeroll-worthy is that they then take all of that out on liberals. Because really, “Manhattanite elites” are nowhere near that liberal, if at all. From what little I see of them, they seem to skew towards Liebermanite/Bloombergian centrism.
hovercraft
@bemused:
We “locals” know all about the “elites” rejection of the Shitgibbon. There are many egomaniac millionaires and billionaires here who people would vote for if they ran, heck Bloomberg served three terms, but Twitler couldn’t get elected dog catcher because he’s scum. The elites do allow the nouveau riche in if they follow expected norms, but of course this narcissist couldn’t. When he first arrived from Queens he did get invited to the “right” parties and functions, but he very quickly was dis-invited because he was crass, and he seemed not to understand the concept of noblesse oblige, you are actually expected to donate at a fund raiser, not just show up and claim you did. Also too his bragging and general obnoxiousness did not go over well. That’s how he came to associate with the Tyson’s and rappers of the world, you’ll notice no real society or old money people are associated with him. All this is part of this revenge trip he’s on, he wants to prove to all these people that he’s better than them, which will never happen, so we all suffer.
Miss Bianca
@LAO: Love it!
mdblanche
@Iowa Old Lady: Yes.
@zach: I too support greatly increasing the physical distance between Scott Brown and the rest of us. Nothing personal, New Zealand.
chopper
i’m going to the seattle one.
Steve in the ATL
@LAO: is this a big client development day for you?
mdblanche
@germy: At this point I think it’s become a mixture of both.
@Steve in the ATL: Yes.
Chris
@Frankensteinbeck:
You can sincerely believe in all the ideology (I’m sure you’re right) and still have such a gargantuan ego that you think you’re the only one who can bring it about.
“I fail to see why you do not understand us. You yourself have stated the need for unity of authority on this planet. We agree.”
“Yeah, but I gotta be the unity!”
LAO
@Steve in the ATL: LOL. Marijuana is a violation in NYC — no money to be made. ;-(
Frankensteinbeck
@mdblanche:
I think you’ve covered what I was going to say, only shorter and sweeter.
EDIT – @Chris:
He’s the only socialist who’s gotten far enough to test his dogma on a national stage and have it shown to be garbage. It seems justifiable that he and his followers can’t untie the man from the belief system.
eclare
@LAO: Made me laugh, forwarded on….thanks!
bemused
@hovercraft:
I remember the story of Trump walking into an event that was honoring people for their charity efforts. IIRC, he just walked onto the stage and took a seat meant for an honoree! He didn’t donate or do anything charitable but basically took credit, think he was in some photos and left. WTF No wonder NY’ers were never impressed.
rikyrah
Who are they fighting? They control the WH and both houses of the Legislative Branch….who is fighting them?
……………………..
White House is ‘gearing up’ for a government shutdown fight
04/20/17 12:58 PM
By Steve Benen
It’s one of those annoying details that the political world probably doesn’t want to think about, but current funding for the federal government expires a week from tomorrow. Without an agreement or an extension, the government will shut down at midnight, April 28.
The conventional wisdom, which I’ve largely believed, has said for weeks that a shutdown is very unlikely, but signals from Donald Trump’s White House suggest such an outcome is quite possible. Politico reported late yesterday, for example:
…………………………
The smart play is for the parties to quietly extend current spending levels, keeping their powder dry for the next big budget battle. Indeed, the real fight is likely to be in the fall, when the debate shifts to the next fiscal year, which begins in October.
But Team Trump is saying it doesn’t want to wait that long: it wants to fight now over funding in the current fiscal year. It sounds like GOP leaders are offering some modest, face-saving options for the president, but the White House is saying it wants more.
catclub
@Chris:
I would guess with a whole bunch of masters of the universe/ayn rand fans thrown in as well – a great story to tell oneself if one is very rich.
hovercraft
@Frankensteinbeck:
Yes you do. A person who truly believed the ideology and had been in government for almost 4 years would understand that governing is about making compromises and incremental change. This purity bullshit and his drive to remake a party he refuses to fucking join in his own image is egotistical. He’s pissing on Ossoff who is running in Georgia in a district that hasn’t elected a democrat in decades, because he is not pure enough to meet his standards. Georgia is not the People’s Republic of Vermont. He may have started off running to get his message out, but then he got drunk on the adulation and now just like Twitler he believes only he and his way can lead the party, again that he’s not even a fucking member of. The democratic primary voters had a choice, and we rejected him, Hillary got millions more votes than him and Twitler, she obviously did something right, she lost on a technicality, if he wants to help call her up and work with her and anyone else who was with her. This bullshit “I told You So” tour is not helping, it’s reviving the primary fight because he wants to see himself as the savior of the party and the country. I wasn’t buying what he was selling last year and though if had won the primary I would have voted for him, it would have been with me holding my nose. As a black woman, his dismissal of me and my concerns in favor of courting back the WWC was and still is offensive.
Frankensteinbeck
@rikyrah:
Nobody gives a fuck what Team Trump wants. He’s already shown himself to be all hat and no cattle. Congress knows they can ignore his bluffs.
bemused
@Frankensteinbeck:
@Chris:
I know these people and they hate, hate having anyone, no matter how much more experienced, knowledgeable or educated on a topic, tell them they might be wrong about something, anything. Very insecure and they feel dissed. You can’t disagree with a guy “that just knows”.
amk
@Frankensteinbeck: there ain’t no ‘team trump’. they are all backstabbing grifters.
amk
Frankensteinbeck
@amk:
Also true, and another fine reason for the lack of fucks given.
TenguPhule
@Frankensteinbeck:
Don’t assume he’s bluffing. Between his unreasonable demands, the Freedumb Caucus and his veto pen, a government shutdown is a very real possibility. He has nothing to lose, remember he LIKES when government doesn’t work as long as he can boast about being king of the hill.
Another Scott
@hovercraft:
Another piece of evidence – How many co-sponsors has Wilmer ever had for his legislation in the Senate? Not many, IIRC.
The whole point of politics is to win elections to get better policies enacted. Purity doesn’t do anything if it doesn’t further that goal.
Cheers,
Scott.
Mnemosyne
@Steve in the ATL:
I actually have a speech prepared for the one or two “pro-life” people I know, and it’s along the lines of, “We could have virtually eliminated abortion the way they have in Europe by making healthcare and contraception virtually free and having good family leave policies and social welfare, but you wanted to do this on the cheap and didn’t give a shit how many mothers and babies would die of preventable causes just so you could feel good about ‘ending abortion.'”
And then I’ll shove the soaring maternal mortality statistics from Texas down their throats.
amk
TenguPhule
@mdblanche: Why do you hate New Zealand?
hovercraft
@bemused:
This is the one.
Trump often stole credit for other peoples’ charity. When he actually donated, it was to benefit himself
TenguPhule
@Mnemosyne:
Unless you use actual paper, they’re gonna ignore it. I’ve met these people, logic doesn’t matter, facts don’t matter. The Good book says sluts must be punished, therefore they will punish them.
bemused
@hovercraft:
That’s it. Among all the outrageous things Trump has done in his long, miserable life, this is one incident that stuck in my mind.
bemused
@TenguPhule:
They’d just ignore the paper data also, too.
ruckus
Planning to go to the Caltech rally. Have a early banquet to attend in the afternoon/evening so the LA march is out.
Mnemosyne
@LAO:
I just posted that on Facebook for my cousin-in-law who’s a suburban cop. Hilarious.
TenguPhule
@bemused: Not when its been crammed down their throats.
And if they do, run. You’ve found terminators.
Elizabelle
Local Salt Lake City columnist Robert Gehrke on Chaffetz, and this sounds credible. Published before Chaffetz hinted he might bag out early.
Gehrke: With Chaffetz’s first move, the 2020 governor’s race starts now
Elizabelle
@LAO: That’s wonderful.
Frankensteinbeck
@bemused:
I think TenguPhile means literally shoving the paper down their throats.
@TenguPhule:
It’s a whole different way of thinking. We expect logic, and they don’t operate that way. I’m reminded of when a reporter confronted Rick Perry with the statistics that abstinence only education was making things worse. He looked confused, then ignored it. They know that correctly followed moral dogma will yield correct results. They know this. Actual results are irrelevant. In this case, the moral dogma is A) that sex for unmarried women is so Bad that their purity should not be stained by even knowing it exists, and B) that black women rut irresponsibly like the animals they are, and must be punished for it.
If B there shocks you, trust me, it is one of the major pillars of the anti-abortion movement. I grew up hearing it, and Palin let it slip at a public event a couple years back.
EDIT – Apologies to African-Americans, women, and literally the entire human race for quoting the monstrosity that is how these people think. That’s just how bad they are.
Mnemosyne
@bemused:
I do mean it pretty literally. One of the people is a social worker for a private charity, so facts and logic might actually work. The other one is a Christianist lost cause, so the literal paper-stuffing would be the most satisfying part.
mdblanche
@TenguPhule: Hey, I said it’s nothing personal. Our gain just happens to be their loss.
Steve in the ATL
@Elizabelle:
Not related in any way. Chaffetz has done something very bad that he knows is going to come out.
Boussinesque
Committing the cardinal sin of posting before reading the entire thread, but I’ll be attending the San Jose March with a friend or three. I’ll comb through the comments to see what potential identifiers for fellow Juicers there are–for my part, I intend to have a sign saying “Facts Matter, Logic Matters, SCIENCE Matters”, if I can rustle up the appropriate materials.
bemused
@Mnemosyne:
Hope so. Whatever works needs to be shared in a step by step format for people like me who has a hard time not throwing up my hands and asking what the fuck is wrong with them.
TenguPhule
@mdblanche: New Zealand produces lamb. Somalia is a better destination. Don’t really care about offending them.
hovercraft
@Frankensteinbeck:
No need to apologize, I know you are merely channeling their bullshit ;- )
And they are worse than that, if that’s what they say out load, FSM only knows what they’re holding back.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Late to the thread as usual, but this is a shout out for Philly. Anyone here in my city?
Fogeyman
Just possible I’ll be at the St. Louis march. It’s a 3-hour drive for me, but I plan to be in St Louis Friday night. If I can, I’ll be there.
icedfire
I very much want to go to the march in St. Paul, being a chemist myself, but fear that I will be unable to go due to massively important deadlines at work that might require I be in the office all weekend.
Snarkworth, short-fingered Bulgarian
I will be at the DC march, with my spouse, who is the real scientist. I am a scientist groupie.
cthulhu
Not many shouts out for the LA March but I and family members will be there.
Dalai Rasta
I hate to do this, being that I only rarely post here, though this blog is one of my daily reads.
My cat just had a seizure today. This cat.
I don’t know what to do. I can’t afford care for anything serious.
I’m disabled. I receive SSI. I have seizures myself, as well as chronic depression. I can’t drive, because even with medication, I have 3-4 seizures a month. I’m obviously unemployed.
I live with my parents, both of whom are on Social Security. My father receives chemotherapy one week a month for myelodysplastic syndrome. He occasionally requires injections for low blood cell counts. My mother uses a wheelchair when she’s out of the house, and otherwise spends most of the day in bed, She has osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia.
Our house is a wreck. None of us can keep up. We have leaks in our ceiling and a tarp on the roof, which has been there since after Hurricane Isaac.
We have four cats, all of which I adopted after I started looking after the feral cats on our street. I was here all the time; I needed some way to feel productive, so I started getting them spayed and neutered, and feeding those who stayed in our yard. I took in those who had injuries; every single cat in my house had some medical issue when I took it in. I’ve been doing this since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
About seven years ago, I had my worst ever episode of depression, at a time when we looked like we were headed for foreclosure. I started receiving SSI shortly afterward. Has anyone here ever had to tell an administrative judge that they were not only contemplating suicide, but also thinking about killing their parents, because they were all dependent on each other? (I want to make it clear that I am not that bad off right now; I’m not suffering clinical depression right now, just despair over our situation.)
I probably shouldn’t be posting this. I’ve managed not to do it hundreds of times before. But Bella is my baby. She even tries to look out for me. She pesters me to go to bed at the right time, and wakes me up to take my medication in the morning, and again to start my daily routine. She’s the calmest, sweetest cat imaginable, and I can’t bear the thought that I can’t take care of her.
I just need advice right now, and a sympathetic ear at a difficult moment. I know this to be a place where that’s often on offer.
Seanly
Don’t know if it was a thread of Annie’s but I had previously posted that I would be in the Boise, ID march. I will also be at the ASCE Pacific NW student competitions at BSU before & after so I have a busy day.
I will be with some non-Balloon Juice friends, but always eager to meet new folks.
ingressus sum
Sign waving at Lihue Airport on Kauai, 11-1:00.
Rheinhard
I plan to go the march in NYC.
(((CassandraLeo)))
I have exams right now, but if I have time I may show up to the Sarasota march. Not that many people here are likely to know who I am; I’ve mostly lurked.
ruckus
@Steve in the ATL:
Frozen in time?
Absolutely. As solid and cold as what that big floaty thing that they made a movie about hit.
BCHS Class of 1980
Spousal Unit and myself will be at St. Pete for that march. Not quite sure how close we are to Betty but I suspect she is on the rural fringes of the TSP metro area.
ruckus
@Dalai Rasta:
I’m drawing a blank on what to say other than I’m sorry for all of that.
Is there any chance that the humane society might be able to help?
sempronia
@Boussinesque: I’ll look for your sign at the San Jose march. Didn’t expect to find so many San Jose denizens among the commenters here!
Dalai Rasta
@ruckus: Having some experience with our local Humane Society chapter, I’m not sanguine on getting much help from them. As for the Humane Society more generally, the resources for help they list in Louisiana are almost all spay/neuter, and I’ll have to get to New Orleans for the sole resource they list for low cost veterinary care.
I’ve already contacted the organization that I usually get help from, but it may be a while before I get an answer, and I’ve never asked for help for veterinary care like this before. On the other hand, they did take care of Bella before, so maybe.
I’m just in a bad state of mind at the moment and can’t seem to think entirely clearly (panic, I guess), although we really do need some help.
satby
@Dalai Rasta: Have you thought of setting up a GoFundMe? I’m in for some help if you do.
J R in WV
@Steve in the ATL
You’re kidding, right? Marxists read and process information differently than most people. There’s that dialectical materialist inevitability of class progress, that overrides any other interpretation of events. Bernie can’t learn what we need him to learn, because such a thing is impossible in his political framework. The dialectic won’t allow it in the universe.
J R in WV
@Dalai Rasta:
If you can set up a Go Fund Me, and then comment with a link to that Go Fund Me page, you will almost certainly get help from many B-J regulars like me and Satby. Your needs seem to be aligned with the overall goal of Go Fund Me.
Best of luck with your kitty, we have two that we wait on like the babies they are. Both rescues, one was a tiny feral kitten when my wife found her in a culvert, 8 inches long and six months old.
Original Lee
Late to the thread due to really crappy wifi access. We hoped to be at the Madrid March, but due to Delta’s Disaster in Atlanta, our return flight was rescheduled to earlier than originally planned. We will wear our shirts to the airport and on the plane, though!
Mnemosyne
@Dalai Rasta:
I second the GoFundMe idea. If you do that, email your story and a kitty photo to Anne Laurie (links are at the top) and she will probably front page you once she verifies you’re for real.
Also, ask the organization you do have ties to if they can recommend a vet who does home visits in your area. That might be easier for your whole family.
middlelee
@Dalai Rasta:
I’m with the GoFundMe idea and I’m in if you do that.
ruckus
@Dalai Rasta:
The GoFundMe idea sounds like you’re best bet. I’m sure we can help you out real quick, pets take first place here by miles.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
I will be at the St. Louis march. However, my spouse will throttle me if I make us go to a meet up.
Kenneth Kohl
My lovely bride (of nigh 28 years) and I will be at the Buffalo March.
Teddys Person
@Dalai Rasta: I agree with all the Go Fund Me folks. As a pet owner who has recently dropped a bundle on her furry friend, I get this and would gladly chip in what I can. I’m also a daily reader but mostly lurker.
EL
Going to the Pasadena March, and trying to come up with a good sign.
JAFD
@Rheinhard:
Should be at the NYC march Saturday, good Lawd willin and the creeks don’t rise. Will be taking the PATH to Herald Sq, walking up Broadway, make a right somewhere…
Not sure if ’twill be possible to find anyone there, but if …
Tim Ellis
I’m a former Rochesterian now living in Toronto, and I will be at (and helping organize) the Toronto march!
maurinsky
@Frankensteinbeck:
Whatever he believes, he’s a big talker but short on action. He’s not an effective legislator, and therefore, he is essentially useless as anything other than a speechmaker. But even then, he’s useless, because he wants to get the glory without ever being responsible for anything.