Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend itself. it’s up to us.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

People are weird.

Fight them, without becoming them!

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

This fight is for everything.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Somebody needs to explain to DeSantis that nobody needs to do anything to make him look bad.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: VULGAR! (As in, ‘of the common people’)

Open Thread: VULGAR! (As in, ‘of the common people’)

by | 183 Comments

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To the fainting couches, gentlemen!…


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Clutching-pearls and elbow patches at the ready!


.

Because TONE is more important than FACTS!


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(The facts, after all, are almost never on the side of the Republicans.)

Reader Interactions

183Comments

  1. 1.

    Trentrunner

    Morally speaking, Hatch and his fellow GOPers are the gaseous byproduct of suppurating boils lining an acidic inflamed rectum beset by untrammeled eye-watering flatulence expelled at atomic decibels with surprising moistness.

    Fuck me, I’m uncivil. The fucking BALLS on these people.

  2. 2.

    JMG

    Andy Slavitt reporting the House will stay in session and pass the bill into law over the weekend. By July 4, we could/will be a country where if you don’t have money, you are expected to die quietly in the event of injury or illness.
    This just in: Some of those people will not die quietly.

  3. 3.

    Yutsano

    So…we’re still doing phrasing?

    Also: how exactly should we frame the conversation to not offend sensitive souls like the wingnuts who insult us daily?

  8. 8.

    lamh36

    Great twitter thread…would love to hear what other folks think…

    @RKirkRow
    Democrats its officially time to place Bernie Sanders into the same category history places Perot and Nader. He’s a spoiler.

    https://twitter.com/RKirkRow/status/879066138445008896

    Let’s see who read past the first tweet and reads entire twitter thread…it’s a good one and open to discussion as party faithful are discussing the state of the party

  9. 9.

    bystander

    The Jaguars Will Rip off Your Face Party is re-branding! Stop obstructing their civility.

  12. 12.

    lamh36

    @pewresearch
    Whites are the only major demographic group in which more approve than disapprove of Donald Trump http://pewrsr.ch/2sZ1Xmm

    This is what certain parts of the Dem party need to realize…those WWC folks Dems are trying to attract, just don’t see Trump the same way, non-white folk, do…and yet…some still think courting those voters will win elections for Dems?

    I don’t believe that the folks who “approve” of Trump even as it’s not even a year and he’s fuqn shit up left and right…are NOT going to be susceptible to Dems courtship of them…

  15. 15.

    rikyrah

    I don’t want to hear anything from those muthaphuckas, clutching their pearls..

    YOU.ARE.GOING.TO.KILL.PEOPLE.WITH.TRUMPCARE.

    YOU are going to take a hatchet to the healthcare lines of SEVENTY SIX MILLION PEOPLE…

    and, think that people are supposed to be POLITE ABOUT IT?

    PHUCK YOU AND YOUR MAMA!

  16. 16.

    ArchTeryx

    And includes a lot of lefties, as my saga on LGM demonstrates.

    At least Scheiderman intends to take Trumpcare all the way to the Supreme Court because of the provisions very specifically punishing New York State, as unconstitutional interference with a state’s Medicaid system. Which the Supremes ruled not long ago were inviolable, making Medicaid Expansion optional. Things that make you go “Hmmm….”

    Of course, if Kennedy retires and is promptly replaced by another Alito clone, that’s the ballgame. They’ll rule whatever helps the right wing, even if it means contradicting themselves repeatedly.

  19. 19.

    germy

    Mike Pence ✔@mike_pence

    Before summer’s out, we’ll repeal/replace Obamacare w/ system based on personal responsibility, free-market competition & state-based reform
    1:41 PM – 24 Jun 2017

  20. 20.

    SatanicPanic

    “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

    The party of Trump can lecture no one about civility.

  21. 21.

    Mnemosyne

    @Raven Onthill:

    In case you need a link upon challenge, it was called Aktion T4, and most Holocaust scholars consider it an important step towards what eventually became the Holocaust. A society that was able to justify killing the disabled that had been entrusted to institutional care was easily able to expand that out to perfectly healthy people who were also “undesirable.”

  22. 22.

    Mike in NC

    Media to denounce millions standing to lose health insurance complaining as “shrill”. Tsk, tsk.

  24. 24.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lamh36: 1 hour ago
    Instead of giving Bernie endless opportunity to bash democrats how about asking folks like @ KamalaHarris and @ SenGillibrand to come on
    Im well aware that it’s PAST time for all of this to be realized but here we still are. @ andersoncooper and @ chrislhayes chasing bro ratings

    I don’t know from Cooper, but I think Hayes is indulging his deep and earnest (oh, so very earnest….) desire to live in a country where Wilmerism is a winning political message, and as a fan I wish he’d fucking let go of it.
    ETA: That said, I would forgive him a couple more segments if Orrin Hatch agreed to a coot-off about health care. Hayes said Fridya, I think it was, that they invited literally each of the 52 R Senators on to discuss trump-care, they all said no

  26. 26.

    schrodingers_cat

    They are actually killing people, no fucking exaggeration, 7 people have been dead since this fiscal year began in October in ICE custody.

    ETA: They are rounding up people and deporting them, anyone without proper immigration documentation is fair game.

  27. 27.

    ArchTeryx

    @Mnemosyne: Exactly. The disabled were thrown under the bus first, in some cases quite literally. Then it was turned into a eugenics programme. Then – it became the Final Solution.

    That particular history lesson was damn valuable to me, and I thank you for it.

  28. 28.

    rikyrah

    so much evil on display. There are 76 million people on Medicaid. The likelihood that you PERSONALLY KNOW someone on Medicaid is HIGH.

    YOU are not a sociopath.
    So, of course, you’re in pain at the thought of this person being hurt..

    just so muthaphuckas who already have more money than God, get even more money.

    But, we’re supposed to be POLITE about it.

    PHUCK YOU.

  30. 30.

    Major Major Major Major

    @schrodingers_cat: @lamh36:

    its officially time to place Bernie Sanders into the same category history places Perot and Nader.

    Well, reliable sources inform me that Nader never would have (edit) been a spoiler if Bill Clinton had pushed for a public option, so 2000 wasn’t really his fault.

  31. 31.

    ArchTeryx

    @rikyrah: And before it is over every one of them will no longer be on Medicaid. They’ll simply be dead, many way before their time.

  34. 34.

    danielx

    Attention!

    Boris and Natasha it is. More pics coming as soon as we can find Boris, who is hiding somewhere. Natasha is tired; she’s had a long day.

  36. 36.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Iowa Old Lady: Just caught Debbie Dinged joining in the Pelosi bashing by babbling about how we’ve got to let go of those darned identity politics and get back to talking about hardworking people. My advice would be to shut the fuck up about imaginary boogeymonsters and just fucking talk about how Dem policies support people who work

    @Major Major Major Major: sure, but having Wilmer on to drone on about the failures of the “Democratic pahw-ty” doesn’t move the ball much

  38. 38.

    zhena gogolia

    @lamh36:

    I hate Bernie Sanders with the fire of a thousand suns. Have done so since they booed HRC (and many others) throughout the convention.

  39. 39.

    lamh36

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: right…I’ve been done with Hayes for awhile. I don’t really watch cable news in general anymore, but I do catch it when some “news” happens and when I do, I stick to CNN and MSNBC, but even then, I still can’t stick to watching this for more than an hour or so…smh

    If I made a list of shows to watch, I hate to say, but Hayes show comes below Tweety’s show sometimes. Having Bernie on darn near once a week is one of the reasons why

  46. 46.

    danielx

    No, it’s all about how you do it. Making an argument is fine, labeling people the “death party” is obscene. https://t.co/jyyrNCwvhg

    — Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) June 24, 2017

    No, asshole, the bill the death party is bent on passing is obscene. Also too, whatever happened to death panels? Remember those? Dickweed?

  49. 49.

    rikyrah

    Kevin M. Kruse‏Verified account @KevinMKruse

    Kevin M. Kruse Retweeted Caroline O.

    One thing Obama *did* do in response to Russian hacking was to seize these properties. Trump is giving them back.

  51. 51.

    RandomMonster

    Remember when they thought the term “Death Panels” was hateful, too? No, you don’t.

  54. 54.

    zhena gogolia

    @RandomMonster:

    And it referred to something that would help families plan for their loved ones’ old age, not actually KILLING PEOPLE like Trumpcare.

  57. 57.

    zhena gogolia

    @lamh36:

    I saw in the NYT she’s having J. D. Vance on this week. Just what we need, more attention paid to poor neglected white people.

  59. 59.

    danielx

    Boris is a tabby, they’re both about nine weeks. Have had everything but their rabies shots (too young for those yet) for the bargain price of thirty per kitten at an adoption event.

    Zoey is not pleased, but she will adapt…eventually. The spousal unit suggested kittens might even arouse her maternal instincts, and I said yeah, it could happen. And pigs might have wings….keeping them separated for a while.

  60. 60.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: pretty sure the MoC is the old man’s wife

    @lamh36: Ryan Grim’s IMHO very good article on Andrew Lack and the NBC Blob said that Tamron Hall was pushed out because aging Bro Matt Lauer felt threatened by her rising popularity with the today show audience.

  61. 61.

    Mnemosyne

    @danielx:

    Hooray! We also had a Boris and Natasha: Boris, the part Russian Blue, came first, and then I got Natasha the tortoiseshell a couple of years later.

    Tashi was the cat who turned G from a dog person into a cat person.

  64. 64.

    rikyrah

    Reverend Al Sharpton‏Verified account @TheRevAl

    Closing out #PoliticsNation w/my thoughts on the rise in police brutality & staying steadfast in the fight for justice. Thanks for tuning in
    https://twitter.com/TheRevAl/status/878966797348765696?

    transcript:

    “…Joe Lowery, Martin Luther King, and Wyatt T. Walker
    could keep fighting when their homes were bombed; keep fighting when, for nine years between the one government bus boycott, before they finally got a Civil Rights Act, nine years where different people were questioning them, and they were attacked by the Right and attacked even in their community. There was always a difference of opinion. Rev. Martin, then there was a Malcolm, and then there was the young members of SNCC disagreed. But, then you had Julian Bond and Jesse Jackson that did agree.

    “There was always tension, always friction, yet they kept going. You
    are not judged by your victories. You are judged by if you keep fighting
    in the face of defeat; if you keep fighting in the face of criticism;
    if you keep even when those on your side turn on you. That’s when we see who are the real activists, real patriots, the real ( ?) in reform is.

    “Yes, it’s been a tough week for those of us that believe in reform.
    That means only the tough will get off the mat and keep fighting. The
    rest will lay on the mat and start the blame game and start making
    excuses.”

    ~Rev. Al Sharpton

  65. 65.

    RandomMonster

    @zhena gogolia: Thank you for the reminder. I actually forgot what it was supposed to be about, because the idea was so stupid I was worried it might actually cause brain damage if I tried to understand the argument.

  66. 66.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @lamh36:

    Has any former President participated in one of the many Pride parades before?

    Can’t find anything about a former POTUS, but former FLOTUS Hillary Clinton marched in the 2016 NYC Pride Parade.

  68. 68.

    lamh36

    @Baud: Smh…right…I guess it’s a demand for MSNBC’s “new” outlook, that they need to have at least one Republican on each time they have a clearly one-sided story that is disfavorable to GOP…

    Hayes is just NOT a good confrontational interviewer like Tweety (who’s not even that great but he at least does push back) or Lawrence…and he doesn’t have the professor like style that Maddow has. Probably the best “confrontational” on air talent they have is Joy Ann Reid, but of course the new MSNBC doesn’t really allow for much “color” during the weekdays

  69. 69.

    ThresherK

    @danielx: Nice kitty pix. It’s great to be cat staff when you can give names like that you could never give to actual human children.

  71. 71.

    HeleninEire

    It’s after 11 here and I am 4 beers in so maybe what I say is alcohol influenced. But jeez. Maybe I should just give up my American citizenship. I gotta pay taxes both places and if it is getting worse there, why not?

  72. 72.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    You don’t get much more Village-y insider and respectable than John Harwood (no slight on him, I think he’s one of the better reporters at his level), who just flat out said it last week.

    @ JohnJHarwood
    Trump’s white working-class base may hold even if GOP cuts their health care. He won them on race, not economics

    @Major Major Major Major: I think Wilmer is as bitter and delusional over the 2016 primary as McCain is about 2008. ‘That One took what was rightfully mine’

  74. 74.

    bystander

    Followed Joy Reid this morning on Sirius and was shocked she didn’t find time to discuss the amusement park rider in Texas who fell off the ride. She did of course find time to discuss the difference between the approach to the ravages of crack cocaine in the inner city and the opioid epidemic in Indiana. She’s such a reverse racist.

    And don’t even ask about Reid’s coverage of bounce house dangers.

  78. 78.

    rikyrah

    Allan Brauer‏ @allanbrauer

    Key point: trial balloon GOP talking point “Even if there was collusion, is it illegal?” is a tell.
    …………………….

    yeah, it’s TREASON, MUTHAPHUCKAS.

  80. 80.

    HeleninEire

    @The Thin Black Duke: Leaving does not equal giving up American citizenship or responsibilities. As far as America is concerned I have the same responsibilities and tax consequences as if I lived there. I just happen to live in a different country.

    But wow what a decision that would be.

  82. 82.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @lamh36:

    The day after Hillary’s alt-right speech I saw how the media dismissively treated her careful and righteous explication of the danger and importance of Trump’s campaign staff/Bannon insiders, and came to fully appreciate the importance of maintaining white male supremacy to the Matt Lauers Wolf Blitzers Jake Tappers George Stephanopolous George Wills Chris Cuomos of the media world.

  83. 83.

    Mike J

    @lamh36:

    This is what certain parts of the Dem party need to realize…those WWC folks Dems are trying to attract, just don’t see Trump the same way, non-white folk, do…and yet…some still think courting those voters will win elections for Dems?

    Sadly, I think a lot of those WWC folks see Trump exactly the way non-whites do, and that’s *why* they like him.

  84. 84.

    Peale

    @ArchTeryx: I can not tell you how pissed I am at those upstaters right now for that kickback. Their reps were on TV bragging about a tax cut because they would no longer be paying into the state healthcare fund. Fuck em. If they want to talk about their despairing emptiness and how we don’t ever do anything for them, fine. We won’t. If any hospitals are going to close due to lack of Medicaid funds in my area, I think that money to save them needs to come from state funds that would go to Buffalo. Let them figure out how to pay for their own stuff.

  85. 85.

    rikyrah

    Twitter thread

    Krk‏ @RKirkRow

    Democrats its officially time to place Bernie Sanders into the same category history places Perot and Nader. He’s a spoiler.

    If you truly care about moving forward you will acknowledge that he has no chance of growing support and has shown signs of weakening base

    Our base has been predominantly POC and primarily black women. Continuing to elevate Sanders will result in bleeding of that support.

    We can stand to lose racist, we can stand to lose religious support, we won WWC voters as democrats but hell we could stand to lose that too

    But what we as democrats, liberals, left wing, progressives, whatever you call yourselves, we CANNOT lose the support of black women.

    When black women get fed up and give up on democrats we are all fucked. Granted history is rich with evidence of their extreme patience.

    We are all on borrowed time. White people collectively, black men refusing to listen to their women’s pleas for respect and equality.

    This effects hispanics too along with other minorities, when black women decide it’s no longer worth their energy our party will fall apart.

    We can continue to debate the issues but that cannot happen unless people do so acknowledging the base and it’s concerns.
    That includes coffee summits and unity tours…having these little photo ops do good for social media but nothing to address the base.

    And believe that BW can see your BS from miles away. Do better white people. Remember, it takes us to fix us.

    Im well aware that it’s PAST time for all of this to be realized but here we still are. @andersoncooper and @chrislhayes chasing bro ratings

    Instead of giving Bernie endless opportunity to bash democrats how about asking folks like @KamalaHarris and @SenGillibrand to come on

    You know ask actual DEMOCRATS about how democrats can move forward and the plans on how to do it. Crazy idea I know.

  86. 86.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @The Thin Black Duke: @HeleninEire: I can’t even seriously contemplate it because of family obligations, so I haven’t even looked into it as a practical matter– where would I go? (France, Ireland, England or Canada are my off the top of my head preferences) how much would it would cost? etc. The health care thing has me feeling pretty beat up and tired, but it does seem like the energy against it is picking back up.

  87. 87.

    ArchTeryx

    Well, I’ll leave some positive news: Because of my job, I’m about to give the person who took me in when I was penniless and without health insurance, a huge gift. I’m getting him a brand new variable-speed pool pump.

  90. 90.

    ArchTeryx

    @efgoldman: I’ll still happily go there but retired from commenting. That crowd isn’t going to be converted. This one at least is much more on the side of the angels.

  93. 93.

    Suzanne

    Jeff Flake was boo-dee-hoo-dee-hooing about Johnny Depp saying mean things this morning on Facebook.

    These people complain about free speech and political correctness when they want to say horrible things, then complain about big meanie words when people say horrible things about them. God, it’s just sickening.

  94. 94.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @rikyrah:

    David Yankovich‏Verified account @ David Yankovich Retweeted Liz Gumbinner
    Getting a lot of questions about this today. Yes, it actually happened.
    I don’t want to go to war with revolution, I want a strong 2018.

  95. 95.

    HeleninEire

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Not sure what your story is, but I can tell you in Ireland even if you are me and have citizenship you need to be here a year to qualify for public health ins. And it’s OK, but you really need a private supplement (only 150 a month for me) to be truly covered. BUT there are price controls so even if you go “Private” it is not as bad as the US. Also, BUT, you are immediately covered for accidents.

    That being said. I am told that Ireland will let you in as a non citizen if you can show 150,000 Euros. But I can’t confirm that.

  96. 96.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @HeleninEire: all four of my grandparents were born in Ireland which somebody told me (FWIW) twenty years ago (so double FWIW) gave me a leg up on citizenship, but that would be a tough call for me. If the Worst Thing happens in 2020, it might become less tough.

  97. 97.

    debbie

    @HeleninEire:

    But jeez. Maybe I should just give up my American citizenship.

    Because this shit won’t last forever?

    What if you gave up your citizenship, and then needed to come back for some sort of emergency (family/friend/other), and Trump’s TSA refused you entry?

  98. 98.

    frosty

    @ArchTeryx:

    I’m getting him a brand new variable-speed pool pump.

    That’s great! I’ve seen the ads for that (over and over and over and over …) I’m sure it will be a thrilling gift!

  99. 99.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    ‘That One took what was rightfully mine’

    I may be too generous here, but I think it’s only a little bit about him, personally. He cannot forgive, cannot accept, and cannot let go of the fact that the People are not waiting to rise up in class war. The core of his beliefs is flat-out wrong. The basis of his life has been disproven. He got his national platform to tell us all that the rich are evil, and a tidal wave of workers did not rise up. So either he’s wrong, or he was cheated, and he’s sure as Hell pissed that people keep talking about race when he showed us what it’s really all about.

    EDIT – And by the way, Bernie, McConnell looked out his window at a million people marching, and he did not give a flying fuck.

  102. 102.

    Suzanne

    @Frankensteinbeck: I think Bernie and the far leftists are just having a hard time accepting that there are just not enough of them to win anything. Honestly, I think that the country would be infinitely better than it is now if they came to power. But no matter how they package or brand their message, they can’t overcome that simple numerical obstacle.

  103. 103.

    Ruckus

    @HeleninEire:
    I’ve looked into many foreign places to retire to and the vast majority require a minimum of around that same amount, deposited in a local bank and/or an annuity of a lot more than I’ll ever get from SS. The places that don’t require that much (or substantially more) are generally not that great of places to live. So I’m stuck in the US and will probably have to retire to a shithole if I’d like to eat regular. That I’m way not alone in this predicament is of no real help.
    I really think that if I’d wanted to live in the south in the early 1800s I’d have chosen to be born then and there. I didn’t and yet we’re still heading for that anyway. Fun times.

  104. 104.

    HeleninEire

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yes you do have a leg up. I had automatic citizenship cuz my mom was born in Belfast. She moved to America at 21 married my Dad, and became an American citizen but not cuzza my dad but because back then (1958) you could do that after 7 years.

    Anyway Ireland lets you go back to your grandparents if your parents did it. If not there’s a thing called “registering your foreign birth in Ireland.” You may be eligible.

  105. 105.

    David Evans

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: The UK, where I live, is in for a period of economical and political uncertainty following the ridiculous Brexit referendum. Ireland and Canada look good. So does Australia (my grown-up kids both moved there) but it’s a long way away.

  108. 108.

    HeleninEire

    @debbie: I can’t worry about that. If Trumps TSA is denying the Irish entry then the whole fucking world is fucked.

  109. 109.

    efgoldman

    @Suzanne:

    I think Bernie and the far leftists are just having a hard time accepting that there are just not enough of them to win anything.

    Let them win some local races somewhere. Let them get the majority on a city council, or even a few seats in a state legislature. Otherwise it’s just as much of a grift as Dr Jill.

  110. 110.

    rikyrah

    Gene Sperling‏Verified account @genebsperling

    Gene Sperling Retweeted Andy Slavitt

    Yes.Medicaid had ZERO real growth per person 2000-2015 vs. 3.8% in private sector. W/such efficiency, adding deep cuts just mean cruel cuts

  112. 112.

    Ruckus

    @Suzanne:
    It would be better, but infinitely better? I don’t buy it. And that’s because of exactly what you stated. There’s a good reason there aren’t that many of them and it’s because they are too single issue and too far out there and their ideas of how to make things better doesn’t take into account any ideas that are not their own. IOW they won’t join with others to get some of what they want and need, they are selfish, they want the entire pie or nothing. And as we know politics doesn’t work that way. Especially not politics on this scale.

  113. 113.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Ruckus: I think to get long term residency, not even citizenship, in New Zealand you have to bring more than $5 million with you (again, somebody said once on the internet, so FWIW)

    @HeleninEire: thanks, something to keep in mind…

    IIRC the American Python (I’m drawing a blank on his name) gave up his US citizenship as a response to Iraq, and said as a result he can only stay in the US for a maximum of two weeks at a time. John Cleese (again, IIRC) became a US citizen in ’09 or ’10, went on the Olbermann show (as was) to talk about his reasons. Last I saw (on twitter) he was back in England, cheering on Brexit.

  114. 114.

    rikyrah

    Topher Spiro‏Verified account @TopherSpiro

    Topher Spiro Retweeted Brian Schatz

    1: There’s a weird fatalism among pundits/press that the Senate bill will pass. This is wrong. We can win—but we have to ramp up pressure.

    2: Too much press coverage/twitter is game theory. We need to focus on the devastating impacts of this bill.

  115. 115.

    rikyrah

    Andy Slavitt‏Verified account @ASlavitt

    If you cut Medicaid by 25%, there are only 2 choices: cut a quarter of the services or cut a quarter of the people.

  117. 117.

    Mnemosyne

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Terry Gilliam is the American Python. In his defense, he’s lived and worked in the UK for over 40 years, and his wife and kids (and probably grandkids, by now) are all British citizens. I can’t get too mad at someone giving up their US citizenship when their entire life is in a different country and has been for decades.

  119. 119.

    HeleninEire

    @Mnemosyne: Yeah. Like I said I’m a number of beers in but you know America ain’t the end all be all.

    Now that I’m here.

    Well, dunno.

  120. 120.

    dimmsdale

    Possibly peripheral point of curiosity (not that it changes anything that’s already been said here…): wasn’t there a law that said that congress HAD to use Obamacare? wonder what happens now, does anyone know?

  123. 123.

    The Truffle

    Awwww. Poor babies. Obviously outrage is effective. See also this article.

    It is a thing of beauty. Meanwhile I might try to get involved with promoting a single payer plan in New York State.

  124. 124.

    Mnemosyne

    @HeleninEire:

    If the guideline is to never get a tattoo when you’re drunk, I’m pretty sure you also shouldn’t decide to give up your citizenship while drunk. Wait until you’ve lived there at least a full year and the infatuation phase has faded a bit.

  125. 125.

    Bobby Thomson

    The people who have never hesitated to use this kind of rhetoric regarding blastocysts can just STFU. Fuck their feelings, indeed. Remember, when the Republcans squeal about tone and class warfare, you’re drawing blood and should keep doing what you’re doing.

  127. 127.

    Ruckus

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    I looked into NZ in 2004/5 and many things may have changed since then. But it was expensive for a US citizen to go. Very expensive, unless you were under 53 at the time of your move and had a skill in short supply. Then it was only expensive and difficult.

  129. 129.

    Bobby Thomson

    Oh, and Wilmer is using critical media space that could be used to defeat this bill to slag California Democrats for not pushing sobgld payer. He is just as evil as McConnell; he just has delusions of honor.

  130. 130.

    TenguPhule

    The AHCA is just one big nuclear bomb aimed at Americans.

    MAD is assured when the Republicans detonate it.

  131. 131.

    TenguPhule

    @JMG:

    This just in: Some of those people will not die quietly.

    Or alone.

    Sleep tight, you fucking Republican quislings.

  132. 132.

    HeleninEire

    @Baud: Well there it is. My decision is made. No renouncing!! Specially since Baud will make me a cabinet member.

    “Special envoy to Ireland’s pubs”

  133. 133.

    Ruckus

    @HeleninEire:
    It is of course much more difficult to see nuance over the internet and to know if someone is thinking out loud, talking out their ass, pissed off or deadly serious.

  134. 134.

    TenguPhule

    @schrodingers_cat:

    They are actually killing people, no fucking exaggeration, 7 people have been dead since this fiscal year began in October in ICE custody.

    Don’t worry, just wait until after 2018 when a new Democratic majority takes over and fixes things.

    No need to be a gloomy gus.

    //

  136. 136.

    Lurking Canadian

    The traditional way to avoid accusations that you want to kill people is to avoid taking actions that will kill people. For those who find that too great a sacrifice, the traditional compromise was to avoid public actions that will kill people, which you then brag about on the evening news.

    Apparently, that hoary old tradition is too stodgy for the modern GOP, so they are trying something new: taking, and then bragging about, public actions that will kill people, then whining when called on it.

  138. 138.

    HeleninEire

    @Baud: That decision us WAY too important for me to make now in my current state. Wait until you appoint me. Cuz I’ll never be be drunk if I’m in your cabinet. But I did mean “Pubs” Also, too. Love you!!!!!

  139. 139.

    rikyrah

    Tommy Christopher‏Verified account @tommyxtopher

    Trump’s Millionaire Health Sec Won’t Say How Much Money He’ll Get From Trumpcare Tax Cuts

  140. 140.

    rikyrah

    Malcolm Nance‏Verified account @MalcolmNance

    Malcolm Nance Retweeted M. Paris

    Collusion with foreign intelligence gets you the Espionage act of 1917. Conspiracy is handled under RICO Act then there is Treason.
    ……………………………………….

    M. Paris‏ @Captmike4804

    M. Paris Retweeted Joy Reid

    Even If Trump Colluding with Russia Not a Crime Let’s see what Special Prossicutor has to Say there Bret @FoxNews @MalcolmNance @joanwalsh

  143. 143.

    JR in WV

    @danielx:

    We had a cat who suddenly became globular, and she got names Punkin as a result. Then we started feeding her cat food mixed with (very lo-cal) pumpkin at vet’s suggestion, to give that full feeling w/o as many calories. Also started feeding her in a room we could close the door on, so she couldn’t get out and steal left-overs. She isn’t svelte now, but isn’t an oblate spheroid either.

    But the name stuck permanently.

    We almost always wait a while to name a critter, to be sure we don’t name them something not appropriate to their character. Punkin is perfect for that cat. Self important too, will chase a coffee bean around the kitchen floor all afternoon, and noisy about it too.

    She’s Very affectionate, sleeps on the foot of the bed when we shut the lights off after reading in bed for a little while with her on my lap purring and getting scritches.

  144. 144.

    JR in WV

    @JR in WV:

    To add: Punkin usually sleeps below Mrs J’s feet. Mrs J moves her feet, either like running or just twitching. Either sometimes arouses Punkin’s attention and lethal interest. We sleep with a quilt, and Punkin can bite through the “cat armor” quilt, when aroused. Not claws, but byte, hard!!

  146. 146.

    Boussinesque

    @lamh36: late to the thread, but thanks for the link. Agree with pretty much everything the poster was saying about black women being the base and the glue that holds the dems together. I don’t expect it will find much traction with some of the Wilmerites I know, but I’m going beat them over the head with it as much as I can in the hopes that some of it will sink in.

  147. 147.

    Mnemosyne

    @Boussinesque:

    Every so often we get a smug Wilmerite who says something stupid like, See, minority votes aren’t sufficient! You need us, too!

    To which I say, Um, yeah, that’s the point, idiot. We need to stick together. Sigh.

  148. 148.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @David Evans: As I was dancing with a charming lady from London a couple of months ago we were discussing where one might move now that the USA is turning into a neofascist shitshow. She suggested New Zealand. A bit later in the evening we were dancing again & I asked her if as a UK citizen she could claim Commonwealth preference for admission to NZ. When she said yes, I shot back, Wonderful. Will you marry me? At last report she was still thinking it over…

  149. 149.

    TenguPhule

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    McConnell looked out his window at a million people marching, and he did not give a flying fuck.

    That may change once they start marching over him. with hobnailed boots.

  150. 150.

    Kay

    I’m trying to feel sympathy for Trump voters who will lose their health care, but it’s hard. Rural hospitals are yelling that they’ll have to close. Rural hospital CEO’s REALLY don’t know they’re wholly dependent on the federal government? How can you be a CEO and not know where revenue comes from?

    Why did they commit suicide? I don’t know but I was supposed to stop them? How? They were like RUNNING onto the train tracks in November. I don’t think anyone could have stopped them. Trump lied to them? He lies all the time, about everything, and has for 40 years. If they’re this poor at judging character they probably weren’t going to survive long anyway.

  151. 151.

    Kay

    Also, not to be unkind, but in 2004 in Ohio nursing homes were big Bush donors. They were all thrilled that he would cut regulation.

    They are wholly dependent on Medicaid. That didn’t occur to them? They don’t know who they bill? They take in X amount of money every month and they never thought about where it came from? Now they need to be rescued? By whom? They did this to themselves. They thought they could get the funding AND vote for Republicans so get no regulation and no taxes? Talk about chasing unicorns and rainbows.

  152. 152.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kay:

    The only Trumpers I know have gotten very involved in anti-abortion stuff and have completely convinced themselves that nothing matters other than outlawing abortion.

    One of them is a social worker who works with homeless pregnant women. She lives in Michigan, but if I see her face-to-face, I’m going to ask her how she feels knowing that she voted to take healthcare and food stamps away from her clients so she could get abortion outlawed.

  154. 154.

    Jeffro

    I’m sure that someone else has mentioned this before and it is probably not a novel insight…

    … but I bet every last one of these soulless scumbags has already been reassured that if their vote to repeal Obamacare ends up costing them their seat in the house or in the Senate the Kochs and Mercers will take care of them financially ( those that aren’t already multimillionaires that is)

    And then those same Kochs and Mercers will just run a new crop of Republicans that pretend to take care of people while coming up with new ways to do their masters’ bidding

  155. 155.

    Kay

    @Mnemosyne:

    He told them health care would be free. That’s what he promised. The government wouldn’t pay for it and either would they, which means it has to be free. This is way beyond single payer! This is no payer! No one has to pay for it.

    This can’t continue. They have to reconcile themselves to the fact that health care isn’t free. It can be free to them! But someone has to pay for it. It’s either them or it’s the government. There is no “option C” where no one pays for it and they still get it.

  156. 156.

    WaterGirl

    @rikyrah: Reminds me of when I was an advocate for rape victims whose cases were going to court. My favorite defense: I didn’t do it, but if I did do it, it was consensual.

    It seems to me that that’s pretty much what Trump & company are saying now.

  157. 157.

    D58826

    @JMG: A very sad story but just one of many given life’s uncertainties..

    I guess I could be snarky and rant about personal responsibility and making poor life choices. But it doesn’t seem appropriate. This family is facing a ton of medical bills, along with the loss of their child. The article doesn’t say what their Obamacare status is just they are running a go fund me campaign.

    https://www.gofundme.com/cecelia-little-lott-medical-costs/

  159. 159.

    Kay

    @Mnemosyne:

    KellyAnne Conway thinks it’s free. She said today that they can just get health insurance from their employer. She’s not making the essential connection between “health care” and “paying for health care” because therein lies the problem with her plan. She thinks it’s free. She must. You don’t just “get it”. It’s part of PAY. It’s not a gift!

  160. 160.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kay:

    Not only is it part of your pay, the vast majority of employees have to pay some kind of premium. I’m paying about $400/month to cover my husband and myself for medical, dental, and vision care. They deduct it from my paycheck. Who’s giving KellyAnne completely free health insurance?

    ETA: And I want to reiterate — I have really good employer health insurance. It’s basically a Gold plan, if not Platinum. But it ain’t free.

  161. 161.

    D58826

    @Mnemosyne: And by destroying the contraceptive mandate will certainly result in more unplanned pregnancies.

    Even w/o Obamacare in the mix this has always been a mystery to me. Since it is a lead pipe cinch that people will not abstain for any length of time from sex, the best way to reduce the need for abortions is to prevent unintended pregnancies in the first. And the way to do that is comprehensive sex education and access to effective contraceptives. But the pro-zygote crowd are oppose that as well. It is ‘funny’ but certainly not surprising that the Bible belt has the highest level of unintended pregnancies in the country.

  163. 163.

    Kay

    @Mnemosyne:

    She just “gets it” from her “employer”. We all do. They like us so much they “give” us health insurance. If those other people will just ask they’ll get it too.

  165. 165.

    D58826

    @Mnemosyne: And then the deductibles, co-pays and in or out of the network hassles. We were one block inside the EMT cachment area for the hospital in the network. One block over and the EMT’s had to go to a hospital that was was outside of our network.

    We were visiting my sister in Del. and my wife fell and broke her hip.
    The hospital and doctors argued with the insurance carrier for two day to authorize the needed surgery in the hospital in Wilmington. The ins. company wanted to transport her up 30 miles of pot hole filled I-95 to get her to a network hospital. Never mind that a dangerous side effect of a broken bone is developing a preliminary embolism. And bouncing around in the back of an ambulance would just increase the chance of something like that happening. Fortunately they worked something out. The Ins. Carrier agreed to pay more than the out of network fee schedule and the doc/hospital agreed to accept what the carrier would pay.

  166. 166.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kay:

    A couple of years before Obamacare was passed, the Giant Evil Corporation I work for decided that they would no longer allow employees to refuse health insurance coverage if they didn’t have other coverage (like through a spouse). If you didn’t sign up for a specific health insurance plan, you were auto-enrolled in a fairly crappy catastrophic plan that would at least get you through a car accident or cancer diagnosis.

    But even then, it wasn’t out of the goodness of their hearts. It was a business decision that it was costing the company too much money to have uninsured employees. Plus, given that I work for the largest family entertainment company in the world, it would have been terrible publicity if one of their employees got sick and couldn’t afford treatment because they were uninsured.

  168. 168.

    Kay

    I was in the store today reading the Enquirer cover and they treat the Trump Administration like celebrities. They have Sean Spicer on the cover- little circular photos of these people with rumors about them getting fired. It’s the craziest thing. They’re such boring people as celebrities.

  169. 169.

    Original Lee

    I find it ironic that the party that panders to Creationists is pushing a Darwinian health-care bill where the evolutionary pressure is wealth.

  170. 170.

    D58826

    @Kay: (sigh) I’m old enough to remember ‘fully paid employer health care’ was a big item on want ads. Sure it still was part of your total compensation package but people liked that fully paid part. and things like networks, etc were unheard of. It was usually Blue Cross/Blue shield and every provider worth their license accepted them.

  171. 171.

    Kay

    @Mnemosyne:

    We have a candy company here (they make candy- it’s not retail) and they have a lot of employees. They’re really pretty creative with health care. They’re always trying something. I rep a lot of their employees and I ask them what’s new because I sort of admire that the company puts so much effort into it. They are opening a walk in clinic for their employees. If its successful they plan to offer other area employers the chance to buy in. I like that they’re trying health care instead of health insurance.

  172. 172.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Kay: the owner is tight with Trump. It’s been ground zero for anti-anti-Teump conspiracies.

  174. 174.

    Jonathan Holland Becnel

    FUCK THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS IN CONGRESS WHO VOTE FOR THIS BILL.

    Let em do it.

    Lot easier to be popular when the ruling party is LITERALLY KILLING PEOPLE.

    Lot easier to pass #MEDICARE4ALL

  175. 175.

    Original Lee

    @Suzanne: Your comment suddenly made me wonder if part of the problem with the younger Berniebros is that they never learned how to lose. This story in the NYT has made me re-evaluate some things I’ve been seeing on social media and in real life.

    I’m not cutting the older Berniebros or Bernie any slack, though. Not only are they old enough to know better, they also had childhood experiences of not being winners.

  178. 178.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Did Himmler claim it was beyond the pale when he was called a murderous thug?

    It’s little soulless gray men with delusions of being Conan the barbarian all the way down on the right.

  179. 179.

    TenguPhule

    @Kay:

    How can you be a CEO and not know where revenue comes from?

    Obviously you haven’t met many CEOs.

  180. 180.

    Amir Khalid

    @Suzanne:
    A greater knock on them is that they value rhetoric over ability to execute. They didn’t care that as late as April 2016 (or was his dreadful NY Daily News Interview in May?) Bernie was still unschooled on a wide range of matters within POTUS’ purview and hadn’t thought to address that shortcoming; also too, he came off as dismayingly naive about political strategy. I suppose the former is not so important (though not entirely unimportant) for election to purely legislative positions — like city councils and state legislatures and Congress. But as you’ve seen with the Freedom Cactus idiots, legislators without the latter still have a knack for getting in their own party’s way.

  181. 181.

    Raven Onthill

    @Mnemosyne: Tweeted a link to Senator Hatch and VP Pence. (I used the Britannica; Wikipedia has a Nazi problem.) My full post on this is The Culling of the Unfit: Fascism and the BCRA. It was written before you pointed me towards Aktion T4 and contains the sentences: “If this is a true fascist movement, dedicated to purifying the race, simply withdrawing health care will not be enough. They will go on to ethnic cleansing, to mass deportations and mass killings,” which, it turns out, is exactly what occurred in Nazi Germany: Aktion T4 was apparently the prototype for the Holocaust.

    It’s been very nice, but I have to scream now.

  182. 182.

    Gretchen

    @bystander: The Kansas boy who was decapitated on a water slide was at the park on a day honoring state legislators who voted to not regulate amusement park rides. You’d think engineers had analyzed these rides for safety before allowing people on them. Nope. They just sent some sandbags down, and decided it looked good. And invited legislators to have their families go on the rides. The child’s father was one who voted to allow this without regulation. Karma is really awful sometimes. Deregulation: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-kansas-waterslide-demolished-20161123-story.html

  183. 183.

    Applejinx

    On the 23rd, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton stood shoulder to shoulder calling out the murderous reality of the Republican bill, and Balloon Juice STILL can’t do anything but bitch about him? I would say he was taking point for you with this rhetoric except he was literally using the same language on the same day as Hillary.

    I stand with both of them on that.

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