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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

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

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

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

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

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

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

People are complicated. Love is not.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

How stupid are these people?

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Because of wow. / Monday Morning Open Thread: GOATALITY! (Also: I Hope We See Pics from Carhenge)

Monday Morning Open Thread: GOATALITY! (Also: I Hope We See Pics from Carhenge)

by Anne Laurie|  August 21, 20174:25 am| 104 Comments

This post is in: Because of wow., Excellent Links, Open Threads, Science & Technology, Riveted By The Sociological Significance Of It All

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GOATALITY is coming. We're gonna stream from a fainting goat farm during eclipse — will they faint during totality? https://t.co/Eq6tqYejim pic.twitter.com/6lQAdhp8M6

— T.J. Ortenzi (@tjortenzi) August 18, 2017

Apart from the Big Solar Event, what’s on the agenda as we start the new week?

***********

I enjoyed this whole Washington Post story, “For one day, a fractured country will be united by sun, moon and history”… but especially the bit about a very American ‘monument’:

… On the high plains of northwest Nebraska, north of Alliance, where Army pilots trained in World War II, a mysterious circle of gray objects rises from the flat expanse of farmland.

The objects closely resemble Britain’s 4,000-year-old Stonehenge, a mystical place of pilgrimage for neo-druids, solstice watchers, and legions of tourists.

But this monument is made of 39 junked cars.

It’s Carhenge, perhaps the most cosmic spot in the country to watch the eclipse. And it has an impressive two minutes and 28 seconds of totality.

Carhenge was assembled in 1987 by Jim Reinders, the son of a Nebraska tenant farmer, to honor his late father, Herman.

Reinders, 89, a retired oil industry engineer now living in Texas, resided in London in the 1970s and was fascinated by Stonehenge.

After his father died, he came up with the idea of Carhenge, and in June 1987, members of his family convened on land he had inherited from his father.

“With about 30 of us working at it, why, in one week later, we had Carhenge up and running,” he said…

Construction went well, except when an AMC Gremlin that was poorly welded in place came down in a storm. It was put back with stronger welds, he said.

Reinders plans to be at Carhenge on Monday, reportedly along with Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) and thousands of others…

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Reader Interactions

104Comments

  1. 1.

    NotMax

    August 21, 2017 at 4:53 am

    Dunno about anyone else but I’m just about eclipsed out.

  2. 2.

    NotMax

    August 21, 2017 at 4:59 am

    A little Horsey for the morning.

  3. 3.

    NorthLeft12

    August 21, 2017 at 5:25 am

    I will be asleep for almost all of this as I am just waiting for my relief to come in. Then I will go home, let the cat out and crawl into bed for a good long snooze. And funny enough, my wife will miss it too as she will be flying across the Atlantic and landing in Toronto just after 4PM.
    I’m sure there will be plenty of video available.

  4. 4.

    JGabriel

    August 21, 2017 at 5:36 am

    NotMax:

    Dunno about anyone else but I’m just about eclipsed out.

    I always say the Kentucky Derby is like the premature ejaculation of sporting events, because there’s this enormous build-up and hype, starting weeks ahead of the event, and then it’s over in 2 minutes.

    This eclipse is beginning to feel like the Kentucky Derby of cosmic events.

    (Of course, there might be a hint of sour grapes in that sentiment, since we’re only getting about 70-75% of totality here in NYC.)

  5. 5.

    raven

    August 21, 2017 at 5:41 am

    We’re driving about an hour north east to a friend’s place in the country. It’s on the Georgia-South Carolina border near Clarks Hill Reservoir. We’re having a pot luck then hanging for the event. The only thing I don’t like is that we’re going to leave the dogs and spare them the heat.

  6. 6.

    Mustang Bobby

    August 21, 2017 at 5:49 am

    I’m planning to go out to the third level of our building’s parking garage with two paper plates; one with a pinhole to project the image, the other to show it, just like I did for the partial eclipse we had on July 20, 1963, in Northport, Michigan, and had 78% of the sun blocked out which is about the level of eclipse we’re going to get here in South Florida.

    Other than that, it’s my big brother’s 67th birthday and the first day of school for Miami-Dade County. Yip-yah!

  7. 7.

    geg6

    August 21, 2017 at 6:15 am

    First day of classes of the fall semester. And I’m still emotionally exhausted from move-in last week. Why do people not have a plan to pay for college before they bring their kids from, say, Texas to Pennsylvania? I mean, come on people! Crying in my office won’t make the bill magically disappear!

  8. 8.

    rikyrah

    August 21, 2017 at 6:15 am

    Good Morning,Everyone ???

  9. 9.

    BC in Illinois

    August 21, 2017 at 6:33 am

    The day has arrived.

    5AM weather forecast for St Louis County, just inside the boundary of the total eclipse:

    National Weather Service, weather.gov

    A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the morning.

    Weather Channel, weather.com

    Clouds and some sun this morning with more clouds for this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 91F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.

    Weather Channel (hourly forecast)

    “partly cloudy” 10AM to 1PM; “mostly cloudy” 1PM to 4PM

    Partial eclipse 11:49AM—2:44PM
    Total eclipse 1:17:23—1:18:50

    At this point, we have given up all plans of getting in the car to follow the sun. We will wait here and let it come to us. Two of us in my generation. Four of the next generation. Five of the generation that will climb on the plastic playset and slide in the backyard.

    We have enough drums—djembes, cylinder drums, cajons, bodhrans, bongos, rainstick, etc.—to accommodate everyone.

    I’m not going to keep checking on this. Partly cloudy it will be. We will see what this means. Now, I go back to sleep for two hours, then get things ready for company to arrive.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    August 21, 2017 at 6:40 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning.

  11. 11.

    BC in Illinois

    August 21, 2017 at 6:42 am

    @rikyrah:
    @Baud:
    And Good Morning to you. I’m going back to sleep.

  12. 12.

    HeleninEire

    August 21, 2017 at 6:56 am

    @rikyrah: @Baud:

    MERRY CHRISTMAS!

  13. 13.

    TS

    August 21, 2017 at 7:00 am

    Never doubt Morning Ho – he thinks trump will look presidential if he lets the generals keep fighting in Afghanistan – not like that weasel Obama who pulled out of Iraq.

    Talk about misinformation – they KNOW that GWB set the timetable for Iraq and the govt there told the US to go.

  14. 14.

    debbie

    August 21, 2017 at 7:13 am

    I hear more than 12 organizations have canceled their galas at Mar-a-Lago. Hit ’em where it hurts most!

  15. 15.

    Dmbeaster

    August 21, 2017 at 7:15 am

    Near Ashton, Idaho with 11 of us mobbing my sister’s cabin in the aspen/pine woods near Yellowstone. Weather should be excellent for 11:30 am totality. Her cabin is located in a clearing on the crest of a small rise with a clear view to the east of the distant Tetons, I made the trip to see the 1979 eclipse in E. Washington, and looking forward to sharing this experience with this crowd of first timers.

  16. 16.

    Kay

    August 21, 2017 at 7:16 am

    I know it can be frustrating and it can seem like there’s no hope, but you would not have seen this editorial on voting rights 8 years ago in a major newspaper:

    “Voter suppression is the civil rights issue of this era”

    When the Republican Party efforts to suppress voting really took off in 2000, under Bush, when voter suppression became a mainstream part of the GOP platform, there were elaborate efforts to deny it was happening. It was excused and minimized for years.

    So, although this is a crap WaPo op ed that states the obvious (‘removing confederate statues doesn’t address assaults on voting rights’) the fact that it exists is progress. I think it’s the federal lawsuits. They can’t ignore ruling after ruling finding the GOP is intentionally discriminating against AA and Latino voters partly because these opinions are really well grounded- the facts they’re based on are overwhelming. There was one out of Louisiana on Friday that is like a 90 page research paper on how Louisiana deliberately discriminates against AA’s in judicial races. State court judges. It’s up and down the ballot, on everything from school board to judges to President.

    It’s not just that Justice Roberts was “wrong” about racial discrimination in voting and gerrymandering and election schemes- it’s that his own colleagues are ruling over and over and over that he was dead wrong and they are busily compiling a host of cases and opinions that show just how wrong he was. More and more and more.

  17. 17.

    hedgehog mobile

    August 21, 2017 at 7:16 am

    Good morning. Mr. h is on his way to Wyoming to see the eclipse. Major deadline at work today so I didn’t go ?

  18. 18.

    Schlemazel

    August 21, 2017 at 7:21 am

    Our oldest took his family to Yellowstone last week with the return through NB. He selected the place to view the eclipse because it had only one cloudy day in the last 19 years. FOrecast for today is partially cloudy from Casper WY all the way through IL. Kid got his fathers lucky streak. We are supposed to be socked in here on the tundra were it will only be 80%. I saw a tatal back in the 80s, enjoyed it but we decided not to travel for it this time. I want to do 24 at Niagara Falls – good pasta willing and the marinara don’t rise,

    Yes, it probably it overhyped, that is the world we live in now. That does not mean the thing itself is not worth seeing

  19. 19.

    Schlemazel

    August 21, 2017 at 7:23 am

    @Dmbeaster:
    To heck with the eclipse, I want to stay at that cabin!!

  20. 20.

    satby

    August 21, 2017 at 7:24 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning ☕☕☕!

    I have to work today starting right when the eclipse does, so I won’t see any of it probably. The doofi I work with will prob all be outside for their lunch hour (which I come in to relieve them for, then stay until close) and if I get a chance to go out it will be over. Just another reason to add to my list of why I need to quit that job ?
    But in 7 years, the total eclipse is coming to South Bend, so that’ll be my chance.

  21. 21.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 7:34 am

    NYT piece about the Russian lobbyist: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/08/21/us/rinat-akhmetshin-russia-trump-meeting.html?referer=

  22. 22.

    NotMax

    August 21, 2017 at 7:39 am

    Somethin’ eclipsish for the youg’uns.

    Corona – Rhythm of the Night.

  23. 23.

    rikyrah

    August 21, 2017 at 7:41 am

    @debbie:
    The reporter on this story cracks me up with his tweets.
    1. I can tell that he is enjoying this story
    2. The pictures of his legal pad always amuse me.

  24. 24.

    rikyrah

    August 21, 2017 at 7:42 am

    @Kay:
    Yes , Kay
    And, I thank you for being on top of things with regards to this topic.

  25. 25.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 7:43 am

    @satby: @HeleninEire: @rikyrah: @Baud:
    Good morning from Poco and his tribe!???

  26. 26.

    rikyrah

    August 21, 2017 at 7:43 am

    @Quinerly:
    Morning to Poco, Ivan and John Lennon ?

  27. 27.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 7:47 am

    Secret Service out of money because of Trump family:https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/08/21/secret-service-cant-pay-agents-because-trumps-frequent-travel-large-family/529075001/

  28. 28.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 7:48 am

    @rikyrah:
    ??

  29. 29.

    NotMax

    August 21, 2017 at 7:50 am

    Test.

    ☀ ☀ ☀ ☀

  30. 30.

    Kay

    August 21, 2017 at 7:54 am

    @rikyrah:

    It amazes me how dumb smart people can be. Justice Roberts looks at elections, a process he takes part in, and never considers down-ballot. He says to himself, “Obama is President so therefore racism is over”. I don’t know- does he VOTE down-ballot? He just never considered any of the tens of thousands of offices below President of the United States? And to be a federalist and have this wacky blindness! Other federal judges don’t have it- they’re looking at judicial races in Louisiana, just him. He’s like an outlier in “blind” even among his colleagues.

    That’s WHY I go to racial bias. There’s really no other explanation. He’s just a moron in this ONE area? That’s what “bias” is- it’s almost the definition.

  31. 31.

    Schlemazel

    August 21, 2017 at 8:07 am

    @Kay:
    What makes you think the Chief Justice was dumb? Occums razor would suggest he knew exactly what he was doing and what the impact would be. His lily white skin allows him to pretend that the ruling did not affect him

  32. 32.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    August 21, 2017 at 8:26 am

    @NotMax:

    Yes, you do have black mold. You’d better get that taken care of.

  33. 33.

    Kay

    August 21, 2017 at 8:28 am

    @Schlemazel:

    I know he’s not dumb so I look for another explanation, and I end at the same place you are.

    “Obama was elected so racism is over” doesn’t even make sense under…. geography and the electoral college. Obama wasn’t elected in the places where these decisions are coming out of. Obama’s election says nothing about these places. Obama didn’t win in them.

    Roberts on voting rights belongs in the Great Wrong Decisions of all times category. Not only was he wrong but he was almost immediately determined to be wrong by other federal judges. They found intentional discrimination in Texas and North Carolina, and quickly! They found it immediately after Roberts said it no longer existed.

  34. 34.

    O. Felix Culpa

    August 21, 2017 at 8:30 am

    Good morning! The fall semester starts at the community college today. Don’t tell the students that I have to drag myself to class too.

  35. 35.

    Peale

    August 21, 2017 at 8:32 am

    I’m in Nebraska, driving to grand island, where I can only hope that a break in the clouds will save the day. It won’t be raining. But I fear I will miss out on this event. Hopefully 2024 in Rochester NY will be better.

  36. 36.

    satby

    August 21, 2017 at 8:33 am

    @Quinerly: oh, had to share that! That fucking loser bankrupts everything he touches!

  37. 37.

    Cheryl Rofer

    August 21, 2017 at 8:34 am

    Good morning! We had rain overnight for the first time in a long time. Pretty far from totality here, so NBD if it doesn’t clear. The rain is better.

    I have a friend at Carhenge, will see what she gets.

  38. 38.

    Cheryl Rofer

    August 21, 2017 at 8:35 am

    We had a refrigeratorhenge near the city dump, but it was taken down because it attracted vandals.

  39. 39.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 8:36 am

    @satby:
    EVERYTHING. HE. TOUCHES.

  40. 40.

    satby

    August 21, 2017 at 8:36 am

    @Peale: it’s sunny now, but chance of thunderstorms rolling in after noon. We desperately need rain, so mixed blessing if it happens. The last three rainstorms never happened though, the clouds gathered and then dispersed without a drop. If it gets cloudy today during the eclipse, it better rain!

  41. 41.

    O. Felix Culpa

    August 21, 2017 at 8:37 am

    @satby:

    But in 7 years, the total eclipse is coming to South Bend, so that’ll be my chance.

    We can gather and party like it’s 2017! And “doofi” is a great plural, not to mention accurate in your work situation.

  42. 42.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 8:43 am

    Short and interesting about the coming war between Bannon and the Murdoch brothers. Bonus snippet…Bannon didn’t use a computer in the WH: https://www.axios.com/bannon-vs-murdochs-2475330474.html

  43. 43.

    But her emails!!!

    August 21, 2017 at 8:46 am

    @Quinerly:

    Bonus snippet…Bannon didn’t use a computer in the WH

    Does it violate federal record keeping laws if he erased his white supremacy board?

  44. 44.

    JPL

    August 21, 2017 at 8:49 am

    @Quinerly: Nothing matters to his supporters. Very sad, but true.

  45. 45.

    HinTN

    August 21, 2017 at 8:52 am

    @hedgehog mobile: Riverton, perhaps? Getting ready to head over to Brown Sugar for my morning jolt. Afterwards, the Hampton Inn is having a party in their parking lot. Sky is clear as the sun comes up.They have a fine view to the south. Hope to see the onrushing shadow and shadow bands on the wall of the hotel.

  46. 46.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    August 21, 2017 at 8:53 am

    @BC in Illinois: On the ground in my chosen spot, Fort Moultrie, SC. I think I chose well. There are people here as early as me (8 am, an hour before the park opens) but only a few.

    It probably helps keep the crowds down that it’s bloody hot and steamy and there’s precious little shade to be found.

    I can’t bring myself to look at a weather report. It will be visible or it won’t. Mostly overcast right now but nevertheless the sun is finding a way to peek through.

    I came damn close to leaving my eclipse glasses at home. I was already packed and ready for the airport when I remembered I’d put them on the table where I “couldn’t miss them” to remind myself.

  47. 47.

    HinTN

    August 21, 2017 at 8:54 am

    @But her emails!!!:

    Does it violate federal record keeping laws if he erased his white supremacy board?

    Wins the internet today. Good thing I hadn’t made it to the coffee shop yet.

  48. 48.

    Betty Cracker

    August 21, 2017 at 8:55 am

    My kiddo is eclipse chasing in the Carolinas. I hope she doesn’t get stuck in some massive traffic jam.

  49. 49.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 8:55 am

    Wonder if Paul Ryan regrets planning this live town hall for tonight: http://thehill.com/media/347293-cnn-pushes-ryan-town-hall-for-trump-address

  50. 50.

    Cheryl Rofer

    August 21, 2017 at 8:58 am

    The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee will live-stream its residents’ reactions to the eclipse.

  51. 51.

    Peale

    August 21, 2017 at 9:03 am

    @satby: at least I got runzas and kolaches out of this trip. And some good sauerkraut and potato dumplings as a bonus.

  52. 52.

    Kay

    August 21, 2017 at 9:03 am

    “Steve has a lot of things up his sleeve.”

    Maybe. But my personal experience with people who have a lot of things up their sleeves is they don’t tell everyone they have a lot up their sleeve.

    This will never stop, will it? The veneration of people who make a lot of money will never end. It doesn’t matter how horrible they are as human beings or how incompetent they are- how bad at their jobs they are. It’s a one-factor measure.

  53. 53.

    JPL

    August 21, 2017 at 9:05 am

    @Cheryl Rofer: Thank you for the link. My mutt is going to stay inside.

  54. 54.

    Laura

    August 21, 2017 at 9:07 am

    @Kay: I’d call it the Rheinquist bias. It’s by design, and the federalist society exists in order to limit the rights of poc to vote, to participate in the legal and justice systems except as a suspect/defendant.

    Also, good morning Rikyrah, Baud, Quinery +dog/cats, satby HeleninEire…

    Got our viewing glasses and the spouse is printing out some NASA pinhole shaped like the states viewers. We’ll have 83° totality and that’ll have to do. Making some sammiches to go with gazpacho and some snack items. Sky breakfast pick nick at a park up the street.

  55. 55.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    August 21, 2017 at 9:07 am

    @Kay:
    “And it won’t make one bit of difference
    If I answer right or wrong.
    When you’re rich, they think
    You really know.”

    – “If I were a Rich Man”, Fiddler On The Roof

    Human nature, Kay.

  56. 56.

    Amir Khalid

    August 21, 2017 at 9:09 am

    @Quinerly:
    How does one get work done in a 21st century office without using a computer? Was Bannon’s advice to the President supposed to be all off-the-record?

  57. 57.

    Laura

    August 21, 2017 at 9:13 am

    Nerd Alert! Here’s a link to 2d and 3d printable pinhole projectors for your viewing pleasure.
    https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/2d3d-printable-pinhole-projectors

  58. 58.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 9:21 am

    @Amir Khalid:
    I found that part about no computer to be the most interesting. Can you imagine the Congressional hearings if word got out that someone in a a Dem administration was knocking back $180,000 a year and worked by passing paper notes around?: http://people.com/politics/white-house-staff-salaries-steve-bannon-paid/

  59. 59.

    O. Felix Culpa

    August 21, 2017 at 9:27 am

    @Quinerly:

    Can you imagine the Congressional hearings if word got out that someone in a a Dem administration was knocking back $180,000 a year and worked by passing paper notes around?:

    That contrast applies to virtually everything this maladministration does. Can you imagine if Obama had tapped out Secret Service spending in seven months due to vacation and family business travel? Can you imagine if Obama had said “That’s too bad” when 10 sailors went missing? Can you imagine if Obama {fill in the blank with any random Trump action]? The mind boggles.

  60. 60.

    rikyrah

    August 21, 2017 at 9:33 am

    There is nothing more American than voting. Don’t let anyone take that away from us pic.twitter.com/oCCCIpymPf #TW #VotingRights4All
    — Action2getherNetwork (@Action2getherUS) August 21, 2017

  61. 61.

    rikyrah

    August 21, 2017 at 9:33 am

    Virginia is renaming Jefferson Davis Highway and asking the internet for suggestions https://t.co/sKcYODGvSt pic.twitter.com/LGJwJ82VmK
    — Jalopnik (@Jalopnik) August 20, 2017

  62. 62.

    rikyrah

    August 21, 2017 at 9:34 am

    Dear @ArlingtonVA,
    Respectfully, I recommend the highway be named after John Punch, America’s First Slave. https://t.co/wi3VNhSJC0
    — Bobfr (@Our4thEstate) August 21, 2017

  63. 63.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 9:34 am

    @O. Felix Culpa:
    I know. I’m so jaded. It’s probably 10 things a day that aren’t even covered without some digging…like the throw away line about no computer in that Axios piece…all would be such a big deal under a Dem president. The Office of the Presidency is forever changed.

  64. 64.

    rikyrah

    August 21, 2017 at 9:37 am

    Dear Lord,
    If it’s time for Republicans to find courage & stand up to Trump, give us a sign! Like blot out the sun.
    ?
    Thanks,
    Americans
    — Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) August 20, 2017

  65. 65.

    O. Felix Culpa

    August 21, 2017 at 9:38 am

    @Quinerly:

    The Office of the Presidency is forever changed.

    Perhaps one outcome of this outrageous maladministration will be that norms and standards of decency (and competence) are reinstated. Call me a hopeless optimist.

  66. 66.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 9:40 am

    Breitbart blaming McMaster for failing to timely brief Trump on the USS John McCain. Hence Trump’s comment, “that’s too bad.” This is going to get incredibly ugly. Isn’t it ironic that Bannon’s outfit has been accusing McMaster of being a drinker?

  67. 67.

    rikyrah

    August 21, 2017 at 9:41 am

    @Quinerly:

    DA PHUQ?

    OUT OF MONEY?

  68. 68.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 9:44 am

    @O. Felix Culpa:
    Hi there, Hopeless Optimist! Looking forward to a few microbrews with you and perhaps, Albuquerque’s own “dexwood” in February. BTW, where is commenter dexwood? Miss his comments.

  69. 69.

    Olivia

    August 21, 2017 at 9:44 am

    On our way home from Colorado,we drove past Carhenge yesterday hoping to show the grandsons. We just slowed down and waved after we saw the sign that said $50 for parking. We’ll take them another time when the crowds have moved on.

  70. 70.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 9:47 am

    @rikyrah:
    A lot of golf cart rentals from Trump properties contributed. Thank Dog, Trump wasn’t a community organizer….ACORN might have been on the government dole.?

  71. 71.

    rikyrah

    August 21, 2017 at 9:47 am

    @Kay:

    This will never stop, will it? The veneration of people who make a lot of money will never end.

    the right-wing welfare circuit is real, Kay.

  72. 72.

    Elizabelle

    August 21, 2017 at 9:50 am

    In place in Gallatin, TN. Triple Creek Park. They have eclipse glasses, at least for another hour or so.

    Don’t see any fainting goats. Will endeavor not to be one.

  73. 73.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 9:51 am

    UT- Austin removed 3 Jim Crow Monuments in the middle of the night, last night. I’m amazed how quickly this is happening. Happy dance.

  74. 74.

    rikyrah

    August 21, 2017 at 9:52 am

    The Power of Privilege: Why Charlottesville Has Succeeded Where Charleston Failed

    Trevor LaFauci August 21, 2017
    Few remember the name Clementa Pinckney.

    Even the most progressive among us may not recall who this person was or what they did. We can add the title of State Senator to his name and most people will still draw a blank. We can even add the title of Reverend, which may have a couple additional people recognize the name, but most still won’t be able to recall this person. It is not until we add the geographic location of Charleston, South Carolina that people begin to remember the name. Reverend Clementa Pinckney was, in fact, the person eulogized by President Obama after the murder of nine African-American churchgoers by White supremacist Dylan Roof in Charleston in June of 2015.

    Despite the moving eulogy by our then president, the needless deaths of Reverend Pinckney and eight others did very little to affect public policy in this country. Yes, the Confederate flag was removed from the South Carolina statehouse. However, gun laws in this country remained unchanged. Many AME churches had to hire additional security for their church services and Bible study groups. Hate groups ups like the ones Roof idolized not only faced zero repercussions for their influence but actually were able to prosper in the wake of the Charleston shooting. Roof himself was not only kept alive after committing mass murder but was kindly provided lunch by local law enforcement. Even with the public outcry at the time, the murder of Reverend Clementa Pinckney and eight other members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church proved to move the needle very little in terms of addressing the problem of White supremacy in this country.

    Now, compare what happened in Charleston to what happened in Charlottesville these past ten days.

    ……………………………………………………………

    In short, public policy has dramatically shifted more in ten days after Charlottesville than in two years after Charleston.

    The question is why?

    Why has there now been a wide-scale effort to take down Confederate monuments and statues? Why have business leaders and artists now chosen to spoke out? Why are web-hosting sites now all of a sudden concerned about providing Nazis with a platform? Why are people in Boston and throughout the country now feeling compelled to leave their homes, take to the streets, and let it be known that we are not a nation that supports Nazis?

    The answer to all these questions is, quite simply, White privilege.

    Charlottesville did what Charleston could not because the events in that city directly affected White people. This wasn’t simply something that happened in an historically African-American church in a deep-red state. This was a something that happened an affluent, middle-class community with a prominent public university in a purple state that has been trending blue in recent elections. In other words, it was something that could have happened anywhere. People choose to live in and around Charlottesville because they feel safe. Ten days ago, an army of torch-wielding, violent Nazis entered their town, weapons in hand. When on Saturday, three people died including activist Heather Heyer, the community felt threatened as if their own very lives were at stake. For those in the community who grew up in privilege, it was the first time in their lives they had felt this way and for them it was terrifying.

  75. 75.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    August 21, 2017 at 10:08 am

    @Quinerly: I’m a glass half full guy by nature, so I’ll celebrate the apparent cultural tipping point and won’t dwell on the fact that there was ever such a thing as a “Jim Crow Monument”

  76. 76.

    Lapassionara

    August 21, 2017 at 10:10 am

    @rikyrah: I will be 75 on my next birthday, and I remember Clementa Pinckney. I remember Emmitt Till. I remember Medger Evers. I remember Martin Luther King, Jr. I remember Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney. I remember the children killed in the Birmingham Church bombing. I remember Trayvon Martin. I remember numerous other victims of white violence.

    Thanks for posting this.

    I wish the eclipse was starting now in St Louis, because it is bright and sunny right now.

  77. 77.

    WaterGirl

    August 21, 2017 at 10:11 am

    @Cheryl Rofer: Rain for you, yay! Can it be my turn now?

    edit: Pretty please?

  78. 78.

    WaterGirl

    August 21, 2017 at 10:14 am

    @Peale: I would kill for a good kolache like I had growing up. I tried to make them once with a recipe of someone who made awesome ones (long since gone from this world) and I swear she deliberately left out an ingredient because they were nothing like the real things.

  79. 79.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 10:16 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:
    That’s what I call them. That’s when they were built. That’s what they celebrated. Everyone should call them that.

  80. 80.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 10:21 am

    @Lapassionara:
    I’m so sick of eclipse mania here in St. Louis. Was supposed to go to a party in Fenton but not in the mood. Poco has been a bit lethargic yesterday and today. He freaks over weather events so I was going to take him to doggie daycare but the surgery on Friday has made him mopey. We are hanging here in Soulard with his kitty advisers. Totally unprepared. Eclipse glasses in Fenton. What area will you be in?

  81. 81.

    Amir Khalid

    August 21, 2017 at 10:21 am

    @Lapassionara:
    Alas, there are people who will remind you that George Zimmerman (ptui!) is Latino and part black on his mother’s side, so he isn’t as white as all that.

  82. 82.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 10:22 am

    Poof..my comment to a fellow St. Louis dweller was eaten by the eclipse.

  83. 83.

    Mnemosyne

    August 21, 2017 at 10:25 am

    I’m getting up early to buy chocolate-glazed “eclipse” donuts from Krispy Kreme for our office eclipse party. We have enough eclipse glasses for the whole office, plus we’re going to put the NASA live feed up in the conference room for people who want to see the totality. And we’re only getting, like, a 65 percent eclipse where we are.

  84. 84.

    Sister Golden Bear

    August 21, 2017 at 10:26 am

    In Kansas City for the eclipse. The good news is that traffic is light (as I’d hoped). The bad news is that it’s partly cloudy with a forecast of thunderstorms this afternoon.

    Ironically, my hotel near the airport is one the clear areas, so I might end with my butt parked here, since it’s in the path of totality. Having AC readily available is definitely a bonus, given how hot and humid it’ll be today and how this NorCal girl doesn’t do hot and humid.

  85. 85.

    Mnemosyne

    August 21, 2017 at 10:28 am

    @rikyrah:

    Sad but true: in Charlottesville, white Americans nationwide saw the cost of not opposing white supremacy to themselves and it freaked them out. Now that white people are threatened, they’re willing to act. Sigh.

    It’s better than the alternative, but it’s still frustrating as hell, and I’m one of ’em.

  86. 86.

    Cheryl Rofer

    August 21, 2017 at 10:30 am

    @Quinerly: Restored.

  87. 87.

    rikyrah

    August 21, 2017 at 10:32 am

    Sen. Claire McCaskill spends August recess trekking through Republican strongholds in rural Missouri https://t.co/jVwTOnSsru pic.twitter.com/hlH0lmMYzX
    — CBS News (@CBSNews) August 21, 2017

  88. 88.

    O. Felix Culpa

    August 21, 2017 at 10:33 am

    @Quinerly:

    BTW, where is commenter dexwood? Miss his comments.

    I was wondering that too. Perhaps he’s taking a break. I find it’s necessary from time to time. Not because of the esteemed BJ commentariat, but because the onslaught of negative info from this maladministration can get overwhelming. Sanity breaks with dogs, garden, and friends help greatly and reduce the temptations to despair and excessive alcohol intake.

  89. 89.

    rikyrah

    August 21, 2017 at 10:34 am

    GOP base comfortable with Trump’s racially inflammatory posture
    08/21/17 08:40 AM
    By Steve Benen

    More than a few political observers, hopeful that American politics was still driven by decency and principle, saw last week as a deal-breaker of sorts for Donald Trump. The amateur president could spend months testing the limits of the fabric that holds the country together, the argument went, but he couldn’t expect to get away with offering a tacit defense of white supremacists.

    And yet, here we are. The Washington Post reported yesterday:

    A GOP strategist working campaigns in red and purple states said that while support for Trump generally declined slightly since Charlottesville, support rose among his base, after a decline last month because of the failure on health care and revelations about the Russia investigation. This strategist said many Trump supporters applaud the president’s continuing desire to shake up Washington, favor his economic priorities and admire his willingness to speak his mind.

    ……………………….

    So, yes, Trump praised the “very fine people” among the racist activists in Charlottesville, and faced an immediate backlash, but to assume that much of the Republican base was troubled by any of this is to lose sight of what made Trump appealing to those voters in the first place.

    When the president fought to take away their health care benefits, the GOP base minded, When he fought with the media and blamed “both sides” for racist violence, these voters liked what they saw.

  90. 90.

    zhena gogolia

    August 21, 2017 at 10:37 am

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    Be sure to make it into town for BBQ at some point.

  91. 91.

    Lapassionara

    August 21, 2017 at 10:38 am

    @Quinerly: Kirkwood, but mostly in my own yard. I am hoping to see some strange reactions from the critters that frequent our area. Hope Poco feels better soon.

  92. 92.

    O. Felix Culpa

    August 21, 2017 at 10:40 am

    @rikyrah:

    When the president fought to take away their health care benefits, the GOP base minded, When he fought with the media and blamed “both sides” for racist violence, these voters liked what they saw.

    Knock me over with a feather. Le sigh.

  93. 93.

    WaterGirl

    August 21, 2017 at 10:42 am

    @Amir Khalid: Hahaha you think Trump actually works??

  94. 94.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 10:46 am

    @Lapassionara:
    Enjoy. I’m going to sneak over to a friend’s rooftop in South city. Feeling badly about not going out for this friend’s birthday party in Festus but want to keep an eye on him and to be honest…lazy about the drive. But I’m hearing NO TRAFFIC. Reminds me when the Pope visited us.?

  95. 95.

    Quinerly

    August 21, 2017 at 10:47 am

    @Cheryl Rofer:
    Thanks!

  96. 96.

    rikyrah

    August 21, 2017 at 10:56 am

    As others flee, Trump’s top evangelical ally comes to his defense
    08/21/17 08:00 AM—UPDATED 08/21/17 08:00 AM
    By Steve Benen

    After Donald Trump publicly defended racist activists, to the delight of prominent white supremacists, the White House hoped the president’s Republican allies would rally to his defense. That clearly didn’t happen.

    Last week, bookers and producers for a variety of news programs – including colleagues of mine at MSNBC – reached out to dozens of GOP officials about appearing on camera to defend Trump’s comments, and Republicans simply weren’t interested. That continued yesterday: in an exceedingly rare sight, there were no elected GOP officials on any of the Sunday shows.

    In an interesting twist, when ABC News’ “This Week” asked the White House for a spokesperson willing to appear as a guest, officials directed the show’s producers to, of all people, Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University and a member of the White House’s Evangelical Advisory Board. Falwell was one of the few people to defend Trump last week, and he did so again yesterday with ABC’s Martha Raddatz.

    RADDATZ: [Trump] said, there were “very fine people” on both sides. Do you believe there were very fine people on both sides?

    FALLWELL: He has inside information that I don’t have. I don’t know if there were historical purists there who were trying to preserve some statues. I don’t know. But he had information I didn’t have. And I believe that he spoke what was…

    RADDATZ: What made you think he knew that…

    FALLWELL: I think he saw videos of who was there. I think he was talking about what he had seen, information that he had that I don’t have.

  97. 97.

    rikyrah

    August 21, 2017 at 10:57 am

    “The roots of American Christian nationalism—including flavors that insist on white supremacy—stretch back decades” https://t.co/IKy4u7IUZH
    — Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) August 21, 2017

  98. 98.

    germy

    August 21, 2017 at 11:01 am

    Ruth H. Hopkins‏ @RuthHHopkins Aug 18

    Privilege is saving confederacy statues because they’re ‘historic’ but bulldozing through ancient sacred sites & artifacts for pipelines.

  99. 99.

    germy

    August 21, 2017 at 11:03 am

    Cathay Williams: born a slave, she dressed as a man so she could serve in the US Army during the Civil War. There's your new statue. pic.twitter.com/7MlHlW5brB— Dred (@MildredVon) August 19, 2017

  100. 100.

    Mike in NC

    August 21, 2017 at 11:10 am

    @rikyrah: White House Evangelical Advisory Board. When did that come into existence? Guessing just a few months ago.

  101. 101.

    frostys

    August 21, 2017 at 11:17 am

    @Elizabelle: We’re camped out close o you in Cedars of Lebanon SP. I was excited to wake up to blue skies and see the forecast changed to sunny all day, for the first time since I’ve been tracking it this week. Park is filling up with umbraphiles.

  102. 102.

    germy

    August 21, 2017 at 11:21 am

    @Mike in NC: She’s a member of his evangelical advisory board:

    Innocent Americans are suffering at the hands of some recent Somali migrants. https://t.co/f70yKMQp0Y— Michele Bachmann (@MicheleBachmann) December 15, 2016

  103. 103.

    Miss Bianca

    August 21, 2017 at 11:34 am

    My allergies decided to kick it up a notch this weekend, from “annoying but bearable” to “unbearable”, so altho’ I am planning to take a long lunch to help my friend wangle up a reflector for the telescope, I am grumpily expecting to remain underwhelmed by the whole eclipse experience. My co-worker, however, actually took today and tomorrow off so he could go up to Wyoming for the Whole Totality Enchiliada, so I also expect to be regaled with tales of its wonderfulness and maybe even some pics of the event so…there’s that.

  104. 104.

    Elizabelle

    August 21, 2017 at 12:08 pm

    @frostys: Waving at you. It’s lovely and well organized here.

    Met some folks w a righteous filtered telescope. They’re out of SFO; arrived South Carolina a few days ago; relocated to Kentucky, then drove to Gallatin, TN early this morning. Skies are perfect. Food trucks and watermelon.

    Lots of Canadians. How is your site?

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