Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

This fight is for everything.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

People are complicated. Love is not.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

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

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

In my day, never was longer.

We still have time to mess this up!

We will not go back.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

He really is that stupid.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Thursday Evening Open Thread: Most Boston Protest Since the Original Tea Party

Thursday Evening Open Thread: Most Boston Protest Since the Original Tea Party

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Living in a college town means having an unending supply of earnest young “activists” looking for a project to mount on their social-media timelines. From the Washington Post:

A banner reading “Racism is as American as baseball” was hung over the Green Monster at Fenway Park during a game between the Red Sox and Athletics on Wednesday night. It reportedly remained in place for a few minutes before being removed by stadium security, and the fans who hung the sign were ejected.

“We are a group of white anti-racist protestors,” the fans said in a statement to The Post. “We want to remind everyone that just as baseball is fundamental to American culture and history, so too is racism. White people need to wake up to this reality before white supremacy can truly be dismantled. We urge anyone who is interested in learning more or taking action to contact their local racial justice organization.”…

A member of the group, who spoke with The Post via email on condition of anonymity, said the group at Fenway consisted of five individuals, with the fifth member “doing documentation across the stadium.” The person said the quintet was “not associated with any particular organization although all of us do work as organizers in various Boston groups that combat white supremacy and racism.”

Some observers Wednesday were left confused as to whether the banner was a condemnation or an endorsement of racism. “I guess we should have seen that coming but we also didn’t think of it as an ambiguous message,” a group member told CNN NE. “It’s kind of telling that it is being interpreted as one.”…

“Some observers” have their tongues so firmly in cheek as to protrude from the vulgar bodily orifice, more likely. But the Boston Globe assures us that the protestors’ motives were very, very pure!
***********

Apart from well-intentioned virtue signalling, what’s on the agenda for the evening?

Reader Interactions

122Comments

  2. 2.

    SiubhanDuinne

    “We want to remind everyone that just as baseball is fundamental to American culture and history, so too is racism.”

    Ken Burns has known this for a long time.

  5. 5.

    Roger Moore

    I know what they were trying to say, but it’s phrased terribly. Somebody who disagreed with them could plausibly read their statement as an endorsement of racism.

    And, FWIW, the official reason given for removing the banner was that it was in fair territory; I assume that having it hang over the fence and into the field of play probably didn’t help. It’s possible that it’s just a pretext, but they would have stood a better chance of staying in the game if they had done it in foul ground. That assumes, of course, that staying at the game was the goal; I’d bet they were happy with the attention they got by getting thrown out.

  7. 7.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Brachiator:

    North Korea is acting out again.

    Was just returning to the thread to make note of this.

    @raven:

    Joe just fired another missile over Japan.

    And this.

  8. 8.

    Gravenstone

    Cowboy Joe West. Fucking asshole (along with Eric Gregg) should never have been reinstated after the umpire strike years back. Always tries to make the game about himself rather than just the game itself.

  9. 9.

    Ian G.

    I love baseball (though the Mets make it so goddamn hard to love) and I hate racism. I wish only one were woven into the American fabric.

  10. 10.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Here are some good Twitter follows for the Korean missile test, including @NuclearAnthro, who provided color commentary on the wonkery of the others.

    The missile overflew Japan. No attempt was made to shoot it down. The missile seems to be of the same type as the one shot over Japan a week or so ago. It is probably in response to the sanctions voted on North Korea at the United Nations, but it probably is also testing some aspects of the missile.

  11. 11.

    Mike in NC

    I was in Boston last week visiting family and didn’t recognize much of the downtown area except for City Hall and the Faneuil Hall Marketplace. I didn’t even know that Boston Garden — where we went to see sporting events and pro wrestling as kids — was torn down and replaced with a modern facility years ago.

  13. 13.

    Patricia Kayden

    I automatically read that banner as anti-racist. But I understand that in Trump’s America, others may read it more cynically.

  14. 14.

    lamh36

    I know Jemele isn’t leaving ESPN, as of now, but I sincerely hope that she’s looking for an exit strategy soon. Cause if this is how ESPN does a minor thing, then you can expect more shit from them, even though, it’s their PR folks who blew this one out of proportions!

    STILL, THIS is how you stick together! Good on those brothers for standing behind Jemele.

    And you can bet, a number of big name athletes who are friends of Jemele, ALSO let it be known how they feel bout it!

    I hope that if it came to ESPN having to find a white host to go online, that that white cohost would also have Jemele’s back, but sadly, I won’t hold my breath on that

    @thinkprogress
    EXCLUSIVE: ESPN tried to kick Jemele Hill off the air and replace her with another black host http://bit.ly/2h539gF

  16. 16.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    While everyone should agree that racism is bad, there’s some law about how you can’t tell the difference between sarcasm/irony/hyperbole and true belief.

    I can easily imagine a white supremacist proudly saying “yeah, I’m racist, and racism is as American as, I dunno, baseball!” I don’t think it’s telling that someone pondered the possibility.

    It’s a tough situation. Racism *is* deeply embedded in US culture, and a lot of people who truly believe they’re not-at-all-racist have a lot of racist ideas and reactions.

    When was “consciousness raising” a thing? There was a time in my life when I realized what an *amazing* idea those words were – raise something to a *conscious* level, so you have to *think* about it. And once you’ve seen it, if you have any moral standing at all, you can’t just ignore it (even if you don’t/can’t do much about it).

    Of course, it’d be hard to make things conscious right now. The GOP has been blaming minorities (affirmative action) and immigrants (“illegals, coming to steal your jobs!”) for people’s economic woes; a lot of racism comes from that; and more from other southern-strategy crap.

    Still: the idea that, if people *see* hate and injustice, they’ll reject it (at least, most will!) is a powerful idea, one that resonates for me. And if more people could understand, there’d be far less risk of imagining someone proudly proclaiming racism is an “American” thing.

  17. 17.

    lamh36

    So Charlie of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was supposed to be Black (oooh), and the Oompa Loompas were supposed to be African (uh…IDK bout that)…not surprised at all, how white is default when it comes to publishing…back then and today…

    Charlie and the Chocolate Factory hero ‘was originally black’
    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/13/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-hero-originally-black-roald-dahl?CMP=share_btn_tw

    Still before crowing bout Dahl…good to remember, Dahl was a wee bit of a racist and anti-semite…soooo…

  18. 18.

    trollhattan

    Real reason they removed the banner: Foxwoods Resort + ca$in0 called to bitch that they weren’t getting the full square footage stipulated in the ad contract.

  19. 19.

    jl

    Since an open thread, I just wrote Alain the site fixer, about my deep concern that a couple of my suggestions were adopted for the new rotating headers.
    I submitted most of them just to get a rise out of Cole.
    What the hell happened? I apologize to everyone.

    Seems like these new ones will get burned out quick if they rotate them every minute.
    So I just submitted the batch below over the email to Alain the site fixer.
    One of them is an obscure West Virginia joke, though not sure it makes any sense, even with that in mind.

    Fun fact: Balloon juice, dirigible derp, blimp wind, and zeppelin fart all mean the same thing.
    Done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more.
    SNAFUBARblogitoxicexcremaladocious.
    I blew my life savings on popcorn futures.
    Financed by naked shorts on ‘All the Winning’. Free seminars coming soon.
    Hooooooza a good widdle bloggy? Huh? You are, aren’t you? You are!
    Like the Squonk, timid, ugly and ashamed, dissolves itself in its own tears.
    The Dubstep blog for the Trumpstep age, do the Dubstep Trumpstep, it’s all the rage.
    Tells you that one weird trick for all those other one weird tricks.
    Waiting for the new model Peisistratos since January 20, 2017.
    Honoring all of West Virginia’s panhandles, and the round part, too.
    The Don Knotts of Cyrus Vance blogging.

  20. 20.

    lamh36

    @CNN
    Follow
    More
    Hillary Clinton bluntly said she doesn’t forgive those who now say they regret not voting in the 2016 election http://cnn.it/2xlDSbQ

    Good for her…she shouldn’t. Why should she?
    Their is no absolution for any of them…PERIOD! If they want absolution they should speak to their spiritual advisor…NOT HRC…

  21. 21.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    all interesting if true…

    Margot Sanger-KatzVerified account @ sangerkatz
    There is a whole section in the Sanders bill setting up a Medicare buy-in during the transition period. Has not gotten much attention.

    Matthew Yglesias‏Verified account @ mattyglesias
    The “transition” is the real plan here imo so this is important.

    senga6‏ @ bklyn_momjeans 2h2 hours ago
    Apparently Gillibrand put it in.

  23. 23.

    gvg

    I read that sogn as racist as all get out and am sceptical of denials. Actions speak louder than words tho so I’ll wait to see how these doofuses live their lives. I would not hire them for any public job though.

  26. 26.

    jl

    @lamh36: I sympathize with Hillary there. I wouldn’t say that myself to someone I knew who neglected to vote, unless I felt they were unsalvageable for the next election. Maybe because I live in a politically active area, no one has admitted that to me, or even admitted to not voting.

  27. 27.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @lamh36:
    This does not surprise me. Racism is rarely as simple as ‘I hate black people.’ I can easily see the same author wanting to make his (sympathetic) protagonist black while also using a ghastly African Pygmy stereotype.

  28. 28.

    jl

    @Steeplejack: @Major Major Major Major: To the extent that there is any sanity to the BJ editorial process, I feel I must respect it and not tread on blog editorial prerogative by blabbing stuff.

    Anyone doesn’t like the headers, they should submit their own ideas and get the bum ones they don’t like replaced.
    I got no clue which headers some people like or hate.

    I did submit a couple of serious thoughtful things, but haven’t seen them yet. I did submit one to help Baud 2020, too.

    Edit: am too much a loser to have kept track of what I sent to the pie and to the header, so I really have no idea. Sorry. I am aware of all BJ commenter traditions.

  30. 30.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    Dirk passed at 11:07 this morning. I’m now dealing with Harry, who is pacing about trying to find his beloved older brother. I sent info to Anne Laurie, though I’m still trying to get photos to her.

  33. 33.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lamh36: Hillary Clinton bluntly said she doesn’t forgive those who now say they regret not voting in the 2016 election

    me neither

  34. 34.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym:

    Have been thinking about you and Dirk all day long. I do hope it was a gentle, peaceful, pain-free passing for him.

    Were you with him? I know he knew that you loved him and wanted only the best for him, and what more can anyone ask? But nevertheless I am shedding a tear for you in your loss.

  36. 36.

    SatanicPanic

    @lamh36: They fucked up. They can make up for it by volunteering to get out the vote and promising never to complain about “lesser of two evils” “the two party duopoly” or “both sides” ever again.

  38. 38.

    japa21

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym: I know, and you know, you did the right thing. That doesn’t lessen the hurt or fill the void, however, Just know that I and others here are supporting you at this time. Way too many of us have gone through this.

  40. 40.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Hillary Clinton bluntly said she doesn’t forgive those who now say they regret not voting in the 2016 election

    me neither

    ME NEITHER! Goddamn fucking snowflakey fuckers. Fucking snowflakes. Fuckem.*

    *If efg wants to sue me for plagiarism, I’m game.

  45. 45.

    raven

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym:

    We who choose to surround ourselves
    with lives even more temporary than our
    own, live within a fragile circle;
    easily and often breached.
    Unable to accept its awful gaps,
    we would still live no other way.
    We cherish memory as the only
    certain immortality, never fully
    understanding the necessary plan.
    — Irving Townsend

  47. 47.

    Mnemosyne

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym:

    I’m so sorry. We can only do our best for them, and it sounded like you did everything you could.

    Remember that the emotional intensity of grief is the same whether it’s for a human or an animal, so be gentle with yourself.

  48. 48.

    Uncle Ebeneezer

    @lamh36: Headline will be: Evil Hillary Never Forgives!!

    I’m with you. No forgiveness, no absolution. Maybe someday, definitely not today. Do better next time. Etc.

    PS- never noticed how blue Hillary’s eyes are…that outfit and earrings really bring them out.

  54. 54.

    NotMax

    Heads up that beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern on Friday, TCM is airing a block of (for want of a better word) lesser Carole Lombard comedies. Chance to watch her assiduously working her tush off (and mostly succeeding) to inject life into several mundane or otherwise limp scripts, including one role that is a kind’a sort’a parody of the Garbo phenomenon.

  60. 60.

    LeonS

    @gvg: I dunno. Who actually cops to racism? Nobody says they are “Racist” – they say they just care about white heritage (or whatever the f*ck term they use).

  62. 62.

    NotMax

    @Siubhan Duinne

    Have been meaning to inquire (if you don’t mind) what your opinion might be of Berlioz.

    Have had a like/aversion thing about his music for a long time, with the pendulum swinging from one to the other roughly twice per decade.

  67. 67.

    efgoldman

    @Gravenstone:

    Cowboy Joe West. Fucking asshole (along with Eric Gregg) should never have been reinstated after the umpire strike years back

    In fact Gammons wrote at the time of the lockout that the leagues did it (paraphrasing) “so they could get rid of umpires like Joe West.”

  68. 68.

    mellowjohn

    Several years ago i was at a White Sox game with my son and his family. We were sitting in the front rolw on the 1st base side, just past the visitors’ dugout. At the end of one inning the visiting 1st baseman flipped the ball to my 6 year old grandson as he was coming off the field. A few minutes later, West (the 1st base ump) came over and asked for the ball back.
    His idea of a joke.
    What an asshole.

  69. 69.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    That makes me weep, every time. I have shared it with other (non-BJ) friends who have lost their beloved animal companions.

  70. 70.

    efgoldman

    @NotMax:

    what your opinion might be of Berlioz.

    His orchestration is so treble-heavy I’ve always wondered if he suffered from high frequency hearing loss.

  71. 71.

    MJS

    @gvg: The sign basically boils down to. “America is racist.” How can that be read as racist? It’s a statement of fact.

  72. 72.

    NotMax

    @mellowjohn

    Trivia: A long time ago, came across a squib providing the information that the average number of baseballs used during a major league game is 52.

  73. 73.

    raven

    @SiubhanDuinne: I’m really worried about Lil Bit. She’s making a wheezing sound when she breathes and I know it’s related to the sick sinus syndrome she has. I’m leaving for Villa Park in the morning and won’t get back till Sunday. The only thing that will help the SSS is a pacemaker and we have to know more before we drop 3 grand on one.

  74. 74.

    Patricia Kayden

    @lamh36: From your link:

    Thursday afternoon, Trump stuck by his incendiary comments. “When you look at really what’s happened since Charlottesville, a lot of people are saying and people have actually written, ‘Gee, Trump may have a point.’ I said there’s some very bad people on the other side also,” Trump told reporters on the way back from Florida.

    So Trump is still blaming the anti-racist protesters for what happened in Charlottesville. Wow. Just wow. But don’t you dare call him a White Supremacist.

  80. 80.

    Steeplejack

    @raven:

    A mixed bag. The Strawberry Statement was awful. I never got the love for Butterflies Are Free. And I’m not sure how well Alice’s Restaurant holds up. Haven’t seen it maybe since it first came out. Zabriskie Point is a mess. Maybe worth a look for people who haven’t seen it to marvel at the carnage.

    I actually sort of liked Wild in the Streets, because it didn’t pretend to be more than it was—sort of a cross between beach movies and Roger Corman. And it gave us “Shape of Things to Come.”

  83. 83.

    FlipYrWhig

    @MJS: The sign could be read to mean “Racism is American, which, take it from us American racists, means there’s nothing the rest of you should be complaining about.”

  85. 85.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    Funny you should ask!! One of my biggest ongoing musical disputes with my late father was over Berlioz, and I was just thinking about that a day or two ago. My dad always maintained that HB never wrote a single memorable melody; I immediately riposted by humming or whistling the March from Les Troyens, the idée fixe from Symphonie Fantastique, the wonderful “Serenade” from Harold in Italy, and the “Farewell of the Shepherds” from L’Enfance du Christ, among others.

    That said, I find him incredibly tedious much of the time. I like bits of most of his major works, but find the entirety boring at best but with flashes of genuine brilliance.

    He is certainly among my top 50. Top 10, let alone top 5? No way.

  90. 90.

    TenguPhule

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    The missile overflew Japan. No attempt was made to shoot it down.

    Failing to shoot it down would probably have been worse then not even attempting it.

    At least this way we can still pretend that the anti-missile defense exists.

  92. 92.

    NotMax

    @raven

    Added a number of things earlier today to my suddenly empty Netflix queue in anticipation of just such a circumstance.

    @Steeplejack

    Can remember the audience laughing all through at (not with) Wild in the Streets when it first came out. Journeyman actor Ed Begley Sr.’s last film appearance.

  94. 94.

    MJS

    @FlipYrWhig: But as someone else said upthread, they rarely if ever refer to themselves as “racists” or what they engage in as “racism”. They couch it in terms of “sticking up for their heritage” or some such nonsense, because even they know that “racist” or “racism” aren’t terms they want to be publicly associated with. In any event, I read it immediately as a scathing, but accurate, indictment of America.

  96. 96.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    Oh wow, I’m so sorry. You’ve given so much already to make sure Lil Bit has a good life. How old is she again? Not to sound calculating, but that may be a factor in your ultimate decision of next steps for her.

    From all the photos I have seen, she looks like a sweetie, and I know you and Mrs raven will do what’s right for the entire family, both the two-legged and four-legged members.

  99. 99.

    raven

    @SiubhanDuinne: We don’t know, we rescued her 9 years ago and there is really no way of telling short of “tooth wear” and that’s inconclusive. Her cardiologist (yes, she has one as well as an ophthalmologist and a gp) diagnosed the SSS quite some time ago along with the standard Cocker heart valve leak. We said we wouldn’t do “heroic” stuff like we did with Raven’s cancer but, from what I can gather, a pacemaker really isn’t an involved surgery. I will probably drop her at the vet on the way out of town and have the boss go get her later.

  100. 100.

    Aleta

    @SiubhanDuinne: People who didn’t vote for her are now in a tizzy that “she won’t take responsibility for losing.” Making noise that she should keep quiet. Didn’t work for her but it’s all her fault? Knocking over their milk during a tantrum and now it’s mom’s fault they’re hungry.

  102. 102.

    Gvg

    @MJS: “it’s as American as…” is usually the lead in for something good like apple pie or baseball. That word choice implies approval not disapproval.

  104. 104.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Aleta:

    I know. It makes me crazy.

    If Hillary wants to write about her experience and her take, who the fuck are these fucking snowflakey fuckers to say her nay?

    There’s an old Southern expression, “can’t win for losin’!” Hillary is the walking, talking exemplar of that saying. It is sad and infuriating.

  105. 105.

    Shana

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Our terrific dog Lightning, who I mentioned in an earlier thread, used to love Friday nights when we do the Shabbos blessings. The last of them, for you goyim out there, is a blessing over the challah ending with cutting one piece off and breaking it into enough pieces for all the people joining you for dinner. We always gave Lightning a piece of the challah, which he dearly loved. Every Friday night either Hubby or I will say “I miss Lightning” at that point in our dinner and he’s been gone for about 3 years now. The grief passes but the memories last forever.

  106. 106.

    Mnemosyne

    @NotMax:

    Are they showing the Pre-Code one she did with Clark Gable? I think it’s called No Man of Her Own.

    It’s kind of astounding how little chemistry they have in it, but they were both married to other people at the time and not looking around.

  107. 107.

    Gvg

    @lamh36: let’s not lose sight of the fact that the ones with the most responsibility for Trump are those who voted for him directly.
    Stein or non voters are more ambiguous.

  109. 109.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Gvg:

    “it’s as American as…” is usually the lead in for something good like apple pie or baseball. That word choice implies approval not disapproval.

    There is a famous (in some circles) story of a contest for Canadians to counter the “As American as….” meme with their own “As Canadian as….” rejoinder.

    (I think it was a well-known Canadian magazine that ran the contest. Macleans or Saturday Night or something.)

    Anyhow, there were the usual entries, “As Canadian as poutine,” “As Canadian as hockey,” “As Canadian as maple syrup,” “As Canadian as Tim Horton’s,” etc.

    But the winning entry, which still makes me laugh all these years later:

    “As Canadian as possible, under the circumstances.”

  112. 112.

    No One of Consequence

    Hearing about the latest from North Korea. Can anyone confirm that the US Military retrieves these things to try to confirm what the tech level is? I understand how that might be problematic on a number of levels. Depth of sea, whether or not it self destructs, is obliterated on impact with the ocean, etc.

    – NOoC

  113. 113.

    NotMax

    @Mnemosyne

    Hands Across the Table
    Love Before Breakfast
    The Princess Comes Across
    Now and Forever     (she and Gary Cooper both upstaged by Shirley Temple)
    The Gay Bride
    Brief Moment
    and the more widely known Nothing Sacred

  114. 114.

    But her emails!!

    @lamh36:

    That’s not exactly what the article quotes her as saying.

    “When it first started happening, it was so soon after the election,” she said. “It was hard for me to comfort somebody who was coming to me and saying, ‘Oh, I wish I had done more,’ or, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t vote’ because I think this was one of the most consequential elections that we have faced in a long time.”
    She added: “So, no absolution. But I just hope people will take what happened this time seriously and be ready and willing to vote the next time.”

  121. 121.

    The Simp in the Suit

    @lamh36: I’ve been told many times, and read it, that Dahl was antisemitic. The little bit of what I’ve read of his response to that charge is that he was anti-zionist, and that that was based on his direct experiences in wartime M.E., having observed, from his perspective, property being permanently taken from Palestinians who had at best offered temporary refuge to refugees. Of course, what else would his favorite nephew say? (the source of the defense).

    Is there an unbiased story on this that someone can point me to? I’ve found plenty of vitriol, but little knowledge. I guess I just get disappointed when an author/artist/notable whose work I like turns out to have been a jerk otherwise…

  122. 122.

    Marmot

    “Some observers” have their tongues so firmly in cheek as to protrude from the vulgar bodily orifice,

    Not everyone reads lefty blogs.

    That is some low-quality propaganda, as mentioned upthread. No thought about how the message might be interpreted by the intended audience, no call to action. Just a flat complaint stated ambiguously.

    Tsk tsk.

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