I saw @BarackObama speak in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. He said that he didn’t watch cable news when he was POTUS because everything on there was stuff he had learned a long time before it was on TV. https://t.co/9skSSSVQib
— Julie Bosman (@juliebosman) December 23, 2017
Stephen Greenblatt, with an op-ed in the NYTimes:
… [A] team of researchers has published, in the peer-edited journal Nature Communications, the results of an extensive study of storytelling among the Agta, a contemporary population of hunter-gatherers in the Philippines. The lesson: Stories matter.
Scientists are fascinated by the few groups of hunter-gatherers remaining on the planet, since it is thought that they reflect our species’ earliest successful way of life, before the invention of agriculture. They are closely studied to solve a riddle that has long puzzled evolutionary biologists: How did humans learn cooperative behavior such as food-sharing, the care of others, the coordination of tasks, the acceptance of social norms? The answer, it seems, has everything to do with the stories we tell.
As is typical among bands of foragers, Agta stories emphasize the values of gender equality, friendship and the social acceptance of difference. Consider the following myth: “There is a dispute between the sun (male) and the moon (female) to illuminate the sky. After a fight, where the moon proves to be as strong as the sun, they agree in sharing the duty — one during the day and the other during the night.” The research established that individuals who live in camps with a greater proportion of skilled storytellers cooperate more readily with one another and are therefore more successful in their foraging.
The Agta themselves are fully aware of the benefits conferred upon them by the best makers and performers of stories. When asked to choose with whom they would most like to live, they overwhelmingly favored gifted storytellers over those who were known for their skill in hunting, fishing, tuber gathering or medicine. Life, most of those polled agreed, is simply better in the company of good stories…
Yeah, well, the people responsible for the “reporting” on the front pages of the NYTimes would probably tell you (if they were forced into honesty) that the stories they tell its readers have produced exactly the results they intended. But then, quite possibly, they’d be lying to themselves… again.
Quick story: Let me tell you about the democrat I support in 2018.
They're they ones with the (D) in front of their name on the ballot.
That's my litmus test.
/1— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) December 23, 2017
I don't care where a D is on the spectrum as long as they caucus with a democrat majority and begin to unwind the damage done by Trump, McConnell and Ryan.
I don't care what you call yourself.
If you win, and you're (D) and you can flip a seat, you have my support.
/4— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) December 23, 2017
So today, realizing we are less than a year from the 2018 election, that's where I stand.
Every (D) candidate, good luck.
Anybody who can cut the Trump cancer from our Democracy, I'm for you.
Let's get registered.
Let's be prepared.
And Stay Angry.
We have work to do.
/X— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) December 23, 2017
eclare
Good morning! Couldn’t agree more with the tweets. A popular former Democratic gov is running for Corker’s seat. He will prob be closer to Manchin than to Warren, and I don’t care. He is a D, that is all.
OzarkHillbilly
@eclare: It’s Tennessee. Warren could no more win there than here in Misery. McCaskill has a tough fight coming up here. I’ll be giving her more than a little money this year.
rikyrah
Good Morning,Everyone ???
eclare
@OzarkHillbilly: Oh I know, I just hope all other Democrats realize that.
OzarkHillbilly
Trying to find my car in Erie, PA! It’s like playing “Where’s Waldo”? – Kathy B
Schlemazel
You guys above get it but the follow up question is how do we get the people of RN and MO to understand that a democratic agenda is really in their best interest? How do we make those states fertile ground for a Warren? Once the disease is excised the next step is to make the body healthy and we need to plan and work for that too.
eclare
@Schlemazel: I think we need to focus on turnout. Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga all vote Democratically. Get those voters to the polls. Not sure how much convincing can be done. Reading about voters in KY voting for a gov who promised to take away their health care made an impression, and not a good one. Good question, but I don’t have a clue.
OzarkHillbilly
@Schlemazel:
Nuclear weapons.
opiejeanne
Today is our 48th anniversary, the years flashing by ever faster. I have.a nasty cold so the little dinner party has been put off until Friday or Saturday. Nothing fancy, just our kids and their SOs, my niece and her husband, and my sister if she’s still in town. I think we’ll go to the Chinese place in town and add the difference between dinner there and a fancy place, and add it to our year-end charity contributions. Looks like both the Clinton Foundation and Planned Parenthood have dollar for dollar matching this year. The wonderful no-kill shelter in town will get the bulk of our donations.
eclare
@opiejeanne: Wow! Congratulations!
raven
@opiejeanne: Get Hot Sour Soup!
opiejeanne
@eclare: Thank you. It hasn’t all been peaches and cream but he’s by far the best husband I could have.
opiejeanne
@raven: Their wonton soup is what I usually get for colds. If there was a good Thai place I’d order some Tom Ka Gai (no idea how to spell that).
Schlemazel
@OzarkHillbilly:
I am coming around to that position myself!
OzarkHillbilly
@opiejeanne: Happy 48th.
Manyakitty
@opiejeanne: Mazel tov!!
Baud
@opiejeanne: That’s only because you’ve never been married to me. Congratulations!
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Baud
@Schlemazel:
We vote out the Corporate Dems we just voted in?
Schlemazel
@Baud:
That was the great orange satan’s idea back in the day. “More and better Democrats”
Voters learned nothing from the W years and unlearned so much more under Obama.
Baud
@Schlemazel: I remember. Stay away from those people. “More and better” will always default to “better” with them. I’m now 100% in the “more” camp.
Major Major Major Major
As Deming says, “every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.”
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: You’re up late or early.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: How was your trip?
Major Major Major Major
@opiejeanne: hey I emailed you some days ago
@Baud: it’s 11am in London-town
Schlemazel
@Baud:
If we can’t get better than it is very likely people will continue to see no differences. We have 30 years of intense propaganda to overcome. I just had an argument over the weekend with “But Hilary had no plan” bullshit. She did & it was ignored, Dems need to create a legislative mass that exposes that lie.
Major Major Major Major
@opiejeanne: oh and congrats! What a fantastic idea.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: Trump-free and therefore quite nice.
@Major Major Major Major: Awesome.
@Schlemazel: Well, if we get more, then presumably we have convinced people there is a difference. But I agree we need better marketers. That’s different from “better” in a purity sense. Most of the people who believe in “no difference” aren’t going to be convinced by facts anyway.
opiejeanne
@Baud: Well, of course. And since I’m 67 I was probably too old for you.
opiejeanne
@Major Major Major Major: I missed it. I’ll go and dig it out. Was just a bit busy with Christmas parties and snowball fights and guests coming and going.
OzarkHillbilly
@opiejeanne: You married the right guy at 19? Impressive!
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: trump free over here too, just kidding this is across the street.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: Good. Glad you enjoyed yourself.
Amir Khalid
@opiejeanne:
Happy anniversary!
@Schlemazel:
Hillary was pretty much the only 2016 candidate for president with a plan. In fact, she had more plans than the other two dozen candidates put together. But all that policy wonkitude made journalists’ heads hurt and didn’t yield exciting headlines, so they went with the bullshit email scandal.
eclare
@Amir Khalid: There was also the “pundit”, I think it was Chuckles, who said she was either too prepared or overprepared for a debate. Yeah, prepared is a horrible quality, glad we dodged that bullet.
Anne Laurie
@opiejeanne: Congrats!
The Spousal Unit & I started sparking when I was 21 (we’d already been housemates for a year, at that point). But we didn’t formalize the relationship for another 15 years, so our chances of catching up to your record are… not high. Although we assure each other we’re both ready to try for our golden jubilee :0
Baud
@Anne Laurie: I read that as “started spanking” and thought TMI.
satby
@rikyrah: Good morning ?!
@opiejeanne: Happy Anniversary to you both! I have that nasty cold too. Hope it’s a short duration for us both.
satby
@eclare: see, right there it was so obvious that they couldn’t be unbiased about Clinton. Not that it wasn’t screaming obvious before, but even lo info voters had to be thinking WTF?
opiejeanne
@OzarkHillbilly: I did. And I finished college between babies #1 and #2. The 3rd was a bit of a surprise.
(I’m not sure I was the right wife for him, though)
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
Heading for Chicagoland shortly. We’ll celebrate Christmas with our son and, if all goes as expected, put a down payment on a condo. See you all in a few days.
satby
@Baud: Glad you’re back and that your trip was awesome!
satby
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): Safe drive and good luck!
OzarkHillbilly
@opiejeanne: A tip of the hat to an obviously superior person.
debbie
@Baud:
Glad your trip was a success, but you were very much missed.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Schlemazel:
A pockmarked wall decorated liberally with the viscera of Rupert Murdoch, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Richard Viguerie, Grover Norquist, Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter, Mike Huckabee, Franklin Graham, etc.
rikyrah
@opiejeanne:
Happy Anniversary ????
debbie
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Or we focus on income inequality and the predatory behavior of corporations and the wealthy.
Lapassionara
@eclare: And he is running against an extreme right-wing lunatic. One of those candidates will win, so it is important to support the one with the D behind his name.
Good morning!
Major Major Major Major
It’s nice of London to put paint on the streets telling us which way to look before crossing.
J R in WV
Your anniversary is my birthday – 67 this evening IIRC, and who would argue with me? Cousin who was 4 when I was born? Nah. Other cousins who were born earlier the same year? Nah.
Our anniversary will be next May, will be 47th as well. We got married just after she graduated, honeymoon was at my grandma’s farmhouse, filled with stuff we liked while grandma stayed at mom and dad’s in town.
Going back to bed now, hugs everybody!
satby
@J R in WV: Happy Birthday JR!
opiejeanne
@OzarkHillbilly: Not very superior. When I went to enroll and was talking to the various departments, I was really looking at the new Architecture major but I let one of my favorite music teachers talk me into the new Music major. It was fun, a lot of hard work, and mostly useless for me as it turns out.
Major Major Major Major
@J R in WV: happy birthday!
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@opiejeanne: Happy anniversary! Feel better soon, and hot & sour soup will help.
I misread your comment as:
and I laughed, because I rearranged its structure to actually read as meant to understand “he’s the best husband I could have so far.” I amuse myself sometimes.
eclare
@Lapassionara: Oh I know, I want to throw knives at the tv whenever Marsha Blackburn is shown.
OzarkHillbilly
@opiejeanne: Anyone who goes back to school and gets their degree while parenting is a superior person, demonstrating not only intelligence but drive. I tried but life got in the way and I lost focus.
opiejeanne
@OzarkHillbilly: I can certainly understand about losing focus. Kids tend to do that, and we discovered when we had the third one that they really did have us out-numbered.
sherparick1
I think it would have helped Obama see what he was up against if he watched a sample of Fox News to see the memes they were spreading and to work out a counter strategy. It seemed to me that for most of his administration, for understandable reasons, he could not take that bullshit seriously. Unfortunately, it shaped a great deal of the political environment in which he worked and until quite late in the administration did not understand the ferocity of the opposition.
gene108
@Baud:
I disagree. About half the “makes no difference” crowd I know are people, who vote regularly, but are frustrated with government. Even in states controlled by Democrats, there are enough Democrats, who revert to “politician mode”, i.e. engage in kickbacks or bribes or cronyism, that voters get discouraged about politics.
They really, really want a government they can believe in and that works for everybody, and not just the connected few. They want to see the difference, but aren’t plugged in. They have lives. They think the NYT is not garbage.
But they can be reached.
gene108
@opiejeanne:
Happy anniversary!!!
gene108
@J R in WV:
Happy Birthday!!!
opiejeanne
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: I think he’s that too, lol.
I realized after about 10 years that he’s really a much better human than most of the other husbands I’ve been able to observe among my friends and family. Yikes! I don’t know how some of those marriages lasted.
mai naem mobile
@J R in WV: Happy Birthday!
@opiejeanne: Happy Anniversary! 48 is impressive
MomSense
@Schlemazel:
So far the pattern seems to be that only when the previous Republican has fucked up so badly they are scared enough to give the Democrat a try.
Baud
@gene108:
You know who wasn’t like that? Hillary Clinton. People just invented the necessary facts they needed to support their prejudices.
If people are reachable, then I’ll happily donate a beer to any Democrat who reaches them (without throwing the rest of us under the bus.)
Baud
@debbie: Thanks. I was worried about what you people would do without my guidance, but you all seem to have managed it well.
Elizabelle
@Baud: You’re back! And making sense, as always. Agreed re HRC, and that Democrats are way more ethical than GOP. It’s why they need to lie about it so much. (ETA: “They” being GOP enablers and the MSM, which are often the same maroons.)
Happy Christmas week, jackals. Checking in from windy Barcelona. Windy but sunny. Now, off to find a menu del dia lunch …
HeleninEire
@Major Major Major Major: They have that here too. CRITICAL for keeping me in one piece.
oldgold
How cold is it?
The Jehova Witnesses are telemarketing!
Matt McIrvin
@MomSense: Kay said recently that fear appeals don’t work well for Democrats–we have to run candidates that people love, or at least have positive feelings about. I think there are basic psychological reasons for that. When most people are afraid, their minds snap into right-wing thought patterns. Fear the outsider, reject alien behavior, obey authority, maintain hierarchy, keep what’s mine. Being liberal feels like taking a risk; being conservative feels safe.
That means that telling people the Republican is going to fuck up and ruin everything doesn’t work well. It’s a fear appeal, and fear doesn’t make people like Democrats, only Republicans. They’ll just ask themselves if everything is really so great that we need to protect it from being fucked up. If they’re not super-satisfied, the answer will be no. Meanwhile, Republicans will offer the kind of fear that actually makes people like Republicans: scary foreigners are coming to kill and rape you; let’s keep them out!!
But when the Republican has already fucked up and ruined everything, that’s a different story. That’s when the Democrat seems to be offering something better than what we have now. That’s a “love” appeal, or at least a positive message. Democrats can win with that.
So the Democrats are stuck always being the cleanup crew.
Cheryl Rofer
@Matt McIrvin: Some of that thinking went into the Alabama senatorial race.
rikyrah
@J R in WV:
Happy Birthday :)
Ryan
Democrat(ic) majority. And do I see a glimpse of wingnut capitalization? What gives?
satby
I feel lousy, so I’m going back to bed. A feral update was requested on the previous thread, so copying my reply there:
@sigyn: I had gone to bed. So far no cats staying at the shelters other than to eat, I think. I saw tracks in and out of the shed, and I see them going into the one on the porch, but that’s too big to stay warm in, even with insulation and a fleece blanket. I need to go to a home store today and get a foil covered insulation board to remake the porch shelter. And a new heated outdoor bed will be delivered tomorrow.
rikyrah
Flynn’s brother calls for pardon from Trump
The brother of President Trump’s ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn called on the president to pardon Flynn in a now-deleted tweet.
“About time you pardoned General Flynn who has taken the biggest fall for all of you given the illegitimacy of this confessed crime in the wake of all this corruption,” Joseph Flynn said in a tweet on Tuesday.
The tweet was in response to a tweet from Trump, in which the president complained about the unverified dossier detailing his alleged ties to Russia.
WOW, @foxandfrlends “Dossier is bogus. Clinton Campaign, DNC funded Dossier. FBI CANNOT (after all of this time) VERIFY CLAIMS IN DOSSIER OF RUSSIA/TRUMP COLLUSION. FBI TAINTED.” And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2017
Flynn deleted the tweet shortly after it was posted, but confirmed to Newsweek he drafted and sent it.
“I said it, and maybe he’s listening,” Flynn’s younger brother said.
The elder Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the United States earlier this month.
The former general was fired in February after it was revealed he had misled administration officials, including Vice President Pence, about foreign contacts.
rikyrah
Trump partly blames Sessions for Republican loss in Alabama: report
President Trump reportedly blamed Attorney General Jeff Sessions for Republican Roy Moore’s loss in Alabama earlier this month because his departure from the Senate to lead the Justice Department necessitated the race.
Trump lamented the loss of the Senate seat to the Democrats and partly put the blame on Sessions for taking up the position at the Justice Department, which triggered the special election, according to a report from the Associated Press on Tuesday.
Doug Jones became the first Democrat in over two decades to win a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama, the deep-red state that Trump carried by about 28 points during the 2016 presidential election.
He won the race by a margin of 21,000 votes against Moore, the embattled Republican candidate tainted by sexual misconduct allegations, despite receiving a resounding endorsement from Trump in the run-up to the voting day.
MomSense
@Matt McIrvin:
I’m not saying we should run on fear appeals but the established pattern seems to be that Democratic presidents follow Republican presidents who have really fucked things up.
Dmbeaster
@sherparick1: Worse was that he never fought back effectively against it. No more high road bs. You cannever give up the narrative. But even more important, you should be shaping and broadcasting your own, and it better out perform.
rikyrah
For Trump and Republicans, these red flags are hard to miss
If a Democratic wave ends up washing over Republicans in 2018, history will record that 2017 was full of warning signs for the GOP.
It started in Kansas back in April, in a Wichita-area House district that Donald Trump carried by 27 points over Hillary Clinton. The special election to replace Rep. Mike Pompeo, who’d resigned to become Trump’s CIA director, produced a Republican victory but by just seven points. This marked both a shift of 20 points from the presidential result and the closest a Democrat had come to winning the district since 1996.
It set in place a pattern — of high energy and significant post-2016 strides for Democrats — that would be repeated throughout the year:
A 21-point victory for Trump in Montana became just a six-point Republican win in May’s special election for the state’s at-large House seat;
A 19-point Trump romp in South Carolina’s 5th District turned into a three-point squeaker for the GOP in June;
A 28-point Trump margin in Alabama turned into an outright victory for Doug Jones in December’s Senate special election — the first time since 1992 Alabamians chose a Democrat for the Senate; and
Double-digit Democratic improvements were common in special elections for state legislative seats across the country.
Matt McIrvin
@MomSense: I agree with you–I think those are the times when the positive message can actually take hold. That “it doesn’t have to feel like this,” as they said in the interview Cheryl linked to.
Matt McIrvin
@Cheryl Rofer: That is really interesting to read. I recall Joe Trippi coming in for a lot of criticism after the Dean run.
MomSense
@Matt McIrvin:
Obama won on no drama Obama as the world was falling apart and McCain seemed increasingly erratic.
For Bill Clinton I think it was that we were in a recession and health care was already a crisis. George HW seemed really disconnected from what struggling Americans were facing, didn’t know what a barcode scanner was or how much a gallon of milk cost. Bill came in able to articulate our struggles and saying he felt our pain. I still don’t think Bill’s message would have been enough without Ross Perot pulling off the libertarian Republicans
rikyrah
Trump ally in Congress wants ‘purge’ of FBI, Justice Department
12/27/17 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.), a congressional ally of Donald Trump, talked to MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson yesterday, and went further than most in trying to discredit the Justice Department and the FBI. Sure, plenty of Republicans have attacked federal law enforcement in recent months in the hopes of providing cover to their party’s president, but few have called for a “purge.”
After casually throwing around a couple of far-right conspiracy theories, Rooney made the case for “purging” federal law enforcement of Trump’s critics.
Rooney didn’t specify how, exactly, agency directors would identify and root out officials who are disloyal to Trump, though I’ll certainly look forward to hearing more details.
The Republican congressman may have a limited understanding of the history of such rhetoric, but as USA Today noted, “purge” is “a term more commonly associated with authoritarian dictators than democratic societies.”
TPM’s Josh Marshall had a good piece along these lines, noting how Rooney’s rhetoric is emblematic of “the Republican right’s broader embrace of authoritarianism,” which isn’t limited to the president’s alarming instincts. “We focus on Trump’s antics. They remain erratic and unbridled,” Josh wrote. “But equally important, probably more important, is the absence of any overriding respect for the rule of law or democratic norms among his supporters.”
Denali
The power of Fox News over the public is cannot be overlooked. Their unquestioning support of Trump has brought in millions of people to his side. Sinclair News is also very conservative. The Democratic Party needs to find a media that gets their message across and gives exposure to their candidates.
CaseyL
@opiejeanne: Mazel Tov! Happy Anniversary, and many many more!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@opiejeanne: Congrats to you and Mr. Opiejeanne.
Lapassionara
@Denali: Millions to his side? Really?
Then why do polls show him at an historic low for a first year of presidency?
I am making it my goal to reach as many voters as I can to help defeat the odious Ann Wagner. Don’t know if it will work, but it is worth a try.
frosty
@Baud: South America, right? Which countries did you visit, if you don’t mind my asking?
And welcome back. We’ve tried to emulate a certain level of dry snark, but us autre jackals need more practice.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: Londontown, eh?
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/26/17
Trump Republicans a receptive audience for Kremlin attacks on FBI
Del Quentin Wilber, reporter for The Wall Street Journal, talks with Joy Reid about the Republican attacks on the FBI and its leadership as they try to weaken any potential case against Donald Trump.
eclare
@Lapassionara: Does a D have a chance? Are there good candidates?
Brachiator
@Schlemazel:
It may not be.
Citizens hate Trump. This doesn’t mean that they love Democrats. Trump got over by at least pretending that he listened to voters.
Democrats insist that they have a strangle hold on Da Truth, and it’s just a matter of getting stubborn asses to obey. This trick never works.
Democrats could be poised for some impressive victories. But they are going to have to sell the voters on their ideas, and convince them that their interests coincide.
I think it might help to show where Trump and the GOP failed them and lied to them. For example, he promised to come up with something better than Obamacare, but then just tried to kill it. Not good enough. The Democrats can make it better. But people hated the individual mandate penalty. Got to find another way or finesse it.
Brachiator
@rikyrah:
Trump is crazy. Didn’t he pick Sessions? It’s not like Sessions decided on his own that he would become attorney general.
I would love to see the Democrats mess with Trump’s head. Blame Sessions. Blame McConnell. Claim that they can’t work with the president because of all the disloyal people surrounding him. Ryan, McConnell, McCain, all disloyal.
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/26/17
GOP’s anti-FBI campaign of limited use beyond political spectacle
Chuck Rosenberg, former U.S. attorney, talks with Joy Reid about how Republican efforts to discredit the FBI are being received within the bureau and how little those efforts will matter in a court of law.
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/26/17
Disinformation basic to Putin’s playbook; Americans take heed
Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, talks with Joy Reid about Russian president Vladimir Putin’s use of disinformation and distortion both at home and abroad as a standard matter of course, not just in 2016.
Brachiator
Some degree of cooperation seems to have developed in most great apes, and humans are also apes. Story telling may have reinforced this social trait, but it is unlikely to be the source of it.
Brachiator
@opiejeanne: 48th anniversary. Congratulations!
Another Scott
@gene108: Agreed. All it takes is a few examples of a corrupt Democratic mayor or city councilman to give the Teabaggers ammunition.
We need more Democrats, and better Democrats, but we also need to make sure that people who are elected aren’t corrupt. But More and Better first. It doesn’t help to insist on purity to such an extent that we give up the power to do good.
Cheers,
Scott.
(Who wonders how different things would have been if Eliot Spitzer hadn’t been so stupid…)
Yarrow
@Major Major Major Major: Hope you’re having a good trip!
@Baud: Welcome back!
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/26/17
Trump immigration policy distinguished by fear and cruelty
Jacqueline Charles, Caribbean correspondent for The Miami Herald, talks with Joy Reid about the fear that grips the DACA community and other immigrants in the face of Trump administration cruelty and Donald Trump’s broken promise to the Haitian community.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Schlemazel:Arguing don’t work with them, make them explain why Trump was so awesome. “Hillary had no plan” is just an excuse not to think about what Trump is up to. Conservatives won’t listen to liberals but they sure love the sound of of their own voices.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@eclare: At least her district will have a chance to upgrade, no matter what happens. My complaint about Phil is that he’s a little old, but given a choice between him and Marsha, I’ll go with old. Not only is she unpleasantly right-wing, she’s none too bright, even for a 21st-century Republican from Tennessee, which is a pretty low bar these days.
FlyingToaster
@Denali:
Sadly, no.
Our problem — our only problem — is getting people to the polls. Our voters are not consumers of mass media except for what they encounter in passing (what’s on in stores, restaurants, etc.) and trust me, we do our level best to ignore most of it. Our voters, and our non-voters, get their “news” from whatever device they’re carrying around with them, not a TV, and not from one of the cable or network providers.
Voter suppression had a bigger impact in Wisconsin than Fox Noise. If you want to change the dynamic, find a state group that is working on getting people their voting “credentials”. Because if you help someone get their IDs in order, they’re a lot more likely to listen to you when it comes time to vote.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@eclare:
It’s a pity that the Democratic pols aren’t willing to go after Chuckles for that, like in an interview “Glad to be here Chuck, but I hope I am not over prepared, We all know how you don’t like that, but I joke, So you were going on about how glad you are the Trump is president?”
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/26/17
New Republican tax plan explodes the deficit for a purpose
Bruce Bartlett, former Ronald Reagan domestic policy adviser, talks with Joy Reid about the expected fallout from the new tax plan and the Republican strategy to blow up the deficit with tax cuts for the rich so they can later argue a need to slash benefits to address the deficit.
Brachiator
@rikyrah:
Oh yeah, obviously Paul Ryan’s plan.
This should be easy for the Democrats to brush aside. The GOP tax plan came with a $1.5 trillion price tag. But the GOP promised that the economy would grow so big that this would not be a problem.
So the Democrats should resist any talk about cuts until after the economy grows.
eclare
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I love that idea! If only Democrats would have the guts to say it.
Yarrow
@Brachiator: “Why do Republicans want to make old people and sick people pay for the ultra-rich people’s tax cuts? Why do the ultra-rich need more money?”
SiubhanDuinne
Latish dinner last night followed by food coma, so I am just now beginning to catch up with the morning Juice thread. Happy anniversary, happy birthday, welcome back, have a great trip, enjoy your lunch, or Go Bredesen! as appropriate.
Anyone interested in Prince Harry’s interview with Barack Obama, here’s the link: (THE LINK).
It was recorded back in September, in case you wonder about a reference to the hurricane that just hit Puerto Rico. Apparently the interview was scheduled to run half an hour, but those two ran overtime so the whole thing is closer to 40 minutes.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott: It’s interesting, when Republicans get caught doing stuff like that, they just tell folk to “Fuck Off”; Dems resign in disgrace.
eclare
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I was thinking about David Vitter….among others. We willingly throw ourselves under the bus.
SiubhanDuinne
@SiubhanDuinne:
Sorry, should have mentioned that it’s audio only (was recorded for BBC Radio 4).
eclare
@SiubhanDuinne: Thanks for the link, will listen later!
Brachiator
@Yarrow:
I think you make this stronger by sticking it to the Republicans and holding them responsible for the consequences of their own policies.
“You said that cutting the taxes of corporations and the rich would work for everyone. Don’t come raiding Medicare and Social Security because you lied and it didn’t work.”
I hate this kind of thing. Maybe it works for other people. I think you can make a better argument about the general welfare.
Maybe people have some number in their head about how much money people should have. But this varies for everyone. And just who is ultra rich” varies as well. Does Oprah or JK Rowling have too much money?
It’s not my business to worry about who has too much money, or why they need it. I worry about not having enough for me and mine.
Also, the plain fact is that the old rules did not keep the rich from getting richer. The GOP Trump promise was that cutting taxes would bring more money and jobs and higher wages back to America.
If they lied and this doesn’t happen, throw the bums out.
TerryC
@Brachiator: My former anthropology professor, Owen Lovejoy, posited that what we now call gossip was the primary driver in the development of language. If that were to be the case, then Twitter should come as no surprise, really.
Cheryl Rofer
Totally OT, but fascinating. This gif shows how the moisture evaporates from Lake Erie and then precipitates as lake effect snow.
Brachiator
@sherparick1:
Obama didn’t need Fox News. Every day Boehner or some other Republican was telling him how they were going to oppose him unless he did exactly what they wanted, and how they would undermine him even if he did exactly what they wanted.
Brachiator
@TerryC:
Ha! Makes a certain amount of sense. Twitter is high tech gossip gone global.
The Lodger
@opiejeanne: Late to the game as always but Happy 48th!
burnspbesq
@Major Major Major Major:
Paint is a lot cheaper than emergency medical services.
Enjoy your time in London, but be warned: the cold you will bring home with you is a persistent bastard. I came home on 11/26 and I haven’t fully shaken it.
J R in WV
@opiejeanne:
And I just realized I wasn’t explicitly congratulating you guys on your 48th anniversary.
Too focused on my birthday, which isn’t really that big a deal after so many. May just lay about the house in a bathrobe all day, may get fired up to go to town and paint things red!
Having been married for 46.5 years so far, I know it sometimes takes hard work to make a relationship work. Congratulations, and Many Happy Returns!!
Bill Arnold
Interesting comment thread, thanks all.
Those who are prone to academic paper reading and enjoyed the rather science-y Nature paper about storytelling linked in the original post might like a few easier related papers (just read so they’re on my mind, and they do include some bits about storytelling):
The Evolutionary Biology of Education: How Our Hunter-Gatherer Educative Instincts Could Form the Basis for Education Today
And a widely cited earlier paper by the same author (there are other links, however this site has a bunch of fun open access papers),
Play as a Foundation for Hunter-Gatherer Social Existence
tybee
cool stuff. thanks for the links.
No Drought No More
Obama’s remark about cable TV echoes a remark made by Lincoln, who in uncharacteristic ill humor once dismissed critics of his administration by angrily asserting, “I know more about it than any of them”.
Superfluous to note: the only thing under the sun Trump knows more about than anyone else is the scale and extent of his own treason….. although I may well be short changing Mueller’s team in saying as much.
AnotherBruce
@oldgold: Old joke told by writer Tom Robbins.
What do you get when you cross a Jehovah’s witness with an agnostic?
Someone who pounds on your door, but when you answer, they just shrug their shoulders.
Tehanu
I’ve noted this before — President* Dump has, what, 18 different intelligence agencies to draw on? So why does he get all his news from Faux? (Rhetorical question — we all know why.)
@opiejeanne: Congratulations! You’re just under 5 years ahead of me and Hubby Dearest (and I was beginning to think we were the oldest married couple on Earth!)
Sharon
Boy I witnessed that Obama tweet from Julie in real time and it was like a signal went off for Trumpsters to come in and attack. They said he lied all the time, made America look bad and was the ‘worst President EVER’! Some with weird graphics (and of course with ‘Deplorable’ in their names) I’m always perplexed when White women come in to defend Dolt 45-I mean really? I also see their party line is now ‘Obama divided America’. One guy was still complaining that when Obama said if he ‘had a son
he’d look like Trayvon’ it was divisive. What color is the sky in these people’s worlds? I feel like they’re almost as obsessed with Obama as Herr Orange is.
No One You Know
@J R in WV: Happy birthday!