Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

White supremacy is terrorism.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

We still have time to mess this up!

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

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

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

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

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

You are here: Home / Organizing & Resistance / Don't Agonize - Organize / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Here’s for A Quiet Year

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Here’s for A Quiet Year

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(Non Sequitur via GoComics.com)
.

Professor Krugman, “America Is Not Yet Lost”:

… I’m ending this year with a feeling of hope, because tens of millions of Americans have risen to the occasion. The U.S. may yet become another Turkey or Hungary — a state that preserves the forms of democracy but has become an authoritarian regime in practice. But it won’t happen as easily or as quickly as many of us had feared.

Early this year the commentator David Frum warned that the slide into authoritarianism would be unstoppable “if people retreat into private life, if critics grow quieter, if cynicism becomes endemic.” But so far that hasn’t happened.

What we’ve seen instead is the emergence of a highly energized resistance. That resistance made itself visible literally the day after Trump took office, with the huge women’s marches that took place on Jan. 21, dwarfing the thin crowds at the inauguration. If American democracy survives this terrible episode, I vote that we make pink pussy hats the symbol of our delivery from evil.

The resistance continued with the town hall crowds that confronted Republican legislators as they tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act. And in case anyone wondered whether the vocal anti-Trump crowds and Trump’s hugely negative polling would translate into political action, a string of special elections — capped by a giant Democratic wave in Virginia and a stunning upset in Alabama — has put such doubts to rest.

Let’s be clear: America as we know it is still in mortal danger. Republicans still control all the levers of federal power, and never in the course of our nation’s history have we been ruled by people less trustworthy.

This obviously goes for Trump himself, who is clearly a dictator wannabe, with no respect whatsoever for democratic norms. But it also goes for Republicans in Congress, who have demonstrated again and again that they will do nothing to limit his actions. They have backed him up as he uses his office to enrich himself and his cronies, as he foments racial hatred, as he attempts a slow-motion purge of the Justice Department and the F.B.I…

So it’s going to be up to the American people. They may once again have to make themselves heard in the streets. They’ll certainly have to make their weight felt at the ballot box.

It’s going to be hard, because the game is definitely rigged. Remember, Trump lost the popular vote but ended up in the White House anyway, and the midterm elections will be anything but fair. Gerrymandering and the concentration of Democratic-leaning voters in urban districts have created a situation in which Democrats could win a large majority of votes yet still fail to take the House of Representatives…

Even at best, in other words, it’s going to take a long struggle to turn ourselves back into the nation we were supposed to be. Yet I am, as I said, far more hopeful than I was a year ago. America is not yet lost.

***********

What’s on the agenda as we buckle down for another year?

Reader Interactions

75Comments

  2. 2.

    rikyrah

    If there is a crazier place in the world, other than North Korea, it’s Pakistan.
    They are the most dangerous country on Earth, because they are unstable and have nukes, so, of course, Dolt45 is tweeting about Pakistan.??

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    I agree with Krugman.
    It’s up to the people.
    And, as far as the GOP goes…
    I will defer to a poster here:

    ” Wipe them out…all of them.”??

  6. 6.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et Al.)

    I’m awake at 5:30 because the fucking cold that has been all through my household has at last made it to me. Hallelujah. I’ve been up all God damned night now, and all I can do is to wait until I’m so worn out and worn down that I can’t keep awake any longer. I’d forgotten how wretched a bad cold can be.

  11. 11.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @OzarkHillbilly: I think it more like a really long day for him, he was on the road at 3am, game didn’t end until around 6:30pm and getting out of the Rose Bowl after a game can be “challenging” and that’s before you get on the freeway.

  13. 13.

    Schlemazel

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    One eye-opener during our visit out there was that and 30 mile drive was an hour and a half. Two and a half at least in rush hour/ We drove back streets from Malibu to Fountain City and did just as well time-wise plus we found an unbelievably good hole in the wall Mexican place for dinner.

  14. 14.

    Kay

    They cancelled school because of the cold. It’s -22 w/wind chill. I never know how seriously to take that wind chill number. Last time this happened my oldest was a 2nd grader, so 21 years ago. They worry about kids on the rural route- their parents go to work and they get themselves out to wait for the bus and they’re afraid they won’t know enough to go inside if they’re outside too long. Half the time they’re not dressed warmly enough anyway. My middle son was working on the roof of the GM powertrain plant in Toledo all of December- they’re getting a new power system- and they took them off and have them working inside this week, just to keep them so they won’t have to assemble a whole new crew when it’s warm enough to re-start. It’s supposed to end Sunday here- get all the way up to 28 :) Balmy!

  22. 22.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay:

    they took them off and have them working inside this week,

    Electricians are such pansies! They never gave us carpenters a break like that.

  24. 24.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @OzarkHillbilly: There’s a big office building in DTLA right by the 110 freeway that has a big blue “Carpenters” sign on it. I thought it was some company named “Carpenters”, but when I walked by it seems to be the Carpenters Union Thugs* building.

    *Steve in the ATL says they like being called that.

  30. 30.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Zinc lozenges will, and I say this as a confirmed pseudoephedrine user. Guafenisen helps me be less miserable when the pseu gets overwhelmed, zinc shortens the duration. All else is useless.

  31. 31.

    Kay

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    He’s working a lot – they all are. I can’t find anyone to paint the interior of the law office. I have a retired cop friend who wants to do it but I’m wary- it’s so disruptive I don’t want to do it twice. The cleaning lady told me it needs painted- you don’t notice how worn it looks when you’re there every day. 15 years just flew by! :)

  33. 33.

    bystander

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: In LA, I wouldn’t be surprised if they named a highway segment after pop superstars, Richard and Karen. It must be my age but I used to abhor listening to them. Now, they seem like a breath of unspoiled air. (In small doses.)

    Edited to remove stutter.

  34. 34.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @debbie: Basically, the best thing to reduce a cold’s duration is sleep, lots of sleep. I took Target’s generic NyQuil extra strength gel caps and Mucinex-DM so I could sleep. The cold lasted from a sore throat on Tuesday night to being pretty much gone by Sunday. There was a lingering cough for about a week and I used the Mucinex twice when it woke me. I also drank hot tea with honey. As they say YMMV.

  36. 36.

    ThresherK

    @debbie: Ahh, Mucinex DM is a daily friend.

    My jagoff supervisor had to man (sic) up and come in a Saturday for some project work some dozen years ago. That was my regular shift for a different task in same area, and he sounded like crap. I caught his viral bronchitis and have been susceptible to it ever since, on top of plethora of others, lesser, allergies and such.

    And this was neither a food service or healthcare setting, no ou4doors in 0F exertion, just “clean” white collar work.

    This week we send our failed 18 year month old humidifier back for a replacement under warranty!

  39. 39.

    debbie

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:

    I’ve used guafenesin since back when it was by prescription only. It’s the best way to avoid a cold turning into a sinus infection. I found Delsym the best OTC for cough reduction. If you can also get Tessalon Perles (script only) for cough reduction, all the better.

  40. 40.

    satby

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: sleeping through the cold I just had worked for me. Hadn’t had such a bad cold in years, and as an asthmatic, colds turn into bronchitis or pneumonia easily. I took nighttime cold medicine at the required intervals, napped both morning and afternoon, and slept as long as I could overnight. And was surprised when I was getting much better by Saturday from the Monday before. With no respiratory complications. Still a little residual congestion, but light years better than I expected to feel.

  41. 41.

    Kay

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    He could but he works alone and I think he needs at least two people. He won’t be able to move the filing cabinets alone and I’m not doing that. I’ll be crushed by pounds of paper! :)
    The last time it was a crew of 4 and they finished in 2 days. That’s worth it, that they’re in and out. They used a very soft pinky-white which I thought was weird at the time but it’s actually nice- it’s flattering- nice light. I have a can thank God because as you know there are 10,000 whites. I can’t go thru that again. I ended up saying “you pick it” halfway thru the greeny-white samples and they did a good job. That contractor retired and then died.

  42. 42.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @satby: I really don’t think they should even sell the daytime stuff; what you really need is the stuff that will let you fall asleep and stay that way. Don’t go to work or school, you’ll just make everyone else sick. We are a stupid people.

  43. 43.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @debbie: Dextromethorphan works for a lot of people, apparently. Delsym is just a time-released version.

    As far as I can tell from the effect on me, dex-containing cough medicine might as well be sugar water.

    But we’re ranging far afield from my original point, which is that the zinc lozenges work for someone for whom most OTC stuff doesn’t.

  45. 45.

    Patricia Kayden

    @geg6: Back to work for me too. It was a wonderful break though so I’m ready to go. We’re in a cold snap here in the D.C., Maryland, Northern Virginia corridor. Makes you want to cozy up under a blanket and stay indoors.

    @Kay: Wow. My Dad who lives in Canada said that it was well below zero up there as well. Looks like it’s going to be a bad winter. Sigh.

  46. 46.

    Raven

    @OzarkHillbilly: I already had a sore throat so I’m expecting for it to get worse. As Bill said it was exhausting but incredible. I’d hoped to be able to sleep more than 5 hours but I’m still jacked and wide awake. The OT occurred directly in front of us a, despite having to stand the entire game, it sure was worth it.

  57. 57.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Raven: Yup, I’ve gotten up just before 8am the last 3 New Years Days and try to get a pic. This year turned out the best, I got 3 good pics. If it’s clear, they make the turn east right where I live, it was cloudy last year and they had already lined up to fly over Colorado Blvd so it was directly overhead.

    ETA: So the B-2 flew over the Bowl? Last year was the first year they did that, both over the parade and game. I was thinking of going to a place with a view of the stadium, but I ended up not doing it.

  58. 58.

    Sab

    @ThresherK: I can synpathize with you. I work parttime and seasonal, so my computer has all the weird programs that are only used occassionally.

    That means that two mothers of toddlers in day care, and everyone else also are typing away and coughing on my keyboard during winter cold and flu season on my days off.

  59. 59.

    OzarkHillbilly

    A 4-foot-5 hoopster dubbed the “mini Michael Jordan” has been signed by the Harlem Globetrotters — the team’s shortest player ever.

    Jahmani “Hot Shot” Swanson, 32, plays his first team game in his hometown of New York on Dec. 26 — and reports the whole neighborhood has been hitting him up for tickets.

    “I play the same courts in Harlem,” said Swanson, who still lives with his brother in the Frederick Douglass Houses, where he grew up.

    “Word’s getting around and everybody’s begging me for tickets,” he told the Post. “I keep saying I’ll do what I can.”

    Swanson said his parents gave him a basketball when he was a baby and “I haven’t put it down since.”

    He played for Monroe College in the Bronx before joining on with touring exhibition teams. He auditioned for the Globetrotters back in 2011, performed a few games last year and was officially hired this week as a rookie.

    He says he’s not too old or too short to handle the Globetrotters rigorous touring schedule.

    “I never get tired,” said Swanson, whose pregame rituals including netting a minimum of 50 basketball shots.

    “I can play basketball all day and night.”

    Can he play? Yes.He.Can.

  64. 64.

    Jeffro

    @rikyrah:

    If there is a crazier place in the world, other than North Korea, it’s Pakistan.
    They are the most dangerous country on Earth, because they are unstable and have nukes, so, of course, Dolt45 is tweeting about Pakistan

    Why, it’s almost as if he has megalomania, and wants to drop a few nukes, amirite there Donnie boy? No point in being the most powerful man in the world if you don’t get to throw a little throw-weight around…

  65. 65.

    Yarrow

    @Raven: We thought of you yesterday! What an amazing game! I’m so glad you guys decided to go. Take care of yourself and get home safely. You’ve got another big game to go!

  66. 66.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @bystander: I loved their music as a teenager but I think that was mostly because I had a crush on Karen’s voice.

    I was so angry at her for dying of anorexia. The appalling waste.

  67. 67.

    MomSense

    So happy for Raven today! It was epic and you were there.

    Listening to Tom perez on Pod Save the People talk about the ground game/ organizing resources they deployed to elect Doug Jones. He said something so welcome and that was tat they hired local organizers who not only know their communities and donthe work better but who stay active in their communities after the campaign ends. Also good to hear the DNC invested in organizing before the big fundraising money kicked in.

  70. 70.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:
    I have a friend in Texas who was complaining about the weather being 28 degrees. I told her that she didn’t even know what I would do with 28 degrees.?
    That’s balmy to me here???

  74. 74.

    Gelfling 545

    Huddled under blankets today with dog & cat. While it’s expected to reach all of 20 degrees sometime today National Fuel has told us to lower the thermostat by 5 degrees since their supply system has been disrupted in some fashion. On the plus side the mild -well comparatively- 14 degree temp this am allowed Flora to have her first outdoor pee in days. Fortunately, she’s good about using the puppy pads. It could actually get to a high of 30 this week, followed by a high of 1 of course but, still…

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