Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

This fight is for everything.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

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

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

As long as McCarthy is Speaker, the House will never be in order.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Come on, man.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

You are here: Home / Organizing & Resistance / Enhanced Protest Techniques / Open Thread: Oh, Look, Another Reboot!

Open Thread: Oh, Look, Another Reboot!

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.

Yes, my feelings about this are… mixed. [ETA: Nothing against the man, just dreading the media reaction.]

But on the positive side: Young Joe’s no Jodi Ernst, at least!
***********

EATA: Okay, *this* is some quality trolling…

Reader Interactions

138Comments

  2. 2.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I heard him earlier today on MSNBC talking about the opioid crisis. He had useful things to say, but he was VERY SHOUTY!!!!!

    ETA: On further reflection, I think that was Patrick Kennedy, not Joe. I have a terrible time keeping the members of the third and fourth generations of that family straight.

  4. 4.

    efgoldman

    @NotMax: I’m 99% sure that he’s never castrated a pig.
    On the other hand, he’s articulate, educated, cares about his constituents, and shows it.
    He’s blocked now, but there’s always talk of running for governor or senator.

  5. 5.

    smintheus

    I mentioned on an earlier thread today that I’d taken college students on an overseas course/trip and several of them behaved like such jerks I thought of sending them home. This evening I looked again at one of several group photos that we’d taken and then emailed to all the students half way through the trip. I hadn’t noticed when I sent it out that two of the guys are kneeling down in front and making what look like the infamous “White Power” hand gesture.

    There’s at least one more group photo (never shared fortunately) where they’re doing the same thing right behind some of the non-white students.

    I sent that damned filthy thing out to all my students! Talk about sickening.

  7. 7.

    Anne Laurie

    @efgoldman: Based on nothing but my Masshole suspicions, part of the calculation here is to warn Seth Moulton to back the fvck up on his rush towards the White House… or at least stop bad-mouthing other Dems for the applause of Repubs & Bernistas.

  8. 8.

    FlyingToaster

    @NotMax: He grew up in a (granted, small) fishbowl. His parents had a very public divorce up here in the People’s Republic. He came out of law school and went to work for the DA. He ran for Barney’s seat and was not expected to win, but like his dad, grandad, and granduncles, he’s not a fool. He’s a professional politician, and he works it.

    * I met him when he and his twin brother were twelve, standing behind them, their dad, and stepmom buying Halloween Candy at Ann and Hope.

  9. 9.

    Gin & Tonic

    Wouldn’t it be logical, and politically useful, to have the SOTU response for the Democrats delivered by a vagina-American? Do we really need another rich white dude?

  10. 10.

    Marcopolo

    Wait wut? Wasn’t Oprah available? :)

    Seriously, it’s a thankless role, and I’m pretty sure in reality it doesn’t matter much who does it, but I wish that in 2018 of all years that it would not be a man nor a white person. Oh wells, I’ll live.

  14. 14.

    patrick II

    I have seen him comment on various matters on cable. He is very good, very articulate . I have mixed emotions about his last name being Kennedy even though I have generally held the Kennedys in high regard; but if Joseph’s last name_ was Smith, it would he a Very good choice.

  15. 15.

    Tim C.

    @Gin & Tonic: My attitude is that it should be women candidates for POTUS from the Dems until one wins. Duckworth is my current favorite, but I understand she’s just started another big project.

  17. 17.

    Anne Laurie

    @Omnes Omnibus: With him personally, none.

    I’m just not looking forward to the media pile-on about “haha yet another Kennedy waddabout Chappaquidick howcum you Demon-rats never have any new! exciting! ideas like those dreamy Repubs do?!?… “

    As far as I can tell right now, he’s a placeholder. Which is fine. All he really has to do is not make any headlines. Heck, what’s the betting line on Trump cancelling the State of the Union public speech, right now?

  21. 21.

    Anne Laurie

    @smintheus:

    I sent that damned filthy thing out to all my students! Talk about sickening.

    Is there any form of official reprimand available? If only a negative comment in their “permanent record”?

  23. 23.

    Chet Murthy

    @Omnes Omnibus: Wait, Moulton is the douchebag that’s tryin’ to unseat Nancy SMASH b/c he thinks she’s not been effective? What a …. oh, sorry, I already said it.

  24. 24.

    Marcopolo

    @Omnes Omnibus: While I am biased cause I’m a Miseryian, if Kander decides to run for Prez in 2020 I will work my @ss off for him. And that, in current terms, is a lot of work.

  26. 26.

    smintheus

    @Anne Laurie: I’m exploring that with university officials. They’ll have to make the determination whether what appears to be a “WP” signal is in fact what it appears to be.

  27. 27.

    NotMax

    Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moves the doomsday clock forward to two minutes before midnight.

    The year just past proved perilous and chaotic, a year in which many of the risks foreshadowed in our last Clock statement came into full relief. In 2017, we saw reckless language in the nuclear realm heat up already dangerous situations
    and re-learned that minimizing evidence-based assessments regarding climate and other global challenges does not lead to better public policies.

    Although the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists focuses on nuclear risk, climate change, and emerging technologies, the nuclear landscape takes center stage in this year’s Clock statement. Major nuclear actors are on the cusp of a new arms race, one that will be very expensive and will increase the likelihood of accidents and misperceptions. Across the globe, nuclear weapons are poised to become more rather than less usable because of nations’ investments in their nuclear arsenals. This is a concern that the Bulletin has been highlighting for some time, but momentum toward this new reality is increasing.
    [snip]
    The failure of world leaders to address the largest threats to humanity’s future is lamentable—but that failure can be reversed. It is two minutes to midnight, but the Doomsday Clock has ticked away from midnight in the past, and during the next year, the world can again move it further from apocalypse. The warning the Science and Security Board now sends is clear, the danger obvious and imminent. The opportunity to reduce the danger is equally clear.

    The world has seen the threat posed by the misuse of information technology and witnessed the vulnerability of democracies to disinformation. But there is a flip side to the abuse of social media. Leaders react when citizens insist they do so, and citizens around the world can use the power of the internet to improve the long-term prospects of their children and grandchildren. They can insist on facts, and discount nonsense. They can demand action to reduce the existential threat of nuclear war and unchecked climate change. They can seize the opportunity to make a safer and saner world.

    They can #rewindtheDoomsdayClock. Source

    Last time the clock stood at 2 minutes to midnight was 1953. (Clock timeline since its inception in 1947.)

  29. 29.

    MoxieM

    @FlyingToaster: I kinda like him as XX generation Kennedys go. Certainly better than his parents’ generation. He does seem to be committed to things I care about, and in a good way. He tells a funny story about being in Sen. Warren’s law class when she was Prof. Warren. Such a Massachusetts thing, that people are interwoven that way. (You know, “take a right where the Coke bottling plant used to be”.)

    And, there are worse models of getting things done than Uncle Ted. Although, clearly UT was a lecherous sleaze, in addition to writing CHIP. What I really noticed, seeing him (Teddy) in a Patriots’ Day parade one year, was that the man had tiny feet. Huh.

    Edited because I can’t type for shit, touch typing class in 1971? 2? notwithstanding.

  30. 30.

    Kay

    I don’t even know who he is but that’s a horrible job so thank him for taking it and hope it’s not a disaster.

  31. 31.

    Anne Laurie

    @Mary G:

    Isn’t doing that pretty much the kiss of death? Rubio, Jindal, et. al?

    I suppose we can look at it that way: the Dems are too smart to set up one of the many highly skilled women / people of color as targets with no better reward than this potentially disastrous gig.

    Joe III has some way to go before anyone talks seriously about his presidential chances, if they ever do. (Remembering how Teddy dreaded running, I’m not sure the ensuing Kennedy generations will ever want to make a national run, especially in the Age of MAGAts.) If he does this well, it’s a good-behavior badge; if he somehow stumbles, he’s got plenty of time to recover.

  33. 33.

    tobie

    @Adam L Silverman: Since when does the party that occupies the White House deliver a response to the State of the Union? First we have a Republican speech, then a Republican response, then a Tea Party response. Will there be time for Democrats at all?

  35. 35.

    tobie

    @Chet Murthy: Same by the way with Conor Lamb whom we’re all contributing to and pulling for. He blames Nancy Pelosi and the Dems for the ills facing middle America.

  36. 36.

    MoxieM

    @Adam L Silverman: That would be terrific, but it would involve taking women activists truly seriously.

    (Even my sister, who seems to tick all the boxes, was making the “Matt Damon” argument tonight. Gimme a break!)

  39. 39.

    Peale

    @tobie: the headline is from 2011. They are comparing the fawning over the t party then to the invisibility of the opposition today.

  40. 40.

    Ken

    @Anne Laurie:

    Heck, what’s the betting line on Trump cancelling the State of the Union public speech, right now?

    I’m thinking pre-recorded speech on the Jumbotron. On the other hand I doubt he’d give up the audience of his own free will, and I can’t really see any of his minders staff preventing or persuading him.

  41. 41.

    Adam L Silverman

    @tobie: The clipped bit of material is from 2011. The tweeter was using it to make a point that when a (falsely) purported (falsely believed to be) wide spread grass roots revolutionary movement on the right was getting a ton of press, a GOP member of Congress who claimed to be part of said revolutionary movement was given the opportunity to reply to the state of the union in addition to the traditional/normal official opposition response. Given that the Women’s March and the movement around it dwarfs the Tea Party, shouldn’t they be given the same opportunity?

  42. 42.

    The Fat Kate Middleton

    She’s Joni Ernst, not Jodi. And she and Chuckles are both fecking embarrassments to Iowa.

  44. 44.

    Lyrebird

    @smintheus: Whoa. Definitely goes beyond your usual overconsumption etc.

    BTW it’s only because of reading here that I learned that somehow the Nazi Rebooters had gotten their slime on such an ordinary thing as the OK gesture. I knew not to use it in Brazil, but had no idea it’s now a creep fascist hand sign.

  45. 45.

    Mary G

    @Anne Laurie: I thought Joe’s speech at the convention was really good, especially the starting part where he told how his professor in his first day of law school, who happened to be Elizabeth Warren, gave him the business for not doing the reading.

    That said, he is doing well as a congresscritter but doesn’t seem quite ready for prime time, and I think, fairly or not, the country is sick of dynasties. I’m with Omnes and marcopolo, I think Jason Kander is the real deal if we can’t get a woman. He has been putting boots on the ground for Let America Vote, and gets the rock star treatment from the youngs on Twitter.

  46. 46.

    NotMax

    Couple of other items which caught the eye –

    1)

    Turkey urged the United States on Thursday to halt its support for Kurdish YPG fighters or risk confronting Turkish forces on the ground in Syria, some of Ankara’s strongest comments yet about a potential clash with its NATO ally.

    The remarks, from the spokesman for President Tayyip Erdogan’s government, underscore the growing bilateral tensions six days after Turkey launched its air and ground operation, “Olive Branch,” in Syria’s northwestern Afrin region.
    [snip]
    Any push by Turkish forces towards Manbij, part of a Kurdish-held territory some 100 km (60 miles) east of Afrin, could threaten U.S. efforts in northeast Syria and bring them into direct confrontation with U.S. troops deployed there.

    “Those who support the terrorist organisation will become a target in this battle,” Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said.
    [snip]
    The Afrin operation has also triggered some concern in Germany, another NATO ally, where the caretaker government said it would put on hold any decision on upgrading Turkey’s German-made tanks.

    Turkey’s use of the Leopard 2 tanks in Afrin has fuelled a debate about Berlin’s approval of arms exports. Source

    2)

    Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Thursday he will work with the panel’s top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, to release the transcripts of interviews with Donald Trump Jr. and others who attended a June 2016 meeting between campaign officials and Russians at Trump Tower in New York.

    “Let’s get them out there for everyone to see,” Grassley said.

    Feinstein said they also should be turned over to Mueller. Source

  47. 47.

    FlyingToaster

    @MoxieM: I once argued with Ted at an IncWorld Q&A about mandates. I have never been so happy to have been proven wrong. And (that argument and the eventual Romneycare) it gave me an understanding of the difference between me, a technocrat, and a professional politician. Ted was a personal disaster area, but fuck if he didn’t know how to politic things.

    Ted used to offer to teach incoming members of the Mass delegation about “Constituent Services”, and I know that both John Kerry and (my former Mayor) Mike Capuano went to him for this.

    If Joe II (my former congressman) ever runs for Governor (he won’t; he is too invested in Citizens Energy), he’d win. Fortunately, it looks to me like either Setti Warren or Joe Gonzales can take that two-faced lying bastard Baker.

    Joe III is for reals. And if he does us the added bonus of shutting Moulton up (though, FFS, Moulton has Topsfield, Boxborough and Swampscott in his district), its a win.

  48. 48.

    Lyrebird

    @Marcopolo: I will be working right there with you!

    For SOTU rebuttal, maybe Sen. Harris was offered but didn’t want it. It’s not a great job. Granholm would be a good choice… she’s NOT running for Prez, she’s telegenic, and she’s fierce.

  49. 49.

    Marcopolo

    Whelp I’m to bed. But how about that Shutdown, eh? Oh, wait, that was so 3 days ago? You don’t say?

    Effing political news in the Age of the Trumpbombination.

    And next week will be worse!

  50. 50.

    Adam L Silverman

    @NotMax: Not only that but Erdogan’s Deputy specifically contradicted what the White House put out as the read out of the call between the President and Erdogan.

  51. 51.

    efgoldman

    @Anne Laurie:

    warn Seth Moulton to back the fvck up on his rush towards the White House… or at least stop bad-mouthing other Dem

    Yeah, from here over the RI border this former Masshole couldnref ‘t fucking believe it when I saw those reports.
    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I think that was Patrick Kennedy, not Joe.

    Patrick was a congresscritter from RI, not MA. He isn’t any longer.

  53. 53.

    Lyrebird

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Given that the Women’s March and the movement around it dwarfs the Tea Party, shouldn’t they be given the same opportunity?

    Aunt-ie Max-ine
    Aunt-ie Max-ine!!!!!

  54. 54.

    Mnemosyne

    @Lyrebird:

    It’s because Trump does it, and they’ve now adopted it because he is their new white supremacist figurehead.

    There was a little confusion at first because people misunderstood the timeline and thought that Trump was using a pre-existing white supremacist hand gesture, when what seems to have happened is that they picked it up from him and now use it as a signal amongst themselves.

  57. 57.

    NotMax

    One more snippet, one not so dire.

    The Hawaii state employee who mistakenly sent an alert warning of a ballistic missile attack has refused to cooperate with federal and state investigators, officials said Thursday.

    Lisa Fowlkes, head of the Federal Communications Commission Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, said the agency was disappointed by the refusal.
    [snip]
    Spokesman Richard Rapoza said the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency has encouraged all employees to cooperate with investigations of the erroneous message. He said the worker who sent it has also refused to cooperate with the state agency’s internal investigations.
    [snip]
    The name of the worker has not been released. He continues to work at the agency but has been reassigned to a section where he doesn’t have access to the warning system. Source

    In my book, flat refusal to comply with the request to further cooperate with the agency’s (his employer’s) ongoing investigation is grounds for immediate suspension, if not outright dismissal.

  58. 58.

    B.B.A.

    @Mnemosyne: The misunderstanding was intentional. The idea was, spread the idea that something innocuous was a white power gesture, then when people start calling it out show that all kinds of Democrats used it too.

    Unfortunately for this “clever” trolling campaign, ironic Nazism is still Nazism.

  61. 61.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Anne Laurie: to warn Seth Moulton to back the fvck up on his rush towards the White House… or at least stop bad-mouthing other Dems for the applause of Repubs & Bernistas.

    Is he doing that again? I saw Tim Ryan was on TV telling I forget whom that the shutdown was a mistake and the Dems never should have tried it.

  63. 63.

    Lyrebird

    @Mnemosyne:

    what seems to have happened is that they picked it up from him and now use it as a signal amongst themselves.

    Hm. That makes more sense to me than the idea of Orangemandias staying that on message with a signal someone else told him to send.

  64. 64.

    cmoren

    @smintheus:

    This evening I looked again at one of several group photos that we’d taken and then emailed to all the students half way through the trip. I hadn’t noticed when I sent it out that two of the guys are kneeling down in front and making what look like the infamous “White Power” hand gesture.

    An alternative, more innocent possibility is that the two students in question weren’t intending anything more than “Hell, yeah we’re cool guys having a GREAT time on this junket!” with the gesture, oblivious that the gesture could be misinterpreted in an unintended sinister way. You were around these students a lot during this trip – did the two students in question show any signs of potential racially charged attitudes beyond just the gestures captured in these photos? If not, then consider that they may simply have been two young dudes horsing around for the camera, albeit in need of a little education about the potential for misinterpretation of their gesture, especially by POC.

  66. 66.

    Mnemosyne

    @efgoldman:

    I think you misunderstood what OO was saying. Kander went out and founded Let America Vote, which is doing tons of good work getting people set up to vote and then turning them out for elections. Moulton is just whingeing.

  67. 67.

    Yutsano

    @Omnes Omnibus: I should do some checking. Something tells me Kander is really putting the screws into Gretiens right now.

    EDIT: nothing picked up on the news so far.

  69. 69.

    Corner Stone

    @NotMax: Fuck that. I’d tell them to fuck off, also too. Not going to scapegoat some low level functionary for a lack of process and oversight.

  71. 71.

    sdhays

    @Adam L Silverman: WT-ever loving-F? Since when does the President’s party get to “respond”?? And JFC, the “Tea Party” is just a faction of the Republican Party. In addition to a representative from the Women’s March, I think a representative from every caucus in the Democratic Party in Congress should also have their response broadcast by CNN. Because clearly CNN doesn’t think its paid “talent” can fill up the time.

    What utter bullshit.

  72. 72.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yep. I was agreeing with you by explaining that Moulton can’t because he’s a Marine. While Kander can because he was an Army intel officer in addition to whatever his original MOS was.

  76. 76.

    frosty

    Haven’t read comments, but IMHO fuck Joe Kennedy and the rest of the clan, just for opposing wind turbines off of Hyannis Port. If they want electricity, they can ride stationary bikes to generate it for all I care.

  77. 77.

    Mnemosyne

    @cmoren:

    Smintheus was telling us some stories about the trip earlier, and basically these same guys were insubordinate dicks the entire time. They’re already in trouble, and the picture thing is just making it worse.

  79. 79.

    FlyingToaster

    @Adam L Silverman: Olathe. Where tornadoes and downbursts rampage. Good preparation for what he’s dealing with now.

    The KC Metro area is, well, unique. Everyone, on both sides of State Line Road, or north of the Missouri, keeps in mind the different tax rates and blue laws that apply. “Oh, right, we’re at Ward Parkway, there’s an extra 1/8th of a cent sales tax; fuck this, let’s go back over to Overland Park.”

    And I grew up in Waldo, then Clayton Meadows. But I left in 1979. And I still remember now to navigate all of this nonsense.

  80. 80.

    Anne Laurie

    @Mnemosyne:

    There was a little confusion at first because people misunderstood the timeline and thought that Trump was using a pre-existing white supremacist hand gesture, when what seems to have happened is that they picked it up from him and now use it as a signal amongst themselves.

    It’s like the age-old Hindu decorative use of what we now call a swastika: Doesn’t matter which direction the ‘signalling’, decent people should just avoid it for the foreseeable future.

  81. 81.

    NotMax

    @Corner Stone

    Nothing preventing him from going in and saying “You already have my written statement and I have nothing to add, subtract, append or change” on the record.

    Allowing people in sensitive security positions to play Bartleby sets a horrible precedent.

  82. 82.

    frosty

    Oops, I may have gotten my Joe Kennedys confused. Who knew there was a III after the II? Sorry ’bout that Chief.

  83. 83.

    justawriter

    If his first words aren’t, “Holy fuck, can you believe that shit that Bozo just spewed out?” I will be very, very disappointed.

  85. 85.

    mai naem mobile

    They should have eithet gone with Tammy Duckworth or Catherine Cortez Masto. Both women of color and both people who definitely are not Dolt45 in any way. Massive contrast.

  86. 86.

    Corner Stone

    @NotMax: Man, that’s not how that goes down. They dogpile that motherfucker. Bury and/or sweep all other shit under the rug and that dude is fucked going forward.

  87. 87.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Corner Stone: Fine, He can say that in closed-door meetings. On camera he should be talking about how trump’s flip-flopping has made it impossible for congress to pass legislation

  89. 89.

    frosty

    @justawriter:

    If his first words aren’t, “Holy fuck, can you believe that shit that Bozo just spewed out?” I will be very, very disappointed.

    Comedy gold, why does this never happen IRL?

  90. 90.

    FlyingToaster

    @frosty: III is II’s younger son. II used to be the 8th district Congressman; decided not to run after his brother died in a skiing accident and took his place at the helm of Citizen’s Energy, down on the Cape. Capuano replaced II. Ted was publicly more opposed to CapeWind than Joe II. But honestly, the attack lobbyists from the Cape-n-Islands were sufficient to kill it, just like the attack lobbyists from Arlington/Lexington/Bedford/Concord killed the Red Line Extension in the early 80s.

  91. 91.

    Anne Laurie

    @NotMax:

    Not just Hindu, it is found in many cultures throughout history.

    And yet, one can be 100% sure that any Westerner using it in the 21st century is using it to represent “Nazi”. Barring cataclysm, I don’t see that changing for another hundred years, either.

  93. 93.

    frosty

    @FlyingToaster: Just like the attack lobbyists and NIMBYs all across the country for dozens (hundreds?) of issues. Thanks for the clarification. Apologies for the rant.

  95. 95.

    Matt McIrvin

    @B.B.A.: Ah, yes. “Ha, ha, we fooled you into thinking this is a symbol Nazis use all the time… just by… being Nazis and using it… all the time.”

  96. 96.

    stinger

    @smintheus: Ugh. That’s crappy, shameful behavior. So sorry you got tricked into promoting that. I wouldn’t have expected to see those gestures in a photo of that sort, so try not to blame yourself for sending it out. Be glad you caught the second one!

  97. 97.

    Gretchen

    @FlyingToaster: I think Kander may have grown up 1.5 miles WEST of State Line Road. But he’s Missouri now. I wish he’d won that Senate seat. He’s a terrific candidate, but I don’t think that you can credibly run for President when your only experience is State Auditor. Trump is the exception that proves the rule – you want somebody who knows the ropes. Kander is a young guy – maybe he’ll be picked for VP so he has the experience when his time comes.

  99. 99.

    KithKanan

    @Adam L Silverman: One minor correction to your information about the Black Panther Statehouse Protest in the previous thread – CA restricted concealed carry, but open carry was fully legal at the time. The bill restricting open carry of loaded weapons (introduced in response to the Black Panthers’ armed patrols around Oakland) was what the Panthers went to the Statehouse to protest.

  100. 100.

    NotMax

    @justawriter

    Without using a naughty word on the TV, he could sit, with a monitor replaying Dolt 45 (sans audio) behind him, and pound his forehead on the desk for the allotted time.

    @Anne Laurie

    Personally have known a member of the Cherokee nation who on ceremonial occasions still wore a belt with hooked crosses stitched into it, along with other symbols.

  101. 101.

    FlyingToaster

    @Gretchen: More like 8 miles west. My guitar teacher at the JCC was from Olathe, he used to complain bitterly about cleaning up after storm damage there.

  104. 104.

    justawriter

    @NotMax: Since the Rethuglican platform is just Cleek’s Law writ large, banging his head on the desk would be considered a major victory, and allegedly liberal CNN pundits would be rushing to get confirmation from Conservative pundits that this was the case. No, the proper response will be profane and dismissive, and the more profane the better.

  105. 105.

    MoxieM

    @FlyingToaster: I couldn’t have described the execrable Baker better even if I’d put my feeble mind to it. Seriously, the former Prezzie of a Failing HMO as a choice for Governator. Greeaat. Just Great. I’ll chuck a few point into his kennel up in lovely Swampscott for saying the right things re: DACA, and attacks on the ACA, as well as keeping the MA spigot open for individual subscribers/not eligible for subsidy. But that’s about it.

    /rant on// His ham-handed and pig-ignorant handling of deaths from narcotics is causing hell in the Primary care clinics, pain clinics, and among those so unfortunate as to live with a chronic pain condition. Like Abortion, the best Tx for chronic pain is to talk to your doctor, without the Board of Registration in Medicine snooping over his/her shoulder and keeping score on script-writing, and explore all relevant Tx options. All of ’em. I’m sometimes not even really sure why we need docs any more the restrictions are so extreme./rant over// Thanks Charlie Baker, it sure does make you look good to the rubes.

    Sorry for the OT–Charlie Baker gets positioned as a “Reasonable Republican”, the closest thing to guys like old Gov. Frank Sargent, and all the various Bonesmen sort of folks. But he’s not. Hence the rant. Snitched all the finances from the Transit system then blamed them for not being able to patch the continually crumbling infrastructure.

  107. 107.

    matt

    I just never really cared about or like the Kennedys, but I guess there’s that sense that JFK was sort of like the Jesus of the Democrats and gave his life for the cause.

  108. 108.

    MoxieM

    @FlyingToaster: Well, they couldn’t have those people out in the land of the neighborly Nobel winners, now could they?

    Of course the streetcars–interurban trolleys–had only been gone a few decades.

    Now they bitch, when the Prius is in the shop, that the Public Transit isn’t good enough. Some people, you cannot please. Take Jill Stein for instance….

  112. 112.

    Anne Laurie

    @NotMax:

    Personally have known a member of the Cherokee nation who on ceremonial occasions still wore a belt with hooked crosses stitched into it, along with other symbols.

    Fair enough; but that’s still no excuse for Smithenius’ young idiots.

  113. 113.

    Anne Laurie

    @MoxieM:

    Sorry for the OT–Charlie Baker gets positioned as a “Reasonable Republican”, the closest thing to guys like old Gov. Frank Sargent, and all the various Bonesmen sort of folks. But he’s not. Hence the rant. Snitched all the finances from the Transit system then blamed them for not being able to patch the continually crumbling infrastructure.

    The only positive, as far as I can tell, is that Chickenshit Charlie is (barely) bright enough to understand that he’s reached his Peter Principle pinnacle. He can play State House Figurehead for as long as he likes — or until the Trumpocalypse drives every Repub down to the drainage-commissioner level out of office — while harming the rest of us Massholes “only”, mostly, around the margins.

  114. 114.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Corner Stone: in private companies, failure to cooperate in an investigation is always a disciplinary event, and usually terminable. Governments have weird rules though, and union contracts can make them even weirder. In a case like this, unions will often put up just enough of a defense that the member can’t sue them but not really try to get him out of trouble.

  119. 119.

    Corner Stone

    @Steve in the ATL: My dad spent the last several years of his working career defending guys who the company wanted to fire. For any or no reason. It literally took years off his life. He got three hours of sleep a night thinking about a guy with a family losing his livelihood.
    Do not tell them shit because they will fuck you, no matter what you say.

    In this case, the guy had no protocol, checks, supervision or guidelines? And he’s supposed to testify to what he did wrong? Fuck that shit.

  121. 121.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    I’ll be waiting for Baud’s rebuttal to Susan Sarandon’s rebuttal to Kennedy’s rebuttal

  122. 122.

    NotMax

    @Corner Stone

    In this case, the guy had no protocol, checks, supervision or guidelines?

    From what dank place did you pull that supposition?

    Was the system design flawed? Yes.

    Does he bear responsibility for repeatedly clicking the affirmative on “Are you sure this is what you want to do?” prompts? Also yes.

    Is presumption that an inquiry is, ipso facto, a star chamber premature? Yes again.

  123. 123.

    Aleta

    @Corner Stone: Interesting, cause my dad was one of those ‘guys who the company wanted to fire, for any or no reason,’ and they did. It took years off his life, too; with losing his livelihood he lost his self-esteem and health, and we nearly lost our home and two of his kids nearly lost their lives.

    True thanks to your dad and your family for caring about those guys. I think he must have made a huge difference to them and their families.

  124. 124.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Corner Stone: As a user interface designer, it also sounded like a case of incredibly incompetent UI design. From what I’ve heard there a pulldown menu with the choice to either send the fake alert or send the real alert — and the poor schlimazel selected the wrong one. Really should have had a follow-up “are you sure” dialog to confirm that’s what they intended to do.

    It’s the sort of basic thing once when does when designing an interface choice that’s about to cause a serious, and often irreversible, action — such as erasing your hard drive.

  126. 126.

    NotMax

    @Sister Golden Bear

    Ought to also add that a stopgap since put in place now requires two operators, each at his/her own set of controls, to initiate an action fully.

    Not a fix, but it is another level of caution.

  129. 129.

    joel hanes

    @Anne Laurie:

    the Dems are too smart to set up one of the many highly skilled women / people of color as targets with no better reward than this potentially disastrous gig.

    That’s my take. SOTU responder has all too often been a career-damaging job.

  130. 130.

    joel hanes

    @matt:

    that sense that JFK was sort of like the Jesus of the Democrats and gave his life for the cause.

    No, that was RFK.

  131. 131.

    Chet Murthy

    @NotMax: I know nothing about the inquiry, nor about the flaw, but it seems like the right way for an inquiry to e conducted is as it’s done in the transportation biz. I read someplace (the New Yorker, in an article about some particularly crazy crash?) that there’s a strict rule that individuals are not subjected to liability, so that the investigation -can- discover root causes as rapidly as possble and get fixes pushed-out to the industry rapidly. Now, if the inquiry is a blame-finding exercise, I can understand why the employee clams up — hell, I would too. If it’s of the sort to which I allude above though, yeah, this guy should be taken out and shot.

    But we don’t know, do we?

  133. 133.

    TriassicSands

    @Chet Murthy:

    I read someplace (the New Yorker, in an article about some particularly crazy crash?) that there’s a strict rule that individuals are not subjected to liability, so that the investigation -can- discover root causes as rapidly as possble…

    This made me think of something I heard today. They just interviewed the engineer who was in “control” when the Amtrac train derailed near Seattle. That took place on December 18, more than a month ago. When I heard that he had just been interviewed, I thought that seemed awfully slow — wouldn’t it be best to interview someone when the events are fresh in their mind?

  134. 134.

    J R in WV

    @smintheus:

    I mentioned on an earlier thread today that I’d taken college students on an overseas course/trip and several of them behaved like such jerks I thought of sending them home. This evening I looked again at one of several group photos that we’d taken and then emailed to all the students half way through the trip. I hadn’t noticed when I sent it out that two of the guys are kneeling down in front and making what look like the infamous “White Power” hand gesture.

    There’s at least one more group photo (never shared fortunately) where they’re doing the same thing right behind some of the non-white students.

    I sent that damned filthy thing out to all my students! Talk about sickening.

    Perhaps those particular asshats earned an expulsion for propagating racist white power symbols

    a) in a foreign place
    b) while representing the University/College
    c) by harassing their fellow students of a different race
    d) publicly!

    Maybe not all bad. At least a public accusation of racist behavior, never take another student trip, etc. If not expelled. Racists need to be publicly humiliated until they learn to stop.

  135. 135.

    chopper

    @NotMax:

    he did that. from the article:

    “He has taken the position that he provided a written statement shortly after the incident, and doesn’t need to speak to investigators because he has nothing to add,” Rapoza said in an e-mail.

  136. 136.

    Steve in the ATL

    @chopper: he doesn’t get to decide whether there’s anything else to say about it. That’s the investigator’s call.

    Had a similar discussion in bargaining yesterday on conflicts of interest. Union says employees should only report outside employment that raises a conflict. Company says disclose all outside employment so we can decide if there’s a conflict. Individual employee doesn’t know all our vendors, suppliers, partners, etc., and has an incentive to lie if he knows he has s conflict. That just doesn’t work.

  137. 137.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Corner Stone: good for your dad. In my works unions do that. Some are reasonable when it’s clear that an employee needs to be fired; others seek to think that the company isn’t allowed to fire anyone under any circumstances.

    Only a shitty company fires people for no reason. Sadly, there are plenty of shitty companies out there. They should hire people like me and Elmo to teach them how to make termination decisions correctly.

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