Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

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

Their shamelessness is their super power.

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

T R E 4 5 O N

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

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

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Shut up, hissy kitty!

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

All hail the time of the bunny!

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

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

“In this country American means white. everybody else has to hyphenate.”

“They all knew.”

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2018 / Do You Need Anybody?

Do You Need Anybody?

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My job is such that sometimes I can be cleaning one damn thing or another from the moment I awake until I collapse into bed. Today is one of those days.

I watched half of that Joe Cocker doc on Netflix last night. It was pretty good! The post title is supposed to invoke the cri de coeur that follows this line. Some further research has lead me to this album which I’ve never heard before and am now sampling as I scrub this house clean. So far so good! Classic Rock Values!

Speaking of cleaning, we can clean up congress this fall with a little elbow grease, some love, and whole heap o’ money. And so I present fund the that’s split between all eventual Democratic nominees in House districts currently held by Republicans.

Goal Thermometer

ETA: Down in the comments Thoughtful David having the thoughts:

I have some suggestions for what you can also do, besides giving money, to help Democrats get elected: get involved with your local Democratic Committee. If you live in a county with, say, <100,000 people, the local Dem Committee is probably desperate and begging for your help.
I’m not talking about just things like making phone calls or writing postcards. If you have accounting skills, they probably need a treasurer or assistant treasurer. If you’re good at organizing events, they’ll need help with that too. Manage email lists. Do data entry. If you’re a good communicator, help with the communication strategy. Write copy. Be the web/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram master. Manage the online events calendar.
No, the pay isn’t great (=$0). But this is the kind of thing that’s needed, and sometimes needed desperately.
You can volunteer to help with this kind of stuff for candidates, too. Town, county, state, or federal.
And the best part: they’re all decent people. No deplorables.

Reader Interactions

119Comments

  1. 1.

    rikyrah

    Trump resents lack of gratitude from Keystone XL executive
    03/30/18 03:10 PM
    By Steve Benen

    Donald Trump devoted a chunk of his infrastructure speech in Ohio yesterday to celebrating his decision to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. Given the project’s track record, that may not have been wise, but the president isn’t exactly detail-oriented.

    There was one part of Trump’s remarks, however, that stood out for me. From the transcript:

    “So [the pipeline project] was dead for a couple of years, had no chance. I get elected, I approve it almost, like, in the first day, right at the very beginning.

    “And I just say to myself, can you imagine the boss of whatever the hell company it is – who never actually called me to say thank you, but that’s OK. We’ll remember. [emphasis added]”

    For now, let’s put aside the debate over Keystone on the merits. I think approving the project was a mistake, but we can renew that discussion at another time. What amazed me about the president’s comments was the insight into what he considers important.

    Exerting practically no effort, Trump approved Keystone on his fourth day in office, Jan. 24, 2017. More than 13 months later, he’s not only bragging about the misguided policy; he’s also whining about not having received a personal thank-you call from the relevant oil executives.

    “We’ll remember,” Trump said.

  2. 2.

    James E. Powell

    Loved Spooky Tooth back in the day. My friends & I used to jam on Evil Woman, complete with falsetto. They did a credible cover of I am the Walrus.

  3. 3.

    Mandalay

    @rikyrah: More from Trump’s speech in Ohio:

    When I was growing up we had what was called vocational schools. They weren’t called community colleges. ‘Cause I don’t know what that means, a community college. To me, it means a 2-year college. I don’t know what it means. But I know what vocational. And I tell people, call it vocational from now on. It’s a great word. It’s a great word. Call it vocational, and technical, perhaps. But use vocational, because that’s what it’s all about. People know what that means. We don’t know what a community college means.

    Sarah Palin seems like Einstein next to Trump.

  5. 5.

    John Revolta

    We need a “Great Rock’n’Roll Screams” post. This Cocker one is definitely up there. I remember one off the Doors’ “Absolutely Live” album that’ll curl yer goddamn toes.

  9. 9.

    Mike in NC

    “We’ll remember,” Trump said.

    He thinks and operates exactly like an old-school mafia boss or a modern Russian oligarch. Oh wait, they’re one and the same.

  10. 10.

    efgoldman

    @Gin & Tonic:

    I marvel at how a sentient being can go through an entire adult life cycle

    Because his adult life never happened. I keep saying: his development stopped at age four.

  11. 11.

    oatler.

    Cocker had a great part in “Across the Universe” singing Come Together, alternating from wino to pimp to hippie.

  12. 12.

    Jewish Steel

    @efgoldman:

    [But Janis was the greatest screamer ever]

    It’s funny. I always saw Rod Stewart as a male Janis Joplin. But he’s not a screamer.

  15. 15.

    Mandalay

    And yet another one is gone!…:

    Liberty Mutual said Friday that it is no longer advertising on Laura Ingraham’s show, making it the third Massachusetts company to reconsider its relationship with the Fox News host who mocked a teenage survivor of the Parkland, Fla. school shooting.

    Liberty Mutual chief executive David Long wrote in a message to employees that Ingraham’s comments were “inconsistent with our values as a company, especially when it comes to treating others with dignity and respect.”

  23. 23.

    Thoughtful David

    I have some suggestions for what you can also do, besides giving money, to help Democrats get elected: get involved with your local Democratic Committee. If you live in a county with, say, <100,000 people, the local Dem Committee is probably desperate and begging for your help.
    I'm not talking about just things like making phone calls or writing postcards. If you have accounting skills, they probably need a treasurer or assistant treasurer. If you're good at organizing events, they'll need help with that too. Manage email lists. Do data entry. If you're a good communicator, help with the communication strategy. Write copy. Be the web/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram master. Manage the online events calendar.
    No, the pay isn't great (=$0). But this is the kind of thing that's needed, and sometimes needed desperately.
    You can volunteer to help with this kind of stuff for candidates, too. Town, county, state, or federal.
    And the best part: they're all decent people. No deplorables.

  25. 25.

    les

    @Mandalay: Liberty Mutual chief executive David Long wrote in a message to employees that Ingraham’s comments were “inconsistent with our values as a company, especially when it comes to treating others with dignity and respect.”

    Nice that these ass holes are dumping Ingraham; but I’d love to see him point to any show, ever, where our Laura exhibited dignity and respect.

  26. 26.

    les

    @les:
    Can I just say: WTF? How come I never had an edit function? How come I used to have a pie filter and don’t?

  29. 29.

    Barbara

    @Mandalay: I guarantee you that nearly every person working at one of these companies has had the experience of comforting a disappointed high school senior who didn’t get into the college of their choice. They correctly interpret Ingraham’s statements as sociopathic. Ingraham doesn’t seem to get it, which just further validates their instincts as true.

  32. 32.

    efgoldman

    @Barbara:

    Ingraham doesn’t seem to get it

    No RWNJ “opinion leader” gets it. We started talking about “epistemic closure” 12-14 years ago.

  33. 33.

    Haroldo

    It’s a wonderful record if my dimmest of memories serves me well – listening to it in an apartment over looking the Wisconsin River in Wisconsin Rapids, WI!

  34. 34.

    Shana

    @efgoldman: Or Frank’s Place. Loved that show. Never see it in reruns because AIR they had trouble with music rights.

    Raven, I knew I liked you.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    Why are people reporting on Trump’s Syria withdrawal comments like what he says means anything?

  36. 36.

    oatler.

    @efgoldman: For what it’s worth, WKRP will be rerun on MeTV starting next week, and no doubt with all the original music replaced.
    “Do you hear dogs on that record?”
    “I do.”

  38. 38.

    efgoldman

    @Baud:

    Why are people reporting on Trump’s Syria withdrawal comments

    Because he’s “president*”. when he opens his weasel face yap it’s supposed to mean something. Journos still haven’t adjusted. Doubt some of them ever will.

  39. 39.

    ewrunning

    So my ridiculous “tax cut” finally appeared in reduced withholding in my April pay statement. I promptly donated the entire amount to the Democrats, splitting it between the Democratic Nominee Fund (above), which got the majority and the DNC. Then I called Paul Ryan’s office and left him a message thanking him for the ridiculous tax cut, and informing him I was donating every penny to the cause of removing him and his party colleagues from their jobs and replacing them with people prepared to perform their constitutional responsibilities. I’d encourage any Juicers in a position to do so to do the same!

  41. 41.

    Mandalay

    @Barbara: I think you’re right. At first I thought that it was just a crude and bullying jibe from Ingraham but I since have seen plenty of comments along the lines of yours, and I now understand why Hogg’s pushback has so much strength;.

    It’s ironic that Ingraham would have been on much safer ground if she had just made an absurd ad hominem attack instead, calling him a commie, or a brownshirt or a paid stooge for Soros.

  42. 42.

    James E. Powell

    @efgoldman:

    I’d like to include Taxi and Wings. In fact, include any show that Noam Pitlik ever directed.

    But serious question, can remakes of these shows possibly not suck?

  43. 43.

    Mandalay

    @Mandalay: And yet another company decides not to have this shit hanging over their heads over the weekend….

    Global investment group Principal is removing its advertisements from Fox News host Laura Ingraham’s show, the firm told The Hill Friday.

  44. 44.

    James E. Powell

    @les:

    Can I just say: WTF? How come I never had an edit function? How come I used to have a pie filter and don’t?

    I would tell you, but then they’d take mine away, too.

  45. 45.

    Thoughtful David

    @Jewish Steel:
    Thanks!
    I know a lot of folks are reluctant to get involved with campaigns, because they think it only means making calls to answering machines and knocking doors. But it’s way more than that, and especially in places besides big cities, they need you

  48. 48.

    dmsilev

    Headline at TPM, presented without comment:

    ABC: Pruitt’s Security Broke Down Door In Panic To Find Him Napping Inside

  49. 49.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Jewish Steel:

    Some further research has lead led me to this album [. . .].

    Grammar police report this is trending, perhaps because of speech to text.

  50. 50.

    Immanentize

    @Barbara: this was my immediate reaction the day she said it. Before the boycott stuff. How can anyone pick on a highschool kid’s disappointment when they get rejected by a college. There is nothing there to say if you are a human except “good job for trying, I’m so sorry they rejected you, you’ll do great wherever you go.”. It’s like Ingraham never was given the noble feeling of commiseration at birth.

  53. 53.

    Thoughtful David

    There’s more you can do by getting involved. Here in Virginia (I think this is similar in other states), each county and city has a 3-person electoral board. The board is an official thing, established by state law to oversee and be responsible for elections. It has real power. The board can prevent varous kinds of ratfuckery, like closing polling places in brown parts of town and lots of other stuff.
    By law, because our governor is a Democrat, two of the three members are supposed to be Dems, and one deplorable. And it’s a paid position. No, you won’t be getting rich off it, but it beats minimum wage.
    However, in some of Virginia’s smaller counties, they can’t get two Dems to fill the positions, so a deplorable is appointed. This is wrong! Get involved to stop that kind of crap. Did I mention it’s paid?

  55. 55.

    Jewish Steel

    @Thoughtful David: It drives me nuts when elected officials and their creatures encourage everyone to run for office. Really, it’s a pretty small subset of people who actually want to serve in that capacity. There are so many other ways to contribute and I fear non type A personalities will think there’s no way in for them.

  58. 58.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Steeplejack (phone): At one point(I don’t know if it’s still the case) UCLA had the highest rejection rate in the country. Part of the reason is that locals applied as a safety school if they didn’t get in to an Ivy.

    ETA: OTOH, they admitted the likes of me, but that was in the days of stone tablets.

  60. 60.

    John Revolta

    @Immanentize: I met Screamin’ Jay in a club one time. He was very gracious. I submit however that he was actually more of a hollerer than a screamer.

    Now, the Wicked Pickett, on the other hand………………!

  61. 61.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Mandalay:

    It’s ironic that Ingraham would have been on much safer ground if she had just made an absurd ad hominem attack instead, calling him a commie, or a brownshirt or a paid stooge for Soros.

    That’s been tried, except these kids give as they get. Ingraham is just to used to bullying totebaggers more concerned about tone and feelings than getting their point across. .

  62. 62.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Thoughtful David:
    Thank you for all these suggestions, and thank you to Jewish Steel for adding them to the post.

    I’ve been having a wonderful time doing this. It required some persistence at the beginning to convince the folks in the office that a data-entry volunteer would be useful – but a few emails later, I had a project that is fun for me and very helpful to them.

    Tailor according to your own favorite things to do, and voila! You are suddenly MVP with your local non-deplorables. :)

  63. 63.

    Jager

    @efgoldman: WKRP would have Ryan Seacrest on in the morning and the rest of the day would be voice tracked from Cleveland, Johnny and the rest of the staff got shit canned when Clear Channel bought the station and brought it into the Cincinnati “Cluster”

  65. 65.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @rikyrah:

    Per Daniel Dale at the Toronto Star, who did a minute-by-minute transcript/commentary of Trump’s remarks so the rest of us don’t have to watch (via Digby):

    2:33 p.m. — Trump complains that TransCanada Corp. was not sufficiently grateful for his decision to approve Keystone XL: “And I just say to myself, can you imagine the boss of whatever the hell company it is, who never actually called me to say thank you, but that’s OK. We’ll remember. So this guy’s sitting behind his beautiful chair in a certain place, I know exactly where, nice place, big company, and the consultants march into his office to tell him what a great job they did. They were dead. They had no chance, they failed. I got it approved.”

    In fact, TransCanada chief executive Russ Girling thanked Trump twice, in person, in the Oval Office, with cameras rolling.

    Trump lies with every breath he takes. He lies because he has always lied about everything. He lies because he has no idea of how not to lie. He is the dictionary definition of a lying liar who lies.

    But we’ve known that from the start.

  67. 67.

    efgoldman

    @Jager:

    the rest of the day would be voice tracked from Cleveland:

    Good point! I was conflating it with things as they were – the station where I worked gad all the same characters in (sur)real life.

  68. 68.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Mike in NC:

    He thinks and operates exactly like an old-school mafia boss or a modern Russian oligarch.

    Because that’s who he is. A big bully man baby, who can’t stand to be criticized and isn’t interested in learning anything new. And now he’s arguably the most powerful man in the world. Sigh.

  69. 69.

    kindness

    I have a question. I read Charles Pierce (via Esquire) through the course of the day. I enjoy him. I have found lately I can see his pieces on FB but they don’t get posted to the Esquire site right away. Like right now if I pull up the Esquire bookmarked page I still see yesterday’s last post. But if I pull him up in FB I see two posts he’s already put through.

    Is that happening to anyone else? And I wonder why this occurs.

  71. 71.

    Thoughtful David

    @Jewish Steel:
    That’s not what I was trying to do, get people to run for office. Electoral board is an appointed position in Virginia.
    In big counties like Fairfax, getting on the electoral board might be competitive, but my point was that in small counties, it’s often not, to the point they can’t even find two Dems who will serve. So if you’re in a small county and don’t want to knock doors, it’s another–and important–way to serve the cause.

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    OT, but I was so hoping Mmem would be right and that the disgusting Rosanne Barr show would be immediately cut an she would be immediately fired. Now I see that they have already renewed the show.

    And as long as I’m whining, no Mueller related news today, either. But there was sun today, so that’s good, even if it is long gone.

  82. 82.

    Jager

    @efgoldman: I could tell you stories for days and days. I consulted for a group owner who fired one of his GMs while the GM was in the hospital recovering from a heart attack.

  83. 83.

    Schlemazel

    @Joe Miller:
    Quick question. I used to see a regular piece on gun fails but have not been seeing them recently. Is that still being done? If it is, how can I find it?

  85. 85.

    Chyron HR

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    The kids will remember who is their friend, and who is their enemy.

    Oh, definitely, I mean, unless some guy from Vermont tells them that the “Democratic establishment” is actually responsible for all of society’s ills and they credulously believe it, just like the last batch of kids who were going to demographically save the country but decided to destroy it instead.

  88. 88.

    Haroldo

    @Omnes Omnibus: From Green Bay and Madison, but at one time I knew a number of people from WisRap, as it was known (at least by me and my mates). Yerself?

  91. 91.

    efgoldman

    @Chyron HR:

    unless some guy from Vermont tells them that the “Democratic establishment” is actually responsible for all of society’s ills

    Fuck him, all the Wilmerbots. purity ponies, and the leftier than thous.

  92. 92.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Jager:

    When I was recovering from my quadruple bypass, and was obviously plowing through my sick leave, my boss invited me to his house for a “working lunch.” There was some big project coming up that he wanted me to manage, and as I was going stir-crazy and could do a lot of it from home, I leapt at the chance. When I returned to the office a few weeks later and submitted my time sheets and leave requests and all, I’ve never seen such a bureaucratic managerial fustercluck in my life. Took months to sort it out to everyone’s satisfaction.

  96. 96.

    Immanentize

    @John Revolta:
    OK, I am intrigued by your yell versus holler idea. Also, there is probably a category which we should call “shout.”

    BTW. I am so jealous you chatted with Screamin’ Jay. Frenzy was sort of an anthem for me and some public defender friends in the 80’s. It really makes me tear up with happiness to know he was a nice guy…. My friend and colleague will def want to know this.

  97. 97.

    John Revolta

    @Immanentize: It was about 1984-5? in NYC when I met him. He was playing in a club/rib joint on 3rd Ave.
    I tried to get him to do “Little Demon” but he demurred…………….”That’s got all them 32nd notes!”

  98. 98.

    Jager

    @SiubhanDuinne: My dad had a massive heart attack at 39, it was 1959, the advice for heart patients at the time, “probably should quit smoking (the doc is smoking while he suggests it) and go home and stay in bed for a year”. My dad quit smoking, stayed in bed for about 3 weeks, while he was in bed, he and mom made my baby sister. About 20 days into the program, he got up and went back to work. He lasted 20 more years, much to his doc’s amazement. Now that I’m old, I’m the only one in the family who remembers my dad as a young healthy guy. I’ll tell my siblings, “the old man taught me to water ski” they look at me like I’m crazy.

  101. 101.

    daize

    @James E. Powell: Ian Gillan in Superstar. “My Temple should be a house of prayer….*but you have made iiiiiiiiiiiiiit*…a den of thieves…get out, get out” I’m not a fan of musicals but I have this one just about memorized. Love it.

  106. 106.

    Aleta

    Of the nearly 1.2 million applications for help that FEMA has received in Puerto Rico, roughly 60 percent have been found ineligible for what the agency calls Individual and Household grants, which can but do not necessarily include money to repair storm damage. The reasons for ineligibility are many and the agency did not provide specific denial numbers. But in an email to NPR, FEMA confirmed that a main reason it has denied these grants in Puerto Rico has been applicants’ inability to verify that they own the homes for which they are claiming damage.

    José López says he’s spent months trying to get FEMA the documents its workers have told him they need before approving a grant for repairs. Last week, a lawyer helped him write an affidavit swearing the house is his.
    …
    Lyvia Rodriguez del Valle works with one of Puerto Rico’s largest informal communities, where many residents have been denied FEMA grants because they don’t have title to their properties.

    Despite steps FEMA says it has taken to ease its documentation requirements – such as by accepting sworn affidavits from people who lack a deed – housing advocates say many people are still being denied, often for inconsistent reasons that even lawyers are struggling to sort out.

    “I’ve seen many people being denied three or four times, and just deciding it’s not worth the stress,” said Sarah Delgado, an attorney volunteering with a legal aid group that’s helping people appeal their denials. “They’re getting discouraged, and they’re just giving up.”

    Many people have few other options for rebuilding, she said.

    -NPR

  107. 107.

    Jim Parish

    There was a “The New WKRP” show – not a remake, but a sequel. Unfortunately, the best characters – Jennifer, Johnny, Venus – only appeared in guest shots. Mr. Carlson, Herb, and Les were the central characters. (TBH, I never much cared for Herb, and the other two were best in small doses, Thanksgiving notwithstanding.)

  111. 111.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Aleta:
    President Trump thinks Puerto Ricans are Mexicans, and wants them to die. Most of his administration are equally racist. I’m sure the FEMA workers on the ground are generally compassionate people, but there’s only so much they can do when they’ve been told ‘no exceptions’ by bosses who don’t want them to do their jobs.

  112. 112.

    efgoldman

    @Jim Parish:

    I never much cared for Herb

    You weren’t supposed to care for Herb. He was the archetypal asshole radio time salesman. Very close to IRL.

  119. 119.

    Death Panel Truck

    @efgoldman:
    The only characters left alive in a Barney Miller reboot are Barney and Wojo. As for WKRP, they tried that already, in 1991. It sucked. Today? Without Gordon Jump as the Big Guy, who would care? I wouldn’t.

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