Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

No one could have predicted…

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

The willow is too close to the house.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

“Squeaker” McCarthy

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

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

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

A consequence of cucumbers

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

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Everybody saw this coming.

The words do not have to be perfect.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Thursday Morning Open Thread: Princess Garnet Goldman

Thursday Morning Open Thread: Princess Garnet Goldman

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Something cheerful for the morning crew, from beloved crankypants commentor EFGoldman:

BJ has been clamoring for pix for four+ years since she was born.

These are from this weekend’s Awesome Con in DC.

She is Princess Garnet (her choice).

(Black hair is a party store wig.)

I didn’t know either, but Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII, alias Dagger, is a key character from the online role-playing game Final Fantasy IX. And probably a better role model for a small child than the Disney Cinderellas and Sleeping Beauties us old people grew up with.

And since I cosplayed (although we didn’t have that word for it) at multiple conventions back when I was in college in the early 1970s, I find it rather heartening that it’s now a widely enjoyed performance/sport for the whole family, not just “a handful of geeks being even weirder than usual.”

Reader Interactions

229Comments

  9. 9.

    Debbie(aussie)

    Too cute! I want one ?
    Repeat from overnight thread: I recently mentioned that I was going to be a grandma for the first time. My daughter called a couple of hours ago to tell us that it’s a girl. All being well, come October, there will be four generations of females in our family ?

    Good morning, everyone?

  15. 15.

    satby

    So my dilemma for the next 4-5 days is what to do with my two dwarf crabapple trees that were delivered yesterday. The advice is to heel them in if I can’t plant them in a few days, but the ground is still kind of frozen, it’s 25° out now and will only be in the mid-30s with lows in the teens overnight for the weekend. I’m hoping that the “packed for transit times of up to 10 days” is true, because it’s going to be about that before I can dig any holes around here.

  21. 21.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Adorable, delightful granddaughter, efg! Thank you for sharing her with the jackals.

    That Easter Bunny is far superior to the one at the White House.

  22. 22.

    kd bart

    I see from my twitter feed that Wilmer said something dumb again yesterday regarding Obama.

  25. 25.

    Anne Laurie

    @satby:

    So my dilemma for the next 4-5 days is what to do with my two dwarf crabapple trees that were delivered yesterday. The advice is to heel them in if I can’t plant them in a few days, but the ground is still kind of frozen, it’s 25° out now and will only be in the mid-30s with lows in the teens overnight for the weekend. I’m hoping that the “packed for transit times of up to 10 days” is true, because it’s going to be about that before I can dig any holes around here.

    I transplanted the blueberries, strawberries & lingonberries that Burpee shipped me last Friday (!!!) into planters (as intended) and rootpouches (to be moved again later, once the ground is no longer frozen). So far, despite a quick dump of snow & several separate bands of rain, all the plants look to be surviving — the tiny ‘bundled’ strawberries are actually greening up a bit. So, if you’ve got big enough bags or cardboard boxes on hand, maybe temp-transplant your little trees until they can get moved again in a few weeks?

  32. 32.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Being noticed is what 3 yr olds want but they are hardly relevant to what’s for dinner. Unless Grandma is making it in which case it’s likely to be Mac ‘n cheese with M&M’s.

  34. 34.

    p.a.

    Probably not optimal on a hike, but if travel conditions are easier, a Bluetooth speaker and smartphone with the Cornell bird website can project calls to bring birds in for photos. Most effective in nesting/mating season.

  35. 35.

    bemused

    Garnet is adorable. Our granddaughter who will be 5 in August chose Uma from Descendents for her Halloween costume. We have a great photo of her as Uma posing with attitude.

  38. 38.

    Immanentize

    @satby:
    Hey!
    This is the perfect moment for a Satby Box! Can you just fill one of your shipping boxes with soil and crabapple for the crazy temp ten days?

    I see A.L. got there first!

  39. 39.

    Amir Khalid

    @satby:
    Are The Young-ish Turkeys still the Temple of Bernie? If he loses them, I reckon, his glory days have passed him by. And in the wink of a young girl’s eye, too.

  40. 40.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @p.a.: I just saw him and his buddy banging on that tree, the reason I didn’t take my telephoto lens was weight. I really didn’t want to carry to much and there was the stability issue of crossing the stream about every couple of hundred feet(at least it seemed that way).

  42. 42.

    Lapassionara

    @OzarkHillbilly: That is one way of putting it. I have heard another take: grandchildren are your reward for not killing your own children.

    Good morning everyone, and how about that Wilmer diss of Obama, in Mississippi on the 50th anniversary of the MLK assassination? Seriously!

    Thanks for sharing these wonderful photos.

  44. 44.

    satby

    @Anne Laurie: I was considering that, sort of a not quite heeling in. But, if they can hold in their packaging until mid-week next week, I should be able to plant them permanently.
    And by then I also will have a dwarf burning bush, a new magnolia, and three raspberry bushes to figure out.

    I have to be put on a “Do not mail garden catalogs” list.

  45. 45.

    magurakurin

    @kd bart: yep. a lot of anger at Vermont Jesus right now on twitter. He decided that speaking in Mississippi on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the greatest African-American civil rights leader would be a good time to throw shade on the first African-American POTUS. What an asshole. He needs to take a seat. several seats.

    Bernie in Jackson, Miss.: “The business model, if you like, of the Democratic Party for the last 15 years or so has been a failure.. People sometimes don’t see that because there was a charismatic individual named Barack Obama.” “He was obviously an extraordinary candidate, brilliant guy. But beyond that reality,” Sen. Sanders says, Democrats have lost a record no. of legislative seats

    Totally wrong place, wrong time to have that discussion even if it actually had merit. Total dick thing to say in that setting. fucking tone deaf. If he runs in 2020 he will get beaten so far down that his ass will pop up in China.

  48. 48.

    satby

    @Immanentize: I do have boxes ?.
    But my bags of garden soil from last year are frozen too. That will have to be plan B if the predicted warm up doesn’t materialize.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    Who would have thought that the most offensive speech yesterday wouldn’t be Trump’s?

  52. 52.

    magurakurin

    @Baud: diss the party of which he is most vocally not a member. He totally lied about that, too. He said he would remain in the party after the election. He lied. Straight up lied. If the Democrats let him run again on their ticket…I don’t know. The whole thing is just sad and depressing.

    and honestly, Warren ain’t much better.

  54. 54.

    Immanentize

    @Baud: I can’t wait to see what he says on the anniversary of Bobby Kennedy’s assassination. Probably will give a speech suggesting Sirhan had a point.

  56. 56.

    Lapassionara

    @rikyrah: I think it is very suspicious that Rudy and Don Jr have announced plans to divorce just recently. Someone suggested that they might be trying to shelter assets from forfeiture. Rudy has been uncharacteristically quiet. Not that I mind.

  57. 57.

    Chyron HR

    @magurakurin:

    “When I lose, it’s rigged. When you’re gerrymandered out of federal and state legislatures, your bUSinEsS mODeL sucks.”

  58. 58.

    Baud

    @Lapassionara:

    I think it is very suspicious that Rudy and Don Jr have announced plans to divorce just recently. 

    I didn’t realize those two had gotten married.

  60. 60.

    satby

    @Baud: The Democratic party should require tax returns for 6 years before a person can run as a candidate of the party. Wilmer still hasn’t ever shown his. No tax returns, bye Felicia!

  62. 62.

    magurakurin

    @satby: I imagine that there will be a big field and all of them will release many years of returns. Decades worth more than likely, as Clinton did. Vermont Jesus is gonna start looking rather dodgy when he is up on stage with half a dozen or more potential winners and he is the only one who hasn’t done the same.

  64. 64.

    Debbie(aussie)

    Goodnight everyone, I’m off to bed. Thank you for the congratulations.
    Have a great(no trump) day.

  65. 65.

    Anne Laurie

    @magurakurin:

    and honestly, Warren ain’t much better.

    Not gonna get into a full debate here — it’s past my bedtime — but IMO, Sen Warren is working to be Senator for Life right now, not gearing up for a presidential run, no matter how much that idea gives the Media Village Idiots stiffies. She’s distributing money to numerous candidates, showing up to give speeches for a few that have asked her, and staying on topic with her message about financial fairness. Which is the area where she’s the expert, and one that’s badly needed. She can be a Senator from Massachusetts and a national force against the oligarchs without needing to ‘take the next step’, but too many people have gotten mislead that being President is the only important political job in America.

  66. 66.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    I think it is very suspicious that Rudy and Don Jr have announced plans to divorce just recently.

    I didn’t realize those two had gotten married.

    You got there first with the line I was getting ready to type.

  67. 67.

    debbie

    @rikyrah:

    That perp walk will be a joy!

    ETA: I hope he gets life with hard labor (old squeegees and greasy rags seem apt).

  68. 68.

    Anne Laurie

    @Immanentize:

    I can’t wait to see what he says on the anniversary of Bobby Kennedy’s assassination. Probably will give a speech suggesting Sirhan had a point.

    Nah, he’ll explain that Sirhan Sirhan then is why we need a Muslim ban today, and probably add that Bobby should’ve known better than to pal around with terrists brown people like Cesar Chavez and Rosie Grier…

  69. 69.

    magurakurin

    @Baud: They wouldn’t even have to make it a DNC primary rule. All the other candidates could simply make lady’s/gentleman’s agreement to all do so…

  70. 70.

    satby

    @Baud: showing his probably blows his whole shtick about “mill-yun-airs” right out of the water, since he grifted his way to being one. But only his most rabid fans will ignore his refusal, and in the meantime, he’s not on the Democratic platform since he wouldn’t comply with a requirement for all candidates.
    He’s an independent, he can run as one. Caucuses with the Democrats, my ass. When he’s not shivving them, maybe.

  71. 71.

    Anne Laurie

    @Baud:

    I’m not sure there is a politically advantageous way to keep him out this time.

    Demand that all presidential candidates release their tax returns. The Repubs won’t pay any attention, but it’ll discourage Shouty Old Man from polluting the Democratic ticket any further.

  72. 72.

    magurakurin

    @Anne Laurie:

    but too many people have gotten mislead that being President is the only important political job in America.

    this is certainly true. I hope you are right about Warren. I’d prefer if nobody collecting SSI run for president this time. Senator is a different animal, and you are right, people need to realize that Senators are important, too. I mostly have gotten peeved at some of Warren’s comments about Obama earning a living.

  74. 74.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Kucinich was popular at that meeting I went to. I don’t know but I just think anti-fracking is not going to carry the day in a general election. My table was horrible to me when I said I was a Cordray supporter. This man I have never met before that night said “I figured you were”.

  75. 75.

    Bemused senior

    Haven’t there been a couple of states that have made it mandatory to release tax returns to be on the ballot?

  76. 76.

    JAFD

    Extraordinarily cute young lady! If she were twenty years older and I were forty years younger…

    Anyway, while waiting to learn the fates of our Mr. Cole’s raised beds…

    This is a true story – you can look it up…

    A couple of decades ago, an employee of the Philadelphia coroner’s office had an unauthorized sideline sending bits and pieces of unclaimed bodies to a firm in Utah that prepared them for biology labs, etc. Until one hot summer day, postmen at a USPS package sorting center in Louisville noted a box that smelled awful. And leaked.

    The Postal Inspectors were called in, opened it, found four recently deceased human heads. And the return addressee was arrested, charge with abuse of corpses, defalcation, the whole book thrown at him.

    And as they were leading him off to four years in the State Pen at Graterford, the baliff said “You’d have saved everybody a lot of trouble if you’d just used Federal Express.”

    “Yeah”, the felon said, “but they charge an arm and a leg.”

  77. 77.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    I don’t know but I just think anti-fracking is not going to carry the day in a general election.

    Not even in the state parks?

  78. 78.

    Anne Laurie

    @Lapassionara:

    I think it is very suspicious that Rudy and Don Jr have announced plans to divorce just recently. Someone suggested that they might be trying to shelter assets from forfeiture.

    Quite possibly (although I hear that might not work, legally); but it’s also possible that the wives have decided they just don’t want to be associated with That Guy any longer. What little I’ve seen, about-to-be-ex-Mrs. DJT Jr. has small kids & the dude’s public infidelities to goad her. And Judith Giuliani ex-Nathan is a notoriously “professional” publicity expert who’s always been lucky at getting out just before her latest paramour gets into the papers.

  80. 80.

    WereBear

    @Anne Laurie: She can be a Senator from Massachusetts and a national force against the oligarchs without needing to ‘take the next step’, but too many people have gotten mislead that being President is the only important political job in America.

    Absolutely so. The widespread lack of comprehension of how many vital, and different, gears there are in the Government Machine is part of the problem.

  81. 81.

    Brachiator

    @magurakurin:

    “He was obviously an extraordinary candidate, brilliant guy. But beyond that reality,” Sen. Sanders says, Democrats have lost a record no. of legislative seats.

    Sanders keeps positioning himself as a kinder, gentler Donald Trump. And it is still despicable.

    Like Trump, he seems unable to acknowledge that Obama was actually president. And he rejects the legitimacy of the Democratic Party. And yet he has never been able to build his own party, nor has he been able to bend the Democrats to his will as Trump did with the GOP. He is a tiresome loser.

  82. 82.

    (((CassandraLeo)))

    Can confirm that Garnet is a good role model, though I still think Terra and Celes from FFVI are even better. Sprite-based RPGs may be a bit too much for people below a certain age, though. Also, cute cosplay.

    @Baud: “A person who joins to run as a Democrat right before the primary and quits the party after losing the nomination isn’t allowed to pull the same stunt again. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, you can’t get fooled again YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH shame on me.” Seems pretty self-explanatory and easily justifiable.

    Either that or the tax returns thing. Requiring at least, say, ten years makes us stand well out from the party of Twitler. And I don’t think Wilmer’s gonna release that many years of his taxes.

    Or both.

  83. 83.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Jane Sanders, the wife of 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders — the 76-year-old independent senator from Vermont — claimed in a new interview Saturday that her husband would have won the general election, defeating Donald Trump, in part because Americans, Jane Sanders claimed, did not want a “third term” for President Barack Obama — a claim contradicted by a recent, widely-publicized poll.

    October 1, 2017

    Obama’s First Retrospective Job Approval Rating Is 63%

    February 15, 2018

    Wilmer, his wife and his idiot son really harbor a lot of resentment over a black guy becoming president.

  85. 85.

    Baud

    @(((CassandraLeo))):

    A person who joins to run as a Democrat right before the primary and quits the party after losing the nomination isn’t allowed to pull the same stunt again. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice

    Seems more like an argument for primary voters and not the party rules committee.

  86. 86.

    Thoughtful David

    @satby:
    I’d go farther. I’d say that you can’t run for president as a Democrat unless:
    1. For the past 17 years you have been registered as a a Democrat or in non-registration states, voted in every Democratic primary or caucus;
    2. Supported other Democrats by having organized or helped to organize fund raisers for them at least 8 times.;
    3. Released tax returns for 6 years.

    It’s 17 years because that’s the gap between voting age and age 35 when you can run. Of course, if you don’t run until older these requirements don’t kick in until later.

    The idea is to only get committed Democrats. No Wilmers, no Baldy Littledick McTinyhands.

    Yeah, I know this is really extreme and ain’t gonna happen, but how about 6 years?

  89. 89.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    I saw twitter stuff about Wilmer and it sounded so bad I wasn’t sure I believed it. I can’t imagine him doing nearly as well in the primaries again, but he can do a lot of damage if he’s given a platform.

    I’m assuming that’s not efg in the bunny suit, but given Anne’s talk about cosplay, you never know.

  90. 90.

    Chyron HR

    @Baud:

    Seems more like an argument for primary voters

    Yes, well, that person has made it clear that he doesn’t think primary voters should have any say in picking the candidate.

  91. 91.

    (((CassandraLeo)))

    @Baud: Well, yeah, let’s hope the primary voters aren’t morans, but why should we let outside agitators ratfuck our party in the first place? Because it seems increasingly possible that that may have been what happened in 2016. Even if Wilmer himself wasn’t, Tad Devine was almost certainly on the Kremlin’s payroll. But in any case, if you ain’t a Democrat, you have no business running in a Democratic primary.

  92. 92.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    May 8 is the primary. I said “maybe you guys will win and I will of course vote for the winner in the general!” and they just looked at me. They were supposed to say the same.

    It isn’t the Fox news thing. It’s because they’re long time Democrats and he’s familiar to them as The Liberal. As I told you I think his liberalism is bullshit- I think he’s an old fashioned “ethnic” urban Dem – a distinct type of Ohio pol- who adopted a hipper persona when old white people stopped voting for Democrats. I’m just not a fan of that tactic.

  93. 93.

    OzarkHillbilly

    ‘Arab spring for teachers’: educators in Oklahoma join wave of strikes

    The school system has reached breaking point after decades of neglect, said the teachers. In some schools, teachers don’t assign homework because their budget for books is so small that they can’t afford to risk a student losing a $200 textbook. Teachers have been posting pictures of their crumbling textbooks online.

    “Honestly, students feel like [education] is not important,” said Kelsey Laster, a fourth-grade teacher a Rollingwood elementary school in Putnam City, Oklahoma. “People don’t look at them like they are important so they don’t look at it like it’s important.”

    The picture of textbooks is worth a thousand words.

    Since 2009, Oklahoma has cut more of its state education funding than any other state in the country, cutting more than $192m since 2009 according to a report released by the Oklahoma Policy Institute.

    The cuts came after the state lost more than a quarter of its operating budget because of a series of cuts to the state’s oil and natural gas production tax and personal income taxes initiated in the mid-2000s. While neighboring Texas has an effective taxation rate of 8% on oil and natural gas, Oklahoma’s tax rate sits at a mere 3.2%.

    If it were not for the tax cuts on natural gas and oil as well as personal income taxes, the Oklahoma Policy Institute estimates that the state would have an additional $356m to spend on K-12 (primary and high school) education as well as an additional $238m to spend on higher education.

    Neighboring Texas, with its higher natural and oil gas production tax, has a minimum starting teacher salary of $50,000. While across the border in Oklahoma, the starting salary for teachers is only $32,000, or less than $15 an hour when you factor in the cost of healthcare premiums. Unsurprisingly Oklahoma is currently experiencing a massive brain drain of talent to Texas.

    Brownbackian governance run amok.

  94. 94.

    Baud

    @(((CassandraLeo))): At this point, he’s so embedded that he will ratfuck us regardless of whether he is allowed to run.

    @Kay: If I believed someone was liberal, I would stop believing that if they went to work for Fox News.

    I’m sorry to hear that your table mates weren’t on the unity train. I hope your event wasn’t representative of primary voters.

  96. 96.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @Kay: Honestly, only Kucinich has the courage to admit his personal encounters with Martians (video)

  97. 97.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    Not even in the state parks?

    I just think the focus on fracking is misguided. For one thing the Dem needs huge margins in urban areas and I’m not sure fracking is at the top of their list.

    I’m hugely uncomfortable with Kucinich’s association with Ron Paul. Democrats have tried that alliance with libertarians over and over and it never, ever works out for Democrats. Because libertarians vote for the GOP nominee. There is no “lberaltarian” alliance and there never will be- this is a failed idea.

  98. 98.

    clay

    @magurakurin: Every time a “holier-than-thou” leftist talks about how “Dems lost all those seats under Obama”, it needs to be pointed out that the reason the Democrats lost all those seats is because Obama and the Dems put themselves on the line by
    pushing a very progressive agenda with health care reform, civil rights, banking reform, etc.

    In other words, Republicans gained control by harnessing the backlash to the ideas that Bernie thinks the Dems should push. But instead of praising the Democrats for their political bravery, he blames them for their own sacrifice.

  99. 99.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    I think Kucinich’s approach was okay in the House because he could run on ordinary Dem federal issues- Social Security and Medicare, primarily. Whatever his flirtations with Ron Paul he was a reliable vote in a safety net caucus. That held his older (white) Dem base so he could essentially gadfly around on other issues. Governor is different.

    I mean, really? Our nominee is going to be someone who acted as if Clinton did something wrong on Benghazi? He couldn’t resist joining in on that bullshit?

  103. 103.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    Our nominee is going to be someone who acted as if Clinton did something wrong on Benghazi?

    As you noted,

    older (white) Dem base

  104. 104.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    You’re definitely right about Kucinich. I don’t trust him. I don’t trust anyone who enjoys notoriety. Focus on the job, you jerk!

  105. 105.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Kucinich bought a sandwich from the Longworth House Office Building cafeteria in April 2008, and bit into it only to find an unpitted olive that cracked a tooth. This month, he sued the cafeteria for selling “dangerous” sandwiches.

    ***

    Kucinich didn’t detail the costs of the dental work, or precisely what “enjoyment” he lost. Or why he’s filing a complaint three years after the olive incident. But he’s suing Restaurant Associates and three other companies involved in running and supplying the cafeteria for $150,000, claiming negligence and breach of implied warranty. (link)

    Grifter.

  107. 107.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    He;s already been such a coward.

    But he also has struggled to explain statements and associations that many Democrats might find troubling.

    They include his defenses of President Donald Trump, his unwillingness to condemn Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad, and his presence on the board of a foundation started by a former Texas congressman who published a racist newsletter.
    In Cincinnati in late March, Kucinich was asked about his past statements questioning the need for a federal investigation into possible ties between the Russian government and the Trump campaign. Kucinich tried to deflect.
    “The only thing I’m worried about is Moscow, Ohio,” he said, referring to a nearby village. But he insisted that he is not talking about foreign policy during the campaign.

    So the plan is to dodge everything he said over the past 5 years. He and DeWine will be perfect adversaries. They’re both completely unprincipled.

    How is he going to defend all the shit he said about Obama to AA voters? He trashed Obama for 8 years.

  109. 109.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    It is a big deal where I live but this area is 60% R. I don’t know- you tell me- what’s the net vote increase from voters who switch from R to D based on fracking? Do those people even exist?

  112. 112.

    Kay

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    That sad truth is he’s the Dem version of Ron Paul. His biggest fans are people who could slot in Ron Paul in his place.

    People who think there’s some kind of possible alliance between libertarians and Democrats don’t understand how Democratic legislation works- what it’s grounded on.

  113. 113.

    Baud

    @Kay: Isn’t one of Cordray’s weaknesses guns, though? You would think that would play in your area.

  114. 114.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @Kay: Not only that, he said it’s plausible Obummer had Trump wiretapped because Obummer had him wiretapped (video)

    In reality, the NSA didn’t wiretapped him, rather they intercepted phone calls made to Mommar Khadaffyi’s headquarters.

  115. 115.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    Well, they run the pipeline in rural areas and what passes for “suburban” areas around rural areas. I get the anger from property owners- they resent it and they think it’s dangerous and will eventually lower the value of their property but those people have not traditionally been Democratic voters.

  117. 117.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I don’t know. I had a hearing yesterday that revolved around guns and it is fascinating how this split is forming on how judges treat gun nuts and how politicians treat gun nuts. Judges are sick of this shit. They see it every day. Threats involving guns, kids with guns, nutty parents letting 8 year olds shoot guns. It’s becoming a CLASS issue in this area- college educated Republicans are starting to splinter off from the pro-gun faction. My sense is they realize it is out of control – it was okay when they were shooting it up out at the trailer park but now that it’s mainstreamed there’s real alarm.

  118. 118.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @Kay:

    They include his defenses of President Donald Trump, his unwillingness to condemn Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad

    That reminds me of the time he blamed demonstrators for Assad’s massacres:

    In May, he defended the Syrian regime’s crackdown on “Arab Spring” revolutionaries to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, explaining that although there were “serious concerns” about the conduct of Syrian forces, “We also know the Syrian police were fired upon and that many police were murdered.” (State-run media in Syria have repeatedly reported the mass murder of police officers, but the country’s restrictions on independent media make those stories difficult to verify.) “I would imagine that when things finally settle down that President Assad will move in a direction of democratic reforms,” he added. (link)

  119. 119.

    Matt McIrvin

    @clay: That’s the thing: If you actually talk to people who voted Republican during that time, they don’t say “the Democrats weren’t progressive enough on the economy.” They say “the Democrats got too extreme; they went way to the left.” Dig in and you likely find they’re talking about cultural stuff; they’re freaked out about gays and transgender people in their bathrooms and immigrants moving in and they heard Black Lives Matter is a bunch of rioters.

  121. 121.

    TS

    @Baud: Problem is if Wilmer doesn’t run as a democrat, will he run as an independent and give trump a second term?

  122. 122.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    What they need immediately is some kind of civil protection order that bars weapons. What’s happening is they’re scooping up a lot of people who probably don’t need a CPO but for the fact that they have weapons or access to weapons.

    It’s funny that Rubio backs that because that is an admission that is IS, in fact, THE GUN that kills people. If you back an order that JUST bars weapons for unstable or stupid people then you are admitting that it’s the gun that is the problem.

  123. 123.

    Baud

    @Kay: If they realize it’s out of control, their only choice is Dems. I don’t see how a GOP politician has the ability to do anything meaningful on guns.

  124. 124.

    Cermet

    Nice pic’s and as well as a nice way to start this day for the pack here at BJ.

    I feel as if I am in third gear while trying to get get moving – ugh (did skip the gym this morning so I could catch some extra sleep.) Hope I don’t strip any gear’s trying to down shift into first but really not getting the energy I need. Dare I try a little coffee (been six months)?

  125. 125.

    Baud

    @TS: As opposed to the result in 2016? Seems we’re damned either way unless we can get replacement voters for the ones he costs us.

  126. 126.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:
    For the record, Kay..
    I don’t trust any Democrat that gets a check from Fox Noise.
    Same way that I don’t trust ANY BLACK person who appears on, and/or gets a check from Fox.
    Those are my rules.

  129. 129.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Garnet is lovely and looks very spirited.

    I’ve been on a bit of a downer lately – getting toward the end of a month of allergy – but when the kittehs greeted me this morning, things seemed brighter.

  130. 130.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I wonder about the local judge angle with guns, and whether that will have any effect. They are terrified because if an issue ends up in their court and they don’t bar weapons any tragedy can be traced directly back to their failure to do that. It’s sobering. It’s really shifted here. The first thing they’re asking is “are there guns in the home?” These are very conservative judges. It’s different than a state lawmaker with a law. These are specific cases and individuals. If they don’t take the weapon and there’s some kind of tragedy- well, there’s a record. I would be pissed if I were a GOP judge. They threw the whole mess on them.

  131. 131.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @Chyron HR:

    @BravenakBlog

    So, Bernie Sanders daughter lost the Burlington mayoral race 45 minutes ago.

    How long until we hear how Hillary and the DNC rigged the race against her?
    Maybe Donna can write a book about it.

    5:42 PM – 6 Mar 2018

    140 replies 848 retweets 3,300 likes

    sarah apfel @apfel_sarah

    LOL She should have spent more time in Wisconsin.

    3 replies 7 retweets 60 likes

  134. 134.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I just wonder if it will trickle up. The first people who realized the juvenile sex offender laws were insane were judges. It was almost immediate. Within 6 months Ohio judges were suing for more discretion, because it was INSANE. They were handing out what amounts to life sentences for 16 year olds. Now Ohio Republicans have thrown the whole gun safety mess into their laps, and they’re (rightfully) terrified because if they get someone who is unstable and they don’t pull all weapons and the school gets shot up- Jesus. It’ll be traced right back to their failure to bar the guns.

  137. 137.

    Chyron HR

    @TS:

    Problem is if Wilmer doesn’t run as a democrat, will he run as an independent and give trump a second term?

    Why doesn’t he primary Trump? His entire thesis is that REPUBLICAN voters secretly yearn for his policies of Democratic Socialism, right? In that case, he should be a shoo-in for the GOP nomination.

  138. 138.

    Baud

    @Kay: It’s hard to predict. I suppose it’ll depend on how many more mass shootings we have to endure. The NRA doesn’t work part-time. They will still be there when the headlines move on.

  139. 139.

    manyakitty

    @Debbie(aussie): MAZEL TOV! How wonderful!
    Princess Garnet is such a cutie! There’s nothing like seeing adorable kids and reading about others’ good news to start the day right. Yay!!

  140. 140.

    geg6

    I have absolutely no idea who that character is, but that adorable child portraying her is the cutest thing I’ve seen in ages.

  141. 141.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Baud: …I also find some of those people say nice things about Bernie Sanders, but it’s not because Bernie is the true progressive. It’s because they saw him as the moderate! Far more sensible than that socialist harridan Hillary Clinton.

    That says to me that if Bernie woulda won, it’d have been not by being a pocketbook radical but by de-emphasizing things that upset bigots in the Great Lakes region. But that would also have depressed Democratic turnout in other places (the South).

  142. 142.

    JPL

    @TS: Wilmer doesn’t care if Trump is reelected. He’s a grifter, and must stay relevant to achieve his personal goals.

  143. 143.

    HinTN

    @satby: Leave them in the packing and put them in a cold, not freezing, place. They’ll be fine. Plant asap but do wait for the ground to be right.

  144. 144.

    cosima

    All hair Princess Garnet Goldman! Little C was Ed from Full Metal Alchemist for Halloween. She & I are going to Edinburgh for a girls’ weekend tomorrow, and anime shops are on the list of things to do. That and the motorcycle show that was the centrepiece of the weekend that was supposed to be a father/daughter bonding weekend but has instead turned into a mother/daughter bonding weekend.

    On a separate note, the UK sees your bullshit propaganda move, Putin, and raises you a poison lab revelation: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/british-security-services-locate-covert-russian-lab-behind-salisbury-poison-plot-and-believe-putins-scientists-ran-tests-to-see-if-nerve-agent-was-suitable-for-assassinations/ar-AAvunG1?ocid=spartandhp.

  145. 145.

    Baud

    @Matt McIrvin: I’m not surprised. I continue to be amazed that there are progressives who think Hillary’s defeat doesn’t reflect on them at all. As was pointed out upthread, a big reason we lost so many seats last decade and in the nineties is because the party actually did important things while in power that upset people.

    ETA: I am repeating myself, but it’s worth saying twice.

  146. 146.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Baud: I know a bunch of those people too: they weren’t Bernie-or-Busters, but they 100% blame Hillary Clinton and individual Hillary supporters for electing Trump, and they’re still pissed off about it. Some still speak in terms of Bernie being the next President. I don’t want to argue with them about it any more; I just hope they can keep from doing too much damage to whoever gets nominated in 2018 and 2020.

  147. 147.

    Baud

    @Matt McIrvin: That they still do that even after everything we’ve learned about Russia (and Comey’s influence at the last minute) means they are dead-enders. You are correct in letting them be, assuming they are venting among themselves and not attacking Hillary supporters directly.

  148. 148.

    cosima

    @Debbie(aussie): OMGoddess!!!!!! Congratulations! Girls are pure love & awesomeness. What an amazing milestone for your family — there is a photo of me, my mom, my grandmother & my great-grandmother somewhere.

  153. 153.

    clay

    @Baud: For all that liberals pride themselves on nuance and understanding, a lot of leftists are shockingly bad at understanding context.

    During the 2016 I saw a lot of younger, online progressives show anger towards Bill Clinton (and of course, by extension, Hillary) for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” But what these people failed to understand was that at the time, DADT was a progressive policy. It was progress from the previous policy, which was that gays couldn’t serve in the military at all. Just because there has been further progress since then, doesn’t negate or diminish the progress Bill Clinton made, nor does it erase his political bravery in trying to make that progress.

  154. 154.

    JPL

    @clay: During that time, Clinton got a lot of push back from the military. Now we have Mattis trying to slow down Trump’s policies, but I fear to no avail.

    There is a mentality of I want what I want, and I want it now.

  155. 155.

    Jeffro

    Despite it being published in That Paper We All Hate, this is a pretty good take on the factors that primed the GOP for Trumpov: The Contract With Authoritarianism.

    The election of Donald Trump — built as it was on several long-term trends that converged in 2016 — has created an authoritarian moment. This somewhat surprising development is the subject of “Remaking Partisan Politics through Authoritarian Sorting,” a forthcoming book by the political scientists Christopher Federico, Stanley Feldman and Christopher Weber, who argue that

    Three trends — polarization, media change, and the rise of what many people see as threats to the traditional social order — have contributed to a growing divide within American politics. It is a divide between those who place heavy value on social order and cohesion relative to those who value personal autonomy and independence.

    The three authors use a long-established authoritarian scale — based on four survey questions about which childhood traits parents would like to see in their offspring — that asks voters to choose between independence or respect for their elders; curiosity or good manners; self-reliance or obedience; and being considerate or well-behaved. Those respondents who choose respect for elders, good manners, obedience and being well-behaved are rated more authoritarian.

    The authors found that in 1992, 62 percent of white voters who ranked highest on the authoritarian scale supported George H.W. Bush. In 2016, 86 percent of the most authoritarian white voters backed Trump, an increase of 24 percentage points.

    Nothing terribly new to BJ readers, right? But still – not something that a lot of folks have on their radar.

    Continued:

    In their book, Johnston, Lavine and Federico reinforce this point:

    With the rise of cultural and lifestyle politics, Democrats and Republicans are now sharply distinguished by a set of psychological dispositions related to experiential openness — a general dimension of personality tapping tolerance for threat and uncertainty in one’s environment.
    The revived interest in authoritarianism in politics began well before anyone seriously considered the possibility of a Trump candidacy — except, apparently, Trump himself.

    In 2009, Marc J. Hetherington of Vanderbilt and Jonathan D. Weiler of the University of North Carolina, wrote one of the fundamental texts on this topic, “Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics.”

    In it, Hetherington and Weiler argue that

    preferences about many of the new issues on the American political agenda, such as gay rights, the war in Iraq, the proper response to terrorism, and immigration are likely structured by authoritarianism.
    There are “colliding conceptions of right and wrong,” they write, between those on the high and low ends of the authoritarian scale. That, in turn, makes it difficult “for one side of the political debate to understand (perhaps, in the extreme, even respect) how the other side thinks and feels.”

    That was a bit both-sides-ery for my taste. As many (like Mann and Ornstein) have noted, it’s mostly the Right that has gone to this kind of extremism, and they certainly went there first.

    But anyway:

    They explain further:

    Citizens care less about the outcomes a policy produces and more about the groups and symbols with which a policy is associated.
    Mason enlarged on this argument in her 2015 paper, “‘I Disrespectfully Agree’: The Differential Effects of Partisan Sorting on Behavioral and Issue Polarization.” Her argument is a direct challenge to those who take, as she puts it,

    an instrumental view of politics, in which people choose a party and decide how strongly to support it based solely on each party’s stated positions and whether the party shares interests with them.
    Instead, she writes,

    Contrary to an issue-focused view of political decision making and behavior, the results presented here suggest that political thought, behavior, and emotion are powerfully driven by political identities. The strength of a person’s identification with his or her party affects how biased, active, and angry that person is, even if that person’s issue positions are moderate.

    While much of this research uses the “preferred traits in child-rearing” questions to measure authoritarianism, two sociologists at the University of Kansas, David Norman Smith and Eric Hanley, observe in “The Anger Games: Who Voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Election, and Why?” that those questions do not capture the full scope of authoritarianism, especially the more aggressive authoritarianism that they believe drives voters to Trump.

    And just to wrap up on a bit of a depressing note:

    Federico, Feldman and Weber note that

    since the early 2000s, many especially acrimonious political debates have focused on threats to social stability and order — debates surrounding abortion, transgender rights, immigration, and the role of the federal government in protecting the rights of marginalized social groups.

    The rising “salience of these debates,” they write, “has contributed to a growing ‘authoritarian divide’ within the United States, at least among White Americans.”

    Trump has purposefully exacerbated the “many especially acrimonious political debates” now dominating public discourse, deepening not only the authoritarian divide, but the divide between open and closed mindedness, between acceptance and racial resentment, and between toleration of and aversion to change. He evidently believes that this is the best political strategy for presiding in the White House and winning re-election, but it is an extraordinarily destructive strategy for governing the country and for safeguarding America’s interests in the world.

    Lots of tangents to explore here, but I think one of the most interesting is how, via right-wing media/”The Republican Noise Machine”, a large segment of voters can be convinced there is “American Carnage” going on in a time of overall peace and prosperity. There’s not, of course, but it resonates because of those voters’ authoritarian mindsets and built-in fears.

  156. 156.

    WereBear

    @Matt McIrvin: They say “the Democrats got too extreme; they went way to the left.” Dig in and you likely find they’re talking about cultural stuff; they’re freaked out about gays and transgender people in their bathrooms and immigrants moving in and they heard Black Lives Matter is a bunch of rioters.

    From my vantage point, it has ALWAYS been the cultural issues: when the Democrats became the part of civli rights and those “dirty hippies” they got weird and forgot they need money.

  157. 157.

    Gin & Tonic

    @cosima: We have a couple like that from last year: my wife, her mother, my daughter and grand-daughter. From 2 to 94.

  159. 159.

    TS

    @MomSense: I have no idea HOW this can be done – although if he continues to attack President Obama he could well be dragged screaming off the stage. Seems both sides of the aisle are so jealous/envious of President Obama he is all they can think about.

  162. 162.

    Central Planning

    @efgoldman – your grand-daughter is adorable!

    @Jeffro: These four weird questions identify you as a Dolt 45 supporter!

    Since it’s an open thread, any reports from the Buffalo meet-up yesterday?

  166. 166.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @OzarkHillbilly: You old curmudgeon. Even I know that grandchildren are grandparents’ reward for not having murdered their children.

    (ETA: Lapasionaria at #42 scooped me, dagnabit!)
    (ETA2: And grandnieces are a granduncle’s reward. Mine turns 3 next week!)

  167. 167.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Leto: How the hell is that even legal? it’s amazing what Trump can get away with. No ethics.

  168. 168.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @Baud: Well, she’s not as bad as her brother, but that’s a pretty high bar. In her case she tried to delegitimize the Democrat’s victory because he received a plurality and not a majority of vote (48% in a 3 way race), saying the policy mandate belonged to the other 52%. And during the campaign she ran as an Independent attacking the Democratic incumbent as a corporatist selling out the people, while simultaneously having the gall to denounce partisanship. Same tired ole song.

  169. 169.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Uncle Cosmo: Revenge is a plate best served cold…. and after what her father put me thru, I make it every time Baby Girl comes for a visit.

  170. 170.

    Just One More Canuck

    @Gin & Tonic: My wife’s family is like that – our daughter is 13, my wife is (mumbles incoherently), her sister a few years older, their mother is 73, and their grandmother is 103

  172. 172.

    WereBear

    @Jeffro: Lots of tangents to explore here, but I think one of the most interesting is how, via right-wing media/”The Republican Noise Machine”, a large segment of voters can be convinced there is “American Carnage” going on in a time of overall peace and prosperity. There’s not, of course, but it resonates because of those voters’ authoritarian mindsets and built-in fears.

    Except that their world is collapsing. That one where no one was seen beating their wife, women were happy staying home, children were obedient and respectful and had no rights, and minorities shut up.

  173. 173.

    Leto

    @Amir Khalid: @Patricia Kayden: Nope, no ethical boundaries and I don’t see how that can be legal. There are tons of rules regarding the contracting process, and potential interference in the decision/awarding process. Of course we know what Trupov, and the crime cartel he’s surrounded by, think of “the rules”. I’m sure Amazon has top flight lawyers, and those same lawyers are thanking the OFC for paying off their 2nd/3rd chalet.

  175. 175.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Lapassionara: Ghouliani needs to keep his fucking pastahole shut forever. Another of the legions of bigots who share my ancestry who embarrass the living shit out of anyone with an IQ over 80 each time they open theirs.

  176. 176.

    Immanentize

    I predict that both Bernie and Joe will not run in 2020 because of illness or death. But both will want the role of kingmaker even if they are dead.

  178. 178.

    rikyrah

    Governor Tells Trump She Won’t Send Troops To Border

    Source: Newsweek Magazine

    MEXICO BORDER WALL: OREGON GOVERNOR TELLS TRUMP SHE’LL REFUSE ORDER TO SEND GUARD TROOPS SOUTH

    BY SHANE CROUCHER ON 4/5/18 AT 5:07 AM

    Governor Kate Brown said she will refuse any order from President Donald Trump to send Oregon’s guard troops down south to the US-Mexico border.

    Trump wants National Guard troops sent to the Mexican border as his effort to build an impenetrable wall stalls because his administration is struggling to secure enough funds from Congress or other sources. He originally said Mexico would pay for the wall, but it has refused.

    In a presidential memorandum authorizing the request of deployment of Guards to the border, Trump says U.S. security is “imperiled by a drastic surge of illegal activity”, in particular drug trafficking by gangs and unlawful immigration.

    He said it is a “crisis” of “lawlessness” at the southern border.

    http://www.newsweek.com/mexico-border-wall-oregon-governor-tells-trump-shell-refuse-order-send-guard-872783

  179. 179.

    rikyrah

    I hate these people.
    pure phucking evil.

    ………………………………

    Trump Admin Wants To Cut Internet for Poor Americans

    NEW FCC POLICY WOULD BE A ‘DEATH SENTENCE’ FOR PUERTO RICANS RECOVERING FROM HURRICANE IRMA

    BY NICOLE GOODKIND ON 4/5/18 AT 6:30 AM

    A new rule championed by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai would would limit internet and phone access for millions of low-income and elderly Americans.

    Pai’s proposed changes to the Lifeline Program, which currently serves 12 million Americans by providing subsidized phone and internet service, would cut service to about 70 percent, or 8 million, of them. Many of these recipients live in Puerto Rico, and rely on Lifeline for assistance as they recover from Hurricane Irma.

    Last week, a group of Democratic Senators including Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Kirsten Gillibrand Jeff Merkley, Bernie Sanders, Edward J. Markey, Ron Wyden, Richard Blumenthal, Elizabeth Warren, Dick Durbin and Cory Booker wrote a letter to the chairman questioning his motives.

    “The Lifeline Program is essential for millions of Americans who rely on subsidized internet access to find jobs, schedule doctor’s appointments, complete their school assignments, interface with the government, and remain connected in a digital economy,” they wrote. “The program helps Americans — including disproportionate numbers of families with children, veterans and people of color — survive.”

  181. 181.

    rikyrah

    McConnell points to ‘the most consequential decision’ of his career
    04/05/18 08:40 AM
    By Steve Benen
    Exactly one year ago this week, Senate Republicans changed the chamber’s rules, executed the so-called “nuclear option” to prohibit filibusters of Supreme Court nominees, and confirmed Neil Gorsuch to the high court.

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters shortly before the confirmation vote, “As I look back on my career, I think the most consequential decision I’ve ever been involved in was the decision to let the president being elected last year pick the Supreme Court nominee.”

    A year later, his opinion has not changed.

    McConnell said once again that the most important accomplishment, in his mind, of Donald Trump’s administration so far has been the number of conservative judicial appointments the president has gotten through.

    “I believe that’s the most important thing we’re doing,” the majority leader said. “You’ve heard me say before that I thought the decision I made not to fill the Supreme Court vacancy when Justice Scalia died was the most consequential decision I’ve made in my entire public career. The things that will last the longest time – those are my top priorities.”

  182. 182.

    schrodingers_cat

    @rikyrah: My father had a friend in college with that last name. He became a doctor and would treat people who couldn’t afford to pay without charging them. He was fluent 5 languages, and a wonderful human being. When people say Pai, that’s who I think of. This Pai is an abomination.

  186. 186.

    Brachiator

    @rikyrah:

    A new rule championed by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai would would limit internet and phone access for millions of low-income and elderly Americans.

    Another despicable example of what it means to run the country “like a business.” You need a credit check to be a citizen.

  187. 187.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: For once I kinda sympathize. I’d be a tad more sympathetic if I heard he’d settled for the cost of repair plus some modest amount for the aggravation. $150K sounds extreme. Then again, that suit might have been socially useful – if it persuaded the cafeteria (& its olive suppliers) to make sure it never happened again, who knows how many patrons might have been spared a broken tooth?

    I had a similar experience flying Air France out of Madrid in 1994. Two small black olives in the salad. I bit down on the first very, very carefully – no pit. Bon. I chomped away. The second had the pit. Cracked a molar down to bedrock & after much aggravation I eventually had to have it extracted. Never occurred to me to sue the airline – but of course IANAL & don’t think like one. But I will never ever chomp down on an olive again.

  190. 190.

    Kathleen

    @clay: Brava. Truth on steroids. Slanders has never put himself on the line like PBO and Dems have. Never. And he has the nerve to slime them. I so hate that vile noxious spew

  194. 194.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @JPL:

    There is a mentality of I want what I want, and I want it now.

    Learned that from the alte kakers who in their misspent youths were DFHs with nothing to lose or defend who just wanted to smoke dope & fuck everything that moved. How many times did we hear this:

    Whadda we want?
    [insert cause du jour]!
    When do we want it?
    Now!

  196. 196.

    Jeffro

    Here’s an interesting take on just how much energy there is on the Dem side this November (at least, here in Virginia): look at how many Dems are lining up to take on the GOP’s reps! Wanna Run For Congress? Get In Line!

    Barbara Comstock, we are coming for you and no amount of smiley-faced lying bullshit is going to keep you in office.

    (VA peeps: signing up for VPAP’s many kinds of updates is free and HIGHLY encouraged)

  199. 199.

    Jeffro

    @Jeffro: Also, FSM do I ever hate Dave Brat and want to see him run out of office…you couldn’t ask for anyone dumber or more reactionary save Twitler himself.

  201. 201.

    rikyrah

    Cyndi Ralston, a veteran Oklahoma public school teacher, has announced plans to run against a Republican state lawmaker who vowed to vote against all education funding during the Oklahoma teachers strike. https://t.co/gN6xKZkrIq

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 5, 2018

  202. 202.

    Chyron HR

    @rikyrah:

    Oh, come on, it’s not like B.S. said that MLK would still be alive if he’d taken his advice and focused on white working class economic anxiety.

    He probably THOUGHT it, but at least he didn’t say it.

  203. 203.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’ll see you a cliché & raise you: Living well is the best revenge. Enjoy being with your grandkids in a way you could never enjoy (for whatever reason) having their father around & it will eat him up from the inside.

  204. 204.

    Chyron HR

    @schrodingers_cat:

    This year, and he’s an independent so no primary.

    Your best bet is to get someone to run against him on another independent ticket and make him defend being pro-gun and “white working class lives matter”. It wouldn’t work but it might damage him badly going into 2020.

  205. 205.

    rikyrah

    Folks aren’t having it:

    ah, no, nope…Bernie…didn’t go down to Jackson…Mississippi…MLK assassination…50th anniversary…and try to drag…Obama…who ain’t perfect…at all. But. Bernie…if you want more than 3 southern black folks voting for you…you TRIPPIN’, ‘white working class Bernie.’ https://t.co/tGfUZRQbGc

    — Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright) April 5, 2018

    Bernie Sanders dislike of Barack Obama’s administration/policies is what connects him to Trump voters.

    That is what they can build a bridge on and it’s deplorable and disgusting.

    — Amene (@Ange_Amene) April 5, 2018

    The hills are alive with the sound of white people explaining why it was OK for Bernie Sanders to travel to Jackson, Ms and shit on Obama’s legacy on the 50th anniversary of King’s assassination.

    — Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) April 5, 2018

    Dr. Martin Luther king Jr warned us about white progressives like Bernie Sanders in his letter from Birmingham prison. On the 50th anniversary he decides it was appropriate to attack President Obama, and belittle the work Democrats have done for America in 15 years. Shame on you.

    — Mr. Weeks ✊? (@MrDane1982) April 5, 2018

  206. 206.

    tobie

    @germy: He paid RevolutionMedia $2.6 million to rake in $6.7 million. A charity that devoted 30% of its budget to fundraising would not be highly ranked. I don’t know what the going rate is in political campaigns but the fee strikes me as high.

  207. 207.

    Fair Economist

    @clay:

    During the 2016 I saw a lot of younger, online progressives show anger towards Bill Clinton (and of course, by extension, Hillary) for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” But what these people failed to understand was that at the time, DADT was a progressive policy.

    They also don’t understand that Bill wanted a much more progressive policy and was forced into DADT by Congress.

  208. 208.

    germy

    Bernie Sanders dismissing Barack Obama as nothing more than a "charismatic leader" on the 50th anniversary of King's assassination is perhaps the most Bernie Sanders thing Bernie Sanders has ever said.

    — Annissa (@IDreamOnDemand) April 5, 2018

  209. 209.

    Miss Bianca

    @Chyron HR: just once, I’d like to hear someone ask him, “well, if the Democrats really are as bad as you say, why aren’t you caucusing with the Republicans?”

  210. 210.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    My publisher, Inspired Quill, has created an online course in online marketing. It’s here:

    https://sjslack.teachable.com/p/casual-to-committed

    It ordinarily costs $147 but there are a limited number of slots for $47 if you use the code IQSCHOLAR.

    As one of IQ’s authors, I took it for free. I thought it was pretty good.

    I’m going to put this on FB and twitter too. Feel free to tell anyone you think might be interested.

  212. 212.

    ThresherK

    The cosplaying kid is too cute for words, EFG.

    For a year I’ve been idly toying with the idea of cosplay but not sure if I can pull it off. There’s money and time, and especialiy the idea that I’ve sorta aged out of when it’s done.

  213. 213.

    Kay

    @ThresherK:

    I was in a Detroit hotel once during one of their conventions. They were teenagers/very young adults- all chattering and laughing until they got on the elevator with me then they all got quiet and shy when they realized there was a non cosplayer there. It was cute. Made me like them.

  214. 214.

    manyakitty

    @Kay: RE: discussion above (I think) about Kucinich v Cordray – Have you heard anything about Joe Schiavoni?

  215. 215.

    zhena gogolia

    @rikyrah:

    Great thread. This tweet in that thread is my thoughts exactly:

    Those w/ healthcare wouldn’t say BO’s presidency was a failure. His compassion & empathy wasn’t a failure. His uplift wasn’t a failure. His support of same-sex marriage & SCOTUS ruling isn’t a failure. The economy, not perfect, is far from the failure it was 10 years ago.

  218. 218.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Miss Bianca: Presuming he makes it to the 2020 debates, I’d like to see one of the other candidates stomp over to BS & throw a pair of red shoes on his podium (or better yet, in his face):

    Put ’em on, Bernie, & click your heels 3 times as you repeat There’s no place like socialist utopia! Because that’s the only chance you or anyone else have of ever getting there!

    But hey, that’s just me…

  219. 219.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @Baud – Carina Driscoll may have some good ideas but she based most of her run for mayor on negative attacks on the current mayor for being “to corporate/too business friendly” Gee sound familiar?? The current mayor inherited a lousy fiscal situation which he is beginning to turn around.

    There’s also the fact that the sweetheart “handshake” deal Burlington college(which her mother Jane Sanders was running) had with Carina’s woodworking school leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.
    https://vtdigger.org/2017/06/13/one-family-two-schools-questions-swirl-around-another-sanders-deal/

    Or maybe her defeat makes me happy because of the multiple reporters tweeting at Chelsea Clinton last year demanding she promise never to run for anything while the potential “dynasty” of the Sanders is seen as just peachy…
    (what bitter me??)

  220. 220.

    manyakitty

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone:

    Or maybe her defeat makes me happy because of the multiple reporters tweeting at Chelsea Clinton last year demanding she promise never to run for anything while the potential “dynasty” of the Sanders is seen as just peachy…
    (what bitter me??)

    Of course, the Sanders “dynasty” is not one of stellar success…

  222. 222.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @manyakitty – True, not so far, although his son Levi is running for a U.S. House seat in New Hampshire (for a district NH-1, he doesn’t actually live in…) he probably won’t win the Dem primary he could make it such a nasty fight that it damages the Dem candidate in the general.

    The apple sure didn’t fall far from the tree: “The younger Sanders is not a fan of “identity politics” (at least as practiced by MSNBC host Joy Reid), thinks that criticisms of “white privilege” are ill-advised and turn off “working-class” voters, ”

    https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/1/17059670/levi-sanders-bernie-sanders-new-hampshire-congress-first-district

  226. 226.

    glory b

    @Baud: I think California has mad that a something similar. So, he couldn’t get on the ballot in CA without them.

  227. 227.

    J R in WV

    @satby:

    Just keep the trees’ roots damp, if they dry out completely that’s really bad. By the same token, don’t keep the roots in deep water either, just damp.

  229. 229.

    J R in WV

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Hey Bill,

    Is that a Piliated Woodpecker, or some west coast bird similar to the Piliated woodpeckers?

    We have a ton of them around here (piliated) and a DNR guy told me that indicates a mature forest that would also suit wild turkeys.

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