Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

The revolution will be supervised.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

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

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

Republicans in disarray!

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

“They not like us!” (that’s for sure!)

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

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

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

The current Supreme Court is a rogue court. Very dangerous.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

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

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

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Doesn’t anybody know how to pray?

Doesn’t anybody know how to pray?

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The next special election (on April 24) is a longshot — Arizona 8 is +13 R Cook PVI which means a Republican Congressional candidate should win by about 26 points on average. But the race is MUCH closer than expected, on the edge of single digits, and the Democratic candidate, Hiral Tipirneni, is a great candidate with a great work ethic, so you know what to do, dawg.

Goal Thermometer

Reader Interactions

65Comments

  1. 1.

    Hunter Gathers

    A Democratic loss in this race will only solidify the sentiment among the Centrist Commentariat that the only true path forward for the Democratic Party is to repeal the Civil Rights Act.

  2. 2.

    WereBear

    This is great news.

    We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

  6. 6.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    “Arizonans are fed up with the chaos and dysfunction with Washington, and with Debbie Lesko, they see her as the rubber stamp to that agenda,” said Drew Anderson, a spokesman for the state Democratic Party. “On top of her numerous campaign scandals, Lesko wants to cut Medicare, Social Security, and healthcare access for Arizonans. Voters are looking for someone who will get things done and put Arizona first, and that’s Dr. Hiral Tipirneni.”

    I think that’s a good message for Dems, alluding to trump, chaos and dysfunction and I’d add corruption, but hitting hard on the social safety net. I tend to think of the Hill as pretty right-leaning, but the editor who picked that picture of Lesko doesn’t seem to care much for her

  8. 8.

    rikyrah

    @WereBear:
    I watched The Darkest Hour last night. Really liked it. Was totally shocked that it held Peanut’s attention from beginning to end. I didn’t think that a 9 year old would be interested in it.

  10. 10.

    JR

    The tocsin we are about to ring is not an alarm signal; it sounds the charge on the enemies of our country. To conquer them we must dare, dare again, always dare, and F̶r̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ America is saved!

  12. 12.

    H.E.Wolf

    If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

    Attributed to Harriet Tubman, may she rest in peace and power.

  13. 13.

    EveryDayIHaveTheBlues

    Yay, Hiral! As an Indian-immigrant, I’m glad to see more of us coming out as progressives. Ajit Pai, and Raj Shah make me puke, and I find Tulsi Gabbard troubling for her willingness to bomb the shit out of the middle-east.

  19. 19.

    Elizabelle

    I think it’s kind of perfect that the Time cover artist, Tim O’Brien, also illustrated The Hunger Games trilogy covers in the US. Although:

    He is married to Elizabeth Parisi, Creative Director for Hardcovers at Scholastic, who was responsible for the cover designs.

    Him had an inside track. Still, good work.

    A bone to pick with Time magazine: note how they reused a cover concept for Bill Clinton. First, during his presidency: The Incredible Shrinking President. Once he was out, “The Incredible Shrinking Ex-President.”

    And then, re-using the broken pill cover, with the pill now reading “Obamacare” and “Broken Promise.”

    If Time wants to brag about reuse its cover for Is God Truth Dead?, maybe they should reflect on their contributions.

    Your mainstream media. Wired, as always, for Republicans.

  21. 21.

    Another Scott

    (Checks clock…)

    ‘morning everyone.

    Donated. Thanks Doug!

    So when am I gonna win the lottery again? I’ve been buying tickets (via a small periodic subscription) for quite a while now… My time must be coming up pretty soon. If the Goopers can have people dumping $2M+ into races (even though the federal limit is ~ $2,800 x 2 (primary and general)), then surely – since we live in the best of all possible worlds – my time to do the same is coming.

    Right?!?!?!!1

    (sigh)

    Have a good Sunday everyone. Keep fighting. 205 days to go…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  25. 25.

    tobie

    @Another Scott: You do know the joke about the guy who won the lottery once and when asked to explain his choices said that since it took God 7 days to create the world he decided to go with the number 7 x 7, which according to his reckoning was 47. Holy roller math, I guess.

    Thanks, Doug, for following the race. I wrote postcards for Dr. Tipirneni and have contributed what I can.

  26. 26.

    StringOnAStick

    @EveryDayIHaveTheBlues: I was a volunteer at the Democratic state assembly yesterday and one of the state house candidates is a child of Indian immigrants and she was very impressive. As was the guy who is a child or Eritrean immigrants and now an attorney and civil rights mover and shaker at the state level; I’m hoping he unseats the odious Mike Coffman for Congress; he made me think of Obama, he was that good!

    Being a volunteer was interesting; since we now have 2 half grown kittens I figured I was well prepared to herd Democratic cats. Any time you put 4,000 people in an area and try to organize people flow direction, etc it can be chaotic but I think in general it went well. I had many more people be thankful and kind than the 2 or 3 who were bitchy and upset about things and complained about it being disorganized. So, protip: don’t be mean to the volunteers, they’re just trying to help and recognize that running an event with so many people having to get registered, hear candidates speak, and then go get their ballots and then find the box to drop it in takes a bit of time with 4,000 people, so chill! If things don’t run fast enough for your satisfaction (we were always ahead of schedule), then maybe let someone else be a delegate next time!

    Colorado has some great D candidates and I was pleased to see in my morning email that all the overt Fernie Fro aligned candidates were dead last in the voting. “Overt” as in bringing up super delegates and spouting the “thumbs on the scale/BS wuz ROBBED!” argument. The guy who really made that argument was both booed for it and got a little over 1% of the vote. In order to get on the primary ballot you have to get 30% of the assembly votes or else try to qualify via petitions. I think Cary Kennedy is the strongest candidate for Governor over Congressman Jared Polis. I love Polis at the federal level, but making one of your campaign slogans “Take that Mike Pence!” because Polis is out, married with 2 kids and very, very “Boulder”, I just think he can only win Boulder and Denver but will get slaughtered in the conservative rural areas. Considering that every R running for this office is freaking insane, we can’t afford to lose this race.

  31. 31.

    Lahke

    @schrodingers_cat: Thanks S_C, for the Bollywood music video link last night! I stayed up way, way too late watching Shalid Kapoor and Ravneer Singh videos–they are some impressive eye candy.

  35. 35.

    piratedan

    she’s not in my district but I threw her some cash anyways… had already donated to her before and had brought her up to the attention of the commentariat here. She’s an ER doc, which means that she’s seen the seamy underside of the healthcare world and she would likely be a vast (HUUUUGE) improvement over anyone that the GOP would offer up. I believe that this is Trent (Having My baby) Franks seat and it is a ‘solidly” conservative district and she’s been running an aggressive campaign from everything that I have seen. If this goes the Dem way (and the odds are against, but…) it’s a harbinger of things to come because if Arizona is also showing signs of tilting (and it is)then perhaps we can finally vote the crazy out of office and they can go back to yelling kids to get off their lawns. Which would be doable because we’ll finally have people voted in who see the benefit of having parks for kids to play in.

  37. 37.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    I was watching old David Tennant eps of Dr Who this morning Particularly “The Stolen Planet” which is great because it brings Rose, Martha, Captain Jack, Sarah Jane, Torchwood and all sorts of strands together. Husband stood there briefly and I said “the Darleks have stolen the earth”, he looked at me and said “why couldn’t they just steal Trump and Putin and put us all out of our misery” he then went back to the bedroom to watch westerns. Best line ever.

    Going for a walk in a couple of weeks to seek out the Bluebell woods of my youth, I do not know if they are still there, but I want to see. If not I will go up to Aughton Woods in the Crook o’ Lune to satisfy my bluebell wood lust.

    http://www.lancashirewildlife.org.uk/leaflets/Aughton_Woods_Leaflet.pdf

  39. 39.

    mai naem mobile

    @EveryDayIHaveTheBlues:
    @schrodingers_cat: Did you gus see this guy? It’s a primary and he’s got some stiff competition because it’s Nicki Tsongas’ seat but he looks like an awesome cnadidate.
    https://www.dasforcongress.com/

    I wish Tiperneni had run in my district – it’s Krysten Sinema’s seat(she’s running for Flake’s seat.) I think Tiperneni would have won. Lesko’s the head of the ALEC outfit in AZ but the district has a good bunch of old white fart areas so she will probably win. But you never know. I don’t know if it’s coordinated but Tiperneni’s ads are running right after an anti-tax law ad. IMHO its a pretty effective ad. It’s the one with the CPA who talks about the tax law being bad for most people.

  41. 41.

    efgoldman

    @Baud:

    We’re all immortal for as long as BJ’s servers are functioning.

    That’s kind of scary
    No contests of note where I live, until for governor in the general. Even the local reps and state senators are pretty well set. True blue, all. My congressman is a Jewish gay former mayor of Providence with an Italian name; which surprised the hell out of me in “the most catholic state in the country”

  44. 44.

    hitchhiker

    I just deleted my twitter account, peeps. I find that I’m unable to work, concentrate, or enjoy being in my own home without scratching at it like a rat going for a pellet. I wasn’t even on the damn thing until — stupidly — I decided it would be good to understand how it works.

    Why stupidly? Because I decided that right at the beginning of the last campaign, and every bloody day since then has been like being in a horror movie that never ends.

    And I hate horror movies.

    So, anywho, thought I’d say that. I’m 65 yrs old. The actuarial tables say I get 20 more good years, if I’m very lucky. Prefer not to spend any more of them scrolling sadly/furiously/desperately/hopelessly through the trough. You jackals will have to be the window in when things get crazier, as they will. So thanks for that.

    I lived through Watergate, when (except for the televised hearings & occasional breaking news) you had no idea what was happening until the end of the day. It’s doable, and I intend to find out if it’s preferable.

    Sorry to be OT!

  45. 45.

    PsiFighter37

    I don’t think we will win this race, but given where it seems to be shaking out, the GOP winning by 10-15% below where they should be in a solidly red district is big trouble for them.

    Any news out of AZ-Sen at the moment, or is Sinema just biding her time while Martha McSalley and Kelli Ward nuke each other?

  47. 47.

    efgoldman

    @hitchhiker:

    I just deleted my twitter account

    Old fart that I am, I never opened a twittle or farcebook account. Don’t think I’m missing anything

  48. 48.

    trollhattan

    @EveryDayIHaveTheBlues:
    Ajit Pai is so breathtakingly, openly and proudly corrupt he would be news during any “normal” political period. Sadly, he just coasts along ruining our media landscape without any problem.

    In the good man ledger, feel free to add Ami Bera, who has managed to hang onto his seat by a knife’s edge against Trumpian opposition. Love the added detail of his being the sole Unitarian in congress. Just another typical American career path.

  50. 50.

    Patricia Kayden

    @hitchhiker: Well, the good thing about Twitter is that you can read interesting Twitter accounts without having an account yourself. I keep my eyes on interesting accounts from progressives like Alyssa Milano, Chelsea Handler, Joy Reid, etc. Some really good reading.

  51. 51.

    J R in WV

    @hitchhiker:

    AS WaterGirl says, nothing in really off-topic here at B-J… especially a comment about politics and history. I remember Watergate too. This is all different, way more crimes, way more treason……..

  53. 53.

    efgoldman

    @J R in WV:

    This is all different, way more crimes, way more treason……..

    DIFFERENT crimes.
    Watergate was ultimately all political, having to do, at the end, with campaign fundraising.
    This is all about venality; outright stealing, bribery, conflict of interest, taxes….
    In both cases, it’s ultimately the coverups that convicted/will convict people.

  55. 55.

    hitchhiker

    @WaterGirl:

    You go to the bottom of your settings and hit deactivate, and then if you don’t log in after 30 days they delete everything.

    The funny thing is how much using twitter had come to resemble my old drinking habit. Every day. As soon as possible. Mostly secretly & done in such a way as not to expose how much it had taken over my life. Trying to find ways to “cut down.” Not being productive. Feeling ashamed and frustrated and isolated, but finding myself doing it anyway.

    My plan is to read the WaPo online in the mornings and listen to TRMS via podcast at night. If/when there are hearings, I’ll watch. Also, of course, follow the herd of passionate, entertaining jackals here, b/c I do feel connected to you and even on a newsblast day, you don’t produce THAT much noise!

  57. 57.

    EveryDayIHaveTheBlues

    @schrodingers_cat: really?!! I think her website said that she was the daughter of Indian immigrants, plus there was similar info on her NYT profile of her marriage. Huh. I must have been mistaken. I also thought her hardline views on the middle east was a product of “Hindutva”…

  59. 59.

    schrodingers_cat

    @EveryDayIHaveTheBlues: According to her wiki page, her mother (Carol Porter) is from Indiana and her father (Mike Gabbard) is from Samoa.

    I also thought her hardline views on the middle east was a product of “Hindutva”…

    That is possible. American Modi bhakts like her, as she wears her Hindu identity on her sleeve.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    @hitchhiker: @Patricia Kayden: Dammit, I meant to ask about Facebook. I created my account in 2007 because then-candidate Barack Obama asked us to do something on Facebook. Haven’t used it since, but I would like to delete it.

  62. 62.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @hitchhiker:

    The funny thing is how much using twitter had come to resemble my old drinking habit. Every day. As soon as possible. Mostly secretly & done in such a way as not to expose how much it had taken over my life. Trying to find ways to “cut down.” Not being productive. Feeling ashamed and frustrated and isolated, but finding myself doing it anyway.

    That sounds disturbingly close to my relationship with Balloon Juice.

  63. 63.

    Mnemosyne

    @hitchhiker:

    The funny thing is how much using twitter had come to resemble my old drinking habit.

    Yep, gotta stay vigilant when you don’t have that natural “off” switch. Even neutral or positive stuff can become unhealthy for you. One of my friends went vegetarian, and then vegan, and then anorexic, because if cutting out some foods was healthy, cutting out all food was even better!

    (It was a short-lived problem, and now she’s much better at monitoring herself to stay moderate in all things.)

  64. 64.

    mai naem mobile

    @schrodingers_cat: I went on his website a while back. I remember Tad Devine but then he also had some Kennedy related alums so that made me feel more comfortable about Tad Devine being there. I was paying more attention to his resume which is pretty impressive. I really thiNK he’s an underdog.IIRC he’s got two pretty strong women running against him and I do think it’s going to be a Year of the Woman.

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