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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / You wanna ride my motorcycle

You wanna ride my motorcycle

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The biggest political news this week isn’t Villagers clutching their pearls over ScapeRisottoGate, it’s Trump’s bizarre feud with Wisconsin icon Harley-Davidson. I smell blood in the water. The Wisconsin Democratic primary isn’t for a few months but you can give here to the eventual nominees in all Congressional districts in Wisconsin currently held by Republicans.

Goal Thermometer

Update. p.s. Hit me up with any Democratic nominee for the House that you like and I’ll do a fundraiser for that candidate. Give me something to paste in, like a video or your own words, because I don’t have that much time these days.

Reader Interactions

150Comments

  1. 1.

    James E Powell

    It’s not just a Wisconsin icon. Harleys are a RW icon. I’d guess Harley owners are 90% or more Republican.

  4. 4.

    Mike J

    @Doug!: Waiting to see videos of Republicans attacking their $20,000 motorcycles with sledge hammers because of the insult to the fuhrer.

  6. 6.

    Roger Moore

    It should be obvious to anyone with any objectivity that the GOP is now the Cult of Trump. They’ll abandon things they’ve always claimed to care about or adopt things they’ve always claimed to hate on his word alone.

  7. 7.

    Spanky

    Woo hoo! Clearly, we need moar tax cuts!

    Government debt is on track to hit historically high levels, and at its current growth rate will be nearly equal in size to the U.S. economy by 2028, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday.

    By the end of this year, the ratio of federal debt to the United States’ gross domestic product will reach 78 percent, according to the CBO — the highest ratio since 1950, it said.

    The debt is projected to grow to 96 percent of GDP by 2028 before eventually surpassing the historical high of 106 percent it reached in 1946.

  8. 8.

    Kay

    @jwpetersNYT
    1h1 hour ago
    More Jeremy W. Peters Retweeted David Uberti
    This is exactly why Trump won. Dems & the media dismissed controversies that seemed small and exaggerated (a lot of which certainly were.) But they were galvanizing for Republicans who are highly reactive to being told by the media “this is not a story.”

    The worst political reporters in the business. It’s not even a contest. I love it in a way- they are making a firm commitment to cover only what Trump wants them to cover, and only in the way he wants them to cover it.

    If it’s “galvanizing” for Republicans the NYTimes will provide blanket coverage. Donald Trump rules their world.

    They’re all terrible- Haberman is (and was) terrible at covering Trump, Chozick sucked at covering Clinton and then wrote a book to cash in on her terrible work during the campaign- the campaign wasn’t enough- she had to flog the Clinton hatred in a whole book. They’re the worst.

  9. 9.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kay:

    If Peters isn’t careful, he’s going to be the next one booed out of his favorite restaurant.

  10. 10.

    Kay

    What’s “galvanizing” for the Democratic base, I wonder? Why is that never discussed? More than “not discussed”, why is that treated as if it’s somehow illegitimate?

    Let’s galvanize our base. They have strong opinions and those opinions are FINE- we agree with them!

    I support the galvanization of the Democratic base. It’s not something we should be apologizing for, especially to these assholes. We owe them nothing.

  11. 11.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    @Mnemosyne:
    Eh. Peters isn’t a well known figure like SHS, Nielsen, or even Miller. It’s possible though. All it would take is a few.

  12. 12.

    Kay

    @Mnemosyne:

    Oh, God, don’t. We will never hear the end of it. It’s not worth it :)

    They’re unbearable:

    @amychozick
    .@NYMag calls CHASING HILLARY “a sort-of ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ meets ‘What it Takes’ coming-of-age rom-com set on the campaign trail, with a tragic twist at the end (spoiler alert: Clinton lost).”

    The sucky coverage wasn’t enough. She wrote a book about the sucky coverage, a book that is actually about her.

    We thought it was a national election. Actually it was the NYTimes political reporters journey of self-discovery.

    It explains a lot, I’ll tell you! I get it now! They weren’t actually covering an election. They were doing something else entirely.

  14. 14.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    Hilariously enough, I’m now seeing Harley-Davidson ads on browser for this site now. Sorry, if I wanted a motorcycle, I’d get something fast and cool like a Honda or a Kawasaki.

  15. 15.

    moops

    I’m surprised a tax cut hasn’t been proposed to solve HD’s problem. Just give them a government handout. Tax cuts can solve anything.

  16. 16.

    Annie

    Here’s what I don’t get about the whole “civility” issue. Trump supporters were wearing t-shirts that said “F*** your feelings.”

    I would call that uncivil. Why should I be civil in return?

  17. 17.

    Ubu Imperator

    How about some love for Cindy Axne, IA-3? She’s running against David Young, one of the weaseliest members of the GOP, in that he likes to cultivate a milquetoasty reasonability but votes with Trump even more often than Steve King (98% of the time to King’s 92%).

    Axne cut her teeth in local politics by getting her school district to open all-day kindergarten to all students after discovering that the decision of whether a student got all-day or half-day was left up to a lottery. She’s worked in multiple capacities for the state of Iowa, runs a digital design firm, and is a tough, intelligent, and compassionate person—exactly what the district needs.

    https://cindyaxneforcongress.com

  18. 18.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    @Kay:
    “coming-of-age rom-com” tells me everything I need to know about her so-called book. The fact that she still has a job after tweeting that shows why the NYT is garbage alone

  20. 20.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kay:

    coming-of-age rom-com set on the campaign trail

    Gosh, it’s too bad Chozik couldn’t focus long enough to realize that there was an actual election happening. She was too busy taking cute selfies and coming up with new ways to be snarky to Mom … er, Hillary.

  22. 22.

    Mnemosyne

    @Annie:

    Why should I be civil in return?

    Because subordinates always have to laugh along with the boss’s jokes, or they get fired.

    They think that we are not their equals, so they’re allowed to mock us but become enraged if we dare to mock back.

  23. 23.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kay: Maybe Chris Hayes, who tweeted this about the baker that refused to serve Joe Biden and was invited to appear at campaign rally (maybe rallies) with then VP candidate Paul Ryan

    Chris Hayes @ chrislhayes
    I don’t even remember this incident because…no one cared? No one thought it spelled the death of civil society (and they were right)

    Maybe Hayes could invite MSNBC contributor Jeremy (how many times do you think young Jeremy has read Atlas Shrugged?) on his show to explain why the 2012 case was no bigs and the Red Hen is the end of our polity

  24. 24.

    Brachiator

    From California:

    Dana Rohrabacher Finally Has an Official Democratic Challenger

    Democratic congressional candidate Harley Rouda will challenge incumbent Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher this November in an attempt to flip California’s 48th Congressional district from red to blue. Rouda’s competitor, stem cell scientist Hans Kierstead, has conceded the second place spot in California’s “top-two” primary to Rouda, according to Rouda’s Twitter account.

    The concession comes after a weekslong, and yet still unfinished, vote count by the Orange County Registrar of Voters. In the days immediately following the election, Kierstead held a narrow lead over Rouda, a real estate investor. As OC workers slowly worked their way through the ballots, Rouda gained on, and eventually surpassed, Kierstead. As of Sunday, Rouda held a 126 vote lead over Kierstead.

    Good times.

  25. 25.

    Omnes Omnibus

    I just got off the phone with Mark Pocan’s office. He got Tammy Baldwin’s when she moved to the Senate. He is actively working to get refugee families reunited and has introduced legislation to remove ICE from border duties.

  27. 27.

    frosty

    Harleys are built in York PA where Freedom Caucus Teahadi Scott Perry (spit) got ungerrymandered into a Swing Left district. How ‘bout a couple bucks to try and unseat him? I’ll be knocking on doors again.

  32. 32.

    Mary G

    @Brachiator: People are always bitching about long it takes California to count ballots, but instead of tossing provisional ballots in the trash the way red states do, they actually investigate the voter’s status and count them.

  33. 33.

    Peter

    @Doug!: Whoever wins the D primary in NY-19 (in which I just voted) will need help against the worthless coward John Faso, a finger puppet for the Mercers.

  34. 34.

    Nelle

    Feel free to show some attention and cash to Brian Sweet, my friend running in the Wisonsin 7th and just endorsed by David Obey. If Brian prevails in the primary, he’ll face Seth Dufy in the general.

    Brian and I have been friends for about forty years…he’s a good sort and we need him in Congress.

  35. 35.

    TenguPhule

    @Kay:

    Let’s galvanize our base. They have strong opinions and those opinions are FINE- we agree with them!

    If only. The minority leaders and party chairpeople will insist on civility.

    Show some strong opinion, get slapped down for being too partisan/liberal. This needs to change.

  41. 41.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Won’t pass but it’s a good start. ICE should be disbanded and replaced. That’s even a fringe opinion anymore.

  43. 43.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Kay: So let me get this straight – the Trump admin has outraged the majority to the point the public is chasing Trump admin officials out of restaurants and this is great, because it will motivate the GOP base? What frak is wrong with Peter’s, the public shaming isn’t being done by Democratic insiders, it’s being done by ordinary people, or does he think Democratic Party Officials moonlight as waiters?

    This is right up there with Silverman’s observation of how The Resistance is a non story – these media twats are so caught up in their intellectual nihilism, contrarianism, AstroTurfing that they don’t know a real grass roots movement when it spits in their face.

  48. 48.

    Roger Moore

    @Annie:

    I would call that uncivil. Why should I be civil in return?

    Because Trump’s supporters matter and you don’t. That’s the core underlying message behind all this stuff. The kind of people who support Trump are the people who really count in this country, and everyone else needs to accommodate them. It’s the subtext in an enormous percentage of mainstream commentary.

  50. 50.

    Calouste

    I wonder if the treatment of Harley-Davidson will open some people’s eyes that if you hitch yourself to the shitgibbon, you have to play along in his fantasy world, because if you deal with reality as is, he will throw a tantrum.

  51. 51.

    Mnemosyne

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    They are going to be astounded at how many people turn out for this Saturday’s protest, and will spend a lot of time saying that it’s no big deal and certainly doesn’t foretell any trouble for Republicans.

  52. 52.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    Let’s galvanize our base. They have strong opinions and those opinions are FINE- we agree with them!

    I support the galvanization of the Democratic base. It’s not something we should be apologizing for, especially to these assholes. We owe them nothing.

    YES YES YES YES

    WE.OWE.THEM.NOT.ONE.PHUCKING.THING.

  53. 53.

    Heidi Mom

    @frosty: The 10th is my district, too. I didn’t know it had been classified as a “swing left” district, but glad to hear it. Let’s hope the population centers (such as they are) of Harrisburg, Carlisle, and York can out-vote the more rural areas of the district. George Scott looks to be a good candidate for the district — retired Army intelligence officer, Lutheran minister (currently on a leave of absence from his congregation), personable (I signed his petition when he and his family came to my 3rd-floor apartment door). You-know-who might even says he’s “straight out of central casting!”

  54. 54.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-trial-runs-for-fascism-are-in-full-flow-1.3543375?mode=amp
    This was posted in the thread below by SiubhanDuinne and I wanted to signal boost it so a front pager could see it.

    Chilling and interesting at the same time. The article mentions that you don’t need a majority, that 40% is enough as long as they are fanatically committed, for fascism to arise. All you need to do is intimidate the rest. My question is this: what if the majority refuses to be intimidated and fights back, like what we’re seeing right now in the US?

  55. 55.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    @frosty:
    Are you saying they’re safer than Harleys or the Japanese ones I mentioned?

  59. 59.

    rikyrah

    –#BarbecueBetty called cops on black fam grilling
    –#PermitPatty called cops on black girl selling water
    –#LandscapeLucy berated Latino worker
    -Trumper berated gals speaking Span in NY
    -Trumper2, said “womp, womp” re girl w/down-syndrome
    Get back to me on that whole civility thing

    — Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) June 26, 2018

  63. 63.

    Steeplejack

    @Kay:

    And of course Jeremy Peters has a book deal in the works. Wikipedia:

    He is the author of the forthcoming and tentatively titled Insurgency: The Inside Story of the Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party. The book is scheduled to be published by Crown Publishing Group in 2019.

    How critical of any Republican is he likely to be if he needs “insider” access for his book? Rhetorical question.

  68. 68.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    @schrodingers_cat: Indeed. And I just saw a stat the Syrian Christian community overwhelmingly voted for T. I wonder how that travel ban is going to work out for their families now.

  69. 69.

    Brickley Paiste

    @Mike J: 6 months ago or so Harley announced some trivial production gains and the RWNJs crowed about Another example of American industrial might returning. Now with this news, all I’ve seen is those same people saying “meh Harley’s have not been really good for years, ever since they were bought by AMF or something.”

    I suppose being untethered from consistency is liberating in a way.

  70. 70.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    @schrodingers_cat: BTW several months ago you pointed me to a series about Indian independence written, directed and produced by Indians. It was fascinating to see it from that perspective. Thanks again.

  71. 71.

    TenguPhule

    Trump is normalizing lawbreaking with the media.

    Remember the pushback he got for trying to get the Post Office to discriminate against Amazon?

    Not this time.

  72. 72.

    rikyrah

    @schrodingers_cat:

    25% of doctors in the United States are foreign born and Syria and Iraq are among the top countries sending MDs to the United States

    I honestly didn’t know this, until Dolt45’s ban. And, did you also know that many of them took positions IN RURAL AMERICA to expedite their Visa Applications.
    Yet, another way the deplorables phucked themselves over.

  74. 74.

    Catherine D.

    Off to vote in the primary, although the news today has me wondering how much good it will do. Sigh.

  75. 75.

    rikyrah

    @Steeplejack:

    He is the author of the forthcoming and tentatively titled Insurgency: The Inside Story of the Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party. The book is scheduled to be published by Crown Publishing Group in 2019.

    You really can’t make this shyt up.

  76. 76.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    No problem. It was a good oped for the most part, however I don’t think the author, much like our domestic mainstream media, has considered the potential impact of grassroots movements here.

  77. 77.

    FlipYrWhig

    Was there a single story during the Tea Party days about how their big mouths and confrontational tactics were the reason Barack Obama won the presidency, so they should pipe down? Isn’t it funny, for certain values of “funny,” that that’s an absolutely inconceivable way to have framed that story?

  78. 78.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    Speaking of motorcycles, the father’s company from American Choppers hasn’t been doing so well over the last couple of years, according to him. They recently got their old show back so they needed to money and exposure I guess.

  79. 79.

    Brachiator

    @rikyrah:

    He is the author of the forthcoming and tentatively titled Insurgency: The Inside Story of the Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party. The book is scheduled to be published by Crown Publishing Group in 2019

    is this science fiction? Republicans ain’t got no souls.

  80. 80.

    Kay

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I genuinely don’t get why the GOP base is very important and serious and everyone has to pay attention to them, but any discussion of the Dem base is all about how extreme and impolite they are.

    They’re a political base! They’re allowed to feel strongly about these things! Why is the GOP base being “galvanized” taken as just part of politics but the Dem base galvanized is somehow illegitimate? Our base is supposed to be…what? Nonpartisan? I’m a partisan. I’m not denying that. Why would I? I’m not ashamed of it.

    Here’s the thing- I don’t really care what the GOP wants or needs. That’s not what rules my world. I see (now) why this NYTimes political writer would care about that- he’s writing a book about it, as Steeplejack so helpfully pointed out. I’m not writing a book about the inner lives of conservatives. That’s not what I’m u[p to with this.

  83. 83.

    Luthe

    Part of the reason the EU targeted H-D is because it has a plant in Paulie Blue-eyes’ district. I’m sure he’s glad to be retiring at the end of the term.

  85. 85.

    James E Powell

    @Mike J:

    “Well,” he said, “as your attorney I advise you to buy a motorcycle. How else can you cover a thing like this righteously?”

    “No way,” I said. “Where can we get hold of a Vincent Black Shadow?”

    “Whats that?”

    “A fantastic bike,” I said. “The new model is something like two thousand cubic inches, developing two hundred brake-horsepower at four thousand revolutions per minute on a magnesium frame with two styrofoam seats and a total curb weight of exactly two hundred pounds.”

    “That sounds about right for this gig,” he said.

    “It is,” I assured him. “The fucker’s not much for turning, but it’s pure hell on the straightaway. It’ll outrun the F-111 until takeoff.”

    “Takeoff?” he said. “Can we handle that much torque?”

    “Absolutely,” I said. “I’ll call New York for some cash.”

  88. 88.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    on a lighter note, has anyone been able to bring themselves to watch this? (“trump” and “Ivanka” are impersonators, but if they didn’t get the real Stormy it must be because Papa Agalarov wouldn’t cough up an advance on his allowance– pikers)

    Scott Bixby @ scottbix
    The new video from the Russian pop star who helped arrange Don Jr.’s Trump Tower meeting, features:
    – Trump partying in a hotel room with bikini-clad pageant contestants
    – Emin slipping Ivanka a briefcase
    – Emin paying off Stormy Daniels in an elevator

  89. 89.

    Brachiator

    @schrodingers_cat:

    25% of doctors in the United States are foreign born and Syria and Iraq are among the top countries sending MDs to the United States.

    Wonderful story on Fresh Air yesterday,

    Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is the Iraqi American pediatrician who uncovered the water problem in Flint Michigan. She has written a memoir about her life. Turns out when she was a teen, she was in a terrible car accident. The comfort and reassurance of the woman doctor who treated her inspired her to want to become a doctor herself. Amazing story.

    ETA: (from another poster}

    BTW several months ago you pointed me to a series about Indian independence written, directed and produced by Indians. It was fascinating to see it from that perspective

    Can you remind me of the name of this show? Is it on YouTube?

  90. 90.

    Kay

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    My husband absolutely delighted me right after Trump won. He was in western Michigan, working (Trump Country) and he went to a bar to eat lunch by himself. He’s sitting at the bar eating and this MAGA man is trying to engage him on Trump. He told him “I don’t care about this- I just want to eat this hamburger”. I loved that because we keep being ordered to understand them. He doesn’t have any obligation to listen to why Donald Trump is great.

    What are we? Why do we have to do all the understanding? I don’t want to. I don’t care about the subtle differences between MAGA’s and Ron Paul supporters, anymore than they care about the 5000 Democratic factions. Why is this my job? Democrats are the emotional caretakers of the country? It’s up to us to keep the civility weather sunny? WTF?

  91. 91.

    James E Powell

    @Steeplejack:

    And 99% of the press/media see no problem with this. To them it is all a show. It’s how they get money and fame. If people are hurt, if lives are ruined, if democracy dies, well that’s all just material for another book.

  92. 92.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Calouste:

    They sell image products, some of which are motorcycles.

    They’ve done a brilliant job of it, though. What other company can sell you a $25-30k product and then convince you to spend another thou or two on clothing to advertise their product?

  94. 94.

    Kay

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    If I have an obligation to understand Trump supporters then they have an obligation to understand the inner workings of the various Democratic factions. Either they’re both legitimate and worthy of discussion or they’re both not.

    They attacked Obama for 8 years. I was an Obama supporter. No one ordered them to understand me, to walk a mile in my shoes, whatever this bullshit is. I got zero understanding. Somehow I survived.

  95. 95.

    Yutsano

    @rikyrah: Come on Ana. You’re Guatemalan. You’re that close to seeing how much of your party is nothing but racist trash.

  96. 96.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Kay: Have you also noticed that Rs and their president are never told to be bipartisan or understanding of Ds by Nazi Times or other prestige media outllets, unlike Obama who was lectured to every single day of his presidency of how he needed to get along with the R leadership.

  97. 97.

    Mnemosyne

    @Yutsano:

    Actually, she’s Nicaraguan. I only know this because of her tweets about what’s going on in Nicaragua right now (short version: very bad shit that people are fleeing from).

  98. 98.

    Roger Moore

    @Kay:

    I genuinely don’t get why the GOP base is very important and serious and everyone has to pay attention to them, but any discussion of the Dem base is all about how extreme and impolite they are.

    Racism. It’s not just for ignorant hicks; it’s deeply enmeshed in every aspect of American society, including journalism. Most journalists who work for mainstream media are too well socialized to start throwing the N-word around, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t racist. Many of them start from a racist set of assumptions about how our society does and ought to work, and that deeply colors all their reporting. That’s why they can say crazy things, like how failing to win a majority of white votes taints Democratic victories or how we can’t afford to pay fast food workers a living wage because the resulting price increases would be too hard on middle class families.

  99. 99.

    Yarrow

    @Kay:

    I genuinely don’t get why the GOP base is very important and serious and everyone has to pay attention to them, but any discussion of the Dem base is all about how extreme and impolite they are.

    Because the Republican base is white and male and the Democratic base is non-white and female. It’s as simple as that.

  100. 100.

    jl

    Trump’s talk about how tariffs saved Harley Davidson’s ass during the Reagan years is either a lie or ignorant fantasy history.
    Industries that got hurt from foreign competition, particular vehicle manufacturers came to Reagan admin with proposals for time limited tariffs that were specifically deigned in an attempt not to start a trade war. Harley-Davidson is one of the firms that were able to sell their plans to the Reaganauts, and then asked that the (remember, time limited) tariff program be ended early because it was not working out as intended. The company got out of trouble mainly because of changes in exchange rate made their products cheaper overseas, and new product lines gained more market share in other parts of the world than East Asia.

    As I noted yesterday in a comment, the very mixed results of that kind of limited tariff program is now a standard example in intro international econ books.
    So, I have no clue what the politics of HD management is, but no way the company and Trump are playing off the same page here.

  102. 102.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kay:

    Democrats are the emotional caretakers of the country? It’s up to us to keep the civility weather sunny? WTF?

    This. You called it. And that expectation seems to come from both sides of the political spectrum, unfortunately. Drunk Daddy Republicans rip everything apart, and Democrats are supposed to play the Meek Mommy who quietly cleans up the mess without ever confronting the source of the problem.

    I’m fucking sick of it, and I’m not the only one.

  103. 103.

    Nelle

    @Omnes Omnibus: He’s from Marshfield. He’s a kidney doc and used to be president of the Marshfield Clinic. He grew up Mennonite and has a strong heart for social justice. (Sorry to be long in replying – trying to meet a deadline here so just dashing in and out every few hours.)

  104. 104.

    Sherparick

    @James E Powell: Not for much longer. The head of Bikers for Trump was on CNN was pretty much saying Harley was dead to him until Trump gets his way.

  105. 105.

    Yutsano

    @Mnemosyne: Okay I misheard her in her talking head segment the other day. Or I just got it switched in my head. Either way I thought she was Cubano. She could actually build a decent party around her ideas. Although limited government is going out of fashion with da yoots.

  106. 106.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    @schrodingers_cat: That’s it. One of my many joys is seeing history told by non-Western sources. I didn’t realize how little I knew of U.S. history until I took a deep dive into the history of the American SW via Hispanic and First American authors. It was a real eye opener.

  107. 107.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kay: underlying every trump safari story is the assumption that we have to figure out why these good, doughty heartland folk, these noble not-quite-savages, would support someone so unpleasant as trump. Because as Pierce observes, it can’t be about race because nothing is ever about race.

  108. 108.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    What are we? Why do we have to do all the understanding? I don’t want to. I don’t care about the subtle differences between MAGA’s and Ron Paul supporters, anymore than they care about the 5000 Democratic factions. Why is this my job? Democrats are the emotional caretakers of the country? It’s up to us to keep the civility weather sunny? WTF?

    Kay,
    we’ve never met, but I read your replies here at work, and I feel like breaking out an Angela Davis Afro wig and put my fist up in the air…LOL

    Thank you so much , because it’s good to read what I’m feeling on a daily basis.

  109. 109.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    @rikyrah:

    Dream Like Martin, Fight Like Malcolm, Lead Like Harriet.

    You know how the rest of it goes.

  110. 110.

    Nelle

    @schrodingers_cat: Well, I tell the staffers in my senators’ offices nearly every day that I expect more from them and that if they want to be on the right side of history (and not look blackmailed or compromised) they should make the Feinstein bill bipartisan. Or leave the party and become an Independent. That they can either kowtow to the party bosses now or look better by the lights of history but that they can’t do both.

    It really frosts me when some staffer says that there is nothing they can do about it. Whooee, that opens the floodgates. They won’t use the power of being one of 100 senators? They refuse to use the oversight responsibility, granted them by the Constitution? One tried to tell me today that it is all in the hands of the Justice Department. The same one that Devin Nunes is claiming all sorts of power over? Do tell.

    I usually end with thanking them for their patience but truly wondering what it does to their souls and their consciences to support that sort of child abuse, the international crimes that are being daily committed. Think about it, I say. I quit a job when I was 21 when I found out what I was to do (they had lied to me and it was really about making bomb parts). I lasted 45 minutes. I tell the staffers that it is important to let their moral sense be alive and activated.

  111. 111.

    jl

    @Yarrow: I think a more likely explanation is that a larger proportion white and male and older voters will reliably, almost mindlessly vote for politicians who will corruptly support a ruthless corporate agenda. And those ruthless corporations shovel money to corporate media companies, and very often are the very media companies themselves.

    Note that younger voters, who are much more likely to be non-white, get some disingenuous love from the corporate media, as opposed to older, mostly white, voters when gutting social security and medicare is on the agenda.

    Racism and sexism plays a big part of the story, but I don’t think it is the whole story at all.

  112. 112.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Kay: The media will never get over the “no one I know voted for Nixon” thing. They worry that their elite educations and haute-bourgeois upbringings mean that they don’t REALLY understand Heartland America, that legendary land where people have, um, cows, maybe, or deer, and barbed wire and greasy rags, and they fix things with toilsome work that leaves their hands chapped and callused, and they use other forms of “you.” And they do things differently there, and do it nobly, probably.

    So the media keeps asking what this world is, pretty much like the way intro social studies textbooks used to talk about the Bushmen of the Kalahari, with their traditional ways, so like us and yet so little like us too.

    They don’t try to understand “us” because they think they are us and they find us boring.

  114. 114.

    Marcopolo

    Hey folks,

    Checking in from Allentown PA where my mom & I are visiting her sister. First & foremost (as I live in St Louis) the weather is lovely.

    Second, I spent 15 minutes yesterday driving through West “by God” Virginia. I saw a sign for Bethany College somewhere on the outskirts of Wheeling and waved out the car window in Cole’s general direction. Also, we drove through 5 tunnels under mountains yesterday—very cool.

    Finally, I was out & about Allentown, Reading, & Bethlehem today but could not locate an open campaign office for Susan Wild (PA 7), which is a flip priority district (Dent is the current rep). If anyone from the area sees this and knows the location of an active Wild office please let me know. I’ll be exploring the area a little more tomorrow before starting my return trip on Thursday.

    Wishing everyone a nice evening.

  115. 115.

    jl

    @Nelle: At some point you need to politely say that if they don’t shape up you won’t vote for them anymore, and will vote for, contribute to challengers, either in primary or general, and you will persuade everyone you know to do the same.

  117. 117.

    Mary G

    Good clapback here at Peters:

    Just like how, in 2016, voters went to the polls thinking "her emails" would have been as big a scandal as everything that has happened in the last two goddamned years.Mind the plank in your own eye, @jwpetersNYT, before you tell us it's our fault Trump won.— Matthew Chapman (@fawfulfan) June 26, 2018

    Nym disappearing now when I refresh the page to see new comments.

  118. 118.

    Jeffro

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    So let me get this straight – the Trump admin has outraged the majority to the point the public is chasing Trump admin officials out of restaurants and this is great, because it will motivate the GOP base?

    Exactly. It’s like, who would you rather be: the side with enough energy and fed-up-ed-ness that they’re calling these jackasses out on the street, or the side having to leave before the appetizers arrive?

    Hey Media: WHO CARES THAT TRUMPKINS ARE OFFENDED? THEY’RE ALWAYS OFFENDED!! Just by the fact that Democrats/non-white folks/women/etc even EXIST.

  119. 119.

    Mike J

    @The Ancient Randonneur:

    Dream Like Martin, Fight Like Malcolm, Lead Like Harriet.

    Saw someone on twitter this weekend saying Malcolm would be proud that Sarah Huckabee Sanders was judge not on the color of her skin but on the content of her character.

  120. 120.

    Booger

    @jl: HD’s tariff effort backfired spectacularly, at it was targeted at bikes over 700ccs. Japan proceeded to wring every last innovation they could have out of 699cc. It was a golden era of motorcycle innovation.

  121. 121.

    D58826

    Listening to Nicholle Wallace and it is even more depressing what Der Fuhrer (or dime store Mussolini as they called him) is doing to the country.

  123. 123.

    Death Panel Truck

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Or a Suzuki. I have a 2009 Boulevard I bought new in 2010. It’s a great bike. An old biker who used to ride Harleys until he bought his first Gold Wing in the Seventies told me, “When you buy a Harley-Davidson, you’re only buying a name. Stick with the Japanese bikes. They’re better designed, better engineered, better built, better all around.” He practically extracted a promise from me that I wouldn’t ever buy a Harley.

  124. 124.

    rikyrah

    @D58826:

    Listening to Nicholle Wallace and it is even more depressing what Der Fuhrer (or dime store Mussolini as they called him) is doing to the country.

    What she’s saying?

  125. 125.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    We’re on the same wavelength :)

    I like the “Democratic base”, though. I agree with them. I’m not at all horrified by them (even when they;re screechy and rude) and I think Trump supporters have a reciprocal duty to “understand” them, us, if such a duty exists as to Trump supporters.

    I live in a conservative area. Not one Trump supporter has asked after my feelings since the election. I don’t think they understand me at all. No one expects them to. But I have to think about them all the time? I have to design my political actions to appeal to them? Wow. That seems unfair. What’s in it for me?

  127. 127.

    Arlene

    Marcopolo, Susan Wild’s office is at 1636 No. Cedar Crest Blvd., Allentown. Her office is in the Target shopping center in the west end of Allentown. Go see our revitalized downtown.

  128. 128.

    jl

    @Booger: That case can be made. I was typing in ‘the war has not necessarily developed to HD’s advantage’ mod.
    You could make the case that a time limited tariff program gave some US companies enough temporary relief to make their own innovations. HD was innovating too, as were US auto makers. But I think the companies understood they were playing a risky game, and that targeted tariffs would be gamed by their competition.

    There is also the piss-off factor. That is a company doesn’t want things to go in a direction, strategically, where power is taken out of their hands unilaterally. I think ordinary people would understand that. And now we have

    Trump Threatens Harley-Davidson ‘Will Be Taxed Like Never Before!’
    By Nicole Lafond | June 26, 2018
    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-harley-davidson-taxed-never-before

  129. 129.

    Kay

    Hunter Walker
    HHS officials on this call right now actively avoided answering questions from @LisaDNews about whether they are still taking kids that have been separated from their parents.

    Raise your hand if you were wondering if they were lying about this. I was. They absolutely could be- most likely ARE.

    I was waiting for independent confirmation. I still don’t have it. I heard one of the Trump people on the radio and he was stressing that the people in charge of this are “career professionals” (not Trump appointees) so they know they have no credibility.

  130. 130.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Kay: To be honest, I don’t understand Peters’ tweet. But I’m not his intended (pro-Trump) audience so there is that.

  131. 131.

    Steve in the STL

    @schrodingers_cat:

    25% of doctors in the United States are foreign born and Syria and Iraq are among the top countries sending MDs to the United States.

    My wife has spent weeks in Emory hospital the last couple of months. Every single hospital doctor there is an immigrant. Look forward to a few years from now when all the doctors are American C-students who couldn’t get into law school or business school.

  132. 132.

    frosty fred

    Just in case the information is of use to Alain or anyone, I’m occasionally seeing edit bars on posts not my own (haven’t actually tried to do anything with them, but I also note they don’t have any countdown timer).

    ETA: posting this comment closed the box on the earlier one.

  134. 134.

    danielx

    I commend to your attention the following:

    The List by Amy Siskind

    Horrifying though it is, it’s worth remembering all the misdeeds.

  135. 135.

    Tom

    The Democratic candidate for New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District is Xochitl Torres Small. She’s a fantastic candidate – a water rights attorney in an area where water is a crucial concern and an excellent campaigner. She’s be a great Congresswoman.

    Her opponent is Yvette Herrell, currently a Republican member of the New Mexico state legislature. Her original campaign manager fled the state in April after being charged with domestic violence and sexual slavery. Yvette’s real estate company received $500,000 from New Mexico state agencies, a fact she “forgot” to disclose on her campaign finance forms.

    The Democratic vote in the primary was 34,700, while the Republican vote was 32,349. This one is winnable, folks! Please help out!

  137. 137.

    James E Powell

    @Kay:

    I genuinely don’t get why the GOP base is very important and serious and everyone has to pay attention to them, but any discussion of the Dem base is all about how extreme and impolite they are.

    First, the GOP base supports the ruling class. The owners take care of those who keep them in power. And part of that is constant putting Democrats down, calling them unrepresentative, calling them illegitimate. The press/media chime in on cue because they support the ruling class.

    Second, the GOP base works in lock step and they do as they are told. They turn out every election and vote as they are told to vote. Democrats, on the other hand . . . well you know as well as anyone else.

    I am not saying that the press/media value, promote, and protect RW views because it’s “good business” to do so, though it probably is. I’m saying that they do it because they agree with the goals.

  138. 138.

    Marcopolo

    @Arlene: If you see this—I checked out that address this morning as it is what appears on her webpage. First place I went to and it is…. a UPS storefront. Yeah. I will look a little more tomorrow.

  139. 139.

    James E Powell

    @Mary G:

    Nym disappearing now when I refresh the page to see new comments.

    Mine disappear when I leave the site.

  141. 141.

    debbie

    @Calouste:

    Nope, not at all. I listened to an NPR interview with several HD workers. They don’t believe tariffs have anything to do with the company relocating to Europe. They believe the company intended to move even as management was sucking up to Trump early in his administration.

    I can’t believe they don’t believe tariffs are a factor. The EU tariff will jack up the retail cost by more than $2,000, and moving somewhere where the tariff wouldn’t be imposed is irrelevant???

  142. 142.

    Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)

    @debbie:

    It’s called cognitive dissonance.
    They are so emotionally invested in #MAGA that they downplay or outright refuse to accept any news that contradicts their worldview.

    In this case, my email signature applies.

    “People who refuse to believe demonstrable facts because the facts contradict their politics deserve everything Darwin throws at them”
    – @DarrinZiliak on Twitter

  143. 143.

    TenguPhule

    @Kay:

    Raise your hand if you were wondering if they were lying about this.

    Didn’t wonder at all.

    I knew they were lying. Trump tweeted it, after all.

  144. 144.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    I’ll keep saying it. The “Deep State” could burn this Administration to the ground if they wanted to…..
    I guess they’re OK with it.

  147. 147.

    jonas

    @Sherparick:

    The head of Bikers for Trump was on CNN was pretty much saying Harley was dead to him until Trump gets his way.

    So…the company is basically supposed to let itself go bankrupt out of loyalty to Trump? Yeah, that makes a ton of fucking sense.

  148. 148.

    jonas

    @debbie: Who knows? Probably some truth to both. Not a lot of sales growth in North America anymore, so moving production closer to where your new customer base is makes some sense.

  149. 149.

    J R in WV

    @The Ancient Randonneur:

    We visited Kit Carson’s home in Taos, and it was interesting. Brave explorer of the Wild West. Then we visited Canyon de Chelle, a Navajo National Park, where Kit Carson basically executed ethnic cleansing, chopping down the Navajo orchards, rounding up the citizens of the Navajo Nation and forced-marching them across the desert into a concentration camp.

    Much like Don Trumpelstiltskin wishes he could treat everyone of color in America, actually. I’m surprised he hasn’t awarded old Kit a posthumous Medal of Honor for his bravery in cleansing the Navajo Nation of the Navajo peoples!!! So many of our western bravos were racist hate crime committing monsters!! From Kit Carson to Buffalo Bill Cody!

    What a reveal visiting Navajo Nation was. A real edumacation!!!

  150. 150.

    J R in WV

    @Marcopolo:

    Googled and found a web site – imagine that!
    This might help:

    Susan Wild for Congress
    1636 N Cedar Crest Blvd. #183
    Allentown, PA 18104

    (484) 519-0659

    Either stop by that address, or call that phone number, one of those should work for you!!

    Thanks for passing through! We have local tunnels near town that once housed lumber railroads and now have a road, with a stoplight at each end to keep the head-on collisions to a minimum. Others are way way up a hollow, with no lights of any sort, and if two vehicles meet one of them has to back all the way out.

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