I honestly don’t give a hoot which flavor of average white man Trump picks tonight to undo Roe v. Wade. I know we’re all supposed to do due diligence and freak out the specific ways in which whomever he chooses is terrible, but I just don’t have it in me. The next Supreme Court Justice nominee will be awful, will get confirmed, will do terrible things to the country, and there is NOTHING we can do about it in the short term. I just don’t have it in me to go through the rituals.
I mean, it’s horrible, and it is going to suck, but I knew this in 2015, 2016, 2017, and all this year. As a straight white male of no religious affiliation, from a personal standpoint, this is not going to impact me that much in the short term. It’s going to be awful for a lot of women and minorities, WHICH IS FUCKING WHY I VOTED AND DID EVERYTHING I COULD TO AVOID THIS. But it apparently wasn’t enough, so there is just not much I can do right now and I’m just not putting myself through this tonight.
I do have two candidates for local elections (WV and PA State Senate) who I would really like you all to help me support, and I will talk about them tomorrow. Tonight, I’m gonna eat BLT’s and sit on the porch with the dogs. But I’m not going to be paying attention to fuckboy’s scotus trolling tonight. I refuse.
Betty Cracker
I’ve already turned off the alerts on my phone. Right now, at least, I don’t give a fuck which of the equally dreadful shit-stains Trump picks, and I also refuse to participate in his tacky-ass, sweeps week, reality TV rollout.
I found this somewhat heartening:
Wouldn’t surprise me if every one of them eventually vote for whichever Federalist drone Trump horks up tonight, but good on them for at least declining to participate in the spectacle.
randy khan
Of course, you’re almost certainly right. But the only chance to make you wrong is to work hard to prevent Trump’s choice from being confirmed. Every once in a while (and, indeed, it happens more with Republican nominees than Democratic nominees; I wonder why) it turns out there’s something so bad about the person that he or she is not confirmable. Sure, it’s like betting on snake eyes eighty times running, but it still could happen.
efgoldman
Me too
Theere’s a baseball game, and maybe American Pickers.
Schlemazel
may of those hurt spent the fall of 2016 whining about emails & how Hillary was a sell out. They deserve what is about to happen to us tonight, the rest of us do not.
It will take 20 years of uninterrupted Dem control just to get these fuckers off the court and another 40 to relitigate the shit that is hitting the fan. I won’t live to see the second for sure & probably not the first but I busted my ass trying to prevent it. Apparently empathy is as rare as common sense
jonas
If any good comes from filling this stolen seat with some rightwing loon, and the ensuing scorched earth policies against civil rights that will be green lighted for the next howevermany years, it will be to wake people the fuck up and get them to vote EVERY DAMN TIME in EVERY STUPID FUCKING LITTLE ELECTION from dog catcher on up. No more “they’re all the same” or “who cares who the county supervisor is.” The only thing that will help now is getting progressives and Democrats back into state and local government and just fighting like hell to retake our country from the bottom up. We’re the majority. We need to act like it and make elected representatives afraid to cross us.
Schlemazel
@randy khan:
Given the way the Senate operates, particularly when in the hands of the GOP what do you see as a way to prevent this? Can you name 3 GOP Senators we could lean on that you think could be convinced they are still human? I can’t. Hell, I can even think of a half dozen Dems we need to worry about because they think this vote will save their seat.
rikyrah
I’m with you, Cole.
PS- animal pictures are always welcome ?
Brachiator
I’ll throw in a little whimsy before things get serious again (and I am also skipping the Trump tv mess tonight)
I saw “Ant Man and The Wasp” Saturday, definitely an audience pleasing film. Lots of kids with parents for an afternoon matinee, and there were a few gasps and cheers at a couple of places, a sign that the audience was really into the movie.
Lots of humor mixed with the action, and once again Michael Pena steals the show as Ant Man’s buddy Luis.
I had mixed feelings about the technology used to de-age some characters during flashback scenes. This was better than the uncanny valley stuff of just a few years ago, but still feels like a cheat and makes me wonder whether it will soon be used regularly to make stars look better and younger in every movie and tv show.
Too often the trailers are for films that look stupid, and one about a high tech dog looked instantly forgettable. Ah, the movie’s title is AXL or something.
However, two other films looked like fun. One features Jack Black, who plays a warlock who takes in his nephew and teaches him magic. I think it opens in September.
A Disney film, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, looks quite charming. The young lady who may be the protagonist, Mackenzie Foy, has considerable screen presence, and I hear previously won acclaim for her performance in Interstellar.
The irony is that Disney, which is trying to extend copyright to infinity and beyond, has chosen here to adapt a work that may be in the public domain. Bastards.
Teddys Person
Sounds like a perfectly lovely evening. Give the pups a scritch from me.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Yup. I’m more or less with the rest of you, more or less resigned rather than nihilistic. Maybe this will actually make left-of-centers pay attention to the fucking courts in the upcoming midterms. Maybe he’ll stumble on the nominee somebody has some hidden dirt on. I think trump could name an upturned mop with a bucket for a head and a smiley face painted on the bucket and announce that Justice Roberts would be “advising” Justice Moppy McBuckethead and that would save the country so much money, so very much money you won’t believe it, believe me, and the Senate confirmation vote and the upcoming Court decisions would be pretty much the same.
schrodingers_cat
So what’s on the agenda? Slit our wrists after we light our own hair on fire? RW never gives up and we want to throw in the towel without a fight.
ETA: I too will not be watching the circus and reading Balloon Juice only sparingly this week.
efgoldman
@jonas:
Unfortunately, for white people at a certain level of affluence, it really does make no difference even if they as individuals are not racists or fascists.
JPL
from peter baker @nyt
4 suv’s seems like overkill though for the fake one.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Schlemazel:
No, the number of justices is set by statute, it has and can be increased.
SiubhanDuinne
Me? It so happens there’s an encore screening of the Bolshoi’s “Giselle” tonight, and it so happens “Giselle” is my favourite ballet — so even though I saw it just a couple of months ago, I’ll be watching it tonight and not giving the SCOTUS reality show one scrap of my attention.
ruemara
@JPL: they’re just prepping them to understand they’ll be ruling over a hostile populace.
efgoldman
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Or decreased
Theoretically
Would you bet your first born on the odds of either?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@JPL: Huh, he was last on my hypothetical betting list because of his association with Bush. As in football season, I am the richer for not knowing a bookie. Hopefully some Dem can make soundbites that will piss off the Beast by drilling down on his past statements about presidents being subject to the rule of law. And the pardon power. And subpoenas. And the definition of obstruction of justice.
JPL
@schrodingers_cat: If you think we are giving up without a fight, you are deluding yourself. Just because we moan, doesn’t mean we quit.
You once criticized me because I didn’t think Ossoff could win my district. I was shocked how good he did, and the district is changing just not then. I thought it was a win for the democratic party because it was so close. The democrats are not turning out in large numbers compared to the republicans in the current primary runoff, but that doesn’t tell me anything. The republicans are voting for their governor candidate, and since Abrams won outright, the democratic candidate has been decided. I’m going to early vote because I prefer a particular candidate to run against Handel.
Starfish
@jonas: I hope that people do learn. I hope women are lost to Republicans for a generation. I hope, but I worry that they won’t.
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He could be a decoy. I thought if he was chosen, it showed that Trump was less concerned about impeachment and more about whether or not a sitting president can be indicted. If Mueller is going to subpoena Trump, he’d better do it soon.
Honus
@schrodingers_cat: not throwing the towel (hell, I’ve watched, and hope I helped, Virginia become more reliably Democrat that West Virginia during the time I’ve lived here) but I’m not going to waste my time on a useless exercise.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Major Major Major Major
I picked a hell of a day to finish my library ebook and not have another one cued up for the commute home.
Looking forward to seeing our candidates’ court-packing proposals for 2021.
Honus
@JPL: of course it’s cavanaugh. Trump is going to appoint the most outrageous asshole he can, just because he can.
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: “Justice Moppy McBuckethead” — now there’s a consensus nominee we could all get behind! :)
rikyrah
The Root (@TheRoot) Tweeted:
California prosecutor under investigation after racist, xenophobic social media posts about Michelle Obama, Maxine Waters and others were discovered: t.co/OzUEwrMsFF t.co/RorPNUvASH twitter.com/TheRoot/status/1016374459589185536?s=17
Brachiator
@schrodingers_cat:
I got a very close haircut over the weekend, and I don’t think that fire works well on my scalp. So hair on fire is out. I think I can skip the wrist slitting as well.
I’m going to relax and have a nice dinner with apple pie and ice cream for dessert, because it’s hot here in Southern California. Later, I will watch a comedy film, Libeled Lady, a 1936 screwball comedy film starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Spencer Tracy, I’ll skip the news and may turn in early after some minor noodling on my tablet. In the morning,during my morning commute, I will check up on all the news, including SCOTUS and BREXIT reporting, and think about how best to resist and overcome any bullshit that may come our way.
It’s certainly not that I fear Trump or the inevitable misery that he will try to bring. I don’t need to dance to his tune. Also, I’ve become allergic to the mindless instant analysis of pundits, who insist on trying to tell me what it all means when they don’t have a clue and are just trying to goose ratings and kill time between commercials.
So, Trump can have his dog and pony show. I can have a good evening.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@efgoldman: Since I have no issue, yes.
Dan B
John; I’m with you except for different details. I figured out I was “homosexual” in 1964, before there was a word,gay,that didn’t define a person by their sexuality. I don’t know how I knew the word homosexual. I must have heard it during the McCarthy (Joe) hearings. It felt so isolated. I couldn’t imagine finding other homosexuals and if I did I’d likely be imprisoned since the only other hint of their existence was of men who lurked in the park preying on little boys.
Five years later I met my first openly gay people. Most seemed to have internalized the prejudices to lesser or greater extent. Some had been been licjed in mental hospitals and subjected to experimental procedures. Most had been disowned. People who were in committed relationships were rare.
Stonewall happened and so much changed. Then AIDS brought on new horror. Finally Marriage. The Supreme Court seems like the beginning of a forced march back to the 50’s and 60’s. The suffocating feeling of that era are still near tge surface for me. Watching the nomination announcement would be like watching the appointment of the new Nazi commandant.
It sucks to be a minority in this moment.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Betty Cracker: (I stole it from The Office (US). Don’t tell anybody. Stanley Hudson is one of my heroes.)
GregMulka
I have to drag myself up at 3 AM to purge temp user profiles from a client terminal server. I think I’ll sleep through this.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He’s connected with GOP bigwigs.
If it’s him, I think he’ll be more like Roberts than like Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch. It’ll be devastating, but he’s probably somewhat of a judicial institutionalist than a zealot.
MomSense
Greetings from my porch to yours, John. I’m sitting with a kid, the dog, a glass of beer, and my knitting.
Fuck fucking Trump and whichever Talibangelical SCOTUS nominee he picks.
debbie
My hope is that the hearings will show that the nominee, Trump, and whoever else has fingerprints on this are all depraved, major league assholes. I hope this will one day be counted as a primary reason Trump was the worst president in U.S. history.
By the way, has Trump retracted his statement yesterday about the U.S. being very helpful to the rescue efforts in Thailand?
Major Major Major Major
@GregMulka: This sounds like a job for cron!
Roger Moore
@Brachiator:
I think it’s going to have to get a fair bit better and a lot cheaper before it becomes routine. People are willing to tolerate it for things like flashbacks, but there’s no good reason to use it for a whole movie. If you want a younger looking person for the whole movie, just hire a younger actor. People have a proven willingness to tolerate hiring a different actor to play the younger version of the star.
brendancalling
Admission time.
As I approach 50, I have all but given up on America. And as my father said when I admitted this, he said it’s a losing battle.
So I am watching the 2018 elections, and planning to vote and make sure my friends vote too. Because if the Democrats lose, I believe it is lights out for the USA as we knew it, and I will then be exercising every bit of leverage I have as a person with family members (my only child, to be specific) in Canada, and getting the fuck out.
I realize a lot of people say this, but I am one of the luckier ones who has the actual ability to go through with it.
I have visited other countries, including Canada, and they have better lives than we do. Even my g/f, who is an immigrant from Ukraine, says she is surprised how shitty so much of the US has turned out to be. More and more like Ukraine every day, in terms of politics.
randy khan
@Schlemazel:
I have some names for you:
Harriet Miers
Abe Fortas
Sometimes stuff happens. Fortas is a particularly good example of this – he’d been confirmed as an Associate Justice, and the problems came out when he was nominated to be Chief Justice after Earl Warren died.
The odds are very high that the Republicans will confirm whoever is nominated, but we have to press hard in case something does happen.
Also, with McCain not around, it only takes one Republican Senator to derail a nomination. We all should pray for him to make it until January (although I doubt he will).
Ridnik Chrome
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
If FDR couldn’t pull that one off in the middle of the Great Depression, I doubt today’s Democrats could manage it, either.
debbie
@efgoldman:
Bastard’s probably delaying the Great British Baking Show beyond my bedtime.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Tend to agree, but you can never tell, Earl Warren was the Republican Governor of California and was viewed by Ike as a safe choice.
geg6
I have the Bill Maher HBO comedy special recorded. We’ll be watching that. Fuck the Shitgibbon and whatever piece of shit he throws against the wall tonight. Time enough after we impeach him to get around to impeaching the imposters he installed on SCOTUS.
rikyrah
Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) Tweeted:
Members of the Royal Family arrive at St James’s Palace for the christening of Prince Louis. t.co/3pDk4D898C twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1016340563623333888?s=17
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I would be shocked if we see another Souter situation. Whoever they pick will be reliably conservative.
dm
John, as a voter registered in West Virginia, you can call Joe Manchin’s office, and suggest that he not give Collins and Murkowski cover by making support for Trump’s nominee “bipartisan”, but I assume you’ll do that when the time comes.
MomSense
@rikyrah:
I’ve never seen a Kate look so lovely. She was beaming.
ruemara
@SiubhanDuinne: Is that in the theatre or on tv?
schrodingers_cat
@JPL:You were right about Ossoff. I was wrong.
Ridnik Chrome
@Baud: At this point, my hope is that somebody turns out into another Harry Blackmun. Or that the villains start fighting among themselves.
MathInPA
Speaking of horrible, you also play GW2, right, John? What do you think of this yakspit?
rockpapershotgun.com/2018/07/06/arenanet-throw-two-guild-wars-2-writers-to-the-wolves/
debbie
@rikyrah:
Jeez, that brief low-light reel is appalling. Dude’s a public servant, FFS!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@randy khan: Warren retired in 1969, he died in 1974.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Ridnik Chrome: FDR didn’t have his party behind on that fight.
MomSense
@brendancalling:
The problem is that America is capable of projecting its power, for good or evil, to every corner of the globe. There is no escaping America. We have to win – whatever it fucking takes.
randy khan
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
You are right. I forget that Justices used to retire when the President was from another party.
Brachiator
@Roger Moore:
The de-aged scenes in “Ant Man and The Wasp” are short, but still pretty substantial.
And word is that they are going to de-age Sam Jackson 25 years for all of the upcoming “Ms Marvel” movie, which is set in the 80s or 90s.
debbie
@rikyrah:
Charlotte seems to be a real handful. Great Auntie Margaret, hold my beer!
Gex
I think the whole Federalist Society project has been their means of making sure they don’t end up with a Warren or Blackmun on the court. We can hope for a guy who ends up disappointing them. But the odds seem worse than ever.
randy khan
@Ridnik Chrome:
A little bit of me is thinking how hilarious it would be if someone was *so* devious that he decided his best shot at the Supreme Court was to act like a total Federalist troll for decades, and then revealed his true progressive self when he reached the Court.
Major Major Major Major
@Gex: I’m pretty sure every Federalist judge has made one of those Harry Potter vows that kill you if you break them, to be a reliable ‘conservative’ for all eternity.
JPL
@schrodingers_cat: He did a heck of a job, and should just celebrate that he gave dems in GA a reason to believe that you can run in a red district. There has been a few state seats that have flipped since then.
rikyrah
I know what I will be spending my evening reading
,……..
Tom & Lorenzo (@tomandlorenzo) Tweeted:
Ooooh, girl! Did we just write over 3000 words on the symbolism in the costumes of Shuri, Nakia and Okoye of #BlackPanther? Yes we did! Now excuse us while we take a nap: t.co/YDnT9IQc0z t.co/HhF15BPSql twitter.com/tomandlorenzo/status/1016395109162680325?s=17
SiubhanDuinne
@ruemara:
In the (movie) theatre. One of the http://www.fathomevents.com special presentations.
ruemara
@rikyrah: Under investigation? That was a lie. He’s under investigation NOW. Since his boss was excusing his shit back under the Obama administration. & I hope he never gets another legal job again.
Schlemazel
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I believe FDR tried that, how did it work out for him?
Schlemazel
@randy khan:
Shit in one hand & wish in the other & see which one gets full first.
Major Major Major Major
@Schlemazel: Depending on your reading of history, it saved the New Deal.
Zelma
I’m predicting that in a decade or so, the United States of America will be no more. I don’t mean that figuratively. I mean it literally. We now have a minority president, a minority Senate, and a House which should be 50-50 at best but isn’t. If the Republicans manage to hold on to a majority of the seats in the House this year, it will only be because of voter suppression, gerrymandering, or out and out fraud. If they do have a majority of the seats, it is highly unlikely that they will have gotten a majority of the votes. So we will also have a minority House as well.
The Supreme Court is lost for a generation. It will not protect women’s rights, voting rights, or any rights whatsoever. It will be a tool of the oligarchy and any progress that has been made will be lost. The repeal of the New Deal is not unimaginable.
Sooner or later, the productive, prosperous, and progressive states will have had enough. I predict a United States of Western America (California, Oregon, Washington and perhaps Nevada and Colorado; an Eastern United States of America (New England, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and possibly Virginia (I’m not sure about Pennsylvania). And the rest of the country can go to hell.
I feel sorry for all the good people who will be stranded in the horror that will be Red America.
This is a terrible prediction to make but it is the only one that makes logical sense to me. I’m 75 and I probably won’t live to see it, but it looks to me like the inexorable result of what was set in motion with Trump’s election.
I’m going to pour myself another glass of wine.
burnspbesq
@rikyrah:
He’s been suspended pending an investigation.
newsweek.com/michael-selyem-maxine-waters-suspended-1014918
Gelfling 545
@jonas: You don’t say who cares about county supervisor when you’ve had a term of freaking Chris Collins in the job. He was a goddamn disaster yet NY 27 went ahead & sent him to Congress. Stupid AND crooked. What a combo.
burnspbesq
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
As was Brennan. That didn’t exactly turn out the way Ike expected.
Citizen Alan
@Schlemazel:
Google “switch in time that saved the nine.”
Schlemazel
@Major Major Major Major:
He did not get his justices.
rikyrah
View host says that group of ‘youths’ stood outside her vacation home and yellef N***ER at her family.
She didn’t name the place, but I am thinking either Oak Bluffs or Sag Harbor.
thehill.com/homenews/media/396141-the-view-host-teens-yelled-n-word-at-me-during-fourth-of-july-vaca…
Major Major Major Major
@Schlemazel: But he got his decision anyway. The evident end of the Lochner era made the court-packing scheme less obviously desirable.
ETA Unless your argument is “sure, FDR didn’t get his judges, he only got a highly desirable though different judicial outcome”. Again, depending on your reading of history. But it’s not really an argument that says we shouldn’t try it. Quite the opposite.
debbie
@ruemara:
Half the GOP was doing the same shit during the Obama administration — and getting away with it.
Ridnik Chrome
@randy khan: Warren, a Republican, actually announced his retirement in 1968, when Lyndon Johnson was still president. But his retirement was delayed until 1969 after Abe Fortas’ nomination was shot down in the Senate by Republicans and conservative Democrats who didn’t like the direction the court had been going under Warren and objected to Fortas’ liberal record. In a way, Fortas was where the whole fight over the SCOTUS really began.
Mnemosyne
@ruemara:
I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses for mass murder, but the San Bernardino “ISIS” murders were pretty much the least surprising news ever from that county. People who were constantly shit on for their race and religion in a county run by white supremacists eventually snap and go on a killing rampage? Nothing more American than that.
Roger Moore
@Brachiator:
Yeah, but it’s not clear how substantial Nick Fury will be in that movie. Will he be a major character or just show up for a cameo the way he did in so many other Marvel origin story movies? If it’s just for a cameo scene, I could imagine it being OK. If he’s a major character, it’s going to have to be really good to avoid severe criticism.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Schlemazel: He was re-elected and served as President until his death.
TenguPhule
@Zelma:
And how many divisions do they command?
Hawaii could theoretically desert the union due to geography. The rest of you would have to fight it out first.
Mike in NC
The fucking media has been following this idiotic story for a week as if it were bigger than landing a man on the moon.
Mnemosyne
@rikyrah:
That’s when you wish you had a Super Soaker full of skunk spray close at hand. ?
Schlemazel
@Major Major Major Major:
do you honestly think that threat would move these monsters? I don’t. Of the clownservatives only Roberts seems to have any sense of history or propriety.
Sure we can try it. We can also try to teach pigs to fly. I just would not bet on a positive poutcome
TenguPhule
@schrodingers_cat:
No no no. The idea is to do this to the other side.
JPL
HELP Save the bunnies
My dog just uncovered a nest and five little ones went different directions. They are not old enough to walk, but it was a fast crawl. Should I try to gather them back towards the nest, and then put a tomato cage on it?
Should say that the dog is in for the night.
Mnemosyne
Also, my plan for this evening may be some pre-trip shopping. Still trying to decide how nuts the air-conditioned indoor mall is going to be.
Mike in DC
@JPL:
If he could do so during the confirmation hearings, that would be nice, since it forces the recusal issue.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
i’m, pretty sure that every Federalist understands that there’s a legion of insane former military and police who have pledged themselves to the cause who would kill them for treachery to the cause.
Schlemazel
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
but seriously
TenguPhule
@JPL:
No. Leave and take the dog with you. Your smell on them could drive the mother to do bad things.
J R in WV
@efgoldman:
I like the idea these remarks gave me. First you reduce the court to 7 justices, dropping the most recently appointed/confirmed.
Then you say “Oh, no, that was a mistake…” and expand it to 11, allowing the current President to nominate 4 new justices, who will actually decide cases on the law, and not on the Republican wish-it-were-law opinions.
JPL
@TenguPhule: I was going to use a shovel, but I think I wait..
They are about 4 inches long and appear to have taken cover under pine straw. Tomorrow when Finch goes out, I’ll water in that section to give them a chance.
Then next year they can enjoy my garden
Brachiator
@Roger Moore:
Probably more than a cameo.
Principal photography recently finished, and publicity buzz is starting. Should be fun.
Major Major Major Major
@Schlemazel: well, I was replying to your sarcastic “how’d that work out for FDR” quip by simply pointing out that it worked out probably somewhere between well and very well.
Mary G
The most likely one (I refuse to learn their names) has a long paper trail and I saw that Twitler’s advisors are against him. DiFi has been hunting that Twitler’s going to pick him in defiance (You can’t tell me what to do!) And then she’ll grill him good. I hope so, anyway. The one I would hate is the Commander’s wife with seven kids.
TenguPhule
Jeremy Fucking Hunt replacing Boris at Britain’s foreign office.
The world has completely stopped making sense now.
trollhattan
Linked to this to a dead thread. I want to see it. Soon. In parades everywhere.
jl
I pre-emulated Cole in this decision, which is a wise one. Real time savvy and infotainment has negative value for this hideous item.
If Trump decides to do something extra goofy, like gather them all, live, and then he opens an envelope to announce the ‘contest winner’, with reaction shots for the rightwing nutjobs, I can catch the clip later this week.
zhena gogolia
We’re going to be watching ep 2 of the English Scandal with Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw.
jeffreyw
Thread needz moar Kitteh-Boy!
Joseph A. Miller
If you want to do more than simply complain or feel angry, I say take ACTION. Take a look here.
dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/9/1779223/-Calling-All-Democrats-Who-Want-to-WIN-Calling-All-Democratic-…
Mnemosyne
@Brachiator:
I will be a snob for a moment — part of the problem with the “digital de-aging” kind of stuff is that they hire any old VFX artists to do it when they should be hiring VFX animators. A guy who creates good digital backgrounds is not going to have the background and experience in character animation that you need to do that kind of work.
Movie SFX companies keep selling that they have the technology to do this stuff, but it ends up looking terrible because they don’t have the ARTISTS who can do it. It’s a different skill set.
sixthdoctor
Going to mow the lawn, since that’s something I can control. Then maybe a shnort of Jameson…
Besides voting, donating, and organizing, what’s the thoughts about DC and Puerto Rico statehood? Is this even remotely viable at this point?
Shell
This above all else. Is the preening little prick gonna present them with a red rose?
Teddys Person
For a moment of cuteness, here’s Teddy…
Yarrow
@zhena gogolia: Watched Episode 2 last night. It’s so good! Not sure if it’ll be Episode 3 tonight or save for later.
One thing about this dumbass reality show Supreme Court announcement being during prime time – it’s going to interrupt The Bachelorette. You don’t want to mess with Bachelor Nation and they’re not happy when dumbass Trump interrupts their show, especially when it’s something that’s normally done during the daytime.
Roger Moore
@sixthdoctor:
I think PR statehood is more straightforward than DC statehood, which might well require a constitutional amendment.
Teddys Person
For a moment of cuteness to chase away the Scotus blues, here’s Teddy…
Roger Moore
@Yarrow:
I think I’ve mentioned it here before, but something similar to this- Bristol Palin’s stint on DWTS- served as a political wake-up call to a bunch of my less politically involved coworkers. They were pissed off that Bristol stayed on the show because her mom’s political supporters spammed the voting. More than just pissing them off, it showed them that the Palinite wing of the party is all about identity politics, and they have the wrong identity. I don’t know if preempting one episode of The Bachelorette will have the same effect as messing with a whole season of DWTS, but here’s hoping.
EBT
How is this for nilhism?
“I’ve been pretty upfront that the election interference — as serious as that was, and unacceptable — is not the greatest threat to our democracy,” – R Sen Ron Johnson.
twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1016459531486945280
Joy in FL
I will not watch the faux reality show of announcing the nominee. The whole thing makes me nauseous.
I will do my best to prevent confirmation. And no matter what, I will do what I can to gain power for progressive people and causes.
But I’m not going to participate in giving #45 attention tonight.
Tomorrow night I am going to see the Road to Change Townhall with the Parkland students. I am looking forward to being in the same auditorium as those world-changers.
Teddys Person
@Teddys Person: Fucked up the link and reposted with working link. Sorry!
JPL
@Joy in FL: Well Amy is not playing the game because she was spotted outside her house.
sad
Mnemosyne
Are we doing cute animal photos now? Because I have two sea otters snuggling in a kiddie pool full of ice.
Just in case FYWP decides to mess up my link:
mobile.twitter.com/OregonZoo/status/1015283727797063683
JPL
@JPL: Whoops that was two hours ago so more than 4 hours before the big reveal.
Yutsano
Maybe. Personally I’m all about optimistic nihilism.
quora.com/What-is-optimistic-nihilism
m.youtube.com/watch?v=MBRqu0YOH14
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Major Major Major Major:
And honestly, what else would we have to lose? It’s better to try and fail then to never try at all.
rikyrah
Imani Gandy o—€
Verified account @AngryBlackLady
Reminder: Griswold v. Connecticut is on the line just as much as Roe v. Wade is.
They’re coming for your abortions.
They’re coming for your birth control, largely because a lot of these anti-choice numpties think contraception *is* birth control.
(It’s not.) #saveSCOTUS
10:45 AM – 9 Jul 2018
Yutsano
@Roger Moore: I believe the Puerto Rico referendum went to Congress for action.
We see how that has ended up so far.
raven
Season 2 of Anne with an E is on! We finished the last episode of Bosch last night and I’m bummed it’s over.
Yarrow
@Roger Moore: It’ll be the second time The Bachelorette has been interrupted this season. The first one was for the stupid North Korea “summit.” Bachelor Nation was not happy and now that it’s happening again for something that truly could and should be done during the day, well….
I don’t think it’s quite the same thing and Bristol Palin on Dancing with the Stars, but Bachelor Fans love their show and will not be happy to have Trump interrupt it for his reality show announcement.
Do expect lots of “rose ceremony” memes, though.
Roger Moore
@Yutsano:
I was thinking of all this stuff in terms of when/if the Democrats regain control of the government. At that point, PR statehood is just a regular law, while DC statehood would be a lot more involved.
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
If it’s on your streaming service, check out London Spy, also with a fine turn by Whishaw.
rikyrah
Sir James The 2nd… The Duke of Dont Get Cussed Out
@NotOnMyWatchTV
Sir James The 2nd… The Duke of Dont Get Cussed Out Retweeted OutFrontCNN
Erin’s confuses face is everything! Bernie is a clown, literally laughed at the notion that women would be punished for having abortions and now is concerned? What an idiot.
His defense was literally “everyone was doing it so I did to”. I mean my god what a total flop.
twitter.com/NotOnMyWatchTV/status/1016464941816143873
Yutsano
@Roger Moore: Yes DC statehood would require a constitutional amendment. Puerto Rico just needs congressional action at this point.
NotMax
@NotMax
Oopsie. Left out link to trailer.
Teddys Person
@Mnemosyne: Just trying to counteract the nihilism, if only for a moment : )
zhena gogolia
@Teddys Person:
I’m in love!
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
I saw in the Sunday edition of USA Today their USA Snapshot. It was a survey that was done by the International Rescue Committee that surveyed more than 1,005 adults age 18 and older.
It found that 67% of Americans would expect Canda and Mexico to welcome them if a “conflict” forced them to flee the USA.
I thought WTF! I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I couldn’t believe that a mainstream daily newspaper like USA Today would publish such a statistic. But then I remembered who was President and what the GOP has become. I remembered what happened in Charlottesville nearly a year ago and I remembered what happened in Portland on June 30th; a bunch of fascists trying to murder their opponents, hoping they would get attacked in the first place so they could play the victims.
Jim Parish
@Ridnik Chrome: As I understand it, what kept FDR from pulling it off was the opposition of Southern Democrats. (This was one of the things that motivated John Nance Garner to primary him in 1940.) With the increased homogeneity of the parties, a Democratic President and Congress could well be able to pull it off after 2020.
Unfortunately, this could well trigger tit-for-tat if and when the GOP or its successor regained control.
John Revolta
@Mnemosyne: They’re not using animators?? Whaddarethey, nuts? Or just cheap?
I suppose they think the machines can do it for them. Well, maybe they can, but I’m dubious.
NotMax
@Yutsano
A legitimate referendum supporting statehood would help, too.
zhena gogolia
I’m in love!@NotMax:
I’ll look.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
The “I’m in love” was directed at Teddy. FYWP
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
Elation brutally dashed.
:)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Teddys Person: Ahhhhh…
Shell
As charlie Pierce commented today, you get weary saying “What the hell is wrong with these people?” but then sometimes theres nothing more you CAN say.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
Oh, love you too!
divF
@Yutsano:
Not so sure that DC statehood would require an amendment. The part of DC south of the Potomac was retroceded back to Virginia in 1846 by an act of Congress. The part of DC not immediately next to the core government buildings downtown could be retroceded back to Maryland, then Maryland split into two states, all by Congressional action only.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
Ooh, Jim Broadbent!
FlyingToaster
We just watered prior to sundown, and will be watching Midsomer Murders on ‘GBX while HerrDoktor processes today’s Raspberry harvest.
It’s either 2nd-tier PBS or deep cable for us; no way will we be watching any of the broadcast networks. Maybe they’ll learn.
WereBear
In this administration? Are you serious? Just what would they have to do, beat someone to death at their confirmation hearing?
Calouste
Mediocre white man? I hear Boris Johnson is looking for a new job. And he is American, so no problem there.
John Revolta
@rikyrah: All due respect to ABL- I would say it They’re coming for your abortions.
And they’re coming for your birth control, largely because a lot of these anti-choice numpties think birth control IS abortion.
dnfree
@Betty Cracker: he could really clean up the place!
Roger Moore
@divF:
I assume it would need cooperation from Maryland in addition to Congressional action.
Mnemosyne
@John Revolta:
Studio bosses are always trying to get rid of the animators, because studio bosses are cheap bastards. It’s (relatively) simple to find people who can do backgrounds and other still images. It’s a lot harder to find people who can animate, especially since it’s a skill set that’s hard to learn on the job. If you don’t learn it while you’re in art school, it’s hard to pick up.
rikyrah
Why Black People Never Want To Teach Spades
youtu.be/kVk0W-Rv1Q0
divF
@Roger Moore: Re: Maryland cooperation. In that scenario, yes. Probably less of a hurdle than getting Congress to approve.
NotMax
One would naturally think a movie with Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Lauren Bacall, Gladys George and Donald Crisp couldn’t possibly be simultaneously dissatisfactory, meretricious and dreadful.
But one would be wrong. Bright Leaf on TCM later today.
:)
Roger Moore
@WereBear:
There have been a few Trump nominees for other positions who were forced to drop out because they were inadequately vetted and had skeletons lurking in their closets. I doubt that’s going to happen with a Supreme Court nominee- I think the Federalist Society is deeply enough invested in this stuff to be more careful in their vetting than Trump is- but we shouldn’t stop looking for a reason to deny them.
Mike in NC
We’re halfway through British cop drama “SAFE” streaming on Netflix, and were hooked from the first episode.
The Ancient Randonneur
Fuck Trump.
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne:
(Mildly Spoilery)
The level of animation skill is only part of the problem. I know how young Michael Douglas moves, having watched him on the old tv show The Streets of San Francisco, as well as seeing his movies. The same is true for the other de-aged actors in Ant Man. So, whether they use a younger stand in for the body, or the older actual actor, it doesn’t look quite right.
Faces may be more problematic because of the issues you raise. Young or old, Michelle Pfeiffer has a very expressive face, and the youthified MP doesn’t quite look like any version of the actor that I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure that the studios are willing to pay for the level of animation required to get facial muscles and skin right.
But I also have no doubt that they will get exponentially better at this fairly soon.
But part of this is my reaction based on knowing that the actor has been de-aged. I have to apply suspension of disbelief in a new way and look at the performance in a new way. So how I as a viewer engage the movie changes, which is actually kinda exciting. But still weird.
And what studios and directors can do may expand dramatically. Would you want to see a digital de-aged recreation of Marlon Brando inserted into Godfather 2, replacing Robert De Niro?
NotMax
@divF
This Congress would vote to cede it to Mississippi. Nothing requires all parts of a state be contiguous.
zhena gogolia
@rikyrah:
That’s hilarious! He has some other good ones too.
zhena gogolia
@The Ancient Randonneur:
Can’t be said often enough.
efgoldman
@Zelma:
Go hide in a corner and suck your thumb, and leave the rest of us the fuck alone.
BTW didn’t work in the 1860s, no reason to think it would work now.
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
Have you ever seen the opera L’Oriflamme? For some reason a bushel and a peck of things I’ve been skimming online of late make passing reference to it.
efgoldman
@Ridnik Chrome:
Wsn’t there something (real or made up) in Fortas’ background that also made him unable to be re-confirmed?
Roger Moore
@Brachiator:
I think there are two questions that will control how far things like digital de-aging go. From an economic standpoint, there’s the question about how much it costs relative to finding another actor to do it, doing it with makeup, or whatever other solution you might come up with. I assume it’s pretty expensive now, so it’s going to be limited to big budget movies that can afford the tech. From an artistic standpoint, there’s going to be a question about suspension of disbelief: which is easier to believe, another actor standing in for the younger version of the character or a digital recreation? Of course that ties back in to the economic aspect, too. It will be easier to suspend disbelief with the digital version if it’s well done, which will be expensive.
Mnemosyne
@Brachiator:
That’s my point, though. It’s not a technology problem. It’s a people problem. There are a bunch of actual ARTISTS creating all of these computer effects. The technology makes it faster and easier, but it still requires actual people to make it look good.
You can have the greatest motion-capture technology in the world, but you still need an actual trained artist to take that output and create the performance. That’s not going to change until Skynet comes along and decides that all humans are superfluous.
Brachiator
@NotMax:
RE:. But one would be wrong. Bright Leaf on TCM later today.
Well, that’s one to skip.
I was listening to a film writer talk about seeing The Mark of Zorro (1940) for the first time, but also admitting that he had never seen the actor Tyrone Power before.
I know that there are many more movies to keep up with now that cinema is more than a hundred years old, but if you are a film professional, you should have greater knowledge than most amateurs.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
Nope, never even heard of it, or the composer.
J R in WV
@NotMax:
Michigan and Hawaii are both non-contiguous. And Alaska has lots of islands…
But there are a lot of other states between Maryland and Mississippi.
NotMax
@Roger Moore
Once we get that whole cloning thing down pat….
:)
NotMax
@J R in WV
Also too, Washington state. Whole ‘nother country between the separate pieces.
B.B.A.
@J R in WV: New York is non-contiguous. Liberty Island and about 1/3 of Ellis Island are in New York but entirely surrounded by New Jersey.
And then there’s Maine having been part of Massachusetts, at a time when New Hampshire very much existed in between…
Aleta
Refuse to watch. Maybe if he made the guy stand up there with a bag over his head. No, not even then. Maybe if they both had bags over their heads and they were lowered into a tank of water.
Steeplejack
@Brachiator:
Quoted for truth. At Barnes & Noble I worked with a young guy who had moved back to the D.C. area after getting a film degree at a pretty good school (can’t remember which one), and he would regularly astonish me with the gaping holes in his knowledge. And a lot of it was willful: he was really prejudiced against black-and-white movies (except new ones done deliberately “retro”) and didn’t really seem to care for anything from before about 1980. Anecdata, I know, but striking.
ETA: Oops, I forgot I’m reading a thread from much earlier this evening. I’m getting a touch of J R in WV syndrome.