Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

Israel, don’t be dumb like we were in the US after 9/11!

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

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

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

RIP Zandar. We are still here fighting the stupid, now in your honor.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

No one could have predicted…

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickle?”

If you are still in the GOP, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

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

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Thursday Afternoon Open Thread

Thursday Afternoon Open Thread

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Looks like we could use an open thread, and my dogs are snoozing in a heap, and it’s raining hard, so no wildlife is present, limiting current photo illustration options. Here are a couple of shots of Tampa taken on the day of the “Families Belong Together” march. The approach from the south shore, just past the shrimp boat docks and ship repair berths:

Here’s a shot taken just a few seconds later on the bridge. I’m old enough to remember when the darkest high rise — the one that’s in the center of the previous shot — was the only one in Tampa. All the goobers around here used to go to town to gawk at the construction of it:

It’s not an impressive skyline for people from true metropolises, I’m sure. But it still amazes me when I see it because I remember what it looked like before.

Open thread!

PS: If you’re on Twitter, what’s your Twitter handle? I know I interact with some of y’all on that platform under different names. Some are easy to figure out. Others, not so much. Help me put a nym with a nym!

PPS: My Twitter is @BettyCrackerFL.

Reader Interactions

191Comments

  1. 1.

    rikyrah

    They were giving out free samples.

    Ice Cream bar said
    gluten-free
    soy-free
    dairy-free

    So, you know, I gave it the side eye, but it said Chocolate, and I’ll give anything chocolate a try.

    IT.WAS.EXCELLENT.

    The name is
    Luna & Larry’s
    Organic Coconut Bliss
    Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Bars

    I was stunned.

  2. 2.

    Roger Moore

    PS: If you’re on Twitter, what’s your Twitter handle?

    I am @VATVSLPR, but I list myself as (((Roger Moore))).

  3. 3.

    Elizabelle

    Hank Johnson says it right out loud. The Republicans are going after Strzok to discredit the Mueller investigation. Said it right out loud.

    Asparagus Gohmert up right now.

    Geez. It’s been Jim Jordan, Steve King, and now Gohmert up in short succession. Murderer’s Imbeciies’ Row.

    ETA: Gohmert just out and out called Strzok a liar.

    And now he is going after him on “looking into his wife’s eyes” and — implying infidelity.

    Some congresswoman suggested out loud that Gohmert needs his medication. Wonder if that will make it into the transcript.

  5. 5.

    LAO

    my twitter handle is @laoppy (lao@laoppy). I’m so original. I rarely tweet, nobody IRL knows I’m on twitter. But lately, I’ve been feeling like using twitter to yell at people. I yelled at NYT Maggie the other day. It felt good. I’m think of getting more involved.

  8. 8.

    Major Major Major Major

    Twitter fight!

    [Ocasio-Cortez] engaged in an extraordinary public fight with Crowley on Twitter Thursday, accusing him of planning to mount a third party run against her in November’s general election, despite his public pledge to back her candidacy after his loss. And Crowley’s camp pushed back hard, accusing Ocasio-Cortez of deliberately distorting events.

    Ocasio Cortez tweeted Thursday morning: “.@repjoecrowley stated on live TV that he would absolutely support my candidacy. Instead, he’s stood me up for all 3 scheduled concession calls. Now, he’s mounting a 3rd party challenge against me and the Democratic Party- and against the will of @NYWFP”…

    Crowley pushed back against Ocasio-Cortez’s accusation on Twitter Thursday morning.

    “Alexandria, the race is over and Democrats need to come together. I’ve made my support for you clear and the fact that I’m not running. We’ve scheduled phone calls and your team has not followed through. I’d like to connect but I’m not willing to air grievances on Twitter,” Crowley wrote…

    A Crowley campaign staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity said three calls that were missed between Crowley and Ocasio-Cortez were due to hang-ups on her end, not the other way around.

    “This is not true, she knows it’s not true,” the Crowley aide said. “They’re wrong and she’s just doing it to be politically craven.”

    The aide said there are text messages between the two camps showing that Crowley’s team reached out asking for Ocasio Cortez’s phone number, and that her team waited hours to respond.

    Fun on a bun.

    ETA this is my twitter, since you asked https://twitter.com/TynanPants

  11. 11.

    Elizabelle

    Gerry Connolly, my former Congressman is up.

    Describes the hearing as a Soviet show trial, I think he said.

    Reading emails.

    Ha — just went after Ben Sasse for an anti-Trump email.

    And now: Jason Chaffetz with another anti-Trump email …

    and now: Mike Coffman (SP?), GOP from Colorado ….

    I like what Connolly is doing.

    And now Barbara Comstock!!

    ETA: Strategy is: reading the email and asking Strzok “you wrote that?”

    Now it’s been Martha Robey of Alabama. And Mike Lee of Utah.

    Killer Connolly. Love him!

  13. 13.

    R-Jud

    I’m @rosejudson and I’ll be at the march in London tomorrow if you want to see pictures of that.

  15. 15.

    donnah

    I’m working on the Christopher Robin rug again. I have to finish it before a big show in August, so I’m really pinched to get it finished.

    I tried to watch the hearings today but I am terrible at confrontations and the Republicans are absolute dicks in their questioning. I had to turn it off to keep my blood pressure from spiking to dangerous levels.

    There is so much going on, what with Trump in Europe, these hearings, the immigration disaster, a new Supreme, and whatever else is being buried by all this crap. I am going to put together a care package for a women’s shelter to be delivered tomorrow. It’s my way of fighting the overwhelming feeling of loss. I want to help someone. Even a little bit.

  17. 17.

    tobie

    @Major Major Major Major: Crowley’s actually right on this count or rather on both counts: NY’s f’ed up politics make it tough to have a name removed from the ballot and O-C shouldn’t be having these fights with him on twitter.

  19. 19.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Baud: @tobie: As I twittered, “Starting a public Twitter fight with a fellow Democrat (who conceded), about a quirk in local election laws, because the internet has convinced you that “the establishment” hates you… is the most Millennial thing to happen in politics since not voting in record numbers”

  20. 20.

    Gravie

    Tampa native here! To me, the coolest skyline vista is the Moorish arches at the University of Tampa. I was happy to see there was a very well-attended pro-immigrant rally in Tampa. Ya never know about the politics there.

  21. 21.

    Spanky

    @Major Major Major Major:

    “Now, he’s mounting a 3rd party challenge against me and the Democratic Party- and against the will of @NYWFP”…

    New York White Folks’ Party? Help a honky out here.

    Also: In your twitter handle, is “Pants” a noun or a verb?

  23. 23.

    Gin & Tonic

    Speaking of Twitter (where my handle is just too close to my IRL name) I see that my favorite felon-in-waiting Paul Fucking Manafort had apparently applied for release pending his appeal, and it was denied. Are Federal judges apt to say “dude, are you out of your motherfucking mind?”

  24. 24.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Major Major Major Major: I sure hope this is whoever runs her social media getting ahead of events. Because otherwise now you can WIN against THE ESTABLISHMENT and then STILL feel like you have to whip up everyone’s fears of Establishment skulduggery?

  27. 27.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Spanky: Working Family Party. NY is weird with all the “third” parties – too weird for me to explain here.

  29. 29.

    jl

    Thanks for skyline pix. Are those dang Crcckers roaring around on them dang motorcycles again?
    For better or worse, I don’t do social media to socialize. No twitter, and I’m not going to spend the time to learn enough about, nor willing to trust facebook enough to ever do much with my account.

    So, I must interact with my beloved Lady Cracker only here on this miserable lefty, almost top 10,000 blog. Low energy. Sad.

  31. 31.

    Betty Cracker

    @Gravie: Yes — that view from Curtis Hixon Park is awesome. I’m not really a Tampa native — my home town is a few counties north. But I’ve lived in the area for most of my life.

  32. 32.

    SenyorDave

    O-C is acting like a 12 year old, it would be hard to take her seriously after this. And exactly why did she feel a need to do this in a public forum? Actually, worse yet, she’s acting like Trump.

  33. 33.

    Major Major Major Major

    @FlipYrWhig: She’s fundraising.

    @Spanky:

    In your twitter handle, is “Pants” a noun or a verb?

    Gosh, I think it harkens back to phrases like “mister sassypants”. So a noun.

  34. 34.

    Elizabelle

    Poe was scary, with all the thundering about “bias.”

    I am very impressed with Peter Strzok. Never loses his cool, answers fully. I wish he would run for Democratic office.

  35. 35.

    Millard Filmore

    @rikyrah:

    I’ll give anything chocolate a try.

    I think I love you. For desert there is chocolate, and then there is … no, there is nothing else.

  37. 37.

    PaulWartenberg

    I honestly haven’t retained much memory of the Tampa skyline. I lived over in Palm Harbor as a kid so I would maybe make it to downtown maybe once a year. Most of my Tampa travels got as far as the Old Sombrero and the Airport, and later on to the USF campus on Fowler Ave, which is nowhere near downtown. Best I can recall about downtown is when the cylinder skyscraper got built, and then the SunTrust building that lit up in the team colors for the local sports.

  40. 40.

    Elizabelle

    Ted Deutch reminding committee that the investigation was into Russian attempts to destabilize US and its elections. Wonders why they aren’t going after that issue with the same fervor.

    The GOP is getting owned in this hearing. Might be interesting to watch the evening news, for once.

  41. 41.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Major Major Major Major: The thing I would like to see run its course on “the left” is this insane paranoia, real or performed for effect, about The Establishment and what it’s going to do to destroy everything in its path unless well-meaning people SEND MONEY NOW.

  42. 42.

    Baud

    The movement to abolish the federal agency tasked with enforcing immigration laws in the interior of the United States has gained momentum in recent weeks, and lawmakers on Thursday for the first time detailed in legislation exactly how they envisioned this would play out.

    The Establishing a Humane Immigration Enforcement System Act would do away with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency within the Homeland Security Department that employs about 20,000 workers. ICE, argued bill authors Reps. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., has strayed too far from its initial core functions of investigating terrorism, drug smuggling and trade fraud. They cited inspector general and other reports in accusing the agency of human rights abuses, violations of federal and international laws, and a lack of transparency.

    The bill would within one year of its passage terminate ICE. In the meantime it would create a commission that would, within six months, recommend to Congress how to move ICE’s “legitimate duties” to other agencies. The DHS inspector general would be tasked with reporting on any ICE human rights violations and recommend ways to prevent them from reoccurring.

    https://m.govexec.com/management/2018/07/heres-what-house-democrats-envision-happening-after-they-abolish-ice/149676/

  43. 43.

    Teddys Person

    @SenyorDave: I think social media is warping people’s sense of public vs. private conversations as well as when more formal correspondences are appropriate.

    Edit: maybe “changing” instead of “warping” to avoid being judgy

  44. 44.

    J R in WV

    Betty,

    Valued commenter Ruemara has started a GoFundMe to raise a little money for her application for US citizenship. Maybe a front page spot?

    She’s in the middle of the huge Congressional hearing thread…

    And the link to her account at GoFundMe is here.

    I’ve pitched in a little and want to encourage others to lend a hand.

    I’ve experimented with linking a little, wish me luck!

    ETA, experiment failed, removing it now.

  45. 45.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Gin & Tonic: I dunno, it seems to be about like the early years of tape recorders when kids would gather round in silent awe once it was switched on, except one kid who would get a gleam in his eye and say “doody” so everyone would have to hear it played back.

  49. 49.

    Lapassionara

    @Gin & Tonic: Which is why I just lurk there. I use the same nym, but have a rule against saying, liking, or retweeting anything. So boring, but I thought it best, for now. I don’t think my skin is thick enough to take the kind of abuse I have seen some people dish out.

  50. 50.

    Mel

    @donnah: It will help. Any personal care items (sanitary napkins, deodorant, soap, nail clippers, ponytail bands, bandaids, shampoo, etc.), and any goodies ( a box of cookies from a grocery or bakery, etc.) that can be gathered and donated will be so very much appreciated.

    Thank you for doing this. Thank you so much.

    It is unimaginably difficult for people to maintain their sense of dignity amidst uprooting and loneliness and fear. Sometimes even a little bit of comfort and normalcy really can help a person hold on to their sense of self while they navigate such a scary time.

  51. 51.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Baud: LET ME HAVE THIS BAUD

    Also, you know people will still complain about superdelegates.

  52. 52.

    SenyorDave

    @Teddys Person: I think calling people out in a 100% public forum is hard to defend. Unless Crowley was grossly wrong in this case it would seem to diminish O-C. One think I loved about Obama was that he virtually never did stupid shit like this.
    I definitely see your point about social media changing how people act. I can only see negatives in her actions, maybe someone can find the positives.

  54. 54.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Major Major Major Major: The Establishment is sure to silence somebody some way. “The high school gym in my precinct was so hot it made my friend not feel like caucusing! The Establishment musta tinkered with the thermostat!”

  55. 55.

    Betty Cracker

    @PaulWartenberg: The one I’m thinking of went up in the late 70s or early 80s. Can’t remember what company plastered its name on the side. For a while there, we had the tallest building in the state.

  56. 56.

    Major Major Major Major

    @FlipYrWhig: “those establishments in charge of congress won’t swear me in until January even though I just won the election!”

  57. 57.

    Faithful Lurker

    My father was staying in the only big hotel in Tampa when the Cuban missile crisis began. The Army came in and told everyone to get out, they needed the space. This was in 1962. Tampa was a little sleepy Florida town.

  59. 59.

    jl

    @Baud: Thanks for info. I heard some news that there is sympathy for changing ICE from within the agency. The media is doing childish posturing on this issue, pretending (with willful obtuseness) that ‘abolishing ICE’ means the advocates of that position propose to just abandon any efforts at border security at all. Most of these news and national affairs media divas were around when the debate over the formation of the Dept. of Homeland Security raged. Several agencies with different missions, goals, and priorities and resource requirements were smushed together in a haphazard fashion; how to divvy up responsibilities re immigration was a big part of the controversy. So if they were not incompetent and/or corrupt they should remember that.

    II hope news coverage on this issue improves, and that the Democrats who have responsible positions on it push hard to try to make that happen.

  60. 60.

    Brachiator

    @donnah:

    I’m working on the Christopher Robin rug again. I have to finish it before a big show in August, so I’m really pinched to get it finished.

    Last night while eating dinner I looked over at a bus stop and saw a worker removing a poster for the movie “Ant Man and the Wasp” and replace it with a new one for the upcoming movie, “Disney’s Christopher Robin,” which opens August 3. It was a bit like the changing of the guard. I was also thinking that Disney has this promotional stuff down to a science.

  62. 62.

    Mandalay

    @SenyorDave:

    O-C is acting like a 12 year old, it would be hard to take her seriously after this.

    Really? I find it hard to take you seriously after that.

    She’s 28 and new to campaigning, there were clearly misunderstandings between her team and Crowley’s team, and it seems that she was misinformed. That said, she still should have resolved the issue behind the scenes rather than on Twitter.

    But if you can’t take her seriously after that incident your threshold is very low, and I can’t think of any politician you can take seriously.

  65. 65.

    Juju

    @Millard Filmore: if it doesn’t have chocolate it’s not dessert. I hate anything coconut, so if it’s chocolate and coconut it’s ruined chocolate. The same goes for raisins, for that matter.

  66. 66.

    Doug R

    Maybe O-C’s campaign is trying to cut off any “Crowley For Connecticut” Campaign.
    Or they’re still stuck in SEND MONEY NOW mode.

  67. 67.

    J R in WV

    @Millard Filmore:

    I think I love you. For desert there is chocolate, and then there is … no, there is nothing else.

    Pecan pie a la mode… Sour Cherry pie, a la mode.

    Peach kuchen, 6 ripe peaches, halved, laid face up in a crumb crust, covered with cinnamon and sugar, baked for 15 minutes, covered with sour cream with egg yolks in, then baked until golden brown. The best dessert there is, bar none. The recipe is a little more complex, but a baker can take it from here on.

    Doesn’t need ice cream, just wait for it to cool a little bit, and dive in!!

  68. 68.

    jacy

    I’m @KeriKnutson, but I never tweet, just read stuff. I think if I tweeted much I would get really yelly.

  69. 69.

    Major Major Major Major

    @jl: “The media is doing childish posturing on this issue, pretending (with willful obtuseness) that ‘abolishing ICE’ means the advocates of that position propose to just abandon any efforts at border security at all.”

    Perhaps this will teach the people who came up with the slogan a valuable lesson about slogans.

  73. 73.

    Juju

    @SenyorDave: It’s youth and inexperience. It seems like she needs someone with a bit more campaign experience to advise her. Cut her a little slack. My guess is you weren’t perfect when you were 28, and neither was I. She has tremendous potential.

  74. 74.

    Brachiator

    @rikyrah:

    So, you know, I gave it the side eye, but it said Chocolate, and I’ll give anything chocolate a try.

    Last Christmas I bought my sister a small (and not cheap) bar of chocolate made with donkey milk. She and her husband split it, said it tasted pretty good.

  75. 75.

    SenyorDave

    @Mandalay: I don’t care whether you take me seriously, and I’m not running for anything. I am tired of the “someone is young and doesn’t know better arguments”. She’s 28, not 12, and if you haven’t figured out that you don’t fight in public by the time you are an adult you probably won’t figure it out later.

  76. 76.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Betty and/or other Floridians, will the Rick Scott thing take root, or does he have the whole “the fact that he got rich stealing proves he’s a good bidness man” thing like trump?

    Has anyone told Bill Nelson there’s a campaign going on?

  77. 77.

    James E Powell

    @Major Major Major Major:

    It’s not unusual for “insurgent” aka inexperienced candidates to fall in love with their Romantic Rebel image and overlook the fact that once in office, they are no longer the rebels. Does she have any “establishment” aka experienced people on her staff who might be able to remind her that it is the Republicans who are the opposition?

  78. 78.

    Baud

    @Juju: For better or worse, she is in the spotlight because of her win. If this were a tiff in any other district, it probably wouldn’t have been written about except in local press. She doesn’t have the luxury of easing into her new role.

  80. 80.

    mad citizen

    @Teddys Person: “@SenyorDave: I think social media is warping people’s sense of public vs. private conversations as well as when more formal correspondences are appropriate.

    Edit: maybe “changing” instead of “warping” to avoid being judgy”

    Maybe internet and social media will get better someday. I was thinking the other day, people write things online that in the olden times they might have only expressed to their families or good friends. Now it’s out there for half the world to see. It’s crazy. Use some sense. Should their be classes in school to teach etiquette and behaviour?

  81. 81.

    Captain C

    My twitter handle is @SubAquaHead . I pretty much never tweet, as that’s a rabbit hole I have no time to go down.

  82. 82.

    Brachiator

    @tobie:

    Crowley’s actually right on this count or rather on both counts: NY’s f’ed up politics make it tough to have a name removed from the ballot

    Yeah, a Vox story indicates what a mess this whole thing is. I hope that everybody can find a way to calm down and carry on.

  84. 84.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    @SenyorDave:

    Meh. She’s young and inexperienced. She organized a successful primary campaign and is now in track to win a seat in Congress. She’s inspirational and willing to work hard. Once in Congress we’ll find out if she’s got leadership skills.

  88. 88.

    Mnemosyne

    @Baud:

    If I were her, I would be taking a hard look at my campaign staffers to figure out who fucked up the calls with Crowley. He has receipts, and she doesn’t, so now she looks like a paranoid fool. Not good.

  94. 94.

    Mary G

    I’m @marymichelgreen on Twitter. I’ve shared it here before, and doubled my followers from 36 to 70+, but just in case anyone wants to read me yelling at Republicans, Twitler, and MAGAts.

  95. 95.

    Teddys Person

    @mad citizen: I have a section in my syllabus about e-mail etiquette and how they should corresponding with all their instructors, employers, etc..

  96. 96.

    Juju

    @Baud: you may have something there, but if she were running in my district I’d be willing to not expect perfection right out of the gate. If she continues in this manner then I’d be disappointed but still vote for her because I’m not going to vote for a republican. For 28 she seems intelligent, composed, well spoken and has a presence that draws interest. I would be willing to give her a chance to learn how things work before tossing her out like worn socks. My first inclination was to ask why her mother didn’t seem teach her not to air her dirty laundry in public, but that could just be me.

  98. 98.

    burnspbesq

    @Mandalay:

    She’s 28 and new to campaigning

    Not a valid excuse. She could have gotten experienced help.

    She fucked up. She’d better make damn sure her fuckups don’t cost the Dems a safe seat.

  99. 99.

    jl

    @Baud: Is the WFP the goofball party that told its members to write-in whoever they wanted in a neighboring district, which got Ocasio-Cortez the nomination there, in addition to NY14?

  102. 102.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Juju: everybody is entitled to their mistakes, but also, Baud is entitled to notice them.

  104. 104.

    Baud

    @jl: I believe so. For some reason, they also nominated Crowley (in the correct district) not realizing that OC had a chance of winning the Dem nomination, which is what has precipitated this ballot problem.

  105. 105.

    jl

    @burnspbesq: Crowley bombed his first debate with Ocasio-Cortez, so sent a surrogate to the second.
    So, maybe Ocasio messed up, but why give Crowley the benefit of the doubt, given the way he ran his campaign?

    Edit: and Crowley camp’s excuse that it took ‘several hours’ for Ocasio campaign to respond to a phone call sounds weak. Neither side behaving well in this kerfluffle, IMHO. But so far this seems trivial BS and plenty of time to resolve it, unless Crowley is running some goofball futile scam to stay in the race.

  107. 107.

    NotMax

    Muggy day in paradise. First mug o’ java so good, shall have another lickety-split..

    Strange mix on TCM over the weekend. Friday is primarily second- or third-tier thrillers all through the day, such as The Mysterious Doctor (Nazis deploy a headless pirate ghost to put fear into an English village) and the memorably titled Two on a Guillotine.

    At 2 a.m. Sunday is Don’t Look Back, a kind of off-kilter documentary tagging along on Bob Dylan’s 1965 tour of England. Followed at 4 a.m. by Festival which includes a cornucopia of musical talent – well, let TCM’s description cover that:

    …Before rock became the dominant music of the counter-culture, there was folk, and this documentary captures most of the leading lights of that movement over the course of three Newport Folk Festivals in 1963, 1964 and 1965. The film captures performances by Joan Baez, Peter Paul and Mary, Judy Collins, Pete Seeger, Donovan, Odetta, and many more. It also includes the moment–not well received at the time (1965)–when Bob Dylan went electric, packing in his acoustic set in favor of a fully plugged-in back-up band.…
    [snip]
    The film also highlights how folk fans were exposed to genres not usually associated with the stereotypical college or urban coffee house scene of the early 1960s. Performers like Johnny Cash, Howlin’ Wolf, Son House, the Staple Singers, Mississippi John Hurt, Sonny Terry and others brought their brand of blues, gospel, soul and country to eager festival audiences.

    If there is one quibble […] it would be that the musical numbers are not shown in their entirety. Instead, Lerner opted to showcase the long roster of acts over the three-year period. But it’s a minor quibble, indeed. Some of the musicians speak in brief interview clips, but the true essence of their art is revealed in their performances, their enthusiastic reception by festival fans, and occasional shots of the artists jamming off stage.

  109. 109.

    PaulWartenberg

    @Mandalay:

    Crowley was representing different parties on the same ballot, which if effed up IMHO. as a result he lost the Dem ticket but was on a Workers’ ticket and he refused to get taken off that. It reeks of the Old School Dems refusing to at LEAST respect the up-and-comers trying to represent the same damn party.

    Jesus. this is why “Dems in Disarray” is a meme.

  111. 111.

    Dan B

    @Baud: Pramila Jayapal is awesome, not perfect but she knows public speaking and is amazing smart. She’s worked in immigrant rights since 9/11. If she and Mark Poccan wrote this bill then it deserves all our support.

  118. 118.

    Major Major Major Major

    @jl: our various choices and maladies combine to create two strong parties, so everybody with any sense is a supporter of one of them.

  119. 119.

    Baud

    @jl: NY State has very strange election laws. From what I understand, the same person can appear under multiple parties (usually Dem and WFP) which allows voters to make a statement about which policy agenda they support without having to actually vote for a third-party candidate (and split the vote).

  122. 122.

    Elizabelle

    @Yarrow: It’s as if Foghorn Leghorn …. could surf dude. Badly.

    Who is Gowdy playing to? He up for leading the Heritage Foundation next?

  124. 124.

    jacy

    @rikyrah:

    Good gravy. They’re all dumbasses. It’s a wonder they can walk up stairs or feed themselves.

    At least the Democrats are getting feisty.

  125. 125.

    Teddys Person

    From Sean Spicer’s book-like product to normalize Trump:

    His [Trump’s] ability to pivot from a seemingly career-ending moment to a furious assault on his opponents is a talent few politicians can muster.”

    Doesn’t this describe every RWNJ? Sounds like Spicey has his nose still firmly up his ex-employer’s ass.

  126. 126.

    J R in WV

    @rikyrah:

    Well done! All I knew to do was copy the “reply” link, but now I see that I needed the rest of the post’s address… thanks! Seems to be going well for her!

  127. 127.

    Dave

    @Baud: Yep I’ve voted on the WFP line a few times myself. Also agree people ready to throw her aside are being more than a bit twitchy. Every politician missteps. The question is will she learn or not. I’m fairly optimistic at this point.

  129. 129.

    opiejeanne

    @Roger Moore:
    I am Outrage du jour @opiejeanne

    Can someone explain this walkaway nonsense? It sounds like an astroturfed “movement” to get people to not want to vote.

  133. 133.

    Elizabelle

    I don’t see anyone ready to throw O-C aside, although I’ve not studied this thread. I do see folks concerned about those who feed off Democratic infighting, and damaging the party’s chances through Twitter messages sent without sufficient thought ahead of time.

    Twitter is a constantly open mic. It’s a snake. Be careful around it.

  134. 134.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @jacy: I can only watch so much at a time, but that guy from Rhode Island, Ciccilline (sp?), is a hoot. He said earlier he’s going to release the transcript from the non-public (not sure how to phrase that) Strzok appearance whether Goodlatte and that histrionic poser Gowdy like it or not. I hope he pulls it off.

  137. 137.

    trollhattan

    @rikyrah:
    Trey Gowdy always keeps Gomert close to make him look smrrt by comparison. Not a bad strategy when you think about it.

  138. 138.

    BlueGirlFromWyo

    @Elizabelle: I’m from WY but live in Connolly’s district now. I think his motto’s the same as mine: Do no harm but take no shit. Love him!

  139. 139.

    Major Major Major Major

    @opiejeanne: “Can someone explain this walkaway nonsense? It sounds like an astroturfed “movement” to get people to not want to vote.”

    You’ll be shocked to hear that it’s an astroturfed “movement” to get people to not want to vote.

  142. 142.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Elizabelle: It’s as if Foghorn Leghorn …. could surf dude. Badly.

    Ha!

    Who is Gowdy playing to? He up for leading the Heritage Foundation next?

    or a reboot of Matlock on RT? “With Miss Judge Jeanine Pirro as The Judge!”

  146. 146.

    Mnemosyne

    @PaulWartenberg:

    Read the article — there are 4 ways for Crowley to be removed from the ballot, and none of them are “asking nicely.” At a minimum, he has to run for a completely different office he doesn’t want in a different district, which Crowley considers to be fraud.

    The people sneering that he needs to become a VA resident because he spends all of his time there while he’s in Congress representing them need to STFU.

  147. 147.

    Yarrow

    @opiejeanne: It’s a Russian op. Dems and others on the left need to get smart about recognizing Russia propaganda techniques. You’re right it’s designed to depress Dem voters.

  150. 150.

    jacy

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I have it on quiet in the background, waiting for it to be over. There seems to be a lot of yelling. I hope I never am called to testify in front of Congress. I would lose my shit right quick.

  152. 152.

    SenyorDave

    And now today’s moment of idiocy from SHS:

    John Kelly Was Upset With Breakfast, Not Trump, At NATO Summit, White House Claims

    The White House insisted, however, that Kelly hadn’t been cheesed off at the president — but rather, at the actual cheese.

    ″[Kelly] was displeased because he was expecting a full breakfast and there were only pastries and cheese,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told The Washington Post.

  153. 153.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Major Major Major Major: Yep. I like AOC, too. But this smacks of the sort of weird need to be wronged by the establishment that I’ve seen from some of my leftier friends.

    Hopefully they shut up and can start working this out immediately.

  155. 155.

    Major Major Major Major

    @MisterForkbeard: I like her well enough, but I’ve hated her Twitter persona since the first time I saw it, and this has not changed my mind.

  157. 157.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    ana marie cox @ anamariecox
    Are Trumpkins SURE they want to make marital fidelity a test for honesty across the board?

    Which GOP-Goober brought up infidelity? Did Desjarlais get up and run to the bathroom when the subject came up?

  158. 158.

    Mary G

    I’ve been out with my teens all morning at a nature interpretive center in Dana Point. It’s small, but very well done. The land was taken from a developer who wanted permission from the CA Coastal Commission and the feds to build houses on the whole headland. Two endangered species live there, a tiny mouse and a drab little bird, but they are protected in the preserve. There is a three-mile trail with the plants identified and you can hear the seals barking from the parking lot.

    The renegade finally made enough to pay off his ticket, so I assumed they would want to stop going places, but they say they enjoy their “adventures with Mrs. Green,” so we will continue. They suggested the aquarium in Long Beach, which I’ve wanted to see, and somewhere that sells or exhibits reptiles.

  159. 159.

    donnah

    Here’s a link to Christopher Robin and Pooh, still in progress:

    https://imgur.com/gallery/rRrjiBP

    I was dismayed to see another movie about Pooh, but honestly, my rug is based on the real stuffed animals Christopher Robin played with. They are at the New York City Public Library now and I had to get permission to use the photo of them as well as pay a $50 license fee. So Disney got nuthin’ on me, I hope.

    When I finish, the rug will be exhibited in a few shows and then I’ll donate it to our own public library for the childrens’ section. It’s a labor of love, a tribute to my late father, who took me to the library when I was a little girl and instilled in me a truly lifelong love of reading.

  163. 163.

    p.a.

    Any AngryCircusPeanut (still my fave moniker) tweets about NK blowoff at remains repatriation meeting? Maybe the Infantident’s handlers haven’t told him yet, waiting till he’s too tired to have a tantrum.

  164. 164.

    J R in WV

    @NotMax:

    I was in college the summer of 1968, just after graduating from HS, and some upperclass students doing summer school to stay schedule to graduate invited me to tag along to the Newport Folk Festival of 1968. I didn’t even know what to expect, so it was a wonderful and amazing experience for me.

    That year the focus was on the Blues, so I got to see on the main stage people like BB King, Albert King, Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company, Albert Collins, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, Ritchie Havens, Doc Watson! Then in small tents with little stages very elderly men from the Delta doing what seemed to me African music handed down over generations from their ancestors on hand made instruments. Amazing and historic!

    I was blessed! No sleep all weekend, morning class back in school Monday. We have tix to see Buddy Guy once again in September.

  167. 167.

    rikyrah

    @opiejeanne:

    Can someone explain this walkaway nonsense? It sounds like an astroturfed “movement” to get people to not want to vote.

    It has been exposed as a fraud. Please inform folks that it’s already been exposed.

    Now, the next one they’ve been trying to do is Black folks who have found Trump.

  169. 169.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: It was Gohmert.

    I really wish someone had brought up Trump and his multiple affairs while married. And the whole Stormy Daniels thing, where he not only had an affair but tried to silence her with a bribe.

    @Major Major Major Major: Haven’t followed her at all on Twitter. She should know this a horrible damn idea though, for a number of reasons.

  170. 170.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mary G:

    The Aquarium of the Pacific is awesome, and was built recently enough that you should be able to get everywhere in your scooter (up to ADA standards). Grocery stores and AAA frequently have special deals, so keep an eye out for those.

    Also, be careful if you decide to try and feed the lorikeets. Those little bastards bite hard with their pointy beaks.

  172. 172.

    FlipYrWhig

    @MisterForkbeard:

    But this smacks of the sort of weird need to be wronged by the establishment that I’ve seen from some of my leftier friends.

    It makes them feel important. They should find other ways to feel important. And, really, other ways to feel feelings of all kinds.

  173. 173.

    The Moar You Know

    And now today’s moment of idiocy from SHS:

    John Kelly Was Upset With Breakfast, Not Trump, At NATO Summit, White House Claims

    The White House insisted, however, that Kelly hadn’t been cheesed off at the president — but rather, at the actual cheese.

    ″[Kelly] was displeased because he was expecting a full breakfast and there were only pastries and cheese,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told The Washington Post.

    @SenyorDave:

    I actually gotta give SHS a lot of credit on this one. The video is obvious: Kelly is about to punch a wall (seriously) he is so fucking pissed off, but hey…you can’t say that “The President is such a dumb fucking oaf that he managed to work his Chief of Staff into a punchy rage within fifteen seconds of him opening his undoubtedly disease-ridden piehole, and why Kelly didn’t lunge across the table and strangle him with his stupid long taped-up necktie is beyond us all”. The Press Secretary can’t say that shit. So I give ’em credit on the breakfast thing. Enough to settle the true believers, enough of a whopper to let the rest of us know it’s utter bullshit.

  174. 174.

    jacy

    @Starfish:

    I used to post a long time ago — when I was actively promoting my books. Now I just cash the $2.61 royalty check every quarter. Book promotion was too exhausting.

  176. 176.

    Brachiator

    @NotMax:

    At 2 a.m. Sunday is Don’t Look Back, a kind of off-kilter documentary tagging along on Bob Dylan’s 1965 tour of England.

    Searching for this film also turns up Festival, a documentary about the Newport Folk Festival between 1963 and 1966, with performances by Joan Baez, Johnny Cash and Dylan. And then there’s 1964’s A Hard Day’s Night, where Richard Lester shows that he is exactly who was needed to bring out all the cheeky musical and social disruption which the Beatles represented. Also showing as related, though is Documentary, a film about the 1960 Wisconsin Democratic primary, focusing on John Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey. The times, they were a changing. All on TCM.

  177. 177.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Hard to say. My gut feeling is Nelson hangs onto his seat, but it will probably be a lot closer than it should be, considering what an obvious scumbag Scott is. The “blind trust” thing is all over the local papers, but I don’t know how much it’ll hurt Scott. It was widely known that he was a Medicare fraudster when he was elected and then reelected (albeit with less than 50% of the vote both times). It’ll come down to turnout, and we have a lot of Fox News rage-bots in places like the Villages who are reliable voters. But a Democratic wave should scuttle Scott’s bid. That’s my hope anyway.

  179. 179.

    jacy

    @Betty Cracker:

    ‘Round here, we think the wave is coming, and is not being fully seen, because it’s made of people that are never fully seen (women, youngs, people of color.) I have actual hope that we take both the House and the Senate — not a sure thing, but I feel better about it right now than I have previously.

  181. 181.

    RedDirtDirl

    @Mary G: I shared mine before as well and got a bunch of you guys following me. Apologies for retweeting things I see here, since most of you will have seen them already.

  184. 184.

    imonlylurking

    I’m so glad somebody is collecting twitter names. I’m another person that only lurks but I’m following all the cool kids.

    My user is imonlylurking. I get invitations from bots, so feel free to mention you’re a bj jackal.

  185. 185.

    Lauryn Poynor

    When following and tweeting I’m @therealnuttyqueen. Here I mostly lurk as Lauryn11

  186. 186.

    satby

    @sbarrt, with my real name and picture because when I tweet “fuck off” to Twitler I want it to be my face, not an avatar, that’s seen doing it.

  187. 187.

    Felony Govt

    I’m @felonygovt on Twitter. I go on only occasionally, though, because it’s bad for my blood pressure.

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