Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

“woke” is the new caravan.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

You cannot shame the shameless.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

So many bastards, so little time.

Let’s finish the job.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

People are complicated. Love is not.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

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

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Usually wrong but never in doubt

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

This really is a full service blog.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2018 / Local Races, Kansas (Aug. 7 Primary): SHARICE DAVIDS

Local Races, Kansas (Aug. 7 Primary): SHARICE DAVIDS

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Anyone from the area got an opinion on the Kansas primary? Davids certainly seems to be in my / our wheelhouse — and not just because she’s been endorsed by both Gloria Steinem and Janelle Monae. Of course it’s Bleeding Kansas, it’s a crowded primary, and there’s been bigfooting from outside groups that may not have Democratic interests at heart… but *still*…

Reader Interactions

176Comments

  1. 1.

    Major Major Major Major

    I would also like to be better informed about this race, since it’s going to be the source of many DEMS IN DISARRAY takes over the coming days. I’m naturally inclined towards the candidate endorsed by my fellow neoliberal sellout Janelle Monae, but curious to read others’ takes here. Even the trolls’! The existence of their opinions is informative.

  2. 2.

    RedDirtGirl

    I wish I could win the lottery and send money to all these great candidates. Of course, I’d have to play Lotto, which I don’t.

  5. 5.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Major Major Major Major: There’s no disarray. Sanders showed up to rally for one of the candidates because that candidate had worked for him. That’s understandable. My preference between the two is for Davids. As I’ve written several times, at this point if there’s a competitive within the electoral race qualified woman, especially woman of color, running, then she should be backed. If, as a result of the primary, a competitive within the electoral race man emerges as the candidate, then he should be backed. Overall, let the candidates find their districts/races and let the primary process/electorate/voters choose the candidates they think will best represent them. Then fight like hell in the general election.

  6. 6.

    Major Major Major Major

    @RedDirtGirl: still interviewing. Just got a final round at a financial services company owned by a former mayor. Trying to roll it in with another trip to a company that cohabitates with FTFNYT.

  7. 7.

    tobie

    I’ve been phone banking for her campaign and I think she’s got a real shot. Young voters in particular seem to love her. She’s hot a great personal story. I also like her pragmatic approach to politics with emphasis on not only on debt-free college but especially k-12 education, expansion of Medicaid, improvements to Medicare, stopping price gouging with prescription drugs, etc. And she is a native American woman, which does matter to me.

  8. 8.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I saw that tweet exchange. It was cordial and informative, so, yay. Of course, ABL got a bunch of shit for it in her replies. Edit: also, the difference wasn’t even that cut and dried, right? They’re both for universal coverage, D just wants to be able to actually pay for and implement it. I think AOC is following Bernie’s lead here.

    @Adam L Silverman: I know there’s little actual disarray. Takes are not truth. But many of my friends only see the takes, and I like to be able to help deprogram them.

  16. 16.

    Major Major Major Major

    @schrodingers_cat: surely it’s nothing to do with the way minority voices are treated here ?

    God, remember ABL’s comment threads? Or Elon James White’s?

  21. 21.

    Baud

    I’m not sure why I should care about this particular primary over the others, other than the fact that Bernie went there.

  25. 25.

    smintheus

    Turns out that, according to Volokh and NPR, it’s not conservative to uphold the 14th Amendment and settled law going back to 1776.

    But Volokh said that Ho is not conservative on all issues — pointing out a scholarly article from 2006 in which Ho supported birthright citizenship, an idea that clashes with some in the Trump White House.

    Conservatism is whatever the Trumpsters want at the moment.

  26. 26.

    FDRLincoln

    My son is a Wilmercrat (I forgive him, he’s just 19 and very idealistic) and is a volunteer for Daniels opponent in the primary, Brent Welder. He doesn’t have a problem with Daniels and will support her if she wins the primary, but he volunteers for Welder because he endorses the “free college” stuff that Wilmer pushes, plus he likes his background as a labor lawyer who grew up poor.

    Either are acceptable to me, though it hardly matters since I vote in Kansas-2. As for Kansas-2, GOPer Lynn Jenkins is retiring and we have a shot at that seat as well. The GOP field is muddled while the Dems have solidified behind Paul Davis, the guy who almost beat Brownback for governor back in 2014. Davis is milquetoast but he has firm roots in the district, plenty of money, and backing from moderate GOPers. He’s got a shot.

  27. 27.

    germy

    @Major Major Major Major:

    God, remember ABL’s comment threads?

    She was before my time here. Are the people who heckled here still here, or did they move on after she left?

    Elon White, all I remember is his posts being podcasts that froze up my computer. Never many comments on his posts.

  31. 31.

    Major Major Major Major

    @germy: perhaps I’m misremembering then, I seem to recall he started with written posts.

    @Baud: I wonder if Cole has a problem with moderation of individual threads? I recall an On The Media some time back where Ta-Nehisi Coates said that he only allows heavily moderated comments on his posts because of this same issue.

  32. 32.

    germy

    @smintheus:

    But Volokh said that Ho is not conservative on all issues — pointing out a scholarly article from 2006 in which Ho supported birthright citizenship, an idea that clashes with some in the Trump White House.

    Quoting the constitution made him not conservative enough.

    So we are through the looking glass, then.

  34. 34.

    rikyrah

    UH HUH
    UH HUH

    See how that works.

    The @whca fought tooth and nail to have Fox News substantially included in briefings. Now a former Fox news exec is in charge of the entire press operation at the WH and is imposing a fascist ban on press. Weird how that works. https://t.co/NwHMgNdGBk

    — meta (@metaquest) July 26, 2018

  36. 36.

    Adam L Silverman

    @gwangung: Most likely. When that stuff went down I read the front page posts, but didn’t read the comments. But given what I’ve seen at other places what you’re describing does not surprise me.

  39. 39.

    germy

    @Major Major Major Major: There is a “classic rock music” board I read sometimes that went into heavy moderation. I think two assholes who couldn’t stop insulting each other caused it. Nowadays, it takes about four days for a comment to go up.

    Most of the regular commenters are gone from that board.

    Sometimes all it takes is one (or two) assholes with a variety of nyms and sockpuppets to destroy a board.

    The jackals here are pretty fierce. I notice whenever a RW troll shows up, the response is usually swift and powerful.

  40. 40.

    Baud

    @Major Major Major Major: I don’t think Cole has ever had a different rule for different threads, but maybe that’s not a bad idea. I like our front pagers but the lack of diversity is a little shameful in this day and age.

    On that topic, congrats on your promotion!

  41. 41.

    gwangung

    @Baud: To the extent the front pagers are expected to weather criticism, it’s understandable. Front pagers are expected and should weather more criticism than us commoners. But, voices from POC tend to attract more trolls and outright bigots, and even though POCs have tougher hides, at some point, the increased negativity is just too much.

  43. 43.

    FDRLincoln

    More on Kansas-2, the GOP field is split between hard-core reactionaries and a couple of moderates who will probably lose; I haven’t heard any polling but it is very unclear who will win that. If one of the moderates pulls it out, that seat will probably stay GOP. If one of the loonies wins, Davis has a chance. The district is generally R but there are some D pockets (college town Lawrence is very blue, Topeka is purpleish) that won’t take well to a hard-right candidate. Dems have won this seat before.

  44. 44.

    germy

    There are some commenters I’d like to see as front pagers. rikyrah, for example.

    schrodingers_cat, also.

  47. 47.

    FDRLincoln

    There’s also polling that shows Kris Kobach losing to the Dem if KK wins the GOP governor’s nomination. If Coyler (the current governor after Brownback quit) beats Kobach in the primary, Coyler will likely win the race against the Dem. If KK wins the primary, the Dems have a shot there too. KK is not popular among the Kansas City soccer mom types.

    Coyler is just as conservative as KK but he does not come across as the “I wanna be dictator” type like KK, plus Coyler is known to negotiate in good faith when necessary while KK is a pure asshole.

  49. 49.

    Major Major Major Major

    @gwangung: it doesn’t take many trolls to completely derail a thread, and I think some moderation on ‘sensitive topics’ (read: posts about nonwhite people and/or women) is a good idea.

  50. 50.

    Adam L Silverman

    @trollhattan: Wikileaks pulled the tweet, but if I read it correctly one of the Ecuadorian Embassy staff was originally tasked with spying on Assange for Ecuador. She recently, however, defected to the UK. Or, perhaps, she was always working for the UK when she was working for Ecuador. The tweet isn’t clear. Apparently they’ve worked themselves into a lather, egged on by RT and GG, that Ecuador is going to revoke Assange’s asylum, kick him out, and then the British authorities are going to scarf him up.

  53. 53.

    rikyrah

    @smintheus:

    But Volokh said that Ho is not conservative on all issues — pointing out a scholarly article from 2006 in which Ho supported birthright citizenship, an idea that clashes with some in the Trump White House.

    Will say it again…
    you can fall for the shiny object of birthright citizenship..

    they are after the 14th Amendment because of BROWN.

    They have wanted to gut it ever since it was decided, and the 14th Amendment is the foundation for BROWN.

  55. 55.

    smintheus

    @germy: Volokh is a naturalized citizen, so that part of the Constitution can’t have much appeal for him personally I guess.

  58. 58.

    Major Major Major Major

    @smintheus: the article is about the ways Ho breaks from established conservative judicial opinions; I don’t think Volokh is making a value judgment there.

    @rikyrah: @Adam L Silverman: don’t we always bemoan long elections anyway?

  59. 59.

    rikyrah

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Apparently they’ve worked themselves into a lather, egged on by RT and GG, that Ecuador is going to revoke Assange’s asylum, kick him out, and then the British authorities are going to scarf him up.

    As well they should. Right into the arms of Scotland Yard. :)

    You said something yesterday about unsealed indictments. I hope you are correct.

  60. 60.

    mugen

    I have lurked here for years without commenting (I HATE commenting!) but have to pipe up to say that Sharice is worth supporting. I know her personally from her time at Cornell. She’s very serious and will work her ass off.

  63. 63.

    smintheus

    @rikyrah: They can’t get inside the fortress of the 14th as long as they keep impaling themselves on the gate of Section 1.

    I notice that when I point out these “conservatives” attacking birthright citizenship that it has been the law in the US since 1776, they always evade that information. They desperately want to believe that they can just re-interpret section 1 and equality of citizen rights will just disappear.

  64. 64.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @rikyrah: A lot of people complain about how long the the presidential election campaigns are, but the conventions where the candidates are officially nominated often take place in August.

  65. 65.

    smintheus

    @Major Major Major Major: That’s the only example we’re given in the article of how Ho supposedly breaks with conservative opinion.

    The rest of it just acknowledges that Ho editorializes from the bench like a dittohead, but that’s not all that unusual for Republican judges any longer.

  67. 67.

    Yarrow

    @germy:

    Elon White, all I remember is his posts being podcasts that froze up my computer. Never many comments on his posts.

    I remember the same thing. He’d post the podcast and that was pretty much it. He might mention the topics and the people involved, but wouldn’t include a longer description of what the podcast was about or maybe a bit on a key section or something. If you didn’t listen to the podcast it was hard to have much of a discussion in the thread.

  68. 68.

    Major Major Major Major

    @smintheus: you’re right, don’t know what I was thinking. I still don’t see a value judgment in his statement though.

  70. 70.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Major Major Major Major: I do, but holding a primary in March or in August and a general in November when everyone started campaigning five months after the last election isn’t really the discussion point for shortening the cycle. Shortening the cycle means just that. Six weeks start to finish. No campaigning, no fundraising, no glad handing until six weeks before the election. Primary at four weeks, general 2 weeks later. The remaining portion of one’s term in elected office is spent on legislating, non-legislative official functions like oversight, and constituent services.

  72. 72.

    Baud

    @Adam L Silverman: I think other countries can get away with that because party officials pick their candidates rather than party members. Not saying it’s not too long, but I don’t know how we get to six weeks without de-democratizing the candidate selection process.

  73. 73.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Sure, but the incumbent is

    * White
    * Male
    * Horribly out of shape and ill tempered,.
    * Christian as long as it doesn’t interfere with living a life of utter moral and intellectual depravity.
    * Holds that magnets are a miracle of God’s and beyond human understanding.
    *Runs on a traditional families value ticket that marriage between a man a woman and some other woman.
    * And is open minded enough to understand that even though Hitler was a communist Hitler did have some good ideas.

    Powerful stuff in Kansas.

  74. 74.

    Adam L Silverman

    @schrodingers_cat: I’m not a fan of cricket. Beyond that, I’m not sure it changes much. Pakistan is Pakistan. Until it, as a society, even one that broadly adheres and accepts a conservative version of mainstream Islam, decides that it is unwilling to accept extremism, unwilling to allow the ISI to pull a lot of strings behind the scene, and actually decide they want a government that represents the best interests of the vast majority of Pakistanis, then little will change regardless of who gets elected. Khan may have some advantages and room to maneuver because of who his family is and his fame as a cricketer, but, ultimately, I think it will take a serious, and likely violent, societal revolution before any significant change is even possible, let alone actually happens.

  75. 75.

    trollhattan

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Am 100% in favor of whatever machinations result in Assange being scarfed up, although the internet may never recover from GG’s response.

    Why poor Ecuador deserved to get caught up in this mess I’ll never understand.

  76. 76.

    CaseyL

    @Baud: How about it all the state primaries were held within a one-month period? I’d really like that. Initial money would be important, to go into the season with a huge warchest – but we wouldn’t be getting this endless, endless season of political advertising and horse-race prognosticating.

  77. 77.

    Adam L Silverman

    @smintheus: He’s one of Thomas’s former clerks. This behavior is the norm for when they get on the bench. As Jeffrey Toobin has documented, Justice Thomas has spent his career on the court identifying, training, and then placing these disciples throughout GOP administrations, both state and Federal, as well as on the lower Federal courts. They are far more extreme than Justice Scalia’s disciples, are far to the extreme of the average/median Federalist Society member, and they have a mission. To remake the Federal courts and US jurisprudence in Clarence Thomas’s ideological image.

    ETA: This is all a worthwhile read, but especially the last third where Toobin talks about Thomas’s relationship with his clerks and with slowly trying to move jurisprudence in line with his understanding of it.
    https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/08/29/partners-jeffrey-toobin

  79. 79.

    trollhattan

    @Yarrow:
    Podcast embedded in blog is a platform mismatch. I can scan a thousand-word post/ten-thousand word comment thread very quickly. A twenty-seven minute podcast is a twenty-seven minute commitment I’m not making.

  80. 80.

    gvg

    @Baud: The pie filter is amazing when it’s working. there are some issues with the recent problems. last I checked it wasn’t on the mobile version, but I switched my ipad to the desktop version because the mobile one was flaky for me.

    I don’t recall Zandar getting many comments or trolls. Isn’t he the one who did soccer match posts? Since I wasn’t interested, I skipped.
    I recall ABL getting way too much mean responses that I didn’t understand. Specific people were heckling and I thought some were new trolls but some were regulars who should have been banned IMO. sorry Cole. Pie filter may change that a lot though.

    We also ran off a couple of glibitarians which I view as good.

    I know we do need more minority front pagers but am not sure how. Some of the minorities seemed to get few comments. Elron’s podcasts weren’t for me. I come for written words. Not all minority voices are gifted with words to really connect with others and act as a lens for the majority to see. Minorities have always been asked too much to be ambassadors, so I don’t know how to point this out. Being able to get the comfortable majority to not just understand and sympathize, but to enjoy it enough that they will come back over and over again is a special rare gift. It’s like someone gets 2 rare talents and wins the talent jackpot. A minority who is connected with their own and speaks to them isn’t automatically able to translate. Being a successful front pager isn’t easy. And this community is a specific fit. I mentioned podcasts not taking off here. other places people like them a lot. Of course when the pie filter works, it will be easier to give someone a fair trial…I hate unmoderated threads. Also Adam has banned a few real nasties which I think helps.

  81. 81.

    rikyrah

    MUTHAPHUCKA, PLEASE!!!

    Hardline conservative US Rep. Jim Jordan will run for House speaker
    Eliza Collins and Deirdre Shesgreen,
    USA TODAY Published 11:53 a.m. ET
    July 26, 2018

    WASHINGTON – Republican Rep. Jim Jordan has told colleagues he plans to run for House speaker, a move that would spark a contentious leadership battle in the House GOP conference just a few months before the November election.

    Jordan — one of the most powerful conservatives in Congress — plans to announce his bid Thursday, according to three GOP sources familiar with his plans. The three sources declined to speak on the record to avoid getting ahead of Jordan’s announcement.

    Jordan’s bid for the top leadership spot replacing current speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin comes just one day after he and his conservative allies filed articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in an escalating battle with the Department of Justice over the agency’s investigation into Russian meddling into the 2016 election.

  82. 82.

    Yarrow

    @trollhattan: Agreed. I thought he should bridge the two worlds by providing a longer description, maybe breaking it up into smaller chunks, posting a transcript, etc. He didn’t seem to want to do that.

  83. 83.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Adam L Silverman: I have his cricketing career covered, he is one of the all time great all rounders and a good captain too. I wanted your opinion on the politics. This is what I know.
    The army had a thumb on the scale in getting him elected. I think his election is not a good sign. Until the stranglehold of the army over Pakistani society is loosened nothing is going to change. I don’t follow Pakistani politics in granular detail.

  84. 84.

    Starfish

    @schrodingers_cat:
    The Balloon Juice commentariat is really obnoxious towards people who go against dominant Balloon Juice wisdom. Some people can shake that off, but “Hey, can you come write here for free as a minority, just so we can yell at you when you cross some essential part of our value system?”

    Minorities are going to cross dominant white culture in some way. It is inevitable.

    (I do not have a pet.)

  86. 86.

    Yarrow

    @CaseyL:

    How about it all the state primaries were held within a one-month period? I’d really like that.

    I’d be for that too. As it is, primaries across the country are spread out in a six month period. In this age of nationalizing elections it means we’re all in for a prolonged election season.

  88. 88.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Just got a final round at a financial services company owned by a former mayor

    Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I have a friend who went through like six rounds there before they said “no thanks.” They dragged him on for months.

  89. 89.

    VOR

    @gvg:

    Elron’s podcasts weren’t for me. I come for written words.

    Agree, I wanted written words and not audio podcasts. I loved ABL and enjoyed her material.

  90. 90.

    ruemara

    @Major Major Major Major: There’s Sharice Davids, and there’s a Bernie ratfucking carpetbagger, and then there’s a Republican.

    @Baud: Elon got serious flack for his stance during 2016 that everyone had to have a comprehensive plan to resolve the deaths of black people at the hands of cops. He wasn’t exactly never Hillary, but he was a loud “I won’t vote UNTIL IT’S A CONCRETE PLAN”, which I knew wasn’t going to happen since no plans are concrete. I confess to having both muted him & dropped TWiB. TWiB also became very irregular as a channel. Not entirely sure what he’s doing and I don’t think he’s ever really said advocating for not voting for Pres in 2016.

  91. 91.

    debit

    @trollhattan: Yep. There are too many things to read/watch/listen to already and I don’t have the time. I can read a blog post while watching the news or a movie.

  92. 92.

    Adam L Silverman

    @rikyrah: “We must secure…”

    Everything that the President and his senior advisors are pushing on immigration, policing, the criminal justice system, incarceration, etc is to preserve and extend the systemic advantages for white Americans, specifically white Christian Americans, and even more specifically those that would qualify as Christian nationalists (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/07/25/why-some-christians-dont-believe-in-gun-control-they-think-god-handed-down-the-second-amendment/?utm_term=.fcacc8f10ee3), as far out into the future beyond the point that the US formally and officially becomes a majority minority, or perhaps more accurately a fully demographic multicultural, society. One way you do that is prevent racial, ethnic, and religious mixing. The effective and practical rollback of Brown that has been under way for decades in significant portions of the southern US (former Confederacy) is an attempt to informally resegregate as much of the US as possible. Do you really think that AG Sessions is happy with the Loving decision and it’s effects?

    These folks are small minded and petty, but they’re consistent and play the long game. Chip away, chip away, never stop chipping away. There’s what a dozen out and proud neo-NAZIs, white supremacists, and/or anti-Semites running for office as Republicans in this cycle. This is not an accident.

  94. 94.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Baud: We do it in line with the original intent of the framers of the Constitution. Significant electroshock therapy, gulags and mandatory reeducation for all advertising professionals, zero tolerance, and, if necessary, a legal Purge event every few years to make sure everyone is in line that there will only be six weeks of campaigning for every election.//

  98. 98.

    magurakurin

    @Adam L Silverman: I don’t agree. AOC is going to disappoint many in the end. She’s not all that. When people realize she ultimately wants to end capitalism and doesn’t really want to create a highly regulated market economy like Scandinavian democracies it won’t be good. Regardless what ones actual opinion of a market economy, it is pure folly to believe a centralized, state planned economy would ever find wide support in the United States. She is DSA, and not actually a Democrat.

  99. 99.

    Adam L Silverman

    @gvg: No, that was Randino (sp?). Zandar has his own excellent blog and was sometimes crossposting here and sometimes doing separate posts here.

  100. 100.

    Amir Khalid

    @Adam L Silverman:
    A foreigner’s question: wouldn’t there be a 1st Amendment issue with restrictions like these?

    Shortening the cycle means just that. Six weeks start to finish. No campaigning, no fundraising, no glad handing until six weeks before the election.

  102. 102.

    zhena gogolia

    @mugen:

    Her videos are great — I immediately felt good about her (as opposed to my reaction to Ocasio’s video).

  103. 103.

    Just One More Canuck

    @gvg: I think it’s Randinho who was the soccer specialist, Was it Zandar who had the stalker?

  107. 107.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Amir Khalid: Yes, there would be because the current constitutional interpretations are that money equals speech for political purposes and you therefore cannot limit political speech and the money that creates it in any significant way. So anything that placed limits on how long elections were would run afoul of this. I think the current constitutional interpretation is wrong for actual historic jurisprudential reasons, but I’m not on the Supreme Court and no one is going to let me fix the problem.

  108. 108.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Gin & Tonic: I did not know that and I’m very sorry to read that. I hope you all did right by Zandar and gave the stalker a proper Balloon Juice experience.

  110. 110.

    magurakurin

    @Adam L Silverman: I would agree with that statement. I am not betting heavily on her though. But I would vote for her over any Republican anywhere anytime… happily so.

  115. 115.

    H.E.Wolf

    @schrodingers_cat:

    @rikyrah: Still earlier than the MA primaries in September.

    That rang a bell, so I went and checked my great-great-grandmother’s diary. Sure enough, she recorded that she cast her first vote, after the passing of the 19th amendment earlier that year, in the MA primary in early Sept. 1920. It was one day after her 74th birthday.

    It shocks me when I meet someone who is casual about the right to vote. It’s a recent right for so many of us.

  121. 121.

    Yutsano

    @zhena gogolia: I would be totally good if Sharice became the new face of the Democratic party over Ocasio-Cortez. OC needs to get back to her district and start doing work there. She’s already risking looking like a hypocrite for going around the country working with Wilmer on his copulation of rodentia.

  122. 122.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I had to get special dispensation from three different rabbis to do more than the occasional guest post.

    Three rabbis, four opinions. How did you break the tie?

  123. 123.

    rikyrah

    The ‘Democratic Extremism’ Narrative Is a Handy Way to Distract Attention From Republican Extremism
    By Ed Kilgore

    …………………………….

    Some of it is simply the result of a lazy habit of “balancing” the chaos coming out of the White House every day with the “disarray” allegedly found within the opposition party. But a deeper motive, particularly in conservative media, is the need to distract attention from the ideological revolution going on in the GOP by suggesting that something equally if not more alarming is going on across the partisan barricades. The idea is very simple: If you can’t expand your support beyond the ranks of the party “base” by “moving to the center,” then a good fallback position is to deny your opponent “the center” by alleging it’s being taken over by extremists. Aside from blurring the natural public and media focus on the strange people running the country and almost daily destroying old GOP positions on issues ranging from trade and deficits to the environment and NATO, the “here come the socialists!” cry appeals viscerally to the false-equivalence needs of MSM reporters and pundits who are constantly seeking protection against claims of liberal bias.

    And so Ocasio-Cortez becomes, somehow, a vastly more significant figure than her most obvious recent conservative counterpart Dave Brat of Virginia, who similarly upset a congressional leader of his party in 2014. That’s true even though Brat almost certainly was emblematic of a strong rightward trend in the GOP, while the jury is definitely still out on whether Ocasio-Cortez is a harbinger of a world to come or simply an adept local pol who upset a complacent incumbent in an incredibly low-turnout primary in an incredibly atypical district.

    It’s possible we are about to witness an extremist polarization of both parties to an extent unknown since the Spanish Civil War. But that’s not at all clear at this point, and as for Democratic divisions, none seem to matter nearly as much as a common revulsion toward Donald Trump and his enablers. As Shapiro observes, parties are ultimately defined by presidents. We see what that has meant for the GOP since 2016. Let’s give Democrats a chance to display their own proposed new leadership in 2020 before deciding they are equally feckless or reckless.

  124. 124.

    Immanentize

    @p.a.: Thomas has some lines he won’t cross. remember, he was the critical vote against confederate flags on license plates.

  125. 125.

    rikyrah

    First, grab a tissue. Then watch this dad, who works three jobs, surprise his daughter with her dream dress for the 8th grade school dance after telling her he couldn’t afford it. (Video credit: Style Exchange Boutique/FB) #allthefeels #becauseofthemwecan pic.twitter.com/UKPLDRwwK6

    — #becauseofthemwecan (@Becauseofthem) July 26, 2018

  126. 126.

    HinTN

    @Adam L Silverman: Here in dead red rural Tennessee it is becoming quite common to see interracial couples at Walmart, restaurants, and elsewhere. These are not upper class folks. The bigots ARE losing.

  127. 127.

    rikyrah

    @Yutsano:

    She’s already risking looking like a hypocrite for going around the country working with Wilmer on his copulation of rodentia.

    BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA

  130. 130.

    Gretchen

    I can’t decide among her and 2 others. Im mad that Bernie and aoc weighed in. Their choice is all slogans no depth and Socialist won’t help him here. I’m afraid he will slip in if we split the vote among the good candidates. Bernie helping us lose a winnable race.

  132. 132.

    rikyrah

    Education Secretary DeVos makes things tougher for defrauded students
    07/26/18 12:44 PM
    By Steve Benen

    ………………………..

    Education Secretary Betsy DeVos proposed on Wednesday to curtail Obama administration loan forgiveness rules for students defrauded by for-profit colleges, requiring that student borrowers show they have fallen into hopeless financial straits or prove that their colleges knowingly deceived them.

    The DeVos proposal, set to go in force a year from now, would replace Obama-era policies that sought to ease access to loan forgiveness for students who were left saddled with debt after two for-profit college chains, Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute, imploded in 2015 and 2016.

    The new rules won’t take effect right away – a public-comment period is poised to get underway – but they are scheduled to be implemented next summer.

    And if this sounds at all familiar, it’s because this is hardly the first time Donald Trump’s Education secretary has taken steps like these.

    The Obama administration also created a special team at the Department of Education to closely scrutinize dubious claims from for-profit colleges. Once DeVos joined the cabinet, she tapped a dean from a for-profit college to lead the team – and wouldn’t you know it, investigators examining alleged abuses found themselves “marginalized, reassigned or instructed to focus on other matters.”

  133. 133.

    Yutsano

    @Gretchen: I don’t want to influence you unduly. But if she was an option in my district she would have my vote no question. Sharice has amazing credence, she knows her district, and she’s both practical and visionary. She’s pretty solid. I hope support consolidates around her and she wins in November.

  135. 135.

    Timurid

    He wraps a reactionary, extremist agenda in a slick, fan friendly package. He’s basically a Muslim Dominionist, but he’s much more charismatic and media savvy than most examples of the type (Muslim or Christian). And he has a guaranteed following for being the Michael Jordan of Pakistan.

    I’ve heard a lot of Pakistanis congratulating themselves on Twitter because most of the crazies with beards down to their waists who brandished machetes at their campaign speeches didn’t win… but the most dangerous one did win.

    Like you said, there are a number of written and unwritten rules in Pakistan that check the power of the executive. Of course, that’s exactly how we were reassuring ourselves a couple of years ago…

  136. 136.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Timurid: Not everyone is happy in Pakistan. Plus he is Pathan not Punjabi, the most dominant group in the army.

    ETA: I see that many Indians are gushing about him on Twitter as well. I think its his cricket celebrity more than anything else.

  137. 137.

    burnspbesq

    @Baud:

    I’m not sure why I should care about this particular primary over the others, other than the fact that Bernie went there.

    That’s reason enough. Fuck Bernie, always and everywhere.

  139. 139.

    The Lodger

    @Immanentize: Reversing Loving is a no go until Thomas leaves the court, unless he can find some way to either exempt himself or move out of Virginia.

  140. 140.

    The Moar You Know

    I did not know that and I’m very sorry to read that. I hope you all did right by Zandar and gave the stalker a proper Balloon Juice experience.

    @Adam L Silverman: We tried, but the guy was insane. Seriously. The guy had issues (former co-worker) and were I Zandar, I’d have been packing 24/7 and move to another state and never go on the internet again. I don’t scare easy, but the guy was that bad. Definitely the kind of guy who is a likely candidate for episodes of violence.

  141. 141.

    Gretchen

    The Bernie ro criticized her for taking “pac” money- Emily’s list. That’s how dumb he is.

  142. 142.

    Fair Economist

    @HinTN: I have been pleasantly surprised to see mixed race couples in my Alabama hometown, out having fun and not even drawing looks. There has been a lot of progress from when I chose to move to Cali 30 years ago, partly because Cali was already that way.

  144. 144.

    Immanentize

    @The Lodger: Thomas is not the healthiest of Supreme Court Justices…. And I am certain that Trump will never appoint anyone but a white male. Especially if Thomas leaves the Court. Just as a Fuck You! if for no other reason.

  145. 145.

    Mnemosyne

    @gvg:

    As I understand it, part of the problem was that the minority front-pagers attracted trolls who never got through the minimal screening we do have (ie a front-pager has to approve your first comment) because they were too vile, and it got wearing for the new FPs to have to constantly wade through comments calling them names just to find the one or two genuinely new commenters.

    Plus ABL and Cole had a blowup over Greenwald back when Cole was still drinking, and that didn’t help at all.

  146. 146.

    Gretchen

    @Yutsano: my son in law is phone banking for her and says we should go big or go home. One of the others has more money and establishment support. And she’s more soft spoken than the other two Im considering. My republican state senator endorsed Nierman – she’d be a Dem anywhere else. I just want to choose the one with the best chance of beating Yoder. Im meeting a friend with strong opinions Saturday. My husband will vote however I decide.

  147. 147.

    rikyrah

    Go Nancy Smash

    Nancy Pelosi on the motivation to impeach Rosenstein: “I don’t know, but what I’ve heard is Jim Jordan wants to take attention away from the scrutiny that he is under in Ohio, that could be a part of it.” (via ABC) pic.twitter.com/qzIiTLIj3M

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 26, 2018

  149. 149.

    Gravenstone

    @schrodingers_cat: Because they get shit on by various members of the commentariat, either apparent lurkers who don’t speak up in other threads or they import their own stalkers (both Z and ABL suffered from the latter particular problem). Cole has commented before about all the garbage he’s had to wade through and shitcan from comments aimed at those FPers.

    eta: and a few posts down, I recognize that I misread your question and you fully understood the dynamic here re. PoC front pagers

  150. 150.

    Kay

    @FDRLincoln:

    My son is a Wilmercrat (I forgive him, he’s just 19 and very idealistic) and is a volunteer for Daniels

    My middle son is a Wilmercrat but he doesn’t “believe in” volunteering – he does vote though.

    I had to actively harangue him not to vote for Kuchinich, which worked, BTW :)

    I know more than he does about these candidates, is the thing. A lot of voters are like him- “I like Bernie”. That’s about as far as it gets.

  153. 153.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    Hey Kay. I may have an opportunity to professionally move into the education field, which I know almost nothing about except from you. Do you have any resources you go to to keep abreast of current hot topics?

  154. 154.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    The Ohio scandal just keeps getting bigger though. This is only Phase One- hiring the legal team to investigate- they’re not even at the state-side investigation. It’s akin to Mueller. They can scream a lot but the big machine rolls until it stops once it fires up. Lower status people know this- they know they’re in it until they’re released. It’s only people like congressman and presidents who think they can order it to halt. They’re not accustomed to that sort of powerlessness, but ordinary people encounter it every day.

  156. 156.

    WaterGirl

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Apparently they’ve worked themselves into a lather, egged on by RT and GG, that Ecuador is going to revoke Assange’s asylum, kick him out, and then the British authorities are going to scarf him up.

    Works for me!

  158. 158.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    This is like “bland, uncontroversial but newsy”- hits the high points -a primer, if you will :)

    https://twitter.com/PoliticsK12

    You’ll know in a half hour what they’re all talking about.

    IMO they put low status news people on education because it’s not important- not manly enough :)

    It’s in the “childrens ghetto”- things we don’t really care about.

  160. 160.

    Immanentize

    @Kay:

    ordinary people encounter it every day.

    That is about as good a definition of “ordinary people” as you can get.
    And yes, the investigation will go on, and from what we already know Jordan will be found to be at fault, in large part because the University will have to blame specific people including the Congressman to limit their own liability — not escape, but limit.

  164. 164.

    tobie

    @Gretchen: Your son-in-law is right. For better or for worse, this primary will be seen as a sign of the direction the Democratic party will go in. If Welden wins, it will be interpreted by the media as a clear indication that the DSA is the future of the party; if Davids win, it will be a sign that we’re a progressive but also pragmatic party. That matters to me. I’d be very happy with debt-free, as opposed to free, college; a strengthened form of Obamacare; affordable childcare and quality public schools K-12; infrastructure investments and a significant hike in the minimum wage. All of this has the advantage of being something a Democratic House and Senate could pass and, when a Dem becomes President in 2020, implement. Bernie’s people know how important this race is and that’s why they’re all in. We need to do the same.

    I’m also following the MI gubernatorial race. Gretchen Whitmer seems to be in a good position but if things change I’ll volunteer for her campaign.

  165. 165.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud:

    I didn’t do well in that interview.

    It probably would have helped if you’d worn pants.

  174. 174.

    J R in WV

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Wikileaks thinks the Ecuadorans needed a special spy to keep an eye on a guy who was living in their embassy? That’s absurd in so many ways, it shows how naive the boys in Anonymous and Wikileaks are~!!

    Ecuador knew every text, every phone call, every internet web page he looked at. They didn’t need a Spy, they own Assange until he flees the premises.

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