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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Excellent Links / Miserable Is Exactly Right

Miserable Is Exactly Right

by John Cole|  August 1, 20188:02 pm| 160 Comments

This post is in: Excellent Links

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This is a great piece:

Miserable.

Every time I see them, this is the word that prevails.

Whenever I encounter a supporter of this President on social media now, or scan the crowds at his propaganda rallies, or see his surrogates bloviating on talk shows or pounding upon pulpits, I am left with the same conclusion: they are a people bereft of joy.

There is no happiness, no benevolence, nothing life-giving left there.

The emotional deficit is continually on display:

In their contorted, sneering countenance; in their so readily brandished middle finger; in their steady spit shower of verbal filth. With each angry gesture and with every slandering epithet, they reveal in high-definition detail what it looks like when someone loses the light inside them.

War does this to the human heart. These people are at war with the world.

It’s so true.

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Reader Interactions

160Comments

  1. 1.

    germy

    August 1, 2018 at 8:04 pm

    “To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell’s heart, I stab at thee; For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee.”

  2. 2.

    The Midnight Lurker

    August 1, 2018 at 8:05 pm

    A friend of mine has a term for it, “Butt hurt.”

  3. 3.

    zhena gogolia

    August 1, 2018 at 8:06 pm

    It is a great piece.

  4. 4.

    charluckles

    August 1, 2018 at 8:07 pm

    “These are the wildest of ironies: Their President is in the White House, their politicians commandeer the House and Senate, the Supreme Court is tilted on their favor—and yet they still manage to feel themselves oppressed, still picture the world unfair, still rage against a machine they’ve made and are part of. So many of them claim faith in Jesus, and yet live in almost polar opposition to his example.”

    Hear! hear!

  5. 5.

    different-church-lady

    August 1, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    No, you have it wrong: being at war with the world is what gives them joy.

    Misery is joy, in their world.

    So in the end it is not that they are miserable: it is that the thing that gives them their warped version of joy is truly pathetic.

  6. 6.

    Brickley Paiste

    August 1, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    Bereft of joy?

    Unlike the cheerful, happy-go-lucky folks who comment here, I suppose?

    :-)

  7. 7.

    germy

    August 1, 2018 at 8:13 pm

    Trump literally told a police association group to stop taking it easy on suspects, protecting their heads when they put suspects in a police vehicle. He has encouraged supporters to violently rough up protesters and even once offered to pay resulting legal defense bills. https://t.co/1fXScVtUEh
    — Jennifer Hayden (@Scout_Finch) August 1, 2018

  8. 8.

    Scotius

    August 1, 2018 at 8:13 pm

    I rememeber noticing after Trump’s victory just how angry his supporters were. Back in 2008, I was overjoyed and relieved that Obama had won. Yes, I may have been angry at what W and the GOP had done to the country, but I was mostly just happy the Democrats were back in. Trump supporters on the other hand were just about the sorest winners I’ve ever seen. It was like they already knew that the victory was illegitimate.

  9. 9.

    magurakurin

    August 1, 2018 at 8:14 pm

    interesting twitter threads here on Trump’s mob connections. It really can’t be coincidence that the man who sent John Gotti to prison, Robert Mueller, is now working on taking down Trump. Mueller knows these people and how they work. This really is a RICO case. The miserable people are so bitter, so angry, so blinded, that they elected the Mob to run the country out of pure ignorance and spite. fuck me.

  10. 10.

    germy

    August 1, 2018 at 8:15 pm

    Hey Bernie @SenSanders, your 2016 campaign chief strategist Tad Devine testified at Manafort’s trial today about how they did some shady Russian backed shit in Ukraine. Yet you never mentioned this and voted against the Magnitsky act. I want my vote and donation back.
    — Kevin Wald (@Kevin__Wald) August 1, 2018

  11. 11.

    ? Martin

    August 1, 2018 at 8:18 pm

    @charluckles: I don’t think it’s ironic. This is a group of people (white Christians) that lost their 400 year old majority status and moved to (bare) minority status sometime when Obama was in office. That is the great crime they perceive, and yes, we got the extinction burst with Trump – a last desperate election turnout gasp to embrace someone radical enough to do what it takes to reverse the demographic trend in this country, and despite all the power they’ve given him, it’s still not enough. When the modal age of whites is 57 and hispanics is 11, nothing short of genocide will restore the old order, and I’m confident there are at least 2 Republicans not willing to sign onto that (though perhaps not many more than 2).

    Even Jeff Sessions isn’t white and bigoted enough to fix this, so the crisis continues despite sucking up to some rich Yankee with a Russia fetish. They know how they feel about minorities and now they are about to be one, and it scares them to fucking death. The Supreme Court may buy them a bit of time, but just a bit. Their time is just about over, and they know it.

    I can’t help but be optimistic, though I would prefer to do the next 4-8 years in a medically induced coma.

  12. 12.

    Roger Moore

    August 1, 2018 at 8:18 pm

    @charluckles:
    I think their core problem is that all the power in the world won’t let them turn back time. They desperately want things to be the way they used to be (or the way they imagine they used to be) but the genie just won’t go back into the bottle.

  13. 13.

    magurakurin

    August 1, 2018 at 8:19 pm

    @Scotius:

    Trump supporters on the other hand were just about the sorest winners I’ve ever seen. It was like they already knew that the victory was illegitimate.

    I think it’s because they thought the next morning all the black, brown, yellow and red people would have been sent away or cowered back into 19th century submission. They are still angry because nothing changed in that regard. And it never will. White people constitute something like 11 to 12% of the world’s population. Fear of a Black Planet is actual not that it will become that…but the realization that it already is that. Fuck em. They can die miserable for all I care.

  14. 14.

    The Midnight Lurker

    August 1, 2018 at 8:19 pm

    @germy: I keep telling you people… I like some of the things Bernie says, but…

  15. 15.

    piratedan

    August 1, 2018 at 8:19 pm

    @charluckles: they expected us to greet them as liberators…..

  16. 16.

    MisterForkbeard

    August 1, 2018 at 8:20 pm

    @germy: Truly, Khan Noonien Singh has a quote for every situation.

    @The Midnight Lurker: This is actually where I’ve always been with Bernie. Some of his stuff is great. His tactics and detailed policies are utter shit, though. And he doesn’t seem to know who his allies are, since he keeps shitting on them.

  17. 17.

    Thoughtful David

    August 1, 2018 at 8:22 pm

    So, Trump now says he won’t shut the government down until after the election.
    What a brilliant negotiating tactic! Now the Democrats have absolutely no incentive to yield an inch on anything, since he’s said he won’t shut down until after the election. That guy–the art of the deal is just so amazing!

  18. 18.

    CliosFanBoy

    August 1, 2018 at 8:23 pm

    @The Midnight Lurker: same here. He did not wear well on me…

  19. 19.

    Platonailedit

    August 1, 2018 at 8:25 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    Yup, their miserable inherent hatred is their joy. Just look at their dear leader.

  20. 20.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 1, 2018 at 8:28 pm

    Aggrieved entitlement. It’s all they have. And, given that they’re basing their identity around it, it’s all they ever will have.

  21. 21.

    WilliamC

    August 1, 2018 at 8:28 pm

    Delurking to add: if there’s one thing I’ve learned traveling the country and talking to his people (and all other kinds of people the past couple years since the inauguration), it’s this: they are as insane in person as they appear on tv. But also just as sweet as everyone liberal that I’ve ever met.

    Americans. They’ll smile at you, inquire after your loved ones, and offer you punch and pie while marching you to the ovens.

  22. 22.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 1, 2018 at 8:29 pm

    Enough. I don’t want to read about T’s supporters. I know all that there is worth knowing about them.

  23. 23.

    CliosFanBoy

    August 1, 2018 at 8:29 pm

    I enjoy John Pavlovitz’s writings from a liberal Christian perspective. His FB page is pretty good, although it does attract trolls.

  24. 24.

    oatler.

    August 1, 2018 at 8:30 pm

    This is how the dinosaurs became extinct. Their time had come and they went nuts .

  25. 25.

    Mary G

    August 1, 2018 at 8:32 pm

    Wow. The end is something I have to remember every day:

    As disheartening as it is to witness people this internally toxic, it’s a cautionary reminder of who we do not want to become, of what we can’t let the fight do to us.

    We have to fight to keep goodness inside us, despite the outside badness; to never be defined by how many things we hate.

    I want my default response to this life to always be hope and not derision.

    May we who oppose this national malignancy, never become so devoid of lightness that we resemble those who support it.

    May we never celebrate someone’s suffering, never weaponize our religion to do harm, never grow comfortable with hearts that are only capable of anger.

    May we never lose our laughter, our softness, our lightness in this life, and let a smile come easily to us.

    May we never become as miserable as those who support this President.

    That is when we know we’ve lost.

    It can be so tempting to decide to be like them in order to defeat them. I needed this today, thanks JGC.

  26. 26.

    The Midnight Lurker

    August 1, 2018 at 8:32 pm

    @oatler.: Isn’t that how we all go?

  27. 27.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    August 1, 2018 at 8:33 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I’m with you! Enough about those people.

    Are you in Capuano’s district?

  28. 28.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    August 1, 2018 at 8:35 pm

    Dead on. They only feel happy when somebody else is suffering. I know some of these people, and they’d be mighty pissed off if anybody said this about them, and they’ll swear up and down and inside and out that they want only the best for everybody, but, well, shit. Everything this guy says is true. There are people who can only be happy when somebody else is unhappy. They get off on it, a lot of them. Or maybe even sadder, a lot of others don’t even get off on it, it doesn’t really make them happy, but it’s the nearest they can get to happy.

  29. 29.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 1, 2018 at 8:36 pm

    @The Ancient Randonneur:No, McGovern’s district.

  30. 30.

    The Midnight Lurker

    August 1, 2018 at 8:37 pm

    @? Martin: Boy, I think you’re right on the mark with this. If you can get one of these Trumpers roped off from the herd, they will profess that yes, there is global warming, and yes, we need better gun control, and yes, wealth income is moving upwards, not down, and yes, cutting taxes is not always good, and yes, yes, yes. But the minute you start talking about racial identity, the idea that ‘white people’ might be a minority in the future, THAT’S what they get fired up about. I blame Obama.

  31. 31.

    Johannes

    August 1, 2018 at 8:39 pm

    @different-church-lady: They’re like the “ghosts” in C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce.

  32. 32.

    Kirk

    August 1, 2018 at 8:40 pm

    @charluckles: I think the quote misses the point.

    There’s a large portion of organized Christianity – particularly evangelical Christianity – that has thrived on victimhood for decades. “We are always outnumbered, always opposed, under constant threat of harm due simply to the practice of our faith.” (Paraphrase, not quote.)

    Told that there are more Christians in the world than practitioners of any other faith and that it has been this way since WWII and they’ll boggle or call you a liar. Dig deeper and they’ll hold two points – ‘those aren’t real Christians’ and ‘all the other faiths are just faces of the same implacable foe.’ Evangelical Christianity is not the largest branch, and Christianity isn’t the majority.

    And as an underdog under constant threat, the underlying truth to their faith must be that they are at constant war – war to convert, and war to resist counter-action.

    It does not matter that President and court and majority are theirs. The president is constantly thwarted, there are court members who (like those ‘other’ Christians) sometimes side with the foes and congress keeps being prevented from enacting /their/ agenda — it’s a majority, but it’s not victory. And so the war goes on — until the final trump sounds.

  33. 33.

    Catherine D.

    August 1, 2018 at 8:43 pm

    Kinda cranky right now. I got a targeted email from Elizabeth Warren urging support for women candidates in NY which completely omitted the woman (Tracy Mitrano) running in my congressional district. And this on the day that her human buttplug opponent Tom Reed is salivating about brokering the vote for the next Speaker of the House.

  34. 34.

    germy

    August 1, 2018 at 8:43 pm

    The NRA says in a lawsuit that NRATV may have to cease operations – and they say that like it would be a bad thing.
    — Simon Hedlin (@simonhedlin) August 1, 2018

  35. 35.

    jnfr

    August 1, 2018 at 8:45 pm

    A friend of mine calls it “the United States of Spite”.

  36. 36.

    ? Martin

    August 1, 2018 at 8:46 pm

    @The Midnight Lurker: Obama was evidence of their fears. His election proved that white Christian supremacy wasn’t inevitable and wasn’t durable. They had to be proactive. Extreme voter suppression and gerrymandering is part of that toolkit. Side with the Russians to preserve the majority? If that’s the price they have to pay… Tolerate a grab em by the püssy philanderer? If that’s the price they have to pay…

  37. 37.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 1, 2018 at 8:46 pm

    Avarosis is trying to make this woman the face of Les Deplorables on twitter. I think he’s on to something.

    ETA: This was the tweet, and message, I meant to link to. Hope that one works.

  38. 38.

    ? Martin

    August 1, 2018 at 8:49 pm

    @Kirk: Christians are only the majority if you count all of those brown and black people. They, as you note, are not true Christians. See my comment above.

  39. 39.

    Brachiator

    August 1, 2018 at 8:50 pm

    @germy:

    @MisterForkbeard:

    “To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell’s heart, I stab at thee; For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee.”

    Star Trek via Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

    Trump is a bag of resentments very much like an Ahab. And he encourages similarly pointless rage in his supporters.

  40. 40.

    Yutsano

    August 1, 2018 at 8:55 pm

    So I heard an opposition commercial for Lisa Brown (the opponent of Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, and literally all it said was she likes to raise taxes. That and calling her “Liberal Lisa”. I’m thinking they’re scared as hell and they got nothing to run against her on. So if we want a good candidate to support on our next fundraising round Lisa Brown for the 5th District in Washington will be a good one to support.

  41. 41.

    Baud

    August 1, 2018 at 8:56 pm

    @Yutsano:

    That sort of thing would have been enough in the past. Maybe they think it will work one more time.

  42. 42.

    Platonailedit

    August 1, 2018 at 8:57 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Look at all that venomous hate. Yup, she sure is turning up to vote.

  43. 43.

    tobie

    August 1, 2018 at 8:57 pm

    I’ve been thinking of late that the nation is at a boiling point and the scum is rising to the top. The world is seeing the underbelly we always knew was there. The racism, the resentment, the entitlement of the WWC that found its first standard bearer in Sarah Palin is now exposed. I’m at the point of saying Trump supporters are scum.

  44. 44.

    Amir Khalid

    August 1, 2018 at 8:58 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:
    Maybe it was easier for me since I’m not American and he never tried to cast his glamour over me, but I always saw Bernie and his fine populist words as an empty shell with a hollow candidate inside.

  45. 45.

    Joel

    August 1, 2018 at 8:59 pm

    Whatever the misery, he could not regain contentment with a world which, once doubted, became absurd.

  46. 46.

    JMG

    August 1, 2018 at 8:59 pm

    I am old, like many Trumpers, and many Balloon Juicers, to be sure. There are things from my youth that I objectively think are better than things today (hot cars1 The music!!!), but I am not so far gone as to not know that in most ways, most of life is way better no Vietnam, for now. No assassinations every other month), To rage against the world changing is to rage against the human condition. That’s really stupid among other things. Most Trumpers are pretty stupid among other things.

  47. 47.

    Amir Khalid

    August 1, 2018 at 9:00 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Star Trek via Herman Melville’s Moby Dick

    I think you mean Herman Melville’s Moby Dick via Star Trek.

  48. 48.

    Roger Moore

    August 1, 2018 at 9:01 pm

    @Kirk:
    I think a huge part of Evangelical Christian persecution complex is that they’ve been explicitly told that it’s good to be persecuted. It’s right there in the Sermon on the Mount:

    10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
    11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
    12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

    They really, really want to be persecuted for their religious beliefs because Jesus has told them it’s a guaranteed ticket to heaven. When they aren’t being persecuted, they’ll desperately search for anything that looks vaguely like persecution so they can claim to be victims. And, of course, they’ll act like giant, flaming assholes to provoke negative responses that they can claim are actually persecution.

  49. 49.

    kindness

    August 1, 2018 at 9:02 pm

    I think a lot of the testosterone Trumpies are welled up with hate (and that includes females as we are a progressive lot now aren’t we?) . I mean, hate is boiling up so hard inside them it makes them insane. They don’t think, they just react. Just the way Fox News likes them. I don’t think they’ve given up. What they expected out of life isn’t the same as what I did. What they want is different from what I want. That joy of hurting those you despise is from hate, not emptiness. They think they should live in a 1950’s world as white men did then.

  50. 50.

    Mike J

    August 1, 2018 at 9:08 pm

    @Thoughtful David:

    So, Trump now says he won’t shut the government down until after the election.

    That means he believes Dems will take the house. Somebody told him it was moronic to shutdown the government when Republicans run everything.

  51. 51.

    VOR

    August 1, 2018 at 9:09 pm

    @Brachiator: “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” Friedrich Nietzsche

  52. 52.

    Mike J

    August 1, 2018 at 9:10 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    I think you mean Herman Melville’s Moby Dick via Star Trek.

    Once you accept that Shakespeare is best in the original Klingon, Melville is no stretch.

  53. 53.

    Amir Khalid

    August 1, 2018 at 9:12 pm

    @Kirk:
    As I understand it, presumed and self-identified Christians are a plurality on Earth, but a diminishing one since the bulk of the world’s population growth is in countries with a non-Christian majority.

  54. 54.

    Kay

    August 1, 2018 at 9:13 pm

    Well, now I want to win OH-12, so I’m stuck with that. It was easier when it was less competitive. Now it seems close so it will be disappointing if it doesn’t turn out right.

    The Aug. 7 special election in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District is in a statistical dead heat between Republican Troy Balderson and Democrat Danny O’Connor, according to a new poll from Monmouth University.

    You could just strangle these “non voting” people. I mean, come on. It takes half an hour. We all easily expend more time and energy going for ice cream in Ohio (and way more frequently) Maybe offer these coy, shy voters a sundae bar? Is THAT what they want?

  55. 55.

    Yutsano

    August 1, 2018 at 9:13 pm

    @Baud: Man you just listen to the ad and it’s pathetic. McMorris Rodgers doesn’t say anything about her actual record, just that she likes to raise taxes. It’s almost defensive. Like she’s trying to justify her tax cut vote.

  56. 56.

    Baud

    August 1, 2018 at 9:15 pm

    @Yutsano: I hope the district feels the same way.

  57. 57.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 1, 2018 at 9:15 pm

    Also, we can feel morally superior to these people later, we need to win in November first. Its literally do or die.

  58. 58.

    TenguPhule

    August 1, 2018 at 9:15 pm

    @charluckles:

    and yet they still manage to feel themselves oppressed, still picture the world unfair, still rage against a machine they’ve made and are part of.

    Black and brown people still have rights and the women are not available at their beck and call like brood mares.

    And the dirty fucking liberals are still right about everything.

    Of course they’re still pissed.

  59. 59.

    TenguPhule

    August 1, 2018 at 9:17 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Its literally do or die.

    I thought you considered this line of thinking gloom pron?

  60. 60.

    Elizabelle

    August 1, 2018 at 9:17 pm

    @Kay: What drives me nuts is, if you told most of these nonvoters that they couldn’t follow their sports teams, or listen to their music, they would be up in arms.

    But they are too dim to give some credence to voting. We are a nation of juveniles, unfortunately. American exceptionalism is actually American adolescence.

    These nonvoting fools have to man up and take on responsibility. I am not going to act like they are all voter-suppressed. Some are, but most are not. They suppress their own damn selves, through apathy and ignorance. Not grading them on a curve.

  61. 61.

    Amir Khalid

    August 1, 2018 at 9:17 pm

    @Mike J:
    So much of Earth culture originally came from Klingon. It’s not widely known, but one of the many songs Pete Seeger popularised is from there.

  62. 62.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 1, 2018 at 9:17 pm

    @TenguPhule: Gloom porn is just stressing on the die part.

  63. 63.

    TenguPhule

    August 1, 2018 at 9:17 pm

    @Kay:

    It takes half an hour. We all easily expend more time and energy going for ice cream in Ohio (and way more frequently)

    And for the districts neglected and stuck with not enough voting booths?

  64. 64.

    OldDave

    August 1, 2018 at 9:18 pm

    @oatler.:

    This is how the dinosaurs became extinct. Their time had come and they went nuts

    Sure it wasn’t aliens?

  65. 65.

    Chetan Murthy

    August 1, 2018 at 9:19 pm

    @Kay: It’s 15min at my precinct. But I’ve seen those videos of the crazy-long lines in some of the (ahem) darker-complexioned precincts. I can imagine people being unable to take the time out to do it. And as Atrios (? I think) has pointed out, getting and staying registered isn’t easy when KKKris KKKobach is out to purge you.

  66. 66.

    Elizabelle

    August 1, 2018 at 9:20 pm

    @TenguPhule: It’s true, some of that does happen. But it does not account for most of the non-participation.

    Democrats got to get on the stick voting lever.

  67. 67.

    TenguPhule

    August 1, 2018 at 9:20 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    Other people’s Misery is joy, in their world.

    FTFY.

    They’re sociopaths.

  68. 68.

    MagdaInBlack

    August 1, 2018 at 9:20 pm

    @Amir Khalid:
    I used to listen to Bernie on Thomm Hartmann..he was on every week. At first he was interesting, but over time I realized he never really SAID anything. It seemed every answer was a series of talking points. There didn’t seem to be any substance. So I’m with you. I’m going with “empty suit.”

  69. 69.

    Platonailedit

    August 1, 2018 at 9:20 pm

    The guy that literally never stops talkin’ is tellin’ the feller you’ve never heard speak to “put up or shut up.”

    https://t.co/zL2XYCUpyA— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) August 1, 2018

  70. 70.

    Ksmiami

    August 1, 2018 at 9:21 pm

    @magurakurin: they are perilously close to sealing their own doom as the so called coastal elites, brown hoardes, youth etc will not so easily continue to support their childish reliance on white welfare- I hope they die off quickly

  71. 71.

    Elizabelle

    August 1, 2018 at 9:22 pm

    @Chetan Murthy: When I canvass, I always ask that folks vote early. Absentee in person, or mail in. Don’t leave it ’til Election Day. Suppose you have an auto accident? Bank that vote. Voting is more important than “Election Day.”

    I wonder if most states allow some form of early and mail voting. I have heard that Pennsylvania is pretty stringent about reasons for voting absentee, which is terrible to hear in a state with so many elderly. (Skews among the oldest in the US.)

  72. 72.

    Mnemosyne

    August 1, 2018 at 9:23 pm

    It’s a pretty common human thing to do: people who are miserable want to make everyone around them just as miserable as they are. And it’s 10 times worse when those miserable people have some kind of power over others, no matter how small.

  73. 73.

    eemom

    August 1, 2018 at 9:25 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Also, we can feel morally superior to these people later, we need to win in November first. Its literally do or die.

    To which I add, who the fuck cares if they’re miserable, or ecstatic, or whatever the fuck they are? Why are “we” jumping on the idiot emmessemm obsession with analyzing why these sick, stupid, self defeating fucktards are sick, stupid, self defeating fucktards? Why waste our energy? WHO CARES??

  74. 74.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 1, 2018 at 9:26 pm

    @Platonailedit: I know Mueller will move on his own schedule, but I do wish he would call Rudi’s bluff and indict Junior and The Son He Wishes He’d Had. Or he could just call them in for questioning on the same day and watch the twitter fireworks.

  75. 75.

    MomSense

    August 1, 2018 at 9:27 pm

    @Kay:

    I listened to a crooked conversation podcast episode where Jon Lovett interviewed Adam Grant, a behavioral psychologist.

    To grossly simplify, the research shows that identity is more motivational than asking people to do something. It’s more effective to say be a voter. It’s a quick and engaging interview. It has changed how I communicate about voting.
    I heard a recent interview with a few of the Parkland kids recently and their message is be a hero be a voter.
    Anyway here is the link.

    https://crooked.com/podcast/will-psychology-save-us/

    I’ll see if I can find the interview with the Parkland kids.

  76. 76.

    Sister Golden Bear

    August 1, 2018 at 9:30 pm

    And they want ensure that everyone else is at least as miserable as they are.

    The only tiny bits of pleasure they seem to get is finding someone they can kick down and make even more miserable.

    And while it’s gotten far less attention they’ve been mounting a war – and I don’t use that term lightly – again LGBT people, and especially trans people, to try to make our lives so miserable that we’re eradicated from public life (and I don’t mean that figuratively). I just had to spend several hundred dollars more to get a notarized documentation of my surgery, which might prevent problems renewing my passport with my correct gender marker — assuming the Talibapists don’t simply decide that in the spirit of Gilead that my passport should always display the sex I was assigned at birth. A move designed to intentionally out me, and make it unsafe for me to travel to a good number countries.

    From the Golden Snark thread a few days ago (which was a really good discussion that needs continuing), MomSense noted:

    There is so much violence directed at transgender people and it’s getting almost no coverage. We could do a lot more to educate ourselves and provide a safer space here than we do now. Maybe one of our book threads could be used to provide sources for learning. I also think there are times and topics that would benefit from more assertive moderation.

    FWYW, Monica Roberts at Transgriot is the ABL of the trans world, and a great source to follow for the sort of outrages — and hate crimes/fatal attacks — our community is facing. Well worth following:

    https://transgriot.blogspot.com/

  77. 77.

    MagdaInBlack

    August 1, 2018 at 9:30 pm

    @eemom:
    Agreed. They are occupying far to much space in our heads.
    (But I do enjoy John Pavlovitz.)

  78. 78.

    Mnemosyne

    August 1, 2018 at 9:30 pm

    @Kay:

    Maybe offer these coy, shy voters a sundae bar? Is THAT what they want?

    Well, we’ve tried everything else, so why not? Have the county pay for it so it’s not partisan.

  79. 79.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 1, 2018 at 9:31 pm

    @Amir Khalid: If he were an empty shell with a hollow candidate inside, it might have been tolerable. But when he was actively working against the Democrat in the race, that made him an enemy, not a neutral.

  80. 80.

    karensky

    August 1, 2018 at 9:32 pm

    Hey, Cole, thanks for posting this piece. I read your post and then went to the whole thing. Terrific

  81. 81.

    CarolDuhart2

    August 1, 2018 at 9:33 pm

    @Elizabelle: Before we rail against non-voters, can we admit that we make it pretty hard to vote? Weekday voting so people have to ask some employers to let them come in late or leave early, and even then there’s a commute: time to get home, get the kids to school, and then stand in lines for hours sometimes to vote. And employers don’t always let people off in time. Then nowadays there’s voter id, lack of civics education, and among a lot of left-leaning people the insidous belief that “all parties are the same”.

    Can we at least make it easier to vote by making it on Saturday/Sunday, by mail? Then at least we could eliminate the commuter part and the asking employers for time off part. And the parties should at least do some sort of civics education between elections so that people understand the reason it’s important to vote. Engaged people vote.

  82. 82.

    raven

    August 1, 2018 at 9:34 pm

    We just went through a tornado warning, some friends came over with their two boys and doggie and we hung in the basement.

  83. 83.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    August 1, 2018 at 9:34 pm

    What has the RW pissed about President Obama, was there was no scandal on the man. SOLYNDRA, Fast and Furious, Benghazi. No scandal, no interns, the whole administration a model of ethics,while their choice fr president smells like raw sewage in the heat of summer.

  84. 84.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 1, 2018 at 9:34 pm

    @raven: those are no fun. Glad everything is okay.

  85. 85.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 1, 2018 at 9:35 pm

    @eemom: That was my earlier comment on this thread. We are in agreement.

  86. 86.

    GregB

    August 1, 2018 at 9:36 pm

    Trump is a wholly joyless human being and it goes to follow that his supporters are cut from the same grim, bitter and mean cloth.

  87. 87.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 1, 2018 at 9:37 pm

    @raven: I saw Bourdain’s Houston show. It was heart warming. Compared to the other immigrant stories, the Indian dancing in the grocery store aisles and the portly guys playing cricket was a bit lame.

  88. 88.

    raven

    August 1, 2018 at 9:37 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Yea, I’m pretty fatalistic about the whole thing but my bride gets all worried.

  89. 89.

    Brachiator

    August 1, 2018 at 9:40 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    So much of Earth culture originally came from Klingon.

    Trek lore has been so much fun. It’s too bad that the producers seem intent on ruining it with their plans for the next season of “Discovery.”

    I liked the new characters. I don’t need retreads of Captain Pike and young Spock as part of the mix.

  90. 90.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 1, 2018 at 9:40 pm

    @schrodingers_cat While I liked all his shows on all the networks, my impression was that in many cases, when he was somewhere he hadn’t had actual personal experience with beforehand, it came across pretty lame to the people who lived there or had significant experience there.

  91. 91.

    raven

    August 1, 2018 at 9:42 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I figured you watch it with a “critical” eye.

  92. 92.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 1, 2018 at 9:44 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I have never been to Houston. I was comparing the various immigrants he met when he was there and their stories.

  93. 93.

    MomSense

    August 1, 2018 at 9:45 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    Thanks for the tip about Monica Roberts. I’ll go check out her blog.

    Do you watch the Netflix reboot of Queer Eye? One of the episodes in the second season was about a transgender man. The process of trying to get a drivers license in Georgia with the correct gender marker was so degrading for him. I was a puddle of tears just about that.

    He is trans ginger on instagram and as a result of the show has a huge following. Seeing how strangers are showing him love and affirmation has been such a bright spot.
    The episode starts with top surgery. Knowing that you are recovering from surgery, I don’t want you to be surprised by it if it’s too close to your own surgery to watch it now.

  94. 94.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 1, 2018 at 9:46 pm

    Is anyone watching Sacred Games? I am done with episode 3. I will finish watching the series this weekend.

  95. 95.

    raven

    August 1, 2018 at 9:47 pm

    @MomSense: The part where they are driving around went right past my street. He works at UGA and was quite a trailblazer when in grad school too.

  96. 96.

    James E Powell

    August 1, 2018 at 9:47 pm

    @CarolDuhart2:

    Can we at least make it easier to vote by making it on Saturday/Sunday, by mail?

    This and the other things you say all have merit. Problem is that Democrats will have to win like six or seven national elections in a row in order to get any of them advanced even to the discussion stage. So, what say that in the meantime everybody puts out a little effort and votes without bitching about how hard it is.

  97. 97.

    p.a.

    August 1, 2018 at 9:48 pm

    Don’t know, and it doesn’t really matter, if Putin is a true believer or just using bigotry to fuel his kleptocracy while weakening the western alliance, but he sensed the zeitgeist and these sorry excuses for humans like a book, here and in Europe. Put a coin in the slot and watch the bile pour out. Here in the US the soil was wonderfully prepped by the Repub Party, Fox, and hate radio.

  98. 98.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 1, 2018 at 9:49 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I may have phrased myself imprecisely. When traveling to some (many?) countries or dealing with communities that he wasn’t familiar with, he’d have a “guide” – a sort of fixer/interpreter. Some of them were pretty terrible, and while they may have made “entertaining” TV, they did not present the country or community in a light that actual experienced residents or knowledgeable visitors found accurate.

  99. 99.

    The Midnight Lurker

    August 1, 2018 at 9:49 pm

    @? Martin: White Christian MALE supremacy, you mean. Don’t leave me out, man.

  100. 100.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 1, 2018 at 9:51 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: What did you think of his Russian guide, Zamir. I think he was from Crimea IIRC.

    ETA: The subcontinent is home to many languages and cultures and two things that bind everyone are cricket and Hindi movies. So it was sort of cliche and sort of true, the things he chose to highlight about the Indian diaspora in Houston.

  101. 101.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 1, 2018 at 9:53 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Part of the reason for my criticism.

  102. 102.

    MomSense

    August 1, 2018 at 9:54 pm

    @raven:

    He’s also a cat person which makes him even more awesome.

    How is lil not doing?

  103. 103.

    MomSense

    August 1, 2018 at 9:54 pm

    @MomSense:

    Should be how is lil bit doing.

  104. 104.

    CliosFanBoy

    August 1, 2018 at 9:57 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I can multitask..

  105. 105.

    tobie

    August 1, 2018 at 9:57 pm

    This is off topic, but I wanted to ask if anyone else got a mailer from the Census Bureau saying you could fill out the “American Community Survey” (i.e., census) online now in lieu of waiting to receive it in the mail. I don’t recall getting a census form (paper or electronic) two years ahead of schedule. And I also thought that the citizenship question was currently being litigated, thus delaying the printing/posting of the actual census.

  106. 106.

    CliosFanBoy

    August 1, 2018 at 9:58 pm

    @MagdaInBlack: I agree with Hartman on many issues, but damn, he’s a poor historian. Drive me nuts…

  107. 107.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 1, 2018 at 9:58 pm

    Shannon Pettypiece @ spettypi
    That moment when Susan Collins hears Trump’s Tweet on Sessions: “Jeez!” she gasped as she was read the tweet. “This is unbelievable.”

    she then convened her senior staff to help her decide whether to have a burrito bowl or a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch

  108. 108.

    Shell

    August 1, 2018 at 10:00 pm

    still picture the world unfair, still rage against a machine they’ve made and are part of.

    And basing all their decisions, politics-wise, on whether itll piss off this imaginary group of people who they’ve never even met. (“Suck it Libtards!)

  109. 109.

    Barbara

    August 1, 2018 at 10:01 pm

    @Yutsano: I think Cathie McMorris-Rodgers hasn’t really had to run a savvy campaign in quite a few election cycles. One of the things that the Virginia state House of Delegate races showed last November is how many representatives were re-elected mostly because no one was really paying attention. They really had no idea how to run once that happened, especially given the demographic change in their districts.

  110. 110.

    Felony Govt

    August 1, 2018 at 10:03 pm

    I think the flying monkeys really thought we would cave after the election. They’re surprised and angry about the strength of the resistance. Why don’t we “respect” them?

  111. 111.

    catpal

    August 1, 2018 at 10:04 pm

    I talked to landord and she is scary angry that I may need to see a doctor about dog bite and that it would be reported to Health Dept and “go on the dog’s record.” Looks like I need t find a new place to live and I cannot afford to move right now -life rally sucks sometimes :(

  112. 112.

    CarolDuhart2

    August 1, 2018 at 10:05 pm

    @James E Powell: Thanks to federalism, states control most of the voting machinery and make most of the rules. We could win back state legislatures and reform that way (and reform other things too). Between elections, we can make the case that our voting system needs to accommodate the changes since the Industrial Revolution, like the fact that people no longer live and work in the same neighborhoods, the existence of shift work, the increased population of voters, and so forth. We simply need more than a day’s voting. Yes there has to be a final day, but it shouldn’t be just one day, one shift. We should be eliminating lines altogether, and have a neutral way of informing people that there’s an election coming up. How about daycare for voters with children, or voting places downtown for voters who have to commute so they could vote on breaks and lunch?

  113. 113.

    rikyrah

    August 1, 2018 at 10:08 pm

    @germy:
    ????

  114. 114.

    rikyrah

    August 1, 2018 at 10:12 pm

    @Scotius:
    They are angry because our side has been in a perpetual state of Phuck Outta Here ? ? since November 2016.
    Not only do we not respect Dolt45, but we don’t respect them for voting for him. To us, it shows their lack of character

  115. 115.

    eric

    August 1, 2018 at 10:12 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: took me two days. much enjoyment.

  116. 116.

    Mandalay

    August 1, 2018 at 10:13 pm

    @Mary G:

    It can be so tempting to decide to be like them in order to defeat them.

    Indeed. In particular, I find myself struggling with this:

    May we never celebrate someone’s suffering

    I will surely gloat if Trump ends up in an orange jumpsuit, but if (say) one of his children died in a plane crash I really hope I won’t be celebrating. If I do I’ll have become like them.

  117. 117.

    Steve in the ATL

    August 1, 2018 at 10:14 pm

    @catpal: it sounds silly, but the bite would actually go on the dog’s record. Insurance record, that is. Every dog, except maybe breeds such as pit bulls, get one free bite. After that, the dog is a known biter and the owner will be liable for subsequent attacks.

    From a lawyer perspective, though, you don’t have a significant enough injury to press for damages. Can still get the dog in record as a biter, though.

  118. 118.

    Steve in the ATL

    August 1, 2018 at 10:17 pm

    @Mandalay: would absolutely not celebrate that. They need to die in prison after a long term, not in a plane crash.

  119. 119.

    Dan B

    August 1, 2018 at 10:19 pm

    @Yutsano: Go Lisa! She’s fantastic and a well seasoned politician. So competent and a great personality!!

    And… the power Dems believe she’s too liberal to win in her district! Off the record, of course. Giving up before trying. Drives me nuts.

  120. 120.

    Jay

    August 1, 2018 at 10:21 pm

    @Mandalay:

    I’ll gladly celibrate a Trumpist, a Gullibillie, a Deplorables self inflicted suffering, like the Permit Patties, the Crying Nazi or the 911 caller who wound up arrested.

  121. 121.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 1, 2018 at 10:24 pm

    @eric: I am savoring it. It has its flaws but its captivating.

  122. 122.

    Platonailedit

    August 1, 2018 at 10:26 pm

    Impeaching Donald Trump #BetterThanSexIn3Words pic.twitter.com/822u4vVwFS

    — ? Cathleen Burke ? (@ItsMeCathi) August 1, 2018

  123. 123.

    Brachiator

    August 1, 2018 at 10:27 pm

    @tobie: The survey appears to be legit. You might want to Google it to see stories about it.

  124. 124.

    rikyrah

    August 1, 2018 at 10:29 pm

    @tobie:
    I worked for the 2010 Census, and yes, the Survey is a real thing. It’s not a fraud.

  125. 125.

    Dan B

    August 1, 2018 at 10:29 pm

    @MomSense: The Parkland kids always seem to be on message emotionally and aspirationally. I hope they steer clear of the Russians and other infiltrators. We need examples of successful organizing to encourage more organizing.

    Be a hero, be a voter! Save Refugees, Save Families, Save Kids!

    Aspire to Hero!

  126. 126.

    chopper

    August 1, 2018 at 10:30 pm

    @catpal:

    she’s scared. sounds to me like this isn’t the first incident this dog has had. likely there’s something else on the record, and she’s scared b/c she loves this dog and knows it’s bad news if you report it.

    if a dog is a bitey asshole, you’re likely not the first person the dog has bitten. she knows this, and she hopes to god that you don’t know this. not saying she won’t make your life hell (kicking you out), but she’s hoping you don’t realize that you could make her life hell if you wanted to.

  127. 127.

    chopper

    August 1, 2018 at 10:33 pm

    @catpal:

    see if you can look up some records. see if the dog is a biter? if so, your relationship with your landlady can change.

  128. 128.

    West of the Rockies

    August 1, 2018 at 10:34 pm

    Trumpian Republicans on social media are enraged, wilfully stupid creatures. They relish any opportunity to “own the Libs”, having no genuine ability to do so or to even explain what that phrase means.

    It is discouraging to discover such a large swath of our country(wo)men are so vile and dishonorable.

  129. 129.

    tobie

    August 1, 2018 at 10:35 pm

    @rikyrah: @Brachiator: Thanks for the reassurance. I will all the same wait for the paper survey. I would like to see if there’s a citizenship question on it.

  130. 130.

    dmsilev

    August 1, 2018 at 10:35 pm

    @tobie: As I understand it, the ACS isn’t the census per se, but instead is a longer survey sent to some subset of the population. Its aim is to gather useful statistics on various things, but it isn’t used for redistricting the way the full decennial census is.

  131. 131.

    Jeffro

    August 1, 2018 at 10:36 pm

    @different-church-lady: maybe this is why Trumpov always plays “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” at his rallies?

    I sense an evil mastermind at work there

  132. 132.

    Steve in the ATL

    August 1, 2018 at 10:36 pm

    @chopper: are you giving dog bite legal advice? Off my corner, ho!

  133. 133.

    Steve in the ATL

    August 1, 2018 at 10:39 pm

    @rikyrah: I will never look at people the same way after I find out they voted for trump. It’s indefensible.

  134. 134.

    Jeffro

    August 1, 2018 at 10:39 pm

    @magurakurin: you’re totally right

    These are lazy people…too lazy and selfish to engage with the world…their maximum effort was a vote for Trumpov and perhaps a rally

  135. 135.

    Dan B

    August 1, 2018 at 10:41 pm

    @catpal: Sorry to hear, terrible to hear. Do you have a Crisis Hotline in your area? Call them asap. They may have resources for you. Do nit tell your landlady what you are doing or appeal to her better angels. She’s likely to view everything you do or say as an attack on her. Repeat: Steer clear, say as little as possible. Dealing with her will most likely require a skilled negotiator. That’s not likely your area of expertise.

  136. 136.

    JAFD

    August 1, 2018 at 10:42 pm

    @tobie: I received an American Community Survey last year (maybe ’16 ???). It’s not the every-10-year CENSUS that determines legislative representation, etc, but a random sample of households, collecting data. So there’s some idea how many folks in the Ironbound have fast Internet connections ….

    BTW, back in the winter of ’08-’09, I took a Civil Service (?) test for workers on the preliminary work for the ’10 Census. Was interesting, good pay – walking around neighborhoods with ‘wrist computer’ checking whether buildings were still there (burned down ?), how many dwelling units (count the electric meters), whether anyone lived in that structure in the back (OK, a garden shed – millions of people would say it was a mansion….)

    If you might be looking for part-time work next spring or summer, keep checking the Post Office, or maybe ask your Congressperson to keep you informed.

  137. 137.

    West of the Rockies

    August 1, 2018 at 10:47 pm

    @eemom:

    I get your irritation, ee, but I think you could answer your own question: we care what the fucktards think because we must defeat them. We must know our enemy. And–this is important–our enemy cheats through voter disenfranchisement, gerrymandering, and lying, Lying, LYING.

  138. 138.

    Dan B

    August 1, 2018 at 10:50 pm

    We have relatives and acquaintances that go blank when they start their FOX talking points. It’s eerie as though they’re not there. No one home.

    It looks lik a parody of brainwashing. When they get really angry the talking points get simpler and repetitious.

    Scary.

    Or: Sad! To quote a certain twitler.

  139. 139.

    Platonailedit

    August 1, 2018 at 10:53 pm

    The rw assholes love their authoritarians.

    A group of European populist and nationalist politicians descended upon Cambodia last weekend to observe national elections – which they lauded with glowing reviews as being free and fair.

    The vote, which saw Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) win all 125 seats in parliament and extend his 33-year rule, was derided by rights groups as a “sham”.

    The EU, the US and Japan – which have long lavished aid and electoral assistance on Cambodia – withdrew their observers. In their absence a group of populist, Eurosceptic, pro-Russia politicians from the UK Independence Party (Ukip), the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the Czech Freedom and Direct Democracy Party, the Austrian Freedom Party and an assortment of personalities from right-wing parties in Italy were paraded in front of the Cambodian press as “European Union observers”.

  140. 140.

    eponymous

    August 1, 2018 at 10:58 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Agree 100%. I want them to live out their full allotment of years anddie of natural causes. In jail.

  141. 141.

    Ohio Mom

    August 1, 2018 at 11:03 pm

    @catpal: Oh dear. Sounds like your landlady is on the mentally ill side of things. That does make things harder.

    You still have to go to the doctor though.

    Bedtime for me. See you all tomorrow.

  142. 142.

    Steve in the ATL

    August 1, 2018 at 11:03 pm

    @Platonailedit: funded by Russian mobsters is “populist “? Yeah right.

  143. 143.

    tobie

    August 1, 2018 at 11:04 pm

    @dmsilev: @JAFD: I checked the ACS online and apparently it’s sent to 295,000 random households/month. I guess I’m the lucky devil this time around.

    I’m not looking for work at the moment but I have a friend who could use some cash. I’ll tell her to keep her eyes peeled for census worker announcements.

  144. 144.

    catpal

    August 1, 2018 at 11:06 pm

    @Dan B: Thanks but I can’t stay away from her – if I go to the doctor she will be notified about the dog and if the dog has bitten someone before – that;s really bad for the dog I think – and I am a pet lover too so now I really don’t know what to do. I tried to talk to her but she yells and would not have a reasonable discussion. and I have to be concerned what if it does get infected?

  145. 145.

    Dan B

    August 1, 2018 at 11:06 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear: The violence against Trans in the US is appalling. My area coordinator is trans but just wants to be called lesbian. She’s a great character. I socialize with half a dozen trans here, some activists you may know: Marcia ( or is it Marsha?) Botzer and Danni Askini. They’re fantastic, although I’ve heard rimblings that Danni is currently feeling afraid and contemplating moving to New Zealand.

    Seattle’s been so friendly to trans and drag it’s hard to swallow. I’ve also git a young genderqueer neice/nephew – too young yet. They’re everywhere!

    Best of luck with your travels.

  146. 146.

    Steeplejack

    August 1, 2018 at 11:08 pm

    @Kay:

    Maybe offer these coy, shy voters a sundae bar? Is THAT what they want?

    I guess a taco truck is right out.

  147. 147.

    Kay

    August 1, 2018 at 11:08 pm

    @MomSense:

    Oh, thank you. Something new. That sounds right, doesn’t it? That “be a voter” would be better than “vote”?

    I ask people sometimes when they complain if they vote. Do you VOTE? Like that. It’s cranky- I’m not sure why I do it because it’s really pretty hostile- but “are you a voter?” is definitely a better question.

    I read the piece John linked to after I wrote the comment and I felt bad for trashing voters- although truth be told they’re kind of whiny and a pain in the ass :)

  148. 148.

    Dan B

    August 1, 2018 at 11:13 pm

    @catpal: Can you get to a private phone? If so call a Crisis Hotline even if it’s not in your area. They may even be availabke via email.

    Infection can start in a few hours. Please don’t delay.

  149. 149.

    Doug R

    August 1, 2018 at 11:13 pm

    @catpal: When I got bit on the job, I reported it to the local humane society. Let them deal with it, if he’s a biter, they should know.

  150. 150.

    Steeplejack

    August 1, 2018 at 11:16 pm

    @tobie:

    As others have said, the American Community Survey is not “the census.” Explainer here.

  151. 151.

    Chetan Murthy

    August 1, 2018 at 11:17 pm

    @catpal: I’m gonna be a little harsh here, b/c …. health is important, and only you can protect your health:

    Holy cow, catpal. You got bit by an animal? You should go to a doc and get it checked, no? I mean, everything else is secondary. Who knows what the dog has? And who cares what the landlord thinks? Are you willing to risk your life, or your limb, so you can live in that dwelling?

    Shit, this isn’t even a hard call, is it?

  152. 152.

    catpal

    August 1, 2018 at 11:18 pm

    @Ohio Mom: yes my landlord seems to have some issues she seems angry alot at trivial stuff even. But she is still blaming me for not waiting for her to get the dog before I came in – and she even said that if a delivery person had been bitten it would be their fault too. So yeah I am gonna have to move soon – that’s going to be hard financially. Thanks everyone for all advice and good night.

  153. 153.

    Steeplejack

    August 1, 2018 at 11:20 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    She then convened her senior staff to help her decide whether to have a burrito bowl or a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch.

    Said she was definitely committed to a burrito bowl, but when the office order was delivered she took someone else’s grilled cheese sandwich.

  154. 154.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 1, 2018 at 11:23 pm

    @catpal: IANAL, but it would be really fucked up if she could force you out because her dog bit you. If she’s a landlord, she has some kind of coverage. If she doesn’t want you as a tenant, she should pay you to move. I know a fight like that can often be more trouble than it’s worth, but maybe you can scare her into backing off till moving works for you.

  155. 155.

    chopper

    August 1, 2018 at 11:45 pm

    @catpal:

    if you really want to salvage your situation, i’d say sit on it but document everything, times
    and places and every conversation. if the bite ends up infected, you may need some
    medical help that could cost some serious money that you shouldn’t have to pay for. and it
    would suck for her to kick you out, but the cost of dealing with a serious infection is more than a couple months’ rent, and that’s on the record, depending on your state, you may have more
    rights to persue.

  156. 156.

    chopper

    August 1, 2018 at 11:52 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    if she has the coverage. plenty of people
    rent out a level of their house and don’t get requisite homeowners’ insurance cause it’s more expensive than the usual. then something happens with their renter and they’re pretty much fucked.

  157. 157.

    J R in WV

    August 2, 2018 at 12:09 am

    @germy:

    Hey Bernie, your 2016 campaign chief strategist Tad Devine testified at Manafort’s trial today about how they did some shady Russian backed shit in Ukraine. Yet you never mentioned this and voted against the Magnitsky act. …

    Yeah, I’ve thought for a while now that Senator Sanders is a tool of the Russians. Long enough ago that he never got a vote nor a $27 donation to pay Tad Devine with. No tax returns, appeared on Russia Today TV shows regularly, almost certainly paid for that “work”… honeymooned there back when the Soviets were in charge.

  158. 158.

    Sister Golden Bear

    August 2, 2018 at 12:12 am

    @MomSense: Haven’t seen the new Queer Eye, mostly due to lack of time, but it’s on the list. Knowing what I know about Southern States and trans folks, it doesn’t surprise me at all that they put him through a maximum amount of grief.

    FWIW, there was a bit of controversy within the trans community about the episode about whether the Queer Eye team was trying a bit too hard to remake him into a “respectable gay” — i.e. kind of losing the skater dude identity that seemed to be important to him. But haven’t seen the episode, so can’t comment specifically.

    BTW, https://www.lgbtqnation.com/ is also a good source of info about LGBT news (and Talibapist attacks on us).

    http://www.joemygod.com/ is really good at following the wingnutty attacks on on LGBT people, although like a lot of gay men’s news sites, it tends to come with a side of beefcake that may not always be SFW.

    @Dan B: Not really traveling for pleasure, currently it’s for surgery. But my issue is that I’m looking less and less like my current passport photo, which was taken immediately after I socially transitioned, but before I got facial feminization surgery (and lost 50 pounds to quality for the genital reassignment surgery. So I’m on the horns of a dilemma — I’m worried I may run into issues of not look enough like my passport photo, and so I was going to get my passport renewed when I got back. Now it looks like it’s best to wait until 2020, when it’s due for renewal.

    And yes, Seattle like the SF Bay Area, is an amazingly better place to be trans than most places.

  159. 159.

    Lloyd D Cowell

    August 2, 2018 at 3:00 am

    Never reading; only posting:

    WHAT DID YOU EXPECT FROM A GROUP OF PEOPLE (of whatever size) WHOSE SELF-ESTEEM IS SO LOW THAT THEY READILY ADOPTED THE INSULT “DEPLORABLE” AS THEIR OWN GROUP LABEL?

    I grew up down the Ohio River a bit from Cole’s current location. I know these people.
    Sorry for shouting. That is all.

  160. 160.

    Skepticat

    August 2, 2018 at 10:51 am

    @Mary G: Someone recently sent me this, which seems a worthy addendum to your comment. “People will throw stones at you. Don’t throw them back. Collect them all and build en empire.”

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