• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Come on, man.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

No one could have predicted…

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

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

White supremacy is terrorism.

Not all heroes wear capes.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Everybody saw this coming.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Mobile Menu

  • Winnable House Races
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Balloon Juice 2023 Pet Calendar (coming soon)
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • War in Ukraine
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • 2021-22 Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Politics / America / Boston Labor Day Weekend Meet Up and Primary Election Eve Open Thread

Boston Labor Day Weekend Meet Up and Primary Election Eve Open Thread

by Adam L Silverman|  August 7, 201811:14 pm| 116 Comments

This post is in: America, Domestic Politics, Election 2018, Events, Meetups and social events, Open Threads, Politics, Popular Culture, Post-racial America

FacebookTweetEmail

We can probably use a new election eve open thread, and since I’ve been waiting till we got within three weeks or so to post this Boston Meet Up request, consider this an open thread to comment about either or neither or, as usual, anything else that strikes your fancy.

So primary returns are coming in. Balderson is currently barely ahead in OH12 with 100% of the precincts reporting by 1,766 votes. There are 3,435 provisional ballots outstanding that still have to be verified and counted. And the rules in Ohio is that provisional cannot be counted until 10 days after the election. Right now the margin is at .9 for Balderson. Ohio law requires an automatic recount if the margin is .5 or less. So the provisionals have the potential to push this to a recount. This one won’t be finalized and certified for a while. And once it is, because this is a special election, Balderson and O’Connor will be running against themselves for this seat in the regular midterm in November. Regardless, this was a huge swing in this district from Republican to Democrat, which is, itself, a positive indicator of the mood of the electorate.

In Kansas, Krish Kobach is currently trailing the incumbent Kansas governor with 57% of precincts reporting. I know a lot of folks want him to win so that the Democratic candidate can run against him as an extremist. Personally, I just want him out of office. And since, because of his legal issues and the fiasco that was the President’s special committee to investigate non-existent voter fraud, which will make it almost impossible for him to get a Federal appointment. So if Kobach loses this primary, he’s out of government, back in private practice, and a senior fellow at some anti-immigrant institute. He’ll still be able to cause trouble and be a nuisance, but he won’t be able to directly negatively impact people’s lives.

As to the Boston Meet Up. Here’s the details from mostly lurker Big R:

I’ll be in Boston for the American Political Science Association over the Labor Day weekend. My schedule is fairly light; I have a teaching mini-conference on 8/29, I present on 9/2, and I have a few interviews lined up here and there. If BJ readers wanted to get together for a meal and/or a drink, I would be delighted to join them.

So those of you in the greater Boston area, if you’re interested, please chime in in the comments about availability for a meet up over the Labor Day weekend. I’ll run this again on Sunday and next week to make sure we get some good feedback.

Open thread!

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Not-Election-Results Open Thread: Go, Robotics Team Naatsis’aan!
Next Post: Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Excelsior! »

Reader Interactions

116Comments

  1. 1.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 7, 2018 at 11:15 pm

    I think I have a head cold.

  2. 2.

    StringOnAStick

    August 7, 2018 at 11:23 pm

    Sorry you are feeling coldish.

  3. 3.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 7, 2018 at 11:26 pm

    @StringOnAStick: Thanks. It happens I think I got dehydrated while detailing the car on Saturday evening, despite regularly hydrating while doing the work, and then caught a chill when I came back inside to clean up. I just feel bleh. Achy, sometimes flushed, sometimes chilled, sometimes muzzy headed, sometimes light headed, bit of a headache. I just had some chicken soup. I’m back to being properly hydrated, I had some electrolyte powder in water last night to make sure that wasn’t an issue. Basically I’ve been taking it easy for the past two days. And you know I’m not feeling well if I ditch the gym two days in a row.

  4. 4.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    August 7, 2018 at 11:30 pm

    I’m with you on Kobach losing. Remember how Trump being the GOP nominee made Clinton a shoo in? That worked out really well for all those kids our government put in concentration camps.

  5. 5.

    lamh36

    August 7, 2018 at 11:30 pm

    So is it the Green Party’s new goals in election life to be ratfuckers? Cause IDK, but if one of the party most likely to win (and come on the Green party aint’ winning nothing), is full of climate change science deniers, that you’d vote for the other candidate, ESP in an election you KNOW will be close?

    IJS…a wasted vote is a wasted vote. I mean thanks for voting, but let’s call a spade a spade…the Green Party will NEVER win a majority in a close election. So if you know an election could be close (and if you learn one thing from the 2016 elections, it’s that even when you think it’s NOT close every damn voter coutns) voting Green Party is basically wasting your vote…period!

    And these so called Green Party voters are ok w/the Chump co/GOP and their climate change denials?

  6. 6.

    lamh36

    August 7, 2018 at 11:32 pm

    In other news, out of all the political news tonight…I might just be happiest that McCullough is goind down in Missouri.

    @keithboykin
    Following Following @keithboykin
    More
    With nearly 90% of the vote counted, Ferguson City Council Member Wesley Bell, 43, leads St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch, 67, who was criticized for his handling of the Michael Brown shooting case.
    https://twitter.com/keithboykin/status/1027032786048311296

  7. 7.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 7, 2018 at 11:32 pm

    @lamh36: the important thing is, they got to vote against the democrat.

  8. 8.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 7, 2018 at 11:33 pm

    @lamh36: Nihilists.

    Break

    Did you get my email reply the other night?

  9. 9.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 7, 2018 at 11:34 pm

    @lamh36: Missouri seems to have figured out the scam:

    Missouri: 90,000 ballots counted, & the GOP's new 'right-to-work' law is going down 67-33.

    And of these 90,000 voters, more voted in the GOP primary than in the Dem primary—so these returns were certainly not a given.

    — Taniel (@Taniel) August 8, 2018

  10. 10.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    August 7, 2018 at 11:34 pm

    @lamh36:

    Green Party ——-> wypipo

  11. 11.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 7, 2018 at 11:36 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Bless their hearts.
    https://thinkprogress.org/newly-released-trove-reveals-russian-tweets-that-promoted-jill-stein-6318ee05adcb/

  12. 12.

    lamh36

    August 7, 2018 at 11:36 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I did…get the reply, I fell asleep before I could respond back…sorry!

    As for the Green party voters, will the closeness of tonight, at the very least, make them want to stop the ratfucking come November?

    I doubt it right?

    BTW, I’m having trouble with the edit function, and I’m having to put my name and email every time I comment now?

  13. 13.

    MisterForkbeard

    August 7, 2018 at 11:36 pm

    Regardless, this was a huge swing in this district from Republican to Democrat, which is, itself, a positive indicator of the mood of the electorate.

    This is my take on it as well. This district had massive structural advantages for Trump and Republicans. If the Republicans held the seat by less than 5%, they were generally considered to be deep in trouble. Now *at best* they have a 1% victory, and because of the way provisional ballots tend to skew Democrat (due to voter suppression efforts by the GOP) there’s still a small chance of winning the seat.

    Not the BEST result, but one of the really good ones. It’s a good day for Dems.

  14. 14.

    Ohio Mom

    August 7, 2018 at 11:36 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Ohio Fad and I swear by zinc cough drops at the very first hint of a cold. We are both convinced we have headed colds off at the pass with them. Though they do have a strange aftertaste.

    Too late for you this time around but not too early to pick up a box for next time.

  15. 15.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 7, 2018 at 11:37 pm

    Also, it appears that Muhammed Bin Salman has declared war on Canada!

    #Statement | Any other attempt to interfere with our internal affairs from #Canada, means that we are allowed to interfere in #Canada's internal affairs.

    — Foreign Ministry ?? (@KSAmofaEN) August 5, 2018

  16. 16.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 7, 2018 at 11:38 pm

    @lamh36: Edit isn’t working for me either. Alain is aware and will be working on this stuff again in the AM.

  17. 17.

    StringOnAStick

    August 7, 2018 at 11:38 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:Sound a bit like sunstroke, a d that can take awhile to resolve. Watchyour exposure for a few days.

  18. 18.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 7, 2018 at 11:39 pm

    @lamh36:

    I fell asleep before I could respond back

    I see how things are…

  19. 19.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 7, 2018 at 11:40 pm

    @Ohio Mom: The electrolyte powder I use has a ton of both Vitamin C and Zinc. So I’m on it.

  20. 20.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    August 7, 2018 at 11:41 pm

    @lamh36:

    Bell will be great. He can make a real difference in the lives of people in that district.

  21. 21.

    lamh36

    August 7, 2018 at 11:42 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I mean I guess, but jeez…the time for protest votes has long past…it’s not too much to say that these November elections and 2020 are more important than they’ve been even more so now even w/the knowledge of the Russians fuq’n w/shit in 2016.

    SMH…

  22. 22.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 7, 2018 at 11:42 pm

    For a really good understanding of how things are going to go down in Ohio, I recommend Michael McDonald. He came to UF’s polisci department as a faculty member shortly after my post-doc there ended and I moved on to an assistant professorship.

    A reminder that Ohio tends to have a high usage of provisional ballots than other states due to provisional ballots being used to process day-of-election address transfers. Have no idea how many were cast in #OH12

    — Michael McDonald (@ElectProject) August 8, 2018

  23. 23.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 7, 2018 at 11:45 pm

    @StringOnAStick: Other than to take the dogs out, and to run an errand earlier today, I’ve been inside the whole time. I don’t think it was sunstroke given that I started working on the car late enough that I wasn’t in direct sunlight, but I am being very careful to not overdue anything.

  24. 24.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 7, 2018 at 11:48 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: “For a really good understanding of how things are going to go down in Ohio, I recommend Michael McDonald.”

    He also does excellent backup vocals.

  25. 25.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    August 7, 2018 at 11:52 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    He also does excellent backup vocals

    “What a fool believes, he sees, the white man has the power!”

    I swear that’s what I always heard!

  26. 26.

    Amir Khalid

    August 7, 2018 at 11:54 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    If that boy doesn’t learn to control his temper (and his self-importance) he’s going to get in real trouble one of these days.

  27. 27.

    Calouste

    August 7, 2018 at 11:58 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Michael Jackson was also a whisky expert and the British Chief-of-Staff. Busy man.

  28. 28.

    EBT

    August 8, 2018 at 12:01 am

    Look at this cute fucking housecat I live with. https://twitter.com/norintha/status/1027041572305756161

  29. 29.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 8, 2018 at 12:01 am

    @Calouste: accomplishments which pale in comparison to the harmonies on Peg!

  30. 30.

    NotMax

    August 8, 2018 at 12:04 am

    Home again, home again, jiggedy-jig. 16 hours exactly from exiting Mom’s place to entering my abode.

    After 2 weeks of looking at either a tablet or at her laptop’s screen, the 24″ computer monitor at home appears to be about the size of Montana.

    :)

  31. 31.

    Jay

    August 8, 2018 at 12:05 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Yup, and admitting to 9-11 and threatening Toronto with the same.

    The War Wagon Contract’s gonna be cancelled and we’re going to reopen the Embassy in Tehran in response.

    Also follow the EU model of saying FU to the US Sanctions.

  32. 32.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 12:08 am

    @Amir Khalid: Unfortunately he has the resources to hire whomever Jared recommends to run active measures against the Trudeau government. Most likely Black Cube out of Israel and whatever SCL/Cambridge Analytica has morphed into.

  33. 33.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 12:10 am

    Tonight's St. Louis election is one of most striking in wave of recent victories for criminal justice reformers in prosecutor races: Krasner's Philly, & also Chicago, Houston, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, Corpus Christi, Durham, & San Antonio. https://t.co/PfO8bMKgO8

    — Taniel (@Taniel) August 8, 2018

  34. 34.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    August 8, 2018 at 12:10 am

    @Calouste:

    He was also the best known beer writer in the world. I used his book as a guide through Belgium 15 years ago.

  35. 35.

    divf

    August 8, 2018 at 12:11 am

    @Major Major Major Major:
    What, no love for Takin’ It To The Streets ?

  36. 36.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 12:11 am

    @Jay: None of that surprises me in the least. Right now MBS is being egged on by MBZ, Jared, Putin, and Bibi. None of those four are good influences.

  37. 37.

    ruemara

    August 8, 2018 at 12:13 am

    @EBT: Can’t. blocked. IDK why

  38. 38.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    August 8, 2018 at 12:17 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    That truly is transformative. If we want to support BLM in a meaningful way then electing reform minded DA’s and AG’s is real progress.

  39. 39.

    Mnemosyne

    August 8, 2018 at 12:17 am

    @lamh36:

    They hate Democrats more than they hate Trump. In fact, they hate us more than they actually love anything they claim to care about.

    And if you try to talk rationally to one of them about voting strategically to get the result they want, they melt down into a toddler-style you’re not the boss of ME! tantrum, because they care more about their own self-image as outsiders than anything Trump might do.

  40. 40.

    sukabi

    August 8, 2018 at 12:18 am

    @Adam L Silverman: stay frosty?

  41. 41.

    Jay

    August 8, 2018 at 12:19 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    We are LOFA of here. 10% of the local University students here are on Saudi Scholarships. They just arrived for the fall term, have to go back home, have no money, ( scholarships cancelled) and there are no direct flights home for them.

    In addition, the Saudi threat to crash aircraft into Canadian cities has the CBP searching and probing every Saudi.

    Maylasia’s also shut down the Saudi Salman Center for Deradicalization, after the change in Govt and noting it was actually the Saudi Salman Center for Islamic Radicalization.

  42. 42.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    August 8, 2018 at 12:20 am

    @EBT:

    Change the settings on your account. It says I’m blocked.

  43. 43.

    Matt McIrvin

    August 8, 2018 at 12:21 am

    @Major Major Major Major: SUCH A LONG WAY TO GOOOOOO

  44. 44.

    lamh36

    August 8, 2018 at 12:21 am

    McCullogh concedes in Missouri!

    My favorite win of the night!

    RIP Mike Brown!

  45. 45.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 12:22 am

    @The Ancient Randonneur: Yes it is. I think this is going to be as significant and transformative in its way, as the election of the new reformist Philadelphia DA last year.

  46. 46.

    Amir Khalid

    August 8, 2018 at 12:22 am

    @Jay:

    Maylasia

    Hey!

  47. 47.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 12:23 am

    @Mnemosyne: And the actual Greens in Europe can’t stand them. And keeping asking them to stop using their label.

  48. 48.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 12:28 am

    @sukabi: I did have the chills earlier this evening.

  49. 49.

    Jay

    August 8, 2018 at 12:30 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Sorry, big fingers, small cell phone, limited cell service in the mountains,

    Malaysia

  50. 50.

    lamh36

    August 8, 2018 at 12:30 am

    @lamh36: I have a friend who lives in the area and he’s very excited. McCullough was an 8x incumbent, 28 yes I believe, and not ONCE ever tried a cop doe anything! Mike Brown was the straw that broke that camels back in the eyes of many people in St. Louis and they voted him out!

  51. 51.

    Mnemosyne

    August 8, 2018 at 12:31 am

    A long-lost second cousin on my dad’s side tracked me down on Facebook. Fortunately, they’re cat-loving Democrats.

    Hey, I was a little worried — I know how wypipo are these days.

  52. 52.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    August 8, 2018 at 12:34 am

    Speaking of the Fermi paradox, here’s a scary solution:
    A Physicist Has Proposed a Grim Explanation For Why We Never See Aliens

    Now, theoretical physicist Alexander Berezin from the National Research University of ElectTechnology (MIET) in Russia has devised his own explanation for why we’re seemingly alone in the Universe, proposing what he calls his “First in, last out” solution to the Fermi Paradox.

    […]

    The actual “First in, last out” solution Berezin proposes is a grimmer scenario.

    “What if the first life that reaches interstellar travel capability necessarily eradicates all competition to fuel its own expansion?” he hypothesises.

    As Berezin explains, this doesn’t necessarily mean a highly developed extra-terrestrial civilisation would consciously wipe out other lifeforms – but perhaps “they simply won’t notice, the same way a construction crew demolishes an anthill to build real estate because they lack incentive to protect it”.

    So is Berezin suggesting that we are the ants, and the reason we haven’t encountered aliens is because we simply haven’t had our own civilisation unthinkingly demolished by such unimaginably superior life forms yet?

    No. Because we are probably not the ants, but the future destroyers of the very worlds we’ve been looking for this whole time.

    “Assuming the hypothesis above is correct, what does it mean for our future?” Berezin writes.

    “The only explanation is the invocation of the anthropic principle. We are the first to arrive at the [interstellar] stage. And, most likely, will be the last to leave.”

    Again, such potential destruction wouldn’t need to be wilfully designed or orchestrated – it could just play out like a completely unrestricted system, bigger than any individual’s attempts to control it.

    One example Berezin gives is free market capitalism, and another could be the dangers of an artificial intelligence (AI) untethered by constraints on its accumulation of power.

    “One rogue AI can potentially populate the entire supercluster with copies of itself, turning every solar system into a supercomputer, and there is no use asking why it would do that,” Berezin writes.

    “All that matters is that it can.”

    It’s a pretty terrifying outlook on Fermi – basically, we may be the winners of a deadly race we didn’t even know we were competing in, or as Andrew Masterson at Cosmos put it, “we are the paradox resolution made manifest”.

  53. 53.

    Mary G

    August 8, 2018 at 12:34 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Have you heard anything about this:

    Scoop from @ProPublica: Hundreds of FOIA docs reveal 3 Mar-a-Lago members with no official government roles—including secretive Marvel chair Ike Perlmutter—are issuing guidance at to the U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs, which VA employees treat as “orders” https://t.co/JteOpOCkIQ pic.twitter.com/7ZWtBKzGmW— Anna Massoglia (@annalecta) August 8, 2018

  54. 54.

    lamh36

    August 8, 2018 at 12:34 am

    Wesley Bell has won the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney race against Bob McCulloch! McCulloch, the man most responsible for Darren Wilson’s non-indictment, is a 27 year incumbent. This is huge! Congrats @votingwhileblk and all of the organizers who made this win possible!
    https://twitter.com/rashadrobinson/status/1027039572708876288?s=21

  55. 55.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 12:34 am

    @Jay: That was my impression of the response. It appears that MBS has been overtly playing footsie with al Qaeda in his attempt to accomplish whatever it is he’s trying to accomplish in Yemen. Which means that thanks to MBS and MBZ and Jared, the US has both a policy of destroying al Qaeda and is supporting them at the same time.

  56. 56.

    Amir Khalid

    August 8, 2018 at 12:36 am

    @Jay:
    The closure may be at least as much about the Pakatan Harapan Government’s deNajibification exercise as it is about countering Saudi Wahabist radicalisation.

  57. 57.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 12:36 am

    @Jay: Don’t apologize to me, it’s @Amir Khalid: who’s likely upset.

  58. 58.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 12:37 am

    @Mnemosyne: Or they needed a kidney…//

  59. 59.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    August 8, 2018 at 12:38 am

    @Mary G:
    Glad I don’t read Marvel comics

  60. 60.

    Bobby Thomson

    August 8, 2018 at 12:39 am

    Looks like FYWP ate half your post about Kris. Seems fitting. The guy’s been a massive douchebag at least since high school.

  61. 61.

    Amir Khalid

    August 8, 2018 at 12:40 am

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Internal consistency has not always been a hallmark of the US’ Middle East policy.

  62. 62.

    Mary G

    August 8, 2018 at 12:40 am

    Much good stuff in today’s elections on Twitter:

    Check out the trend in #MO02, a suburban St. Louis seat designed for Rep. Ann Wagner.Total D vote in 2014: 54,557Total R vote in 2014: 55,322D vote in 2018: 96,972R vote in 2018: 74,933— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) August 8, 2018

    Kansas is still brainwashed – after two terms of Brownback destroy the economy, many more people voted in the Republican primary than the Democrat. Also, too, Kobach is pulling ahead a bit, which is suspicious as hell.

  63. 63.

    Bobby Thomson

    August 8, 2018 at 12:40 am

    @lamh36: this was the best news of the night. That asshole shouldn’t ever run on our line again.

  64. 64.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 12:40 am

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??:

    “One rogue AI can potentially populate the entire supercluster with copies of itself, turning every solar system into a supercomputer, and there is no use asking why it would do that,” Berezin writes.

    “All that matters is that it can.”

    This is the plot of one of the terrible Dune prequels written by Frank Herbert’s son.

  65. 65.

    lamh36

    August 8, 2018 at 12:42 am

    @deray
    I’ll never forget how smug Bob McCullough was when he announced the non-indictment of Darren Wilson. We all needed tonight’s win. #ByeBob
    https://twitter.com/deray/status/1027039639591428101?s=21

  66. 66.

    Jay

    August 8, 2018 at 12:44 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Maybe, the Official noncomment on reasons while also noting the Saudi Wahhabist proliferation seemed to be a statement/non-statement.

    Malaysia, Malaysia, Malaysia

  67. 67.

    Citizen Alan

    August 8, 2018 at 12:45 am

    @lamh36:

    IJS…a wasted vote is a wasted vote. I mean thanks for voting, but let’s call a spade a spade…the Green Party will NEVER win a majority in a close election. So if you know an election could be close (and if you learn one thing from the 2016 elections, it’s that even when you think it’s NOT close every damn voter coutns) voting Green Party is basically wasting your vote…period!

    It’s not just the wasted 3rd party votes either. I am firmly convinced that for every person who voted for Jill Stein, at least 3 were persuaded by the essential Bernie/Green argument — that there was no meaningful difference between Democrats and Republicans — but didn’t vote at all because they had better things to do than go all the way to the polls to make the futile gesture of voting 3rd party. It wasn’t until I realized for the first time how foolish I was to support Nader in 2000 even though I was in a red state where Gore never had a chance.

  68. 68.

    NotMax

    August 8, 2018 at 12:45 am

    Two weeks of near total divorce from the news and come back home to this:

    A tropical storm warning has been issued for the Big Island as Hurricane Hector continues its march westward as a powerful Category 4 storm, bringing the threat of monster surf and strong winds starting late Tuesday and into Wednesday.
    [snip]
    At 5 p.m. Tuesday, Hector was packing maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour, with occasional higher gusts.

    On the current forecast track, the center of Hector is slated to pass 100 to 150 miles south of the Big Island on Wednesday. Forecasters note that hurricane-force winds extend up to 40 miles from the center of the storm, and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles. Source

    If track is maintained, Maui will get off not totally scot free, but outside of prudent severe weather precautions, nothing to get wrought up about.

  69. 69.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 12:47 am

    @Mary G: I had. I knew that Perlmutter, who’s a misogynist schmuck, was involved. And I knew one of the other two are as well. They’re the ones that pushed the stupid IT solution change at the VA through Jared. I did not, however, know just how much power they were exercising over the VA until I read that article a little while ago. What ProPublica is reporting violates all sorts of laws. I expect Senator Tester, as the ranking member, is going to be pushing Senator Isaakson the chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee to move on this. Regardless, it is disgusting and it is illegal.

  70. 70.

    Steeplejack

    August 8, 2018 at 12:47 am

    @ruemara:

    Log out from Twitter and you can go to the page just like any other Web page. You’ll be “nobody,” so nobody to block.

  71. 71.

    lamh36

    August 8, 2018 at 12:48 am

    @lamh36: Mccullough also had the endorsement of all the police unions and still…lost

  72. 72.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 12:49 am

    @Bobby Thomson: Nope, editing error. I didn’t remove that entire sentence like I thought I did. I’ll fix it now. Thanks for catching that.

  73. 73.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 12:50 am

    @Amir Khalid: I am vaguely aware of that.//

  74. 74.

    rikyrah

    August 8, 2018 at 12:51 am

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Ugh, in the summer?
    Get better.

  75. 75.

    PJ

    August 8, 2018 at 12:51 am

    @Major Major Major Major: Obligatory SCTV sketch on the clutch vocals of Michael McDonald: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0HzWMqLeiE

  76. 76.

    rikyrah

    August 8, 2018 at 12:53 am

    @The Ancient Randonneur:
    You just made me laugh ?

  77. 77.

    rikyrah

    August 8, 2018 at 12:55 am

    @MisterForkbeard:
    Isn’t this Orange Julius’ old seat?

  78. 78.

    rikyrah

    August 8, 2018 at 12:56 am

    @Adam L Silverman:
    If you can, please explain what’s going on here.

  79. 79.

    rikyrah

    August 8, 2018 at 12:58 am

    @EBT:
    Drama Queen ?

  80. 80.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 12:59 am

    @rikyrah: It happens. Summer cold.

  81. 81.

    Jay

    August 8, 2018 at 1:03 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The Option’s for “messaging” are fun,

    From filling the JCPOA’s empty slot, through PLA funding and support, to repositioning to Qatar and FinCen targetting of Saudi money laundering.

  82. 82.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 1:04 am

    @rikyrah: The Canadian Foreign Ministry tweeted out support for several voting rights activists who had been arrested in Saudi. One of whom was a dual Saudi-Canadian national. The Saudis, to use the official diplomatic term, lost their shit. In addition to that twitter thread where they’ve threatened to interfere in Canadian politics and society, including backing separatist and First Nations movements, they also went on a twitter rant delineating just how terrible Canada is as a state, a society, and an economy. They also tweeted this:

    Now deleted, here a screenshot of the threatening Saudi "infographic" featuring an airliner headed for the Toronto skyline. pic.twitter.com/LrkCLxxjFk

    — Tobias Schneider (@tobiaschneider) August 6, 2018

  83. 83.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 1:05 am

    @Jay: I wish you all the best of luck with it.

  84. 84.

    Mnemosyne

    August 8, 2018 at 1:08 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Good thing we never made the Saudis pay any kind of price for 9/11. //

  85. 85.

    Yutsano

    August 8, 2018 at 1:09 am

    @rikyrah: Proper musical accompaniment!

  86. 86.

    Mike J

    August 8, 2018 at 1:10 am

    Looks like my Rep, who is very, very good, is over 50% right now, with the Republican at 26.5% and the Wilmerite at 23.15%.

    Also, Rossi is only at 43% and the Democrats combined at 49.92.

  87. 87.

    Mike J

    August 8, 2018 at 1:11 am

    @Mike J: This is WA-09 and WA-08

  88. 88.

    PJ

    August 8, 2018 at 1:11 am

    @Mnemosyne: Somebody needed to ignite the New American Century. And then we’d help them out by bringing down Saddam Hussein. What could go wrong?

  89. 89.

    ruemara

    August 8, 2018 at 1:12 am

    @lamh36: All the better. You want oversight of the cops? Vote against the unions. It’s the only union I want to bust

  90. 90.

    Amir Khalid

    August 8, 2018 at 1:12 am

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??:

    “One rogue AI can potentially populate the entire supercluster with copies of itself, turning every solar system into a supercomputer …”

    One day, the cosmologists will confirm it: the answer really is 42.

  91. 91.

    Steeplejack

    August 8, 2018 at 1:15 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    Well, why would we? Clearly it was the Iraqis’ doing!

  92. 92.

    lahke

    August 8, 2018 at 1:22 am

    Boston Meetup, I’m in.
    Good night, everyone.

  93. 93.

    Platonailedit

    August 8, 2018 at 1:23 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Wow. Just wow.

  94. 94.

    Mike J

    August 8, 2018 at 1:32 am

    WA Democrats @washdems 1m
    In the 5th Congressional District, @lisaforcongress is within half a point of @cathymcmorris. In her last three primaries, Cathy led by an average of 18.7 points. Let’s repeat. Lisa Brown is within half a point of Cathy McMorris Rodgers. #FlipThe5th #waelex

  95. 95.

    Yutsano

    August 8, 2018 at 1:39 am

    @Mike J:

    Also, Rossi is only at 43%

    Pardon me while I die laughing.

  96. 96.

    Yutsano

    August 8, 2018 at 1:43 am

    @Mike J: I love how their Twitter header is a picture of the Palouse.

    Also: note to Firefox peeps: PALOUSE IS A LEGITIMATE NAME!!!

  97. 97.

    Ruckus

    August 8, 2018 at 1:56 am

    @Adam L Silverman:
    I was getting a little tired of all this nice fucking that I’m getting. So it’s nice to know why, how and who is doing it. I imagine they’d like to be tipped for all this attention to making my healthcare worse they are doing. Fucking Wankers.

  98. 98.

    Aleta

    August 8, 2018 at 1:59 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Samar Badawi has dual US-Saudi citizenship. She’s a women’s rights activist who has campaigned against guardianship laws (applied against her by her abusive father) and laws that prohibit women from driving and voting. You may be thinking of her sister-in-law who lives in Canada and has received citizenship there. (Her husband is a Saudi critic of the govt who’s been imprisoned since (I think) 2012.)

  99. 99.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 8, 2018 at 1:59 am

    @Ruckus: I know it sounds trite, but call your congressperson and both your senators.

  100. 100.

    Jay

    August 8, 2018 at 2:08 am

    @Aleta:

    And sentenced to 10 years and 1000 lashes, (whipping in public)

    Good thing that people can’t seek political refugee asylum in the US anymore, amirite?

  101. 101.

    Ruckus

    August 8, 2018 at 2:09 am

    @Adam L Silverman:
    At the very fucking least. My congressperson is of course a dem but seems rather, just there. And of course my senators are Harris and Feinstein. So worth a call for sure, and I’ll be holding my breath with anticipation.
    But not tonight, tomorrows a work day, Yea! Work!

  102. 102.

    Barbara

    August 8, 2018 at 2:11 am

    @Mnemosyne: Greens are the anti-vaxxers of politics. Their self-image is wrapped up in the idea of not following the herd no matter how obviously stupid their choice is.

  103. 103.

    cwmoss

    August 8, 2018 at 2:16 am

    @Major Major Major Major: “Excellent” is doing a lot of work here.

  104. 104.

    Amir Khalid

    August 8, 2018 at 2:17 am

    @Barbara:
    That may be true of the particularly self-absorbed Greens in America; but I think European Greens, whose candidates have been getting elected to parliaments around the continent for a generation, are more realistic and mature.

  105. 105.

    Mnemosyne

    August 8, 2018 at 2:18 am

    @Ruckus:

    C’mon, man, you of all people should know what can happen when your congressperson takes an interest and decides to make a few phone calls.

    Senatorwise, I might start with Feinstein’s constituent office since I think she’s on more of the relevant committees than Harris is.

  106. 106.

    Jay

    August 8, 2018 at 2:22 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The Government has instructed the Universities that they have to inform all Saudi students on their right to apply for political asylum in Canada,

    For women, it’s as simple as saying, “I am a Woman in Saudi Arabia”,

    A whole generation of Saudi’s are in Canada for their education.

  107. 107.

    Amir Khalid

    August 8, 2018 at 2:24 am

    @Adam L Silverman:
    That was an amazingly stupid thing to tweet.

  108. 108.

    Jay

    August 8, 2018 at 2:26 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Greens in Europe are a Party,

    Greens in Canada, the US and Britain are a pox of leftie wingnuts.

    Seconded.

    Malaysia, Malaysia, Malaysia

  109. 109.

    Jay

    August 8, 2018 at 2:28 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    A threat with out a confession is meaningless.

  110. 110.

    Fair Economist

    August 8, 2018 at 2:35 am

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??: Not really a solution to the Fermi Paradox, which is that given our (very rough) estimates of the parameters in the Drake equation, we shouldn’t be alone. First is alone, so we shouldn’t be first either. Of course the solution is simple – our profoundly uneducated guesses about the parameters are wrong. We just don’t know which ones and by how much.

  111. 111.

    Barbara

    August 8, 2018 at 2:35 am

    @Amir Khalid: I should have said American Greens, and most American third party political parties.

  112. 112.

    EBT

    August 8, 2018 at 2:48 am

    @ruemara: I use twitter block chain aggressively. I can unblock you easy enough.

  113. 113.

    otmar

    August 8, 2018 at 2:50 am

    @Adam L Silverman: that’s what you get from staying frosty all the time.

  114. 114.

    Amir Khalid

    August 8, 2018 at 4:04 am

    @Barbara:
    Fringe parties. Jill Stein and her American “Greens” are a fringe party.

  115. 115.

    J R in WV

    August 8, 2018 at 5:15 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    When I saw Gro. W Bush hugging and holding hands with the Saudi who had been so cozy with the RWNJs in Washinton so soon after the 9/11 attacks, and learned that our government closed down commercial air travel in North America EXCEPT for special flights to allow member of and friends of the bin Laden family to leave America to return home to Saudia Arabia…

    The idea that Bush and his minions were going to blame those attacks on Afgan and Iraqi radicals, rather than the heart of Islamic fundamentalist theocratic leadership in Saudi Arabia, where it originated and is still enforced by brute oppression — it made me believe that Walker Bush was himself beholden totally to the rulers of Saudi Arabia. Perhaps because of love of the specific Saudi, the former ambassador, Prince Bandar! Whom he kissed, and hugged, and walked with hand in hand…. the most strange geo-political event in my lifetime.

  116. 116.

    David

    August 8, 2018 at 5:59 pm

    Regarding a Boston meet up. What day and location is contemplated. We are interested in attending

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8

Recent Comments

  • Nukular Biskits on Open Thread: TANSTAAFL! — It’s The Latest GOP Zombie Fad (Mar 21, 2023 @ 6:05am)
  • Baud on Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Smorgasbord (Mar 21, 2023 @ 6:02am)
  • p.a. on Late Night Open Thread: Schadenfreude Shots All Round! (Mar 21, 2023 @ 5:50am)
  • eclare on On The Road – BillinGlendaleCA – Death Valley (Mar 21, 2023 @ 5:40am)
  • sab on On The Road – BillinGlendaleCA – Death Valley (Mar 21, 2023 @ 5:30am)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
We All Need A Little Kindness
Classified Documents: A Primer
State & Local Elections Discussion

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
TaMara
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Join the Fight!

Join the Fight Signup Form
All Join the Fight Posts

Balloon Juice Events

5/14  The Apocalypse
5/20  Home Away from Home
5/29  We’re Back, Baby
7/21  Merging!

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!