Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

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

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

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

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

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2018 / Wednesday Tuesday Morning Open Thread: The Best Revenge

Wednesday Tuesday Morning Open Thread: The Best Revenge

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And so…


If you click on that tweet, you’ll see a whole long list of excellent Democratic candidates, including:


Reader Interactions

120Comments

  1. 1.

    NotMax

    Suppose mention should be made that Black Panther shows up on Netflix on September 4.

    Seem to recall that some folks here had positive things to say about it. :)

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Elon Musk, just another MOTU who can’t shut the fuck up:

    Elon Musk doubles down on ‘pedo’ claims against UK cave diver

  7. 7.

    raven

    @OzarkHillbilly: I got my settlement for the replacement of the roof on my 813sq ft (the house not the roof). There is currently no ridge vent, will it cost a great deal more to have one installed?

  8. 8.

    satby

    I went up to volunteer at the Habitat office in South Bend but didn’t get myself organized to do it before this Carter project build and I’ve been kicking myself. Not only are Jimmy and Roslyn working, the last three days here have been borderline unbearable heat and humidity with heat indexes in the 90-100° range.

  15. 15.

    raven

    Thanks dudes! Since the insurance co approved the rental I’m pretty sure they’ll fo the same for our house. We’ve got a $2 deductible on our primary and $1k on the rental but I’m going to use the dough we got for our cars to cover it. One of our heat pump “fins” got dented and we have several broken windows so I’m hoping that all get covered too!

  20. 20.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven:

    One of our heat pump “fins” got dented and we have several broken windows so I’m hoping that all get covered too!

    It certainly should be.

  24. 24.

    satby

    @raven: well today (right now in fact) heavy rain for the next two hours and then beautifully cooler weather for a few days. Hope the Carter’s stick around to enjoy it. Wish I could just go up there and shake his hand.

  26. 26.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Raven: Yes. It’s about air circulating from bottom to top, out with the hot, in with the cool. Your house will be naturally cooler. But even more than that it’s about removing moisture from the attic so it does not accumulate in the insulation.

  27. 27.

    satby

    Oh, and I had mentioned occasional commenter and frequent lurker Constance’s cat Oscar going in for surgery and had asked everyone to send good wishes. She wrote me last night that the pathology report on Oscar’s surgery showed that the melanoma hasn’t spread and the surgery removed it all. Oscar is doing very well, as is his relieved person.
    The good wishes really helped at a tough time. So thanks.

  32. 32.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven: One should be able to access the necessary location from the soffit. It won’t be easy, it will be itchy, a cub’s job if ever there was one, but doable.

  34. 34.

    Amir Khalid

    @satby:
    But the greater question remains, even if Bess does not: What the fuck is wrong with Elon? Does he want Unsworth to sue him? Why is Elon being such a little boy about this?

  38. 38.

    Jay

    @raven:

    So, I’ve built so far, about two dozen double trap attic access hatches,

    And then figured out that it’s a lot easier and cheaper, to put attic access outside, like they did in the old days.

    I also, sadly, figured out that if you are adding soffits, blocking and insulation, it’s a hell of a lot to do it outside, than inside.

    Btw, you have to seal every penetration into the attic, wires, vents, chimney’s, air tight, to avoid the stack effect.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_effect

  39. 39.

    cliosfanboy

    My elderly fox terrier Rocco see the vet at 8 am. It’s not good. My wife and i talked and we think it’s time. He can barely walk, or see, is less interested in food, and just not happy. I am holding him and crying. Our other 2 dogs know something is wrong. Please go love up your furry family today.

  40. 40.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Amir Khalid: Because deep down inside, he knows his genius isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. His insecurity oozes out his every tweet.

  43. 43.

    magurakurin

    @Amir Khalid: It seems pretty clear to me that Musk is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Maybe bipolar? His wealth protects him on one hand but it also is preventing some sort of intervention that might get him the help he needs. His story will mostly likely end tragically.

  44. 44.

    Raven

    @Jay: that’s another issue, there is an old chimney and two unused fireplaces. I guess it would be best to take out the bricks on the roof and cap it.

  48. 48.

    satby

    @cliosfanboy: I was thinking of you and Rocco this morning after your news yesterday. I’m so sorry that it sounds like it’s time. That’s always a tough decision, but it sounds like it’s the best one now for your old boy. Condolences. As hard as it is for you, it will save him suffering, so it’s a living and brave thing.

  50. 50.

    Jay

    @Raven:

    They make fire block spray foam in cans.

    Block the dead chimney on the inside, block the gaps in the attic oun the outside,

    $9 a cab

  51. 51.

    Immanentize

    @Raven: I have USAA and they have always been fabulous. Flood, once, tree falls on car during Sandy, lightning strike — they were always right on it.

  53. 53.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Raven: It depends on what it’s made of. Most blown in (all??) is cellulose which is not so bad. If however the job is done on a hot day it will still be itchy. If you are thinking of doing it yourself, it’s really not that hard or technically difficult, it’s just a pain in the ass because you are working in cramped spaces.

  55. 55.

    debbie

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    NPR just reported on this. All good until the end, when an elderly-sounding woman expressed dismay at the conviction. She was convince the kids had to be up to no good, being out at 11pm.

  57. 57.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I see Trump said that if Democrats win, they’ll turn violent. It doesn’t match my life experience that winners turn violent. That reflects the thinking of people who think everyone is as cruel as they are, are aware they’re being cruel, and expect payback.

    We got the estimate for radon mitigation for the house we’re selling, $1200, which was better than I feared.

  61. 61.

    raven

    @Jay: I guess I figured since they had taken the chimney out on our main house that it would be best to do it in the rental as well. When I went over the homeowner policy and told them the chimneys were gone and the fireplaces were unuseable they lowered mv rate.

  62. 62.

    Platonailedit

    Reminder: Mueller's prosecutors have until the end of today to say whether they want to refile the 10 counts that the Manafort jury deadlocked on.

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 29, 2018

  65. 65.

    Blueskies

    NYT reporting that ZEGS’ PAC published the security application/clearance form of a former CIA officer who is running as a Democratic candidate in a VA Congressional race. Plame II?

  66. 66.

    Amir Khalid

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:
    Think of how the deplorables reacted when Trump won. How they have felt encouraged to become openly, even stridently, racist. This is the king of deplorables projecting the sins of his ilk onto his political opponents.

  68. 68.

    TS (the original)

    @debbie:

    All good until the end, when an elderly-sounding woman expressed dismay at the conviction

    Probably the neighbor who called the police because – kids having a party – they nevre think of the harm they might just cause.

  71. 71.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @rikyrah: from the above linked article:

    George Washington University researchers found that the number of deaths from September 2017 to February 2018 was up 22% year on year.
    ……………….
    Researchers said the actual number of excess deaths was estimated to be in the range of 2,658 to 3,290. Researchers said the next stage of assessing the death toll includes examining death certificates and interviewing family and friends of the deceased to determine if those deaths should be attributed to the storm.

  72. 72.

    Immanentize

    @raven: roof vent — when we had our house redecked and reroofed, the roofed just cut one in with ax and saw. It’s not a big gap at all.

  74. 74.

    Amir Khalid

    @Blueskies:
    I think Adam has already mentioned that her security clearance documentation was illegally obtained and released. Unless it contains something compromising — which would not seem too likely, considering she did get her clearance — I don’t see how it benefits ZEGS or his party.

  75. 75.

    Immanentize

    @cliosfanboy:
    Ah that’s rough. But your two other fine dogs will help you through this. And I did as you told and hugged and scritched my cat.

  77. 77.

    Kristine

    @satby: Saw some nasty stuff headed your way last night. Looks like I wound up with ~2 inches here in far NE Illinois. 3 total, if I add in the inch from the morning’s surprise rain.

    This morning, it feels a little cooler, but it’s still muggy, and very cloudy. Need to finish my coffee and take Gaby for a walk. Then yoga, quick run to the grocery store, and maybe a little more sorting through the basement junk, part of the never-ending decluttering project.

  78. 78.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @satby:

    No ban hammer. Adam explained in a thread last night that he had an e-mail exchange with Bess to address the situation.

  79. 79.

    Kay

    Dave Weigel
    @daveweigel
    8h8 hours ago
    More
    All these fun, interesting races and great characters make me even more confused when I turn on cable and they’re on hour four of dissecting a Trump tweet.

    Weigel is doing a really good job covering the midterms (the primaries, but that’s the midterms) and I was trying to figure out why it’s so good and I think it’s because he isn’t trying to predict national themes or…name things. He’s just reporting on the candidates and the races and then waiting to see who wins. And when they win he doesn’t then try to jam it into a theme.

    That sounds simple – just cover them- and it is but it must be difficult to resist the urge to put them into boxes and then describe the box rather than the candidate or race since he’s the only one pulling it off.

  85. 85.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay:

    the urge to put them into boxes

    It’s human nature, we want easily understood labels that we can apply to people so we no longer have to think or try to understand where they are coming from.

  87. 87.

    Droppy

    Jimmy Carter’s “failed” presidency is usually attributed to his naiveté or his unwillingness to play by the rules of the DC political world; but I think he has demonstrated that we should all be playing by his rules instead.

  88. 88.

    NonyNony

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    In Texas, a cop is finally held to account. Maybe the rest of the country will get a clue.

    I don’t live in Texas and I’m only hearing about this via the regular news sources, but this doesn’t sound like a typical “cops killing black kids” story (God the fact that we have “typical” stories like this is by itself goddamn depressing). For starters, there was this (from your link, but reported elsewhere too):

    At his trial, Oliver testified that he opened fire after seeing the car move toward his police partner. He says he thought his partner was in danger. But his partner told jurors he didn’t fear for his life and never felt the need to fire his weapon.

    That “blue wall” that cops usually seem to have in these cases wasn’t there. His own partner wouldn’t lie on the witness stand and say “I thought I could be in danger”. I strongly suspect that THAT by itself would maybe have a jury willing to consider convicting a cop where they normally wouldn’t. Even though the story as told makes the idea that either of these guys would be in fear for their lives so patently ludicrous that a jury should have laughed at him for even suggesting it regardless of what his partner said. But the fact that his partner wasn’t willing to stick up for it is important.

    Also the cop became an ex-cop very quickly – they fired him within two days. Usually it’s unpaid leave – or even paid leave – for a few weeks while the higher ups “conduct an investigation” and then finally shrug and blame it on the union that they can’t fire him. It also sounds (again just from reports) that his union was technically very supportive with public statements and did everything a union is supposed to do, they didn’t go as far out of their way to go “above and beyond” with their support like we’ve seen in other cases. And while the reports I’ve read don’t come right out and say “his fellow cops thought he was an asshole rage monster waiting to pop”, they seem to come right up to the line of implying it without actually saying it.

    My hope is that this means that that particular police department is actually full of the kinds of “good cops” we always hear are out there, and who we need to stand up and do the right thing when their corrupt or psycho colleagues are abusing their status as cops. (My fear is that this guy was just such an asshole and they were happy to see him go – the former gives me hope, the latter is just more of the same just in a different form.)

  89. 89.

    Original Lee

    @satby: My dad was on a Jimmy Carter build with Habitat about 10 years ago. He said it was one of the best volunteer experiences of his life, and that Jimmy and Rosalyn were very gracious. He didn’t get any one-on-one time, though – that was reserved for the higher-ups. (He was on the Elf crew, specializing in doorknobs.)

  90. 90.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Getting dressed for the gym this morning. The shirt I wear to the gym has a logo proclaiming me to be a member of the Dendarii Free Mercenaries. Sadly, it also has holes under both arms, so I think it has to go. Oh well. No one ever got the joke anyway.

  92. 92.

    Peale

    I dropped off my cat of 15 years today for what I am worried will be his final trip to the vet. He stopped eating a few weeks ago. He’ll only lick the gravy but won’t take any solids. I took him in last week. His panel came back fine, so we were waiting. Still nothing, but he’s noticeably grown too weak to do get around and now his breathing has become labored. So back we go. I wish I knew what it was. Hopefully they’ll find that he just ate A milk bottle cap or something. He’s only been sick once before so I don’t have much history with him behaving like a sick cat. Anyway, I need to pull myself together so I can go to work.

  93. 93.

    oldgold

    @satby:

    Adam did not drop the ban hammer on Bess.

    At the end of last night’s “Primary Watch” thread there is a decent discussion of this blog’s ban hammer policy and the propriety of front pagers outing personal information of commenters.

    I think both topics deserve more discussion.

  95. 95.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I definitely fall into it myself – as a fake journalist- but it’s limiting, right? You’re not approaching it openly if you’re busy identifying The Pulse of the Nation.

    It’s the best coverage of the actual Democratic candidates around- them, not what the NYTimes does, which is “here is this kind of candidate- our invented category”

    Turns out they don’t have to do that at all. It’s not “right or wrong ID of trends” it’s just “no trend meta analysis”. Simple, but difficult, apparently! I wonder if it’s because they’re all sort of overachievers so they feel they have to add something besides observable, factual events- extra bonus trend-spotting. Like people who do extra projects in high school.

  97. 97.

    Elizabelle

    @cliosfanboy: I am so sorry. It does sound like it’s time, but does not make it that much easier. When their quality of life is so compromised, though, keeping them alive is probably more for us than for them.

    All the best to you, your wife, and your pups.

  100. 100.

    Luthe

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: A pity, that. Perhaps the next one should be ImpSec? Or have my favorite summary in all of sci-fi, “My wife went to Vorbarra Sultana and all I got was a bloody shopping bag.”

  102. 102.

    PJ

    @Kay: it used to be called journalism, but that presupposes an interest in the policies and issues at stake and the characters promoting them.

  104. 104.

    gene108

    @Amir Khalid: @Blueskies:

    It is against the rules to retain an SF-86 (form used for security clearances).

    If you are a security officer, who is processing the application, you either return the form to the applicant or destroy it.

    Paul Ryan, and whoever gave a copy of the form to him, broke the rules.

    This isn’t about whether or not damning info can be obtained. This is about the 3rd highest ranking member of the US government breaking the rules for political gain.

    There is nothing Republicans will not do to maintain power.

    In a less stupid timeline this would be a big scandal. A Dem Speaker (forget his name), was toppled by Newt Gingrich for a lot less.

  105. 105.

    Yarrow

    @oldgold: I agree. John Cole has always said he’d protect his commenters’ information. As a general rule I don’t think front pagers should be posting commenters’ personal information, even in a general sense (like “west coast”), without specific permission from the commenter. Adam posted Bess’s general location and proximity to a specific forest based on Bess’s IP address, which is apparently something front pagers can see and we lowly commenters cannot. I think he was wrong to do that.

    I don’t think Bess did anything to deserve to be banned, not under what have been the traditional rules for banning at Balloon Juice.

    Both topics deserve some additional clarification.

  107. 107.

    Gelfling 545

    @cliosfanboy: Very sorry to hear that the old fellow’s time has come. You have done your best by him in life and are doing the best by him now.

  118. 118.

    Tarragon

    @Luthe:
    A buddy of mine printed up a bunch of t-shirts with “I died at Z’ha’dum and all I got was this lousy t-shirt”.

    He sent a box full to the Babylon-5 production company. Never heard anything back.

  119. 119.

    Bill Arnold

    @Yarrow:

    Adam posted Bess’s general location and proximity to a specific forest based on Bess’s IP address, which is apparently something front pagers can see and we lowly commenters cannot. I think he was wrong to do that.

    Agree with this as well.
    I.e. don’t force those of us who are concerned about privacy to use a VPN (or whatever). (Not that there’s anything wrong with that; in particular, ISPs <a href="log way too much, and in the US have more legal freedom to distribute such information.)

  120. 120.

    J R in WV

    @Droppy:

    Jimmy Carter was hated by Republicans because he was a Democratic president, and hated by Democrats because he was painted as a conservative southerner, and by all reporters because he didn’t suck up to the beltway cliques. Then Reagan committed treason with the Iranians to keep our diplomats hostages until after the election.

    He was and is a great man, a brave leader who went into a broken radioactive reactor room to clean it up, working 90 seconds at a time with a stopwatch to keep them from ODing on the radiation. That is raw courage. I’d like to see Trump claim to have that kind of courage and will power. Ha!

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