Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The willow is too close to the house.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

He really is that stupid.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

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

People are complicated. Love is not.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

A consequence of cucumbers

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

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

White supremacy is terrorism.

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

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

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

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Republicans in disarray!

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

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2018 / Friday Evening Open Thread: Fighting the Good Fight

Friday Evening Open Thread: Fighting the Good Fight

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Was gonna add an Etheridge YouTube video, but I couldn’t think of the best one. Suggestions?

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125Comments

  2. 2.

    Ruviana

    When I heard the ACLU lost their hearing I kept thinking about this kind of a solution. So glad it’s happening

  3. 3.

    NotMax

    Washington state madness – the Sheaite ‘revolution.’

    A Washington state lawmaker who moonlights as a wannabe theocrat has stumbled into FBI scrutiny over a how-to guide he wrote on killing non-believers and establishing a Christian theocracy.

    Five-term Washington state Rep. Matt Shea has been circulating a manual for holy war in the United States, the Seattle Times reported. Source

    Dunno what the rules are for beginning expulsion procedures from the state legislature, but if this doesn’t merit rapid response, what does?

  6. 6.

    piratedan

    here’s to hoping that Kansas starts to turn Blue. Folks that try to sit on the fence and be above the fray tend to not like it when they can’t continue to MBF everything when the other side is so egregiously cooking the books.

    A lot of us have known and suspected this for a long time, but this crap is being done out in broad daylight and showing the GOP for being what we’ve accurately accused them of, racism, bigotry, misogyny and no sense of fair play or right or wrong.

    Hoping that these elections are going to be something of a comeuppance for them.

  8. 8.

    NotMax

    @Baud

    Only need change a single word from the original.

    :)

    Come on-a my booth, my booth a come on
    Come on-a my booth, my booth a come on
    Come on-a my booth, my booth, I’m gonna give you candy
    Come on-a my booth, my booth, I’m gonna give you everything

  9. 9.

    japa21

    @guachi: 5 of those have the Dem leading, another 2 are either tied or within a point. Not sure how accurate this kind of poll is, however.

  10. 10.

    guachi

    @japa21: It’s as accurate as any other polling. It’s nice to see the transparency and how the results change by how you weight the results.

    For example, Democrats do much if the electorate is “People who say they are almost certain to vote, and no one else” in most of those races. 8 races are better in this scenario, 2 are worse, and 1 has no estimate for the electorate.

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    @NotMax

    Trivia about that song: Co-written by Ross (Alvin & the Chipmunks) Bagdasarian and William (The Human Comedy) Saroyan.

  14. 14.

    Mary G

    I always wonder if these tactics aren’t going to backfire on them. How many people in Dodge City had no interest in voting until they were blocked from doing it? I’d be hellbent to defeat this crap. Republican lies are just blatant now – “oh, the Civic Center in the middle of town will be blocked by construction.” Maddow goes there – no construction. How do they think they can get away with all the lies?

  15. 15.

    AnotherBruce

    I have a question, and I think while I may have looked in the wrong places. I think it’s a bit bizarre that I have not seen it asked. Who the hell did fund the caravan? I’m definitely not thinking it was not George Soros. So who was it. False Flag?

  16. 16.

    TenguPhule

    @AnotherBruce:

    Who the hell did fund the caravan?

    Nobody.

    Its not really a planned thing. They’re struggling to stick together because there’s safety in numbers and organically developing into something resembling an organized process on their own.

  17. 17.

    Roger Moore

    @AnotherBruce:

    Who the hell did fund the caravan?

    Why do you think it was funded at all? I guess somebody handed out a bit of money at the very beginning, but if they had serious funding they’d have a better means of transportation than walking.

  18. 18.

    TenguPhule

    @Mary G:

    How do they think they can get away with all the lies?

    Because we never make examples of Republican ratfuckers. No consequences for bad behavior ensures they continue.

  22. 22.

    Ruckus

    @AnotherBruce:
    Seeing as how they are walking and accepting handouts I’d guess that the cost is minimal. As most of the people in it were trying to escape a reasonable certainty of death, they’d pay pretty much all they had to do that.
    So, whose funding the caravan? Probably no one or very small donors. Yes it’s gotten pretty wide notice but how much of that notice is realistic? shit for brains thinks it’s an attack by a massive, well stocked army of marauding mercenaries who are going to attack us with their brown skin, seeing as they have nothing else.

  23. 23.

    Roger Moore

    @Mary G:

    How do they think they can get away with all the lies?

    Because a court just ruled that it’s too late to do anything about it. It’s an essential part of their strategy. They do stuff like this as late in the election as possible, then fight it in court in an attempt to run out the clock. We need to add real, personal penalties for this kind of thing.

  24. 24.

    Roger Moore

    @NotMax:

    Don’t buy into the propaganda.

    This is how the big lie works. Even people who should know better assume there must be some kind of truth behind the lie and don’t imagine that the whole thing could have been made up from whole cloth.

  25. 25.

    MobiusKlein

    @Roger Moore: who funds it? Could be friends and relatives abroad.
    Mexico has a vast array of cash pickup locations, and you just need your id. (And somebody to send the MXN)

    It’s not that hard in this electric world

  28. 28.

    TenguPhule

    @schrodingers_cat:

    but for some reason it gain momentum last year.

    Trump’s Charlottesville “very fine people” gave his supporters the excuse to stop pretending to be human beings.

  29. 29.

    AnotherBruce

    Early reports on the Caravan indicated that it was being funded. I have not idea if those reports are true. So i could be wrong. But I remember reading about it being funded when the Caravan appeared about 3 weeks ago. In a way it sounded like a thing because the Caravan was large. Kinda hard to walk long distances without some money. But yes, desperate people tend to save money to get out of their situation. On the whole, I think that you are right about this. It wasn’t funded, except by the Caravaners.

  30. 30.

    JR

    @AnotherBruce: the fuck are you talking about. People band together for protection. These are unarmed migrants. Women and children. Without power in numbers some truly awful things could happen to them.

  31. 31.

    TenguPhule

    Early reports on the Caravan indicated that it was being funded. I have not idea if those reports are true. So i could be wrong. But I remember reading about it being funded when the Caravan appeared about 3 weeks ago.

    And do you remember where you saw that? Would it have happened to have been reported by a news outlet that Donald Trump had said that?

    In a way it sounded like a thing because the Caravan was large. Kinda hard to walk long distances without some money.

    Use your head and think this through. They’re walking all this way because they don’t have a lot of money. If they’re fleeing for their lives, all the cash they have will be in their hands because its more portable then taking regular stuff along. Mexican towns along the route are helping them out with food, water and other supplies to keep them going so that the refugees don’t stop and stay in those towns. They can afford to be charitable but they can’t afford to care for the refugees long term so encourage them to move on.

    There is nothing sinister about this. There is no there, there.

  32. 32.

    AnotherBruce

    Thanks, but I’m not buying any propaganda. I was asking a question. Thank you for your answers.

  35. 35.

    Mainmata

    @guachi: Since 2016, I haven’t trusted the NYT when it comes to political reporting. They really came down hard against Democrats in 2016 and the same is true of 2018. I’ll stick with 538.com for now.

  37. 37.

    TenguPhule

    @NotMax:

    Nor (in terms of safety in numbers, in terms of direction, in terms of route) is this some sudden and unprecedented phenomenon.

    “Donald Trump declares National Emergency as tides come into American harbors.”

  38. 38.

    TenguPhule

    Judge rules against Brian Kemp over Georgia voting restrictions days before gubernatorial election

    YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

  39. 39.

    Mike J

    @NotMax:

    Washington constitution:

    SECTION 9 RULES OF PROCEDURE. Each house may determine the rules of its own proceedings, punish for contempt and disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members elected, expel a member, but no member shall be expelled a second time for the same offense.

    There’s a real chance we’ll get a 2/3rd majority in the assembly this year. I wouldn’t hold my breath, but I wouldn’t faint if it did happen.

  41. 41.

    guachi

    @Mainmata: 538 gets its information from polls done by the NYT among other places.

    You’re getting your polling information from the NYT one way or another.

  42. 42.

    AnotherBruce

    @TenguPhule: So did you see my last sentence @ 29? I’m trying to agree with you. Yeah I probably got played. So I was wrong about the funding.

  43. 43.

    NotMax

    @TenguPhule

    “Donald Trump declares National Emergency as tides come into American harbors.”

    “Announces plan to build walls at low tide lines ‘Not an inch of sacred American land will continue to be imperiled by being underwater,’ he vows.”

  47. 47.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    @TenguPhule:
    Good news! However, Brian Kemp isn’t the type to back down easily, even in the face of a federal ruling.

    Kemp: “The court has made it’s ruling. Now let them enforce it!”

  48. 48.

    NotMax

    @Mary G
    Strictly FYI.

    The secretary of state is a state-level position in 47 of the 50 states. The position does not exist in Alaska, Hawaii and Utah. In Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia, the office is called the secretary of the commonwealth and differs only in name. The voters directly elect the secretary of state in 35 states. In the other 12, the secretary is appointed by either the governor or the state legislature.
    [snip]
    In 37 states, the secretary of state is the chief elections officer with ultimate oversight over state elections and voter registration. Source

    Don’t disagree with you in any manner, BTW, just providing info.

  49. 49.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    @Mary G:
    I’ve come to the conclusion that the state official overseeing elections shouldn’t be partisan or elected.

  52. 52.

    TenguPhule

    @NotMax:I find it sad that Alaska and Utah are the only states as smart about this as we are.

    California and New York, step it up!

  53. 53.

    germy

    If all the troops are heading to the border , who will be here to protect us when the liberals start their annual war on christma….. holy shit the caravan is just a diversion!!
    — EL GLIKO (@ElGliko) November 3, 2018

  54. 54.

    TenguPhule

    Eat Shit, Kemp.

    Georgia must change its procedures to make it easier for some people flagged under the state’s restrictive “exact match” law to vote, a federal judge ruled Friday, dealing a blow to Republican gubernatorial candidate and Secretary of State Brian Kemp.

    The “exact match” law flags voter registrations that are found to have discrepancies, such as a dropped hyphen, with other official identifications. Potential voters are allowed to settle the discrepancy by providing proof of identity.

    But the state’s procedures under Kemp, whose office oversees elections, stipulated that those who had been flagged as potential noncitizens be cleared first by a deputy registrar when seeking to vote. In October, a coalition of civil rights groups sued him.

    U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross ruled Friday that the procedures were likely to result in the violation of voting rights for a large group of people and needed to be halted immediately. She said Kemp’s restrictions raised “grave concerns for the Court about the differential treatment inflicted on a group of individuals who are predominantly minorities.”

  57. 57.

    NotMax

    @TenguPhule

    California and New York would never put up with the usual practice in Hawaii of releasing the final print out at 3 in the morning.

    ;)

  58. 58.

    Redshift

    @guachi: Yes, but as Nate Silver often says, the polling in 2016 wasn’t actually off, what was off was how journalists and pundits interpreted the polls. So from that perspective, reading about NYT polls at an outlet other than the NYT might be a wise choice.

  67. 67.

    gene108

    Got discharged today from the hospital after my kidney transplant Monday.

    There is still a lot of discomfort, around the incision area. Makes walking awkward, but they say the best way to fix it is to keep walking.

    Apparently they pump you full of fluids during the procedure. I gained 15 pounds of water weight over night. When I went to change into street clothes, it turns out I am too bloated for my pants. I will be in sweat pants for the foreseeable future or until the donor kidney “wakes up” and can start draining the excess fluid.

    A new chapter in life awaits.

  68. 68.

    tobie

    @Mary G: 767% increase in young voters in TN?!? Wow. I guess we’re all so focused on charismatic candidates like Abrams and O’Rourke that we don’t pay attention to all the interesting things happening on the ground. This is not to say that a 100, 200, 300 or 400% increases in millennial turnout are not impressive. They’re all amazing. But 700% is off the charts.

  69. 69.

    tobie

    @gene108: Be careful out there. I’m sure it’s a relief to get home but I hope you have some help. You’ve been through a major procedure. All good wishes to you for a speedy recovery! Keep us posted on your progress.

  71. 71.

    geg6

    Open thread, so…

    Just got back from seeing Bohemian Rhapsody. If you ever loved a Queen song, run, don’t walk, to see it. The music is awesome. The guy playing Brian May has to be a clone. I can’t explain it otherwise. Rami Malek is great as Freddie, though the dental inserts to mimic Freddie’s overbite is distracting at first. But he really channels him in the end. I loved it. Best movie experience in years. The critics (with the exception of David Edelstein of New York Magazine) cannot possibly be a Queen fans or have a sense of humor. If you like Queen, go!

  81. 81.

    Gin & Tonic

    @gene108: I think that fluids thing is for almost any surgery. The night after I had my arm done I was up to pee pretty much every hour (which is tough when you’re still full of narcotics) and the next day when I got home I was still at least 10 pounds above normal.

  82. 82.

    Ruckus

    @gene108:
    When they scoped my shoulder the saline they pump in blimped me right up. It took a bit for all that to be carried away and taken care of. But it was still better than open surgery. Which I’ve had in other areas.
    Take care of yourself, which you probably already know, from dealing with this for some time. Best to you, a quick recovery and a working kidney.

  83. 83.

    FlyingToaster

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??: The problem is when the SoS (or SoC, like here in the People’s Republic) has “direct oversight” rather than is the executive in charge of that branch.

    Our SoC (Bill Galvin, AKA “The Prince of Darkness”) survived a hard-fought D primary against a popular Boston city councillor. But he couldn’t do any “mess with the vote” hijinks; the Election Board is career bureaucrats and the municipalities run their own damn show for precincts, ballots ordered, etc. Galvin can at most issue advisories: Yes, Gosnold (pop. 75) may close the polls once all registered voters have voted. No, you can’t have early voting after Friday before the election. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

    In GA, OTOH, that bastard Kemp has direct oversight and can tell the administrative divisions (county township municipality) what to do. Which is such a fucking bad idea,

  88. 88.

    CarolPW

    @gene108: Very glad you are out, excellent news. And sorry, but regaining your previous svelte figure may not happen as fast as you may think. I had a kidney removed (tumor, which while benign was problematic) with a front incision. They rearrange a lot of your innards to get to your kidney, and when they put them back in, even if they manage to get them back in their previously efficient packing, your innards are not so happy about being messed with. It was months before I could wear anything with a waist, and I highly recommend overalls. In the overall scheme of things, waistbands are greatly overrated.

  91. 91.

    CarolDuhart2

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??: I agree. Elsewhere overseeing elections is left up to civil servants with no interest in electoral outcomes at all. An Electoral Commission presided over by a bi-or-multi-partisan oversight board is the way to go at all levels.

  92. 92.

    MomSense

    @gene108:

    That happened to my dad after his open heart surgery. It will dissipate in time. Be gentle with yourself. You need rest to heal. Sending good thoughts to you.

  93. 93.

    geg6

    @gene108:

    I haven’t had a chance to say it yet, but I’m so happy for your transplant and hoping you heal as quickly as possible. I’vE had several friends with transplants (kidneys, heart and lungs) and it totally changed their lives. Not only lengthening them, but completely changing their quality of life. I am sending all my good vibes your way.

  95. 95.

    Matthew McIrvin

    @tobie: It could be less impressive than it looks–if almost no young people voted before, a 700% increase is easy and doesn’t necessarily amount to much.

    I saw one article that was talking about how these huge numbers meant the age gap in votes was closing. But in absolute numbers, which are all that matters, that’s not necessarily true. If the youth vote is up 700% and the old geezer vote is up 100%, but the youth vote was 1/10 as large to begin with, the geezers will still widen the gap.

  96. 96.

    Yutsano

    @Mike J: FWIW there were sign wavers for Shir Regev hanging around a street corner. I may live in a red area now, but more and more folks around here are aiming for turning it purple. And I so hope Christine Brown Keeps trying to make that fucker Dan Newhouse unemployed.

  97. 97.

    sfinny

    @gene108: Hey Gene, hope you are doing well. Went through surgery last year and walking around the parking lot of my building helped a lot. Still doing it now a couple of times a week.

  98. 98.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    Tonight was my third phone banking for Mr. O’Rourke. Made me optimistic — 12 already voted or planned to vote for Beto, NO one tonight said they were pro-Cruz or Trump. Which was a great improvement over the last time when an older sounding gent wanted to tell me in detail about the Cruz/Trump decor in his bedroom. Yeech. I told him I was glad he found something that worked for him, and then hung up. Anyway, enthusiasm for Beto, and I got a cool T-shirt for phone banking.

  99. 99.

    Redshift

    @FlyingToaster: in Virginia, I’ve never heard of any direct action by our SoC (appointed by the governor, I don’t even know who it is.) The problematic part of our system is the county electoral boards, which have two members from the governor’s party and one from the opposition. So under Bob McDonnell, the head of the electoral board in our very large, very Democratic county was voter suppression activist Hans von Spakovsky, who made rulings like “voting materials have to be English-only.”

    Appointed is better than elected, but once you have one party that puts their own power above basic rights, any structure can only protect the system so much.

  100. 100.

    Mary Green

    @gene108: Glad you have been sprung! Your recovery seems really fast to me, but I have no experience with something that invasive.

  101. 101.

    satby

    I just finished watching an old Tracy Hepburn movie on Filmstruck, Keeper of the Flame and was getting chills at the plot outlining how the bad guys were planning to sow discord in the country. We knew about this in the 1940s, we’ve just forgotten.
    Link is to YouTube and it’s a bit soapy, but damn. Could have been describing today.

  103. 103.

    Mary Green

    Love the new, fighting Democrats:

    Hunter robbed voters.He should be ashamed. He’s gone from courageous Marine to coward in congress. He robbed voters of what would’ve been a worthy debate. I’ve attended 20 town halls & 5 debates. He’s attended none.We deserve better. On Nov 6, CA50 will get what we deserve. pic.twitter.com/pelUZecC08— Ammar Campa-Najjar (@ACampaNajjar) November 1, 2018

    (2) The truth is, Hunter the is both the indicted congressman AND the security risk. Indicted for stealing $250,000 from donors, a security risk for his unethical record: criminal indictment, financial instability, excessive drinking & extramarital affairs.— Ammar Campa-Najjar (@ACampaNajjar) November 1, 2018

    Two more in the thread talk about how Hunter is ripe for blackmail by foreign countries, and that he’s been in the House for 10 years with very little to show for it.

  105. 105.

    opiejeanne

    @eemom: Shields is off the map for me, I was never aware of him, But Brooks? He can stuff it. They both can, from what I read of their commentary.

  106. 106.

    sralloway

    @Bobbo: From my youth in the 60s. Mitchell Trio.

    We didn’t know said the congregation singing a hymn in a church of white
    The press was full of lies about us, preacher told us we were right
    The outside agitators came, they burned some churches and they put the blame
    On decent Southern peoples names, to set our colored folks aflame
    And maybe some of our boys got hot, and a couple of niggers and reds got shot
    They should’ve stayed where they belong, the preacher would’ve told us if we’d done wrong

  109. 109.

    opiejeanne

    Oh Lord, Lawrence O’Donnell has Michael Moore on and MM is bloviating. Lawrence read a question from a 24 yo who was all fired up for Bernie, went to the first debate, volunteered for him, etc. and then when Hillary was the nominee he rolled over and endorsed her who had been running against him for 28 months he just couldn’t believe the corruption in the system, etc. rinse and repeat and didn’t know if he’d bother to vote again unless he saw a candidate who excited him. He’s a Poli-Sci major.
    and now Moore is agreeing with him that all politicians are hacks and the system is corrupt, etc. I turned it off.
    The audacity of another candidate to run against his Wilmer.

  112. 112.

    tobie

    @opiejeanne: I’ll never understand why the gadfly inspired the young but evidently he did. Let’s hope a new generation of politicians like Abrams get millennials not only voting but also thinking. Coming up with meaningful legislation for everything from healthcare to trade to immigration to financial regulation is tough. From Reagan to Wilmer we’ve been told that what we need are common sense solutions. That’s bull. We need uncommon sense.

  114. 114.

    Kay

    Ben Wikler
    ‏Verified account
    @benwikler
    2h2 hours ago
    More
    Study: “The New York Times and The Washington Post have run a total of 115 news stories in their print editions mentioning the caravan over the last three weeks. Each paper has run at least one such story on its front page on nine of the last 10 days.”

    What else could they do? It was a direct order from Donald Trump. They had to comply.

    On election day this story completely disappears. Bet on it. You won’t hear another word about caravans until October, 2020.

  116. 116.

    Ruckus

    @tobie:
    College prof came out with this one when someone used the term.
    If common sense was so common, more people would have some.
    Best and only thing I got out of his class.

  117. 117.

    Mike in DC

    I want every Democrat to win, of course. The flip side is that there are specific Republicans I particularly want to lose. A brief and likely incomplete list:
    Devin Nunes
    Dana Rohrbacher
    Dave Brat
    Steve King
    Scott Walker
    Rick Scott
    Guy defending Paul Ryan’s seat
    Guy defending Darrell Issa’s seat
    Duncan Hunter
    Ted Cruz
    Ron Desantis
    Corey Stewart
    Brian Kemp

  118. 118.

    Kay

    @Corner Stone:

    Health care and the economy are among the top voting issues. About three-quarters of registered voters cite health care (75%) and the economy (74%) as very important issues to their vote this year

    However, one very loud and obnoxious voter wanted to talk about caravans, so they all said “caravans it is, Mr. Trump!”

    I’m amazed there was any discussion of non-Trump topics at all. We all deserve a round of applause for talking amongst ourselves, what with the bellowing idiot and his cheering section making so much noise.

  119. 119.

    opiejeanne

    @Matt McIrvin: That should read 18 months that she dared to run against him.

    And yes about Michael Moore is unable to learn, but I can’t imagine why Lawrence had him on tv. His excuse was that MM was correct about the election in 2016 and he, Lawrence, was not. This was announced last night, that MM would be his guest tonight and I have no idea why he or management thought that would be a smart move.
    It’s almost as dumb as Maggie Haberman demanding that Democrats once and for all denounce Louis Farrakhan because both sides, yada yada. That’s not hyperbole, that’s what she said today. Ugh.

  120. 120.

    frosty

    @opiejeanne: Louis Farrakhan? Does she know we’re in the 21st Century now? I can hear my 20-something kids: “Who is Louis Farrakhan?” For that matter, “Who is Maggie Haberman?”

    They know who Trump is. My youngest told us all his friends are registered and they’re all voting. I’ll lean on him on Monday and make sure he has a plan for time of day.

  121. 121.

    Beautifulplumage

    @gene108: Yay! Best wishes to you for steady progress in your healing. Great to know you have family help post surgery. Sending good thoughts.

  122. 122.

    Matt McIrvin

    @opiejeanne: I’m coming to be very suspicious of “was right last time” as a reason to automatically trust somebody. It has often steered me wrong.

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