Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We still have time to mess this up!

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Bark louder, little dog.

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

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

This blog will pay for itself.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

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

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

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

This fight is for everything.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

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

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Monday Morning Open Thread: Off to A Good Start

Monday Morning Open Thread: Off to A Good Start

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  11. 11.

    JGabriel

    Lydia Polgreen via Anne Laurie @ Top:

    Half the House Members Who Wrote Trump’s Tax Law Are Out of Their Jobs After Tuesday’s Vote

    So … did Karma leave the job half done?

    Or did she leave half the guys (since we’re talking about Republicans, I assume they’re mostly guys) there to suffer even more punishing fates, as they watch their dreams of a permanent Republican majority crash all around them in the debris of Combover Caligula’s inevitable hubristic downfall?
    _______________________________________________

    Hopefully, this also serves as a response to Platonailedit‘s trenchant question: Why only half of these corrupt critters are out of job?

  12. 12.

    Tokyokie

    @rikyrah: Woohoo! The last congressional race in New Mexico to be decided was U.S. House #2 (Democrats won #1 & #3 with 59% or more), which is Xochitl Torres Small, one of the candidates for whom I did postcards! That result gives Democrats a clean sweep in the Land of Enchantment, governor, senator, and all 3 House seats.

  13. 13.

    Platonailedit

    The Gallup assholes used to poll Obama’s numbers every fucking day. Did they stop doing it for the totus thug?

  15. 15.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @rikyrah:

    Dem wins AZ Senate

    Sending thoughts and prayers to Martha McSally.

    At least in this trying time, she can take comfort in knowing Obamacare will provide her good healthcare.

  16. 16.

    JoyceH

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    If Elijah had asked me, that’s exactly where I’d tell him to start.

    Same. We need to keep this on the front burner for the next two years at least. One of the brightest spots of this election was that Kim Davis was defeated. Now let’s turn our attention to the county clerk who made it almost impossible for Dodge City to vote, and sent that “LOL” to suppressor in chief Kris Kobach.

  17. 17.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    I was just checking the CA Sec of State site, CA-39 and CA-45 have the Dems down about 2K votes. I really think they may end up flipping. That would mean the OC has turned blue.

    Harley has beat Dana(up by 9K).

  22. 22.

    Quinerly

    @NotMax: great site. Thanks. I’m in the market for a smart TV and soundbar for the walk out basement apartment that is soon to be finished.

  25. 25.

    TS (the original)

    @Baud: Seems it was 2018
    gallup changes daily polling

    Beginning in 2018, Gallup will start updating presidential job approval on a weekly basis, rather than on a daily basis.
    Gallup remains committed to tracking presidential approval using probability-based, telephone interviewing, but is reducing the sample size from 3,500 to 1,500 U.S. adults per week. As a result, Gallup will aggregate and report presidential job approval each week, rather than daily, beginning on Jan. 8 at 1 p.m. ET.

  26. 26.

    TS (the original)

    @Raven: I seem to remember when the ACA had initial IT issues it was all blamed on President Obama (by republicans and the media) – who called in the IT experts and had it fixed within a month. Funny how this doesn’t happen when the GOP is in charge.

  27. 27.

    oldster

    “Just crunched: the percentage of white men as a share of House Democrats is set to decline from 41% to 38% as a result of the 2018 election.”

    That’s the Party of Liberty and Justice for All.

    “Meanwhile, the percentage of white men as a share of House Republicans is on track to rise from 86% to *90%.*

    That’s the Party of Entitled Male Pissy-Pants waving their Tikki-Torches screaming “Jews will not replace us!”

    Sorry, whiners–you are going to be replaced. Not because you are vicious patriarchal thugs–though that should have been enough–but because you are such incompetent losers.

  28. 28.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Raven:

    There are many veterans, like Roundtree, across the country who are still waiting for VA to catch up with a backlog created after President Donald Trump signed the Forever GI Bill in 2017. The landmark piece of legislation greatly expanded benefits for veterans and their families, but it did not upgrade the VA’s technical capabilities to account for those changes.

    Gee, who’da thunk it? Governing is hard.

  29. 29.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    If Elijah had asked me, that’s exactly where I’d tell him to start.

    Are you telling me/us that he DIDN’T? That BASTID!!!!

    Are you OK? Do we need to send Quinerly (and Poco, of course) to check on you hourly? We’re here for you, buddy.

    Strong letter to follow! (To Cummings, that is.)

  31. 31.

    Matt McIrvin

    Another way of putting this: It is easily the highest midterm turnout since the beginning of universal suffrage.

    An easy thing to achieve, since universal suffrage hasn’t happened yet.

  33. 33.

    SFAW

    @Quinerly:
    I read through a decent portion of Tribe’s op-ed. I’d feel more comfortable if he didn’t couch every other phrase in weasel words (“could” “may” “appears” for example).

    Also, given the authoritarian bent of SCOTUS, I’m less sanguine about the idea that the Bald Grifter’s appointment will ultimately ruled unconstitutional.

    I hope Tribe is right, but the last two years have proved that the so-called “institutional norms” don’t mean shit any more.

  38. 38.

    Matt McIrvin

    @JPL: When the VA story popped up I seriously saw people commenting that liberals were faking their concern for veterans because if they really cared they’d build the wall and stop all the “money being wasted on illegals”. Every single thing is about the need for ethnic cleansing now.

  41. 41.

    JPL

    ABC news online has Michelle Obama’s interview with Robin Roberts. In part 3 she doesn’t hold back on her feelings about trump.

    @Matt McIrvin: I know and it’s sickening.

  43. 43.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Not that you will notice, but on the 20th of May in 2019, the Kilogram will no longer be what we once thought. But then it never was:

    For the past 129 years, the world’s official unit of mass has been the international prototype kilogram, or IPK, a shiny cylinder of platinum-iridium stored under three sealed bell jars at the international bureau of weights and measures (BIPM) in Sèvres, west of Paris. National metrology labs hold copies of the IPK to calibrate measurements in their own countries. Every 40 years or so, the copies are returned to Paris for checks against the IPK, nicknamed Le Grand K.

    It’s not a bad system. Because Le Grand K defines the kilogram, its mass is never in doubt. It is always, with 100% accuracy, one kilogram. And yet its weight goes up and down. In storage, the platinum picks up pollutants from the air and the cylinder gets ever so slightly heavier. When it is cleaned, the kilogram loses weight as tiny amounts of alloy are removed. The net effect is hard to gauge, but copies can put on tens of micrograms in a century. All scientists know for sure is that the kilogram that defines all others is not what it used to be.

    It is enough to irk metrologists. “If aliens ever visit Earth what else would we talk about other than physics?” said Schlamminger. “If we want to talk about physics we have to agree on a set of units, but if we say our unit of mass is based on a lump of metal we keep in Paris, we’ll be the laughing stock of the universe.”

    ………………………….

    The redefinition is easier said than done. Scientists first use a supremely sensitive piece of equipment called a Kibble balance to calculate Planck’s constant from a 1kg reference mass. The instrument is similar to a scales, but instead of counteracting one weight with another, the object being weighed is balanced by electromagnetic forces. Planck’s constant is proportional to the energy needed to balance the mass. Then, armed with a precise value for Planck’s constant, researchers can do the reverse, and use the balance to measure unknown masses.
    …………………………
    “The greatest satisfaction for me will be completing the historic arc that started with the French revolution,” said Schlamminger. “The idea was to have a measurement system for all times and for all people. They fell short on the kilogram. It has these problems with stability, so it is not for all times, and it is locked in a safe, so it is not for all people. Planck’s constant never changes, so it is the same for all time. And its value is woven into the fabric of the universe, so it is there for everyone.”

  45. 45.

    Patricia Kayden

    Remember when his supporters claimed that Trump deserved a Nobel Peace prize for what he “accomplished” with North Korea. What a joke. North Korea has as much respect for Trump as most western European leaders. None.

  51. 51.

    satby

    @rikyrah: Good morning ?!

    I’m totally doing retirement wrong. Not only did I agree to help out at the doctor’s office, now the exchange program that my exchange daughters came through in 2015-16 has asked me to be a coordinator for the rest of the school year for a student placed in the area.
    It’s nice to be needed, I guess?

  52. 52.

    debbie

    I don’t even know which poll to watch. 538 has him back at 42% approval, but then I see this:

    Poll of the week: The network exit polls found on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s approval rating was just 45%. His disapproval rating was 54%.

    This was in line with pre-election polling pegging his approval rating in the mid-40s among voters.

    What’s the point: It turns out that Trump does not walk on political water. He does not defy political gravity. This is very bad news for him heading into the 2020 campaign.

    I know which poll i like better, but I want to follow a poll that is accurate.

  53. 53.

    Schlemazel

    @Baud:
    EDIT: I looked it up, it was 12% margin
    Yeah, that one hurt a little. I wanted to do some phone work for him but thought we had a really good chance of sending one shitty & one evil Congressman home. I spent all my time with Angie Craig & Dean Phillips who both won . . . while the GOP took two empty seats that had been Dem up North and down South. That hurt more particularly since one was self-inflicted when our governor-elect gave it away (it had been GOP for years before him) in order to challenge the party’s nominated candidate. She would have been a better gov & we would have held that seat.

    But I hope Iron Stach tries again in 20

  55. 55.

    Matt McIrvin

    @OzarkHillbilly: Wikipedia has a long and detailed article on the new SI standards (this is the kind of area where Wikipedia actually shines, though that graph of the relative mass drift of the kilogram standards is out of date–there was a later measurement that seemed not to show the linear drift continuing, go figure).

    I’m fascinated by some of the other redefinitions, particularly the kelvin and the mole. The kelvin used to be defined so that the triple point of water had some exact temperature; now it’s defined through the derived energy units by fixing Boltzmann’s constant. In general there’s a much greater emphasis on fixing defined values for fundamental constants, so that the base units have rigidly defined relations to one another, in preference to “substance X under conditions Y has a value of exactly Z”. Cleaner theoretically, but maybe further removed from everyday experience.

  58. 58.

    JPL

    This is a Public Service Advisory. Stay buckled up this week because Michelle Obama will be on ABC, CBS and NBC this week discussing her book. Most of the appearances will be taped interviews, although. I assume that trump will not be happy that someone more popular than he is will be receiving so much attention and adoration.

    @debbie: I’d stay with 538. Although turnout was high for the midterms that poll doesn’t take into account all who normally vote only presidential years.

  59. 59.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @satby: Good morning!

    I’m totally doing retirement wrong.

    So am I. I’m reviewing my volunteer commitments over the coming weeks with an eye to cutting back. The investment in election work was worth it – clean sweep, New Mexico!!! – but going forward I want to shift from being a party officer to a worker bee. I don’t need the stress. And I’d like to mix in a little fun here and there. In other news, we haz snow!

  62. 62.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @satby:

    It’s nice to be needed, I guess?

    One of the lessons I keep trying to learn is that just because you can do a thing – and do it well – doesn’t mean you should do it.

    Shorter: “No, thank you” is a useful phrase. Maybe you can teach me how to use it. ;)

  64. 64.

    Schlemazel

    @Baud:
    I’m proud of those MN hillbillies on seeing through this one. I never thought a black man who was Muslim could win enough votes in those 2 districts that flipped red to pull it off. Polls had him behind.

    OTOH, the Assclown he was running against for AG wanted to institute biblical law, said his first act would be to fire anyone who was a Democrat and had bullied a gay kid badly enough that he attempted suicide. He was scum even by todays GOP standards

    Ellisons replacement is a mystery. The 5th CD would be represented by a ficus if the DFL chose to run one. I know she is very young and an immigrant Muslim but she made no impression on me. Ellison was a good, vocal rep with enough firebrand in him to be a real value on TV. That is lost now & I have no idea what we have in its place. I am angry that the DNC co-chair does not support the party’s nominating process. But that is inside baseball

  65. 65.

    debbie

    @JPL:

    Thanks.

    Glenn Beck is railing at the indignities inflicted upon Tucker Carlson’s family, yet says nothing about RWNJs’ rudeness and instead pivots to blaming this on feminism. What’s he really afraid of????

  67. 67.

    Schlemazel

    The FYNYT has an op ed out today suggesting we increase the size of Congress to 593 representatives. That would be nice since Wyoming’s 550,000 residents get one while it take 700,000 in any civilized state. 593 would get us closer to equitable.

    Though we still have the problem that 40 million Americans have 36 US Senators with 40 million Californians having exactly 2

  68. 68.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @O. Felix Culpa: I prefer the simple “No.” saying “thank you” afterwards implies you were impressed/flattered/whatever and just invites further incursions on your life.

  69. 69.

    satby

    @O. Felix Culpa: you done good, and others can step up to the plate next time. Yay you!

    @JPL: well, I was a coordinator that year too, and I ended up hosting mainly because we had a really hard time placing Muslim students, especially hijab wearing girls. I was glad I decided to host though.

  70. 70.

    Quinerly

    @JPL: Poco did not want to get out of MY bed this morning . He took it upon himself to go up to the third floor to my bed around 5:30 pm yesterday. Just gave me “the look” because I hadn’t been around much all weekend. Finally got him to come down about an hr ago with the smell of frying sausage. Amazing bladder in that ex street dog.

  72. 72.

    A Ghost To Most

    @Raven:
    Thank you for calling. The government is too busy drowning in the bathtub to get back to you at this time.
    Please call again later.

  76. 76.

    Platonailedit

    Florida accepts overseas/military ballots through Nov. 16, (provided they were postmarked by Nov. 6).

    The president is effectively calling for the disenfranchisement of military service-members … the day after Veteran's Day.

    https://t.co/bg00BACUv3— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) November 12, 2018

    To those military types and vets who continue still to vote for these group of pigs, when you gonna catch a clue?

  78. 78.

    tobie

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Thus far, the polls were right about AZ, ND, MT, and MO, and wrong about NV, TN, and IN. We desperately need a hand count in Florida to see what shenanigans the GOP has been up to for years. Scott’s and Trump’s panic about the hand count is telling. They’re scared, and it’s not just about Scott losing. It’s about the system they’ve built through voter disenfranchisement, perverse signature and name matching requirements, voter roll purges, and outright fraud to engineer GOP victories. No more!

  79. 79.

    MomSense

    @Baud:

    In the future let’s not throw our panties at whoever puts together a great first ad. The dude had arrests for OUI, driving with a suspended license, and driving without a license. Then there were the missing child support payments. That doesn’t fly in the year of the pissed off woman voter.

  80. 80.

    germy

    @MomSense: I find myself wondering how Cathy Myers would have done. I preferred her. She might have contributed to the blue wave. But she didn’t get the attention the Iron Stache got in the primary.

  81. 81.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @oldgold: It’s not near fat enough and it doesn’t have raccoon eyes. Also the flag should be coming out of it’s ass, not at the neck. That said, I applaud their efforts at profiteering the desecration of the flag.

  82. 82.

    Baud

    @MomSense:

    In the future let’s not throw our panties at whoever puts together a great first ad.

    I’m already there, but I don’t know if we collectively have it in us to change.

  88. 88.

    Yarrow

    Meanwhile, not in Florida and not in Arizona…

    "Elections officials in Bexar County have not complied with the Texas Democratic Party’s public records request” in uncalled #TX23 race re: provisional, vote-by-mail, military, and overseas ballots #tx2018 https://t.co/2jbHJGHCxZ
    — Evan Smith (@evanasmith) November 11, 2018

    I saw that CNN is going to do another “election night” thing on Tuesday to update people on the state of the election because so many races are taking so long to be called. Interesting to consider how much vote by mail is changing the be “Election Night!111!!” coverage on TV.

  91. 91.

    WaterGirl

    @JPL: Thanks so much for the link! Can’t wait to watch.

    P.S. You mean there are still women who weren’t already envious of Michelle’s relationship with Barack????

  94. 94.

    joel hanes

    @Schlemazel:

    I hope Iron Stach tries again in 20

    I don’t.
    A successful career as an ironworker requires certain skills and aptitudes.
    Other skills and aptitudes are required to be a successful politician.
    Bryce, who I admire, and to whose campaign I donated more money than I could afford, did not have political skills, nor does he seem to have picked any of them up during his campaign.

  96. 96.

    joel hanes

    @debbie:

    Glenn Beck is railing at the indignities inflicted upon Tucker Carlson’s family

    Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has continually been receiving credible death threats, has been forced to move four times, and cannot work at her job.

    Somehow I’m having a hard time developing any sympathy for the family of that racist asshole Carlson, even though what he says is not their fault.

  98. 98.

    japa21

    As we listen and read about the GOP’s angst over the elections and particularly the Trumpster’s reaction, let us remember that he is the first Presidential candidate in history to refuse to say that he would accept the election results unless they showed him winning.

  99. 99.

    JPL

    @oldgold: The Hitler salute and white power symbols are never out of favor for white trash and that’s what they are. It’s simply disgusting that their parents stood by and watched.

  100. 100.

    germy

    @japa21: They had couples therapy

    https://www.thecut.com/2018/11/michelle-obama-says-she-and-barack-went-to-couples-therapy.html

    I felt vulnerable all the time. And I had to learn how to express that to my husband, to tap into those parts of me that missed him — and the sadness that came from that — so that he could understand. He didn’t understand distance in the same way. You know, he grew up without his mother in his life for most of his years, and he knew his mother loved him dearly, right? I always thought love was up close. Love is the dinner table, love is consistency, it is presence. So I had to share my vulnerability and also learn to love differently. It was an important part of my journey of becoming. Understanding how to become us.

    By opening up about her marriage struggles, Michelle hoped to dispel the notion that she and Barack have a flawless relationship — or that such a thing exists. “I share this because I know that people look to me and Barack as the ideal relationship,” she said. “I know there’s #RelationshipGoals out there. But whoa, people, slow down — marriage is hard!”

  102. 102.

    satby

    @O. Felix Culpa: don’t need to host to be a coordinator, in fact it’s a conflict of interest so a different coordinator would be assigned to my student. I’m not going to host this year or next, but may again in the future. It’s hard work, but I also think that it’s a lot of fun.
    This winter I intend to go visit two of my former exchange sons in Mexico, brothers that my family hosted two years apart. Grown men with families of their own now.

  103. 103.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @satby: Those enduring connections are lovely. I first got to “know” you from your posts when you were hosting your two girls in Michigan. I knew right away you were good people. :)

  104. 104.

    Ruckus

    @debbie:
    It’s statistics. It’s moving the numbers around till you like the answers. OK, not fully, but there can easily be differences of opinion by how you work the numbers. If one is completely consistent in their gathering and calculations, their numbers will be consistent across time. But someone else just as consistent in their gathering and calculations may have differing answers. Statistics is not a fixed science, like most mathematics, there are differing ways of manipulating the information and asking questions. As well, people will answer differently when asked at differing times. The larger the sample will help smooth out the inconsistencies. Hopefully.
    An example would be the Vietnam war. Success was measured by statistics, not by sq footage gained/lost or number/severity of casualties. So you had situations where after all the death and destruction, the US forces would win a battle and then just leave. The enemy would come back and the all the shit would have to start once again. Or this in Afghanistan.

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