Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about it’s history.”

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

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

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

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

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

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Cole is on a roll !

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

“woke” is the new caravan.

Another missed opportunity for Jamie Dimon to just shut the fuck up.

Let’s finish the job.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

You are here: Home / Open Threads / State of the Rebellion (Open Thread)

State of the Rebellion (Open Thread)

by | 106 Comments

This post is in: , , , ,

Hubby and I opted to skip the SOTU in favor of continuing our Game of Thrones marathon. This morning, I watched WaPo’s three-minute highlight reel and read the transcript. Looks like our prediction yesterday — that the speech would be a discordant amalgam of white nationalist scaremongering and pseudo-loftiness — was on target.

As anticipated, it reflects its authorship, a committee comprising xenophobic incel goon Stephen Miller and Fox News-trained turd-polishers under the tutelage of network hack Bill Shine. But as many societies have discovered at great cost, when you give bigots a seat at the table, they consume the entire feast and then burn down the house with everyone in it.

I watched Stacey Abrams’ response in its entirety and am relieved that she escaped the SOTU rebuttal curse. She received scattered criticism for the staging, but the dim lighting, sharp focus on Abrams and soft focus on the crowd behind her appealed to me. It evoked a Star Wars rebel alliance leader’s speech on the eve of an attack on a Death Star. FWIW, I’d fly my X-wing up Trump’s bunghole on Abrams’ orders.

Still, for my money, Speaker Pelosi’s devastating exasperated participation-trophy clap was the highlight of the evening:

Wingnuts on Twitter are still sputtering with rage about her paper shuffling, impassive expressions during GOP applause lines, eye-widening as Trump unspooled particularly egregious whoppers, etc., so I gather she managed to strike exactly the right balance between decorum and disdain. Well done, Madam Speaker!

During our Game of Thrones marathon, I had an epiphany about which major character I find most relatable: Daenerys Targaryen. Like her, I recently returned to my ancestral homeland, where I am a stranger. I assembled a fleet (of canoes and a jon boat). And I am the mother of (snap)dragons.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

106Comments

  1. 1.

    Salty Sam

    I’d fly my X-wing up Trump’s bunghole on Abrams’ orders.

    Siri, order five gallons of Brain Bleach…

  2. 2.

    Eural Joiner

    The wingnuts I am forced to associate with are blustering in rage that that “bitch” AOC refused to stand and chant USA. Apparently that is an offense against the nation and our history but Trump’s behavior and criminal treason issues are just politics as normal :O

  4. 4.

    Kraux Pas

    I’d fly my X-wing up Trump’s bunghole on Abrams’ orders.

    Well, since he talks out of his ass, that’s clearly the poorly conceived glaring vulnerability the resistance may exploit.

  6. 6.

    The Thin Black Duke

    Somewhere in another universe, Stacey Abrams is President of the United States. Unfortunately, we’re stuck in the universe where Spock has a beard.

  7. 7.

    MattF

    I’ve cited this before, but Ed Rogers (WaPo RWNJ) had a clear recommentation for Nancy Pelosi:

    The speaker should resist all that and mostly do nothing. She should give Trump a hearty handshake, smile, nod and applaud when appropriate. That’s it.

    The sense here eventually occured to me: Pelosi should nod and applaud, i.e., be ‘ladylike’. I’m hoping that Rogers was very disappointed.

  9. 9.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I’d fly my X-wing up Trump’s bunghole on Abrams’ orders.

    and crash right into Lindsey Graham

  11. 11.

    Ramalama

    I don’t know why but I just don’t care for Daenerys in GOT. She’s a completely unsympathetic character with a lot of power that she was born with. I’m cool with a “Chosen One” being a woman. That part is actually great. But I just bristle when I see her on screen and can’t wait until the scene shifts to someone else. Everyone else fascinates me. Maybe it’s the actress I don’t like? Or maybe I need to brush up and binge on a season again?

  14. 14.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @MattF: Oh good, yet another man telling a powerful woman how she should comport herself. My suggestion for him and his ilk is go DIAF.

  17. 17.

    kindness

    The turtles are cute Betty but please resist the urge to scratch them under their chins. Snapping Turtles are snapping turtles after all.

  19. 19.

    Elizabelle

    I don’t understand the slogan on the mug, but am all for girls getting as much coffee as they want.

    NDP for the win last night. I caught her motioning the Democrats up to celebrate their (new) jobs.

    And that is one darling lil turtle.

  20. 20.

    SenyorDave

    @The Thin Black Duke: But on the plus side, they have the agonizer. Who wouldn’t want to use an agonizer on some of Trump’s minions? For especially hideous people (Bannon, Miller, Mitch McConnell), we could use the agony booth for “full duration”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ydGv5XId4g

    Go to the 57 second mark, maybe the people who designed and implanted the separation policy could get a taste of the agony booth.

  22. 22.

    Elizabelle

    @rikyrah: Dang. All the best to Congressman Dingell.

    He has lived long enough to know this is going to turn around. I hope he is there and sentient for Muller time.

  23. 23.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Ramalama: Maybe it’s the actress I don’t like? Or maybe I need to brush up and binge on a season again?

    I feel the same way about her, and Jon Snow. Not sure if it’s the actors or the characters

  25. 25.

    Kay

    @Eural Joiner:

    with are blustering in rage that that “bitch” AOC

    They hate her because she’s happy. She loves the job. She looks like she won the fucking lottery every day at work.

    They wanted her to be a dour “angry Lefty” and instead she exudes joy and energy. Compare and contrast with bitter, entitled Liz Cheney. These people are miserable and they got everything they wanted. They’re still miserable.

  31. 31.

    chopper

    Wingnuts on Twitter are still sputtering with rage about her paper shuffling, impassive expressions during GOP applause lines, eye-widening as Trump unspooled particularly egregious whoppers, etc., so I gather she managed to strike exactly the right balance between decorum and disdain. Well done, Madam Speaker!

    well-done indeed. abrams gave a fantastic speech also, but apparently all the true progressives are too busy yanking it to pictures of AOC to notice.

  32. 32.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Eural Joiner:

    Nicole Malliotakis @ NMalliotakis
    .@ AOC looks like someone who just found out an MS13 gang member in our country illegally committed a murder on a subway platform in her district after she spent months calling for ICE to be abolished. Oh wait…

    as opposed to a legally committed murder? GOP state Rep from, of course, Staten Island.

  33. 33.

    Villago Delenda Est

    As far as GoT characters go, Tyrion and Arya have always been my faves, from season one (or the appropriate chapters) on. Jon was a bit in the background early on but of course became much more prominent when he joined the Watch, and I never have cared a great deal for Daenerys, as she’s the obvious Mary Sue here.

  34. 34.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Villago Delenda Est: I always liked Tywin (especially during the scenes with Arya), Lady Olenna (always), the Hound (over his long arc), and Bronn. A lot of characters I wish had gotten a bit more of a story (Ilyria Sand (? Indira Varma’s character) and the Blackfish seemed interesting, but it’s already such a sprawling, crowded cast, where could they fit? and more dire-wolves, always.

  36. 36.

    Yarrow

    From Deadline Hollywood:
    Donald Trump’s Long Second State Of The Union Rises In Ratings Over 2018 & Obama

    In metered markets ratings for the 9 – 10:30 PM ET speech CBS had a 4.6/7, taking the number #1 spot among the broadcast networks away from usual top dog NBC. The Comcast-owned net was in second place with a 4.5/7, while ABC got a 4.1/7 and FOX snared a 3.1/5.

    With individual rises for all of the Big 4, last night’s SOTU was up overall just over 10% in the early metrics from Trump’s official inaugural address to the House members and the Senate of January 30 last year.

    A rare feat for any President this deep into his term, the rise also shows that Trump will eclipse not only his own first SOTU and his 2017 address to Congress but also the second SOTU of his predecessor Barack Obama as well.

    I did my part and didn’t watch it, but I guess people love a trainwreck.

  37. 37.

    Jeffro

    Betty that would be a waste of a perfectly good X-wing…couldn’t you just launch a photon torpedo-thingy or eight up there, and then hit the afterburners to escape the orange-plosion?

  40. 40.

    Citizen Alan

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    It is incredibly telling to me that Republicans literally don’t care at all about assaults, rapes, and murders unless they can be used to slime Democrats. In honestly don’t think it’s possible to be a Republican politician without also being a sociopath.

  41. 41.

    The Midnight Lurker

    FWIW, I’d fly my X-wing up Trump’s bunghole on Abrams’ orders.

    “It’s a trap!”

  44. 44.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think Arya is my favorite character overall (can’t be helped as she’s a dead ringer for my daughter), but I also loved Lady Olenna (queen of shade), the Hound (king of the one-liner) and Bronn. I also love Brienne of Tarth and hope she and Tormund get one of the spin-off series and have enormous children.

  45. 45.

    Kraux Pas

    @chopper:

    Wingnuts on Twitter are still sputtering with rage about her paper shuffling

    Any teacher will tell you that taking notes is a sign you aren’t paying attention.

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    A lot of characters I wish had gotten a bit more of a story (Ilyria Sand (? Indira Varma’s character) and the Blackfish seemed interesting, but it’s already such a sprawling, crowded cast, where could they fit?

    In the book!

  48. 48.

    Elizabelle

    Elect Democrats fast, so they can clean this up as well. In addition to self-inflicted Republican economic disasters.

    WaPost breaking news: Wildfires, hurricanes and other extreme weather cost the nation 247 lives, nearly $100 billion in damage during 2018. Experts say that climate change might already be fueling an increase in the number of billion-dollar disasters.

    …. The bulk of that damage, about $73 billion, was attributable to three events: Hurricanes Michael and Florence and the collection of wildfires that raged across the West.

    2018 did not set the record for the most expensive year for such disasters. That distinction belongs to 2017, when Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria combined with devastating Western wildfires and other natural catastrophes caused $306 billion in total damage. They were part of a historic year, which saw 16 separate events that cost more than $1 billion each.

    But the most recent numbers continue what some experts call an alarming trend toward an increasing number of billion-dollar disasters, fueled. [sic] at least in part, by the warming climate.

    …. Many factors contribute to the cost of any one disaster. For instance, a hurricane that hits a heavily populated area, such as Hurricane Sandy in 2012 or Hurricane Harvey in 2017, is likely to have a far higher economic impact than one that hits a less crowded swath of the country. The nation’s growing population, insufficient building codes and the fact that many cities and infrastructure sit near coasts or along rivers also play a role. But increasingly, experts say, so does climate change.

    “I look at these numbers every year. There’s this knot in your stomach where you know there is some big piece of this that is probably coming from climate change, but at the same time, there are a lot of moving parts,” said Solomon Hsiang, a public policy professor at the University of California at Berkeley, who has studied how natural disasters impact societies.

    Separately on Wednesday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and NOAA released data that officially made 2018 the fourth-warmest year on record, since 1880. The last four years have been the warmest on record, and nine of the 10 warmest years have been since 2005.

    …. Climate change has helped to shape the severity of at least some of the natural disasters in recent years, said Kerry Emanuel, a top hurricane expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For instance, Emanuel himself has published research suggesting the enormous rainfall Hurricane Harvey dumped on Houston was made more possible because of climate change.

    However, that’s different from saying that the overall aggregate damage figures are definitely rising because of climate change. That hasn’t been proved to a 95 percent certainty, Emanuel said, but there are reasons to suspect climate change is playing a notable role.

    “If you’re assessing a risk, a risk you have every reason to think exists, nobody would ever require that certainty,” Emanuel continued. “Generals in the battlefield would never wait for 95 percent certainty.”

    [Money quote for me, out of the story.]

    …. While it’s difficult to pin the rise in billion-dollar disasters solely on climate change or any other factor, such as flood insurance policies or population growth, the trend itself is an unsustainable one, Hsiang said.

    “These costs are enormous. If we really continue to sustain costs like this going forward, many elements of the way we’ve managed resources in society are just not financially sustainable,” he said. “We are spending a huge amounts of money on disaster relief . . . We’re always responding to a disaster by picking up the pieces after they occur.”

    …. While fires and hurricanes are responsible for the bulk of disaster-related damages — and also disaster-related headlines — a number of other events also routinely have surpassed the billion-dollar mark over the years. They include droughts, hailstorms, winter storms and tornadoes. And while calamities have struck nearly every corner of the country, climate change is likely to make the impact disproportionate going forward — not just from hurricanes and other storms, but also from economic losses associated with an ever-growing number of hotter days.

    “There’s no doubt, the Southwest is the epicenter of negative economic impacts in coming decades,” [Mark] Muro [of the Brookings Institution] said. “In the big picture, the Southeast and the Gulf Coast are the center of climate harm in the United States.”

  49. 49.

    geg6

    I have now tried three times to try to watch GoT. I just don’t get it. I keep wondering what all the hoopla is about and can never find a reason for it. I’ll keep trying because people keep telling me to, but I really need to get past the first three episodes, apparently. That’s as far as I’ve gotten before ditching it. I thought it might be because I can’t seem to put myself into disbelief mode because I really don’t get how this world works. So I picked up the first book, thinking that reading about it would make it more clear. Jesus. That was a stupid idea. It’s even more incoherent to me. It’s not like I don’t like some fantasy/sci fi. It’s not my favorite genre, but I certainly have my favorites within it. Maybe I’m trying too hard and it’s not as complicated as it looks?

  50. 50.

    germy

    We’re rebelling, but they’re also rebelling:

    the immigration agent at JFK just saw that i work for buzzfeed and just grilled me for 10 minutes about the cohen story which was fun given he gets to decide whether to let me back into the country— David Mack (@davidmackau) February 4, 2019

  51. 51.

    germy

    he was 100% convinced mueller had personally given a press conference calling us fake news and i had to politely assure him that didn’t happen while also not wanting to piss him off any further— David Mack (@davidmackau) February 4, 2019

  52. 52.

    germy

    anyway there were literally dozens of people waiting and i shit you not he was about to google the mueller response to see if it was televised or at least grill me about it— David Mack (@davidmackau) February 4, 2019

  54. 54.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    @Emerald:

    Yep. That’s why.

    Is that sarcasm?

    Now watch his approval ratings go up too.

    Then watch them go back down again when people do their taxes this season

  55. 55.

    Kay

    @Elizabelle:

    “There’s no doubt, the Southwest is the epicenter of negative economic impacts in coming decades,” [Mark] Muro [of the Brookings Institution] said. “In the big picture, the Southeast and the Gulf Coast are the center of climate harm in the United States.”

    People in Michigan and Ohio actually talk about this- in a kind of nasty way, honestly. They think they’re in the right place, on the scale of climate disasters. That they’ll be insulated by land mass and all the fresh water. I heard it referenced at a water conference in Toledo, from the stage, which surprised me because the water people are usually serious and nerdy. It was almost “nah, nah, you’re really gonna get hit!” I was taken aback in that setting but I’ve heard sentiments like that a lot.

    I can’t get my head around the expense. Just massive.

  56. 56.

    Betty Cracker

    @geg6: Honestly, I struggled through the first season and only stuck with it because my husband was into it. I was ready to bail after the first episode. The finale of season one was when I got completely hooked. My sister had the exact same reaction as I did. I suspect you are right that you’re trying too hard; I was too at first. Just let it flow over you; it will click.

  60. 60.

    Kay

    @geg6:

    I have now tried three times to try to watch GoT

    I don’t get it either. My oldest son and daughter in law convinced me to watch it and I really tried- hours I put in. Like a job. OTOH they belong to a Monday evening social group where they play Dungeons and Dragons and other “tabletop” games so there’s a lot of fun…. things we don’t share :)

  62. 62.

    JMG

    @Kay: They ought to tone that down. History shows (just look at the history of LA) that when a region with more people needs natural resources from a region with less people, it gets them one way or the other, and the way is never very pleasant for the ones getting taken from. Ohioans will pay taxes to ameliorate Florida and Texas’s natural disasters. Count on it.

  63. 63.

    Elizabelle

    WaPost: Stacey Abrams shines with delivery of Democratic response

    Why yes. It’s Jennifer Rubin. Worth a click, fer sure.

    While hypocrisy and insincerity — not to mention excessive length and a draggy delivery — were the defining characteristics of President Trump’s State of the Union, the Democratic response was authentic, compelling and punchy. Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams showed why she engendered such enthusiasm in her narrow loss in a race that would have made her the country’s first female African American governor.

    She began with biography, describing her family whose lack of wealth did not spare them from the obligation of helping those less fortunate. Her emphasis was on themes that conservatives used to appreciate — community, faith and family. “My family understood firsthand that while success is not guaranteed, we live in a nation where opportunity is possible,” she said. “But we do not succeed alone — in these United States, when times are tough, we can persevere because our friends and neighbors will come for us. Our first responders will come for us.” Ironically, Trump’s speech was largely about what the government is doing for others, while hers stressed what Americans do for each other.

    …. Then she lowered the boom: “Making their livelihoods a pawn for political games is a disgrace. The shutdown was a stunt engineered by the president of the United States, one that defied every tenet of fairness and abandoned not just our people — but our values.”

    … what was striking about her speech was her emphasis on opportunity, community and shared responsibility. More often than not, her complaint was that government was getting in the way of the progress of average Americans. That used to be how Republicans spoke. Democrats, if they are smart, will snatch the “values” issue back from the GOP. [Jennifer!]

    Abrams is not a candidate for president in 2020, but she might make the short list for vice president. She’s a fresh face, but more important, a real talent who is both personally engaging and pitch perfect for an electorate tired of hearing a windbag president demonize immigrants for the umpteenth time.

    She suggests a new model for the Democratic Party — where diversity is a given, but the commitment is to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, leaving no one behind. [Wait, what JRub? That is what the Democrats have been about for years.] Media coverage stressed her role as a first — the first African American woman to deliver a response to the State of the Union — but that doesn’t capture what was truly unique about her remarks. Responding to the State of the Union is a thankless task, but Abrams was arguably the only successful one in recent memory. And she was brief. God bless her for that.

  64. 64.

    Jeffro

    Um…apparently VA AG Mark Herring, 3rd in line of succession as Gov should Northam AND Fairfax step down, just put out a statement that he too wore blackface back ‘in the day’ at a come-as-a-rapper theme party in college.

    People this is getting ridiculous. Is this Florida? Is this Alabama? Is this South Carolina? NO. But we are about to surpass them as the butt of national jokes here…unbelievable!

  67. 67.

    Frankensteinbeck

    The latest anti-Harris campaign has to do with her being anti-trans and anti-LBGTQ. Does anyone have actually accurate information, so I can either make my own decision, deflate the Russian hoax, or both?

  69. 69.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    my struggle getting into GoT was that approximately 50% of the characters are/were middle-aged English guys with receding hairlines and scruffy beards. And another 20% were young English guys with full heads of hair and scruffy beards.

  70. 70.

    Elizabelle

    @Jeffro:

    I really, really like Mark Herring. Gonna stand up for him too.

    People: do not expect perfection from your politicians, particularly not in the past. Look at how they have lived their careers and their lives.

    Anthony Weiner: needed to go. Rapidly.

    Getting in a flap over something that happened decades ago? Have fun with that.

    I know the political reporter at the Richmond Times Dispatch. I wonder if he feels he is in heaven or hell this week. Will have to shoot him an email.

  72. 72.

    Kay

    @JMG:

    I don’t know of course but I would bet they feel like it’s some kind of cosmic compensation for what they consider their less popular status :)

    It makes me uncomfortable. It’s like “oh, gross, stop talking about hoarding fresh water”. I have what I think is the proper expansive view of “public assets”. I’m sick of people staking out territory that doesn’t actually belong to them.

  73. 73.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Frankensteinbeck: She refused to appeal a ruling that Prop 8 was unconstitutional and said she hoped the SCOTUS agreed. Trans issues are trickier. She argued the State had no obligation to provide reassignment surgery to prisoners because it wasn’t medically necessary. It’s fair to ask whether she stands behind that or whether her views have changed.

  74. 74.

    Elizabelle

    @Jeffro: No. I think it’s more a reflection of how far and how fast we have come on inclusivity and being more aware of racism. Virginia was always a tad (OK, more than a tad) behind the moderate states. And we sure aren’t no Mississippi or Alabama.

    Recall: Massive Resistance in the 1960s. Loving v. Virginia. The GOP trying to run Oliver North for Senate in the 1990s.

  75. 75.

    randy khan

    @Yarrow:

    “Oh, great” was pretty much my reaction, too. He was 18 or 19 at the time (probably 19), so at least he has the stupidity of youth excuse, but oh, man, I really didn’t need this.

  76. 76.

    Yarrow

    @Kay: Well, they’re not that wrong. People on the coasts are going to feel the effects the soonest. Massive heat and drought in already hot and dry regions is increasingly going to be a problem. So if you live inland, in a cooler climate and with a sustainable supply of water you’re somewhat more insulated from it.

  77. 77.

    Gex

    @Kay: Michiganders shouldn’t be so blase about water security given…Flint. When access to it becomes a much bigger deal, it won’t just be black communities that will be shut out of access to safe potable water.

  78. 78.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    @Jeffro: @Yarrow:

    There has to be racist dirt out there like this on Virgina Speaker of the House and other Republicans. Somebody needs to get that out there. Now.

  79. 79.

    tobie

    @chopper: This is getting to be a real problem. It’s not just dKos diarists who post multiple diaries daily about AOC. It’s the media as well, which is pumping two or three freshman Congresswoman at the expense of everyone else. It’s like they want to create a caricature of the party to bemoan the extremism on both sides yet again. Mr. tobie was watching MSNBC last night and said they had on Rashida Tlaib and AOC from the House but none from the House leadership (e.g., Hakeem Jeffries, Karen Bass, Katherine Clark, etc.). Why? And, I hate to say it, but what have Tlaib and AOC done legislatively that singles them out at the moment? Lauren Underwood has already got an important amendment passed on a bill, and Joe Cunningham is part of a group of 7 drafting legislation to ban off-shore drilling but you’d hardly know that from the news or blogosphere. Is everything now just optics and shifting the proverbial Overton window? If so, we’ve lost all substance.

  83. 83.

    SRW1

    @MattF:

    The speaker should resist all that and mostly do nothing. She should give Trump a hearty handshake, smile, nod and applaud when appropriate. That’s it.

    Close your eyes and think of England ‘Murika, Nancy!

  85. 85.

    catclub

    @Yarrow: I see that as implicitly backing Northam to stay. If everybody did it (ummm, maybe everybody who was white at the time) then nobody gets punished for doing it then.

    I would recommend Northam wait a few weeks to decide. I can imagine that the attention will move on.

  86. 86.

    catclub

    @oatler.:

    “Bobdor.”

    where is that in relation to Gondor, Mordor, Fordor and Twodor?

    I thought it was BobDole (referred to by BobDole in the third person)

  88. 88.

    Aleta

    Listen to this. Piece of a speech Elijah Cummings just made at the HOC hearing going on right now:

    Elijah Cummings: “1 year ago on my mother’s dying bed- 92, former sharecropper- her last words were ‘don’t let them take our votes away’…There are efforts to stop people from voting. That’s not right. This is not Russia. This is the USA!”

    via Aaron Rupar https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1093192399348789251

    Oversight Committee@OversightDems
    “We are holding a hearing on #HR1, the #ForthePeople Act was introduced by @RepSarbanes , a senior Member of our Comm. We thank him for his vision and tenacity. He has compiled one of the boldest reform packages to be considered in the history of this body.”

  89. 89.

    jurassicpork

    Our sole revenue stream just suddenly dried up and we’re looking at having to flee our apartment with nowhere else to go and living out of our van. The details are here, unvarnished and without exaggeration. And we desperately need help more than you know.

  91. 91.

    Elizabelle

    @schrodingers_cat: Well said.

    I was about to be out of here, cuz I don’t want to be a part of a pack of jackals with no ability to discern. Now, this could get interesting.

    And it might make for a more honest discussion.

  92. 92.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @chopper: I don’t think she has Bernie’s ego-driven instinct for shitting in the pool, but she does strike me as incredibly naive and politically myopic, in the “everybody I know agrees with me!” strain. She’s young for an elected MoC, but OTOH she’s almost thirty, fercrissake.

  93. 93.

    tobie

    @chopper: I was wild about Obama in 2008, so I get the hero worship shtyck. I just want heroes with heft and accomplishment. Stacey Abrams has that, even if she lost her race due to voter suppression. AOC hasn’t shown this depth yet. Maybe it will come in time but right now she’s a savvy media personality.

  94. 94.

    VeniceRiley

    My main beef with GOT is that Jon Snow is such a mary sue. he’s anti-charisma and bumbles into everything good or bad that happens to him; yet he’s supposed to be this great leader? Whatever. Sad!

    For the record, my favorite is Olenna followed by Cersei.

  99. 99.

    NotMax

    @geg6

    You’re not alone.

    In my case, the gory violence and how that is presented are what removes it from any consideration of watching.

  100. 100.

    NotMax

    Notice for newbies: jurassicpork (above, will NOT link) has been milking this shtick for well over a decade.

  103. 103.

    Redshift

    I can raise my hand in answer to the question at the top of the post. I grew up in Virginia and went to college in the early 80s, and I definitely never wore blackface. I will say that Northern Virginians were often shocked to find out how “Southern” the rest of the state was.

    A relevant incident comes to mind from when I was in high school. At the neighboring school where my girlfriend went, the drama teacher decided to do a production of “Finian’s Rainbow,” motivated in part by wanting to get more nonwhite kids to try out. (For those of you who are familiar with the show, yeah, I know.) When they didn’t, she had some of the white kids wear blackface. Really.

    Everyone knew it was awful (except, apparently, the drama teacher and anyone in a position to nix the idea), even if us privileged white kids didn’t know exactly why.

  105. 105.

    karensky

    I watched a Canadian cop show that I am binging and then Ms Abrams. She was tone perfect. I love her, Speaker Pelosi and turtles.

  106. 106.

    Tehanu

    @geg6: @NotMax:
    I’m with both of you. I did a lot of medieval history in college, so I kept asking myself (1) why am I watching fake medieval history when real medieval history is so much more interesting, and (2) where are the good things? Where are the Universities of Oxford and Paris and Bologna? Where are Pierre Abelard and Hildegard of Bingen and St. Francis and Roger Bacon and Henry the Lawgiver and Maimonides? The real Middle Ages were not simply centuries of unmitigated cruelty and horrors. I read fantasy & s.f. to experience being in a different world, but who’d want to find themselves in Martin’s cosmos?

Comments are closed.