This face
This comment from last night saved us, so thanks Kristine.
It was rough for a while. Bixby was not amused. There’s a full update here. Here’s our current status:
A reminder we’ll have a writing chat/new author tomorrow at 12:30 pm est.
I’m exhausted. There might be napping.
Open thread
Elizabelle
Hello Balloon Juice Baby and Gabe. All the best to you and your animal pals, TaMara.
Doesn’t Gabe almost have a human face? It’s not hard to imagine an old guy looking at you with some of his expressions. You could have a ball with imagining word balloons for him.
TaMara (HFG)
@Elizabelle: Most of them would probably be “I am not amused, puny human”
WaterGirl
Sweet story from Kristine.
Gaby: Do you forgive me yet? Huh? Huh? How about now? Please forgive me. Please please please.
King: No, I will not forgive you. Not now, not ever. Okay, maybe someday. Okay, that’s long enough. All is forgiven.
Neldob
You have earned warm safe naps. Thanks for being.
debbie
Critters are far better at figuring out how to get along with each other than humans are.
WaterGirl
Dogs and cats are so much better than most of us humans. Loving, gracious, forgiving.
Dorothy A. Winsor
So glad Baby is doing well.
debit
Gabe!!!
I had an Afghan Hound rescue that had been neglected to the point of abuse: starving and covered in mats filled with her own urine and feces. When we clipped her she was a basically a hairy skeleton. She never really had food aggression (I mean, you could take it away and she would just look sad) but once one of our cats decided to poke his nose in her bowl. Sasha slapped down a paw on his back and held him pinned to the floor while she barked in his face for a solid 30 seconds. Then lifted her paw and resumed eating. The cat never even looked at her dish again.
imonlylurking
It’s physically painful to see his spine sticking out like that. Poor Baby.
O. Felix Culpa
Thank you for the update. It’s heartening to read in the midst of such disheartening news. You are good people and you haz good critters. They seem to adjust and accept over time far better than humans do.
ellie
I want to kiss that floofy kitty face.
The Midnight Lurker
The Orange Turd tweeted something regarding the passing of Rep. Dingle. I won’t repeat it, I’ll just give you the gist:
“ME!”
Then there was this…
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dy6dBPdXQAABfkr.jpg
God, I miss him.
sukabi
@ellie: that’s my reaction as well, Gabe has such a wonderfully expressive face.
opiejeanne
That kitty face! I just love it and want to smooch it. I see Ellie had the same idea.
laura
@imonlylurking: it took one full year to get our weinie dog Chet’s weight up enough to hide his skeleton. Abandoned on the hot summer streets of sacramento, his pads burnt and cracked, his bones and veins visible from a distance. The same sad, stoic face as in the prior post.
I sure hope baby finds a forever home and flourishes with love and time and can live up to his full dog potential.
It’s hard to understand how someone could let him suffer so. I just dont understand wanton cruelty.
Amir Khalid
@Elizabelle:
Gabe always looks like he’s thinking deep thoughts. I too like to think he is.
JPL
I’m pleased that you made it through the night. I hope Gabe finds his forever home soon.
sukabi
@The Midnight Lurker: I miss waking up in the morning and not having to worry about / think about what kind of embarrassing crap the president has gotten into over night.
WaterGirl
My niece’s 2 pups are staying with me for the weekend while they are at a soccer tournament. They sleep together in a crate at night, and my little Henry wants to be in there with them. So sweet.
They don’t know their own size and could crush him without thinking, so that’s a no go, but he really is the sweetest little guy.
Amir Khalid
@JPL:
I think it’s Baby who is the foster. Gabe is already at his forever home.
Aleta
@WaterGirl: : ) This made me smile.
Didn’t Henry have a knee ligament or some injury, when he had to stay inactive for awhile? Did it heal well? How’s your ankle?
Sebastian
In case you need something to get your blood pressure up:
Warren set to announce candidacy amid lingering questions over identity
Who is Symone Sanders and who is Annie Linskey?
Sebastian
@debit:
That made me chuckle. Thanks for the story. Good dog!
Suzanne
@Sebastian: Symone Sanders was Bernie’s Director of African-American Outreach, IIRC.
FWIW, I think the fact that Warren claimed to be “American Indian” is fairly gross. Not disqualifying for me, but I also cant believe she did that. Like……the lady is white. Why TF would you identify as a race with ONE long-ago ancestor? Ridiculous.
Aleta
Baby’s a beautiful dog. It’s been great seeing pictures of your dogs changing as they grow up. Watching Baby’s shape fill out will be a pleasure. Thank you for all the Dane pictures.
Amir Khalid
@Suzanne:
I knew the name sounded familiar.
Sebastian
@Suzanne:
Thanks for the info. I am starting to believe that the Bernie marker is almost as bad as a Trump marker. That guy seems to attract all the wrong people.
As to Warren, to me she appears to me be flatfooted and clumsy in her political maneuvers. Very similar to HRC in that aspect.
I would like her to become the first Secretary of Consumer and Citizen Protection of the newly created agency. But that’s just me.
With that said, the knifes are out and I am wondering if it’s Repubs or Harris.
trollhattan
@debit:
Hilarious. Dogs, especially big dogs, don’t always realize they don’t need to take no crap from no cat. Sasha unraveled that puzzle right quick.
Steve in the ATL
@Suzanne:
So she’s incompetent
Major Major Major Major
Yay making it through the night!
Excited for author chat tomorrow. Happy to live in a time zone where it’s not too early on a Sunday :)
Sebastian
My dog, Charlie Jr Jr, is a total little shit. I guess all Maltipoos are but he is pampered, spoiled, selfish, and has tons of attitude. He barks at every male and will actually launch at them. Walking the neighborhood is quite a challenge. On the other hand, he will walk up to girls and women with his tail wagging and being the sweetest guy imaginable.
He got me a bunch of phone numbers so I forgive him his other transgressions. Heh
Amir Khalid
Idle question: could a POTUS revoke Medals of Freedom awarded by a predecessor? Bonus idle question: Might Trump try that with Medals awarded by Obama?
Suzanne
@Steve in the ATL: I have no opinion on Symone Sanders. IIRC, she was strategically hired after Bernie realized that he had some blind spots on race. I have no opinion or knowledge of her effectiveness.
Sab
@trollhattan: I have a sixty pound rott mix who is absolutely terrified of our tuxedo cat. She gets along great with the other cats, but for some reason he can’t stand her. He is otherwise a very laid back cat, but he has hated her from the moment he first laid eyes on her. It’s weird.
Amir Khalid
@Sebastian:
For all the foofaraw over her heritage, Warren hasn’t actually shot herself in the foot yet. Not by my reckoning, anyway. If she’s a real contender for next year, she’ll figure things out in time. If not, no loss: the Democratic party still has plenty of excellent candidates.
Suzanne
@Sebastian:
Um, for real? I understand that many here do not like Bernie, and for valid reason, but in comparison with Trumpy people….there is no comparison, IMO. I have zero doubt that a Sanders Administration would be far better for Americans than the smoldering hellscape in which we currently find ourselves.
WaterGirl
@Aleta: Thanks, and thank you for asking. Yes, Henry had a torn ACL and had surgery and had to be crated for about 3 months. Henry is great and my ankle is at 98%, so we are all good.
edit: Henry had the best of everything, even the 12 sessions of water therapy at the vet. Total cost: 3,500. Total cost for me $350.
This is my period plug for everyone to get pet insurance.
Ella in New Mexico
@Suzanne:and yet look at the piece of criminal and moral shit who got elected in 2016.
I think if she becomes the nominee, I think we can all find a way to move past the one, really pathetic thing she ever did that was not so great if you’re thinking of running for President someday.
Sebastian
@Amir Khalid:
Correct, she hasn’t. She is great in townhalls, conversations, policy talks, what is called retail politics I think. What she is lacking is modern media presence which Trump has mastered and which AOC is very good at.
I am not sure she will get far without that. Completely agree on the strong Dem field. Can’t wait for the primaries and debates.
Amir Khalid
@Suzanne:
When you consider how much more popular Bernie got with black voters after Symone came aboard — hardly at all, as I remember — you have your answer.
Sebastian
@Ella in New Mexico:
Agree on all points except the “he got elected”. Technically maybe. My position is still it was fraudulently stolen.
Suzanne
@Ella in New Mexico: I will vote for Warren with bells on if she is the Dem nominee. I understand the stakes.
However, the events of the last week, including the news about Warren, really reawakened me to the fact that lots of white people were stupid AF in the eighties. Like…..FUCK.
WaterGirl
@Sebastian: They are coming after the female candidates with a vengeance. I wonder if they think the female candidates are the biggest threat because they have finally figured out how pissed the women are?
Suzanne
@Amir Khalid: It’s hard to know if that isn’t genuinely due to Symone Sanders’ lack of political skill, or if her boss didn’t listen to her and merely hired her as eyewash.
piratedan
@Suzanne: I think its a ymmv kind of thing and forgive me if I head off into some weeds… Warren was raised in Oklahoma, right? Where there is a fairly decent sized “assimilated” native american population. She was raised with a family history of there being some native american ancestry, not seen as a detriment per her own family but not something that she ever felt compelled to use as a lever for favoritism as far as I’ve seen. No application to join a tribe or be placed on a tribal registry. So far, no big deal right?
Until someone chooses to turn her own family history on its ear and claims that she’s lying… so she does what millions of Americans (and others around the world) gets a test done to show, #1 were grandma and grandpa full of shit or not and get some answers… Answers come in and lo and behold, some markers are there to validate that yes, indeed, there are some indications that grandma and grandpa were telling the truth… so a maybe a 64th versus a 16th, we’re not going down the rabbit hole to try and determine how much ancestry one has to have to be legit here are we?
Does it matter that her family history has some truth to it? – well its means that she wasn’t lying
has she ever used that ancestry to some perceived benefit? – to my knowledge, she has not used that ancestry to her own benefit
So why isn’t this issue dead?
because the media got one quote from someone working for a tribe that said that they felt it was less than and that’s what started this and then everyone else who has a fucking agenda about women in power and women that want some economic fairness in place gets to use this as a talking point and cast aspersions…
I get that she doesn’t have a whole lot of foreign policy cred (who does?) and there may be other areas where I may not agree with her but I am willing to listen. It just seems like a whole lotta people are invested in quieting her voice before she even has an opportunity to speak. be it from the Left, because it cuts into Wilmer’s wheelhouse and she has a whole lotta of legit cred there and on the Right, because her economic policy scares the ever-luvvin shit out of them.
Sebastian
@WaterGirl:
Seems like a reflex. Problem for them is that there are a lot of women running so their effort is spread thin.
But the white hot rage is insane.
Amir Khalid
@Suzanne:
A Bernie Administration might have less malicious intent than the Trump Administration towards ordinary people, but I think it would still have turned out to be disappointingly ineffectual.
WaterGirl
@Ella in New Mexico: There are no perfect candidates. And in today’s world, they make shit up if they have to.
I don’t believe for a minute that Mitt Romney was a peach to work for, but it’s a big Joe Biden deal that the nice lady from MN is a mean boss. At least according to the ANONYMOUS source who talked to the reporters.
Amir Khalid
@Suzanne:
¿Por qué no los dos?
Suzanne
@piratedan: I am referring to her registering as “American Indian” with the Texas Bar as the thing that I find problematic. I understand that it didn’t entitle her to any benefits, but the reason that information is tracked is to see if racial diversity is being achieved in those kinds of high-status positions. And it seems exceedingly dumb to me for someone who is at least 63/64 white to put that forward, because racial diversity is not genuinely being achieved. Like, come on….
As I have said, I will vote for her if she’s the Dem nominee. I don’t think this is disqualifying. But I do think it’s stupid.
Sebastian
@Amir Khalid:
Did you see AOC use that on her Twitter? I am wondering if she reads Balloon Juice.
B.B.A.
@Suzanne: You can’t polish a turd.
Kay (not the front-pager)
@TaMara (HFG): He looks bemused. As if he’s thinking, why is she so bad at this? Why doesn’t she understand how to serve me properly? I love her but… will she ever learn or will I have to return her?
Suzanne
@Amir Khalid: A Bernie Administration would not be separating migrant children from their parents and calling Nazis “very fine people” and wanking off to pictures of Kim Jong Un. I am under no illusion that Bernie would have been a great president.
Amir Khalid
@Sebastian:
Surely it’s because she’s Latina.
Amir Khalid
@Suzanne:
From the evidence I have seen of his executive and political skills, I am under no illusion that Bernie would have been a decent president.
Suzanne
@Amir Khalid: Considering that the only other option was “catastrophic president”, I still find many degrees of difference between Bernie and Trump. Obviously YMMV.
I miss the Obamas. So, so bad.
Ruckus
@piratedan:
Warren’s economic policy doesn’t scare them, it terrifies them that they will lose all that they have managed to, well, steal for themselves. Not one human on this planet needs the kind of money that the 1% here have, with half of their wealth they would still be fabulously wealthy. Amazon is a perfect example. Owned by a guy, who if he lost half in his divorce, would still be fabulously wealthy is working deals in NYC to get himself even wealthier. He doesn’t need the breaks, his company doesn’t need it and the city absolutely does and probably wouldn’t even miss him if he doesn’t show up because the companies that are there aren’t getting everything for 75% off.
@Amir Khalid:
A BS maladministration would not have been as malicious but it would also have been very disappointingly ineffectual as you stated, because the boss is as effectual as drumpf. Would he have hired better? I doubt that, maybe at least he wouldn’t have hired those as criminal as drumpf. But his ego wouldn’t let him hire by the best employer code ever, always hire people smarter than you are.
FelonyGovt
@Suzanne: I agree. The HR department of the company I worked for in the ’80’s begged me to self-certify as Hispanic to help with their EEO goals (I’m not Hispanic, but I’m married to one and have a Spanish last name). I refused. But I can see where the pressure might have come from in Warren’s case.
Not making excuses- but it bothers me that one dumb, questionable and/or tone deaf thing a Democrat might have ever done is seen as disqualifying (perhaps correctly so), while the current Republican President* is a walking crime wave with zero ethics.
debbie
@WaterGirl:
They are pathetic. The people who condemn Klobuchar’s meanness to her employees are the same people who cheered Fiorina’s tough CEO-Gal style of leadership. Where are the people who have a platform to speak from?
germy
Presidential candidate harassment:
Amir Khalid
@Suzanne:
There was the Hillary option as well, and I tend to think she would have been neither sub-par nor catastrophic.
Gex
@Suzanne: Same. I wish some of the discussion could have been around the point of measuring diversity and if she really thinks she represents racial diversity in the faculty of institutions of higher learning. Do we really think the point of diversity metrics is to DNA test every white person in an organization to see what boxes they can check off without trying to hire people who faced structural obstacles? Does she think Native American students at those institutions would have seen her as being in the same group?
But that discussion was bypassed in favor of this discussion of whether she is or she isn’t, possibly to avoid the discussion I wish we were having about her actions. Oh well. I don’t find it disqualifying. But it is really disheartening to see how little interest there is in having that discussion. And disheartening to see how little investment white liberals have in actual diversity rather than juking the stats.
Steeplejack
@piratedan:
As Suzanne mentioned, the issue has not died because (from the article linked by Sebastian at #22):
JPL
@Amir Khalid: Thanks. I knew that, but was doing two things at once,
rikyrah
@Sebastian:
Sanders is a Bernie-stan..unaligned my azz
rikyrah
awe..thanks for keeping us up on the happenings. wishing Baby nothing but the best.
Suzanne
@FelonyGovt: My husband has a friend who, despite being a straight middle-class white dude, accepted a scholarship for minorities on the basis of being LDS. That fucken annoyed me very much and I told him so, because I am not very nice.
I don’t think Warren’s actions are disqualifying, but I just think they’re icky. I was born in 1980 and grew up on Long Island with lots of families of different races and religions around me, and I didn’t really have awareness of just how racist and bigoted the world obviously still was back then. This week has been an eye-opener.
germy
Did trump ever donate a million dollars to the charity of Warren’s choice after her DNA test proved Native American ancestry?
I’m curious if the WaPo is doing any investigative stories about his promise?
The Thin Black Duke
I’m sorry, but this nothingburger of a controversy regarding Warren’s ancestry is fucking ridiculous.
sukabi
@germy: I doubt it, he’s said in a speech that he’s got more NA blood than she has, and that he’s got none.
sukabi
@The Thin Black Duke: agree.
Amir Khalid
@debbie:
Do these people stop to remember that Fiorina was a spectacularly incompetent CEO at Hewlett-Packard? Her performance in the job is listed among the worst ever at a Fortune 50 corporation. She was eventually sacked, but HP bestowed upon her an eight-figure golden parachute.
Suzanne
@Amir Khalid: I agree with you, and I proudly pulled the lever(well, really, drew a line between two black bars) for HRC in November 2016. I’m responding to Sebastian’s comment about Bernie people being nearly as bad as Trump people. That assessment strikes me as lacking all sorts of nuance. Like, I don’t like Domino’s Pizza and I never order it and I haven’t eaten it in years…..but if I was starving and the choice was Domino’s Pizza or a fried dogshit sandwich, I would take the crappy pizza every time.
In this metaphor, Trump is the fried dogshit sandwich.
germy
@The Thin Black Duke: We’ll just have to get used to the idea that the corporate media will try to pick off each and every Democratic presidential candidate. I’m hoping their stories won’t matter this cycle, because of… well, look who is president right now.
Chyron HR
@Suzanne:
Because lord knows calling them the Glorious White Working Class Proletariat is so much better.
JPL
OT Jon Ossoff continues to do documentary films. He wrote a global opinion piece along with Anas Aremeyaw Anas in the Washington Post today about the death of a reporter in Ghana . He continues to do good work. I’m not sure that he’ll ever play a role in politics in GA, but it sure would be nice if he did.
link
Sebastian
@Suzanne:
Well yes, obviously. They would be massively better than this current disaster but by how much? A BS administration would fuck up so massively that any leftish government and ideas would be dead for a generation. I am with you, I would of course vote for them but it would not be easy.
Suzanne
@Chyron HR: Sanders’s statement on Charlottesville can be found here:
“The white nationalist demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, is a reprehensible display of racism and hatred that has no place in our society. I am disgusted by the news, and my thoughts are with those in the Charlottesville community and around the country who have been targeted. While this incident is alarming, it is not surprising. Hate crimes and shows of hostility toward minorities have recently been surging. Now more than ever we must stand together against those who threaten our brothers and sisters.”
I am not even a Bernie Stan, but FFS, I will never understand why everything and everyone has to be utterly binary around this place.
Sebastian
@germy:
The media is a pretty soft target to be honest. The Repubs didn’t put a lot of real effort into playing the referees, it was just concerted.
If I look how much pressure we were able to exert on Congress during the ACA repeal process, why don’t we do this with the media?
Suzanne
@Sebastian:
That’s a more interesting question than the one you originally posed. I happen to agree with you that his lack of effectiveness would have done long-term damage to our goals. The question I am faced with is really….would that damage have been worth it in order to spare Central American children being ripped from their parents forever? To save DACA recipients and the undocumented from (potential) deportation? That’s a harder question.
I miss the Obamas.
dww44
@piratedan: We have to quit capitulating to the forces of smearing and denigration that are ginned up from the right. I am so damned sick of this. There were so many people in my world in 2016, albeit a red one, educated and female, who 100% bought into the meme of “lying” Hillary, “crooked” Hillary. There was no way to convince them otherwise.
Now they’re doing the same thing to Warren and to AOC and taking a new angle with Klobuchar. Definitely going after the women. Well, we must continue to fight.
Kristine
I am so glad things worked out. I debated posting that, because all dogs are different. But King was The King, and I watched him train the late lamented Mickey and Gaby wrt limits and what he would and wouldn’t put up with.
That said, he tolerated things from Gaby (girl dog) that would’ve meant a vet visit for Mickey (boy dog). He let Gaby hump him and take toys out of his mouth. When they played, he showed ‘big dog manners,’ lying on his back and letting Gaby crawl all over him. Letting her win. He wouldn’t have taken that from Mickey.
They worked it out, though. Mickey used to deploy passive aggressive techniques with King. If King was chewing on a bone or toy he wanted, he would move in just close enough that he couldn’t be accused of hovering and Just Stand There. After a minute or two, King would get up in a huff, leaving the whatever it was behind.
The funniest thing they used to do was a mid-chew switch. They’d be lying on the living room rug, each chewing a bone. Then some timer heard only by them would go off, and they would stand up in unison, leave the bones they’d been chewing, switch places, flop down, and start chewing the new bones.
Life with Dogs
TaMara (HFG)
@jurassicpork: Hey for all the newbies here – if you feel like donating to a cause, buy some art from Jacy, donate to the Marion Animal rescue, or your local shelter, or the site rebuild, but this person shows up periodically always about to be living in their car for some reason or another. That’s the only reason they show up. You’ve been cautioned.
Sebastian
@Suzanne:
Indeed. I miss them every day.
And apologies, I didn’t intend to be so binary. It’s a very difficult question because I am convinced that BS has absolutely no plan besides shouting platitudes and having no fucking plan how to implement them. What would happen is that those slogans get associated with the massive fuckups and thus everything progressives gets labeled as “we tried it and it fucked everything up”. That would be a disaster of global repercussions.
So what to do then? Vote for the Repubs to “heighten the differences” like in Weimar Germany and risk a totalitarian nightmare? Or a century of right wing rule? I am starting to understand run of the mill Republican voters faced with Trump. Once he passed the primary, what were you going to do but close your eyes and pray it doesn’t crater?
germy
Suzanne
@Sebastian:
I have no good answer for this question. I would definitely have voted for Bernie had he won the nomination, considering that Trump was the other option. But I would not have felt good.
dexwood
@TaMara (HFG):
Good caution. Thanks. Pork has been scamming this site and others for at least 10 years. Fuck him. He gets called on it, fades away for a time, but always returns.
germy
@dexwood: And always with the same copy/pasted story.
Mnemosyne
Sadly, I’ll be at my RWA meeting, and then my brother-in-law and his boyfriend will be arriving from Chicago for their several-day visit. ?
The Thin Black Duke
@Suzanne: Bernie Sanders reminds me of the wise oracle in Aaron Sorkin teleplays (invariably a white guy) who pontificates for five minutes about Whatever as his enraptured audience listens intently.
B.B.A.
Well, speaking as an eternal pessimist, my honest view is that Hillary would have been an ineffectual, Jimmy Carter style president, stymied by a rabidly hostile Congress at every turn and unable to get her cabinet confirmed, let alone enact a positive agenda. This would of course have been far better than having a Russian agent like Wilmer in the White House, let alone the current specimen. But let’s not fool ourselves.
Major Major Major Major
@Sab:
When I was a kid my brother had a basenji that was terrified of my blind ferret.
TriassicSands
Oh, TaMara, face it, you’ve got three Great Danes now. Who could give Baby a better home than you and he’s got a ready-made herd to join.
It’s truly disheartening what people can do to critters. I imagine dogs suffer more abuse, while cats are more often neglected and abandoned or forced to run away on their own.
While traveling in southern Arizona and NM, I once found an English Mastiff who had been abandoned and was starving. I asked the clerk in a gas station if the dog belonged to anyone. “No,” she said blandly, “He lives in the dump.” No interest, not an ounce of care or concern. The second to last thing in the world I wanted was a gigantic Mastiff. The last thing was to leave him there to starve to death. He was going to be an amazing dog after he’d been properly fed and cared for. When I found him he was just a gigantic head attached to a fur-covered skeleton.
I loaded him in my vehicle and found him a home with someone who did care. I would be surprised if he didn’t weigh over 200 pounds when he filled out. And he could have been well over that — he was huge. What I couldn’t understand was how could such a wonderful pooch end up alone and starving. He was a really sweet fellow. Did he somehow get lost? was he left when an elderly couple filled up their RV’s gas tank and absentmindedly drove off without him? I know of that happening with a small dog, but not with something the size of a pony. Even in a large RV you could tell if the horse wasn’t on board. Or were his food bills too much so his strapped human abandoned him figuring someone else would be sure to adopt a magnificent pure-bred Mastiff. That was more than thirty years ago, he’s long gone, but I still wonder how he got in such a dire situation.
dexwood
@germy:
You have that right. No creativity, pure scam.
Suzanne
@The Thin Black Duke: I agree with that assessment. Definitely all hat and no cattle, as the kids say.
I am pleased that we appear to have better options for next year.
CaseyL
@TaMara (HFG): Thanks for warning off the new BJers, TaMara – I was debating whether to make a similar comment, but it’s better when a Front Pager does so.
Very glad to see everyone made it through the night. The way Baby curls up on himself, trying to make himself as small as possible, tears at my heart. The day he lets himself stretch out will be a good day.
It’s still Snowpocalypse here in Seattle. Got about 4″-5″ inches in my townhouse complex. When my kitties were both young, they loved the snow. Now that they’re middle-aged, they go out into the snow just long enough to justify spending the rest of the day passed out in the waterbed.
Mnemosyne
@Sebastian:
I want to see Secretary of the Treasury Elizabeth Warren. ?
Suzanne
One general question about rescue dogs: when they are that skinny and underfed, is it OK to give them puppy kibbles or wet food for a while? I am not in a position to do rescue right now, but that is a future goal.
Sebastian
@dexwood:
Thank you, I almost fell for it
Sebastian
@Mnemosyne:
Ha! Yes!
Or head of the IRS ?
trollhattan
@The Thin Black Duke:
Yup, full stop. Now, if she’d had an email server we’d have something to use against her.
Let it be noted there are activist Native Americans who loathe Warren for both what she has done and what they believe she represents. Unsure how I feel about that, but it’s not my call. I happen to like Warren for her experience and policies. The CFPB. And so forth. I’m not disposing baby with bathwater.
Luciamia
TaMara, you are going to heaven.
germy
Immanentize
@WaterGirl:
I know I am stepping into long/wrong distance psychoanalyzing; but I find the complaints about Klobuchar to be consistent and disturbing in a bad boss way. Also, too, that Harry Reid had to have a talk with her about it…. And it seems to be negatively impacting her ability to staff up with the best available folks. But I don’t find it disqualifying.
But her public shaming behavior seems completely compatible with how a number of people who had bad drunks for dads end up acting in the workplace.
JPL
@germy: That needs to be a big part of her campaign. I didn’t pay porn stars. Trump cheated on his wife who just gave birth with a bunny and then cheated on the wife and playboy bunny with Stormy. She needs to say if often.
Sebastian
@trollhattan:
Thanks for sharing that. Wow, that’s a punch to the gut and it raises a very valid question especially considering the VA blackface discussion we are facing right now.
Claiming to have a Cherokee/Apachan (it’s always the cool tribes, isn’t it?) great-grandmother is definitely troublesome and a form of redface (the article describes literal acts of redface I am not accusing Warren of that). JFC, i started the morning as a staunch defender of EW but now I have serious issues with her digging in deeper and not acknowledging the bigger issue at hand.
TriassicSands
@Sebastian:
I don’t think it matters who Sanders or Linskey is. For better or worse Warren created this problem and it no longer matters what the facts are or if this should be a disqualifying issue because like Clinton’s emails its the kind of story the MSM simply can’t let go. Warren’s domestic policies are second to none (her foreign policies are not yet well known), but this is one of those increasingly common stories where something in a politician’s past is impossible to get beyond. Unless your Donald Trump.
I’m not judging Warren. I just don’t see a way for her to get this behind her so she can address the serious issues this country faces. I hope I’m wrong. Whether she could ultimately get the nomination or not, I think she has a lot more substance to add to the discussion than most of the other possible Democratic candidates. Unlike an essentially empty vessel like Bernie, who, when asked for substance in 2016, more or less said he hadn’t really given that much thought and he’d need some time to think about it, Warren is a thinker who has substantial policy ideas. If she is eliminated, I would hope the eventual Democratic nominee and next president will find a place in her/his cabinet. What a contrast between Warren and any of the corrupt, incompetent Trump appointees. At her age, I think she would make a greater contribution as a cabinet secretary for eight years than as a senator. That would put her deep into her seventies and eligible for a well-deserved retirement.
MazeDancer
@TaMara (HFG):
Thanks for heads up.
My immediate thought, after reading the blog post, was this person writes way too well to be without any ability to earn something. Which I am allowed to say having taken on work when I was desparate for the money. Always honorable work, but far from, how shall we say, high end.
Gabe has such a glorious face.
We shall all be following TaMara’s Critters, the reality series, most eagerly. (Pretty sure if you wanted to go YouTube you could monetize it.) Greatly looking foward to Baby Meets Ducks ep.
And, again, big props for taking on sweet Baby.
Immanentize
@germy:
This might not go so well for that PAC.
germy
JPL
@Immanentize: As of now, I plan on voting in the primary for Kamala Harris. Although it might be beneath him I’d like to see Biden as Secretary of State. We desperately need someone who can mend fences with our allies.
Immanentize
@The Thin Black Duke: Just so.
Sebastian
@TriassicSands:
Yes, well put. I agree wholeheartedly.
The Thin Black Duke
Why are people obsessing about Warren’s emails? Oh, it’s not about her emails? It might as well be.
debit
@TriassicSands: That poor dog. I’m not surprised you’re haunted by him; I am just after reading the story.
And, not directed at anyone in particular, but TaMara has made it clear that she’s just fostering Baby. I know she would be the ideal home for him, but he might not be the ideal dog for her home. There are pack dynamics at play here that we’re not aware of, and, I don’t know how big her house is, but I have 2440 sq feet and two medium size dogs plus the herd of cats make it feel crowded sometimes. I can’t imagine one Great Dane in here, let alone two.
I follow Kitten Lady on YouTube and she makes the point that if she kept every kitten she saved (and it’s been a lot) she wouldn’t have room for the next foster, the next dire case who would otherwise be euthanized. Fostering is a good and noble thing and I trust that TaMara will place Baby in his forever home. And then she can help the next animal that comes along.
Ruckus
@Suzanne:
In the case of BS it’s because he can, as you’ve shown, do a good speech when it’s really called for. His heart is not evil. But he is as big an egomaniac as drumpf, and about as ineffective. His saving grace is that he’s on the liberal side of the aisle. And while that is all well and good, it isn’t anywhere near close enough for a president.
And really how many comments here are well enough nuanced to discern the finer points of a political argument? And not being so how many of them start a comment stream that runs right off the rails?
Immanentize
@Sebastian: @trollhattan:
Doesn’t anyone here like the Wild Tchoupitoulas?
Indian Red
Mnemosyne
@Sebastian:
Here’s the thing, though: Wilmer wasn’t competent enough to win the primary. That’s why we have a primary: to weed out the people who can’t mount a winning campaign. And for all of her other faults, Hillary did win the popular vote by 3 MILLION more than Trumpski.
People in 2016 loved to point at how Obama pulled out an against-the-odds victory against Hillary, but that was because he and his team knew all of the rules backwards and forwards and was able to use the rules strategically. Wilmer’s team thought they didn’t have to do that work, and it showed.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@Immanentize Thanks for saying all that I was getting ready to say. I’ve observed the same pattern with the same kind of people.
Also thanks for appreciating my favorite lines in Isis. Except perhaps for
as that’s a great standalone line.
Immanentize
@JPL:
I’m pro Harris today, but I really like Liz Warren too. I think Julian Castro, who has declared his run, I believe, is great as well but he doesn’t seem to be on anyone’s radar.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Ruckus: my own take: at some point, my recollection was it was in January of 2016, BS went from seeing himself as a message candidate to thinking he could win. Still further on, I don’t know when, he decided he deserved to win. The applause and enthusiasm turned his head.
Immanentize
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho:
And the story of my romantic life before marriage. Well, maybe then too?
ETA. Have you ever heard Patti Smith’s version of Changing of the Guards? It is so good. https://youtu.be/cY2B_9KpRqk
jacy
@TriassicSands:
Yeah, I don’t have a problem with Warren. I think she has good policies and I think she’s a decent person. And I’m sure there was no racial animus on her part. But where I grew up indigenous people were the minority that was most easily discriminated against, and for a lot them, this is the same as the “magic negro.” It’s hip or cool or fun to claim native heritage, and it’s done without a lot of thought as to the reality of native peoples. They aren’t mascots. They aren’t stereotypes. There are a lot of problems that don’t get a lot of airplay, because they are a small minority, and they are more segregated than any other minority in America. So there are issues and this could be a teachable moment about that. On a larger scale, I think the media is going to run with it, so it’s going to be a problem. Maybe not a huge, disqualifying problem, but there are so many really good candidates that something will start knocking them out of top-teir contention and this might be it for Warren.
Suzanne
@Ruckus: Ineffective-but-not-evil sounds pretty fucken good right now, not gonna lie. But I realize that we all see through contrasts.
Having said that, I do think it is important to maintain perspective. Especially in politics, we are unlikely to ever get everything we want, and hard choices are much more common than easy choices.
Mnemosyne
@Sebastian:
The Secretary of the Treasury is the boss of the IRS, so it’s a twofer.
jl
@Ruckus: Every politician has his or her strengths and weaknesses. I supported BS in the 2016 primaries, and worked for HRC in the general. Not currently a big BS fan, since there are progressive, or progressive leaning center-lefties who would have similar policies and if they keep it up a BS style firmness in how they back their proposals, can present an electoral case that will attract votes.
I wish everyone well in their private lives, but I think we need to have a healthy skepticism of all politicians. My concerns about BS now:
1. can he adapt his policy proposals to changing times, or is he for all practical purposes an endless tape loop
2. what is with being cagey about only revealing a summary of his tax returns, he hiding something there?
3. will he bolt if he doesn’t get the ring this time?
But every candidate has a list of pros and cons and questions. In 2016, IMHO, the BS policy platform was a good place to start, IF he would be willing to be flexible in what he could get passed.
Some commenters on this blog will damn me for not damning BS, others will jump in and damn me for not praising BS as our political savior, but I don’t care. Which is why when another battle in the HRC/BS wars looms, I typically make a comment or two and then abandon the thread for fear of getting sucked up into endless infighting.
Immanentize
@Mnemosyne: You know, she could just stay in the Senate and be excellent there?
TaMara (HFG)
@Suzanne: I don’t know about other dogs, but Dane’s tummies are very sensitive, so it’s always very sticky rice, chicken, pumpkin, eggs, a little bit of kibble mixed in greater amount of each meal. Baby should be onto straight kibble soon if I see him pooping properly.
Sebastian
@Mnemosyne:
Not disagreeing with you but merely pondering the philosophical situation and moral dilema of having someone like BS win our primary, as unlikely as that is for al the reasons you mentioned.
jacy
@TaMara (HFG):
For years I fostered (mostly kittens — sometimes whole litters that needed to be bottle fed. I worked in veterinary medicine for years, and one of the reasons I stopped was that I couldn’t save everyone and it wore me down, but I probably fostered several hundred animals over a period of several years). And one thing that everyone who fosters know is you really have to pay attention to poop. It’s all about the poop. And when you put it that way, it makes it seem much less glamorous. :)
JPL
A dem pac needs to by an ad playing you’re so vain and showing this picture
https://twitter.com/stonecold2050/status/1094293632096464897
MazeDancer
@Immanentize:
Julian Castro is smart and always has excellent things to say when interviewed. If he was female, he would be more interesting.
Dems want a woman. Hard as I try, I just react to the men with: But you’re a man.
Listening to Joe Kennedy introduce Elizabeth Warren today was thinking, oh, boy, you sure got the ole family stuff. He’s 38. So after 8 or 16 years of women in charge, we might be ready for a man again. He will be running one day.
Figure Castro is just upping his VP and Cabinet visibility. Willing to have a male VP, but still think it’s a better media catnip move to have two women,
Immanentize
PS. Did anyone comment on how cool it is that Warren openned her campaign in Lawrence MA which is the site of the very historically important Bread and Roses strike of 1912? That seems to me a much more important thing than her 1986 bar card.
Ruckus
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I think he’s always been a bit of an egomaniac but he played on a much smaller stage than a presidential run is. How many people here knew who BS was before about 2014? And we are political junkies. And he was running out of time to play the big house. Now of course, he’s run way past that time.
What I’m saying is that I agree with you but I don’t think he developed that ego when he started to run, he just let it fly untended.
And yes someone who thinks they can be president is going to have to have a healthy ego, to handle all the bullshit that gets thrown around in politics. But a healthy ego is no where near the same as an egomaniac.
Suzanne
@jacy: The thing that bothers me about Warren writing down that she is “American Indian” with the Bar is that that kind of thing was used to provide cover for organizations that weren’t as diverse as they should be, and they knew it—but didn’t want to do the hard work of breaking down barriers to success. In the aggregate, it makes it look like Native Americans had opportunities that they really did not. Warren grew up with the advantages of whiteness.
Mnemosyne
@Immanentize:
She could, but it would be highly enjoyable to watch the banksters shit themselves.
debit
@JPL: Wow. He looks like a normal person.
Kent
Geez guys.
One thing we know for absolutely certain. EVERY SINGLE dem candidate for 2020 will get tanker truck loads of mud slung against them and encounter all maner of ridiculous and hostile mainstream media coverage. That is the environment in which we live and it is only getting worse not better.
Personally I like Warren. I think she is great. But she also has a ton of money and high-priced media advisors. If they can’t figure out how to turn the corner on this and if she doesn’t have the command and force of personality to push through then she isn’t going to be a good candidate. She might be a great president but she also has to be a great candidate. Obama is the model here. They slung endless mud at him in 2008 from the birther thing to Ayres and Jeremia Wright. His talent as a charismatic candidate meant he could just push right through it and get his message out. Hillary just never had the force of personality to push through the media narratives. And I was a big Hillary fan.
Luckily we have a large and growing slate of candidates. At least ONE of them has to have the talent and charisma to push through the inevitable mud. Kamala Harris is growing on me fast. I have no idea what sort of ridiculous non-scandal they will drum up about her. It almost doesn’t matter. It will happen. She will either have the talent to push through it or she wont.
Honestly so far none of the guys really thrill me. I’m a public school teacher. Booker is WAY WAY too in bed with the charter school movement and a long time associate of Betsy Devoss. That disqualifies him in my opinion. I mean I would of course support him over Trump but not in the primary. Sanders and Biden are aging has-beens. Their time has long past. Beto and Castro are too lightweight compared to either Warren or Harris. I see them more as likely VP picks.
TriassicSands
@debit:
There’s a lot more to the story, much of it humorous, but it was the happy ending that mattered most. The downside was that he ended up living in Arizona heat. (although for all I know he may have liked that.) However, once up to full weight I have no doubt they could have fitted him with his own personal AC unit. He could have carried around that with ease.
I was just kidding about TaMara keeping Baby. As you point out, two Great Danes could make a fair-sized house feel crowded. Add in the cats and….
Everyone has their own limit. At one point, I had three cats and a beautiful and sweet Maine Coon* (mix I called him Burley) showed up at my house. I already had difficult cat dynamics with the three and as much as I would have loved to keep the new guy, I also had this feeling that if I weren’t careful it could be four and then six and then nine and then nineteen and then I’m the “Cat Man” featured on the local news. Yikes!
* My bleg for him appeared on B-J. I know he’s in a good, caring home. Though now all three of my cats have died — the last one two weeks ago today — and it would be really nice to have Burley around to hang out with.
Fair Economist
@Immanentize: I think Klobuchar being a bad boss would be a negative but no disqualifier. But the way this is being dribbled out shows there is a campaign going on and I am very suspicious of that. Whoever is doing this is not doing it to “protect” the country from a candidate who would be worlds better than Trump and probably decent for the country, mamagement flaws or no.
Mnemosyne
@Suzanne:
Interestingly, Warren was a Republican at the time. IIRC, she voted Republican all the way to Bill Clinton’s second term. ?
Dorothy A. Winsor
I’ve decided I’m going to try to support my candidate (Harris at the moment, but open to change) without knocking our other candidates. That being said, I’m going to go be very disappointed if our ticket is two white men. I’m tired of having only one demographic portion of the population be in charge. Mind you, I’d vote for them anyway, as I hope those supporting a different candidate would vote for whoever our primary voters eventually pick.
debit
@TriassicSands: I’m so sorry.
And I remember Burley, because he looked just like my Maine Coon type Julian. So glad he had a safe landing and is happy.
trollhattan
@TaMara (HFG):
Are they susceptible to twisted gut? We have a GSP and with the deep chest and skinny “waist” we need to pay attention. Luckily his diet is pretty simple and we generally just add rice to his kibble.
JPL
@debit: Normal is not the image he wants to portray though. I’d take normal.
WaterGirl
@germy: I had heard about that in passing yesterday, but then saw nothing more about it. I don’t understand why he would lie and evade about everything else he was asked, even about stupid stuff that didn’t matter, or about factual stuff that is easily proven – and then answer forthrightly about this.
Does that make sense at all?
Immanentize
@Suzanne: I know that Warren has the valuable property of whiteness — and she would be the first to agree. But her life was no easy path of privilege.
She was born into a middle class family but when she was 12, her dad (who sold stuff at Ward’s) got sick and sucked up most of the savings, etc. Her Mom went to work at Sears (Family in disarray!) And Liz started working at 13.
She went to law school when she had a two year old and got pregnant again just before graduating.
She got where she is by being super smart and being one of the first women to do any legal scholarship in bankruptcy which led her to a serious career in legal academics around consumer protection.
She is also one of the best retail politicians I’ve ever met.
debbie
@JPL:
That’s a great idea about Biden. He’d be perfect for SoS!
JPL
@WaterGirl: Maybe he wasn’t prepared to lie. His role is separate from the division that issues pardons, so he should not be in the loop at all.
WaterGirl
@Immanentize: I am not aware of all those details — all I had seen was one anonymous report that someone had said that about her.
I’m not saying that doesn’t speak to character, but I am saying that those same things could surely be said about some of the males that have run for President since the beginning of time. That’s what offends me.
Do we actually know that Harry Reid had to talk to her about it? What do we know about public shaming behavior?
Ruckus
@Suzanne:
This deserves repetition because it’s the basis for effective politics.
Someone might get just what they want but any large group will not get everything or even somethings. Realistically it would be nice if most of us could pull in at least one general direction, but life doesn’t work that way. It’s why most cults fail miserably, they promise something that can not be met.
Right now democrats, at least for the most part recognize this to one degree or another. But look at all the decisive comments of the last few days here, a place where we are far more in agreement than disagreement. Case in point, EW as a politician.
Is what a person stands for more important than how effective they might be at getting 60% of it done? No, they shouldn’t be. But they are. Because people want 100%. We never, ever get that, but we want it. We should be ecstatic to get better than 60% done, what with an opposition that want exactly the opposite. But mostly we don’t even look for that in a politician. We do in employees, we actually demand it even. We don’t seem to expect it in politicians. And we train for that early – ever talked to someone running for class president? Their entire stick is sounding great, because they have no actual power to get anything done. And that’s BS in a nut shell. He’s really running for senior class president, with a reasonable speaking talent, in an all white rural HS.
WaterGirl
@Immanentize: You are so right. I was thinking earlier that all these people/groups who are “offended” by Elizabeth Warren saying/thinking that she had some Indian blood — they are totally disrespecting Native Americans with their “Stop Pocahontas” PAC and with every ethnic slur they use against her. Do they think that will go unnoticed?
Immanentize
@Fair Economist: Don’t discount the possibility that it is not a Republican attack, but revenge from her former employees. I am hearing that is the source of most of the stories.
What’s that old saying? Don’t step on people on the way up because they will see you again on your way down.
debbie
@germy:
I wonder if that’s why Nadler wants him to come back next week? Even if he has to issue a subpoena?
Immanentize
@WaterGirl:
I have to say that pardons are something I just can’t get worked up about. The President has the sole power to pardon under the Constitution and like it or not (and I hate it) Trump is President until death or removal. So he can pardon anyone he wants for any reason — except maybe to prevent his own impeachment. Even then this SCOTUS might find that OK too. So, Trump will either pardon these reprobates or he wont. Then, his pardons will be a political problem and there is really nothing we can do about that but fight for our candidates in 2 years.
NotMax
@TaMara
Thank you. I’ve been placing similar warnings in other threads where he’s appeared (again) over the past few days.
We know who he is, we know it’s an ongoing scam, we know it’s all he ever shows up for, we know he places identical messages on many other blogs simultaneously (can you say bot?), so why isn’t he booted out once and for all?
JPL
@Immanentize: But she seems so Minnesota nice. I agree with you, but am furious that “they” say she was going to run on her Minnesota niceness. I thought that statement was demeaning. She wants to run on her accomplishments but because of her behavior she might not go far. What other person has been described as running on their supposedly niceness. bah humbug
they being Huff Post and other sites.
Kent
Honestly these labels can be problematic. What is the definition of ‘Native American.’ Is there actually one or is it simply something with which you self-identify? Is there a legally or generally accepted definition? Obviously Warren has to get out in front of this somehow. If she just comes out and says “I was young and exploring my identity based on what my family told me” then I’m fine with it.
Here is an example of how difficult these things can be. Take my own family: I’m completely white of German (Pennsylvania Dutch) and Swedish ancestry. My wife is Chilean. Her family in Chile is of Basque, Spanish, and German ancestry going back Centuries. Her first language is Spanish. She is a dual-citizen and identifies as Hispanic, although she looks very Anglo as her family is upper class and very white. No one would really argue that she isn’t Hispanic. Now what about our daughters?
Oldest daughter was born in Chile. Her biological father was Chilean (my wife was a single mother when we met). She is a dual Chilean-American citizen who has lived in the US since age 2. She is also blonde and blue eyed and basically looks like every other rich southern sorority girl. She is a junior in college and looking for internships. Should she identify as Hispanic? Some corporations actually offer diversity internships. I advised against it because even if she can claim to be Hispanic, as an affluent blonde sorority girl she isn’t exactly what they have in mind or are looking for.
Two younger daughters are both the biological daughters of me and my wife. They were both born here but are also dual citizens. They are also both blonde. We send them down during the summers to stay with friends and family and study in Chilean schools. Do they qualify as Hispanic? Should I check white or Hispanic when I enroll them in schools?
These sorts of questions can be somewhat ambiguous. I have to wonder if these sorts of decisions could actually have implications 20 years down the road just like they are having for Warren now.
Mike in NC
If Senator Warren sees a need to issue a daily apology, it won’t bode well for the campaign.
trollhattan
@Immanentize:
She’s amazing one-on-one literally every time I’ve seen it. And I don’t want to jinx anything but so is Hillary, for the most part.
Immanentize
@debbie: I think the questions he refused to answer about his own financial entanglements are the meat of the Democratic questions. Just check out when Republicans tried to pull a Lyndsey Graham when the questioning got too hot… $$$$
NotMax
@Immanentize
As in any case of impeachment (federal, presidential pardon does not apply to state infractions) the power of pardon is specifically forbidden by it, the Supreme Court would pretty much have to find the Constitution unconstitutional.
WaterGirl
@debbie: @JPL: Really? I think SOS requires a lot more sustained energy than someone that age could maintain.
There is a lot of goodwill toward him because of his eight years as VP with Obama, and I think he will squander that if he runs. I love Joe Biden, but I think he is best as a party elder. He could help pull a lot of candidates over the line.
MazeDancer
@TriassicSands:
So, very sorry for your loss.
Recalling John Cole heading to the shelter so soon after losing Tunch, when after losing 2 cats in 6 months, I went to the shelter way, way, way too soon.
Cole was right, it helps. And then, couple months later, I went nuts and adopted two kittens. Because I wanted a black cat and the adult black cats at the shelter didn’t seem to much like me. And you can’t have just one kitten.
Have to say, when it comes to love, more is more.
Suzanne
@Immanentize: I’m not saying that I dislike Warren, or even that I wouldn’t vote for her. But I don’t think what she did was totally harmless, either.
But I’m going to remember that I will not be presented with a pool of perfect candidates from which to choose. I see this as a negative, but not disqualifying on its own.
Immanentize
@JPL:
In the Kavanaugh hearing, much of the shock at his crazy anger answers was in part because Klobuchar has a reputation for bipartisan niceness. It was truly shocking to see him go after her and his handlers knew he had to apologize.
Yes “Minnesota Nice” is a bit sexist too. But I think that was her personal image she wished to run on. And the bad boss stuff kicks that right in the head. That’s why it’s so damaging for her.
But like I said, not disqualifying unless she allows it to be.
JPL
@trollhattan: During the debates, Hillary was overwhelming to more knowledgeable and professional. She was the presidential one. It didn’t matter because MSM was culpable in electing the puppet Someone said that she doesn’t speak about the issues, and I said bull shit. MSM doesn’t cover her policies because trump was ratings gold.
We need to fight dirty in order to win.
WaterGirl
@Immanentize: It’s just not right to pardon for your own gain. It feels like a basic issue of right and wrong, moral and immoral. Total abuse of power. Obstruction of Justice. It really bothers me.
Mike J
Thanks for the update thread. Saw the warning about disturbing images and never opened last night’s. Glad things are going well.
schrodingers_cat
@Kent: To maintain and preserve a caste system you need endogamy. That’s how caste system in India was preserved through millennia. The same reason there miscegenation laws in the United States.
These differences aren’t biological.
JPL
@WaterGirl: Then who? Our relationships abroad really concern me and I think we need at least on the short term an elder statesman.
schrodingers_cat
@JPL: Could Obama return as the SoS?
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@Immanentize: That really is a great cover – I’d almost forgotten about it, so thanks.
Also, we might be twins (OK, of different ages) separated at birth.
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat:
Ooh, nice idea. I have no idea if it’s constitutional.
Gbbalto
@NotMax: Somebody with that nym posted at the old Brilliant at Breakfast blog.
WaterGirl
@JPL: I don’t have an answer for that There are a lot of bridges to cross in the next two years before I am going to worry about that. For me, there are far too many “right now” issues that weigh a ton.
Absolutely not judging you for being concerned about that, but I can’t worry about things 2 years out right now or I would literally end up rocking in a corner.
Immanentize
@Kent:
I’ve tried to hold back on the Native American definition question because it is very complicated and very contentious. I have worked in New Mexico with legal service providers working with Native Americans and have worked on behalf of Northeast Tribes. I also started the first Indian Law legal education clinic east of the Mississippi. The question of Indian heritage (what Warren claims) is being hugely conflated with the question of tribal membership. And tribes want membership to be the standard, not heritage.
Further, the Cherokee Nation has a very mixed record on their own application of tribal membership. With Tribal membership comes a large number of legal benefits, land rights, and often a share in casino and oil lease wealth. There have been really bad cases of women being denied tribal membership even when their kids are members….
So when I see the “tribal activists” complaining about Warren, I know two things — there is no Native American consensus at all about whether what Warren did was wrong. Second, many of the people in the tribal world complaining about Warren have tribal membership and real personal wealth interest in this issue. Not all Indians are Democrats.
Kent
@schrodingers_cat:
So what are you actually saying? To be Native American one has to actually be married within a specfic tribe? Or enrolled in a specific Federally recognized tribe?
These things are already utterly complicated when it comes to practice whether it is Native American or Hispanic or Black or whatever. It is only going to get more and more complex every year as social barriers fall and the country becomes more diverse.
Immanentize
@NotMax: True, but how do we know he is pardoning someone in a “case of impeachment?” The Sup. CT. Could limit that to only apply to pardons issued after an impeachment declaration from the House and only if witnesses to the Senate trial were pardoned. Some have already argued the limitation is that narrow.
Suzanne
@Kent:
There is a strict definition of tribal membership. There is not a strict definition of ancestry, and it is likely that a majority of white Americans have some Native or African-American ancestry somewhere in their family trees, even if they don’t know it. Many, many white Americans grow up hearing about some real or imagined distant ancestor. But she was not brought up in a tribe or even in a cultural milieu, and her DNA test said that she is at most 1/64 Native, maybe as small as 1/1,024th. If you are 63/64th something….in my view, you indicate that, especially when you were not brought up with Native cultural traditions at home.
This might be a sore subject for me, since I grew up right next to a reservation, and I saw every day how my Native classmates were segregated by extreme poverty and ill health and social barriers. One classmate died of a heart attack in our junior year of high school. The white privilege was so stark that you could literally see the boundary—and none of us white kids were anything above middle class at best.
Immanentize
@WaterGirl:
I agree completely. Completely. But I don’t trust the current Supreme Court to see it my way.
schrodingers_cat
@Kent: No I am saying that these differences are artificial, we make them up to preserve existing social hierarchies and the one effective way of breaking them is intermarriage over generations. So coming back to EW, she is not my top candidate right now but this whole native American ancestry related controversy does not bother me at all.
NotMax
@WaterGirl
Relevant to revisit some of the articles of impeachment drawn up and voted approval in committee in the case of Nixon:
Immanentize
@zhena gogolia:
Not unconstitutional to be SoS. But I would rather see him replace Roberts as CJ.
schrodingers_cat
@Immanentize: Doesn’t Roberts have to die or retire for that to happen, since it is a life time position.
Kent
@Immanentize:
They also aren’t all even Americans. Correct me if I’m wrong but I think Kim Tallbear who has been most out on front on this is actually Canadian.
That said, Warren has to figure out how to stop apologizing and just get out in front of this issue. She was young and exploring her identity. She meant no harm. Whatever. Call out her detractors for their racism with the “Pocohontas” thing. If she can’t figure out how to manage a media narrative about this sort of thing she doesn’t have the chops to run a national high-stakes political campaign.
Immanentize
@WaterGirl: Also, when Bush 1 pardoned Cap. Weinberger, many felt he was pardoning himself. And the Republicans went ape shit when Clinton pardoned Marc Rich on his way out the door. I still don’t get that Clinton pardon at all.
Immanentize
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho:
I would like a twin as cool as you!
tobie
@Immanentize: @Suzanne: I don’t particularly like Warren and am not moved by her efforts to put a personal face on systemic problems (i.e., targeting fat cats instead of investment instruments or the corporate tax code) but I couldn’t care less about the ‘American Indian’ brouhaha. This was ages ago and we’ve got more important problems on our hands. And, before anyone jumps on me for not liking Warren, I will knock on doors for her and vote for her, if she’s the party nominee because the alternative is unimaginable.
Immanentize
@schrodingers_cat:
Yes he does!!
The Lodger
@JPL: This. Joe could make a tremendous contribution as a senior White House advisor. He just isn’t a good choice for president.
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
Nothing preventing it. We’ve also had instances of past presidents serving in the House (J. Q. Adams) and the Senate (A. Johnson).
Laura Too
@TaMara (HFG): Thanks for the warning, I’d have fallen for it. My spidey sense did tingle but I trust this place.
JPL
@schrodingers_cat: Maybe a special assignment type of role. That would be awesome.
jl
@Immanentize: I do believe that there is a consensus in the corporate media that certain candidates are too progressive, and the two most important members are Warren and Sanders. And the corporate media do not like these candidates, therefore they have decided that Warren’s issue with Native American heritage is 1) most important thing about her candidacy 2) will never be resolved 3) voters are ‘not satisfied’. So, regardless of the merits, what you hear from the media is corrupt nonsense ‘meta’ garbage, and Warren should focus on proposals, since if her proposals are good, the voters won’t care.
That is one place where I think politicians can take a lesson from BS. So Warren handles it as follows:
Goofball corporate hack media celeb spouting crap: ‘But voters are not satisfied with your explanation of your Native American heritage scandal’.
Warren: “I’m delighted you brought up that issue, The Native American scandal is how these people are being treated by federal policy. The conditions in their communities are horrendous. No jobs, sky high drug use, unemployment, suicide rates. We need the following programs to lift those communities up so they can help the country prosper… [tick off programs here].
I think there are other candidates who will be watched who are too close to the dividing line between being deemed too progressive versus acceptable, I think Harris and Brown (a likely candidate) will be on the corporate media watch list, to puffed for damned depending on what programs they back and how firmly.
jacy
@Suzanne:
Yeah, when I said the other night that one of the big problems is that a lot white people aren’t friends with black people, so they don’t see the inherent racism clearly, that goes double for indigenous peoples. Unless you grew up someplace where you knew native people or at least were in close proximity to them, it can all seem rather abstract, like it doesn’t affect “real people.” The racism against indigenous people is appalling, and it’s hardly ever talked about. There are more systemic problems facing indigenous people than most anyone realizes. That’s one reason I’m glad to see some native people representing in state and federal government — it’s time we all had a conversation about that, as we’re having a conversation about other racism and sexism.
TriassicSands
@debit:
It turned out not to be a simple landing. The couple that adopted Burley moved. Shortly thereafter, he got out of the house and was lost. I found this out a couple of month’s ago when I got a phone call from a vet clinic in Tacoma. They had Burley in their clinic and he needed an expensive procedure — $2,500.00. They called me because I had had him chipped and the name hadn’t been changed. (Oops!) So, the vet thought Burley was mine. The people who found Burley had brought him to the vet and were willing to pay the $2,500 for his care. I think they were worried about my claiming him — apparently, I could let them pay for the procedure and then have told the clinic I wanted him back and his new family wouldn’t have a legal claim to him and might not be able to get me to reimburse them. I figured that if they were willing to pay that much for his treatment they must care about him. Although the vet wouldn’t identify them for me, she said they seemed like very nice people who really loved Burley. I told the vet that I would only claim Burley if she felt there was a problem with his new home.
I tried to get in touch with the original adopters to see if they were still in the area, wanted Burley back, and could/would pay his sizable bill. I couldn’t locate them, so I told the vet to tell the new family to relax, Burley was all theirs. I also asked to have them change the chip registration.
Then, several weeks later I got an email from Jessica, the original adopter. She said they looked everywhere for Burley and put up signs, but they weren’t able to find him. They were really upset to lose him. Then, they’d moved back to Wisconsin. The phone number I had was no longer in service and she rarely checked her old email address. That explained why it had taken so long for her to respond. She was genuinely glad that Burley had once again managed to land on his feet.
It was strange getting that initial phone call from the vet and I would love to have taken him in. But he had a good home with people who cared about him and that was good enough for me.
NotMax
@JPL
Any president, though, would be (understandably) reluctant to appoint someone to a lofty position in the administration who by dint of past political stature/achievement/record of history in office would overshadow him or her. Sharing the spotlight is not a card in the presidential deck, I’m afraid.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@JPL: Is there a D senior senator or representative who’d be good at SoS?
WaterGirl
@Immanentize: When the SC calls to ask my opinion, I’ll tell them that you agree. Pretty sure that between the two of us, we can get them to see it our way. :-)
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
Obama appointed Hillary. Not to mention Biden.
zhena gogolia
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Chris Murphy would be superb.
jl
@zhena gogolia: Trump says Biden is stupid. Biden wasn’t a ‘player’.
JPL
@Dorothy A. Winsor: The only one that I can think of is Jack Reid the Senator from Rhode Island, but I hope someone else will weigh in. \
@zhena gogolia: He’s great but does he serve on the Foreign Policy committees?
TriassicSands
@MazeDancer:
Thank you. It was sudden and horrible. It hurt a lot. Annie deserved a better end. In 2017, my other two cats, Yardley and Nootka, who had never been apart for even a day in the sixteen years I had them, died within five weeks of each other.
On Thursday, I had a long talk with the woman who manages the wonderful local shelter about options. I’m going to spend time at the shelter “socializing” the residents and I’m considering fostering a special needs cat. I won’t adopt a kitten or young cat because either will likely outlive me. The local shelters get too many older cats whose humans have died. At that point the cats are often also old with health problems and poor candidates for re-adoption.
zhena gogolia
@JPL:
He’s on Foreign Relations.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@JPL: I just looked it up and Murphy is on the Foreign Affairs Committee. So is Ted Lieu, whom I also like.
NotMax
@Dorothy A. Winsor
Tim Kaine comes to mind. Or Ben Cardin (except that he’s up there in years now).
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
Neither of whose past service demonstrated a capacity or propensity to outshine a president.
JPL
This is House Foreign Policy Committee. https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/members
Ted Lieu
The Senate has lots of possibilities.
https://www.senate.gov/general/committee_membership/committee_memberships_SSFR.htm
rikyrah
@WaterGirl:
It’s obvious how they are targeting the women candidates. But, here is the thing…when they might have gotten the benefit of the doubt in 2016, that will not happen again ??
Dorothy A. Winsor
For that matter, Joaquin Castro is on that committee too. If you want to increase his qualifications for another, future run, SoS would be one way to do it.
Kent
The next SOS is going to have a Herculean task going around the world repairing all the damage of the Trump Adminstration from NATO to Russia to China to Latin America. Not a place for someone semi-retired in their late 70s.
Someone like Tim Kaine who is on the Senate Foreign Relations committee would probably be a good choice if Virginia gets its political shit together enough to ensure a Dem successor. Otherwise someone from a more safe state perhaps.
Doesn’t have to be a Senator. Someone from the diplomatic world. Perhaps Samantha Power who was Obama’s UN Ambassador or Susan Rice, his national security advisor. My choice would be Susan Rice.
I don’t like the idea of SOS as a stepping stone job for someone seeking higher office. It is a mammothly important position on its own and should be treated that way.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Kent: All good suggestions.
Ladyraxterinok
@WaterGirl: She cross examined Kav pretty severely. AND he angrily warned ‘We’ll be coming sfter you!’ (I took it that Kav meant coming after ALL dems!)
And NOW stories attacking her.
And the attacks on dem officials in VA!
Coincidence?!?
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@Immanentize: Likewise!
Ladyraxterinok
@germy: And media will investigate Trump just like they did in 2016?!?
Lots of luck with that ‘hope’!!
Orchid Moon
Gabe has the saddest eyes
MazeDancer
@TriassicSands:
Great thing to volunteer at the shelter. You will brighten the kitties spirits and they yours.
Ruckus
@jl:
You have heard of the word -projection- haven’t you? It’s a major basis of all the republican talking points. No matter the republican speaker.
Ladyraxterinok
@trollhattan: IIRC it was reported that only a few outliers attacked her. That most praised her long-time support for Native American concerns.
I got impression from reports that the large majority of tribal groups praised her support of their needs and concerns and strongly supported her against those complaints coming from sources the tribal leaders felt were marginal, not really reflecting Native American attitudes toward her!
Fair Economist
@tobie:
More than anyone else, it’s Warren who is proposing substantive and targeted changes to corporate law.
Ladyraxterinok
@JPL: Oh WOW. Publicize this everywhere!! Takes away most of his ‘visual power’!
ixnay
@jurassicpork:Have not read thru the thread, do not recall where you are, but we are in Maine, have space, and pet friendly.
maybe someone with the keys can put you in touch?
WaterGirl
@Ladyraxterinok: Just the other day I was trying to remember exactly who made the threat in that hearing that “we will be coming after you”. Was it actually Judge Rapey himself?
Ladyraxterinok
@Kent: Already there are claims Kamela was a mean prosecutor, slept her way to power, and more I don’t remember.
IIRC some think aspects of her record as prosecutor are iffy.
IMO her years as prosecutor gives her experience and skill to fight the attacks in ways neither Warren nor HRC have.
WaterGirl
@Orchid Moon: Do you mean Gabs (the kitty) or Baby (the rescue dog)? I think Gabe’s eyes are quite expressive, but they don’t look sad to me.
NotMax
@ixnay
NO! He’s been playing this same scam all over various blogs for over a decade.
debit
@ixnay: He won’t reply. He comes in every six months or so, drops down a begging comment and then scampers. He’s not a regular, he’s nothing but a scammer aware of the generosity of our community. Please don’t waste your time or money.
Ladyraxterinok
@Immanentize: I never understood why people thought the pardon was wrong. (But I may have partly understood at the time after I read some of the discussions.)
Ladyraxterinok
@WaterGirl: That’s the way I remember it.
ixnay
@TaMara (HFG): Sorry not to have seen this earlier. Could you maybe remove my offer of help at #230?
Another Scott
@NotMax: Yup. E.g. From 2012.
(sigh)
Cheers,
Scott.
Steeplejack
@Another Scott:
Always interesting to look at the nyms on old posts. I saw redshirt there, with a link to
histheir blog. I went there, but the last entry was in the fall of 2016.Also saw General Stuck in the Balloon Juice thread. RIP.
remima
@Laura Too: This thread is long dead I’m sure, but if you happen to see this: I think about you and your uncle often and miss his contributions to this place. Peace.
debit
@remima: Same.
Laura Too
@remima: @remima: @debit: (and Yarrow if you see this) I don’t get a lot of time to hang out here but would love to update anyone who wants to know. My email is laurabbey (@) gmail.com. The family is getting by best as possible, it is tough as it was so sudden. And really hard for me because he was my go to for family history as well as politics and US history. Last night we went to They Shall Not Grow Old and at the end Peter Jackson had a great addition on how it was done and why. He say ask your older family who went before they are gone and it hit me.I know he would have loved it and we could have talked for hours. I’m grateful that all of you can help fill a little part of that. Thanks for the warm thoughts.
WaterGirl
@Laura Too: I’m so sorry, Laura. It seems like loss comes in layers as we take it all in and then come to recognize one more thing that is lost, and yet one more thing after that, and more after that.
It’s kind of like the time in college when the roommate in charge of the water bill forgot to pay it. Of course we knew the water was off, but still you reached for the faucet after you went to the bathroom and you still picked up the dog bowl and walked toward the sink to fill it, and then of course you would remember all over again.
Only, of course, your heart breaks a little bit more each time with the loss of a loved one, instead of the “oh yeah, the water is off” realization in my example.
My heart has leapt three times since we lost him — where I saw a nym on the page that had enough similar letters to his that I thought for a moment that it was him.
Laura Too
@WaterGirl: Nice analogy, it’s true. I have had the same reaction to Facebook posts with pictures where I then have to remember he is not here anymore.