Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

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

Let’s finish the job.

We still have time to mess this up!

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

White supremacy is terrorism.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Bark louder, little dog.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

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

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

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

Let there be snark.

You are here: Home / Music / Saturday Morning Quick Hits Open Thread

Saturday Morning Quick Hits Open Thread

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So many important / amazing stories that I want to share and don’t, because there’s never a good time in the rush of events. Here’s a few from this week:

Heather Heyer’s killer has spared the people who loved her some further portion of horror reliving the event. Per the Washington Post, “Neo-Nazi sympathizer pleads guilty to federal hate crimes for plowing car into protesters at Charlottesville rally”:

… James Alex Fields Jr., 21, of Ohio admitted guilt to 29 of 30 counts in a federal indictment as part of a deal with prosecutors, who agreed they would not seek the death penalty in a case that has come to symbolize the violent resurgence of white supremacism in the United States. Fields is set to be sentenced July 3.

Late last year, Fields was convicted in state court of first-degree murder and other charges for killing Heather D. Heyer, 32, and injuring dozens at the chaotic Unite the Right rally on Aug. 12, 2017. The jury in that case recommended a life sentence, and a state judge is scheduled to formally impose it in mid-July…

Susan Bro, Heyer’s mother, said after the hearing she was satisfied with the result.

“There’s no point in killing him. It would not bring back Heather,” Bro said.

“It’s a relief to think we don’t have to go through another trial. It was exhausting the first time. I can get on with my life, and the other victims can, too.”…

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Jamelle Bouie is now working for the NYTimes. I second his thesis here — “Oliver North Showed Republicans the Way Out. Belligerence, shamelessness and partisanship can take you far.”:

… The particular twists and turns of Iran-contra don’t mirror the Russia scandal’s. The politics, however, do. As with Trump and Russia, the White House itself was defiant. “Admiral Poindexter and Colonel North put their careers on the line to protect our country,” Pat Buchanan, then serving as White House communications director, said at a rally in Miami in December 1986. “If Colonel North broke any rules, he will stand up and take it as the Marine he is. But I say, if Colonel North ripped off the ayatollah and took some $30 million to give to the contras, God bless Colonel North.”

Most Republicans outside the administration also stood firmly behind the Reagan administration, even in the face of clear wrongdoing. “I don’t want you prosecuted,” Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah said to North during the colonel’s testimony before a House and Senate select committee on the scandal in 1987. “I don’t. I don’t think many people in America do. And I think there’s going to be one lot of hell raised if you are.”…

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And finally — Always Be Grifting!

Reader Interactions

210Comments

  1. 1.

    opiejeanne

    I don’t understand why this judge has put up with so much BS from Stone. she should have tossed his ass in jail the first time he violated the terms of his release on bond (not sure that’s the correct term).

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    ?? Why doesn’t it occur to Biden, Beto O’Rourke, or Bernie Sanders to throw their privilege and power behind someone more representative of Democratic voters today, like Abrams, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren…” – ?

    Jehmu? I think the point of primaries is to do just exactly that, find the person who best represents Democratic voters, not just Democratic voters who think the same as you.

  4. 4.

    MazeDancer

    “Donald Trump got elected because, in his twisted way, he pointed out the huge troubles in our economy and our democracy,” Buttigieg says. “At least he didn’t go around saying that America was already great, like Hillary did.” — @PeteButtigieg

    Quote from Mayor Pete in WaPo Magazine. Went unnoticed for two months. But screaming across Twitter now. Bye, boy, bye.

    Though dissing Hillary will get him even more promo from Mika and Joe, actual Dems who vote in the primary extremely not happy with the boy wonder now.

  5. 5.

    Chyron HR

    The notion that the ability of progressives to fill one rally in places like West Virginia means that the entire population of the state yearns for democratic socialism is just something that comes from idiots and grifters. There’s a lot of people suffering there, and the vast majority of them have been irrevocably programmed to blame queer commie homos for every one of their problems.

  6. 6.

    opiejeanne

    @MazeDancer: Ok, another one crossed off my list. Why do these guys think they’ll gain any ground by dissing Hillary? Beto did it too, making a snide remark about how he’d visit ALL the states.

    Right now I like Kamala better than anyone else.

  10. 10.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Quinnipiac National Poll — March 28, 2019 (link)

    Biden…………..29%
    Wilmer………….18%
    Beto…………….11%
    Harris…………….8%
    Warren………….5%
    Buttigieg……….4%
    Booker……………2%
    Klobuchar………2%
    Castro……………1%
    Inslee…………….1%
    Hickenlooper….1%

    Gillibrand, Gabbard, John Delaney, Andrew Yang, Marianne Williamson each received less than 1%

    Considering their universal name ID, these numbers are low for Uncle Joe and Wilmer.

  11. 11.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Former Trump Family Driver Has Been in ICE Custody for 8 Months

    ***
    Mr. Tamas, a green-card holder, was arrested by immigration authorities after he applied for United States citizenship in 2016 and a background check revealed that he had been convicted in absentia of committing insurance fraud in Romania. (link)

    It’s amazing how he only hires the best people.

  13. 13.

    Sloane Ranger

    UK 10am news just reported that “prominent Remain supporting Conservative MP Dominic Grieve” has lost a vote of No Confidence by his Constituency Association. His response is that he is acting in what he believes to be the best interests of the UK and will continue to do so and it is up to the local Party to decide what it wants to do now.

    Basically it’s a fuck you, what can you do to me? to the local Party. There is no mechanism to get rid of him as an MP before the next General Election. The national Party could withdraw the whip but this only means he would become an Independent.

    Hopefully other pro Remain MP’s facing challenges wi be equally robust in their responses but I am getting more and more despondent. There are only 3 clear ways to go, leave w/o a deal, leave with May’s deal or Remain. If MP’s come up with anything else it’s totally up to the EU to decide if they want to go along with it and, at this point, I think they’ll say, sorry but it’s too late.

    I am amazed that discussion in this country never seems to acknowledge that the EU has any agency in the matter. Perhaps I shouldn’t be.

  14. 14.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Why doesn’t it occur to Biden, Beto O’Rourke, or Bernie Sanders to throw their privilege and power behind someone more representative of Democratic voters today, like Abrams, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren…”

    “We don’t want to hear what you guys have to say, now vote for us you sexists, racists a-holes!” Now there is a message sure to bring back those normally blue voting union white male voters in the Rust Belt states.

  15. 15.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Chyron HR:

    The notion that the ability of progressives to fill one rally in places like West Virginia means that the entire population of the state yearns for democratic socialism is just something that comes from idiots and grifters. There’s a lot of people suffering there, and the vast majority of them have been irrevocably programmed to blame queer commie homos for every one of their problems.

    Perhaps true, and likely AoC will be greated by people literary writhing in the streets in a state of rage after being forced to think by her mere presence, but they won’t get unprogramed if no one tries and Trump is dumb enough to buy into West Virginia is in play and go nuts trying to defended it.

  18. 18.

    Barbara

    @Sloane Ranger: There is some magical thinking, for sure, but it is also the natural outcome of having been frozen out of the process for the last two years by May. This is what should have happened much earlier and didn’t. It is probably too late.

  22. 22.

    debbie

    I like the AOC/WV story. Actual reaching across the aisle instead of just bloviating about it. Imagine!

  23. 23.

    R-Jud

    @Sloane Ranger: They also seem to forget that the EU is a LOT bigger than the UK. I listened to my landlord, a hard-right Leaver, describe how if we left with no deal the EU would come begging to us to resume trade relations. I said, “But what if they don’t come begging? We’re only something like 10-15% of their trade, and they’re close to 50% of ours.” He chuckled and replied, “Oh, well, we’ll all get along somehow.”

    Bonkers.

  24. 24.

    debbie

    @MattF:

    Of course, the main reason she is unsuitable is because she is a she. //

    Seriously, I listened to some of the debates and fucking Corbyn should have been beaten down with the Queen’s mace. If he spoke like that to another man (in or out of Parliament), he would have faced consequences.

  29. 29.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MattF:

    Each of these errors has stemmed from the same fatal flaw: her belief that she can lead and win without paying attention to what her allies, enemies, colleagues — and potential collaborators — want or think. Famously wooden, she seems to regard other crucial players in politics as pieces she can move around a chessboard without motivations of their own.

    European Union officials and European leaders have reeled at Mrs. May’s rigidity in Brexit negotiations over the past two years. But this is no surprise to her colleagues. A senior politician who spent years alongside her in the cabinet says that Mrs. May never understood the concept of negotiation. She simply expected the other side to give way. “With most people you go into a room and you say, I need X, you need Y, and the two of you end up with Z. It’s iterative, a compromise. She just doesn’t work like that.”

    Why in the hell did the Tories ever put her in 10 Downing St.?

  30. 30.

    Ken

    @R-Jud:

    He chuckled and replied, “Oh, well, we’ll all get along somehow.”

    “I’m not saying we won’t get our hair mussed – mass exodus of industry, breakdown of society, a repeat of the Great London Fire, roving cannibal gangs. But after the dust settles we’ll have the Britain we’ve always deserved.”

  32. 32.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @rikyrah: Well, she has offered to commit political seppuku if Parliament submits to her hostage taking and pays her demanded ransom. I guess that’s something.

  34. 34.

    Immanentize

    It should hit the 60’s here today. Ground is fairly well unfrozen.
    I got my tax crap to the CPA yesterday so that’s off my desk.
    I have two things I hope to accomplish: 1) some aerating of the yard and tilling the garden 2) taking the Immp out driving.

  37. 37.

    germy

    “Donald Trump got elected because, in his twisted way, he pointed out the huge troubles in our economy and our democracy,” Buttigieg says. “At least he didn’t go around saying that America was already great, like Hillary did.” — @PeteButtigieg https://t.co/5alThtNbw9— The Washington Post Magazine (@wpmagazine) January 27, 2019

    Nah .@PeteButtigieg Trump was elected because of white supremacy.
    Throughout U.S. history, every time Black Americans progressed, there was a white recoil.
    Civil War/Reconstruction -> Jim Crow/White race riots
    Civil Rights Act/Voting Rights Act -> Nixon
    President Obama -> Trump
    https://t.co/tZZLcs0nkf— La Femme Negrita (@LaFemme_Negrita) March 30, 2019

  38. 38.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize: We just heard from our accountant. Much to my surprise we are getting refunds from both state and federal. With all the republican ratfuckery on with holdings at both levels and a mistake I made on the healthcare market site I am pleasantly gobsmacked at this result.

  39. 39.

    Spanky

    @OzarkHillbilly: You call it political seppuku, I call it “leaving the burning building just before it collapses”, because I suspect even she realizes that will be the result.

  42. 42.

    germy

    The New York Times
    Article provides the age of only Senator Kamala Harris.
    Refers to her as “Ms. Harris” but Cory Booker is “Senator Booker”
    There is a reason men are leading the 2020 polls
    It's not qualifications
    Not electability &
    Not record of results.
    It is sexism https://t.co/lJktr5vf3S
    — ☇RiotWomenn☇ (@riotwomennn) March 29, 2019

  47. 47.

    debbie

    @germy:

    It’s not just those white people arrayed against us. I still remember (but hold no grudge for) Bill Clinton’s demeaning remarks about Barack Obama in 2008.

    Paging Pogo.

  48. 48.

    germy

    I voted for HRC in the primary because Sanders was and still is too conservative for my tastes on most issues – civil rights, women's rights, gun control, the environment, immigration, too many pro-war votes, etc. https://t.co/x8i80FFKGb— Anna Maltese (@MalteseAnna) March 28, 2019

  49. 49.

    OzarkHillbilly

    So anyway, good news on the Mrs OzarkHillbilly front: After 5 months of innumerable applications and interviews, she finally got a job. Half the pay of her previous job, but they cover ALL of her health insurance and it’s quite a bit closer so less gas and vehicle maintenance, and no driving on I-44. Not ideal but it’s certainly better than the alternative.

  51. 51.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize: Taking the analogy a step further, the ship is the HMS Titanic and this particular rat was the Captain who in addition to deliberately steering towards the iceberg also ordered the engines to run at “full steam ahead”.

  53. 53.

    Kryptik

    Jamelle Bouie is now working for the NYTimes. I second his thesis here — “Oliver North Showed Republicans the Way Out. Belligerence, shamelessness and partisanship can take you far.”

    As good as the point is, Bouie forgot one caveat: it only works if you’re a Republican.

    If a Dem tried this, they’d be crucified and the party made to pay for their sins for decades to come. It always comes down to IOKIYAR

  55. 55.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @debbie: Indeed. Pride, ever goeth before the fool. Pride, which Dante defined as “love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one’s neighbour”

  56. 56.

    tobie

    @germy: I cannot believe this quote from Buttigieg:

    “At least he didn’t go around saying that America was already great, like Hillary did.”

    Fuck him.

  59. 59.

    Spanky

    @tobie: I can’t believe it either. Gratuitous slaps at Clinton sound out of character. Show me a link to the original quote.

  61. 61.

    Spanky

    @Spanky: Not only that, but I’ve been quoted twice by name in the WaPo, as “man on the street”. Both times they put words in my mouth. Any pushback from the Buttigieg camp?

  62. 62.

    Nicole

    @OzarkHillbilly: Congrats to her on the new job! Sorry about the pay cut, but the lessening of travel time counts for something, I think. Time is one of those things in life that is so valuable it can be very difficult to buy.

    Thanks to being friends with people who are better at taking advantage of living in NYC than we are, we have tickets to go see the Shawarma down at Hudson Yards. Glad the weather will be nice.

  63. 63.

    Immanentize

    @rikyrah: more like “Eeak! Watch out there, jump back!”

    ETA Mostly he’s learning how not to stall our standard on a hill.

  64. 64.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Spanky: He’s also not a rat, and the ship was the RMS Titanic not HMS. He also did not deliberately steer into the iceberg and iirc it was the owner who ordered full steam ahead.

    Analogies are never exact, they are “a correspondence or partial similarity.”

  67. 67.

    Duke of Clay

    @OzarkHillbilly: A British commedian described Theresa May as a person trying to put out the fire at a burning petrol station by throwing her third and final banana at it. Now it seems she has a fourth banana. Bound to work this time.

  68. 68.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Spanky: Also, in all the interviews of people living in MAGA land, how is it they never talk to me?????

    @Nicole: Right after she lost her last job I told her I really didn’t want her driving into STL everyday, to try like hell to find something closer even if it meant less pay. At our age, time is a fast decreasing commodity.

  69. 69.

    rikyrah

    Bringing receipts on Mayor Pete ??

    Pete sent city inspectors out to fine homes until they couldn’t afford to pay any longer.

    And demolished their homes.
    In the middle of winter.
    Poor and black people.
    Black poverty rate there is SHAMEFUL.

    Poverty Pete is Cancelled. https://t.co/KIhkGTlnqG

    — ?Mayo is gross (@Bravewriting) March 30, 2019

    Fired the black police chief for recording five white officers saying racist shit.

    Did he make sure the racist officers were gone too?

    Don’t you dare let him get away without fucking explaining himself. pic.twitter.com/JB9NTFwKpD

    — ?Mayo is gross (@Bravewriting) March 30, 2019

    Median black income there is $14, 000 lower than the NATIONAL AVERAGE.

    BLACKS HOLD A 40.2% INCOME POVERTY RATE.

    Pete runs this city.
    Is this how he will run America? pic.twitter.com/6xmPpTLu1N

    — ?Mayo is gross (@Bravewriting) March 30, 2019

  70. 70.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Dems Ask IG To Probe State Dept For Cancelling Award For Reporter Critical Of Trump

    But a report compiled by Democratic staffers on the committee found that there were significant communications between Aro and the State Department leading up to the “error.” Internal communications reviewed by the committee show that at least eight State Department officials approved the wording of the bio that was meant to accompany her award and the department was in communication with Aro for several months to discuss the honor, her travel plans, and her itinerary while she was in Washington, D.C.

    But two weeks after an official reportedly asked Aro for all of her social media handles, she was notified that the offer of the award had been rescinded and she was no longer invited to attend the event. Aro has tweeted lighthearted jokes about President Trump in the past and once responded to one of Trump’s tweets by suggesting the President was “trolling on behalf” of the Kremlin.

    Senate Democrats claim the timing is hardly a coincidence.

    “If the department rescinded the award because of statements made by a journalist, exercising her right to freedom of speech, it would mean that the Department is using political fealty to the President as an eligibility criteria for receiving a government award designed to highlight courage,” Menendez told CNN Thursday. “Furthermore, misleading the public and Congress about the true reasons behind its actions would harm the Department’s reputation here in the United States and around the world, and undermine its credibility regarding future pronouncements from the press podium.”

  74. 74.

    tobie

    @Spanky: The quote is from this article in the Washington Post Magazine from January. He also says this:

    He’d endorsed Hillary Clinton after her nomination in 2016, as any aspiring party leader must, but he clearly won’t be writing any laudatory essays about her campaign. “I organized a Union Hall event for her in South Bend,” he says, and shakes his head. “You could just tell the enthusiasm wasn’t there.” The problem, he says, was partly that the stakes seemed too low. “We need a bigger scope of ambition for people to rally around.” A return to the Clinton and Obama style of centrist incrementalism, he says, will invite disaster just as surely in 2020.

  75. 75.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @JPL: It’s peak spring break right now. What happens to all those drunken (mostly) white American college kids that get stuck down there when he shuts the border? Seems like that might cause some bad headlines.

  80. 80.

    Suburban Mom

    @Immanentize: I learned how to drive a manual transmission by getting from the top of heartbreak hill to the bottom without damaging any part of the car. I do not recommend this method.

  81. 81.

    Avalune

    @Raven: If she knew who the hell I was and was in a position to do so, I’d beg her to stop by Fortnum and Mason and being me back all the smokey earl grey. ALL of it. I didn’t like it much at first because I expect smokey flavors on meat not tea but damned if it didn’t grow on me. Miss it over there. Hope she has fun.

  82. 82.

    Matt McIrvin

    @opiejeanne:

    Why do these guys think they’ll gain any ground by dissing Hillary?

    Because they probably will? There may be a ceiling to it. But feeding Democrats in Disarray stories gets attention. A huge part of Bernie Sanders’ whole brand is dissing Hillary.

  83. 83.

    Sloane Ranger

    @debbie: This was definitely the view of the “moderate” Brexiteers, who went around assuring the public that it would be easy to negotiate a great deal with the EU.

    Once those slimy foreign Eurocrats faced someone demonstrating real British grit and determination (TM) rather than a weak-kneed Europhile they’ll fold like cheap sheets, just like they’ve done in every war in history (particularly the French).

    (Principle does not apply to the Germans, who are like us but more ruthless and without a sense of humour, but they could be easily bought off with special deals for their car manufacturers.)

  84. 84.

    rikyrah

    I simply love her.

    [email protected]: “I did not write a political memoir; I wrote a book about how I messed things up a lot and how I fixed it. Because I think when you’re told to be a leader there are very few people who give you the blueprint for how to do it.” @TheView https://t.co/gNAT1qNTZw

    — Picador USA (@PicadorUSA) March 29, 2019

  87. 87.

    tobie

    @schrodingers_cat: Hillary is alas America’s punching bag. It’s unfair and I don’t see how it will ever change. Nancy Pelosi would have been the subject of leftwing contempt too if the Democrats had not retaken the House in 2018. Tlaib and AOC both campaigned on replacing her. Fortunately we won, and Peolosi has proven to be the best Speaker of the House in my lifetime.

  89. 89.

    JMG

    I believe a goodly part of Biden’s support in these polls is that he is a convenient placeholder for Dems who don’t know enough about the other candidates and are too embarrassed, as many people are in many situations, to answer “I don’t know yet” even though that is the accurate answer. I mean, I don’t know yet. I lean Warren I guess on the favorite daughter principle, but I’m sure open to persuasion.

  91. 91.

    zhena gogolia

    I loved this from Bill Penzey:

    If there is some silver lining to all this, it is the very real reminder that America honestly does matter. Why else would Russia go to such lengths or take such risks? I know it’s always trendy to push the idea that America does more harm than good, but that simply isn’t the truth. Our Spice business takes us to the far corners of the globe where we’ve seen first-hand the way America has been able to expand the free world and diminish the power of dictators. For billions of people, America matters. Our president was put in office in part to send the world the message that America can’t be trusted. We must show the world that simply isn’t true.

  98. 98.

    Immanentize

    @Spanky: It’s true, I often do the same, wait it out for a bit to see if someone here finished the thought. 70% of the time that’s a good strategy!

  99. 99.

    Avalune

    @NotMax: Haha of course they have it. F&M actually ships it too but the shipping cost… I mean it seems ridiculous to pay three times the cost of the thing you are shipping doesn’t it?

    Also I suppose whining about it nostalgically to people in proximity to people in London is half the fun? I need to go wake up.

  101. 101.

    tobie

    @Spanky: I think it popped up because his campaign started getting tons of national attention last week. Paul Waldman had this to say about the heartland versus coastal elite distinction:

    One more vivid example from recent history: In 2004, the conservative Club For Growth ran an ad against Howard Dean, in which a couple told him to “take his tax-hiking, government-expanding, latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading, body-piercing, Hollywood-loving, left-wing freak show back to Vermont where it belongs.” Everyone laughed. Now imagine the outcry if a liberal group told, say, Mike Huckabee to “take his trailer park-living, tobacco-chewing, NASCAR-watching, squirrel-eating freak show back to Arkansas where it belongs.” The condemnation would be furious and immediate, much of it coming from the elite media, who would yet again instruct Democrats that if they want to succeed they really need to stop being so condescending and reach out to those heartland voters.

  102. 102.

    A Ghost To Most

    @rikyrah: Harris/Abrams would be awesome. Not least of all, it would be like a remake of “Mars Attacks”, with brains exploding everywhere.

  103. 103.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @Matt McIrvin: also, at least in Sanders’s case, he’s probably marinating in VT misogynistic liberalism. Not saying they’re all that way but there’s a non-trivial portion of the democratic white male voting block that is still borderline sexist and racist, and VT is an epicenter for those guys. Sanders spends too much time with them, and probably is one himself, so he really can’t stop the mansplaining.

    Buttigieg, well, maybe there’s a similar blind spot when it comes to women. Not sure I’ve seen Beto make similar gaffes but I’m not that plugged in to all the candidates yet.

  104. 104.

    Immanentize

    @Spanky:
    I think the answer is that he was just a curiosity before. But when he started taking off and getting a lot of favorable press, people started looking more closely at him.

    That’s not nefarious. It’s what people are supposed to do in primaries. I welcome all the information I can get to sort out where my support ought to land. No candidate is going to be perfect and different people have different pinch points. Buttigieg’s comments about Trump voters and Hillary are not deal breakers for me. But they do diminish his shine.

    PS. It does piss me off that some in the press are trying to portray him as Queer Eye political makeover show.

  105. 105.

    MomSense

    I love Stance Grounded. I’ve been following him for some time on twitter and he always lifts up really beautiful things for his followers. Wowza he and his children are good dancers. Each of the thousands of isolations they do, is incredibly difficult. Control like that takes work.

    Not sure if it’s trees (I think it’s too early) or if I’m finally getting sick (I’ve been nursemaid to my mom for about three weeks while she’s had bronchitis) but today is going to be for knitting and sewing. I took my sewing machine out and am going to finally attempt to make the vest pattern I bought a month ago. First foray back into sewing after many years.

    For Mainers, there’s a Planned Parenthood fundraiser on Wednesday the 3rd in Portland at Oxbow. Should be really good music and beer. The youngs who are putting this together are an amazing bunch and the local musicians are doing Gillian Welch covers.

    I have to focus on creativity today because I think the recent cover up and gaslighting with the reemergence of fucking crime fixer Bill Barr has had my normally low blood pressure surging to Krakatoa. It’s best for me to stab fabric thousands of times today than stroke out.

  107. 107.

    debbie

    @Sloane Ranger:

    I know there are issues with immigration, but I think your country is nuts to leave the EU. Why not fight for reforms to better the union instead of stomping off like a huffy Eric Cartman because you’re not getting your way?

  108. 108.

    lamh36

    @Chyron HR: there has been a distinct turn IMHO to commenters who I believe have been here a while turning anything someone says about the support of Beto for Mayor Pete vs Kamala or Booker or Warren or Gillibrand or Chlobauchr(sp?) or being “anti white” or “anti- white male” that really bothers me. For the main part I keep silent about it, but I’ve noticed it

  109. 109.

    Avalune

    @OzarkHillbilly: Agree! When we lived in Italy a university wanted me to teach Eng Comp in Livorno. Three hour drive each way on Saturdays. In addition to working all week as their field rep in my local area. I said pass.

    I kind of feel like that is my life now – commute, work, commute, sleep but with our current situation I don’t have a lot of options. I’m hoping once Leto’s sorted maybe we can get the hell out of this state.

  112. 112.

    Avalune

    @MomSense: what are you knitting? I finally finished boxy a few weeks ago. It’s huge. I think I’ve been overestimating my size. But I like it anyway. About 1/2 and some change through Spector now. Looking for some good tee patterns that can do double duty as casual/business casual.

  113. 113.

    lamh36

    @germy: As a POC i get the excitement for Pete of because of what he “represents” for some LGBTQ, but aside from that representation Pete has no policies to speak of and aside from that representation is espousing some of the same stuff they wouldn’t accept from a non-LGBTQ candidate.

    It’s just feels like folks are globbing on Pete because of that representation and not giving any of the other great candidates who ARE actually talking about policies (Warren &, Harris come to mind first, but Booker, Amy C & Gillibrand also talk policy).

  116. 116.

    zhena gogolia

    My position is that other than Sanders or Gabbard, I am open to any of the people running as a Democrat against Trump. I am suspicious of scorched-earth campaigns against ANY of these candidates. We have a large, diverse, exciting field, and I’m not ready to eliminate any of them from my thinking based on cherry-picked quotations.

    FWIW, I don’t think Buttigieg is actually running for president. But besides the things he’s said that some of us don’t like, HE HAS SAID A LOT OF EXTREMELY GOOD THINGS TOO. Getting that kind of discourse out in the public sphere helps us combat all-Trump, all-the-time.

  118. 118.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The Supreme Court blocked the execution of a Texas prisoner (by a vote of 7-2, OH) on Thursday after he was denied the presence of a Buddhist spiritual adviser — a decision that struck a clear contrast with the court refusing to block an Alabama inmate’s execution (by a vote of 5-4, OH) last month when he was denied a Muslim imam. [USA Today / Richard Wolf]

    Gee, what ever could have changed the minds of 3 conservative justices???

    Whatever could it be???

    Ooooh! Ooooh! I know I know!

    The Buddhist is a white man while the Muslim is a….. wait for it….

    Black man.

    Sure Justice Kavanaugh, it was just because Murphy filed for a review too late. Sure,

  121. 121.

    tobie

    @debbie: There is nothing fishy about the quotes or the fact that they’re coming to the foreground now. The Washington Post magazine did a lengthy profile of Buttigieg in January, when no one was paying attention to his campaign. Now people are paying attention to Buttigieg, so they’re looking at articles and profiles in readily available public sources like the Washington Post. There’s nothing nefarious here.

  122. 122.

    MomSense

    @Avalune:
    I’m taking a break from a self drafted pullover pattern – adult sized knit with light fingering on sized 2 needles and working on the Ovale shawl from taproot magazine. I bought the forager vest pattern when I was at one of the craft nights that taproot hosts and finally need to sit down and just try it. It’s designed with enormous pockets for gardening or whatever you might want to carry. I love knitting while I’m walking and these pockets will be perfect for that.

    Do you remember the book The Yarn Girls Guide to Beyond the Basics? There are two or three really nice tee patterns. One has a square neck and I think one had a really nice eyelet detail. I made a Yoth yarns camisole/tunic a couple summers ago. It’s a quick knit and I do wear it a lot in the summer with a camisole. The colors of the Yoth yarn (one skein for the pattern) are really lovely.

  123. 123.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense:
    Sounds like a fine way to spend the day….

    My grandmother from the old country was a master at crewel work, but she used to knit us all slippers at Christmas — popuchka, we called them. Everytime you mention spending a day knitting, I think of her and those slippers. Thank you.

  124. 124.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @zhena gogolia: I dunno. I like many of our candidates, but I’m getting concerned about the white boy parade. Beginning to feel like entitled egos getting in the way. Hopefully the best candidates will rise to the top when the voting starts.

    As far as “cherry-picked” quotes, we’re (I’m) beginning to see a pattern of red voter pandering and Hillary dissing from Mayor Pete, which is disappointing. I understand he’s operating in a red state, but I don’t like or agree with the approach.

  125. 125.

    Immanentize

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    Sadly, this is how shit happens in the Supreme Court and it probably didn’t have much to do with race. They get a lot wrong before they finally get it right. And in the death penalty context, that means people (almost all men) get executed.

    I have to carry the infamy of representing the last person with mental retardation to be (openly) executed in this country. Then, a few months later, the Supreme Court said that was unconstitutional….

  128. 128.

    MomSense

    @Immanentize:

    My grandmother did crewel work, too. I’m saving her pillow shams and coverlets. Of course my grandparents had twin beds so I’m not sure how to use them except take them out to admire now and then.

    I make slippers for everyone. Were hers felted or maybe done with multiple colors?

  129. 129.

    Immanentize

    @O. Felix Culpa: Look at the bright side — seriously — since when were presidential primaries NOT white guy parades? We are in a better place now.

    But as a friend of mine in Texas used to say, “They do reveal themselves.” And privilege based C. W. is a hard thing to edit out of your talking. But people do evolve and learn. Even Bernie and Biden are trying to demonstrate they have learned (albeit failing IMO) so at least they get the necessity of a new approach. That is progress.

  130. 130.

    Avalune

    My great grandma was a blue ribbon crocheter. I’m still sad I didn’t get any of her framed winning pieces – delicate lace stuff. I do have a granny square afghan of hers that I love to pieces (Leto complains bitterly about how stupid a blanket full of holes is) and a few blue ribbons of my own for lace knitting.

  131. 131.

    Spanky

    @O. Felix Culpa: My sense is that Mayor Pete’s approach is going to sink him like a stone, if he doesn’t pivot. And if he does pivot, I suspect he won’t remain mayor for long.

  132. 132.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense:
    My Grandmother did a crewel work piece that was a Christ praying (head and shoulders) with the Lord’s Prayer beneath it. It’s an alter cover at the church she attended now. We teased her mercilessly and all the cousins asked for their own “life sized christ” as a bed cover.

    She did do multi color slippers and they always had a tassle. By the time I was 8 or 9 I was requesting grey and then I would cut off the tassle. They were just wool knitting. Maybe with a double sole? But all wool.

  133. 133.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Immanentize: Fair enough. But it does gall when even-in-liberal -Santa -Fe and even in 2019 the female candidate (me) is told I should let the newcomer guy who’s done nothing so far run for chair and I could have the privilege of being his vice chair, that is, do all the work. Nevertheless, I ran for chair…and won. So there’s that.

  136. 136.

    Immanentize

    @Avalune:

    granny square afghan

    Being from the Czech/Poland German corner of nowhere, my Grandmother forever called those “Africans.”

  138. 138.

    Immanentize

    @Avalune:
    PS. My other Grandmother was a serious crocheter. I have three of her pieces and I so wish I had one or two of her samplers…. I have no idea where they went. And her cousin, for whom my mom is named, was a master quilter. I have the State Fair winning quilt she gave my Mom for her wedding. It’s a beaut.

  140. 140.

    MomSense

    @Immanentize:

    Ooh, I think I know the kind. The yarn company (a farm family in Maine) Peace Fleece brought fiber, patterns, toys, and needles from former Soviet bloc. They have a slipper pattern in two colors with a tassel and double sole – although now most people buy suede soles and attach them to the slippers. I’ve been wanting to make them for a long time.

    I’m just imagining her thoughts about why all y’all would want a life sized Jesus on your beds. I’m picturing some crossing and intercessions.

  141. 141.

    tobie

    @O. Felix Culpa: One of the most insidious ways in which sexism affects just about every aspect of our lives is that it’s very hard for a woman to be considered to have a magnetic personality. I can count on one hand the women in American public life who are lauded for having the ‘it’ factor: Michelle Obama, Stacey Abrams, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (I happen to think that Obama and Abrams have that extremely rare combo of being both magnetic and deep but that’s another point.) I really wonder why this is. Why is it so rare for women to be perceived as being charismatic? I can’t wrap my mind around this.

    I will say that it’s only because Germany has a parliamentary system that you could have Angela Merkel as Chancellor. Our Presidential system is hopelessly personality driven.

    ETA: I guess Sarah Palin was considered to have the ‘it’ factor on the right. I always thought her appeal was that she was the right’s favorite pin-up girl but what do I know. Her politics are rancid.

  142. 142.

    Immanentize

    And, before I get busy, I’ll just pop in the Charles Pierce quote about our opponents. It pretty much sums up my view of spending my time “understanding” Trump supporters:

    I’m sorry, Mayor Pete. I don’t have to “understand” the people who cheer [Trump’s] maniacal prattle—even though that’s not particularly hard. For the good of the country, their political power has to be crushed, repeatedly, election after election, until we are sure this mockery of democracy never happens again.

  143. 143.

    MomSense

    @debbie:

    I don’t have enough large walls. Typical New England house with soooo many doors.
    @Avalune:
    I love knitting lace and adding beads brings me back to fourth grade crafts in a good way. I don’t have many takers for it, though. I used to make lace shawls for the family reunion auction but it’s hard to see lace sell for 12.50. They are all farmers so now I make warm hats and boiled mittens.

  144. 144.

    Tokyokie

    @Suburban Mom:

    I learned how to drive a manual transmission by getting from the top of heartbreak hill to the bottom without damaging any part of the car. I do not recommend this method.

    I, on the other hand, learned to drive a manual transmission on the runways of a former Nazi air base in Norway. Flat, lots of concrete that resembled streets, and absolutely no traffic. I heartily recommend this method. (I’ve been driving primarily manuals for about 40 years now.)

  145. 145.

    Sloane Ranger

    @debbie: You are right to point to immigration as a significant driver for Brexit but there are others. Contrary to what is sometimes implied, while all racists are Brexiteers, not all Brexiteers are racists.

    The main issues for non racist Brexiteers based on conversations with them are,

    The EU is corrupt. They haven’t had their accounts signed off in years. Why should be continue to pay money into the EU only for it to disappear into a black hole. Especially as we pay so much and get so little back.

    Continued EU integration. There is talk of an EU foreign policy and an EU army. A small force has already been set up with contingents from those nations willing to contribute to it. This will grow over the years to become a full fledged army. These are threats to the UK’s sovereignty.

    Currency. The interests of those nations outside the Euro are being sacrificed to improve the standing of the Euro.

    Legal. Most of continental Europe’s legal systems are based on the Code Napoleon. Ours isn’t. This has led to some decisions which haven’t gone down well here. Although, to be fair, most of those originated from the European Court of Human Rights, most people here don’t know this is not part of the EU. I had to explain this to a friend of mine who has a Ph.D.

    Various governments of both parties have tried to get reforms to the EU but been unsuccessful.

    Does this help?

  146. 146.

    oldgold

    Bill Maher

    “Yes, the pregnancy test came back negative, but that doesn’t mean you’re a virgin,”

  147. 147.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense:
    If you do make any — please let me know! Grey, no tassle, size “men’s” (I’m pretty sure her patterns had no sizes). I will travel to Maine to pick them up and buy you dinner.

  149. 149.

    Spanky

    @MomSense:

    I’m just imagining her thoughts about why all y’all would want a life sized Jesus on your beds. I’m picturing some crossing and intercessions.

    Hey, at least it wasn’t a recreation of the Shroud of Turin.

  151. 151.

    BruceFromOhio

    @R-Jud: leavers have no fucking idea what’s going to happen, and frankly, do not seem to care. It’s like jumping off a cliff in darkness, thinking “I’ll land somehow”.

  152. 152.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    but I’m getting concerned about the white boy parade

    More to the point for me, the huge rush of Democratic voters and pundits to say “yeah, a white guy I can like, now I can ignore the women and still feel politically correct!”

    I want to see Beto take another run and Ted Cruz and crush his miserable face. But on the national stage, I hope Stacy or Kamala crushes him.

    OT the wife and I are in NYC and went to a rock concert last night. I’d say we’re feeling old, but we both remember feeling this distaste for over-amplified music where you can’t even hear the singer, let alone tell if you like the song, in our 20s.

    I never got that. I hated being at parties where you’re trying to meet someone and the conversation with the cute girl consists of screaming into her ear and her saying “what?” and screaming something back at you that you can’t hear.

    Ok yeah I’m a curmudgeon. But I always have been.

    And my bride always hated that stuff too, reason number lebenty million why I love her.

  153. 153.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize:

    Sadly, this is how shit happens in the Supreme Court and it probably didn’t have much to do with race.

    Yes, shit happens in the SC, but the idea that race had nothing to do with it…

    I’ll just say this and leave it there: There is a strain of legal argument in this country that discrimination on the basis of race is OK so long as you can plausibly call it something else. The same can be said for discrimination on the basis of sex, age, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, etc etc etc

    If a system consistently allows for racial disparities in results, maybe the system is racist even if the people in it are not.

    And just to clarify, I do not believe in any way shape or form that Justice Kavanaugh is any more immune to the inherent biases of his privileged white upbringing than I am, and mine was no where near as privileged as his was.

  154. 154.

    MazeDancer

    @Spanky:

    Sorry, iPad won’t show WaPo links, so can’t copy pasta.

    Google search title “Could Pete Buttigeig become first millenial president”. It’ll pop right up. Warning: haven’t read piece. After Hillary diss he was dead to me.

  157. 157.

    Immanentize

    @OzarkHillbilly: Oh, I agree with all of that…. Just not certain it was operating thusly in these cases. But it really is impossible to tease apart.

    The court has a very significant racial jury selection case this term. Let’s see how that comes out and we can revisit this very real problem then? Of course, Thomas will vote to uphold the sentence.

  161. 161.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize:

    Just not certain it was operating thusly in these cases.

    And part of the problem is one can never be certain it is or isn’t. Bias is hard to ferret out especially within oneself.

  162. 162.

    Bex

    @Immanentize: Have you and Spanky read Buttigeig’s book, “Shortest Way Home”? Yes of course he’s making his case, but in a thoughtful and sometimes regretful way. For example, he calls his firing of the police chief a serious mistake. There’s a lot of background story in the book that a voter should take a look at rather than just writing him off.

  163. 163.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize:

    The court has a very significant racial jury selection case this term. Let’s see how that comes out and we can revisit this very real problem then?

    I think the gerrymander case will speak much more closely to what I am speaking of.

  165. 165.

    debbie

    @Sloane Ranger:

    Yes, thanks, and your reasons are why I think it would be better to reform than leave. European countries have Putin on one side and (now) unpredictable asshole Trump on the other. European countries will be stronger if they could just stick together.

    I’m curious: Does the UK feel threatened by NATO’s military?

  166. 166.

    Avalune

    @MomSense: Ah! I do it for myself or close friends family. I just like the challenge and to try different techniques. People are always trying to get me to do Etsy and I flatly refuse. I want to continue enjoying it and doing it for that – not turning myself into a one man sweatshop. No judgement on people who do things for sale though!

    PS everyone quick stop talking about him – we’ve said his name too many times and summoned him to defend his nonsense stance on afghan blankets.

  167. 167.

    patrick II

    There are may things I notice, not as fancy as this dance, but still things that make me happy because they are emblematic of what American can be and at times is. Yesterday for instance, I person of Irish descent, I ate at a Chinese buffet, a group of Spanish speaking Latino working men ate at the table next to me and the music playing was a beautiful African song by Ladysmith Black Mambozo.
    Things like this small conglomeration of cultures happen everyday in this country and can be appreciated as small pieces eclectic natural art that can make life beautiful if you are open to it.

  175. 175.

    MomSense

    @Avalune:

    It’s so much work to make items for sale for not enough money. Makes more sense to sell patterns. Having said that, I just got a gig as a test knitter for a yarn company. They send me the materials and pay by the yard. It’s not much money but I really like the product.

  176. 176.

    Peale

    @MazeDancer: idk. After reading the Slate article about why his homosexuality shouldn’t count in discussions of how diverse the candidate slate is shaping up, I’m inclined to pay more attention to him. That article Kind of pissed me off. I don’t think his candidacy is going to catch on in the right places, though, and he’s not my first choice at all.

    He is a candidate who needs to perform well in Iowa or New Hampshire if he’s going anywhere. These kind of statements would probably appeal to voters in those states. Unfortunately they aren’t going to work to mobilize voters where we need them to work.

    What I wish the candidates would do is spell out where they think the votes are to win this time…what constituencies, where, and how to find them. Stein voters? Bernie voters who stayed home? Latinos who participated at rates 20 points lower than whites? Trump switchers? People who voted for Obama in 2008 and haven’t shown up since? Midwestern African Americans? I think answering that question would help me decide who to support. Mayor Pete I think by dissing Hillary as a candidate is going for the first two I mentioned. I don’t think that is enough.

  178. 178.

    smintheus

    @rikyrah: I haven’t understood the infatuation with Buttigieg. A grain of salt here or there with the candidates’ self-presentations would be in order.

  179. 179.

    Leto

    @Avalune: If I wanted to see how warm that dirty old moth eaten blanket is, I’d visit a Dickens novel!!

    @debbie: I’m sure your Mamaw’s crocheted afghan is warm and lovely :)

  183. 183.

    Sloane Ranger

    @debbie: No, actually the UK is very supportive of NATO. The concern is that a European Army will replace NATO and the specific treaty provisions concerning activation of the Treaty replaced by some sort of majority voting arrangements that would see British troops being deployed even if the UK voted against the decision.

  184. 184.

    Avalune

    @Leto: hyperbole!

    @MomSense Cool! I knit way too slow to be a tester for anyone – especially with the kind of deadlines they expect.

    Apparently I’m being denied coffee now. Oh noes! The mock horror!

  186. 186.

    zhena gogolia

    Bill Clinton would have gone far if he’d just pointed out early on that Arkansas is full of hopeless crackers.

  187. 187.

    Suburban Mom

    @Tokyokie: Your method sounds much better. Despite the painful early training I also prefer to drive a stick shift. They are getting harder to find though.

  188. 188.

    Immanentize

    @Suburban Mom: I’m glad you stopped back. Top to bottom of a big suburban hill was how I learned to ride a bicycle. My brothers pushing! At one point on that first ride I forgot I had brakes….

    I took the Immp to a big empty highschool parking lot for starters. Stalled as much as he wanted

  189. 189.

    Leto

    @Suburban Mom: A couple of years ago Porsche switched to all automatic transmissions. They stated simply: they’re better. From a performance standpoint the current generation of automatics are superior to manuals (performance and mpg). I grew up driving only manual, but our current vehicle is an automatic and I’m fairly certain that all future purchases will be auto’s too.

    It’s the same reason you basically don’t see carburetors anymore.

  190. 190.

    Fair Economist

    @zhena gogolia: I am also suspicious about scorched earth campaigns. I criticize candidates I don’t like, but I try ways that don’t make them seem totally unfit but just inferior to our other great choices.

  191. 191.

    tobie

    @Kathleen: It’s weird to me that the new slur against someone is that they’re an “incrementalist.” Yeah, it would be nice if things were so simple, and didn’t involve so many different factors, that you could change things overnight. But the virtue and the curse of modern society is complexity. Changing anything without attention to specific steps is a recipe for chaos. In fact, it’s pure Trumpism.

  192. 192.

    Fair Economist

    @Sloane Ranger: Of course any concerns about a Euro army are deliberately ignoring that the UK can almost always assemble a blocking minority against any change, *and* that the UK could always leave *then*.

    Brexit is really stupid. It passed because of an alliance between Putin wanting to mess up the EU and Tory financiers wanting to bet on a crash. They made a lot when the referendum passed and I am sure they are set up for fortunes when house prices crash and food prices soar.

  194. 194.

    MomSense

    @Leto:

    You do know that those holes mean you can operate the tv remote under the blanket, right? Those old boss bitch crafters knew how to live.

  196. 196.

    Leto

    @MomSense: They foresaw remote controls?!?! I mean, I can stick my hand from under the blanket and still remain warm, OR I can operate my remote and be cold. Warm it is!!! Also I have a slanket: warm fleece blanket with arm sleeves. Never have to stick my hand out, ever! Warm now, warm tomorrow, warm forever!!!

    :)

  198. 198.

    Suburban Mom

    @MazeDancer: @Leto: I understand and agree with this position. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I bought my first car the smallish 4 cylinder automatics I could afford had very little pickup. Merging onto a highway was scary, and the control that a manual transmission provided was helpful. Now the mileage and pickup are as good or better. But I actually enjoy the act of shifting gears. Suburban Dad considers my position insane, and will never drive anything but an automatic.

  202. 202.

    MisterForkbeard

    @germy: I like this framing, actually. Though U think the “civil rights” part might be a little wishy washy given some of Bernie’s LGBTQ support, he’s definitely whiffed on other portions of it.

  203. 203.

    Kristine

    @Immanentize: When I learned to drive stick in the early ’80s, I would go out at 4am so that if I stalled at a traffic light etc, there was a good chance I wouldn’t mess up traffic.

    This was in Columbus OH, however. In the Chicago area, the traffic hardly ever slows.

  205. 205.

    Sloane Ranger

    @Fair Economist: I’m not saying I agree with it. I was answering a question about why some people voted for Brexit and this is a reason I have been given. It’s never the only reason, just one of a number.

  207. 207.

    Sloane Ranger

    @debbie: It’s being led by France. If the UK is the awkward squad in the EU, France is the awkward squad in NATO. They have never felt happy relying on the US to lead a coalition to defend Europe. Their argument is Europeans should lead any such defence plus if push comes to shove Europe can’t rely on the US with its strong isolationist lobby and other interests.

    In the past, most of the other nations have just nodded and gone along to get along but since Trump, the idea is being taken a bit more seriously.

  208. 208.

    rikyrah

    @tobie:

    Mayor Pete:

    He’d endorsed Hillary Clinton after her nomination in 2016, as any aspiring party leader must, but he clearly won’t be writing any laudatory essays about her campaign. “I organized a Union Hall event for her in South Bend,” he says, and shakes his head. “You could just tell the enthusiasm wasn’t there.” The problem, he says, was partly that the stakes seemed too low. “We need a bigger scope of ambition for people to rally around.” A return to the Clinton and Obama style of centrist incrementalism, he says, will invite disaster just as surely in 2020.

    Oh, so, cancelled.

  210. 210.

    Citizen Alan

    @lamh36:

    TBH, one of my biggest concerns about the normalization of gay rights was that as soon as gay marriage and other civil rights became normalized, most of the white middle-class gays would immediately become Republicans because IGMFY.

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