Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

Let there be snark.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

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

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

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

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

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2020 / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Be Of Good Cheer (Srsly)

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Be Of Good Cheer (Srsly)

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The Repubs have a decompensating narcissist who only took his current position with the help of voter suppression and foreign money… and they’re all too terrified to challenge him. We have half a dozen excellent candidates, and several perfectly competent backups. Also, people like confidence!


And this would be bad… because?!?

Reader Interactions

164Comments

  1. 1.

    satby

    Good morning all!
    I have power, I have coffee, and it’s not raining. It’s the little things that bring us joy.

  4. 4.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Kirsten Gillibrand
    ‏Verified account @SenGillibrand
    18h18 hours ago

    Huge news: Over the weekend, we crossed 65,000 donors to our campaign—guaranteeing our spot at the first debates!

    I’m so grateful to everyone who’s helping power this campaign. We have a lot more work to do in the months to come, but for now: Thank you.

    I’m feeling guilty for not helping her to make the debates. Not that I support her, but I could if she’s given a chance at the debates to make a persuasive case.

    So today imma gonna look for candidates that need help to make the big show

  5. 5.

    Patricia Kayden

    Good on Warren for overcoming the sexist media’s attempt to paint her as “unlikable”. She has turned out to be a formidable candidate. Can’t wait to see her debate Trump. She’ll repeatedly chew him up and spit him out.

  6. 6.

    Tony Jay

    Good morning, fine people.

    The real question is why has Elizabeth Warren chosen to brand her campaign literature with the Red/Black/White colour scheme of Nazi/Imperial Germany? What does her rejection of God’s own Red, White and Blue tell us about the real threat her National SOCIALIST policies pose to wholesome, hard-working, patriotic heartland American Values?

    She’s even branded herself in that propaganda pic! Does she think wholesome, hard-working, patriotic heartland Americans can’t see the message she’s sending out to her Antifa thug pals? Let’s see if the Fake Newz Media have the stones to ask the real questions and get to the bottom of this naked assault on First Amendment Rights.

    TRUMP/PENCE 2020 – You Get What You Pay For

  7. 7.

    Mike in DC

    I do want to see what the Warren Doctrine might be on foreign policy, and what her thoughts are with regard to confronting and countering Russia.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    As one who loves her ability to articulate possible solutions to our innumerable problems, I do hope that at some point EW’s campaign begins to focus on *3 or 4 or 6* specific issues that the general public will identify specifically with her. Otherwise I think folks will just see a baffling blur, most of which they don’t care that much about..

    **maybe climate change, healthcare, voting rights and income inequality. YMMV

  9. 9.

    Chyron HR

    We don’t need another bloodless technocrat making PLANS, we need a true progressive who recites our shibboleths! #BernieorDeath

  12. 12.

    Kay

    Across the country, a movement to teach financial literacy in public schools has gained tremendous traction. Nineteen states now require financial education to graduate, according to the Council for Economic Education, up from 13 in 2011. In 2018, 29 states and Puerto Rico introduced bills around financial literacy, and 17 states enacted laws or adopted resolutions.
    The movement mirrors a similarly vigorous push in Washington to promote financial literacy. In just 2019, Congress introduced at least six pieces of legislation to promote financial education—ranging from a House resolution to “support the goals and ideals of Financial Literacy Month” (which falls in April) to a Senate bill that competitively awards grants to school districts that teach financial literacy. The push has gained even more momentum thanks to Kathy Kraninger, the new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She announced in April that her federal agency will focus less on enforcement action and more on education.
    Legislators from both parties have embraced financial literacy—undeterred by both its cost and the dearth of research supporting its effectiveness. They argue that in a world where citizens must make ever more complicated and high-stakes decisions, empowering the public to be competent economic actors is the most important thing we can do.
    But critics counter that nothing would make financial institutions happier than placing the onus of responsibility on individual consumers. Indeed, some of the most enthusiastic backers of financial literacy come from the financial services industry itself—with banks, investment firms, and insurance companies eager to sponsor trainings and school curricula, even as they lobby hard against regulation for their own businesses.

    The whole marketing push is bankrolled by the finance industry, as a replacement for regulation. When we don’t want to deal with a problem in the US, whether it’s guns or a lack of health care or unregulated finance sector rip-offs and scams, we dump it on public schools to fix. There’s about 7 hours in a school day. At some point you’re going to have to decide how many fake “fixes” for the nations problems you can jam into that 7 hour period, along with all the basic academic classes.

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @eclare: To what purpose? Every single DEM running has to face that problem, why do you only want to ask her that question?

  15. 15.

    Phylllis

    @Kay: There’s about 7 hours in a school day.

    If we attempted to cover everything that’s been required (all unfunded mandates, natch), we’d have to keep the kids in school for at least 12 hours a day, year-round. And add staff.

  16. 16.

    Kay

    I love the passive language too- “as consumer protections dwindle” 11 year olds must be taught to recognize an onerous, rip off contract instead of spending that 40 minutes on a core class.
    “As we enthusiastically gut consumer protections and refuse to prosecute even egregious wrongdoing…”
    So gracious of the finance industry to dump this into public schools and make us pay for it. Very civic minded.

  17. 17.

    eclare

    @OzarkHillbilly: Because she is the one getting a lot of attention for her plans. When Kamala discussed gun control, she listed a number of executive actions she could take, she was realistic gun control would go nowhere in the Senate.

  18. 18.

    debbie

    @Patricia Kayden:

    She’ll repeatedly chew him up and spit him out.

    Indeed. He falls apart when anyone pushes back. And that it’ll be a woman makes it even better.

  19. 19.

    Kay

    @Phylllis:

    I hear you sister.
    “Let’s see- we could start regulating this industry again OR we could give the industry 40 minutes a day in every public school to tell the kids that the buyer must beware”. The second is much easier. Problem solved!

    Now, please line up for the school shooter drill because we refuse to regulate guns. After that we’ll have training to resist abusing prescription pain killers, because we refuse to regulate that, too.

  20. 20.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    Remember way, way long time ago when teaching something like financial responsibility was considered a civic duty? Now, it’s just nurturing another income stream. //

  22. 22.

    Kay

    @Phylllis:

    In our school parents are complaining that the guidance counselors aren’t doing enough college lending counseling. They no longer talk about college(?) or which college or a course of study, or, God forbid, waste any time on an actual emotional problem. They talk about interest rates. They’re credit counselors.

    Choose. If this is how we’re going to “regulate” the finance industry something else will have to give way, because there isn’t an endless amount of stuff one can cram into 7 periods.

  24. 24.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    “Responsibility” is a two way street. Both parties have a duty. In return, let’s mandate “responsibility” training for lenders. They need to spend one hour a day on training their agents in responsible lending and they have to pay for it.

  25. 25.

    eclare

    @Kay: That is horrible! I would never expect a guidance counselor to discuss college lending. But I graduated in 1986…

  26. 26.

    Baud

    Haha. This is what happens to you when you don’t adhere to the Wilmerian dogma.

    “This Beacon of Hope Is Being Corrupted by the System”: The Battle for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Progressive Soul

    Some of her closest allies think one of America’s most powerful progressives is being co-opted by the powers that be in Congress. “She’s being manipulated by these lawmakers,” says one. Says another: “You made promises and you need to do something.”

    Welcome to our world, AOC.

  29. 29.

    Immanentize

    Hello All!

    The Immp will have his third molars cruelly carved from his jaw today (or as we often call it, wisdom teeth extraction). Pity the poor nursing father for the next couple of days….

  34. 34.

    Kay

    @eclare:

    Oh, God, it’s ALL they do. My assistant here had a spreadsheet for her son. Cost + assistance + loans + potential accrued interest. He’s 17. “As you head out on your journey of self discovery please refer to this spreadsheet”

    My son’s gf is really smart. Science and math and she’s kind. I told her “you should go to med school” She was horrified. The debt. She looked like I had told her “you should steal a car” Like BAD advice.

  35. 35.

    Immanentize

    @Kay:
    I know that some kids launch out on their own after highschool. But more kids are going to college than ever before. I think financial literacy is better suited to a 20 year old mind than a 15 year old mind.

    We actually thought a lot about including a financial intro course as part of the Core Curriculum, but decided against. I supported it, but the liberal arts professors opposed…. And there are a lot of those people!

  37. 37.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @eclare: TBH, I don’t think these are helpful questions at this point, I feel like it’s putting the cart before the horse.

  38. 38.

    Turgidson

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Alas, so long as he sticks with the caucus on preserving the ACA, he’s still much, much much better than any Republican would be in that seat. But damn is he an insufferable ass.

  43. 43.

    Immanentize

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    I agree. I think of Warren’s plans like this — she was behind in the vast unwashed pack. She started making serious (rather detailed) proposals that could work. It’s not so much the future of the proposals that matter, it is the fact that she is now seen as a clear minded, hard working, energetic, serious candidate who cares deeply about regular people. She is politically connecting by talking about those proposals. People like her because she is trying — hard — to make things better for them.

  45. 45.

    Kay

    @Phylllis:

    I had a good teacher sophomore year in high school. Interesting. Anyway, he had a thing where we would pick stocks and “buy” them and follow them. It was fun. People would pick things they were familiar with and liked, which are not always good picks, but it’s play money, it’s a lesson, very lively. Now he’d be “sadly, your choices have ruined your life forever and you will never retire”

    No wonder they’re depressed.

  49. 49.

    Betty Cracker

    @eclare: Warren has been asked how she’ll get her plans through the Senate at least twice that I’ve seen (most recently in the MSNBC appearance hosted by Chris Hayes). To paraphrase her response, she said there are some executive actions she could take and that she’d encourage Senate Democrats to nuke the filibuster since it only serves as a constraint on Democrats. And of course she talked about how important it is to elect Democrats at all levels, which they all say.

  50. 50.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’m glad she’s saying that because she omitted electing more Democrats at the MSNBC town hall the other day. Not a huge deal, but I noticed the missed opportunity.

  52. 52.

    satby

    @Immanentize: I had all four out at once at about his age and it wasn’t bad. Even though I had bone splinters for a few days after working their way out of my gums. Milkshakes are essential recovery items.

  53. 53.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    I don’t think Warren is rising because of her plans. For a long time her polling numbers were stuck in single digits. I would link her sudden burst to her forceful case for impeachment and off the charts denunciation of Fox. Notice how Wilmer simultaneously sank like a rock after he sucked up to Fox and went Vichy on impeachment.

  54. 54.

    satby

    @Immanentize: the phone would have been my back-up web access, but at 2% charge it lasted just long enough to say hi here and see the email helpfully informing me that power was out in my area ?

  56. 56.

    satby

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: I also think Wilmer is sinking because he still has no specifics about what he claims are his signature issues. Plus the youngs that were his core group last time aren’t supporting a gun rights apologist.
    ETA: and his fumbles over the sexism in his own campaign team, which the young also are not having. None of my young Berners are backing him this time.

  57. 57.

    Immanentize

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
    Democratic voters are just not as crazy about those two issues as you seem to think. They are not the basis for voting. Look at Buttigieg — he has risen significantly after his FOX appearance. So, hypothesis disproved?

  59. 59.

    Baud

    @Immanentize:

    Buttigieg doesn’t have many proposals, so that doesn’t explain Warren’s rise either.

    I think candidates right now compete mostly against people’s expectations about them rather than head to head.

  61. 61.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud:

    “She’s being manipulated by these lawmakers who’ve gotten nothing done for the last few decades and I think that’s a result of the culture here….

    The ACA was nothing. The CFPB was nothing. The stimulus was nothing. “Wah! I want my magic pony!” This from a congressional aide? Hmmmmm… Who’s could it be?

  63. 63.

    Baud

    @satby:

    Last poll I saw suggested almost all his support is with the youngs and he has lost the olds (to Biden?)

  64. 64.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @Immanentize: when he was on fox he forcefully slammed fox, the christian right and effortlessly mocked Dump. people are supporting him because he is charismatic, demonstrably smart and a sharp communicator. As to issues, I don’t know what his issue are as he went 4 1/2 months without an issues page on his campaign site.

    eta: I would also note how Biden unexpectedly spiked when he took a hammer to Dump for supporting the Klan and the Nazis.

  66. 66.

    Baud

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    If it weren’t for the prevailing fascism, the whole thing would be such a big joke.

    Progressives lecturing anyone on political accomplishments. Puh-leez.

  67. 67.

    SFAW

    @Immanentize:
    I think part of her plan is that she’s responding to the 2016 BS that “but Hitlary has no policy on ‘X’ !!!!!” And it would apparently have been too much to get the MSM to cover any of her platform. By getting her detailed plans out now, instead of after they start up about her e-mails/fauxcahontas/likability or whatever, she’s (I hope) inoculating her campaign against the bullshit, at least a little bit.

    And as far as the “but how will she EVAH get it past Traitor Turtle?” canard: that’s immaterial. Would it be better to run on a platform of “Eh, fuck it, nothing will get through both houses of Congress anyway, so why bother even thinking about this stuff? And I might as well not worry about the courts, etc.” People laughed about Howard Dean’s “50-State Strategy” — until it got results. Maybe if Tom Perez focused on dismantling the Rethug majority in the Senate, we might not have to worry about Traitor Turtle. [In this case, I’m using “Tom Perez” as a placeholder for the Democrat Party in general.]

  68. 68.

    satby

    @Baud: maybe. Anecdata on my part, but my kid and niece and nephew are pretty far over him. And they were all in last time on him. Only my nephew ended up voting for Hillary, though my son and niece voted 3rd party in CA and IL so just wasted votes without throwing the totals much. All three have since grasped the obvious, if only to shut me TF up about it.

  71. 71.

    SFAW

    @rikyrah:

    Boykin CLEARLY does not understand that those usurpers/pretenders only got so many votes because their “voters” were not really the right type of Americans.

  72. 72.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: It’s been a staple in Warren’s stump speeches. One example:

    “Yes, I want to win in 2020, but that’s not enough,” she told a crowd in Lebanon, N.H. “We have to, as Democrats, take back Congress, we’ve got to boost our seats in statehouses, we’ve got to take some governors’ mansions back.”

    IIRC, they’re all saying some version of this (except possibly Sanders, whom I quit listening to a couple of years ago), and they should emphasize it at every opportunity because an appalling number of Americans just don’t get how this shit works.

  73. 73.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: For some reason or other I have this sneaking suspicion this particular aide works for a certain Senator for VT. I don’t know why I would think that.

  74. 74.

    satby

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: this. Buttigieg took it to them on their playing field and was seen by RWNJs. One of whom said to me that he thought that “he said some good stuff”. No, hard core RWs won’t miraculously see the light, but in all those lobbies where Fox plays in the background there was a few minutes of reality. And that’s a good thing.
    I don’t fault the candidates that don’t want to go on Fox, but at some point we have to figure out how to break through the wall of bullshit because 40% of the country is aggressively propagandized. That was one attempt, and a pretty decent one.

  76. 76.

    JPL

    @Immanentize: Happy healing thoughts for both of you. I used a tea bag for some minor bleeding that occurred after an extraction, and it really helped. The doctor will give you more up to date instructions though

  78. 78.

    SenyorDave

    @Patricia Kayden:
    So much for the argument that Manchin is better than a Republican.

    If a person can look at that traitorous, sack of shit, moral degenerate president we have in Trump and think, yeah, I could support him, that person is fucking hopeless. Doesn’t matter if he is just trying to be practical to get re-elected or if he really believes what he says. No way that DNC money should go to him. My guess is he would rather hang with a pos like Trump than be around those icky women like Warren or Harris.
    A large part of 202 has to be a referendum on Trump, and having Democrats support him will be a problem.

  79. 79.

    Amir Khalid

    @Baud:
    Just as one puts quote marks around “Democrat” when describing Wilmer, one should put quote marks around “progressives” when descibing such people.

    @SFAW:
    Hillary had a shit-ton of policy proposals whose existence the media would not acknowledge, lest it had to discuss them seriously — which would require reading and thinking about them. That sounded too much like work to them.

  80. 80.

    Ken

    The Senate will not be a problem for a Democratic President. We can assume Democratic support in the Senate, and we have any number of Republican Senators who have spent the past two years telling us that their role is to approve whatever the President wants.

    Likewise the Supreme Court shouldn’t be a problem. Part of the transition will undoubtedly involve Justice Kavanaugh re-affirming his allegiance and loyalty to the (new) President – a tradition that I’m hopeful other members of the Court will adopt.

  82. 82.

    Amir Khalid

    @Baud:
    Wilmer was the candidate of the hip and fashionable lefty in 2016. Now he’s fallen out of fashion, like stonewashed jeans.

  83. 83.

    SFAW

    @Amir Khalid:

    Hillary had a shit-ton of policy proposals whose existence the media would not acknowledge, lest it had to discuss them seriously — which would require reading and thinking about them. That sounded too much like work to them.

    Yes, I know. Plus, factor in the “she’s over-prepared” BS, plus “but her e-mails!!!” often in the foreground (and always in the background). Some variation of all those comments will be tried/used on Warren, if she wins the nom. I am hopeful that “she’s got a plan for (dealing with) that,” too.

  84. 84.

    Ken

    Oh, and at 80 I forgot to mention the two vital precedents now established. First, that Senate approval of cabinet positions is not actually required, provided they are only “acting” appointments. And second, that a declaration of an “emergency” allows the President to rearrange the budget at will, and ignore any Congressional bans (on arms sales, say).

    I am hoping the word “condonation” will be used extensively by any Democratic administration.

  85. 85.

    SFAW

    @Ken:
    If Traitor Turtle is still in charge, it seems pretty unlikely that his minions will behave the way you are expecting/hoping for.

    ETA: And expecting Rethugs to behave consistently or honorably is beyond wishful thinking. “Deficits don’t matter” until there’s a Dem President, “No SCOTUS appointments in the last year” unless it’s a Rethug occupying the Oval Office, and so forth.

  86. 86.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The people of Timor-Leste have a crocodile problem.

    The reptiles are revered in the island, which lies north-west of Australia in the Timor Sea. Residents refer to the animals as “grandfathers” and crocodiles are honoured with shrines around the country.

    But in the last few decades, the nation has seen a more than 20-fold increase in the number of crocodile attacks. Of late, more than one person a month, in a country of 1.3 million, has been attacked by a saltwater crocodile, and more than half of the attacks have resulted in death.

    The majority of the attacks (82.5%) occur while people are fishing, according to researchers, with bathing (7.5%) and water collecting (4.2%) being the next most dangerous activities. All this presents the people of Timor-Leste with an uncomfortable question: why are their ancestors turning on them?

    A conundrum indeed.

    Some Timorese have turned to an answer more familiar in the world of politics than zoology: they are blaming migrants. Specifically, migrant crocodiles from Australia, which they say have swum the 700km journey to Timor-Leste and now fill the river systems and surround the island.

    Always it’s the new guys fault. Why can’t they assimilate?

    Two Australian-based researchers, Yusuke Fukuda and Sam Banks, made the journey to Timor-Leste to see if this theory might be true, collecting DNA samples from the crocodile population to see if there were any Australian crocodiles among the Timorese population. The pair collected DNA samples from 18 crocodiles. Some were captive animals, but roughly half were sampled in the wild, using a 4-metre pole with a dart on the end.

    Banks, who is a professor of animal ecology and genetics at Charles Darwin University in Darwin, said the job had its challenges. “It’s a matter of finding ones you can sneak up on on foot … you certainly wanted to pick your targets a little more carefully,” he said. “There’s no chance of wading in the water and sneaking up on a 4-metre crocodile.”

    No shit.

    “When we spoke to their government over there they seemed quite happy as well because when we bring our analysis, it will encourage people to be more careful, more croc-wise. We saw so many people in the village using the water … jumping in the river, none of them were really worried about crocodiles, though they know there are crocodiles in there, they think they are good local crocodiles.”

    They don’t say if Australian crocs are more darkly complected than their Timor Leste cousins but just wait until Laura Ingraham does a segment on this

  87. 87.

    raven

    We’ve had a rough couple of days with our aging pups. Lil Bit had a wart on her leg that was bleeding so I took her in and they froze it off. While I was on my way to pick her up the boss lady texted me that Bodhi couldn’t get up. His rear legs have been going but this seems to be his right front. I’ve been carrying him outside the try to get him to go with mixed results. We’ve been paying an ever increasing pet insurance bill and we’re a few buck from meeting the deductible so we’ll take him on in.

  88. 88.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @eclare: I’ve seen this comment before and I honestly can’t tell if it’s satire/sarcasm/smartassery or an honest suggestion that I just don’t understand.

    How will ANY Democratic president get ANY bill through the Republican Senate? Republicans even vote against their own ideas (e.g., the ACA) if proposed by a Democrat. Should candidates not bother with policy because none of it will get past McTurtle? Should they just not run? I’m genuinely interested in what the point of this suggestion is.

  92. 92.

    Zinsky

    I like Warren and her ideas a lot! She is one smart cookie. She can win and could be the greatest, most transformative president this country has ever seen. The public needs to help her out by doing two things:

    1) Supporting her policies loudly, publicly and repeatedly. For those who say, “we can’t afford Elizabeth Warren’s policies”, the immediate response from liberals should be, “we can’t afford NOT to implement Elizabeth Warren’s policies” and then calmly explain why.
    2) Denigrating, slamming and publicly shaming Donald Trump at every turn from now until Election Day in 2020. There are 18 women who would like to have an opportunity to tell the public how Donald J. Trump sexually assaulted them. We need to give them that forum! The man is a a sexual deviant and predator and people need to be reminded of that. It seems to have gone down the public memory hole, which is too bad, because he is so vulnerable in this area. Do you think Roger Stone and the other Republican Dirty Tricksters would have been silent if there were a Democratic president running for re-election who had sexually assaulted 18 women, including one during the 2016 presidential campaign?? (Details here)

    If we have a relentless message between now and November 2020 that Donald Trump, in addition to being a criminal, is a sexual predator and would attack your daughter if left alone in a room with her, his already abysmal approval rating will go even lower. So, get going – Write letters to editor, spraypaint it on the walls of GOP headquarters, scream it in the streets, tell everyone you know – “DONALD TRUMP IS A DISGUSTING SEXUAL DEVIANT AND SERIAL SEXUAL PREDATOR!“

  95. 95.

    raven

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: It’s going to be this way. He’s almost 16 and we know he’s on the downside of the mountain. I did load him up in the van and take him to the bakery and, when the counter folks brought him his cookie, he perked way up.

  96. 96.

    gvg

    @Kay: Med school debt may not be that bad, it depends on the state and the student. The state schools offer scholarships which are really just a way to finesse the tuition to a more manageable level. My sister got multiple offers and one of the state schools made it affordable. On the other hand she did say most of her classmates were the children of doctors and not taking out loans.
    On the negative side, it’s an incredible amount of work, verging on IMO hazing. The long hours in med school and residency seemed to me to be about tradition. Prior generations of doctors did it that way, so they would resent if a new generation didn’t have to suffer as much. I thought the hours went far beyond useful learning into forgetful out of exhaustion. If girlfriend isn’t interested, do not encourage.

  97. 97.

    Gelfling 545

    @eclare: she doesn’t. WE do. Same as for any candidate, nothing works unless McConnell gets his comeuppance.

  102. 102.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @rikyrah: These are excellent points, and thank you for reminding us. A black man whose middle is Hussein and a white woman are the number 1 and 2 vote getters in the history of US presidential elections. I’d love to see candidates remind audiences of that over the next year. Of course, for shitheads like Roberts, that just means that there’s no more racial prejudice and no need for the ERA.

  106. 106.

    NotMax

    Incredibly busy and draining day yesterday, gonna take several days to recover. Also discovered a pinhole leak in the car’s radiator. Luckily don’t drive much so think I can nurse it along until after return from NY trip. Too damn tired to do anything about dinner, Maybe will throw together a 3 a.m. sandwich, if can summon the energy to chew.

  109. 109.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @gvg: In 60s Swiss cousin did yr of residency in a Chicago hospital. She was horrified at the inhuman hours! She said no one in Switzerland or England–where she also spent a yr–advocated such hours!!

  112. 112.

    Gin & Tonic

    @raven: I know this is no help, but the pups are getting on in years and you’ve really gone above and beyond.

  114. 114.

    Baud

    BTW. It’s kind of interesting that the one policy that Warren isn’t pushing hard is single payer (or bust).

  116. 116.

    geg6

    @Immanentize:

    We’re implementing it in our freshman seminar in a big way this year. Previously, there was a small discussion of it, basically just don’t take out credit cards until you have built a credit history and qualify for lower interest. But it was just totally cursory. Now, they are going to have a couple of days of lecture on it, along with activities and a project. We’ll see how that goes. Though I have to say that the kids in last couple of years who have come to my campus are vastly more aware of debt and its consequences than any other group of students in all my almost thirty years in financial aid. They are open to decreasing their loans if they don’t need them to pay for tuition and books. We have a cohort of students who either get enough aid to cover without (or with minimal) loans because they commute from home or whose parents have transferred Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits which cover tuition and fees completely and provide a monthly living allowance. My experience, until recently, is that the students wanted the loans anyway, even after I explained the benefit of declining them.

  117. 117.

    dogwood

    @Chief Oshkosh:
    Candidates should make specific policy proposals, but something that most Democratic candidates and much of the wonky segment of the base refuses to acknowledge is the fact that most voters don’t actually vote based on policy. Democratic positions always poll better than Republican policy, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into votes. Voting is not a purely rational exercise.

  118. 118.

    Belafon

    Mostly, the problem is that most presidents get one big thing through a term. What would be her top priority. And this is going to be further compounded by Joe Manchin announcing that he should have supported Trump over Hillary. A 50-50 Senate split, and he will be a full Republican, probably even in name.

  119. 119.

    satby

    @raven: getting old sucks for dogs too. Good luck to Bodhi and Lil Bit. And good thoughts for you and the Princess, because it’s tough watching them struggle.

  122. 122.

    NotMax

    @satby

    Oh yeah, just sore all over from overdoing things and running around from pillar to post in town in the high temperatures. Fell into a five hour nap after getting back home.

  124. 124.

    rikyrah

    Fox News Stars Begin Pushing Rumors About Joe Biden’s Health
    Baseless claims about Biden’s medical fitness have quietly taken hold on Fox. At a time when TV news stars make similar claims about Trump and Clinton, this may be the new normal.
    Justin Baragona
    Updated 06.10.19 6:15PM ET / Published 06.10.19 5:12AM ET

    One month after Joe Biden announced his run for president, several Fox News stars have already begun quietly pushing rumors that the 76-year-old ex-veep is in poor health.

    Since the end of May, Fox Business Network and Fox News star Lisa “Kennedy” Montgomery and Fox News prime-time host Sean Hannity have speculated on-air, on at least four separate occasions, that the current Democratic presidential frontrunner is secretly dealing with health issues, often comparing his condition to illness-related conspiracy theories the network pushed about Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election

    The Biden rumor-mongering seemingly began May 29, during the broadcast of Fox News’ afternoon gabfest The Five. While assessing Biden’s candidacy, Kennedy claimed to know Democratic operatives engaged in a whisper campaign about Biden’s health.

    “He is much more like Hillary Clinton, because if you talk to Democrats, who are working for different campaigns, all of the aggressive gossip whisperers—and this is where the action is happening in terms of opposition research—it’s people having a few drinks at a bar and whispering, ‘You know there is something wrong with the former vice president,’” she claimed. “But that’s what they are actively doing right now. And it is surprising because they are concerned with taking Biden down and getting their candidate out there.”

  126. 126.

    Immanentize

    I’m at the oral surgeon waiting with the Immp. They have complimentary WiFi and the password is “flossdaily”

    Do they EVER STOP?!

  127. 127.

    Mary G

    @raven: Such a hard journey with beloved pets. Wishing you good news. Bohdi has grown up on Balloon Juice.

  128. 128.

    Gin & Tonic

    @satby: Hey, he actually used a pronoun in that post, so he’s got to be feeling more chipper than he lets on.

  129. 129.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Immanentize: No, they don’t. I have a friend who’s a dentist, and the sig line of every fucking e-mail is some dumb “joke” about flossing.

  130. 130.

    Immanentize

    @geg6: that sounds like a good step forward. A project of preparing a monthly budget is also a good thing to share with Frosh.

    We have another problem — food insecurity. We have openned a good pantry because we have students who are homeless or near-homeless (couch surfing, mostly) and have no money for food. That is the project to which I contribute/donate. Breaks my heart.

  131. 131.

    rikyrah

    EVERY DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE NEEDS TO BE BRINGING THIS UP!

    ……………………………

    McConnell stands in the way of bipartisan election-security safeguards
    06/11/19 09:20 AM
    By Steve Benen
    The House Democratic majority has had quite a bit of success in recent months advancing many of its top legislative priorities, though the leadership clearly has plenty of additional work to do. Up next is legislation intended to “safeguard our democracy from future attacks.”

    At first blush, this may seem like an area where bipartisan progress is at least possible. After all, there’s nothing inherently partisan or ideological about protecting our system of elections against foreign intrusion – especially in the wake of the Mueller report, which documented Russia’s attack in great detail.

    The New York Times reported this week, however, that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has effectively become a “one-man roadblock” on the issue.

    The bills include a Democratic measure that would send more than $1 billion to state and local governments to tighten election security, but would also demand a national strategy to protect American democratic institutions against cyberattacks and require that states spend federal funds only on federally certified “election infrastructure vendors.” A bipartisan measure in both chambers would require internet companies like Facebook to disclose the purchasers of political ads.

    Another bipartisan Senate proposal would codify cyberinformation-sharing initiatives between federal intelligence services and state election officials, speed up the granting of security clearances to state officials and provide federal incentives for states to adopt paper ballots.

  132. 132.

    rikyrah

    @Immanentize:

    I’m at the oral surgeon waiting with the Immp. They have complimentary WiFi and the password is “flossdaily”

    Do they EVER STOP?!

    BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

    Positive thoughts for Little Imma

  135. 135.

    geg6

    @Immanentize:

    Yeah, we have a food pantry, too. It’s very sad that it has come to that. The good news is that the University has given our campus a pilot project of a high tunnel that allows us to grow our own produce year-round. Part of the harvests will go to our campus food service to use in our dining hall, part to a CSA for faculty/staff/students/alumni, part will go to the local Salvation Army and another part will go to our food pantry. So there is fresh produce there for those poor students and a great learning experience for the students who participate in the high tunnel projects.

    https://beaver.psu.edu/story/3436/2018/08/06/students-staff-three-campuses-raise-grant-funded-high-tunnel-beaver

  136. 136.

    Betty Cracker

    Just…NO:

    I get that every candidate must make a feint toward bipartisanship and can’t call out the GOP for being evil and unpatriotic across the board, but this is just delusional.

  137. 137.

    chris

    @Ken: “condonation”

    Heh. Thanks for the new word, I couldn’t figure out what condos had to do with your othrwise excellent points ;-)

  139. 139.

    geg6

    @Betty Cracker:

    Agreed. I’m resigned to voting for him in the general if I have to, but please do not let this happen! He is living in a delusional past. A past that wasn’t all that bipartisan to begin with. I lived through it. Bipartisanship may have happened when I was a child, but I don’t recall much of it on the part of the GOP since I became old enough to start to understand politics. I peg that around 1968. I was still a child, but older and more cynical than the kindergartener of the Kennedy years. The GOP has done nothing but get progressively worse ever since and is now the complete clown show of Trumpian knob polishing we see every day. Yeah, I once voted for John Heinz for Senate. But he was the only Republican who I could ever bring myself to ever vote for in my adult life. IMHO, Biden spent too much time in the Senate and thought the famously chummy upper house meant that those guys actually liked him enough to drop their loyalty to party and money. Completely delusional.

  140. 140.

    Just One More Canuck

    @Baud: Jeebus – she hasn’t even been in office 6 months – maybe she’s just figuring out how things work so she can be effective instead of just throwing rocks at everything

  141. 141.

    Betty Cracker

    @geg6: Biden was in the Obama administration when the GOP sabotaged the US economy for political gain. He was there when they blatantly stole a SCOTUS seat. He was there when they threatened to politicize an attack by a foreign power on our election system. So, he either believes what he’s saying despite the evidence of his own eyes and ears for eight years, or he thinks there’s some electoral advantage to pretending that Trump is an aberration. I’m honestly not sure which it is.

  142. 142.

    Immanentize

    @geg6:
    Very cool!! I want one!

    I just passed that on to the Chair of our Environment and Sustainability department.

    Thanks

  143. 143.

    Immanentize

    @Betty Cracker:
    It is delusional. But it is brand which is directly on opposition to Trump. And it seems to be resonating AND worrying Republicans.

  144. 144.

    JPL

    @Raven: Finch’s dog walker dad won’t allow him to get a dog, because of the dad’s experience with the death of his beloved pet. Recently when Nona died, I had the opportunity to talk about dog’s short life spans compared to ours, and the dog walker and I decided that it’s better to love them while we can. Missing out on that would be what’s tragic.
    You are giving them what they need most

  147. 147.

    rikyrah

    @Betty Cracker:

    Biden at a fundraiser tonight, on his desire to work with the Republican Party post Trump.

    “With Trump gone you’re going to begin to see things change. Because these folks know better. They know this isn’t what they’re supposed to be doing.”

    — Sam Stein (@samstein) June 11, 2019

    positively absurd!!

    Merrick Garland, muthaphucka.

    NOT ONE GOP VOTE FOR OBAMACARE…

    THEY.MET.THE.NIGHT.OF.BARACK.OBAMA’S.INAUGURATION

    and decided, in the midst of the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression…
    that they would commit ECONOMIC TREASON against this country and not support ANYTHING 44 wanted to do.

  149. 149.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Betty Cracker: This is the path to defeat. So far there have been 24 deaths in immigration detention. That number is going to rise. We can’t be buddy buddy with the party that enables concentration camps. Biden needs to buy a clue.

  150. 150.

    rikyrah

    @schrodingers_cat:

    @Betty Cracker: This is the path to defeat. So far there have been 24 deaths in immigration detention. That number is going to rise. We can’t be buddy buddy with the party that enables concentration camps. Biden needs to buy a clue.

    Did you see yesterday that they were dropping the background checks for those who want to deal with children?
    CHILD TRAFFICKING ANYONE?

  152. 152.

    HRA

    There is a gas leak at our UB North campus. I have 2 daughters working there and just got a message from one of them who is sitting in her car at the parking lot that also informed me about her sister being evacuated to another hall. You never retire from being a parent.

    I did have some personal ideas to a few comments here and decided with what has me still upset over this alert for my children it just will have to wait at a more calmer opportunity.

  153. 153.

    StringOnAStick

    @Immanentize: It’s good he’s getting these out before he heads off to college. I used to work in a college dental clinic and every semester a few kids would show up with significant pain from these teeth starting to at least attempt to erupt (they are often blocked from doing so by the tooth in front of each one). On campus dental clinics are becoming pretty rare anymore and they rarely if ever do extractions, so getting it done at home before college starts is the best idea. I see people now who never had them out and about 50% of the time there are chronic issues because they didn’t, issues that could dog them the rest of their lives and that didn’t need to even happen if they’d been extracted earlier. There’s also a sweet spot for when to do it; the crown of a tooth forms first and then the roots form so there has to be enough root present when they extracted just so no root “germ” gets left behind and then keeps trying to form. Wait until the roots are all completely and fully formed and it is a more difficult extraction. Immp is doing exactly the right thing and at the right time!

  154. 154.

    Brachiator

    Elizabeth Warren Has Lots of Plans. Together, They Would Remake the Economy.

    Ms. Warren could face a difficult path to winning over moderates to her agenda, but by pushing out so many proposals so early, she is forcing her Democratic rivals to play catch-up.

    nytimes.com

    I don’t know. It comes down to a few things. Warren’s plans, no matter how dazzling must

    Connect with what people actually want

    Not cost an arm and a leg

    Be better than what the GOP is offering

    And I note that the GOP lies, but you have to account for lies and misconceptions

  156. 156.

    NotMax

    Put sun sails (sometimes called shade sails) on the wish list. Alternatively, would certainly look unusual but your deck might be large enough to accommodate a freestanding fabric roofed carport.

    As for decking planks, if you can get it, the extra cost for redwood is worth it. IMHO.

  158. 158.

    StringOnAStick

    @Immanentize: No, no we don’t. We never, ever stop with the flossing stuff. Though you only have to floss the teeth you’d like to keep for your entire life, so we allow for free will.

  159. 159.

    Matt McIrvin

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: I know multiple 2016 Bernie supporters who are now either all in on Warren or Warren-curious, though some are expressing electability concerns. Also some people who hate her with a passion, but they were not 2016 Bernie folk.

  160. 160.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Immanentize: But the new Warren supporters are from the liberal wing of the party–many were 2016 Sanders supporters who picked him for ideological reasons. They’re probably a very different bunch from the people moving to Buttigieg.

  161. 161.

    Matt McIrvin

    …as for the OP: yeah, we have half a dozen excellent candidates and a bunch of good backups… all of whom are trailing goddamn Joe Biden.

    Well, at least I do think he could beat Trump, depending on the breaks.

  163. 163.

    J R in WV

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Vatican launches guide to tackle ‘educational crisis’ on gender

    The Bible is all the science anyone needs.

    I see that they believe gender disporphia is a fiction… good luck all you LGBTQ people, you’re living in a fictional universe!!

    A rule for making lots of people miserable, or at the very least less happy than they deserve to be!! The Roman Catholic Church has a lot to answer for when those rats get to the Pearly Gates and the Saint on Duty has to tell them what they got wrong, and how long the penance will take!!!

  164. 164.

    Procopius

    @Mike in DC: I would like to see her opinion of sanctions as a tool of foreign policy. I think they are an offense to morality and largely ineffective. Certainly they are ineffective against an authoritarian regime like Saddam Hussein’s Iraq or Kim Jong Un’s North Korea. They mostly punish the poor and powerless and cause death and suffering to people who have no way to affect the regime. What does Professor Senator Warren think about the statement attributed to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright? In response to the question of whether she thought the deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children were a good thing (I do not believe the number was anything like that, but I am pretty sure some Iraqi children were killed by the sanctions), she responded that “it was worth it.” Iraq at that point had not changed its behavior in any noticeable way.

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