Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

I was promised a recession.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

We still have time to mess this up!

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

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

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

The revolution will be supervised.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

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

Infrastructure week. at last.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

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

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

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

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

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Thursday Morning Open Thread: It Gets Better

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Gotta admit, I’m really glad I contributed what I could to Rep. Davids’ campaign last year!

Reader Interactions

179Comments

  2. 2.

    raven

    She’s great! I guess I have to get used to the fact even Cornell Law school grads say “like” constantly. She probably says “no problem” when she means “your welcome” too.

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven:

    She probably says “no problem” when she means “your welcome” too.

    I am guilty of that and I never even went to Cornell (tho their Ornithology page is my favorite place to go for answers to all things birdy)

  4. 4.

    Raven

    @OzarkHillbilly: I got a 30 “early out” to go to school 50 years ago and my buddy helped me get accepted to Illinois but he was a Cornell grad and he wanted me to go there!

  7. 7.

    raven

    @OzarkHillbilly: Last weekend I was using my DeWalt cordless string trimmer when the head came off and it just died. I thought it was a dead battery so I tried to charge it but it still just “clicked” when I pulled the trigger. I fooled around with their online support for a couple of days and they finally told me I had to take it to their service center which is 50 miles away in the heart of miserable Gwinnett County traffic. I decided it was worth it to try to get a $300 weed eater fixed so I drove over there. The young lady at the counter basically listened to my story and said she’d have a new battery ($259) shipped to me. Then she said “Oh, I do have one of our 6ah’s (mine was a 4) and I could give you one of those”!!! I was really happy since I was skeptical of what was going to happen. She gave it to me and I popped it in and it just clicked. All the people behind the counter said, “you have to charge it before it will work”. I didn’t think that was really true but I said OK, I’ll do that. When I got it home I charged it for a few hours and thought I’d try it and see what happened. It has a built in charge indicator and it looked good so I popped it in and still nothing. I hit a few repair youtubes and decided I’d take a look at the motor. I saw nothing wrong so I pulled the head and found that some of the like had wrapped way up at the top of the shaft and was causing it to freeze. It took me almost 30 minutes to pick the line out but when I did it fired right up. Now I have a brand new lithium battery and they are sending me another charger to boot! Yay DeWalt.

  8. 8.

    Baud

    @rikyrah:

    Good morning.

    the fight for LGBTQ equality, my path to Congress, and how mixed martial arts has shaped the person I am today. 

    “Am I equal?” [Roundhouse kick] How about now?”

  9. 9.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Raven: I know their ornithology department is the best in the country, and even a luddite like me can easily navigate their website.

  15. 15.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven: Only if the blind squirrel had a bucket of sunflower seeds dropped on his head by the numbskull hillbilly who thought some of that seed might last long enough for a cardinal or 2 to get some.

  16. 16.

    RAVEN

    @OzarkHillbilly: The folks at the counter didn’t really do a bang up job of evaluating the old battery, had they done so they would have know that wasn’t the problem. I think they didn’t give a shit.

  19. 19.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: just saw a juvenile male cardinal out in the rain here. Made me want to run out and throw seed down for him, but I bet he’s feasting on worms from the rain.
    Yesterday I spent several minutes online looking at the difference between ground hog and mole hills to try to figure out what’s in my yard. Then while I was outside I noticed a mound growing right in front of me. It’s moles.
    Let the war commence.

  21. 21.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby: I have read that spreading clam shell pieces on the ground will chase them away. Never tried it myself (Woof digs them up and leaves their carcasses on the ground for me to find) so I don’t know how effective it is but if you are interested you can buy chicken grit for laying hens that is made of clam shells very reasonably.

  26. 26.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: they’re supposed to just eat worms and grubs but my soil is sand with a thin veneer of dirt, so the tunnels make the lawn very spongy. I’m going to put grub killer down first. Depriving them of a good food source should move them over to the vacant lot next door. I hope.

  29. 29.

    satby

    @Baud: I probably have them around somewhere. I’m only two blocks from the river. I like snakes ?
    The dogs are useless, and all these outdoor semi-feral cats aren’t any help either.

  32. 32.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The Cult Education Institute estimates there may be thousands of cults in the US but prosecutions are rare because abusive behavior is not necessarily criminal and proving that cult followers are not acting of their own free will is notoriously hard to prove.

    Can we prosecute the trump cult for the harm they are doing to the rest of us?

  35. 35.

    JeanneT

    @OzarkHillbilly: Maybe the clamshells dry out the soil or discourage earth worms at the surface?

    One of my favorite novels about animals from back in the 1980’s was Duncton Wood, a romance/quest tale that tried to do for moles what Watership Down did for rabbits. It did create a fantasy complex culture for mole life (including warrior monk moles!) combined with some decent natural history facts. Silly as that all sounds, I’ve had a soft spot for moles since reading it. If I recall correctly, you see the tunnels showing up in mild wet weather because the moles are following the earthworms who have moved up toward the surface of the damp soil. The moles don’t know that they’re disrupting your lawn and garden up in the mysterious surface world, or that they’re risking sudden death at our hands. When the weather gets hot and dries out, the worms will move deeper down into the soil and the moles will follow….

  36. 36.

    Kay

    In summary, generic congressional ballot polls — even early ones — are good measures of the national mood. And because the national mood affects not only congressional elections, but also presidential ones, that means generic ballot polling might provide a back door for approximating presidential election results too. As you can see in the table below, final generic-ballot polling — and to a lesser extent early generic-ballot polling — has come pretty close to the results of the national popular vote for president as well as for House since 2000

    In 2008 it was D + 11 and in 2016 it was D +1. So Clinton had an electorate that was less favorable to “Democrats” than Obama did. It’s now D + 6, so any Democrat goes in with a bit of an edge over any Republican. And Trump has a bigger hill to climb just as a Republican than he did in ’16 and the more they can tie Trump to Republicans, and tie Republicans to Trump, the better.

  37. 37.

    satby

    Oh before I go, and in line with the overnight threads, today is World Refugee Day. Doctors Without Borders has a matching grant that doubles any donations, so as one of my actions to protest our current administration I’m donating today. Link here.

  38. 38.

    satby

    @JeanneT: yeah, I prefer to discourage rather than kill them. I also would prefer they leave the earthworms alone and eat only grubs.

    And belated congrats on your new grandbaby!!
    Really leaving now….

  39. 39.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @JeanneT: I really don’t know how it works but that seems unlikely to me because the amount you’d have to put down to get that result seems excessive. I have moles and just accept their existence. I don’t use poisons here* because they can’t be targeted, and I like my worms. Moles, voles, mice, shrews, chipmunks, squirrels, this is a veritable vermin haven. Why do the hawks and weasels go after my chickens? Why do the snakes have such a taste for baby cardinals and fly catchers?

    * i make an exception when the odd rat tries to take up residence in my shop. Not gonna happen.

  40. 40.

    Kay

    And then if you recall that Trump pretended he wasn’t a Republican in 2016- which was smart- Republicans were running about even with Democrats so there was no advantage to being one- now he shouldn’t be able to pull that scam off since his administration has been far Right on every single measure. Since Republicans are less popular now than they were in 2016, now it’s an actual drag on him. So if I were a Democrat running I would say not that Trump isn’t a Republican, not that he’s some one-off, but that he IS. Because any Republican is at a disadvantage and it’s also true, so what the hell.

  45. 45.

    David C

    I have no problem with “No problem.” “You’re welcome” is kind of a nonsense phrase, which can also be expressed as “My pleasure.” or “It was nothing.” or “De nada.” And I did go to Cornell in the days when they let a low-life like me in. :-)

  46. 46.

    MomSense

    Just want to report some good news. Our Governor has pledged more support for the 200+ asylum seekers in Portland. The Democrats in the Maine legislature have made it possible for them to receive benefits. The people of Portland have stepped up to help them find places to live. More towns around the state are getting in on the sanctuary offers. The governor’s sister, who is a pediatrician and the former chief physician for the state, has been there offering medical services. She’s social media savvy so we’ve all been treated to the sweetest photos of children, one boy in particular who really likes to use a stethoscope. Future doctor in the making.

    Amazing what happens when you win elections.

  48. 48.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    To a certain extent Trump portrayed himself as in independent, helped along by outlets like the NYTimes, who were convinced there would be Democratic policy on either social or economic issues coming out of that White House, I think because they’re parochial and Trump is a NYer so they thought “well, he’ll be a louder, dumber Bloomberg”. I think the biggest contradiction of that has been the fact that Trump’s social issues policy is Mike Pence. He’s completely captured by the religious Right. The people who were fluffing him as some kind of maverick there could not have been more wrong.

    Donald Trump isn’t just “Right” on social issues. He’s Mike Pence Right. He’s downstate Indiana and megachurches. That’s useful to us.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    To a certain extent Trump portrayed himself as in independent, helped along by outlets like the NYTimes, who were convinced there would be Democratic policy on either social or economic issues coming out of that White House, 

    Let’s not give a pass to the “he’s running to Hillary’s left” progressives.

  52. 52.

    Immanentize

    @David C:
    Ag School? My brother started there in the Ag school, but eventually dropped out after he discovered beer.

  53. 53.

    Gin & Tonic

    @MomSense:

    I use compost that includes mussel, clam, and lobster shells.

    Not sure that’s generally available to people who live 1500 miles from the nearest ocean.

  56. 56.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense:
    I think the shell thing is an offshoot of diatomaceous earth (DE) — which is shell bits. Shells have lots of calcium and are like glass when critters step on them. DE irritates bugs and compromises their little protective shells. They die. I use it around my zucchini to stop borers.

  57. 57.

    Tony Jay

    Good morning.

    For those interested in ongoing foreign atrocities the result of the first of the day’s votes for Conservative Party leader (and probable Prime Minister of the UK) has just taken place. The results were –

    Boris Johnson – 157 votes
    Michael Gove – 61 votes
    Jeremy Hunt – 59 votes
    Sajid Javid – 34 votes

    So surprise, surprise, the guy with the funny name is voted off the island, and Murdoch’s man in London replaces the Arms Dealer’s man in London in 2nd place, which could mean that Johnson’s team have stuffed a few spare votes down Gove’s cycle shorts in order to deliver a slap to Hunt for mouthing off about Johnson’s unsuitability for the job earlier this morning, while leaving the difference between them so narrow neither man will consider pulling out and offering his votes to the other.

    The next round of voting comes to a thrilling climax in about five hours, at which point we’ll know which of Gove and Hunt get to lose to Johnson in the ballot of unhinged lunatics (AKA, the Tory Party membership) to decide which Oxbridge arsecrack gets to screw up the lives of the 64 million people who didn’t get a chance to vote.

    Democracy. Ain’t it marvelous?

  58. 58.

    MomSense

    @Immanentize:

    I use DE for rain water collection so I don’t mosquito Farm but alive heard it’s really good for ticks if you spread it on the ground. Not sure if it affects birds, though.

  60. 60.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense:
    I see Maine in my future…. My Grandfather was a Mainer, it is beautiful, and although crazy in its own way not filled with Massholes. But first, please get rid of Susan Collins.

  61. 61.

    Scotian

    Well, I have my father’s wake this afternoon. Been having a lot of pain as well so overall I am expecting this to be a rough day. Hope the rest of you all have good days.

  62. 62.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MomSense: The chicken grit is made of ground up clam shells formed into gravel like pellets. I would expect it to break down more easily than shells but maybe not by much.

  63. 63.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense: It shouldn’t hurt birds at all, unless, I guess, if they rub it in their eyes. I think it messes with bug coatings like wax and slime. It is really useful stuff.

  65. 65.

    MomSense

    @Gin & Tonic:

    They sell Coast of Maine products all over the country. Maybe they have them out in Indiana. They’re costly but they work well and they’re organic. I don’t use their compost but I do buy their liquid fish fertilizer. Gross smelling but wicked good.

  67. 67.

    Betty Cracker

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’m on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology page constantly. It’s a great resource! I wish their online classes weren’t so pricey because I’d love to take several, but I can’t justify the expense.

    @Kay: That’s a great point. In addition to socially liberal views allegedly held by Trump and since outsourced to Pence, I also remember pundits speculating about how terrified Republicans were that Trump would work with Democrats on legislation that would benefit working people over plutocrats. What a bunch of idiots!

    Establishment Republicans had Trump pegged from day one, just as foreign adversaries have. He’s so easy to manipulate.

  71. 71.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    No, no pass for them, but I think Trump has brought the religious Right back into place as “powerful” within the GOP in a way they haven’t been since 2004, which is when they suffered their massive string of losses in attempting to discriminate against gay people. They were less important. Now they’re his biggest and most loyal backers, like they were for GWB. Bush won in 2004 because the religious Right came out in droves. I saw it happen. They were like an army. They stuck with him until the bitter end, too. They WERE the 25% who still backed him by the end. Forget the 20k disillusioned blue collar males in Michigan- the religious Right are the voters we have to beat this time. Trump is much more a traditional Republican now. He needs them. And they come out.

  72. 72.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize:

    I think it messes with bug coatings like wax and slime

    It cuts the membranes between shell segments so that they dry out and die. It only works on hard shelled bugs because the shell action is what moves the DE in a cutting fashion. Caterpillars for instance are not affected by it at all.

  73. 73.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    Trump would work with Democrats on legislation that would benefit working people over plutocrats.

    How many infrastructure weeks does he have to have before Democrats stop obstructing?

  74. 74.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    He hasn’t delivered any populist economic policy, but boy has he delivered for the religious Right. They’ll be the turn out bump for him. If he gets GWB-like support from them in 2020 they’re the threat that has to be matched or exceeded by our voters.

  76. 76.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    Pence and DeVos. DeVos is insanely wealthy so I think people miss that she is a Right wing religious nut, but that’s her actual political category. She destroys public schools not for manna but for God. Religious Righties know she’s in the club so as much as she’s loathed by Democrats Trump gave her to the religious Right too. I have clients and acquaintances in this “Michigan/Dutch/Religious” category and they are extreme Right. They literally believe they are superior beings :)

  77. 77.

    Jeffro

    I woke up this morning and wondered to myself, “Hey, what about that Howard Schultz campaign – how’s that going?” I thought Howard was going to be the ‘independent’ solution to our nation’s problems? National media, plz get back to me on this, stat!

    LOL

    Re: the whole “concentration camps” 2-days-and-counting kerfuffle…someone might have already raised this last night, so my apologies if this is not entirely novel. Here’s my take: I’m just going to use the term and refuse to debate about it. it’s a waste of time. Parsing different dictionaries’ definitions, making comparisons to the Holocaust and the WWII internment of Japanese-Americans, all of it: complete waste of time. It’s just going to be like conservatives’ insisting on saying “Merry Christmas”, only for an actually justifiable reason. “Concentration camps” it is.

    And with it, I am also giving up thoughts of a 2022 Truth & Reconcilation Commission, and now I’ll take some 2022 Nuremberg Trials, a LOT of them.

  80. 80.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: Here’s hoping that Trump sucking up to the religious right alienates some of the “independent” idiots who voted for Trump to “shake things up.” They don’t have to vote for the Democrat. They can stay home.

  81. 81.

    satby

    @Scotian: May the service and his memory be a comfort. I hope as soon as it’s done you can up some meds and reduce your pain.
    Candle was lit thinking of you both this morning.

  82. 82.

    Immanentize

    @Jeffro:

    I woke up this morning and wondered to myself, “Hey, what about that Howard Schultz campaign”

    You have troubled dreams?

  84. 84.

    Jeffro

    @Kay:

    Trump has brought the religious Right back into place as “powerful” within the GOP in a way they haven’t been since 2004, which is when they suffered their massive string of losses in attempting to discriminate against gay people…Trump is much more a traditional Republican now. He needs them. And they come out.

    He’s a completely shameless, amoral, huckster and as you’ve noted, he desperately needs their support. He’s basically telling them – heck, all of the GOP, not just the religious nuts – “go for it. No brakes, no rules, no constraints…I’ll support every last thing your heart desires. An American without brown people? Sure thing! An American where gays have to (at least) go back into the closet? Right on! An American where ‘only the little people pay taxes’? I’m more than down with that!”

    I mean look at some of the things that are slipping out of his supporters’ mouths (whether out loud or online). It’s nuts. No ego or super-ego; all id.

  85. 85.

    zhena gogolia

    @David C:

    “You’re welcome” means “You are welcome to the favor / service I just did you.” “No problem” means, “Yes, of course it was a problem for me to perform this service, and it put me out, but I’ll forgive you for it.”

    I HATE IT! Especially from people who are being paid to perform a service for me.

  86. 86.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Jeffro: It’s a sign of something really bad that we’re debating whether these camps are concentration camps or just internment camps or some other thing. Dear god. It’s sort of like fiddling while Rome burns, only it’s parsing language while refugees are caged and abused in our name.

  88. 88.

    Jeffro

    @Immanentize: No – I’m just good at starting my day off with a smile. =)

    How about it, media? Why hasn’t Howard taken off like a ROCKET? lolol

  90. 90.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    They’re terrifying as voters. I knew Kerry was going to lose when I saw the Christian Army assembling :)

    You know, we won’t get that with our pain in the ass band of rugged individualists who don’t know how to count and who I am not the boss of, but that will be his turnout edge so we’ll have to match and exceed.

  92. 92.

    Jeffro

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Agreed and that’s why I’m not debating anyone, right, left, or Howard Schultz about it.

    It helps to think to myself, “What would Chuck Todd do?” and then just do the opposite.

  93. 93.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    Donald Trump isn’t just “Right” on social issues. He’s Mike Pence Right. He’s downstate Indiana and megachurches. That’s useful to us.

    That’s a great description of him. Also helps to be absolutely true.

  95. 95.

    Immanentize

    @Baud:
    Well, like you often say, this will be an election (again) at the margins. Baptists hate Catholics and often say so…. Pulling off a few tens of thousands away from Trump over the Catholic question would be a good thing

  99. 99.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Jeffro: Google “Howard Schultz” and you will find more than a few articles about the demise of his campaign.

  100. 100.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    The religious right hated Hillary like the devil. I wonder how much untapped territory Trump has there. I guess we won’t know until after it’s all over.

  101. 101.

    Major Major Major Major

    @raven:

    She’s great! I guess I have to get used to the fact even Cornell Law school grads say “like” constantly. She probably says “no problem” when she means “your welcome” too.

    It’s almost like language changes with time (unless you’re French)

  102. 102.

    Wapiti

    @zhena gogolia: Lol. I decided at some point to treat “no problem” like David C does, as “de nada” – “it’s nothing” or “it’s no trouble at all to do this little thing” or “this thing I do is hardly worth mentioning”.

    I do wonder how “no problem” crept into usage; it does ring wrong to my ear.

  106. 106.

    Jeffro

    @OzarkHillbilly: I do! (thank you) Unfortunately, they’re all in pretty small publications/websites. I want some MSM coverage here – I thought the guy had all these great ideas, was going to offer Americans the ‘3rd way’ they’ve been clamoring for? What say you, Times and Post?

    If nothing else, the media should be covering how Biden getting in takes away the rationale for Schultz running (and that’s according to Schultz). But I guess they don’t want to pump up Biden or the Dems in general? Shock/surprise.

  107. 107.

    rikyrah

    @Jeffro:

    Re: the whole “concentration camps” 2-days-and-counting kerfuffle…someone might have already raised this last night, so my apologies if this is not entirely novel. Here’s my take: I’m just going to use the term and refuse to debate about it.

    Other: They’re not concentration camps.
    Me: They ARE concentration camps. But, I will give you this. They aren’t the Germans. The Germans were better record keepers. The clothes you take to the cleaners have a better tracking system than these people do with human beings. (then stand there with lips pursed).

  110. 110.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    An entertaining moment

    Almost forgot about this, but yesterday, Matt Gaetz burst into the Speaker’s Lobby all upset and demanded to know which reporter is asking all his colleagues if they hate him.— Arthur Delaney (@ArthurDelaneyHP) June 20, 2019

    All of them now, Matty

  111. 111.

    rikyrah

    THREAD

    Folks, Chuck Todd lecturing a Democratic congresswoman is exactly what NBC hired him for. That’s his position. Lean back for GOP nonsense and take umbrage at Democratic tone. He’s a tone cop and he’s on the beat.

    — Oliver Willis (@owillis) June 20, 2019

  113. 113.

    rikyrah

    Yes????

    Y’all. Google is free. The library is free. Black people on Twitter are not a refinery. You cannot force debates or MAKE us explain shit to you. You aren’t owed. You aren’t entitled. If we make a declarative statement on our experience we don’t have to make it make sense to you

    — Krystina Arielle ? (@KrystinaArielle) June 19, 2019

  114. 114.

    rikyrah

    Pence NSA kept Butina tie secret at Senate confirmation: WaPo
    Rachel Maddow relays the details of a new Washington Post report that exposes the close personal relationship between Andrea Thompson, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security affairs, and Paul Erickson, boyfriend of admitted Russian agent Maria Butina, which Thompson left unmentioned at her confirmation hearing well after the Butina scandal was publicly known.

  115. 115.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @zhena gogolia:

    “No problem” means, “Yes, of course it was a problem for me to perform this service, and it put me out, but I’ll forgive you for it.”

    No, it means “It wasn’t a problem for me to do this small thing for you even if you think it is the equivalent of giving you my left nut on the off chance you might one day want children.”

  119. 119.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Which is weird because Hillary Clinton is religious. Religion absolutely informs her views in the same way it does Jimmy Carter and Al Gore. You’ve never spent any time around religious people if you don’t recognize that these Democrats world views are framed and shaped and grounded in mainstream Christianity. Their speeches and statements and explanations are full of references to it. They were raised on it and in it. To not recognize that by the religious Right? They don’t recognize a variant of their own beliefs? I’m not even religious and I hear it loud and clear.

  120. 120.

    Immanentize

    @rikyrah:
    I just want to know why people don’t want others to call them “concentration camps?” Why do they care? What is at stake for them?

  121. 121.

    Immanentize

    @Kay:

    They don’t recognize a variant of their own beliefs?

    No variations are acceptable! Religion is now purely political, not a series of lessons or doctrines. Less religious people (I’m including myself) recognize the deep religious basis of Democratic leaders. Look at Obama, Pelosi! I hear their religion all the time. But their’s is not the political version that the right demands.

  123. 123.

    zhena gogolia

    @Kay:

    They hate mainstream Christianity. Which isn’t so mainstream any more, because the people who used to go to churches like mine have decided they’re atheists. In my town, the only overflowing churches are the nutty evangelical ones.

  124. 124.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay:

    They were raised on it and in it. To not recognize that by the religious Right? They don’t recognize a variant of their own beliefs?

    But it’s not a variant of their true beliefs, just their professed beliefs. You won’t find their true beliefs in any of the words of Jesus of Nazareth.

  125. 125.

    Kay

    @Immanentize:

    To me, though, that’s why Democrats can’t insist they not reference it. I get it- the religious Right has poisoned this whole well and we are wary when they dip in there, but to tell Jimmy Carter he can’t speak within the frame of his ENTIRE identity as a person is to silence him. He can’t do it. It is what he is. You may as well tell him to start speaking in a different language.

  126. 126.

    NotMax

    @Major Major Major Major

    First time I encountered it was within the TV show Parker Lewis Can’t Lose. Eponymous character’s catchphrase was “Not a problem.”

  132. 132.

    Immanentize

    @Kay:
    I agree. I like it when politicians speak to universal truths even when they are in the language of a particular religion.

    I hate to ruin everyone’s day, but this is reason 893 that Sanders will never be elected. He does not speak in universal terms, and has no religious community back up, if you will, for his rather inconsistent positions.

    (Just to be clear, for example, what I hear from him is that white folks need to be heard more while black folks really should be heard less, or just listen, or disappear or something)

  133. 133.

    rikyrah

    @Immanentize:

    @rikyrah:
    I just want to know why people don’t want others to call them “concentration camps?” Why do they care? What is at stake for them

    To be honest, Imma, because they don’t want this story in the front pages. What’s happening is an absolute abomination. They KNOW that it is. Just think about it – they ADMIT to seven deaths. They ADMIT to ‘losing track of’ 1700 + children. BECAUSE they are NOT-WHITE, this issue isn’t on the air everyday all day. But, it’s there, and the anger and rage on our side is consistent, and is solidifying, and the absolute EVIL being done in the name of this government – they can’t ‘ both sides’ it.

  136. 136.

    Immanentize

    @rikyrah:
    I know a lot of “conservative” Catholic women who are really pissed off about these camps — particularly the child separations

  137. 137.

    NotMax

    @Gelfling 545

    Yup. Sort of an amalgam of “piece of cake,” “no bother at all,” “don’t mention it” and “elementary, my dear Watson.”

  139. 139.

    rikyrah

    The Obamas drop in on the Clooneys! 300ft exclusion zone will be placed around George and Amal’s Italian villa when former President and his family stay with them on Friday on latest leg of their European holiday

    Obama family will be guests of George and Amal Clooney in Lake Como Friday
    The next stop of their jet-set European tour takes them to Clooney’s Italian villa
    Barack, Michelle, Malia and Sasha will fly into Milan from Provence on their jet
    300ft radius around George Clooney’s mansion is to prevent unwanted visitors
    By ROSS IBBETSON FOR MAILONLINE

    PUBLISHED: 09:47 EDT, 20 June 2019 | UPDATED: 10:01 EDT, 20 June 2019

  146. 146.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Immanentize: Um, so was John Kerry – but IIRC that didn’t keep the Far Wrong elements in the US Catholic hierarchy from threatening to refuse him the sacraments (which FTR is as close to excommunication as anyone not the Pope can decree) for his pro-choice, um, they meant “baby-killing,” politics. That same hierarchy or its spiritual descendents, abetted or installed by Wojtyla & Ratzinger, are still in charge over here – & would be overjoyed if Pope Frankie dropped dead this instant. (ETA) Biden’s Catholicism won’t save him from their savagery, because in their crossed eyes you can’t be pro-choice & a real Catholic at the same time.

  148. 148.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Immanentize:

    Why do they care? What is at stake for them?

    The issue of whether Republicans as a group are evil. The issue of whether white supremacy is large and widespread and mainstream in white America. Since the 80s, calling any white person a racist has been considered the social nuclear option, utterly unacceptable unless every other imaginable option has been exhausted, and maybe even then. This is compounded by white liberals who have only the most minor race issues finding it alien that anyone might hurt themselves for hate, so they try to wedge the issue into greed or stupidity, which at least they understand. Even on Balloon Juice, the treatment of Obama only partly quelled this urge, and it took Trump to force open almost everyone’s eyes. As your question suggests, the whole thing is still counterintuitive to a lot of folks.

  149. 149.

    Miss Bianca

    @raven: And what, may I ask, is wrong with saying “no problem” instead of “you’re welcome”? In French, you say, “ce n’est rien” (“it’s nothing”) in response to a thank-you, in Spanish the same – “de nada”. “No problem” is merely a variation on that linguistic theme.

  150. 150.

    tokyokie

    In Norwegian, one of the ways of saying “You’re welcome” is “Ikke noe å takke for,” which literally translates as “There is nothing to thank for.” I always liked that construction.

  152. 152.

    Aleta

    Heather Lynn Weaver @HeatherWeaverDC
    ATTENTION: The party that coined the term “death panels” in an effort to sink the ACA kindly asks that you stop referring to their immigrant detention camps as “concentration camps.”
    * 
 The party that sponsored the “Ensuring Coverage for Patients with Pre-Existing Conditions Act,” which would IN NO WAY ensure coverage for patients with pre-existing conditions would really like it if you could stop calling their immigrant detention camps “concentration camps.”

    * 
The party responsible for the “Healthy Forests Initiative” and the “Clear Skies Initiative,” which resulted in neither healthy forests nor clear skies, has a bone to pick with you: Please don’t say that their immigrant detention camps are “concentration camps.”

    * 
The party whose leader thinks that “very fine people” perfectly describes neo-Nazis marching with torches and shouting “Jews will not replace us” has a small linguistic note for everyone: Describing immigrant detention camps as “concentration camps” is simply wrong. And immoral.

    *

    Imani Gandy @AngryBlackLady

    we should call them concentration salons. Concentration spas. Concentration resorts

  154. 154.

    rikyrah

    @schrodingers_cat:

    It was never about just the undocumented. The latest statistic in T’s attempt to close off America to the world.
    Visa denials increased in 2018 by one million

    Remember…

    it was sold as getting tough on CRIMINAL ILLEGALS
    We told you, that was bullshyt….

  155. 155.

    Betty Cracker

    @Frankensteinbeck: But what if greed and stupidity really are factors? I’ll admit I totally underestimated racism as a political driver. I knew it was there, understood its historical role and thought I understood its present-day ramifications. I was wrong; I didn’t fully understand the scale of it.

    But any explanation that relies on a single factor comes up short, IMO. This is a large, complex country with a ton of pathologies. Racism is one. Sexism is another. Greed and stupidity are abundant too. IMO, attributing all our ills to racism is as short-sighted as attributing all our ills to economic factors. They are interconnected and complex, IMO.

  157. 157.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @Scotian: You’re in my thoughts and I hope the pain decreases. May the wake be filled with folks who share fond memories of your father.

    I’m holding you and your wife in the light.

  158. 158.

    Miss Bianca

    @Immanentize: All my sisters live in Maine, or close by (Cape Cod). My parents and eldest brother are buried up in Deer Isle, where my parents owned a house. Ibseriously considered Maine before moving out to Colorado. Who knows, I may end up there in my twilight years! Presuming I have any, that is.

  159. 159.

    rikyrah

    Cory Booker will not apologize to Joe Biden.

    Joe Biden needs to recognize he shouldnt need the lesson and that it’s 2019. We can do better than teaching an older white man from past generations who has to be taught the basics in 2019.

    — Amene (@Ange_Amene) June 20, 2019

  161. 161.

    schrodingers_cat

    What is with these stupid semantic games these RWNJs like to play. Nathuram Godse was a killer not a terrorist. They are detention camps not concentration camps.
    @rikyrah: I also think that they minimize this stuff to feel better about themselves. They can’t admit to themselves that they are enabling tyrants. I see this phenomena among Modi’s supporters (some who are family BTW) in India too. Right now I am not popular with them.

  163. 163.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @tokyokie: In demotic Greek (everyday common speech) the equivalent of “you’re welcome” is Παρακαλώ; in Italian, Prego, in German Bitte, in Russian пожалуйста. Literally the first 3 mean “I beg” & all 4 are also the equivalent of “Please.” The first 2 also use τίποτα or niente – “(it’s) nothing” – as does Spanish (De nada), and French (il ny’a pas de quoi or De rien). IMHO “(it was) no problem/nothing” or “no worries” is a better & more exact response to “thank you” than variations of “please/ I beg (you).” But of course YMMV.

  164. 164.

    Miss Bianca

    @raven: Stop the world – and linguistic evolution – I want to get off!

    Why yes, I do say “no problem” instead of “you’re welcome” all the time. Which I have no problem with, personally.

    Now, say “between you and I”, and them’s fightin’ words.

  167. 167.

    Amir Khalid

    @Gin & Tonic:
    He doesn’t say, he’s just trashing the investigative findings. He would do this back in the 80s and 90s when something wasn’t to his liking. He could cow Malaysian officials into changing their minds to suit his purposes, but I don’t think the Dutch are going to entertain him if he can’t/won’t explain his doubts to their satisfaction.
    The BBC story mentions a possible motive: Dr M wants to trade palm oil to Russia for a new generation of fighters to replace the Royal Malaysian Air Force’s 30-year-old Mig-29s. That is, the stealthy hand of Trump’s boss could well be at work in Malaysia too.

  168. 168.

    Aleta

    TsuruForSolidarity @TsuruSolidarity
    We will fight back against this country’s plan to bring these concentration camps back at Fort Sill. Join us.

    This protest is at Ft. Sill, OK Sat June 22 11 am- – 1 pm
    Against incarceration of children, an emergency response by Japanese Americans and other allies.

    TsuruForSolidarity
‏

 
@TsuruSolidarity

    THREAD: When gov’t officials call Fort Sill a “temporary shelter,” they’re using euphemisms much like those that masked the mass incarceration of our community in WWII. We were told we weren’t being rounded up into concentration camps, but “evacuated” into “relocation centers.”

    *
    Japanese Americans have spent decades trying to end the use of the euphemisms used for our own incarceration. See, for example, this 2015 @JACL handbook explaining and endorsing the term “American concentration camp.” – https://jacl.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Power-of-Words-Rev.-Term.-Handbook.pdf
    *
    In this blogpost, @DenshoProject also explains how these euphemisms fail to convey the harsh & inhumane conditions of these facilities. In doing so, these euphemisms distort and even erase our history.

    https://densho.org/time-to-retire-euphemisms-for-japanese-american-incarceration/

  170. 170.

    Leto

    @Immanentize:

    But their’s is not the political version that the right demands.

    Because the liberal version of Christian teaching is love/acceptance/tolerance. Conservative version is punishment/shame/damnation. I left Christianity/religion as a whole because I simply couldn’t tolerate the hate (at least the version coming from my southern baptist church which was/is emblematic of most southern baptist churches I’ve been a part of). I wasn’t raised that way and trying to contort myself into that box, for close to 15 years, was breaking me.

    It also comes back to the fact that hateful bigots are the loudest. I know we have loving people of faith here, and elsewhere, who do a lot of good. Thank you.

  171. 171.

    Aleta

    @Miss Bianca: @Immanentize: )
    Come; it’s nonstop Vacationland ! (For black flies and mosquitoes at the moment, and for the swooping birds feasting on them.)
    Another plus: Once you’re in your 60s you’re one of the youngsters !

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