Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

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

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

Let’s finish the job.

Second rate reporter says what?

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

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

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

White supremacy is terrorism.

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

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Women's Rights / A Woman's Place Is In The House / Well Hell, I’d Vote For Her If I Could

Reader Interactions

141Comments

  2. 2.

    TaMara (HFG)

    It’s probably already been mentioned, but Cole posted on twitter he will live and won’t lose a hand. I’m sure he’ll delight us with the details later tonight.

  5. 5.

    Elizabelle

    I wish her well. Looks like she’s got Uncle Joe Biden’s car. Without the voiceover, you would wonder why she’s driving in reverse, though.

  8. 8.

    trollhattan

    Yup, great ad. Hope she wins!

    Remember how packed the chambers were the day she testified before congress? Talk about starbursts.

    We should not have treated her that way.

  9. 9.

    patrick II

    I read all of Jean LeCarre’s Smiley novels, about how, contrary to James Bond movies, ordinary-looking but very smart people, more like Adam, were the real spies. My wife and I used to watch La Femme Nikita starring tall blonde ex-model Peta Wilson as a spy, and I, influenced by LeCarre, thought, although the show was fun, it would never work in real life because a tall beautiful blonde could never be a spy because all eyes would be on her. Wrong again.

  11. 11.

    Yarrow

    Love tying Trump to the Bush/Cheney administration. The problem is not just Trump. The problem is Republicans.

  14. 14.

    TenguPhule

    @TaMara (HFG):

    Same injury, same dr. drama, different day

    “John Cole’s Adventure with a Medical Specialist Part II: In Which John Cole struggles to explain being an Atheist to a Nurse.”

  15. 15.

    Ohio Mom

    I like that this ad reminds us that overall, Republicans are dangerous traitors. I hope this broad brush doesn’t confuse people though — some might think she’s running against Bush and Cheney.

  16. 16.

    JPL

    Great commercial. She could be Bond, Jane, Bond the way she drives. They wouldn’t need a stuntsman.

  17. 17.

    waspuppet

    You know, it’s great, but it also depresses me because it shows in sharp relief the seriousness bar between the parties. A Democrat has to have been literally a CIA officer or a Navy SEAL or a prosecutor in order to MAYBE get the same credit for patriotism as some racist talk-radio hothouse flower Republican is just assumed to have because he’s an angry white guy.

  23. 23.

    Cheryl Rofer

    For those of us who have lived the past decade or so in Santa Fe with Valerie Plame as a neighbor, this ad comes across very differently. She is quick, at every opportunity, to remind people that Bush and Cheney did her wrong. So the ad comes across as “Send me to Congress so that I can continue my vendetta against them.” It doesn’t even say what she will do to clean up Washington, if that’s the message you take from it.

    The “I’m a badass spy” thing has gotten a little old for me, anyway. I seriously doubt that her career was anywhere near as Bondian as she would have us believe. It probably involved much, much more working through invoices to see who was buying what.

    The local Democratic Party has a forum every month. She showed up at the one right after she announced, told us that she was running, and then she and her entourage left about ten minutes into the program. No attempt to meet and greet.

    Not my fave.

  24. 24.

    West of the Rockies

    Divorce sucks (but who we become afterwards and how we choose to live life can be a good thing). But it is miserable. Am I horrible for finding amusement in yet another Palin’s-a-failin’ moments?

    And, yes, VP is a solid candidate!

  25. 25.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I like the ad — and Plame — a lot. But as far as I can gather from a (very) quick pass through the intertubes, it seems she is primarying Ben Ray Luján in NM-3. I don’t know much about him, but he seems to be both popular in his district and moving up in Dem leadership in the House. I wonder why Plame wants to challenge him. Maybe Cheryl or Ella or someone who knows the area can shed some light. (ETA: Just saw Cheryl’s comment at #37. Interesting, thanks.)

    Also hadn’t known that Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson* had divorced last year. That’s too bad — they always came across to me as a solid, mutually supportive couple.

    * Not the “You lie!” Joe Wilson from South Carolina; the other one.

  26. 26.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Cheryl Rofer: Seconded. We have another strong woman candidate who is actually involved in and done important things for the community. The ad is cool, but not reflective of candidate strength IMHO.

  29. 29.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Cheryl Rofer: I was wondering if you, or anyone here, were in that district. I always like to hear what folks on the ground think of these kind of celebrity candidates. My recollection is she and even more so her husband got pretty squirrelly as the Libby trial dragged on, and one of her noisiest supporters turned into some insane PUMA flogging the Legend of the Whitey Tape. I wanna say Larry Johnson, I also wanna say he was known in the blogosphere as FlowBee because of a remarkable and unfortunate haircut

    @West of the Rockies: m I horrible for finding amusement in yet another Palin’s-a-failin’ moments?

    No, no you are not. She was one of the porto-trumps.

  31. 31.

    randy khan

    @TaMara (HFG):

    Nurse: “You did a really good job with this bandage.”

    Me: “I’ve had some practice.”

    A potential nominee for understatement of the year.

  32. 32.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @SiubhanDuinne: Ben Ray is giving up his seat to run for Senate, so she’s among many candidates running for his open seat in Congress. I live in the district. There is another woman candidate I prefer, based on actual accomplishment and engagement in the community.

  33. 33.

    wasabi gasp

    @Cheryl Rofer: Holy! I wish you would take this kind of approach when talking about Bernie, instead of the pissy personal attacks. Might realize how wrong you are about our next prez.

  35. 35.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @satby: Solid blue. The winner of the primary has won the election. There are 8-10 candidates. I prefer Teresa Leger Fernandez, by a lot.

  36. 36.

    satby

    @wasabi gasp: he’s not going to be the next president. He’s the Trump of the left, and he ain’t happening here. Quit trying to make it so. He’s earned the dislike (hatred, in my case).

  38. 38.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @SiubhanDuinne: I like the ad — and Plame — a lot. But as far as I can gather from a (very) quick pass through the intertubes, it seems she is primarying Ben Ray Luján in NM-3.

    I thought BRL was giving up his House seat to run for Udall’s Senate seat.

  43. 43.

    O. Felix Culpa

    I love the ad…as political art. And knowing the local situation as well as I do, it’s a great object lesson in how a well-done ad is not a reliable indicator of a candidate’s actual strength and quality.

  49. 49.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @satby: There are six or eight or maybe a dozen folks running for the nomination.

    Is it a red area that could be flipped?

    NM03 is probably one of the bluest districts in the nation.

  55. 55.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Cheryl Rofer: I was trying to remember anything you’d ever said about The Great Bellower

    @Leto: I could imagine Cole as the Larry David of the Hollers, Curb with small dogs

    (Good lord, I just heard The Beast babbling about all the drug dealers and gang members trying to sneak in from the Bahamas)

  56. 56.

    Ohio Mom

    @JPL: I’ve been asked about my religious preference in medical settings.

    I don’t pay this question any mind. It annoys me less than all the questions they ask just in case they ever want to sic a collection agency on me, for example, when they ask for Ohio Dad’s social security number and his work number. Um, he’s right here next to me, you don’t need to call an empty desk.

    The last time I was asked about my religious affiliation was just before my cataract surgery. I could kinda understand if I was having heart surgery but cataract surgery?

  58. 58.

    wasabi gasp

    @Cheryl Rofer: Very true…hardly. But when you have, it mirrored the irrationality of AL and her ducklings.

    Way to go, with the troll thing, btw. Ask me about my rubles, now.

  61. 61.

    Mnemosyne

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    (Good lord, I just heard The Beast babbling about all the drug dealers and gang members trying to sneak in from the Bahamas)

    He thought that the Al Pacino version of Scarface was a documentary.

  63. 63.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I think this is what people mean by Plame’s tweets, I don’t know if there’s more

    Valerie Plame Wilson, the former undercover CIA officer whose identity was exposed in 2003, apologized on Thursday just hours after tweeting an anti-Semitic article titled “America’s Jews Are Driving America’s Wars.”
    “OK folks, look, I messed up. I skimmed this piece, zeroed in on the neocon criticism, and shared it without seeing and considering the rest,” Wilson tweeted. “I missed gross undercurrents to this article & didn’t do my homework on the platform this piece came from. Now that I see it, it’s obvious.”

  64. 64.

    Another Scott

    @O. Felix Culpa: Of course. I meant more in terms of people out there in the district looking at the candidates and considering all their options before going all in on a particular person – especially months before any voting happens.

    Iron Stache v. Cathy Myers is a cautionary tale, IMHO.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  66. 66.

    patrick II

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    That gives me mixed feelings. But having someone who is an expert in intelligence matters in congress as we (hopefully) work through the Trump administrations various purposeful and ignorance-based/accidental foreign entanglements would be a plus.

  67. 67.

    J R in WV

    @wasabi gasp:

    I wish you would take this kind of approach when talking about Bernie, instead of the pissy personal attacks. Might realize how wrong you are about our next prez.

    Really. You of all people are attacking Ms Rofer for “pissy personal attacks”… self examination is not part of your life, is it??

    Reading her opinion about Plame, I did NOT see any personal attack, let alone pissy. You, on the other hand, never have anything else to offer…

  68. 68.

    Sab

    @Mnemosyne: Read her book sometime. I started it sympathetic, and didn’t end it feeling that way. Not in regard to what Cheney and Libby did, which was shocking. But she sure did live in an entitled bubble otherwise, and totally oblivious to that fact.

  70. 70.

    Mary G

    My speakers are borked, but this commercial for a woman in the primary to take Dan Crenshaw’s seat is impressive:

    Houston is a strong, diverse, resilient community and we’re being represented by a fraud. We need new leaders who aren’t afraid to stand up for what’s right. Join us: https://t.co/0Mudx4bXA9 pic.twitter.com/pcdja6EGZn— Elisa Cardnell (@ElisaCardnell) September 9, 2019

    I am so happy that these Democratic candidates are serious and have enough money to make great ads so far in advance of the election.

  74. 74.

    debbie

    Great ad. I think Plame would be good for Kay’s hoped-for candidate whose sole purpose is condemning Trump (from this morning).

  76. 76.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    t mirrored the irrationality of AL and her ducklings.
    you’re such a dum-dum. Scary dumb.

    so confusing why Bernie Bros win so few converts to the cult

  77. 77.

    Yarrow

    @Cheryl Rofer: @O. Felix Culpa: Thanks for the local intel. It’s a good ad but the candidate may not be a good fit, or the best fit, for the district. It’s possible to appreciate the ad while being kind of meh on the candidate.

    It’s a good ad, though, and one other Dems should be looking at. It may be that Plame has a vendetta against the Bush admin but even so, tying a local Republican candidate to the higher profile national Republicans and Trump is a great strategy. The problem is Republicans. Brand the party with Trump.

  78. 78.

    Mnemosyne

    @Sab:

    I think you lost the thread of the conversation? I was talking about Cheryl’s alleged lack of Bernie love, not about Plame.

  80. 80.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @patrick II:

    That gives me mixed feelings.

    I was wrong about that, as several commenters were kind enough to tell me. Luján is running for Senate, so NM-3 is an open seat.

  81. 81.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @Cheryl Rofer: Kind of how I’m feeling about Hickenlooper these days – i met some great senate candidates that have great ideas. But he’s a known quantity that has the best chance to send Gardner packing and help flip the senate. So I’ll stick with him. Sorry to hear Plume does not live up to the ad.

  83. 83.

    Roger Moore

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    NM03 is probably one of the bluest districts in the nation.

    Not even close. NM3 has a Cook PVI of +8. That’s a strong Democratic lean, but it’s nothing exceptional; it’s not even in the top 100 districts by PVI.

  85. 85.

    J R in WV

    @wasabi gasp:

    Very true…hardly. But when you have, it mirrored the irrationality of AL and her ducklings.

    Way to go, with the troll thing, btw. Ask me about my rubles, now.

    No but I’ll ask you how come you believe Anne Laurie has ducks? She doesn’t. Not paying attention? Hardly!

    How is the weather in St Petersburg, Ru, Komrade?

    Really, I don’t think you’re a Russian troll, I think you’re just an asshole.

    ETA: Not sharp enough to work for Russian intelligence, or any intelligence, really!

  87. 87.

    TS (the original)

    @SiubhanDuinne: Empathy & care were sure missing on the day his mother gave birth. The hate & desperation overwhelms me at time & I start to wonder as to my sanity – his is long gone.

  89. 89.

    Yarrow

    @Mary G: Dan Crenshaw has raised a lot of money and the district is very white. It’s a winnable seat but will take high turnout.

    I will never, ever forgive Pete Davidson for his asshole joke on SNL about Dan Crenshaw’s eyepatch making him look like a villain–a joke that he made on the last Saturday before the election. I’m sure it gave Crenshaw a last minute boost of publicity and made him look sympathetic. Fucking asshole Pete Davidson. Also, any other writers involved in putting that joke together and anyone involved with green lighting it. Fuck them all.

  90. 90.

    Mnemosyne

    @J R in WV:

    I kind of suspect him of being a paid troll, actually. He went from posting late-night music videos to becoming a daytime Bernie evangelist. Feels like someone started him on the night shift to establish him as a “normal” nym and then launched him into the day shift for his intended purpose. ?

  91. 91.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: wait, Cole had a baby? Is that why he’s been tweeting about doctors and such?

    edited, dammit

  94. 94.

    SenyorDave

    I had an old college roommate who I re-connected with a few years back who was a career agency guy. He knew Plame and her husband. He was understandably closed-mouth about his service, but he did say that the undercover work (his wife was also an agent and they were assigned to the ME) was usually mundane but could be very dangerous. As far as Plame the candidate goes, the tweeting thing alone shows some incredibly poor judgment (or worse, some disgusting feelings).

  97. 97.

    JPL

    @Ohio Mom: If you are admitted into a hospital, some find comfort having their pastor know. Other wise I don’t get it. In that case I would just say none..

  100. 100.

    Roger Moore

    @Mnemosyne:
    I think the number of paid trolls is greatly overestimated. There are plenty of people out there willing to troll for free. The big issue with the paid trolls is that they act as thought leaders for the unpaid hordes, so that the trolls function as a more cohesive group than they would if they were just a bunch of random amateurs. Of course you have to include the more or less official and above board paid trolls when talking about that; the hordes of Bernie or Bust amateurs take their direction from people like David Sirota and Nina Turner.

  104. 104.

    Leto

    @JPL: How’s Adam doing after he stabbed his hand? Hope Betty can help him with her professional insurance advice!

  108. 108.

    piratedan

    I understand that she may not be the best candidate running for this district, but I can certainly empathize with the sentiment that there needs to be some political payback involved for all of the bullshit that the GOP has perpetrated over the past few decades

  111. 111.

    Jay

    @SenyorDave:

    It’s a tempest in a tea pot. She retweeted a trashing of the neocon establishment she had skimmed, that also, ( quell suprise) had some antisemetic content.

    Israel is very much a 3rd rail in American Politics.

  114. 114.

    Catherine D.

    @JPL: I was admitted overnight because I’d had a blood transfusion and you can’t leave for 4(?) hours afterwards in case you spike a fever. They asked me about religion then. I said it was dangerous to let a god botherer near me when I was already cranky.

  116. 116.

    Mnemosyne

    @Jay:

    NEVER repost or retweet any story with “Jew” in the headline without reading it thoroughly.

    NEVER.

    Especially after 2016.

  119. 119.

    Jay

    @Mnemosyne:

    It’s been a rule for a long, long time. Even Hebrew, Israel, AIPAC,…..

    Not only are their a bunch of bad faith actors hiding their antisemitism in their writing,

    But theres a bunch of bad faith actors that will pile on any criticism of Israel.

    People still get caught out, and even as in Valerie’s case, she pulled it, and issued an apology, there are bad faith actors who will keep up the drum beat for decades, until fact becomes legend.

  120. 120.

    Jay

    1. Facebook partnered w/THE DAILY CALLER to do "fact checking" and curb "misinformation"2. THE DAILY CALLER "fact checked" a post from the Rowdy Republican page that included a DANGEROUS SCAM about diabetes3. THE DAILY CALLER deemed the post "TRUE" https://t.co/8zhWnoTTsO— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) September 9, 2019

  121. 121.

    SenyorDave

    @Jay: America’s Jews Are Driving America’s Wars

    I’m Jewish and my criticism of Israel can be pretty intense, but to see the phrase “American Jews” as part of the headline of an article and not give pause bothers me. If it were almost any Republican I would think anti-semitic, why should I give a pass if it is a Democrat. At the very least shows incredibly poor judgment. And it would be just as bad if it said Hispanics or Muslims or any other subgroup.

  124. 124.

    Jay

    @SenyorDave:

    Yeah, there’s certain phrases, that shouldn’t be used and are a “tell”,

    And we need to be aware of that.

    But I’m not going to bag incessantly on somebody who quickly pulled the tweet, the link, then sincerely apologized.

  125. 125.

    Ruckus

    @Yarrow:
    1000% This.
    drumpy is just the current chapter. Republicans are the real problem. Bad at economics/math, bad at minimal ability to read and understand the constitution, let alone the other laws of the land, their character doesn’t have flaws – their character is one gigantic flaw.

  127. 127.

    Procopius

    @Jay: I don’t know any of the backstory, I’ve never read the article, but the headline alone screams “the Jews are behind all the death and destruction and they (secretly) rule the world.” I really dislike the overwhelming fealty to Likud, Netanyahu, and Israel that our congresscritters display, but I don’t want to see a repeat of the Final Solution. If she tweeted a link to an article with a blatant headline like that, it shows either a sympathy for white supremacy or utter, total ignorance of 20th Century history. I don’t believe she’s an ignorant woman. Given that headline, the argument that she “only skimmed the article” is not exculpating.

  132. 132.

    Amir Khalid

    I saw Fair Game, the movie about Valerie Plame that stars Naomi Watts, in a multiplex in the Suria KLCC, which is the mall in the Petronas Towers’ podium block. The opening shot in Fair Game shows … the Petronas Towers! That was a cool moviegoing moment.

  133. 133.

    Mnemosyne

    @Amir Khalid:

    That’s almost as “Inception”-like as when G and I were at a screening for a movie about the Giant Evil Corporation, and there was a shot of Tom Hanks walking out of the very building we were sitting in.

  135. 135.

    JoeyJoeJoe

    @Cheryl Rofer: in a special election in 1997, a Green Party candidate got 17% of the vote and a Republican actually won. Also, in 2016, Hillary actually did better in the first CD than in the 3rd

  136. 136.

    JoeyJoeJoe

    @Roger Moore: The area that holds it back from being much more Democratic is San Juan County in the NW corner of the state. It’s big population wise and super Republican. The parts of Little Texas in the district don’t have that many people. If not for San Juan it could be one of the most Democratic districts

  137. 137.

    dexwood

    Late to the party as usual, but on topic. Too far south to vote for Ms. Plame, wouldn’t if I could. Carpetbagger is the term I’ve read and heard in reference to her. Word from a Santa Fe friend is that she doesn’t understand northern New Mexico, the people or the politics. Another friend who works at the Roundhouse says that many of her donations come from wealthy patrons who have second homes in Santa Fe, but can’t vote there. True? Don’t know. Whatever. Plenty of candidates to choose from who have established ties to the region and a better understanding of the dynamics.

  138. 138.

    Jay

    @Procopius:

    90% of the article was about how the US was willingly suckered into fighting Israels wars in the Middle East,

    5 % was about AIPAC and the Isreali Lobby,

    5% was anti-semetic.

    She posted an immediate retraction and an apology,

    Good enough for me.

    It’s important to stop doing the enemies work for them.

  139. 139.

    Ella in New Mexico

    @dexwood:

    Too far south to vote for Ms. Plame, wouldn’t if I could. Carpetbagger is the term I’ve read and heard in reference to her. Word from a Santa Fe friend is that she doesn’t understand northern New Mexico, the people or the politics.

    BULLSHIT.
    She’s not in my district, but I’d vote for her IN A FRIGGIN HEARTBEAT if I had the chance.

    If you’re even from NM then you know we need this kind of high visibility candidate. And that even though we tend to be skeptical of people not born here, qualified candidates are welcome to apply.

  140. 140.

    joel hanes

    @JPL:

    I admire her for not just banning the commenter.

    One does not waste effort slapping gnats.
    They’re simply not important enough to bother with.

  141. 141.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Ella in New Mexico: She’s in my district. I’ve met all the candidates. She is not my first choice. She does not know the area and has never been engaged with local people or issues. She’s not a bad person and I would vote for her and work for her election if she’s the nominee, but we have better options.

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