The Democratic Debate is available on CNN.com with no login. I can’t find an embeddable version. Maybe Adam will show up with one.
This post is in: Live Blogging, Open Threads
The Democratic Debate is available on CNN.com with no login. I can’t find an embeddable version. Maybe Adam will show up with one.
Comments are closed.
Cheryl Rofer
They’re starting with impeachment, not, for a change, health care. Whew.
PsiFighter37
I don’t expect the outcome to be any different than the ones that have happened.
Also, too, 12 candidates on a stage? Epic fail. The fact that 8 have already qualified for the next debate suggests the rules are not meaningful enough at this point.
JPL
Just put it on and Kamala is quite good.
Adam L Silverman
There’s no embeddable live stream. It is available to live stream on CNN’s site and on the NY Times website and on CNN”s Facebook page. But WordPress doesn’t except any of those URLs as embeddable video feeds.
PsiFighter37
@JPL: Did she decide to not go with a silly attempt at going viral like the start of the last debate?
My main problem with Harris, TBH, is that she has failed to express a consistent, overarching reason for why she is running. There are times where I’m not even convinced that she’s convinced she should be doing this. A damn shame because she was my initial choice out of the gate.
Elizabelle
COME BACK BAUD!
Klobuchar: It makes Russia great again.
I love all of our candidates.
Elizabelle
First 2020 debate I have watched.
Adam L Silverman
@PsiFighter37: What’s the over/under on Senator Sanders literally blowing a gasket? Are we doing a pool as to which segment of the debate and at what time it happens?
Mary G
Finally got CNN to load. Tulsi needs to go.
ETA: Tom Steyer also too.
I actually like Yang here.
Elizabelle
Tulsi about hyperpartisan interests. Reminds us Trump won the 2016 election.
Fuck this shit.
JPL
@Elizabelle: haha You spoke to soon since Gabbard is now up.
and then came Yang
Elizabelle
Steyer gets applause for saying every candidate here is more (patriotic??) than the criminal in the WH.
Elizabelle
@JPL: She is as horrible as billed.
Not that many people go from Hawaii (a veritable paradise) to the former Soviet states. Her not a smart girl.
PsiFighter37
@Adam L Silverman: If I were Wilmer’s campaign folks, I would have him on a sedative. Also not entirely sure it’s wise / responsible to send someone who is almost 80 years old and just had a heart attack a couple weeks ago into a high-stress situation for 3 hours.
Adam L Silverman
@PsiFighter37: The message should be: “I am the best qualified to prosecute the case against the President and his administration. As a former career prosecutor I, and only I, am capable to and prepared to ensure my administration will get to the bottom of every crime, every betrayal of the American people, every crime against humanity. And I, and only I, can and will ensure we will prosecute every single crime and expose every single betrayal and claw back every single ill gotten gain on behalf of the American people, to restore the faith of the American people in their government, to restore their faith in self government, and to restore our allies and partners faith in us.”
Elizabelle
@Adam L Silverman:
Do we have drinking word games?
Or a safe word?
Mary G
zzyzx
I turned on the debate for a second. Yang scared me. Turned it right off.
A three hour debate with 12 people on stage sounds pointless. I’ll hear if anything cool happens.
Elizabelle
@PsiFighter37: Three hours? Three hours?
Oooh. I did not know that.
PS: Hugs to Violet.
Adam L Silverman
@PsiFighter37: No argument there. The people around him really do not have his best interests at heart. Not that that is actually breaking news.
JPL
And now comes Hunter..
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: I don’t drink. I’m also not even remotely interested in dominating anyone or being dominated. But if you need a safeword, given that it’s Balloon Juice, my guess is its mustard.
Aleta
I don’t see one on youtube yet. Sometimes one will show up there (live) after it gets started; if it does, I believe the YTs are embeddable.
mapghimagsik
@PsiFighter37: I hope we don’t find out who of our candidates has EMT training.
Mary G
@Adam L Silverman: Why aren’t you running?
Or at least speechwriting.
Also, too, this “beat him like a drum” sounds like Twitler, Joe.
Adam L Silverman
@mapghimagsik: Buttigieg will be combat lifesaving certified. You can’t deploy without getting through the certification course. My certification card is still in my wallet 12 years later.
Mary G
Drink! FTFNYT goes straight to will taxes go up, Senator Warren?
Aleta
I really like that they skipped the personal intro, an energy sink.
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G: My running for office would be very, very bad. Good TV for about 15 minutes until the reporting from the debate switches from “The Florida senatorial debate between Adam Silverman and Senator Rubio is just about to begin” to “and then the murders began”.//
hells littlest angel
Shut up, Buttigieg.
mapghimagsik
@Adam L Silverman: Hope there was a refresher in there too. I was surprised how much CPR has changed, let alone the AED.
Elizabelle
You know, paying for healthcare is not the biggest issue for me. It’s the commitment to have it there for all Americans. The funding will be there.
It’s not like we get asked if we want to have Trump blow up the deficit with all the shit he has pulled.
Tell me what you want to do, what are your principles?
Further, why can’t we talk about how much more Europeans get for their taxes?
Paying taxes is not horrible. Not paying taxes leads to all manner of trouble.
WaterGirl
@Adam L Silverman: @Elizabelle: Balloon Juice must really be going to hell if we are 28 comments in and no one yet seems to know that the safe word is green balloons! What is the world coming to?
Elizabelle
I don’t want to hear Pete B as attack dog. Think I am turning the debate off now.
Cheryl Rofer
Maybe Pete Buttigieg should join the Republican Party?
guachi
I thought I liked Buttigieg but he’s turning into an annoying scold. No thanks.
Elizabelle
@WaterGirl: Hey there. Thank you for all your work on the overhaul.
I appreciate Bernie saying taxes will go up.
Like EW, but I do not believe in a no tax utopia. Treat us like adults.
Elizabelle
AmyK; don’t trash Obamacare …. and she gets applause. Strong answer from her.
Aleta
deleted;
oops, same as cheryl up top.
PsiFighter37
@zzyzx: The dummies who have fallen for Yang are clueless. The main thing I love to do is see how he is described as an entrepreneur. Maybe he gets the benefit of being assumed he is wildly wealthy and successful, but he isn’t. That probably means his ideas are likely not that great, either. Dude is high on his own supply at this point.
hells littlest angel
Also: Shut up, Klobuchar.
Elizabelle
@Aleta: The NY Times website feed is good too.
PsiFighter37
@WaterGirl: I’ll never forget. Meetup in Seattle in July 2013 was filled with green balloons to identify the appropriate table to meet at.
jl
Tapper starts with the loaded questions, which includes a baseless presupposition and implicit accusation which contradicts his stated premise.
Seems to me all Biden had to do to shoot that down was to say we need to not only avoid corruption and nepotism but the appearance of corruption and nepotism.
I would have also told Tapper to cut the crap.
Now mired down in tax badgering already. So far Warren doing a good job in fighting the BS, IMHO.
Cheryl Rofer
Klobuchar to the Repubs too
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: You are most welcome! I miss Baud so much.
guachi
Nah, Klobuchar at least pointed out the obvious. Don’t trash Obamacare. America likes Obamacare.
Gin & Tonic
Boy, the Cardinals are terrible at this game. No, I’m not watching the debate, what’s it to you?
Just came home from a raucous municipal meeting. Shouting, arguing, police had to escort three people from the room at different times.
Mike in DC
Everyone else on stage with Warren: Just admit you’ll raise taxes on the middle class so we can attack you for it. If you don’t say that, we’ll attack you for being disingenuous.
JPL
@Elizabelle: Agree This is the first debate where she was able to express her ideas like them or not.
WaterGirl
These are bullshit questions. Why the hell did the DNC outsource to the media – anyone who has been paying attention for the last 10 years would know that they are not unbiased.
Adam L Silverman
@mapghimagsik: Are you telling me I’m not supposed to use jumper cables and the battery in my Humvee as a defibrillator?
Aleta
@Gin & Tonic: “police had to escort three people from the room at different times.”
why?
arguing over one thing or several?
Matt McIrvin
@Elizabelle: We’re adults but the media aren’t. If Warren says the words “taxes will go up” she will get Mondale’d, and she knows it. So she keeps emphasizing total costs, but of course the attack line is about taxes going up, whether or not it’s associated with other costs going down.
WaterGirl
Why can’t they all say that the House has the obligation to protect our democracy?
edit: as I was typing that, Kamala said that.
JPL
Bernie’s blood pressure is going up.
Aleta
Harris has to bring up repro health care herself.
But quick, CNN hurries back to jobs.
WaterGirl
@JPL: It was scary enough watching Bernie’s bright red face at the last debate; it will be even more alarming at this one.
KithKanan
@WaterGirl: I was going to say, I mostly lurk here and even I know that.
Spanky
Drink!
Look, I’m not watching so I don’t know who’s saying what, but it seems like this is a good time to take a(nother) sip.
mad citizen
@Adam L Silverman: Klobuchar also had some time as a prosecutor, so Kamala needs to be careful playing that card.
Buttigieg reminds me some of Dukakis. Also not into the whole “nation is divided and will be more so the day after trumpov” schtick. BS. Hillary had 3 million vote margin. Next year will be 5 or more.
Cheryl Rofer
I just wish that all the Dems would say “We believe in healthcare for all at a reasonable cost, or no cost at all. We agree on that. We won’t argue details now.”
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: Too many letters and syllables. You’ll have suffocated to death by the time you get to the ball part of balloons.
JPL
@Aleta: Good for her and then they moved on.
Ohio Mom
@Cheryl Rofer: Now they are doing health care.
The corners they have painted themselves into!
jl
@Cheryl Rofer: Klobuchar and Buttigieg sound a little desperate.
Biden at least did a little homework, I don’t know if it makes any sense though. Biden sneaked in a misleading comparison on costs versus taxes that omitted the effect of subsidies.
As other commenters have noted, this thing is more like a joint press conference than a debate.
Think I’ll keep this on as barely tolerable background music and pay attention of they ask a climate change question.
Idiot automation question comes up.
Not supporting Sanders but I like how his responses to stupid questions starts with a short subtext of ‘FU you dumb a-hole’ then he picks a piece of his stumper and rattles on for a minute.
Elizabelle
@Matt McIrvin: I wish somebody would talk about all the jobs created if we extend healthcare to more Americans.
It’s an enormous job creator. Just plain payroll taxes on new employees could help pay for it.
Treat us like adults.
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: You got the final email I sent you yesterday?
Soprano2
@Gin & Tonic: Ugh, they look like they’re already beaten. It’s like they’ve forgotten how to play baseball. Maybe next year….
Elizabelle
Does anybody know how to be in touch with Baud?
Adam L Silverman
@hells littlest angel: Aren’t you just a ray of unalloyed sunshine this evening.
JPL
Cory is running for vice president
Elizabelle
@KithKanan: Welcome. Fuck you. (Kidding.)
JPL
@Elizabelle: A front pager has access to email.
Cheryl Rofer
YAY COREY!
zzyzx
@Gin & Tonic: looks like I’m about to be a fan of the only baseball team to never have gone to a world series.
HeleninEire
The health care debate pisses me off no end. 15 years ago I fell down in the street in NYC. I had a seizure. An ambulance came and I was taken to the hospital for 8 hours. Not one doctor could find anything wrong. I thankfully had insurance because the bill was $18,000.
Two years ago the exact thing happened in Dublin. My bill was €380. I had no insurance because I didn’t need it.
America, the bestest place on earth cannot do as well as Ireland.
And here’s the funniest part. I paid the bill and when I was filing it later I realized that they catorgized me as a “non-EU visitor.”
I paid more than I needed to. €380 was the top charge.
PsiFighter37
@JPL: Berniebros won’t like that. Literally the only reason that stupid pharma amendment was tabled by Wilmer in the lame duck session in 2016 was to be a dick and get people to vote against something that had no chance of passing.
That said, Hillary really should have made Booker her VP. I like Tim Kaine, but that dude was less than worthless on the ticket. His time to be in the national limelight (I think Obama could have picked him 2008 and still won) had long passed.
Adam L Silverman
@mad citizen: Unfortunately we don’t need more votes in California. We need them in PA, MI, OH, WI, FL, AZ, NC, GA, etc.
Matt McIrvin
@Elizabelle: It’s a tricky game–while you’re explaining you’ve got to avoid saying any combination of sounds that can be extracted into an embarrassing two-second sound bite and used against you in a million attack ads all the way down to November ’20.
Millard Filmore
@Mary G:
I hope the response was something like “For some, sure. Trump’s tax cut for the billionaires has put a staggering yearly deficit in our budget.”
Can you tell that I am not watching?
TaMara (HFG)
@Gin & Tonic: Wait, what? We may need a play by play (or blow by blow, so to speak) of this, sounds more interesting than anything else going on. And yes, I know, playoffs, but I’m uninvested this year.
HeleninEire
@HeleninEire: And let’s be clear. My income taxes in Ireland were about the same as they are here in NYC, NY, America.
Leto
@Elizabelle: Ouija board and chicken bones. Or try the Beetlejuice method.
WaterGirl
@Adam L Silverman: I have a puzzled look on my face, so maybe not? off to check my email.
Elizabelle
@Leto: I know. It’s gonna come to that, huh?
Day-O!
jl
Warren whiffs on bogus automation question, IMHO.
If you lose your job to big bad automation, you aren’t paying into social security, and you won’t have much benefit when you’re an oldster.
Edit: some issues should just be called bullshit straight out. Yang’s automation nonsense is one of them.
Spanky
@zzyzx: Oh FFS, it’s only the 2nd inning (by ESPN’s webcast). A lot can happen in one inning, let alone 7.
Leto
@HeleninEire: One of the benefits of living abroad is seeing what does/does not work in areas that directly affect our lives. I’m not saying that people have to live outside the states, but it sure as hell would make a difference.
Gin & Tonic
@Aleta: Two of them arguing more or less the same point. The third is just an asshole.
Leto
@Elizabelle: As long as you’re up there, can you get the cobwebs? ;)
mapghimagsik
@Adam L Silverman: If those clamps on their nipples don’t get them moving, the electricity probably won’t. But I think you gave me an idea for a new Halloween prop.
WaterGirl
@Adam L Silverman: I did miss that one! Thank you.
japa21
@Gin & Tonic: Until the past week I thought the Cards were a baseball team. Boy, was I wrong.
Gin & Tonic
@Spanky: The Cardinals have scored two (2) runs in the last three games. The chances they will score more than seven in this one are minuscule.
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: Came from my primary, not my Balloon Juice account. Also, there’s a typo in the subject line. So the email plays right to type. Or typo.
japa21
@Spanky: You’re right, the Nats may score another 55 runs. The Cards haven’t scored an earned run in 29 innings. What makes you think they will start now?
ETA Sorry meant two runs only one earned.
Adam L Silverman
@Leto: The vast majority of the Republican members of Congress have never travelled abroad before they got to Congress, or never farther than Canada and/or Mexico. And there international travel once in Congress is almost always congressional delegations (CODELS). So you have a very limited experience set among on party in the Federal legislature.
Aleta
@Elizabelle: Since at least 2016 iirc he’s taken a fall trip during which he doesn’t comment or check in. I noticed it because in 2016 he was running for pres. but absent during the Oct. home stretch for a few weeks before the vote : ).
Adam L Silverman
@mapghimagsik: You’re welcome.
zzyzx
@Spanky:
Sure there could be an incredible comeback which sparks a return from a 3-0 deficit in the series… but I wouldn’t make a bet on STL.
Elizabelle
@Aleta: Yes. I hope that is what it is.
Elizabelle
@Adam L Silverman: I was astonished that W barely traveled abroad — if he did — in his early life.
Travel broadens experience.
feebog
Warren still dancing around the costs of Medicare for all while Wilmer manages to explain it quite succinctly. Why is it so hard to admit taxes will go up but your premiums will disappear for a net gain.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: @JPL: If anyone were going to contact Baud with an email address he supplied when commenting, I would think that person would need to be John Cole.
Elizabelle
@Leto: They had Beetlejuice at the local arthouse earlier this month, but I missed it. Saw Bram Stoker’s Dracula last night.
It’s scary movies month.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle: I agree, I’m glad I traveled when I could.
HeleninEire
@WaterGirl: Yes. Let’s contact Baud.
patrick II
I would rather pay $500 a month in taxes than $1,000 a month to a private insurer. The complexity of numerous, diverse, private plans add to the cost. The rest of the industrial world has universal insurance that costs less. Having a basic plan for everyone reduces complexity and therefore costs.
WaterGirl
@Adam L Silverman: I didn’t think of it as a typo; I thought you were doing a shorthand version of “I thanks you”.
Mike in DC
2 more hours of desperate attacks by lower tier candidates on Warren. Kee-rist. At least Harris comes across okay by not getting into that shit.
Cacti
@feebog:
The lone bit of credit I’ll give Wilmer is that he isn’t coy about saying M4A will make everyone’s taxes go up.
WaterGirl
@HeleninEire: Write to John, but maybe don’t use ALL CAPS?
The Lodger
@Adam L Silverman: I jumped right from your comment, and may already have missed the answer to this, but don’t combat lifesaving credentials have to be recertified periodically? My CPR training had to be kept current back in the day, I haven’t tried to do that lately.
PsiFighter37
@Cacti: It’s also shitty politics, which is why this whole discussion is ridiculous at this point. Give people a public option, let folks see how they benefit – then you can go for the full enchilada.
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: The vast majority of Americans have never had a passport. And this also goes for the vast majority of Republican members of Congress before they get to Congress.
Spanky
@zzyzx: I’m not. Besides, I’m in the DC area and as much a fan of the Nats as any team. Which is not much, these days.
Drink!
Matt McIrvin
@feebog:
Because the “taxes will go up” phrase will be extracted from that sentence into a separate video clip and used against you forever.
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: I already pulled his email address and sent him an email to check and see if he was okay, because people were expressing concern in a comment thread last week. I’ve not had a response. That may mean he doesn’t want to respond. It may also mean that email address was a dummy address.
Cacti
@PsiFighter37:
M4A is an election loser in its current form.
Adam L Silverman
@HeleninEire: I already did.
Elizabelle
@Adam L Silverman: Appreciate that, Adam. Thank you.
Matt McIrvin
@Mike in DC: It’s like Mario Kart; when you’re in the front (or even too close to the front) you get the blue shell. She’ll have to face worse in the general, so she might as well get used to it.
WaterGirl
@Adam L Silverman: It’s also possible that he might respond to John Cole when he wouldn’t necessarily respond to someone else.
HeleninEire
@Adam L Silverman: I saw your last post about that. He didn’t respond. Right?
Elizabelle
@WaterGirl: John can threaten to sic Thurston on him.
Or ship him over, COD.
Adam L Silverman
@The Lodger: I’m sure you have to do so. Since despite being asked at least twice a year if I’m willing to deploy somewhere, the deployments never materialize, I haven’t had to and don’t know how often it is required.
Leto
@Elizabelle: Beetlejuice was just on IFC I think? Bran Stoker’s Dracula (Gary Oldman) is on BBC America right now.
@Elizabelle: @?BillinGlendaleCA: I’m eternally grateful but then it just pisses me off that we’re so fucking stubborn here. I’ve always told my friends that I don’t hate America, I just expect more from it. I guess that makes me eternally naive.
Adam L Silverman
@Cacti: He barely even posts on the front page, you can’t expect him to poll well with that limited amount of exposure.//
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: Maybe John could put the Thurston threat in the subject of the email.
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: I’m not sure how to take that…//
Adam L Silverman
@HeleninEire: As of this comment, I have not gotten a response. Which may mean something or may mean nothing.
Elizabelle
@WaterGirl: YOU TAKE THIS BASTARD, THURSTON, IF YOU DON’T REPLY.
Elizabelle
@Leto: I am naive, right there with you.
And live to travel.
WaterGirl
@Adam L Silverman: I missed the uproar in real time, but if you did indicate to Baud (as rumored) that Baud doesn’t need to comment here, then perhaps Baud might reply to Cole when he might not respond to you?
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: I literally laughed out loud. That is absolutely perfect, and it really does need to be in all caps. Just perfect. Maybe you can talk John into that!
Elizabelle
@WaterGirl: You work Cole, WG.
PsiFighter37
Tulsi is so tiresome. Being part of a cult and having Russian support must win some weird iteration of Bingo somewhere.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: I also added that to my list of comments to nominate as rotating tags.
Using the new “nominate a rotating tag” form, of course!
Elizabelle
@WaterGirl: Thank you!
Mike in DC
Petey B stuck it to Tulsi pretty well.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: For the form, or for the nomination? :-)
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: I’m aware.
Elizabelle
I love Kamala.
WaterGirl
@Adam L Silverman: I just want Baud to come back. i really miss him.
Leto
@Elizabelle: “Dude, gotta go!” Yes!
WaterGirl
@Leto: Several times in the past few weeks I have seen a comment of yours and have felt so grateful that you made it through your accident.
2liberal
@Gin & Tonic:
I’m in the phx-burbs but i’m from the biggest little state in the union, rhode island. What meeting was this ? I think you’re living in RI ?
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: Better send me a list of your other favorite commenters so I don’t run any of them off as well.//
Duane
@Adam L Silverman: What did you say to Cornerstone?//
WaterGirl
@Adam L Silverman: All of them!
But Baud truly is my favorite, for real. :-)
Adam L Silverman
@Duane: That information is classified.
Leto
@WaterGirl: Same here. :)
Thursday is the one year mark. It feels weird calling it an anniversary, so I don’t call it that. People have asked me what I’m going to do that day, and honestly I’m just going to treat it like any other day. I’ll probably walk down to the coffee shop, have a cappuccino, and argue on Balloon Juice :) <3
Elizabelle
@Leto: Wow. A year already. We are so fortunate to have you — and Avalune — with us.
WaterGirl
@Leto: I think Mr. Rogers had a good name for that. I wish I could remember what it is because I also feel that anniversary is reserved for positive events.
This is a good reminder that – no matter how bleak it can feel these days – there are still some good tings happening.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: I was (quietly) giggling the other day when I noticed that Leto and Avalune had an exchange with one another on a thread. I could just picture them sitting in the same room, or it separate rooms, each with a laptop, conversing through a blog.
Not quite sure exactly why it made me giggle, but it did.
Leto
@WaterGirl: Thanks; I’ll pass that along to Avalune who’s sitting beside me knitting and listening to the debates :)
@WaterGirl: It might be here in the Tom Junod interview that the new Tom Hanks Mr Rodgers movie is based on: Can You Say…Hero? Fred Rogers has been doing the same small good thing for a very long time… I read that interview almost a decade ago, so it’s time to re-read it.
Edit: she was at work and I was home, but we have spoken to each other via BJ thread, while sitting next to each other, before… we played World of Warcraft for a long time and would routinely do that, chat with each other via text, even though we were sitting right next to each other. It’s just something we do ;)
Aleta
Seriously, in general (not about B-d) it’s rough on the sense of community when one or a few people drive off a commenter. It feels undemocratic, as though the people who liked talking with them don’t receive consideration or matter. It also can discourage *some* new commenters. And seems to go against what I liked about John’s old philosophy. Things change, maybe that has too, so maybe I need to let it go.
Adam L Silverman
@Aleta: I really wasn’t trying to run him off. I was trying to indicate that if he didn’t like a particular post, he didn’t need to read it or comment on it. I did not do a particularly good job of that.
Avalune
I was summoned!
Lest you think we just stare at each other in silence or only communicate via text like Rog and one of his girlfriends in Big Bang Theory – we do actually SPEAK to each other but sometimes I just need people to WITNESS ME!
?
WaterGirl
@Leto: I’m not judging, just giggling at the thought. :-)
WaterGirl
@Avalune: Not to mention kissing and all that mushy stuff. You still have to do that in person. Though I suppose for a special anniversary you could sext each other while you’re in the same room. That might be hot! :-)
edit: sorry for the silliness.
Aleta
@Adam L Silverman: That’s why I excluded him. I know you didn’t mean to. People hear things differently and have different reactions to the same words. Could it be that what preceded (paraphrase: ‘perhaps you’d like to rethink that’) sounded a bit too authoritarian coming from a BJ FPer?
Adam L Silverman
@Avalune: Don’t we have to repeat your name three times into a mirror or something?
Leto
@WaterGirl: Haha, BJ after dark has started! :P
Avalune
@Adam L Silverman: I counted three Avalunes. The backwards mirror thing is urban legend though.
WaterGirl
@Aleta: @Adam L Silverman: It can be hard to remember in real time that the voice of a front pager can be different than the voice of a regular commenter.
Omnes could say on the blog that he thinks I’m an idiot and wonder out loud about why I bother to comment here, and I most definitely would not be happy about that, but it would be much worse if it came from, say Betty Cracker or another front pager.
It’s John’s house, but negative comments from front pagers can be experienced differently from those of commenters. It’s like the old adage: with freedom comes responsibility. Or “it’s only funny til someone loses an eye”. It can be hard to remember that in the heat of the moment on a blog.
It can also be hard not to have a hair trigger when everything we believe in is under siege with Trump in the white house, with an administration filled with lying, cheating, greedy, hateful, power-hungry sociopaths.
It’s my hope that this can be a reminder that maybe it wouldn’t be terrible if we could get back to showing a bit more kindness and give people the benefit of the doubt. I know this is Balloon Juice and that might sound sappy. So sue me. :-)
I am still hoping that Baud will come back.
Adam L Silverman
@Aleta: It’s late and I don’t want to draw this out, but I don’t know, though I don’t think so.
I know that everyone is stressed and on edge right now. And I’m usually the one doing the front page posts trying to get everyone to breathe deep and cut everyone and themselves some slack. And while I don’t want to speak for any of the other front pagers, I can honestly say that it does get tiresome when we get comment after comment complaining about why we did a post, how we did a post, we we did another post on the same topic, why a post was done a certain way, etc. None of us get paid for posting. None of us get paid for moderator duties. All of us are doing this as we have time. And while we may have all started writing here or elsewhere for different reasons and then moved to here for even different ones than those, we’re doing it not for monetary rewards and compensation, but because we want to do it and we want to do it here, for and with you all. I admit I could have and should have been less terse and more clear in my reply to Baud. But the reality of it is that we bite our tongues, so to speak/type/write, quite often because we realize that more often than not we the commenter who wrote the comment that is pissing us off is just processing out loud in the comments. But we’re also human and we don’t always get it right. If my less than articulate and optimally worded comment was what caused Baud to leave without a forwarding address and not come back, I’m sorry that is the case as it wasn’t my intent. But if that is what caused Baud to leave without a forwarding address and not come back, then to be perfectly honest, it was going to happen sooner or later and if it wasn’t that comment that caused it, it would’ve been something else written by someone else regardless of whether it was a front pager or a regular commenter. I would prefer he was here. And if he’s lurking and reads this, prefer he come back. But I’ve reached out to him, tried to check on him, let him know we’re all missing him and concerned about him and would like him back. I can’t do much more to make it right.
The Lodger
@WaterGirl: I remember a computer column from long ago where the author referred to getting together with his girlfriend and “doing analog stuff.”
Also, @Avalune, trust me on this: Rog and Raj are not the same name.
WaterGirl
@The Lodger:
Quite the romantic!
Patricia Kayden
@Elizabelle: Love them all except Tulsi.
Frustration in the White House.
https://mobile.twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1184249482789163008
They can’t stop the impeachment process.
Avalune
@The Lodger: you are very correct but I was being lazy about looking up the character name. Apologies if anyone is offended by my bad spelling. It is likely to occur again. Pretty sure I did it with the Turkish leader the other day. ?
Aleta
@WaterGirl: Yes, well said. I think you and the FPers who’ve been here longer are sensitive to that power differential. That awareness makes BJ different and admirable and easier even when things are hard.
P.S. Like the way you handle communication about the site. (So skilled and kind and direct. So impressed at yr professionalism that’s also warm. How do you do it… I don’t know. )
Aleta
@Adam L Silverman: Just one opinion, but it can help a lot to take a break. In my experience (30+ years volunteering at the same org) volunteers can burn out unless they’re getting some personal benefit back, like experience or an improved skill, or visibility, connections, something for a resume, friendship. My org seems to have lasted so long (despite fights and fatigue and no pay, long hours and a difficult leader) because everyone is aware of what they get back and they receive something they value from the work. Most of us (40-50 people) have been with it 10-30 years by now, and talk about it as a community or family. A lot of of us incl me are sensitive … and working through feeling rejected or not good enough, every year or so, seems to be part of what lots of us in this particular organization go through too.