Lucy is a good house elf, she is! Lucy is free!!! #Howloween @darth @dog_rates pic.twitter.com/yZ7UYnYwMz
— Amanda Rykoff (@amandarykoff) October 24, 2019
(Lucy is a Very Good Girl, and it seems like she always carries her ears at that angle.)
Among our (culture’s) Northern European ancestors, this was the ‘Batten Down’ season… when the waning daylight and overnight freezes signaled it was time to finish preparing for months of spending entirely too much time huddled together with the entire clan, including whatever livestock hadn’t been slaughtered because there wouldn’t be enough forage to last until the blessed early dawns of spring. Not really surprising that the annual pivot would spark thoughts of mortality, missed opportunities, unwise choices, and angry / miserable ghosts wandering in the sudden darkness…
Fortunately, we have companion animals to entertain us. I am of the opinion that many dogs actually enjoy wearing costumes, now and then. Or at least are willing to be good sports about the idea, since pleasing their people means more than a temporary loss of dignity. (Cats, on the other hand… ) Some dogs, and not always the ones you would expect, really get into the party spirit — they would absolutely volunteer to wear funny headgear and lead a congo line, were they humans. Of course there are some who are dubious about the whole idea, and others who just can’t get into the concept… at least until the treat jar comes out!
rise and grind mfers
lets get that bread (treats) pic.twitter.com/J2yncZUWh5
— rat king (@MikeIsaac) October 30, 2019
Am so hungry now….@darth @gtconway3d Look at this “hoagie” costume winner. (Very much a PA thing…) pic.twitter.com/yqL6DYyLmT
— Laura Tyndall (@lauratrph) October 30, 2019
I’d like to report @SchooleyAlison for pet abuse. pic.twitter.com/pSlDZxzqF0
— Schooley (@Rschooley) October 31, 2019
(Apparently, that’s a shark costume — not, as I assumed, a charming little medieval jester. And the dog is a fairly recent rescue, which may be why he looks so uncertain about his new role.)
This, on the other hand, is an exceptionally Good Dog, who shares:
this is secret, she's a pro when it comes to passing out halloween candy
(my_aussie_gal IG) pic.twitter.com/NNsWY3Y7NH— Humor And Animals (@humorandanimals) October 27, 2019
Patricia Kayden
satby
Lucy is a very good girl! I recommend reading the link for a happy start to your day.
OzarkHillbilly
The Woofmeister would never allow such a travesty to his dignity. Percy on the other hand could be convinced.
NotMax
The obligatory holiday tune.
Also too, ahem.
That’s conga. You will now be haunted by the ghost of Xavier Cugat for 24 hours.
;)
?BillinGlendaleCA
While the fall brings the Milky Way photography to a close for the year, it ushers in other wonders like the Orion nebula complex. This is a shot I took last Friday night and I’m not completely happy with it, I’m going to try and head up there again tonight(though it’s going to be in the mid 20’s, brrrrr).
OzarkHillbilly
After seeing the doctored photo of trump giving the dog a Medal of Honor, my only though is some dogs have more honor than others.
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
Colder nights = clearer skies.
Spent quite a few nights shivering inside the observatory on campus at college.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: Actually, less humidity = clearer skies. This is generally not a problem in the desert.
WereBear
My lab/Elkhound mix would always get dressed in a shirt and tie to greet the trick or treaters. And do a trick to get his own treat. It was a crowd-pleaser and he loved it.
My cat Tristan once wore a sweater. For seven seconds. As an enormous favor.
Chris T.
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yes, but less humidity also = colder at night, so the temperature/clarity correlation holds as well (to some degree (if you’ll pardon the word “degree”)).
eclare
@satby: So sweet!
geg6
Lovey loves a costume! And sweaters! And fancy harnesses!
Koda does not. But insists on having them anyway because Lovey has them.
satby
Day two of continuous rain, though it will turn to snow before a predicted hard freeze down to 26° tonight. I wish we could send even a few hours of this rain to California to put out some fires.
OzarkHillbilly
I see Josh Hamilton is in the running for father of the year. Steroid much?
RAVEN
If you didn’t see it before here are some pix from our Boolebark Doggie Parade. My pups are in it and we raised $8k for Athens Pet Rescue.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Chris T.: That depends on where you are, I’ve been at Joshua Tree where it’s 85 at midnight* with single digit humidity. Unless we’re getting the monsoon flow coming up from Mexico, it tends to be dry in the Mojave.
*Probably about 105 in the daytime.
ETA: Right now most of Southern California is bone dry.
RAVEN
Here’s another gallery.
NotMax
@satby
First night since springtime when I’ve felt the need to shut some windows at night in order to try to retain some of the daytime heat in the abode. Only other times I’ve shut them in the interim was to keep the rain out.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: I had to turn the pilot on the heater on Tuesday.
ETA: It’s 39° outside right now.
satby
@RAVEN: that’s a much better picture of your pups! They look great. Too bad you got cut out of it.
OzarkHillbilly
OK, OK, the bolded part actually said, “has made clear he registered as a candidate to get around our policies I just thought I’d cut out all the double speak for y’all.
RAVEN
@satby: No it’s not!
satby
@NotMax: @?BillinGlendaleCA: I can usually hold off turning on the heat until Nov.1, but with all the rain lately 59 damp degrees in the house feels cold. So I broke down and turned the furnace on. It’s set at a sultry 65° right now. I’m getting soft in my dotage ?
eclare
@RAVEN: Great pic, love the sign! And I’m glad so much was raised for a good cause.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@OzarkHillbilly: Saw my first “Recall Newsom” bumpersticker last week.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: Rain, freezing rain, than snow. All of which (if we actually get it) will be gone by 10 am. We’re supposed to hit 25 degrees tonight. I’ll have to keep the home fires burning.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: same! Tomorrow back into the mid 40s, so any snow will melt. I don’t mind snow, but I hate freezing rain.
NotMax
@satby
Furnace? Aloha staters know not of this wondrous strange apparatus of which you speak.
;)
(I did finally break down and buy a space heater last winter. Old bones are loath to let go of a chill.)
OzarkHillbilly
@?BillinGlendaleCA: That didn’t take long. On a happier note, I saw our first winter arrival on Indian Creek yester morn: a mature bald eagle*. A little early for them to start showing up I think, but things must be a little colder than usual in N Misery. I should be seeing the flights of snow geese heading south soon.
*we have nesting pairs in Misery, just not in my neck of the woods
OzarkHillbilly
They finally have their “Whitey tape”, and it’s a real barn burner:
satby
@NotMax: which brings up my latest disappointment: last year I bought one of those electric fireplace /infrared heater combos for my living room. Used it sparingly over the winter, but it was nice to take the morning chill off. Pulled it out to use about two weeks ago and the heating element quit after one week. Exactly one month out of warranty. And probably more expensive to fix than replace. ?
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: the Robinson family still lives not far from my old house. Michelle’s cousin was the vice president when I was president of our local civic association. And she’s absolutely right, the white flight was insane. Whole blocks would go up for sale after a single black family moved in, and the calls from unscrupulous real estate agents were constant trying to scare people about declining property values so that they would sell out too. It was ugly.
Good for her for saying so.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: It’s 72 now and we might have a freeze warning for tonight. Guess it’s time to unhook the hoses.
satby
@rikyrah: Good morning ?
eclare
@satby: How frustrating! Is there a Costco near you? I know they charge a membership, but they stand by their products. A friend loaned me the space heater he got from there one winter when my boiler went out, best space heater ever.
NotMax
@satby
Sorry to hear that. Just went to look up the one I bought through Amazon (convection space heater) and it is listed as currently unavailable.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@rikyrah: Good morning.
rikyrah
@RAVEN:
Too cute for words???
JPL
The Hoarse Whisperer posted this
I rate this tweet true.
Kay
This is good:
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: In the late ’60s/ early ’70s a black family moved into the neighborhood. One house went up for sale. I have no idea why but they ended up taking it back off the market a few months later (probably were asking too much and then when nobody else put theirs up….). Can’t speak for the whole neighborhood but my preteen eyes saw the black family welcomed into the fold. As for the racists, my folks at least had nothing to do with them ever again.
I always found it a little surprising that this white middle class largely conservative neighborhood reacted thusly.at a time of such unsettled race relations.
debbie
Love the dog handing out Halloween candy. What a helper!
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL:
Thanx for the reminder.
debbie
@JPL:
My motto: “You made me swear!”
Jeffro
Nats – are – champs do do do dododo
Nats – are – champs do do do dododo
Nats – are – champs do do do dododo
Nats are champs!
DC authorities are putting out an emergency call for Advil and Gatorade this morning, the entire region is expected to be OUT by 10am.
satby
@eclare: @NotMax: I have another infrared heater that I can drag out of the basement, so I don’t need one. This just had the cute fake fire that lets me pretend I have a fireplace and that part still works. And now I have the furnace on so I don’t need it for heat. I’m just annoyed it failed so soon. Left a negative review on Amazon about it.
Kay
The trade aid was a massive bailout that got virtually no media coverage.
debbie
@Kay:
Farmers are the Welfare Queens of the 21st Century.
Also, not so smart because they think Trump is waging the trade war for their benefit.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Kay: Trade wars are easy to win.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: I thought this paragraph in particular was powerfully written:
Exactly right.
Kay
@debbie:
It’s just that it’s not real. It’s not real profit. Which means that all the purchasing and value that comes out of it is also not real, so land values, equipment purchases, etc. The price of ground per acre is supposed to mean something. It’s supposed to be connected to real value. This is all artificially inflated. Propped up. So if it’s 5000 an acre the real value (if it’s measured by what one can take out of it) is 3000. The rest is pumped in.
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
I don’t know but I think she loves the court. I’ve read her for years. I don’t love it but I understand people who do and I think it’s nice that they do. It has real meaning to a lot of people, “the institution”. I thought it was powerful because she’s mourning the loss. I think one has to reach that point with “the institutions”, the point where you say “this is no longer worth my propping it up”. As she wrote- “sticking her oar in” to keep the reputation afloat. They have to earn respect individually, the justices. They can’t just continue to pull it out of past reserves. I mean, we can say “the court is” but “the court is”…. a collection of individuals. If they’re lower quality it will be too. Inevitably. Always.
Ken
@Kay: Is “farm profit” a technical term, or should I understand “profit” in the usual sense? Because if it’s the usual sense, “40% of profit comes from X” sure sounds to me like we could zero out all X and farming would still make a profit, just a smaller one.
germy
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Kay: That’s a powerful piece.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Very powerful
Dorothy A. Winsor
At my writer group last night, I read a chapter in which the bad guy kicks a dog into a corner where it collapses and lies still. Then he hauls the girl away. People were very distressed about the dog.
rikyrah
One thing that I will criticize the Democrats for is this bullshyt ‘request’ stuff with witnesses. Stop. They haven’t earned the benefit of the doubt. Just phucking subpoena EVERYONE and get it done with. No back and forth, like this bullshyt with Bolton. His azz should have been subpoenaed a long time ago.??
rikyrah
@Kay:
Welfare, Kay.
It’s.muthaphuckin’ WELFARE ??
germy
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Is the dog like Chekhov’s gun? Will he bite the guy in the third act?
Another Scott
@Kay: I haven’t clicked on the piece, but this Tweet bothers me.
We have disaster relief and federal subsidies and farm insurance for good reasons. What’s different under Donnie is blowing up the international market for US farmers and the “trade aid”. How much is that? How much has actually been disbursed? What particular “farmers” are getting it?
tl;dr – $BIG-SCARY-NUMBER can (and often is) misleading without appropriate context.
Cheers,
Scott.
rikyrah
Was.going back and reading missed posts.from yesterday. So….the WSJ Editorial Board is now taking the position that Dolt45 was too stupid to to quid pro quo in Ukraine.
Just so we are clear, this is the ultimate in White Privilege: to claim that someone is too stupid to.do the crime, but,he should still remain in the position of President. There are Black folks, who have been proven to be mentally incapacitated, who are in jail currently, and some have even been executed. So…get the ENTIRE Phuck Outta Here ? ? with this bullshyt ? ?.
TS (the original)
So the WSJ thinks trump is too dumb for a successful quid pro quo – after watching the Halloween event at the White House – I think I could agree
via Jimmy Kimmel
(from about 2 min mark)
Kay
@Ken:
I have farm clients and we all use “the usual sense”, so yes. They measure their wealth (as opposed to profit) mostly on land values but land values are tied to profit. What they pull out of it. So one parcel is 7k an acre and another is 5k an acre based on how much value they can pull out every year. If 40% of it was pumped in then that per acre value is inflated and should be lower. That ripples because they borrow on the ground and that bill comes due eventually because the loan is based on an inflated value, hence, bankruptcies are up 24%.
Farmers are to me the best example of Trump blindness because they did quite well in Obama’s second term. We saw record land values here. They were cruising. They are irrational and they are going to pay for that.
satby
@rikyrah: they can try to claim it, but no one will buy it. It doesn’t change the underlying cause for prosecution for the rest of us, and the MAGAts will be furious that their great leader was called stupid.
Kay
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
That’s the break. That’s when one goes from “institutionalist” to “outsider”. She was great covering the SCOTUS and she’ll be great outside it too. Welcome to the ranks of the less powerful!
Happy to have her. Some clever person on Twitter said something like “I only trust people who are horrified” and I agree with that. But it’s a process :)
Dorothy A. Winsor
@germy: You better believe it! He actually (dare I say “literally”?) bites the guy’s ear off.
satby
@Kay: and not a whit of sympathy from me. I’m surrounded by racist farmers at the farmer’s market, people who absolutely believe the entire country would starve without their overpriced produce. And that they are the real Americans and the rest of us don’t count even though we’re the majority. Had I not moved to farm country I might have remained somewhat sympathetic, but now they can all go bankrupt as far as I’m concerned. They worked hard to put themselves into that position.
Jeffro
@rikyrah: absolutely. And the subpoenas should be issued with a note spelling out that failure to comply/show up will result in contempt charges and fines from the minute they are overdue. The minute. Better take traffic into account on the day of your hearing, Repubs!
Betty Cracker
@Kay: You’re right: her anger and sadness come through, which is what makes the piece so good.
@rikyrah: Here’s a clip from the Tucker Carlson White Power Hour in which Brit Hume makes a similar point:
It’s worth pointing out that Trump was more than half way through his term when he made the Ukraine shake-down call; it wasn’t his first day on the job. Hume is what passes as a “serious journalist” on Fox News, and what he’s saying here is that Trump is unfit to do his job, so Trump can’t be accountable when he fucks up. That’s his argument.
Another Scott
@Kay: A high school friend’s family owned around 300 acres of farm land north of Dayton. The main value in it was its proximity to “the world’s largest community of brick homes”. IIRC, he said that they had an offer of $2+M for it at one point (in the ’90s?).
When he inherited (part of) it, he rented it out to a local farmer. On a good year he would get a check for $10k.
Farming is complicated, as you know. But saying that farm price supports and insurance and the rest are somehow “artificial” or illegitimate strikes me as wrong. We saw what happened in the Dust Bowl when we didn’t have the federal government stepping in with farming regulations – and price supports and insurance for bad years. I’m happy we are continuing those policies (though of course they could be improved). There’s hardly a better real-world example of the “tragedy of the commons” than that.
Yes, too many farmers buy into the libertarian nonsense that everything would be wonderful if there were no regulation and the could do anything they want in the Free Market™. But if they actually thought about it a couple more steps ahead, they would realize that they have it pretty good – not great – when we have sensible elected representatives. And we shouldn’t get rid of good policies because farmers are politically blind at times – we all are (to greater or lesser degrees) – it’s human nature.
The issue, IMHO, is Donnie’s tariffs – his intentional destruction of international agreements and his attempts to use US government power to shake down other governments and corporations for his political (and personal) beneifit.
Eyes on the prize.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Amir Khalid
@TS (the original):
I wonder how it escaped The Wall Street Journal that too dumb to do a deal = too dumb to be POTUS.
Immanentize
@JPL: It may dip into the 30’s Friday night, (frost?) so I also better bring in the surviving potted herbs….
satby
@Amir Khalid: but not too dumb to sign tax laws favoring the WSJ’s core readers. So perfectly able to continue as POTUS.
@Another Scott: is correct, we need our eyes on the prize because the opposition never takes their eyes off their prize.
Ken
@Kay: Sounds like the farmers are really all-in with the Trump business model.
Step 1: Report one year’s profits which include somewhat dubious one-time payments.
Step 2: Borrow a whole lot of money based on that figure.
Step 3: Go bankrupt.
OzarkHillbilly
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Let me guess, his name is Tyson?
RAVEN
Man, I was carrying Lil Bit down the hall and a big mirror crashed down and just missed us! It was a heavy mirror and it looks like the old frame just came apart.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@OzarkHillbilly: LOL. His name is Tuc.
OzarkHillbilly
@RAVEN: 7 years of bad luck, coming your way.
@Dorothy A. Winsor: That’s a funny way to spell “Tyson”, but you’re the writer. ;-)
Immanentize
@Another Scott: Creating a crisis in trade and then pumping in huge amounts of bailout money to preserve a voting block and allow the irrational trade war to continue politically is not wise trade policy. It is not stabilizing.
And continuing to pay certain farmers year after year for flood and crop relief when the land is no longer viable year to year because of climate change is not sound stabilizing farm policy, it is a handout with very negative moral hazard issues.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Do we go back on standard time this coming weekend?
JPL
@RAVEN: phew Glad you are okay.
Immanentize
@RAVEN:
Whew! Glad it missed you both! Happy Halloween say the ghosts in your house
Immanentize
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Only if you set your clock back to 2016 before Trump was elected.
germy
The Onion
germy
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/why-to-be-skeptical-of-michael-baden-on-epsteins-death.html
(TLDR: He’s a hack)
Calouste
@Immanentize: I hope the Nationals winning the World Series gets the timeline back the way it should be, before it got obviously fucked up when the Cubs won in 2016.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: I have to point out that there is not a piece of land in America that is unaffected by climate change and that in any year any land may become unviable. Sussing out simple weather from climate change effects is difficult at this point. Not to mention that the viability of farm land is under more threat from *certain agricultural practices* at this point in time.
**I am thinking in particular of the unsustainable drawdowns of the Oglalla aquifer, and in the Central Valley where land subsidence is a serious problem.
OzarkHillbilly
@Dorothy A. Winsor: According to my wife, yes.
Immanentize
@Calouste: Look what happened when the Red Sox won after 108 years! Please bring back the Bambino’s curse.
Kay
@Another Scott:
I’ve read quite a bit on it – the trade bailout is coming from a Depression-era program that was designed to extend federal assistance for long term improvements- it wasn’t designed to bail them out from the President’s stupidity and short term political gain. Part of their problem is due to climate change and it seems to me that the federal program should be used to help them transition and adjust to that, not to prop up Trump’s numbers in Iowa. So far it looks like the issue in the midwest with climate change is going to be flooding. A decade ago they were all bragging that they wouldn’t be affected and would have all the fresh water, so eastern and western states would come begging. They pictured eastern states inundated with sea water and western states burning. That came and bit them in the ass. They’re drowning.
They can’t operate on nostalgia. They buy their own bullshit and we all join in and help them with this romantic view of what they’re about. I’m just no longer willing to do that.
Kay
@Another Scott:
Land in rural areas of Ohio has no value other than farm ground. There’s no suburb that reaches that far. It’s valuable because they can grow efficiently (partly because they cooperate- they mimic bigger operations by operating as co-ops) and because they are in the middle of the country close to interstates. Our farmers are 15-20-30 miles from I-80. If it isn’t farmed there’s nothing to put on it. There’s only 30k people in this county and that number hasn’t gone up in 50 years. They have to actually make a profit. Not every year! That’s what the insurance is for- but MOST years they have to make a profit. It’s a crop factory, not a “lifestyle”.
Elizabelle
Lucy is a darling dog. Moar of this in the mornings.
Would be sad if the Nats had not pulled it off, but they did. As the WaPost says: “Victory has never been so baby-sharkishly sweet.”
Boo!
OldDave
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Yes, at 2 AM local time Sunday November 3rd. Change your clocks back one hour before going to bed Saturday night.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay:
It is far more complex than that. Most get little to no benefit from any increase in rain fall because it comes down all at once in heavier rainfalls which increase floods but does very little for groundwater. The farmers along the Missouri, Platte, and Arkansas rivers take it up the ass right then, while the others become even more dependent on irrigation because droughts become more frequent and they still grow the same crops. They need to transition away from sorghum and soybeans to dry land crops like winter wheat and sunflowers. However, like most people they are averse to change and continue with the crops grandpa grew, running their wells dry as the aquifers drop.
chopper
@germy:
trump will just stage a rally for the same day and act like the parade is in his honor.
chopper
@OzarkHillbilly:
yup. warmer atmosphere means more water vapor. means rains are heavier when they come. unfortunately the land and soil there isn’t adapted for that kind of rainfall.
germy
germy
This photo:
rikyrah
@Kay:
I thank you for your education about this part of the country, Kay.
Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)
I shared a 2016 Halloween post from Obama’s Facebook page, and it was listed in today’s Memories.
I went to share it again today, and Facebook said that the post and the picture violated Community Standards and couldn’t be shared.
The offending text was “Think anyone can top baby Pope this year?”
If I had to guess, some whiny-ass titty baby of a RWNJ claimed it offended them. ?
My Facebook post about the “violation”
Tenar Arha
@JPL: I took my hoses in last week when I noticed how yellow & red the leaves had gotten, bc I knew I’d forget if I waited any longer. Just as well as it’s been warmer & wet this week. Forecast is we’re supposed to get real temp drops this upcoming weekend. Just the idea of wrestling with frozen hoses ~*shudder*~
Betty Cracker
That time Trump accidentally told the truth:
I’m pretty sure the Third Lady would be hard pressed to refrain from open rejoicing at the prospect of widowhood — you can practically see the thought bubble that reads “WHY AREN’T YOU DEAD YET?” floating over her head in every photo of the two of them. I’m also pretty sure HE doesn’t realize that, so the weird comment is probably just a function of his general sociopathic outlook.
bemused
@rikyrah:
Amen!
TS (the original)
Watching the house on c-span – all the GOP speakers have – this is a sham. They have literally nothing else to say
LivingInExile
@Kay: I was raised on a farm. I am back living in the area I was raised in, so I know most of the local farmers. None of them would be farming if they hadn’t inherited the land. They are a bunch of conservative idiots that still don’t believe in climate change. Once in awhile I go to the coffee shop and it’s a rerun of Fox news. Years ago the county farm advisor made the statement, “If my dog was as inbred as most of Hancock County the pups wouldn’t know enough to suck.” It’s sad, but I have no sympathy for them.
glory b
@rikyrah: As I recall Susan McDougal went to jail for over a year for refusing to testify against Clinton. I don’t remember much about it and don’t have time now to look it up, but weren’t those circumstances similar?
Another Scott
@Kay: You’re making some good points, but pushing them too far, IMHO.
E.g. For Ohio farmers, wind turbine revenue helps take the sting out of a ‘bad’ year:
It’s going to be a while before we see giant wind farms in subdivisions and urban areas. Similarly with large solar installations. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
Immanentize
@glory b:
Yes, McDougal was subpoenaed to a federal grand jury (not Congress) and refused to testify even after she was granted immunity. She held out through three plus grand jury sittings (almost 2 years) until the court determined that incarceration was ineffective at pesuading her to testify.
Immanentize
In other news, Pompeo has suggested that Obama did not send deadly weapons to Ukraine in 2015-16 because of Hunter Biden….
bemused
@TS (the original):
Oh man. I missed trump tweet when he wrote: “Why are people that I never heard of testifying about the call?”. Shouldn’t a president, any president, know who all the people who are listening in on the call or who are privy to calls like this?
germy
@Betty Cracker: Sometimes they tell the truth.
James E Powell
@Amir Khalid:
The people who own the WSJ and the people who make up its core audience have no need for a smart president. Quit the opposite.
Omnes Omnibus
FWIW the Supreme Court has been a retrograde institution for most of its existence. Cases like Dred Scott, Plessy, and Lochner are more the norm than Brown v. Bd of Educ. The liberal Court that everyone mourns existed for about 50 years (roughly 1940 -1980) centered on the period when Earl Warren was chief. That’s it.
The questions we should be asking about the Court are not how did we get this one, but rather how did we get the Warren Court and how can we do it again. Or we could just say that the institution was weak and it failed.
germy
@Omnes Omnibus:
Excellent point.
MattF
@Betty Cracker: A rare event indeed.
Daniel Dale is presidential fact-checker for CNN— here’s a sample from him, re Ukraine:
germy
glory b
@rikyrah: From Elie Mystal (who has become one of my faves on msnbc and twitter, he’s the editor in chief of abovethelaw.com):
“Dems are “asking” Bolton, not subpoenaing him?
The standing on ceremony at this late date is just freaking frustrating. Subpoena his ass. He still might not comply but skipping to “we asked you nicely” step is warranted just out of timeliness.”
Fair Economist
The answer to “how did we get a liberal court” being “5 Democratic administrations in a row”.
TS (the original)
Nancy Pelosi
Another Scott
Twitter:
Why it’s almost like Donnie doesn’t have any idea what he’s tweeting about. Shocking.
[eta: via ddale8]
Oh, and Krugman says he’s tweeting that the China tariff talks are going better than they actually are, also too. Shocking, shocking.
It’s clear that Donnie never read a book by a certain Hans Christian Andersen…
Cheers,
Scott.
oldgold
My problem with farmers is that they have a come to believe their own mythology and vote accordingly. The mythology holds that they are hardworking, self-made and independent.
Generally speaking, with noted exceptions:
They do not work hard. Farmers without livestock actually work less than 90 days a year and their labor is not overly physical. Those with livestock, often use Latino hired men for the hard physical work.
They are not self-made. They have inherited their farms.
They are not independent. Generous subsidies, ubiquitous bailouts and farmer friendly regulations (ethanol) sustain them.
MattF
@glory b: Rumor has it that Bolton wants a subpoena, and will testify if he gets one. Don’t assume that Bolton is Trump’s pal. We shall see.
Omnes Omnibus
@Fair Economist: I know. And then a GOP one that would put Warren and Brennan on the Court. And then two Dem admins again.
Sam Dobermann
Nancy Pelosi will be on Stephen Colbert tonight & nowhere else. It will be worth watching. He’s been doing a bang up job exposing Trump’s foibles and showing things I’ve missed.
Sam, my long departed Dobermann, used to love coming to the door on Halloween at each bell. One time we opened the door to a little girl who was at about eye level with Sam. Her eyes widened and she looked about to bolt so I said don’t worry he’s really just a pussy cat; he’s wearing his dog costume. She relaxed and was perfectly happy to pick out her candy.
Steeplejack (phone)
If Trump actually shot somebody . . .
Great thread (includes Rust Belt diner view!):
rikyrah
@germy:
bwa ha ha ha ha ah ah ah ha
glory b
@bemused: One of Devin Nunes’ former staff members, who got a job in the White House, falsely told Trump that HE was the Ukranian expert. When Vindman found out, others told him to just keep quiet about it.
so, Devin’s staffer kept up the ruse, and no one said anything.
rikyrah
Trump W.H. blocked condemnation of Russian aggression: diplomat
Rachel Maddow highlights reporting on a piece of impeachment inquiry testimony from diplomat Christopher Anderson in which he reveals some backstory on the Trump administration’s failure to condemn Russian aggression toward Ukrainian ships in 2018.
rikyrah
Top Trump Russian official quits ahead of impeachment testimony
Rachel Maddow reports on the latest developments in the Donald Trump impeachment inquiry and the line-up of diplomats and officials giving corroborating and increasingly damning testimony, and points to a pattern of Trump officials, like Tim Morrison, the top Russian official on Trump’s NSC, who quit their posts ahead of testifying to House impeachment committees.
rikyrah
ABA on Trump judge pick: arrogant, lazy, not committed to truth
Rachel Maddow looks at the exceptionally condemnatory assessment by the American Bar Association of Donald Trump federal court judgeship nominee Lawrence J.C. VanDyke, and the related drama at his Senate confirmation hearing.
Oct. 30, 2019
germy
@rikyrah: Trump must have been disgusted to see him cry during his hearing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTpfVihwq20
NotMax
FYI, the 2019 Frightgeist.
Citizen Alan
@Omnes Omnibus:
We got the Warren Court due to holding the White House for 20 years, followed by 8 years of a Republican President who was a close to a Democrat as a Republican could be (he gave us Warren, the second Justice Harlan, and William Brennan!) followed by another 8 years of Democrats. If LBJ had picked someone without the baggage of Abe Fortas to replace Warren, we’d have probably had at least another decade of liberal dominance and might well have kept Rehnquist off SCOTUS entirely.
StringOnAStick
Back to the Halloween and dogs topic, my wonderful coworker has a Pomeranian that loves, loves, loves getting dressed up in costumes. She has a doggie closet full of them a d let’s her pick what she wants to wear. Her dog thinks it’s Halloween all year long.
Halloween is our wedding anniversary, because we needed it done between selling one home and buying the other, and we wanted a holiday so we’d remember the date since neither of us is good about remembering such things. After a few years of the neighbor kids reminding us thanks to parental encouragement, we actually remember on our own now!
Miss Bianca
So, speaking of Howloween…
Happened to be awake between 2 and 3 this am (bitter cold here in the mountains, was contemplating throwing another log on the fire, feeling too snuggly to get up) when all of a sudden Roxy the Wolf Girl, who’s asleep at the foot of the bed, gives vent to this long, burbling howl-scream. Was she having a nightmare? Were the ghosts of doggies past thundering through the room? No idea, all I know is that if I *had* been asleep, it would have scared the shit out of me to wake up to that!!
bemused
@rikyrah:
Watching that, Brett Kavanaugh immediately came to mind. They really, really hate their pathetic selves exposed and all they can do is bawl like babies.
Steeplejack (phone)
Halloween horror story!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Betty Cracker:
Years ago, trump went after Jon Stewart on twitter– I think started calling him Jonny Liebowitz because… you know…– one of the TDS writers tweeted back at him: Your wife is just waiting for you to die. It was the first time I saw the spluttering twitter rage that is now part of our daily lives. He could form a club with Limbaugh, Gingrich and– at the time– Giuliani. Now Judi’s cashing in so hard Rudi has to keep running to the Kremlin for cash to pay for that complicated NDA, and I imagine Giuliani’s kids have the name-change paperwork (Hanover) waiting next to the champagne they’ll pop as soon as the trusts are settled (assuming there’ll be anything left
NotMax
Woke up (too early, dang it) to find the digital clocks flashing. Also discovered the new LED ceiling fixture I installed last month doesn’t remember it was turned off via the remote rather than the wall switch and therefore turns itself on after a blackout.
Miss Bianca
@satby: Obligatory: DON’T CALL ME STUPID!!
Kay
@oldgold:
Part of my problem with it is because it gets such careful treatment by political media:
The auto bailout was hugely controversial. It was discussed for years. This gets no debate at all and with how corrupt the Trump people are who knows how it’s being doled out. It’s just..interesting how differently these two groups of bailout recipients are treated. What’s that about?
Kay
@Omnes Omnibus:
I don’t think that’s what she’s mourning. She’s not objecting to John Roberts. She’s objecting to Kavanaugh based upon his lack of character and honesty and based upon what she sees as a calculated political campaign to prop him up, some of which is about protecting the institution. That’s why she won’t row in the institutional direction anymore. She sees the protectors of the institution as complicit- for good reasons (they hope to get his vote) or bad reasons (he’s one of their own and is entitled to the seat), but complicit. She’s no longer sure protecting the institution even preserves it, in any way that matters.
J R in WV
@RAVEN:
Wow, I bet that caused a rush of blood all over your body! Scary!!
Glad you’re OK. Sorry ’bout the old mirror, those are neat. We only have one small mirror from a grandparent, beautiful oval walnut frame, but not big enough to be scary.
germy
@StringOnAStick:
oldgold
@Kay:
I think the myth has a lot to do with it.
Lots of people not immersed in the the reality of modern agricultural believe the myth of the noble family farmer.
Brachiator
@Kay:
Thanks very much for the link. A very sobering assessment of the Court and how power works in the Beltway. It very much deserves a wide reading and comment.
germy
@NotMax:
I have a steam boiler with a safety device that keeps the water level from going too low.
But every time there’s a blackout (or even a brownout) the safety device kicks in and tries to flood the boiler.
I wanted to remove it, but the tech said it wasn’t a good idea.
Kay
@oldgold:
I rep small farmers – I don’t think Ohio has the huge farms you see in plains states- and this is anecdotal but I find the older family members to be easier to deal with than the younger ones. Less invested in myth protection. It’s really pretty amazing how much generational value they’re able to pull out of this inherited ground. They sometimes have three generations pulling shares as income. It’s not fabulous(!) income but it’s comfortable and you can be talking about whole extended families. But it does end. They do their best to tie it up forever but that’s almost impossible. Most of the Trump gift went to the largest 10% of operations so this will probably end up with more consolidation and fewer farmers.
James E Powell
@Omnes Omnibus:
I think it’s also the case that the right-wingers – both voters and politicians – focused on the federal courts generally and the supreme court specifically. Democrats – voters and politicians – not so much. We can only ponder the “what ifs” starting with what if LBJ hadn’t tried to elevate Fortas? What if Nader hadn’t helped put extreme pro-corporate Roberts and Alito on the court. What if Bernie hadn’t helped put Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. I doubt that Gore or Hillary Clinton would have given us another Brennan, but things would definitely be very different.
Aleta
@Steeplejack (phone):
@Steeplejack (phone):
Thanks!
bemused
@Steeplejack (phone):
I love this so much.
Not so funny when discovered our 8 month old kitten chewed phone charge cord while I was laughing at video.
Kay
@Brachiator:
I’m looking forward to her new “justice” beat :)
J R in WV
@OzarkHillbilly:
I see this unsustainable agricultural activity in Cochise County AZ, where a fossil aquifer is being drained faster and faster. It is the only source of water, and people’s drinking water wells have gone dry due to huge farm irrigation wells. They drill an 18 inch bore thousands of feet deep and pump more than a million gallons of water each day to grow water hog crops like cotton, almonds and alfalfa, in the Sonoran desert. The volume of water pumped is unregulated, and cracks from subsidence are occurring. New orchards are being planted, which requires huge irrigation infrastructure to be built before the trees and vineyards are planted. Giant silos have been built, dozens of them, for storage of grain after the harvest.
These “farms” will be worthless desert again when they hit the bottom of the aquifer and the fossil water is gone. The small residential retirement communities will die also as they won’t have water to drink, much less bathe in. And in 3 or 4 million years the aquifer may recharge, but there will be no one to notice.
Omnes Omnibus
@Kay: I was using her peace as a starting point. I think that many people on the left have a romantic view of the Court and see the Warren Court as norm. It wasn’t, and, moreover, its existence required a remarkable set of circumstances as many people in this thread have noted. It was only not shitty for about 50 years. Any take on the Court does not recognize this is flawed at best.
Omnes Omnibus
@Omnes Omnibus: Her “piece.” God damn it.
prostratedragon
Farming in Britain in November:
Present day (with lambs, and melon-eating chickens)
As in 1620
Uncle Cosmo
@germy: Add to that the fact that the USA most of the white working class believes they were “promised” is one where the rich don’t dare complain about high marginal income tax rates, & semi-skilled factory & mine workers of limited education earn enough to own cars & houses & send their kids to college & enjoy comfortable retirements. Which broadly describes conditions during the postwar boom (1945-73) when the US was the only industrial economy left standing – conditions that will never be repeated again. But that’s what they expect – & they are more than willing to tear society down if they can’t have it.
I will gladly follow whoever in our progressive political class who comes up with a workable means to deal with that.
(And FTR all you Warren stans should note that none of those people trust big “plans”, for what they consider sound reasons. As far as they can see, they’ve routinely been stuck with the bill for big plans, for themselves & for others unable to pay, while the rich skate or even get richer off them. SPW has promised in all sincerity to tax the rich to pay for those plans? See Charlie Brown, football, Lucy. They’ve seen this comic strip before; wasn’t funny then, ain’t funny now.)
Kay
@Omnes Omnibus:
Okay, but I disagree with “starting point”. Her objection is bigger than ideology because her respect wasn’t based on ideology. It was based on simple justice:
We’ve seen this again and again, in everything from the Catholic Church to the Senate to Donald Trump getting booed at a baseball game. The point of the institution, the reason it exists, is jettisoned in favor of protecting the thing as if THAT’S what matters. They’re not protecting anything but themselves.
lurker dean
@satby: ugh, that stinks. any chance you bought it with a credit card that doubles or extends the warranty period? i just had an item go bad after warranty – unfortunately i bought it with a debit card instead of the costco card that adds 24 months of warranty :( that’ll teach me to be responsible and use cash instead of credit :(
lurker dean
this farm talk reminds me of the last two episodes of the #1619 podcast, which discusses how banks and the USDA worked to fraudulently take farms from tens of thousands of black farmers. these poor farmers worked tirelessly to own their own farms, and ended up getting paltry settlements. i enjoyed the #1619 podcast, but there are only 5 episodes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigford_v._Glickman
https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYXJ0MTkuY29tLzE2MTk&episode=Z2lkOi8vYXJ0MTktZXBpc29kZS1sb2NhdG9yL1YwLy1pdlJnb3dkZ2hCRGRRWlNydlNBMXVGTWcwRS0wY2d4X0VReHVKaDk4WXM
Omnes Omnibus
@Kay: You disagree with “starting point?” She spoke about her reasons for abandoning an institutionalist defense of the Court. Fine. I was talking about the fact that the “institution” that most people on the left (at least) are defending is largely a myth. It’s just another appellate panel that has never been better or worse than the people on it.
Brachiator
@lurker dean:
This is infuriating on so many levels.
Matt McIrvin
@Omnes Omnibus: I suspect a lot of the answers to “how do we get this good institution again?” are going to be “have another world war that smashes half the world and kills 80 million people.” That’s what it took to convince a critical mass of Americans that fascism and racism might be bad, and we’re losing that consensus now.