Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Let’s finish the job.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

No one could have predicted…

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

The revolution will be supervised.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

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

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Monday Morning Open Thread: “Do Not Get Lost in A Sea of Despair”

Monday Morning Open Thread: “Do Not Get Lost in A Sea of Despair”

by | 187 Comments

This post is in: , , , ,

***********

Provocation:

Too, also:

Reader Interactions

187Comments

  2. 2.

    Baud

    I sympathize with the last tweet, but that’s the cost of our collective moral failure in 2016.

    Holding out for better always comes with huge opportunity costs.

  4. 4.

    Rusty

    I am warming to Joe as our nominee, not my first choice but certainly acceptable.  My parents and several other people I know are enthusiastic supporters, I am also persuaded that Biden is one of the strongest possible  nominees to repair our foreign relations.  If Obama for the Supremes, Hillary for Secretary of State?

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: I actually felt better yesterday and this morn than I have in weeks. I am hopeful it is finally breaking but fear it might just be teasing me with a slight let up and then come back with a vengeance.

  8. 8.

    JPL

    @Rusty: The Obama for Supreme Ct. was sorta a silly question.   He had no choice but say yes.   Everyone knows he rather nominate Michelle.

  10. 10.

    Ken

    @JPL: Don’t be silly, everyone knows Michelle is running for President in 2024 with Chelsea Clinton as VP.

    Well, everyone in a certain feverish segment of the internet.

  11. 11.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: it’s been a bad year for RSV, which I thought only little kids got but people of all ages do. It’s sweeping through IL, my friend’s grandkids both got severe cases, and the younger one has been in the hospital on oxygen for five days. Pretty sure that’s what my DiL had over Christmas, so now I’m just waiting until it hits me, because it’s been all over here too. Might be what you caught.

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby: In my case it is literally all in my head. Lots of unproductive coughing because of irritation of the throat. Sinus pressure with out the copious amounts of snot. I would have fits of intermittent coughing that will last up to ten minutes (currently down to 15-45 sec). I’ve never had anything like this before, it’s just plain weird.

  18. 18.

    NotMax

    @OzarkHillbilly

    Went through something similar two years ago. Hung in there for seven weeks, to the day.

    Although sounding like a cross between Ted Cassidy and Lionel Stander was kind’a cool.

  19. 19.

    ThresherK

    @Ken: Chelsea? That’s short term thinking.

    All the smart money is on Chelsea’s child, who is the most “conceived to be president” person in this country since GHW Bush.

  20. 20.

    Kay

    This Face the Nation interview with Ivanka Trump is appalling. She spouts self-serving Trump Administration propaganda with virtually no pushback or real questions of any kind.

    This is what the 2020 campaign will be like. Certainly don’t despair, but don’t kid yourselves either- the coverage of Trump sucked in 2016 and it will be worse in 2020, because now they’re actually powerful. It will be difficult to beat them. They’ll get hundreds of hours of this type of free campaign ads.

  21. 21.

    Amir Khalid

    Well, I had a pretty good Montagnachmittag. I went to get my new multiFX guitar pedal replaced, since it had arrived damaged. They told the shipment of that pedal had still not arrived, and seeing that I had waited so long already, they’d replace the pedal I bought with the updated model. More features, and all that good stuff. Yay!

  25. 25.

    Gin & Tonic

    35 degrees and raining. Ideal weather to be roused from a peaceful slumber by the visiting dog, insisting he needs to go for a walk. Oh well, at least he goes home today.

    I have grown unaccustomed to the dog routine.

  33. 33.

    NotMax

    @OzarkHillbilly

    Trivia: The story told is that the character of Lurch as envisioned for the TV series was to be mute. Until Cassidy ad libbed a “You rang?” during a rehearsal and immediately the mute concept flew out the window at about warp 99.

  34. 34.

    Kay

    Face The Nation
    @FaceTheNation
    · 16h
    After being vocal against the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, @IvankaTrump says “everyone should be engaged” in the immigration debate. “The full United States government has been focused on this issue, starting with the president.”

    Trump wasn’t a vocal opponent of the Trump Administration immigration policy and when she was given one incredibly deferential softball about it on this program she said this:

    Well, immigration is not part of my portfolio, obviously.

    Obviously. Not part of her “portfolio”. In the fake job she invented and then hired herself for.

    I get that we have to have this incredibly corrupt and embarrassing nepotism as long as the Trump Family are in power, since it’s not (yet) technically barred by a specific federal statute, but do we have to promote and celebrate it? What does this say to people who had to work for what they got?

  36. 36.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Rusty:

    It’s a lovely thought, if only for the way it would drive the right nuts, but we need to move on to younger people. The failure to do that is one of my objections to Biden. Not that he wouldn’t be a thousand times better than what we have.

  41. 41.

    satby

    @JPL: well, her’s developed into pneumonia and though she was pretty bad for a while her fever is down and she’s been doing better. Still needs supplemental oxygen though, which is a pretty strong indicator that she’s become asthmatic. She’s two and has other health issues from a congenital non-functioning kidney. She seems on the recovery track now though.

    hope your grandbaby escapes this round of RSV!

  45. 45.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: That interview was a goddamned disgrace. It looks like a Javanka PR team product.

    MARGARET BRENNAN: Whenever anyone hears you talk about the importance of being with your children, they also think about your personal- and you were vocal in your opposition to the family separation policy when it came to immigration–

    TRUMP: Yes.

    MARGARET BRENNAN: — and the U.S. border. You said that was a low point for you.

    TRUMP: Correct.

    Maybe I missed it, but IIRC, Ivanka’s “vocal opposition” consisted of a PR flack telling someone at The Times that she opposed it. And then the way Brennan follows up on the “not my portfolio” bullshit:

    TRUMP: Well, immigration is not part of my portfolio, obviously. I think everyone should be engaged. And the full force of the U.S. government is- is committed to this effort to border security, to protecting the most vulnerable. That includes those being trafficked across our border, which this president has committed to countering and combating human trafficking in an incredibly comprehensive, aggressive way. So the full United States government has been focused on this issue, starting with the president.

    MARGARET BRENNAN: Ivanka Trump, thank you very much for your time.

    Yes, thank you for your fucking time, you lying sack of shit. God, how pathetic. Looks like I’m going to be that crackpot lady who writes to the network today.

  47. 47.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @JPL:

    So I guess she’s right when she says the president has been very concerned about the issue.

    When the interview was on , I was in the dining room doing a giant jigsaw puzzle I got for Christmas. And I still kept shouting “Why are they interviewing her??? “

  49. 49.

    satby

    @JPL: He’s a boy right? My youngest had the tubes inserted for repeated ear infections when he was not quite two. Boys seem to need that more often than girls. My son had had a 40% hearing loss in one ear and about 25% in the other by the time he had the tubes put in, but once the fluid drained his hearing recovered. Now they’ll do it younger to prevent hearing loss that delays speech. So it can be a good thing.

  52. 52.

    JPL

    @satby: He’s ten months so my son is concerned about anesthesia.  I like the aggressive action because it can prevent further damage.

  54. 54.

    Betty Cracker

    @JPL: Here’s CNN’s report on when Ivanka “broke her silence” on the issue, i.e., was asked about it at an event:

    With many children have yet to be unified with their parents, Ivanka Trump broke her silence on family separations at the US-Mexico border, saying Thursday that the news “was a low point” during her time in the White House.

    “That was a low point for me as well,” she said Thursday, speaking at an Axios News Shaper conversation on workforce development at the Newseum. “I felt very strongly about that and I am very vehemently against family separation and the separation of parents and children so I would agree with that sentiment. Immigration is incredibly complex as a topic. Illegal immigration is incredibly complicated.”

    The “news” was a low point, and it was “a low point for me.” It couldn’t be more clear that it’s all about image. She went on to blather about how her mother is an immigrant who came here legally. What a piece of shit.

    I don’t believe we’ll ever see any of the Trumps get the justice they deserve. The best we can hope for is they’ll be cut out of the social circles they aspire to, which would sting the tacky climbers, but even that’s probably too much to hope for.

  56. 56.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    The Trump Campaign announced months ago they’d be rolling out Ivanka to appeal to the ladies. Glad to see CBS has joined the NYTimes in donating free campaign ads.

    She shares her father’s huge ego and propensity for lying. She’s made more progress on family issues than anyone in 25 years!  Note the nasty little slam at Obama in there too- a little red meat for the base.

  58. 58.

    satby

    @JPL: well, anesthesia is always a bit of a risk for everyone, but it’s a really quick surgery so a very short time under. My son’s speech didn’t seem delayed because he started talking early, but at 10 months hearing loss could cause some delays. I’m just glad my kid’s hearing loss was reversed. He’s a hale and hearty 34 years old now, but they sure put us through it when they’re babies!

  62. 62.

    Jager

    I got a late Christmas present on Saturday, my daughters gave me a ride in “Man O War” a restored P 51 based in Camarillo. I’m excited as hell, my old man used to take me up in one when I was a kid, my last P 51 ride was 60 years ago. “Man O War” was never in combat, it was one of the last P 51 Ds built, It sat outside at Universal Studios for 7 years, the movie people decorated her with fake bullet holes, removed the Rolls Royce Merlin engine. Commemorative Air Force SoCal reconfigured her to two place and restored her to her original glory,. I can’t wait!

  64. 64.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    She also plugs Wal Mart in the ad. Christ. No wonder media companies are going out of business. Make the Trump campaign and Wal Mart pay for ads! Meet with the President’s daughter, get a free ad. This isn’t even “markets”. It’s some kind of gross corrupt crony economy.

    Just think. With what they pay for that show we could have 100 real reporters and pay them a decent salary. Their whole business model is broken. It no longer functions at all. They’re all going to nonprofits and is it any wonder?

  66. 66.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @OzarkHillbilly: Their “colds” weren’t in the chest initially, either. Combination of post-nasal drip, constant coughing, and how long it hung on. I’m now a week past my laryngitis and still coughing.

  70. 70.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Jeez. Sharon Stone blocked from Bumble dating app

    She may be known as one of the sexiest women in the world, but even Sharon Stone can’t catch a break with online dating.

    Writing on Twitter, the actor complained to the dating app Bumble that she had been blocked from the service after her account was deemed to be fake. “I went on the @bumble dating sight [sic] and they closed my account. Some users reported that it couldn’t possibly be me! Hey @bumble, is being me exclusionary? Don’t shut me out of the hive.”
    …………………..
    After posting her tweet to Bumble, she was inundated with replies offering dates.

    Ya think?

  72. 72.

    Princess

    I confess I did not watch any of the terrible Ivanka interview because I could not stomach it, but I did see enough stills to see that she has had yet more work done on her face. Is there a limit to the amount of facial surgery you can have before it all collapses? I have memories of that scene from the movie Brazil…

  73. 73.

    Zinsky

    The John Lewis quote reminds me of a speech I heard made by Tony Benn, a famous British liberal politician, who said words to the effect that, “no generation ever ‘wins’ the battle for justice and human rights once and for all.  Each successive generation must fight and win the battle in its own way”.  There are always going to be setbacks, and Donald J. Trump is one large, orange, vile setback, but we can take comfort in knowing that he will be gone soon and we can begin the battle again and bend the long, moral arc of the universe in our direction!

    Let’s work like Hell to retire the entire Republican Party in 2020!

  76. 76.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I love this. I reminds me of Josh Marshall yesterday calling Lewis “a man of history walking among us.”

     

    One of my favorite things at the start of every new Congress has been catching freshmen seeing, then meeting, John Lewis for the first time. Either party. The combo of star struck, awe, genuine thrill is always so great.
    Tough to put into words reverence for him among members.
    — Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) December 29, 2019

  79. 79.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: A “gross corrupt crony economy” is exactly right.

    I saw a photo a while back of stacks of boxes of Don. Jr.’s undoubtedly godawful (and ghostwritten) “Triggered” book. Tens of thousands of copies were hoovered up by various official Republican organizations and allied PACs as donation giveaways. There was a poster on the wall of one room where the books were stored that said “Capitalism, Not Cronyism.” The irony.

  84. 84.

    Betty Cracker

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: It was such a gut punch, seeing the news about Lewis’s diagnosis — a “man of history” for sure. Remember when he led the House sit-in to protest inaction on gun violence? A truly irreplaceable figure. Here’s hoping he beats the odds.

  88. 88.

    Kay

    Joyce Alene
    @JoyceWhiteVance
    ·16h
    Buried in this story-Trump had executive branch lawyers working on a theory that he could override Congressional funding decisions because he was POTUS. Every Republican lawmaker must be asked if they support this destruction of checks & balances.

    Just amazing how the GOP Congress have completely capitulated to him. They turned over their entire jobs. They have no role at all, other than as cable tv guests where they spend hours kissing his ass and working on his behalf. They’d prefer it if daddy handles everything. Every one of them is unfit for office by definition- they gave away the job.

  93. 93.

    germy

    @Betty Cracker:

    Tens of thousands of copies were hoovered up by various official Republican organizations and allied PACs as donation giveaways.

    That’s how he made the NYT “Bestseller” list.  But they put an asterisk after the title: their code for the sales being mostly large bulk purchases.

  94. 94.

    raven

    @Jager: Whoa, there was an outfit here with a B 24, B 29 and this Mustang. Somebody loves you big time. I got a ride in the gun seat of a Cobra a couple of years ago.

  96. 96.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    If they’re going to have her on to promote her father could they at least ask some questions about family leave? It’s an actual thing, family leave, and the details make all the difference in the world because some people in this country get “paid” leave (of wildly varying periods) and most do not. Maybe they could force her to explain what she means when she says the two words over and over? Why not prepare for the interview by Googling Wal Mart’s “new” policy and seeing if there’s anything to it? Then when Ivanka plugs Wal Mart they’ll have an actual question ready.

  97. 97.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Betty Cracker:

    A couple of years ago, I saw a clip in which an R made some motion that I don’t recall. It must have had to do with voting rights though, because John Lewis stood up to answer. He gave that speech he often gives about how voting is sacred, finishing by saying that he had friends who died for the right to vote. When he sat down, the R stood up and said, “I withdraw the motion.” I could not have been more shocked, but that says something about how John Lewis’s colleagues feel and think about him

  98. 98.

    Kay

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    John Lewis was the first person I ever heard make the connection between barring black people from registering to vote and thereby ensuring black people wouldn’t serve on juries, because of course jury pools come from lists of registered voters. I have thought about the ripple effects of that ever since.

    Every time we read or see conservatives keeping people from registering to vote or culling people from registered voter lists remember that also means they won’t be called for juries. It corrupts our whole justice system.

  99. 99.

    debbie

    @Rusty:

    It may seem cynical, but it seems to me like Biden threw Obama’s and Hillary’s names out there more to increase his support than anything else. Don’t think for a moment that this won’t rile up the opposition just like those names have riled them up in the past.

  100. 100.

    Jager

    @satby:

    They may have Go-Pros installed on the plane.

    We had a neighbor in Boston who was a P 51 Ace, He was flying bomber escorts over Germany when he was 19, he told me, “the damn thing was always too hot or too cold but if I could think it, the plane would do it.” When he was assigned his first P 51, he named it Margaret after a girl he dated about three times in high school. He wrote her letters and she wrote him back when he got home in 45, she was going to U Mass and was engaged, he was heartbroken until she introduced him to her roommate. We went to their 50th Anniversary Party. Great guy, RIP.

  102. 102.

    satby

    @raven: condolences. No meet up this trip. Next time. It’s getting colder here anyway, the nice weather ended overnight. Snow expected later today and tomorrow.

  109. 109.

    debbie

    @Princess:

    Her cheekbones were noticeably higher up on her face after the High Holy Days, which tells me she hadn’t been in shul like she likes people to think she was.

  110. 110.

    gene108

    @Kay:

    I think part of the problem, with coverage of Ivanka is no one really thinks she’s supposed to do anything productive, other than look “pretty”, and spend daddy and hubby’s money.

    The amount of graft and self-dealing she and Jared are up to really doesn’t get a lot of coverage.  Maybe some of it is because so many “serious people” have internalized the idea that she’s a “White House Barbie”, who may try to dress up like a serious “businesswoman”, but isn’t.

  111. 111.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    Anyone running for the office should be required to take a civics test before announcing. We can’t keep having this kind of stupid in our government.

  112. 112.

    satby

    @raven: not as bad as January can be, true. Hopefully not bad at all, but the snow just started hours ahead of schedule here. Could be lake effect on this side though.

  113. 113.

    Immanentize

    @satby: Sleet here near Boston.  But I have to grade grade grade the next bunch of days.  So the worse the weather, The better to keep me at task.

  115. 115.

    Mousebumples

    @Baud: I’m familiar with Bumble. Used it a bit before meeting my now husband on Coffee Meets Bagel. Bumble is meant to be a less creepy Tinder. Woman (in m/f matches) has to send the first message after matching, if I remember right. Also (around me, a few years ago, anyhow) it wasn’t viewed as much as a hookup app .

  116. 116.

    gene108

    @Kay:

    Just amazing how the GOP Congress have completely capitulated to him. They turned over their entire jobs. They have no role at all, other than as cable tv guests where they spend hours kissing his ass and working on his behalf. They’d prefer it if daddy handles everything. Every one of them is unfit for office by definition- they gave away the job.

    I doesn’t surprise me that Republican Congresspeople want to turn over all the appropriations work to Trump or any Republican, who is President.

    When Boehner, and then Ryan, were Speaker they couldn’t be bothered to the work needed to get their caucus in line, and get a budget passed every year.

    If Republican Congresspeople are relieved of the burdensome work of passing budgets, and generally doing legislative work, it gives them more time to suck up campaign contributions.

    What just hit me about the undying support of Trump is Trump’s inability and/or refusal to fully staff various Cabinet departments means there’s going to be a dearth of experienced Republicans, in those jobs, for the next Republican President. Usually the next President of either the Democrats or Republicans staffs the Cabinet departments, with people from the previous party’s Presidential administration. That’s not really possible after Trump.

    I wonder if would-be Presidents like Cruz, Rubio, etc. realize this.

  117. 117.

    chris

    You should bring back the stocks in the public square, America, with buckets of rotten vegetables.

    Ivanka and Jared are spending Xmas in Paris; here they demonstrate their ability to clear not just a room but an entire country. They're dressed, in Ivanka's words, "as an underweight white supremacist and his mysterious, unlicensed Upper West Side therapist who wants to direct" pic.twitter.com/n1pTkdufxh— Paul Rudnick (@PaulRudnickNY) 25 December 2019

  118. 118.

    bemused

    @Kay:

    It’s this type of crime against practicing real journalism that has had a huge role in the mess we are in now.

  119. 119.

    satby

    @Gin & Tonic: depending on when, it may not be so bad. I’m taking some time off from the market, so if you decide you have time for a meet up there’s lots of Chicago area folks to get together with.

  121. 121.

    Kay

    @bemused:

    I don’t understand having her on and not asking her any questions. I’m not even talking about immigration questions- family leave questions- which the interview is supposedly about.

    If that interview had been conducted with one of the tens of Democratic (female) members of Congress who have been working on these issues for years there would have been real questions. If she wants to play-act as “administration official” she should have to meet the same bar.

    Let’s see some of the aggressive energy that was directed towards Elizabeth Warren on policy applied to the nepotism hire. There are two standards, and the Trump’s get the lower one. I can’t help but think the Trump’s get the lower standard because the Trump’s don’t advocate any policy that impacts monied and powerful interests. These two things are connected. You can spout any bullshit you want UNLESS we’re talking about something that is real as far as shifting money and power DOWN. Then they all put their green eyeshades on and start totting up columns.

    It’s bad for the country to have such low standards. It reduces over-all quality.

  122. 122.

    frosty

    @Jager: P51 ride? Very cool!! I’ve been thinking about one in a B25.  I think the Mid Atlantic Air Museum in Reading dies them.

    How did it work out 60 years ago? It sounded like your dad was a pilot.

  123. 123.

    gene108

    @JPL:

    My nephew had the ear tubes drainage procedure done, when he was around 1 years old.

    After the surgery he pretty much stopped getting ear infections.

    He’s 15 now and no ill effects

  124. 124.

    Kay

    @bemused:

    And here’s other thing, which every member of the political media know- the Trump children are all going to try to stay in power. Even if Daddy loses we’re stuck with this family forever. They’re laying the groundwork for their future careers as corrupt grifters. Ask them real questions now or it will be too late when they ride down the elevator at Trump Tower. Make them at least earn something.  They were given third base. Don’t hand them a home run.

    Treat Ivanka Trump like they might treat a liberal Senator with an actual family leave bill. I know they can do it because I’ve seen them attack liberal congressional policy in very specific ways.

  125. 125.

    gene108

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I disagree. If Cruz, Rubio, J. Bush, Kasich, etc. had won in 2016, they would have all the political appointee positions in the government staffed.  Reagan, Bush, Sr., and Bush, Jr. had these positions filled.

    Trump not filling them has been very unusual, and unprecedented.

    Only thing I can think of is these guys figure, if they’re President, then Republicans would control the Senate, so they can get any idiot confirmed to any position they want.

  128. 128.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Kay:

    Treat Ivanka Trump like they might treat a liberal Senator with an actual family leave bill.

    Then the press would be perceived as “mean” and daddy would tweet out something about the press person.  They live in fear of the Tweet.

  129. 129.

    Jager

    @frosty:

    My old man was a WWII pilot, flight instructor, etc. He was teaching me to fly when I was 14 and he had his first heart attack. He had to stop flying for about 4 years, by that time I was in college. I soloed when I was in my late 20s and then realized it was just too expensive of a hobby. I bought a boat instead.

  130. 130.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay:

    I can’t help but think the Trump’s get the lower standard because the Trump’s don’t advocate any policy that impacts monied and powerful interests. These two things are connected. You can spout any bullshit you want UNLESS we’re talking about something that is real as far as shifting money and power DOWN. Then they all put their green eyeshades on and start totting up columns.

    Bingo!

  131. 131.

    Kay

    The newest low quality hire:

    In the final two months of 2016, the Trump presidential campaign paid more than $1.2 million to a small Ohio telemarketer. At the time, the company, Victory Solutions, owed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Internal Revenue Service and was facing a number of lawsuits from investors. The following year, it filed for bankruptcy.Then Trump’s White House gave the company’s chief executive a job.

    I actually blame Ohio law enforcement for not arresting him and taking him out of the Trump Administration hiring pool. The key is to stop them prior to them getting promoted. We wouldn’t have Trump at all if law enforcement in NY had done their jobs. We should think about starting to enforce some laws. We’re in the midst of a white collar crime wave.

  132. 132.

    bemused

    @Kay:

    Yes, the way much of the media treat liberal candidates and their adult children compared to their kowtowing to trump’s family shows how complicit they are in the corruption of our country. A pox on all of them.

    Seeing the photo of Jared and Ivanka in Paris made me gag. They reek of entitlement and egoism.

  134. 134.

    glory b

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I don’t know. Lots of people said that about Nancy Pelosi (we just need to move on to someone younger), but she has been masterful at playing her hand so far.

    I can’t think of a younger person who could have done better. I’ll confess, I’m no spring chicken, but I’m much better at a lot of things (feats of strength excepted) than I was when I was younger.

    But black people tend to hold elders in higher esteem than white people tend to, IMO. Hence the feelings about Lewis, etc.

  135. 135.

    Gin & Tonic

    @bemused: Through an odd set of connections, my daughter and SIL were at a social event in Europe a couple of years ago where they were also present. Entitled and vapid was their impression. If Jared seems like an empty suit to those of us who see him at some remove, it’s probably because he’s an empty suit up close as well.

  136. 136.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @gene108: How many times have Cruz, Rubio, J. Bush, Kasich, or any other member of the GOP raised their voice in concern about this? The entire GOP has been hell bent on ending the EPA, Depts of Energy, Labor, HHS, HUD, and greatly desires the gutting of all the other agencies in the name of deregulation. That is their goal. Anything that gets in the way of profit must be removed. If they can’t repeal a regulation they will settle for not enforcing it.

  137. 137.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    The pile-on for Warren was something to see. I knew it was coming and she has to be prepared for the employees of the 1% to protect their interests so I’m not whining, threaten their interests and the loyal soldiers head out- but- wow. Ferocious.

    So we know they can do it. They’re just choosing not to.

    Family leave, like everything else, will be the haves and the have nots. One more subsidy for upper income people, as if they didn’t already have a nearly insurmountable advantage.

  139. 139.

    germy

    Select All

    Print

    Read Aloud

    This is what our new PC keeps telling me whenever I click on anything, including empty space.  Also, if I merely roll over something, it will be randomly captured.  It just happens, I can never make it happen.

    I’m used to our old macbook pro.  This PC is annoying me.  It’s one of those laptops that you can select things by touching the screen.

  140. 140.

    Jinchi

    @Betty Cracker: The “news” was a low point, and it was “a low point for me.”It couldn’t be more clear that it’s all about image.

    It reminded me of Trump’s reaction to the Khashoggi murder.

    “They had a very bad original concept, it was carried out poorly, and the coverup was the worst in the history of coverups”

    Trump didn’t give a **** about the murder. Khashoggi wasn’t even an American citizen. He was just upset that the coverup went badly.

  141. 141.

    bemused

    @Kay:

    If my adult kids had grown up to be “reporters” who kiss trump kids’ asses for fame and fortune, they’d never hear the end of my disappointment in them.

  144. 144.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @germy: Touch screens are the spawn of the Devil. My wife will hand me her iphone and all I have to do is take it from her and it goes crazy. The last time it just went black. She finally realized that they really do hate me.

  145. 145.

    germy

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    It’s not a mouse, this is a laptop.  I click in the center area below the keyboard.  Just now I tried selecting the balloon-juice “refresh” button and I got the “select all, print, read aloud” message again.

    I’d like to throw this laptop out the window, and myself after it.

  146. 146.

    germy

    @OzarkHillbilly:  touchscreens.

    When we bought this house it came with a dishwasher.  Not brand new, but not really old, either.  The touchscreen controls have crapped out.  I tried getting it repaired, and was told by sears it’s a discontinued model, so no parts available.

    What was wrong with old fashioned knobs and buttons that they had to be replaced with touchscreens?

  147. 147.

    JPL

    @Jinchi: And the base doesn’t care or should I say and the base plays on.

    I refuse to go down that path and will fight like hell for the next nominee.

  148. 148.

    Immanentize

    New York Times works for the administration part gazinintily.  Trump rage tweets about California and San Francisco all weekend.  Today headline on the front page:

    “True, California is Booming.
    Also True: California’s a Mess”

    Headlines woman who ran for and lost a Board of Supervisors seat in San Fran then moved to Denver.

  149. 149.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @germy: Are you using the trackpad on the laptop, you my be pressing and holding and that might be simulating a “right click”.  The right click on the mouse brings up the context menu.

    ETA: If you’re using the touch screen, pressing and holding will also bring up the context menu.

  150. 150.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: Yep. I just paraphrased your comment on Twitter, BTW. Hope you don’t mind! Most of the outrage about that horrible interview was directed at the handling of the immigration question, understandably. But you’re right — Ivanka got the kid-glove treatment on the purported topic of the interview too.

    I’ve been reluctant to attribute our catastrophic media dysfunction entirely to how it serves the interests of the owners. I know legacy media journalists who are hardworking people with tons of integrity. But it’s undeniably a factor, and it’s especially obvious in the celebrity TV news business.

  151. 151.

    germy

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I swear to god i’m not pressing and holding. Just the lightest click brings the context menu.

    It seems to want me to just press the screen, rather than the trackpad.

    I’m guessing they want to eventually do away with the trackpad and keyboard, and so they’re annoying me into the habit of touching the screen.

  153. 153.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’ve been reluctant to attribute our catastrophic media dysfunction entirely to how it serves the interests of the owners.

    “Remember the Maine!”

    I’m not sure why sentient adult humans expect the press to be objective.

  154. 154.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Kay: Being a part of a separate, co-equal part of government doesn’t work for authoritarians.  They are claiming a space that is high up in their perceived order of things but subordinate to the ruler.  It’s not Trump per se, it’s just that he’s the first person to truly claim that mantle.  They fundamentally do not believe in democracy, and they need to be rooted out of Congress distract by district.

  158. 158.

    germy

    @Immanentize:  I vacuumed it.  My wife scrubbed it.  She covered it with a tarp and told contractor not to use it as a saw horse.  He has since moved it back into the kitchen and hooked it up.  It is now uncovered.  But last time I checked it had some more sawdust on it, just a tiny coating, from him cutting countertops.  I really don’t like this guy.

  160. 160.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @germy: If you’re clicking right below the keyboard, your buttons might be at the top of the trackpad and you’re hitting the right button.  The buttons on my Surface Pro trackpad are on the bottom and when you click on them that portion of the trackpad depresses a bit, but they’re just an area on the trackpad.  When you click on the main part of the trackpad it doesn’t depress.

  163. 163.

    Immanentize

    @germy: not necessarily.  On my surface and my HP Revolve, you can move between the two modes even if using your keyboard.  In your control panel, in action center, there is a mode setting.  Just check there to make sure?

  164. 164.

    Jinchi

    @germy: What was wrong with old fashioned knobs and buttons that they had to be replaced with touchscreens?

    Knobs and buttons aren’t tech solutions.

    I really cringe at the use of touchscreens in newer model cars. I guess the theory is that the cars should be driving themselves now, so who cares if anyone inside is paying attention to the road.

  166. 166.

    Immanentize

    I love this place.  Recipes, mustang rides, pets, politics, carpentry and tech support. It’s like an online Farmers almanac.

  167. 167.

    frosty

    @Jager:  That’s a great story… except for buying the “hole in the water into which you pour money”. I picked up 14 hours of dual in my 20s in a Cessna before I ran out of money. Now I too own a (wood) boat- 14 ft Bluejay on a trailer in the garage.

  170. 170.

    rikyrah

    @debbie:

    It may seem cynical, but it seems to me like Biden threw Obama’s and Hillary’s names out there more to increase his support than anything else

    Barack Obama received more  votes than any other Presidential candidate. He is also the most popular Democrat alive.

     

    Don’t blame Joe for clinging to Obama. The rest of them should have done it too.

     

    Hillary got the second highest voter total.

    See comment about Obama.

  171. 171.

    frosty

    @Omnes Omnibus: “They fundamentally do not believe in democracy, and they need to be rooted out of Congress distract by district.”

    I’ve been working on this for 7 elections, with good D candidates that should appeal to everyone. I’ll keep trying but I’m convinced it ain’t gonna happen in my Tea Party district (now ungerrymandered, too )

  172. 172.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @germy: In his defense, most times when there is a need to trim the countertop it only becomes obvious after it is in place, at which point it is much better to trim it there rather then take it back outside which only increases the chances of a dinged door/cabinet front/countertop etc etc.

  173. 173.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Emma: I’ve had the dizzyness hit me a time or 2 while coughing or if I had to suddenly sit up in bed while hacking.

  174. 174.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @frosty: We won’t get them all this election.  We won’t even get most.  But let’s get the ones we can this time and keep on trying.  Like you have been.  If you don’t win, you at least make the fuckers’ lives miserable.

  178. 178.

    dnfree

    @Kay: I can’t speak for every state, but Illinois also draws from drivers licenses and state IDs and has for a long time. There used to be people who refused to register to vote because they didn’t want to be called for jury duty.

  179. 179.

    Jager

    @frosty:

    I was in business with a friend of mine, a guy who actually “boot-strapped” himself up from nothing. He owned a Cessna Citation X. I flew from Phoenix to Chicago with him. Rather than laze around in the leather lounge seats, I rode right seat with the pilot the entire trip. Top speed .86 Mach, service ceiling 50,000 feet. Holy shit, what a ride.

  181. 181.

    Original Lee

    @JPL: Kinda late on this, but Satby is totally correct. The first thing our ENT said to us when he explained the need for tubes was, “I’ve never even come close to losing a patient with this procedure.” Which is of course what you want to hear. The surgical team was amazing. The anaesthesiologist let me hold her and sing to her while they put her under, and we had hardly been in the waiting room 5 minutes when they called us back to pick her up, awake but groggy.

  184. 184.

    kindness

    If Biden had said he would name Michelle Obama to the Supreme Court he would have won all the mornings.  The heads exploding on the right would be a nice fireworks display.

Comments are closed.