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You are here: Home / Politics / Media / Chris Matthews Taps Out

Chris Matthews Taps Out

by Adam L Silverman|  March 2, 20207:53 pm| 270 Comments

This post is in: Media, Open Threads, Popular Culture, Women's Rights, Women's Rights Are Human Rights

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About 45 minutes or so ago, depending on when I hit post, Chris Matthews has retired from MSNBC.

pic.twitter.com/ZKwShVaTWE

— Hardball (@hardball) March 3, 2020

It was so abrupt and sudden and, apparently, unexpected that when they came back from commercial, Chris Kornacki was sitting in front of the camera, looking like he was going to cry, and clearly at a loss for words. He took the show immediately back to another commercial so they could figure out what to do for the rest of the hour.

A lot of people are going to start to opine that Matthews was forced out because of his confusing Jamie Harrison who is running to unseat Senator Graham in South Carolina for Senator Scott, who is the junior senator from South Carolina. Or that his comparing Senator Sanders’ victory in the Nevada caucus to Hitler’s invasion and subsequent occupation of France by going around the gap in the Maginot Line. But the reality is that Laura Bassett’s courage was the coup de grâce.

At the end of last week, Bassett wrote an article and got it published that specifically recounted how Matthews had sexually harassed her on multiple occasions when she was booked on Hardball as a commenter. The safe play for Bassett was to continue to not publicly discuss it, even as many people knew that something had happened according to her recounting events in her article based on an earlier article about a not named cable news host who had harassed her.

In 2017, I wrote about a cable news host being gross and inappropriate with me. I was afraid to name him at the time. I'm not anymore; it was Chris Matthews! And his sexist exchange with Warren this week inspired me to revisit those moments and name him https://t.co/oBWXXJDPhR

— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) February 28, 2020

Here is Bassett’s response to his resignation:

Guessing this is not a retirement. https://t.co/pbwDM2UtUG

— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) March 3, 2020

No, I have more to say than that. Since calling out Chris Matthews, this week has been really rough. The harassment has been invasive, cruel and personal. And it’s all worth it if he will never have the platform to demean and objectify us again. https://t.co/YS1FxW25zt

— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) March 3, 2020

And here response to his on air apology that was not specifically addressed to her:

Wow https://t.co/U9X4ZIrBub

— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) March 3, 2020

Open thread.

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Previous Post: « Contest ends…
Next Post: Respite Open Thread: Here’s A Cat On A Hat A Cat sitting on a hat»

Reader Interactions

270Comments

  1. 1.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 7:55 pm

    When is Biden’s Texas rally? Beto is going to be there too. Its like the reunion of the D candidates of 2020.

  2. 2.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    March 2, 2020 at 7:59 pm

    Opening the way for Baud!/Matthews 2020?

  3. 3.

    A Ghost To Most

    March 2, 2020 at 8:00 pm

    Initial guess is Toad gets Tweety’s slot, and Wallace gets two hours.

  4. 4.

    PsiFighter37

    March 2, 2020 at 8:00 pm

    Good. Sounds like he was forced out for being a terrible person, although his political advice has been garbage for years and was stuck in the Reagan-Tip O’Neill partnership.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    March 2, 2020 at 8:01 pm

    Baud!/Matthews 2020!: Never ok. I’m sorry!

  6. 6.

    Shalimar

    March 2, 2020 at 8:01 pm

    Oh good.  From the way Kornacki was just talking when i tuned in, I thought Matthews was dead. Retirement is much better.

  7. 7.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

     Its like the reunion of the D candidates of 2020.

    Where’s Bernie? //

  8. 8.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    @A Ghost To Most: My understanding is they want to expand Wallace to two hours and just get rid of hardball completely, as well as MTP Daily. Todd has, apparently, thrown a fit over that.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    March 2, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Not in Selma.

  10. 10.

    West of the Rockies

    March 2, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    An inartful, old-school, sexist, but progressive voice is muffled. Wish it had been Limbaugh or Levin or Hannity or Coulter or Savage or Malkin or Carlson or–the list goes on–instead, but c’est la vie.

  11. 11.

    lamh36

    March 2, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    @JoyAnnReid
    Following Following @JoyAnnReid
    MoreJoy Reid Retweeted Ahmed Baba
    In shock. But let me say: being on @hardball was on my dream board from back in my @MiamiHerald column days. Chris Matthews not only let me on as a guest, he was 1 of the 1st to let me fill in. He has always been a genuine supporter & friend, who even sang for me when I was down.
    @JoyAnnReid
    17m17 minutes ago
    More
    I have been a @hardball viewer from day one, and will miss my pal in DC. Much love @HardballChris and thinking of your awesome show team tonight. Looking forward to your next book and will miss the Midnight Hardball road trips with Tina and the Hardball crew.

    https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/1234640595173494785

  12. 12.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 8:03 pm

    @A Ghost To Most: I thought I had read they were already gonna sideline the toad to increase NW’s slot. I guess I’m not the only one who switches it off when she hands off to the goatee of misplaced self-satisfaction

  13. 13.

    dmsilev

    March 2, 2020 at 8:04 pm

    Long overdue.

    And even if he wasn’t a serial sexual harasser, his views on politics were stuck on some weird idealized version of 1985 and it’s not like that offers much useful insight on today.

  14. 14.

    hells littlest angel

    March 2, 2020 at 8:05 pm

    America: Bye, Felicia.

    Chris Matthews: What? Who’s Felicia? I don’t understand. What the heck are you talking about with this Felicia stuff? When I worked for Tip O’Neill people didn’t say things like that.

  15. 15.

    Roger Moore

    March 2, 2020 at 8:06 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Where’s Bernie?

    He did say the D candidates, not the non-Democrats running for the Democratic nomination.

  16. 16.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 8:06 pm

    OT (already) but.. /sigh/ Chris Hayes just said some horseshit about “the centrist democrats whose top goal is to stop Bernie Sanders”

    No, my sweet summer in Parkslope child, our top goal is to beat Donald trump, our second to make McConnell minority leader

  17. 17.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 8:07 pm

    @dmsilev: The politics practiced by Tip and Ronnie are as dead as they are.

  18. 18.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 8:08 pm

    @Roger Moore: Oh, we’re excluding Leap Year Democrats(LYD)?

  19. 19.

    Elizabelle

    March 2, 2020 at 8:08 pm

    It is tragedy to hold on way too long.

    Learn it the hard way, hardball.

  20. 20.

    Morzer

    March 2, 2020 at 8:08 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I’d be tempted to tell Tuck Chodd that both sides do it when it comes to his impending cancellation.

  21. 21.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 8:09 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I thought our second goal was to send Mitch back to Kentucky.

  22. 22.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 8:10 pm

    My guess is that the Scott and Nevada were the result of a distracted and upset Matthews knowing the Basset piece was coming out. There’s no way that got published without he and MSNBC being notified ahead of time.

  23. 23.

    West of the Rockies

    March 2, 2020 at 8:10 pm

    @hells littlest angel:

    Some people really don’t see how vile and corrosive the conservatives of America have become.  Maybe they see it but can’t quite believe it?  Matthews did seem sometimes clueless.

  24. 24.

    Baud

    March 2, 2020 at 8:11 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: 8:30 eastern.

  25. 25.

    hilts

    March 2, 2020 at 8:11 pm

    Hallefuckinglujah!!!

    Chris Matthews being swept into the trash receptacle of history is a fantastic way to start the week.

    Time to start popping some champagne corks!

    Happy Motherfucking Schadenfreude Bitches!!

    Musical Tribute to Chris Matthews being shitcanned

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_37WNrX3Hw

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12R4FzIhdoQ

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMVjToYOjbM

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdWyYn0E4Ys

  26. 26.

    dmsilev

    March 2, 2020 at 8:12 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: The reality of politics in the Reagan/O’Neil era are also somewhat different than how Matthews chose to remember it.

  27. 27.

    Chyron HR

    March 2, 2020 at 8:12 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Don’t those foolish centrist Democrats know you don’t need to beat your opponent in the primary, just show up at the convention with a third of the delegates and order the rest of the party to kneel before Zod Bernie?

  28. 28.

    janesays

    March 2, 2020 at 8:13 pm

    @A Ghost To Most:

    Griffin has apparently been talking to Shepard Smith as well. His non-compete expires soon and he wants back on the air.

  29. 29.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 8:14 pm

    Richard M. Nixon @ dick_nixon
    Matthews is a stooge who makes people dumber. He’s stuck 35 years in the past. Those terrible books are a discredit to the history profession, and his analysis in all things has the air of the rare old soldier who actually enjoys telling war stories.

    an old soldier who never served and never got over his boomer guilt about it

    I’m blanking on the name of the razor-wielding NYT book reviewer who said Matthews’ magnum dopus on Kennedy and Nixon was like B+ paper by a college sophomore. He seethed about it for a week.

  30. 30.

    BBA

    March 2, 2020 at 8:14 pm

    Looking forward to criminal charges.

  31. 31.

    Morzer

    March 2, 2020 at 8:15 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:  Moscow, surely.

  32. 32.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 8:17 pm

    @hilts: Two songs with George Harrison, I like it.

  33. 33.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 8:17 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Rally happening right now.

    Texas is gettable. I know Adam probably strenuously disagrees with me on this, but Trump is only +3 in head to heads with Bloomberg, Biden, and Bernie.

    If there’s a shift of turnout to women, younger voters, Texas could at least fall in the ‘too early to call’ category. Trump won it by 800K votes, which sounds like a lot, but Clinton won IL and MA by over 1M, NY by 1.7M, and CA by 4.2M. For the GOP’s anchor, and the 2nd largest state, that’s a gettable margin.

  34. 34.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 8:17 pm

    @janesays: Shep would be good addition.

  35. 35.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 8:18 pm

    Brian Stelter @ brianstelter
    Huge tip of the hat to @SteveKornacki for taking over after Matthews signed off. MSNBC hosts had NO idea this was happening. It’s a bit reminiscent of the day Shep left Fox, though he left for very different reasons.

    Oh man, Hayes and his show are stinking it up hard tonight

  36. 36.

    PsiFighter37

    March 2, 2020 at 8:18 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: FWIW, these so-called ‘moderates’ in the Democratic primary have been running on a far more liberal platform than Obama did in 2008. Maybe some credit where credit is due – now, if Biden gets in and takes some liberal-oriented executive action, it will be viewed as ‘moderate’.

    Good shifting on the Overton Window, IMO – and maybe the only that Wilmer deserves any credit for.

  37. 37.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 2, 2020 at 8:19 pm

    Digby says it was a “dignified, classy sign-off.”

    Really? I sure don’t see it that way. As Adam points out in the OT, Tweety just made the announcement and then up and left. Leaving the last-minute substitute host and presumably banks of directors and producers and crew to figure out a show on the fly. That’s fucking irresponsible and unprofessional.

    I’ve never liked Matthews, and I’m sure my personal bias is speaking here, but I thought his departure — although for once he didn’t yell and spit everywhere — was a big drama queen “fuck you” to the colleagues he claimed to love so much.

    Good riddance, Tweety. Go write a bunch of books I don’t plan to read.

  38. 38.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 8:19 pm

    @janesays: If Shep gets back on air before someone like Maxwell, I’m going to be pissed.

  39. 39.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 8:20 pm

    @Roger Moore: Did you see my comment response to you in the Israeli election thread?

  40. 40.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 8:21 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: No he wouldn’t. A latina host would be a good addition.

    Us white guys gotta learn when to hang it up. Hang it up Shep. You did fine, you got enough to retire, there are enough white guys on TV as it is.

  41. 41.

    lamh36

    March 2, 2020 at 8:22 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Like I said…MSNBC decided to go all on softening coverage of Bernie.

    Chris Hayes essentially has either Bernie or Micheal Moore on like once a freakn’ week…smh

  42. 42.

    guachi

    March 2, 2020 at 8:22 pm

    @Martin: If TX isn’t gettable at the statewide level, at least we might be able to squeeze another Congressional seat or two or maybe make the ones that flipped blue in 2018 easier to keep. IIRC, only two flipped and a few were really close.

    Every little bit helps.

  43. 43.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 8:22 pm

    @Martin: Texas has closed more voting precincts/sites since 2016 than every other state combined. The vast majority in districts that are overwhelmingly African American, LatinX, and/or include colleges and universities.

  44. 44.

    danielx

    March 2, 2020 at 8:24 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    how so?

  45. 45.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 8:25 pm

    @guachi: The action in Texas is in flipping at least one chamber in the state legislature, expanding the number of Democrats elected to municipal positions, and picking up a few more House seats. The bonus would be MJ Hegar defeating Senator Cornyn, but that’s a heavy lift.

  46. 46.

    lamh36

    March 2, 2020 at 8:25 pm

    Uh…what?

    Lis Smith responding to CNN reporte on Buttgieg flyin to Dallas to endourse Biden…

    @Lis_Smith
    Just a note on sources: this source was wrong. This info was wrong. This report was wrong. Networks & news orgs will be better off when they cross off people who tell them falsehoods from their list and also wait to report until they have it solid from people who actually know.

    But….uh

    @keithboykin
    Following Following @keithboykin
    More
    Pete Buttigieg officially endorses Joe Biden for president at a rally in Dallas.

    https://twitter.com/keithboykin/status/1234641701106601984

    Ugh…lord Biden please don’t add Liz azz to the stafff…ya dont’ need her

    ETA: and then she doubled down?

     

    <blockquote>@Lis_Smith
    If you are mad about this tweet- @petebuttigieg didn’t go to endorse at the big Dallas rally as CNN reported.

    We set up an OTR separately and CNN got it wrong. At some point, media outlets should acknowledge when they get it wrong. </blockquote>

     

    this chick is cray cray!

  47. 47.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 8:26 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I would like to say, I’ve never seen Warren or Klobouchar behave in a way that I thought was bitchy but what Matthews did was bitchy.

    Grow the fuck up, Chris. Your stunt didn’t hurt the management, it hurt the staff.

  48. 48.

    Kathleen

    March 2, 2020 at 8:26 pm

    @hilts: I wish AMessNBC would go down in flames with him.

  49. 49.

    Roger Moore

    March 2, 2020 at 8:26 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Adam, I saw your comment.  I didn’t respond because I didn’t think there was much to add.

  50. 50.

    PsiFighter37

    March 2, 2020 at 8:27 pm

    @lamh36: She is the worst. I felt unclean after reading the NY Magazine profile on her – a profile in privilege and in failing upwards in Democratic campaign.

  51. 51.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 8:29 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I know, but Trump didn’t do great in 2016, and TX cities have been bluing up which aren’t suffering from the usual electoral bullshit.

    I don’t think we have a great chance, but if you wanted to blow through some Bloomberg cash, forcing the GOP to fight for TX and its downtickets would be worth doing.

  52. 52.

    gene108

    March 2, 2020 at 8:29 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    I wouldn’t give Bernie that much credit.  The Democrats started drifting left during the Obama administration for various reasons.

    He got candidate Clinton to raise her minimum wage offer from $12/hr to $15/hr.

    I think Occupy Wall Street did more to get Democrats attention they needed to be aware they needed to move left.

  53. 53.

    different-church-lady

    March 2, 2020 at 8:29 pm

    With all the news flying about today I wandered over to DKos to see how “The Great Plot Against The Only Viable Nominee” was playing there, and I’m greeted with this:

    POLL

    WHO IS YOUR CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT IN 2020?

    Bernie Sanders 23%

    Joe Biden 29%

    Elizabeth Warren 40%

    Kos comments, “And … Biden beat Bernie? Wow.”

  54. 54.

    lamh36

    March 2, 2020 at 8:31 pm

    “@PeterHamby
    Bernie on CNN: “Outside of the South, we are doing very well.”

    https://twitter.com/PeterHamby/status/1234646099857756160

    “Outside of the South”….so uh…Black voters right…

  55. 55.

    Anya

    March 2, 2020 at 8:31 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: that whole panel was dizzying. Bernie surrogate’s insistent that only Bernie can do it was never challenged. I felt like everyone was walking on eggshells while Chris was being his Bernie supporter self.  I can see Lovette’s frustration. Although, I think he’s Bernie curious these days. Either that or the Crooked Media gang doesn’t want to offend Bernie’s crazies. They critique every democrat, including Obama, but they never say anything about Bernie. He’s gonna be our Trump, isn’t he?

  56. 56.

    different-church-lady

    March 2, 2020 at 8:31 pm

    @lamh36: That quote is from 2016, right?

  57. 57.

    West of the Cascades

    March 2, 2020 at 8:32 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I have to assume lawsuits are underway? This seems a clear Equal Protection violation, not to mention the Voting Rights Act. The Guardian had an eye-opening article on this today but didn’t mention legal challenges. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/02/texas-polling-sites-closures-voting

  58. 58.

    Jeffro

    March 2, 2020 at 8:32 pm

    Weinstein: convicted

    Stone: convicted, sentenced

    Tweety: resigning

    We’re on a roll, America!!

  59. 59.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 8:33 pm

    @gene108:

    He got candidate Clinton to raise her minimum wage offer from $12/hr to $15/hr.

    Did she? My recollection is that she stuck to 12 at the national level and supported local movements toward fifteen? I know he got her to waffle on TPP.

    I think the shock of trump moved people left on some issues– like health care, they didn’t know what they’d got till it was (almost ) gone– and immigration (if not all the way to the Bernie left) and not enough on others, i.e. the judiciary, which from what I can see is still barely discussed. How are there not big No More Kavanaugh signs or such like at all D rallies?

  60. 60.

    Mary G

    March 2, 2020 at 8:33 pm

    He should have been fired when the remark about bringing a Bill Cosby pill to use on Hillary was revealed. Better late than never, though. Flouncing off in a huff is typical.

  61. 61.

    different-church-lady

    March 2, 2020 at 8:34 pm

    @Jeffro: Eyes on the prize.

  62. 62.

    janesays

    March 2, 2020 at 8:34 pm

    @Martin: I’m sorry… Maxwell? I honestly have no idea who that is.

  63. 63.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 2, 2020 at 8:34 pm

    @Martin:

    I’ve never seen Warren or Klobouchar behave in a way that I thought was bitchy but what Matthews did was bitchy.

    Exactly so.

  64. 64.

    PsiFighter37

    March 2, 2020 at 8:35 pm

    @Martin: I don’t think Biden wins Texas, but I do think that we pick a few House seats in Texas (TX has something like 6 or 7 Republican incumbents retiring, and Will Hurd’s seat will definitely ours for the taking).

  65. 65.

    JMG

    March 2, 2020 at 8:35 pm

    You know, I retired five years ago. I know I was lucky that I was financially able to do so, but it’s the greatest. I don’t get why the same talking heads I saw in 1982 hang on until they’re blown out with dynamite. I was in journalism (sports division) and I know I wouldn’t be able to do the gig on a daily basis without repeating myself ad nauseum. Like Chris, and Gloria Borger, and David Gergen and the rest of them. Why do they keep doing it?

  66. 66.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 8:36 pm

    @Roger Moore: No worries. Just wanted to make sure you saw it since the thread appears to be dead.

  67. 67.

    jl

    March 2, 2020 at 8:36 pm

    “Compliments on a woman’s appearance some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were okay were never okay. Certainly not today. For making such comments in the past, I’m sorry.”

    That was Matthews’ apology? I wonder what Mathews’ idea of a ‘complement’ Is. For some reason I doubt it is ‘nice hairdo’ or ‘you’re looking rested and ready to go today’, or anything even close.

  68. 68.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 8:37 pm

    @Anya: I’m listening not watching, but Hayes framed it as an “Establishment vs Bernie” discussion from the start, Reiner is trying to be unifying, the once- Bernie-curious O’Bros have a policy of promoting unity, and that Bernie-bot is just awful. Nasty comment about Biden’s mental acuity, interrupting and shouting, un-challenged on her highly dubious claims about Bernie changing the turn out models, etc.

    Is there really no one in the Bernie campaign who sees how the cult-like, obnoxious behavior of their surrogates plays with people who aren’t true believers?

  69. 69.

    Mary G

    March 2, 2020 at 8:37 pm

    @lamh36

    @PsiFighter37:

     Lis Smith was the worst thing about Pete’s campaign and the fact that he was successful beyond his wildest dreams means she’ll be around forever is freaking depressing.

  70. 70.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 8:38 pm

    @West of the Cascades: One would hope.

  71. 71.

    janesays

    March 2, 2020 at 8:38 pm

    @lamh36: She’s not disputing the claim that Buttigieg is endorsing Biden, she’s disputing the claim that he will be at Biden’s rally tonight. Buttigieg just gave his endorsement a little more than an hour ago at small gathering somewhere in Texas. But it wasn’t a big rally.

  72. 72.

    PsiFighter37

    March 2, 2020 at 8:39 pm

    @Mary G: Pete didn’t win – so it’s another loss for her, in my book. If she reppears, I wouldn’t be shocked: privileged white girl who probably cruised through Dartmouth with barely a passing average continues to fail upwards thanks to being born into a politically-connected family.

  73. 73.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 8:39 pm

    @Mary G:

    bringing a Bill Cosby pill to use on Hillary was revealed.

    good lord, I’d actually forgotten that part– I hope people are tweeting that at all the “Oh, my friend Chris…” tweets from people I like and respect

  74. 74.

    mad citizen

    March 2, 2020 at 8:39 pm

    Goodbye Tweety, go have a beer with Bill O Reilly.  I tried to paste a picture of a smashed Tweety figure, but alas that didn’t work so I just will say: thanks to the Jackalteriat for teaching me such a great nickname for this POS.

  75. 75.

    trnc

    March 2, 2020 at 8:39 pm

    I’m glad that Matthews is the hell outta there.

    Watching Anderson Cooper interview both Sanders and Biden, and JFC, these guys are not only not getting any younger – their age seems to be accelerating. Biden seriously looks like he’s aged 15 years since 2016.

  76. 76.

    lamh36

    March 2, 2020 at 8:39 pm

    @janesays: This is what she’s nitpicking on. THAT’S what she’s stickling on? Still makes her seem cray cray to me.

    I sure hope Biden folks ain’t planning on adding her crazy azz to the team

    The bigger news is that Beto is endorsing…NOT Pete.  Beto’s the BIG get in Texas…smh

  77. 77.

    Lapassionara

    March 2, 2020 at 8:40 pm

    I will not miss Chris Matthews. He talked over his guests; he was hyper most of the time; and he said weird and inappropriate comments when it was his turn to talk.

    i do not know why he did not leave years ago.

  78. 78.

    Mary G

    March 2, 2020 at 8:40 pm

    @lamh36

    @PsiFighter37:

    Lis Smith was the worst thing about Pete’s campaign and the fact that he was successful beyond his wildest dreams means she’ll be around forever is freaking depressing.

  79. 79.

    Kent

    March 2, 2020 at 8:40 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Good. Sounds like he was forced out for being a terrible person, although his political advice has been garbage for years and was stuck in the Reagan-Tip O’Neill partnership.

    He was actually Tip O’Neal’s chief of staff so not surprising.

  80. 80.

    gene108

    March 2, 2020 at 8:43 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    How are there not big No More Kavanaugh signs or such like at all D rallies?

    Cut our losses and move on?

    and not enough on others, i.e. the judiciary, which from what I can see is still barely discussed.

    Republicans have been focusing on the judiciary since Nixon, when they saw what the Warren court did to this country. The religious right, especially, zeroed in on the courts and when Reagan merged them into the Republican Party, Republican voters were also taught to look at the courts.

    I think it took Moscow Mitch’s abuse of the Senate rules to get Democrats to begin waking up.

  81. 81.

    Amir Khalid

    March 2, 2020 at 8:43 pm

    It’s a pity they can’t all be Walter Cronkite, who kept his integrity and the public’s respect throughout his career and even in retirement.

  82. 82.

    JanieM

    March 2, 2020 at 8:43 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    an old soldier who never served and never got over his boomer guilt about it

    Born in 1945, not a boomer.

    /boomer pedant

  83. 83.

    A Ghost To Most

    March 2, 2020 at 8:44 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Nicolle deserves 2 hours; Toad deserves none for the collection of fascist-adjacent  tools he digs up.

  84. 84.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 8:45 pm

    @janesays: Zerlina Maxwell

    She’s over at SiriusXM. Is a guest on MSNBC quite a lot. She’s very good.

  85. 85.

    Roger Moore

    March 2, 2020 at 8:46 pm

    @gene108:

    The Democrats started drifting left during the Obama administration for various reasons.

    I think Republican intransigence has been the biggest thing.  Since WWII, the basic policy approach of moderate Democrats has been to compromise with the people on their right and drag the liberal Democrats along with the claim that half a loaf is better than none.  It made some sense from a political standpoint; a policy that won with bipartisan support was unlikely to be thrown out after the next election, even if it wasn’t everything the Democrats wanted.  The Obama era proved this approach is no longer viable, since there are no longer any moderate Republicans to produce bipartisan compromises.  That leaves nobody for the moderate Democrats to negotiate with except liberal Democrats, which has resulted in them swinging to the left.

  86. 86.

    chris

    March 2, 2020 at 8:49 pm

    Rachel might be interesting, she called out NBC management on her show a while ago.

  87. 87.

    zhena gogolia

    March 2, 2020 at 8:50 pm

    @jl:

    Here’s a good compilation:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNlKd_EmEYU

  88. 88.

    Anya

    March 2, 2020 at 8:50 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: She thinks Trump is going to make a “mincemeat” out of Biden. This is the problem with cult-like movements. Bernie doesn’t know how to take criticism. Biden is used to being challenged and criticized. He’d probably laugh in Trump’s face and mock him and yell “malarky” every time Trump says something silly. Also, why attack Biden on mental acuity when Trump is out there. He’s going to face a guy who talks nonsense all the time and who can’t even remember his children’s names. But sure, let’s eat our own.

  89. 89.

    janesays

    March 2, 2020 at 8:50 pm

    @JanieM: Just barely… had he been born 15 days later, he would have been a Boomer.

  90. 90.

    Steeplejack

    March 2, 2020 at 8:51 pm

    Okay, let’s all take a few minutes to breathe into a paper bag and calm down. Matthews’s departure was not a sudden surprise and a “fuck you” to all his colleagues. He was clearly reading from a teleprompter, and they did a standard fade to black at the end of his announcement. So it was planned and known to that extent.

    I didn’t see him storm off the set, as some have said, but maybe that’s because I don’t have the special MSNBC Platinum Club feed. Would love for someone to post the video of that, if it exists.

    Yes, Steve Kornacki was visibly shaken. They probably told him to stand by in readiness and that Matthews would be making an announcement but didn’t tell him the details. The “deal,” whatever it was, possibly could have been finalized only at the last minute. Kornacki was still shaken and almost in tears when he closed the show. Clearly Matthews is something of a mentor or role model to him.

    And making the announcement at the top of the show was the appropriate spot. Matthews was absent from the Nevada caucus coverage over the weekend, and I think he was not on Hardball a couple of days last week (if it wasn’t preëmpted by primary coverage). With the media storm building around him, it would have been ridiculous for him to come back and do a “regular” show without addressing it but then do his announcement at the end.

    Yes, it’s a messy, unexpected situation, but let’s try to stick to the facts as we know them (and as they become available).

  91. 91.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 8:51 pm

    Josh Jamerson @joshjame
    Sanders says of his SC result: “When we talk about South Carolina, and when we talk about other places, we are winning working-class people by big numbers.” Exits showed Sanders lost black voters to Biden by 44-points in SC. I assume many of them were working-class people?

    I don’t want to be the white guy who presumes to speak for black people, but I am just fucking gobsmacked at the way this old asshole and his asshole supporters are erasing the largest turn-out of African-American voters yet, and we’re all just like, yeah, that’s how he rolls

  92. 92.

    janesays

    March 2, 2020 at 8:51 pm

    @Martin: Oh, yeah, she’s great. I’ve never heard her called just by her last name, that’s why I was confused.

  93. 93.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 8:52 pm

    @JanieM: That’s okay. Most people who are labelled as millennials aren’t millennials.

    Speaking of boomers, if the transmission projections are correct for Covid, and the mortality rates in the US match elsewhere, Trump is likely to lose about 3 percentage points over 2016, assuming those cross tabs also hold up.

    So there’s our first direct causative relationship between Covid and the election, morbid as it may be. Maybe we should be thankful for Nate rather than me doing that work.

  94. 94.

    lamh36

    March 2, 2020 at 8:52 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    @Mary G:

    Like I said, the bigger news is Beto endorsing Biden. HE’S the big get in Texas…not pete.

    That’s why Lis is being petty about it.

    But Symone Sanders co-signing (or in this case seeming to co-sign by directing folks to Smiths first tweet) it is what worries me since I think that could me they plan to incorporate Lis into the team…bleh

  95. 95.

    JanieM

    March 2, 2020 at 8:52 pm

    @janesays: Brilliant google-fu, I wish I had thought of that.

  96. 96.

    Anya

    March 2, 2020 at 8:53 pm

    Am I the only one who was a tad underwhelmed by Buttigieg’s Biden endorsement? The Biden team is so bad at stagecraft. Why was it so lowkey?  And then Biden proceeded to get lost in his grief. I just felt so sad for him.

  97. 97.

    Kent

    March 2, 2020 at 8:53 pm

    @lamh36:“Outside of the South”….so uh…Black voters right…

    In Bernie math they only count 3/5ths so he’s still fine.  It was even in the Constitution.

  98. 98.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 8:54 pm

    @Anya:

    Also, why attack Biden on mental acuity when Trump is out there

    attack Biden’s mental state while hiding Bernie’s medical records, something else he’s getting away with. With trump, Rick Wilson talks about Fear Of Mean Tweets, FOMT. I think we’re seeing the same thing with bernie’s raging twitter trolls

  99. 99.

    lamh36

    March 2, 2020 at 8:55 pm

    @BenLaBolt
    Following Following @BenLaBolt
    More
    Sanders campaign puts out Marianne Williamson, anti-vaxxer in the midst of a global epidemic, as their CNN surrogate to counter the Biden unity rally.

    6:47 PM – 2 Mar 2020

    SMH…I mean…

  100. 100.

    Kent

    March 2, 2020 at 8:55 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:I don’t want to be the white guy who presumes to speak for black people, but I am just fucking gobsmacked at the way this old asshole and his asshole supporters are erasing the largest turn-out of African-American voters yet, and we’re all just like, yeah, that’s how he rolls.

    Like I said, in Bernie math they only count 3/5ths if they are south of the Mason-Dixon line.  It’s in the Constitution.

  101. 101.

    TS (the original)

    March 2, 2020 at 8:55 pm

    @JMG:

    You know, I retired five years ago. I know I was lucky that I was financially able to do so, but it’s the greatest.

    As did I – cannot imagine a better life.

  102. 102.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 8:56 pm

    @Martin: Declaration of national emergency followed by martial law to enforce mandatory quarantines and no travel/no public congregating orders and the indefinite postponement of the election until after the epidemic is brought under control at some indeterminate future time.

  103. 103.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 8:57 pm

    @Anya: Actually Biden’s remarks were wonderful. What you saw as being lost in his grief was him explaining, in his emotional and empathetic way, that he sees a lot of Beau Biden in Buttigieg.

  104. 104.

    Morzer

    March 2, 2020 at 8:58 pm

    @lamh36: Jill Stein must be wondering what she has to do to get a sweet Bernie Bucks gig.

  105. 105.

    Anya

    March 2, 2020 at 8:59 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Sanders has always erased black people from his “working class” narrative. He’s like the MSM. Working-class just means white people. I wish someone who’s a high profile sets him straight.

  106. 106.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 9:01 pm

    This is the worst Hayes show I have ever seen. It’s like a mirror image of the Bill Maher show where he lets some ideological right-winger shout down all the other guests. This woman is unhinged.

  107. 107.

    PsiFighter37

    March 2, 2020 at 9:01 pm

    @lamh36: Smart people running that campaign, as always. Jeff ‘Comic Book Guy’ Weaver still can’t buy a clue with all of Wilmer’s cash.

  108. 108.

    lamh36

    March 2, 2020 at 9:02 pm

    @Steeplejack: bah…ur no fun…LOL.

     

    But yeah ya right!

  109. 109.

    Kent

    March 2, 2020 at 9:03 pm

    @Anya:@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Sanders has always erased black people from his “working class” narrative. He’s like the MSM. Working-class just means white people. I wish someone who’s a high profile sets him straight.

    And “female” jobs like retail clerks and home health aids aren’t “working class” either.

  110. 110.

    peej01

    March 2, 2020 at 9:03 pm

    @Lapassionara: Exactly.  I could never understand why he had guests on because he would never let them finish a thought or a sentence.  He was unwatchable.

  111. 111.

    Biff Baxter

    March 2, 2020 at 9:04 pm

    And now Kamala will endorse.

  112. 112.

    Baud

    March 2, 2020 at 9:05 pm

    @Biff Baxter: Wow.  Sweet!

  113. 113.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 9:05 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I don’t know – I think Congress would sue over that. We can do vote by mail nationally. Enough states do it now for anyone, and every state has it for some voters.

    Once the election goes back on, voters are going to be pissed about politicizing it and they’ll blame the GOP for defending that. Yes, it keeps them in office a bit longer, but that’s a hell of reckoning coming. And there’s no way USSC sides with Trump even in its current makeup.

    I mean, if NYC only had to delay their election by 2 weeks due to 9/11, there’s no excuse to honor a move like that. If the nation can’t pull off a vote by mail plan in 8 months, then we deserve to die from a virus and turn into a dictatorship.

  114. 114.

    Roger Moore

    March 2, 2020 at 9:06 pm

    @Kent:

    Sanders has always erased black people from his “working class” narrative.

    It still amazes me that people can simultaneously talk about the importance of winning over white working class voters and deny the importance of race in politics.

  115. 115.

    laura

    March 2, 2020 at 9:06 pm

    @Anya: his ideal of working class is white joe six pack, hard hat, NRA lifetime member. Misogynoir is strong in Bernie and his many bros IMHO.

  116. 116.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 9:08 pm

    @Biff Baxter: I think she might wait rather than cut off Warren’s hopes further. We’ll know Warren’s fate in about 48 hours.

  117. 117.

    hueyplong

    March 2, 2020 at 9:10 pm

    I really don’t care how Matthews left, just glad he did.

    Good riddance.

    Hope to be typing the same about Trump.

  118. 118.

    Baud

    March 2, 2020 at 9:11 pm

    The Reddit Bros have really gotten into Dick Van Dyke.

  119. 119.

    James E Powell

    March 2, 2020 at 9:11 pm

    @gene108:

    The #1 factor in the Democratic Party “moving left” is that almost all the right-wing Democrats quit or lost to Republicans and are no longer around to drag the rest of us down.

  120. 120.

    lamh36

    March 2, 2020 at 9:11 pm

    One shouldn’t speculate but…

    I was sayig to someone this past weekend…if/when Harris does endorse, it’ll likely be after Cali votes and we see where Liz lands.

    I suspect Kamala is just the type of Dem who supports other women Dems…so she wouldn’t want to step on Liz before Liz is ready or not.

    Still, ya never know.

    Or maybe … the Congresswoman for California’s 43rd congressional district would like a workd

  121. 121.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    @Martin: Congress doesn’t have standing. And a national emergency declaration provides any president with exceedingly broad powers. And the Roberts’ Court has been exceedingly reluctant to push back on those declarations when made by a Republican president.

  122. 122.

    Baud

    March 2, 2020 at 9:13 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Aren’t you always the one who says don’t borrow problems from the future?

  123. 123.

    Kent

    March 2, 2020 at 9:15 pm

    @Roger Moore: It still amazes me that people can simultaneously talk about the importance of winning over white working class voters and deny the importance of race in politics.

    I think a lot of older Dems are still just in denial about the cultural shifts that have taken place in this country.  They have vague vestigial memories of gauzy sepia-toned FDR and Woody Guthrie days when white working class men came out in mass for Democrats.  And they just can’t believe that with a little more persuasion they can’t get those folks back.

    Sanders does it every damn day when he pushes his narrative that it is all about economics and the 1%.  Black folks know better.  The 1% isn’t always the one holding them back.  More often than not its the asshole foreman in a 4×4 pickup truck with the MAGA sticker on the back who promoted his buddies to your job instead.

  124. 124.

    West of the Rockies

    March 2, 2020 at 9:16 pm

    @janesays:

    A distinction without much difference.

  125. 125.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 9:17 pm

    @Baud:

    The Reddit Bros have really gotten into Dick Van Dyke.

    You mean they like him because he endorsed Bernie? He’s one BernieBro even I can’t carry a grudge against. It pleases me that he’s still with us.

  126. 126.

    topclimber

    March 2, 2020 at 9:18 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Might be a few states reluctant to call out the National Guard though.

  127. 127.

    Roger Moore

    March 2, 2020 at 9:19 pm

    @Kent:

    They have vague vestigial memories of gauzy sepia-toned FDR and Woody Guthrie days when white working class men came out in mass for Democrats. And they just can’t believe that with a little more persuasion they can’t get those folks back.

    I think you’re missing my point.  People acknowledge that working class whites constitute a separate voting block from working class blacks or working class Hispanics, but they try to ignore race as a dominant factor in politics.  If everything is really about economics rather than race, why is there such a difference in voting patterns between working class whites and working class minorities?

  128. 128.

    James E Powell

    March 2, 2020 at 9:19 pm

    @gene108:

    How are there not big No More Kavanaugh signs or such like at all D rallies?

    Cut our losses and move on?

    This is only anecdotal, but Kavanaugh is the one thing that every white female with college I know brings up as a complaint about Trump. For a few, it is the only thing they ever mention.

  129. 129.

    Baud

    March 2, 2020 at 9:20 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yes.  I’ve seen a couple of front page posts there about him.

  130. 130.

    lamh36

    March 2, 2020 at 9:23 pm

    @lamh36:

    Oops forgot to add the tweet.

    @jeneps
    Biden campaign says he’ll be in Oakland tomorrow morning and will then have his Super Tuesday party in Los Angeles tomorrow night.

    385
    7:52 PM – Mar 2, 2020

    https://twitter.com/jeneps/status/1234657990189383681

    Like I said to someone in the past, if Meena Harris goes quiet on her twitter acount…you can bet that Kamala is about to endorse. She’s the MOST active on SM an consistently posts on the Harris family

  131. 131.

    JMG

    March 2, 2020 at 9:23 pm

    Here in Mass. one of the Congressional districts had a special election on 9/11/2001 the day itself. Turnout was like 33 percent higher than usual. Crises make people want to have their voices heard.

  132. 132.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Sure they do. They’re all on the ballot. Their election is also being delayed.

    And because state elections are also on the ballot, I’m guessing every state will still have a vote on that day, further undermining the case for delaying national elections.

    So yes, he may have those powers, but it’d be a politically disastrous move for him and for the GOP.

  133. 133.

    Brachiator

    March 2, 2020 at 9:26 pm

    @lamh36:

    I suspect Kamala is just the type of Dem who supports other women Dems…so she wouldn’t want to step on Liz before Liz is ready or not.

    Very interesting point. If this is the case, it is both thoughtful and politically astute.

  134. 134.

    MisterForkbeard

    March 2, 2020 at 9:27 pm

    @laura: “Misogynoir” sounds like an excellent sci-fi villain or a really un-compelling movie genre.

  135. 135.

    Mike in NC

    March 2, 2020 at 9:27 pm

    Fuck Tweety

  136. 136.

    patrick II

    March 2, 2020 at 9:28 pm

    One of Jon Daly’s best moments was when he interviewed Mathews on his “Life’s a Campaign: What Politics Has Taught Me About Friendship, Rivalry, Reputation, and Success” book tour. Mathews’ basic theme was that you should learn to lie to your friends and competitors like politicians do. Daly eviscerated him as Mathews sat there confused on why Daly was being so mean to him and how anyone could think that the endorsement of lying is a bad idea.

  137. 137.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 9:29 pm

    via Cole’s twitter feed (cause he hates us and doesn’t post here):

    Ruby Cramer@rubycramer  6h

    Quick note from Bernie‘s presser earlier today in Utah. At one point, when a Washington Post reporter raised his hand, Sanders looked at him, pointed, and said, “No.” A terse & striking moment after the recent incident where he criticized the timing of a Post story (see below).

    Ring any bells? And of course, the story Bernie was mad about was about…. Russia helping his campaign.

  138. 138.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    March 2, 2020 at 9:30 pm

    Somewhere, Tip and The Gipper are crying.

  139. 139.

    Suzanne

    March 2, 2020 at 9:31 pm

    Some talking head on CNN just said something like “We’ll see if Biden can carry the ball across the finish line,” and I don’t think I can survive this mixed-metaphor stupidity until November. AAAAAAHHHHHHH.

  140. 140.

    delk

    March 2, 2020 at 9:31 pm

    @Baud: my husband started his career as an actuary in 87.  Biden’s brother was working at the same firm and they were all in for Joe’s first presidential run. My husband’s first big work experience was doing an actuarial work up on Dick Van Dyke.

  141. 141.

    Baud

    March 2, 2020 at 9:33 pm

    @Suzanne:

    I just hope Biden doesn’t spike the baseball if he does well tomorrow.

  142. 142.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 9:33 pm

    @Baud: I’ll see them Rob Petrie and raise them Rob’s boss

    carl reiner @ carlreiner
    I am certain that Trump would much prefer to run against anyone but Biden —i , I think, a good enough reason to cast your vote for Biden.

    Thank yo u 927000 for tweeting your support of Joe Biden!!!

    He could always bust me up with a “Shut up, Mel!”
    But I hope it doesn’t make things awkward when they get together with Mel Brooks for ice cream and Jeopardy

  143. 143.

    hueyplong

    March 2, 2020 at 9:34 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: “Somewhere, Tip and The Gipper are crying.”

    I think I know where that somewhere is.

  144. 144.

    lamh36

    March 2, 2020 at 9:36 pm

    @Brachiator:

     

    TBQH, I think Kamala is more considerate than others have been of her. So yeah, I don’t see her endorsing BEFORE the Cali votes are counted.

    But if Biden manages to beat Liz and lose to Bernie, OR,  Liz beats Biden but behind Bernie,  and Liz doesn’t drop out…then I can see Kamala endorsing Joe.

    Course I also suspect that SOME, not all, but SOME, of the  Warren folks will likely treat it as her trying to push Liz out and ignoring that consideration.

    I have no insde info though, but I def could see Harris waiting for the final tally.

     

    @pannlewis44
    Kamala Harris considering endorsing Joe Biden for president, source says – CNNPolitics
    https://twitter.com/pannlewis44/status/1234665779208933376

    We’ll see after tomorrow of course

  145. 145.

    Baud

    March 2, 2020 at 9:36 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I wish Betty White had endorsed Warren.

  146. 146.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 9:37 pm

    @Baud: Most of the baseball and football metaphors sail right over my head. So mix away.

  147. 147.

    Kent

    March 2, 2020 at 9:37 pm

    @Roger Moore:I think you’re missing my point.  People acknowledge that working class whites constitute a separate voting block from working class blacks or working class Hispanics, but they try to ignore race as a dominant factor in politics.  If everything is really about economics rather than race, why is there such a difference in voting patterns between working class whites and working class minorities?

    No, I agree with your point entirely.  It’s about race.  I just didn’t come out and say it like I meant.

  148. 148.

    Baud

    March 2, 2020 at 9:38 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I would like to see Biden take the wicket over the goal line.

  149. 149.

    Peale

    March 2, 2020 at 9:39 pm

    @Suzanne: when he wins, he’ll totally spike the dunk.

  150. 150.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 9:39 pm

    @Baud: spike a wicket? that’s not cricket

  151. 151.

    Mary G

    March 2, 2020 at 9:40 pm

    This speech by a young Latina Texas state rep got me more fired up for Biden:

    Who's ready to tell Donald Trump you're fired? Texas!#JoeBiden pic.twitter.com/JJE0Oh14HO— ☇RiotWomenn☇ (@riotwomennn) March 3, 2020

    “Donald Trump! You’re fired!!” makes a nice call and response campaign cheer.

  152. 152.

    E.

    March 2, 2020 at 9:40 pm

    @zhena gogolia: holy shit. I only made it through two. How did he stay on the air?????

  153. 153.

    Suzanne

    March 2, 2020 at 9:41 pm

    @Kent:

    The 1% isn’t always the one holding them back.  More often than not its the asshole foreman in a 4×4 pickup truck with the MAGA sticker on the back who promoted his buddies to your job instead.

    The terrible truth is that, of course, it’s both. The MAGAts and racists are the useful idiots for the MOTUs.

  154. 154.

    Kent

    March 2, 2020 at 9:41 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:@Martin: Congress doesn’t have standing. And a national emergency declaration provides any president with exceedingly broad powers. And the Roberts’ Court has been exceedingly reluctant to push back on those declarations when made by a Republican president.

    Elections are entirely state affairs.  There is nothing in the Constitution about the Federal government superseding state election laws.  This isn’t a “Commerce Clause” or 14th Amendment equal protection issue.

    How does the Supreme Court stop all the blue states from going ahead and having their elections?

  155. 155.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    March 2, 2020 at 9:41 pm

    @Suzanne: “we’ll see if Biden can hit a home run over the goal posts.”

  156. 156.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 9:42 pm

    Rachel Maddow posited that Amy’s endorsement is her “fuck me? fuck you!” response to Bernie campaigning in St Paul on the eve of Super Tuesday. If so, I like her even more.

  157. 157.

    sdhays

    March 2, 2020 at 9:42 pm

    @Baud: What if it’s sticky?

  158. 158.

    hilts

    March 2, 2020 at 9:42 pm

    Wow, on the same day Chris Matthews gets kicked to the curb Hank and Steve make their debut on Better Call Saul. Sweet!

  159. 159.

    kindness

    March 2, 2020 at 9:44 pm

    What’s the over/under for Matthews going on Fox?

  160. 160.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 9:44 pm

    AK: “Time for America to join hands instead of pointing fingers”

    crossed out in red, “even if little birdies land on them”

  161. 161.

    Gravenstone

    March 2, 2020 at 9:46 pm

    I know we all realize that Trump is a blithering idiot, but he’s apparently calling for the ‘impeachment’ of both Klobuchar and Buttigieg! Their apparent crime? The ‘quid pro quo’ of endorsing Biden. The boy done lost the last vestiges of his syphilis riddled mind…

  162. 162.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 9:46 pm

    @kindness: Better bet is RT.

  163. 163.

    Suzanne

    March 2, 2020 at 9:47 pm

    I’m in my hotel room, away from Mr. Suzanne and the Spawns and SuzMom and the doggos and the kittehs , watching Amy K. I wasn’t going to vote get her, but she sure is reminding me why I like her. I really, really, REALLY want to vote for a woman for president again soon.

  164. 164.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    March 2, 2020 at 9:48 pm

    Tune in tonight as we examine if Biden can slam dunk a 3-point shot and dance in the end zone, after stealing all the signals for the Astros using a keyhole spy satellite.

  165. 165.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 9:50 pm

    @Baud:Well  he was the man of the match in South Carolina.

  166. 166.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 9:50 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: He can hit sixers!

  167. 167.

    Bobby Thomson

    March 2, 2020 at 9:50 pm

    @Martin: Yes, she is. She would be a fantastic addition.

  168. 168.

    lamh36

    March 2, 2020 at 9:50 pm

    @ABCLiz
    46m46 minutes ago
    More
    JUST IN: @JoeBiden will make a stop in Oakland tomorrow on Super Tuesday ahead of his evening event in LA. This will be his first public campaign event in the Bay Area since launching his campaign.

  169. 169.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 9:51 pm

    Kamala Harris is endorsing Biden in Oakland tomorrow.

  170. 170.

    James E Powell

    March 2, 2020 at 9:52 pm

    @kindness: 

    I feel like there’s got to be a non-compete.

  171. 171.

    Bobby Thomson

    March 2, 2020 at 9:54 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: A special kind of petty that I know and respect.  Some of my favorite moments in the debates were her calling people out on their bullshit.  She would have made a great journalist.

  172. 172.

    sdhays

    March 2, 2020 at 9:54 pm

    @Kent: This was my thought. There would need to be quite a build up to make such a move even half-credible, and the states themselves would be involved and having agency to make their own preparations as well. If everything is a such a shit-show that an emergency declaration seems even vaguely plausible, Dump’s polling is going to be in the toilet, and it’s going to be like September 2008 – just get this fucker and his shitty toadies OUT!

  173. 173.

    Anya

    March 2, 2020 at 9:59 pm

    @Gravenstone: he’s deliberately trying to misuse the word “impeachment” to make it meaningless.

  174. 174.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    March 2, 2020 at 10:01 pm

    Michael Moore on Bernie getting blown out in S.C.:

    “South Carolina isn’t representative of the Democratic Party” #thebeat #arimelber

    — chris evans (@notcapnamerica) March 2, 2020

    Oooooof!

  175. 175.

    Kattails

    March 2, 2020 at 10:01 pm

    Have only skimmed the comments, but just checked my email to find that Emily’s List has endorsed Warren for president. Feels a bit late, but perhaps being driven by events, as they’ve only made one other presidential endorsement, and that was for Hillary. I’ll take it.

  176. 176.

    sdhays

    March 2, 2020 at 10:01 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Well, that makes up my mind. I was leaning Biden, but now I’m sure.

  177. 177.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 10:03 pm

    @E.: Gotta make sure the white working class have a voice on the left. Put a female POC in his slot.

  178. 178.

    Another Scott

    March 2, 2020 at 10:03 pm

    Just in –> A rare joint statement from Justice Dept, State Dept, FBI, intel agencies warning on the eve of Super Tuesday elections that "foreign actors continue to try to influence public sentiment and shape voter perceptions."

    — Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) March 2, 2020

    (via nycsouthpaw)

    Eyes on the prizes.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  179. 179.

    Anya

    March 2, 2020 at 10:04 pm

    I’ve listened to so many Bernie speeches and they are all the same. I’ve never heard him mention electing Dem senate, house or state legislators. Every single candidate mentions that but not Bernie. I am always confused by that.

  180. 180.

    eddie blake

    March 2, 2020 at 10:04 pm

    @Anya:

    because he’s not a democrat

     

    SATSQ

  181. 181.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 10:05 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Kamala Harris is endorsing Biden in Oakland tomorrow.

    Wow. I was hoping for it. Kind of expecting it, but still…. Wow

  182. 182.

    sdhays

    March 2, 2020 at 10:05 pm

    @Kattails: Warren made a catastrophic mistake waiting so long before challenging Bernie directly. I really like Warren, but if you’re going to make the case that he’s an incompetent do-nothing, you need to start earlier than a few days before Super Tuesday.

    I would love to see her on a debate stage with Dump, but I don’t think it’s going to happen now.

  183. 183.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 10:06 pm

    @Anya: yet again, how does “Look out the window, Mitch” not get thrown back at him in every interview?

    @Kattails:

    Emily’s List has endorsed Warren for president. Feels a bit late, but perhaps being driven by events,

    waiting until she was the only woman* left in the primary?

    *only woman who is not batshit crazy

  184. 184.

    hitchhiker

    March 2, 2020 at 10:06 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Cronkite retired at 65, maybe because it mandatory at his network then.

    Matthews is 10 yrs older than that right now. LONG past time. My rule is that at every stage of a career, you should be finding and mentoring people capable of replacing you, and then getting out of the way so they can — not squatting on a job for decades as if there’s some magic in your ass alone, that it can fill that chair.

  185. 185.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 10:06 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Janelle is having none of that. The others are more practiced at laughing off that kind of treatment, Janelle is more practiced at calling it out, but she wasn’t in the right setting to do it.

  186. 186.

    Mary G

    March 2, 2020 at 10:07 pm

    Joe Biden has added a local stop tomorrow in Oakland, Calif., the city where Kamala Harris launched her campaign.For readers of tea leaves: Cross country travel is certainly possible, but Harris is in DC tonight. She cast a vote on the Senate floor at 5:32pm.— Matt Viser (@mviser) March 3, 2020

  187. 187.

    Suzanne

    March 2, 2020 at 10:07 pm

    Oh, Beto. You’re still so hot.

  188. 188.

    hitchhiker

    March 2, 2020 at 10:09 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    I missed the ceremony when Michael Moore was put in charge of deciding who is representative of the party and who isn’t.

    Did he get a crown and a sash?

  189. 189.

    Bill Arnold

    March 2, 2020 at 10:09 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    I’m a bit overwhelmed by this:
    A Guide to Emergency Powers and Their Use (Brennan Center for Justice, 2019)
    What parts of it would be used to declare an indefinite postponement of elections?
    How would it override the Constitutional requirements?

    The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States,
    …
    The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year;

    Article II Section 1 is a little fuzzier about Presidential elections, but it is clear that the president’s term ends in 4 years, i.e. Jan 2021 and after that, without an election there would be no POTUS, by my reading. (Perhaps there is an amendment that I’m missing?)

  190. 190.

    Gravenstone

    March 2, 2020 at 10:09 pm

    @Anya: I think it’s his normal projection of everything bad said about him onto whoever is pissing him off in the moment. You can clearly see how it eats at him, being impeached.

  191. 191.

    Anya

    March 2, 2020 at 10:10 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I didn’t mean it to sound like a criticism. I really felt sad for him. His grief for his son is very evident.

  192. 192.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 10:10 pm

    as ever, I may be seeing what I want to see, but I thought Biden looked and sounded pretty good tonight

  193. 193.

    different-church-lady

    March 2, 2020 at 10:10 pm

    Gee, Bernie, maybe spending four year shitting all over the organization everyone who could have given you support belongs to might not have been the brightest move!

  194. 194.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 10:11 pm

    @sdhays: Yeah, she’s had some missteps. I still voted for her, maybe she’ll pull off a good turnout tomorrow and get back in this. First ad of hers I’ve seen just tonight. Never seen a Biden ad. A few Bernie ones. One Pete one. No Amy ones. A zillion Bloomberg ones – and they’re good ads too.

    But with everyone endorsing Biden, the party is coalescing on their choice. I respect that.

  195. 195.

    Nicole

    March 2, 2020 at 10:12 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Okay, that asterisk made me laugh.  Thank you; I needed that tonight.

  196. 196.

    Anya

    March 2, 2020 at 10:12 pm

    Is Beto O’Rourke the establishment because he’s just endorsing Joe Biden?

  197. 197.

    Jeffro

    March 2, 2020 at 10:14 pm

    Looks like the Democratic Justice League has woken up and realized the need to band together against the forces of evil before it’s too late.  I’ll take it.  Just let everyone else do the talking, Joe, ok?  ;)

    November’s a long way away, but wow…this could have some impact down the road here in the Fro household too.  Fingers crossed, knock on wood, and let’s go get ’em, Dems!

  198. 198.

    Suzanne

    March 2, 2020 at 10:14 pm

    @Anya: To be fair, Beto is a superdelegate. That’s fairly establishment. Even though he wore a dress. And looked hot.

  199. 199.

    different-church-lady

    March 2, 2020 at 10:16 pm

    @Suzanne: You know who else wore a dress? Ghandi.

  200. 200.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 10:16 pm

    @topclimber: I’ve already gamed this out as a thought exercise for my boss and for a retired general officer I consult for. And that was exactly the point I made. And that I’m not sure the Joint Chiefs would go along with using the Active and Reserve components for something like this either.

  201. 201.

    Suzanne

    March 2, 2020 at 10:17 pm

    @hitchhiker: The worst part of that statement is the racism. The second-worst part is that it’s dumb. Literally none of the states are good representations of the country as a whole. But somehow I don’t think he was talking about good ‘ol regional differences.

  202. 202.

    Anya

    March 2, 2020 at 10:19 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: He doesn’t need a dem congress or Dem governors, his young worriers will make McConnell backdown.

    This is what he envisions his revolution.

  203. 203.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    March 2, 2020 at 10:20 pm

    @Kent: Trying make red states not vote due to “emergencies” could backfire in hilarious ways for Trump (If it doesn’t immediately plunge us into a civil war).

    If red states don’t nominate electors because of the crisis by December 14th (which is presided by Pence), there is a chance that nobody will get the majority of all electoral votes, which means that the election of the next president goes to…. The house…

    Amusing, but civil war would be the more probable outcome

    [Edit:  I think that the republican party deciding not holding elections is a stupid and dangerous idea, and buck Trump on this, is by far the most probable outcome]

  204. 204.

    Kent

    March 2, 2020 at 10:22 pm

    @sdhays:@Kent: This was my thought. There would need to be quite a build up to make such a move even half-credible, and the states themselves would be involved and having agency to make their own preparations as well. If everything is a such a shit-show that an emergency declaration seems even vaguely plausible, Dump’s polling is going to be in the toilet, and it’s going to be like September 2008 – just get this fucker and his shitty toadies OUT!

    The general election ballots all have a bazillion different races and ballot measures on them, all the way down to local judges and mayors.   Is SCOTUS going to cancel every damn one of them?  Or just say that the top line on the ballot doesn’t count, even though they were printed a month ago.

    I don’t see how they do it, short of something like a nuclear holocaust.

  205. 205.

    danielx

    March 2, 2020 at 10:23 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    you know too much…

  206. 206.

    MisterForkbeard

    March 2, 2020 at 10:23 pm

    @Anya: My Bernie friends tell me that they’re all “establishment lapdogs” who are “giving the middle finger to young people and anyone who want real (not fake) change”.

     

    I’m real tempted to ask them why only Bernie-friendly politicians are allowed to have opinions.

  207. 207.

    Morzer

    March 2, 2020 at 10:23 pm

    @Suzanne: Beto’s the Frock ‘n’ Roll Democrat.

  208. 208.

    Anya

    March 2, 2020 at 10:24 pm

    @Suzanne: Is he still in congress? He can’t be a pledged delegate if he’s not in the house, right?

  209. 209.

    sdhays

    March 2, 2020 at 10:24 pm

    @Martin: If I didn’t consider Bernie to be such a non-option and his supporters so obnoxious and untrustworthy, I might still consider voting for Warren, but at this point, I don’t want a dramatic convention. I want Bernie defeated by the voters before the convention.

  210. 210.

    different-church-lady

    March 2, 2020 at 10:25 pm

    @Morzer: OK, fine, you win this one.

  211. 211.

    Another Scott

    March 2, 2020 at 10:25 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    But did he wear a bunny suit??!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  212. 212.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 10:26 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: That one mixed American football, Canadian football, or even Rugby football with track and field.

  213. 213.

    zhena gogolia

    March 2, 2020 at 10:26 pm

    @E.:

    Yeah, I never watched him but those bits with Erin Burnett and Brennan are so bad.

  214. 214.

    Kent

    March 2, 2020 at 10:26 pm

    @Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]:

    @Kent: Trying make red states not vote due to “emergencies” could backfire in hilarious ways for Trump (If it doesn’t immediately plunge us into a civil war).

    If red states don’t nominate electors because of the crisis by December 14th (which is presided by Pence), there is a chance that nobody will get the majority of all electoral votes, which means that the election of the next president goes to…. The house…

    Amusing, but civil war would be the more probable outcome.

    Except that the House gets one vote per state, not one vote per representative.  So the GOP would still win and it is the last thing you should wish for.  It’s called a Contingent Election: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contingent_election

    Pursuant to the 12th Amendment, the House of Representatives is required to go into session immediately after the counting of the electoral votes to vote for president if no candidate for the office receives a majority of the electoral votes. In this event, the House is limited to choosing from among the three candidates who received the most electoral votes. Each state delegation votes en bloc, with each state having a single vote. A candidate is required to receive an absolute majority of state delegation votes (currently 26 votes) in order for that candidate to become the president-elect. The District of Columbia, which is not a state, does not receive a vote. The House continues balloting until it elects a president.

    Historically, a delegation that did not give a majority of its vote to any one candidate was marked as “divided,” and thus did not award its vote to any candidate. However, the requirement for a majority vote of the state’s delegation is not present in the Constitution, and future contingent elections could require only a plurality, rather than a majority, of the state delegation to vote for a candidate. Previous contingent elections were held in a closed session, and the votes of each member of the House was not revealed. The Constitution does not require a closed session for contingent elections, and future contingent elections could be held in an open session with public voting.

  215. 215.

    BroD

    March 2, 2020 at 10:27 pm

    @peej01: “He was unwatchable” which is why I never did.

  216. 216.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 10:29 pm

    @Kent: The President’s powers, any president’s powers, during a declared state of national emergency are the type of thing that would send AG Barr to the hospital with an erection that lasted longer than 4 hours!

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/presidential-emergency-powers/576418/

    The moment the president declares a “national emergency”—a decision that is entirely within his discretion—he is able to set aside many of the legal limits on his authority.

    Read the whole thing.

  217. 217.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 10:29 pm

    @Bill Arnold: Oh, right, there is a procedure for this.

    In the case of an Electoral College deadlock or if no candidate receives the majority of votes, a “contingent election” is held. The election of the President goes to the House of Representatives. Each state delegation casts one vote for one of the top three contenders to determine a winner.

    Barring that, it seems to me the interpretation is that on inauguration day the Presidency and Vice Presidency would be vacant and the rules of succession would kick in and the Speaker of the House would become president.

    And it does seem that if the blue states had their elections and the red states didn’t, then only the blue states would send electors, and the Democrat would be chosen per the procedure.

  218. 218.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 10:30 pm

    @Suzanne: Official travel? Or have your family preemptively quarantined you?

  219. 219.

    Anya

    March 2, 2020 at 10:30 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: I had two Bernie or Bust friends who didn’t vote 2016 and they are both Warren bros now. One of them is so sorry about his earlier stand that I think he either volunteered or donated for so many 2018 campaigns. Thankfully their lack of vote didn’t make a difference because they’re both from New York but still they regret their stupidity and I love them for it.

  220. 220.

    different-church-lady

    March 2, 2020 at 10:32 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: He’ll be dragged from the White House if he tries it.

  221. 221.

    Ken

    March 2, 2020 at 10:32 pm

    (Deleted – Martin at 217 got there first.)

    (By the way, how do we delete comments? I tried deleting all text but the comment was still there.)

  222. 222.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 10:32 pm

    @Bill Arnold: Read this:

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/presidential-emergency-powers/576418/

  223. 223.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 10:34 pm

    @danielx: I have already activated my exfil plan!

  224. 224.

    Another Scott

    March 2, 2020 at 10:35 pm

    @Martin:

    History.House.Gov reminds us of other skulduggery:

    Congress Decides: 1877

    The contested 1876 presidential election between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden of New York was the last to require congressional intervention. Tilden won the popular vote and the electoral count. But Republicans challenged the results in three Southern states, which submitted certificates of election for both candidates. While the Constitution requires the House and Senate to formally count the certificates of election in joint session, it is silent on what Congress should do to resolve disputes. In January 1877, Congress established the Federal Electoral Commission to investigate the disputed Electoral College ballots. The bipartisan commission, which included Representatives, Senators, and Supreme Court Justices, voted along party lines to award all the contested ballots to Hayes—securing the presidency for him by a single electoral vote. The Commission’s controversial results did not spark the violence in the post-Civil War South that some had feared largely because Republicans had struck a compromise with Southern Democrats to remove federal soldiers from the South and end Reconstruction in the event of a Hayes victory.

    See Electoral College Fast Facts for more information about the procedure.

    (Emphasis added.)

    Yay?

    :-/

    It’s much, much, much, better to win by a convincing margin so that we don’t have to worry about such things again. Of course.

    [eta:] Oh, on the topic of having the election – of course we’re going to have the election.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  225. 225.

    Kent

    March 2, 2020 at 10:35 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I just did read the whole thing.  Scary stuff about shutting down the internet and deploying troops inside the US.  But they didn’t do any analysis of canceling state elections.  I’d like to see some serious legal minds mull that one over before I start wringing my hands over that one.  Would they cancel all elections everywhere in the US for every state, local, and federal office, as well as all the school bond elections, school boards, and that sort of thing?   Or would they just demand that election officials in every jurisdiction take the president line off the ballot and let the rest proceed as normal.  Which would obviously undercut the entire rationale in the first place.

  226. 226.

    different-church-lady

    March 2, 2020 at 10:37 pm

    @Another Scott:

    It’s much, much, much, better to win by a convincing margin so that we don’t have to worry about such things again. Of course.

    Say, three million votes, perhaps?

  227. 227.

    Kent

    March 2, 2020 at 10:39 pm

    @different-church-lady:Say, three million votes, perhaps?

    Those were all the illegal aliens voting in CA so they don’t count.

    You have to win by 3 million votes in real states like Texas.

  228. 228.

    WaterGirl

    March 2, 2020 at 10:39 pm

    @Ken: You cannot delete your own comments.

    You could, however, delete everything that was in the comment and replace it with “please delete me”.  Any one of us who stumbled upon that would surely Trash your comment for you.

  229. 229.

    Another Scott

    March 2, 2020 at 10:39 pm

    @different-church-lady: More.  Much, much more.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  230. 230.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 10:39 pm

    Ben LaBolt @ BenLaBolt
    Sanders campaign puts out Marianne Williamson, anti-vaxxer in the midst of a global epidemic, as their CNN surrogate to counter the Biden unity rally.

    My latest hobbyhorse: We need to talk more about the stupidity of Bernie Sanders and his campaign.

  231. 231.

    Kent

    March 2, 2020 at 10:41 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m starting to smell the flop sweat coming from the Sanders campaign.  It is amazing how fast this race has evolved in the past 48 hours.

  232. 232.

    different-church-lady

    March 2, 2020 at 10:42 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: How do we know it’s not vaccines that are causing the Corona virus? Huh? Answer that!

  233. 233.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    March 2, 2020 at 10:43 pm

    @Kent: Oof. missed that particular twist of the election of the president.

    The election procedure of the US constitution started out as a horrible kluge from the beginning (It was designed that way so the the founders could go back to their original colonies and not get mobbed in the streets), and we are REALLY paying for it in the modern times.

    Finally, if it comes down to that, especially since conservative states realize that it would lock them into power (unitary executive baby!)  beyond any reasonable estimate of demographic change. Plus changing rules to depress non-christian nationalist power, while punishing non-politically-compliant states, the last cobweb-like barriers for not establishing a white christian authoritarian ethno-state would dissolve, and I really don’t want to be in that future.

  234. 234.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 10:44 pm

    @Another Scott: My point is that the winner of the election is who the House of Representatives say it is. They certify the election and they investigate any shenanigans.

    What’s more, I’m 100% confident that Trump would be impeached again by the House within 72 hours of cancelling the election, and GOP senators would be really challenged to defend that given that a few of them would be accused of avoiding their own re-election by defending that.

    This idea is electoral suicide unless the plan was to never have another election, and there aren’t enough secret service to maintain that plan for long.

  235. 235.

    Bobby Thomson

    March 2, 2020 at 10:44 pm

    @Baud: Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

  236. 236.

    different-church-lady

    March 2, 2020 at 10:45 pm

    Loomis is not handling this day well.

  237. 237.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 10:47 pm

    @Kent: There was a recent DHS sponsored war game/table top exercise about hostile foreign actor interference in the 2020 election. They instructed the Red Team/Opposing Forces that they couldn’t actually hack the election. So the guys roleplaying the bad guys, who were from a white hat hacking firm in Boston, hacked everything else in the US. Created so much chaos within the game that the person playing the president in the scenario had to declare martial law and cancelled the election.

    Here’s the link to the after action report.

    Operation-Blackout-Wrap-Up-Report-November-2019.pdf

  238. 238.

    different-church-lady

    March 2, 2020 at 10:49 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Just take down Instagram alone and there will be panic in the streets.

  239. 239.

    Anya

    March 2, 2020 at 10:51 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: What does it say about our country that these people are making winning arguments and a large segment of our fellow citizens are trusting them with their lives?

  240. 240.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 10:51 pm

    @different-church-lady: Same with GrubHub.

  241. 241.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 10:52 pm

    Dear Next Person To Interview Bernie

    Please ask him why he thinks Donald trump is promoting pro-Bernie conspiracy theories?

    Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
    They are staging a coup against Bernie!

  242. 242.

    different-church-lady

    March 2, 2020 at 10:52 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: “Granpa Colby, is it true there was once a time when people could eat without using a smart phone?”

  243. 243.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Dear Next Person to Interview the President: Please ask him to define coup.

    KTHANXBYE!

  244. 244.

    different-church-lady

    March 2, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    BERNIE: “Because they are staging a coup against me!”

  245. 245.

    Adam L Silverman

    March 2, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    @different-church-lady: Yes, but they had to use combs to eat their salads.

  246. 246.

    Another Scott

    March 2, 2020 at 10:57 pm

    CalculatedRisk: A Few Comments on Covid-19 Non-Medical Policies:

    Containment of COVID-19 has failed as was expected by most experts (but efforts delayed the onset). (examples: Washington, Oregon, California) I’ll stay focused on the economic data, however, just as during the housing crisis, I will suggest some (non-medical) government policies that would probably help.

    First and foremost, pay attention to the recommendations of the experts. Here is the CDC’s Coronavirus Disease 2019 site. And here is the WHO’s COVID-19 website.

    Also pay attention to your state and local health officials.

    […]

    A good read, and sensible recommendations as always. Plus, there’s some bonus history about the 1918 flu and the plague of 1900 – 1904 in San Francisco.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  247. 247.

    Kent

    March 2, 2020 at 10:57 pm

    @Martin:

    @Another Scott: My point is that the winner of the election is who the House of Representatives say it is. They certify the election and they investigate any shenanigans.

     

    Except that as I and others have pointed out upstream, if the election goes to the House then it is not a House vote that determines the winner.  It is the winner of a special “Contingent Election” in which each state delegation in the House gets just one vote.  I haven’t done the math, but I suspect there are more red states with GOP majorities in the House than blue states.

  248. 248.

    Bobby Thomson

    March 2, 2020 at 10:58 pm

    @different-church-lady: 30 years.

  249. 249.

    different-church-lady

    March 2, 2020 at 10:58 pm

    @Another Scott: Look, it’s March. Shouldn’t we have moved on to COVID-20 by now?

  250. 250.

    Anya

    March 2, 2020 at 10:59 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Don’t be silly. Chris Hayes is not going to ask Bernie that.

  251. 251.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    March 2, 2020 at 11:02 pm

    @Martin: With what you are saying, I’ve had a (possibly bad) insight on how dictators form.  Here is the quote:

    What’s more, I’m 100% confident that Trump would be impeached again by the House within 72 hours of cancelling the election, and GOP senators would be really challenged to defend that given that a few of them would be accused of avoiding their own re-election by defending that.

    I think there have been many (unstable) dictators that have come to power with those exact conditions. Some culturally-connected fail-son comes to power due to a couple of factors that seem to attract each other. First, rampaging narcissism, second, significant initial riches, third, elite acceptance and tolerance, finally, the subconscious knowledge that they have profoundly fucked up and if he EVER gets off the tiger it will devour them. Many countries have fallen from people like this (Louis the 16th for starters).

  252. 252.

    Bobby Thomson

    March 2, 2020 at 11:07 pm

    @different-church-lady: understatement.

    A few weeks ago he was writing posts like “What are you guys going to do when Bernie gets the nomination?”  He and others put an awful lot of stock in some polls showing a close race in SC (which were probably not accurate to begin with) and then refused to see the bricks falling into place.

    Today he’s lashing out at everyone and saying their behavior is going to make him vote for Sanders, as though he hasn’t been shilling for him for six years.

  253. 253.

    Bill Arnold

    March 2, 2020 at 11:13 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    I hate that The Atlantic piece (I mean, it’s good, but scary), but read, again.
    I’m still a little fuzzy on the suspend the Constitution parts (e.g. cancel constitutionally mandated elections) work in practice if it’s an obvious power grab, considering that many people in government have sworn to uphold the Constitution. But it’s a plausible path towards civil war.

  254. 254.

    Another Scott

    March 2, 2020 at 11:13 pm

    @Kent: You can bet that if it goes to the House, then there are going to be all kinds of protests about various state results, and something like the 1877 fiasco would be possible.

    The House was 182D/103R, the Democrat Tilden was one vote shy in the Electoral College, but Hayes “won”. Hayes “won” because of the backroom deals to end Reconstruction in exchange for the Presidency.

    Don’t assume that the results would follow the nominal baseline count (even the one vote per state stuff). If it gets to the House, all bets are off – because so much is at stake and so many players want to sway the result.

    (I’m reminded that Gore was doomed in Florida once the results were close enough, because the GOP Florida legislature ultimately had the power to decide who won and they weren’t going to give that power up.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  255. 255.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 11:15 pm

    Ah, per Brian Williams, Obama made the call after SC results that Biden was the candidate. I’m guessing his endorsement was the stick.

    So, not DNC. Just Obama pulling a Dr Manhattan-esque move.

  256. 256.

    Martin

    March 2, 2020 at 11:21 pm

    @Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]: No I take that. But it’s not the 16th century. Adam is describing a situation where Trump ahead of the election cancels it in some way. The entire US population will know of this fact within about 3 hours. Every member of Congress will be asked their position on this within 2 hours. Every governor. Every Secretary of State. Every Attorney General. It will be called a coup by some CNN host and some Fox guest within 6 hours.

    I’m not saying Trump wouldn’t try it, but we’re threading the world’s smallest needle incredibly quickly to actually get it to succeed.

  257. 257.

    James E Powell

    March 2, 2020 at 11:21 pm

    @Martin:

    Ah, per Brian Williams, Obama made the call after SC results that Biden was the candidate.

    Obama made a call? And he told Brian Williams and no one else?

  258. 258.

    Another Scott

    March 2, 2020 at 11:22 pm

    @Martin:

    I guess Liz hasn’t gotten the call yet. ;-) She’s live in LA.

    Join us in East Los Angeles as we honor immigrant- and Latina-led labor movements—and talk about our shared fight for big, structural change. #JuntosConWarren https://t.co/jOWHVIhUM0— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) March 3, 2020

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  259. 259.

    Jeffro

    March 2, 2020 at 11:27 pm

    @Martin: Wait…are you discounting the magical powers of Tom Perez to strategically plot a path forward for the Democratic Party?

    I’m not sure how I feel about that.

  260. 260.

    Kent

    March 2, 2020 at 11:27 pm

    @Another Scott: If Liz stays in the race does that help Sanders or Biden more?   I’m not actually sure.

  261. 261.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 11:39 pm

    this first paragraph is pretty much what I suspected:

    An MSNBC insider told The Post that network executive Phil Griffin told Matthews this weekend in Washington, DC, where “Hardball” is filmed, that “he had to resign or retire immediately.”

    “The news was kept a secret at the network until around 6 p.m. on Monday when all the senior staff were informed Matthews would retire at the top of his show, at 7 p.m.,” the insider said

  262. 262.

    Bill Arnold

    March 2, 2020 at 11:39 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    So the guys roleplaying the bad guys, who were from a white hat hacking firm in Boston, hacked everything else in the US. Created so much chaos within the game that the person playing the president in the scenario had to declare martial law and cancelled the election.

    That PDF description of that exercise was fun, but didn’t have anything exotic. (Probably a good thing.) I kept wanting some augmented plays.
    COVID-19 is an enormous wildcard. If case numbers continue to double every 7 days, the country (and world) will be entering a full widespread pandemic in June, with associated economic collapse. (GHG emissions way way down, yay in the fullness of time.!)
    An effective antiviral regime, massively produced and distributed (production facilities and supply lines willing)  to deal with the worst cases would be one way out of this, with a vaccine being produced and distributed at the tail end (2021 early/mid year perhaps, shortcuts taken.)

  263. 263.

    different-church-lady

    March 2, 2020 at 11:45 pm

    @Bobby Thomson: “I’m going to vote for someone becuse you suck” is some kinda big brain stuff on that there fella, yessirree.

  264. 264.

    L85NJGT

    March 3, 2020 at 12:01 am

    @Martin:

    I’m fully expecting the Baud!2020 campaign suspension (and Baud’s Biden endorsement), will end with Baud dropping to his\her knees, raising her\his fists to the sky, and yelling Ooooh-BAh-MA!!!!!

  265. 265.

    dww44

    March 3, 2020 at 12:05 am

    @Bobby Thomson:Yep, I weighed into the comments about a week or so ago (something I almost never do over there for fear of getting lambasted and piled on) which is exactly what happened when I posited that Bernie as the Dem nominee would get defeated in the general at a level like  McGovern in 72.  While I was not trying to make an apples to apples comparison, the first person to hit me with both barrels was Loomis.  Much to the effect that i was stupid and didn’t know anything.  Others weighed in in support of his diatribe at me and I left the place and haven’t returned since.  Life is too short to be sneered at and denigrated.  Come to think of it, that’s sorta like a Bernie bro, no?

  266. 266.

    Raven Onthill

    March 3, 2020 at 12:06 am

    My exasperated response to Bernie stans who want Warren to drop out before super Tuesday.

    We have the big money (Bloomberg), the voice of financial services (Biden), the democratic socialist (Sanders), and the woman’s candidate (Warren) who is also a social democrat. Biden and Bloomberg have both been sexist in their careers. Sanders has been a decent ally of women, but his main focus has always been his socialism. And Warren, who is a social democrat by choice and a feminist by necessity.

    Warren is being asked to step aside by both the Wall Street Democrats and the Sanders faction. The Wall Street faction is simply sexist. The Sanders faction believes she should take one for the team.

    My mind goes back to the hippie girl who said in frustration, “The only place we women have in this revolution is on our backs.” My mind goes back to figures like Jenny Marx and Mary Burns, socialist leaders, both less known than their famous lovers (Burns was Engels long-time paramour and has been almost erased from history.) My mind goes back to the geisha who helped make the Meiji Restoration in Japan and were then outlawed by the government they helped bring to power. My mind goes back to Sybil Ludington, who rode twice the distance Paul Revere did to warn the colonial militia that attack was imminent and yet is almost forgotten.

    Women help make the revolution, are necessary to the revolution, and then are thrown under the bus after the revolution.

    Does anyone believe a victory for any of these men will be a victory for women? Certainly not Biden or Bloomberg. Sanders is in some ways very good for women – for one thing, he is adamantly pro-choice – but he would be leading the government and will have to make compromises.

    I want Warren to stay in the running as long as she thinks appropriate. I want her to get a bunch of votes tomorrow. I want her to stick. – https://adviceunasked.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-sex-of-revolution.html

  267. 267.

    Another Scott

    March 3, 2020 at 12:17 am

    @Raven Onthill: +1

    Thanks very much!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  268. 268.

    Lyrebird

    March 3, 2020 at 12:20 am

    @Raven Onthill:

    1. What you wrote is gorgeous and so true!

    2. I have been thinking about a similar question to yours:

    Does anyone believe a victory for any of these men will be a victory for women?

    I do think that if Biden becomes the nominee, if he can give Sen. Warren even half of the props he has given to Buttigieg, he will go a long way to heal what he helped harm back when he treated her so patronizingly in the past.  (re: consumer protection)  I hope Warren gets a bunch more delegates tomorrow so she can get some well-deserved credit!!!  ..and get her voice and her work in the platform.

  269. 269.

    Jak

    March 3, 2020 at 4:26 am

    The last straw for Mathews may have been his exclusion from MSNBC coverage of Super Tuesday coverage.

  270. 270.

    Dupe1970

    March 3, 2020 at 11:20 am

    @Martin: Still not sure of that. Lived here all my life and there is still resistance to Dems. But if we actually do get Texas’ electoral votes that almost assuredly means we retake the Texas House which is much more important.

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