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You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Monday Morning Open Thread: The Work Goes On

Monday Morning Open Thread: The Work Goes On

by Anne Laurie|  March 2, 20207:36 am| 243 Comments

This post is in: 2020 Elections, Civil Rights, Open Threads, Racial Justice

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It is Sunday, March 1st.

Super Tuesday is in two days.

Between last night’s SC results and the exit of Steyer and Mayor Pete, we now have exactly zero idea how the upcoming 14 primaries will play out.

If you’re in a Super Tuesday state, show up and vote. It’s a new ballgame.

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) March 1, 2020

VOTE FOR THEM ANYWAY. This isn’t The Bachelor. Asked and answered. https://t.co/nkYY8bVA6D

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) March 1, 2020

Really, though, it’s not a bad article:

… [I}n all 50 states, there are elections down-ballot, ranging from must-win state house and senate elections to district attorneys, school board, county clerks, tax collector, judges, justices of the peace, and library boards (to name just a few of the many other positions that might be on your ballot.) And too often, folks who do show up at the polls fail to cast their votes for positions outside the top two or three, in part because they feel they don’t know enough to make a choice.

Go knock doors for those state and local candidates. Your energy will yield dividends, because the voter contact you do will make a difference for the entire ticket: young people and communities of color especially, who often feel dismissed or ignored by national candidates, can be more directly energized by local issues and candidates. And at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter which Democratic campaign gets someone to the polls as long as they get there.

Even if the candidate you support loses, the campaign itself strengthens party infrastructure for the next cycle. If the candidate wins, even better: A Democrat is now in office who can govern, deliver on their promises, and help prevent the GOP from causing further harm…

While it might be tempting to take a principled stand and not vote, the facts are what they are: The general election will be between Trump and the eventual Democratic nominee. You don’t get to go off-menu. The people who will be most harmed by your failure to vote against Trump are people who are already seriously hurting — that is a responsibility to take seriously, especially if you live in one of the battleground states where the margin could be dangerously close…

There’s very few have earned the right to stay home if they can’t get exactly what they want with their vote. Yesterday:

BREAKING: The amazing John Lewis maneuvered his way though a jam packed crowd on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, climbed on to a small ladder and urged us all to keep fighting and keep soldiering forward. An amazing moment as we close out this year’s #Selma55 bridge crossing. pic.twitter.com/4wLCJMH9Gw

— Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) March 1, 2020

That John Lewis, while battling pancreatic cancer, found the strength to stand on the bridge today and urge us all to go out and vote like we’ve never voted before, steps away from where he was attacked 55 years ago is one of the greatest moments of our democracy. #Selma55

— Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) March 1, 2020


As always, an amazing day for me and Louise at the Jubilee celebration in Selma, honoring the past but looking to the future with .@joebiden, .@RepTerriSewell and so many others. We have come so far but still have so far to go, but together we can move mountains. https://t.co/7b57SCjghT pic.twitter.com/fWDsfF08y3

— Doug Jones (@DougJones) March 2, 2020

(Every Democratic presidential candidate but one made a point of showing up, and that includes Pete Buttigieg. Y’all can probably guess who couldn’t make the effort.)

And in Charlottesville, Virginia, per the Washington Post:

… For the first time since World War II, Charlottesville won’t honor the Founding Father’s birthday this spring. Instead, on Tuesday, the city will celebrate the demise of the institution with which Jefferson increasingly has become associated: slavery.

Liberation and Freedom Day, as the new holiday is known, will commemorate when Union troops arrived here on March 3, 1865, and freed the enslaved people who made up a majority of Charlottesville’s residents.

“This marks a wholesale shift in our understanding of the community’s history,” said Jalane Schmidt, a professor at the University of Virginia who helped organize the events, which, despite the name, stretch all week. “To take Thomas Jefferson’s birthday off the calendar and add this is a big deal.”

The switch is the latest sign of a city struggling to come to grips with its past. The reckoning began with the legal fight over Charlottesville’s Confederate monuments, which inspired white supremacists to stage the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally. But the debate has moved far beyond it — to the consternation of some longtime residents…

The event could mark a turning point for the town, which is part hip university tech hub and part Old South. For some, including many African American residents, the question is how far a city built by slaves, filled with Confederate statues and host to white supremacist rallies, is now ready to go to make things right.

“White Charlotteseville wants to claim the label of progressive and moving forward and awake,” said Don Gathers, a local deacon and activist, “but it’s still very much sleepwalking through what’s going on.”…

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Reader Interactions

243Comments

  1. 1.

    rikyrah

    March 2, 2020 at 7:38 am

    Good Morning, Everyone ???

  2. 2.

    rikyrah

    March 2, 2020 at 7:39 am

    South Carolina Results: Gamechanger by @EScrimshaw https://t.co/AuWhluBiyz pic.twitter.com/QYr8iLB0lw— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) March 1, 2020

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    March 2, 2020 at 7:39 am

    Analysis: Bernie Sanders couldn’t dent Joe Biden’s black voter support https://t.co/XLE3trn5mz— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 1, 2020

  4. 4.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 2, 2020 at 7:42 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning!

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 2, 2020 at 7:48 am

    Blech.

  6. 6.

    arrieve

    March 2, 2020 at 7:48 am

    It turns out a dose of John Lewis was just what I needed this morning. Thank you.

  7. 7.

    Geminid

    March 2, 2020 at 7:48 am

    John Lewis is a hero. A lot of modern day social justice warriors would benefit greatly by studying the real deal.

  8. 8.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    March 2, 2020 at 7:49 am

    We are privileged to have John Lewis among us.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    March 2, 2020 at 7:49 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning.

  10. 10.

    JPL

    March 2, 2020 at 7:52 am

    We’re going to miss John Lewis when he is gone.   What an amazing man of outstanding character.

  11. 11.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 7:52 am

    Hello All!

  12. 12.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 8:00 am

    I was asked to repost this from yesterday when I had a chance:
    … I just checked on some math thing that has been itching the back of my mind.  I can quite certainly report, with overwhelming certitude, that there is no evidence of a Sanders revolution.  There is not one state yet where he earned a larger percentage of the vote in 2020 versus 2016.  He has a ceiling and it is, seemingly state by state, his 2016 ceiling:

    State — 2016 % / 2020 % (going backwards)
    SC. — 26.2 / 19.9
    Nevada — 47.3 / 46.8
    N.H. — 60.1 / 25.7 (ouch)
    Iowa — 49.6 / 26.5

    Nevada is his closest so far. The crowded field is helping him by splitting the “nope, not-Sanders” votes. Sanders gets votes from no one new compared to the votes he had four years ago. That is pretty a scary result for a front runner.

  13. 13.

    Lapassionara

    March 2, 2020 at 8:01 am

    Good morning. I heard that Wilmer was the only presidential candidate not at Selma yesterday. Bad optics, in my view.

  14. 14.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 8:03 am

    @Immanentize: Hi there.

  15. 15.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 8:04 am

    @Lapassionara: Was he campaigning elsewhere?  Or resting; which I would advise.

  16. 16.

    satby

    March 2, 2020 at 8:06 am

    @Immanentize: the one bringing new voters in was Pete, and Biden will also pull a lot of disaffected Republican and Independent voters in. Sanders’ nasty little troll army makes him seem more popular than he is.

  17. 17.

    rikyrah

    March 2, 2020 at 8:06 am

    Former California senator and new @JoeBiden endorser @BarbaraBoxer sums it up pretty well: “You want revolutions, he's not your candidate. If you want solutions, like I do, he's your candidate.” pic.twitter.com/ngwt6gjJYO— TJ Ducklo (@TDucklo) March 2, 2020

  18. 18.

    Steeplejack

    March 2, 2020 at 8:08 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good morning. ?

  19. 19.

    eclare

    March 2, 2020 at 8:08 am

    @Immanentize: Holding a rally in San Jose, bastion of the working class.

  20. 20.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 2, 2020 at 8:09 am

    @rikyrah:  I have relatives who lived through real revolutions and their aftermath. Hard nope on revolutions.

  21. 21.

    Lapassionara

    March 2, 2020 at 8:10 am

    @Immanentize: IDK. One tweet suggested that his fans do not really know anything about Selma and what it stood for. If so, another failure of our education system.

  22. 22.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 8:10 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: This

  23. 23.

    Betty Cracker

    March 2, 2020 at 8:10 am

    Get ready for narrative backlash after Super Tuesday if Sanders comes up with a shit-ton of delegates. As predicted, Biden’s big win in SC resulted in the “come back” narrative. If Sanders gets the haul he’s expected to get on Tuesday, we’ll be back to “Bernie is unstoppable” takes.

    FWIW, I don’t think either of those themes is meaningful, but it is a self-fulfilling prophesy to some extent, though early voting has scrambled that a bit. Another thing to analyze in the off-season.

  24. 24.

    Chyron HR

    March 2, 2020 at 8:11 am

    If you thought the Berniebro gloating over Buttigeig suspending his campaign was intense, just wait until John Lewis passes away.

  25. 25.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 8:13 am

    @eclare: Saddest part of this campaign so far is that Sanders managed to cause Chuck D to sever his relationship with Flavor Flav over the former’s performance at a Sanders rally which the latter objected to.

  26. 26.

    JMG

    March 2, 2020 at 8:13 am

    @Betty Cracker: The narratives will struggle because California, where Sanders will get his biggest haul, won’t have final results for days and the exact number of the haul therefore won’t be either. Not that a lack of facts stops pundits, but it’ll be hard on them.

  27. 27.

    ByRookorbyCrook

    March 2, 2020 at 8:15 am

    I would have advised rest for the Bird Whisperer of Burlington, but John Lewis came out to rally the Democratic base while fighting pancreatic effing cancer on the bridge where he shed blood for all of our rights. It is too easy for BS detractors to point out the optics of Sanders being rebuffed by the AA vote in SC and sitting out the Selma anniversary. I am honestly surprised he was not there. He seems to be in the background of every important Democratic event photo. Never the forefront, just in the crowd behind to make the appearance.

  28. 28.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 8:16 am

    @JMG: There probably won’t be final results in CA for about a month(we’re slow but do it right).

  29. 29.

    terraformer

    March 2, 2020 at 8:17 am

    Trump will use coronavirus to “postpone” (i.e., cancel) the November election.

    Since they now seem to have the okay to do anything “as long as they believe it is in the best interest of America”, why not? Maybe all the bungling and ineptitude w.r.t. the virus, muzzling NIH & CDC, etc. is a foundation to simply not have elections? You think they wouldn’t do it?

  30. 30.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 8:17 am

    In other candidate news — I saw that Klobuchar cancelled a hometown rally because protesters took the stage before the event and couldn’t be convinced to leave.  Bad look for someone who wants to go toe to toe with the world’s worst leaders.  Anyhoo. I just think it signals that she is really no longer in the fight.  But!!!

    She outlasted Pete!  Plus one to her, I suspect.

  31. 31.

    Chyron HR

    March 2, 2020 at 8:17 am

    @JMG:

    That’s perfect for Bernie, since any delay means that the evil money-grubbing corporatists are scheming to steal his delegates again.

  32. 32.

    eclare

    March 2, 2020 at 8:17 am

    @Immanentize: I saw the poster Flava Flav objected to, he was right to be pissed.

  33. 33.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 8:20 am

    @eclare: I love Public enemy, and Chuck D and Flav, even in all their sexist glory (thinking Channel Zero); but Flav is right on this one.

  34. 34.

    debbie

    March 2, 2020 at 8:20 am

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    We need to get the country back to where it was before the Current Abomination and then talk about a revolution (as in, ending inequality, racism, etc.).

  35. 35.

    Steeplejack

    March 2, 2020 at 8:21 am

    I plan to vote for Elizabeth Warren tomorrow in Virginia. South Carolina reaffirmed the fact that conditions in this campaign can turn on a dime. I think that sometimes we get caught up in trying to game out “who can win” vs. who most represents what we want. At this point I can’t know absolutely who can beat Trump, but I do know who most represents what I want.

    I think there is a chance that after the election, with the benefit of hindsight and a little historical perspective, it could become clear that Trump’s support was so fragile—an enormous Potemkin village—that anyone could have beaten him. We don’t see the possibility now because the reign of the mad king is so awful. But if it turns out that way—big if, I admit—I don’t want to be saying, “Well, if I had known that, I wouldn’t have voted for so-and-so in the primary.”

    #BrokenGlass in November, of course.

  36. 36.

    eclare

    March 2, 2020 at 8:21 am

    @Immanentize: Agreed, Flava was right.

  37. 37.

    debbie

    March 2, 2020 at 8:23 am

    @Immanentize:

    Were they Bernbros?

  38. 38.

    Kraux Pas

    March 2, 2020 at 8:24 am

    Every Democratic presidential candidate but one made a point of showing up, and that includes Pete Buttigieg. Y’all can probably guess who couldn’t make the effort.

    I went the first time. Hasn’t been the same since it became commercialized…

  39. 39.

    Jinchi

    March 2, 2020 at 8:24 am

    @Steeplejack: We don’t see the possibility now because the reign of the mad king is so awful.

    I think you’re right about Trump being a weak candidate, and polling has supported the conclusion that any of the Democrats could beat him.

  40. 40.

    Steeplejack

    March 2, 2020 at 8:25 am

    @Steeplejack:

    Somewhat serendipitous and appropriate, as I heard this song in a commercial as I was writing above: Paul Carrack and Eric Clapton, “How Long” (has this been going on?)

  41. 41.

    debbie

    March 2, 2020 at 8:26 am

    @eclare:

    Best opening credits ever!

  42. 42.

    satby

    March 2, 2020 at 8:27 am

    @Immanentize: as far as I’m concerned it shows that Pete is more of a team player. And yes, I know she’s supposedly staying in to try to hold down Bernie’s win in MN, but the third place guy gracefully steps aside while the fifth place, no delegate campaigner stays in? Glad she’s done. Bernie has been consistently underperforming his poll results, hope that continues tomorrow.

  43. 43.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 8:27 am

    @eclare: The clock thing is so much Flav’s mark, they coulda seen that dispute commin’ from Palin’s porch.

  44. 44.

    Soprano2

    March 2, 2020 at 8:27 am

    I heard David Greene on NPR interviewing Karen Finney, a Clinton campaign spokesperson, about what might happen on Super Tuesday.  He spread the Sanders lie that the DNC was financially supporting Clinton’s campaign!  Finney corrected him, but he was resistant, saying something like “I don’t want to re-litigate the 2016 election” after she corrected him twice on misstatements!  Gee thanks NPR!

  45. 45.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 8:27 am

    Tribune of the masses was conspicuous by his absence.

  46. 46.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 8:28 am

    @Jinchi: President Hillary Clinton sends her regards.

  47. 47.

    satby

    March 2, 2020 at 8:29 am

    @terraformer: try not to be ridiculous.

  48. 48.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 2, 2020 at 8:29 am

    @satby:

    Bernie has been consistently underperforming his poll results, hope that continues tomorrow.

    Seconded.

  49. 49.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 8:29 am

    @debbie: probably not.  BLM protesting her prosecution on the thinnest evidence of a young black teen sentenced to life — Myon Burrell.

  50. 50.

    Amir Khalid

    March 2, 2020 at 8:29 am

    @terraformer:

    As far as I know, there is no one Constitutionally authorised to invoke force majeure to cancel or postpone a presidential election. Could der Scheißgibbon pull such a power out of his ass and do it? That would seem like a total failure of the system.

  51. 51.

    satby

    March 2, 2020 at 8:30 am

    @Soprano2: NPR, like the NYT, is garbage.

  52. 52.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 8:31 am

    @Soprano2: Karen is a fellow Bruin*, good people.

    *I think she’s a few years younger than I am and I’d left Westwood before she arrived.

  53. 53.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 8:32 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: It will his polling averages are high among under 25 voters who have so far not materialized in the same numbers at the actual elections.

  54. 54.

    Betty Cracker

    March 2, 2020 at 8:32 am

    @Steeplejack: Yep. Sanders and Biden are both awful candidates in different ways. It may come down to a choice between them, but I’m not about to add my vote to that outcome if I don’t have to.

  55. 55.

    Mr. Mack

    March 2, 2020 at 8:32 am

    @Steeplejack: One of my favorites, hadn’t seen this version.  Perfect.

  56. 56.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    March 2, 2020 at 8:33 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    I remember people saying W would cancel the 2008 elections, and someone on BJ said that when 300 million people expect something to happen, it tends to happen. I found that comfortingly sensible then and repeat it to myself even now. So thanks, whoever said it!

  57. 57.

    debbie

    March 2, 2020 at 8:34 am

    @terraformer:

    Rudi tried to do the same thing with 9/11, and all that did was ensure his ticket out of Gracie Mansion.

  58. 58.

    satby

    March 2, 2020 at 8:35 am

    @Immanentize: maybe, though. The supposed BLM people who disrupted the gathering here in South Bend of black Pete supporters were actually Bernie people, including the white guy who grabbed the microphone out of the hand of the black woman presiding.  Bernie’s people have been ratfucking other candidate appearances for a long time.

  59. 59.

    eclare

    March 2, 2020 at 8:35 am

    @satby: I read the AP report about her behavior in the Myon Burrell case, it was abhorrent.  Teenager accused of killing a girl, being held, not indicted.  His mother died, and Amy refused to let him go to her funeral.

    Along with prosecuting on very tenuous evidence.

  60. 60.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 8:36 am

    @satby:. Buttigieg was very gracious indeed.  Makes me wish for that past to return when politicians did not burn down villages to save their time-share.

    I hadn’t heard that theory about Klobuchar staying in until after tomorrow for Minnesota purposes.  That makes sense and if I were the Biden team, I would have asked her to do so as well.  That could well be a form of team play.  She is not showing over 15% anywhere else, is she?

  61. 61.

    Geminid

    March 2, 2020 at 8:36 am

    I will vote for Warren tomorrow in the VA primary. That said, for me Biden’s win in South Carolina was the first good news in this screwed up primary season.

  62. 62.

    debbie

    March 2, 2020 at 8:36 am

    @Immanentize:

    Thanks.

  63. 63.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 8:38 am

    @Betty Cracker: Well said, Queen Cracker.  I agree and will vote for a woman Democrat tomorrow who believes that change is possible.

  64. 64.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 8:42 am

    @eclare: The evidence was the most tenuous type — jail house snitch testimony.  This, forced/false confessions, and mis-identifications are the three pillars of wrongful conviction.

  65. 65.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 8:42 am

    Hey boys and girls, it’s Milky Way season again!

  66. 66.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 8:42 am

    @satby: It would be interesting to find out, no?

  67. 67.

    Princess

    March 2, 2020 at 8:42 am

    I’m going to vote for Warren as long as she is still in when it is my time to vote.

    All those B candidates are too old, and it shows. (Biden’s confusion, Bernie refusing to admit he’s wrong about anything so doubling down on how awesome Castro and China are). I don’t really like or dislike any of them more than the other, but I don’t think any one of them would be an effective president (though better than Trump of course).

  68. 68.

    satby

    March 2, 2020 at 8:44 am

    Ok, I surrendered and did a site feedback on these stupid top and border ads. Loading them and the constant refreshing is making it to hard to deal with. And I can’t find an ad blocker for Kindle.

  69. 69.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 8:47 am

    @satby: We were able to banish them once, but they returned.  And I am getting bottom of site ads too.  And one day, I had ads all around the edge of the site (cute little paw prints that I would have killed with death if I knew how). Those seem to be gone.  Also, intermittently, I get a full page ads when I use the site button for forward or back between posts…

  70. 70.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 8:47 am

    We will soon find out how representative Balloon Juice is of the Democratic primary electorate since EW has won both the BJ frontpager and the BJ commenter primary.

  71. 71.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 2, 2020 at 8:47 am

    @satby: That is my experience on my (android) phone. I switched from chrome to firefox, which was slightly better, but not much. I never had such a horrible BJ experience on my phone before the site update. That said, I love how it works on my laptop, using an adblocker.

  72. 72.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 2, 2020 at 8:48 am

    @Immanentize: Seeing as I have no idea what you guys are talking about, can you give me a link?

  73. 73.

    Another Scott

    March 2, 2020 at 8:48 am

    @satby: It looks like DNS66 might work.

    https://github.com/julian-klode/dns66

    Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  74. 74.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 8:50 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: Agreed completely. It is a nightmare on the phone. I usually only check Twitter on my phone. Can anyone suggest good ad blocker for Chrome for android, thanks.

  75. 75.

    satby

    March 2, 2020 at 8:51 am

    @Another Scott: and have I told you lately how much I luv you?

    Thanks!

  76. 76.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 8:51 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Pretty

  77. 77.

    Patricia Kayden

    March 2, 2020 at 8:51 am

    Charlottesville is a wonderful town so it’s good to see them tackling and moving beyond their Confederate past. Take all the Confederate statues down already.

  78. 78.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    March 2, 2020 at 8:51 am

    @Immanentize:

    I assume those ads work or no one would be paying for them, but good lord, who looks at them and says, yeah, I’ll buy that?

  79. 79.

    Josie

    March 2, 2020 at 8:51 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    She hasn’t necessarily won the commenter primary.  There are a lot of us out here who are quietly making our own plans on how we will vote, regardless of the more outspoken people.

  80. 80.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 8:52 am

    @schrodingers_cat: I don’t think people supporting Warren really give a shit if Balloon Juice is Representative of the primary electorate.  I am fairly confident that we each have thought A LOT about each of the candidates and have decided as well informed voters who we personally believe, among those still in the race, will be the best person to lead the country.  At least that is how I came to my decision and a blogsite popularity preference had — exactly — nothing to do with my choice.

  81. 81.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 2, 2020 at 8:52 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Hah! My political preferences are rarely representative, which is ok. I unabashedly like EW. I think she’s smart, capable, and gets things done. She’s made some missteps in her campaign (who hasn’t?), but I think her failure to gain traction can mostly be attributed to our country’s deep-seated misogyny along with PTSD from 2016. I’m Team Biden if he wins. Will vote for BS if I must.

  82. 82.

    debit

    March 2, 2020 at 8:53 am

    @Geminid: I’ve already sent my mail in ballot for Warren in MN.

  83. 83.

    debbie

    March 2, 2020 at 8:53 am

    @eclare:

    Not letting him go to his mother’s funeral was a Trumpish kind of move.

  84. 84.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 8:53 am

    @Josie: Outspoken commenter primary then.

  85. 85.

    eclare

    March 2, 2020 at 8:53 am

    @Josie: I’m voting for Biden tomorrow.

  86. 86.

    eclare

    March 2, 2020 at 8:55 am

    @debbie: Very good point, just cruel

  87. 87.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 8:55 am

    @Immanentize: I am keeping an account for my information and curiousity because I like to analyze data and numbers. Not saying that the blog average affects an individual commenter.

  88. 88.

    Josie

    March 2, 2020 at 8:56 am

    @eclare:

    High five.

  89. 89.

    debbie

    March 2, 2020 at 8:56 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Here.

  90. 90.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 8:56 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I do love you true, Dude!

    Here is a link to the Public (Enemy) spat:

     

    Linky to Flava Flav and Chuck D dusagreement

    Fight the Power!

  91. 91.

    Steeplejack

    March 2, 2020 at 8:57 am

    @satby:

    Thank you! I try to report everything I see to WaterGirl, and I’m glad other people are on the case.

  92. 92.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 8:57 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Thanks, it was a bit after astronomical dawn, so the sun is lighting up the horizon a bit.

  93. 93.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 8:57 am

    @Josie: Me three. Also husband kitteh.

  94. 94.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 8:58 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Have you ever photographed the northern lights?

  95. 95.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 8:59 am

    @schrodingers_cat: No, I’m too far south.

  96. 96.

    satby

    March 2, 2020 at 9:00 am

    @satby: hmm, downloaded, now must tweek. But promising ?

  97. 97.

    germy

    March 2, 2020 at 9:02 am

    Weird thing on here is fantasizing about who Trump would prefer to run against. You spent 4 years correctly calling this guy a dumb asshole why is his political analysis guiding your voting decisions now

    — Your Dad (@InternetHippo) February 28, 2020

  98. 98.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 2, 2020 at 9:03 am

    @debbie: @Immanentize: Thanx to both of you, I now have a clue.

  99. 99.

    topclimber

    March 2, 2020 at 9:04 am

    @schrodingers_cat: I blame Cole. How come every Democrat in America does not patronize this blog? Spend some money on search engines, man. Let’s see some marketing.

  100. 100.

    p.a.

    March 2, 2020 at 9:05 am

    Pete’s and Tom’s voters (well Pete’s voters and Tom’s voter) most likely to gravitate to Joe?

    Joe’s too old, I’m afraid he may replicate Obama’s 1st admin attempts to coopt some Rethugs, but I’m pretty sure he’ll fill his admin with good people on civil rights and environmental perspectives at least (his war votes still a concern).   So sad Warren hasn’t gained traction, and if she can’t win her home state… ?

  101. 101.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 9:06 am

    I made a Twitter poll for Super Tuesday and did not eated it.

    Here is the link

  102. 102.

    JPL

    March 2, 2020 at 9:06 am

    What is happening?   There is lots of love on this blog this morning.   No one sent me the magic pills.

  103. 103.

    Chyron HR

    March 2, 2020 at 9:07 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    It’s going to be wild if Biden loses the primary and you spend the next four years lecturing us about how Warren couldn’t even beat Bernie.

  104. 104.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 9:08 am

    @p.a.: She might, BS always underperforms compared to  his polls. They are running neck and neck and there are many undecideds.

    And that’s true about most states. BS is not inevitable, despite what Rose Twitter and BS bros in the media like to tell us.

  105. 105.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 2, 2020 at 9:10 am

    @JPL: Oh, fuck off.  ;-)  Feel better now?

  106. 106.

    Marcopolo

    March 2, 2020 at 9:12 am

    Thanks for posting the Amanda Litman piece. I’ve been trying to amplify her excellent point for a couple months now after I first read it on her twitter feed.

    Thanks once again for everyone here who is doing campaign work, donating to campaigns, registering/supporting the registering of voters etc.. We are all in this boat together.

  107. 107.

    Amir Khalid

    March 2, 2020 at 9:12 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    There’s an old saw in advertising: half of it is always wasted, but you don’t know which half.

  108. 108.

    debbie

    March 2, 2020 at 9:15 am

    @Chyron HR:

    It uncomfortably reminds me of Nixon’s Enemies List.

  109. 109.

    James E Powell

    March 2, 2020 at 9:17 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Could der Scheißgibbon pull such a power out of his ass and do it? That would seem like a total failure of the system.

    I don’t think that he could, but if he did his approval would plummet to 40%. Susan Collins would express concern then join every other Republican in supporting Trump. The press/media would debate whether Democrats were overreacting.

  110. 110.

    germy

    March 2, 2020 at 9:17 am

    Thread from a woman with a good job and good insurance:

    Maybe the worst part of my so-far textbook pregnancy has been navigating healthcare. I currently have $700+ in outstanding bills due to inaccurate billing, erroneous tests and general bureaucracy. A thread:
    — Shannon Wink (@shannonawink) February 24, 2020

  111. 111.

    JPL

    March 2, 2020 at 9:18 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: yes.

  112. 112.

    Marcopolo

    March 2, 2020 at 9:22 am

    @Betty Cracker:All these comeback narratives ignore the fact that voting is so much more front loaded in 2020. CA didn’t vote until June in 2016. There is literally no time for the Biden campaign to take the $10+ million he has raised over the past several days and use it to buff up his campaign organization (you know, like hiring folks & opening offices) so it is pretty much going to be dumped into running additional ads.

    I’m not a Sanders supporter but in that regards his campaign is best positioned. It has been bringing in huge amounts of money ($25M in Jan & $46M in Feb) and has been putting that into his ground game all along. We will definitely see if there is a low ceiling for the percentage of voters he can attract and what that might be over the next month but I’m thinking he will win a plurality (though maybe not over 50%) of the delegates on Tuesday. He will do fairly well in CA & TX and he does seem to be the candidate who is garnering the most Latino support.

    All that being said, I will be voting for Warren either tomorrow or Wed at an early voting location in St Louis. And supporting whomever the nominee is in Nov.

  113. 113.

    Barbara

    March 2, 2020 at 9:26 am

    My husband and I voted early on Saturday.  Busy polling place in Arlington, VA, but not overwhelmingly so.  We plan to be out of town tomorrow — still no “no excuses” early voting in VA.  I really hoped the legislature would change that, at least for the general election, but not this year.

    I can only take so much of the horse race analysis, I have found.  If you are looking for an interesting read that puts our history in perspective, I just finished The Club by Leo Damrosch.  What an incredible writer.  It focuses on Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, and the “club” of luminaries that Johnson created (Burke, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Oliver Goldsmith, Edward Gibbon, Adam Smith, and others) in around 1760.  I would call it a political/social history of England at the same time the U.S. was forming its independent identity.  It also focuses on several women who were important in Johnson’s life, like Fanny Burney.

  114. 114.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 9:28 am

    @Marcopolo: Wilmer has been on the air here in LA for the past month, the past week it’s been 2 ads during the 11pm news(about the only TV I watch).

  115. 115.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 9:28 am

    @debbie: Just because I have disagreed with Warren’s strategy to win the nomination doesn’t mean that I think those who support her are my enemies.

    Comparing me to Nixon on the other hand is the height of civil discourse.

  116. 116.

    Steeplejack

    March 2, 2020 at 9:28 am

    @germy:

    Truth.

  117. 117.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 2, 2020 at 9:30 am

    @Chyron HR: WTF?

  118. 118.

    debbie

    March 2, 2020 at 9:33 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    No, it’s your long-held grudges. Just a couple of weeks ago, you pointed out for the millionth time how you knew better than “others” at BJ that the military wouldn’t control Trump.

  119. 119.

    snoey

    March 2, 2020 at 9:33 am

    @germy: I’ts not Trump who’s making that call.

  120. 120.

    germy

    March 2, 2020 at 9:34 am

     In clips from his radio show as mayor, Mike Bloomberg repeatedly called for making cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. He repeatedly called social security a Ponzi scheme. https://t.co/JZBarIDcs0
    — andrew kaczynski? (@KFILE) February 26, 2020

    “Republican Talking Points 2020” (fits on a bumper sticker)

  121. 121.

    japa21

    March 2, 2020 at 9:38 am

    Early voting starts in Illinois today.  I will be voting for Biden when I vote.  Can’t vote on the 17th as I am an election judge.

     

    If you live in Cook County, you will notice a change in the process when you vote.  We have had both paper and touch screen voting for several years.  That continues but a big change is that now, when you do the touch screen, when you are done a paper ballot will print out and that gets put in the scanner along with the regular paper ballots.

    I have a couple issues with it but it is now a complete paper trail which is good.

  122. 122.

    jeffreyw

    March 2, 2020 at 9:39 am

    @schrodingers_cat: I’m running Adblocker browser on one phone, and Brave on another.  They both work well.  Brave has a windows browser that imports all your bookmarks from other browsers that you can then import to the phone.

  123. 123.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 2, 2020 at 9:39 am

    @JPL: Good. I live to serve.

  124. 124.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 9:40 am

    @debbie: I can see how that can be irritating.  Anyone could have seen it really. I don’t claim any special powers.

    I don’t see stuff with rose tinted glasses. Its a curse really because I can’t convince my parents how terrible BJP really is since they are refusing to see what is clear as daylight.

    Again I hold no grudges otherwise I wouldn’t be posting here or responding to you.

  125. 125.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 9:41 am

    @jeffreyw: Thanks so much.

  126. 126.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 9:41 am

    @japa21: Madame and I used the touch screens to vote here in LA, it was nice not to have to remember to bring reading glasses, it prints out a paper ballot that you approve and then deposits it in the ballot box at the machine.

  127. 127.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 2, 2020 at 9:42 am

    @jeffreyw: Thank you. I will give them a try. BJ on my phone is literally unreadable. [Waves to Steve in WTF.]

  128. 128.

    Bluegrl21

    March 2, 2020 at 9:43 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Me too for Biden, much to the dismay of my Bernie-loving 18 year old son.

  129. 129.

    TS (the original)

    March 2, 2020 at 9:44 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    OT – Many thanks for your comment yesterday on the politics  related to the appointment of the new Malaysian PM. You explained it so much better than any of the media people in my part of the world.

  130. 130.

    Josie

    March 2, 2020 at 9:45 am

    @snoey:

    This is an important point.  I suspect that Putin does not want Biden to win because he believes Biden has the experience and connections to stabilize our democracy better than anyone else.

  131. 131.

    NotMax

    March 2, 2020 at 9:46 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA

    Just a guess that touch screen machines don’t play well with being spritzed or smeared, probably repeatedly, with hand sanitizer from viralphobes who are otherwise afraid to touch them.

  132. 132.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 9:46 am

    @Barbara: Thank you — on my list for our trip.

  133. 133.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 2, 2020 at 9:48 am

    @Immanentize: When do you leave?

  134. 134.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 9:48 am

    @Bluegrl21: Ahh, you two are performing cancel culture ?

  135. 135.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 2, 2020 at 9:49 am

    @NotMax: You can sign up for vote by mail as well.

  136. 136.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 9:52 am

    I am no Covid19 sooner at all.  But some interesting news — one of Iranian leader’s closest advisors has the disease.  The pope cancelled a mass because of it yesterday (and reportedly coughed).

    1. Won’t it be interesting to see how much chaos the microbe causes?  For good or ill, and I lean in my mind toward the latter.
  137. 137.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 9:53 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: March 12

    Starting to look a bit like “if.”. But they will have to cancel as I cannot get our money back otherwise.

  138. 138.

    Brachiator

    March 2, 2020 at 9:57 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I don’t see stuff with rose tinted glasses. Its a curse really because I can’t convince my parents how terrible BJP really is since they are refusing to see what is clear as daylight.

    A very interesting observation. I see something perhaps very similar with respect to conservatives I know who used to be more or less moderate, who refuse to acknowledge that Trump is bad for the country.

    Do you know why your parents or other people who behave similarly are like this? Do they approve of the BJP? Do they think that other things they have done are good for the country, and accept the bad parts as a necessary evil or minor consequence?

  139. 139.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 2, 2020 at 9:58 am

    @Immanentize: Fingers crossed that the trip proceeds as planned and without any nasty virus or other interference.

  140. 140.

    hueyplong

    March 2, 2020 at 9:58 am

    Already early-voted for Warren here in NC, but am in the camp of people who are heaving sighs of relief that Biden instead of Bloomberg might be the “compromise” candidate to stop Bernie.

    Would love for tomorrow night’s election coverage to center on whether Bernie remains viable.

  141. 141.

    zhena gogolia

    March 2, 2020 at 9:58 am

    @snoey:

    Absolutely right.

  142. 142.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 2, 2020 at 9:59 am

    The British economy would be at most 0.16% larger by the middle of the next decade under a comprehensive trade deal with the US, the government has admitted, laying bare the limited benefits from striking an agreement with Donald Trump.

    In a document published by Liz Truss’s Department for International Trade designed to kick-start post-Brexit trade talks with the Trump White House, the government said the British economy stood to benefit from an “ambitious and comprehensive” trade deal worth a fraction of GDP, equivalent to £3.4bn after 15 years.

    Prompting warnings from economists that the benefits would be far outstripped by the losses from crashing out of the EU, the official analysis also showed that a more limited trade deal with the US would deliver benefits to the UK economy worth just 0.07% by the middle of the 2030s, or about £1.4bn.

    The government had previously estimated the economy would be as much as 7.6% smaller should Britain leave the EU without a deal, and about 4.9% smaller under Boris Johnson’s preferred Canada-style agreement.

    Dr Peter Holmes, an academic at the UK Trade Policy Observatory at Sussex University, said: “The numbers are very small. It just goes to show how tiny the gains are from an free trade agreement with the US compared to losing our present arrangements with the EU.”

    Cutting off one’s British nose to spite their European face.

  143. 143.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 10:01 am

    @Brachiator: That’s what they say but none of the things they point out hold up to any scrutiny. They mostly just don’t want to talk about it at all.

    They were not like this before, they have changed.

  144. 144.

    Marcopolo

    March 2, 2020 at 10:02 am

    @schrodingers_cat:I always view the comments folks post here as saying a lot more about themselves than anything else. This is a pretty good example.

    I have been voting in D presidential primaries for about 10 election cycles now. I have never, repeat never, had the person I supported in the primary wind up becoming the nominee. Which, ya know, is just fine. I have always gone on to vote for whomever the nominee is in the general.

    It’s a primary for god’s sake. I don’t gauge the success or failure of who I decide to support in the primary based on who the final winner is because I am choosing the person who I think best represents my beliefs. I am not trying to game out who the eventual winner will be and then throwing my support behind that person because I already know I will support whoever wins.

    I still don’t think we know exactly how this yea’s primary plays out. If someone had told me a year ago that this is where things would be in March 2020 I don’t think I would have believed them.

    Anyways, Sanders is presumably the current front runner. It seems likely he wins the most delegates on Super Tuesday but not a knockout blow amount. There is a fair chance we get to the convention with no one having a clear majority. Biden has an uphill path atm to reach a majority but aside from him no one else has much of a path at all.

    The bottom line is, however, I don’t really worry whether my vote for Warren this week aligns me with a majority of other D voters or not. I will be joining them in November to vote for whoever the nominee is.

    And to all me fellow BJers, whoever you are voting for in the coming days/weeks (or have already voted for) thanks for playing an active role in the process.

  145. 145.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 10:03 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: Thank you.  I just don’t want to be trapped on the ship with a bunch of ports o’ call closed to us.  That sounds bad to me.  But the Immp is OK with it.  I am making him take Camus for the trip.  :-)

  146. 146.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 2, 2020 at 10:03 am

    I periodically check in on the facebook posts of a few BernieBros known to me. The triumphalism has shifted to we must all start phoning now now now to get out the vote for Super Tuesday. They sound a little nervous and I hope their anxiety proves justified come tomorrow evening.

  147. 147.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 2, 2020 at 10:05 am

    @Immanentize: And maybe Sartre’s No Exit? :)

  148. 148.

    tam1MI

    March 2, 2020 at 10:05 am

    [quote]There’s very few have earned the right to stay home if they can’t get exactly what they want with their vote.[/quote]

    Women who have voted all their political lives for sub-optimal men to be President of the United States and then, the [i]one time i fucking history[/i] we ask our fellow party members to do the same for an eminently qualified woman, the leftards threw the election to Donald Trump.  That’s who has earned that right.

  149. 149.

    satby

    March 2, 2020 at 10:05 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: a lot of nasty hate posts about everyone other than Vermont Trump too.

  150. 150.

    Brachiator

    March 2, 2020 at 10:06 am

    @germy:

    In clips from his radio show as mayor, Mike Bloomberg repeatedly called for making cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. He repeatedly called social security a Ponzi scheme

    I wonder whether Bloomberg will offer a weak “apology” for this?

  151. 151.

    satby

    March 2, 2020 at 10:06 am

    @tam1MI: that’s insane, women can’t afford to sit this election out.

  152. 152.

    Marcopolo

    March 2, 2020 at 10:07 am

    @Immanentize:Um, that close advisor to Khameni has died from COVID-19. Wonder how that Iranian deputy health minister–you know the one that gave the press conference saying everything was under control while being visibly symptomatic (sweating & coughing)–is doing.

  153. 153.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 2, 2020 at 10:07 am

    @satby: Yeah. Nasty people will be nasty. I saw that facebook won’t address homophobic hate speech. Not a novel observation, but there is something deeply wrong with Zuckerberg and co.

  154. 154.

    germy

    March 2, 2020 at 10:08 am

    There is something weird in the fact that there's a longterm cease-fire deal in America's longest-ever war for the first time this weekend, and 60 Minutes viewers are watching a friendly interview with a war criminal who was pardoned by Donald Trump and now has an apparel line
    — Adam Weinstein (@AdamWeinstein) March 2, 2020

  155. 155.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 10:08 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: Isn’t that just a cruel double whammy for one so young? Might as well give him The Trial, too.

  156. 156.

    JPL

    March 2, 2020 at 10:09 am

    @Immanentize: If you are stuck at sea, Moby Dick might be better.  ??  Will you have internet access?

  157. 157.

    germy

    March 2, 2020 at 10:09 am

    @Brachiator:  I think there’s footage of him joking about an apology tour before he decided to run.

  158. 158.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 2, 2020 at 10:10 am

    @Immanentize: LOL. Cruel and unusual punishment.

  159. 159.

    germy

    March 2, 2020 at 10:10 am

    Texas closes hundreds of polling sites, making it harder for minorities to vote
    Guardian analysis finds that places where black and Latino population is growing by the largest numbers experienced the majority of closures and could benefit Republicans

  160. 160.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 10:11 am

    @Marcopolo: Dead, huh?  I wonder what the conspiracy crackpots are saying over in the Middle East.

    I am starting to consider whether I should take my Mom out of the nursing home she is in when I return to have her live with me for a month or something here.  Fewer virus vectors in my home.

  161. 161.

    JPL

    March 2, 2020 at 10:12 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: They could even reenact it.

  162. 162.

    germy

    March 2, 2020 at 10:13 am

    Fun fact about the Spanish flu: it's called that, not because Spain had way more cases than other countries, but because they didn't censor their media from reporting on its existence, giving the false impression that the pandemic was worse in Spain

    — Eve Forster ❄️??‍?? (@EveForster) March 2, 2020

  163. 163.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 10:13 am

    @JPL: But which of us, the Immp or me, will be the narrator and which Quequeg?  We will have internet, or so they say….

  164. 164.

    eclare

    March 2, 2020 at 10:13 am

    @Immanentize: I took a cruise a few years ago, dreading the days at sea.  I was pleasantly surprised at how relaxing it was to sit up on the top deck with a book and blue sea in the background.

  165. 165.

    germy

    March 2, 2020 at 10:14 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Cutting off one’s British nose to spite their European face.

    Good way of putting it.

  166. 166.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 2, 2020 at 10:14 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: That’s just cruel.  I’ve always preferred Camus to Sartre.

  167. 167.

    Brachiator

    March 2, 2020 at 10:16 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I assume those ads work or no one would be paying for them, but good lord, who looks at them and says, yeah, I’ll buy that?

    I don’t watch a lot of regular TV, so I don’t see many tv ad spots at all. And I listen to a lot of podcasts, so I miss most radio ads.

    However, I do listen to news radio. The CBS station here in Los Angeles ran a Tom Steyer spot just after they reported on his dropping out of the presidential race.

    Talk about money down a rat hole.

  168. 168.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 10:16 am

    @JPL:

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    And to balance things out, Blindness by Saramago and for non-fiction, the Stanford Prison Project.

    Me?  I plan on taking the four volumes (translated) of My Struggle by Knausgaard.

    PS to All — anyone heard from G&T?

  169. 169.

    germy

    March 2, 2020 at 10:17 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:  Putting Descartes before Horace.

  170. 170.

    Marcopolo

    March 2, 2020 at 10:17 am

    @Immanentize:I live with my 87 year old mom. I suggested last night she give some thought to not have the cleaning folks come by for the next month or two. We’ll definitely be letting them know if any of them are feeling the least bit ill they should not come. Neither she nor I spend lots of time in large groups of people (and if we take measures over the next month or two she will probably just stay home while I limit myself to necessary shopping trips) but we have no control over who they are in contact with

    Here’s a link to an article about what is happening in Iran.

    An adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has died from the new coronavirus, as other top officials in the country are confirmed to be infected, according to multiple reports on Monday.

  171. 171.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 2, 2020 at 10:18 am

    @germy: I was kinda proud of myself for that turn of phrase. Have I mentioned lately how humble I am? I am very humble.

  172. 172.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 10:19 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Me too.  The Plague is just so perfect.

  173. 173.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 2, 2020 at 10:19 am

    @tam1MI: That’s who has earned that right.

    I am going to call bullshit.

  174. 174.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 10:21 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I have been told you are at least the most humble person in the Holler.  And probably in MO as well.  If not the country.  Told by you, I recall….

  175. 175.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 2, 2020 at 10:21 am

    @Marcopolo:

    I suggested last night she give some thought to not have the cleaning folks come by for the next month or two

    Why do you hate donald trump so much? Think about the stock market!

  176. 176.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 2, 2020 at 10:22 am

    @Immanentize: And I would never lie…

  177. 177.

    Chris Johnson

    March 2, 2020 at 10:23 am

    @Immanentize: This. I came to Warren because I always did like her, and Sanders increasingly became dead to me. I would feel that way if all the commentariat hated her. Instead, only some of the commentariat hates her, and for reasons I can’t endorse (constantly wanting her to tear Sanders apart on ideological grounds, when those are the only thing the old coot has going for him).

    I find it heartwarming that ANY of the commentariat feels the way I do. Sure didn’t used to be the case when I was fool enough to put my faith in Bernie Sanders.

    It’s possible that, just as I had to get over myself and give up some of my pet fixations, you and/or others will end up needing to do likewise. But I did my bit, for now.

  178. 178.

    Brachiator

    March 2, 2020 at 10:23 am

    @tam1MI:

    RE: There’s very few have earned the right to stay home if they can’t get exactly what they want with their vote.

    Women who have voted all their political lives for sub-optimal men to be President of the United States and then, the [i]one time i fucking history[/i] we ask our fellow party members to do the same for an eminently qualified woman, the leftards threw the election to Donald Trump.  That’s who has earned that right.

    Earned the right to stay home?

    WTF?

  179. 179.

    Barbara

    March 2, 2020 at 10:24 am

    @Marcopolo: I don’t even remember who I voted for in most primaries.  I know I voted for Obama in 2008, and Kerry in 2004.  Before that, I don’t remember if I voted for Clinton in 1992.  I definitely voted for Dukakis in 1988.

    I do factor ultimate ability to win the GE in my decision of who to vote for in the primary.  If I want to send a message, I will find a much more direct way to do it than primary voting.

  180. 180.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 10:26 am

    @Chris Johnson: Oh, I am all in with the vote for whoever gets nominated at the Democratic convention,  Even if Nina Turner is the VP choice.  I consider THAT true commitment to the ultimate cause.

  181. 181.

    Brachiator

    March 2, 2020 at 10:27 am

    @germy:

    Putting Descartes before Horace.

    Now that’s good.

  182. 182.

    germy

    March 2, 2020 at 10:28 am

    @Brachiator:   An old James Thurber pun.

    I should have credited him.

  183. 183.

    Barbara

    March 2, 2020 at 10:29 am

    @Immanentize: If you have not already read it, I would suggest “One of Us” by Asne Seierstad as a possible alternative to Knausgaard (if you love him, more power to you, but OMG, I find the self-referential writing hard to take after a while).  The power of this book is hard to describe, but it comes not from documenting the black hole that is the life and thought of Anders Brevik, but from juxtaposing that nothingness against the beauty and generosity of some of his victims.

  184. 184.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 2, 2020 at 10:29 am

    <blockquote><a href=”https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/02/oklahoma-college-recruiter-fired-students-line-up-skin-color”>A college recruiter was fired after high school students in Oklahoma City said he lined them up according to the color of their skin and then by the texture of their hair.</a>

    Harding Charter Preparatory high school student Korey Todd told KFOR-TV that during the 24 February assembly, the recruiter from Oklahoma Christian University “barely talked about the school itself”.

    “He was like, ‘All right, let’s play a little game,’” Todd said. “Then he said: ‘OK everyone, now line up from darkest to lightest skin complexion.’”

    The 11th graders were then told to shuffle again.

    Student Rio Brown said: “He told us to line up nappiest hair in the back and straightest hair in the front.”</blockquote>

    No doubt he thinks of himself as good and very devout Christian just following the words of Jesus.

  185. 185.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 10:31 am

    @Barbara: I have a copy of “One of US” but I haven’t been able to read it because it feels too much like a busman’s holiday for me.  My wife was the big Knausgaard fan in the house.  But we both like Proust.

  186. 186.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 2, 2020 at 10:33 am

    @germy: Good artists borrow. Great artists steal. Not saying you are a good artist or anything.

  187. 187.

    Barbara

    March 2, 2020 at 10:33 am

    @Brachiator: I could say that I earned the right to stop caring after one of my kids for the umpteenth time has “missing” homework, but I don’t think about life in those terms. So long as I care about the outcome, I will remain fully involved even if the returns are more diminished than I hoped.   And in the political sphere, if I need encouragement, I think about the African American citizens who never stopped trying to attack the legal doctrines underpinning the rights of other Americans to discriminate against them.

  188. 188.

    Geminid

    March 2, 2020 at 10:35 am

    @japa21: The Illinois primary may be very consequential this year.

  189. 189.

    Barbara

    March 2, 2020 at 10:35 am

    @Immanentize: I would encourage you to read it just because it gives as much life to Brevik’s victims as it does to Brevik.

  190. 190.

    germy

    March 2, 2020 at 10:35 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:  I have vague memories of my childhood religious training.  The textbook illustrations of Jesus were blond hair and blue eyes, while Judas was more… swarthy.

  191. 191.

    debbie

    March 2, 2020 at 10:37 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I have endured Donald Trump since 1978. I don’t disagree with you about anything that I can think of. That “keeping an account” was a bit discomforting, though.

  192. 192.

    zhena gogolia

    March 2, 2020 at 10:37 am

    I just devoured Tessa Hadley’s Late in the Day. I don’t really identify with the demographic of her writing, but I just find her narrative style irresistible.

  193. 193.

    Brachiator

    March 2, 2020 at 10:37 am

    @Steeplejack:

    I plan to vote for Elizabeth Warren tomorrow in Virginia. South Carolina reaffirmed the fact that conditions in this campaign can turn on a dime. I think that sometimes we get caught up in trying to game out “who can win” vs. who most represents what we want. At this point I can’t know absolutely who can beat Trump, but I do know who most represents what I want.

    Yep. Totally makes sense.

    I am voting for Warren in the California primary.

  194. 194.

    guachi

    March 2, 2020 at 10:38 am

    I think you have to factor electability into your primary vote or you end up with results like Our Revolution (Sanders’ PAC) where they went 0-22 in Republican held districts in 2018 and won no Republican held seats in other races.

  195. 195.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 10:38 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I had a bookmark once that said —

    Well stolen is half written.

    I don’t know where it went, but I can guess.

  196. 196.

    debbie

    March 2, 2020 at 10:39 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Ha! We also have that two-step process, but because I was feeling a bit paranoid, I asked for a paper ballot. As soon as I sat down to fill in the little circles, I regretted my decision. On the other hand, it was a Democratic-only ballot, so I couldn’t go wrong. Lesson learned!

  197. 197.

    Marcopolo

    March 2, 2020 at 10:41 am

    @Barbara:Here’s my sordid history: ’84 Mondale was the heir apparent; ’88 I caucused for Jessie Jackson; ’92 I supported Tsongass; ’96 Clinton re-elect; ’00 Gore heir apparent; ’04 Dean (I was in IA caucus weekend working for him); ’08 Edwards (WTF was I thinking…two Americas something something); ’12 Obama re-elect; ’16 I had no favorite (did not work or contribute for/to anyone) but voted for Clinton on primary election day.

    So no, no primary candidate I’ve ever been enthusiastic about has ever wound up being the nominee. I told all my friends when I decided to support Warren that it was probably the kiss of death.

  198. 198.

    debbie

    March 2, 2020 at 10:43 am

    @Immanentize:

    Anything but “The Plague”!

     

    “Stupidity has a knack of getting its way, as we would see if we were not always so wrapped up in ourselves.” (Or something similar.)

  199. 199.

    Barbara

    March 2, 2020 at 10:44 am

    @guachi: This is where I repost the tale of my co-worker the year after I graduated from law school, in which we discussed what issues would be important for the 1988 election.  She told me that divestment from South Africa would be a major issue.  When I told her that I had just moved from North Carolina and I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be, she laughed and told me that she thought that Cambridge, MA (where she had been a force for anti-apartheid activity) was more representative of the country than North Carolina.  Never underestimate the power of wishful thinking devoid of a broad spectrum of real world context.

  200. 200.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 10:44 am

    @Princess:

    Bernie refusing to admit he’s wrong about anything so doubling down on how awesome Castro and China are)

    given all the keening in BernieWorld about how the media (and everyone else) are out to get him (and them), I’m astounded at how little attention his flip-flop on releasing his medical records is. As with trump’s taxes, if the documents reflected well on him, he’d release them

  201. 201.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 10:50 am

    @debbie:

    My favorite for this moment in so many ways:

    Nonetheless, he knew that the tale he had to tell could not be one of a final victory. It could be only the record of what had had to be done, and what assuredly would have to be done again in the never ending fight against terror and its relentless onslaughts, despite their personal afflictions, by all who, while unable to be saints but refusing to bow down to pestilences, strive their utmost to be healers.

  202. 202.

    Brachiator

    March 2, 2020 at 10:51 am

    @Barbara:

    And in the political sphere, if I need encouragement, I think about the African American citizens who never stopped trying to attack the legal doctrines underpinning the rights of other Americans to discriminate against them.

    And of course there were the legal doctrines used to discriminate against women, and to deny them the right to vote.

  203. 203.

    guachi

    March 2, 2020 at 10:51 am

    For me:

    ’92 (first election): Clinton after seeing him in a South Dakota debate answer a question about Native Americans intelligently. SD was fourth that year and I was impressed that someone from Arkansas knew anything about Native American issues.

    ’96 Clinton

    ’00 No preference. I’d have been happy with either.

    ’04 No preference but leaned Kerry. I was a MT voter 1992-2000 and a CA voter after that. Both states held their primaries on the last primary day in June so I had a long time to care.

    ’08 Obama all the way, especially after seeing him in MD in early February before the primary.

    ’12 Clinton

    ’16 Harris and then Warren. But  really anyone but Sanders. I’ve donated to Warren, Klobuchar, and yesterday to Biden.

  204. 204.

    chopper

    March 2, 2020 at 10:51 am

    @Immanentize:

    eh, camus can do, but sartre is smartre.

  205. 205.

    Immanentize

    March 2, 2020 at 10:55 am

    @chopper: Ha!  Seen on a men’s bathroom wall at my University….

  206. 206.

    Betty Cracker

    March 2, 2020 at 10:59 am

    @guachi: Fair enough, but don’t forget to factor in Biden getting trounced by people like Michael Dukakis, etc., in previous contests. He’s been running for president since 1988, and he won his first primary this weekend. That doesn’t scream “electoral juggernaut” to me, and this “electability” thing maybe isn’t so cut and dried as people suppose.

  207. 207.

    Nelle

    March 2, 2020 at 11:00 am

    • Very late to breakfast.  A Bernie fan called Buttigieg “a little sneak” for withdrawing before Super Tuesday.  This used to be a reasonable person.  I’m appalled.
  208. 208.

    westyny

    March 2, 2020 at 11:04 am

    @germy: That “could” there is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

  209. 209.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 11:09 am

    @debbie: I think you misunderstand me perhaps it was a bad choice of words . I am trying to analyze the electorate. BJers are data pts representing highly engaged left to left of center part of the electorate.

    I am trying to figure out how representative a sample this is of the the Democratic electorate.

  210. 210.

    burnspbesq

    March 2, 2020 at 11:10 am

    @Immanentize:

    Was he campaigning elsewhere?  Or resting; which I would advise.

    IIRC, he was campaigning in MA, attempting to fatally shiv Sen. Warren.

  211. 211.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 11:10 am

    In other news, Jack Welch has expired.

    Jack Welch
    Unbelievable jobs numbers..these Chicago guys will do anything..can’t debate so change numbers
    5:35 AM – Oct 5, 2012

    They say you should only say good things about the dead. Jack Welch is dead….

    I remember in the second Bush term–IIRC after Katrina but before the market crash and as Iraq was going to hell– he went on the Tweety show and said something to the effect of “President Bush has done everything right, how did everything go so wrong?”. He looked like Grandpa Simpson’s more confused older brother. He would’ve been in his early 70s.

  212. 212.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 2, 2020 at 11:11 am

    @Immanentize: Picks up book, slides bookmark deeper into the pages and slips it on to the shelf…

  213. 213.

    James E Powell

    March 2, 2020 at 11:17 am

    @Immanentize:

    I have no idea what’s awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing. Camus, The Plague

    A quote for our times.

  214. 214.

    Johnnybuck

    March 2, 2020 at 11:18 am

    @guachi: Jackson ’84-’88, Clinton ’92, Gore 2000, Clinton ’08, ’16.

    You know what I never did though? Took my ball and go home if my preferred candidate didn’t win the nomination. As tempted as I might be if Sanders secures the nomination, I won’t this time either.

  215. 215.

    A Ghost To Most

    March 2, 2020 at 11:18 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I worked for GE under Welch for many years. He was a great leader. He became Grandpa Simpson later. The company fell apart after he left.

  216. 216.

    Brachiator

    March 2, 2020 at 11:20 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I am trying to figure out how representative a sample this is of the the Democratic electorate.

    Probably not very representative at all, considering demographics and other indices.

  217. 217.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 2, 2020 at 11:21 am

    @Brachiator: That’s my guess too.

  218. 218.

    debbie

    March 2, 2020 at 11:21 am

    @Immanentize:

    YES!  ❤️

  219. 219.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 11:22 am

    NYMag:
    Famous last words

    Trump asked about safety of attending campaign rallies amid virus spread: “I think it’s very safe.”

    —@ZekeJMiller

  220. 220.

    debbie

    March 2, 2020 at 11:24 am

    @Brachiator:

    How about “Leaning Leftisher”?

  221. 221.

    burnspbesq

    March 2, 2020 at 11:27 am

    Apparently today is Texas Independence Day. I find the rationale for celebrating this to be somewhat obscure.

    one more Warren voter.

  222. 222.

    Fair Economist

    March 2, 2020 at 11:28 am

    @Immanentize: There have been several deaths in the Iranian leadership. One MP, an advisor to Khamenei (dunno if the same one) and a retired ambassador to the Vatican.

  223. 223.

    O. Felix Culpa

    March 2, 2020 at 11:32 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Famous last words

    We can only hope.

  224. 224.

    Betty Cracker

    March 2, 2020 at 11:34 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m trying not to fall into the trap of thinking “finally, THIS utter foolishness, incompetence and malice will wake people the fuck up!” But I’ll admit I don’t see how Trump comes out of this rolling clusterfuck unscathed, despite many stupid media outlets’ best efforts to normalize his behavior. He’s screaming on Twitter again about his hurt feelings as the virus spreads. It’s deranged.

  225. 225.

    Fair Economist

    March 2, 2020 at 11:35 am

    I voted for Warren because a) she’d be the best President and b) in a contested convention she’s the only one I trust to have my interests at heart – seeking serious leftist solutions to chronic problems, but aware of political limitations. If the choice ends up between Bernie and Biden I trust her to make it.

  226. 226.

    Chyron HR

    March 2, 2020 at 11:36 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    What if the one time you skip a Trump rally, the saucer comes to take the faithful to Planet Trump?  Can you take that risk?

  227. 227.

    Chyron HR

    March 2, 2020 at 11:40 am

    @Nelle:

    Amazing how Pete quitting can be both a victory for Bernie but also a plot against Bernie.

  228. 228.

    Fair Economist

    March 2, 2020 at 11:42 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Trump asked about safety of attending campaign rallies amid virus spread: “I think it’s very safe.”

    —@ZekeJMiller

    Somebody needs to read up on role of the Liberty Bond parade in the Spanish flu epidemic in Philadelphia.

    Oh, I forgot. He doesn’t read!

  229. 229.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 2, 2020 at 11:43 am

    @Chyron HR: Everything is both a victory for Bernie, and a plot against Bernie.
    – The Second Koan of Bernieism

  230. 230.

    Mandalay

    March 2, 2020 at 11:45 am

    @Chyron HR:

    If you thought the Berniebro gloating over Buttigeig suspending his campaign was intense, just wait until John Lewis passes away.

    In general I think anyone should be able to post whatever they want on BJ, but you are a really vile piece of work. Must suck to be you.

  231. 231.

    Citizen Alan

    March 2, 2020 at 11:46 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I still blame Welch for personally intervening in NBC coverage on the night of the 2000 election for the benefit of W. Good riddance.

  232. 232.

    A Ghost To Most

    March 2, 2020 at 11:46 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: It’s the problem with every mindvirus.

  233. 233.

    E

    March 2, 2020 at 11:50 am

    @Immanentize:

    What are you talking about? Chuck D himself performed at the concert and endorsed Sanders.

  234. 234.

    debbie

    March 2, 2020 at 11:58 am

    @Fair Economist:

    There’s a Twitter thread for that!

    1. I’m going to keep trying to get people to understand epidemics. Again, COVID-19 might not be vast death here. Or it might. The time to limit its spread is now. So, to explain epidemics, let’s discuss the 1918 Liberty Parade…— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) March 2, 2020

    (Twenty-plus more tweets follow; I won’t paste it all in.)

  235. 235.

    Chyron HR

    March 2, 2020 at 12:06 pm

    @Mandalay:

    The hit dog hollers loudest.

    ETA: In case some folks weren’t politically aware in 2016, let me remind you that Bernie had his bros SEND DEATH THREATS to Lewis after Lewis had the temerity to suggest that Bernie was not, in fact, one of the leaders of the civil rights movement in the 60s.

  236. 236.

    Geminid

    March 2, 2020 at 12:16 pm

    The Israeli polls close soon. According to The Times of Israel, voting is on pace thus far to be the highest since 1999. Arab participation is very high, probably because Trump’s “peace” plan would redraw the Israeli border to place a couple hundred thousand Arab Israelis in Palestinian territory. Preelection polling indicates a result similar to the two elections of last year.

  237. 237.

    burnspbesq

    March 2, 2020 at 12:17 pm

    @Mandalay:

    it will happen, and you know perfectly well it will happen.

    if you want to be an apologist for that kind of behavior, knock yourself out.

  238. 238.

    Ruckus

    March 2, 2020 at 12:41 pm

    @ByRookorbyCrook:

    Well he is a self professed non democrat.

    He has two twitter accounts, one listed as him being an independent and one a democrat.

    He is listed as an independent in the senate.

    I believe he has said he would run for the senate again as an independent.

    IOW he is not a democrat.

  239. 239.

    Subsole

    March 2, 2020 at 1:40 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Is it a fox news/facebook sort of thing? I knew folks who just marinated in that ssss..tuff all week, week after week. It made them smaller, fearful. Meaner too.

    Worst part was you could break through the garbage, then they would go back, get their propaganda fix, and you were back to square zero.

    I frankly wonder if some of ’em got the shakes…like smoking, or some other addiction.

  240. 240.

    Uncle Cosmo

    March 2, 2020 at 1:58 pm

    @Immanentize: “Call me Fishmeal. That’s Quahog over there…”

    (NB Check your e-mail.)

  241. 241.

    sgrAstar

    March 2, 2020 at 4:04 pm

    Voted for Warren today. ✊️

     

    ?

  242. 242.

    J R in WV

    March 2, 2020 at 4:55 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    Nasty people will be nasty. I saw that facebook won’t address homophobic hate speech. Not a novel observation, but there is something deeply wrong with Zuckerberg and co.

    Zuckerberg is damaged merchandise, and the additional billions of dollars has just made it worse. No spirit there at all, IGMFU is all he’s got inside!

  243. 243.

    cokane

    March 2, 2020 at 5:18 pm

    @guachi: if you do that, i don’t see any empirical evidence that supports a Warren nomination. She consistently polls worse, way worse in matchups than either Biden or Sanders against Trump.

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