Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

This country desperately needs a functioning Fourth Estate.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

The jury literally has a bell they can ring to force Trump to show up on command. Greatest thing ever!

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

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Somebody needs to explain to DeSantis that nobody needs to do anything to make him look bad.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

I really should read my own blog.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

We’re not going back!

I am pretty sure Katy Tur wasn’t always such a bootlicking sycophant.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2020 / Election Year Open Thread: Happy Thoughts

Election Year Open Thread: Happy Thoughts

by | 195 Comments

This post is in: , , ,

Dana Houle is a long-term campaign professional:


(LBJ knew when to hold ’em, when to fold ’em, and when to walk away. Unlike certain other incumbents.)

Mike Francesca, sports radio macher & lifetime Trump guy (really — he’s known Don since they were both teenagers):


… Biden, who does not currently hold office, has been struggling to stay in the public eye as the coronavirus forced millions of Americans inside their homes. While Trump has held daily televised briefings about the virus, Biden has had to shut down fundraisers and other campaign events, and election officials in many states have postponed their nominating contests.

Still, the poll found that the number of people who approve of Trump in general, and also those who like the way he has handled the U.S. coronavirus response, had changed very little over the past few weeks. About 44% said they approved of Trump’s overall performance and 48% said they liked the way he had responded to the coronavirus outbreak.

That compared with a 70% approval rating among respondents for their state governors’ handling of the pandemic.

Trump initially underplayed the severity of the coronavirus, sparred with governors over their requests for medical supplies and floated the idea of reopening the economy against the advice of public health officials. But he shifted course to back extending the shutdown measures to slow the spread of the virus.

The poll showed that the coronavirus had rattled the entire country, with 89% saying they were “very” or “somewhat” concerned by the respiratory disease.

Twenty-six percent of adults in the United States said they had lost their jobs or been furloughed as stores closed and employers were forced to cut back on staffing because of guidance from health officials for people to stay at home. That was up 3 percentage points from a similar poll that ran last week…

My hot take? People unconsciously differentiate between ‘the crisis leader in the WH’ and ‘that putz on the TV making an ass of himself every day’. They won’t, under those circumstances, vote a sitting President out… but they won’t show up at the voting booth to keep the guy in, either. Which means — as ever — that it’s up to us to push up turnout for Biden.

Reader Interactions

195Comments

  1. 1.

    trollhattan

    Kellyanne’s still alive? I’ll bet not only is she toxic to the virus, if you stand close to her you’ll be inside her sphere of viral invincibility! But you’ll also be next to Kellyanne, so…call it a draw?

    Joe’s probably more shrewd than folks want to allow, e.g., timing his entry into the field long after nearly everybody. All he has to do for for now is address COVID-19 on various platforms and act like not-Trump. Which is automatic in his case.

  2. 2.

    dmsilev

    Biden called Kellyanne C’s bluff

    This is really shrewd. Either Trump takes Biden’s call, which elevates Biden’s stature, or he doesn’t & he looks like a coward.

    Trump and his minions will bluster and rant and then they will find some way of weaseling out. So, coward plus added obfuscation.

  4. 4.

    Jeffro

    There is no way trumpov wins in November – it’s all way, way downhill from here for him – and yet we must fight as if he’s almost certain to win.

    (he’s going to get creamed, though!  warms my soul :)

    The GOP is seriously under-estimating the overwhelming desire of a majority of voters to simply get rid of trumpov.  Full stop.  Even a rock, or a pile of turds, wouldn’t be holding back ventilators from blue states in order to favor red states.

  5. 5.

    dmsilev

    By the way, for those of us (which is to say all of us) who suspected that Trump and his family are trying to profit off of this, collect your winnings:

    Exclusive: Kushner Firm Built the Coronavirus Website Trump Promised

    On March 13, President Donald Trump promised Americans they would soon be able to access a new website that would ask them about their symptoms and direct them to nearby coronavirus testing sites. He said Google was helping.

    That wasn’t true. But in the following days, Oscar Health—a health-insurance company closely connected to Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner—developed a government website with the features the president had described. A team of Oscar engineers, project managers, and executives spent about five days building a stand-alone website at the government’s request, an Oscar spokesperson told The Atlantic. The company even dispatched two employees from New York to meet in person with federal officials in Washington, D.C., the spokesperson said. Then the website was suddenly and mysteriously scrapped.
    The site would not have helped many Americans even if it had launched. Today, more than two weeks after the president promised a national network of drive-through test sites, only a handful of such sites have opened, and fewer than 1 million Americans have been tested.

    I know, I was shocked too.

  6. 6.

    Jeffro

    And that WaPo tweet sums it up well: no rally-round-the-flag effect for this jackass.  A majority of voters are ready to change horses mid-stream because this time, well, ANYONE would do a better job.

  8. 8.

    dmsilev

    @Jeffro:

    The GOP is seriously under-estimating the overwhelming desire of a majority of voters to simply get rid of trumpov.

    Hell, the 2018 midterms showed that, and that was before a once-in-a-century pandemic and with a healthy job and stock market.

  9. 9.

    Captain C

    “Now 200,000 people are disposable?”  — Mike Francesa

    Put that next to footage of Deadbeat Donnie talking about how 200,000 dead are a win and you may just have a devastating ad.

  10. 10.

    mad citizen

    @eric: This is a GREAT idea! Bravo.

    I’ll say again, I would not be surprised if the Orange One bails at some point during the year. And he won’t care when and how it puts the party left behind in a bind.

  11. 11.

    Uncle Cholmondeley

    Biden shouldn’t offer to call — he just just call.  And have someone recording everything.  It could be turned into an effective ad, it seems to me.

    Google “looking for Rudy” to see how it was done effectively 30 years ago (!

    ETA:  eric beat me to the idea, but you should still watch the Looking for Rudy ad.

  12. 12.

    eric

    @mad citizen: Fox News has it top of the fold on their webpage.  Interesting to see how this plays.  If trump says no, were I biden i would call cuomo and offer help/advice.  then dewine.  go for it

  14. 14.

    West of the Cascades

    “LBJ knew when to hold ’em, when to fold ’em, and when to walk away. Unlike certain other incumbents.”

    and unlike certain prominent but stubborn candidates who can’t break 30% in their party’s primary elections …

  15. 15.

    A Ghost to Most

    t* got an abnormally small bump.

    /Beavis

    Well, our driveway has now become the right of way for the big dig. Trucks parked in inconvenient places, hard hats everywhere. I had to “momback” my wife out of the garage to avoid a stray pickup.

    At least we will have something to watch this month.

  16. 16.

    kindness

    Trump is playing Bernie’s game.  Trump thinks he can win it all with just his base.  No one has explained to Trump his base is 38% of the citizenry.

    Bad at math I guess.

  17. 17.

    BruceJ

    unlike in 2016 the Democratic nominee doesn’t make them feel like they’re in some kind of existential moral quandary

    Gee, what a convoluted way of saying ‘She had gurl cooties!’

  18. 18.

    Anonymous At Work

    Kinda too soon to be quoting The Gambler or other Kenny Rogers material…

  23. 23.

    eric

    @WaterGirl: he is a new york sports guy, with an emphasis on new york.   new yorkers like him take being a new yorker seriously, and this was an attack on new yorkers taking care of new yorkers under horrific conditions.   it is a provinical and visceral reaction, and i dont mean those in any pejorative sense.

  25. 25.

    The Dangerman

    On this very date, Mar. 31, 1968, we gathered in the college dorm living room to watch Lyndon Johnson announce that he was standing down from reelection…

    DAMN, I didn’t realize it was so late in the year …

    I still think there is a nonzero chance Trump stands down. If it’s clear he’s gonna get his ass handed to him, he will declare victory, say he was the greatest president ever, say we plebes don’t deserve him so we can all go DIAF, request his bust replaces Washington’s on Rushmore, and walk away. Of course, this assumes that the game isn’t rigged.

    Damn unlikely, but if I had some good odds, I’d still take that bet right now.

  26. 26.

    RedDirtGirl

    What do people here think about the sexual assault accusation against Biden? It’s not getting much media attention, but it is out there now. Can we get Warren back in the race?

  27. 27.

    Mary G

    @Mary G:

    Governor DeSantis now says he'll take the 49 Floridians off the cruise ship sitting of his shores. He won't take the other 250 Americans or the 400 Canadians. So much for the country pulling together. Thanks for the national leadership @realDonaldTrump— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) April 1, 2020

  29. 29.

    Jeffro

    Why is DeBlasio giving any sort of updates at all?  Didn’t he want to keep the schools and bars and what not open?  Is it just to spite/try to outshine Cuomo?  Man, what a jackass.

  32. 32.

    Jeffro

    Meanwhile, Henry Olsen killing time during the pandemic by speculating on how AOC rises to power in just a few short years.

    Can’t really tell if it’s scaremongering for him and his crowd or just a wank-fest for him.  Not really inclined to read it again to find out.

  33. 33.

    NotMax

    @RedDirtGirl

    Give it as much credence as the one thrown at Warren.

    Occam’s Razor says if it didn’t arise either of the times he was on the ticket as Veep, there’s no there there.

  34. 34.

    Suzanne

    From Vanity Fair:

    In a White House meeting around this time, Kushner told people that Cuomo was being an alarmist. “I have all this data about ICU capacity. I’m doing my own projections, and I’ve gotten a lot smarter about this. New York doesn’t need all the ventilators,” Kushner said, according to a person present. During an interview on Hannityon March 26, Trump said: “I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators.”

    Jesus take the wheel.
    This little shit is ruining the country.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    @Jeffro:

    speculating on how AOC rises to power in just a few short years.

    I predict it’ll be with the aid of cyborgs.

  37. 37.

    Mary G

    Scoop: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu shared with his cabinet a video he claimed was evidence of Iran concealing coronavirus deaths by dropping bodies in garbage dumps. Hours later, his office realized it was actually a clip from a 2007 Hallmark mini-serieshttps://t.co/IkTpIfzfOl— Axios (@axios) April 1, 2020

  38. 38.

    Betty Cracker

    @RedDirtGirl: I looked into it and concluded it’s bullshit, and I am definitely not a Biden fan. Explained why in a thread yesterday here, in case you’re interested.

  39. 39.

    CaseyL

    The CW about T* stepping down has been that he can’t, because the instant he’s out of office, State Attorneys General are going to line up to file a carload of criminal charges against him – the kind he can’t pardon himself out of.  Now, if he bugs out in the middle of the night and heads off to a dacha in Russia….

  40. 40.

    LuciaMia

    I dont care how well the numbers look, how good the polling. Im not gonna completely exhale till around 2AM November 4th.

  41. 41.

    Patricia Kayden

    Nancy Pelosi on CNN on McConnell's impeachment remarks: "I think that's an admission that perhaps the president and the Majority Leader cannot handle the job. We have a life and death situation … They should not try to hide behind an excuse for why they did not take action."— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 1, 2020

  42. 42.

    JPL

    Bunch of military men and Barr on stage shoulder to shoulder and the president spoke about social distancing.   Then my tv went click.

  43. 43.

    MattF

    @Jeffro: Given that AOC is a bogeyman on the right, I’d assume scaremongering. But idle meandering is also plausible.

  45. 45.

    LuciaMia

     I’m doing my own projections, and I’ve gotten a lot smarter about this.

    Cause thats who we want in government. Someome who has to learn or fake it on the fly.

  46. 46.

    Chyron HR

    Hunter Walker

    Ha ha.  Nice try, but that’s obviously a character from Metal Gear Solid.

  47. 47.

    The Dangerman

    @LuciaMia:

    Im not gonna completely exhale till…

    How long does it take to count all the mail ins (assuming mailing becomes significant)…

  48. 48.

    Matt McIrvin

    @CaseyL: He could just make coronavirus aid contingent on them dropping the charges. I’ve been assuming that’s coming sooner or later.

  49. 49.

    Ruckus

    @CaseyL:

    Not sure how he could sneak out in the middle of the night without the secret service hanging around. And would vlad want him there…..

  50. 50.

    NotMax

    @Jeffro

    (a) It goes with the territory. Part of the job is being a conduit of information to his constituents.

    (b) He can be more specific about local neighborhoods or separate borough issues than can Cuomo. Also things directly germane to NYC (subways, major airports, road closures and so on).

    Less vital as information and during a less dire occurrence but shall point out that La Guardia read out the funnies over the radio during the big newspaper strike as a service to Noo Yawkahs.

  51. 51.

    NotMax

    Monthly test of warning sirens wailing outside. More mournful a sound than normally now.

  52. 52.

    TS (the original)

    The mess that the next president will have to clean up is unprecedented. What President Obama had to do in 2009 will be nothing compared to 2021.

    And I have no doubt, every remaining GOP politician will be given space in the media to scream about the terrible administration that can’t sort it out.

  53. 53.

    JPL

    So twitter is telling me that the press briefing has to do with trump’s war on drugs, cuz why not.

  54. 54.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Patricia Kayden: reminds me of what Steve Bannon claims to have said about Pelosi after watching trump’s first post-inauguration encounter with Pelosi

    “Pelosi assumed Trump would open the conversation on a unifying note, such as by quoting the Founding Fathers or the Bible. Instead, the new president began with a lie: ‘You know, I won the popular vote.’ He claimed that there had been widespread fraud, with three to five million illegal votes for Clinton. Pelosi interjected. ‘Well, Mr. President, that’s not true,’ she said. ‘There’s no evidence to support what you just said, and if we’re going to work together, we have to stipulate to a certain set of facts.’”

    “Watching Pelosi challenge Trump, Bannon whispered to col­leagues, ‘She’s going to get us. Total assassin. She’s an assassin,’” the book asserts.

    Being Bannon, take the accuracy with a grain of salt, but at the very least by the time Rucker and Loennig interviewed him for their book, that’s what he wanted people to think he knew, early.

    @JPL: Clicked my TV on, and it looks like the briefing is over? That’s a record short one, and he needed a bunch of uniforms around him today? Sounds like he had a bad night in spite of the breathless praise of the likes of Eric Lipton

  55. 55.

    feebog

    That clip with Francesca is devastating.  He has known Trump for years and up until now has been a fanboy.  You can see the frustration and anger flaring thru out.

  58. 58.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @JPL: that doesn’t strike me as a good reading of the national mood, but if I knew anything about the national mood trump’s game show never would’ve made it further than maybe TBS before dropping down to the Gameshow Network, and he’d still be pitching steaks and probably “Trump Reverse Mortgages”

  59. 59.

    joel hanes

    @Ruckus:

    If the President said “I’m taking a chopper to Reagan, and boarding a private flight,”  I doubt the Secret Service would try to stop him … I don’t think challenging his decisions are part of their charter.

    I do wonder what the agents would do, particularly the guy with the football, if they learned that the private flight was going to Leningrad …

  61. 61.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    The latest Wisconsin Marquette University Poll (the gold standard of the state):

    Primary: Biden +33 over Sanders
    General Election: Biden +3 over Trump
    — Contented Independent (@ContentedIndie) April 1, 2020

    Looks like Wilmer is gonna lose every county in Wisconsin (a state he won 4 years ago by 14 points).

     

    You get the feeling he wants to quit and avoid the continued humiliation but his wife and kids won’t let him.

  64. 64.

    The Dangerman

    @chris:

    ..in a nice 3BR/1Bath condo…

    Dream big (small?).

    Yurt. No bath facilities, but given a shovel.

    Make that garden trowel.

    Teaspoon?

  67. 67.

    Edmund Dantes

    Man, it goes to show if you have any modicum of political skill, Trump could be riding a high of Cuomo popularity.

    people have memory-holed Cuomo dilly dallying on shelter in place when De Blasio was talking it up for NYC.

  68. 68.

    JPL

    So he’s still on the local ABC and CBS station and when I clicked over I heard mention hezbollah.   This is moving into I’m in deep dodo part of his presidency

     

    hezbollah and drugs ,oh my

  69. 69.

    Crashman06

    @WaterGirl: He’s an arrogant, blow hard New York sports talk DJ; the main one in NYC for decades. He’s exactly the kind of older, rich, white ethnic tri-stater whose been on board the Trump train since day one. He just hasn’t moved to Florida yet.

  70. 70.

    joel hanes

    @kindness:

    Trump thinks he can win it all with just his base.

    And with Russian help, vote suppression, shenanigans writ large, and a brazen refusal to follow the law

    See Kemp in Georgia, and almost anything in Alabama.

  73. 73.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @dmsilev: just looked up at the TV and they’ve gone back to it– apparently he’s talking about the ‘Rona right now.

    He and Barr look to be less than six feet apart….

  74. 74.

    raven

    @WaterGirl: Nah, Mike’s a rwnj. Now this guy is from Mattoon, went to Illinois and lives here in Athens.

    Waiting For Superman: CV Stories, 1 April 2020
    Microwaves have come a long way.

    Will Leitch

    Throughout this difficult period, this newsletter will be a daily look at what it is like to actually live through this moment, until this moment is over. It will feature brief opening remarks from me every day, but will mostly be stories from you about how this is affecting you, your family, your friends … your daily life. (The regular weekly newsletter will continue uninterrupted.) Email me your story at [email protected].

  78. 78.

    joel hanes

    @RedDirtGirl:

    Have you looked into the previous public representations that the alleged victim has made about the same incident ?

    Have you looked into the other things she’s written and released to the public ?

    Have you looked at who she works with ?

    All that ad hom aside (ad hom isn’t always incorrect, even if it’s a logical fallacy),    the alleged behavior is so different than any other complaint about Biden’s behavior that it seems  … strange.

  80. 80.

    EthylEster

    @WaterGirl: Maybe a little more research is required…

    The sports-radio icon still plans to vote for Trump in November, he told The Daily Beast, but could barely contain his fury over the president’s handling of the pandemic.

  83. 83.

    joel hanes

    @RedDirtGirl:

    I get pied for asking a question?

    Are you familiar with the question

    “Have you stopped beating your wife?”

    It’s just a question.

  87. 87.

    LuciaMia

    but his wife and kids won’t let him.

    His kids, maybe. But Melania? She , from the beginning, has looked like she has one last fuck to give, And thats way gone.

  88. 88.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @MattF: I saw a quote from him, he was on The View today, implying that he’d be letting down democracy if he dropped out now. And there’s a poll showing increased support for M4A that has RoseTwitter all triumphant today. I personally find the wording of the poll and the numbers a bit vague, but they seem to think it means something.

  90. 90.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @RedDirtGirl:

    Really? I get pied for asking a question?

    nerves are strained these days, and yesterday we had an old school troll sea-lioning on the topic for a couple of hours.

    I’ve long wanted to ask, do you take your nym from the Emmylou song?

  92. 92.

    cain

    @RedDirtGirl:

    It’s one of the reasons why I hate these filters personally. When you asked that question you fell into a bucket of people who are possible Bernie supporters wanting to troll. That particular bit is some nonsense from the Bernie camp.

    Some folks though reach for that filter fairly quickly because life is too short. :-)

  93. 93.

    Sloane Ranger

    The US is looking at a massive crisis with a highly contagious disease and Trump launches a massive military operation involving cramming lots of people into lots of small ships. This doesn’t sound like a particularly good idea to me. In fact it looks like a cynical attempt to move the the news cycle away from the pandemic with lots of ra ra patriotism.

    I notice Trump partially tries to justify this as protecting the nation against the coronavirus. He doesn’t say how. I assume it has to do with his theory that the virus is being brought in by scary Brown people rather than being spread internally.

  96. 96.

    WaterGirl

    @RedDirtGirl: I think Jim, Foolish Literalist explained it pretty well.  Nearly 60 comments, back and forth, on that subject yesterday with comments that were in the same neighborhood as yours.

    I don’t think that’s where you are coming from at all, but nerves are frayed and I think that’s why you got the response that you did.

    So please just assume that you accidentally stepped in a pile of poop, and wipe your shoes, but please don’t take it personally.

  97. 97.

    Tom Q

    @RedDirtGirl: I think some people are over-sensitive: there have been some bros pushing the story hard the past couple of days, and they fear you might be one.

    Since I know you from the meet-up, I can vouch you’re just asking an innocent question.

    The claim IS, however, total bullshit.

  99. 99.

    EthylEster

    @WaterGirl: But whose minds will be changed by the ad? The guy hates what Trump is doing wrt COVID but he will still vote for him. I don’t think he is the only deplorable who can hold these seemingly contradictions in his/her mind. My BIL has recently admitted that he now thinks Trump is crazy. But he still voting for him.

  100. 100.

    lamh36

    Evening BJ.

    Spent my entire off day doing NON-COVID related things. Reading a good book, lying in my be watching some streaming and now getting ready for online class at 6pm.

    Back to tomorrow for 4 days thru the weekend, then off for a full 4 days after. I’ll be counting down the next 4 days at work!

    How’s everyone day been going so far?

  101. 101.

    Mai naem mobile

    @LuciaMia: I am not going to exhale until the Inauguration because who the hell knows what Trumpov is going to do between Nov and January along with McConnell.

  103. 103.

    WaterGirl

    @lamh36: I’m glad you had a good day and that you have some serious time off ahead.  Also glad to see that you are taking care of yourself.  This is not the time to get rundown.

    I spent some time today looking at the cool stuff people posted in the previous thread, so I am not feel anxious today like I was yesterday.  Yesterday was not a great day for me.

  105. 105.

    Mai naem mobile

    @EthylEster: so Francesca is like some NJ man during the 2016 election who got screwed by Trumpov in the Trumpov University scam but was still going to vote for him.

  107. 107.

    Ruckus

    @joel hanes:

    Understand, they have to protect him but can not stop him. In theory.

    Would the pilot of AF1 fly him to Russia on a moments notice? Can they?

    Would the SS guard him or stop him? I have no idea, but it might be an interesting discussion.

    On another note, my boss just called, we have a lot of work, but nicely he doesn’t expect me back for a month at least. Good guy, when I told him I was hunkering down he said your job is here when you want it. That kind of boss is rare, I don’t know what I would have done when I owned my business, I’d like to think that I would have said the same for my employees.

  108. 108.

    PST

    There is a softball game going on in the deserted street in front of my apartment. Bernie and I are watching from the balcony. It looks like a mom and dad with their three three kids in the maybe 8 to 12 range, so I suppose it is harmless. They’ed all be home together anyway.

  110. 110.

    dmsilev

    Crime of the Year:

    Beverly Hills police find 192 rolls of toilet paper inside stolen SUV

    It wasn’t a pot of gold, but something perhaps more valuable in this era of coronavirus.

    Beverly Hills police pulled over a stolen sports utility vehicle and found 192 rolls of toilet paper inside. Police arrested the driver but said it was unclear whether the toilet paper was stolen or where it came from.

    “The driver was arrested for several charges — unrelated to the toilet paper,” said Beverly Hills Police Lt. Elizabeth Albanese.

  112. 112.

    NotMax

    Fool every day, not just April the first.

    “The schools were just canceled out here in California, which is way overkill,” Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) said during an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “It’s possible kids could’ve went [sic] back to school in two weeks to four weeks but they just canceled the rest of the schools.” Source

  115. 115.

    Jinchi

    Reuters Ipsos, vs Trump
    Today: Biden +6
    March 9: Biden +1https://t.co/l01B9xN896
    — The Bearded Crank (@beardedcrank) April 1, 2020

    It seems an age ago but March 9th was less than a week after Super Tuesday and 10 more states have voted in primaries since then. On March 10th, Trump was still being quoted denying the problem.

    “It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.”

  116. 116.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @RedDirtGirl:

    Your inclusion of “Can we get Warren back in the race?” seemed to indicate that you thought there was some substance to the accusation.

  118. 118.

    p.a.

    The sports icon still plans to vote for Trump… “Don shit in a cup and told me it was chocolate Haagen Dasz, but it’s the thought that counts”

  120. 120.

    Barbara

    @Captain C: I just cannot fathom Trump saying how “only” 200,000 dead will be a victory.  Oh, I understand his logic, trying to move the goal posts and preemptively claiming that he did a good job, but it’s just mind blowing because it shows that he is more worried by how he looks after the catastrophe than the death of more than 200,000 fellow citizens.

  121. 121.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Good news: Later this afternoon, I should have a fully functioning sewer line again. Meaning weeks of living dangerously will finally be over.

    Not so good news: Unexpectedly hard day yesterday, since it was (at least on paper) my last day of work.*

    But the actual separation paperwork couldn’t be signed until yesterday for whatever reason. I knew that day was coming so it was both weirdly anti-climatic and unexpectedly emotional.

    It’s especially weird with the coronavirus, since there wasn’t even a chance to go into work today to say final goodbyes to folks. The paperwork was done electronically, and we all got pre-paid mailers to send in our laptops, badges, etc.

    Just one more piece of feeling unmoored from normal reality at the moment. I’m a million miles away and there’s nothing left to bring me back today.

    *I’d actually found out at the end of January that I, and half the office here, would be laid off after the company was bought out (the layoff was big enough that they had to give us 60 days notice). I actually haven’t been to work in weeks — they’d encouraged people to wrap up their projects ASAP and then not come in (don’t want potentially disgruntled employees in the office natch).

  122. 122.

    Brachiator

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    they’d encouraged people to wrap up their projects ASAP and then not come in (don’t want potentially disgruntled employees in the office natch).

    I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a gruntled employee.

    Good luck in the days and months and years ahead.

  123. 123.

    MomSense

    Has anyone heard from Nicole?  She said last week that her neighbor tested positive.

  125. 125.

    Duane

    Missouri’s Governor Parson made an announcement today. Not that he finally grew a spine and was issuing stay in place orders. Instead he cutting 500 million from the higher education budget and would use 350 million in federal money to cover other budget shortfalls. It’ll get worse, and not just Missouri. The tax cut, small government states are going to be devastated.

  126. 126.

    Barbara

    @MomSense: Last night or this morning, she did post about getting a call from a distant relative worried about her because she was in NYC.

  127. 127.

    LuciaMia

    On another respite thread I mentioned the Brit sitcom The Detectorists. Its on Amazon Prime and might be running on some folks PBS stations. Its funny, sweet, touching and unexpected. Has one of the loveliest opening songs which introduced me to the songwriter, Johnny Flynn. Wonderful songs, wonderful voice. (It reminds me of the Dransfield brothers.)

  129. 129.

    piratedan

    my apologies for going OT, but this sucks…..Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne has died due to succumbing to COVID-19 in NYC… he was 52.

  132. 132.

    J R in WV

    @RedDirtGirl:

    What do people here think about the sexual assault accusation against Biden?

    The accuser is well known to be a kook, has claimed to be engaged to marry V. V. Putin ( Yes, THAT Putin!) among many other strange and unbelievable statements. So I don’t believe her for a minute, nor do the reporters who don’t work for OANN or Breitbart.

  133. 133.

    joel hanes

    @Ruckus:

    Would the pilot of AF1 fly him to Russia

    In my imagined scenario, it’s not AF1 but a private jet, chartered through two levels of shell corporations belonging to one or another Russian oligarch.

    But I suppose that if he commanded the Air Force to take him there, they might do it.   I just don’t think that would feel like the safest escape route to His Orangeness.

  134. 134.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @joel hanes: Remember Putin was exposed. Russia might be in the middle of a succession crises when Doll Hands looks to bail.

  137. 137.

    japa21

    @joel hanes:

    If he is going to use AF1 he will have to do it prior to the actual inauguration.  Otherwise, President Biden would have to approve it.

  138. 138.

    opiejeanne

    @WaterGirl: Francesca almost certainly knows Buddy Baker, whose parents died on Sunday of COVID-19. Baker is an NFL agent. His parents had been married for 51years, and died 6 minutes apart. He said they were perfectly healthy a few weeks ago.

    Just devastating, to lose both just like that, and I hope that they were not alone when they died.

  140. 140.

    Edmund Dantes

    @Duane: there are going to be a ton of states making drastic cuts once the sales tax and business revenue drops hits the books as tons of states have “balanced budget” amendments in their constitutions.

  142. 142.

    prostratedragon

    Question from the Grand Boulevard section of Chicago: Where is this fog coming from all of a sudden?

  143. 143.

    joel hanes

    @Martin:

    Saudis

    Don’t know why that didn’t occur to me.

    But I wonder what further use Trump would be to MBS.

    Or to Putin, for that matter.

  144. 144.

    joel hanes

    @japa21:

    I had thought that the whole conversation was about Trump seeing the endgame and taking a bunk before the election.

  145. 145.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Michelle Goldberg @michelleinbklyn
    · 4h
    “‘I have all this data about ICU capacity. I’m doing my own projections, and I’ve gotten a lot smarter about this. New York doesn’t need all the ventilators,’ Kushner said, according to a person present.”

    snark just fails sometimes

  147. 147.

    japa21

    Don’t know if it’s been mentioned, but George Takei announced he will be the final torch bearer for the Olympic Games next year.

  148. 148.

    joel hanes

    @Edmund Dantes:

    states have balanced budget

    Which is why, IIRC, the national state-of-emergency statutes provide for the Federal government to step in and backstop the finances of states.  (someone correct me if I’ve got that wrong)

    To my knowledge, Trump has not yet invoked that power.

    From the pattern of his behavior so far, one would expect him to do it selectively, for, say, Florida, but not for Michigan or Washington.

  150. 150.

    Nicole

    @piratedan: No, I was just checking the comments to see if anyone else had mentioned it.  I’m so sad at this news.  I loved, loved, LOVED Fountains of Wayne (I once sat through a Matchbox 20 concert purely because FOW was the opening act.)  A wonderful, witty songwriter, and apparently a pretty good human being, too.  “No Better Place” is one of my favorite songs ever.

  151. 151.

    joel hanes

    @TS (the original):

    The mess that the next president will have to clean up is unprecedented. What President Obama had to do in 2009 will be nothing compared to 2021.

    In some ways it will be easier — I can’t imagine that even Biden will hesitate to demand the resignation of every single Trump political appointee on day 1.   None of this keeping Comey as the head of the FBI shit.

    And I’ll bet that Biden’s advisors will have nomination lists ready to go for most of those offices.

  152. 152.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Brett McGurk @brett_mcgurk
    Nothing to see here. Just a Russian military aircraft landing at JFK with 60 tons of medical supplies to support America’s #COVID19 response. A propaganda bonanza as our own government shrinks from America’s leadership role in a global crisis.

    @joel hanes:

    None of this keeping Comey as the head of the FBI shit.

    Robert Mueller was head of the FBI when Obama took office

  154. 154.

    opiejeanne

    @RedDirtGirl: There was at least one troll on this here blog recently, doing the “just asking” thing about the accusations about Biden. People are a bit testy about it still. The miscreant got banned, it was so bad.

  155. 155.

    Brachiator

    @The Dangerman:

    I still think there is a nonzero chance Trump stands down. If it’s clear he’s gonna get his ass handed to him, he will declare victory, say he was the greatest president ever, say we plebes don’t deserve him so we can all go DIAF, request his bust replaces Washington’s on Rushmore, and walk away.

    People have been saying variations of this ever since Trump decided to run for president.

    Sadly, he’s not going anywhere.

    We are going to have to vote Trump out.  And then maybe someone can slip him a ticket to Russia or North Korea.

  157. 157.

    trollhattan

    @Baud:

    At that point I’d magically find myself in the “Draft Cuomo” crowd. (Does Liz still have any delegates?)

  158. 158.

    Lymie

    Here’s a great site to see model projections overall and state by state: https://covid19.healthdata.org/projections

    I’m in N.H. so that’s what I am talking about. Might be worth front page, unless I have missed it.

    There’s a dropdown atop the page that defaults to USA national picture, but you can drop down to find New Hampshire.  If you hover over the charts, it reveals the underlying data points.  Some relevant NH statistics from today’s update:

    1. The model shows a peak date around April 17
    2. They show available hospital beds of 1,018, forecast beds needed at peak of 1,106 (88 short).  They give their 95% confidence interval upper bound (think “worse case”) of 1,977 beds needed (959 short and 2 days later, April 19)
    3. They show ICU beds available as 83, forecast beds needed at peak of 167 (84 short).  Their “worse case” estimate is 304 needed (221 short)

     

    Be safe.  These forecasts are based on social distancing, and you can see how the “worse case” quickly gets beyond control.

  161. 161.

    Sab

    @EthylEster: Thanks. That does make me feel better.

    Our postal people have changed a lot in the last month. The regular carrier used to be a young woman. Presumably she is home with her kids since day care closed. Now it is an old white guy. It looks like they have brought retirees back into service. Anyone know anything about that?

  164. 164.

    opiejeanne

    @dmsilev: Talk about crime of the year, of all the things to use as kindling!

    From KIRO (CBS affiliate in Seattle:

    BELLEVUE, Wash. — Prosecutors say a Bellevue dentist, who was facing eviction for not paying rent, tried to burn his office down last week by lighting medical masks and gowns on fire that health care workers have been desperately trying to get their hands on during the coronavirus pandemic.

    Dr. Mohammad Rafie of A to Z Dental in Bellevue has been charged with first-degree arson for allegedly starting several fires on March 23 inside his 116th Avenue NE office that’s located in a complex housing 28 businesses.

    Investigators say some of the offices, including the one directly below A to Z Dental, had people inside when Dr. Rafie started the fires but luckily no one was hurt thanks to sprinklers that helped keep the fire from spreading.

    https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/charges-bellevue-dentist-tried-burn-his-office-down-by-lighting-medical-masks-gowns-fire/3QFWBXJKQFHQNFXTV7GCT532CE/

  168. 168.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @MattF: “Everyone” isn’t telling him to quit. “Everyone who isn’t making a pile of $$$ every day his campaign continues” comes a lot closer.

  169. 169.

    errg

    @piratedan:  Oh no, that’s awful. Fountains of Wayne was an incredible band, with a ton of amazing songs, I don’t know why they never got more attention. I’ve seen them live probably 10 times, and they were always great. Really sad news…

  170. 170.

    MCA1

    @Anonymous At Work: I probably shouldn’t share one of my favorite memes going around last week, then.  I actually thought it paid tribute to Rogers perfectly, if a touch irreverently:  “Kenny Rogers dippin’ in the middle of the Apocalypse might be the most ‘know when to fold ’em’ shit of all time.”

  172. 172.

    opiejeanne

    @trollhattan: I’m surprised you didn’t know. You always seem to be up on stuff like that. I stumbled across the comic strips explaining it a while back, not that I’m up on the latest things these kids are saying.

  173. 173.

    Jay Noble

    @LuciaMia: I’m just exhaling a little bit then if all goes well, then some more on Jan. 3 and Finally on Jan. 20. Lotsa damage can be don in those 2 and a half+ months.

  177. 177.

    JaySinWA

    @Suzanne:

    This little shit is ruining the country.

    While I don’t disagree, the number of invasive ventilators that NY needs may not be that high, if the Institute for Health Metrics estimates are any where close to accurate projections for NY indicate about 9,300 at peak. Of course this is one statistical model and might well be wildly wrong. And obviously Jared is not qualified to make that judgement.

    From https://covid19.healthdata.org/projections

  179. 179.

    NotMax

    @Gravenstone

    May not appear in the same position for others. Some places practice changing the order of names printed so it isn’t the same on every ballot.

  180. 180.

    terry chay

    @EthylEster: a lot can change her fore the election and it is only heading one direction. Also, those two probably won’t vote. Elections are about motivations and what they are saying is they aren’t motivated to vote, not that they will vote for Trump.

  182. 182.

    Gravenstone

    @Baud: Honestly, that was my nagging fear until Tulsi officially dropped out – that Biden and Sanders would get sick, or worse and she’d be the last contestant on the island. That would have deeply sucked.

  183. 183.

    Jay Noble

    @NotMax: Ours in Nebraska are done for the year as far as in person. Goodbye prom, Track season, baseball, soccer and Graduation. I bet there will be some make-up Proms and Graduation in late July early August if things work out just so they get them before they head off to college.

  184. 184.

    Martin

    @Suzanne: If only the federal government had an expert somewhere, in some center that handled disease control, that could figure out how many respirators NY likely needed.

    I blame Obama.

  185. 185.

    Jinchi

    @opiejeanne: Happy birthday. Hopefully, next year you get to celebrate it with all your friends and we’ve all forgotten the Trump era.

  186. 186.

    Omnes Omnibus

    People really need to chill about accusing others of being a troll or insta-pieing them.

  187. 187.

    Jinchi

    @Gravenstone: Honestly, that was my nagging fear until Tulsi officially dropped out

    Luckily, being the last one standing doesn’t get you the ring. Even our disfunctional system isn’t that screwed up. If tragedy struck Biden and Sanders, Tulsi wouldn’t automatically have picked up the nomination. The delegates would be freed up to pick a new nominee and Warren or Buttigieg or any of the other candidates would be more likely than Tulsi. I think the delegates could even pick someone who didn’t run in the primaries, like Cuomo.

    That’s is why candidates don’t quit. They just suspend their campaigns.

  190. 190.

    ziggy

    Well, if anyone is left, I think this is good news—the new Shenzen law in China is going to ban eating dogs and cats. It may be temporary, but let’s hope it is a start and moves into something more permanent.

  191. 191.

    sdhays

    @joel hanes: I don’t know. Dump doesn’t strike me as self-aware enough to really be clear enough on any potential danger to his personal freedom. I think it’s more likely that he ignores all the signs that he’s going to be arrested and detained while awaiting trial until the police show up with the handcuffs.

  193. 193.

    ballerat

    @EthylEster: Like most trumpers he’s only mad because some of the wrong people are getting hurt, mostly financially.  Just like the trumper farmers.

    And just like trumper farmers he’ll still vote for Trump because they all know he still hates the same people they hate and generally will hurt the same people they want hurt.

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