Dems in Array: What Have Our Democratic Politicians Done for Us Lately?
I wrote a comment this morning about that made me think about having a political thread to talk about what’s good. Dog knows, I can use a reminder!
I have three this morning: Sheldon Whitehouse, Katie Porter, and Nancy Pelosi.
I ?Sheldon Whitehouse. I first noticed him in the Kavanaugh hearings. His line of questioning was most excellent, and I heard him promise that he was not going to forget about Christine Blasey Ford, or about Kavanaugh. I believed him, and I can’t wait to see the great things he will do if we take the reins of government in November.
This morning, Another Scott posted a link to a 4-minute video of Sheldon Whitehouse just talking to us about something that’s going on. This is a brilliant 4 minutes of Whitehouse laying bare, step-by-step, the coordinated planning to take over the US Supreme Court. If you haven’t watched it yet, I do not believe you will regret the 4 minutes of your time that it would take to watch this video.
His style kind of reminds me of Katie Porter, laying something out methodically until the situation is clear as day. I finally listened to Katie Porter’s recent interview where she talks about the “bitches” who mock her minivan and then want to borrow it. I had no idea she was such a swear-er – she said her peeps have to rein her in all the time. I could not love her more.
Nancy Pelosi is calling Trump out for exactly what he is, and I couldn’t be more proud.
What Have Our Democratic Politicians Done for Us Lately? Who are they? Have they done something this week, or last, to make you proud to be a democrat?
Update:
Baud
I decided to research non traditional Dems. Starting with Cole’s guy.
laura
I proud that my political party has rejected the idea that ignoring a deadly pandemic is in the public interest. Proud that they do not appear to be personally profiting off human suffering. Proud that they work to ensure every voter has the Right and the opportunity to cast a ballot in elections. Proud that they give a damn and that they work hard. Proud of my party. Damn proud. My Congress woman was interred and that has informed her policy priorities for immigrant communities. I respect one of my Senators and I love my other one so much, I hope to vote for her vice presidential candidacy. My Assembly Member lives just up the street and has focused on gun law reforms and early childhood education. My Mayor is a mensch. Very proud. Damn proud.
JustRuss
Decided to watch Porter’s interview and damn, she is something. Orange County ain’t what it used to be, good thing.
Villago Delenda Est
Nancy SMASH kicks continent sized ass!
Poor Donald has been “fat-shamed”, as if the sociopath can feel shame.
hoosierspud
Sherrod Brown nailing Mnuchin yesterday.
Villago Delenda Est
@hoosierspud: That was epic. Mnuchin (or Munchkin, easier to spell) is a particularly odious member of Donald’s cabinet of lackies, but it’s a very crowded field.
Baud
Baud
@hoosierspud: I missed that. A hearing?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Villago Delenda Est:
Pelosi made me laugh this morning when she said, “I didn’t realize he’d be so sensitive about the ‘obese’ comment.”
That’s right, Nancy! Say ‘obese’ again.
zhena gogolia
Gov. Lamont and Sen. Murphy have been great. I get helpful updates from them both every day.
laura
@hoosierspud: gee, I was surprised that Mnuchin ventured out into the world after Axl Rose murdered him on twitter a week or so ago.
Frankensteinbeck
Bashear’s regular public updates are awesome, and Kentucky dodged a bullet electing him to replace Bevin. Polls suggest the people know it, too. In Kentucky. Which is Trump Central. Bashear has made some reopening talk, but he’s damned clear that it requires meeting metrics and it only happens in slow stages. He’s not leaving room for a return to explosive growth.
Baud
vox.com/2020/5/20/21263978/booker-immigrant-health-care-insurance-coronavirus
zhena gogolia
@Villago Delenda Est:
“his age group and shall we say his weight group”
I am still chuckling to myself about that one. I’m no skinny, but this is not fat-shaming, it’s just stating a fact. In the most hilarious way possible. It’s his vanity and lying we’re laughing at.
WaterGirl
@JustRuss: Isn’t she something? I don’t have the link anymore, but if you do, I will post it.
WaterGirl
@hoosierspud: ooh, did not see that. Do you a a link so I can add it?
Kay
I know I’m a UI cheerleader but people really appreciate the 600 dollar bump.
I feel like it’s actually politically dumb for Trump and the GOP to work against, because it’s the best stimulus ever so pulling it out from under them will just make the economy tank more.
It’s amusing for me to watch Trump bellowing about “open up” the economy as if it’s a switch you turn on and off. I think it goes to his life-long coddled insulation from the real world of work and paying debts, etc. He seems to not know his this works, and I’m not talking about on an “economics” level- I’m talking about money in/money out. He’s going to be blamed for a tanking economy, because he took credit for a good one. He wants to pull the most efficient and direct stimulus, the UI subsidy? It will just make it worse.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I did not know that and I did not know who she was. Looks like DLCC.
MagdaInBlack
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
That was beautiful ?
Baud
@WaterGirl: Yes. It’s from the DLCC feed.
Kay
Such a insulated, coddled moron he doesn’t even know they send applications for absentee ballots, not the ballots.
The amount of idiotic misinformation about election process on the Right always blows me away. It’s like how they always mistake voter ROLLS for actual votes. I mean, Jesus Christ. How many times do we have to go over this?
randy khan
Good things the Dems have done recently:
*The Dems coalesced around a candidate for President early. A good thing any time you’re up against an incumbent, but events have made it even more important than usual.
*The whole freaking Virginia legislative session, which did one good thing after another, and will do even more in 2021.
*The HEROES Act, setting a marker for the kinds of things Dems want, not just in the pandemic, but more broadly going forward.
Dorothy A. Winsor
And the Pelosi hits just keep on coming.
schrodingers_cat
We are lucky to have a party that is capable and responsible. I am glad for all the elected Ds.
Ajabu
@Kay:
As a (formerly) working musician I would be in truly deep shit without the UI and $600 subsidy. Thank you Nancy Smash!!
JustRuss
@WaterGirl: Ask and receive: youtube.com/watch?v=PbdMJBz81QM
Immanentize
@Dorothy A. Winsor: “Doggie Doo”
She cracks me up.
gwangung
@Kay: I think you can say this cluelessness applies to MUCH of the Republican Party.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I usually end up knowing the DLCC person by name, but I did not know that one.
WaterGirl
@JustRuss: Thank you! I added that to the post itself. It was so good, I think I will watch it again.
edit: I may need to watch that every day to keep my spirits up. Love her
“Truly I curse like a fuckin’ sailor.”
HumboldtBlue
Democrats have officially flipped 450 state leg seats since Trump was elected!
Baud
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Kay: He does not seem to understand many of the basics of everyday existence in the U.S. and I understand that is a function of both his narcissism and his upbringing. But someone who calls themselves a successful businessman should at least understand that people can not go out and buy things and “open” the economy if they have no money. It’s kinda the basis of capitalism after all. I never will understand why the R’s in the Senate are too stupid to get this.
Baud
geg6
@hoosierspud:
Totally agree. That was a thing of beauty.
MisterForkbeard
@Kay: No kidding. I’m looking forward to pouncing on anyone who whines about this one.
Michigan is asking people if they want to vote absentee. That’s it. If this is freaking out Trump to this degree you have wonder why he doesn’t want people to vote. Or actually – you don’t. We know exactly why he doesn’t want people to vote, absentee or otherwise.
CarolDuhart2
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone: People also can’t spend money if they are sick, either. Do people go out to eat if they are sick? Go to movies? Shop?
Trump doesn’t realize that this is a service economy. Service economies are consumer economies, and ill people don’t consume more than they need. And people vote with their feet in a consumer economy, and the feet aren’t voting for more exposure.
WaterGirl
@geg6: @hoosierspud:
Added up top, as well.
geg6
I am grateful for my governor, Tom Wolf; my Lt. Governor, John Fetterman and our Secretary of Health, Dr. Levine. They have held the line under extreme pressure from every asshole in this state. Which is a lot of assholes, let me tell you. My county commissioners, OTOH, can just go DIAF.
Baud
Soprano2
I wish someone would explain to me why it’s “fat shaming” to say that a person is in the morbidly obese category. Are we not supposed to notice that, or not supposed to say it if we notice? Is just noticing that someone is overweight considered “fat shaming” now? I agree that people shouldn’t be humiliated or mocked for their weight, but saying a person is overweight or obese is just stating a fact.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Did not know about that either. I am proud to see my state in the list:
Soprano2
I’m grateful for my state representative, Crystal McQuade, who is our House Minority leader. In the face of a Republican supermajority in both houses of our state lege, she continues to fight hard for her constituents and all the people of Missouri. She couldn’t stop the Republicans from passing their attempt to repeal the Clean Missouri reforms, but she’s going to work to defeat it at the ballot box. Republicans said they called the lege back just to address COVID, but then they proceeded to try to pass a whole bunch of abominable stuff; a lot of it got stopped, but not enough. I’m hoping the people of MO who voted for the Clean Missouri amendment by 62% (which means it passed in a lot of Republican areas!) are smart enough to see this political ratfuckery for what it is, and vote it down.
Baud
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Democratic AGs have been unsung heroes since Trump took office.
Mai naem mobile
I happened to tune into CSPAN radio and heard Kamala Harris rip Ron Johnson a new one over the subpoenas for the Ukraine stuff. Probably too long to go viral. Hope Biden picks her as his Veep. The people these idots are subpoenaing are willing to show up. They don’t need the subpoenas.
Kelly
Welp the Oregon Republicans elected “Medical Freedom” and Qanon believer Jo Rae Perkins to oppose Jeff Merkley. She had $1,182 on hand as of April 29th so I think Jeff is safe. Urine collector Art Robinson has won the Republican nomination for a State Senate seat in a deep red southern Oregon district so he’ll finally get elected to something. In my Congressional district Kurt Schrader will face generic Republican Amy Ryan Courser. Proud Boy fascist Joey Nations came in third. Could have been second if fourth place fascist and Proud Boy hanger on Angela Roman had stayed out of it. More proof that fascist are not well organized. I think Joey and Angela used to carpool to Portland for the Proud Boy demonstrations. No idea why she didn’t just back him.
The most interesting fall race may be Peter DeFazio vs Alek Skarlatos. Alek was one of the three unarmed soldiers that stopped an armed terrorist on a French train a while back so he has a good story. DeFazio has been around forever and knows how to defend his keep.
My local fire district levy failed :-(
Lastly Baker City voted to sell their backhoe :-)
zhena gogolia
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Hahahaha! Her delivery is so perfect. Again, she adds in a phrase that just makes the gag work — “for a very long time to come.” Hahahaha — yes, that doggie doo just sticks to all the crevices in your shoe and keeps smelling “for a very long time to come.”
HumboldtBlue
Did you Know?
Mart
@JustRuss: Katie Porter for fucking VP, shit yea.
Ohio Mom
CarolDuhart2: Yeah, while I suspect lots of youngsters may be eager to flock back to bars and restaurants, I’m thinking we oldsters who actually spend bucks on actual things, are going to be slow to “vote with our feet for exposure.”
I took Ohio Son to the food court at Kenwood Mall last week — its a mile or so from our house and he was so antsy. The whole time we were there, I felt the same as if I was in a dark alley or a haunted house, just couldn’t wait to get out of there.
On the topic of Democratic Electeds we are proud of, Everything Sherrod Brown does.
WaterGirl
@Baud: You are absolutely right. I wish there had been more reporting on the outcome of all the suits, but win or lose, they are fighting the good fight.
WaterGirl
@HumboldtBlue: I laughed.
O. Felix Culpa
@zhena gogolia: I foolishly waded into a Facebook discussion yesterday about that alleged fat-shaming, to defend Pelosi. OMG, the flamers came out in force. Apparently referring to our obese president* as obese is the worst crime against contemporary sensibilities ever. Sometimes I despair.
ETA: I still think her comments were hilarious and oh, so deftly done.
Redshift
@Soprano2: An acquaintance of mine is an anti-fat-shaming activist, and was absolutely incandescent about the whole thing yesterday. I just saw it go by and didn’t get to read it in detail, so I’m unclear how much of it was about Pelosi; the major ire seemed to be at the avalanche of fat jokes from liberals in response (which we also see a lot of here.) And be realistic, even if Pelosi was careful to use medical terms and concern trolling, the thing we were all cheering about absolutely was needling Trump about his weight, knowing it would bother him. The essence of fat-shaming is the idea that being fat is inherently bad, and being thin is virtuous (and both are due to personal choices), and that is very much the basis of fat jokes.
I don’t pretend to understand the boundaries of what they consider fat-shaming, but in the same way that it’s appalling when white people try to pass judgement on what is and isn’t racist, I do think we need to be careful about thinking we can decide what is and isn’t.
schrodingers_cat
@O. Felix Culpa: Let me guess, is it the Rose emoji Twitter that is having a cow? Woke Twitter needs a nap. Kthxbai.
Kristine
@WaterGirl: my monthly donation to the DLCC has been money well spent.
trollhattan
If you have the time, Emptywheel dismantles Glem piece by detailed piece in her post refuting his defense of Barr and Flynn, and accusations of Grand Crimes against Trump.
Authoritarians really stick together like velcro.
SiubhanDuinne
@Kelly:
Everybody needs a hobby.
CarolDuhart2
@Ohio Mom: And one of the reasons I believe Orange Cheeto hates the tech people is that it gives a lot of people no need to go out. Groceries from Kroger from home, takeout from just about any restaurant now, and Amazon and Staples for just about anything else. Not to mention cable, online learning, and so much more. He needs the sight of packed churches, packed stores, and the look of busy streets. We aren’t giving him that.
Baud
@Redshift: Pelosi’s comments were fine. Some of the online commentary on her comments may not have been. But people have been referring to Trump as Fat Bastard for a while, so I don’t think yesterday was breaking any new ground.
Immanentize
@O. Felix Culpa: Fuck their feelings.
trollhattan
@Mart:
One of the things I like about Gillibrand is her propensity to toss the occasional tactical F-bomb. Porter has similar chops (obviously).
Redshift
I am grateful for my senator Mark Warner, who has been an absolute rock on Russian election attacks. I am absolutely certain that he is the reason there is a bipartisan Senate investigation and reports. Burr was publicly talking about wrapping it up at the same time Nunes did in the House, and I don’t know how (maybe Burr still has a vestigial sense of shame or patriotism), but I feel confident it was Warner who talked him out of it.
Mai naem mobile
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I just heard the doggy doo doo comment. Hearing it is even better. Pelosi just says it in such a ‘mom’ way it doesn’t come across as being disrespectful. I wonder if she’s not trying to fill in as being Biden’s pit bull until he gets a Veep.
trollhattan
@Baud:
What I loved about Nancy’s entire framing was her concern for the health of the president–taking a life-threatening drug against medical advice while at the same time being clinically overweight, a health challenge to him and anybody over 70. It’s not dissimilar to her insistence she prays for the president.
She’s very good with a knife.
Salty Sam
Same reason you are called “shrill” or “uncivil” if you point out that Repub policies hurt and immiserate POC’s and the poor, or that the Repub party is a de facto racist white nationalist party…
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
You talking about me or Katie?
bemused
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Two words she should repeat often, “morbidly obese”, if he actually understands what morbidly means. Seriously, who would want to explain that to the raging toddler?
O. Felix Culpa
@schrodingers_cat: Yes.
@Immanentize: And yes.
Mo MacArbie
To me, Pelosi corrected the record after Trump gave out lethal medical advice, and she did so in an accurate way that cut through and actually got reported. Yes, the bad part of me got a lowbrow chuckle out of it too.
Complainers who complained “Where is Pelosi?” also complain when she hits one out of the park.
Other Suzanne
Democrats are the one club of which I am a proud member!!
I pray to ALL THE GODS we win this November. It’s the only way we survive. The alternative….not so much.
Vote! Vote! Vote!
CarolDuhart2
We would have gotten nothing without Democrats. No stimulus money, no enhanced UI, no extra food stamps, not even business money for small business. The Republicans would have just let us suffer and might not even have given any alarms about the virus.
natem
My god, for a second I thought Sam Seder was guest posting here.
japa21
Any time you hear somebody say there is no difference between the two parties, ask that person why the Republicans are scared sh–less about the Dems winning elections.
BruceFromOhio
The distinction cannot be more stark:
Senator Sherrod Brown represents Ohio, does it well, and has low tolerance for bullshit.
Secretary Mnuchin is a fucking treacherous little weasel whose trademark is bullshit.
@CarolDuhart2: This, this, this.
BruceFromOhio
@Mo MacArbie:
Fixt for ya.
CarolDuhart2
@CarolDuhart2: Also, because of the impeachment, Biden is practically bulletproof. No fake scandals work because in the back of everyone’s mind is this: Trump did his best shot, and if anything else was there, why did it not come up then?
zhena gogolia
@Redshift:
He is the Fat-Shamer in Chief. So it’s all fair game.
SiubhanDuinne
I think Gretchen Whitmer is going to be someone we should keep an eye on. She’s had a real baptism by fire, most recently the breached dams and flooding in Midland.
I’m rather shocked that that story hasn’t had more media attention. If not for Cheryl’s post last night (which I didn’t even see until 3:00 am or so), not sure I would know anything about it. In a non-pandemic timeline, it would have been a noisy 24/7 story for at least a few days.
zhena gogolia
@CarolDuhart2:
Oh, they have a new story today, some KGB guy releasing tapes of Biden talking to Poroshenko. They’re as content-free as Rice’s e-mail, apparently, but we’ll see what the MSM does with it.
Steeplejack (phone)
@trollhattan:
That’s a very good, meaty piece.
Frankensteinbeck
@CarolDuhart2:
Between Trump’s Ukraine bullshit and Reade’s fake rape accusation, I think there’s a ‘boy who cried wolf’ narrative settling into the public consciousness. Trump has an “Oh look, Trump is doing something horrible again” narrative and Biden has an “Oh look, another fake accusation” narrative.
HumboldtBlue
@trollhattan:
I read that last night and it’s a delicious read.
Heidi Mom
@geg6: I join you in that. And hello, Beaver County! (I lived there from 8/87 until 10/95.)
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
The media doesn’t seem impressed.
trollhattan
@Steeplejack (phone):
She must have the patience of Job to go through a Greenwald screed item by item. His usual Gish gallop is always a mountainous task to refute. It’s his thing.
Kelly
@SiubhanDuinne: I read there were negotiations underway to purchase the dam due to the private owners failure to maintain it. Seems more like a hostage ransom than a purchase given the damage that resulted from the poorly maintained dam. I hope the purchase price is $1 given the dam is a wreck.
HumboldtBlue
@zhena gogolia:
Oh yeah, they’ve been working themselves into a fever pitch and it’s heartening to see the only ones following the bright shiny object are the likes of Townhall and Daily Caller.
Maybe, just maybe, during this cycle, the media have recognized bullshit for what it is. I mean it only took them four years because they excused Trump’s bullshit until January, but maybe it’s swung a little bit in favor of the good guys.
WaterGirl
@Kristine: Apparently so!
trollhattan
@SiubhanDuinne:
“That woman from Michigan” has impressed, ever since Trump first went after her. Before that I could not have named Michigan’s governor for a hundred bucks and a case of TP.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@hoosierspud:
All I heard about it on the local news the other night was Brown grilling Mnuchin about protecting workers during the pandemic, with Mnuchin firing back that of course we were going to protect workers. Mnuchin got the last word as far as the local (independent) news was concerned. Both sides, whatareyagonnado?
Redshift
@zhena gogolia:
So because he’s a raging racist it would be fine for Democrats to be racist in response?
Baud
@HumboldtBlue:
Thankfully the leaked recording doesn’t contain risotto recipes.
Sab
@Redshift: I was extremely thin for most of my adult life. I had to actively work to keep my weight up until I was in my fifties. I don’t think any fat co-worker ever missed the opportunity to comment on my weight publicly at least once a week. So I don’t have much sympathy. Fat people have no problem weight shamimg other people.
Starfish
@Soprano2: This is part of generalizing terms relating to equity to weaponize them against the groups that support equity.
HumboldtBlue
@Baud:
They’ve created their own new fever swamp and I think they’re a bit shaken that no one else has decided to join. Tara Reade fell flatter than a Hong Kong virus curve, Hunter Biden (which they are still flogging with all the vim and vigor of the righteously stupid) is still at the forefront and the desperate ginning up of yet another dastardly revelation has left them sweaty and gasping for breath.
Remember, thios is the greatest political crime in the history of our nation.
frosty
@geg6: Second that. Wolf has done a good job, and I’m particularly pleased to see Fetterman as Lt. Gov.
Miss Bianca
@SiubhanDuinne: Wouldn’t that be a baptism by flood, not fire?//
sorrynotsorry (or as Ellen Fanshaw would say in Slings and Arrows, “Soooor-ee!”)
ETA: I wonder if Whitmer could call on Michigan’s brave, brave FREEEDUMB protestors to show their moxie and independence of spirit by protesting the floods. Preferably on-site.
Dahlia
@Miss Bianca: I love that show.
Kay
@MisterForkbeard:
The reason it’s important to be accurate is Republicans and Donald Trump are relying on sloppy language to make it seem as if MI and AZ are just mailing people ballots willy nilly. That’s essential to the lie they’re telling. If it’s an application then there’s a analysis of whether the ballot request is valid- they want to pretend that doesn’t happen.
I was just in the car and the news reader for Michigan public radio said “ballots”, just like Trump does.
They have to try harder. An application for a ballot is not a ballot just like a name on the voter rolls is not a vote. Registration is a separate process from voting. Being so sloppy feeds right into the Right’s attempt to discredit voting and elections.
Miss Bianca
@Dahlia: I watch it every year. Just got done with this year’s viewing, especially bittersweet because we had to cancel our summer Shakespeare production.
cwmoss
@Kelly: More Oregon stuff: in Multnomah County (Portland), voters elected — in a 76-23 landslide —progressive/reformer Mike Schmidt as District Attorney over veteran prosecutor Ethan Knight, who sort of mouthed reform-lite platitudes and who had basically been anointed to take over for retiring DA Rod Underhill. A great result for the Portland metro area and the state at large.
Kay
@MisterForkbeard:
“They’re sending everyone a ballot” versus “they’re sending every registered voter an application for an absentee ballot”
Which one sounds more vulnerable to fraud? Trump knows this.
HumboldtBlue
@cwmoss:
What’s gonna happen with the court ruling on Brown’s stay-at-home order? I was told it had to be re-authorized after 28 days and the government failed to do that.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Sab:
Two wrongs don’t make a right. Those people were wrong to do that to you, but that doesn’t make it okay to shame obese people. Some can’t help their weight, as it can a metabolic or hormonal problem keeping their weight high
cwmoss
@SiubhanDuinne: in Kelly lie the seeds of a Tony Jay for Oregon politics.
Steeplejack (phone)
@trollhattan:
I bookmarked it as a useful antidote to a lot of right-wing accusations and talking points about the Flynn affair(s) and related issues, not just Greenwald individually. Although it works great for that!
I am starting to think that this might be a good time to read the Mueller report in its entirety, through the lens of a year’s perspective. But the thought of doing that also depresses me.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
That’s a very good point. It makes me mad that that newsreader said “ballots” instead of “applications”. I would hope it was a simple mistake. It’s one that has to stop, though
Miss Bianca
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I’m not as inclined to fault Pelosi on her original remarks as I am anyone who retweeted it in a spirit of “hor hor, she called him FAT!”
Kelly
@cwmoss: If I were in charge of redistricting every district would radiate out from Portland like spokes of a wheel.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Kay: His comments when he disbanded the pandemic team, about how you can just “hire them back quickly if you need them”, should have told anyone listening how little he knew about hiring or running… anything.
cain
@Soprano2:
It’s some weird form of advocacy. Someone took Brian Schatz to task for using the word phrase “I’m not a lunatic” – like just saying that will trigger people who have adverse mental conditions.
Hell, the word lunatic is out of favor, it’s like an old man’s vocabulary. I was annoyed because it just seems like concern trolling to me. I mean, he might have had a point if he used ‘crazy’ which I can think could be triggering. But dunno about lunatic.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Miss Bianca:
I was more referring to Sab’s circumstances, but really, wasn’t Pelosi’s comments intended to mock Trump for his weight? Nobody believes that she actually cares about his health (nor do I, honestly)
John Revolta
@Kay: Public radio news isn’t “sloppy”. They’re mouthpieces for the Right and have been for years. Don’t let the rest of their content fool ya.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
g
eemom
Here’s a nice introductory morsel from Marcy Wheeler’s smackdown of Glennfuck:
Tee hee. Suck on that, O Insufferable Asshole.
@trollhattan:
Never been a fan of hers — particularly her faux lawyering — but I’ll readily admit she’s a frikkin bloodhound when it comes to nailing facts.
WaterGirl
Shoutout to my IL State Representative. Heading back to Springfield to meet for the fist time in person since this all started.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@japa21:
How’s Mrs. japa?
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
It’s exhausting and I’m sick of it. Their job is words. They have to use the correct descriptions of this process. It isn’t that difficult. Tens of thousands of ordinary people learn the whole US balloting process in a matter of hours when they work as pollworkers, yet year after year after year we get news reports that mislead people on the basic process.
We saw the same thing with Obama’s birth certificate. They seemed incapable of simply and accurately describing the state recording process for births. That gave bad actors like Donald Trump and his low quality hires an opening. It isn’t a mystery. It’s in every state code.
Redshift
@Baud:
So, just waving away at the idea that maybe members of the majority don’t get to judge what hurts people who are discriminated against?
Well, that makes it all okay, then. Social media flooded with fat=bad comments in response, but they weren’t new, so nbd. Hey, it wasn’t directed at them, it was just vast numbers of people who claim they are allies casually lobbing insults that convey that they’re inherently lesser people.
I’m not asking people to be perfect, I’m just asking people not to be dismissive (or be absolute assholes) to people who are on our side who are absolutely discriminated against and often treated pretty horribly. Beyond the general fact that pretty people do better at job interviews and make more money, what other personal characteristic do we learn from childhood to use as an insult, and there’s no social pressure among adults there’s anything wrong with that? What other kind of people have people openly stare at them in horror when they’re out in public? Have well-meaning people who don’t even know them well express concern about their health, and pass along unsolicited “suggestions” for how they can change?
One “fat-ass” insult doesn’t do any great harm. Keeping them routine and acceptable does, and it’s disheartening to hear people who are involved in politics because they ostensibly care about others decide that people who are bothered can’t have any real concerns and are just “too sensitive.”
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
He looks like a fat clown*.
*Clowns frighten me.
hoosierspud
@WaterGirl: cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/05/19/sherrod-brown-jerome-powell-steve-mnuchin-senate-banking-economy-…
Baud
@Redshift:
No, just disagreeing with it. We get to do that.
No, but it makes it not news.
Kay
@John Revolta:
I always wonder if they vote. Do they give any thought to that at all? They ARE PART of this process. They have DONE it. Yet somehow bad actors on the Right managed to convince that millions of people were walking into polling places and impersonating other people who were registered. It’s outlandish on its face, yet they ALL reported it as if it was actually happening. No one ever explained what happens to the actual voter- the one the voter fraudster is impersonating? Did they all DIE? One registration, one name, one vote, two voters, one an impersonator and one the real thing. Where did the real voter go?
All of them reported on “voter impersonation fraud” for a decade and none of them ever walked thru it to see if it made any sense.
cwmoss
@HumboldtBlue: I haven’t read the ruling from Baker County (way out in Eastern Oregon, beautiful area but politically deep red). Oregon Supreme Court stayed the Baker County ruling pending appeal. I haven’t followed the details of this thing but plan to do so and I’ll post a comment or two later. (IAAL so I’m at least somewhat qualified to opine on shit like this.)
stinger
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Just watched the clip at your link. What I liked even better — what will probably get Trump’s goat even more — was the forceful “Forget about him.”
Redshift
@Sab: I’m sorry to hear that, that is also unacceptable. My friend who is active against fat-shaming (body-shaming in general, really) also takes people to task for thinking they have a right to comment on thin people’s bodies.
cwmoss
@Kelly: call it the wagon wheels of the New Oregon Trail!
rikyrah
japa21
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Sorry for the delay. Surgery went well. We have to wait for the pathology results but the surgeon said he felt fairly confident that it was benign. She sees the doc next Tuesday. Will be somewhat nervous until then. Right now she is more sore than anything. Thank you for your concern. And others who also were concerned.
Citizen Alan
@Redshift:
I am morbidly obese. It’s an issue I’ve struggled with my whole life. And I honestly wouldn’t care if every single Democrat in the country stood up and yelled “Fatty-Fatty! Two-by-Four!” every time Shitgibbon’s name was mentioned.
John Revolta
@Kay:
They do what they get paid to do. When was the last time you ever heard somebody go “Wait a minute, maybe we DON’T have to cut ‘entitlements'” on there?
Redshift
@Baud:
No, you weren’t. You responded “Pelosi’s comments were fine”, which is just doing the thing I said I had a problem with, not saying you disagreed with it in principle.
If you do want to disagree, and say that members of the majority are justified in telling the people who say they’re affected by this that they’re wrong and we know better, then have the guts to say so.
trollhattan
@japa21:
Goon news, in sum. Continued best wishes!
Nicole
@japa21: Thank you for the update! Fingers crossed for good news next week.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@japa21:
That sounds as good as it can for now. Fingers crossed.
Citizen Alan
@Redshift:
As I just said, I am a morbidly obese and think Pelosi’s comments were perfectly fine. As, for that matter, are the comments of anyone who calls Trump “Fat Bastard,” “Lard-Ass,” and “Jabba the Hutt.” Is that good enough? Or are actual fat people so lacking in agency that we need shining knights like you to protect our gentle feelings? Because tone-policing people on Twitter about how they talk about Shitgibbon isn’t going to do a damned thing to stop fat-shaming in the real world.
Baud
@Redshift: I don’t understand your first comment. If someone says Pelosi’s comment was not fine, and I say it was fine, then I’m disagreeing.
Each person, whether in the majority or minority, gets to decide for themselves whether they agree with someone else’s point of view.
The Moar You Know
@Kay: Until voting for a non-Republican is illegal.
Remember, the Nazis never stopped having elections. They just changed some of the rules.
jl
I don’t care about the debate over whether Pelosi was body shaming trump. She wasn’t jeering at him or making fun. She touched on facts: 1) Trump is very fat, and 2) being fat, he is at high risk for a lot of bad stuff, including bad outcome of covid-19 infection or taking the hydroxy stuff. So, he needs to be careful about his health.
Edit: some of head lard, some have body lard, a few sorry some have both.
WaterGirl
@japa21: Obviously that’s not the same as TOTAL relief once you hear on Tuesday, but that’s a big relief! So happy for you guys.
The Lodger
@Kelly: Baker already has the judge who tried to invalidate the Oregon shutdown. Guess they didn’t need any more hoes…
Redshift
@Citizen Alan: And that’s certainly your right. I didn’t intend to imply there is universal agreement, I’m just trying to make the point that there are real-world effects, and this is not just an “ooh, I’m being triggered” issue. (I also get the impression that a lot of these effects hit women a lot harder.)
It’s not a simple thing. I feel like I’ve been living through a long progression of finding out that things I thought were okay or harmless really aren’t, and at the same time I feel like too many of those darn kids have the attitude that they have a right not to be exposed to anything they find unpleasant. Both of these things can be true, I guess. I’m okay with people disagreeing about which bucket something belongs in, I’m not happy with people being unwilling to consider that they may have things in the wrong bucket, especially when their response to their assumption that something is in the “snowflake” bucket goes straight to “fuck you” with no second thoughts.
japa21
@WaterGirl: Yes. To you and the others, it is a relief, and hoping for the big relief. Thank you all.
J R in WV
You know how to tell Republicans are lying, don’t you?
Their lips are moving, or their fingers are typing, either one, depending upon the medium involved.
Kay is right, though. Their continuous attempt to show that voting is corrupt is so anti-American, so fascist, so despicable that I really can’t stand it at all. In part, why we contribute to Democratic candidates all over the nation!
We love voting in person at our polling place, even when we have to wait in line, which only happened once in all the decades we have voted there. Got to sit on the lowest bleacher seat and scoot over a little bit as people left to a voting booth on the left hand, or came to sit down and wait on the right hand. Democracy in action right there in front of everyone.
Ruckus
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone:
shitforbrains doesn’t understand because he’s always had money. He has been in hock most of his adult life. And someone/some bank has always fixed him up. And now he thinks he owns the federal government, it’s his to spend as he wants. IOW he has no idea how most people live or actually have to earn money.
James E Powell
@Kay:
He also knows that he has never suffered any penalty for lying and he likely never will.
germy
Kay
@J R in WV:
He corrected the tweet. I’m always curious about the process with the low quality hires. The few lies they correct and the thousands they endorse and repeat. Why pick this lie to correct? He’s told tens of lies just today.
I wonder if they corrected it because so many GOP governors back vote by mail. It sure isn’t any commitment to accuracy or honesty.
Redshift
@Baud: My point is that in the comment you replied to I didn’t say Pelosi’s comment was not fine. To me, responding to what I was arguing with “Pelosi’s comment was fine” is just ignoring what I was saying rather than disagreeing with it, which I found annoying. But I accept that wasn’t what you intended, and we’ve probably been talking past each other.
Kay
@J R in WV:
Trump is bad but the big picture on voting access is actually good. Democrats have won a lot of those battles, so much so that GOP governors are being forced to adopt modern, convenient voting provisions. Dragged. Kicking and screaming :)
zhena gogolia
@Redshift:
She wasn’t fat-shaming him. She was stating a fact. He has risk factors and shouldn’t be taking that drug.
The Moar You Know
@Redshift: I love how you move the goalposts.
Let’s play a game. We will call it “GOP, how we keep winning!”
I will kick you in the genitals as hard as I can.
You will not kick me back. That’s uncivil and can make people feel bad.
I kick you again, harder, this time.
Can’t kick me back! We established that earlier.
I get a golf club. I’m literally going to use your genitals as a golf ball. I swing. Oh man. You’re going to the hospital for sure.
No, no no! Stop right there! Can’t hit me back! You’re “going low!” And stop objecting. Your objections make people feel bad. Such rude language. I mean, I use way worse every day, but I’m not the one who has to answer to…well, those sensitive people. Y’know?
And speaking of going low, I’m feeling real good about my kicking skills today. Just stay still. I know it’s hard to stand now that your genitals are a crushed ruin, but don’t screw up my game.
God, that must have hurt.
Hey, we’ve been playing this game for more than forty years at this point. Aren’t you tired of not kicking back yet?
Ruckus
@Immanentize:
They are willing to fuck our existence, they are willing to kill minorities, they are willing to allow endless other atrocities, and calling an actually morbidly obese disaster of a human who is worse than they are, morbidly obese is the end of the world? Yeah, fuck their feelings.
eemom
Likely the kiss of death for me to chime in, but all of y’all attacking Redshift really need to go back and fucking READ what he wrote.
The issue is not what Pelosi said or whether SHE was fat shaming. (And FTR I also don’t think she was.) The issue is people being dismissive of fat shaming in general, which NOBODY who is not a victim thereof has the right to be. Nor does any one member of a victim group have the right to speak for all.
L85NJGT
@Kelly:
There were selling four impounds to the state. As the Feds noted they were useless for flood control, and the revenue from power generation and recreation apparently wasn’t enough to get them in good working order. So the state stepped and created a taxing district to take over.
They’ll probably be rebuilt at some ridiculous cost to the rest of the state. I wonder if it wouldn’t be cheaper just to buy out the lot owners and remove the dams. That’s certainly better for the environment, and it’s not like Michigan suffers from a lack of water recreation acreage.
Sloane Ranger
Open thread so will note that Peter Navarro is on The Lead with Jake Tapper and he’s either drunk or his dentures don’t fit properly.
Kay
“also, again” Guffaw
rikyrah
Redshift
@The Moar You Know: Well, your goalposts are now on the far side of the Moon, so good job there.
I never said anything against being mean to Republicans. And if you think our problem is that we don’t act enough like them, I’ll note that at least they have the sense to use “fuck your feelings” for people on the other side.
Someone asked for an explanation of body-shaming, and knowing someone who’s active in that area, I tried (probably not well enough) to represent what I’ve heard and advocate for people I care about. Since nobody seems to think the idea is even worth any response beyond “fuck you,” I’m going to go away for a while and leave you to your fat jokes.
Kay
I love how they pretend this is a “Trump problem” when in reality there’s an entire cable news network where they lie about voting and voting process constantly. Their colleagues.
If Mazda made a car that was unsafe and crashed constantly, Toyota would call that out, if only to sell cars. Their industry? No one calls it out. It goes on for decades.
mrmoshpotato
@Sloane Ranger: Why not both?
HumboldtBlue
@cwmoss:
Thanks, nice to have an Oregonian who can speak to the issues.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Redshift:
I agree
sdhays
So, do we have any actual, real confirmation that Dump is shooting up the hydroxy? At first, it seemed like it was confirmed since a few people at the Very White House claimed to know he was taking it and the VWH physician put out a statement that suggested Donny was taking it. But the statement was worded so carefully, it didn’t actually say whether Donny John is taking it or not.
He explicitly said he was taking it, and he said like he was conducting a (typically incompetent) infomercial. Was he lying in this instance, are others lying to him, or is he actually taking a dangerous drug because he’s personally terrified (and/or invested in hydroxychloroquine in some way) while demanding the peons “be warriors”?
MisterForkbeard
@eemom: I just read some of that and then some of the replies to Marcy Wheeler’s twitter.
Jesus H Christ, the leftBros following Greenwald and the barking mad loons that are crowing about how “Nunes was vindicated” (Narrator: He wasn’t) are driving me crazy. These people are insane. Literally so.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Ruckus:
With all due respect, you can be against both. Being against making fat-shaming and being anti-Trump/Republican are not mutually exclusive positions
Monala
@Sab: I was skinny throughout my childhood, teens and 20’s (babies and age took that away!). And yeah, you’re right, I was skinny-shamed countless times. So I get it.
However, I also get something I learned from an article about “skinny privilege”: I never had a doctor blame an unrelated condition on my weight. I never had trouble finding clothes that could fit me. I never had trouble fitting into a seat or chair. Etc. So I recognize that I had advantages that heavier people did not, even if I had to put up with their insults.
Soprano2
@Salty Sam: I don’t think it’s the same thing. Saying someone is “shrill” is a subjective judgment about what you believe about their tone or motives. Saying that someone is morbidly obese is a statement of fact that anyone who can see the person can observe for themselves. Is just making that statement of fact seen as making some kind of value judgment? No one is supposed to notice anything about anyone’s appearance? I mean, if she had said he’s a huge big fat fattie that would be one thing, but that’s not what she said. Perhaps someone would quarrel with the word “morbidly” as being negative, and I can understand that. Just saying “obese”, though, is a statement of fact, just as saying someone is “thin” is also a statement of fact. As a woman I do understand the idea of judgment and shaming over appearance. Honestly it makes me have a tiny bit of sympathy for those who complain about PC if I can’t even make the statement that Donald Trump is obese without being accused of “fat shaming”. Do people believe we need a whole new language to talk about these kinds of things, or are we supposed to pretend we don’t notice at all?
rikyrah
I remember folks on Twitter saying that the Mouse wasn’t thinking about these muthaphuckas.
That they will never let anyone Phuck with the brand.??
twitter.com/CNBCnow/status/1263198126334267392
Kay
Every time you get mad at the low quality hires imagine how horrible it is to work there, and realize there is some accountability for their actions- they have to work for these nasty people.
Bill Arnold
@zhena gogolia:
Well, the WaPo did this. Headline could be better, but the body is skeptical enough (bold mine):
Ukrainian lawmaker releases leaked phone calls of Biden and Poroshenko (Paul Sonne, Rosalind S. Helderman, May 19, 2020)
John Revolta
@Kay: Hey, at least he didn’t call her “Sweetheart”. Yet.
rikyrah
MisterForkbeard
@Kay: Whoah. That’s amazingly bad.
So not only was the IG fired and Pompeo lied about knowing he was under investigation, the IG was also doing their job and uncovering bad behavior by Pompeo’s personal team. Ooof.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kay: that’s really something, “workplace violence” at the State Department, and I’m assuming in the higher ranks if an IG got involved.
I think people would mostly shrug-off the dog-walking, dry-cleaning stuff, and the arms sales to the Saudis is too complicated for most people, but between using tax-payer money, in several different ways, to build a presidential campaign, and workplace violence, Pompeo may become a liability, even if I think trump will cling to him too long to make pushing him overboard realistic. He won’t want to fire a top cabinet official in the run-up to the election.
rikyrah
Why doesn’t this terrify people like it does me???
Miss Bianca
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Frankly? I think if anyone deserves to be fat-shamed, it’s Fat Bastard. Because he’s a bastard, not because he’s fat. Just my .02 – this remark or judgement not necessarily applicable to any other person or situation.
Martin
I tried telling y’all how great Katie was but did you believe me? Not as much as you should have.
WaterGirl
@rikyrah: You are not alone in that.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@rikyrah: I hear so many people being, by my lights, cavalier about this, both in my real life and in the media, I sometimes start to wonder if I’m not worrying too much. Then I see something like that, or hear early-thirties, regular runner Mara Gay talk about her experience– after five weeks she gets winded after walking a couple of blocks, uses an inhaler regularly and has to sleep on her stomach– and I think I’m right (which is my default position, so…
ETA: Just listening to Kai Ryssdale on NPR, and he’s been pretty much saying “are you fucking kidding me?” everytime the DJIA closes higher, and even he said with more confidence than I think warranted “The recovery will start in the second half…” I hope he’s right.
JustRuss
@Kelly: DeFazio’s my rep, great guy but not an awesome campaigner. I hope Alek doesn’t give him too much trouble.
Sad to hear Robinson will finally get to go to Salem, that guy’s a yooooge PIA. And bon voyage Baker City backhoe.
Another Scott
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I wonder how much of the S&P 500 and DJIA behavior (e.g. the S&P500 right now is up compared to 12 months ago) is driven by what’s happening outside the USA. The big companies are very much global now, and much of the rest of the world is doing much better than we are…
Cheers,
Scott.
Villago Delenda Est
@Redshift: Concern troll is concerned.
Film at 11.
eemom
@Villago Delenda Est:
Oh FUCK YOU. Redshift is as far from a concern troll as it gets.
Do us all a favor and hop into one of your own precious fires.
Dan B
@rikyrah: Frontline last night had doctors at a hospital in Cremona, Italy who intubated an 18 year old who was very handsome fit young guy. He asked if he was going to die before they put him under. There he was face down with a bare muscular back. The scans showed maybe 3/4 of his lungs no longer functioning – solid white. It was wrenching. And they had to decide if a 35 year old or an 85 year old would get a bed in ICU because they were over capacity.
They did what Katie Porter calls “illustrating” not just talking.
I want a sign that says WEAR A MASK FOR THE SAKE OF DOCTORS, or WEAR A MASK FOR ANNIE GLENN.
WaterGirl
@Dan B: I am hoping the was from Italy very early on? That it’s not still that bad? Or are hospitals in Italy still totally overwhelmed.