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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Their shamelessness is their super power.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2020 / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: The Struggle Is Real, Unfortunately

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: The Struggle Is Real, Unfortunately

by Anne Laurie|  July 29, 20207:05 am| 204 Comments

This post is in: Election 2020, GOP Death Cult, Proud to Be A Democrat, Republicans in Disarray!, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You

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Well, this was remarkable. pic.twitter.com/bqidB7XBZm

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) July 28, 2020

Democrats want to save as many people as possible. Repubs want to steal everything they can, and break everything they can’t. All else is commentary.

Pelosi says McConnell not ready to make U.S. coronavirus relief deal https://t.co/6GPSCHI8PM pic.twitter.com/cRVXHN0eL9

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 29, 2020


Not accurate. State/local aid is a centerpiece of #HeroesAct & essential to how we kill this virus. https://t.co/S0usRjqvfj

— Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) July 28, 2020

Seems like McConnell wants to keep his job (thankless as it is and little as he needs it), but his nominal boss is determined to make sure that if he gets turfed out, so will #MoscowMitch…

Trump calls new Senate GOP coronavirus bill ‘semi-irrelevant’ – UPDATED w @seungminkim @JStein_WaPo https://t.co/WY1NcXX3l0

— Erica Werner (@ericawerner) July 28, 2020

In retaliation, Mitch refuses to ‘protect’ the FBI funding which is a transparent prefix for protecting Trump’s hotel room rates:

??MCCONNELL throws the White House under the bus: says he’s opposed to fbi money in this covid bill.

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 28, 2020

Republicans are actually, legitimately in disarray. They're not even unified enough to give out free money, let alone cancel elections. pic.twitter.com/QI6YqDhhmA

— Tentin Quarantino (@agraybee) July 28, 2020

"You were right about one thing, Master. The negotiations were short." https://t.co/I71vMO64m6

— Marcher Lord Fred (@LesserFrederick) July 28, 2020

… And ‘LeaderMcConnell‘ gets quite as much respect from his caucus as he has for them. So, at least the rest of us get to watch the Death Cult chew on each other…

I see three options here:
1. All this is for show, and Republicans fold within a week.
2. The markets realize how insane the process is and collapse, Republicans fold.
3. An immense amount of economic damage in August, some kind of crap sandwich in September. https://t.co/GpuCoYagiM

— Alex Hazanov (@alexhazanov) July 28, 2020

A day after McConnell released covid relief package, fellow Senate Rs keep throwing darts at it.

"If Mitch can get half the conference, that'd be quite an accomplishment," @LindseyGrahamSC tells @jordainc at lunchtime vote.

So MM enters talks with Rs completely divided.

— Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) July 28, 2020

Oh boy. GOP Sen. Kennedy against White House/GOP plan to switch UI benefits over to wage replacement:

"Many of our state departments of labor — they just got microwaves last week, much less being able to reprogram the computer in 60 days to effectuate a complicated formula"

— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) July 28, 2020

I'm beginning to think that Mitch McConnell is not the brilliant tactician we thought he was. https://t.co/whBYuuY16N

— Marcher Lord Fred (@LesserFrederick) July 28, 2020

Senate Republican package for the next round of coronavirus relief does not include federal moratorium on evictions that expired on July 24. https://t.co/ejtP0EV4at

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 29, 2020

Overall, the Republican coronavirus relief proposal stuffs $8,000,000,000 into Pentagon weapons systems built by defense contractors like Boeing, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics — corporate titans that sit atop the Washington influence industry. https://t.co/ExsxvpQgSM

— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 29, 2020

For two months, Americans have watched their loved ones die and get sick. Millions have lost jobs, and now millions face eviction. And for two months McConnell has been laser-focused on making sure you can’t sue your boss for catching the plague at work. https://t.co/XGbEITSyac

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 28, 2020

Distilling the Republican COVID relief plan. Here are the two major takeaways:
1) Poor people need to make major sacrifices for the good of the economy.
2) Rich people don't.
Very much on brand. It will forever be a mystery to me why anyone would ever vote GOP.
Other than racism.

— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) July 28, 2020

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204Comments

  1. 1.

    debbie

    July 29, 2020 at 7:10 am

    The GOP showed its true self when they cut unemployment while allowing foreclosures, evictions, debt collection, etc. to start up again.

  2. 2.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    July 29, 2020 at 7:10 am

    Goddammit – I wish some news orgs would hire some experienced litigators to ask or at least script questions, someone would start asking who “they”, “many people” or “anybody” are.

  3. 3.

    Ken

    July 29, 2020 at 7:15 am

    All else is commentary.

    Call-outs to Rabbi Hillel. I like.

    I find some of the framing a little weird. They seem to be saying that because the Republicans are divided, McConnell will have to negotiate with Pelosi and the Democrats. No – that was always going to have to happen.

    What the division means is that the Republicans wasted a lot of time, and are now in a much weaker position in those negotiations. Well, assuming they have any interest at all in passing some relief, which admittedly some do not.

  4. 4.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 29, 2020 at 7:18 am

    @Ken: Exactly, didn’t the House pass a bill two months ago?  What has the Senate been doing?

    We know the White House has been hawking beans and fake cures.

  5. 5.

    Suzanne

    July 29, 2020 at 7:20 am

    Slava Malamud always knows what’s up.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 7:21 am

    GOP tucks $8 billion for military weaponry in coronavirus bill

    Why are Dems opposed to the War on COVID?

  7. 7.

    Ryan

    July 29, 2020 at 7:24 am

    ““Many of our state departments of labor — they just got microwaves last week, much less being able to reprogram the computer in 60 days to effectuate a complicated formula””

     

    I think I might see at least part of the problem…

  8. 8.

    Ryan

    July 29, 2020 at 7:24 am

    @Baud: Did I read right that that particular $8 billion was snatched away to build wall earlier this year?

  9. 9.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 7:26 am

    The GOP is lost if they can’t count on people blaming Democrats for not persuading the GOP to do the right thing.

  10. 10.

    Ryan

    July 29, 2020 at 7:26 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Yes, it’s a mystery why Trump keeps turning to magical thinking and hydroxychloroquine.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 7:27 am

    @Ryan: I don’t think the wall money came from military contractors. Different pots of money maybe.

  12. 12.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 29, 2020 at 7:29 am

    @Baud: I saw a piece that it was to backfill the wall money.

  13. 13.

    Ken

    July 29, 2020 at 7:29 am

    @Baud: I’ve seen reports the military is planning to make a history of COVID disqualifying for service. We may end up with lots of very expensive warcraft and no one to maintain and operate them. I understand staffing was already something of a problem for the Navy, even pre-COVID.

  14. 14.

    NotMax

    July 29, 2020 at 7:30 am

    a transparent prefix

    Methinks thou meant to say pretext.

  15. 15.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 7:31 am

    Readership capture.

    Several House Republicans are suddenly sweating over losing their seats

    Turns out “I will kill you” isn’t as effective a reelection message as one would have initially thought.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 7:33 am

    Minneapolis is safe from federal troops.

    Police in Minneapolis say a man known as “Umbrella Man”, seen damaging property in the city during the Black Lives Matter protests, has links to white supremacy groups. 

  17. 17.

    NotMax

    July 29, 2020 at 7:33 am

    @Baud

    Gotta restock military excess coffers to supply local police departments, don’tcha know.

    //

  18. 18.

    Ken

    July 29, 2020 at 7:34 am

    MCCONNELL throws the White House under the bus: says he’s opposed to fbi money in this covid bill

    Nice that he’s tacitly admitting that the White House priorities are indistinguishable from Trump’s business.

  19. 19.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 7:35 am

    Credit where it’s due (NYT)

    Opinion

    We Lost the Battle for the Republican Party’s Soul Long Ago

     

    Only fear will motivate the party to change — the cold fear only defeat can bring.

     

    By Stuart Stevens

     

    Mr. Stevens is a Republican political consultant

  20. 20.

    Bluegirlfromwyo

    July 29, 2020 at 7:38 am

    @Suzanne: He forgot sexism and homophobia but yes.

  21. 21.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    July 29, 2020 at 7:39 am

    I’m OK with paying the troops, maintaining bases and equipment and cutting back training by 70% while we’re dealing with the economic and human fallout from the virus.

    New equipment acquisition and development need to go on hold for the indefinite future.

  22. 22.

    John S.

    July 29, 2020 at 7:41 am

    I love the accurate and simple framing in that first clip. It’s so easy to understand.

    White supremacists protest with guns and threaten violence: No big deal.

    POC protest peacefully and naked women flash lady bits: FEDERAL RESPONSE!

    This is fine.

  23. 23.

    Barbara

    July 29, 2020 at 7:42 am

    @Ken: It could be about his hotel but I think he also wants the chance to control who receives the contract, which can’t be awarded without having the money in place. This has already been tried once and then the contract was canceled.

  24. 24.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 7:43 am

    US election: Biden pledges billions to improve racial equality

  25. 25.

    gene108

    July 29, 2020 at 7:44 am

    “Republicans revolt against GOP’s initial stimulus plan”…. this is a terrible, terrible no good horrible sentence.

    The sentence makes it seem Republicans are opposing another group’s, the GOP’s, plan, and that this is not just the same incompetent infighting we’ve seen for the last ten years.

    Boehner and Ryan could not even get a budget passed, without turning it into a clusterfuck. Now it’s Mitch’s turn to deal with how awful he and his party are.

  26. 26.

    NotMax

    July 29, 2020 at 7:45 am

    Open thread?

    Turner I understand. Movies I understand.

    Howsoever, Classic can be stretched only so far.

    TCM dragging out one of the dregs of the dregs at 9:30 (Eastern time) this morning. You have been warned.

    ;)

  27. 27.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 7:47 am

    Trump has lost his economic edge over Biden

  28. 28.

    gene108

    July 29, 2020 at 7:49 am

    @Ken:

    Trump trying to use government to so openly help his business needs to be turned into an ad, and played over and over again.

    It really is a very big deal.

    With the country crashing down around us, I doubt there are going to be high profile hearings on this.

    Ads are the best way to reach the most people with this news.

  29. 29.

    John S.

    July 29, 2020 at 7:49 am

    @Baud: That’s all he had left. Now the media will be in desperate overdrive to find the “But his emails!” narrative, or they won’t have their precious horse race. You can’t fill 24 hours of news with “Trump and the GOP are getting stomped.”

  30. 30.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    July 29, 2020 at 7:50 am

    So this was a thing yesterday.

    Basically, the US Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky invalidated Black Lives Matter by going on about “black on black” crime.

  31. 31.

    cmorenc

    July 29, 2020 at 7:51 am

    @Ryan:

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Yes, it’s a mystery why Trump keeps turning to magical thinking and hydroxychloroquine.

    You can easily solve this mystery by briefly surfing the RW media, such as OAN and Fox to see what relative narratives they’re pushing:  They’re trying to pin blame for the worsening COVID pandemic & economic fallout on:

    • Dems and liberal health establishment refuse to recognize that hydroxychloroquine has been proven effective in tamping down the COVID epidemic, thus needlessly prolonging it
    • The economy can be safely re-opened far more quickly, if only unsound establishment health authorities like Dr. Faucci (who has been proven wrong on many points) would get out of the way.
    • did we mention that it is the Chinavirus?  The virus is all China’s fault, NOT ours (in the Trump Administration).
    • things would get great quickly if the democrats and fake-news health authorities would quit interfering with a President who knows more about hydroxychloroquine and the virus than anyone else, cause he’s read more about it than anyone else.

    Shorter version: the virus is NOT our fault, and it’s the Dems and fake health establishment authorities who are prolonging the pandemic and economic distress, not us – we could fix both much more quickly but for their interference.

  32. 32.

    Ken

    July 29, 2020 at 7:52 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Remind me, the US Attorneys are the ones that – as established very early in the Trump presidency – can be fired by the President at any time?

  33. 33.

    Salty Sam

    July 29, 2020 at 7:53 am

    @Baud: 
    The GOP is lost if they can’t count on people blaming Democrats for not persuading the GOP to do the right thing

    Nothing makes me happier than to see this particular dynamic destroyed.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 7:53 am

    @Ken:

    Yes.

  35. 35.

    John S.

    July 29, 2020 at 7:53 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: White people “explaining” things to those they believe are inferior to them has been a thing for centuries.

  36. 36.

    Robert Sneddon

    July 29, 2020 at 7:56 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    The Holy Constitution says that all US Government spending has to be apportioned in the form of bills from the Legislature. It doesn’t insist on those bills being specifically about spending so for administrative purposes pretty much any bill about anything gets larded up with financial stuff like the FBI replacement building, a tranche of F-35A planes and so on just to get necessary spending through the sausage-making machinery. It’s actually an indication that this bill will eventually be passed, they wouldn’t stick all that spending stuff into a bill destined to fail.

  37. 37.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 7:59 am

    Good Morning, Everyone ???

  38. 38.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 8:00 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good morning.

  39. 39.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 8:00 am

    @Baud:

    YESSSSSSSS

  40. 40.

    Barbara

    July 29, 2020 at 8:00 am

    @Ken: Most US attorneys are asked to resign at the beginning of every new administration. Only in a few situations are they held over and asked to remain. It is not a career civil service job.

  41. 41.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 8:03 am

    FWIW, groups are starting to put lists together of people to staff the new Biden administration.

  42. 42.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 8:04 am

    @Ken:

    What about those on active duty who catch it?

  43. 43.

    Betty Cracker

    July 29, 2020 at 8:08 am

    @Baud: That’s a good piece — thanks for the link! His conclusion:

    That defeat is looming. Will it bring desperately needed change to the Republican Party? I’d like to say I’m hopeful. But that would be a lie and there have been too many lies for too long.

    Good for him.

  44. 44.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    July 29, 2020 at 8:11 am

    Can someone please beat Navarro to death with a baseball bat on live TV for my enjoyment?

    Thanks in advance.

  45. 45.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 8:13 am

    @gene108:

    Not even smart enough to just put Nancy Smash’s bill on the floor, tell the vulnerable Senators to vote for it, claim victory under the scam of Bi-Partisanship.

     

    It would be that easy.

     

    Yes, it would be a Democratic bill, but it would be positive for the GOP.

  46. 46.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    July 29, 2020 at 8:13 am

    @Baud: Good. Biden needs to be ready to fire the incompetent and corrupt and replace them with people who know what they’re doing on day one. People will be expecting to see action.

  47. 47.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 8:13 am

    @Baud:

    Uh huh

    Uh huh ??

  48. 48.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 8:15 am

    @Baud:

    I mean, he should have names ready for multi-levels of the Government.

    No time to waste.

    Vet people now.

     

    I am of the belief that he should present his top Cabinet picks and invite folks to compare to what we have now.

  49. 49.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 8:16 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Come sit by me ?

  50. 50.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 8:18 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Biden needs to be ready to fire the incompetent and corrupt and replace them with people who know what they’re doing on day one.

    Agreed, although I’m disappointed about not having the opportunity to serve.

  51. 51.

    SFAW

    July 29, 2020 at 8:19 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Can someone please beat Navarro to death with a baseball bat on live TV for my enjoyment?

    Your enjoyment? Selfish prick. What about the rest of us?

  52. 52.

    Kay

    July 29, 2020 at 8:20 am

    83 people infected at one event here in Trump Country, Ohio on July 11, including 4 of the wait staff at the event. No masks for anyone including catering staff.

  53. 53.

    SFAW

    July 29, 2020 at 8:21 am

    @Baud:

    I’m disappointed about not having the opportunity to serve.

    Even with COVID shutdowns, I’m sure there are restaurants willing to give you a few tables. Tips might even be better these days.

    Or did you mean something else?

  54. 54.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 8:22 am

    Every Republican who voted to acquit Trump for sacrificing natl security to help his re-election is responsible for the Russian bounty treachery. They told him he could betray America and stay in office. They all must go.— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) July 29, 2020

  55. 55.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 8:23 am

    @Kay:

    ?????

  56. 56.

    sanjeevs

    July 29, 2020 at 8:23 am

    Trump confirms he didn’t raise the bounties in his call to Vlad

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-says-he-has-not-spoken-to-putin-about-alleged-russian-bounties-on-us-troops/2020/07/29/c8037944-d186-11ea-8c55-61e7fa5e82ab_story.html

  57. 57.

    Betty Cracker

    July 29, 2020 at 8:27 am

    Did y’all see Trump’s shit-show of a press conference yesterday evening, when he stomped off in a huff after being asked about promoting a kooky doctor who believes medicine contains alien DNA? JFC. Any bets on how quickly the low-quality hires pull the plug on press conferences this time?

  58. 58.

    SFAW

    July 29, 2020 at 8:28 am

    @rikyrah:

    Maybe Rubin has finally turned the corner/page on the GOP? [I know she’s been thrashing the Murderer-in-Chief for awhile, but I always had the sense that she was similar to the Lincoln Project — more upset with Trump’s vileness than with the evil of the GOP.]

    Probably not, but a boy can hope.

  59. 59.

    SFAW

    July 29, 2020 at 8:30 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Someone told me that same doctor believes that all (or many) diseases are caused by demons or demon sperm or something?

  60. 60.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    July 29, 2020 at 8:31 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Who’s been getting the fun of demon sex? I feel left out…

  61. 61.

    zhena gogolia

    July 29, 2020 at 8:32 am

    Lincoln Project on Susan Collins, a thing of beauty, so concise and powerful:

    Good morning to @SenSusanCollins and @SenSusanCollins only. pic.twitter.com/6i4GlGtgkF— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) July 29, 2020

  62. 62.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 8:32 am

    Michigan Threatens to Slip From Trump as He Goes Quiet on Airwaves

    200+NYT > Top Storiesby Shane Goldmacher and Kathleen Gray / 2h
    //keep unread//hide


    The president has started spending more money on ads in much smaller Electoral College prizes like Iowa and Nevada, and in recent days his campaign stopped buying ads in Michigan entirely.

  63. 63.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 8:34 am

    @Kay: Trump County, MN feels your pain.

    Thousands showed up maskless to a Minnesota rodeo after its organizer invited people to come protest government overreach

  64. 64.

    SFAW

    July 29, 2020 at 8:36 am

    @Baud:

    Somewhere in the great beyond, Cyril Kornbluth is either weeping, or laughing uproariously.

  65. 65.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    July 29, 2020 at 8:37 am

    @Baud: Are you saying you haven’t been in secret talks with Biden? I’m shocked! Shocked, I tell you.

  66. 66.

    Kay

    July 29, 2020 at 8:37 am

    @Baud:

    Well, our local event was July 11th and the cases were reported July 28th, so if I were Minnesota I’d watch that.

  67. 67.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 8:38 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    ??????

  68. 68.

    Martin

    July 29, 2020 at 8:38 am

    Here’s the next shoe to drop in the fucked up Covid response – a dozen states are running out of ICU doctors. They’re getting sick because they don’t have the equipment they need and because we won’t fucking stay home.

    Beds and PPEs are a lot easier to get more of than trained doctors.

  69. 69.

    mad citizen

    July 29, 2020 at 8:38 am

    @gene108: I’m right there with you on this.  It’s been top of mind with the FBI building/move story.  It’s corruption through and through.  Dems need to talk about corruption corruption corruption–at least Warren did that a lot.

  70. 70.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    July 29, 2020 at 8:39 am

    @SFAW: She says endometriosis is caused by women having sex with demons in their dreams.

    Where do they come up with this stuff?

  71. 71.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 8:39 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    But, his ‘tone’ was changing.

    That’s what the MSM said ??

  72. 72.

    SFAW

    July 29, 2020 at 8:42 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Where do they come up with this stuff?

    The voices told her, I expect.

  73. 73.

    Soprano2

    July 29, 2020 at 8:42 am

    I agree, Biden needs to be vetting staff for positions now. I assume we’ll still be in a COVID emergency and a financial emergency in January, so there’s no time to waste. He needs to be able to replace all the incompetent Trump hires immediately, and have agencies be able to start functioning correctly ASAP. If I remember correctly, they confirm Cabinet secretaries ahead of the swearing-in, or they can because the new Congress is sworn on January 3rd. They need to be ready to go, with no unpleasant surprises if possible, because he’s literally taking over a country that’s in a blazing emergency! It’s worse than what Obama faced when he first took office.

  74. 74.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    July 29, 2020 at 8:42 am

    The resident with COVID here seems to be doing ok. She’s still home and has been sitting out on her patio. The twenty or so people who had contact with her are done with their quarantine. Maybe we’ve escaped this time.

  75. 75.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 8:42 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Incubi were thought to be demons who had sexual relations with women, sometimes producing a child by the woman. Succubi, by contrast, were demons thought to have intercourse with men. Debate about these demons began early in the Christian tradition. St. Augustine touched on the topic in De Civitate Dei (“The City of God”); there were too many alleged attacks by incubi to deny them. He stated “There is also a very general rumor. Many have verified it by their own experience and trustworthy persons have corroborated the experience others told, that sylvans and fauns, commonly called incubi, have often made wicked assaults upon women.”[

    The endometriosis is a modern twist.

  76. 76.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    July 29, 2020 at 8:44 am

    @Martin:

    Facebook has a plethora of medical experts that managed to pass high school biology with a C- and some treatable chlamydia, so we’ll all be fine for medical treatment.

  77. 77.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    July 29, 2020 at 8:44 am

    @Baud: Organized (ie patriarchal) religion is awfully obsessed with sex.

  78. 78.

    Just One More Canuck

    July 29, 2020 at 8:45 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: ooh ooh, pick me! Pick me!

  79. 79.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 8:46 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Control the sex, control the person.

  80. 80.

    oatler.

    July 29, 2020 at 8:48 am

    From Joe My God:

    “The Truth will set us all Free! But some people dont want to hear the truth. Especially the people in power who stand to make money from this long drawn out search for a vaccine. Which has been proven and has been available for months. They would rather let fear control them and let the rich get richer and the poor and sick get sicker. This woman is my hero. Thank you Stella Immanuel. – Madonna, posting last night to Instagram.

  81. 81.

    different-church-lady

    July 29, 2020 at 8:48 am

    @Baud: They’re really not going to like viral overreach.

  82. 82.

    different-church-lady

    July 29, 2020 at 8:50 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: C’mon, people have know that for thousands of years.

  83. 83.

    Betty Cracker

    July 29, 2020 at 8:51 am

    @zhena gogolia: The LP people are so refreshingly forthright. They don’t mince words! Collins is a “fraud” and a “Trump stooge.” It’s true, and they just say it.

  84. 84.

    narya

    July 29, 2020 at 8:52 am

    Ventured out last evening–local CSB (community-supported brewery) had a members-only event at their new space. HUGE space (very high ceilings, too), widely spaced tables indoors, some tables outdoors, limited size groups (everyone had to pick a time slot so they could clean between groups), masked when not at your seat. Beer was free. Was there about an hour, and felt reasonably safe. The owners are extremely careful (fun fact: I went to college w/ two of them), and the patrons were as well; one owner said that several folks had said this was the first time they had ventured out. Not ready to do it often, but was practically the first time I’ve been out since March (exceptions: morning run, grocery store, farmers’ market, small gathering on a back porch last week that actually felt more uncomfortable than last night, plus workers in part of my house). Still overwhelmed today, but a little better able to feel grateful, too, that I’ve been able to isolate this much.

  85. 85.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    July 29, 2020 at 8:52 am

    @Betty Cracker: One would think defeat would bring some self examination but here in California the GOP has been non existent in state politics for almost a generation and no change.

  86. 86.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 8:53 am

    @different-church-lady: As long as it’s a free market virus and not a government virus, they’ll be happy.

  87. 87.

    Anya

    July 29, 2020 at 8:54 am

    @Baud:  . I’ve followed him on twitter for years, even before Trump, and I’ve always found Stuart Stevens very reasonable.

  88. 88.

    Falling Diphthong

    July 29, 2020 at 8:55 am

    So Republicans are in open revolt against their own bill, and we have sex demons. (I did not see the sex demons coming. Did anyone out there have “sex demons: last week of July” on their bracket?)

    I’m afraid to see what August manages.

  89. 89.

    Anya

    July 29, 2020 at 8:56 am

    @John S.: She was magnificent. Not loving the whole “kill black bodies” thing but she put that smug criminal in his place.

  90. 90.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    July 29, 2020 at 8:56 am

    @different-church-lady: I did not realize the whack-a-doodles were so common.

  91. 91.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 8:58 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Just don’t have sex with a whack-a-doodle in your dreams or you might catch an Ovarian cyst.

  92. 92.

    Kay

    July 29, 2020 at 9:01 am

    I do think Michigan is gone for Trump- Michigan was always a fluke for him anyway- but some of the other contested states will tighten because some of the Trump 16-ers will come home.

  93. 93.

    Cameron

    July 29, 2020 at 9:07 am

    @rikyrah: Maybe they meant he’s less orange?

  94. 94.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    July 29, 2020 at 9:13 am

    @Baud: Lot older than that, Sumerians talk about the same thing. So good to see someone with a Phd subscribes to the finest medical thinking of the Bronze Age.

  95. 95.

    different-church-lady

    July 29, 2020 at 9:13 am

    @Falling Diphthong:

    I’m afraid to see what August manages.

    Abstinence demons?

  96. 96.

    Kay

    July 29, 2020 at 9:13 am

    Matt Negrin, HOST OF HARDBALL AT 7PM ON MSNBC
    @MattNegrin
    ·36m
    Two weeks after Tapper accurately described Peter Navarro as leading a smear campaign against Fauci to discredit the “guy trying to save our lives,”
    @CNN
    invites Navarro on TV to lie about coronavirus and hydroxychloroquine again
    Giving liars a platform is the business model

  97. 97.

    Chris Johnson

    July 29, 2020 at 9:15 am

    from way downthread on an Adam post, but just as relevant here…

     

    So yeah, bear in mind please that we’re many years into a really intense war with Russia waged one-sidedly on the internets. This is not an abstraction, it’s extremely tangible and has very specific aims towards the goal of killing us as much as possible, which is more or less the idea of war on America so points for consistency I guess. Can’t blame them after we stuck them with Yeltsin… no, wait, yes I can, because that shit’s got to stop and not just escalate.

    What you need to know about this, in the event that you agree that Russia has gone to war against us by informational/propaganda means, is that the influence and propaganda operation has two obvious goals.

    One, to get both the government and the people totally fascist (this, while also propping up the leftist radicals and doing everything possible to MAKE ’em violent: remember, Russia does not want Trump to WIN or RULE or anything. Remember they want both sides to lose)

    Two, to claim all manner of bullshit for the purposes of scaring and radicalizing everyone. So, to the rightwingers they have a whole line of crap fed through QAnon about how everyone on the left are baby-eating savages, blah blah you know the drill.

    For US, they have a line of crap about how QAnon is a huge popular uprising taking over the nation, and they’re trying very hard to get as many Republicans throwing themselves on that sword as possible. Remember they do NOT want to protect the Republicans. They’re meant to be martyrs, they’re meant to fail. Ideally they’re meant to draw out wild reactions that can further be propagandized.

    Stay calm and carry on. Fight the institutions that are being twisted, and work towards shoring up the institutions that aren’t failing. If you conclude that everything is fucked because QAnon will rule for 1000 years you’re doing Putin’s work for him and you’re also ignoring the fact that Putin would literally turn around and begin sabotaging QAnon in turn the instant they started to show actual power. Russia does not suddenly love the American right.

     

    I would add that of course the Republicans in Congress are flailing and in desperate shape. They are not meant by Russia to be a ruling, powerful fascist party. They are meant to fall and it shows. They’re meant to be destroyed while ‘heroically failing to impose fascist rule’ as we’d see it, but they cannot be allowed to actually do that because it would be political power and Russia never wanted them to actually be powerful.

  98. 98.

    Kay

    July 29, 2020 at 9:16 am

    Giving liars a platform works for both ends of the business model because after allowing the liar to promote the lie the CNN anchor now has his role laid out- he corrects the lie. Over and over and over for the last 4 years, every day.

    Both people play their roles.

  99. 99.

    germy

    July 29, 2020 at 9:17 am

    I had someone tell me in all seriousness that he had been attacked by a demon in his sleep.  This is a college educated man, considered intelligent by his associates.

    He explained to me what happened:  He awoke from a slumber, and found himself unable to move.  He felt the presence of a …  being … in the room, moving closer to him with malevolent intent.

    (For some reason, people tend to share these sort of things with me. There’s something in my face or my personality that gives people the impression I welcome these stories.)

    Anyway, I told him “You were sleeping on your back, right?”

    “Yes!”

    I told him “It sounds to me like a common sleep disorder.  Perhaps you had an episode of sleep apnea which awakened you partially, but not enough to overcome the normal paralysis we all experience while dreaming, that prevents us from flailing around in our sleep.”  I told him he might benefit from a professional sleep study and a c-pap machine.

    He nodded, but I’m not sure he believed me.

  100. 100.

    Jinchi

    July 29, 2020 at 9:20 am

    @Baud: Michigan Threatens to Slip From Trump …

    Odd phrasing in that headline. Trump barely squeaked by in Michigan in 2016 and Biden has been 5-10 points ahead of him there for at least the last year.

  101. 101.

    germy

    July 29, 2020 at 9:21 am

    I’ll see you in my dreams
    And then I’ll hold you in my dreams
    Someone took you right out of my arms
    Still I feel the thrill of your charms

    Lips that once were mine
    Tender eyes that shine
    They will light my way tonight
    I’ll see you in my dreams

  102. 102.

    different-church-lady

    July 29, 2020 at 9:24 am

    @Baud: If Machina’s law holds, then they’ll be just fine with it as long as more black and brown people are dying than them.

  103. 103.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    July 29, 2020 at 9:30 am

    @Just One More Canuck:  You have to promise to allow him a few minutes to justify his life, and then to do some body/leg blows first, just for the screams.

  104. 104.

    arrieve

    July 29, 2020 at 9:30 am

    @NotMax: Wow. Thankfully I saw your comment in time to catch the movie. Although, I think having watched the trailer I no longer need to see the actual movie. Thinko the robot? They spent a lot of time coming up with that name.

  105. 105.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 9:35 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: 

    They NEVER INTENDED TO PUT UP A BILL.

    NEVER EVER.

    I don’t know why this isn’t pointed out in every story about this.

    They had 2 months and had NOTHING, cause they planned on NOTHING.

  106. 106.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 9:36 am

    Vance Ginn says Texas schools should reopen since coronavirus killing Hispanic, elderly https://t.co/nLQKweVfR3
    — Joshua Holland  (@JoshuaHol) July 29, 2020

  107. 107.

    Betty Cracker

    July 29, 2020 at 9:36 am

    @Kay: I’m trying to brace myself for the inevitable tightening, but it’s hard! As horrified as I was on election night 2016, at least I could tell myself that some percentage of the 62 million who voted for Trump were taking a flyer on a sexist, racist reality show creep as a sick joke — a burn-it-all down because both suck gesture. That was stupid and irresponsible, of course, but their active malevolence was an open question, at least with some portion of Trump voters.

    Well, not this time. The Trump administration has been just as horrible as we imagined — the corruption, the incompetence, the divisiveness, the racism/sexism/xenophobia, the kowtowing to authoritarians, the sabotage of institutions, loss of international prestige, etc. And yet somewhere around 40% still express approval FOR THAT when pollsters call. This election will sort out what that means, and I’ll admit, I am afraid of the answer.

  108. 108.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 9:40 am

    No rent assistance.
    No food assistance.
    No money to help state & local governments keep essential workers on payroll.
    But $1.7 billion handout to rebuild the FBI building & help increase the property value of the nearby Trump hotel. https://t.co/0pfSxwl6or

    — Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) July 28, 2020

  109. 109.

    PsiFighter37

    July 29, 2020 at 9:41 am

    @Betty Cracker: No way he wins MI and PA again…the GOP got demolished statewide in 2018.

    Wisconsin will be close, but I am heartened by Tammy Baldwin crushing her opponent in 2018. I have to think that Biden will be fine here as well…but take nothing for granted. I am heartened to see that it seems like the Biden campaign is choosing to go on offense in some states (e.g. Georgia). More the merrier, and if we can somehow steal both of Georgia’s Senate seats, that would be gravy.

  110. 110.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 9:41 am

    @Kay:

     

    I have to ask…

    as deaths increase and the economy gets worse…

    what reasons will they give themselves to ‘ come back home’.

  111. 111.

    The Thin Black Duke

    July 29, 2020 at 9:41 am

    @Betty Cracker: I already know what the answer is, but I can live with that because there is still more of us than there is of them and we can put the brakes on these assholes once we make a commitment to it.

  112. 112.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 9:43 am

    @Kay:

     

    This is why I know they are distraught over not having found the  BUT HER EMAIL for 2020.

     

    They were desperate to find it.

     

    They want their horserace.

  113. 113.

    germy

    July 29, 2020 at 9:44 am

    NYC is taking after Portland – a trans femme protestor was pulled into an unmarked van at the Abolition Park protest – this was at 2nd Ave and 25th Street pic.twitter.com/1PDhSYuK9h— michelle lh࿊࿊q (@MichelleLhooq) July 28, 2020

  114. 114.

    germy

    July 29, 2020 at 9:48 am

    Israeli artist takes aim at Netanyahu with life-size statue
    The 11-yard long table is filled with juicy fruit, wads of cash, empty bottles of liquor and a cigar — a jab at the gifts Netanyahu is accused of improperly accepting.

  115. 115.

    Ken

    July 29, 2020 at 9:49 am

    @Falling Diphthong: I’m afraid to see what August manages.

    Check the 10-day forecast.

  116. 116.

    taumaturgo

    July 29, 2020 at 10:00 am

    @cmorenc: This is all about conspiracy theories. The GOP ate them up in 2016 election cycle up to today. Will they get away with it again?

  117. 117.

    Uncle Cosmo

    July 29, 2020 at 10:02 am

    @Soprano2: Biden needs to be vetting staff for positions now.

    How do you know his team isn’t doing exactly that?

    I strongly disagree that he needs to announce Cabinet nominees. Anyone he announces for any role in a Biden administration will immediately draw furious attacks from the Trumpistas – they can’t lay a glove on him, so they’ll beat up any- & everyone else. (Watch the fury next week when he announces his running mate.)

    He should announce key appointees only once he is certified as the winner of the 2020 Presidential election. Any earlier & the Thugs will try to use the announcements as an excuse to raise hell with the intent of keeping Trumplethinskin in power.

  118. 118.

    Betty Cracker

    July 29, 2020 at 10:02 am

    @The Thin Black Duke: I know there are more of us too, but it feels like we have to not only win but curb-stomp the bastards to make any headway at all. And for a shitload of reason, I’m not confident we can do that, and we’re running out of time. Hence the dread. But there’s nothing to be done but work toward that goal.

  119. 119.

    AnotherBruce

    July 29, 2020 at 10:04 am

    That’s my congresswoman, and I love her.

  120. 120.

    Matt McIrvin

    July 29, 2020 at 10:06 am

    @germy: Oh yeah, I used to get that a LOT more before I got my CPAP. Classic sleep paralysis incident.

  121. 121.

    The Thin Black Duke

    July 29, 2020 at 10:07 am

    @Betty Cracker: I saw how Pramila Jayapal disemboweled that punk Barr the other day. I think our side is tough enough.

  122. 122.

    cmorenc

    July 29, 2020 at 10:09 am

    @Baud:

    Agreed, although I’m disappointed about not having the opportunity to serve (in a Biden Admin).

    I have heard through reliable sources that you will shortly be contacted by the Biden campaign about a Cabinet post as Secretary of Baud, a position for which they understand you are well-qualified and ready to hit the floor running on day 1.

  123. 123.

    geg6

    July 29, 2020 at 10:11 am

    @Kay:

    I’m not sure that’s going to happen here in PA.  Will my county go for Trump?  Almost certainly, based on the people around me.  But Pittsburgh and Philly and their close suburbs are out of reach for him.  And there are places like Lackawanna County that will almost certainly come out strong for Biden.  Lackawanna and its major city of Scranton are pretty much all white (I think about 85% white) and non-college working class and retirees.  It’s been a Dem bastion for eons but Trump almost won it in 2016.  Anecdotal evidence is showing a big swing back to the Dems this year, mostly due to COVID.

  124. 124.

    Leto

    July 29, 2020 at 10:12 am

    Open thread? The Michelle Obama Podcast is out and her first chat is with Barack. She’s also discussing our (communal sense) relationship to our community and country.

  125. 125.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 10:12 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    but it feels like we have to not only win but curb-stomp the bastards to make any headway at all

    I think the curb-stomp, while welcome, is less important than winning over time, instead of giving the Dems only two years to fix everything.  For some reason, in politics, a lot of our people act like CEOs who think only about the next quarter instead of the long-term.

  126. 126.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 10:12 am

    @Leto: What a get!

  127. 127.

    Baud

    July 29, 2020 at 10:15 am

    @cmorenc: Already happened.  Biden decided to go with Pete Buttigieg. He said it was too important a job, and he wanted it done right.

  128. 128.

    Kathleen

    July 29, 2020 at 10:19 am

    @Baud: It’s early. McConnell is blaming Pelosi for people losing health care during Covid crisis so the bleat goes on.

  129. 129.

    Leto

    July 29, 2020 at 10:20 am

    @geg6:

    But Pittsburgh and Philly and their close suburbs are out of reach for him.

    Montgomery County checking in. This tracks how this county has voted for the past few decades on the state/national level. Reading up a bit more, seems that Dems have put a bigger focus on the local levels and have been picking up seats since 2008. Even though Trumpov won the state, MontCo was one of the few places that went for HRC by greater numbers than Obama.

    I’m hopeful (dare I use that?) that we can keep the momentum going from 2018.

  130. 130.

    Bobby Thomson

    July 29, 2020 at 10:21 am

    @Baud:  “Slip?”

    I mean, I suppose it was close enough last time that switching a few votes was sufficient, but it was never his.

  131. 131.

    Kay

    July 29, 2020 at 10:21 am

    @rikyrah:

    It’s just that it always seems to revert – all voters tend to go back to the Party they favor as it gets closer. We saw that in Obama’s re-elect in Ohio. The squishy Democrats who were “dissatisfied” so created all the drama with polling ended up back at Obama. Republicans here were really confident Romney would win- the standard answer from even moderate Republicans was “Obama is toast”. When they don’t know what to do they go back to what they’ve already done. Democrats did that in ’12 and Republicans might do it in ’20.

  132. 132.

    Captain C

    July 29, 2020 at 10:24 am

    @Baud:

    Turns out “I will kill you” isn’t as effective a reelection message as one would have initially thought.

    It doesn’t shift over easily from “I will kill everyone you don’t like.” Imagine that.

  133. 133.

    Ken

    July 29, 2020 at 10:25 am

    @Jinchi:

    Michigan Threatens to Slip From Trump …

    Odd phrasing in that headline

    It’s a report from a media organization, that the Trump campaign is not buying media ads. There may be a sliver of self-interest there.

    To me, the real question is why they’re cutting back on ads. Do they think they’ve got the state in the bag, or conversely that it’s a no-hoper at this point? Or – and I’m leaning toward this – does it mean there will be more money in the campaign fund in November, and Trump thinks he’ll be able to walk off with it?

  134. 134.

    trnc

    July 29, 2020 at 10:25 am

    @cmorenc:

    Shorter version: the virus is NOT our fault, and it’s the Dems and fake health establishment authorities who are prolonging the pandemic and economic distress, not us – we could fix both much more quickly but for their interference.

    And perish the thought on getting answers from them for how S Korea, Japan and other countries much closer to China than we are managed to tamp down the virus without any of the quack medications push by DT and the QAnon Qrew.

  135. 135.

    zhena gogolia

    July 29, 2020 at 10:25 am

    @NotMax:

    James Mason’s wife appearing in this flick is the greatest thing that happened to him since he made that Thunderbird commercial.

  136. 136.

    dmsilev

    July 29, 2020 at 10:26 am

    Send Thoughts and Prayers(tm):

    Rep. Gohmert Tests Positive For COVID After Perennially Refusing To Wear Mask

  137. 137.

    Frank Wilhoit

    July 29, 2020 at 10:26 am

    @rikyrah: The same and only reason since 1979: to keep the Democrats out.

    Seriously, everybody needs to stop with the old wrong framing.

    No one votes FOR a candidate.  No one even votes FOR a party, or a platform, or a pseudophilosophy.

    Everyone votes AGAINST a party.

    The number of people who will always vote against the Republican Party and the number of people who will always vote against what they so proudly call the “Democrat Party” are so nearly equal that the only, very crude and wobbly, measuring device that we have, viz. first-past-the-post elections, cannot reliably distinguish between them.  Elections are decided by who sits home.  (The semantics of sitting home is declaring that you are okay with any possible outcome; every vote not cast is cast for the winner, whoever it turns out to be.)

  138. 138.

    Chyron HR

    July 29, 2020 at 10:27 am

    @cmorenc:

    So the plan is to deliberately make the pandemic worse and hope that people blame someone else? I don’t mean to sound like a liberal elitist, but isn’t that kind of a bad plan?

  139. 139.

    Leto

    July 29, 2020 at 10:28 am

    @Baud: Again, listening to adults just sit and talk is not what I thought I/we would need in 2020, but here we are it’s just really nice

    Edit: there’s things that they’re discussing in the first fifteen minutes, stuff their parents taught them/things that they envisioned for themselves, that feel like their parents were my parents. But it also sounds like conversations I’ve had with so many other people. Basically there’s more that unite us/we have in common, than separate us.

  140. 140.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 29, 2020 at 10:29 am

    @dmsilev: Gohmert was scheduled to travel to Texas later in the day with President Donald Trump, who until recently has also flouted health experts’ recommendations on wearing facial coverings.

    /thinks un-christian thoughts about how close… bites virtual tongue…/

    I wonder if the test was part of a pre-Air Force 1 screening

  141. 141.

    Kathleen

    July 29, 2020 at 10:30 am

    @SFAW: She’ s of the “Both Trump and GOP need to be obliterated” school. She lays it down! I love her.

  142. 142.

    Kay

    July 29, 2020 at 10:31 am

    @rikyrah:

    Maine Senate Sara Gideon (D) 44% Susan Collins (R) 39%

    This is what I look for. The difference between 100 and 83. Too big. These are the people who drive me crazy. I swear to God predicting what this sort of voter will do is a fool’s game. They’re squirrely. I have no idea how they manage to decide what to have for lunch let alone who to vote for.
    I want the blank space between 83 and 100 filled in, because you cannot trust these people :)

  143. 143.

    Jinchi

    July 29, 2020 at 10:31 am

    @Betty Cracker: I’m trying to brace myself for the inevitable tightening,

    I don’t expect the race to tighten. If anything, the polls may get worse for Trump as the pandemic continues to rage, schools remain shuttered, millions remain unemployed, and he continues to lurch from one scandal to the next.

    Polls this year have been remarkably consistent. Unlike 2016, when the average would regularly swing by 8 points over the course of a week.  At his best, Trump has never been within 4 points of Biden, more often he’s been behind by 10.  People are done with Trump.

  144. 144.

    Ken

    July 29, 2020 at 10:32 am

    @rikyrah: What about those on active duty who catch it?

    Well, I hope there will be some changes from the current policy, which is to ignore it and ship them to an island base. Or ignore it, and cashier their commanding officers if they complain.

  145. 145.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    July 29, 2020 at 10:32 am

    @dmsilev:

    Who needs v!agra when there’s a story like that? I just hope he drowns in his own lung fluid, alone.

  146. 146.

    Kay

    July 29, 2020 at 10:34 am

    @rikyrah:

    “I” shouldn’t stand for Independent, it should stand for Indecisive and when you talk to them you’re just shocked and horrified at what they base their decisions on- that’s IF they tell the truth.

  147. 147.

    zhena gogolia

    July 29, 2020 at 10:34 am

    @NotMax:

    This film has a feminist message.

  148. 148.

    The Thin Black Duke

    July 29, 2020 at 10:36 am

    @Chyron HR: Republicans don’t have a plan ‘b’.

  149. 149.

    rp

    July 29, 2020 at 10:36 am

    @Kay:  I agree with you about the undecided voters, but 39% for an incumbent Senator…just wow.

  150. 150.

    trnc

    July 29, 2020 at 10:36 am

    @zhena gogolia: Lincoln Project on Susan Collins, a thing of beauty, so concise and powerful:

    Cool! I see some of the twitter responses saying she’ll be very disappointed, concerned, etc, but that isn’t quite right. “Concern Theater” is for Russian bounties on US soldiers or brown kids being permanently separated from their families. She’s probably livid over this ad.

  151. 151.

    Jinchi

    July 29, 2020 at 10:37 am

    @Kay: I want the blank space between 83 and 100 filled in, because you cannot trust these people

    The blank space may never be filled in. A lot of those 17% may decide not to vote at all.

  152. 152.

    Matt McIrvin

    July 29, 2020 at 10:37 am

    They’re not even unified enough to give out free money, let alone cancel elections.

    But they don’t want to give out free money.

  153. 153.

    germy

    July 29, 2020 at 10:38 am

    @dmsilev:

    Pray for everyone he infected.

  154. 154.

    dnfree

    July 29, 2020 at 10:39 am

    @arrieve: when I was a young child in the 1950s I saw a terrifying movie in which the name of the robot was TOBOR. Get it?  Robot spelled backwards!  TOBOR rescued a little boy from the bad guys at the last moment. I wonder if that one will ever show up on TCM.

  155. 155.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 29, 2020 at 10:40 am

    Herbert Hoover got nearly 40% of the vote in 1932.  Just something to keep in mind.

  156. 156.

    Matt McIrvin

    July 29, 2020 at 10:41 am

    @Chyron HR:

    So the plan is to deliberately make the pandemic worse and hope that people blame someone else?

    Deliberately make the pandemic worse and hope it kills more Democratic voters than Republican voters, so they win.

  157. 157.

    japa21

    July 29, 2020 at 10:41 am

    @dmsilev: Did he cough on Barr yesterday? Or even breathe on him?  One can only hope.

  158. 158.

    Jinchi

    July 29, 2020 at 10:44 am

    @dmsilev: “If I get it, you’ll never see me without a mask,” the GOP lawmaker told CNN.

    I’d rather not see him at all. The idea that he’d be going out (masked or not) after testing positive is just idiotic.

    Stay home Congressman.

  159. 159.

    germy

    July 29, 2020 at 10:48 am

    @japa21:

    They’re careful when it comes to themselves:

    Barr exchanges a wrist-bump with Republican @RepMikeJohnson as he leaves the hearing room pic.twitter.com/9BicAgWGEQ— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 28, 2020

  160. 160.

    Betty Cracker

    July 29, 2020 at 10:48 am

    @Jinchi: I believe people are done with Trump too, but 2016 PTSD is going to have me on pins and needles until the outcome is certified, I guess. I needed to hear what you said, so thanks.

  161. 161.

    Kay

    July 29, 2020 at 10:49 am

    @rp:

    I read yesterday that McConnell stripped a financial reg she’s proud of under the guise of his “stimulus” bill which apparently means he considers her as defeated and no longer needing to be accommodated.

    So that’s positive! :)

  162. 162.

    Ruckus

    July 29, 2020 at 10:52 am

    @rikyrah: 
    Let’s be honest here.
    Can anyone tell me when, in the last 100 yrs, that the republican party has been for anything positive?
    I’ll wait.
    Positive is not who they are and it’s gotten worse in the last 50-60 yrs. They are the minus sign of American politics, the accountant who knows the only way to be profitable is to cut wages and employees, the doctor who only knows the amputation saw, the thief who robs churches because look at all the nice furniture.

  163. 163.

    germy

    July 29, 2020 at 10:53 am

    Gohmert: And I do want to advise our media friends before they wrote stories about how we didn’t wear masks and we possibly didn’t socially distance adequately, that you saw to it that we had tests and nobody in here has the Coronavirus unless it’s somebody in the media. pic.twitter.com/SbnjtGboSi— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) May 8, 2020

  164. 164.

    Jinchi

    July 29, 2020 at 10:53 am

    @Kay: It’s just that it always seems to revert – all voters tend to go back to the Party they favor as it gets closer.

    Not in times of crisis.

    Look at the polls for McCain vs Obama in 2008 or Reagan vs Carter in 1980. When people lose confidence in the president and his party, they’re gone.

  165. 165.

    chopper

    July 29, 2020 at 10:55 am

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    hell, republicans don’t have a plan A. outside of ‘steal everything that isn’t welded in place’, which is more of an ethos.

  166. 166.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 29, 2020 at 10:57 am

    @Kay: I like to imagine Collins getting that memo and thinking, “But… I’ve always done what Mitch wanted, and now… he’s throwing me overboard?”  Face-eating-leopard party, et cetera…

  167. 167.

    OzarkHillbilly

    July 29, 2020 at 10:57 am

    @Kay: I have no idea how they manage to decide what to have for lunch let alone who to vote for.

    They have the same thing for lunch every day: Bologna with miracle whip on white bread and a bag of lays potato chips. A couple chocolate chip cookies too.

  168. 168.

    Kay

    July 29, 2020 at 10:58 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    OTOH Trump giving up on Michigan is good news because the set of states that includes Michigan have some similarities in terms of voters and the conventional wisdom is if one moves the others move too.

    So if he’s even in Ohio (and he is) you can work backward to PA and MI and guess that he’s back further than 5 there, because they’re bluer than Ohio in a predictable way. That’s what Ohio political people do anyway. They look at the whole set. So Trump up that far in OH in ’16 should have been a flashing light for Clinton in PA and MI.

  169. 169.

    Jeffro

    July 29, 2020 at 10:59 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I’m totally down with that…can I use my own bat?

  170. 170.

    Jeffro

    July 29, 2020 at 11:04 am

    @Kay: Pennsylvania appears to be gone, too.  Wisconsin, who knows but I have been seeing pretty regular polling number where Biden’s up by 8-10 points.

    What’s trumpov to do – try and flip California or New York, at this point?

  171. 171.

    Leto

    July 29, 2020 at 11:06 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:  But what does Collin’s brow think of it? We need The Brow’s reaction.

  172. 172.

    Jeffro

    July 29, 2020 at 11:08 am

    @rikyrah: true, and kind of horrifying.

    The upside, if there is one, is that in so many states, Biden is up over the 50% mark.  Trumpov’s people can ‘come home’ all they want, but at this point, they will have to figure out how to convince people (mostly blessed ‘independents’) who have made up their minds to vote for Biden/vote out the incumbent/save themselves to switch to trumpov.

    What’s he offering?  Any changes in tone’ last a couple of hours at most.

    He’s sunk and the smarter reptiles in the GOP high command know it.

  173. 173.

    Jeffro

    July 29, 2020 at 11:09 am

    @Uncle Cosmo: I agree with “vet them and have them ready, but don’t announce them until absolutely necessary”.

    But whew, does Uncle Joe need to have wave after wave of appointees ready and raring to go…

  174. 174.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    July 29, 2020 at 11:10 am

    @Ruckus: Can anyone tell me when, in the last 100 yrs, that the republican party has been for anything positive?
    I’ll wait.

    Teddy Roosevelt! Oh wait, that’s more than 100 years. Starting in 1920, we have Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover…

    Hmm. Well, maybe Calvin Coolidge wasn’t 100% awful?

    I never realized what a lock the Republicans had on the White House in the early 20th century till the Great Depression and FDR. We really are kind of repeating history here 100 years later.

  175. 175.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 29, 2020 at 11:12 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Why are you including Wilson in your list of Republicans?

  176. 176.

    rp

    July 29, 2020 at 11:15 am

    @Ruckus: Eisenhower and the interstate highway system? That’s all I got.

  177. 177.

    JPL

    July 29, 2020 at 11:18 am

    @dmsilev: sad

  178. 178.

    trollhattan

    July 29, 2020 at 11:21 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Yup. Once the dog steals the leg of lamb off the dining table you never take your eye off that dog at dinnertime.

  179. 179.

    Ken

    July 29, 2020 at 11:21 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Don’t forget Lincoln. Many people were not aware that Lincoln was a Republican, until Trump announced it.

  180. 180.

    RobertB

    July 29, 2020 at 11:24 am

    @rp: Nixon with the EPA and normalizing relationships with China.  And now I just threw up a little bit, and my papaw will haunt me.

  181. 181.

    germy

    July 29, 2020 at 11:30 am

    Branson anti-mask advocates now have an unofficial celebrity spokesperson.

    Comedian Yakov Smirnoff took the podium at Tuesday’s Branson Board of Aldermen meeting to speak against a possible masking ordinance that would have required people 12 and older to wear face coverings in most indoor public settings to slow the spread of COVID-19.

    Smirnoff, a native of the Soviet Union who often harks back to his upbringing as part of his comedy routine, took a more serious tone Tuesday when he said adopting a masking ordinance would make Branson more like Russia.

    “I’m hoping that you can make this an island of freedom and choice in the sea of hatred and fear,” Smirnoff said to thunderous applause from others who attended the meeting.

    Only the best celebrities.

  182. 182.

    different-church-lady

    July 29, 2020 at 11:31 am

    @Matt McIrvin: It’s more like this:

    1) Make pandemic worse

    2) ?

    3) Win re-election!

  183. 183.

    different-church-lady

    July 29, 2020 at 11:33 am

    @germy: In Russa, virus kill you.

  184. 184.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    July 29, 2020 at 11:35 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Ah, OK. Thanks for the correction. He was the only one I wrote down without googling to make sure of the party.

  185. 185.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 29, 2020 at 11:42 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Think of it this way, he may have been a virulent racist, but would a Republican have worked so hard to establish something like the League of Nations?

  186. 186.

    Lyrebird

    July 29, 2020 at 11:54 am

    About that state and local aid… can we please get more people shouting about how McConnell is defunding the police around the country?  Beinart said it at the Atlantic,

    there was an article from the Tax Policy Center

    along the same lines, and our county might see a 20% reduction in police, WITHOUT any complementary increase in social services.

     

    I wish we could get wall-to-wall Biden and Demings on how to train and pay police officers better in contrast with this backstabbing mess from the Turtle.

  187. 187.

    catclub

    July 29, 2020 at 11:56 am

    @Ken: Call-outs to Rabbi Hillel. I like.

     

    I always think the

    ‘all else is commentary’ is a reference to that rightwing Jewish magazine.

  188. 188.

    Just One More Canuck

    July 29, 2020 at 11:59 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Those are agreeable terms –  I’ll lay it all out in my engagement letter

  189. 189.

    Captain C

    July 29, 2020 at 12:08 pm

    @Jeffro:

    What’s trumpov to do – try and flip California or New York, at this point?

    Hope someone with no extradition treaty with the U.S. will take him in.

  190. 190.

    J R in WV

    July 29, 2020 at 12:21 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Not even smart enough to just put Nancy Smash’s bill on the floor, tell the vulnerable Senators to vote for it, claim victory under the scam of Bi-Partisanship.

    It would be that easy.

    Yes, it would be a Democratic bill, but it would be positive for the GOP.

    They could even change the name of the bill to the Donald J Trump Rescue Bill, or the McConnell-Trump Recovery Bill, leave everything else the same… but nope!

    Nope!

    Can’t pay people for staying home instead of working, even in the Trump Plague Times. Especially in the Trump Plague Times!!!

  191. 191.

    J R in WV

    July 29, 2020 at 12:25 pm

    deleted

  192. 192.

    Brooklyn Dodger

    July 29, 2020 at 12:36 pm

    @NotMax: A gentle au contraire, to you dear BJer. I mean, Albert ZUGSMITH’S Sex Kittens Go to College? Why have I not heard of this before? I think TMC is doing their job. Love it and thanks for the, er, pro-tip.

  193. 193.

    J R in WV

    July 29, 2020 at 12:55 pm

    @Ruckus:

    Can anyone tell me when, in the last 100 yrs, that the republican party has been for anything positive?

    Nope. They weren’t even in favor of defending the free world from fascists during WW II until Pearl Harbor was attacked.

    Then they weren’t in favor of the war, they just stopped being against it in public. Lest they get arrested for hindering the war effort and go to one of those remote “camps” where they wouldn’t be able to take contributions from big companies any more.

  194. 194.

    catclub

    July 29, 2020 at 1:00 pm

    @J R in WV: The interstate system?

  195. 195.

    Connor

    July 29, 2020 at 1:03 pm

    @SFAW:

    Somewhere in the great beyond, Cyril Kornbluth is either weeping, or laughing uproariously.

    The Marching Morons, indeed…

  196. 196.

    Subsole

    July 29, 2020 at 1:18 pm

    @rikyrah:

    I have family parroting the leftybros’ Tara Reid story as their excuse not to vote, so, y’know. Thanks for that, you useless socialist assholes.

     

    @J R in WV:  Incubi if you want a male. Succubi if you prefer female.

  197. 197.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 1:19 pm

    @dmsilev:

     

    womp womp

     

    did he vote against the first COVID bill?

  198. 198.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2020 at 1:20 pm

    @Kay:

     

    This is what I look for. The difference between 100 and 83. Too big. These are the people who drive me crazy.

     

    Ok, I understand you on this. I see your point.

  199. 199.

    Anya

    July 29, 2020 at 1:27 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Usually I think the Lincoln Project’s ads are ineffective outside of getting under Trump’s skin (which super easy) and giving those of us who hate him some cathartic release. This ad though is very effective. And Susan Collins’ team seems to be ineffectual. They ran an ad that seems to be like a positive ad for her opponent. Just shows how removed Collins and her team are from her constituent.

  200. 200.

    Uncle Cosmo

    July 29, 2020 at 2:52 pm

    @dnfree: In Heinlein’s 1955 juvenile Tunnel In The Sky, the final exam for a HS Advanced Survival class is to stay alive on an unfamiliar planet (to which they are transported by means of a stargate) for 2-10 days**. Their instructor’s final written message to the class says (among other things) “watch out for stobor.”

    There’s some discussion among the kids as to what “stobor” are – once on the test planet a general consensus settles on a large lion-like predator on the – but no one ever notices that “stobor” spelled backwards is “robots” & appears to refer to anyone in the party who is acting robotically, c’est-à-dire inflexibly, & therefore likely to get themselves & anyone in their immediate neighborhood killed.

    ** Recovery fails & the kids are stranded on the test planet for more like 2 years. Otherwise there wouldn’t be a novel!

  201. 201.

    Miss Bianca

    July 29, 2020 at 3:14 pm

    @NotMax: Wow, I…I feel…strangely moved. To want to watch this movie. Whoa…maybe Mamie hypnotized me!

  202. 202.

    different-church-lady

    July 29, 2020 at 3:28 pm

    @rp: The question was name something positive…

  203. 203.

    oatler.

    July 29, 2020 at 7:56 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    “I’ll save you a rock, sweetheart.”

  204. 204.

    Ruckus

    July 29, 2020 at 8:48 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    It was sort of positive. It was much slower to drive any distance before the system was at least 75% finished. Problem was that it had no real plans for the future. Places growing rapidly, even for the time quickly outgrew the system and now several big cities have crunch issues and little ability to fix the worst problems because growth was not factored in at all.

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