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You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Biden For President / Joe Biden: Fit, Funny and Trolling FOX

Joe Biden: Fit, Funny and Trolling FOX

by TaMara|  August 8, 20208:16 pm| 179 Comments

This post is in: Biden For President

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This has made me smile all day.

EXPERT LEVEL TROLLING BY @JoeBiden.

Just three days ago, Sean Hannity told his propaganda program's audience that Joe's not well and now Fox News is going to spend the entire next news cycle looping him riding a bike and giving them his "BIG NEWS" scoop.pic.twitter.com/SeQX5IrzfM

— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) August 8, 2020

Open thread

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Reader Interactions

179Comments

  1. 1.

    maxcat07

    August 8, 2020 at 8:18 pm

    Poor feeble thing. The bike, I mean….

  2. 2.

    debbie

    August 8, 2020 at 8:21 pm

    Wouldn’t it be great if Joe’s golf swing was better than Trump’s?

  3. 3.

    mellowjohn

    August 8, 2020 at 8:21 pm

    I’d pay good money to see the president* try to ride a bike.

  4. 4.

    Mp

    August 8, 2020 at 8:24 pm

    @mellowjohn:  Honestly, if you’re looking fir something along those lines, I think Buster Keaton would be more entertaining.

  5. 5.

    dmsilev

    August 8, 2020 at 8:26 pm

    @mellowjohn: Look, he’s mastered, sort of, walking down ramps. What more do you want?

  6. 6.

    lahke

    August 8, 2020 at 8:28 pm

    Just want to tell the person who linked to the Bernadette Banner videos several posts back that I spent THE WHOLE DAY on them. And I don’t sew….

  7. 7.

    Amir Khalid

    August 8, 2020 at 8:30 pm

    I can’t believe Fox News actually put that in a chyron. Still, I suppose it could have been worse: “FOX NEWS REPORTER, A WHITE MALE, IS BIDEN’S RUNNING MATE”

  8. 8.

    Eljai

    August 8, 2020 at 8:31 pm

    @mellowjohn: The bicycle seat would be lost forever under all that lardage.

  9. 9.

    Mike R

    August 8, 2020 at 8:33 pm

    @Eljai: Would be better if hode without a seat

  10. 10.

    Amir Khalid

    August 8, 2020 at 8:34 pm

    @mellowjohn:

    It would have to be a custom bike wth a bigly strong frame and a bigly wide comfort saddle for Trump’s bigly wide posterior.

  11. 11.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    August 8, 2020 at 8:37 pm

    @mellowjohn:

    Here you go!

  12. 12.

    Nicole

    August 8, 2020 at 8:41 pm

    WHERE’S YOUR HELMET, JOE?
    (Approval for the consistent mask wearing, though)

  13. 13.

    Sab

    August 8, 2020 at 8:44 pm

    @lahke: Me too. I think it was Kattails who did it.

  14. 14.

    Punchy

    August 8, 2020 at 8:49 pm

    So…..pulling up something from a thread below, to clarify: the payroll tax elimination is just extra $, but as a loan?  And taxpayers have to pay off the entire “loan” in their next tax bill?  Is this correct?  If so…..holy effin shit is that going to be the ugliest of ugly surprises to the low-info popalation come April….

  15. 15.

    Mallard FIlmore

    August 8, 2020 at 8:57 pm

    @Nicole:

     

    WHERE’S YOUR HELMET, JOE?

    In the late 1970s a bicycle magazine had a little international news segment. A professional lady bicycle racer in Europe was slowly weaving around the post race crowd, on her bike, somehow tipped over, hit her head, and died.

    Always wear a helmet. It protects your head from impact, puncture, and abrasion.

  16. 16.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 8, 2020 at 8:59 pm

    @Nicole: Was just coming in to say that. Not just Joe, nobody else is wearing one either.

  17. 17.

    TaMara (HFG)

    August 8, 2020 at 9:02 pm

    @Nicole:

    @Gin & Tonic:

    I suspect it might be to avoid this from happening.

    https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2013/11/dukakis-and-the-tank-099119

  18. 18.

    M31

    August 8, 2020 at 9:03 pm

    I thought Joe was going to announce his ‘running mate’ — as in the person he goes running with, hahahaha.

    That’d be a challenge to Trump, our self-proclaimed fittest president in history, lol.

  19. 19.

    SFAW

    August 8, 2020 at 9:04 pm

    @mellowjohn:

    I’d pay good money to see the president* try to ride a bike.

    Not a bike, but close

  20. 20.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 9:04 pm

    @TaMara (HFG): I had the same thought.  Plus a bicycle helmet AND a mask at the same time is probably a bridge too far.

  21. 21.

    Another Scott

    August 8, 2020 at 9:07 pm

    @TaMara (HFG): +1

    That was exactly my thought as well.

    Though I suspect that the next time we see him on a bike, he’ll be wearing a helmet.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  22. 22.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 8, 2020 at 9:13 pm

    @Punchy: apparently these “executive orders” are basically press releases released with a lot of fanfare and blowhardery, as most of his are

    ETA: also, the hashtag “trumpcan’trideabike” was trending earlier, and you know he saw it

  23. 23.

    piratedan

    August 8, 2020 at 9:14 pm

    @WaterGirl: to be fair, if he was wearing a helmet, Faux would have claimed it wasn’t him… just saying, since they misrepresent everything else, I see no reason not to believe they would have done said same…  surprised that they didn’t claim that he caused a major traffic accident and that lives were lost with his frivolity…

  24. 24.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    August 8, 2020 at 9:15 pm

    @Punchy:  Yeppers.

  25. 25.

    James E Powell

    August 8, 2020 at 9:16 pm

    @Punchy: 

    holy effin shit is that going to be the ugliest of ugly surprises to the low-info popalation come April….

    If it happens in April, Biden will be blamed.

  26. 26.

    Kay

    August 8, 2020 at 9:16 pm

    Maggie Haberman
    @maggieNYT
    ·2h
    It’s one executive order and three memoranda. The one on evictions directs the government to find ways to help homeowner and renters but on its own does nothing to halt evictions.

    Guffaw. So typical of the low quality hires- “directing” someone else (undetermined!) to do the work they’re supposed to do.
    I think they fucked unemployment ALL up, too. I can’t make heads or tails of that mess. Why don’t they just golf and steal taxpayer money and let the grownups handle this?

  27. 27.

    Barbara

    August 8, 2020 at 9:22 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: EO as souped up press release has been his MO for a while. All the drug pricing stuff was just direction to agencies to keep moving forward with already in progress rules.

  28. 28.

    debbie

    August 8, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    @Barbara:

    Where’s the EO demanding Moderna not charge taxpayers for the COVID vaccine? //

  29. 29.

    Baud

    August 8, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    WHY IS JOE NOT ENCASED IN A PROTECTIVE BUBBLE???

    Seriously, though, Joe looks awesome.

  30. 30.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 8, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    I hope Pelosi and her lieutenants go all in on mocking Presdinent Dealz tomorrow. “We’re here trying to negotiate, but the Deal Artist dealt himself a little golf vacation…” Point out that he neither read nor wrote his little book

  31. 31.

    Baud

    August 8, 2020 at 9:26 pm

    @Kay:

    The one on evictions directs the government to find ways to help homeowner and renters 

    An EO directing homeowners and renters to vote for Democrats would be the most helpful thing he could do.

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 9:27 pm

    I want to know why every single person in that bike-riding party did not have a mask on. ???!?!?!!!!

  33. 33.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 9:27 pm

    @Baud: I would give a million dollars that I don’t have for Pelosi to say that on Monday.

  34. 34.

    Bill Arnold

    August 8, 2020 at 9:28 pm

    @M31:

    I thought Joe was going to announce his ‘running mate’ — as in the person he goes running with, hahahaha.

    I heard that as Joe suggesting that Peter Doocy run after him to continue questions. (Took a second though.)
    Peter was either slow on the uptake, or not … equipped for running while questioning Joe.

  35. 35.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 8, 2020 at 9:29 pm

    @WaterGirl: I understand we are a minority, but to bicycle people, riding without a helmet is a really bad look. It is as jarring and upsetting in its way as seeing maskless Trump all the time.

  36. 36.

    Geeno

    August 8, 2020 at 9:30 pm

    @Eljai: Are you kidding? The whole bike would be missing.

  37. 37.

    raven

    August 8, 2020 at 9:30 pm

    @WaterGirl: Because they are 6 feet apart and moving.

  38. 38.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 8, 2020 at 9:31 pm

    OT, but is anyone else finding that Mason jars for canning are absolutely impossible to find these days? Nobody, but nobody, seems to have them in stock.

  39. 39.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 8, 2020 at 9:31 pm

    @Baud:

    WHY IS JOE NOT ENCASED IN A PROTECTIVE BUBBLE???

    That’s sorta what being outside is like, if the epidemiologists are to be believed.

  40. 40.

    TaMara (HFG)

    August 8, 2020 at 9:34 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: My SIL had to drive two towns over to get lids. So, I’m gonna say, yes.

  41. 41.

    Ken

    August 8, 2020 at 9:35 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Maybe they’re all in Cole’s basement full of piccalilli and tomato sauce.

  42. 42.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 8, 2020 at 9:39 pm

    @TaMara (HFG): Well that’s annoying.

  43. 43.

    dmsilev

    August 8, 2020 at 9:40 pm

    I didn’t set out to compost Sean Hannity. It was something I settled on after considering several other options and rejecting them one by one. The first was leaving him in the basement indefinitely. That worked for a while. I could almost forget about him there, but then I would go down with a basket of laundry and see him and think, I have to do something.

  44. 44.

    Frankensteinbeck

    August 8, 2020 at 9:53 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    The problem with Trump’s ‘promise the moon and not follow up’ strategy is that not delivering on his promises pisses people off more than the promises help him.  That’s how he sank himself at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.  He held those news conferences, declared all kinds of stuff he was doing, his polls started to go up… and then none of it happened, and his polls nosedived.  It turns out everyone paying attention enough to hear his promises expects results.

  45. 45.

    The Moar You Know

    August 8, 2020 at 9:55 pm

    I understand we are a minority, but to bicycle people, riding without a helmet is a really bad look. It is as jarring and upsetting in its way as seeing maskless Trump all the time.

    @Gin & Tonic: Can so testify. My wife hates a helmet and won’t ride with one, and I refuse to ride with her if she doesn’t. I raced NORBA for seven years, she rode her bike around the neighborhood as a kid. I get why the disconnect, but damn, people…if you get on a bike wear a fucking helmet. Sooner or later it’s gonna go bad. That helmet can make a huge difference.

  46. 46.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 9:55 pm

    @raven: I get that those are the rules for a normal person, but this is the Democratic candidate for President so I would think that everyone would be super-extra-careful.

  47. 47.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 9:57 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Amazon seems to have them right now for delivery on Monday.

  48. 48.

    Nicole

    August 8, 2020 at 9:58 pm

    @TaMara (HFG): Yeah, but having fallen off a bike once when not wearing a helmet- the head, it bleeds a lot. A lot a lot.

  49. 49.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 8, 2020 at 9:58 pm

    @WaterGirl: For about five times normal prices. One seller wants $42 for six pint jars, which normally cost like $10.99/dozen.

  50. 50.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 10:02 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I know, that was my first thought, too.  No helmet?

    I know how important it is – 3 years ago my neighbor, who virtually ALWAYS wears a helmet – was riding back from Octoberfest and tipped off his bike and landed on his head.  It’s like a condom or a mask: wearing it almost all the time isn’t good enough.

    I personally HATE the bike helmets because most of what I love on a bicycle is the breeze and the feeling of freedom.  So I stopped riding my bicycle, because to wear a helmet made riding not enjoyable.  Sad.

  51. 51.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 10:03 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Sorry, I did not look at the prices.

  52. 52.

    Another Scott

    August 8, 2020 at 10:07 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: McMaster-Carr claims to be able to deliver at least some kinds next week.

    https://www.mcmaster.com/mason-jars/

    (I’m always impressed with them.  I can order something at around 8 PM and have it the next day via UPS Ground.  Not the cheapest, but great service and they almost always have everything I need in stock.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  53. 53.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 8, 2020 at 10:12 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: @The Moar You Know:

    I have a number of friends who are avid urban bikers/bike messengers. Several think helmets are for noobs and don’t wear them. It’s weird.

  54. 54.

    MC

    August 8, 2020 at 10:12 pm

    I am profoundly depressed, because every day it looks less and less likely that it will be possible to turn out Trump in November.

  55. 55.

    Gravenstone

    August 8, 2020 at 10:13 pm

    @Punchy: who will of course blame it on Biden.

  56. 56.

    TaMara (HFG)

    August 8, 2020 at 10:17 pm

    @MC: Then time to volunteer for phone banks, postcards, or any other opportunities available. We surely lose if we quit.

  57. 57.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 8, 2020 at 10:19 pm

     

    @Major Major Major Major:  I’m willing to bet I’ve been riding seriously longer than they’ve been alive, so not a noob. This is one area where their stupidity has no effect on me, though, so I don’t care.

  58. 58.

    Frankensteinbeck

    August 8, 2020 at 10:19 pm

    @MC:

    every day it looks less and less likely that it will be possible to turn out Trump in November.

    Why?  Trump is doing historically badly in the polls, and all his plans have turned to shit.  This one is already starting to disintegrate before the day is up.  He’s toast.

  59. 59.

    catclub

    August 8, 2020 at 10:20 pm

    @The Moar You Know: I get why the disconnect, but damn, people…if you get on a bike wear a fucking helmet.

    I think the benefits of riding without a helmet outweigh the risks.

    If the choice is – ride without helmet

    versus

    don’t ride at all.

     

    I pick ride.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 10:22 pm

    @MC: I am not sure why you think that.  Regardless of what the polls say, and which way the wind is blowing, there is really no way to know until all the votes are counted in November.

    That uncertain state is a very uncomfortable one for me, so sometimes I swing into positivity and sometimes I fear the worst.  In both cases, my sense of how I think it will turn out is based on my feelings, because the truth is there are no predictive facts.  We have never been here before.

    The best antidote for me is to focus on doing everything I can so we get the outcome that we want.  If you want some ideas for things you could possibly do to take action and feel less helpless and less hopeful, check out this thread from earlier today.

    https://balloon-juice.com/2020/08/08/what-we-can-do-85-things/

  61. 61.

    scott (the other one)

    August 8, 2020 at 10:23 pm

    @MC: That is an entirely reasonable thing to feel. It’s also what the Trump, Barr, the GOP and the Russians want you to feel. Don’t give in to them..

  62. 62.

    Wapiti

    August 8, 2020 at 10:26 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I’ve taken to referring to the grocery store as the Soviet Safeway because they seem to be out of odd things all of the time. Both the Soviet Safeway and the Soviet ACE Hardware here have jars and lids, but they had no Sure-jell or washable labels for a couple of weeks. But this is Seattle, so people might be putting up strawberry or raspberry jam and not much else.

  63. 63.

    catclub

    August 8, 2020 at 10:33 pm

    @scott (the other one): There was a report that China and iran were working to help biden, while Russia is working to help trump.

    Is anybody going to see if trump will say that one of those is okay but the other is bad?

  64. 64.

    AnotherBruce

    August 8, 2020 at 10:35 pm

    @WaterGirl: No, I do it, it is a bit much, because I wear a hearing aid. But the mask is ok.

  65. 65.

    Jay Noble

    August 8, 2020 at 10:35 pm

    @Punchy: The EO uses the word “defer” or some form of it throughout. So it comes back as “Due” but without any penalties is my reading. It also is vague on the employer side.

  66. 66.

    Matt McIrvin

    August 8, 2020 at 10:40 pm

    @WaterGirl: For me, part of the anxiety is the feeling that the rules are changing such that even if I do something, it will turn out to be the wrong thing.

    Take the very first two items on your list, about absentee ballots. I already requested one, and I’ve been promoting them, and now I’m worrying that that was wrong, because Trump’s actions to sabotage the Postal Service mean all these mail votes will just go into a black hole! All that stuff we thought was good is maybe actually bad.

    I’m seeing a lot of people urging other people NOT to vote by mail, that in-person voting is the only kind that’s going to work. And there’s all this sort of martyr-y talk going around about risking death by COVID is a thing we just have to do, putting our bodies on the line for the cause.

    It all feels built on sand because they’re trying to undermine us at every turn.

  67. 67.

    Origuy

    August 8, 2020 at 10:42 pm

    When I was 17, back before bike helmets were a thing, I was riding and crossed railroad tracks at an angle. I caught a wheel in the track (apparently, I don’t remember) and went over the handlebars. I woke up in the hospital with 13 stitches in my upper lip and a concussion. Fortunately, someone put me and my bike in his truck and took me to the hospital. My parents were a way for the weekend, too. If I’d been wearing a helmet, I could probably have stayed conscious.

  68. 68.

    Frankensteinbeck

    August 8, 2020 at 10:44 pm

    @catclub:

    There was a report that China and iran were working to help biden

    The report is that they would prefer Biden, but Russia is actively working to help Trump.  Very, very different.

  69. 69.

    Luciamia

    August 8, 2020 at 10:49 pm

    Fox News: Biden on a bike? He’s reverting to childhood.

  70. 70.

    AnotherBruce

    August 8, 2020 at 10:49 pm

    @WaterGirl: He should be more careful. But he was trolling Trump,  an act that has become too necessary.

  71. 71.

    TaMara (HFG)

    August 8, 2020 at 10:51 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: Most mail-in ballots can be dropped off instead. Research that in your area and see if that’s true. Then begin to urge others to drop their ballots off instead of mailing them.

    (WaPo link) More states offering drop off locations

  72. 72.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 10:52 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: They are indeed trying to undermine us at every turn!

    The thing is, you were smart to request the absentee ballot, and you don’t have to decide whether to send that back in or vote in person until much closer to the election.

    So you were smart to get it – you have options.

    They are trying to make us feel helpless and hopeless and overwhelmed.  Fuck them!

  73. 73.

    ThresherK

    August 8, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    @maxcat07: If you want to see a feeble bike, I have seen photos of CT Governor John Rowland on a bicycle. Not sure if it was a staged stunt or if he ever rode, but he never looked like it

  74. 74.

    ThresherK

    August 8, 2020 at 10:55 pm

    @Origuy: I won’t say how I have a porcelain incisor, but I’m responding to your post for a reason.

    That, too, was ages ago. The impact didn’t hit my head in the helmet region, but I’ve been with one for so long I feel naked without my helmet now.

  75. 75.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 8, 2020 at 10:56 pm

    Nearly 100,000 children tested positive for the coronavirus in the last two weeks of July, a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics finds. Just over 97,000 children tested positive for the coronavirus from July 16 to July 30, according to the association.

    Out of almost 5 million reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S., CBS News’ Michael George reports that the group found that more than 338,000 were children.

  76. 76.

    AnotherBruce

    August 8, 2020 at 10:56 pm

    @MC: Don’t cower. Make them cower. They have fucking earned it.

  77. 77.

    HeleninEire

    August 8, 2020 at 10:57 pm

    That video made me sooooo happy. You go, Joe.

  78. 78.

    Nelle

    August 8, 2020 at 10:57 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: I’ll be taking my ballot and placing it in the drop box in the county office and taking a photo of me putting it in.

  79. 79.

    Kent

    August 8, 2020 at 10:58 pm

    @Mallard FIlmore:

    In the late 1970s a bicycle magazine had a little international news segment. A professional lady bicycle racer in Europe was slowly weaving around the post race crowd, on her bike, somehow tipped over, hit her head, and died.

    Always wear a helmet. It protects your head from impact, puncture, and abrasion.

    Hundreds of car passengers would be saved each year if they wore helmets too.  Are you going around and hectoring motorists to wear helmets?

  80. 80.

    Punchy

    August 8, 2020 at 10:59 pm

    @Jay Noble: so will I owe every penny they’ve “deferred” come April, a percent of that amount, or will it depend on something else (like household income)?   Can we decline to have it deferred?

    This is nuts.  ~100mill people are going to have an unexpected tax bill come April and have zero idea WTF caused it.  I sure hope the media makes this very clear to everyone that this is a forced loan, albeit zero-interest, that comes due in 2021….

  81. 81.

    Jay

    August 8, 2020 at 11:00 pm

    @catclub:

    the actual report is that China and Iran, PREFER Biden,

    while Russia is actively working to re-elect the Soviet Shitpile Monster.

    but it’s the MSM Jake, so they gotta lie in the headlines and leads

  82. 82.

    Jay

    August 8, 2020 at 11:00 pm

    cops to a woman being stalked by an abusive ex: i’m sorry, we can’t do anything until after he kills you ?‍♀️cops when someone tweets a picture of them taken in public where there is no expectation of privacy: FELONY CYBERSTALKING! HARASSMENT! MY LIFE IS AT RISK!!!!— molly conger (@socialistdogmom) August 8, 2020

  83. 83.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 11:02 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: That’s close to 7% of cases.  I wonder what % of the population children are.

  84. 84.

    Alison Rose

    August 8, 2020 at 11:02 pm

    1. I agree he (and everyone else there) ought to have been wearing a helmet, because come on.
    2. When the fuck is he actually going to announce the damn running mate? I’m getting tired of this whole drawing it out as long as possible shit. I get that he has a lot of amazing women to choose from, but make the damn choice.
    3. It’s International Cat Day and my cat was fucking thrilled about it.
  85. 85.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 8, 2020 at 11:02 pm

    @Nelle: I can’t believe trump is suing in PA to block ballot drop off. I hope it’s pissing people off, and I hope the case isn’t being heard by a trump judge.

  86. 86.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 11:03 pm

    @Kent: I don’t see any hectoring or bullying going on here.

  87. 87.

    MC

    August 8, 2020 at 11:04 pm

    The “plan” seems to be to disrupt the process to the extent that there is no clear election result. It’s already bad, and they still have three months to wreck everything.

  88. 88.

    Baud

    August 8, 2020 at 11:04 pm

    @Alison Rose:

    The convention starts in two weeks so it’ll probably be next week.  And it’s fine.  There is absolutely no rush on this.

  89. 89.

    Bruuuuce

    August 8, 2020 at 11:04 pm

    @Kent: There’s a difference, as you surely realize. Cars ARE the protective layer that helmets provide for bike riders, and are pretty well designed to protect their inhabitants.

  90. 90.

    James E Powell

    August 8, 2020 at 11:05 pm

    @Alison Rose:

    This is actually about a week before the convention, the normal time for the nominee to announce the VP choice

  91. 91.

    Baud

    August 8, 2020 at 11:05 pm

    @MC:

    It’s ok to feel apprehensive, but it’s not ok to try to spread apprehension by arguing about how powerful Trump is.

  92. 92.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 11:06 pm

    @Alison Rose: I believe Obama announced later than this, relative to the convention.  This is not particularly late for Dems or even Republicans for that matter.

    That’s just bullshit media hype.  They are like children waiting for Christmas.

  93. 93.

    Bruuuuce

    August 8, 2020 at 11:08 pm

    @MC: I was today years old when I encountered this quote:

    “Despair is a narcotic. It lulls the mind into indifference.” – Charlie Chaplin

    As others have noted, the effective counter is action.

  94. 94.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 8, 2020 at 11:09 pm

    @WaterGirl: and if Biden has anybody on his staff who’s the heavy, that person should get on an all-campaign conference call, everybody from Dodd and Rendell down to the interns: “I’ve got two words for everybody today: Shut. The fuck. Up.

    ETA: and I believe Obama announced his Biden pick on 8/23

  95. 95.

    Baud

    August 8, 2020 at 11:11 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Is Rendell actually part of the campaign team?

  96. 96.

    Matt McIrvin

    August 8, 2020 at 11:12 pm

    Yes, waiting this long to announce the running mate is actually completely normal. It usually happens at convention time, or immediately before it if the nominee is a really foregone conclusion.

    We’re just anxious because the primary race has been effectively over and Biden has been the presumptive nominee for so long, and the general election campaign is so anxiety-provoking.

  97. 97.

    Yutsano

    August 8, 2020 at 11:13 pm

    @Punchy: An executive order doesn’t relieve a business from submitting their 941 with the formulation for calculating the tax for both the business and the Social Security and Medicare taxes for the employees. He can’t order a tax form rewritten on a dime. That takes planning and testing to make sure the form is correct and understandable. Not to mention it would take a reprogramming of the IRS computers that won’t have any funding behind it to accomplish that task. He can’t just handwave a payroll tax cut into existence. There has to be a process for it that an executive order just can’t do. So yeah I wouldn’t even worry about it.

  98. 98.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 11:13 pm

    @MC: You talked the other night about having suicidal thoughts.  I am wondering whether you saw my message at the time, inquiring about whether you have thought about how you would do it.

    That’s where you cross into the danger zone, so if you have thought about how you would commit suicide, I would really like you to call a hotline tonight.  It’s important.

  99. 99.

    Alison Rose

    August 8, 2020 at 11:14 pm

    @Baud:

    @James E Powell:

    @WaterGirl:

    I get that in normal times, this is how it goes. But it’s not normal times, and I feel like there’s been much more teasing about it than usual. I’ve been texted/emailed probably five times to “vote” on my favorite from a list and be told YOU’LL BE ONE OF THE FIRST TO KNOW!!!! I’m just like……….the world might freaking implode next month, who knows, just tells us already.

  100. 100.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 11:16 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: That was one hot day!

    I drove to Springfield to see Barack and Joe together, and it was in the 90s, I believe.  People were dropping like flies.  So fucking hot, but so worth it.

  101. 101.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 8, 2020 at 11:16 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    2019-2020 Premier League season review.

    It’s very Red.

  102. 102.

    Kent

    August 8, 2020 at 11:16 pm

    @Bruuuuce:@Kent: There’s a difference, as you surely realize. Cars ARE the protective layer that helmets provide for bike riders, and are pretty well designed to protect their inhabitants.

    https://www.askadamskutner.com/brain-injury/brain-injuries-related-to-car-accidents/

    According to the Center for Disease Control, 30% of all injury related deaths are contributed to traumatic brain injuries. Of these, more than 14% are the direct result of automobile accidents. Auto accident related TBIs are the leading cause of death for those 5-24 years of age. Non-fatal TBIs, are the leading cause of 15-44 year olds requiring hospitalization.

    Making kids wear helmets inside cars would save 100x more lives than making them wear helmets while biking.

    Look at all these people about to die during rush hour in Copenhagen.  The horror:  https://youtu.be/FXw_t172BKY

    What this country actually needs is decent cycling infrastructure so people can bike safely away from cars.

  103. 103.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 11:17 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I totally agree.  And if Joe doesn’t have someone who plays the heavy, then that’s a problem in and of itself.  Shut the fuck up is right.  Stupid Dodd and Rendell should crawl back in their respective holes.  Bad choices on Biden’s part, I think.

  104. 104.

    FlyingToaster

    August 8, 2020 at 11:18 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I’ve been finding them at Ace Hardware and Shaws/Star Market.  Though my local Shaw’s is almost out.

  105. 105.

    TaMara (HFG)

    August 8, 2020 at 11:20 pm

    @Alison Rose: Obama picked Biden on 8/23, McCain announced Palin on 8/23.

    In 2016 the Dem convention was July 25 and Clinton announced Kaine on July 22.

    Chill

  106. 106.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 11:21 pm

    @Alison Rose: The Biden campaign asked you to text vote for your VP favorite???  That’s dumb.

    Obama swore he’d tell us by text before they announced anything.  But when the other candidates on the short list go told they weren’t chosen, that leaked to the media from their peeps, so by process of elimination, the media told us the night before that it was Joe.

    I still got the text at 5am, though.  :-)

  107. 107.

    Jay

    August 8, 2020 at 11:22 pm

    Wow. The cops have no idea what to do about the organized shield wall in Portland tonight. pic.twitter.com/fRbbnLWWAe— Joshua Potash (@JoshuaPotash) August 8, 2020

  108. 108.

    Baud

    August 8, 2020 at 11:22 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I get those emails.   I think they come from the DNC as part of a fundraising push.

  109. 109.

    MC

    August 8, 2020 at 11:23 pm

    @Baud: did not mean to frighten you

  110. 110.

    dmsilev

    August 8, 2020 at 11:24 pm

    @WaterGirl: Dodd is a campaign adviser, but I think Rendell is just out on his own shooting off his mouth. Not much leverage to get him to shut up, sadly.

  111. 111.

    Baud

    August 8, 2020 at 11:24 pm

    @Baud:

    Googling did not reveal any formal connection between Rendell and the Biden campaign.

  112. 112.

    Baud

    August 8, 2020 at 11:26 pm

    @MC: I’m not frightened, but I don’t want to see people who are understandably feeling nervous to create problems for other people who are fighting their own nerves. 

    And if WG is correct, then I hope you take care of yourself.

  113. 113.

    Bruuuuce

    August 8, 2020 at 11:27 pm

    @Kent: I’d like to see more granular results on the auto/TBI results. Specifically, I’d love to see the breakdown of 18-25 (or even 16-25) vs 5-17 year olds, and of the older ones, how many were driving vs how many were passengers. I’m not arguing that cars aren’t dangerous, but they DO provide far more protection than bikes (and dissipating/redirecting the enormous forces and energy involved in anything more than a very low speed crash is really hard — that we’ve been so successful is, of course, no reason not to continue to seek improvement).

  114. 114.

    MC

    August 8, 2020 at 11:27 pm

    @WaterGirl: I’m not suicidal right now. I have the hotline # you provided close at hand, as well as some other resources. Thank you for asking.

  115. 115.

    Mallard FIlmore

    August 8, 2020 at 11:27 pm

    @Kent:

     

    Hundreds of car passengers would be saved each year if they wore helmets too. Are you going around and hectoring motorists to wear helmets?

    Visions of Peter Griffin wearing water wings as he eats his soup. ;)

  116. 116.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 11:29 pm

    @Baud: I am not a big fan of the DNC anyway, but that seems kind of dumb on the part of the DNC.  Sort of condescending and insulting for them to pretend that what we think plays into the VP decision.

  117. 117.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 8, 2020 at 11:33 pm

    Hahaha, good to know Steve Douchecanoe’s brother is as stupid as him.

  118. 118.

    Baud

    August 8, 2020 at 11:33 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I wrote in Veepy McVeepface, so it’s probably a good thing they don’t take our views into account.

  119. 119.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 11:34 pm

    @MC: I am glad to hear that you are not there right now.

    Even though you are not in that place right now, if you have considered a plan for how you would do it IF you were feeling suicidal at the time, then you are very much at risk, and I would ask you to please make the call tonight anyway if that’s the case.

    Otherwise, we are pretty good at supporting one another here.

  120. 120.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 8, 2020 at 11:35 pm

    @Baud:

    There is absolutely no rush on this.

    I WANT TO KNOW RIGHT NOW!

  121. 121.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 8, 2020 at 11:35 pm

    @Jay:

    Thye know what to do, it ain’t like they gotta be Uhtred to knock away some plywood.

  122. 122.

    WaterGirl

    August 8, 2020 at 11:35 pm

    @Baud: Made me laugh!

    edit: You are often my first laugh in the mornings, so maybe I should take this bonus even laugh and head to bed.

  123. 123.

    Mallard FIlmore

    August 8, 2020 at 11:36 pm

    @Kent:

     

    What this country actually needs is decent cycling infrastructure so people can bike safely away from cars.

    I have crashed going about 30mph on a straight modest downhill with no traffic and would be dead without a helmet.

    Did you know the resonant frequency of a 10 speed road bike is shivering speed?

  124. 124.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 8, 2020 at 11:40 pm

    @mellowjohn: Don’t you remember the Orange Bitchwaffle saying he’d never be seen riding a bike as a way to mock John Kerry?

    Also, guy who wouldn’t walk with other G7 Leaders (probably didn’t have the stamina) riding a bike?  You’z funny!

  125. 125.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 8, 2020 at 11:42 pm

    @TaMara (HFG):

    McCain announced Palin on 8/23.

    Nope, it was 8/29, McCain’s b-day(also Madame’s b-day).

  126. 126.

    Kent

    August 8, 2020 at 11:45 pm

    @Mallard FIlmore: I cycle a lot and wear a helmet when I’m out riding hard and fast in the suburbs where I live.   But I also freely hop on bike share bikes around central Portland for short hops and never bother with a helmet.  It’s all context.

    I just get annoyed by all the nanny state obsession with bike helmet laws which are demonstrated to reduce cycling.  What we really need more than ever is better cycling infrastructure.  Or really infrastructure for all small medium-speed vehicles (bikes, e-bikes, scooters, one-wheels, etc.).   That is hugely lacking in this country.  This country won’t ever be Copenhagen or Amsterdam in terms of cycling.  But that’s what I’d be aiming for rather than universal helmet use mandated by law.

  127. 127.

    Bruuuuce

    August 8, 2020 at 11:52 pm

    @Kent:

    What we really need more than ever is better cycling infrastructure.  Or really infrastructure for all small medium-speed vehicles (bikes, e-bikes, scooters, one-wheels, etc.)…rather than universal helmet use mandated by law.

    Embrace the power of “and”. As has been pointed out, helmets are a lifesaver. And while the infrastructure would be useful (in NYC, where I live, we’re seeing a move toward such infrastructure, though because so many roads can’t have a slice taken off their width with a physical barrier, many bike lanes are as yet just painted in), the logistics are going to be difficult (not insurmountable).

  128. 128.

    Frankensteinbeck

    August 9, 2020 at 12:00 am

    @MC:

    The “plan” seems to be to disrupt the process to the extent that there is no clear election result.

    There is no plan.  If there was a plan, Trump would not be freaking the fuck out on a daily basis.  All there is is a lot of flailing.

  129. 129.

    Ruckus

    August 9, 2020 at 12:04 am

    To the no helmet crowd. I rode motorcycles for over 50 yrs, have over 1/2 million miles under my belt, not counting motorcycle racing. Wore a helmet 100% of the time except on a pit bike. Never got much above walking speed on those. I fell down/got knocked down twice in all those decades, never once while racing. The first time, no harm, no foul. The second time I was sliding down the road head first after a coyote ran out in front of me, when a truck hit me, bumper hit the helmet. Walked/rode away. OK only about a 1/4 mile to home but still. From where the bumper hit the helmet and how the helmet was damaged there was a pretty good chance that without a helmet I’d be dead. You never know who, what, when, where, why, how something is going to go wrong. It’s a simple equation. Wear a goddamn helmet. Or die young and stupid. Bicycles are a lot slower than a motorcycle but your head hitting the ground really doesn’t give a damn about that speed, it’s the fall that does it.

  130. 130.

    Mallard FIlmore

    August 9, 2020 at 12:07 am

    @Ruckus:

     

    Wear a goddamn helmet. Or die young and stupid.

    “organ donor”

  131. 131.

    MC

    August 9, 2020 at 12:11 am

    @Frankensteinbeck: I have crippling self-doubt, so your confidence is refreshing.

  132. 132.

    frosty

    August 9, 2020 at 12:16 am

    @Matt McIrvin: I’m seeing a lot of people urging other people NOT to vote by mail, that in-person voting is the only kind that’s going to work.

    Ms. F talked me into voting in-person. We want to see our votes counted on election night and have PA go to Biden without waiting for mail ballots.

    To be fair, though, our polling place is an ex-school gym – high ceilings and loads of floor space. Probably the best anti-COVID indoor environment we could ask for.

  133. 133.

    prostratedragon

    August 9, 2020 at 12:16 am

    @James E Powell:  It dawned on me that that’s why this nonsense is structured as it is, all the goodies come now, all the payback under the next President. Assuming nothing else derails this thing, we could always keep shouting about it.

  134. 134.

    Frankensteinbeck

    August 9, 2020 at 12:16 am

    @MC:

    Let me add, and I think a lot of people should take this to heart, because it is increasingly important in the Trump era:

    It is difficult and scary for regular, even a little bit intelligent people to deal with hostile idiots.  They do something, and we want it to make sense.  We try to interpret it in terms of what it would mean if we did that thing.  It ends up looking like a diabolical plot, because surely no one would form a squad of about 80 guys to harass protestors in Portland and that’s it.  That’s too petty, too dumb a waste of effort.  But now it’s becoming clear, yes, that was it.  There’s no follow-up.  It was not part of any master plan.  Surely no one would run the post office into the ground without having some greater goal in wanting it destroyed.  I think we’re going to find out that the post office was run into the ground because an asshole MBA type was determined to operate it under asshole MBA rules.  The actual changes disadvantage people more the farther out of an urban center they are, so it’s actually a terrible plan if fixing the vote is their goal.  Doesn’t Trump do incredibly stupid shit that isn’t just badly thought out, it wasn’t thought out at all and there’s no follow-up?  All the time?

    We’ve been living under the thumb of an abuser for four years.  Trump winning at all was a traumatically horrible surprise.  We’ve all got PTSD from Hell, and are inclined to trust nothing because the hits keep coming from nowhere.  But the well established fact is, these are not evil masterminds.  They are not Lex Luthor.  They’re shitlords.

  135. 135.

    frosty

    August 9, 2020 at 12:18 am

    @TaMara (HFG): Most mail-in ballots can be dropped off instead.

    Not in PA. We had it for the primaries, then the R lege got rid of dropoffs. It’s currently in litigation. We can still drop them off at the election board in the County Courthouse but that’s it. For now.

    ETA according to WaPo it’s in litigation by the Trump Campaign.

  136. 136.

    Ruckus

    August 9, 2020 at 12:19 am

    @Ruckus:

    I also owned a bicycle shop, specializing in racing and triathlon. I’ve ridden a lot of 2 wheeled vehicles, in several different countries and all kinds of weather. Every mile you ride is amazing and could easily be your last, motorized or pedals. It makes life a different color, a different tone, a different experience. But like everything/anything that heightens the experience of living, there is an additional risk but given modern technologies one can lessen that risk to some degree. You don’t explore caves, you don’t scuba dive, mountain climb, without proper equipment, hell you wear a seat belt when you drive. Why would you ride a 2 wheeled device without proper equipment?

  137. 137.

    prostratedragon

    August 9, 2020 at 12:19 am

    @Gin & Tonic:  Pasta is getting short in supply, especially spaghetti.

  138. 138.

    opiejeanne

    August 9, 2020 at 12:20 am

    @FlyingToaster: We found pints at $11dozen at Target, and larger sizes at similarly reasonable prices. We bought a dozen pints because we made pickles this week and were running low on jars. The way the cucumber plants have been producing I was pretty sure we’d have another round of pickles soon, but the weather has changed and it’s like summer is gone. The highest temp for the next 10 days will be 77, and it’s been rainy and cold. I can ripen green tomatoes on the counter, but not the canteloupes and pumpkins if we don’t get some more heat.

  139. 139.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 9, 2020 at 12:21 am

    OT – Mayomust sounds like your BO is spoiled mayonnaise.

  140. 140.

    Ruckus

    August 9, 2020 at 12:23 am

    @frosty:

    Most states that allow vote by mail you have the ability to deposit your ballot into an official ballot box, either before or on election day. I suggest that everyone vote on that paper ballot by mail and avail yourself of direct deposit. You know your ballot got there, and it helps screw shitforbrains. A win-win as it were.

  141. 141.

    frosty

    August 9, 2020 at 12:24 am

    @Yutsano: First time I’ve mentioned this but I am so pleased to have an IRS employee commenting to clarify things like you just did.

    Along with all the other expert jackals. Like Mob Enforcers. We usually don’t get the inside skinny on that profession.

  142. 142.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 9, 2020 at 12:28 am

    @prostratedragon: You must live in a pasta-loving town.

  143. 143.

    Alison Rose

    August 9, 2020 at 12:28 am

    @WaterGirl: I don’t think it was the campaign, but some PAC whose list I somehow ended up on. I didn’t take the bait.

    I’m not having a conniption fit over this or anything, I’m just tired of waiting. Everything is uncertain, it would be nice to get one of those uncertainties crossed off the list.

  144. 144.

    prostratedragon

    August 9, 2020 at 12:29 am

    Josh Marshall, recently:

    We cannot control everything that happens to us, either individually or in our civic existence. But we can avoid losing battles in our own heads before they even start. Let’s not do that. Don’t cower.

  145. 145.

    opiejeanne

    August 9, 2020 at 12:31 am

    @Ruckus: About 1986 a neighbor kid fell off her bike and nearly died. She was riding on the sidewalk and hit her head against the retaining wall in a front yard. She was in a shared room in the ICU for a couple o f weeks. The other kid in the ICU with her was the boy who had the traumatic head injury from skateboarding and died. Both those kids are part of the reason California has laws requiring helmets and other protective gear. Becky survived. She was 7 and one of my older daughter’s best friends. The boy was about 11 or 12, I think.

  146. 146.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 9, 2020 at 12:32 am

    @WaterGirl:

    @Alison Rose: I’ve got “Who do you want Biden to pick?” text spam.

    I call them assclowns and delete the message.

  147. 147.

    luc

    August 9, 2020 at 12:32 am

    @Ruckus:…. and don’t carelessly walk around or step on ladders without a helmet!

  148. 148.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 9, 2020 at 12:36 am

    @opiejeanne:

    @Ruckus: My tires went out from under me riding down to Critical Mass one Christmas.  I happened to be going over the river at the time.  Glad the side of my helmet got the bridge grate’s scraping and not my nogging.

  149. 149.

    prostratedragon

    August 9, 2020 at 12:37 am

    @mrmoshpotato:  Eh, I think you know the one … it’s been absorbed into every other single cuisine around here. Just checked the instacart, and there is some showing back up since Thursday, but a lot of less-familiar brands and formulations and still no Barilla no.7 for a month. Chickpea pasta? OK maybe … but [shudder] edamame pasta? Not here.

  150. 150.

    laura

    August 9, 2020 at 12:39 am

    @Kent: just one squirrel, bag hanging from the handlebars, non- perpendicular crossing of railroad tracks, loose wheel, city bus, fallen olives, drugged and deranged driver looking for bicyclists and you’re lucky to escape with your life. That’s Alan, Steve who had turn learn the lesson twice, spouse, marcy  and londa’s boy. Friends and loved ones who were all involved in serious bicycle accidents in the last few years. Helmets save lives. And more bike friendly communities would be great.

  151. 151.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 9, 2020 at 12:40 am

    @prostratedragon: Ah yes.  Where are you that you can’t make a wet noodle for slapping?

    No pasta problems up north.

  152. 152.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 9, 2020 at 12:40 am

    @prostratedragon:

    Pasta is getting short in supply, especially spaghetti.

    fifty quatloos the quinoa and vegetable-pastas are still there

    ETA: I’ve tried several and they’re pretty good, but I’m told they don’t last.

  153. 153.

    frosty

    August 9, 2020 at 12:41 am

    @Ruckus: Sadly, PA doesn’t start counting absentees and mail ballots until after Election Day. We need to run up the score on 11/3 so we don’t get a lot of bullshit about fraudulent late voting.

    It’s a small risk based on my polling place. I’ll take it.

  154. 154.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2020 at 12:43 am

    @Frankensteinbeck: Another thing is that we have agency.  We can act, speak, demonstrate, vote, etc.  We are not merely inert vessels to be act upon by malign forces.  Even saying “fuck you, you can’t beat me,” under your breath is an act of resistance to incipient tyranny and one I recommend that people start with whenever they start feeling defeated.

  155. 155.

    Matt McIrvin

    August 9, 2020 at 12:44 am

    @TaMara (HFG): In Massachusetts it’s a town-by-town thing. As far as I can tell, my town has never had drop boxes (mail ballots are quite new here). However, in-person early voting is an option at City Hall if you want to beat the rush.

  156. 156.

    frosty

    August 9, 2020 at 12:46 am

    @Ruckus: When my brother hit the car that pulled out in front of him unexpectedly (motorcycle brakes locked and wheels sliding) he went over the top of the car and hit the pavement on the other side. He said the sweetest sound he ever heard was his helmet hitting the pavement.

    Me, I dumped mine twice, without a helmet, at <15 mph, on one of them the helmet was in my backpack. Sheesh.

  157. 157.

    luc

    August 9, 2020 at 12:46 am

    @opiejeanne: Both of these tragic accidents but much more the resulting California bike helmet laws are the reason that millions of kids now don’t get to bike at all, because it is such a scary dangerous activity that you have to wear a helmet.

    Congratulations to statistics that show a decline in bicycling injuries, when parents prevent their kids from cycling in the first place and drive them everywhere by car.

  158. 158.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 9, 2020 at 12:47 am

    David Cross joins the Lincoln Project (which interests me because I assume he had to give permission for them to use it, and I think Cross is more from the Bernie wing of politics)

  159. 159.

    smike

    August 9, 2020 at 12:51 am

    @prostratedragon:

    It dawned on me that that’s why this nonsense is structured as it is, all the goodies come now, all the payback under the next President…

    Yep. Remember GW? They know somebody has clean all the shit up, and it isn’t going to be them.

  160. 160.

    frosty

    August 9, 2020 at 12:52 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: That was pretty good!

  161. 161.

    Jay

    August 9, 2020 at 12:56 am

    @MC:

    good, and the Jackal’s are always here, 24/7, if you want to talk.

  162. 162.

    FlyingToaster

    August 9, 2020 at 12:58 am

    @opiejeanne: I had gone online to check who near me still had them in stock, and then drove by to make sure.  Both Ace (Swartz in Newton and Tags in Cambridge) had both pint and quart jars.  Shaws in Waltham had pint jars only, however, they have oodles of lids, and since we had jars at home but no lids, I grabbed a box.

    SureJell and Bell’s  have both been in short supply.  I did find SureJell at Hannaford, but I got the last box.

    Fortunately, the raspberries are done, now.  WarriorGirl’s cherry tomatoes and strawberries are coming in, though.

    This week, my grand search will be for 2lb KAF whole wheat.  I found 5lb at the Allston StopnShop, but my bin only holds two pounds.

    And my hot water heater bit the dust last night; the tech came by this am before the supplier closed, so we confirmed it’s coming up Monday from NY.  However, we don’t know when the truck will get to Bwahstin.  It’s likely to be cold water only until Tuesday.

  163. 163.

    Another Scott

    August 9, 2020 at 1:00 am

    @MC:

    Sometimes it seems that there is no hope, that it is impossible to stop injustice.@repjohnlewis was nearly beaten to death by people who denied his humanity.He kept fighting, and he won.If John Lewis can still say "be hopeful" after all he's been through, we can be hopeful. https://t.co/DQifY1hIpu

    — Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) June 27, 2018

    Hang in there. We will build a better world together.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  164. 164.

    PersistentIllusion

    August 9, 2020 at 1:00 am

    @Gin & Tonic: I am in Colorado and every Ace Hardware has stacks of them.

  165. 165.

    Jay

    August 9, 2020 at 1:06 am

    @Ruckus: ??????

  166. 166.

    Xenos

    August 9, 2020 at 1:16 am

    I am going to a beach town in NL tomorrow, will do some biking.  Helmets are not used except for road bikes, everybody else skips the helmet but rides granny-bikes in dedicated lanes. It seems to work, which interesting because the bike culture developed from the horrifying increase in deaths from adopting  car-based commuting in the 60s.

  167. 167.

    Groucho48

    August 9, 2020 at 1:42 am

    I suspect either Biden or one of his staffers remembered the mocking Obama got when he wore a helmet biking. Remember all the photos of Obama wearing a helmet and dad pants alongside a photo of Putin riding a horse bare chested? Who needs that?

    I also suspect that the section of road they were traveling on was closed to traffic, was pretty flat and had no angled RR tracks or other hazard. Biking in those conditions is very safe. Back when I cycled on roads, I always wore a helmet. But, nowadays, I only ride on a bike/jogging trail at a leisurely pace and often don’t bother with a helmet. You have to assess the risks.

  168. 168.

    Quiltingfool

    August 9, 2020 at 1:51 am

    @Frankensteinbeck: I’ve said this before, but I just can’t help myself. You. Are. Awesome.

  169. 169.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    August 9, 2020 at 1:57 am

    @MC:  Chill dude; if Trump was that competent he would be strolling to  a second term right now. The Pandemic was Trump’s golden ticket to get a do over for the last three years and he screwed it up royally. Just keep Cumo in mind; Cumo was widely despised by New Yorkers up until the pandemic and Cumo is a bit of a national hero now for mostly just doing his job during the crises.

  170. 170.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    August 9, 2020 at 2:01 am

    @Yutsano: From what read Trump is just ordering them to stop the withholding, not the tax liability. Both Bushes did the same stunt during their admins.

  171. 171.

    grandmaBear

    August 9, 2020 at 2:16 am

    @Gin & Tonic: I ordered them recently from target & got them at a reasonable price in a few days.

  172. 172.

    J R in WV

    August 9, 2020 at 3:11 am

    @WaterGirl:

    That’s close to 7% of cases. I wonder what % of the population children are.

    Looks like…. Google says:

    In 2017, there were 73.7 million children younger than 18 in the United States, accounting for 22.6 percent of the total population.Sep 13, 2019

  173. 173.

    yellowdog

    August 9, 2020 at 5:10 am

    @Frankensteinbeck: MC is correct. Between hacked voting machines, regular voter suppression, and postal voter suppression, he will cruise to reelection or create enough chaos to force a congressional vote, where he wins.

  174. 174.

    Mo MacArbie

    August 9, 2020 at 6:57 am

    @Another Scott: 
    Why the hell wasn’t John Lewis wearing a helmet?

  175. 175.

    Chris Johnson

    August 9, 2020 at 9:13 am

    @yellowdog: Bollocks. He was already doing that full tilt in 2016.

    All you are doing is trying to lay the groundwork for a total denial of reality, which is the only thing Trump or his people will have available to them. Stop it.

    It’s like Adam Silverman thinking that people will cling to their norms and failed institutions when life collapses around them, and that this clinging will bring us the apocalypse even when everybody is getting harmed by it.

    Fuck that noise. Even IF they are fool enough to try and do what you say, we fight back. That is how it will be.

  176. 176.

    Gvg

    August 9, 2020 at 9:19 am

    @luc: Honey, bicycling was going to decrease anyway. The world is more crowded and distances are further than they were when I was a kid. Schools are bigger and also the districts are more spread out.  I think that more parent work and have to leave earlier means more parents want to drop the kids before daylight at school also has an effect.

    we lived out in the country and had trouble getting my nephew to learn. The roads were narrow with no sidewalks and fast cars so the only place for him to ride was on the driveway with no nearby friends to motivate him. Then he got older and stayed at grandparents in town after school, still not near friends so he learned some for exercise grudgingly because we thought he should learn. Last year he finally learned in 5th grade because of a big boy scout pack bike ride. Still hated it. This summer with the pandemic going stir crazy he finally likes it at grandparents. Some of his schoolmates never learned and looking around it has to do with neighborhoods and infrastructure not helmets.

    Biking also went way down when the University helped the city afford an improved bus system. This also helped affordable housing by spreading out the possible living areas. Inadvertently they helped the working poor as well with job access, however fitness appears to have gone down. According to my father, bicycles are currently almost unavailable due to the pandemic making people decide not to bus so their is a shortage due to increase in demand. That probably won’t last past a vaccine though.

  177. 177.

    Miss Bianca

    August 9, 2020 at 9:33 am

    @Origuy: Coming up on the 30th anniversary of my bike accident. A guy in a black BMW bounced me off his windshield in downtown Chicago. Even with a helmet, I was knocked out. Lost teeth, part of my tongue…went through years of surgeries and wrangling with insurance companies. And just think, I only had the helmet at all because a boyfriend had given it to me. Hadn’t been wearing it on my ride the night before, it was pure chance I donned it for that ride.

    Shudder to think what would have happened if I hadn’t been wearing it. I’m fanatical about helmets for both bike and horseback riding – never, ever ride without one.

  178. 178.

    planetjanet

    August 9, 2020 at 10:28 am

    @Kent: Just wear your helmet, dude.  It is just common sense.

    FYI.  I wear a mask as well.  It actually helps to keep my throat moist while I ride.

  179. 179.

    J R in WV

    August 9, 2020 at 11:10 am

    Back in December of 1972 I was still in the Navy, my ship was in the Ingalls yard for a complete overhaul. I was with my friends after shift, and it was a Gulf Coast thundershower. So I volunteered to ride another guy’s 10-speed to pick up our car across town and come back so no one got drenched but me.

    Was T-Boned on my left leg by a little British sports car. Hit the left side of my bare head on the hood, bounced off into the roadway and did the right side. Woke up face down in 2 inches of water. Heavy after work traffic, folks were real helpful, ambulance to ER. Bike was bent, seat was bent around my left thigh. Pressure wound on my scalp, in the rain, gory mess, looking like I was bleeding out.

    Broke my neck, although that wasn’t found for about 3 weeks. Still suffer from those injuries. A helmet for bikes wasn’t invented back then so far as I recall. I did ride some after that event, but it wasn’t the same. in WV the hills are too steep and the roads too skinny for me to enjoy road biking. Or maybe I just can’t get past that wreck and associated injuries. Don’t do motorcycles either. I like all the airbags and a good IIHS safety result.

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