Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

The words do not have to be perfect.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

I really should read my own blog.

Republicans do not trust women.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

You are here: Home / Elections / Biden-Harris 2020 / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: C.R.E.A.M.

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: C.R.E.A.M.

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Once again, Democrats offer a compromise because people are suffering… I doubt the GOP Death Cult will agree to negotiate, which is not the best look for Repub Senators running for reelection right now:

… “We have to try to come to that agreement now,” Pelosi said in an online interview with Politico. “We’re willing to cut our bill in half to meet the needs right now. We’ll take it up again in January. We’ll see them again in January. But for now, we can cut the bill in half.”

A senior House Democratic aide said Pelosi was reiterating a standing call by Democrats for the White House and Republicans to meet them “half way” on coronavirus relief.

Pelosi also said she did not want to wait to reach a deal at the end of September, when Congress will need to agree on funding to keep the government open during the next federal fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

The Democratic-led House passed legislation with over $3 trillion in relief in May. Democrats offered this month to reduce that sum by $1 trillion, but the White House rejected it…

Meanwhile, Big Business is leaning on Mnuchin to pull up his socks and tell Meadows to stop playing games:

Elsewhere, FiveThirtyEight — in its attempt to be Hip with the Kewl Media Kidz — is embarrassing itself:

Reader Interactions

138Comments

  4. 4.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Proof that the Swiss do everything better than we do: It snows chocolate there.

    The company said one car was lightly coated, and that it has offered to pay for any cleaning needed – but hasn’t yet been taken up on the offer.

    No need to, the neighborhood kids licked it clean.

  9. 9.

    Raven

    We made it to the beach. Jesus it was hot but right down on the water it was tolerable. The guys at the bait shop said fishing was ok but I got zip. About 3am the lighting started and just stopped! Like paradise.

  10. 10.

    germy

    I must have missed this:

    NBC reported that AOC endorsed Sanders instead of Biden.  (But she already endorsed Biden way before the convention)

    Editor’s note and clarification (2/2): Ocasio-Cortez was asked by the DNC to second Sanders’ nomination. The nomination is a procedural requirement of the convention. Ocasio-Cortez has previously endorsed Biden, & her speech was similar in length to other nominating speeches.

    — NBC News (@NBCNews) August 19, 2020

    You waited several hours to correct your obvious and blatantly misleading tweet.

    It sparked an enormous amount of hatred and vitriol, & now the misinfo you created is circulating on other networks.

    All to generate hate-clicks from a pre-recorded, routine procedural motion. https://t.co/crDlEymgMD

    — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 19, 2020

    The tweet NBC deleted was really despicable.  Is Andy Lack still running that place, or was he chased out?

  12. 12.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Trigger warning: This video can induce an over reaction in the lacrimal ducts of the eyes.

    Rex Chapman??@RexChapman
    They found a bottle in the back yard with a message inside.

    “Henry Joe, you are already the best bro, and my very best friend, so will you please say yes and…”

    I’m here for all of this.
    ?
    ❤️

  14. 14.

    Mary G

    I don’t know why people bitch about AOC not getting enough speaking time. She owns Twitter.

  15. 15.

    Raven

    Social distance report, about the same as home. 80% masks in the grocery store. Nothing at the beach but it’s pretty easy to keep the distance.

  16. 16.

    Amir Khalid

    How does Nate Silver not realise that his convention report card is laughably oversimplified and totally subjective?

  18. 18.

    gkoutnik

    @Mary G: …and how many other first term Representatives got any speaking time at all, other than in the montages?  My Rep certainly didn’t – a black, former rap producer representing a rural, upstate NY dairy district and doing a fantastic job.

  20. 20.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @germy:

    Sounds like she may be learning that there is a cost to targeting incumbents, insofar as people being prepared to expect the worst from her even if untrue.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    WRT the “report card,” is Nate or anyone here tuning in to the several issue panels that the DNC is live streaming during the daytime hours?

  22. 22.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Mary G: “If I can regularly roast Trump sycophants in 280 characters or less, I can speak to progressive values in 60 secs,” -AOC

  24. 24.

    germy

    If you were confused, no worries!

    Convention rules require roll call & nominations for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold.

    I was asked to 2nd the nom for Sen. Sanders for roll call.

    I extend my deepest congratulations to @JoeBiden – let’s go win in November. ?? https://t.co/uI92P3UfLn

    — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 19, 2020

    The people who run the major networks want to nip her in the bud. It took them decades, but they did it to Hillary. And they’ll do it to AOC, and anyone else they fear will raise their taxes.

  26. 26.

    Baud

    @germy:

    Convention rules require roll call & nominations for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold.

    That’s good info.  I was wondering about that last night.

  30. 30.

    Frankensteinbeck

    I have a lot of mixed feelings about compromise offers.  Even the full package probably isn’t enough, but America desperately needs help.  Republicans don’t want to, and they’re hiding behind Trump to let him get the blame.  On the other hand, “We offered to compromise and they refused” can be an excellent public message, and Pelosi knows it.

    There is a takeway from this whole negotiation that liberals should recognize:  The rich and business leaders want a stimulus.  They need customers.  McConnell and a fat chunk of his caucus won’t do it.  When push comes to shove, elected Republicans choose hate over plutocracy.

  31. 31.

    Brachiator

    Can’t believe that President Trump’s executive order deferring the payroll tax is meeting resistance from far-left socialist groups such as *checks notes* the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Retail Federation and National Association of Manufacturers.

    Trump doesn’t care anymore, and he is slipping any leash the GOP leadership tries to put on him. His executive order here about payroll taxes may be illegal, and all it does is defer taxes until later. The amount still has to be collected and paid to the payroll authorities, so it is not even a real tax cut in any sense.

    But this is all that Trump wanted. He never cared about either the GOP plan or the Democrats’ alternative.

    Once again, Democrats offer a compromise because people are suffering… I doubt the GOP Death Cult will agree to negotiate, which is not the best look for Repub Senators running for reelection right now

    Most economists agree that more relief would be good for people still kicked in the butt by the economic impact of the pandemic. McConnell does not want to give the Democrats anything, and may be counting on the tiny band aid of Trump’s executive orders being enough to fool some voters into believing that the Republicans give a shit about them.

    The GOP may be looking ahead to November, and expecting the Democrats ultimately to give in. And that would certainly be reasonable. It might get some help to people.

    But the riskier move would be to give power to the people.  Don’t give in and tell them that the GOP plan offers nothing. And that if the people want the help they need, they should hang in and vote the Republicans out in November.

  32. 32.

    germy

    Laura Ingraham reports, you decide:

    “Jill Biden’s ex-husband accuses her of affair with Joe in 1970s”

    wow, do i have some news about donald trump that is going to blow laura’s mind pic.twitter.com/1kdLZEBlU6

    — Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) August 19, 202

    The more desperate Joe’s enemies get, the uglier and lower they go.

  34. 34.

    WereBear

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    There is a takeway from this whole negotiation that liberals should recognize:  The rich and business leaders want a stimulus.  They need customers.  McConnell and a fat chunk of his caucus won’t do it.  When push comes to shove, elected Republicans choose hate over plutocracy.

     
    This is why I am calling them a Republican Death Cult. They have reached the point where an apocalyptic cult brings the end of their world, because reality has impinged so very much.

    They have reached the stage of Qanon primary candidates winning. The oligarchs were sure they had this monster under control. But they don’t.

    Their propaganda successfully undermined their voters’ grip on reality. Now, their voters have been captured by the Trump Cult. The oligarchs are back to their own, tiny, numbers.

    Which is why they are infesting our party. Their own base is out of their reach…

  36. 36.

    Steeplejack

    Re FiveThirtyEight “grading the convention”:

    The survival of democracy might require J-Schools to start teaching:

    “Not Having a Hot Take 101”

    and

    “Advanced Not Take Having: No, Really, Your Opinion on the Aesthetics is Irrelevant”

    — Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) August 18, 2020

    Bonus comment: “Some could probably do with a B.S. from STFU.”

  37. 37.

    narya

    Girding myself to take public transportation to the other end of the city to go to the dentist today . . .

    Thanks to you all, I actually watched a lot of last night, and I LOVED the roll call! I’ve seen them before and meh, but last night, with the wide variety of faces and languages, with First Nations folks and folks of every color and ethnicity, well, I was there for it. I want them to do it this way EVERY year–it kept things moving while being way more moving than the usual hoop-de-doo in person.

  39. 39.

    PenAndKey

    @WereBear: The oligarchs are back to their own, tiny, numbers. Which is why they are infesting our party. Their own base is out of their reach…

    The Democratic party is doing just fine, and as far as I can see nobody is infesting us, unless by that you’re referring to groups like the Lincoln project that are more anti-Trump/McConnell than they are pro-Democrat. I don’t see that so much trying to co-opt the DNC as I do it being multiple aligned groups with a common goal of removing Trump and the faction he represents from power. They’re our temporary allies, not us. We have a big tent but let’s not make the mistake of thinking everyone on our side of this particular fight is actually in it or trying to claim it as their own.

  40. 40.

    Kay

    @narya:

    I agree. Much better than on the floor. I actually loved the weirdness of it – the odd angles, how you hear the wind whipping around :)

  41. 41.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Frankensteinbeck: The Democrats are actively helping the Republicans by even offering these deals. The Republicans are hurting themselves by being so reluctant to vote for them. If they pass, it probably even makes Trump’s reelection more likely, because people won’t be hurting as badly in November.

    But we care and they don’t. That’s the difference.

  42. 42.

    Matt McIrvin

    @PenAndKey: I really hope you’re right. Honestly, seeing the DNC give even one second of time to all these Bush Republicans seriously bothers me, even if I understand what they’re trying to do, and I’m just hoping we don’t get an administration full of old allegedly reformed neocons who’ll shank us like Comey.

  45. 45.

    Immanentize

    @germy: Were a majority of US citizens even alive when Joe was supposedly getting frisky with Jill?

     

    • ETA. Median age in US is currently 38.2.  nope, most were not alive before Reagan was President.
  46. 46.

    JPL

    When I went to Mediaite this morning this gem was on top  Fox’s Brit Hume Praises Jill Biden’s Speech, Calls Her ‘Very Likable’ in Contrast with Michelle Obama’s ‘Hard, Angry Edge’   WTF is wrong with these people.   Does racist memes just come naturally to them.

  48. 48.

    Mary G

    @Kay: Also the mask wearing and social distancing just sent a message of “we’re the grownups who’re secure enough to just take care of business.”

  50. 50.

    gkoutnik

    @JPL: …and I was telling my wife yesterday that I was disappointed that Michelle was so restrained (meaning, I suppose, that she is more of a grown-up than I am).  Sigh…

    I yearn for some bomb-throwing.  I know, I know…

  51. 51.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Raven: That sounds lovely actually. I love thunderstorms, though I suppose the dogs didn’t.

    ETA: I’ve read that beaches are pretty safe because there’s nearly always a breeze. Social distancing assumed, of course.

  52. 52.

    germy

    @Immanentize: Were a majority of US citizens even alive when Joe was supposedly getting frisky with Jill?

    A majority of US citizens were alive when trump was supposedly getting frisky in an elevator in Russia.

    The Senate Intelligence Committee’s release contains other eye-popping material. In a section on Russian kompromat—the use of compromising material—the committee explores several allegations that Russian intelligence had developed blackmail on Trump based on his personal conduct during trips to Russia. The report goes far beyond the infamous “pee tape” rumor. It states that Trump “may have” begun a short affair with a Russian woman during a 1996 trip to Moscow—without reaching a firm conclusion. And it reports that the committee spoke with a Marriott International executive who said he’d heard two colleagues discuss the existence of a video showing Trump in the elevator of the Moscow Ritz-Carlton with “hostesses” during a 2013 visit there. But the two other executives denied any such discussion. The committee said it could not resolve the matter.

  53. 53.

    Immanentize

    @Matt McIrvin: Just stop with the worry about Republicans at the convention. It is concern trolling.  Not one has said anything that has contradicted the Dem platform.  Think of them as a public parade of willing defectors.

  54. 54.

    Mary G

    @Matt McIrvin: I find the lack of support or even mention for trans rights except as the T in LGBT disturbing, and no one has said boo about abortion. I get wanting to not scare the crossover voters they want, but it feels like they’re throwing the base under the bus a bit.

  55. 55.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Brachiator:

    may be counting on the tiny band aid of Trump’s executive orders being enough to fool some voters into believing that the Republicans give a shit about them.

    Not a good bet, since it looks like none of those orders will do anything.  The states have refused the unemployment extension offer because they don’t have the money for their part.  The debt relief and eviction moratorium are pipe dreams he didn’t actually order.  Our resident IRS worker (Yutsano?) says the payroll tax cut physically can’t happen any time soon, because changing the process like that is a huge undertaking.  When the voters are depending on something you said you gave them, and they don’t get it, they get pissed.  It happened with the early coronavirus response.

  56. 56.

    Kay

    @Mary G:

    I think this was very successful for the audience. It was visually interesting. I thought I’d jump in and out like I usually do and I watched the whole thing. Good job. It managed to look both cohesive and organized but also like it was put on by the people appearing. It just sort of..worked and the coordination looked like it just..happened.

  58. 58.

    Immanentize

    @JPL:

    Do racist memes just come naturally to them?

    Yes.

    ETA. Brit Hume and Tony Snow (dead you know) once interviewed me at like 5 in the morning about my client who was a person with what we used to call mental retardation the day he was executed. They both are jackasses.

  59. 59.

    Baud

    @germy:

    It states that Trump “may have” begun a short affair with a Russian woman during a 1996 trip to Moscow—without reaching a firm conclusion

    I hate Trump, but many men suffer from that at some point in their lives.

    Or so I’m told.

  62. 62.

    Baud

    @Mary G:

    Are you watching any of the issue panels during the day?

    We have prime time two hours for four days. Our message is going to have to be broad based.

  63. 63.

    OzarkHillbilly

    From *The Post Office Scandal is Either Stupid or Evil, Your Choice :

    Trump’s lawyers took Pennsylvania to court for its mail-in system but failed to produce any evidence of vote-by-mail fraud by the Friday deadline the judge imposed. (Oops.)

    I googled and can not find where they missed the deadline on any news sites. Has anybody else heard of it?

    * fair warning, the Bulwark is a website for Never trump conservatives

  64. 64.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Baud:

    I don’t give a damn about Trump’s affairs.  His sex life is none of my business.  His bragging about sexual assault says way more about his evil nature.  I don’t think Putin needs it to blackmail him.  Trump worships Putin as the coolest of the Cool Kids Dictators Club.

  65. 65.

    Immanentize

    @Frankensteinbeck: I agree.  But if it comes out that they are running down Michelle to praise Jill on Fox freaking News, we are winning.  Their narrative seems now to be that Obama sucked, Biden is OK.  Which is probably the plutocrat view until January 21.

  67. 67.

    Immanentize

    @Kay: I know how much you believe kids need to be in school right now, but it is not going so well in practice.  I think teachers should all make little DeVos voodoo dolls and publicly/symbolically put pins in her.

  70. 70.

    Immanentize

    @Baud: My issue, my issue!  Why isn’t Brian Stevenson a keynote speaker at the convention denouncing the US system of State executions?

    I think I’ll have to vote for West.

  71. 71.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Baud:

    I am expecting Kamala to face an incredible, disgusting level of nonstop insults during the remainder of this campaign, with the mainstream media merely being condescendingly disapproving.  I am hoping I am wrong.  The Democratic base seems overjoyed with her.

  72. 72.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    If the Republicans go full metal nuts, it’s possible their more traditional members may seek a home with the Democrats and try to pull the party to the right. Under those circumstances, I can see the Ds splitting so you could have three nominees for president. Paul LePage in Maine is an example of a nightmare minority winner under circumstances like that. I’m willing to be convinced this is unlikely.

    Another thought: Would the electoral college make a minority winner less likely?

  73. 73.

    Immanentize

    @Baud: I do love that Biden said that we ALL must have Harris’ back.  True.  Some woman on Twitter said, love her and support her because Kamala is about to become the most hated woman in the country.

  76. 76.

    Ken

    @Baud: So tonight will be Hillary, Barack, Warren, and Kamala.

    Any mystery Republican guests making a statement of contrition?

  79. 79.

    Danielx

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    When push comes to shove, elected Republicans choose hate over plutocracy.

    I don’t know if hate is the right word. Maybe economic philosophy, or theology.

    Or is this one of those distinction-without-a-difference deals?

  80. 80.

    Immanentize

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: There is no scenario in which the Democratic party would or could run two candidates for President of the US.  And under your hypo — it would be a divided Republican party (old school vs Batshit crazy) dividing their already minority vote. As my great grandmother used to say,
    “Doncha vorry, Sonny.”

  81. 81.

    Ken

    @WereBear: Terry Pratchett’s take:

    Ankh-Morpork people, said the guild, were hearty, no-nonsense fold who did not want chocolate that was stuffed with cocoa liquor and were certainly not like effete la-di-dah foreigners who wanted cream in everything. In fact, they actually preferred chocolate made mostly from milk, sugar, suet, hooves, lips, miscellaneous squeezings, rat droppings, plaster, flies, tallow, bits of tree, hair, lint, spiders, and powdered cocoa husks. This meant that, according to the food standards of the great chocolate centers in Borogravia and Quirm, Ankh-Morpork chocolate was formally classed as “cheese” and only escaped, through being the wrong color, being defined as “tile grout.”

  82. 82.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Danielx:

    Or is this one of those distinction-without-a-difference deals?

    I would say ‘yes’, since their economic philosophy is ‘give the rich everything they want’ and ‘hurt everyone else as much as possible.’  These are almost never obviously in conflict, but now that they are, it looks like the second part is more important to them than the first.

  83. 83.

    Immanentize

    @Baud: I know.  And I trust her and the Catholic Biden to do right.  I really don’t care who they have at the convention as long as it maximizes votes for B/H.

    I think Harris, as VP pick has two jobs:. Make Biden look good and don’t be a drag on the ticket (like Shriver or Palin). She will excel at both. (Yes, she was my primary choice, why do you ask?)

  87. 87.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    Trump campaign sues New Jersey over mail-in voting plans

    TPM is also reporting that USPS workers have been commanded not to sign as witnesses for mail-in ballots.

    DeJoy’s “OK, we won’t do much more vote suppression, now that we’ve been caught” caving needs to be extended/enlarged to include “and fuckery we’ve managed to do so far will be reversed.” Not that I think that reversal will happen without a court order (which will get appealed up to SCOTUS), or DeJoy’s money  or family held hostage.

  89. 89.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Immanentize: I was thinking there’d be a new party–sort of like the emergence of the Republican Party in the deep national divisions before the Civil War. It’s hard for me to imagine the D party getting bigger but remaining unified.

    Living in Chicagoland now, I do notice that it’s hard to have single party rule without a ton of corruption.

  90. 90.

    TS (the original)

    @germy:

    It’s always the women they attack – the media and the GOP. Always the women.  Way past time their sexist right to rule & attack women be removed.

  91. 91.

    Brachiator

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    may be counting on the tiny band aid of Trump’s executive orders being enough to fool some voters into believing that the Republicans give a shit about them.

    Not a good bet, since it looks like none of those orders will do anything.

    Which is why I called it a tiny band aid. The states are scrambling to see if they can help do what Trump promised, and Trump’s people are scrambling to see if they can redirect money not spent on the previous stimulus package to come up with a $300 benefit. About 7 red states think that they can pull something together.

    When the voters are depending on something you said you gave them, and they don’t get it, they get pissed.

    Some of Trump’s most dedicated supporters will grasp onto anything that lets them think that Trump cares. And Trump is betting that he can bamboozle people long enough to make it to November.

    But this shit is looking more like Trump scrambling to rescue one of this bad real estate deals back in the day. He is squandering time and resources to try to recover some of his lost popularity. And he may be going beyond the ability of the GOP to rescue him.

    But I still run across people who stubbornly insist on seeing Trump as their savior.

    I am not a big watcher of the national polls, but I will be interested to see how things look after the GOP convention.

  93. 93.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Baud: Controversial?? Controversial!!? What the ever-loving fuck? What, exactly, is the controversy? Who doesn’t love calamari?

  94. 94.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    Calamari, Rhode Island’s controversial state appetizer, becomes an unexpected star of Democratic convention

    Little-known “fact”: Rhode Island’s Official State Bird is the Quahog. [Pronounced “koe-hog” by de locals.] A delicacy second only to calamari.

  95. 95.

    TS (the original)

    @debbie:  Not sure that they listened given their rating on policy content.

    Waiting to hear their response to the non existent trump policy.

  96. 96.

    Immanentize

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Believe you me, corruption happens in two party states and cities as well.  Some places, like Chicago, just have a deep tradition of backscratching, payola and corruption.  Look at the bright side — it’s better than it used to be!

  98. 98.

    SFAW

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Controversial?? Controversial!!? What the ever-loving fuck? What, exactly, is the controversy? Who doesn’t love calamari?

    It was started by clueless Massholes who thought that the name of the moderately-corrupt former/late Providence Mayuh was “Buddy Calamari.” Outside of that, there’s no reason.

  100. 100.

    Lacuna-Synecdoche

    @Brachiator:

    Don’t give in and tell them that the GOP plan offers nothing. And that if the people want the help they need, they should hang in and vote the Republicans out in November.

    That’s my feeling as well – but Nancy has repeatedly shown herself to be smarter than me at this kind of thing, so I’m feeling a little conflicted. My natural impulse is that the Dems should tell McConnell, Trump & Sundry, “Fuck you. We’ll see you at the polls.”

    I do wonder if this is coming from Nancy though, or if she’s offering another compromise at Joe’s request?

  101. 101.

    Kattails

    @Immanentize: That would be a good home ec. zoom class, since everyone should know basic sewing. OK Kids, now we will learn how to recycle.  Take one of Mommy’s or Daddy’s old shirts, or a sock, here’s how you do a backstitch, now a little embroidery for the face. Now, get those pins out. (Sadly, when I was growing up shop was strictly boys and home ec. strictly girls.)

  105. 105.

    germy

    @TS (the original):

    Did you see the press conference where trump was asked (by a male reporter) if he regrets all the lies he’s told?  Trump  with a blank expression moves on to the next reporter.

    If Yamiche Alcindor had asked the question, he would have blown up at her.

  108. 108.

    SFAW

    @Immanentize:

    Quahogs are big cherrystone clams. Are they birds too?

    Attempted joke at the expense of Vo Dilunders. Of course, now I’m probably on G&T’s shit list. [As if I wasn’t already.]

  110. 110.

    SFAW

    @germy:

    Is that the S.V. Date exchange from last week? For a few moments, the Liar-in-Chief didn’t even understand the question.

  111. 111.

    Another Scott

    @Mary G: I noticed one of the real people clips showing someone smiling in a Trans Rights t-shirt.  I agree that it’s not been spoken about much yet, but the representation is clearly there.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  112. 112.

    SFAW

    @Immanentize:

    My Dad preferred Manhattan style….

    Despite that, even native New Yorkers prefer New England clam chowdah.

     

    ETA: How’s Immp doing in the wilds of  … Houston, I think? I hope he is (and you are) well.

  114. 114.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize: When I found that out I seriously questioned her values. Then when I found out they had to eat at a McDonalds a couple times when they were in Mallorca, I knew it was a truly lost cause.

  115. 115.

    TS (the original)

    @germy:  I don’t watch trump press conferences – just cannot – but I read reports & heard  about your comment. It just seems to be getting worse, despite the democrats have more and more women in senior positions and congress.  Other than the fools trying to bring up Jill’s ex, she will probably escape the criticism because

    1. she is white & 2. her career is in teaching – considered an appropriate female occupation by the misogynists.
  116. 116.

    germy

    @SFAW:  Yes, last week.

    At first he didn’t understand the question, but when it was repeated he simply went on to the next reporter without lashing out.

  118. 118.

    PenAndKey

    @SFAW: TPM is also reporting that USPS workers have been commanded not to sign as witnesses for mail-in ballots.

    From what I’ve seen the rule was put in place to ban postal workers (particularly clerks) from signing as a witness due to “operational capacity”. This is complete BS, especially given that they are simultaneously claiming that there’s enough idle capacity to shut down or remove postal drop boxes and remove sorting equipment.

    Beyond all that, the law in Alaska says that an “authority OR any adult over 18” needs to sign as a witness. This is likely why the rule that was just put in place bars clerks from signing while on the job. Honestly, I’d tell those same clerks that they’re completely free to do so and if anyone at the federal level wants to complain or punish it for them they can expect an invitation to be another congressional witness by Pelosi. The fact that they’re simultaneously claiming to not be able to meet capacity and have so much capacity they can shut down or remove core functions is to brazen I’m honestly a little impressed they think they’re positioned strongly enough to get away with it.

    At this point they have to go all-in Lukashenko-style to win this election, because they have to know that the second they lose power they’re screwed 6 ways from Sunday.

  119. 119.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Baud: I’ve watched several caucuses and councils: Hispanic, Black, Women, Rural, Native American and Disability. They’ve been interesting and I’ve learned a few things. A few technical glitches here and there, but generally well-produced. The challenge is of course multiple events happening at the same time.

  121. 121.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @O. Felix Culpa: You were asking me about male/female flowers on cukes, right? I looked yesterday and the answer is yes, cukes have male and female flowers.

  122. 122.

    Brachiator

    @Lacuna-Synecdoche:

    I do wonder if this is coming from Nancy though, or if she’s offering another compromise at Joe’s request?

    Good question. It would make sense to get Biden’s input.

  123. 123.

    germy

    @Gin & Tonic:  It was stupid in that he must have known trump would never answer “Yes, looking back, I truly regret some of the lies I’ve told.”

    I think it was just the case of a reporter frustrated by hearing all the bullshit and deciding to ask the obvious question.

  124. 124.

    trnc

    @Frankensteinbeck: I don’t give a damn about Trump’s affairs. His sex life is none of my business.

    True, but reporting on it is useful because it shines a bright light on the Family Values charlatans.

  125. 125.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Immanentize: Speaking of surf-casting, yinz might enjoy this poem from my Poifick Master & Hero Of The Zeitgeist, W. S. Merwin (1927-2019). I know I have for many years, and I neither surf nor cast.

    NB I tried to c&p it here for the multitudes, without success. Upon further review I realized (in the immortal words of General Yevgraf Andreievich Zhivago [Alec Guinness] at the very end of  Dr. Zhivago): Ah, it’s a GIF.**

    ** Yes, the pun in fact depends on mispronunciation. Take it up with  my Guangdong lawyer, Su Mi. :^p

  126. 126.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @OzarkHillbilly:  Thank you for doing the research for me! My cukes have beaucoup flowers, so I have to think that there are both types in the mix. Maybe they’re just late-bloomers, as it were.

  127. 127.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Brachiator: Keep in mind that asking for a given amount now does not preclude coming back to ask for more later, should that first amount be insufficient. It’s Salami Slicing 101.

  129. 129.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Frankensteinbeck: I am expecting Kamala to face an incredible, disgusting level of nonstop insults during the remainder of this campaign, with the mainstream media merely being condescendingly disapproving. I am hoping I am wrong.

    You aren’t.

    Even before Uncle Joe committed to selecting a woman for the ticket, I said on this very blog that the Thugs wouldn’t be able to lay a glove on him & would instead target his running mate:

    Biden is OLD! He’s got ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE!! He’ll be DEAD BY THE INAUGURATION(if not Election Day)!!!

    KEEP THAT MIXED-RACE IMMIGRANT-SPAWN NOT-EVEN-BORN-HERE NASTY WOMAN OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE!!!!! VOTE TRUMP!!!!!!!

    Last weekend I ran into a former elementary-school classmate (whom I hadn’t seen in almost 60 years), & the sad thing is that although he’s a pretty intelligent professional guy & isn’t overtly Trumpist, he is completely convinced that Harris will be POTUS before 2021 is in the books.

    Not that it doesn’t concern me. I don’t consider Pirro’s offhand comment that Joe “wouldn’t even be on the ticket by Election Day” a prediction grounded in “secret knowledge” – but it works pretty well as a call for stochastic terrorism of the “will-no-one-rid-us-of-this-inconveniently-decent-Democrat” variety.

  132. 132.

    StringOnAStick

    @O. Felix Culpa: I’m growing a seedless cuke called Picollino and it has tons of both kinds of flowers.  You can see tiny, tiny cucumbers right behind about half the flowers when they open so that’s where the fruit comes from.  I can’t recommend this variety highly enough, it is super productive, tasty, and resistant to some of the typical cucumber diseases.  The seeds are about $1 each but they are worth it!

  133. 133.

    WaterGirl

    @Mary G: Not really disagreeing with you, but I think we need to look at the convention as a whole.

    If the folks putting this together are smart, and I think they are, they are building toward something with the nights of prime time programming and the issue-based things in the daytime.

    We are seeing these one piece at a time, obviously, but each event, prime time or not, is a chapter in the book that is the Dem convention.

    Besides the obvious reasons to mock 538 for their childish report card, they are foolishly judging each chapter as a stand-alone book, which is a mistake.

    Poblano should have stuck with what he was good at – the stats.  That’s why he was so useful for a couple of elections; no spin, just the facts.  I was worried he would get coopted when he hit the bigs, and here we are.

  137. 137.

    Ian

    @Immanentize:

    Well, other than the 3 or 4 times we did that already.  But those were in the 1800s…

    The argument I think Dorothy is trying to make is that as the moderate republicans become D voters there is a very realistic chance they could bolt on us for a John Anderson or Ross Perot style candidate.

  138. 138.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    You either die a Silver or live long enough to become a Cillizza. https://t.co/3u9flE7LTh
    — Tentin Quarantino (@agraybee) August 19, 2020

    Oooowooowooo OUTCH!

    (that’s the kind of burn that’s turning second degree, where the pain suddenly shoots up from “warning, warning!” all the way to “HOLY CRAP!”)

    I respect Nate Silver’s statistical chops… probably more than I used to respect Greenwald’s righteous anger, before it became self-righteous. But I must confess, sadly, it was *accurate*.

    (Oh: the T in “outch” is intentional. If people actually say “ouch” as a word, but it  hurts more than expected, they frequently do kind of stick a T  to get that -tch sound. Don’t ask me how I know this if you’re not interested in relatively mild BDSM.)

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