Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

A Senator Walker would be an insult to the state and the nation.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

We still have time to mess this up!

The next time the wall wtreet journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

This fight is for everything.

This blog will pay for itself.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Come on, man.

Why did Dr. Oz lose? well, according to the exit polls, it’s because Fetterman won.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

John Fetterman: Too Manly for Pennsylvania.  Paid for by the Oz for Senator campaign.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: The Work Goes On

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: The Work Goes On

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Ginned-up ‘controversy’ of the GOP day:

Reader Interactions

204Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    it’s amazing how talking to a normal person embarrasses trump so badly but bullshitting to a reporter is something he can do effortlessly. almost like there’s something slightly wrong with how the questions are being asked

    The majority of ordinary people don’t share a cultural affinity with Republicans.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    BTW, Trump is a fantastic debater and Biden will have his work cut out for him.

    Expectations, people.  You know the drill.

  7. 7.

    Kay

    I think Biden will be good at the town hall format Trump was so bad at. One on one talking to people is what Biden is best at.

    Also- I don’t have any reason to believe Trump when he says he isn’t preparing. I have no idea whether he’s preparing but it seems silly to take them at their word when he and his team lie constantly. I think he told four flat out lies in the first 10 minutes of the town hall. He could be bad at it and prepare. No telling.

  8. 8.

    Leto

    @Kay:

    He could be bad at it and prepare.

    This. I mean, they talked about dick size during some of his last debates. I’m sure the weight of the office has matured him past that…

  11. 11.

    Kay

    I know the “Democrat cities” part of the town hall is a national GOP campaign effort – they’re all parroting it, including the attorney general as he stumps for Trump across the country- but I think it’s jarring to regular people.

    I read that Jared was crowing that he “tricked” Democrats into defending Baltimore when the Trump Administration attacked Baltimore as if it’s a given in the United States to have some special loathing for Baltimore. I just don’t think normal non-political professionals hate US cities and it’s odd to hear a US President and his team attack them.  This is a niche GOP thing.

  12. 12.

    Kay

    I know people avoid Trump events and I cannot stand his voice and his phrasing but if he does another town hall (doubtful) you might want to watch. You probably don’t know how bad he is at talking to people who aren’t members of the media. I didn’t.

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay:

    Daniel [email protected]
    No, donations to Jill McCabe’s 2015 campaign weren’t illegal.
    No, Hillary Clinton didn’t make the donations.
    No, Andrew McCabe didn’t get the donations.
    No, Andrew McCabe wasn’t head of the FBI at the time.

    Fact check of ONE SENTENCE of a Trump tweet:

     I don’t want to see him live.

  15. 15.

    Geminid

    If trump is overconfident, I hope he stays overconfident. After the last Democratic debate between Biden and Sanders, USA Today had a coach of a perennial top college debate team rate the performances. He gave Biden an A, said it was Biden’s best debate yet. The coach backed up his mark with some detailed commentary.  Obviously a national presidential debate has a way different audience than a panel of college debate judges, but I think Biden will display competence. As for trump, he couldn’t hit the slow pitches Laura Ingraham was lobbing at him the other day, and if his prep is appearing before mobs of his base base, he could ruin himself with normal voters. (I don’t consider the reaction of the journalistic talking heads. At this point they are basically talking to each other and to political junkies; I think most debate viewers will be drawing their own conclusions).

  18. 18.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kay: The phrase “Democrats destroyed their own cities” is the headline for the Trump campaign ads that I’ve seen pop up on YouTube. It doesn’t quite have the ring of “it’s morning again in America.”

    But I do think it is normal for ordinary people to loathe American cities, if they’re white and they live in the suburbs/exurbs and especially if they’re older than about 45. It’s racism, of course. But I grew up in the 70s believing they were all uninhabitable hellholes because of stuff I saw on TV, and there are people who never got past that. This is a base-retention strategy for Trump. Not much of a median-voter reelection strategy though.

  19. 19.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Kay:

    including the attorney general as he stumps for Trump across the country

    This is jarring and awful in so many ways.

  20. 20.

    Leto

    @OzarkHillbilly: Biden has spoken about wanting to have a fact checker there, fact checking all of Trumpov’s bullshit in real time, and that’s just impossible. You’d never have a debate because Trumpov wouldn’t be able to go 3 sentences without lying. You’d have to have Daniel Dale there and even that wouldn’t be enough.

  23. 23.

    raven

    @Jager: Brings “Idiot Wind” to mind.

     

    I ran into the fortune-teller
    Who said, “beware of lightning that might strike”
    I haven’t known peace and quiet
    For so long I can’t remember what it’s like

  25. 25.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    BTW, Trump is a fantastic debater and Biden will have his work cut out for him.

    That right there, you’re doing God’s/FSM’s work

  26. 26.

    Leto

    @SiubhanDuinne: someone turned on the outside AC here in PA and I’m hating it. Low 50s here this morning and next week it’ll be in the low 40s at night. I know plenty of people are happy about the cooling weather but, personally, I hates it!

  29. 29.

    Bruce K

    @SiubhanDuinne: More to the point, which does it rhyme with, “tithe” or “give”? (For me, given the news of the last couple of weeks, especially the ICE-hysterectomy stuff, my answer is now “either works”.)

  31. 31.

    SFAW

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Your favorite president was right about exploding trees.

    The only exploding trees I could recall were the “stage trees” in a Larry Niven story.

    ETA: At least, I think they could explode.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    @Matt McIrvin:

    To be fair, I think cities were in worse shape in the 1970s than they are today.

    One of my pet theories is that a big reason Bill Clinton is hated because the rejuvenation of cities happened under his watch.

  36. 36.

    Leto

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: 
    I was thinking about that yesterday, and how woodworkers usually will have a tree sawn into planks, and then stack those planks for a couple of years to dry them out. I guess for all of these hundreds of years they’ve been doing it wrong. They should’ve just left the tree lying on the forest floor for about 17 months, then collected it, and used it then.

    Also I’m glad all the wingnuts have now glamped on to forest management practices in the same way they’re constitutional experts, or medical experts… (internal rage scream)

  37. 37.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Leto:I know plenty of people are happy about the cooling weather

    The Group W bench stands and gives a long and uproarious applause.

  38. 38.

    Leto

    @OzarkHillbilly: I think he’ll be dead tweeting like Herman Cain. Also I’m sure there will be a 3D trumpov beamed out to hate rallies like they did with Tupac at some concerts.

  40. 40.

    WereBear

    @Matt McIrvin: But I grew up in the 70s believing they were all uninhabitable hellholes because of stuff I saw on TV, and there are people who never got past that.

     
    My goodness, the crime dramas of the early 70s! I gleefully watch Midsomer Murders with the added thrill of seeing death in a ruralesque setting…

    I still say I can’ t believe out of all my choices I still picked NYC to move to after being such a fan of Kojak.

  41. 41.

    Immanentize

    @2liberal: If you look at all the polls 538 is putting into the algorithm, Biden is at 51% in all but the ones that are not pushing undecideds.  Right now, over 50% is the good thing.  Could/should be better, but that’s why we must work.

  43. 43.

    Raoul Paste

    I really enjoyed the name associated with one of the tweets in this post

    It was “frequent antifa flyer”

  47. 47.

    The Oracle of Solace

    @WereBear:

    Ah, but denial does have a practical purpose. You’re speaking of a substance that can be refined into blind loyalty, which can be used like epoxy to bind together a sinking presidency and keep it from polling below forty percent.

  48. 48.

    prostratedragon

    OK, here’s my screech of the week:

    Both Obama and Bush were HORRIBLE in their first debate when running for re-election. They clearly had not prepared like they did the first time.

    Trump seems to be repeating that mistake.

    Only wish I could use a nice, illuminated dropped capital and a gothic font.

  49. 49.

    Leto

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I don’t look forward to all the multiple layers I’ll need to wear just to take the dog for a walk, nor how the cold now totally wrecks my reformed body. I mean, I’m super happy that pumpkin spice everything is back. I just don’t like the cold, bleak, barren landscape that is October to April. I grew up in the south where “cold” was 50F :P

  52. 52.

    Geminid

    @Matt McIrvin: The republican candidate in my 5th Virginia congressional race is focusing on a base retention strategy, while Democratic candidate Cameron Webb is going for a broader appeal (it doesn’t hurt that Webb has raised a lot more money). Trump carried the 5th by 10 points in 2016, but if I had to bet, I’d put money on Webb.

  54. 54.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Leto: I, on the other hand, welcome the chill yet believe that “pumpkin spice” everything belongs in the trash, next to the cilantro. But it’s apple cider season, and I could hardly be happier.

  57. 57.

    Leto

    @Baud: Add Stephen King to the list. Pretty sure 99% of everything he wrote occurred in Maine and omg… NYC/liberal hell holes have nothing on Maine! :P

  58. 58.

    OzarkHillbilly

    SALEM — Chris Tofte blew past the blockade, his green Jeep Cherokee aimed for the bowels of the raging Beachie Creek fire.

    It was around 4 a.m. Tuesday morning, and he was desperately searching for his wife, son and mother-in-law. The family lived 4½ miles up North Fork Road SE, about 10 minutes from Lyons and 30 minutes from Salem.

    Halfway there, the road flanked by walls of fire and fallen trees, he stopped for a man whose arm was badly burned. The man wanted a ride but didn’t get in when he found out Chris was headed deeper into the wildfire.

    Chris agreed to pick him up on the way down, but the man wondered out loud whether he’d make it.

    Back in the Jeep, struggling to navigate a road once so familiar but now shrouded by smoke-filled darkness, Chris almost ran over what looked like a bikini-clad woman on the road. Once he was closer, he realized she was wearing underwear. Her hair was singed, her mouth looked almost black, and her bare feet were severely burned.

    He impatiently tried to help her into his car, explaining how he needed to find his wife and son, feeling like she was resisting.

    Finally, she spoke. “I am your wife.”

  60. 60.

    germy

    Trump: “A lot of people think the masks are not good.” Asked who they are, Trump says I’ll tell you who they are: “Waiters.”

    I don’t know.  Waiters wear their masks and think patrons who take off their masks to laugh and shout orders are not good.

  61. 61.

    Chris T.

    @Baud: I still can’t believe anyone lives in Maine after Murder She Wrote.

    Or Mendocino, at least.

    I want to see one of those series where the establishing shot (perhaps in the opening credit sequence) shows the highway sign: “SMALL TOWN, ANYSTATE – POPULATION 135 134 133 132″.

  64. 64.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Leto:  The cold does take it’s toll on these old bones but so does the heat. If one can pick the misery to suffer for eternity, I know which I’m picking.

  67. 67.

    catclub

    @germy: Trump said waiters think masks are bad, but everything after that was Trump thinking his waiters were not wearing masks right.

  71. 71.

    raven

    Eight people in Indonesia refused to wear face masks. They were ordered to dig graves for COVID-19 victims as punishment.

  74. 74.

    trnc

    @Kay: 

    Also- I don’t have any reason to believe Trump when he says he isn’t preparing. I have no idea whether he’s preparing but it seems silly to take them at their word when he and his team lie constantly. I think he told four flat out lies in the first 10 minutes of the town hall. He could be bad at it and prepare. No telling.

    The lie isn’t that he isn’t preparing – it’s that he’s so smart he doesn’t have to. If he wasn’t prepared for the questions in the town hall, that’s a pretty good indicator of what he’s working on for the debates.

    He isn’t disciplined enough to prepare for anything, and he needs cartoon presentations of intelligence briefings. Given the town hall performance, I suppose it’s possible that someone in the WH could convince him that he should prep, but that will just end in frustration after about 10 minutes.

  78. 78.

    prostratedragon

    @germy:  She handled him as well as anybody I’ve seen, up there with Nancy Pelosi and Hilary Clinton. Some of the other questioners –so many black women and men– did pretty well with him too. Might have slapped some sense into Stephanopoulos.

  81. 81.

    Amir Khalid

    16th September is Malaysia Day, distinct from Merdeka (independence) Day: it is the anniversary of the day that Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak joined Malaya to make up the newly renamed Federation of Malaysia. (Singapore’s relationship with KL was contentious — its leader Lee Kuan Yew never got on with the Tunku, our first PM — and it was expelled from the Federation on 8th August 1965.)

  87. 87.

    Amir Khalid

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Generally it’s ignored, except for a few perfunctory messages from the Government. There’s an actual day off only in Sabah and Sarawak. It’s a normal working day in the Peninsula.

    ETA Merdeka is traditionally celebrated like independence day anywhere else, a speech from His Majesty the Agong, a big parade (which I took part in in 1984 and 1989) but was cancelled this year for some reason. Then it’s a day off for everyone.

  91. 91.

    cope

    Little help here.  Despite two cups of joe, multiple viewings and an attempt to look at it on twitter for clarification (I don’t have it on my iPad), I don’t get the top cartoon.  I get his trumpiness surrounded by viri but the hardware stuff has me stumped.

  94. 94.

    germy

    @cope:  He’s standing on a stove.  He’s a stove flame.  He’s saying the stove will get cooler, but the stove is turned up, and he is burning. Actually, I think he’s the contents of a frying pan.

     

    EDIT:  This is why some editorial cartoonists label everything.

  95. 95.

    TS (the original)

    @Amir Khalid:

    Singapore’s relationship with KL was contentious — its leader Lee Kuan Yew never got on with the Tunku, our first PM — and it was expelled from the Federation on 8th August 1965.

    The things you learn on BJ. I did not know that, yet we learned about the Federation of Malaysia at school & had many Malaysian students at my university when I was there in the 1960s , I think under what was called “The Colombo Plan” .

  96. 96.

    Immanentize

    @cope: The other day Trump said, regarding climate change, that “it will just get cooler, you’ll see.”. The cartoon is Trump in a frying pan being cooked on high heat saying his now infamous prediction.  The virus sparks are gravy.

  97. 97.

    Ken

    @germy: It makes it clear why Fox is calling it an “ambush”.  The town hall was billed as being uncommitted voters, which according to customary usage means members of the local Republican party who don’t bother mentioning it to the reporters. Instead these were people who weren’t even pro-Trump.

  99. 99.

    Barbara

    @prostratedragon: Either he realized how embarrassing it would be to use his normal sycophantic approach of pulling his punches, or else, seeing ordinary people unafraid to stand up to Trump just gave him more courage than usual.

  100. 100.

    Kay

    @germy:

    I mean as far as your situation with your mother, that is just devastating because I can imagine how you feel and it sounds like a great woman and I’ll tell you she.. and I can…I’m pretty good with people.

    The “situation with her mother” is that her mother died.

  104. 104.

    Kay

    @Immanentize:

    I think he uses those weird phrases “the situation with your mother” because he doesn’t listen and he’s not sure what happened with her mother. His speech is basically all an elaborate effort to cover up that he doesn’t know anything. That’s why he uses all those extra, meaningless words.

    What’s discouraging about listening to him is that this FLEW for so long. He was able to pass this off – for decades. I think he’s probably terrified all the time on some level, because the whole thing is a fraud. He’s been doing it so long he doesn’t know any other way to operate, so in a situation like that, where he could have just listened to her three paragraphs and gotten all the information he needed, he uses his default, which is blah, blah, words, words, no meaning.

  105. 105.

    germy

    @Ken:

    Every time I watch a town hall like last night's, I'm blown away with how everyday people ask such better questions than professional journalists

    Access journalism is my profession's greatest curse. Too many reporters fear getting cut off for one tough Q. Real people don't care

    — Will Bunch Sign Up For My Newsletter (@Will_Bunch) September 16, 2020

  106. 106.

    randy khan

    As the 2016 debates showed, even when Trump prepares it doesn’t matter.  He’s going to say what he wants to say.

  107. 107.

    Nicole

    So Cuomo decided to do his daily briefing from his boat today.

    A) My governor is a dork.

    B) Out on the water not the best place to do a briefing that you hope to transmit to constituents via the Intertubes.  It’s been mostly the Technical Difficulties sign.

  108. 108.

    Kay

    Dave Weigel
    @daveweigel
    5m
    We’ve embraced Nothing Matters Mindset, but Biden’s lead on the “honest/trustworthy” question is underrated. It softens the blow of every Trump attack, bc swing voters don’t trust him. And pre-2020, Biden had a “blunt talk” rep, not a “he never lies” rep!

    The most corrosive part of the Trump Administration has been “nothing matters” re: their incessant lying. Lying has to matter. If it doesn’t we are in real trouble.
    I’m so grateful to (some) voters- the majority of voters- for holding to the standard that lying matters, even though they are essentially told over and over that it doesn’t matter.
    The Trump people are liars, which is why they aren’t trusted. Lying comes with a cost. That’s the cost.

  109. 109.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Immanentize: Better than my commercial paper prof who used The Usual Suspects for an exam fact pattern.  Keyser Sose just isn’t as scary when he is dealing with unsecured notes.

    ETA:  If that doesn’t say when I went to law school, nothing will.

  110. 110.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Leto: I’ve always said that Stephen King’s regular human Mainers scare me a lot more than the vampires and killer clowns.

    We’re two degrees of separation from one of the “great friends” of The Body / Stand By Me. Terrible person.

  111. 111.

    cope

    Thank you, smart persons, for the clarifications.  I was well aware of the comments trump made in California the other day but still could not connect them with the image.  Without the trump character and context of his comments, I would never have thought “stove” and “frying pan”.

  114. 114.

    Redshift

    @Kay: And I think the greatest flaw that Biden has a reputation for is actually a positive up against this. He’s known for “gaffes,” which means he says things that are more honest than is politically wise. Trying to attack that would only re-emphasize that he’s not known for expedient lies.

  116. 116.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Ken: Time for some interviews with random voters on the street, who always turn out later to be local Republican Party officials for some reason.

  117. 117.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Immanentize: Yeah, but he couldn’t be a holder in due course because he didn’t exist or something.  Beat that, crim boy!  I really didn’t like that class.

  118. 118.

    mrmoshpotato

    Imagine watching Trump for the last ~4-5 years and thinking wow, Trump flopped today because he hadn’t prepared, this is so out of character.

    I suppose its good that people can stay anon on here cause I can’t even imagine embarrassing myself this hard in real life.

    ROFLMAO!

  119. 119.

    mrmoshpotato

    Pelosi: House to stay in session until COVID-19 rescue pact

    Thank you Speaker Pelosi.  Has Sack Of Shit Mitch’s desk broken under the weight of the passed bills yet?

  121. 121.

    Jeffro

    @Ken: 

    The town hall was billed as being uncommitted voters, which according to customary usage means members of the local Republican party who don’t bother mentioning it to the reporters.

    So very, very true. Sorry ’bout that, Repubs! Perhaps y’all need to refine your sales pitch in the blessed marketplace of ideas.

  123. 123.

    debbie

    @Kathleen:

    Hey, I was just listening to two local reporters talking about the lawsuit brought by Ohio GOOPers against DeWine about the mask mandate. I can’t remember his last name, but that Vito guy says his reasoning is that masks are an infringement on his religious freedom…because masks hide his face which is the likeness of God.

    I’m not a believer, but I’d bet God is feeling mighty insulted.

  125. 125.

    PPCLI

    @Baud: Also worth remembering in connection with the “Democrat [sic] cities falling apart!” theme is that crime was much higher in NYC under Giuliani than it is now.

  126. 126.

    Ruckus

    @Kay:

    This is a niche GOP thing.

    Kay, ever so nice.

    This is a gop racist thing.

    Which is 75% of their policy goals.

    The other 75% is to steal all the money.

  130. 130.

    opiejeanne

    @OzarkHillbilly: The rest of that story about the woman telling her husband, “I am your wife” is even more chilling. She had her mother, her teenage son, and their dog in the car, the tires were melting and  the car wouldn’t move. She told her son to take the dog and run. Her mother was recovering from a broken leg and couldn’t move fast, so she left her and ran too. Last report I saw, the son and the dog were still missing.

    I’m still reeling from the thought of all of this, and the absolute horror of all of it, not least the part about leaving your mother in the car in that inferno.

  133. 133.

    opiejeanne

    @cope: It took me a while to figure out what I was looking at. It’s a skillet on fire, in the fire, on a stovetop (out of the frying pan, into the fire?). The short vertical black lines represent the burner grate. The curved black line to the right of the fire is the pan’s handle.

  137. 137.

    PPCLI

    @zhena gogolia: Hard to be “Headless Body in Topless Bar”.

    Though a headline from the Sun in Britain comes close. After a huge upset by Inverness Caldonian Thistle over much favored Celtic, the headline was:
    Super Caley go ballistic, Celtic are atrocious

  139. 139.

    debbie

    @raven:

    Jeez, that’s good news. This took up almost all of the local news last night. Who needs to know about floods, fires, etc ? //

  140. 140.

    Kelly

    @opiejeanne: I haven’t been able to bring myself to read that. My brother’s home was about 5 miles up but across the river from that description. The county sheriff banged on his door at 1:00 am telling them to get out fast and there was a steady stream of cars when they hit the road a few minute later. It was chaos.

    Our good friend Ken Cartwright home burned while he stayed on the air on KYAC  broadcasting the warnings.

    https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/wildfire/mill-city-radio-station-survives-broadcasts-through-santiam-fire/283-a280fc12-d908-4996-ac2b-a68cae890236

  142. 142.

    Kathleen

    @debbie: FFS. I haven’t heard about that law suit. There are so many. I’m so tired of these effers invoking The Almighty to justify their crimes. Wonder what a press conference with The Big Guy be like.

    Did you read Dispatch article about why Ohio Dept of Health hire rescinded her acceptance? Nice job Ohio. Looking forward to Governor Camacho’s administration.

  145. 145.

    catclub

    @Barbara: When was the last time Trump was served by a waiter in a commercial establishment? Fucking idiot.

     

    Never, but Trump is served by waiters all the time. And he was extremely upset when he found out that his waiter – who touched HIS plate, had tested positive for Covid19. This is the entire basis for his complaint about waiters and masks. – It did not keep that person away from touching HIS plate.

  147. 147.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    @Geminid: Of all the Trump team misarrogance (that is to say: being arrogant *without cause*… I mean, I’m a bit arrogant about my database knowledge – but I’m *damn* good, and if I’m a bit arrogant, even one of the best database people will agree “dude, you’re *allowed* to be at least *a bit* arrogant”), the most fruitful one is probably the idea that setting a low bar for Biden’s debate expectations is a good idea was probably the worst (yet, most fruitful).

    One thing I remember is how Obama, a good, decent, and fundamentally honest, man had problems dealing with a liar like Romney. Biden showed the way forward. Let them lie, but *respond*, even with a quick “not true” (or, most famously, with “please proceed, governor” – and I bet he can *still* bluff in a high stakes poker game, by using that phrase!) .

    Biden will *smear* Trump in the debates. I hope he picks up on Hillary’s strategy of calling him “donald” (it’s said he doesn’t like that name), but the fact of the matter is, Biden is ready to laugh, and scoff, at BS by Trump, just as any normal, informed, human being would do. And I think the debates will highlight that he has plenty of reason to scoff.

    Remember: Trump thought his big moment was threatening to jail a political opponent without evidence, because it ran thrills up the legs of his supporters, a statement that, in any healthy democracy, would have assured his resounding defeat. Alas, we don’t live in a healthy democracy, but, the press hasn’t been savaging Biden the way it did Hillary Clinton.

  150. 150.

    germy

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Found On Mars: Statue Of Elvis

     

    (On the 1st of October 1989, an English Tabloid Newspaper proclaimed that a Russian space probe called ‘Phobus’ had detected a statue of Elvis Presley in a formation of Martian rocks.)

  151. 151.

    The Moar You Know

    I was thinking about that yesterday, and how woodworkers usually will have a tree sawn into planks, and then stack those planks for a couple of years to dry them out. I guess for all of these hundreds of years they’ve been doing it wrong. They should’ve just left the tree lying on the forest floor for about 17 months, then collected it, and used it then.

    Also I’m glad all the wingnuts have now glamped on to forest management practices in the same way they’re constitutional experts, or medical experts… (internal rage scream)

    @Leto: I was a guitar builder who has been trained from picking appropriate trees to proper resaw and storage to air/kiln drying to manufacture. These people know less than nothing.

    And we need to start massive controlled burns throughout all of the West Coast or we are going to be in a world of hurt sooner rather than later. Yes, this will cause serious air quality and environmental problems. The alternatives are far worse; do nothing or clearcut.

  153. 153.

    Pappenheimer

    I remember watching a Merdeka parade in KL in the 70’s – I was most impressed by the fortitude of the soldiers in full dress uniform who stood in ranks in the Malaysian afternoon climate (always 85+% humidity, usually 85-90 degrees F) while politician after politician made speeches as long-winded as you’d expect in any country. Every once in a while a squaddie would pass out. I later found out that the British Army (on which the Malaysian Army is based) has specific rules for passing out while in ranks – take a step back, half turn, and fall between the rows. They’ve been doing this for a while.

  156. 156.

    The Moar You Know

    The rest of that story about the woman telling her husband, “I am your wife” is even more chilling. She had her mother, her teenage son, and their dog in the car, the tires were melting and the car wouldn’t move. She told her son to take the dog and run. Her mother was recovering from a broken leg and couldn’t move fast, so she left her and ran too. Last report I saw, the son and the dog were still missing.

    I’m still reeling from the thought of all of this, and the absolute horror of all of it, not least the part about leaving your mother in the car in that inferno.

    @opiejeanne: The mother was critically injured and died. The boy and dog made it to another car and took shelter. They were found with the dog on the boy’s lap, both dead. At least the boy and dog had each other at the end.

  157. 157.

    catclub

    since it is an open thread:  Social security ‘holiday’ and federal employees – wtf

    This is a total clusterfuck.  I am a federal employee, and they say that
    they will
    do additional withholding from jan through april to pay the owed SS taxes
    for 2020 to repay the omitted SS taxes from sep-dec 2020..

    I have adjusted my withholding to cancel out the useless
    trump offered SS amounts. In 2021 (jan through April)
    I will re-adjust my withholding so that my paychecks remain about
    constant throughout.

    But when will they issue W2 forms for 2020?  will they issue revised
    W2 forms after april?  usually, any withholding done in 2021 will only
    be applied
    to 2021 taxes, but here, they want to do withholding in 2021 and apply
    some (the social security part)  of  it to 2020 taxes. But not the regular federal tax withholding
    What if I file in February?

  158. 158.

    Betty Cracker

    @The Moar You Know: Such an awful story. I read it a few days ago and have been haunted by it ever since. IIRC, the boy and dog ran back to the car where the grandmother was. Heartbreaking.

  159. 159.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Baud:

    To be fair, I think cities were in worse shape in the 1970s than they are today.

    They definitely were, though the change was not all for the good–the cities also got expensive and there are many people who just got pushed out.

    And there were, at the time, also a lot of sitcoms that still portrayed living in New York as an exciting thing for a young person. And Sesame Street, which in the 70s portrayed the city landscape with a surprising amount of visible grit but also as a friendly place to live. Sesame Street, of course, has been an irritant to American racists from day one.

  160. 160.

    Kay

    Kirk A. Bado
    @kirk_bado
    And from POLITICO this morning in #MI03: A House Majority PAC poll conducted by GSG research (Sept. 8-10; 400 LVs; +/-4.9%) found Hillary Scholten (D) and Peter Meijer (R) tied at 41%. The poll also found Joe Biden leading President Trump, 49%-41% in the district

    Betsy DeVos country.
    Was a Trumpster district. Trump shouldn’t just be ahead, he should be well ahead. He’s not.

  161. 161.

    Yutsano

    @Kay: Assuming things hold*, Biden’s numbers should push Scholten over the top. Assuming Biden’s numbers hold. We’ll have to see if the phenomenon known as “Republicans Coming Home” still holds true. For some it will. Depends on if it’s enough here for a flip.

    *I assume nothing in this environment. But my hope is that Unca Joe gets better and better numbers from here.

  164. 164.

    PPCLI

    @opiejeanne: Yes, variations on “Super xxx goes ballistic, yyyy are atrocious” have been used a bunch of times, and this wasn’t even the first. I should have done research before posting, and if I had I would have found (thanks, Guardian!) the 30 years older Liverpool Echo headline after Liverpool’s Ian Callahan played well in defeating Queens Park Rangers.

    “Super Cally goes ballistic, QPR atrocious”

  165. 165.

    Kay

    @Yutsano:

    Her opponent has an unearned advantage:

     He is the oldest son of Hank Meijer and the grandson of supermarket chain founder Frederik Meijer. His father’s family has been recognized as one of the wealthiest in the state of Michigan by Forbes

    Everyone in the state instantly recognizes his name – Meijer supermarkets are everywhere in Michigan, and they’re good supermarkets. IMO :)

  167. 167.

    Leto

    @chopper: I’m fairly certain I have cinnamon lung (*cough, cough* I think I have the cinnamon lung, pop) and I’m 1000% certain the wife has blanket scarf syndrome. But considering the fact she’s a master level knitter, it’s not so much a syndrome as it is artwork ?

  168. 168.

    RobertDSC-Work

    @raven:

    I unfollowed the University of Michigan after today’s vote. I will always have a soft spot for the Big House, but this vote broke me. I won’t watch them anymore.

  171. 171.

    germy

    The new group Democrat Voters Against Joe Biden is run by a fmr GOP Senate candidate, a GOP activist who paid $1M to settle allegations of illicit politicking, and a self-described celebrity psychic. One thing it appears to be missing: any actual Democrats https://t.co/iDbgI8jN1a— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) September 16, 2020

    Your first hint is that actual Democrats would never call themselves “Democrat Voters” https://t.co/OWK1vw91c0— Julian Sanchez (@normative) September 16, 2020

  174. 174.

    Kay

    We’re really lucky in a way that all the Trump low quality hires are dishonest, because most people don’t believe a word any of them say anymore, which makes beating back the lies a little easier.

    If he had hired even one or two honest people it would be harder.

  175. 175.

    Kent

    @Baud: The majority of ordinary people don’t share a cultural affinity with Republicans.

    The majority of people also don’t give a shit if Trump or his lackeys never call them again to whisper some off-the-record dirt that they want published.

  176. 176.

    Kay

    @Immanentize:

    I feel like that name recognition is an unfair advantage, though. People have a positive association with Meijer.

    Meijer is what Wal Mart would be if Wal Mart invested in the business, instead of running filthy, poorly lit and understaffed stores that are falling apart and eyesores in the community.

  177. 177.

    Geoduck

    [Looks out window at all the smoke that’s been roiling there for a week now.]

    You all can just shut up about how cool weather is unpleasant.

  179. 179.

    Pappenheimer

    Amir:

    2020 -1978 = a lot of years under the bridge, it’s probable my memory is failing me. I do remember those poor guys out there, though. And if you were one of them, well done. I remember my years in KL fondly, but as a privileged expat in Damansara Heights, so there may be a rosy tint in my glasses.

  180. 180.

    J R in WV

    @cope: 

    I don’t get the top cartoon. I get his trumpiness surrounded by viri but the hardware stuff has me stumped.

    It’s a frying pan filled with Trump surrounded by gas flames on a stove.

  181. 181.

    geg6

    @raven:

    As an employee of a Big Ten school, you bet I’m fucking outraged.  The quarantine housing at the main campus is filling up and this stupid shit is what they care about?  Fuck football.  Just fucking fuck it.

  182. 182.

    narya

    @The Moar You Know: I have toured the Martin factory, including the place where the wood is stored. Millions of dollars of wood. And got to talk to the guy who was grading the grain–got him talking about his work, which was SOOOO fun.

  184. 184.

    FelonyGovt

    @Ken: Watching the brief clips he looks so BORED and dismissive when the people are speaking. He can’t wait to get the conversation back around to himself.

  186. 186.

    Geminid

    @raven: The Big 10 will try to play this fall, but will they? U.Va. was going to start their season this weekend against Virginia Tech, but Covid-19 problems kept Tech from practicing this week, and now the game will be played at “a date to be determined.” Now the Cavaliers’ opener is to be next weekend at Duke, but that seems like a 50-50 proposition. I’ve got no big problem with the leagues trying to play, but I question whether they can pull it off. What with schools opening and relaxation of and resistance to social distancing measures, I think we are heading into a third surge in the Covid flood and it will be tough for college to start a season, even tougher to finish one.

  187. 187.

    opiejeanne

    @Omnes Omnibus: Oh my god. I love that article soooo much! Who knew there were a whole group of Gordon Ramsey look-alike dwarf porn stars. I read that aloud to my husband and had trouble keeping my composure.

    LMAO! ROFL!

  191. 191.

    Raven

    1. @Geminid: your guess is as good as mine. They set a 5% standard for infection and 21 day quarantine so it seems to me they are setting themselves up for failure.
  192. 192.

    James E Powell

    There is apparently a new Rasmussen poll that has Trump pulling ahead of Biden and it is lighting up twitter like a west coast forest fire. It’s over libtards!

    I expect cable news shows to follow. They want the election to be close and they all have their fingers crossed for a Trump comeback. Maggie has already written the article.

  196. 196.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Baud:

    Makes me think that the elite news media outlets need to start hiring mid-career lawyers from criminal or family law practice backgrounds. People who are able to ask followup questions without worry, and who enjoy making witnesses squirm, in other words.

  197. 197.

    J R in WV

    @Kay:

    I read that Jared was crowing that he “tricked” Democrats into defending Baltimore when the Trump Administration attacked Baltimore as if it’s a given in the United States to have some special loathing for Baltimore.

    We’ve visited Baltimore a couple of times. Met an old friend and wife’s college roommate once at Inner Harbor to shop bookstores and eat very well. Spent a weekend there another time, and drove on east to Rehobeth Beach, late September, so virtually deserted. A wonderful place when school is in session, art galleries, book shops, nice beach to walk on.

    Baltimore is nice to visit… but Jarvanka wouldn’t know that. They don’t do that kind of thing. They need to hang with Mohammed Bone Saw for fun!

  198. 198.

    misterpuff

    @Kay: Well, its obvious Jared has a loathing for Baltimore. Thats where his slums are.

    He’s just mad they didn’t film The Wire at his properties.

  199. 199.

    J R in WV

    @Matt McIrvin:

    …But I do think it is normal for ordinary people to loathe American cities, if they’re white and they live in the suburbs/exurbs and especially if they’re older than about 45. It’s racism, of course….

    Living in the woods as we do, when we want to go somewhere different, we don’t visit a state park, which would be like where we live… We visit a city for the culture. Ashville, NC, or Baltimore, or NYC, or Pittsburgh, or Columbus OH. All of these cities are a days drive, and interesting. Cincinnati, too. Louisville and Lexington KY, too.

    Saw Pink Floyd at Rupp Arena in Lexington with friends long ago, and then again at OSU stadium in Columbus with a completely different set of friends. That was the end of the tour, after seeing the show at the beginning of the tour. Culture!

  200. 200.

    Bill Arnold

    @debbie:
    (Copied from an old thread):
    Moses wore a veil for a while so as to not expose the Israelites to the radiant glow of melding/being with (/channeling/hosting/avataring) a divine. (This is technically known as “source control”. :-) He took the veil off to go inside, but he was the lone human breathing inside so that was OK. So Jewish/Christian scriptures are at least unclear about mask wearing.
    Exodus 34:33-35

    33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.

  202. 202.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @opiejeanne: I realize it’s a dead thread.

    But it gets even worse. The son and dog circled back to the car—smoke was so bad that the mother didn’t see it—and were found dead with the grandmother. Apparently the boy tried to drive the car to safety.

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