Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

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

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

We are aware of all internet traditions.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

You cannot shame the shameless.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Come on, man.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Let’s finish the job.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

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

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Biden-Harris 2020 / Monday Morning Open Thread: Democratic Messaging, ON POINT

Monday Morning Open Thread: Democratic Messaging, ON POINT

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Also, every ‘but her emails’ NYTimes political ‘reporter’ and their bosses owes this woman a personal apology:

Reader Interactions

148Comments

  1. 1.

    germy

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Brad Parscale has been hospitalized after he threatened to harm himself, according to Florida police and campaign officials.

    Police officers talked Parscale out of his Fort Lauderdale home after his wife called police to say that he had multiple firearms and was threatening to hurt himself when he was hospitalized Sunday under the state’s Baker Act. That act allows anyone deemed to be a threat to themselves or others to be detained for 72 hours for psychiatric evaluation.

  4. 4.

    Baud

    Here’s what Trump’s DOJ told the Supreme Court.  Black and white, in writing.

    Once the individual mandate and the guaranteed-issue and community-rating provisions are invalidated, the remainder of the ACA should not be allowed to remain in effect.

  5. 5.

    germy

    I just learned of the Brad Parscale story this morning.

    But then I checked back over some older threads here, and I see the commenters discussed it thoroughly.

    There is no scooping jackals.  It can’t be done.

  6. 6.

    Fester Addams

    Not exactly feeling a flood of sympathy for Brad “I built a campaign Death Star for Donald Trump” Parscale but, by all means, don’t allow the shithead to off himself, we may want to hear from him regarding more Trump crime.

  7. 7.

    A Ghost to Most

    @germy:

     

    There is no scooping jackals. It can’t be done.

    Yea, no. It took until THIS month for the bulk of jackals to realize how far along the coup is, and how dangerous our situation is.

  9. 9.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud: 
    Nothing so mystical as karma is needed to explain it. We made a corrupt, incompetent, racist rapist the President of the United States. The consequences are not surprising in the least and need no otherworldly explanation.

  12. 12.

    Joe Falco

    @Fester Addams: 

    Exactly. Trump and his accomplices will meet their end sooner or later, but not before there’s possibly a chance for justice to be done if it can be helped.

  15. 15.

    Betty Cracker

    The Englishman who coined “shitgibbon” early in our (inter)national nightmare continues to impress with his colorful insults:

  16. 16.

    germy

    WH Press Corp: today is your day to ask about Trump’s drug use. He gave you an opening with his tweet. I was an eye witness to him snorting Adderall. I will testify to this under oath in any courtroom or congressional hearing. Trump is an addict. @realDonaldTrump— NoelCaslerComedy (@CaslerNoel) September 27, 2020

    I can also attest that he received his first prescription for an amphetamine in 1982 through a doctor named Greenberg. Stayed on the drug for at least 8 years. Not supposed to be used longer than 20 days or risks addiction, paranoia, etc. https://t.co/l3TOBnEjoi— Kurt "Mask Up, Vote Early" Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) September 28, 2020

    Trump’s full pharmacopeia, when revealed, promises to be dazzling. I bet he’s throwing in discontinued drugs such as Darvon like an evil master chef cooking with endangered species. https://t.co/sJc8uUPJ43— Roy Edroso (@edroso) September 28, 2020

  17. 17.

    Gin & Tonic

    A Twitter comment on the NYT tweet about the tax story.

    I’m a Ukrainian living in Ukraine, and I paid more than $750 in federal income tax to the US government in 2019 after working in Vermont for 2 months last summer making $15/hour https://t.co/1DEA2c1Oya
    — Oksana Parafeniuk (@Oks_Parafeniuk) September 28, 2020

  18. 18.

    George

    @Baud:  I am a frequent lurker and infrequent commenter, so take whatever I write with that in mind.

    But liberals need to stop promoting group self-guilt. I, at least, didn’t treat Clinton poorly and I vocally supported her among my social group as well as with a few bucks.

    The nation owes her no apology. The lunatics on the right who kept up 20 to 30 years of hatred for her owe the apology. The New York Times owes her an apology. The people who could not bring themselves to vote for her in November 2016 because Clinton had “not quite convinced” them owe her an apology.

    Those parties are the ones who owe America an apology as well.

    Don’t smear the sane among us with that group guilt. I, at least, did what was right and I don’t feel bad about it.

  20. 20.

    Kay

    Is the new supreme court justice embarrassed that the President has already announced she’ll be casting the deciding vote to keep his crooked ass in power? Or that he’s already announced that she’s voiding the ACA protections?

    This incredibly arrogant notion these people have that their personal integrity is somehow not affected by the company they choose to keep and the actions they implicitly validate is pure nonsense. Trump is smearing his shit all over her. She isn’t going to come away clean. She takes the seat tainted and it wasn’t the imaginary “anti Catholic Democrats” that tainted her it was the President and her ideological fellow travelers. Lie down with dogs…..

  25. 25.

    Gin & Tonic

    Few people, probably even among the well-informed on an almost-top-10,000 blog, know where Nagorno-Karabakh is. It’s been the subject of a “frozen conflict” between Azerbaijan and Armenia for decades. Very recently it became un-frozen; shots have been fired, and both countries have declared martial law.

    Now while the mythical Ohio diner people couldn’t find Azerbaijan on a map if you paid them, there’s a “Trump property” there. Ivanka has visited, more than once (not sure if DJT has.) How cynical should I be this morning?

  26. 26.

    Kay

    It isn’t just the President either. Ted Cruz tweeted that he needs 9 on the supreme court to drag Trump’s ass over the finish line. She’s accepting this? Fine with her if the far Right pre-announce her decisions? She has no agency or responsibility in this at all? She’s not going to even try to defend the idea that the court she’s joining has some integrity? She can’t go the men of the far Right and ask them to stop portraying her as a crooked political hack because that’s bad for the court and the country? Or is it just any means to an end? Because if it is then she is a crooked political hack.

  27. 27.

    germy

    Last year Republicans blasted a firehose of hatred + vitriol my way because I treated myself to a $250 cut & lowlights on my birthday.

    Where’s the criticism of their idol spending $70k on hairstyling?

    Oh, it’s nowhere because they’re spineless, misogynistic hypocrites? Got it. https://t.co/xCQGwW7EK5

    — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 28, 2020

  30. 30.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    Hey, I’m not destroying her credibility. Her President, Party and fellow far Right ideologues are. And that’s apparently fine with her.

  31. 31.

    germy

    @Gin & Tonic:  Trump was asked about it, and he didn’t know anything either.  “We’re looking into it strongly,” he replied with a confused expression on his face.

  33. 33.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    Ted Cruz is a respected lawyer on the Right. Announcing he needs this judge to hand the GOP an election taints the judge more than any Democrat has or will. They smeared her themselves.

  34. 34.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay: Because if it is then she is a crooked political hack.

    She is a crooked political hack, that’s why she was picked for the job.

  35. 35.

    Sloane Ranger

    @Kay:

     

    She can’t go the men of the far Right and ask them to stop portraying her as a crooked political hack because that’s bad for the court and the country? Or is it just any means to an end? Because if it is then she is a crooked political hack.

    I believe the fringe Catholic religious group she belongs to preaches that women should be subordinate to men. How she (and they) can believe this and still promote her as a judge, let along Supreme Court Justice, beggars the mind. How can she exercise control of her courtroom when there’s a male lawyer present? Or is it only certain men she has to obey?

  36. 36.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Joe will do well in the debates in a way that doesn’t hit you in the face at first. With both Palin and Ryan, his manner was a large part of what impressed. He was poised, experienced, a little amused. It was that rather than aggressive attacks or zingers that I remember.

  37. 37.

    Gin & Tonic

    Does he think people who pay taxes are losers and suckers
    — George Conway (@gtconway3d) September 27, 2020

    Wasn’t this asshole supposed to stay off Twitter and concentrate on his family? At least his horrid wife has appeared to be doing so.

  39. 39.

    Joe Falco

    @George:

    The nation owes her no apology. The lunatics on the right who kept up 20 to 30 years of hatred for her owe the apology. The New York Times owes her an apology. The people who could not bring themselves to vote for her in November 2016 because Clinton had “not quite convinced” them owe her an apology.

    Seconded!

  43. 43.

    MattF

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I think the question is how he’ll respond to all the lies. Everyone knows there will be an incoming avalanche of bullshit— and Biden’s not the fact-checking type, and can be short-tempered. We shall see.

  44. 44.

    germy

    My mother and Ruth Bader Ginsburg died within 24 hours of each other and all I imagine is two extremely tiny, highly educated women kicking down the doors and announcing their arrival. Wherever it is.

    — Elizabeth Hackett (@LizHackett) September 20, 2020

    I will only say this. And I'll be blunt.

    During a pandemic, you don't get to see the mom you talked to every night. She comes home in a box of dust.

    I had a better goodbye with my dog.

    Vote.

    — Elizabeth Hackett (@LizHackett) September 25, 2020

  45. 45.

    germy

    Fort Lauderdale Police responded to a home in reference to an armed male attempting suicide Sunday afternoon. When officers arrived on the scene, they made contact with the wife of the man who told them her husband was armed, had access to multiple firearms inside the house and was threatening to harm himself. She had placed the 911 call, according to police.

    Somehow I suspect the story would have ended differently if Brad had been a black male (or woman) rather than a famous white dude.

  46. 46.

    Lapassionara

    @Sloane Ranger: That’s the question I have. How can someone who believes that wives must submit to their husbands be trusted as a judge? Who will be making the decisions?

  49. 49.

    Jeffro

    @Kay:Trump is smearing his shit all over her. She isn’t going to come away clean. She takes the seat tainted and it wasn’t the imaginary “anti Catholic Democrats” that tainted her it was the President and her ideological fellow travelers. Lie down with dogs…

    “I like wine”, Barrett said with tears welling up in her eyes at her hearing…

  51. 51.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Lapassionara: When my dear wife and I got married, back in the Bronze Age, in a fairly traditional ceremony, she insisted that we memorize the (traditional) vows and recite them in full on our own, rather than repeating after the officiant. That way she could omit the “obedience” clause, and if questioned later, say “oh, gee, it slipped my mind in the emotion of the moment.” This was on advice she got from my mother.

  52. 52.

    Steeplejack

    @Kay:

    Speaking of Amy Coney Barrett, I wanted to revisit the Times piece by Elizabeth Bruenig that you referenced yesterday (“Amy Coney Barrett and the New, Old Anti-Catholicism”).

    Generally, contemporary American Catholics aren’t particularly beholden to the church; as I wrote recently, the logic of partisanship has replaced the moral primacy of the faith. That means that, for most Catholics, their religious beliefs never clash with their civic interests in a disruptive way. When they do, the solution is typically some kind of exemption from particular legal or civic obligations.

    Judge Barrett has meditated on this matter herself, as a co-author of a 1998 law review article addressing this genre of conundrum. The essay considers the options of Catholic judges hearing capital punishment cases, which the state permits but the church forbids. Judge Barrett and her co-author maintain that Catholic judges must or should recuse themselves from such cases, concluding that “judges cannot—nor should they try to—align our legal system with the Church’s moral teaching whenever the two diverge. They should, however, conform their own behavior to the Church’s standard.” With individuals, this kind of resolution usually suffices.

    By this logic, shouldn’t Barrett also recuse herself from any cases involving abortion?! But this is skipped right over in Bruenig’s piece.

  53. 53.

    Betty Cracker

    You know how sometimes when there’s a really terrible call in a sportsball game, the umps/refs will do a “make-up call” later to balance the scales? I feel like that’s what The Times is doing here. Their Beltway coverage will almost certainly remain abysmal, but maybe their very good investigative reporters are trying to make up for the damage. Too bad about all the dead people, destroyed international standing, etc., but here’s a massive Trump scandal to chew on for a while.

  54. 54.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    I know they want to focus on the threat to the ACA but I really feel like the Dems should also spend some time asking Judge Amy about all the ways Trump has violated his oath of office. Get this supposed Constitutional scholar on record as knowing nothing about the Constitution and how it applies. Also ask her if a case involves a national security threat and Constitutional Presidential powers, should Supreme Court judicial review be expedited (as Bush vs. Gore was)  in the name of national security, or should it be slow walked from the lowest court up through the appeals process over the course of several years?

  55. 55.

    satby

    @Lapassionara: And in that cult (which numbers about 1700 in South Bend, where it was founded) a wife is subservient to her husband but both are subservient to a “head”.  So who would call the shots on her decisions, her husband or his head?

    From wikipedia:

    Each member has someone called a “head”, who acts as a personal adviser. In general, heads give encouragement, correction, and help in decision-making. Men have other men as their heads. Married women are headed by their husbands.

  56. 56.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Steeplejack: Generally, contemporary American Catholics aren’t particularly beholden to the church;

    Generally, contemporary American Catholics aren’t particularly beholden to God either.

  57. 57.

    lowtechcyclist

    Joe Biden “intends to deliver his debate answers in words. If the president thinks his best case is made in urine he can have at it.”

    “We’d expect nothing less from Donald Trump, who pissed away the chance to protect the lives of 200K Americans when he didn’t make a plan to stop COVID-19.”

    Did his campaign really say that? That’s fucking awesome!!

  59. 59.

    There go two miscreants

    @germy: That was strange: your comment of several paragraphs with some links was hidden as if pied — and I definitely do not have you pied; I see your other comments just fine.

    ETA: #16

  63. 63.

    Kay

    @Steeplejack:

    I don’t know. I suppose she could justify hearing an abortion case because she’ll rely on a legal distinction rather than a moral one. She won’t overturn Roe based on Catholic doctrine. She’ll overturn Roe because it’s unconstitutional, and she has to hear it to overturn it.
    I mean, she COULD do the same for the death penalty, but the article assumes the judge hearing the death penalty case would believe the death penalty is constitutional, leaving only the moral objection.
    Roe, legal issue, can hear it to overturn it. Death penalty, no legal issue, only moral objection.

  64. 64.

    Baud

    @George:

    It’s not self guilt.  It’s about the fact that the nation is a collective, and we are all tainted by collective actions, whether it be Bush era torture or the demonization of Hillary.  BJ as a separate collective has nothing to feel guilty about.

  67. 67.

    PJ

    @Kay:  I am certain that Ms. Coney Barrett is deeply concerned about being appointed to the Supreme Court by an illegitimate, incompetent, corrupt President who has done tremendous damage to this country in the course of enriching himself with the office and ensuring his re-election by illegal means (not to mention all the bigotry), and who is in hock for more than $400 million,  and in order to maintain her honor and self-respect, and to respect the will of the American people when it is less than 40 days from the election, will announce this week that she is withdrawing from consideration for the Supreme Court and that she is asking the Senate to refrain from confirming another Justice until after the inauguration.

    LOL.

    She has no shame, and will gladly use Trump’s and the GOP’s shameless norm-destruction to advance herself and the right wing agenda, and, like the evangelicals, will tell herself that Trump is the imperfect vessel through which her god has chosen to improve the world.

  69. 69.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: David Roberts of Vox observed the following:

    “Originalism” is sophistry reverse-engineered to serve conservative group interests & is freely thrown overboard any time it drifts into conflict w/ those interests. This is also true of federalism, fiscal conservatism, “law & order,” evangelical morality, & all the rest of it.

    Truth.

  70. 70.

    geg6

    @lowtechcyclist:

    I loved that response.  It is just perfection, as far as I’m concerned.  When it first came out last evening, there was a lot of pearl clutching here and elsewhere about it being vulgar.  Tough shit.  Vulgar is where this country is and it is the only thing that seems to get some people’s attention and support.

    I’ve seen Jennifer O’Malley Dillon (is that who tweeted this?  I think so but can’t find attribution at the moment) interviewed on Showtime’s The Circus.  She’s a badass and spoke pretty plainly in conversation with John Heilman.  I really liked her and related to her.

  71. 71.

    Baud

    @geg6:

    I agree, although it saddens me a little that only a white guy could get away with it.

    ETA: Maybe Katie Porter could too. I guess we’ll find out when she runs for president.

  72. 72.

    Ken

    @germy: [communications director Tim Murtaugh] uses Brads meltdown to attack Democrats and RINOs

    Not going to click through, but has he warned that more members of the Trump campaign might become suicidal if the bad news continues?  Because I’m not seeing that as much of a motivation.

  73. 73.

    Steeplejack

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Attribution in this story:

    “Vice President Biden intends to deliver his debate answers in words. If the president thinks his best case is made in urine he can have at it,” said Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager. “We’d expect nothing less from Donald Trump, who pissed away the chance to protect the lives of 200K Americans when he didn’t make a plan to stop COVID-19.”

  74. 74.

    Kattails

    OMG I couldn’t even finish watching HRC because of the clown faces Trump was making. I deeply and sincerely hope that his screwing of so many people over the course of his life finally catches up with him.
    As for Barrett, I don’t see that a potential felon should be nominating any judges for anything, and given the taint on her occupancy that would be engendered by the blatant hypocrisy of pushing forward after the Merrick Garland fiasco, I think that her accepting it is proof of bad judgement. (OH, nipped down to the bottom and missed all of Kay’s exquisite comments on the matter–well, seconded then.)

  75. 75.

    geg6

    LOLOLOLOLOL!

    Just got a call from some police organization asking me to support them against the threats of defunding.  Told him no, not really going to, because I support BLM.  The silence on the other end before the click was profound.

  76. 76.

    Barbara

    @geg6: They managed to get past grabbing women by the p*ssy and sending people back to sh*thole countries they can fucking well get past “pissing away” the health and well being of Americans.

    I always look at 538 polls in the morning and I am starting to feel the teensiest bit hopeful.  I don’t actually expect Biden to win Texas or Georgia but I hope the fact that they are as close as Florida means something positive for us.

    And as for ACB, I am not reading the details.  The politicking over the Supreme Court over the last 30 years has made me realize how antiquated it is.  We need a larger court, one that gives senior status to justices over the age of 70, and appoints their successor at that time whether they choose to stick around or not.  I think the court should have 15 members, and a minimum case load that requires panels of five, and then operating en banc.  A democracy that hinges one one or two swing votes in a politicized court is not a democracy.  This is how Iran operates, basically, with a small number of people serving as a junta.  I understand there are basically no norms or constraints, but our norms are fading fast.

  78. 78.

    PJ

    @OzarkHillbilly: No more than any sinner is beholden to God.  And if there’s one thing anyone who was raised Catholic will never forget, it’s that you’re a sinner and have no cause to be self-righteous.  Not that that stops assholes, Catholic or not.

  85. 85.

    wenchacha

    @Kay: Believe it or not, religious extremists and “natural law” enthusiasts have little trouble with our secular humanist notions of “integrity.” You win the Kingdom of God by all means necessary. Sorry not sorry.

  87. 87.

    germy

    I saw this comment over at LGM about Trump and it made me laugh:

    So the guy is born on third base and steals second.

    ( Thanks to commenter BobOso )

  88. 88.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @geg6:

     

    The silence on the other end before the click was profound.

    That was just the caller taking his time to carefully enter your contact information and address into a “special” spreadsheet.

    Expect a visit soon.

  89. 89.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Kattails: That’s an “opinion” piece, but, interestingly, it’s by Tim O’Brien, who actually *has* seen Trump’s tax returns, although he can’t say anything about them (his lawyers got them in discovery when Trump sued O’Brien for libel – and lost.)

  91. 91.

    laura

    Well, my home town of Santa Rosa is on fire again. It’s currently spreading in from the east end of town and evacuations have been underway since the midnight hours. Just a windy sky full of burning embers looking to land and ignite any/everything available for fuel. I’m gutted. Gonna be a long Monday.

  93. 93.

    PPCLI

    @Kattails: Hopefully Biden hits Trump with this early out of the gate tomorrow night. Along with his sons both stating back in the day that there was an avalanche of money coming in from Russia.

    “Why won’t my opponent tell us who he owes a billion dollars to?”

    Maybe followed up by: “Maybe this explains why he doesn’t dare ever make even the mildest criticism of Vladimir Putin?”

  94. 94.

    germy

    @PST:  I used to get those calls all the time, back in our landline days.

    And then there was a local newspaper article warning that police never call for donations.

  97. 97.

    ...now I try to be amused

    @satby: 

    And in that cult (which numbers about 1700 in South Bend, where it was founded) a wife is subservient to her husband but both are subservient to a “head”.

    I can’t help but think of the nautical definition of “head”.

  99. 99.

    Ken

    @germy: See, it’s not the police calling for donations, it’s the police benevolent association, or the friends of police, or the police union. Completely different entities, legally.

  101. 101.

    germy

    @Ken:  Yes, and I find it so odd, because they are all the highest paid in every community, with the most powerful unions.  Why are they begging?

  103. 103.

    Another Scott

    @Steeplejack: “Yeahbut…”

    “One cannot serve two masters.” – some wise book.

    Either they can be religious and wear their religion on their sleeve and make everyone know that they’re publicly religious, or they can do their jobs and obey their oaths and follow the Constitution and the laws and previous precedent.  There is no middle choice.

    They can’t have it both ways.  No matter how hard they try…

    Grr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  104. 104.

    Eolirin

    @zhena gogolia: Karma is not viewed as an otherworldly force by the traditions that originated it as a concept. It’s not a justice fairy floating around watching people and deciding if they’re naughty or nice and rewarding or punishing them accordingly.

    It’s a law of literal cause and effect, the natural and inescapable way that actions and intentions change a person, or if you’re going to apply it (in a not entirely authentic fashion) to an entire society, it’s the way that collective actions ripple forward in time and effect changes in the state of that society; 2020 is very directly karma for the treatment of Hillary Clinton in this way, because if she was treated better she would have been president. And it would have required as a condition for that to happen a not as insane republican party where Trump would not have even gotten through the nomination process, a less broken media, etc etc. In that world things would not be nearly as bad as they are in this one.

    All of the collective actions we’ve been making as a society have lead us to this moment in time and the brokenness of those decisions has lead to a brokenness of result.

  105. 105.

    germy

    Thread about prebunking (proactive debunking):

    Welp, we are close enough to the first debate that it’s time to talk about prebunking disinformation….

    Prebunking is anticipating what disinformation is likely to be repeated by politicians, pundits, and provocateurs during key events and preparing a response.

    — Joan Donovan, PhD (@BostonJoan) September 27, 2020

  108. 108.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Ken: Years ago I had a good friend who worked for one of those PBA fund-raising outfits (he needed the money.) His absolutely ironclad rule – don’t ever give them a dime.

  109. 109.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Lapassionara:How can someone who believes that wives must submit to their husbands be trusted as a judge?

    That’s more of a fundey thing than a Catholic thing. I suppose that depends on how much a fan girl she is of City of God.

  110. 110.

    Almost Retired

    Here’s something else I don’t like about Amy Coney Barrett (in addition to the laundry list of unfavorable ideological attributes already recounted by others).  Her background includes very, very little time practicing law at the street level.

    She was a clerk for Scalia, she litigated for a couple years (and worked on Bush v. Gore), and then became a law professor at age 30.

    I know this profile is not unique among Supreme Court Justices.  But a bit of experience seeing the real world effects of the application of the law to real people – the kind of experience you get from having flesh-and-blood clients – would presumably take the edge off of her doctrinal purity.  There will be COVID survivors without healthcare out there, for example………and not just an academic analysis of the concept of severablility in Legislative interpretation.

  115. 115.

    Geminid

    I expect Biden to press Trump on the tax issue. And I hope trump  follows his supporters’ example and plays it off as an example of his business acumen. That just won’t  fly on the national stage.     But Biden can’t bring this up- at least to trump’s face- if trump doesn’t  show. His calls for drug tests seems like more trump bullcrap.There never were going to be drug tests. But trump can use them as an excuse to dodge the debates.      That said I think trump will show, because he knows he is behind and has to turn that around. And he craves the audience.

  120. 120.

    Quinerly

    Haven’t read all the comments. Anybody post on the raccoons who attacked WH reporters/photographers on the lawn? Paula Reid has it on her Twitter.

  121. 121.

    Quinerly

    @Quinerly:

    “Strong Pawnee vibes at White House this morning as a raccoon attacked multiple news crews on North Lawn.

    allegedly grabbed pant leg of a photographer & then a corespondent before being fended off.”

    Paula Reid, CBS

  124. 124.

    Kathleen

    @PJ: OT but have to share this remembrance of things past. I think I was in the fifth grade at St. Bernadette’s circa 1960 when the nun was explaining how when you commit a denial sin it left a small Black dot on your soul but a mortal sin blackened your whole soul.  Someone then asked if you commit alot of venial sins and all those black dots blackened your whole soul would that constitute a mortal sin that would condemn you to hell?

    I also remember that one of the nuns defiantly wore a Nixon button during 1960 campaign.

  125. 125.

    Quinerly

    @Geminid: soooo… I’m Googling for more info on Paula Reid’s Tweet and got side tracked by a story about why Pres Coolidge didn’t eat his Thanksgiving raccoon.

    And I’m on my phone so I suspect there will be howls about how the link looks. Advance apologies.

    WG: not sure if that was the exact link, but many links on this raccoon story can by found by search ing “why press coolidge didn’t eat his Thanksgiving raccoon”.

  126. 126.

    Fair Economist

    @laura: So sorry you have to go through that again. Best wishes to you and all in danger from these fires.

    Plus hate with the heat of 10,000 suns on the fossil fuel industry that caused this.

  129. 129.

    montanareddog

    @germy:

    Where’s the criticism of their idol spending $70k on hairstyling?

    Shitgibbon did not spend $70K on hairstyling. American taxpayers spent $70K dollars on hairstyling.

  130. 130.

    germy

    In response to questions about the trump tax story, Ted Cruz says we should abolish the IRS and have a flat tax.

    10% from everyone.

  131. 131.

    Kattails

    @laura: Oh no, that must be the most horrifying and helpless feeling. Stay safe, hoping it gets stopped in time.

    I did see a forest fire once, living on an island off the Jersey coast, started as a small but oddly large smoke plume (from 6 miles away). By night the whole visible coastline looked like hell, smoke hanging over the flames. This was 40 years ago, and I was safe, but I will never forget the sight. Those pitch-pine lowlands are “designed” to burn and recover but for years the blackening on the trees was visible as they sprouted from the trunks. Trying to envision this on a scale that you all are dealing with is boggling.

  132. 132.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Kathleen: I also remember that one of the nuns defiantly wore a Nixon button during 1960 campaign.

    That should have not only blackened her entire soul, but burned it to cinders.

  134. 134.

    Juju

    @George: Don’t forget James Comey. He needs to apologize to Secretary Clinton.  Don’t forget more people voted for Hillary Clinton than voted for Trump, therefore the founding fathers also owe Hillary Clinton an apology.

  135. 135.

    J R in WV

     

    @laura:

    Well, my home town of Santa Rosa is on fire again.

    That’s horrible, be careful and please, stay in touch with your peeps, including us. Run away, run away!!

    Best of luck, too!

  136. 136.

    trnc

    @George: The nation owes her no apology. The lunatics on the right who kept up 20 to 30 years of hatred for her owe the apology. The New York Times owes her an apology. The people who could not bring themselves to vote for her in November 2016 because Clinton had “not quite convinced” them owe her an apology.

    Don’t take it personally. “America” is often used as shorthand for things that happen at a national level, but everyone (sane) understands the difference between those of us trying to actually make it a better place and those who aren’t.

  137. 137.

    trnc

    @Kay: I would love nothing more than for her nomination to somehow be stalled and expired, but I’ll play devil’s advocate. Her judicial philosophy aside, I wouldn’t expect any nominee who sincerely believes they could be an effective justice to turn down the nomination just because it’s being rammed through by bad faith actors. For one thing, if she turns it down, you can bet your ass someone else will be nominated in a heartbeat. Also, this is literally her only shot. If she turns it down, I would bet anything that she would never be nominated again. I don’t expect her to turn down a once in a lifetime promotion just because the people putting here there are assholes.

    It all sucks, but I won’t hold it against her. If she lies about her judicial philosophy, that’s on her but that’s a whole other thing.

  138. 138.

    trnc

    Something occurred to me about the belief that RBG should have retired while Obama had time to nominate someone else – who says she wasn’t planning to over the summer and then saw what Mitch was doing to Garland?

  139. 139.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @OzarkHillbilly: In pretty much any religion** there seem to me to be 3 levels of religious affiliation:

    1. The dogmatic, in which the teachings of the church are of prime concern and concentration;
    2. The social, in which the church serves as a source of friends and acquaintances who interact with one another on the basis of shared beliefs that are not debated (or debatable);
    3. The cultural, in which the church is a dogmatic and social point of reference and coherence in shared memories and experiences for those who no longer consider themselves bound by its dogma or society

    IMO most US Catholics who still consider themselves RC (vs LC, “lapsed Catholic,” or such) cross back & forth between types 2 and 3, largely depending on whether they are nostalgic for their  Catholic school days with Sister Sadistica and/or send their kids there. They run the dogma through their own common-sense filter, obey what seems to make sense (while not insisting non-Catholics do the same) & ignore the rest. These “cafeteria Catholics” regularly drive the neofeudal wannabes in Rome (e.g., former Pope Benedict-Arnold) to the edge of excommunicating the whole damn country – until cooler heads point out that the American congregation is their cash cow (no one in any other advanced country bothers to show up & contribute & those in the 3rd, 4th, …Nth world don’t have the ca$h) & doG help they should drive whole congregations to the high-church Episcopalians (most of the ritual, none of the guilt).  Because if there is one key to understanding Roman Catholicism it is Follow The Money.

    Opus Deists like Bill “Dis” Barr are of course type 1, who are fervent to drag civil society back into the 13th century complete with hierarchy, misogyny and orthodoxy.

    ** Except for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Anyone tending toward “cultural Mormon” is either dragged back into the bosom of the LDS or becomes a Gentile, i.e., an ex-Mormon.

  140. 140.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Quinerly:

    Here is an easy way to clean up your fugly links: you can erase everything after the question mark (“.amp” in the one above), which, yes, is screwing up the comment box for people with small displays.

  141. 141.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @germy: Well over 40 years back I was dating a teacher from Appalachian MD who’d gotten a cold call from one of those “Police Benevolent Association” organizations who hit her up for way-too-pricey tickets to a fundraiser. She was too new in town to say no…but she learned fast.

  142. 142.

    PJ

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    With regard to your “dogmatic” category, you need to make a distinction between teachings of the Church and Church doctrine.  I would say that the bulk of Catholic adults that I have met would fall into your “dogmatic” category, but almost every one of them was not actually dogmatic, they believed in the teachings of the Church in terms of treating others with compassion (though, being human, probably most of the time that was not the first thing on their mind when they acted.)  But that doesn’t mean they automatically embrace Church doctrine – they don’t necessarily think homosexual acts are bad, that women shouldn’t be priests, that abortion should be illegal, etc (though some of course do).   Many people do attend Mass for social and cultural reasons (they are people, after all), but I would bet that the vast majority of people who do are also  believers.

     

    ETA:  Most American Catholics have no idea what Opus Dei is.  The cult that Amy Coney Barrett belongs to is something I’d never heard of before last week.

  143. 143.

    Another Scott

    @Steeplejack (phone): OT: What browser are you using on your phone?  Mine seems to wrap long naked URLs without issue and doesn’t push out the right margin (Brave/Chrome on Android).

    (Long lines of text without breaking spaces can be a problem, but they seem smart about URLs.)

    And it really isn’t commenters’ job to fix up URLs (even if they know how to do so – the software should handle it if it accepts URLs in comments).

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  145. 145.

    Brooklyn Dodger

    @zhena gogolia:  “Nothing so mystical as karma is needed to explain it. We made a corrupt, incompetent, racist rapist the President of the United States. The consequences are not surprising in the least and need no otherworldly explanation.”

    Too long for a rotating tag?

  146. 146.

    Kathleen

    @lowtechcyclist: Exactly! Especially since I was raised to loathe Republicans, Nixon in particular. Some kids’ parents read them fairy tales. My dad regaled me with stories about Nixon’s perfidy in his campaigns against Jerry Voorhees and Helen Gahagan Douglas when I was a wee one.

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