Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

In after Baud. Damn.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

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

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Biden Live in FL

Reader Interactions

105Comments

  5. 5.

    rk

    Kamala Harris should refuse to debate with this diseased ridden piece of filth. Who knows what his or his entourage’s status is? All republicans should be treated as vermin.

  9. 9.

    Benw

    I heard someone say that warmth gets rid of COVID, which is good for Pence since Harris is going to roast his ass

  10. 10.

    Al Z.

    Catching the tail end, I have to say I loved how the interpreter starts dancing to the closing song and signing to the lyrics.  Well done! (44:12 mark)

  15. 15.

    Baud

    @Benw:

    Kamala is good, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up on entertainment.  She won’t put up with shenanigans by Pence, but I’d imagine the campaign isn’t going to want her to be overly aggressive which always carries some risk.

  16. 16.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Just dropped off my mail-in ballot at one of the numerous ballot drop-off boxes (no USPS involved) nearby.

    Signed up at wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov to get email and text alerts about its progress.

    Funny how things are different when you’ve got a government that actually encourages its citizens to vote.

  17. 17.

    Patricia Kayden

    Republicans are ridiculous.

    The Commission on Presidential Debates has approved plans for plexiglass to be used in the vice presidential debate amid mounting concerns about coronavirus transmission. Pence's campaign opposed the move.https://t.co/Tf9YAHX97n— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 5, 2020

  18. 18.

    dmsilev

    @mali muso: Note, of course, that Pence and his team are using this as a political attack. Just in case there was any doubt that he aspires to be as awful as Trump.

  19. 19.

    Martin

    @rk: I think they asked to debate remotely, and conceded to plexiglas.

    Pence and probably everyone traveling with him should be isolating having been in contact with infected people in the last 14 days. He could be infected and contagious but not yet testing positive.

    I would hope Harris makes a point of this – that Pence, like everyone else from the WH, insists on violating CDC guidance, which is a particularly bad look from the guy heading  the nations Covid response.

  20. 20.

    dmsilev

    @Baud: Pence has some incentives to be aggressive though, given the situation. And when he throws a rhetorical punch, I strongly doubt that she’ll just sit there and take it.

  21. 21.

    JPL

    Nancy called trump frivolous and she could not be so wrong.   He’s reckless and careless and doesn’t care who he kills in the way.  None of those definitions fit with frivolous.

  23. 23.

    James E Powell

    @Baud:

    She won’t put up with shenanigans by Pence, but I’d imagine the campaign isn’t going to want her to be overly aggressive which always carries some risk.

    God for fucking bid that any Democrat – not to mention a woman of color – would act like Republicans do every day.

  24. 24.

    Elizabelle

    I voted.  About an hour ago.  In and out of the government center in 5 minutes tops; no line but they were busy with voters.

    Felt so good walking out.  Relieved.  My vote is banked.  Virginia voting in person uses optical scanners so — paper trail.

  25. 25.

    mali muso

    @Elizabelle: Woot!  Last I heard, Virginia was leading the nation in early voting.  What a difference a new state leg makes.  Last time around, you had to have an “excuse” to be able to early vote.

  26. 26.

    Baud

    @James E Powell: There’s obviously a double standard, but even if there weren’t, I don’t think it would make sense for the campaign that’s ahead by a good margin to adopt an aggressive strategy.  If the polling were reversed (OMG I’d kill myself), then I think the average Republican would also be acting more graciously for appearance sake (except Trump because he doesn’t know better), and the Democrat would need to take the bigger risk.

    But maybe the Biden camp feels differently.  We’ll see.

  27. 27.

    Kay

    Nate Cohn
    @Nate_Cohn
    ·53m
    Trump approval at -17 in the new CNN/SSRS poll. Hard to think it’ll be a strong poll for Trump in the ballot test v. Biden

    I love how understated this is- I sort of crave it after 3 and a 1/2 years of these big mouth blowhards.

    Probably not an …excellent poll for Donald Trump :)

  28. 28.

    Felanius Kootea

    Waiting for our vote by mail ballots to arrive here in CA.  I can’t wait to vote for Biden and Harris.

    I suppose it would be fitting if 45’s insistence on projecting strength by discharging himself from Walter Reed ends up backfiring.  He’ll probably be back there in a week, in worse shape than if he simply stayed there and took the time to heal. But that’s on him. In the meantime, he’ll be spreading COVID to everyone he comes into contact with.  Selfish, selfish, irresponsible man.

  30. 30.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud:   I wonder if Melania was agreeing fervently that Trump leave Walter Reed post-haste.  The faster he kicks, the freer she is.

    WRT Trump:  he is “frivolous” and reckless because his future includes:  very possibly losing the election, and being indicted and in legal trouble/on trial for the rest of his life.  Being repudiated by Republicans once he is no longer able to deliver for them.  They are transactional sociopaths, too.  He may recognize that about them.

    He’s actually in an Epstein position.  Go for broke.

  34. 34.

    Elizabelle

    @mali muso:   Yep.  Having Democrats in charge makes life easier for us.

    And a really easy ballot in my district.  Prez, Senator (Mark Warner), Congress (Abigail Spanberger), and 2 constitutional amendments.  Period.

  36. 36.

    Elizabelle

    @mali muso:   Also:  my county does not need any election workers. They’ve been filled for a while, and applications are still arriving.

    Very happy to hear that.  Yea, new election workers!  You rock!

  37. 37.

    mali muso

    @Elizabelle: Yeah, mine too.  Biden, Warner, Wexton, no on 1, yes on 2.  Done and dusted.  It feels great to finally have a Dem as our House rep!!!

  38. 38.

    Brachiator

    @Elizabelle:

    I voted. About an hour ago. In and out of the government center in 5 minutes tops; no line but they were busy with voters.

    I haven’t received all my voting materials yet, but I have noted the voting locations and drop off boxes in my California community.

    I will try to vote as early as possible.

  40. 40.

    Leto

    We’re still waiting on our ballots to arrive. The PA website to track them was down last night. Haven’t checked today. I’ve been busy around the apartment for most of the day taking care of various things, and just returned from a quick bicycle ride (quick in the sense that I pushed hard). Catching up on the video while I cool down/stretch.

  42. 42.

    WaterGirl

    Perhaps the Lincoln Project is waiting for Trump to leave Walter Reed before they actually report what they have been teasing recently?

  43. 43.

    rk

    @Martin:

    Pence and probably everyone traveling with him should be isolating having been in contact with infected people in the last 14 days. He could be infected and contagious but not yet testing positive.

    I would hope Harris makes a point of this 

    The way to make a point of it is to not meet with him. The CDC guidelines are clear are they not? Pence should be in quarantine. She needs to say that she will debate after she sees that he has quarantined for 14 days. Some one at some point has to do the right thing. I can’t believe how everyone is catering to the republicans. From the generals, to doctors, to the press. By using plexiglass she’s basically accepting that the asshole VP can violate CDC rules, it’s everyone else who has to protect themselves. Someone,  has to show some strength when it matters the most!

  44. 44.

    Martin

    Got a text from my Registrar that my ballot has been mailed. Yes, CA is nutty like that. Government need not be hostile to citizens.

  46. 46.

    Elizabelle

    @mali muso:   Glad to hear you voted no on amendment one.  That one had two poison pills in it.  We can draft better anti-gerrymandering legislation than what the GOP forced upon us.  Take another shot at it in a future election.

  48. 48.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Felanius Kootea: I’ve been waiting for my ballot. I’m literally going to take time off work to drop it off the day after I get it.

    I admit to being unreasonably excited when the sample ballots and voter guide arrived. I even did a little dance.

  50. 50.

    BR

    @Patricia Kayden:

    I don’t get the focus on plexiglass. It’s like the same misguided thinking that had restaurants with “smoking sections” with a small partition that was supposed to keep the smoke out. It makes no sense — aerosols are floating in the air. Plexiglass will block spittle and spray, sure, but if they’re far enough apart that isn’t the issue.

    I’d like to see the Harris staffers bring a few portable HEPA filters and put them on blast around the room.

  51. 51.

    Aleta

    @rk:  The Trump team and family already showed they won’t obey rules.  So why not do the VP debate by internet in different locations.   At least different rooms.  Harris shouldn’t have to be the one to demand it;  the moderators should.

    Those reporters getting too close to Biden give me the paranoia blues.  They should regulate themselves if they want to permission to approach and ask questions. It shouldn’t be left only up to Biden’s people.

  52. 52.

    dmsilev

    @Brachiator: Mine came on Saturday.  So did someone else’s. Called the County Registrar this morning, and they said to just rip up and toss the other one.

  53. 53.

    Elizabelle

    South Carolina is early voting today!  From the WaPost:

    Heightened interest in casting ballots early drew long lines to voting places in South Carolina on Monday, with some voters saying they came in person because they are concerned about the possibility of voter fraud or the U.S. Postal Service not delivering mail ballots on time.

    Social media posts from voters in or around Greenville, Columbia and Charleston showed early voting lines snaking around public buildings and sometimes down the block.

    Around noon in Berkeley County, about 110 people stood 6 feet apart in a line that extended the full length of the election commission’s office, an industrial building resembling a warehouse. “It’s been this way since we opened at 9 a.m.,” said 19-year old Kayla Cook, a temporary poll worker. “Everyone has been polite and patient.”

    John and Margaret Wilbanks, 70 and 73, were halfway to the entrance after waiting an hour and a half. Both were dubious of mail ballots and declined to say whom they planned to vote for. “I know how difficult it is for postal workers with regular absentee ballots. This could be a catastrophe,” said John Wilbanks, a former postal clerk.

    At the Richland County Office of Elections and Voter Registration, Shigehari Kobayashi had camped out overnight to be the first voter in line. Roughly 70 people had joined him in line by 8 a.m., 30 minutes before the polls opened.

    “Everyone is masked, the spirit is light, people are joking around,” Kobayashi said. He reported the voting process went smoothly once the doors opened. He also declined to say whom he voted for. “That’s our privilege as Americans, right?” he said.

    More than 100 miles south, at the North Charleston Coliseum, a line of 112 people had formed by 7:45 a.m. Hattie Fields, a 74-year old registered nurse who lives in downtown Charleston, said she chose to vote early for Biden because of her “concern about what might happen, all the hype about mail-in fraud.”

    “I’m very interested in my vote counting. All the negativity, all the division going on, I’m very concerned about that,” she said.

    A bit farther back in the line, Vernon and Donna Morris, 69 and 68, also expressed distrust of mail ballots. “I don’t know what the Russian Senate is doing,” Vernon Morris quipped. When asked whom they are supporting, he said, “Well, the only two Americans on the ballot — Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris.”

    I love Mr. Morris’s style.

  54. 54.

    WhatsMyNym

    WA just mails every ballot at least 18 days before the election.  It really makes it easy to track them and yell at the USPS if needed.

  55. 55.

    catclub

    @dmsilev: So did someone else’s. Called the County Registrar this morning, and they said to just rip up and toss the other one.

     

    This is not exactly confidence building. Did that other person end up getting a new one?

  56. 56.

    trnc

    @mali muso: Also, a great little video of Dr. Jill pulling Biden back into a safer social distancing space while he was talking with reporters today.

    Ha! We literally saw that 2 minutes ago and my wife, who will body block anyone within 6 feet, said, “She’s just like me.”

  57. 57.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @mali muso:

    “If Sen. Harris wants to use a fortress around herself, have at it,” said Katie Miller, a Pence spokeswoman.

    I usually avoid calling another woman a bitch, but I’m making an exception for Stephen Miller’s wife.

  58. 58.

    germy

    So there’s a town hall tonight on NBC with Biden.

    I hope this won’t be another NBC ambush.

  60. 60.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @SiubhanDuinne: you’re nice. I would like to use the ‘c’ word with Katie Miller. This beeyotch had covid-19 so she probably wants everybody else to experience it. I swear they’re trying to get Kamala Harris sick so that she can’t be involved the Amy Covid hearings. Fuckers.

  61. 61.

    germy

    This morning @MeetThePress gave Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller a platform for 10 minutes

    NO DEMOCRAT was allowed on the show afterward to counter him

    I’m told a senior Democrat was booked—but Meet the Press canceled them AT THE LAST MINUTE

    This is open Republican bias pic.twitter.com/eXRf0mb67P

    — Matt Negrin, HOST OF HARDBALL AT 7PM ON MSNBC (@MattNegrin) October 4, 2020

  63. 63.

    BR

    @germy:

    Biden’s team has been great, but they’re taking too big of a risk doing events today/tomorrow. They need to keep Biden isolated for a couple more days at least, and get a couple more negative tests. Even if you set aside his health, there’s a risk that he’ll get attacked if he does test positive in the next day or two for the fact that he held events rather than quarantining.

  64. 64.

    trnc

    @Baud: Kamala is good, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up on entertainment.

    She’s more the type who could separate his head from his shoulders so cleanly that he won’t even know he’s been beheaded until he’s staring up at his own body.

    Sorry, working my way through Game Of Thrones.

  67. 67.

    Brachiator

    Just caught a radio news story noting that in California, people can start voting today, using Vote by mail ballot drop boxes.

    Los Angeles County drop box locations.

    Vote centers will be available later.

  68. 68.

    WaterGirl

    @MisterForkbeard: Even if he was getting tested every day, which I doubt, I bet he stopped when he didn’t feel well.  Because if he didn’t have a positive test, he’s not sick!

    Honest to god, Trump is like a 5-year-old child.

    He feels good right now because he’s on drugs, and he can’t see beyond that, in spite of what the doctors are telling him.  Makes me crazy.

  69. 69.

    trnc

    @Martin: In light of the past week, would the Biden campaign actually lose any support for saying no remote, no debate? I wouldn’t trust a single motherfucking republican in the building. Allowing this to take place in person is as much of a failure by the commission as allowing the debate last week without DT being tested (as agreed to by the campaign).

  71. 71.

    trnc

    @JPL: Nancy called trump frivolous and she could not be so wrong. He’s reckless and careless and doesn’t care who he kills in the way. None of those definitions fit with frivolous.

    Frivolity is not terribly manly, so she might have been twisting the knife.

  72. 72.

    trollhattan

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    He also has the stern stare, used such times as when gazing deep into North Korea from the DMZ. Sterny McSternface, Man of Concern.

    It’s not as nuanced as the Collins furrow level alert system, but Pence is a one-trick pony while Susan has at least two.

  73. 73.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: and a lifelong politician, who really only has to clear the bar of solemnly mouthing platitudes. Every other lie out of his mouth will make people here and on twitter want to scream “DOES THIS MUMBLING FUCKNOZZLE EVEN FUCKING KNOW WHO HE WORKS FOR!” But your Aunt Jean and Uncle Ed will say, well, at least he’s not crazy, maybe he’s a good influence on trump

  75. 75.

    trollhattan

    @germy:

    “A Mighty Fortress is Our GodPlexiglass Virus Shield” was one of the go-to Lutheran hymns growing up. “Ein Feste Berg” seems easier to sing.

  76. 76.

    PPCLI

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I agree. He’s an experienced politician, and anyone who saw him in the debate with Kaine will attest to his superhuman ability to smoothly tell a gaslightingly blatant lie in a way that will convince the unaware.

    Kamala is very smart, and the Trump administration is a target-rich environment, but she has not been a politician of the “senator” type (as opposed to the “elected prosecutor” type) for very long. She is still learning.

    We should be careful to keep our expectations in check. A solid draw that leaves the polls undisturbed will suit me just fine.

  79. 79.

    trollhattan

    @PPCLI:

    Harris can drill in like an evil dentist, but since I do not know the “debate” forum, have no idea whether they have comment/response opportunity. Pence can’t deflect like Donny, since he’s not especially shouty.

  80. 80.

    Mai Naem mobile

    NYTimes poll has Biden up by 9 in Maricopa County(Metro Phoenix.)  Maricopa County has not been won by a Dem since 1948.  Maricopa County represents 60 percent of the population  of Arizona. Pima County(Tucson)is always blue and is about another 15 percent. And you’ve got the Navajo Reservation. I know I know – vote vote vote – but if he can’t hold Maricopa County he’s done.

  82. 82.

    Leto

    Maybe this was covered earlier today, but Pat Toomy (Shitbag- PA) is stepping down at the end of his term in 2 years. With a bit of luck, and a fuck ton of hard work, we can flip his seat.

  86. 86.

    ballerat

    From NYT, White House says it won’t contact trace any one who was at the Rose Garden super-spreader event for Barret.

    the White House is making little effort to investigate the scope and source of its outbreak

    They don’t want us to know how massive it is. And who got it. And who the source is.

    My money’s on one Amy Covid Barrett.

  87. 87.

    Yutsano

    @Leto: That came up last night. I absolutely believe it’s gettable along with deposing Johnson in Wisconsin. And looking even more at the map for 2022 there’s a chance to expand the majority even further especially if we can get Rubio and Portman unemployed.

  88. 88.

    Leto

    @Yutsano: Unemployed is a generous term considering the grifting circuit that awaits them. But I do support getting them off the public dole :P

  89. 89.

    The Thin Black Duke

    I’m sorry, but I think Pence has already lost the debate, because the moment that zombie Ken doll opens his mouth and lies about how great everything is and normalcy is just around the corner, most people are going to think, “You’re a motherfucking liar”, and change the channel. This isn’t an episode of The West Wing. Folks are tired of this shit and we’re finally ready to put the adults back in charge.

  90. 90.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Nicole Wallace says she has spoken to one person who was at the Rose Garden ceremony and took part in debate prep, and has tested positive and has had no communication with the White House about contact tracing.

    Nichole: Chris Christie has gone public with this information. You don’t have to be so mysterious.

  92. 92.

    PST

    @WaterGirl:

    @MisterForkbeard: Even if he was getting tested every day, which I doubt, I bet he stopped when he didn’t feel well. Because if he didn’t have a positive test, he’s not sick!

    That Trump wasn’t getting tested sounds more true all the time. And there doesn’t really need to be a reason. He could simply dislike having the sample taken and figured that it was for others to be tested. Which raises the possibility that Trump himself is Patient Zero. He isn’t Teflon Don, he’s Typhoid Don.

  93. 93.

    Ken

    @Baud: Pence knows white evangelicals think more highly of Trump than Pence. That has to hurt.

    Especially since the excuse the evangelicals use is that Trump is flawed just like King David, having had – and cheated on – multiple wives.

    Mind you, it doesn’t hurt one-thousandth as much as what Mother would do to Mike if he got any thoughts along those lines.  Definitely like Blackadder’s “An eternity with Beelzebub and all his hellish instruments will be a picnic compared to five minutes with me and this pencil.”

  94. 94.

    Ken

    @Joy in FL: Hmm, I see Biden’s basement includes another (Greek-lettered) tropical storm predicted to strengthen to a hurricane before it hits Louisiana.

  95. 95.

    Roger Moore

    @PST:

    My impression was that he wasn’t ever getting tested regularly. He always had everyone around him tested on the principle that he didn’t have to worry if he never came into contact with anyone who was sick.  Or rather he tried to have everyone around him tested, since it sounds as if the “test everyone daily” strategy was more a plan than a reality. Hoocoodanode that surrounding yourself with incompetents was dangerous during a pandemic?

  97. 97.

    Anotherlurker

    @Brachiator: I received my Ca. ballot on Friday. I filled it out today and then walked across the street to City Hall and dropped it into the Ballot Drop Box.   Easy !

  98. 98.

    Kent

    @trollhattan: debates aren’t the same format as Senate hearings where you can grill a witness.  Pence is a consummate liar and has spent most of his adult life in front of the camera or mic.  He will spout platitudes and one liners and completely ignore whatever she says.  And compared to Trump he will probably look surprisingly good.  Kamala will do fine but don’t expect any fireworks.

  99. 99.

    sdhays

    @PST: I’m actually surprised that this is even a question. Nothing has suggested that the Very White House has been following CDC guidelines, so why should we assume that they are? And why would we assume that a man who can’t be bothered to wear a mask in public would actually get himself tested regularly when it’s such a drag?

    Of course he wasn’t getting tested, and I’ll bet that the people around him weren’t really either, because he set the dismissive one in the first place.

  100. 100.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:  I think we should all encourage Junior to run for it. Hell, I might even send in a dime donation to junior so that they can send me shit tons of mailers that cost them more than a dime.  Everybody wants  a cokehead senator don’t they?

  101. 101.

    no comment

    @Ken:

    In case you didn’t see it, I replied to your Mafia suggestion near the end of the previous thread — “Diseased One Tweets,” comment # 261.

  103. 103.

    James E Powell

    @Kent:

    There’s a narrative waiting to be pushed about how Trump needs Pence’s debate performance to save his re-election campaign. I want one of his family members to tell him that.

  105. 105.

    Irony Abounds

    @SiubhanDuinne: There’s another word I always avoid using, and though deserved I’ll avoid using it in this instance, but I think you can guess which word that is.

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