Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

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

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

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

They spent the last eight months firing professionals and replacing them with ideologues.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

This blog will pay for itself.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

You are here: Home / Archives for 2020

Archives for 2020

But you knifed me in my dirty filthy basement

by | 95 Comments

This post is in: ,

I don’t get out much anymore now that I have a kid, but we did manage to get out during daycare hours this summer to see Last Black Man in San Francisco. And then more recently, my parents were able to babysit while we saw Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Knives Out, Little Women, and Parasite. One thing I’ve come to realize is that seeing a movie on the big screen is totally different than seeing it at home, especially if you’re easily distracted, as I am.

I liked Last Black Man in San Francisco and Knives Out the best, though I liked Once Upon a Time in Hollywood just as much once it was over (I was dreading the ending too much to enjoy it while I watched, but the twist at the end made me like it better). I liked Little Women too. I didn’t know what to make of Parasite.

What did you think of the movies I mentioned? And what other movies were good this year? One other thing I’m curious to hear what people think about: there have been all these articles about how everything is a superhero movie these days but I find it very easy to go see non-superhero movies and I don’t live in a major city. Is not being able to see non-superhero movies really a thing?

Also too, let’s raise some more money for Democrats in the Senate. The following is split between the eventual nominees in Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Maine, Colorado, and Arizona.

Goal Thermometer

But you knifed me in my dirty filthy basementPost + Comments (95)

Call your senators!

by | 60 Comments

This post is in: , , , ,

It’s not much, but there is something you can do about the Republicans’ scheme to hold a fake impeachment trial with no witnesses and no documents: you can call your senators and tell them that you (along with nearly 70% of Americans, according to a CNN poll that came out yesterday) want a real trial with witnesses and documents.

202-224-3121

That’s the Capitol switchboard number. It’s easier to Google your senators and call them directly. I left messages for the craven shitstains Marco Rubio and Rick Scott. Only takes a few seconds.

It’s easy to feel hopeless about this whole thing, but I don’t think we should. Republicans control the trial, so of course they’re going to rig it, and there’s a 99.9% chance they’ll acquit Trump. (I say 99.9% rather than 100% because it’s possible that Trump will poop in his pants during a Davos presser today, strip to the waist and try to draw the 2016 Electoral College map on the wall, using his own turds as a Sharpie.)

But even so, his ass is impeached! And a majority of the country wants him removed! That’s a big fucking deal! It’s also 100% obvious that the Republicans in Congress are propping up Trump’s unpopular, criminal ass, which is helpful to our cause in 2020.

So, call your damned senators. It’ll make you feel better, even if they are a pair of corrupt toadies like mine.

Open thread!

Call your senators!Post + Comments (60)

Glory Days

by | 143 Comments

This post is in: , , ,

Apparently, and regrettably, David Lee Roth has started a residency at Las Vegas, and for some absurd amount of money, you too can witness the spectacle of an elderly man in ill fitting clothes and obvious frontal lobe damage stiffly strutting around stage. I suppose that yes, it is still David Lee Roth, but it’s not the David Lee Roth you remember or want to remember. It’s an obscene caricature of David Lee Roth- long in the tooth, without voice or authority, cheapened by wear and tear and misuse, and ready to collapse at any moment. It’s enough to make you wonder if it was always this bad as you unfortunately glimpse his sagging ass betrayed by skin tight attire that should, at the very least, provide the bare minimum of architectural support.

It does not.

***

That’s basically how I feel about the state of our democracy heading into the impeachment. I spent a little bit of time watching the news shows this weekend- only a little, as I, too, am aging, and life is too short for this shit. I watched people on my tv put on their serious voices as they explain what a big and momentous deal this is- “JUST THE THIRD TIME IN HISTORY,” you know! The gravity of the situation never takes hold, though, because I remember the same serious voices talking about Hillary’s emails, or how Obama really screwed up by saying it was wrong for Henry Louis Gates to get fucked with by cops on his own god damned couch, or how the tea party really cared about the deficit or Iraq really did have WMD. It’s all a fucking show that no one wants to go to, we all know the ending, and we’re not going to get our money’s worth.

Donald Trump has been impeached. He did everything and more for which he was impeached. Everyone knows he is guilty, even his most ardent supporters in the jury pool, there will be a show trial, and he will be acquitted. And then Republicans will get back to the very serious business of rigging elections, pitting Americans against each other, wiping up what remains of our institutions and packing the courts, and the always popular looting of the treasury.

This is not to say Democrats will not try. I am sure they will. They will fight, they will make a clear case, they will plead for sanity from clearly insane and evil people like Susan Collins, and then they will lose. We can applaud them for their attempt to do the right thing, but it is important to remember the one thing that no one seems to care about when shouting “Remember the Alamo!” The good guys lost and all got killed.

***

When it is all over with, the serious voices on your tv will tell you what to think, and we’ll head into another election where we can focus on important issues like “Does Elizabeth Warren have native American blood” and “what they are really saying over corned beef hash in a former Kentucky mining town.” We’ll soon get distracted by something shiny, and meanwhile our hobbled democracy will pick up the microphone and start half singing:

“Oh, baby baby
Won’t-cha turn your head my way?”

Glory DaysPost + Comments (143)

What Campos Said

by | 184 Comments

This post is in: 

I was going to write a post on the latest from HRC but Campos pretty much covers it.

I can understand Clinton’s bitterness, and her assessment of the worst of the Bernie Bros is of course correct, but saying you’re withholding judgment on whether you’ll support Sanders in the general against Trump is really bad, whether it’s a tactical gesture or not (I will assume it is but even so JFC).

It trivializes the threat that Trump’s potential re-election represents, and it’s a reminder that yeah in fact Clinton has been unnecessarily chummy with all sorts of scumbags throughout her career, very much including Trump himself. (The Clintons’ willingness to attend Donald Trump’s third wedding in 2005 was the kind of gesture that lent this demi-gangster fraud a sheen of social respectability he never deserved, as Trump himself was eminently aware at the time, which is precisely why he invited them).

In addition to what Campos said, from a position of political power, this is not a smart move. If Bernie wins the primary, crow will have to be eaten, and eating crow is not a power move. If Bernie wins the primary and loses the general, you’re gonna get some blame. And what is to be gained from this statement? As Campos goes on to point out, the likelihood that Clinton’s advice will move voters who weren’t already inclined not to vote for Sanders is pretty much nil. And, unlike Twitter, there are a lot of Democrats who have Bernie as a first choice, and Warren and even Biden as another choice. The Iowa caucus is all about your second choice if your first choice doesn’t get enough votes. So why piss off Bernie voters now?

What Campos SaidPost + Comments (184)

Look at Box 12-DD

by | 27 Comments

This post is in: 

Duke University sent out their W-2s early last week and mine arrived on Saturday.*  It contained all of the usual information.  It also contains Box 12-DD with a medium to big number in it.

Box 12-DD is the amount of money that Duke paid for my family’s health insurance in 2019.  Every employer that pays for some portion of the group  health insurance premium has to report on the W-2 how much they kicked in.  This is part of the ACA and the idea behind this is that total compensation is the sum of cash wages (the first couple of boxes on the W-2) plus benefits.  One of the biggest pieces of the benefit slice is health insurance.  The theory of change on this piece of the law is that if people realize that their health insurance premiums are replacing their cash wages, they would be more willing to make trade-offs between narrower networks, more restrictive plans, or lower actuarial values than they are currently receiving.

That has not worked out too well.  I think part of it is that the insurance benefit manager and decision maker for group insurance faces a much different decision problem with very different constraints than an individual buying an Exchange plan or Medicare Advantage.  The person in HR faces a budget constraint and a strong scream constraint.  They want to make a choice that minimizes the number of people with power yelling at them because their cardiologist or preferred hospital is out of network.

I also think that an annual report is in the odd spot of a lot of information with out it being timely.  I pay attention to the deductions on my paycheck.  I know why and what is happening when I see my take-home number change.  An annual report that has no direct impact on my monthly take-home is non-actionable information.  I think it is worthwhile to pay attention to Box 12-DD but if the objective is make people more sensitive to the fact that their employer’s portion of health insurance premiums is coming out of cash compensation, moving that number to the top-line of each pay-stub and then deducting it as a pre-tax deduction would be far more effective as I think that would make the number far more real to people.

 

** I am not sure when I transformed from doing my taxes in a mad scramble on April 12th type of person to doing my taxes by the Super Bowl type of person but that is who I have become.

 

Look at Box 12-DDPost + Comments (27)

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: The Road Goes Ever On

by | 215 Comments

This post is in: , ,

GOP Thru the Looking Glass - Tom Toles

(Tom Toles via GoComics.com)

 
Another one of the ‘holiday’ weeks, where everyone tries to fit five days’ work into four days.

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: The Road Goes Ever OnPost + Comments (215)