Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A consequence of cucumbers

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

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

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

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

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Republicans in disarray!

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

This blog will pay for itself.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Bark louder, little dog.

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

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

You can’t love your country only when you win.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Biden-Harris 2020 / Monday Morning Open Thread: Blessed Normality

Monday Morning Open Thread: Blessed Normality

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114Comments

  7. 7.

    Baud

    Now under Biden the framing is “his actions are wildly popular but Republicans hate it.”

    Fixed.

  9. 9.

    Immanentize

    @satby: It’s Monday, so Ozark is hopefully awaiting the arrival of his grand daughter.

    For me, classes delayed are starting today.  It will now be an education sprint to May.  No spring break — just endless zooming.

  10. 10.

    NotMax

    Brrr.

    Six Inches of Snow Forecast for Big Island Summits

    The National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Advisory from 6 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 24, to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021.

    According to the NWS, a “wintry mix of snow and freezing rain expected,” with total snow accumulations of up to 6 inches between the 12,500 and 13,000 foot elevation. Source

    Has been dropping down as low as the mid to upper 40s overnight outside the abode.

  12. 12.

    debbie

    Rubio assuming a leadership role is very good news for Democrats. And also gives @dick_nixon plenty of material.

  16. 16.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby: Still dry and I haven’t lost satellite yet, just a little busy taking care of shit before I begin my day.

    Ameliorating the blech.

  17. 17.

    Princess

    What snow they are predicting in Chicago is basically coming overnight, and they keep revising the amount down.

  18. 18.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    So I’m thinking about the woman that Greenwald got fired, and am disgusted with his disingenuous, smirking commentary denying a role.

    I’m also unsurprised by the company he repeatedly finds himself in.

    https://twitter.com/SadBradSmith/status/1353452481381068807?s=20

    https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/andrew-“weev”-auernheimer

    About Andrew “weev” Auernheimer

    Andrew “weev” Auernheimer first made headlines as a prolific internet troll and hacker, a denizen of 4chan known for lashing out at perceived enemies online. But his antisemitism was never well disguised. After serving a 15-month prison sentence on hacking-related charges that were overturned on a technicality in 2014, Auernheimer came out as a virulent white supremacist in an article posted on the Daily Stormer, where he railed against the black judge and Jewish prosecutor in the case that sent him to prison. Auernheimer left the United States not long after his release, but continues to advocate for the genocide of non-whites in stories and podcasts posted online, as well as perform system administrator duties for the Daily Stormer.

    In his own words

    “After we finished rescuing Jewry, we invited them into our home. We treated them as honored guests. They repaid us with treachery. They did the same thing to us that they did to the Germans. They took control of our systems of finance and law. They hyperinflated our currency. They corrupted our daughters and demanded they subject themselves to sex work to feed their families. These are a people that have made themselves a problem in every nation they occupy, including ours.”
    — “What I Learned from My Time in Prison,” Daily Stormer, October 2014.

    “America doesn’t have a gun violence problem, it has a minority problem.”
    — Interview with the PandoDaily website, November 2014.

    “The first phrase I learned in arabic: ‘al-maot lil yahood’ (death to the Jews).”
    — “What I Learned from My Time in Prison,” Daily Stormer, October 2014.

    “I unequivocally support the killing of children. I believe that our enemies need such a level of atrocity inflicted upon them and their homes that they are afraid to ever threaten the white race with genocide again. We will not relent until far after their daughters are raped in front of them. We will not relent until far after the eyes of their sons are gouged out before them. We will not relent until the cries of their infants are silenced by boots stomping their brains out onto the pavement.”
    — From a flyer Auernheimer sent to 50,000 computer printers across the country, August 2016.

    “The reality we have to accept is that we have to kill them all.”
    — On Christopher Cantwell’s podcast, discussing non-whites, January 2017.

    It goes on and on and on….

  19. 19.

    Percysowner

    Here in Central Ohio, I walked my dog last night and only got to the end of the block because there was a sheet of ice over everything. I told her to do her business and we headed home. This morning I took her out to the yard and told her that she was going to have to wait until this evening for a good walk, because I am not going to kill myself on that ice. Fortunately I take care of my granddaughter so there will be lots of playing for both of them in the safety of my home.

  20. 20.

    satby

    @MagdaInBlack: See if you can leave work early! I don’t mind the snow, but I hate driving in ice storms. One notable one at least 15 or more years ago snarled traffic so badly with accidents that it took 40 minutes for me to go less than 5 miles, and I ended up staying overnight at a friends house near work rather than try to get home. Which was far better than the poor souls who spent hours stuck on highways overnight.

  22. 22.

    Cermet

    The key effort for whether the Dem’s survive or fail at the mid-terms is the Covid/stimulus bill’s success. Water it down to any great extent and they will sign their own death warrent. If the thugs fight that bill (and doing so is critictal to their future chances), then the dems have to kill the fillibuster or else. They can’t compormise s.t. the bill becomes so weak the economy does not expand.

  24. 24.

    satby

    @Princess: Take a look at the radar. It could stay south but it’s not expected to. Like I said, snow doesn’t bother me much, but ice driving is a nightmare. At my age, so is ice walking.

  25. 25.

    MagdaInBlack

    @satby: I am fortunate this time around to have a boss who will throw me out if the weather looks bad. ” Go Home”

    I have an hour commute, in good weather. So far, in 63 years, I’ve only been snowed in at my own home.  ( I’m sure I just jinxed that.)

  26. 26.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Baud:

    Yup.

    Glenn’s photo with weev, by the way, was at Poitras’ home for a party after the Snowjob exfiltration.

    Funny how weev got an invite.

  28. 28.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    From a Daily Beast report via Raw Story (Yes, I am enjoying it)

    “Fauci’s re-emergence on prime-time television during the Biden era infuriated the exiled Trump, who began whining about how “incompetent” the doctor was, and how he probably should have fired Fauci when he had the chance.”

  29. 29.

    WereBear

    We already had our storm watch, upgraded to storm warning, STORM (moved the vehicle to a flat place so the plow guy can get to my parking spot) and are now back to our normal.

    This is the time of year I just fasten my ICETrekkers Diamond Grip Traction Cleats to my boots and leave them there.

  30. 30.

    Baud

    Washington (CNN)President Joe Biden will sign an executive order Monday aimed at boosting American manufacturing, setting in motion a process to fulfill his campaign pledge to strengthen the federal government’s Buy American rules.

    Similar executive orders signed by former President Donald Trump had little effect because his administration waited to formalize changes until his second to last day in office. By contrast, Biden will set a 180-day deadline to deliver on fundamental change to the process, according to an administration official.

  31. 31.

    NotMax

    @satby

    Have had enough encounters with black ice while driving to have learned to think twice five times before venturing forth during or shortly after winter storms when temps stay below freezing for a prolonged period.

  34. 34.

    SFAW

    Minor pleasure: it’s nice to be able to watch and listen to a WH Press Secretary without feeling the usual, overwhelming urge — well, ANY urge, actually — to yell “STFU you fucking liar!”

  42. 42.

    satby

    @NotMax: Same work location, earlier that winter, driving to work on 294 I hit black ice trying to avoid the car spinning out in front of me, so I spun out too. Every rotation showed me the semi trying to slow down without jacknifing behind me, and in front was the wall of the tunnel under the Hinsdale Oasis. I thought I was a goner, and just shut my eyes bracing for impact by whichever hit me first. The car jerked and stopped… no impact. I had somehow spun past the overpass and ended up on the shoulder, the other car in the ditch across the highway and the truck passed us both. Got off at the next exit and took side streets the rest of the way to work. About 20 minutes later my oldest kid calls to be sure I’m ok, because the news had reported a 10 car pile up in that spot after I had passed it.

    I stay off icy roads now.

  44. 44.

    debbie

    @satby:

    I had a slightly similar experience, but here, it’s more about other drivers driving idiotically than with bridges. I usually stick to back roads regardless of the weather.

  47. 47.

    Immanentize

    @debbie: I’ve been wondering whether Biden already has a plan for revealing the Trump era inter office messaging.  Because if he doesn’t, the employees will likely do it themselves.  I think there is room for a nice slow, orderly release of just how horrible, corrupt and illegal everything was.

  49. 49.

    NotMax

    @satby

    Last time can recall was during a January night in northern Virginia. Highway sloppy but okay, however when moved onto an exit ramp, there it was.

    Car did a 720 and came to a stop, still on the pavement. No damage, no other vehicles anywhere near.

    First comment to my passenger was “Are you all right?” Upon receiving affirmation, followed with “Don’t know about you, but my life is so boring that someone else’s flashed before my eyes.”

    ;)

  52. 52.

    PST

    @MagdaInBlack:

    Chicago winter storm warning starts just about the time I get to drive home.

    My wife snagged a vaccination appointment for tomorrow morning, but it’s in Arlington Heights, many miles from our apartment in the city. She’s worried about whether she can get there and whether they will be up and running. We’re debating whether she should pack a bag and drive before the snow. Hotel rooms are cheap in a pandemic.

  55. 55.

    Immanentize

    @OzarkHillbilly: you keep reporting things like this — helping your kids out babysitting, letting your wife get some deserved quiet time — and I might start to think you’re a nice guy.

  58. 58.

    satby

    @PST: It could be overkill, but I would probably do that. I’ve had to check into hotel rooms with only the clothes on my back more than once in bad weather. The trouble with waiting to see how things develop is by the time you pull the “yea, go” trigger it’s already getting bad.

    @NotMax: ? oh, you!

  59. 59.

    Geminid

    Go west, Floriduh Man!    This Thursday grandstanding Matt Gaetz will appear in Cheyenne, Wyoming for an anti-Liz Cheney rally. A Cheney spokesman fired back: “Rep. Gaetz can leave his beauty bag at home. In Wyoming the men don’t wear makeup.”                 Another Republican impeacher, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, piled on, confirming that Gaetz “literally does carry a beauty bag.”

  60. 60.

    SFAW

    CNN tells me that Jethrene is running for Arkansas governor.

    Disclaimer: only saw the headline, would not waste any of my time reading it, so the headline may be overstating.

  61. 61.

    Amir Khalid

    It’s the Mr Rogers presidency in action. Mercedes Schlapp thought that was a clever put-down; it turns out to be how a good POTUS operates. Who woulda thunk it?

  62. 62.

    Amir Khalid

    @SFAW:

    Sarah Huckabee Sanders running for Governor of Arkansas? About as frivolous, I would think, as Ivanka running for US Senator.

  63. 63.

    Van Buren

    I’m so jaded that I fully expect Republicans to loudly claim credit for the checks that they oppose, AND for the press to find a way to give them credit for them.

  64. 64.

    PST

    @satby: You mention the nightmare of ice walking. The other day, early in the morning, conditions were just right for moisture in the air to condense on the street and sidewalk and then freeze invisibly. I discovered that while tethered to 85 pounds of muscle and traction. I was glad to be able to keep to the grassy verge.

  67. 67.

    Immanentize

    @SFAW: I am no student of Arkansas politics these days, but is her brand still strong there?  Her father went Trumpy.  Did she?  My guess is that people in that state will not want her cutting the line.

  69. 69.

    SFAW

    @Immanentize:

    Apologies, but: don’t know, don’t care. As far as I’m concerned, she’s almost as vile as her father. The only thing she’s currently lacking is the whole Evangelical-grifter schtick — at least, not to her father’s extent.

  75. 75.

    rikyrah

    Awe ❤️❤️

    Per the WH: The First Family wanted to get settled before bringing the dogs down to Washington from Delaware. Champ is enjoying his new dog bed by the fireplace and Major loved running around on the South Lawn.— Michael Del Moro (@MikeDelMoro) January 25, 2021

  76. 76.

    Geminid

    @Amir Khalid: S. H. Sanders will have to win a Republican primary. But she may well prevail, and sail through the Arkansas general election. Arkansas is a backwards state, politically. Economically too, for that matter.

  77. 77.

    Dan B

    @NotMax:  Hawaii GOP spox resigned after posting approval of Qanon supporters. He said they were people who love America.

    Too much time in hot sun for this one?

  82. 82.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: It would be cool if Biden uses the Defense Production Act to make that fascist MyPillow asshole churn out free masks.

  85. 85.

    patrick II

    Charles P. Pierce @CharlesPPierce
    It looks like Dominion Voting Systems is going to end up owning a lot of people.

    Josh [email protected]
    Replying to @CharlesPPierce
    I’m going to sleep soundly on new Dominion pillow and bed linens.

  86. 86.

    Betty Cracker

    @Immanentize: I don’t know jack about Arkansas politics, but SHS’s intro video was pretty slick, and she beat the drum about her connection to Trump throughout. (Saw it on Twitter.) Wouldn’t surprise me if she wins.

  88. 88.

    Betty Cracker

    @rikyrah: Haha, good point. Maybe for once the ruthlessness of the Cheneys would be used for good rather than evil, if they squash that shithead Gaetz like a bug.

  89. 89.

    snoey

    @SFAW: Maybe not the Xtian angle, but being a candidate is a good grift on its own. Spend all those contributions on candidate expenses. Sure beats working for a living.

  92. 92.

    Geminid

    @rikyrah: Now I read that both the current Arkansas Lt. Governor and Attorney General are in the race to succeed term-limited Governor Hutchinson. Sanders will definitely need more than her charm to win this primary.

  98. 98.

    Soprano2

    It’s pouring down here right now. There are flash flood warnings and watches for the area for the morning. I’m just glad it’s not snow or ice!!!

    When hubby & I first met, we were working for a company that had meetings in Springfield, IL every week. I drove us because I had a much newer car than he did. It was snowing when we went to the January meeting, and after we crossed over the MO/IL line the weather got gradually worse, as did the roads, but we were talking and I wasn’t paying enough attention. I hit a patch of ice, and the car did a couple of 360° spins off the side of the highway. Lucky for us, there were no obstacles except one of those small highway markers, so the car ended up upright in a big field off the side of the highway. All I could think while it was happening was “hold the steering wheel and don’t turn over”. We just sat there for a minute, then I started laughing hysterically. After I calmed down (because he was calm the whole time), I was able to drive back up onto the highway. A couple of people stopped, but we didn’t need any help. Amazingly, he married me anyway! There was a hole in my license plate from where I hit the highway marker, and every time I looked at it I thought about how lucky we were!

  101. 101.

    SFAW

    @Cameron:

    He’s the rightful heir to Louie Gohmert’s Scepter of Stupid.

    Maybe he and Louie can have a steel-cage match (with guns) to decide who wears the “crown.” If neither of them survives, America wins.

  102. 102.

    Geminid

    @Immanentize: Both Reps. Scott Tipton (CO-3) and Denver Riggleman (VA-5) carried trump’s endorsement into their nomination contests, and both were knocked out by more conservative challengers. But trump’s support of these incumbents was typically nominal. I’m not sure I ever saw trump put himself out for anyone besides himself. The 2022 Georgia Republican primaries may be an exception, since trump has personal grudges against Kemp and Raffensperger. But a bitter fight in Georgia will only help Democrats. Within the Republican party, trump’s power may be just negative power. At least I hope so.

  103. 103.

    citizen dave

    @debbie: “Rubio assuming a leadership role is very good news for Democrats. And also gives @dick_nixon plenty of material.”

    No one has commented on this yet which tells us how little relevance Rubio has here.  Sorry for the crude words, but I saw his Sunday show clip yesterday 2 or 3 times on my local news shows, and he is a sniveling little dick.  His argument for not convicting seems to be that it would rile up the crazy MFer RWNJs and Q people (he says convicting is like throwing gasoline on a fire).  Which is a simply insane argument.

  104. 104.

    JAFD

    @satby: Back in days when I owned car, kept ‘gym bag’ (what do ye yoots call them these days?) with change of underwear,  toothbrush, towel (never forget your towel ;-) ) in trunk, in case winter weather left me far from home….

    Read, somewhere sometime, that 75% of US production of mint-chocolate-chip ice cream is consumed within 50 miles of Philadelphia…

    Have great week, everyone !  Stay well.

  105. 105.

    Steve in the ATL

    @satby:

    Redheads rule. And don’t suffer fools.

    So the one that’s been married to me for over a quarter century is the exception that proves the rule?

    @MagdaInBlack:

    Chicago winter storm warning starts

    In October and ends in June?

  106. 106.

    catclub

    @satby: At my age, so is ice walking.

     

    I saved the rubber crampons/cleats that you could buy at the Grand canyon – to hike down the icy trails. I have never needed them again….But i am READY.

  109. 109.

    MagdaInBlack

    @PST: Funny, I live in Arlington Heights. I’m glad she snagged a vaccination. Hope the weather holds off for her.

  110. 110.

    Geminid

    @Ken: A stagnant economy and reactionary politics seem to go hand in hand. This may explain some of why Virginia has gone from red to blue in two decades, while Ohio has been retrograde. In the 2018 midterms, many of the 41House seats flipped by Democrats covered prospering suburbs. Areas like Richmond, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, and Kansas City.                      Individual prosperity is often tied to educational achievement, and political scientists find that Democratic voting increasingly correlates with higher education, especially with newer voters.

  111. 111.

    Soprano2

    @O. Felix Culpa: My sister had a Rolex. I didn’t even know she had one until one of her friends asked if I knew whether she had been wearing it when the plane crashed (I’d seen her wear it, but had no idea it was a Rolex, and she never told me she bought it. So typical of her). I had no idea, but found out she hadn’t because it wasn’t working. So, got it fixed (not cheap!), and I wear it. I treasure it because it belonged to her, but it’s not something I would buy myself. So yeah, a stupid, petty story about something stupid and petty. We shouldn’t be surprised, they’re bored and are desperately trying to find something controversial about Biden. The press needs a 12-step program to break their addiction to Trump and “breakingnewsitis”.

  112. 112.

    PST

    @MagdaInBlack: Thanks. She deals with the families of the recently deceased, including those who have died of COVID-19. There is always a risk that those family members are infected as well. Her employer considers her a front-line essential worker, and it has given her a letter to that effect and facilitated vaccination appointments for its employees. I have read the regulations and have real doubts about that interpretation, so I’m a little worried that tomorrow I will be facing an angry, disappointed spouse who has been turned away at the door. I hope she gets it, though, for reasons both selfish and unselfish. Selfishly, she is by far the main danger point in my life. As of today, I am eligible on the basis of age, but Illinois will need some time to work its way through the ranks of the non-institutionalized old.

  113. 113.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Immanentize:  Inorite?

    @Soprano2: Oh, I’m so sorry about your sister. How awful that must have been for you…and I hope that it’s a comfort for you to have something wearable that reminds you of her.

    Twitter is pernicious in many ways, but I’m grateful that it also provides a channel for pushback on media misreporting and distorted framing.

  114. 114.

    Miss Bianca

    @sab: As do I. NORMALITY rules!

    I’m not chiming in on the “black ice accident” stories, tho’, even if I do have a few to tell…

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