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You are here: Home / Open Threads / News From the Land of the Pig

News From the Land of the Pig

by @heymistermix.com|  March 9, 202112:39 pm| 261 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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No offense to Iowans reading, but, boy, do I fucking hate your state.  Reason 1 million:

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday signed into law a Republican-backed bill that makes it harder to vote early, potentially eroding a key aspect of Democratic campaigns.

Republicans in the House and Senate quickly approved the voting changes over the opposition of all Democratic legislators. Republicans said the new rules were needed to guard against voting fraud, though they noted Iowa has no history of election irregularities and that November’s election saw record turnout with no hint of problems in the state.

There’s really no reason for Democrats to continue to tolerate the Iowa caucuses.  Find some other small state that actually wants Democrats to vote, and hold it there.  And, how about letting voters cast a ballot rather than showing up in a high school gym on some random winter night?   While we’re at it, Democrats should just abolish caucuses in general.   We’re the democracy party — let’s act like it.

I like the way the AP framed that story, btw.

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Reader Interactions

261Comments

  1. 1.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    March 9, 2021 at 12:43 pm

    This is sad. When we moved from Michigan to Iowa twenty-some years ago, we found it much easier to vote in Iowa.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    March 9, 2021 at 12:45 pm

    Agreed. All the caucuses need to go.

  3. 3.

    Served

    March 9, 2021 at 12:46 pm

    After the past year, I do not understand how eliminating the caucuses isn’t a given.

  4. 4.

    Baud

    March 9, 2021 at 12:47 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Sadly, old guard east coast blue states are some of the worst.  But at least their restrictions are specifically designed to hurt the other party or minorities.

  5. 5.

    trollhattan

    March 9, 2021 at 12:48 pm

    Didn’t Iowa recently have three Dem and one Rep reps? Now it’s 3-1 R to D.

    Going in the wrong direction, Hawkeye state.

  6. 6.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    March 9, 2021 at 12:48 pm

    @Baud: Our problems in Michigan came mostly when we lived in Detroit. We were shocked when we moved to a suburb and didn’t have to wait in long lines.

  7. 7.

    TaMara (HFG)

    March 9, 2021 at 12:50 pm

    Agree with all of this.

  8. 8.

    Baud

    March 9, 2021 at 12:52 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    The long lines are inexcusable.  We can deal with neutral restrictive rules by educating our voters.  Can’t do anything about inadequate polling stations.

  9. 9.

    Martin

    March 9, 2021 at 12:56 pm

    HR1 is going to become law. Manchin says to pass it under reconciliation if necessary.

    And here’s a simple idea: Have the DNC rank states in terms of ease to vote and gerrymandering. Hire the Brennan Center to do it. That’s the order of primary states. You want to go first – be a better democracy.

  10. 10.

    JMG

    March 9, 2021 at 12:56 pm

    I don’t get it. Record high turnout helped the Republicans in Iowa. They won almost every race and by big margins. These restrictions will hurt them more than their opponents. For them, voter suppression is an assumption stemming from the delusion that “we are the real oppressed minority. Our enemies are everywhere and they outnumber us.”

    If by some chance Democrats make gains in Iowa in 2022, will the Republicans RESTORE easier voting?

  11. 11.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 9, 2021 at 12:57 pm

    @Baud: ​
     Why do you hate conga lines?

  12. 12.

    BGinCHI

    March 9, 2021 at 12:59 pm

    @Martin: ​
      SPOT ON.

  13. 13.

    Cameron

    March 9, 2021 at 1:00 pm

    Don’t know what will happen here in Florida.  There are noises about restricting mail-in ballots, though I can’t see a way they can do that without screwing a bunch of Republican seniors.  I’m sure they have a few other tricks up their sleeves, too.

  14. 14.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 9, 2021 at 1:01 pm

    @Baud: I keep coming back to the push in GA to crack down on distributing food and water to people lined up to vote. Before you even get to the question of “How does pizza and bottled water lead to voter fraud?” comes, “Why do you have to stand in line to vote long enough to get thirsty, much less hungry?”

    NPR interviewed Gabriel Sterling today, and among other questions I had, this one didn’t come up.

    (I thought this was going to be a post on the environmental dangers of factory farming. I caught one of the TV doctors (Sanjay Gupta?) saying recently that the next pandemic will come from factory farms. Not “may” or “might”, “will”. Scared the crap out of me. )

  15. 15.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 9, 2021 at 1:01 pm

    Schedule now.

    Service unavailable, please try again later.

    GRRR!!

  16. 16.

    Kathy

    March 9, 2021 at 1:01 pm

    I’m an Iowan and am disgusted and ashamed. The Iowa GOP will not be content until absolutely no Democrats win elected office here. We have had a pretty good system – reliable voting machines with traceable paper ballots, long hours for voting, no excuse absentee ballots, long early voting period, nonpartisan redistricting system, same day voter registration. The Legislature has left a few elements intact FOR NOW, but they’ll be back to do more and worse. And yes, the caucuses need to go. It’s been a fun run for us political junkies, meeting so many candidates and getting so much attention, but the caucuses are fundamentally undemocratic and Iowa doesn’t deserve its first-in-the-nation status anyway. It’s time for the NPVIC.

  17. 17.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 9, 2021 at 1:03 pm

    @Martin:

    What about when the Conservative Six on the SCOTUS strike it down as unconstitutional? Do you think Manchin, Sienma will vote to pack the Court? Because otherwise, we’re looking at a one party state here in America. The GOP won’t be satisfied even to allow an opposition party in a few regional strongholds like the Northeast or the West Coast

  18. 18.

    rikyrah

    March 9, 2021 at 1:03 pm

    Just some ?????

    https://twitter.com/ElizMcQuern/status/1369339972579434500?s=20

  19. 19.

    The Moar You Know

    March 9, 2021 at 1:08 pm

    What about when the Conservative Six on the SCOTUS strike it down as unconstitutional? Do you think Manchin, Sienma will vote to pack the Court? Because otherwise, we’re looking at a one party state here in America. The GOP won’t be satisfied even to allow an opposition party in a few regional strongholds like the Northeast or the West Coast

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):  that’s…quite a leap, even for you.  I suggest Xanax.  Not in the mood for your doomposting horseshit today.

  20. 20.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 9, 2021 at 1:09 pm

    @rikyrah: Clever horse.

  21. 21.

    debbie

    March 9, 2021 at 1:09 pm

    @Kathy:

    Never too soon for a lawsuit.

  22. 22.

    Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix

    March 9, 2021 at 1:09 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I caught one of the TV doctors (Sanjay Gupta?) saying recently that the next pandemic will come from factory farms. Not “may” or “might”, “will”. Scared the crap out of me.

    They’re already killing us with their use of antibiotics in feed, creating more resistant bacteria.  No need for a pandemic.

  23. 23.

    Brachiator

    March 9, 2021 at 1:09 pm

    There’s really no reason for Democrats to continue to tolerate the Iowa caucuses.

    What does this have to do with voter suppression laws?

  24. 24.

    JPL

    March 9, 2021 at 1:10 pm

    @rikyrah: Thanks!

  25. 25.

    Redshift

    March 9, 2021 at 1:11 pm

    @JMG:

    I don’t get it. Record high turnout helped the Republicans in Iowa. They won almost every race and by big margins. These restrictions will hurt them more than their opponents. 

    It helped them in a lot of places, but apparently they’re high on their own supply, i.e., they trust their propaganda, not the facts.

  26. 26.

    Ruckus

    March 9, 2021 at 1:11 pm

    @JMG:

    Never a-tribute malice when stupidity is the better answer.

     

  27. 27.

    pacem appellant

    March 9, 2021 at 1:11 pm

    @JMG: I thought this as well. Counter argument: Repubs did well in Iowa in 2020 b/c the Former Guy was on the ballot. Without the rabid deplorables crawling over broken glass to prostrate themselves before their god, it is possible the Iowa GOP is banking on lower GOP turnout, so they’re trying to handicap the Dems as well. Counter counter point, mail-in voting historically benefits older, whiter voters (the GOP base), so it might be a net negative after all.

  28. 28.

    A Ghost to Most

    March 9, 2021 at 1:12 pm

    There sure are a lot of fascist run states.

  29. 29.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 9, 2021 at 1:13 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    “Doomposting horseshit”?

    “Even for me”?

    What are you talking about? It’s a legitimate question. The Supreme Court has already indicated it plans on allowing the Arizona voting restrictions. Barrett in the past has written about how only “virtuous citizens” should be allowed to vote.  These people are incredibly reactionary and hostile to voting rights because they’re authoritarians. I’m not doom and grooming. I’m discussing a very real possibility of a bad outcome and the likelihood of a potential work around to that bad outcome.

    ETA: maybe they won’t stamp out regional parties, perhaps that was hyperbolic. But they’re definitely aiming for a “permanent Republican” majority at the national level

  30. 30.

    pacem appellant

    March 9, 2021 at 1:13 pm

    @Brachiator: The logic, I think, is that the states get to decide their own election laws. But they can be pressured by national parties to change their behavior by introducing negative consequences to anti-democratic laws. Counterpoint, the GOP controls IA at all levels of government, so this is an ineffectual stick to threaten IA with.

  31. 31.

    Ruckus

    March 9, 2021 at 1:14 pm

    @Cameron:

    They don’t have tricks, they have desperation and stupid. They don’t want to be better, they want to be more racist and pathetic. They are working on both.

  32. 32.

    Redshift

    March 9, 2021 at 1:16 pm

    @Baud:

    Agreed. All the caucuses need to go. 

    The 2020 rules changes mostly did that. Only Iowa, Nevada, and Wyoming (plus the territories) still have them.

  33. 33.

    Jay

    March 9, 2021 at 1:18 pm

    Y’all wanna make sure we defeat autocracy in Missouri?Make sure you’re still registered to vote. For some reason, I no longer am.Check Your Voter Reg Status Here: https://t.co/P03mA3O4Oz pic.twitter.com/QH7oclzQPp— Lindsey Simmons (@LynzforCongress) March 9, 2021

  34. 34.

    Ruckus

    March 9, 2021 at 1:19 pm

    @Redshift:

    Facts are a liberal concept. So they want to stay as far away from them as possible. Besides, lies and bullshit is all they have left. They know they can’t win on facts, that ship sailed decades ago.

  35. 35.

    matt the semi-reasonable

    March 9, 2021 at 1:21 pm

    it has been interesting watching the Bern-outs cling to caucuses with their fingernails because Sanders did well in some. Other than keeping them from voting for Jill Stein, I don’t see any reason to allow caucuses to continue. Our idiot media likes them, but generally one should do the opposite of what they want because they’re so fucking dumb.

  36. 36.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    March 9, 2021 at 1:21 pm

    For counties controlled by the GOP, signature crosscheck will be the way to eliminate “those people” from voting.  See a nongeneric name that doesn’t code white, throw the ballot out for lack of a signature match.   See a mismatch between a decades-old signature, signature from a pin-pad, noncursive writer, throw the ballot out, especially if it’s the voter is a registered Democrat in those areas which require party registration, throw the ballot out.  That way the system will keep GOP voters and eliminate Democratic voters.  The signature crosscheck requirement has to go.

  37. 37.

    cain

    March 9, 2021 at 1:21 pm

    @Brachiator:

    I was thinking the same thing. I guess it is a punishment for not being a good state. I must admit – I don’t see why Iowa should get any kind of priority if the state govt is enforcing only one party rule.

  38. 38.

    joel hanes

    March 9, 2021 at 1:22 pm

    @JMG:

    I don’t get it.

    You’re making the mistake of thinking that the Iowa GOP is strategizing, aiming for favored outcomes.

    Nope.   Ever since they got the trifecta in Iowa, they’ve been all about “owning the libs” — Cleek’s Law.   They have two objectives:

    1.  Make liberals sad
    2.  Completely prevent legal abortions in Iowa
  39. 39.

    cain

    March 9, 2021 at 1:24 pm

    @pacem appellant: ​

    @JMG: I thought this as well. Counter argument: Repubs did well in Iowa in 2020 b/c the Former Guy was on the ballot. Without the rabid deplorables crawling over broken glass to prostrate themselves before their god, it is possible the Iowa GOP is banking on lower GOP turnout, so they’re trying to handicap the Dems as well. Counter counter point, mail-in voting historically benefits older, whiter voters (the GOP base), so it might be a net negative after all.

     

    They will still claim voter fraud and then get super pissed and want a do over when they find out it was their own laws that caused them to lose their own majority. They’ll refuse to certify the election and everything else claiming voter fraud.

    We’ll have to take them to court for everything and make sure they make their claims under oath – let’s see if they are willing to lie.

  40. 40.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 9, 2021 at 1:24 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Then the United States will become a much smaller and much poorer country.

     

  41. 41.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 9, 2021 at 1:25 pm

    So true.

    Trump telling Republicans to donate money to him and not the GOP is so magnificent. The shittiest and most painfully transparent conman in human history has duped the Republican Party over and over and over again. I mean…it’s staggering. They’re easier marks than toddlers.— Rex Huppke (@RexHuppke) March 9, 2021

    Also, the coal industry is going gangbusters and even improving air quality if more is burned!

  42. 42.

    Kent

    March 9, 2021 at 1:27 pm

    @Cheryl from Maryland:For counties controlled by the GOP, signature crosscheck will be the way to eliminate “those people” from voting.  See a nongeneric name that doesn’t code white, throw the ballot out for lack of a signature match.   See a mismatch between a decades-old signature, signature from a pin-pad, noncursive writer, throw the ballot out, especially if it’s the voter is a registered Democrat in those areas which require party registration, throw the ballot out.  That way the system will keep GOP voters and eliminate Democratic voters.  The signature crosscheck requirement has to go.

    Which is actually why Dems in a lot of areas shouldn’t be relying on mail-in voting.  Much harder or impossible to toss out your ballot if you show up to the polls in person with a valid ID.

    In states that actually support voting, like OR and WA then mail in voting is great.  Not so much when you are at the mercy of racist local county officials.

  43. 43.

    Baud

    March 9, 2021 at 1:27 pm

    @Redshift: That’s two caucuses of the first four states under the existing schedule.

  44. 44.

    hitless

    March 9, 2021 at 1:28 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    I don’t think it was doom-posting. There’s a significant probability that 4 years from now the United States will be a one party state going forward for years to come.

    But I do think it’s important to understand that this is all a dynamic process. If HR 1 passes, SCOTUS can’t whack it immediately…it will take time and it will get people’s attention. Even if SCOTUS does whack it, maybe it still impacts the 2022 midterms before they can do so. After it is whacked, it’s a cause to try to bring voting rights back that we can hope a large number of people will rally around.

    Just because something is unlikely to endure does not mean it isn’t worth doing. It does not mean that it won’t have a positive impact.

  45. 45.

    Jay

    March 9, 2021 at 1:29 pm

    steven crowder enters a gym disguised as a trans woman to expose how trans people don't fit in with "normal people", accidentally demonstrates that almost nobody gives a shit and has to literally start throwing weights around like a child to instigate mild conflict pic.twitter.com/p2m1jIGBV5— Jack Saint (@LackingSaint) March 8, 2021

  46. 46.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 9, 2021 at 1:29 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    Looking back, that does sound doom and gloomy. I didn’t mean that question about Manchin and Sinema to sound so skeptical. I was genuinely asking. I personally think they would vote to pack the Court if it tried to strike down the John Lewis Voting Rights Act/HR

    @hitless:

    That’s a good point.

    Just because something is unlikely to endure does not mean it isn’t worth doing. It does not mean that it won’t have a positive impact.

    Oh I agree. My comment was meant more in the sense of, “What will do to either prevent this or do in response if it does happen”

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    My original comment was worded poorly. Didn’t mean to imply it was pointless

  47. 47.

    matt the semi-reasonable

    March 9, 2021 at 1:30 pm

    @Kent: That’s a great point. I think we know that ‘ethnic sounding’ names are going to be the only ones scrutinized in the 30 worst states.

  48. 48.

    Ksmiami

    March 9, 2021 at 1:42 pm

    @Served: 
    Time to just abolish the Republican Party. What a waste of space…

  49. 49.

    Martin

    March 9, 2021 at 1:43 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I doubt USSC would strike it down, TBH.

  50. 50.

    sdhays

    March 9, 2021 at 1:46 pm

    I’ve taken to calling Iowa “East Dakota” since that seems to be what they aspire to be now.

  51. 51.

    trollhattan

    March 9, 2021 at 1:47 pm

    Major chomp leads to Champ and Major being sent to nice farm upstate back to Delaware. Clearly a lack of correct Liberal control of doggies.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56331268

    Twenty Quatloos on Fox leading with this presidential pet failure by tonight. Lord knows, we already had groominggate.

  52. 52.

    catclub

    March 9, 2021 at 1:47 pm

    @trollhattan: ​
     

    Going in the wrong direction, Hawkeye state.

    also Ohio. never trust those states with 4 letter names, mostly vowels.
    utah? no worse than usual.

  53. 53.

    trollhattan

    March 9, 2021 at 1:47 pm

    @sdhays:

    Alta Missouri.

  54. 54.

    Ken

    March 9, 2021 at 1:48 pm

    @Martin: I would think if any case were filed, the law’s defenders would quote Article I Section 4

    The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

    early and often.

  55. 55.

    Brachiator

    March 9, 2021 at 1:49 pm

    @pacem appellant:

    The logic, I think, is that the states get to decide their own election laws. But they can be pressured by national parties to change their behavior by introducing negative consequences to anti-democratic laws. Counterpoint, the GOP controls IA at all levels of government, so this is an ineffectual stick to threaten IA with.

    I am not sure that I care whether Iowas has a caucus or a primary.

    Didn’t Obama win the Iowa caucuses?

  56. 56.

    Ksmiami

    March 9, 2021 at 1:49 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): we can eliminate the Supreme Court or expand it.. the more desperate the GOP becomes, the more hostile the backlash –

  57. 57.

    trollhattan

    March 9, 2021 at 1:49 pm

    @Jay:

    Libs well and properly owned. That’ll show ’em.

    He should have tried selling HGH in the women’s locker room.

  58. 58.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 9, 2021 at 1:49 pm

    @trollhattan: Fucker Carlson will be calling for impeachment of a dog.

  59. 59.

    Spanky

    March 9, 2021 at 1:50 pm

    As someone who tolerated exactly 2 semesters of grad school at U of Iowa before fleeing, welcome to my hatefest.

  60. 60.

    scav

    March 9, 2021 at 1:51 pm

    @trollhattan: oooo, that one will hurt. Rise of the lower tier!

  61. 61.

    catclub

    March 9, 2021 at 1:51 pm

    @Kent: Much harder or impossible to toss out your ballot if you show up to the polls in person with a valid ID.

     

    At least until you find the number of voting machines at your precinct means it will take all day, and you still might not get to vote.

  62. 62.

    Martin

    March 9, 2021 at 1:53 pm

    @JMG: They can see the demographic trends. Des Moines is getting more younger/non-white residents.

  63. 63.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 9, 2021 at 1:53 pm

    @Ken:

    except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

    Could they make hay with this bit?

    @Martin:

    Thanks for making feel better guys ^^

  64. 64.

    MattF

    March 9, 2021 at 1:55 pm

    Piers Morgan has left his job at ITV, ITV has released this less-than-informative news brief on the subject.

  65. 65.

    polyorchnid octopunch

    March 9, 2021 at 2:00 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Cucker Farlson? I call him that because you just know he fantasizes about his wife taking it top pocket from a BBC.

  66. 66.

    Edmund Dantes

    March 9, 2021 at 2:00 pm

    @hitless: just takes a National injunction from a federal judge in Texas and scotus not granting a temporary stay of it while it works through the courts.

  67. 67.

    Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    March 9, 2021 at 2:01 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): The Constitution is pretty clear that congress has the power over federal elections if the want it.

    The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

    And Immantize said yesterday that some later amendments reinforce this power.

  68. 68.

    BruceFromOhio

    March 9, 2021 at 2:03 pm

    Open thread, yay!

    Lincoln Project won accolades, but I’ll be Gaia-damned as a mark if I gave them any money.

    And always follow the money. This belongs in the previous post, I suppose. Democrats do a pretty good job with ActBlue getting small donations directly to candidates. Gotta step up that game as well.

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):  Right there with you, and thinking the same thing as the trends are there, as well as recent behavior by the SCOTUS.

  69. 69.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 9, 2021 at 2:05 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Could they make hay with this bit?

    No, the reason that clause is in there is Senators were originally not elected by popular vote, but by state legislatures.  That was changed with the 17th Amendment and that clause is no longer relevant.

  70. 70.

    MattF

    March 9, 2021 at 2:07 pm

    @BruceFromOhio: The LP videos were good, but I was never tempted to send them money. It seemed to me that their target audience was liberals on Twitter. Which is fine, but was not what they were saying.

  71. 71.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 9, 2021 at 2:07 pm

    @polyorchnid octopunch: Well done.

  72. 72.

    VeniceRiley

    March 9, 2021 at 2:10 pm

    @pacem appellant: The logic, I think, is that the states get to decide their own election laws. But they can be pressured by national parties to change their behavior by introducing negative consequences to anti-democratic laws. Counterpoint, the GOP controls IA at all levels of government, so this is an ineffectual stick to threaten IA with.

    I think removing the D caucuses would be a devastating financial and reputational blow to business Republicans there. Kick them right in the wallet.

  73. 73.

    Delk

    March 9, 2021 at 2:13 pm

    Still hard to believe that Iowa allowed me to get married before a helluva other states.

  74. 74.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 9, 2021 at 2:14 pm

    @Ksmiami:

    we can eliminate the Supreme Court

    huh?

  75. 75.

    Uncle Cosmo

    March 9, 2021 at 2:14 pm

    @polyorchnid octopunch: Try Fucker Churlson. In dire need of being whapped upside the head with the sharp edge of a Swanson TV dinner cooled down to Pfizer-vaccine storage temps.

  76. 76.

    Cameron

    March 9, 2021 at 2:20 pm

    @Jay: He’s obviously an asshole.  Is there anything else I should know about Steve Crowder?

  77. 77.

    JPL

    March 9, 2021 at 2:25 pm

    @MattF: Murdoch will hire him.

  78. 78.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2021 at 2:27 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):  You guessed it. Democracy is doomed everywhere. We are all going to rounded up and put in camps. You win. Happy now?

    @hitless: “Significant probability?”

    You can fuck off too.

  79. 79.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 9, 2021 at 2:29 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    If you look at my next comments, you’ll note I awknowledged it was poorly worded and not intended to come off so gloom and doomy. I was simply asking about a scenario and if there were solutions to it. Other commenters answered my question satisfactorily

  80. 80.

    gvg

    March 9, 2021 at 2:30 pm

    Slightly off topic, Max Boot has a new WaPo op ed stating that the media and the GOP are hypocrites in attacking democrats and Andrew Cuomo etc, while ignoring the GOP’s far worse examples of the same both in treatment of women and handling Covid.  Didn’t Boot used to be right wing?  Anyway he said a lot of what we say here, with specific clear examples on a pretty big platform.

  81. 81.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 9, 2021 at 2:32 pm

    @Martin: ​
     

    Well said.

  82. 82.

    zhena gogolia

    March 9, 2021 at 2:33 pm

    @gvg:

    He still is right wing by any sane definition of the term. He’s just not insane right wing.

  83. 83.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2021 at 2:34 pm

    @Brachiator: Did you miss the clusterfuck in Iowa in 2020, when it took Iowa weeks to clarify who came out on top?

  84. 84.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2021 at 2:37 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I’ve told you before.  I’ve quit trying to talk people off the ledge.  Especially people who just keep going back there.  It’s like you want to be there, so who am I to get in your way?

  85. 85.

    James E Powell

    March 9, 2021 at 2:38 pm

    @MattF:

    Are we to believe it has nothing to do with recent events?

  86. 86.

    Baud

    March 9, 2021 at 2:39 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Will it be like summer camp?

  87. 87.

    MattF

    March 9, 2021 at 2:40 pm

    @James E Powell: Oh, no. Morgan walked off the Morning Program set after being called out for his commentary on the Royals by a co-host. News anchors are not supposed to do that.

  88. 88.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2021 at 2:40 pm

    @Baud: Oh, good.  Count me in for the arts & crafts.  That and swimming we always my favorite parts.

  89. 89.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 9, 2021 at 2:40 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    We are all going to rounded up and put in camps.

    I get the top bunk, Omnes.

  90. 90.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 9, 2021 at 2:41 pm

    @MattF: Didn’t know he was a baseball fan.

  91. 91.

    M31

    March 9, 2021 at 2:42 pm

    @WaterGirl: it took Iowa weeks to clarify who came out on top?

    bbbuttt they had a app

  92. 92.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 9, 2021 at 2:43 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    What are you talking about? I didn’t ask you to do that. I was explaining that my comment was poorly worded, sounded more defeatist than I meant it, I corrected, and others gave me satisfactory explanations based on what I asked.

    All I was trying to ask was, basically, what challenges an HR1 voting bill would face with the SCOTUS, and how we could get around that. That’s it

  93. 93.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2021 at 2:43 pm

    @Baud: I suppose that depends on how your summers were.

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Will you bring the cocker spaniel?

  94. 94.

    MattF

    March 9, 2021 at 2:43 pm

    @gvg: Boot’s a Never-Trumper. It does seem that the Never Trump crowd is rather more liberal on social issues than the R average. See, e.g., Ms. Rubin.

  95. 95.

    jonas

    March 9, 2021 at 2:44 pm

    All primaries should be that — primaries. Were I an All Powerful Emperor and Lord, I would hold all primaries over the summer, when the weather’s decent and people have time off to vote, and shorten the campaign season overall. A huge problem with politics in this country is the years-long, never-ending campaign season that begins, effectively, 2 years before the goddamn election. It’s exhausting and it turns people off. A presidential campaign should be about 6 months long, tops. That’s plenty of time to barnstorm key states and let the electorate get to know you. These bullshit primaries, caucuses and other nonsense in tiny, rural white states in the dark of January or February have got to go.

  96. 96.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 9, 2021 at 2:45 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Only if she starts eating more.

  97. 97.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2021 at 2:47 pm

    @MattF: Boot, Rubin, and many of the other Never Trumpers are Neo Cons.  They might have been willing to go along with retrograde social and domestic policy to get their foreign domination on but not if it comes with foreign humiliation.

  98. 98.

    Ksmiami

    March 9, 2021 at 2:49 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I mean if certain governmental bodies become a nuisance then their own longevity comes into question- if the Roberts court becomes hostile to the majority of citizens, something else will replace it.

  99. 99.

    Ksmiami

    March 9, 2021 at 2:51 pm

    @WaterGirl: I get dibs on the floating slide in the middle of the lake… everyone who went to camp knows the deal…

  100. 100.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    March 9, 2021 at 2:52 pm

    @Ksmiami: The means to get there might have, issues.

  101. 101.

    MattF

    March 9, 2021 at 2:53 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: True enough. Also, neocon foreign policies haven’t aged well and look anomalous in the America First playbook.

  102. 102.

    cckids

    March 9, 2021 at 2:55 pm

    @MattF:It seemed to me that their target audience was liberals on Twitter.

    I always thought their main focus was to get Trump foaming at the mouth with anger. They probably succeeded at that. At influencing the election, not so much.

  103. 103.

    Another Scott

    March 9, 2021 at 2:55 pm

    Here’s hoping that HR1 rolls back most of these anti-equal-protection voting suppression rules.

    In other news, …

    Good progress is being made in Virginia in getting teachers vaccinated. @GovernorVA reports 2/3 of all teachers have received 1 COVID shot, 40% are fully vaccinated. @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/PvqoLiM9U6

    — Julie Carey (@JulieCareyNBC) March 9, 2021

    Good, good. Get it done.

    (via ssurovell)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  104. 104.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2021 at 2:57 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):  I believe that Omnes is speaking to a pattern in your comments.

    When this sort of thing comes up, it’s pretty consistent that your reply speaks to the individual comment you made, and you often share a reason or excuse for having said what you said, or having asked the question you asked.

    But that misses the mark of what people are trying to convey.

    I believe you will have to think bigger than the individual comment in question in order to understand why you get responses like this.

    Shorter: you want to talk about a particular instance, and others are speaking to a pattern.

  105. 105.

    MattF

    March 9, 2021 at 2:57 pm

    @cckids: Yeah, but there’s the short-attention-span problem. Trump will get angry X, and then he’ll get angry at Y, and then he’ll get angry at…

  106. 106.

    Barry

    March 9, 2021 at 2:59 pm

    @catclub: “At least until you find the number of voting machines at your precinct means it will take all day, and you still might not get to vote.”

     

    And you were removed from the voter registration rolls, and found out on Election Day.

  107. 107.

    James E Powell

    March 9, 2021 at 3:01 pm

    I know I shouldn’t, but I watched some cable news this morning.

    Republicans seem to be going with: Democrats give your tax dollars to prisoners! and Biden created crisis at the border!!

    Cable shows seem to believe Racist Royals is the bigger story.

  108. 108.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2021 at 3:02 pm

    @James E Powell: That’s actually good for us.

  109. 109.

    MattF

    March 9, 2021 at 3:04 pm

    @James E Powell: The subjects of the R attacks change every day. I assume it’s lined up with Fox commentary.

  110. 110.

    Steve in the ATL

    March 9, 2021 at 3:09 pm

    @Kent:

     

    Which is actually why Dems in a lot of areas shouldn’t be relying on mail-in voting. Much harder or impossible to toss out your ballot if you show up to the polls in person with a valid ID.

    In states that actually support voting, like OR and WA then mail in voting is great. Not so much when you are at the mercy of racist local county officials.

    These reasons, plus DeJoy’s dismantling of USPS, are why my wife and I risked our health to vote in person.

  111. 111.

    Martin

    March 9, 2021 at 3:13 pm

    @James E Powell: Mr Potato Head doesn’t have the staying power to carry to 2022.

  112. 112.

    Feathers

    March 9, 2021 at 3:14 pm

    @MattF: ​Here’s a link to the clip: Piers Storms Off. Walk off at 1:40, the good stuff at 1:20

    The backstory here is that Piers Morgan used to tweet at Meghan while she was an actress on the show Suits. She never interacted with him publicly. After she started dating Harry, Piers said that they knew each other an had had coffee together. She has never mentioned or acknowledged him. Apparently he expected to get invited to the wedding. He was not. Afterwards, he became one of her worst critics, going on absolutely unhinged rants about her.One of the other people on the show called him out about this history, saying that Meghan was entitled to cut him off if she wanted to, that she had said nothing about him, but Morgan continually trashed her. At that point Piers said he didn’t have to take this, pulled off his mike and walked off set, leaving everybody else just sitting there.He’s the host. Yeah, probably a firing offense. From what I understand, Alex Beresford, the guy who called him out does the weather, so we’ll see what happens to him. #TeamAlex​ Edit – fixing broken link​

  113. 113.

    Gravenstone

    March 9, 2021 at 3:15 pm

    @JMG: I remember something about noses and spiting of faces…

  114. 114.

    Jim Appleton

    March 9, 2021 at 3:15 pm

    @hitless: Yes.

  115. 115.

    Steve in the ATL

    March 9, 2021 at 3:18 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

     

    I’ve quit trying to talk people off the ledge.

    And the world misses your top notch interpersonal skills and legendary empathy!

  116. 116.

    Barry

    March 9, 2021 at 3:19 pm

    @Ksmiami: “I mean if certain governmental bodies become a nuisance then their own longevity comes into question- if the Roberts court becomes hostile to the majority of citizens, something else will replace it.”

     

    The whole point of the right’s sh@t is the opposite of that, to rule with a minority through a mess of crap which stops as many people from voting as they need.

  117. 117.

    sab

    March 9, 2021 at 3:23 pm

    @James E Powell: Racist royals seems to be smear job of wrong royals.

    Don’t follow it much, but yay Megan. Sucides in my family. Shouldn’t be ignored. Brave of her to go public a year after palace had chance to avert the p.r. problems. Staying silent after a while is condoning their behavior. My guess, with English press, is anyone they point their finger at is innocent and they know it.

    Sort of OT: Piers Morgan got the easiest gig in America, Larry King’s show established after 25 years. His thing was being nice to celebrities so they would come and talk. Also to other people. He was just kind and curious.

    Piers, being himself, had to be an asshole. Couldn’t bring himself to be nice. Hardbiting but factless. Almost inevitably, that ends up racist.

    I saw him early in his tenure interviewing a doctor after Hurricane Sandy that flooded hospital basements  New York, which killed their generators.

    The doctor came on expecting to celebrate his doctors and nurses who had climbed down multiple stairs hand pumping respirators to save patients during evacuation.

    Piers Morgan wanted to know why the generators were on the first floor. Any minimal reporting would have found zoning and other constraints. He couldn’t be bothered because he is a  pricey foreign celebrity not a reporter.

    Ugliest thing I have ever seen on TV. Months later Piers was back to UK. I have assumed he hates America now because we weren’t quite as horrible (hence lucrative) as he dreamed we would be.

  118. 118.

    danielx

    March 9, 2021 at 3:24 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: ​
     

    We are all going to rounded up and put in camps.

    Unless they serve drinks with little umbrellas in them, I must decline.

  119. 119.

    Seanly

    March 9, 2021 at 3:27 pm

    If you’re a politician and you don’t want people to vote, you are one of following:

    1.  full of terrible ideas that you know no one wants
    2.  a would-be dictator
    3.  a fucking miserable coward
    4. yes, all of the above is an option

    And another group of miserable assholes are the idiots who continue to act like both parties are equivalent.

  120. 120.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 9, 2021 at 3:31 pm

    @MattF: I didn’t read his book on his conversion, but I heard a couple of longer interviews with Boot when it was released, and he’s quite frank about the role of racism in his Republican Party, pretty much Reagan-Bush (he was born in ’69). He’s said he’s particularly embarrassed (I typed ashamed, but I don’t know if he went that far) that he didn’t recognize it as a Jew whose family was driven out of the the USSR by anti-Semitism

  121. 121.

    cckids

    March 9, 2021 at 3:31 pm

    @MattF: Yes. That’s why, for as amusing and fun as many people (including me) found the LP videos, what actual purpose did they achieve? Mainly, draining lots of $$ into LP founder’s pockets.

  122. 122.

    Immanentize

    March 9, 2021 at 3:32 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: laughing now

    hope you will have a job after Biden forces everyone into BLM LGBTQ+ Union negotiations led by caravan plague monsters from Kenya.

    I will wear that Union label!

  123. 123.

    Benw

    March 9, 2021 at 3:32 pm

    Just cobble Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri into one state and make them vote last.

    IOWEBRASKANSASSOURI

  124. 124.

    James E Powell

    March 9, 2021 at 3:37 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Agreed. It’s actually pretty funny.

  125. 125.

    Steve in the ATL

    March 9, 2021 at 3:39 pm

    @Immanentize: in that scenario, management and its lawyers will be the ones beaten by Pinkerton’s guards?

  126. 126.

    SFBayAreaGal

    March 9, 2021 at 3:41 pm

    This comment on Lawyers Guns and Money has me laughing out loud

    “By my math, Meghan took down the whole monarchy, Piers and that preposterous tabloid with a single rifle shot.”

  127. 127.

    Ruckus

    March 9, 2021 at 3:44 pm

    @cain:

    If they are willing to lie?

    They are not just willing, they enjoy it, revel in it.

  128. 128.

    trollhattan

    March 9, 2021 at 3:44 pm

    @Benw:

    +1. With but two senators among them.

  129. 129.

    Immanentize

    March 9, 2021 at 3:45 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Everyone must take a turn in the Pinkerton barrel!

  130. 130.

    MattF

    March 9, 2021 at 3:46 pm

    @SFBayAreaGal: And Oprah.

  131. 131.

    Gravenstone

    March 9, 2021 at 3:46 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo: If you cool his head down to -70 C, the TV dinner tray will have a much more satisfying effect. Not that it will really be needed at that point.

  132. 132.

    Ksmiami

    March 9, 2021 at 3:47 pm

    @Barry: but the Republicans have been exposed in a way that wasn’t possible without cell phones etc… I mean the GOP used to hide its ugly underbelly but now they debate Cat in the Hat while Democratic Party members pass relief- I mean yes we all know what they are trying to do wrt to voting , but we all still have enough agency to crush these fuckers like the roaches they are

  133. 133.

    sab

    March 9, 2021 at 3:48 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Does Pinkerton still have guards? Which side in GoFund me? Life is complicated. Turned my timesheet in March 1. Still no paycheck. Post office? Boss? Who knows. Not incentivized to put their work ahead of housework or my kids’ needs.

  134. 134.

    Gravenstone

    March 9, 2021 at 3:50 pm

    @Feathers: So, an unrequited crush and he went nuts when called on it. How…dignified.

  135. 135.

    cain

    March 9, 2021 at 4:00 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: 

    @trollhattan: Fucker Carlson will be calling for impeachment of a dog.

    It would not surprise me if the right wing start claiming that the dog is a danger and push for euthanasia. They are that fucking evil.

  136. 136.

    Baud

    March 9, 2021 at 4:03 pm

    LGM

    THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN WILL BE ONE OF THE BEST AND MOST PROGRESSIVE STATUTES EVER ENACTED BY THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS

    I don’t agree with every bit of that analysis, but the laundry list of items in the bill is impressive.

  137. 137.

    cain

    March 9, 2021 at 4:07 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: ​@?BillinGlendaleCA: Will you bring the cocker spaniel?

     
    Seems like we are one animal way from “Weekend at Bernies”

  138. 138.

    cain

    March 9, 2021 at 4:08 pm

    @Another Scott: ​
     
    And I would like to also extend an extra long middle finger to John Roberts who believes we live in a post-racial society. Fucker.

  139. 139.

    cain

    March 9, 2021 at 4:12 pm

    @Feathers: ​
     

    The backstory here is that Piers Morgan used to tweet at Meghan while she was an actress on the show Suits. She never interacted with him publicly. After she started dating Harry, Piers said that they knew each other an had had coffee together. She has never mentioned or acknowledged him. Apparently he expected to get invited to the wedding. He was not. Afterwards, he became one of her worst critics, going on absolutely unhinged rants about her.One of the other people on the show called him out about this history, saying that Meghan was entitled to cut him off if she wanted to, that she had said nothing about him, but Morgan continually trashed her. At that point Piers said he didn’t have to take this, pulled off his mike and walked off set, leaving everybody else just sitting there.He’s the host. Yeah, probably a firing offense. From what I understand, Alex Beresford, the guy who called him out does the weather, so we’ll see what happens to him. #TeamAlex​ Edit – fixing broken link​

    I saw a clip of Piers taking the piss of the weather girl, saying it was summer because the woman was wearing a short skirt. They showed her attire which was a knee length skirt – certainly not some kind of kinky number or anything. But he’s sitting there lambasting her and I could tell she was getting pissed off.

    In fact a lot of those people you tell on the telly with him were holding it in. Glad they don’t have hernias. Good riddance.

  140. 140.

    Mary G

    March 9, 2021 at 4:13 pm

    Leader Schumer has filed cloture on Executive Calendar #31 Debra Anne Haaland, of New Mexico, to be Secretary of the Interior @Interior— Senate Cloakroom (@SenateCloakroom) March 9, 2021

  141. 141.

    Feathers

    March 9, 2021 at 4:13 pm

    @Gravenstone: I just checked my email and there was a newsletter with a bunch of links to really awful clips of him talking about her. Apparently she met him for a few drinks, they talked about the charities she worked with. Piers thought it went great, he put her into an Uber and never heard from her again. In another interview he blamed it on Harry being afraid of her having contacts with the media. Instead of the fact that Piers himself is kinda gross.

    Don’t think I’ll link, just imagine Piers insulted at the thought that anyone might think he would have been a real catch for the then single Megan Markle.

  142. 142.

    Spanky

    March 9, 2021 at 4:14 pm

    Wake up  sheeple! They’re rounding us up to send us to band camp!

  143. 143.

    debbie

    March 9, 2021 at 4:15 pm

    @James E Powell:

    The Queen issued a statement earlier today. I’m thinking she wasn’t in on the racist banter.

  144. 144.

    germy

    March 9, 2021 at 4:16 pm

    Once I was on the Piers Morgan show. He ticked off the names of several well known actors’ and asked me which ones I’d slept with. Still keepin it classy, huh @piersmorgan ?

    — Ellen Barkin (@EllenBarkin) March 9, 2021

  145. 145.

    Feathers

    March 9, 2021 at 4:17 pm

    @cain: I mixed it up then, I thought the dude was a weatherman. On the blog I was reading, someone said their mother loved Good Morning Britain, but only watched it on the days he didn’t host because she found him so loathsome.

    Good Morning Britain has rotating hosts with a different lineup every day. Dumping Piers shouldn’t hurt them. Nobody should have to put up with that shit.

  146. 146.

    cain

    March 9, 2021 at 4:18 pm

    I see my rate of posting has outpaced everyone elses. #ADHDLife

  147. 147.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2021 at 4:20 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: To be fair, they often jumped.

  148. 148.

    cain

    March 9, 2021 at 4:21 pm

    @Feathers: ​
     

    @cain: I mixed it up then, I thought the dude was a weatherman. On the blog I was reading, someone said their mother loved Good Morning Britain, but only watched it on the days he didn’t host because she found him so loathsome.

    It would not surprise me that the man was knackered. (I’m not sure why I’m using British idioms in this conversation)

    I’m waiting for our very own Tony Jay to weigh in. :-)

  149. 149.

    gwangung

    March 9, 2021 at 4:22 pm

    @cain: That would be John Roberts and the 45% of America society that agrees with him.

  150. 150.

    debbie

    March 9, 2021 at 4:23 pm

    What kind of participation trophy is this asshole expecting?

    The former CEO and founder of pizza chain Papa John’s says he has been working on not using racist language for the past 20 months.

    John Schnatter, the Papa John’s founder who in 2018 stepped down for using the N-word during a conference call said in an interview with One America News Network that he is “not a racist” and that the pizza chain’s board has painted him in that manner.

  151. 151.

    Brachiator

    March 9, 2021 at 4:24 pm

    @debbie:

    The former CEO and founder of pizza chain Papa John’s says he has been working on not using racist language for the past 20 months.

    This is close to something you might read in The Onion.

  152. 152.

    Ken

    March 9, 2021 at 4:25 pm

    @Gravenstone: To me the description of his behavior read more like “stalker” than “unrequited crush”, but without actually seeing the tweets I can’t be sure.

  153. 153.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2021 at 4:26 pm

    @Ken: Is there really a difference?

  154. 154.

    Ken

    March 9, 2021 at 4:27 pm

    @cain: Is that “knackered” as in “exhausted”, or as in “hit on the head with a sledgehammer at the slaughterhouse”?

  155. 155.

    Mary G

    March 9, 2021 at 4:28 pm

    Any North LA County jackals over 65 who need a vaccine:

    Residents 65+ – Additional vaccine appointments for tomorrow are available at @SFMagicMountain! Sign up now at https://t.co/NPGxVIKO3e. pic.twitter.com/6lqjuq5y96— LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) March 9, 2021

    I’m sure this is because a lot of right wingers and survivalists and general nutcases live up there, but it still makes me happy to see there are spares available. Also, good on the theme parks for giving their spaces instead of emptying their pockets of every last penny. I had major sticker shock when I looked at Disneyland tickets.

  156. 156.

    Ken

    March 9, 2021 at 4:28 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Generally comes down to whether there’s a restraining order.

  157. 157.

    cain

    March 9, 2021 at 4:29 pm

    @gwangung:

     

    @cain: That would be John Roberts and the 45% of America society that agrees with him.

    Then I shall extend my middle finger to that 45% – assholes.

  158. 158.

    Ken

    March 9, 2021 at 4:30 pm

    @Mary G: Leader Schumer has filed cloture

    The Republicans are going to have to learn to stagger their potty breaks better.

  159. 159.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 9, 2021 at 4:30 pm

    Say what you will about the hawkeye state, it’s got great congressional districts.

  160. 160.

    cain

    March 9, 2021 at 4:30 pm

    @Ken: ​
     
    Hit on the head – I should have gone with ‘pissed’ that would have been clearer.

  161. 161.

    debbie

    March 9, 2021 at 4:31 pm

    @Brachiator:

    If you can’t stop yourself from saying something after one year and eight months, you might as well cut your own tongue out.

  162. 162.

    cain

    March 9, 2021 at 4:32 pm

    @Ken: ​
     

    The Republicans are going to have to learn to stagger their potty breaks better.

    While Goku is thinking “doom”, I’m thinking “Dhoom” as “Dhoom Machale!” (Rock the Party) :) I’m liking this. Biden’s Midichlorian is high.

  163. 163.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2021 at 4:34 pm

    @Ken: So, just a matter of timing then…

  164. 164.

    Ken

    March 9, 2021 at 4:36 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Had to check if you were referring to the restraining order comment, or the potty break comment.

  165. 165.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2021 at 4:38 pm

    @Ken: If the foo shits….

  166. 166.

    Bill Arnold

    March 9, 2021 at 4:39 pm

    @cckids:

    I always thought their main focus was to get Trump foaming at the mouth with anger.

    They were trying to get Mr Former Guy to make political mistakes (S. Schmidt has said this IIRC). There certainly were a lot of apparently unforced errors by [nameless one]’s campaign. In the end the Democrats won the Presidency, gained control over the Senate, and held the House. Historians will be arguing about causality re Trump’s/R’s losses (causal nexuses for future computational historians) for the next 10 decades, but LP absolutely had effects.

  167. 167.

    Ksmiami

    March 9, 2021 at 4:40 pm

    @cain: Get in line, get in line. There are millions of us ahead of you

  168. 168.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    March 9, 2021 at 4:40 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I guess I just need to stop commenting when I’m in a rush with my immediate reaction to somethin

    All I can say is I apologize and I’ll try to not repeat that pattern

  169. 169.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    March 9, 2021 at 4:43 pm

    Roger Mudd, probing TV journalist and network news anchor, dies at 93

    I know him from countless documentaries that include his contemporaneous reports during the 60s and 70s on seemly every subject – he was everywhere. ​​

    RIP and thanks for the contributions to the first draft of history.​​

  170. 170.

    Ken

    March 9, 2021 at 4:45 pm

    @debbie: What kind of participation trophy is this asshole expecting?

    The kind OANN gives out. I wonder if that means even Fox said no.

  171. 171.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 9, 2021 at 4:45 pm

    @Ksmiami: Now now.  We can all flip off Roberts at the same time, including Freaky Fingers cain over there.

  172. 172.

    Another Scott

    March 9, 2021 at 4:48 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: His name was Mudd!

    Mudd is a collateral descendant of Samuel Mudd, the doctor who was imprisoned for aiding and conspiring with John Wilkes Booth after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

    I’ve always thought he was a good guy on TV, and thought that CBS did him wrong by picking Rather over him to succeed Cronkite, but TV’s a rough business.

    RIP.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  173. 173.

    Feathers

    March 9, 2021 at 4:58 pm

    @Ken: Here are the two tweets with links I saw where Piers Morgan is bitching about being ghosted by Meghan Markle after she met Prince Harry. In the second one he talks about how she owed him an invitation to the wedding for cutting him dead:

    https://twitter.com/thaunfriendly1/status/1369271047833456649?s=20

    https://twitter.com/DLZOfficial/status/1369301920029020161?s=20

    The newsletter is Today in Tabs, which I am enjoying.

  174. 174.

    Betty Cracker

    March 9, 2021 at 5:01 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Just my two cents as a fellow commenter: you’re fine. This isn’t a peer-reviewed journal; it’s an electronic water cooler for cranky-ass liberals. People often make off-the-cuff, poorly worded comments, including me for sure. It’s only a blog, and if people don’t like your comments, they can damn well skip them. There’s even a handy tool to facilitate that.

  175. 175.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    March 9, 2021 at 5:02 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Do you have any idea how many “Biden’s vicious dog” tweets Trump would have been up to by now?

    — Schooley (@Rschooley) March 9, 2021

    Comments:

    “Biden’s vicious dog bit someone like a dog.”

    At least his “like a dog” insult would finally make sense.

    No, he’d blame the bitten. “That guy got bitten by a dog like a dog.“

  176. 176.

    Another Scott

    March 9, 2021 at 5:05 pm

    Warning – Politico:

    Manchin is actually being more specific about what filibuster reforms he'd support—and it's bad for the GOP. He previously said he'd consider reinstating the talking filibuster. Now he says he's open to requiring the minority to keep 41 votes on the floor. https://t.co/prZnaWIv1H

    — Jordan Weissmann ? (@JHWeissmann) March 9, 2021

    Joey M is a secret Balloon-Juice reader??

    (via LOLGOP)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  177. 177.

    Mary G

    March 9, 2021 at 5:10 pm

    Look out, Nelle:

    Former U.S. Secretary of State @mikepompeo will be in Iowa on March 25th & 26th. Confirmed by Pompeo aide. Will in here to "Help the party and advocate for Conservatives" #FITN #iacaucus #iapolitics— Iowa Field Report.com (@IAFieldReport) March 9, 2021

    Giving up that first in the nation position might be a pretty good idea if this lying POS is going to be underfoot for three years. Even the Republicans are prolly ticked off, “We did fine in 2020 without your butting in asshole, take it to New Hampshire.”

  178. 178.

    J R in WV

    March 9, 2021 at 5:13 pm

    @Baud:

    We can deal with neutral restrictive rules by educating our voters. Can’t do anything about inadequate polling stations.

    I have to disagree with you on this point. We can make it illegal to have differing amounts of voting equipment, poll workers, etc from one polling location to another, per resident population of the voting district.

    Then we can arrest, try, convict and jail people who don’t provide equality in precinct-to-precinct voting capacity. And make it clear that is what will happen if there are long lines in some voting places and none in others.

    Require voting to be equally available to everyone. I will be shocked and surprised if that isn’t in the new voting rights acts. But I’m not wearing my cynical hat today…

  179. 179.

    TomatoQueen

    March 9, 2021 at 5:15 pm

    @Another Scott: He certainly was a good tv news guy of that era. His reputation re: women, especially in the newsroom, wasn’t the best.

    CBS News has been a hot mess since Cronkite retired.

  180. 180.

    Another Scott

    March 9, 2021 at 5:17 pm

    @TomatoQueen: If I knew that, I forgot it.  Thanks for the addendum.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  181. 181.

    The Moar You Know

    March 9, 2021 at 5:19 pm

     You guessed it. Democracy is doomed everywhere. We are all going to rounded up and put in camps. You win. Happy now?

    @Omnes Omnibus: Fuck yeah I love camping!

  182. 182.

    Cameron

    March 9, 2021 at 5:20 pm

    @debbie: WTF?  Some kind of racist Tourette?

  183. 183.

    Brachiator

    March 9, 2021 at 5:20 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    Roger Mudd, probing TV journalist and network news anchor, dies at 93

    I recall watching some of his work on TV, when I was in high school. I remember thinking that he seemed to be a really good journalist. Solid. Explained things very well.

  184. 184.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2021 at 5:22 pm

    @Another Scott: I was just yelling at Uncle Joe for being so naive.

    I was listening to the Jen Psaki briefings from yesterday and today, and she repeated multiple times that Joe not only doesn’t want to get rid of the filibuster, he also doesn’t want to tweak the filibuster rules in any way.  Not even a Manchin rule where they could pass voting rights or civil rights bills with a simple majority.  She said he believes that the Rs and Ds can work together on this legislation.

    Joe has to know the the Rs are working overtime to eliminate voting rights in a whole boatload of states.  He can’t really believe that they would vote for a bill that would extend the right to vote and make voting easier.

    Is this 3-dimensional chess where he says no, no, no and then finally when the Rs have obstructed a whole bunch of things… then he says, wow, I really thought they would work with us for the good of the country… I guess we really do need to get rid of the filibuster.

    And then we bang out a bunch of bills with simple majority rule.

    Otherwise, I cannot understand why he would be taking this position.

  185. 185.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    March 9, 2021 at 5:25 pm

    @Benw: Better still, cobble Idaho, the Dakotas, and Wyoming into one state. Idahotaming finally might have enough people in it to be worth 2 Senators.

  186. 186.

    cckids

    March 9, 2021 at 5:26 pm

    @Cameron:WTF?  Some kind of racist Tourette?

    At my part-time grocery cashier gig, there’s a regular customer, who has what seems to be obvious Tourettes; the verbal tic does consist of the N-word, over & over. How he goes out in public at all is just beyond me.

  187. 187.

    TomatoQueen

    March 9, 2021 at 5:28 pm

    Here’s a link to WaPo’s Roger Mudd obit, which I hope is not paywalled, but if it is, some highlights are his deep connection to the Washington region (local boy, went to W & L) and a mini history of tv news, in which he was tangled up with all the other big guns and kept getting shoved aside. Also talks about what a BFD his “The Selling of the Pentagon” was–he did some good.  Roger Mudd, probing TV journalist and network news anchor, dies at 93 – The Washington Post

  188. 188.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2021 at 5:29 pm

    @WaterGirl: If it is done this way, Biden doesn’t have his fingerprints on the filibuster changes.  Manchin can say that he reached out and reached out and was rebuffed again and again.  Then, more in sorrow than anger, he must overcome his love of tradition and comity because he loves his country more.  If it needs to play out that way, it don’t bother me none.

  189. 189.

    Another Scott

    March 9, 2021 at 5:33 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Is this 3-dimensional chess where he says no, no, no and then finally when the Rs have obstructed a whole bunch of things… then he says, wow, I really thought they would work with us for the good of the country… I guess we really do need to get rid of the filibuster.

    And then we bang out a bunch of bills with simple majority rule.

    I think that must be it.

    1) Biden’s been around a long time. He knows how stuff works and how to play the long game. (It’s still been less than 50 days that he’s been President.)

    I think, like Obama, that he wants to give the GOP to break their fever and actually work with him. Obama waited a very long time. Biden won’t wait so long, but since they haven’t actually blocked anything/anyone (except Neera Tanden) yet, he can still be patient.

    For a little while.

    2) It’s a no-win for him to demand publicly that the Senate change its rules. He’s got no power over them. Any persuasion should be in the background (with hammers and cookies) with plausible deniability.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  190. 190.

    Baud

    March 9, 2021 at 5:35 pm

    @J R in WV:

    I have to disagree with you on this point. We can make it illegal to have differing amounts of voting equipment, poll workers, etc from one polling location to another, per resident population of the voting district.

    I was unclear.  I meant we can’t do anything on the ground.  I agree we can pass federal laws that fix the problem.

  191. 191.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    March 9, 2021 at 5:35 pm

    @WaterGirl: These are Senate rules that Biden has no control over anyway. He can preach comity and unity and be above it all, without it actually impacting what happens because its not like it will make it to his desk. At the end of the day, only the Senators get to decide this.

  192. 192.

    Tony Jay

    March 9, 2021 at 5:36 pm

    @Feathers:

    I will be thunderously unsurprised if and when it comes out that Morgan has already been headhunted by one of the Fox News style 24 Hour pukefunnels due to start spreading hate and division across the nation this year, and his stroppy little walk-off was a spur of the moment decision to escape the backlash from his Markle-bashing and generate a little “Cancel Culture” heat for his move to a Tucker Carlson role.

    Yes, after decades of seeing the gaping wounds Fox has torn in the American body politic become septic and necrotic, the British Media establishment has concluded that the UK can only benefit from having two of them.

    We’re fucked. Someone just pull the plug and sink the whole thing.

  193. 193.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 9, 2021 at 5:39 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Is this 3-dimensional chess where he says no, no, no and then finally when the Rs have obstructed a whole bunch of things… then he says, wow, I really thought they would work with us for the good of the country… I guess we really do need to get rid of the filibuster.

    Transparently so IMO.

  194. 194.

    Bill Arnold

    March 9, 2021 at 5:39 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    I guess I just need to stop commenting when I’m in a rush with my immediate reaction to somethin

    You’re fine. In the question at hand (“conservative” supreme court vs voting rights) it’s right to be concerned, It will certainly be in play but the outcome can be affected.
    Much of the focus needs to be on viability of conservative arguments against elements of HR-1, and on marginalizing said arguments. Most of us are not lawyers but we can certainly e.g. “ask questions” (sea lion) in conservative venues, etc. The Supreme Court majority is partisan, which is bad, but it also means that it will be less likely to do things that will obviously cause political damage to Republicans. Get those potential political costs inserted into the narratives that Republicans (specifically R Supreme Court justices and their assistants) see.

    Also, work to maximize voter tunout in 2021 as a warmup for 2022. Georgia gave us solid glimpses of the potential for turnout of people who have not regularly voted in the past. Democratic voter turnout can be (is!) one of the political costs of voter suppression.

  195. 195.

    Mary G

    March 9, 2021 at 5:40 pm

    @WaterGirl: My feeling is that it’s some of that 11-dimensional chess or Kabuki theater and that he is just not wanting any credit or blame at the moment.

    He’s done very well by playing the role of a senior politician who’s uneasy about the radical things these young ‘uns are proposing. It got him elected, after all, and his approval rating is high. I would think that getting his nominations approved and working and beginning to spend all that lovely $1.9 trillion dollars is probably a higher priority.

    Then after the Republicans have refused to even debate on voting rights, etc., he’ll reluctantly agree, more in sorrow than in anger, and laugh about it with Jill at dinner

    ETA: Omnes beat me to more in sorrow than in anger. Dagnabit.

  196. 196.

    Patricia Kayden

    March 9, 2021 at 5:41 pm

    Meghan Markle ghosted Piers Morgan after one dinner. Lived in his head rent free for years. And then got him fired without even trying. This is epic talent.*deleted previous tweet that had "date."— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) March 9, 2021

  197. 197.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2021 at 5:41 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: If it plays out that way, I don’t have a problem with it, either.  But if that’s not what’s going on, I am totally perplexed as to Biden can possibly think the Rs are going to work with him on anything.

  198. 198.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2021 at 5:43 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    So it’s the aw, shucks, look what you made me do, move?

  199. 199.

    trollhattan

    March 9, 2021 at 5:44 pm

    @Mary G: ​
     
    Pompeo REALLY thinks he deserves to be president. Just ask him.

  200. 200.

    rikyrah

    March 9, 2021 at 5:45 pm

    If this doesn’t make you ????

     

    https://twitter.com/JessicaShaw/status/1369287139368767488?s=20

  201. 201.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2021 at 5:46 pm

    @Mary G:

    Dagnabit is such a great word.

  202. 202.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    March 9, 2021 at 5:46 pm

    I’m watching the confirmation votes on CSPAN and Baby Doc is walking around on the Senate floor in sneakers. I’m old enough to remember when they freaked out over Kyrsten Sinema’s attractive knee high boots.​

  203. 203.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2021 at 5:47 pm

    @WaterGirl: How much effort has Biden spent on persuading the GOP?  Virtually none.​

  204. 204.

    Another Scott

    March 9, 2021 at 5:48 pm

    @Tony Jay: I like to think that (like other bad cycles) this stuff will burn itself out, and maybe soon.

    Relatedly, perhaps – AlJazeera:

    A Brazilian Supreme Court judge on Monday annulled the criminal convictions against former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a move that could allow the popular politician to run in next year’s presidential election.

    In a surprise decision, Justice Edson Fachin said that a court in the southern city of Curitiba did not have the authority to try Lula on corruption charges and that he must be retried in federal courts in the capital Brasilia.

    The ruling, which will be reviewed by the full Supreme Court, restored Lula’s political rights, potentially blowing open the 2022 presidential race, when right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro is expected to seek re-election.

    […]

    I have no idea if Lula’s a petit crook, and if he is to what extent it matters. But I do know that it’s bad to imprison hugely popular politicians who make things better and replace them with RWNJs (or LWNJs) who make things much worse.

    Hang in there.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  205. 205.

    Bill Arnold

    March 9, 2021 at 5:48 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Pompeo REALLY thinks he deserves to be president. Just ask him.,

    Pompeo is an arrogant a-hole, and his twitter brag-a-thon at the end of the Trump presidency was pathetic and full of falsehoods.

  206. 206.

    J R in WV

    March 9, 2021 at 5:51 pm

    @catclub: ​
     

    At least until you find the number of voting machines at your precinct means it will take all day, and you still might not get to vote.

    And THIS is what we need to make illegal voter suppression, post haste. Every precinct needs to have the same number of machines, clerks, ballot boxes, everything, per voter in the precinct as all the other precincts.

    We know the numbers here, just make imbalance past 5% (or a number like that) illegal with a stiff penalty involving jail time for those making decisions about staffing and equipping voting precincts.

    If people are standing in line when the polls close, that’s all the needed evidence of criminal voter suppression right there.

    This isn’t rocket science, people!

  207. 207.

    karen marie

    March 9, 2021 at 5:54 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:   I don’t know how things are done in Georgia but in Massachusetts politicians often deliver food to election workers in polling places.  When I worked the polls in Fall River, Mass. I was absolutely horrified, because the politician would come into where people were voting, loudly presenting their coffee and donuts – effectively campaigning right next to people voting.  I complained to the election department but was told to shut up.

  208. 208.

    Brachiator

    March 9, 2021 at 5:54 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I am totally perplexed as to Biden can possibly think the Rs are going to work with him on anything.

    I suppose that Biden could just say “Fuck You” to the GOP, but that would not be statesmanlike.

    For the past decade or more, the GOP has become more narrow, existing for the benefit of evangelicals and a small group of plutocrats, while pretending to care about the American people.

    It looks as though the GOP has no intention of changing. Too bad for them.

    This appears to be putting more power in the hands of center-right Democrats as representatives of conservative voters.

  209. 209.

    Ken

    March 9, 2021 at 5:55 pm

    @trollhattan: Pompeo REALLY thinks he deserves to be president.

    How else shall the LORD’s cleansing fire rain down from the heavens and usher in the Kingdom of God

    (And I wish I were joking…)

  210. 210.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2021 at 5:55 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    @Another Scott:

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:

    @Major Major Major Major:

    @Mary G:

    Seems like everyone is in agreement that this is the right move for Biden!  I’m sure it’s true that if he said anything else, the press would spend a week making it about Biden, and that would do no one any good.

    I listen to Jen Psaki every day, and every single fucking day they practically beg her to call what’s happening at the border a “crisis”.  It’s downright embarrassing.  Even as they ask the same dumb question that has been asked and answered a zillion times before, they verbally acknowledge that she’s been asked and answered, and they still ask.  It must be in their contract.

    Some of these people embarrass and humiliate themselves daily.  At least she gives them the weekend off.  After all, she is not a monster.  :-)

  211. 211.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2021 at 5:56 pm

    @J R in WV: If people are standing in line when the polls close, that’s all the needed evidence of criminal voter suppression right there.

    Only Sith deal in absolutes.  What about a power failure?  Weather issues?  A bunch of people who decide to vote at the last minute?

  212. 212.

    J R in WV

    March 9, 2021 at 5:56 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Oh, good. Count me in for the arts & crafts. That and swimming we always my favorite parts.

    I liked canoeing a lot, the pond was pretty cool so I just focused on making the test complete. It was a YMCA camp at around 1960…

    And target shooting, I was one of the best at that also too. My grandma taught me how!

  213. 213.

    Benw

    March 9, 2021 at 5:56 pm

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: good idea. Better check with mistermix, tho. He lives there.

    Also, replace Teddy with Obama. Just putting it out there

  214. 214.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2021 at 6:01 pm

    Mr. Bear often gently paws my arm or my face – or whatever upper body part he can get to – in the morning to tell me it really is time to get up.  Can we get up now?  How about now?

    It’s a sweet gentle paw.  Yesterday he decided to paw my eyeball, while my eye was open.  Thankfully it was gentle, but I could still feel his nails going across my eyeball.  (ick)

    So while the eye doctor says I have a scratch on my cornea, today it stings much less when I put the antibiotic drops in my eyes than it did yesterday, so I think I got off pretty easy.  I am truly grateful.

  215. 215.

    Steve in the ATL

    March 9, 2021 at 6:02 pm

    @Mary G:

     

    Omnes beat me

    Is this your first time hitting rock bottom?

  216. 216.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2021 at 6:03 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: It’s appalling that Omnes would do such a thing!

  217. 217.

    Baud

    March 9, 2021 at 6:03 pm

    Jimmy Carter is ‘disheartened, saddened and angry’ by the G.O.P. push to curb voting rights in Georgia.

    NYT

  218. 218.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2021 at 6:06 pm

    @WaterGirl: Never without consent.

  219. 219.

    cmorenc

    March 9, 2021 at 6:06 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    The GOP won’t be satisfied even to allow an opposition party in a few regional strongholds like the Northeast or the West Coast

    No, the GOP will still want for a viable Democratic Party in every state, in the same way the Harlem Globetrotters want a viable Washington Generals team to play against at every show across the land, with the same result every game, um… election.

  220. 220.

    Tony Jay

    March 9, 2021 at 6:08 pm

    @Another Scott: It would be nice to think so, but the sheer weight and number of incredibly awful things happening to the UK are probably irrecoverable. Punch yourself in the nuts long enough and hard enough and you – will – be half the man you used to be.

    And man, we’ve being hammering away at the poor things for a while now. It’s like pâté down there.

  221. 221.

    trollhattan

    March 9, 2021 at 6:12 pm

    @WaterGirl: ​
     
    Have they at least knocked off with the “Americans are saying” preambles to their fancypants gotcha questions?

    Coach: “Okay, fellas, for the last time, do not throw across the middle of the plate when this Ruth guy is at bat.”

    In case I’m being ambiguous, Psaki = Ruth. IDK if she drinks like a fish but if she does, I’m buying.

  222. 222.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 9, 2021 at 6:16 pm

    @trollhattan: ​
      I thought her name was Jen?

  223. 223.

    J R in WV

    March 9, 2021 at 6:16 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Dagnabit is such a great word.

    Right up there with Malarkey~!!~ Dabnabit~~!!~~

  224. 224.

    StringOnAStick

    March 9, 2021 at 6:17 pm

    @Tony Jay: I have a friend who seriously contemplated moving to England because she was afraid Turnip would win in 2020 and job/language made England her best choice she thought.  I made a sincere effort to show her that was most definitely not an ideal plan.  Thankfully she didn’t do it.

    It’s incredibly disappointing to read about British politics.  It seems like too many years of being a target for Russian money is toxic no matter where.

  225. 225.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2021 at 6:18 pm

    @trollhattan: No “Americans are saying” today, but we did almost have another “oh, this is the plane of today!” moment.  But she caught herself.  :-)

    “Oh, another question about the dog!”

    The second or third dog question asked her to confirm for the public that Major was NOT going to be euthanized for his transgression.

    She said Major is a member of the family, so of course that was not going to happen.  The pups are in Delaware with friends while Dr. JIll is on her 3-day trip, but the dogs will be back in the White House soon.

  226. 226.

    karen marie

    March 9, 2021 at 6:18 pm

    Is this an open thread?  I’ll pretend it is.

    I was googling something else for work and came across this interesting article about the duties of the president’s valet.  It’s a huge operation!

    Emmett Beliveau, former WHMO director during the Obama administration, said it’s a 2,500-person operation made up of mostly active-duty members of the military, and performs a wide range of duties.

    If I’m understanding this correctly, it would have been the responsibility of the valets to have thrown Individual-1 out onto the sidewalk had he not absconded on January 20th.

    WHMO also plays an essential role in maintaining the continuity of the presidency, to make sure that the presidency is prepared for a wide range of threats from routine to catastrophic. In that respect, their objective is to ensure the presidency survives in the event of what Beliveau called, “a very bad day.”

  227. 227.

    zhena gogolia

    March 9, 2021 at 6:18 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    I agree with Betty 100%. I’ve been wanting to say something similar, but she did it better.

  228. 228.

    Jeffro

    March 9, 2021 at 6:19 pm

    @Another Scott: the Thiessen op-ed up in the WaPo is just…glorious…in its sad attempt to take down Manchin.

    L to the OL, uber-hack Marc T!

    And here he is at the wrap-up, with not a hint of irony:

    For a short time, it looked as though this was Manchin’s Senate. It looked as though he was someone who would stand by his commitments to those he calls his “Republican friends” and that there was hope the bipartisan group that he started with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to pass bipartisan covid relief during the Trump administration had a future under Biden. But it’s now clear: Manchin and the other so-called moderate Democrats are only interested in unity and compromise when Republicans are in power. When Democrats are in power, power rules.

    the mind, it boggles; the Thiessen, it cashes RWNJ hack checks

    ETA: had to go back and highlight the…the…the ASTONISHING hypocrisy here

  229. 229.

    J R in WV

    March 9, 2021 at 6:20 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: ​

     

    OK, you got me. Lots of reasons people might be standing in line when the polls close. Those reasons, if legit, will get the people who may have underfunded those precincts out of their criminal trials without being convicted, right?

  230. 230.

    debbie

    March 9, 2021 at 6:23 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Eyeballs heal very quickly, maybe even more quickly than any other body part.

  231. 231.

    Baud

    March 9, 2021 at 6:23 pm

    Clyburn doing a good job on CNN.

  232. 232.

    Ken

    March 9, 2021 at 6:26 pm

    @debbie: Do I want to know why you know that?

  233. 233.

    zhena gogolia

    March 9, 2021 at 6:27 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Ooh — that is scary. My Louis was getting close to doing that in his last months. I took to wearing a knit cap to bed because it seemed to discourage him.

  234. 234.

    Tony Jay

    March 9, 2021 at 6:27 pm

    @StringOnAStick:

    How fucked up is British politics? There was a high level report ordered on Russian interference in our elections. The current Government delayed it, delayed it, delayed it, then when it was released it revealed that our expensive security services didn’t bother do any investigations into Russian interference, so there was nothing to do a report on.

    Media reaction? Oh well, nothing to see here, then. Never mind that the Tory Party is mainly funded by a few Russian money-men, that’s just an unrelated coincidence.

    Beyond fucked. You gave your friend  smart advice.

  235. 235.

    zhena gogolia

    March 9, 2021 at 6:28 pm

    @karen marie:

    I think Biden should hire Mr. Bates.

  236. 236.

    Ruckus

    March 9, 2021 at 6:28 pm

    @Kathy:

    I wonder what they think will happen after they piss off every single voter, because of all the restrictions and hassle?

  237. 237.

    zhena gogolia

    March 9, 2021 at 6:29 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    Sad, really sad.

  238. 238.

    Mike in NC

    March 9, 2021 at 6:31 pm

    @Jeffro:  I haven’t got the stomach to read any more of the insipid swill dispensed by Thiessen, Olsen, Hewett, or Abernathy in the Post.

  239. 239.

    Uncle Cosmo

    March 9, 2021 at 6:31 pm

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: Better still, cobble Idaho, the Dakotas, and Wyoming into one state. Idahotaming finally might have enough people in it to be worth 2 Senators.

    I’ll see ya & raise ya:

    Throw UT, far western CO, AZ north of the Big Ditch, ID, northeastern NV together & call it Deseret.

    A tad smaller than Brigham Young wanted, but hey. Two Senators and ~10 Reps, mostly LDS – a group whose, mmm, unusual beliefs are mostly on the starboard side of the aisle but well short of the QAnon qwazy.

  240. 240.

    rikyrah

    March 9, 2021 at 6:32 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): 
    Keep on posting ????

  241. 241.

    Brachiator

    March 9, 2021 at 6:32 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    How fucked up is British politics?

    As far as I can see, Boris Johnson and his cronies are governing like its 1899.

  242. 242.

    StringOnAStick

    March 9, 2021 at 6:33 pm

    @Tony Jay: It’s that much money, isn’t it?  So much and so deeply infiltrated that they don’t dare dig any deeper.  I’m sorry.

  243. 243.

    Tony Jay

    March 9, 2021 at 6:36 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Yeah. Never mind, though. The third series of Doom Patrol is shooting so I’ve got something to look forward to.

  244. 244.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2021 at 6:36 pm

    @Jeffro:

    When Democrats are in power, power rules.

    As opposed to the Republicans?

  245. 245.

    StringOnAStick

    March 9, 2021 at 6:38 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I appreciate your comments; hell, of everyone here, you’re going to be dealing with this shit much longer so no wonder it gets to you.  It gets to me but luckily I’m usually on a Kindle which is an utter PITA to comment with and has a installed word changer system that has extremely odd logic, so that slows me down.  I’m on my PC right now but with a cat fully occupying one arm.

  246. 246.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2021 at 6:38 pm

    @debbie: Well, my sister got a scratch on her cornea from her dog one night, and she didn’t go in until the next morning.  She ended up with scar tissue on her cornea.

    So this probably happened to me at 7 or 8am and you better believe that I was at the eye by 9:30.  :-)

  247. 247.

    Tony Jay

    March 9, 2021 at 6:39 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Man, the way these smirking goons are looting and burning it’s more like 899.

  248. 248.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    March 9, 2021 at 6:43 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo: 

    Alright. You can have ID for Deseret. I’ll grab Montana and call it Montakotaming: Montana, the Dakotas, & Wyoming.

  249. 249.

    Jeffro

    March 9, 2021 at 6:43 pm

    @Mike in NC: I do (well, not Hewitt, ugh!) but it’s almost like I’m trying to…study their hackishness?  And maybe marvel at how they look at themselves in the mirror ever morning?

    Olsen keeps trying to reallllllly finesse things (almost like Brooksie might, minus the sanctimonious ‘community’ and ‘ethics’ vibes that were such obvious BS)

    Abernathy is a bit at sea these days…he’d like to knock trumpov right the heck out of the party but he knows he has to couch it carefully and damn. sure. ain’t. gonna. cede anything to libruls.

    Thiessen is a marvel, though.  He is clearly getting fed his talking points and themes, but – like today – is just so stupid and shameless that it almost makes you laugh.  It’s just wild.  “YES, Marc Thiessen, YESSSSSSS!  It is the LIBRULS who only care about POW-ER!!! moo hoo ha ha ha!”

    What a dimwit.

    But no, god, no Hewitt.

  250. 250.

    Jeffro

    March 9, 2021 at 6:44 pm

    @WaterGirl: apparently he typed it with a straight face?  It boggles the mind.

  251. 251.

    karen marie

    March 9, 2021 at 6:45 pm

    @Brachiator:  I have no idea how they stay in business.

  252. 252.

    zhena gogolia

    March 9, 2021 at 6:45 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    With Frank Thring as Aella!

    https://thelastblognameonearth.com/2020/02/14/52-before-62-45-the-vikings-958/

  253. 253.

    Ken

    March 9, 2021 at 6:46 pm

    @WaterGirl: When Republicans are in power, chaos rules.

  254. 254.

    Uncle Cosmo

    March 9, 2021 at 6:47 pm

    @J R in WV: 
    ​

    “Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda.
    Here I am at Camp Antifada…”

  255. 255.

    Origuy

    March 9, 2021 at 6:48 pm

    @Spanky: My friend’s father was a professor of theater. He spent one semester at Iowa State before taking his family back to Southern California.

  256. 256.

    Ken

    March 9, 2021 at 6:49 pm

    @karen marie: I have no idea how they stay in business.

    The RNC and conservative “think tanks” buy thousands of the pizzas and hand them out as convention gifts.  No, wait, that’s books.

  257. 257.

    Brachiator

    March 9, 2021 at 7:05 pm

    @Tony Jay: 

    Man, the way these smirking goons are looting and burning it’s more like 899.

    Nah. Alfred the Great and Æthelstan were smarter than BoJo and his goons.

  258. 258.

    James E Powell

    March 9, 2021 at 7:50 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    If it is done this way, Biden doesn’t have his fingerprints on the filibuster changes.

    And Biden, who was a senator’s senator, knows how members of that august body would respond to any president telling them what their rules should be.

  259. 259.

    JAFD

    March 9, 2021 at 9:47 pm

    @karen marie: I worked for Board of Elections in Philadelphia, voting place was recreation center at corner of four precincts. Be there for a ‘hotly contested election’, you wouldn’t need to eat again till Friday ;-)
    But – manning polling places, two states, three counties, three decades… can’t remember seeing a line over ten people, except 7 AM in Nov ’08, when the polls opened. Running elections ain’t rocket science, deliberately f*****g it up is disgusting.

  260. 260.

    Bob U

    March 10, 2021 at 9:42 pm

    Ok, I’m an Iowan. I’m not going to be reactionary here, but would point out that this author boasts in this article a decent ignorance. The strongest argument for Iowa being first is twofold – that historically, we’ve been above-average in terms of education. And small IS beautiful: give even New Jersey first place and the initial Presidential momentum is generated by television, not people actually seeing candidates. Further, as one who has led a caucus four times, they’re not anti-democratic; that’s nonsense. And, just for fun: the one I led in 2016 had around 190 participants, 60 of whom were African-American. We registered over 120 of those folks. And I don’t understand what is happening here. We’re not the state that elected Tom Vilsack and went for Obama twice. Only in the last five years have we become more conservative than Texas – TWO years ago, three of four US House reps were Democrats, and I’m still proud of Tom Harkin’s decades in the US Senate. And the pig-defining of the state is just ignorant and needlessly slanderous. We’re not the Alabama of the Midwest: we’re still the first state in the US to have a mosque and to allow women to attend college, among the first five to allow African-American men to vote (in 1868), and have been progressive throughout our history in numerous ways. The legislation you write of sucks: but Repubs in state govt have been dominated by Koch Bros in ways that don’t reflect even all Republican voters, I’d say. In short – criticize this legislation, but don’t be a jerk about it.

  261. 261.

    Bob U

    March 10, 2021 at 9:45 pm

    @Origuy: You have my favorite posting.  Having lived in SoCal for nearly a decade, and married someone from Orange County, I KNOW California is always and everywhere more progressive than Ames, Iowa.

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