Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

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

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

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

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

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

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

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

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

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Republicans do not pay their debts.

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

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Too Hot!

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Too Hot!

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It’s only just over 100 degrees here north of Boston (80 degrees in our insufficiently air-conditioned house), and I am amazed that you Upper Left Coasters haven’t all puddled into incoherence yet…

And a warning, just in case:

Reader Interactions

161Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    Pete B. is on Morning Joe this morning. He’s always so impressive in his ability to explain things.

  4. 4.

    SFAW

    But Jim Inhofe brought a snowball into the Chamber on July 4th, so no global “warming,” libtard! Q, E, and touchdown, liberal snowflakes!
    If I ever invent a time machine, I’m going to go back and “explain” to the genocidal Party of Traitors members (which is all of them) how their obstruction has helped destroy the planet. [Said explanations will include, I hope, lots of 16-ton weights.]

  5. 5.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I blogged yesterday about working with a bunch of 6th graders on how to turn an idea into a story.

    Also yesterday, I went to a dermatologist about a mole that had started growing on my left breast. She took one look at it and said “For sure we’ll want to biopsy that one.” She shaved it off and sent it out. The whole thing was completely painless, even the numbing injection. So now I have directions for “wound care.”

  6. 6.

    Al Z.

    I’m overwhelmed this morning. My middle daughter’s 18th Birthday today – no party – just the oath ceremony at West Point. I couldn’t be more proud but this is going to be a long 6 weeks.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    newsbusters gimbus really upset that Psaki points out that every Republican voted against additional police funding. Gimbus cleanup on aisle 9!

    Chis Wallace (yes, that Cris Wallace) did the same to Indiana’s Jim Banks the other day

    “Let me push back on that a little bit,” Wallace said. “Because [this week] the president said that the central part in his anti-crime package is the $350bn in the American Rescue Plan, the Covid relief plan that was passed.”

    Covid relief passed through Congress in March, under rules that meant it did not require Republican votes. It did not get a single one.

    Asked if that meant it was “you and the Republicans who are defunding the police”, Banks dodged the question.

    Wallace said: “No, no, sir, respectfully – wait, sir, respectfully … I’m asking you, there’s $350bn in this package the president says can be used for policing …

    “Congressman Banks, let me finish, and I promise I will give you a chance to answer. The president is saying cities and states can use this money to hire more police officers, invest in new technologies and develop summer job training and recreation programs for young people. Respectfully, I’ve heard your point about the last year, but you and every other Republican voted against this $350bn.”

    Turning a blind eye to Wallace’s question, Banks said: “If we turn a blind eye to law and order, and a blind eye to riots that occurred in cities last summer, and we take police officers off the street, we’re inevitably going to see crime rise.”

    Wallace asked if Banks could support any gun control legislation. Banks said that if Biden was “serious about reducing violent crime in America”, he should “admonish the radical voices in the Democrat [sic] party that have stigmatised police officers and law enforcement”..

  10. 10.

    Kay

    Good run down of the new laws banning whole areas of study and discussion and reading in public schools, with the actual statutory language.

    For instance, it is currently illegal in the state of Tennessee for teachers to include any material in the classroom that promotes “division between, or resentment of, a race, sex, religion, creed, nonviolent political affiliation, social class, or class of people.” How is a civics teacher supposed to operate within those limits? Can she have her students watch a modern presidential debate? Evaluate a partisan campaign ad? Engage with virtually any polemical work of journalism or political philosophy? I don’t see how.
    Similar bills recently became law in Oklahoma and Texas. Both prohibit K-12 public school teachers from requiring or “mak[ing] part of a course” one of the proscribed concepts. Not “promoting” or “teaching as true” or “compelling students to affirm.” Just “make part of a course.”

    Kudos to Arizona for putting in a hefty fine for prohibited speech. Arizona has the lowest median pay for teachers in the country so of course they’re docking teachers 5k for each discussion offense.

    And these are just the ones that are already law. Similar bills are under consideration in Kentucky, Arizona, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Arizona’s bill is especially perverse, threatening to levy a $5,000 fine on any teacher who fails to “discuss controversial issues of public policy or social affairs…from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective.” Language this vague, paired with fines this steep, will have a predictable consequence: self-censorship.

  13. 13.

    mali muso

    Gonna be a warm one today. Was updating husband on the Miami condo collapse last night and we were both marveling at how because rich people can’t bear the thought of being denied more riches (vis a vis the oil industry) climate change is going to destroy us all. Thanks guys!

  15. 15.

    NotMax

    Seeking jackaltariat wisdom.

    Friend (honestly) asked me for info/opinion on something about which I know next to zilch. Wants to include an original equipment factory installed tonneau cover on a truck contemplating purchasing for light business use and is vacillating back and forth between hard tri-fold or hard roll-up (OEM for the latter comes with aluminum ribbing and a gear-on-rails rather than Velcro system). Price on both is identical.

    Any thoughts on or experience with pros and cons re: one or the other type appreciated. Again, not in my wheelhouse, however keeping in mind neither is 100% waterproof (nor expected to be), gut says the trifold will be a skootch more effective at keeping out rain.

  17. 17.

    Ken

    @Baud: I’m sensing a slogan. “Baud! 20XX!  Cancelling those who cancel to cancel cancel culture.”

    Might need two bumper stickers.

  18. 18.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I’m not amazed it boomeranged. I thought it was inevitable it would because it was so poorly thought out and undefined. I’m amazed at how quickly it boomeranged. Boom! Right back at ’em.

  19. 19.

    Al Z.

    @Dorothy A. Winsor,  @OzarkHillbilly,  @MomSense,  @Baud:

    Thanks! Very worried about basic training in this heat. And unfortunately no contact for 6 weeks except maybe for one 5 minute call (or if she has a chance to write – yeah that’ll happen).

    I will add that recent comments by leadership (Milley) has made me breath a little more easy that her more progressive views will be respected.

  20. 20.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Al Z.:

    My time at USAFA was pre-email. Just keep sending her supportive cards and letters, let her know you’re rooting for her and that she can do it.

  22. 22.

    germy

    How many people are going to die of heat exposure in the PNW while the great grandchildren of Standard Oil executives never have to work in their lives?— Dwight Rhinosoros (@rhinosoros) June 27, 2021

    Love the democracy season where a cohort of Federalist Society-anointed Ivy League lawyers tell us what rights we can have.— Dwight Rhinosoros (@rhinosoros) June 28, 2021

  26. 26.

    Skepticat

    It’s cooler here in The Bahamas than at my island home in Maine? Thanks to a bout of sewer gas poisoning, which I may have been lucky to survive, I’m headed back to the States this weekend. Usually I head back to escape the heat during hurricane season, but that seems to be flipped. However, this trip is well timed because we’re in the forecast cone of something brewing. I’m too old for this.

  29. 29.

    MomSense

    @Kay:

    I think what all this demonstrates is that the  Republicans know how weak their argument is when it comes to systemic racism and our history.  They cannot compete so they are prohibiting discussion and levying fines to bolster their ridiculous laws.  They cannot compete.  They cannot win fairly.  They are telling everyone how inferior they are.

  30. 30.

    NotMax

    Not my bag, however if hula floats yer boat (or you’re just in the mood to sample something a bit different) the Merrie Monarch Festival – a culturally BFD in Hawaii – will be available to be watched, pre-taped, via streaming online.

    The schedule. Note all times given translate to 6 hours later Eastern, 3 hours later Pacific.

  31. 31.

    Leto

    OT: after a number of crashes yesterday on stage 3 of the Tour de France, some really bad ones coming within the last 15km of the finish line, the NBC commentators are spending a lot of time telling the riders to stfu about their concerns over bad course selection, and to get back to racing. The riders stopped at the beginning of the race for one minute, and now they’re riding slowly for the next few km before resuming the race. But the NBC commentators are making absolute asses of themselves.

  33. 33.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @NotMax: The tri-fold will be a little more inconvenient for hauling than the roll up. If that’s a consideration. If it isn’t, I’d go with the tri-fold.

  35. 35.

    Butter Emails

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    I don’t know why we are doing anything but working on dealing with global warming.

    A multibillion dollar propaganda campaign that even when it isn’t successful in making the majority of Americans believe that Covid was released from a lab in Wuhan, or convincing a majority of Republicans that the election was fraudulent, still manages to generate enough chafe to obscure how dire and time sensitive global warming is.

  36. 36.

    Leto

    @Al Z.: while she might not write you, it’s pretty important that you write her. As someone who went through Basic, as well as my son doing the same, it helped to remain connected to family while going through that experience.

  37. 37.

    Wormtown

    @Al Z.: Congratulations.  My nephew will be a senior this year.   Good kid, entered as enlisted soldier.  He’s done great.  His parents have visited a lot; limits on (phone) contact seem more from son that the school :).   He has been away for long stretches though.  His Mom (my sister) is very active in a parents group that does many supportive activities for the students.

  38. 38.

    raven

    @Leto: A year after 9/11 my colleague’s son decided to join the Corps. She asked me what to do and I said “he’s old enough to join, you have to support him”. She got a letter from him the second week at PI, “Oh my god what have I done”??? I told her that was about right, he’d be fine. He was.

  40. 40.

    rikyrah

    They always have been ?

     

    LadyGrey (@TWLadyGrey) tweeted at 7:20 AM on Tue, Jun 29, 2021:
    It’s crazy to think that the entire Republican playbook over the past 60 years has specifically been focused on building a Supreme Court majority to overturn all the progress made in the civil rights era and we’re getting to the tipping point.

    Republicans are sociopaths, sorry.
    (https://twitter.com/TWLadyGrey/status/1409849339065864200?s=03)

  41. 41.

    ryk

    @NotMax: The roll up type looks a little better, but the mechanism that does the rolling up takes up a little space. The flip type are fast and easy to use.

  42. 42.

    Leto

    @raven: haha, that’s about the right time for that “omg wtf” moment. They’re too shell shocked at the beginning, but the ones who can quickly process/adapt to the situation are usually the most successful.

  43. 43.

    frosty

    @Al Z.: My son wrote us from Basic, which we didn’t expect either, so it could happen for you too. The card said “I’m having tons of fun” and not sarcastically. Well, OK, he always liked a physical challenge and being part of a team, so it made perfect sense. But Basic was fun?

  45. 45.

    Kay

    @MomSense:

    I worry about it a little because it’s not college students- it’s elementary and high school. A lot of public schools are majority-minority now. It’s heartbreaking that this is happening in the actual schools of “minority” students- I use “minority” here to mean brown and black students are the majority :)

    That’s their place. It’s their neighborhoods and schools and school is where they spend the vast majority of their time. Couldn’t they just have that one place?

  46. 46.

    Soprano2

    @Skepticat: I’m glad you’re OK. People don’t understand how dangerous sewer gas leaks can be – most are only worried about the smell. We tell people there are dangerous sewer gases with no odor, but I don’t think it has much effect.

  47. 47.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Leto: Can’t watch right now, but the Ewan-Sagan crash, at least, had nothing to do with the course.

  49. 49.

    Soprano2

    @rikyrah: Lauren Underwood is an impressive woman, I don’t understand why she doesn’t get more exposure in places like MSNBC and CNN.

  50. 50.

    SFAW

    @NotMax:

     something about which I know next to zilch.

    Whoever you are, I want to know what you’ve done to/with NotMax.

  51. 51.

    MomSense

    @Kay:

    I worry about it, too.  It’s terrible.  To have your experience erased every day because the truth makes those in power uncomfortable. The pain, anger and frustration are going to bubble up and the kids will be punished again for “behavioral” issues.

  52. 52.

    raven

    @Leto: Here’s a weird one. I went in Nov. 10, 1966 at Ft Campbell (just as the Last Train to Clarksville hit big). They sent us HOME for three days at Christmas in the middle of basic. It didn’t mean much to me because I was a 130 lb 17 year old but some of the guy facing weight and fitness issues got killed and ended up being recycled, not something you wanted.

  53. 53.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: There was an article in the paper here this week about one of the new school board members making all kinds of unreasonable demands on the school staff and other board members. She’s a doctor, so that doesn’t surprise me – they’re used to asking for things and just getting them without being questioned. The other school board members and school staff have told her that there’s a system to the way they have to do things, so they can’t just move her areas of concern to the front of the line. One thing she’s doing is stirring up shit about how the school is teaching CRT, but they’ve “disguised” it so people don’t actually know. *rolleyes* Luckily she is the only school board member agitating in this way, but it’s annoying.

  54. 54.

    SFAW

    @MomSense:

    They view 1984 as an instruction manual. As one of my (high school) teachers pointed out, if you eliminate/prohibit the words, you reduce (and eventually eliminate) the ability to discuss the concept. Which is doubleplusungood.

  55. 55.

    NotMax

    In the “why the bloody hell didn’t I do this years ago” category, installed an LED strip under the cabinet above the sink in the kitchen, for when I need to dash in and there’s really no good reason to switch on the big ceiling fixture. Teeny little thing (~11 inches long, 1 inch wide). No switch to fumble with finding, it’s touch activated on-off and provides more than sufficient illumination of the countertop area. Plug in type, so no worries about it holding a charge.

    At the same time installed small motion activated LED lights in the narrow but very deep pantry. One each on the inside of the front lip of each shelf. Readily being able to see what’s lurking in the back is a delight.

  56. 56.

    Kay

    @MomSense:

    I’ll wait and see if any of the free speech defenders take up for a 4th grade public school teacher in some inner-ring suburb in Arizona. See how many substacks and op eds that launches.

  57. 57.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    I’ve been watching Olympic track & field trials which are taking place in Oregon in 100+ heat, and feeling rather anxious for the athletes. Reportedly it’s much hotter on the field than in the stands.

    In fact they did suspend the trials at least once, with one athlete hospitalized for heat stroke.

  58. 58.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    Schools have a lot on their plates with getting back up and running after the pandemic. The last thing they need is some bullshit political campaign centered around a CRT panic. We had more failing grades at the local high school last year than at any time since they began keeping records. They have to catch that group up while taking in freshman, and the freshman had a difficult 8th grade year.

    They could not have picked a worse time to launch this witch hunt. Schools are staggering, trying to right themselves, and they only have 8 weeks to do it. This will do direct and immediate harm to students.

  59. 59.

    zhena gogolia

    @Kay:

    This seems to be modeled on the Russian laws banning the promotion of homosexuality. They’re so vague that you can’t say or do anything.

  63. 63.

    Leto

    @raven: for me, the weird part of that story was that you were able to go home during Basic. I can’t even imagine that!

    @Gin & Tonic: no, but the major crash before that (with the sharp left hand turn on the narrowing road), I think the road was a concern. The riders themselves are expressing concern over the course and asking for more of a voice in planning these routes.

  65. 65.

    debbie

    @MomSense:

    Think they realize their error in welcoming South Democrats after Dems passed voter’s rights and civil rights legislation in the 1960s??

  66. 66.

    Leto

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: the day they suspended the races the ambient air temp was 100-105F, with the track temp over 150F. Just reminds me of my time in the Persian Gulf and having to work outside in that crap.

  67. 67.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    It will so backfire. If everyone is great and super duper than no one is great and super duper. If you can’t say abolitionists were incredibly brave revolutionaries and also fascinating individuals some of whom were nuts, and instead have to sell this mealy-mouthed pablum about how “everyone was working for good, really” then there’s nothing to talk about. No student will be interested in this garbage. Why would they be? It’s marketing. They may as well read an advertisement.

  68. 68.

    rp

    This CRT legislation is a big gift to the country’s first amendment lawyers and law professors.

  69. 69.

    Drdavechemist

    @Kay: IANAL, but don’t these laws on their face run afoul of the First Amendment?  There aren’t any weasel words that I can see in “…shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech..” I’m probably naive, but it also seems that these laws would prevent a teacher from even advocating in favor of our own system of government. The people promoting these laws seem incapable of understanding that a rational person might disagree with them.

  72. 72.

    Biff Baxter

    @schrodingers_cat: The real stars of the 2018 class are Underwood, Porter and Davids. Not The Squad. The ones who have to accomplish things legislatively  because they represent R +1 to +5 districts rather than D +25. They can’t spend their time chasing Twitter clout and those vital Likes and Retweets from the blue check cool kids.

  73. 73.

    Just Chuck

    @SFAW: There’s an idea: once a teacher starts discussing a topic that the state is regulating, they should do the entire lesson in newspeak.

  74. 74.

    raven

    @Leto:

    The Army is the only branch of the military that honors the Christmas Exodus break for all recruits who are in basic training and AIT. Basically, the Army shuts down all of its training schools during exodus to allow their drill sergeants and instructors to have a break at Christmas

     

    Man, it says 10 days. I don’t remember that but it was a long time ago.

  75. 75.

    Kay

    @Drdavechemist:

    Public (K-12) schools are subject to lots of rules that would ordinarily be an infringement on rights. They’re really in their own category. There’s a distinction drawn between the rights of students and the rights of the school entity, although even there some student rights are curtailed.

    So they couldn’t expel a student for bringing up Jim Crow but they can bar the school from teaching it.

  78. 78.

    Ken

    @Drdavechemist: these laws would prevent a teacher from even advocating in favor of our own system of government

    “Since the law forbids advocation, I had to lay out all the various systems of government without commenting on their merits and deficiencies. I can’t help it that the students ended up choosing socialism as the best system.”

  79. 79.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Kay:  You probably got the right of this that is this a witch hunt. They lost the Culture War and are looking for someone take it out on and public school teachers are the easiest victims.

  82. 82.

    Kay

    @Drdavechemist:

    A state legislature can really impose just about anything on a public K-12 school because there’s broad police power and it’s all under the auspices of “maintaining order” or “curriculum”. They can’t breach the big federal civil rights laws, but there’s a ton of room inside there. When I take a “school case” (people sometimes hire me to help with their public school issues as to their child) the first thing I read is the school handbook, then the district rules, then the state administrative code. In that order.

  83. 83.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Kay: Do you really think that these laws with survive a First Amendment challenge?  I do not.

  84. 84.

    rp

    @Drdavechemist: The courts have said that K-12 teachers generally don’t have a lot of 1st Amend. protection, but my understanding is that most of those cases deal with one-off situations where the teacher said something controversial (or “controversial”) and was disciplined. I don’t know that there’s a lot of case law involving statutes saying “teachers may not teach about X,” or “teachers must present all viewpoints.” The wording of these statutes is deliberately vague in an attempt to avoid claims of viewpoint discrimination, but I wonder if the vagueness of the language might be its downfall. Restrictions on speech have to be narrowly tailored to satisfy the 1st Amendment, and it’s hard to see how these laws meet that standard.

  87. 87.

    Leto

    @raven: for the AF, students in tech school (AIT) can use leave to go home during the Christmas Break, but they keep them in Basic as part of the overall indoc training. In tech school there are two sets of NCOs that oversee the students: the MTLs (Military Training Leaders) who’s full time job is supervising students at the dorms, and the instructors (what I was) at the school house. The MTLs will rotate their schedule to accommodate the break while providing oversight of the students, while the instructors have that time off.

    @mrmoshpotato: I basically only watch the Tour, typically don’t pay attention to them, but it really stood out. Bob basically said that their small protest was meaningless and should’ve been done yesterday before the race. You know, before the full contingent of riders/support staff packed those smaller roads and the ensuring crashes. Maybe I’m off base here (yes there’s crashes, there’s jostling within the peloton, etc) but it just seemed tone deaf. Saying, without saying, “stfu and get back out there and ride”.

  88. 88.

    p.a.

    @Kay: Colleges and Universities should be open and vocal about how they will negatively assess admission requests by students from these states.  Sad to put the onus on the kids, but if you want to get these pols attention, parents outraged about Jack or Jill not getting into BigName U is a right quick way to do it.

  89. 89.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Kay:

    but there’s a ton of room inside there.

    Can you explain what you mean by this?

  91. 91.

    Drdavechemist

    @Kay: One of the many reasons I’m glad to be at an independent (private) school. We might annoy some MAGAt parents and kids when we advocate in favor of anti-racism, gender inclusivity, or climate activism, but if they walk out they are taking their chances with the public school and losing out on what our reputation and our college placement people can do for them. And maybe a few of them emerge just a little more “woke” than when they came to us. At least we can hope…

  92. 92.

    Villago Delenda Est

    This Curtis Houck git is what the Wonketariat would call a moran, obviously has eaten canned clams.

  93. 93.

    Kay

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I think parts of them won’t survive, Arizona’s proposed fine probably falls because it’s junk and too vague, but the general attempt to rewrite “curriculum” if they put it all in that basket? That’s pretty bullet proof. The Ohio legislature can impose a low quality, garbage state curriculum. That’s well within their power. It will be garbage too. Do they know anything about kids? They’ll bleed every part that is interesting out. Just this lifeless and dead-boring sloganeering will be left.

  94. 94.

    Procopius

    @rikyrah:

    This is the point where it gets interesting. Is Roberts going to go full RWNJ? I’m guessing not, although Alito is and Thomas always has been. Too soon to figure out what Barrett’s going to be like. The presumption is conservative, but will she go radical? And I think Kavanaugh is just unpredictable.  You never know what a drunk’s going to do.

  95. 95.

    ian

    @Kay:

    They could not have picked a worse time to launch this witch hunt.

    That is true only if you believe in strong public education systems.  If the goal is to wreck the public education system, they could not have chosen a better time.

    Lee Atwater-  You start out in 1954 by saying, “N*****, n******, n******”. By 1968 you can’t say “n******”—that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff.”

    Describes the current CRT backlash quite well, IMHO

  98. 98.

    Kay

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    They could probably put some in “maintaining order” too- ‘divisive”- that category allows searches and suspensions (for just about anything) and expulsions (only within the state code). It’s endlessly flexible.

    I think the best defense for teachers will probably be their unions, which I’m sure the Right didn’t consider. They have a contract.

  99. 99.

    Leto

    @mrmoshpotato: @Gin & Tonic: so they just interviewed Johnathon Vaughters, team manager for EF Education, and asked him, “why aren’t the protests pro-active, why are they always reactive?” Vaughters responded that, in the case of yesterday, sections of the course were flagged as dangerous but the rider reps were basically ignored. Vaughters suggested, apparently the same as last year when similar incidents happened, that the riders need to have official reps that go with the course approving officials, so that if they feel a course/section is dangerous they can make an official objection and make a change.

    They’re talking about it more; if you get a chance to catch it, it’s worth it.

  100. 100.

    bluefoot

    @Butter Emails: ​
      A friend thinks we should start a conspiracy on some Q board saying that climate change is caused by extraterrestrials terraforming the planet to make it more hospitable for their full-scale invasion. And we have to fight climate change to stop the aliens from having an advantage when they come. Maybe then we could get more people on board with dealing with climate change?

  101. 101.

    Leto

    @raven: the fact you have so many pictures of your time will always make me jealous.

    Edit: not just your time, but of the people you were with in various capacities. Just super neat.

  102. 102.

    SFAW

    @Biff Baxter:

    Lot of “Squad” hate here (not just you, of course). Ayanna Pressley seems to be doing a good job so far, without a lot of fanfare. Is she doing more/less than Underwood et al.? I don’t know. She’s sponsored 63 bills, I have no idea if that’s low, high, or what.

    What I’d really like to see the Squad do is use their notoriety to trumpet all the great things Dems are trying to do for America, and how the Rethugs are trying to destroy America. Alan Grayson, for all his faults, was able to do that from time to time. Accomplishments (i.e., legislation) are important, but unless high-profile/visibility Dems are screaming their great accomplishments/goals from the rooftops, the non-inside-baseball voters won’t pay much attention. [I’m not ignoring that the MSM’s pro-Rethug and both-sides proclivities. Fixing that takes a concerted, years-long effort.]

    The Rethugs have shown an ability to put their bullshit/bogus issues front-and-center (with the help of a compliant MSM). The Dems need to keep hammering away at how they’re saving — or trying to save, but are being obstructed by Rethugs — America. If AOC and the rest of the Squad can help fill that role, more power to them.

    Of course, the seeming ability of Omar and Tlaib to find issues which alienate a ton of people is not the result I was hoping for. And I’d sure like to see AOC adjust her focus a bit.

  105. 105.

    sdhays

    Clearly, the answer is to assign public schools the job of fixing climate change. We dump everything else on them, so why not this too?

  106. 106.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Kay:

    That’s well within their power. It will be garbage too. Do they know anything about kids? They’ll bleed every part that is interesting out. Just this lifeless and dead-boring sloganeering will be left.

    I think that’s the point

  107. 107.

    raven

    @Leto: We had this badass SSGT in Korea who had jumped with the 187th RCT during the war. 

    We had these yearbooks in Korea and I have a couple of pictures of him. I was on some site online and was contacted by his granddaughter  who basically knew nothing about him. I was able to give her some background and pictures and I think she really appreciated it.

    Actually due to a discussion here last week I was able to send the video of the parachute assault on Corregidor to a BJ’er whose dad was in the unit!

  109. 109.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Leto: This was many years ago, but I started basic on 1 Dec.  Virtually everyone in my class went home.

  111. 111.

    raven

    @Omnes Omnibus: It was a while ago, mine was “many years ago”! I asked the other day if you developed your interest in soccer when you were stationed in Europe?

  114. 114.

    PST

    @DCrefugee:

    Well, one less thing I have to worry about is dying from is Rhabdo

    Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but too much exercise is far from the most common cause of rhabdomyolysis. Crush injuries, ischemia, and certain drugs can be causes. It is a rare side effect to be sure, but statins are the most common culprit. I believe when I was first started on Lipitor I was counseled about symptoms to watch out for, like brown urine and severe muscle pain.

  117. 117.

    SFAW

    @frosty:

    They’re tossing rifles with bayonets?!!?? That’s a kickass drill team.

    It’s also self-selecting, in a manner of speaking. Kinda like being “javelin catcher” on a track team.

  118. 118.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @raven: My interest is soccer is minor compared to many people here.  But, no, my dad started coaching youth soccer when my younger brother started playing, and a bunch of family members play/have played.  I still prefer rugby, which I started playing when I got to college.

  120. 120.

    NotMax

    @Kay

    The hard core right has no interest in nor respect for education. Their goal is indoctrination. So deep are they imbued with that belief as an instrument (not of knowledge but of value) that they operate on the assumption it applies as everyone else’s central concept of what constitutes education.

  121. 121.

    Soprano2

    Wow holy shit, I just heard that a man I used to work with was shot and killed by a police officer up by Stockton Lake.  I’m not completely surprised, although they say he didn’t pull a gun on them. I was working with him when OK City happened; he knew immediately that it wasn’t Middle Eastern terrorists, but homegrown white supremacists because of the date of the attack. His wife died after she got a heart/double lung transplant; they had to get a divorce so she could qualify to get on Medicaid to get on the transplant list. It was a tragedy. Gary definitely had PTSD. Shit……

  122. 122.

    Quiltingfool

    @Kay: You are so right!  A dear friend still teaches at my former school.  She told me the teachers and kids just “survived” at school.  The district changed their Covid plans all throughout the year and nobody knew what the hell was going on from week to week.  It was terrible.

    These restrictions are insane, but teachers are used to folks outside of teaching imposing their curricula “wisdom.”  These laws will simply make it easier to get rid of a teacher, but I guarantee it won’t be used across the board.  As I read these laws, all I can think is, “Better be careful what you wish for.”

  125. 125.

    PST

    @rikyrah: I agree that Underwood is great. She has a wonderful ability to explain how the programs that Biden and the mainstream of the Democratic Party are working on are just common sense. Expanding our reach depends a lot on attracting educated suburban votes — a group no longer as uniformly white as it used to be — with women more attuned to the message than men. Nothing sounds scary or radical when she talks about it, even when it involves important changes and large expenditures.

  126. 126.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: They’ll bleed every part that is interesting out. Just this lifeless and dead-boring sloganeering will be left.

    I think that’s deliberate in this case – they don’t want kids to learn about this stuff, so making it boring and lifeless is a way to discourage them.

  127. 127.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Soprano2: That sounds awful. My condolences. Eventually people are going to have to learn that the police are not the go-to source for “wellness checks.” Or maybe we institute real reform and have trained professionals deal with mental health situations? A person can dream….

  128. 128.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Kay: Do you think they care about actual education or being interesting? I don’t. The goal is subversion and control, not enlightenment or even basic equipping for the real world.

  129. 129.

    SFAW

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Not clear that guy is progressive. Some of the captured tweets, combined with comments (of others) regarding his (apparently) racist and misogynistic tweets, indicate he isn’t.

  130. 130.

    Kay

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Yes, but my point wan’t that the Right attacks teachers unions. Many public school teachers will have a union to defend them if the prohibitions and punishments reach what is in their contract.

    It also could go really badly for them just as a political tactic. You can imagine a dedicated, well-loved teacher in a district coming under fire and that really backfiring on them. He/she “I only wanted to explore the Emancipation Proclamation!” – there’s a lot of sincere, admirable people in public schools. They get sort of a bad rap from snobs or people who oppose public education generally, but when you spend any time around them a lot of them are genuinely dedicated- good people.

  133. 133.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @O. Felix Culpa: I’ll add that my mom–a retired schoolteacher who lives in Arizona–has noted the gutting of public education in that state for years. These are not states that value education (or children). They truly don’t give a fuck about it being interesting.

  134. 134.

    Woodrow/asim

    @SFAW: That’s not what Killer Mike was saying, but he wasn’t exactly singing Clyburn’s praises, either.

    I adore Run The Jewels, yet will freely admit that Killer Mike is a whole-assed problem when he speaks on political matters like this. As right as he is about systemic problems in America, he’s terrifying naive about how to fix them, and who to ally with for same.

    Example: Mike going on fuckin’ NRA TV to extol the virtues of gun ownership. He rolled that back after he was put on blast, yet it’s endemic to his approaches on these issues.

  135. 135.

    Ken

    @Kay: “I only wanted to explore the Emancipation Proclamation!”

    “At that point, I had to tell the students that some people were slaves. The Proclamation doesn’t make sense without that!”

  136. 136.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    I no longer give them credit for even having an ideology, really. I mean, if they actually had one “conservatives” would say schools are mostly controlled locally, so they wouldn’t be policing Tucson schools – Tucson would do that. I don’t think they deserve people pretending this is some kind of coherent worldview. It’s whatever works to get them to the next cycle. There is no “conservatism” anymore. There’s a bunch of campaign slogans and mean-spirited gimmicks. Some of them “work” and some of them don’t and the ones that work become whatever “conservatism’ is that day or week or month.

  137. 137.

    Kay

    @Ken:

    Right? That’s a PR nightmare.

    We have teachers testify in juvenile court and judges love them. They are always the witnesses who know the most. Just fucking credible as all get-out. Gold.

  138. 138.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Kay: I suppose when teachers get to certain historical periods or textbook chapters, they could explicitly say “The X state legislature has forbidden me to tell you about this.”  That should work on high school students. They could even talk about the law, which would be interesting in itself.

    I don’t know what you do with little kids

  139. 139.

    SFAW

    @schrodingers_cat:

    My subsequent comment was about “Guy in NH,” not Killer Mike. Considering I was replying to your comment wherein you wrote “This guy says it out loud,” I thought that was obvious.

    Re: Killer Mike: I didn’t say he was right. I said he wasn’t saying Clyburn is “stupid” vis-a-vis knowing/not knowing what’s good for him. He said he thought Clyburn was stupid for not muscling Biden to get more than just a holiday out of his earlier and critical support for Biden. There’s a difference.

    I don’t follow KM, so I don’t know his political “thoughts” (other than what people have discussed here), but he seems not to be a deep thinker. I think Nina Turner is useless or an asshole or high on her own supply or pick-your-descriptor or some combination of all those.

    But just because she’s a self-important, purity asshole doesn’t mean all progressives are. And I write that as someone who thinks the term “progressive” is fucking useless anyway. But a term/descriptor being useless does not mean all persons so described are.

  141. 141.

    Skepticat

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I suppose when teachers get to certain historical periods or textbook chapters, they could explicitly say “The X state legislature has forbidden me to tell you about this.” … They could even talk about the law, which would be interesting in itself.

    An excellent point and an extremely effective approach!

  142. 142.

    SFAW

    @Woodrow/asim:

    As right as he is about systemic problems in America, he’s terrifying naive about how to fix them, and who to ally with for same.

    No argument from me. I was kind of appalled at his whining, just because Clyburn didn’t get everything KM wanted him to get from President Biden

    ETA: Not that he ever would, but KM should probably ask Rep. Clyburn if he’s happy with Pres Biden’s work so far re: combatting racism. KM might learn something from it.

  143. 143.

    schrodingers_cat

    @SFAW:

    But just because she’s a self-important, purity asshole doesn’t mean all progressives are. And I write that as someone who thinks the term “progressive” is fucking useless anyway. But a term/descriptor being useless does not mean all persons so described are.

    The Squad, the Sunrise Movement and almost everything in the BS verse is some shade of problematic. They are going to be a huge problem in 2022 when it comes time to retain our majorities

    I am mostly in agreement here with the other points you made.

  144. 144.

    SFAW

    @schrodingers_cat:

    The Squad, the Sunrise Movement and almost everything in the BS verse is some shade of problematic.

    I disagree re: Ayanna Pressley, but she’s only 25 percent of The Squad. Hadn’t heard of the “Sunrise Movement” until the last day or so, no idea who/what they are, too lazy (at the moment) to look them up.

    I agree that the Bern-or-Busters may end up being a problem, not sure how to get them on board with reality

    ETA: In some management theory, “hygiene factors” are discussed. Those are conditions which (in general) no one thinks about when they’re present, but when absent, can be a big problem. I see phrases like “defund the police” as sort of the converse (or something) of a hygiene factor — when they’re present, they can cause problems (vis-a-vis voter’s hackles getting raised, etc.), no matter how valid or well-intentioned they are

    ETA2: No, I don’t have a relatively innocuous version of “defund” that I can propose at the moment

    ETA3: OK, did a cursory Googling of SunMove. Looks like they’re focusing they’re ire on Dem leadership, rather than following the Stacy Abrams model. Super.

    ETA4: Nothing to add, just wanted to see if I could get the record for ETAs. Sorta like a TBogg Unit, only stupid.

  145. 145.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SFAW: The Bern or Busters aren’t really a new phenomenon on the left.  We had the Naderites in 2000,  If you read any issue of The Nation in the ’90s, it would have been clear that Bill Clinton was worse than Hitler.  And so on….

  146. 146.

    Miss Bianca

    @bluefoot:

    A friend thinks we should start a conspiracy on some Q board saying that climate change is caused by extraterrestrials terraforming the planet to make it more hospitable for their full-scale invasion. And we have to fight climate change to stop the aliens from having an advantage when they come. Maybe then we could get more people on board with dealing with climate change?

    To me, the fact that I’m sitting here reading this and thinking “hmmm…” means that we are so far down the rabbit hole I can’t even see daylight anymore!

  148. 148.

    SFAW

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    The Bern or Busters aren’t really a new phenomenon on the left.

    Yeah, I know. And some Naderites still walk among us. But I think it’s outstanding that both Clintons are worse than Hitler. And, of course, there’s Obama who was worse than Bush, because “he sold us out.”

    I’m just amazed that Dems keep winning Presidential elections (incl. Hitlary), what with all the evil candidates they field.

  149. 149.

    SFAW

    @Miss Bianca:

    To me, the fact that I’m sitting here reading this and thinking “hmmm…” means that we are so far down the rabbit hole I can’t even see daylight anymore!

    Come sit by me in that same rabbit hole. Did you bring any beer and snacks?

  150. 150.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @SFAW:

    I’m just amazed that Dems keep winning Presidential elections (incl. Hitlary), what with all the evil candidates they field.

    Tis a puzzlement.

  151. 151.

    Miss Bianca

    @SFAW: 

    Did you bring any beer and snacks?

    ALWAYS!

    Tho’ in this heat, the beer sometimes gives way to Angry Orchard Peach-Mango cider. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!

  152. 152.

    Just Chuck

    @bluefoot:  No matter what you tell the Q loons, they’ll find some way to twist it into something you never intended, but guaranteed much dumber.

  154. 154.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Leto:  Which commentators? I didn’t hear Roll saying anything negative about the stop-and-slow protest. It seemed to me Roll was was saying that his assessment is that the riders have very few tools that they can bring to the table with regards to influencing race design and that, unfortunately, this action is one of them. Liggott was pretty tepid, noting that some riders were not enthusiastically participating in today’s action and that their work action affected others. Pretty standard fare for him, but nothing outlandish. Were the 3 guys in the US studio more negative?

  157. 157.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @schrodingers_cat: that these morons don’t get that, if Clyburn did single-handedly turn the primaries to Biden, which I for one don’t agree with, then Clyburn saved them from themselves, and saved us from a second trump term

    it’s stupefying that grown-ass adults still think Bernie Dumbledore should’ve been the nominee

  159. 159.

    J R in WV

    @Leto:

    I spent the summer of 1972 on board my sub-tender in shipyards for overhaul on the Gulf Coast, first in Mobile Bay in a floating dry dock for the hull work, then in the Ingalls yard in Pascagoula.

    The PO 3rd class would come around to everyone working once an hour and make you drink a quart of either not very good water or terrible USN Koolaide, and take a salt tablet. We all hated it, but no one passed out with heat stroke.

    We worked 6-12 hour days most weeks. I was in great shape when I got out in early ’73~!!~

    Except for having been hit by a sports car while riding a 10-speed bike after work in December — nothing like your wreck, but I still feel the sore spots … at least I was on light duty (as in don’t do anything) for my last couple of months.

  160. 160.

    dopey-o

    @Kay:There is no “conservatism” anymore. There’s a bunch of campaign slogans and mean-spirited gimmicks.

    The 3 Commandments for Conservatives:

    1. Thou shalt have no concern for the lives or well-being of Those People.

    2. Your soul is only as good as your wallet.

    3. A millionaire is never wrong.

  161. 161.

    J R in WV

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    I’ll add that my mom–a retired schoolteacher who lives in Arizona–has noted the gutting of public education in that state for years.

    Not having kids in the AZ system I don’t have personal experience, but just talking to people it appears to me that every local school has its own independent school district, so that rural schools don’t have 2 nickels to rub, while schools in thriving cities have real budgets.

    In Cochise county, a rural farming area, the parents do a huge amount of support for the schools, there’s not much money, but there’s plenty of community support.

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