this is a whole bag of stupid but minor quibble is that republicans have lost something like eight out of nine governorships, the house, the senate, and six of seven presidential popular votes. there are other things to say but let’s start with that. https://t.co/hiq9ULQoYJ
— World Famous Art Thief (@CalmSporting) August 3, 2021
the republican party perpetuates its minority rule (when it has it) through gerrymandering and the electoral college. the “defending assholes” thing is incidental to that very basic fact. and it’s, you know, not a good look.
— World Famous Art Thief (@CalmSporting) August 3, 2021
I don't necessarily think it's incidental, I think the implicit promise of free license to do whatever you want appeals to a lot of GOP voters, but that doesn't mean it's good politics or that it can be replicated on the left.
— Another Powell (@realLexPowell) August 3, 2021
And frankly, I don’t think A.J. Delgado’s personal involvement in the Trump campaign is incidental to her argument. Sure, she truly believes fighting dirty is the only way to ‘win’ in the present moment, but a slightly smarter person might’ve figured out by now that All-Is-Fair politics only works for the mostly male, mostly white, almost always monied individuals already at the top of the political food chain!
It’s hard that we Democrats always have to be the grownups, but the alternative is so much worse.
debbie
Sean Patrick Maloney calls bullshit on the GOP’s smug assumption they’ll win the midterms
For OH, if he happens by:
japa21
Sometimes, being the grown up is hard. Even harder when you see a bunch of “kids” ruining the world and can’t stop them.
mrmoshpotato
“Democrats should sink to Republican levels!” is one hell of a take.
Baud
One thing the GOP had been successful at is persuading a lot of people on our side that the GOP’s type of chest-beating machismo style is highest form of political power, and that the only way we can succeed is to beat them at their own game. As a result, you have this division where half of us try to mimic the GOP, and the other half overcompensates in the other direction by being tentative and indecisive. We need to learn to develop and pursue our own style that represents our values, not theirs.
Poe Larity
So basically we decided the threaded comments argument is divided by pragmatic surrender monkeys and card carrying antifas.
This is probably an after effect of Phish banning mosh pits.
Anne Laurie
@Poe Larity: Wrong thread, dude.
Betsy
Great take, Anne Laurie.
There’s been a lot of ink spilled lately on the topic of people being insulated from the consequences of their actions. I think the electoral college and gerrymandering are two examples of that insulation from consequences. And it’s linked to what you point out, white male power privilege. It can’t work forever.
I’d like to get into the other side of being insulated from the consequences of one’s own actions. The flipside of it is this for the working and the poor: when people work hard and try to do well, and the system erodes their hard work. Through a combination of wage suppression, poor social safety net, poor risk management as a community, which of course is the only way that risk can really be managed.
We are laying the ground for failure at all levels. On the one hand we failed to reward people for their dedication and hard work, and on the other hand the system fails to hold people accountable who are at high enough levels or who have arbitrary power. The accountability could be At the ballot box or elsewhere.
Accountability. It’s the opposite of nihilism.
Republican columnists always like to talk about moral hazard. It’s all just projection
trollhattan
Our part-time Kardashian and wannabe governor has some competition. Larry Elder, everybody!
I’m not Ronald Reagan, but just think of Ronald Reagan.
Baud
I do think we give up too soon when Dems are in power though. I’m hoping 2022 breaks the trend.
Kent
There actually aren’t that many GOPers who win competitive races. Sure they win the governor’s races and senate races in places like TX. But that’s TEXAS. Democrats do pretty decently when we have 50/50 races like what happened in the Georgia senate races. We won the governorships in WI, MI, and PA which are the current big swing states. And now have the senate seats in WI and PA to win.
The problem is that the design of the country produces too many safe GOP seats relative to the size of the population. I don’t know what you do about that. Gerrymandering makes it worse. But it would still be there without gerrymandering due to the composition of the 50 states.
debbie
@Baud:
I think we need to get all Republican on their asses. What they will do if they return to power genuinely frightens me.
zhena gogolia
@Baud:
Have you seen Siubhan Diunne lately?
piratedan
@mrmoshpotato: it’s also a take that you see repeated on a LOT of MSM when it comes to framing stories and and deciding on what actually constitutes as being newsworthy.
I’m weary with watching each and every issue being framed thru a GOP lens and then left hanging with a sense of foreboding and doom.. If the problem is being ACTUALLY addressed by Dems, then it’s either too much, too little, won’t be bi-partisan, will piss off MAMnaughts and the only people referenced for comments will be the GOP and their supporters.
no credit for recognizing a problem, no credit for trying to fix the problem and lets go to the GOP to comment on the fact that there really is no problem and even if there was an issue, its obvious that the Dem solution is wrong because it doesn’t involve either tax cuts or racism or random cruelty.
and they listen to that and just blink and pivot to the next issue….
Betsy
@Kent: That’s right. Gerrymandering takes a baked-in advantage, and takes it to a pathological extreme.
Kent
@Baud: I don’t think we give up. I think too many Dem voters are dipshits when it comes to off-year elections. And I don’t know how you fix that.
zhena gogolia
@debbie:
This thing of Tucker Carlson broadcasting from Hungary is very concerning.
JPL
@Anne Laurie: thank you
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
I didn’t know that, but yes, it is concerning. How far the conservatives have strayed!
JMG
Ronald Reagan was a past President of the Screen Actors Guild when he ran for Governor of California. He had way more experience in elective politics than many Republicans who invoke his name as an ultimate outsider.
zhena gogolia
@piratedan:
This is the NYT in a nutshell. “Problems for Biden on the horizon” is now their template headline. The latest was Biden isn’t going to be able to do anything about climate because all the good guys left during the TFG regime. Maybe true, but at least give him credit for trying!
Kathleen
@piratedan: You described the dynamic perfectly and it’s obscene. Every time I think my contempt for them can’t go any lower they create a whole new level.
Steeplejack
@piratedan:
What is a MAMnaught?
Baud
@piratedan:
Agree.
trollhattan
@JMG:
Yup, and he ran for a couple decades before being the nominee for president.
Omnes Omnibus
@zhena gogolia: She may be pouting.
piratedan
@Steeplejack: a typo, for MAGAnaught
trollhattan
From a viewer perspective, it’s a real challenge to make the open water swim marathon exciting.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
July 28 was her last post.
https://balloon-juice.com/2021/07/28/wednesday-morning-open-thread-the-first-jan-6-select-committee-meeting/#comment-8238525
Kathleen
@Betsy: I hope you don’t mind if I piggyback off of your comment, but I just wanted to let any Ohio BJ’er’s on the thread that DeWine and the Commission are holding their first meeting on Friday and we can view it on Ohio Channel link below. Here are the details:
zhena gogolia
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’ve never seen her pout.
Major Major Major Major
@Anne Laurie: this is balloon juice—every thread’s the wrong thread!
Steeplejack
@piratedan:
Thanks. I feared you were breaking new ground in BJ acronymics.
Poe Larity
@trollhattan:
The ideal minimum wage is $0.00
We could be at the cusp of a Return To Slavery movement from the right.
Anyway
@trollhattan:
Yeah, I don’t get the swimming events – find them pretty dull.
The 400 m hurdles OTOH was killer. WR!
Betsy
@Kathleen: I’m glad you piggybacked and so glad that people like you are engaging and ready to push for change. Thank you.
JPL
@Baud: Sometimes we all need a break, but if we don’t hear soon, I’ll send an email.
trollhattan
When you got up this morning you did not know what you needed was video of moths taking flight in super-slo-motion.
Betsy
@piratedan: MAMnaughts?
Elizabelle
@Baud: @ Zhena:
July 28th. The day the Capitol Police Officers kicked off the January 6th Select Committee investigation. Doesn’t that day seem like it was weeks ago?
I’ve phoned, texted and emailed Subaru Diane a few minutes ago. Will let you know if/when I hear anything. Phone went straight to voicemail.
Betsy
@piratedan: Okay. I was going bonkers, thinking, maybe this stands for middle-aged male millennials?? Mother-angsty maga nobodies??
H.E.Wolf
…for certain values of “we” (definitely not including you!).
A good example of NOT giving up is the collaboration between Four Directions and Fair Fight Action, coming to a Balloon Juice zoom event in a few minutes. (Email WaterGirl for the link.)
Baud
@H.E.Wolf:
They are amazing, as is WaterGirl.
Roger Moore
@Baud:
I don’t think the indecisiveness on the Democrats’ part is an overreaction to the GOP. I think it’s a reaction to the nature of the Democratic party. We are much more of a diverse coalition than the Republicans are, and we’re also more of a bottom-up organization rather than a top-down one. That means we have to spend a lot more time on consensus building than the Republicans do, which looks like hesitation to people who expect a dictator rather than a coalition leader.
JPL
@Elizabelle: the phone going straight to email is not good.
sab
@Anyway: My husband can barely swim and finds them fascinatiing. I was a mediocre swim team member, and think swimming is the most boring spectator sport known to man ( except cricket).
A Ghost to Most
Meh. Christian supremacists have been telling me to “grow up” for 50 years, but they’re the ones who believe in magic and sky fairies.
piratedan
@Betsy: the perils of multi-tasking…. being at work and being thread engaged :-)
JWR
Speaking of stupid politics, I listened to an interview yesterday on the CA recall effort. I don’t know much about the guy being interviewed, but he reminded me how close, timewise, this stupid recall really is. I just hope Newsom wins handily, so the rest of us can take up the ridiculous recall rules and change them for the better. Here’s a bit of the introduction:
ETA, I found the interview a bit over the top, but maybe it was intended to affect me that way. Also, I hate doom porn on left side blogs, and there I go with the doom pron. Sorry.
Just Chuck
We are, after all, the only ones with agency.
Cameron
So…any ideas on how the voting rights acts will pass? Or eviction prevention? There have to be an assload of people in DC working on this, but I haven’t heard squat.
Elizabelle
@JPL: Yeah. That was concerning.
mrmoshpotato
@Poe Larity: Damn. Phish music is moshtastic!
Major Major Major Major
@Cameron: Congress caused this eviction mess but so far all I’ve seen is them yelling at Biden about it.
Another Scott
WaPo Ohio 11th primary election results page – https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/election-results/ohio/house-districts-11-15-primaries/
No results yet.
Cheers,
Scott.
Roger Moore
@JWR:
Yeah, the California recall rules are just nuts. I still think the Democrats were foolish not to settle on one big name candidate to put on the ballot. I understand their basic point of view- they don’t want Democrats who are on the fence about Newsom to vote for the recall because there’s a safe option on the ballot- but it’s a really dumb, all-or-nothing approach to the election. It didn’t work when Gray Davis was recalled, and I’m very worried it won’t work this time, either.
trollhattan
@sab:
TBF things picked up the last few hundred meters! And they’re all ambulatory after swimming a couple hours. Sheesh.
mrmoshpotato
@piratedan:
Yup. The framing is absolute farce. It would be hilarious if it didn’t have real life consequences.
Quinerly
@Elizabelle: I think today is her birthday.
trollhattan
@JWR:
Not making any predictions, myself. Last go there was no automatic ballot by mail and one candidate–Arnold–was known by everybody. Nobody on the ballot has name recognition, including that Jenner critter (despite the enormous ego that thinks otherwise).
Should the recall succeed, virtually anybody could become governor.
Peale
@JWR: on the plus side, the Dems in the assembly can neuter a wing nut slightly like the GOP did in North Carolina and Wisconsin. On the minus side, it’s tge Dems, so there will be enough of them who think it isn’t fair to do so, so that won’t happen.
Anyway, I’ve said for years that it’s likely that California and New York will have GOP governors again long before Texas finally turns blue. Hopefully I’m proven wrong.
mrmoshpotato
@Anyway:
Bring on the SCUBA 400 m hurdles!
Peale
@trollhattan: this is where Baud could have really stepped up to raise his profile in advance of 2024.
Earl
@Betsy:
Except (I firmly) believe that the acceptance of gerrymandering by the Supreme Court is really because mostly only republicans do it. Kevin Drum fwiw is in the same place.
Want the politicians in black to ban it? Impose costs on the home team, ie Republicans. Take away the remaining seats in CA or NY; let’s have a 3 mile wide 150 mile tall sliver to throw some blue voters into formerly red districts.
You either compete via the same rules or lose by unilaterally disarming.
trollhattan
@Peale:
Yup “TikTok Baud Surprise Winner of CA Recall. Looks for map identifying Sacramento location.”
SFBayAreaGal
@Roger Moore: Gray had a huge disapproval rating compared to Newsom.
Steeplejack
@Major Major Major Major:
Yes. Congress had at least a month to work on this before they discovered it was a crisis last Friday.
Baud
@Peale:
@trollhattan:
I was told California was ungovernable.
Fair Economist
@Roger Moore:
In the 2003 recall election, the Democrats *did* have a single major fallback candidate (Cruz Bustamante), and the utter disaster that came out of that is probably the reason they’re so dead set on “Just Say No”.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: You could simply refuse to govern.
sanjeevs
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/missouri-governor-pardons-couple-who-brandished-guns-protesters-2021-08-03
Kay
She’s up, um, 20 :)
I don’t think it’s as important as you-all do though – because it’s a House seat- and I’m not clear why national Democrats were freaking about it. I don’t think the particular ideology of a single seat means that much, except in intra-Party politics.
Kathleen
@Betsy: Thank you, Betsy!
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
I think my refusal to campaign shows that that’s exactly what I’d do.
Baud
@Kay:
Thread on this is up.
Omnes Omnibus
@Kay: I think that people here really don’t want Turner’s profile raised at all.
JWR
@Cameron
On last night’s PBS Snooze Hour, after saying that Biden had “declined” to extend the rent moratorium because of a court case, (which is true, but it’s Judy Woodruff, always with the negative spin against Democrats), she said that the John Lewis Voting Rights bill was pretty much dead in the water, which will force the Dems to carve out an even skinnier slice of the voting rights pie. I hope she’s wrong, but I’m so tired of Joe Manchin and whoever else is dictating policy, instead of working for the Democratic party, and not gumming up the works.
ETA, or maybe it was the other voting rights bill.
Steeplejack
@Quinerly:
Yes, today is SiubhanDuinne’s birthday.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud:
Does this mean I am your campaign manager? I can easily do fuck all.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud:
That’d mean you’d not have to do any work as Governor! Perfect!
Cameron
@Kay: She said mean things! Maybe she does have a deep knowledge of e!ection/voting law, but she SAID MEAN THINGS!
HeleninEire
@Baud:
Hey you. I hope you are well. Saw your comment to me earlier. I answered but the blog went a bit crazy. May have been me answering quick. Anyway.
SiubhanDuinne
It’s my birthday and I’ll hide if I wanna…
Didn’t mean to give everyone a scare, but it’s nice to be loved! Thank you all for your concern. I’m mostly fine but am having a lot of pain the past week or so, so I’m taking kapow painkillers and napping at odd hours and commenting very little.
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: Ah, someone who understands me.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
You’re not interested in governing anyway, so I don’t see the problem.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Happy birthday to you and Omnes!! It is a fine day for a birthday.
Quinerly
@Steeplejack:
I’m friends with her on the Book of Faces. Just checked her page.
Elizabelle
Ms. Duinne is in pain from a neck/back injury.
She has not been in a fight. Or shot. Or crashed a stolen car. Or so she says. Hmmmm….
Baud
@HeleninEire:
I saw. It’s good to see you. We should have more introspective threads so we can see familiar nyms.
@SiubhanDuinne:
@Omnes Omnibus:
Happy birthday!
Kay
@Cameron:
I thought her campaign was dishonest. She really ran two campaigns- one for the Left and one for more disengaged Democrats and that’s a bit of a pattern on the Left in the Democratic Party- the marriage of convenience. It’s patronizing and awful. If the argument is they’ll win as Proud Progressives then they should stop running as mainstream Democrats for one audience and rebels for another.
I don’t know what Nina Turner believes.
Just Chuck
@JWR: IIRC, it was the other bill, and that Manchin is on board with the John Lewis Act. I think the other one had some dark money provisions that Manchin didn’t like, probably because he’s crooked as a pig ‘s pecker.
Sinema will probably do whatever gets her more retweets.
Omnes Omnibus
@Elizabelle: Thank you.
JPL
@Omnes Omnibus: Happy Birthday to both of you.. and all a good night.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle:
Considering she’s a mob enforcer, those are occupational hazards.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Harrumph.
Elizabelle
@Baud: I am thinking “Goodbye to Cheryl” should go into the Balloon Juice lexicon for “navel gazing.”
Cheryl goes large. It’s like Bye Felecia.
JWR
@Roger Moore:
Yes!, that would’ve been the smart thing to do instead of what you describe. We’ve got a LOT of talented pols here in CA, but I suppose the Dems thought having another challenger, perhaps from the Left!, might have played into the R’s hands by splitting the vote. I dunno.
Elizabelle
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I am realizing it was a telecon and not a Zoom or Facetime.
And the woman admitted to being on drugs. Allegedly over the counter. Allegedly.
So ….
Roger Moore
@Baud:
California has actually succeeded in becoming more governable. Part of this is that the Democrats in the state legislature now have veto proof majorities, so the Republicans are no longer able to gum up the works. At least as important, it is no longer necessary to get a 2/3 majority to pass a budget. It turns out the ungovernability of California was a fixable problem.
Kay
@Cameron:
The local Lefties have this “we’re wise like serpents” thing that is nails on a chalkboard to me. It’s just dishonest and manipulative and too clever. Our voters should be able to assume good faith- if you want to run ads about how close you were to Obama then don’t trash him to the Lefty audience.
Quinerly
@SiubhanDuinne:
Glad you have surfaced. You have been missed. Happy birthday!
Baud
@Roger Moore:
Same with Congress.
zhena gogolia
@Elizabelle: Thanks.
On another topic:
Joint Statement From Governor Lamont, Governor McKee, Governor Murphy, and Governor Wolf
Posted on August 3, 2021
Roger Moore
@Kay:
Nina Turner believes in promoting the career of Nina Turner, and not a whole lot else.
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
I only wish I had a good story. “Slept weird” is hardly sympathy-inducing.
HeleninEire
@Baud: I agree. When I talk too much about my wonderful, very good, the bestest in the history of the world EVA bestest trip to Dublin in September I give you permission to say “OK Helen we get it.!” ?
Roger Moore
@Baud:
We have successfully demonstrated that California’s problems were fixable. I have not seen a successful demonstration for the US Senate.
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: Amateur capybara wrestling?
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne:
Oh, so happy to see you!!!!
?
SiubhanDuinne
@Quinerly:
Thank you. The big one is next year!
Cameron
@Kay: I’m not either a leftist or a progessive; as I’ve mentioned before, I’m closer to the Democratic Freedom Caucus than any other ideological position. I’m not a Turner supporter, but she must appeal to somebody. And,please, nobody do that lame ” must be Putin, dur-ur-ur. “
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne, @Omnes Omnibus:
Happy birthday to you both!
?????
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne: I did that Sunday night/Monday morning before having to be at work at 5am.
Happiest of b-days Subaru. (Omnes too.)
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Work it though, Subaru. Work it.
SiubhanDuinne
@zhena gogolia:
Thank you! Very nice of you to set the alarm bells a-ringing!
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Thank you.
@?BillinGlendaleCA: (And you too.)
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
Already tried that, can’t get away with it a second time.
Kay
@Cameron:
Her career has been interesting. I myself think she feels she was treated poorly by the Ohio Democratic Party (she probably was) and that pushed her to the outside. I think it was pre-Bernie.
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: Turn pro.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
@Steeplejack:
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Thank you all!
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
But relatable these days.
HeleninEire
@SiubhanDuinne:
Hello Darling. I sent you a FB happy birthday this morning.
How do you describe big one? I think that’s for me next year. It’s a big one. I’m planning a huge trip.
Brachiator
This is largely true in America largely as an accident of history, but is certainly false as a general rule.
Democrats have better policy, but Republicans are not wayward kids who admit that we know best and reluctantly give in. They are adults who have a radically different idea of what is right for the country. And they seem not to care how much harm is caused as they try to get what they want.
Raven
@SiubhanDuinne: Happy Birthday to both of you mugs.
sralloway
@SiubhanDuinne: So happy, and at the same time saddened at your discomfort, to hear from you. May your pain be reduced and may you continue to be a clear voice on BJ and elsewhere
Also, too: Happy birthday.
SiubhanDuinne
@HeleninEire:
I will turn 80, that would be EIGHT-ZERO, in 2022. I’m hoping for/tentatively planning a big trip of my own next year, but there are a lot of variables to work out.
JWR
@Just Chuck:
Too funny, but very true, I would bet. And thank you for the clarification! I’d thought Manchin had done a U-turn on America.
SiubhanDuinne
@sralloway:
That’s so nice. Thank you!
Mike in NC
@trollhattan: The local rag started running Loony Larry Elder’s columns, but soon quit. I guess people didn’t care for his crazy shit.
Cameron
@Kay: BTW, I apologize if I came off as hostile. You’ve forgotten more about politics (let alone Ohio politics) than I’m likely to know. I see some things that I think would work here in Florida, but I’m not a native and am almost certainly full of shit.
SiubhanDuinne
@Raven:
Thank you, Raven!
Geminid
@Kay: I don’t think the ideology of one seat matters so much either. I just distrust Turner. This would be a bad time to have a disrupter in the Democratic Congressional caucus, and I think Turner intends to be one.
There is something of a personality cult around Nina Turner, and I think it has gone to her head. Turner’s statements regarding the 2016 and 2020 Presidential elections make me believe that she simply does not want the Democratic Party, as presently constituted, to succeed. I think she would use this congressional seat as a stepping stone for a third party presidential run in 2024.
HeleninEire
@SiubhanDuinne:
I will be 60 next year. A BFD. I’ve found a tour that goes through Scotland (never been) and ends in London the morning of my birthday. I will fly to Dublin that morning and spend that day with my Dublin friends. Because I will never ever again not spend my birthday in Dublin. I love it there and them too much. Hey Join me!!
Brachiator
@trollhattan:
Elder freebases pure libertarianism and is trying to sell it as a candidate in the recall race. I have been hearing that tired nonsense that California needs a governor who can run the state like a business coming from various right wing pundits. This, along with god and guns, is their standard playbook offense.
Conservatives are praying for low turnout and angry, highly motivated Newsom haters. The last successful recall was a weird political circus. Voters were giddy over the idea of being able to toss a governor out of office.
I guess we are again coming around to the question of whether a significant number of voters will be the adults in the room or whether childish antics will prevail.
Yutsano
@HeleninEire:
Seattle to Dublin on Aer Lingus was dirt cheap last time I checked. Hmm…I’m gonna need some kind of backup vacation since my exploding digestive tract pretty much blew me going anywhere this year. Maybe we can do a meet-up in Dublin for your birthday?
Dan B
@SiubhanDuinne: Happy Spacey Birthday!
Brachiator
@Roger Moore:
California also had an excellent governor in Jerry Brown and a good one in Newsom who were able to direct the energies of a sometimes overly-enthusiastic state legislature.
SiubhanDuinne
@HeleninEire:
My trip is to visit all (well, as many as I can) of the islands surrounding the British Isles — can start anywhere, but trip would include Hebrides, Orkneys, Shetlands, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight, Scillies, Isle of Man etc etc. But I am always up for a get-together in London. And I’ve never been to Ireland. What time of year are we talking about for your birthday?
Dan B
@Omnes Omnibus: Omnibus Capybara wrasslin’!
Happy Birthday as well!
Quinerly
@SiubhanDuinne: not a fan of these milestones. Had one in Feb myself. I still haven’t adjusted. Hope your day went well. Sorry about the pain. Hang in there.
HeleninEire
@SiubhanDuinne: The tour starts early Sept. My birthday is Sept 13th. That’s the morning I will fly to Dublin.
SiubhanDuinne
@Dan B:
Thanks!!
Kay
@Geminid:
You should believe that of Lefties because it’s true and they’ll tell you it’s true. It’s a marriage of convenience. I’m just not convinced she’s a reliable anything.
Brachiator
@SiubhanDuinne:
Happy birthday to you and Omnes.
I sympathize with having to deal with stuff. I have been spending time at the local urgent care clinic being treated for an infection in my leg.
Definitely zaps the joy out of things
Elizabelle
@Brachiator: Ahhh. I hope you feel better soonest and that infection flees.
HeleninEire
@Yutsano: Yes. Let’s
Elizabelle
@Yutsano: Yeah. I was researching some Europe flights recently, and Aer Lingus was inexpensive and — I hope — has good service.
I heart and miss Norwegian Air, though.
Dan B
@SiubhanDuinne: We crazed gardeners visited Ireland in the 1980’s. We had dinner at Helen Dillon’s in Dublin – private residence – and then toured Mt. Stewart near Belfast. That was the most amazing garden. The air was filled with the scent of Eucalyptus, one section felt like being a bug on an oriental carpet, and the Gunnera by the big upper level pond was big enough to stand beneath. The Gunnera in Costa Rica were not that huge.
We had the garden to ourselves.
HeleninEire
@Elizabelle:
Aer Lingus has EXCELLENT service. I won’t fly to Ireland any other way.
SiubhanDuinne
@Quinerly:
I never mind the big birthdays, but I have to say being 79 seems simply preposterous.
The pain in the neck is exactly that. I’ve had cricks before, from sleeping funny, but this one really caught me by surprise. It’s had me in tears of pain several times, and didn’t allow me to sleep at all a few nights ago. Then it improved slightly for a couple of days, but has now come back with a gleeful vengeance.
In Sandra Boynton’s immortal words:
First you shuffle, then you stoop.
Growing old is pigeon poop.
Another Scott
@SiubhanDuinne: Feel better soon.
And Happy Birthday to you and OO!!
Is sharing it with him like having your birthday on Christmas Day? Do you have to share presents??
Cheers,
Scott.
Elizabelle
It’s Tony Bennett’s 95th birthday too. Good company, with Subaru and Omnes.
SiubhanDuinne
@Brachiator:
Oh, no. I’m sorry about the leg. Hope the urgent care people got it taken care of and that you’re on the mend now.
Thank you for the birthday wishes.
Elizabelle
@HeleninEire: Lovely to hear. Will give them a try.
Also love Singapore’s big and luxurious A380.
SiubhanDuinne
Also Martin Sheen, Martha Stewart, Edward Petherbridge, and P. D. James.
SiubhanDuinne
@Another Scott:
Share? Omnes share??
OldDave
Switch to hexadecimal numbers. You’ll be 50.
SiubhanDuinne
@Dan B:
That sounds incredible. Have you posted pictures, either in an OTR or one of the Sunday garden chats?
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne:
PD James. You lucky bug. Love her.
I share a birthday with Michael Connelly (the Harry Bosch detective novels) and the late and missed Robin Williams.
SiubhanDuinne
@OldDave:
Ideas intriguing, newsletter subscribe, etc.
Roger Moore
@Brachiator:
Jerry Brown was a genuinely fantastic governor. I think I’ve said this point before, but Brown was able to make tough decisions as governor and stick to them. Despite what the assholes on the other side of the aisle- and in the media- would have you believe, the hardest decisions aren’t cutting people off when times are hard. Dumping on poor people is one of the easiest things to do in politics, because they don’t vote in their numbers, and doing it makes you look tough to the people who do vote. The really hard decision is to say no to everyone’s pet project when times are good. Brown was willing and able to put preparing for the next fiscal emergency ahead of doing all the fun stuff people had been waiting to do, and it served us remarkably well this past year.
Steeplejack
Simone Biles (finally!) coming up on the balance beam after this gymnast and one more. This is on NBC broadcast network. They have been hoarding the video since early this morning.
ETA: Maybe coming up after this commercial. They seem to be editing their coverage.
Omnes Omnibus
@Another Scott: Leos don’t share.
@SiubhanDuinne: I posted the comment above before I read yours.
Brachiator
@Roger Moore:
Yep. Exactly.
satby
@SiubhanDuinne: Happy Birthday to you AND Omnes !!
smedley the uncertain
@SiubhanDuinne: Happy Birthday. I’m 83 on Thursday; well into my 4th quarter and working on an overtime strategy. Keep on truckin … See ya next year.
trnc
@trollhattan:
The ideal number of assholes is also zero.
Hob
@JWR:
That’s exactly the fear, and that’s why it would not have been the smarter thing to do; I don’t know why you or anyone else thinks that it would have been, unless it’s just that a lot of people don’t understand how the recall vote works.
The recall effort is driven by Republicans, and it’s likely that they’ll be doing everything they can to get out the vote for whatever horrible candidate they settle on. Between that and the kind of weird random “let’s do the opposite of the status quo” voters who also turn out for these things, we can’t count on their being as low as the typical percentage R’s get statewide in California. And because of how the stupid recall system works, Mr. Horrible (R) could get far less support than any candidate could win with in a regular election and still win.
I’m sure everyone understands the typical kind of vote-splitting scenario, in an election that allows a plurality win with no runoff. Say the three candidates are D1, D2, and R. And the total of D1+D2 is more than R, but because of the split, R is more than either one of them and so R wins. Simple enough.
But this is much worse than that. If D1 is “keep Newsom”, D2 is “replace Newsom with Ms. Acceptable (D)”, and R is “replace Newsom with Mr. Horrible (R)”… R could win even with far fewer votes than D1. Like, we could have 70% statewide support for keeping a Democrat, versus 25% for Horrible and 5% for random dogs and cats… but if 21% out of that 70% decide “eh, Newsom’s not that great, I like Ms. Acceptable”, Horrible wins.
Having a high-profile fallback D candidate in this situation is incredibly stupid unless absolutely everyone loves that candidate and is working together very deliberately to make sure they’re all on the same page. How likely do you think that is?