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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Friday Morning Open Thread: *Someone* Has to Be the Grown-Up

Friday Morning Open Thread: *Someone* Has to Be the Grown-Up

by Anne Laurie|  September 17, 20217:06 am| 180 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Open Threads, President Biden, Proud to Be A Democrat

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Psaki tells @nancycordes the White House "offered a call with Nicki Minaj and one of our doctors to answer questions she had about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine." She adds, "Our hope is that anyone who has a big platform is going to project accurate information" pic.twitter.com/6VOIxh6oSx

— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 16, 2021

And Ms. Minaj has literally millions of devoted followers, in a great many countries, currently following the social-media saga of her cousin’s friend’s inflated / deflated wedding tackle…

Elsewhere — Tax the Rich!

President Biden: "Where is it written that all the tax breaks in the American tax code go to corporations and the very top? I think it's enough, I'm tired of it. For me, it's pretty simple. It's about time working people got the tax breaks in this country." pic.twitter.com/jvsIgYM6DX

— The Hill (@thehill) September 16, 2021

I believe we’re at an inflection point.

Are we going to continue with an economy where the overwhelming share of the benefits go to the top?

Or will we choose a new path? One that invests in this nation and creates growth that benefits everyone.

— President Biden (@POTUS) September 16, 2021

Readership capture:

Our Joe ????? pic.twitter.com/Ez9su9xRZd

— GeorgiaPeach ?????????????? (@ChrisFromGA68) September 15, 2021

P.S. If you haven’t read the overnight threads yet, I’m in a better mood this morning because there’s good news about Asiangrrl / Minna.

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Previous Post: « COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Thursday / Friday, Sept. 16-17
Next Post: Will This Work? »

Reader Interactions

180Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    September 17, 2021 at 7:09 am

    Readership capture

    And how. Almost makes me want to buy the book.

  2. 2.

    debbie

    September 17, 2021 at 7:11 am

    Nicki won’t budge. They ought to tell her the truth about the fiancee. He got caught out cheating on his bride-to-be and was shown the door.

  3. 3.

    debbie

    September 17, 2021 at 7:13 am

    Refusing to utter the “T” word is nothing compared to what the previous administration must have called President Obama.

  4. 4.

    Tony Jay

    September 17, 2021 at 7:15 am

    Are we going to continue with an economy where the overwhelming share of the benefits go to the top? Or will we choose a new path? One that invests in this nation and creates growth that benefits everyone.

    Jesus, Joe. Don’t you know that that kind of crazy left-wing talk is toxic outside of New York’s deep-blue hipster, liberal enclaves?

  5. 5.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    September 17, 2021 at 7:16 am

    “What a fucking asshole,” Biden once said of Trump, according to the authors.

    Who among us . . . ? Also, once?

  6. 6.

    NotMax

    September 17, 2021 at 7:17 am

    Popular item once more, proving that everything old is new again.

    ;)

  7. 7.

    Hellbastard

    September 17, 2021 at 7:17 am

    Like how Biden “discovers” rooms in the White House, like it’s some huge, spooky manor with rooms and wings lost in the history of time.

  8. 8.

    Tony Jay

    September 17, 2021 at 7:18 am

    @debbie:

      He got caught out cheating on his bride-to-be and was shown the door kicked so hard in the bongo-bongos they swelled up like hamster cheeks.

    Fixed for my own sick amusement.

  9. 9.

    MagdaInBlack

    September 17, 2021 at 7:21 am

    Oh my, LOL! been awhile since I’ve seen it/them called ” wedding tackle.”

  10. 10.

    Tony Jay

    September 17, 2021 at 7:24 am

    @Hellbastard:

    Countdown to some over-paid and under-skilled ‘Independent thinker’ being given space in the FTFNYT to tut-tut about the Liberal Media covering up for a man so mentally decrepit he gets lost wandering around the White House and verbally lashes out when confronted with evidence of his predecessor’s sporting prowess.

  11. 11.

    germy

    September 17, 2021 at 7:29 am

    Me and the boys after our COVID vaccines. pic.twitter.com/zMBgYWgMrW

    — Lincoln Michel (@TheLincoln) September 17, 2021

  12. 12.

    Ken

    September 17, 2021 at 7:32 am

    It may be just me, but I’m hearing a lot of subtext in Psaki’s “Our hope is that anyone who has a big platform is going to project accurate information”.  Or rather, I’m imagining her glaring at particular reporters in the room.

  13. 13.

    Ksmiami

    September 17, 2021 at 7:33 am

    Don’t know if Kay has checked in yet, but the LA Times has a very good article about the real tragedy of the Texas abortion law: here’s a link-

    https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-09-17/is-this-legal-texans-scramble-to-get-abortions-out-of-state

  14. 14.

    Betty Cracker

    September 17, 2021 at 7:35 am

    Biden is correct — we are at an inflection point, and we could choose a better path. (And also, that Trump is a “fucking asshole.”) But depressingly, it’s looking like 100% of Republicans and 10% of Democrats are determined to “continue with an economy where the overwhelming share of the benefits go to the top.”

    It won’t take the wind out of my sails as a voter, volunteer and donor because I understand we’ve got a wolf at our throats. Here’s hoping it doesn’t cause more loosely affiliated voters to lose heart.

  15. 15.

    Baud

    September 17, 2021 at 7:37 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    I think your percentage of Dems is high, I think it’s in the single digits.  And “not as progressive as we’d like” doesn’t not mean “Republican.”

  16. 16.

    Splitting Image

    September 17, 2021 at 7:38 am

    I’m sure no one here needs to be reminded, but remember that the former guy spent one day out of every four on an actual golf course. His time on the virtual golf course came out of the time remaining, during which he was supposed to be doing his job.

  17. 17.

    Baud

    September 17, 2021 at 7:39 am

    @Splitting Image:

    I’ve always felt we should be grateful for TFG’s laziness.

  18. 18.

    Jay

    September 17, 2021 at 7:39 am

    Best news about Asiangrrl, makes up for a shitty week.

    Love u all, so much.

    I guess swollen ball jokes are back in, other than for Patriots fans, whom I hear like them slightly shrunken.

  19. 19.

    John S.

    September 17, 2021 at 7:41 am

    @Baud:

    I also think Betty’s percentage for Republicans is just a tad high. There are a tiny handful of not quite so batshit crazy Republicans also numbering in the single digits.

    I postulate that the the ratio of non-crazy Republicans to crazy Democrats is roughly 1:1.

  20. 20.

    Jay

    September 17, 2021 at 7:44 am

    @Splitting Image:

    are we sure the green screen was used for virtual golf and not other VR activities? PornHub comes to mind,…..

  21. 21.

    NotMax

    September 17, 2021 at 7:45 am

    Quintessence of D.O.A..

  22. 22.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 7:48 am

    @Ksmiami:

    Thanks. Justice Thomas was out yesterday proclaiming that the Supreme Court is credible – I guess they think if they say it often enough it will become true- so the “debate” is still incredibly stacked toward the views of elite and hugely powerful  Republican lawyers, but I’m glad the LA Times found a woman who lives in Texas to interview.

    I wonder how long it will take before the other side gets a hearing- no rush. Next year, year after that, whatever. It’s just women and girls so not important.

    Next we’ll hear from Kavanaugh because there can’t be enough commentary from GOP lawyers. By the time the other side gets a hearing the GOP lawyers will have worked harder on spinning that case in the media than they did issuing their sloppy, midnight order overturning Roe without a hearing.

  23. 23.

    rikyrah

    September 17, 2021 at 7:49 am

    Good Morning Everyone ???

  24. 24.

    Suzanne

    September 17, 2021 at 7:50 am

    “What a fucking asshole”

    Truer words. His mouth to FSM’s ears.
    Sometimes the old-fashioned non-Scottish invective is the best.

  25. 25.

    Leto

    September 17, 2021 at 7:50 am

    @Steeplejack (phone): I think it was just once that minute, which for a TAPM (Trumpov Asshole Per Minute) is a very low rate. Typical Biden/normal person TAPM is probably closer to 30-40.

  26. 26.

    Betty Cracker

    September 17, 2021 at 7:50 am

    @Baud: I’m not calling them Republicans; I’m calling them conservative Democrats who want to protect donors by refusing to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations — a proposal that the vast majority of Americans support.

  27. 27.

    Ken

    September 17, 2021 at 7:52 am

    @NotMax: “I’m a vapid nobody who the voters of Indiana were going to throw out of office before TFG’s handlers asked me to be vice-president. Then according to the GQP base I betrayed him by certifying the election, and have had my life threatened for that. Please send money.”

  28. 28.

    Suzanne

    September 17, 2021 at 7:52 am

    @Splitting Image:

    His time on the virtual golf course came out of the time remaining, during which he was supposed to be doing his job.

     

    And that was in addition to “executive time”, aka “watching TV”.
    Laziest dumbfuck ever, which turned out to be a mixed blessing, I suppose.

  29. 29.

    Betty Cracker

    September 17, 2021 at 7:53 am

    @Kay: It’s small comfort, but the fact that they’re fanning out to defend the court’s credibility signals that they understand it’s in question and find that distressing.

  30. 30.

    rikyrah

    September 17, 2021 at 7:53 am

    Thanks for the link to the good news

  31. 31.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 17, 2021 at 7:54 am

    @Splitting Image:

    remember that the former guy spent one day out of every four on an actual golf course. His time on the virtual golf course came out of the time remaining, during which he was supposed to be doing his job. 

    And millions of taxpayers’ dollars for the Secret Service to watch his fat, orange, fascist ass cheat at golf on his own courses.

  32. 32.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 17, 2021 at 7:56 am

    @Baud:

    I’ve always felt we should be grateful for TFG’s laziness. 

    I agree with ya there, Baud.  Someone as corrupt but willing to put some effort into the corruption could’ve fleeced the country much more.

  33. 33.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 7:58 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    I think this is traditionally when they do their public appearances so it is WHEN they would do it anyway but I agree they are defensive.

    They seem to have settled on a campaign theme- both Barrett and Thomas used it- the theme is people believe they are political hacks because people don’t understand “originalist” legal philosophy, which is loftier and more intellectually challenging than the icky, low brow “realists”.

    They’re scolding us.

  34. 34.

    germy

    September 17, 2021 at 8:00 am

    Gutted. Was supposed to be attending a wedding in Trinidad, but it’s just been cancelled. Family won’t say why.

    — Dara Ó Briain (@daraobriain) September 14, 2021

  35. 35.

    Baud

    September 17, 2021 at 8:01 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good morning.

  36. 36.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 8:04 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    They talk too much. The Court speaks thru it’s orders. They issued the order overturning Roe. I’m not interested in their political spin on the order nor do I care about their defensive, patronizing explanations of far Right legal theory.

    If they want to speak still more they can hold a real PUBLIC hearing on the merits and issue an opinion. At least then the other side also gets a chance to be heard.

  37. 37.

    Ken

    September 17, 2021 at 8:04 am

    @germy: You don’t suppose Trinidad got a bad batch?

  38. 38.

    RedDirtGirl

    September 17, 2021 at 8:04 am

    @debbie: It may also be a convenient distraction from the fact that NM’s husband just pleaded guilty to not registering as a sex offender.

  39. 39.

    debbie

    September 17, 2021 at 8:08 am

    @Kay:

    What is their guidance when making their rulings? It certainly doesn’t seem to be the Constitution. //

  40. 40.

    rikyrah

    September 17, 2021 at 8:08 am

    @Kay:

    I do believe that the Democrats in the House and Senate should have hearings on this hideous law

  41. 41.

    rikyrah

    September 17, 2021 at 8:08 am

    @debbie:

    And, should be a registered sex offender

  42. 42.

    Baud

    September 17, 2021 at 8:08 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    It’s my understanding that every proposal on the table would raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations to pay for benefits for regular folks.  The only issue is the size of the package. (Insert swollen balls joke here.)

  43. 43.

    germy

    September 17, 2021 at 8:09 am

    Americans are flocking to defunct uranium mines in Montana for what many believe is a fountain of youth gushing with radioactive gas, in defiance of the advice of health officials.https://t.co/duR9uPrl12 pic.twitter.com/ys5JH3bfXB— Stuart Wallace (@StuartLWallace) August 11, 2021

    nuclear semioticians have been working for decades to devise a way to ensure the danger of radioactive dump sites is clear to people thousands of years from now, a task perhaps rendered moot by the fact that humans won't even respect the signs they can read now https://t.co/uDTpT8jlxh— molly conger (@socialistdogmom) September 13, 2021

  44. 44.

    debbie

    September 17, 2021 at 8:09 am

    @rikyrah:

    I gotta do a better job of keeping up with these things.

  45. 45.

    rikyrah

    September 17, 2021 at 8:09 am

    @Kay:

    And, did it through the shadow docket BULLSHYT ?

  46. 46.

    Baud

    September 17, 2021 at 8:14 am

    @germy:

    Seems like a problem that’ll take care of itself.  I just hope they don’t use up too many medical resources.

  47. 47.

    germy

    September 17, 2021 at 8:18 am

    I work at a thrift store and found this vaccine card from 1956. Felt weirdly timely pic.twitter.com/pjo8nhwwUL

    — Mildly Interesting (@interest_mild) September 15, 2021

  48. 48.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    September 17, 2021 at 8:21 am

    @Betty Cracker: More like we’ve been in an inflection point for a decade now, consider Gay Marriage, it was an absurdity in the ’00s and now it’s done and so common people seem think gays could always get married. The reactionaries will dig in their heels, pout and when it happens and it turns out the world didn’t end move on.

  49. 49.

    Baud

    September 17, 2021 at 8:22 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    You don’t think they’ll try to reverse that after they finish with abortion?

  50. 50.

    Nicole

    September 17, 2021 at 8:24 am

    It just dawned on me: Trump spent an awful lot of time playing and practicing golf, and still regularly cheated. What kind of a failure must one be to spend that much time working on something and never get any better at it?

  51. 51.

    Jay

    September 17, 2021 at 8:25 am

    @rikyrah:

    good morning, rikyrah, ???

  52. 52.

    Steeplejack

    September 17, 2021 at 8:25 am

    @Leto:

    That checks out. ?

  53. 53.

    Baud

    September 17, 2021 at 8:27 am

    @Nicole:

    He could have been the world’s best golfer and he still would have cheated.  Cheating is in his blood.

  54. 54.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    September 17, 2021 at 8:27 am

    @Baud: My take on the abortion stuff is different. I think that’s being driven by control freak, religious fundamentalist elders who have been abandoned by their adult children and grandchildren and they want a way to impose themselves.  Remember Dan Savages advice to young gays that if they parents won’t accept their sexuality to just cut their parents off?  Well with this law mom and dad, can sue their kid’s friends as baby killers.

  55. 55.

    rikyrah

    September 17, 2021 at 8:28 am

    ???

     

    MSNBC (@MSNBC) tweeted at 7:13 AM on Fri, Sep 17, 2021:
    3 people arrested for allegedly assaulting an NYC restaurant hostess after she asked a group of diners visiting from Texas to show proof they had been vaccinated before seating them. https://t.co/EQV1QFS2le
    (https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1438838411918516228?s=03)

  56. 56.

    sab

    September 17, 2021 at 8:28 am

    @Kay: I like that they are out there defending the credibility of the Court. It provides us all with frequent reminders that the Court’s credibility is very much in question.

    There was a reason that the Warren Court worked so hard to have its big change decisions be 9-0 or 8-1.

    5-4 decisions by a Court appointed by presidents elected without the majority of the popular vote just won’t cut it in the long run. The courts’ credibility took credibility took centuries to develop. It is a lot easier to break things than do build them.

  57. 57.

    Steeplejack

    September 17, 2021 at 8:29 am

    @Splitting Image:

    Work/leisure balance is important in life. It helps you maintain a good attitude and a sunny disposition.

  58. 58.

    WereBear

    September 17, 2021 at 8:30 am

    @Nicole: It’s about winning. Beating others. Only that.

  59. 59.

    John S.

    September 17, 2021 at 8:30 am

    @sab:

    Especially when 3 of those 5 justices were appointed by a twice-impeached con-man and confirmed under highly dubious circumstances.

  60. 60.

    Uncle Cosmo

    September 17, 2021 at 8:32 am

    @Betty Cracker: [D]epressingly, it’s looking like 100% of Republicans and 10% of Democrats are determined to “continue with an economy where the overwhelming share of the benefits go to the top.”

    Someone once said that a large chunk of not-rich Americans vote to make sure no one else gets a cut of that MegaMillions jackpot they’re absolutely convinced they’re gonna win any day now.

    (I say again, the human race will go extinct due to its inability to grasp basic probability and statistics on an emotional level.)

  61. 61.

    rikyrah

    September 17, 2021 at 8:33 am

    ???

     

    Thomas Kennedy (@tomaskenn) tweeted at 7:13 AM on Fri, Sep 17, 2021:
    The federal government has propped up the stock market throughout the pandemic but now that there’s a proposal to spend $3.5 trillion on healthcare, childcare, climate, and immigration initiatives, obstructionist politicians say we can’t spend the money. Don’t let them fool you.
    (https://twitter.com/tomaskenn/status/1438838436086095874?s=03)

  62. 62.

    Steeplejack

    September 17, 2021 at 8:34 am

    @NotMax:

    After his 15-minute campaign, that money will buy Pence a nice mansion in McLean and get him started on his life as a corporate figurehead.​

  63. 63.

    Elizabelle

    September 17, 2021 at 8:35 am

    Makes me think that The Former Guy is That Fucking Guy, sanitized.  Another point for Biden.

    Good morning, jackals.  Back from Colorado Springs.  I loved it out there.  100 degrees with no humidity feels like 75 degrees in central VA.  Beautiful landscape, dog-friendly culture, lots to do.  Met several recent transplants, as in weeks and months long.  Hmmm.

    Hello to the Manitou Springs jackal.  Did not get to do a meetup, but maybe next visit.  I love your little city.  The steep streets give one pause about winter conditions, but most charming.

  64. 64.

    hueyplong

    September 17, 2021 at 8:35 am

    @Baud: “I’ve always felt we should be grateful for TFG’s laziness.”

    I had that conscious thought each and every day of the pig’s tenure, except on Jan 6, when it was more clear than at any other time that evil people were supplying plans and support that might actually work to harm the nation.

    Those people need to be hunted like animals.  That’s the real task of this Jan 6 commission.  Get the people who made Trump’s fever dream a near reality, pour encourager les autres.

  65. 65.

    Betty Cracker

    September 17, 2021 at 8:37 am

    @Baud: My understanding is there are so-called “pay fors” for every dime of spending, which should but mysteriously does not alleviate the deficit vapors. So why whittle the package down to a nub? My guess is it’s more about eliminating the need for tax increases than controlling spending. We’ll see how it shakes out.

  66. 66.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 8:38 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    I know the invocation of the progress on same sex marriage is intended to be aspirational – this too shall pass- but it’s difficult for me to hear it over and over when women are losing rights now, today, this moment. It’s great that we’ve gone forward on some things but it just seems like the regular response to women who are alarmed by how we are lurching backward in this country is “wait- it’ll all come out okay in the end, look at marriage equality!” It bothers me. There’s been little to no progress on women’s rights since I was a girl. We’re now going backward. That’s the reality for women.

  67. 67.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    September 17, 2021 at 8:38 am

    @Uncle Cosmo: Yeah, someone said poor Americans think of themselves as temporarily distressed millionaires.

    Maybe so, but I wonder if that’s true. I’d like to see someone who knows what they’re doing conduct a study.

  68. 68.

    Elizabelle

    September 17, 2021 at 8:38 am

    @Betty Cracker:  Sadly, the USSC’s credibility is not in question.  Would seem to be settled business.

    My dream:  voters go big for Democrats in the midterms, and Biden expands the Court.  They’re just too dangerous as constituted, much as several of the conservatives have pleasantly surprised by respecting precedent and the actual law.  (Does not apply to Alito.)

  69. 69.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    September 17, 2021 at 8:39 am

    @hueyplong: On thing about this rally on Saturday is that it allows law enforcement to try to match many of the pictures they have from Jan 6

  70. 70.

    Betty Cracker

    September 17, 2021 at 8:40 am

    @Nicole: Also, he always plays on his own courses, which is strange. I am a really shitty, infrequent golfer, and even I would get bored playing the same courses over and over.

  71. 71.

    SFAW

    September 17, 2021 at 8:40 am

    @Tony Jay: 

    Jesus, Joe. Don’t you know that that kind of crazy left-wing talk is toxic outside of New York’s deep-blue hipster, liberal enclaves?

    Lissen, you bleedin’ Brit — who the eff are you to comment on polite society? Why’n’t you spend some time commenting on bleedin’ British politics?
    Which reminds me, person whose nym/nom I’ve never seen before ….
    etc etc blah blah blah yadda yadda
    [Of course, the astute reader will wonder how I somehow knew that a “person whose nym/nom I’ve never seen before” was a bleedin’ Brit.]

    Anyway, I hope you’re well, Tony.

  72. 72.

    Gin & Tonic

    September 17, 2021 at 8:41 am

    @rikyrah:  Tourists, huh? I bet they’d love to see Riker’s Island.

  73. 73.

    Gin & Tonic

    September 17, 2021 at 8:42 am

    Legislative elections in Russia have begun. The suspense is killing me.

    This – from Krasnodar region – is what’s happening during the first of three days voting. God knows what will go on overnight when there are no monitors around. #russianelections pic.twitter.com/8ezxt9Xp4b
    — Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) September 17, 2021

  74. 74.

    Danielx

    September 17, 2021 at 8:44 am

    @Nicole:

    Turn that inside out – why bother to get better when you already know you win by cheating? You actually have to want to improve to get better at something, and as with everything else, TFG already KNOWS all about golf.

  75. 75.

    SFAW

    September 17, 2021 at 8:45 am

    @Baud:

    And “not as progressive as we’d like” doesn’t not mean “Republican.”

    It doesn’t, but if the results are the same as if they were, does it matter? [Yes, I know that’s overstating Manchin’s effect a bit, but it would be nice if he didn’t make things easier for the Rethugs so often, red state Dem or not.]

  76. 76.

    BC in Illinois

    September 17, 2021 at 8:47 am

    A note from The New England Journal of My Cousin’s Friend in Trinidad:

    I heard his girlfriend got pregnant from a hot tub.

  77. 77.

    Ken

    September 17, 2021 at 8:47 am

    @Betty Cracker: I have heard (“people are saying”) that TFG is barred from a bunch of courses, because he does things like driving his cart on the greens.

    Also, if he goes to someone else’s course, he can’t bill his Secret Service detail for the golf cart rental.

  78. 78.

    Betty Cracker

    September 17, 2021 at 8:47 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I’d also be interested in seeing a study like that because I never found that explanation convincing.

  79. 79.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 8:47 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Meagan looked tired, wearing a Bob Marley T-shirt, sweatpants and sandals, her light brown hair loose around her shoulders. She said she worried that the Texas clinics she consulted might get her in trouble under the new law. When she asked the staff at one of the clinics where she could get an abortion out of state, she said they told her they couldn’t help. When they called to find out where she was going, she stopped answering.“I cut off all contact with those clinics when they continued to ask what my plans were,” Meagan said, her voice raspy from morning sickness. “Is your name going to be reported? You don’t know. It’s still a new law.”

    Another says she chose the state she traveled to based on her estimation of how likely it was that she would be followed to the clinic and harrassed and surveiled by anti-abortion vigilantes.
    They’re afraid. Right now.

  80. 80.

    Just One More Canuck

    September 17, 2021 at 8:48 am

    @Hellbastard: It’s written like a Scooby-Doo cartoon

  81. 81.

    hueyplong

    September 17, 2021 at 8:49 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Yes, and it’s not the only thing.  The defense of the Capitol won’t be in the hands of Trumpists (at the top) starving resources for the people on the ground.

    Think of the surveillance video we’ve seen of the prior event and, at times, in nearby hotels/motels and think about how it will be even better on the second go round.

    And, of course, think about how the much lower likelihood of success combined with stronger defense/observation might affect the scum who funded and provided logistics for the Jan 6 seditionists.

    And, finally, there is the example of the most brazen of the Nazis sitting in jail right now.  They appear to be unavailable for flagpole swinging this time.

    The chances of random, copycat violence in smaller areas might be a bigger concern than DC this time.

  82. 82.

    Baud

    September 17, 2021 at 8:51 am

    @Betty Cracker: ok, fair point.

    So why whittle the package down to a nub?

     

    I’ve noticed that every time Machin says he won’t vote for $3.5 triillion the media asks about a $1 trillion package, as of there are no numbers in between. I don’t know where that’s coming from, and I don’t think something that low can pass.

  83. 83.

    sdhays

    September 17, 2021 at 8:53 am

    @rikyrah: The increased use of the shadow docket points to just how busy the Supreme Court is. It sure seems like they could use some help from, say, 6 more Justices.

  84. 84.

    hueyplong

    September 17, 2021 at 8:53 am

    @Kay: A minor point straying from the substance of the story, but it’s noticeable that it’s always important to detail a female interviewee’s hair and clothing.  WTF?

  85. 85.

    Baud

    September 17, 2021 at 8:53 am

    @SFAW:

    I find him frustrating too.  And Sinema.  But more for the drama and delay than anything else.

  86. 86.

    SFAW

    September 17, 2021 at 8:54 am

    @Kay:

    I think they’re doing it because they “realized” they may have fucked up a bit. Without the RWMFCOTUS providing themselves cover, the hoi polloi may start to wake up and pay attention, and their precious reputation(s) as The World’s Second Greatest Deliberative Body might get tarnished.

    Of course, given the nature of the electorate (short attention span, etc.), the RWMFCOTUS doesn’t need to worry about that.

  87. 87.

    sdhays

    September 17, 2021 at 8:54 am

    @Nicole:

    What kind of a failure must one be to spend that much time working on something and never get any better at it?

    A “spectacular” one?

  88. 88.

    Just One More Canuck

    September 17, 2021 at 8:56 am

    @germy: humanity is so doomed

  89. 89.

    Tony Jay

    September 17, 2021 at 8:56 am

    @SFAW:

    That is suspicious. You Deep Staters must have better satellite surveillance coverage than my organisation suspects. Excuse me while I report this to my Cell Mentor.

    While I’m doing that, all is fine. Still back in the #%&@# office thanks to my bloody Tory-voting, Brexit-supporting, C19-restriction dismissing Manager having a ruddy heart attack, but what’s a guy gonna do? Got an award ceremony tonight where the local Festival we’ve (as in, my other half, the lady of the house) organised is somehow down to the final three candidates. How that happened we do not know, but I have a shirt, a tie and a gaping hole where the swanky free meal is going to go, so I am going to be there.

    And the Festival itself is tomorrow. All day. Followed by a 50th birthday party. Busy. Busy. Fricking busy.

  90. 90.

    Ken

    September 17, 2021 at 8:58 am

    @hueyplong: The journalistic equivalent of the Bechdel test. And they keep failing.

  91. 91.

    SFAW

    September 17, 2021 at 8:58 am

    @Baud:

    I semi-agree. But if his “drama and delay” results in a severely weakened bill (or set of bills), then it’s (potentially) a big problem for Dems and the country in general. [Yes, I know we don’t yet know how weakened any bill(s) is/are; we’ll just have to see the end result(s). At least he’s not Collins (I hope) — lots of blather pretending she’s going to do the right thing, then voting party-line with the rest of the Party of Traitors.]

    ETA: Re: the Collins “analogy”: meaning he would vote with the Bad Guys, not vote straight party-line Dem. Gotta work on my analogies.]

  92. 92.

    citizen dave

    September 17, 2021 at 9:02 am

    @Steeplejack: fyi It was reported locally that the Pences bought a $1.93 million house in Carmel Indiana in July.  I guess it happened but haven’t seen anything further.  Maybe he needs to get moving advice from Dan Quayle.

  93. 93.

    SFAW

    September 17, 2021 at 9:05 am

    @Steeplejack:

    Work/leisure balance is important in life. It helps you maintain a good attitude and a sunny disposition.

    Oh, piss off.

  94. 94.

    lee

    September 17, 2021 at 9:05 am

    Here is a woman that wants to be pregnant but the new Texas law is already screwing her over.

    Fairly long twitter thread. In which she goes into detail.

    I’ll just post the link in case FYWP eats trying to embed it.

    Link

  95. 95.

    SFAW

    September 17, 2021 at 9:10 am

    @Tony Jay:

    First of all, I’m more like a Derp Stater.

    I guess I’ll now have to look up “C19-restriction,” must be a sodding Brit thing.

    Congrats (if I parsed your comment correctly) on 50! You young pup. I hope reaching that advanced age does NOT mellow your commentary.

  96. 96.

    Another Scott

    September 17, 2021 at 9:13 am

    @Tony Jay:

    Good Morning, the time according to Brexit Imperial is 14/12s of a Forkin past the Gimlet.

    — HappyToast ★ (@IamHappyToast) September 17, 2021

    Happy imperial time to you, courtesy of BoJo’s upcoming reinstatement of non-metric units!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  97. 97.

    Betty Cracker

    September 17, 2021 at 9:16 am

    @Baud: I was kind of hopeful that it was a song-and-dance for the No Labels gang at first too, but Manchin’s WSJ editorial was damned discouraging. Basically, it was a kick in the balls to the admin. And now this “Biden bombs with Manchin” crap from Axios — it’s Manchin’s camp that’s feeding them that horseshit.

  98. 98.

    germy

    September 17, 2021 at 9:18 am

    an unvaccinated person died (crowd cheers) but they were unvaccinated because of their disability (crowd boos) but they were a republican voter (crowd cheers) but they were a mother (crowd boos) to a future school shooter (mixed reaction from crowd)

    — DIESEL ⛽️ (@ThinDieselle) September 16, 2021

  99. 99.

    germy

    September 17, 2021 at 9:20 am

    https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-judge-rules-trump-cannot-stop-rape-accusers-lawsuit-proceeding-2021-09-15/
    NEW YORK, Sept 15 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Wednesday said former President Donald Trump cannot delay a lawsuit accusing him of defaming former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll after she claimed he raped her in the mid-1990s.
    In a one-sentence order, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan refused to put the case on hold while Trump appeals an earlier ruling he made.

  100. 100.

    Baud

    September 17, 2021 at 9:22 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    The White House guy on MJ this morning seemed dismissive about the Axios piece.  Hard to know whether he was just putting on a brave face, or if the media is playing up drama for clicks.  The op/ed didn’t come up in what I saw.

  101. 101.

    SFAW

    September 17, 2021 at 9:23 am

    @germy:

    I guess it’s supposed to be a dark-humored comment on fickleness of the libs or something, but I can’t recall any lib cheering about an unvaccinated person dying from COVID.

     

    Of course, I might make an exception, depending on the dead person (e.g., McConnell, Hawley, Cucker).

  102. 102.

    Ken

    September 17, 2021 at 9:24 am

    @Another Scott: IIUC, UK businesses have always been free to label in firkins, furlongs, and fortnights, but they also had to include the metric units. The change means they can skip the metric.

    From what little analysis I’ve read, this means that the few companies that market exclusively in the UK might drop the metric units, but companies with any sort of external market likely won’t bother with the expense of two sets of labels.

  103. 103.

    SFAW

    September 17, 2021 at 9:25 am

    @germy:

    I was kinda hoping that Judge Kaplan would jail him — no bail — pending trial. Yes, I know it’s a civil suit. So?

  104. 104.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    September 17, 2021 at 9:26 am

    And Ms. Minaj has literally millions of devoted followers, in a great many countries, currently following the social-media saga of her cousin’s friend’s inflated / deflated wedding tackle…

    I was reading what the medical stuff says are possible cases are a swollen testicles and they said the most common cause is E. Coil infection, which would most likely happen because of unprotected anal sex (E. Coli normally resides in human and animal intestines). And that’s assuming Minaj isn’t just a lying sack of shit.

  105. 105.

    waratah

    September 17, 2021 at 9:26 am

    @Baud: I thought the bi partisan bill started low and ended higher than I thought it would, am I right?

  106. 106.

    Suzanne

    September 17, 2021 at 9:27 am

    @Kay: 

    There’s been little to no progress on women’s rights since I was a girl. We’re now going backward. That’s the reality for women.

    It’s definitely getting worse. The current right-wing freakout is that women (by which they really mean white women) aren’t having enough babies to continue America’s growth (by which they mean change their old white man asses when they soil their adult diapers in their dotage). Couple that with the freakout about women outnumbering men at institutions of higher education, making more money, and having careers that delay childbearing. They really, really do want us back in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant.

    So many white men got lazy and nonstrategic. Just expected to show up for a job — whatever job — make a good wage, marry whomever, live wherever, and that it would all be easy and okay. On the one hand, yeah, it should be this easy for everyone. OTOH, it was only ever this easy for mediocre white men, and that was okay with them. It’s only once minorities and women start out-working and out-strategizing them that it becomes problematic. And their sour grapes are toxic AF.

  107. 107.

    Steeplejack

    September 17, 2021 at 9:32 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    He has total control at his courses, and no one’s going to give him shit about driving his cart on the green.

  108. 108.

    germy

    September 17, 2021 at 9:36 am

    @SFAW:  but I can’t recall any lib cheering about an unvaccinated person dying from COVID.

    There were seven (or was it eight?) MAGA talk radio hosts who bit the dust, and I saw much laughter and applause.  Not here, though.  Mostly on reddit and places like that.

  109. 109.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    September 17, 2021 at 9:37 am

    @Kay: Go read up on who wrote the law. It’s all old religious loons in the Texas panhandle who consider Fort Worth the New Babylon.  Now ask yourself, in the story you just quoted; who is most likely to know that woman is getting an abortion; a pack of grifters phoning it in as part of their Anti-Abortion scam, or her crazy bible humping uncle?  And which of those two groups more likely to sue a barely employed twenty something with no money, a bunch of grifters looking for a pay day, or her crazy bible humping uncle?

  110. 110.

    Gin & Tonic

    September 17, 2021 at 9:40 am

    Wasn’t there once, a long time ago, a big tech company that professed its motto was “Don’t be evil”?

    BREAKING: @Apple and @Google just simultaneously pulled Russian opposition voting guide app on election morning.

    It gets worse. THREAD 1/

    Reuters: https://t.co/TBAoeIW6aA pic.twitter.com/n8zITfDGMD
    — Natalia Krapiva ??‍?? (@natynettle) September 17, 2021

  111. 111.

    Ken

    September 17, 2021 at 9:44 am

    @Suzanne: OTOH, it was only ever this easy for mediocre white men, and that was okay with them.

    “This is not what I understood meritocracy to mean!”

  112. 112.

    Edmund Dantes

    September 17, 2021 at 9:46 am

    @Betty Cracker: 

    Or they know what they plan to do this term. So might as well preemptively here out ahead of it.

    Can’t wait till we are living under Lochner again. And a pre-Reynolds vs Sims world again. In addition to no more Roe v Wade.

  113. 113.

    Baud

    September 17, 2021 at 9:46 am

    @germy:

    I think the cheers are focused on the people who actively spread antivax propaganda.  And not really cheering, but mockery.

  114. 114.

    Chief Oshkosh

    September 17, 2021 at 9:48 am

    @rikyrah: Thanks for bringing this to our attention, R.

    It’s frustrating that, AFAIK, not a single person in authority simply stated “The event is being investigated and, if facts support it, the miscreants will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

    Bring the fucking hammer down. Nothing else will work at this point.

  115. 115.

    Suzanne

    September 17, 2021 at 9:52 am

    @Ken: I grew up very tenuously middle class, and I have shared about my high school friend group before. When I reflect on them and who has been successful and who has not, what stands out to me in retrospect is that so many of my white dude classmates just didn’t seem worried at all about the future. Like, I was always stressed about if I didn’t do well in school that I wouldn’t get into college and I would have to work at McDonald’s forever. But the white dudes seemed very content to let life unfold and have a good time. In many respects, that’s healthy and a great attitude…. but it isn’t a competitive attitude. So when I see white men express resentment that life is harder than they expected or that they aren’t as successful as they expected, a significant part of me is really incredulous at their stupidity.

  116. 116.

    Tony Jay

    September 17, 2021 at 9:53 am

    @SFAW:

    Not quite, it’s a cousin of ‘Er Indoors, but not far off at all. I only wish I did have more time to rant on here, but this is the busiest I’ve been since I was a press flak for Nikki Minaj’s cousin’s ‘friend’s’ left testicle.

    “Lefty would like to thank Righty for all of the love and support over the years, but situations change, people are forced apart, and Lefty simply feels like they’re not on the same journey any more. Now I’m going to throw the floor open to questions, please raise your hands… yes, you there in the red cap.”

    “Hi, John Sopel, BBC, if Lefty could say anything to Doctor Fauci or President Biden, what would it be, and how badly would their tepid response let him down?”

     

    @Another Scott:

    Happy imperial time to you, courtesy of BoJo’s upcoming reinstatement of non-metric units!

    That sploshy, rattling, gurgle-hiss sound you can hear is yet another dead-cat being tossed onto the altar of 24 Hour News to distract from rising Covid numbers, a big hike in taxation on workers to shield the inheritances of the very wealthy and the latest in a series of Brexit humiliations. Since Flobalob can’t get his wine-stained mitts on Emma Raducanu for a grope and a photo-op he’s reduced to tossing out nonsense like this to keep the outrage level sky-high.

    It won’t happen, but just for suggesting it the oily little anus can go pound an Imperial foot of fuck right off up his three-shillings and sixpence.

  117. 117.

    Another Scott

    September 17, 2021 at 9:55 am

    @Ken: My impression from IamHappyToast’s retweets is that it is a shiny object for the UK Uber Alles press, and an attempted distraction from the continuing train-wreck that is Brexit.

    Its every reporters duty during interviews with any conservative MP to include a question testing them on weights and measurement conversion.

    — HappyToast ★ (@IamHappyToast) September 16, 2021

    Ok, chap, a quarter hogshead of brown ale, that’ll be 27 quarter guinea and a spur ryal.

    :-/

    [eta:] or what Tony Jay just said!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  118. 118.

    WaterGirl

    September 17, 2021 at 9:56 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    “How dare you suggest that I am an axe murderer”, said the man standing there, covered in blood,  holding an axe while blood drips off the blade.

  119. 119.

    Baud

    September 17, 2021 at 10:02 am

    @Ken:

    I reject any system that doesn’t have me at the top of it.

  120. 120.

    Ken

    September 17, 2021 at 10:03 am

    @Another Scott: Heh, one of the “related tweets” has this:

    Brexit Britain.

    “I’d like to buy a pound of apples, a pound of bananas and 8 ounces of grapes please.”

    “I’m terribly sorry, but we’re completely out of fresh fruit.”

  121. 121.

    Ken

    September 17, 2021 at 10:05 am

    @Baud: I reject any system that doesn’t have me at the top of it.

    In this we are in total agreement, thanks to the pronoun “me”.  (Raymond Smullyan practically made a career out of pronoun reference.)

  122. 122.

    Tony Jay

    September 17, 2021 at 10:06 am

    @Baud:

    I reject any system that doesn’t have me at the top of it.

    “Then have I got just the system for you!”

    Vlad IV Dragulya (who was a lot funnier than his biographers give him credit for)

  123. 123.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    September 17, 2021 at 10:06 am

    @Kay:

    It’s great that we’ve gone forward on some things but it just seems like the regular response to women who are alarmed by how we are lurching backward in this country is “wait- it’ll all come out okay in the end, look at marriage equality!” It bothers me.

    It should bother you. LGBT+ people didn’t just wait for those things to happen. They came out, at risk of assault and career damage. They organized and put their money behind friendly candidates.  That change was hard won.

  124. 124.

    Tony Jay

    September 17, 2021 at 10:08 am

    @Ken:

    I’ve seen that one, and it is funny, but given that this is Brexit Britain we’re talking about…

    “I’d like to buy a pound of apples, a pound of bananas and 8 ounces of grapes please.”

    “I’m terribly sorry, but we’re completely out of fresh fruit.”

    “Bloody immigrants!”

    ….that’s more verisimilitudey.

  125. 125.

    rikyrah

    September 17, 2021 at 10:12 am

    @Kay:

    They seem to have settled on a campaign theme- both Barrett and Thomas used it- the theme is people believe they are political hacks because people don’t understand “originalist” legal philosophy, which is loftier and more intellectually challenging than the icky, low brow “realists”.

    They’re scolding us.

     

    All the while they hide behind the phucking shadow docket.

    No, I don’t think so, muthaphuckas.

    You are the lowlife right-wing hacks that we believe you to be.

  126. 126.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 10:12 am

    @Suzanne:

    The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed countries.

    We don’t give a shit about women in this country other than policing and correcting them. The main accomplishment of “me too” seems to be ousting Democratic politicians. A me too charge probably boosts a GOP candidate’s chances – their base considers it a badge of honor. We’re going to be worse off as a practical matter – we’ll still have harrassment in the workplace and we won’t have basic privacy rights or bodily autonomy. Backwards.

  127. 127.

    rikyrah

    September 17, 2021 at 10:19 am

    @Suzanne:

    So when I see white men express resentment that life is harder than they expected or that they aren’t as successful as they expected, a significant part of me is really incredulous at their stupidity.

     

    But,

    It was true for them..

    All they had to be was WHITE, and they could have a good middle-class existence. Now, that that’s not the case, they are upset.

  128. 128.

    Bluegirlfromwyo

    September 17, 2021 at 10:22 am

    @Kay: If Clarence and Amy want to devine original intent, they’re welcome to go back to church and do so with their bibles. Leave the rest of us alone. Their rulings have pragmatic consequences no matter how icky their beautiful minds think that is; they should leave legal rulings to people who at least consider them. They should have become theologians, not judges.

  129. 129.

    Edmund Dantes

    September 17, 2021 at 10:25 am

    @SFAW: plenty. But it’s usually because the person was an active spreader of anti-vaccine stuff. Plus have you not seen the Herman Cain subreddit or bloggers that bring the juicier ones up?

  130. 130.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 10:25 am

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:

    It should

    Ah, “should”.

    Really not in the mood for a lecture.

    Funny how these conversations about basic civil rights for women always end up with women either being told scolded and told they’re doing it wrong or told “the arc of history bends towards justice”. There’s a real reluctance to discuss the practical reality of what is happening today, with these laws specifically. 

    But thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. That the way to secure civil rights is to work for them. As the civil rights I and other women worked for are stripped away. Are you getting the difference yet? HAD then GONE. That’s the difference.

  131. 131.

    James E Powell

    September 17, 2021 at 10:30 am

    @Kay:

    There’s been little to no progress on women’s rights since I was a girl. We’re now going backward. That’s the reality for women.

    This always leaves me perplexed. More women than ever in college, in professions, in politics, etc. More presence and awareness of women’s rights. The ‘Me Too’ movement that would never have existed in the 60s. All that and yet . . .

    I’m not defending the Great White Male mentality, nor am I letting men, generally, off the hook. But from the data I’ve seen, the majority of white women voted for Trump. Both times. I have no idea what to do about that.

    Abortion rights are necessary for women to be free, but the majority of white women either don’t see it that way or figure they will be fine without them.

  132. 132.

    Montanareddog

    September 17, 2021 at 10:32 am

    @Baud:

     

     

    Cheating is in his blood.

    Agreed. He doesn’t cheat to win. He cheats because he thinks he is getting one over his opponent.

  133. 133.

    Suzanne

    September 17, 2021 at 10:33 am

    @rikyrah:

    All they had to be was WHITE, and they could have a good middle-class existence. Now, that that’s not the case, they are upset. 

    White DUDES, specifically. This only ever worked for white men. They are just as destabilized by finding out that white women don’t want to be housewives and don’t want to have a slew of babies.

    My grandfather, who was my father figure (as my own father took off rather than pay child support), thought that there were exactly three acceptable jobs for a woman to hold outside the home: secretary, nurse, and teacher.

  134. 134.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 10:34 am

    @rikyrah:

    It’s insulting that Barrett and Thomas think we’re all incredibly stupid:UPDATE:

    @fedsoc
    has changed name of 9/18 panel w Judge Ho from “The United States v. Texas” to “Representing the State of Texas” & description from “The focus on this panel will be on litigating against the feds including current litigation vs. Biden administration”

    Team GOP on the federal bench are putting forth their social issues agenda for the session. There are two specific areas they focus on and have been wildly successful on- stripping voting rights and policing women’s bodies.

    We can all pretend this is a broad and unfocused attack on civil rights but it isn’t- two specific groups have lost federal protections in the last ten years.

  135. 135.

    Suzanne

    September 17, 2021 at 10:37 am

    @Kay: Conservative white men are terrified right now that white (Christian) women are not having enough babies. Ross Douthat regularly bleats about it in his column, and conservative media freaks out about it at least weekly. They see this as civilizational collapse. They intend to change this via draconian control. It is sick.

  136. 136.

    taumaturgo

    September 17, 2021 at 10:38 am

    @Betty Cracker:  I’m calling them conservative Democrats who want to protect donors by refusing to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations — a proposal that the vast majority of Americans support.

    Amen!

  137. 137.

    SFAW

    September 17, 2021 at 10:38 am

    @Edmund Dantes:

    As an old fart, I don’t do reddit, but the comments I have seen here and elsewhere indicate its population includes a good chunk of the left-side equivalent of the Red Staters, QAnoners, etc., rather than non-trolls. [Yes, I realize that it’s not only left-siders on reddit.]

  138. 138.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 10:39 am

    @James E Powell:

    More presence and awareness of women’s rights

    Oh, yes, the soft and unenforceable “presence and awareness” which I guess is supposed to replace actual laws and rights. What an absolute joke of a trade we made, huh? Suckers.

  139. 139.

    Ksmiami

    September 17, 2021 at 10:41 am

    @Kay: I wrote to Bloomberg editors and asked them to start actually interviewing and giving voice to the real victims… we can put pressure on the media- also Clarence Uncle Thomas is getting ratioed badly on Twitter for what it’s worth. The Supremes are basically a bunch of hacks, we see them

  140. 140.

    rikyrah

    September 17, 2021 at 10:41 am

    @Suzanne:

     

    They see this as civilizational collapse. They intend to change this via draconian control. It is sick.

    And, they are COMING FOR BIRTH CONTROL.

    Why this isn’t obvious perplexes me.

  141. 141.

    SFAW

    September 17, 2021 at 10:41 am

    @James E Powell:

    Abortion rights are necessary for women to be free, but the majority of white women either don’t see it that way or figure they will be fine without them.

    In that context, it will be interesting to see what happens if/when Griswold is reversed

    ETA: rikyrah @ 140: Jinx!

  142. 142.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 10:46 am

    @Suzanne:

    As you know I live in a rural and very conservative area and that too is more specific. Plenty of white women and girls are having babies. They’re just the wrong kind of white women and girls. They’re not married, for one, they’re not religious, and they’re all low income.

    It’s just amazing to me how none of this ever changes. My entire life high status high income women like Justice Barrett have been pronouncing that it’s easy to have children and a job. Easy for her. It’s fantasyland. We’re being told to accept an inspiring narrative rather than legal and contract protections. It’s for suckers. We’ve been played.

  143. 143.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 10:49 am

    @Ksmiami:

    I think it’s true that they’re hard to find. They’re scared and they should be. Texas Right To Life proudly proclaims they’re monitoring women. The pregnancy police force are watching them.

  144. 144.

    Suzanne

    September 17, 2021 at 10:51 am

    @rikyrah: I KNOW!!!! We have foresight! We understand that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior!

    This is why I have so little sympathy for the mediocre white dudes of America. Did they really not see social change coming?! Did they really, genuinely, not see that the world was getting more competitive?! I mean, I went to a very working-class school, with all of the urban problems that are familiar….. and I still had it drilled into my head that shit was changing, that I could not expect to finish high school and coast through life.

  145. 145.

    Ksmiami

    September 17, 2021 at 10:55 am

    @Betty Cracker: put him in a fucking closet or in a concrete box. Fuck that fucking traitorous dipshit- Manchin needs to pay

  146. 146.

    Suzanne

    September 17, 2021 at 10:57 am

    @Kay: They are correct that the birth rate, including the white lady birth rate, is falling.  But instead of making it easier to have children, and understanding that many women want advanced education and to be mothers, they try to force women into parenthood via these terrible laws and try to devalue college so we cannot support ourselves.

  147. 147.

    Ksmiami

    September 17, 2021 at 10:58 am

    @Kay: I just don’t see how we get out of this without turning the bs pro life tactics back on them. Let’s show the pictures of women bleeding out, the suffering babies that live for 2 days in pain – the truly tragic face of all of it. Time to be as uncivil as they are goddamit

  148. 148.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 11:03 am

    @Ksmiami:

    Well, maybe it’s somewhat positive that we’re having to do it again. We’re back to 1973. Maybe by 2050 we’ll be back to 2010, although I think it’s more likely we’re at 1947.

  149. 149.

    Ksmiami

    September 17, 2021 at 11:08 am

    @Kay:

    The Supreme Court does have a public complaint line. I still say we shut down the Supreme Court with a blockade.

  150. 150.

    Ksmiami

    September 17, 2021 at 11:09 am

    @Kay: I’m thinking we are more like 1857…. Time to split the nation. Let the Confederacy plus some crazy miners go

  151. 151.

    Cameron

    September 17, 2021 at 11:11 am

    @Kay: I don’t think finding activists is a problem – it’s a double whammy of medieval government and useless media.  And I’m afraid I don’t have any solutions for either of those things, except (maybe) expanding the Supreme Court and (maybe) Federal protections for voting rights.  Not that I advocate doing nothing, I just am not sure what I can do.

  152. 152.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 11:11 am

    Here’s what I would do. Accept that we lost the Supreme Court through a combination of stupidity, ego, arrogance and incompetence and we now have a far Right court and we’re stuck with it.

    Focus on state races. Because state law is the last line of defense a lot of us, really most of us, will have.

  153. 153.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    September 17, 2021 at 11:22 am

    @germy: some days I am convinced the human race is to stupid to live.  I only hope these radioactive morons do not decide to then go home and have kids, or worse go when pregnant.

  154. 154.

    Cameron

    September 17, 2021 at 11:24 am

    @Kay: That makes sense to me, although in my case it’s more theory than practice.  I live in a very red county in Florida.

  155. 155.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    September 17, 2021 at 11:27 am

    @Ksmiami: No, because whether a person decides to get an abortion because their fetus has serious medical issues, OR because they just do NOT want to have a child, ever OR  at that point in their life, is no ones business.  I am tired of having to hear safe, legal and rare

    Safe, legal, and affordable, period

  156. 156.

    James E Powell

    September 17, 2021 at 11:31 am

    @Ksmiami:

    We need to repeat – loudly & over & over – McConnell & Trump destroyed the supreme court’s credibility.

  157. 157.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 11:39 am

    @Cameron:

    I do too, but Democrats raise a lot of money. They can strategically deploy it in these states but they’re going to have to focus on that and make it a priority.

    The Court is never going to be expanded. There are too many “instituionalists” who are doing just fine with the status quo and will never admit it needs to be changed. I think they’re misguided- that they have lost the point of the exercise- it was never about propping up the institution when the thing was unsound in order to “protect it”. It was supposed to be substantively worth protecting.

    What are we “protecting” with this Court? Integrity? The Rule of Law? You can’t defend something that isn’t there. By the end of they’ll be “protecting” a really nice building with columns and a narrative that is no longer connected to actions of the people who make up the institution. They focused on the wrong part.

  158. 158.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 11:45 am

    @Cameron:

    It’s funny because it really does go back to Bush v Gore. Actions have consequences. The last real defender of the integrity of the SCOTUS was Al Gore. I think we didn’t know at the time that was the last gasp, but it really was.

    It’s a funny world, right? The individual who was arguably the most personally screwed by the hacks tried to save them. He believes in what they supposedly stand for more than they do.

  159. 159.

    J R in WV

    September 17, 2021 at 11:45 am

    @Baud: ​
     

    I’ve noticed that every time Machin says he won’t vote for $3.5 triillion the media asks about a $1 trillion package, as of there are no numbers in between. I don’t know where that’s coming from, and I don’t think something that low can pass.

    Every time a politician, who should know better, talks about a $3.5 trillion package, they are lying out in public — it is a $350 billion package annually, probably too small to deal with climate change alone, much less all the other things it is supposed to support. And I would say that Manchin is ambulatory pond scum, except that remark demeans the pond scum.

  160. 160.

    Cameron

    September 17, 2021 at 11:46 am

    @Kay: What I’d really like to see for the Supreme Court is something similar to what some states have.  The Senate gives you a lifetime appointment, but the House has to reconfirm it every 10 years.  If not, you get a well-deserved (?) retirement.

  161. 161.

    laura

    September 17, 2021 at 11:47 am

    @rikyrah: As goes birth control, so goes privacy.

    And can I just add that Kay is killing it today – just bringing the fire to what we’ve long known, women’s rights someday but never today for some reason. I don’t care if it’s religion or competition in the workplace or the loss of free labor that benefits men in ways we rarely talk about or it’s a replacement birthrate or it’s old men with pussy fever or it’s a hatred of women in general. I DONT CARE ABOUT THE REASONS, I’m fed up, all the way up about the absolute absence of agency – no one gives shit one about what women may want or need or deserve or have a right to and I’m done with the framing that includes the glaring absence of women’s voices and full participation.

  162. 162.

    AM in NC

    September 17, 2021 at 11:49 am

    @Kay: Exactly.  Why did gay marriage pass?  Because rich white men are gay too.  My progressive husband and his male progressive friends just do not get the deep, deep fear, rage, and dread I and my female friends (wives of many of my husband’s friends) feel, and the women are the ones volunteering to change this shit sandwich.  The men vote, and that’s about it. Their rights, as rich, white men will always be protected in our current system, or if the GOP gains even more power.  It is the Handmaid’s Tale.  Even most of the “good” men will kind of shrug until it’s too fucking late.  Listening to how the FBI dealt (refused to deal) with the sexual abuse by Larry Nassar brings this point home again.  It wasn’t until 2 female detectives took the case that anything got done.  The rightwing men at the FBI?  It wasn’t an issue worth pursuing for them. How much is a girl or woman worth? Not much, judging by the evidence of our treatment and mistreatment.

  163. 163.

    Soprano2

    September 17, 2021 at 11:51 am

    @Kay: I’ll keep that in mind. That the way to secure civil rights is to work for them. As the civil rights I and other women worked for are stripped away. Are you getting the difference yet? HAD then GONE. That’s the difference.

    To me when I find a person who says “you just have to work for it” they know NOTHING about the history of the feminist movement. People seem to believe that women first talked about getting the right to vote in 1848, then magically it happened in 1920, as if there was nothing at all in between! Women died demonstrating for the right to vote, but that history is rarely taught in schools. Same way with abortion – little is taught about that history at all, about how hard-fought that was and how many women were injured or died before we had legal abortion in this country. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that as so many women who actually remember those things are passing away, abortion rights are being eroded with nothing more than a shrug from a lot of the press and the public. They assume that we have always had legal abortion, so we’ll always have it. Young women are suddenly getting a rude shock, realizing that just because they had something doesn’t mean it can’t be taken away.

  164. 164.

    Sasha

    September 17, 2021 at 11:53 am

    “All fellow members of the Roman senate hear me. Shall we continue to build palace after palace for the rich? Or shall we aspire to a more noble purpose and build decent housing for the poor?”

  165. 165.

    Gravenstone

    September 17, 2021 at 11:53 am

    @J R in WV: I dropped this in the tail end of a dying thread a couple days ago, but that works out to < $3/person/day for the life of the bill. I’d be happy if my government wanted to spend that pittance on me and my fellows to hopefully make everyone’s lives better.

  166. 166.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 17, 2021 at 11:54 am

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone:  As a man, I hesitate to step into this, but I have to say that you are right. It’s no one’s business but the woman and her doctor. Once you start characterizing some as better than others, you surrender to the right wing idea that there is something wrong with it.

  167. 167.

    laura

    September 17, 2021 at 11:54 am

    @AM in NC: “Is that all?” That phrase ought to be flung in the face of the FBI until the end of time. Casual dismissal of repeated child sexual assault. How does one do that unless one considers the repeated sexual assault of children the way things are meant to be and it seems to be pretty damn common.

  168. 168.

    Soprano2

    September 17, 2021 at 11:55 am

    @James E Powell: the majority of white women either don’t see it that way or figure they will be fine without them.

    No, they believe that they and their friends have enough money to still have access to abortion; prohibiting it is a way to control “those sluts” who they believe don’t even try to prevent pregnancy, and instead have many abortions as birth control. It’s a way to control “those women’s” sex lives. They believe that if they or their friends ever need an abortion it’s for a justified reason, while those other women have to be prevented because they abuse it. I’m not kidding about this, it’s how they think.

  169. 169.

    Ksmiami

    September 17, 2021 at 11:59 am

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone: I agree- I’m just saying we have to get in ppls faces

  170. 170.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 12:01 pm

    @AM in NC:

    Listening to how the FBI dealt (refused to deal) with the sexual abuse by Larry Nassar brings this point home again.

    Agree wholeheartedly. Also- how the lower status girls in the Epstein rape cases were sold down the fucking river by the DOJ because they were impressed by Epsteins high powered celebrity lawyers so gave them everything they demanded. THAT was a chummy little set up. Gross. Someone should have been fired.

  171. 171.

    Soprano2

    September 17, 2021 at 12:02 pm

    @rikyrah: And, they are COMING FOR BIRTH CONTROL.

    Why this isn’t obvious perplexes me.

    Well, it’s been obvious to me for years that this is what they want. The “tell” is that literally none of the anti-abortion groups promote safe, effective birth control as a way to prevent abortions.  Some of them would mandate that no white woman could use birth control while forcing all non-white women to use it, but they’ll settle for keeping all women from accessing any safe, effective methods. They want to leave us with condoms, foam, and diaphragms only, saying that every other method causes abortions.

  172. 172.

    J R in WV

    September 17, 2021 at 12:05 pm

    @Suzanne:

    Conservative white men are terrified right now that white (Christian) women are not having enough babies. Ross Douthat regularly bleats about it in his column

    Isn’t Ross D the guy who wrote of his inability to maintain an erection after his date told him she was on the pill?

    What a loser!

    No wonder he’s a Republican…

  173. 173.

    Soprano2

    September 17, 2021 at 12:08 pm

    @Kay: It’s funny because it really does go back to Bush v Gore.

    ITA. That’s when they flushed their credibility down the toilet with their desperate ruling to make Bush president but to then weakly say “This decision is not a precedent of any kind”, as if we are all stupid. You will NEVER hear me say that W. was elected in 2000; he was appointed president by the Supreme Court, period. It was illegitimate, and the more you read about all the shenanigans that went on in various Florida counties the more you realize just how illegitimate it really was.

  174. 174.

    Kay

    September 17, 2021 at 12:13 pm

    @Soprano2:

    Trust is like a bank account. They’re handed it, unearned, when they take the seat and they can either let it sit there and earn interest or make deposits or make withdrawals.

    All they do is take out. Then they wake up last week and hit the speaker circuit “why don’t we have any trust?!” – because you were handed it unearned and pissed it away? They have to DO something to earn it back. It’s not a limitless well. People, individuals on that court, earned it. That’s where it came from.

    It’s much much harder to get it back once you’ve blown it. It will involve more than demanding it over and over again. People GIVE it, and they can take it away.

  175. 175.

    Suzanne

    September 17, 2021 at 12:21 pm

    @J R in WV: 

    Isn’t Ross D the guy who wrote of his inability to maintain an erection after his date told him she was on the pill?

    Yes, but only after describing her as fat.
    This is entirely about their sadz that they don’t get to own women to make their babies. In addition to abortion laws, the war on college education is part of this. The war on immigrants is part of this. Brett Kavanaugh is part of this. Women’s liberation has been so unbelievably destabilizing to a huge swath of American men.

  176. 176.

    Mary Ellen Sandahl

    September 17, 2021 at 2:11 pm

    @SFAW: ​I looked it up and felt derpy: it’s “CoVid 19 restrictions”, y’know like can you go maskless to your local whatever, that sort of thing. Pretty straightforward, unlike most Brit acronyms, which no one who wasn’t born with a teeny half-pt of bitter in their little fist can ever expect to figure out.

  177. 177.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    September 17, 2021 at 3:01 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Good point, which I had never really thought about until now.  Maybe in his mental decline, familiar courses are all he can handle.  I’ve read that familiar places are comforting to Alzheimer’s patients (as, to be fair, they are to most of us).

  178. 178.

    sab

    September 17, 2021 at 3:43 pm

    @SFAW: So you don’t actually read our comment threads?

  179. 179.

    sab

    September 17, 2021 at 3:56 pm

    @Bluegirlfromwyo: Our Founding Fathers grew up under a system where Catholics (except in Maryland), Baptists and various Evangelicals were outside the Pale. In general the only acceptable religions were Congregational (modern UCC) in New England and Episcopalian in the South. Oh yeah, Quakers in Pennsylvania. Nobody on the current Supreme Court except Gorsuch would even be considered acceptable.

    Where do these Originalists get their “facts?”

  180. 180.

    sab

    September 17, 2021 at 4:10 pm

    @Cameron: I hate that idea. Ohio has term limits, so every Democrat hopes to use state office as a springboard to federal office, and every Republican knows they will only keep their position on the big donors’ gravy trains by toeing the line exactly. The two parties used to talk to each other, but the Republicans dare not do so any more.

    Ohio passed a constitutional amendment with a whole mechanism against gerrymandering. The redistricting commission just produced a completely Republican plan. Four of the five Statewide Republican officeholders on the commission said it was a shame that the plan did not meet the new constitutional test, but they all voted for it anyway because they are Republicans, and their political future depends on the approval of party donors not on voters.

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