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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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The willow is too close to the house.

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If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Accountability, motherfuckers.

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Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Thursday Morning Open Thread: Happy Divali!

Thursday Morning Open Thread: Happy Divali!

by Anne Laurie|  November 4, 20217:48 am| 144 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Religion, local races

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Wishing sweets, lights, togetherness, and a year of prosperity to those who celebrate — and I think this year, in particular, we can all use an excuse to start over!

“A year ago, we were headed into a Thanksgiving where public health experts were advising against traveling or gathering with family and friends.

“Later this month, our tables and our hearts are going to be full thanks to the vaccines,” Biden says at the White House. pic.twitter.com/Urd1AJoXTc

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) November 3, 2021

One year ago this hour pic.twitter.com/mJmo5BpwEH

— Jacob Rubashkin (@JacobRubashkin) November 4, 2021

America's new history-making mayors https://t.co/MrdrTXfqRZ pic.twitter.com/EluP9hkocq

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 3, 2021

Dems lost Va Gov in 2009 and then passed Obamacare

let’s stop pretending Biden’s presidency ended last night

— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) November 3, 2021

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Previous Post: « COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Wednesday / Thursday, Nov. 3-4
Next Post: Our Failed Punditocracy Open Thread: Things That Only Work for Republicans »

Reader Interactions

144Comments

  1. 1.

    rikyrah

    November 4, 2021 at 7:50 am

    Good Morning, Everyone???

  2. 2.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 7:51 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good morning.

    Happy Diwali.

  3. 3.

    Ken

    November 4, 2021 at 7:56 am

    I like Diwali in principle, light over darkness is great especially as we head toward winter.  But in practice, it means the people in the apartment above me have parties with loud music until 11 PM.

  4. 4.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 7:58 am

    @Ken:

    Diwali comes from the Sanskrit word meaning “piss off Ken.”

  5. 5.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 4, 2021 at 8:06 am

    @Ken: Be glad that you’re not in India where the festivities begin at the crack of dawn.

  6. 6.

    Woodrow/asim

    November 4, 2021 at 8:07 am

    So, I checked in with some Black Twitter folx I follow (I just avoided it, yesterday), and…yeah. They aren’t the Doom and Gloom machines you’d expect:

    I am confused about how one state going Republican for governor and another remaining Democrat is the death knell for Biden’s agenda. Seems like the scripts are written no matter the results.

    https://twitter.com/nhannahjones/status/1456216115772805126 (This is the creator of the 1619 Project)

    100% of Democrats in the House and 96% pecent of Democrats in the Senate are in complete alignment with passing Bidens historic legislative agenda so for anyone out there screaming that the democratic party is broken, you’re a moron.

    https://twitter.com/BlackKnight10k/status/1456043906555162630

    And I confess I was too focused, myself, on the CRT business to see some of the larger stuff going on. I’ll try to do better, going forward. :)

  7. 7.

    Capri

    November 4, 2021 at 8:12 am

    Have a Holly Jolly Diwali Everyone!

  8. 8.

    The Thin Black Duke

    November 4, 2021 at 8:15 am

    @Woodrow/asim: Bottom line, black people can’t afford doom ‘n’ gloom scenarios. Substantial changes never happen overnight in this country or anyplace in the world. Expecting otherwise is a consequence of privilege.

  9. 9.

    Ken

    November 4, 2021 at 8:15 am

    @Baud: I’m beginning to think that every language has a word like that.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 8:18 am

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Agree 100%.

    The one consideration I give white folk, though, is that it is their tribe, and therefore their social network, that is melting down.  Black folks don’t really face that problem.

  11. 11.

    guachi

    November 4, 2021 at 8:19 am

    96% of the Democratic Caucus supporting BBB would be more meaningful if there were 52 in the caucus. We need 100% and 96 < 100. The moron is the tweeter who pretends otherwise.

  12. 12.

    Anne Laurie

    November 4, 2021 at 8:19 am

    @The Thin Black Duke: Bottom line, black people can’t afford doom ‘n’ gloom scenarios. Substantial changes never happen overnight in this country or anyplace in the world. Expecting otherwise is a consequence of privilege.

    As a lifelong feminist, I can only agree!

    If we get two steps forward, one step back, that’s a triumph.  Take the lumps, keep moving forward…

    (I have a post bitching about this scheduled for later this morning, but I try to keep my first post of the morning positive.)

  13. 13.

    satby

    November 4, 2021 at 8:19 am

    @Ken: 11? 11!?! My neighbors party until 4 am, though it’s not an apartment. But at 4 am it might as well be. 11 would be a gift.

    @Baud: true fact.

  14. 14.

    Geminid

    November 4, 2021 at 8:22 am

    @The Thin Black Duke: I learn a lot from Black Democrats I follow on Twitter. They are well-grounded and very perceptive.

  15. 15.

    Geminid

    November 4, 2021 at 8:25 am

    @Geminid: I would say the same about the Black people who comment on this forum.

  16. 16.

    zhena gogolia

    November 4, 2021 at 8:28 am

    @The Thin Black Duke: I am very grateful for this message again and again.

    Thank you, Nikole Hannah-Jones!

  17. 17.

    PST

    November 4, 2021 at 8:28 am

    The folks in the unit above mine observe Diwali but I’ve never heard a peep. I would happily put up with it though. The people there before them used to practice that Irish hands-at-your-side dancing.

  18. 18.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 4, 2021 at 8:28 am

    Emotionally, I think one of the problems I perennially have is just that Election Day is in November when the darkness is falling and I am prone to gloom completely aside from the effects of the news. I can deal once the dark months are well-established, but while the days are rapidly shortening, it’s bad for my mood and my ability to deal with anything. If the election doesn’t go well, and about half of the time it doesn’t… it’s not a pretty situation.

  19. 19.

    zhena gogolia

    November 4, 2021 at 8:29 am

    @Baud: Oh, boo hoo.

    They can go watch reruns of Wagon Train.

  20. 20.

    rikyrah

    November 4, 2021 at 8:29 am

    I was.busy, but did we discuss that muthaphucka on the Greenbay Packers who is UNVACCINATED and lied about it?

    The Packers are a billion dollar organization. How THE PHUCK did they not verify that this muthaphucka was vaccinated or not????

  21. 21.

    zhena gogolia

    November 4, 2021 at 8:30 am

    @guachi: I think you missed the point of the tweet.

  22. 22.

    Kay

    November 4, 2021 at 8:30 am

    @guachi:

    I think where online progressives make the error- and they make it over and over-is that normies are diving into the details. They’re not. They barely know it’s happening.

    It’s better to pass it faster. I understand “sausage making” but there’s too much acceptance of that to me. No one else in the country gets as much leeway to complete tasks as Congress gets. It’s not inevitable that it takes forever and is incredibly messy and divisive and politically damaging- they have some control over how they perform their work.

    Democrats in Congress know the longer it’s out there the uglier it gets. They blew past deadlines. They had leadership saying each part of the package was contingent on the other and Right leaning Democrats saying that was not true. That’s a mess. They can do better than that.

  23. 23.

    The Thin Black Duke

    November 4, 2021 at 8:31 am

    @Baud: Thing is, the things black people want to see more of in their lives are good for white people too. Better schools, better-paying jobs, safer neighborhoods, medical care that doesn’t put you into bankruptcy, etc. I don’t understand why some white people are so oppressed to sharing the wealth, as it were. More opportunities for me doesn’t mean less for you.

  24. 24.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 8:32 am

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Status is everything, man.

  25. 25.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 4, 2021 at 8:32 am

    @The Thin Black Duke: The Trump years gave white Democrats who weren’t otherwise marginalized an unusual taste of living in a society where the leadership was not just opposed to their opinions, but really overtly and explicitly wished them harm and nodded and winked to people who literally wanted to kill them. The idea that many or even most Americans want to go back to that is disturbing. But to some extent, it’s the normal situation for many other Americans, has been since the founding. It’s just unusual if you’re white, straight, etc.

  26. 26.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2021 at 8:33 am

    British cyclist Alex Dowsett attempted the world hour record yesterday evening in Mexico City and failed. This is a weird, niche event, where you ride in circles on a velodrome for one hour, and measure how far you went. The current record is a hair over 55 km. This is an unimaginably difficult event – it’s just you, with your legs and your lungs and your brain screaming at you to stop, going around in 200-meter circles. Unfortunately, attempting it is very public- you have a support team, you have official observers, etc.; typically you travel to Mexico City (high altitude means thinner air, less wind resistance.) So failure is necessarily very public as well. Dowsett is no stranger to this, he did hold the record at one point, but still I feel for him.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 8:35 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    One of my secret theories is that the reason shows about British people are so popular is that it’s an acceptable way to see a program where most of the characters are white.

  28. 28.

    Woodrow/asim

    November 4, 2021 at 8:35 am

    Oh! And here’s my theory on Manchin — he’s scared/confused.

    He’s scared in that way of someone who’s been, basically, a backbencher for most of his career. He’s never really had to do anything but put on the Blue Dog togs and dance around voting for things, while, yes, making some money for him and his. Some dark money, some “wise” investments, and he’s good to go without a lot of exposure! It’s been easy work, work that could be mostly surface-level, work where he was the “savior” of bills, while burnishing “moderate” cred in the media.

    And now? Now the checks aren’t clearing like they used to. Now he’s got scrutiny he’s never had, before. And he likely has a staff that’s not ready for all of this, has no experience in this. And — most critically — he has no real friends among his fellow Senators, no one he’s built up relationships with.

    See: if he was actually being a tactician about not wanting to vote, he would have pulled a LOT more weight, early on, in dragging out negotiations. There are a dozen ways Manchin could have gummed up the works from jump, well before these bills got to this point. Instead, he did what he always does, what usually worked in past — said something to the cameras and waited for the rest of the Party to save him from having to make a hard call/stand.

    That’s not what happened, this time. Instead, he opened his mouth about working across the aside, and got the whole voting portfolio dumped in his lap. He babbled in the media about how the BBB bill should be bipartisan, and how he kept slipping on the “how much to spend” part (’cause he don’t know!), and now is being dragged around as one of two blockers for the bills, because Biden, Pelosi, and the Progressive Caucus realized he and Mz. Fancy Arizona were gonna be issues, early on, and moved to stop their foolishness as best as they could.

    No wonder he said “I don’t know where I belong.” People are being mean to Manchin, and he’s got some idea why…but clearly thinks it’s not fair. But he also has no idea how to break it, without making a lot of his “silent partners” mad as hell, not to mention his faux-GOP “friends”. It’s why he keeps putting out this stupid “Op/Eds,” trying to derail the train — he doesn’t know how to actually negotiate in the Senate. He appears to be negotiating in bad faith not out of deliberate choice, but out of lack of experience and support in doing much other than running his mouth, to the many cameras in front of him.

    And he has damn little idea what to say, even then.

    I don’t know how this shapes what will fall out. I just have seen a lot of “he’s evil!” takes, and my gut says if he really was that bad, Biden would have been a lot shaper in his criticisms, and for longer. (Biden is known for a lot for things, and being two-faced about people is not one of them.)

    Hope this makes sense!

  29. 29.

    Anne Laurie

    November 4, 2021 at 8:36 am

    @rikyrah: I was.busy, but did we discuss that muthaphucka on the Greenbay Packers who is UNVACCINATED and lied about it?

    Check the end of the Covid thread…

    Hope your sister is continuing to do well!

  30. 30.

    The Thin Black Duke

    November 4, 2021 at 8:36 am

    @Baud: Maybe. What’s sad is seeing that the ‘status’ these bigoted white assclowns cling so desperately to doesn’t make them happy. They is miserable mofos.

  31. 31.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2021 at 8:36 am

    @rikyrah: He reportedly took some quack remedy (excuse me, homeopathic immune stimulator) and asserted that this had boosted his immunity. It’s complete bullshit, of course, but as some pervert once said “when you’re a star, they let you do anything.”

  32. 32.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 8:38 am

    @Kay:

    No one likes haggling over the price of a car. That’s what these negotiations feel like.  I hope it’ll be over soon.

  33. 33.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2021 at 8:38 am

    @The Thin Black Duke: What’s that LBJ quote about the lowest white man?
    “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”

  34. 34.

    rikyrah

    November 4, 2021 at 8:39 am

    Yep??

     

    Twit Law & Associates™ (@AfricanPrincess) tweeted at 8:42 AM on Wed, Nov 03, 2021:
    I still cannot get over that lady being the only candidate on the ballot and she still lost. Write-in got 58%. The people said no with their whole chest.
    (https://twitter.com/AfricanPrincess/status/1455893236384505861?t=R0bJb1UDp5RfE6mPwBCciA&s=03)

  35. 35.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 8:39 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    he’ll empty his pockets for you.”

     
    Unlike the vaccine, ivermectin isn’t free.

  36. 36.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 4, 2021 at 8:40 am

    @Woodrow/asim: He’s got money, he’s getting up there–he could just retire. Of course, his seat will become a solid Republican one when that happens and the rest of us will be no better off. But he personally has options.

  37. 37.

    The Thin Black Duke

    November 4, 2021 at 8:40 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Jerk. Million dollar arm, but he don’t have a nickel’s worth of common sense.

  38. 38.

    The Thin Black Duke

    November 4, 2021 at 8:41 am

    @Gin & Tonic: No lie told.

  39. 39.

    Kathleen

    November 4, 2021 at 8:41 am

    @Woodrow/asim: That’s why I follow mostly people on Black Twitter. They keep me sane and provide perspective alien to too many white so called Democratic  allies

  40. 40.

    rikyrah

    November 4, 2021 at 8:45 am

     

    KD (@Fly_Sistah) tweeted at 7:05 AM on Thu, Nov 04, 2021:
    Republicans lost the NJ governor’s seat, ending a 44-year re-election losing streak for Democrats but there are no Republicans in disarray stories. The media had a narrative. Just like Virginia going Republican follows a 50 year pattern but suddenly means Democrats in disarray. https://t.co/MKRfxYt8cI
    (https://twitter.com/Fly_Sistah/status/1456231043678326784?t=AdxcvypZ3nvt8vHH0T1fYQ&s=03)

  41. 41.

    satby

    November 4, 2021 at 8:46 am

    @Baud: Modern British shows are quite integrated, much more than U.S. shows are. And they do mysteries better.

  42. 42.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    November 4, 2021 at 8:47 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    My more recent (since 2018) ultramarathon events have been akin to this: run around an outside loop course in a park for 6 hours, see how far you go.
    The St Louis club puts on this event every fall, 6 hour and 12 hour categories. I’m not insane enough to run the 12 hour one.
    38.5 miles in 6 hours just about 3 weeks ago for me. Damn good at 60 years old.

  43. 43.

    Woodrow/asim

    November 4, 2021 at 8:47 am

    @The Thin Black Duke: I don’t understand why some white people are so oppressed to sharing the wealth, as it were. More opportunities for me doesn’t mean less for you.

    You know. :) The challenge, of course, is the centuries of counter-programming, that says White folx shouldn’t share.

    It’s why “Welfare Queens” and so many other stereotypes were and are a Thing. Why poor White folx get told only they should have, say, food stamps– if those get cut? It’s because of Black folx fraud.

    If your property values drop? Black folx, moving in.

    So long as you have a reason, any one of the dozen reasons, to think you can’t share? You all too often take it, and find any way you can to justify that attitude.

  44. 44.

    Kathleen

    November 4, 2021 at 8:48 am

    @Woodrow/asim: Makes total sense. A balanced nuanced perspective that has been totally absent in this process. Thank you. I’m sick of the Manchin/Sinema pile on. Not helpful

    Q

  45. 45.

    Barbara

    November 4, 2021 at 8:50 am

    @rikyrah: Srsly. The problem we are having is that so many of our fellow voters perceive and act as if everything’s the same as it ever was instead of being alarmed about blatant authoritarian trend on one side of the divide. It’s maddening.

  46. 46.

    rikyrah

    November 4, 2021 at 8:52 am

    @Anne Laurie:

    She is doing better. She got out yesterday for a hair appointment and Mani/Pedi.

     

    I had the day off due to a doctor’s appointment, so I dropped her off and picked her up. Before the hospital stay, she could make it from the car to the building ( we live in a 3 flat). She used to have to sit and rest on the steps right inside the building. Then, after the rest, she would walk up the flight of stairs and take a rest on the piano bench in the living room.

     

    Yesterday, she went.from the car right to the apartment with no stops?

  47. 47.

    M31

    November 4, 2021 at 8:52 am

    I was listening to a local Black radio station after Hilary’s loss in 2016, and the speaker was talking about all her white liberal friends being really crushed, etc., and she said “I mean, you work really hard but have a painful setback, for Black people that’s just Tuesday”

  48. 48.

    Kay

    November 4, 2021 at 8:53 am

    @Baud:

    They gained politically with the covid relief package not because people were parsing the contents, but because they got it out the door. There’s a lack of discipline on the Senate side that I didn’t see even in the protracted ACA negotiations. It goes to competency, or the appearance of competecy, and that’s what normies are responding to. It also keeps Biden from his job because he’s doing theirs.

  49. 49.

    Chris

    November 4, 2021 at 8:53 am

    @Kay:

    At this point, the basics of the bill have been set for months.  The only reason we’re still talking about it is the two utter pieces of shit who have made a point of dragging it out, which, I’m increasingly convinced, is the ends in itself, and was for Lieberman & co in 2009 as well.

  50. 50.

    Kathleen

    November 4, 2021 at 8:54 am

    @rikyrah: And no reporting about sweeping Democratic victories in the cities. Cincinnati Dems had a great night. Harvard Law friend of Obama got highest number of votes in City Council race. All Dem candidates for school board won. Elected first American Asian mayor. Saw on David Pepper Twitter that several red Ohio counties rejected extremist school board candidates. Plus big wins in NYC, Boston and Cleveland.

  51. 51.

    M31

    November 4, 2021 at 8:54 am

    Also, I made the mistake of listening to NPR this morning only to hear “the hazard lights are blinking on Biden’s presidency” and I shouted some vulgarities and changed the channel

    also, it’s a dumb metaphor, and also stupid

  52. 52.

    Kay

    November 4, 2021 at 8:55 am

    I was wondering so I looked and to be fair the media response to Trump losing VA and NJ in ’17 was extreme. They definitely portrayed it as a referendum on Trump. So this VA/NJ thing really is both sides.

  53. 53.

    MomSense

    November 4, 2021 at 8:55 am

    @Woodrow/asim:

    I agree that the doom and gloom is not warranted.  I also think that this is a warning about what we need to do for the midterms.  McAuliffe absolutely lost the election with his answer about parents and their children’s education.  The problem is that he was on his heels the entire time answering questions and dealing with a campaign that was based on preventing an imaginary threat.  We keep dealing with this problem and we haven’t figured out how to counter it when we have to do it without the help of the press who have the responsibility to correct disinformation.
    It can’t just be the candidate and campaign correcting the record.  We’ve had to do this with caravans, ISIS infiltrated caravans bringing EBOLA, Ebola, birtherism, socialism and communism, death panels, and on and fucking on.

    We have to figure out some way of getting the press to be accountable that is more effective than my usual yelling at my radio and screens.

  54. 54.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 4, 2021 at 8:59 am

    Happy Diwali

    दिवाळीच्या शुभेच्छा

  55. 55.

    lowtechcyclist

    November 4, 2021 at 9:00 am

    @Anne Laurie: Take the lumps, keep moving forward…

    This.  Tuesday night sucked.  But still gotta keep on doing.

  56. 56.

    guachi

    November 4, 2021 at 9:02 am

    @zhena gogolia: I understood the point of the tweet. She might as well claim McAuliffe got 96% of the vote Youngkin did and pretend that’s a success. We need 100%. Anything less means nothing passes.

  57. 57.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 4, 2021 at 9:03 am

    @Baud: I kinda have this problem with Modi bhakti (worship) and people I am close to. In my case it doesn’t change my opinion of Modi or the RSS but I begin to see them in a different not so flattering light.

  58. 58.

    Ken

    November 4, 2021 at 9:05 am

    @M31: “the hazard lights are blinking on Biden’s presidency”

    He’s got it parked in a yellow zone but honest officer just for a couple minutes while I get these boxes loaded?

  59. 59.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 4, 2021 at 9:05 am

    @Baud: There is also a market for the benevolent Empire and cuddly British Royal family genre.

    You know the exploitation, starvation by genocide, plunder was good for the natives because they got tea and cricket in the bargain.

  60. 60.

    Chris

    November 4, 2021 at 9:07 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    @The Thin Black Duke: What’s that LBJ quote about the lowest white man?
    “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”

    Somebody once pointed out Scotland and Ireland to me as the ur-example of this.

    For the most part, the Ulster Protestants are literally the same people as the Scots, being the descendants of Scots who migrated over to become Ireland’s colonizer class, so to speak.  Today the Scots are fairly left-wing, while the Ulster Protestants are probably the most reactionary demographic in the U.K.  What’s the difference?  Someone to look down on.  The Ulster Protestants have them (the Irish-Catholics), the Scots don’t.

  61. 61.

    satby

    November 4, 2021 at 9:07 am

    @MomSense: I hope Betty Cracker does a front page about this, she retweeted it and that’s how I read it. We both think this guy is on to something about Democrats and messaging.

  62. 62.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2021 at 9:07 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Wow! I bow in your general direction.

  63. 63.

    Another Scott

    November 4, 2021 at 9:09 am

    @Woodrow/asim:  Interesting.

    My take is a little different. Philosophically I think he’s a 1970s Democrat. Scarred by inflation and high interest rates and stagflation and big industries shutting down in the “rust belt”. He hasn’t kept up with the times because his voters haven’t either. If Jay Rockefeller were still around, he might even be similar (though presumably not as bad).

    Manchin’s yacht houseboat apparently is very popular with his fellow senators (of both parties, and including the leadership). He knows how to talk with all of them and on a personal level it seems the norm for all of these old white guys to get along just fine. But he either refuses to recognize or expects us all to be oblivious to the fact (or both) that he has absolutely no capability to get others to change their votes or buck the GQP – nobody except their particular donors and voters do. So, his efforts to get GQPers to sign on to the BBB was a delaying tactic that only benefitted him ((and Sinema) if anyone on Team D actually benefitted at all).

    According to his letter with Schumer, he didn’t want to start the BBB process until after October 1, and that’s when actual pen-to-paper work started. It’s gone quickly since then. I thought it would be over by now, and when the House passes their final bill and sends it over he will have to decide. Maybe the Senate will come up with a BBB bill that is different to satisfy him and get 50 votes. That’s how things happened in the olden days – the two houses would pass different bills, they would go to a conference committee (with members appointed by leadership), hash out the differences, then the two houses would vote on that. Maybe that will happen again this time. Maybe the Senate will decide they have to get home for their vacations and simply pass the House bill.

    As expected, the VA and NJ results give Manchin the opportunity to get in the press yet again and pontificate about how everyone needs to be “moderate” like him. I’m not seeing that it’s actually changing the BIF and BBB process though.

    I continue to expect that the BIF and BBB will pass and will pass at nearly the same time. Timing TBD.

    Dunno. We’ll see.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  64. 64.

    Jeffro

    November 4, 2021 at 9:12 am

    @Kay: the response on Fox News was quite funny, in its own way.  I think Sean Hannity mentioned Northam’s win in about six seconds, one time, and the network had nothing else to say about it for months.

  65. 65.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2021 at 9:14 am

    Have to share what I am cautiously hoping is good news. My daughter-in-law got an e-mail from the National Visa Center last night that her request for expedited review has been approved. We are not sure exactly what this means – and since her application was submitted ~28 months ago, “expedited” is kind of a sick joke – but we have to hope.

  66. 66.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    November 4, 2021 at 9:17 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Fingers crossed

  67. 67.

    Jeffro

    November 4, 2021 at 9:18 am

    Anyway, also funny in its own way: Dan Bongino (one of many vying to be the new Rush Limbaugh) has been off the air for weeks due to his radio syndicate’s vaccine mandate.  Except supposedly he’s already been vaccinated, and is just trying to break his contract with the syndicate.

    The other ‘conservative’ radio hosts are on to him, though.  Rooting for injuries LOL

  68. 68.

    Another Scott

    November 4, 2021 at 9:21 am

    @Kathleen: There was a report about the Boston Mayor race on my NPR station yesterday (don’t recall which program) that I thought was strange.  Lots of talk about the historic nature and how she was going to tackle things like affordable housing that were probably going to cost Real Money©®™.  But they also spent a lot of time on the fact that she was originally from Chicago (went to Boston for school and stayed) and that the native Bostonian candidate emphasized her accent.  And how they interviewed a loud white guy who was upset that a “carpetbagger” from Chicago had won and sullied his great city…

    It seemed needlessly divisive, putting all kinds of obstacles in her path before she even is sworn in (She’s doomed!  And she’s not even from Bostton!!1).  They’re pushing a narrative.  It would be unthinkable for a white male candidate to get such a story…

    Grr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  69. 69.

    Josie

    November 4, 2021 at 9:21 am

    @The Thin Black Duke: This has struck me every time I see photos of them demonstrating, congregating, whatever. They look angry and/or unhappy. What a miserable existence.

  70. 70.

    O. Felix Culpa

    November 4, 2021 at 9:23 am

    @satby: Any particular mystery shows–of the non-grisly sort–you recommend?

  71. 71.

    Cameron

    November 4, 2021 at 9:27 am

    @rikyrah: I forget where I read it, but apparently unions strongly backed write-in guy.

  72. 72.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2021 at 9:27 am

    @Another Scott: The nativist sentiment is very strong in the Hub.

  73. 73.

    Woodrow/asim

    November 4, 2021 at 9:28 am

    @Another Scott: he either refuses to recognize or expects us all to be oblivious to the fact (or both) that he has absolutely no capability to get others to change their votes or buck the GQP – nobody except their particular donors and voters do. So, his efforts to get GQPers to sign on to the BBB was a delaying tactic that only benefitted him ((and Sinema) if anyone on Team D actually benefitted at all).

    I’d say it’s mostly the former, that Manchin thought he could build a coalition. But playing on someone’s yacht doesn’t mean they see you as someone to build working coalitions with, at work. That’s where my comment about him not having real connections comes into play.

    Therefore: it wasn’t a deliberate delaying tactic. He wasn’t going in thinking this was a cunning plan to push everything back. His asks for delays are more about him floundering to do work he’s not used to, struggling to get votes from GOPers who will drink his wine and flatter him at night, but who ain’t got time for him in the daylight.

    So — and I think I’m saying what you’re saying, here — Manchin is stuck thinking he’s the guy to bring back that 1980s Tip O’Neil spirit, that “how things used to be” world. And that everything going on now in both parties, from his POV, is just people posturing for the very cameras he’s in front of, far too much.

    That there’s far more, seems to be escaping him. Privilege in Action, y’all!

  74. 74.

    hueyplong

    November 4, 2021 at 9:31 am

    @Jeffro: “Rooting for injuries LOL”

    Not to be a bad sport, but I’m rooting for severe injuries of the “career-threatening” type.

  75. 75.

    narya

    November 4, 2021 at 9:32 am

    I watched Chris Hayes last night, and he, too, pointed out that doomNgloom is unwarranted–that actually keeping the NJ governorship, even if only just barely, is actually a REVERSAL of the norm. And I’ve seen a lot of folks pointing to the wins in various states and cities. It’s almost as if the Village wants Biden to fail, and if they say it often enough, people will think it’s true. Gasp! Thanks to all of you (us) who are both countering the Village narrative and continuing the work!

  76. 76.

    Chris

    November 4, 2021 at 9:34 am

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    @Baud: Thing is, the things black people want to see more of in their lives are good for white people too. Better schools, better-paying jobs, safer neighborhoods, medical care that doesn’t put you into bankruptcy, etc. I don’t understand why some white people are so oppressed to sharing the wealth, as it were. More opportunities for me doesn’t mean less for you.

    I tell people that the reason I support anti-racist causes is as much self-interest as anything else.  The more anti-racist a politician is, the more likely they are to support things that I badly need quite apart from the fact that I’m a white man.  Accessible health care.  Worker protections.  Unemployment protection.  Etc.  (Not to mention, nowadays, things like my right to vote).

    I’ve seen it suggested elsewhere that the conventional wisdom is completely backwards and that white supremacy, not civil rights, is the “luxury item” that people only care about when times are good and they think they can afford to.  I think that’s exactly right.  When things are bad – 1992, 2008, 2020 – enough voters are shocked into actually paying attention to vote Democrat.  When things are good – 2000, 2016 – they forget about the bad times, lean back, and feel secure enough to start caring about idiotic things like “is Critical Race Theory the end of the Bill of Rights?”

  77. 77.

    Another Scott

    November 4, 2021 at 9:34 am

    @satby: Good thread, but McAuliffe and Herring hit #22 and #23 hard in their ads.  Showing the riot at the Capitol.  Showing receipts about GQP lawyers who supported that riot donating $2M to Herring’s opponent.

    There is no One Weird Trick in messaging to get us the win.

    I don’t know about NJ, but VA’s turnout was down nearly 20 points from last year.  Team D lost statewide by roughly 51:49.  Higher turnout in D and D-leaning areas would have given a different result.

    Why did turnout fall back to “normal” (or even high-normal) levels?  Why couldn’t we sustain 70+% turnout?  I dunno.  But it’s not because Team D left some magic messaging on the table.  Terry pushed pocketbook issues.  He pushed social issues.  He pushed jobs and the minimum wage and schools and fighting COVID and fighting extremism and not going back and Virginia not being mean.  And turnout dropped 20%.

    Was Terry too liberal this time?  Did he not pay enough attention to disaffected citizens of all stripes?  Did he not counter Younkin’s message well enough?  Did he need to come out with some “Sister Soulja” event to reassure the normies?  Dunno.

    Team D needs to do a deep dive in the turnout numbers and try to figure out why people didn’t turn out or vote early.  Off the cuff hot takes aren’t going to help us win big next time.

    My $0.02.

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  78. 78.

    Betty Cracker

    November 4, 2021 at 9:35 am

    @satby: We discussed it pretty extensively in this thread yesterday. I agree it’s an interesting theory! :)

  79. 79.

    zhena gogolia

    November 4, 2021 at 9:36 am

    @Baud: Interesting theory. I love to watch British shows because they have excellent writing and top-notch acting. And they are not all white any more. There’s a lot of diverse casting in the shows I watch.

  80. 80.

    Another Scott

    November 4, 2021 at 9:36 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Good, good.

    Thanks for letting us know.  Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  81. 81.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 4, 2021 at 9:37 am

    @rikyrah: You’re a good sister and one of my favorite commenters.

  82. 82.

    Subsole

    November 4, 2021 at 9:37 am

     

     

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    A lot of people truly, on a cellular level, do jot understand your last sentence.

    They really do think happiness is a finite resource.

    They also think everyone wants to treat them like they’re black. What we really want is to treat everyone like they’re white. They don’t get that.

    They honestly believe in that old south aristocracy, the great chain of being. There’s a place everyone belongs, and you will end up there. If you end up poor, that’s your fault. If you get shot by the cops, your fault. It really is old medieval peasant mentality.

     

     

     

    @Woodrow/asim: Didn’t get a chance to say this earlier, but I appreciated your comments in yesterday’s thread about how racism actually works.

    It matches up with what I have seen, at least in the business world. People are fine working with a Latino, or a woman. But when they have to work UNDER that person? They get an entire field of corncobs up their butt.

    Always much to think about in your comments.

  83. 83.

    Ella in New Mexico

    November 4, 2021 at 9:38 am

    @Woodrow/asim:

    And here’s my theory on Manchin — he’s scared/confused.

    He’s scared in that way of someone who’s been, basically, a backbencher for most of his career. He’s never really had to do anything but put on the Blue Dog togs and dance around voting for things, while, yes, making some money for him and his.

    True, but he never had to step into the limelight, become “Senator NO” and change all that easiness, did he?

    So my question is why? Why NOW? Who exactly is pulling his strings? Who’s got Joey’s coal-dusted testicles in a vice?

  84. 84.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 4, 2021 at 9:39 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Paws crossed. Good luck ? to her.

  85. 85.

    NotMax

    November 4, 2021 at 9:42 am

    FYI.

    More than a dozen members of Congress […] are calling on President Joe Biden to use his executive authority to revoke Medals of Honor awarded for the killings of members of the Lakota Sioux tribe, including unarmed women and children, at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in the 19th century.

    In a letter coordinated by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., 16 Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called the awards “a persistent shame on the nation.”
    [snip]
    To date, the nation has awarded more than 3,500 Medals of Honor, including about 400 to soldiers who fought in campaigns against Native Americans. About 900 awards have been rescinded, according to the Medal of Honor Society, most of which were bestowed during the Civil War. No medals awarded for service in battles against Native Americans have been revoked. Source

    Pretty astonishing to learn that nearly 1 in 4 of the medals awarded have been reversed.

  86. 86.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 9:45 am

    @satby:

     

    @zhena gogolia:

    I don’t really watch them, so I’m judging by the clips of shows I’ve seen, which haven’t seemed diverse. FWIW, I’m not talking about modern British-produced programming.  I’m referring to shows about British royalty or aristocracy that are popular in the U.S.

  87. 87.

    Woodrow/asim

    November 4, 2021 at 9:45 am

    @Another Scott: There is no One Weird Trick in messaging to get us the win.

    Damn straight. And: Progressive movements work at a deficit around getting messages out.

    We really undervalue how much money and research The Right puts into messaging and counter-messaging, and has since the 1970s. That’s decades of work, largely under the radar, on how to compel and influence populations. That’s not been a Progressive movement goal; we tend to leave that kind of work to the politicos who support social justice.

    It’s far from unbeatable as a gap (which itself shows the limits of good messaging), yet it’s something I think people who ramble on about “how to message,” miss.

  88. 88.

    sab

    November 4, 2021 at 9:47 am

    Headline in my local paper:”Conservatives left behind in county school board races.

    ETA Only one of the anti-maskers won. They all ran on mask mandates, vaccine mandates and CRT. And these were in the white flight suburbs.

  89. 89.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 9:49 am

    @Woodrow/asim: 

    I agree. Unfortunately, as well, a lot of the goals of progressive messaging isn’t about messaging for votes. It’s about getting more public attention to a particular issue. Often a worthy goal, but it produces different outcomes than a messaging goal geared toward winning elections.

  90. 90.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 9:49 am

    @sab: Nice!

  91. 91.

    gene108

    November 4, 2021 at 9:50 am

    @Kay:

    I think where online progressives make the error- and they make it over and over-is that normies are diving into the details. They’re not. They barely know it’s happening.

    It’s better to pass it faster.

    Unless Democrats in Congress pass terrible laws that don’t benefit anyone but the super rich, passing legislation and declaring victory is all most people notice.

    I think at least half the people with health insurance don’t know the difference between their deductible, co-insurance, and the ACA* mandated out-of-pocket maximum, because most people rarely get sick enough to actually have to seriously depend on their health insurance.

    Same thing goes for whatever would’ve been in the BBB, most people aren’t going to be impacted by it, because most people don’t need direct assistance from services.

    People do notice infra-party bickering and nothing getting done.

    Being successful in politics these days seems to me almost entirely about optics, and very little about policy. Republicans offer nothing much besides optics, and win regularly, but Democrats just have not internalized this.

    *As most people have employer based coverage, and do not need to rely on Healthcare.gov plans, outside of some tweaks to their plans in 2014, very few people have been directly impacted by the ACA even today.

  92. 92.

    Kathleen

    November 4, 2021 at 9:51 am

    @Another Scott: That’s  a shame. I don’t pay attention to much media but I’ve heard nothing negative so far about our mayor, whose parents were refugees. Local media have been very positive here. Our local Business Courier talked about the power Democrats are wielding in Cincinnati in a positive way.

  93. 93.

    Geminid

    November 4, 2021 at 9:52 am

    @Another Scott: I also want to see a good breakdown of turnout in the Virginia Governor election. One thing that I want to know in particular is how many of  the voters in that 20% decline from Biden’s turnout actually stayed home, and how many did turn out but voted for Youngkin.

  94. 94.

    Subsole

    November 4, 2021 at 9:54 am

     

     

    @Barbara: Most voters barely know who the president is. Everyone else knows less.

    The beltway deciding the they were going to punish Bill Clinton and every Democrat since for acknowledging blacks is not helping matters, either.

  95. 95.

    Woodrow/asim

    November 4, 2021 at 9:59 am

    @Ella in New Mexico: My opinion, boiled down? Manchin thinks moving the media narrative moves bills in the direction he wants, and gets both sides to negotiate — with him the clear winner, the “true moderate” in his dreams.

    I think he’s wrong, yet I don’t think he’s canny enough to be trying to scuttle the bills that way. Hell, if he wanted to do that, he’d just keep his mouth shut, and vote “no” when the time came. That’s a far more powerful way to scuttle — as we say with McCain — than to keep injecting himself into the narrative.

    In fact, I’m going to change my mind, again. I think there’s a part of Manchin  that wants to be The Hero in this. He may actually believe he can bridge the GOP/Democratic divide, and that all this public posturing is to juice up the sides into his vision of sitting down and negotiating.

    That gets him far more cred with the moneybags than just voting no, as a starting point for motivation. And makes more sense, in my head, than having someone overtly manipulating Manchin — a manipulation would, I think, be far more obvious to us onlookers, and you’d see far fewer theories on why he’s acting in this way.

    (Just as a note, I don’t insist on these theories being Truth. We don’t know, and likely will never know, what truly motivates our two fickle friends, right now.)

  96. 96.

    Subsole

    November 4, 2021 at 10:01 am

     

     

    @schrodingers_cat: When you say ‘worship’ I am picturing Trumpers and their Gen Barrison cartoons. Similar dynamic, or something else?

  97. 97.

    zhena gogolia

    November 4, 2021 at 10:01 am

    @Baud: Well, even Downton Abbey shoehorned in a Black musician who had a romance with Lady Rose.

  98. 98.

    Betty Cracker

    November 4, 2021 at 10:02 am

    Question for any of y’all who use Word or similar apps to write: Are you distracted by newly deployed text prediction features? I am, and I’m tempted to turn it off. But I also like to think I’m an old dog who can learn new tricks.  The predicted content is right most of the time, so theoretically it could help me work faster.

    But in practice, I either hit the caps lock button instead of tab (to accept the prediction) and have to go back and fix it, or I start wondering about the implications of an algorithm predicting what I’m going to say with such accuracy. Then I chide myself for being trite and drift off into an existential career crisis that ends with me dreaming about starting an ecotourism enterprise in my yard by building a yurt for birdwatchers who are into “glamping.” Is it just me? ;-)

  99. 99.

    Woodrow/asim

    November 4, 2021 at 10:04 am

    @Subsole: You’re very welcome! I think this stuff is hard, and I’ll 100% acknowledge I had a lot of very patient people helped me work thus this. I write in no small part to honor them (even if some would disagree with some of my opinions…)

  100. 100.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 10:05 am

    @Betty Cracker: I use it in Outlook, but I haven’t come across it in Word.  I tend to find it helpful in that context.

  101. 101.

    Geminid

    November 4, 2021 at 10:07 am

    @Cameron: The write-in guy is the current mayor of Buffalo. He took Walton’s primary challenge lightly, lost by a thousand votes in a low-turnout primary, and started a write-in campaign.

    I read some analysis of this race by a writer sympathetic to Walton and the Democratic Socialists of America of which she is a member. Mayor Brown did have a lot of union support. Walton had been endorsed by the teachers union in the primary, but they pulled their support when she told business leaders she could support charter schools. She also had some campaign literature printed  by a non-union shop. Unions are strong in Buffalo, and they were bugged by the lack of the union “bug” on her flyers. What I took away from the story was that Walton was not ready for primetime, and that Byron Brown is an adequate or better mayor.

  102. 102.

    Mike in NC

    November 4, 2021 at 10:09 am

    Happy Divali to those who participate. Fuck FOX News for 25 years of fascist bullshit which brought us Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

  103. 103.

    germy

    November 4, 2021 at 10:10 am

    In my city I was very glad to see Minita Sanghvi win her race for finance commissioner.  She had knocked on my door and we had a great conversation.  I’d read about the police incident and told her she had my family’s full support.*  She’s a college professor.  She ran against Adam Israel, an internet troll who works in real estate for a guy who takes pictures of protesters at BLM rallies.

    (*Someone out in a suburban section of town called the police on her when she was going door to door for her campaign, something I’m certain wouldn’t have been done to a blonde haired blue eyed lady.)

    We also elected our first Asian-American mayor.  This despite a local blogger (a Matt Taibbi fan) who tried to invent scandals to smear him.

    One of the mayoral candidates, Maxwell Rosenbaum, ran on the liberal Working Families party, even though he’s to the right of Trump.   A bunch of right wing people registered on the WF party as part of a ratf**king campaign.  They hoped there’d be enough confused elderly liberals who’d vote straight Working Families line to split the Democratic vote.  The head of the local WF party told voters to vote Democratic.

    A candidate for Accounts Commissioner, Samantha Guerra, circulated a petition to get on the ballot.  Everything was good until a few people who hadn’t signed the petition learned their names were on there, every signature in the same handwriting.

    Of course the local blogger tried to call this an “oversight” while he continued to attack Democratic candidates.

    Robin Dalton, who’d been a Republican until last February, ran for mayor but she came in a distant third. She now says she achieved her goal, which was preventing Heidi West (another “Independent” with the full support of the local GOP) from winning.  Dalton said West hasn’t rejected Trumpism.  West is a boutique owner downtown, one of those “I’m a bizznizzz wommen who will run this city like a bizznizzz” Republicans.  Her campaign signs are still up everywhere, as are Adam Israel’s.

  104. 104.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 10:10 am

    @Geminid:

    Interesting! Thanks for the information.

  105. 105.

    NotMax

    November 4, 2021 at 10:10 am

    @Betty Cracker

    Caps lock key gets disabled here first thing, while the device still has that enticing new keyboard smell.

  106. 106.

    Anyway

    November 4, 2021 at 10:12 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    woo-hoo! Fingers crossed…

  107. 107.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 10:12 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Finally! Hoping for speedy news.

  108. 108.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2021 at 10:14 am

    @Geminid: Didn’t both NYS Senators endorse Walton? Is this an egg-on-face moment for them?

  109. 109.

    Anyway

    November 4, 2021 at 10:16 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    Wowza! Always in awe of people running ultras…

  110. 110.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 10:17 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Maybe a little, but going against the primary winner would be risky and probably create more bad blood IMHO.

  111. 111.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 4, 2021 at 10:17 am

    @Baud: Thanks. If Americans had had the sense to elect Baud! for President, I’m sure she’d already be here.

  112. 112.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 10:18 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Holy crap. That’s amazing.

  113. 113.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 10:19 am

    @Gin & Tonic: I campaigned on Open Borders for Jackal Kin.

  114. 114.

    germy

    November 4, 2021 at 10:19 am

    @germy:

    I forgot to add that Guerra (of the fishy petition) lost to the Democrat.

    There’s now a criminal investigation going on into exactly what was going on with the petition.

  115. 115.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    November 4, 2021 at 10:19 am

    @Baud: that might explain it! I’ve known people who really loved the great British bake-off and other inconsequential shows & Ive never understood the appeal.
    And it may be the same phenomenon with Scandinavian noir, which from what little I’ve seen always seems so contrived & boring.

  116. 116.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 4, 2021 at 10:21 am

    Other than the Gruesome Twosome themselves, this is pretty much the last Dem Senator I would’ve expected this from, maybe tied with Feinstein

    Stephen Spaulding @SteveESpaulding 2h
    NEW op-ed from Pres. Biden’s home-state @SenatorCarper: “I do not come to this decision lightly, but it has become clear to me that if the filibuster is standing in the way of protecting our democracy then the filibuster isn’t working for our democracy.””

    a nice op-ed, it improves my opinion of Carper

  117. 117.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 4, 2021 at 10:21 am

    @Subsole: It is pretty bad. His cult of personality is something else. In my anecdata women are his biggest fans.

  118. 118.

    lowtechcyclist

    November 4, 2021 at 10:22 am

    @rikyrah:

    She used to have to sit and rest on the steps right inside the building. Then, after the rest, she would walk up the flight of stairs and take a rest on the piano bench in the living room.

     

    Yesterday, she went.from the car right to the apartment with no stops?

    Yay! So glad to hear she’s doing so much better!

  119. 119.

    gene108

    November 4, 2021 at 10:23 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    I HATE text prediction software. It feels like someone completing my sentence for me, like someone interrupting me in real life.

  120. 120.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 4, 2021 at 10:26 am

    @M31:

    Also, I made the mistake of listening to NPR this morning only to hear “the hazard lights are blinking on Biden’s presidency” and I shouted some vulgarities and changed the channel

    was is totally-not-Fox-News-Employee Mara Liaison? who gifted us with “Cash for Clunkers is Obama’s Katrina”?

  121. 121.

    Betty Cracker

    November 4, 2021 at 10:30 am

    @Chacal Charles Calthrop: Good point: GBBO is famously all white.  Thursday Morning Open Thread:  Happy Divali!

  122. 122.

    Geminid

    November 4, 2021 at 10:31 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Schumer endorsed Walton, I don’t know about Gillebrand. I imagine Schumer shrugged the result off, and was probably relieved.* Governor Hochul is from Buffalo, and did not endorse either candidate.

    *I’d bet that a lot of the House Progresive Caucus members who endorsed Nina Turner in the OH-11 primary were relieved when she lost to Shontel Brown.

  123. 123.

    Feathers

    November 4, 2021 at 10:32 am

    @rikyrah:  Someone in another thread said that the only union that supported her in the primary (and presumably helped her win) was the teachers union. She then proceeded to give a speech supporting charter schools. Showing her independence, yes. But also paving the way for what happened on Election Day.

    @Baud:  Also why you have all the gangster movies set in Boston. As to the new mayor. I think you’d hear that talk in Boston about a white man, but national media wouldn’t be amplifying it.

    Also, I like British TV because the people look like normal people. I mean, very attractive, but like good looking people you might actually know. American TV shows are full of people who all look pretty much the same. I remember an article back in the early 2000s talking about all the Brits and Aussies working in American television. One anonymous agent said that a lot of it was that American actors all had work done to hide all aging. Even if their agents begged them not to, that it would hurt their chances of getting work, they did it. And the Brits and Aussies, well trained, with natural faces, got lots of work. I remember Anna Torv of Fringe being an example of a show looking overseas when they couldn’t find what they were looking for in Hollywood.

  124. 124.

    Baud

    November 4, 2021 at 10:34 am

    @Feathers:

    Yeah, as I clarified above, I wasn’t speaking of British TV, but popular shows about the royalty and aristocracy set in Britain.

  125. 125.

    Another Scott

    November 4, 2021 at 10:36 am

    @Betty Cracker: I think the text prediction stuff can be handy on phones and for short e-mails (e.g. in Gmail).  I haven’t seen or used it in Word (I’ve got 2016).

    However, on GBoard on my phone, there’s a teeny tiny lag so that when I start to type in a word the predicted word that it recommends that I want use, it will often change to something else just before I click it.  So I have to backspace a bunch of times to correct it and try again to enter the correct word.

    When it works well, it’s great.  When it’s off – even a tiny bit – it’s much slower than simply typing in what you want.

    Grrr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  126. 126.

    Another Scott

    November 4, 2021 at 10:40 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Zooks!  That is impressive!!

    Congratulations!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  127. 127.

    MomSense

    November 4, 2021 at 10:45 am

    @satby:

    I liked some of his points and others I didn’t agree with based on my own experience working the phones.

    I think the stumbling block for me is the difficulty of disproving an imaginary issue. I think that requires the press to do its job. They keep repeating the imaginary issue and asking for comment.  Then they opine about how the imaginary issue harms Democrats and criticize their messaging. Why don’t they rip the Republicans for campaigning in lies?! Why don’t they opine about how campaigning on such obvious lies is disqualifying?  Why don’t they all call out the other “journalists” and media outlets for lying and being propagandists?!

    There’s also the problem with the way they cover policies in general.  They don’t actually talk about the contents of legislation. It’s all in the context of who is up who is down, the horse race BS.

    I just don’t see how we can run successful campaigns when there are zero consequences for lying and no press accountability.

  128. 128.

    Betty Cracker

    November 4, 2021 at 10:50 am

    I like period dramas a lot and think the Brits do an excellent job with them. But it’s true that if a show dramatizes history — court intrigue during the reign of Henry VIII like the excellent “Wolf Hall,” for example — the key historical figures the characters are based on will have mostly been white people.

    But there’s no reason the actors have to be white. “Bridgerton” and “Hamilton” proved period/historical pieces can be MONSTER hits with a diverse cast.

    “Nurse Ratchet” on Netflix had an interesting approach to casting. It was set in the 1940s (I think), and POC were cast as characters with prominent jobs that POC of the time wouldn’t have had access to due to racism, and yet homophobia was a thing on the show.

  129. 129.

    rikyrah

    November 4, 2021 at 10:59 am

    @MomSense:

    Fact – CRT is a LAW SCHOOL COURSE

     

    If your child isn’t in LAW SCHOOL, they are not being taught CRT.

    What they are being taught is American History.

    Slavery, Jim Crow, the annihilation of the Native People, Japanese Internment, Tulsa – All American History.

    Period.

    Folks need to say this with their chest.

  130. 130.

    rikyrah

    November 4, 2021 at 11:03 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

     

    thanks SC.

     

    I hope that things are going better between you and your family. I know that things had become quite strained for you.

  131. 131.

    CaseyL

    November 4, 2021 at 11:17 am

    @The Thin Black Duke: I keep coming back to that every time I’m ready to throw up my hands: people who’ve had it much, much worse can keep moving forward.  So must I.

    Though, honestly, a few well-placed lightning bolts would do wonders for moving us all forward.  Maybe we should Bring Back Zeus, as part of the Build Back Better campaign.

  132. 132.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 4, 2021 at 11:27 am

    @rikyrah: I have managed to change my father’s mind. Still working on my mom. She is very much in the Modi fan club. But she is not a hater.

    I have stopped discussing politics with the extended family and I counter them  when they forward blatant lies.  I am also not a part of any of the family/friends WhatsApp groups. FB’s evil child is the biggest vector for spreading hate and disinfo IMHO among the diaspora and in India too.

  133. 133.

    frosty

    November 4, 2021 at 11:42 am

    @Betty Cracker: I haven’t noticed that in Word but I get the “predicted text” in Outlook and I don’t like it. Otherwise …

    …dreaming about starting an ecotourism enterprise in my yard by building a yurt for birdwatchers who are into “glamping.”

    Where do I sign up?!!

  134. 134.

    phdesmond

    November 4, 2021 at 12:33 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    and choochoo trains.

  135. 135.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 4, 2021 at 1:05 pm

    @phdesmond: Of course! How could I forget.

  136. 136.

    Soprano2

    November 4, 2021 at 1:26 pm

    @Kay: I think where online progressives make the error- and they make it over and over-is that normies are diving into the details. They’re not. They barely know it’s happening.

    Yep, they make the mistake of thinking the normies voted for Youngkin because Biden can’t get his agenda passed because of two senators, when the truth is it’s probably frustration with schools due to Covid and the high price of gas and food in the stores, coupled with the Republican fearmongering over teaching about diversity in schools and the traditional trend of the party that has the White House losing the next VA election. The BBB bill probably doesn’t even register with most of them.

  137. 137.

    Soprano2

    November 4, 2021 at 1:33 pm

    @Kathleen: I find it interesting that I’ve seen very little reporting about how the overwhelming majority of those suspicious “slates” of school board candidates who were anti-mask and anti-CRT were defeated. I guess it cuts against their narrative.

  138. 138.

    Miss Bianca

    November 4, 2021 at 3:13 pm

    @Another Scott: late to the thread, but I was going to say, Yeah, this. I happened to be in Virginia during the last few days before the election, and McAuliffe ads were hitting all those points. Whereas Trumpkin’s were totally hitting “school violence”! and “Parents’ rights!” and “CRT, OMG!” which apparently was all it took to swing the so-called independents.

  139. 139.

    WaterGirl

    November 4, 2021 at 3:36 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I hate those.  John Cole sent me one of those suggested auto-replies from gmail about 3 years ago.  It was terribly inappropriate for the conversation and it caused a HUGE misunderstanding.

    I also think about what Stephen Covey or one of those guys always said:  Be efficient with things and effective with people.

    Plus, with your writing skills, all I can think is that going with the automated suggestions would have to take some of the skill and style out of your writing.

    My two cents.

  140. 140.

    WaterGirl

    November 4, 2021 at 3:38 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: That is great news!  Maybe someone looked at her application and thought “Holy fuck!” and expedited the review going forward.

  141. 141.

    Miss Bianca

    November 4, 2021 at 3:43 pm

    @rikyrah: so damn right!

  142. 142.

    sab

    November 4, 2021 at 4:46 pm

    @WaterGirl: I haven’t thought about Covey in years. My LDS boss in Nevada had us all use Covey organizers and read his books. I have to admit it made me a much more useful person, and also a nicer person in a difficult time.

  143. 143.

    neldob

    November 4, 2021 at 9:10 pm

    The Left has ceded so much communication ground to the Right. Pro-life, family values, conservatism, fiscal responsibility, etc. etc. Patriotism. We need to co-opt these words because they are actually describing Democrats. The right wing is none of these. Also, the right wing is taking over the comments section in the NYT which seems dangerous if not countered.

  144. 144.

    Bill Arnold

    November 4, 2021 at 9:57 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Are you distracted by newly deployed text prediction features? I am, and I’m tempted to turn it off.

    I consider usually-successful text prediction to be a failure on my part. If one’s writing looks like it could be generated by a language model built from a giant corpus of mediocre writing, why bother?

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