There have been a lot of sketches from SNL over the years that have stuck with me, many you all know- More Cowbell, Dick in A Box, Celebrity Jeopardy, Schlitz Gay, and on and on and on. There is one, however, that haunts me, and it is the 1988 Presidential Debate with Dana Carvey as Bush and John Lovitz as Dukakis, and this particular line:
It’s basically, other than a few times during the Obama years, how I have felt since I became a Democrat going on two decades ago. How are we always losing to these fucking idiots?
Mistermix just below provided one example of the ways Democrats hurt themselves, but again, much of that is sabotage by centrists and Republicans. But just right now, amazing things are happening. The stimulus bill, the child tax credit, the infrastructure bill, lowest levels of poverty in ages, hiring through the roof, wages increasing, we’re out of Afghanistan, and so on.
Tons of good things, and yet everyone is telling me we are going to get clobbered in November. It’s just so fucking depressing and I don’t know how to change it.
Side note there are few activities in this world I enjoy more than napping and DST sucks some of the fun out of it because when I take my afternoon nap and wake up it is fucking dark, which is bullshit.
Jerzy Russian
Yes, proper napping is a skill, and I have lost that skill in recent years. Right now I am happy if I can get in 6.5 hours of “sleep” with the CPAP (it helpfully times how long I use it each night).
schrodingers_cat
Who is everyone? Since they can predict an election that is a year away can they also give me some good stock tips?
VeniceRiley
Darknado would make a great SyFy schlock movie.
As for SNL, I dug our Sprockets yesterday just to crack up a friend.
debbie
That’s a very young Tom Hanks at the beginning of the clip. He definitely captured Jennings’ head tics.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Dems have won the popular vote in 6 of the last 7 elections.
Repugs have only won the popular vote once in the past 32 years (thanks to bin Laden making a last second endorsement of Dubya) [photo]
That said the greatest SNL sketch has to be Reagan being the mastermind of Iran-Contra (video).
germy
@VeniceRiley:
Do you remember “Germany’s Most Disturbing Home Videos” ? It was one of the Sprockets sketches.
germy
@debbie:
And the late, great Jan Hooks as Diane Sawyer.
debbie
@VeniceRiley:
“Like a little girl.”
Hunter Gathers
Sure, Biden has gotten a lot done, but this is a nation of fat assed, lazy, mediocre dipshits with short attention spans who are addicted to spending all their time bitching on Facebook about how widdle Gunner and Mackenzie are going to have permanent sads because they were forced to learn about slavery, the cost of 100 gallons of milk a week, transsexual people they’ll never meet and ‘those’ people.
They want Trump back, so he can inject more bullshit straight into their veins and the press in this country is going to do everything in their power to give them back their God Emperor.
Pennsylvanian
@Hunter Gathers: Wow. That is grim.
My daily reminder that no matter how bad things are, they can always get worse!
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: I know, it’s so tiring. But it’s the same thing I hear from all my friends. They get it from the TV and NPR.
Jeffro
I guess we better get better at working the refs?
Also, it’s past time to take a vote on reconciliation and then pivot to protecting voting rights + pointing out all the good that Ds have done in the past year vs all the shit the Rs are trying to pull.
Let’s go, Dems. People need to hear what we’re for, how we’re making a difference in their lives, and what a bunch of utter shits the Rs are.
JustRuss
Yep, probably the best line in SNL’s history. Stuck with me too.
I don’t know why you’re ripping on DST. If we were still in DST, it would get dark later, so sounds like you’re actually pro-DST.
Omnes Omnibus
I’m not.
Ksmiami
@Omnes Omnibus: we do need to hire a better ad agency and fire the consultants that suck so hard at messaging
germy
@zhena gogolia:
A narrative is being pushed.
For example, people who only skim headlines think there was a landslide Republican victory in the Virginia governor race while the Democrat barely squeaked by in NJ. And that both races spell doom for the Democratic party.
zhena gogolia
I don’t know why people can’t compare their situation to what it was a year ago, let alone two years ago, when we seemed to be heading for the Great Depression.
Ksmiami
@Jeffro: ps Joe Manchin is economically innumerate.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
They probably also get it from seeing the persistence of the loony class. We can’t get cocky.
zhena gogolia
@germy: I know. And now they think Kamala Harris is doing a horrible job. I got that from somebody just this morning. I can guarantee you she only saw headlines. “I hope we can get somebody else to run.”
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
There’s a lot going on that’s beyond anyone’s control: pandemic, supply chain, inflation, etc. I honestly can’t blame anyone for feeling a bit nervous.
zhena gogolia
@debbie: I am not cocky, in fact if you asked my husband if I was cocky you’d get laughed out of the room. But there’s a difference between being cocky and trying to be positive about what our people have accomplished and are still trying to accomplish.
germy
@Ksmiami:
He knows how to count his donations.
zhena gogolia
@debbie: I picked up my NYT this morning, expecting to see a nice full-color Rose Garden picture. Instead, there was a tiny headline in the upper right about the infrastructure bill, and the large color picture was “rising homicide rate in Albuquerque.” Really, New York Times?
These kinds of things shape perceptions.
Gin & Tonic
@Pennsylvanian:
And if you want to learn how they can get worse, this is the right place to come.
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic: Еще бы
Jeffro
@Omnes Omnibus: agree
There is a LOT of time to keep building on Biden’s successes, point out the double standards, highlight the craziness of the Rs, etc etc etc.
zhena gogolia
@Jeffro: If only we owned a news network.
johnnybuck
It still comes down to getting kids back in school, and ramping up the infrastructure of the economy to catch up with demand. If that can happen by next june, I will feel a lot better about things.
zhena gogolia
@johnnybuck: Aren’t kids in school now?
eclare
@zhena gogolia: CNN went after Kamala yesterday with numerous “she’s out of control!” stories on its website. I have decided not to visit cnn.com anymore.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
here’s one of the hows, shamelessness
Omnes Omnibus
@Ksmiami: In your view, wouldn’t that just be rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: White people seem to make up a majority of doomsayers. Just my observation.
Cameron
@eclare: Our Liberal Media are rerunning some of their previous hits. Nothing about what the vice president is actually doing, just office gossip. And it sounds a lot like the same stuff they put out about Amy Klobuchar.
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: Yeah, the people I’m talking about are white. The woman I saw this morning was talking to me next to my car, so I pointed to my Kamala bumper sticker and that kind of shut her up.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
Agreed. I’ve taken to watching the local Fox affiliate’s newscast at 10pm, then switching over to the NBC affiliate at 11pm. The differing slants are remarkable.
I heard earlier today that immigration at the border has dropped by 90%. So that’s great news, no?
CaseyL
Has anyone here seen the teaser for the new Netflix movie, “Don’t Look Up?” It perfectly captures the Idiocracy of our times. Looks to be very funny, and maddening.
Brachiator
Right now I am not too worried. Joe Biden and the Democrats helped millions get out of the lockdown and pandemic, both in terms of economic help and the vaccine rollout. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that had Trump been re-elected, he would have totally bungled the logistics of getting people their shots, even though he got the vaccine development started.
I have not paid attention to any bashing from other Democrats. But I have watched the GOP and many notable pundits work overtime to declare that what Biden has done is nothing, a waste of time, the wrong thing, typical tax and spend, etc.
There are even business people and others who I know have absolutely benefited from state and federal programs who deny it or who jumped through some strange ideological hoops to give credit to Trump and to the Republicans.
I have noted and say again that in a bunch of years in the tax industry, I have never seen a program that so clearly helps lower income people as the expanded child tax credit. This tax year, when people file their returns, many will very clearly see how they have been helped.
And it pisses me off big time that the current negotiations appear to extend this program for one more year. This is fucking stupid. But I also note that despite the noise coming from some (not all) progressives, poor people don’t often have strong advocates.
Anyway, I also remember the distinct sense of relief among many when Biden was elected. I think this era of good feeling still lingers despite the obstacles.
So, bottom line I think despite the media and the worst efforts of right wingers, the Democrats are still in good shape. They have their work cut out for them, but I think that a lot of the negativity is weak and insubstantial.
And I especially don’t pay attention to polling.
zhena gogolia
@debbie: Do you think it will be blared round the clock on cable news? I don’t.
debbie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Ah, the magic of the passive tense!
VeniceRiley
@germy: I will look it up on Youtube later!
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
Me neither. However, there’s a candidate here for Rob Portman’s seat who’s advertising how he’ll absolutely focus on GETTING THAT BORDER WALL BUILT. I think someone should let him know his BIG ISSUE is disappearing quickly.
zhena gogolia
@CaseyL: Looks kind of frenetic. David Sirota is one of the writers?
Ksmiami
@Omnes Omnibus: doing the same things that aren’t working doesn’t seem like the best plan… The party needs to be aggressive and go on offense as the GOP is vaporware so a change in messaging and branding could help!
germy
@CaseyL:
Based on a story by David Sirota!
EDIT: as Commenter Zhena Gogolia noted above…
Ksmiami
@Omnes Omnibus: that said I really don’t think America can survive as we devolve into idiocracy
Jeffro
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: we could save a lot of money and help out a lot of Dem congresspeople by pushing out a standard ad template nationwide (like, NOW, as a warning shot to Rs)
“Congressman X voted against the infrastructure bill (and said all kinds of crazy BS about it). Congressman X now wants credit for projects in your district [cut to quick video or pic of tweet or whatever] Congressman X’s a two-faced liar who thinks you’re stupid. Vote out Congressman X and let’s keep making progress in Congressional District Y”
zhena gogolia
It’s so weird that I miss baud as if he were my best friend IRL.
Omnes Omnibus
@Ksmiami: Yeah, I know.
Sure Lurkalot
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I go back and forth on this. Part of me wants Republicans to brag about programs, provided by the government, no less, that will help their constituents. Then, after the words come out, I wish someone nearby would scream, “but he/she didn’t vote for any of this!” Or spontaneous combustion.
debbie
@debbie:
Okay, so I slightly misspoke. What I heard was that Haitian immigration has dropped by 90%. Overall immigration has decreased for three consecutive months, dropping by 23% since July.
SiubhanDuinne
@CaseyL:
Sounds like fun.
MomSense
I wish I could nap because I’m exhausted. Unfortunately I am still coughing too much to get any real sleep.
The good news is my oldest has been staying with me to help with the dog, chores, cooking, my mom and his brother.
I don’t know how people manage without support. If my oldest hadn’t stepped up all the people who depend on me would have been screwed. I’m very lucky to have help.
It’s frustrating that the Republicans have forced us to go through so much drama over providing the basics to of a modern society.
I’ve tried to lurk a bit but I haven’t been able to read or comment much. Waving hello and sending my best to everyone.
Brachiator
@zhena gogolia:
Has something happened to baud?
I have been reading and posting less frequently, so I may have missed something.
Fair Economist
@germy:
You ain’t kidding. During lunch my mother had MSNBC on, and they had Chris Christie (!) on talking about imagined flaws in the infrastructure bill, and then they were just going on and on about how Americans were worried about inflation and the supply chain and how this was going to ruin Christmas. And this is MSNBC!
I’ve yet to hear anybody on the MSM mention the driver of the supply chain “crisis” is that *it’s actually moving substantially more goods than it ever has before*. The “crisis” is that right now the American economy is doing 5% *more* than it ever has, and the supply chain simply can’t handle the 5% or so *beyond that* that the economy could support. We’re in the middle of an unprecedented boom, and the supply chain is limiting us to just a boom. That’s the “crisis”.
debbie
@MomSense:
Coughing aside, hope you’re beginning to recover. Ask your doctor about Tessalon Perles. They really help with the coughing when I’ve had pneumonia.
debbie
@Brachiator:
Traveling.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@MomSense:
backatcha, hope you’re fully recovered soon
Leslie
We do need to fix the gerrymandering problem as part of protecting voting rights. If districts were fairly drawn, the GOP wouldn’t be able to steal elections. How exactly to accomplish that, I don’t know. Would Manchinema get on board for a federal law outlawing it? But we also need constant messaging on GOP awfulness and Dem achievements.
Brachiator
@Fair Economist:
The supply chain issues are real and affect other countries, not just the USA. The Biden administration is doing what it can to help the West Coast ports deal with shipping deliveries, but other aspects just take time. The GOP don’t have a magic wand or solution.
A number of mainstream pundits, and Joe Manchin, keep blubbing about inflation, but Treasury Secretary Yellen and the Federal Reserve have never been unduly worried and greatly endorsed Biden’s spending plans. This is regularly reported in business sites and NPR programs such a Marketplace and The Indicator.
The bond market is not reacting as though anyone is excessively worried about inflation.
Conventional wisdom and the GOP keep trying to suggest that Biden’s spending plans are inherently inflationary because this is how their minds work.
It is very hard to fight conventional wisdom and traditional thinking. The Biden administration just needs to keep hammering home results and good news.
CaseyL
@zhena gogolia:
@germy:
Well, shit. I guess that means the moronic Administration, clearly modeled after The Trump Crime Family, will be presented as “Democrats.”
Omnes Omnibus
This.
eclare
@Cameron: Exactly. And most of that gossip about “mean girl” Amy stopped as soon as she dropped out of the Democratic nomination race.
Dan B
@Brachiator: The supply chain is weird, not broken. I found some great throw pillows from a couple manufacturers in Turkey and three separate orders arrived in three to four days whereas an order of cushion inserts from Pasadena will take eight days. And there are massive boats sitting in Puget Sound burning bunker fuel, one step up from tar.
NotMax
Eschew Twitter. Problem solved.
Ksmiami
@Omnes Omnibus: I couldn’t end on a happy note- it would be out of character
Brachiator
@Dan B:
I am not sure what “weird” means. Overall, various industries are reporting problems. Tim Cook says that supply chain issues cost Apple $6 billion, but what does he know?
Maybe one weird anecdote are reports that some electronic products, including big screen TVs, don’t work when they reach their ultimate destinations, in part because they sat too long on ships out at sea. But this is very sketchy an anecdotal.
Emerald
My real fear is that the mainstream media unquestionably wants Republicans back in power. They drive the negativity and they are relentless. Local news will help, because rebuilding that crumbling bridge is great local news. But I really believe the Democrats need to hire a good marketing firm to counter the national media. They’re intentionally doing as much damage as they can.
schrodingers_cat
@NotMax: You can decide who to follow. So its not Twitter, its the accounts you follow. Cable news and MSM is a far bigger culprit IMHO
schrodingers_cat
@Emerald: One thing we can do is not mindlessly echo and amplify the doom porn.
randy khan
I’ve actually been talking about the good things coming out of this Administration on social media. It’s important for those of us who are happy about it to spread the word.
Ruviana
@Cameron: Oh no! Has Kamala started combing her hair with a fork?
Ksmiami
@Emerald: the Dems need to be on you tube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook telling the story because the MSM wants GOP autocracy
Another Scott
More sausage is coming!!
TheHill:
Things are moving. It will get done.
Cheers,
Scott.
randy khan
@Another Scott:
From your lips to Joe Manchin’s ears.
schrodingers_cat
@MomSense: I didn’t know that you were sick. Hoping for a speedy recovery.
Chief Oshkosh
@Brachiator:
But isn’t this itself just conventional wisdom and traditional thinking? ;)
Chief Oshkosh
@randy khan:
Strange place for him to keep his wallet, but he is, after all, from West Virginia…
Another Scott
In other news, Poe’s Law strikes again.
(see the full thread)
Cheers,
Scott.
zhena gogolia
@CaseyL: fraid so
@MomSense: I didn’t know you were ill! Get well soon!
Brachiator
@Chief Oshkosh:
RE: It is very hard to fight conventional wisdom and traditional thinking. The Biden administration just needs to keep hammering home results and good news.
I guess.
I am not a media consultant. I read how well the Biden administration is doing all the time. But I also see how Manchin spouts crap about inflation that Treasury and the Fed seriously dispute.
How do we get to his sources? What’s wrong with him that he sticks to old views?
I see people fall back on old tax and spend crap. I don’t do FaceBook and ignore most Twitter, but I don’t know what the most effective method of counter chatter might be.
Robert Reich puts out some very good and pithy YouTube videos on economic issues. I don’t know how well received they are.
The Democrats do seem to be trying to get their message out. But oddly, a lot of people seem to ignore it.
Maybe most people are just living their lives and maybe like the Democrats. This leaves the haters and malcontents free to make up as much noise as they want.
rmjohnston
Don’t call them centrists. As you yourself famously said:
There is no actual center position somewhere between mainstream Democrats and Republicans that can be justified as a policy matter. “Centrists” are just people who claim to believe that eating tire rims is good policy. They’re prototypical ratfuckers, deliberately claiming positions they know are insane to sabotage the Democratic party from within, and “ratfuckers” is the proper term to call them.
Ruckus
@zhena gogolia:
Mainly because we have so much communications that spread either bullshit or panic about the bullshit. Because that is good for those who think they should control and own all the money.
It’s like I’m beating a dead horse but money is a very necessary part of modern life, which is pretty much since we moved out of caves and started building homes and towns. No one can live without some sort of income. I’m not suggesting that we all need to live in some sort of nirvana which doesn’t and never will exist and that fairies make the money, it isn’t true. We all make the money, some do harder stuff and make more but no one should make and hoard far more than they ever need. And those who have worked for decades need to have something to make that retirement vacation doable. No one can live on $5/day and no one needs or is worth $100 billion. It’s not that there shouldn’t be a range, it’s that the range is far, far too wide. It’s that the people who have the ability to pay tax should pay a rate/share comparable to their income, not less than someone who can barely make ends meet.
trollhattan
@Chief Oshkosh: The other ear is for raisin’ taters.
Cameron
@Ruviana: Tune in to CNN…….
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
To anything that effects most people, including their supporters. Their “solutions” always make everything worse for the vast majority, no matter political considerations. They want the gilded age back, they want all the benefits that they can steal and they want everyone else to suffer so their crappy personalities feel something.
Ruckus
@Dan B:
You should see the coast line off socal if you want to see container ships waiting to unload. And most of those burn diesel fuel these days, bunker oil has been out for a long time. Ship I was stationed on in the navy switched over from bunker oil in 1971, to jet fuel – kerosene. Bunker oil is used in steam power plants not diesels, current big ships use huge diesel engines, far more efficient and actually cheaper to run, for a number of reasons.
Ella in New Mexico
“It’s a Dick in a Box” has been morphed by my family into so many situations in my life, not leastly being sung to felines who immediately jump into an empty Amazon cardboard container after taking out the contents.
Gotta be at least # 2 best SNL skits of all time, Cowbell and all.
Ruckus
@Emerald:
Who owns the big media outlets? It isn’t average Joe or Jane. It isn’t the vast majority of the people who watch/listen. It is people with money and people who want more money. Who owns faux news, some liberal dude? Who owns the FTFNYT? These people want to make their lives better in ways that make most everyone else’s worse, but they don’t give a damn about that.
zhena gogolia
@Ella in New Mexico: It’s a classic. I’d also vote for “Come Back, Barack.” I’ve watched that a million times. When Chris Redd sang, “I’d vote for Joe Biden,” I had a vision that Joe Biden would be the next president. Seemed unlikely at the time.
TriassicSands
John you mean EST, not DST. You are on Eastern Standard Time. When you switch again, you’ll be on EDT, Easfern Daylight Time.
NotMax
True confession time.
Am unfamiliar with any of the SNL stuff you cite. Gave up watching it years before 1988.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
I saw that the night it came out, and I’ve thought of it more times than I can count ever since then.
Mai Naem mobile
I hope the Dems have a website with a zip code match with what’s in the infrastructure bill for the zip code and publicize the hell out of it. All Dems need to do it like presidential candidates do it during there tv appearances with their website. It needs to be publicized to a level where people satirize the PR.
WayneL140
How often, like yesterday, have I heard someone say they can’t stand the news because it is so awful. I have fought that notion every time, but I’m beginning to understand it. Maybe they have finally beaten me.
soapdish
@JustRuss: Exactly this. In reality we:
1) Hate time changes
2) Hate Standard Time
It should be DST ALL THE TIME.