?? Last night, @BarackObama and @MichelleObama surprised patients at the @ComerChildrens Hospital.
The reactions on the kids and parents faces were absolutely priceless. #ObamaAndKids ?? pic.twitter.com/PHQOqwjtaP
— Merone (@Merone) December 4, 2021
Nearly 6 million million new jobs since President @JoeBiden and I took office.
While there’s more work to be done, we are making tremendous strides to build our country back better than before.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 4, 2021
“America is back to work and our jobs recovery is going strong.” -President Biden pic.twitter.com/RL99Reu2W2
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 4, 2021
The People’s House is officially set for the holiday season. pic.twitter.com/puRut8T4r0
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 4, 2021
trillions of dollars in remaking the conception of the social safety net and free vaccines for everyone. low unemployment and a rip shit stock market. i find it best not to lie but everybody is different. https://t.co/lat3bnBwkF
— World Famous Art Thief (@CalmSporting) December 4, 2021
Scout211
That first tweet. Oh my. It made me tear up, in a good way. The Obamas are such good people.
OzarkHillbilly
For a building filled to the brim with people, I don’t think there is a lonelier place in the world than a children’s hospital.
JPL
@Scout211: Same. With so much ugliness around us, it’s refreshing to remember that good exists.
Biff Baxter
Meanwhile, the price of gas has fallen 5 cents a gallon by me in the last few days.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Nothing sadder also. None of them should have to be there.
Dorothy A. Winsor
My power just flickered in and out. I don’t like it.
OzarkHillbilly
Don’t try this at home folks:
I keep Miss Kitty around for snakes myself. She complains a lot but I don’t have to worry about the house. I think.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Another attack on the coal industry!!! ?
Ohio Mom
A White House video of the holiday decorations without an impervious, over made-up scowling woman slinking through the halls in her stilettos, front and center. What a nice change (not to mention the improvement in tne decor).
debbie
@Ohio Mom:
I think I remember noting that she was wearing gloves while striding down that hallway. Reminded me a bit of Dr. Strangelove. Why gloves inside? Inquiring minds and all…
The Oracle of Solace
@Ohio Mom: You know, when I slink through halls in my stilettos, I’m always smiling, because I have the spirit of Christmas in me every day. No, not Christmas—Halloween. Still, I smile.
zhena gogolia
@Ohio Mom: MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY
zhena gogolia
@The Oracle of Solace: In the immortal words of Melatonin, “Who gives a fuck about Christmas?”
debbie
@debbie:
Yep, she is, red gloves to match those red trees (and also a small handbag) and then elbow-length black gloves when inspecting those white trees.
OzarkHillbilly
@zhena gogolia: On that topic, she and I agree.
@debbie: I always wear gloves when I’m inside. Fingerprints doncha know.
Ohio Mom
@debbie: She was always bundled up, IIRC, one year it was a big fuzzy white sweater, then there was her signature look, coat hanging off her shoulders.
Are we to believe the White House is that chilly? I wanted to yell through the screen, Just turn up the thermostat, it’s on me! (as a taxpayer).
The Biden’s know it isn’t all about them. Funny that a video of empty rooms conveys no loneliness, which TFGal’s solo videos always did for me.
Joe Falco
@Ohio Mom:
We should remember Jimmy Carter’s example and put on a nice thick sweater.
sdhays
@debbie: I think Roald Dahl’s Witches is more apt.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
OzarkHillbilly
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: And Chuck is absolutely innocent of any contribution to that sin.
trnc
This would be the same Chuck Todd that doesn’t believe the media has any business fact checking claims?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
here’s a (sort of) pep talk from Dan Pfeiffer, for my money the smartest of the O’Bros
sdhays
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Literally only Democrats have agency. Republican and media behavior is just “nature at work”.
Steeplejack
Speaking of celebrating the holidays, I presume you’ve all seen Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) tasteful family Christmas card?
Astute observation:
Matt McIrvin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: My understanding is that because of extreme gerrymandering it is literally impossible for us to hold the House in 2022 even if we were to get stellar turnout and a landslide vote majority. No amount of enthusiasm will do that.
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I don’t remember who, but someone tweeting about discouraged Democrats pointed out the while Black Democrats have been fighting fascism for generations and never given up, “some of y’all white people are all tuckered out after four years.”
Sure Lurkalot
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: My so called liberal governor says:
“Our hospitals are now filled, largely with unvaccinated Coloradans, many of whom are victims of misinformation campaigns and targeted lies that are being spread about the lifesaving vaccine.”
The. Unvaccinated. Are. The. Victims.
Which is why his hands are tied, can’t do a thing about those poor victims spreading disease and misinformation.
sdhays
@Matt McIrvin: Redistricting isn’t even complete, and I’ve read that Democratic gerrymandering has limited the damage. And the talking heads believed that the House was so gerrymandered in 2006 and 2018 that Democrats wouldn’t be able to win, but they still managed it.
Saying it’s impossible is nothing more than a self-fulfilling prophesy.
sdhays
@Sure Lurkalot: They are victims. But they’re also perpetrators. I think painting them as pathetic victims of an evil propaganda campaign is probably better than buying into the framing that they’re casualties in the war for freedumb.
RaflW
I’m in a funk. After skipping hosting my 17th annual Swedish-themed holiday party (thrown in conjunction with my birthday, and to honor my departed mom who always had a big buffet party of fabulous Swedish food on Christmas eve – then got up and whipped up a full American, turkey based Xmas dad for dad’s side of the cultural ‘divide’) last December due to the f–ing ‘rona, we inquired with friends and decided to throw a half-size, no kids, vax’d only party this year.
After all the shopping, cleaning, and just starting to lay out the food, my partner gets a text from a fellow musician in their six-member Celtic fiddle group. She became symptomatic two hours after the rehearsal Fri night, tested positive at a rapid test site yesterday afternoon, and was texting the group.
We called a Dr. friend who was on our guest list. He isn’t our doc, so he was measured in giving us info (he said if we didn’t cancel he’d still attend, so there was that) but we felt given the ages and various family connections they have, we cancelled less than an hour to start time.
Damn. It.
Fortunately the vac-sealed cured ham is good till Feb 22nd. Googling says resoundingly that our Costco cheesecake will freeze well. The Swedish meatballs (or their simulacrum, as IKEA was wiped out) hadn’t yet been defrosted. Cheeses will mostly keep, and oh, hey shoveling pumpkin pie into our emptiness last night did provide some emotional easing.
BF is likely fine. Both he and the now mildly-ill person were masked (BF and I are FFP2ers, most others still do fabric or basic surgical). But blerghety blerghy! We’re semi-quaranting from each other till I (hopefully) fly to Colorado this coming Wednesday.
Kay
@trnc:
I expect them to get worse.
Overwhelmingly, ridiculously negative coverage of Biden. It’s the Clnton email coverage all over again and when the Clinton email coverage was shown to be ridiculous they got defensive, denied and doubled down. If Biden manages to overcome this giant thumb they’ve put on the scale he’s a miracle worker.
The economic coverage is ludicrous. We’re at low unemployment, wages are up, people are spending like there’s no tommorrow and one would think to watch cable or read the national news that we’re in the depths of a depression. It sucks- it’s poor quality work. I’m glad I don’t make personal financial decisions based on this shitty work- I would have given up a year ago and missed a pretty damn good year as far as sales and income. I’m not the only one either- you cannot find an entry level middle class house to buy here- 80k to 150k range. They sell in 3 days. Auctions are packed- so not just real property but used equipment and personal property. I don’t know where they’re getting the money. I keep being told they don’t have any.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@sdhays: Had an epiphany on that topic the other day. People with the option who choose to remain unvaccinated are in effect volunteering to be biological suicide bombers. After all, most suicide bombers are indoctrinated by people who are too important to sacrifice their own lives to the cause…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@sdhays: and gerrymandering doesn’t apply to Senate races, which (as I hope to god we’re finally learning) is essential to the composition of the courts, and all kinds of fucker happens at the state level.
People love to say “We need to fight like Republicans!” and they usually mean being loud and aggressive and “fighting”. Republicans have been voting in every election, from the federal level down to dogcatcher, for fifty years. That’s the fight. That’s how they win. Last week on MSNBC I heard a prominent left activist say “We did our job. We showed up in 2020. Now it’s on Biden.” That attitude is a victory for trumpism
Geminid
@Matt McIrvin: Gerrymandering will certainly shift some House districts to Republicans. The question is how many. Or rather, what will be their net gain after Democratic gerrymandering in Oregon, Illinois, and New York is taken into account. We’ll know a lot more within a few weeks. But right now, I’m guessing Republican gains from reappotionment and redistricting will be in the single digits. Democrats probably will have to flip some districts (like my Virginia 5th) to retain control of the House, but I think it is an exaggeration to state that Republican control of the House is certain.
This would be a very good topic for a Balloon Juice post next February when maps are largely in place. Democrats in New York state may wipe out as many as five Republicans. Although, court challenges to maps in states covered by the Voting Rights Act, like North Carolina and Texas, will still be in play.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone ???
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
Truth ????
Steeplejack
@rikyrah:
Good morning! ?
OzarkHillbilly
I hate this phrasing. It implies that the DEMs, if they wanted, could push anything they want thru the Senate, which we all know is BS.
I would much prefer they say “nominal control of the Senate”. Probably wouldn’t make much difference with most of their audience, but it would be more accurate and might even give pause to those who listen.
Nelle
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: “It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lost of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crosing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls.” Robert F. Kennedy
Wanderer
Chuck Todd is a clear case of failing upwards to everyone’s regret.
I think the White House Christmas decorations are so beautiful this year. I prefer decorations without that bloodbath visage.
Another Scott
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Quasi-relatedly:
Things are happening and we’re not doomed. But we need to do everything we can to minimize the number of seats that are close enough to steal.
Cheers,
Scott.
OzarkHillbilly
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The Senate is gerrymandered by design. The most populous states (trending DEM) get the same number of Senators as the least populous states (trending GOP). This has the effect of giving the GOP a larger slice of the Senate with fewer votes.
Geminid
@OzarkHillbilly: A lot of people are dunking on Democrats for not getting more done despite holding the White House and having narrow Senate and House majorities. I notice that many of these are in the Left. These folks are not Democrats, and are intellectually and emotionally invested in the Biden administration’s failure.
RaflW
@Kay: Next thing you know, the press is gonna start blaming Biden for the lack of new housing starts.
(Note that the Reuters article does say that permits issued are at a 15 year high. And to be clear, this article doesn’t blame Joe. But it’s comin’, from other sources, mark my annoyed word.)
OzarkHillbilly
@Geminid: And there is nothing we can do about them.
eta: well, almost nothing.
Matt McIrvin
@Kay:
To make some things I said earlier more precise: I think that to some extent many Americans have psychologically adjusted to the upsides, for them, of the economy always being slightly depressed–basically, cheap and obsequious labor and cheap consumer goods–and get upset when they encounter a situation in which these are no longer true.
What’s best for workers is not best for consumers or vice versa, and the fact that most people are both doesn’t always register. Also, workers aren’t feeling good either, they’re reacting to shitty conditions and flexing their muscle to make things better.
sdhays
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Exactly. And while we don’t know what’s going to happen next year, we know some things, like a major ruling against Roe v. Wade is coming. Who knows what the electoral impact of that will be, but assuming it will be nothing or pro-GQP is just silly.
I find election analysis this far out always seems blinkered and unhelpful.
Matt McIrvin
@Another Scott: Do you think there is any chance whatsoever that reforms to the Electoral Count Act will happen? The people who are plotting the next coup have effective veto power over regulations designed to stop them.
Leto
@Scout211: as always, the contrast in terms of simply humanity is so stark. Genuine empathy, and a desire to do good/bring joy, will always be a delineator.
@Ohio Mom: I will never understand that design motif. It’s beyond ice cold. The way the White House is decorated now is more reminiscent of the European Christmas decorations I know, full of warmth, color, and cheer.
Another Scott
@OzarkHillbilly: Democrats have the Leadership in the Senate, but they don’t have Control.
You’re right that the reporting on this is broken and has been for a very long time.
Grrr…
Cheers,
Scott.
frosty
@Matt McIrvin: I’ll be the morning Pollyanna because I don’t see Another Scott yet. There are a couple of other responses to gerrymandering: here’s mine. Gerrymandering concentrates one party (let’s say Democrats) in a few districts and spreads the other party (call them Republicans) among many. As I understand it, this necessarily dilutes the R vote in those districts, going from an average of, say, +7 to +3. In a normal election they all go R. In a wave election, where Ds are motivated to vote and GOTV works, a lot of those gerrymandered districts are liable to flip.
There’s a risky downside to an extreme gerrymander which can occur if the other party can pull it off.
ETA LOL, and here’s Another Scott right in front of me.
Starfish
@Sure Lurkalot: I am so tired of his garbage takes. I hope a better Democrat runs against him, but I expect the party support to be aligned with him and not in a position to make room for better Democrats.
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
There’s another way to look at this, though, from long term activists ( so not the “I voted for Obama and he didn’t fix everything” people).
It’s this:
It’s a view that says WE, the people, won these advances and our political leaders, “entrusted with guardianship”, didn’t value our work enough to protect them.
It’s true too. PEOPLE did this work. They organized and campaigned and secured these victories. Obviously “senate leadership” or “the president” put them into law but they didn’t do the work that got “labor rights” or “voting rights” or abortion rights” to that level- liberal activists did.
Another Scott
@Matt McIrvin: Yup – quick report from the trenches:
We went Xmas tree shopping yesterday afternoon. The place we normally go was almost completely out and prices were 2x what we paid last year. The guy said they normally get 1200 trees and could only get 500. But they still flew off the lot at 2x the price ($150 for a 7′).
We quickly hopped in the wagon and headed to another place we’ve used before. Lots of trees, but flying off the lot (they were going to sell out soon, and they usually don’t until closer to the 25th). Still $12/ft.
People may be grumbling about the price increases, but careful shopping still works. And people are spending a lot now even if they grumble. The 4th quarter GDP numbers are going to surprise on the upside, is my guess.
Cheers,
Scott.
Geminid
@OzarkHillbilly: One thing we can do about them is push back on mediums like Twitter, and there is fierce pushback there by people like Denise Oliver-Velez, Ragnarok Lobster, Black Professor, and a multitude of others including the “K-Hive.”
Lefties used to bother me a lot, but not so much now. They lost the intra-party struggle when Joe Biden crushed Bernie Sanders the last half of last year’s primary season, and most of Sanders’ supporters have come around. The remaining die-hards are making themselves more ridiculous every day. They may be maddening, but they are not very numerous considering the amount of noise they make. And as I noted, there are plenty of people vigorously exposing these soreheads’ malice and hypocrisy.
Starfish
@RaflW: If there is free testing readily available where you are, have BF get tested.
I am a parent (meaning I have a child who attends school with a cloth mask), and I have been repeatedly sick over the past couple of weeks. I came down with something shortly before a Thanksgiving trip, got tested and informed it wasn’t COVID-19, so we continued with our Thanksgiving plans.
A week after we came back, we got a notification from the state app that we had potentially been exposed (probably at the airport returning from the trip) and had some sniffles. Got tested again. It wasn’t COVID-19 again.
Our test results are coming back in about a day and a half where I live, and free testing is readily available.
gene108
The White House Christmas decorations are a yawn inducing pedestrian setup. It lacks the bold avant- grade terror inducing horror of Melanie “fuck Christmas” Trump’s decorations that were a wonderful daring departure from the pedestrian.
Borrowing from Stanley Kubrick’s vision from the movie, “The Shining”, of a blood soaked corridor, Melanie had red Christmas trees neatly arranged in rows on both sides of the hall. Such inspired decision are sorely lacking in Jill’s lazy pedestrian decorations.
What is the meaning of Christmas, if not reimagining blood soaked hallways giving little children nightmares?
debbie
@Steeplejack:
Jesus remains unamused.
Another Scott
@Matt McIrvin: With filibuster/cloture changes, lots of good things are possible. Will that happen? It’s not impossible, and the rules have been changed something like 50 times over the years, but yes it is a heavy lift. Nothing will change unless we do the work…
Cheers,
Scott.
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
I hate how conventional political media is, and I say this as a “conventional” person. This really is a different environment for them to cover- there was a huge federal response to what could have been a devastating ecomomic hit for people (so not our usual ” fall off a cliff, you’ll bounce back!”) and Biden really DOES have a different and more progressive view of the social safety net and work and faced with this, these changes, they retreated into covering it like it’s 1994 and Bill Clinton is in office.
Adjust. Adapt. Stop trying to jam everything into “THIS is like 1979!” or “THIS is like 1994!” Just look at it as a moment in time and report it. They’re deeply, deeply uncomfortable with change so they just pretend it isn’t happening. This isn’t good! It’s not real life!
debbie
Asked and answered.
Another Scott
@frosty: HeyO!!
Cheers,
Scott.
zhena gogolia
@gene108: Good one!
debbie
@Kay:
Even NPR mentioned it this morning.
Starfish
Did you see the great Marie Callendar pie debacle on Facebook or Twitter? It is so very funny.
Steeplejack
@OzarkHillbilly:
Strongly agree.
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
I had the same complaint with Trump. They could not cover Trump like they had covered other Presidents, but they demanded that they be able to do so. No. You’re going to have to adjust and come up with a different approach for different conditions. Stubbornly insisting this is “normal” isn’t going to work, and it didn’t work.
I can’t stand Jake Tapper- I think he’s a sanctimonious scold- but I do give him credit for looking reality in the face and adjusting his approach.
He called them liars and he was fucking hair on fire about the insurrection- he didn’t tell himself any fairy tales about the “system working”, he said “they want to steal this election” from about 48 hours after they started trying to steal it. He changed when facts and conditions changed. That’s what I want from them.
debbie
@Starfish:
I can’t imagine someone wouldn’t have smelt something burning before the pie was as burned as it was.
eclare
@Starfish: Did that woman leave some kind of cardboard insert on her pie while baking it with the oven set to sun?
oldgold
I attended a large virtual conference this week. On Wednesday the a speaker blamed Biden’ BBB program for the Dow Jones slipping roughly 461 points.
The next day, the Dow Jones was up 617. I raised my hand (virtually) and asked this same speaker, who was now on a panel, if he was willing to give Biden credit. The answer was “No.” To which I said, That’s what I expected from a Lou Dobbs’ acolyte.”
It then got fugly. I am good at fugly. The butter-knifed professor – not so much.
Lesson: when you run into these feckless frauds – take them on.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@oldgold:
the plan that hasn’t passed?
also, if you get into a fight about “the economy” with your drunk uncle or loud-mouth S/B-IL over the holidays, the SP500 is up over twenty percent since Biden’s inauguration, which is I believe almost three times its historic average
debbie
@eclare:
I think she turned on the broiler rather than the oven.
Matt McIrvin
@Geminid: When leftists dunk on “the Democrats” collectively instead of specifying factions or naming names, it’s usually a sign of a bad-faith argument. Just saying which Democrats they actually mean would go a long way to maintain trust, but that would also cause a lot of the arguments to collapse. They start with Manchin and Sinema misbehaving and then end up implicitly supporting responses that would make things even worse. How does withholding support for your own Democratic officials help?
trollhattan
@oldgold: Well played.
Leto
@debbie: she might want to turn her oven down from “cremate” to “bake”. Will produce better results.
RaflW
@Starfish: Yep, he will. But he has to wait several days. Right now it’d almost certainly not show anything but negative since the contact was just 40 hours ago.
I might get a rapid test in a few days also, since I’m planning to be at 9,000 feet for 8 nights starting Wed. Not a location where I’d want a respiratory illness.
This sort of cluster-f is why I get so damn mad when conservatives say that liberals ‘want the pandemic to continue so they can control people.’ Such utter, unmitigated bull crap.
zhena gogolia
@oldgold: Good for you!
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
Bumped up from last night:
Steeplejack
@Starfish:
That was hilarious.
SiubhanDuinne
Cross-posted from upstairs:
Breaking : former Senator Bob Dole has died at age 98.
I never supported him, but he was orders of magnitude better than the current GOP crop.
ETA: One pair of images that will stay with me forever is from immediately after TFG’s inauguration. Bob and Liddy Dole were seated at the top of the bleachers, on the aisle. They tried to greet and congratulate TFG, who ignored them and swept past them. A minute later, the Obamas got to the top row, embraced the Doles, and stopped to talk with them for a minute. The contrast was exquisite.
RIP, Senator.
Starfish
@debbie & @eclare:
The whole thread of people making fun of that lady’s pie making skills was so hilarious. It seemed like the people in charge of social media for that company had to eventually delete the thread.
opiejeanne
@sdhays: I wonder if her feet are square. That may be why you never see her bare feet.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@SiubhanDuinne:
there was a decent man in there somewhere. I remember him getting booed by his own campaign crowds when he referred to Bill Clinton as “my opponent, because he is not my enemy”. I was surprised and sad when he started wearing a MAGA hat.
His endorsement of John McCain when his wife was still pretending to be running for President was a hoot.
Fair Economist
@Geminid: I’ve said it many times; the “dead end leftists” are mostly fake. Even the hardest core genuine leftists like Chomsky are all in on Hillary or Biden over Trump.
trollhattan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Dole had a very sardonic sense of humor and at times was genuinely funny. As a WWII vet I wonder how he tolerated, or seemed to, Trump’s embrace of nazis. Maybe he never realized just how bad it was, being in his 90s and all.
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
I still remember the joint interview on PBS with Dole and GHWB during whichever primary. The host (Lehrer?) thanked them both at the end and Dole just barely got in a “Stop lying about my record.”
Better than TFG? Of course, but still an old crank even back then.
SiubhanDuinne
@Starfish:
That’s great!
sdhays
I should refresh the page before posting.
opiejeanne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: At Thanksgiving last week, nearly half of the assembled family & friends gloomily insisted that Trump would be re-elected. A roomful of Democrats who should have been joyful at the relief of having normal, competent people running the country, speaking Doom. I wanted to shout the house down, “No, it doesn’t have to happen, and WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING TO PREVENT IT.”
I didn’t, but when each of us was asked what we were grateful for, and it finally came to me to speak (I was next to last), I told them I was grateful for the vaccines that have allowed us to be together again, and that the former fucking guy was no longer in the White House. It got cheers and some “hear! hear!” reactions, and my son was left trying to find something to say that wasn’t anticlimactic. (He didn’t mind, he had just gotten engaged the day before and was just floating on actual joy.)
James E Powell
@sdhays:
Agree, but even this far out, narratives are setting in and they will be very hard to eradicate next summer & fall.
Upthread some one mentioned that, unlike Democrats, Republicans vote in every election, every level. Similarly, unlike Democrats, Republicans are campaigning every hour of every day with the identical message.
Another Scott
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He was a monster in some ways, also too.
Dole on Abortion (from 1996, though the headline says published 2005).
Too many like him used abortion as a cudgel to gain and maintain power. Reproductive rights were just a cynical political tool for them. They laid the cornerstone for what’s happening today.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Chief Oshkosh
@OzarkHillbilly: Yep.
And worth reposting:
https://fallows.substack.com/p/fools-drunks-and-the-united-states?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy
Kathleen
@Steeplejack: My caption was “A Christmas Peril”.
Steeplejack
Parking this here for the next time they come after Kamala Harris.
MagdaInBlack
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: I like that theory.
sdhays
@Another Scott: He endorsed Dump. As far as I’m concerned, that’s all that needs to be said about him.
Rot in hell, Bob.
Chief Oshkosh
@Kay:
Agreed, and so much more. Don’t discount the likelihood that, well, they’re just not very bright people. The brightest don’t make it in that industry anymore.
Not that that observation is especially helpful…
Warblewarble
The Massie photos are recurring theme with republican reps year after year. Massie merely jumped ahead of the pack.
Sure Lurkalot
@SiubhanDuinne: Low bar. One of the few “old guard” Republicans to support TFG, TWICE.
I’ll get my spouse to pull out and put on his Dope Hemp tee shirt from 1996. It is just too classic to throw away.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I have been told we should NOT say things like that. Also that turnout isn’t the answer to everything. Further, we must be cognizant of how horrible everything is all the time.
edited
Another Scott
@Chief Oshkosh: Thanks for the pointer. Fallows is great at putting important issues in context.
Cheers,
Scott.
Kay
@Steeplejack:
Thanks – I wondered if he had staff turnover.
It seems like they could fix this easily. Just report on the staff turnover. Leave the “leadership style” speculation to the reader.
James E Powell
@Kay:
That article says that “The Democrats” did not prioritize abortion rights, which is true. They’ve been running & hiding & reaching out & moderating the whole time. But you know who else didn’t take the threats to abortion rights seriously? Advocate groups & voters. “The Democrats” are trying to win elections and standing out for abortion rights does not win elections.
If NARAL & Planned Parenthood took the threats to abortion rights seriously, they wouldn’t have stood behind Joe Lieberman. If pro-choice people, including pro-choice women, cared about the threats to abortion rights they would not have voted for George W Bush in 2000 & 2004 – or any Republican in any year.
This relates to the “We are Doomed” thing in that people expect their feelings to be translated into action without them doing any work to make that happen.
I am obviously not talking about you, Kay.
oldgold
Harris is being “Hillaried.”
Mike in NC
Bob Dole is just more proof that the good die young. He blubbered like a baby at Nixon’s funeral and was a right-wing hatchet man and dirty trickster long before Roger Stone. His name rhymed with a bodily orifice.
lowtechcyclist
Trump accidentally spoke the truth about the 2020 election:
OzarkHillbilly
Please pass on my sympathies.
eclare
@Chief Oshkosh: Good article, thanks!
Steeplejack
@lowtechcyclist:
He is getting gleefully dragged up and down Twitter. As one commenter said, “He finally didn’t not concede.”
zhena gogolia
@opiejeanne: There was some of that at our Thanksgiving too. TFG will be reelected because our students insist on transgender rights.
Omnes Omnibus
@Omnes Omnibus: Oops. “… we should not say…” Not enough caffeine yet.
eclare
@Steeplejack: Thanks, it infuriates me. Like all the “mean girl” talk about Klobuchar that disappeared once she dropped out of the race.
WaterGirl
@Matt McIrvin:
It was also impossible for us to win the two senate races in Georgia. But many many many people organized, and fought tooth and nail, and *raised a ton of money for Georgia, and look what happened?
Allow me to introduce you to Senators Warnock and Ossoff.
Balloon Juice raised $900,000 for Georgia for 2022 and the runoffs. We did that.
You fight no matter how hard the battle, and sometimes you win.
NO ONE KNOWS THE FUTURE. NO ONE.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
gene108
@Kay:
The activist groups haven’t combined into a giant superpowered giant activist robot, where they all work in unison for everyone else’s causes.
Labor activist and union members have different membership and goals from reproductive freedom/social safety net activists.
I’m not sure it’s possible for one party to appeal to all of them without losing some of them.
WaterGirl
@Sure Lurkalot: As nauseating as it is to read that, I suspect that your governor is giving the unvaccinated space for them to change their minds.
If he publicly attacks and blames – even though they deserve it – there is no chance that they will change their minds.
sdhays
@James E Powell: Advocates supported Susan Collins all the way until 2020, when it was too late. Oops.
James E Powell
@Kay:
Then he ignored reality & led the attacks on Biden over the end of the Afghanistan occupation. He is, after all, a Villager first.
Renie
OT Re: Adam Schiff
Since my daughter summer interned as one of the assistants for Tom Malinowski when he was Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor we have always donated to his campaign where he is presently a Representative from New Jersey. On Dec 20th Adam Schiff is joining him for a one hour virtual fund-raising that you can attend. It appears the lowest donation is $25. But if you are a big fan of Adam Schiff (as shown in the book club thread), thought you may be interested in this. See Tom’s website for more info.
debbie
@lowtechcyclist:
Double negatives have always tripped up the poor guy. //
James E Powell
@Matt McIrvin:
lt allows them to do moral posturing.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: I added a “NOT” and marked it edited.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: Yesterday, I watched Julien Temple’s documentary about Joe Strummer, The Future Is Unwritten. I came away with two messages from Joe. Celebrate being alive. And, oddly enough, that the future is unwritten. I think we should take both to heart.
ETA: The film was great. Highly recommend.
eclare
@sdhays: There seems to be a divide between what voters say they approve of and how they vote. Majorities say they support abortion, larger majorities say they support some gun control legislation. And here we are.
And I’m sure the gerrymandering and the outsize influence of rural areas plays a part. I read today that the University of Memphis is ending its vaccine mandate because it’s no longer legal under state passed laws. And Nashville now gets a say in who we appoint as county health director.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: Danke.
Chief Oshkosh
@WaterGirl:
Maybe. More likely he’s just a go-along-get-along.
Also, whatever happened to the meme that the vaccinated were finally getting tired of the unvaxxed idiots that that there would not be consequences? I argue that that did happen and that the relatively mild negative news stories got more people to get vaccinating. That is, telling them to their faces that THEY were full of shit, that THEY were killing people, that THEY were the reason for a slowed economy, and that THEY were now going to be shunned, that that approach actually got some of them to get vaccinated. Who’s to say that that didn’t get more of them to vaccinate than the soft-sell?
eclare
@Omnes Omnibus: “When the world is running down…”
Oops! Got him mixed up with Andy Summers. Still a good sentiment.
Kay
@James E Powell:
You have to make a distinction between political leaders, activists and voters. They’re not the same. There’s a power differential. Saying each voter bears as much responsibility for protecting Roe as each senator or each president or each judge is simply not true. Presidents, senators, judges? They have more responsibility because they have more power. The essay looks at that distinction and says “we worked and agitated and cajoled to get these rights and YOU, the powerful people we entrusted with what we had gained, did not value that work enough to protect it”.
You see this distinction most clearly in the labor movement. There’s “labor” and then there’s “Democrats” who either do or don’t protect what “labor” (rightfully, in my view) believe that THEY won. So if the 40 hour week goes down it’s not “the Democrats lost the 40 hour week” – it’s the Democrats lost Labor’s 40 hour week. This view makes more sense to me. It’s how the advances actually happen. LBJ doesn’t create or invent “civil rights”. He picks up the codification of what civil rights activists fought for.
It’s fair, too. If Democratic leaders claim credit for the Voting Rights Act – and they do- then Democratic leaders have to accept responsibility for the demise of the Voting Rights Act. This works both ways.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Kay: Because only Democrats have agency? What about the Republicans voters keep sending to Washington? Who is actively trying to take the right to an abortion away? It’s not Democrats.
Why should Democrats bear the brunt of activist blame? I don’t get it. This is a hard fought, long term struggle and success is not guaranteed. But Dems lose a battle and now activists blame them for not fighting harder? Doesn’t seem like a good way to win the next battle.
Sure Lurkalot
@WaterGirl: The unvaccinated in my state have been given plenty of time and yet still more than 1/3 of the counties are less than 50% poked with one dose. Not sure where I read this but:
“There is an assumption that if they had better information they would make a better choice.”
They have and they didn’t, don’t, won’t.
Had occasion to email my community resource officer about a suspicious vehicle. He called me back after 2 weeks, apologized for the delay but his whole family was sick with COVID, which he described as THE MAN MADE VIRUS. Great state employee right there.
Omnes Omnibus
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: Yes, if voters keep electing Republicans, doesn’t it say that the rights that activists voted for and Democrats provided legislation to protect are not that important to the majority of voters? They remain important to me and to the other commenters here, but, if they aren’t more important to voters, then activists have more work to do to convince them. Democratic legislators have to be in power to enact laws. I am glossing over the fact that some Democrats are not fully on our side in these issues, but, ffs, let’s not ignore the literal elephant in the room.
WaterGirl
@Sure Lurkalot: Personally, I totally agree that they have been given more than enough time.
But as an elected official in CO it’s probably not smart to back these idiots into a corner with rhetoric. Back them into a corner with vaccine REQUIREMENTS, absolutely!
Obama sometimes praised people for things they were not doing yet – it’s an aspirational thing. Don’t demonize them for what they’re not doing; credit them for behavior that closer to what you want, even if they are not doing it yet.
My point is that his phrasing was likely a tactic.
I hold everyone – who could get vaccinated, but doesn’t – responsible for all these deaths and for the pandemic still raging.
Starfish
@WaterGirl: You would think that would be a path forward, but vaccines are somewhat taboo here.
I was honestly really pleasantly surprised that most people got vaccinated and got their children vaccinated because they are also lefty anti-vaxxers here too.
My son (fifth grade) was saying how the kids were talking about their excitement over getting their second dose, and one little girl said that her mom does not believe in the vaccine, so she has not gotten it.
We have both religious and philosophical exemptions to vaccines here, and there is a ton of medical quackery.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: There is some good news for Stacey Abrams today. Georga Senator David Perdue lost to Jon Ossoff in the January 5th runoff, but he is not going gently into the night. Sources say:
By former Republican standards, Kemp has been a success as Governor. But Kemp crossed the vindictive trump, so now he and Perdue will be spending a lot of money tearing each other down. Meanwhile Stacey Abrams will be banking money and leading a unified Georgia Democratic Party.
jonas
@eclare: This is right. Telling a pollster you approve of something is different than being willing to crawl over broken glass to vote for it, or against a politician who also doesn’t support it. As I’ve observed on a number of threads, if we were governed by polls, we’d be Sweden or New Zealand. Unfortunately, we’re governed by whoever turns out to vote, not whoever picks up a phone (in addition to the billionaires and corporations that determine what we’re allowed to vote on…)
Sure Lurkalot
@WaterGirl: That’s the rub. He refuses to do any state wide mandating. Masks or vaccines. A lot of the business community in the heavily vaxxed areas is pretty tired of being forced to be the ones to make and enforce rules.
oatler
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:
“Why should Democrats bear the brunt of activist blame?” Or Chuck Todd’s work will have been in vain. He had Mike Braun on this morning and didn’t once ask him about his vote to acquit TFG,
Captain C
@Fair Economist: I know a few people who fall under ‘dead-end-leftists’ who seem mainly concerned with bringing down the Democratic Party, but most of that group seem to be cosplay revolutionaries with trust funds.
WaterGirl
@Geminid: Fingers crossed!
Geminid
@Captain C: Yeah, these folks call for a “General Strike,” but most of them don’t have jobs that they could strike. That’s for the working class people they pretend to advocate for.
Captain C
@Geminid: “You need to pay the actual price for my moral grandstanding” is not the winning message they seem to think it is.
Geminid
@oatler: In 2018, Mike Braun beat incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly by 6%, with a margin of 135,000 votes out of almost 2,280,000 votes cast. That’s a comfortable margin, but not an intimidating one. I hope Indiana Democrats put up a strong candidate in 2024. There is a lot of handwringing about a Republican wave in 2024, but I think a Democratic wave is as or more likely that year. And Braun is not invincible even if there is no wave.
Madeleine
@WaterGirl: ummm . . . $90,000?
Ruckus
One thing that we should never forget and that is that is, who owns the press. A large amount is held by conservatives. Do I need to remind who owns one of the worst not news, news stations? Or some of the major newspapers? Or who benefits from the opposite of overall good economic conditions?
Laydeebe
@Sure Lurkalot: Polis is a businessman. Thats not to say he doesn’t have a heart, but he knows how important it is to keep the wheels greased and turning.
You start enacting/mandating Covid restrictions again, money stops flowing freely, and every business owner from Louie’s Pizza to CS Utilities get itchy. Folks need heat and light more than pizza, but commercial real estate is best utilized when people use it. And you can only have so many bosses and managers monitoring the key strokes of those remote workers working in pajama bottoms, and walking around their houses eating crackers like they own the place.
It is baffling that just to keep the economy running, you have to risk the lives of thousands of your constituents. Some of us may die, but It’s a sacrifice many governors are willing to make. Polis is risking his wealthy constituants cutting his campaign financing. These guys believe Jesus could have had more money if he had started making his followers tithe instead of preaching for free.
Besides, their wives need more pairs of Jimmy Choo’s, and their mistresses need bigger boobs. Losing a few thousand to add plexiglass to cashier stations and restaurant seating booths sucked. So did having to raise their employees fucking pay. Now that their workers are making $15 an hour, they think they should be eligible for better health benefits, shit called “maternity leave,” and time off for sick leave and shit.
CS isn’t as rural as Lauren, “we eat dinner with loaded sig sauers next to our plates!” Bobert, but we still have a lot of gun owners who attend New Life Church, and travel on I-25 daily, even though the government never does shit for them. These are folks with names like James Robert, whose West Virginia family hates him because “Jim Bob” forsake the coal mines to go to community college out of state. Now James owns a kitchen refurbishing buisness, and can buy his kids PS 4s or whatever. Christmas was meh last year, so this year is his time to shine. Goddammit, his kids WILL have the Christmas they were denied last year! He hates it tha those overweight, soft handed little shits don’t want to work in the family business, but they at least will learn to love him this year, expensive toys be damned!
A lot of the steel toed boot wearing, F-150 driving, small business owners took a hit last year. They may tolerate living in a blue state with a governor who doesn’t like vagina, but they draw the line at “Nazi” style forced vaccination.
Many had the “Chinese virus,” and recovered just fine. And although they’ll wear a goddamed mask for their chickenshit, but good paying customers, they draw the line at masking up to go into goddammed Safeway. This shit needs to end, and we need to hurry up and get back to the good old days of 2019. Besides, they’ve been told they are now naturally immune for life, variants be damned. It’s the rest of us acting like little bitches.
So yeah, we ain’t mandating shit, at least not until we hit Upsilon.
WaterGirl
@Madeleine:
No, for real, that is not a typo. We raised 900,000 on Balloon juice for Georgia.
Between Fair Fight, Warnock, Ossoff, America Votes -GA, we donated ~ 900,000.
Balloon Juice for Raphael Warnock, Georgia Senate
1,349 donations totaling $110,506
Balloon Juice for Jon Ossoff, Georgia Senate
8,371 donations totaling $740,387
Balloon Juice for America Votes – Georgia
242 donations totaling $21,673
Balloon Juice for Fair Fight
396 donations totaling $41,646
TOTAL: $914,212
Mousebumples
@WaterGirl:
I think that Ossoff $ included his fundraising for that House seat in 2017, too, though. (eg used the same thermometer)
Not sure on the money for then versus 2020,but I don’t think all of the Ossoff money was for 2020.
Not to diminish what we did – we are a fundraising powerhouse. And that was definitely an outcome that went against the conventional wisdom.
WaterGirl
@Mousebumples: Not according to DougJ – I asked the same thing when i first saw the numbers in the spring.
Doug said it DID include the Ossoff primary for 2020 but DID NOT include fundraising for the previous race.
For all fundraising in 2021, we have been starting over with a brand-new thermometer set at 0 so there is never any question.
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: Actually, Four Directions should be in the mix there, too, because we did raise money for them also in 2020.
Mousebumples
@WaterGirl: that works. I swear I saw someone say it included 2017 primary fundraising but I’ll trust the guy in charge of the thermometers!
WaterGirl
@Mousebumples: I think I may have said it once before I checked with DougJ. :-)
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: Made me look…
$7577 to Ossoff for the 2017 Special Election.
Hmm… Something’s wonky. As I search the DougJ pages for thermometers and click “Previous Page” I get a lower numbered page in the URL, but the date on the posts keeps increasing. I’ll have to stop now.It’s working as designed – my brain was backwards.
(But my recollection is that we raised a mountain of money for Ossoff when he was running for the House (DougJ mentions $30M for that race, not all B-J of course), and my recollection is that the thermometer didn’t start from zero when he started his run for the Senate – I thought it was strange at the time. But my recollection has been faulty more than once!!)
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: I wasn’t directly involved then. All I know is what DougJ told me, and i assume he knows what he’s talking about. ?♀️