Politico’s New Year’s resolution? Continue to be a boil on the arse of the body politic:
When Joe Biden first came into office, progressives said he could be the next FDR.
Now, as Biden’s relationship with the left has come under strain, liberals are talking about treating him like former President Jimmy Carter instead — and mapping out a Democratic primary challenge in 2024.
A steaming load of horseshit from start to finish. The reporter got a click-bait quote from some lefty PAC nobody who used to be AOC’s PR flack. Even the crap article notes that actual Democrats, including uber progressive House members, are backing Biden. Rep. Ro Khanna is quoted in the article saying Biden will have his “enthusiastic support” in 2024.
The potential challengers listed are cranks and kooks like Nina Turner and Marianne Williams. But still the article makes this risible assertion:
The fact that any primary challenge at all is now openly being discussed demonstrates how disappointed some progressives are about Biden’s presidency.
That’s just unadulterated bullshit. Dozens of people challenged President Obama in 2012, including a fellow named Vermin Supreme. No one took it seriously because it wasn’t serious. This Politico story isn’t either.
***
TV notes:
We finally saw “The French Dispatch.” It was worth seeing, but it’s not Anderson’s finest work, IMO. Peak quirky, but that’s mostly it.
We’re also watching the “Station Eleven” series, and four episodes in, it’s good. But the TV adaptation departs from the book’s narrative structure in an important way that I hope doesn’t blow up later.
Food notes:
We’ll be making a margherita pizza later. Fuck a bunch of black-eyed peas. I’ve never been a fan and can conclusively testify that they do not work as a good luck generator. So henceforth, I’ll be eating things I actually like on New Year’s Day, such as pizza.
Puppy notes:
Progress on the housetraining front! Twice Pete went to the door to indicate he wanted to go outside. I took him out to take care of business both times, which he promptly did. A third time, he went to the door, but I didn’t see it because I’d stupidly paid attention to something else. Found a puddle in front of the door.
That’s my mistake, but eventually I’ll have to teach him to bark to let me know he wants out instead of silently standing in front of the door. That’s been the breakthrough moment with all the dogs I’ve trained, including Badger, who learned very fast. If Pete gets it as soon, he’s a genius.
Cute little bugger, isn’t he? And yes, my WiFi thingie in the background is on a stack of accordions. Isn’t everyone’s? (Neither of us plays the accordion, but the mister’s late father collected them, and we inherited several.) Bonus Pete picture:
Open thread!
Another Scott
Doggo is smart!
(I’m getting 404s when clicking on the two pictures to embiggen them.)
Cheers,
Scott.
Betty
That first picture of Pete is just lovable.
Scuffletuffle
What a smoochable face!!!!
Dorothy A. Winsor
I really liked the Station Eleven book. I haven’t seen the show but a friend told me the first part really consolidated events that were more spread out in the book.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Nina Turner and Marianne Williams?
What! No Tulsi Gabbard?
SiubhanDuinne
PUPPEH TONGUE!!!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I agree Nina Turner is a crank and kook. It’s been pretty clear for years. Yet she got a lot of prominent people to campaign for her about six months ago.
Ralph Nader was pretty much a quirky relic in 1999, and until 2015 Bernie Sanders’ biggest platform was Thom Hartmann’s radio show. Cranks and kooks can do a lot of damage.
“judges or whatever”, could be the slogan of the anti-Dem left. Who would hire a moron like that?
Geo Wilcox
On the puppy front, we hung a bell off the door handle and never missed a need for going outside for business. Make it a unique bell and train him to use it, very easy with a smart dog like Pete. Our Swissies took longer as they are huge dogs whose bladder does not develop as quickly as small dogs. With our male, we’d get the piddle trail to the door THEN he’d ring it. Sigh…
Elma
I’m not sure you had to confess to the accordions. I would never have guessed what was in the background.
Charluckles
Put a bell on a rope on the door knob. When the bell rings the door opens. A bit of peanut butter on the bell will help make the connection.
Charluckles
@Geo Wilcox:
hear, hear
Old Man Shadow
I think most progressives with brains in their head recognize that the problem, as always is the Senate.
Mike E
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Politico/CNN/NPR et al put the ‘concern’ in ‘concern trolling’. What efgoldman said often, and always.
mrmoshpotato
I’d forgotten about Vermin Supreme.
zhena gogolia
I’m with you on black eyed peas
Baud
Pete > Politico
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The entire premise of the article, “Biden’s relationship with the left has come under strain,” is bullshit.
mrmoshpotato
Sadly, no. No squeezeboxes at my place or my parents’ place.
NotMax
So what’s the perfect garnish for a nothingburger?
Ghost peppers!
:)
Geminid
That Politico article reminded me again what a good thing it was that Shontel Brown beat Nina Turner in the OH-11 primary. Brown saved Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi some real trouble. Turner would have been a problem for Pramilala Jayapal too. I bet many of the Democrats who endorsed Turner were relieved when she lost. Turner tried to present as a nice person when Marcia Fudge’s seat opened up, and kept up the act until her lead slipped away. Then she went down snarling.
mrmoshpotato
@Geminid:
Ain’t that the fuckin’ truth!
Baud
@Mike E:
Politico puts the pro in propaganda.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: Lots of spicy nothingness?
Mike in NC
Is cornbread a New Year’s staple? I wanted to pick some up for our chili dinner and had to go to three supermarkets to find any.
trollhattan
Stack of Accordions would make a great punk polka band name.
Pete sure is a cute li’l bugger. My most original comment of 2022. (Which is weird to type, but now anticipating February 2 and 22.)
Villago Delenda Est
POLITCO needs to be nuked from orbit. Axios and The Hill, too.
It’s the only way to be sure.
raven
@Mike in NC: yes
TaMara (HFG)
I see others use the bell method. While Christmas stuff is on sale, see if you can find some sleigh bells – I have two sets, they are pretty and on leather. They stand up to being bashed several times a day by impatient dogs. Trixie is not quite there yet, but Scout is setting a good example.
Funny story – for whatever reason Scout was very resistant to the bells and relied on Bixby’s skills. One morning I insisted she ring the bell before I would let her outside. She picked her paw up and hit them so hard they flew across the room and then gave me a look that would put a 13 yr old to shame, that basically said, “fine, I rang your fucking bells.”
For such a mild-mannered dog, it was a pretty stunning act of rebellion. LOL
raven
@zhena gogolia: Mine are awesome. Camellia brand beans are creamy and wonderful!
zhena gogolia
@TaMara (HFG): haha ?
zhena gogolia
@raven: I’ll have to take your word for it
germy
Poe Larity
Where is the Draft Baud movement?
germy
@Poe Larity:
That window closed.
delk
I’m a proud graduate of the Academy of Accordion!
mrmoshpotato
@TaMara (HFG): LOL! “Now let me out!”
divF
@trollhattan:
One of the great Bay Area institutions is a band called Those Darned Accordions.
raven
Pretty afternoon in Pasadena, Go Utes!!
raven
How can you opt out of the Rose Bowl????
germy
mrmoshpotato
@germy: Old news.
Baud
@Poe Larity:
I’m trying to go to prison to ensure that I’ll get a sizable showing in the West Virginia primary.
RaflW
“That’s just unadulterated bullshit.”
Politico really misses the adulterating bullshitter in chief.
.
eta: Pupper pics like the OP really make me want to figure out how to house train both a doggo, and the BF (he’s a lovely guy, but never had dogs growing up – so I’d have to train the BF to tolerate some of the joys of living with pets. His constitutional fortitude is fine).
karen marie
@Geo Wilcox: I get the bell thing but that would be after the dog is housebroken. I’m a proponent of pee scheduling. Puppies taken out at frequent intervals, with the time between outings increasing as the bladder strengthens and they can hold it longer. An old dog can think “I have to pee” but is able to hold it till someone can let them out but puppies inevitably don’t realize they have to pee until they REALLY have to pee.
I’m having my own dog pee issues. Or at least, “issue.” My 12-year-old spaniel had a terrible night because of really loud fireworks, and I woke up this morning to the kitten furiously scratching at my bedcovers. Turned out, my poor dog peed in her sleep on the bed, soaking everything through to the mattress. Poor girl! She could barely walk, looked like she was having balance issues. The bathroom is her “safe space” when there’s boom-booms, and she jumped in and out of the tub at least five times during the worst of it last night. I think she may have pulled something in one of her hind legs. She certainly exhausted herself, hence not waking up and peeing in bed. She’s much better now – she’s able to stand and walk fairly normally, but we’ll get her to the vet for a look-see as soon as we can get an appointment. Washing the bedspread and mattress pad (and sheets) was not on my to-do list for January 1st but they were about due anyway. I need my girl to hang on for at least another four years – 12 is too young to be falling apart!
laura
@trollhattan: Polkacide! The punkest of accordian bands- saw them at the Bottom of the Hill with Big Lou’s Polka Casserole and Those Darn Accordians. Also, highly recommend the collection of short stories Accordian Dreams by Annie Proulx, and for those of you in the vicinity in Mid-August, the Cotati Accordian Festival and LadyofSpainathon.
Please consider this a public service announcement. \\
RaflW
@divF: One of the absolute best wedding receptions I ever attended featured north Texas’s Brave Combo (purveyors of ‘nuclear polka’, check out the band photo). So. Much. FUN.
I think they’re still going after 42 years.
germy
@laura:
Accordion jazz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGeGw8qCO6s
raven
@karen marie: Aw damn. It’s so weird, our rescue was shot and the barrage in Athens last night didn’t phase her!
Honus
Frankie Yankovik would be proud.
Also, people in Northern West Virginia and Western Pa don’t eat any damn black eyed peas either. We eat pork toast and sauerkraut on New Years.
zhena gogolia
I tried to join the zoom but didn’t get let in.
ok i’m in, thanks!
raven
@karen marie: Our Lil Bit blew an ACL when she was that age. It’s not a horrible fix for that size pup.
different-church-lady
Happy New Year. My furnace crapped out last night.
raven
@RaflW: Crate train the pup. Take the doggie out constantly and let it stay in the crate.
Geminid
@Honus: Hey, Honus, Happy New Year! Please shoot me a text when convenient. I think I may have lost your number.
karen marie
@raven: Previous vets had prescribed Xanax for her, and it worked really well. Unfortunately, her current vet last year refused to write me a scrip for it and gave her Trazadone instead. We tried it through last summer (4th of July is hell for her) but it really did not work. I completely forgot about Christmas/New Year fireworks and failed to go back and insist the vet re-prescribe the Xanax. I won’t be making that mistake again. When I take her in for an exam and some Rimadyl, I’ll get a prescription for Xanax or find another vet.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@raven:
there have been players heading to the pros that had their careers severely damaged by bowl game injuries (ie Jaylon Smith). with this in mind players projected to have a pro career have opted out of non playoff bowls (ie Christian McCaffrey)
Honus
@RaflW: they did a great album with… Tiny Tim!
raven
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Yea, I’m familiar with the rationale.
raven
I see they have tarped the shitty end zone seats we were in.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Mahatma Baud.
Ben Cisco
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: It has become de rigeur these days…
Miki
@karen marie: Hate, hate, hate fireworks. My old standard poodle, Mike, would retreat to the bathtub. Broke my heart ?.
Might be time to have some blood work done for your doggo. Both peeing and wobbliness can indicate kidney issues.
{{{{karen marie & Doggo}}}}
Geminid
The Politico article made a little bit of a splash on Twitter. Thoughtful, self-described progressive Mangy Jay tweeted a typically cogent refutation of the premise that Joe Biden is letting progressives down. And the sarcastic Ragnarok Lobster got his first chance of the New Year to bash the “Cosplay Socialists.” Then Mr. Lobster had a little fun:
NeenerNeener
@raven: None of my dogs cared about fireworks until they got to be about 7 or 8 years old. Then they started freaking out for every holiday display. The year that the housing development behind me did “Ring of Fire” they just about lost their minds.
Miss Bianca
I am deaded.
Cutest.puppy.ever. And clever too, apparently!
zhena gogolia
@NeenerNeener: we had no fireworks this year. I slept right through midnight
Baud
@Geminid:
That was the whole point, I assume.
Miss Bianca
@RaflW: Oh, man – Brave Combo! And Those Darned Accordions! I’m having flashbacks to the 80s now!
cope
Delivery pizza and salad from Rosati’s last night, left overs today for an early bird dinner. We are black eye pea people and tucked into them (a dip to go with tortilla chips) for brunch. I don’t really believe that luck can be enhanced, otherwise it wouldn’t be luck, would it? We do like the dip, though.
We actually stayed up past midnight last night, thoroughly out of character for us. Though unfazed by the 7/4 explosions, our newish pup was not happy with the explosive demonstrations last night so we had to wait it out. We did.
NeenerNeener
@zhena gogolia:
Lucky you, we had them in my little neck of the woods. I’m currently between dogs right now, though, so they only annoyed me.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Just got back from my perch over the Rose Bowl, got some nice shots of the B-2, I saw it this morning when it flew over Glendale, but was working and couldn’t grab my camera(it was in the car and I drove with that in mind).
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Did your manager come out with or without the apron on?
zhena gogolia
@Baud: we’re all waiting for the ending to that thriller
Miki
Da Boy got his first Home Grown Lawn Boy Haircut this week. My groomer can’t get him in until the end of January, and he would have been a total mat-ball by then if we hadn’t cut him down. He was quite the Poof Ball after his bath.
He turned 6 months old today. House training is going well, as is clicker training (sit is locked in, look-at-me is getting there). He mastered walking down the back steps today (in -3 F weather), so no more carrying. And his last baby canine finally fell out. Puppeh-ing is hard.
And now he sleeps …. Shhhh.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: @?BillinGlendaleCA: yeah, about that: the manager was assuming a break-in had happened because of the pallet of concrete blocks, or he put the blocks in front of the door because he thought there might be somebody in the store?
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Ikr? I’m on pins and needles.
schrodingers_cat
Mnem update
She is well and has been focused on her writing. I told her that you guys were asking about her.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Thanks! Good for her.
sab
@mrmoshpotato: We’ll see what happens with the redistricting. Nina Turner may be back.
trollhattan
@different-church-lady:
Ooh, sorry. We should start a club. The club is along the lines of Groucho’s note, “I won’t belong to a club that would have me for a member.”
Our service appointment isn’t until “between ten and two on Tuesday.”
Chilly fingers and toes crossed it’s nothing horrid.
Good luck!
Rocks
A special song just for Corbin Trent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4xdPuX_w8Q
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@sab: in ’22? God help us. Maybe she’s burned too many bridges to win a primary.
I know if I were teh OH GOP, I’d do everything I could to make that nut case (and Bernie and AOC) Tim Ryan’s de facto running mate.
Geminid
@Baud: It was a pretty flimsy article. And unsurprising, too. Some people on the left have been tearing Biden down for months. They want him to fail.
I might have ID’d the sources of Turner’s and Trents words even if they had not been attributed. Corbin Trent’s pissy style is especially distinctive. Back in November 2018 he and his pal Chakrabarti were the cause of the shortived “AOC wants Hakeem Jeffries primaried” story. Politico reporter Laura Barron-Lopez did not identify her “sources close to Ocasio-Cortez,” but Trent’s style was unmistakeable. He was making trouble for Ocasio-Cortez before she was even sworn in, and she did well to let him go within a year.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: You are welcome!
BTW the year has begun well for me, Jorts liked one of my tweets.
mrmoshpotato
@sab: Ugh.
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: congratulations
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Jorts is good people.
schrodingers_cat
@sab:
I thought she wanted to primary Biden.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud:
@zhena gogolia: He came out with the apron, so I parked and we opened the place. We were moving the BBQ’s outside when the B-2 flew over us, making it’s turn to line up with Colorado Blvd in Pasadena.
sab
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Tim Ryan has a lefty opponent for the Senate seat. Sort of the same ilk as the other non–Dem lefties.
The Republican re-districting plan consolidates the main cities, so Cleveland isn’t split up any more. Turner might do okay there, but maybe not since Mayor Jackson retired. I doubt if Mayor Bibb has much use for her. I still cannot tell what district Shontel Brown is in. I think she is in the eastern suburban one which leans Republican.
zhena gogolia
@?BillinGlendaleCA: so why was he scared
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Yay! I love happy endings.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: They put the pallets of blocks in front of the entrance to prevent a smash and grab type of theft. That entrance is the only one that does not have a metal roll-up door.
The Dangerman
Boil their ass? Capital idea! Or should that be capitol idea? Or would that only be boiling their asses in DC?
zhena gogolia
@Baud: I don’t think Dwayne Johnson is going to option it
sab
@schrodingers_cat: Would she waste her time on that if she had a realistic chance at a Congressional seat?
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
pics or it didn’t happen
The Dangerman
Boil their ass? Capital idea! Or should that be capitol idea?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@zhena gogolia: I don’t think he was, but if someone had been in there, he didn’t want to endanger any more employees than necessary. One other guy from my group went in with him.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Maybe next year when I have a decent cell phone camera, I did take pics of it flying over the Rose Bowl.
The Dangerman
Oh shit! Broke the blog on NYD. I’m gonna be in such trouble.
zhena gogolia
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I’m glad it was safe
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Maybe Tom Cruise?
zhena gogolia
@Baud: he’d look good in an orange apron
?BillinGlendaleCA
@zhena gogolia: Tom might be more the right age, the manager is a couple of years younger than I am.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I have no love for Politico, but it didn’t exist in 2000 (did it?), and I don’t think it was Politico, or the NYT, or NPR that convinced a lot of people that the most important issues of the 2016 campaign were something called /checks notes/ TPP, and the crime bill that passed when Hillary Clinton was (legally) a private citizen (and that Bernie Sanders voted for).
And as ever, this isn’t about refighting the past, it’s about learning from it (or not). I can see “Joe Biden didn’t keep Elizabeth Warren’s promise on student debt!” becoming the WALL STREET SPEECHES! of ’22 and ’24
ALurkSupreme
The movie was complete garbage. Waaaay up its own ass.
eclare
@Miki: That is floofy! His home grown haircut looks very nice.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
I was in Khartoum the other day and my cab driver asked me why hasn’t Biden cancelled student debt. He thinks Tom Hanks should primary Biden.
rikyrah
Pete is cute?
Jerzy Russian
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:
Shouldn’t this be updated to Uber or Lyft? Otherwise, the classics never get old.
Tony Jay
Rolls eyes.
Has Biden broken every single promise he made to win the Democratic Party primaries? Has Biden quietly set about expelling as many leftwing members of the Democratic Party as he can get away with? Has Biden instructed the head of the Democratic Party’s bureaucracy to threaten state and local parties that so much as discuss these expulsions with suspension (and individual members with expulsion)?
No? Then Biden likely doesn’t have a problem with the vast majority of leftwing Dems. If he did then I’d bet a considerable amount of money that Politico wouldn’t say a single, solitary word about it.
That’s how it works over here, that’s probably how it works over on your side of the Pond.
raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I got shots during the parade and during the National Anthem.
mrmoshpotato
Hehe
Geminid
@sab: I read that the Republican drawn map is tough for Marcie Kaptur (OH-9). She says she’ll defend the seat anyway. And the Ohio Supreme Court may decide the map violates the state’s Constitution. They heard arguments this past week.
Tim Ryan’s primary opponent, Morgan Harper, is backed by the Justice Democrats, Corbin Trent’s former employer. They and their allies were instrumental in electing Omar, Tlaib, and Ocasio-Cortez in 2018. Ayanna Pressley also had their backing, but she might have beaten Capuano without them.
I don’t think Harper will do much in the Ohio primary. But the Justice Democrats have plenty of money to spend. A conservative donor who was a big contributor to California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher gave their superPAC $500,000 last year. They have also mastered the art of getting their donors to contribute to candidates in sums under $200, which are more or less anonimous under FEC rules.
Campaign finance researcher @LizBurgh considers this apparently benign funding as a kind of dark money. Some of it certainly is small donations, but some probably is larger donations broken into small chunks to evade reporting rules. Larger donors get identified by name and industry.
James E Powell
@Geminid:
Turner has been a non-story since she lost. Priceless.
sab
@Geminid: Morgan Harper primaried Joyce Beatty in the last primary.
Suzanne
@karen marie: I had a spaniel tear her ACL. She also had terror-pees in her old age. She was an amazingly sweet dog, but so, so falling apart.
raven
@Suzanne: Raven had anal cancer in his las couple of years. Did do the whole deal, surgery, chemo and radiation. It bought him time but we’d never do it to a dog again. Then there was Lil Bit, OY the poor thing. . . but she was happy through most of if.
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
There do seem to be snippets of the left that doesn’t seem to like Joe. But then they don’t seem to like anyone on the actual left, they like people who will seemingly take it as far left as imaginable, not as far left as practical. They are far opposites of the right wing nut jobs. Hey – left wing nut jobs, everything will be fine if they become the wealthy robber barons. Same car, different day.
Geminid
@sab: Beatty beat Harper by 2-1, I think. This Senate run is a brand building and fundraising exercise for the Justice Democrats. And if Ryan comes up short in November, they can say, “See what happens when you run a Centrist?“
rikyrah
@Geminid:
No lie told
raven
@Ruckus: Pretty afternoon.
Miki
@raven: We learn the hard way about the limits of love. Still mourning my Sully and the 7 intense months caring for him as his kidneys failed. No regrets, but deeply wounded. Somehow I’m able to mourn Sully’s passing and embrace my new puppy at the same time. But it’s a bit emotionally overwhelming at times.
raven
@Miki: We haven’t spread Bohdi’s ashes yet and he died in June. I did make his memorial and put a nice plaque with his picture (and a first in show trophy we found at an antique mall) next to the other pups. I so relate to the intense care, we went from two and a half years with Raven’s cancer and then Lil Bit had so many problems all her life. Bohdi was in pretty good shape until the last year or so. I feel a little twinge of guilt because we are so attentive to Artemis but I guess we needed someone to care for.
Brachiator
I know that this is largely nonsense, but even if it were true, I would not care. Progressives are part of the Democratic Party, but they are not the entire party. Nor are they the most important group in the party.
And it is certainly not true that simply labeling an idea as “progressive” makes it worthwhile.
That said, interesting that Politico seeks to drum up anger and controversy just as a New Year begins.
Did they have anything to say about the flaming shitshow which is the Republican Party?
Miki
@raven: I stopped getting ashes in 2008. My dad died on January 31, my mom died on July 13, and my heart dog, Mike, died on August 9. We literally dug a hole and buried my folks ashes in an old family cemetery (no one had been buried there since 1938). The plan was to bury Mike’s ashes there as well, but there was a mix up at the crematorium and he was cremated in a mass burn so there was no way to get his ashes. That did it for me. Mike lives on in my heart, that’s the best thing ever.
raven
@Miki: Here’s the Bohdi’s grave,
sab
@Geminid: Except he isn’t a centrist.
Geminid
@Brachiator: Headline aside, I thought that the article was in effect good for Biden. The intemperance of Corbin Trent’s words tends to discredit the so called “progressive” critique of Biden. And the most significant news was that nobody in Congress was advocating for a challenge, much less considering one themselves. Somebody threw Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley’s name out there, but I expect a spokesman will swat that one down if neccesary.
karen marie
@Miki: Ugh. Lucy gets bloodwork run annually (most recently, in December), which, as far as I know, includes a test/tests that would flag a kidney issue, so I don’t think it likely she has one but …
Eight hours on from the events of this morning, she seems to be fine. I can see that she’s a bit cautious in her walking but much closer to normal than the staggering, off-balance business of this morning. There have been a couple fireworks this evening but nothing traumatic so far. Fingers crossed!
Geminid
@sab: I know Ryan isn’t a centrist. That’s just what the Justice Democrats will tell their credulous audience. They’ll call any Democratic Representatitive who is not in the Progressive Caucus a Centrist. And if Ryan wins they’ll say, “Ryan was a Centrist, but he won because Harper forced him to the Left.”
Now some people on the left are even starting to call Democrats like Jimmy Panetta (CA) and Andy Kim (NJ), who are actually in the Progressive Caucus, PINOs- Progressive In Name Only. This was only a matter of time
Kay
I took my youngest back to school today, post Christmas break. I had this narrow window between meeting a winter storm west of me going out there and then turn around and same storm chasing me back east to Ohio, which I accomplished, snow ahead then snow behind, so I was PRETTY pleased with myself. I love the hourly weather projections. I rarely get caught in a storm anymore.
He’s a disgruntled Lefty but he doesn’t seem to hate Biden- he does think Biden is too old and believes he is somewhat compromised by advanced age. The youngins see a lot of dishonestly edited video clips purporting to show Biden’s dementia on social media, so many I have come to believe it’s a deliberate smear campaign- professionally done.
Miki
@raven: Breaks my heart ….
This is the family cemetery where my folks are buried, where my aunt and uncle are now buried, and where my sibs and cousins and I are going to be buried. It’s in the middle of corn fields in Goodhue County, Minnesota. Too many dead, nameless babies. And a few Civil War/Indian War veterans (they witnessed the mass hanging in Mankato, MN). And my Great-Great Gramma, who died in the Sea Wing Disaster
When I was a kid we went to the cemetery every Memorial Day to mow the grass and plant geraniums and place flags, even though nobody had been buried there for decades.
Never thought of myself or my family as embracing ancestor worship, but we kinda sorta did. And do, apparently.
Miki
@karen marie: Yep – standard blood work should show BUN and creatinine, and those are the kidney values. Thing is, with kidneys, by the time the blood work shows problems, 75% of function is gone. But that just means it’s time to change diet, etc.
I don’t want to freak you out. Sorry. But kidney disease on my mind still.
Hugs to you and Lucy.
raven
@Miki: That is crazy, I just started reading “The Last Gentleman” about Tom Hughes from Mankato. I’ve been friends with his son for years and knew a bit about his position against escalating the Vietnam war but nothing else about the family. It begins with a history of his grandfather who witnesses that hanging.
WRRistow
Pete the Pup was Don Marquis’s (notional, I presume) dog in the Archy and Mehitabel aeries. Unlike the free-verse cockroach Archy, Pete wrote optimistic-toned rhymed verse:
“O, Master, can we go right now
And find another star
And eat another Hamburg steak
In a refreshment bar!”
raven
@Miki: I just looked at your flickr and nine years ago I asked if your dad was a Navy chaplain?
RaflW
@raven: Thanks! Yeah there’s that part, and I think we can do all that.
The household challenge is that we travel, and I travel separately form the BF at times. Does the doggo stay home with him? Go on road trips (some dogs love that). And so on.
Miki
@raven: Nope – just an electronics kid who spent his 1.5 years on ship reading literature. The church stuff came much later.
Big Picture Pathologist
A bit late with this, but blogger Dreamweasel’s summary of 2021 is a snark-filled masterpiece:
https://dreamweasel.net/2021/12/26/2021-year-in-review/
Betsy
The blackeyed pea statement (manifesto). That was hysterical. I was thinking today how many times I’ve faithfully rushed out on New Year’s Eve desperate for hog jowl so I could assiduously apply myself to helping next year be fortunate. Yeah. Right.
Today I resolved NOT to continue the charade. Hurrah!! Etc.
Then my folks came over with a complete meal of cornbread, hog jowl, hoppin’ john, and collards. Well … here we go again.
SFAW
@raven:
Wait — Rose Twitter has their own Bowl game now? Glad I missed it.
raven
@Miki: You didn’t see my other post about Mankato!!!