Poet Maya Angelou becomes the first Black woman to appear on a US quarter pic.twitter.com/6MI768E6kV
— Victor Blackwell CNN (@VictorBlackwell) January 10, 2022
Michelle Obama has launched a campaign to get 1 million people registered to vote ahead of the 2022 midterms.
Obama says her foundation, When We All Vote, along with 30 other organizations, will recruit and train at least 100,000 volunteers to register voters.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 10, 2022
For the sake of one of the most important pillars of our democracy, we must put politics aside, step up, and act.
The Senate must pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 10, 2022
Fascinating..Schumer is asking for unanimous consent to hold votes at a majority threshold of 51 votes for all the GOP bills McConnell has put on the legislative calendar using Rule 14, plus the Democrats' two voting bills.
McConnell objects. https://t.co/H6mKn7Y3g9
— Lindsay Wise (@lindsaywise) January 11, 2022
You know how you can register to vote at the DMV? Mitch McConnell fought against that bill in 1992, calling it a “solution in search of a problem.”
He’s saying the exact same thing now about Dem bills making it easier to votehttps://t.co/DIEYPFOTq1
— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) January 10, 2022
debbie
Also, the right not to vote for traitors:
Baud
Congratulations, raven.
OzarkHillbilly
Earth to Raven. Earth to Raven. When can we expect your return from cloud nine?
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Too busy doing his happy dance? Congratulations, raven!
NotMax
Apologies if this is a rerun. Honestly cannot recall if mentioned it before.
Brantl
I think we need to do commercials about what Mitch McConnel has done against voting rights and access to voting, and make him the poster-child for the Republican Party. They get a pass because no one adds up what they’ve done. Let’s expose Mitch’s “bank account” of opposition to all voting rights for anybody that isn’t day-glow white.
lowtechcyclist
Isn’t it different in each of the three jurisdictions?
And how about the rest of the country?
j/k
JPL
Biden chose the wrong day to visit GA, because he won’t lead the evening news. I’m disappointed that Abrams will not greet him.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone ???
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Another Scott
Relatedly, …
They got that right – ultimately, the majority must get its way in a democracy.
(via LOLGOP)
Cheers,
Scott.
lowtechcyclist
@rikyrah: And a cheery good morning to you!
It’s a sunny but cold morning here in the, um, DMV. ;-)
debbie
@JPL:
What’s her reasoning?
JPL
@debbie: On CNN someone just said, a calendar conflict? There is a group disappointed that Biden didn’t address voting rights months ago. I feel that they are simply giving Fox News headlines.
gene108
I don’t think Republicans in Congress actually want their legislative agenda to pass. Their plans are not popular. They tried to pass next to nothing of importance the first two years of TFG.
No rewriting of environmental laws to allow more pollution, for example. They let the Executive and courts, especially the courts, push their toxic agenda.
Baud
@JPL:
That’s bad.
germy
@debbie:
germy
Baud
@germy:
That’s good.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: We drove downtown after the game right as it was exploding! I wasn’t here 41 years ago but I’ve been going to Dawg games for 38. This is awesome but I couldn’t sleep much so I’m pretty foggy. GO DAWGS!!!!
NotMax
@gene108
The Toxic Agenda.
Worst remake ever. (ref.)
;)
germy
raven
@debbie: Mornin Joe said she has to have her tires rotated!
JPL
@Baud: It is, but I wonder if it has more to do with this, from the AJC
Several voting rights groups also won’t attend, after saying separately they’ll boycott the Biden-Harris trip promoting voting rights in Atlanta on Tuesday.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Cloud 9 has always been awesome every time I visited. Enjoy it.
JPL
@germy: If the test is at the pharmacy, you can simply show your insurance card. Big IF, I know.
NotMax
@raven
Rim job? Meet with the president?
Rim job? Meet with the president?
Decisions, decisions.
//
debbie
@JPL:
I heard about that group. They weren’t planning on showing up either. ?
debbie
@germy:
Which tweet is not like the other? //
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
Meeting with the surgeon went okay?
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: This is as intense as it’s ever been for me. The Bears Super Bowl, the Cubbies and the Braves were all great but I’ve been going to Dawg games since 84 so this is really special. And Stetson Bennett, if there is a better underdog story I don’t know what it is!
Baud
@JPL:
Who knows? The boycott is dumb.
germy
@JPL:
A reply in AGB’s thread:
?BillinGlendaleCA
My internets have been fixed, according to the guy from Spectrum the puppy next door has taken to chewing on the cables. “No, puppy, no”.
Quinerly
@JPL: they are. And l am pissed at these groups in general and Stacy Abrams in particular. You just don’t show up when the Pres and VP come to town. As for Abrams, she should make room on her calendar.
NotMax
@raven
Did someone say Underdog?
;)
artem1s
@debbie:
Here’s the cherry on top of that Sunday…
Kay
@Quinerly:
The approach running for governor is different than running for congress. They usually put some distance between themselves and the national D leadership. Just as a practical matter, on the issue of voting rights in GA, Abrams is much more valuable as a governor than any D in Congress, if D’s in Congress don’t have the votes and they don’t seem to. Her strategy for her race should take precedence over a voting rights event.
germy
“Comity!”
raven
@Baud: Sort of like “defund the police”.
JPL
@germy: That makes sense. I have some tests, but I’m looking for more, since it’s suggested that each person take two tests. I have company arriving in a month.
debbie
@Baud:
It’s misguided. It’s not like we have a government that dictates policy. They should be angry at the people actually blocking votiig rights.
NotMax
@artem1s
Q: What’s the house special at the What We Do in the Shadows café?
A: Sundae bloody sundae.
//
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: Yep. One more month of PT and another month of strengthening at home after which I should be good to go.
@raven: I don’t recall which World Series it was I ended up in downtown STL after the Cards won it all, and to be honest I don’t recall much about that night at all, so I’m guessing I had a pretty good time.
Stetson Bennett had some special moments. I’ll bet you were on pins and needles after that first half, which made the 2nd half all the sweeter.
And speaking of PT, time to go. Have a good ‘un all.
Immanentize
@raven: Yay Raven! Yay Dawgs!!
@NotMax: I loved Underdog the cartoon. When I was in highschool band my friend and I orchestrated the opening song for the marching band. Who knows, they still might use it? Sadly, we played it a lot.
@germy: Ok, that’s a good idea, but more “just do it” bullshit. Who is going to do it? With what Congressionally authorized money? With what non-existent hundreds of millions of supplies of rapid tests? I am so sick of foot stamping Veruca Salt lefties.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: I get to go to PT (whoopie) when the swelling and hematoma subside. In a couple of weeks? Can’t wait. Have fun. If it doesn’t hurt you are not doing it right
Baud
@raven:
Worse, kind of. It’s as if Biden we’re going to give a defund the police speech and people were unhappy because he didn’t do it sooner.
Another Scott
@JPL:
To be clear, I don’t know either of those people. But we know that there really are chaos agents (intentional or not) out there. People aren’t the same.
It’s great that Biden and Harris are going and speaking out.
(via eclecticbrotha)
Cheers,
Scott.
JPL
@Kay: It’s created negative press locally. You would think a wreath laying at MLK crypt would be positive, but unfortunately, not. I think Stacy’s move hurts Warnock also. Voter turnout is key.
Ken
@artem1s: What’s the legal theory behind the Cawthorn lawsuit? Is there some Federal or North Carolina law forbidding insurrectionists from holding office?
Geminid
@Baud: I also think the boycott is dumb. One of the activists even told the President, “don’t come if you don’t have a plan [to pass voting rights legislation].” But the plan is obvious: to try to get 50 Senators to vote for a filibuster carveout for a voting rights bill. That person was grandstanding.
Stacey Abrams has not said she is joining the “boycott.” She just will be somewhere else, campaigning. I think if Abrams thought her presence would make the difference, she would appear with the President and Vice President. But this process will play out in Washington, not Atlanta. It may well result in disappointment, in which case Abrams is better off keeping it at arm’s length.
Quinerly
@debbie: lt’s downright stupid and destructive. The Biden haters/Fox are having a field day with it. And rightfully. We would be spiking the ball too if groups normally aligned with Trump failed to show up at one of speeches/rallies. And made a big show of not showing up. This is as stupid as “Defund the Police.”
germy
Good Lord, let’s hope not.
lowtechcyclist
Or maybe they said it like this? ;-)
Immanentize
@Ken: 14th Amendment, Section 3:
Baud
@Geminid:
Don’t know about Abrams. The boycott is an embossed invitation to Manchin to screw us over again. And he doesn’t need the help.
Quinerly
@raven: looks like you got there first. I posted my first comment. Started getting angrier. Came back and started reading comments from bottom up. Then came to yours after my second comment.
JPL
@Immanentize: Oh my. Do be careful. It’s a tad chilly in your neck of the woods.
Immanentize
@germy: Nate Silver: Wrong about everything since 2007.
Quinerly
@Kay: l disagree.
NotMax
@Immanentize
Strangest superhero dog TV ever.
Unsurprisingly the networks passed on it. Rumor has it that on otherwise quiet, dark nights the echoes of guffaws can still be heard in the hallways
;)
Quinerly
@Baud: TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU.
germy
@Immanentize:
Nice work if you can get it.
Immanentize
@JPL: Not today (yes it is currently 6 out) but in a couple of weeks after more healing.
Quinerly
@JPL: I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU.
raven
@Immanentize: Did you get my email?
Frankensteinbeck
@gene108:
I don’t think Republicans are monolithic on this issue. McConnell doesn’t want anybody to know how weak he is. McConnell doesn’t want to pass things period, because that is the specific kind of asshole he is. He can keep his caucus united in obstructing Democrats, barely, because there is nothing else they unanimously want besides Fuck You, Libtards. If they have to actually vote on anything else, it will be revealed that he is not the mighty genius everyone thinks. Fuck, he couldn’t get Obamacare repealed, and his caucus was thirsty for it.
Immanentize
@NotMax: Im sorry, I have not dropped enough acid today for that show. ??
zhena gogolia
@JPL: Oh, great, shooting ourselves in the foot again.
Another Scott
@germy: Silver seemingly has decided that he needs to troll his audience to stay relevant.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
@NotMax:
I lost it at “played by little people wearing masks.”
Immanentize
@raven: Yes I did, I’m gonna send one back to you. Thank you! What an impressive woman. I’m going to send her a thumbs up too. I really appreciate it.
Quinerly
@Baud: This.
(l’m very hot under the collar over this bullshit. I have a POD to load. I don’t need to be just throwing shit in it in a fit of anger. JoJo las Orejas is already so very confused in the chaos here)
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
We’re out of feet.
germy
I agree with this thread:
Ken
@Immanentize: That I knew about, but wouldn’t there have to be a legal finding that a person has engaged in insurrection? Is the lawsuit trying to establish that Cawthorn did?
Immanentize
@Another Scott: The man really is a good Quant and I do appreciate his aggregations, but like many Quants, he seems to be quite a non-zero amount on the spectrum. Making his punditry delusional.
Baud
@Quinerly:
Yeah, this is why I chose the path of the normies. I don’t need to care.
I do hope that if any honest person is funding these groups, that they will stop.
geg6
@germy:
That stupid motherfucker knows nothing. Jesus. I wouldn’t vote for Eric Adams if there was literally no one left on earth but me and him. I can’t understand why NYC voted for him. I know there were better, less insane candidates.
Geminid
@Geminid: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution had an article about Abrams a few days ago in their politics column The Jolt: “Stacey Abrams lays out plan for 2022 campaign.” The article is paywalled, but a quotation from Abrams was featured as a teaser:
Abrams is determined to win come hell or high water. My Atlanta friend believes she will this time. A committed Democrat, he is a realistic person well aware of Republican efforts to subvert the election.
raven
@Immanentize: Great, I just didn’t know if I had the right addy.
Betty
@Brantl: Should that include John Roberts who also has an anti- voting rights history?
Immanentize
@Ken: That’s the goal. Constitutionally unfit for the office. I’m sure it will get thrown out, but the discovery would be exquisite if allowed to happen.
ETA sometimes such lawsuits force candidates to panic and make big blunders. Cawthorn is capable of being that guy.
topclimber
I blame Bernie.
Quinerly
@zhena gogolia: yeah… Like the photos of AOC running around Miami with no mask… And the field day the Trumpers have had with mocking her over now catching Covid.
Baud
@topclimber:
Because the general attitude he fostered or did he do something specific here?
Quinerly
@Baud: agree.
zhena gogolia
@Quinerly: I missed all that. I did unsubscribe from her e-mail list that I never subscribed to, which felt good.
Soprano2
@Quinerly: I agree. I want to know what their great, super-secret plan is to pass this law when no Republicans will vote for it and a Democratic senator insists that a Senate rule is more important than affirming voting rights in law. I get tired of people saying “You should have a plan” when they don’t have one. Kind of like Bill Maher continually asking Democrats what their plan was when Trump refused to leave office if he lost; Bill never articulated a plan himself, he just wanted others to say what they would do so he could shoot it down. I kept wanting one of the Democrats he asked this question to press him on what his plan was, but they never did.
Immanentize
@germy: I liked the response:
Baud
@Soprano2:
Agree. The whole plan thing is kind of a whataboutism. A distraction.
Soprano2
@germy: He appointed his brother to be deputy police commissioner. I’ll be surprised if he can get through one term without some kind of corruption scandal. I think New Yorkers will rue the day they voted for him.
Kay
@Quinerly:
Democrats have to win state races to protect voting rights. Abrams isn’t in charge of getting federal voting rights legislation past the Right wing Democrats who are blocking it. She’s in charge of winning the governor’s race.
Soprano2
@Immanentize: OH God, I loved Underdog when I was a kid too! He was the best!
Immanentize
@Betty: Yes
Gin & Tonic
@raven: Happy for you, man. I’m not much of a football fan, but this was an exciting game, and I stayed awake until the end.
topclimber
@Baud: Because that’s what we do most of the time at BJ.
Baud
@topclimber:
Oh, I detest Bernie and think he helped spawn a monster. But he was quiet in 2021 so I left him alone. I don’t recall him coming up that much recently.
Quinerly
@zhena gogolia: I have really tried to like her. Wasn’t my cup of tea from the get go. But l have tried. I have defended her in conversations. With that said, AOC knows she is a target. That she is under a microscope.
NotMax
@soprano2
‘Twas ever thus. New Yorkers rue the day they give in to the temptation for a dirty water hot dog.
;)
Immanentize
@Soprano2: Appointed his brother — who may or may not have been at one time, including now?, under federal indictment. The way Adams is sucking up to the cops, I suspect he is corrupt AF.
Cops didn’t stop the deadly fire in the Bronx….
ETA talk about fishy, Adams himself did not announce the appointment, his Brother did on social media. What?
Guilluani 2.0
Soprano2
@Baud: Don’t yell at me about my lack of a plan if you don’t have a plan! They seem to think Biden can abolish the filibuster by himself.
Geminid
@Baud: Why would Joe Manchin care about who appears with the President and Vice President today. He’s been lobbied on this issue by Bill Clinton, Jim Clymer and slew of other Democratic heavyweights. He’s going to what he’s going to do, and whatever rationale he ends up giving will not be in good faith anyway.
Betty
@geg6: Media were hyping the rise in violent crime. He is an ex-cop who said he could fix it. A key rival, Maya Wiley, had spoken out about police reform. The voters in Brooklyn, his home turf, apparently were big supporters and turned out. That is part of it at least. He sounded like a kook to me.
germy
@Immanentize:
Another reply:
Immanentize
@Baud: On the Twitter machine, Berners are back to “Bernie would have won and already passed voting rights.” It’s a disease.
Quinerly
@Kay: We have to agree to disagree. I think it hurts Warnock. Not to mention since our first Black and woman VP is also going to be there, it’s an insult to her. Abrams not showing up will be mentioned in all the coverage. Where she actually went and what she did will never be mentioned. Dems have to stand together. Dissing an already wounded Pres and VP is destructive.
germy
@Betty:
NYC mayor-elect Eric Adams says he’ll “take” his first three paychecks in crypto
And then the press conference where he said “After you’ve worn the badge for 20 years, then you have the right to question me.”
NYC deserved better than this corrupt authoritarian.
NotMax
@Soprano2
>In brightest day
In darkest night
No senator
Can escape my sight
.
//
LongHairedWeirdo
Moscow mitch is, as we all knew, a hypocrite. He says voting *rights* is a solution in search of a problem, right?
But then he whines like a WATB over voter fraud – one photo of hour long voting lines proves more about the Democrat’s point than EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN ATTEMPT TO PROVE VOTER FRAUD.
Ahem. As a side note, I find it distressing that my fingers keep typing GOP. Oh, I will still manage GOParty of death from time to time. But to call those dishonest, disloyal, unpatriotic assholes “grand”? The only thing “grand” that I think of when speaking of them is “…theft.”
Quinerly
@germy: He’s a nut on a power trip. Sound like any other NYC politicians from the past?
Chris
@germy:
It seems like everyone who succeeds in becoming Mayor of New York City gets it into their heads that this might just be a gateway to the Presidency. Giuliani, Bloomberg, now this guy. And yet they always crash and burn.
Another Scott
@Immanentize: Repost – cats will sit on fake boxes:
Smithsonian Mag
Cheers,
Scott.
germy
Kay
@Geminid:
I was optimistic about passage of something because when Sherrod Brown was here 9 months ago he was optimistic and it’s a political must have for Democrats, but we met with Tim Ryan and he wasn’t optimistic- although he made sure and reminded us he isn’t in the senate and so isn’t part of negotiations. The conserva-Dems aren’t budging.
That said, absolutely Biden should go out and bully pulpit. You do what you can.
Quinerly
@germy: eye opening.
Betty
@germy: Sadly yes, but they didn’t seem to know that. I read that voting turnout was low, and ranked choice voting skewed things as well
Geminid
@Immanentize: Adam’ brother was never under indictment. You may be thinking of a Mr. Edwards whom Adams appointed to a position in civilian police leadership. Edwards was named as a co-conspirator in a federal corruption case some years ago, but never indicted.
Adams said he appointed his brother Bernard to be in charge of his personal protection detail because “he knows me…[and] I trust him.”
Chris
@Kay:
And frankly, she’s earned the benefit of the doubt. There are very few people who have done as much as she has to get Democrats elected and to stay on the front lines of the Republican war on voting rights. This isn’t some “Obama is worse than Bush he sold us out!” “talking about the Supreme Court is blackmail!” Berniebro. If she’s missing this event, she might just have good reasons for it.
narya
With regard to tests: The Bureau of Primary Health Care is sending free two-test packs to FQHCs. We’re still trying to get the thing set up, which is a non-trivial task, but these will be FREE to us, and, therefore, to patients as well. findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov can help you find one near you.
Keep in mind that FQHCs are designed to serve folks who have barriers–including financial barriers–to care (which means I personally likely won’t access them that way), so if you or family members or friends need tests and are financially strapped, this may be a path for you.
JMG
Kay
@Chris:
I would bet you 50 dollars it was agreed upon. They have to win their races. Abrams has to win hers and Democrats in Congress have to win theirs.
And this is just a personal bugaboo of mine, but it is vitally important that rank and file Democrats understand how state and federal laws operate in voting. In the current climate a D governor in a potentially contested state is more valuable than a D Senator who even though no fault of his own, cannot pass a federal voting rights law. Election law is state law.
Baud
@Geminid:
If Biden is taking heat, that’s less of a focus on Manchin. That’s all.
Baud
@Immanentize:
I didn’t think they had ever stopped.
Kay
@Chris:
Take the 2020 election and put a Right wing nut governor in Pennsylvania, Michigan or Wisconsin, with an R majority state legislature. All bets are off.
The states, the states, the states. Democrats need them.
Baud
@Betty:
No. Ranked choice doesn’t skew anything. It was a fair election.
raven
@Gin & Tonic: Woof!
Chris
@Kay:
Yep.
Quinerly
@Baud: thanks for my snicker.
Kay
@Chris:
The worst part of the 2010 wipeout wasn’t Congress. It was state races. We’re still paying for that. They flipped TWENTY state legislatures.
TaMara
Test
Geminid
@Betty: Adams, a former police captain, state senator, and current Brooklyn Borough President, edged out former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia by 8,000 some votes in the final round of ranking. Garcia herself had narrowly taken second place from former mayor’s Counsel Maya Wiley in the previous round.
This was the first time ranked-choice voting was used. Adams was ranked first by 31% of voters. Wiley was second with about 20%, and Garcia was third. Under the previous system, if the leading candidate did not exceed 40% there would be a runoff. In this case it would have been between Adams and Wiley.
Gothamist magazine had an interesting breakdown of primary voting, “A Tale of Three Cities” June 27(?) 2021. Their analysis showed Garcia running best in Manhattan, Adams running best in Black and Latino neighborhoods. Like Adams and Garcia, Wiley got votes across the city, and the writers said she did especially well in newly gentrified neighborhoods.
lowtechcyclist
@germy: What a snowflake.
Seriously, if someone interrupted Cotton eight months ago, and he’s still feeling butthurt about it, then this world is just too hard a place for someone as tender as he is.
Gin & Tonic
Excellent description of the situation in Kazakhstan.
geg6
@Betty:
I am usually understanding of New Yorkers because I love the city so much. And I could understand why they voted for DiBlasio and Bloomberg. And even, back in the day, Rudy. But this guy came off as an asshole and corrupt and definitely in the bed with the worst of the cops from the get go. I could see that pretty clearly all the way from Pittsburgh and by not even paying a whole lot of attention to the race. I had hoped for Maya Wiley but didn’t think she’d pull it off. But I never expected the stupidest guy on the ballot to win. Even Sliwa comes off as smarter than this idiot.
geg6
@Quinerly:
Totally agree. Very disappointed in Stacy Abrams. Very disappointed.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: What did you miss? The DAWGS! They will get a lot of coverage. But there will still be media space for President Biden’s visit. Other stories will be crowded out.
lowtechcyclist
@Kay:
And then of course gerrymandered the fuck out of everything. So yeah, full agreement here.
I stopped contributing to the DNC, DSCC, DCCC, and DGA a long time ago, since I can get decent info on which individual Dem candidates for those offices to donate to.
But the same isn’t true with state legislatures because of the sheer numbers involved, so I’ve kept contributing to the DLCC. I’ve often wondered how useful that is, but they’re important, so lacking a good alternative, I’ve kept giving.
James E Powell
@Quinerly:
Running around Miami? Or eating outdoors at a restaurant?
There is no way that we Democrats can impact what FOX says about Democrats. But we should try to say nice things about each other, or at least not talk shit.
sdhays
@LongHairedWeirdo: It’s now spelled “GQP”, at least for me.
geg6
@narya:
FQHCs
????? No idea what this is.
Geminid
@geg6: Eric Adams may be a lot of things, but he is not stupid. And neither are New York City voters.
Adams has quickly become this forum’s whipping boy. I’ll be waiting to see how New York City residents evaluate him after a few months as Mayor. There will be plenty of polling, of people who know the city better than I do.
Chris
@geg6:
New York City has horrific taste in mayors.
Pity, from the city that once gave us Fiorello LaGuardia.
James E Powell
@Chris:
I’m old enough to remember when John Lindsay was the next JFK.
narya
@geg6: Federally Qualified Health Centers. We must see all patients w/o regard to ability to pay, we have a sliding fee scale up to 200% of federal poverty level, and we get a higher Medicaid reimbursement rate in return. if you go to the findahealthcenter link you can get more info.
artem1s
Where are my Tubman bucks! Time to culture cancel Andrew Jackson!
zhena gogolia
@Kay: She should have shown support for Biden and Harris. It’s a symbolic gesture that she knows the media will make hay of.
topclimber
@Geminid: Abrams made a big point in her first election about how it was not just her group who got her close to winning, but an alliance of similar groups. If those groups don’t want to meet Biden, she can’t be the “good Negro” who does.
Being out of town avoids the issue. It also leaves her as the most likely bridge to reconciling pissed off locals with the administration later on. You know, way in the future, like next week.
geg6
@Geminid:
Every word out of his mouth that I have heard or read (on and in multiple outlets, so no bias) sounds idiotic. So, regardless of his education or experience, he’s stupid to me until he’s proven he’s not.
They had two awesome women to choose from and they chose this creep. No respect for that.
Another Scott
(too slow)
Kay
@zhena gogolia:
I trust her to run her own governor’s race – not that I have any choice! :) It really is different. National media matters less.
Not passing voting rights will be bad for Democrats with AA voters, politically. They all know that. They have to shift their approach accordingly. I’m ok with it if they think they have to triage.
geg6
@topclimber:
Maybe she could be a good Democrat and support her president and vice president.
No, I don’t respect her choice here. She should tell those idiots who have Green Lantern fantasies about what a president can do to go pound sand for such idiocy.
Baud
@topclimber:
Interesting. So will there be no black people with Biden when he visits Georgia, or are those black people who will be with him “good Negros” in your eyes.
germy
Gin & Tonic
@geg6: I’m not a fan either, but Black voters supported him in very large numbers, and were the key to his victory. Given how the Biden election played out, I think we white folks need to listen to what they were saying in NYC.
Kay
@geg6:
I don’t think they have “green lantern” fantasies. They’re always going to be madder at D senators who block the agenda than they are at R senators, because they’re (ostensibly) on the same side. We can tell them to be madder at R senators but I don’t think it’s going to work. They know McConnell doesn’t support them. They expect Democrats to support them.
Yarrow
@Quinerly:
Agreed. It seems dumb. She’s a big voting rights person. They are there to talk about voting rights. She could at least meet with them privately.
As bad as it is for Abrams not to meet with them, the voting rights organizations mentioned above that are also not meeting with them because Biden is”doin it rong,” or whatever their dumb reason is, is especially bad. Dems should be in array on this issue. All hands on deck.
topclimber
@Baud: Ah, the rare instance of the Venerable Baud missing the point.
Abrams can’t be the token when many folks in her grassroots alliance are unhappy. Black leaders who are not the public face of the alliance are free to act differently. I expect Sen.Warnock and others will give Joe a hearty welcome.
Funny how all the paeans to the wisdom of black women, so helpful when getting Biden the nomination and the win in Georgia, turn to gripes when they don’t stay in their designated lane.
Immanentize
@Geminid: You are correct, Sir. Sorry.
But co-condpirators may or may not be indicted people. Just because you don’t know about it….
MisterDancer
@topclimber: Agreed. These Georgia-based voting rights groups/activists aren’t dumb. Unlike a lot of whiners, they have shown they can make things happen, more than once. No matter the national politics, I submit they’ve earned some benefit of the doubt in terms of what’s best for them, and their success, in this situation.
As for National/Federal? Well, given the number of people just on this blog who are eager to saw the American South off the US map, I don’t know how much I blame these folx for focusing on local success, to be really damn honest.I suspect there’s a lot of “we’re still all alone out here” business going on, esp. given many of these activists are Black and Brown Women, from what I know.
That said: I don’t agree with the “Biden needs a plan” point being reported (that’s…really not how these things work), but I do agree that the Biden Administration should have better connections with these groups, connections that could have forestalled this becoming public. A huge part of why the GOP had the power they do, is building out exactly these kinds of grassroots groups, and National-level Democrats need to work on that.
All in all — I suspect there’s a lot more going on than is being reported. Even with that, success solves a lot of issues, and this, by itself, is unlikely to actually be a tipping point for failure.
burnspbesq
As near as I can tell, the Supreme Court has not acted on the various stay applications on which it heard oral argument last Friday. Which appears to mean that the emergency OSHA and CMS vaccination rules went into effect yesterday.
Have I missed something?
Baud
@topclimber:
You used the term “good Negro.” I was just wondering who qualifies and who doesn’t. I’m not sure what point I missed.
No one here is turning on Abrams. Everyone here will be thrilled if she wins the governors race next year. But no one is above criticism. And Abrams is not all “black women” in any event.
germy
Here’s something sweet, nothing to do with politics (I loved her reaction):
Baud
@burnspbesq: One of those rules was stayed by the court of appeals. I think the OSHA rule. May be an indication of what the Supreme Court will do.
Gin & Tonic
@Yarrow: My dear wife has CNN on the TV in the other room, as is her custom, and pretty much all they are talking about is the people who are not going to meet with Biden.
Geminid
@Baud: I think Senators Warnock and Ossoff will be there. I will be interested to see what the media coverage of this visit actually is like. I’ll check it out radio hourly news this afternoon, and WSB AM750 after dark. WSB is clear channel and comes in fine here once the sun goes down. They will hit the high points. And I can look up TV and print accounts. Ms. Abrams’ non-attendence might be as big a part of the story as people fear. But it might not.
Another Scott
@burnspbesq: Maybe the SCOTUS calendar is off a day or few again??
FederalNewsNetwork.com:
(Emphasis added.)
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
gene108
@Quinerly:
Rep. Louis Gohmert gets mocked consistently by liberals. It doesn’t matter. He’s in a safe district. He’ll keep his job.
Same with AOC, she’s going to win re-election easily. I don’t know if she has any plans to run for statewide office, but if not she’s golden for the foreseeable future. It doesn’t matter, if she gets mocked.
MisterDancer
I missed this before, but: I’m gonna ask that everyone think about this phrasing. We can discuss this without recourse to terms that imply things that are unhealthy to the realities on the ground.
That said: There’s a lot of people who made Abrams the fact of the GA electoral victories. Some of that was her own work, and some of it was the media eager to put a face to things.
Yet Abrams is also aware she’s the face of what is, in the real world, a coalition. Moreover, and this gets ignored a lot, she’s kind of a late-starter; she brought visibility, energy, and funding to a movement already underway.
Her breaking from them causes harm to her ability to bring that coalition together in the next cycle. That’s a break the National Democratic Party can’t fix, really won’t have the resources to fix.
So yeah: Outside of her own personal opinions (which, I underline, we do not know): She has to choose the coalition she needs to get elected, who have stood by her in trial after trial — or the national party who can, hopefully, greatly ease the coalition’s work, but can be fickle in all things, as we all debate here, endlessly.
And yes, I’m speaking directly about Abrams. We know at least one other Black person will be there, Harris, so again, let’s have a caution about how we talk on these topics, please? It’s hard enough to talk race without using potentially…explosive language, let’s say.
Thank you.
Jeffro
@germy: he’s just trolling, gotta be.
Geminid
@Immanentize: No apology warranted. All these bad Adams stories tend to run together.
Last week the New York Daily News gave Mr. Edwards some op-ed space to tell his side of the story, if anyone is interested.
I’m glad to hear your healing is progressing well enough that you can look forward to physical therapy.
Kristine
@lowtechcyclist:
I contribute to them monthly, and have for a few years. From what I’ve seen, they’re working hard to flip statehouse seats. Special election seats. Kay’s right. We need to flip some states.
Fair Economist
I trust Abrams’ judgement. Heck, she might be staying away just because of Omicron.
Baud
@MisterDancer: I was offended by the phrase, which is why I raised the question. I didn’t mean to further offend by repeating the phrase.
I for one am less concerned about Abrams than about the choices made by the coalition she has to preserve. But whatever. In the end, the issue rests with the worst Dem senators in the caucus. They’ll decide and we’ll move on from there.
gene108
@Immanentize:
Guilluani was a very popular mayor, while in office.
Also, New York City’s then incumbent mayor, Bill DeBlasio, is very very liberal, and everyone grew to hate him. Probably caused some backlash to the more liberal candidates, who may seem to embody the same ideas as DeBlasio.
SiubhanDuinne
@germy:
Saw that story a couple of days ago in one of my opera groups. It warmed the cockles of my heart. (Query: Do other organs — livers, lungs, small intestines? — have cockles, or just hearts?)
germy
@SiubhanDuinne:
Such a great story. And maybe someday we’ll see him onstage doing a duet with her.
Quinerly
@gene108: she shouldn’t have been partying in Miami without a mask. These are easy traps NOT to fall into.
germy
@Quinerly:
Maybe she caught it during the flight to Fla.
Another Scott
@Baud: +1
Ultimately, Manchin will decide, and he’ll own it (whether he likes it or not).
These last few months are yet another example that:
We always need to keep pushing forward, but we always must be willing to take the incremental win (and celebrate it).
Cheers,
Scott.
Quinerly
@Gin & Tonic: same on MSNBC. Abrams should have cleared her schedule to show up. If anything for VP Harris.
Quinerly
@Yarrow: TOTALLY A WITH YOU.
Quinerly
@geg6: you nailed it.
Quinerly
@zhena gogolia: nailed it (as always ?)
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Soprano2: I too loved the Underdog cartoon. My sense of humor was formed by cartoons like Underdog and Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Live-action Underdog was one of the first things I saw Peter Dinklage in (he played Simon Bar Sinister), that made me think, “this guy has something extra going on and I hope he goes places”. I was so glad he got the role of a lifetime with Game of Thrones, even though I never personally saw any of it.
Yarrow
@Gin & Tonic: No surprise. The voting rights people must be bad at politics. Perhaps some are chaos agents. The top guy in the Democratic party and President of the United States is coming to your state to talk about your issue and you decide he’s not good enough for you to meet with? That’s just bad politics. Refusing to meet him is not going to highlight the things you want highlighted. It’s going to make Democrats look bad and further the “Dems in disarray” talk. Gah. So frustrating.
Baud
@Yarrow:
I’m not clear on that. Is it only some groups, or a general boycott by all of them?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
I remember you and others saying they would get something done. What happened to that?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud:
Be a shame to see Abrams follow the model of all the post-2016 Dems who went Extremely On Line, and then found out that was a path of rakes to step on when it came to actual elections
debbie
@Quinerly:
No argument from me. This is like a circular firing squad exercise.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Thank you!
FWIW, I don’t think Abrams is going “online.” I think the people who said above that she is trying to manage a fractured GA coalition is the correct take.
MisterDancer
@Baud: Got you, and I understand. Thanks for clarifying!
Yarrow
@Baud: Don’t know. Just what like I read in this thread, for example:
@JPL:
zhena gogolia
@germy: That made me cry. (Oropesa)
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Abrams is too shrewd and experienced to be doing what you suggest. The other activists may be doing this boycott to chase clout, but Abrams has not said a word about a “boycott.” But like I said above, she may be keeping this visit at arms length because this voting rights initiative may end in frustration. Her presence today will not make or break it, so Abrams may as well concentrate on what she can influence, her campaign.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: FWIW, I see that former BernieBro Ben Jealous is attending.
burnspbesq
Georgia Dems would do well to remember the words of Benjamin Franklin:
”We must all hang together, or we will surely hang separately.”
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I really thought they would because it’s really important to them politically, but Tim Ryan was here and he was really downbeat on the chances. He’s probably one of the candidates who will be most negatively affected. AA voters are absolutely vital to Ohio Democrats. He will not win without them coming out, and coming out strong. Ryan has to counter strong Trumpist turnout in rural counties with blow the doors off in urban counties, because the margins are so ridiculous- 75% R, like that. There’s also a real AA political power base in Ohio- they hold power, elected positions. It’s why Obama spent so much time with AA mayors.
Republicans and media see AA Democrats as just “voters”, an “interest group”, but it’s much bigger than that- they are a political power in their own right as politicians. There’s a weird (racist) denial of their political power as players, not just voters or observers.
Yarrow
@Geminid: I’m starting to think of 2010 and how a lot of Dem candidates wouldn’t campaign with President Obama. And then Dems got crushed. Ugh.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: that struck me too. I didn’t know he was with PFAW now.
@Geminid: I hope you’re right, but we’ve seen some very smart pols go off the rails in recent years.
Chris
@Kay:
The thing is, as near as I can tell, Manchin and Sinema have absolutely no sense of “what’s important to them politically,” because they have absolutely no sense of “them.” It’s that centrist brain worm that seems to fucking proliferate all over Washington. They firmly believe that Partisanship Is Bad and that they should not make decisions based on partisan interest.
topclimber
@Quinerly: Wild party, friend. She and boyfriend outside at an appropriate social distance. You got anything more?
Don’t worry if your don’t. You are not alone. This 45-minute put-down of AOC by rightwingers didn’t have any video more than the NY Post picture. Hard to believe they would not have shown more footage than the above if it was there, or that the NY Post would have passed on it too.
I say without rancor: Please show your work.
Yarrow
@Chris: Manchin is working for his paymasters. Sinema wants name recognition and a post-Senate cushy job like a host on The View. She’s working on that brand. Politics and helping the people doesn’t have much of anything to do with what they’re doing.
SiubhanDuinne
Fireworks — again! — between Rand Paul and Dr. Fauci at a committee hearing. I’m sure the clip will be all over the news and internets later.
Geminid
@Yarrow: Stacey Abrams campaigned hard for Biden, Warnock and Ossoff last year, and her efforts that year and the previous years were instrumental in their narrow victories. I doubt if any of them will hold her passing on this event against her, and I’m not going to either.
gene108
@MisterDancer:
Republicans are very good at integrating groups into a top-down structure, where groups become extensions of the Republican Party. This has been developing since Reagan brought in conservative* evangelical voters.
I think Democratic leaders have been disdainful of the different groups that are ostensibly allies. I don’t know why.
*Not all evangelicals are conservatives. Jimmy Carter has been our only evangelical President .
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I think the denial of AA political power as electeds in media is an adoption of a GOP frame – the GOP frame is that they are “on the Democratic plantation” – passive voters and supporters, not elected leaders in their own right. It’s not true in Ohio. They’re mayors, city council members, an elected group of people who wield political power.
The classic for me was when the NYTimes sent a political reporter “to Youngstown” except he didn’t go to Youngstown. He went and interviewed county commissioners. Jesus. It was like “let’s deliberately avoid all the elected black people”
schrodingers_cat
I have been on this soap box forever but the self identified progressives and socialists are not our friends. They don’t lose a single opportunity to shiv the Democrats. That means many prominent BS and EW stans active on Twitter and in the media.
LaTosha (sp?) Brown is a Warren supporter.
Geminid
@topclimber: I really don’t care about what Ocasio-Cortez did down in Florida. I do think, though, that if she’d worn a K95 mask it would have been setting a good example for people socializing outside but not distanced. If she could do it over again she probably would.
I’m not talking about her and Mr. Roberts sitting at a table, but the outside event at the bar.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
anyway, the only way anything gets passed in this Congress is if Mitch McConnell thinks that obstructing voting rights harms his chance of taking the Senate majority back, and even that would be some fig leaf that Romney and Murkowski agreed to with Manchin. If activists want to scare somebody, it should be McConnell, and that happens in Florida and North Carolina and Pennsylvania and Ohio and Wisconsin and in Georgia. But not by making a show of snubbing Joe Biden.
The hard and slow boring of hard boards. Always
Kathleen
@Baud: His Astro Turfed Spawn have assumed the mantle.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Kathleen
Quinerly
@SiubhanDuinne: I have been listening. It is possible that l loathe Baby Doc mose than his father?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
But Tim Ryan is just one person. And you yourself mentioned he’s not in the actual negotiations and doesn’t really know what’s going on. They have to fucking pass voting rights. There will always be another chance to pass BBB, but not voting rights! You and others have been sounding the alarm about the danger to American democracy. Where the fuck is the urgency, then!?
What the fuck are Manchin/Sienma/other centrist Dem Senators doing?! What, didn’t 1/6 get it through their fucking heads about what’s at stake? 2022 will be a fucking bloodbath if nothing is passed and Dems will be a permanent minority party
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@schrodingers_cat: shocking to me how many people don’t want to admit the anti-Democratic left is A Thing, either because they find its leaders charismatic or because their proposals “should” be popular
Quinerly
@SiubhanDuinne: I have been listening. It is possible that l loathe Baby Doc mose than his father?
@topclimber: l don’t have to show a damn thing. Plenty of pics. Personally, l think she should have stayed home and set an example for those who worship her.
Kathleen
Kathleen
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Do you ever read @LizBurgh, @LeftSplintered, or @JusticeDemWatch? They are on the case, and report interesting information.
geg6
@Kay:
Then they should go scream at Manchin and Sinema. Biden wants to get it done. They are the roadblock, not him. They are stupid.
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I don’t know. I’m done talking about Manchin. I think he set out to harm Biden, has done so, and continues to do so. I suspect Manchin thinks he should be President, and resents that Biden has the job.
Manchin killed BBB and he can’t even take the win and move on. He’s now going to screw them on voting rights, which isn’t even ideological, so we can dispense with the bullshit about “West Virginia voters”- they care not a bit whether or not a voting rights law passes. It’s malice. He’s a nasty piece of work.
topclimber
@Geminid: OK. I found this while waiting for Quinerly to show a link.
Yes, dumb move on her part. Credit to Quinerly for calling her out.
ETA to fix link.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Geminid: I don’t follow them specifically, but I see a lot their stuff through Ragnarok Lobster and a few others. I don’t bother to bring a lot of it here because of the emotional investment so many have in the kind of shiny object politicians that Justice Dem Watch, for example, is watching.
Kathleen
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Abrams is genuinely competitive in Georgia. I’ll take her analysis of her race and how and where she wants to position herself over anyone elses.
Kathleen
@Geminid: i do. Interesting stuff. Peter Thiel donated to Ro Khanna’s campaign.
schrodingers_cat
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: It baffles me as well. I have been vilified and called names on this usually friendly (to me) forum for pointing that out.
Kathleen
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: i hear you. I probably shouldn’t have posted what I did but luckily I’m usually ignored anyway.
schrodingers_cat
@Kathleen: Matt Gaetz’s bestie is a phony.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kathleen: it’s reassuring to me to know I’m not the only one seeing it, and I’m hoping the reality of the stakes and the midterms brings people back to pragmatism that brought me here back in ’09-10
Kathleen
He’s not the only one.
Kay
@geg6:
But there’s a contradiction in calling for teamwork and Party unity and then telling them to carve out Manchin and Sinema. Democrats are blocking the Democratic agenda. It isn’t the voters who broke faith with the Party. It’s members of congress.
I accept the reality of Manchin and Sinema, but I also accept that they come with a very high price. This is the price.
Kathleen
schrodingers_cat
@Kathleen: I hear you. The anti-D left couches their criticisms in social justice and/or economic justice language. But if you look at their actions, those always help the Republicans.
Check out BS Guardian interview this morning.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
But Manchin’s not just harming Biden, he’s harming all of us. I don’t fucking trust the Republicans to be in complete control over the federal government. They’ve only gotten exponentially worse over the years and will probably only get crazier.
As much as I care about others, I also can’t help but worry about myself and my own well-being. Will Rs gut Social Security and Medicare? What about workplace protections? Everything Americans have taken for granted for the last 70 or 80 years? And I can’t help but feel that’s all being stolen from me.
You can’t easily advance anymore. You need to put yourself tens of thousands of dollars in debt to get a degree that may or may not pay off. If you get a job that doesn’t require a degree, they don’t usually pay well and robots will replace you in 15 years; certainly before retirement.
And what if the worst comes to pass and the GOP creates a dystopian, religious police state? I consider myself asexual but not aromantic. I may not have a wife or partner. What if the state assumes I’m gay or something and persecutes me for it? And none of this gets into climate change.
I have no faith in Republicans doing the right thing and what’s necessary. They’re ideologically incapable of that already. I’m terrified. And I have no real skills or money to escape to another country
Kathleen
@schrodingers_cat: I saw the headline on Twitter yesterday. I am so angry right now. I have to breathe and remember we have power.
Brachiator
@raven:
Georgia was certainly impressive, especially in the second half.
One thing I totally liked was how the coaches, on both teams, supported the players when they did well, and when they apparently made mistakes. And the joy and ebullience of the players was infectious.
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The people I reference are starting to research backstories and origins of these various players. Some of their conclusions about Mr. Exley and the Momentum institute are kind of wild, but not unbelievable.
I don’t bring this stuff up here much, either. I have mentioned a few times the Ambry Genetics CEO’s $500,000 donation to the Justice Democrats’ SuperPac. It seemed telling that Dana Rohrabachers’s biggest donor was now supporting an ostensibly left wing group.
A JD founder’s work with a Thiel supported credit card payment company, Stripe, is also intriguing. I think it was Liz Burgh who turned up a series of odd small donations this person and a partner made in 2015. She could see no purpose other than testing how multiple small donations were treated in FEC reports. As it stands, donations under $200 are in effect untraceable.
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I think it is bad and there’s nothing wrong with recognizing that. Just vote in the midterms. You’re only responsible for outcomes to the extent that you have control or power over them. Unless you’re interested in running for something or a particularly persuasive person who is interested in doing something like canvassing you have one vote.
I don’t know if this will work for you but if I have a particularly bad case that I am likely to lose I can get to a place where I have a kind of fatalism that is weirdly energizing. It means I’ve let go of the outcome. It’s strangely freeing and often leads to good work- better work than if I had gripped it – tried to control it- with fear of losing. I’m not a particularly introspective person so I don’t know if this is some larger idea that other people all know about, but it has been true for me.
schrodingers_cat
CBC has Biden’s back on this one. Please note how the DSA types target the CBC in dark blue areas. They almost never run to flip red or purple districts.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I delete most fund-raising emails from candidates I don’t recognize, but for some reason a recent one from someone named Alexandra Hunt caught my eye and I opened it. She’s a “progressive” running in PA-3 trying to raise money on the idea that Biden should step aside in the ’24 campaign to make room for a “progressive”. She’s aligned with Howie Klein, a name I don’t think I’ve heard since he and Jane Hamsher were useful idiot-ing for Joe Lieberman back in the day.
HinTN
@Quinerly: Biden is NOT wounded. Why play to that RW trope? He’s doing a fabulous job playing the hand he was dealt.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Hey, look at this crazy lady blaming Republicans for obstructing voting rights!
Brachiator
@germy:
Cop uber alles.
Not a good start.
Quinerly
@HinTN: if you don’t think members of his own party haven’t wounded him and Harris… Well, l just don’t know what to say. Plus, Omicron, the poor messaging from the CDC. This all sticks to him.
And, l’m a huge Biden fan. Pretty sure he would have beaten Trump in 2016, had he run. And don’t get me wrong… Love HRC. I’m a realist, though. I was afraid we were going to lose with her in 2016. Baggage, press, the fact that the country wasn’t ready to elect a woman.
catclub
@lowtechcyclist: my understanding was that the GOP is in favor of motor-voter since people with cars are more likely to be Republicans.
They opposed all the other easy registration methods.
Kathleen
HinTN
@Quinerly: Biden is NOT wounded. Why play to that RW trope? He’s doing a fabulous job playing the hand he was dealt.
@Another Scott: Thank you!
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Alexandra Hunt is running against incumbent Dwight Evans in a D+41 district. Recently a “progressive” outfit named six Progressive Caucus members as PINOs- Progressive In Name Only-and called for primary challenges. The six included Jimmy Panetta (CA), Madeleine Dean (PA), and Andy Kim (NJ).
Dwight Evans was one of several other Progressive Caucus members designated as “On the Bubble.” Ms. Hunt’s challenge was noted
HinTN
@Quinerly:
Agree with all that!
Brachiator
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
No.
People have complaining about the effects of technology since the dawn of civilization. Look up “luddites.”
New jobs are created as old jobs are destroyed. You just have to roll with it, and be ready to brush up on your skills when necessary.
Sorry, I read that as “aromatic,” you little stinker. :)
A lot of people, including me, totally agree with you. We will always fight them when necessary. Laugh and join the fight.
schrodingers_cat
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): The future is not written, you can work in the present to get the outcomes you desire.
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
They can’t move any legislation so they do things like hold events and give speeches. Beats me how to overcome two Senators in your own Party who work for everything to fail. I’ve never seen it before. They can do “negative partisanship” – attack Republicans- but that’s much less effective when the Party is in power. They’re doing what they can.
Quinerly
@HinTN: But not Bernie as our standard bearer. He would have lost in a landslide that would have rivaled poor Dukakis.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
another good twitter follow I’d recommend for those of us who haven’t lost the plot post-2016
Baud
@Geminid:
You are a wealth of information.
Most of these primary challenges fail, especially if the incumbent is fairly decent.
lowtechcyclist
Yeah, I’ve noticed how well self-identified progressive Rep. Jayapal fits your description.
Really your broad-brush bullshit only winds up all over your own self.
lowtechcyclist
Seconded. I’ve never lived in Georgia, and don’t know any more about its politics than any random person who follows the national political news. Anything I might say to question Ms. Abrams’ handling of this situation would be based on “big ideals, images, and distorted facts,” to quote Dylan.
Meanwhile, she’s been living there and organizing and doing the Lord’s work down there for a fair number of years now. I’m gonna trust that she knows what she’s doing. She certainly has a far better idea about it than I do.
Soprano2
Well fuck, I got a call from a co-worker around 11:00 who told me she tested positive for Covid. We had lunch last Friday. We’re both triple vaxxed, and she said she has a cough but nothing else, and the person she thinks she got it from (who is unvaccinated, of course) is a lot worse. We were pretty careful as per city requirements – wore masks in the car both to and from lunch, which was a 5 minute ride. I don’t have any symptoms at all, and at this point I’m just waiting at work for HR to call me, because the official notification has to come from them. I’m hoping I can go to the Health Department for a test today, but I think it has to be done through HR. Crossing my fingers that I’m negative.
Captain C
@germy: In the immortal words of Marion Wormer, “…doubtful.”
Geminid
@Baud: Hunt’s challenge to Evans in the PA-3rd will almost certainly fail. And I think Dean, Panetta, and Kim have nothing to fear in a primary.
The Justice Dems focus on more winnable seats. They get a lot of pushback, particularly where they are competing with other liberal candidates. This is the case in the New York City district where Maya Contreras is running against Caroline Maloney. Contreras supporters were pretty chafed when the Justice Democrats backed a third candidate. But the JDs don’t want just any progressive candidate. They want their progressive candidate.
The most sympathetic Justice Democrat-backed candidate is Jessica Cisneros, who fighting a rematch with Laredo Congressman Henry Cuellar. Many Democrats feel Cuellar is too conservative to be representing a solid blue district. This will be an interesting contest. Cisneros’ association with the JDs may be held against her by some voters. It would certainly give me pause.
WaterGirl
@MisterDancer:
In what way was Stacey Abrams a late starter?
i read a great article in 2020. I forget the names but someone put another woman together with Stacey Abrams and asked her to listen to the idea Stacey Abrams had about organizing in Georgia.
Details are fuzzy for me, but I think Stacey Abrams had the idea in 2010 to start organizing coalitions in Georgia, and I believe The New Georgia Project came out of that. People around here may not have known who Stacey was until the governor’s race last time around, but I believe she has been one of the driving forces for organizing in Georgia for over a decade.
Stacey Abrams would be one of the first people to acknowledge that while she might be the face of Georgia, she alone did not make Georgia happen in 2020. That being said, Fair Fight played an outsize role in the Georgia outcome, so Stacey Abrams deserves a ton of credit.
Also, Fair Fight had an educational component – they worked with people in other areas to help them learn how to get started with organizing.
Baud
@Geminid:
Cuellar seems like a worthy target, as did Dan Lapinski.
Brachiator
@Soprano2:
Hope things work out well. This Omicron thing seems relentless even for people who have been careful. A cousin tested positive in December. He is doing well now, came through quarantine with minor symptoms. He also had all his shots.
schrodingers_cat
@Kathleen: Plus they are racist as is the Vt Jesus who white flighted himself to Vt since NYC had too many damned foreigners and people he didn’t like.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: Stacey Abrams also worked her way up to Minority Leader in the Georgia House of Representatives. She was a very effective coalition builder. One Georgia Republican politician, Buddy Carter, was complaining the other day that this isn’t the Stacey Abrams he knew back then. But I think it’s the same Abrams now, just a different Georgia.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Geminid: Heh, I’m so old I remember when Ciro Rodriguez was the hero of the bloggy left because he was gonna take down the evil Blue Dog Cuellar. He lost the primary and was later elected in a new district. As I recall his two terms, before losing to a Republican, did not live up to on-line dreams.
Soprano2
@Kay: Any time a conservative talks to me about black people being “on the plantation” I point out how that’s not only offensive, but denies that black people have any power or agency of their own. It implies that they are helpless in the face of Democrats, and don’t actually have any power to influence the Democratic Party. Then I ask why they don’t try to appeal to black voters rather than painting them as hapless idiots. I never get a reply. I wonder if they ever think about this attitude as one reason they can’t get black people to vote for them.
Geminid
@Baud: The Justice Democrats missed the boat on Lipinski. They could have made a difference in 2018, when Marie Newman came within a few hundred votes of knocking Lipinski out. Instead, they flew AOC and Bernie past Chicago to Kansas City to help Brent Welder try to beat Sharice Davids. But Welder was a Bernie Bro, and Newman had supported Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Kay
@lowtechcyclist:
I think the D governors who were in place in MI, WI, and PA are a unrecognized factor in pulling the US back from the brink from November 2020 to January 2021, Whitmer in particular, because Michigan has always had an anti-government far Right.
Michigan had a January 6th type event well before January 6th. They were armed.
Soprano2
@Quinerly: That week at the first of the primary season when it seemed that Bernie was ahead I was despondent, because I knew that if he were our candidate he’d get slaughtered. How many times would people have heard about him going to Cuba and standing by Fidel, or honeymooning in the Soviet Union? Neither of these things are popular with the electorate at large.
geg6
@Kay:
Couldn’t disagree more. I’m a Democrat. I take no responsibility for the actions of Manchin and Sinema and neither should any other Democrat.
Soprano2
@Brachiator: Yeah, and these idiots here are spending money “spraying for Covid” every morning before we come to work, rather than buying better masks for everyone to wear.
Baud
@Geminid:
Two races that worked out well for us.
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: There is a Cuellar political machine in that district. Henry’s sister is a Laredo Municipal Judge, and his brother is Laredo County Sheriff. Cisneros’ campaign workers had better check their automobile lights when they go driving out in the County.
The Cuellars grew up poor. The father was a migrant worker before he finally got a job on a local ranch, and neither parent spoke English.
WaterGirl
@Geminid: “Just win, baby!”
I imagine Biden shares that approach with Nancy SMASH.
Geminid
@Baud: Newman did not unseat Lipinski until last year. The JDs endorsed her this time, but she would have won without them and she did not join “The Squad.”
Newman made a mistake, though. In the run up to last year’s primary she signed a contract with a potential rival promising a staff job. He agreed not to run himself. The contract was subject of a lawsuit between them, and now is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. Because of redistricting, Newman is in a tough primary fight with Representative Sean Casten, and this contract may come back to bite her.
Geminid
@Soprano2: Not to mention what the KGB’s cameras and microphones caught on that honeymoon. Ewww!
Kay
@geg6:
It’s just that the reason they’re particularly damaging and difficult to message around is because it isn’t a straight message of R’s v D’s. It wouldn’t be news at all if Manchin were a Republican and opposing Biden’s entire legislative agenda. Biden’s persuasion message would be simple- vote for us instead of them.
Right now it’s vote for us so we can overcome those other two you voted for who were supposed to be on our team but rather inexplicably seem determined to take us down :)
If Biden really thought it was hopeless he would turn to administrative/executive actions and just cut his losses on congressional action, which is what I might have done. It makes some sense even for the midterms because if Biden’s numbers go up it really will be a “rising tide lifts all boats”, so cutting Congress loose could be actually good for congressional Democrats. Biden can lift them. They as individuals can’t lift him.
He hasn’t, so he sees some value in continuing to push for legislation.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kay:
Genuine question: What would those be?
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Section 3 of the voting rights act is still in place. It allows a court to “bail in” a jurisdiction if there’s a constitutional violation. They would pursue cases like that. I assume they will if they can’t move Manchin.
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I sort of get why he doesn’t want to operate as a President with a senate minority two years into his term, so I don’t blame him for keeping at it, but they’re fucking killing him. I actually really like Biden. I think at this point he’d be better off going solo.
Ksmiami
@Kay: knew it. He needs to go now… Hes a bad human and a detriment to the Democratic Party and it’s supporters.
Ksmiami
@Kay: Agreed start the EOS
Jim Appleton
@germy: I can’t thank you enough for that link.
The most beautiful thing I’ve experienced in a long long time.
Weeping.
schrodingers_cat
@lowtechcyclist:
Jaypal dragged the passage of the infrastructure bill for months so even when it passed it didn’t benefit the Democrats or President Biden much.
She was on stage nodding her head when Tlaib booed HRC.
I am not too fond of either her or Ro Khanna for similar reasons.
schrodingers_cat
@Ksmiami: I know math is hard but counting to 50 shouldn’t be. With him gone Mitch McConnell would be the majority leader.
J R in WV
I once was put into a position where I had to shake hands with Joe Manchin — he was governor, and I technically worked for him, only good side was he was equally forced to shake hands with me, and was equally disturbed by that requirement. He is a despicable power-hungry ball of greed.
Senator Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV) once said “Yes, I know Joe Manchin — he once came to our house to measure for carpets…”