BOOM. Done. Took exactly 30 seconds start to finish.https://t.co/8qezERlLfW
— Charles #GetCovered-ba ?? (@charles_gaba) January 18, 2022
NOTE: If you live in an apartment, if you enter your apartment number in the second address line the website doesn't recognize it and treats the building address as a SINGLE household = ERROR. Include your apartment number in the FIRST address line instead to work around it.
— Chise ???????? (@sailorrooscout) January 18, 2022
The Biden administration plans to distribute 400 million high-quality N95 masks for adults free of charge at thousands of pharmacies and other locations starting next week, a White House official said. https://t.co/28NMAJWoge
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 19, 2022
======
On the other side of the equation, where The cruelty is the point…
Nina Totenberg reports that (1) the Chief Justice asked his colleagues to mask up out of respect for Sotomayor’s health concerns, (2) only Gorsuch refused, and (3) his refusal forced Sotomayor to participate in arguments and conference remotely. https://t.co/DmsQV8j7Wz pic.twitter.com/7JG5hMN0q7
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) January 18, 2022
John Roberts needs to enforce the rules, or make the rule-breaker work from home. If Clarence Effin’ Thomas can comply, what makes Gorsuch too precious to do so? Despicable behavior.
— Amelia (@AmeliaEarhart1) January 19, 2022
Fifty-fifty, IMO, whether Gorsuch wants to put that Latina woman in her place, or whether he thinks he’s demonstrating that Chief Justice Roberts is a wuss who can’t enforce his rules.
Maybe he’s just jealous of all the (mostly negative) attention Justice Cunning-Bunny and Justice Thomas’ demented wife are getting in the media. He has a reputation for abusive cruelty to uphold, after all!
debbie
I hope the shaming continues. He finally gets something he deserves!
OzarkHillbilly
C) Both
Chief Oshkosh
So, Jackals, how do you plan to use your tests? What strategies? After an event? Before?
debbie
@Chief Oshkosh:
When I wake up feeling like garbage.
Steeplejack
It would be sweet justice if Gorsuch got taken out by COVID and Biden got to appoint the judicial equivalent of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to the court. ?
Chief Oshkosh
@debbie: Hm. That would be like every other day for me.
Steeplejack
@Chief Oshkosh, @debbie:
As I said in the thread downstairs, my main COVID strategy has been isolation, so I’d probably take a test only if I got symptoms.
I have a two-pack of BinaxNow tests that I bought in November, but I ordered some more tests on the government site last night. Like the old Johnny Carson joke goes, “just stocking up before the hoarders get here.”
NotMax
Heh. Referred to him here as a despicable jerkwad only last evening.
Quinerly
When l first heard the asshole Gorsuch crap, l thought for sure l had misheard. Of the two, sure would have thought it would have been Kavanaugh. Very bizarre that Roberts won’t enforce his own rule.
OzarkHillbilly
@Chief Oshkosh: I plan on giving them to people who need them, but you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men.
debbie
@Chief Oshkosh:
Perhaps “garbage” is too generic of a word. When I get the flu, I wake up feeling like a truck hit me, my chest weighs two hundred pounds, and my sinuses pound.
Better? ?
trnc
Frankly, I wouldn’t want to sit next to Ice Truck Killer on a non-pandemic day, either.
John S.
@Quinerly:
Clearly Roberts is a Beta-Cuck while Gorsuch is an Alpha-Male.
debbie
@Quinerly:
He’s the asshole who would punch out the flight attendant and get duct-taped to his seat. That’s who he is.
Betty Cracker
@Steeplejack: O Great Karma Chameleon, please make it so.
Betty Cracker
It got down to 30 F here last night but will allegedly warm up some today. Badger has been a trooper, but Pete is wondering how he was transported from Florida to Siberia.
Suzanne
I cannot fathom what kind of monstrous piece of shit one would have to be to sit next to a colleague with a lifelong illness and refuse to wear a mask even when asked. Like WTF. It is mind-boggling.
There is no society anymore.
JMG
I’m vaccinated and boosted and wouldn’t use a test unless I had some symptoms. Of course, winter in New England means the house is about minus 20 percent humidity, so I wake up with packed sinuses each morning but until that lasts all day long, it’s not a symptom. We already have four tests on hand, so I will likely donate the free four to a group that can give them where most needed.
Quinerly
@Steeplejack: right or wrong, l ordered for 2 locations. I leave Mon to do a 10 day turn around to the new house. 4 to be delivered there, 4 to be delivered here. With this back and forth, l want access to tests in both locations. Numbers are sky-high in St. Louis, New Mexico and where l drive through in Oklahoma and Texas. Move is confusing enough, l don’t want to transport and have to keep up with test supplies. If l end up with extras in a few months, just won’t order at the new location until down to one test.
Quinerly
@trnc: good point. Plus, sometimes l forget about his mother’s history. Apple/Tree.
NotMax
Moving on temporarily to something, anything less teeth gritting, media notes.
To be stockpiled in the layaway section of the mind, a few things to be on the lookout for later in the year at Netflix:
1) 1899 – from the same people who brought us Dark.
2) Cabinet of Curiosities – horror anthology series in the del Toro vein.
3) Could go either way (IMHO) when it comes to watchability, KAOS.
.
Quinerly
@John S.: have you been reading about the friction between Alito and Roberts? Alito believes he should be Chief Justice. All goes back to O’Connor’s retiring, Harriet Meyers, and Renhquist.
Quinerly
@debbie: good one.
germy
Steeplejack
@Betty Cracker:
Have you had frozen iguanas dropping out of the trees?
SFAW
@Quinerly:
Chief Justice We-Can’t-Have-the-Coloreds-Vote-Now-Can-We? would much rather (indirectly) attempt to kill Justice Sotomayor, than “discipline” Justice Mama’s-Boy Gorsuch.
And if some enterprising “reporter” were to put it to him that way, he’d mumble some specious bullshit about decorum or civility or argle-bargle.
SteveinPHX
Gorsuch is eligible for some kind of “INCONSIDERATE ASSHOLE OF THE YEAR” award.
Betty Cracker
Regarding the prick Gorsuch’s refusal to wear a mask to protect his infinitely more wise and decent colleague Justice Sotomayor, I don’t suppose it would be possible for her to file a lawsuit alleging that her workplace is failing to provide reasonable accommodations for her medical condition? IIRC, parents of students with disabilities have successfully pushed back in court on mask bans in some states. But SCOTUS is likely exempt from federal workplace regulations, as is congress, apparently.
Quinerly
I’m rooting for Gorsuch to give Covid to Thomas and Thomas give it to his evil wife. Am l bad person?
WereBear
@NotMax: Got to see 1917 last night (Mr WereBear had already seen it.)
I found it visually stunning and emotionally powerful. And yet I remember it getting slammed in the reviews for some reason…
Then again, I adore the Great War Poets.
cmorenc
@Quinerly:
How through-the-looking-glass we’ve come that we should be glad John Roberts is Chief Justice. Of course, Alito context is needed to keep your head from exploding from that last sentence, but….true…in context.
OzarkHillbilly
@germy: Civility: Not calling people on their lies to their face.
NotMax
@Quinerly
Kavanaugh is the one who would say “You think that’s something? Hold my beer.” except for being constitutionally loath to relinquish it.
Quinerly
@SFAW: do we want to place any bets that things will change with Gorsuch after this NPR story?
Quinerly
@NotMax: ?
SiubhanDuinne
Unfortunately, when I do that, the system “doesn’t recognize the address.” This is a problem they’re going to have to fix, and soon. A lot of people live in apartments, dorms, residential hotels, nursing home, and other multi-unit buildings with a common street address.
SFAW
@Quinerly:
No, he believes he should be Chief (or Grand) Inquisitor.
cmorenc
Neil Gorsuch didn’t fall very far from the tree of his mother, the late Anne Gorsuch, who was a gold-medal winner in the asshole Olympics.
germy
I’m fully vaccinated and boosted. Yesterday I spent a few hours in the service dept. waiting room at a honda dealership (car needed brake work):
Employees: Unmasked, unless approached by a customer. Then they’d pull their masks up.
Customers: One young man wore his mask until he sat down. Removed it to enjoy his can of soda and snacks. (Dealership has free bags of snacks) He took two bags, placed his mask next to one bag on a table while munching on the other bag. Then he decided he didn’t want the other bag of snacks (the one that had been sitting (touching) his mask. Returned it to the snack basket for someone else to take.
One old man (reading NY Post) wore his mask until he sat down. Then it came off. He put it back on to walk around the waiting room, but removed it once he was again seated.
Behavior like this is why we’re still in this thing years later.
SFAW
@Quinerly:
Good one!
germy
@cmorenc:
Is his behavior payback for “what was done to” his mom?
SFAW
@cmorenc:
Hence “Justice Mama’s-Boy.”
Betty Cracker
@Steeplejack:
Brantl
@Quinerly: Nope, just pragmatic.
SFAW
@Betty Cracker:
Can we get Gorsuch, Alito, Thomas, et al. to walk under those trees? Might be easier than waiting for some small and well-targeted meteors. And certainly a lot funnier.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
The glitch will be addressed, of that am confident. In the meantime, be on watch for announcement of the promised hotline phone number to call for ordering in lieu of the web site.
raven
@germy: And it’s not going to change.
Steeplejack
@Betty Cracker:
LOL. I guess Pendejo Point is too far north?
Quinerly
Totally unrelated… Anybody have a really bad POD experience? I have one loaded. It leaves today to Santa Fe house. Feeling a little uneasy about putting breakables and nice clothes in a second one. I will only be able to get so much in JoJo’s minivan on 2 trips. Have a friend who has a POD horror story… POD roof caved in, plus PODS dropped it. As l keep saying, “my people don’t move.” Parents lived in same house 50 plus years. I have been in this house close to 30. Very new experience for me… Trying to make the best decisions.
germy
@Betty Cracker:
(Robert Benchley “Mysteries From The Sky”)
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone ???
germy
@rikyrah:
Good morning!
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Steeplejack
@germy:
Hence my isolation strategy, as much as possible. About the only places I go now are the grocery and a few other places for quick in-and-out errands. I’ve even stopped going to restaurants, which I was doing occasionally at off-peak times.
Kay
Right wing men are the whiniest crybabies on the planet.
p.a.
@Betty Cracker:
Falling Iguanas would be a good name for a band.
Steeplejack
@rikyrah:
Good morning! ?
Dorothy A. Winsor
Gorsuch is disgusting. This is what conservatives have come to, even in their elite form.
SFAW
Just tried ordering from COVIDtests.gov, but ran into a problem. “Tests have already been ordered for this address.”
So those gummint bastids forced me to call Mrs. SFAW at work, to confirm she had ordered them. As it turns out, she had, but I had to waste a whole 30 seconds to do it!!!! Which means my entire time spent was somewhere between 60 and 90 seconds.
Thanks,
ObamaBiden, for making use up more of my oh-so-valuable time.germy
@Steeplejack:
There’s a mask mandate in this state, but people ignore it.
One thing I noticed: the customers were incapable of sitting for 20 minutes to a half hour without slurping coffee, soda, and chewing snacks. So even the masked customers would remove them for snacktime and then forget to replace them. They reminded me of toddlers.
germy
I see Letitia James is making the Trump family perspire a bit more freely lately.
SFAW
@Kay:
This may not be the truest thing ever written on this blog, but I can’t think of what is.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
re: your birthday dilemma from downstairs, it may be diplomatic strategy to haul out “It’s the thought that counts.”
zhena gogolia
@germy: They use it as a strategy to be able to take off their fucking masks.
SFAW
@germy:
Maybe if you brought along a few shiny balls or similar rolling objects, and threw them out of the waiting area at strategic times? I mean, they might’ve chased them.
Well, shiny objects or having a laser pointer and do the cat-thingie.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
Yeah, it’s not like these are long-lost relatives that I see only once a year or so. Like I said, I want to see if Omicron is actually peaking and what the situation looks like after that.
trnc
Maybe she would have a case anyway, given that the Chief Justice supposedly imposed a rule for masking.
SFAW
@germy:
I’m glad she decided not to run for NY Gov., lets her focus more on getting those mofos in jail. [Yes, I’m aware of the concept of multi-tasking, walking-and-chewing-gum, etc., but running for high office takes a LOT of time, energy, and mental focus.]
Dorothy A. Winsor
@germy: Was FOX on the TV?
Gin & Tonic
@Quinerly: No.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: Tell me something I don’t already know.
Kay
@SiubhanDuinne:
The USPS system uses this format for addresses with unit numbers, letters or suites:
1026 EAST SOUTH ST APT A
CITY STATE ZIP CODE
Is that what you tried?
germy
@zhena gogolia:
Yes, I suspect that.
The old man reading the NY Post, he took his mask off and verrry slowwwllly savored a bag of chips, lingering over each bite.
There was another man engrossed in a thick hardcover book. No snacks, and he kept his mask on the whole time, but nose completely uncovered.
There were a couple of elderly women who were masked, and didn’t take their masks off at all. I could see them eyeing the plague spreaders.
My favorite is still the young man who put his mask on the table so it touched the snack bag he then returned to the basket. I almost expected a huge spiked ball labeled “COVID” to walk in and thank him for his service.
Lymie
The problem is broader than Gorsuch just being an a$$hole, Ruth Marcus wrote last week about the complete lack of enforcement of any rule by SCOTUS, thus no enforcement of conflict of interest, insider trading, etc, etc. , any rules that apply to clerks can be ignored by the justices without consequences….. Also, according to reports, Alito and Thomas wore masks into the courtroom but immediately took them off.
Any confidence that Ginni Thomas will be called to account and that husband Clarence will recuse himself from anything related to the insurrection or voting rights? Me neither.
germy
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
No Fox news this time. The default channel there is NBC, so I got to watch Jenna Bush yuk it up with Hoda.
Last time I was there, an elderly customer changed it to Fox, and then talked loudly to another trumper about her personal problems.
Jay
@Quinerly:
did the container thing, no problems, assisted with a POD move, , pack, storage, delivery, no problems.
Kay
@SiubhanDuinne:
If it’s linked to the USPS system it should also autocorrect- takes out punctuation, lower case letters, etc.
SFAW
@Lymie:
Well, they couldn’t get Fat Nino to recuse himself from Bush v. Gore, even though his son was working for the Bush team, so .. no, they won’t.
Geminid
Two weeks ago Pennsylvania Senate hopeful Conor Lamb was endorsed by the 30 unions of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council. Yesterday it was Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney’s turn:
Cameron
@Betty Cracker: Remember not so long ago when Florida’s very own surgeon general refused to mask up in the office of a cancer-compromised state rep? The fucking surgeon general. And he laughed when she asked him to.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Our own politeness traps us. Theoretically, you’re supposed to wear masks in the public areas of this building. People usually have one somewhere near their face, but they’re often pulled down. A friend has taken to asking them to pull the masks up. Or if there’s no mask, she asks where their mask is. I don’t have the nerve.
Cameron
@NotMax: I think Kavanaugh’s the one most likely to pull a Toobin during the weekly meeting.
SFAW
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Help us Subaru Dianne, Mob Enforcer, you’re our only hope!
Or maybe Cole could come visit you to help out?
OzarkHillbilly
WereBear
@germy: And they wonder about the diabetes rate… since “snacks” are the lowest form of food
As a health and budget strategy we have almost eliminated snacks. With two adults it’s pretty easy. He’s still on the tortilla chips and I’ve switched to low-sugar protein bars with fun flavors.
It also makes a difference when it’s part of a meal, buffered by actual nutrients, I have read.
Soprano2
@Chief Oshkosh: I’ll probably save them for if either of us has a known exposure or symptoms. Sure would have been nice to have one last Tuesday so I could have tested immediately instead of having to wait.
germy
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I try to be polite, but sometimes my eyes betray me. They’ll flash anger.
When I first arrived at the service dept. and an employee was taking my info, I noticed another employee at the next station, unmasked. (The customer service people have workstations side by side in a long row.) I didn’t mean to stare at her, just glanced quickly and then looked away.
Later, when I was in the waiting room, she walked in to talk to another customer. This time she was masked. But after her conversation, she turned, removed her mask, and then gave me a big grin.
I’ve tried different mechanics, they’re all the same up here (before anyone says “Go to a different mechanic!”)
Steeplejack
@germy:
He won’t be getting the dreaded chinfluenza, that’s for sure!
NotMax
@Dorothy A. Winsor
If it’s still a thing there, maybe whoever is responsible for the drinks cart could arrange to skip stopping at the doors of the maskophobes.
;)
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
No one owns the libs like OK.
germy
@WereBear:
Also, we set a good example for the cats.
germy
@Steeplejack:
Possibly he was a mouth breather anyway….
SFAW
@Soprano2:
Yeah. The SFAW-ette tested positive last Thursday. Even though Mrs. SFAW and I hadn’t seen our daughter since the previous Sunday, we used some Binax tests to make sure we were negative. We were fortunate, in that I had been able to latch onto some Binax kits a few weeks ago. Had I not been able to do so, not clear when/where I would have been able to test. [Mrs. SFAW works in a hospital, so her getting tested would not have been an issue.]
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
Oh, I am certain it will be addressed. And honestly, I feel no particular urgency to have the tests on hand. Just seems to be something, like bandaids or Advil or a thermometer, that’s smart to have on hand JIC.
ETA: And thanks, yes, will certainly be on the lookout for the toll-free number.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@NotMax: Sadly, the free drinks cart is a thing of the past. Now there’s something that would surely buffer snacks.
germy
There is such a disparity between the cautious behavior I see described here and what I see when I venture out into the Real World, like car dealerships, grocery stores, etc.
I find it depressing.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: I think OK is still below TX in the “owning the libs” category. In TX they were burning their furniture while Ted took off for Cancun.
WereBear
@Dorothy A. Winsor: If I say, “Please, put your mask up to cover your nose,” in a neutral tone, it works 90% of the time. Turns it into a personal level.
The rest of the time, I get to practice my Basilisk Eyes. Seems like my safest choice from six feet away.
WereBear
@germy: LOL
Kalakal
@Quinerly: We did a pod move about 4 years ago, no problem at all, worked out well
Anne Laurie
@Betty Cracker: In my fantasies, Justice Roberts realizes it’s only gonna get worse for him, throws up his hands & retires. Then President Biden appoints Sotomayor as Chief Justice, and picks a (somewhat) radical lesbian PoC for the ninth slot.
Which (again, my fantasy — my rules) causes Alito to stomp off in a ciliced huff, Thomas to retire (& try to keep his wife from saying anything too compromising to the 1/6 Commission), and Frat Kavanaugh to dive face-first into a vat of Old Milwaukee and not be found for 48 hours.
After which, Gorsuch gets busted making obscene phone calls to the ‘pushy beyoches’ in his life, and ‘Blank Sheet of Paper’ Cunning-Bunny’s quid pro quo notes to Bill Barr get published in the Wall Street Journal…
wvng
Everyone here understands Gorsuch perfectly. He is a right wing operative, and they all get off on performative assholery. That this creature is sitting on the Supreme Court, likely for decades, is an atrocity.
Soprano2
Anyone want some incense? I had a really weird thing happen last week – mail from Amazon Prime showed up in my mother’s mailbox. It had someone else’s name on it but my mother’s address. I tried some amaetuer sleuthing to try to figure out if it was someone on her street, but no luck, so I contacted Amazon. They said they would contact the account holder to tell them about what happened, and that I could keep what was in the package. When I opened it, I found 100 sticks of vanilla-scented incense. I don’t use it at all, and when I looked it up on Amazon I found it was $25 for five of those packs, so it’s not even worth selling. It freaked me out to think someone might be using my mom’s address for some nefarious purpose, although I can’t think what it would be that would involve incense.
Matt McIrvin
Gorsuch needs to be impeached, convicted and arrested for the attempted murder of Sonia Sotomayor. Don’t fuck around. I know this will never happen.
Baud
@Anne Laurie:
You’ve thought this through.
NotMax
@germy
Have gotten into the habit, when anticipating a situation such as that waiting room, of tossing a folding chair into the car to use outdoors.
Hawaii, so no wintertime weather woes. And as a cigar smoker, that provides an extra layer of social distancing if I should find myself not totally alone.
SFAW
@Anne Laurie:
I thought you’re not using mind-altering substances these days? [Well, except for maybe a little whisk(e)y now and then.] ‘Cause that’s some industrial-grade hallucination, that is. Although, I have to confess, a very appealing one.
SiubhanDuinne
@Kay:
Not that format, no, so thanks. I’ll try once again and see if third time’s the charm (as I’ve always been assured it is).
My question, though: it’s a USPS form we’re filling out, and it specifically asks for the apartment number in the second line. Why did they even bother if they’re just going to reject orders using that format?
I blame Louis DeJoy.
Grump grump grump.
OzarkHillbilly
@Soprano2: Vanilla incense is a well known gateway to crystal gazing. I suggest moving your mom.
Anne Laurie
@SFAW: I’m Irish (-American). When we cherish a grudge, we cherish it. Like it was a sickly first-born, goes the proverb among my people!
Betty Cracker
@Anne Laurie: Might as well dream big — I love it! :)
rikyrah
Otis Moss, III ( sheltering in Wakanda) (@om3) tweeted at 7:48 AM on Wed, Jan 19, 2022:
The filibuster is a senate rule, voting is a constitutional right. To elevate a senate rule over the constitution is nothing more than a political attack upon our democracy. To fail to support the Freedom To Vote: John Lewis Act is a direct attack upon the heart of our democracy
(https://twitter.com/om3/status/1483798404589408264?t=aPVLzdJIdXMT8FiJCI5-VQ&s=03)
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: @SFAW: Anne’s fantasies are pretty detailed.
NotMax
@Soprano2
Wait until the peppermints show up on her doorstep.
:)
SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer
@SFAW:
I can do that. A couple of big burly guys were in my room a couple of days ago to clean the heating unit. Neither was masked — until I requested they mask up. Then they complied like little lambs :-)
RSA
@SiubhanDuinne:
I know, right? This is the United States Post Office we’re talking about, and they’ve rolled out an obviously broken user interface.
WereBear
@SiubhanDuinne: I have been dealing with this as an apartment dweller for a few years. With only 4 apartments, I can leave it off unless it is for credit card verification or the like.
I find it’s split almost 50/50 whether I have to use the second line to make the address accepted. When my test order went through using the second line, I just let it :)
Kay
@SiubhanDuinne:
It is bad that they’re prompting for the second line. Sadly, there’s another possible issue. Some addresses aren’t registered with the USPS as “multi use” (business w/residential attached) or as multi unit. The residents are getting the mail, because boxes exist and are labeled and the resident adds the unit designation, but the designation isn’t registered in the system. It’s usually newer addresses. It means the developer or builder didn’t register as such, so it gets adopted by the USPS as an individual address update for each unit address, which takes a while.
WereBear
@SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer: Love your new nym!
NotMax
@RSA
Now I’m led to wonder if the USPS site accepts P.O. boxes as a valid address.
Scout211
@NotMax:
Yes, it does. We have a PO Box and it worked fine.
Kay
@SiubhanDuinne:
So if you have a development, Shady Lane, but it has boxes for each resident in a central location and it isn’t registered as a multi-unit, you’re adding “Box 6” or “Apt 5” but that’s not a registered multi unit by the USPS, so to their system it’s one address. They work around it.
Ken
I suspect that the utilities will “forget” to remove the fee after 25 years, figuring that by that point everyone will be so used to paying for it that they’ll assume it’s a normal surcharge.
Also, I wonder if this transfers to the new owner when a house is sold? Probably, despite the cries of “but I didn’t use that electricity, I didn’t even live in the state!” Maybe it’s something that the buyer will have to disclose. “No, no termites, but about the gas bill…”
stinger
OT: Sure wish I had $600 I could toss in the kitty right now! We are SO CLOSE!
Chief Oshkosh
@Suzanne: No, there is a society, it’s just that some people, like Gorsuch, have decided to remove themselves from societal rules and norms.
They should be treated as such. If they want to live beyond or outside of society, then they should not be afforded societal protections. They are wild beasts and should be cast out, to live or die by their own individual attributes and vices. They should be stripped naked and left in the desert. I’m not sure I mean that metaphorically.
Betty Cracker
@rikyrah: That logic is inescapable, as is the fact that state-level voter suppression and election subversion laws are being passed in state legislatures on a simple majority vote, so it makes no sense to require a supermajority to override them.
But I see Manchin is bragging on Politico today about how he won’t even countenance a rules change to enforce a talking filibuster and welcomes a primary when he runs again. He and anyone else who privileges the filibuster over voting rights is breaking their oath to protect and defend the constitution and should be treated accordingly.
OzarkHillbilly
Donald Trump’s former attorney general William Barr to publish his memoirs
I can’t wait.
s//
satby
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Daily occurrence at the doctor’s office, where both the office and the retail store have signs posted requiring masks. If the mask is under their nose (or chin) I point to my own nose (correctly placed mask over my nose) and tell them to place it over theirs. When the inevitable whining starts, because it always does, I tell them they aren’t going to be seen until it’s correct. The second phase is when they put it on and then pull it down under their nose in pretesting, where I again tell them to pull it back up. When they whine about not being able to breathe, I tell them I have asthma and beginning CPOD, and if I can breathe so can they. If they try to up the ante from there, I tell them I will bring them back out front, cancel their appointment, and ask them where they would like us to send their records. Haven’t had anyone actually go that far. Most of them are whiney assholes and passive bullies. Don’t be afraid of them.
Renie
@germy: An anti- masker would have started preaching about COVID conspiracy theories so you should have told everyone really loud to put on their masks. Though unlike what happens to anti- maskers the management would have asked you to leave. One rule for us a different rule for them
Skepticat
Where goes one, we go all.
I used to think I was a decent person, but my reaction to these hideous Rethuglicans and their ilk rapidly is drawing me closer to the dark side.
SiubhanDuinne
@stinger:
I was literally just looking at my personal exchequer to see if I could scrape together the remaining $555 that would bring us to $25K. (I can’t, not possibly, but I’ll continue to monitor the thermometer throughout the day and maybe toss in a final few bucks later on.)
Soprano2
@OzarkHillbilly: Well, it would be hard to do that. I guess you missed it, but my mother died back in August from a massive stroke, which is why I’m getting her mail now (Fun fact – only the first class mail can be forwarded. Everything else keeps coming to the original address). That’s what’s so weird – it had someone else’s name on it, but the address was her address, so it wasn’t misdelivered to the wrong address. My first thought was some kid on the street was using the address of the vacant house to hide something from his/her parents, but as far as I could tell there is no one on that street with that last name, and the package had been in there since last Wednesday according to the tracking info.
gene108
@NotMax:
I’m disappointed already. I was expecting a different KAOS
SiubhanDuinne
@Kay:
Thanks. That’s not really my situation, but useful to know.
Jinchi
Where did you find these Youtube links? The “Cabinet of Curiosities” review sounds like it was completely AI generated, with the woman speaking collections of phrases that never quite make a complete thought.
germy
Here’s an amusing thread on an independent contractor being treated like an employee:
lowtechcyclist
I just want them all to go to one of those right-wing confabs where everybody thinks they’ve got anthrax, because it couldn’t possibly be Covid.
OzarkHillbilly
Oklahoma pastor faces criticism for rubbing spit on parishioner’s face
The very embodiment of Jesus, he is.
NotMax
@satby
Read about the looney tunes doctor in Maine by any chance?
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
It just pisses me off that the bar is so incredibly low for these people. We’re currently beiung scolded for not adopting the “bipartisan electoral count act” that Republicans and Manchin and Sinema made vague. ass covering murmers about but their proposal doesn’t exist. They’ve offered nothing real. Contrast with the Dem Senator work in progress on the electoral count act which is an actual written plan.
All these people have to do is tell certain people in media they’re “working on one” or “the door is a crack open” and there’s this insane broad assumption of good faith. In one of the articles lauding Mitt Romney’s committment to “getting something done” Elizabeth Warren said she’d wait to see something before she signs on to a Romney/Manchin plan. She’s right.
Manchin promised a bipartisan voting bill. He has produced nothing. How long does he continue to get credit for saying things instead of doing them? It’s like Romney and Republicans watched Manchin and Sinema and said “we can play this game too! We’ll get all the credit for working without doing anything!”
WereBear
@Skepticat:
But not nearly as dark as they proudly display.
satby
@NotMax: I had read something about that. Love that he was ordered to have a psych evaluation!
Edit: also too, thanks for the rec on Bergerac (some time ago). Young sexy John Nettles? Amazing, and the stories are pretty ok for the time period.
OzarkHillbilly
@Soprano2: Now that you mention it, I remember. I just read the above in the present tense. My bad.
My advice to you is for you to move, now, before the crystal gazers find you.
NotMax
@Jinchi
Actually took some time searching for anything which at the very least gives the flavor of what’s to come. There’s very little out there at present video-wise on any off the three yet.
OzarkHillbilly
@germy: Heh, I really like this guy/gal. Would love to shake their hand.
stinger
@SiubhanDuinne: Same here! I’ve been chipping in fairly small amounts for weeks — a great day brightener whenever the news gets too dark — and I guess I can do it one more time this month.
Kay
Developers and the USPS have kind of a funny relationship, because some developers care about addresses. They think a better address adds value, and maybe it does, I don’t know. Once we were having this kind of passive agressive back and forth with a developer over designations of individual homes in a subdivision that was a single loop, so one street off county road, loops to dead end, lined with homes. They wouldn’t work with us so we used “Lot”, so Shady Lane, Lot 5. But in the midwest (and maybe elsewhere) “Lot” is mostly used for trailer parks so they hated that solution.
Eventually they capitulated so we generously gave them real numbers :)
SiubhanDuinne
I honestly can’t remember whether or not I posted this on BJ five years ago. Don’t think I did, although FB “Your Memories” tells me I put it up there.
Anyhow, five years ago today was the eve of TFG’s “that was some weird shit” inauguration. Of course at the time even the most dystopian of us probably couldn’t have imagined the awfulness of the next four-and-counting years. Still, I think I must have had fun writing this, in my innocence.
Skepticat
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I don’t either. All I manage to I do is stare pointedly at an offender’s lower face while obviously tightening and adjusting my mask. A few of the larger cities here in Maine are reimposing mask mandates, for which I’m grateful, and I hope that will start a trend.
Gin & Tonic
Your morning amusement:
SFAW
@WereBear:
She’s had that (alternative) nym for a few years. I don’t recall if I was the one that gave it to her, but I certainly tried to popularize it in the early days of its usage.
Ken
@NotMax: I hadn’t noticed how much Netflix’s logo looks like that joke(?) video store “Megaflicks“. Or maybe they were going for the “Fuddruckers of the Future” look.
WaterGirl
@Suzanne: If Roberts had any balls, he would either make everyone meet remotely, or better yet, the mask refuser is the one who does not get to meet as a group.
He should be the one who is out in the cold.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: Biden is doing a press conference today. He’ll get questions about voting rights, and it will be interesting to see how he responds. I hope he goes scorched earth on those mofos.
stinger
@SiubhanDuinne: Except for the reminder of that horrible day and that horrible family — this is great!
Quinerly
@Kalakal: thanks for piping up!
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
I’m actually pleasantly surprised at the broad pushback to abandoning voting rights.
Did you see the retired Right/Centrist Dems weighing in?
I like their article because it lays out compromise options- changes in senate rules. Manchin has really benefitted from dumbing this debate down. There’s a LOT of middle ground that he doesn’t want anyone to know about.
JMG
@Betty Cracker: I am sorry to say this is a dream. Every single question will be about poll numbers, “why can’t you get Republicans to agree?” and other variants on the theme, “why are you such a big loser?” If Biden shows any anger, the post-conference will be “Big Loser Lashes Out.”
Quinerly
@Jay: great! Thanks!
SiubhanDuinne
@WereBear:
Oh, thanks! I’ve actually had it for several years, but — in keeping with the Mob Enforcers’ Code of Conduct — I try to use it sparingly and judiciously.
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
The two Right wing Dems and Mitt Romney have presented this to the public as yes/no but that’s not at all the case. Just once can they say one thing in good faith? Every word is misleading or designed to play games.
SiubhanDuinne
@Kay:
@Kay:
That’s really interesting information. Thank you.
sab
@Quinerly: Our POD experiense was good. Only problem was navigating my parents’ 1920s narrow tree lined driveway. Three PODs went from NE Ohio to suburban Boston, Columbus OH, and Marin County with no bad issues. The Columbus one sat in their driveway for two months.
Was that an Oxford comma up there?
Baud
@Kay:
?
SiubhanDuinne
@SFAW:
Was that you? I can’t recall how it started, but it’s funny because IRL I am perhaps the most timid, self-effacing person you would ever care to meet.
mrmoshpotato
Good question. Not that I want it answered.
SiubhanDuinne
@sab:
What, this one?
SiubhanDuinne
@stinger:
Thanks. I know. Some of my best works — at least, my personal faves — were inspired by, or in reaction to, TGF and his family and followers. But as you say, the downside of that is having to think about them at all.
Obvious Russian Troll
@Soprano2: It’s a scam, but you’re not the victim here.
What’s happening is that whoever sent the package wants to write a fake review for one of their products on Amazon. So they send a package to some random person (your mother in this case), which generates a tracking number, which allows them to write a review for their product while pretending to be an actual customer.
The incense you got is also probably not the product they’re writing the review for (and is probably less expensive).
SFAW
@SiubhanDuinne:
I think so, but not certain. But we should/could probably ask WaterGirl to check. [Not sure if it’s possible to do so, of course
Suzanne
@Geminid: This is how I feel about it, too. I care about a Dem winning more than I care which Dem specifically. I probably think Kenyatta is my first choice, but Lamb would be a good second choice, for sure. I also think Lamb might hit that sweet spot for all the working-class Catholics around here. Honestly, I think this is a seat that we can not just win, but hold for a long time, so I am thinking about someone who will be a multi-termer. I don’t need a superstar.
Gin & Tonic
@Betty Cracker: I’m on a phone so can’t easily search or link, but yesterday in the morning I posted two good English-language sources of info about Ukraine. You had asked a while back when I didn’t have time to reply adequately.
Brant
@p.a.: comatose Iguanas for a punk band…..
Soprano2
@Obvious Russian Troll: Well yeah, except the name on the package was someone else’s name. You may be right about the reasoning, though, and it was super-weird because when I looked on Amazon it didn’t appear you could buy just one package of that product – they only came in batches of five or more packages. It seemed to be a partial shipment.
Geminid
@Suzanne: Conor Lamb is 37 years old, and similar in his personal profile to Bill Casey Jr. Casey won reelection in 2018 by over 600,000 votes.
SFAW
@SiubhanDuinne:
And, of course, part of the Mob Enforcers’ Code of Conduct requires you to kill us if you tell us about it.
Brachiator
Odd. I entered “APT 6” in the second line and it processed fine. No error.
Jinchi
@Kay:
So, they don’t want to eliminate the filibuster “entirely” ?
Give us a hint guys.
If you’re sincere about your commitment to voting rights, design a filibuster rule that prevents it from acting as anything other than obstruction. I don’t know why the rest of us have to dream up what answer will suit Sinema and Manchin.
Slate wrote a whole article yesterday discussing how Kyrsten Sinema could “Salvage Voting Rights”, as though she isn’t the reason the bill is in jeopardy, and going into great detail about a solution that she hasn’t proposed.
Will she support the Sinema Rule?
Who knows if she’s even heard of it?
lowtechcyclist
You shoulda given them imaginary numbers. Like 5i Shady Lane.
(Save complex numbers, like 3+5i, for apartment/condo complexes, of course.)
sab
@SiubhanDuinne:Is that the one after OH?
Jinchi
Maybe they fixed the error.
Obvious Russian Troll
@Soprano2: Yeah, that sounds about right. They just want to send *something* to *somebody* as cheaply as possible.
SiubhanDuinne
@Brachiator:
I’m guessing that means you were the first household at your street address to order. In my case, I think another resident got there first.
SiubhanDuinne
@sab:
It is!!
Jinchi
Now you’ve got me imagining a dystopia where addresses are equations that send delivery vehicles on recursive loops.
Tazj
Lately I’m seeing more people wearing KN95/N95 masks but also more people and entire families with young children with no masks. I live in NY and masks are mandated to be worn indoors.
Patrick W. Watson@PatrickW -Jan 16
When you registered to vote years ago, did you put your SSN or your DL number on the form? Better guess correctly if you want an absentee ballot in Texas. You have one chance.
Also, it is a felony for election administrators to help you find an answer.
But there’s no reason for a carve out of the filibuster for voting rights legislation according to Manchin and Sinema.
SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer
@SFAW:
Oh, heck, I’d do that for fun ?
Soprano2
@Kay: I used to think addresses were simple and straightforward, then I sat in a meeting with people from several different government entities and found out they are anything but simple. Over a decade ago they went through the process of giving every building in the county a physical street address for 911 purposes, so they had to decide how to do it. I saw one man in the county with a mailbox that had two addresses on it; the one he had before they did the 911 stuff, and the one after, because he was at an intersection and they changed the street his street number was on based on his driveway! There was an IT guy here who hated that we attached anything to addresses, but we had to use them for service requests and some other stuff.
SFAW
@SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer:
Yet another reason why I love you.
Benw
After two boosters for the teenagers and the second dose for the pre-teen today we officially have all the jabs!!
SFAW
@Tazj:
Yeah, I saw that about the “SSN or DL but don’t pick the worng one” shit.
Yet another instance of proof that there is no Just God, because Abbott and the rest of them would be grease spots.
Brachiator
@SiubhanDuinne:
That is possible. I ordered yesterday and very early. Other friends and family who ordered yesterday and live in apartments also were ok.
Wow. What a silly, unfortunate mess. Hope it gets fixed soon.
Betty Cracker
@Gin & Tonic: Appreciated — thanks!
danielx
@Anne Laurie:
Old Milwaukee? You are a cruel woman.
OzarkHillbilly
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: @stinger:
I have a happy surprise for a little later today, just waiting for a few things to come together. So don’t use your food money just yet in order to get us over the top. :-)
Betty Cracker
@Kay: I missed that — thanks for the link. Call those phonies out.
Miss Bianca
@Betty Cracker: Does Pete have a tiny little sweater (oh please, oh please, photos if so…)?
Steeplejack (phone)
Miss Bianca
@Quinerly: My sister used a POD to move all her artwork from New Mexico to Maine, and FWIW it seems to have turned out fine.
Now, what my niece is planning to do to move said artwork from Maine down to Maryland is…not POD dependent, as I recall. I think because it’s her mom’s work and she doesn’t feel like taking any risks with it, that she’s going to use professional movers.
WaterGirl
@Miss Bianca: @Betty Cracker: Can I ask how much Pete weighs?
Puppies grow so fast… I want to get a sense of whether he’s still really little or not. Maybe we also need a photo or video of Badger and Pete today. (hint hint)
ET
I think the simplest answer to Gorsuch is that he is just a selfish, entitled white man who for his entire life has been feted and treated like he is the only one in any room that matters. As such other defer to him even co-workers. And especially female and minority ones. Sadly it likely isn’t even necessarily a conscious thing. He flat out doesn’t think of his impact on others because that is their problem, not theirs.
WaterGirl
So President Biden has a press conference scheduled for later today. I have not seen one word of details, so maybe it really is a press conference and not an announcement of anything. ??
frosty
@Obvious Russian Troll: Interesting scam. I am finding lately that the 5 and 1 reviews are kind of useless, like 5: “This looks like a great product, can’t wait to try it out.” The 1s are bad shipping, poor customer service, or it broke immediately.
SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer
@WaterGirl:
Ooooh goody! Between your surprise and the prospect of quality time with Adam Schiff, this is shaping up to be a fine day!
Jinchi
Texas regrets to inform you that, due to Joe Biden’s supply chain failures, you might have to wait until next year to register to vote.
Old School
I see the Four Directions thermometer has surpassed $25,000. A round of applause for everyone involved!
frosty
@Suzanne: I’m leaning towards Lamb now after starting out on the Fettterman train. I think a lot of the MAGAts would have voted for him over Toomey.
Times have changed and maybe a populist (sort of) pitch won’t go over as well this year. Especially since the R nominee will likely be Trumpy and keep all of his voters.
Miss Bianca
@Kay:
Hey, it’s worked for Bernie Sanders all these years…
Baud
@Jinchi:
Plus, they used up a lot of paper printing their new literacy tests.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack (phone): The Ride Pundit thinks Eric will flip. I kind of like the idea. “It ain’t the way I wanted it! I can handle things! I’m smart! Not like everybody says… like dumb… I’m smart and I want respect!” But then Fredo remembers all the conversations (and where they kept the papers) and fucks everyone over.
ET
@ET: their problem not his…
Jinchi
Somebody alert Chuck Todd. Apparently Republicans only goal is to obstruct Joe Biden!
SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer
@Omnes Omnibus:
Have you ever seen Stephen Colbert’s imitation of Eric? It is truly hilarious. All he does is buck his teeth and talk in an “uh…duh” kind of voice, but he has me on the floor screaming with mirth every time.
Baud
@Jinchi:
Honestly, I’m a little surprised Sununu had that much integrity, unless there is an angle I’m not seeing.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Omnes Omnibus:
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: he seems to be less of an asshole than his racist warthog father (low bar, I know). Also, he’s only 47. He has a much better chance of a career once the actuarial tables and the McDonald’s grease in trump’s veins to catch up with each other.
De Santis is only 43. Kinda surprised he isn’t just sitting out ’24
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Unusual. I thought generally younger Republicans ended up worse than their fathers.
WaterGirl
I just added an important note to the fundraising thread if you want to check it out.
Four Directions Double-Match is Confirmed and More Angels are Waiting in the Wings!
Jinchi
DeSantis is popular among the right-wing, now. No-one knew who he was before 2018. There’s no guarantee that anyone will remember who he is in 2028.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer: Check out the update at the bottom of the Four Directions thread from yesterday.
Four Directions Double-Match is Confirmed and More Angels are Waiting in the Wings!
dww44
@Kay: What if there were maybe two GOP Senators with a real conscience and the guts to put it to work by voting to amend the filibuster rules? Make the 2 bought-and-paid-for Senators, Manchin and Sinema (they have to be cause nothing they say makes any real sense;it’s all just word salad), irrelevant in this matter. Then have a floor vote and make all 100 members of the world’s greatest deliberative body put their true priorities on the record. No more gutless fake negotiations.
It’s not gonna happen, but that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t happen. What happened in Georgia lanuary 5, 2021 wasn’t supposed to happen either.
WaterGirl
@Old School: Check out the update at the end of the Four Directions thread. We’re there, but we’re not quite there, I hope. :-)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Speaking of De Santis… anyone here listen to the O’Bros podcast? They were talking about an article on De Santis that focuses on his weirdness. I think they said his best friend in the FL lege and in the House was Matt Gaetz (!) who is quoted as saying De Santis doesn’t actually have any friends. There was an anecdote about how he was a friendless dick on his college (?) baseball team. Is that ringing any bells with anybody? Did anyone see that article?
SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer
@WaterGirl:
Just did, and left a comment. This is simply amazing work, WG!
Suzanne
@frosty: Lamb’s election office is on the next block from my house. SuzMom said she wants to go volunteer.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
Just donated a new $50.00 for the new Angel Match.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Jinchi: Why is Sununu surprised? Has he been asleep for the last few years?
Omnes Omnibus
Interesting joint statement from Sotomayor and Gorsuch.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
Not working.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne: I had no problem with putting the apartment number in the second box.
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: DeSantis is one of many Republican politicians who believe that 2024 will be a good year for their nominee. Many elite Republicans also believe that Trump would lose an otherwise winnable race. No one has figured out how to get around Trump yet, but I bet they are working on it. The challenge is to ditch Trump while keeping his voters.
Sununu the Younger would have had to fight for the Senate nomination with someone from the radical wing of his party, and the nomination might not have been worth much afterwards. Some of the radicals would be proud to stay home in November rather than come out for a “RINO.” If Sununu has higher ambitions, he may be better off laying out for a while. I think that is what Paul Ryan is doing.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: https://twitter.com/adamliptak/status/1483840306474885131
Kay
@Miss Bianca:
Well, except Bernie Sanders agrees to back every large scale Democratic legislative effort, although most are much further Right than he would prefer, and then votes for them.
I can guarantee Bernie Sanders will back the Democratic Senators reform of the electoral count act and would vote for it. Manchin is not only not backing it, he’s (supposedly) preparing a different one with Republicans.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
Thanks. Interesting.
Kay
Awesome. I’m gonna donate to him for this. He could have chickened out and used Manchin and Sinema as cover.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: It denies that she asked but does not contradict the reporting that Roberts asked. OTOH they are Sup Ct Justices; no one can force them to put out a statement. This shit is like Kremlinology.
Ksmiami
@Quinerly: No. they all deserve death
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Omnes Omnibus:
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: Thank you so much! That’s $300 more for Michigan.
That leaves just $700 left of the final angel match.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Like I said, an interesting statement.
Brachiator
@Geminid:
Trump has the advantage. His base know what they are getting with him. They like what they see and want some more.
Trump also loves to attack and to belittle his opponents. Loves it. And Republicans love to grovel and to kiss Trump’s ass after he has knocked them out. DeSantis can’t win. What is he going to do, profess to be a nastier Trump?
Early on in 2015 and 2016, the GOP blasted Trump on his dishonesty and unreliability. Then they all bent the knee. They have immunized him.
Trump also continues to bleat about the “rigged” election and dumbshit Republicans refuse to clearly denounce Trump.
The GOP is keeping Trump’s hopes alive. But they really want to dump him? Strange way of showing it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Omnes Omnibus: and, not for nothing, the woman of color who worked her way up from a single-mother household in a Bronx housing project is asked to protect the reputation of an over-grown privileged white boy who had the skids greased for him from birth.
(Checking their wiki pages to confirm my memory of their bios, I did not know that Gorsuch was two years behind Schlitz Kavanaugh at Georgetown Prep. I wonder if he knew Booge and Skittles or whatever their names were, if only by (hic) reputation)
SiubhanDuinne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Again, it might be that you were the first person in your building/street number to order tests, in which case it would have gone through just fine.
Or it could be that I’m accursèd.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
both good bets, especially the former if nature should take its inexorable course with The Beast, but I think even if the stories about trump’s hold on the GOP weakening prove true, I think that he will at the very least be able to severely and maybe fatally wound a candidate he resents, for whatever reason, and he’d tank a GOP nominee (if he can) just to be able to say “I told you so” in ’25
De Santis is young enough that he can take a cycle or two to graze in the tall grass and establish a reputation as some kind of Jack Kemp-like figure with the Beltway press– as gullible a bunch of marks as there is– while scaring the right white people with under-the-radar speeches about the threats to “our country and our way of life”
I would sit out this cycle in his place. But then I couldn’t get elected as head of my five household cul-de-sac’s (informal) homeowners association, and I have non-hostile, even friendly, relationships with three of those households.
Brantl
@SFAW: Yeah, “I’ll have what she’s having!”.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Why is “2024 will be a good year for the GOP nom” a good bet?
Geminid
@Brachiator: I think you are being too absolute here. Some Republicans like to grovel before Trump, others are hanging back. Trump’s strength among the base will be tested next year in primaries, among them the ones for Georgia Governor and North Carolina Senator. Brian Kemp and Pat McCrory are not rolling over just because Trump endorsed their opponents, but are putting up real fights and may win still.
The composition of the Republican base is not defined by the nuts who show up at his rallies. The Trump voters I know would much rather have voted for a Bush or a Kasich, or a DeSantis. And they’ve been voting Republican for years; some of those rally goers never even voted until 2016, and might never vote again if Trump is not the nominee in 2024.
Brachiator
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Trump is putting himself in position to be the nominee, or the kingmaker if for some reason he cannot be the nominee.
What did they say about Nixon? “He’s tanned, he’s rested, he’s ready.”
Trump is blasted orange, he is snarly and he is a waste of space, but beloved by his idiot base.
Yeah, DeSantis should sit this one out if he is smart. But he ain’t smart.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Probably rigged.
cain
@Steeplejack:
lol – with the filibuster in place, they’d filibuster everything. Not sure they can do that for 3 years, but I don’t see why not. It’s not like there is a political price to pay for Republicans.
Starboard Tack
@Cameron: From JoeMyGod
Supposedly for encouraging people to get vaccinated.
mrmoshpotato
@Brachiator: The narcissistic orange shitstain would have to be dead to refuse the nomination.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Just before I left work last night/this morning, the manager told me that one of our co-workers passed away.
Brachiator
@Geminid:
I was talking about Trump as a presidential candidate. Cruz, Romney, Rubio, Chris Christie, all who ran against him could not wait to grovel before him. It is almost as if they loved being demeaned by him. It is a weird Republican thing. Today only Liz Cheney is clearly opposing him.
Trump’s endorsements are another matter.
Trump’s base is defined by who voted for him and who show in the polls that they believe his lies.
It will be interesting to see in 2024 the degree to which Trump has pushed the GOP further away from moderation, and into a land defined by right wing rigidity and stupidity.
Interesting. I don’t think the sane part of the country can hope that demoralized Trump voters stay home. And the most vile Republicans, DeSantis, Cruz, and others, will try to cultivate them.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Brachiator:
Minor quibble: He’s not as smart as he thinks he is, but he ain’t stupid. I think it’s just that his ambition– fed by stories like “How Ron De Santis Won The Pandemic”– has overtaken his intelligence, and his patience. He wants the Big Chair NOW!.
Old School
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
That’s too bad.
COVID related? Or other causes?
Steeplejack (phone)
@Omnes Omnibus:
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: That’s disturbing.
Kay
I think a lot of the commentary on voting rights is based on not having an understanding of how far Republicans could go with state laws under current federal law before they could be stopped. The Supreme Court didn’t just gut section 5. They also gutted section 2:
I don’t think anyone knows. They didn’t gut section 2 until 2021. No telling what state law they’d allow.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
That’s terrible. Hopefully not COVID-related
J R in WV
@Soprano2:
They did that in our WV county quite a while ago. We actually visited the 911 center to straighten out our address, the appointment took quite a while to get where we were all happy.
Turned out our farm road driveway qualified to have a road name, so we named it after the family who owned the next farm up the creek when we moved out here, to memorialize those sweet guys, Woody and Earl, brother bachelor farmers. But the mail box still sits there beside the county road where the old farm house used to be.
We wanted “Long and Winding Road” but the 911 address guy didn’t like that idea…
Geminid
@Brachiator: If DeSantis doesn’t win reelection as Governor he’ll definitely sit out the 2024 Presidential election. That reelection is no certainty. Republicans won the last three Florida Governor races by very thin margins, and Trump could decide to sandbag his rival.
Some lesser candidates have pledged not to run in 2024 if Trump does. DeSantis won’t do this and Trump is mad about that. I don’t think the new, sleek Pompeo has taken the pledge either. Chris Christie has pretty much said he’ll run whether Trump does or not.
This is not to say that any of these men will beat Trump. But they’ll have wealthy Republican backers who view Trump as an albatross. Trump steamrolled them in 2016, but I think he is damaged goods now. Like I said, the trick now is to ditch Trump and still keep most of his voters. People like Karl Rove are trying to figure out how to pick that lock.
MomSense
He’s an asshole like his mother.
Kay
Also, could we POSSIBLY have higher standards? I think it’s hysterical in a way- “I’ll tell you what I’m waiting for before action can be taken- I’m waiting for a collapse, because I’m a prudent moderate”
Brachiator
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Was this possibly Covid related? Very sad.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
Agreed. I don’t think it should be safely assumed that the impact won’t be that bad
Cameron
@Starboard Tack: Yep, That sounds exactly right.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl:
@Old School:
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
@Brachiator: Not sure, he would use a mobility scooter to enter and leave the store, so maybe something else(maybe cardiac issues). Good, friendly guy. The manager* knew him better than I did and was really broken up by the news.
*Manager on Duty, actually one of the Assistant Managers.
Quinerly
@Miss Bianca: thanks.
Original POD just left 4 hrs after the guy arrived. Podzilla was placed, got the Pod up several feet and over several feet and then nothing. Hydraulics just stalled. No movement in any direction. He said in 18 years of working for the company, never heard of this happening. Plus, this PODZILLA is only a baby at 3 weeks old. 4 guys were out there working on it several hours. Street blocked. No traffic could get thru. One way street. They must have fixed it…. as l left my perch to take phone calls 20 mins ago. Now it’s gone. Poof. Hmmmm…..
SiubhanDuinne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I’m sorry. Sad and disquieting.
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
When they gutted Section 5, we were told we didn’t need to worry because there was Section 2.
I mean, if your argument is there should not be any federal civics rights protections for voting and it will probably be FINE then just say that. No one ever thought conservatives would pitch the VRA into the trash either, and here we are. This is a REALLY clear trend. Nothing they have done goes in the other direction. At some point it becomes magical thinking.
Jinchi
I think De Santis has skipped out on the Jack Kemp track. His entire campaign is about stoking racial grievance and playing the culture wars. He’s had critics arrested under trumped up charges, threatened to seize funding from schools for following CDC guidelines, and wants to create his own Election Police Force. His credentials as the true heir will be solidified when he starts arresting people waiting in line to vote.
He’s the son Trump never had. And a true son at that, considering he’d happily stab the old man in the back at the first opportunity.
Brachiator
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Very sad. A neighbor in my apartment building died at home recently and it hit hard. I understand how people feel.
My neighbor was a good guy and respected and liked by all who knew him.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Kremlinology, yes. Thread:
Miss Bianca
@Kay: Oh, agreed – I’ve been happily surprised by Bernie’s willingness to be a team player now that knee-capping That Woman is no longer on his to-do list. It’s just that it’s amazing to me how many people were all “Bernie Sanders for POTUS – fuck yeah!” based entirely on what he *said*, as as opposed to any great legislative things he got *done*.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I don’t know how big of a shift this is, how much weight Emily’s List carries these days, but this seems significant.
Soprano2
@?BillinGlendaleCA: OH man that sucks, I’m sorry.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne: Thanks, he worked in one of the smaller groups in the store(millwork who handles doors and moldings). Its going to be a real problem for them.
@Brachiator: He’d always say hi as I’d be running past the desks in his area, I really do feel for the folk in his group since it’s such a small group
@Soprano2: Thanks, he’ll be missed.
Kay
@Miss Bianca:
I thought it was a little unfair, honestly, especially because so many other senators were running. He’s obviously on the Left in the Democratic Party so a “Bernie Sanders Bill” wouldn’t pass, but he contributed to the more moderate bills, probably pulled some of them a little Left, and supported all of them without too much fuss. I don’t think that particular frame is ordinarily used with Senators, but it was used with him and only him. If he were a governor or a President you could definitely tag him with, but a senator on the Left end of a group that have often been in the minority? Seems unfair.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Sorry again for your co-worker’s passing
cain
ABL had this on her twitter about Gorsuch:
Gorsuch was quoted as such:
“As I understand it, Mr. Rooney said that he thought it was concern about the so-called separation of state, church and state, or the Constitution’s Establishment Clause.”
JFC, even Church and State is now referred to as “so called”. He’s really an inconsistent originalist.
Ruckus
@debbie:
I have actually been hit by a truck. It did not feel like any time in the decades before or since like any time I’ve been sick. Now in my case I’d say the worst feeling of not normal I’ve had is migraines. Now that used to feel like being hit by the same truck that actually did hit me, before effective meds. Your milage likely will vary…..
cain
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Sinema doesn’t give a shit. She doesn’t stand for anything anyways. She’s another narcissist who will willingly fuck us all over for personal gratification.
J R in WV
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Many years ago our IT unit’s administrative assistant went to the apartment of a co-worker (we will call her Greta) who missed work and didn’t call in sick. She had died in her bathroom the night before, the Fire Dept forced entry and found her…
The next day I rode the elevator up to our floor, and Greta’s identical twin sister was standing there — was a stunning moment! I was speechless!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Thanks.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@J R in WV: OK, that would be seriously weird.
Betty Cracker
@Jinchi: It’s weird because before the pandemic, DeSantis did a few things that surprised me, like backing good environmental protection measures and raising teacher pay. He was always a right-winger but didn’t seem much worse than Jeb Bush and others of that ilk. He went completely around the bend during the pandemic. My guess is he saw an opportunity to become king of the MAGAs and decided to go for it.
Brachiator
@Jinchi:
Ha!
So true.
sdhays
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I remember a story from years ago when Eric ran a real charity for, I think, children with cancer or something similar – it was for sick kids. He was hosting charity events at Dump Org. golf courses, free of charge. When his father found out, he went ballistic, and the charity was drained and basically ceased to exist.
Is the guy who actually wanted to do something nice for someone still in there somewhere? I hope so, and I hope he loathes his father and what he has made him become.
Not placing any bets, though.
Miss Bianca
@Kay: I don’t think it’s unfair – his one big legislative accomplishment at that point was a VA bill, which admittedly was a BFD, but according to the article I read about it he was all, “gosh, *who knew* that getting a bill like this passed required a lot of cooperation with people I don’t necessarily agree with!” To which I was thinking. “My man, if you didn’t realize that that was sort of the whole thing about being a Senator, well…I don’t know what to tell ya.”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@sdhays: (I was talking about Chris Sununu being less bad than his racist warthog father, John, who if memory serves had to give up his honorary title with the Romney campaign for blundering over the line of deniability on ‘racially-tinged’ comments about Obama, but…)
yeah, as I recall Eric seems to have believed the trump foundation was a real charity
the thing about the Large Adult Children: They all know on some level that the rape accusation their mother retracted in order to get a divorce settlement is true. These are badly broken people. Doesn’t excuse how awful they are, but it goes a long way to explaining it.
Matt McIrvin
@Jinchi: More than that: if Trump can take the presidency in 2024, that means that if there is any semblance of democracy left at all by 2028 (a big if), it will probably be a Democratic year because of the further damage done by Trump.
So to become President after 2024, DeSantis either has to suck up to Trump so hard that he becomes Trump’s heir apparent under a one-party autocratic regime in 2028 (unlikely and extremely painful and humiliating even if possible), or wait until at least 2032.
trollhattan
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Sorry to hear that!
Have to say, in the last month I’ve heard of more covid cases among folks I know than the entire rest of the pandemic. It’s a very different bug we’re dealing with ATM. (And our hospitals are utterly stuffed.)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Matt McIrvin: psychologically, I don’t think trump can not run in ’24. He has to prove to Fred’s ghost that he’s not a Loser.
also:
trump knows he’s a criminal
Kay
@Miss Bianca:
But what’s Corey Bookers bill or Klobuchar’s bill or Warrens bill?
That’s all I’m saying. The nature of their work is they don’t take specific or sole credit for much of what they do. I woulkd expect a senator on the Left end of a particular group to not end up with “his bill” but some compromise or just his vote.
trollhattan
@sdhays:
Isn’t it “funny” that the guy who has lost all of the $400million daddy left him and who knows how much more on top of that, will squeeze a nickel until the buffalo shits if he thinks somebody is getting away with taking advantage of him. “Free golf? Fuck that! Secret Service at my resort? Charge ’em!”
Daddy and Roy Cohen told him “be a killer” and that’s what he thinks he is.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan: We’ve had a lot of folk out with COVID. As a delivery guy who wears an orange apron, it means that I get quite a few more customer questions, and when those get specific to a department, I can’t answer. That’s in addition to the usual problem of folk showing up in the hour before the store closes and expects every department to be fully staffed.
J R in WV
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Also, sorry for the loss of your co-worker, almost always a bad thing for a work group.
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Amazing how matter of fact Haberman’s statement is. Ex-POTUS will run again to gain immunity from prosecution. (Yawn.)
sdhays
Will any of those jokers actually challenge Dump, though? No one can win the GQP primary without being a Dump fan. So, you basically have to run as “the new Dump” and hope that people ignore what the old Dump says about you and decide that the new Dump is better than old Dump. All while not saying anything bad about old Dump.
sdhays
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Sorry, I must have missed something in the long thread.
I agree with you regarding the adult children. They’re awful people, but it’s sad how damaged they are. It doesn’t excuse their choices, but it’s still sad.
Munira
@Kay: That worked for me.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@sdhays:
Oh hell, I’m always happy to jump topics to bash any and all trumps and/or Republican
ETA: especially happy to remind people of the careful racism of the Romney campaign as I gather Our Willard was just on the Senate floor waxing indignant that anyone could compare him or his fine colleagues to Bull Connor
Gravenstone
@Baud: He wants to pass legislation for his own ends. No reason to think such legislation would be of broad benefit to anyone but Sununununununu. And that ain’t happening if all the R’s want to do is obstruct everything.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@J R in WV: Thanks.
trollhattan
Notch one for the Czech branch of the Herman Cain Awards.
“If I had a hammer…”
Anyway
@sdhays:
Nah, they can run the Youngkin playbook. There’s so much money in Republican politics they’ll find a way of making Dump less relevant
?BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan:
Aisle 15.
trollhattan
@?BillinGlendaleCA: {rimshot!}
Kay
Jonah Golberg doesn’t know that there are thousands of elections every year, and the vast majority of them are 1. local, 2. decided on small margins.
The entire and exclusive focus on this whole thing are Presidential races every four years and congressional races every two years. It’s amazing.
“Voting” means ALL voting. If they’re rejecting 50% of ballot applications in Texas those people won’t be able to vote for anything.
So the plan to just win every race by a landslide and therefore not have to put in national civil rights protections for voting is not a good plan.
Kay
@Munira:
Oh, good. I’ve noticed online retailers have the autocorrect to the USPS format so I’m wondering why the USPS itself doesn’t.
Baud
@Kay:
Jonah Goldberg is purposefully and disingenuously trying to minimize the threat and belittle our effort to solve it.
Kay
@Baud:
I’ve been saying this for 20 years but it really is a fundamental difference on the Left and the Right on voting.
They simply don’t believe it’s a right. You really can’t bargain your way around that.
You find youself saying “well, it doesn’t matter if it was one vote! They were denied!” – they’re like, whatever, just get a rough estimate.
You can’t use national averages for the Texas county water board race. That’s ludicrous.
I have suspected for a long time that they don’t vote. No one who votes would have come up with the “voter impersonation fraud” scenario. Walk thru that sometimes. It’s nuts.
Kay
@Baud:
There’s this whole idea in election law that the harm can’t be remedied, so the harm gets extra and expedited protection. It’s why they issue injunctions to keep polling places open when the power goes out, or why Ohio designates a Common Pleas judge in each county to take after-hours motions on election day. You can’t vote in THAT election ever again. Gone. But you’d have to think it was actually important to protect it like that, and they don’t.
Baud
@Kay:
They would think it’s important if they were confident that it would produce good results. Voting is simply less important to them then being in power.
Brachiator
Florida Death Cult Doubles Down. From a BBC News story:
According to local media, Dr Pino wrote to employees that, out of 568 DOH staffers, less than 40% had gotten two jabs and only 77 had received boosters.
sdhays
@Anyway: Youngkin didn’t have to beat Dump in a primary. Obviously, if Dump doesn’t run, that changes things.
trollhattan
@Brachiator: “PINO = RINO!”
What a pack of idiots. If the health department doesn’t “believe” in getting vaccinated… Oh, Florida.
Miss Bianca
@Kay: Jonah Goldberg doesn’t know anything about anything, period.
Gravenstone
@Brachiator: So, attempting to shame your slacking co-workers into taking care of themselves now counts as a “mandate”?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Gravenstone: It’s Floriduh, Jake.
Suzanne
Took a COVID test. Negative. Fuck you, plague. Not today.
Sore throat is just my mode of being.
Jinchi
If it’s an at-home test, be prepared for it to be a false negative. Our son was laid out with a fever, fatigue and muscle aches and still tested negative the first day. He tested positive the next.
Fingers crossed.