Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

A Senator Walker would also be an insult to reason, rationality, and decency.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Bark louder, little dog.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Thursday Morning Open Thread: Life Goes On

Thursday Morning Open Thread: Life Goes On

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Nah, I don’t think Putin’s paying Hawley to be obstructionist. Why pay for something he can get for free?

… “Intentionally delaying the confirmation of a qualified expert on Russian affairs at a time like this is supremely reckless,” Schumer said Wednesday, adding that Hawley’s actions are “making the American people less safe.”

Spokesmen for Hawley did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Hawley’s colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee also have criticized his move…

On Monday, Hawley defended his decision to delay Wallander’s confirmation process by accusing Biden of pushing Europe closer to war.

“As Joe Biden’s incompetence leads Europe closer to war, Dr. Wallander seems to think we should keep doing more of the same in Europe, including bringing Ukraine into NATO, which will mean more and more American troops,” said Hawley, who opposes any effort to admit Ukraine to NATO and insists the focus should be on China.

Russia has demanded that Ukraine be barred from joining NATO; the United States and NATO have said the alliance’s open-door policy is nonnegotiable.

Dogs all over lower Florida must’ve had a bad day, what with the supersonic screeching noises from Palm Beach…

… The House committee has requested a wide range of material from the Trump White House relating to the Jan. 6 attack and Mr. Trump’s efforts to remain in office after his defeat. The committee is seeking to pull together a definitive account of that period and is considering whether it should refer its findings to the Justice Department as a way of creating pressure for a potential criminal prosecution.

The response from Ms. Remus appeared to indicate that Mr. Biden would not assert executive privilege over any visitor logs that touched on the matters the committee wants to know more about.

Those lines of inquiry include: the pressure campaign on Vice President Mike Pence to delay the certification of the Electoral College tally on Jan. 6, the scheme to put forward alternate slates of Trump electors from states he lost, Mr. Trump’s consideration of plans to seize voting machines and the various legal challenges brought by Mr. Trump and his supporters.

Under Mr. Biden and under President Barack Obama, the White House has made its visitor logs public, a move that proponents of government transparency have long said gives the public a greater sense of who has a direct pipeline to the country’s most powerful officials.

But the Trump administration said in April 2017 that such logs should remain secret because of “the grave national security risks and privacy concerns of the hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.” Barring their disclosure made it far harder to determine which donors, lobbyists and activists had access to Mr. Trump and his aides…

Reader Interactions

166Comments

  1. 1.

    Another Scott

    I just posted this in the overnight Open Thread downstairs – https://kyivindependent.com has headline story summaries about shelling of a village in Donbas (including a daycare facility) – setting up the false flag that we’ve known is coming, and a headline about a CBS story claiming that the invasion is coming in 4-5 days (again pointing to after the Olympics are over).

    VVP is staying on the same path so far…

    :-(

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  2. 2.

    HinTN

    the grave national security risks and privacy concerns of the hundreds of thousands of visitors annually

    My ass!

  5. 5.

    VOR

    It is a bit jarring to see Senators like Hawley echoing Russia’s positioning on Ukraine. I wonder if the media asks them why they are in lockstep with the Kremlin. Is it reflexive, Cleek’s Law disagreement with anything coming from the Biden Administration? Or is there something else going on?

  7. 7.

    Kay

    It is the fault of “Democrats” that Manchin and Collins have not come through with their Electoral Count Act reform:

    Democrats told Americans over the last year that voter suppression was the biggest threat to democracy, even as it was clear that the far more immediate challenge is the potential for politicians to overturn election results after votes have been counted.
    Democrats and Republicans in Congress are now working to pass key reforms that will make election subversion harder. But many people involved in efforts to preserve democracy have grown alarmed over the past year as they watched Democrats tell their supporters that America’s future was at stake if they did not pass two doomed voting rights bills.

    I mean, come on. This is ridiculous. Collins and Manchin said they had a bipartisan bill to reform the electoral count act.

    Why is it the fault of “Democrats” they aren’t getting it done? Because Democrats had the temerity to try to get the Voting Rights Act passed? Manchin and Collins didn’t support the Voting Rights Act anyway.

    This is their failure-these two Senators. They claimed they could do it – did a whole media tour taking credit although they had nothing, not even a proposal – and they aren’t getting it done.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    even as it was clear that the far more immediate challenge is the potential for politicians to overturn election results after votes have been counted.

    I don’t agree.  The greater risk is always GOP winning outright, with or without voter suppression.

  11. 11.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I would be embarrassed by Hawley but I’m from Misery and he is just what one would expect to get.

  12. 12.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    The two-week delay in turning over Trump’s White House visitor logs is to allow the Biden administration to go over the logs carefully…
    …with an orange highlighter…
    …to mark all the treasons.

    “Why did you send us a ream of orange paper?1??” asks the 6 Jan committee.

  13. 13.

    A Ghost to Most

    I think you have the Little Lord Haw Haw situation backwards. Why do for free what you can get paid for?

  14. 14.

    Geminid

    @VOR: Hawley has presidential ambitions, so he could be playing to the ant-Biden gallery. One idea that’s gotten a hold on Republicans is that the Chinese are the biggest  threat by far, so why pick on Russia? And what good is NATO if China is the real enemy?

    Isolationism has always been characteristic of the anti-establishment, “populist” wing of that party. Eisenhower began a string of Republican Presidents who were internationalists, but the isolationists never went away. With Russian help, Trump reinvigorated  this this political strain and it is now ascendent. The Russians contributed to the ideological ecosystem that supports isolationism. Now they don’t even need to buy politicians like Hawley, just influence them indirectly.

  16. 16.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    The (purely theoretical) “reform of the electoral count act” doesn’t do anything for senate races, which come before 2024 and if there is a close one will absolutely be challenged by the Right and they will use their brand new invented legal doctrine of how state legislatures can overturn results to do it.
    Tinkering with the electoral count act is fine-it won’t happen because Manchin and Collins aren’t going to come through- but it does not come NEAR to solving any of these problems.
    They’re picking the problem they think they can solve and saying it’s the problem. That doesn’t make it true. Walking away from the hard problems and carefully cherry picking the most narrow procedural fix that doesn’t apply at all to anything outside presidential elections and claiming that solves the problem is just bullshit.

  17. 17.

    OzarkHillbilly

    During a speech on Tuesday, Joe Biden jokingly reminisced about putting a dead dog on a Republican woman’s doorstep during his time serving in county government when he was in his 20s.

    He said at one point he fielded a request from a wealthier Republican woman who had a dead dog on her lawn.

    “I got a call one night; the woman said to me – obviously not of the same persuasion as I was politically – called me and said: ‘There’s a dead dog on my lawn,’” said Biden, telling the story.

    “And I said: ‘Yes, ma’am.’ I said: ‘Have you called county?’ She said: ‘Yes, they’re not here.’ And I said: ‘Well, I’ll get them in the morning.’”

    The woman was not satisfied by Biden’s answer, telling Biden that she wanted the dog off her lawn now and that she paid his salary.

    So Biden responded in kind: “So I went over,” said Biden as the conference crowd laughed and applauded. “I picked it up. She said: ‘I want it out of my front yard.’ I put it on her doorstep.

  19. 19.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    They’re all reciting this now as if it’s true too. “Reform of the electoral count act solves the problem”

    Really? So “the problem” here was that the far Right were having statutory interpretation issues?  If we just tighten up the laws they completely ignored they’ll magically become supporters of democracy?

    “If there hadn’t have been ambiguity in that Act none of this would have happened” It’s an insane read of events. It ignores 99% of what happened.

  21. 21.

    Jeffro

    Has anyone else here tried their hand at gerrymandering in ‘Hexapolis‘?

    I was quite surprised at how good I am at it!  ;)

    Also got ‘Wordle’ in two today and ‘Worldle’ in two as well (much to the surprise of geography-impaired Fro Jr).

    My work here is done, the weekend starts now!

  22. 22.

    Geminid

    @OzarkHillbilly: You might be interested in an item in this morning’s Politico Playbook, about Missouri’s Republican Senate primary. The skinny: ex-Governor Greitens leads, and Republicans fear he could lose the seat if he is the nominee. A recent poll showed Greitens beating potential Democratic nominee Lucas Kunce. Greitens only led the relatively unkown Kunce by 4 points, though, too close for comfort. The fear is that in a three man, one woman field Greitens will win the nomination and then lose in November on account of his disgraceful personal history.

    Fun-ish facts: Josh Hawley has endorsed Representative Vicky Hartzler, Kellyanne Conway is working on Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s campaign, and Greitens’ “National” campaign director is Trump-moll Kimberly Guilfoyle.

  24. 24.

    Jeffro

    I see via Twitter that today’s the 1-year anniversary of “El Rushbo”, Rush Limbaugh, departing this mortal coil for much warmer digs.

    Well shoot, now my day really is made.

  25. 25.

    eversor

    @VOR:

    Social conservatives and Christians really like Putin/Russia.   They see Putin as a man who enforces traditional values, traditional gender roles, stands against lgbtq, promotes Christianity and is the TRUE leader of The West (note, to them The West has to be traditionally Christian or it is not the West).   Add in the Nazis and they also all love him for standing up against Islam and promoting a white ethnic nation.

    If a republican wants the socon/Nazi/Christian vote they have to side with Putin, no way out of that.   And the old business community has been fine with Russia since they went kelpto capitalism.

    There’s also the issue that Hawley is on Thiel’s dollar and both are China hawks.   The China hawks see the new Russia as something could be worked with to counter China.

    Then add-in that Putin is actively helping Republicans win and you have the perfect mess of why Republicans are rushing towards him.

  27. 27.

    BlueGuitarist

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    What do you think of Lance Kunce? Vote Vets-backed D candidate for Missouri’s US Senate seat has raised $2.5 M so far. If Republicans nominate Greitens, could Kunce win? Get closer than Jason Kander against any of the others in the R clown car primary?

    Roy Moore fan, billionaire Dick Uihlein is supporting disgraced ex-Governor Greitens.

    Initially misread a description of anti-Greitens efforts — Hawley “taking a first stab, backing Rep. Vicky Hartzler” — as “back stabbing.” Apparently that’s another candidate, Rep. Billy Long’s complaint about Haw. Odious Cruz is backing a different R in the primary.

    Since I’m looking for overlapping potentially winnable races, also wondering what Missourian jackals think about the D candidates running to challenge Ann Wagner in MO-2, and overlapping state legislative elections.

  28. 28.

    Kay

    “We in the elite legal community are deeply uncomfortable with the facts before us, all of which point towards the Republican Party no longer being committed to democracy and elections, so we’ve decided to ignore all those facts and solve a different, much easier problem- tinker with the Electoral Count Act, and pretend that the whole Republican Party trying to overturn an election for 6 months was because of a good faith misinterpretation of that law”.

    The lengths we will GO to ass cover for powerful people is just astonishing.

  29. 29.

    Soprano2

    @Geminid: The Republican primary for Senate in MO is going to be absolutely brutal. They believe if they can win the primary the seat is theirs. Vicki Hartzler has already released an anti-trans ad, and it’s just going to get worse. I can’t wait to fast forward through all the awful ads. Kunce appears to be a decent Democratic candidate for MO – I hope he wins the Democratic primary, because he would have a chance against Greitens. He won’t make the more liberal members of the Democratic world happy, but he’s probably the best Democrat who could get elected to statewide office in MO. He understands the same thing McCaskill did – that he can’t win the rural counties, but if he can run up his percentage there to 35% he can win the state.

  30. 30.

    SFAW

    America’s Dumbest Senator (RonJohn) has announced that he will blue-slip a judicial nominee that he originally supported/recommended. Apparently, it’s because Judge Pocan set bail so low for one “criminal,” that the court had to pay the accused to please not stay in jail, or something like that.

    When it was pointed out that the particular case(s) being cited either (A) were not heard by Judge Pocan, or (B) Pocan increased the bail figure (per prosecutor recommendation).

    As me old Spanish teacher used to say: “sin verguenza”

    ETA: I hope I’m using “blue slip” correctly. Basically, he put a stop to it, and Durbin said he’ll abide by a Senate “rule” that only Dems honor.

  31. 31.

    L85NJGT

    The Cossacks work for the Czar.

    McConnell has only the one tactic – jam up the Senate procedurally.

  33. 33.

    Baud

    @SFAW: 

    I read that the GOP got rid of blue slips for court of appeals nominees but kept it for district court nominees, and the Dems kept that rule.

  34. 34.

    SFAW

    @Jeffro:

    I see via Twitter that today’s the 1-year anniversary of “El Rushbo”, Rush Limbaugh, departing this mortal coil for much warmer digs.

    Well shoot, now my day really is made.

    Not to give you too much happies, but in 12 days, it will be the tenth anniversary of Dead Andy Breitbart’s death.

  36. 36.

    Soprano2

    Did anyone else hear this story this morning on “Morning Edition”, about people moving to places they are more politically aligned with? Both cases they cited are of people moving to Texas, though. They talk to two women who moved to Dallas from California and are so happy now that they don’t have to see face masks. They also talked to a family that moved from Indiana to Austin. They said in Indiana they found broken glass in their mailbox. See, though, NPR sees these cases as the same thing. *sigh* Hey, NPR, how about talk to some people who moved from a red state to a blue state because they didn’t feel safe in the red state? Surely there are some examples of this out there.

  37. 37.

    NotMax

    Not that she’ll ever see it here, but anyway happy 94th birthday to NotMax’s Mom.

    When last I spoke with her she told a story of going to visit relatives by horse and cart. in what was then Polish Lvov. Said she was suffering a bout of whooping cough at the time, the cart hit a big bump and she tumbled out and bounced on the road, which action her mother swore instantly cured her illness.

    @Jeffro

    Francisco Franco Rush Limbaugh is still dead.

    //

  38. 38.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    OK. And I completely believe that the Rethugs will never punt on that “rule” when it suits them. [Yes, I know that’s not your point.]

  39. 39.

    Soprano2

    @Baud: Lots of grousing from people who know nothing about the politics of MO, and don’t understand that she’s the best kind of Democrat who can be elected to the Senate in this state.

  40. 40.

    Soprano2

    @Geminid: So could I, that would be 1,000% better than any of the Republicans running for the office right now. I wish more Democrats outside the state understood this.

  41. 41.

    Cameron

    Florida is certainly its own world.  I just saw a headline in the Bradenton Herald stating that Manatee County has more tourists now than it did before the pandemic.  That’s nuts.  Where are these people coming from?

  42. 42.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @BlueGuitarist: I am paying zero attention to the mid terms. If there is a DEM on the ballot, I’m wasting my vote on them. If one should actually win, I’ll know I have entered an alternate reality.

  43. 43.

    Soprano2

    So, at least when it comes to women’s figure skating, karma is a thing. The Russian cheater finished 4th after a disastrous free skate performance, so all the skaters get their medal ceremony. I mean, a Russian won the gold, but at least it wasn’t the known cheater. I’m convinced now that she knowingly cheated because of that insane story that she “accidentally” took her grandfather’s heart medication. I mean, who believes that?

  45. 45.

    BlueGuitarist

    @Soprano2:

    Are there any downballot candidates that might help get out the vote?

    Not rural, but any good candidates in the southern Springfield districts or Jefferson City?

    Far away, but not writing off Missouri, Iowa, Ohio!

  49. 49.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Geminid: I wonder how much of that is “Russians are white, why are we attacking them when those wily, inscrutable Chinese are on the march?”

  51. 51.

    Another Scott

    @Soprano2: It’s not a particular 15 year old whose health and future is being destroyed, it’s the corrupt Russian system.  And the corrupt international skating organization.  And the corrupt IOC.

    It’s horrible. And everyone who is in a position to do anything about it – governments, standards bodies, advertisers, broadcasters, all know it and do little or nothing about it.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  53. 53.

    Chief Oshkosh

    It disgusts and angers me that the press treats Hawley like any other Senator. He is a fucking insurrectionist traitor with blood on his hands. His head should be on pike, and I’m not sure I mean that figuratively. But the press reports on his continued anti-American actions as though these actions are somehow within a norm.

  56. 56.

    BlueGuitarist

    @rikyrah:

    Totally agree with you (as usual). Good morning!

    Wish that the other D primary candidates for Senate in MO and OH, who are probably closer to my policy preferences, would instead run for something they could win. They’ll probably go through $2 million to lose the primaries, money that could make a big difference for downballot candidates.

  57. 57.

    Another Scott

    @Another Scott: Lapinski and Weir were talking about how she never should have been allowed to compete after the drug test, and how she’s not responsible as a minor.  And how the adults around her are responsible.  True!

    But then they never named names, like the apparent monster who is the mastermind of malnourishment to keep them from entering puberty, etc. It’s a mystery why this happens!!1

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  60. 60.

    L85NJGT

    @Another Scott:

    Giving a fifteen year old a heart medication cocktail is child abuse.

    That ROC is rotten to the core. I wouldn’t be shocked if they blew her up her for being a Tatar.

  61. 61.

    Cameron

    Just saw an email saying that a UN Security Council meeting about situation in Ukraine is starting now and is being broadcast live.

  62. 62.

    Geminid

    @BlueGuitarist: If you are Kunce-curious, there was a long article about him last November 24 in Politico, titled “The populist millenial veteran who wants to turn Missouri blue.” Kunce first ran for office in 2007 while he was still in law school. The 24 year-old lost to the incumbent Republican State Representative, and then followed the political adage “If at first you don’t succeed, join the Marine Corp.” Now he is 39 and touring the state in an old Taurus.

    The long article was written by Missouri reporter Kathy Gilsanen, and has a lot of material about political trends in Missouri over the last few decades.

  63. 63.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @BlueGuitarist: It’s just a saying applied when voting for the inevitable loser, which out here is invariably a DEM. I vote every election because of the ballot issues. For whatever good it does as the GOP legislature likes to negate them in the next session.

    Welcome to the kleptocracy, where money isn’t the only thing they steal.

  65. 65.

    Baud

    @Geminid:

    The populist millenial veteran who wants to turn Missouri blue.”

    People keep pining for younger Democrats.  I hope he is successful.

  66. 66.

    Mike in NC

    @Jeffro:  We got some good news last year with a bunch of horrible people called home by Satan. Maybe 2022 will be just as good. PJ O’Rourke checked out this week. Who’s rooting for Newt Gingrich to follow him in a few months?

  67. 67.

    Ohio Mom

    @NotMax: Hapy Birthday to your mom, 94 is OLD.

    In my family, there is a story set in a shtetl somewhere near the Austrian-Hungarian border about somebody’s husband married into my father’s mother’s family catching a fatal case of cholera by dropping food off at a sick neighbors’ doorstep, thereby delaying somebody else’s emigrating to America.

    Um, he did not catch cholera through the air, though the important part of the story always seemed to me is the persistence of the grudge against the dead in-law.

  70. 70.

    Geminid

    @Professor Bigfoot: I think that the racism certainly is a strong component of the anti-Chinese animus. Republicans emphasize that they are not anti-Chinese, just anti-Chinese Communist Party. But they know what they’re doing.

  71. 71.

    Soprano2

    @BlueGuitarist: The Democratic minority leader in the House is from my district, although I think was just redistricted out of her district and into the district of the other Democrat from Springfield. Those two will help get the vote out in Springfield, which is slowly becoming more liberal but still has a long ways to go. There’s no one else here I know of who will do that, though.

  72. 72.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    We had one run for US House (and lost) but he went on to run and win a city council seat in a medium sized Ohio city that is about 50% D’s, so not a cakewalk. I was genuinely impressed. I didn’t hear about it. I just happened to see his name when in that city. I think if we can get them to just start- not “start at the bottom” but just try for something, some will get hooked and look around for something they can win.

  74. 74.

    James E Powell

    @Soprano2:

    Does it matter what people outside the state think? We all roll our eyes at each other for various reasons both serious & silly.

    Get a D elected; get a D re-elected. It’s all that matters right now.

  76. 76.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    OT – “May you find a lover that uncritically believes your excuses for your failings as being the fault of your vague and undefined ‘enemies’ as deeply as did those who loved Simon Leviev.”

    – Old Proverb

  77. 77.

    Soprano2

    @Another Scott: I don’t think it was an accident that her doping result wasn’t revealed until right before the Olympics started. They knew it would disqualify her, and she was the big favorite to win gold. I’m glad she lost.

  78. 78.

    Jeffro

    @SFAW: excellent!

    What was the anniversary of Bill O’Reilly’s firing?

    We could put together a whole calendar of days like this.  Wait, no we can’t…we’re Democrats.  Never mind.

    But maybe 1 of these ‘holidays’ per month?  That seems reasonable.

  80. 80.

    Edmund Dantes

    @Baud: cause the Dems are fucking morons once again on this issue. And more importantly, so? Why keep the rule?

    just get rid of the stupid rule. It’s just a stupid handcuff you’ve put on yourself for no practical reason.

  81. 81.

    Baud

    @Kay: I believe millenials and younger generations are now more numerous in terms of eligible or registered voters than older cohorts.  Obviously, young people aren’t monolithic any more than old people are, but in terms of numbers, elections are theirs to take.

  82. 82.

    Soprano2

    @Edmund Dantes: Yep, get rid of the rule. All it does is help Republicans block your nominees. I remember that McConnell ignored blue slips from Democrats when it was convenient for them, even ignoring two blue slips sometimes! These rules are part of a bygone era when one party wasn’t trying to keep government from functioning.

  83. 83.

    Jeffro

    @Mike in NC: ALWAYS rooting for Gingrich to be next, always!

    PJ was ok for a glibertarian doofus.  He voted for Hillary.

    Gingrich or Turtle next, though.  I mean, any of the GQP Senators or Fox talking heads would be fine, I’m just trying to be actuarially realistic here.

  84. 84.

    Baud

    @Geminid: How hold is Fetterman?

     

    @Edmund Dantes: Senators like their prerogatives, unfortunately.  But they didn’t revert back to the old prerogatives at least.  Biden has done a good job with judicial nominees so far, so I’m not going to complaint too much.

  85. 85.

    Baud

    @Soprano2: Did he ignore blue slips or did he change the rule?  If I’m remembering correctly, he changed the rule and the Dems are currently operating under the same changed rule.

    That’s not a justification for refusing to change the rules further.  But if my recollection is correct, it’s wrong to accuse the Dems of giving Republicans more power than the GOP gave us.

  88. 88.

    Geminid

    @OzarkHillbilly: I think Jason Kander, a combat veteran, said he was stepping away from politics to work on his mental health. It sounded like Kander was dealing with depression that perhaps was related to his military service. Another combat veteran, Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, said in 2020 that he still had recurring nightmares from an incident in Iraq that happened more than a decade before.

  89. 89.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I’m not an “older Democrat hater” but I do think it becomes an issue of representation reflecting the voters if they stick around too, too long. It’s also just a natural progression to me. It should move along.

  90. 90.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Soprano2: Lots of grousing from people who know nothing about the politics of MO, and don’t understand that she’s the best kind of Democrat who can be elected to the Senate in this state.

    I wonder if a lot of people unfamiliar with Missouri (I admit to being one) really didn’t have a good sense on how much redder the state has become over the past couple of decades. It used to be one of those “[state] has voted for the Presidential election winner in every election since [year]” states.

  91. 91.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Soprano2: She is a 15 y/o.  My take is that she took the medications that she was given, and the Russian system is throwing her under the bus.  She is a victim too.  It doesn’t mean that she should have been allowed to skate, but I find blaming the teenager and her grandfather about as believable as the stories of Ukrainian provocation.

  92. 92.

    Kay

    ??á? ?’???? Global [email protected] · 6m
    I just got lectured by a Quebec protester who insists we need his permission to video record on the street. That is, of course, not true here. #Ottawa

    The Freedom Fighters are making up some rules for other people to follow.

  93. 93.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    The U.S. has so many elected offices that people can run for.  IMHO, our side is too heavily focused on a top-down approach to politics, which I find a little ironic given our views on things.

  94. 94.

    Geminid

    @Baud: I think that Lt. Governor Fetterman is 54. His tattoos and work clothes definitely reflect a Generation-X ethos.

    Lamb, on the other hand, presents as a very grown-up Eagle Scout.

  95. 95.

    Soprano2

    @Baud: From this article:

    Trump has already filled 21 appeals court seats, one of every eight in the country. Two were confirmed after Judiciary ignored opposition from home-state senators. Milwaukee lawyer Michael Brennan was seated on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this month without a blue slip from Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin. And objections from Minnesota Democrat Al Franken, who resigned in January, did not stop state Supreme Court Justice David Stras from moving to the 8th Circuit.

    Trump has been able to fill all three seats customarily reserved for Kentuckians on the 6th Circuit, while both Iowa slots on the 8th Circuit are occupied by judges in their middle 50s and not expected to leave soon.

    Without parochial concerns to worry about, McConnell and Grassley are preparing to further upend Senate convention by allowing the confirmation of appeals court judges opposed by both home state senators. CRS says it can find no evidence this has ever happened.

    They just ignored the blue slips when they were from Democratic senators.

  96. 96.

    Soprano2

    @Geminid: Jason Kander has been open about getting treatment for his PTSD. He has a podcast called “Majority 54”, and has said he has no interest in getting back into politics.

  97. 97.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I seem to recall that several folks here have read, and enjoyed, State of Terror, the thriller by Louise Penny and Hillary Clinton (I haven’t read it yet, but it’s in the queue and high on the “get to this soon” list).

    Anyhow, for those interested, it’s going to be made into a feature film: https://deadline.com/2022/02/madison-wells-hillary-rodham-clinton-and-1234935351/

    Am thinking that once we’ve finished discussing the books by Adam Schiff and (fingers crossed) Jamie Raskin, it might be fun for the BJ Book Club to read Clinton and Penny’s fictional horrors instead of the all-too-real ones we’ve been dissecting. Have tossed the suggestion in WaterGirl’s general direction, to run with or not as she pleases.

  98. 98.

    Soprano2

    @Omnes Omnibus: I agree that in a way she’s a victim, but I’m still glad she didn’t win any medals because it’s obvious that they cheated with her and thought they could get away with it. I thought it was a TERRIBLE idea to let her compete and then deprive the other winners of a medal ceremony if she won anything. The other winners didn’t do anything wrong, either, at least that we know of.

  99. 99.

    Brachiator

    Ex-Sen. Doug Jones, tapped by @POTUS Biden to “sherpa” the eventual Supreme Court nominee through the confirmation process…

    Russia has demanded that Ukraine be barred from joining NATO; the United States and NATO have said the alliance’s open-door policy is nonnegotiable.

    So much irony in the news recently. So many people telling Biden what he must do.

    Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Sunday threw support behind U.S. District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs as President Biden’s choice for Supreme Court nomination, saying any other candidate would be “problematic” in gaining votes from Republicans in the Senate divided along party lines.

    When Republicans are in power, it’s “Fuck you! We will do what we want!”

    When the Republicans are out of power, it’s “Fuck you! And do what we want!”

  101. 101.

    Baud

    @Soprano2: Right, McConnell change the practice.  Dems are also currently following the same rule.  GOP senators cannot blue slip court of appeals nominees.

  102. 102.

    Soprano2

    @Baud: Oh ITA. Run for school board, run for city council, run for state representative. Don’t try to start with senator or governor, you have no idea at all how government works. The ones who do that seem to do worse at the job. I have a co-worker who constantly complains to me that she was hired in at a lower salary than she deserves, that it’s all HR’s fault, that they could give her more money if they wanted to. I keep telling her that the city’s system is different than the system in the private sector, and there are limitations on what they can do.

  103. 103.

    Kay

    Joe Biden is the most pro labor President in my lifetime. If they don’t come out for Democrats they have no one to blame but themselves if they lose workplace protections and wages. They aren’t going to get any better than Joe Biden. They didn’t get pro-labor legislation but they got an executive branch that is committed and active on their behalf. They should want a strong Joe Biden. If they’d prefer 27 guns over wages and workplace protections, well, that’s a decision.

  104. 104.

    jonas

    @Kay: As someone on Twitter observed the other day, “When someone goes on and on about how they ‘love freedom’, it’s a pretty sure bet they don’t mean yours.”

  105. 105.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    If we can keep the House and get a couple of more seats in the Senate, we might even be able to get the PRO Act and other important legislation through the next Congress.

  106. 106.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Soprano2: I said I didn’t think she should  have been allowed to complete.  Hell, Russia got banned from the Olympics for doping.  This ROC thing is a dodge to let innocent athletes compete.  Then this happens?

  107. 107.

    Miss Bianca

    @SiubhanDuinne: I like that idea! I wish I could have been more active in the Schiff book club discussions – Wednesday nights are just bad for me because of my recording schedule. Thursday nights, on the other hand (hint, hint)…

  109. 109.

    Miss Bianca

    @Brachiator:

    When Republicans are in power, it’s “Fuck you! We will do what we want!”

    When the Republicans are out of power, it’s “Fuck you! And do what we want!”

    OMG, this is so true. I’m stealing this formulation.

  110. 110.

    mali muso

    Vis-a-vis the women’s figure skating debacle, this article does a very comprehensive job of outlining the straight-up child abuse that is being facilitated and encouraged in the sport.  None of the Russians on that podium today should have even been at the competition.

    Tutberidze has come to be regarded as the world’s leading expert in creating figure skating champions. Her methods are no secret. The Eteri girls talk openly about not being able to drink water during competitions. They do their best to delay puberty by eating only “powdered nutrients” or by taking Lupron, a puberty blocker known to induce menopause. They are subjected to daily public weigh-ins and verbal and physical abuse. And they compete while injured, huffing “smelling salts” while wearing knee braces and collapsing in pain after programs.
    Every year, a new, younger Eteri girl emerges on the scene while others retire, at age 17, 16, or even 14. Skating fans call this the “Eteri Expiration Date.” In Sochi, Lipnitskaya was 15 years old, as was Zagitova in Pyeongchang, as is Kamila Valieva right now, in Beijing.

    The Karolyis discovered that pre-pubescent girls, with smaller, lighter bodies, could more easily complete the difficult skills required of elite-level gymnastics. Those girls were pushed into a brutal training regime and were not allowed to complain about pain, for any reason. Either they competed while injured, or they were replaced. This kind of environment—where the voices of tween and teen athletes go unheard—allowed a predator like Larry Nassar to flourish. All the while, the Karolyis were treated as celebrities and heroes, able to mold children into champions.

    As with the Karolyis, Eteri Tutberidze’s abuse was an open secret. Instead of questioning her methods publicly or policing them privately, the most prominent and powerful people and institutions in and around figure skating—the International Skating Union, NBC, and countless others—promoted a sanitized, fairy-tale version of the sport to casual fans, of sparkles and ice princesses and graceful, youthful champions. Their silence has allowed an abuser to thrive.

  111. 111.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @Soprano2: People leaving red areas to move to cities or blue states isn’t ‘news’. People have been doing that for generations, especially folks who are gay, etc. Conservatives conceeding that the world around them has changed and they need to retreat to their ‘safe’ spaces is new.

  112. 112.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Geminid: PTSD. By his own account he never saw any combat, but he was out among the tribes doing intel with Afghan Army interpreters/escort and so was constantly on edge.

  114. 114.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @lowtechcyclist: We went off the deep end during Obama’s Presidency, even tho we almost went for him in ’08. Since then we’ve been on a steady downward slide on  the racist rat hole path.

  115. 115.

    germy

    Here’s a good thread about PJ O’Rourke and his legacy:

    As a fellow humorist and magazine editor, who shares a lot of friends with PJ O’Rourke, I have a few thoughts on the occasion of his death. Not on PJ as a person — we only met once, briefly, at a taping of Bill Maher in 2006 — but as a writer, editor, and cultural figure.(1/25)

    — Michael Gerber (@mgerber937) February 16, 2022

  117. 117.

    BC in Illinois

    @BlueGuitarist:

    Since I’m looking for overlapping potentially winnable races, also wondering what Missourian jackals think about the D candidates running to challenge Ann Wagner in MO-2, and overlapping state legislative elections.

    I’m in MO-2, currently misrepresented by Ann Wagner (R – locally invisible, donor-friendly, safe Republican vote). We’re still waiting to see how MO-2 will be gerrymandered. The GOP would like to pack all St. Louis County Dem voters into Cori Bush’s MO-1. We shall see.

    We do have a good candidate in Trish Gunby, a State Rep who has won in a somewhat blue district in the past.

    MO-2 — [again, depending on how it is gerrymandered] — is not so unwinnable. Ann Wagner has only won by 51% in the last two elections. It would take a general Blue Wave for Trish Gunby to be elected, but she has my support*.

    *Modest financial support, to be honest, and I have showed up for a campaign event. I’ll do more as the summer progresses. She really wants door-to-door people. I did that once. In 2016, Joe Biden spoke for Jason Kander at the Pageant in St Louis, and I was fired up enough to sign up to go door-to-door for Kander.  I suck at going door-to-door.

  118. 118.

    Geminid

    @OzarkHillbilly: The rise of politicized evangelicals probably helped drag Missouri to the right. They did in Virginia, and they still form a sizable component of the Republican electorate.

  119. 119.

    The Moar You Know

    Did anyone else hear this story this morning on “Morning Edition”, about people moving to places they are more politically aligned with? Both cases they cited are of people moving to Texas, though. They talk to two women who moved to Dallas from California and are so happy now that they don’t have to see face masks. They also talked to a family that moved from Indiana to Austin. They said in Indiana they found broken glass in their mailbox. See, though, NPR sees these cases as the same thing. *sigh* Hey, NPR, how about talk to some people who moved from a red state to a blue state because they didn’t feel safe in the red state? Surely there are some examples of this out there.

    @Soprano2: Fox has been urging Republican residents of blue states to move out, the idea being that we can’t live without them and it would destroy our economies.

    Please proceed.

    In the real world, I keep seeing more and more Texas license plates here in San Diego, which is something that started about two years ago.  I frankly would be happier with Texas residents staying right where they are.  Texans drive like lunatics, and consider:  that’s a statement coming from a lifelong CA resident, a state not exactly famous for the decency, politeness, and safety of its drivers.

  120. 120.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Brachiator: Politicians acting like politicians, spouting whatever nonsense that makes what they want sound more reasonable. Besides, it was Biden who ran on working in a spirit of bipartisanship. Graham is just saying if he wants it, here it is.

  122. 122.

    Kay

    @The Moar You Know:

    It’s just amusing to me how Republicans always manage to get their spin promoted.

    Ohio has been talking about “brain drain” for 20 years. It’s younger educated/skilled people leaving rural (conservative) areas to go to cities and bluer states. All three of my grown children did it and I can guarantee the 4th will too, because he’s the Leftiest of all. He went to college last year and he’s gone. He won’t be coming back.  One stayed in Ohio but he moved to a city. It was never characterized as a rejection of conservatism, although to some extent it obviously is, yet 15 high profile Righties move to Texas to or Florida and it’s a mass exodus from blue to red.

    Our political media are really something. Wired for Republicans indeed.

  123. 123.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Soprano2: Regardless, this kind of sorting is bad news for Democrats because blue areas are more geographically concentrated, and the American federal system gives land additional power. It’s a recipe for perpetual dominance by a white conservative minority under cover of federalism/separation of powers. They get extra credit for ethnic/ideological cleansing.

  124. 124.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay: Heh. I moved out here from STL to get my sons out of a bad situation and still in their school. Upon graduation from HS they both moved up to STL just as fast as their feet could get them there. My eldest still lives in STL and the youngest is now in NOLA.

    Me? Still out here in Washington Co, MO.

  125. 125.

    Brachiator

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Politicians acting like politicians, spouting whatever nonsense that makes what they want sound more reasonable.

    Saying that any other nominee would be “problematic” is not being reasonable. The Republicans are even weaponizing bipartisanship. They don’t give a damn about bipartisanship when they are in power.

    In fact, the GOP flaunts their obstructionism as being in the best interests of the American people.

  126. 126.

    OzarkHillbilly

    via grumpy realist over at OTB: GOP tensions boil over Trump’s fundraising tactics

    Donald Trump’s spamming of Republican donors could kneecap party efforts to build a steady funding stream for future elections and compete with Democratic fundraising, top GOP officials are privately warning.

    Why it matters: The former president’s decision to bombard donors with numerous daily emails and texts is sucking up record sums. Four top GOP digital strategists tell Axios it’s also imperiling efforts to build a sustainable, grassroots base of financial support for anyone not named Trump.

    The big picture: Trump is raking in donations. His political vehicles, led by the group Save America, raised more than $51 million during the second half of 2021.
    …………………………
    Yet they identify three big risks:

    Donor burnout, and diminishing returns from a flood of frantic emails and texts — not just from Trump, but also other candidates invoking his name. There’s also a scenario in which Trump squats on hundreds of millions of dollars, rather than spending it on other Republicans.
    The “quadrupling-down” approach that’s proved effective for Trump may actually make it harder — and more expensive — for other Republicans to raise money online.
    Trump’s approach is spurring other campaigns to lean heavily on his brand in their own fundraising appeals. That keeps Trump essential not just to the Republican political brand but to its ability to raise money online.

    Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of guys.

  128. 128.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I think this is overpromising and it comes back to bite us. They’d need, what, 12 senate seats for the PRO Act? Which Republican would support it? The same Republicans who can’t even manage to tweak the electoral count act? Those Republicans?

    They’re not going to believe that and if they do they will be mad when it’s promised and not delivered.

    I think they should run the Senate races one at a time. No one thinks like this- no one says “I’m voting for the Pennsylvania Democrat as part of a 50 year project to get to 62”. I mean, LOOK at these voters! They’re fucking hummingbirds :)

  129. 129.

    Betty Cracker

    @OzarkHillbilly: From your excerpt:

    There’s also a scenario in which Trump squats on hundreds of millions of dollars, rather than spending it on other Republicans.

    As close to an iron-clad certainty as we’ll ever see in politics.

  131. 131.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    I’m not saying it should be the centerpiece of our election promise, just that it will be an ancillary effect of a good Dem victory. I’m assuming new Senators will vote to get rid of the filibuster.

    I do dislike our inability to fight for things beyond one election cycle.  To me, that’s just as problematic as when Wall Street doesn’t look beyond the next quarter’s earnings statement.  But if that’s how the public thinks these days, that’s what we have to adjust to.

  132. 132.

    Fair Economist

    COVID has a lot to do with current inflation, but a big factor, perhaps the biggest, is the end of oil. EVs are coming on fast, and everybody in the business knows it. Build cost of an EVs drops below a gas car in 2 or 3 years, and after that it’s all about how fast the car companies can retool. Some people know that the car companies have responded by ceasing development of new gas car models.

    What few people know is that oil companies have largely stopped drilling new wells too. It takes about 15 years from the start of the process for a well to pay back its investment. Fifteen years from now oil demand will be in freefall, so it’s no longer a good investment. My husband works in an equipment manufacturer for oil drilling (and other things) and orders for oil drilling equipment nearly stopped about 3 years ago. From here on out the only new oil will be expansions of existing fields and shale oil, where the wells only run 2 years or so anyway and so it doesn’t matter.

    So we are experiencing a shortfall of oil because there will be a surplus within 10 years and so oil companies have already curtailed new production. That drives inflation, because energy is the base for an industrialized economy.

    The flip side will come in a decade or so once we are firmly underway replacing fossil fuels with by-then-much-cheaper renewables. Energy costs will plummet, and we will see a monster economic boom.

  133. 133.

    Geminid

    @Kay: I figure that a big part of Texas’ recent growth is geography. The state has almost unlimited flat, buildable land, but not enough rainfall to make it valuable farmland like that around Omaha. Companies in geographically constrained places like California love the cheap headquarters and factory sites, and they can offer employees the benefit of lower housing costs. The state’s oil wealth helped fund a strong university system that can fill modern work force needs. These advantages have little to do with the conservatism of 21st century Texas politics.

  134. 134.

    The Moar You Know

     

    As close to an iron-clad certainty as we’ll ever see in politics.

    @Betty Cracker: Agreed.  That fucker will not part with one thin dime.  I hope he destroys the entire party.

  135. 135.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Brachiator: ​the GOP flaunts their obstructionism as being in the best interests of the American people.

    And DEMs say the same about the things we do. FTR, I think the DEMs have the better argument, but Graham is just doing what politicians in general have been doing all along. I can’t get upset about that.

  136. 136.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @OzarkHillbilly: Might be a bigger deal that it seems. Some GOP governor was asked to make a senate run this year and he bailed after talking to the GOP senate caucus because it was clear that fundraising was the only thing those senators were interested in. Trump talking their grift is probably the only thing that will get the GOP’s attention.

  138. 138.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    I think Twitter has blanked out anonymous crawling on users. I no longer have an account, and it isn’t letting me click posts on names.

    I’ve been using this method over two years.

  140. 140.

    Amir Khalid

    @Geminid: How does Hawley look as a contender? From what I’ve seen, he’s got everything riding on his MAGAT credentials. With TFG in open conflict with the GOP establishment and the outcome necessarily uncertain, I can’t tell what those credentials will be worth in 2023 when the campaigns srart rolling.

  141. 141.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Soprano2: I know of some people who moved from California or Hawaii to Texas because they hate hate hated the political climates of those two blue states.

    In all instances, the people remaining behind cheered…

  142. 142.

    Brachiator

    @Soprano2:

    Did anyone else hear this story this morning on “Morning Edition”, about people moving to places they are more politically aligned with?

    Most stories I have seen recently have been about people moving for economic, not political reasons. Even when right wing pundits claim that people are moving out of liberal or woke states, the actual stories are about people moving because of the high cost of living where they currently lived.

    The most common situation for people moving is still because they think that another city or state is more progressive or enlightened or offers overall more opportunities.

    Maybe it’s a slow news day.

  143. 143.

    Geminid

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: That happened to me about three weeks back. I’m really not a joiner, but I wanted to keep following Mangy Jay and Ragnarok Lobster so I broke down and signed up. Now I see some “paid tweet” advertising, but otherwise nothing bad has happened to me…that I know of…yet…

  145. 145.

    Miss Bianca

    @Betty Cracker:

    @Geminid:

    I’m actually suspicious enough of Republicans in general, and Graham in particular, to wonder whether this is Graham’s way of trying to make sure Childs *isn’t* considered. But that’s just me.

  146. 146.

    Geminid

    @Amir Khalid: Hawley may be looking at 2028 for a Presidential run, or maybe the VP spot in 2024. The election of 2028 would be a good time for a Hawley candidacy because he wouldn’t have to give up his Senate seat unless he won

    On the other hand, if Hawley was on the ticket in 2024 and lost he’d be just another ex-Senator.

  147. 147.

    laura

    @Amir Khalid: OT, I saw your comment re two new guitars in the overnights, but couldn’t reply and risk waking a sleeping spouse. So very happy that your back and that your n+1 policy is even more firmly in place.

    for those wondering, here’s how it works: the correct number of guitars to have is the current number owned plus one more. In our home the formula is slightly different, a s-1. The correct number of bicycles to own is one less than the number it takes to run off a spouse. We currently only have two bicycles in our living room.

    welcome back Amir!

  148. 148.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I think if we want to go in that direction we have to get out of a transactional frame and move into a “principles” frame. There’s a disconnect there. “Get 62 to get the PRO Act” is transactional, employed during a cycle, but it won’t be met short term. Democrats are taking campaign messages and pasting them onto a “principles” frame and it doesn’t work.

    “We support voting rights” is different than “we now need 52 to pass the Voting Rights Act”. If we want them to think long term we can’t approach them only with “solutions”.

    Democrats sometimes can do it. They have done it with healthcare, and they own healthcare as an issue. They started with Medicare and Medicaid and expanded just about every year they were in power. Why? Because they support universal, affordable access- a 100 year project.

    They could do the same with labor rights and education but they don’t. Instead of promising “free college” or a 10k reduction in loans tell them they’re building something on the frame of the existing public education system. BIG. But slow. So you add pre-K, and you double PELL grants, and you add 2 free years of community college, and you make some student loans dischargeble in bankruptcy and you fund public universities properly. There’s a theme, a short term and long term goal, and everyone knows what it is. Short term is for campaigns and long term is for the brand of the Party.

  149. 149.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    I think if we want to go in that direction we have to get out of a transactional frame and move into a “principles” frame. There’s a disconnect there

    I agree with this.  The Dems are the only part of the left of center that deals with a transactional frame.  It’s a marketplace view of politics, and I think it’s disasterous for us.

  150. 150.

    Brachiator

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    And DEMs say the same about the things we do. FTR, I think the DEMs have the better argument, but Graham is just doing what politicians in general have been doing all along. I can’t get upset about that.

    I can’t think of a Democrat saying that they will shut the government down if the Republicans don’t give them what they want, or stating like McConnell, that they will be opposed to whatever the Democrats want, no matter what it might be.  Or specifying in advance that a range of nominees might not be acceptable, before a specific person is named.

    But I admit that my memory is not what it used to be.

    However, if Biden wants to go along with this in order to gain some bipartisanship points, life goes on.

  151. 151.

    catclub

    @Soprano2: The census pointed out that virtually all of the population growth in texas was due to growth of the big liberal cities. Including in-migration from other states.

     

    The people who moved from Indiana were definitely moving from a red state.

  152. 152.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Baud:

    I do dislike our inability to fight for things beyond one election cycle.  To me, that’s just as problematic as when Wall Street doesn’t look beyond the next quarter’s earnings statement.  But if that’s how the public thinks these days, that’s what we have to adjust to.

    This seems relatable to a comment you made yesterday on the post about how people think their lives are going great but the country is in the shitter…that this “allows” people to vote Republican again. These cycles of doing and undoing have a real cost and contribute to an uninspired and unengaged electorate. 

  153. 153.

    Geminid

    @Miss Bianca: Lindsay Graham might be trying some reverse psychology here. But Occam’s Eightball tells me that Graham just like to hear himself talk, especially in front of a camera.

  156. 156.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @catclub: California did lose population for the first time. I expect most of it WAS due to housing costs. However, I have some friends in Arizona, who tell me that there has been a flood of right wing Californians moving there in part for political reasons.

  158. 158.

    Another Scott

    @Brachiator: Yup.

    If there’s ever an individual political slant on somebody moving elsewhere, I immediately get suspicious.  Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, move every year in normal times.  How do they find these particular people who moved to a different state now?  Did they stake out a U-Haul place?  Some apartment block and look for out of state tags on cars?  Or consult their GQP-heavy rolodex and call up their local “man on the street” totally non-political party operative??

    (sigh)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  159. 159.

    Soprano2

    @catclub: They pointed out that the Indiana couple moved from a red state to another red state. The part that irked me was that they didn’t actually point out that the people who moved from CA said they did it because of “values” and mostly mentioned that there isn’t a mask in sight in Dallas, while the people who moved from Indiana felt threatened and ostracized by their neighbors. It’s not the same situation at all yet they made it sound the same.

  160. 160.

    Brachiator

    @Another Scott:

    Did they stake out a U-Haul place?

    That’s funny. One story I saw did reference a poll of people renting U-Hauls as telling something about migration trends.

    But even this story had to admit that the “data” here was not reliable or comprehensive.

    While U-Haul migration trends do not correlate directly to population or economic growth, the Company’s growth data is an effective gauge of how well cities and states are attracting and maintaining residents.

    But some people use the summary information as definitive and you get a junk news story.

  161. 161.

    Soprano2

    @Another Scott: I think they solicit on Twitter. One of their reporters got a lot of grief a couple of weeks ago for soliciting a story about people affected by the economy by citing things like “How’s your life going? Is inflation hurting you? Tell us how the economy is affecting your life”. She got savaged for suggesting only bad things about the economy, so eventually she defended herself by saying she wanted good stories too, but the initial tweet reveals their mindset in their reporting.

  162. 162.

    Starfish

    @Cameron: Everyone is being a Florida tourist. All the people in the locked down northeast included.

    My in-laws were suggesting Florida, and I was not about it. We are not rewarding people who took zero COVID precautions with our vacation dollars.

  163. 163.

    Starfish

    @Soprano2: They are children. I blame their coach.

    After the poor showing in the free style, the coach was telling her “Why did you give up?” or something like that after she came off the ice.

  164. 164.

    Dopey-o

    @Baud: @Soprano2: I think most political grousers don’t understand politics.

    In Missouri, politics is a game of inches. We had McCaskill. My radical feminist wife loved her, despite Claire’s many moderate stances. Because Claire was progress.

    When McCaskill was defeated, Missouri went red from top to bottom. I don’t care who’s running against Wagner and Greitens.

  165. 165.

    Bill Arnold

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
    I delete twitter cookies and it starts working better again. Try the “Cookie Remover” plugin (chrome family, firefox family) that will let you delete a site’s cookies with one click on a cookie icon.
    It will also reset the counter for NYTimes, allowing more free reads. (And for other sites that use cookies to count free reads.)

  166. 166.

    billcinsd

    @Soprano2: The question is of course, which Dem priorities will they get in the way of? The “centrist” Rs rarely if ever actually get in the way of passing the R priorities and rarely if ever back Dem policy bills. This is often not true of “centrist” Dems, although sometimes it is true

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