Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I was promised a recession.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Infrastructure week. at last.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

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

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

A Senator Walker would be an insult to the state and the nation.

After roe, women are no longer free.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

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

We still have time to mess this up!

John Fetterman: Too Manly for Pennsylvania.  Paid for by the Oz for Senator campaign.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

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

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

The words do not have to be perfect.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Spring Holidays

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Spring Holidays

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Yes, it’s Politico, but the article is still positive:


Answer, per every Jewish respondent: Plain matzah always tastes like wet cardboard thrown into a toaster oven!

Beloved local holiday:

I ran this quip past the Spousal Unit, technical writer (aka, Speaker to Programmers) and he laughed really hard…

Scrum master

Pen(etration) testing

Reader Interactions

120Comments

  2. 2.

    Baud

    The first lady, who is a teacher, is calling it the “Egg-ucation Roll” and is turning the South Lawn into a school community with a variety of educational stations

    That’s how you be best.

  7. 7.

    Geminid

    This morning I was listening to the Harrisonburg radio station, and the host was interviewing a local minister. They talked about “Southern Gospel” music, which is popular in the Shenandoah Valley. That’s the music that sounds like “Barbershop Quartet” music, but the with religious content.

    Anyway, the local pastor was boosting an upcoming church benefit headlined by The Hopper Family. The Hoppers are a singing family, and the leader’s first name is Claude.

  8. 8.

    Ken

    matzah he made tasted like wet cardboard thrown into a toaster oven.

    This sounds like the setup for a joke.  Something along the lines of “He must be using my great-grandmother’s recipe.”

  10. 10.

    Elizabelle

    @Geminid:   Parents!

    PS: Today is free entrance to national parks to celebrate National Parks Week.  You could see some of Skyline Drive …

  11. 11.

    NotMax

    Okay, I’ll award them points for silliness (take note of the CYA messaging at bottom of screen): #1 — #2.

  14. 14.

    rm

    @trnc: And the first replies, on my phone at least, are a Trumper and a “leftist” complaining that Biden hasn’t done enough with his Green Lantern ring.

    Twitter is garbage.

  16. 16.

    Kay

    “All that that’s happening these days kind of goes against the longer history of school boards being relatively low salience government institutions and, in a lot of cases, they are nonpartisan offices,” said Adam Zelizer, a professor at the University of Chicago Harris School researching school board legislation.What distinguishes this moment, Zelizer said, is the “grassroots anger” in response to school policies and the national, coordinated effort to recruit partisan candidates for school boards and local offices.

    This has become gospel, that “grass roots anger” by public school parents inspired the GOP attacks on public schools but it’s nonsense. There isn’t a shred of evidence for it.

    Here’s a journalist who specializes in covering public schools:

    Matt Barnum
    @matt_barnum
    ·Apr 15
    10/10 But I think the pat national narrative that has formed — most parents are mad about school closures, virtual instruction and masking — is misleading (and yet so difficult to dislodge because of force of repetition).

    He’s been asking for months for someone to show him some evidence of widespread “anger” at public schools and none of the people repeating this mantra ever can.

    Matt Barnum
    @matt_barnum
    Apr 15
    1/At the very least, more articles need to engage with the fact that *throughout the pandemic* parents have reported fairly high levels of satisfaction with their child’s school. People find this hard to believe, but it’s true!

  17. 17.

    Geminid

    @Elizabelle: I thought of that! I live seven miles or so from the Swift Run Gap entrance. But I’ll pass. I think I am spoiled by the Blue Ridge Parkway. That starts at Rockfish Gap, the southern end of Skyline Drive. It’s always free, and the Parkway has better views and is easier to drive.

    The Blue Ridge Parkway between Roanoke and North Carolina is a dream to drive. It’s fairly flat with gentle curves. I hope to drive that stretch in late May. There is a Parkway campground not far into North Carolina where I want to camp. It’s on the northern edge of the Southern Highlands, which are really special.

  19. 19.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Polling around public schools is remarkably stable. They are really resilient institutions, I think because most people have actual, personal contact with one on a local basis, at one or another time in their lives.

  21. 21.

    Geminid

    @Elizabelle: I lucked out one time driving the Parkway in early June. The flame azalea were blooming, and they lined the highway near the Virginia/Carolina border.

  24. 24.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Johnathan Hernandez, a Santa Ana city councilman, is later seen in the video, asking the police officers, “Guys, what’s going on with the music here?”

    An unnamed officer told Hernandez that he was playing the music from his phone and on the cruiser’s PA system in an attempt to prevent a resident, who was recording him, from continuing to do so. The officer explained that it had to do with “copyright infringement.”

    Hernandez went on to ask the officer if he knew who he was, to which he replied, “You’re a city councilperson.”

    “Absolutely … and this is my district. You’re not going to conduct yourself like that in front of my neighbors,” Hernandez can be heard saying.

    The officer then apologized repeatedly to Hernandez and to the individual filming the incident.

    “My people live here, brother. Please treat them with respect … There’s kids that need to go to school. There’s people that are working. You chose to use our taxpayer dollars to disrespect a man with your music. That’s childish, sir,” Hernandez told the officer.

    In the push to reform the police, maybe we should start by hiring adults.

  29. 29.

    Elizabelle

    @Kay:  Appreciate your posts.

    Again, we see the constant repetition of rightwing themes, over and over, building its own reality, and becoming “conventional wisdom.”

  30. 30.

    wetzel

    @Geminid: NO!!! No barbershop quartet. You do have four part harmonies, but barbershop is all circle of fifths and glee club singing to oompah music. Southern gospel harmonies are on 4ths (only on 5ths when you’re getting saved) and its bluegrass.

    There’s no money in God songs (not for songwriters). Really good players. The best flat-pickers and harmony singers.

    This comment is 100% bullshit. I am oversimplifying the distinction between Southern Gospel and Barbershop Quartet.

  31. 31.

    banditqueen

    @rikyrah:  The banned math texts had equal signs–and desantis won’t have that–for him and his nazi enforcers only some things can be designated as being equal.

  32. 32.

    debbie

    @rikyrah:

    From the NYPost:

    The DOE also declined to use math textbooks that did not align solely to the subject and veered into other areas like emotional welfare and lessons on social interaction.

    It’s not like kids need to know about emotional welfare…. //

  33. 33.

    Anne Laurie

    @Baud: I think it relates to the parts of the math textbooks that require students to engage in logical thinking.

    And here I jumped to the conclusion that the newly-banned books included pictures / suggestions that non-white people — even females! — might be able to Do Math.  Hidden Figures, y’all…

  35. 35.

    zhena gogolia

    I’m watching Spielberg’s West Side Story in bits while I do PT exercises. I like it, especially the musical numbers. (The dialogue gets a little tendentious.)

  36. 36.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    The critical race theory panic stopped being about “critical race theory” about 30 seconds after the “anti cancel culture” public intellectuals started it.

  39. 39.

    MomSense

    WTF Sam Stein? The media really do want to go back to handmaiden Christmas trees don’t they.

  40. 40.

    zhena gogolia

    @wetzel: That will be playing on a loop in the (whatever the worst one is) circle of hell!

    Игривый Путин, кошмар

  41. 41.

    Kay

    My youngest is taking a college class on the civil rights movement and he’s already mad that he was lied to in his rural, conservative public school.

    They’re covering Martin Luther King, the Black Panthers and the Poor Peoples Campaign, soon to be exploring J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI role. Wait until he finds out about that :)

  43. 43.

    Betty Cracker

    I’ve been looking in vain for examples of verboten content in the math books that FL rejected. I don’t think they’ll ever produce any because it would be too dumb and embarrassing even for the religious fanatics and edu-grifters who are working this manufactured crisis.

    On a more pleasant topic, I made this year’s butter lamb. Kind of squinky-eyed, but it’ll work!

  45. 45.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    Interesting how the entire Right is all in on the panic though. DeSantis does nothing else other than hold culture war press conferences. They really think they have a winner.

  47. 47.

    Ken

    @debbie: Well then let’s just stick to math problems.  Here’s a couple:

    In 1860, Florida had a population of 140,424, of whom 44% were enslaved. How many people were enslaved?

    In 1860, the US Constitution required for purposes of Congressional apportionment that slaves be counted as 3/5 (60%) of a person. Using your answer to the previous problem, what was Florida’s population as calculated for Congressional appointment?

  49. 49.

    Ohio Mom

    @debbie: Maybe the math textbook writers were looking for hooks that would engage the students who are not easily attracted to math.

    My sixth grade teacher used to start our mornings with long word problems. A fair number involved figuring out batting averages, which must have excited the boys but meant nothing to me, and mortgage payments.

    All kinds of variables there, as you can imagine: If Mr. Smith put down this percent on a house that costs that and took a mortgage at this percent over this many years, what would his monthly payment be?

    The thing was, we were all NYC kids living in apartments. I don’t think I was exactly clear on what a mortgage was, did not understand why I should care, just did all the word problems by rote. I would have welcomed a problem on emotions or racial issues.ETA: Like Ken’s suggestions @47.

  50. 50.

    Kay

    @Cameron:

    I used to get polled a lot because Ohio was a swing state and we kept a land line longer than most people did. I think for sex ed in schools I would say “about right” except for birth control in high school. If I ran a high school we’d have a birth control class. No apologies. “This class is about birth control. If you’re offended go now because we have A LOT to cover with you knuckleheads” :)

  52. 52.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: It’s also creepy the way DeSantis uses kids as props at the culture war press conferences. There was one the other day where he used his own kids instead of other people’s, and he was just as cold and mechanical with them as he is with stranger’s children. Weird.

  55. 55.

    kirbster

    @rikyrah: I know! I’ll bet the word problems in the math books are no longer just about people named “Jack” and “Susan.” “Jamal” and “Keisha” figuring out practical math problems is upsetting to Ron DeSantis!

  57. 57.

    Ken

    @Kay:  “This class is about birth control. If you’re offended go now because we have A LOT to cover with you knuckleheads”

    “Besides, if you don’t learn about birth control, there’s a fairly good chance you’ll be dropping out of high school anyway.”

  59. 59.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    Oh, the authoritarian dictator vibe is strong with that one. I do hold out hope based on the other failed Republican governors media promoted as Presidential material. Chris Christie comes to mind. They fucking love bullies. Nothing they like better than a manly-man Right wing governor “taking it” to teachers. They’re gross.

  61. 61.

    Kay

    @Ken:

    Exactly. My rural Ohio county was once first in the state for teen pregnancy rate, 2006-ish. People were outraged – not that the county was first in the state, which is a tragedy, but that it was in the news. We had to explain “rate” over and over because “Cleveland!” They worked much harder on denying it than doing anything practical to stop winning this booby prize.

  62. 62.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Kay: This is why I’m very suspicious of the claims that the Youngkin victory in VA was mostly due to NoVA parents upset about the school closure policies during the first year of Covid.

  64. 64.

    wetzel

    Joined the community of cardiology patients yesterday.

    Looking forward to all the stents and pills and stuff.

    Although it doesn’t seem like a very fun club, my cardiologist is the best. I feel like I got shown the path up to Kung Fu Village.

    This guy is on point. He is high in midi-chlorians.

  65. 65.

    Kay

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    I think it played in, but was way over-credited. The biggest R turnout bump was with elderly people. Now they could be mad at public schools just in general! They usually are. But I don’t think they were voting on masking students.

  67. 67.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Elizabelle:

    I love it too! I think over the years I have managed to drive the entire length of the BRP, though never in one go. Would love to do that before many more years pass. We should meet up and do a Girrlz Road Trip!

  68. 68.

    Kay

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    Youngkin is now working to manipulate school board elections so their terms are shortened. He’s absolutely counting on the panic to drive voters, but he also knows it’s bullshit so he has to hurry up quick exploit it before it spins out. Recall we were told by all political media that he was a moderate. It’s just a lie. He’s as much a far Right political operative as the rest of them.

    Why do they work so hard to cover for these people? It would be easier just to cover them straight.

  71. 71.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: I’ll believe the school backlash is parent-driven when the people squawking the loudest are revealed to be parents with children in public schools rather than Republican operatives. I’m sure plenty of parents were exhausted, upset and disrupted by school closures. That’s real. But the CRT and anti-mask demagoguery sure looks like astro-turfed bullshit.

  72. 72.

    zhena gogolia

    @Betty Cracker: Wow. I am supposed to be grading papers, but I can’t see through the tears.

    Could he run against Hawley, please?

    ETA: I would love to see the redemption of my state of birth.

  73. 73.

    wetzel

    Songwriting wisdom. The only way you can write a country song about being a cardiology patient is from a son or daughter’s point of view. Maybe a hook about coming home for the weekend and dad is dragging. Middle aged songs aren’t radio songs. You always have to have a ray of sunshine in a country song.

  74. 74.

    OzarkHillbilly

    “I feel like the hamster that powers his brain is getting tired right now.”

    -Jimmy Kimmel on DJT

  77. 77.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    As you know I was worried that they were out of school. I wanted them back in. I think it harms them to miss, especially the lowest income and the ones will horrible, scary home lives, but I was suprised at how patient parents were. We saw a huge jump in juvie court. They were just not being supervised in any way because their parents work at jobs where they have to show up. My own high schooler suffered. He’s a completely social being and he was diminished not seeing other people. He was sad.

    But the polling never supported my position. Which I admit. Unlike all these people who have made THEIR VIEWS the consensus view of public school parents. I don’t think it was or is.

  78. 78.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Betty Cracker: I’m guessing that all we are seeing is that the Right Wing Puke Funnel discovered they could simply cherry-pick the conservative nutters who have hated public schools since Evolution and Integration and amplify them as representative of “everyone.”  Sadly the media (including social media) environment is perfectly set up to spread the myth.

  79. 79.

    wetzel

    @zhena gogolia: Just putting out an update after I shared some frustrations about my poor shopping experience at Emory Emergency Room (Main Campus) last week. Folks were kind here. I just wanted people to know I’d gotten in with somebody finally.

  80. 80.

    Miss Bianca

    @Betty Cracker: BUTTER LAMB!!

    Thank you, now my holidays feel complete.

    (I keep having to remind myself that tomorrow is Easter. Keep forgetting, for some reason.)

  81. 81.

    Betty Cracker

    @zhena gogolia: I love how Rep. Mackey cuts through GOP Rep. Basye’s conceit that he (Basye) isn’t a bigot because he deigns to allow his children to be around his gay brother. Probably for the first time in Basye’s life, someone clued him in to how fucking dehumanizing and meaningless his brand of “love the sinner, hate the sin” so-called tolerance is.

  83. 83.

    sab

    @Kay: You were right on kids in school. My autistic granddaughter started kindergarden two years late, at age seven, and it is amazing how much she has blossomed this year. She has friends who aren’t cousins. She is popular. She can’t wait to get to school and she hates to leave.

  84. 84.

    MomSense

    @Baud:

    I think it’s “beltway nice”.  It’s a really strange take on what should be an easy article to write. He’s trying to be complimentary but he throws in bizarre birth order, childhood stuff.  I don’t know it’s really weird and cringey.

  86. 86.

    Geminid

    @UncleEbeneezer: I can think of a half dozen reasons Foungkin Youngkin eaked out a 2 point victory over McAulliffe. There was a post-trump slump in Democratic turnout. Curiously, there seems to have been a post-trump bump for Republicans, and some of the few swing voters out there may have swung back to the Republican column.

    Campaign quality might have been a factor also. Youngkin’s campaign was focused and efficient, and made the most of his narrow path to victory in a state Joe Biden carried by 10 points the year before (that was the best showing by a Democrat in Virginia since LBJ in 1964).

    McAulliffe’s campaign, on the other hand, seemed to be a little slack. I did not follow his campaign so closely, but I had the impression that McAuliffe may have been overconfident. A couple of my Democratic friends think he was.

  87. 87.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: The “reformers” never have any ideas for how to help rural schools, either. In MO a lot of them have gone to 4 day weeks to try to attract teachers and save money because our starting pay is so low. “Reformers” always talk about urban schools because that’s a way to bash Democrats, and they can promote giving tax money to religious schools, which is the ultimate aim. It won’t work in rural areas, though, because there aren’t enough kids for that, so they act like there are no issues with rural schools. It’s so dishonest.

  88. 88.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Betty Cracker:

    I love your butter lambs! I believe I’ve retained photos of all of them, every year, for however long you’ve been making them. You should compile a coffee table Butter Lamb photo gallery book at this point.

  91. 91.

    Geminid

    @SiubhanDuinne: That makes me think there could be a scaled down version of a coffee table book, called a kitchen table book. People would have something to look at when they’re not discussing kitchen table issues.

  93. 93.

    Kay

    Having read these people on “cancel culture” and watching them incite a panic on CRT in schools although none of them know anything about public schools, they are now forming  a theory they pulled out of their ass that labor unions are “too woke”. If you have had any even passing acquaintance with anyone in a traditional labor union you will know how utterly ridiculous this is, but they don’t have even a passing acquaintance with anyone in a labor union, so they won’t know. In this imaginary world rank and file UAW members, for example, who are probably 50% GOP, are being silenced.

    Matthew Yglesias

    @mattyglesias

    You can’t have union membership just be something that is “for” people who are prepared to sign up for the full-spectrum progressive coalition agenda — people who love guns or adhere to traditionalist gender norms need a voice on the job and unions need to be for them too

  95. 95.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    Ugh. 4 day week. So gimmicky. We looked at it here. Surprise! It doesn’t save any money.

    Conservatives are bad at money.

    Just do some school things WELL. No more faddish innovations they got out of dumb business seminars until we do at least three basic things really well. We focus on attendance here. Have since 2008. Guess what? Test scores go up when they don’t miss 15+ days of school a quarter.

  96. 96.

    Geminid

    @Kay: I see that Representative Shontel Brown (OH-11) just received an endorsement from Ironworkers Local 17.

    I’m not sure sure how Ohio can have congressional primaries with the district maps yet to be determined, but it sounds like they’re going to try.

  98. 98.

    Betty Cracker

    @SiubhanDuinne: Thanks! I can’t remember exactly what year I started making them. I think my now 23-year-old was still in elementary school? So, quite a while back!

  102. 102.

    sab

    @Kay: Four day weeks. Great idea. So when are the parents supposed to work? I have have European friends who had five and a half day weeks. Guess what? They were better educated.

  103. 103.

    Ken

    @Kay: 4 day week. So gimmicky. We looked at it here. Surprise! It doesn’t save any money.

    I don’t see how anyone could think for a minute it would, with the requirement that they have 180 (or whatever) school days a year. If anything I’d guess costs for utilities and maybe custodial services would increase.

  104. 104.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: They also sell it as a benefit to teachers because they like that extra day off. But yeah, it’s a gimmick because then they have to provide care for kids on day 5 because guess what, most parents still work 5 day weeks!

    It doesn’t surprise me that there is no savings. I agree that concentrating on attendance would help more. My dad told me that as you get further away from bigger cities attendance becomes a real problem because Mom and Dad didn’t finish school, so they think nothing of keeping a kid home to watch the other kids while mom is at work or to help dad work on the car. I don’t know if that still happens, though.

  105. 105.

    Soprano2

    @Ken: Here they switched to counting hours of school rather than days to accommodate the 4 day school week. If parents worked 4 days it might even make sense!

  106. 106.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    real problem because Mom and Dad didn’t finish school

    I have really complicated views on poor rural people and schools. There’s a lot of shame attached to doing poorly in school and the parents bring that failure with them when raising kids. They impart that fear to them. They didn’t do well in school so they were never comfortable there so they avoid it. I think they have trouble seperating that out with their own kids, like we all do with putting our own (bad) childhood experiences aside when raising kids.
    We bring them into court on truancy, which I approve of (I know it’s controversial here but they need to be in school) and it’s much more complicated than it seems. They get a 14 step process before they get to court on truancy so this is not hauling people for missing three days. This is “30 days absent” or “47 days absent”. They miss a lot of school so they start to do poorly which just brings up all the bad memories and shame for the parent, and then they avoid school more. They just replicate their own experience, although they don’t want to. They want their kids to do well.

  108. 108.

    Quiltingfool

    @Kay: Preach it, sister!  I’ve seen my school district waste thousands of dollars on bullshit “One Weird Trick” schemes to improve student scores.  Most of the teachers knew it was bullshit from the git-go, but honest discussion or dissent was not tolerated.  So we kept our mouths shut, made some half-hearted, slow walk motions to implement said trick, and then went back to using learning strategies that had actual research backing it.

    As for teaching to the state tests, I didn’t do it.  I had kids practice the skills (as they did experiments) they would need to do their best, but I wasn’t going to spend days and days on end doing practice tests and rote learning answers.  Kids in 8th grade like to do science, not sit passively listening to me jibber-jabber or do mindless worksheets.  Honestly, if my students left my room at the end of the year knowing more science and having improved their learning skills than they did at the first of the year, I considered that to be a success.

  110. 110.

    Quiltingfool

    @Kay: Teaching in a rural school I found it very important to tell parents that we were partners in their child’s education.  I wanted them to understand that I didn’t think I was better than them because I had more education.  I found that many parents were afraid of being blamed for their child’s struggles, but when I assured them that I also questioned myself on how best to meet their child’s needs, they were much more open and relaxed.  They were no longer on the defensive.

  113. 113.

    Soprano2

    @Quiltingfool: It’s tough for sure. My dad was a teacher, coach, principal and superintendent, all in rural schools, and I went to a small rural school (grad class of 30).  That’s where I get my views on this stuff (and from reading about it) even though I don’t have kids. All the boys in my class did poorly in school on purpose, because getting good grades was seen as “girly”. So much wasted potential, probably because of their parent’s attitudes. My dad grew up going to rural schools, and had a farm, so he understood these people, and he still struggled with it.

    On a related note, a pox on all the music teachers who tell kids they can’t sing. I’ve known a lot of people that happened to in grade school, and it turned them off from ever trying again. How do you know what a child’s voice will be like when they become an adult? Bah…..

  115. 115.

    cain

    @trnc: It’s filled with responses from leftists about canceling all federal debt. :eyeroll: While I realize that’s important, but since we’re actually struggling to keep our democracy we might actually need to find ways to stay in power – if not, you’re gonna be worried more than just federal student debt.

  116. 116.

    JoyceH

    @wetzel:  Does your cardiologist know how to talk to average people who aren’t medical professionals? I got stents a number of years ago, and my first guy was great, but probably needed a course in communications. Every year I get a heart test – one year it’s a treadmill stress test, and the next year it’s an ultrasound. The doctor was going over test results with me, and said something like, “the results look good, your heart is smaller – ” and I about passed out. OMG, my HEART is SMALLER?! Then he clarified, no no, that’s good, your heart is no longer enlarged, it’s now normal sized! So… whew.

  117. 117.

    JoyceH

    @Geminid: ​
     

    Campaign quality might have been a factor also. Youngkin’s campaign was focused and efficient,

    Youngkin ran as a non-threatening moderate, seeming to offer a respite from the divisiveness of the previous four years. Of course it was all a lie and he’s governing like the emperor of Magaland. If Dems are smart they will use that in the mid-terms – point to Youngkin as an object lesson to never trust Republicans who claim to be moderate consensus builders; once they get power they’re as extreme as the other guys.

  118. 118.

    Dopey-o

    @wetzel: This comment is 100% bullshit. I am oversimplifying the distinction between Southern Gospel and Barbershop Quartet.

    the difference is that Southern Gospel is often uplifting, but Barbershop is always corny, stale and nauseating.

    Southern Gospel has influenced many fascinating sub-genres such as bluegrass, mountain and indie. Barbershop simply makes one long for the silence of the grave.

  119. 119.

    Geminid

     

     

    @JoyceH: Youngkin did not exactly run as a moderate, at least as far as I understand the term. I think of politicians like Elaine Luria and Abigail Spanberger, two of Virginia’s Democratic Representatives, as moderates. Youngkin was clearly much more conservative than those two women.

    Youngkin was kind of a hybrid conservative, bridging the gap between the Chamber of Commerce/Country Club and radical Tea Party/Bible Thumper factions that have been feuding the last few years. He pacified that feud with money in order to win the convention. For the general election he presented as a conservative, but more of a George W. Bush than a Gregg Abbott.

    Now that Youngkin has won the office, he’s trying to solidify his standing among the base Republican base. That is because he’s looking towards a Presidential run in 2028, or possibly the second spot in 2024. He’s in a good position; Virginia is a prosperous and well run state, and a Democratic majority in the State Senate means he won’t sign extreme abortion laws or obnoxious gun rights legislation. And Virginia’s one term limit means that Youngkin does not have to run for reelection on his record.

    I’m not worried about Republican Congressional candidates masquerading as moderates this year. Luria’s coastal 2nd District and Spanberger’s suburban/exurban 7th see Republicans competing to win the radical base that now dominates the party.  And federal elections bring the most polarization.

    Luria’s district is rated D+0, a 50-50 district. She is advantaged by her service on the Armed Committee, as the VA-2nd is about as militarily industrial as you get. Luria will also get a lot of national attention as  one of the 9 members of the January 6 Committee. That will be good for fundraising at least. She and Spanberger are already sitting on fat warchests.

    Youngkin’s real test will be next year’s legislative elections. Both houses are on the ballot, and they will be on a neutrally drawn map. Elections from 2011 through the last were done on a Republican gerrymandered map, except for 11 Delegate districts that were redrawn by a federal court around 2018.

    I think Virginia Democrats are going to be ready next year and will take back the House of Delegates and flip a couple Senate seats while they’re are at it. If they do, Youngkin will likely play down the result and blame on all those pesky liberals in Northern Virginia.

  120. 120.

    Ruckus ??

    Answer, per every Jewish respondent: Plain matzah always tastes like wet cardboard thrown into a toaster oven!

    I’m not Jewish, or even anything close, but even I know that…..

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