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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

“woke” is the new caravan.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Petty moves from a petty man.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

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You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Stream of Consciousness / Couple Quick Thoughts

Couple Quick Thoughts

by John Cole|  May 4, 202210:35 am| 160 Comments

This post is in: Stream of Consciousness

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Are we FINALLY done with Nina Turner? How many times does she have to lose and hurt the Democratic party in the process. Just go away.

Does anyone care if the Supreme Court is in disarray after the leak? I sure don’t. I hope they are in pure chaos. Secretive fuckers wanna roll back the country to the 1830’s, let them have a little angst. Their shit should be more out in the open. It’s in the dark where they perform their partisan bullshit.

And I love that the reich wing is more upset about the draft opinion leak than they are actual crimes committed by Trump. It’s no crime to leak a SCOTUS draft, so I dunno what they expect the DOJ to do. Even more, since we are now all forced to play by their fucking rules from the 1700’s, I’m pretty sure nowhere in the Constitution does it say they are allowed to perform their dark magickz with no one knowing what is going on. They just made that shit up over the years.

The loathesome JD Vance correctly bet that there is nothing Republicans like more than a craven fraud who will just tell them what they want to hear.

Also, it was Alito who leaked the opinion to lock in Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.

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Reader Interactions

160Comments

  1. 1.

    Fair Economist

    May 4, 2022 at 10:43 am

    Nina Turner lost 2-1! Happy dance time!

    That said, Shontel Brown is an upcoming media star. She’s a great messenger.

  2. 2.

    Alison Rose ???

    May 4, 2022 at 10:43 am

    Nina Turner apparently has nothing else to do with her time. Learn a hobby, woman.

  3. 3.

    germy

    May 4, 2022 at 10:44 am

    don't give a shit if the decision was leaked. if nine untouchable god kings get to decide what the law is i should be able to see everything they do. the supreme court should be like a house in the sims. i should get to see them wandering around in their stupid robes at all times

    — leon (@leyawn) May 3, 2022

  4. 4.

    Irishweaver

    May 4, 2022 at 10:47 am

    Well said John!

  5. 5.

    ian

    May 4, 2022 at 10:48 am

    How many times does she have to lose

    Have we hit the Douglas Adams answer to everything?

  6. 6.

    Percysowner

    May 4, 2022 at 10:50 am

    Per WaPo

    In the Cleveland-based House race Tuesday night, Turner did not congratulate Brown, the more-moderate candidate. She blamed her defeat on an “onslaught of corporate spending” and went on to hint that she might run for president, saying that voters in California, Iowa and Nevada had “something to say” about what she would do next.

    I expect we will hear from Nina for years to come. She can become the Harold Stassen of her era.

  7. 7.

    Almost Retired

    May 4, 2022 at 10:50 am

    Most of what I know about Ohio politics comes from reading this blog (which probably makes me like those Fox News viewers who think they’re well-informed, but are actually banefully ignorant).

    But isn’t it good news that the Republican Senate candidate is a carpet-bagging fraud and the Democratic candidate has a bit of the Sherrod Brown vibe who can hardly be pigeon-holed as “woke” or any other dumbass RWNJ playground taunt du jour?

    Sure, the Hillbilly Tragedy dude would be awful, but Mandel seems too much like a true believer, while J.D.’s superpower is functioning as a political weather vane.

  8. 8.

    germy

    May 4, 2022 at 10:52 am

    Nancy Pelosi and James Clyburn were in Texas supporting Henry Cuellar’s campaign.  I don’t know if their support has changed since the SCOTUS leak.

  9. 9.

    Hoodie

    May 4, 2022 at 10:53 am

    The loathesome JD Vance correctly bet that there is nothing Republicans like more than a craven fraud who will just tell them what they want to hear.

    It’s a dominance play.

  10. 10.

    debbie

    May 4, 2022 at 10:56 am

    My local NPR station is analyzing the results now. One of the participants is Gene Krebbs, a past state legislator, a folksy, down-home kind of guy who Kay may remember. I think he represented a few southeastern counties. He’s never been much of a TFG supporter but has never been nasty to either party. Anyway, he thinks the other gubernatorial candidates’ supporters hate DeWine so much, they’ll either stay home or vote for Whaley. He thinks she’ll glide into office and the vote may not even be close.

    I’m afraid to feel optimistic, but…

  11. 11.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    May 4, 2022 at 10:57 am

    I’m thinking that Gorsuch and Kavanaugh might have some potential embarrassment over signing onto an opinion that leans so heavily into the wise judicial pronouncements of a 17th century witch-killing judge. Seriously, I can see him and his asshole Federalist Society dork-clerks chortling over how “this will totally own the libruls and is brilliant.”

    Anyway, here’s what the future likely holds:

    Future Scam Alito drafted opinion:

    “British jurisprudential scholarship of the 16th and 17th centuries routinely held that sodomy was ‘a most grievous offense before the Lord thy God akin to consorting with Satan himself, and calls for only the most severe punishments leading to death so that sinners may know to avoid such deprecations.’ Many of these principles still applied to the laws of the colonies, and even after the American revolution, states maintained that man laying with man was a crime. Based on this historicity, Lawrence was improvidently decided, and is hereby OVERRULED in favor of Mississippi’s statute deeming sodomy a capital offense….”

  12. 12.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    May 4, 2022 at 10:59 am

    Did I mention that Peter Fucking Brimelow is already crowing about how this type of reasoning means that Brown v Board can be undone?

  13. 13.

    germy

    May 4, 2022 at 11:01 am

    this headline:

    They miss Trump so much pic.twitter.com/5g5wcEtE9h

    — Oliver Willis (@owillis) May 4, 2022

  14. 14.

    Baud

    May 4, 2022 at 11:01 am

    @Percysowner:

    Maybe she’ll take her rightful place as a regular guest of the Joe Rogan show.

  15. 15.

    VOR

    May 4, 2022 at 11:02 am

    @Percysowner: I don’t know a lot about Harold Stassen, but I suspect he didn’t blame a grand conspiracy for his losses in every election.

  16. 16.

    Old Man Shadow

    May 4, 2022 at 11:04 am

    I think we need to confront these assholes at every opportunity loudly and unashamedly. Get in their faces. Make it impossible for them to enjoy leaving their houses.

  17. 17.

    Alce _e_ardillo

    May 4, 2022 at 11:04 am

    @Fair Economist: We will never be over Nina Turner until she realizes that she is not God’s gift to progressive politics, IOW: never.

  18. 18.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 4, 2022 at 11:04 am

    Are we FINALLY done with Nina Turner? How many times does she have to lose and hurt the Democratic party in the process. Just go away.

    Ask in 2024 when Vermont Jesus gets beaten like a rented mule for the third time and is still a pouty bitch.

  19. 19.

    sab

    May 4, 2022 at 11:04 am

    @Almost Retired: Mandel won his statewide office in Democrats in Disarray years, and is otherwise just odd in his campaign approach. He is Jewish from Jewish Cleveland suburbs, and yet he adopts this weird fake Appalachian accent and tries to pretend he is an evangelical when he campaigns statewide. Absolutely nobody falls for it. Rob Portman used to almost roll his eyes in the background when he was forced to be on the stump with Mandel.

    Vance is horrible but I can see a lot of rural Ohioans seeing him as one of their own who made good. Mandel was never one of their own except for his party affiliation.

  20. 20.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 4, 2022 at 11:06 am

    @Alison Rose ???:

    Nina Turner apparently has nothing else to do with her time. Learn a hobby, woman. 

    Catapult building to throw herself into the Sun?

  21. 21.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 4, 2022 at 11:07 am

    @germy:

    i should get to see them wandering around in their stupid robes at all times 

    Well, we all know Leon’s kink now.

  22. 22.

    Hildebrand

    May 4, 2022 at 11:09 am

    @Baud: Good money she will be on Maher’s show this weekend.

  23. 23.

    Josie

    May 4, 2022 at 11:09 am

    @germy: I suspect that their support for Cuellar is based on their belief that he has a better chance than Cisneros at holding that seat.  Whether or not the draft opinion will change that dynamic is anyone’s guess.

  24. 24.

    oatler

    May 4, 2022 at 11:11 am

    [ Zuul voice] : “You have chosen the manner of your own doom.”

    Gilbert Gottfried from heaven: “You fools!”

  25. 25.

    germy

    May 4, 2022 at 11:12 am

    @Josie:

    I was curious since he’s anti-abortion.  And it makes me wonder if his electability has changed since the leak.  Anybody’s guess, it’s true.  I wonder if polls are any good.

    Before the SCOTUS decision we could overlook his opinion and play politics.  Does his pro-choice opponent have a better chance now?

  26. 26.

    Alison Rose ???

    May 4, 2022 at 11:12 am

    @Percysowner: Yes, because nothing says “you should run for president” more than getting your ass kicked in a key swing state.

  27. 27.

    ian

    May 4, 2022 at 11:12 am

    @Josie: I don’t think there is any more to it then incumbent protection.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    May 4, 2022 at 11:13 am

    @Percysowner: Nina Turner is a fucking whiner.  She has no grace and she belongs with the Republicans, but hopefully as a loser Republican.

  29. 29.

    bbleh

    May 4, 2022 at 11:13 am

    @Almost Retired: Concur re Vance-Mandel.  Vance is a soulless con-man, but Mandel is a Believer, and in the general all that will matter to the vast VAST majority of the voters is the ‘R’.

  30. 30.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2022 at 11:13 am

    @mrmoshpotato:  Vt Jesus fans on this blog will has a sad.

    It is easier to accept comforting lies than unpleasant truths. That is the secret sauce of  populists everywhere.

  31. 31.

    germy

    May 4, 2022 at 11:15 am

    a climate activist burned himself to death in front of the supreme court a week ago and it barely registered as news.

    — Aleš Kot (@ales_kot) May 3, 2022

  32. 32.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    May 4, 2022 at 11:17 am

    OT – I have junk guys here at the house dealing with basement clutter and a rug that has been getting wet and moldy because the wife wanted a prettier patio surface that raised it an inch and a half and isn’t sloped correctly. More than moderate rains soak most of the carpet. Anyway, the dog is losing his shit in the bac porch, and our sweet little girl cat (locked in another part of the house with the other two cats) is doing a call and response with him.

    She models him so much – somebody pulls into the drive, she’s standing next to him, growling too.

  33. 33.

    sab

    May 4, 2022 at 11:17 am

    My own personal opinion is that Nina Turner inadvertently helped Shontel Brown by forcing her to campaign hard. And Turner pulled out her big guns of nastiness after a lot of early voting votes were already in. I remember from Obama/Hillary days being torn between two candidates. Turner would have lost those guys forever.

    Shontel Brown was mentored by Marcia Fudge who is a workhorse and a lovely person but not at all charismatic. Brown is charismatic. Turner forced her to discover that tool.

  34. 34.

    Steeplejack

    May 4, 2022 at 11:18 am

    @Alison Rose ???:

    I hear knitting is good. ?

  35. 35.

    germy

    May 4, 2022 at 11:18 am

    An old article:

    The Real Origins of the Religious Right
    They’ll tell you it was abortion. Sorry, the historical record’s clear: It was segregation.

    I remember Michael Moore defending them:  “They good people!!”

  36. 36.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    May 4, 2022 at 11:19 am

    Fuck me – I’m upstairs as they’re cutting the rug up. Basement door is closed and my sinuses are shutting down from the mold.

  37. 37.

    Immanentize

    May 4, 2022 at 11:22 am

    Today, 1970:
    This Summer I Hear the Drummin’

  38. 38.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2022 at 11:22 am

    @germy: Many on the populist left including their patron saint are quite comfortable with bigotry  be it xenophobia, racism or misogyny.

    Vt Jesus called the Planned Parenthood establishment in 2016 IIRC.

  39. 39.

    Josie

    May 4, 2022 at 11:23 am

    @germy: I’m not sure.  He is very good at constituent service, and his district is heavily Hispanic and Roman Catholic. Cisneros probably appeals more to younger and more progressive voters.  I guess it comes down to who shows up to vote that day.

  40. 40.

    sab

    May 4, 2022 at 11:23 am

    @WaterGirl: I dislike Nina Turner a lot, but she is policywise a solid Democrat, and she has some good ideas. The problem is she belongs on city council of a big city, and not in a national legislature of a wildly diverse country.

    And yes, she does whine when she is down.

  41. 41.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2022 at 11:23 am

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: When is your election?

  42. 42.

    Alison Rose ???

    May 4, 2022 at 11:24 am

    @Steeplejack: she’ll make quilts to raise money for her next campaign

  43. 43.

    germy

    May 4, 2022 at 11:30 am

    @Josie:

    I just find it odd that James Clyburn says “For 49 years, women have had the constitutional right to make choices about their body. The whole notion of politicians controlling those decisions is beyond the pale. It ought to be alarming to us.”   …and then he campaigns for an anti-choice candidate.  Politics is strange.  Then again, I’d support any Democrat over any Republican.  Republicans need some time off.

  44. 44.

    JustRuss

    May 4, 2022 at 11:30 am

    Last time I checked, the Supremes work for us, and 99% of what they do (just made that number up, correct me if wrong) has nothing to do with national security.  There’s no reason for them to be working in secret.

  45. 45.

    sab

    May 4, 2022 at 11:36 am

    @sab:Nina Turner.  I think she is still mad about when she was recruited to run for statewide office in a bad year and the state party withheld all support because she couldn’t win. They do that a lot to minority (POC or women) candidates. I can’t blame her for anger at betrayal but that is politics. If you have feelings you are in the wrong business.

    Ohio Democrats ( good old boys to a man)  do this a lot. I hope we don’t do this to Nan Whaley.

  46. 46.

    Matt McIrvin

    May 4, 2022 at 11:37 am

    Does anyone care if the Supreme Court is in disarray after the leak?

    I suppose in the worst case, it could lead to one of the liberal justices getting impeached and convicted for supposedly causing the leak. But they probably wouldn’t be able to leave the seat open until a Republican President gets in like they did when Scalia died. (Maybe they would if it all gets timed so there’s no replacement until 2023.)

  47. 47.

    MisterForkbeard

    May 4, 2022 at 11:39 am

    Just let me say that while I dislike Nina Turner enormously, I also hadn’t followed this particular run. After I heard she lost, I checked in with her twitter account to see if she’d reformed a bit.

    Nope. Top thing she had was retweeting David Sirota about the “Dem establishment” “dark money” and how this was all Democrats fault (oh AND ‘progressive leadership’ in washington who were corrupt and didn’t support her enough). So not only is she throwing Dems under the bus, she’s also going after the Squad and people who actually get shit done. Nice.

  48. 48.

    rikyrah

    May 4, 2022 at 11:39 am

    Nina Turner is about the grift, Cole.

    This is how she will eat – we will not be rid of her.

  49. 49.

    Martin

    May 4, 2022 at 11:39 am

    @sab: Elon Musk has designed some impressively capable rockets.

    Just sayin’.

  50. 50.

    rikyrah

    May 4, 2022 at 11:40 am

    One where I was legally 3/5 of a human being.

     Bernie is the reason why Roe is dead.  (@Needle_of_Arya) tweeted at 7:01 AM on Wed, May 04, 2022:
    Alito’s legally fateful phrase, “deeply rooted in history” = “what the founding fathers would have wanted” = “deeply rooted in traditional violent white supremacy.”

    They’re not even speaking in code anymore. They’re telling you straight up what kind of America they want.
    (https://twitter.com/Needle_of_Arya/status/1521822217876774914?t=-mx9LnVFK9zVOGiv3W-5Jg&s=03)

  51. 51.

    Matt McIrvin

    May 4, 2022 at 11:40 am

    @germy: When he was shilling for Nader in 2000, Michael Moore insisted that worrying about abortion rights was a distraction–the Republicans would never ban abortion because they needed it as a wedge issue. The idea that they might appoint Justices who were fanatical true believers instead of electoral strategists didn’t cross his mind.

  52. 52.

    Martin

    May 4, 2022 at 11:40 am

    @Matt McIrvin: I think Biden needs to appoint 2 additional justices just to keep an eye on the other 9 who seem incapable of behaving properly.

  53. 53.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2022 at 11:40 am

    @Fair Economist: Shontel  doesn’t constantly bash Democrats from the left so I say that the chances of her getting a lot of invites on cable TV shows  is slim.

  54. 54.

    rikyrah

    May 4, 2022 at 11:41 am

    And THEE Tweet Goes On (@lacadri34) tweeted at 6:04 AM on Wed, May 04, 2022:
    I’m frankly unimpressed with these mass pro-choice protests. If you’re just going to turn around in November 2022 and beyond & do anything but vote for Democrats, this is just theatre. Stop voting Republican. Stop voting for white privilege over women’s rights. Problem solved.
    (https://twitter.com/lacadri34/status/1521807999228076034?t=1zpZYniKvYqT1O7xSpuWCA&s=03)

  55. 55.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 4, 2022 at 11:42 am

    Stream of Consciousness

    I think the radical right’s unconditional wub of Donald derp is they want an absolute monarch,  updated for the information age, a Cyber Sun King if you will, perhaps like Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church. They tried it on GW and he though that was too silly but with Trump they found a guy both dumb enough to embrace it and arrogant enough to try.

  56. 56.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2022 at 11:44 am

    @Matt McIrvin: Who the fuck is going impeach and convict a liberal Justice?  Explain how those number would work.  FFS.

  57. 57.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 4, 2022 at 11:44 am

    @MisterForkbeard: they’re not the only ones

    Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders · May 2
    How pathetic! AIPAC and their billionaire friends are spending some $10 million to defeat @ninaturner, @SummerForPA, @NidaAllam and @JCisnerosTX. Why are they so afraid of strong, progressive women of color fighting for the working class?

    Shontel Brown and her voters tools and dupes of international oligarchs!

  58. 58.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2022 at 11:44 am

    People who will have blood on their hands if this draft becomes law in the order of their culpability.

    Alito and the signers of this opinion.

    Republican senators who voted for the Justices who will sign the opinion

    W’s voters

    Nader voters

    Trump voters

    BS or bust voters

    And their cheerleaders in the media.

  59. 59.

    sab

    May 4, 2022 at 11:46 am

    @Martin: He hired people who designed them. Not the same thing at all.

    But I did say I dislike her and she is not tempermentally cut out for big stage politics. Biden is. You can annoy him, but he will never hold a grudge that isn’t strategically useful. Same with Sherrod Brown. Emotional hides like rhinoceros.

  60. 60.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2022 at 11:46 am

    @rikyrah: I agree. Spare me the theatrics of sisterhood. White women have voted for Republican presidents as a group with the exception of Bill Clinton IIRC since the passage of Civil Rights Legislation.

  61. 61.

    Betty Cracker

    May 4, 2022 at 11:47 am

    @germy: Pelosi has explicitly said she’s committed to campaigning for incumbents, and Clyburn probably has too. I hope Cisneros beats the crap outta Cuellar, who is terrible on multiple levels. But I get why House leadership is still stumping for the possibly corrupt, anti-choice incumbent. It’s a defensible position, even if I don’t always agree with it.

  62. 62.

    JR in WV

    May 4, 2022 at 11:48 am

    Cole, wise words from your tiny corner of WV.  Ohio politics are nearly as bad as WV politics… at least they don’t get to vote for Joe Manchin…!!

    Pretty depressed right here and now.

    Fascist supremes wrongfully forced onto the court, lying in their confirmation hearings, perjury to become a Supreme Court justice? Should be indicted / convicted… if they want to try being a judge from a jail cell, let them pretend.

  63. 63.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 4, 2022 at 11:48 am

    @rikyrah: Yes, that.

    And how does that work in the 21st Century; there isn’t enough competent white guys left to cover for the mediocre white bois as it is and now we’re going to drive all the minorities, women, immigrants and gays out of society? Forget back of the bus, who’s going to drive the bus is the first place.

    I guess as long as some rich families fail son doesn’t get shut out of being a sales VP because he can’t use a pencil it’s worth it. seesh.

  64. 64.

    Brachiator

    May 4, 2022 at 11:48 am

    Are we FINALLY done with Nina Turner?

    I like her songs, like “What’s votes got to do with it?”

  65. 65.

    sab

    May 4, 2022 at 11:50 am

    @schrodingers_cat: If she gets on local tv that is all that matters. But she is pretty and smart and cheerful so she may get on some national cable. MSNBC for example.

  66. 66.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2022 at 11:50 am

    HRC was right about the vast right wing conspiracy. She was right about everything.

  67. 67.

    Betty Cracker

    May 4, 2022 at 11:50 am

    @rikyrah: How does the tweeter know the people showing up for mass protests DON’T vote in every election and vote for Democrats every time? My guess is people who show up to mass protests in response to something like the Alito draft leak overwhelmingly do. It’s a bullshit tweet.

  68. 68.

    Kay

    May 4, 2022 at 11:52 am

    Michigan D flipped an R statehouse seat last night:

    Glanville is a Walker city commissioner who previously worked as a teacher and administrator, according to her campaign website. On the website, three campaign priorities are listed: education, good-paying jobs and the environment.

    Unapologetically pro public education. For state seats, this is how Democrats win.

  69. 69.

    JR in WV

    May 4, 2022 at 11:55 am

    @Betty Cracker: ​
     

    Didn’t the FBI take a boxcar full of papers and info from Cuellar’s home and offices just a little while ago? I know that’s not the same as convicted in court, but still, seems like a big tool to beat him over the head with every day.

  70. 70.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2022 at 11:57 am

    @sab: I hope so. The only people I see discussing the impressive Rep. Lauren Underwood who has authored important legislation that has been signed into law is other black women. She won a purple district too and not a deep blue one.

    She doesn’t get 1/10th of the press of some other reps from the same cohort.

  71. 71.

    Martin

    May 4, 2022 at 11:57 am

    @Matt McIrvin: But his reasoning isn’t necessarily wrong there. The entire response from this leak suggests he’s right – the GOP are freaking out. I don’t know if this will generate a Dem turnout advantage, but I would be fucking ecstatic if the end result of this was a stronger Dem House/Senate advantage and legislation that legalized abortion.

    This may be a political inflection point, we’ll see. But the GOP sure as shit seem to be acting that this is a calamity.

    I know not everyone ascribes to this theory, but the pain of having abortion banned for women in a large number of states is the likely *necessary* condition for political action. We have the means to do things like solve poverty, homelessness, climate change, even a number of diseases. We just lack the will. The will comes from actual, not potential crisis.

  72. 72.

    sukabi

    May 4, 2022 at 11:58 am

    John, I’m with you on Alito being the leaker…..but another possibility is Ginny Thomas….

  73. 73.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 4, 2022 at 11:59 am

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:

    If ever there were a time to mask up…  ? 

  74. 74.

    Kay

    May 4, 2022 at 11:59 am

    @sukabi:

    I hope it’s Ginni Thomas. Too. :)

    Just delightful.

  75. 75.

    Kay

    May 4, 2022 at 12:02 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    And even if they don’t and 10% more of them do…wouldn’t you want that?

    What is the risk here? It’s all possible upside.

  76. 76.

    Frank Wilhoit

    May 4, 2022 at 12:02 pm

    @debbie: “…they’ll either stay home or vote for Whaley…”

    Sorry, neither.  As of the close of polling last night, it no longer matters how much they “hate DeWine” — not to him, not to their own selves.  They’ll crawl over broken glass to vote against the Democrats — and the Democratic precincts in the three C’s will have one machine each, which will break down midday.  (The latter has been the case for the past six or eight cycles.)

  77. 77.

    debbie

    May 4, 2022 at 12:03 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Stereotypes! It’s the new American Way!  //

  78. 78.

    debbie

    May 4, 2022 at 12:04 pm

    @Frank Wilhoit:

    Yeah, like TFG forgives and forgets! Not.

  79. 79.

    sukabi

    May 4, 2022 at 12:07 pm

    @Kay: yes… That would actually be THE perfect scenario….and she’s proven herself to be quite the true believer type of schemer that would pull a stunt like that….

  80. 80.

    Hob

    May 4, 2022 at 12:07 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I’m also rolling my eyes at the assumption that public protests are supposed to be sufficient in themselves and a measure of the protester’s individual virtue, and not, say, a way to keep the issue in front of people’s faces and remind others to get out and vote and take action too. Like, the proper way to be reminded to vote is to read it in a pissy tweet.

  81. 81.

    sab

    May 4, 2022 at 12:09 pm

    @Kay: Walker is suburban Grand Rapids. DeVos country.Gerald Ford country.  Republican since the Civil War. But they love their schools, and outsiders are fucking with their schools.

  82. 82.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2022 at 12:10 pm

    @Betty Cracker: If it doesn’t apply let it fly. Despite the march, more white women voted for the Orange One in 2020 than they did in 2016. The probability of a random white woman voter being a Republican voter is greater than 50%.

    So you can’t blame us for being skeptical, blame your Republican voting sisters and friends.

  83. 83.

    Barbara

    May 4, 2022 at 12:12 pm

    The Supreme Court could do with quite a bit less secrecy.  More leaked opinions, please.  Seriously, what CJ, at least, is upset about is that releasing drafts shows how political the court actually is — that opinions are negotiated as opposed to being the divine expression of pure legal reasoning.

  84. 84.

    sab

    May 4, 2022 at 12:13 pm

    @debbie: DeWine is a fighter, so I am less optimistic, unless he goes over the top like he did with Sherrod Brown  ( Burning Trade Center Towers in his ads.)

  85. 85.

    oldgold

    May 4, 2022 at 12:15 pm

     

     

    @Barbara:  !

  86. 86.

    Chris Johnson

    May 4, 2022 at 12:16 pm

    @Alison Rose ???: Some of those people are literally paid by Russia. I get real mad when it’s generalized to ‘ALL of those people’ but the frustrating reality is that some of the extreme lefties and righties are straight up paid by Russia to do what they do.

    You gotta ask at every step how much daylight there is between a Nina Turner and a Caleb Maupin, between a McConnell and a Madison Cawthorn or JD Vance. Some of these people are straight up Russia pawns and some of them play along, or have exploitable beliefs that let ’em be co-opted.

    I’ve seen enough about Nina Turner that I don’t want her winning office anywhere. Much like Tulsi Gabbard. I’m not really interested in making excuses for ’em.

  87. 87.

    sab

    May 4, 2022 at 12:16 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Of course she was.

  88. 88.

    sab

    May 4, 2022 at 12:17 pm

    @sab: Many years ago I used to live in GR.

  89. 89.

    germy

    May 4, 2022 at 12:18 pm

    Brown’s brief tenure in the House won her endorsements from a number of key Democratic players, including President Joe Biden, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D), and the Congressional Progressive Caucus, among others.

    Turner, however, still drew some endorsements from the more progressive left, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and a number of outside groups.

    I predict Turner will keep running until she eventually wins something.  I don’t see her abandoning politics any time soon.  I think the only way she’d leave politics would be if she actually won an election.  Then she’d be satisfied and ready to move on.

  90. 90.

    germy

    May 4, 2022 at 12:18 pm

    @Chris Johnson:

    Are people still being paid by Russia?  I thought that money dried up.

  91. 91.

    brendancalling

    May 4, 2022 at 12:22 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: i live in Bernie’s Socialist Utopia. It sucks here.

  92. 92.

    Hob

    May 4, 2022 at 12:23 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Protests are not random collections of people. It’s flat-out absurd to say that an abortion rights protest in any community has a majority of Republicans because that community overall does. The tweeter might possibly have a point if they were talking at Americans in general, but they’re not– they made it very clear that their pissy remark is directed at the people who are out on the streets. So they don’t have a point at all other than “fuck you, Mom, I am the real radical because I had the brilliant idea of telling people to vote.”

  93. 93.

    Kay

    May 4, 2022 at 12:24 pm

    @sab:

    I’m really familiar with Grand Rapids. I have spent a lot of time there. When my youngest was little he would tell people he wanted to live there. It always cracked me up. His dream spot? Grand Rapids.

    He’s more sophisticated now :)

  94. 94.

    satby

    May 4, 2022 at 12:24 pm

    Liked this from Beau, (though he seems unaware that the House has already passed legislation codifying Roe, held up in the Senate by the usual ostensibly Democratic DINOs):

    https://youtu.be/sOZTy0h6XZY

  95. 95.

    germy

    May 4, 2022 at 12:26 pm

    @Kay:

    I think it’s because it’s a cool name.  Grand Rapids!  Sounds exciting to a kid.

  96. 96.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2022 at 12:29 pm

    @Hob: Linda Sarsour the organizer of the Woman’s march didn’t want HRC to speak there. She is a red rose. And I have seen Red Roses advocating not voting all the fucking time.

  97. 97.

    Chris Johnson

    May 4, 2022 at 12:29 pm

    @germy: It’s the only shot they’ve got at this stage. Direct military action is failing, but sabotaging the US in exceedingly Putinist ways? That was shockingly, hugely successful and laid the foundation for doing it harder.

    Which is what we’re seeing. Anytime we see Trumpist folks winning at the expense of Republicans, it’s that we’re seeing.

    Best money Russia could possibly ever spend. Or in the case of like Cawthorn trying to attack the Republican establishment with kompromat right when Russia needed the Republicans to support ’em really hard, the most valorous way to have people throw themselves under the oncoming tanks for Mother Russia.

    I have to wonder if Roe being overthrown, at a time when the Republicans clearly don’t want to deal with it, serves Russia more than anybody else. It sets up civil war, that is if civil war can BE instigated under these conditions.

    The fact that it ruins the Republican party and doesn’t let them fight a more intelligent holding action, is not interesting to Russia. They don’t care if their pawns get expended. It’s the result they care about.

  98. 98.

    Steeplejack

    May 4, 2022 at 12:29 pm

    @Immanentize:

    That intro always hits me hard.

  99. 99.

    sab

    May 4, 2022 at 12:30 pm

    @Kay: Re GR, sorry he lost the dream. I loved GR except for their politics. I am a luddite on a Nook so I can’t link. Has he ever seen the McLean American Pie flashmob. That was so GR. I knew a lot of thiose people

    ETA Sorry. Technical term was Lipdub not Flashmob.

  100. 100.

    oldgold

    May 4, 2022 at 12:33 pm

    For a number of years I have wondered about the wisdom of adding the Bill of Rights to the Constitution. I understand why it was done, but it warped our notion of the relationship of the people to our government.

    At the time the Bill of Rights was added, people recognized this problem and addressed it squarely in the 9th Amendment. An Amendment the powers that be have long ago buried. There was no mention of it in Alito’s leaked draft.

    “9th Amendment.  The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

  101. 101.

    Hob

    May 4, 2022 at 12:37 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Your own point about how protests didn’t turn the tide in the past is less absurd than that tweet– in that it’s at least not based on a ridiculous misreading of what protests are– but still, if you’re going to say that [pick a type of political action or speech] should be given an automatic side-eye because it did not cause the right wing to dry up and blow away after [pick a time in the last several decades], then you are making an argument against literally everything progressives have done and said, ever. We have clearly not won thanks to any of those things, the odds are still against us, therefore none of it was sincere or useful. Including talking here. Including writing pissy tweets. Including voting— I mean, if it’s so great, why haven’t we won?? There’s nowhere to go with that argument other than 1. nihilistic above-it-allness or 2. demanding immediate violent revolution, and I doubt either of those was what you had in mind.

  102. 102.

    Miss Bee

    May 4, 2022 at 12:41 pm

    @germy: I agree.   It also sounds like “rabbits.”  True story: when I was a kid, Cedar Rapids was the half way point to our grandmother’s house.  We could get out of the car for awhile when we got to Cedar Rapids.  One day my  sister asked my Dad why we never saw the rabbits when we stopped there.

  103. 103.

    Barbara

    May 4, 2022 at 12:42 pm

    @oldgold: Yes, agree with you, as did James Madison. But it was the price of having certain people and states throw their support to approval of the Constitution.  IIRC, it was George Mason who demanded protection for free speech, but I could be wrong.

  104. 104.

    germy

    May 4, 2022 at 12:43 pm

    @Chris Johnson:

    I just thought all that money’s been frozen since the war

  105. 105.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 4, 2022 at 12:45 pm

    @Barbara: wonder how he feels about the rabid right wing politics of the university named after him

  106. 106.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2022 at 12:48 pm

    @Hob: We are fucking frustrated, white women as a group have not been reliable allies and that’s why we are where we are.

    And even those who claim to be our allies feel hurt when we express our frustrations.

    Alito’s reasoning makes anyone who is not a white male a second class person

    And makes anyone who is not white precariously close to being 3/5th of a person.

    So if you are an ally understand where this frustration is coming from or mute me with the pie filter.

    Thanks

    ETA: I for one am wondering whether I am suddenly going to be stateless if the courts throw out the immigration and naturalization act which was a part of the Civil Rights legislation.

  107. 107.

    Barbara

    May 4, 2022 at 12:49 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: The rabid rightwing is mostly the in the Law School, and specifically law and economics.  For most people, it’s just a large, mostly commuter school that allows them to live at home while they go to college.

  108. 108.

    Hob

    May 4, 2022 at 12:51 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Whatever you think about Sarsour, or any other high-profile organizer, has nothing to with that writer’s bullshit idea that abortion right protests are populated by Republican voters. I have gone to plenty of marches where some of the speakers on the podium before or after the march were into some bullshit, and guess what, 90% of the people who show up are not there for those speakers and aren’t taking life advice from them; they are there because they feel strongly about the issue, and they are going to vote but they also want to do more. All of them, no, but a shitload more of them than in the general public at large.

  109. 109.

    sab

    May 4, 2022 at 12:55 pm

    @Immanentize: Unbelievable to think of now, but when that song came out I was beyond angry and thought he was cynically cashing in.

    I live about ten miles from Kent. If you want to go to a rural university campus around here you go to Kent. If you want urban (sort of) you go to Akron. Also Kent has Arts  and Akron has Polymers.

  110. 110.

    Ken

    May 4, 2022 at 12:55 pm

    @satby: the House has already passed legislation codifying Roe, held up in the Senate by the usual ostensibly Democratic DINOs

    Are there 10 Republican senators who have voted to override the filibuster and advance that bill?

  111. 111.

    ian

    May 4, 2022 at 12:56 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Every time you paint with a broad brush I think of this

    Why women vote for India PM Narendra Modi’s BJP

    , more women than men voted for the BJP

  112. 112.

    JeanneT

    May 4, 2022 at 12:56 pm

    So glad about Glanville’s win in suburban west Michigan.  I talked w/my MIL (who lives in that district) before the election about the Trumpist Republican candidate: she turned in her ballot for Glanville.  Now we have to KEEP her in the general election.

  113. 113.

    Hob

    May 4, 2022 at 12:58 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: And yes, fuck yes, I do get where the frustration is coming from. Not at all saying don’t be pissed off. Just that your own righteous anger doesn’t automatically make every other angry thing someone wrote on Twitter into a good point. That tweet is just random Twitter aboveitallness.

  114. 114.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2022 at 12:58 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Do you think that the white women on this blog who participate in marches don’t vote Democratic?  Do you think that the majority of white women who show up for marches don’t vote Democratic?  I would suspect that there is a strong correlation between march for people’s rights and voting Democratic.

  115. 115.

    GoBlueInOak

    May 4, 2022 at 1:01 pm

    I see the Bernie haters are out in full force – he sure does live rent-free in all y’alls heads.    There’s a lotta self-projection amongst the childish Bernie-haters: “The Bernie Bros are so mean, I have no choice but to act like a complete prick.”

  116. 116.

    burnspbesq

    May 4, 2022 at 1:02 pm

    @Josie:

    I suspect that their support for Cuellar is based on their belief that he has a better chance than Cisneros at holding that seat.  Whether or not the draft opinion will change that dynamic is anyone’s guess.

    Things have gotten really weird and unpredictable down in the borderlands. Defying conventional wisdom, the area is actually becoming more Republican, and Latinx women are leading the charge. Abbott’s Border Theatre plays really well down there, even (especially?) among families that straddle the border. Anyone who tells you they know what’s going to happen is blowing smoke up your ass.

  117. 117.

    StringOnAStick

    May 4, 2022 at 1:02 pm

    Just mailed our primary ballots; it’s Oregon so not only did it have prepaid postage, they’ll be counted too.  We are in a new House district that changed borders so much it doesn’t really have an incumbent but blue dog Schrader has claimed it and because the national party never supports a primary challenge, that Manchin clone got endorsed by Biden and the party.  I understand the reasons but we voted for the challenger and I am hoping she has a strong chance here in blue Bend.

    I admit that in the crazy crowded governor’s race, I voted for the guy who has been state treasurer for a few terms, and not the somewhat annointed prior speaker of the state house, a woman who has been in office long enough to have a track record that has a lot of openings for attacks.  I partly did it because even though I think our current Governor, Kate Brown, has done a great job, polling shows she one of the most unpopular Governors (term limited), and the current level of misogyny scares me, plus the number of D’s who are pissed at the female candidate for some of her hardball tactics over the last 12 years.  What made me decide to be so strategic was first hearing a good interview of the state treasurer, but what really got me was reading all the candidate statements in the state provided voters pamphlet because holy crap, every R candidate for the office is barking mad, all 17 of them.

  118. 118.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2022 at 1:03 pm

    @GoBlueInOak: At least the Bernie haters have an excuse for acting like pricks.  Why do you do it?

  119. 119.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2022 at 1:04 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    @Hob:

    White women of this blog and those who march and vote are lovely and I thank them for doing the right thing.

    #Not all white women.

    Is that enough? Or do I need to grovel some more

  120. 120.

    burnspbesq

    May 4, 2022 at 1:09 pm

    @Martin:

    Elon Musk has designed some impressively capable rockets.

    And his launch facility is destroying the habitat of the only remaining breeding population of ocelots in the United States.

    Fuck him. And all his fanbois.

  121. 121.

    germy

    May 4, 2022 at 1:11 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Elon Musk has designed some impressively capable rockets.

    “Make it pointy,”  he told the actual designers.

  122. 122.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 4, 2022 at 1:12 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:  No one asked you to grovel.  You are wielding pretty sharp elbows these days.  That’s fine, but doing that without expecting some push back or questioning of your observations is … not reasonable.

  123. 123.

    debbie

    May 4, 2022 at 1:25 pm

    @sab:

    Not me. Neil spoke to truth, just like he always has.

    Rhodes ordered tanks to drive down High Street on the edge of the OSU campus, just to frighten people and deter any additional protests. Kent State could very easily have become something much larger than it actually was.

  124. 124.

    Nelle

    May 4, 2022 at 1:29 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: She gets money from us.

  125. 125.

    Spanky

    May 4, 2022 at 1:32 pm

    @sukabi: @Kay: Thirded. Great (i.e. devious) minds thinking alike.

  126. 126.

    WereBear

    May 4, 2022 at 1:39 pm

    @debbie:

    Not me. Neil spoke to truth, just like he always has.

     
    Seconded. When you look into the background, it’s shocking how much right wing resentment was stoking the tragedy. THEN.

  127. 127.

    sdhays

    May 4, 2022 at 1:42 pm

    @oldgold: I’m skeptical that things would be better without the Bill of Rights. If a Court can ignore entire Amendments to the Constitution or pretend certain clauses don’t exist, isn’t it even easier to deny rights that aren’t enumerated exist

    ETA: The Founders spent too much time debating this shit when they should have been thinking more about the Judicial Branch and the dangers of having an unaccountable cabal with the power to completely rewrite laws.

  128. 128.

    oldgold

    May 4, 2022 at 1:59 pm

    @sdhays:

    Well, I think the problem could have been addressed if the Bill of Rights was framed better. Of course, they thought they took care of the problem with the 9th Amendment.

    And, worse, as to your second point, the Framers did not anticipate Marbury; however, Congress should have reacted immediately to their basement tenant’s unconstitutional power grab.

  129. 129.

    dww44

    May 4, 2022 at 2:05 pm

    I just love this resurrected version of the blog- master. His last few posts have not only been on the mark they are just plain invigorating and spine strengthening.

  130. 130.

    lowtechcyclist

    May 4, 2022 at 2:05 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    HRC was right about the vast right wing conspiracy. She was right about everything.

    “Henry Kissinger is a friend of mine.” – HRC, 2014

    I guess she was right about that, she really WAS friendly with a war criminal.

    I voted for her in both the primary and the general in 2016 regardless.  But spare me the Hillary-worship.

  131. 131.

    germy

    May 4, 2022 at 2:08 pm

    Cuellar is an anti-abortion politician who’s under investigation for foreign corruption and the Democratic House leadership, in this moment, remains committed to backing his re-election. https://t.co/COVtf3Fmsd

    — southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) May 4, 2022

  132. 132.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2022 at 2:09 pm

    @ian: I am not painting with a broad brush I am reporting statistics.

    And yes I know about Modi’s popularity with women. I have called out the women (and men) in my family for their enabling ways.

  133. 133.

    Martin

    May 4, 2022 at 2:15 pm

    @burnspbesq: I think you missed my point there.

  134. 134.

    Quiltingfool

    May 4, 2022 at 2:15 pm

    @Alison Rose ???: She better get started sewing those quilts!  Gonna take quite a few!

  135. 135.

    germy

    May 4, 2022 at 2:21 pm

    Cuellar primary challenger @JCisnerosTX wants Dem leadership to withdraw their support for Cuellar in light of Roe news. Statement comes hours before @ClyburnSC06 is set to rally w/ Cuellar in San Antonio. pic.twitter.com/UpE22uPllo

    — Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) May 4, 2022

     

    A little notable since Cisneros has otherwise tread lightly on House leadership’s support for Cuellar. After Pelosi campaigned for Cuellar in Laredo last cycle, Cisneros said she understood it was the speaker’s role to defend incumbents. https://t.co/nUB8AT07Lt #TX28

    — Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) May 4, 2022

  136. 136.

    dww44

    May 4, 2022 at 2:28 pm

    @Frank Wilhoit: So, knowing that all Republicans will always pull the R lever, I hope that Tim Ryan doesn’t campaign on winning the moderate wing of the GOP.  He just needs to turn out the Democratic base and get the uncommitted registered to vote.  Others can speak to if that’s doable in OHIO, but I know that this long standing meme that Dems have to move towards the middle after their primary has not gotten us anywhere these last couple of decades.

  137. 137.

    MinuteMan

    May 4, 2022 at 2:34 pm

    @rikyrah: One where I was legally 3/5 of a human being.

    In that past you would have be 3/5 of a citizen only for the purposes of determining how many congressional seats the state had.  Otherwise, you would have been 0/5 of a human being, since a system where people are property isn’t going to treat them as human beings.  It would have been better if the 3/5 clause was left out of the constitution since it only served to strengthen the hand of the Southern states.

  138. 138.

    Fair Economist

    May 4, 2022 at 2:38 pm

    @Josie: It’s policy for the Democratic leadership to support all incumbents over challengers, barring the most egregious betrayals. Disagreeing over particular issues, even important ones, does not count. I assume it’s necessary to be able to cut deals, which Pelosi has to do all the time with such a narrow majority.

  139. 139.

    Gravenstone

    May 4, 2022 at 2:43 pm

    @Percysowner: She can become the Harold Stassen of her era.

    If she aspires to become a punchline, so be it.

  140. 140.

    Barbara

    May 4, 2022 at 2:50 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: But you are painting with a broad brush by framing your outlook solely on what white women do, on average.  Aside from the fact that those averages are likely quite different from state to state — do white women in California vote exactly like white women in Mississippi? —  they essentially write off huge numbers of people who are your allies by focusing only on the fact that, “on average,” people in that demographic group aren’t.

    ISTM we all need to decide what to do going forward and if you can’t work with people constructively because “on average” members of their group are at odds with you, or worse — then that’s okay, because your feelings are too strong.  I don’t think you are alone in that, but other people are going to make other choices and those choices are not the same as a rejection of your feelings.

  141. 141.

    Geminid

    May 4, 2022 at 2:52 pm

    @dww44: I think that by now many Democrats understand that “conversion” strategies aimed at swing voters yield slim pickings. Like you say, turning out base voters is the most effective strategy. That’s not to say there aren’t independents that can be picked off, just that this is better made a secondary consideration. From what I see in Virginia, there really aren’t any moderates left in the Republican party.

    There may be anti-trump, Chamber of Comerce conservatives in Ohio, and a few could jump the fence for Ryan. Same with independents. But I think if they’re gonna jump they’re gonna jump and don’t need Ryan making special efforts beyond the thematic, “I want to be a healer”  statement he made last night.

  142. 142.

    pajaro

    May 4, 2022 at 2:54 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Women are more likely than men to vote democratic.  White women are more likely than white men to vote democratic, and African American women are more likely to vote democratic than African-American men.

  143. 143.

    Geminid

    May 4, 2022 at 3:01 pm

    @Gravenstone: Nina Turner is a formidable moneyraiser. As long as she can raise lots of money and pass it on to her allies in the left side of the political industrial complex, she won’t worry about being a punchline. Meanwhile she will go back to her lucrative consulting subsidiary of heavy-hitting Republican agency Mercury.

  144. 144.

    Geminid

    May 4, 2022 at 3:15 pm

    @Fair Economist: Cuellar is a dinosaur, the last anti-choice Democrat in the House. Marie Newman knocked the younger Lipinski out in a primary in June of 2020, and Republicans knocked Colin Petersen out of his red Minnesota district that November.

    Cuellar was damaged by FBI raids on his Laredo home and District office this January. Then after he beat Cisneros by two points in the March primary, Cisneros was hit by scandal: the Daily Mail published an article sensationalizing an affair she had with a married man when she was 18 that allegedly led to his divorce.

    Republicans have been making inroads in the formerly reliably blue Rio Grande Vally and they are going hard after that seat. I suspect that 28th CD Democrats will base their runoff votes on which of Cuellar and Cisneros they think has the better chance of holding that seat.

  145. 145.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2022 at 3:35 pm

    @pajaro: White women are the biggest demographic group in the country if they voted reliably Democratic, Republicans would be in a permanent minority in this country.

    This is not an attack on women who vote D or comment on this blog. If you are not a Republican voter I am not talking about you.

  146. 146.

    The Moar You Know

    May 4, 2022 at 3:45 pm

    Also, it was Alito who leaked the opinion to lock in Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.

    That’s the universal opinion in my office, from the Trumpers to, well, me.

  147. 147.

    Kay

    May 4, 2022 at 3:50 pm

    @dww44:

    Tim Ryan is in the middle. He won’t be turning to the middle after the primary- he’s already there.

    A lot of people – maybe most people- vote not on “issues” but on how they perceive the candidate. No one wants to admit it but it’s true. Ryan will have an edge there because he’s genuinely likeable. He’s at ease with people and has a background that is very common in huge swathes of Ohio. He seems moderate.

  148. 148.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2022 at 3:52 pm

    @Kay: How is Vance perceived in Ohio. To me he came across as a phony even when he was feted by MSM for his stupid book.

  149. 149.

    rikyrah

    May 4, 2022 at 4:08 pm

    @JR in WV:

    Didn’t the FBI take a boxcar full of papers and info from Cuellar’s home and offices just a little while ago? I know that’s not the same as convicted in court, but still, seems like a big tool to beat him over the head with every day.

    So, that the previous contest was even close, and that they are doing a runoff tells me that the other candidate must  be weak.

  150. 150.

    Suzanne

    May 4, 2022 at 4:42 pm

    @Kay:

    A lot of people – maybe most people- vote not on “issues” but on how they perceive the candidate. No one wants to admit it but it’s true. 

    It’s 100% true.
    And most people want to be represented by someone who feels culturally close to them.

  151. 151.

    Geminid

    May 4, 2022 at 5:05 pm

    @rikyrah: When Cuellar edged past Cisneros by 4 points in 2020, I wondered if he had taken a win for granted. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee Cuellar had  “brought home the bacon” to the district and he never had trouble before. He certainly took the primary seriously this year, but so did Cisneros sponsors the Justice Democrats and their allies. In the event Cuellar finished  2 points ahead but a third candidate kept Cuellar below 50%, hence the runoff.

  152. 152.

    dave319

    May 4, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    @germy: Gahhh. These people are stuck in Clinton era amber.

  153. 153.

    JR in WV

    May 4, 2022 at 5:34 pm

    @GoBlueInOak: ​
     

    I have no choice but to act like a complete prick.

    Finally a completely true statement about your politics!! Complete prick~!!~

  154. 154.

    JR in WV

    May 4, 2022 at 5:37 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: ​
     

    @GoBlueInOak: At least the Bernie haters have an excuse for acting like pricks. Why do you do it?

    Well done!! Thank you…

  155. 155.

    planetjanet

    May 4, 2022 at 6:11 pm

    @Percysowner: ​ Here is the thing that gets to me. If Nina Turner could not bring herself to congratulate the winner, even privately, then she can not be trusted with public office. It reveals her character. She has no intention of working with Shontel Brown to build up the party and push for the ideas she values. If she can’t have it, then burn it. The greatest threat to democracy is these candidates who only want power. That is predominately the other party. We seem to have to fight them everywhere.​

  156. 156.

    Another Scott

    May 4, 2022 at 6:30 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: You disliked someone using the term “crank” about one of your earlier comments, but you’re not helping yourself with comments like this, IMHO.

    My vote for Nader in Virginia in 2000 had absolutely nothing to do with Alito getting on the bench. Wikipedia:

    Virginia, a state that hadn’t gone Democratic since 1964, was won by Governor George W. Bush with a margin of victory of 8.04%.

    Roughly 220,000 votes.

    Nader had 59,398 votes in Virginia.

    This SCOTUS is gutting Roe and all the rest because TFG and Moscow Mitch put 3 RWNJs on the court. Not because of the 2000 election or Bernie staying in the race too long or anything else. The GQP did it. And TFG was able to do that because of Republican James Comey.

    You’re not going to change the past, and you’re not going to convince many voters by effectively telling them that they’re stupid and evil (“blood on their hands”) for elections decisions they made 20+ years ago that have nothing to do with what TFG and MM did.

    I get that you’re angry, and all the rest. You, and most of us, have a right to be. But recognize who the enemies are right now and fight them, not people on your big and diverse team.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  157. 157.

    Another Scott

    May 4, 2022 at 6:57 pm

    @Fair Economist: +1.  That’s my view, exactly.

    Speakers don’t have paper bags of money to pass out any more, but they can help in re-elections.  “Reliably support me and the party on important votes and I’ll work for your re-election.”

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  158. 158.

    Alce _e_ardillo

    May 4, 2022 at 7:13 pm

    @sab: If you’re trying to find a silver lining for Turner’s pointless and nasty campaign, it won’t work. In every campaign, Turner starts out strong based on name recognition, but as soon as the voters get a load of her personality they run away.  Her graceless “concession “ is a case in point. Blaming “corporate “donors for her defeat is a slap in the face to the voters, by intimating they are mindless sheep, swayed by propaganda.

  159. 159.

    burnspbesq

    May 4, 2022 at 8:06 pm

    @Martin:

    no, I didn’t miss your point at all. You’re fanboing for evil.

  160. 160.

    terben

    May 4, 2022 at 9:52 pm

    No matter who leaked the High Court draft opinion, it is Alito who lost control of it and the buck stops with him. He should resign immediately.

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