Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

No Justins, No Peace

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

We still have time to mess this up!

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

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

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

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

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / TGIFriday Morning Open Thread: Working for the Weekend (A Potpourri)

TGIFriday Morning Open Thread: Working for the Weekend (A Potpourri)

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  2. 2.

    narya

    Haaland is one of my absolute favorite picks for this administration; it’s so powerful to have her in that role.

    Meanwhile, I’m exhausted: was out the door by 4:15 am to try to see the planet alignment . . . never found Mercury (too much haze on the lake), but Venus, Mars, and Jupiter (and the moon) were definitely visible. I was too late to get Saturn–the sky was already lightening, and I had no scope or binocs.

  4. 4.

    sab

    Left a comment about killing trees in the Covid thread. Very inappropriate.

    I live in NE Ohio, which has lots of rain and good soil.

    Weed trees are a thing here. Good healthy trees that anyone elsewhere would be thrilled to have, but here they are just very large weeds.

    Trying to eradicate a few of those lost trees. Black paint on the stump doesn’t work at all. Neither does Roundup. Any ideas?

  7. 7.

    Jeffery

    @sab: After a fresh cut to the stump put a terrycloth towel soaked in bleach on top of the fresh cut cover it with a large saucer if you have one. Then cover it with plastic and weight it down. This will keep the bleach from drying fast. It will give the bleach time to soak into the stump.

  9. 9.

    NotMax

    NASA’s roach reproach.

    The space agency has asked Boston-based RR Auction to halt the sale of moon dust collected during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission that had subsequently been fed to cockroaches during an experiment to determine if the lunar rock contained any sort of pathogen that posed a threat to terrestrial life.

    The material, a NASA lawyer said in a letter to the auctioneer, still belongs to the federal government.

    The material from the experiment, including a vial with about 40 milligrams of moon dust and three cockroach carcasses, was expected to sell for at least $400,000, but has been pulled from the auction block, RR said Thursday. Source

    ;)

  10. 10.

    Roger Moore

    @sab:

    You could try physically removing the stump.  It’s a lot of effort, but it would have the advantage of allowing you to put something else there immediately.

  11. 11.

    The Golux

    @sab:

    Look for “brush killer” at Home Depot or Lowe’s.  Anything that says it will kill poison ivy specifically will do; get the concentrate, not ready-to-apply, and brush the stump with undiluted concentrate.

    I haven’t tried Jeffery’s method, but using a chemical designed for the purpose will be easier (no need to cover) if you have a lot of saplings, as we do with the vile Norway maples.

  12. 12.

    Wapiti

    @sab: Wish I knew. I have a laurel in my front yard that I am trying to kill. It’s next to the rockery in my front yard, so I can’t dig up the roots. I just cut back all of the shoots every quarter in an attempt to starve it, but I figure that the roots are probably sharing nutrients with the other laurels in the hedge.

    I did have a co-worker from Georgia, who had a college summer job spiking trees on a timber plantation (to thin the managed forest). They used copper spikes or nails to kill the trees. But that was pine, and I’m not sure how it works or if it works on all trees. (I wonder if the poison effect would spread to my other laurels).

  16. 16.

    rikyrah

    The MSM is having a big sad.

    These hearings aren’t going the way they thought they would.

    They can’t pundit their way around it to ‘ both sides’.

    The evidence is coming forth, and there’s no way to ‘ both sides’ it, or make it seem not as bad as it was.

    And, the utter criminality.

    Why you want to get on a Pardon List, Boo?

    People who do nothing wrong don’t need pardons.

    They keep on not wanting to ask the questions…

    About Ginni Thomas…

    About Chuck Grassley believing with CERTAINTY that Mike Pence would be ‘unavailable’ on January 6th? Why did you think that Chuck?

    How about the lock to Pence’s office in the Capitol? How could it have been changed on 1/6?

    What about the TOURS?

    They want to gloss over these things, but, they are important, and will be answered, and the end of every answer is a REPUBLICAN. As the MSM continues to pretend that the Republican Party is anything other than the domestic terrorist organization it is….

  18. 18.

    O. Felix Culpa

    On another human rights note, from the Chicago Tribune:

    With Roe at risk, a new Illinois nonprofit provides free aircraft flights for patients traveling to get an abortion

    A burgeoning Illinois nonprofit has begun providing free flights aboard small passenger airplanes to help patients travel to their abortion appointments, a new means of reproductive health care access that’s emerged as the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that legalized the procedure nationwide.

    The Springfield-based charity Elevated Access was incorporated in late April, according to Illinois secretary of state records. In early June, the nonprofit flew its first abortion patient from Oklahoma to the Kansas City area, enabling the passenger to terminate a pregnancy in Kansas, the organization’s executive director said.

    [snip]

    “Even before Roe ends, it’s not easy to access an abortion,” said the nonprofit’s executive director, who asked to remain anonymous for his safety, citing the heightened threat of violence surrounding reproductive rights as the Supreme Court ruling approaches. “While voting and giving money are important to try and stop this backslide of people’s rights in this country, doing something directly to try and help people get out of that burden is very important to me.”

    The charity recruits licensed pilots with access to light aircraft, who volunteer their time and planes to fly patients heading to abortion clinics — trips that increasingly require long-distance travel, often across state lines.

    “We know you are already stressed,” the organization’s website says. “Let us relieve some of that with a free flight from a volunteer pilot.”

    The executive director of Elevated Access said he has been working on the nonprofit’s concept for over a year with leaders of the Chicago-based organization Midwest Access Coalition, which provides patients traveling for abortion care with lodging, transportation, meals, rides to clinics and other logistical support.

  19. 19.

    Betty Cracker

    @narya: I agree about Haaland. Much was made of the symbolic importance of the appointment, understandably. But it seems like sometimes that overshadows the fact that she’s been damn good at the job.

  20. 20.

    rikyrah

    They reveal themselves all the time. Nothing but truth

     

    Afrosabi – or Yvette (@afrosabi) tweeted at 6:43 PM on Thu, Jun 23, 2022: So white progressives are ALREADY turning on Stacey Abrams? This soon? Y’all are so predictable. Lemme guess…. of y’all were against Kamala Devi Harris too? (https://twitter.com/afrosabi/status/1540118469521309698?t=JfITTo9AXwXKZFojBVVLLQ&s=03)

     

     

    Nick ️‍ (@Fiddies2) tweeted at 8:02 PM on Thu, Jun 23, 2022: They never actually supported her, just thought they could control her. And like they always do when they find out they cannot control a POC their true feelings come out

     

    (https://twitter.com/Fiddies2/status/1540138165796839424?t=FmYGj-qKFf8NKlB-olt3sA&s=03)

  21. 21.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @rikyrah:

    Truth.

    ETA:

    How about the lock to Pence’s office in the Capitol? How could it have been changed on 1/6?

    I hadn’t heard about this. For real?

  25. 25.

    Scout211

    A Texas school district  claims that their new dress code for students is just a way to prepare them for the job market. Uh yeah, sure. No adults wear skirts, hoodies and patterned tees at work, right? And of course, every student from K to 12 needs to prepare for the job market.  

    Its almost as if they are not telling the truth about why they want all their students to dress alike.  Huh

     

    CNN)A North Texas school district has updated its dress code for the upcoming school year to ban hooded clothing as well as dresses and skirts for many of its grade levels, reasoning that the change will help students in their future careers.
    The bans quickly elicited a backlash from parents, students and others who view the policy as unnecessarily restrictive, prompting one high school student to create a petition to “fight unreasonable dress code changes” announced by the Forney Independent School District (FISD).
    The new policy, which applies to all 18 of FISD’s schools, prohibits clothing such as hoodies, coats and jackets with hoods inside the school, and also forbids students in grades five and above from wearing dresses, skirts or skorts.
    The dress code also requires students to wear solid colored shirts and slacks, shorts or capri pants in navy blue, black or khaki colors. Among the things the dress code prohibits are denim pants, sleeveless shirts, t-shirts, overalls or clothing with holes in it.

  26. 26.

    Betty Cracker

    @rikyrah: I’ve seen a lot of pussy hat trashing on Twitter lately, and I’m wondering how that got conflated with 3rd party voting. I’m not a hat person, so I wasn’t wearing one at the Women’s March in DC in 2017. But lots of people were, and I’m guessing 95% or so were Dems who vote. Have the Stein voters co-opted the hats or something when I wasn’t looking?

  27. 27.

    rikyrah

    I see that too, and like so many others, PHUCK THEM.

    I can walk and chew gum at the same time.

     

    I can tell you to VOTE DEMOCRATIC IN NOVEMBER 2022

    AND

     

    Tell you that I will NEVER EVER EVER FORGET those in 2016, who put us in this position. I will NEVER forget those who told us that they ‘ couldn’t be scared by the Court, so stop using it as a threat’. I will NEVER forget those who came up with eleven billionty reasons why they just couldn’t come to vote for Hillary Clinton.

     

    No. I won’t forget. Because, I can draw a DIRECT LINE, from your actions in 2016, to where we are today. No.

     

    You won’t be allowed to weasel out of your DIRECT RESPONSIBLITY for the state of our world today. Phuck Outta Here.

     

     

    Rugged Amethyst #TexasBorn #CaliBred (@groove_sdc) tweeted at 9:37 AM on Thu, Jun 23, 2022: So I get a lot of “STOP RELITIGATING THE 2016 PRIMARIES” comments a lot but honestly that’s hard to do when I keep seeing how much of our current political predicaments are shaped by it. None resonates more than the Supreme Court decisions being handed down today. (https://twitter.com/groove_sdc/status/1539980967913439238?t=w8haCWuXPRAiHKOOn38L1A&s=03)

  28. 28.

    sdhays

    @rikyrah: This is something that I’ve always found difficult to comprehend. How can we light so much money on fire on policing with terrible results in this country, and yet so many police officers don’t make shit? Similar to teaching, these are important jobs that should pay well for competence and ethics.

    As it often is, it’s an allocation problem.

  31. 31.

    Elizabelle

    @rikyrah: 

    Andrea Mitchell said that the hearings were mostly a TV production?

    She said that? Jesus. There she goes, Obamasplaining again.

  36. 36.

    leeleeFL

    @Scout211: Sorry to sound like a fuddy-duddy, but back in my day, we called that a uniform.  Hmmm…..they need to provide those at a job, if they get specific.

  38. 38.

    Immanentize

    @leeleeFL: Back in my day, girls had to wear skirts or dresses. So, what’s your point?

    “Uniforms” cost money — is the district going to pay families to dress alike?

  39. 39.

    hueyplong

    @sab: I just dig up the whole thing on the weed trees (we have them too).  They’re pretty resilient when it comes to any other solution.

  40. 40.

    sdhays

    @Immanentize: Obviously not everywhere, but https://twitter.com/staceyabrams/status/1539936969001680897:

    Law enforcement are often paid less than a living wage, and that is wrong. We must raise pay for officers and address violent crime as we work to build community trust and foster law enforcement accountability.

    Law enforcement in urban, suburban and rural areas across Georgia struggle with staffing shortages that put communities at risk. Higher officer pay will lead to better officer recruitment, better officer retention, better community interactions and a safer Georgia

    I remember years ago being stunned at how little the Louisiana state police made, and then seeing how they were one of the most corrupt departments in the country made sense.

  41. 41.

    Elizabelle

    @rikyrah:   That one does not make sense to me.

    Is Tim’s point that you cannot be a reliable Democratic voter and also want to expand the Court?

    And what about blue voters in deep red states who want to expand the Court, especially since their legislators are not going to do anything for them?

    Tim’s tweet doesn’t do much for me.  Other than to point fingers and try to be divisive about … what?

    What does Tim know about these “exact same people?”  Because, seems to me, many of them are NOT.

  42. 42.

    Ken

    @NotMax: moon dust fed to cockroaches

    Michael Bay on line 1.

    (Though I must say NASA was optimistic, thinking that if the dust didn’t kill cockroaches it was pathogen-free. Maybe pick an experimental animal that doesn’t live on a diet of rot and feces?)

  45. 45.

    Kay

    @Immanentize:

    Toledo Public Schools did a very simple one- chinos and a polo shirt with a collar (boys and girls) so can be purchased inexpensively anywhere. It was broadly popular because it’s easy for parents and limits some of the peer pressure to buy expensive “brand” clothing. I see how something super simple like that could be beneficial.

  47. 47.

    hueyplong

    @rikyrah: Your whole list is a good one, but my favorite is the “what about” re “About Chuck Grassley believing with CERTAINTY that Mike Pence would be ‘unavailable’ on January 6th? Why did you think that Chuck?”

    Seriously, dude can’t hold a thought anymore but he was absolutely sure of his upcoming role and why he’d be assuming it.  Questioning him is probably a waste of time, but some people were in the room when he got whatever instruction made his retention of it impervious to the handicap of Alzheimers.

  48. 48.

    Immanentize

    @sdhays: So maybe Georgia has a problem? Or a politician is pandering for the police support vote? Just because it is Abrams doesn’t mean she isn’t begging for votes by promising pot for all the chickens. It is just another police budget money grab. Show me payscale details, not electioneering happy talk.

    According to a few sources, officer pay before overtime is about 60k a year which is higher than the average pay across Georgia. Then, there is the overtime, by which most officers end up with at least 1.5 times their pay. Minimum.

    Uvalde is as rural a town as you could want and those officers were making upper middle class salaries.

  49. 49.

    Geminid

    @narya:

     

    @O. Felix Culpa: Deb Haaland is another member of the talented Democratic House Class of 2018. A few good ones did not survive the 2020 election, but most did and I think we will hear a lot more from these people.

    Haaland had a challenging young adulthood as a single mother. She went on to earn a law degree in her early 40s, though. Later, Haaland served as Chairman of the New Mexico Democratic party before winning the Congressional seat of Michelle Lujan Griffin, who became New Mexico’s excellent Governor.

  50. 50.

    Elizabelle

    @Betty Cracker:  Thank you.

    At least two of those tweets are “ready, fire, aim.”

    Two of them make me think “show your work.  Really?”  Because they are too broad.

  52. 52.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @zhena gogolia:

    There is a subset of pussyhat people to whom that tweet applies–I know some of them–but there are of course others who are true Dem voters.

  53. 53.

    Cameron

    @sdhays: Recently my US Rep had a confab with local police/sheriff/EMS heads, and they told him it was extremely difficult to recruit new personnel.  The housing costs have gone through the roof around here, and even decent wages can’t keep up.

  54. 54.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Geminid:

    As I said, I know Deb Haaland and was there for much of the history you provide, and some that you didn’t. :)

  56. 56.

    Immanentize

    @Elizabelle: Or may be tied a bit (among insider, insiders) to the rather insane purity fighting breakdown of the original organizers of the women’s march? They did not shower themselves in savvy. But using the hat to talk about eccentric lefties is just wrong.

  58. 58.

    dnfree

    @sdhays: I can’t speak for every state, but in Illinois a lot of the money dedicated to police departments is actually going to fund current and future pensions, which are very generous and which can start being paid at what would seem to most of us a very young retirement age.

  59. 59.

    Immanentize

    @Cameron: maybe people just don’t want to work those crappy jobs and can do better elsewhere? Police/fire/emt have all sorts of structural employment advantages including veteran preferences and bonuses.

    I think that the police violence and COVID jerks fighting with emt has just made those jobs undesirably shitty places to work.

  60. 60.

    Elizabelle

    @Immanentize:  It reminds me a lot of getting hit in the face, over and over and over again, about how the majority of white women support Republicans, while ignoring there are so many who do not.  How is it I can see these people, but these twitter loudmouths cannot?

    Fuck ’em.  Some of those tweets are meant to polarizing.  Have at it, loudmouths.

  62. 62.

    UncleEbeneezer

     

    @rikyrah: It’s been really rich seeing people whine about the lack of an assault-rifle ban in the new gun legislation, seeing as how the assault-weapon ban was part of the Clinton Crime Bill!!1!  You know, the legislation that these same people said was one of the reasons they simply couldn’t vote for Hillary in 2016 and evidence that there would be no meaningful difference between Hillary and Trump.

  63. 63.

    Immanentize

    @O. Felix Culpa: I taught at UNM law a couple of years before Sec. Haaland went there. I would have liked to know her then. UNM Law is really a unique school and community.

  64. 64.

    oldgold

    In Thomas’s gun opinion issued yesterday, he favorably cited language from Taney’s Dredd Scott opinion. Really?

  69. 69.

    Geminid

    @O. Felix Culpa: What do you think of the New Mexico Democrats’ chances of taking back the 2nd CD? I understand that it was redrawn to be a bluer district, and they seem to have nominated a good candidate.

    Meanwhile Xochitl Torres-Small has bounced back from her 2020 loss to be Assistant Secreary of Agriculture for Rural Development. I think she will do good work in that job.

  70. 70.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    It’s good the see Hookland celebrated here at Balloon Juice. Southwell (@cultauthor) & his followers have had such fun with that mythical part of England.
    I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d like either a series of mystery novels or a television series based on the cases of Detective Inspector Callaghan and Sgt. Nokes.

  71. 71.

    Betty Cracker

    Speaking of insane purity fighting breakdowns, did any of y’all read Michelle Goldberg’s column earlier this week in the NYT about the state of feminism as Roe is about to fall? Depressing as hell but there’s a lot of truth to it, and it applies beyond the women’s movement, IMO.

  72. 72.

    Scout211

    @Kay:

    Yes, the parents and school officials always think that a uniform policy will improve learning and reduce stress and peer pressure. But the studies don’t show this.
    This study was published in 2022.

    While school uniforms had no effect on any of the three dimensions of behavior in any grade, even after taking into account a wide range of other factors that could potentially affect students’ behavior.
    The study did find that low-income students in schools that required uniforms did have slightly better attendance, but that difference amounted to less than one day per year, Ansari said.
    The researchers also evaluated self-report measures from the same students when they were in fifth grade. Students reported on their sense of school belonging, such as how close they felt to teachers and classmates. They also reported their experiences of bullying and social anxiety.
    School uniforms were not linked to any differences in bullying or social anxiety in the children. But those who had to wear uniforms reported lower levels of school belonging than did those who attended schools with no uniform requirements.
    The data in this study can’t explain this finding, Ansari said, but there are some plausible reasons why this might be so.
    “While uniforms are supposed to build a sense of community, they may have the opposite effect,” he said.
    “Fashion is one way that students express themselves, and that may be an important part of the school experience. When students can’t show their individuality, they may not feel like they belong as much.”
    The results of this study should caution parents, teachers and administrators from assuming that school uniforms have positive effects that they may not have, Ansari said.
    “School uniforms may not be the most effective way to improve student behavior and engagement.”

  73. 73.

    Immanentize

    @Elizabelle: When I see those comments about the majority of white women supporting Republicans, it is usually in the context of abortion rights and the sad fact that even a threat to the fundamental rights of women will not shake them loose of their traditional tribal voting patterns. So, even though folks know there are a lot of white women who do not vote for Republicans, the fact that so many do remains a head scratcher.

    (And — Generalizations are always hard on the outlier, especially in 144 characters. I find ignoring the urge to say, “not all _____” makes me a happier fellow.)

  74. 74.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Immanentize:

    I didn’t know, or recall, that detail about your distinguished career history. Some former political colleagues are currently enrolled at UNM Law and it does seem like a unique community.

  75. 75.

    Cameron

    @Immanentize: This was really about the Bradenton-Sarasota area, where I don’t think that cops are exactly patrolling mean streets (although there appears to be a morale problem in the Bradenton PD).  There are a lot of very wealthy enclaves, and unfortunately new development sends housing prices ever upward.  I’m fortunate to live at the ass-end of nowhere, otherwise I couldn’t afford to live here.

    Even the governor’s genius trick of offering a $5K gift to cops who had been kicked out/voluntarily left departments in other states for refusing to get vaccinated doesn’t seem to be doing the job.

  76. 76.

    Geminid

    @Immanentize: I think that Stacey Abrams is trying to attract a broader group of voters than just law enforcement officers when she proposes raising police pay.

  77. 77.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Geminid:

    I haven’t seen data yet on Gabe Vasquez’s chances against the vile Herrell. I do know that the Dems will pour significant resources into that race and that many folks from other, more solidly Democratic districts, are planning to do their utmost in CD2 for Vasquez.

  79. 79.

    Elizabelle

    @O. Felix Culpa:   I will email it to you.  It is a long, long article. And the reader comments are very interesting.  Seems the younger “feminists” may not understand what the older feminists had to face or go through.

    You will def want to check out the reader comments.

  81. 81.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

     

     It was broadly popular because it’s easy for parents and limits some of the peer pressure to buy expensive “brand” clothing. I see how something super simple like that could be beneficial.

     

    I was very sad when Peanut’s school went away from uniforms.

     

    Uniforms are so simple for those dealing with kids.

     

    Get 5-7 shirts

    Get 2 sweaters

    Get 5 pairs of pants

    2 School Gym Uniforms

     

    And, you are set for the week. No fighting or debating on what clothes you’re going to wear.

     

    Peanut’s going to Catholic School in the Fall. The uniforms are more expensive, but, once the initial expense is done, should be no more costs for the rest of the year. And, no debate.

  83. 83.

    Elizabelle

    @rikyrah:   We were in uniforms for some of our primary school years, and I think my parents really appreciated them.  And one school let students dress out of uniform maybe every other Friday.

  84. 84.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    I hadn’t heard about locks to Pence’s office being changed (on J6 or any other time), but I do recall seeing a report some months ago that some of his staffers’ badges were briefly deactivated so they couldn’t enter the Capitol building at first. It must have been taken care of, or perhaps the story was garbled in the first place.

  86. 86.

    gvg

    Police pay is uneven, just like a lot of jobs. Some places it is very nice, others it is poor. Often, poor areas don’t have the tax base to pay well and they may have more problems to deal with. In addition, police have a reputation that is not attractive to the kind of potential recruits I would prefer. It is self selecting downwards and reputation is not even everywhere. Again, some places have a worse reputation than others.  Another problem is the public perception that high budget equal high pay for most police. This is not always the case.  I think there is an administrative tendency to like to spend on stuff not salaries.  A lot of higher ups seem to prefer that. They get really antsy about contracts to keep paying people for jobs for years, and yet they find money to buy nicer desks.  This is true in most areas, not just police, and aggravates me in my own job.

  87. 87.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Betty Cracker: That’s how the largest demographic group in the country wants it. T won white women even after the pussy tape in 2016. They voted for Orange T in greater numbers in 2020 than they did in 2016

    If white women abandon the Republican party things will change. Whether they will in enough numbers IDK.

  91. 91.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Betty Cracker: Well that was depressing.

    My wife has been part of Planned Parenthood’s organizing for responses to the impending Roe decision and she has been really dismayed at how few younger women are interested in participating.

    On a happier note, yesterday one of my tennis students was complaining that another student left their gum on the court.  I asked him who did it and he named a couple names.  One girl responded “why are you only accusing girls?”  To which I added “That’s a very good question, Clara!”  She’s maybe 12 years old.  Of course the boy had no answer.  Anyways, that made me happy.

  92. 92.

    ealbert

    Enough already. I am SO TIRED of the “a majority of white women voted for Trump” being used as a response. As I remember, it was 53% of white women who voted for Trump, and yes that is a majority, but just barely. It is damn close to being inside the margin of error. It is not as if every white woman had to go somewhere and list who she voted for. A whole lot of white women voted for Biden. I realize that whites are either past being a majority in this country or almost past that point. However, 47 percent of almost 50 percent the voting population is probably the largest chunk of votes for Biden in the last election.

    We are told “you can’t talk about Latino voters as all one group, “they have all different opinions and points of view”. But yet, apparently ALL white women voters are the same and we can use them to be hammered when we want to blame someone.

    You want to get white women’s votes. How about you stop insulting them!!!

  93. 93.

    Geminid

    @Immanentize: Ah, now I see that you did. “Pandering,” though is an invidious term to use when “appealing” is a more neutral description that does not express prejudice.

    Personally, I think that Abrams is one of the shrewdest practical politicians in the Democratic party. I think Democrats can learn a lot from her if they look at her positions without bias. I’m looking at her from a purple state that used to be red, though. I sometimes think Democrats in deep blue states underrate the Democratic politicians who win or are trying to win purple states and districts, even though their success is critical to achieving a majority in national politics. This is a general observation not neccesarily meant to include you.

  94. 94.

    schrodingers_cat

    @ealbert: If this comment was in response to mine above. I am not insulting anyone just stating the facts. I also ended my comment with this.

    If white women abandon the Republican party things will change. Whether they will in enough numbers IDK.

    I am hopeful because we don’t need huge numbers to flip.

    Also, I agree with your point that demographic analysis doesn’t give a nuanced picture whether it is Latinos or white women we are talking about. It is the starting point in trying to understand a complex picture not the end point.

  95. 95.

    Citizen Alan

    @Scout211:

    I wonder how they plan to reconcile the ban on skirts and dresses with the fact that there are many fundamentalist Christian sex that do not allow girls to wear pants. Dare I hope that this is the beginning of the Jesus not tease eating their own?

  96. 96.

    Scout211

    @Citizen Alan:

    That one serves as a multi-purpose ban, unfortunately. “Don’t tease those horny 5th through 12th grade boys and those horny male teachers you harlot girls!  And don’t you dare wear dresses and skirts you ‘so-called’ transgender females.” Full service discrimination right there.

    And I have to ask, Who will think of the cheerleaders?! //

    As you may guess, I am not a fan of these kinds of dress codes that use clothing as a way to control behavior or the idea that looking alike will make students feel better and more included.

  97. 97.

    J R in WV

    @sab: ​
     

    A stronger herbicide is CrossBow, which we use to attack Autumn Olive, aka Russian Olive. This weed was used to “reclaim” strip mines, now birds have spread it all over the landscape around our property.

    Roundup is just an irritant to this crap, Crossbow appears to set it back after a couple of applications. Esp if you cut it with a chainsaw and spray the staubs right after that.

  98. 98.

    SamIAm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Your making a mistake in assuming rikyrah is posting in good faith.

    You should realize by now rikyrah is trying to drive a wedge between people on the left.

    Troll or useful idiot or both?

  99. 99.

    J R in WV

    @SamIAm: ​
     

    You can’t even spell common English abbreviations, like “you’re” for “you are” I know where rikyrah lives, so I’m pretty sure she isn’t on the GRU troll payroll. She also knows and uses English far better that you do, to the extent I expect your knowledge of English is that of a second or third language learned in a classroom instead of at your parents’ knee.

    Since the greed explosion I lost my valuable list of pied trolls. Into the pie safe with you. Making a list again now!

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