Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

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

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

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

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

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

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

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

The willow is too close to the house.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

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

No one could have predicted…

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

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

Let there be snark.

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

I really should read my own blog.

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

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

You are here: Home / 2024 Elections / Thursday Evening Open Thread: Soft, Squishy Target

Thursday Evening Open Thread: Soft, Squishy Target

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If you didn’t already know it was Silly Season: Ladeez and Germs, Andrew Yang!


And you know the silly bastid is namechecking every social media forum, looking to see what people think…

Reader Interactions

79Comments

  2. 2.

    bbleh

    Wull, if they’re CENTRIST, then where’s the YIN, huh? Lotta Yang but where’s the YIN?!? Haha so pwned!

  3. 3.

    Spanky

    I’m moving from #princeofpegging to “soft, squishy target” and I’m not sure how things are going to go.

  4. 4.

    SpaceUnit

    If Elon Musk ever actually does fuck off to Mars I really hope Andrew Yang goes with him.

    Christ.

  6. 6.

    Cameron

    My God, I didn’t realize it was the Carl Sagan Party, ’cause it appeals to beelyons and beelyons of voters.

  7. 7.

    Kropacetic

    @DaveLevinthal: The party, which is centrist, has no specific policies yet.” 

    Nor will they.

    How do you split the difference between well-thought-out plans negotiated among a diverse coalition on one side and nothing except malice on the other?

    The conceit of centrists that they’re just being fair minded arbiters is really just a tell they aren’t paying attention to either party in any meaningful sense and have no actual ideology.

    That’s the lazy ones. The rest are just providing cover for Republican horror shows.

    ETA: And Yang had awfully extreme solutions for someone promoting a centrist party.

  9. 9.

    James E Powell

    They just want the Democrat to lose & that means they want the Republican to win.

    Just say it out loud & often.

  10. 10.

    piratedan

    @Steeplejack: would love to see a pitchbot listing like this: I find it perfectly acceptable that jurists perjured themselves in order to serve on the highest court of law in the land. – Susan Collins

  15. 15.

    HumboldtBlue

    Michigan law bans businesses, landlords and others from discriminating based on whether a person is gay, transgender or otherwise identifies as a member of the LGBTQ community, according to a landmark ruling from the Michigan Supreme Court.
    The 5-2 decision will have a sweeping impact in the state, where for decades landlords could evict someone or business owners could fire someone solely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
    The case ultimately came down to how the justices defined “sex.” Specifically, whether that word in the context of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act — a 1976 law that bans discrimination on the basis of sex — refers only to gender, or more broadly also includes gender identity and sexual orientation.
    “Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation necessarily constitutes discrimination because of sex,” wrote Justice Elizabeth Clement, a Republican, for the court’s majority.
    “Regardless of whether one defines ‘sex’ expansively or narrowly, the result of the textual analysis is the same: discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation necessarily involves discrimination because of sex in violation of (state law).”

  17. 17.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I don’t have an overly high regard for either Christy Whitman or David Jolly, but I’m still a bit surprised they would tie themselves to Andrew Yang.

  21. 21.

    dmsilev

    Calling their original op-ed insipid pap would be an insult to actual tasteless goop. There was no actual content, just a repeated assertion that both parties were equal in their extremism.

  23. 23.

    2liberal

    @Kropacetic: How do you split the difference between well-thought-out plans negotiated among a diverse coalition on one side and nothing except malice on the other?

     

    check the lexicon for “tire rims and anthrax”

  28. 28.

    Another Scott

    I got some spam e-mail from AY yesterday evening. Lucky me.

    No, I didn’t read it.

    Just another few more weeks of the summer silly season, right? Right??!

    (sigh)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  31. 31.

    Geminid

    @dmsilev: I don’t think much will come of this particular effort. I do expect right wing billionaires to bankroll some independent candidate in 2024 who they’ll hope will peel off weakly affiliated Democratic voters. Maybe they’ll run two. The Green Party would be an obvious platform for Tulsi Gabbard, who is still a Sanders Institute Fellow.

    And maybe Peter Thiel can buy the Libertarian Party’s  nomination for Yang. The “von Mises Caucus” that now controls that party surely have their principles, but I bet money and power are two of them.

  32. 32.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: ​ 

    I recall interviewing Whitman several times, she wasn’t that smart on the actual issues and the politics needed to address those isues, she was in no way inspiring or charismatic, her son was a pig, and she was simply underwhelming, just another rich white lady pretending to be important.

  34. 34.

    CaseyL

    JFC on a carousel.  The only “Democrat” mentioned in the group is Yang, and he was only one for convenience sake during his mercifully brief run for whatever office it was he was running for.

  35. 35.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Last fall I heard Miles Taylor on some radio talk show saying there were some big, exciting plans in the works and we would be hearing about them soon. I wonder if this the big exciting plan.

  37. 37.

    Baud

    From the FAQs.

    We are working to build the first “open party” – a place that celebrates diverse viewpoints and creativity – welcoming Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are committed to rejecting the extremes and solving problems. Other parties are more interested in partisan fights than governing. We are focused on doing , not dividing.

    Sounds like they’re swingers.

  39. 39.

    David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Yang ran on giving everyone alot of free money. You think the $2000 stimulus was nice, his policy was to give everyone a $12,000 check, every year.

    With all the “economic anxiety” out there you’d think he would have got a big chunk of the vote, but no, he only got a meager 1% of the vote in Iowa and 2% of the vote in NH.

    He was the biggest flop since “Water World”​

  41. 41.

    Baud

    More FAQs. They’ve already learned how to dodge hard questions!

    HOW ARE YOU FUNDED?

    This will be a people-powered movement. Supporters of all means are essential to fulfilling this mission (and since we don’t have a platform written by DC insiders, you can be sure that special interest groups aren’t steering the Forward Party in their favor). From the donations that enable our work to the volunteers who knock doors and organize meet-ups, we need you. Come help us move America Forward

  42. 42.

    FelonyGovt

    I will never forget the video of Andrew Yang buying food at a New York City “bodega” which was nothing of the sort. He is a phony through and through who is desperate to somehow become relevant.

  44. 44.

    Kropacetic

    @Baud: Other parties are more interested in partisan fights than governing. We are focused on doing , not dividing.

    Only applies to Democrats if protecting vulnerable populations and fighting for your priorities counts as just “partisan fights.”

  45. 45.

    LeftCoastYankee

    More corporate executive delusions, that people actually like them outside of work.  And that just like work the goodies they want is what everyone who works for them wants too.

    Meanwhile they find workers asking questions (D) and drunks lighting their farts on fire with roman candles in the parking lot (R), to be somehow equally messy and unrealistic ingrates.

  46. 46.

    NotMax

    Literally denying “those” kids access to food.

    Twenty-two Republican attorneys general on Tuesday sued the federal government over new anti-discrimination guidance meant to protect LGBTQ people benefitting from federally funded food assistance programs.
    [snip]
    …as ACLU communications strategist Gillian Branstetter put it, “The AGs argue schools have the right to deny queer and trans kids lunch money.” Source

  47. 47.

    Miss Bianca

    @Kropacetic:

    How do you split the difference between well-thought-out plans negotiated among a diverse coalition on one side and nothing except malice on the other?

    “Actually, tire rims and anthrax are DELICIOUS paired with a nice red sauce!”

    @2liberal: Ha, beat me to it!

  48. 48.

    Cameron

    “We don’t agree on anything, and that’s why we’re the only party who  can build a platform that serves and unites this nation!”  WTF – this is Trumpian gibberish, just without the random capitalization.

  53. 53.

    David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    @NotMax: ​
     

    I’ve sentenced boys younger than you
    to the gas chamber. I didn’t want to do it. I felt I owed it to them.

    Judge Smails

  58. 58.

    Ella in New Mexico

    Libertarigreens?

    Greenatarians?

    Pick a name dudes and prepare to be useless

  60. 60.

    Kent

    These people are beyond fucking ridiculous.  And their entire first news release is an exercise in the very worst “both-sides” straw man erecting.  To whit, this is an actual quote from their announcement in the Washington Post

    On guns, for instance, most Americans don’t agree with calls from the far left to confiscate all guns and repeal the Second Amendment, but they’re also rightfully worried by the far right’s insistence on eliminating gun laws. On climate change, most Americans don’t agree with calls from the far left to completely upend our economy and way of life, but they also reject the far right’s denial that there is even a problem. On abortion, most Americans don’t agree with the far left’s extreme views on late-term abortions, but they also are alarmed by the far right’s quest to make a woman’s choice a criminal offense.

    1.  Which DEMOCRATS have advocated for complete gun confiscation and repeal of the Second Amendment?

    2.  Which DEMOCRATS are calling for us to “completely upend our economy and way of life”

    Who the fuck are they running against?  Actual Democrats?   If you have to completely lie in  your introductory announcement you are pretty damn pathetic.

  62. 62.

    SpaceUnit

    @Kent:

    Also those positions they attribute to the far right are very much mainstream Republican views.

    What a pile of shit.

  63. 63.

    Kent

    @SpaceUnit: Exactly.  They are just proving that one party is extremist and the other is mainstream.  But if they admit that they defeat their entire reason for conducting a circle jerk in public

  64. 64.

    Ohio Mom

    Maybe they’ve already started? Today when we were walking in to Meijer’s — I was walking ahead to get a head start on my part of the shopping list — a middle aged black woman holding a clipboard tried to stop Ohio Dad. He told her he wasn’t registered to vote (not true of course) and trotted to catch up with me.

    When I asked him what that was that was about, he said, “I don’t know, something about a third party.” Now I will be on tne lookout for other clipboard holders to do some nosing around.

    On a related note, who is bankrolling Andrew Yang? I know, some creepy gazillionaire(s), but which ones?

  65. 65.

    SpaceUnit

    @Kent:

    Confession:  I actually did refer to the 2nd Amendment as archaic and a relic of the eighteenth century on this blog.

    This is all my fault.

  66. 66.

    wonkie

    Dumb fuckers. I don’t understand the mentality of people who insist on “both sides do it” unless their real issues is “People other than me me me me are getting attention.”

  67. 67.

    wonkie

    THere’s another reason for a third party: a Russian-funded ratfucking to pull votes away from Democrats.

  68. 68.

    SpaceUnit

    @Ohio Mom:

    I think Yang has pretty deep pockets himself.  He’s supposed to be some sort of tech billionaire.

     

    ETA:  Okay, I was wrong.  He is not rich.  So now I’ll assume the money is coming from Putin (whether he knows it or not).

  69. 69.

    persistentillusion

    @Ohio Mom: I always say “I’ve already signed.” Seems to get them to back off. Regardless of the fact that I’d rather eat paint chips.

  71. 71.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @SpaceUnit: Nope. His net worth is estimated anywhere between $600,000 and $4 million, according to various Google hits. He’s not “rich” like actual Tech Billionaires.

  74. 74.

    Kropacetic

    @Kent: Which DEMOCRATS have advocated for complete gun confiscation and repeal of the Second Amendment?

    Isn’t one of the most famously leftist Democratic caucus member (not, specifically, a Democrat) one of the more pro-gun members of the caucus?

  76. 76.

    Another Scott

    @Ohio Mom:

    TheCity.NYC has some information on his race for Mayor:

    […]

    Big Outside-Money Influence

    Like McGuire, Donovan, Stringer and Adams, Yang benefits from independent expenditure groups raising money to spend on his behalf. Most of the money and most of the donors to the two pro-Yang groups that have so far emerged come from out of town, records show.

    Pro-Yang Future Forward NYC, Inc., for instance, has pulled in $111,000, according to state records. Only two of five donors so far live in New York City: Sigurdur Hilmarsson, the founder of the company that makes Siggi’s Icelandic yogurt, who donated $50,000, the largest sum, and Thomas Wisniewski, an investor. Neither responded to requests for comment.

    The three other donors have addresses listed in Florida, Long Island and Westchester County.

    The Yang-friendly Comeback PAC received its first donation for half a million dollars from Jeff Yass, a financial trader from the Philadelphia area. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Yass gave $43 million to Republican candidates and conservative PACs over the last six years, and also donated to campaigns or PACs that supported centrist Democrats like former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who left the GOP.

    Last month, the city Campaign Finance Board indicated it would take a closer look at the rules governing the campaign finance system after the election with an eye to the operations of independent expenditures.

    Still, the safeguards, matching system and transparent policies New York City has in place to limit the influence of outside money has shaped the race, too, according to the Brennan Center’s Lee.

    “Look at the field and imagine what it would be like if we didn’t have one of the country’s best, small-donor matching funds programs,” she said. “This race would really come down to the highest bidders, people who could bring in the biggest donors and also inspire the biggest, wealthiest super PACs.”

    There are lots of wealthy people who give lots of money to political candidates of all stripes. GQP-friendly Yass (indirectly) giving Yang’s NYC effort a bunch of money should be a warning sign to anyone confused about Yang’s goals as opposed to his rhetoric.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  77. 77.

    Captain C

    @Kropacetic:

    How do you split the difference between well-thought-out plans negotiated among a diverse coalition on one side and nothing except malice on the other?

    @Miss Bianca:

    “Actually, tire rims and anthrax are DELICIOUS paired with a nice red sauce!”

    “Have you tried this?”

    “Well, no, but you’ll love it!”

  78. 78.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    Idrees Ali via Anne Laurie @ Top:

    Dozens of former Republican and Democratic officials will announce on Wednesday a new national political third party to appeal to millions of voters they say are dismayed with what they see as America’s dysfunctional two-party system Never Trumpers, Slate “Centrists”, and the Yang Gang, or, basically, anyone in the Center-Right not already identifying as a Libertarian.

    FTFY.​

  79. 79.

    JaneE

    Third party?  In California we already have 6 officially qualified political parties.

    In order to be recognized and have your candidates on the primary and general election ballots, you have to demonstrate sufficient support from qualified voters.  If you go by registering voters, it takes about 73,000 – 1/3 of one percent of voters registered at a certain date.  If you go by people just signing a petition to get your party qualified you need 1,271,255 signatures – 10% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election.

    In addition to the Democrats and the Republicans, we already have the American Independent party – George Wallace’s group, the Green party, the Libertarian party, and the Peace and Freedom party.  No centrist party, so that slot is available.

    Whatever Yang’s new party decides to call itself, in California they will be competing with other new parties to qualify for recognition and a place for their candidates on the ballot.  There were 7 new parties trying to get on the ballot for the June primary this year.   None of them were successful.  Trying to get on the primary ballot for 2024 we have the California Women’s party (sic).  Trying for space on the 2024 general election ballot are The Hogwash Party and One Party.

    Yang’s group should try to qualify for the 2024 general.   They would fit right in with the ones already trying to qualify for that election.

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