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You are here: Home / Open Threads / In My Mind and In My Car

In My Mind and In My Car

by @heymistermix.com|  August 18, 20222:33 pm| 228 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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I was part of a discussion about Liz Cheney’s possible Presidential run on the local public radio station today. You can listen to it here, if you’re interested. I haven’t listened, but I think I mixed up “pro-life” and “pro-choice”. Liz has a 100% rating from a pro-life (not pro-choice) organization, in addition to her other wonderful attributes as a candidate, which include her 2021 statement that waterboarding isn’t torture.

I didn’t get to say this on the air, but I think we need to coin the term “Cheney ratio” which measures the number of votes Cheney received in the primary as compared to the number of pieces on her in DC media. I think that ratio is approaching 1:1 now.

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Reader Interactions

228Comments

  1. 1.

    Nicole

    August 18, 2022 at 2:36 pm

    That’s the hard thing about doing stuff like radio, you say some thing wrong and you can’t rewind, you’ve gone too far.

  2. 2.

    Ken

    August 18, 2022 at 2:40 pm

    So in the “make fetch happen” race for the 2024 Republican nomination, we have

    • DC trying to make Cheney happen
    • Fox trying to make DeSantis happen
    • TFG trying to make TFG happen

    I’m torn; the Willy Wonka “suspense is unbearable – I hope it lasts” meme, or a “rooting for injuries” one?

  3. 3.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 18, 2022 at 2:41 pm

    @Nicole:  Yes, we hear the playback and it seems so long ago.

  4. 4.

    Kent

    August 18, 2022 at 2:41 pm

    Liz Cheney is a hard-core conservative Republican who has values.  They just aren’t the values of that any of us actually share:

    anti-abortion

    tax cuts for the rich and neutering of the IRS

    deregulation and subsidy for the fossil fuel industry

    climate change denial (or the more subtle GOP approach of putting short-term economic gain over any climate action that has costs)

    opposition to public healthcare in any form

    privatization of public education (vouchers, charter schools, etc.)

    And so forth on down the list.

    Where she differs from the MAGA hordes is that she actually has consistent values.  They, on the other hand, are part of a cult that seems to have no real policy ideas at all. Whatever Trump says and they are all for it.  The one exception being Covid vaccines apparently.  It probably frosts Trump that he can’t get any credit for his ONE domestic policy success, Project Warp Speed.

  5. 5.

    bbleh

    August 18, 2022 at 2:42 pm

    The enemy of my enemy is useful.

  6. 6.

    Paul in KY

    August 18, 2022 at 2:42 pm

    I would love for her to run for Pres on GOP side in 2024, IF she could get in the debates. I’m pretty sure they would fix it so she can’t…but a fella can dream, can’t he?

  7. 7.

    Kent

    August 18, 2022 at 2:46 pm

    @Paul in KY:I would love for her to run for Pres on GOP side in 2024, IF she could get in the debates. I’m pretty sure they would fix it so she can’t…but a fella can dream, can’t he?

    She will get into the debates, but will be assigned to the Kiddie Table along with the other women like Nikki Haley and the non-white candidates like Bobbie Jindal.  And any RINOs like Larry Hogan who might run.  They won’t let her share a stage with Trump and the “big boys”

  8. 8.

    Joseph Patrick Lurker

    August 18, 2022 at 2:48 pm

    @Mistermix

    As another blogger recently observed,

    Enough Already with the Cheney

    Also too, the latest iteration of your screen name “wegners shoppers club member mistermix”

    has surpassed peak lameness.

    For the love of God, could you try to come up with something better.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    August 18, 2022 at 2:51 pm

     I think I mixed up “pro-life” and “pro-choice”

    No worries. The GOP often mixes up pro-America and pro-Russia.

  10. 10.

    Old School

    August 18, 2022 at 2:54 pm

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker: Tough crowd today.

  11. 11.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 18, 2022 at 2:56 pm

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker: Write to Cole and ask for your money back.

  12. 12.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 18, 2022 at 2:59 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: We can do that?

  13. 13.

    Mike E

    August 18, 2022 at 3:00 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: IN ALL CAPS!! Cole loves getting that shit!

  14. 14.

    wegners shoppers club member mistermix

    August 18, 2022 at 3:02 pm

    I believe the refund procedure is to Venmo Cole $20 to make sure your Venmo works, then he sends you a refund.  Try it and find out!

  15. 15.

    patrick II

    August 18, 2022 at 3:03 pm

    How is Cheney going to run?  As a Republican?  They had announced no debates, but that may well change has Trump gets weaker.  Is her goal to win or take out Trump? If Trump runs, there may still be the “no debates” rule, which would make her campaign pretty useless I think.  If goal is taking out Trump, does she run if he is in jail?  There would have to be debates then, but she has zero chance of winning, what would be the point if her goal is to remove Trump?  I don’t think she would go third party, and if she did, would she take more votes away from Trump or Biden? Would she take away more votes from (possibly) DeSantis or Biden?

    Anyhow, I am sure I will read about all of those options and others in the not too distant future.

  16. 16.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 18, 2022 at 3:03 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Of course you can. You can do anything you set your mind to.

  17. 17.

    Leto

    August 18, 2022 at 3:06 pm

    @wegners shoppers club member mistermix: I’m pretty sure he pays in excess squash. Personally I think that’s acceptable, but ymmv.

  18. 18.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 3:07 pm

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker:

    I think his nym is pretty funny.

  19. 19.

    Leto

    August 18, 2022 at 3:07 pm

    @patrick II: it’s not just no debates, but the prerequisite of “you’ll accept whoever the nominee is” that’ll get her.

  20. 20.

    NotMax

    August 18, 2022 at 3:08 pm

    @Gin & Tonic

    Roller skate in a buffalo herd?

    ;)

  21. 21.

    ian

    August 18, 2022 at 3:08 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I have been doing it for months, but Cole refuses to issue refunds.

  22. 22.

    Ruckus

    August 18, 2022 at 3:09 pm

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker:

    You do realize that with that one comment you have fixed the name he will use forever, just for the spite factor.

  23. 23.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 18, 2022 at 3:12 pm

    @patrick II: Jamie Raskin said Liz C will pursue trump to the gates of hell. I like the image.

    If she runs not for president but against trump, it could get interesting. We have a few recent examples of the effect that kind of personalized, focused, some might say vindictive, grudge campaign can have even with a candidate who has no real hope.

  24. 24.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 18, 2022 at 3:12 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Gee thanks, Coach!

  25. 25.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 18, 2022 at 3:14 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I thought you could use a little pepping up.

    And here’s a cool video of another russian ammo dump:

    Пожар на военном складе в Тимоново усиливается pic.twitter.com/tfjzJZeRb8
    — АSLAN (@antiputler_news) August 18, 2022

  26. 26.

    Mat

    August 18, 2022 at 3:16 pm

    Is Cheney someone I would ever vote for? No. And I lost count of the number of grieving articles about her loss to a Trumpist whacko on yesterday’s NYT front page. Today’s conventional wisdom is that Trump has solidified his hold on the R party, and that this will be true until indictment day. In fact, no one knows.

    ETA: Nym should be MattF. I tend to hold my iPad upside down, so the commenter info gets mushed sometimes.

  27. 27.

    dexwood

    August 18, 2022 at 3:17 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: But ya’ gotta give it 110%!

  28. 28.

    hilts

    August 18, 2022 at 3:18 pm

    Chris Licht continues his campaign to dumb down CNN:

    CNN is canceling the weekly media show Reliable Sources, and host Brian Stelter is leaving the network; Reliable Sources’ final episode will air on August 21

    https://www.npr.org/2022/08/18/1118197553/brian-stelter-cnn-canceled-show

  29. 29.

    tam1MI

    August 18, 2022 at 3:19 pm

    @Old School:

    Tough crowd today.

    Put the blame on VCR.

  30. 30.

    patrick II

    August 18, 2022 at 3:19 pm

    @Leto:

    Good point.  I had forgotten that rule.

  31. 31.

    lurker

    August 18, 2022 at 3:19 pm

    @Nicole: @Omnes Omnibus:

    wasn’t the whole point to put the blame on the vcr…?

  32. 32.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 18, 2022 at 3:22 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Big badaboom!

  33. 33.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 18, 2022 at 3:24 pm

    @lurker: Now I understand the problems you can see.

  34. 34.

    Elizabelle

    August 18, 2022 at 3:24 pm

    @hilts:

    “Have you watched CNN much lately?”

    “No.  It got Lichted.”

    The media owners REALLY don’t want to pay more taxes, do they?

  35. 35.

    lurker

    August 18, 2022 at 3:25 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    you can always ask…

    Jim Croce had a song about how useful that type of thing is, (link to youtube) with an ironic twist at the end.

  36. 36.

    Elizabelle

    August 18, 2022 at 3:25 pm

    @Mat:   Hi MattF.

    I know.  Conventional wisdom.  Is conventional!

    I think a lot of these asshats sit around interviewing each other.

  37. 37.

    Ken

    August 18, 2022 at 3:25 pm

    @Steeplejack: Besides, Popehat has been stuck on 18Hat793 for several days now. I speculated that he’s waiting for a bigger crime to drop.

  38. 38.

    RaflW

    August 18, 2022 at 3:25 pm

    Some total trash PAC spammed me onto their list this week with two emails gushing about Liz. The outfit has some dude I’d never heard of called Brian Lemek at the helm.

    They made the mistake of having a text box on their unsubscribe page. Probably filtered, so my f-bombing may not get read. But seriously, fuck Liz “Trump get out of jail free the first time” Cheney.

  39. 39.

    RaflW

    August 18, 2022 at 3:28 pm

    And Liz Cheney for President is an Underpants Gnome exercise (though TBF, a lot of pundits are gonna need new undies after they cream themselves in the initial excitement. Feeeeel the Jeb-mentum!)

  40. 40.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 18, 2022 at 3:29 pm

    @lurker: somehow I thought you were going with “Operator”

  41. 41.

    Kathleen

    August 18, 2022 at 3:29 pm

    @Baud: Since you’ve been on the Fritz The Hippo beat, I thought you might enjoy this video (My link foo is very bad)

    edited by WG: link didn’t work and it was breaking the margins so I removed it.

  42. 42.

    Ken

    August 18, 2022 at 3:29 pm

    @Leto: the prerequisite of “you’ll accept whoever the nominee is” that’ll get her.

    That prerequisite should also get Trump, but of course they won’t ask it of him. (And they know any answer they got would be meaningless.)

    She could also use it with the same sort of weasel words they eventually forced out of TFG about the election; “Now that the delegates have been counted, it is clear that <name> according to that process got the most votes, so must technically be considered the nominee of the Republican party…”

  43. 43.

    Elizabelle

    August 18, 2022 at 3:29 pm

    And the wonderful Margaret Sullivan, former FTF NYTimes ombudsman, most recently with the WaPost, is leaving.  Double hit.  Her tweet from August 16:

    I just wrote the last words of my last column. (It’ll run online Sunday morning; in print in
    @PostStyle
    on Monday.) Well, it’s been a pretty fun 42 years in newspapers. Overall.

    We need them.  We need the Eric Boehlerts.  We do not need the Access Sally buckraking shits who hold information for their books.  Ka ching.

  44. 44.

    germy shoemangler

    August 18, 2022 at 3:30 pm

    @RaflW:

    This seems to be him:

    Thanks for the generous 10/10 and for your commitment to gun violence prevention @ratemyskyperoom . @Brady_PAC is Happy to have you over anytime to play our Arcade Game, League of Legislators. https://t.co/iHchSmiCkX

    — Brian M. Lemek (@brianlemek) June 4, 2021

  45. 45.

    lurker

    August 18, 2022 at 3:30 pm

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker: could go with Judge Wapner’s shopping club member mistermix – there is always room for things to get worse…

  46. 46.

    eclare

    August 18, 2022 at 3:30 pm

    @Elizabelle:   From the NPR article, Stelter was critical of the influence of one of the big investors in WarnerDiscovery.

    So Stelter had to go.  SNOWFLAKE!

  47. 47.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 3:31 pm

    @Ken:

    Popehat’s recent trend of rapidly changing nyms is the exception, not the rule, I think. He used to sit on some for quite a while. @PopehatNames has the full record. But the news is moving at lightning speed these days. It’s hard for a hat to keep up!

  48. 48.

    lurker

    August 18, 2022 at 3:32 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: that came up next on autoplay, but “you don’t spit into the wind” has stuck with me since I first heard that song in my childhood…

    good advice that, by the way…

  49. 49.

    germy shoemangler

    August 18, 2022 at 3:32 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    It was from Popehat that I learned about the wonderful Donna Barstow.

  50. 50.

    Tony Jay

    August 18, 2022 at 3:33 pm

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker:

    You poor thing!  Show us on the doll where the nasty man hurt you.

    I’d like to know in advance where to aim see? Saves time.

  51. 51.

    RaflW

    August 18, 2022 at 3:33 pm

    @hilts: I never watched the show (have condo-based cable, but barely use it). But I’ve followed Stelter on twitter for a few years. He has a sizeable cadre of haters, but I suppose they all do.

    I’ve viewed him as aware of the decay of democracy, and willing to report on it, but with low-impact and in a dusty Sunday corner of the TV landscape.

  52. 52.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 18, 2022 at 3:37 pm

    @lurker: My mom loved her some Jim Croce. And Olivia Newton John’s death brought back the horrors of Please, Mister, Please (B-17) playing loud in the kitchen. And we had avocado appliances.

  53. 53.

    germy shoemangler

    August 18, 2022 at 3:37 pm

    Elon Musk went to Kevin McCarthy’s Party last night in Wyoming—to celebrate Liz Cheney’s loss.

    While speaking at the MAGA party, Musk asked everyone to deny that he was there. Musk made sure that no press was allowed anywhere near the property—then people started posting selfies pic.twitter.com/4UllA57rRg

    — Arctic Friend (@FriendEden100) August 17, 2022

  54. 54.

    Suzanne

    August 18, 2022 at 3:37 pm

    Yeah, she sucks. She can have, like, one brownie point for sucking consistently. #headpat

  55. 55.

    hilts

    August 18, 2022 at 3:38 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Damn!!

    2022 has been a lousy year for media criticism: the death of Eric Boehlert, Margaret Sullivan’s departure from the Washington Post, and the cancellation of Reliable Sources.

    I hope that 2023 can bring us some truly good news such as an indictment and conviction of Donald Trump for one of his multiple crimes!

  56. 56.

    Hoodie

    August 18, 2022 at 3:38 pm

    @Kent: It was interesting that Cheney voted in favor of the bills to protect same sex marriage, contraception and to regulate guns.  Those were pretty much litmus tests for MAGA loyalty.  Not saying she isn’t pretty hard core conservative and generally very hawkish, but you have to wonder whether some of her prior votes were more a matter of party loyalty than ideological commitment.  My guess is she’s more of a national defense type conservative harkening back to before the GOP became  a cult.  She’s definitely going to be pro-business, anti-environment (exceptions relating to outdoor sports interests like hunting and fishing), and will never see a defense budget she doesn’t want to double.

  57. 57.

    germy shoemangler

    August 18, 2022 at 3:42 pm

    This was a big Biden win from April that few people talk about. The Postal Reform Act, like many Biden accomplishments, addresses a problem we've been trying to fix for a generation.

    Ending the prefunding requirement was a Biden campaign promise and a longtime Dem goal. https://t.co/sd02ZpUmdE

    — What Biden Has Done (@What46HasDone) August 17, 2022

    If it can't be shoehorned into cynical horserace analysis the major dailies and the nets aren't interested. https://t.co/TBiEUHKIoD

    — Brent Cox (@titivil) August 17, 2022

  58. 58.

    lurker

    August 18, 2022 at 3:42 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: you are causing some disturbing memories to come up on my end, just based on those references.  not sure we ever had avocado appliances, but we had a lot of yellow on some of the walls (which was great when one of us kids threw grape juice against the wall… ;-]).  relatives did have avocado appliances though…

  59. 59.

    hilts

    August 18, 2022 at 3:42 pm

    @RaflW:

    I never viewed Reliable Sources as having much influence, but Stelter did provide a platform to individuals I had not seen or heard from elsewhere and that should count for something.

  60. 60.

    MattF

    August 18, 2022 at 3:42 pm

    @germy shoemangler: I guess everyone has figured out by now that  Musk is a shithead. Still, confirmation is useful.

  61. 61.

    eclare

    August 18, 2022 at 3:42 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:   My mom and dad both loved Jim Croce.  Our appliances were the early 70’s rust color.

  62. 62.

    RaflW

    August 18, 2022 at 3:44 pm

    @Elizabelle: They don’t want to risk being shut down in an Orban-style fake democracy once DeSantis or similar wins (ptuh-ptuh feh, not invoking that! Just aware of the risks).

  63. 63.

    germy shoemangler

    August 18, 2022 at 3:44 pm

    @MattF:

    He has his fans

  64. 64.

    Elizabelle

    August 18, 2022 at 3:44 pm

    From the WaPost on cancellation of Brian Stelter’s CNN show:

    Licht, under the oversight of Warner Bros. Discovery chief executive David Zaslav, has indicated that he wants to take CNN in a more neutral, less opinionated direction — though he has been slow to enact big changes, opting instead to take some time studying the network’s programming and speaking with employees before deciding how the network needs to change.

    Neutrality.  At a time when the GOP is declaring war on the FBI; trying to out individual agents.

    I think events might overake Mr. Licht.

  65. 65.

    hilts

    August 18, 2022 at 3:45 pm

    @eclare:

    John Malone is a bully and Chris Licht is a eunuch.

  66. 66.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 3:45 pm

    @germy shoemangler:

    The “More Tweets” section after that one is quite the cesspool of unhinged MAGAmania. My favorite:

    Thank you @TuckerCarlson for having our Sheriff Ray Cross from Dade County on your show to tell about the illegals getting off Gov Abbott’s buses in NW GA on their way to DC.

    No town is safe from Biden’s border invasion.

    1/2 pic.twitter.com/tcRAnZHBw8

    — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) August 18, 2022

    It’s Joe Biden’s fault that Abbott is passing the problem along? 🤔

  67. 67.

    Geminid

    August 18, 2022 at 3:47 pm

    @Tony Jay: Sounds like Dark Jay is on the job today!

  68. 68.

    hilts

    August 18, 2022 at 3:47 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Chris Licht is vying for a gold medal in the 1,000 meters freestyle bootlicking race.

  69. 69.

    germy shoemangler

    August 18, 2022 at 3:48 pm

    See Nicolae Ceausescu’s gold bathroom

  70. 70.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 18, 2022 at 3:48 pm

    @Hoodie: She was willing to fuck over same sex marriages (and her sister) when it was to her political advantage.  We just found the one line she would not cross.  “I oppose violent coups,” should be a baseline not an applause line.

  71. 71.

    lurker

    August 18, 2022 at 3:48 pm

    @Hoodie: she previously came out pretty strongly against same sex marriage, causing a public rift with her publicly out lesbian sister.  Wonder how much of that was theater, and how much was evolution in thinking as she got used to her sister being married…

     

    at the time, it seemed particularly hateful to make a public stance out of opposition to gay marriage when her sister had been publicly out for a while, and it seemed like dad was siding with the kid pursuing the family business (running for office) over the kid who he had previously seemed to support publicly in her unusual stances.  I may be misremembering part of this, but there was an op-ed from Mary Cheney at the time that made it clear her sister and dad had betrayed her.

     

    …

    and I see that Liz Cheney came out last year saying her earlier stance was wrong, so clearly I am not up to speed on all of this…

  72. 72.

    eclare

    August 18, 2022 at 3:50 pm

    @hilts:   You put it better than I did!

  73. 73.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 3:50 pm

    @germy shoemangler:

    She is good!

    Popehat is a daily check-in for me. (I don’t have a Twitter account, so I don’t get “notifications” or whatever they’re called.) Solid legal takes and links, good sense of humor and occasional appearances by Murderball the cat.

  74. 74.

    RaflW

    August 18, 2022 at 3:51 pm

    @lurker: This is my favorite response for questions of this ilk.
    People in Hell Want Ice Water by Peter Case.

  75. 75.

    Martin

    August 18, 2022 at 3:52 pm

    Pretty sure Lizs job right now is to run in 2024 and sue Trump as being ineligible to run under the 14th amendment. Only a competing candidate will have standing to sue, so someone needs to be in that race to do it. She may not be able to beat him in the vote, but she might be able to beat him in court.

  76. 76.

    germy shoemangler

    August 18, 2022 at 3:52 pm

    By the way, everyone praising Liz Cheney for standing up to the corruption of the Republican party, Democrats have been doing that every day for years.

    — I Smoked Allen Weaselberg (@BlackKnight10k) August 17, 2022

  77. 77.

    Ken

    August 18, 2022 at 3:53 pm

    @Steeplejack: Nobody ever accused Rep. Greene of being a thinker.

    (Almost put an adjective before “thinker” before realizing none was needed.)

  78. 78.

    Old School

    August 18, 2022 at 3:53 pm

    @germy shoemangler: Kevin McCarthy held a party in Wyoming?

  79. 79.

    Baud

    August 18, 2022 at 3:54 pm

    @germy shoemangler:

    👍

  80. 80.

    germy shoemangler

    August 18, 2022 at 3:55 pm

    @Old School:
    Elon Musk featured at Kevin McCarthy’s GOP retreat in Wyoming

  81. 81.

    trollhattan

    August 18, 2022 at 3:55 pm

    @germy shoemangler: I’ll give Musk this, when he shows up somewhere, whoever was the weirdest fucker in the room beforehand slides directly into second place.

    Like a Bond archcriminal from the 1980s.

  82. 82.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 3:55 pm

    @germy shoemangler:

    Musk is a complete shitbird.

  83. 83.

    Baud

    August 18, 2022 at 3:56 pm

    @Old School:

    It was Wyoming’s first party ever.

  84. 84.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 3:57 pm

    A reminder that there are real people behind the bylines.

    Our beloved son Henry passed away. He had the softest blue eyes, an easy smile and a contagious giggle. We always surrounded him with love and he returned it, and so much more. Mary and Richard.
    https://t.co/M8LV8SHv6r pic.twitter.com/21Ja6TOtjH

    — Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) August 18, 2022

    RIP, Henry.

  85. 85.

    Elizabelle

    August 18, 2022 at 3:57 pm

    @Martin:  I am lazy.  What is the precise issue under the 14th Amendment?

    Interesting idea re LC’s motive for being a presidential candidate.

  86. 86.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 18, 2022 at 3:58 pm

    @germy shoemangler:

    While speaking at the MAGA party, Musk asked everyone to deny that he was there. Musk made sure that no press was allowed anywhere near the property—then people started posting selfies

    Laughing so damned hard.

  87. 87.

    trollhattan

    August 18, 2022 at 3:58 pm

    @Steeplejack: My brain just tripped three circuit breakers, reading that.

  88. 88.

    NotMax

    August 18, 2022 at 3:58 pm

    @Old School

    Were crudités served?

    //

  89. 89.

    Tony Jay

    August 18, 2022 at 3:59 pm

    Cheney may play the role the Village wants her to, she may not. Whatever the choice, it’ll be as purely a cold-blooded political calculation as her decision to front the anti-Trump sect in the first place.

    My money is on her serving out her term on the Committee with an eye to sinking her boot as far up Donny’s slack derriere as she can in the process, then taking a few months off to take proper stock of the post-election landscape in the wake of (we hope) an historical G.O.P. shellacking, before she decides if its in her long term interests to don the warhelm of House Traditional Republican and rides across the quivering backs of the pundocracy towards the throne they’ve prepared in her size.

    If the Democrats win big (yes please) the G.O.P. civil-war is on, and there’s worse places to represent the tax-cutting, bomb-dropping, dogwhistling brand of pre-Trump Republicanism that atop the ‘most favoured expert’ list of the DC Village.

  90. 90.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 3:59 pm

    @germy shoemangler:

    Yes! I was surprised at how that flew under the radar. I just read about it a day or two ago.

  91. 91.

    Elizabelle

    August 18, 2022 at 4:00 pm

    @Steeplejack:   What a beautiful little guy.  Very sad.

    Henry Engel was born on September 29, 2015. When he was still an infant, his parents noticed that he was not reaching his developmental milestones, and he underwent numerous medical exams to discover the cause. A genetic test ultimately provided the answer: Henry had a mutation in his MECP2 gene. MECP2 mutations cause Rett syndrome, a disorder that typically affects girls after their first birthday, robbing them of learned skills and leaving them with cognitive deficits, loss of speech, and a variety of motor difficulties.

    In 2018, Henry and his family came to Texas Children’s Hospital’s Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI). Since then, Henry’s mutation has been studied by Dr. Huda Zoghbi, who discovered that MECP2 mutations cause Rett syndrome.

  92. 92.

    germy shoemangler

    August 18, 2022 at 4:01 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    update pic.twitter.com/2S28WhjAaq— James Felton (@JimMFelton) August 18, 2022

  93. 93.

    germy shoemangler

    August 18, 2022 at 4:02 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    “What Biden Has Done” is a good twitter account.  I don’t know who runs it but it corrects lots of misinformation.

  94. 94.

    Gravenstone

    August 18, 2022 at 4:03 pm

    @Paul in KY: I believe it was Immanetize yesterday who argued her role in the 2024 campaign would be to first, run as a candidate. That role would then afford her the standing to file suit against Trump to disqualify him under the 14th (?) amendment on the basis that his actions on and around 1/6 make him no longer qualified to hold federal office. So she’d basically be a political suicide bomber with a single, immense target.

    Apologies for the myriad ways I’ve surely butchered this retelling.

  95. 95.

    Elizabelle

    August 18, 2022 at 4:03 pm

    @Steeplejack:   I think I will start calling her Marjorie Deplorable Greene.

    Lauren Deplorable Boebert.  All of them.

  96. 96.

    White & Gold Purgatorian

    August 18, 2022 at 4:03 pm

    @eclare:  It was called Coppertone, I believe.

  97. 97.

    germy shoemangler

    August 18, 2022 at 4:03 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Just be glad you don’t live next door to the Boeberts.

  98. 98.

    Leto

    August 18, 2022 at 4:07 pm

    I caught a good bit of this Fresh Air interview with Robert Draper and it was pretty informative. It’s a 40 min interview, or you can read the transcript. How the hard-right turn in the Arizona GOP is an anti-democracy experiment

    He has a corresponding NYT Magazine article but it’s paywalled.

  99. 99.

    brantl

    August 18, 2022 at 4:09 pm

    @Kent: Cheney’s only principle is keep grift sustainable, she’s just sure Stump’s isn’t.

  100. 100.

    Central Planning

    August 18, 2022 at 4:09 pm

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker: It’s much funnier than “Joseph Patrick Lurker“

  101. 101.

    Elizabelle

    August 18, 2022 at 4:10 pm

    @germy shoemangler:   A friend was telling me about that.  Yuck.

  102. 102.

    patrick II

    August 18, 2022 at 4:11 pm

    @Leto:

    @patrick II:

    On second thought, there is not a member of the modern Republican party who will honor that rule.  They will demand a recount.  Especially Trump if DeSantis beats him.

    I suppose Liz might honor that rule though, although to teach a lesson she might not.

  103. 103.

    germy shoemangler

    August 18, 2022 at 4:12 pm

    @patrick II:

    I’m trying to imagine a debate between DeSantis and Trump.

    DeSantis has copied so many of Trump’s mannerisms, as well as the blue suit/red tie costume (inspired by Popeye’s Wimpy?) it would be like the “two spidermen pointing at each other” meme.

  104. 104.

    Elizabelle

    August 18, 2022 at 4:13 pm

    @Leto:   Here’s the FTF NY Times magazine article link.

    The Arizona Republican Party’s Anti-Democracy Experiment

    First, it turned against the establishment. Now it has set its sights on democracy — the principles, the process and even the word itself.

  105. 105.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 4:15 pm

    @germy shoemangler:

    A guy in that video was comparing it to his visit to the Shah of Iran’s palace. So I guess dictator tourism is a niche market?

  106. 106.

    NotMax

    August 18, 2022 at 4:15 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne

    Rumor has it Musk finished dead last in the hamberder throwing contest.

    //

  107. 107.

    germy shoemangler

    August 18, 2022 at 4:16 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    I don’t see the attraction.

    I just found it interesting that the Donald has the same taste in decor as that other monster did.

  108. 108.

    RaflW

    August 18, 2022 at 4:17 pm

    @trollhattan: More Dr. Evil than Blofeld, to my mind (not that I’m actually much of an Austin Powers fan, but Musk really is a clownish villain.)

  109. 109.

    Another Scott

    August 18, 2022 at 4:17 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: That one requires a Twitter account, apparently.

    Is this the same thing?

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  110. 110.

    raven

    August 18, 2022 at 4:18 pm

    If I had a box just for wishes

    And dreams that had never come true

    The box would be empty

    Except for the memory of how they were answered by you

  111. 111.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 18, 2022 at 4:19 pm

    @NotMax:

    You had me at

    Musk finished dead

  112. 112.

    Elizabelle

    August 18, 2022 at 4:21 pm

    It’s frightening how many (Republican) politicians got their start as TV news anchors.  Or on air reporters.

    The horrible Keri [Kari Lake] whatever nominee in Arizona.  Who spoke of DeSantis’s BDE (ugh).

    The Indiana congresswoman who just died in the head on crash [Jackie Walorski] — she’d been a TV reporter.  She was also an anti-abortion type.

    We probably have a few in the Democratic ranks too, although I can’t think of any at the moment …

    Thinking of that with Mistermix’s blogpost title.  From Video Killed the Radio Star.  With radio, you used to get more detail.  Of course, it was Hitler and Goebbels’ medium, too.  They would be running a Fox News operation now.  Or videos straight to social media.

  113. 113.

    Another Scott

    August 18, 2022 at 4:22 pm

    @germy shoemangler: He really is a galaxy brain, isn’t he??

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  114. 114.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 4:22 pm

    @Old School:

    It was a GQP “retreat” in Teton Village, near Jackson Hole, which is a destination resort area.

  115. 115.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 4:25 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Inorite. The whole “More Tweets” section is mind-bending.

  116. 116.

    Old School

    August 18, 2022 at 4:30 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Is this the same thing?

    Yes.  Same video.

  117. 117.

    NotMax

    August 18, 2022 at 4:32 pm

    @Elizabelle

    The Nazi party recognized the potential and did milk it all they could but the infrastructure for broad reception was still in its infancy.: Thelevision Under the Swastika (link is to the full hour long documentary).

  118. 118.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 4:36 pm

    @Leto:

    “Gift” (unwalled) version of the article: “The Arizona Republican Party’s Anti-Democracy Experiment.”

  119. 119.

    NotMax

    August 18, 2022 at 4:36 pm

    @NotMax

    Crap. Thelevision = Television

    Somewhat astonishing just how much footage survived the war.

  120. 120.

    Central Planning

    August 18, 2022 at 4:37 pm

    @Martin:

    Only a competing candidate will have standing to sue, so someone needs to be in that race to do it.

    Does that mean the Democratic nominee could sue?

  121. 121.

    Geminid

    August 18, 2022 at 4:40 pm

    @Elizabelle: Mike Pence made his name with a talk radio show before he won his Congressional seat.

    Offhand, I can’t think of any Democratic Reps or Senators who moved to politics from broadcast media. Most seem to have started out as politicians or made lateral moves from business, like Rep. Sean Casten and Senator Hickenlooper.

    There are a number of miltary veterans like Duckworth, Sherrill, Houlihan, Gallegos, Crow, Golden and Luria. Also, Moulton and Auchingloss from Massachusetts. Elise Slotkin and Abigail Spanberger are CIA veterans.

  122. 122.

    NotMax

    August 18, 2022 at 4:41 pm

    @Central Planning

    “Paging Baud. Please pick up the red, white and blue courtesy phone.”

    :)

  123. 123.

    Immanentize

    August 18, 2022 at 4:42 pm

    @Kent: I am not sure she could get into the Republican primary at all. All the RNC would have to do is require everyone* to sign an agreement that they will support the GOP nominee after the primaries are finished. How could she do that? No, she will go spoiler party.

    *Everyone except for Trump who would never ever sign such a pledge. It would destroy his Apprentice brand.

  124. 124.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    August 18, 2022 at 4:43 pm

    @Geminid: Former Senator Al Franken…

  125. 125.

    Leto

    August 18, 2022 at 4:43 pm

    @Steeplejack: ty!

  126. 126.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 4:45 pm

    @Geminid:

    Since Mike Pence is now “former,” I’ll throw out Al Franken as a Democrat who moved from broadcast media to politics.

  127. 127.

    Immanentize

    August 18, 2022 at 4:45 pm

    @ian: Cole sent me a refund. With a kind letter of apology, handwritten in lovely cursive on ivory paper.

    Sorry, losers.

  128. 128.

    Another Scott

    August 18, 2022 at 4:45 pm

    @Elizabelle: Jimmy Carter won the 1970 governor race in Georgia running against Hal Suit – a local TV news anchor in Atlanta. Jimmy beat him by almost 19 points.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  129. 129.

    Roger Moore

    August 18, 2022 at 4:45 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Like a Bond archcriminal from the 1980s.

    He hasn’t managed to build his villainous lair yet, since he’s dead set on putting it on Mars.

  130. 130.

    NotMax

    August 18, 2022 at 4:45 pm

    @Immanentize

    If the Rs even hold primaries.

    Which is not a given.

  131. 131.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 4:46 pm

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:

    D’oh! Missed it by that much . . .

  132. 132.

    Old School

    August 18, 2022 at 4:46 pm

    @Immanentize:

    Everyone except for Trump who would never ever sign such a pledge.

    Trump signed such a pledge in 2016 (and then broke the agreement).

  133. 133.

    NoraLenderbee

    August 18, 2022 at 4:46 pm

    @lurker: same sex marriage

    ……

    and I see that Liz Cheney came out last year

    She’s now running as a Log Cabin Republican?

  134. 134.

    Immanentize

    August 18, 2022 at 4:46 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Hey, OT — do you live near Providence? I gotta get down there and look for a condo in the next few months….

  135. 135.

    Roger Moore

    August 18, 2022 at 4:48 pm

    @Elizabelle: ​
     

    I am lazy. What is the precise issue under the 14th Amendment?

    The 14th Amendment blocks people from office if they have participated in insurrection or rebellion. The argument is Trump participated in an insurrection on Jan 6, so he’s ineligible for office.

  136. 136.

    rikyrah

    August 18, 2022 at 4:49 pm

    Matt Dixon (@Mdixon55) tweeted at 11:07 AM on Thu, Aug 18, 2022:
    Sounds like state is going to be taking over Broward County supervisor of election’s office and be announcing an audit.

    Not hearing Supervisor Joe Scott is being suspended, but will have a different role of some sort
    (https://twitter.com/Mdixon55/status/1560297240551366656?t=6_DDL9RdN0fA7FMk-dCF6Q&s=03)

  137. 137.

    Geminid

    August 18, 2022 at 4:49 pm

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:

    I thought of Franken. He was known for his work on Saturday Night Live. I always thought, though that Franken broke through as an author. His book denouncing Limbaugh hit at a really good time and won him a wider audience.

  138. 138.

    Ken

    August 18, 2022 at 4:49 pm

    @NotMax: Hoping for a steel cage death match substitute.

  139. 139.

    Tony Jay

    August 18, 2022 at 4:49 pm

    @germy shoemangler:

    Tomorrow’s papers, today.

    Daily Mail – “CURRY CAUSES CANCER – Foreign Food A Killer?”

    Daily Express – “BE LIKE DIANA – Drop The Pounds For Britain”

    Daily Telegraph – “NUTRITION DEMENTIA LINK – Brussels Plot Revealed”

     The Sun – “GRUEL IS COOL! – Flat Chests and No Bum = Sexy Fun.

  140. 140.

    rikyrah

    August 18, 2022 at 4:50 pm

    Josh Lederman (@JoshNBCNews) tweeted at 9:52 AM on Thu, Aug 18, 2022:
    NEWS: A Ukrainian military intelligence official tells @NBCNews that Russia has told its nuclear workers stationed at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant NOT to go to work tomorrow
    (https://twitter.com/JoshNBCNews/status/1560278407954321416?t=CyY8fpdEfW2tlaTVYY0Vew&s=03)

  141. 141.

    Immanentize

    August 18, 2022 at 4:50 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    we had avocado appliances.

    We were an upstanding, harvest gold family. You snooty avocado people thought you were soooo groovy.

  142. 142.

    rikyrah

    August 18, 2022 at 4:51 pm

    Where is the lie?

     

     

     PETTY RUBBLE TO GIVE YOU TROUBLE (@HillaryzMyHmgrl) tweeted at 3:32 PM on Wed, Aug 17, 2022:
    Some people are big mad because the poor/vulnerable/targeted students are having their predatory loans forgiven FIRST. I think that’s brilliant and exactly what I voted for.
    (https://twitter.com/HillaryzMyHmgrl/status/1560001696746467328?t=WI4HTPrQl0x5UpTs73myyQ&s=03)

  143. 143.

    Another Scott

    August 18, 2022 at 4:52 pm

    @Immanentize:

    Liz has formed The Great Task PAC.

    The FEC document, which was filed at 2:01 a.m. ET Wednesday, also showed that Cheney had changed her House campaign committee, “Liz Cheney for Wyoming,” to a leadership PAC named “The Great Task.”

    A Cheney spokesperson told Politico on Wednesday that in the coming weeks, the congresswoman “will be launching an organization to educate the American people about the ongoing threat to our Republic, and to mobilize a unified effort to oppose any Donald Trump campaign for president.”

    Members of Congress and other notable political figures frequently use leadership PACs to raise money toward advancing their political agendas.

    Cheney can use her new leadership PAC to raise money, bankroll her travel, make political contributions, and as nonpartisan research organization OpenSecrets notes, “fund expenses that are ineligible to be paid by campaign committees or congressional offices.”

    It’ll be interesting to see who donates to it.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  144. 144.

    The Lodger

    August 18, 2022 at 4:52 pm

    @Elizabelle: Closest I can think of is my old Oregon state senator, Mark Hass, who was a TV news anchor in Portland for about 17 years, did two terms in the state senate, and tried for Secretary of State a couple years ago but didn’t make it.

  145. 145.

    rikyrah

    August 18, 2022 at 4:53 pm

    I Smoked Allen Weaselberg (@BlackKnight10k) tweeted at 10:04 PM on Wed, Aug 17, 2022:
    I still don’t think we fully appreciate how gangster it was for Merrick Garland to raid a former President’s home, hold a 5 minute press conference where he said “Yeah bitch I did it, and I’ll do it again,” and then drop the mic like a Chris Rock comedy special.
    (https://twitter.com/BlackKnight10k/status/1560100229910859776?t=S_3-XyMTeahYImXFz_9f_A&s=03)

  146. 146.

    Elizabelle

    August 18, 2022 at 4:54 pm

    @Geminid:   That’s true re Franken.  But, he was more of an entertainer.  Precedent for that.  The Great Saint Reagan.

    Wondering more about journalists, and especially the broadcast type.

    Also, FWIW, I love that in Britain the anchors are “news readers.”  None of this fiction that Lester Holt or Brian Williams are out there news gathering.

  147. 147.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    August 18, 2022 at 4:54 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    It’s frightening how many (Republican) politicians got their start as TV news anchors.  Or on air reporters.

    Interesting corollary is the phenomenon of formerly reputable journalists devolving into batshit crazy journalists such as Lara Logan, Maria Bartoromo, and John Solomon.

  148. 148.

    Elizabelle

    August 18, 2022 at 4:55 pm

    @The Lodger:   Thank you.  Was looking for examples like that.

  149. 149.

    NotMax

    August 18, 2022 at 4:55 pm

    @Roger Moore

    Speaking of amendments, bubbling just under the surface is a resurrected push from R party’s candidates to repeal the 17th.

  150. 150.

    Immanentize

    August 18, 2022 at 4:57 pm

    @Baud: It was in Jackson Hole. Not really Wyoming, which is why Musk and McCarthy would go there.

  151. 151.

    rikyrah

    August 18, 2022 at 4:58 pm

    Saybah Peabody (Brazen Hussy) (@lawalazu) tweeted at 8:37 PM on Wed, Aug 17, 2022:
    What TFG was allowed to get away with by media at large is precisely the reason he was brazen enough to steal the classified documents. He felt safe and in company that he felt gave him permission to behave badly, in some cases unlawfully and it was OK.
    (https://twitter.com/lawalazu/status/1560078522512719873?t=Q4AxDCvCDJOtxYnidWaH3w&s=03)

  152. 152.

    rikyrah

    August 18, 2022 at 4:58 pm

    I Smoked Allen Weaselberg (@BlackKnight10k) tweeted at 1:16 PM on Wed, Aug 17, 2022:
    Well no wonder the Secret Service had to delete their texts. They knew Pelosi could have been murdered 2 days before the attack on the Capitol and didn’t warn Pelosi, Capitol Police, the FBI, Top Flight Security of the World, or anyone else.
    (https://twitter.com/BlackKnight10k/status/1559967525739401216?t=0YfdIOIWUbpUst6Kmyjr9g&s=03)

  153. 153.

    Immanentize

    August 18, 2022 at 5:00 pm

    @Gravenstone: It wasn’t me! And considering other 14th A litigation about insurrection, the plaintiff does not need to be a candidate. If a person is constitutionally banned from seeking or holding office, every voter would have standing, it seems.

  154. 154.

    WaterGirl

    August 18, 2022 at 5:02 pm

    @Immanentize: I can’t believe you are leaving your stunning double white climbing plant, whose name I cannot remember.

  155. 155.

    Another Scott

    August 18, 2022 at 5:02 pm

    @Central Planning: In Martin’s earlier long comment on this a day or so ago, he said the time between the Democratic candidate getting the nomination and the election would be too short for the courts to get involved – or if they did, they wouldn’t rule before the election (and wouldn’t want to have no GQPer on the ballot if TFG were struck).

    IANAL, but it’s a decent argument.

    A group in MA is trying to keep TFG off the ballot using the 14th Amendment. The July 2022 story says the Commonwealth Attorney’s position is that the person must be convicted first.

    Fein said there is a legal standard that would qualify the January 6 riots as an insurrection, and the question is whether Trump engaged in the insurrection – which, Fein argues, the Republican then-president’s incendiary speech did. “As the framers of the Constitution foresaw, anyone who would do this is a danger to the republic,” Fein said. “Donald Trump should not be allowed anywhere near public office again because the fact that he did this already indicates that the danger of him doing even worse in the future is a far greater risk than our country can tolerate.”

    But Galvin, a Democrat, says Fein’s interpretation is incorrect. Galvin agrees the law could potentially apply to Trump based on evidence that has emerged about Trump’s role in the January 6 riots. But Galvin said the statute that defines an insurrection is in the criminal code, and to become ineligible for office on that basis requires a criminal conviction.

    “You just can’t say ‘he must have done it,’” Galvin said. “I think it’s certainly deserving of review given the information that’s been created and presented so far. But it requires the Justice Department to begin and conclude a criminal investigation.”

    Galvin said if the Department of Justice files criminal charges and Trump is convicted for participating in an insurrection, Trump could likely be disqualified from the ballot. Without that, Galvin said, he lacks authority to keep Trump off. Galvin said he would like to see the Justice Department review the issue and, if prosecutors bring charges, “do it sooner rather than later,” before a presidential campaign.

    Free Speech for People has filed similar cases seeking to keep Republican members of Congress involved in the January 6 riots off the ballot, including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn, and Arizona Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar. All the suits have either been dismissed by judges, or in Cawthorn’s case became moot after he lost his primary.

    Lawyers get paid to argue about anything. It would be a big battle and would be unlikely to be decided quickly.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  156. 156.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 5:04 pm

    @Geminid:

    Wasn’t he also a host on Air America?

  157. 157.

    Elizabelle

    August 18, 2022 at 5:05 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca:   The Money Honey was reputable at some point?  OK.

  158. 158.

    NotMax

    August 18, 2022 at 5:05 pm

    @Immanentize

    Not to worry, after the Supreme Court declares the Constitution unconstitutional.

    //

  159. 159.

    Immanentize

    August 18, 2022 at 5:05 pm

    @Old School: But he won the primaries in 2016? Not tracking. He didn’t support himself as nominee?

  160. 160.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 5:05 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    This smacked my gob (about British railway companies).

  161. 161.

    Immanentize

    August 18, 2022 at 5:08 pm

    @rikyrah: I saw that this morning and nodded along. It is exactly what I voted for. Biden has been responsible for forgiving Billions in student loans — to the worthy, the cheated, and to public servants. Keep it up!

  162. 162.

    Kropacetic

    August 18, 2022 at 5:09 pm

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker: Also too, the latest iteration of your screen name “wegners shoppers club member mistermix”

    has surpassed peak lameness.

    I swear Oz has marshalled the flying monkeys, or a cadre of the oddest internet trolls ever, and set them on this here almost top 10,000 blog.

    Is that an honor?

  163. 163.

    Immanentize

    August 18, 2022 at 5:09 pm

    @Another Scott: I gotta admit, as much as I really cannot abide anti-voter Liz, “The Great Task” is an excellent name.

  164. 164.

    Another Scott

    August 18, 2022 at 5:11 pm

    @Immanentize:

    NPR – Trump Abandons Pledge to Support Republican Nominee (from March 30, 2016)

    TFG, Cruz, and Kasich were left at that point, and they all were walking away from it.

    Kasich may have been speaking for all the candidates when he added, concerning the pledge first raised at last August’s debate, “You know, frankly, all of us shouldn’t have even answered that question.”

    Duh, ya think? When you let a monster like TFG in??

    (groucho-roll-eyes.gif)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  165. 165.

    raven

    August 18, 2022 at 5:11 pm

    @Immanentize: Great fishing!

  166. 166.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 5:11 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Yes, when she was doing strictly news-reader stock-market stuff on the business channel. That’s how she got the “Money Honey” nickname.

  167. 167.

    Immanentize

    August 18, 2022 at 5:13 pm

    @WaterGirl: the white azalea? Or the huge limelight hydrangea?

    I can get another limelight, but I am pretty bummed about the azalea.

  168. 168.

    Immanentize

    August 18, 2022 at 5:14 pm

    @NotMax: Oh, that happened a few years ago.

  169. 169.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 18, 2022 at 5:14 pm

    @Immanentize:

    Wait, I thought you were getting a house in upstate NY. Now you’re buying a condo in Rhode Island.

    Are you running for the Senate from Pennsylvania or something?

     

  170. 170.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 5:15 pm

    @germy shoemangler:

    Thanks, bookmarked.

  171. 171.

    Kropacetic

    August 18, 2022 at 5:16 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Wait, I thought you were getting a house in upstate NY. Now you’re buying a condo in Rhode Island.

    Are you running for the Senate from Pennsylvania or something?

    In the triangulate-county area.

  172. 172.

    Immanentize

    August 18, 2022 at 5:16 pm

    @raven: Thats right — you hit the bay when you had a RI meet up. Tuna?

  173. 173.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 5:17 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I think the house is a weekend (and later retirement?) place and the condo would be close to work.

  174. 174.

    Tony Jay

    August 18, 2022 at 5:18 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    It’s true. Privatisation of national utilities has been a multi trillion pound scam that has turned Britain into a ripped-off basket case. Everyone else has nationalised utilities that are so profitable they can afford to buy up chunks of ours, but we can’t have that, because profit sovereignty!

    Of course, large majorities are in favour of renationalisation, including large majorities of Tory voters. So the geniuses at the top of NuNew Labour have just tossed their manifesto promise to do just that because ewwww, Corbyn cooties!

    We’re doomed.

  175. 175.

    Geminid

    August 18, 2022 at 5:21 pm

    @Steeplejack: I guess Franken was. I never listened to Air America back then.

    More recently, there was a Charlottesville station that featured Stephanie Miller, Thom Hartman and Randi Roades. Commercial radio stations chased it off the air, said it was taking too much advertising for its community radio license.

  176. 176.

    Uncle Cosmo

    August 18, 2022 at 5:21 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: ​Fucking “age-restricted content” requiring a login. Fuck ’em with a rusty chainsaw, I’ll wait for an open source.

  177. 177.

    cain

    August 18, 2022 at 5:22 pm

    @Tony Jay: lol – curry causes cancer.

    Yeah man, that’s there are two billion of us curry eaters and rapidly expanding.

  178. 178.

    Immanentize

    August 18, 2022 at 5:23 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Ha!

    No, the idea is to get the upstate NY place as a long term home for retirement after it is fixed up. But I am keeping my great job for many years, I hope (until, I suppose, those jokers at LGM tell me I must give up my tenure). But at the same time I am getting the old farm shack in NY, I have decided to sell my too-big house here near Boston. I’m just knocking around a four bedroom place alone except for my cat. Then, I want to move to a not too expensive (ha) condo still on the MBTA commuter line. Providence fits that bill perfectly. Also great food town also, as Raven says — near the ocean with good fishing. So I have again overextended myself in my efforts to keep mortality and grief at bay.

  179. 179.

    trollhattan

    August 18, 2022 at 5:24 pm

    @Another Scott: Andrew Yang’s in for two-hundred. Another Another Way.

  180. 180.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 18, 2022 at 5:25 pm

    @hilts:

    I couldn’t remember who John Malone was, so I looked him up. And holy shit:

    By most estimates, Malone is the largest private landowner in the United States, possessing upwards of 2.2 million acres (3,437 square miles), more than twice the size of Rhode Island.[5]

  181. 181.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 18, 2022 at 5:29 pm

    @Immanentize:

    Gotcha. I knew some, but obviously not all, of that.

    And yeah, there’s something about taking on massive projects that is definitely a mechanism for coping with grief and the awareness of one’s own mortality. I know all too well. 

  182. 182.

    prostratedragon

    August 18, 2022 at 5:33 pm

    @rikyrah:  Heh heh. But I think people do tend to misread him, we may see quite badly.  Advantage him.

  183. 183.

    Tony Jay

    August 18, 2022 at 5:35 pm

    @cain:

    ZOMG!

    VINDALOO-NACY! – Curry Conspiracy revealed as foreign agents of Madras Mafia gloat “there are two billion of us curry eaters and rapidly expanding”

  184. 184.

    ian

    August 18, 2022 at 5:36 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Sheriff Ray Cross from Dade County on your show to tell about the illegals getting off Gov Abbott’s buses in NW GA on their way to DC

    It sounds to me like the people she doesn’t want in her district were brought there by Gov Abbott.  I truly despair of understanding MTG.  Would forcing them to stay on the bus the whole time have made her happy?  Keeping them in Texas?  Or is anything short of shooting them at the border a bridge to far?

  185. 185.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 5:44 pm

    Trump lawyers on the “unseal the affidavit” hearing today.

  186. 186.

    Roger Moore

    August 18, 2022 at 5:46 pm

    @ian:

    Would forcing them to stay on the bus the whole time have made her happy? Keeping them in Texas? Or is anything short of shooting them at the border a bridge to far?

    I think she wants them loaded into cattle cars and sent to camps.  It’s what her Leader would want.

  187. 187.

    apieceofpeace

    August 18, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    @The Lodger: Mark Hatfield.

  188. 188.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 5:48 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    It’s right here.

  189. 189.

    Ken

    August 18, 2022 at 5:48 pm

    @Steeplejack: I was expecting cricket sounds.

  190. 190.

    Tom Fitzpatrick

    August 18, 2022 at 5:48 pm

    @The Lodger:  Before that there was Gov. Tom McCall.

  191. 191.

    ian

    August 18, 2022 at 5:48 pm

    @Immanentize:

    Pedantry moment-  The GOP retreat was in Teton Village.  Jackson Hole is the nearby ski resort.  Jackson is the nearest major town.   The retreat was not held in Jackson Hole.   And it is in Wyoming.

  192. 192.

    moops

    August 18, 2022 at 5:49 pm

    I hope losing her primary makes her determined to completely destroy the GOP, instead of just Trump.

     

    A man can dream.

  193. 193.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 5:49 pm

    @Immanentize:

    So I have again overextended myself in my efforts to keep mortality and grief at bay.

    You could do worse. It’s a noble endeavor.

  194. 194.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 5:52 pm

    @ian:

    All of the above? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  195. 195.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 5:53 pm

    @Ken:

    I love that dog meme. When it works it works.

  196. 196.

    frosty fred

    August 18, 2022 at 5:53 pm

    @Geminid: Is Air America completely down the memory hole? Franken was a broadcaster on there (pretty good, I thought).

  197. 197.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 18, 2022 at 5:54 pm

    @ian:

    I truly despair of understanding MTG.

    And you want to understand her why?

  198. 198.

    Soprano2

    August 18, 2022 at 5:57 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: *shudder* To this day I won’t have avocado green in my house.

  199. 199.

    stinger

    August 18, 2022 at 6:00 pm

    @Elizabelle: One of Iowa’s four US Reps, Ashley Hinson (R), was a reporter/anchor for an eastern Iowa news station for 10 years, then spent two terms as a state Rep before running for the House.

    This year, she’s being challenged by Liz Mathis (D), who was a reporter/anchor for two eastern Iowa news stations for a total of 25 years, then has been a state Rep since 2011.

    The two actually overlapped at KCRG-TV for a couple of years.

  200. 200.

    Another Scott

    August 18, 2022 at 6:01 pm

    @Steeplejack: Heh.  I would expect nothing less.

    Popehat’s twitter feed has lots of lawyer stuff today.  Lots of things seem to be happening in several venues…  (Don’t ask me to explain it though.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  201. 201.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 6:01 pm

    @ian:

    C’mon, man. Teton Village is like 10-12 miles from J-hole and is part of the area resort “infrastructure.” And it’s clear that Immanentize meant “not really Wyoming” in the sense of not typical of the state. It’s not like the GQP would end up on some random farm in Bison Dick. J-hole is like Aspen or La Jolla.

  202. 202.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 6:05 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Yeah, Popehat’s feed is, uh, dense today. He’s a good clearinghouse to follow legal Twitter.

  203. 203.

    Another Scott

    August 18, 2022 at 6:06 pm

    @Steeplejack: [ You’ve gotta be making that up.  [Google…]  ctrl-w ctrl-w ctrl-w ctrl-w ctrl-w ctrl-w ]

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  204. 204.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 18, 2022 at 6:11 pm

    @Tony Jay: Thanks, I was wondering what to have for dinner.

  205. 205.

    topclimber

    August 18, 2022 at 6:16 pm

    @Immanentize: She could always go with the caveat that her pledge is dependent on the RNC running a fair process. Said caveat to be delivered late in the game. Said process sure to be anything but fair.

    Really it only works for her  if she gets to chew up TFG on the debate stage. So if the debates are rigged (e.g. she gets no time on them) or non-existent, she has a way out.

    I guess the other avenue is that if she can consistently rack up 29% or more of the GOP vote, particularly in states less fire-engine red than Wyoming, she can amass a decent number of delegates. Gives her a way to cause trouble on the platform committee, etc.

    If DeSantis also gives it a go, maybe the split works out that she can grab some winner take all states.

    Well, that was fun. Back to reality now.

    ETA: 29% is the GOP sanity factor?

  206. 206.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 18, 2022 at 6:18 pm

    @Immanentize: Not particularly near, but this is Rhode Island we’re talking about, so the distances are not vast.

    I kind of suspected what your plan was, but wasn’t going to ask – but I see someone else pried. Anyway, there’s been quite a bit of new residential (condo) construction in the area immediately adjacent to the train station. I haven’t been in those buildings, but from the outside they seem kind of soulless. If you go a little farther afield, such that it might be necessary to ride a bike to the train station, there are converted industrial buildings that seem a lot nicer, if you’re into the loft-type space. Also in the bikeable radius, the West End is very nice, and has quite a few large 3-story residential buildings (not like Charlestown 3-deckers, nice) that have been condo-ized. I had a co-worker who was in a similar situation as you, ended up downsizing and bought a floor of one of those buildings and loves it. But you won’t be able to walk to the train.

    If you’re in downtown, you’ll have to think about where to park your car. If you’re in the West End, or around Valley St you’ll find on-street parking pretty easily, but if it’s a smaller detached building check on driveway space.

    The good beaches and fishing are a ~45 minute drive.

  207. 207.

    Tony Jay

    August 18, 2022 at 6:19 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Does sound very nice.

    I’m watching Masterchef and now want corned beef hash with soft white bread.

  208. 208.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 6:21 pm

    @Another Scott:

    If you’re talking about Bison Dick, I used that because Popehat had a story a day or two ago about how his fiancée’s (now wife) grandfather once gave him an elaborate leather wallet with a bison in full glory embossed on it. No explanation, no closure.

    And it comes from a tradition of (hopefully) funny but plausible place-names that I mostly remember from Mike Royko’s old columns, e.g., Lard Lake, IA; Bobo, MS, and some others. Can’t find any now. Maybe it was from his book(s).

  209. 209.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 18, 2022 at 6:25 pm

    @Tony Jay: Did you forget to put in your teeth?

  210. 210.

    Tony Jay

    August 18, 2022 at 6:33 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    I like food I can chug from a champagne flute. Makes me feel classy.

  211. 211.

    Dan B

    August 18, 2022 at 6:38 pm

    @rikyrah: OMG Hope this is not what it looks like.  Fallout could make grain radioactive – famine in Africa and the Middle East plus inflation worldwide.  And a humanitarian disaster for Ukraine and likely beyond.

  212. 212.

    Roger Moore

    August 18, 2022 at 6:43 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    And it’s clear that Immanentize meant “not really Wyoming” in the sense of not typical of the state.

    How not typical is it?  It’s one of only two areas in the state where Cheney was ahead in the primary.  The other is Laramie, home of the University of Wyoming.

  213. 213.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    August 18, 2022 at 6:46 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Bison Dick

    Bison Dick is the perfect name for a third political party.  Way better than the Forward party.

  214. 214.

    WaterGirl

    August 18, 2022 at 6:47 pm

    @Immanentize: The climbing double white azalea.  I would kill for that plant, and it would break my heart to leave it behind.

  215. 215.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 6:48 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    🎯

  216. 216.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 6:51 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca:

    The logos practically InDesign themselves!

  217. 217.

    kalakal

    August 18, 2022 at 6:54 pm

     

    @Steeplejack:  Same with water, electricity etc. EDF (Electricite de France owned by the French govt) E.on ( German) , Scottish Power ( Spanish)

  218. 218.

    kalakal

    August 18, 2022 at 6:57 pm

    @Geminid: Jerry Springer was the Dem Mayor of Cincinnatti

    before a sex scandal moved him into show biz

  219. 219.

    Another Scott

    August 18, 2022 at 6:58 pm

    @Steeplejack: :-)  I had an old guy as a teacher in grade school science class who would often mention “West Overshoe, Nebraska” when he was telling stories.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  220. 220.

    Tony Jay

    August 18, 2022 at 7:00 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca:

    Also has the authentic rasp of Cleveland’s third most frequented glazed pottery showroom. Or one of those Franco-American import companies that don’t get the joke.

    “Eet is pronounced ‘Bee-son’. Why it is you laugh?”

    Also too, I’m sure the whole ‘Forward’ thing wasn’t at all inspired by the name of Italy’s current neo-fascist movement. Just a total coinkydink.

  221. 221.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 18, 2022 at 7:02 pm

    George Clooney’s father, IIRC was a beloved local news anchor who ran for Congress, but he lost

  222. 222.

    Another Scott

    August 18, 2022 at 7:07 pm

    @kalakal: (My potentially faulty recollection, corrections welcome) The Cincy Mayor was a title that people on the City Council rotated in and out of (every year?) back then – it wasn’t a separate elected office. It was more like chair of the department city council.

    Wikipedia says that Cincinnati got a “strong mayor” office in 1999.

    So, yeah, he was Mayor of Cincinnati, but not really the way most people think of it.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  223. 223.

    Geminid

    August 18, 2022 at 7:28 pm

    @Dan B: Ukraine President Zelenskyy met with UN chief Guterres and Turkish President Erdogan today in Lviv. One topic they discussed was grain shipments, and they also talked about the Zaporizhne nuclear plant. At a joint  press conference afterwards, Erdogan warned of “another Chernobyl.”

    @CherylRofer has been posting a lot of  material about the plant, with good links, on her Twitter account.

  224. 224.

    Steeplejack

    August 18, 2022 at 8:22 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Mission accomplished, since “Bison Dick” apparently got you to do some searching!

  225. 225.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    August 18, 2022 at 8:35 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    I’m sure the whole ‘Forward’ thing wasn’t at all inspired by the name of Italy’s current neo-fascist movement. Just a total coinkydink.

    Thanks for reminding me, I’d forgotten that fact.

    Andrew Yang is beyond pathetic.

  226. 226.

    The Lodger

    August 18, 2022 at 9:14 pm

    @apieceofpeace:

    @Tom Fitzpatrick: If either Hatfield or McCall were media folks it was before my time, although I’m sure they wrote plenty of op-eds while in office.

  227. 227.

    Paul in KY

    August 19, 2022 at 10:13 am

    @Leto: She can lie & say yes.

  228. 228.

    Paul in KY

    August 19, 2022 at 10:23 am

    @Gravenstone: Sounds good to me!  Banzai Liz Cheney!!!

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