Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The revolution will be supervised.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

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

Tick tock motherfuckers!

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

So many bastards, so little time.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

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

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

In my day, never was longer.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

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

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

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

Cole is on a roll !

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

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

We still have time to mess this up!

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

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Prosocial Calendar

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… The overall history makes Biden look pretty good. But I think there’s one additional point to be made here. The rail unions are notoriously conservative and have been for over a century. Biden didn’t do this because he necessarily expected the rail unions to repay Democrats in the fall. This is MAGA union country, and for a lot of rail workers, listening to their NRA propaganda means a heck of a lot more than anything Joe Biden does. Some might vote against the agreement just because they hate Biden so much.

No, Biden did this because he believes in union power, even if those unions don’t necessarily support him. That’s been at the core of Biden’s actions toward unions through his entire presidency. That’s what motivated him to engage in an unprecedented intervention in the 2021 Amazon election in Alabama by sending a public message reminding that workers have the choice for a union and calling out Amazon by name. That’s what has motivated him to empower Walsh and Vice President Kamala Harris to chair a taskforce to see how the administration can increase union power through executive action, which is necessary given the hostility of Congress and rightwing courts…

Reader Interactions

150Comments

  1. 1.

    PST

    Good morning. I am an early riser, and in nice weather I usually sit on my balcony and read for a couple of hours. Among other things , it insulates me from my wife’s Morning Joe addiction. Every day, at about 5:30, a young man rides past on his bicycle, no hands, at a remarkably slow pace, holding his phone in front of him with both hands, and listening to very loud music, with variations in genre from day to day. I sometimes long to hear his story.

  2. 2.

    Betty Cracker

    Biden is definitely the most pro-union president I can remember, and I wanted to cheer into my Cheerios when I read the tweet about trickle down economics, which was the Reagan version of pissing on our heads while telling us it’s raining.

  3. 3.

    Ken

    All excellent news, though I can’t help worrying that Elton John has written a new song, or possibly a few new verses of “Candle in the Wind”, for Queen Elizabeth.

  4. 4.

    SFAW

    Biden “pro-union”? What a crock. Next they’ll be trying to tell us that he appointed a pro-union Secretary of Labor.
    Third! Fifth!

  6. 6.

    Geminid

    President Biden will address the UN’s General Assembly this morning at 10:35am. Later he will have bilateral meetings with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and British PM Liz Truss.

    The President and Jill Biden will then host a “Members Reception” this evening at the National Museum of Natural History, 7pm.

    From Politico Playbook.

  7. 7.

    satby

    Thundering but still sunny in the east this morning.  Guess I won’t be doing any yard work after all 😂 Was hoping to get some stuff cleaned up before the leaves really start falling.

  8. 8.

    Baud

    I’ll admit, it’s hard having sympathy for the working condition of Republican workers.  But free riders are a constant issue for a lot of liberal Democratic priorities.

  9. 9.

    Betty Cracker

    @Ken: Elton John turned down Trump’s invitation to play at his inauguration, citing his British citizenship. And now he’s playing at Biden’s White House. LOL! That must chap Trump’s ass to no end because he’s a huge EJ fan but had to make do with tacky, no-talent shitheads like Kid Rock. Reminds me of Springsteen’s epic snubs of Chris Christie. :-)

  11. 11.

    Geminid

    @satby: That front is supposed to hit Virginia tommorow, followed by cool temperatures and a lot of wind. Time to break out the sweaters!

  13. 13.

    Tony Jay

    I am sick and tired of trickle-down economics. It has never worked. We’re building an economy from the bottom up and middle out.

    Always nice to see the Leader of the the Free World cracking open a can of frosty ‘Go Fuck Yourself’ and pouring the contents over Liz Truss’ empty little bobble-head.

    ‘Trickle-Down’ is the new ‘Levelling Up’ over here. Just another strangulated euphemism for robbing from the Poors to give to the Rich.

    Sadly, making a statement like that would get Smiling Joe kicked right out of the NuNew Labour Party. Dirty little socialist trot that he is.

  15. 15.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: Same. If I ran the zoo, right-wing shitheads who consistently vote for the plutocracy party to own the libs would only receive workplace protections, wages and benefits approved by the surviving Koch and would therefore live in Dickensian squalor. So it’s a good thing I don’t run the zoo.

  18. 18.

    eversor

    My friend took his life last night.  I don’t blame him for it.  This was a long time in the waiting and he didn’t have any family, he had me.  Old military buddy.  For a long time his lungs were filled with fluid, also a swollen abdomen with fluid around his heart and kidney issues.  Service related.  I’m just, sad I wasn’t there when he did it?  I wouldn’t have stopped him, hell I would have done it if he’d asked.

    I’m not sure how I process this, I’m also not sure I can.  I think it’s just going to take some time.  I’d rather have done it myself, or at least been there for it, rather than some off the wall text and showing up after. That there are no kids or wife to speak to makes it easier I guess, but for those of us that showed up probably not?  Maybe we all could have seen some people cry and scream and feel better?  Maybe it’s best he did it this way and saved us all that?  Maybe I don’t know?  What I hope is that he did what was right for him, and saved us all having to watch the fiasco.  That I’d be happy with and it would oddly be his final “fuck you you fucking fucks” way of going out, which I can be more than happy with, and get a laugh out of.

    Would have appreciated a note, but yeah you weren’t the type.

  21. 21.

    Geminid

    @eversor: I am very sorry to hear this. I hope you will take care of yourself and can get good sleep. Depression and sleep deprivation go hand in hand.

  23. 23.

    AM in NC

    @eversor: I’m so so sorry for your loss. I know this peace is what your friend wanted, but I am sorry for what you and his other friends are now going through.  Sending you strength.

  25. 25.

    topclimber

    @eversor: Sorry about you losing your friend. Did he ever reach out for counseling? Sometimes a third party can help where friends just cannot.

  29. 29.

    Betty Cracker

    @eversor: Condolences to you and everyone who loved him. Processing something like that might be impossible, but grief makes you try to make sense of it.

  30. 30.

    RandomMonster

    @Betty Cracker: RandomMrs shared with me an article about Dump’s nightly ritual at Merde-a-Lardo where he gets a laptop and plays disc jockey for the drunken crowd. Apparently he plays the same set of songs pretty much every night. I hope there’s an Elton John song on that list and it’s ruined for him forever.

  33. 33.

    Soprano2

    @Geminid:  There must be some massive front coming through the U.S. this week. It’s going to be in the mid-90’s (!) here today; they say we might break the record. Then a high of 65 (!) tomorrow with a slight chance of rain. Talk about whiplash! We need rain, it’s harder to tell because the grass isn’t getting brown and burned up but it’s dry dry dry here. Just checked – we ‘ve had 1.08″ of rain so far in September, normal is almost 3″, plus we had a really dry June and July.

  36. 36.

    eversor

    @rikyrah:

    I’ll be fine.  The question over the why will stop, I know they why I’m just not ready to fully deal with it.  I know it’s not my fault to and that my being involved would not have hade things in anyway better.  He’d just feel like shit having me there.  I cannot change that.  And it was really, as much as I hate to say it, the correct choice.

    I don’t get why people are so scared about death here.  Cause sure as you are born you will die.  You have some limited choice into the how, but not that much.  I think that, he took his life freely, and willingly, and he wanted to spare us all that pain.  The issue for me is I’d rather have felt that pain with him.  I didn’t need to be saved from it, it would have helped me.  But in the end, not my choice.  We both read each other wrong, despite being friends of 20+ years.  I’d be there with you, I’d in an odd way enjoy it, I sure as shit wouldn’t want to not be there.  You could have called me, I wasn’t going to stop you.  You, more than anyone, were my friend.

  42. 42.

    eversor

    @AM in NC:

    While thanks for the wishes and working this out I don’t think he or me needed to be strong.  He had that.  I think that it was a shitty situation, and ultimately he felt that he was a burden on everyone else.  He was not, and it was made very clear.

  43. 43.

    WereBear

    @satby: I had a day of errands planned, but wanted to start with a shower, except the thunder and lighting was so bad I called the whole thing off.

    I kept piling up stuff like raincoats and boots and gave up.

  45. 45.

    Ken

    @eversor: My condolences. I had a similar situation, and it took quite a while before I stopped wondering if I could have done something differently. No, that is a lie; I still do wonder sometimes.

  54. 54.

    WereBear

    @Baud: I’m sure she has her own cluster of MAGA relatives and is doing her Dolly thing which I certainly admire.

    It’s a culture with a grip like a bear trap, which is why blue cities can be such a haven.

    But it means leaving home behind you.

  55. 55.

    arrieve

    @Geminid: I had no idea Biden was in New York. Thanks for the warning–although I am on the West Side of Manhattan and the UN is on the East Side, whenever the president comes to town, it manages to bring traffic to a complete standstill everywhere.

    Somehow I don’t mind it as much when it’s Biden. Funny how that works.

  58. 58.

    trnc

    @Betty Cracker: Elton John turned down Trump’s invitation to play at his inauguration, citing his British citizenship. And now he’s playing at Biden’s White House. LOL!

    It’s funny that DT even asked him to play, given that EJ told DT to stop using his songs and that he openly supported Hillary’s campaign.

  59. 59.

    lowtechcyclist

    @eversor:

    My friend took his life last night.  I don’t blame him for it.  This was a long time in the waiting and he didn’t have any family, he had me.  Old military buddy.  For a long time his lungs were filled with fluid, also a swollen abdomen with fluid around his heart and kidney issues.  Service related.  I’m just, sad I wasn’t there when he did it?  I wouldn’t have stopped him, hell I would have done it if he’d asked.

    I’m not sure how I process this, I’m also not sure I can.  I think it’s just going to take some time.

    It really will take time.  There’s no way around it.

    Sounds like life had gotten awfully difficult for your friend, and who can blame him for deciding it was time for the final exit.  I know you don’t, you just would have wanted to be there with him, for him, when he went.

    But losing a good friend is hard, no matter how you slice it.  My thoughts are with you.  And while I know you don’t think much of prayer, my prayers are with you too.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    @Ken:

    All excellent news, though I can’t help worrying that Elton John has written a new song, or possibly a few new verses of “Candle in the Wind”, for Queen Elizabeth.

    That was my first thought, too!

  61. 61.

    eversor

    @Barbara:

    He was my best friend.  We went to bootcamp together and I left as an e-5 he made chief.  We did SERE together. We were, close. I saw this comming but that doesn’t dull the pain.

  63. 63.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Tony Jay:

    Sadly, making a statement like that would get Smiling Joe kicked right out of the NuNew Labour Party. Dirty little socialist trot that he is.

    I’m surprised they still call themselves the Labour Party.

  67. 67.

    eversor

    @lowtechcyclist:

    You know, we used to bring him wagyu a5 beef, tomahawk steaks, and the all the crap he wasn’t allowed to eat.  I did this because I could see he was hurt, and this minor thing gave him some level of happy.

    Not sad that he’s dead, we all do die.  Sad that it wasn’t holding his hand and smoking a cigar and laughing like fools.

    It’s also just a castrophe in other ways.  The SO wanted him as my best man at a wedding that COVID has delayed for now two years.   I know that’s stupid with a dead friend but hell, it does matter.  She loved his ass.   Those two were thick as theives.

    We’ll fix this.   But his loss will always be felt.  In an odd way my soon to be wife may feel it more, he introduced us.

  68. 68.

    Skepticat

    @eversor: You truly understand the meaning of friendship, and you did all you could. Having done end-of-life care for several friends and family members, I gave testimony when Maine was considering an assisted suicide bill (which passed). I truly empathize with both you and your friend, and I hope your pain eases over time.

  69. 69.

    Amir Khalid

    @Betty Cracker:

    As I recall, Bruce did make nice with Christie once. Ten years ago. President Obama needed Christie to accept federal relief money for Hurricane Sandy, which Christie was for some reason threatening to refuse. So he called fanboi Christie from Air Force One and put Bruce on the line, then helped to broker a face-to-face meeting. It did the trick.

    And then Christie’s inner goombah went and spoilt it all with the Bridgegate stunt. Bruce went on Jimmy Fallon’s show to humiliate him in public, and it got reported in The NYT as political news.

  70. 70.

    Steeplejack

    Apparently Trump—or his PAC, at least (same thing)—does pay some lawyers. A recent disclosure form shows that Alina Habba’s firm got $207,827.13. The form also shows that Melania’s fashion designer got $18,000. All part of “defending the former president’s legacy.”

  71. 71.

    Geminid

    @arrieve: There is also a “Free Iran” protest in New York this morning. It will probably be especially spirited on account of the recent demonstrations in Iran over the death last Friday of Mahsa Amini, the young woman beaten into a coma by Tehran’s “morality police.”

    The protests in Iran continue in cities all across the country. Among others, the Europe-based news site Iran News Wire has been posting video from various demonstrations. Security forces seem to be escalating to live fire in order to suppress the outraged protestors.

  72. 72.

    Ken

    @lowtechcyclist: I’m surprised they still call themselves the Labour Party.

    It’s expensive to design new logos and change all that letterhead. Plus, they’re probably picking up a bunch of low-information voters who think it’s still the party of the 19XXs, for any of several values of XX.

  74. 74.

    Geminid

    @Ken: The big showdown in UK politics will come in summer of 2024, it seems. Tory leaders say that’s when they will call a general election (by law one must be held by early 2025).

    In the meantime there may be by-elections, but not enough to threaten the Conservative majority in Parliament.

  75. 75.

    WereBear

    @Geminid: I admit I don’t understand the people who think a Parliamentary system in the US would solve some of our problems, when I see places with both.

    But, like cricket, I don’t understand the Parliamentary system.

  76. 76.

    J R in WV

    @eversor: ​
     

    My friend took his life last night.

    I’m truly sorry for your loss. Chronic and untreatable illness and pain can wear anyone out after so long. Take care of yourself!!

  77. 77.

    Baud

    @WereBear: There are many different types of parliamentary systems too, which makes it even harder to understand.  The big difference seems to be more parties, but the parties are more top-down in terms of management.

  79. 79.

    Barbara

    @WereBear: We tend to look at the British system, and its relative stability, but there are lots of other examples, e.g., Italy, where parliamentary system has resulted in the opposite, a kind of enduring instability in governing institutions.  We absolutely could not adopt a parliamentary system without undertaking electoral college reform.

  81. 81.

    Starfish

    @Geminid: The day when the prime minister has to go to Parliament, and they get to yell at him, looks like a lot of fun. I think it is called Prime Minister’s Questions.

  83. 83.

    Geminid

    @WereBear: At least the U.S. has midterms. Democrats flipped 40 House seats in 2018, and that made a big difference!

    I think a lot of the sentiment for a parliamentary system comes from people on the left who are frustrated by the Democratic Party’s coalition of moderates and liberals. The current Spanish government’s coalition of a left party with a more moderate liberal party is sometimes cited as a better model. But that government took two elections over 14 months to achieve, and it is still a minority government.

    And personally, I think the differences between the two wings of Democratic Party tend to be greatly exaggerated, at least when I look at the composition of its House and Senate caucuses.

  84. 84.

    Ken

    @Barbara: I would think switching to a parliamentary system in the US would eliminate the electoral college, since the leader of the parliamentary majority becomes the head of government.

    I suppose we could still have elections for the head of state, as many nations do, but if that’s the usual nearly-powerless figurehead, I wouldn’t care if it were by an electoral college or by lottery

    EDIT: One big change would be losing the idea of separation of the legislative and executive branches. As I understand it, in the UK and other parliamentary nations, the Prime Minister and cabinet officials keep their legislative office (if any). Congressional oversight would be… weird? Impossible?

  86. 86.

    SFAW

    @RandomMonster: ​

    Apparently he plays the same set of songs pretty much every night.

    And the entire play list is “WWG1WGA,” “I Did WON (It My Way),” “It’s Good to Be King” (Tom Petty), “King of (Libtard) Pain” (The Police), and “Crazy Bus.”

  88. 88.

    Jeffro

    1pm on 9/28, that’s great news!  I thought the J6 hearing was going to be in the evening and would conflict with seeing Gary Clark Jr in concert that night.

    (if forced to choose, I would have gone with J6 ;)

  89. 89.

    Betty Cracker

    @Geminid: I think the split in the Democratic Party is real but has become more manageable lately for two reasons: 1) the party moved left, and 2) Republicans are so obviously monstrous these days that most sensible people realize we have to stick together to keep them out of power and can’t afford infighting. It’s still a fragile coalition, IMO. Any party that has to encompass all the sane people would be.

  90. 90.

    WereBear

    @Starfish: Yes, but now I’m highly cynical about polling, too. There was an article downthread about how polling can show a low, or high percentage of Q in the Republican Party.

    I believe the high, frankly.

    But this lack of rigorous science is bound to happen when the opposing party is non-science.

  92. 92.

    WereBear

    @Betty Cracker: The Civil War had four parties. But this time I think the Democrats got stuff sorted sooner, and had a lower delusional quotient in the first place. So we aren’t going head to head the same way.

    These midterms will tell us how big a party split along the Rs we can expect, because that IS going to happen.

    It’s about WHICH Republicans, win… and they don’t know the Trump quotient yet.

  93. 93.

    Layer8Problem

    @eversor:  Someone exits and those who care about them try to make sense of the emptiness left. It’s painful and I’m sorry for your friend and for your loss and hurt.

  95. 95.

    Geminid

    @Baud: The UK elects members of Parliamet from individual districts. The local party commitees choose the candidate who gets the party’s ballot line, in contast to the US where with a few exceptions the nominee is chosen by primary voters.

    A more problematic (I think) parliamentary system is one in which national party slates are voted on and parliamentary members are allotted proportionally. We foisted that system on Iraq, and they’ve faced parliamentary gridlock ever since.

    Israel has this system, and its fractured electorate will vote this November 1st in the nation’s 5th election since 2019. In the last election 13 party slates surpassed the 3.25% threshold to win at least four Knesset members.

  97. 97.

    cain

    @eversor – my deep sympathies for your loss. That you suffered this loss just as we are talking about veteran suicide coincidentally makes this thread so much more terrible. I don’t know if he would have availed himself of the hotline – but he had you as his hotline and it’s unfortunate that he couldn’t bring himself to say goodbye to you. You clearly in your headspace and processing and I hope you come out of your grieving period soon.

  98. 98.

    Leto

    @Geminid: I think another supposed draw for a parliamentary style system is the need for alliances. The fact that you need to build a coalition in order to govern. Personally I think it’s a re-tread of of, “Why can’t Dems and Repubs get along?” Style thinking.

    While the Dems are moving left, we still have plenty of moderates and they do they have a voice. Whereas on the Republican side, anything short of fealty to the orange shit stain (or authoritarianism in general) is being wiped off the map.

  100. 100.

    Baud

    @Geminid: Yes, I think the assumption is that Americans would like political parties if there were more of them.  You almost have to in a parliamentary system.  But I’m not so sure about that assumption.

  101. 101.

    Geminid

    @Ken: France moved to a “strong president” system with its 5th Republic. The parliamentary instability under the 4th Republic proved unable to meet challenges including the war in Algeria. When national leaders turned to Charles DeGaulle to pacify the political turmoil, he told them, “not under that crappy 4th Republic system!” So, a new constitution was enacted and DeGaulle elected President with control of the executive branch similar to that of U.S. presidents

    French politics are still contentious, but I don’t think there is much sentiment for going back to the stronger-National Assembly system of the 4th Republic.

  102. 102.

    Elizabelle

    @eversor:  My condolences.  What a loss to you and your SO.  It helps that you understand and respect his decision, and that only its timing was the surprise.  Your friend is at peace now, and I wish that for his loved ones and friends.

  103. 103.

    Elizabelle

    @Jeffro:  Aha.  Also thinking of attending the Gary Clark Jr. concert.  Will let you know if I do.

    Was in town last night for the Afghan Whigs at the Jefferson. Superb show.

  104. 104.

    Calouste

    @Geminid: Lots of countries have their own internal issues that have little to do with the government system they have, like Iraq and Israel.

    Instead you could look at countries that have a parliamentary system that is working well, like Germany.

  106. 106.

    Paul in KY

    @rikyrah: I saw them at Bonnaroo back in 2014 (I think). Wonderful set. Played the Which Stage & I was right down front. Near end of set Kendrick Lamarr and Chance the Rapper came out and did a couple of songs with them.

    Played alot of their music back in college.

  107. 107.

    Paul in KY

    @eversor: I think people (the sane ones) are scared of a premature death. We all have to die sometime. Most want to get to 80 or so to have had a good run (IMO).

  108. 108.

    Jeffro

    @Elizabelle: very cool!

    I think I’m going to surprise Mrs. Fro with tickets to see The Legwarmers (80’s cover band) at the Jefferson next month.  We’ve never seen them and I hear they’re a hoot!

  113. 113.

    rikyrah

    You can miss me with this bullshyt.

    ALMOST?

    PHUCK OUTTA HERE.

    His vote is his vote. And, it’s on the record.

    The MSM gets on my nerves, continuing to try to give Republicans the benefit of the doubt when they absolutely deserve NOTHING.

    NONE of them stood up to Dolt45. They ALL enabled him during his term.

     

    Rachael Bade (@rachaelmbade) tweeted at 6:17 AM on Wed, Sep 21, 2022:
    The public narrative suggests McConnell was never going to convict Trump. But our reporting indicates he came close — and made a last minute decision.

    His staff even fleshed out two sets of arguments for his final floor speech: one supporting acquittal; the other, conviction.
    (https://twitter.com/rachaelmbade/status/1572545604290777088?t=nVTYGF9-0Q48Q9qUXcnoqQ&s=03)

  115. 115.

    Elizabelle

    @rikyrah:   That last sentence.  McConnell was purely about politics. Finger in the wind.

    That is neither justice nor courage nor doing the right thing.

  116. 116.

    Geminid

    @Betty Cracker: There is certainly a lot of controversy between moderate and liberal Democratic advocates, especially in media. I’m not so sure about actual Democratic voters and the politicians they elect to Congress. A graph placing members of the Democratic House Caucus by policy positions would show a fat bell curve, I think.

    The two big ideological caucuses- Progressive and New Democrat Coalition- have a rough numerical parity, but many of each caucus’s members are so close in policy that their caucus affiliation might as well be a matter of branding.

    The Blue Dog Caucus definitely is  a matter of branding now, I think. Members like Correa (CA), O’Halleran (AZ), Sherrill (NJ) and Cooper (TN) vote like New Democrats. Some, like Florida’s Crist* and Murphy cross-affiliate with the New Democrat Caucus.

    My new district, the Va.7th, will (hopefully) be represented by Abigail Spanberger in the next Congres.. She’s a Blue Dog, but I can’t think off hand of any consequential policy difference between her and Progressive Caucus members like Veronica Escobar (TX), Joe Neguse (CO) or Jaime Raskin (MD).

    Two of the most effective Democratic representatives, Joyce Beatty and Lauren Underwood, are not members of any of the three “ideological” caucuses.

    *Charlie Crist of course has resigned the central Florida seat he flipped in 2016.

  117. 117.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Geminid: It gets summed up in the old saw:  Parliamentary systems have elections and then form coalitions; the US system forms coalitions and then has elections.

  118. 118.

    Elizabelle

    @rikyrah:  Oh gawd.  And her fellow press corpse members are eating it up.  Or tweet that they are.

    Bade.  Politico “political analyst.”  Formerly of the WaPost.  Hard pass.

  120. 120.

    eversor

    @Elizabelle:

    I don’t mind that he did it.  I get it. I mind that I wasn’t told and I wasn’t there.  Fuck I would have offed him.  I get it.  I get how sick he was.  I get that there was no way out of this.  I agreed this was the option.  I just you know, would have liked to be there for it.  For all the pain that came with it.  For all the hurt.  I wasn’t just all he had, he was my best friend.  I didn’t get married cause COVID and he would have been the best man.  Like kiddo, you of all people, I’d have held the pillow down if that’s what you wanted?  Why not include me in this?  You know I of all people would never have stopped you.  We could have done this right?  Grabbed a masive bottle of single malt scotch, some cigars, fuck hospital rules, and a good steak.

    I’m OK with his call to end it.  I’m totally not OK with not being there and included in it.  I feel I failed somehow.  I know I spent less time there than I should have.  I was dealing with a fiancee who I couldn’t mary cause COVID and I had a bout of lukemia of all things.  I didn’t avoid him.  Again if he asked me to do it, I would have!

    I think the last memory I’ll have of him is of all things a Nintendo Switch.   We replayed the Gameboy Zelda they redid and had a blast.

    I’m just fucking pissed.  I know why this happened and I will hate them for it.  He asked multiple times for assisted death and we don’t have that in the us.  I joked with him, not a pure joke, that he really wanted it I’d just walk in, pillow him, and pump in carbon monoxide.

    I guess he just didn’t want me to run the risk.  Fair enough.  But I’d have just like to have been there you know?

    Now I have to go to a fucking funeral and explain shit to my SO.

    Like man dude, I could have done this, and if you were going to do it I should have been there.  If for any reason, you’d have a hand to hold onto when you went?  If I did it I’d want a hand to hold?  Why go this horrible sad, and lonely way.  You may not have had friends but you had a friend, you had me.  It’s just ripping me to shreds now.

  121. 121.

    Betty Cracker

    @Geminid: Having power and a shot at passing legislation tends to paper over a lot of cracks. If, dog forbid, we lose the House, we’ll probably see a repeat of party members trashing each other in the media. I hope not, but that seems to be the cycle.

  122. 122.

    Fake Irishman

    @Baud:

    there are also many different types of presidential systems as well. One big thing to keep in mind is that the rules for electing the legislature are different than whether a system is presidential or parliamentary. (Germany, the UK and Ireland are all parliamentary systems, but play out very differently in practice)

  123. 123.

    Elizabelle

    @eversor:  Perhaps he didn’t want to put you through it, or just wanted the privacy.  Also could have feared not going through with it.

    Anyway, very sorry for your loss.

  126. 126.

    Fake Irishman

    @Amir Khalid:

    Heck, the UK generally has had long-term rule of a single party: since 1979: 18 years for the Tories, 13 for Labour, 12 and counting for the Tories. Same in Germany since 1949: the CDU had 20, 15, and 15 year runs in power as the leading coalition member. In Italy, the DC was the lead party in Goverment from 1947 to its implosion in 1993.

    (yes, I’ve taught intro to comparative politics at two universities, why do you ask?)

  128. 128.

    Geminid

    @Calouste: Oh, I wasn’t saying that all parliamentary systems are bad. But I think those that use national proportional representation are problematic, and that Iraq and Israel are good examples of this.

    I could be wrong, but I believe the example you used, Germany, elects members from individual districts like France does. I know that Germany also has a federal system that distributes substantial authority to regional governments, like the U.S and unlike France.

  130. 130.

    eversor

    @Elizabelle:

    I think that you hit it and then missed it.  I don’t think he wanted to put it on me, and he knew I would have.  I also think he didn’t want to put it on himself to have me do it.

    But again, I’m not mad that he took his life, I get that, I may even agree it was the right call.  I’m just mad I wasn’t there for it.  Not to stop it.  But just to be there.  And it’s an odd thing to say and I don’t think I can express what I am trying to say or most here wil get it.  I’m OK with what he did, I just wanted to be part of it.

  131. 131.

    JML

    @eversor: I think I understand what you’re saying. He may have not wanted that to be the last time you saw each other, either. (Always one of the hardest part about completing a suicide; even with a note there end up being questions for those left behind) I’m very sorry for your pain. You were a good friend.

  132. 132.

    Geminid

    @Betty Cracker: Democrats have shown a lot of discipline since their wrangle over emergency border funding in July, 2019. I think the two wings of House Caucus came out of that dispute with greater mutual understanding and respect, and a will to keep fights within the family.

    People in media frequently toss “apples of discord” with the hope Democrats will fight over them. Some of the rank and file fall for this, the elected members not so much.

  134. 134.

    scav

    @Tony Jay: That was a pretty satisfying overt drop-kick at Truss. Wonder if that was the welcome mat for their postponed meeting or just a nonchalant wave in the rearview mirror?  Never bothered remembering the date it bounced to.

  141. 141.

    Soprano2

    @eversor: I heard an interview on “Fresh Air” of a woman who wrote a book about she and her husband going to Switzerland so he could have an assisted death because he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and wanted to die before his symptoms got really bad. It was hard for me to listen to because my grandfather had dementia, but I understood why they did it and they were lucky enough to have the means to do it. I’m sorry there was no help for your friend, chronic pain and health issues can definitely make you feel that your life is no longer worth living some days.

  142. 142.

    Geminid

    @Elizabelle: Charlottesville is certainly attracting talented artists to its venues. Johnny Mathis sang at the Paramount Theater earlier this month.

    When I read up on Mr. Mathis’s career, I was interested to see that he was known as a talented track athlete. When he attended San Fransisco State. Mathis was the second best high jumper in California, behind the late Bill Russell. But when he had to choose between trying out for the 1956 U.S. Olympic team and making his first recordings in New York City, Mathis chose singing.

  145. 145.

    Annie

    @eversor:

    I am so sorry.  FWIW, I spent some time in therapy after I lost a friend the same way.  It helped but it did take time for me to stop wondering if there was something I could have done to help him.

  146. 146.

    eversor

    @Annie:

    Thanks for kind words but I could not help.  He had made that call long ago and I could not change it.  Nor was it my calll to change!  He made that decision for deeply personal decisions.  I can’t judge him.  I can feel sorry, but I can'[t judge him.

  148. 148.

    Tony Jay

    @scav:

    Today, I think, in the darkened recesses of the UN building, where no one can hear you laugh right in a moron’s face.

    Joe has a good, professional team around him. I can’t believe the dig was an accident.

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