A lot of media companies are bending over backward to make sure a very vocal 30% of the country does not call them partisan. Happened to be the same 30% Biden was soberly discussing https://t.co/8uvQPgSAls
— Amanda Katz (@katzish) September 3, 2022
Maybe the most subtle lie of the past six or seven years is characterizing references to Republicans, or portions of Republicans or even individual Republicans, as criticism or accusation against "half the country." https://t.co/ePJelqWrWB
— Gavin Fox (@FantasticGvnFox) September 2, 2022
Empty barrels make the most noise. I keep meaning to post about this, because the Media Village Idiots consider themselves to have a real incentive to inflate the number of Strong, Committed Conservative Voters, despite all evidence to the contrary. Here’s Phillip Bump, at the Washington Post, on “Figuring out how many ‘MAGA Republicans’ there actually are”. It’s a long, wonky discussion on the pearl-clutching around President Biden calling out “semi-fascism” among the GOP:
… This question of how people view the 2020 election is asked regularly. Just last month, for example, YouGov asked the question on behalf of the Economist. They determined that nearly 7 in 10 Republicans believed Biden didn’t legitimately win. So how much of the country is that?
Well, about 20 percent of the country is under age 18, so we will ignore them. How many adults are Republicans? Gallup polls on this regularly. In its most recent iteration of the poll, it found that 28 percent of the country identifies as Republican while 41 percent identify as independent. Of those independents, though, more than a third lean Republican. So 45 percent of American adults are Republican or Republican-leaning independent…
We move on to support for candidates who reject the election results. This is fairly easy to determine, thanks to polling produced this summer by Pew Research Center. Pew asked Americans how they felt about leaders who said that Trump was the legitimate winner in 2020 — and whether they liked such leaders a little or a lot. A third of Republicans said they liked such leaders a lot; another 19 percent said they liked them a little. That’s about 11 percent of the country, then, that likes such leaders…
Then we consider Biden’s assessment of how Jan. 6 rioters were viewed. In the YouGov poll mentioned above, respondents were asked if they approved of “Trump supporters taking over the Capitol building” on that say — an admittedly generous way of phrasing it. But more than a quarter of Republicans said they approved at least somewhat, some 6 percent of the population…
Now we get into the trickier question: support for the political use of violence. One report from Bright Line Watch in November found limited support for the specific question at hand. Would Republicans endorse the commission of violent felonies to accomplish their political goals? Very few agreed. Asked if they supported political violence if Democrats won in 2024, though, about 10 percent of strong Republicans said they supported the use of violence.
In March, The Washington Post and our partners at ABC News asked Americans the extent to which they viewed violence against the government as potentially justified. About 4 in 10 Republicans (and the same percentage of Republicans and leaning independents) believed that it was. That’s about 9 percent of the population (or 15 percent in the case of GOP/leaners)…
Again, we can’t assume that these percentages all overlap. But we get a consistent picture. Over and over, about 10 percent of the population (plus or minus a few percentage points) expresses the sort of view that Biden articulated: Republican or Republican-leaning and in favor of the positions he associated with “MAGA.”
If one agrees with Biden that this group poses a threat to American democracy, it is reassuring that it constitutes a tenth of the public — and not, as Biden’s detractors had it — half.
The GOP Death Cult needs to be stopped, and part of the effort has to be tearing away their boastful, inflated ‘half the country’ bullsh*t scrim. They’re a minority, and in their shrunken little hearts they know that, and they’re determined to tear down the whole country if their minority is no longer allowed to rule everything.
Divisive Joe Biden, openly refusing to be inclusive of fascist-Americans. Folks really be tagging themselves out here tonight.
— Mig Greengard (@chessninja) September 2, 2022
If you made polls asking about fascist actions, how do you think it would go? "Do you think Donald Trump is the rightful US president and should replace Biden by force if necessary?" Okay to condemn anyone who says yes to that or nah?
— Mig Greengard (@chessninja) September 2, 2022
"Mr McCarthy, what do you say to the 5 million patriotic, hard-working Americans who agree with the statement "Biden should be dragged out and hanged on the White House South Lawn and Trump returned to office immediately?"" "Keep voting GOP!"
— Mig Greengard (@chessninja) September 2, 2022
Almost Retired
Good Morning! I never get to say “good morning” on the early morning threads because I’m in the Pacific Time Zone, and most of you are thinking about lunch by the time I get to the computer. But I’m in a different time zone and so….good morning! Jesus, it’s early….
ETA: On my travels I’m noticing a direct relationship in certain rural areas: The more beautiful the scenery, the more likely you are to encounter Let’s Go Brandon signs. Do beautiful Fall colors make people more fascistic?
Baud
@Almost Retired:
Good morning.
p.a.
Good morning! Remembering the SNL GMA skit… 😉
Re: Ooooh he called us fascist!: stuck pig’s gonna squeal.
sab
@Almost Retired: My aunt lived out in the country. She always said two kinds of people lived out there: those who loved being near nature, and those who didn’t have the social skills to live in a town
ETA One of her neighbors shot and killed her English setter because the sweet old girl was trespassing.
Almost Retired
@sab:
I wish fascism followed the Fall colors: Peaks in October but is gone by November.
Benw
They’re whining he’s divisive , but not that he’s wrong…
LiminalOwl
@Almost Retired: Good morning!
re: scenic areas—I hope not but fear you may be right. Having recently moved to an area of beautiful fall foliage… only one house in the area (that I’ve seen) has a yuge “Let’s Go Brandon” sign, but there are definitely too many Geoff Diehl signs for my comfort, and not nearly enough Maura Healey.
(Glossing for non-Massholes: Healey is the Democratic candidate for governor. Diehl is the Republican party’s choice; even in allegedly blue MA, they are running a hard-core Christofascist election-denier. I don’t think he has much of a chance, but he’s polling around 30%, and enough people dislike Healey that yes, I’m worried. And just the fact that he has that much support is uncomfortable.)
NotMax
@Almost Retired
Two in the ante meridian here, so technically morning.
Baud
@LiminalOwl:
Huh? 30% is nothing. Even Biden got 30% in Wyoming.
MagdaInBlack
@sab: Having come from “out in the country” I have to agree with your aunt. I’d also like to think I am among the first type, most of the time.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
Rudy did the old fashioned, patented stack o’ checks dump on his hearing yesterday.
nypost.com/2022/10/07/judge-chides-apologetic-rudy-giuliani-for-missing-court-date/
Family Court peeps see this all the time – the last minute canceled check dump that never adds up to anything close to what the litigant that’s in contempt and needs to purge thinks it’s worth. What it frequently does do is buy some time.
I can’t say I’m shocked because this is such a common thing, but I am surprised that such a resource-heavy litigant like Giuliani didn’t find somebody to crunch the numbers into an Excel spreadsheet.
This isn’t 1990.
sab
@MagdaInBlack: I have always thought Ozark Hillbilly is also one of the first type.
mrmoshpotato
Whoopi Goldberg needs to tell John McCain’s daughter about the 8 years that Barack Obama was President.
ETA – and then watch Megs head explode when she hears about the 4 years of the Kremlin’s orange fascist shitstain.
mrmoshpotato
@Almost Retired:
Hahaha. Good morning!
germy shoemangler
Kevin Kruse is back. A thread:
Matt McIrvin
Since they’ve been calling Democrats un-American, unpatriotic, Communist agents, baby-killers and child-fuckers for as long as I can remember, they can go to hell
(Hidden in the complaint is the implication that Democrats are, in fact, NOT “half the country” in the way that Republicans are. Well, self-identified Democrats aren’t but we do get popular-vote majorities more often than they do.)
NotMax
The Barrel.
germy shoemangler
If dogs talked to each other on social media:
sab
Thinking of Meghan McCain as a loud empty barrel will cheer me up.
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: We Massholes would like to believe Massachusetts is bluer than it is. It is very blue, but we still have a substantial MAGA population in the suburbs and exurbs.
But we also have a history of electing Republican Governors, who in recent cycles have been moderates. It is reassuring to see that this support doesn’t seem to persist if they nominate a hard-right candidate.
The disaster of Scott Brown’s Senate win in the 2010 special election (which seemed at the time like it had killed the Affordable Care Act) still makes us wary too.
prostratedragon
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Even lamer is claiming to have missed court because he wrote down the wrong date.
geg6
@Almost Retired:
No. In my experience here in PA, which has spectacular fall landscapes, it’s due to living in insular rural areas where all the faces are white, the college educated and youngs with any ambition get out as soon as possible, there are few economic opportunities and evangelical Christianity is ubiquitous.
Suzanne
@sab:
Accurate. FWIW, this is why I have suspected for decades that people who live in urban areas are more liberal. If you live in a city, you have to get good at cooperating and compartmentalizing. Knowing when to uphold the social contract and when to MYOB.
Good morning! It is brisk today! We have planned a family day trip to Moraine State Park to get our fall foliage on. At this moment, however, I am on my front porch, with bedhead, with coffee, in my bathrobe and slippers.
I went to a special yoga class last night, with a DJ and glow sticks. Very silly and fun. But…I learned an amazing pose: bird of paradise. With just a few minutes of practice, I can now do it on both sides pretty fluidly.
MazeDancer
What a great day to write PostCards!
Did you know that a VA study found that personal PostCards are equal to or better than door-to-door canvassing.
So, yes, you can GOTV at home!
Just click my nym or head over to http://www.PostCardPatriots.com
Geminid
@Matt McIrvin: I think Scott Brown will run against Liz Warren in 2024. He probably won’t win but that race will get a lot of attention.
Brown has kept a fairly low profile since he moved back to the Commonwealth, but he shows up some at local party events, and endorses selected candidates.
NotMax
Not a recommendation, more a notation about an odd duck on Prime, namely Voltaire High (original title Mixte). One short season only . Of interest mostly to see how far they’re willing to push the premise. As is the norm for so many similar programs, a goodly fraction of the actors ostensibly playing 15, 16 and 17-year-olds appear to be in their middle twenties; so it goes.
One character type everyone will recognize, whether he taught that subject or another in your school , is the Latin teacher.
MattF
Pleased to see some extended discussion of actual partisan percentages. I’m always annoyed when ‘half’ in headlines turn out to mean ‘half of Republicans’ without any hint of the actual fraction of Republican voters among all voters.
danielx
37 degrees, didn’t get above 60 yesterday….
prostratedragon
@NotMax: Nice.
@Matt McIrvin: Illinois is similar. Our near-death experience was slipping up and letting Bruce the Vandal Rauner get into the governorship, based on slightly insufficient metro area turnout. I hope we haven’t forgotten.
WereBear
@germy shoemangler: Then they get a hold of the Grub Hub app…
germy shoemangler
germy shoemangler
@WereBear:
mrmoshpotato
@danielx: Don’t worry. It’ll get worse. 😁
Geminid
@prostratedragon: Illinois Democrats’ successful gerrymander may make difference in the fight to hold the House.
And it should give Watergirl a Democratic Congresswoman!
mrmoshpotato
@prostratedragon:
Has that fucker Bailey called Chicago a “hellhole” yet this week?
SiubhanDuinne
@MazeDancer:
That Herschel Walker lady would’ve had more luck with @SteveInTheATL if she’d just written him a postcard!
:-)
Dorothy A. Winsor
“Half” is an interesting descriptor. People say things like “if 20,000 votes had been switched in key states, Trump would have won.” That does sound like the country is evenly divided. But the electoral system and voting rights/abilities, and gerrymandering have been worked over hard to make that appearance gel
Trucmat
The half the country BS has been bugging me for some time but never as much as when MAGA Republicans overinflate their numbers. It’s important to push back on this because it affects morale on both sides.
Did I just use “both sides” in a non-insidious way? Didn’t know that could be done.
P.S. Nice place here. Been reading off and on for a long time . Think I’ll go with Trucmat for a nym for the few times I may post.
Anonymous Expat
@LiminalOwl: maybe get more than two viable choices by getting an alternative voting system in place the next time a ballot initiative for it rolls around.
You’ll never depoliticize politics, but a decade of northern European living has convinced me that single-member legislative districts are for chumps.
mrmoshpotato
@WereBear:
All of today’s stock of rotisserie chicken! P.S. Arf!
Suzanne
As someone who really loves the graphic/paper arts, such as printmaking, calligraphy, bookmaking, etc…..I would love to make some amazing postcards and send them out. Maybe letterpress?
OOOOOOHHHHH now I need to find a letterpress place nearby…..
AW SHIIIIT….. this is how it starts and I get obsessive.
mrmoshpotato
@Anonymous Expat:
I understand that the early bird catches the worm, but it’s Saturday morning. Football hasn’t even started, and here you go already winning the Internet.
mrmoshpotato
@Suzanne:
Please remember to get dressed before setting out on your quest. 😁
(I did not intend for that to rhyme.)
prostratedragon
@Geminid: See below.
@mrmoshpotato: Don’t know, don’t watch that much local stations these days. Now that you’ve reminded me, I might be catching even less. But that’s exactly the race where a letdown would concern me. In 2014, even though Rauner got less than 10 percent of the City vote and not much more in the suburbs, he still won because turnout wasn’t high enough. Now, that hasn’t happened since, and I think it’s largely because of that awakening effect, but like I said, …
danielx
@mrmoshpotato:
Not complaining, it’s beautiful at the moment.
OzarkHillbilly
Both of those apply to me.
It is in small towns where most of the people in rural counties live and, as opposed to big cities where it is quite easy to live anonymously, in small towns everybody is up in everybody else’s business. My youngest once told me he was amazed that I managed to live in Bourbon for almost a decade and when I left, all anybody knew of me was that I was my sons’ father. I was very happy to leave a place with so many silent constraints (the easiest way to get people to leave me alone has always been to tell them I’m an atheist) but a part of me still misses STL.
As is, I am going to die on this tiny, neighborless parcel of hill and holler, hidden among the trees with only the birds and critters to keep me company. Well, them and my wife.
Immanentize
@NotMax:
Beautiful song! but from the comments:
mrmoshpotato
@prostratedragon: Well, he also did shitty things like held the state budget hostage for two years because he wanted to wreck public unions. Sadly, he hasn’t kept his promise to piss off to Italy.
Eolirin
@prostratedragon: Whatever else happens I don’t think this is going to be a low turn out election.
prostratedragon
@Suzanne:
Exactly one other person in the theater laughed out loud when Michael Caine’s character, custodian of the place where they sent de Sade, said this. You had to see the complusive searching frantically for the right ‘a.’
OzarkHillbilly
I remember when trump won and people said the same thing about 80,000 votes. It’s only because of the electoral college that a minority of the people are capable of electing a buffoon to the White House by weighing voters in some states as more important than voters in other states.
SiubhanDuinne
I often have bizarre dreams. Sometimes I remember them, sometimes I don’t. I try to write down the weirdest or most personal or powerful for later analysis (old habit from when I was in therapy). The one I had early this morning was one of the oddest dream experiences I’ve had in a long time:
In my dream, I’m asleep, and while I am sleeping (in my dream) somebody tattoos an intricate design on my feet and ankles, and I dream about this (within the dream) and then I wake up (still in the dream) and my feet are all covered in what’s meant to look like strappy black sandals and little ankle socks with frilly lace cuffs. I take one look at them and start screaming and cursing at the tattoo artist that that better not be permanent ink, this better just be a bad joke, I hate tattoos and even if I didn’t I would still hate these tattoos because they’ll look stupid when I’m wearing other shoes. I was shouting and sobbing, I was so mad. Then I woke up IRL and I think I must have woken myself by actually yelling out loud, and my pillow was wet with tears and my face was wet from crying.
WTF.
MattF
@Matt McIrvin: In that vein, a WaPo article about the trials of being MAGA in Maryland.
prostratedragon
@mrmoshpotato: Hence “the Vandal.” Whatever else he might have done, that alone was destructive enough to earn the name. ‘Course, looks like their hands are full enough in Italy without recapitulating in an even larger loop.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@prostratedragon:
That legit happens occasionally, but you make up for it by being completely prepared on return.
Geoduck
War news: The Ukrainians (presumably) hit the bridge that connects Crimea to the Russian mainland. Kind of surprised they didn’t leave that intact until they were more actively threatening to reclaim Crimea.
Immanentize
@SiubhanDuinne: were you reading Paul Bowles’ Sheltering Sky at the time? Urge to drink tea in the dunes too?
MattF
@MattF: A gifted link to the article: wapo.st/3V7NAqN
germy shoemangler
@Geoduck:
Three people killed in bridge explosion, says Russia
narya
@prostratedragon: I’ve seen some ads in pretty heavy rotation–particularly the woman who describes a problematic pregnancy and says that Bailey would have forced her to carry [maybe a dead fetus? something like that]. Middle-class white lady, speaking quietly and with obvious sadness. I can’t help but think that that will motivate folks who might otherwise skip the election to get off their butts. I also think JB has done a good job, particularly with Covid, so the ALL THE VIOLENCES ads don’t land as hard.
Immanentize
@Geoduck: Reported to be a car or truck bomb.
Or read Germy’s article…
germy shoemangler
@Immanentize:
I thought Russian troops would have been guarding that bridge. Either they were absent or not paying attention…
MattF
@Immanentize: Or possibly a bomb on a train.
Geminid
@Geoduck: The strike on the bridge is actually well timed. This will subtract a lot from Russian logistics capability right when they are hard pressed on the southern front.
OzarkHillbilly
@germy shoemangler: I had wondered where KK went.
Immanentize
@MattF:
beats snakes on a plane
germy shoemangler
zhena gogolia
@germy shoemangler: Gee, the front page of my morning NYT is warning of “worries” about “inflation.”
germy shoemangler
@OzarkHillbilly:
Yes, Dinesh D’Souza and various other frauds had a field day mocking him without understanding all the facts.
germy shoemangler
@zhena gogolia:
All of corporate media is doing that. An added benefit of electing republicans is that media owners see their taxes go down.
zhena gogolia
@Geminid: Lots of discussion down on the UKR thread.
germy shoemangler
Russia has an anti-terrorism committee??
That would be like my neighbor’s dog having an anti-shitting on Germy’s lawn committee.
I mean, Putin sends agents to poison opponents. And parts of Ukraine that were occupied by Russian troops are now full of mass graves, women and children included.
OzarkHillbilly
@germy shoemangler: Not surprising considering Dinesh D’Souza is one of KK’s favorite sparring “partners”. Also among the easiest to knock out. DD’S has an intellectual glass jaw.
MattF
@germy shoemangler: All you have to do is redefine every word in that sentence. Easy-peasy.
Immanentize
@SiubhanDuinne:I have become intrigued by your dream. What you dreamt does not seem to exist, at least not on the internet … Yet!
But this nightmare did
In the dream analysis world in which everyone in your dream is you, why would you do that to your feet?
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@geg6:
In the mid-90s when we were deciding to leave DC, we’d looked at south Central PA (around Burnt Cabins) as a place to move to. Spectacular fall scenery.
Instead we moved to Central Misery. Spectacular fall scenery. But over our 22 years there, we watched your description play out in real time. The only difference is the lack of evangelical christianity there. It was this 3-county pocket of conservative catholicism–people didn’t wear their religion on their sleeve but the sentiments were the same as their protestant brethren.
Now, the further south into the Ozarks one went, yeah, the evangelical presence explodes. First time I went to Springfield and saw the slew of “Six Flags Over Jesus” megachurches, I knew why that area had the batshit, insane reputation it did.
Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
@germy shoemangler: But the good news on the job front is always reported in the headlines as something like: “tight job market is still pushing inflation and so the Fed will be increasing interest rates and so the DOW dropped again today by a ridiculous amount!” Because of course no economic number is ever good for Democrats.
Wapiti
@SiubhanDuinne: Woah, that’s a weird dream; hope you can figure it out.
Amir Khalid
@germy shoemangler:
When did Dinesh ever understand much of anything?
prostratedragon
@narya: I have seen some like that on MSNBC in recent days, and others that were clearly placed by Democrats. They seem pitched toward people who want to be involved in something positive. Some go around several average-looking folks talking about problems that they could solve with the help of some law or program the Dems have put in place. There’s one with a man touting good noncollege jobs that one can now train for. The few that I’ve seen from the other crowd lately have been quite repellent by contrast.
WaterGirl
@Trucmat: Welcome to commenting! The first comment has to be approve manually, and I just now saw it. After this, your comments will show up for everyone right away.
SiubhanDuinne
@Immanentize:
OMG, that image is terrifying!
Haven’t the foggiest. I’m generally pretty adept at working out my own dream symbolism, but so far this one is baffling me.
SiubhanDuinne
@Wapiti:
Heh, I keep glancing down at my feet for reassurance that they really aren’t tottooed.
Another Scott
If I were to make excuses for MSM US political reporting, I would look at the GSS political self-identification trends on the Conservative-Moderate-Liberal scale.
There are more self-identified “moderates” than “conservatives” than “liberals”. Therefore, political reporting should reflect that.
But, that’s lazy reporting because it ignores trends (liberals are increasing while moderates and conservatives are flat or falling), and ignores that the groups are roughly equal sized, and ignores the fact that we vote for candidates who are members of political parties not politicians who are self-identified members of large nebulous groups, etc.
So I won’t.
Cheers,
Scott.
LiminalOwl
@Baud: Sorry I wasn’t clear. 30% is nothing so long as the Dems who hate Healey still vote for her anyway. Look: only a couple of years ago, polls showed 90-something percent of MA Democrats expressed approval of Charlie Baker. And yes, for a Republican, Baker was a moderate—but he sat out 2020, and he did his best to destroy the T. He’s not a good guy, and I worry about the Democrats willing to pretend otherwise.
germy shoemangler
Proctors is an old vaudeville theater that was rescued from demolition in the 1970s. Everyone from George Burns to the Marx brothers to various jazz groups performed there back in the day (100 years ago).
Another Scott
@MattF: The sagging steel seems most likely to have been caused by the fire.
Looking at that CCTV clip from the guy with the desk full of monitors, it looks to me like there was a blast on the roadway and then a few seconds later we start seeing the yellow light from the train fire. It seems like the roadway event happened first (and the train fire was started by shrapnel, etc., from the road explosion).
But who knows.
Cheers,
Scott.
knally
@Immanentize: The Joy of Socks?
germy shoemangler
Journalists Marvel At Maggie Haberman’s Ability To Get Man Who Never Shuts Up To Answer Questions
Omnes Omnibus
@Wapiti:
Probably something to do with her mother and/or toilet training.
Baud
@LiminalOwl:
If he’s polling at 30%, then the voting dropoff would have to be massive for her to lose.
narya
@prostratedragon: Yeah, I have to say, the Dem ads are clear, straightforward, etc. The others are very shouty, lots of dark flashy stuff, lots of THREATS. I’m always skeptical of my own reactions, though, because I know I’m not the audience for either. I also have to say, the ads trying to portray JB as “too radical” are just weird: too radical in exactly what way?
Baud
Via Reddit, this is spot on. I hope it penetrates.
i.redd.it/t41vqjl9uks91.jpg
OzarkHillbilly
@Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!): They have a choice to make. Is the glass half Republican or half Democrat?
Kropacetic
It doesn’t help that the Republican party has abused all three terms beyond recognition. For starters, those terms aren’t mutually exclusive. One can be all three.
Another Scott
@Baud: 💯
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: I have never once said his name out loud – not once, even during his entire term – I couldn’t bring myself to say it and I don’t even write it , that would be like conjuring up Satan.
Such a relief that he’s gone.
Another Scott
@Kropacetic: Sure.
But one could make that hypothetical argument based on the data.
It’s equating the GQP with Conservatives, and all the rest, where it gets lazy and bends toward disinformation.
Cheers,
Scott.
Kropacetic
@Baud: That 30 percent is only a little short of what he got against Liz Warren four years ago. Also, my gut instinct from 2 decades of volunteering for MA governor campaigns is that this feels like a year we’re going to win. Best volunteer turnout I’ve ever seen.
Baud
@Kropacetic:
Thanks. I don’t know anything about what’s going on. But if it’s a 2 person race, 30% is almost automatic.
Kropacetic
@Baud: The typical crazification factor plus 5 to 10 percent confusion factor.
Layer8Problem
@LiminalOwl:
” . . . for a Republican, Baker was a moderate—but he sat out 2020, and he did his best to destroy the T.”
I read that, thought “when did Baker lift a finger to destroy Trump?”, and then cognizance was reestablished. I’ve been off of the Red Line for a few years now.
LiminalOwl
@Suzanne: If you were to give in to that temptation, might you consider making enough postcards to sell some to the rest of us? (I understand that time/energy/resource cost might well be prohibitive of mass production.)
Haydnseek
@SiubhanDuinne: Reminds me of a dream I shared with my dad one day maybe 30 years ago. We both play guitar. We approach it differently but love it. One day I asked him if he had ever had that dream where you’re playing something you could never play before and it’s easy. You can’t believe that you’ve just discovered the secret that all great players know and when you wake up you’ll still be able to play that well because you finally know the secret.
He was amazed. He said he has had that dream more than once but never thought that anybody else had. He described it perfectly. We just looked at each other and started laughing. I still miss him so much that sometimes it still hurts, but we go on because what else can you do?
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Haydnseek:
I’ve had that dream!
LiminalOwl
@Baud: Yes. That’s why I’m only a little worried, instead of terrified.
ETA: And thanks for the Brianna Wu jpg.
@Kropacetic: Thank you, and I hope you’re right. (So maybe I’m overreacting, but Diehl does scare me.)
SiubhanDuinne
@Haydnseek:
What a really lovely story, and great memory of your dad to cherish.
I know that experience, too, of dreaming I’m capable of physical feats that are just not ever happening in my real life!
OzarkHillbilly
I’ve heard of snakes on a plane but this is ridiculous.
suzanne
@LiminalOwl: Yeah yeah. We’ll see. Won’t be for this election, but maybe in the future!
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl:
I said his name plenty of times – with cursing before it.
Oh, I update DuckDuckGo, and it’s all “New browser. Who dis?”
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Excuse me while I whip this out.
Tdjr
@Suzanne: We were at McConnell’s Mill last week. Absolutely gorgeous! Have you been?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Lemme guess: Exceptions for police and fire?
mrmoshpotato
@OzarkHillbilly: Are those three pythons in your pants, or are you really happy to see me?
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: One, two, three. Three pants pythons. Aht. Aht. Aht.
-Count von Count
Sesame Street After Dark
(Not sorry.)
mrmoshpotato
@Tdjr:
Did you throw Mitch through the band saw?
Baud
Anyone else depressed because the quality of the road on the Crimean bridge looks better than a lot of US bridges?
Thank God for Biden’s infrastructure week.
mrmoshpotato
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Don’t remember, not looking it up. :)
geg6
@Tdjr:
Seconded. So beautiful there.
Miss Bianca
@Almost Retired: That would be my valley. Beautiful place, a lot of ugly people.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: It looks better than a lot of Russian bridges, TBH.
Baud
@Tdjr:
are there a lot of turtles there?
Another Scott
Meanwhile, …
Good, good. Press the advantage. There will be setbacks, there always are, but success breeds success.
Cheers,
Scott.
Matt McIrvin
@MattF: I’ve often thought that Trump’s true base was blue-state Republicans. In 2016, they voted for him in deep red America but among the devout religious conservatives, there was still a touch of embarrassment there that hadn’t yet burned away. But the conservatives who lived in liberal states fucking loved Trump. He expressed the hate they felt for everyone around them. He was the human embodiment of the middle finger they wanted to raise to their neighbors every day.
Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
@Baud: No, McConnel’s Mill State Park is in the Slippery Rock Creek Gorge. It was one of my favorite places to visit when I was a kid growing up in W. PA. Beautiful with lots of boulders.
Matt McIrvin
@Another Scott:
Ah yes, the three great camps: conservatives, liberals and liars.
(I’m kind of amazed that these are as flat as they are. “Liberal” became such a term of abuse in the 1980s that it seemed like nobody wanted to be one–they’d use terms like “progressive” instead. I think a lot of the “I’m a leftist, not a liberal” identification is actually fallout from that even though it was the right that done it.)
lowtechcyclist
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
One would hope that was a typo on your part, and they were “Six Flags Under Jesus” at least, as in, you know, in Christian belief he’s King of Kings, nothing’s over him.
But don’t worry, I have precious little hope in that. Those people have no understanding of the religion they claim as theirs.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: After I hit post I thought that we certainly wouldn’t have to worry about the pantless Baud trying this. Maybe I was wrong.
Captain C
@LiminalOwl: 30% is within margin of error of the crazification factor.
germy shoemangler
@Matt McIrvin:
Remember Phil Ochs singing “Love Me I’m A Liberal” in 1966?
Captain C
@prostratedragon: I realize that he is or is in the process of being disbarred, but isn’t that the kind of thing an experienced lawyer should get right, no matter how sauced he is?
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
I’ve never been big on labels, but I’m become partial to “liberal” over other descriptions.
Baud
@germy shoemangler:
So that’s where Reagan got it from!
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊
James E Powell
@Geminid:
Scott Brown? Isn’t he way past his shelf life? Wouldn’t a MAGA Republican beat him in the primary?
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Expat
Republicans vote Republican. The Republicans they elect support MAGA, Trump and the theocratic fascism being installed in America. Consequently, half of America is fascist and disgusting. It is perhaps understandable that some quasi-literate, mullet-headed Baptist thug from Texas be Republican and MAGA, but it is purely evil that some educated upper middle class or rich atheist from Connecticut be Republican because of taxes and immigration while ignoring the rest.
When we call MAGAts “fascists” we are tarring the entire party, as we should.
Ksmiami
@Baud: drove through Romania. The new highways there make the US look like the third world…
Expat
@lowtechcyclist: That depends on how you interpret the two novels involved. If you use all of both, then Southern Baptists are perfect Christians.
NotMax
Perusing some of this thread makes me even more grateful to be among those who never remember dreams. Doubtless I have them but based on lived experience I am incapable of swearing to that.
An anecdatum is that in the first half or so of the 20th century the percentage of people who reported their dreams being in black and white soared and then tapered off in parallel with the prevalence of color movies and TV. There have been studies reporting that people whose childhood and adolescence was primarily in the b&w media era still today claim to regularly dream more in black and white than in color.
Matt McIrvin
@germy shoemangler: Yes, but I see that as a fairly genuine evisceration of 1960s liberal hypocrisies. What I hated, though, was seeing right-wingers actually seize on that song as a “liberals are the real racists” anthem in the 2000s.
germy shoemangler
@NotMax:
I never understood why people say text doesn’t appear in dreams.
In my dreams I’m always reading stuff. Headlines, road signs, billboards, etc. And I dream in color.
When I was very young I used to have a “flying” dream, where I would only float about five feet off the ground and fly horizontally. Another childhood dream was giant things in the sky that looked like long tractor trailers or trains. I don’t have those dreams anymore.
Nowadays about twice a year I have the “hidden room” dream, where I discover a part of my house I’ve never seen before and it’s full of antiques.
germy shoemangler
@Matt McIrvin:
Right wingers seize. It’s what they do.
We give them ammo sometimes, and sometimes they create ammo out of nothing.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Everyone is a hypocrite at some level.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: Not me.
eclare
@Ksmiami: Croatia is the same, amazing highways, surrounded by many wind turbines
NotMax
@germy shoemangler
Out of curiosity have those hidden room dreams followed you from domicile to domicile or are they relegated to your current abode?
NotMax
May have missed it being mentioned. Judy Tenuta has shuffled off the mortal coil at 72.
Kropacetic
@LiminalOwl: No problem though I did kind of a bad job today. Social anxiety already kicking to start and it went into overdrive when I knocked at a house where I didn’t notice the Let’s Go Brandon flags til too late.
Only got through one street before I called it.
Citizen Alan
@prostratedragon:
To be fair, one of the absolute dumbest bankruptcy clients I ever had missed his 341 meeting of creditors because I told him it was at 9 o’clock on Friday and so he showed up at 9 o’clock that evening to find the door’s locked.
germy shoemangler
@NotMax:
Followed me from house to house.
Sometimes it’s the house I grew up in. Sometimes it’s our current home.
germy shoemangler
Ruckus
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
“This isn’t 1990.”
It might be to rudy.
He’s 78, not all that old, but. He looks and acts like he’s about 10 yrs older. Which means the last 10-15 yrs may be a blur to him. Not all of us live to be 98 yrs old, some of us age out a lot faster. As someone not all that far behind him in age, and who has watched parents, friends parents, siblings, aunts/uncles, friends all age out one can see the future, or maybe actually they can’t, because rear views and what it takes to keep up slowly go away. Until they start to go away rapidly. It’s a different age for everyone but rational thought and even maturity begins to be a thing of the past. And Rudy strikes me as someone who was short on maturity and rational thought 21 yrs ago. He seemingly hasn’t improved since.
Kent
A lot of rural areas are frankly beautiful because everyone has left and there is not much economy there. What remains is mostly butt-hurt old people who are upset that the rest of the country has left them behind.
Miss Bianca
@NotMax: RIP : (
My favorite Judyism (please read to yourself in her trademark raspy voice):
“I’m gonna solve this nature versus nurture thing once and for all. I’m gonna have identical twin girls and I’m gonna name one of them Tiffany… and the other one Pus.”
mrmoshpotato
@Ruckus:
I doubt him deciding to lose his damn mind at the 2016 RNC helped.
Kropacetic
I doubt there was a sane person in attendance. Yes, that includes media.
trollhattan
@NotMax: Oh shit. Judy’s peak was brief but I swear she’s one of the funniest comedians of all time.
Thanks for the laughs, Judy, and by laughs I mean practically putting me into a hospital from internal injury.
mrmoshpotato
True. Especially for those who chose to frantically report on the orange fascist’s ramblings because “Hillary’s gonna win anyway.”
Well done to those insane bastards.
Ruckus
@OzarkHillbilly:
“the easiest way to get people to leave me alone has always been to tell them I’m an atheist”
Damn, my secret is out…..
Some things never get old. I did live in OH for 11 yrs.
Ruckus
@SiubhanDuinne:
It means your mind is still working.
Seemingly overtime last night but still, it’s working!
Ruckus
@Geoduck:
They are fighting for their country, as in not losing it to some shithead who thinks his shit doesn’t stink. Sometimes the big picture has to be seen to be believed. I mean, vlad must know he’s losing, but he’ll likely never admit defeat. His country will, every other person but his major suck ups will, but he won’t. This will possibly end the war a lot sooner, with fewer Ukraine deaths. If it works, and given the terrain it likely will, it is a death knoll on Russian success. It’s possible that it will lead to vlad being removed from power.
Geminid
@James E Powell: Scott Brown is ten years younger than Elizabeth Warren. He’ll argue that she is the one past her shelf life.
As to whether he can win a Republican primary in Massachusetts, we will probably find out. He won’t lack for money, I think.
Ruckus
@OzarkHillbilly:
I agree that he likely has a glass jaw but there seems to be nothing intellectual about him, other than a lack thereof.
Ruckus
@SiubhanDuinne:
The baffling ones are the most fun in the end.
I mean, you get to see how your brain actually works. OK sometimes it malfunctions but still, it’s working.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: speaking of our governor, has everyone in Illinois seen this yet?
One-time Income Tax and Property Tax Rebates in Illinois.
Ruckus
@Captain C:
As I alluded to, he may not be old in absolute years, but he seems way older than his years. Getting old is not easy for everyone but he seems more than just past his prime. More like decades past. Don’t remember if I’ve posted this here before but about 6-8 yrs ago I had 14 friends pass in a 2 yr period. Only one was older than me and that was by one year. Not everyone lives to 100.
Elizabelle
Anne: thank you for highlighting that this is a bunch of loud-mouthed bullies with an oversized megaphone.
They’re amplified way too much through our
liberalscared enabling careerist craven (you choose) media.SiubhanDuinne
@Ruckus:
Yes indeed! I love teasing out themes and patterns that keep showing up in my dreams over the years.
SiubhanDuinne
@knally:
Heh
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
Heh heh
StringOnAStick
@Kropacetic: Rudy is fading because of serious abuse of alcohol. There is such a thing as alcoholic dementia. Heavy boozing burns brain cells, and Rudy is running out of cells.
Kropacetic
Leave it to a Republican to rapidly burn through a scarce, non-renewable resource.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
I can remember dreaming in B&W.
About a very bad SF movie I saw when I was a kid. Something about Martians I seem to recall. In the mid 50s
Other than that it’s been color.
Ruckus
@StringOnAStick:
Running out? or Run out?
LiminalOwl
@Ruckus: For me, the one B&W was when my mother took me to see A Hard Day’s Night. And the dream continued the movie’s storyline.
GibberJack
One in 10 is why MAGA loves boat and truck and semi-trailer parades. It makes them look bigger than they are.
J R in WV
I had a dream many decades ago which I still remember, unusual as I don’t often remember dreams at all, much less for a long time, and which still disturbs me to some degree. Brief, at least the part I remember.
I’m walking into a very nice, large men’s room, after I cross the room, I open a stall door. There’s a well dressed man inside, shot to death. The end… Maybe 15-20 seconds all told. Too many Bond movies?
Tdjr
@Baud: No. But I live near Turtle Creek PA. 🐢
J R in WV
@Ruckus:
My Dad worked late most nights, was managing editor of an AM newspaper. Some nights when I was very young I would wake up and quietly travel into the den, at the other end of the house, where Mom and Dad were chatting with the TV on, at that time of night usually B&W movies.
One night it was a SF movie with (remember I was very young) Clam Shells flying around shooting rays that melted things into lava, with much screaming and ominous music. The Clams would open up and blast towns with their melting rays!
I must have made a noise, because one of the parents came around the chair I was hiding behind and carried me back to bed, tucked me back in.
Does anyone remember a movie from the ’50s like that?
Was obviously, in adult retrospect, flying saucers with death rays melting things…
Brachiator
@J R in WV:
Could be the 1953 War of the Worlds. This was a color film. Don’t know if you had a color TV at the time.
sab
Yikes. Rudi Giuiliani is only ten years older than me and he is a complete basket case mentally./ cognitally. Sort of yikes for me, but I know lots of people that age who still can think
ETA Trump isn’t that much older. Brains rot at different speeds.