Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let there be snark.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

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

No one could have predicted…

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Usually wrong but never in doubt

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

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

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

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

“But what about the lurkers?”

This fight is for everything.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

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

You are here: Home / Elections / 2022 Elections / Thursday Morning Open Thread: Moving Fast, But Prudently

Thursday Morning Open Thread: Moving Fast, But Prudently

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Our Very Serious Media has trouble with this concept. Imagine — a president who actually likes people!

… Biden has never been at his best in big speeches, where his delivery can be stilted, his stories sometimes meandering. It’s the end of his speech that often marks the beginning of Biden’s favorite part of an event — the rope line, in the parlance of political operatives. He whirls around, scans the crowd and zeroes in on his first target for a one-on-one connection.

It might be with someone like Tim Eichinger, a Milwaukee brewery owner who asked Biden a question during a TV town hall 20 months ago, and has since had a one-on-one videoconference with the president and seen Biden send a couple of letters to his grandson.

It might be a small child — Biden likes to carry some cash so he can discretely slip kids a few dollars and encourage them to buy ice cream. It might be someone who stutters — they come in for special attention from the president.

After Biden gave a speech on student loans on Friday at Delaware State University, there were plentiful handshakes and photos with the students on stage. Last Tuesday, at a Democratic National Committee event in Washington, Biden invited one audience member backstage for a private photo, autographed some of the abortion rights signs that participants had been waving and mugged in a handful of selfies…

Biden, aides said, seems to detect when someone may be going through a personal or family crisis — perhaps informed by his own experiences with grief and challenge: the death of his first wife and daughter in a car crash, the loss of his son to cancer, his recovery from a pair of life-threatening brain aneurysms, a decades-long struggle to overcome a stutter.

“He just instinctually knows how to show up for what that person needs in whatever way that is,” said O’Malley Dillon.

Goepfert followed steps behind Biden at hundreds of events during the campaign and in the White House before he left in August. “I’ve seen him comfort people who were in tears talking about their personal hardships, console somebody who’s recently been diagnosed with cancer, honor a veteran servicemember with a handshake and one of his challenge coins, and also give a young person money for ice cream just for sitting through the speech — and all in the same rope line,” he said.

As Biden works his way through a crowd, he’ll often summon an aide to take someone backstage for a photo, collect their information for follow-up, or jot down the phone number of a loved one who couldn’t be there for a surprise call from the president.

In his armored limousine after an event, Biden “is ready to follow up with the people he met, and he’s already making those phone calls,” said Goepfert…

Speaking of politicians who genuinely love their jobs…

Not to pick a scab, but good for Rep. Raskin:

… “I am glad to learn of the withdrawal of the letter of October 24, 2022, which—because of its unfortunate timing and other flaws—led to the conflation of growing Republican opposition to support for Ukraine, as exemplified by recent statements of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, with the polar-opposite position of dozens of Democrats like me who have passionately supported every package of military, strategic and economic assistance to the Ukrainian people and are determined to see the Ukrainian people win victory over Vladimir Putin and expel his imperialist forces from their country.

“In the eight months since Russia began its atrocity-filled and illegal war of aggression against the people of Ukraine, the Ukrainian people have given Americans not just the chance to defend the values of national sovereignty, democracy and pluralism but also great hope for the world’s future. Had Ukrainians been quickly defeated by Putin’s army, as so many people expected, had Volodymyr Zelensky fled the country, as so many people expected, then a dangerous tyranny would have destroyed a nascent democracy, and prospects for democratic causes everywhere in the world would have darkened. Large countries would have felt emboldened to attack small countries everywhere.

“But today there is hope because of the strength of President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people, and the cause of democracy and freedom in Ukraine is the cause of the democratic world. We should unite around this just struggle and stay focused on it.

“Ukraine has given the world a lesson in anti-imperialism and how to fight a just war of self-defense even amidst enormous civilian suffering. Putin has claimed, as European colonizers did for hundreds of years, that the Ukrainian state and the Ukrainian nation do not exist. This obvious lie has been his rationale for an increasingly genocidal war of destruction, the openly avowed goal of which is the destruction of the Ukrainian people as such. These last weeks and days, Russian propagandists have repeatedly appeared on television to urge the murder of Ukrainian children and violence against the Ukrainian population…

“Ukrainians provide us with an example of courage in defense of national sovereignty and democracy. They are defending their democratic right to choose their own leaders and live in freedom and peace, and they are doing so at great risk and staggering personal cost.

“Ukrainians today give the democratic world a chance for a critical and historic victory, and we must rally to their side. It is important to be on the right side of a just war, and it is even more important to be on the right side and win. Just as Ukrainian resistance gives us hope, a Ukrainian victory would give us an opening to a much better future for all humanity. All champions of democracy over autocracy—whether they call themselves progressives, conservatives or liberals—should be doing whatever we can to ensure that Ukraine wins this just war as quickly as possible. Diplomacy by the Biden administration will inevitably follow as sustained diplomacy always marks the conclusion of war—even with tyrants and despots. But first Ukraine must win—let us continue to unite as Americans and focus on that central and historic imperative.”

Reader Interactions

163Comments

  1. 1.

    Mustang Bobby

    I’m sorry to have to drop this news in here, but I know enough of you read my blog and knew my mom was a frequent commenter (“Faithful Correspondent”).  She died peacefully yesterday morning in Cincinnati where she and my Dad, who died in 2020, lived in a retirement community.  We — my three siblings — knew the end was near on Monday so we scrambled to get here — me from Miami, one brother from Baltimore and another from Seattle — but she had other plans.  I wrote about her on the blog late last night/early this morning.

    https://barkbarkwoofwoof.com/2022/10/nancy-levis-williams-1929-2022/

    Don’t worry, Mom; we’ll keep marching.

  10. 10.

    Another Scott

    Good, good.

    In not so good news, AlJazeera:

    New crisis brewing on Cyprus after US lifts arms embargo

    As the US and Turkey pull further apart, Cyprus is becoming an area of increasingly intense competition between them.

    A Cypriot soldier sits on a truck during a military parade marking the 62nd anniversary of Cyprus’ independence from British colonial rule, in Nicosia, Cyprus

    [image]

    A Cypriot soldier sits on a truck during a military parade marking the 62nd anniversary of Cyprus’s independence from British colonial rule, in Nicosia, on October 1, 2022 [File: Petros Karadjias/AP]

    By John Psaropoulos

    Published On 27 Oct 2022

    Turkish-Cypriot authorities could be preparing to evict United Nations peacekeepers from their bases in northern Cyprus, triggering a new political and security crisis on the divided island, officials have told Al Jazeera.

    “[The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP)] needs to enter into a mutually agreeable formal agreement with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in order to continue its presence and operations in the TRNC,” Tahsin Ertugruloglu, who holds the Northern Cyprus foreign affairs portfolio, told Al Jazeera.

    “We submitted a Status of Forces Agreement proposal to the United Nations in September. We will decide on the steps to be taken once the UN evaluates and responds to our proposal,” he said.

    The UNFICYP was created in 1964 following intercommunal clashes between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. It monitors a buffer zone, known as the Green Line, that segregated Greek Cypriots, who now live in the south of the island, and Turkish Cypriots, who live in the north.

    [image]

    Military helicopters of Cypriot air forces fly over a military parade in Nicosia, as the giant paintings of the Turkish and the Turkish Cypriot breakaway flags are seen on Pentadaktylos mountain [File: Petros Karadjias/AP]

    The UN Security Council renews UNFICYP’s mandate every six months following the consent of the internationally recognised government of Cyprus, which is in the south.

    That renewal is due again in January, but this time, Turkish Cypriots say it needs to happen with their consent as well.

    This presents the Security Council with a legal problem because the UN does not recognise the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, self-proclaimed in 1983. It is not a UN member and is recognised only by Turkey.

    […]

    The Cypriots I’ve known and worked with are up there with the Ukrainians in their love of their country and culture. I don’t know how to make it happen, but the partition there needs to end and Turkey needs to go home.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  13. 13.

    gene108

    What the media doesn’t get is that unlike the average Republican politician, President Biden is likable.

    There’s nothing inherently off putting about him to normal people. Someone may not be happy about the job he’s doing, but they’d still not despise him on a personal level.

    Bush, Jr. got to a point where people despised him on a personal level. TFG was repellent to most people on a personal level.

    I don’t think that’s ever going to be the case with Biden. He has too much human decency.

  14. 14.

    Princess

    One advantage we have in this election is that, apart from the 27% of people who are LGB loons and Leslie Mac, no one really hates Biden or wants to punish him personally even if they don’t “approve” of him as president.

    @Mustang Bobby: I am sorry to hear that. May her memory be for a blessing.

  16. 16.

    Another Scott

    @Mustang Bobby: Thank you for sharing a bit of her with us.  That’s a beautiful post.

    Condolences to you and all who knew and loved her.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  18. 18.

    Kathleen

    @Mustang Bobby: My deepest condolences to you and your family. After reading about your parents it’s easy to see how you became the caring and creative person that you are!

  23. 23.

    Kathleen

    @Baud: Yes. I have to admit I enjoy the pile on in replies. These lazy, entitled, spiritually bereft hacks damage democracy with every pixel they puke.

  24. 24.

    Tony Jay

    Reason 8754496.2365 Alpha Sigma why Sir Kier Starmer’s NuNew Labour is a seething shitheap of centre-right wankers afire with hate-fuelled mania.

    In the wake of Rishi Sunak’s unopposed selection as leader of the Tory Party, the British Media have been turbo-pushing the narrative that everyone should rejoice and give praise, for having a Brown Man as Prime Minister is basically Britain’s ‘Obama Moment’ and far more important that any trifling whiffle about policies. Everyone, especially ‘the browns’ and the race-traitors who claim to care about them should get with the program and show their love.

    So Labour MP Nadia Whittome, who is British Asian and (horror of horrors) donates half of her MPs salary to charity, and never worked for Goldman Sachs or cost the country tens of billions through incompetence and corruption in office, posted this tweet in response.

      Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister isn’t a win for Asian representation.

    He is a multi-millionaire who, as Chancellor, cut taxes on bank profits while overseeing the biggest drop in living standards since 1956.

    Black, white or Asian: if you work for a living, he’s not on your side.

    Whittome was forced by Starmer’s Office to delete the tweet and is in talks with the Chief Whip about what punishment they’re going to inflict on her. NuNew Labour spokesthings have refused to deny that she might have the whip taken away from her.

    I’m old enough to remember when even the merest hint of a suggestion that someone who once spent half an hour in a lift with Starmer’s predecessor had ever so much as contemplated shaking their head at the ugly, libellous crap tweeted out daily by some of the MPs Starmer has promoted was front page BREAKING NEWS and proof positive that Labour was an intolerant Maoist cult of Neo-Nazi bully-boys that no decent person should ever vote for.

    These days? Crickets. This is all fine. Whittome is, after all, on the Left of the Party, and thus needs to be made an example of so they can replace her with an obedient ‘moderate’.

    You may now return to your scheduled voting for a decent Party where this kind of shit doesn’t routinely happen.

  25. 25.

    Baud

    @Kathleen:

    There are times I can understand why some normies are skeptical of liberals and it often involves dealing with the cult of the savvy.

  26. 26.

    John S.

    @Kathleen:

    Chaos is their brand. They are actively fanning the flames of violence by repeating daily that the Democrats are going to lose, based on polls that have been wrong for years.

    Feeding that kind of nonsense to a minority GOP population already wired to reject any result other than total victory is criminal, but they are doing it on purpose to get clicks and ratings.

  29. 29.

    Gin & Tonic

    Apparently the AP no longer has copy editors who know the difference between “discretely” and “discreetly” (ref the Joe Biden cash story.)

  30. 30.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mustang Bobby:

    That’s a beautiful tribute to an equally beautiful woman. The best obituaries are the ones that leave me thinking “Damn! I’m sorry I never knew that person!” You’ve done her proud, Bobby, and you and your siblings have my sincere condolences.

  32. 32.

    Soprano2

    @Anyway: OMG, our trip to Hawaii is a good example of that. On the way over I made the mistake of wearing a pair of jeans that has a small metal plate on one of the back pockets. Because of this I got the whole treatment – patted down, hands tested for explosives even though I pointed out it was probably the metal tab that set off the scan machine. On the way back, I wore a T-shirt that had plastic rhinestones on it, and got the same thing – “it set off the machine so we have to do this”, even though there was zero evidence of anything. I wonder, do they publish a guide telling people about this? I had no idea plastic rhinestones would set off their machine and cause me to have my hands tested for explosives! It’s insane……

    ETA – On the way there hubby absentmindedly put his knife in his carry-on, and I forgot to make sure he put it in the checked bags so we had to go through security again because he had to check his carry on. I made sure it was in the checked bags on the way home!

  33. 33.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Biden likes to carry some cash so he can discretely slip kids a few dollars and encourage them to buy ice cream

    I’ll slip you some cash, discretely.
    Buy an ice cream. Eat it swetely.

  36. 36.

    Ivan X

    What a great fucking statement from Raskin. That should be blasted from rooftops.

    Also, I agree with what was said above about Biden being likeable or at least not hateable. Before the 2020 election when it looked like Biden was going to be the candidate and my brother was all distraught because he looks and sounds like he’s 130, I told him that Biden’s secret superpower is that no one genuinely hates him. He doesn’t have inherent personality negatives that many of the other primary candidates would have (in some cases only due to the “misfortune” of their gender, color, etc). Whereas, sad to say, I think in 2016 some people came out to vote specifically *against* Hillary. I don’t think there was anything comparable in 2020.

    Even when I see wingnuts frothing at the mouth about Hunter’s laptop or Biden’s supposed senility or whatever the worms in their brain are making them say that day, if you scratch it, there’s no genuine personal animosity behind it, it’s just generic crap being ginned up because he’s a Democrat, but not because he’s Joe Biden.

  37. 37.

    Geminid

    Twitter account @SeditiousSix is putting up ads ripping five Republican Congressional candidates plus one Senate candidate.

    I checked out the ad against Yvette Harrell (NM-2). It mingled pictures of Harrell, Trump, and scenes from the January 6 Insurection. A scary-voiced narrator noted that Harrell took an oath to uphold the Constitution, “but did you know that after this riot she voted to overturn the 2020 election and steal your vote?”

    The “Seditious Six” are Representatives Harrell, Mike Garcia (CA-27), Ken Calvert (CA-41), Rusty Schweikert (AZ-1), Steve Chabot (OH-1), and Ted Budd (NC), who is running against Cherie Beasley for Senate. The ads are all 27 seconds long, so while they are circulating through social media for now they might be adapted to 30-second broadcast media spots.

    @SeditiousSix might be described as a “popup” political site, having joined Twitter this month. One of the people behind it is a political scientist who used to teach at Christopher Newport University and appeared on Joy Reid’s TV show last night.

  40. 40.

    different-church-lady

    Biden targets hidden ‘junk fees’ from banks, cable TV, concert tickets…

    …and now restaurants and coffee shops.

  43. 43.

    Amir Khalid

    @Gin & Tonic:

    It also makes me sad that fewer and fewer reporters know the difference themselves. It’s like they’re unaware that these are separate words.

  44. 44.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Baud: I wish he hadn’t signed on in the first place. But the butthurt from the Quincy people about being called out for their stupidity is a sight to behold.

  45. 45.

    Soprano2

    The replies to the AP tweet are something else. All about how the story is biased (to be fair, if they did a story like that about a Republican we’d all be saying the same), and about how Joe is a creepy child molester (they really seem to believe this is true). *sigh*….

  46. 46.

    Geminid

    A report that the American economy grew 2.6% in the 3rd quarter was one of the lead items on the CBS 9am radio news. The reporter noted that inflation was moderating as well.

  49. 49.

    Soprano2

    @different-church-lady: We had to pay a “resort fee” of around $15 a day at our hotel in Hawaii, plus $15/day to park in scarily small parking spaces. My assumption is that neither of those fees are taxable. I’ve read that the reason there are so many fees around airline tickets is because the airlines don’t have to pay taxes on that money. I had to rent an SUV, and it was scary parking in those spaces. Sometimes I had to back out so my husband could get out of the car! I’m not missing that…..

  53. 53.

    Soprano2

    @Geminid: It won’t surprise me one bit if inflation moderates next year. If the R’s take even one house of Congress, they’ll crow from the rooftops that they “tamed” inflation even though they won’t have done anything at all about it!

  55. 55.

    Baud

    @Geminid:

    Yeah, the QI folks might be feeling a little Streisand effect right now.  Own goal?

    I’m looking forward to getting the scoop on what happened within the Progressive Caucus after the midterms.

  56. 56.

    different-church-lady

    @Soprano2: Basically we’re reaching a point where I can’t interact with any part of the economy without feeling like I’m being played for a sucker.

  57. 57.

    Geminid

    @Gin & Tonic: Yesterday Vox put up an article about the Affair of the Notorious Letter. Their foreign affairs correspondent seemed sorry that the letter was rescinded. I got the impression he thought that Congressional Progressive Caucus Representatives worked for CPC staff, and not the other way around. I wonder if some of the staff had that idea as well.

  58. 58.

    AM in NC

    @Mustang Bobby:  My heart goes out to you. I lost my mom at the end of the summer, and even though, like you, we knew it was coming, it isa blow I will be recovering from for a very very long time.

    Hope you can cherish good memories and hold the love in your heart through the inevitable sadness.   Sending you and your family strength and peace through this difficult process.

  63. 63.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Immanentize:

    I want you to know my condolences also go to you and the Immp on the recent death of your own mother. I missed the window for commenting the other day, but you’ve definitely been in my thoughts. (And yesterday was the 47th anniversary of my mother’s death, and yes, in one way or another I think of her and miss her every day.)

  67. 67.

    J R in WV

    @Amir Khalid:

    Years ago Wife (then a correspondent with The AP) was sent to a local health care clinic because the WSJ reported that the clinic was using the Internet for medical records, to they would be more available to clinicians. To “Match” the WSJ’s big story.

    Wife was shocked to learn that the clinic’s medical records were on an Intranet, restricted to the clinic, and that the WSJ reporter did not know the difference between an Intranet and the Internet…

    But the desk in NYC didn’t believe her, because the WSJ would NEVER make such a silly mistake…

  69. 69.

    Geminid

    @Immanentize: I think that Congressional Progressive Caucus members and other Democratic Reps know a lot about the provenance of that letter. They have good reason to minimize controversy right now, but I suspect that the matter will be aired out after the midterms.

    While the letter has been described as a statement of the CPC, at least 67 CPC members did not sign the letter, and some of those who did were blindsided by its release. Representative Sara Jacobs (CA) said she last saw a draft in late June and would not have signed as of Monday.

  70. 70.

    Soprano2

    @Geminid: Here’s the headline on NPR’s story about this:

    New GDP report shows an economic turnaround, but don’t be fooled

    Clear message – Democrats are getting no credit for anything. They did another story this morning – an almost 8-minute long story about inflation and what Biden is doing about it – without once mentioning that inflation is a world-wide phenomenon right now. The story really made it sound like Biden and Democrats passed the 3rd Covid relief bill in March, and then *poof* inflation happened! They did keep mentioning that it had “many causes”, but the main emphasis was on what Democrats did to cause it (passed relief for poorer people and schools) and how there wasn’t really anything they could do to fix it. Nothing at all about how much of the money from the bill still hasn’t been spent by schools, either.

  72. 72.

    sdhays

    @Geminid: I saw an article about this from NPR in my news feed with the headline saying, literally, “Don’t Be Fooled”. F-you, NPR.

    And there was another article from NPR about Grassley being in the closest election of his life, but the article is mostly about how beloved he is and is an institution in Iowa. In one paragraph, they mention that he’s just running 3 points ahead of his Democratic challenger, while the Democrat in the governor’s race is running 17 points behind Iowa’s awful governor. Did NPR offer any reason for this? No.

    They really are complete shit now.

    ETA: I see Soprano2 saw the same NPR article I saw.

  73. 73.

    topclimber

    @Geminid: AP somehow missed the good news on inflation, just touting the 2.6% growth gain. Many folks will discount that because, you know, the gains can be the illusion from higher prices.

    They failed to mention that they have lately come to report REAL GDP growth, which is how they managed to portray the economy as in negative mode during Q1 and Q2. I don’t recall them using that rubric much until 2022, but they should at least be consistent and report good news on inflation.

    Oh wait, this is corporate media we are talking about.

  74. 74.

    Soprano2

    @Amir Khalid: I think it’s part of the “spellcheck” effect. They get used to spellcheck telling them when they’ve made a mistake, so when spellcheck doesn’t flag it they think it’s OK.

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: I am feeling pretty unforgiving toward Raskin at the moment.  You can’t erase a fuckup like that with a letter.

    He could write that letter a thousand times, by hand, and the damage would still be done. I’ll get over it, but not today.

  77. 77.

    Baud

    @sdhays:

    while the Democrat in the governor’s race is running 17 points behind Iowa’s awful governor.

     
    I didn’t know that. That’s great.

  79. 79.

    Soprano2

    @sdhays: GMTA! Did you notice that the Grassley story didn’t once mention that he was running for a 6-year term at the age of 89, and that it’s well-known in IA that if he wins he’s going to resign so the governor can appoint his grandson to the seat. I think those are probably legitimate reasons why he is in a real fight, yet they weren’t even mentioned at all!  For some reason when people complain about all the older people in Congress, Grassley is rarely mentioned.

  80. 80.

    Josie

    @WaterGirl: Plus the fact that, in his statement, he never really explains what he was thinking when he signed the letter in the first place.​
     ETA: I think that even the best politicians sometimes start to believe their own press and get out over their skis. I hope this mess will be a lesson to the rest of them.

  87. 87.

    Geminid

    @Soprano2: This is one reason I like hourly radio news broadcasts. Reports are terse with no editorializing. Listeners are left to draw their own conclusions.

    I can’t listen to NPR nowadays. After a few minutes I start to feel like I’m undergoing a subtle, remote lobotomy.

  89. 89.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: But Raskin signed the letter!   That was the big mistake, the original mistake.

    The question of when it was released and by whom is an entirely separate issue.

  90. 90.

    sdhays

    @Baud: Read it again – the Democrat is BEHIND 17 points. It sucks, but it makes Grassley being within the margin of error with his challenger all the more puzzling. Too bad NPR couldn’t be arsed to try to tease that out.

    @Soprano2: The last I saw, his approval rating is below 50%, which the article also failed to mention. I’m not sure why they bothered writing it. The headline had as much substance as the article itself.

  91. 91.

    Barbara

    @Soprano2: It’s not that they don’t have to pay taxes per se, any revenue ultimately goes to their bottom line and can be taxed as income, but many fees (like airport maintenance or slot fees) are assessed against ticket revenue, which would not include baggage or “better seating” fees.  I’ve been on some flights where there is literally no seat that you can get without paying an extra fee.

  92. 92.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: I’m not sure Raskin signed that letter in the form it was released, and he may only have given tentative approval for different draft ten or more weeks ago. Most of the other “signers” are very solid Democrats, although not as well known here as Raskin. I think they might have been used..

  93. 93.

    sdhays

    @Geminid:

    I can’t listen to NPR nowadays.

    I grew up listening to NPR, and I loved it. But about 10 years ago it was making me so angry with their awful political coverage that I had to stop. I stopped giving them money too.

  94. 94.

    Kathleen

    @Baud:  Yes! Which I believe what was behind the “leak” of CPC letter. I believe the purpose was to create illusion that there is deep division in Democratic Party over Ukraine to feed the obligatory “Dems In Disarray” narrative right before the election. Media love to give impression that a certain faction that bashes the Party represents The Party and its policies “Defund The Police” Part Deaux.

  97. 97.

    Barbara

    @Gin & Tonic: Fundamentally, Putin is stuck in a Soviet mindset that somehow believed against all available data that the hallmark of capitalism is adaptation — sometimes that’s bad (seeking monopoly power to protect profits, or as noted above, charging baggage fees to avoid mandatory ticket revenue based assessments) but it’s rarely static.  Even the Saudis understand (and have understood for a long time) that raising the price of oil too high is quite likely to spur energy adaptation that will leave oil behind.

  101. 101.

    Barbara

    @Soprano2: So one thing to consider if you have a law enforcement mindset is that the “bad guys” might know that the metal tab sets the machine off and might wear something just so they have a benign explanation.  In other words, security staff can’t accept any explanation from the person being searched.  Lots of things bother me about airport security, but I do understand why they had to do an enhanced search.  When I traveled more, I adopted “airport clothes” to ease the process, including slip on shoes, stretch pants with elastic and no zippers, etc.

  103. 103.

    Soprano2

    @Barbara: I understand that, but it’s such a PITA that I have to think about how to dress just to fly on an airplane. I guess we’re lucky they don’t make us go naked. I mean, I fly about once every 3-4 years, so it’s not something I think about that much.

  107. 107.

    Kathleen

    1. @Geminid: Perfect! Chabot’s Dem challenger in OH#1 Greg Landsman has hit Chabot’s vote to overturn results hard in his campaign and has targeted Black voters with this message.
  109. 109.

    Paul in KY

    @Tony Jay: Jeezus!  They just don’t shoot themselves in the foot, they take a blowtorch to their nads (as well as feet)!!

    BTW, what do you think about hunky-Sauron? Did teen Galadriel even tell the others he was Sauron?  I couldn’t tell.

  111. 111.

    Kathleen

    @Immanentize: My condolences to you and your son. I didn’t see your post and apologize for the delay. Please take good care of yourselves and each other.

  112. 112.

    Soprano2

    @Barbara: My last Camp Ambassador class was the airport here; it was interesting, I learned a lot. The metal detector used to be elevated when people didn’t have to take their shoes off, because there’s so much metal in shoes that almost everyone’s shoes set it off. I still say someone needs to invent a machine that can detect explosives in our shoes with them on our feet. We saw where the baggage comes down and gets sorted; it’s a miracle that most people’s suitcases actually get on the right plane! They said that at a big airport like Heathrow there are five miles of basement where nothing but luggage receiving and sorting happens. We got to go up in the control tower; I have no idea how anyone does that job, it’s crazy how much stuff they have to mess with.

  115. 115.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    I can’t be the only one getting a bad feeling that all this talk about inevitable GOP victory is laying the groundwork for more claims of election fraud if the actual results mirror the Kansas abortion referendum as versus the polling? Up to and including violence, given the precedent of January 6?

  116. 116.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @The Moar You Know:

    He might want to have a word with Ginni Thomas about that.

    And I still say that Dr. George Tiller’s experiences on the topic are pertinent, and Mr. Alito and Mrs. Thomas would both benefit from hearing about them directly from Dr. Tiller.

  117. 117.

    Ken

    @Barbara: I adopted “airport clothes” to ease the process, including slip on shoes, stretch pants with elastic and no zippers, etc.

    … Right! Exactly!  That is why I am now buying only pants with an elastic waistline!  In case I have to make a sudden trip to the airport!

    (By the way, Levi’s calls these the “Athletic Fit”, versus “Slimline”.)

  121. 121.

    Tony Jay

    @Paul in KY:

    She did not. Shouty Stalky Stubble Sauron cunningly gaslit her into keeping that on the down-low in case High King Gil-Gerrard blamed her for successfully bringing the Dark Lord back into play in her hunt for vengeance – just as he’d warned her she would.

    Elrond has an inkling, but he’s not going to say anything in case his boss throws out the baby with the bathwater and rejects the mithril-alloy rings just because Morgoth’s most abhorrent and cunning servant had a hand in their design.

    These Elves. Not exactly immortal intelligences, are they?

  122. 122.

    Soprano2

    @Ken: Of course, this was somewhat complicated by going from temps in the 30’s to Hawaii! On the way back I actually had clothes in my carryon to change into.

  123. 123.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    Dear Mustang Bobby, thank you for posting.  Your mother was a wonderful person and a valued member of this community, as are you.

  126. 126.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Geminid: “Used”?? Come on. These are elected Representatives on a letter to the President regarding a major foreign policy issue. If their signature is on it and they don’t know what’s in it, that is malpractice.

  127. 127.

    Soprano2

    @Paul in KY: OH, and no he never takes any kind of firearm on our trips, just his knife. LOL When I did the Camp at the airport they said you’d be surprised how many people still forget that they have a firearm in their backpack or carry on. It’s an expensive lesson, because the federal fine for it is at least $2,000. He said that our airport is small enough that they can put the firearm in their safe and the owner can get it back when they return from their trip.

  129. 129.

    Eyeroller

    @Paul in KY: I thought that was “gat”.  “Gak” used to mean “retch.”  According to Urban Dictionary “gak” has expanded into other gross things.  But it says “gat” still means guns.  (It is very old slang and comes from Gatling though no longer is specific to machine guns.)

  131. 131.

    Paul in KY

    @Tony Jay: Agreed! Once again, Prof Tolkien’s version is so much more nuanced: They inadvertently use Sauron’s spells to help craft the rings. Here he just suggested a certain mechanical way of combining the alloys.

    Also, she seems sorta ‘restrained’ in how she reacts to him once she realizes he is Sauron. He sicked a werewolf on Finrod and performed other assorted acts of mayhem/evil. Maybe she thinks Finrod had a hand in his demise by sticking up for the icky men?

    Thanks for the clarifications, Tony.  Gil-Gerrard, ha!

    Can’t wait for Season 2!

  134. 134.

    The Moar You Know

    More Christofascism headed your way.

    @Leto: I wonder if the libertarians, when faced with the prospect of mandatory religious reeducation camps, will finally make common cause with the liberals who told them all along that this was the inevitable result of their insane fever-dream “philosophy”?

    HA!  I kill me.  They’ll be the first ones in line to hand over dissenters to the religious police.

  135. 135.

    Geminid

     

     

    @Gin & Tonic: You talk like they physically signed that exact letter not long before it was released. You don’t know what language they approved, and when and how they approved it. I know that while the CPC’s website and Twitter account quickly and enthusistically praised a letter signed by fewer than a third of the caucus’s members, those members were apparantly caught unawares.

    So I’m saying they might have been used, perhaps by zealous staff with an agenda of their own. But I want to know more, especially about Ms. Jayapal’s role. I think the information will come out in a couple of weeks if not before, and I’ll draw conclusions then.

  136. 136.

    Ken

    @Paul in KY: Prof Tolkien’s version is so much more nuanced

    My understanding is they aren’t allowed to use Tolkien’s second age material. They are limited to what is mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, for which they do have rights.

    If that’s the case, they may be making a conscious decision to not follow Tolkien’s version, lest they be sued. Though even knowing enough about the second age material to say “can’t use that, it’s what Tolkien did” might get them in legal trouble.

  137. 137.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Gin & Tonic: ​
     

    Actually, their usage is accidentally correct. He gave the kids discrete physical units of money in the form of bills or coins.

    That isn’t what they meant to be saying, of course.

  138. 138.

    Soprano2

    @The Moar You Know: Most self-proclaimed libertarians are just Republicans who think it’s “cool” to say they’re libertarians. The key to figuring out the difference is whether or not they’re against abortion. True libertarians aren’t against abortion, fake ones are.

  139. 139.

    Queen of Lurkers

    @Anyway: Yes! Can we start with not taking off shoes? It’s been almost 20 years since the shoe bomber Richard Reid’s plot. No other country in the world that I am aware of (admittedly, I have only traveled in Europe & Asia) does this any more.

  141. 141.

    lowtechcyclist

    @sdhays:

    I grew up listening to NPR, and I loved it. But about 10 years ago it was making me so angry with their awful political coverage that I had to stop. I stopped giving them money too.

    I used to listen to NPR fairly regularly. But in 2016, their political coverage got increasingly problematic.

    The lead weight that broke the camel’s back was their coverage of the 2016 GOP convention. I still remember listening to their sole outside commentator the morning after the convention.  He had three big takeaways, and none of them related to “Lock her up!!” or “I alone can fix it.”

    One of them was what a great job Manafort was doing, and another was about how impressive Trump’s kids were. (Those sure aged well!)  I’ve forgotten the third, but it was something that (at the time, anyway) was equally anodyne.

    I have not listened to NPR since.

  142. 142.

    sab

    @sdhays: I love them locally in NE Ohio, and every time I pledge I mention that I detest their national coverage. Almost all their funding is local pledgers.

    ETA Morning Edition and All Things Considered (their Rush Hour shows) are dreadful, but the rest of the day and all night they are still the best.

  144. 144.

    Paul in KY

    @Soprano2: Sort amazed these people ‘forget’! A pistol is heavy, at least anything above a 2 barrel derringer.

    Shows how blasé alot of people are about their own firearms.

  148. 148.

    Paul in KY

    @Ken: Good point, Ken. However, the appendixes to LOTR (which they have the rights to) certainly spell out alot of the 2nd Age stuff I’ve been carping about. It might not go into detail about how Finrod met his demise, however.

  149. 149.

    Mike in NC

    Imagine having a president who consoles people, rather than being a crude asshole who likes insulting and demeaning them. What a concept!

  155. 155.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Princess: Does Leslie Mac hate Biden?  I used to follow her (she’s great on racism and systemic oppression) but eventually stopped because I just couldn’t deal with the relentless Dem Party-bashing.

  159. 159.

    Matt McIrvin

    @lowtechcyclist: Man, you stuck it out with NPR until 2016? It got too bad for me about a decade before that. For me the last straw was a one-year-on Katrina retrospective that consisted of an interview with some Gulf Coast cracker complaining about how the displaced people in trailers had no initiative and were just looking for handouts.

    It happened to air right next to a Marketplace episode (I know, that’s not officially NPR, but come on, it’s the same stations) crowing about how low-tax states were so smart to draw business away from high-tax ones. I just started screaming at the car radio.

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