Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

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

It’s the corruption, stupid.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

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

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

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

Come on, man.

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

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Commentary / Republican Crime Syndicate / Friday Evening Schadenfreude Open Thread: Red Wave Bye-Bye

Friday Evening Schadenfreude Open Thread: Red Wave Bye-Bye

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Friday Evening Schadenfreude Open Thread: Red Wave Bye-Bye

(Mike Luckovich via GoComics.com)

 
*You* may be too tasteful to enjoy watching the ongoing GOP Uncivil Wars, but *I* come from a proud Irish-American tradition of celebrating your enemies’ every misstep.

Hey, it’s Friday night after a long, hard week…

Repubs in disarray!

LET THEM FIGHT gif…

Like I said: a proud Irish-American tradition…

Reader Interactions

231Comments

  2. 2.

    Suzanne

    Trump is terrible, OF COURSE…. but imagine being one of these terrible, careerist, pieces of shit in the Republican atmosphere who accepted him, or even worse, kissed up to him….. what lies did they tell themselves?! God. How embarrassing.

  4. 4.

    JPL

    *You* may be too tasteful to enjoy watching the ongoing GOP Uncivil Wars, but *I* come from a proud Irish-American tradition of celebrating your enemies’ every misstep.

    ha I might have a little Irish blood too.

  6. 6.

    Math Guy

    My pleasure at the spectacle of republicans at each other’s throats is tempered by the thought of the damage they have done and will continue to do to the country.

  7. 7.

    Nora

    I love Biden’s take on it.  No pretensions of niceness or taking sides.  Rooting for injuries in the most pleasant way.

  8. 8.

    Brachiator

    I am loving it, watching the GOP go after one another. And I ain’t even Irish.

    trump has loser stink on him now but these conservative faux intellectuals are learning in 2022 what every normal human knew in 2015, which is that he will burn the whole thing down if he can be king of the ashes.

    The GOP continues to play with fire. They will tolerate Trump acting a fool. They don’t really have the brains to cut him loose.

    Trump’s base still are loyal. They still see him as their political Jesus.

    Fox News doesn’t quite know what to do. I ain’t gonna start watching these dopes, but I will look for news if Hannity and the other Fox clowns start seriously dissing Trump.

    And if course you gotta watch the big boy money.

    Has Trump announced that he is definitely running? I could see him doing that to try to regain some cred.

  10. 10.

    Burnspbesq

    I’m an insulin user and a Lilly shareholder. You can probably guess how I’m feeling about Elon today.

  12. 12.

    Suzanne

    @Brachiator:

    Has Trump announced that he is definitely running? I could see him doing that to try to regain some cred. 

    Tiffany’s wedding is tomorrow. We’ll see what happens next week.

  13. 13.

    RepubAnon

    Hitler’s generals loved him – until they started losing…

    Not that the Mango Mussolini has any similarities to a politician who stirred up racial hatred as a path to power, just an observation.

  17. 17.

    BC in Illinois

    Moving on from the greatest American ever, the real POTUS, a man anointed by God himself to save the people from the enemies of Christ (and the children from a Satanic pedophile cult), that’s harder.

    They don’t ever have to move on. Ever

    Hic jacet Donaldus, Praeses quondam, Praesesque futurus.
    “Here lies Donald, the once and future President.” 

    From Jones’ Celtic Encyclopedia, “Rex quondam, Rexque futurus”:

    . . . according to Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur 21:7:
    Yet some men say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, but had by the will of our Lord Jesu into another place… many men say that there is written upon his tomb this verse: Hic jacet Arthurus, Rex quondam, Rexque futurus.
    Translated in full, the phrase is “Here lies Arthur, King Once, and King in the Future”–or as T.H. White so succinctly translates it, “The Once and Future King.” . . .
    It is not uncommon for an oppressed people–in this case, the Britons, soon to be Welsh–to have a type of messianic figure in King Arthur, the last great British king, who waits on Avalon and will return in the time of greatest peril. Jesus will have a second coming, and this element of Christianity is most emphasized during times of crisis. Elijah is said to return; a son of Zoroaster will come; Baldr will be resurrected at Ragnarok; Charlemagne is under Chateau Montsegur2, Francis Drake and Drake’s Drum; Holger Danske will rise from his repose (either below Kronborg Castle at Elsinore, or Nonnebakken at Odense) and fight to preserve Denmark in her hour of need1; and so on. The idea that a hero/savior will appear one day and drive out the oppressors is a popular one, and understandably so.

    The Trump cult, looking forward to their savior’s triumphant return, can be likened to people who await the return of Arthur. And yes, it is “understandable” that they do so, once it is granted that they are, in this nation, an oppressed people. Which is how, remarkably, they see themselves.
    And yes, they have moved, effortlessly, from faith in “an October surprise” to faith in an electoral deliverance, to faith in the coming of the angel of death, soon.

    A Christian myself, I consider that the Lord Jesus told us not to put our faith in fortune tellers.

  18. 18.

    geg6

    @Nora:

    This is what I just love about him.  He did it to the White House press corps at his presser the other day.  Every time they asked a stupid question (all of them, Katie), he’d laugh and then give a real answer whether they really asked a coherent question or not.  Never mean and no name calling, but he made it clear how stupid he thinks they are.  I am in awe and completely charmed by it.  I couldn’t do it, for sure.

  19. 19.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    @Suzanne:

    Tiffany’s wedding is tomorrow. We’ll see what happens next week.

    Would anyone be at all surprised if Trump decided to make Tiffany’s special day all about himself by announcing his presidential candidacy at his daughter’s wedding?

  20. 20.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Aside from Impeachment (which they never would’ve done) or invoking the 22nd Ammendment, the GOP really has never had the ability to cut Trump loose.  They’ve always been at the mercy of his mob of supporters.

  22. 22.

    Another Scott

    @Brachiator: Supposedly he has some big announcement next week.  The RNC head said that if he announces he’s a candidate, then they can’t pay his legal bills any more.  So, I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t – cause he always wants the cash…

    I guess we’ll find out.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  23. 23.

    H.E.Wolf

    Re-posting from previous thread, because I’m not wasting all that laborious typing: results thus far, for candidates supported by Balloon Juice.

    Yadira Caraveo, CO-08 (new district): WON
    Sharice Davids, KS-03 (incumbent): WON
    Marcy Kaptur, OH-09 (incumbent; district redrawn to be more Republican): WON
    Susie Lee, NV-03 (incumbent): WON
    Eric Sorensen, IL-17 (open seat): WON
    Emilia Sykes, OH-13 (open seat: WON
    Gabe Vasquez, NM-02 (challenger): WON
    Susan Wild, PA-07 (incumbent): WON
    [6 women, 4 of them incumbents; 2 men]

    Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, WA-03 (open seat): ballots still being counted: a tight race in a purple district.
    [1 woman]

    Mercedes Krause, NV-02 (challenger): Lost
    Elaine Luria, VA-02 (incumbent; district considered one of most contested in USA): Lost
    Josh Riley, NY-19 (open seat; district redrawn to be more Republican): Lost
    Tony Vargas, NE-02 (challenger): Lost
    [2 women, 1 of them incumbent; 2 men]

  26. 26.

    Spanky

    @Brachiator:

    Has Trump announced that he is definitely running? I could see him doing that to try to regain some cred.

    If by “cred” you mean “cash”, I can agree with you.

  27. 27.

    NotDiggerPhelps

    There was a prevailing belief all throughout the Obama years that Joe Biden was some kind of screwup, the old guard’s representative, and that it was one gaffe after another and the only reason he was kept around was because he insulated against some imaginary revolt in the Senate.

    I think that’s wrong now.

    Biden is the best politician of the last forty years. He’s had more wins in two years than anyone should have a right to claim. He is a better president than Obama and better than Clinton, especially if you care about the economy, foreign policy, poverty, the environment, and worker’s rights. He’s set the GOP on fire and turned them against themselves by being a fundamentally decent human being who knows how to get things done. He told Larry Summers to GFY. He cannot be demonized because he’ll buy you an ice cream cone and take you for a ride in his ‘Vette.

    Nothing makes a Republican crazier and more hateful than a happy man whose wife loves him back.

  31. 31.

    Brachiator

    Newsweek Magazine has an article about GOP leaders who have dumped Trump. An example.

    Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears, who traveled across the country to support Trump in his 2020 presidential campaign, has now denounced the former president as a “liability” following the midterms.

    Of course Sears had no problem kissing Trump butt earlier. And these clowns will bend the knee again if it looks like Trump still has any influence.

  32. 32.

    Ken

    @Brachiator: Has Trump announced that he is definitely running? I could see him doing that to try to regain some cred.

    He may also think it gives him a magic “get out of FBI investigations free” card.

  34. 34.

    Suzanne

    @Lacuna Synecdoche:

    Would anyone be at all surprised if Trump decided to make Tiffany’s special day all about himself by announcing his presidential candidacy at his daughter’s wedding? 

    Absolutely not.

  36. 36.

    zhena gogolia

    @geg6: He’s amazing.

    Congratulations on Fetterman, by the way. You were right and I was wrong. I hope his recovery continues apace.

    I saw something that said his debate performance actually HELPED him. That somewhat restored my faith in humanity.

  37. 37.

    West of the Rockies

    OT… just got my Omicron booster (Pfizer) AND a flu shot.  Never got a flu shot before.

    So how shitty should I expect to feel soon?

  40. 40.

    Montanareddog

    @Delk:

     

    Also, how much you want to bet he’s charging her to use m-a-l?

    I heard that the groom is orders of magnitude richer than TFG, so, undoubtedly

  41. 41.

    dnfree

    Has anyone noted yet that DougJ’s pitchbot made it into electoral-vote.com today, but credited to John Cole?
    This Week in Freudenfreude: Cold as Ice (Water)
    This one is a slight stretch, in terms of qualifying for this slot. However, we think it’s pretty funny, which is a major selling point. And it connects to the previous item, because the Twitterer in question is about to get banned by Elon Musk. So, we’re going to run with it.

    The aforementioned Twitterer is John Cole, who tweets under the name New York Times Pitchbot. As you might imagine, the purpose of that account is to take the stuffing out of The New York Times in various ways. And this week, he shared this “essay from the Times Food section”:

    Is there a more quintessentially New York beverage than ice water? This deceptively simple yet undeniably refreshing combination of water and ice is a mainstay of meals in the city, whether it’s served in cut crystal goblets at Le Sot Crédule or a capacious plastic tumbler at an outer borough diner.

    Indeed, the ways in which the city’s signature drink can be served are as varied and fascinating as the city itself. Beyond the choice of drinkware, the ice can be cubed, crushed, or even shaved. Some pour the water before adding the ice, but many purists insist that ice-first is the only way to do it.

    Unsurprisingly, this incredible range of options leads to strongly-held convictions and passionate disputes. There is no surer way to start an argument among New Yorkers than to ask a group of them which establishment serves the best ice water. (The correct answer, by the way, is a little family-owned trattoria in Fort Greene. No, I’m not going to be more specific—it’s already too crowded.)

    But despite its ubiquity within New York, ice water (also called “iced water”) is impossible to find anywhere else.

    Believe me, I’ve tried.

    On treks as far afield as Hartford and Philadelphia, I have, occasionally, attempted to order a glass of ice water. The outcome is always the same: the server looks at me, not quite understanding, and returns a minute or two later carrying a glass of water with some ice cubes in it.

    I’m not sure what that’s supposed to be, but whatever it is, it’s not New York ice water.

    That is what quality satire looks like. Have a good weekend, everyone. (Z)

  45. 45.

    moops

    @Suzanne:Trump is terrible, OF COURSE…. but imagine being one of these terrible, careerist, pieces of shit in the Republican atmosphere who accepted him, or even worse, kissed up to him….. what lies did they tell themselves?! God. How embarrassing.

     

     

    Everyone keeps forgetting that to be GOP means having no shame, and hypocrisy is a virtue.   They will feel nothing.

  49. 49.

    geg6

    @zhena gogolia:

    Thanks.  I just knew he had it.  He was able to pick up votes in red counties that no one else can.  And it doesn’t take more than picking up a few percentage points in them to make a big difference.  This is his super power.  I also saw an article that showed that the debate helped him because it was relatable.  He’s going to be an excellent Senator.  And just seeing him loom over assholes like Cruz or Paul or Johnson or McConnell for the next six years makes me happy.

  50. 50.

    Martin

    Two thoughts:

    1. I don’t think it can be overlooked that a US oligarch spent $44B to burn down one of the west’s cultural spaces. I don’t think that was his intention but I think this cult of free speech embraced by the GOP originates as Russian/Chinese propaganda with the very obvious outcome that unfettered free speech is culturally destructive. So he didn’t intend to blow up Twitter, but he bought into an ideology that had that intention without realizing that was the inevitable result. I think Steve Bannon can be identified as the primary driver of this movement in the US. I’m guessing the right will continue on this path.
    2. There’s a possibility that there will be a larger backlash to a hyper billionaire single-handedly using his wealth to burn down a community space that people cared about. We’ve long suffered under this job-creator worship of the rich bullshit mainly because the damage they caused was too oblique to tie these things together, but it’s unavoidable in the case of Twitter and Musk. It never would have happened had Musk been denied the wealth to do it. It’s a shift of private wealth being seen as a benefit to society by creating jobs to an illustration that private wealth can directly destroy things of value to society. (See also: crypto). I doubt this will have any real impact on those of us who already have carved out our economic place in the world, but what about the generation that carried this election for Dems who haven’t yet carved that place out? Could we see a quite strong backlash against unfettered wealth and a demand for, say, a higher marginal tax rate, not for broad economic reasons but just to disarm the assholes?

    If I had any influence on the party, I’d be finding a way to message these ideas to voters.

  51. 51.

    Montanareddog

    @geg6:

     

    And just seeing him loom over assholes like Cruz or Paul or Johnson or McConnell for the next six years makes me happy.

    Not to mention mini-Marco (as a less than average height human, I can make such snark)

  53. 53.

    Spanky

    @geg6:

    And just seeing him loom over assholes like Cruz or Paul or Johnson or McConnell for the next six years makes me happy.

    And you can bet photographers are going to be waiting to take those shots. It will be delicious.

  57. 57.

    BC in Illinois

    @Cameron:

    If DeSantis is the political heir of Trump . . .

    But can there be an “heir” if Donald is the One, the Chosen . . . if the Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that he, Donald, was to carry Excalibur.

    Going back to Malory, if I remember correctly (and Wikipedia is confusing on this point), Excalibur was thrown back into the lake at the [first] end of Arthur’s life. So there is no heir. Only Donald. Praeses quandam, Praeses futurus.

  58. 58.

    JPL

    @zhena gogolia: Stroke recovery is amazing.   A friend had a severe stroke and worked for a major company.   After his recovery he rose to be the VP of the company.   He would work on his homework at the same table his boys did.

  59. 59.

    Steeplejack

    @dnfree:

    We saw it and it was debunked ths morning, i.e., it’s not even DougJ satire; he was just salvaging a favorite Twitter bit from someone else five years ago.

  61. 61.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Lacuna Synecdoche:

    Would anyone be at all surprised if Trump decided to make Tiffany’s special day all about himself

    I guarantee that he will make the day all about himself.  The question is how big and obvious it will be.  He could keep it to ranting in private and barely giving the occasion lip service, he could completely try to hijack it with a PR stunt, or most likely if he’s allowed to say anything he’ll just go on one of his long, rambling speeches about how badly treated he is.

    @West of the Rockies:

    So how shitty should I expect to feel soon?

    The living shall envy the dead.

  62. 62.

    Martin

    @zhena gogolia: Agreed. Though, there are some people who can’t pull off a suit, and Fetterman is one of them. He’s going to look goofy on the floor of the senate. Maybe he can lead the charge for a more a flexible dress code.

  65. 65.

    Ken

    @Brachiator: Yeah, the Party may think they can unperson Trump, but it isn’t going to work as well as with George “W for Who?” Bush. If the Republicans do take the House, an early indicator will be whether they get into a brutal intra-party battle over whether the nominee for Speaker is a Trump loyalist.

  66. 66.

    danielx

    “I have never seen him more irresponsible and chaotic then he is today. He seems to be in self-destruct mode. It is irresponsible to attack DeSantis and Youngkin, and it’s irresponsible to announce in any time in the near future” especially before GA runoff, per a Trump adviser.

    How long has this person been a Trump adviser, anyway?

  68. 68.

    Martin

    @Ken: I’m still out there trolling republicans that McCarthy can’t win speaker – their only hope of party unity is to elect Trump as speaker.

    Keep hope alive.

  69. 69.

    zhena gogolia

    @danielx: I keep thinking I’ve seen the bottom of TFG, but he actually tried to turn Youngkin’s name into some kind of Asian slur — “Young Kin, sounds kind of Chinese,” or something like that.

  70. 70.

    CaseyL

    @H.E.Wolf: That is great to see!

    Besides kicking into the pot, I also sent postcards for Marcy Kaptur, Wiley Nickel (not one of BJ’s picks, but one of the close races highlighted on PostcardPatriots), and Elaine Luria.

    I’m happy that most of the BJ picks won, but very sad Luria lost.

  71. 71.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Ken:

    an early indicator will be whether they get into a brutal intra-party battle over whether the nominee for Speaker is a Trump loyalist.

    McCarthy is one of Trump’s most hardcore loyalists in congress, and he has incumbency advantage.  That will be important in judging what we see.

  72. 72.

    Martin

    @zhena gogolia: Well, to be fair, it does improve mens appearance the majority of the time, but there are exceptions where it just feels wrong.

    Let Fetterman be Fetterman.

  73. 73.

    Betty Cracker

    If Republicans transfer loyalty from Trump to DeSantis, they may be moving on from Trump himself, but they aren’t moving on from Trumpism. And Trumpism — governance by authoritarian cult of personality — is what needs to go, not just the orange vessel in which it first embodied itself.

  78. 78.

    Brachiator

    @Martin:

    We’ve long suffered under this job-creator worship of the rich bullshit mainly because the damage they caused was too oblique to tie these things together, but it’s unavoidable in the case of Twitter and Musk. It never would have happened had Musk been denied the wealth to do it.

    Of course, the computer or phone or tablet you used to compose your message probably would not exist if people were denied the wealth to create products. And some successor to Twitter will come along because of creators and investors.

    Could we see a quite strong backlash against unfettered wealth and a demand for, say, a higher marginal tax rate, not for broad economic reasons but just to disarm the assholes?

    Punishment or the weird belief that there should be some limit on wealth is an odd notion. Are you also proposing some limit to a nation’s GDP or an optimal size of a national economy?
    ETA. I will throw in again the fact that practically no one paid the highest tax rates in the past. The highest effective tax rate usually hovers around 45 percent.

  79. 79.

    Suzanne

    @Martin:

    Maybe he can lead the charge for a more a flexible dress code. 

    He can wear the suit jacket with shorts. Thom Browne does it, so Fetterman can, too.

    In all seriousness, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is leading his country through a war while wearing T-shirts and hoodies. That’s how you know real work is happening.

  80. 80.

    hueyplong

    Everyone here knows Trump is going to grab the microphone at the wedding reception and squeal like a pig about how unfairly he has been treated. It will go on and on, and we can only hope that DeSantis is the main topic.

    If only DeSantis were a wedding guest.

  81. 81.

    Roger Moore

    @Suzanne:

    Tiffany’s wedding is tomorrow. We’ll see what happens next week.

    What could possibly be a better time to announce his candidacy than during his daughter’s wedding?  Stealing attention from someone else seems like the Donald Trump trademark move.

  82. 82.

    bbleh

    *I* come from a proud Irish-American tradition of celebrating your enemies’ every misstep.

    So, surely there is Irish Gaelic for schadenfreude?

    Dr. Google says áthas mailíseach, which it retranslates as “malicious joy,” which … might be right?

    Now, how to pronounce it …

  84. 84.

    Another Scott

    @zhena gogolia:

    I don’t think there’s much of a lesson here other than it’s really hard to Willie Horton a dude who looks like the bouncer at a biker bar. https://t.co/NbJe40hNeT

    — L O L G O P (@LOLGOP) November 11, 2022

    The GQP has a fixed playbook that they always go back to. When they encounter something new, they flail around and don’t know how to respond.

    “Diversity is our strength; unity is our power” – N.P.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  87. 87.

    p.a.

    tRump can announce whatever he wants, we all know he won’t spend one cent of his own money.  If the institutional R Party and the big money boyz don’t support/fund him, will the redhats provide enough $$$ for an effective campaign?  Even if the redhats do bleed out enough money, they don’t have the oversight ability the Party & big boys do to make sure the money goes where it’s supposed to.  It’ll be fraud all ‘all the way down’.

  89. 89.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    somebody said this race won’t be called until early next week, whatever happens, but I can’t stop checking Ralston’s feed

    Jon Ralston @RalstonReports 1m
    NEWS: Nevada Senate race is essentially tied right now.

    Sean Golonka @s_golonka 1m
    In a new batch of 27.3k ballots counted in Clark County, here are the #nvsen results:
    – Cortez Masto received 17.2k votes (63 percent)
    – Laxalt received 9k votes (33 percent)
    This drops Laxalt’s statewide lead from 9k to about 800 votes.

  91. 91.

    TriassicSands

    I expect Donald Trump to begin acting presidential any day now (giggle).

    “I have never seen him more irresponsible and chaotic then he is today. He seems to be in self-destruct mode. It is irresponsible to attack DeSantis and Youngkin, and it’s irresponsible to announce in any time in the near future” especially before GA runoff, per a Trump adviser.

    Well, Trump’s first concern has always been the welfare and success of the Republican Party. It’s unthinkable that he would suddenly put himself first.

    While Trump’s ultimate, individual fate is less important to me than the complete failure and destruction of the Republican Party he hijacked with the willing acquiescence of almost everyone on board, I will find it endlessly enjoyable to watch him self-immolate and, I can only hope, burn down the entire neo-fascist mob with him.

  92. 92.

    Geoduck

    For anyone familiar with cartoonist Ben Garrison, it’s interesting to note that even he has made a move towards abandoning the Shiatgibbon in favor of DeSantis. And this is the guy who draws the Orange One as a muscled Adonis.

  95. 95.

    There go two miscreants

    @Steeplejack: ​IIRC, wjts used to be a frequent commenter at LGM (might still be; I don’t go over there much anymore). He was pretty clever.

  96. 96.

    Steeplejack

    @NotMax:

    Huh. I have been going through Batman: The Animated Series on HBO Max this month, after getting hooked by Batman Beyond. Rest in peace.

  98. 98.

    TriassicSands

    @West of the Rockies:

    How shitty should you feel? There is no way to know. It’s entirely an individual issue. Sore arm? Maybe. Mild flu-like symptoms? Maybe.

    Nothing at all? Maybe.

    The only vaccine I’ve ever responded to in a significant way is a tetanus shot. I get a fever and ache all over for two or three days. Still, much better than getting tetanus.

  99. 99.

    Dan B

    @West of the Rockies: Igot the bovalent booster and was sick the next day and wiped for the next two days.  My partner got the bi booster and flu shot and had a sore arm from the booster and nothing else.  So YMMV.

  101. 101.

    sdhays

    @Suzanne:

    Tiffany’s wedding is tomorrow.

    So I guess he’ll announce he’s running tomorrow so he can make sure the day is all about him.

  102. 102.

    Eljai

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think she’s got this!

    Kornacki is still pretending we have no idea what will happen with the senate.  He’s even suggesting that Masters might overtake Kelly in AZ with the next batch of incoming.  I don’t know if he just can’t let go and is still trying to make the red wave happen, or if the network told him squeeze out every last drop of drama.

  103. 103.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    In a new batch of 27.3k ballots counted in Clark County, here are the #nvsen results:
    – Cortez Masto received 17.2k votes (63 percent)
    – Laxalt received 9k votes (33 percent)

    This drops Laxalt’s statewide lead from 9k to about 800 votes.

  104. 104.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Masto won that one, with 99% certainty. But no one wants to come out and say it while she’s technically behind in the current count.

    But almost all of the remaining ballots are going to come in hugely in her favor. She’s in.

  105. 105.

    gene108

    @NotDiggerPhelps:

    Biden is the best politician of the last forty years. He’s had more wins in two years than anyone should have a right to claim. He is a better president than Obama and better than Clinton, especially if you care about the economy, foreign policy, poverty, the environment, and worker’s rights.

    There were a lot of “lessons learned” from the Clinton and Obama administrations that Democrats are applying now. Plus, the electorate, and society in general, is a lot more liberal and tolerant than when Clinton was in office.

    Bill Clinton caught grief for smoking marijuana in college. Now marijuana sales are legal in many states, and the Federal government isn’t stepping in to enforce federal drug laws regarding legalized marijuana.

    Biden’s smart enough to know where the party is going and has embraced it.

  106. 106.

    clay

    @NotDiggerPhelps:

    There was a prevailing belief all throughout the Obama years that Joe Biden was some kind of screwup, the old guard’s representative, and that it was one gaffe after another and the only reason he was kept around was because he insulated against some imaginary revolt in the Senate.

    I think that’s wrong now.

    Biden is the best politician of the last forty years. He’s had more wins in two years than anyone should have a right to claim. He is a better president than Obama….

    I don’t necessarily think you’re wrong, but I said this during the primaries in 2020, when everyone was pouring over Joe’s old Senate speeches and votes: the Biden that ran, that we elected, that now serves as President, is not the same Joe Biden that existed in 2008 when he became Obama’s Veep selection.

    Biden is a great President now because he watched Obama up close for eight years.  He learned from Obama’s successes and failures.  He grew.

    And it was his ability and willingness to learn and grow (at his age!) that has made him more successful, and more progressive, and more successful at being progressive, than most people thought possible.

  109. 109.

    Geminid

    I think that for various reasons people overestimate the size of Trump’s hard core of support. It’s true that the Republican “base” supported Trump from 2016 through 2020, but still, Trump’s hard core supporters are just a subset of that base.

    I think a majority of regular Republican voters will be willing to move on to another candidate they think has the better chance of winning. They’ll have more to choose from than just DeSantis, too.

    That’s not to say that Trump can’t win the 2024 nomination. But I think he’ll have to fight for it, and he may not be up to the task.

  110. 110.

    TriassicSands

     

     

    @Brachiator: Has Trump announced that he is definitely running? I could see him doing that to try to regain some cred.

    Not yet, but rest assured the announcement will be the biggest, most spectacular, most watched announcement in the history of the Universe! Yawn…

  111. 111.

    Cacti

    From the prankster who made the Donald Trump “verified” Twitter account before it was taken down:

    “I take full responsibility for January 6th.”

    “Obama was the best President of our lifetime. No contest!”

    “Biden won.”

    “Joe Biden is a fine man. Very great leader!”

    “I am proud to be back on Twitter and to give my full endorsement to President Joe Biden on his 2024 election run!”

    LOLOLOL

  113. 113.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    the comparisons of Obama and Biden are pointless. The political terrains they each face(d) are wildly different.

  115. 115.

    Aussie Sheila

    @NotDiggerPhelps: My feelings exactly.

    I’ll admit I was sceptical of Biden when he won the nom for President. Too old, too conservative.

    I am happy to admit I was wrong.

    Quite simply, he is the most managerially and politically competent President of my lifetime. And I remember LBJ!

  118. 118.

    Geminid

    @Eljai: Masters is talking like he’ll gain a durable lead when some upcoming batches of ballots are counted. I suspect he knows that’s bullshit and is setting up a “we wuz robbed” narrative.

  119. 119.

    TriassicSands

    @Betty Cracker: If Republicans transfer loyalty from Trump to DeSantis, they may be moving on from Trump himself, but they aren’t moving on from Trumpism. And Trumpism — governance by authoritarian cult of personality — is what needs to go, not just the orange vessel in which it first embodied itself.

    Absolutely!

    The Republican base is now thoroughly Trumpist with or without Trump. And it is likely to transfer cultish allegiance from one Fuehrer to another, if they see it as necessary.

    It’s like a form of addiction. The addicts I’ve known have always found an alternative addiction once they were able to kick the initial habit.

    However, my hope is that if and when Trump decides that if he can’t be Fuehrer, then no one can, his cultists delay their own shift long enough to destroy the whole party.

  121. 121.

    OverTwistWillie

    Bad couple of days for Donnie:

    Screaming at his wife and then having to publicly apologize.

    Admitting to a voter fraud conspiracy.

    Railing at Youngkin today for…well we don’t know, but 100% certain money is involved.

    Oh, and not delivering for Vlad. Ooops.

  124. 124.

    Jackie

    @Frankensteinbeck: From Political Wire:

    Trump sets his conditions for Kevin McCarthy:

    “Trump adviser Jason Miller told Steve Bannon that if House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R) wants to be elected House speaker in January, “he must be much more declarative that he supports President Trump in 2024.””

  127. 127.

    James E Powell

    @gene108:

    There were a lot of “lessons learned” from the Clinton and Obama administrations that Democrats are applying now. Plus, the electorate, and society in general, is a lot more liberal and tolerant than when Clinton was in office.

    Agreed & I would add that our senate & house caucuses are more liberal Democratic than they were even eight years ago. Manchin & Sinema & a handful of congresspersons that no one has ever heard of aside, we don’t have nearly as many “but some” Democrats as we did in the Clinton & Obama administrations.

  129. 129.

    Tom Q

    @gene108: I saw someone note earlier today that the devastating knock on George McGovern — that he was the candidate of “amnesty, acid and abortion” — rings pretty hollow today, as 2/3 of the list are pretty much mainstream positions.

  130. 130.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @James E Powell: Clinton had Democrats like John Breaux, Sam Nunn and (for a while) Ben Nighthorse Campbell. The R caucus included Jim Jeffords, William Roth and John Chaffeee, and (for a while) William Cohen.

  131. 131.

    James E Powell

    @NotDiggerPhelps:

    There was a prevailing belief all throughout the Obama years that Joe Biden was some kind of screwup, the old guard’s representative, and that it was one gaffe after another and the only reason he was kept around was because he insulated against some imaginary revolt in the Senate.

    Not saying you’re wrong, but I don’t remember that. It seemed to me from Day One that Obama put a lot of trust in Joe Biden.

    Back around the beginning of this administration, I commented here that with Biden, Pelosi, and Schumer we had the best troika in power in my adult lifetime in terms of knowing how the federal government really works & knowing how to get shit done. Somebody scoffed, but I stand by it and I think it’s borne out.

  133. 133.

    Jackie

    @Spanky: Kevin’s desperate enough to do – Live on FAUX News.

    I SO want Nancy to deprive him of the gavel!

    Nancy has proved she can herd cats.

  134. 134.

    Matt McIrvin

    @H.E.Wolf: That list suggests to me that the money was well-targeted. Obviously I’d want them all to win, but if they all did win it would have suggested that we were aiming too low.

  135. 135.

    JoyceH

    Something that occurred to me the other day – Fetterman had his stroke a couple days before the primary. So most of us who don’t live in the PA media market really have NO experience of the man when he wasn’t recovering from a stroke. (And of course, we still prefer him to Oz, the Great and Terrible. )

    Will be sort of interesting to see how he turns out, won’t it?

    Meanwhile, Biden has given free lifetime passes to national parks to veterans and Gold Star Families. Hey, pander to me, Joe, I like it.

  136. 136.

    Scout211

    Tonight’s dump from CA-47 has Katie Porter gradually increasing her lead.

    The vote count is now 100,228 to 95,673 (51.16% to 48.84%).  👍

  137. 137.

    Amadan

    @bbleh: Approx. ‘Aw-has myLeeshach’ (where the last syllable rhymes with Scottish ‘loch’)

    But, as remarked below, ‘Feckin hilarious’ will do.

  138. 138.

    Suzanne

    Mark Leibovich:

    So, there they were, Donald and his Kevin, side by side again, reunited and it felt so good. In the photo that shot across social media, the old besties held the same clenched smiles and seemed to both be sucking in their tummies like bros of a certain age do.

  139. 139.

    topclimber

    @Geminid: Wasn’t there a few hundred thousand ballots deposited at drop boxes and polling places on November 8? There’s a chance that was the work of same day voting GOPers.

    Just wanted to give everyone something to worry about.

  140. 140.

    Matt McIrvin

    @NotDiggerPhelps:

    He is a better president than Obama and better than Clinton, especially if you care about the economy, foreign policy, poverty, the environment, and worker’s rights.

    Correct, but much of that is because that’s where the party is now–Biden rode it there. I suspect that had he been President in the 1990s or 2000s his policies would have been similar to those of Clinton or Obama.

  141. 141.

    danielx

    @West of the Rockies: ​
     Got flu shot and first of two shingles vaccine shots today. Feel like hammered shit. Never had a reaction to flu shot before so I’m betting it’s the shingles vaccine, about which I was warned by spousal unit and others.

  142. 142.

    Matt McIrvin

    @West of the Rockies: Reactions vary a lot, but I never got anything worse from a flu shot than a persistent mild headache, which responded to OTC painkillers.

    The difference from the COVID shots is that the flu shot effects come on pretty rapidly and go away after several hours, whereas with the COVID shots it’s usually the next day. When I got both I had both, but it was mostly just shoulder soreness this time around.

  144. 144.

    Brachiator

    @Jackie:

    Trump sets his conditions for Kevin McCarthy:

    “Trump adviser Jason Miller told Steve Bannon that if House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R) wants to be elected House speaker in January, “he must be much more declarative that he supports President Trump in 2024.””

    It is so much fun to see how frightened Trump is. He really fears a DeSantis challenge.

    And all the Republicans who thought it useful to keep Trump around now are doing a most peculiar dance of denial and equivocation.

  145. 145.

    danielx

    @Gin & Tonic: ​
     I was warned. I’ve also been told that unless you have an actual allergic reaction to the shot that shingles is a hell of a lot worse. My sister had it (pre vaccine) and said it felt like her skin was on fire.

  146. 146.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Tom Q:

    I saw someone note earlier today that the devastating knock on George McGovern — that he was the candidate of “amnesty, acid and abortion”

    a phrase coined by the man who would briefly become McGovern’s running mate, before being driven out for the revelations about his having received treatment for depression.

  148. 148.

    Geminid

    @OverTwistWillie: One reason Foungkin Youngkin won last year was that Trump was persuaded not to visit Virginia during the campaign for Governor. Youngkin had a couple people working for him that he hired from Trump’s orbit, and I think their job was to handle their old boss.

    Youngkin knew how much Trump craved the spotlight, but he and his  hires successfully fended Trump off. I was a little surprised they could pull this off.

    I suspect that they conned the conman. They told Trump how much a Governor Youngkin Youngkin would help Trump, and how much he wanted to. “But Glenn feels that if he wins the race on his own he can be that much more effective an ally!”

    Trump may have respected Youngkin more than an average Republican politician. After all, Youngkin is a semi-billionaire wiith a network of wealthy associates. He really could help Trump. But now Youngkin’s flying all over the country supporting Republicans and promoting himself and not Trump. Trump understands that he’s been ghosted and he cannot appreciate the humor in the situation.

  149. 149.

    kalakal

    @TriassicSands: My hope is that a % of the cultists remain loyal to the one true representative of God on earth. Most will shift but if only a couple of % will accept no substitute the GQP is stuffed. Trump can tear the GQP to pieces, most of the base will vote for whoever wins the primaries but a sizeable chunk won’t, they either won’t vote or turn on the apostates. Think of the Peoples Popular Front for the Liberation of Judea on a grand scale.

    If we’re lucky they’re screwed with him, screwed without him. I just hope the miserable bastard lives another 10 years. The best outcome for the GQP is he dies in a few months time. Then he becomes St Donald cruelly snatched untimely away, the worst is he plagues them for years, like Banquo’s ghost on steroids

  150. 150.

    Jackie

    @danielx: My 1st Shingles vaccination knocked me for a loop. When I got #2, I was warned to expect a worse reaction. Nothing. Not even a sore arm.

  151. 151.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Listening to the Chris Hayes program, it sounds like the discontent with McConnell among his caucus is wider than I’d thought. Weren’t there rumors in ’21 that McConnell would step down as Leader if they didn’t retake the majority this round, or am I wish-membering?

  152. 152.

    Ruckus

    @NotDiggerPhelps:

    I’m not sure he is better than Obama, who had a major issue getting things done, and of course that is his color, not lily white.

    Not dissing Joe Biden, he’s very good, better than I expected, and is getting good stuff done.

    I’d say that many people could do the job, some far worse, but both Biden and Obama did/are doing well..

  156. 156.

    West of the Rockies

    Thanks to all who responded to my vaccine booster/flu shot question.   I tanked shortly after asking it.  Curiously, I’m feeling a bit better, but lethargic.

  157. 157.

    Ruckus

    @danielx:

    I woke up one Saturday morning with shingles. YOU DO NOT WANT SHINGLES. I have been hit head on by a truck, me, not in a car. Shingles was worse. By Monday morning, when I could see my doc, my face and neck looked like Martians had attacked. And weren’t very nice about it. The pain was intended to make me want to end my life. You do not want to have this experience, even if you are an extremely self sadistic bastard.

  158. 158.

    bbleh

    @satby: @Amadan: Lolol.  On what OTHER top-10,000 blog can one get not one but TWO reliable answers to a question concerning pronunciation of Irish Gaelic (!) — including dialectal variations — within an hour?

    A tip of the hat to both of you.

  159. 159.

    kalakal

    @NotMax: like it

    Shall defer to the Welsh.

    Dim gwerth rhech dafad. “Not worth a sheep’s fart.”

    A trump is English slang for a fart

  160. 160.

    Honus

    @Brachiator: this is great:  Amanda Chase showing typical MAGA class in attacking Sears:

    State Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, meanwhile, criticized Earle-Sears and Del. Tim Anderson, R-Virginia Beach, for saying it is time for Republicans to leave Trump behind.  “We’re seeing these weak ass Republicans take off their sheepskins today first with Winsome Sears, now Tim Anderson,” Chase wrote on Twitter. “President Trump was the ONLY elected leader who stood up for us despite all of the abuse.”

  162. 162.

    Jackie

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I recall that, too. Plus he caucused the KY State Senate to change state law calling for the governor (Democrat) to replace him with someone of either Party to a Republican only. I don’t know if that passed.

  163. 163.

    Ohio Mom

    @Ruckus: I was a little miserable after my first shingles shot this summer and absolutely totally miserable for 36 hours after the second (then it felt like a switch had been flipped and I was fine).

    I kept reminding myself it was worth it, and one of the stories I told to myself was yours.

  167. 167.

    different-church-lady

    Joe Walsh? Joe Walsh fuckin’ hates Trump’s guts. How big an idiot do you have to be to think Walsh is propping Trump up?

  169. 169.

    piratedan

    when it comes to the GOP…. fuck ’em.

     

    they bought it when they built it.  They’ve had multiple opportunities for a trade in…. Impeachment 1, Impeachment 2, J6 hearings.

    their networks and their media and their mouthpieces all in lockstep.  Everyone who’s got a shred of morals and pragmatism have watched this unfold as they’ve attempted to brazen this out.

    well, let them reap what they fuckin sow.

    I have zero sympathy for these cruel people, if they’re on fire, they can wait for rain.

  170. 170.

    Jackie

    @James E Powell: I saw that. She’s first in line for kissing TFG’s ass. She’s got aspirations. Kevin’s WHIP – Steve Scalise(?) has also strongly hinted he wants the job.

  171. 171.

    Anotherlurker

    @Ruckus: My experience with Shingles is the same. It was on the left side of my face and I looked like a bad makeup test for a 1950s sci-fi film. It is the sickest I have ever been.  The pain is unbelievable .

    In my case, it was stress related

    Hang in there, I hope it passes quickly.

  176. 176.

    sdhays

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: He’s been the leader of the Republican caucus for quite a long time now, and he got played a few times this last session. He should retire just because he’s old and wealthy and sick of dealing with Trump and his stupid-ass colleagues, but I wouldn’t bet that he’s ready to go just yet. It would be lovely to see him replaced involuntarily.

    I wonder who would be his successor. I know Rick Scott wants to be the Leader, but will his colleagues be happy to reward him for the debacle of failing to win back the majority since he was the chair of the NRSC? Cornyn is next in line, I guess.

  178. 178.

    danielx

    @Ruckus: ​
     Echoes of what i’ve been told by my sister and others. Got me to quit procrastinating and get it done. For the record: I’ve never regretted getting vaccinated for any condition. If you ever need to reflect on why, take a walk in any old cemetery, old as in with gravestones from the 1800s or for that matter the 1950s, and see the number of children who died before the age of ten.

  179. 179.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Brachiator:

    Punishment or the weird belief that there should be some limit on wealth is an odd notion.

    We created a tax code that promotes limitless wealth. No reason taxation rates for labor should be higher than investment. Our current wealth tax (property tax) funds a lot of public investment. Can’t we figure out ways to assess and tax other forms of wealth? Pretty much on board for onerous estate taxes for the uber wealthy. That doesn’t even touch the world wide tax havens, race to the bottom corporate tax competition, etc and seemingly ad infinitum.

    I’m not sure that thinking there should be some limit to wealth is a weird belief. It’s no weirder than money is speech.

  180. 180.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I never knew much about Mollie Hemingway till I started seeing clips and tweets of a pro-trump zealotry, but I remember in the Obama years seeing her and her husband named as serious young conservative intellectuals

    Mollie @MZHemingway 7h

    If a united GOP is a strong GOP, Rubio is clearly a solid candidate for Leader. While an establishment figure in many good ways, he also embraces and is embraced by many America First folks, doesn’t have Mitch’s baggage of utterly despising voters, and is appealing and savvy.

    Teeny Weenie Thirsty Marco, appealing and savvy!

  184. 184.

    danielx

    @piratedan:

    I have zero sympathy for these cruel people, if they’re on fire, they can wait for rain.

    I can hear my dear departed pop, a WW2 vet and career newspaperman, snarling about an ediot (his term) for an editor who’d mutilated one of his pieces beyond recognition.

    “I wouldn’t piss in his mouth if his heart was on fire!”

    He had a fine line in invective. I’ve had occasions to recall it, particularly in recent times.

  185. 185.

    different-church-lady

    @Brachiator: The thing everyone is missing about Twitter is nobody fuckin’ asked for it in the first place. It just happened, and until it happened it wasn’t at all necessary. But once it happened everyone thought it was indispensable, even though it was only ubiquitous, which is not at all the sane thing
    And The next big thing will be some other shit nobody asked for. And it will probably be even worse.

  188. 188.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @sdhays: ​

    I wonder who would be his successor.

    McConnell’s replacement will be crazy and evil and nowhere near as dangerous as McConnell in the same way that so many GOP candidates went into this midterm making noises about not accepting defeat, and then conceded just like any normal politician. It takes a special something to defy norms as blatantly as Mitch and Trump do, and McConnell’s only real strength is his ability to defy norms for advantage.

  190. 190.

    Martin

    @Brachiator: No, in fact if you read what I said – I specifically qualify that: ‘not for broad economic reasons’.

    Political movements are based on random bullshit all the time – that’s true for the left as well. Where was our concern for GDP growth when Dems were opposed to every free trade agreement? How much energy has the GOP burned trying to prevent the roughly dozen transgender female students from competing in school sports around the country?

    But community and culture have a lot of value to people – and some billionaire asshole coming in and burning theirs to the ground can easily cause a retributive attitude toward billionaires. And it’s incumbent on *them*, not me, to demonstrate that they are a social benefit. They’re billionaires, they can handle it.

    I would also refute the idea that my phone required a billionaire to create it. Almost no aspect of it required a billionaire. It’s more happenstance that the company that made it was failing and saved by its founder, who happened to be a billionaire. It wasn’t even his money that saved the company.

    But I would offer two things here:

    1. Unearned income does not deserve to be overly protected. It should be taxed comparably to the aggregate tax burden on earned income – not just matching earned income rates, but also with the addition of payroll taxes, etc. Socially we should *always* reward earned income. Favoring labor shouldn’t be a controversial view.
    2. The whole point of printing money is to have it do work. Money issued by the government which is not doing work is betraying its purpose. If a billionaire puts that money to work to create GDP, etc. then fine. That’s not happening here. This is destructive. This is money that everyone would be better off if it wasn’t created. There aren’t many situations *this clear* that illustrate that potential, but here we are facing one. It’s not unreasonable to think that people will take the lesson and demand more social benefit from the holders of that money. And if they cannot produce that value, then the government is right to retake that money in order to put it to better work. That’s the whole point of taking windfall profits. That’s the point of estate taxes.
  192. 192.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Brachiator: I don’t think there is anything about technological innovation that requires the amount of wealth concentration that exists today. There was far, far less wealth concentration at mid-20th century when arguably there was more technological progress going on than today.

    That doesn’t mean we need a 100% marginal tax bracket. But I think we should be organizing the tax code to encourage people to spread wealth around instead of just giving it to their failsons when they kick off. If they use it as an expression of vanity like the Mellons and Carnegies, that’s fine, but it does get spread around.

  193. 193.

    Martin

    @Suzanne: Senate has rules. I mean, it’s only been a few years that female senators have been able to wear pants. It’s not about what our cultural standards are, it’s what the Senate permits.

  196. 196.

    Alice

    NV Governor Sisolak has conceded but he projects Cortez Masto will win. I don’t understand the vote splitters, but maybe it’s because his opponent isn’t as bug-fuck nuts as the other Republicans running – he’s an election doubter rather than a full-on denier. Luckily the state legislature will still be blue.

  197. 197.

    dm

    @Brachiator:

    Of course, the computer or phone or tablet you used to compose your message probably would not exist if people were denied the wealth to create products.

    A hell of a lot of the technology underlying those products was created for the sheer pleasure of solving interesting problems and viewing the middling engineering wages paid as a bit of a scam (they pay us to do this!  how great is that!).

    I have some sympathy for your argument — Steve Jobs uncompromising design sense transformed what was there before at several stages — but I’m not sure it was the money as much as the ego-gratification (I remember his lifestyle being pretty austere)

     

    @Martin:  What was that about?

  199. 199.

    WaterGirl

    @Alice: I am bummed about Steve Sisolak.

    Dems in NV are very confident that that Cortez-Masto will win.  They are already referring to Cisco Aguilar as Secretary Aguilar.

    I want the races to be called for sure, of course, but I think it’s good news for us there.

  201. 201.

    James E Powell

    @Alice:

    According to the chatter I’ve seen, there is lingering rage at Sisolak for lockdowns during covid’s peak. Saved lives, but that’s not really important in Las Vegas.

  202. 202.

    James E Powell

    @WaterGirl:

    I am bummed at any Republican winning. I am hoping the confidence that locals are expressing in Cortez Masto in NV and in Hobbs in AZ is well-founded. Turning AZ into a winnable purple state is an important gain for our team.

  209. 209.

    Eolirin

    @WaterGirl: If we hold our core territory, the west coast, north east, Virgina, MN, MI, PA, WI, and with CO and NM looking really blue, we’re already at 270 with the new EC counts, without Nevada or Arizona. Having NV and/or AZ give us some ability to absorb losing WI

    I’m not sure how the Republicans can win elections with this map. They need to take parts of the Midwest to get to 270 and they just got smacked down pretty decisively in PA and MI. WI is a little squishier.

  216. 216.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @Eolirin: So our question for the next contested presidential primary should be “will they play in Peoria Wisconsin?”

  221. 221.

    Eolirin

    @WaterGirl: Yeah for sure. Things are definitely stacked a bit in our favor though. GA and NC are close enough that they can potentially be put into play too.

  225. 225.

    WaterGirl

    @Wyatt Salamanca: Absolutely!  I was pretty confident of the Kelly win when I first put up the Warnock fundraising thermometers.

    Walker isn’t fit for the senate, and 51 is huge compared to 50.

    Plus, Warnock elevates the senate immensely.

    But it would be great to fight like hell for Warnock without all the angst.  Then we could put all our energy into winning.

  226. 226.

    WaterGirl

    @Jackie: The folks on the ground are as certain as they can be that Cortez-Masto will win.  I can’t wait for it to be official, but I am not actively concerned about whether it will be a win.

  228. 228.

    Citizen Alan

    @Brachiator: Fine, put it at 45%, that’s a start at least! The greatest danger to this nation isn’t Russia or Trump. It’s our fucking homegrown oligarchs who can sabotage our elections and wreck our economy on a whim.

  230. 230.

    TriassicSands

    @danielx:

    Maybe it is the shingles vaccine, but feeling lousy for a time is, from what I’ve been told, far better than getting shingles. I’ve had both shingles vaccines, and didn’t have any significant discomfort with either, but we’re all different. Good luck.

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