Besides Jasper giving us a good scare, the Thanksgiving week was full of family, food, and fun. After such a tough year, it was great for my siblings, their families, and my dad to all be together. Long drive back, so today is just a laze around the house day. He’s fine, now BTW, just ate something he shouldn’t have (I’m thinking a sock or a stuffie ear or other non-digestible item).
I wanted to post a few things that caught my eye while I was gone. First up, don’t want to let the Club Q shooting get lost in the holiday rush. This is a good primer on what Colorado Springs is really like. I read a few comments in my last post that decided it was a town full of homophobic religious zealots and right-wing military members. This has never been my experience, and since I spent several years living in a military community near the base as a kid, I can vouch for the fact they are a microcosm of this country, with a strong rivalry – Air Force vs. Army – all in fun. I’ll say my neighborhoods, schools, stores, and offices were more integrated in the late 60s early 70s than any other place in the country.
The 90s were a dark time when a small group of zealots decided to ram through legislation that was worded in a way to confuse and trick folks. Here’s some history on that. CA passed Prop 8 and I don’t think anyone would continue to call them homophobic decades later.
I only bring this up, because there is a vibrant LGBTQ+ community in Colorado Springs, and by painting the city with a wide brush of homophobia, it negates everyone there who is accepting, who is an ally – who also voted for LGBTQ+ representatives, including our Governor. They outnumber the narrow-minded religious zealots, and we should celebrate that.
We’ve learned a lot about one of the heroes who stopped the shooter (the other two have shunned the media, understandably), but as Stephen Colbert said best: “I’m so angry we have to have hero patrons.”
On a lighter note:
Steeplejack sent me these;
that had come with his transition. How much happier and healthier he is now. I got to see pictures of her & her son in Paris, the two of them beaming with joy.
She also talked about how scary the world was, but how this moment gave her hope. Then we took a selfie & cried. [2/3]
— Representative-elect Zooey Zephyr (@ZoAndBehold) November 9, 2022
I LOVE YOU GRANDMA: Venezuelan soccer player playing professionally in Portugal bursts into tears when he spots his grandmother in the stands.
It's the first time in 4 yrs that they've seen each other
The way his teammates come over. (🎥:Margarita Villa) pic.twitter.com/mvoII3yLoJ
— GoodNewsCorrespondent (@GoodNewsCorres1) November 22, 2022
Albatrossity sent me this one:
someone called shotgun 😂 pic.twitter.com/GyrJff4XcR
— why you should have a duck 🦆 (@shouldhaveaduck) November 4, 2022
And Anne Laurie sent me this one this morning to brighten my day:
Which inspired someone to sketch it!
This is an open thread…
Starfish
The Atrevida Family made this Facebook video telling everyone how thankful they were for all the support after the Club Q shooting. They have a brewery and got a little overwhelmed with the orders that people made while trying to support their business.
Nelle
We’re still offloading food on anyone walking by after two families (all tge teenagers) cancelled because of illness. My great-niece, one of the sick ones, is the lead (playing the role of God) in a play at her university next week, opening with a 22 page in the script monologue, so family is being protective. What I’m enjoying is that her dad is a Baptist minister. She is certainly a challenge to his boundaries, but he us, so far, not trying to control her, as far as I can tell.
They tried to take her to tge ER on T day but were told that the wait was eight hours. The waiting room is a foul petri dish. They gave up and drove six hours back home. We never saw them.
WaterGirl
PSA:
WaterGirl
That soccer tweet left me in tears and the little chickadee made me laugh.
bcw
Towns like Colorado Springs and Fort Lauderdale and Salt Lake City have “vibrant gay communities” because there are reactionary threats to those communities and people have to unite to protect their rights and safety and pressure authorities. Yes, organizations and gay bars and people coming together is wonderful but they are also necessary.
TaMara
@bcw: I see you watched the video.
eclare
That story about the flight attendant and the Montana rep…Someone must be chopping onions in here.
Miss Bianca
Repeating from downstairs thread, because what the hell…
OK, speaking of dog rescue, I have started filling out applications…I must be nuts. Has anyone had any luck contacting people through Petfinder? I have had exactly ONE rescue operation get back to me in response to an inquiry on my part, ONE.
And as a result, I am now seriously contemplating driving 2 hours each way to visit…a large male Malamute with, shall we say, a history…when I was looking for a small-to-medium female dog.
OK, never mind answering my question. I *am* nuts.
ETA: And if I contributed in any way to the perception of Colorado Springs as a haven for RWNJs, I apologize. (It’s *my* county that’s the haven for RWNJs, alas.) I love Springs, myself. If I had to move to a city in CO right now, Springs would be my first choice, Pueblo second.
kindness
Glad to see evidence of Colorado Springs having a progressive community out in the open. What hasn’t changed is the 3 uber-Evangelical megachurches based in the town. I say uber because (as with all too many evangelical orgs) the Christianity they pray to is nothing like the one I was raised with. They preach intolerance and hate (not to mention money grubbing). Anti-Christ like almost from my pov.
eclare
@Miss Bianca: I filled out an app with a local city rescue shelter a few weeks ago and have a dog snoozing on my lap. Once I got the application filed, with my vet number for a recommendation, it took about a week for them to contact me.
Also if you know what would be best for you, I would not go with a much larger dog.
Try local govt/city rescues. That is what I did.
The Moar You Know
I lived in the Springs for several months. It’s definitely not a town of foaming religious zealots, that’s for certain. I think I’d still rather live in Hawaii if I had my way, but the folks in the Springs are nicer.
Alison Rose
@The Moar You Know:
Pretty sure this would always be the case. I visited once for a few weeks almost three decades ago, and still remember it vividly and fondly.
Miss Bianca
@eclare: Thanks for that – I am looking at the local shelters too (“local” being anywhere from 25-100 miles away), but all the local shelters are full of pitbulls and pittie mixes, practically to the exclusion of anything else – which is fine, don’t get me wrong, they’re wonderful dogs and I have a pittie mix snoozing next to me on the couch as I speak…but looking for Northern breeds especially right now, mostly because I miss my girl Roxy so much.
There is one senior dog available at a shelter I have adopted from before who is breaking my heart to look at…an elderly Shepherd/Rottie mix, just like my other dearly departed old girl, Stella (whom I adopted from that very shelter).
Like I said, I am nuts…bigger, older dog? She’s so old that she would probably be gone within a year or two, but the sadness of the “get me out of here” look on her face…it’s kind of killing me to even think about it.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Miss Bianca: So what are you going to name her?
Benw
Let’s goooooo, Jackets!
CaseyL
Good morning, everyone!
My friend may be coming home from the hospital today, hopefully with some information about her internal bleeding. Most of my friends are older than me now, and nearly all of them have Mysterious Medical Ailments that defy diagnosis (though not, fortunately, treatment; even if that consists of treating the symptoms). Looks like my 70s may be fun (not). To, hopefully, celebrate, I have another fruit oatmeal crisp in the oven.
And Jeannie’s ashes have arrived at the vet, so I need to get those today.
It’s also the next-to-last day of my vacation. Thanksgiving Week is a terrific time to take the week off: use up only 3 vacation days, get 8 days off. Best investment on the work calendar!
Geminid
@Miss Bianca: Pueblo sounds like it could be nice place to live. I expect housing is affordable. I read that Pueblo has sizable a wind turbine blade fabrication facility; and it potentially could become a production hub for the growing wind power industry.
Pueblo’s steel mill produces rails, and the Infrastructure bill should add to its orders. The city’s economy could be starting to bounce back.
Other cities small and large seem to be bouncing back in other places, and at the same time they are creating more vibrant and diverse local cultural life.
But right now, if I could pick a place in Colorada to live it would be Alamosa. As long as I could live someplace warmer from October to March.
@Miss Bianca:
Amir Khalid
@Miss Bianca:
Don’t let the dog’s age stop you from adopting her. In a relationship with any pet — indeed, with anyone — you have only the time that heaven will allow. But you will have all of it.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Mr DAW has the Ohio State/Michigan game on the TV. I have the admit, the opening bars of Hail to the Victors still make me want to jump to my feet and cheer. And I don’t even like football
eclare
@Miss Bianca: Oh gosh…that would be tough to resist.
eclare
@Amir Khalid: So true and wise.
wonkie
I ran into a BJer while reading this article: The bot that saw the Times – Columbia Journalism Review (cjr.org)
OzarkHillbilly
@Miss Bianca: For what it’s worth, we recently adopted from the APA in STL. I don’t remember an overly intrusive process in the application. Just filled it out, answered the questions about our history w/ dogs, who our vet was, etc. and we were good to go.
Steve in the ATL
@eclare: whatever, Miss Terrible Taste in Chairs!
Miss Bianca
@Geminid: Oddly enough, been skimming housing in other locations, Alamosa had a great farmhouse with acreage and irrigation right outside town, perfect for horses and dogs. It’s a surprisingly cool place, but yes, San Luis Valley winters can be *harsh*!
UncleEbeneezer
I wonder if CS being a fairly LGBTQ-friendly town is in part, BECAUSE it’s a millitary town. While all the isms/phobias are always present, just as with all of our society, the military seems to be pretty good about accepting legal and cultural change and simply moving forward in order to do what’s best for unit cohesion and mission preparedness.
BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️
For Raven: GO DAWGS!🏈
eclare
@Steve in the ATL: That is better than other things I have been called!
BTW pulling for y’all vs GATech. What kind of tech school has a wreck car as its pride and joy?
SEC!SEC!SEC!
Miss Bianca
@Amir Khalid: IKR? Thinking about Walter right now, in fact – debit and Cole didn’t hesitate to do the right thing by a dear old dog, why should I?
narya
In answer to Steeplejack’s question in the previous thread, there are SOME videos, but not the ones I need. And I think one of the parts is wrong. Still! Not! Done! I emailed them with QUESTIONS. I want my damn rowing machine working again, and I want to be able to track my rowing; apparently this is too much to ask. OTOH, with the exception of tomorrow, the weather this week will cooperate with running or walking outdoors.
Geminid
@Miss Bianca: if lived in Alamosa during the winter I might buy some special pass for that alligator refuge across the valley, the one with the warm springs. I’d bring a book and a camp chair and hang out in the alligator shed. I figure Alamosa has a heated library, but you can’t talk there, much less talk to alligators.
OzarkHillbilly
@wonkie: Nice catch.
Benw
@eclare: AHEM, a RAMBLIN wreck car!
Miss Bianca
@Geminid: You, uh…ahem…have a thing for talking to alligators?
(Never been to the gator farm, btw. Or to the “alien viewing platform and campground” on Hwy 17, either.)
trollhattan
Gavin Newsom is not challenging Biden in 2024. Not a huge surprise to non-fantacists but perhaps better said out loud. Danger, Politico link.
Sister Golden Bear
TaMara: Thank for putting the spotlight back on Club Q. It’s hard to underestimate what gut punch it was — everyone’s first thought was OMG it’s Pulse all over again.
Even for LGBTQ+ people who don’t go to gay bars regularly, they’re still one of the few safe spaces we have, as the essay I posted yesterday talked about.
But the shorter version is that if you don’t get why, you’ve never had to assess whether it’s safe to hold hands in public.
@Starfish: I bought two t-shirts from them and added a note that given what they’re going through, there’s no rush on shipping my order, and whether it’s a month or a year from now I’m happy wait.
Lyrebird
@Starfish: I want to thank you and Tamara both for these links.
I watched the Atrevida folks’ video when you linked it earlier, that is beautiful.
UncleEbeneezer
@trollhattan: I always thought this idea was ridiculous. Newsom seems to have way to much respect for the Party and the Biden/Harris administration. And is smart enough to know that the argument that he would’ve done better with 49-49-1 Senate or would do better against Trump in 2024 General, is gonna be a really tough one for any candidate to make.
trollhattan
@Miss Bianca: Our first Dalmatian, Bruno, we adopted through Pet Finder–he was out boy for fifteen adventurous years.
Was Pet Finder of the ’90s anything like that today? No idea, there are so many more avenues now.
Good luck and yes, you may be nuts but what a great way to find out!
ETA, do you really, really like vacuuming? I mean, multiple times/day a lot?
Miss Bianca
@Starfish: I have their website pulled up and am perusing their beers. My “go to” brewery in Springs has always been Bristol, but I think on my next trip up I’d like to check these folks out as well. Not just because they’re Big Damn Heroes, mind…but also because I like the description of that rye IPA!
Lyrebird
@Sister Golden Bear: Been saying prayers for you Sister GB, non denominational ones, no requirement to agree on any sky fairies or lack thereof…
I am thankful that BJ is a place where I have gotten to learn from you, and I hope you are safe and surrounded by friends!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Josh at TPM was pointing out Musk’s latest stunt on Twitter is him doing live customer service, which is mighty peculiar for a dude who claims to be the CEO of four different companies (I mean at the very lest, shouldn’t Musk be interviewing a new management team for Twitter after he fired the original Twitter management team?). After that SpaceX interns post I am becoming convinced someone at Tesla got Musk hooked on Twitter just to stop him from wandering threw the plant at all hours and cosplaying as team supervisor for what ever department he happened to wandered into.
Geminid
@Miss Bianca: I’m a loner. And when the staff wasn’t around I could play “Poke Salad Annie” for the gators. I think they might appreciate the refrain.
mrmoshpotato
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
YES! GO BLUE!
cain
I’ve been to Colorado springs and I never really got a bad vibe there and everyone seemed to be fine.
Boulder on the other hand.. what a racist place filled with snooty rich ‘liberals’.
I have no idea why it gets compared to Portland.
trollhattan
@UncleEbeneezer: In part I think it’s a product of Newsom going after DeSantis and Abbott rather than being a polite stay-at-home Democratic governor. “What’s in it for him?” is such a typical kneejerk reaction from folks who have no idea how party politics can/should/used to work.
He’s an influential guy in a powerful state, so willing to help the president. It’s not like we need to work hard to land a Biden win here in two years.
President:
◻ Joseph Biden, Democrat
◻ Jody, the red-eyed pig from Amityville Horror, Republican
trollhattan
@Geminid: “Granny! How many times have I told you, stay away from the water!“
Miss Bianca
@Dorothy A. Winsor: AAAGH, now you’ve got it going through my head!!
@mrmoshpotato: There was a Guindon cartoon, years ago (wish I could find it!) that had two of his signature ladies looking at a sign saying “Go Blue.” Next frame they are standing there holding their breaths with their cheeks puffed out. Loved it!
geg6
@wonkie:
Actually, two! The Blogfather makes an appearance along with DougJ.
UncleEbeneezer
@trollhattan: I love that he goes after Desantis. Might as well. Republicans make every race about Pelosi, so Dems should take the same approach and claim that every GOP candidate is no different than Desantis, Taylor-Greene, Hawley etc. Make those assholes the face of their party in the minds of every voter.
FastEdD
Gov Gav has always worked with VP Harris so they wouldn’t step on each others’ careers. They are both NorCal people and they agreed long ago not to run against each other. Sometimes working together as a party instead of “Every man for himself” has advantages.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@trollhattan: a wretched, spiteful, straight-razor-totin’ woman!
Alison Rose
(sent twice?)
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Miss Bianca: Does it make you want to jump to your feet and cheer? :-)
Alison Rose
@trollhattan: I mean, he’s said about a thousand times already that he wouldn’t, but no one wants to fucking believe him.
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Nah, that was Annie’s Mama, the one who worked on the chain gang. Her Granny was a nice lady, albeit a little slow on her feet.
Miss Bianca
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Jump to my feet and…run away, perhaps.
I mean, it *is* a really stirring anthem. But stirring anthems ain’t my thing. Just like huge crowds of roaring sportsball fans ain’t my thing either. Reminds me too much of footage of the Nuremberg rallies. (And yes, I did see examples of Leni Riefenstahl’s oeuvre while I was a student at UM. Rather than go to football games. Always the weirdo, me.)
mrmoshpotato
@Miss Bianca: Hahaha!
TaMara
@Miss Bianca: I’m happy to do relay if you find something up north you are interested in.
MomSense
I’m exhausted today. I just want to sit on the couch with the pup on my feet and knit.
TaMara
@Sister Golden Bear: I’ve been thinking it would be nice to do a post on how to be an ally. I mean, we all want to be, but may not know what is most helpful.
I think the hive mind at BJ could come up with some solid way to support everyone or even become an activist. I know I feel like I fall short most days.
TaMara
@cain: It also has a super vein of highly educated, highly conservative folks that no one ever talks about.
I have to go there for work a lot, and it’s just not fun. Love my clients, but the general vibe is grumpy. In the 80s, it was a lot more hippy and a lot less banker. LOL
TaMara
curses all of you, now this will be in my head all day long:
eclare
@TaMara: I think that would be a great thing. I would love to do more but I don’t know what.
columbusqueen
@mrmoshpotato: No way, bub, Scarlet & Gray all the way!
J R in WV
I think it was in Salida CO my (long gone now, I’m afraid) rock-hounding bro Danny and I spent an afternoon at the hot water spa. Giant pool with barriers between warm, hot, and really hot pools of water. In the hottest pool was where the pipe from the local hot spring dumped really hot water, and you could get under that pouring steamy water if you were, I dunno, Numb?
Anyway, I couldn’t get under the pouring hot water, really didn’t get close to that part of the pool system. We needed the showers a whole lot, being camping out with a cabin that had a mere trickle of water. Now what with the climate changes, the cabin has no spring, you have to carry all the water you’re going to have in with you in your truck/suv whatever. My friends in Pueblo recently sold the cabin, which is around 12,000 feet up there. Danny and I were both flatlanders, and just walking uphill with a beer tuckered us out right away the first afternoon we were up there.
I looked it up, Salida Hot Springs Aquatic Center — a wonderful place in a wonderful tiny town.
TheOtherHank
Way, way, way back when, one of my first jobs was working at a McDonalds. Since it was the 80’s, the girls worked the cash registers and the boys worked in the kitchen. I made a lot of burgers. Putting together a Big Mac is the most complicated process, what with the two pieces of meat, the three pieces of bread, lettuce, etc.
One day one of the corporate honchos was visiting our store to make sure we were doing everything the McDonalds way. I was assembling Big Macs and since we were in a rush I was letting some of the lettuce strands escape the confines of the sandwich. The honcho guy saw this, stopped me, said “Not like that. Do it like this”, and demonstrated slowly and carefully putting the lettuce in its place. OK, I thought, neatness counts, and started being a bit more careful and much slower. 10 minutes pass and the honcho guy wanders by again. “No, not like that. Do it like this.” He then demonstrated going fast which caused lettuce to go everywhere.
For some reason, all talk Elon’s management style reminds me of that guy.
UncleEbeneezer
@Alison Rose: I had a normie friend who would never vote GOP but asked if Biden should run again. I asked why not and who would do better and all she could really say was that it’s sad that we had to elect an old, white man in 2020. She admitted she couldn’t really think of any issue another candidate would be more successful on or any candidate who would do better against Trump. Even admitted Biden has been way better than expected and that someone more progressive might lose to Trump. At the end of the day she couldn’t give a solid answer on why we need someone else. It was just…vibes. I’m guessing it’s something picked up from the Bernie/Warren-Stan’s in our circle who are still bitter about the 2020 Primary.
eclare
@TheOtherHank: People who have no idea what they are doing…I can see the resemblance.
Miss Bianca
@TaMara: TaMara, what’s the name of the rescue agency you work with? Big Dogs, or something? I remember you mentioning them when you were “Dane shopping”.
cliosfanboy
@Miss Bianca:
you may want to go directly to the rescue groups website to contact them once you found the Pup on Petfinder. That’s what we did a couple months ago before adopting.
Anyway
@UncleEbeneezer:
Me too. Newsom seems to be a good team player. I’ve always thought it’s a shame that CA Dem pols have to put up with purple state Dem fetishists keeping them at arms length and often getting overlooked for national positions – one reason I was happy that Harris got the VP nod. Good of Newsom to not play the press’ game and come out and say he’s not challenging POTUS.
(On the other side govs of very red states are pushed for national consideration even if their states are not representative nationally.)
cliosfanboy
Alligators??? I live about 12 miles from the National Zoo. That is as close as I am getting to any living creature that sees me and thinks “lunch.”
Chetan Murthy
@Amir Khalid: Amir, I’m sure I’m not the only one who wonders about the recent (let’s say: 20-ish years?) history of Malaysia, and specifically the interplay between Mahathir Mohammed, Anwar Ibrahim, and their respective political movements. I wonder if you have a pointer to a good explanation of what happened/is happening ?
Specifically, I remember that once upon a time Ibrahim was Mohammed’s protege, then there was a schism, then he was jailed on trumped-up charges (apparently twice) and then somehow he made common cause with Mohammed again against another guy ? I’m sorry, I don’t follow events in Malaysia enough. But wow, it seems like there’s something interesting going on there, with that kind of massive shift in allegiances/alliances.
WaterGirl
@TaMara: And now you want to share it with all of us! :-)
mrmoshpotato
@columbusqueen: You’re nuts!
Sister Golden Bear
@TaMara: A post on allyship would be great. I’m sure there’s resources I can share.
trollhattan
@cliosfanboy: We get the very occasional “guest” mountain lion. Tends to keep a person humble.
JPL
Older son and I went to vote early, then he came with me to purchase a x-mas tree I texted my younger son and mentioned it was a beautiful day to walk to the poll and vote. An early voting location is 3 blocks from their house. Anyway, he texted back that they already were on the way with the two grand imps in tow. Since the grand imps are 1 and 3, their votes won’t count but there are 4 votes for Warnock.
Great new ad by Warnock using Walker’s words and different people watching. One lady says “what the hell is he talking about”
zhena gogolia
@wonkie: Great article, thanks.
eclare
@JPL: Yay!
I mentioned in an earlier post, days ago, Mark Kelly totally had the attitude “who the fuck is this guy?” against bot Blake Masters. That is the right way, along with “what the hell?” IMHO.
Vampires vs werewolves? WTF?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@JPL:
I will say, vampires and werewolves are cool, and we need more good vampire and werewolf movies.
Anotherlurker
@Miss Bianca: It took 11 months for me to adopt in 2020. My beautiful mix, Buddy, passed on Jan. 20, 2020. I adopted my sweet girl, Addie, on Dec. 18, 2020.
The reason was panic adopting during COVID quarantine . The shelters and rescue groups were slammed with people who panic adopted . As a result, many rescue groups and shelters would not respond to adoption inquires and filled out applications. It was very frustrating but understandable.
I found that specific breed rescues (Golden Retrievers, in my case) were the most pressed with inquiries and applications. Although at the time even the municipal shelters were nearly empty of dogs.
I just finished an application to adopt a small/mid-sized Golden mix named Kiki. She is approximately 2 years old and if the adoption goes thru, she will be the youngest doggie that I adopted. All my other adoptees have been 5 years old of older. I found Kiki on Adopt-a-Pet and Petfinder. From the description, Addie would have loved to have Kiki come and live with us.
Be patient with your search and your new best friend will find you.
Keep us posted with your search.
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Thank you for the link. Earlier I tried to tape it. Went to a sports bar earlier and the ad was showing on one of the twenty tv’s. h
The ad is cutdown to about sixty seconds.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: This is a full service blog, in earworms as in everthing else.
SiubhanDuinne
This is the first day of advance voting in GA. We planned to vote (inter alia, to prove to those who would take it away that people really do vote early when they can) but when we got to the polling location, the line was so long (!!) that Bill said “Hmm, let’s come back later.” I wanted to wait, but he doesn’t like standing for long periods. So we’ll give it another try in a couple of hours, or, failing that, Monday.
It was truly gratifying to see so many folks waiting patiently in line to vote in a runoff election. I am encouraged (but never complacent).
Any other GA jackals vote today (or try to)?
ETA: Just saw JPL’s post.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: Younger son votes early at a Senior center and there seldom is a line. If you are in Fulton now, then vote there. Dorothy C. Benson Senior Multipurpose Complex*
6500 Vernon Wood Drive
Sandy Springs, GA 30328
I went to the Roswell Library and there was a line, but it was only thirty to forty minutes long
DeKalb had voting on Wednesday and the lines were long. That’s Warnock territory for sure.
eclare
@SiubhanDuinne: The only place I have had to wait for hours to vote is Georgia. TBF a lot of my exurban supposed R voters did not vote that year either, lines were too long.
It was 1992 or 1996. Georgia’s attitude: no one votes!
Miss Bianca
@Anotherlurker: I hear you, and that may be the reason why so many dog adoption groups are just *nuts* right now. I mean, one of them wants me to fill out an *eight-page* questionnaire, for all love! I’m stuck on page 2 at the “home visit” thing. And I realize, “I don’t want to try to tell someone, ‘Sure, you can come out to my home. Do you have four-wheel-drive? Do heights and 35-degree-angle driveways scare you? If my pitbull mix barks hysterically at you because he doesn’t see a lot of strangers up here, what kind of conclusions are you going to come to?'”
And I realize just how resistant I *am* to a lot of intrusive questions about my personal life, let alone a “home visit”. I know they’re trying to do their due diligence and all, and maybe this makes me a bad dog mom, but honestly right now I find myself thinking, “Cats. It’s just *so much easier* to try to adopt a cat…”
Ken
We have Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, why do we need anything else?
JPL
@eclare: GA makes it painful, although with early voting, it helps.
There is a window during early voting when it is light. Around 8 on school days parents are busy getting the kiddos on school buses, so the line is shorter.
TaMara
@Miss Bianca: Big Bones – where you can find both Giant Breeds and lap dogs, lol.
https://bigbonescaninerescue.com/
TaMara
@Sister Golden Bear: Then I will make a note to do that this week. There will probably be some more Club Q info we can pass along at the same time, too.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
I live in Stone Mountain now — the Gwinnett side. The early polling place is about a 15-minute drive from here (the day-of place is much closer, but we don’t want to wait until December 6th).
We just decided to wait until Monday morning, so we can have a late breakfast at the Metro Diner afterwards :-)
TaMara
@Miss Bianca Big Bones and other rescues have been doing FaceTime interviews since Covid – maybe yours will, too
ETA: Totally agree with hating the intrusiveness. Big Bones is not very intrusive. Flip side is me watching a family completely unequipped adopt a 6 month old husky at the Humane Society.
Dan B
@Sister Golden Bear: Ive got some ideas about allyship, particularly different approaches.
Princess
@cain: man, I was in Portland for a few days once and my main impression was that it was a racist place full of snooty liberals. Though the racists and the liberals, to be fair, we’re not the same people. It’s the only place I’ve been in the US where I witnessed a verbal racist attack by a white man on a brown woman ( and I froze and did nothing to my continued shame). It was right before that guy who shot a bunch of people, did his thing. That, the poverty I saw all over, combined with the very expensive lifestyle lived by the rich liberals there convinced me it was a powder keg about yo go off.
Dan B
@Princess: Oregon did not allow black people, not sure about brown people, to live in the state. Not sure when that changed but there are echoes of that to this day.
Miss Bianca
@TaMara: Oh, dear God, yes, you are right about that – speaking as a Siberian Husky fancier who had *no* idea what a handful I was getting with my first puppy almost 30 years ago! She grew into the greatest dog, still my heart dog after all these years, but *man* did she make me work for it!
Geminid
@SiubhanDuinne: While the events at the Capitol the next day wrenched the spotlight from the January 5, 2021 Georgia Senate runoffs, there were some big stories in that election. Perhaps the biggest was the relative dropoffs in the Democratic and Republican vote.
In November, David Perdue beat Jon Ossoff by about 88,000 votes, ~2,462,000 to ~2,374,000. Libertarian Shane Hazel’s 115,000 votes threw the contest into a runoff, but Republicans were confident that their history of strong runoff turnouts would send Perdue back to Washington.
In the event, though, Ossoff’s vote dropped by only 104,000 from November to January. Perdue’s dropped by 257,000, and Ossoff won ~2,270,000 to ~2,215,000 votes.
Comparisons are tougher in the case of Reverend Warnock because his November contest was a jungle primary with a dozen or more candidates. Warnock ran about 20,000 votes ahead of Ossoff on Januery 5, though.
If Georgia Democrats repeat that runoff strength this year, I believe that come January Senator Warnock will take his merited place in the new Congress. I suspect Georgia Republicans will be hard pressed to limit their voting dropoff to less than it was the last time.
JPL
@Dan B: Reading about the history of the Klan, you come to realize that it wasn’t necessarily a democratic or republican club. Both Indiana and Oregon were paramount to its emergences. The Klan wanted local control of government.
zhena gogolia
@Princess: I also got a bad vibe from Portland. I couldn’t put my finger on it. (I liked Seattle, though.)
I felt the same way about New Orleans, and everybody loves it. I hated it.
Kent
It’s turning out to be a good game and I’m enjoying seeing Ohio State go down.
Am I the only one who starts seeing all these events with a red/blue filter? I’m a west coaster and a few years back I wouldn’t have given a shit about who won this game. Today I’m cheering blue Michigan against red Ohio. Although the Michigan coach is apparently a MAGA douche so it isn’t 100%.
mrmoshpotato
@Ken:
LOL! True!
SiubhanDuinne
@eclare:
I stood in line, outdoors in the November cold, for well over four hours in 2008 to vote for Obama. That was, IIRC, the last Friday of early voting. Brutal experience, but so very worth it!
Kent
@Princess: Portlander here, although now I live across the river in Camas WA.
Portland is absolutely full of entitled white liberal douches who compulsively “mansplain” stuff to brown folk. Having split a lot of time between Seattle and Portland I prefer Seattle (and Washington over Oregon). It is more outward looking and international. Portland is all about the navel gazing.
Portland also has utterly dysfunctional urban government based on fiefdoms which has made things worse. The voters recently passed a civic government reorganization which should help somewhat, but it is a big project. On the other hand, Seattle civic government isn’t exactly “functional” either.
Seattle is just a lot richer so it gets away with more mistakes.
columbusqueen
@mrmoshpotato: I have two degrees from OSU. Why would I root for TTUN?
rikyrah
🤔🤔🤔🤔
Josh Solomon (@therealjsolo) tweeted at 6:03 AM on Sat, Nov 26, 2022:
New: Republican turnout in New York’s race for governor reached 63%, far outpacing Democrats at 47% and unaffiliated voters at 37%, according to a TU analysis of Board of Elections data.
https://t.co/Y9yq6UJ9Np
(https://twitter.com/therealjsolo/status/1596474620861120512?s=02)
columbusqueen
@Kent: Yes, Jimbo H. of Michigan is an open pro-lifer who’s appeared at rallies. He ought to be fired.
Geminid
@rikyrah: Sounds like New York Republicans were hungry this year. I saw this last year with Virginia Republicans.
Dan B
@Kent: Seattle civic government “not exactly “functional”.
How dare you explain reality!!
It is always “interesting”. The mayor is biracial Black/ Asian who is not friendly and loves the reliably racist police. The straight white male council member is more pro-minority than the BiPoc council members. There’s a strong preference for pie in the sky progressive policy that is not practical or achievable. The council meetings have open mike’s for the parade of screaming crackpots. I couldn’t do it. I’d snap. Sigh…
Miss Bianca
@Kent: OK, after all my smug bitching about how much I hate football, still I would be rooting for UM to rout OSU.
I mean, what can I say…you can take the girl out of Michigan, but…
mrmoshpotato
@columbusqueen: Two degrees?
Double nuts then! 😁
Kathleen
@Kent: I’m with you. I live in Ohio and I’m rooting for Michigan with my son in law. I’m so mad at Ohio right now.
WaterGirl
@Geminid: We need to be hungry in every state in 2024 and in every special election for anything between now and then.
I am convinced that we will win 2024 by what we do in every election for anything, between now and then.
sab
@Kent: Husband here in Ohio is rooting for OSU because of Michigan’s coach. We normally root against OSU because there are other universities in Ohio.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Agreed. Never ending hunger. Credit to their voters for maintaining the intensity. All the trash talk is meaningless if we don’t show up.*
* Which we did in a lot of other places.
twbrandt (formerly tom)
And Michigan kicked Ohio State’s ass. My day is complete.
Dan B
@TaMara: Ive got a couple ideas about different forms of allyship that may appeal to different people’s personalities.
dww44
@Geminid:
My college age granddaughter and very much a political activist and get out the vote, boots on the ground sort of activist, says that it is a mistake for Democrats to think that Republicans won’t turn out this time around…. that they are motivated (and the GOP ads seem to underscore her point), and that voter suppression efforts by the GOP since the new post 2020 law went into effect are really making it harder to vote, and that they (her group) are telling young voters to forget about absentee voting. This race can go either way and expecting Republican voters to vote for the better candidate is not something I am banking on. I am also worried that the African American vote will not turn out at the level that we need it to.
Anecdotally, while this majority-minority county’s Board of Elections voted to hold early voting today, the adjacent county, a pretty big GOP stronghold, voted NOT to. On the local board, the chair and 2 Democratic appointees voted in favor of having early voting today; the 2 Republicans voted against, on the grounds that doing so was an undue burden on elections officials and poll workers………………… Ya gotta love the so obvious rationales that Republicans use when they don’t want to admit they are, at their core, simply anti-democratic.
Phylllis
@twbrandt (formerly tom): Gamecocks knocked off Clemson at Death Valley. Christmas came early!
mrmoshpotato
@twbrandt (formerly tom):
In. Columbus. Payback for 2019 – the only game I’ve left early.
Geminid
@Baud:
@WaterGirl: We need to be unified as well. I am reminded here of Rachel Bitecofer’s tweet the weekend before the midterms:
Kent
On what grounds? Is that a violation of his contract or a violation of some state-level Hatch Act? Much as I find MAGA coaches distasteful, I’m not sure they should be fired unless they actually violate explicit policy like the uber-douche coach up here at Washington State who got his ass fired for his anti-vax idiocy.
It is the flip side of DeSantis and other conservatives who want to fire teachers for mentioning gays or systemic racism.
Torrey
@Kent:
A red/blue filter in more than a couple of ways. I was watching the Maize-and-Blue flags and, while the shade of blue isn’t the same, thinking about Ukraine and hoping Michigan’s performance was an omen.
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I WAS jumping to my feet and cheering (from the comfort of my kitchen), and I object to football because of the health issues. It was that kind of game.
Geminid
@Phylllis: I bet Gamecock fans will be telling the Clemson joke my Atlanta friend heard from a South Carolina grad he practiced law with.
It’s much better told verbally, but here it is in text form:
Baud
@dww44:
That thought should never enter into any Democrat’s head.
BUT, Warnock already beat Walker with Kemp on the ballot. I hope GA Dem voters keep a middle ground between complacency and doomism.
JPL
@dww44: Because they tightened up the voting, absentee ballots cannot be counted on. That is what hurts. Voting was steady all day in Fulton, Cobb and DeKalb so that might help, but I agree with your granddaughter. Kemp’s ads are strong.
The good news is that Warnock is owning the airwaves.
Geminid
@dww44: The x-factor in the poor Republican turnout last time may have been the cranky Trump voters who stayed home in order to punish the RINOs for letting Democrats “steal” their state’s electoral votes. That dynamic may not be present this time ’round.
But I still think Republican turnout will suffer, (although we can’t be sure until election night). Walker is a weak candidate, and Republican voters who turned out to keep Stacey Abrams out of the Governor’s Mansion may not care as much about keeping Raphael Warnock out of the Senate.
I’m not banking on anything though, and it’s out of my hands anyway.
cain
@Kent:
I don’t live in Portland proper, but in the west suburbs so I don’t get much of the snooty liberal stuff. I’ve spent over 25 years here and never had a problem in Portland or outside – then again I’m not black which is a completely different thing.
There is definitely racism and bigotry here despite it being a “blue” stronghold. It’s not great. We can only strive to be better.
My wife is in equity so she encounters this stuff all the time – especially white women fragility.
JPL
@Geminid: The split ticket is gone. The republicans that voted for Kemp/Warnock probably don’t show up.
There are three contested council seats also. One in Roswell where I live and the other two in heavy Warnock areas. The Roswell one could hurt Warnock though. It’s not as heavily conservative as when I moved here, but conservative, nonetheless.
JPL
The republicans swept all the seats in the last election so the idea that the state is purple, is not quite true. Warnock needs the younger folks to turnout, not just the blacks.
Geminid
@JPL: I think that some Kemp/Warner voters will still show up. How many? Maybe exit polls will give us an idea.
dww44
@JPL: Georgia is definitely not yet a purple state thanks in part to the very successful voter suppression measures put into place by the Republicans who control all the levers of state government that are keeping us from getting there. There’s also the fact that the state GOP is operating from a place of wounded ego. They look all around them and see that the GOP remains fully in control of all surrounding states. That explains why the full machinery of the Kemp election effort has been thrown behind the Walker campaign. Republicans will vote for the candidate with the R by his name no matter how bad a candidate he may be. It’s purely all about power.
Victory for Dems will result only if we are able to turn out more voters than Republicans. It’s far easier for them to do that than for Democrats. That’s why voter suppression is just so pernicious and evil. If we are able to come out on top and secure that 51st Senate seat for 6 more years it will definitely help strengthen the party in this state.
JPL
@Geminid: Do you mean Warnock? That is probably true where I live, because they might want to vote for council.
Yutsano
Some things are happening in the People’s Republic of China right now…
EDIT: I figure things are dying here in this thread but I didn’t want to spoil the calendar thread with this.
Phylllis
@Geminid: Hee!
columbusqueen
@Kent: Because I feel a prominent coach at a public taxpayer funded university should not be openly expressing his religious views.
I might add I was equally furious with Urban Meyer leading prayer sessions in the locker room when he first coached at OSU. Non-Christian players should not be pushed to participate in stuff like that, & if he hadn’t stopped, I would have wanted him fired too. I believe separation of church & state requires a very bright line when tax money is involved.
Ohio Mom
@wonkie: Just finished that CJR article on DougJ/NYT Pitchbot — thank you for the link, it is a great read.
When I started out reading it, there was a voice in my head saying, “I know him! I know him!” “Look, now they are talking about Balloon Juice and Cole!”
But after I got that out out of my system, and could take a step back, what struck me most of all was how well-researched, well-written and grounded and sensible the article is — something of the opposite of the lazy writing DougJ makes fun of.
zhena gogolia
@Yutsano: So their national anthem is the Internationale. I didn’t know that.
ETA: I see she has corrected that. It’s not the anthem.
zhena gogolia
@Ohio Mom: Yeah, me too.
Kent
@cain: I’m in education and if you want to see examples of white fragility and white liberal racism in Portland, pay attention to the politics of the Portland Public Schools. Much racist NIMBY fury goes into things like school attendance boundaries and special gifted and talented programs for affluent little white kids.
White folks are happy to gentrify north Portland, but God forbid they have to send their kids to majority-Black Jefferson High School or Harriet Tubman middle school on the north side.
I suppose that makes Portland just like anyplace else. But it is still unseemly to see.
Geminid
@JPL: Yes, I meant Warnock.
I do not know any Georgia Republicans, just half a dozen Republicans here that I’ve worked for enough to talk politics with on a friendly basis. They are what used to be called “Volvo Republicans,” upper middle class professionals. Now I call this type “Range Rover” Republicans.
I think this kind of Albermarle County Republican is not too different from a north Atlanta Republican. In fact, one couple used to be North Atlanta Republicans. I could see them splitting their ticket if they were in Georgia, and being civic minded enough to come out for Warnock again.
They would have seen Stacey Abrams as a political threat, but Warnock does not present the direct threat Abrams posed and is not as polarizing. They might look at Walker, on the other hand, and see a reputational threat to their party and to their state.
columbusqueen
One other thing-Ohio may be a red state, but Columbus, Franklin County, & Ohio State are very blue. Don’t blame us for those rural idiots who keep voting to cut their own throats. And Columbus is a damn sight more liberal than Ann Arbor.
Ohio Mom
@columbusqueen: Don’t forget Cleveland and Cincinnati, we are islands of Blue as well.
But the rest of the state? Hopeless.
Geminid
@columbusqueen: And debbie must have been one of the most liberal of Columbus’s Democrats.
I sure am sad debbie is no longer with us. I wonder what happened.
Baud
@Geminid:
Seconded.
JPL
@Baud: Me too!
mrmoshpotato
Indiana is toast. Northwestern too, but NU totally sucks.
raven
@mrmoshpotato: Go Illini!!
Kent
I think doing religious bullshit while on the job like Meyer is a fundamentally different thing than someone engaging in religion or politics on their own time outside of the job. Which is apparently what Harbaugh did.
If we start firing people for that sort of thing then conservatives are going to go on an epic purge of liberal teachers and other folks in red states. Attend a pride rally and get yourself fired from your public school job? Count on it. How is that different from what you are suggesting?
Geminid
@Ohio Mom: I think Akron and Toledo are smaller blue islands. And there’s probably a Democrat or two in Lima. Maybe even three!
dww44
@Geminid: Re your last paragraph, I fervently hope you turn out to be right. My daughter lives in those mostly white upper middle class areas of North Atlanta and we witnessed how so many talked themselves into voting for Trump in 2016. But many did defect in 2020. We shall see. If ever there was a case for decency and sanity winning over its opposite, then Warnock will/should emerge the victor.
mrmoshpotato
@raven: 41-3 as I’m sure you know.
dnfree
@TaMara: We visited Boulder in the 80s and it still seemed to have a hippie vibe. Visited again a few years ago and wondered what happened to the fun little shops. Apparently rich people took over?
dnfree
@Miss Bianca: I’ve mentioned before that my brother volunteers at a rescue organization in Northern California called Norsled for Alaskan-type dogs. He has several.
SWMBO
@Miss Bianca: My daughter and her husband rescued a dear old dog years ago. Chucky was 10 when they got him and 18 when he passed. You just never know how long you’ll have.