• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The willow is too close to the house.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

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

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

A Senator Walker would be an insult to the state and the nation.

Republicans in disarray!

I really should read my own blog.

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

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

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Second rate reporter says what?

“Squeaker” McCarthy

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

Why did Dr. Oz lose? well, according to the exit polls, it’s because Fetterman won.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

This blog will pay for itself.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

In my day, never was longer.

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

Mobile Menu

  • Winnable House Races
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Balloon Juice 2023 Pet Calendar (coming soon)
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • War in Ukraine
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • 2021-22 Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Hakeem Jeffries FTW

Open Thread: Hakeem Jeffries FTW

by TaMara|  November 30, 202212:21 pm| 112 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics

FacebookTweetEmail

BREAKING: Democrats just elected Rep. Hakeem Jeffries to be their leader, making him the first Black person to ever lead a party in Congress. And he's shown that he isn't afraid to stand up to Republicans for their nonsense. A great day for democracy.

— Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) November 30, 2022

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hakeem Jeffries unanimously elected leader of House Democrats, will be 1st Black person to lead major party in Congress.

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) November 30, 2022

Every young Black person in this country who looks at Congress will now see someone like Rep. Hakeem Jeffries leading a major political party and think to themselves, "That can be me when I grow up." Let that sink in. Can't overstate how important of a moment this is.

— Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) November 30, 2022

Congratulations to the new Dem Leader in the House, Hakeem Jeffries. Here is some of the energy and leadership he brings to the job pic.twitter.com/ta5Gupy8tJ

— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) November 30, 2022

I will miss Nancy Pelosi every single day, but this is great news.

An FYI: Tonight I’m posting a discussion thread on how to be an ally, Dan B and Sister Golden Bear will be there to offer suggestions and I hope others will, too. Not only LGBTQ+ issues, but others as well. I hope you’ll stop by with questions and suggestions. Kindness thread on Thursday.

This is an open thread

 

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Wednesday Morning World Cup Open Thread: Tunisia vs France / Australia vs Denmark
Next Post: Wednesday Afternoon World Cup Open Thread: Poland vs Argentina / Saudi Arabia vs Mexico »

Reader Interactions

112Comments

  1. 1.

    Old Man Shadow

    November 30, 2022 at 12:28 pm

    And only 52.

    That practically makes him a young whippersnapper.

  2. 2.

    TaMara

    November 30, 2022 at 12:29 pm

    Hakeem Jeffries from Brooklyn is now officially the new House Democratic leader pic.twitter.com/MDudM39oaX

    — Wu-Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) November 30, 2022

  3. 3.

    TaMara

    November 30, 2022 at 12:30 pm

    @Old Man Shadow: May he continue to be the GOP’s worst nightmare. 😘

  4. 4.

    sab

    November 30, 2022 at 12:33 pm

    Living as I do in flyover country, I have mixed feelings about a guy from Brooklyn being Speaker, but I try not to hold where they are from against people. My favorite aunt was from Queens, 50 years in Ohio and she never lost her NY accent.

  5. 5.

    Betsy

    November 30, 2022 at 12:38 pm

    Now, look for the idiot Republicans to pluck some random Black dude to head up a post of theirs.

    Because when we promote a talented person of color to a position that needs that person’s talent, they think we do it because of tokenism.

    “They got a black guy?  Well, we got a black guy” … and their analysis ends there.

  6. 6.

    Msb

    November 30, 2022 at 12:39 pm

    Wonderful news. Good luck to him.
    “My Kevin” must be dying with envy.

  7. 7.

    zhena gogolia

    November 30, 2022 at 12:40 pm

    @TaMara: Just to be clear, that’s from 2017. At first I thought this was his acceptance speech and thought it was a little strange.

  8. 8.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    November 30, 2022 at 12:45 pm

    The fact that he was unanimously elected majority leader by the caucus shows how united the House Dems are right now. That’s good and that unity is going to be needed in the coming months under GOP control. With such a slim majority, perhaps the Republicans can be manipulated and outmaneuvered. They’re incredibly disunited even in the best of times

  9. 9.

    Alison Rose

    November 30, 2022 at 12:47 pm

    Hell yes.

  10. 10.

    Alison Rose

    November 30, 2022 at 12:49 pm

    @sab: My mom moved from New York to California when she was 25, and next Spring will be 50 years since she came out here. She lost her accent within a few years, she said, although there are still a handful of words where she definitely pronounces them a bit differently than the rest of our family. BUT…if she gets angry? Oh boy, then the New Yorker comes out :) We used to tease her about it when we were kids and she’d be yelling at us for something, and we’d hear that accent come through. Then of course she’d just get more annoyed with us, LOL.

    Also, any time we’d go back East to visit, within about a day, she would sound almost like she’d never left.

  11. 11.

    TaMara

    November 30, 2022 at 12:51 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I was just highlighting his awesomeness, but thanks for the clarification

  12. 12.

    Joe Falco

    November 30, 2022 at 12:54 pm

    May he stick around long enough for when the Democrats regain control of the House so he can become the first black Speaker of the House. And then let the Blazing Saddles jokes flow.

  13. 13.

    Fair Economist

    November 30, 2022 at 12:54 pm

    Great to see a unanimous vote. Bodes well for future unity.

  14. 14.

    TaMara

    November 30, 2022 at 12:57 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Also – fun to have a date on that…I bet it made  a few heads explode, if you know what I mean and I bet you do. LOL

  15. 15.

    narya

    November 30, 2022 at 12:59 pm

    I had a professor in grad school with a pretty neutral accent. Then I heard her say either “beautiful” or “attitude”–i forget which–and the Philadelphia came through (bee-yoo-tee-full and atty-tude), and I asked her if she had grown up there. I was right (though she had emigrated from Germany, originally).

  16. 16.

    Roger Moore

    November 30, 2022 at 1:01 pm

    @sab:

    Living as I do in flyover country, I have mixed feelings about a guy from Brooklyn being Speaker, but I try not to hold where they are from against people.

    I think this is going to be a thing for the Democrats.  Our strength is in the cities, which means that’s where our leadership is likely to be from.  I’ll point out that Nancy Pelosi was from San Francisco, so it’s not as if it’s totally new for us to have a leader from a big coastal city.

  17. 17.

    la caterina

    November 30, 2022 at 1:02 pm

    Yay! Hakeem is my Rep.! He’s awesome.

  18. 18.

    Geminid

    November 30, 2022 at 1:03 pm

    Hakeem Jeffries:

     @RepJeffries

    Humbled to be elected House Democratic Leader.

    Let’s get to work.

     

  19. 19.

    Kent

    November 30, 2022 at 1:07 pm

    @Betsy:

    Now, look for the idiot Republicans to pluck some random Black dude to head up a post of theirs.

    Because when we promote a talented person of color to a position that needs that person’s talent, they think we do it because of tokenism.

    “They got a black guy?  Well, we got a black guy” … and their analysis ends there.

    There’s always Hershel Walker!

  20. 20.

    Kent

    November 30, 2022 at 1:09 pm

    @Roger Moore: Yes, I’m fucking tired of apologizing for living in a city.  That is where the future is.

    Brooklyn is part of the USA.   And a hell of a lot more important part in every way than say rural Nebraska.   Land doesn’t vote, people vote.

    Obama was from Chicago and Trump was from New York.  What does that mean?

  21. 21.

    tam1MI

    November 30, 2022 at 1:11 pm

    @sab: My favorite aunt was from Queens, 50 years in Ohio and she never lost her NY accent.

    I recently saw an interview on YouTube with the criminally underrated guitarist for the Cars, Elliot Easton. He originally hailed from Lon Guyland 😜, and you can hear it in his voice to this day. When he described a nasty bug he saw in Florida as a “cock-a-roach”, I cracked straight up!

  22. 22.

    Geminid

    November 30, 2022 at 1:11 pm

    @Roger Moore: Representative Jeffries got that job because of his talent and work ethic. He would have been elected House Democratic Leader if he’d been from any state, coastal or in between.

  23. 23.

    Mai Naem mobile

    November 30, 2022 at 1:12 pm

    @Betsy: except the Republicans don’t have a black guy. JC Watts has been gone for a while. The woman  from Utah lost her seat several years ago. There is Tim Scott but he’s in the Senate. They’re very diverse, the Republicans.

  24. 24.

    Miss Bianca

    November 30, 2022 at 1:13 pm

    @Kent: @Betsy:

    “They got a black guy?  Well, we got a black guy”

    And to me, it’s the sheer *relentlessness* of this clueless copy-catism – no, that’s not really the word I want, it’s more like sick, cynical parody – that gets so maddening to me. It’s like, “guys, guys, we KNOW you’re out white supremicists – what’s the matter, you’re not proud enough of it to just own it? You always have to try to pull the ‘black friend’ card?”

    Oh, well, I guess adding racial insult to injury is just their go-to MO.

  25. 25.

    Mr. Longform

    November 30, 2022 at 1:13 pm

    I think the way the older leadership team handled this was also quite impressive.  They clearly decided it was time to make way for the next generation, but they didn’t make a big deal out of it – announced they were stepping down, let it be known who the expected new leaders would be, orchestrated in such a way that there was no public squabbling, etc.  Of course the Dems have the advantage of not having a bunch of raving lunatic antidemocratic morons bitching about everything to contend with, so everyone pull out the tiny violins for poor Kevin.

  26. 26.

    Old School

    November 30, 2022 at 1:14 pm

    Republican Sen. Mike Braun (IN) is not running for reelection in 2024.  He is going to run for governor of Indiana instead.

  27. 27.

    Ohio Mom

    November 30, 2022 at 1:15 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I’ve said this before but I never know of you’ve seen it: whatever you are doing, keep it up. Because seeing a happy, grounded Goku, free of whatever anxieties that were chasing you, being your best version of yourself, thrills me every time I see another of your comments. It has to feel better for you too, and that’s the main thing, isn’t it.

  28. 28.

    Wapiti

    November 30, 2022 at 1:17 pm

    @Mr. Longform: And I think being in the minority will help this new crew get their feet. Fewer expectations, less blame, and still room to corral votes.

  29. 29.

    Kent

    November 30, 2022 at 1:18 pm

    @Mai Naem mobile:@Betsy: except the Republicans don’t have a black guy. JC Watts has been gone for a while. The woman  from Utah lost her seat several years ago. There is Tim Scott but he’s in the Senate. They’re very diverse, the Republicans.

    Technically speaking the Speaker of the House doesn’t need to be a Congressman.  They could nominate and vote for Kanye West for speaker if they wanted!  Or Hershel Walker if he loses his runoff race.

  30. 30.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    November 30, 2022 at 1:20 pm

    @Betsy:

    Because when we promote a talented person of color to a position that needs that person’s talent, they think we do it because of tokenism.

    “They got a black guy?  Well, we got a black guy” … and their analysis ends there.

    The ur-example of this might well be Clarence Thomas. He wasn’t fit to hold Justice Thurgood Marshall’s hat. (In the same way that Amy Coney Barrett doesn’t come close to measuring up to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.)

  31. 31.

    hells littlest angel

    November 30, 2022 at 1:21 pm

    “I’ve got some advice for Justice Thomas — start in your own home.”

     

    I love this guy.

  32. 32.

    hells littlest angel

    November 30, 2022 at 1:23 pm

    @Kent:  A Speaker of the House who can barely speak would certainly align with the Republican theory of governance.

  33. 33.

    Bupalos

    November 30, 2022 at 1:23 pm

    @Kent: I’m not going to comment on nebraska specifically, and no one should apologize for living in a city obviously. But it is important to remember that less dense places where a less human- dominated ecology can thrive are in fact important to us all. Your point is taken but I’m not cool with the implied formula here- that all that makes a place important is how many people are crammed in there. Just because Republicans do the stupidest version of “real America” doesn’t mean we need an equal and opposite version.

  34. 34.

    James E Powell

    November 30, 2022 at 1:24 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    The fact that he was unanimously elected majority leader by the caucus shows how united the House Dems are right now.

    Like never before in my adult life.

  35. 35.

    FastEdD

    November 30, 2022 at 1:24 pm

    Hakeem Jeffries will be the R’s worst nightmare and I welcome that. Eventually he will be Speaker and by the time he gets there he will know every lever to pull. Terrific news.

    Elliot Easton is one helluva guitar player-I have been amazed at work he’s done in addition to the Cars.

    And yes, as Democrats we shouldn’t apologize for being from a city. Or belonging to a majority of the American people. Those other folks in their bubble don’t even realize that.

  36. 36.

    Roger Moore

    November 30, 2022 at 1:25 pm

    @Geminid:

    I get this.  My point is just that the Democrats are mostly from cities, so it’s more or less inevitable that’s where leadership will come from, just based on the numbers.  If 80% of our House membership is from cities (made up number, but it’s probably close) we should expect 80% of our leadership to be from cities.  We aren’t going to have a leader from South Dakota until we can get someone elected there.

  37. 37.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 30, 2022 at 1:26 pm

    As someone who has pointedly contrasted the young political leaders of Europe with America’s octogenarians, I am delighted to see Rep. Jeffries taking on this leadership role.

  38. 38.

    Geminid

    November 30, 2022 at 1:26 pm

    @Joe Falco: I expect Hakeem Jeffries will be elected Speaker January, 2025.

  39. 39.

    Darkrose

    November 30, 2022 at 1:27 pm

    @Old Man Shadow: Someone from Gen X who isn’t a rightwing asshat! Yay!

  40. 40.

    Jay C

    November 30, 2022 at 1:27 pm

    Well, a brief glance at Hakeem Jeffries’ career will show he came up in Brooklyn politics: a rough neighborhood, politically: that he made it (so far) on the national stage is a good sign for the Democrats He definitely seems like a TNS Leader (and hopefully he’s absorbed enough lessons from Nancy Smash on how to manage a House bloc, – even as a Minority without – being ham-handed about it.)

  41. 41.

    Mai Naem mobile

    November 30, 2022 at 1:28 pm

    @Kent: the Republicans aren’t  going to have a black speaker if they are having trouble getting McCarthy the votes. They should just have TFG as speaker. Dumbasses.

  42. 42.

    Miss Bianca

    November 30, 2022 at 1:28 pm

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: OMG, women too. Fucking Republicans – always promoting the worst examples of achievement in women and POC, whether out of genuine cluelessness or as a “fuck you” to Democrats. Owning the libs has been their only reason for being for such a long, long time, apparently. (Clarence Thomas being indeed, perhaps, the ur-example of this for our times.)

  43. 43.

    Kent

    November 30, 2022 at 1:29 pm

    @Bupalos:@Kent: I’m not going to comment on nebraska specifically, and no one should apologize for living in a city obviously. But it is important to remember that less dense places where a less human- dominated ecology can thrive are in fact important to us all. Your point is taken but I’m not cool with the implied formula here- that all that makes a place important is how many people are crammed in there. Just because Republicans do the stupidest version of “real America” doesn’t mean we need an equal and opposite version.

    I don’t think we really disagree.  I just used rural Nebraska as a random example of a place that people (especially young people) are fleeing and for good reason.  And I actually worked there long ago when I worked on wheat harvesting crews.

    This whole “we can’t nominate someone from a city because rural rubes might take offense” gets tiresome.   That also doesn’t mean we ignore rural issues or strive to elect people in rural districts.  I have hopes that my new representative, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez will join with Mary Peltola and other young rural Democrats and organize a rural Democratic caucus as a counterpoint to AOC’s “squad” to show the diversity and breadth of the party.

  44. 44.

    Brachiator

    November 30, 2022 at 1:30 pm

    Every young Black person in this country who looks at Congress will now see someone like Rep. Hakeem Jeffries leading a major political party and think to themselves, “That can be me when I grow up.” Let that sink in. Can’t overstate how important of a moment this is.

    They might also think, why did it take so freaking long to get a black person as leader?

    Still, it is great. And a clear contrast with the madness of the GOP House leadership.

  45. 45.

    TaMara

    November 30, 2022 at 1:30 pm

    @Miss Bianca: Sarah Fucking Palin.

  46. 46.

    Roger Moore

    November 30, 2022 at 1:31 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    I think some of the reason Republican women and POC are so bad is because they need to overcompensate to get ahead.  A woman or POC who only matches a white man as a stupid asshole can’t get a second look because of the Republicans’ bigotry.  They have to be even dumber and a bigger asshole to get anywhere.

  47. 47.

    Jeffro

    November 30, 2022 at 1:31 pm

    @Darkrose:Someone from Gen X who isn’t a rightwing asshat! Yay!

    Wait…there’s another one, besides me?

    =)

    Seriously, though, I’m a huge fan of Mr. Jeffries’.  Here we come, GQP!

  48. 48.

    Kent

    November 30, 2022 at 1:32 pm

    @Jay C:Well, a brief glance at Hakeem Jeffries’ career will show he came up in Brooklyn politics: a rough neighborhood, politically: that he made it (so far) on the national stage is a good sign for the Democrats He definitely seems like a TNS Leader (and hopefully he’s absorbed enough lessons from Nancy Smash on how to manage a House bloc, – even as a Minority without – being ham-handed about it.)

    Nancy will still be around.  I expect he will have plenty of support should he need it.  Unlike Republicans, Democrats tend not to eat their own.

  49. 49.

    TriassicSands

    November 30, 2022 at 1:33 pm

    Congratulations to Jeffries. He has a hard act to follow. I wish him immeasurable success.

    I also can’t wait for the day (though I probably won’t live to see it) when there are no more racial, gender, or ethnic firsts to be had, because they’ve all been accomplished.

    In the short run, the most important thing is to keep Republicans out of the White House.

  50. 50.

    Chat Noir

    November 30, 2022 at 1:34 pm

    @Darkrose: Yes! That’s what I just said to myself. Glad that one of my fellow Gen Xers is in Dem Congressional leadership!

  51. 51.

    trollhattan

    November 30, 2022 at 1:36 pm

    I, for one, will miss Republican mewling about “San Francisco values being shoved down our throats” but perhaps Rep. Jeffries can bring in a big ol’ sack of New York to the job and make them forget all about our SF nana.

    LFG!

  52. 52.

    Kent

    November 30, 2022 at 1:39 pm

    @Roger Moore:I think some of the reason Republican women and POC are so bad is because they need to overcompensate to get ahead.  A woman or POC who only matches a white man as a stupid asshole can’t get a second look because of the Republicans’ bigotry.  They have to be even dumber and a bigger asshole to get anywhere.

    There are currently 8 Republican women Senators.  I don’t think they are worse than the current crop of male Republican Senators.  To the contrary, they mostly aren’t as bad.  A much higher percentage of them (5 of the 8) voted for the recent recent Respect for Marriage Act, for example.

  53. 53.

    Miss Bianca

    November 30, 2022 at 1:41 pm

    @trollhattan: or better yet, have them mewling for the good old days of Nancy P! “At least she RESPECTED us – Hakeem’s just so MEAN!”

  54. 54.

    KrackenJack

    November 30, 2022 at 1:41 pm

    @Roger Moore: I’d add that the leadership needs to be in a safe Democratic district since they will be relentlessly demonized by the MAGAt party. Not to take anything away from the heartland, but reps from the big coastal cities seem more likely to support a liberal agenda. Candidates who need to triangulate should be able to, but the leadership should be thinking national strategy rather than local issues.

  55. 55.

    artem1s

    November 30, 2022 at 1:42 pm

    Every young Black person in this country who looks at Congress will now see someone like Rep. Hakeem Jeffries leading a major political party and think to themselves, “That can be me when I grow up.”

    Every White kid in this country will see White leaders working with and accepting and celebrating a Black man’s leadership. Making inclusion and diversity the norm will be one of the great achievements of the 21st century Democratic Party. What the GOP and their base do with that is up to them.

  56. 56.

    Miss Bianca

    November 30, 2022 at 1:43 pm

    @Kent: Boy, I sure do hope “young rural Democratic reps” becomes a thing before the end of my lifetime!

  57. 57.

    Betsy

    November 30, 2022 at 1:46 pm

    @Mai Naem mobile: True enough.  I’m thinking the first time I realized and railed about this was way back during the era of Michael Steele.

    The thing is, people of talent are attracted to places where they are valued for their talents.

    So yeah — the Republican Party will tend to be hard up for talented people of color.

    (There’s generally a limited market though for shills and blowhards, thus Candace and a few others.

    I don’t mean to pick on people of color though. White republicans are plenty bad on their own)

  58. 58.

    Brachiator

    November 30, 2022 at 1:47 pm

    @sab:

    My favorite aunt was from Queens, 50 years in Ohio and she never lost her NY accent.

    A coworker had lived in California for decades, but never lost his strong Brooklyn accent. One day he complained about speaking to a customer service rep from another country who spoke with an accent. I laughed at him and reminded him that HE also spoke with a strong accent.

    I am from Texas, but never really had a Southern accent. I went to school back East and could pick up New England and New York accents. I can also do regional Texas, Oklahoma and Georgia accents.

  59. 59.

    UncleEbeneezer

    November 30, 2022 at 1:48 pm

    @Miss Bianca: The only way to succeed as a minority in the GOP is too sell out your identity group.  So Black Republicans have to be Clarence Thomas/Candace Owens types who deny racism exists and Women need to be Phyllis Schlafly types who rail against Feminism etc.

  60. 60.

    Betsy

    November 30, 2022 at 1:49 pm

    @UncleEbeneezer: I was just thinking of this exactly — right down to good ol’ Phyllis.

  61. 61.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 30, 2022 at 1:50 pm

    @tam1MI: I remember Allen Ginsberg reading a poem of his that mentioned “cock-a-roaches”.

  62. 62.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 30, 2022 at 1:51 pm

    @Miss Bianca: Replacing Thurgood Marshall with Clarence Thomas was a particularly galling example.

  63. 63.

    trollhattan

    November 30, 2022 at 1:52 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    I will certainly welcome their new complaints with enthusiasm. In response, always show the Nancy SMASH video tearing up Trump’s SOTU. It’s already on endless loop in my head. (That, and the mean girl clap. God, I love her.)

  64. 64.

    trollhattan

    November 30, 2022 at 1:53 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: Does it get worse than that? It does not.

    “High-tech lynching,” my ass.

  65. 65.

    arrieve

    November 30, 2022 at 1:53 pm

    I may have mentioned this before, but I gave Hakeem Jeffries his computer training when he was joining the firm where I worked. I remembered him for two reasons–the really unfortunate suit he was wearing, and the fact that although he wasn’t particularly friendly there was something I really liked about him, and remember thinking, This guy is definitely going to succeed. I was thinking in terms of law firm partnership, but for some reason he set his sights elsewhere, fortunately for all of us.

  66. 66.

    Princess

    November 30, 2022 at 1:55 pm

    @Old School: it wouldn’t be easy but not a complete long shot for us to win that senate seat.

  67. 67.

    Geminid

    November 30, 2022 at 1:55 pm

    @Roger Moore: Sorry, I did not mean to pick on you and would have done better not to tag anyone.

    I’m just very enthusiastic about Jeffries. I became aware of him when he was elected Caucus Chairman in November, 2019. Jeffries had been in the House only six years, and his peers and leaders must have seen a lot they liked. I have followed Jeffries since, and I believe he is one of the most capable politicians I have ever seen.

  68. 68.

    Josie

    November 30, 2022 at 1:56 pm

    My favorite accent was an unusual one. I grew up on the Texas Mexico border, and we used to go across all the time to eat out, party, and/or shop. There was a clerk in a gift shop/night club in Reynosa who had perfected the ability to speak Spanish with a Texas accent. I’m sure he brought in quite a bit of money, since we (and many others) went into that establishment just so we could hear him do it. He was rather well known locally and such a funny guy.

  69. 69.

    bbleh

    November 30, 2022 at 2:00 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  @Fair Economist: @Mr. Longform: @Wapiti:

    So let’s see, which party is looking to the future, planning sensibly, promoting younger leaders while retaining older leaders to give advice and assure continuity?  And which party is stuck in the past, with respect to both its leadership and its ideology/mythology, and can’t get rid of an old former leader whose continued presence is literally tearing the party apart?  Which party elected its leader unanimously and which is still fighting internally?

    Democrats in array!  (Not that I expect the media narrative to reflect it, but it IS the reality.)

  70. 70.

    WaterGirl

    November 30, 2022 at 2:01 pm

    @arrieve: Interesting story, thanks for sharing it with us.

  71. 71.

    Ruckus

    November 30, 2022 at 2:04 pm

    @Mr. Longform:

    I also think that having Nancy as leader for a few years, who could look in your direction and burn a hole from front to back of your head if she wanted might have made them actually think about actual leadership. I remember some of the shots of her in the capital building on Jan 6 and she was cool as it gets and thinking a lot of  steps ahead. If Jeffries is a leader in her mold, and I think he is, I believe it’s very understandable that he’s the new leader. They may not have come out of the same mold but the molds were very similar. I served on a ship for 2 yrs and we had way too many captains during that time, some of whom shouldn’t have been captain of a little red wagon, but the first and the last ones were actual leaders. Nancy and Hakeem strike me as several steps above either of them. I feel good with either of them in charge.

  72. 72.

    James E Powell

    November 30, 2022 at 2:06 pm

    @tam1MI:

    I met Elliot Easton years ago when he was doing a promotional tour of guitar stores for Gibson. The event was open to the public, but only about 20 guys showed up. He sat & talked with us for about two hours. He talked with us bar band losers & garage band wannabes as if we were peers. He was just great.

  73. 73.

    Ken

    November 30, 2022 at 2:06 pm

    @trollhattan: I, for one, will miss Republican mewling about “San Francisco values being shoved down our throats”

    They will pivot smoothly to “New York values”,  just as they shifted from “Chicago-style politics” in the Obama era.

    Or it might be “Brooklyn values”. Which reminds me to google… Brooklyn has 2.57 million people, more than 15 states. So it’s fair to say that there are more people with Brooklyn values than Wyoming values, Dakota values, etc.

  74. 74.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    November 30, 2022 at 2:08 pm

    And Dems’ have their new #2 leader – Rep. Katherine Clark has been elected whip by acclimation, per two ppl

  75. 75.

    Kay

    November 30, 2022 at 2:11 pm

    Transparent attempt to shut physicians up so no one finds out the practical consequences of these abortion laws re: women and children.

    I think women will find out anyway- abortion was minimized/ignored by media prior to the midterms, and young women educated themselves and voted on it anyway.

    Nick Riccardi
    @NickRiccardi INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana attorney general asks medical board to penalize doctor who spoke about abortion for 10-year-old Ohio rape victim.

  76. 76.

    Old School

    November 30, 2022 at 2:12 pm

    In a campaign speech earlier this year, Herschel Walker, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Georgia, said: “I live in Texas.”

  77. 77.

    James E Powell

    November 30, 2022 at 2:13 pm

    @Old School:

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

  78. 78.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    November 30, 2022 at 2:15 pm

    @tam1MI: My wife is a Long-Islander but trained herself out of the worst of the accent because she got tired of the looks she’d get. She can still put the accent on when she wants to, which she sometimes does in front of a class. It stops everybody cold.

    The kids thought she was exaggerating in describing the accent till the day we were visiting her parents and they heard a neighbor say “A dawg’s a dawg.”

  79. 79.

    Kay

    November 30, 2022 at 2:16 pm

    Here’s the roadmap for how the anti-abortion movement religious fundamentalists plan to shut down any discussion of their new laws.  they don’t want women to know what happens to 10 year old rape victims under the laws they put in so they plan on silencing anyone who reports what’s going on in these states.

    This link works.

  80. 80.

    CaseyL

    November 30, 2022 at 2:17 pm

    @Roger Moore: That’s an interesting twist on the adage that a woman or POC has to be twice as good as a white male to get half the credit.  Apparently that also applies to corrupt assholery.

  81. 81.

    rikyrah

    November 30, 2022 at 2:22 pm

     

    💉💉💉💉 Flip the WI Supreme Court on 4/4/23 (@Needle_of_Arya) tweeted at 9:14 AM on Wed, Nov 30, 2022:
    so when a white person says they hate the word or concept of “being woke,” they’re essentially admitting that this last 60+ years of civil rights movements for minorities was a lie, and that white culture’s natural default is permanent brutal racial discrimination & inequality
    (https://twitter.com/Needle_of_Arya/status/1597972430517329920?s=02)

  82. 82.

    tybee

    November 30, 2022 at 2:25 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: ​
     

    Raven lives next door to your wife’s parents?

  83. 83.

    Cameron

    November 30, 2022 at 2:25 pm

    @Old School: Lots of points for honesty; none for brains.

  84. 84.

    trollhattan

    November 30, 2022 at 2:28 pm

    @Kay: “The first rule of Slut-Shaming Club: don’t talk about Slut-Shaming Club.”

  85. 85.

    tam1MI

    November 30, 2022 at 2:31 pm

    @James E Powell: I met Elliot Easton years ago when he was doing a promotional tour of guitar stores for Gibson. The event was open to the public, but only about 20 guys showed up. He sat & talked with us for about two hours. He talked with us bar band losers & garage band wannabes as if we were peers. He was just great.

    Every interview I have read or seen with him he comes across as a real down-to-earth, nice person. And his passion for music is absolutely infectious.

  86. 86.

    rikyrah

    November 30, 2022 at 2:32 pm

    Yeah, imagine that😒😒🙄

     

    Terry Lee 王瑞民💜💙 (@TerryWatkinsJr1) tweeted at 10:41 AM on Wed, Nov 30, 2022:
    Ok the media has completely stopped talking about inflation and crime….

    It’s absolutely ridiculous how it propagated Republican talking points and just dropped them after an election…
    (https://twitter.com/TerryWatkinsJr1/status/1597994303259017218?s=02)

  87. 87.

    BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️

    November 30, 2022 at 2:34 pm

    This is a happy day for me. Brother Jeffries will do a fine job, Nancy SMASH has been working with him for some time, and he is ready for the moment. A LOT of people are in for a surprise; those on the right side of the aisle will find it most unpleasant. ♦️👌🏾❤

  88. 88.

    planetjanet

    November 30, 2022 at 2:36 pm

    OT: TBogg is leaving Twitter! Oh, noes.
    He says it is for personal and family reasons

  89. 89.

    Redshift

    November 30, 2022 at 2:40 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    I think this is going to be a thing for the Democrats.  Our strength is in the cities, which means that’s where our leadership is likely to be from.

    The leadership should represent everywhere there are Democrats, but before Obama, it was pretty common to hear arguments that we should choose people (presidential candidates especially) from outside our areas of strength to have broader appeal (which, as with many things, Republicans are never expected to do.) Obama being from an urban area was a breakthrough, and a good one.

  90. 90.

    rikyrah

    November 30, 2022 at 2:41 pm

    Because, of course😒😒

     

    Acyn (@Acyn) tweeted at 0:24 PM on Wed, Nov 30, 2022:
    207 Republicans vote against Paid Sick Leave For Rail Workers https://t.co/LMhAt1vQP5
    (https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1598020082890051584?s=02)

  91. 91.

    Kay

    November 30, 2022 at 2:43 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I wonder if physicians are going to put up with it. They have a real ethical problem. Some of those women who are barred from receiving life-saving care will die, and they’ll die in hospitals with providers looking on, hands tied. Texas has already reported that a woman had to have a hysterectomy due to Texas’ abortion laws banning medical intervention to save women.

    It’s not their fault but I think they have to take a stand. Presumably they didn’t get into OB/Gyn care in order to maim or kill women on orders from religious fundamentalists.

  92. 92.

    BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️

    November 30, 2022 at 2:43 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    OMG, women too. Fucking Republicans – always promoting the worst examples of achievement in women and POC, whether out of genuine cluelessness or as a “fuck you” to Democrats. Owning the libs has been their only reason for being for such a long, long time, apparently. (Clarence Thomas being indeed, perhaps, the ur-example of this for our times.)

    This is their M.O. All day every day, going back as far as I can remember. The Thomas placement on the SC was pretty foul. Trump’s installment was worse as a slap at both blacks and women; Barrett continues the trend.

    I’m hopeful that the tide will turn.

  93. 93.

    Redshift

    November 30, 2022 at 2:45 pm

    @Kay: You’ve got a typo in your link, it should be http://forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/11/30/indiana-ag-asks-medical-board-to-punish-caitlin-bernard-doctor-who-helped-10-year-old-rape-victim-get-abortion/?sh=15a3fb9d4e10

  94. 94.

    Kent

    November 30, 2022 at 2:45 pm

    @rikyrah:💉💉💉💉 Flip the WI Supreme Court on 4/4/23 (@Needle_of_Arya) tweeted at 9:14 AM on Wed, Nov 30, 2022:
    so when a white person says they hate the word or concept of “being woke,” they’re essentially admitting that this last 60+ years of civil rights movements for minorities was a lie, and that white culture’s natural default is permanent brutal racial discrimination & inequality
    (https://twitter.com/Needle_of_Arya/status/1597972430517329920?s=02)

    Woke just means awake, alert, aware, cognizant, etc.

    So the opposite of woke would be permanently asleep or unaware.  The correct word for such people is “Zombies”

  95. 95.

    Kent

    November 30, 2022 at 2:48 pm

    @Kay: Personally I think the chances that the state medical board will take the side of a culture warring AG over an actual doctor in this instance is pretty damn slim.  Even in a state like Indiana.   the entire medical board in Indiana (and probably every other state) is made of up entirely of doctors

    I expect them to do something like issue a terse note to the effect of:  “We reviewed the complaint and found it to be without merit”

  96. 96.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 30, 2022 at 2:49 pm

    @Mai Naem mobile: They do. John James, a potentially formidable politician. Successful businessman, army vet, West Point, Ranger school, MBA from UM and another Masters from Penn State. Damn near beat Gary Peters for the MI Senate seat, squeaked into his current House seat, but he’s no clown. IIRC he started out in the sorta kinda anti-trump wing, and after Jan 6 declared himself 2000% with trump

    ETA not that I think they’re gonna make a freshman Speaker, and if he’s half as smart as he looks on paper, he wouldn’t want the job. He’ll keep his head down, raise money and hope for the crazy to calm down. Probably take another run at the Senate, I’d bet

    ETA, A: “on paper”, Fail-schmoo Mike Pompeo has a helluva diploma trail, and I’d be surprised if he isn’t done in politics.

  97. 97.

    Miss Bianca

    November 30, 2022 at 2:52 pm

    @James E Powell: Now that’s a mark of a real musician, imho. Neat story! I love it when you meet your heroes and they turn out to be really cool.

  98. 98.

    sab

    November 30, 2022 at 2:57 pm

    @Kay: They will move to other states. Ohio, Indiana etc will find themselves with an ob/gyn shortage. As you said, they didn’t go into medicine to kill and maim people.

  99. 99.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 30, 2022 at 3:00 pm

    @bbleh:

    Democrats in array!

    Democrats : UNITED!
    Republicans : UNTIED!

  100. 100.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 30, 2022 at 3:03 pm

    @Redshift: There was an idea for a long time that any Democratic President would have to be a white Southerner–every Democratic President after JFK had been one, after all, all the nominees who weren’t Southerners had lost, and it was the only way to get the Southern electoral votes that we absolutely needed to elect a President. Nominating Obama was a dramatic repudiation of that strategy.

  101. 101.

    CaseyL

    November 30, 2022 at 3:05 pm

    OT:  Just saw on the birdsite that Christine McVie, of Fleetwood Mac, has died.  She was 79, which shocked me, because of course she is frozen in my mind’s eye as she was when they were still performing.

  102. 102.

    Citizen Alan

    November 30, 2022 at 3:07 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:  every Democratic President after JFK had been one, after all, and it was the only way to get the Southern electoral votes that we absolutely needed to elect a President

    :Presidents between JFK and Obama” is a sample size of 2, 1 of whom was a one termer.  Maybe 3 if you count LBJ, but coming on the heels of the Kennedy assassination, Johnson could have been from Alaska and still won.

  103. 103.

    tam1MI

    November 30, 2022 at 3:09 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Ok the media has completely stopped talking about inflation and crime….

    That is partially because Republicans have stopped talking about inflation and crime. And although I would love it if a reporter actually asked a House Republican, “You’ve talked about how you are going to use your razor-thin majority to investigate Hunter Biden’s laptop and impeach Dr. Fauci. What do you plan to do about inflation and crime, the issues you were elected to address?”, I know it will never happen.

  104. 104.

    UncleEbeneezer

    November 30, 2022 at 3:10 pm

    @Betsy: It’s the price of admission to be considered “one of the good ones” and promoted/used as their (Republicans’) token shield from anyone pointing out their obvious and widespread Racism/Misogyny etc.

  105. 105.

    Kent

    November 30, 2022 at 3:13 pm

    @Citizen Alan: And Clinton was probably the only legitimate southerner who was elected as such.   Carter was more of an outsider in the wake of Watergate who would not have been in the running absent Watergate.   I think Jerry Brown of CA was second in the primary that year.    None of the mainstream Dems like Ted Kennedy were running in the 1976 primary.

  106. 106.

    WaterGirl

    November 30, 2022 at 3:16 pm

    @Kay: Your link at “roadmap” didn’t work, so I fixed it and added “This link works.”  to your comment.

  107. 107.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 30, 2022 at 3:16 pm

    @CaseyL: damn, Rumors was my first album.

  108. 108.

    CaseyL

    November 30, 2022 at 3:19 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Fleetwood Mac provided the soundtrack to a lot of my life back in the 80s.  This one hurts bad.

    (Plus, at 66, age 79 doesn’t seem very distant, y’know?)

  109. 109.

    Redshift

    November 30, 2022 at 3:19 pm

    @Citizen Alan:

    “Presidents between JFK and Obama” is a sample size of 2, 1 of whom was a one termer.  Maybe 3 if you count LBJ, but coming on the heels of the Kennedy assassination, Johnson could have been from Alaska and still won.

    Like lots of ideas in politics, it was insane if you actually thought about it, but that didn’t stop it from being conventional wisdom in the chattering classes. Really what it amounted to is “we were surprised Clinton won, so there must be some factor that explains that.”

  110. 110.

    Brachiator

    November 30, 2022 at 3:51 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    damn, Rumors was my first album.

    First ever album?

    I feel old.

    Great band, talented musicians and song writers.

  111. 111.

    Brachiator

    November 30, 2022 at 4:04 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    There was an idea for a long time that any Democratic President would have to be a white Southerner–every Democratic President after JFK had been one, after all, all the nominees who weren’t Southerners had lost, and it was the only way to get the Southern electoral votes that we absolutely needed to elect a President. Nominating Obama was a dramatic repudiation of that strategy.

    This misses the larger political picture. Prior to JFK, Southern Democrats included white racists and those who accommodated Jim Crow, as well as those who fought to overcome that horrible legacy. Subsequent to the passage of civil rights legislation, Southern electoral votes included the votes of black people, few of whom cared about a president being from the South.

    The 1968 presidential election was the first after the passage of the Voting Rights Act. A portion of the white Southern electorate voted for George Wallace in 68 and then were courted by the Republicans. The new voting demographic was significantly different from pre 68 voters.

  112. 112.

    J R in WV

    November 30, 2022 at 7:00 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Ok the media has completely stopped talking about inflation and crime….

    It’s absolutely ridiculous how it propagated Republican talking points and just dropped them after an election…

    There is something like this every election.

    African Ebola is going to kill us all if the Democrats are elected. Dropped like a hot rock.

    The Latino gangs are coming on buses to cross the border and kill us all if the Democrats are elected. Dropped like a hot rock also.

    Inflation caused by the Democratic budget is going to crush our economy and we will all starve if Democrats are elected.

    Crime caused by Defund the Police will kill us all if you vote for Democrats. Over and over, they make up something to try to panic the nation, it never happens, they forget about it immediately after the election.

    But the national media never remembers the scam when the next election starts next year. Never. In fact, they are part of the scam.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

2023 Pet Calendars

Pet Calendar Preview: A
Pet Calendar Preview: B

*Calendars can not be ordered until Cafe Press gets their calendar paper in.

Recent Comments

  • MisterDancer on Monday Morning Open Thread: Rise and… Feed the Beast! (Jan 30, 2023 @ 12:01pm)
  • Uncle Cosmo on War for Ukraine Day 339: The Strategist’s Enemy Is Time (Jan 30, 2023 @ 12:00pm)
  • Cameron on Monday Morning Open Thread: Rise and… Feed the Beast! (Jan 30, 2023 @ 11:59am)
  • Baud on Monday Morning Open Thread: Rise and… Feed the Beast! (Jan 30, 2023 @ 11:56am)
  • Brachiator on Monday Morning Open Thread: Rise and… Feed the Beast! (Jan 30, 2023 @ 11:55am)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
We All Need A Little Kindness
Favorite Dogs & Cats
Classified Documents: A Primer

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup

Front-pager Twitter

John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
TaMara
David Anderson
ActualCitizensUnited

Shop Amazon via this link to support Balloon Juice   

Join the Fight!

Join the Fight Signup Form
All Join the Fight Posts

Balloon Juice Events

5/14  The Apocalypse
5/20  Home Away from Home
5/29  We’re Back, Baby
7/21  Merging!

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!