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There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

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Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

T R E 4 5 O N

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

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Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

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You are here: Home / Healthcare / Sunday Morning Open Thread: Preaching to the Choir

Sunday Morning Open Thread: Preaching to the Choir

by Anne Laurie|  January 15, 20238:36 am| 92 Comments

This post is in: Healthcare, Open Threads, President Biden, Proud to Be A Democrat

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ICYMI: President Joe Biden will deliver remarks during a service at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church to celebrate the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The current pastor is Sen. Raphael Warnock. https://t.co/doSMGiylgc

— Atlanta Journal-Constitution (@ajc) January 13, 2023

Health news:

With bipartisan congressional support and just under $1 billion in federal funds, the nation's new 988 mental health helpline has raked in over 2 million calls, texts and chat messages since launching in July.

A look at what's next for 988 @APhttps://t.co/mKoJlG5WJU

— Amanda Seitz (@AmandaSeitz) January 10, 2023


Ten years of work in 10 countries, 25 study sites, dozens of collaborators, and over 8000 participants showing that criminalizing gay men is the most significant predictor of HIV risk.

There is no path to ending #HIV or #AIDS with punitive laws in place.https://t.co/HN67jOaBjI pic.twitter.com/WwcwoNOYlD

— Stefan Baral (@sdbaral) January 8, 2023

“Independent” (of thought or reason)

If you're an independent but you still vote like a partisan, you have probably replaced party-driven polarization with media-driven polarization, & I cannot say that is any better https://t.co/wfKU9Sq9lv

— chatham harrison is tending his garden (@chathamharrison) January 13, 2023

like, i know a few genuine independents and they want things like an end to all federal income tax and also want socialized healthcare

— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachi) January 13, 2023

My bet is the majority of people who attacked the Capitol on January 6 were independents. Self-identified independents over 40 are probably more reactionary than the average self-identified Republican voter. https://t.co/AMuJ3tPI2M

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) January 14, 2023

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Previous Post: « Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Garden Projects
Next Post: ACA Open Enrollment Ends Tonight »

Reader Interactions

92Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    January 15, 2023 at 8:39 am

    Aren’t a lot of liberal young people not registered with the party?

    ETA: It took me a couple of years to actually register as a Dem after I started voting.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    January 15, 2023 at 8:40 am

     i know a few genuine independents and they want things like an end to all federal income tax and also want socialized healthcare

    Baud! 20XX!: Like a genie in a bottle.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    January 15, 2023 at 8:46 am

    The mental health line story is amazing. I hadn’t heard about that.

  4. 4.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    January 15, 2023 at 8:50 am

    I didn’t register as a D until we moved to Iowa, where the primaries/caucuses were closed. I’d always lived in Michigan, where they were open.

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 15, 2023 at 8:51 am

    As Steven Taylor says (and has the data to back it up) there are very very very few true independents. The vast majority vote the same in every election but want to pretend they are above all that partisan BS.

    @Baud: Here in Misery we have no party registration, but everybody knows how I vote (it’s public record which primaries I vote in) and my email shows where my contributions go.

  6. 6.

    RandomMonster

    January 15, 2023 at 8:53 am

    @Baud: I too started as an Independent when I first voted at 18. I take it as a sign of growing maturity that I switched to Democratic sometime in college.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    January 15, 2023 at 8:55 am

    @RandomMonster:

    I matured late.  My current goal is 2027.

  8. 8.

    Ken

    January 15, 2023 at 8:55 am

    @Baud: Like a genie in a bottle.

    Damn, they’re going to be mad they forgot to ask for a sparkly pony that craps gold, which I understand is traditional in these “I want government that…” lists.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    January 15, 2023 at 8:55 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Hopefully your emails aren’t public record.

  10. 10.

    chrome agnomen

    January 15, 2023 at 8:57 am

    in today’s polarized political arena, independents are idiots, trying to have things both ways. yearning for the manchinema party to get off the ground.   epitomizing the perfect being the enemy of the good, and thereby making everything worse.  prima donnas letting the two parties do the heavy lifting on policy, though evidence of that is lacking from the right.  a major reason why we can’t have nice things.

    feeling cranky this morning.

  11. 11.

    p.a.

    January 15, 2023 at 9:00 am

    “No difference between the parties” is the strangulated cry from someone with a half-eaten face getting medical care via Obamacare.

  12. 12.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 15, 2023 at 9:00 am

    @Baud: Meh, my reps and senators all know how I feel about things. So do all my neighbors. I’m that “crazy Libtard that lives down Hwy A…”

  13. 13.

    WereBear

    January 15, 2023 at 9:01 am

    @Baud: Baud’s reach should exceed his grasp.

    It is part of your No Pants platform.

  14. 14.

    Benw

    January 15, 2023 at 9:02 am

    @Baud: like Cristina Aguilera we’ll have to rub you the right way

  15. 15.

    Starfish

    January 15, 2023 at 9:05 am

    In Colorado, a third of the voters are independents. We have an open primary system where independents receive both primary ballots but are only allowed to return one.

    Most of the independents that I have met are younger voters and not party people.

    A lot of younger people seem opposed to various institutions like churches, universities, and so on. These institutions have always (in their lifetimes) been broken and not served them well.

    Do you want a politician who will sell out your future by compromising with the oil and gas lobby or no?

  16. 16.

    Michael Bersin

    January 15, 2023 at 9:06 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Political conversations in Missouri with heaping helpings of “expertise” and the individual firmly stating, “I’ve been a registered [party name] for [x] years,” don’t usually end well around me.

    I usually reply, loudly enough so that everyone in the room can hear, “No, you’re not.” [long pause, not long enough so that they can indignantly reply] “Voters in Missouri can not register by party.”

    I’ve just heard that confident assertion far too much over the past thirty years.

  17. 17.

    Tinare

    January 15, 2023 at 9:08 am

    I have a couple of friends who are registered as independents who seem to think it’s a badge of honor to not be a partisan. I tried to explain to one of them why it was stupid to not pick a party in Pennsylvania (a closed primary state). The response was that they thought they should be able to vote in primaries anyway. So they’re really unicorns should be real people. Both were McCain-like republicans. Both are totally shocked at what the Republicans have become, so they are actually people who are easily fooled, imho.

  18. 18.

    Baud

    January 15, 2023 at 9:08 am

    @Starfish:

    Non-institutionalists aren’t really any more effective or morally better than institutionalists.  They just don’t have a label that can be the subject of attacks and derision.

  19. 19.

    Starfish

    January 15, 2023 at 9:12 am

    @Benw: It has been so long since I have thought about that song. Baud should definitely use it as one of his campaign songs to appeal to the independents.

  20. 20.

    Josie

    January 15, 2023 at 9:15 am

    @Baud: ​
     Which is the real reason they cling to their non-institutional label.

  21. 21.

    Starfish

    January 15, 2023 at 9:15 am

    @Baud: If they can kill the politicized evangelical movement, I am here for it.

  22. 22.

    Gin & Tonic

    January 15, 2023 at 9:16 am

    @WereBear: I’d prefer not to read about “grasp” and “no pants” on a Sunday morning, SVP.

  23. 23.

    Immanentize

    January 15, 2023 at 9:19 am

    @Baud:

    Baud! 20XX!: Like a genie in a bottle

    Baud is Barbara Eden?

  24. 24.

    Baud

    January 15, 2023 at 9:21 am

    @Starfish:

    Keeping the evangelicals’ political party out of power is the best way to do that IMHO.

  25. 25.

    Geminid

    January 15, 2023 at 9:24 am

    @Baud: “Independents are not a monolith!”

    Social science researchers find that Independents actually are a very disparate group. Large chunks vote for one or the other main parties fairly consistently.  But some often vote against the party in power, perhaps deeming divided government better than one party having the upper hand.

    Some Independents do not like extremes and swing away from the more extreme party. This may be born out in the way Virginia’s Democratic politicians (usually) prevail against Republicans even though Democratic Party affiliation polling* shows them with a 35-38% share of the state’s voters. When the subject of California’s Independents came up here the other day someone said that a majority of this group has voted for Democrats lately. That could be a response to the radicalization of the state and national Republican party.

    I think there are swing voters, not many but enough to turn close elections in purple states and districts. This may have been the case in Virginia in 2021 and New York last November. Low Democratic and high Republican turnouts definitely hurt Democratic candidates. I think a 3-5% swing among the Independent vote also contributed to the 12% swing from Joe Biden to Youngkin, and to the defeats of New York Democrats in districts thought to be light-blue.

     

    *Virginia does not register voters by party, so this number is taken from the Wason Center polls of registered voters. One question always asks people to self-identify by party. Another question asks people to pick an ideological self-description: Very Conservative, Conservative, Moderate, Liberal, Very Liberal.

    There are also questions about age, gender and ethnicity, as well as issues up for consideration before elections and in current General Assembly sessions.

  26. 26.

    prostratedragon

    January 15, 2023 at 9:38 am

    Tribute to Dr. King by Adolphus Hailstork, performed by the Chineke! Orchestra of the UK: “Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed.”

  27. 27.

    Suzanne

    January 15, 2023 at 9:39 am

    @Tinare:

    I have a couple of friends who are registered as independents who seem to think it’s a badge of honor to not be a partisan. 

    Yeah, it’s because those people look on party registration as part of their self-concept instead of a tool of influence.

    I understand it, but it isn’t really smart. In your day-to-day life, party registration doesn’t mean all that much, in that it doesn’t make demands on your life. Hell, it can be secret, if you want.

    My personal politics are probably closest to the Warren/Squad wing of the party, but I am keenly aware that I have zero influence without a party registration.

  28. 28.

    The Dark Avenger

    January 15, 2023 at 9:39 am

    I am not a member of a party with an organized agenda.  I am a Democrat.

  29. 29.

    Kay

    January 15, 2023 at 9:47 am

    @Tinare:

    So they’re really unicorns should be real people

    They want incoherent sets of things – low taxes but universal healthcare, less corruption and lawbreaking but also fewer regulations, a 50/50 ideologically balanced compisition of a legislative body – thereby ensuring deadlock- but also fast and decisive action on their demands.

    There aren’t “more independents” (no matter what people tell pollsters) because the electorate is intensely polarized. More of them are mostly voting for either Republicans or Democrats, but in true Independent fashion, they want to vote like partisan without being one.

  30. 30.

    JPL

    January 15, 2023 at 9:53 am

    OT Sad news for the GA fans among us.   An offensive lineman and recruiting staff member were killed earlier in a car crash.  Two other members of the team were hurt but their names have not been released.  WSB TV

    A 21-year-old male passenger sustained minor injuries and a 26-year-old female passenger sustained serious injuries.

    Edited to add that AJC has more info     link

  31. 31.

    bbleh

    January 15, 2023 at 9:55 am

    Certainly almost all the “independents” I know are actually dependably partisan leaners, and the few that aren’t are basically not just nonpartisan; they’re non-political: they tend to be uninformed, uninterested in learning, and IF they vote it’s spur-of-the-moment and basically whimsical.

    And yeah, right now, most of the partisan-leaning “independents” are Republicans in all but name who don’t want to be associated with those riff-raff.

  32. 32.

    Amir Khalid

    January 15, 2023 at 9:57 am

    @The Dark Avenger:

    These days, though, they’re not Will Rogers’ Democratic party any more. They do have an organised agenda now. Whereas the Republicans’ “agenda” is just tax cuts for the rich, misery for the rest, and placating its out-of-control kindergarten class.

  33. 33.

    Starfish.

    January 15, 2023 at 9:59 am

    @bbleh: Yes! The “proud” independents are usually not very political and uninterested in learning

    I don’t think what you are saying about partisan leaning independents is true. I think that there are Democratic independents and not just Republican ones. I think the flavor of independent varies by age group, and we are going to see the shift soon.

  34. 34.

    Jinchi

    January 15, 2023 at 9:59 am

    If you’re an independent but you still vote like a partisan, you have probably replaced party-driven polarization with media-driven polarization

    I never understand this take on the Gallup data. We only have two parties in this country and one of them is openly hostile to a large fraction of the population. What do you think the voting habits of a “truly independent” voting population would look like?

  35. 35.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 15, 2023 at 10:03 am

    “Independent” (of thought or reason)

    To quote bluegal’s mocking of these both-siderist idiots, “I’m an indeeependaant!”

  36. 36.

    JMG

    January 15, 2023 at 10:06 am

    Roughly half the voters in solidly Democratic Massachusetts are registered without party affiliation, that is, independents. Many of them are actually Republicans who do so to vote in Democratic primaries where their votes might have some impact on the election, knowing general elections for most offices will be foregone conclusions. I would assume the reverse is true in red states with open primaries.

  37. 37.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 15, 2023 at 10:09 am

    Aren’t open or semi-open primaries more common than they used to be? If you get no voting advantage from being registered with a party, people may figure there’s no reason to have a registered party affiliation, and then they self-identify as independent. There could be less to this than it appears.

  38. 38.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 15, 2023 at 10:09 am

    like, i know a few genuine independents and they want things like an end to all federal income tax and also want socialized healthcare— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachi) January 13, 2023

    BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! And I doubt these stupid children bother to vote either.

  39. 39.

    Starfish.

    January 15, 2023 at 10:09 am

    @JMG: That makes sense to register as an independent if you are a Republican in MA. If you don’t, you get no say in who your officials are at all.

  40. 40.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 15, 2023 at 10:12 am

    @Geminid: I suspect there are a significant number of voters–enough to swing close elections–who just vote for whoever seems to be winning.

  41. 41.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 15, 2023 at 10:16 am

    @Starfish.: The same can be said of voters here in rural Misery but I can’t bring myself to vote for the devil’s hand maidens because they aren’t the devil themselves.​

  42. 42.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 15, 2023 at 10:16 am

    @Ken:

    Damn, they’re going to be mad they forgot to ask for a sparkly pony that craps gold, which I understand is traditional in these “I want government that…” lists. 

    Sir, I’m damn sure that Wilmeristas want unicorns that shit rainbows out of their eyes.

  43. 43.

    Miss Bianca

    January 15, 2023 at 10:21 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    @Starfish:

    I think this is largely true in CO, anyway. I also think open primaries are a cop-out, personally, and I wish we didn’t have them. However, I do confess that at times I have felt the temptation to switch my registration to independent, primarily because the Republicans are the only party in power in my county, and will be for the foreseeable future.

    However, the ironic thing is that now the Republicans are bellowing about the open primary system and threatening to switch back. Because, apparently, the reason they are being wiped out at the state level is that they aren’t radical and reactionary *enough*, and it’s all the fault of those darn kids who aren’t Republicans fucking with them in the primaries, man!

    Which is delusional, but then again, they are Republicans, so I repeat myself.

  44. 44.

    StringOnAStick

    January 15, 2023 at 10:36 am

    One thing not being registered with a party does is keep you “protected” from voter outreach projects by party.  It makes it harder to reach D leaning young people so we have to come up with other ways to reach them.  That’s where the elected officials with strong social media games get more credit/support than their legislative achievements would suggest.

  45. 45.

    Kay

    January 15, 2023 at 10:40 am

    Hoover Institution
    @HooverInst
    “California is estimated to have lost $1.2 trillion dollars because of learning losses during the pandemic,” finds Hoover fellow
    @EricHanushek
    in his latest essay examining data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress:

    Besides the ludicrous, made-up numbers they push into media, the exclusive focus on blue states and school closings ignores the data.
    Florida famously pretended the pandemic didn’t exist – Florida students had larger drops in national standardized tests than California students. They haven’t found any real connection between number of days schools were closed and the overall well being of students. They expected to! Hell, I expected it. But they do not, in fact, have it. So they’ve just decided to pretend they do.
    It’s just junk.

  46. 46.

    JMG

    January 15, 2023 at 10:41 am

    @StringOnAStick: Years ago I had a co-worker who was registered independent in New Hampshire. In 1988, back in the pre-Internet era, he said prior to that state’s primary he was inundated with junk mail and phone calls from both parties’ plethora of presidential candidates and bitterly regretted his decision.

  47. 47.

    JPL

    January 15, 2023 at 10:42 am

    @StringOnAStick: In GA they use primaries to make a determination.   That is not foolproof because you can vote in either primary.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    January 15, 2023 at 10:43 am

    @Kay: That’s a third of California’s 2022 GDP.

    Apparently, California’s economy shrunk by a third and no one noticed.

  49. 49.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    January 15, 2023 at 10:45 am

    Every self-described “independent” I know is a lying sack of shit, they all vote straight ticket GQP or cop out by voting for glibertarians.  Maybe, just maybe, they didn’t vote for the Orange Fart Cloud the second time around but the rest of their ticket? Straight party line vote.

    I’ve always called them “Embarrassed Republicans”.

    A large chunk of them also happen to be your basic Totebagger Radio type who profess their “independence” (while still voting per above) because political parties are sooooo partisan and besides BOTH SIDES!!!!!!!. They reek of adopting a moral superiority is one is aligned with “the system” and so on.

  50. 50.

    Geminid

    January 15, 2023 at 10:54 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: We’ll put you down as “undecided”!

    More seriously, successful purple state and district politicians do not, like many here, disparage Independents. They don’t dis them, but rather shape their messaging so as to attract them. I’m not saying Democrats have to cater to Independents in policy, but purple state and district Democrats make sure not to alienate them in how  political programs are presented.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    January 15, 2023 at 10:56 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: As someone mentioned above, I think it depends on the age demo. I think most younger independents skew left and, if they vote, vote Dem.

  52. 52.

    lowtechcyclist

    January 15, 2023 at 10:57 am

    @Baud: ​
     

    ETA: It took me a couple of years to actually register as a Dem after I started voting.

    I’m not sure when I first registered with a party. Virginia doesn’t have registration by party; not sure about SC. I may not have been able to register as a Dem until my wife and I moved to Maryland in my mid-40s.

  53. 53.

    bbleh

    January 15, 2023 at 11:02 am

    @Starfish.: yes I meant per para 1 the ones I know, but I’m an old.

  54. 54.

    Jinchi

    January 15, 2023 at 11:02 am

    @Matt McIrvin: ​ If you get no voting advantage from being registered with a party, people may figure there’s no reason to have a registered party affiliation

    I think this is exactly right. There is no value to a voter in being registered to a particular party, except the ability to participate in a closed primary.

    In a lot of states, “unaffiliated” voters are allowed to choose which primary to vote in, while “declared” voters are locked in. Registering as (unaffiliated / independant / no party preference) is the choice with the most options in that system. Other states are completely open, and it doesn’t matter on a personal level at all.

    But I don’t think most “unaffiliated” voters identify as independent. They just aren’t affiliated.​​

  55. 55.

    Burnspbesq

    January 15, 2023 at 11:06 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Sir, I’m damn sure that Wilmeristas want unicorns that shit rainbows out of their eyes.

    I wanted a unicorn that pisses Pilsner Urquell and shits New York Super Fudge Chunk, but with all my health issues I shouldn’t have either one any more.

  56. 56.

    Geminid

    January 15, 2023 at 11:09 am

    @Miss Bianca: Virginia does  not register by party so all primaries are open. The radical wing of Virginia’s Republican party gets around this by whenever possible using the caucus/convention method to select candidates. That’s how 5th District Congressman Denver Riggleman was ousted by Bob No-Good in 2020.

    The establishment wing cries, “You dummies! We can’t win statewide without Independents now, and we are better off involving them in choosing our nominees.” But the radicals know they can pack caucuses with their zealots, and whereas more normal voters will take a few minutes to vote in a primary they are less likely to spend a couple hours at a caucus with all the knuckle draggers .

  57. 57.

    Bill Arnold

    January 15, 2023 at 11:10 am

    @Baud:

    ETA: It took me a couple of years to actually register as a Dem after I started voting.

    I did not register as a Democrat until after a few decades of voting. (For Democrats, with maybe two exceptions, one because the Democrat in a local race had scored the Right To Life Party endorsement. Never voted Republican for a high office.)

  58. 58.

    Jinchi

    January 15, 2023 at 11:13 am

    @Geminid: I’m not saying Democrats have to cater to Independents in policy

    I don’t think you can cater to independents, because they cover the spectrum. What a candidate can do is cater outside the party base, which should make them more electable in the general election.​​

  59. 59.

    PaulB

    January 15, 2023 at 11:20 am

    @Suzanne:  party registration doesn’t mean all that much, in that it doesn’t make demands on your life.

    My email inbox, my text messages, my voicemail, and my US postal mail would all like a word with you.

  60. 60.

    JWR

    January 15, 2023 at 11:22 am

    Margaret Brennan is very concerned about Biden’s lack of transparency by not immediately telling the people about these most likely misplaced documents. And Chuck Todd has Rod Rosenstein on to tell us his opinions on transparency. Next up, Ron Johnson tells us about, wait for it… Hunter Biden’s Laptop!! Yeah, you go, Chuck

    ETA, Johnson accuses Todd of having him on just to argue with him, which I would say is true.

  61. 61.

    rikyrah

    January 15, 2023 at 11:23 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😊😊😊

  62. 62.

    Baud

    January 15, 2023 at 11:23 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning…..

  63. 63.

    rikyrah

    January 15, 2023 at 11:24 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    Yeah, that’s how I see it too

  64. 64.

    Baud

    January 15, 2023 at 11:24 am

    @JWR: Haha.  If they’re reaching for the “transparency” argument, they’re flailing.

    Bets on when the NYT starts talking about clouds and shadows.

  65. 65.

    Brachiator

    January 15, 2023 at 11:24 am

    @Geminid:

    When the subject of California’s Independents came up here the other day someone said that a majority of this group has voted for Democrats lately. That could be a response to the radicalization of the state and national Republican party.

    That may have been me. In California there are more people registered as Independent than registered as Republican, but a plurality of these people will vote for Democrats and punish extreme right wing candidates and policies. From one study.

    In surveys over the past year, independent likely voters have been more likely to lean Democratic (52%) than Republican (37%); 11% did not lean toward either party.

    Independent voters tend to be moderate. Other states may be different, but in California, the idea that Independents are conservative Republicans who won’t confess simply is not true.

    ETA. The data is from various reports by the Public Policy Institute. For some reason the link tool did not work on my smartphone browser.

    Let me try a plain link for those who might be interested.

    https://www.ppic.org/publication/california-voter-and-party-profiles/

    For the past few election cycles, it has been practically impossible for a Republican to win statewide office, governor or senator, etc. But local or congressional office is another matter.

    Also, currently there may be slightly more registered Republicans than Independents, but the GOP still is weak here in the state.

  66. 66.

    Baud

    January 15, 2023 at 11:26 am

    @Baud:

    I have no idea how I typed ellipses.

  67. 67.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 15, 2023 at 11:30 am

    @JWR:

    And Chuck Todd has Rod Rosenstein on to tell us his opinions on transparency.

    Good lord. I was just thinking we haven’t heard a whole lot about Bill Barr’s Renfield in the last couple years

    (not entirely fair, since Rosenstein was Renfielding for trump before we ever heard of Barr, but trump had so many Renfields)

  68. 68.

    JPL

    January 15, 2023 at 11:30 am

    This is the local feed for the service at Ebenezer Baptist Church

    Watch | 11ALIVE Live and On-Demand Videos | Atlanta, Georgia | 11alive.comWatch | 11ALIVE Live and On-Demand Videos | Atlanta, Georgia | 11alive.com

  69. 69.

    Kay

    January 15, 2023 at 11:31 am

    @Baud:

    The author is a professional expert witness- he makes big bucks testifying against public school districts in lawsuits brought against them – usually about how school funding does not impact student achievement. That they roll him out as some sort of “data driven” impartial is just embarrassing.

    But it’s a HUGE SHOCKING NUMBER so the innumerates in media will robotically repeat it with no independent thought at all.

    What I love is the SPECIFICITY of the made up numbers. It’s “1.2” not “1”. You’re making it up! Round it off!

  70. 70.

    NotMax

    January 15, 2023 at 11:34 am

    A veritable myriad of ways this can (read: will) go south real quick.

    Republican lawmakers announced a new panel on Thursday that will oversee the cryptocurrency industry, as reported earlier by Politico and CNBC. Led by Representative French Hill (R-AR), the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion aims to provide “clear rules of the road” for federal regulators.
    [snip]
    Representative Hill has advocated for cryptocurrency for years and co-sponsored the Central Bank Digital Currency Study Act to explore the possibility of a government-backed digital dollar. The subcommittee’s vice chairman, Representative Warren Davidson (R-OH) is also a supporter of the crypto industry. However, Davidson, along with seven other Republicans, penned a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last March, criticizing the agency on the potentially “overburdensome” information-seeking requests it directed towards crypto companies, including FTX. Source

  71. 71.

    Miss Bianca

    January 15, 2023 at 11:35 am

    @Baud: Denver Post is already there, with a headline about how Biden’s political future is “clouded”. And no, I won’t provide a link, I am that damn disgusted with them.

  72. 72.

    lowtechcyclist

    January 15, 2023 at 11:36 am

    @bbleh:

    And yeah, right now, most of the partisan-leaning “independents” are Republicans in all but name who don’t want to be associated with those riff-raff.

    How is that remotely possible? With 28% of the electorate identifying as Dems, 28% identifying as Repubs, and most independents with a partisan lean being Republicans in all but name, the Dems should be getting routinely crushed at the polls.

    And we’re not.  As frequently noted, the GOP Presidential candidate has won a plurality of the popular vote only once since 1988.  Gerrymandering (including the Senate and the Electoral College in that description) is the only thing that keeps them in the game.

  73. 73.

    Mike in NC

    January 15, 2023 at 11:37 am

    So today I’ve heard on TV about the debt ceiling crisis, the border crisis, the classified document crisis, and maybe a few other crises that I already forgot about. Seems like we only have these parade of crises when a Democrat sits in the White House. Go figure.

  74. 74.

    Baud

    January 15, 2023 at 11:39 am

    @Miss Bianca:

    The NYT of the West!

    I remember during the Tara Reid fiasco, the media were demanding that Biden allow them access to all his archived Senate papers.  He told them no.  That was awesome.

     

    @Kay:

    Disagree. He should say that the lockdown cost California $1,248,537,847,589.68.

  75. 75.

    Another Scott

    January 15, 2023 at 11:43 am

    @NotMax: This is a cynical Blue Light Special advertisement for campaign contributions from the crypto “industry”.

    Rep. French Hill:

    “At a time of major technological advancement and change in the financial sector, it is our job to work across the aisle and promote responsible innovation while encouraging FinTech innovation to flourish safely and effectively in the United States. I also am proud to serve as the Vice-Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and I look forward to supporting Chairman McHenry in our work to promote economic prosperity and deliver on our Commitment to America.”

    […]

    This Subcommittee will be tasked with the following, among other things:

    * Providing clear rules of the road among federal regulators for the digital asset ecosystem

    * Developing policies that promote financial technology to reach underserved communities

    * Identifying best practices and policies that continue to strengthen diversity and inclusion in the digital asset ecosystem

    I don’t see anything about protecting the public from scammers. I see instead guys saying they will be gate keepers, telling regulators what they can and can’t do, and telling the crypto bros that they better be on these people’s good side, wink-wink nudge-nudge.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  76. 76.

    Kay

    January 15, 2023 at 11:43 am

    Carlos Guillermo Smith
    @CarlosGSmith
    UCF professors are renaming courses and removing phrases like “human rights”, “social justice”, “equity” and “equal” to avoid being targeted or tracked by the state.
    This is happening in 2023 in the United States under the new McCarthyism of Ron DeSantis.

    More excellent work by the anti-woke Substack millionaires!

    They vanquished the formidable foe of the Oberlin Student Council and the 31 Yale law students with bad manners, but somehow managed to miss that the governor of a state with 22 million people is supressing political speech with state action every single day.

    So focused on scolding and controlling 19 year old college students on the Left they missed the middle aged, anti-speech, government-backed crusade on the Right- the one that actually affects people.

    These are our “public intellectuals”. Just low godammned quality thinkers. I suspect it’s nepotism.

  77. 77.

    NotMax

    January 15, 2023 at 11:44 am

    @Mike in NC

    Lost the remote? There’s other channels.

    ;)

  78. 78.

    Bill Arnold

    January 15, 2023 at 11:47 am

    @Kay:
    Wow. From a skim, that Hoover Institution study is junk. No real discussion of causality. Economic projections full human lifetimes into the future stated as fact.
    The Economic Cost Of The Pandemic: State By State (Eric Hanushek, January 4, 2023)
    (pdf)
    If, for instance, a large (say 50 percent, for purposes of argument) part of the damage to education is due to organic mid or long term brain damage caused by SARS-CoV-2 among a subset of infected/recovered students, the policy implications are rather different than they would be if it were entirely due to school closures.
    To prevent more damage to children, ventilation improvements, mandatory masks in school when there is significant community spread, vaccines (probably; it is likely that they reduce average amounts of virus shedding per case). Closures would be a last resort.

  79. 79.

    NotMax

    January 15, 2023 at 11:48 am

    @Another Scott

    Can’t help wondering if French Hill changed his name to Freedom Hill during that brouhaha.

    //

  80. 80.

    Kay

    January 15, 2023 at 11:52 am

    @Baud:

    When it turned out that FL sunk so far in math that should have triggered immediate questions from people who were GENUINELY  interested in the well-being of children. Because schools were open in FL, so what was going on? It was kind of good we had some closed longer and some closed shorter- a comparison!

    Nope. They just stuck to their original ideologically driven theory. They just removed all references to data out of red states.

    We still only know this “children were negatively affected by the pandemic” – no one is asking why.

  81. 81.

    Kay

    January 15, 2023 at 11:55 am

    @Bill Arnold:

    To prevent more damage to children, ventilation improvements, mandatory masks in school when there is significant community spread, vaccines (probably; it is likely that they reduce average amounts of virus shedding per case). Closures would be a last resort.

     

    I agree. It’s amazing how it’s been rewritten already. Ohio was the first state to close schools. Hardly a liberal bastion. Private schools and charter schools in urban areas stayed closed longer than public schools, so probably not wholly driven by labor unions?
    None of it matters. This is the narrative they like and they’re sticking with it.

  82. 82.

    James E Powell

    January 15, 2023 at 12:11 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I suspect there are a significant number of voters–enough to swing close elections–who just vote for whoever seems to be winning.

    Those are the voters who put Trump in the White House in 2016. They voted for him because it was a media event and they wanted to be part of it.

  83. 83.

    Jeffro

    January 15, 2023 at 12:17 pm

    @Kay:The author is a professional expert witness- he makes big bucks testifying against public school districts in lawsuits brought against them – usually about how school funding does not impact student achievement.

    Now there’s a line of work I might have to look into (only on the other side, and with facts).

    “Mr. Fro, pro-public-school witness for hire” – I like it!

  84. 84.

    Kay

    January 15, 2023 at 12:31 pm

    @Jeffro:

    His thesis is that public school students will do as well with 8k funding as they do with 12k funding or 18k funding.

    Which flies in the face of every fancy private K-12 school and private college tuition rationale in the country, but maybe private school students are just better and worthier of more funding.

  85. 85.

    Kay

    January 15, 2023 at 12:33 pm

    @Jeffro:

    You have to get hired by a think tank so you have time and space to develop your real money gig on the side.

    That regular income is crucial while you make a market for your bullshit.

  86. 86.

    delphinium

    January 15, 2023 at 12:33 pm

    @Another Scott: LOL-now suddenly these guys think diversity and inclusion are okay?

    Identifying best practices and policies that continue to strengthen diversity and inclusion in the digital asset ecosystem

  87. 87.

    Kay

    January 15, 2023 at 12:38 pm

    I’m going to Denmark for a month this summer. We’re renting an insanely cute little tiny house by the sea. I have a son, daughter in law and grandaughter there so I am thrilled I can hang out with baby for awhole month.

    We love southern California for vacations so have spent a lot of time renting in the LA and San Diego area and the vacation rentals in Denmark are quite a bit cheaper. Airfare is more expensive of course but we have airfare to CA too. Scandinavian summer is something else- the days are so long. Delicious.

  88. 88.

    Kelly

    January 15, 2023 at 12:48 pm

    Rodney Crowell “Preachin’ to the Choir”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpaR1F7FTJg&ab_channel=RodneyCrowell-Topic

  89. 89.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 15, 2023 at 12:51 pm

    @Baud: I too registered as an independent for the first year after I became a citizen. I wanted to see if any other party would woo me and send me info. None did. I have always voted D even when I was registered as an independent.

  90. 90.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 15, 2023 at 12:51 pm

    Ian Bremmer is an idiot, I don’t know why anyone listens to him. Check out his front page story on Modi and you will see what I am saying.

  91. 91.

    The Dark Avenger

    January 15, 2023 at 1:29 pm

    @Amir Khalid: If they have one it’s pretty much a secret to the news media and the base of their constituents.

  92. 92.

    J R in WV

    January 15, 2023 at 2:00 pm

    @Starfish: ​

    If they can kill the politicized evangelical movement, I am here for it.

    If they can kill the politicized evangelical christo-fascist movement, I am here for it.

    Fix’d that for you~!!~

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