i might take it personally if my wife started dressing like a great value jackie o. exactly what are we trying to manifest here? pic.twitter.com/h3G00Pf13y
— Jean-Michel Connard (@torriangray) January 6, 2023
babe let's rent a convertible and drive around dallas
— Jean-Michel Connard (@torriangray) January 6, 2023
Over the past few months, I’ve read a number of stories explaining (complaining) that Casey DeSantis has 75% of the brains and at least 50% of the ambition shared by this particular power couple. Florida Politics proclaimed her ‘Politician of the Year‘:
The DeSantis name and brand reverberate far beyond the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee…
We refer, of course, to Casey DeSantis — the Florida Politics Politician of the Year for 2022…
“It’s clear she’s the X Factor,” Scott Parkinson, one of Ron’s former Chiefs of Staff in the U.S. House, told Business Insider. “They complete the political element that is Ron DeSantis. Without Casey, he would not be the same person.”
Publicly, she is the glamorous and compassionate mom of three and a devoted wife. Meanwhile, her husband can sometimes appear churlish and annoyed when questioned by reporters who want to know why he picked this fight or that one…
While she plays — but doesn’t overplay — the role of a dutiful wife and supporter of her husband, no one doubts her influence behind the closed doors of power.
The Governor keeps his circle right — Casey and maybe his Chief of Staff. In a story headlined “Ronny & Nancy of Tallahassee,” Puck reported she interviews nearly everyone seeking a high-level job in the administration.
“There’s an operating agreement between the two,” Democratic state Sen. Jason Pizzo told Insider. “She is his rock, his biggest supporter. I get the sense she really believes in where he’s going.”…
one major difference between trump and desantis (there are many) is that trump is a salesman and has a salesman’s knack for making people think he likes them, personally. desantis does not have that at all.
— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachi) January 4, 2023
i think people go too far on the “trump is funny!” business, but he’s charismatic in a way that appeals to a lot of people, and this was especially true before the presidency. desantis just isn’t.
but *much* more importantly, and a more fundamental difference, is that trump understands why that’s important and values and cultivates it (or used to, he’s too old now). desantis doesn’t get it, doesn’t understand it, and doesn’t think it matters.
and *even more importantly*, TRUMP KNOWS THIS ABOUT DESANTIS. the whole premise of desantis’ chances at president rely on trump not disemboweling him for laughs for 18 months. once desantis announces, he’s the flash of movement caught in the corner of the trumpasaurus eye…
Here’s the Daily Beast, back in November:
… There are a number of ways in which a competition could turn nasty, but perhaps no faster way than Trump going after one of DeSantis’ closest advisers: his wife.
After fighting off cancer this past March, Casey DeSantis’ role has continually grown, according to an outside adviser. She has turned into a de facto point person for the “very insular” campaign, in the words of a person familiar with the operation.
“She is a campaign manager, the political director, and the chief of staff,” this source said.
A Trump adviser noted that the former president’s camp was also aware of Casey DeSantis’ outsized role—and this adviser identified that role as a potential weakness.
“The main thing everyone makes fun of DeSantis for is that everyone knows his wife is the one calling the shots. He’s totally subservient to her ridiculous political opinions,” this adviser said.
The adviser added that Casey DeSantis was an easy target for Trump.
“Trump’s going to end up doing to DeSantis and his wife what he did to Cruz and his wife,” the Trump adviser said, referring to how Trump attacked Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) wife during the 2016 Republican presidential primaries…
Imagine being DeSantis and going to all the trouble of hiding your Ivy degree, and learning to imitate Trump – the Mob goon pinky finger, the accordion hands, the drunken centaur posture – and your reward is to get a ten-cent, six-syllable nickname and told to get out of the way. https://t.co/huJjrmIprx
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) November 6, 2022
joe biden is 157 years old, but his superpower against desantis is that everything about desantis’ public speaking style is actively repellent https://t.co/ZEI8i8zjU3
— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachi) January 4, 2023
if you have not done so — and i did not until last year — i encourage you to watch, from start to finish, desantis deliver a speech. because the hack gap between how he’s written about by fawning horse race writers and how he actually communicates is very, very large.
this happens over and over again with republican governors — they’re able to capture the political machines in their states and run them like fiefdoms, but the longer they do that, the more they lose the muscle memory needed to genuinely *appeal* to people outside of that state
also, and this is not a small thing, biden is at his absolute best when he focuses in on the cruelty of his opponents, and i think desantis is arguably even more cruel than trump. it’s his defining characteristic and the primary thing he seems to enjoy about his position
he’s just a fucking asshole, man, and there’s no amount of PR gloss or good press that can cover it up. he’s a humorless, cruel bastard, and while there are plenty of cruel, humorless bastards in this country, they’re not enough to win an election.
a subtle but important difference between desantis and trump is that trump craves power to enrich himself whereas desantis craves power to perform cruelty. the latter is not alien to trump, but it’s not usually his primary interest.
both men would kick a puppy, but trump would do it because it was in his way and desantis would do it because he wants to kick puppies.
We can but hope:
yeah it’s awesome, he’s gonna salt the earth and destroy every other potential rival and then lose again https://t.co/Ddqxo3pO80
— world famous art thief (@CalmSporting) November 6, 2022
Did Biden Try to Keep the Documents? Yes or No.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
“The main thing everyone makes fun of DeSantis for is that everyone knows his wife is the one calling the shots. He’s totally subservient to her ridiculous political opinions,” this adviser said.
Bannon? Rudi? Stephen Miller? the substance is pure trump, but he couldn’t put that sentence together. Somebody who hates women and thinks “Take my wife… please!” is a show-stoppe
ETA: and for the record, I think De Santis is Scott Walker, 2.0, but I’m always wrong about what they’re gonna do, so….
MomSense
🎶🎶 In Shamalot🎶🎶
Blue Galangal
His suit doesn’t fit well at all, and there’s a large stain on the inside of her cape…thingie. As is so often seen, she doesn’t seem to be able to choose foundation garments well either.
pat
OMG, that family photo is…. not 50 years old??
Cheryl from Maryland
This is petty, but Casey DeSantis is seriously pigeon-toed. I look at her and think this woman needs an orthopedist.
Scout211
@Blue Galangal: And the girls are dressed in velveteen jumpers with crisp white blouses, just like my sisters and I wore . . . in 1959. 😳
AL, thanks for this nice compilation of articles that cut through the media’s adoration of DeSantis. Good stuff.
hueyplong
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Pretty much everyone in the Trump retinue is super misogynistic, so you’ll have a hell of a time sussing out the source of that quote. Your list of three barely hints at all the potential candidates.
Impatiently waiting to see these people rip one another to shreds.
SiubhanDuinne
@Blue Galangal:
Nasty rash under her armpit, too.
What? I never claimed I wasn’t petty.
Princess
Interesting because I always assumed he and Pushaw (sp? That spokeswoman he had) were and item and the wife was just smiling bravely through it. Come to think of it Pushaw hadn’t been seen for a while. Anyway, DeSantis looks too much like an unmade bed to ever look like Kennedy. Casey needs to tone it down a bit.
WaterGirl
@Blue Galangal: I don’t see the stain, where do you see it?
But either the darts in her Jackie O dress or a nurse ratchet bra is cringeworthy.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: You guys must have better eyesight than I do!
edit: I am totally here for pettiness toward these horrible people who think they are better than everyone else and want to control other people.
Quinerly
Now, this can be a fun thread. The comments on the original Twitter thread are brutal.
Quinerly
@WaterGirl:
Enlarge the picture and read some of the original comments. The stain is there in all its glory. Long, at the back seam of the cape.
sralloway
@Blue Galangal: I believe the stains are shadows caused by the folds of the cape. They’re on both sides. But damn. That’s a bizarre outfit.
Edit: Seems like it was a low-rez image or shot from a distance.
Edit 2. And what is that knobby thing handing on the left of her hips?
Dan B
One common name DeSantis is called is Rhonda Sandtits.
Just adding my contribution to pettiness.
Scout211
@WaterGirl: The stain looks almost like a water stain. It’s longish and may be on a seam? Maybe it’s just a dark part of the fabric but it looks like it could be a stain or spilled water.
Almost Retired
He’s utterly repellent. But he won decidedly. Why? And I don’t think a shrug and a “that’s Florida” is really the answer. He must have some appeal beyond the basest of the base – some appeal beyond just the culture warriors? Are there enough fervent bigots in Florida? I would think not. I just don’t get it.
Quinerly
And, the opera gloves….was this his inauguration?
Baud
@Almost Retired:
Republicans have been strong in Florida for decades. In the last two election cycles, it has turned from purple to red. I don’t think it’s any big mystery.
Scout211
@Quinerly: I think they thought is was a coronation.
Delk
Who’s the drag queen in the cape get up?
/s
eta I’m sure somebody has shooped the white boots on him.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: Yeah, I can’t see these tiny details, but that dress is HORRIBLE.
OK, I enlarged it, and SD is correct about the rash.
Almost Retired
@Quinerly: If I had any photoshop skills whatsoever, I would totally put matching capes and opera gloves on Ronnie.
KenK
Actually, junior dressed up like dad is a bit off-putting.
delphinium
LOL at Florida Politics stating Casey DeSantis is a compassionate wife. Nope, if you married that cruel asshole of a husband, you know, the guy who didn’t give a shit about Covid deaths and is going after trans/gay kids, then that’s not a word that should ever be associated with her. Also, for the record, anyone staying married to such a prick will never, ever be “glamorous” no matter what she wears.
karen marie
I’m sorry, what? That one photo alone demonstrates the absurdity of this statement.
SiubhanDuinne
@Cheryl from Maryland:
RIGHT?! And the shoes are really ill-fitting. They gape horribly.
zhena gogolia
@delphinium: Exactly.
Dan B
In other news there are some Taliban and supporters that have Blue Checks on Twitter now.
Way to go Elmo!
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne: Even the gloves don’t fit.
(And no, that does not mean that you must acquit.)
Jeffg166
I saw someone title the top photo as a community theater production of the Kennedys.
Gin & Tonic
@SiubhanDuinne: It’s why we love you.
TheOtherHank
And if she’s the power behind the throne, then that would seem to imply that she is a deeply shitty person herself.
Bill Arnold
From the replies to Nichols’s tweet, “Number Two”:
Citizen Alan
@Almost Retired: I don’t know. Maybe because the hapless and incompetently run Florida Democratic Party went with Charlie Crist, an overtanned, ex-Republican who is redolent with loser stink from that time he lost to senator voldemort? I mean seriously, did anyone here think that Crist was going to beat Desanris?
Dan B
@TheOtherHank: Aunt Lydia in brighter colors.
Bill Arnold
Have to ask; who are the guys in uniform? Is that normal in Florida?
suzanne
Trump has a vibe that I don’t think we paid enough attention to: that of a family businessman. That casts some of his behavior, like having his shitty kids work in the White House, to be kind of in that “sons taking over dad’s business” vibe. i think that’s gross, but lots of others don’t.
DeSantis has no such excuse.
I will note that Meghan Markle recently wore a cape dress to QE2’s funeral, and it looked great. This thing that Casey DeSantis is wearing looks like fucken lime sherbet.
Raven
The House of Yes.
https://youtu.be/NDw4Lax2j0k
Bex
Where’s the balcony? This is just an attempt to look like the royal family…say what you want about them, but really these hicks from hicksville are just bottom of the barrel disgusting.
suzanne
Okay, I’m going to be that catty bitch: is the seaming of the dress terrible, or are her nipples showing?! LORT. Wear a padded bra.
Ken
To me the cape looks white and gold, but I can see how some people might think it’s black and blue.
Quinerly
@zhena gogolia:
My Fold phone has somewhat redeemed itself. Big screen open, can zero in on the rash and stains. Didn’t have to look around for my tablet or laptop.
HinTN
@Almost Retired: The Dem retread was a known charisma sink and used to be a Republican. Not a lot of enthusiasm and that probably was a drag on Demmings’ campaign, too.
bbleh
I don’t disagree with any of this. I think DeSantis’s appeal is distinctly limited and wildly overrated on a national scale. Someone upthread said Walker, and good enough, but I also think Christie.
@Almost Retired: as to why he won Florida, it IS unusual in its political makeup, and I think (1) he appealed to many parts of it — the Confederates, the Republican snowbirds, the cranky retirees, the Fascistic early Cuban emigrés, et al. — and (2) as noted in part upthread, the opposition was kinda hapless and the media were giving him daily tongue-baths. I DON’T think this can be replicated on a national scale in any way. At most, he’ll have appeal in the Confederacy because of his meanness. Otherwise … nah.
Delk
The photo is proof of what happens when you target hate at gays.
Ksmiami
@Scout211: I hate that they are befouling the Kennedy family who weren’t perfect, but we’re after humane policies… DeSantis’ fascist goals are anathema. He should run for office in Parador.
CaseyL
They’re dressing like it’s the late 1950s-early 1960s because that’s who DeSantis is appealing to: people who yearn for a time before the Kennedy Assassination.
Men were fully in charge of everything. The Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act didn’t exist; the ERA wasn’t even a gleam in anyone’s eye, nor was environmentalism. Vietnam hadn’t yet escalated (that we knew about). We were full of “vigor”!
Women knew their place. Black people who didn’t know their place were getting beaten up, shot, and bombed. And the “progressive” attitude towards homosexuality was that it was a mental disorder rather than a criminal act/sin against God.
A Golden Age!
Quinerly
@Delk:
You win the internets!
Starfish
Dear Time Travelers from 1959,
I know you have high standards for Casey because you expect that she is also a time traveler from that period. Casey is not a time traveler. This means that she does not know how to iron her clothes or wear proper foundational garments, whatever those are. At best, here in 2023, we can wear Spanx and look like angry sausages.
Amir Khalid
The cowardly side of Ron DeSantis is deathly afraid of TFG’s playground insults. A person who lives in fear of petty insults is not made of stern enough stuff to be POTUS.
The low-rent Jackie Kennedy look Mrs DeSantis affects doesn’t bother me. It also doesn’t bother me that she is effectively her husband’s political manager. It does bother me that she interviews candidates for high-ranking jobs with the state, since she holds no official post herself.
Betty
@SiubhanDuinne: These people deserve petty, but it is possible that that “rash” is the result of her cancer treatment.
WaterGirl
@suzanne: I was wondering whether suzanne was the same person as Suzanne.
As soon as I got to “fucken” I knew it was you!
WaterGirl
@suzanne: See my comment at #10. I was trying to find a way for that not to be what you suggested. :-)
Geminid
DeSantis seems deficient as a candidate, even as a Republican primary candidate. So do the other likely contenders, but someone’s got to win that nomination. I just hope they spend a lot of money and Republicans end up hating each other.
Their contest for national chairman has already gotten ugly, with the incumbent’s camp starting a whispering campaign about her opponent’s Sikh religion.
WaterGirl
@Delk: hahaha
WaterGirl
@CaseyL: Dear god, I think you are exactly right.
WaterGirl
@Amir Khalid:
Just wanted to see that again.
WaterGirl
@Geminid:
Is that for head of the RNC, or something else?
Ronna not getting reelected?
Brachiator
There is less difference here than this pundit thinks. And Trump appeals to voters who want to hurt other people. DeSantis is working the same side of the street.
WereBear
She decided to be his Lady Macbeth.
Bill Arnold
Re this:
What are her political opinions? Not finding much in naive google searches.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: It’s for RNC chief. Ronna McDaniel is trying to hold off an attorney favored by anti-establishment forces, and who is a Sikh.
The pillow guy is in the mix too but he is thought to be out of contention.
Martin
@Bill Arnold: It’s her opinion she should be the First Lady and live in the White House and decorate trees and have her portrait in the National Portrait Gallery.
Everything else is negotiable.
Starfish
@WereBear: It all makes sense now. She is wearing the gloves because that spot would not come out.
SiubhanDuinne
@Betty:
In that case, I apologize unreservedly and withdraw my comment. I wasn’t aware until I read the clip in the OP that she had battled cancer, but that’s no excuse.
However, I stand by my comment about the shoes.
Geminid
@HinTN: Crist still beat Nikki Fried by a good margin in the primary. Florida Democrats thought he was the best they had. I’m not sure any other Democrat could have beaten DeSantis or even come much closer. Although Democrats would have griped less, so there’s that.
gene108
@WaterGirl:
Casey looks more like an extra at Disney World dressing up as a low rent Disney Princess, no one remembers. Only thing missing is a tiara on her head to complete the outfit.
Baud
OT Good
Ruviana
@Dan B: Serena Joy surely.
Steeplejack
@Raven:
Heh, made me go look up Parker Posey to see if she’s still working. She is! And she’s 54 now. How time flies.
I saw The House of Yes on release in whatever indie theater showed it in Atlanta. Good times.
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
Gotta stop right there on the first tweet and say, that’s not Jackie O she’s trying to imitate, that’s dimestore Melanomia. She’s the one who is always, ALWAYS wearing capes.
Amir Khalid
@Geminid:
I’m sorry to learn that Mike Lindell is not really in the race for RNC chair. He is the person the party deserves.
Steeplejack
@Ken:
Maybe too subtle, but 😹 from me.
dmsilev
@Baud: Not even the fee for the gaming license?
WaterGirl
@Geminid: Wondering what you mean by anti-establishment forces?
kindness
As someone who lives on the other coast, I don’t know Florida politics other than what is printed and that always has it’s own twists. DeSantis will do well in much of the Old Confederacy. I don’t think it sells as well in the north or west. Granted, Republicans will vote for whomever has an (R) after their name but independents and swing voters…. not so much.
I think President Uncle Joe triumphs over either Trump or DeSantis like the dead horses they are.
trollhattan
Prop children exuding serious Santorum vibes. Am officially concerned for their well-being.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I knew that was going to be Brian Schatz, because on Pod Save America before Christmas he said exactly that, in those words.
“You get nothing.”
Martin
@Baud: Yeah, there’s no reason to negotiate. I mean, if I were Schumer I’d tell Mitch to find 5 republicans in the House to pass a debt limit bill because Republicans will hang together on this one and his only way out is to get Jeffries 5 more votes.
RSA
His pre-school son arguably wears a suit better than he does. I know this is just appearance, but someone who aspires to be leader of the free world should look the part. (Trump was an anomaly, granted.)
trollhattan
@kindness: “Save us Mike Pompeo, you’re our only hope.”
Steeplejack
@Quinerly:
I’ve had momentary thoughts of getting the Flip 4 (not Fold), just for the retro vibe, but damn they’re expensive. And I’m still satisfied with my Galaxy S10e, which is getting a little long in the tooth at 3½ years old. But I’d have to fondle a Flip in person before buying.
Dan B
@Ruviana: Yes!
Martin
@WaterGirl: Fascists. That’s what anti-establishment means in the context of the GOP.
gene108
@bbleh:
As an NJ resident, I can assure you that people in NJ considered contracting anthrax, in 2016, as a more popular option than supporting Christie in anything.
In 2013, Christie looked hard to beat. He had the “tough talk” or “straight talk” aspect that attracted people, especially men, to support him. A Democratic legislature kept his worst conservative ideas in check. He had a lot of crossover appeal.
Then in January 2014 reports about closing the GWB started tricking out that it wasn’t done as a badly timed DOT survey. His standing in the state crashed.
He had no support or constituency anywhere by 2016.
The Lodger
@trollhattan: Santorum vibes
“Hey kids, see what we brought home from the hospital and passed around? We can do it to you, too.”
trollhattan
Per Digby, DeSantis has someone besides Trump to watch out for, Kristie Noem?
Holding off on popcorn hording, for the moment.
Baud
@gene108:
Cable news.
WaterGirl
@Martin: Ah, thank you.
trollhattan
@The Lodger: Right? America’s creepiest family, and I’m including the Trump clan.
delphinium
@Amir Khalid: This is a good point. Is this something a governor’s wife would typically do? Has this been brought up at all in Florida media?
Dangerman
Damn, that picture screams call CPS to me.
delphinium
@Steeplejack: Is it BJ After Dark already? : )
Geminid
@Amir Khalid: It’s just going to be another sad disappointment for poor Mike Lindell. He’ll be singing that Jackie Wilson song:
“My heart is crying! crying!
Lonely teardrops, My Pillow never dries of lonely teardrops.”
More seriously though, Lindell really is getting left behind. That whole MAGA movement is starting to deflate and come apart. I don’t think Trump can revive it and I don’t see how anyone else can either. The fascistic tendency Trump rode could still be harnessed by someone, but they’ll need to do some if not a lot of rebuilding, I think.
Baud
@trollhattan:
Yes.
Baud
@trollhattan: also too
That’s impressive.
Ruviana
@Dan B: First thing I thought of when I saw that picture!
zhena gogolia
Oh boy a friend of mine is in a flame war with Chat gpt
James E Powell
@Citizen Alan:
No, but I wasn’t aware of any Democratic candidates who could.
gene108
@Baud:
I think the cable news rehabilitation effort came after he left office and got rejected by TFG.
I could be misremembering
brendancalling
Watching some clips of DeSantis, hearing his voice, and now seeing the wife and fam… my kinkdar tells me that smooth-skinned, chubby-cheeked, trans-hating weasel has some absolutely fucked up skeletons in his closet. Especially with the cruelty thing he has going on.
brantl
At least the wife doesn’t look like a pig in a suit.
Quinerly
@Steeplejack:
I did some Flip and Fold fondling before committing to the Fold. It’s just hard to know if you are making the right decision when fondling, flipping, and folding in front of others in a strip center. I felt a bit rushed. Impulsive.
James E Powell
@brendancalling:
When we grew up and went to school
There were certain teachers who would
Hurt the children any way they could
By pouring their derision
Upon anything we did
And exposing every weakness
However carefully hidden by the kids
But in the town, it was well known
When they got home at night, their fat and
Psychopathic wives would thrash them
Within inches of their lives.
“The Happiest Days of Our Lives” – Pink Floyd, The Wall
Geminid
@WaterGirl: It’s hard to describe exactly. The challenger is supported by people who think Republicans need to clean house and evict the “RINOs” beholden to “elites” such as the donor class.
I guess the anti- McDaniel forces could be labeled “populist radicals.” But they have their own donors so it’s really more of a power play by one faction against another.
It’s similar to the fight House Republicans just had. As with he did with McCarthy, Trump is supporting McDaniel but some people who used to be among of his fiercest supporters say she’s gotta go.
phdesmond
@trollhattan:
a sophisticated and nuanced investment alternative might be popcorn futures.
Steeplejack
@delphinium:
Glad I could tee it up for you!
WaterGirl
@Geminid: Maybe I am making an incorrect assumption, but wouldn’t a Sikh have brown skin or at least be seen as “other”? Seems like that would automatically rule out a win for that person.
sdhays
So, what you’re saying is that “we” already know that fraud is occurring.
//
BeautifulPlumage
@Quinerly: can’t be BJ after dark yet, it’s still light out on the west coast!
suzanne
@WaterGirl:
Lowercase-s is me on my phone, uppercase-S is me on my tablet!
FUCKEN 4-EVA.
Steeplejack
@Quinerly:
Point taken. I’d probably try to hit Best Buy or the Verizon store at a low-traffic time. Maybe Target? Dunno if they handle those.
raven
@Steeplejack: Garden Hills! She was in “The Staircase” on HBO.
Mike in NC
Florida has yet to barf up a right-wing politician who has any national appeal. DeSatan will respond poorly to being put under a microscope.
The Moar You Know
I’ll divert from the wife and aim at the governor; his suit looks like pure shit, and accents his shortness. Not a good idea when you are, well, very short.
They are all poorly dressed. He’s governor of Florida, they should look a lot better than that.
Immanentize
Intertubes tell me DeSantis is 6’1. No way, unless his wife is 5’11. He looks 5’10” to me.
Quinerly
Worth the read. No real surprises. But still worth it.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/01/supreme-court-justices-public-conflict/672494/
Geminid
@Amir Khalid: Israeli politicians have made the same complaint about Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara. One politician claims to have seen an agreement Netanyahu signed giving her the right to veto appointments.
The witness did not say why “Bibi” agreed to this arrangement, but my guess is that he got caught cheating. Agreement or no, it’s common knowledge that Sara Netanyahu swings a lot of weight in her husband’s decision making.
Gvg
Actually I thought she was going for the Annette Funicello look. Disney is big in Florida thoughts and Jackie O was history when I was a child. Also I never really understood her appeal in fashion. I was also put off by the tabloid nonsense of my youth.
Anyway, I don’t care what she looks like and I never heard about her before this even though I live and work in Florida. DeSantis is the one who is elected and he is responsible for his own actions, all of them.
suzanne
@The Moar You Know:
That shade of green is reprehensible. It’s ladies-who-lunch-garden-party all the way. The matchy outfits on the kids, with those tights…..has a very REDRUM REDRUM vibe.
Starfish
@zhena gogolia: How does this work? I am interested.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: I just don’t know. Republicans have elected a few conservative Black men to Congress lately.
Seems like the challenger would be better off, though if she was Christian like Nikki Haley.
Steeplejack
@raven:
Probably. I was seeing indie/foreign films about once a week back then, shuttling around to whichever theater had the latest one.
sdhays
@Baud: What’s “funny” is that neither one of them give a shit about actual “14 or 15 week old babies”. Pregnancy is sacred. Once the uterus is empty (assuming the woman did it “right”, of course), they couldn’t care less.
(Not actually funny.)
Tony G
Good lord. Yes, his wife (whatever her name is) looks like she’s dressed up as Jackie Kennedy for a Halloween costume party. I’m an old geezer (67) and since that type of outfit went out of style more than 50 years ago, I have never seen a woman dressed like that, aside from Halloween. In addition to Jackie, it looks like Juan and Eva Person on a balcony. Those poor kids, growing up with those freaks. Voters LIKE this type of thing? Apparently in Florida they do.
Jackie
Off topic. The person responsible for shooting at Democratic officials homes in New Mexico is a Trump-loving Republican loser.
“The Albuquerque Police Department has arrested Solomon Pena, an unsuccessful Republican candidate for the House District 14 seat in the South Valley, in connection with the shootings at local Democratic politicians’ homes, the police chief announced Monday afternoon.
“Pena, an unsuccessful legislative candidate in the 2022 election, is accused of conspiring with, and paying four other men to shoot at the homes of two county commissioners and two state legislators,” Chief Harold Medina said.
APD had been investigating six shootings from Dec. 4 through Jan. 5 where bullets were fired into Democratic elected officials homes or near others offices.
On Dec. 4 eight shots were fired into County Commissioner Adriann Barboa’s Southeast Albuquerque home. On Dec. 11 more than 12 bullets hit County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley’s North Valley home. Sometime in early December, state Rep. Javier Martinez’s home was shot up, although the damage was not found until after the investigation into the other shootings was announced. On Jan. 3, shots rang out at state Rep. Linda Lopez’s home and three bullets went through her daughter’s bedroom as the 10-year-old slept.“
https://www.abqjournal.com/2565117/solomon-pena-arrested-in-shootings-targeting-new-mexico-democratic-politicians-homes.html
scav
If we had the photo taken from the back, the tabs of that cut-out paper-doll dress she’s sporting would be highly visible. How sad a character to be someone can’t even rustle up a personal sense of style but goes for dated waxwork mannequin.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@Scout211: Yes, and while we find it ridiculous (especially in Florida, especially if we lived through that era), it’s something that hits a sweet spot for a lot of people, particularly white people anxious about the security of their place in the world.
You might recall the theme song for All in the Family:
Boy, the way Glenn Miller played
songs that made the hit parade
Guys like me we had it made
Those were the days
Didn’t need no welfare state
ev’rybody pulled his weight
gee our old LaSalle ran great
Those were the days
And you knew who you were then
girls were girls and men were men
Mister we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again
People seemed to be content
fifty dollars paid the rent
freaks were in a circus tent
Those were the days
Take a little Sunday spin
go to watch the Dodgers win
Have yourself a dandy day
that cost you under a fin
Hair was short and skirts were long
Kate Smith really sold a song
I don’t know just what went wrong
those were the days.
Norman Lear & Co. meant us to take that as ironic commentary on Archie Bunker and his world view, but there are a lot of people who have a somewhat updated version (substitute Ronald Reagan for Herbert Hoover, and so on) playing in the heads as their own, unironic theme song.
Those little velvet dresses, Mrs. DeSantis’s pastel Jackie drag—they’re a soothing balm in ways these people couldn’t explain to save their sportsball season tickets (or bassboat, or whatever.)
She didn’t pick them out for the general audience; they’re another dog whistle: “Life could be like that again, with the right people running things.”
Tony G
@sdhays: They don’t care about pregnant women or fetuses either. They calculated that the anti-abortion issue will get support from right-wing Catholics and evangelical morons. “It’s just business.”
Baud
@Jackie:
Throw the book at him.
Tony G
@scav: I think that it’s pretty likely that Ron DeSantis is, in fact, a waxwork mannequin with some third-rate robotics inside. I don’t think that he’d pass a Turing Test
Spanky
@sdhays: I thought the reference to “14 week old babies” refered to the second trimester of a pregnancy. Babies are people from the time of the candlelight dinner the night before, remember.
JoyceH
@Tony G: Jackie would never wear that getup – the hobble skirt went out before WWI!
Betty Cracker
“Great Value Jackie O” — hahahaha! Perfect!
Quinerly
@Steeplejack:
The new phone was all connected to this move from St. Louis to Santa Fe. House needed WiFi, etc. I had switched my phone that had originally been thru Verizon to Spectrum in St. Louis. 5 year old Samsung was getting so it wouldn’t hold a charge. Soooo…I went with Xfinity for everything. Discounts for being new, new, and new. I’m basically ok with all of it. Just not crazy about the phone. It’s cool if sitting in a restaurant, bar, at home…opened up and reading. It’s a pain if you just want to do something on the front screen without opening it up. The front screen is narrow/skinny. I didn’t realize this was an issue until I tried out 15 different cases for it. Edges of cases taking up screen space.
This has been your TED Talk on the Fold 4. I never knew how much a difference 1/16th of an inch could make. Should have fondled with a protective hardshell case. Live and learn.
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
@sralloway: “And what is that knobby thing handing on the left of her hips?”
That’s due to a really really bad/sloppy alteration. Probably the waist was taken in without properly tapering the seam, then not clipping the curve. A ‘hip nipple’ resulted.
Omnes Omnibus
Why is she wearing a cape?
Quinerly
@Omnes Omnibus:
And opera gloves.
Spanky
@Omnes Omnibus:
Trying out for a part in a Yes tribute band.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@sralloway: The thing on her hip at the back looks like the little girl’s right foot.
@SiubhanDuinne: The overly-large shoes may be from a trick women who have to be on their feet in really high heels for a long time sometimes use: go up a half a shoe size (or even a full size) so when your feet start swelling the shoes don’t hurt as much.
Yeah, wearing really high heels sucks.
Omnes Omnibus
@Spanky: That actually makes sense.
zhena gogolia
@Starfish: They gave the AI their first paper assignment (on a fairly obscure topic). It came back with a canned, cliche essay that was totally wrong about the topic. So my friend gave the AI a harsh comment. The AI apologized for its lack of knowledge. My friend responded harshly again. And so on.
I’m the kind of person who feels sorry for Hal in 2001 when he starts singing Daisy, Daisy, so this is making me really feel bad for the ChatGPT.
delphinium
@Jackie: So glad they found the person responsible. Hope he and the accomplices get the maximum sentences for this.
Suzanne
@Omnes Omnibus: There have been some fantastic cape dresses in recent years. Lupita Nyongo wore one to the Golden Globes (I think) some years back. One of the best fashion looks of the last decade, IMO. But the skirt was longer, the head styling was better, the tailoring and fabric and color were all better, etc.
This is as bad as Kate Middleton’s Eva Peron cosplay in Jamaica.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
You have a soft spot for hard drives.
Suzanne
Here’s Lupita Nyongo looking freaking fantastic in a cape.
Steeplejack
@Quinerly:
Do you really need a hard case? I have had good luck with a soft silicone case with very little overlap. Seems like a hard case would be more intrusive to accommodate the fold. Dunno.
I take your point about the outer screen. I’d probably use that only to read notifications, etc. I think so, anyway.
Who am I kidding? I’ll probably end up getting a Google Pixel phone.
eclare
@Suzanne: At the Golden Globes about a week ago, Jamie Lee Curtis wore a black lace cape over a black strapless jumpsuit. She looked amazing.
Starfish
@Suzanne: None of us can achieve that level of beauty.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: lol
Suzanne
@eclare: There’s been some amazing cape dresses. None of them look like they came from an end-of-season clearance rack from Macy’s!
It’s so, so bad. I know she’s trying to look posh and formal and she just looks clueless and old. And I bet she spent a lot of money to look that terrible!
ETA: the end-of-season clearance rack in the WASP old lady SUNDAY BEST section.
Eric S.
@Quinerly: Performance anxiety? :-))
lgerard
@Immanentize:
More like 5′ 9″.
Which made me laugh when he called the 5′ 7″ Fauci an “elf”.
Starfish
@Suzanne: With those bare shoulders, she better not try to step foot on the floor of the Missouri legislature! They would be scandalized.
Immanentize
@lgerard: Yes? Yes?
HumboldtBlue
@a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio):
Nailed that.
Starfish
That poor third child. They just gave up on attempting to name those babies at all, didn’t they?
Suzanne
@Starfish: Here’s Meghan Markle wearing cape dresses with covered shoulders. She looks great.
zhena gogolia
@Starfish: Eisenhower’s wife.
Starfish
@Suzanne: I am now searching the internet for cape dresses, and all the cape dresses I am finding are better than this one.
Usually, there is a fashion blog somewhere that names the brand of these dresses, and the internet won’t tell me who created this dress.
I have found a picture of Melania looking better in a cape dress and another cape dress.
I am hoping that everyone else is just spending more money on their clothes than Casey is.
zhena gogolia
@Starfish: The red one is good, the yellow one not so much.
opiejeanne
@Blue Galangal: That stain inside her cape-thingie is not a stain. It’s two shadows crossing each other. You can see that if you enlarge it a little and follow the shadows up from the hem of the cape.
I don’t know what the cape does for that dress and, besides, Edna said “NO CAPES!” The dress is fine but it doesn’t fit her quite right. Needed to be tailored by someone who knows what they’re doing.
Starfish
@zhena gogolia: The yellow one does not look like it needs to be ironed. Theoretically, if it was in a color that I did not oppose so strongly, it could be good.
Quinerly
@Starfish:
There are some really fine looking cape dresses out there. This one is not. I really don’t understand any of it. The velvet dresses on the girls. His very ill fitting, cheap suit on him. The color of her dress. Her shoes. And the fucking white wannabe opera gloves.
Quinerly
@Eric S.:
I was surrounded by young, handsome, Hispanic salesmen. Slow day at Xfinity store.
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
@Starfish: Cape dresses, capes, and coats worn over her shoulders like a cape were a signature look for Melania throughout TFG’s tenure. You would almost never see her with her arms in her coat when she wore one, she almost always wore it like a cape.
Steeplejack
@Starfish:
The “magenta high heels” in that first picture of Melania make my feet hurt.
Starfish
@Quinerly: I am more comfortable with the discussion being about the quality of the dress than about what Casey looks like.
For example, the way the dart is not in the right place on her breast may be due to asymmetries going on due to cancer.
pluky
I’m getting less a Jackie Kennedy vibe, and more Eva Duarte de Perón.
Quinerly
@Steeplejack
Hard case has the much sought after hinge protector. Yes, I know. The things you don’t think about until the commitment is made and you are stuck in that commitment.
eclare
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/fashion/a42457800/jamie-lee-curtis-golden-globes-cape/
Jamie Lee Curtis looking amazing.
Quinerly
@Starfish:
Agreed.
It’s a cheap, tacky dress. She should know better. Their constituency for the most part is cheap and tacky, though. So maybe the DeSantises know more than we do. They are appealing to the same people who think Trump is a fashion icon. Red tie/cheap suits/bad shoes. Appealing to the same people who thought Melania and her blood red Christmas trees were classy….and thought Michelle Obama had no class. With that said, I still am fixated on the white gloves….in Florida. Has anyone said if this is from his inauguration? Some sort of odd formal event?
Quinerly
@KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager)):
Great observation.
Tony G
@Tony G: I’m disappointed that he wasn’t wearing those white go-go boots from his appearance in a Nancy Sinatra lip-synching contest a couple of months ago. Those were elegant.
Quinerly
@Starfish:
And to add, I totally get it. For most of my life I was adverse to attacking another woman’s appearance. When this thread started I was a bit gleeful because it got my mind off of Biden’s documents in the garage story. It’s a snow day here. I’m bored and avoiding paperwork. Then it hit me about the stories re her Cancer. I was a bit uncomfortable there for a few minutes.
Then I remembered how awful and craven these people are. I didn’t shed a tear when bad things happened to Rush Limbaugh. So fuck DeSantis and his wife. I blame Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump. I used to be a nicer person.
Suzanne
@Quinerly: Style and fashion are important elements of visual culture and imagecraft. I have no problem snarking on someone for their style choices. I am perfectly able to point out how absolutely craptacular they look without making any statement about their bodies.
Quinerly
@Suzanne:
💙
Suzanne
@Starfish: Her nipple poking out has nothing to do with cancer. It has everything to do with not wearing a padded bra. There are other pictures of her (taken post-cancer treatment) that indicate that she is able to wear better stuff.
Suzanne
I will note that matching the kids’ clothes makes them look like they’re ready for a Duggar family portrait.
Manyakitty
@Spanky: she’ll never be Rick Wakeman, cape or not.
moops
@Almost Retired: The American Right is always angry, and getting even angrier. They like that DeSantis is extremely mean and cruel. I think that feature will put Ron ahead of Trump in a primary. Trump might want the gun nuts’ vote and will pick judges that agree, but DeSantis wants them to shoot people.
We will look back at the Trump administration as the prelude to the eventual fascist GOP nominee.
Gretchen
@Quinerly: she didn’t protest when her husband sent migrants up north without proper winter clothes, so her clothes are fair game. She had a chance to lobby for compassion, and supposedly is a powerful advisor to her husband, and she was all in on his cruelty.
Quinerly
@Gretchen:
Totally agree.
Carlo Graziani
@zhena gogolia: Here one of my first ChatGPT prompts:
It’s actually not bad at invective, if you ask it to try!
Carlo Graziani
Another difference between Trump and DeSantis (between Trump and all the ankle-biters who would inherit his mantle and supporters, really): Before he ran for president, TFG was already a TV celebrity. The Apprentice put him in millions of homes, well before he could exhibit any off-putting political toxicity, and placed him in the American Cultural Pantheon of Celebrity. And we all know that Celebrity is the one true unifying religion shared by Americans, whatever actual brick-and-mortar church they may happen to patronize. TFG traded on this ascension to God-Among-Men status to outlast his primary opponents, and to gather the MAGAtroids to his banner.
DeSantis has nothing like that. Nor Noem, or Hawley, nor any of the other GOP hopefuls. They have to start from zero, and introduce themselves to 240 million people (2020 turnout). Tucker Carlson could try, but his audience is niche compared to The Apprentice, and he’d probably start out with at least as many people hating him as had ever watched his show.
It’s a bit reminiscent of the post-Reagan GOP, where every candidate wanted to deal himself in on The Gipper’s magic touch, and every one of them fell flat on his ass. Reagan had spent decades worming his way into the nation’s reptilian rear-brain through his movie career, and stepped into California, the National, political “roles” without missing a beat, or ever smudging his makeup, while all the also-Rons had no possible access to what made him politically invincible.
Thus Trump vs. DeSantis. I want a picture of his face when he realizes his aircraft has no lift.
Miss Bianca
@Jeffg166:
As a community theater director myself, I must say I LOL’d (L’dOL?) at this.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@Steeplejack: The Pythagorean theorem also applies to high heels, so those with smaller feet will end up with too much weight on the front of the foot—the ball of the foot & the toes. To say nothing of the effects of the damn things on ankles, knees, hips, and back.
I need ibuprofen just thinking about it.
Tony Jay
Forget the cape, I want to know why DeSantis and his 4 year old son have been ankle-cuffed together.
Is Mason prone to running away from the scary troll creature?
Just ‘Florida’?
Matt McIrvin
@Carlo Graziani: Yeah, I think DeSantis is probably going to have to wait for Trump to get out of the way for any kind of national move. He’s much younger than Trump so he’s got time. But Trump was already an object of national fascination 40 years ago and his presidential run followed on a huge media comeback.
Barry
@trollhattan: (on Kristi Noem). I doubt it. DeSantis can ante up Florida’s nomination votes, money and media.
Barry
@Carlo Graziani: “Thus Trump vs. DeSantis. I want a picture of his face when he realizes his aircraft has no lift.”
If Trump wins the primary, DeSantis is IMHO the next GOP presidential candidate.
Paul in KY
@Bill Arnold: All that shit he’s doing.