Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

No one could have predicted…

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

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

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

I really should read my own blog.

The jury literally has a bell they can ring to force Trump to show up on command. Greatest thing ever!

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

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

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Second rate reporter says what?

Come on, man.

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

The current Supreme Court is a rogue court. Very dangerous.

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread: C.R.E.A.M.

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Darn you to heck, Nancy Smash! (Manic Pixie Dream Senator, bein’ delusional… or just performing for her Repub audience):

More good news for Gallego:

Reader Interactions

195Comments

  2. 2.

    Miss Bianca

    “Nancy Pelosi made him do it!?”

    My fantasy Nancy to Sinema: “Just lose already, baby.”

  3. 3.

    Baud

    Gallego is the perfect example of a candidate showing that you can be unabashedly progressive and not pay any electoral penalty.

    This is dumb. AZ-3 is D+24.

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    An exotic green comet that has not passed Earth since the time of the Neanderthals has reappeared in the sky ready for its closest approach to the planet next week.

    Discovered last March by astronomers at the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory in California, comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was calculated to orbit the sun every 50,000 years, meaning it last tore past our home planet in the stone age.

    The comet, which comes from the Oort cloud at the edge of the solar system, will come closest to Earth on Wednesday and Thursday next week when it shoots past the planet at a distance of 2.5 light minutes – a mere 27m miles.
    ………………………
    Images already taken of comet C/2022 E3 reveal a subtle green glow that is thought to arise from the presence of diatomic carbon – pairs of carbon atoms that are bound together – in the head of the comet. The molecule emits green light when excited by the ultraviolet rays in solar radiation.
    ………………………
    Since mid-January, the comet has been easier to spot with a telescope or binoculars. It is visible in the northern hemisphere, clouds permitting, as the sky darkens in the evening, below and to the left of the handle of the Plough constellation (aka the Big Dipper).

    It is heading for a fly-by of the pole star, the brightest star in Ursa Minor, next week.

    The window for spotting the comet does not stay open long. While the best views may be had about 1 and 2 February, by the middle of the month the comet will have dimmed again and slipped from view as it hurtles back out into the solar system on its return trip to the Oort cloud.

    I would think they could come up with a better name than C/2022 E3 (ZTF). How’s about the Emerald comet?

  7. 7.

    Nicole

    Maybe I am remembering wrong, but it sure seems like every election cycle the media earnestly explains why the map is great for Republicans.  It’s almost like they’re biased or something.

  10. 10.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    He’s saying Gallego overperforms other Democrats on the ticket. So not drop off from Biden to Gallego but the reverse.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    Anne Laurie, I see that you wasted no time in putting up another post after someone cautioned you that your Baud comparison would be unforgivable… until your next post. :-)

  19. 19.

    gene108

    @Baud:

    @Nicole:

    Tester and Manchin are both up for reelection, plus the mess in AZ and no seats that seem flip-able for D’s.

    The 2022 losses in WI, NC, and few other states hurt because Democrats don’t have a buffer in 2024, where the loss of 2-3 seats won’t flip the Senate.

  22. 22.

    Suzanne

    Gallego is the perfect example of a candidate showing that you can be unabashedly progressive and not pay any electoral penalty.

    I…. seriously question this. Gallego and Grijalva, the two Latino progressives from AZ, represent the two districts that were created in Arizona under the VRA to concentrate the Latino population. They aren’t like the rest of the state. Gallego has never run outside of that district. There is no evidence that what this rando is asserting is true.

    I mean, I would like it to be true. But there’s no evidence of it.

  27. 27.

    Amir Khalid

    Is Kari Lake running for anything in 2024, or is she still claiming to be the rightful elected Governor of Arizona?

  30. 30.

    Kay

    @Suzanne:

    This is what he’s relying on:

    Lakshya Jain
    @lxeagle17

    @realpepejoe

    Independents and swing voters exist in every district. Good candidates often tend to overperform with marginal voters there too and frequently outrun presidential baselines there. Gallego has overperformed every time he’s been up.

     

    It’s not a guarantee of winning- it’s a measure of a good candidate. The expectation would be it would run the other way- Gallego is “too progressive” so there would be drop off from a statewide candidate (like Biden or a Senate race). That doesn’t happen with him. He’s picking up votes the Dems running statewide aren’t getting. It’s the same analysis they used for Fetterman and (always) Sherrod Brown. It means THIS INDIVIDUAL is strong. Less a reflection of the electorate and more of the candidate.

  32. 32.

    Jinchi

    Krysten Sinema blames Nancy Pelosi for making @RubenGallego compete against her.

    This is more ridiculous than incumbents complaining about competitors running in party primaries. Sinema left the Democratic party and she’s got a reputation for blowing up their agenda at the last minute. She had to know they’d put a candidate up for the Senate seat.

  33. 33.

    Roger Moore

    @Nicole:

    Another way of interpreting “this map is favorable to Republicans” is “the last time we had this map, the Democrats outperformed expectations”.  Some of this is that the media likes the Republicans and expects them to do well, but part of it is that the Republicans regularly fail to do as well as the numbers suggest they “should”.  Every time the Democrats pull a bunch of unexpected victories because the Republicans nominate awful candidates or Trump motivates Democratic voters or whatever, the same map in 6 years looks like there should be some easy Republican pick ups.

  35. 35.

    Kay

    @Suzanne:

    He’s actually saying Gallego is picking up Latino votes that statewide Democrats aren’t getting (in so many words because for some reason no one can say that directly). That of course would be interesting to Democrats, if it translates statewide.

  37. 37.

    Ken

    @Amir Khalid: Is Kari Lake running for anything in 2024, or is she still claiming to be the rightful elected Governor of Arizona?

    Unless she’s moved along to claims to be Divine Empress of the Hyades Cluster.

  42. 42.

    Princess

    Tester is already running against the GOP massive sales tax proposal and DC overreach. He knows his voters. Of MT, OH, and WV, I think Tester is the safest. I’m hoping the way Manchin makes us libs mad will help him there. I don’t know what Brown needs to do.

  43. 43.

    Immanentize

    Knowing nothing about AZ politics — can an independent, like Sinema, run in the Democratic primary against Gallego? Or is she on her own until the general?

  45. 45.

    Soprano2

    I read an article on Yahoo this morning about the mayors conference where the Miami mayor was critical of bail reform efforts, and *shocker* President Biden didn’t clap for that. Even though the article presented evidence that there is no proof bail reform made any difference in the rate of violent crime, many commenters dismissed that and said that of course it was “common sense” that bail reform caused the spike in crime, that “progressive DA’s” are releasing all of the violent, hardened criminals so they can commit more crimes for reasons that are never made clear. It’s a good illustration of how even if you present evidence, people will decide that their “common sense” overrides evidence. It’s nutty.

  46. 46.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I think there was a fundamental misunderstanding of the Latino immigrant/ethnicity experience in the Dem Party – they’re not an “interest group”. I take this from my Mexican American clients. They think the United States is great. They’re really patriotic, American dream, the whole package. We need to treat them as Americans, because that’s what they are. The idea that they’re sort of mostly Mexican, as in Mexico, not Arizona or Texas,is just so wrong headed it’s embarrassing. I feel like consultants did this to us and we have to fire them.

  47. 47.

    tobie

    The US calls Germany’s bluff and is talking about sending Abrams tanks to Ukraine. If Germany continues to equivocate on the Leopards, it will harm its global standing. Poland and others are fed up.

    The announcement would be part of a broader diplomatic understanding with Germany in which Berlin would agree to send a smaller number of its own Leopard 2 tanks and would also approve the delivery of more of the German-made tanks by Poland and other nations. It would settle a trans-Atlantic disagreement over the tanks that had threatened to open fissures as the war drags into the end of its first year.

  49. 49.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    But it’s not too late to fix. They just have toget their heads out of their asses and use some common sense ad actually LOOK at these people- these Americans-  instead of analyzing them like anthropologists.

    Start over. Clean slate. Who are they? Where do they live? Like that.

  50. 50.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: “Progressive” is, often, in the eye of the beholder, and I don’t think either Jain or Gallego would meet, say, the Justice Democrats’ or DSA definition. That ad, the visuals even more than the text, leans hard into RG’s military service. And I love the way he drops his Ivy League credential in there: They didn’t laugh when I said I wanted to go to Harvard.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    Not sure I blame consultants exclusively.  But, yeah, maybe constantly being down about everything doesn’t attract as many folks as we think it does.

  52. 52.

    UncleEbeneezer

    “According to a plagiarism checker, the activism manual for this “anti groomer” activism group plagiarized about a third of its materials from an explicitly white supremacist organizing campaign manual. And half of that plagiarized material was a direct copy/paste job”

    This is not at all surprising. One thing that has become very clear while reading Mothers Of Massive Resistance is that the vast majority of Conservative slogans throughout US history come directly from White Supremacy. Not just the obvious stuff like “America First” or “State’s Rights” but even stuff that may not look overtly racist at first glance. Take any slogan or phrase or concept that you associate with American Conservatism and if you dig back far enough you will find that they come from groups/orgs that were openly White Supremacist. These slogans start in WS groups and then get adopted by more mainstream groups/people and laundered to give them a patina of legitimacy until eventually we all associate them with the latter and overlook the fact that they were spawned and pushed by the former.

    Emphasis on Local Govt, Parental Rights, School Choice, Family Values, The Tea Party, Small Govt etc. And now this “Groomer” bullshit.  Even when the current target might be Women or LGBTQ People etc., it’s always tied to White Supremacy. It’s White Supremacy all the way down.

  53. 53.

    Geminid

    Oh, to be a fly on the wall at this afternoon’s meeting. From Politico Playbook:

                Biden’s Day

    10:15 a.m.  The President will receive the President’s Daily Brief with Vice President Kamala Harris also in attendance.

    3 p.m.   Biden and Harris will host Democratic Congressional Leaders at the White House.

  54. 54.

    NotMax

    @tobie

    Expected move. My understanding is the Abrams run on jet fuel (as opposed to the others).

    But they’ll look impressive sitting stationary.

  55. 55.

    Kay

    I like the humor in Gallejo (Fetterman had it too) and I think it’s a wonderful contrast with the very dark and grim conservative view of the country.

    Masters is sort of perfect for them. Christ. DARK world view. Nothing wrong with making the race a little bit fun, and Gallejo has a sense of humor.

    Compared to these nasty, dystopian candidates on the Right we’re like Morning in America.

  56. 56.

    Geminid

    @Kay: That’s pretty much what Ruben Gallego said in a Politico podcast interview last Spring.

    I would keep some of the consultants, though. The team that assisted Adrian Fontes’ run for Arizona Secretary of State seems to have helped get the job done.

  57. 57.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    one of the funnier critiques I’ve seen of Gallego on RW twitter is “HE WAS ERIC SWALWELL’S CAMPAIGN CO-CHAIR! SWALWELL!”. To which the 93% of USians who don’t watch either Fox or MSNBC said, “what’s a Swalwell? Is that like a seawall?” Or they would, if they were on twitter.

  58. 58.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: Cinema could switch back to Democrat, though right if she wanted to be a [expletive deleted] and run ad a democrat. Right?

  60. 60.

    Princess

    @Kay: This is exactly right and I think the reason why so many are drawn to the Republican Party these days is that the Republicans promise them that they can be nothing but Americans. I think this promise is a lie, but they look at someone like De Santis or Cruz and it doesn’t look like a lie to those who are drawn to the GOP for other reasons. The term “Latino” and even more “Latinx” is a useful category for white people who want to avoid dealing with complexity; it doesn’t reflect how most seem to see their own identity. I don’t know if we can ditch it completely, but I wish we could.

  61. 61.

    Betty Cracker

    @Soprano2: Miami’s mayor is a Republican douche-canoe. It would be funny if Biden asked him how the crypto scam is going, but Biden is too nice to do that.

  62. 62.

    WaterGirl

    @Immanentize: Sinemai has no principles or actual beliefs, so there’s nothing that would keep her from switching back from independent to democrat to run and then switching back to independent.

  65. 65.

    Jesse

    The 30% sales tax things make wonder if republicans are trying to do a European-style VAT (value added tax). Those taxes are, in most European counties, very high (but not 30%).

  67. 67.

    Roger Moore

    @NotMax:

    My understanding is the Abrams run on jet fuel (as opposed to the others).

    This is not really true, at least in the sense people seem to use it.  It’s true that in the U.S. Army, the Abrams burns the same fuel as our jets and helicopters, but that’s because the military has standardized on a single fuel for darn near everything.  It’s also used by trucks and generators.  Turbine engines like the Abrams has are fuel hungry, but they are not particularly choosy about what fuel they burn.  There may be some long-term maintenance problems with standard diesel fuel not having the right additives to keep the fuel system clean or something, but it won’t cause any immediate problems.

  68. 68.

    WaterGirl

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: fuck the JUSTICE Democrats and fuck the DSA!  I don’t care what their definition of progressive is because I don’t think most progressives would actually use their definition.

    edit: this was posted from my phone, and it apparently ate the word JUSTICE. So I added it back in.

  69. 69.

    eddie blake

    @NotMax: it’s got multi-fuel capability. still a guzzler. still a good ten tons heavier than the leopard 2 (which has its own problems.)

    it also takes a WHILE to get all of those tanks and support vehicles in position. keep in mind the appx six months between GHWB’s belligerence over the kuwait invasion and the actual engagement of hostilities. appx six months.

    does ukraine have that kind of time?

  70. 70.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    Even when the current target might be Women or LGBTQ People etc., it’s always tied to White Supremacy.

    Hardcore bigots tend to be bigoted against lots of stuff.  Moderate bigots tend to be hardcore bigots who are socially aware enough to not say what they believe everyone is thinking.  White Supremacy loves it some misogyny and homophobia, and mainstream conservatives are eager to pick up any phrasing that sounds respectable.

  71. 71.

    trollhattan

    @Jinchi: Nancy is also the reason her shoes hurt, the breakfast toast was burned, Arizona has no water. Call the whaaambulance, useless lady.

  72. 72.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: The rest of President Biden’s schedule for today, as provided by Politico Playbook:

    5:20 p.m.   Biden will host a reception for new members of Congress at the White House with Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff.

  74. 74.

    Kay

    @Princess:

    I think about it a lot in terms of my practice – obviously that’s one person at a time but talking with them I don’t really recognize what has been the Democratic Party view of them. An example: a county east of mine has been trending Latino, which obviously changes the high school. It’s a football high school. That kind of town. The whole starting line up is now Latino and they are VERY proud of this. So if I went in and said “but your cultural heritage, blah blah” they would look at me like I had two heads. They’re not only completely buying into an Ohio football school and town culture, they are dominating it.

    Anyway. Maybe Mr. Gallego can help with that. Help us get our heads out of our ass.

  75. 75.

    Betty Cracker

    More on Miami’s shitty mayor:

    Additionally, City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has been an advocate of the cryptocurrency Miami Coin… The city’s namesake cryptocurrency worth more than a nickel when it debuted a little more than a year ago.

    A few months later, the mayor tweeted his excitement for the city’s first withdrawal from its digital wallet, which was more than $5 million, “resources” for the city “through innovation, not taxation,” he wrote…

    At last check on Tuesday, MiamiCoin was worth about five-ten thousandths of a cent.

    LOL! He’s probably our next governor!

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    @Amir Khalid: Yep. “you say you’re a Democrat but you’re not really a Democrat so we’re not gonna let you run as a Democrat” would be a really slippery slope.

  77. 77.

    Geminid

    @Immanentize:  Sinema can run in the Democratic primary if she gets enough signatures to put her on the ballot. Polls show that she would lose badly, though. Same with polls of a three way Senate race with her running as an Independent.

  78. 78.

    Jesse

    @Kay: I think the general culture, in recent decades, has done it. The consultants are members of the culture, though I think you’re right that some actually push the idea rather than just reflect the ambient thinking out there. What’s Interestibg us that this is a recurring issue. Theodore Roosevelt and others of his generation combatted “hyphenated Americans”, worrying about the way that corrodes the melting pot idea. Been reading “The Disuniting of America“, by Schlesinger (Kennedy aide),from the 90s, also pushing against a self-balkanization of the US.

  79. 79.

    kindness

    I donated money to Sinema in ’18.  Not kicking myself for it.  I got used and I do feel a little foolish.  I won’t make that mistake again.

  80. 80.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Kay: This is a very tricky issue.  Because there are issues that effect Latino/a/x voters across the board and there are many of them who join together and organize in Latino/a/x coalitions and want our politicians to see them, listen to them, and find solutions for those issues.  That’s just the reality of Organizing 101.  You gather, find solidarity and take collective action with people who have shared overlap in culture/issues.  But there are also people who really resent that grouping for a whole bunch of reasons.  I’m not sure what a Party is supposed to do to make both happy.  I’m also extremely skeptical of any voter who says that Dems using the word “Latino/a/x” was enough to get them to vote for Republicans (or not vote at all) are really gettable voters worth centering in these decisions.  I’ve known several “I ain’t ‘Latino’, I’m American” co-workers/friends, and in my experience they were just looking for excuses and cover to justify not supporting Dems (the exact same move I’ve seen from my Irish, Italian, etc., friends only with a different reasoning).  When the Dem Party uses Colorblind language to appeal to it’s voters just as Americans they get bashed for not saying/focussing on Black/Latino.  When they say “Black/Latino”, then they get bashed for being too focussed on identity politics.  There have been decades of Latino/Chicano/Hispanic political organizing in this country on important issues.  It was and still is a thing.  It deserves our respect and acknowledgement and it’s groups/people belong at the table.  I’m not sure how we do that without upsetting the people who don’t like being associated with them (and in some cases resent their existence).

  81. 81.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Jesse:

    The 30% sales tax things make wonder if republicans are trying to do a European-style VAT (value added tax). Those taxes are, in most European counties, very high (but not 30%). 

    I don’t think so.  IIRC, the boneheads want to eliminate federal income tax and replace it with this jacked up sales tax.

    The idea is a massive slap in the face to anyone who isn’t filthily rich.

  82. 82.

    Geminid

    @Princess: Regarding “Latino”: Representatives Ruben Gallego and Veronica Escobar both use this term to describe their community, and they are aware of its complexity nationwide. If it’s good enough for them, I have no problem with it.

    As for “Latinx,” that term is a dead duck. Its users are trying out “Latine” but that one won’t fly either. Like it or not, Spanish is a gendered language and most people who grew up speaking it think nothing of describing their greater community as “Latino.”

    It’s “progressive” Anglos and a relative few enlightened “Latines” who keep pushing alternatives.

  84. 84.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Frankensteinbeck: Well said.  And then they adamantly argue that it’s NOT racist, misogynist, LGBTQphobic etc. and because we live in a White Supremacist country, most society ends up agreeing with them and the boundaries of what is/isn’t bigoted gets effectively kept where the bigots want them.

  86. 86.

    eddie blake

    looks like the bulk of the leopard 2’s under discussion are the 2a4’s, which aren’t remotely cutting-edge vehicles.

    shoots tungsten sabots, not dpu. has a passable optics suite that’s been far outstripped in later models (they’re up to the 2a8 and have just released a prototype leopard replacement).  no chobham.

    they will have to shoot-and-scoot (as omnes said re: artillery) a LOT to avoid counter battery fire if used as indirect fire platforms (ukraine uses many of its tanks in lieu of actual arty). and hull down defensive positions are ill-advised due to its relatively thin turret armor and that the leopard’s greatest strength is its speed and maneuverability. as tanks go, the leopards are nimble. making it part of a static defense defeats the purpose of having one.

    i dunno. guess any port in a storm, right?

    eta-at least that kills the shot-trap thing i was worried about and mentioned in last night’s ukraine thread. the enhanced, sloped turret armor was added on the 2a5’s and subsequent vehicles. the turret of the a4 is a vertical-facing slab.

  87. 87.

    Soprano2

    @Princess: I still don’t understand why we don’t just use the word “Latin” – it gets rid of the gendered problem and is a real word, not something awkward that most people it’s supposed to refer to hate. Sometimes we liberals metaphorically step on our dicks when we try to be inclusive when a simpler solution would be better.

  88. 88.

    BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️

    Had an acquaintance tell me that the media takes pics of Sinema Sins that makes her look like (and I’m quoting here) “a kook.”

    I have no love for the media, but it ain’t the media making her look like a kook, it’s the fact she’s a kook that makes her look like a kook.

  90. 90.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: It’s like we think all of them preserve the culture they came from in amber and never change it. I agree, it’s a dumb approach that needs to change. It’s as if we don’t know that some Latin people in the Southwest have lived here for centuries! Everyone in the U.S. who’s of Latin heritage didn’t come here in the past 30 years.

  91. 91.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Geminid: I’ll be sure to tell my Colombian-American friend who is a VP at Planned Parenthood that she and her organization needs to stop using “Latinx”, right away because she doesn’t respect her own culture.

  93. 93.

    narya

    My fantasy is that Masters and Lake have a battle that brings ALL the crazy, enabling Gallego to run a Fetterman-style campaign against whoever ends up getting the R nod. And the current Senator just fks off somewhere and doesn’t bother running.

  95. 95.

    Geminid

    @eddie blake: These Leopard tanks are not cutting edge if that is describing a tank-on-tank encounter. Those are very rare though, and most tanks are not destroyed by tanks, but by other anti-tank weapons of the type which we are already  supplying Ukraine in quantity. For 95% of their projected missions, these Leopards will do just fine.

  96. 96.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Amir Khalid: I was pilloried yesterday for pointing that out

    ETA: Sinema has passed more legislation than the Vt senator despite being in the senate for a far shorter time. But finger wagging and performance art is valued more by some.

  97. 97.

    Geminid

    @UncleEbeneezer: That’s just a straw herring!

    I’m not saying you should tell anyone to stop using Latinx or Latine. I’m saying people should stop telling Democrats to stop using Latino, and stop fretting about using it themselves.

    That’s not the same as telling your friend she is disrespecting her own culture.

  99. 99.

    schrodingers_cat

    Deleted double comment.

    BTW is anyone following the brouhaha in India regarding the recently released BBC documentary on Gujarat pogrom of  2002 and Modi’s complicity in it?

  106. 106.

    JGreen

    Do we really have to talk about the 2024 election so soon (e.g. should Biden run again?  What are Gallego’s chances for the AZ Senate seat?, etc.)?   If you must, ok, but let’s not have any complaining later that the campaigns go on too long.  They do, but it makes it worse when we go on and on about Nov. 2024 when we’ve hardly begun 2023.

  109. 109.

    Geminid

    @Baud: Not for a while, it’s true. Its been a few months since I last saw someone do that here, and the push for a new descriptor has been ebbing generally for a couple years now.

    There’s still plenty of fretting about this going on, though.

  110. 110.

    schrodingers_cat

    @SFAW: 2002 Gujarat when Modi was the CM (Chief Minister). It started with a fire in a train in Godhra which led to a mass scale slaughter of Muslims.

    How much time do you have? I can give you the link to a Human Rights Watch report.

    We have no orders to save you

    ETA: If your  friends are Gujarati and upper caste the probability that they are Modi bhakts is very high.

  111. 111.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Latinx feels like you are attending a graduate seminar at the University.

    “Stop talking like a graduate student” is sound advice across a whole host of issues

  112. 112.

    Suzanne

     

    @Soprano2: I still don’t understand why we don’t just use the word “Latin”

     
    Prolly because it makes me think of some ancient Roman emperor eating grapes?

  113. 113.

    SFAW

    @WaterGirl:

    fuck the _______ Democrats and fuck the DSA!

    Are you maybe missing a key word in there? I had to go back to see the comment to which you responded, to allay my fears that you suddenly went loopy on us.

  115. 115.

    Cameron

    I guess most everybody here has seen the story about Florida teachers being unable to stock classroom libraries or even bring in books to share without making sure such books have been blessed by the state – or they can be charged with a felony.  The examples in the story were from Manatee County, where I happen to live.  There’s an elementary school about a ten-minute walk from me,and the local county library branch is right across the street from it. Library used to have story hours and other kid activities; I’ll bet those are gone. What a waste.

  116. 116.

    Suzanne

    @narya:

    My fantasy is that Masters and Lake have a battle that brings ALL the crazy 

    Yeah, me too.
    The breakdown in the GOP in AZ is really something to behold. They were so solid for so long. Crazy Kelli just loathes the McCains. She taunted him about his fucken cancer, for FSM’s sake.
    They’re a perfect example of the utter inability for some people to have any theory of mind whatsoever. Just astonishing.

  117. 117.

    Anyway

    @schrodingers_cat:

    ETA: Sinema has passed more legislation than the Vt senator despite being in the senate for a far shorter time.

    Curious – what has she authored? I am not sure what “passed” means here —

  118. 118.

    CaseyL

    @JGreen: I agree, sort of, but Gallego is working to hoover up all the money and attention now.

    Maybe that’s a good thing, if he’s a strong candidate.  I just don’t know enough about AZ.  BJers who do know something about AZ aren’t sure he is a strong candidate; or, at any rate, the strongest.

    Maybe we should ask who would be a better candidate? Is there someone else we should be getting behind?

    That’s the kind of thing I would find useful, rather than ragging on Sinema (as much as she deserves it).

  120. 120.

    Immanentize

    @Geminid:
    Thanks.
    Some states have “sore loser” laws — if you run in a primary and lose, you cannot run in the general.

    Do you know if AZ has one of those?

  122. 122.

    Geminid

    @Soprano2: Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ family has lived in what is now southern Arizona since the first half of the 18th century.

  123. 123.

    schrodingers_cat

    I can’t speak for Latinos/x but this immigrant loves this country. Not because I think it is flawless. It is not. But like Vindman said here truth matters (well matters more than it does in India). Most immigrants have seen worse than the American polity and admire the capacity for self correction. Even though change is sometimes agonizingly slow.

  125. 125.

    NotMax

    Minor point but makes me happy they let it be.

    One TV series so appreciated I sparingly dole out episodes so as not to run through all three seasons too quickly is Captain Marleau.

    She drives around in a Range Rover. Thing is, somewhere along the way appeared a paint rash on the hood. Episode by episode since, one can watch it spread.

  126. 126.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Anyway: She was a key part in couple of  bipartisan bills that passed the Senate in the last session.

    BTW besides renaming post offices what key piece of legislation has been authored by the Vt senator.

  127. 127.

    Geminid

    @Immanentize: I think Arizona has a sore loser law but I’m not sure.

    If they did, that would be one more reason for Sinema to pass on the Democratic primary. But I don’t think she’s going to run at all. I wouldn’t bet a lot of money on that proposition though, and she’s basically unpredictable. I guess we’ll know by the end of this fall.

  128. 128.

    eddie blake

    @Geminid: no. i mean, what we’re seeing in ukraine, certainly on the russian side, is a complete collapse of combined arms combat theory and practice.

    tanks are supposed to be integrated WITH infantry to be protected FROM infantry armed with NLAWS, javelins or other ATGM’s. they’re supposed to cover them, in turn from enemy armor and exploit breakouts or provide heavy fire support.  the mechanized forces and artillery are SUPPOSED to have CAS, whereas AA/AD and your own CAP should, if everything is working right, keep YOUR skies clear.

    we’re not seeing any of that on the russian side  they’re practically refighting WWI out there

    the only thing the russians are doong is maintaining a pretty strict area-denial/anti-aircraft curtain, but it looks like they can only do it on the side of the theatre they control

    eta-also, all the experts foresee tank-on-tank battles during the upcoming spring engagements. huge ones. hence ukraine’s urgency about getting them.

  130. 130.

    Betty Cracker

    @Soprano2:

    Sometimes we liberals metaphorically step on our dicks when we try to be inclusive when a simpler solution would be better.

    Agree 100%. Being inclusive is a worthy goal, and it can generally be done without alienating or erasing people. Also, what makes sense in a activist context doesn’t always translate neatly into political speech.

  132. 132.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: The anger about the use of “Latinx” seems an awful lot like the anger White People over using they/them pronouns.  Both cases are hissy fits over a minuscule and optional change in language by predominantly Cisgender people (I’ve never, ever seen a Transgender/NB person from that community say “hey everyone can you please stop using ‘Latinx’, you just don’t understand our culture.”  The idea that using “Latinx” means a person doesn’t understand/respect that culture would be very much news to several friends I have from that culture who choose to use “Latinx” themselves.  Their response to Gallego’s sentiment would be “bullshit” or worse.

    The reality is that nobody is stopping anyone from using “Latino” or “Latina.”  But people and organizations who want to be inclusive of Trans/NB people in that community can use “Latinx.”  Major LGBTQ orgs, Planned Parenthood etc., use “Latinx” all the time and it’s no big deal.  I know lots of people who choose Latino/a for describing their community but who don’t get upset when someone else uses “Latinx.”  While the English language is not gendered in the same way, we are seeing the same fight over pronouns couched in terms of protecting the existing culture.  A culture built on the assumption of a Gender Binary.  The Latino/a/x fight is just the way that fight is playing out in that community.  It’s worth noting that Latin-American countries have some of the most rigid Patriarchy and horrific LGBTQphobia.  That’s part of the culture too (just as it’s a sadly large part of American culture).  I think there is definitely a connection there that is being overlooked in these discussions.

  133. 133.

    FelonyGovt

    Let me get this straight, Sinema LEAVES the Democratic Party because we’re too icky for her and she doesn’t think a Dem is going to run against her?

  134. 134.

    Betty Cracker

    @Cameron: I’ve got a post about that in the hopper. Published it yesterday afternoon but saw that I’d inadvertently big-footed Tom, so I yanked it. Will post it again later, probably.

  135. 135.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @CaseyL: ​
      I think we should let the AZ Dems decide who is best for them and then support the nominee. We shouldn’t take sides in primaries unless a David Duke type runs as a Dem. YMMV.

  136. 136.

    Anyway

    @schrodingers_cat:

    She was a key part in couple of  bipartisan bills that passed the Senate in the last session.

    I’d have liked a for-example but whatevs

    BTW besides renaming post offices what key piece of legislation has been authored by the Vt senator.

    I don’t know (and don’t care).  I don’t track legislation but you’ve mentioned post-offices multiple times and figured you did. I think of legislation as a “many cooks” thing and didn’t know that Sinema had contributed significantly to some unknown/as-yet-unnamed effort. Still curious about what it was.

  138. 138.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Baud: The real answer.  Sinema, however, is not and that’s what matters.  If she had Sanders-like support in AZ, we would have to lump it.

  139. 139.

    Jinchi

    @Amir Khalid: I don’t know if she’s eligible in AZ, but even if she is, there’s no guarantee that she wouldn’t burn the party at the first opportunity. It would be different if she had a reputation for ideological rigor and could be trusted to follow it.

    I assume she became an independent because she thinks her odds are best if she splits the vote 3 ways.

  141. 141.

    Kay

    @Cameron:

    During the financial crash in ’09, when the county unemployment rate was 16% and people were breaking down in tears in my office because they were going to be evicted, the childrens librarian called me and told me she wanted to feed kids at the library. So she did. It was wildly popular. Sandwiches, milk and an apple. Every day they were open that summer. She’s long retired, Vicki, but I just loved her.

    I wonder if the Atlantic or the NYTimes or Glenn Greenwald or Matt Taibbi will do some dumb-ass think pieces on how their hero down there in Florida is using state power to silence speech. What a bunch of fucking frauds. The people who signed that ridiculous, self aggrandizing letter about how “cancel culture” was destroying civilization seem to have gone very quiet on actual state actors outlawing speech. Useless. The threats they identify aren’t real threats and the threats they don’t see are. No use to anyone normal who has to live in this country.

  142. 142.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Baud: No.  I don’t see anyone on our side really getting upset about the use of Latino/a, flipping the table and screaming “Use ‘LatinX’ damnit!”  Even passionate LGBTQ activists from that community just shrug and then go on using “Latinx” as is their right.

    The temper tantrums are from people who don’t want ANYONE to use “Latinx.”  That those people are almost entirely Cisgender and that every community, everywhere struggles with rampant Transphobia, is to me, a pretty simple explanation for the reactionary response.  I’m extremely skeptical that any voters would vote Dem but just can’t bring themselves to do it because some Dem, somewhere used “Latinx.”  That seems like the kind of bullshit excuse that people who don’t like Dems use for voting GOP or not voting.

  143. 143.

    Princess

    @UncleEbeneezer: It’s a really difficult needle to thread for all the reasons you say. For people in politics (which includes activists and organizers) these collective terms can give them access to power. They present as blocks and can have a weight in that way. For people outside politics who might come under these terms, ie. the people we need to come out and vote, these terms can seem repellent and reductive. It’s a bind that the Dems are in that the GOP have escaped. I agree with Kay that people like Gallego an help us out of it.

  145. 145.

    NotMax

    @Cameron

    Key lime pie, dog racing, jai alai, gators, palmetto bugs, the track at Hialeah and iguanas cascading down from trees.. What else is there to know?
    :)

  149. 149.

    Geminid

    @eddie blake: Whether or not they are provided “cutting edge” tanks, the great majority of tanks used by Ukraine will be less advanced Soviet models. They understandably don’t reveal how many tanks they already have but it’s a lot.

    And the Ukrainians have not ditched the combined arms model. The Ukrainian Army intends that the Leopards they are so eager to get will be incorporated into armored brigades trained in combined arms warfare.

    I think you are throwing a pretty wide loop when you say “all the experts” predict big tank versus tank battles. We will get to see before too long if they are right, and if tank quality is consequential factor.

  150. 150.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: Not enough. YMMV. I will never forgive him for what he did to HRC. If she had become President Roe would still be the law of the land.

    I saw lives disrupted because of Orange Error’s EOs on immigration.

  151. 151.

    Baud

    @schrodingers_cat:

    No one has asked for forgiveness so it’s moot point.  But I’m happiest when I don’t have to talk about him because that means he’s not making news.  I would love to not have to talk about Sinema one day as well.

  152. 152.

    Kay

    @Princess:

    My general “decent person” rule is I refer to people using the language they use to refer to themselves. So, for example, in rural Ohio it is not “Latino” it is “Hispanic”. I think some of these things are common sense and can come under the category of “just treat people well”.

    About a decade ago we had an “anti bullying” initiative at the public schools, which some Right leaning parents objected to because, I don’t know, bullying is essential. When we changed it from “anti bullying” to “everyone has a right to attend a safe school where they won’t be attacked” – treat people decently- it became much harder for conservatives to oppose. When I went to school bullying was ok but that was bad and we needed to get better. It’s a higher standard but one that children will and are meeting. We don’t need to accept the low standard that conservatives say is the natural order. We can change.

  154. 154.

    Cameron

    @Kay: I feel bad for the kids.  My neighborhood should be an educational haven. Within about three blocks there are the library and school I mentioned plus a Montessori school and the State College of Florida’s local campus.

  156. 156.

    SFAW

    @schrodingers_cat: ​
     
    Thanks very much for the link. No time today, but I hope to in the not-distant future.

    No idea if they’re upper caste, so probably not a topic I should broach with them. [Plus I’m pretty sure I don’t know them well enough — at least, the ones I still have contact with — to discuss something that volatile.]

  157. 157.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kay: When I went to school, bullying was OK but fighting was very very bad, so if a bully bullied you you were just supposed to take it, I guess. Of course I think part of the theory behind being lenient on bullies was that it was supposed to make men out of us by teaching us to fight our own battles, so there were signals crossed somewhere.

  158. 158.

    Jackie

    Late to this thread, but Jennifer Ruben published a good article re Sinema vs Gallego:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/24/gallego-sinema-arizona-senate-challenge-democrats/?utm_campaign=wp_follow_jennifer_rubin&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl-jenniferrubin&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F38eee32%2F63cfd5681b79c61f8761ad5e%2F596e6b089bbc0f5f7c1c0282%2F6%2F19%2F63cfd5681b79c61f8761ad5e&wp_cu=f9cc6d9686b987c3b27dda1a19693b42%7CC0DBB7666BAB2B3DE0430100007F44AE

  159. 159.

    Matt McIrvin

    @UncleEbeneezer: I don’t use “Latinx” because it seems to get a lot of people’s dander up, but one place I did see it used consistently was a (very informative) book I read recently about the history of xenophobia in America from colonial times to the present. The author was not Hispanic but being condescending to Hispanics was surely the last thing on their mind.

  161. 161.

    Geminid

    @Anyway: I think the best two examples of bills Sinema cast a crucial vote for in the last Congress are two bills that passed on party line votes: the $1.7(?) trillion Covid relief package passed in February, 2021 and the $1.3 trillion Inflation Reduction Act passed last August. These bills were passed using the reconcilition exception to the general filibuster rule.

    The Infrastructure bill from November, 2021 and the CHIPS+ bill last July passed with Republicanz joining all the Democratic Senators.

    And Sinema cast probably her most critical vote in January, 2021 when she voted for Chuck Schumer as Senate Majority Leader.

  162. 162.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Princess: Yup.  We’ve seen similar rifts over the use of “Black.”  Some constituents and organizer/activists really want things to specifically use the word and put it central to the focus.  Some are like “I’m black, but just treat me as an American (or as a person).”  Then there’s the debate over African-American and Black.  The number of people who think these are the most important fights is tiny, but it’s all amplified by the fact that so many races are coming down to tiny margins.  It’s one of the challenges of our side being a multi-racial/ethnic coalition.  But I suspect that the Dem Party suddenly emphasizing “Latino/a” would result in big wins in Rio Grande Valley or other areas where Dems have struggled.  I think Latino/a/x voters flirt with the GOP (or don’t vote) for many other reasons like worries about Crime, Inflation and conservative views on Abortion/LGBTQ Rights etc.

  163. 163.

    eddie blake

    and if tank quality is consequential factor.

    @Geminid: i mean, “quality vs. quantity” has pretty much been NATO tank doctrine since day one

    eta- and keeping up with the joneses’ armata series (and the chinese) is why the germans developed the new kf51 with that brutal 130mm, and the US army is studying the abrams x.

  164. 164.

    Cameron

    @NotMax: Only place I went to,dog track was Mobile , Alabama. No desire to do it again. And, unfortunately, you’ve pretty much hit the limit of my Florida knowledge. A shame,because there really is lots of cool stuff here.

  166. 166.

    Kay

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Fighting was ok too. The coaches would run down the hall and “break it up” but I feel like we knew it was weirdly socially acceptable.

    This was initiated because a boy with some issues was attacked on the school bus and the bullies broke his nose. I felt like I was reaching the Right leaning parents with the argument that he has a right to attend school and be safe there. That it IS about academics, and is not just “liberal social training”or whatever resentment that are carrying. Children need to be physically safe before they can learn anything.

    It’s just bad behavior anyway. They don’t need to parse it any finer than that. That behavior is now not acceptable. A higher standard. We had a bunch of suspensions, they figured out we meant business, and they knocked it off with attacking people. They met the higher standard. I knew they would. They want to be better and they want some guidance.

  167. 167.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I was at my Republican Ladies book club and they somehow started talking about how George Soros promoted Esperanto. I didn’t say anything, I don’t care, but I’m always amused when the GEORGE SOROS boogeyman enters the room.

  169. 169.

    The Moar You Know

    I…. seriously question this. Gallego and Grijalva, the two Latino progressives from AZ, represent the two districts that were created in Arizona under the VRA to concentrate the Latino population. They aren’t like the rest of the state. Gallego has never run outside of that district. There is no evidence that what this rando is asserting is true.

    I mean, I would like it to be true. But there’s no evidence of it.

    @Suzanne: this reminds me of the people who were insisting in 2018 that Ammar Campa-Najjar, an Arab/Hispanic American, could win against Duncan Hunter in CA-50 because “California is turning blue”.

    He got fucking pasted, as I maintained he would.  I worked in that district for five of the longest years of my life.  Texas in California, my lord.  Duncan “Kill ‘Em All and charge it to my Government Credit Card” Hunter Junior was, if anything, far too left for what that district really wants.

    Listen to the locals.  San Diego went blue.  The outlying East County will not, not in my lifetime.

  170. 170.

    gvg

    @Kay: That might have some validity. The mexican becoming an American I knew the best was rather anti Mexican if that makes any sense. He didn’t like Mexico, thought it was corrupt, thought most of his fellow workers in Mexico had been lazy and everyone stole too much and he couldn’t wait to leave. He and his brothers all found ways to get out, jobs then American wives and green cards. They started businesses while working jobs. I also think they may have paid some of the girls they married which would not be legal. They were almost racist about their own origins so I guess its possible.  However I don’t think anyone else could use that too easily. Its one thing for me to listen while he rants, it would be very different if someone else joined in.

  171. 171.

    Anyway

    @Geminid:

     I think the best two examples of bills Sinema cast a crucial vote for in the last Congress are two bills that passed on party line votes: the $1.7(?) trillion Covid relief package passed in February, 2021 and the $1.3 trillion Inflation Reduction Act passed last August. These bills were passed using the reconcilition exception to the general filibuster rule.

    The Infrastructure bill from November, 2021 and the CHIPS+ bill last July passed with Republicanz joining all the Democratic Senators.

    And Sinema cast probably her most critical vote in January, 2021 when she voted for Chuck Schumer as Senate Majority Leader.

    Thanks. Guessing the Vt Sen also voted for all these bills — not sure why Sinema is hailed for her votes and Wilmer’s gets classified as a post-office-(re)naming.

  172. 172.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Matt McIrvin: Exactly.  As I said, I have a close friend who has literally devoted her life to fighting for her community.  She’s Cisgender and uses “Latina” for herself, “Latino” when discussing Patriarchy and “Latinx” for the greater community.  She has more respect and understanding of the community that Gallego refers to, than I could ever have.  She gets death threats and has even been shot at by MAGA terrorists for fighting for her communities (Women, People-with-uteruses, Latinx etc.). Suggestions that people like her don’t respect/understand her own culture are ridiculous.  She just wants to include Trans/NB people.  That’s it.  Plain and simple.

    And frankly, given the horrific assault currently underway against Trans/NB people, all this kvetching over a tiny, optional, symbolic attempt to include them is kind of gross.  I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we find out that a lot of these “don’t say ‘Latinx'” complaints are coming from Russia and White Supremacist campaigns.  It’s exactly the sort of division that they are already sowing by pushing TERF and “Groomer” bullshit.  And it’s notable that TERFs and other virulent Transphobes love to signal-boost these things and add fuel to the fire, while pretending they care about respecting Latino/a/x communities.

  173. 173.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Anyway: She has introduced important pieces of legislation that became law. I posted a link to it in my earlier reply to you. And she was a part of negotiating team for the bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed last year.

    BS could not get BBB passed even though he was the chair of the budget committee.

    He is  a legislator who doesn’t legislate much but his fan club is satisfied with his hectoring and finger wagging and saying that Planned Parenthood is establishment. His extremely conservative record on guns and immigration also gets a pass.

  174. 174.

    Geminid

    @eddie blake: Yes, quality is much emphasized by NATO countries. But are the differences between the Leopards NATO countries will supply Ukraine and the Leopards they are keeping that great?

  179. 179.

    eddie blake

    @Geminid: if they’re only sending the a4’s, yes. the a5 was a massive upgrade and they’re up to the a8.

    eta- and as i said, they have a prototype for their next-gen tank, the panther kf51.

  185. 185.

    Suzanne

    @The Moar You Know: I even think Gallego has a good shot and could win! I just think that any Dem has an uphill fight due to a not-large-but-significant-and-sticky registration advantage, and that it is important to recognize that. Also to remember that the AZ GOP is crazy right now, but at some point, they will get uncrazy. And that will make them competitive again.

    I will remind everyone who looks at the 2022 data…. non-MAGA Republicans did just fine in Arizona. Katie Hobbs is kind of a shitty candidate and she won anyway (which is obviously great, don’t get me wrong). Adrian Fontes won (and he is just the nicest person, I have met him a few times) and he’s great.

    I would interpret the 2022 election results there as “Arizona rejected MAGA”, not “Arizona is suddenly full of people who want to vote for Democrats”. I think that dynamic is much more accurate in creating a through-line through all of the individual races.

  186. 186.

    Soprano2

    @Betty Cracker: Speaking of, I just saw a headline that’s sure to be on Tucker’s show soon – some Trans activists are trying to get the song “(Feel Like A) Natural Woman” taken off Spotify “bangs head on desk”. Isn’t them insisting that the whole world has to conform to what they want just as bad as what conservatives are trying to do?

  191. 191.

    db11

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    Suggestions that people like her don’t respect/understand her own culture are ridiculous. She just wants to include Trans/NB people. That’s it. Plain and simple.

    Thank you. I was hoping someone would bring some light to this issue, and so I appreciate your posts pushing back against the prevailing sentiment here.

    That many Latinos themselves hate the term is completely unsurprising. What percentage of people in any ethnic group is truly supportive of (LGBTQ) inclusive language? (pronouns, not dead-naming etc.)

    Hearing so-called Liberals and progressives rail about the use of Latinx without realizing whose agenda they’re supporting is a source of frustration for me.

    Don’t use it if you don’t want to, but don’t assert that its use is solely a function of non-Latin progressives’ excessive woke-ness.

  192. 192.

    lee

    There is an image of Rep. Gallego on the floor of the House during the insurrection that should be on the front page of every flyer of his.

  193. 193.

    J R in WV

    @kindness: ​

    I donated money to Sinema in ’18. Not kicking myself for it. I got used and I do feel a little foolish. I won’t make that mistake again.

    Us too, seemed like a liberal Democratic candidate in AZ, so we kicked in a little. Nothing major, seemed like a reach, really, shocked she won, not surprised she turned out to be nuts.​

  194. 194.

    J R in WV

    @Cameron: ​

    Only place I went to,dog (sic) track was Mobile Alabama.

    The first time we went to a dog track was in Key West… actually the track was on another key east of Key West. My parents and brother spent a winter down there, and Wife and I took our grandmother down for a couple of weeks.

    When we went to the track my mom and my grandmother both gave me $20 and said have a god time. So I won $40 before I started. Do Not have the gambling bug gene at all.

    Did not bet, took the $40 and used it for good booze. Can you tell what I do have a love for? I had to go and stand in line at the bookie windows to look like I was enjoying the gambling party, but really, who knows which dog is going to win a race with other dogs?4

    If multiple dogs are chasing a deer, now, that’s a contest!

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