Watching the video of Raskin below will take 2.5 minutes of your time, but I’m fairly sure that the joy of watching it will add years to your life.
Raskin to Boebert: Democrat is the noun. When you use it as an adjective, you say Democratic.. As if every time we mentioned the other party it just came out with a kind of political speech impediment like, oh, the Banana Republican Party. pic.twitter.com/eSVfqzeZqN
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 28, 2023
h/t cain
Open thread.
WaterGirl
Happy warrior!
SiubhanDuinne
Loves me some NFLTG Jamie!
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
That’s my rep!
Manyakitty
Rock and roll. Deal with it.
WaterGirl
I’m about to watch it again
edit: I have to say, it holds up well. It’s just so happy.
Grumpy Old Railroader
I would never ever say “Bananas Republican.” That’s just not the way I roll. Maybe others would stoop to saying “Bananas Republican” but the term “Bananas Republican” is demeaning so that is why I avoid calling anyone a “Bananas Republican“.
kalakal
Oh that is great!
Highway Rob
Until I read Raskin’s remarks just now — and I know this isn’t what he said — “Bananas Republican” had not occurred to me before.
I’m sure I’m not the first to say it, but original or not, I’m kinda digging the hell out of it.
WaterGirl
@Grumpy Old Railroader:
That was quite possibly the best part, in 2.5 minutes filled with best parts. The delivery couldn’t possibly have been any better than what he pulled off.
Wag
Jamie is a gem of an American.
Rob
That’s my rep!! He’s awesome!
Geminid
@Wag: Rep. Raskin is another member of the talented House Class of 2018.
WaterGirl
@Rob: That was as much fun as a randy rainbow video.
Lapassionara
Live long and prosper, Jamie Raskin
WaterGirl
@Geminid: 2018 was a very good year.
chrisanthemama
Rep. Raskin’s headgear is (along with his towering intelligence and integrity) his super-power.
coin operated
Raskin pointed out that she was a fucking idiot…and she’ll wear that as a badge of honor.
Shamelessness is their superpower.
WaterGirl
@chrisanthemama: @coin operated:
Given a choice of superpowers – hmm – towering intelligence and integrity vs. shamelessness…
I’ll have to think about that, give me a minute.
JML
Good for Raskin. I’m so sick of that childish, intentional mis-naming of the Democratic Party. It’s fucking annoying and moronic…but then again, so is the Republican Party.
Seefleur
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Jamie Raskin. I can’t state that enough.
kindness
That’s funny as hell. We have some really good people on our side up there.
Odie Hugh Manatee
Another open thread, another gem from manager Henry Johnson of Fred Meyer Greatest Hits:
How to get your employees to hate you….
Undermine them while doing their job when they politely deny a refund to a customer who wants to return an electronics item because the customer has no receipt nor even the packaging the item came in. Just the item and the customer expects a full refund. Company rules are that you can only get a refund if the item has not been opened. If it has been opened then all you can get is a like-for-like exchange, no refund. No packaging if opened? Then no trade in. These are the ironclad rules that the employee has to follow, which they do if they want to keep their job. When refused their refund the customer gives the employee the old “We’ll see about that!” and marches off to the customer information desk.
The customer demands to speak to the boss and demands a refund from him, which Henry approves. On the way out of the building the customer walks by the employee to let them know that they got their way. Employee is pissed because they did their job and the customer now hates them and loves Henry. The customer will cop an attitude the next time they are in the store and that employee offers to help them with something else. Once again the asshole store manager has undermined them and the customer is laughing at them. Henry has done this many times and the workers are sick of it because it always ends with the customer being pissed at them and loving Henry for saving them from the evil employee who was just doing their job.
They have to throw away items that are returned without the packaging. The item this customer returned had a picture that Henry took of the UPC attached to the item. When the employee processed the returns for that day they looked at it and tossed it in the garbage, a write off.
Wash, rinse and repeat. Daily.
guachi
As a commenter on Twitter wrote, Boebert will come out as anti-semantic.
Scuffletuffle
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Welcome to the home of the Orange Apron.
Chetan Murthy
@Grumpy Old Railroader:
Me neither, b/c I prize accuracy. I go with “Motherfucking GrOPer”.
different-church-lady
[Looks at calendar]
Anyone have a March-Madness-proof bunker I can use for a bit?
TaMara
A reminder that Boobo has a challenger already.
pacem appellant
Is our Democrats learning? Maybe! Do it again and maybe I’ll believe we’re done being the party of comity.
dww44
@JML: this deliberate grammatical misuse has been going on for a couple of decades. When someone says the “Democrat” party around me I immediately respond and refer to the “Republic” party. Most times it flies right over their heads. Republicans are such petty, whiny, cruel, and mean political partisans. That might be a slight over generalization. But not much.
Suzanne
He’s funny and I approve.
tobie
@dww44: You’re too kind. I say, “If you’re going to call the Democratic Party the Democrat Party, I’ll call your party the Repugnant Party.” I wish I could say that stops them in their tracks. It doesn’t.
Jackie
Jamie is one of my top five Representatives!♥️
In other news, Chicago’s going to have a new mayor.
brendancalling
@Grumpy Old Railroader: Same here. I go with “fucking piece of shit,” but that’s just me.
chopper
every time i hear someone use “democrat” as an adjective i imagine them using “jew” the same way, like “my jew doctor” or “jew neighbor”
Kent
When I lived in Waco TX the local NPR station reporters would use the Democrat Party thing to my constant annoyance.
I would send nasty letters to the station manager asking what kind of education and editing their reporters had when they couldn’t distinguish a noun from an adjective. I would basically tell them: “Are you really sure that you want your station reporters to sound like uneducated goobers?” Because they do.
Never got a response, but it made me feel better.
JerseyBeard
Re-pube-licken Party. Just change up the emphasis a bit and they become the party of pube lickers.
I enjoy petty and childish.
cmoren
@dww44:
Except “republic” is exactly the spin on government the Republicans actually do stand for, rather than a full democracy. They want to use the concept that the USA is a republic of states with far more autonomy from a far more limited federal government of states in federation only for a very limited set of purposes like defense, with states free (once GOP wins control in any state election) to gerrymander themselves into indefinite control, including the federal government via congressional districting (such as there is of it). And bc they have gerrymandered so many state legislatures in swingy states, reversion to state legislatues to choose US Senators is on their ultimate wish-list. And recent GOP SCOTUS nominees are all-in for constitutional partying like it’s 1789, not 2023.
So the Republicans are much less likely to take offense at being called the “Republic” party than the Dems are over similarly abbreviating the respecive party names.
Delk
I think Raskin is wearing the scarf that Steven Van Zandt gave him.
HumboldtBlue
Would it work better as the Banana Republic party, or the member of the Banana Republic party?
Also, the irony of our continued use of the term Banana Republic to righteously insult political opponents never ceases to amaze.
Alison Rose
@chopper: Some of them definitely do, at least behind closed doors. Hell, pretty soon, they’ll do it on live TV.
Chetan Murthy
@HumboldtBlue: I stand pat on “The GrOPers”. Rapists, Pedophiles, and their enablers, all the way down. Make them deny it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
More Raskin, bringing it to James “Gomer” Comer
I wonder how Uncle Rupert and his merry band feel about their stooges running interference for a rival
Jim, Foolish Literalist
As I said earlier, I’ve always figured Adams had ambitions beyond Gracie Mansion, I don’t quite see the direct road to the Alabama statehouse, but you do you, Eric.
Alison Rose
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Wow. That’s remarkably close to an old Reagan quote. Something about “God should never have been expelled from the classroom” or whatever.
geg6
BWAHAHAHAHAHA! That was awesome! OMG, I’m dying here.
Joey Maloney
With all that Rep. Raskin has gone through in the past months, it’s clear that his fuckometer is permanently stuck on 0.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Scuffletuffle:
Yup, and this is life at the Home of the Brown Apron. At least Fred Meyer picked an appropriate color for shit..lol
Jim, Foolish Literalist
This guy’s good too. I’ve seen a couple of clips of him in these hearings
Redshift
@dww44:
Longer than that — it came out of the Gingrich era (a Frank Luntz thing, I think, though I’m not completely sure.) The effect they claimed was that it sounding harsher and having the emphasis on “RAT” supposedly made people feel more negatively. (I think it’s more likely they were just trying to separate the party from the concept of democratic, which people tend to like.)
There isn’t a really good equivalent for the GOP — it’s easy to be really insulting but harder to just kind of hint at being insulting. And I don’t think it would do any good anyway. I’d rather stick with “why should I take anything you say seriously if you’re too dumb to even get my party’s name right?”
(Biden’s “MAGA Republicans” is pretty good, though — they know it’s an insult, but it’s something they’re proud of so they have to pretend it isn’t.)
RaflW
@coin operated: She barely squeaked out a win in a very Banana Republican district. In less than two years, her diminishing ‘superpower’ could be gone. Frisch is running again, which I hope is a good thing (I’d welcome any CO locals insights).
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Scuffletuffle: Yup.
danielx
@RaflW:
Not to mention Boebert is no longer a “well known local business owner”, since her former restaurant closed and the premises are now occupied by a Mexican establishment (yes, I know). Hard to run a restaurant when you have to spend so much time in DC, getting your face on television, uttering whatever inane bullshit is running through your head at any given moment. Not to mention that I would bet a twenty against a stale doughnut that what she’s getting now in salary, bennies and perks of various sorts is worth several multiples of whatever she was clearing as owner of that rat smorgasbord.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Since it’s an open thread, here’s some scary AI stuff:
Tears for Fears: Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Rick Astley AI Cover)
Edmund dantes
@danielx: also it’s a lot easier to pull in no show lobbying jobs from the oil and gas people for her husband. What were the reports? He was pulling 600-800K?
NotMax
Brr. Gonna be the second space heater night this week. 8:30 p.m. and already dropped into the 50s outside. Icy below freezing temps expected at the highest elevations (thankfully I reside several thousand feet below those levels).
HumboldtBlue
@NotMax:
Oh my, let’s hope Pa has strung a rope tied tightly to the back door of the hovel to the outhouse and small barn so youse don’t get lost in the maelstrom of a mild winter’s day.
oatler
Exhibit A from Q Anon site Ricochet:
“More accurately, the Bulwark will be endorsing the Democrat candidate no matter who the Republican candidate is. The Bulwark is not conservative or Republican in any sense. Those labels are merely a costume they wear to fool the donor class. They are a Democrat blog.”
Do you know how carefully the poster had to arrange that vomitous phrase to work in the contempt, what thought went into that contempt? Let them use their energy crafting hate-valentines to the Democrat Party; Dark Brandon will embrace the craft.
NotMax
@<HumboldtBlue
Even worse, we’re down to our last Sears & Roebuck catalogue and have to ration the pages.
:)
lowtechcyclist
I’m in the ‘just let it go’ camp on this one.
The whole purpose of their use of ‘Democrat Party’ and the like was to get under the skin of people on our side, and get us riled up about something that would look trivial and unimportant to most people.
No point in giving them the satisfaction.
Brachiator
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
A good customer service operation not only has clear rules, but also allows increasing authority to handle exceptions.
I once worked in customer service for a big newspaper. A customer called to get credit for a month of missed papers. This was far above the powers of the front line rep, so the call got escalated. The manager, a friend, called the delivery agent who admitted that he had problems with staff calling in sick and missed a number of deliveries.
My manager friend took the request to accounting because the amount was above her automatic approval level. A new accounting supervisor denied the request and said policy is policy and the amount was too high for approval even though the delivery agent had admitted problems.
My manager friend took it to this person’s boss. He noted, we are in the business of delivering newspapers to readers. We failed here. The customer service manager investigated and it doesn’t appear that the customer is just trying to get a hot refund. One of the reasons we have rules is so that we can accommodate exceptions.
In the case you mentioned I would praise the employee for doing their job right and note that the higher staff are there to take the heat.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Brachiator:
I understand how that all works and it all makes sense. In the case of this customer (as with too many others too) they refused assistance with picking what they needed. They took it home and came right back to demand a refund without the receipt or packaging. Yes, the employee did the right thing and I would say that the manager did not. The customer was a dick.
Now the customer doesn’t like the employee and remembers it every time they come in. Our daughter has had to go through this again and again so I advised her to tell the a-hole customer that she has to say what she is saying because those are the rules. BUT….. if the customer goes to the customer information desk and asks for “Henry” then he might be able to do something for them. Dump it on him.
This was recent and she has only done it once, but for the first time ever a customer that she denied a refund to left her in a good mood and went looking for the manager. Word has been spread to the other employees and they are doing the same. Happiness for all!! Fortunately, most customers find out the rules and roll with them even though they don’t like them. It’s the snowflakes, as usual.
It will be interesting to see if the Christian families that ‘rent’ their kids clothing for Easter services from Fred Meyer get their refund this year…lol!
Jeffg166
The GQP or the BRP works for me.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
One other detail is that the woman our daughter told to find Henry was in a similar situation with a similar item; no packaging, no receipt and wanting a refund. She talked to Henry and was denied a refund.
The only difference between the two is one was a man who got a refund and the other was a woman who did not. Oh, and the woman was pleasant and the man was an asshole.
Brachiator
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
The manager could handle things better. I don’t care that the customer was a dick. I don’t believe that the customer is always right but it is up to store managers to set the tone.
At another job a customer was screaming on the phone to a rep. I took the call and told the customer he would have to apologize or I would hang up on him. He insisted that it was his right to yell to get his problem resolved. I hung up on him.
I called him back to see what his problem was. It was actually easy to solve. I told him that he could not be rude to reps. He grumbled, but offered a half ass apology. Compromise accepted. He never called again using raging asshole mode.
Manyakitty
@JerseyBeard: petty and childish? Come sit by me.
Steeplejack
@HumboldtBlue:
😹
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
Also 😹.
Brachiator
@lowtechcyclist:
I agree. But a little mockery and push back is so satisfying.
sab
@JerseyBeard: I am 69. You are so childish. Can I come sit by you?
mrmoshpotato
@JerseyBeard: Hahaha! How’d that never cross my mind?
lowtechcyclist
@Brachiator:
I dunno, I felt more embarrassed on his behalf than anything. Letting them know he does have fucks left to give about ‘Democrat’ was a mistake, and then trying to hit back with this Nerf club of attempted mockery doubled it, AFAIAC.
There will be many opportunities to mock the Rethugs in more effective ways. We’ll never have to bide our time for very long.
brantl
@Odie Hugh Manatee: take the thing home, sell it on eBay.
MazeDancer
Can that be pinned to the top of the blog? No one should miss it.
trnc
I don’t have too big an issue with trying to hold onto a pre-congress reputation. I just think she’d want to reconsider because what her business is well known for is giving a lot of people projectile diarrhea.
trnc
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Why doesn’t the employee just tell every customer like this to ask for the manager? Then the employee gets the credit for helping resolve the situation and the manager is on the hook if he decides to adhere to store policy.
Uncle Cosmo
And has been at least since the 1950s when troglodytes like Robert Taft used it at every opportunity.
frosty
@Redshift: The use of “Democrat” Party goes back much farther than Gingrich. It was common in the McCarthy era and it was a point of contention at the 1964 Republican convention.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_(epithet)
Paul in KY
@Odie Hugh Manatee: If I had stock in Fred Meyers (or was one of those employees) that would piss me off.
Paul in KY
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Maybe if this happens again, she can very conspiratorially tell the customer to go see ole Henry, as he’s a light touch.
Paul in KY
@JerseyBeard: That is good. I will steal that.
Tehanu
@JML: Me too!
H-Bob
Next time, Raskin can tell her that he knows she didn’t learn grammar in her GED cram course, so she should understand that the difference between nouns and adjectives is ….!