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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

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Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

75% of people clapping liked the show!

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

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There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

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I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

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Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

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Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Friday News Odds & Ends

Friday News Odds & Ends

by Betty Cracker|  April 7, 202312:53 pm| 105 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity

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Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas released a statement to try to quell the furor sparked by yesterday’s ProPublica report on his extensive luxury travel on the dime of GOP megadonor Harlan Crow: (NYT gift link)

“Early in my tenure at the court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable,” Justice Thomas said. “I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure, and have always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines.”

That’s bullshit. As the LA Times points out, Thomas used to report these gifts and stopped when the LA Times called attention to them. Thomas should resign, but he won’t. I’m afraid we’ll have to await actuarial arbitrage to see him off.

Tennessee Repubs went full fascist and kicked two duly elected members out of the statehouse. Two of the “Tennessee Three,” lawmakers who joined protesters to call for action on gun safety, were expelled. The remaining lawmaker, who survived by one vote, explained why:

CNN: “Why were those two expelled and you weren't?” @VoteGloriaJ: “I think it's pretty clear. I'm a 60 year-old white woman and they’re 2 young black men.”pic.twitter.com/vYZQFArG6A

— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) April 7, 2023

“I think it’s pretty clear. I’m a 60 year-old white woman and they’re 2 young black men,” Rep. Gloria Johnson explained. Good for her.

The first Gen Z congressman, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), connects the dots between yesterday’s anti-democratic actions in Tennessee to fascist moves Repubs are making nationwide: (WaPo gift link)

“I find it very alarming, and I think what we are seeing is the Republican Party is really completely shifting to this very far right, authoritarian-type of fascist ideology where they really have gone to using the power that they do have to silence political enemies, to ram through agendas that people don’t want, and to use the power of the executive, or when they have majorities in these states, to poke people into submission, ” Frost said.

Yep. That same article references the recent arrest of Nikki Fried and other women for peacefully protesting Florida’s upcoming abortion ban:

Nikki Fried, the chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, said the growing tension within statehouses has meant legislative leaders are now effectively silencing even residents from speaking out in opposition to proposals. In Florida, it’s common for people to travel for hours to Tallahassee to testify — only to find out they are allowed to speak for 30 seconds.

“You are seeing the nation just sort of burst at its seams with political tension,” Fried said. On Monday night, she was among 11 abortion rights protesters who were arrested while holding a sit-in in front of Tallahassee’s city hall. She said abortion rights activists chose to hold their demonstration at city hall because they feared a harsh response from the state if they protested without a permit on nearby Capitol grounds.

The article covers flagrantly anti-democratic actions that are ongoing in Montana, Texas and elsewhere.

On the bright side, the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 3.5%. I figured the highly anticipated jobs report was good news — or at least not BAD news — because I had to Google it.

Open thread.

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Reader Interactions

105Comments

  1. 1.

    Geoduck

    April 7, 2023 at 12:55 pm

    Everybody having jobs is bad for the economy, haven’t you heard?

  2. 2.

    hueyplong

    April 7, 2023 at 12:57 pm

    @Geoduck: EGGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  3. 3.

    Baud

    April 7, 2023 at 12:57 pm

    Random tweeter. Haven’t confirmed data.

    A very strong labor market for Black Americans. The Black employment-population ratio now above that for Whites for first time since records begin in the 1970s. pic.twitter.com/zz2RtLzlpd
    — Greg Ip (@greg_ip) April 7, 2023

  4. 4.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    April 7, 2023 at 12:57 pm

    @Geoduck: Right? How will we hire anyone? Especially with wages improving, people won’t want to take those second or third jobs.

  5. 5.

    Cameron

    April 7, 2023 at 1:00 pm

    That’s the problem with fighting these creatures via elections.  They don’t believe in elections any more than they believe in lightsabers.  Come to think of it, they probably believe more in lightsabers.

  6. 6.

    scav

    April 7, 2023 at 1:01 pm

    I’m not entirely sure the fluttering eyelash ingenue look “but some other people told me it was all ok occifer” is going to prove a good one for a supremely powerful jurist deciding decisions on the legality of things. Let alone address the caviar at the Walmart Marina backdrop.

  7. 7.

    bbleh

    April 7, 2023 at 1:10 pm

    @scav: alas, I don’t think Thomas cares at all what other people think of him. He strikes me as very unhappy, even bitter, but I think even loud calls for his resignation would be water off a duck’s back.  (And of course, there WON’T be loud calls; see, eg, Sheldon Whitehouse’s utterly ineffectual statement on the matter.)  Hell, I think Thomas would write a decision overruling Loving without a qualm.

  8. 8.

    different-church-lady

    April 7, 2023 at 1:13 pm

    @Baud: Except for those layoffs in Tennessee yesterday…

  9. 9.

    sdhays

    April 7, 2023 at 1:14 pm

    Don’t forget the crazy shit going down in North Carolina, too. One woman, from a very Democratic district, switched parties, handing Republicans a supermajority. And now Republicans are going to jam new gerrymandered maps through legislature and legal system and ban abortion.

    The stakes are so high and the violence planned by the Republicans is so heinous that…that turncoat should hire body guards for awhile.

  10. 10.

    different-church-lady

    April 7, 2023 at 1:14 pm

    @Cameron: If lightsabers existed, they’d totally be using them against minority voters right now.

  11. 11.

    Almost Retired

    April 7, 2023 at 1:15 pm

    Madame Vice President is on her way to Nashville today. Keep this travesty in the news!!  Your friendly neighborhood Republican Legislative Super-Majority at work.  Now coming to a Carolina near you….

  12. 12.

    different-church-lady

    April 7, 2023 at 1:15 pm

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation: “Welp, just gonna have to raise prices until they’re poor again.”

  13. 13.

    sdhays

    April 7, 2023 at 1:16 pm

    @bbleh: They are utterly unaccountable. He could literally shoot someone on Constitution Avenue, and they wouldn’t remove him from the bench, even as he was arrested and put in a DC jail.

  14. 14.

    planet eddie

    April 7, 2023 at 1:17 pm

    Sorry for stepping on your post!

  15. 15.

    planet eddie

    April 7, 2023 at 1:18 pm

    Sorry for stepping on your post!

  16. 16.

    planet eddie

    April 7, 2023 at 1:18 pm

    Sorry for stepping on your post!

  17. 17.

    different-church-lady

    April 7, 2023 at 1:19 pm

    @planet eddie: Bigfooting is a very fine, time honored BJ tradition!

  18. 18.

    scav

    April 7, 2023 at 1:21 pm

    @bbleh: Mmm, indeed, certainly in regards to his personal supremeness, but insofar as the general overt stench and look cementing itself all over the brand conservative powers that be . . . certainly won’t bother the current cultists, but might drive the factor below 27%.  Plus get a few more of the generally inert to the actual polls.  With great effort I’m attempting to hope for a generational instinctive distrust to get hammered in.

  19. 19.

    Cameron

    April 7, 2023 at 1:22 pm

    So.  This is an open thread and it’s Good Friday.  Anybody who’s got an hour or so of free time and is in the mood for some appropriate avant-garde music, here’s some Penderecki:

    https://youtu.be/0G41KmDsN5s

  20. 20.

    different-church-lady

    April 7, 2023 at 1:25 pm

    @scav:

    but might drive the factor below 27%.

    The factor has been above 40 for quite a few years now. But with some luck this will drive it back down to 27. (I doubt it will ever go below)

  21. 21.

    cmorenc

    April 7, 2023 at 1:25 pm

    @sdhays:

    The NC GOP will ram through a bunch of RW wet-dream laws that will be difficult to undo until such day as the NC dems regain a majority in both houses of the legislature, which extreme gerrymandering will make all that more difficult to do.

    Gotta wonder if this turncoat D house member from a blue district was already some sort of stealth “Manchurian” candidate in the 2022 election who had already secretly conspired behind the scenes to switch parties mid-session – I can understand a state rep elected as a D refusing to vote the party line on matters she disagrees with, but given the extreme consequences of her actually switching parties mid-session, I cannot fathom there not being something very fishy behind her Bernadette Arnold (Benedict Arnold) act.

  22. 22.

    Kelly

    April 7, 2023 at 1:30 pm

    Lowest unemployment of my lifetime was 3.4% from Sept 1968 thru May 1969. Let’s go for the record!

    https://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet

  23. 23.

    cmorenc

    April 7, 2023 at 1:33 pm

    @Kelly:

    Lowest unemployment of my lifetime was 3.4% from Sept 1968 thru May 1969. Let’s go for the record!

    The Federal Reserve is currently arduously attempting to fix that low-unemployment bug in the system to assure favorable conditions for profitability of big businesses and stock prices, without having to raise wages to attract employees.

  24. 24.

    Betty

    April 7, 2023 at 1:35 pm

    I am guessing a possible cover story for the Tennessee vote is that she was a teacher in a school when a shooting occurred, making her a more sympathetic protester. That is, if they feel any need to cover their corrupt behavior.

  25. 25.

    J R in WV

    April 7, 2023 at 1:40 pm

     

    I’m about to start my own battle with cancer next Monday with an 8-hour infusion of cisplatin, a drug with platinum and chlorine among other sweet chemical ingredients. It is old fashioned chemo introduced in 1978, no modern immunological tricks, just poison that damages cancer cells a little more than non-cancerous cells.

    It has been a bit of a struggle even to get to this stage of my illness, I got out of the hospital for a punctured lung (while my chemo port was being installed0 last Monday, and I’m trying hard to maintain a sense of humor and optimism — any assistance will be welcome. The oncologist tells me if the chemo followed by surgery goes as hoped I have about a 50% chance of survival. I asked all the doctors not to sugar coat anything, bare facts please. They are compassionate, friendly and helpful.

    My oncologist is a grad of Peking University Health Science Center and SUNY for residency, Virginia Commonwealth for an oncology fellowship, and a very well spoken guy.

    I’ll keep you all posted as this proceeds. What a long strange trip it’s been…

  26. 26.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    April 7, 2023 at 1:42 pm

    @J R in WV:  adding my best wishes. I know only too well this is no fun.

  27. 27.

    James E Powell

    April 7, 2023 at 1:43 pm

    @Geoduck:

    Everybody having jobs is bad for the economy, haven’t you heard?

    In the cable & online financial chatter worlds, every jobs report – no matter what it shows – is bad news & Biden’s fault.

    Unemployment down? OMG! The Fed will continue to raise rates! Biden is destroying America!

    Unemployment up! OMG! Recession is coming! Biden is destroying America!

  28. 28.

    Baud

    April 7, 2023 at 1:44 pm

    @James E Powell: You’re hired! /MSM

  29. 29.

    schrodingers_cat

    April 7, 2023 at 1:47 pm

    @J R in WV: I had left you a comment in the post you shared about your punctured lung.

    If you need any help in coming up with a menu when you are on chemo. Email me. I have some suggestions. Take care of yourself.

  30. 30.

    delphinium

    April 7, 2023 at 1:47 pm

    @J R in WV: Best wishes for your cancer treatment. Hope it all goes well for you in the months ahead.

  31. 31.

    StringOnAStick

    April 7, 2023 at 1:56 pm

    @J R in WV: I’m planning on you being on the positive side of the those odds, and being here for a long time after you kick cancer’s ugly ass!

  32. 32.

    trollhattan

    April 7, 2023 at 1:59 pm

    @J R in WV: Fight the fight, and we’ll fight alongside. Best wishes on this journey!

  33. 33.

    Redshift

    April 7, 2023 at 2:00 pm

    @J R in WV: Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

  34. 34.

    Wapiti

    April 7, 2023 at 2:01 pm

    Meh. Close personal friends don’t put you in an ethical quandary. If large gifts are flowing only one way, you’re being bought. If you don’t report the gifts, you know you’re being bought and are trying to hide it.

  35. 35.

    James E Powell

    April 7, 2023 at 2:02 pm

    @J R in WV:

    Damn, that’s a hard thing, but you seem to have the right mind going in. Hang tough!

  36. 36.

    Wapiti

    April 7, 2023 at 2:03 pm

    @J R in WV: best wishes in the treatment.

  37. 37.

    Soprano2

    April 7, 2023 at 2:04 pm

    @J R in WV: Good luck with your treatment. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.

  38. 38.

    Redshift

    April 7, 2023 at 2:07 pm

    You missed highlighting the biggest bullshit in Thomas’ statement:

    who did not have business before the court

    I’m sure the guy who was paying didn’t have his name on any “business before the court”, nor did Leonard Leo of the Federalist society, who just happened to also be in attendance on Thomas’ all-expenses-paid luxury vacations. But you don’t spend decades and millions buying a Supreme Court majority out of the goodness of your heart.

  39. 39.

    Soprano2

    April 7, 2023 at 2:07 pm

    I had a P.T. appointment this morning. The therapist asked me if something had happened with TFG, because his neighbor was flying his “Let’s Go Brandon” flag at half-staff. He said he laughed and laughed when he saw it. I guess he’s so busy with life that he didn’t even know TFG was arrested on Tuesday! He did some dry needling on me, it’s kind of like acupuncture except it goes deeper into the body and hurts more. If it’s effective I’m all for it. I guess I’ll know in a day or two if it helped the pain.

  40. 40.

    sab

    April 7, 2023 at 2:09 pm

    OT But what is it these days with medical professionals going on vacation these days amd leaving their surgical patients abandoned.? Happened to me last summer and almost killed my husband.

    Same thing this week. Bad side effects from surgery and vet response was your vet is on vacation. Huh? Different doctor did see us and pooch did need antibiotics and better painkillers.

    ETA Veterinarian response was vastly better than my husband’s expensive fancy neurosurgeon. I want to blow up his fancy sportscar. His surgery was fine but the nonexistent aftercare did almost kill my husband.

  41. 41.

    jonas

    April 7, 2023 at 2:12 pm

    @sdhays: WTF was she thinking? Is she just crazy, or was the idea that her reelection prospects as a Dem were not looking great so if she switched parties and got to influence the redistricting process, she could draw a more favorable district for herself and stay in office? If so, that’s being one cynical POS.

  42. 42.

    JoyceH

    April 7, 2023 at 2:12 pm

    Hey, does anyone else think some of these state GOPs have gone just plain crazy?

    Texas passes a law outlawing men performing in public wearing makeup. Do they have no theaters? When their local news anchors and weathermen start showing up bare faced, that’s going to be a bad look, too. And since they have time to deal with men wearing makeup, are we to assume their grid is all fixed and in tip-top shape?

    And Tennessee! Dang! Yeah, the legislators were ignoring gun safety protestors weeks after a mass shooting, but even with the momentary floor disruption by the Three, that might have gained them a critical headline on page 15 of the Times and the Post. But by blowing it up into this big huge deal, by-passing normal procedures (complaint, ethics investigation, etc), and taking a full day’s session on their Expulsion Drama, they just Edmund-Pettis-Bridged the heck out of the statehouse! And turned the entire incident into national, even international, front page news. That wasn’t rational, that was a sheer tantrum. Plus letting the white woman off just made the racism of the whole thing almost embarrassingly obvious. I’ve seen in news coverage that Justin Jones was already a familiar figure to them before he joined the legislature – he was the activist who kept pressing the issue until they finally (FINALLY in 2019!) removed the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest from the statehouse, so there were probably some grudges being held.

    Upside is that the two Justins are now national figures, and the Tennessee Republicans, when they die, will be able to see Nathan Bedford Forrest in person – in hell. But while we talk about the GOP’s turn toward authoritarianism, their racism and their misogyny, let’s not forget to also focus on the plain and evident insanity.

  43. 43.

    jonas

    April 7, 2023 at 2:13 pm

    @sab: Not only are they always on vacation when you really need an appointment, they’re always off on some safari, or snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef or something for two weeks where they’re totally incommunicado.

  44. 44.

    The Moar You Know

    April 7, 2023 at 2:16 pm

    Meh. Close personal friends don’t put you in an ethical quandary. If large gifts are flowing only one way, you’re being bought. If you don’t report the gifts, you know you’re being bought and are trying to hide it.

    @Wapiti: that is a fantastic three-sentence rebuttal to anyone who is pretending that this is just ok and normal.

  45. 45.

    eclare

    April 7, 2023 at 2:18 pm

    @jonas:   Funny story, years ago I went on a trip to Peru to tour the rain forest.  No phones, little electricity, a LOT of doctors on this trip.

  46. 46.

    sab

    April 7, 2023 at 2:19 pm

    Good Friday and my Catholic husband has arranged a steak dinner here with his best ( Catholic)  friend. I am just an Epsicipalian and this seems a bit off to me, but whatever. I have tilapia in the freezer.

  47. 47.

    eclare

    April 7, 2023 at 2:20 pm

    @J R in WV:   Fingers and paws crossed for you!

  48. 48.

    sab

    April 7, 2023 at 2:21 pm

    @jonas: Isn’t that just lion hunting dentists? My vet would never do that. My dentist very well might.

  49. 49.

    Gretchen

    April 7, 2023 at 2:22 pm

    What do you think of this story of the 13 year old son of whistleblower Rebekah Jones getting arrested? https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/07/politics/rebekah-jones-desantis-florida-son-arrest/index.html

  50. 50.

    sab

    April 7, 2023 at 2:24 pm

    @JoyceH: Ohio our legislature is beyond insane. Even our horrible  Governor is trying to talk them off ledges. Laughing at you Gov DeWine.

  51. 51.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    April 7, 2023 at 2:24 pm

    @J R in WV:

    Strength and good fortune to you, JR. line up some funny movies and TV shows to watch.

  52. 52.

    Hob

    April 7, 2023 at 2:26 pm

    @different-church-lady: ​
      I’m honestly confused as to why anyone even gives a crap about “bigfooting.” I mean… I’ve been reading Balloon Juice for many years and I’ve never had any trouble scrolling down to see that there’s more than one new post on the home page. It’s a multi-author blog, that’s just a normal thing. For that matter, there are plenty of single-author blogs where sometimes the author puts up a couple of posts about different things close together. So what?!

  53. 53.

    Gretchen

    April 7, 2023 at 2:27 pm

    @cmorenc: there have been some rumors that the turncoat is having an affair with a prominent Republican. Not sure if there’s any basis to it.

  54. 54.

    frosty

    April 7, 2023 at 2:37 pm

    @J R in WV: You have my best wishes for a successful outcome. Hang in there and don’t hesitate to post comments on how it’s going if you need some friendly ears (eyes?).

  55. 55.

    Gretchen

    April 7, 2023 at 2:38 pm

    @JoyceH: I love the phrase that they Edmund-Pettis-Bridged themselves. I didn’t know that Jones was involved in getting the statue removed. I don’t think much of anybody outside TN had heard of any of them before yesterday, and now they have a national platform. Good work TN Leg!

  56. 56.

    Gretchen

    April 7, 2023 at 2:41 pm

    @J R in WV: good luck to you. Let us know how it’s going.

  57. 57.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    April 7, 2023 at 2:42 pm

    @Gretchen: We watched MSNBC last night and they covered the TN expulsion live, until the last legislator had left the  building. We are watching, TN Rs. We see you

  58. 58.

    prostratedragon

    April 7, 2023 at 2:42 pm

    @Baud: Wow!

  59. 59.

    Betsy

    April 7, 2023 at 2:44 pm

    We need to start talking about tyranny. This was the word the the Founders used to describe unaccountability on the part of those governing, to those governed.  In other words, laws made by some people to govern people who had no power to influence the people making the laws.

    “Conservatism .. binds some .. protects others ..” as the familiar quote goes.

    When right-wingers are TOTALLY UNAFRAID of how voters will react, that is because they have built into their power a certain amount of  UNACCOUNTABILITY via gerrymandering, voter suppression, or court-rigging.

    This has a 20th-century name — fascism. But it also has a good old-fashioned American 18th- century name, TYRANNY. And we need to reclaim that term from right-wingers who have been throwing it around to mean nonsensical “deprivations” that might be imposed on their need to clank around with AR-15s, graze their beeves for free on government land that the American people own, and act like racist idiots yet not be looked at funny by Negroes (/s) or uppity women with pink hair, etc.

  60. 60.

    Anoniminous

    April 7, 2023 at 2:46 pm

    @Hob: ​
     
    As I recall it started out because it seemed inevitable that WaterGirl (?) would put up a post and Cole would put up a post like ~5 minutes later and it turned into a jest.

  61. 61.

    Betsy

    April 7, 2023 at 2:49 pm

    @Cameron: That’s what I’m saying above, I think.

  62. 62.

    snoey

    April 7, 2023 at 2:49 pm

    @JoyceH: TPM says that there is an interim appointment provision in Tennessee law that will send Jones and probably Pearson right back to their seats.

  63. 63.

    Matt McIrvin

    April 7, 2023 at 2:52 pm

    @JoyceH: Part of the MO of these kinds of people is that they pass intentionally broad, vague laws that outlaw huge swathes of ordinary behavior, just respond “oh, you know what we really mean” when someone brings up ridiculous consequences, and rely on prosecutorial discretion to make the choices about what to enforce.

    Which then means a bunch of tyrannical assholes get this arbitrary personal control over everyone’s behavior, which is exactly what they wanted. Don’t worry about the letter of the law; you’ll be fine as long as you stay on the right side of us!

    That was how the old laws against “transvestism” were generally used. They were supposedly intended to prevent a specific avenue for people to impersonate someone for criminal purposes, but really they just meant cops could beat up on trans people and drag queens whenever they felt the urge.

  64. 64.

    Betsy

    April 7, 2023 at 2:52 pm

    @J R in WV: I am pulling for you.  Please keep us posted as you are able.

  65. 65.

    JoyceH

    April 7, 2023 at 2:56 pm

    @snoey: I knooooow! They didn’t really accomplish anything! It’s like they spent the entire day smearing poop on themselves in front of live cameras, just from sheer rage.

  66. 66.

    Betsy

    April 7, 2023 at 2:56 pm

    @James E Powell: I’m so glad I don’t have a television.  I miss all the dreck and braying and chyrons about everything from Gwyneth Paltrow’s favorite ski wax and its role in her purported negligence, to the endless freakouts over Wall Street, the fed, and unemployment, and I don’t even know that it’s (breaking news!!) about to snow a whole lot in New England in February.

    So peaceful!

  67. 67.

    prostratedragon

    April 7, 2023 at 2:57 pm

    @Cameron: Loose talk we were hearing earlier this week sent me to Bach/St. Matthew beforetimes — not for the “sacredness” so much as for the humanity. Will listen to this later.

  68. 68.

    Matt McIrvin

    April 7, 2023 at 2:59 pm

    @J R in WV: Wow, hang in there! Best wishes and I’m sorry it was so hard even getting to this point.

  69. 69.

    JoyceH

    April 7, 2023 at 3:00 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: yeah, I suspect that’s the case with this “genital inspection” law. (In…Kansas?) The law itself says it won’t be universal, just something like when challenged or when questions arise. It’s not going to be the captain of the football team or the head cheerleader. It will be the “sissy” boys and the “tomboy” girls. And from my memory of high school, it will be another vehicle for school bullying and about ninety percent of the actual cases will be girls.

  70. 70.

    eclare

    April 7, 2023 at 3:01 pm

    @JoyceH:   They just couldn’t help themselves, it was bizarre.  The R’s here in TN are in such a bubble and unfortunately are pretty much protected, electorally.

  71. 71.

    Matt McIrvin

    April 7, 2023 at 3:03 pm

    @Betsy: I don’t think the tyranny is because they’re unafraid of how voters will react. I think it’s because they see a real threat to their hegemony, for the first time in ages, and are doing everything they can to neutralize it by antidemocratic means.

    Republicans at the federal level were publicly very big on democracy during the Reagan years. I remember it. It was because they knew that when people voted democratically, they usually won. Now, that’s not true. And the old bag of Jim Crow tricks comes out.

  72. 72.

    Betsy

    April 7, 2023 at 3:03 pm

    @snoey: I hope that’s right.  And if so: nicely done, right-wing assholes, great  publicity stunt you wreaked on yourselves and better for us.

  73. 73.

    Betsy

    April 7, 2023 at 3:07 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: True enough.  I guess the common thread in your point and mine is that they seek to insulate themselves (because they are afraid of democracy and its accountability mechanisms) and we have to call that out as tyrannical in nature.

  74. 74.

    prostratedragon

    April 7, 2023 at 3:08 pm

    @J R in WV:  Be thinking of you.

  75. 75.

    JPL

    April 7, 2023 at 3:08 pm

    @J R in WV:  My now ex had stage 3 b or c, I can’t remember, and the survival rate was 50 percent.   He’s now living in WV and by all accounts enjoying his retirement.

    You can do this.    It’s not easy and I’ll be thinking of you.

  76. 76.

    Matt McIrvin

    April 7, 2023 at 3:18 pm

    I thing I always recall with gerrymandering is that it can backfire: the way it usually works is that you’re maximizing your party’s number of seats at the cost of spreading your own voters thinner around your districts, with narrower win margins for your side and bigger win margins for any remaining districts held by the other party; and if the partisan voter situation changes radically, things can flip hard and suddenly.

    When I say that, people usually come back “yeah, but if you look at the partisan lean of these districts it’s usually so hard R that it’s not going to be an issue for them.” But there’s always, always a limit to how far you can push that, and things like the post-Dobbs midterm and special elections suggest that there are places where people who were not usually part of the voter mix have had enough.

  77. 77.

    Baud

    April 7, 2023 at 3:20 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: That’s what happened in Virginia.

    What makes the modern gerrymander so secure is voter polarization makes it hard to have the type of wave you need to overcome it.

  78. 78.

    Steeplejack

    April 7, 2023 at 3:24 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    😹 but 😿

  79. 79.

    The Up and Up

    April 7, 2023 at 3:29 pm

    Montana lurching right is sad to see. I donated to Mike Cooney for the governor’s race in 2020. Cooney has family ties to the state but the ever growing MAGA crowd wanted out of stater New Jersey businessman Gianforte. The US Fascist Court threw out Montana’s long standing laws from the days of the Copper Kings against corporate spending and influence, in 2014. Another Citizen’s United. White supremacy reigns around Kalispell, primarily people moving from blue states to create their “Homeland.”

    There are a few pockets of democracy, college towns, larger cities, tribal lands. Zooey Zephyr represents Missoula.

  80. 80.

    Geminid

    April 7, 2023 at 3:33 pm

    @Baud: I thought the two dynamics that helped break Virginia’s Republican gerrymander were 1) demographic change within the districts, and 2) the radiclization of the state’s Republican Party. These contributed to Republican losses in the 2017 and 2019 General Assembly elections, as well as 3 Representatives lost in the 2018 midterms.

    The gerrymandering may have contributed to the radicalization. That seems to me to be the case generally now with the Republican Party. I have not seen the same effect among Democrats though.

  81. 81.

    randy khan

    April 7, 2023 at 3:34 pm

    Conveniently for Thomas, most of the people on the Supreme Court when he joined in 1991 are dead, and the likelihood that either Kennedy or O’Connor would contradict him is basically zero.  (Hard to believe he would have asked Souter, for that matter.)

    And, of course, that LA Times tidbit proves it was a lie.

    Not to mention his other lie about how he and Ginny much prefer the people they meet in Wal-Mart parking lots when they’re RVing.

  82. 82.

    Baud

    April 7, 2023 at 3:37 pm

    @Geminid: I can’t think of any nationally elected Democrat I would call radical (the media might disagree), but I do think gerrymandering has made progressives stronger in the party because it produces so many heavily D+ districts.

  83. 83.

    randy khan

    April 7, 2023 at 3:39 pm

    @Geminid:

    The point about demographic change is really important.  Northern Virginia is growing like crazy, and the definition of “northern Virginia” is expanding all the time.  All the places where the population is spreading are turning more blue by the day, and so previously safe red districts became less so.  And it’s no coincidence that the Dems had their success in the last two elections of the decennial census cycle, when the district lines were pretty old.

    The other thing is that both 2017 and 2019 were enormous – huge, one might say – wave elections in Virginia.  And even with the 2017 wave, the Dems fell just short of control of the House of Delegates.

  84. 84.

    dww44

    April 7, 2023 at 3:53 pm

    @J R in WV: Wish you the best as you travel this path.  I will be pulling for you.  Prayers too even though I’m not normally one of the religious sort.

  85. 85.

    Matt McIrvin

    April 7, 2023 at 3:54 pm

    @randy khan: When I was growing up in Chantilly, it was deep, deep Republican territory. Very white too. Not any more!

  86. 86.

    glory b

    April 7, 2023 at 4:11 pm

    @J R in WV: F–k cancer, all the best wishes & hopes for your speedy and complete recovery.

  87. 87.

    Geminid

    April 7, 2023 at 4:12 pm

    @Baud: Gerrymandering may have added some members to the Progressive Caucus, but when I look at that caucus’s members, most of them are not that different than their New Democrat colleagues. Just comparing Class of 2018 members, how different in practice are Coloradans Joe Neguse and Jason Crow? Texans Veronica Escobar and Colin Allred? Kansan Sharice Davids and Marylander Jaime Raskin.?

    The two wings in the House had a wrenching blowup in 2019, over emergency border funding. They came out of it with stronger mutual acceptance and respect, it seemed to me. Since then they have been relatively unified.

    I thought the years 2016-2020 were a period of ideological polarization within the party, but that seems to have faded. An example of this could be Rep. Elise Slotkin’s bid to succeed Senator Debbie Stabenow as Senator for Michigan. Two or four years ago, more people might have said, “Slotkin’s a moderate and we must do better.” The mood now could be expressed by the commenter here who said, “She’s more conservative than me but I don’t mind.”

    Joe Biden’s election contributed some to this coming, but the elections of Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff made a big difference also. Instead of the two sides bickering over who was responsible for Democratic failure, they got to taste Democratic success achieved through unity. That’s taken some of the wind from the sails of outside critics on the Left as well.

  88. 88.

    Quinerly

    April 7, 2023 at 4:23 pm

    Re the legislator who left the Dem Party to join the Repugs…there has to be a strong backstory that will come out. She comes from a solid Democrat Party background. Her dad is/was a bigwig in party politics, her mother involved in Dem Party at grassroots. I also think I read that her ex-husband was/is a party chairman. Something is up.

    @J R in WV:

    So sorry to hear this. Pulling for you and sending positive thoughts.

  89. 89.

    CaseyL

    April 7, 2023 at 4:24 pm

    @J R in WV: Got my fingers, toes, and eyes crossed for the chemo to be successful, and you to be on the alive-and-klcking side of that 50%!

  90. 90.

    Geminid

    April 7, 2023 at 4:35 pm

     

     

    @randy khan: Nothern Virginia led the way in demographic change, but much of the rest of the state has seen increases in population of the college educated, and of first and second generation immigrants. Both these groups tend to vote Democratic now.

    This is a matter of economic growth. Central and Tidewater Virginia are growing fast. Southside and Southwest Virginia have been stagnant economically, with little demographic change. Their politics have been relatively static if not retrograde.

    Economic dynamism may be shaping North Carolina’s and Georgia’s political situations in a way similar to Virginia’s. We’ll know better after the 2024 cycle.

    And it’s possible that Virginia Democrats will backslide in this fall’s General Assembly elections, although I don’t think they will. These will be worth watching, and may indicate regional and national trends.

  91. 91.

    Geminid

    April 7, 2023 at 4:42 pm

    @randy khan: I give some credit for success in 2017 to Ralph Northam heading up the ticket. He was a good candidate, with a strong record of support for women’s rights and gun safety. He was also a good proponent for Medicaid expansion. Democrats used all three of these issues to good effect that year.

  92. 92.

    Mike in Pasadena

    April 7, 2023 at 4:57 pm

    @JoyceH: Does that mean the Great Orange Yam is barrred from Texass or he can only go to Texass in white face?  Or did they write an exception just for him?

  93. 93.

    JoyceH

    April 7, 2023 at 5:03 pm

    @Mike in Pasadena: ​
     

    “performing publicly in makeup”. They obviously didn’t think this through. Another aspect of modern Republicanism that needs more attention is the sheer incompetence!

  94. 94.

    Dopey-o

    April 7, 2023 at 5:06 pm

    @J R in WV: I’m about to start my own battle with cancer next Monday with an 8-hour infusion of cisplatin, a drug with platinum and chlorine among other sweet chemical ingredients. It is old fashioned chemo introduced in 1978, no modern immunological tricks, just poison that damages cancer cells a little more than non-cancerous cells.

    also bouncing off of Schrodinger’s comment for menu ideas, i have taken a drug Megestrol, which reversed a 30 pound weight loss. Actually makes food taste better, while increasing appetite. I recommend it.

    BTW: fuck cancer! Good luck.

  95. 95.

    StringOnAStick

    April 7, 2023 at 5:21 pm

    @sab: My fun medical WTF story is my doctor is leaving her practice and starting a new one, so I figured I’d just follow her.  Nope, she’s starting one of those fancy subscription (on top of your medical insurance) practices with a monthly membership.  Since I’m about to be 65, my cost, on top of my standard insurance, would be $499/month.  Such a great deal!  Ugh.  But I would get an appointment within 24 hours so totes worth it, right?

  96. 96.

    Noskilz

    April 7, 2023 at 5:27 pm

    @J R in WV:  Good luck with the chemo!

  97. 97.

    J R in WV

    April 7, 2023 at 5:40 pm

    Thanks, everyone, for the sympathetic thoughts. As I said, it had been hard even getting to the starting line, as I have neurological issues and failing joints which all need surgical intervention, which isn’t possible for some months at least.

    But the doctors and nurses are compassionate and caring, and capable of doing great work, so I remain cheerful in the face of whatever it is coming up. Will know more in a week, and will keep you online friends posted.

    Oddly, it is hard to ask even dear friends we have known for decades for help with ordinary stuff, surprising me… I guess it is at least partly that I’m independent and haven’t needed that kind of help ever before. Will try to return to the piano in the corner of the living room for distraction.

    Thanks again, everyone!

  98. 98.

    StringOnAStick

    April 7, 2023 at 5:42 pm

    @J R in WV: Ask those friends, they want to help!  Trust me, I know!

  99. 99.

    Jackie

    April 7, 2023 at 6:39 pm

    @JoyceH:

    “Texas passes a law outlawing men performing in public wearing makeup.”

    I guess TFG won’t be holding anymore public rallies in Texas!

  100. 100.

    Esme

    April 7, 2023 at 6:45 pm

    @snoey: I believe the way it works is their respective county commissions select someone to fill the seat on an interim basis until the seats are filled through special elections, in which both are expected to run. Lots of Nashville-Davidson commissioners have come out in support of reinstating Jones; haven’t heard yet how things are looking for Pearson in Shelby County (Memphis).

    I’m just so sad about what went down in Nashville yesterday. I’m a Tennessean (though I moved away years ago), and it’s not like I don’t know what the politics are like there or how gerrymandered the legislature is. But watching the floor speeches, and the expulsions, and the children chanting protests outside the chamber — it had me in tears. My home deserves better than this.

  101. 101.

    Gvg

    April 7, 2023 at 7:00 pm

    When I went through Chemo, they gave drugs first that made me sleepy to dull the nausea and pain impact, so generally I slept most of that day and the next. Then I was achy for awhile. Each dose is cumulative so it gets a bit harder as time goes on, allow for that and take your meds on schedule. Since some of it made me sleepy, I found it safest to write down every dose instead of trying to remember and when I was in a lot of pain, I set my alarm/phone to tell me when doses were OK. Keeping ahead of the pain right after a treatment session ,add it easier. My sessions were every three weeks so I was fine most of the time with a few days not so great every 3 weeks. I was able to keep working through it. People helped a lot and I had someone drive me to and from treatment. Lots of people I knew told me their cancer experiences that had never told me they had had it until they heard I did. Kind of funny finding out.

  102. 102.

    J R in WV

    April 7, 2023 at 7:25 pm

    @Gvg:

    Thanks for that information. I feel pretty vulnerable going in not knowing anything about it so far, so you are a big help !!

  103. 103.

    cintibud

    April 7, 2023 at 7:55 pm

    @J R in WV: Best of luck J R!

  104. 104.

    Kayla Rudbek

    April 7, 2023 at 8:10 pm

    @J R in WV: good luck! Cisplatin is a very old chemotherapy drug so hopefully they’ll have lots of advice on side effects.

  105. 105.

    Kayla Rudbek

    April 7, 2023 at 8:16 pm

    @sab: I’m a lapsed Catholic and I wanted cake tonight,  but I didn’t think it was appropriate to bake a cake on Good Friday (even the vegan depression/wacky cake)

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