Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

The words do not have to be perfect.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

… among the most cringeworthy communications in the history of the alphabet!

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Let’s finish the job.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Come on, man.

This really is a full service blog.

You are here: Home / 2024 Elections / 2024 Primaries / Thursday Night Lite Side Open Thread: Another GOP Candidate Volunteers for the Quora

Thursday Night Lite Side Open Thread: Another GOP Candidate Volunteers for the Quora

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Reuters:

Former U.S. Representative Will Hurd, a moderate who was once the sole Black Republican in Congress, on Thursday joined the crowded race to beat Donald Trump for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination.

Hurd, 45, announced his candidacy in a video and a Twitter post that stressed unity, the economy and equal opportunity for all Americans – and pulled no punches in taking on the former president.

“If we nominate a lawless, selfish, failed politician like Donald Trump – he lost the House, the Senate and the White House – we all know Joe Biden will win again,” Hurd said…

More good news for Team Joe!

Will Hurd, apart from the ‘former CIA employee’ bit, seems like a perfectly nice man. If I were forced to vote for a Republican — in a theoretical dystopia where the other candidates were Cornell West & RFK Jr, say — he’s probably the Republican who would get my vote. As it is, I assume he’s doing this to bump up his speaking fees and/or establish his credentials for a 2028 run.

Or, to quote an old proverb: And maybe the horse will talk!

Ed Kilgore, at NYMag — “Will Hurd Bets GOP Presidential Voters Want Anti-Trump Texan”:

… The latest entrant – the 14th, if you are keeping count — is former three-term Texas congressman Will Hurd from the politically competitive Rio Grande Valley region of that state.

A lot of the interesting things about Hurd don’t necessarily stand out in the big 2024 presidential field. He’s the third Black Republican candidate in the race (along with Tim Scott and Larry Elder). He’s the sixth person of color in the field (along with Indian Americans Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy and Cuban American Francis Suarez). At 45, he’s the fourth candidate under 50 (Ramaswamy is 37; DeSantis is 44; and Suarez is 45). And he’s by my count the third candidate (along with Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie) trying to occupy a narrow anti-Trump lane in the contest.

Hurd is unique in being a former covert operative (i.e., a spy) in the CIA. And he may be the only trilingual candidate; he’s fluent in Spanish (his House district was heavily Hispanic) and Urdu (which he apparently learned in connection with duties in and about Pakistan). He is also arguably the most authentically moderate Republican in the field, as the Texas Tribune observes:

He voted against repealing the Affordable Care Act, and he supported universal background checks for gun purchases and protections against LGBTQ discrimination.
Hurd also worked across the aisle within the Texas delegation, going on a road trip with then-Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, in 2017 that they broadcast live online.

…
But his constant appeals to “common sense” and bipartisanship also make you wonder if he’s got participation in a No Labels independent general-election ticket in the back of his mind.

In any event, Hurd is going to have to get things rolling quickly if he wants to meet the criteria for the first GOP debate on August 23 in Milwaukee (40,000 unique donors from 20 states and one percent in some combination of large-sample national and early-state surveys). Conversely, if most of the declared candidates do meet the criteria, we could wind up with a secondary “kids’ table” debate like Republicans held in 2016. Being consigned to such an event would be especially unfortunate for candidates like Hurd (and Christie and Hutchinson) hoping for a direct and successful confrontation with Trump. For now, though, Will Hurd will be just another 2024 presidential aspirant provoking the question: “What could they be thinking?”

All this competition is giving the HOA branch of the Permanent Republican Party a big sad.

Aaaand… Sure enough: There is… ANOTHER!

(Now that the Titan has imploded and Mt. Everest is being gated against tourists, where else is a billionaire going to drop couch-cushion money to feel like he’s distinguishing himself for the history books?)

Reader Interactions

118Comments

  2. 2.

    scav

    (Now that the Titan has imploded and Mt. Everest is being gated against tourists, where else is a billionaire going to drop couch-cushion money to feel like he’s distinguishing himself for the history books?)

    duh.  Cage matches.

  3. 3.

    Geminid

    I was wondering if Rick Scott would get in the race. Maybe he’s decided that Trump is vulnerable. If he doesn’t get traction, Scott might be able to do what Rubio did in 2016: bail on the presidential race and run for reelection to the Senate.

  4. 4.

    Martin

    @scav: But unlike Everest and submersibles, the cage match doesn’t promise to kill a billionaire, so where’s the entertainment value?

  5. 5.

    Dopey-o

    @scav: duh.  Cage matches. (Elmo and Zuck agreed to a cage match ealier. Sorry, no linky…)

    How do we know Elmo won’t short the match, and then throw it? We know he needs the munny!

  6. 6.

    Jackie

    @Geminid: If Scott runs, does he get to keep his seat if he loses the Primary? Or, is that FL law only pertain to Gov Pudd’n Boots?

  7. 7.

    SpaceUnit

    Every time one of these dopes announces their bid for the nomination I’m reminded of that Monty Python sketch about the man who tries to jump the English Channel.

    It’s all going to end the same way.

  8. 8.

    Ohio Mom

    Last time around, Republicans had I-can’t-remember-how-many hopefuls, and the worst of the worst, Trump, prevailed.

    Democrats had an even larger number of hopefuls — remember when two nights were needed for each debate, they couldn’t fit all the Primary candidates on the stage at once — and the best of the best prevailed.

    There’s a moral in that story.

  11. 11.

    Ken

    @Martin: Have you seen how the wrestlers — actual athletes who’ve trained and practiced for the matches — look afterward? I’d say there’s a better chance of a billionaire fatality in one of those than an Everest climb.

  14. 14.

    Mowgli

    BatBoy is ready for his chance to get obliterated by Cheetolini. The more the merrier, let them fight!

  15. 15.

    Mike in NC

    Rick Scott, huh? Guess he couldn’t resist. That makes three assholes from Florida in the GOP clown car.

  16. 16.

    laura

    Rick Scott will jump into the race to fleece the rubes and disappear the money- it’s his absolute brand.

  17. 17.

    Jackie

    Slightly off-topic; I heard the 19 yr old who accompanied his dad in the Titan only did it because his Dad insisted because of Father’s Day. His aunt said he was terrified to go. That broke my heart and pissed me off simultaneously.

  18. 18.

    Jerzy Russian

    How the fuck are Democrats not “letting” the right “end Trump”?  Erickson’s stupidity extends into at least 9 dimensions, and one needs the mathematical framework developed for String Theory to even begin to grasp the vast stupidity on display.

  19. 19.

    Jerzy Russian

    @SpaceUnit:

     

    Every time one of these dopes announces their bid for the nomination I’m reminded of that Monty Python sketch about the man who tries to jump the English Channel.

    I don’t remember that one off the top of my head. I was thinking more of the sketch with a competition for stupid people, one of whom ran himself over with his car.

  20. 20.

    SpaceUnit

    @Jackie:

    I really wanted them to be rescued alive if only so the world could dump all over them for the amount of trouble they caused by wanting to take a goddamn selfie two miles down.

  21. 21.

    different-church-lady

    The GOP must have a ton of faith in Trump for them to clear the field for him like this.

  22. 22.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @scav: If Zuck and Musk really wanted to prove their manhood they’d sign up for Thunderdome.

    Although even one billionaire leaving would be one too many. So maybe Running Man instead—the view counts would be spectacular.

  23. 23.

    SpaceUnit

    @Jerzy Russian:

    Well it’s Monty Python, so after all the hype and talk and build-up the guy jumps about three or four feet and lands smack on his ass in a few inches of water.

     

    To be fair, he was carrying a sack of bricks.

  25. 25.

    Geminid

    @Jackie: After he dropped out in 2016, Rubio was able to enter and win the Republican Senate primary. Florida holds its primaries in August, which helped.

    I’ve heard that Scott is not a good public speaker, and not very likeable either. I’d rule him out except that this Republican electorate seems very unpredictable. If Trump is knocked out by legal or health issues, or crippled by them, who knows which candidate the base will turn to?

  28. 28.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Jerzy Russian:

    How the fuck are Democrats not “letting” the right “end Trump”?

    Yeah, that boggled me.  My best guess is that this is an ‘It is unacceptable for Democrats to ever prosecute a Republican for anything’ and work backwards reasoning?

  29. 29.

    EarthWindFire

    @Ohio Mom: The moral of the story is that the GOP believes in grifting and the Dems believes in getting behind the winner for their country’s sake.

  31. 31.

    Chris T.

    I always forget just how much like Voldemort that guy looks.

    (The mouth is different, and Rick Scott has a nose rather than just nostril slits, but the rest is pretty much perfect)

  34. 34.

    TEL

    That’s a can of Cougar gold cheese in the senator Fetterman picture! I know canned cheese sounds awful but it’s really good. My favorite is the dill garlic jack cheese.
    – proud Washington State University alum

  35. 35.

    Keith P.

    (Now that the Titan has imploded and Mt. Everest is being gated against tourists, where else is a billionaire going to drop couch-cushion money to feel like he’s distinguishing himself for the history books?)

    I’m fully expecting Blue Origin to blow up a billionaire before too much longer, and Elon Musk hasn’t yet convinced some stans to beta test a crewed Starship flight, but it’ll happen.

  36. 36.

    Kent

    NEW: Sen. Rick Scott is considering a late entry into the Republican presidential primary race.

    Late entry?  The first primary is what…8 months away still?

  41. 41.

    Ken

    @Keith P.: Someone’s found an interview video with the OceanGate CEO where he brags about his innovative design: “The carbon fiber and titanium, there’s a rule you don’t do that. Well I broke that rule.”

    Between this and Musk’s innovative spaceship launch, dare I hope that at a few people will pause and say “Could there be a reason for these rules?”

  42. 42.

    dm

    @Jerzy Russian:

    How the fuck are Democrats not “letting” the right “end Trump”?

    (I deleted my first response because it was in bad taste.

    My guess is Erickerick is like most Republicans: blame Democrats for a problem, claim to have a solution, but never actually reveal that solution.

  46. 46.

    Shalimar

    @Mike in NC: Four.  You forgot the Miami mayor already.

    I despise Rick Scott, but I still would spend months pretending to be a Scott supporter if I thought I could influence enough people for him to poll ahead of DeSantis.  That would be hilarious.

  48. 48.

    Martin

    @Ken: I’m expecting robot slap fight to be honest. I can’t imagine either of these idiots can tap into the part of your brain you need to seriously fight someone while ignoring superficial damage to yourself.

  49. 49.

    scav

    @Martin: Alas, while their deaths would likely be top entertainment for the public, they’re not doing it for our benefit. I don’t thing any knock-out round in the Repub debates is going to be quite so bloodily final either although again, potentially stellar ratings.

    It’s all for their own emotional highs. They got the clicks of headlines for a cycle or two — their competitive rockets were so last year, and their actual competitive business performance years before that. No need to actually build a functional product or space vehicle or get in the cage for that matter. They’ll be biting chicken heads live on tic toc or whatever soon. Old school (or lazy) billionaires just buy politicians or judges to cage match headless chickens for them.

  50. 50.

    Jackie

    @Kent: Cougar Cheese is delicious! And expensive! Sen. Fetterman has excellent taste – says this WSU alumni 😁

  51. 51.

    different-church-lady

    Moms For Liberty Chapter Apologizes For Quoting Hitler

    Well, there you have it.

  53. 53.

    sdhays

    @Shalimar: I don’t know if Mike in NC was thinking this, but it took me awhile to realize you all were counting Trump.

    That’s of course valid, but I guess I don’t count him as “Florida man”. He’s not New York anymore, of course, but I guess I consider him kind of stateless. Not consciously on my part, just that I just realized that my brain was doing that.

    It could also be that I’m setting Trump aside in his category of “will be the nominee” and others are in the “wannabe” category.

  57. 57.

    Anne Laurie

    @Kent: Cougar Gold Cheese! Straight from the Ag department at Washington State University! And that’s not just the camera angle. That is a honking 2 lb. can of cheese!

    Apparently it was a gift from Washington’s own Sen. Patty Murray, so…

  58. 58.

    Another Scott

    Meanwile, … First On Race Day:

    […]

    The SuperVan 4.2, refined from the SuperVan 4, has undergone a complete redesign of aerodynamics specifically engineered to cut through the high-altitude air of the Pikes Peak atmosphere while increasing downforce – over 4,400 pounds at 150 miles per hour. Key features to aero include a lightweight carbon fiber rear spoiler and front splitter, both assisting SuperVan 4.2 to stay planted to the winding roads of the mountain. The chassis of SuperVan 4.2 also underwent a weight reduction to improve overall balance and provide agility through the twist of the mountain roads.

    Refinements have also been made to the powertrain. By reducing the number of STARD UHP 6-phase motors from four to three, and utilizing STARD’s Ultra High Performance Li-Polymer NMC pouch cells, the van achieves an optimal power-to-weight ratio while retaining its all-wheel-drive system with one motor powering the front and two in the rear. With over 1,050 kW (1,400 horsepower) combined discharge power at its disposal, the SuperVan 4.2 can unleash its full potential while also leveraging the battery’s new 600 kW regeneration performance for optimal energy utilization.

    “The Ford Performance and STARD teams have been hard at work optimizing SuperVan 4.2 for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. From the aero to the revised electric powertrain, I believe our run times on the mountain will be worth tuning in for.”

    -Mike Norton, WRC Program Supervisor & Motorsports Regulations and Homologation, Ford Performance

    Diving into the chassis, Ford Performance and STARD equipped SuperVan 4.2 with a revised regenerative braking system with carbon ceramic brake discs, magnesium forged wheels wrapped in Pirelli P Zero™ race tires, upgraded driveshafts, a perspex windscreen, and a minimalist race interior to remove any weight that is not mandatory to SuperVan 4.2 completing its best possible time on the mountain.

    The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is set to take place on Sunday, June 25. For more information on the event, visit https://ppihc.org/. Don’t miss the live race broadcast on YouTube.

    It has 600 HP less than the previous version, and is quicker…

    (via NotebookCheck.net)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  61. 61.

    Cameron

    There are four candidates from Florida? I knew about Governor Rage Potato and the Miami mayor,and I just heard about Nosferatu. Who’s the fourth one?  ETA I forgot America’s Favorite President!

  62. 62.

    sdhays

    Rick Scott seems like an evil demon while Ron DeSantis seems like a lizard person in a human suit wanting to secure the market for fresh human babies. Which one of those is more appealing outside of Florida?

    “Bat boy” can seem almost mammalian – so somewhat relatable, but he’s also Voldemort. And Puddin’ Boots has his human skin-suit, but he can’t pull off pretending he doesn’t want to gobble down live babies left and right, which is off-putting.

  63. 63.

    Kent

    @Jackie:@Kent: Cougar Cheese is delicious! And expensive! Sen. Fetterman has excellent taste – says this WSU alumni 😁

    Daughter #3 is strongly leaning towards WSU at this point so we may have another Balloon-Juice adjacent Cougar.   She is a rising HS senior so applies to school this fall.  WWU is still in the running.  She doesn’t want to follow her older sister to UW, wants to chart her own path.

    We are going to road trip this summer and visit a few more schools in California and Colorado.  And we will probably do a day trip down to Corvallis to visit OSU at some point. We can do in-state tuition at Oregon State, Colorado State and some of the Cal State schools through the WUI program.  But she is probably most likely to end up a cougar or viking (WWU).

  65. 65.

    sdhays

    @Jackie: Right, as I said, that’s totally valid, but my brain wasn’t counting him that way. It looks like Cameron’s wasn’t either.

  66. 66.

    different-church-lady

    @sdhays: I’m beginning to wonder if it’s isn’t so much that these guys win, but more that Charlie Crist loses.

  67. 67.

    different-church-lady

    sam
    @sam_d_1995
    it’s honestly hilarious that a bunch of tech bros are endorsing the political candidate who thinks that WiFi gives you cancer

  68. 68.

    sdhays

    @different-church-lady: The mayor of Miami is a Republican who gets paid in BitCoin, apparently. Tampa has a Republican mayor too. The rot goes further than Charlie Crist (although he should have stayed out of state-wide politics after his previous loss).

  69. 69.

    BruceJ

    (Now that the Titan has imploded and Mt. Everest is being gated against tourists, where else is a billionaire going to drop other people’s couch-cushion money to feel like he’s distinguishing himself for the history books?)

    FTFY

  70. 70.

    prostratedragon

    Eerie coda to the Titan implosion story: Wendy Weil Rush, newly the widow of owner Stockton Rush, is a direct descendent of Ida and Isidor Straus, who I’m convinced swing by their park occasionally.

  71. 71.

    sdhays

    @different-church-lady: I think it’s too generous to concede that RFK Jr. sincerely believes any of the bullshit he says. I don’t think he cares enough to form an opinion one way or another. Very Trumpy.

  72. 72.

    Steeplejack

    @Ken:

    Imagine being CEO of a company that does sub tours of a shipwreck that famously carried lifeboats for half its people, that sped through ice warnings, and went unrescured because round the clock Marconi operators weren’t required, and your takeaway is “we need less regulation.”
    https://t.co/Gjw4c6iNYF

    — extremely pleasant mail delivery guy (@dumbmailguy) June 20, 2023

  73. 73.

    Keith P.

    @Ken: Elon Musk initially wanted Starship to be carbon fiber, but it sounds like his engineers talked him out of it.  There’s a difference between CF holding cars together, but it’s a whole different ballgame in freezing temperatures and high pressure or vacuum/high radiation environments.  (I’m also not sure they would have been able to make an autoclave big enough to cure it)

  74. 74.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Now that the Titan has imploded and Mt. Everest is being gated against tourists, where else is a billionaire going to drop couch-cushion money to feel like he’s distinguishing himself for the history books?

    Buying a Rolex Daytona from an AD at MSRP. And not having to spend tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars on jewelry and a dozen lady Datejusts they don’t want

  75. 75.

    Steeplejack

    @Steeplejack:

    I read earlier that the U.S. Navy detected what sounded like the implosion very soon after the submersible initially lost contact. It would be a mercy if their first (and only) sign of serious trouble was the implosion.

    Also, in a time when you can follow the detailed wanderings of great white sharks that have had tracking devices attached, how did this sub not have a tracker or emergency beacon?!

  76. 76.

    mrmoshpotato

    There are already 11 other shitpiles looking to outfleece Dump’s fanbase of stupid, racist, misogynistic shitstains?

    Wow.

  77. 77.

    Redshift

    @dm:

    My guess is Erickerick is like most Republicans: blame Democrats for a problem, claim to have a solution, but never actually reveal that solution.

    Yeah, that is possibly the most egregious “only Democrats have agency” I’ve ever seen.

    The left “won’t allow” it because they won’t… they won’t register as Republicans and vote for right-wing candidates who could surely take down Trump? That’s all I can think of that fits the words he says, and it’s completely nonsensical.

  80. 80.

    Redshift

    I want them to have a debate with a reality-show format, so Bat Boy and DeathSantis can compete in the jaw-unhinging category.

  81. 81.

    eversor

    @Martin:

    The catch with MMA is that you do have to know what you are doing.  You have to know how to fall, know how to hit, and know the limits of certain holds and pins.

    Musk and Zuck don’t.  So there is a large chance of screwing up a fall from a throw and breaking their ribs/back, throwing a punching wrong and shattering their wrist, not knowing when a lock is a lock and then not tapping out and getting choked for real or a bone broken.

    Professional fighting is actually pretty safe.  It’s the amatures that maim themselves.

    So there is a far greater chance of someone getting crippled or killed in this publicity stunt than there is an actual MMA match.

  84. 84.

    Redshift

    DeSantis is 44

    This still surprises me every time, like it just won’t stick in my brain.

    While it may be true that evil can make you live nearly forever (Strom Thurmond, etc.), it seems in return you have to be an old man the entire time.

  86. 86.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

     Now, Hedley, I’ve always trusted your judgment before but haven’t you taken a giant leap away from your good senses?

    ~ Governor Le Petomane

  88. 88.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    all this talk about subs is making me hungry🥪 ​

  89. 89.

    Carlo Graziani

    @Steeplejack:

    Also, in a time when you can follow the detailed wanderings of great white sharks that have had tracking devices attached, how did this sub not have a tracker or emergency beacon?!

    Or, for that matter, an emergency buoyancy safety set to trigger on hull integrity sensors…

    Apropos of nothing, am I the only one who has been humming “A Three Hour Tour…” for the past few days? Too soon?

  90. 90.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Redshift:

    This still surprises me every time, like it just won’t stick in my brain.

    It’s like some kind of spin on the popular internet meme that shows you a picture of an old sitcom and tells you “Archie Bunker was 32” or “Alice Kramden was 27” or “Ed Asner was only seven years older than Mary Tyler Moore” (that one’s true, btw)

  91. 91.

    TEL

    @Carlo Graziani: it’s not like velveeta – it’s refrigerated just like any other real cheese. I don’t remember the history behind using cans instead of plastic as packaging but that’s all it is. I’ve had nearly all of the varieties and I promise they are delicious!

  92. 92.

    rikyrah

     

    @schrodingers_cat:

     

    The post was good

    I have followed your commentary about Modi since he was elected. Never thought that you were being hysterical. Especially as what politics has cost you personally, even as you live in the United States.

    Democracy is hard and so many want to throw it away for delusion.

     

    Thank you for the post.

  93. 93.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

     Erick Erickson
    @EWErickson
    The thing that stands out to me is that the left doesn’t know how to end Trump and won’t let those on the right who want to end him have a go because the left doesn’t trust them either.

    I don’t even know what this means. As a registered Democrat I’m not permitted to vote in a GOP primary. Am I supposed to say nice things about DeeSantis, that would only make him suspect with the only-da-libs crowd.

  94. 94.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Alison Rose:

    God, I hate this fucking timeline. 

    Why?  Mom For Fascism quoting Hitler is hilarious.  I mean, fuck the fascist shitstains, but them pulling off their sheep’s clothing is hilarious.

  95. 95.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Cameron:

    There are four candidates from Florida? I knew about Governor Rage Potato and the Miami mayor,and I just heard about Nosferatu. Who’s the fourth one? ETA I forgot America’s Favorite President! 

    What the fuck?  You insult potatoes, and my favorite movie.  Fuck did I ever do to you?  :)

  96. 96.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I sat through a few episodes of Emergency! a few months back with my folks and I was struck by how off base the ages of guest/bit part characters were compared to their appearance. The weird thing was, the real ages of the actors were closer to how old they looked than what was claimed in-story

  97. 97.

    Kelly

    The view out the port of the Titan was most likely worse than the view via a modern camera on an ROV. I watched a oceanography documentary where Robert Ballard described going down in a submersible with better cameras and realizing he was in this cramped compartment mostly looking at the screens instead of out the view port. Realized 10 or 20 years ago there was not much point in people down there. He’s been pushing the ROV envelope ever since. You may have heard of Robert Ballard. Done a bit of oceanography and found the Titanic. No life support means less risk, more endurance and a smaller package. Like space exploration.

  100. 100.

    eversor

    @David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:

    It’s about religion, as always.   Erik is a firm supporter of Douthat’s old claim that “if you don’t like the religious right, wait till you see the non religious right” which is very popular among that group.  The basic logic is the only way to stop the US from going fascist is to impose Christianity on it and fully become a Christian Nation.

    By not giving them the power to impose Christianity on us, the left is enabling the fascist and crazy takeover of the GOP.  So it’s really the fault of the left.

  101. 101.

    Steeplejack

    @Carlo Graziani:

    I deliberately stayed away from the coverage, because I knew there would be no good ending, but the sheer torrent of reporting today overwhelmed me and I saw the things I noted above.

  102. 102.

    NobodySpecial

    The only real thing to report on any potential R candidate is if they have a pocket billionaire in their corner and if so, who they are. Ain’t no one getting a serious look without a Sheldon Adelson or Crow in their pocket.

  103. 103.

    Another Scott

    @Carlo Graziani: I haven’t been following this closely, but I heard a snippet of some story where they claimed there were about 7 different backups to make the thing rise to the surface if something bad happened (even if the people were incapacitated).

    That told me that they had a catastrophic breech (and the tapping noises were something else)…

    Too many people do very stupid things.  :-(

    Cheers,
    Scottl

  104. 104.

    Ruckus

    @Ken:

    “Could there be a reason for these rules?”

    A very good one actually. Basically you don’t experiment with the things that can go exponentially wrong at the worst time if there is a proven method. And if there isn’t one, you prove out the concept before you take the ultimate risk. Otherwise you are the very definition of complete and utter asshole. Diving to the bottom of the ocean for shits and giggles in a POS unproven unit is the epitome of pompous arrogant asshole. I wonder how well their billions spend in whatever hell they believed in?

  105. 105.

    Ruckus

    @Another Scott:

    This is beyond very stupid. Beyond maximum stupid. The risk was at the minimum, extremely, massively beyond any concept of any value whatsofuckingever. No amount of money was worth the risk, not all the money in the world was worth this level of arrogance in doing this.

  106. 106.

    Mallard Filmore

    @Steeplejack: 

    It would be a mercy if their first (and only) sign of serious trouble was the implosion.

    One of the YouTube videos I saw today said they had time to drop the landing skids, which dumps weight, in an attempt to go up.

    There might have been a moment of freaking panic, but no time for pain.

  107. 107.

    Ruckus

    @Steeplejack:

    Read my two comments.

    I designed and built tools that others used to make products. I did this for decades. Tools that were used in presses that had dramatic levels of pressure. And they couldn’t fail or people could get hurt. But they didn’t fail because we had the engineering knowledge of the limits to work within. And the knowledge of the limits were known to the people that normally do this type of work. There is a reason they don’t do manned dives to this pressure. The risk isn’t worth it.

    This was so far and away worse than any failure in my work would have been. It was absolutely unnecessary. It was beyond all the swear words stupid. We don’t have adjectives/adverbs for how stupid this was. And I’m not saying this because it failed, it would have been as bad if it had succeed. Because it eventually would have failed if it hadn’t this time. And the company would have found other idiots to take the trip until it did fail.

  108. 108.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    The other day, while hearing about the whole submersible crisis, I was reminded of an old PBS program that featured Woods Hole and its deep-dive teams. One of the things they’d do to demonstrate the extreme conditions faced by subs like the Alvin was put a Styrofoam coffee cup into one of the external holding cages on the sub (this was back before Styrofoam was phased out in large-scale consumer applications), and then once the dive was complete, bring out the Styrofoam cup, which had been crushed to about the size of a shot glass.

    Back in those days, remote operation wasn’t nearly as reliable as it is nowadays, so if you wanted to do real science down there, I guess you did need vehicles that could bring people down there and back up.

    Of course, Woods Hole wasn’t being run by tech-bros who believed in the “move fast and break things” philosophy. And they already knew a lot of what OceanGate has just learned the hard way.

  109. 109.

    Anne Laurie

    @eversor: So there is a far greater chance of someone getting crippled or killed in this publicity stunt than there is an actual MMA match.

    Oh, shush — do you want to discourage them?!?

  110. 110.

    Tony Jay

    @eversor:  So there is a far greater chance of someone getting crippled or killed in this publicity stunt than there is an actual MMA match.

    Take. My. Money.

  112. 112.

    Slightly_peeved

     

    @eversor:

    Zuck’s competing in and medaling in BJJ competitions, I believe, so while his rolls won’t be necessarily up to someone who specialises in standing grappling (wrestling, judo, etc) he can probably take a few stiff landings and he should be able to put on an OK submission or two.

  113. 113.

    Paul in KY

    @Jackie: Poor kid. Only one of them I grieve for. I only hope he didn’t really know it was coming, cause when it comes it is very fast.

  118. 118.

    Falling Diphthong

    I am legit impressed that Hurd is blatantly running against Trump.

    Rather than join the very crowded lane of R candidates who absolutely love Trump and are his truest supporters and are just, you know, positioning themselves so that, like, if a thing were to happen, Trump could anoint them his True Successor and hand over his base. (While I think this is likely to happen, it will be MTG he anoints (because she doesn’t pretend to be “Trump, but smarter” or “Trump, but less crude” and just doubles down). And the directions to his base to support the heir will be grudging at best.)

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