Rest in peace, Sinéad O’Connor. In 1990, she refused to appear on Saturday Night Live because the program was hosted by misogynist creep Andrew Dice Clay, who was inexplicably popular at the time. In 1992, O’Connor did appear on SNL, and this happened:
Damn if she wasn’t right again. She was a troubled soul and also a brave truthteller. There may be a connection between those two things.
***
In other news, Mitch McConnell appeared to stroke out mid-lie during a press briefing. I know that’s a mean thing to say — we are all fragile creatures — but also, fuck Mitch McConnell.
***
Lastly, remember when the Ron DeSantis campaign amplified a weird incel-themed video that caused enormous controversy and then the campaign got busted for passing it off as the work of fan boys when it was actually produced in-house? They did it again, only this time the video was Nazi-themed and a DeSantis speechwriter, Nate Hochman, was fired (or laid off due to the cash crunch — unclear).
Josh Marshall points out that such weirdos aren’t a DeSantis campaign aberration. Similar dudes staff sitting US House reps and are all over mainstream wingnut outlets:
This spring, TPM’s Hunter Walker brought us the story of George Santos consigliere Vish Burra. Then there were the staffer and intern from the office of Rep. Paul Gosar. There are numerous other examples we’ve seen over the last couple years. There’s some variety in the general profile. But some basic commonalities show through. The first is that most are quite young — like mid-20s or younger. At 32, Burra is a relative elder statesman. Their digital histories also run the gamut from willfully offensive to explicitly neo-Nazi. The common thread, however, is a political awakening in the toxic world of far-right message boards and social media “edgelords.” That’s the language and visual idiom of these DeSantis videos. If you’re not familiar with it it can just seem bizarre. If you are familiar with it it still seems bizarre but the meaning is more clear and because of that understanding usually a lot more disturbing.
They’re also getting jobs and sinecures in what now counts as the GOP mainstream. (DeSantis-aligned influencer Pedro) Gonzalez’s LinkedIn biography lists bylines and jobs at various right wing publications, including Chronicles and its parent organization, The Charlemagne Institute, internships at the Claremont Institute and membership at the increasingly right wing New York Young Republican Club, where Burra was executive secretary before getting his gig with George Santos. Hochman was a staff writer at The National Review before taking his job with the DeSantis campaign. In the summer of 2021 he was an intern at Claremont’s house publication, The American Mind. He even got a lengthy think piece about the future of conservatism published in The New York Times.
Great job, everybody.
Open thread.
The Pale Scot
Sinead O’Connor & The Chieftans – The Foggy Dew
Too soon
Suzanne
I read this, from a FTFNYT interview with her in recent years:
She will be missed, very much.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Fuck him indeed and I hope next time he doesn’t come back. You don’t have trump and trumpism without Mitch McConnell. McCarthy sucks up to trump out of fear and desperate ambition. McConnell has protected trump out of pure calculation.
pacem appellant
The Catholic Church is really bad, in 1992, before, and now. O’Connor tried to warn us, but we collectively lost our brains and wouldn’t listen. I include myself among that number, but I was at a Catholic High School at the time and it would be years before I exited the cult. Responsible adults should have protected children, but instead, they protected a predator and excoriated a brave seer. Shame on them. Shame on me.
Paul in KY
She was a wonderful singer and a courageous young woman. I know her son’s death gutted her.
RIP, Pride of Ireland.
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yep, even while Trump heaps racist abuse on his wife. Fuck that piece of shit.
lee
When that happened in ’92 my Catholic wife just said ‘She’s Irish and what the church did to the Irish is unconscionable’
Paul in KY
Those rightwing lickspittles also get their start in College republican politics/ratfucking and also frat stuff (if they are not too weird for a frat).
Chetan Murthy
@pacem appellant: just to add to what you said: they protected thousands of predators worldwide and used a worldwide conspiracy to do so, managed by a worldwide hierarchy that demanded absolute obedience. And yes, when a single seer pointed it all out They pilloried her and drove her from the public eye.
oatler
RIP. The late great Jan Hooks did a great Sinead in “The Sinatra Group” sketch from SNL.
pacem appellant
@Chetan Murthy: Didn’t Guilliani appear on SNL a few weeks later and stitch the photo back together? We got it soooo wrong in ’92. I’m embarrassed for 14-year-old me.
matt
is VegeMitch still in charge? He hasn’t been all there for months.
oldgold
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
My fear is in October of 2024 something like this happens to Biden.
I know very few here agree with me, but I do not think octogenarians should be holding high positions in our government.
trollhattan
@The Pale Scot: Great choice. Also recommend their collaboration Factory Girl, from “Tears of Stone”
Probably not by coincidence, Joni Mitchell does IMO the definitive version of “The Magdelene Laundries” on the same record.
Chetan Murthy
@pacem appellant: no idea; I was out of the country, didn’t have a teevee.
trollhattan
@oatler: Yeah, Phil Hartman shouting “Cue ball!” addressing her had me losing it.
MattF
It’s not just happenstance— it’s a fact that DeSantis keeps hooking up with crazy people. There are, apparently, a couple of adults in the DeSantis organization, but Fearless Leader himself isn’t one of them.
oldster
The Mitch Glitch seems like a real problem. That was not just a senior moment — that looked like a TIA or worse.
Why should his party force him to stay on? If he retires, Kentucky will send us another Republican, possibly a worse one. They should just let him retire.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@oldster: Yeah, but the Senate minority leadership would be up for grabs, and that could get ugly.
Villago Delenda Est
My sympathy for the Turtle can be found in the dictionary, and you all are familiar with where exactly to find it.
trollhattan
@pacem appellant: And what’s America’s Mayor up to, today?
Villago Delenda Est
@Dorothy A. Winsor: So much the better. Rethuglican self-immolation is always to be rooted for.
BellyCat
@oldgold: if so, Kamala has us covered.
Gravenstone
@oldster: His replacement would have neither the seniority nor deep institutional ratfucking knowledge McConnell possesses. That’s why they’ll keep him upright and ambulatory as long as possible.
MattF
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I imagine that the internal R politics in the Senate would end up looking a lot more like internal R politics in the House— more factional and more radical.
Omnes Omnibus
Sinead’s death is hitting me hard. She was an otherworldly talent who lived a difficult life. The world was a better place for her presence.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@oldster: like Pelosi, most of what McConnell does best is done behind the scenes, it’s not a given that John Thune or whoever could fill those shoes so easily. The money people McConnell has built relationships with might have trouble deciding if they should or want to talk to Thune, or Scott, or Cruz, or Hawley, or….
Villago Delenda Est
@pacem appellant: It’s been bad since its founding.
Betty Cracker
@oldster: They have a Dem governor but if I recall correctly, they’ve rigged it so he can’t send a sane replacement?
zhena gogolia
@BellyCat: Yep. That’s what I was going to say.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Villago Delenda Est: From our POV, yes.
gvg
Claremont Institute-ins’t that the one that produced the stalker Charles Johnson that got arrested for various things like breaking into a Congresswoman’s office to bug it (probation), filming misleading videos and some other things, getting crazier as time went on? Little Green Footballs kept researching him because of the name coincidence. I would say Claremont is a red flag now.
We need better mental healthcare at an earlier stage.
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus:
Amen.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Betty Cracker: yeah, this came up when McConnell fell and at other points when he seemed unwell. They’ve got that seat sewn up.
Yarrow
@oldster:
Why would you think anyone is forcing him to stay? Mitch is all about power. The Senate is his lifeblood. He’ll give it up when he’s dead.
Betty Cracker
@Omnes Omnibus: Same.
Chetan Murthy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I read that after a pause, he came back to the presser. And I thought to myself: how inhumane, how heartless, do these GrOPer Sens (and sure, Yertle too) have to be, that when an 81-year-old man has a “moment”, instead of rushing him off to medical evaluation, they wait until they think he’s past it, and then just continue on with him?
They’re all ghouls. I mean, I want Yertle to shuffle off — he’s a fucking enemy — but they’re his *friends and colleagues* FFS.
Adrian Lesher
Unfortunately, Clay is still given acting roles by Martin Scorcese, Bradley Cooper and Woody Allen.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
Those staffers are a good example of what I worry about for the future. Demographics aren’t going to save us. While we’ve been ignoring young, troubled white men, because we felt they were doing just fine, they’ve been radicalizing them.
Manyakitty
@Villago Delenda Est: totally
gene108
@oldgold:
Biden’s age is an issue with a lot of voters, though not so much on this blog.
Alison Rose
Sinead was a brave and beautiful soul who was done horribly wrong by too many people. I remember when “No Man’s Woman” came out in 2000 and it felt so powerful, to hear her take joy in the love she got from her higher power after being abused and diminished by shitty human men.
Phylllis
@oldster: I think freezing like that is also a Parkinson’s syndrome.
JPL
@trollhattan: yup He flipped.
oldgold
@BellyCat: I like her, but I do not think my view of her is widely held.
Betty Cracker
@gene108: I agree, but there’s nothing to be done about it that wouldn’t worsen our position, so I hope for the best.
Yarrow
@Chetan Murthy: I’m baffled that people think Mitch isn’t the one saying he wants to go back out there. Why do you think it’s the fault of his “friends and colleagues?” Doesn’t Mitch have agency?
ian
Prayers do get answered, they just sometimes take a couple years longer than anyone expects to be fulfilled.
AxelFoley
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
This. All the way this. 👆🏾
Geminid
@Betty Cracker: I think Kentucky law would require Governor Beshear to select a new Senator from the same party as the old one.
Beshear could try to find a Republican office holder who wasn’t a knuckle dragger, but I expect he’d have slim pickings.
sab
@Omnes Omnibus: Y’all here on BJ despise Outlander TV but her version of their theme song was very raw.
Omnes Omnibus
@Omnes Omnibus: I remember rushing out to buy The Lion and the Cobra the moment I heard Mandinka.
Baud
@Geminid:
I wonder whether he could refuse to name anybody if the GOP insists on someone too crazy. And whether he would.
rikyrah
RIP
She was very talented.
Very troubled.
And very right about the Pope and the Catholic Church.
citizen dave
Sinead’s SNL action is one of–maybe the most–ballsiest thing a popular performer has done. On purpose; fuck the consequences. Way ahead of time and place.
A few months ago watched an old video (youtube–on phone or I would link) of her doing Danny Boy. Simply awesome.
trollhattan
@Geminid: Geez, considering Kentucky’s population I’m not liking the odds.
Suzanne
@Omnes Omnibus: Agreed.
rikyrah
@Geminid:
They deliberately changed the law to force the Governor to pick the replacement from the same party as the Senator they would be replacing.
The GOP would insist that he pick that Coon of an Attorney General that they have.
MattF
@Baud: There must be never-Trumpers, even in Kentucky… you think?
rikyrah
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
So much truth on this blog.
so.much.truth.
JCJ
@Omnes Omnibus: Amazing song. Amazing person. In the past I always wondered why people would react so much to the death of a singer, actor, etc. Then when Chester Bennington died I got hit so hard. Shortly after his death my daughter and I drove to Chicago and listened to Linkin Park the whole trip and I understood that his torment was the source of his talent. Now I find myself getting teary-eyed thinking of Sinead O’Connor and what torment she had inflicted upon her and how the world reacted in 1992 when she pulled back the curtain for people to look at what was being done in the name of the Catholic church.
JoyceCB
Just watched the video of McConnell freezing up – something very similar happened to my mother one day as she was talking to me. Right afterwards she was “it’s fine, leave me alone, I’m FINE!” She absolutely refused to see our doctor. About four months later she had a massive stroke, which did not kill her but messed up the rest of her life.
Geminid
@Baud: I don’t think Kentucky Republicans can insist on anybody in particular. The new Senator just has to be a Republican.
Beshear would almost certainly choose someone to fill the seat. He’s running for reelection this year, and leaving Kentucky with only one Senator for a year or more would be held against him. It would knock the props out from under his “Team Kentucky” brand.
Ken
Notable for being only the third time the New York times published the phrase “a boot stamping on a human face, forever”.
Jay
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:
They were already radicalized online and through family, long before they left High School.
30 years ago, none of them would have gotten even an unpaid internship as a coffee boy in 99% of the ReThug Grift Machine, for being too radical and willfully ignorant.
Now, ReThug’s actively recruit them.
From about Grade 8, the only person who could salvage them from their extremist path, was themselves.
Parfigliano
So A loyal Kentucky DEM registers as a Kentucky GOP and then the Gov appoints said person. A GOPer has been appointed as Kentucky law requires.
Fuck em. Let em howl.
Sister Golden Bear
@MattF: With apologies to The Onion: “Why do Nazis keep making my campaign videos?”
And RIP Sinéad O’Connor, may she finally find peace of mind and soul.
rikyrah
@JoyceCB:
I’ll be honest. I think Turtle has already had a stroke. Remember that story from the restaurant where he fell to the ground?
And then they hid him away for a couple of months?
Jay
@rikyrah:
Ken
@MattF: I was thinking along the lines of a Democrat who switched parties about ten minutes before the appointment. That would depend on how carefully the legislature defined party membership in the law, of course, but given that they’re Republicans….
Sister Golden Bear
@Yarrow: Also — I don’t remember which past senator it was attributed to — the funeral for a sitting senator is far grander and receives far more attention than a funeral for a retired senator.
Geminid
@rikyrah: Once a person McConnell’s age sustains those kinds of injuries, they often start to slide down hill.
Roger Moore
@Betty Cracker:
Most states have some kind of rule requiring the governor to appoint someone from the same party as the old senator. I think in some cases the party is even allowed to nominate a replacement. I guess it makes some kind of sense. I wouldn’t want a Republican governor to be free to appoint a Republican replacement for a Democratic senator who couldn’t finish their term.
Philbert
@Geminid: KY GOP pushed that in fairly recently as Mitch began to decline.
Also, for all the bad, Mitch did stick up strongly for Ukraine.
JMG
@Parfigliano: Alas, the law says that the Republicans in the legislature put forward three names, and Beshear has to pick one of them.
On the plus side, this is an opportunity for much Republican infighting and backbiting Beshear can make worse.
Roger Moore
@Chetan Murthy:
FWIW, the article I saw mentioned that the Senator who escorted him away was a physician, so he had some kind of medical attention. It’s not as good as seeing a dedicated specialist, but it’s a far sight better than just being abandoned. I also wouldn’t be the tiniest bit surprised if A) McConnell was the one who insisted on coming back, quite possibly against advice, and B) he got some kind of check-up after the presser was over.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
from twitter, Ron DeSantis, looking pretty jittery, like he can feel the dream slipping away, names RFK Jr to his shadow administration. “Yes, the medical stuff, I’m very good on that” as in the deluded ranting about vaccines
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Betty Cracker: Here’s an article written today about various sides in Kentucky trying to pass bills about how a replacement senator would be chosen.
trollhattan
I vote we introduce him to a few.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Thankfully, his cruelty overcomes a decent person’s natural inclination to feel pity for such a pathetic creature.
Geminid
@Ken: Andy Beshear is a popular Governor, but that’s a trick that could cost him reelection this fall. And if he wins, he’ll have a good shot at beating Rand Paul in 2028.
So I think the short term benefit of having one more Democratic Senator, for the remainder of a Congress with a Republican House majority, would be outweighed by the costs. Kentuckians really need a second Beshear term.
Miss Bianca
@oldgold: Yes, we know you’re just *concerned*, not an ageist or anything . Although maybe you ought to consider changing your nym to “younggold”. You know, so we don’t mistake *you* for one of the Olds who need to be shipped off to the nearest convenient ice floe.
Roger Moore
@JCJ:
For me, it was Tom Petty. I don’t know why. I liked his music, but he was never someone I would have listed as one of my favorites. Somehow his death really hit me hard anyway.
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: Agreed on all counts.
trollhattan
Goddamn Powell one-trick pony asshole.
Geminid
@Philbert: Yes, the $44 billion for military aid passed in last December’s Omnibus spending bill has been crucial to Ukraine’s defence, and McConnell deserves credit for that.
But not one cookie shall I give him!
Jeffro
if anyone is interested, almost like a stopped clock (except it’s only this once), Henry Olsen is actually right about something today and not just subtly flacking for our billionaire overlords:
The Fed needs to knock it off with the interest rate hikes after today
Yeah – you tell ’em, Henry!
rikyrah
@Jay:
Yes…one of those that Harriet would have shot back in the day.
Does nothing but shuck and jive and tapdance for Mr. Charlie.
HinTN
@trollhattan:
Begging the question of what exactly they are afraid might be unearthed in discovery.
Jay
@Miss Bianca:
“convenient ice flow?”
Up here, we don’t have those any more, even in winter,
we have taken to using floating rafts of plastic trash,
rikyrah
@Jeffro:
I agree. The USA has the lowest inflation rate amongst the 1st World Nations. The least they could have done is keep the interest rates steady.
trollhattan
@Roger Moore: Spouse caught Petty playing here and really liked the show, so I started to think “Hey, I’ve never seen him, I should do something about that” and two weeks later, he was dead.
Mike in NC
Scratch a crackpot and you’ll generally trace where they came from. RWNJ Chip Roy was formerly Chief of Staff to none other than Ted ‘Cancun’ Cruz before he was a Texas Congressman.
Jay
@rikyrah:
Well you have the earned privilege to use that term,…..
Jeffro
@trollhattan: ah, ya beat me by a minute!
I hear you about “one-trick”, though. The interest rate hikes had very little to do with cooling inflation imho.
trollhattan
@Jeffro: 1999, that would roughly be when Clinton et al had the U.S. at a balanced budget with the debt plunging. Then, somebody had a bright idea with “It’s your money, you should get it back” as an election slogan only not including “and by ‘you’ I only mean richer than rich people” and managed to have SCOTUS steal the presidency for him.
Good times.
raven
@Roger Moore: My SIL saw his last show. I saw him soon after I got sober and all I could think was “this is what I’ve been missing all this years of getting fucked up to go to music’ shows!
Roberto el oso
I was fortunate enough to see Sinead twice. Although they are complete opposites in terms of onstage dynamism, I had the same awestruck reaction to O’Connor as when I saw Kate Bush. Perhaps their mesmerizing quality had something to do with how tiny they looked. They ruled the place and made one feel as if one was in a cathedral that was somehow as intimate as a pub.
On the matter of up-and-coming Nazi Jugend-types, I enjoyed the restraint of “At 32, Burra is a relative elder statesman” …. given the dung-splattered abattoir that he represents this rang as odd as the possibility of a tender ballad by GWAR.
Alison Rose
@trollhattan: I’m sorry you never got to see him live. Their shows were always a ton of fun. I saw them maybe half a dozen times, including twice when they did two long runs at The Fillmore in SF, one in 1997 and one in 99. Amazing to see a band like that, that you usually see in a huge arena, in this small intimate space.
Shalimar
Andrew “Dice” Clay’s act was an over-the-top parody of misogynistic assholes. Kind of like the Colbert Report was a few decades later. That said, most of Colbert’s fans realized it was a character, whereas the vast majority of Clay’s fans were horrible people who wished they could get away with saying what he said.
oldgold
@Miss Bianca: Yes, when it comes to the President, Senators, House Members and Judges I am an ageist.
catclub
From g to HH. adjusted for ya.
dww44
@oldgold: I’m with you. Biden has been great but the odds are stacked against the same being true for another 5 years. Yet the path for a younger capable and charismatic candidate seems to not exist as long as he sits atop. And, with regard to women candidates, I just don’t know if that is viable or likely to be successful in 2024. My not so political spouse and his brother want someone different. Interestingly, Gavin Newsome appeals to both of them. Politically active granddaughter (and she really is) says that her Gen Z cohorts want someone different.
catclub
@trollhattan:
agreed.
record breakingly rapid climb
FTFY
move fast and break things… they are still trying
Geminid
@rikyrah: That would be Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is Governor Beshear’s opponent this year.
Generally, polling shows Beshear with about a 10 point lead; a recent Republican-commissioned poll showed Beshear’s lead at 4 points.
Alison Rose
@dww44: Being that Newsom (no e on the end :P) is on Biden’s reelection team, he isn’t going to run against him in 2024. I’m fairly convinced that everything he’s doing now is to prepare for a run in 2028, though. He’ll only be 61, which in national politics is practically a Spring chicken.
Betty Cracker
@Shalimar: That’s Clay’s go-to excuse, and maybe it was an act, but I don’t buy it as a defense of the toxic sludge he pumped into popular culture. He made an environment that already sucked for women even worse. It insults Colbert to mention him in the same breath, IMO.
laura
@trollhattan: i vote for the Belle Isle Giant Slide! https://youtu.be/arYSvb6ogVo
db11
@oldgold: I’m not worried about Biden’s cognitive competence — relative to his age — but rather, the not-insignificant risk that a physical health issue appears sometime between now and the election.
I had a group of half a dozen older friends that were all vital and active through their late 70’s: all of them developed health issues starting around Biden’s current age. Not one of them lived past 84.
I’m not saying this will happen to Biden, but wishing away that risk doesn’t eliminate it — and it would be very consequential if it were realized.
That said, I still think we have no choice but to white-knuckle it through with Biden until post-election. Any other scenario worsens the Dem’s electoral odds.
I would be more than happy to see Biden re-elected and either serve out his full term — or hand off to Kamala. I just hope to hell he makes it there intact.
Jay
@catclub: the Fed are trying to bring back the Reagan Recession 21.5% interest rates and Unemployment rates of 10.8% to “cool” the economy and sabotage workers, the middle class and Bidenomics.
Chetan Murthy
@Shalimar: I have to say, I don’t remember it that way. I remember Clay as being a straight-up misogynist. Whereas, Colbert …. it was *clear* that he was playing a part — very, very clear.
MattF
@Betty Cracker: Yeah. Somehow… everyone knew that Colbert’s character was an act, but not Clay’s. How did that happen?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
That path doesn’t appear very clear to me if, by choice or otherwise, Biden were no longer at the top of the ticket. I can’t imagine a primary that would produce a stronger candidate at this point.
Roberto el oso
@Mike in NC: And neither of them are actual Texans.
Cameron
Videos of oiled-up musclemen and Nazis? A lead character pining after their dream, showing off for the world in their sexy white boots? I’ve seen this before – so have a lot of you…..
https://youtu.be/yMpSQV1-bsA
zhena gogolia
@db11:
Yes, that’s right, and let’s stop badmouthing our own candidate. R’s would never do that.
ETA: I can’t believe I’m living through “but her e-mails” once again. Fascism, people, focus!!!
patrick II
@oldgold:
I agree with you, but if our choice is octogenarian or evil octogenarian I go with the former.
Cameron
@Jeffro: There is absolutely no reason I can think of why the Fed should be raising interest rates. What positive effect on the economy could be attained?
Jackie
@Baud: It depends on timing: KY governor election is THIS Nov. If McTurtle needs to be replaced, it’ll be after. Beshear is well-liked in KY, but he’s not going to do something stupid to risk not getting re-elected.
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Whereas I can easily imagine a bitterly contested primary that leaves lingering hard feelings that dim our chances in a general election. I don’t think the folks who are concerned about Biden’s age are wrong or ageist or whatever, but sticking with Biden seems like the obvious best choice to me, absent a change in his health.
trollhattan
@laura: Yee-haw! How about it, Mitch, for the kids!
Do we know the most common bolt size used in its assembly? Asking for a friend.
Chetan Murthy
@zhena gogolia: Indeed. Sure, Biden’s a bit (maybe even a good bit) too old. But he’s been better than any of us could have reasonably hoped-for. Way, way better. He’s probably one of the greatest Presidents in our history. We oughta stop doomster-ing, and start celebrating how great he is. How great he can be.
And he’s assembled a team of pretty excellent people (starting with MVP), hasn’t he? In addition to our governors! Big Gretch, Newsom, Kate Brown, Gov. Lujan-Grisham, probably others I’ve forgotten. We have a deep bench for when the time comes.
Baud
Maybe we can compromise and persuade Bernie Sanders not to run for reelection next year.
patrick II
@Gravenstone:
McConnell may no longer have that knowledge either. There just comes a time.
FelonyGovt
@Roger Moore: Yes, for me, Tom Petty and Prince. 😕🥲
patrick II
@Betty Cracker:
He has to pick a Republican, so that is correct.
catclub
Yes, of course. The senator appointed has to be a republican, but not necessarily an office holder and not selected by the Kentucky GOP. How mad does Beshear want to make them? Back in the day there were people like Shirley Chisholm who were republicans. Find one of those. If you know what I mean.
trollhattan
@Alison Rose: Newsom has me convinced he’s an unironically loyal national Democrat and whatever his long-term plans, will do his part to help Biden achieve a smooth reelection, whether that means stumping for him or staying away from the limelight.
His trips to Florida are more to poke DeSantis than to raise his own profile.
He won’t term out until 2026.
Jay
@Cameron:
If too many people are employed, that creates upwards pressure on Employers to provide living wages and benefits, as people quit shit jobs for better jobs,
and that makes the Job Creator’s (snark) class has a sadz, because we are supposed to just be serfs and nobodies.
So jacking up interest rates when inflation is falling, is about killing jobs, not inflation created by Covid shortages, Corporate profiteering and strong Employment.
patrick II
@gene108:
I am for Biden because, in addition to his being a fine president, I think he has the best chance of beating Trump. But I agree that his age is a problem. Not just his age, he is clearly more frail than he was even a few years ago.
But, having said that, which more age-appropriate Democrat would have a better chance at winning the nomination and then beating Trump?
Sister Golden Bear
House Republicans convene hearing to attack transgender people’s existence
Because of course they are.
Meanwhile, a new paper in the Lancet confirms gender-affirming care is preventative care. Yet another in the long line of actual scientific studies showing trans healthcare is beneficial.
Patients are suing Vanderbilt University Medical Center for turning over the private medical records of over 100 transgender patients to the TN AG for an investigation that they’re claiming was politically motivated.
Plus an absolutely damning story about internal discussions at Genspect, a pseudo-scientific groups who’s been the go-to for fake “evidence” used by anti-trans haters. ”
This is my absolutely unshocked face.
Jackie
@Jackie: Ehh missed the edit window: I stand corrected, KY election for gov is 2024. I don’t know why I thought it was this year 🤷🏼♀️
Miss Bianca
@oldgold: Well, guess what, pal…you go to war with the legislators you have, not the legislators you wish you had. And youth qua youth is vastly overrated as a leadership quality. Unless you got something else going for you, just being young is no guarantee of effectiveness. Quite the opposite, in my experience.
catclub
@db11:
Biden was the sharpest guy at his press conferences… by far.
I would love for them to use those as ads.
rikyrah
@db11:
I will be honest with everyone about Biden’s age….
I’m just asking him to hang on until January 20, 2025, Noon.
Past that, we have a process in place that handles what happens.
So, keep all positive thoughts and whatever you do (pray, chant, meditate) for our President.
Miss Bianca
@zhena gogolia:
IKR? Why the fuck that salient factor appears to be so hard for everyone to grasp eludes me. And for fuck’s sake – it’s not like Biden doesn’t have a younger, more diverse, and incredibly competent and intelligent cabinet and team to work with, from his VP on down. Jesus Christ. This obsessive focus on Biden’s age is just making me crazy. WE’RE NOT GOING TO GET BETTER THAN WHAT WE ALREADY HAVE.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@catclub:
Bad news – the lunatics running the Kentucky GOP create the list of three names that he can choose from, and there are plenty of genuine psychopaths that they can put on that list.
Geminid
Turkish journalist Ragip Soylu posted a picture of President Erdogan with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniya standing on either side of him. They’re smiling, while Erdogan has his usual dyspeptic look.
This meeting has been scheduled for some time. Israeli PM Netanyayu was supposed to meet Erdogan tomorrow but his trip was postponed because of his recent pacemaker installation.
Soylu posted some other interesting video this morning, of a new woman Provincial Governor being saluted by policemen. Woman governors are nothing new for Turkiye, but this one was newsworthy because she was the first Turkish Provincial Governor ever to wear a headscarve. Twenty years ago those cops could have arrested her, because the hijab was forbidden for public officials and employees.
And university students as well; in 2002 a woman decided to wear a headscarve to her final exam and caught a six month jail sentence for “disruption.”
So the commenters on Soylu’s Twitter post debated whether this was a step forward or backward. It was a sharp looking scarve though, a pretty turquoise that matched her calve-length dress
Tom Q
@Betty Cracker: All US political history in the 2-party era shows that 1) incumbent presidents are more likely to be win election than replacement candidates from the same party and 2) this situation only gets worse when there’s a serious incumbent intra-party battle (see: 1952. 1968, 1976, even 2016 to some extent). The idea that Dems could smoothly/rancor-free pick a younger replacement for Biden is laughable to anyone who knows the party.
I honestly think some of this talk is people (including pols) who think re-electing Biden could mean Harris would become president before 2028. Some are aghast at this idea because they don’t like her/think she’s a risky candidate…but others don’t like the idea because it positions her to be a strong candidate for the election following, which would stifle the plans of a lot of ambitious folk.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@catclub:
They could, for example, choose elevate the status of a GOPer in a safe House seat (Massie or Comer). They could also get rid of a legislative gadfly that they could pick off in a coming primary, too (Savannah Maddox, Joe Fisher, Felicia Raybourn, Adrienne Southworth, Whitney Westerfield).
Or, they could simply crown an asshole like KY Senate President Robert Stivers, my law school classmate and former friend from the corrupt, impoverished shithole of Clay County – a place that has been run into the ground by generations of Stivers running local governement.
Chetan Murthy
@Tom Q: and they’re right! I mean she’s a woman! Eeeeew!
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Tom Q:
I love the energy and age of our national Dem bench.
We just need to make our way out of this peculiar morass.
lowtechcyclist
@MattF:
“Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, the third time it’s enemy action.” – Auric Goldfinger
Tom Q
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
No argument there. I love a lot of younger Democrats, and will enjoy watching them ascend. But, for this moment in time, Biden running as unchallenged incumbent with a recovering economy is the party’s best chance of winning an election on which the entire future of the nation depends.
lowtechcyclist
@Phylllis:
My dad had Parkinson’s in his 80s. I was going to say the same thing.
Geminid
@Tom Q: Vice President Harris would likely have the inside track in 2028, but it will be an open field and she’ll have to earn the win.
I think highly of her and the other prospective candidates as well, but I can wait until then. I was somewhat appalled the other day when I saw someone wishing for a primary next year. It would be so cool, they said, to see “Gretchen, Pete and Kamala” debate each other. I though this showed a very unserious attitude towards politics.
Yarrow
GAH! Concern trolling about Biden’s age does not help elect a Democratic president with strong coattails so we can win the Senate and House. Whatever concerns you have about his age, Biden is the candidate. Blathering on about your concerns about his age doesn’t help him get elected.
Why is it that the only-three-years-younger guy who’s going to win the Republican nomination seems to get a pass on age while everyone “has concerns” about Biden’s age and the press keeps talking about it? Because it’s a Republican strategy to get everyone talking about Biden’s age and health. It’s all they’ve got. And it’s working. Look at everyone here expressing concerns. Every time you talk about it with people you’re amplifying Republican talking points. Good for you. Doing their work for them.
Sure, it would be great if he was a decade younger. But he’s not. So it doesn’t matter if we wish he was. Figure out how to counter any “concerns about his age” when talking with anyone who might be willing to vote for him. Talk about his accomplishments. Compare him to TFG, since those are the two choices. Those are the people we need on our side and they’ll hearing these “concerns” and parroting them back just like we’re seeing here.
Geminid
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: From what you say, Republicans have to pick three candidates for Beshear to choose from. That might not be a very convivial process!
E.
@MattF: Colbert created a character to laugh at; Dice created one to laugh with.
zhena gogolia
@Tom Q: Bingo.
zhena gogolia
@Yarrow: Bingo!
Steeplejack
@oldster:
After seeing the video, it is clear that McConnell’s vacant-eyed freeze lasted for 20 seconds before anyone stepped in to help him. That does not square with his aides later whitewashing it as “he felt lightheaded.”
eversor
Biden will be the nominee and will win. He’s healthy for his age and while not a grand orator like Clinton or Obama is a fantastic retail politician. We all signed on to his run in 2024 when we voted for him in 2020.
He’s a transistional president and he seems to know it as well. The next group are not going to be the Clinton and Obama era types and that’s fine. Change happens.
Young people are mostly mad that their party is a gerontocracy and still pretends the upper middle class isn’t pulling ahead as well and also doesn’t need to be taxed into oblivion. Along with the non stop defense of Republicans/Conservatives/Christians actually being good, but just doing it wrong. All of those things are not defendable on any level.
The Democrats are also MUCH better at retail politics, mostly the younger ones, than they were before. AOC and Illhan Omar jump into gaming matches with people and talk to them. This may not seem like a lot, but it is. These things get live streamed and the videos rack up millions of views. It’s not fake either. They built their own computers and the specs are VERY respectable. They are also good enough at the games, and know enough about computers, it’s obvious it’s not fake at all. They talk about politics, social issues and more, but are often just there to have a fun time. They also talk about how the only way to get what you want is to start voting, specifically primarying the fuck out of people.
Even conservative right wingers find it cool. Cause “yo, AOC just jumped into my stream” is kinda fun. If you want to reach the youngs that’s the way to do it. All this stuff flies under the radar of the older generations, but it is going on.
Chief Oshkosh
@Jay: Who made Powell king? How do we get him to spend more time with his family?
zhena gogolia
@eversor:
I approve this message!
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@E.: Or another way of looking at it: the version of Stephen Colbert that hosted the Colbert Report didn’t need a disclaimer for people to know that it was a parody. With Andrew Dice Clay, a reasonable person might easily think that his act was the genuine article.
UncleEbeneezer
Transgender Floridians Seek Emergency Block on Adult Healthcare Restrictions in SB 254:
FelonyGovt
@Steeplejack: Also, he did not stumble or look like he was going to fall. He was bolt upright for the 20 seconds, but his mind had left the building. Wish I could find it in my heart to be sympathetic, but I can’t.
Anyway
@Geminid:
headscarf
brendancalling
Mitch had a stroke? Gee, that’s sad—for him, anyway.
So guess what? I’ve been trying to have a more balanced diet (fewer carbs, more vegetables, leaner meat) and have found that making bibimbap is super easy (lots of steps, but super easy). It’s basically a balanced meal in a bowl. I’m using this recipe.
Shalimar
@Betty Cracker: I haven’t seen one of his specials in over 30 years and have no interest in going back and seeing if my impression at the time was right. I also don’t keep in touch with any of the college friends who were fans because I thought they were assholes then. But I did get the impression from many of his jokes that he knew his clown was all bluster and that he was nothing like that in real life.
I also saw him as a helpful warning sign for who to avoid rather than having any real impact in making horrible people any worse. In the end though he isn’t important enough to argue about.
Steeplejack
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
“In charge of,” as in “sic him on the FDA or sic him on the CDC.” Great phrasing, Ron! Lets everyone know exactly where you are.
Kay
She was 14 and served 18 months in this terrifying religious prison for shoplifting – worse, her father turned her over to them.
She can rip up whatever she wants.
montanareddog
@Omnes Omnibus: I get you. I was not a great fan, musically.’She had her emotional difficulties, But she had a clear moral courage. And I have not been as moved about a musicians death since Ian Dury died, I think, who I loved, musically (And I sure loved Tom Petty, Bowie and Price more). I don’t know – maybe, it is because they were both shining stars who overtly had an inner sadness; or maybe I am overthinking. I just dont know
Betty Cracker
@Shalimar:
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
I’m in deep trouble.
Roger Moore
@Tom Q:
I think a lot of them just don’t like the idea of a minority woman becoming president. They cover for this with all kinds of other excuses- she isn’t ready, she’s too polarizing, she would be a bad candidate- but their biggest real objection is they’re bigots.
Even liberals- even liberals who devote their whole lives to helping out the less fortunate- can be bigots. It mostly shows up as paternalism. People like this are fine giving a helping hand to those in need, but at some level the still want White dudes to remain in charge.
Miss Bianca
@Roger Moore: I think you’re right on with this.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: A pantsless wit and indefatigable defender of the Democratic Party? You’ll be fine.
Geminid
@Anyway: Yeah, I had trouble in that one. I guess the plural is scarves.
eversor
@Roger Moore:
The Bible, including the New Testament, and Christ himself, is VERY clear on the role of women vs men in society. We still are largely, a society that tolerates the sick Christian ideology.
If this site cannot bring itself to voice a full throated and loud take down of that religion than it’s futile to even attempt to fight partriarchy politically. Are crosses yet as bad as swastiaks and the bible as bad as mein kampf? If no, then there is not point in debating patriarchy. If yes, the time has come.
That time will come. It’s locked in! And when it does, there is no going to be “but I was a good German” stunts to get out of it.
Geminid
@eversor: As a matter of practical politics, what exactly is it that you propose? For instance, Virginia Democrats plan to center three issues in this fall’s legislative elections: abortion rights, gun rights and improving public education. Do you think it’s neccesary (or wise) to add a fourth: the destruction of Christianity?
And what would you propose as a plank on this subject for Joe Biden’s reelection campaign?
Please don’t infer personal animus from these questions. I generally value your commentary on many subjects. But speaking as an essentially secularized person, I think this obsession is not rational.
And I would point out that you have several times remarked on the decline in Christianity among younger people, which I think undercuts the urgency of your argument.
Citizen Alan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
For that matter, Are there enough Freak show caucus types [n the senate to make an absolute miss out of the race for replacement, just as the freak shows in the house did to Kraven Mccarthy? I’m sure Tommy tubberville, rand Paul, and Marcia Blackburn all think they would make a better senate minority leader than John thune.
Miss Bianca
@eversor: Oh, ffs.
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca:
Co-sign.
Geminid
@Citizen Alan: I think most Republican Senators are too lazy to want the job. They have one of the cushiest jobs in politics as long as they don’t take on leadership responsibilities.
But it would be great to see a leadership contest, and I suspect we’ll get one before the year is out. Although next Spring, when they need to be putting all their energy into Senate races, would be even better timing.
rikyrah
He breaks it down like a fraction
Why the GOP IS SUDDENLY AGAINST PEPFAR😡😡
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT88kwPMh/
Jackie
@Yarrow: Great post!👍🏻
Jim, Foolish Literalist
that’s beautiful
evodevo
@Betty Cracker:
Yep…the lege fixed it so that a member of the same party must be nominated…
evodevo
@Phylllis: or maybe a mini-seizure
SomeRandomGuy
sab
@Sister Golden Bear: Jeezus fuck. You don’t have a shocked face but I do. I went to Vandy for grad school. Not med school, but I thought their med school people had exemplary ethics. Apparently I was wrong.
evodevo
@Jackie:
Uh, no, it is THIS Nov.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Kentucky_gubernatorial_election
TerryC
@pacem appellant: I was SO proud of here and thrilled when I watched that!
Paul in KY
@Gravenstone: It’s supposed to be that Cameron dude who’s running for governor right now. God willing he will lose this year & then the Senitortise will allow his evil minion to assume his post. Either than or he’s Feinsteining to the end.
Paul in KY
@Betty Cracker: Yup. The GQP super-majority fixed it. The fuckers.
Paul in KY
@Chetan Murthy: Mitch has no ‘friends’, only fellow travelers and back-scratchers.
Paul in KY
@Parfigliano: I think he gets a list from the GQP Party in state and has to pick from that list.
Paul in KY
@Shalimar: He was ‘supposed’ to be a certain kind of NYC yob. I always thought he really, really enjoyed playing that role.
Paul in KY
@rikyrah: I am pretty sure that if (please God) he wins election in 24 that he will serve out.