Mitch McConnell looks like a medieval artist's depiction of the Black Death. Here's why that's a problem for Joe Biden.
— Not up for trouble, please stop asking (@agraybee) September 7, 2023
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he has no plans to retire early and has reminded his colleagues of his unparalleled fundraising prowess amid recent questions about his freeze-ups. https://t.co/dTaac0nlfj
— Axios (@axios) September 7, 2023
… Between the lines: McConnell claimed that he’s had no freeze-up incidents beyond the two documented on camera.
= Now that he’s back in D.C., he’ll repeatedly be on camera during long work days.
President Biden and McConnell were born in the same year
Biden is clearly still fit mentally and physically
McConnell is not
Age is a red herring and was always just a cudgel to go after POTUS
Republicans and many in the media are sad their go to criticism is in tatters https://t.co/omlEw8ktZT
— Qondi (@QondiNtini) September 7, 2023
No they don't, most elected Republicans(especially those in the senate) have rallied behind McConnell in the last few weeks defending his health.
But it's nice to make shit up I guess, right?
— Hewie (@dahughjestanus) September 7, 2023
McConnell tries to downplay questions about his health pic.twitter.com/JQCiwRuLr9
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 6, 2023
NEW: During a closed door lunch, McConnell went over his health history & said he was given a “clean bill of health” by doctors, per Sen. Kennedy. And McConnell told GOP members he has only experienced freezing episodes twice — and they just happened to be in front of cameras.
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) September 6, 2023
In his first press conference since freezing for the second time, McConnell says that Biden "has been too slow" in giving more aide to Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/J53oyAMrpl
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 6, 2023
Response from ‘Ex-Newsmax & Ex-OANN WH Correspondent. Named Top 10 Twitter Influencer’ with 625,000 followers:
When discussing buzzards in the GOP, Little Prince Rand will not be out-media’d:
Sen. Rand Paul does not buy the "dehydration" explanation for Mitch McConnell's "freezing" event.
“I think it’s an inadequate explanation to say this is dehydration… Well, I practiced medicine 25 years and it doesn’t look like dehydration to me, it looks like a focal… pic.twitter.com/dNp65GeHbs
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) September 6, 2023
Knife in back. Twist to come. https://t.co/PBx03JbSXf
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) September 5, 2023
2/ Piece is also good reminder that Rand Paul is unquestionably the biggest raging cock in American politics, almost regardless of where you stand in politics. He and his dad both OG white supremacists but at least the dad had a congenial personality.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 6, 2023
But Josh ‘Hawlin’ Arse‘ Hawley is a real contendah!
Hawley: I did not vote for Mitch McConnell for leader. He is not my choice for leader. I think we need a change. pic.twitter.com/Y2dWbYTPox
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 7, 2023
Excellent annotations from Jim Newell, at Slate:
… Some context is useful here. When Florida Sen. Rick Scott challenged McConnell for the leadership position late last year, Hawley was in Scott’s corner. And he reiterated that a number of times to reporters on Tuesday. When I asked Hawley whether it was time for McConnell to step aside as leader given his health issues, he said, “You’ll have to ask somebody who voted for him.”
In a shocking correlation, it’s the Senate Republicans who’ve had antagonistic or frosty relationships with McConnell in recent years who seem most concerned about his recent health issues hampering his ability to stay on as leader. But that’s always been a small bloc. McConnell fended off Scott’s leadership challenge last year by a 37-to-10 vote. And those 37 senators, along with several of the 10, are still in lockstep behind McConnell’s leadership.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney won the planned response of the day.
“We might lose from Mitch McConnell 20 seconds a day,” he told reporters, “but the other 86,380 seconds are pretty darn good.”…
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who’s had a long up-and-down but more frequently down relationship with McConnell, offered a Cruzian master class in prepared ambiguity.
“The health scares he’s had were frightening,” Cruz said when I asked how concerned he was about McConnell’s leadership ability. “But age comes for us all, and Mitch is stubborn as a mule, and he’s tough. And so he’s been in my prayers in recent weeks.” (Stubborn as a mule: It works as both a compliment and a dig.)…
There had been some chatter last week from Senate Republicans about calling for a “special meeting” to discuss McConnell’s health. Since Senate Republicans already have three meetings a week in a format known as “lunch,” calling for a “special meeting” would’ve served little other purpose than to embarrass the man.
No such special meeting materialized. McConnell did, however, use the first 10 or so minutes of Wednesday’s lunch to give a personal status update. For someone so thoroughly disgusted at ever having to talk about his health, this mustn’t have been easy for him. But it appeared to have done the trick…
The most interesting part of Republicans’ lunch, though, may not have been what McConnell said or reiterated. It was the sequencing of lunch speakers. (If you’ve followed McConnell’s meticulous planning over the years, this seemed far from a coincidence.) As soon as McConnell finished speaking, Steven Law—a former McConnell aide and the chief of the “McConnell-aligned” super PAC the Senate Leadership Fund—“made a presentation about McConnell fundraising,” per Punchbowl News.
In other words: There was a reminder that McConnell controls the money…
The Pitchbot finds it unnecessary to gloss further:
‘The Devil They Know’: McConnell’s Health Issues Worry Democrats – The New York Times https://t.co/soyD5qISHY
— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) September 7, 2023
And before y’all start getting bright ideas…
I keep seeing this idea. This is not legal.
Kentucky law mandates that if McConnell retires, Beshear picks someone from a list of 3, selected by the Republicans. And he is required to do this within 21 days. He does not have the ability to appoint a RINO, a Dem, or nobody. https://t.co/taK11km77t pic.twitter.com/jQbgzlXKM5
— Lakshya Jain (@lxeagle17) September 5, 2023
Alison Rose
LOL fundraising prowess. How much money you gonna rake in when you’re halfway into the grave, Mitch?
dmsilev
Speaking of vultures circling Senators who should have retired a term or two ago, the LA Times today had a long piece on the twilight of Diane Feinstein’s career.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
You won’t stop One Weird Trickism that easily, I’m afraid
Look for lots of “If Beshear had any balls….”, even before McConnell causes sadness in no one other than possibly his donors by giving up the ghost.
Anyone else remember that long magazine article on McConnell– I wanna say Jane Mayer?– I believe none of McConnell’s three daughters speak to him. Also IIRC his ex-wife was said to be working on a tell-all that apparently didn’t tell enough
kindness
DiFi has already gone to that nice farm upstate. It’s just her body back in DC. MoscowMitch’s travails? Karma.
Snarki, child of Loki
Wonderful how that first photo of Moscow Mitch has him doing the “white power” hand gesture, isn’t it
And while there are procedures for replacing Mitch if he dies or quits, if he goes into a long term coma/brain freeze? Nope.
Mr. Bemused Senior
Rick Scott. Yes, let’s replace a zombie with a vampire.
You omitted Josh Marshall’s description of Rand Paul, paraphrasing Thomas Hobbes: “nasty, brutish and short.”
Geminid
Rand Paul had better enjoy his job while he can, because Andy Beshear is gonna mop the floor with him in 2028.
Alison Rose
Billy Porter last year was direct and correct about Navarro and these other subpoena-ignoring assholes!
Ken
I see he’s preparing for the Senate Republican caucus production of Rent.
different-church-lady
Harlow…
P….
Whitcomb .
piratedan
I kind of like the idea of the Ky Governor simply waiting and making their lege squirm, but I kind of doubt that he will. I think calling for a special election and allowing the voters decide is the right call, but can guarantee that the GOP of Ky is likely opposed to it because there’s a remote chance that they could lose.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Ken: I had the same thought, did James O’Keefe, the Max Bialystok (or maybe Leo Bloom) of WIngnut Welfare help him come up with that one?
Meanwhile, as Mitch is locked in and not quite losing a stare down with the Grim Reaper:
HumboldtBlue
dmsilev
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: You mean their old euphemism is now so bad at fooling people about what they really want that they need a new euphemism?
different-church-lady
@Mr. Bemused Senior: or a werewolf: Ted Cruz.
Geminid
@dmsilev: They caught the car, now they’re like, “Well, we didn’t really mean to catch all of the car!”
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Scout211
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: oooh, nice article. Link
Here’s some tidbits for those who can’t link through:
Sure
JanJosh, they are all against you now because they just don’t understand what you mean. So they need different words. Go ahead GOP with your word spinning. The electorate will never figure out what you are really up to.mrmoshpotato
Cry harder, Rand.
Geminid
@different-church-lady: McConnell knows that Joe Biden could sign a Ukraine aid bill tomorrow if Kraven McCarthy would stand up to the tankies in his caucus.
SpaceUnit
Beshear should just hold off appointing a replacement until the next election . . . the same way McConnell refused to approve Obama’s SCOTUS appointment.
bbleh
As observed elsewhere, I think we all need to recognize how BOLD and STATESMANLIKE Republican Senators are being by acknowledging that there is a perception of a possible problem! I mean, they have constituencies! They can’t be expected to deal with abruptly changing situations, let alone long-standing problems, suddenly and without warning! I think we all need to step back and take a deep breath and encourage consultation across the aisle and see how things play out and zzzzzz …
[wakes up suddenly] What? Oh yes, as I was saying, now that Republicans have stepped up, it’s time that Democrats step up also! and clean up all these messy problems, like dealing with our nutcases in the House and the resurgence of COVID and the hurricanes and wildfires and other aspects of climate change and the devastation of our immigration infrastructure left behind by That Guy and all the other stuff and by the way did you know Joe Biden is old? and … zzzzzz ….
Alison Rose
@HumboldtBlue: The only place I’ve seen it mentioned was in Heather Cox Richardson’s letter last night. NYT hasn’t said a thing about the trip at all, as far as I’ve seen.
Anne Laurie
But I am pleased to resemble that descriptor, myself!
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
That will be worse for them. The issue is they don’t care about women- they harm women. Erasing women more by removing them completely just makes it worse.
It is just wild to me that it has been a year and they still don’t get it. You don’t get babies without women. I know they would prefer we all be silent breeders but that isn’t going to happen.
Princess
McConnell could do what Fetterman and Ruskin did in similar circumstances. He could say, “hey, from time to time I experience absence seizures. They look scary but they’re not a huge deal and I’m getting excellent care.” He could help normalize disability. But he won’t.
Kay
It would be easier for the anti abortion lobby if the “babies” they want weren’t inside these disobedient women but they are – they’re going to have to deal with us.
Elizabelle
@Princess: I guess McConnell is more afraid of his feral Republicans than he is of the public in general.
Ken
@Scout211:
That excerpt seems to have left out the part where he exactly what he thinks it means. Or maybe he didn’t say, hoping no one will notice. Besides, if he said there should be exceptions, one of his pro-life constituents might shoot him.
bbleh
@Kay: I may just be paraphrasing, but in this, as in all the various laws and restrictions passed in all the red states, they are counting on fear. They are counting on women — especially women who feel vulnerable due to a stressful situation — to duck and cover, to avoid confrontation, not to seek out or pursue helpful courses of action, and instead to remain paralyzed, and in so doing obey.
It’s simple brutality, nothing more. See also the Taliban, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ultra-Orthodox Judaism, the majority of fundamentalist Christianist sects, and while we’re at it, history stretching from the early 20th century back to the Stone Age, etc. etc. etc.
(Sorry, am I overstating things …?)
frosty
Wait, wouldn’t that be hypocritical of them???
Scout211
Ha! Here’s what the article reports is the NRSC advice to the Senators about what they should say and the response from Emily’s list:
ETA: added a paragraph
Ken
@Princess: But if he shows weakness, the other men will kill him and take his
women and gold and sheepcommittee assignments and fundraising apparatus.Ken
More to the point, why would that suddenly bother them? It never has before.
bbleh
@Ken: and most importantly, his contacts with, ah, entirely legitimate funding organizations that happen to be based in Cyprus and other such places.
Mr. Bemused Senior
My daughter insists this is unkind to werewolves.
Eolirin
@SpaceUnit: Beshear probably can’t legally do that, but he can certainly force the courts to make him, which will take time, if he doesn’t think it’ll hurt his reelection chances too much. And who knows maybe he can win that on the merits.
That’s assuming McConnell dies or is forced to resign before the election.
Betsy
@Scout211:
gosh, what a concept! Those who believe that abortion is morally wrong , always, can choose not to have one … and those who face wrenching decisions can follow through on those decisions without meddlesome interference from anyone else not connected in the matter … and those who just need an abortion for any reason, can get one! What a concept
Eolirin
@Geminid: I am deeply skeptical that even a very popular but democratic governor can get elected to the senate in a state like Kentucky. Even against an extremely unpopular opponent.
But boy could we use that seat.
Geminid
@Eolirin: I’m sure many people are sceptical that Andy Beshear can beat Rand Paul in 2028, but I am not.
Betsy
@Scout211: the article says they’re thinking about going with “pro baby”? Oh my God wait till they find out that they’re gonna be asked whether that means they now support child care standards and subsidies, support for WIC and SNAP benefits, lactation support, or even paid maternity leave!
I can’t wait to see these baby-starving welfare-mom-hating forced-birth assholes called out on calling themselves “pro-baby”!
wjca
@Betsy: Actually, it’s worse than that.
Got that? They’re concerned about babies feeling pain. But, somehow the pain of babies doesn’t matter in cases of rape or incest. Why not? Ask them: why does it suddenly not matter due to something that the baby is entirely innocent of?
They don’t have an answer, of course. Because the putative explanation is entirely separate from their actual motivation.
Eolirin
@wjca: That position isn’t one they can hold and keep their base voters, so it’s kinda moot.
Alison Rose
@Betsy: If they wanna go with pro-baby, they might want to get to work on their maternal mortality rates and stop leaving those babies without mothers:
In case you’re curious, the state with the lowest maternal mortality?
California, baby. Abortion central!
This is part of why our governor says WE are the actual “pro-life” ones.
Danielx
@frosty:
Hypocrisy is an outdated concept for Republicans, just like conflicts of interest.
“The senator and I have interests, you have the conflict.”
mdblanche
So I got to read the Providence Journal’s political analysis of Gabe Amo’s primary win today. Apparently Rhode Island voters have now shocked the nation in a Congressional race two years in a row. Funny, I would think a shocking result would be something like one party winning what should be a safe seat for the other party for the first time in decades or an insurgent firebrand beating the entrenched establishment. But no, apparently the shock is Biden/Obama Democrats winning in a blue state. The media seem perpetually stuck in 2017 where a Trumpified GOP is going to win forever and what little is left of the Democratic Party is going to be taken over by Bernie Sanders. Which was a silly thing to believe even then but at least the mountain of evidence against it wasn’t as high. And apparently the list of losers in all this includes the press. Because their list of priors got disproved and now they’re going to have to work on re-evaluating them? Haha, no silly, it’s because the Sandernista candidate lost and now they’re going to be bored having to cover Democrats in Array instead of the infighting they were looking forward to.
Hoppie
Having proudly voted against Addison Mitchell McConnell III (as we used to say back in Fayette County, of the famous Kentucky Turd, er Third, family) SIX different times — changed my registration to San Diego in 2015 — I have a little perspective. As Deputinize Asia might confirm, a GREAT DEAL is known about Mitch among Kentucky Repubs that would otherwise, er, disqualify him. But Kentucky Repubs are trying out for the Hypocrisy Olympics, and clearly in the running.
And yes, it did involve young men. We live in Hillcrest, that part doesn’t bother me… it’s the fucking HYPOCRISY asshats.
Citizen Dave
@Alison Rose: Hey, we in Indiana not only are near the top in idiot Senators, we are #1 in Baby Boxes, with #105 installed this week. It was a real local news story.
smith
@Alison Rose: Red states have a solution to that! They can just follow Idaho’s example ,and dissolve the state committee that tracks and reviews maternal mortality cases. Out of sight, out of mind!
Alison Rose
@smith: Ah yes. The “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it” method of governing.
frosty
@Danielx: Or in the words of a Baltimore City councilman, whose name I’ve forgotten: “Conflict of interest? It doesn’t conflict with my interest.”
Another Scott
Meanwhile, … One for Geminid – Science.org:
Interesting. We’ll see if it pans out – it is research after all.
Nature – Scientific Reports has an open-access article on the Mali field. It was discovered in 1987, and used to produce electricity for the village since 2012.
Cheers,
Scott.
Mallard Filmore
@Kay:
And yet Republicans refuse to take care of the kids that are already here.
HumboldtBlue
US Open has a corker of a match going on, Keys USA vs Sabalenka Evil Empire.
Betsy
@Alison Rose: You belabor my point! Excellent data.
Betsy
@Kay: Absolute erasure.
I can imagine the makeup of the room where that discussion took place.
Geminid
@Another Scott: The Mali story is wild. They were drilling water wells about 100 meters deep when a gas started coming out of one. Additional, “stacked” reservoirs have been found at greater depths.
Now that they are utilizing the hydrogen there is no apparent drop in pressure. Scientists are trying to figure out if this represents seepage from a large reservoir or if the hydrogen is being generated continuously.
like a metaphor
Saw the Austin Lounge Lizards in Golden Gate Park, back in the late 90s, and dammit if this song is still not as relevant today as it was then. Maybe even more so: Teenage Immigrant Welfare Mothers On Drugs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHnjAjZo2ck
C Stars
@Betsy: Yeah, “pro baby” not only sounds extremely stupid but will remind people that the GOP would actually be quite happy for babies and their parents to starve to death.
Betsy
@Scout211:
Josh Hawley said, in re: “pro-choice” and “pro-life” terminology:
That sounds curiously similar to … men on legislative committees, discussing how to shape the laws governing women’s bodies for them, talking about organs and showing they don’t have a clue, like asking whether a pregnant woman could swallow a pill with a tiny camera to go down and look at the fetus in utero (REAL QUESTION THAT WAS ASKED BY A MALE LEGISLATOR), or thinking that rape victims have a natural means of ejecting an embryo because “the juices don’t flow” (WTF!?!), or not even knowing what “anencephalic” means, or not having any idea that a significant percentage of miscarriages don’t clean up after themselves and have to be surgically resolved in order to avoid life-threatening or life-changing complications.
Fuck these guys with a rusty implement! Seriously!
What conceivable business does any male non-health-care-provider even have TALKING about this!?! Stay out of the room!!! Stay the fuck out, male fuckwits!!!!
Maxim
@Another Scott: This proposed method of “encouraging” the production of hydrogen sounds uncomfortably similar to fracking. I hope I’m wrong.
C Stars
@Hoppie: I don’t know about that, but I do know a fair few people in Kentucky and pretty much all of them think of him as totally corrupt, arrogant, and self serving.
Geminid
@mdblanche: I have not found final vote totals for the Rhode Island primary, but evidently Gabe Amo won with over 30% of the vote. That’s pretty good considering there were 10 other candidates.
Patrick Kennedy, who represented the district from 1995 to 2011, endorsed Amo and campaigned for him.
C Stars
@Alison Rose: I’m sure the screening program is important, but there’s also the fact that all Californians can access healthcare and specifically prenatal and maternal care.
C Stars
“pro babies locked up in cages and separated from their mothers.”
How’s that for specific?
Betsy
@wjca: Easy — because in those cases there’s no SLUT to punish and shame! (Dry laugh)
Betsy
@smith:
@Alison Rose:
@Kay:
Yep. Woman-erasure.
Geminid
@Maxim: It sounds like they’re not fracking or even employing horizontal drilling technology. There are plenty of articles about this to be found by looking up “Mali hydrogen.” It’s interesting stuff.
Another Scott
@Maxim: +1
Government funded research is a way to figure out the issues and how to regulate the industry, before they go hog wild chasing “free” billions with potentially nasty consequences (contaminated water, market distortions, etc.).
Automobiles got horse crap off the streets, but…
We’ll see!
Cheers,
Scott.
karen marie
Rand Paul claiming he “practiced medicine for 25 years” is a jaw-dropping lie. He’s an ophthalmologist. He was licensed in ’93, was elected in 2010. He practiced for less than 17 years and has consistently refused to adhere to continuing ed requirements to remain board certified.
kalakal
Meanwhile in the Atlantic Lee seems to be trying for the rapid intensification record having increased maximum sustained windspeed by 80mph in the last 24 hours making it a Cat 5 with winds currently at 160mph and still strengthening. The track guidance hasn’t changed so hopefully it won’t directly hit anywhere but looks likely to cause a lot of grief nonetheless
Jay
Lady Bug update.
So, the frist, few off today, and I was wrong, they are not 5 Spot Lady Bugs but 9 Spot Lady bugs,
and we now have 6 in chrysalis stage,
and 5 more setting up for chrysalis stage.
And I still have no clue where they came from, (the larvae can only crawl), never seen them on our plants, even in past years when we grew Nasturtiums and had a major black aphid infestation. We are on the 22nd floor, nobody above us has patio plants, and we have not had any aphids this year, (their key food).
Weird.
Another Scott
@Jay: A friend had a bunch of lady bugs under his house’s siding. When they came out they were yellow and hungry. Their bites hurt.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
patrick II
Hunter Biden had a deal and was about to avoid jail until Republicans, particularly thare on the House Judiciary committee, loudly complained. Then, the Trump appointed judge nixed the deal and the Republican prosecutor, Weiss, lost his nerve and is taking Hunter to trial for a violation that is never prosecuted. Impeachment is next. and Republican character assasination grinds on.
Jay
@Another Scott:
they find cavities to hibernate in. Siding, loose bark, etc.
These are turning from larvae into adults.
Alison Rose
@Jay:
Thought you were talking about Republicans.
Jay
@Alison Rose:
Silly Rabbit, Rethug’s don’t Adult.
wjca
Well, for openers to
a) show that not all men (not even close) are ignorant idiots, and
b) to help build up big majorities to throttle the misogynistic idiots. Because you need at least part of the other half of the population on-side to help out.
Hoppie
@karen marie: He was never “board certified”; in order to be certified he created HIS OWN separate certification process. Entirely bogus.
wjca
Optimist! An appalling number of them would probably take the “the slut asked for it” position. Except if it was their immediate family, and perhaps even then. Those guts really are a puece of work.
tobie
@patrick II: if I recall correctly, many legal pundits said the Hunter plea deal was poorly crafted and the judge’s questions were fairly, even if she was appointed to the bench by Trump.
Weiss could have revised it. He chose not to and in fealty to the GOP is prosecuting cases for minor offenses. I really hope Hunters team demands all of Weiss’ communications with House Republicans and their staffs in discovery. We need some daylight here.
moops
They can campaign on being pro-baby. When asked if that means they will support maternal leave, and more SNAP benefits and other government aid to pregnant women and young families they can say “sure! all that! I’m in!”
Then when they win re-election they will not bother to do any of it. And they will pay no consequences for this outright lying.
bjacques
@moops: they’ve been trying to abolish abortion for fifty years and never once offered up any kind of natal, pre-, or post-, care to compensate. They’ve never been “pro-baby”. I’d hammer on that instead.
BruceFromOhio
“The Ukraine Gravy Train has to end“.
It’s all just a fucking game to these two-bit ratfuck soulless criminals.
MikefromArlington
Some reporter should challenge Mitch if he’ll give the SOTU address response this year. 🙏
Ruckus
@frosty:
Wait, wouldn’t that be hypocritical of them???
What??? I’m shocked to think that they may be hypocritical, shocked I say!
Damn I can’t do this, the party of all for us – none for you.
I give you rethuglicans.
Frankensteinbeck
@Kay:
Hoo boy, that one won’t survive a focus test. The whole point of ‘pro-life’ was that it sounds vague and innocuous. It’s a term that can slip under the radar for normies. ‘Pro-baby’ is jarring. It has punch. Normies will actually think about it, and in the aftermath of Dobbs their association will be ‘radicals who want to make abortion illegal.’ No nuance, which is fine, because there is no nuance in the GOP’s actual position.
@C Stars:
Moot. McConnell has never been popular, but he says “Mexicans and black people” and Kentucky voters crawl over broken glass to vote for him. It was horrifying how simple, openly stated, and effective that was last time. If the People’s Republic of Louisville were bigger… but it’s not.
lowtechcyclist
@Kay:
And they don’t give a damn about babies, either, once they’re born. I’m sure Dems have a pile of legitimately pro-baby bills on hand that they could make a big show about re-introducing.
Soprano2
@Kay: Does that mean he’s anti-woman? Of course it does!
brantl
@Princess: He won’t, because his side’s knee-jerk reaction is to eat the downed one.
evodevo
@Maxim: Yes..this…PLUS what fossil fuel are you going to use to heat up the “hot” liquids injected into the rock layers…is this, like using corn to produce ethanol fuels, going to be a loser energy-wise? If the rock is already hot, then no problem…however, if not…
Inquiring minds, etc.
Geminid
@evodevo: If this projected method is used to produce hydrogen in quantity, that gas will be the heat source. But it seem like a lot of projects will try to tap hydrogen in its free state, witout using technical means beyond simple drilling.
The Mali hydrogen well was discovered by a straightforward, straight-down drilling operation that apparently reached not much more than 100 meters in depth. The well sat unused until 2012, when interest in hydrogen as a fuel was increasing.
Large quantities of hydrogen have been used in industry for decades, but it has been produced close to the industrial plants that use it by means of steam reformation of natural gas. Now that many nations are incorporating hydrogen into their their energy plans, geologists and companies are giving so-called “White Hydrogen” a look and I expect there will be a number of exploratory wells drilled. The International Energy Agency projects that hydrogen will account for 18% of the hoped-for carbon neutral energy economy in 2050, so there is potentially a lot of money to be made.
Were I an investor, I might be researching drilling technology companies. Besides the potential hydrogen play, several deep drilling projects are assessing the practicality of using hot rock 10,000 feet or deeper to generate electricity. We probably won’t know if either of these efforts will bear fruit for 5 years or more, but in the meantime there will be a lot of drilling and if they prove out, a lot more.
brantl
@Geminid: If they have a debate Bashear will beat him like a ten-penny drum.
brantl
@karen marie: He established his own qualifying board, IIRC.
Miss Bianca
@Mr. Bemused Senior: As do I!
Uncle Cosmo
FTFY, and you’re very welcome! ;^D
brantl
@Citizen Dave: what’s a baby box?
wjca
@brantl: A “baby box” is touted as an alternative to abortion. The idea being that, if you don’t want a child (why else have an abortion? /snark), you can drop the infant in the box and someone else will adopt and take care of it.
Ramalama
@Another Scott: I am cringing at the prospect of a … bank run… in Mali to snap up their hydrogen. But otherwise? Nice?
Ramalama
@Alison Rose: Good list.
I myself am ok with the GOP making themselves into “pro-baby” party for all the reasons everyone else mentioned. But also, personally, it’s just easy to say to, for example, this kid (now gun-toting man) who I grew up with who now lives in Iowa: “Zomg I am totally pro-baby!!!!! Just someone else having the baby. Pro!”