You know, I agree with Mitch here. Why the House Republicans would want to defund Border Patrol is beyond me. https://t.co/qJrJQUYG9o
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 27, 2023
… these are *not* serious people.
As the Senate marches ahead with a bipartisan approach to prevent a government shutdown, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is back to square one — asking his hard-right Republicans to approve their own temporary House measure to keep the government open. https://t.co/vVpSH1sXDe
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 28, 2023
Doesn’t mean they’re incapable of f*cking up a lot of innocent peoples’ lives, though:
Scoop: WH budget office instructs US agencies to notify federal employees Thursday morning on status of government funding, sources say
Unclear exactly when employees will be notified if they are being furloughed – that planning is well underwayhttps://t.co/AYT7zkDSPN
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) September 27, 2023
Biden talked about the government shutdown again, saying it would be “disastrous.”
“The fact is that I think that the speaker is making a choice between the speakership and American interests,” he said at a fundraiser in San Francisco.
(Photo from earlier today.) pic.twitter.com/Z9qhVh5ftE
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) September 27, 2023
Also today, James Comer starts his latest attempt another 15 minutes of unearned attention:
It's not an actual impeachment anything because it was never voted on. Rather than keep the government open, they're staging GOP masterpiece theater, loser edition.
Turley lolhttps://t.co/NsevD1Z0Dd
— Gayle Dourn Plantz (@plantz3610) September 26, 2023
His fellow Repubs figure if they can conflate President Biden with That Uppity Black Fella, it’ll move more Fox viewers to actually show up at the polls next November…
Basically, the other high crime and misdemeanor is that Biden's private citizen son and brother PLUS a bunch of other people made far less money than Trump lied about his property values for, using FAR MORE shell companies.
And that should ALWAYS be reported as such.
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) September 28, 2023
Welcome aboard, Cheri — plenty of room in this lifeboat:
Glad more people are seeing that there’s only one choice now and for the foreseeable future. Straight ballot Dem for a long ass time, folks. https://t.co/HZf5gQKTtZ
— Jean-Michel Connard 🎃 (@torriangray) September 28, 2023
The UAW has gone right past RINO into full-on libtard https://t.co/oPwULK6Ylo
— Centrist 🤝Madness (@CentristMadness) September 28, 2023
![On The Road - way2blue - Valparaiso, Chile [1 of 2] 5](https://balloon-juice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/22-March-23-5-80x80.jpg)
On The Road – way2blue – Valparaiso, Chile [1 of 2]
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊😊😊
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Baud
Comer should have the valuation expert Trump hired to lie about his assets testify. He’ll say anything.
rikyrah
The President and his team need to put out a T-shirt saying
I sleep with a member of the Teacher’s Union
Tony Jay
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Another day, another MAGAP faceplant.
Baud
Really am enjoying UAW officials being honest about Trump. I don’t expect them to be partisan Democrats, but I do expect them to stand up to people who hate them, even if they are Republicans.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Oh God, do you want House hearings about Biden’s sex scandals?
Jeffro
I see that the WaPo has managed to put not one, not two, but THREE Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce-related pieces on its virtual front page this morning. Wow, Post…way to ‘shoot your shot’, as El Travador would say. LOL
You thought you knew the NFL: now meet Taylor’s Version
The Commanders’ next challenge: facing the NFL’s other Swift-Kelce duo
(I did not know that the Eagles had a running back named Swift! Who’s writing this season, anyway?)
but the best one is the third piece
Why People Are Weird About Taylor Swift Dating The Football Man , by Monica Hesse
* “People” is doing a lot of work in that headline, thanks to Ms. Hesse’s generosity. I’m pretty sure she means “the usual incel trolls”…
1,000%!
Anyway, it’s pretty obvious that the Incel Troll Party as a whole is terrified of young people, especially young people VOTING, and so for that I can only say…Tay-Tay, please, I’m begging you, just keep it up with the encouraging-young-people-to-register-and-vote.
And on a side note, I’ll just add that since nominating an extremely famous (degenerate) and (fake) wealthy person to run as a figurehead for a political party appears to work, the GOP better watch. out. We have one who’s famous, beloved, and genuinely wealthy…AND on the right side of the issues for most folks under 50. Ms. Swift can run in 2028 (or anytime afterwards) and not only will the Swifties dig deeeeep to contribute, they’ll absolutely turn out in record numbers.
And they’ll do it with (insert Taylor Swift song reference here). ;)
Jeffro
ugh help moderators! too many links in that last post? any way to save it?
SFAW
@Baud:
I want to hear about how Dr. Jill used to be Dr. Joel, and Biden-the-Groomer convinced then-him to become “her.”
The sick part is, it would not surprise me if some RWMF “news” site/outlet started talking about that, at which point Tiger Beat on the Potomac will pick it up, etc. etc.
Hildebrand
Some catastrophically malicious person cut down the Sycamore Gap tree.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-66947040
Baud
@Hildebrand:
Damn. That’s awful.
RevRick
Incredibly, polling says that 40% of the voting-age population will blame Biden and the Democrats for a shutdown and another 23% will blame both parties! And probably a large part of this gross misunderstanding is due to the MSM saying Congress when they should specify it’s the GOP.
OzarkHillbilly
@Hildebrand: That is one sick MFer. I’m against capital punishment but I might make an exception for that asshole.
SFAW
@Hildebrand:
Unfortunately, that article led me to discover that Sir Michael Gambon has died.
I know he retired from acting a number of years ago, but dammit.
ETA: And I can’t believe someone would cut down that tree, just to get their jollies.
Jeffro
@Jeffro: many thanks to whomever freed that long post! (I’ll cut back on the links next time!). =)
Baud
@RevRick:
I wouldnt trust any poll that says Democrats will get more blame than Republicans.
Hildebrand
@OzarkHillbilly: Yep. Who even thinks of such a thing, let alone carry out such wanton destruction.
My wife and I hiked the whole of Hadrian’s Wall about ten years ago, and getting to the Sycamore gap was a highlight (one of many). It’s one of those places that lived up to the hype. Truly a beautiful place.
OzarkHillbilly
@Jeffro: Heh. Thanx for that.
Suzanne
I was exhausted yesterday. Worked all day, then Spawn the Youngest had soccer practice, then took SuzMom to run some errands. I meant to watch the debate, but I didn’t get to eat any dinner until 9:15 and I was yawning and I basically keeled over on the bed afterward. It sounds like I didn’t miss anything of any importance whatsoever.
I always find that I need more sleep to function during the darker half of the year. My skin also seems to change a lot. I use prescription retinol, which can be drying, but I only needed a very light moisturizer all summer. About two weeks ago…. BAM: retinol uglies showed up in force and dryness notched up. So I cut back on the retinol to every-other-day and am back to real moisturizer. It’s so weird how our bodies keep time, even if our minds do not.
Rusty
@Hildebrand: Sadly this isn’t unusual. An iconic tree in Sweden that sat on the shore was deliberately poisoned and I remember an article about other trees that were cut down or killed when they became iconic. It is now routine to not give the location for the biggest (fill in the blank) tree so that there is less chance some horrible human will cut it down. It’s a sad part of the human condition this need to destroy that lurks in a not insignificant number of us. The article finished with a the point that almost any famous tree will almost inevitably be vandalized.
JML
@SFAW: aw, Michael Gambon. what a legend. (I do think his Dumbledore was a bit too angry, but he did well overall considering he had to step in for Richard Harris)
McCallum and Gambon in the same week, that sucks.
OzarkHillbilly
@Hildebrand: That’s right up there with poisoning the Auburn oak trees.
For me, trees are special people. My wife and I decided long ago that we would not cut any of the trees on our land.
schrodingers_cat
As long as the White (and those who try to be white adjacent like Avivek) People’s Party doesn’t pay a severe enough price at the ballot box they will continue on the same course.
Lapassionara
@Jeffro: Thanks for the long post. I cannot even hum a few bars of a Taylor Swift song, but I’m loving her positive influence on young people.
prostratedragon
As Rod Serling might say, offered for your consideration:
“Hoochie-coochie Man,” Anthony Blinken.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Agree. But as I noted above with UAW, it looks like more and more people are getting comfortable with standing up to them. Hopefully it’s not too late.
Yarrow
@Hildebrand: Oh, no! That’s terrible. Why would anyone do such a thing?
Betty
@Jeffro: It was a pretty good round up of our current culture though. By the way, The Eagles’ Swift had an amazing game this past week and is a very swift runner.
Yarrow
@Jeffro: I’d love this kind of crap to get wider attention so Swifties can see just how much Republicans and their supporters hate them.
schrodingers_cat
OT: Artbreak: I completed two WIPs. Trying to finish the pages that I started this summer.
Mostly water based markers (Tombow and Crayola), Gel Crayons from Shuttle Art and fineliners from Staedtler, white Posca paint marker for the highlights.
Comments and critiques welcome.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Colors seem more muted than your usual work.
bbleh
@Jeffro: I for one am very thankful that the WaPo, the paper of the company town of the federal government, is giving so much space to important stories like whom Taylor Swift may or may not be dating and what people are saying about that rather than to trivial matters like, I dunno, the impending shutdown of most of the federal government and what that means for such minor things as people’s lives and the economy. Priorities, editorial judgment, you know?
SFAW
@JML:
It’s unfortunate — to me, at least — that many people will only remember him for being Dumbledore, kinda like some people only associate Alec Guinness with Obi-Wan. My wife and I first saw Gambon in The Singing Detective, thought he did a great job, as well as in The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Which one? Kraken? or the giant tree
Giant Sequoia like tree: I am going for a night scene, and in the Kraken a stormy sea, hence the color palette. Next one I am going to stay away from the blue.
Jeffro
@Yarrow: Hesse’s piece is really good – names names, connects dots, etc.
It’s a weird world (and sad in some ways) that we can’t seem to break through to public on the vast differences between the parties just by…noting the vast differences between the parties.
But if the GOP wants to help us out in this ‘Idiocracy’ we seem to find ourselves in, then by all means, Rs, keep bleating about how one of the most idolized and wealthy women in the world is somehow ’emasculating’ a 6’5″, charismatic two-time Super Bowl winner by…dating him.
lowtechcyclist
Since this is an open thread, excuse me while I upchuck:
Evangelical Christians are Saudi Arabia’s Surprise New Best Friends (newsweek.com)
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Both. They’re both interesting, but look different to me. Maybe it’s the markers.
Geminid
@Baud: The Commonwealth of Virginia will take a poll with a very large sample size this November 7th. It may indicate which party Virginians blame for a shutdown.
Jeffro
@bbleh: that was me cherry-picking! =)
The Post’s top five stories on their home page right now are:
So…not only prioritized pretty well but ‘framed’ well, too. It is the Rs who are forcing a shutdown, and they’re doing it while still trying to do something, anything to dirty up Squeaky Clean Joe.
satby
@rikyrah: 🙋Good morning!
I got nuthin.
Baud
@Geminid:
That’s a ways off.
Look, if the public wants to side with Republicans, that’s their right. There’s nothing I would ask Biden to do differently.
SiubhanDuinne
@Hildebrand:
Oh no! That is sickening.
OzarkHillbilly
Defense Secretary Austin’s salary cut to $1 under GOP budget plan
Waaaah… They’re gonna take their toys and go home. What a bunch of WATBs.
Betty Cracker
@Geminid: According to the political gossip rags, Youngkin is counting on a good showing to solidify his status as a potential GOP savior. He can’t be happy about the prospect of shutdown, I’m thinking — it disproportionately affects his constituents, and contra the polling that shows mixed attribution of blame, the public historically figures out who the culprits are.
Soprano2
@Suzanne: My hands get dry now when it gets colder. For my whole life, I’ve been able to tell you when the temps drop below 60 degrees by the way my lips get chapped. (Tip for chapped lips – Laneige Sleeping Mask is THE BEST PRODUCT FOR CHAPPED LIPS IN THE WORLD. I have tried almost everything, and this stuff is like a miracle. I can put it on before I got to sleep, and my lips are still soft when I wake up!)
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Also, until there’s an actual shutdown, normies aren’t paying the least bit attention to the story.
Soprano2
@Jeffro: I think the only thing that would be worse than getting crossways with Taylor Swift fans would be getting crossways with Beyoncé fans. It’s probably giving some Chiefs fans a major headache, because they love the team of Mahomes and Kelce, but they also love TFG.
lowtechcyclist
@JML:
I’ll still mostly remember Richard Harris on account of that cake left out in the rain.
WaterGirl
@Suzanne: I’m just amazed that SuzMom is able to get out and about so soon after her surgery. That’s amazing.
lowtechcyclist
@Lapassionara:
Seconded. From the snippets I’ve heard, I doubt that I could get into her music, but I’ve become a big fan of her as a person.
Soprano2
@lowtechcyclist: They’re birds of a feather, makes perfect sense to me.
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
“I’d rather be
RussianWahabi than Democrat.”Soprano2
@OzarkHillbilly: This is exactly the kind of behavior they decry when it’s directed at them. I’m not surprised, though, although I doubt anyone in the press will notice the hypocrisy.
Geminid
@Baud: Yes, November 7th is a ways off, and a shutdown could last only a few days. Then it might not substantially impact Virginia voter behavior.
And I agree that Biden has handled this matter well. It is a Congressional problem, one for the respective Majorities and Minorities to work out. McCarthy wants Biden to help out like he did last May on the Debt Ceiling, but the dangers posed by McCarthy’s incapacity were far greater then.
And when this Congress began in January, McCarthy made a lot of big talk about what his Majority would accomplish. So it’s kind of funny to see him waving to Biden and requesting a lifeline. Biden’s like, “You’re gonna have to sink or swim on your own, Mr. Squeaker.”
Layer8Problem
@lowtechcyclist: And on top of it he sounded like Donna Summer singing it! Talk about a multifaceted talent. 😁
Suzanne
@Jeffro:
I know T. Swift comes, career-wise from country music, and there’s obvs a culture-war breach happening there. But having been to her Eras Tour and reading that NYT piece about Taylor Swift fans asking “What Would Taylor Do?” in therapy…. it almost feels to me like she’s coalesced a new subculture. Swifties aren’t just disparate fans of one star. They’re kind of a type…. mostly white women, with an achieving/responsibility-oriented personality type. Not the type to say “hold my beer” at all. If Taylor can kind of largely sweep them into one basket… that’s a force.
RevRick
@Baud: Sadly, poll after poll after poll says that John/Jane Q Public believes that the GOP is better for the economy than Democrats. This despite the fact that since 1989, under three GOP presidents a piddling 1.9 million jobs were created, while under three Democratic presidents, over 45 million were.
It’s a deeply embedded erroneous belief.
Baud
@RevRick:
That’s a longstanding problem, which is different than the government shutdown issue.
And part of the problem with breaking the public’s view on the Republicans and the economy has been our own side’s own reluctance to sell ourselves on economic matters. That has started to change with Biden, but it’ll take a long time to change mindsets.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Geminid: Besides, from Biden’s POV, he already made a deal with McCarthy and his caucus. Now they want to renege.
scribbler
@schrodingers_cat: Love your Kraken – the sky is beautiful!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Baud: To echo that, the small c conservatives at work at are saying that the Republicans are only good for fighting each other.
Citizen_X
@Rusty: Ugh. Another example: the Treaty Oak in Austin. An estimated 500 years old, last of the Council Oaks where native tribes would meet, and some idiot poisoned it in 1989. Said he was trying to cast a spell. (!) It survived, after heroic effort. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_Oak_(Austin,_Texas)
OzarkHillbilly
I’ll remember them in my prayers.
Geminid
@RevRick: Even deeply embedded beliefs can erode over time, if only because of generational turnover. I’d be interested in the “cross tabs” for these polls, especially the ones regarding younger people.
mvr
@prostratedragon: Who are the rest of the folks in the band?
OzarkHillbilly
To which Biden says, “We made a deal back then. Now hold up your end of the bargain.
eta: I see Dorothy beat me to it.
Betty Cracker
In a post yesterday, we talked about how fake the GOP debates are since that party is now a cult of personality rather than a political organization. I think last night’s performance validated that thesis.
DeSantis made a half-assed attempt to chide Trump for failing to show up, but the assembled Repubs didn’t really react. Even Christie, whose entire candidacy was supposed to be about ripping the bark off Trump and whom we know is capable of punting opponents into the sun, mostly phoned it in if the clips I’ve seen are representative.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
Yeah, right now this is a dispute within the House GOP caucus. Why should Biden have the least role in mediating that? If they want someone from outside to lend a hand, they could always invite Mitch the Turtle to mediate. He’s at least of the same party as both sides in this bullshit.
Or wait, I know, if they want a President to mediate, how about that guy who was President a few years back, who many of them insist still is President? You know, the guy who ‘wrote’ a book called The Art of the Deal? I’m sure he could help them reach a deal! They should ask him!!!
Josie
@OzarkHillbilly:
I hope the Dems use a bullhorn to deliver this message. How can you bargain with people who don’t keep their word?
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
My only exposure to that woeful ritual was AL’s early morning post, but that’s the impression I got as well.
Frankensteinbeck
@Jeffro:
He’s hot, a nice guy, and just famous enough she might meet him socially. In what world is it even slightly weird she would be boinking him, whether it’s serious, a meaningless fling, or Friends With Benefits? Assuming that’s even going on, because Taylor is sophisticated enough (like most people) to have non-sexual relationships with attractive people?
Seriously, this is the most normal thing in the world and it only reveals who thinks women need to meet a higher standard than men to justify sex.
@schrodingers_cat:
Sadly, this has been tested in real life. California shows clearly that the farther they are pushed into the minority, the more insane and scorched earth they will get.
Soprano2
So I found out yesterday from the wife of the husband and wife who are going to become partners with me in the restaurant that one of the bartenders we have now is stealing from us. She says this woman, who is the mother of the manager who is leaving (!), has friends who come in during the day when she bartends. Evidently she’s only charging them for one drink rather than the several they order, then they give her a big tip. *sigh* This is a problem in the industry as a whole, giving the store away to get big tips. This woman has a troubled past; she used to be a drug addict, and was in prison once. She’s open about all of this, and says she’s turned over a new leaf. I’m all for giving people second chances, but to then spit in my eye by stealing from me….!!!!! So because they’re going to start managing next Wednesday, we’re going to deal with it then. The husband is going to sit her down and tell her that she can either go quietly and we won’t do anything about it, or she can kick up a fuss and get prosecuted. Evidently he’s been gathering evidence that she’s doing it, but didn’t want to say anything until they were sure. They aren’t sure whether our current manager knows what her mother is doing or not; the wife said they’ve overheard her confronting her mother about missing money a couple of times, (first I’m hearing about it!), so they think she suspects something but can’t prove it. I told the wife that I was OK with their approach, although part of me wants to prosecute her regardless. I can’t stand it when someone is nice to my face and stabbing me in the back at the same time. How many people would even let their manager hire someone with a background like that?
“Isn’t it fun to own a bar?” someone asked me last week. *sigh*….
schrodingers_cat
@scribbler: Thanks. The sky has always been my Achilles heel. I used watercolor pencils as my base and then gel crayons (dry application with a brush) on top of it.
I have FaberCastell Gelatos and a Shuttle Art set meant for toddlers. They work well together.
Geminid
@OzarkHillbilly: Once the Debt Ceiling deal was made I lost interest in the details. My impression is that McCarthy and his gang of idiots still had the latitude to screw up government funding required as of October 1, but there was a fallback provision that would kick before too long. It would fund federal agencies but with a 2% cut in funding levels.
But I have not heard much lately this provision, so I probably have it wrong.
Baud
@Frankensteinbeck:
I disagree about California as an example. The California GOP is aligned with and protected by the national GOP. It doesn’t benefit them to try to compete in California by moderating their positions.
If the national GOP were put out into the wilderness, it would be a different matter altogether.
ETA: Think of states where Dems are in the permanent minority. Are they choosing to become more conservative to try to compete?
schrodingers_cat
@Frankensteinbeck: True but that hasn’t rescued them from oblivion at least in the statewide contests.
The voters of California have kept the R insanity in check for the most part.
Also, Baud makes some good points in the comment above.
eclare
@Soprano2:
You are absolutely right. Do not piss off Swifties or the Bey-hive.
Suzanne
@Soprano2: What’s weird is that it isn’t even cold. We are still having highs in the 70s and 80s. It’s just, like….. just a liiiiiiiittle bit less light, and some sort of internal switch flips. Agree with you on the Laneige. I have a jar sitting next to me right now.
@WaterGirl: It is. She lost a lot of muscle mass in the last few months, so I am encouraging her to do stuff so she can regain that. She’s getting mad at me.
Kent
@Jeffro: Kelce is in the argument as one of the best tight ends in NFL history and probably a lock for the NFL hall of fame.
But he is a lightweight compared to Swift? OK.
Suzanne
@Soprano2: A lot of people justify stealing by saying that stealing from a person is not okay but stealing from a business is acceptable. I don’t get it.
eclare
@Soprano2:
Oh that is awful. And it’s scary to confront, at least to me.
lowtechcyclist
@Frankensteinbeck:
The nationalization of our politics may give them latitude to be like that that they wouldn’t otherwise have: it’s cost-free for them to be a bunch of total crazies because it doesn’t affect the national picture.
But I still think you’re right: even after the GQP gets to a point where even all the usual tricks (the Electoral College, gerrymandering, vote suppression, etc.) won’t put them close to regaining power, it’ll still take a couple of decades, minimum, for them to return to sanity.
If we can’t have two sane parties that just have different visions about how to make America a better country, then the next best alternative is for the one party that’s still like that to be the clearly dominant party.
Geminid
@Frankensteinbeck: I think Ms. Swift and Mr. Kelce are well matched. If they prove to be compatible and both are ready for a long term relationship, this could be the one.
zhena gogolia
@prostratedragon: That’s great!
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Soprano2: How maddening.
Baud
Man, when Taylor Swift gets married, there won’t be enough electrons in the Internet to handle the coverage.
suzanne
@Frankensteinbeck:
Imma be shallow here…. I don’t see the hotness. LOL. At all.
moonbat
@OzarkHillbilly: To steal from Neil Gaiman, trees were the first gods.
It’s a tragedy about the Hadrian’s Wall sycamore.
Josie
@suzanne: I saw him in an interview with his brother. It’s not so much his looks that are hot but his attitude. He was very appealing.
ETA: This was months ago, before the Taylor Swift stuff.
zhena gogolia
@suzanne: Me either. He was pretty funny on SNL though.
Yarrow
@Baud:
Well, the Democratic mayor of Dallas just changed parties to Republican. Does that count?
OzarkHillbilly
@Geminid: Well, you (mis?)remember more than I do.
Geminid
@Josie: Kelce stays in really good physical shape and that counts for something. And Taylor Swift probably has learned that character and temperament count more than looks when evaluating a potential partner.
Yarrow
@Kent: He’s not in Taylor’s stratosphere. Few people are. For the NFL Tom Brady might be. In other sports, people like Ronaldo or Messi or LeBron. She’s definitely in rarefied air.
Not to say Kelce isn’t extremely talented. He is. And she can be friends with and/or date anyone she pleases. If she wants to date a truck driver or janitor, more power to her.
frosty
@prostratedragon: Hey, he’s not bad! Singing a Muddy Waters tune is a real challenge, he got away with it.
Scout211
On NBC News this morning, a new opinion poll of registered voters. In the theme of this thread, 39% of registered voters approve of impeaching Biden for no particular reason at all . . . Seriously?!
And this:
So it’s all just a major distraction to create a spectacle that keeps the political reporters entertained and focused away from Trump’s many actual criminal indictments onto Biden’s made-up charges. Yeah, I know. It really won’t make a difference to voters. We already knew that. But will the political press get it? Yeah, no. They love the spectacle too much. Sigh.
Frankensteinbeck
@lowtechcyclist:
To everyone making this argument: They went ‘burn it all down’ before Obama was elected. The nationalization argument does not apply.
@Baud:
We’re not a white supremacist party. It makes a difference. The Republicans’ founding principle is that the Other must not allowed to rule. Going more crazy as they lose fits their motivations, but not ours.
Yarrow
@suzanne: Well, he’s in very good shape, so there’s that. And he’s funny and seems like he’s a nice and kind person. That goes a long way.
Baud
@Frankensteinbeck:
White supremacist parties understand the importance of political power more than most other groups IMHO.
Redshift
@Geminid:
Nope. There’s a provision in the deal that is they pass a continuing resolution that goes beyond January 1, there will be an automatic 2% cut (instead of continuing current funding levels.) It doesn’t happen if they don’t pass anything, in that case a shutdown happens.
OzarkHillbilly
@Scout211:
That is definitely true of me. No matter which way Luetkemeyer, Hawley, or Schmitt votes on that, I will vote for Goofy before any those useless fucks.
Eolirin
@Baud: In the places where we have candidates win, yes?
Tester is to the right of the median Democratic Senator. AZ is changing, but the candidates who won in that state wide sweep weren’t running like they were in Massachusetts. Doug Jones wasn’t running on a progressive platform when he barely beat pedophile rapist Roy Moore. Etc. But we’re also not a party of fanatics beholden to our most extreme members, so I’m not sure the comparison is meaningful.
If we were a party dominated by Justice Democrats/DSA types would we moderate to win? Idk.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Not just white supremacist, Brahmin Supremacist parties like the RSS dominated BJP too. Fascist parties are good at understanding power and the power of propaganda.
schrodingers_cat
@Eolirin:
In that case Ds would end up like the Labor Party right now in the UK.
Suzanne
@Josie: That’s cool. If he’s a cool person, then yay.
I just…. look at him and kind of think “ew”.
Dorothy A. Winsor
If anybody cares, Kos is live blogging the R–I don’t know what to call it–Biden impeachment hearings.https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/28/2196020/-Live-coverage-Republican-impeachment-inquiry
Geminid
@Redshift: Then it sounds like a shutdown could be protracted. I’ll be interested to see how the slick-talking Governor Youngkin spins that one.
TerryC
@OzarkHillbilly: Us, too. And we plant trees every year. Now more than 16,000 in 10 years on our 17.4 acres (size of Mar-A-Lago; note that Trump has no golf courses on his property there but I have two (disc golf courses) at my home!
Baud
@Eolirin:
The point isn’t that red state candidates are more to the right than blue state candidates. The point is that Dems in states that are red aren’t rushing to be even more right wing in order to try to win state wide.
Eolirin
@schrodingers_cat: I don’t think so. Labour is running as if they’re Tory-Lite. Even under Corbyn they failed to really distinguish themselves from Tory policy.
laura
@SFAW: I loved The Singing Detective and Maigret too. Just a lovely actor with a deep and resonant voice casual ease in his body.
Yarrow
Completely unrelated to anything, I was driving to an appointment yesterday when I saw in the rear view mirror a Rolls Royce right behind me. I haven’t seen one in RL in ages. I turned into the parking lot and looked over and saw it was a Rolls Royce SUV. I had no idea they made such a vehicle. Must be crazy expensive.
OzarkHillbilly
@TerryC: I’ve only planted a few hundred, just to “fill in a few blanks” such as not enuf redbuds, and deciduous holly for the birds. Our place is all hill and holler with more than a hundred feet of relief over the length of it. (which I forget how much that is, maybe 2 and a 1/2 as long as it is wide)
Suzanne
@Yarrow: His facial hair looks terrible. OMG.
As I noted yesterday, I will never understand when people with means appear in public looking poorly groomed.
Whatever. I hope she’s happy. I consider her a force for good, so I wish her happiness.
Eolirin
@Baud: How would you determine that? I’m not sure how we’d indentify that shift if we don’t typically have candidates that can win since there’s not exactly a lot of data to work from in terms of policy support.
Plenty of red state dems have run campaigns that deliberately created separation from the national party. They tend to lose though. If they’re willing to go far enough right they may as well just run as Republicans. They actually have a chance then. And that happens some times. See Jim Justice.
Shalimar
@Geminid: My memory of the debt ceiling deal is that Biden wasn’t deeply involved until the last day or so when it was time to close. Whatever negotiations were taking place were kept secret.
Not that Biden should be involved this time at all. They already have an agreement with McCarthy from May. McCarthy isn’t holding to it. His only choice should be to commit to that deal again.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
To be fair, Trump is genuinely puzzled as to why Biden would keep talking to offspring with admitted trouble in an encouraging way, because he’d just call his own kids losers and embarrassments if they were openly struggling.
Kristine
@Yarrow:
In a way, I understand why Porsche etc are in the SUV business-pretty sure it’s the most popular style of vehicle (unless pick-ups are #1, then SUVs have to be #2).
I tend to think the SUV part works against the ultraluxury aspect, but that may be just me. Still waiting for Ferrari to come out with a long-bed.
ETA: quick search: cost of RR SUV is $341,500 in 2022. It’s called the Cullinan.
TerryC
@OzarkHillbilly: Envious here, my property slopes North to South 36′ over a quarter mile but has no visually obvious elevation challenges. Sigh. But I have lots of trees! Also now filling in because the courses are all set now: One beginner course and one Pro course.
Redshift
@Geminid:
It’s not just that the danger was greater, it was that the debt ceiling was a simple and weird thing that interacted with Executive Branch actions. This is just McCarthy flailing to (unsuccessfully) try to hide his own weakness by claiming a “both sides” angle that doesn’t actually exist. Appropriations are purely an legislative function (it’s right there in the Constitution!), and Biden can literally do nothing but cajole congresspersons to make a deal.
schrodingers_cat
@Eolirin: I am decidedly not an expert on British politics but from my vantage point Labor’s policy is economically left but socially undistinguishable from Tories.
Like what many BS bros and sisters and their media cheerleaders advise the Ds to do. No icky identity politics just cater to the economic anxieties (real and imagined) of white (and white adjacent bros like Bhaskar Sunkara etc) people.
Baud
@Eolirin:
I’m confident that if there was a major movement to the right, social media would be all over it. Although red state Dems may not be as left as we want, I don’t see them moving to the right.
Yarrow
Let them fight.
UncleEbeneezer
@Jeffro: They thought Tay Tay would be a conservative, white woman and they are so mad that she’s turned into a Feminist and a loyal Dem who isn’t afraid to be outspoken.
Brachiator
@Jeffro:
This is about the dumbest thing I’ve read in a while. Kelce is a celebrity, a Star player on a Superbowl championship team. Hell, there are college football and basketball players who know that they are celebrities.
The world that he and Swift travel in are very similar.
ETA. In Los Angeles, I have seen actors and singers who were clearly in awe of sports superstars and eager to hang out with them.
Yarrow
@Suzanne: What’s his current facial hair? I’ve seen him with a short trimmed full beard and mustache. I think I just saw him with just a mustache that looked…questionable. His brother has the full mountain man beard.
Agree, Taylor is a force for good. If she’s happy, that’s great.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Royal wedding?
rikyrah
@Hildebrand:
just an evil person
schrodingers_cat
@schrodingers_cat: I need to qualify this statement.
Regarding attitudes towards minorities (LGBBTQ) and immigrants.
Also *indistinguishable..
Eolirin
@schrodingers_cat: Labour is only economically left by US standards because the UK is left of us already. They’re a small c conservative party mostly interested in maintaining the status quo when it comes to economic policy.
That status quo just happens to include a bunch of stuff we don’t have here that our left wants, like state provided medical services. But because we don’t have it, it puts DSA/Justice Dems in a radical bucket rather than a status quo bucket. The political dynamic is very different.
Suzanne
@Brachiator: I would be willing to bet that very few people outside the country know who Travis Kelce is. Taylor Swift is selling out arenas around the world. He’s famous, of course, but Taylor is on another level.
Kristine
@RevRick:
Imo, the GOP is always banging on about budget cuts/cutting taxes, and people who don’t dig deep–and face it, most don’t– take that to mean they’re more concerned and therefore better for the economy. Plus the party is associated with Rich People and we all know Rich People got that way b/c they’re better at handling money /s.
rikyrah
I believe this
Henry VIII (@SussexHenryVIII) tweeted at 7:35 PM on Wed, Sep 27, 2023:
So much behavior can be explained by the fact that no one at the palace or in the press thought for a second Prince Harry would leave.
(https://twitter.com/SussexHenryVIII/status/1707192192081732092?s=02)
arrieve
@lowtechcyclist: I always felt that way about Taylor Swift too, thinking she was all about big pop anthems for teenagers, but her first album released during lockdown converted me. It’s quieter, and I finally heard what a very good songwriter she is. I probably listened to it 100 times in 2020-21 and it was one of the things that kept me sane. I don’t like a lot of her other stuff as much (though “Red” is also a great album) but I would say if you think you don’t like Taylor, give Folklore a listen. (Exile, a duet with Bon Iver.)
And may the Swifties prevail!
Yarrow
@Kristine: I kind of agree. I think the ultra luxury brands kind of should stay in their lane. But they also need to make money and SUVs are super popular. For the record, I thought it was really unattractive.
Redshift
@Shalimar:
In addition, the reason nothing has passed is McCarthy won’t bring anything to the floor unless has a majority of Republicans in favor. There’s a bipartisan majority in the House to keep the government open, but he’s not willing to rely on Dem votes to pass it, because he cares more about keeping his job than getting anything done. So the other obvious first proposal of any “deal” would be to just hold a vote.
Brachiator
@Jeffro:
Has this person never listened to a country music song?
Or much of popular music since the dawn of humanity?
Soprano2
@Suzanne: I understand that a lot more if it’s a large, faceless corporation. She sees me and hubby two or three times a week. She’s always talking about how she wants to do everything she can to help her daughter succeed. How is stealing from where her daughter works going to help her succeed?
Suzanne
@Yarrow: The pics I saw of him most recently had a mustache and nothing else. Like, incredibly gross. He looked better in some of the pics I saw of him with a beard, but it looked untidy and too high on the cheeks. Dudes: be clean.
JWR
@RevRick:
I caught a bit of the CBS Evening News last night, and saw the steely-eyed Nora O’Donnell describe this latest congressional budget fight as being between “both sides”, without mentioning that both sides are, in fact, the same side.
Nora O’Donnell: CBS’ chief “both sidser” since forever.
Geminid
@OzarkHillbilly: Do you have sny Chinquapin trees? Roy, the man who mows one of my customer’s lawn, told me he found someone who grows Chinquapins and ship’s them nationwide. He said he’d get me the information about the Chinquapin grower, and when he does I will post it on a Garden Thread.
The Chinquapin is like a smaller version of the Chestnut. Roy remembers gathering the nuts when he was a child but they are now scarce. He says the West Virginia grower has been propogating the many Chinquapins he found on his land. There used to be a Native village nearby.
WaterGirl
@rikyrah: I don’t know the context here, and I couldn’t find any context by clicking on the tweet. Can you fill in some of the blanks for me
edit: I mean, I know the whole story of Harry and Meghan and the kids and leaving and all that, but I don’t know what has happened recently and why this is coming up now. When I read that tweet and the comments there is clearly a story there that I don’t know.
Suzanne
@Jeffro:
Just admit that you hate women and save us all the blather.
Taylor’s song “The Last Great American Dynasty” is written from the POV of another, but go off, dude.
Jeffro
@Betty Cracker:
All of this.
None of it matters until they go after their blessed orange god-king as a 3x loser, lifelong fraud, and fake Christian. They’re just adding in a percent here and there and hoping that somehow it adds up to 51% of GOP primary voters when something like 60-70% of them want trump.
Sorry GOP candidates but you are going to top out at 30-40% max unless you go take. votes. from. trump.
narya
@Yarrow: @Kristine: Ferrari has an SUV–I’ve even seen one in RL. It runs for half a million.
I occasionally see a Maserati parked around the corner from me, too. It’s a nice enough neighborhood, but not Maserati material.
Kristine
@Yarrow: All the large SUVs look like flying bricks to me, so yes, unattractive. Plus they all pretty much look the same because the need for aerodynamic design limits the overall shapes that can be used. So the only way you can tell these vehicles apart on the outside is the nameplate/emblem. I’m sure the interior is amazing, but even rich folks’ kids and dogs throw up, so? Bloom fades pretty fast.
Eolirin
@Baud: I’m pretty sure there’s a common enough trend of red state candidates tending to tack rightward in state wide elections only to lose, that’s frequently blamed for those losses, that we’ve discussed it here.
There tend not be functional democratic parties in permanent minority states and candidates who can win in those places tend to either represent very safe districts that are far bluer than the rest of the state or to run to the right of the party. What does rightward movement even mean here?
Red state Dems are certainly not pulling CA Republican like tactics of doubling down and moving further to the left in response to electoral losses. The tendency is to accommodation.
We could use Clinton as an example in response to 3 cycles of Republican national dominance. That’s an example of Dems tacking rightward in the face of loses.
Geminid
@Shalimar: Biden met with McCarthy in late February. That started a process including White House officials that finally produced the deal in late May.
Biden met with Democratic Congressional leaders a few days before his meeting with McCarthy. This was when they mapped out their basic strategy. They did not lay it out publically of course, so for the next 12 weeks they had to shrug at all the people who cried, “Where’s their plan? They don’t have a plan!”
Yarrow
@Suzanne: Definitely. Like I said above, sports stars at her level are people like Ronaldo and Messi. Maybe Tom Brady for the NFL and LeBron for the NBA. Or Michael Jordan if you’re going old school.
Jeffro
I have zero doubt that he will somehow – you might want to sit down, this will just blow you away – find that the Democrats are to blame.
If so, VA Ds have yet another issue to run on: Governor Say What Now?? said what now?
(Or Governor Smile & Lie, I’m good with that one too)
Baud
@Eolirin:
I’m not sure red states Dems aren’t moving to the left, along with the national party. There are some exceptions, but usually when I hear news about red state Dems, it’s usually in the context of them standing up for a lefty issue, like abortion or trans rights.
Kristine
@narya: I wondered if Ferrari had an SUV, but never looked it up.
::looks it up::
Looks more like a Crosstrek. I thought it had only two doors at first, but the rear doors are the little 4-door pickup truck ones.
Idk. I still think it’s like using Secretariat to pull tourist buggies.
bbleh
@Geminid: @lowtechcyclist: @Shalimar: @Redshift: the dangers posed by the debt ceiling were not only to the country at large but to Biden politically: a failure to raise the debt ceiling, or to raise it only for a short period and then go through it all again, could well have caused an economic sh!tstorm, leading to a recession for the US (or worse), which would have been disastrous for Biden’s re-election. The shutdown is a comparatively minor kerfuffle, not least because everyone’s seen it a couple times and has fairly clear notion (which may or may not be justified) about how it will end, so both the country and Biden himself have a lot less to worry about (at least for now).
Also, for a refreshing change, the media are — and have been — putting the blame squarely where it belongs. All the heds are about “Republicans” and all the pix are of McQarthy looking frazzled. If I had to bet (which I guess implicitly we’re all doing, like it or not), I’d guess this one will end the way the others have, and sooner rather than later.
So yeah, Biden’s following the old rule: when your opponent is making a mistake, don’t interfere.
WaterGirl
@UncleEbeneezer: Another woman who. does. not. know. her. place.
Jeffro
@Kristine:
snort! lol
omfg that’s just ridiculous
it would have to be able to convert itself into a boat AND an aircraft (and have a full bar in the back) and it still wouldn’t be worth it
Soprano2
@Baud: Boy, you’re right about that! Right now a bunch of women at my Jazzercise studio are planning to go to a movie about her together. They’re polling everyone for which date would work best. These are not women in their 20’s – they’re 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and even 60’s!
Yarrow
@Suzanne: The mustache looks bad on him, but it’s apparently a thing with younger men these days from what I can tell.
He was funny on SNL and he seems nice. Funny and nice will go a long way. I can’t imagine how hard it is for someone like Taylor Swift to date. Every move she makes is watched. How do you meet someone and get to know them without the whole thing being broadcast to the world and dissected? Ugh.
Geminid
@Yarrow: Looking at this in broader terms than elite rank, Swift and Kelce are both high achievers in their respective professions. I think that is the most important thing for a balanced relationship. They are also busy but not too busy, and I think that helps too.
Suzanne
@Yarrow: Agreed. And it’s not insulting Travis Kelce to note that Taylor Swift is more famous than him. Taylor Swift is, like, more famous than anyone in the world except for maybe a single-digit number of people.
The NFL has asked her to do the Super Bowl halftime show multiple times, apparently, and she doesn’t need to do it.
OzarkHillbilly
Let the games begin!
Mine is all heavily wooded and as you might imagine, rather steep. The best part about the 2 hollers (where our east and west property lines are) is they pretty well eliminate anybody ever building a home that would intrude on our privacy. The neighbor to our east has her home on the next ridgeline and the only sight we ever have of it is on a winter’s night we can see her lights thru the trees. Our neighbor to our west keeps his 80+ acres as a hunting camp with a small cabin well away from our place.
We got lucky with both neighbors as they are nice folks to chat with and we all keep half an eye on our collective properties.
Eolirin
@Baud: Voters are moving left on abortion. Trans issues aren’t moving independents who mostly think people should be left alone. These are actually effective wedge issues for us. Same with gun control and affordable health care and environmental issues, to some degree.
What you won’t see are candidates for governor or the senate in, say, WV, running on a platform of instituting carbon taxes, which is the economic equivalent of CA Republicans pushing for gender affirming care bans.
Mainstream democratic candidates are not moving to ever increasingly extreme positions when they lose. Justice Dems do this. Party Dems do not.
Jeffro
@Brachiator: well she did say
=)
(I like columnists who at least give a hint that they might not know everything!)
Yes, he is a big star, absolutely. But I kind of get the ‘scale’ thing a bit. He’s a big star…on a team…that plays another team in order to sell out stadiums. She just…sells out stadiums.
Anyway, I also agree about actors being dazzled by sports stars, etc. Everyone has their own list of folks, usually in another line of work, who they’d go gaga over.
It’s funny…I forget what we were talking about, but a couple of weeks ago Mrs. Fro and I were talking about who (celeb-of-some-sort-wise) could walk in a room and either render us speechless or turn us all fanboy/fangirl. I could only come up with Obama or Springsteen; her list was longer.
(but upon reflection I bet my list is longer than I think!)
Betty Cracker
@Jeffro: Do you think the Seven Mehs could take votes from Trump even if they tried hard and used the reams of available proof that Trump is a loser? I don’t know but suspect not.
It’s not a political party anymore. It’s an oppositional defiant-disordered, authoritarian cult. Death or incapacity is the only way they’re getting rid of Hair Furor.
Baud
@Eolirin:
Right. I’m not comparing them to blue state Dems. The original point is that, because of the nationalization and polarization of our politics, state parties aren’t responding like you would expect when they are out of power. And for that reason, state parties don’t tell us much about how a national party would behave if it were out of power for an extended period of time at the national level.
Frankensteinbeck
@Jeffro:
When I walked past the television while it was on, they were doing exactly that. Don’t know why it doesn’t get coverage.
He’s not a god-king, it’s just utterly forbidden that Dems win ever, and his competitors are a pack of pathetic losers.
Suzanne
@Jeffro: LMAO. I went to her Eras Tour show at the Steelers stadium (“Acrisure”, I think?). She noted that she set an attendance record that night for the stadium and the entire city. She got more people into the NFL stadium than the NFL ever had. Every show on her tour was like the Super Bowl, apparently.
Citizen Alan
@lowtechcyclist: Most Evangelicals worship the devil but are too ignorant to realize it.
narya
@Jeffro: I assume you listened to the podcast they did together? (My list is about the same as yours. I might add a few chefs.)
Baud
The friendly skies just got a little bit friendlier.
Whew.
Dangerman
Personally, I’m glad the Senate voted unanimously for a dress code. Can we have a vote on Boebert peeling her dates banana in a theater now?
Eolirin
@Baud: And I’m saying this is very much asymmetrical and only the Republicans are doing that. Dem state parties are not embracing radicalism because they can. WV, AL and MO Dems have just as little to lose as CA Republicans under those dynamics, and they’re not embracing radical positions.
Dems are behaving the same as they have been.
Baud
@Eolirin:
From the point of view of Republicans, our positions are radical.
Sean
@arrieve:
It was Phoebe Bridger’s “Punisher” album that filled that role for me in 2020. You might give that a whirl if you haven’t already – (and its stripped-down companion EP “Copycat Killer”). :)
Jeffro
@Frankensteinbeck: he’s their god-king, not ‘a’ god-king. ;)
I do love how the dynamics are going on their side. What’d we have, almost 18 months of DeSantis as this amazing super-duper conservative candidate – “trump without the baggage”?
And then someone forgot to give trump the memo, lol. They love his “unconventionality” except when it bites them in the ass and he sticks around for yet ANOTHER losing election cycle.
And then all these other complete non-starters jumped in, because the plausible alternatives to trump are like, “no WAY am I jumping in that hog pen, no sir, I’ll see y’all in 2028!”
OzarkHillbilly
@Geminid: Nope, I’ve never done a survey of my trees but I’m pretty sure of that.
I did come to realize this past summer that I have a number of black walnut trees growing behind my house. These are relatively recent additions and I have no idea how they got here. There are no others on my property (in my experience black walnuts are far more disposed to growing down in the valleys, not ridgetops). Maybe some squirrels decided to improve the variety of nuts we have here and imported some from their lowland cousins.
Either way, I am happy to see them. They are just now starting to produce nuts and I look forward to harvesting some in the years to come.
Jackie
@OzarkHillbilly: When the Dems retake the House they need to pass a law requiring Congress not receive pay during government shutdowns.
I imagine shutdowns would become very rare.
Brachiator
@Suzanne:
There are probably international cricket players who are more popular than Taylor Swift. But in America, Kelce and Swift are on top of the celebrity pyramid.
The crazy thing is that some sports fans and sports writers get nervous if a Star athlete dates or marries a celebrity. They see it as a weakening distraction if a spouse has a career, let alone fame.
This may also be true to some extent if the athlete is a woman.
eclare
@Soprano2:
I bought a ticket to her concert movie coming out this fall the weekend it was announced. I’m 54.
eversor
@Eolirin:
Most people don’t care about trans one way or the other. There’s a strong streak of “I don’t understand it, I wouldn’t do it, but if it makes them happy and it’s not hurting anyone let them do it” in America.
There’s also the issue that the anti trans crowd is the same religious nutters who are anti abortion, anti birth control, anti porn, anti video game, anti rap music, anti Hollywood, and anti anything fun. Most people hate the biblical busy boddies and with a good portion of the population they trigger a “if they are against it than I’m for it, whatever it is”.
The trans debate is going to end like the gay marriage debate did. Most people thought gay marriage was a bit weird. But when the debate blew into the public on the one side you had a bunch of religious nutters being vicious and cruel and on the other side you had a bunch of perfectly normal people just asking not to be bullied. The end result being most people sided with the perfectly nice people who just wanted to live together and wanted nothing to do with the people saying they would burn forever in hell.
The conservative war on trans is not winnable in the long run. Most people aren’t even aware of the war on Bud Light and if you told them about they’d think it was insane. For us youngs trans people and gender benders have been part of comics, tabletop games, video games, movies, cartoons, tv shows and more our whole lives. It’s simply a non issue and a giant “so what? It’s a he-she. Why do you care?” level item.
The groomer angle doesn’t work either. As we now talk about sexual assault virtually every story you’re going to hear about someone who went through it as a kid is going to be about Church, home schooling, or a family member. Not some drag queen at a high heels race.
I think the GOP knows this which is why you seem them starting to dance around the dreaded scourge of furries! That will go the same way. While I would not dress up as a mascot and participate in an orgy if you want to more power to ya! And if those assholes say you can’t I will whole heartedly support you to do it even more.
Eolirin
@Baud: And now we’re not even having a conversation.
Dems aren’t shifting to the left by being against book banning even if Republican embracing of it makes them view that as a radical position. They think we hold radical positions we don’t even hold, like the CRT panic. We’re reached a point where simple defense of democracy is a radical position to some of them.
It’s completely irrelevant what they think on that front. It doesn’t represent a change on our side.
bbleh
@WaterGirl: Trump alone can fix it.
Baud
@Eolirin:
So I disagree a little. As recent as a decade ago, red state Dems were more reluctant to embrace social issues like LGBT rights. And even some economic issues like the stimulus. I think they have moved to the left since then.
OzarkHillbilly
I’m not so sure they believe that, so much as they want their voters to believe that. It’s an easy epithet to throw around.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Eh, their voters are them. Not that I disagree about that manipulation is going on, but I think most of them these days believe what they’re saying.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Soprano2:
Her shows, as I understand, are relentlessly positive spaces, something in the emotional/rhetorical neighborhood of Dolly Parton.
The misery sowed by the right wing rage-o-sphere finds the soil offered by the landscape of the Swifties to be barren, stony ground in which their seeds find no purchase…
Jeffro
We were talking about this on our morning walk today, in fact! (Me and Mrs. Fro, the normie, lol).
I don’t think they can do it on their own, not at all. The only way I think they can defeat trump is for the GOP’s truly big donors to come together and decide to buy each of these clowns out of the race until they’re down to 1 trump opponent.
(I’ll spare you the details – just deleted paragraphs about what would work for each of them =)
And then the big donors have to decide if they want to try and run with Ron (if they’re dumb) or Haley (if they’re not as dumb).
And then – no more debates. DeSantis or Haley just starts holding pressers, giving speeches, etc solely with the topic of “we can’t win with this loser, and we shouldn’t run with a felon at the top of the ticket”. “He had his chance and he failed you, GOP voters. But I won’t.” That kind of thing.
Now – will any of that happen? Of course not. =)
But at this point, something like this looks like the only way for someone other than trump to win the nomination.
This is true. And that’s what all the other candidates are praying for at this point – that a stroke (or worse) takes trump out and somehow they are anointed The Chosen One.
Sure Lurkalot
@Scout211:
NBC News Survey Interviews: 1000 Registered Voters, including 848 respondents interviewed via cellphone.
Registered voters…where from? And for that ubiquitous comment that landlines are a relic, millennials on down are not big on answering their cell phones.
This particular survey, identify as somewhat to very conservative vs somewhat to very liberal….36 to 26.
eversor
@Eolirin:
Democracy means different things to different people. To the right it’s not to elect leaders to change things. It’s to choose a steward to lead a white, Christian, capitalist nation and ensure it remains such.
UncleEbeneezer
@Suzanne: It’s a good thing dude songwriters/musicians are never self-obsessed, lol. What a ridiculous fucking argument from a ridiculous person.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: I base my thinking on the fact that GOP pols say a lot of things they know to be untrue. I would bet donuts to dollars 90% of them are fully vaccinated. They also know that Biden is clean as a whistle but their voters want an impeachment that the GOP can’t deliver. So instead they give them a fake impeachment inquiry that doesn’t even have subpoena powers.
Jeffro
And not only are they sold out, those Swifties are buying every last bit of merch in sight, and they’re holding parties out in the lot even if they can’t get a ticket, and some of them – the smart ones! – are getting jobs working the stadium concessions so they can see & hear the show for free. =)
There’s a piece up in the Times today about Beyonce and how she is having similar success. The economic impact of each of these tours as they hit each city is staggering.
All I ask is that Taylor and Beyonce keep imploring their audiences to register and vote. That’s it. I’ll even go see their concert movies if that’s what it takes. =)
scav
@OzarkHillbilly: Huzzah for black walnuts! (had some on family farm in IL), but read up on Juglone toxicity if they’re near established beds you’ve specific plans about.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Jeffro:
I’m reminded of the trip we took to Francis Ford Coppola’s toney eco resort in Belize. It was off the beaten path, and consisted of villas (many of which were pretty well open screened cabanas, with one corner dangling over the surf line). Beautiful and romantic, in so many ways, with enough distance in between so that privacy as to, uh, sound wasn’t a significant factor.
At breakfasts and dinners, I kept noting that one woman with Asian features kept smiling whenever we’d walk past, and saying nothing to us. I remarked to my wife “that woman is a somebody, but I can’t quite place her. It was only the week after when I saw her gracing the cover of some magazine that I realized who she was – Sandra Oh from Gray’s Anatomy (we never watched the show), and she was smiling because we obviously didn’t know or care who she was even though we were so obviously American, and she was able to have a holiday in peace without her celebrity intruding on her.
eversor
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
As big as Taylor Swift is here she’s not the biggest in the world by a long shot. Conservatives also went to war with K-Pop and lost that one in a curb stomping. They can’t stop themselves. The K-Pop fans also managed to wreck some Trump rally and when AOC voiced support for K-Pop they accused her of siding with North Korea. Which of course would be news to the K-Pop idols as many of them have had to serve or volunteered to serve in the South Korean military!
OzarkHillbilly
@scav: Yeah, I know about that “problem” with them. Problem in quotes only because I don’t foresee that ever being a problem for me. :-)
UncleEbeneezer
@Baud: They have. There are studies showing it. Pretty sure Scott Lemieux at LG&M has cited them several times.
Jeffro
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: that is so awesome!
WaterGirl
@Baud: Holy fuck.
I hope there are now 13 very rich Australian women. And I hope that everyone involved on the wrong side of that mess has been fired.
UncleEbeneezer
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: In their minds, girls aren’t supposed to be out having fun in ways that aren’t centered around boys. They belong on the beach, bored, shivering and suffering through the umpteenth time listening to some bitter/angry dude play a shitty song on his acoustic guitar (a little Barbie humor).
Yarrow
@Kristine: I’m trying to imagine the rich people putting their kids and dogs in a Rolls Royce SUV. lol. Wouldn’t they just drive that for show?
WaterGirl
@Jackie: Only if the House forfeits their pay for an entire year if there is a shutdown. These guys don’t live paycheck to paycheck like a lot of regular people do.
If they get their money later, no big deal to them.
bbleh
@Jeffro: @Betty Cracker: It’s not a political party anymore. It’s an oppositional defiant-disordered, authoritarian cult.
Concur regarding a slight majority of it, and certainly regarding the ones we hear about the most (not least cuz they’re so much fun for the media to write about).
But let’s not forget the other nearly-half: the ones who aren’t as mentally disordered or deficient as the Crazies but go along with it anyway.
There’s 20-30 million people who are reasonably possessed of their faculties and are at least significantly if not fully connected to the real world, who are perfectly happy to let the Crazies run amok, who either nod their heads or look the other way when TIFG and his surrogates say inflammatory and destructive things, who are okay with crusades against LGBTQI people and people of color and non-Christianist people and non-native-born Americans and and and, who indicate their support in the polls for all of it, and who will vote for politicians — including but not limited to TIFG himself — who are at a minimum fine with all of it and in some cases are batsh!t crazy themselves.
Of course if you ask them, they’ll mumble and prevaricate and mutter about Teh Deficit and maybe tut-tut about some of the awful things those people are saying, but they’ll vote for them anyway.
That kind of two-faced-ness is in some ways even worse than the Crazies imo. At least the Crazies are honest.
scav
@OzarkHillbilly: Bravo then! Especially with acreage, having differences like that can be interesting, if not fun. (My aunt was just obsessed with tomatoes which complicated things.) Eucalyptus pose issues too and I love them.
UncleEbeneezer
@Jeffro: I’d be very surprised if any Beyonce fan exists who doesn’t already vote (or plan to once they are old enough). While the crowds at her shows aren’t a monolith, it is a whole lot of Black Women/Girls (and Men who love them), LGBTQ People etc.
WaterGirl
@Jeffro:
Who are the Seven Mehs?
Jeffro
@bbleh:
Oh, so you’ve met my dad and brother?
The self-professed “Rockefeller Republican” and the “Libertarian”?
(shorter: yes, I agree)
Jeffro
@WaterGirl: She means the seven nearly-non-entities who were on the GOP debate stage last night, I think. =)
Kristine
@Yarrow: I think for some, it’s a showpiece, for others just a vehicle. It’s a matter of scale. If you have hundreds of millions, a vehicle like that is like a Corolla.
Then I’m also wondering if a vehicle like that is too flash for Old Money.
I read way too much Louis Auchincloss as a kid.
SFAW
@Kristine:
I don’t suppose that’s TFG’s valuation of one.
Suzanne
@Brachiator:
I bet this is, uhhhhh, not true among the under-30 cohort. By a lot. The NFL has been losing popularity for a few years — viewership is down — and lots of the young adults of today grew up with soccer being increasingly popular.
I know I am not the only one who heard they were maybe going out and thought, “How cute, she’s slumming!”. LOL.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@eversor:
Music to them consists of some whiny male hack strumming out a 4 cowboy chord sequence about the flag, guts, Gawd and ‘Murka, something that’s identical to that awful Praise Music offense to the ears.
I’ve had the country music convos with people where I describe how much (when I listen to country) I prefer either the current stuff from women or the old tunes, because current male artists have abandoned the time honored country themes of “my job sucks, my lady sucks, my dog left me, so I got drunk, punched my boss in the mouth, left everything behind and now I’m an outlaw”.
Yarrow
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Bro country is all about drinking beer from red solo cups and driving your truck while a woman in cut off denim shorts rides shotgun. It’s so boring.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Yarrow:
I see that you’re familiar with the ouevre of Jason Aldean…..
Jackie
@WaterGirl: Not all congress critters are independently wealthy, but I agree no back pay. The wealthier members are usually the first to scream about not getting their monies lol
Yarrow
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Yes, but it’s not just him. There are so many like him. It’s so boring. It’s past time for something else to break through.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
So 40 percent of the voting age public is actively malicious and 23 percent can’t find their ass with a map and a guide.
UncleEbeneezer
@Suzanne: Kelce is nowhere near the top of the celebrity pyramid. Taylor Swift is very much so.
eversor
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
I never liked country and always found it sort of shitty. It’s gotten more obnoxious since 9/11. The entire “try that in a small town” was beyond insane to me. Because carjacking, store robbing, spitting on cops, or assaulting old ladies will get you jumped and beaten into a pulp with a quickness in the big cities. Either that or the bodega owner whips out a shotgun. Go ahead, try that in Philly! Pleny of urbanites enjoy a good scrap.
On praise music it’s gotten more obnoxious to me as I notice it’s increasingly common with Uber drivers. Which fine I have 1500 buck IEMs to listen to my music so you do you. But a lot of them want to talk to you and being polite I talk back but that means I have to take the IEMs out and listen to that crap.
UncleEbeneezer
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: I briefly played in a Country band several years ago. The one upside was that we had a woman lead-singer. So while a lot of the tunes were still kinda silly, but much better than the ones that the dudes tend to write.
UncleEbeneezer
@Jeffro: And my Dad, Cousins, Uncles etc.
Jeffro
I vote for a return of 80’s hair metal. Go long on Aqua Net futures, people!!
Frankensteinbeck
@bbleh:
I believe the central point is they’re Never Democrats voters. The worst Republican is better than voting for the best Democrat, and for similar reasons. You’re still voting for the party as a whole’s policies. Also, I think they have a very different view of Trump than us. They may think stuff like J6 and trying to overturn the election are bad, but they can’t get worked up over Trump applying the principle of Never Democrats to its logical conclusion either.
Betty Cracker
@Jeffro: You are correct. There’s probably a better term (NOT Dwarfs). I’ll think on it. 🤔
PS: I agree with your analysis at #187 and also @bbleh: at #203.
Frankensteinbeck
@Yarrow:
Someone did an analysis of lyrics of the most popular country songs, and they were unbelievably repetitive. Like, pickup trucks, dirt roads, and women in tight denim appeared in 90% of them. The analyst’s conclusion was that the majority of country music is now a cultural identifier, not music in the traditional sense.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@eversor:
This!
Kristine
@SFAW: MSRP
UncleEbeneezer
@Frankensteinbeck: Oh, I’d love to see that analysis. That is exactly how I view Country Music.
eclare
@eversor:
Not K Pop fans, K Pop army.
Geminid
@Frankensteinbeck: I remember how there used to be a lot of “Cheatin’ ” songs in the 1980s. I’m not sure there are any these days. Maybe that wave of rural marital infidelity has finally passed!
Damned as Random
My step daughter is a senior petty officer. She has been in meetings all week about the uniformed military covering for the civilian employees during the shutdown.
She is not happy about the Congressional situation
Eolirin
@eversor: 👍
eversor
@eclare:
No, no, no, no. I have K-Pop nieces. The K-Pop Army are the K-Pop fans of one particular boy idol band. BTS. The other bands have other groups with their sub names. But K-Pop Army is BTS.
That group is fanatical. They will play Beat Saber (VR lightsaber game where you smash objects to the beat that are hurled at you) and do nothing but K-Pop songs for hours. They are all stans for different groups. I find it all odd but it makes them happy so have at it. The moms all love it as well. And if you want chaos and broken furniture this is the way to go. Bunch of college aged girls and mom’s in their 50s drinking and dancing in VR while others cheer and backup dance.
Do not take on K-Pop. You won’t win!
...now I try to be amused
@Frankensteinbeck:
I call country “Celtic-American folk music”.
Brachiator
@Jackie:
You can temporarily withhold Congress members pay, but you have to fully make it up later. It’s a constitutional thing.
Quiltingfool
@Frankensteinbeck: I kinda like the honky tonk bluegrass style music…check out “Jack and Coke” by Lynda Kay.
She’s got that Appalachian bluegrass twang in her voice.
evodevo
@scav: Yes. this…do NOT use bark mulch on plant beds or anything except pathways. ALSO do not use for animal bedding, especially horses (ask me how I know ). Anything black walnutty is toxic for plants and animals…
evodevo
@Yarrow:
What’s that old joke about the Aussie who said he liked Rolls because of the glass barrier you could raise between the back and front….it keeps the sheep from licking the back of your neck…
Geminid
@evodevo: A lot of patios and walkways are set in stone dust now. Weeds grow in the joints, and there is a real need for an organic herbicide to kill them because many people shy away from Roundup, Spectracide and the like.
So I had a brilliant idea: use a walnut extract for this purpose! But then I thought some more and realized that few people would want to see their nice bluestone or red brick walkways turned a dull brown. Walnut juice stains very badly.