President Jimmy Carter, you remain the spirit and the heart of the American people. It’s a great honor to know you and to have worked with you.
Jill and I wish you a happy birthday. pic.twitter.com/ZUVHjgOYvy
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 1, 2023
I'm proud to announce California's new United States Senator — Laphonza Butler.
As we mourn the enormous loss of Sen. Feinstein, the very freedoms she fought for — reproductive freedom, equal protection, and safety from gun violence — have never been under greater assault.… pic.twitter.com/SOnbfVPmXj
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) October 2, 2023
Meet Laphonza Butler, the President of EMILY’s List & the replacement of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein in the Senate. A Black woman who has fought so hard for women’s rights & Democrats to be elected up & down the ballot. Bravo, Gavin Newsom, on the PERFECT choice. pic.twitter.com/eV40hIBQyi
— Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) October 2, 2023
The Wall Street Journal is… sniffy:
… Butler, 44, a Democrat and longtime labor leader in California, heads up the group, which funds female candidates who support abortion rights for office. She will be the first Black and openly gay woman to serve in the U.S. Congress, according to Newsom’s office. She is expected to be sworn in as early as this week.
“Laphonza will carry the baton left by Sen. Feinstein, continue to break glass ceilings, and fight for all Californians in Washington, D.C.,” Newsom said Sunday night.
Butler currently lives with her family in Maryland, where she is registered to vote, according to a spokesman for Newsom. She owns a home in California and will re-register to vote there, he said.
Butler didn’t respond to a request for comment…
… It wasn’t immediately clear if Butler would run for a full term, but there were no conditions set by Newsom that she sit out the race, according to two sources familiar with the discussions. Democrats are heavily favored to keep control of the seat.
Lee said she looked forward to working with Butler, but she was looking ahead to 2024.
“I am singularly focused on winning my campaign for Senate,” said Lee. “No one should underestimate our unprecedented grassroots campaign.”
Porter focused on Butler’s record and history-making role. “I look forward to fighting for California with her,” she said.
A representative for Schiff didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment…
Butler, though little known on the national political stage until recently, has worked behind the scenes for some of the most influential candidates and organizations in California politics. She has served at the local, state and national levels for the Service Employees International Union, at one point running a powerful home-care workers union, the largest in California.
She worked for a consulting firm that serves clients including Newsom, and Butler served as an adviser to Harris’s 2020 presidential campaign.
Good Job Gavin Newsom! pic.twitter.com/5dLf7nwAuE
— Candidly Tiff (@tify330) October 2, 2023
“We do not have one rule for Republicans and another rule for Democrats. We don't have one rule for foes and another for friends,” says Attorney General Merrick Garland. “We have only one rule; and that one rule is that we follow the facts and the law.” https://t.co/PtVa036DOa pic.twitter.com/6OsPzAKmId
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 1, 2023
President Biden asked if he is concerned about America’s reputation on the world stage: Based on MAGA Republicans’ part, yes. Based on what my administration is doing, no pic.twitter.com/G2WUC2lsyS
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) October 1, 2023
Baud
Butler seems like someone who was cooked up on a Dem lab to be a perfect replacement.
I wonder if she’ll run for the permanent position.
Baud
Perfect. If this is being senile, I don’t want a president who still has all his faculties.
Anyway
@Baud:
Inorite?! Well played, Gov Newsom, well played.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: I agree Butler does seem like an ideal pick. My guess is she won’t run to retain the seat.
Seems like even an experienced political operative with the advantage of short-term incumbency would have a difficult time learning a new job and putting together the money and staff required for a statewide election in a complicated place like CA at the same time. But who knows?
I think Newsom is banking chits in advance of his own presidential run in 2028, when, as another white dude, he’ll have to navigate incredibly complex internal party politics.
Chief Oshkosh
Appears to be a good choice by Newsom. I wish the best for Senator Butler.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
That makes sense. We have no idea how good a Senator Butler would be. Not that the average isn’t ridiculously low.
Frankensteinbeck
Yes, that’s exactly why Republicans and a lot of pundits are angry, Garland.
prostratedragon
Scientists whose work enabled mRNA Covid vaccine win Nobel prize for medicine. As expected. Congratulations and millions of thanks to them.
Freemark
@prostratedragon: Did the award mention their work in integrating an RFID chip into the vaccine? Or mention their work in getting the vaccine to magnetize people? Because I think those are pretty amazing accomplishments too. /s
Ocotillo
@Baud: I also prefer president’s that don’t publically contemplate their demise as to whether they would prefer electrocution or shark attack.
Baud
@Ocotillo:
Is that something Trump did? Will there be a referendum?
Baud
For those who listen to NPR.
Ocotillo
@Baud:
I hope my posting skills hold up, but, yes.
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1708587099706830853
Betty Cracker
@Baud: I remember being surprised a while back at how well NPR has covered abortion rights, and I looked it up: lots of women in the leadership ranks.
Mousebumples
I mentioned it yesterday, but happy belated birthday to Jimmy Carter!
Re Senator Butler – I just finished Nancy Pelosi’s book, Know Your Power, and it’s possible she (Sen Butler) already has organizing connections in California to pull off a primary and then general election run. A strong ground game + incumbency could be formidable.
Baud
@Ocotillo:
I expect it’ll be a debate question next year.
Ocotillo
@Baud: I don’t know the context that brought him to that point in his speech but holy moly. There have been blurbs out there before about him being obsessed with Shark Week which this likely confirms.
PJ
@Baud: She is not a politician, and has never been elected to public office. She was appointed to be a caretaker. There’s no legal impediment to her running, but she’d have to put together a campaign in the five months before the March 5 primary, which seems like a steep climb, particularly for someone who’s never done it before and has no campaign fund or organization.
Baud
@Ocotillo:
I didn’t click the video, but Trump is a celebrity and it wouldn’t surprise me if he still knows how to use silly bantar to connect to his audience.
Dorothy A. Winsor
A few years back, we were on a cruise, I think in Russia, and there was an old guy who loudly proclaimed that the problem with US politics was that there were too many women. When we got home, I donated in his name to EMILY’s list. If he’s still alive, I figure he’s still getting their promotions.
ETA: You’re doing the gods’ work, Senator Butler.
Baud
@PJ:
Yeah. There was a big deal being made about whether Newsom would require his appointee not to run, and he had to say he wouldn’t. But I’d imagine this appointee was chosen in part because he knew she couldn’t put together a viable campaign.
Betty Cracker
I listened to a new politics podcast during my road trip this weekend: How to Win 2024. It’s hosted by Claire McCaskill and Jen Palmieri. I think those of y’all who like political podcasts would enjoy it.
It’s short and punchy and just getting underway — I think there are 3 or 4 episodes so far? They had Ron Klain on, who had soothing words for the panic-stricken.
McCaskill is funny, and there’s a good dynamic between her and Palmieri. They had a field day with Kevin McCarthy’s troubles.
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Dude should have stayed in Russia rather than get back on the ship.
Betty Cracker
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Well played!
@Baud: Agree with you there. Newsom is an ambitious guy, and it’s unlikely he would want to piss off numerous power players in CA with a major thumb on the scale.
Michael Bersin
Lucas Kunce (D), challenging Josh Hawley (r) for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, gets the retail politics part. Sunday afternoon, at Truman State Park:
Lucas Kunce (D) – 4th Congressional District Democrats – October 1, 2023
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I feel like a lot of old dudes haven’t realized that times have changed since Archie Bunker types were funny.
trnc
Yup, same. Did that change since 2016?
Anyway
@Betty Cracker:
Palmieri should sit out presidential campaigns (managing and discussing) til 2050 or so …
trnc
And the amount of time it would probably take her personally to do all that would open her up to accusations of focusing on her campaign rather than on the job she was appointed to do. Personally, I hope she’s great in the job but that there’s no drama and that Schiff or Porter take the nomination.
MagdaInBlack
@Baud: I wish it were clever banter, but mostly it’s just the disconnected ramblings of a boring old man. Don’t click.
Joey Maloney
Even Senator Butler’s name seems custom-designed to drive the MAGAts into a rage – “why can’t she have a real name like Billy Sue or Sally Joe? Not one of those crazy, made up [don’t say it don’t say it don’t say it] near [DAMMIT] names!”
Betty Cracker
@Anyway: What did she do that’s so unforgiveable?
catclub
@Freemark: Don’t worry, the IgNobel Prizes are still coming.
Tony Jay
Only a matter of time, surely? Like they’d be able to resist heading off tooting their hunting horns after another ‘deplorable’ moment.
Gvg
@PJ: On the other hand, she is the president of Emily’s list! I would think she would be expert or really well acquainted with every expert on running a good campaign. And well connected to those who find money for candidates.
But I don’t know how the residency issue will hit California voters. Evidently she has multiple residences and national responsibilities. Also I wonder if she will step down from Emily’s list. If she doesn’t then I would assume she won’t run.
Baud
@Gvg:
No way she can do Emily’s List while she’s serving.
catclub
@Betty Cracker:
I would not have expected that with McCaskill. Thanks!
Baud
@Tony Jay:
You’re getting a little too good at this.
Suzanne
@Baud:
Yeah, true, and “social issues” are just the least of it. See the discussion last week here debating who is more famous: Swift or Kelce?
I had not heard of Butler until today, but her first impression on me is very positive! I don’t love the registering-to-vote-from-vacation-home aspect, but I suppose it’s the new norm.
Tony Jay
@Baud:
I’m looking for a job come January, and I hear the FTFNYT has very low standards and high rates of compensation for doing all kinds of unsavoury things with one’s fingers.
Baud
@Tony Jay:
All true, plus they have fringe benefits such as coupons to the Applebee’s salad bar and discounts for the Early Bird special at any number of Ohio diners.
Mousebumples
If she’s with Emily’s List, she may need to be in the DC area regularly for meetings, etc. I may have missed reporting where she said it was her vacation home, but I’d think it’s more analogous to a house near the office.
Tony Jay
@Baud:
Throw in a bow-tie supplement and I’m there.
I hear this is how Lois Lane got her start in the Media.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Waiting for the Red Roses to have a collective meltdown in 3..2..1..
Wondering which prominent Rose will attack her first.
Baud
@Tony Jay:
Whoa whoa whoa. The bow tie must be earned!
UncleEbeneezer
@Baud: She’d be kinda crazy to run, given how much popularity Porter, Schiff and Lee already have. I think many/most of us in CA would love to have any of the three of them, but also have our own favorites. I don’t really see much upside to a fourth candidate entering the fold. And I have to assume that Butler is smart enough to see that too. There’s already more quality candidates in the race than we need.
Joey Maloney
Back in the day we looked more favorably on banging an illegal alien in exchange for scoops.
Geminid
I bet Ms. Butler will concentrate on doing the best job she can as Senator and leave the campaign to Reps. Porter, Schiff and Lee.
Tony Jay
@Joey Maloney:
Scoops of what?
I can only apologise. I’ll get my
capecoat.Baud
@Geminid:
That seems to be the Morning Thread consensus. And she’d be a fool to go against that.
The Thin Black Duke
@Baud: Especially when in the later seasons the showrunners softened Archie’s racist edges. Earlier episodes often depicted Archie getting his well-deserved comeuppance because of his bigotry.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: There is a strong likelihood that she does run. We will see,
Scout211
Senator Butler is a wonderful choice. She wasn’t on anyone’s radar for this appointment, so she is a nice surprise. I would guess that VP Harris had a big say in this choice. I approve.
I have no idea if she will decide to run for the full term seat but I would be fine with that, too.
But unless there is some exception to California election law that I am not aware of, she will have to be on the ballot in March to retain the seat that she has been appointed to. In California, the appointment for Senator is valid until the next election when the seat must be voted on by the electorate.
Senator Padilla was on the primary ballot in 2022 for both his appointed Senate seat and his current full-term Senate seat. It was very confusing and the campaign spent a good deal of time explaining why he was running in the primary for two Senate seats.
So unless this particular appointment is different somehow (Californians who know more than I do, please correct me) Senator Butler will be on the ballot in March, for either one or two Senate seats.
Baud
@The Thin Black Duke:
Right. It worked because of the times and because of Meathead and the others who put Archie in his place. (The famous Sammy Davis Jr. kiss for example).
SFAW
@Suzanne:
There’s a debate? Seriously? Look, I may not be aware of all Intertubez traditions, the way you hepcats are, but even I know the answer.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
You’ve ruined the consensus. Now the hellmouth has opened up for the first time since the Cubs won the World Series.
Barbara
@Mousebumples: In reality, having a DC presence will help her hit the ground running. She won’t have to figure out the logistics of relocation.
Anyway
@Betty Cracker:
Part of Hillary’s 2016 campaign kitchen cabinet (*). Don’t remember her exact title but she was up there.
ETA * No sexist connotation here – she was one of her chief advisers.
Baud
@Scout211:
That is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. (Not you, the law).
Ken
The more immediate concern will be whether Senate Republicans, led by Hawley (R-MO and VA) and Tuberville (R-AL and FL), challenge her eligibility on residency requirements.
schrodingers_cat
OT: Today is M.K. Gandhi’s birth anniversary.
His favorite bhajan, performed by two Muslim men, Ustad Parvez Khan on the sitarand Ustad Rashid Khan singing.
Vaishnav Jan (Vishnu’s people) are those understand the grief of others
Ustad: Maestr
Lyrics with English translation
This bhajan was composed by the Gujarati saint poet Narsi Mehta who lived in the 14th century.
Baud
@Ken:
I don’t think there are residency requirements.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Now you know what my family (and husband kitteh’s family’s whatsapp groups feel)
Anyway
@schrodingers_cat:
I agree. She seems to be well connected, and has an interesting resume. Schiff and Porter should watch their backs…
PJ
@Scout211: The next general election Butler would be eligible for is in 2024, which is the general election for Senator. There would only be one election she would have to run for, should she choose to.
But all this talk about her being a candidate in 2024 seems bizarre to me. She was appointed precisely because she doesn’t have the background to run in 2024.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Heh.
Barbara
@Ken: Well thank goodness we don’t have to wait to hear the opinion of Senator Walker (R- GA & TX).
Ken
@Baud: I was referring to the Constitution, which I see uses “inhabitant”, not “resident”:
No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
eversor
@Betty Cracker:
I don’t think Newsom can win the primary. He’s qualified. He’s also a white male who’s too slick by a long shot both of which are going to be negatives in the party. In a general he’d probably get crushed. Partly for the too slick part, the partying at the #1 restaurant in the US during COVID, rich donors, being from California, being from SanFran, and he also has strong “the guy who fucked your girlfriend” vibes. He was also married to Kimberly Gargoyle and that’s going to introduce a level of drama that’s going to drive people away. He’s set to be a king maker or some other high level thing.
If I was to take a bet at a Vegas table 2028 is all Gretchin Whitmer wiping the floor with everyone. She’s got the experience and qualifications and checks the magic box of can win in an important swing state. She’s white, but she’s not a white male and that’s starting to matter more and more in our party politics. She’s charismatic and attractive but not in the way that pisses people off (see Newsom). She has no baggage that we know of.
As for VP in 2028 who knows but it’s not going to be Newsom. If it’s going to be a white guy Mayor Pete would be my gamble. He’s very good on TV and sparing with the press and his qualifications are there. I’m aware that running a woman and a gay man is going to light peoples hair on fire but the sides on the culture war have been picked and we aren’t getting the Christian, racist, or bigot vote (actually that’s all the same vote!) anyways so might as well cause some heart attacks!
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊😊😊
Baud
@Ken:
She’s not elected. Regardless, I’m confident they’ll take care of the paperwork.
ETA: But I’ll admit to being wrong about the residency requirement.
Geminid
@Scout211: This is still early in rhe morning for figuring this stuff out. But it seems to me that if Senator Butler does not run in the replacement contest it would only mean she would miss out on the “Lame Duck” session after the November, 2024 election. So she may not feel compelled to file for either race.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Scout211
Agree! It was so confusing. But Padilla won the election for the rest of his appointed term and was one of the top two for the full term and eventually the full term in the general election so it all turned out fine.
I just wanted the non-Californians to know that she will not be able to avoid an election, even if she decides not to run for the full term seat. She obviously knows how to do that and will be able to do so with a short amount of lead time.
We’ll see if a Republican steps up to run for that seat. That will be interesting to watch.
catclub
Spooning after.
ETA: Now my eighth grade mind is wondering about Lois and the man of steel.
Suzanne
@SFAW:
I was kind of floored myself. I, uhhhh, do not think it’s a contest.
But I think lots of older people, especially men, don’t see what younger people, especially women, are into.
Anyway
@eversor:
Agree that it’s gonna be hard for Newsom to pull it off. Lots of anti-California animus in the East-coast and DC-centered establishment media and PTB.
yes, yes, Raygun, Raygun but that was 1880!! so last century.
schrodingers_cat
@Barbara: Being an incumbent even for a short time is a tremendous plus.
Soprano2
@Betty Cracker: That sure does make a difference, doesn’t it? Representation matters!!!
Geminid
@Scout211: Can’t Butler avoid the second, special election by not filing for it?
lowtechcyclist
@Mousebumples:
My thought too. If she was living in California while heading up an org like Emily’s List, she’d spend half her time on airplanes
ETA: She sounds like an awesome choice!
satby
@trnc: so you and PJ are unfamiliar with Emily’s list and what it does then?
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Against a Republican, true. I’m not sure how much it helps in a primary that’s already underway when you are an incumbent because of an appointment.
Ken
Now you have me wondering…. Google claims the first interracial same-sex kiss was in 1976 on a UK show, but the Sammy Davis Jr. episode was in 1972.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: I don’t know enough about local California politics to comment on this. But this mixes up the primary.
Lata Mangeshkar singing Vaishnav Jan.
The person described in this bhajan is the opposite of the Sangh pracharak currently occupying the PM’s chair.
Ken
Only if they have ad blockers. Otherwise they get plenty of claims about what young women really want, with links to order the pills.
Scout211
IIRC, Senator Padilla only had to run once for the rest of his appointed Senate seat. The primary was the special election. He won that and became the permanent Senator for the rest of VP Harris’ term.
It’s early here in California, so I could be misremembering, but we only voted twice for him during the primary. The general election was only for the full term Senate seat he is now serving.
Tony Jay
@Baud:
Oh. Y’think?
Joey Maloney
Has your eighth grade mind never read “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex“?
Soprano2
@Suzanne: Yeah, that’s not even a contest. LOL
satby
@Ken: 1968, Kirk and Uhuru.
and quite surprised NotMax didn’t beat me to post it. Oops, same sex kiss, never mind.
Baud
@Ken:
Maybe they mean on the lips. Sammy was on the cheek.
eversor
@Tony Jay:
Fashion complaints from old man with a bow tie and a tupee!
Tony Jay
@catclub:
If you imagine Maureen Dowd as Lois Lane and Mitt Romney as Superman you may not be any closer to answering that question, but you’d definitely start fearing your dreams so much that you’ll have a lot more waking hours in which to think it over.
Steeplejack
@Ken:
I assume the 1976 kiss was a consensual, romantic kiss, whereas Davis laid an unexpected peck on Archie Bunker’s cheek. Not the same thing at all.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
In Russia, the land of perpetual demographic crises because so many Russian men drink themselves to death.
Scout211
@Scout211:
Politico is reporting that we will have four Senate elections next year, so maybe we do have to vote for both terms in November, too. Funny, a whole year ago and I am foggy on that. Or maybe I need more coffee this morning. LOL
Californians, anyone know for sure?
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: And, if I recall correctly, there was an earlier one on Star Trek itself that was between Nurse Chapel and Uhura, but not on the lips. The show didn’t call attention to it, just a sweet bit of business in the background.
Tony Jay
@eversor:
I guess that means I successfully verisimilituded the hell out of Will’s pompous whine. Excellent.
schrodingers_cat
Another tribute to Gandhi from the 1954 Jagruti (Awakening)
De di hame azadi bin khadga bina dhal
You gave us independence without a sword or a shield
Sung by a very young Asha Bhonsle (Lata’s younger sister, a famous singer in her own right, now 90)
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
I remember that Uhuru and Kirk were the first interracial kiss, but they had to be forced into it on the episode.
JWR
@Ocotillo:
Here’s your cleaned up link with context, and wow! Sounds like he’s finally graduated from Herschel Walker (Vampire/Werewolf) U.
Ken
@Baud: The google hit said “passionate same-sex kiss”, and although I recall Archie getting rather emotional afterward, I wouldn’t call it passion. There’s a separate list for the first “gay lip-to-lip kiss”.
Also, regarding Kirk and Uhura, there were other interracial kisses on US television before that, mostly white-Asian. Some list Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball as interracial. The UK had some white-black kisses before the Star Trek ones.
This is reminding me a bit of the wikipedia articles about the Wright brothers’ 1903 flight, which carefully qualify it as the first documented, successful, powered, controlled, heavier-than-air flight — all the adjectives being necessary to single out that event from all the other claimants.
lowtechcyclist
@Scout211:
In most states, that’s the next general election. According to Ballotpedia, California is one of those states. So unless there’s some quirk of California law where the March primary is legally defined as a general election, the next general election would be in November 2024
ETA: Or Ballotpedia could have it wrong, but they almost never do.
Geminid
@Soprano2: Yes, that would be no contest. That is why the debate wasn’t over who was more famous, Swift or Kelce, but rather what effect the two celebrities’ different status might have on their relationship
At least, that is how I rememberit.
catclub
IF, you think men are essential.
RevRick
@Freemark: I have noticed I’m getting much better reception.
Matt McIrvin
@Ken: oh, yeah, “who invented the airplane” is a garden of various competing national claims– if you adjust the parameters just right you can claim it of all manner of people.
Scout211
I think most states would consider the primary for a general election to be a general election. This rule for Senator is in contrast to the House of Representatives, who must be elected in a special election apart from the regularly scheduled general election, which includes a primary.
ETA: We have done this before in California, as recently as last year.
RevRick
@prostratedragon: This reminds us that science sometimes proceeds on a brilliant intuition. Like Jenner’s original observation about how cowpox seemed to immunize against smallpox and creating the world’s first vaccine, the hunch that a chunk of RNA could be enough to awaken our body’s learned immune system was a huge leap that proved its value.
lowtechcyclist
@RevRick:
Back in the olden days, they just pulled the wagons into a circle.
Ken
@Matt McIrvin: Thank goodness we no longer get bogged down in such petty national rivalries, instead debating fundamental issues like whether it would be better to be electrocuted or eaten by a shark, and whether you would rather listen to Taylor Swift or watch a Kansas City Chiefs game during the execution.
Chris T.
@catclub:
“Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex”
Edit: beat by Joey Maloney at #89
eversor
@Tony Jay:
Nice verbaging peon!
I find Will more tragic and relatable than say Brooks. He’s a pompous gas bag but when he steps out of politics and talks about baseball or food there’s some traces of a human there. Where fuckers like Brooks just make you wonder if they came out of a spore cloud on Uranus.
Almost Retired
Laphonza Butler seems straight out of Central Casting for this role. She seems wonderful on paper. I’ve been a employment/labor lawyer in Los Angeles and San Francisco for 35 years, but I’ve never heard of her. Which says more about me than her.
So far, the other employment and labor lawyers on my Facebook feed and employment law listserves are saying the same thing (“seems great, but /who?'”). It’s only 5:50 in California, so maybe my more savvy contacts are sleeping in. Interesting to see the reaction here. LA Times columnist Erika Smith wrote a scathing OpEd yesterday about what she considered Newsom’s cynicism and pandering in appointing a Black woman as a “seat warmer.” Wonder how this appointment will go over in the African-American community?
eversor
@Matt McIrvin:
Check out the ye-old-timey attempts at parachutes by jumping from the Eiffel Tower!
Jeffro
Just a quick reminder to all that the DeSantis and Haley camps have been summoned by their owners to “pitch” how they’re gonna get the GOP out of the clusterfuck that is…the GOP.
(Even Ross Douthat is skeptical it’s going to work. But they have no other choice!)
#GladToBeADemocratIndeed
Matt McIrvin
@Scout211: I think there are three types, usually– general elections, primary/preliminary elections and special elections.
MisterDancer
@Matt McIrvin: Yep! And coincidentally, Sammy Davis Jr. was a part of a similar kiss on the cheek that, because people noticed, caused a lot of controversy at the time (confirmed this with my Dad).
So it wasn’t the cheek kissing that was why it wasn’t flagged.
prostratedragon
@schrodingers_cat:
(From a hymn expressing a similar thought.)
Geminid
@Almost Retired: I know you are not the one introducing it, but “Seat Wmer” quite a loaded and dismissive term. Senator Butler will have plenty of real work to do, and her vote will count as much as any Senator’s.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Almost Retired: Would she be happy if Newsom appointed a white person?
Eolirin
@Suzanne: I think it’s a mischaracterization of that discussion to say that anyone was confused about Swift and Kelce’s relative fame. Just whether or not Kelce was famous enough relative to Swift.
sab
@RevRick: Africans were vaccinating long before Jenner, but nobody listened to them.
MisterDancer
I find it…fascinating that quite a few people were convinced that Newsom had boxed himself in. In part, because of the implication that he did so by aligning to (basically) an Affirmative Action pick AND not promoting people already running.
I’m glad Newsom seems to have thought this thru with some care, and was ready with someone who met his requirements. The Electoral Vote entry on how Butler was picked is truly a cross-section of competent women, some of whom were already mentioned here, but whom they point out wouldn’t have worked for one reason or another.
Damn good work by the Governor and his team!
MisterDancer
Well, here’s a data point. Swifties (fans of Taylor Swift) are turning in enough to Kelce’s football game that they have Carson Daily doing a bit to explain football rules to them, during the game.
What a world! :)
Betty Cracker
@Jeffro: Fascinating—thanks for the link! If they’re smart, they’ll coalesce around Haley. She’s awful and an extremist too, but she’s more savvy than DeSantis, who has been such a horrible primary candidate that he is now hemorrhaging support even in his peninsular fiefdom where I reside! Of the two, Haley would give them the best chance to win the general election.
But the real question is, does this donor network have the pull to dislodge Trump? Nothing that has happened in the past 5 years indicates they do, so I’m thinking no.
yellowdog
@Baud: As head of Emily’s List she has deep knowledge and ties to donor lists, plus she has a labor background. Money will pour in if she chooses to run. As for organizing a campaign, I’m sure she knows many, many Dem Party operatives who will join her campaign gladly.
sab
@Geminid: And she will be able to hit the ground running, with DC living arrangements and contacts already in place. She hasn’t run for office before so I doubt she is interested. I think this a great choice, a placeholder who can do the job better than Feinstein was able to do in her last term, while leaving 2024 for people who already have campaign structures in place.
Almost Retired
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Reading between the lines of her other columns, she wanted him to appoint Barbara Lee.
Almost Retired
@Geminid: Seat warmer is indeed an offensive term, and Erika Smiths use of it detracted from her argument.
youtubb
Perfect.🏳️⚧️
catclub
That was from a Psalm expressing the same turn of phrase.
Jeffro
@Geminid: you remember it correctly (meaning, you remember it the same way I did =)
eversor
@sab:
It gets her better known and sets her up for later as well.
Suzanne
@Eolirin: There were a few commenters saying that they were equally famous.
eversor
@Eolirin:
It’s relative they are playing and singing to different groups.
The real complaint is that football is the conservative sport. Hence all the fits over it. And Kelce’s real sin is endoring Bud Light and pfizer shots. Taylor Swift for a long time was the White Christian ideal of a woman and trotted out as such by the wingnuts. Turns out she’s not that.
It’s two betrayers of White Christianity dating and having fun that drives them fucking bonkers.
Jeffro
@Betty Cracker: this sort of goes to what we were talking about last week. It’s a matter of “can they summon the will (and 💰) to overcome their collective action problem?”
– get DeSantis and Haley on board with ‘the plan’: you must go at trump together, and go hard. Thank him for his service but note that he has become a liability to the party…erratic, indictments and trial appearances piling up, etc.
– line up big bucks to flood the GOP primary zone with DeSantis/Haley ads while buying most of the other contenders off of the stage (except Vivek)
– profit? Who knows? But if they keep limping along, they’ll keep limping along, and they’ll be running with a deranged, convicted felon at the top of the ticket by next July.
And I agree with you like I did last week – Haley is a far better choice than DeSantis in the general. So…go Ron!
Ken
@MisterDancer: I was interested in the Electoral Vote lead article on the consequences of a Motion to Vacate, because it largely focused on the Democrats. I think in part that’s because they’re still an organized political party capable of strategy, and also still mostly sane enough to allow analysis of their behavior, but it did have a whiff of “only Democrats have agency”.
Ian R
@Eolirin: Well, I only had to Google who one of them was, and it sure wasn’t Swift.
Glidwrith
@trnc: This isn’t directed at just you, but to the several people that have already decided she’s just a placeholder: the Senator has already said she will run for office. She is also the one who HAS the Rolodex when it’s time to connect to power brokers and fundraisers. She’s been doing this for years. Why is everyone already dismissing her?
Ken
Have they tried pouring salt on him? I recall that worked in The African Queen.
Anyway
@Ian R:
hahaha! yep, had to Google image the guy. Whereas I could pick out Taylor from a lineup though I prolly could not recognize a song …
Scout211
Update for locals on Senator Feinstein’s services. Link
MisterDancer
You noticed that too, hunh?
Glad it wasn’t just my had-3-hours-of-sleep brain in action, there. :)
I think they are right in part — right now, it does hinge on “us”. And there’s no clear signal how the caucus will lean, which is likely why that piece also over-pitcher what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on CNN; that doesn’t read like a “no way I’m voting for the GOP to lead” to me.It feels like one of those “I watched the Sunday talk shows and although I think they are fools on those shows, I have a piece to run and that thinking is seeping into my brain” bits that I kind of get, now. Writing on the regular is hard!
That said — the team at EV.com haven’t been shy about calling out GOP dysfunction and fear-mongering, so I’m willing to give this a bit of a pass.
Tony Jay
@Betty Cracker:
Harping on the same tune as ever but the only way to slide a butter knife between Trump and the MAGAt Base is to parcel up the blame for every single thing that the GOP have failed to do for them and superglue it to Don the Con’s saggy jaundiced hide.
As in, there’s nothing wrong with what the MAGAts want, and there was nothing foolish about them putting their faith in the man Trump pretended to be, but he’s a practiced conman who ran off with their donations of cash, loyalty and electoral support and blew them all on his own ego.
While they, rock-ribbed Republican Radical that they are, would never let them down in that way and will achieve every single thing on the MAGAt wish-list if they just give him (or her) a chance. Worth a shot, because tongue-basting the gargantuan fraud’s entire exposed arse certainly isn’t moving any gears for any of them.
schrodingers_cat
There is better chance of Damien Ramaswamy becoming the nominee than Haley. He is completely without any scruples and will say anything to please the MAGAs
The Orange Man has it unless he is incapacitated.
MisterDancer
I know a few, and I’m really excited by it. I used to love popular music, and hate that the last decade or so, that’s slipped away. So I’m trying to learn more and get back into it — for example, I find it really fascinating that, in this moment, the (arguably) 2 biggest stars aren’t just women (Swift and Beyoncé, to use their common monikers), but women who are pretty openly progressive and even engaging LBGTQIA+ fandoms.
I’ve been reading some pieces on those issues, and thinking about how that differs from, say, Madonna’s pulling from Queer Ballroom culture for her Vogue album and “era”. I think there’s something here about how Women and LBGTQIA+ people, in this moment, are using culture to fight for a place in an increasingly retrograde America. Oh, and I have to plug how Disco did the same, and how it was crushed as backlash…
…anyway, there’s a LOT going on in our culture that isn’t obvious or well-documented, and I think that’s a shame. There’s worth in knowing, on some level, what Swift and other pop starts are about, because that’s what I suspect a lot of this current backlash is really targeting — the younger people who listen to them, and who we know are already far more fluid and diverse in multiple ways than prior generations. It’s worth being more than a little aware of, if only for that reason.
(Also, yeah, Swift has some really good songs. :)
Yarrow
@Eolirin:
Oh, no. A lot of the discussion was around who was more famous. Like @Suzanne said, several people insisted Kelce was more famous than Swift. Uh huh.
eversor
@Suzanne:
All things are relative. He’s more famous locally, with football fans, sports fans, and men. She’s more famous nationally, globally, and with women and queer folk. In sheer numbers she crushes him. But depending on the group you look at that’s not always the case. But yeah in sheer numbers she’s a someone and he’s a nobody.
Then there is the issue that globally they are both nothings in the broad scheme of things. Them mattering or people caring about them is raw American hubris. They are both jokes. The big “sportsman dates female popstar” blowup was over a soccer world cup level player dating a K-Pop girl idol. Globally those are both status levels far above anything American. And American music and football are rapidly losing power with young people here. It’s too white. Culture is moving away from America with a hurry.
Matt McIrvin
@MisterDancer: Taylor Swift is an interesting case: she wasn’t publicly political for some time, she presented as a country artist, and of course she had this willowy blonde look that young racist white guys idealized– so there was a period when white supremacists were actually fantasizing about her as their ideal Aryan wife.
And when she came out saying very clearly that she didn’t hold with any of that, it was a big shock to these people.
zhena gogolia
@Ocotillo: Oh. My. God.
zhena gogolia
@Ocotillo: If asked to guess, I’d say he’s defending cruel and unusual punishment of death-row prisoners.
Eolirin
@Suzanne: I think you’re overstating the extent to which those views were part of the conversation. And the people kinda sorta in that position were not to my recollection stating it in terms nearly as strongly as equal, more like in the same universe, though I’ll hardly claim an encyclopedic recall of all the comments.
But anyone approaching that was absolutely a fringe position in the conversation and we weren’t really having a debate about that part of things, even if a few people were saying things that were very wrong.
Subsole
@eversor:
I could also see a lot of NuAtheist douchewipes getting really upset about that ticket. Fortunately, I think (hope) most of them have gone full Glibertarian by now, anyway.
Personally I think it will be Kamala, but we’ll hash that out when the time comes.
Yarrow
@MisterDancer: Another thing I love about Taylor Swift is that she owns the songwriting rights to her songs and did a big middle finger to Scooter Braun by re-recording them and selling the new ones as Taylor’s version. Her fans ate that up and “Taylor’s version” has even become a meme. She’s not just a cute pop star, she’s a smart, savvy businesswoman. And her fans love her for it. It’s a whole new era of music in a lot of ways.
VeniceRiley
@PJ: she led Emily’s List and SEIU. That alone will give her more fundraising, endorsements, and boots an the ground power than the rest of the field.
Kathleen
@Tony Jay: Job Description: Walk around DC wearing placard that says “Will copy and paste/forward for filet mignon and fist bumps” and Republicans will email you a story you can publish without editing.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Butler is certainly very good at spamming my inbox, so I guess she has that going for her.
lowtechcyclist
@eversor:
The real problem isn’t Will or Brooks. It’s the editors who keep those worthless schmucks on their op-ed pages.
I don’t mind people I disagree with, as long as they bring some new insights to the table every now and then. But tell me when was the last time either of these two zombies had a new insight or original thought.
eversor
@Ocotillo:
If you don’t like shark week don’t watch it. Simple enough. Plenty of people do like sharks though and really cows kill more people than sharks per year. I’ve been around sharks, I obviously was not eaten, you’re really not on the menu. I’ve also shocked the fuck out of myself a few times. I’d take electrocution over being eaten but I’m not really worried about either happening.
Also not scared of bears, and ran into a few of those as well. I managed to encounter a mountain lion and nothing came of it either.
Now that asshole terrier next door has fanged me good and proper a few times.
eclare
@eversor:
There was a Kelce ad for the Pfizer covid vaccine and flu vaccine during the game last night, encouraging people to get both at once.
Suzanne
@eversor:
That’s….. the point I’m trying to make: that many dudes and older people seem to have a tendency to think of their cultural milieu as the broadly shared, “default” one, and not just…. one of many. It’s a weird manifestation of privilege, to assume that your culture is the monoculture.
rikyrah
@prostratedragon:
Scientists whose work enabled mRNA Covid vaccine win Nobel prize for medicine. As expected. Congratulations and millions of thanks to them.
BRAVO
Geminid
@zhena gogolia: The rhetorical device known as,”skipping without a rope.”
eversor
@Subsole:
I think that we have a deep bench of competent and proven people and all of them would do great if they get elected. So I’m not worried about who gets elected on our part. I’m concerned and care about the strategic part of it.
eclare
@MisterDancer:
Beyonce has announced she is also releasing a concert movie. It opens December 1. Yay! I already have my ticket for Taylor’s. I am not a Swiftie, but I want to see a spectacular show.
Mike in NC
Fat Bastard is on TV whining about how unfairly everybody treats his worthless treasonous ass.
Subsole
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Ironic, considering the last Russian leader actually worthy of the title was Catherine.
Kent
You can be 100% positive that the Democratic House leadership is holding lots of high-level strategizing sessions to game out their response.
Do they let the Republican House implode in the run-up to an election year?
Do they demand some sort of power-sharing agreement that would leave McCarthy as Speaker but give them equal representation on committees or more say over the agenda and what reaches the floor?
There is the old Napoleon line about not helping your enemy when he is making a mistake.
Decisions, decisions. But what a fun time to be minority leader frankly.
Leto
This week in the arts:
North Carolina radio station plans to reject broadcasts of ‘inappropriate’ Met operas
Idaho Sheriff Won’t Return Library Books He Thinks Are Obscene
Guess what they both have in common?
Subsole
@catclub: They kind of are, for reproduction. At least among humans.
Geminid
@Eolirin: I don’t remember anyone saying that Travis Kelce was more famous than Taylor Swift, or even that he was equally famous. The conversation was about their suitability as dating partners, and how their differing rank might affect this.
rikyrah
@eversor:
And Secretary Pete has an adorable family :)
These things matter.
Leto
@MisterDancer: Taylor Swift choosing what side of history she wants to be on. (enable sound via top right of image)
Suzanne
@eclare: I wanted to see Beyoncé’s tour this year really badly. She ended up canceling her Pittsburgh date. I was so bummed. I’m excited for the movie, since it didn’t work out this summer.
Taylor’s tour was fantastic.
Jackie
@Baud:
And the female West Indian doctor who donated her blood for his transfusion!😂
My dad absolutely loved All in the Family. He, in his way, was Meathead to all his republican acquaintances. Dad was a very progressive Dem and enjoyed life much more than his sourpussed contemporaries. He also wore a Pat Paulson for President button.🥰
Barbara
@eversor: Without repeating your mistake, I would venture that even in KC, Taylor Swift has greater recognition than her football player boyfriend if you are asking everyone. Like, the teenage girls who adore her have siblings and parents who are fully aware of who she is even if they pay more attention on a weekly basis to football than pop music — and she has been in the limelight like this for more than a decade
Patrick Mahomes might be a more likely counterpoint to Taylor Swift, but I think that only someone like Tom Brady would match Swift’s name recognition.
Geminid
@Kent: Reporting in this morning’s Politico Playbook treated the Democratic strategy for a Speaker fight in general terms, but said there was one specific message Leadership was sending to members: “No freelancing.”
smedley the uncertain
@Suzanne: If it’s good enough for Tuberville…
UncleEbeneezer
@sab: There’s a hilarious episode of the Drapetomaniax: Unshackled History Podcast about this, from just a couple weeks ago:
Alison Rose
The more I learn about Butler, the more I like her. This is worded weirdly, though, by WSJ:
What they mean is both of those elements together are a first – Black and openly gay. Because we do have an openly gay woman and an openly bi (who is also an openly idiot) woman serving now. Should’ve been “the first openly gay Black woman” or something.
But anyway! She’s awesome. Kudos to my Gov.
Jeffro
@Suzanne: I think I’m going to take Mrs. Fro to see the Swift concert movie in a couple weeks. It’ll be nice to be hip for a change. =)
(Assuming we remember which song is which afterwards, of course!)
MisterDancer
Yep! Was just on Fandango this AM, looking at local tix. :)
I’m debating seeing both her and Swift’s movies!
UncleEbeneezer
@Yarrow: She also sued an asshole who grabbed her butt without consent, for $1 just to make a point. She registers people to vote and specifically urges them to support Dems. She’s a good person, in my book.
laura
@Suzanne: I’ve been to hundreds of concerts since my first: 1974 Boz Scaggs w/Pablo Cruise as the opening act. Seen the rolling stones 5 or 6 times, Queen and Elton John twice, Punk, Rick, Metal, lots of Pink Floyd, funk, r&b, and Rickie Lee Jones two days ago. I have never seen anything remotely like Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour. I’m still not over it. The movie is going to be amazing
Rick should have been rock- or the perfect place for a rick-roll.
Suzanne
@smedley the uncertain: I don’t love that these sorts of residency games are now common, because it seems like it’s getting away from the intent of them. But if they’re the rule for everyone, then it’s at least fair.
UncleEbeneezer
@Geminid: I definitely saw people implying that he was at an equal level of fame. Which is ludicrous. As for whether he’s suitable enough, that’s her decision.
Miss Bianca
@PJ: Uh…wait a minute. This woman runs EMILY’s List. I bet she could whip up a multi-million dollar campaign war chest in a matter of weeks, or maybe even days.
Not saying she *would* do it, just saying she *could* do it.
MisterDancer
In hindsight, this might have been the perfect time for the Pelosi –> Jeffries transition. Jeffries being in place as the House GOP seemingly tears itself apart gives him a lot of room to act as the senior states-person in the room, and that’s good media credentials even as they eat up every antic from the Right.
Steeplejack
@Geminid:
There was a non-zero number of guys who were arguing for his equivalent fame: “He’s a future Hall of Famer, he was on a Super Bowl team,” etc. Clueless.
rikyrah
@Jeffro:
they don’t have any POLICY PROBLEMS with Dolt45…they all have the same POLICY
they want all the hate without the indictments.
UncleEbeneezer
@laura: I’ve watched a couple shows on YouTube and it looks amazing. Can’t wait to see it with real, pro HD camerawork, sound etc.
satby
@Suzanne: many dudes and older people
Which is also the preponderance of commenters on this blog. Glad I missed that thread, it must have been mindblowing in not a good way.
Suzanne
@laura: I’m incredibly excited about it. I was very bummed to realize that I wouldn’t be able to see the Renaissance tour live.
I felt the same way about Taylor’s tour. I had taken Spawn the Elder to see her back on the “Speak Now” tour, so….. 2011? The show was in the new (at the time) hockey arena. I remember thinking that it was the most elaborate production I had ever seen. Since then, I have seen Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks, and many other shows…. and the Eras Tour absolutely exceeded all of those by a country mile.
Mo MacArbie
@eversor: I don’t think Whitmer can pick mayor Pete since he moved to Michigan. He’d have to move again to Wyoming, or something.
Miss Bianca
@Anyway:
So century before last century, even!
rikyrah
@eversor:
Yes. She was supposed to be the anti-Beyonce.
If they could get past her color (they can’t), they would see that Beyonce is little-c conservative. There is nothing in Beyonce’s personal life that has been outrageous.
Steeplejack
@MisterDancer:
And Kelce’s jersey sales have skyrocketed. 😹
Chris T.
@Alison Rose:
But is she openly black? (Ref: George Carlin’s bit about how Colin Powell was “openly white” and “just happened to be black”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttUvsrcxKmI)
Geminid
@UncleEbeneezer: I saw people say that they might be a good match and that functionally, the their relative rankings as celebrities was not so great a factor as others made it out to be.
That did not imply that Kelce was as famous as Swift, just that he was famous enough. I remember saying that celebrity rank notwithstanding, they were both high achievers in their respective fields and that constituted a basis for a balanced relationship.
cain
@prostratedragon: Her story is amazing – imagine having her work questioned for decades and then literally saving millions of lives through a vaccine. Just fabulous. Well done!
cain
@Betty Cracker:
Yet, beltway coverage is still tilted towards GOP messaging. Glad that at least in this they know how to cover the topic.
Suzanne
@UncleEbeneezer:
Yeah, the debate isn’t about his suitability. Being famous isn’t a measure of one’s suitability as a partner. And most of the people she’s dated haven’t been as famous as she is, and that’s fine.
There were definitely people saying that he was equally famous. Which one would only think if one lives in a bubble of one’s own cultural milieu.
laura
@rikyrah: A loved and cared for child, excellent home training, strong work ethic, lasting friendships, business acumen, so much talent, married with children, builds a better world with joy, inclusion and music, takes that global. She does what they can’t and would not, laughs in their face and keeps moving. They slide into the tar pits of irrelevance…but not fast enough for my liking.
lowtechcyclist
@Kent:
I guess I don’t get how this is complicated.
AIUI, the motion needs a majority of sitting Congresspersons to pass. If that’s the case, the Dems just have to vote ‘present’ in order for the motion to fail.
The Dems want it to fail, at least for now, because aid to Ukraine needs to pass the House soon. Best to get that through, and only then let the House get chaotic.
Maybe the Dems can make Kevin’s putting a Ukraine aid bill on the floor as the price of defeating this Motion to Vacate. Without any promises for the next time Gaetz pulls this stunt.
But ISTM that that’s about as complicated as it gets.
Geminid
@Steeplejack: I saw promotions last week for Swift-related betting propositions on NFL wagering sites.
PJ
@satby:
@VeniceRiley:
@Miss Bianca:
Access to all the money in the world doesn’t guarantee anything – just look at Mike Bloomberg. Butler is, as far as most people are concerned in California, an unknown. Even if she could theoretically raise tens of millions of dollars overnight, donors have already lined up behind Lee, Porter, and Schiff – are they suddenly going to jump ship to Butler? Likewise, prominent politicians know who they are going to support (like Pelosi pushing for Schiff) – does Butler have something that will make them say, “Finally! This untested candidate is the person I really want to see as Senator!”? I am extremely skeptical. And that doesn’t even touch on the voters. Politically aware Californians have at least some notion of who Schiff, Porter, and Lee are. No so with Butler.
Anything’s possible, but the discussion here just reminds me of children talking about which superhero could beat up some other superhero. It’s just unreal fantasizing.
rikyrah
@Yarrow:
While not a fan of her music, I am in respect of her business acumen. She is very much in control of the Taylor Swift brand. She has definitely grown.
frosty
That didn’t seem to be a roadblock for Trump. Plus, he’s from the other city that all rural Republicans hate. Different party, different situation I guess.
lowtechcyclist
@Leto:
So their sheriff is openly breaking the law? That’s interesting.
Alison Rose
@Leto: Yeah, well, would have been nice if that had stayed true and she’d ever said a single word about all the anti-drag/anti-trans legislation, some of it happening in her own state. Also would’ve been nice if she hadn’t dated a bigot for PR and then suddenly ended it when people got upset but never explained or apologized.
I’m bitter. I was a big fan of hers until that shit and now I can’t stand the thought of her, but once again, she’s got everyone (except the right) wrapped around her finger and forgetting all the garbage.
satby
@PJ: I wasn’t referring to her ability to fundraise. I was referring to the organizing and GOTV contacts Emily’s list, and Butler’s previous union work can activate. And she’s younger; don’t underestimate how ready milennials and Gen Z is for some representation. Lee is a great congresswoman, but she’s also a Boomer (as am I). She’d be the oldest ever freshman Senator someone said. And though I like all of the declared candidates, we need them right where they are.
Soprano2
@Yarrow: Maybe in KC Kelce is as well-known as Swift, but that would be the only place that would be true.
Maxim
My thought on Butler is that she’s not who I would have expected as a placeholder / temporary successor. She’s going to excite large portions of the electorate who would, probably, have voted for one of the other three for the sake of getting a D elected, but were not otherwise enthusiastic about them. Given how short a time we have left before the general election, and the fact that support is already mostly locked in for the other candidates, I don’t know if she’ll run for the general. But if she did, I wouldn’t automatically count her out.
An unlikely but not impossible scenario is that Lee reads the handwriting on the wall, drops out, and endorses Butler. Ego will probably prevent it, but if she really wanted a dynamic Black woman in the Senate, one positioned to be a force for decades to come, that’s what she’d do.
Steeplejack
@Suzanne:
Yeah, this.
Soprano2
@Mike in NC: So, a day ending in “y”. LOL
satby
@Alison Rose: you seem to have missed the scores of articles on this (naked link for the folks who don’t click links put in context of a sentence about them): https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/taylor-swift-breaks-silence-condemns-220516155.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANlRyDx9L9Tk4pvEoCy8-Rl0rbU_KvNq3k6rUSpzcz4cEUjTqdE3MxHtTOl7MoNvv7pF-12exXdHfwLGiYlqBIvnMNcdq8L3U3p_qVrYUn3acEkyeyf23arbD_Ua2XlCTmNM0Gd9927Dmfb9GKKSFJtteLm2_XDnBMCCbEwtM4gW
lowtechcyclist
@Steeplejack:
They really are. I don’t follow football anymore, and I don’t follow pop music. I’d never heard of this football dude before, but if you neither follow football nor live in the KC area, I’ll bet it’s easy to have never heard of the guy.
But you’d have to be a hermit in the mountains to not know who Taylor Swift is.
cain
Why is this Biden’s fault on Dianne’s replacement? I find that weird. Also, what the fuck is he whining about? Has he been asleep for the past 30 years? Comity in the senate was destroyed by Republicans – hell it took ages for our own people to come to grips with that. Now he’s pissed off and let me use a character from “In Living Color”‘s expression “Homey don’t play that way” [anymore]
WaterGirl
@MisterDancer:
Hoping that your schedule starts to open up soon and will be able to post about all of that on this place called Balloon Juice. :-) 💕
Alison Rose
@satby: I did not miss that. The point is she didn’t say a word for years as this stuff was happening. Her fans — who she pays close attention on social media, she knows all the fan theories and plays up to it a lot — were constantly asking why she wasn’t saying anything, why she had been vocal about gay rights a few years back but now was being radio silent about trans rights. It was only just this year, during Pride, that she finally said something public and clear, after years of people begging her to. And she only did it to try to improve her image after the Matty Healy bullshit.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: I had no idea that he was such a deep thinker. //
NotMax
@satby
Oldest senators when appointed to a seat:
● Georgia Democrat Rebecca Felton (1922): 87 years, 3 months, 24 days
● Texas Democrat Andrew Houston (1941): 86 years, 10 months, 1 day
● Vermont Republican John Stewart (1908): 82 years, 4 months, 1 day
● Nebraska Democrat William Thompson (1933): 79 years, 5 months, 11 days
● New Jersey Republican David Baird (1918): 78 years, 10 months, 17 days
● New Hampshire Republican Gilman Marston (1889): 77 years, 6 months, 13 days
● Virginia Democrat Thomas Burch (1946): 76 years, 10 months, 29 days
● Oregon Democrat Hall Lusk (1960): 76 years, 5 months, 25 days
● Mississippi Democrat James Gordon (1909): 76 years, 22 days
.
Suzanne
@Steeplejack: I think this a really important point, tho. This is why right-wing assholes get butthurt about interracial couples in ads or trans people appearing in a promotion for their favored beer. We don’t just live in a market economy, we live in a market society. In that society, your relative rank is established by how many people seek out your money/attention/representation with their product. And those products become a set of shared semiotic signifiers that form the way we visualize our culture. But when people recognize that their tastes and folkways and values aren’t represented, it often makes people feel like they aren’t represented. Sometimes we describe it as “feeling old”, like when we have that staggering moment that the kids today don’t give a crap about something that used to be cool, but it’s really destabilizing for some people.
Geminid
@Ocotillo:
@WaterGirl: I sent that clip to my Atlanta friend. It reminded him of Herschel Walker’s meandering discussion about werewolves and vampires at one of his campaign appearances.
WaterGirl
@Geminid: It is a bit reminiscent of that. Deep thinkers, both of them! //
Steeplejack
@Geminid:
“Take the over on the Jets plus ‘You Need to Calm Down.'”
geg6
@Tony Jay:
Hmmm, I watched the interview. I never heard him say that. Bedbug says what?!?!?!
trollhattan
The dude really, REALLY was in a hurry to pay his taxes, that’s all.
PJ
@satby:
Butler is 44 – she’s Gen X. Katie Porter is 49. I don’t think five years is going to matter to anyone, if they’re deciding whom to vote for just based on their age.
As it is, I don’t think “generational representation” matters that much to people who actually show up to vote, as opposed to people who complain on social media. If they did, California voters wouldn’t have elected Dianne Feinstein again when she was 85.
Steeplejack
@satby:
Pro tip for naked links: Except for YouTube links, you can delete everything after the question mark, including the question mark.
geg6
@Anyway:
Not if my female friends here in Western PA have any say in it. They love, love, love him and are pining for him to run. Even the not particularly politically engaged ones.
Steeplejack
@cain:
Jesus, it’s Tony Jay snark! Have another cup of coffee.
Subsole
@eversor:
Fair. I too am perfectly happy with our bench. It is actually really heartening, seeing so much potential.
I do worry about running a woman, because there is a LOT of sexism bubbling away in large sections of our coalition.
But, again, we’ll hash that out once we’ve passed through next year’s fire.
Brachiator
@rikyrah:
I’m just catching up with the news this morning and just saw this announcement about the Nobel prize. Wonderful news and very deserving.
And it will cause gnashing of teeth among the anti-vaxx crowd.
Miss Bianca
@PJ: For fuck’s sake, I just said she *could* raise a lot of money BECAUSE OF WHO SHE IS AND WHAT SHE DOES, which you seemed completely unaware of. She’s not some nobody from nowhere who would have no shot at a campaign war chest was my only point. I’m not endorsing her, I’m not saying she should do it, and why the fuck you think we need a paragraphs-long screed from you listing all the reasons she shouldn’t is fucking beyond me.
geg6
@Yarrow:
That’s insane. It’s no contest. I watch the NFL most Sundays and I’d never heard of the guy and had to look up who he was when he first started appearing in the COVID vax commercials.
Nobody has to look up Taylor Swift.
Steeplejack
@geg6:
It’s Tony Jay satire.
sdhays
@Eolirin: Who is Taylor Swift supposed to date? Beyonce?
PJ
@Miss Bianca:
My comment was not a personal attack on you, and you’ll notice I wasn’t just responding to you. Also, I was unaware that responses to your comments needed to be a certain length – I apologize for getting you so worked up by writing five lines more than you did in your most recent comment. I will strive to be more mindful of your capacity when I write comments in the future.
Steeplejack
@trollhattan:
“The man was
bitbitten and detained, Gandhi said.”Death of copy editing #8,213.
Geminid
The PKK attack in Ankara yesterday morning got some attention here yesterday. Now here is additional reporting that the two attackers murdered a young veterinarian before stealing his minivan to use in the attack. He left behind a wife and an infant child.
lowtechcyclist
@geg6:
Garland didn’t say any such thing, of course. He said the DOJ didn’t have separate standards for Democrat and Republican, and didn’t have separate standards for friend and foe. Brett Stephens chose to elide those two statements and use that as the basis for a totally bullshit accusation.
Times must be tough for them when they’ve got to make up bullshit to be able to pretend they’re being persecuted and whine about it.
topclimber
A parting thought at this thread ambles into the ether:
Newsom is governor until Jan 2027 and might well resign if he is serious about a White House run.
If Butler plays it straight and just serves the unfilled portion of Feinstein’s term, she gets 18 months of time focusing on constituent needs rather than building a campaign, gets the same amount of time to become vary well known in the state, and avoids pissing off the current candidates.
Governor Butler, anyone?
Oh, wait, is anyone still there?
sdhays
@lowtechcyclist: Agree. That’s what makes sense to me too.
geg6
@Alison Rose:
Funny, but a lot of the trans/drag community here have nothing but nice things to say about her. She apparently supports local LGBTQI organizations and local food banks when her tour comes to town. Just because she’s not screaming her beliefs from the rooftops (thank god, I’m tired of everyone requiring celebrities to make their political beliefs front and center over their art) doesn’t mean she isn’t doing the work. Plus, she spend Pride Month on tour touting LGBTQI rights: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-pride-month-eras-tour-chicago-1234746863/
MisterDancer
I think that clip Leto plays — assuming it’s not itself a ploy — explains some of it. Not that it excuses her silence, but it looks like she was getting a ton of pressure to just not say shit, including the fear of physical violence. And if, as that clip indicates, it was coming from her family, that explains some things, as well.
Again — NOT AN EXCUSE. You have a right to be angry, and I certainly don’t know enough about her dating Healy to say one way or another, in that regard. (sidebar to WaterGirl — this is part of why I’ve resisted writing a piece; these are really deep and complex waters, and pop culture’s interactions with real-world issues isn’t a thing I take lightly!)
It’s easy for me to find her fascinating, but it’s also incumbent upon me to understand her flaws and issues, as well. Thank you for speaking strongly on this!
Paul in KY
@Freemark: How about linking the virus to 5G phones? Pretty freaky how they did that…
Paul in KY
@Ocotillo: Not sure which I would take if presented with that choice. At least with a shark attack, I’m helping out a creature to survive…
Eyeroller
@sab: As one of the resident pedants, strictly speaking Africans practiced innoculation or, in the particular case of smallpox, it was called variolation, and it was pretty widespread outside of Europe for a long time. The actual infectious agent was rubbed into a scratch on the recipient. The usual route for smallpox infection was through the respiratory tract and it could spread rapidly from there and overwhelm the immune system. A more localized skin infection was much less dangerous and still stimulated an immune response. Only 1-2% of innoculated people died, compared to up to 30% mortality in “natural” infections. Jenner’s innovation was to use a different, related virus. For whatever reason Europe seemed to be loaded with proto-anti-vaxxers and there was resistance to both innoculation and, later, vaccination, though both did happen there.
Alison Rose
@MisterDancer: Right — she didn’t finally speak up because it meant so much to her. She did it because some of her fans had stopped streaming her music and she cares about money above anything else. I mean, yes, it’s good that she said something, in the same way it’s nice when a major polluter plants a few trees.
She could have been very loud about this from the beginning. She wasn’t. She could have NOT dated a bigot. She did. I’m just frustrated that people who know little to nothing about who she was and who she has been are suddenly like YAY TAYLOR IS THE BEST when she really isn’t.
Jeffro
Yup. Anything for that (plus tax cuts and judges)
But I think they’re in for a bad year, oh yes indeed…
Steeplejack
@lowtechcyclist:
Bret Stephens did not say shit, because what Tony Jay posted above is Tony Jay snark/satire.
Stephens posts one column a week, typically on Monday. His latest from today is “Kevin McCarthy surprised us all.” No mention of Garland’s interview, which occurred last night.
Tony Jay is going to have to start putting Drudge Report 🚨⚠️ tags on his snark so as not to inflame and mislead the jackaltariat.
lowtechcyclist
@Steeplejack:
Sorry, I have a bad habit of assuming that the snark is outside the quote boxes, and what’s inside is actually a quote.
I realize the rules are different here, but at my previous longtime internet hangout, you could get banned if you repeatedly altered quotes in a quote box, let alone made them up. Some days, my adaptation leaves something to be desired.
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
She has been in CA politics, just not the front person. The gov knows who she is even if a lot of the public does not. And with Dianne being in office for a bit of time there has not been a lot of at least open talk on naming/finding a replacement for her.
She seems like a very good choice to me, strong personality, works the room really easily, is definitely on the correct side of the aisle, and seemingly has a bias FOR the people that she works for.
Now we’ll get to see how she does in an environment where she isn’t in charge but can make a large betterment of the bigger world around her. IOW she’s got my endorsement.
Paul in KY
@Ken: A consensual kiss…
Steeplejack
@lowtechcyclist:
I sympathize. I think Tony Jay sometimes (often?) strays over the line in couching his snark as real stuff.
Ruckus
@Baud:
ShitForBrains is in such hot water – all of his own heating it up – and still over all the decades that he’s been in the news, I’ve never heard him make any silly banter. It is all bullshit and bluster because bullshit and bluster is all he’s got and all he’s ever had.
Paul in KY
@Eolirin: In USA, he is (if you are a sports fan). In any other country, no.
The Lodger
@PJ: I’ll let everyone know Sen. Butler has kicked off her campaign when she starts sending me unsolicited emails.
Ruckus
@Baud:
She still owns her house in the bay area.
Geminid
@Paul in KY: Both Swift and Kelsey live in the US, and the question was their potential compatibility, not their relative fame world wide.
The Lodger
@Tony Jay: Doing unsavoury things with one’s fingers? When is the FTFNYT hiring Ron DeSantis?
Paul in KY
@Tony Jay: Gonna get one of them that sweet sweet VP slot!
Ruckus
@Ken:
That was written a long, long time ago. Was the word inhabitant in far more use than the word resident? People may have traveled a long way to a place back then but traveling a lot within this country back then was a slow and laborious proposition so many people settled in a place they liked or could get cheap to grow stuff and didn’t travel a lot until into the last century. Now we can pick up on a moments notice and travel thousands of miles. Even a hundred or so yrs ago that wasn’t really normal. My grandparents moved from Kansas to California in 1918 by horse drawn wagon with their 1 yr old son. Bigger cities may have had paved streets but most of the cross country roads were dirt and travel was by horse or a few trains. Route 66 was built in 1926. And it was a narrow 2 lane road. I’ve seen some of the original bits left, 2 modern cars, other than ones the size of a Smart car didn’t pass easily.
Paul in KY
@Jackie: Sounds like you had a really cool dad :-)
The Lodger
@lowtechcyclist: If you want to represent California, DC is NOT, repeat NOT, your vacation home.
Paul in KY
@Suzanne: The most over-the-top set I’ve ever seen was by Trans Siberian Orchestra. Made the Flaming Lips set I saw a Bonnaroo at 1 in the morning seem quaint & amateurish.
Ruckus
@JWR:
That does sound better, I mean think of that poor shark!
Paul in KY
@Suzanne: The thing about the famousness has been that everyone that she’s dated has been much much less famous than her (even if they didn’t think that at the start) and thus they are an appendage to her career and so everything revolves around her and her schedule.
Unless she started dating Messi or Ronaldo (who are both married), is going to be that way for any man.
Paul in KY
@frosty: With TFG, it’s more ‘the guy who would try to rape your girlfriend or ask her to prostitute herself for him’.
cain
@Suzanne: They should try being Indian in this country. :-) We are not seen – not on crime statistics, media or anywhere else. Until Obama.
Paul in KY
@Geminid: He’s gotta be fine with being 2nd banana in any context outside NFL.
Geminid
@Paul in KY: Yes, looking at this from the outside, Taylor Swift has very few peers she can date. Swift is not looking at this from the outside though, and maybe she has learned the importance of temperament and character in a partner, as opposed to social rank.
Paul in KY
@Geminid: From what I’ve seen, she doesn’t adjust her life/schedule for anyone.
Geminid
@Paul in KY: And so?
Paul in KY
@Geminid: So they never last. That’s probably the way she likes it.
Brachiator
A charming audio interview with Katalin Kariko, one of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
Her daughter is a world champion Olympic rower.
LiminalOwl
@catclub: Curious enough to read Larry Niven’s “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex”? (At rawbw.com, among others. Can’t get a clickable link, sorry.)
eta: ok, not surprised others got the reference first
Ruckus
@Jeffro:
Likely for all the wrong reasons, SFB at least seems to be their first choice. Now that may change when he’s not eligible to run, but then it’s a shit show for who’s in second place because little ronnie seems to have pretty much ended his political career all on his own, just by being himself. Who else do they have? A large number of people seem to be reasonably happy with the Biden/Harris duo, no matter what the FTFNYFT says.
satby
@Steeplejack: thanks. I don’t normally do them, and won’t in the future. I was just reacting to the multiple comments made previously about not clicking links in comments. Fine, don’t, whatever; but don’t cast that choice as somehow virtuous. People are trying to inform or amuse you; as we’re SO OFTEN advised, just scroll on by if it’s not your thing.
Ruckus
@Glidwrith:
I’d bet because she’s not a name in political circles, at least in the highly viewable ones, which may be one reason Newsom chose her.
I see a bit of but she’s not worked her way up the ladder here but is that the number one desirable characteristic of a good political leader? I don’t think so.
Geminid
@Paul in KY: Do you think Swift wants never to have a life partner? Some people are that way.
satby
@NotMax: not appointed, elected.
I realize you guys don’t do shitter or other media like BSky, but Newsome’s pick is quite popular with the younger activists and black women reacting at those sites.
Brachiator
@eversor:
There was a time when Newsom, then mayor of San Francisco, and the mayor of Los Angeles were both looking at possibly running for governor. Then both men got some heat for having affairs while married.
Newsom had an affair with the wife of a friend, a guy who was also his campaign manager.
geg6
@Paul in KY:
Hmm, I think Harry Styles, Joe Jonas and John Mayer are pretty damn famous.
Tony Jay
@lowtechcyclist:
Sorry, entirely my fault. I swear to dog I try to make them so incredibly ridiculous (the George Will one was overtly so) that the snark is obvious, but clearly there’s nothing so ridiculous that one couldn’t imagine a Republican infotainer saying it.
I think I’ll start tagging them as ‘From The Jackal News Desk’.
Tony Jay
@cain:
Baud challenged me to earn my bow-tie, so I did it in the style of George Will.
Not that he wouldn’t say that. But this time he didn’t… so far as I know.
Brachiator
@Ruckus:
To the contrary, she is the political circle. She is head of EMILYs List.
This organization has raised more than $850 million for Democratic Party candidates.
She may not have big name recognition among voters, but political leaders absolutely know who she is.
Steeplejack
@satby:
Agree completely. Just putting it out there for others who end up putting their entire browsing history into a naked link.
Geminid
@Paul in KY: Actually, please scratch that question. I don’t like arguing that way. I’ll just say that the issue you raise describes to Swift’s dating pattern so far, but this does not neccesarily mean she wants never to have a life partner.
@Geminid:
cain
@Tony Jay: ha! That was pretty good ! To make your job easier you need to grab all of George Will’s columns and train an AI against it and then have it spit out whatever you want :D
cain
@Brachiator:
I’ll never understand why folks have affairs. I was in an unhappy marriage for over 17 years and never once strayed. For me, it was all about my reputation with my family and her family. It isn’t worth getting into these things no matter what the circumstances.
Suzanne
@Geminid: I mean, did you even read the thread we’re talking about? We were absolutely discussing their relative fame. The comment at #8 quoted a piece in the WaPo (shared because it seems to be pissing off the typical right wing assholes):
And there were absolutely commenters taking the position that he was equally or more famous. Which indicates a kind of…. insularity.
Geminid
@Suzanne: I read the thread, even participated in it. I would have reread it today except I’m working.
But I will read it again tonight. I will not relyi on your objectivity in this matter. You have often shown me the kind of insularity you like to complain about, just from a different bubble.
Tony Jay
@cain:
I admit I do enjoy mimicking the style of each wingnut whisperer. One of these days I’ll do a Rod Dreher and cause Eversor to birth miracle pygmy hippo twins.
Brachiator
@cain:
I am honestly sorry that you had this period of unhappiness in your life.
As to why people have affairs, I can only say that life is complicated and there is not a best path that applies to everyone.
Paul in KY
@Geminid: I don’t care. Just interesting/funny to see these ‘alpha dogs’ get a taste of true pan-continental fame and how little they factor in it.
Paul in KY
@geg6: Not compared to her…
Edit: Harry does have some fame, especially in UK.
Geminid
@Geminid:
Susanne: So I read the thread you linked at #294. Out of 239 comments, there were 18 comments about Swift alone, all positive.
There were 21 about Swift and Kelsey or Kelce alone. The comments about Kelce were mixed, with several people saying good things about him mainly in disagreement with your disparaging comments about Kelce’s looks (his facial hair is “terrible,” “incredibly gross”, or that “he’s not hot”).
A couple people said Swift and Kelce might be well matched, but not because they thought the two were equal in fame or celebrity.
One person said they both at the top of there respective pyramids. This was not equating their fame but rather their excellence in their professional fields.
Another said he did not think that Kelce was a “lightweight” compared to Swift but did not say they were equal in fame, just that he was not as far beneath her as others asserted.
Not one person said Kelce was more famous than Swift.
So you asked me “did you even read the thread we’re talking about?” and it turns you were the one who did not read it, or at least not carefully.
@Suzanne:.