The new Speaker cannot be our whole pie, or entire tic-tac-toe grid.
Here’s a quick roundup of what’s happening in the other squares of the grid.
That’s our president 😎 pic.twitter.com/PYBv2UU8za
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) October 26, 2023
⭐️
Breaking News: A friend’s $267,230 loan to Justice Clarence Thomas for an RV was mostly, perhaps entirely, forgiven, raising ethical and potential tax issues. https://t.co/dkcl7bEWOd
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 25, 2023
-A handwritten note from Welters to Justice Thomas dated November 22, 2008, stating that Welters would no longer seek payments on the loan. The note also stated that Justice Thomas had only paid interest on the loan, indicating that the principal of $267,230 had not been repaid.
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) October 25, 2023
⭐️
Breaking: The United Auto Workers union and Ford have agreed in principle to the terms of a tentative agreement that could signal the end to the nearly six-week strike with the Big Three automaker, sources confirmed to CNBC.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 26, 2023
⭐️
Please don’t blame the voters.
“Conservative” Supreme Court Justices ensured that the 2022 midterms were run under unconstitutional district maps in FL, OH, AL, GA, and LA.
American voters did not give the Speaker’s gavel to the Republicans – the Republican Supreme Court did. https://t.co/NFcr7QX0TE
— ClearingTheFog (@clearing_fog) October 25, 2023
⭐️
Remember the advice of counsel defense and how DoJ wanted notice by 12/18, but trump said “THAT’S UNCONSTITUTIONAL BUT ILL GIVE IT TO YOU IN JANUARY”?
Well. DoJ still wants it on 12/18, and now they have another argument to support their request: https://t.co/rFvqOfGo7K
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) October 26, 2023
⭐️
There’s the conclusion. Lift the stay. Modify bail conditions. Trump has until 10/28 to respond. END/ pic.twitter.com/pgtI55t1Tz
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) October 26, 2023
⭐️
DoJ asks the judge to LIFT the stay AND to modify the bail conditions. Jack Smith says what he posted this week not only violates the gag order, but it violates the bail conditions – which are not stayed. That’s the big one right there. Clarify the bail. He violated it. 8/ pic.twitter.com/kaENANFdjS
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) October 26, 2023
⭐️
Open thread.
cain
They won’t be controlling the house for long then. We need to make sure the maps invalidated and the new maps put back. Hopefully the SCOTUS will not interfere this time.
mrmoshpotato
What is this actual reporting from the FNYT?
kindness
You know that saying ‘We live in interesting times’? It’s true, we do. But sometimes ‘interesting’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting, and not always in the way we’d prefer it. Persevere. Don’t stop pushing for what is right.
Frankensteinbeck
It seems to me that the judges, knowing this is a case that will be scrutinized heavily by higher courts, are going with a policy of starting small with penalties and increasing them so that when they get ugly no higher court will overrule.
As for Johnson, again, I don’t give a shit what kind of loathsome turd he is. He can’t make any of his nauseating fever dreams reality. He has power to change one thing: Whether the spending packages that have bipartisan support will get voted on. If he has said he is against doing that, I haven’t heard, although I admit ‘I haven’t heard’ does a fair amount of lifting there.
Anyway
I still don’t understand how Ohio was able to ignore/defy the state court’s decisions. IOKIYAR.
Just Some Fuckhead
Where loan forgiveness = paid back in other non-cash ways
New Deal democrat
@Anyway: The answer is, exactly what enforcement powers does a state court have against a fully equal branch of government, I.e., the legislature? It can either draw new maps itself which the legislature might then refuse to implement, or hold Members in contempt, which is fraught with peril (I can easily see SCOTUS saying state courts have no such authority.
Unless there is a magical transformation of SCOTUS, one funeral at a time with a Democratic President and Senate, the only other remedy is for Congress itself to get involved via their Constitutional duty to “guarantee a Republican form of government” to the States.
WaterGirl
@Just Some Fuckhead: Perhaps with a court ruling in their favor!
Scout211
Rep. Bowman pleads guilty.
ETA: It makes sense to get this settled and get it behind him.
WaterGirl
@Scout211: Interesting. I haven’t seen anything to suggest that he did this on purpose – the alarm that went off wasn’t even in the Capital where the Rs accused him of doing it to delay proceedings in the Capital.
I think it’s bogus that he was charged to begin with. But I’m sure Rep. Bowman just wants to put this behind him.
Percysowner
@Anyway:
The unconstitutional gerrymandered districts has been a cluster f*ck of huge proportions. A lot happened because the Republicans dragged their feet so long on making a district map that time ran out and they had to have SOMETHING in place for the next election. Fairly good description here on the whole mess.
jonas
@Just Some Fuckhead: Those non-cash ways, however, do not impress the IRS, which counts a forgiven loan, under most circumstances, as taxable income.
Geminid
Last year, a decision by New York’s Court of Appeals likely caused a 4+ Representative swing towards Republicans. The court overturned the redistricting map Albany Democrats created. The map then drawn by a Special Master, plus poor Democratic turnout, caused New York Democrats to lose several of the new districts.
On the other hand, llinois’ highest court upheld a map that was as severe a gerrymander as New York’s was.
I think New York Democrats are trying to pass a new map. It might withstand legal challenges this time. The map may be a little less tilted towards Democrats than last year’s was. Also, I think a more liberal justice has replaced a more conservative one on the Court of Appeals.
jonas
Wait for it…
“What One Motorhome, A Forgiven Loan, and A Supreme Court Justice under Fire Tell Us About Living Through Bidenomics”
schrodingers_cat
OT: Guys check out my art haul from the same person I got the Derwent Drawing pencils. I am especially looking forward to using the metallic watercolor palette from Paul Reubens.
laura
@schrodingers_cat: 👀Ooh! Moving those colors around is going to be fun.
UncleEbeneezer
That tweet should say “Don’t blame the disenfranchised/suppressed voters.” We absolutely should blame the shitty voters who support Fascism or vote GOP because they are mad about inflation, gas, crime etc.
Ocotillo
And Wall Street hates it, the markets are down. Evidently this means the Fed may not ease interest rates but raise them some more to cool the economy so that the inflation monster is slain. F Wall Street!
sab
@Anyway: Federal court stepped in and overrode state supreme court, saying that time was running out. (Republican) Ohio Chief Justice had a plan in effect for forcing better maps, but the federal court stepped in and undercut her. They let the previous map go forward just for the one election.
schrodingers_cat
@laura: Also the smaller Kuretake metallic palette. All the instructions on the Paul Rubens palette are in Japanese.
H.E.Wolf
@schrodingers_cat: Those art supplies make me salivate!
The textile underneath them looks very interesting, too.
Ruckus
@kindness:
In my experience “We live in interesting times” can of course go both ways but almost always means something going towards the negative side.
schrodingers_cat
@H.E.Wolf: That’s from India. Its from a tribe in Maharashtra (my ancestral home state) in a region that is fairly close to Mumbai.
The block printed textile is from the Warlis.
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
Perhaps with a court ruling in their favor!
NO!, say it ain’t so….
Surly I jest……..
WaterGirl
@UncleEbeneezer: What they are saying is that the awful gerrymandered maps were the cause of the outcome, thanks to the US “Supreme” Court.
Though I agree with you that if more people had voted in their best interests, we could have overcome the gerrymandering obstacle and have gotten wins.
schrodingers_cat
@H.E.Wolf: Warli art
Chris Johnson
@Ocotillo: I was looking at some of the tweets cited and saw that there was a trending hashtag for ‘#stockmarketcrash’, but it didn’t point to anything, just random meme posts citing the tag to get seen.
Probably Musk trying to crash the stock market by saying it is? by tweeting?
Lotta people believing they can do things by tweeting them… and finding it’s not quite that easy…
glory b
@New Deal democrat: PA’s Supreme Court did that. They ordered redrawing of the maps by the then-Republican controlled state legislature and redrew them themselves when they disapproved their new ones. we now have a Dem controlled legislature, albeit by one vote. Before, we were actually the most gerrymandered state in the US.
Which is why I don’t like being called a swing state. All of our statewide elected offices but 2 (Auditor General and one Supreme Court Justice) are Dems.
glory b
@Frankensteinbeck: Yes. Slovakia elected a Putin friendly head & he just cut all funding for Ukraine.
Geminid
@Geminid: Michigan and Virginia left redistricting to new, “Independent” redistricting commissions. My understanding is that Michigan’s system went well and produced a neutral map as intended.
Virginia’s process was rockier. The Redistricting Commission consisted of 8 General Assembly members, 2 Democrats and 2 Republicans from each hiuse, and a few “citizen members.” They ended up deadlocking, so a clause in the constitutional amendment sent the matter to the state’s Supreme Court.
They appointed two Special Masters to draw the maps. The resulting General Assembly map seems neutral; at least I haven’t seen complaints that it favored either party. The Congrrssional map was controversial because it shifted Elaine Luria’s 2nd CD to be slightly Republican and she lost in November.
The special masters worked under two constraints: Virginia’s obligations under the VRA required them to bolster Dan McEachin’s 4th and Bobby Scott’s 3rd CDs with Democrats, and they were pressed for time.
geg6
@glory b:
Yes, this.
Soprano2
@WaterGirl: Especially in New York, I know some of those seats were winnable.
Anyway
@WaterGirl:
IOKIYAR
UncleEbeneezer
@WaterGirl: No, I totally get what they are saying and agree. I hate when people blame “the voters” of NC, FL, TX etc., without noting the horrible gerrymandering and other forms of suppression. But it also always irks me when someone suggests that we don’t also have a real voter problem. I know that’s not what the Tweet means, but it can come across that way.
Other MJS
My broad brush take on guys like Thomas is that some people go down the rabbit hole of entitlement and can’t even form the concept that what they do might be wrong.
Citizen Alan
@WaterGirl:
People who say that continually fail to understand just how many voters consider preservation of Christian white supremacy to be their most mportant interest.
lowtechcyclist
@Ruckus:
There’s a reason for the Chinese “may you live in interesting times” curse. And for our “fuck these fucking interesting times” rotating tag.
smintheus
@mrmoshpotato: “potential tax issues” is too cute. It’s straight up tax fraud to receive loan forgiveness of any amount and not report it as income on your taxes.
Geminid
@Ocotillo: Last time the markets dropped in the morning on good economic news, they were up at closing. So I’ll wait a few hours before I cuss Wall Street out.
SiubhanDuinne
@schrodingers_cat:
OMG, are you ever going to have fun!!
H.E.Wolf
@schrodingers_cat:
@schrodingers_cat:
Thank you for the info! The artwork is distinctive, and I’m thrilled to learn about something new to me.
WaterGirl
@Citizen Alan:
It all comes down to sparrows and curtain rods, doesn’t it?
WaterGirl
@lowtechcyclist: Yes. I assumed everyone would know I was referencing the curse.
Leto
@UncleEbeneezer: I wrote many, many paragraphs for what you said with just a few sentences. Totally agree.
cain
@glory b:
For awhile our legislature in Oregon was all Republicans – we’ve pretty much booted all of them out and it’s been pretty good so far.
Portland is still a shit show though and we need to get a handle on the myriad of problems that is happening here. Our current bench of politicians have not handled things as I would have liked to see.
frosty
@schrodingers_cat: OMG what a haul indeed. I can see you’re going to be busy!
WaterGirl
Great news for GA!
Brachiator
@Other MJS:
I mentioned in a previous thread how former UK prime minister Boris Johnson got an £800,000 loan from a fellow Eton crony. Other MPs regularly had similar arrangements. Questions were brushed aside as to why Johnson couldn’t get by with his prime minister salary and generous housing allowance.
This kind of thing is common among conservatives in the US and UK and elsewhere.
Doing something wrong? To the contrary, the whole point is to become a member of a special club where special favors and benefits, often paid for by taxpayers, are expected and natural.
And of course, these same conservatives will blame poor people for not working hard and for expecting “free money” government handouts.
Uncle Cosmo
@Ruckus: Just FTR, “May you live in interesting times” in its Chinese incarnation is generally considered a curse . In those “thrilling days of yesteryear” when that expression came forth, the vast majority of situations that made times “interesting” were uncomfortable to unpleasant to terrifying to genocidal.
(ETA: Aaaaaaaand I see lowtechcyclist at #37 supra got there ahead of me…)
E.
@WaterGirl: Anthrax and tire rims play a role too, albeit a supporting one.
Wapiti
@Other MJS: Yup. When I was stationed in Germany back in the day, a Military Police Colonel got caught shoplifting. What a way to end a career.
(otoh, I’ll bet they just let him retire.)
lowtechcyclist
@smintheus:
LOCK HIM UP!! LOCK HIM UP!!
It’ll never happen – at least not to a Republican – but it would be sweet to see a Supreme Court Justice thrown into the slammer for run-of-the-mill criming.
Frankensteinbeck
If anyone missed it in the last thread, something hilarious happened in the Trump $250 million property value inflation fraud case. Trump’s lawyer corners Cohen on potentially perjury and gets Cohen to say Trump never actually asked him to inflate values. Trump has been actually in the courtroom waiting for this. Trump’s lawyer declares that this proves the whole case is invalid and asks the judge to immediately toss it out. Judge is like… yeah, no. That is large amounts of not happening. Cohen is a tiny fraction of the prosecution’s tower of evidence.
Trump loses it. He gets up storms out of the courtroom, sending the Secret Service scrambling to catch up and protect him. He rants to the press about how he just proved he’s innocent and this is so unfair and biased.
The judge orders him to come back inside. Nobody knows what the judge said to him.
Later, Trump posts online that it was a moment worthy of Perry Mason. Like, actually said “Perry Mason”. I’m pretty sure he had this whole plan he was sure was going to invalidate both the law suits and save his empire.
He thinks the whole world works like television.
FelonyGovt
@schrodingers_cat: Drooling! What a score!
mrmoshpotato
@Frankensteinbeck: What a horse’s dumb ass!
Tony Jay
@Frankensteinbeck:
I know this is difficult to believe about such an illustrious and well-respected figure, but after a long period of serious contemplation and a full audit of all the available facts, I’ve come to the unsettling conclusion that Donald Trump is just a big fucking moron.
I know. Crazy, yeah?
Geminid
@Tony Jay: No one will ever confuse Donald Trump with Professor Moriarty.
gvg
@Frankensteinbeck: A lot of people think the world works like television. It’s why I loathe certain kinds of shows. I know schools try to the youngest children to understand the concept of fiction at an early age, but they are emphasizing books they assign to read. I’d like more discussion about TV and movies. I didn’t used to think it was a problem, but I had smart friends.
I think it is the anti science and the “woo” stuff that bugs me the most.
Frankensteinbeck
I think it’s so funny that Trump has been sitting there for two days in this trial (he normally doesn’t attend civil trials) waiting for this moment to spring his trap and cancel out these fraud lawsuits just like on TV!
sxjames
@lowtechcyclist:
As I understand it, the aphorism continues with – “and come to the attention of important people.” Yeah, its more of a curse than anything else.
MattF
@Frankensteinbeck:
Specifically, like a reality show. Is he right? We shall see.
Soprano2
@WaterGirl: I think it’s fear, plain and simple. Fear of the other taking away what they have. I heard an interview with a woman who wrote a book about Louisiana similar to the one Vance wrote, only a lot better. She said people characterized it as they are standing in a long line waiting to get to a better life, and those “others” keep being allowed to cut in front of them and get all the good stuff, which is why they can’t get what they feel they’ve earned. They think these people who don’t follow “the rules” are getting things that they didn’t earn, and that it’s unfair. All it boils down to is that they think they deserve better things than those “others”.
trollhattan
@Frankensteinbeck:
Donny wishes Della were “just a little hotter.”
ETA His ability to bottle his temper and general demeanor for court must be stretched one-molecule thin by now. More fun upcoming is my guess.
HumboldtBlue
Ivanka Trump hit with motion to force her to testify in dad’s fraud trial
trollhattan
@MattF: “Just look at my ratings! This loser’s ratings are SAD.”
Soprano2
@gvg: This is why the Pocahontas Disney movie bothers me so much. I don’t care if they alter fiction, but they altered actual history for a kid’s movie. How many teachers have to teach them all that no, it didn’t happen like what you saw in the Disney movie?
Ken
@Frankensteinbeck: As I recall on Perry Mason, usually when someone stood up and blurted something out in court, it was the guilty party confessing. I suppose there’s a parallel here, in that it’s already been established that Trump is guilty of the fraud charges.
lollipopguild
@MattF: Trump thinks that everybody in the country are all part of his reality show , we are all his “employees”.
Soprano2
@HumboldtBlue: And to think, he could have avoided all of this by not running for president, because that’s what caused all of his criming to get attention (not to mention the criming he did while president and afterwards!).
jimmiraybob
I have a feeling that the interesting is just beginning.
Speaking of investing though, keep eyes open for Brawndo to go public. It’s the wave of the future – it’s got what plants crave!
Frankensteinbeck
@trollhattan:
I was shocked by reports he attended court yesterday and was quiet and no more than a little glowery for hours. Now it looks like he can only do that when he thinks he’s about to spring a trap and win.
WaterGirl
@HumboldtBlue: Too bad, so sad.
“Don’t you know who I am???”
HumboldtBlue
@Frankensteinbeck:
Rats! Foiled again, by the dastardly demonic Democrats dishing doozies during trial.
JoyceH
I’m seeing on Twitter that the Maine shooter mostly followed such folks as DJTJ, Musk, and cattturd. So question for discussion: does the current version of “conservatism” drive people crazy, or does it appeal to those who are already crazy?
HumboldtBlue
@Soprano2:
Yup.
@WaterGirl:
The “I don’t live in New York” line kills me every time, like she’s in the Dukes of Hazard and if she can just get to the county line she’ll bamboozle Boss Hogg and the sheriff.
patrick II
@Frankensteinbeck:
He probably thought he was actually firing people on the Apprentice. It seems many Voters did.
Ken
Speaking of friends loaning one another a quarter of a million dollars, has anyone seen any sign that the “Biden $200,000 check” story is getting any traction? I haven’t, but can’t decide if that’s because all the bogus House investigations have effectively been on hiatus.
lollipopguild
@Soprano2: There is a line of thought out there that trump expected to lose and he would say that Hilary “Stole” the election and use his loss as a way to grift more money from his cultists.
lollipopguild
@JoyceH: both. It’s a never ending feedback loop that pulls you in and makes you crazy if you were not already.
Brachiator
@Ken:
Haven’t seen much about it. I think you’re right. The House GOP goons have to gear up their phony investigation machinery again.
HumboldtBlue
I have an ANGRY ANGRY maga on the hook on Twitter. Haven’t typed a word, just Biden meme-ing him to death. It’s hilarious, and fun!
Anoniminous
@JoyceH:
When other people are spouting racism and bigotry that validates their own racism and bigotry.
Frankensteinbeck
@Ken:
These Biden conspiracy theory scandals never get traction outside the already crazies, and rarely with them. Remember Tara Reade landing with a flop?
HumboldtBlue
@Ken:
Oh, they tried their best, and got laughed out of the room. Some are still whimpering about it, but it’s become a joke at this point.
Juju
@JoyceH: Yes.
cain
@WaterGirl:
I’m BATMAN!
MattF
@Ken: That story is so painfully bogus that it stands as a test-of-faith. “I know you’re a believer, but are you really one of us?”
Brachiator
@Soprano2:
The Pocahontas story that I was taught in school was largely fantasy. That is, the myth was taught, with a nod that it was exaggerated and then we moved on.
We were also taught about Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans, but not much about how the War of 1812 was a draw and largely unnecessary. I knew people who thought that the US won that war, and that Vietnam was our only “defeat.”
Btom89
@schrodingers_cat: (in a furtive tone) pssssst….deal me in onto your art supplies source.
geg6
@JoyceH:
Rightwing media and social media are the Radio Rwanda of our time.
Geminid
@Frankensteinbeck: That Tara Reade story was getting some air before her history of lying and grifting came to light. But her story was flimsy and contradicted itself anyway. A couple of people who tried to pump air into the story have been on my shit-list ever since. Ed. I thought that under the circumstances, their conduct was reckless.
HumboldtBlue
@Geminid:
Chris Hayes was prominent in blowing air into that story. He quickly dropped it after she was exposed as a fraud.
p.a.
Has there been any sign of Amir?
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Brachiator:
I went to 1-4 grades in northern VA back in the 60s so early VA history was pushed from Day 1 and Pocahontas figured prominently.
Left out, of course, was the fact she died at 21 back in Blighty, causes unknown.
Geminid
@HumboldtBlue: I know. But he should have been a lot more careful with that story even before she was discredited. I think there was a political agenda at work.
I don’t think Hayes ever explained this affair to his viewers like he should have. So far as I know, he just turned the page. But I don’t watch him, so maybe someone who does can correct me on this.
Brachiator
@Soprano2:
The classified documents stashed in the bathroom would still be a serious legal problem. But this is another fine mess that he got himself into.
schrodingers_cat
@Btom89: I have had good luck on eBay. And Blick for brand new stuff. Blick is usually cheaper for paper and canvas than Amazon. And Amazon.
HumboldtBlue
@Geminid:
Same here.
catclub
A not insignificant number of people watched The Apprentice and thought Trump was a successful businessman ( and a billionaire!) who got things done.
Then they voted for him.
catclub
Yes.
Grendel
Yeah, no, voters are a huge part of the blame. Republicans overall got 3 million more votes in 2022 than Democrats did (despite Roe). They won the country by 50.6% to Democrats 47.8%. Gerrymandering doesn’t help but ignoring the reality that a huge swathe of the country is perfectly fine with the current GOP doesn’t help either.
Paul in KY
@New Deal democrat: A Federal Court is not ‘equal’ to a state legislature. It is above a state legislature
I think we fought a war about that…
Soprano2
@lollipopguild: Seems credible to me.
Soprano2
@Brachiator: I was probably taught some of the same stuff, but my teacher didn’t have to fight against a Disney movie that told things wrong. I’ve seen her burial site in Gravesend, England.
narya
@Geminid: @HumboldtBlue: I do watch him regularly (though I didn’t then). It’s a misstep, for sure, and I don’t know that he ever apologized or noted that he got something wrong. He didn’t keep harping on it, though, IIRC. In general I very much like the deepish dives he does, the guests he has, etc., and I don’t think any reporter gets it right 100% of the time. I realize everyone has different standards on these things
ETA: by which I mean that you may disagree and not want to watch him.
Soprano2
@Geminid: The idea that she wasn’t wearing panty hose with a dress in 1985, well women my age knew immediately that was a lie. No woman who dressed up went without hose in 1985, even in the middle of the summer. It was an obvious lie that most men probably wouldn’t have spotted.
Paul in KY
@Wapiti: I would hope they at least busted him down to LTC.
Soprano2
@Brachiator: Yes, but if he had never run for president that couldn’t have happened.
Gin & Tonic
@p.a.: I was wondering the same. Also wondering about JR in WV.
Tony Jay
@Geminid:
Not so much The Napoleon of Crime as the Publius Quinctilius Varus of Fraud.
Ruviana
@Soprano2: Strangers in their Own Land by Arlie Russell Hochschild. Very good book.
Geminid
@Soprano2: Had he lost his Congressional race as expected, George Santos might not have ended up in all this hot water. But his campaign finance violotions were fairly egegious, so he may have been caught anyway.
I don’t know enough about FEC enforcement to do more than guess. But I am intrigued by the tgeory that Santos and his backers did not ecmxpect him to win. But Republicans statewide were motivated while Democrats were not, so Santos grabbed the brass ring.
Accounts of the motivation gap last year in in New York reminded me of the 2021 Virginia Governor race. That year, Republicans were hungry and Democrats more complacent.
I wish there was a good book about that race, or at least a long series of articles. But it faded quickly in importance with all the other stuff going on.
The attitude of a lot of Virginia Democrats was, “Let us not speak of this again…. And rally around Senator Lucas and her Brick Wall!” Even so, I think we drew the proper conclusions.
HumboldtBlue
@Gin & Tonic:
I was thinking about him last night.
Soprano2
@geg6: Hey, this isn’t a reply to your comment, it’s information. Someone on this board pointed me to a Facebook support group for spouses of people with dementia problems. If you do Facebook I would recommend joining, they’ve already been a help to me. It’s called Alzheimer’s Spouse Journal and Support Group. Many thanks to whoever recommended it to me, I cannot remember. There’s also one called Alzheimer’s Spouse Haven, I haven’t done it yet.
Soprano2
@Ruviana: I think it’s the book Vance thought he wrote.
West of the Rockies
@Brachiator:
I think it’s possible that as each Republican fake outrage gets stalled (Hillary’s emails, Benghazi, Hunter’s laptop, Biden’s loan), it loses power to motivate anyone other than the hateful loons.
Chief Oshkosh
@gvg: Yep. There are an enormous number of shows about Bigfoot, paranatural events, “the ancients”, and other crap that are presented as topics of scientific research. From my limited experience, a large portion of the viewership actually believe that these are real research subjects. People really believe this stuff.
And they vote.
Eolirin
@Paul in KY: The state court is equal though. That’s what was being referenced. The Federal Court, ultimately the SCOTUS, let the legislature’s maps stand even though the state court wanted to do something about it. The state court in question, Ohio’s, has now flipped to Republican control rendering the challenge moot.
(So has NC’s. These are both very bad things)
jowriter
@Soprano2: Totally winnable. NY-17 was Sean Patrick Maloney’s to lose, which he did to Mike Lawler, by only 3000 votes. Maloney was busy talking to the talking heads on cable and not working to encourage the Dem vote in his district (and mine). Meanwhile, Lawler sent out multiple mailings of 4-color flyers about the rampant crime in Westchester County, which has the second LOWEST crime rate in the entire U.S. Some people seemed to have taken that bait. I’m still steamed. Called Lawler’s office before the Johnson vote and promised to do my best to make sure he doesn’t repeat as our rep. Grrrrrrr.
Geminid
@narya: I’d probably watch Hayes some if I had TV service. I understand that he does a lot of good work.
I would be more forgiving of Hayes’ conduct regarding Tara Reade if he hadn’t made it in June of 2020. That story was intended to knock Joe Biden out of the race or at least weaken him, at a time when the stakes were sky high. I don’t mark Hayes down for his journalistic mistake as such, but for its recklessness.
Eolirin
@jowriter: The maps didn’t help, if we had the ones the legislature wanted we wouldn’t have lost any of the close races even with the turnout being (relatively) bad for us.
We should have better ones on top of better turn out going into 2024. I expect most of the close seats should flip to us.
sab
@New Deal democrat: A federal court overruled Ohio’s state supreme court. It had nothing to do with co-equal branches of government.
Gravenstone
@Frankensteinbeck: Read about his storming out but wasn’t aware of the overall context. Other reporting implied it was more that he was pissed off about being called on the carpet over his violation of the gag order, again.
Suzanne
LMAO Blake Masters is going to run for Debbie Lesko’s House seat.
He’s gonna win, because that district is terrible, but it won’t be a net difference.
These MAGA fuckers are still in charge of the GOP. LAWL.
Mike in NC
We really enjoyed the gritty reboot of “Perry Mason” and were disappointed when they canceled it.
Eolirin
@Suzanne: Good, that helps us win in AZ.
Kayla Rudbek
Open thread (all knowledge is available on Balloon Juice): I want to start replacing wall plates as I get ready for painting more rooms. I like the bronze options on Wallplates.com but they don’t have ones that would accommodate e.g. side-by-side Ethernet/internet, 2 cable connections, and other weird things like that. Anyone have any suggestions besides Amazon/Home Depot/Lowe’s? Or maybe I should just put blank wall plates over the weird ones? And I want the dark bronze as it is less likely to show dirt than painting over the current wall plates as the previous owner did.
MomSense
Just feel like crying today. Lots of rumors flying and I hope most of them aren’t true. My kids knew people who worked at the bar and they haven’t answered their phones and not for parents either. They are probably dead or severely injured.
We often say that Maine is a small town. We will all know someone who was murdered last night. Heard from the wife of a surgeon I know who has been working straight through. What he told her is just horrifying. These fucking AR-15s shred bodies. They cannot identify people. The first responders and medical personnel are going to be so traumatized.
Why are we allowing this to continue? So many warnings with this murderer- neighbors, law enforcement, Army reserve unit – and they couldn’t or wouldn’t do anything?
I can’t cope. It’s too much.
Frankensteinbeck
@Gravenstone:
No, it was RIGHT after his lawyer moved to dismiss the case because they had weakened Cohen’s testimony, and that’s what Trump bitched about when he left. I don’t know how much the fine and being lectured about it upset him, but he clearly thought he had all of this beat and threw a shit fit when he found out It Doesn’t Work Like That.
HumboldtBlue
@MomSense:
That’s terrible, I hope you have some support and someone for some hugs close by.
sab
@Kayla Rudbek: Does Ace Hardware have anything? You can buy in the store if they have it, or order on line and either have it shipped to the store or sent to your house. If shipped to the store you can reject it if you don’t like the looks of it in person and they will keep it or return it and credit your charge account.
Ace stores are locally owned franchises, not centrally owned big box stores.
Quiltingfool
I just finished quilting the last of 8 king-size quilts for 2 sisters. I’ve been at it for the last 7 days. The cat and I are very happy to be out of the basement (location of quilting machine) and back to the sewing room!
I do machine quilting for a small number of clients, and do not want any more than I have now! My favorite part of making quilts is the design and construction of the quilt tops. Quilting is okay, but not thrilling. These two ladies are in their late 80s and they simply do not know how to make a quilt smaller than king size! They are genuine OG old-school quilters, traditional patterns done with flawless precision and I swear they must have a fabric stash that is at least 25 years old. I know why they send me quilts — I am a cheap hire. They would probably pay two to four times more than I charge them somewhere else. I don’t charge them as much because they donate all their quilts to charity fundraisers, so I’m kind of donating too.
Now I get to go back to working on a couple of contract quilts! Quilts that feature cats! Yay!
piratedan
@Suzanne: who knows… Masters may just be shitty enough to lose. Name recognition is likely not his friend.
fingers crossed.
Kay
@Kayla Rudbek:
OMG
JaySinWA
@Geminid: Not to tout Chris Hayes, but it looks like you can find a lot of his stuff on YouTube.
A lot of cable news and opinion shows up on YouTube, sometimes in real time, or close to it.
eclare
@MomSense:
I’m so sorry, I can’t imagine.
Suzanne
@Eolirin: No, it really doesn’t. That district is blood-red. Filled with the worst old people in the country. Like, Villages West.
A few years ago in that district, voters shot down a Boys and Girls Club by straight-up saying that they didn’t want poor and brown kids to come to close.
But it keeps the damage confined.
eclare
@Quiltingfool:
Eight king size quilts, wow. Great donations, though.
HumboldtBlue
@Soprano2:
Thank you for that info, I just passed it along to a friend whose mother is suffering terribly.
Ejoiner
@Mike in NC: Yes! This so much – I’m actually interested in digging into the original source material from the 1930’s now. Great, promising show cut down before it’s time :(
HumboldtBlue
@Quiltingfool:
Pictures please!
WG, can we get a respite post one of these days with QF’s work?
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@mrmoshpotato: More proof of Thomas’s corruption is almost mundane to me by now, but the fact you can spend more than $267,000 on an RV blows my mind.
Suzanne
@piratedan: I’ll hope.
The Sun City old people and Surprise nouveau riche NIMBY douchebags don’t give me optimism. But! Fingers crossed!
Kay
Kind of interesting because Joe Biden is an example of a Democrat who does as much “predistribution” as he does redistribution.
pdf
eclare
@A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan):
You can spend way more than that on an RV. Friend of mine took over her family’s RV dealership, very lucrative, especially the financing part. Although it looks like Thomas didn’t need that.
sab
@Mike in NC: Yes. LA that looked like LA instead of Beverly Hills. LA with black and brown people.
I was also fascinated with two British lead actors (Perry and Della) with flawless American accents.
What a stupid decision to cancel. Killed a potential classic.
narya
@MomSense: I’m so sorry; that’s just awful.
cain
On some of these news, I would totally like to use round up on it.
Juju
@Chief Oshkosh: But William Shatner hosts those shows. If you can’t trust Captain James T. Kirk who can you trust?
snark
WaterGirl
@cain: hah!
AM in NC
@MomSense: So sorry for you and everyone affected by this trauma. Holding you in the light and sending strength and peace to you and yours.
And yes, this is a choice to live this way, made by too many of us.
Geminid
@JaySinWA: I stay away from You-Tube because video sucks up the limited high speed data provided on my phone plan. I sometimes think of getting a plan with more, and I could afford to, but this runs into the same reservation I have about getting satellite TV service: I spend too much of my day looking at a screen already.
But I followed Hayes on Twitter some last year. He said some things there that I found problematic, so now I pretty much ignore the guy. The way I see it, there are more knowledgeable people here, with better judgement too.
Brachiator
@Soprano2:
Oh, you meant his initial run in 2016.
I guess. But we can’t rewind the clock.
AM in NC
@Mike in NC: Aw, really bummed to hear they cancelled this show.
Paul in KY
@Soprano2: I guess “If you weren’t such a loser you’d be up further in the line and in front of those ‘others'” would not resonate with them?
Paul in KY
@Soprano2: You just tell them ‘the movie is not how it happened in real life’. Surely the non-dumb ones can get that concept pretty quickly.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Soprano2: Yeah, I don’t know when bare legs with dress-up clothes became a thing, but it certainly wasn’t back in the 80s. I went to a wedding around 2012 or so and many women, including the Mother of the Groom, who is 4 years older than me, were barelegged and I was surprised (I don’t get out much, and obviously don’t mix with the cool people enough). I think it looks too casual for dressy occasions, but I’m obviously an old fuddy-duddy and not au courant with the current culture.
Juju
@Kayla Rudbek: Google wallplates. There are a number of sites that come up. Wayfair usually has a nice selection of things, but I’ve never searched for wallplates there.
Kathleen
@MomSense: I’ve been thinking about you and your family during this. Sending you all love and light energy.
Paul in KY
@Brachiator: I thought we had won it back in elementary school & maybe a bit of middle school. It was when I realized that Great Britain was fighting Napoleon at same time that I figured out we lucked out bigtime.
Kathleen
@Geminid: Chris Hayes is a tool. I loathe him.
Suzanne
@MomSense: I’m so sorry. I’ll be thinking of you all day.
Paul in KY
@Tony Jay: As for his general legal strategery, you could call him ‘Fattius the Delayer’.
Paul in KY
@Eolirin: Agree on any state court being equal to the legislative branch in that state.
Citizen Alan
@Tony Jay: I’m pretty sure Miles Bron is an amalgamation of Shitgibbon and Elmo
Brachiator
@Mike in NC:
Yep. I really liked this version of Perry, Della and Drake, and looked forward to seeing what might happen next.
It was one of the few shows that I watched on any streaming service.
Geminid
@piratedan: I wonder if Blake Masters can win the primary. He’ll have money, and in a crowded field that might make up for his weird personality. I just remember a story from last year’s Senate primary, that when a Republican consultant ran a lot of video of Masters by a focus group, they gave Masters the lowest “likeable” ratings the consultant had ever seen.
Citizen Alan
@gvg: I refuse to watch police procedurals or legal shows. The latter grossly distorts what the legal process is like, while the former is flat-out LEO propaganda. When was the last time anyone saw an episode of a cop show in which a bad cop was even a plot point.
Geminid
@Kathleen: I guess we’ll put you down as, “Undecided.”
Citizen Alan
@Soprano2: I remember watching the ending of Disney’s Hercules where he finally ends up with Megara and wondering “Are they gonna show the bit where Hera curses him with homicidal madness for the crime of being one of Zeus’s rape babies and then he brutally murders Meg and their children?”
Scout211
@MomSense: I am so sorry, for you, your family, your friends and your wonderful state. What a horrible, horrible thing for all of you to have to endure.
Quiltingfool
@HumboldtBlue: Here’s one — it’s a “manly” quilt! No fussy prints, lol!
https://pin.it/7v4Le5P
I found a fabric panel and put borders around it. The border is actually Seminole piecing; it looks tricky but it really isn’t difficult. I had fun with it!
If anyone wants to see more quilts, I post them on Pinterest, well, when I think to do it!
https://pin.it/2RxtQdA
Paul in KY
@A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan): A nice Prevost Coach that bands ride around in probably goes around $700,000 or more. I think alot of the bands rent them.
Paul in KY
@Citizen Alan: I think that’s in the director’s cut…
Paul in KY
@Quiltingfool: That blue/yellow one of the top row is absolutely beautiful! So many great quilts…
Citizen Alan
@catclub: Obligatory.
Citizen Alan
@Paul in KY: Well, a federal court doesn’t have jurisdiction over a purely state matter that doesn’t implicate anyone’s federal civil rights or involve parties from different states. But you’re mostly right.
sab
@MomSense: We have been thinking about you since last night.
I watched a bit of cable news today. I know they cannot interview actual people because everyone is sheltering at home so they make stuff up. But I am exasperated with the continuing “we didn’t think it could happen here” meme. Of course it could, and in many communities it already has.
There is absolutely no purpose justifying the use of AR15s that justifies allowing them in our communities. You cannot hunt with them. You cannot protect your family with them. They shoot fast at targets (fun if that is your thing) and they are good at mass murders of people.
Glidwrith
@p.a.: And has anyone seen ruemara lately?
eclare
@Citizen Alan:
As you probably know, The Wire.
Anyway
@Quiltingfool:
Your quilts are gorgeous! i’m partial to the yellow+blue combo
Citizen Alan
@Mike in NC: I was incredibly confused by the fact that Perry Mason was not actually a lawyer. It seemed like a gritty LA crime drama that they slapped Perry Mason’s name on for branding purposes.
sab
@Citizen Alan: Federal court had jurisdiction in Ohio last year when our supreme court tried to enforce the citizens initiative against gerrymandering passed by 74% of our voters, amd ignored by our state legislature and the legislature/executive commission.
Paul in KY
@Citizen Alan: Being a former civil servant, I’ll take ‘mostly’ :-)
sab
@Citizen Alan: My husband loved the books and said it was much truer to them than the Raymond Burr series.
UncleEbeneezer
@eclare: Southland, Snowfall, We Own This City, When They See Us, Unbelievable, Dahmer, The Night Of, Narcos Mexico etc., all heavily focus on police corruption and ineptitude. Though I wouldn’t really classify any as police procedurals.
My niece is interested in studying Criminal Justice in college and I’m really scared that she thinks CSI/Criminal Minds shows are accurate and that profiling works etc. She’s very smart but also super-white and my Sister is one of those people who is probably in pretty deep denial about the racism of American LE agencies.
HumboldtBlue
@Quiltingfool:
Absolutely fantastic! How do I buy one?
eclare
@UncleEbeneezer:
I haven’t seen all of the shows that you listed, but the ones that I have seen have had an impact. Especially Unbelievable. I am not a binger, and I think I finished that in two days. The scene where the cop questions the victim…
Brachiator
@Paul in KY:
Yeah, I was also a little hazy about that. I was a good student, but didn’t pay attention to history until much later. Also, I think my school focused on American history. So, it was kinda like “Napoleon sold the Louisiana Purchase to Thomas Jefferson and then disappeared. Later, the Civil War happened. And then, the Wright Brothers and Thomas Edison and Henry Ford invented some cool stuff.”
Geminid
I saw that Republicans have sent several thousand mailers to homes in Virginia’s 57th House District marked “Warning: Explicit Material. Do Not Open if You Are Under 18.”
The mailers contain material relating to the Democratic candidate’s on-line sexual history. U.Va. political analyst Larry Sabato speculated that Republican Party operatives may have seen private polling that indicated the race was close.
The 57th district consists of parts of western Henrico County and eastern Fluvanna county. It’s west of Richmond, and could be described as a suburban/exurban district.
Sister Golden Bear
@Soprano2: A not insignificant part of MAGAism is collective (toxic) narcissism.
Btom89
@schrodingers_cat: thanks : )
sab
Ohio has Issue 1 for abortion/contraception/obstetric care rights.
A No on 1 lady turned up at the sample ballot place. Her pamphlet had a graphic late term aborted fetus photo. Voters were recoiling in horror. We think she scared off more people than she convinced.
Sister Golden Bear
@Kayla Rudbek: You might try Build.com which specializes in that sort of thing.
A fall back, if the wallplates aren’t that visible — outlet, coax, etc. that are close to the floor — would be spray painting a matching. Rust-o-leum likely has a dark bronze.
catclub
neither am I, I use google.
oh binge – er
gvg
@MomSense: Oh, I am so sorry. Hang on and let us know if we can help. Please.
Tony Jay
@Citizen Alan:
I keep on not getting around to watching either of those films, but I’ve cunningly got Lady Jay to enjoy Poker Face, which is by the same director, so fingers crossed.
But yeah, I’ve heard that about the character. Utter self-obsessed dick.
@Paul in KY:
“Infamy! Infamy! They’ve all got it in for me!”
“The Defendant will cease these outbursts and take his seat. Here or in the cells, his choice.”
Ruckus
@A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan):
Look at the one’s made on a commercial bus chassis. Big, fancy, first rate driveline, enough power to carry the weight without a sweat, better finished inside than most people have in their homes, with fine woods, no concept of an expensive home on wheels left out, etc, etc.
Add in a decent profit and there’s a quarter million no problem. And it looks like he didn’t really pay for it…..
Subsole
@jimmiraybob:
Two words, homie:
Thirst. Mutilator.
Subsole
@lollipopguild:
This, but for real.
It’s kind of like a really, really toxic subreddit where a bunch of folks with real, heavy issues (though seldom the ones they think) get together and try to therapy-bitch to each other, but only end up feeding each others’ pathologies.
Kathleen
@Geminid: When it comes to MSNBROC I’m always “Decided” LOL!) I do like Symone and LOD but I still won’t watch that channel unless Hillary, Nancy or Kamala is interview subject.
Ruckus
@A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan):
More motorhome stuff.
Look at the Prevost site – https://prevostmotorhomes.com/
That will show you what is possible when cost is not the main factor in your purchasing issues.
Quiltingfool
@Anyway: I love blue and yellow together! Slava Ukraini! I’ve got lots of blue and yellow fabric, and as soon as I get caught up, I want to make more Ukraine quilts. I do have two that will be up for raffle/auction (whichever WaterGirl prefers) to get more money to Ukraine. People are so generous here, and give to so many worthy and important causes; however, I sure don’t want to overwhelm folks with fundraising!
Soprano2
@HumboldtBlue: You’re welcome, I got it from someone here. This blog is a great resource.
Quiltingfool
@HumboldtBlue: Well, there are a few for sale at my Etsy site (just click on my nym to be directed there). Some quilts I haven’t posted yet, and the very cool Man Cave quilt was sold last weekend —to a member of my quilt guild, no less! I also make quilts to order, so you can get colors you prefer.
You can contact me through my Etsy store if you’re interested – custom quilts don’t cost any more than the quilts in my store!
Soprano2
@A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan): I agree with you. I wear hose or tights in the winter, and none in the summer. I use tanning stuff on my legs in the summer. I wouldn’t go bare legged in the winter.
Quiltingfool
@Paul in KY: The great big one draped over a couch? I made that for Adam. You can tell I’m very partial to star blocks, lol!
mwing
@jonas: I can’t read the Times article due to paywall. But a personal loan can be forgiven without being treated as income by the recipient if the lender decides it’s a gift instead. As I’m sure you know, people do that in families all the time, like uncle loans $ to young couple for down payment- with or without a written agreement- a few years later at Thanksgiving after x drinks, says “eh, I’m dong fine, you’re a young couple it’s a gift” And cancels written agreement if there is one.
Can be a tax issue for the lender if they should have reported it on IRS gift forms but did not?
Denali5
@MomSense,
I am so sorry. There are no words.
WaterGirl
@mwing: This was no family, no parent, no uncle.
Also, my best friend loaned another friend $30,000, which he never repaid. When my best friend got tired of being frustrated about it, he told his accountant he wanted to “forgive” the loan.
If he did that, there was no choice but to notify the IRS and the friend who had borrowed the money had to pay taxes on the $30k.
Paul in KY
@Brachiator: About same here! Lots about Eli Whitney and his cotton ginn (which seemed to make it more profitable to have slaves). History ended at WW II.
Paul in KY
@Quiltingfool: Just bought one!
Paul in KY
@Quiltingfool: Think that was the one! Adam sure got a keeper!