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You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / 2024 Primaries / Friday Evening Open Thread: ‘We Deserve Better’ (Than Dean Phillips)

Friday Evening Open Thread: ‘We Deserve Better’ (Than Dean Phillips)

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The next day…

Teddy Schleifer’s shtick at Puck is to play (or be) a slack-jawed fanboi for Tech Dudes With Money — he’s a Bizzaro-World Jimmy Olsen. I believe he’s supposed to be writing a book about all the time he spent with Sam Bankman-Fried while SBF was under house arrest in Stanford, but I guess he needs to keep his ‘reportorial’ skillz in good shape…

Note that Teddy chooses to use a dreamy-eyed headshot of Sam Altman, who is not actually involved with this group, rather than a photo of the far-less-attractive candidate. A candidate who, when I checked, is getting little love in the replies…

Probably not a coincidence:

Friday Evening Open Thread: 'We Deserve Better' (Than Dean Phillips)

Reader Interactions

68Comments

  2. 2.

    Alison Rose

    We Deserve Better

    This reminds me of an interview a thousand years ago where the singer from the Gin Blossoms was worried that calling their album New Miserable Experience would just lead to some unsatisfied reviewers saying “Yep”.

    How about instead of #DropOutDean they start using #FuckOffDean.

  8. 8.

    hrprogressive

    Biden has never been nearly progressive enough or anti-GOP enough for me, but you couldn’t pay me to support egotistical assclowns like Philips who have no chance of doing anything more than waste a lot of money and whine a lot.

    It really is Biden or Bust, and I would prefer to avoid “Bust”.

  9. 9.

    Anne Laurie

    @Gin & Tonic: How does Steve Schmidt look at himself in the mirror every morning?

    While repeating one of my Irish granny’s proverbs:  Rich brutes’ money spends just like the honest kind.

  10. 10.

    lowtechcyclist

    How about instead of #DropOutDean they start using #FuckOffDean.

    Enthusiastically seconded!

  11. 11.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    I’ve been getting emails from Dean Phillips and they always talk about how Dems “can’t have a coronation”. Clicked the un-subscribe button immediately. I remember getting emails from Marianne Williamson! All I’ve ever donated to is the Act Blue thermometers on here to candidates

  13. 13.

    Urza

    A bunch of stupidly wealthy people that don’t actually deserve their money put together their lunch fund for the week to help a guy even they have to admit is going to lose so badly its not funny.

  15. 15.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Urza: It might be funny if it weren’t so deadly serious

    ETA: I worried Biden would be too deferential to the Wall St. set but, with some quibbles, he has been far better than I ever dreamed.

    For starters, this is probably the first time in my life I’ve been happy with how an American President was utilizing our military.

  16. 16.

    hrprogressive

    @Urza: ​
     

    I mean, he’s had bright spots to be sure, but I really hate how he waved away the pandemic because it was an election year last year. We were nowhere near “done” and the CDC told people there was “nothing to see here” way, way too early IMO.

    Plus his insistence on things like bipartisanship, not trying to expand SCOTUS to rectify it being stolen by Fascists, etc.

    Again, I’m gladly voting for him again because I am pragmatic enough to understand our choices are Fascism or Not Fascism, and that means it’s Biden Or Else.

  17. 17.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Urza:

    Agreed. Plus, the Supreme Court has been an obstacle, too. We could’ve had expansive student loan forgiveness if not for them. Credit where credit is due, he legitimately tried

  19. 19.

    Urza

    @hrprogressive: I don’t disagree with you.  But every country on the planet did that.  It was not a battle that was going to be won in public opinion.  And better to cut back the restrictions then, than make it impossible to put them back in place the next time.

  20. 20.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Urza:

    I don’t disagree with you. But every country on the planet did that. It was not a battle that was going to be won in public opinion.

    Yup. Even the PRC government was forced to end many restrictions in 2022

    @hrprogressive:

    Plus his insistence on things like bipartisanship, not trying to expand SCOTUS to rectify it being stolen by Fascists, etc.

    Bipartisanship is/was for the normies. Expanding SCOTUS was never going to happen, especially with the prior Congress. Even FDR couldn’t do that

  22. 22.

    SpaceUnit

    I’ve no idea who Sam Altman is.  And most Americans have no idea who Dean Phillips is.  The Shamwow dude has a bigger public profile.

     

    But go ahead and light all that malignant cash on fire.  Fools.

  23. 23.

    Martin

    If these people think so little of their money to give it to these clearly hopeless causes (of all kinds), maybe it’d be better served given instead as taxes we could use for public funding of candidates and other public services.

    Here’s my proposal – every dollar given to a political campaign or super pac above the $3300 would trigger an increase in the top marginal and capital gains rates to recover that many dollars each year going forward.

  24. 24.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation:

    For starters, this is probably the first time in my life I’ve been happy with how an American President was utilizing our military.

    Biden’s actually using it to promote national objectives/interests and not merely American business interests and is using it carefully. He had a front-row seat to the Bush years in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was ambivalent about pulling out of Afghanistan, I felt bad for the women, but it was ultimately the right and only realistic choice

  25. 25.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    “Weakest possible candidate against a would be dictator” some guy named Dean.

    Seriously, WTF is wrong with these clowns -Biden beat Trump when Trump was president.

  26. 26.

    Martin

    @SpaceUnit: Sam Altman is the CEO of OpenAI. He is trying to rush AI into the public space in order to crash the economic and political orders. He wants to bring about rapid social change through technological and labor upheaval. He’s an accelerationist, just not one seeking race war, but class war.

  27. 27.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @NotMax:

    Thanks for the info, I hadn’t heard about that. It’s hard to keep up these days, so it flew under my radar

  29. 29.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Martin:

    People like Altman should not be in the positions they are in. They do not care about the consequences of this emerging technology.

    The day generative “AI” models replace artists entirely, for example, is the day when machines should start living our lives for us, because what would be the point of life? Humans are storytellers and have been forever. Telling stories is how we have made sense of the world.

    Maybe “AI” should replace the Sam Altmans of the world

  30. 30.

    Jackie

    A federal judge on Friday blocked the federal government from separating families solely as part of border enforcement policy for the next eight years, stopping any potential return to the short-lived zero tolerance policy of 2018.

    The decision came as part of a settlement between families who were separated during that period and the Justice Department.

    The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which represented the families, celebrated the decision made by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, the same judge who first blocked the policy.

    https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4350827-judge-bars-separating-migrant-families-8-years/

    This is fantastic news and prevents ANY president from separating children from their parents for at least eight years!

  33. 33.

    lowtechcyclist

    @hrprogressive: ​

    Plus his insistence on things like bipartisanship, not trying to expand SCOTUS to rectify it being stolen by Fascists, etc.

    There’s no magic wand that will enable him to expand the Court. And he’s been able to accomplish more with bipartisan support than I would have believed possible.​

  34. 34.

    steve g

    It seems more likely to me at this point that Phillips knows he is not going to win, and that he and his tech bro supporters are in it to undermine Biden support and help Trump to win. Unless he is just really an idiot.

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    @Jackie: That’s a really big deal.  Score one for the good guys.

    That said, how fucked up is it that we have to have a court ruling that says you can arbitrarily separate children from their parents??!!?!!!

  36. 36.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @WaterGirl:

    That said, how fucked up is it that we have to have a court ruling that says you can’t arbitrarily separate children from their parents??!!?!!!

    Pretty fucked up. And we have Trump to thank for it. That man is and was absolute pure evil. I’ll never forget the DHS goons he sent to Portland under the pretense of “protecting federal buildings” such as courthouses. They used windowless, white vans to kidnap people off the street in the middle of the night, interrogate them, only to release them the following morning.

  37. 37.

    Soprano2

    True to form, some Missouri R’s are proposing a law that would allow a woman who got an abortion to be tried for homicide. Don’t let anyone tell you that they don’t want to ban it completely,  because they do.

  38. 38.

    Steeplejack

    @steve g:

    Unless [Phillips] is just really an idiot.

    I wouldn’t underestimate that possibility.

    A lot of these techbros’ political views seem to have been formed by Ayn Rand and cheap science fiction novels.

     

  39. 39.

    Gwangung

    @Jackie: As if Trump would pay that any heed. He’ll ignore it and do it anyway.

    This isn’t a final decision. Folks will need to be ready to fight to enforce it

  45. 45.

    Kelly

    Throwing couch change at a long shot seems on brand for Silicon Valley venture capital bros. Think of the ROI if Dean Phillips won.

  47. 47.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Jackie:

    From the article:

    The DeSantis campaign is betting heavily on mobilizing female voters with progeny toward its cause

    “We’re asking all of these moms and grandmoms to come from wherever it might be — North Carolina, South Carolina — and descend upon the state of Iowa to be a part of the caucus because you do not have to be a resident of Iowa to be able to participate in the caucus. So moms and grandmoms are going to be able to come and be a part and let their voice be heard in support of Ron DeSantis.”

    The campaign announced that its coalition of “Mamas for DeSantis” now has “mamas and grandmamas in all 99 counties” of Iowa on board Friday. Those who remember his re-election campaign will recall that “Mamas for DeSantis” was a key part of his campaign’s success against Charlie Crist last November.

    And if Casey DeSantis’ words are any indication, they expect that success to translate nationally.

    I think she shares Ron’s inability to read a room for sure

  48. 48.

    Jackie

    Is there a full moon tonight? Lots of absolute CRAZINESS from the GQP this evening!

    House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R-KY) told CNN he believes Hunter Biden was indicted on nine criminal counts yesterday to be protected from testifying before his committee.

    He’s serious. And reinforcing he’s absolutely bonkers regarding anything Biden.

  49. 49.

    wjca

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): People like Altman should not be in the positions they are in. They do not care about the consequences of this emerging technology.

    Oh, they definitely care about the consequences.  Or rather, what they assume would be the consequences.  They just think those are good things.  Disgusting as those would actually be.

  52. 52.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Gwangung:

    You might have something there lol

    @Jackie:

    Since when does anyone OUTSIDE OF IOWA get to participate in Iowa’s caucuses??

    She clarified she meant that they could volunteer to help out, not participate in the caucus itself as voters. That is giving her the benefit of the doubt though, so maybe the real goal was to cause confusion and chaos to benefit her husband somehow. That is a Republican thing

  55. 55.

    Lyrebird

    @SpaceUnit: Yeah I think I’d heard of Shamwow before.

    In my current line of business I hear “Dean Phillips” and think, o they hired another dean?

    I remember many of us mocking Amazon guy – Bezos – for going into space.  I wish these ninnies had thrown their money at something like that if they wanted to have a brief thrill.  If they wanted to do some good – yeahh, buy medical debt, call up the Heifer Project and sponsor a thousand Arks,  or just be like Carnegie and start some libraries and music halls ‘n sht.  Then we might remember their names.

  57. 57.

    Azjah

    Watching Fellowship of the ring and I get it, Trump is Sauron. Not sure why I didn’t get it before….

  59. 59.

    Jackie

    Didn’t he just endorse TIFG??

    Billionaire Ken Langone put his support behind GOP hopeful Nikki Haley on Friday, calling her approach to the 2024 election “smart,” The Hill reports.

  60. 60.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Martin:

    He is trying to rush AI into the public space in order to crash the economic and political orders.

    Which means he’s so fantastically stupid he doesn’t know his own product’s limitations.  He had drunk the Tech Bro Kool Aid.  Too many of these rich dipshits have, and the conclusion they come to is always “Vulnerable people suffering is morally good.”

  66. 66.

    Barry

    @Gin & Tonic: “How does Steve Schmidt look at himself in the mirror every morning?”

     

    You mean in his very fine mirror in his very fine house, before getting into his very fine car, and liberating more suckers from their money?

  67. 67.

    Chris Johnson

    @Urza: This is one of the things I unironically love about Biden and wish more politicians would emulate.

    Dude is a public servant. He was working for DELAWARE when he did some of the unprogressive stuff. DELAWARE. His job was not to fight the corporations and credit card companies and all that. His literal job was to represent for his constituents, and bad guys had an outsized share of his community, and he kept faith with his constituents, it being someone else’s job to keep them in check.

    Now he’s representing America. That’s not the same as representing just Delaware. It’s bigger and includes people who would’ve been on the other side of that aisle back when he was fighting for Delaware.

    Joe’s a public servant. I honestly don’t know lots of examples of better ones. And I’m a Vermonter who’s been a big Bernie supporter, but this time around if Bernie was crazy enough to go against Biden (note: he’s NOT, because he’s not RU Left) I would unhesitatingly vote against ‘my guy’ and for Biden, in a primary. I’d write Biden in, if there was a primary he wasn’t on.

    Joe’s a public servant and knows what the hell that means. We NEED that and we need to support it.

  68. 68.

    grubert

    @Steeplejack: Phillips isn’t a tech-bro. His capitalist contribution is a brand of gelloti that tastes good for a bit but leaves you with a stomach ache.

    I’m moving from Ilhan’s district to Phillips’ district just in time to not vote for him..

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