Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

I desperately hope that, yet again, I am wrong.

This fight is for everything.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

You can’t love your country only when you win.

This country desperately needs a functioning Fourth Estate.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

It could be worse. Vance could have said “post-menopausal sows.” Waiting for that audiotape to surface.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Tuesday Ups and Downs Open Thread

Tuesday Ups and Downs Open Thread

by | 165 Comments

This post is in: 

Still high about Wisconsin, and we have good news from New York!

Great to have the feedback that receiving postcards from out-of-state aren’t dissed or disregarded, but in stead are appreciated, energizing, and mobilizing.  (Newsday)

Suozzi’s widest margins of victory came in areas such as New Cassel, where he captured 90% of the vote, and Port Washington, where he beat Pilip 73% to 26%. In Plainvew, Old Bethpage and Jericho, Suozzi won by 64 to 36%, while in Westbury Suozzi won 69% to 31%.

Kim Keiserman, president of the Port Washington Democratic Club, said her group built a seasoned canvassing operation after Republican Donald Trump became president in 2017. Many in the club understood that, with the special election, “this is the time we have to come together and get this done. This is kind of make or break for Democrats on Long Island,” Keiserman said.

“It was really energizing to see how the rest of the country cared about this race. Usually in the past we’ve been the ones writing postcards to people in Georgia or Wisconsin,” in get-out-the-vote campaigns on behalf of Democrats. “To be receiving these postcards from people across the country, who cared about us and about Democrats, was incredibly energizing and mobilizing.”

How did I miss this?  (rhetorical question, I was busy working on a project)

Is the Moscow Times a trustworthy source?

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s body is not in the morgue where authorities said it was brought after his death, his team announced Saturday.

“Alexei’s lawyer and his mother have arrived at the Salekhard morgue. It’s closed, however, the colony has assured them it’s working and Navalny’s body is there,” Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on X, formerly Twitter.

“The lawyer called the phone number which was on the door. He was told he was the seventh caller today. Alexei’s body is not in the morgue,” Yarmysh added.

She said another Navalny lawyer visited the Salekhard Investigative Committee and was told that “a repeat histological examination was taken” and that his cause of death is still unknown.

The results of the analysis “will supposedly be out next week,” she said.

“It is obvious that they are lying and doing everything not to give the body away.”

She later wrote that the Investigative Committee said Navalny’s body will not be handed over to his family until the forensic examination is complete.

“Only an hour ago, the lawyers were informed that the investigation had been concluded and that something criminal had not been established. They literally lie every time, driving us around in circles and covering their tracks.”

Navalny ally Ivan Zhdanov said that Navalny’s lawyer and mother were told that his cause of death was “sudden death syndrome” when they visited his prison colony earlier Saturday.

I can’t decide if this is two steps forward, one step back. Or one step forward and two steps back. Or no steps at all, just the appearance of steps.   Five recusals, some of them were from the corrupt justices, that seems new and different, maybe even progress.  But the new rules say you have to give your reason for recusal, and Kagan and Jackson did exactly that.  But Roberts, Barrett and Alito effectively said fuck you, that’s why.  Even the Chief Justice flipped off the new rules.

Ending on a high note.

Good news, bad news, it’s enough to give a person whiplash.  On the political front, do you tend to be a glass half full or glass half empty person?  If you want to go from one to the other, what’s the starting point?

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

165Comments

  1. 1.

    Suzanne

    “sudden death syndrome”

    This is my new term of art. Mike Johnson is suffering from sudden coward syndrome. J. D. Vance has an acute case of sudden asshole syndrome.

  2. 2.

    TBone

    Rough draft first paragraph (all constructive criticism and other suggestions welcome).

    Listen up, “Guy”:

    If we can afford nuclear powered aircraft carriers and invisible fighter jets, a fucking golf course on every corner, tax free mega churches, and Exxon making 156 billion in profit every quarter, we can damn well afford to send Ukraine what it needs to defeat the scourge of tyranny it is currently fighting so we don’t have to here at home, yet. A lot of that money is being SPENT RIGHT HERE IN PENNSYLVANIA.  You know, where you’re supposed to respect the dignity of work?  Create and support jobs? Represent ALL of your constituents, not just the useful idiots?  WTF are you doing?  Sniveling fealty is NOT a job description for a position in Congress!

  3. 3.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    Having watched the Gilbert & Sullivan take on Dracula, I’m tempted to say “quick, call Van Helsing!” (regarding the disappearance of Navalny’s body)

  5. 5.

    Marmot

    Hey WG, what’s the source of that first block quote? I’m kind of amazed that outlet actually interviewed on-the-ground Dems.

  6. 6.

    rikyrah

    They keep on telling us what they plan to do.

     

    Which is why I have no patience for the Purity Position folks. The ‘ single issue’ voter folks.

     

    Heidi Przybyla  (@HeidiReports) posted at 6:22 AM on Tue, Feb 20, 2024:
    Project 2025 also proposes increasing surveillance of abortion & maternal mortality reporting in the states, compelling the FDA to revoke “chemical abortion drugs” and protecting “religious and moral” objections for employers who decline contraception coverage for employees.
    (https://x.com/HeidiReports/status/1759916385675718788?t=wxjIPTI0Y3_wruAGXI8sSA&s=03)

  7. 7.

    H.E.Wolf

     Suozzi’s widest margins of victory came in areas such as New Cassel… Port Washington… Plainvew, Old Bethpage and Jericho… Westbury…

    As a writer with Postcards To Voters, addresses are potluck (the address bot distributes them). I had the pleasure of writing to all of those except New Cassel – plus another 25 townships in Suozzi’s district.

    For me, writing postcards gives me the sense that I’m part of the “network of mutuality”. /MLK Jr.

  8. 8.

    rikyrah

    You thought that they would stop at abortion? We have been telling you for ages that they are coming for birth control.

     

    Heidi Przybyla 🌺 (@HeidiReports) posted at 6:25 AM on Tue, Feb 20, 2024:
    Heritage calling birth control pills “senseless.”
    https://t.co/5nsJgAYiQO

    More from Trump world influencers eschewing contraception:
    Elon Musk last week: https://t.co/NYWWgEs967
    Turning Point: https://t.co/AEmgcq1xCR
    “Birth control is so last year.”
    (https://x.com/HeidiReports/status/1759917170971009210?t=C3r0YZKtbAqyZTYK8XMa0g&s=03)

  9. 9.

    TBone

    @rikyrah: it’s their wet dream.  It’s our nightmare.  Project 2025 needs to die quickly and with great zeal.

    Every sperm wasted is a crime, jagoffs!

  10. 10.

    West of the Rockies

    I’d bet serious cash that Russian authorities will shortly declare that the body was accidentally cremated.  An honest mistake, comrade!  Ve vould never lie aboot such a theeng. 

  15. 15.

    Juju

    @Suzanne: I don’t know that I agree with your diagnosis. It would be my guess that he’s suffered from asshole syndrome for most of his life.

  16. 16.

    wjca

    @Suzanne: Mike Johnson is suffering from sudden coward syndrome. J. D. Vance has an acute case of sudden asshole syndrome.

    Hogwash!  In neither case is there anything sudden about it.

  19. 19.

    TBone

    @West of the Rockies: thanks!  I confess to plagiarizing just the first part of the first sentence from Stonekettle, but That Fucking Guy will never know the difference.  More to come!  All suggestions welcome.  Any yinzers wanna chime in? Calling all Jackals from PA!  I will email and snail mail and send to Pittsburgh Gazette too.

  20. 20.

    Betty Cracker

    I am trying to be a “liquid level in glass assessed as accurately as possible” person, i.e., if there are 250 ml in a 500 ml glass, I want to know that but avoid assigning a positive or negative connotation to it.

    I did make a real effort to change my political outlook after enduring self-inflicted psychological torture when the 2020 election was so much closer than it should have been. I didn’t aim to be more pessimistic or more optimistic but to not obsess on it so much. It didn’t work.

  22. 22.

    Jtomlin

    Glass half full or half empty?

    My answer

    That’s not my glass. My glass was FULL!

    And it was a bigger glass

    Who stole my glass! I want a new one now!

  23. 23.

    Jtomlin ok lol

    Glass half full or half empty?

    My answer

    That’s not my glass. My glass was FULL!

    And it was a bigger glass

    Who stole my glass! I want a new one now!

  25. 25.

    H.E.Wolf

      On the political front, do you tend to be a glass half full or glass half empty person?

    Politically: glass half full. It helps to have read a lot of history, particularly Civil Rights history, to remind myself how much I have to be thankful for.

      If you want to go from one to the other, what’s the starting point?

    [Still talking about political optimism, here.] The starting point, for me, is always to do one small, concrete thing – and not to wait until I’m sure it will succeed. See above, re: Civil Rights history.

    Also: it’s OK to find volunteer tasks that suit me, rather than cram myself into an extrovert’s shape. The canvassers need us introverts to do the tasks that canvassers would find torturous. :)

    And furthermore: For me, it has consistently been the case that doing a small, concrete task improves my mood and my level of optimism.

  26. 26.

    cain

    There must be a lot of bullet holes in Nervany’s body – clearly one of the symptoms of ‘sudden death’ syndrome.

    Johnson is trying hard to say things but with zero action.

    The fact that the media is not covering this outrage clearly tells me where they stand in this whole thing.

    I think as a group, we should all fucking stop supporting these assholes. I mean honestly, is the crossword and food section of the NYT worth this nonsense?

  27. 27.

    zhena gogolia

    @cain: I want to know what they’re saying. Some people watch Fox for the same reason. That I can’t do, and I got rid of them on my cable at the expense of having to give up Turner Classic Movies. But I’m keeping the NYT — know your enemy.

  28. 28.

    UncleEbeneezer

    We finally watched Killers Of The Flower Moon yesterday.

    Great cinematography.  Great story.  Lilly Gladstone was fantastic.  DiCaprio was good but a little hard to believe as the not-so-bright guy.  It was never really clear why Molly would fall for him aside from him being good looking.  Deniro was his usual late-stage Deniro.

    Scorsese clearly tried to portray how terrible White People have been towards the Osage, and that point definitely gets across, but it also felt like another director could have done it better. They could have probably cut 45 minutes-to-an-hour from the run time for a better picture.  And the music seemed very out-of-place much of the time.  Scorsese usually uses classic rock songs to create iconic scenes but went with a simple score for this one. I get why he did that, but the score wasn’t really moving or memorable.  Many of the scenes that should have been incredibly emotional ended up feeling kind of flat to me.

    All in all, the main reason to watch this film is for the good story, Gladstone’s excellent performance and to marvel at the amazing Osage textiles/traditional dress.

    Good movie, but once again, Barbie was better.

    That said, what the entire fu** was with that ending though?

    ***SPOILER AHEAD***

    After the main story concludes, the film does a sudden left-turn into a Prairie Home Companion-esque stage/radio performance to explain what happened to all the characters in later years. It was just weird and totally inappropriate for such a somber, powerful story. Then Scorsese shows up to deliver the last words.  The standard practice of using on-screen text over music and historical images, would have been so much better, imo. At the very least, let Gladstone or an Osage elder deliver those final lines to really drive home the miscarriage of justice.

  29. 29.

    Baud

    @cain:

    Is that NYT not covering this? I mostly dislike them for their domestic political coverage. Although maybe they consider Putin an actor in the domestic space now.

  31. 31.

    rikyrah

    Folks have said that we learned from 2016

    Democrat, Environmentalist, & the establishment (@BlueSteelDC) posted at 7:29 AM on Tue, Feb 20, 2024:
    This was not going to be 2016

    In 2016 we didn’t like what we saw. We thought how many email stories did they need!!!

    We kept our mouth shut and lost 3 SCOTUS seats

    And guess what emails were not important

    Bad Faith ✝️🐴🇺🇲🌻🇺🇦 (@Jeffdc5) posted at 5:06 AM on Tue, Feb 20, 2024:
    The idea that the the media has been afraid to talk about Biden’s age until now, and it’s unfair to push back on them is laughable 😂. These “journalists” are always the victims of their stories 😂)

     

    Beverly Foy (@BeverlyFoy6) posted at 6:59 AM on Tue, Feb 20, 2024:
    They weren’t expecting pushback

    They have been allowed in the past to malign HRC without any consequences
    They were allowed to print birther nonsense about Obama without loss of job or access
    In 2024 they are being shutdown and told to shut up and they have no idea how to cope
    (https://x.com/BeverlyFoy6/status/1759925818229129708?t=5IsjR4kW6Mdzh2pWGFKxQw&s=03)

  32. 32.

    Hoppie

    Old Italian proverb: “May your glass never be full, may your glass never be empty.”

    Or perhaps I should go with “Moderation in all things, especially moderation.”

  33. 33.

    p.a.

    Stewart is like the MSM: only capable of using one frame at a time, and never thinking to adjust it.  It doesn’t matter whether this is done through stupidity, laziness, or venality, since the damage resulting is the same no matter what.

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    @rikyrah: I keep moving “Project 25” from week to week on my calendar.

    I keep thinking I will do a point on one of their plans each week, but I always run out of time.

    If folks think that would be of interest, maybe chime in below?  that will tell me that there’s interest, or that I shouldn’t waste my time on it. :-)

  36. 36.

    TBone

    @TBone: Aaaand going out with a bang:
    Did you answer a Help Wanted ad for “Chaos Monkey”?
    Get your nose out of Putin’s taint and GET TO WORK FOR US, THE CITIZENS OF OUR COMMONWEALTH.

    Sincerely,
    TBone

  37. 37.

    twbrandt

    In the definitely good news department, the clown show that is the Michigan GOP can’t decide who is in charge and will hold two distinct nominating caucuses , one led by the lunatic election-denier Kristina Karamo, the other led by Trump’s former ambassador to the Netherlands, Peter Hoekstra. The Hoekstra faction claimed they ousted Karamo as GOP chair, but Karamo claims the meeting where that happened was illegal. The RNC is backing Hoekstra, but Karamo has sued to keep her chair. So who knows will prevail.

    You love to see it.

  40. 40.

    Citizen Dave

    @UncleEbeneezer: Saw it at an IMAX last summer–agree with everything, including Barbie > Killers.  I read the book last year before the movie.  Read someone’s take that Dicaprio and DeNiro were both way too old for their parts, and I agree.  Dicaprio could have played the DeNiro role, and DiNiro shouldn’t have been in it.

  41. 41.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @rikyrah: Speaking of bankruptcy, has anybody got a nickel out of Rudy Giuliani or Alex Jones? Or do these evil assholes always still manage to skate out of consequences?

    @WaterGirl: On the political front, do you tend to be a glass half full or glass half empty person? If you want to go from one to the other, what’s the starting point?

    My default setting is glass half full, but occasionally the constant bombardment of bad news or more often bad takes on good news, wears me down and I get discouraged for awhile and need to unplug.

    My question above to rikyrah coming from a half-empty place I guess. I was feeling pretty good after reading your post, but then I thought about the two aformentioned guys and how they’ve vanished from the headlines, and… I just… flames… forehead… from the sides of my head… flames…

  42. 42.

    TBone

    The whole thing (not just the tip):

    Listen up, “Guy”:
    If we can afford nuclear powered aircraft carriers and invisible fighter jets, a fucking golf course on every corner, tax free mega churches, and Exxon making 156 billion in profit every quarter, we can damn well afford to send Ukraine what it needs to defeat the scourge of tyranny it is currently fighting so we don’t have to here at home, yet. A lot of that money is being SPENT RIGHT HERE IN PENNSYLVANIA.  You know, where you’re supposed to respect the dignity of work?  Create and support jobs? Represent ALL of your constituents, not just the useful idiots?  WTF are you doing?  Sniveling fealty is NOT a job description for a position in Congress!

    https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-11-28/us-funding-for-ukraine-arms-has-poured-into-pennsylvania-arizona-and-texas

    Did you answer a Help Wanted ad for “Chaos Monkey”?
    Get your nose out of Putin’s taint and GET TO WORK FOR US, THE CITIZENS OF OUR COMMONWEALTH.

    Grindstone!

    Sincerely,
    TBone

  43. 43.

    WaterGirl

    @Betty Cracker: Something for all of us to strive for!

    In my poorly-worded question, I was attempting to ask whether folks tend to focus on the negative news or the positive news.

    In a world where there’s enough good news to celebrate, and enough bad news to make a person want to (figuratively) slit their wrists, I think that which set of things we focus on has a hug HUGE impact on our well being.

    In an ideal world, we can take both in, and then work our asses off.

  47. 47.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @rikyrah: “GOP donors are in full panic mode over the possibility of Lara Trump” taking a leading role, that person said. “The RNC needs someone who can rack in the dough for Trump. She ain’t it.”

    Au contraire, mon ami. She’d be there precisely to rack in the dough for Trump. It’s the state party organizations and every single other down-ballot candidate that she’s going to be starving.

    And that couldn’t make me happier.

  48. 48.

    Eolirin

    @wjca: Rulings like these will go well beyond IVF and make it literally impossible for any kind of medical care for pregnant women to occur without doctors opening themselves up to criminal liabilities.

  49. 49.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Citizen Dave: One of the promotional things I saw said “DiCaprio’s best performance of his career!”  Um, what?!  I mean, he’s a great actor, so he’s always good, but geez if someone wanted to sample his best performances I’d point them to Basketball Diaries, Gilbert Grape, The Aviator, maybe The Departed etc.

    Also, Jessie Plemons should have been given much more screen-time.  He’s an amazing actor and it felt like such a waste of his talents to have him only show up for the last 30 minutes.

  50. 50.

    Brachiator

    @Suzanne:

    This is my new term of art. Mike Johnson is suffering from sudden coward syndrome. J. D. Vance has an acute case of sudden asshole syndrome.

    Vance might have an incurable case of perpetual asshole syndrome.

  51. 51.

    WaterGirl

    @H.E.Wolf:

    Also: it’s OK to find volunteer tasks that suit me, rather than cram myself into an extrovert’s shape. The canvassers need us introverts to do the tasks that canvassers would find torturous. :)

    Yes!

    When I managed my IT group at the university, every time I hired a new person I asked all the existing people which of their current responsibilities they enjoyed and which ones they would ditch in a heartbeat if they could.

    Since everyone isn’t the same, that worked out perfectly.  One persons fingernails on a chalkboard responsibility was another person’s oh, I’d like to take that on!

  53. 53.

    smith

    @WaterGirl: He’s done it six times before and the Goobers still think he’s a genius businessman, so what’s a seventh time in the greater scheme of things?

    IANAL, but I thought that judgments like he’s facing from his fraud case and the Carroll cases can’t be discharged through bankruptcy. Anyone here know?

    And more judgments could be on the way: You may recall that TFG is being sued by some Capitol police and others for injuries they received on Jan 6. TFG tried the absolute presidential immunity thing here, but for civil suits, and was shot down by the court of appeals. He had a deadline of Feb 15 to file an appeal to SCOTUS,  but missed it, it’s not known whether intentionally or from incompetence.

    So, something to add to his already busy calendar. With luck, he’ll spend most of his time from now until Nov in court, and bankrupt not only himself but the RNC as well.

  56. 56.

    WaterGirl

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: For me, it’s a balancing act, for sure.  Pretty steady, I think, but then I have my moments.

    I try not to post when I am feeling overwhelmed.  I’m a big believe in sharing the wealth, but not when I’m feeling overwhelmed. That is contagious, and I don’t need to share the wealth on that front.

    Very few of the people who are working their asses off are panicked.  In Iowa in the 2 weeks before the caucus working for the campaign, we literally did not have time to worry about what if.  We started early and usually worked until 10 pm, and then we crashed.  It wasn’t until late afternoon on Jan 3, 2008 that we had time to catch our breath and think “oh my god, what if we don’t win?”

    After an hour or so of that, it was time to start setting up for the caucus.

  57. 57.

    Jackie

    The Supreme Court decision re: Soto Palmer vs Hobbs is very exciting! This effects my neck of the woods! Our area in WA is heavy in agriculture and beef so we have a significant Hispanic population.

  59. 59.

    Suzanne

    @rikyrah: You thought that they would stop at abortion? We have been telling you for ages that they are coming for birth control.

     
    As I mentioned in a thread over the weekend….. they want oops pregnancies, because there are lots of infertile white, evangelical couples. They want to return to the days of pregnant teen girls being coerced into giving up their babies, and closed, private adoptions of infants, and not telling their adopted children that they are, in fact, adopted.

    Amy Coney Barrett commented about “the domestic supply of infants”.

    They literally want to cause unintended pregnancies and then legally abduct the babies.

  60. 60.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @WaterGirl: I am eternally grateful to Elizabeth Warren for pulling me out of my 2016 funk. Election day 2016 sent me deep into despair for my country. Sometime in January I heard Warren being interviewed by somebody or other, and she was talking about all the fights that Democrats in the House and the Senate take on every day. I thought about how she doesn’t have time for despair, she goes face to face with these assholes every day and somehow finds the courage to keep going.

    That one interview did a lot to get me through the next four years.

  62. 62.

    Brachiator

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    Scorsese usually uses classic rock songs to create iconic scenes but went with a simple score for this one.

    Age of Innocence understandably did not use rock music.

    I really enjoyed your review. Scorsese is one of my favorite directors and I think he was energized and renewed by working with Di Caprio in various projects. And of course he has worked with De Niro since his earliest films. It is interesting that he may have been off his game here.

    I haven’t seen the film, but now am curious. I remember reading that the original screenplay centered on the white characters and Scorsese had it reworked to focus more on the native people. I find it sad that supposedly “woke” Hollywood often finds it hard to give up their old ways (*cough* Green Book), but give kudos to Scorsese for trying to do better.

    And yeah, Barbie was a blast. Unfortunately this is one of the years where I have not seen most of the notable films, so I don’t have much to compare to.

  63. 63.

    Suzanne

    There must be a lot of bullet holes in Nervany’s body – clearly one of the symptoms of ‘sudden death’ syndrome.

    I have seen what is probably informed supposition that he was poisoned, and they are delaying returning his body to allow time for the poison to degrade and become undetectable.

  64. 64.

    Kristine

    Good news about the postcards. I sometimes wondered how receiving urges to vote from folks outside a state/district went over. Glad to hear it’s appreciated, not resented.

  66. 66.

    RaflW

    @WaterGirl: He’s always spun it as him out-maneuvering and winning the ‘game’. And MAGATs don’t care if banks get screwed (not 100% sure I care either, in this rare instance of alignment). That the bankruptcies and bill-skipping also screw laborers and small businesses gets lots in the smoke and mirrors of his freakshow.

    Same way he frames paying no taxes as ‘smart’ (ab)use of the tilted tax code. That the rubes accept this because, a la Steinbeck, they “see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”

  67. 67.

    glc

    I just realized “American Fiction” is based on a novel by Percival Everett (Erasure). Having just been mightily impressed by Everett’s “The Trees” it looks like I’ll go see it after all.

    I don’t go out much, with the aim of staying alive, but not going out at all would defeat the purpose.

  69. 69.

    Mike in NC

    Seems obvious that Putin will never release Navalny’s remains because Putin considered him a ‘non-person’ as dictators often do.

  70. 70.

    trollhattan

    Choose your pets wisely.

    Authorities in Colorado have confirmed the death of a 34-year-old local resident four days after he was bitten by one of his two pet Gila monsters.

    The creatures are venomous reptiles native to the south-western United States. Their bites are not normally fatal to humans. But an expert told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that the victim may have suffered an allergic reaction.

    The last human death from such a bite is believed to have been in 1930. That incident “was not even a medical journal case,” Dr Nick Brandehoff, a medical toxicologist and reptile expert, told CBS News Colorado. “The vast majority of bites cause local swelling and bleeding,” he said. [bonus points for Dr. Nick]

    Dr Brandehoff added that last week’s death “highlights that any venomous animals should be respected”.

    The Jefferson County victim – who has not been identified – reportedly owned two of the carnivorous reptiles.

    Gila monsters are the largest lizards in the country and can grow to about 22 inches (56cm) in length, according to the Smithsonian Institution. They are named after the Gila River. The creature that bit the man on Monday 12 February was a juvenile that measured about 12 inches long.

    He was taken to hospital and died last Friday.

  71. 71.

    trollhattan

    @Mike in NC: If he were poisoned (like that ever happens) there might be time needed for it to dissipate to not detectable levels. We know he’s not metabolizing it.

    This is so on-brand for Putin I can’t help thinking the dude needs a new squad of writers.

  74. 74.

    Old School

    @smith:

    IANAL, but I thought that judgments like he’s facing from his fraud case and the Carroll cases can’t be discharged through bankruptcy. Anyone here know?

    According to the David Cay Johnston column the tweet links to, a bankruptcy filing won’t save Trump from paying, but filing one puts a stop on having to make the payments.

  77. 77.

    BeautifulPlumage

    Only skimmed the comments, so sorry if this is a repeat, but the Supreme Court upheld the mask fines from 2021 when Green, Massie, and others refused to wear them on the house floor. More Good News!

    No link, but Joe.My.God. has it up according to the Associated Press.

  79. 79.

    rikyrah

    @WaterGirl:

    I’ve been asking for a Frontpager to tackle Project 2025 since I first heard about it.

    I think that it would be good to highlight what they intend to do.

    Keeping it in the forefront from now until November should be on our side’s focus.

  80. 80.

    geg6

    @TBone: ​

    That asshole Reschenthaler is disgusting. Of course, he’s from hillbilly country here in Western PA (Washington, Westmoreland, Greene, Fayette, Somerset and Indiana counties). Big time Trump district. I’m ashamed that my county (also Trumpy but not insane since we have DeLuzio as a Rep) even touches part of that district.

  82. 82.

    Jackie

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Speaking of Rudy Giuliani and bankruptcy:

    According to Bloomberg Law reporters Evan Ochsner and Randi Love, “Rudolph Giuliani’s creditors, as well as the judge overseeing his bankruptcy, are demanding details about who is paying his legal fees…. Gary C. Fischoff of Berger Fischoff Shumer Wexler & Goodman LLP, one of Giuliani’s bankruptcy lawyers, said during a court hearing Friday that Giuliani hadn’t contributed to the fund.”

  83. 83.

    Nelle

    @H.E.Wolf: i have a neighbor who ducks her head when we meet on the sidewalk. At most, I say hi, usually just a small wave.  But she’s a phenom at postcards and she is brave in putting all the signs on her yard.  All sorts.

  86. 86.

    wenchacha

    @wjca:  Next thing you know, Elise Stefanik will be calling them “hostages.” Those snowflake babies have a right to be born.

  87. 87.

    Jackie

    @WaterGirl:

    In my poorly-worded question, I was attempting to ask whether folks tend to focus on the negative news or the positive news.

    I focus on both. I prefer the good news, but I’m careful to watch my back so I’m not blindsided by bad news. Most of the time, I’m happy to see more good news than bad – although it’s not divied up equally on a daily basis, that’s for sure!

  88. 88.

    FelonyGovt

    I wrote postcards for Tom Suozzi through my angry old ladies’ postcard group . I always wonder whether people in other states might get annoyed at receiving mail postmarked from here in California, so it’s nice to hear that it was appreciated.

  90. 90.

    wjca

    @wenchacha: Next thing you know, Elise Stefanik will be calling them “hostages.” Those snowflake babies have a right to be born.

    Not that she would ever offer (have offeted) to gestate them herself.  (Nor her daughters, if any.)  “I have people for that.”  I.e. desperate poor people.

  96. 96.

    Paul in KY

    @TBone: How about:

    Congressman (insert name here):

    If we can afford nuclear powered aircraft carriers and invisible fighter jets, a golf course on every corner, tax free mega churches, and Exxon making 156 billion in profit every quarter, we can darn well afford to send Ukraine what it needs to defeat the tyranny it is currently fighting so we don’t have to here at home, yet.

    A lot of that money will be SPENT RIGHT HERE IN PENNSYLVANIA!!  You know, the state where you’re supposed to respect the dignity of work?  Create and support jobs too? Please represent ALL of your constituents, not just the useful idiots.  Sniveling fealty to a failed former President is NOT a job description for a man elected to Congress!

    Sorta toned down the language just a bit. Hoping it might get actually read then.

  98. 98.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Brachiator: I gotta see Age of Innocence.  I may have already, but it was probably long ago.  You should definitely watch Killers.  It’s worth a look.  Has a bit the feel of Days of Heaven.  There’s even a fire scene that I suspect might be an homage.

    Devery Jacobs, one of the amazing actors on Reservation Dogs had some big gripes about KOTFM being trauma-porn for Native/Indigenous viewers, and for overly centering White People.  Both totally valid criticisms.  Also, the film does have a lot of violence that is often quite unexpected, so be warned.  That said, it’s still pretty good.  And way better than Oppenheimer, lol.

  101. 101.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Nelle: ​
     I saw your comment in the morning open thread about the unsung/unglamorous work that folks are doing. I’ve said it before, and it bears saying again: I so admire the volunteer work you are doing in your locale! I’m reminded of it every time I see your ‘nym, and it inspires me every time.

  102. 102.

    BlueGuitarist

    @Marmot:

    Hey WG, what’s the source of that first block quote? I’m kind of amazed that outlet actually interviewed on-the-ground Dems.

    @WaterGirl:

    The first block quote, with the encouraging quote from the grassroots Dem about appreciating out-of-state postcards, is from an article in Newsday (“The Long Island Newspaper”) to which i linked in a comment in the On Wisconsin thread last night.
    Newsday article:
    https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/suozzi-pilip-3rd-district-special-election-pje8nj55

    Another good anecdote: at the start of the campaign Suozzi drew a map of the district and predicted (accurately as it turned out) his vote share in a lot of different parts of it.

  103. 103.

    bluefoot

    @rikyrah: ​
      To quote a student I TA’ed a while back: “I can’t believe we have to fight for this shit again.”

    This is so enraging. It’s nobody’s f-cking business if or why someone takes or uses contraceptives.
    Added to that, more women are going to die or have serious health consequences if oral contraceptives are outlawed. Not only as contraception, they are used to treat a host of medical issues. Contraception is recommended or required while taking some other drugs (for instance, some of the drugs that treat MS).

  104. 104.

    Mike in NC

    it took us two nights to get through Oppenheimer and it was OK. Too many jumps in time without explaining what year many scenes took place in.

  105. 105.

    TBone

    @Paul in KY: that’ll be the version I send to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, thanks. I’m gonna let his office staff have a laugh with the email.  And paper snail mail.  This ain’t a cotillion.

  106. 106.

    Soprano2

    @rikyrah: This position probably polls in the low single digits. I knew they’d try it, though. They hate that women can have sex for pleasure without the possible “punishment” of pregnancy.

  108. 108.

    BlueGuitarist

    @Betty Cracker:
    “liquid level in glass assessed as accurately as possible”

    Without preamble, my then 10-year-old nephew wandered into the room and asked, “is the glass half-full or half-empty?”
    Me: depends whether you’re drinking or pouring.
    My brother: there’s too much glass.
    My nephew: (sigh) my homework is to tally how many people say half-empty and how many say half-full.

  112. 112.

    Soprano2

    @twbrandt: “This American Life” did a podcast about the Michigan GOP and its total dysfunction at the end of December. It was illuminating – it seems that their major problems are that their belief in conspiracy theories has made them unable to work with each other, and their longing for the “purest” head of the state party has made it impossible for anyone to be effective in that job. It’s the logical conclusion of what they’ve become.

  113. 113.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Brachiator:

    Vance might have an incurable case of perpetual asshole syndrome.

    “Might have”?  Based on all the evidence, his case is full blown.

  117. 117.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I’m a glass half empty* person but I keep hoping somebody will top it off.

    *sometimes 3/4 empty.

  121. 121.

    Soprano2

    @rikyrah: I agree, all of our people should talk about it as much as possible, with detailed bullet points. They don’t have to do a deep dive, but telling people that the new TFG administration wants to do away with safe, effective birth control and allow your employer to deny that coverage for pretty much any reason would illustrate just how out-of-step they are with the average American voter.

  123. 123.

    rusty

    Roberts, for all his touting the ethics rules, couldn’t be bothered to follow them.  Neither could the other conservatives.  Only the two liberals gave their reasons.  They really are a bunch of hacks.  It would be nice if some reporter asked Roberts why he won’t follow his own ethics rules, but it won’t happen.

  124. 124.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:
    According to Trump’s website, only 1,000 pairs of the Never Surrender High-Tops were created. That being said, those who purchased them won’t be getting them in the mail anytime soon.
    In the frequently asked questions tab, it says that Trump’s sneakers won’t be shipped until July.
    Here’s what the fine print says regarding Trump’s golden sneakers:

    Trump Sneakers are expected to start shipping July 2024 for the gold High-Tops, and the Potus 45 White Knit & Red Wave Knit are expected to ship in August 2024. Shipping and delivery dates are estimates only and cannot be guaranteed. We are not liable for any delays in shipments. For multiple product orders, we will attempt to ship all products contained in the order at the same time. Products that are unavailable at the time of shipping will be shipped as they become available. Your order will ship as it becomes available, and we will make reasonable efforts to ship your order as quickly as possible. We cannot guarantee when an order will arrive.

    It’s like Trump’s fantasy financial statement disclaimers which he represents thusly:

    Trump said, “We have a clause in the contract, it’s like a buyer beware clause. It says, ‘When you take a look at the financial statement, don’t believe anything you read’ — this is up front. ‘Don’t believe anything you read.’ Some people call it a ‘worthless clause,’ because it makes the statement, and anything you read in the statement, worthless. It says, ‘Go out and do your own research, go out and do your own due diligence, you have to study the statement carefully. Do not believe anything.’”

    Millions of rubes believe every word this guy spits, even when he tells them not to.

  125. 125.

    Paul in KY

    @TBone: Both you and I are lucky we have fine parents. I get very sad, sometimes, for those whose parents were complete POSes, even GQPers who had/have that misfortune. It must be such a bummer (at minimum) to know you lost out bigly in the parent lottery.

  129. 129.

    wjca

    @Soprano2: This position [banning contraception] probably polls in the low single digits.

    But that’s across the general public.  How does it poll among Republican legislators, specifically Republican state legislators?  Because popularity with the publuc isn’t all that predictive of what laws they will pass — see gun control.

  130. 130.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Mike in NC: Yup.  I had to constantly stop to figure out what part of the timeline it was supposed to be.  And we watch K-dramas, so we’re very used to that, lol.  My biggest beef with Oppenheimer is that I honestly never felt any emotion while watching it.  Either for the main character(s) or even the threat of nuclear extinction.  Of the Maestro, Past Lives, Poor Things and Killers. all made me actually care about the main characters.  And for a film about the stakes of nuclear holocaust and political persecution, it never generated the incredible tension of say Hunt For Red October or Good Night & Good Luck.  Hell, if there weren’t a couple references to it, I would’ve never known the film was taking place in the biggest, most existential World War in our planet’s history.  The whole thing just felt like one big Bio-pic as thought-experiment.  And unlike Beautiful Minds, I never really felt like “wow, this guy is a next-level genius!”  Even as just another Great Man™ film (a way overdone genre, to be sure), it was extremely lacking.  Maestro was the far superior film of that genre for 2024, imo.

  132. 132.

    Ruckus

    @WaterGirl:

    Most normal billionaires at least attempt to keep out of the spotlight and enjoy their pampered lives. SFB is anything but normal. As any normal human being can attest. Most normal billionaires know that they are targets for people attempting to take/steal/abscond with their money and at least attempt to stay out of the limelight to help with that. ShitForBrains is not normal. Not in any, way, shape or form. SFB requires admiration and praise for breathing in and out because he is, on the scoreboard of life, on the negative side. Not low score, minus score. His skill is being a pompous ass, no more, no less. And he’s not very good at it. He does both ends of pompous ass very well but like everything else, overall he has a difficult time being actually human in pretty much any way, shape or form, other than full on crap. And it’s all on him, his siblings are/were far more normal.

  134. 134.

    rikyrah

    @Soprano2:

    This position probably polls in the low single digits. I knew they’d try it, though. They hate that women can have sex for pleasure without the possible “punishment” of pregnancy.

     

    Which is why they’re trying to do the regulatory route…that it should have never been approved. That’s why they’re going after the abortion drug…but, I stand by that they can’t divorce it from the rest of Big Pharma. ..and that Big Pharma will win.

  136. 136.

    Betty Cracker

    @WaterGirl: I think a lot of people share the view that focusing on positive news is an effective self-care technique. If Anne Laurie misses a morning positive news open thread, there are folks who will jones for it aloud in other threads. I’m glad AL is good at putting those positive news threads together on a near-daily basis. I would suck at that. I like positive news as much as the next person, but I find more writing inspiration in news that incites disgust, anger, bewilderment, etc.

  138. 138.

    moonbat

    To answer the OP question I try to be a realist which means what’s in the glass is what’s in the glass.

    I find that half-full and half-empty people tend to try to prove their outlook by cherry picking facts to back themselves up and either position can mislead.

    BUT I comfort myself that reality has a liberal bias and presence is greater than absence so overall I try to have a positive outlook because there is something in the glass and because negativity is paralyzing.

  139. 139.

    PJ

    @Ruckus: The millionaires (billionaires in current dollars) of the Gilded Age knew they were hated by the hoi polloi and didn’t give a damn.  Tech billionaires seem, in general, to crave public adulation and to be praised for all “the good” they do.  There’s a general lack of self-awareness that the robber barons seemed to have plenty of.  Part of it is down to the way the press generally fellates tech billionaires (who need the credulous praise to boost their schemes), but I’d think it also has to come down to their parents, or anyone else, calling them on their bullshit.

  140. 140.

    Soprano2

    @wjca: It’s true that Republican legislators aren’t representative of the voting public as a whole. That said, if you thought the Dobbs decision released a tidal wave of anger, just let any state try to implement something like banning most safe, effective birth control. Even most conservative men and women won’t be for that. They toy with this at their peril, I believe.

  142. 142.

    Ksmiami

    @rikyrah: yes. Sulzberger put out the most pathetic whiny letter imploring us to see that they have to print bad stuff. Rachel Vindman absolutely scorched him. This is all on Threads

  146. 146.

    Redshift

    On a smaller high note, the Supreme Court also declined to hear a challenge to the new diversity admissions policy at our local Science & Technology high school. After long-standing complaints about the low proportion of Black and Latino/a students admitted, and after the asinine anti-affirmative action ruling, the new policy requires the school to “accept 1.5% of the eighth-grade class at each of the district’s middle schools.” The wingnut-backed lawsuit claimed this was discriminatory against Asian-Americans, since it resulted in less of them being admitted, but the Court let stand a ruling that geographic diversity was okay.

    I’m all for this. A good friend of mine went there, and has tales of how most of the kids there were ones whose parents could afford to pay tutors and buy them the best computers. His family wasn’t wealthy, but he and his brother got in because they worked hard and they were nerds who built their own computers, and they were constantly looked down upon (except when someone needed their help.)

    There were, of course, appalling dissents, with Alito and Thomas arguing that the was obviously discriminatory because it has negative outcomes for the plaintiffs, even though they routinely argue in other cases that negative outcomes against Black and brown people aren’t enough if there isn’t discriminatory intent. Assholes.

  148. 148.

    jackmac

    Delighted to see Wisconsin start to come back to the light.

    As a flatlander from Illinois, I’ve visited and worked and vacationed in the Badger State many times (Door County has been a particular fave). But our family and I have stayed away as crazy right-wingers seized, and kept control.

    I’ve missed visiting and with a return to sanity we’ll gladly start to spend our tourism dollars up there again.

    On Wisconsin!

  149. 149.

    WaterGirl

    @Betty Cracker:

    I find more writing inspiration in news that incites disgust, anger, bewilderment, etc.

    And we are glad that you do!  More times than not, you are putting words to exactly what I am feeling, but can’t always put into words.

    And even if I could, they wouldn’t be as good as yours!

  150. 150.

    cain

    @zhena gogolia:

    @cain: I want to know what they’re saying. Some people watch Fox for the same reason. That I can’t do, and I got rid of them on my cable at the expense of having to give up Turner Classic Movies. But I’m keeping the NYT — know your enemy.

    What they are saying is pretty predictable – it’s all based on Republican messaging anyways. So you know what they are going to say and how they are going to spin it. You don’t have to go to the Times for that.

    I think if you want to improve news coverage to be more rational – you’re going to need to move the market towards that. I mean, in the end you do want to know news so you can truly assess what’s going on in the country and the world. Propublica and others are great examples of great in-depth analysis with a reality bias.

  151. 151.

    AlaskaReader

     

    The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds.

    The pessimist fears it is true.

     

    (…It’s attributed to Oppenheimer but I can’t help thinking he wasn’t the first to notice it.)

  153. 153.

    wjca

    @Soprano2: if you thought the Dobbs decision released a tidal wave of anger, just let any state try to implement something like banning most safe, effective birth control. Even most conservative men and women won’t be for that. They toy with this at their peril, I believe.

    Totally agree.  But as with Dobbs, will they be bright enough to realize that?  I’d bet not.

  154. 154.

    Paul in KY

    @jackmac: Only been up there once (circa 2009) but was mighty impressed with what I saw. Would like to go back some day. If only to get about 3 cases of New Glarus Spotted Cow.

  155. 155.

    Citizen Alan

    @TBone: I view it as Mein Kampf for the 21st century. It is fascists explaining in excruciating detail what they will do to us if they get the power they want. And the idiot Leftists are still saying “Yeah, but after Trump-Hitler, US!”

  158. 158.

    Captain C

    @Citizen Alan:

    And the idiot Leftists are still saying “Yeah, but after Trump-Hitler, US!”

    They’re all hoping to be running reeducation camps and whatever imitation Stasi comes into being after they finally succeed at their ‘revolution.’

  163. 163.

    wjca

    @kmax: I will feel better about them following ethics rules when Thomas recuses himself.

    What’s your contingency plan for if when Thomas departs this mortal coil without ever having recused himself?

  164. 164.

    Doug

    @WaterGirl: ​
      Belatedly, yes, the Moscow Times is a reliable source (unless things have changed lately, which I think is unlikely). It’s an independent newspaper of the old school, possibly the last paper standing from the great flourishing of English-language newspapers that arose after the collapse of communism.

    (I could go on about this at great length, but that’s the tl;dr.)

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