I just realized there is the very real potential that one of our book club hosts might become a US Senator. That will be nifty on the resume.
Senatorial Book Club
by John Cole| 74 Comments
This post is in: John Cole Presents "Stories from the Road", John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House"
zhena gogolia
Very cool! Thanks to WaterGirl for organizing it.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Ditto.
Dangerman
Getting Steve Garvey as an opponent must mean California is in play for TFG; he should spend a lot of time and money here. Flipping CA Red would be the ultimate MAGA.
Or getting Garvey as the opponent was one of the great ratfucks of all time.
I dunno. Donald, better not risk it. Money and time, Dude. Hollywood loves you.
PBK
@zhena gogolia:
@Baud:
Thirded. Trined? Tripled?
Blue Galangal
I didn’t realize that until you said it, John… OH MY GOSH he will be an amazing senator!
Nettoyeur
@Dangerman: Question is will increasingly blue CA vote for Tuberville II.
schrodingers_cat
I guess that Nina Turner endorsement didn’t turn out that well for a certain Congressperson.
Jackie
@Dangerman:
You haven’t heard TIFG is “cash-broke?”
Unless he can sell whatever soul he has to Musk, anyway.
TBone
Speaking of Senators, hubby just went to municipal recycling center to drop off some brush yard waste. In his “I VOTE IN THIS HOODIE” Fetterman hoodie. He was accosted by the guy in charge of the brush pile who tried to tell him “You don’t actually live in the Borough.” Hubby vociferously showed his ID with address and stated that the Borough picks up our yard waste but we wanted to recycle before their truck comes around. Brush Guy starts ranting about being a Xtian (!) so Hubby yells “SO WHAT, I’M A CATHOLIC!” 😆 Hubby prevailed but JFC they’re touchy today!
raven
@Dangerman: I still can’t believe the Cubs pitched to him with first base open!
TBone
@Jackie: or Orban.
mrmoshpotato
Balloon Juice in the Senate!
SiubhanDuinne
Yeah, I was talking about Schiff’s participation in a BJ Zoom call in AL’s late night open thread. A standout memory.
Geminid
@schrodingers_cat: The argument that Porter had potential for greater seniority did not seem to cut much ice either.
mrmoshpotato
@TBone:
LOL! Why?
NotMax
Does there exist anyone without some questionable item in their history?
//
MisterForkbeard
@schrodingers_cat: Wait, who did Turner endorse?
I hope it wasn’t Porter. It was probably Porter :
EDIT: Dammit, it was Porter. And I like Porter a lot, but dislike Turner so intensely it makes me like Porter less.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: Baud.
schrodingers_cat
@Geminid: Her concession speech was pretty graceless. I saw parts of it.
Baud
@mrmoshpotato:
Unless we’re talking about my search history.
schrodingers_cat
@MisterForkbeard: Porter endorsed Turner in OH special election which Shontel Brown eventually won.
TBone
@mrmoshpotato: he couldn’t think of anything else to yell at the clouds? The rumpers hereabouts are not big on original thought. When Hubby puffs out his chest and draws himself up to his full height, it can be intimidating. He’s about as tall as Fetterman.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@Jackie: Something tells me that Old Scratch already has a lien on Trump’s soul, and will not take it kindly if someone else tries to lay claim to it.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
I agree, that’s a credential any other Senator would be really jealous of.
TBone
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: easiest mark he ever made.
oldgold
@raven: That was a boneheaded decision. Big Lee Smith generally threw aspirin tablets, but occasionally, as here, his pitches got too high in the zone and looked like volley balls to the batters.
i attended the first game of the series in Wrigley. The second game I watched from a rooftop across the street from Wrigley.
Chief Oshkosh
@mrmoshpotato: Standard fall-back for the type. These people are nothing if not consistent.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: But if it’s all questionable, is any of it questionable?
Like treating everything as a #1 priority! (Oh, you idiots who I used to work for…)
Dangerman
Call it a Jack Clark.
mrmoshpotato
@MisterForkbeard: I take it Porter didn’t tell Turner to take her endorsement and shove it.
mrmoshpotato
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
Along with claim tickets for W, Dick, and Condi.
geg6
@mrmoshpotato:
Probably because so many MAGAts are convinced that Fetterman is a godless commie.
mrmoshpotato
@geg6: Isn’t everyone a godless commie but them?
Mike E
@mrmoshpotato: I think Katie’s larger error was not running for her seat (unless her internal polling shows reelection was a steep climb). She will be missed.
hueyplong
@Dangerman: I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched Jack Clark absolutely crush that playoff HR in LA.
geg6
I thought at the time that it was really cool that a nationally known Dem pol came and talked to us and answered questions. And now it’s even cooler because I’m pretty confident that he’ll win the Senate seat and he’ll know what we Jackals are thinking and talking about. It’s even possible he or some of his staff lurk here now that he “knows” us. Knowing that a high ranking politician has actually listened to us makes me happy.
geg6
@mrmoshpotato:
Pretty much, yes. But Fetterman is especially godless and commie and wearing his gear means you must be Stalin or Beria or something.
TBone
@geg6: All the girls manning our government center ballot drop off smiled and nodded approvingly when we last voted in our matching hoodies. We get mail ballots and drop them off in person.
trollhattan
@Dangerman:
Oh no mister Trump, don’t even think of throwing me into the briar patch!
Yeah, seeing Schiff and Garvey tied at about 33% with Porter and Lee combining for about 21% (the full-term seat). What could possibly happen in November?
WaterGirl
Even niftier if we can get Schiff to come back and talk to us. :-)
schrodingers_cat
@WaterGirl: If we do a fundraiser for him and other senate Ds, I bet he will show up.
WaterGirl
@schrodingers_cat: I don’t even recall who she endorsed.
schrodingers_cat
@WaterGirl:Porter endorsed Turner in OH special election which Shontel Brown eventually won.
WaterGirl
@schrodingers_cat: Ugh.
Dangerman
Same with me and Kirk Gibson. I watched that live (on TV). Still goosebumps every time I watch it (Vin Scully’s best call ever).
I was in Angel Stadium when Reggie hit 500.
I was in the Kingdome when Eddie Murray was going for 500. I figured not too many people see multiple #500 live (it didn’t happen; eat shit, Eddie). That might have been the night Mo Vaugm hit the hardest homerun I’ve ever seen live (I think it broke seats in RF).
schrodingers_cat
@WaterGirl: Also jumped in the race when DiFi hadn’t bowed out. She also tried to undercut Maxine Waters earlier. So not a team player but high on her own social media celebrity.
I hope we retain her seat. Yesterday she was trailing even in her own district, am not sure about the final tally.
lowtechcyclist
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
Is that what we’re calling Putin these days? ;-)
kindness
I voted for Schiff in the primary. Don’t misunderstand, I like and respect the hell out of Katie Porter, but I think Schiff is better Senate material. I’m sorry Katie won’t be representing her district any longer. I saw yesterday Katie was complaining that Schiff was spending too much money pumping up Garvey rather than debating her. Shallow complaint. Schiff spent the money much better setting up a fight with a cheap carpetbagger than one between 2 Democrats. And for the record, I don’t like the Open primary system we now have. Political parties should be able to choose their contestant. If the final vote in November lists 8 parties, yea, OK.
Mike E
@WaterGirl: yeah, the anti Rose venom, it ‘burns’… I don’t give a shit about the whole Bernie cult but I’ll be a damned fool if I badmouth actual Dems and their reliable votes
TBone
@lowtechcyclist: oof!
Steve in the ATL
@WaterGirl: I’ll bet he’s a lurker on Balloon Juice After Dark!
Geminid
@Mike E: Porter was reelected in 2022 by 3 percentage points, and various rating services say it’s a D+3 district. So I think Porter could have been fairly confident of reelection if she hadn’t tried to move up.
Something similar happened near me last year. Charlottesville Delegate Sally Hudson gave up a safe seat to run against State Senator Creigh Deeds. She fell a few hundred votes short and is now out of office.
Hudson is a 37 year old economics professor with politics similar to those of Senator Warren and Rep. Porter. Hudson cleaned up in “progressive” Charlottesville but Deeds won in the suburbs and rural areas surrounding the city.
Virginia Democrats tend be a staid lot ideologically. I like to say we run the ideological gamut from Mark Warner all the way to Tim Kaine.
SiubhanDuinne
@lowtechcyclist:
Old Scratch? No, that’s that NC guy from that NBC interview yesterday.
TBone
It’s easy if you know how
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6wtfNE4z6a8
Ruckus
@schrodingers_cat:
So not a team player but high on her own social media celebrity.
I’m not sure but I believe that I’ll call bingo on this one. There are politicians that are in it to be there for their constituents and there are politicians that are in it for the position. Sometimes/maybe often that isn’t as evident as it should be but I believe this is correct. And she likely would be rather good in office but there is always the point that they work FOR us. Not that we are here to build up their resume.
mrmoshpotato
@geg6: Mmmmm birria.
Geminid
@schrodingers_cat: So did Jaime Raskin and a few other good Representatives. I always wondered if they were relieved when Turner lost the special election. Only a few of them endorsed Turner the second time around.
I think that special election to replace HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge was the last Democratic primary I really cared about. Now I have favorites but I’m not nearly as apprehensive as I was about Turner. She was the last person House leaders needed when they only had a 5 vote majority. Speaker Pelosi seemed to wield her majority with the greatest of ease but I think her and her team’s job was harder than it looked.
trollhattan
@mrmoshpotato: That really gets my goat, maaaaan.
WaterGirl
@schrodingers_cat: Yeah, I was impressed with her at first, then she seemed to become a caricature of herself. Then she jumped in early and I kind of soured on her.
I think she was suited for the House, and unlike some others here, I don’t think she is suited for the senate. I wish she had made a different choice and stayed there where she could do some good.
On the bright side, maybe this defeat will get her head on straight again.
Ohio Mom
@schrodingers_cat: Yup, Porter is not a team player, she did not read the room when announcing she was running for the Senate (and reading the room is an essential political skill), she is a bit of a grandstander when it’s not called for.
And yet, her white board demonstrations during hearings were a stroke of genius and made the issues at hand very clear. It’s not always obvious the ways in which Democratic policies benefit everyday people — she showed everyone exactly why changes were needed in an easily digestible format.
I remember particularly a white board demonstration about how little some employees were making in the company headed by whoever it was who was being questioned. She wrote down the salary of a typical worker, subtracted monthly expenses one by one. Rent would be about this much, car payment, insurance, gas and maintenance this much, etc. Oops! It all adds up to more than the monthly pay!
It was something everyone watching could follow along and instantly understand. Did it even embarrass the CEO, probably not. But it underlined the message that Democrats are on the little guy/gal’s side, and our side needs more of that. We’ve always fallen short on the bumper-sticker-type marketing.
Mike E
@Geminid: NC will lose 3 Dem seats due to gerrymandering making every race out there critical. Porter was probably burned out so I will view her ‘demands’ in the light of being at the end of her string IMO…the pissing on Dems here is an embarrassment
Citizen Alan
@TBone: When Brush Guy started ranting about being a Xtian, Hubby should have just said “Really? I would never have guessed from your behavior.”
trollhattan
@WaterGirl:
Had no hesitation going for Schiff, believing him to be the obvious replacement for DiFi back before she decided to run for her twelfth term. Nothing changed my mind in the meantime.
Some consider deep experience in congress to be a bad thing (troe da bums out!) but I don’t, unless they use that time to publicly flaunt their shortcomings. His experience in the house should translate to quickly mastering the Senate. This is a good thing, even if he’ll technically be California’s junior senator. 21 years in the House.
Citizen Alan
@mrmoshpotato: Because to Right Wing “Real True Christians,” the fact that he was dunked in the Magic Bathtub ™ means that he is automatically superior to all other humans and thus should be deferred to.
Citizen Alan
@kindness:
Not so long as it’s First Past the Post. That’s how you get a GOP Neanderthal winning an important race with 33% of the vote.
stacib
@schrodingers_cat: OMG, a Nina Turner endorsement? That should be the kiss of death to any politician.
ronno2018
@TBone: You really need to let the county or whoever runs the facility know that an employee is not working in a professional manner.
TBone
@ronno2018: yeah but it’s a very small town style of possible retribution here. Ask me how I know.
Geminid
@Mike E: I was not pissing on Porter, I was responding to speculation that she may have decided to run for Senate because of poor polling in her House district. I may not like her, but I think Porter had a perfect right to run for the Senate and I’ve said so several times here.
thalarctosMaritimus
@SiubhanDuinne: This is why I always look forward to your comments.
Bobby Thomson
@raven: I remember Cubs fans after that game accusing him of selling drugs to kids.
WaterGirl
.
raven
@oldgold: I was in the middle of my move from Urbana to Athens !
Zeke
Completely off-topic, but public radio’s Performance Today classical music show had a segment called Piano Puzzlers, where a listener tries to identify a popular piece of music rewritten in the style of a famous composer. The players today were a couple from…Bethany WV, our fearless leader’s hometown. Pete and Mary Beth Steffel, or something close to that. Six degrees and all…