• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

šŸŽ¶ Those boots were made for mockin’ šŸŽµ

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Nikki Haley, who can’t acknowledge ‘slavery’, is a pathetic shill.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

The media handbook says ā€œcontroversialā€ is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

No one could have predicted…

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Everybody saw this coming.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Mobile Menu

  • Four Directions Montana
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2024 Elections
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sunday Morning Open Thread: President Joe Biden, Happy Warrior

Sunday Morning Open Thread: President Joe Biden, Happy Warrior

by Anne Laurie|  March 10, 20247:55 am| 197 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, President Biden, Proud to Be A Democrat

FacebookTweetEmail

https://t.co/hRFiAYKD66 pic.twitter.com/Vv91oAkTCs

— Clean Observer (@Hammbear2024) March 8, 2024

Good luck with Daylight Savings Time, especially to those of us who do *not* celebrate its advent.

I watched all the footage of what Biden did *after* the State of the Union address, when he wouldn't leave the building because he wanted to talk to literally anyone and everyone, and it is (mostly) hilarious. https://t.co/OsqjAkAa4h

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) March 8, 2024

Let the man have his well-earned reward! Jennifer Bendery, at HuffPo, says “At 81, Joe Biden Is Still The Last Guy To Leave The Party”:

… Just seconds after stepping down from the dais in the House chamber, as most news networks pulled their cameras away, Biden was playfully saluting people in the audience and shouting out jokes…

The House chamber was packed with so many of his old friends, former colleagues, his judicial and executive appointments, and even critics who wanted to talk to him. And Biden, all smiles, was here for it. He spent the next half an hour talking to anyone in earshot, taking selfies, telling stories and weighing in on climate change, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, border security, reproductive rights and whatever other policy topics people threw his way.

HuffPost caught most of these details by watching bits of livestreams that were still going and hearing him on hot mics.

ā€œThank you for mentioning climate change,ā€ said Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), the first person to get to Biden when he stepped into the crowd.

ā€œThat’s why I’m working so hard,ā€ Biden replied, referencing Democrats taking back the House. ā€œI’m going to do whatever I can.ā€

ā€œYou were the Baptist preacher tonight!ā€ chimed in Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.).

Biden leaned in and started telling a story about someone in ā€œDel-a-WARRR,ā€ or Delaware, who offered to campaign for him but only in certain places, because ā€œin some places you’ll help, in some places you’ll hurt.ā€ Meeks and others laughed at the end.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was near the front, eager to shake his hand. So was Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), an actual Baptist preacher.

ā€œThat was a sermon tonight!ā€ he told the president.

ā€œThank you, man,ā€ said Biden, before shaking someone else’s hand and pointing at him. ā€œYou know there’s no T in ā€˜Scranton.’ It’s Scran-un!ā€…

The people just kept coming. One attendee thanked Biden for his comments on Israel. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) gave him a hug, as another member of the audience said he couldn’t wait to see him in Texas for a debate. Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) urged him to come back to visit her district…

It was now almost 11 p.m. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who was still standing up there on the dais, made eye contact with Biden and tapped his watch. Time to go, man.

Nope!…

An aide finally had to interrupt. ā€œMost people can’t leave until we leave and we need to go this way,ā€ the aide said to the president.

ā€œWell, are they Democrats or Republicans?ā€ Biden asked. ā€œI’m joking. I’m joking…. I’ll get the hell out of here.ā€

Was he joking, though? He stopped again, this time to chat with Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg…

Biden was talking to Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) when Johnson gaveled out the House, loudly declaring the joint session of Congress (and thus, SOTU) was over. Biden didn’t seem to notice. He didn’t seem to notice when the House adjourned, either. Or when the lights dimmed.

He was too busy posing for selfies, complimenting people’s glasses and talking to Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) for several minutes about wildfires in California…

ā€œI got a lot of energy, that’s my problem.ā€- Biden to Georgia Rep. Nikema Williams.

Now he’s on to Republican Doug LaMalfa who is talking about getting more additional resources to the victims of the Paradise fires.

— Jacob Rubashkin (@JacobRubashkin) March 8, 2024

Analysis by Paul Kane: Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) uses State of the Union addresses to get one-on-one moments with presidents — and it pays off for his constituents. https://t.co/5yAMRh2nsn

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 10, 2024

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Springing Forward
Next Post: This and That Sunday Open Thread »

Reader Interactions

197Comments

  1. 1.

    Ken

    March 10, 2024 at 8:02 am

    Johnson gaveled out the House, loudly declaring the joint session of Congress (and thus, SOTU) was over. Biden didn’t seem to notice.

    “I declare you back in session. Article II section 3. Sit down, Mike, you’ve got no place better to be.”

  2. 2.

    Mousebumples

    March 10, 2024 at 8:02 am

    I’m riding with Biden. Proud that he’s my President!

    Good morning, all!

  3. 3.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 10, 2024 at 8:05 am

    Good luck with Daylight Savings Time, especially to those of us who do *not* celebrate its advent.

    I went to bed at 2:30, not 3:30!Ā  Dammit!

    Oh well, back to sleep.

  4. 4.

    Tony Jay

    March 10, 2024 at 8:06 am

    House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who was still standing up there on the dais, made eye contact with Biden and tapped his watch.

    Wind your neck in, Pornhub Preacher-Man, Smilin’ Joe is taking a lap.

    Pissy little piece of brittle, aintcha Mikey?

  5. 5.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 8:06 am

    I’m getting texts from everybody at home watching, saying, ā€˜Wow,ā€™ā€ said one woman, giving the president a hug. ā€œMy mom [was] jumping up and down.ā€

    ā€œWhere’s your mom?ā€ Biden asked. When she said Houston, the president immediately looked around for an aide and asked to get the mom’s phone number so he could call her.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 8:07 am

    @Tony Jay:

    Haha. What’s he going to do? He couldn’t even enforce the dress code against MTG.

  7. 7.

    Tony Jay

    March 10, 2024 at 8:11 am

    @Baud:

    šŸ¤·šŸ¼ā€ā™‚ļø He could maybe try a nice, long pray?

    That’s a thing for the Botherers of God, isn’t it?

  8. 8.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 10, 2024 at 8:14 am

    @Mousebumples: Seems like this Biden guy actually wanted the job of President.Ā  Hoocoodaknowed!

  9. 9.

    lowtechcyclist

    March 10, 2024 at 8:16 am

    @Ken: ​

    ā€œI declare you back in session. Article II section 3. Sit down, Mike, you’ve got no place better to be.ā€

    That would be hilarious if Biden did that! One for the ages, it would be.

  10. 10.

    Thor Heyerdahl

    March 10, 2024 at 8:18 am

    @Tony Jay: he could let his mind wander about all those sites he thinks he’s not supposed to look at (with or without his son).

    He probably was anxious that he had to wait to get to his preferred DC leather bar.

  11. 11.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 10, 2024 at 8:21 am

    @Thor Heyerdahl: Hahaha!

  12. 12.

    Tony Jay

    March 10, 2024 at 8:21 am

    @Thor Heyerdahl:

    Yanks & Spanks, open dusk til dawn beneath DC’s most fabulous boutique patisserie.

  13. 13.

    p.a.

    March 10, 2024 at 8:21 am

    Anyone know who may have enjoyedĀ the jobĀ as much as Joe? Ā Clinton maybe?

  14. 14.

    Mousebumples

    March 10, 2024 at 8:28 am

    @mrmoshpotato: all this glad handing with voters wasn’t really possible on 2020. Another reason I’m optimistic about our chances.

  15. 15.

    TBone

    March 10, 2024 at 8:29 am

    The gawd bothering patriarchy has plans, apparently.Ā  I’m not very familiar with TPM though this seems well documented.

    When asked why SACR documents show that it aims to staff an ā€œaligned future regimeā€ with members, Williams said that the new regime would be a ā€œU.S. Constitutional order brought much closer to its origins after about a century of what we regard as its corruption and undermining by progressivism, which I regard as anti-constitutionalist in its roots and its evolution.ā€

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/inside-a-secret-society-of-prominent-right-wing-christian-men-prepping-for-a-national-divorce

  16. 16.

    Ken

    March 10, 2024 at 8:30 am

    I will say that I’m still tickled that one of the Republican’s trial talking points* in the days after the SOTU was that Biden was too energetic. Way to undercut the one part of your messaging that had gotten traction with the media amplification machine.

    * Part of their usual strategy of throwing shit against the wall and seeing what sticks, so there may be a more appropriate (albeit more scatological) word than “talking point”.

  17. 17.

    MazeDancer

    March 10, 2024 at 8:35 am

    Love how Mr. Biden is energized by being POTUS. He is so uplifting. SOTU made me so happy.

    Daylight Saving Time makes me so sad. 8 months of it is too much. Would prefer all normal, all the time. Let the seasons be the seasons.

    WaPo has an interesting piece on “Why Daylight Saving Time is Worse for Your Body than Standard Time”

    Here’s a gift link

  18. 18.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 10, 2024 at 8:37 am

    @Ken: He’s a too energetic, tired, senile old man who’s also a criminal mastermind.Ā  Duh!

  19. 19.

    Betty Cracker

    March 10, 2024 at 8:37 am

    Over the past few days, I’ve watched a ton of cable news for the first time in ages while also reading more political coverage than usual, and my impression is the coverage is great for Biden right now.

    The president ably batted down the notion that he’s a senile old fart with an energetic speech. Sen. Britt bombed as hard as anyone ever has while giving the GOP rebuttal. There are clips of Trump on the trail doing a terrible imitation of Biden’s stutter, which viscerally reveals his character.

    It’s a moment in time, but it sure seems like a positive cycle, fwiw.

  20. 20.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 10, 2024 at 8:41 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Sen. Britt bombed as hard as anyone ever has while giving the GOP rebuttal.

    She could’ve made it worse by awkwardly taking a drink of water while her rebuttal was seemingly filmed from the branches of a tree.

    Hope you’re recovering well.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 8:46 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Glad you’re able to enjoy positive news during this time.

  22. 22.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 10, 2024 at 8:47 am

    But but but he’s sooooo oooooold.

  23. 23.

    TBone

    March 10, 2024 at 8:53 am

    This was a pleasure to behold.Ā  Give ’em hell, Rep. Plaskett!

    https://crooksandliars.com/cltv/2024/03/plaskett-calls-out-trump-plans

  24. 24.

    Jackie

    March 10, 2024 at 8:58 am

    We’re not the only ones who thought Joe was great:

    ā€œPresident Joe Biden’s re-election machine brought in $10 million in the 24 hours following his State of the Union address on Thursday — a financial jolt as the campaign looks to build general election momentum off the speech,ā€ NBC News reports.

    ā€œThe sum is a record for Biden’s re-election effort, the campaign said. And it’s notable even in the context of big political fundraising numbers. Biden’s campaign and affiliated committees powering the Democratic National Committee and other party groups raised $42 million in the entire month of January, for example.ā€

    The really great news? None of it is going to attorneys trying to keep his ass out of prison!😁

  25. 25.

    Shalimar

    March 10, 2024 at 9:00 am

    What is Daylight Savings Time?Ā  All the clocks are digital now.Ā  I thought it seemed like I got less sleep than 6:20 when I woke up, but the phone and computer say that is what time it was so that is what we have.

  26. 26.

    Ramalama

    March 10, 2024 at 9:02 am

    Was it weird that Johnson didn’t announce Biden at the start of the SOTU?

  27. 27.

    SFAW

    March 10, 2024 at 9:03 am

    @TBone:

    As the saying goes: I need a cigarette after that one.

  28. 28.

    satby

    March 10, 2024 at 9:04 am

    Anne Laurie and MazeDancer, you’re both two of my favorite people so I regret to say I disagree about DST and personally love it. Especially now that I can go to early evening events like a real grown up and still drive myself home while it’s light. The longer days and increasing light really alleviates my SAD like no full spectrum light ever does.

    Besides, I have to time shift by an hour every time I go back and forth to IL to see family and friends at least once a month.

  29. 29.

    cintibud

    March 10, 2024 at 9:07 am

    Get better soon Betty! A little late in well wishing because I’m finally posting on a still active thread!

  30. 30.

    Jackie

    March 10, 2024 at 9:07 am

    @Ramalama: He didn’t get the opportunity! Biden started his speech the moment he stepped up to the podium. Johnson stood for a moment longer, then sat down. You could see a hand reach from the side to fold Johnson’s unused microphone down.

    It was amusing, actually, Biden deprived Johnson’s little moment he had rehearsed for 😁

  31. 31.

    SFAW

    March 10, 2024 at 9:08 am

    @Tony Jay:

    beneath DC’s most fabulous boutique patisserie.

    It wouldn’t be named La ComĆØte Ping-Pong, perchance?

  32. 32.

    Mousebumples

    March 10, 2024 at 9:11 am

    @satby: I don’t care if we have DST or standard time, but I’m on team Just Pick One, already!

    I’d lean towards just keeping DST (I think lower crime rates I’d read some time ago?), but I could do without the clocks changing.

  33. 33.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 10, 2024 at 9:12 am

    @satby: ​ I am one for whom “it’s all the same to me.”

  34. 34.

    SFAW

    March 10, 2024 at 9:12 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    I went to bed at 2:30, not 3:30! Dammit!

    6 AM, not 5 AM, in my case. Had to be awake for the heating guy to fix the boiler, he got here at 3:30 (EDT). Unlike some others, Daylight Saving Time doesn’t bother me, other than the hour of lost sleep.

    Oh well, back to sleep.

    Me, too.

  35. 35.

    geg6

    March 10, 2024 at 9:12 am

    @TBone:

    If you want a media source you can trust, you can’t do better than Josh’s joint. Ā Subscribe, TPM is totally worth every penny. Ā Their investigative and editorial work is top notch. Ā He broke the US attorneys scandal way back in the Shrub maladministration.

    OT, but why won’t my nym and email address stick lately?

  36. 36.

    delphinium

    March 10, 2024 at 9:12 am

    @Betty Cracker: Hope you are continuing to recover and will be able to go home soon!

  37. 37.

    Barbara

    March 10, 2024 at 9:15 am

    @Tony Jay: I can just see him now as the middle school hall monitor.

  38. 38.

    Jeffro

    March 10, 2024 at 9:19 am

    It’s good to see Ezra Klein eating a little crow and kinda-sorta cheering President Biden and his team this morning: Ā Ok, Fine, Call It A Comeback

    By virtually any measure save food prices, Biden is presiding over a strong economy — stronger, by far, than most countries. As Noah Smith has noted, the Biden economy looks far better than Ronald Reagan’s ā€œMorning in Americaā€: Unemployment is lower, inflation is lower, interest rates are lower, stock market returns are better.

    But Americans feel otherwise. The most recent Times/Siena pollfound that 74 percent of registered voters rated the economy either ā€œpoorā€ or ā€œfair.ā€ By a 15-point margin, voters said Trump’s policies helped them personally. By a 25-point margin, they said Biden’s policies hurt them personally.

    Voters seem to remember the tail end of Trump’s third year, when the economy was strong, and not the utter calamity of his fourth year, when his Covid response was chaos and the economy was frozen. In November of 2020, unemployment was 6.7 percent and Trump had just turned a White House celebration into a superspreader event. Republicans who say Americans should ask whether they’re better off than they were four years ago should be careful what they wish for.

    Biden’s refrain of the American comeback is a sharp one. It does two things simultaneously. It reminds voters that there is something America is coming back from — namely, the dislocations of the pandemic, and the wild, erratic management style that Trump brought to it — and it lets Biden point to progress without declaring victory. It’s the right message for an incumbent: There are good things happening. Let’s keep going.

    Let’s keep going, indeed!

    (As we all know, “keep going” would be nearly an impossible ‘sell’ if Biden had listened to the snooze media – Klein included – and stepped down. Ā It would have been a complete self-own, completely unwarranted, etc etc. Ā So here’s to Biden/Harris 2024 and long may they ignore the punditariat!)

  39. 39.

    TBone

    March 10, 2024 at 9:20 am

    @geg6: thanks!Ā  I think I get the acronym confused with something else (especially on daylight savings day).Ā  I will now remember that TPM are on the job!

  40. 40.

    TBone

    March 10, 2024 at 9:22 am

    @SFAW: šŸ˜ŽšŸ’œ

  41. 41.

    WaterGirl

    March 10, 2024 at 9:22 am

    @Jackie: A Biden-style dis that they can’t even complain about!Ā If they did, the 85% of their party that missed that would know that their top guy had been ignored as if he were a toddler that had crawled up into the big chair at a public event.

  42. 42.

    artem1s

    March 10, 2024 at 9:24 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Seems like this Biden guy actually wanted the job of President.

    Might be the only one in my lifetime who understood what the actual job of President was before he took it. Clinton had the best understanding for someone who hadn’t already been in DC for years but he mistook the attention from constituents (and polls) as the focus sometimes. Joe genuinely enjoys meeting constituents and can do the performance art part, but he knows the important stuff gets done when the cameras aren’t watching. He’s also the only candidate who failed to win the WH and didn’t let it ruin him. He’s never shown any bitterness or vindictiveness about not getting nominated. He always just went back to the Senate and happily did the job he’s supposed to do. He’s obviously doesn’t suffer fools lightly but he never seems to hold a grudge when things don’t go the way he’d prefer. He also doesn’t begrudge others successes and wins of their own. If he can he’ll find a way for even the worst of his adversaries to get some kind of win out of a deal if he can.Ā He understands that firebombing the place might look good for the cameras but it does nothing for getting the real work done.

  43. 43.

    TBone

    March 10, 2024 at 9:24 am

    @satby: I am also a fan but wish they’d stick to it thru the year.Ā  It alleviates sleep issues for me, and all the extra light is a mood improvement and safety enhancer!

  44. 44.

    scribbler

    March 10, 2024 at 9:25 am

    @Betty Cracker: Hopefully food service managed to bring you grits today?

  45. 45.

    TBone

    March 10, 2024 at 9:25 am

    @Jackie: getting out in front (not back on his heel) is a Dark Brandon specialty šŸ˜

    On that theme šŸŽ¶

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F_HoMkkRHv8

  46. 46.

    RedDirtGirl

    March 10, 2024 at 9:29 am

    @Betty Cracker: I missed the news that you are recovering from something, but indeed, get better quickly!

  47. 47.

    geg6

    March 10, 2024 at 9:29 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Here’s hoping you’re feeling better and they’ve figured out the problem.

  48. 48.

    Geminid

    March 10, 2024 at 9:30 am

    I would not call Recep Tayip Erdogan a very happy warrior because he usually looks like he has heartburn. But the cranky Turkish leader in effect asked his AKP followers to “win one for the Gipper” Friday night, when he announced that this month’s municipal elections will be his last campaign as President. I think he will be 76 years old when his current term runs out in 2028.

    Erdogan wants to reclaim Istanbul, Ankara and other cities from the control of opposition CHP Mayors. The elections are 21 days from now, on March 31st.

  49. 49.

    Percysowner

    March 10, 2024 at 9:32 am

    @Mousebumples: ​
     I prefer Standard Time to DST, but I am also on the “pick one, either one” team. I’m also old enough to remember when DST was made permanent under Nixon. it was a total flop and rescinded within the year.

    I appreciate the people who want to be able to do things in the evenings, but it throws off my body rhythms and I have to get up early to go take care of my grandkids, and I HATE driving in the dark.

  50. 50.

    Anyway

    March 10, 2024 at 9:33 am

    @artem1s:

    Yeah yeah but I am impressed by Prez Joe’s selfie game — people of his advanced age aren’t very good at it.Ā  =)

  51. 51.

    satby

    March 10, 2024 at 9:34 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I think that attitude about almost anything controls the resiliency with which we respond to it. Which is not a criticism, just an observation; as pretty much everyone is well aware of my unrepentant lack of resiliency in some areas of change.

  52. 52.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 9:37 am

    @Jeffro:

    Voters seem to remember the tail end of Trump’s third year, when the economy was strong

     
    Thanks, Obama.

  53. 53.

    billcoop4

    March 10, 2024 at 9:38 am

    @Ramalama:

    I think that’s how POTUS took control of the room — he didn’t wait for the introduction and the next 3,281.4 minutes of applause. I am sure it was completely intentional.

    Brilliant on his part

    BC

  54. 54.

    Citizen Alan

    March 10, 2024 at 9:43 am

    @TBone: Anyone who still supports the Republican party is either a traitor to this country or else a moron who doesn’t realize that he or she is on the list of people to be rounded up once the liberals are dealt with.

  55. 55.

    satby

    March 10, 2024 at 9:43 am

    @Percysowner: Then you’ll be happy to know that in almost exactly a month the sun will rise at the same time it did yesterday, depending on your location. And the mid year switch allows each of us to have more light part of the time. Seems fair. It’s not that I hate to drive at night, I’m night blind and my license is now restricted. Also can’t drive in a dark morning, but that’ll be alleviated in a month, as above.

  56. 56.

    Kay

    March 10, 2024 at 9:43 am

    @Jeffro:

    Voters seem to remember the tail end of Trump’s third year, when the economy was strong, and not the utter calamity of his fourth year,

    It’s fine as far as it goes but I can still tell Ezra Klein is on the NYTimes payroll. Political media screeched for a solid two years that the economy was bad! He can’t just ignore that that happened. In addition, THE SAME political media who like to pretend that elite liberals ignore the working class IGNORED that the economy was especially good for lower wage workers! They focused exclusively on layoffs in media/entertainment and tech and IGNORED a genuine manufacturing boom that is happening in the middle of the country.
    He should mention it. It’s dishonest to ignore it.
    You know why the NYTimes doesn’t make any more pilgrimages to Ohio? Because everyone is working OT and buying 80k trucks.

  57. 57.

    Jackie

    March 10, 2024 at 9:44 am

    @WaterGirl: Yes! And, really, the GQP should be thankful! By jumping right into his speech, Biden saved the MAGAts from having to endure a five minute standing ovation BEFORE he started!šŸ˜‚

  58. 58.

    billcoop4

    March 10, 2024 at 9:44 am

    @artem1s:

    If he can he’ll find a way for even the worst of his adversaries to get some kind of win out of a deal if he can.

    This is why he is a virtuous man — with virtue being understood as “playing the game so that everyone wins.”Ā  I heard that definition from my Uncle Jim (a nuclear physicist with a hobby in the study of game theory) years ago, and it’s resonated with me every since as pretty much bang on as a definition of the term.

    BC

  59. 59.

    MazeDancer

    March 10, 2024 at 9:44 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Did not know you were laid low by something. May you be up and about soon. Sending you much Light and Healing Beams.

    And, yes, coverage for Mr. Biden has, indeed, improved.

    Think his relentless enthusiasm and optimism is infectious.

    Though, now, that age isn’t so available to the media, they will have to focus on some other made up flaw.

  60. 60.

    satby

    March 10, 2024 at 9:46 am

    @TBone: I had occasion to look up when I started reading this blog (March 24, 2005 exactly) and there was a tbone commenting all the way back then. Are you the same person?

  61. 61.

    gene108

    March 10, 2024 at 9:46 am

    I like DST as it is.

    Get well soon Betty.

  62. 62.

    WaterGirl

    March 10, 2024 at 9:47 am

    @scribbler: Hopefully the Mister is able to do even better than that!

  63. 63.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 9:47 am

    @Kay:

    Because everyone is working OT and buying 80k trucks.

    “How Biden’s Economy is Making Climate Change Worse” /NYT

  64. 64.

    Ramalama

    March 10, 2024 at 9:47 am

    @billcoop4: Put like that, yeah! That’s some triple salchow chess kung-fu martial moves. I would think that Biden outmaneuvering people of bad-faith would be the subject for a shite ton of articles on “Old people. They know Stuff!”

  65. 65.

    Kay

    March 10, 2024 at 9:49 am

    Someone fnd me the in depth, seven reporter NYTimes story on the fucking economic boom in the Great Lakes states. Find me the story on how we can’t find enough workers at 17,18,19 an hour because we’re at full employment. They happily covered “the rust belt is dying” for years along with poverty porn pictorials. Cover what’s happening now. Manufactruring is booming. They won’t, because to do so would be to admit that Joe Biden’s economic turn away from trickle down has benefitted working people.

    Ezra Klein has a big platform. He could do it. Let’s see if he does. It’s a good story! Might be interesting to people! But we don’t get it because it contradicts the narrative.

  66. 66.

    satby

    March 10, 2024 at 9:49 am

    @Baud: Count on it.

    Even DougJ says he can’t top some of their headlines these days.

  67. 67.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 10, 2024 at 9:51 am

    @Kay: We had “labor shortages are bad actually; nobody wants to work any more!!” coverage when nobody could find workers anywhere in the country

    (Both high unemployment and low unemployment get explained with “nobody wants to work any more”)

  68. 68.

    Kay

    March 10, 2024 at 9:54 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Morons. We’re at full employment by the numbers they themselves report and then in the next breath they claim we’re understaffed because “no one wants to work”. Do they do any of their own thinking at all? Can they see how these two things might be connected?

  69. 69.

    lowtechcyclist

    March 10, 2024 at 9:54 am

    @MazeDancer:

    WaPo has an interesting piece on ā€œWhy Daylight Saving Time is Worse for Your Body than Standard Timeā€

    According to what this piece says, people in Indiana must have really crappy health.

    Being on daylight savings time is like being in the next time zone to the east.Ā  Indiana (excepting a couple of small corners) is already in the next time zone to the east, since they’re in the Eastern time zone.Ā  (Alabama, directly to the south of Indiana, is in the Central time zone.)Ā  Plus when GWB’s budget director, Mitch Daniels, became governor of Indiana, he managed to get Indiana to adopt Daylight Savings Time; it had been year-round Standard time until then.Ā  That was nearly 20 years ago, so there’s a test case to prove the theory that year-round DST would be bad for people’s health.

    I’m willing to bet that any effect is pretty small.

  70. 70.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 10, 2024 at 9:55 am

    @satby: I have a decided lack of resiliency when it comes to all things technological.

    “Computers hate me.” is my constant refrain.

  71. 71.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    March 10, 2024 at 9:55 am

    @Kay: ​
     

    It’s fine as far as it goes but I can still tell Ezra Klein is on the NYTimes payroll. Political media screeched for a solid two years that the economy was bad! He can’t just ignore that that happened. In addition, THE SAME political media who like to pretend that elite liberals ignore the working class IGNORED that the economy was especially good for lower wage workers! They focused exclusively on layoffs in media/entertainment and tech and IGNORED a genuine manufacturing boom that is happening in the middle of the country.
    He should mention it. It’s dishonest to ignore it.

    Little Ezra will never change.
    The middle of the country is only paid attention to during Cletus Safaris. Big tech is more important because it pays the corporate media bills and funds most of the normalized neoliberal economic bullshit that clowns like Klein (and a shit ton of Dems) also push.

  72. 72.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 10, 2024 at 9:55 am

    @Percysowner: I enjoy BEING on DST more, but that might be an unfair assessment from DST being the time when there is just more sunlight all around. It’s not as if you’d get that without a stiff cost during the rest of the year.

    But the changeover from ST to DST is easily the toughest one.

    So I’d be happy to switch to either year-round and try not to be too dogmatic a booster for one or the other.

  73. 73.

    Kay

    March 10, 2024 at 9:57 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I don’t even care at this point. They can pretend the economy suddenly got good a month ago to cover their own asses now that it’s impossible to ignore, but it their 2 year long economy panic was bullshit and no one should trust them. They’re not reliable.

  74. 74.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 10, 2024 at 9:58 am

    @Kay: There’s a guy on Mastodon who collects old newspaper clippings warning of alarming trends–I think he’s putting together a coffee-table book. He’s got iterations of the “nobody wants to work any more!” article from every year going back well over a century.

  75. 75.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 9:59 am

    @Matt McIrvin: I’ve seen mash ups of historical warnings about young people.

  76. 76.

    Jeffro

    March 10, 2024 at 9:59 am

    As a PS: while Klein quotes Noah Smith in his piece, he also leans on his buddy Tyler Cowen for a good dose of both-sides-ism and hopes for – you guessed it! – more deregulation in Biden II.

    I remember Cowen from years ago when I worked up in NoVA. Ā According to him, there’s nothing that can’t benefit from more deregulation – red flag. Ā Also my RWNJ bro was a fan of his, so there’s another red flag. Ā =)

  77. 77.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    March 10, 2024 at 10:00 am

    @Matt McIrvin: 

    We had ā€œlabor shortages are bad actually; nobody wants to work any more!!ā€

    And that’s a talking point straight out of Faux “News” that then got predictably picked up by our lazy corporate media.

    A friend of ours here in Denver, wealthy developer (who doesn’t scrape and desecrate) and restaurateur, whose politics are numbingly conservative, started spouting off using that exact same phrase long before I heard it in the media.
    Then learned talking to others that it had been a staple since Day 1 on Faux “News”.
    His way to characterize it “I can’t find anybody to work my places anymore, they want to stay at home, smoke weed, watch porn and collect their PPP checks.” (or whatever was going out to individuals during the Plague and yes, he collected a ton of sweet, gubmint PPP money).

  78. 78.

    Princess

    March 10, 2024 at 10:00 am

    Trump should probably choose a female VP and I think he and the people around him agree and sincerely believe they’re open to a woman VP but the conservative negative reaction to Britt makes me think they’re going to ā€œnot that womanā€ any possible candidate to death.

  79. 79.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 10, 2024 at 10:01 am

    @satby: ​ I’m night blind

    You and my wife, sorry to hear that. I’ve always had excellent night vision but these last couple years it’s lost a bit. Not bad, but enough that I sometimes miss something in my path. The mental adjustment has been very hard for me.

  80. 80.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 10, 2024 at 10:01 am

    @Baud: Another perennial favorite is “men aren’t men and women aren’t women any more, surely this Gender Confusion will destroy society.” Every year back into the 19th century at least.

  81. 81.

    Jeffro

    March 10, 2024 at 10:02 am

    OT but I saw this on Twitter and it’s a good thing to keep in mind and share whenever needed:

    A quick reminder:

    trump is not being prosecuted in the middle of his campaign. trump is campaigning in the middle of his prosecutions.

  82. 82.

    Kay

    March 10, 2024 at 10:02 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    All the keening and wailing over the lunch bucket workers in Ohio when they were promoting Trump – Democrats had “ignored” them! Not a word now that the whole sector is booming.

    Shouldn’t they be covering just as the “first draft of history” they tell themseves they create? Something happened in manufacturing. Something changed. I think it was Joe Biden’s and the Democrats in Congress industrial policy. What do they think it was? Magic?

  83. 83.

    satby

    March 10, 2024 at 10:04 am

    @lowtechcyclist: According to what this piece says, people in Indiana must have really crappy health.

    šŸ˜‚ You’re a Hoosier too, right? I would say in general a lot of people in Indiana do have crappy health, but it has more to do with their All-American diet of soda and fried stuff and their red state resistance to certain vaccinations than DST.

  84. 84.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 10:04 am

    @Kay: If white lunch bucket workers came back to Dems, it’d be game over for a lot of our elites.Ā  And they know it.

  85. 85.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 10:08 am

    @Matt McIrvin: Probably also “immigration is destroying this country!”

  86. 86.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 10, 2024 at 10:08 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: It’s a true fact that nobody in the history of the world has ever wanted to work a shit job for low pay. You don’t, I don’t, NOBODY does. People do it because they have to. Somehow, this is taken as a sign of moral degeneration.

  87. 87.

    H.E.Wolf

    March 10, 2024 at 10:08 am

    @Percysowner:Ā DST was made permanent under Nixon. it was a total flop and rescinded within the year. ​

     
    https://www.washingtonian.com/2022/03/15/the-us-tried-permanent-daylight-saving-time-in-the-70s-people-hated-it/

    The USA spans multiple time zones and multiple latitudes. That accounts for many different experiences of Standard vs Savings Time… and human variation, as seen in this thread, accounts for many more.

    Thank you, Anne Laurie, for the title of this post. It reminded me that I’ll need to reset the dashboard clock in my car.

  88. 88.

    Scout211

    March 10, 2024 at 10:09 am

    @Mousebumples: I’d lean towards just keeping DST (I think lower crime rates I’d read some time ago?), but I could do without the clocks changing.

    I agree. Ā I would prefer DST but I am now on team ā€œpick one.ā€

    Many state legislatures have passed permanent DST but until the congress changes the law, the states can’t convert to permanent DST.

    Here in California, a bill has been introduced to makeĀ standard time permanent and they are trying to coordinate with Oregon and Washington to make the change for all three states. There are no changes needed in congress if the states choose permanent standard time. Ā Seems like a simple solution but too many people have their favorite and theĀ Mac vs PC DST vs ST wars begin anew. Ā  Sigh.

  89. 89.

    TBone

    March 10, 2024 at 10:09 am

    @satby: nope, not me!Ā  I was a young pup then, not aware of BJ although I was politically aware.Ā  I was working full time back then, and not in a place where I could freely comment on politics without stealing time from my employer AND my location in the County seat of Delaware County, PA was very solidly and historically Rethuglican, so I’d have been limiting my options for employment (I started my legal career working in an office where a partner proudly displayed a framed photo of Nixon). Dad made sure I registered Republican so I could get work.

    I’d be very surprised to see another TBone though.Ā  Were the comments frequent?Ā  How do you look that up?Ā  Or are you going from memory?Ā  I don’t remember when I set up my first and only Gmail account but I know one of the lawyers hipped me to it. It was around that time, I believe…my favorite handle at that time was Ruby Two2.

  90. 90.

    satby

    March 10, 2024 at 10:09 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I understand, the mental adjustment has been really hard for me too. And on occasion, a tiny bit humiliating; as when an 82 year old friend had to come drive me (68, until May) to a night dinner out with friends. Intellectually, I get it; emotionally my inner voice was screaming I should have been chauffeuring her.

  91. 91.

    rikyrah

    March 10, 2024 at 10:12 am

    Good Morning Everyone 😊😊😊

  92. 92.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 10, 2024 at 10:13 am

    @Baud: I read a whole book on that, Erika Lee’s America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States. Yeah, fear of the next batch of immigrants to the US predates the US being a country (even if you discount justified Native mistrust of colonizers). In colonial times, it was Germans who were the problem.

  93. 93.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 10:13 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning.

  94. 94.

    satby

    March 10, 2024 at 10:15 am

    Honestly, how many clocks do people actually have to change manually in this wireless, digital age? I have the oven and the car, both of which I often just ignore since I don’t use either for timekeeping. I mostly use my phone to tell the time and set alarms, and that adjusts automatically.

  95. 95.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    March 10, 2024 at 10:17 am

    @Scout211:
     

    Here in California, a bill has been introduced to make standard time permanent and they are trying to coordinate with Oregon and Washington to make the change for all three states.

    Wow! I much prefer ST so that would be a great thing given the political “leaders” here in CO seemingly follow everything CA does anymore (probably b/c, as the joke goes, half of CA has moved here in the last decade).

  96. 96.

    satby

    March 10, 2024 at 10:17 am

    @TBone: very frequent, but that was back when John was Republican and conservative and so were a lot of the commenters.

    edit: no, I looked it up via the website that steered me here then, which no longer exists, and searching here didn’t find it. I went through google first, and backtracked here.

  97. 97.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 10, 2024 at 10:17 am

    @satby: I have two that I have to do, the clock on the oven and the microwave (which I like being correct because I like seeing the time in the kitchen). Both of them have easy clock-setting interfaces, not the kind of nightmare you used to see where you have to hold down two buttons at once while it cycles minute by minute through 24 hours.

    …Oh, and there’s my car. I think that has an “it’s DST now” button.

  98. 98.

    Bupalos

    March 10, 2024 at 10:18 am

    @MazeDancer: Age will be back, probably with a vengeance. And we should prepare for it.

  99. 99.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 10:18 am

    @Bupalos: Yeah, Biden will trip or sneeze or something between now and November.

  100. 100.

    TBone

    March 10, 2024 at 10:21 am

    @satby: definitely not me!Ā  I was an under cover Dem and have been liberal progressive my entire life.Ā  A real commie pinko as my 2005 boss the labor union guy lovingly joshed.

    This was my legacy inheritance šŸ˜…

    https://whyy.org/articles/how-to-break-into-the-fbi-50-years-later-media-burglars-get-local-honors/

    I was the lone protestor when Ronnie Raygun came to town.Ā  Before I started working in Media, PA.

  101. 101.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 10, 2024 at 10:21 am

    @Bupalos: There’s gonna be some kind of bullshit October Surprise about it, maybe coming from some quisling inside the government. Biden needs to be prepared for this and surely he knows it’s coming.

  102. 102.

    stinger

    March 10, 2024 at 10:22 am

    @TBone: Seems like all the energy and spunk these days is coming out of the House — and the White House. Any Senators laying it all out there like that?

    (Unlike Mr. Grant, I love spunk.)

  103. 103.

    Kay

    March 10, 2024 at 10:22 am

    Katie Britt is having to defend her lie this morning (on Fox- I just saw the clip). Unsurprisingly, she’s not persuasive.

    Just the sheer nerve of these people, to elaborately plan a whole speech on national television and CENTER it on a huge lie. It’s Donald Trump’s party all right. They all blatantly lie with no repercussions as all from their base.

  104. 104.

    NotMax

    March 10, 2024 at 10:22 am

    Good luck with Daylight Savings Time

    Gotta pedant.

    Only one “s” in Daylight Saving Time.

  105. 105.

    Geminid

    March 10, 2024 at 10:23 am

    @Geminid: The big electoral prize this year is of course Istanbul. With a population of 16.5 million and numerous infrastructure projects, the city is a rich source of political patronage.

    Ekrem Imamoglu, the current CH Party Mayor, was elected in June of 2019. He was originally elected in Fall of 2018,l by a margin (after recount) of 14,000 votes out of over 8 million votes cast. Eighteen days into his term Turkiye’s Supreme Electoral Council annulled the election and ordered a new one, which Imamoglu then won by over 800,000 votes.

    This was a personal as well as political setback for Erdogan; he made his reputation in the 1990s as Mayor of Istanbul. Erdogan’s opponent carried Istanbul in last May’s Presidential election, but not by very much. The same was true for voters in Ankara, population 4.6 million. Erdogan wants the two Mayoralties back in AK Party hands and he is campaigning hard to make that happen. The many media outlets under AK Party control are doing their part also.

  106. 106.

    Nelle

    March 10, 2024 at 10:24 am

    If we returned to six months of ST and six months of DST, I might grumble less.Ā  One good thing about Iowa (one of the few good things, beside the stellar good thing of grandchildren) is that I live in a neighborhood of larks.Ā  If I get up at 5 to 5:30, I can see lights on in at least six of the houses around me.Ā  And I’m irritated about losing the just gained morning lightĀ  for another month.

    Except, it is theoretical today.Ā  Still on DST in New Zealand in early autumn, listening to the waves of the southwest Pacific hitting the shore in night darkness. Good to be back under the Southern Cross.Ā  Change to standard time happens in April.Ā  Should be 80 F today.

  107. 107.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 10, 2024 at 10:24 am

    @satby: Heh, I can imagine. I hate asking my son to come out and help me with something but sometimes I have to.

  108. 108.

    Kay

    March 10, 2024 at 10:26 am

    Katie Britt looks at Donald Trump and thinks “what do you do when caught in a lie? Lie more!”

    This is the GOP bench. They’re all Trump.

  109. 109.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 10, 2024 at 10:27 am

    We need to make up our minds as a society whether daylight is worth saving

  110. 110.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 10:27 am

    @Kay:

    It’s hard to hold politicians accountable for lying when your strategy to defeat Democrats depends on your politicians lying.

  111. 111.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 10, 2024 at 10:28 am

    @Bupalos:Ā @Baud:Ā  All that is old, will be new again.

  112. 112.

    stinger

    March 10, 2024 at 10:29 am

    @artem1s: ​
     

    He always just went back to the Senate and happily did the job he’s supposed to do.

    And later happily became vice president to a much younger man.

    Like FDR, Joe has a first-class temperament. Unlike FDR, I think his intellect is pretty first-class, too.

  113. 113.

    TBone

    March 10, 2024 at 10:30 am

    @stinger: my beloved Senator JAWN FETTERMAN gives them the what for frequently!Ā  Plus, he cornered Menendez in an elevator!

  114. 114.

    EarthWindFire

    March 10, 2024 at 10:31 am

    @Princess: I used to think that until listening to Sarah Longwell’s focus group podcast. She’s done numerous focus groups of faithful Trump voters (male and female) and they do not want a woman president. AT. ALL. They put up with Palin on the ticket because she eased their doubts about McCain, but I don’t think they really want their idol putting a woman on the ticket. Every woman will get the ā€œnot that womanā€ treatment from them, because the base really doesn’t want any woman, period. The GOP has a very uneasy relationship with women and it’s getting worse. Thoughts and prayers to them.

  115. 115.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 10, 2024 at 10:32 am

    @Kay: The unemployment rate genuinely is creeping up, from a very low bottom, and at some point there probably is going to be another recession. Probably not by November though.

    If Biden is reelected, he will likely have to deal with it and we’ll see the unusual prospect of an honest-to-God recession first hitting during a Democratic administration. The last time that happened, it happened to Jimmy Carter–but the wider economy was in way worse shape then. The time before that, it was Harry Truman and it almost sank him.

  116. 116.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    March 10, 2024 at 10:32 am

    @stinger: Love the MTM reference. As I recall, that was during Mary’s job interview.

  117. 117.

    TBone

    March 10, 2024 at 10:34 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I missed that, need a ‘splainer …

  118. 118.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    March 10, 2024 at 10:35 am

    @TBone: In the Mary Tyler Moore series, Lou Grant once said to Mary, “You got spunk. I hate spunk.”

    One of the things that struck me from that series is that Lou used to work for the Detroit Free Press, and my mother worked there.

    ETA: A clip

  119. 119.

    Kay

    March 10, 2024 at 10:37 am

    @Baud:

    Lying is corrosive – if they have it at the top, and they do, it will spread through the whole organization. Britt and her team of handlers could have used any anecdote she collected from her stupid photo op at the border and fear-mongered just as effectively – they CHOSE the lie.

    It’s just rampant on the Right now. Elon Musk regularly lies on his social media platform. This last week he published a photograph of a person and said that person has assaulted a police officer. A lie. It doesn’t matter at all on the Right. They can no longer distinguish between truth and lies.

  120. 120.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 10, 2024 at 10:37 am

    @Matt McIrvin: ​
      If we reelect Biden and give him a Democratic Congress, there is absolutely no reason that the current recovery can’t continue. We are coming back from something unusual, and there is a lot more that can be done.

  121. 121.

    rikyrah

    March 10, 2024 at 10:39 am

    @Kay:

    They are absolutely not to be trusted. They have been actively wishing for a recession for two solid years.

  122. 122.

    Kay

    March 10, 2024 at 10:39 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Well, of course at some point there’s going to be another recession. They don’t get credit for calling it every month for 5 years and then eventually… it’s true! They’re supposed to be reporting actual economic conditions, not writing a screenplay.

  123. 123.

    rikyrah

    March 10, 2024 at 10:41 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    If we give President Biden a Democratic House and Senate, then everything that Manchin and Sinema torpedoed should be back on the table

  124. 124.

    TBone

    March 10, 2024 at 10:42 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Oh, thank you!Ā  I remember MTM now – when I saw Grant all that occured to me was General šŸ˜†

  125. 125.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 10, 2024 at 10:42 am

    @Kay: On the other hand, the remarkable timing of 10 of the past 12 recessions to coincide with Republican Presidential administrations does make me wonder whether we could forestall one for much much longer just by keeping Democrats in office. I used to think Presidents had very little control over this but at some point the “coincidence” becomes too strong to ignore.

  126. 126.

    rikyrah

    March 10, 2024 at 10:43 am

    @Kay:

    I believe the only reason that we are not in a recession is because of the infrastructure bill. Because corporate America is trying to cause one with their layoffs after record profits šŸ˜’šŸ˜’

  127. 127.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 10, 2024 at 10:43 am

    @rikyrah: Exactly.

  128. 128.

    Kay

    March 10, 2024 at 10:44 am

    @rikyrah:

    I hope they focus on two things – voting rights and rescind Trump’s tax cuts. We now have proof that Justice Roberts gutting the VRA harmed minority voting rights. They need to fix that.

    I want them to rescind the Trumptax cuts not to punish ultra wealthy people, but because we need the revenue. I think it’s the responsible thing to do.

  129. 129.

    rikyrah

    March 10, 2024 at 10:45 am

    @Kay:

    They totally chose the lie. And, a lie that skipped over Dolt45 and Obama to go all the way back to ShrubšŸ˜’šŸ˜’šŸ˜’

  130. 130.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 10:46 am

    @Kay: They’ll do voting rights and abortion. I don’t think they’ll just rescind the tax cuts wholesale, but will try to make the tax system fairer and more progressive.

  131. 131.

    NotMax

    March 10, 2024 at 10:47 am

    @Matt McIrvin

    Follow the circle.

  132. 132.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 10, 2024 at 10:48 am

    @Kay: Punishing ultra wealthy people is just the icing on the cake.

  133. 133.

    stinger

    March 10, 2024 at 10:48 am

    @satby: ​
     

    Honestly, how many clocks do people actually have to change manually in this wireless, digital age?

    I love clocks, especially ones with an interesting shape or floral face design, and I like to be able to see the time from wherever I may be. So I have 5 battery-powered clocks, as well as electric alarm clock, oven clock, and car clock that aren’t connected to the internet, to manually reset twice a year. I don’t mind doing it, but I always forget at least one! Only my MacBook and iPhone automatically reset.

  134. 134.

    Kay

    March 10, 2024 at 10:49 am

    @rikyrah:

    Right. And if her point was that human trafficking has increased under Biden (what she says in defense) then why use that anecdote? All that means to a normal person is Mexico has had horrendous human trafficking since at least 2004.

    She’s a senator. She could have vetted the speech herself and said “that’s misleading and I’m not using it”. Her handlers work for her. They take orders from her. She chose to put the lie in her own mouth.

  135. 135.

    rikyrah

    March 10, 2024 at 10:50 am

    @Kay:

    Voting rights is absolutely top of my list

    Those tax cuts- absolutely.

    It’s good that the horror of the middle class , tax wise, is coming into focus. They can actually say…

     

    You didn’t get a refund this year? That’s because YOU are paying for tax cuts for the rich.

     

    Just ad after ad if real people and how they are getting no refund, or actually paying for the first time…and, they need to place the blame squarely where it belongs. And, say it with their entire chests

  136. 136.

    There go two miscreants

    March 10, 2024 at 10:50 am

    @Matt McIrvin: Here is a column I just read that puts the immigration situation in perspective. I am a numbers guy so this was useful for my understanding:

    https://www.demographyunplugged.com/p/whats-really-going-on-with-immigration

  137. 137.

    frosty

    March 10, 2024 at 10:50 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: ​ Longer than that! I remember seeing a bumper sticker in the 70s: Don’t Californicate Colorado. You probably saw one this week!

  138. 138.

    Kay

    March 10, 2024 at 10:51 am

    @Baud:

    You know how strongly I feel about abortion but I think they should do voting rights first. That’s an unmet promise. That’s do or die.

  139. 139.

    Barbara

    March 10, 2024 at 10:53 am

    @Scout211: There aren’t many things where Arizona can claim to be in the vanguard of progress, but I would be happy to follow its lead on this particular subject.

  140. 140.

    rikyrah

    March 10, 2024 at 10:53 am

    @Kay:

    I honestly believe that the DNC needs to confront the

     

    “Are you better off than you were four years ago” trope from the RNC.

     

    I mean, explicit ads taking us back to that nightmare of a time.

  141. 141.

    Jackie

    March 10, 2024 at 10:53 am

    ABC’s George Stephanopoulos went after Nancy Mace this morning!

    Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) exploded at ABC host George Stephanopoulos on Sunday after he asked why she supported Donald Trump after he was found liable for sexual assault.

    During an interview on This Week, Mace became angry and defensive about her support for Trump, who was found to have raped writer E. Jean Carroll. Mace is also a rape survivor.

    “And it’s a shame that you will never feel, George,” Mace charged. “And I’m not going to sit here on your show and be asked a question meant to shame me about another potential rape victim. I’m not going to do that.”

    “It’s actually not about shaming you,” Stephanopoulos noted. “It’s a question about Donald Trump.”

    “No, you are shaming me,” Mace insisted.

    You’ve endorsed Donald Trump for president,” the ABC host observed. “Donald Trump has been found liable for rape by a jury. Donald Trump has been found liable for defaming the victim of that rape by a jury. It’s been affirmed by a judge.”

    ā€œIt was not a criminal court case, number one,” Mace fired back. “Number two, I live with shame. And you’re asking me a question about my political choices, trying to shame me as a rape victim. And I find it disgusting.”

    Stephanopoulos pressed Mace several times, and she accused him of shaming her each time.

    ā€œAnd this is why women won’t come forward,” Mace complained at one point.

    “Women won’t come forward because they’re defamed by those who perpetrate rape,” Stephanopoulos remarked.

    https://www.rawstory.com/nancy-mace-shame/

    You can watch the video at the link.

    Mace might be shamed from being raped; but that didn’t stop her from bragging about being late to a speaking breakfast held by a woman’s Christian group because of a morning quickie.

    AND it sure doesn’t help she couldn’t/wouldn’t justify her willingness to ignore TIFG’s appalling treatment and abuse of her fellow women.

    Stephanopoulos was great. Respectful, but holding Mace’s feet to the fire.

  142. 142.

    Kay

    March 10, 2024 at 10:53 am

    @rikyrah:

    My taxes never go down under GOP tax cuts, at either the federal or state level. They cut OH state taxes and then property taxes and various levies immediately went up. It’s a shell game.

  143. 143.

    rikyrah

    March 10, 2024 at 10:55 am

    @Kay:

    Voting rights is at the bottom of everything. Protecting the right to vote is an investment in elections, on every level, for years to come.

  144. 144.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 10:56 am

    @Kay: I think that would be the order. 1-2.

  145. 145.

    rikyrah

    March 10, 2024 at 10:58 am

    @Kay:

    I always pay, the entire refund thing isn’t something I know anything about.

     

    But, I see so many people whining on social media and at my job, about their lack of refund this year, and they need to know why. In no uncertain terms.

    And then end the ad with Video of Dolt45 promising more tax cuts

  146. 146.

    TBone

    March 10, 2024 at 10:58 am

    @Kay: and I’m still stuck on the E.R.A. also too.Ā  Wish list.Ā  SeeYouInRoevember is a winner and I’m hoping for the trifecta so we can get shit done!Ā  Tax the bullets AND the super wealthy!

  147. 147.

    WaterGirl

    March 10, 2024 at 10:58 am

    @Princess: Not sure that was a good test case, because she really was awful.

  148. 148.

    TBone

    March 10, 2024 at 11:00 am

    @Jackie: love it!Ā  I missed it because arguing with hubby šŸ˜• over something silly and I’m in the right and he’s a poopy head today.Ā  Thanks for posting!

    Oof, now that I’ve seen it 🤮 she should be Ashamed!

  149. 149.

    Scout211

    March 10, 2024 at 11:06 am

    @satby: Honestly, how many clocks do people actually have to change manually in this wireless, digital age?

    Two battery clocks, two programmable thermostats, two car dashboard clocks, one watch, three alarm clocks, one water heater circulator. Ā A lot, actually.

  150. 150.

    EarthWindFire

    March 10, 2024 at 11:06 am

    @rikyrah: Yep. Show those empty shelves and talk about how no one could buy toilet paper at ANY price. Put inflation into perspective.

  151. 151.

    WaterGirl

    March 10, 2024 at 11:07 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: That was good!

    Then where was she interviewing when she had the run in her stocking, that she covered with her hands, her purse, etc?

  152. 152.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 10, 2024 at 11:10 am

    Did you guys see the SNL cold open with Scarlet Johansson?

  153. 153.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    March 10, 2024 at 11:11 am

    @WaterGirl: I don’t remember that one but it sounds funny.

  154. 154.

    WaterGirl

    March 10, 2024 at 11:11 am

    @Kay:

    Her handlers work for her. They take orders from her. She chose to put the lie in her own mouth.

    I wonder if her handlers do work for her, or if they work for someone higher up.

    Still, even if that’s true, she is going along with all of it and was either stupid or perfectly willing to flush her credibility – as a female senator – right down the toilet.

    “I’ll be whatever you want me to be!” Ā That’s what I think she effectively said. Ā Maybe she has no true authentic self?

  155. 155.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 10, 2024 at 11:11 am

    @There go two miscreants: The article characterizing the asylum process as “unlawful entry” is a tell. (But the numbers are interesting–I had thought the door slammed shut during the pandemic and did not reopen, in part because Erik Loomis was so energetic about claiming Biden was continuing Trump’s immigration policy.)

  156. 156.

    TBone

    March 10, 2024 at 11:12 am

    @schrodingers_cat: ā¤ļø she’s such a great actress, fell in love with at We Bought A Zoo AND JoJo Rabbit.

    Off to relive some history by streaming! Netflix.

    https://www.1971film.com/about/the-film see

    Crap, it’s not there!Ā  Aaargh missed it.

  157. 157.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 11:13 am

    @schrodingers_cat: I liked the QVC bit.

  158. 158.

    Paul in KY

    March 10, 2024 at 11:14 am

    To Tony Jay and other Liverpool fans: Best wishes today on the match. Hoping for no injuries and that the best team on pitch wins.

    Personally (given our awful record there) am hoping we can escape with a tie.

  159. 159.

    Another Scott

    March 10, 2024 at 11:14 am

    @satby: I think Big Clock is secretly behind the push to get rid of time changes.Ā  To make us replace all our smart clocks.

    :-)

    My Anker clock radio has Bluetooth and only resets the time when my phone connects to it.Ā  I use it to wirelessly charge my phone overnight, but not for audio. So every spring and fall, or whenever I get a new phone, I have to remember how to connect to it… :-/

    Sony had it right to have a DST/ST switch on the back…

    [get-off-my-lawn]

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  160. 160.

    rikyrah

    March 10, 2024 at 11:15 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    It was on point

  161. 161.

    Betty

    March 10, 2024 at 11:18 am

    @Kay: She knew the story. She participated in a panel with the woman. There is no way she can blame this on anyone else.

  162. 162.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 10, 2024 at 11:19 am

    @Kay: Back in 2020 I said restoring the voting rights act was job 1. I still feel that way.

  163. 163.

    Peke Daddy

    March 10, 2024 at 11:23 am

    @Tony Jay: The power of schmooze, Maga Mike. LaMalfa and Dark Brandon know it well. If you could do it, maybe MTG wouldn’t have you by the gavel.

  164. 164.

    Lyrebird

    March 10, 2024 at 11:24 am

    @satby: The clock in my body is a lot harder to change than the one in the car, and that one’s a total hassle!

  165. 165.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 11:24 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Two votes short in the Senate.Ā  I’ll let you guess which two.

  166. 166.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 10, 2024 at 11:25 am

    @Baud: The 2 votes retiring I would bet.

  167. 167.

    Peke Daddy

    March 10, 2024 at 11:26 am

    @Kay: Get rid of the GWB tax cuts, too, grow the economy faster than the deficit and the problem shrinks to manageable size.

    https://www.americanprogress.org/article/tax-cuts-are-primarily-responsible-for-the-increasing-debt-ratio/

  168. 168.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 10, 2024 at 11:28 am

    @Another Scott: Any clock that doesn’t automatically set time over a network needs a “DST now” switch of some sort.

    It’s acceptable not to if it’s possible to just set the time by typing it in numerically (common with oven clocks). But that’s the best.

    The worst would be to try to change over automatically with hard-coded dates, because the law is likely to change over the lifetime of the clock. I’ve seen some that do that.

  169. 169.

    Jackie

    March 10, 2024 at 11:39 am

    @schrodingers_cat: I didn’t, because I watched the original and that was enough!

    Question: Does SNL have a conservative or MAGA audience? I doubt it, so in a sense SNL is singing to the choir, although there’s probably a large audience of liberals (aka normies) who skipped Britt’s performance (along with the SOTU, for that matter) so there’s that.

  170. 170.

    Betty Cracker

    March 10, 2024 at 11:41 am

    @Jackie: I hate the way Mace co-opts feminist language and concepts in service of her party’s profoundly anti-woman agenda. It’s somehow worse than the antics of loud-mouthed numpties like Greene and Boebert.

  171. 171.

    Baud

    March 10, 2024 at 11:46 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

  172. 172.

    lowtechcyclist

    March 10, 2024 at 11:47 am

    @Matt McIrvin: ​
     

    Another perennial favorite is ā€œmen aren’t men and women aren’t women any more, surely this Gender Confusion will destroy society.ā€ Every year back into the 19th century at least.

    And small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri aren’t real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri like they used to be.

  173. 173.

    zhena gogolia

    March 10, 2024 at 11:56 am

    @Betty Cracker: Great!

  174. 174.

    Eyeroller

    March 10, 2024 at 11:56 am

    @Matt McIrvin:Ā I had a clock that hardcoded the switchover dates and could not be modified, and then the law changed to extend DST. But an automated clock at least needs some kind of switch to be told whether to enable DST, because there are localities that are year-round ST.

    It does seem that some people don’t understand that DST just cuts one end off the blanket and sews it on the other end. Sunset gets later in summer with or without DST. The effect is also very latitude-dependent. I’m the early-to-bed type so sunset at 9 pm is really too late for me (viz. the Washington Post article linked upthread). Even stranger, when I was young some of my grandparents’ fundie friends thought DST was literally the work of the Devil, since it was “unnatural” and so went against what God wanted. I wonder whether any of that attitude lingers. But personally I’d prefer year-round ST.

  175. 175.

    Another Scott

    March 10, 2024 at 12:01 pm

    @rikyrah: Yup.

    No toilet paper or gloves or masks.

    Chaos at airports, babies in cages, families broken up.

    A broken CDC not able to correctly create a COVID-19 test because of interference and mistakes, and losing months in the pandemic response in the process.Ā  And not dropping everything and fixing the problems ASAP when they found out about them.

    Etc.

    They were dangerously incompetent.Ā  We’ve got receipts.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  176. 176.

    Miss Bianca

    March 10, 2024 at 12:04 pm

    @satby: Who has digital clocks that automatically update? Not me, unless it’s on my phone or computer. The oven clock, the microwave clock, the bedroom clock, the DVD player clock…all digital, all need manual changes.

  177. 177.

    Tony Jay

    March 10, 2024 at 12:04 pm

    @Paul in KY:

    I’d take the draw. Hoping for Darwin hat-trick though.

    Of course, I’m pre-booked and missing it. Booooooooo.

  178. 178.

    Jackie

    March 10, 2024 at 12:07 pm

    @Betty Cracker: MTG and Boebert come by their ways naturally šŸ¤·šŸ¼ā€ā™€ļø
    Mace is just evil. And, I see TIFG endorsed her over the wknd.

  179. 179.

    pieceofpeace

    March 10, 2024 at 12:13 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    I missed this news as well…big wishes for a healthy you soon.

  180. 180.

    WaterGirl

    March 10, 2024 at 12:24 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I just googled. Ā It was her interview with Lou on the Mary Tyler Moore show.

    Lou is reminiscing about when he interviewed her for the job and she was desperately trying to hide the run in her stocking.

  181. 181.

    Ramalama

    March 10, 2024 at 12:33 pm

    @Jackie: Oh yeah, I saw the boom get moved.

    Do you think anyone on the GOOP side got upset with Johnson for not introducing the Pres?

  182. 182.

    Soprano2

    March 10, 2024 at 12:35 pm

    @Kay: They think there are millions of lazy moochers on welfare who would be working if only they didn’t get such generous benefits from the government šŸ™„. That’s how they square those two things in their head. I’ve heard them say it.

  183. 183.

    dirge

    March 10, 2024 at 12:41 pm

    @Baud: I’ve seen mash ups of historical warnings about young people.

    As I like to put it: Ā what are the odds that, of all generations through human history, ours is the first to be right about what’s wrong with kids these days?

  184. 184.

    Paul in KY

    March 10, 2024 at 12:42 pm

    @Tony Jay: Up 1-0 at half. Know y’all got at least 1 in you. Probably 2. We need to be better in defense. Sorry you can’t watch it live.

  185. 185.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 10, 2024 at 1:02 pm

    @Eyeroller: The argument from nature neglects that Standard Time is just as artificial– it’s not solar time where every town had a slightly different clock setting, killed by the coming of the railroads. These things are always some kind of socially constructed compromise between nature and our goals. The question is just what accommodations you choose to make.

  186. 186.

    catclub

    March 10, 2024 at 1:17 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: I know I dislike driving at night more, the oncoming lights are more irritating/blinding.

     

    I did not know that you can have your drivers license limited to daytime.

    That sounds too sensible.

  187. 187.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 10, 2024 at 1:24 pm

    @dirge: The hardcore conservative claim is that ALL of these complaints for the past 5,000 years were right, history is a process of degeneration and people were basically superheroes in ancient times.

  188. 188.

    There go two miscreants

    March 10, 2024 at 1:25 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: I thought the paragraph where he uses that phrase was fairly nuanced, not really a blanket condemnation of the asylum process, rather discussing how it is not operating as intended. The parts that I found more interesting related to the historical levels of immigration and the fraction of the U.S. population that is foreign-born. The trajectory of the latter from its low around 1970 explains (but does not excuse, IMO) a lot about Americans’ views of immigration in general. Being a boomer (1950) I knew about the baby boom, but never thought about what that might imply in other ways.

  189. 189.

    Uncle Cosmo

    March 10, 2024 at 1:39 pm

    @Bupalos:Ā Uncle Joe’s age is the least of my concerns. What gives me pause comes out of my conviction that we’re in the middle of World War O (for “oligarchs”)**.

    I wonder if there isn’t some planetwide collusion on tap to crash the global economy around Labor Day, jacking up prices for consumer goods (e.g., gas at the pump doubling in price) to squeeze the average American and make them pine for the days of Dolt45.

    I would be alert to some “leading indicators” of that prospect. E.g., eggs, always more expensive in the runup to Ether & currently even higher due to an alleged outbreak of avian flu. If egg prices aren’t on their way down by (say) Mayday, and the producers put forth some other (probably BS) reason why not, I’d be concerned. If the Bastards Of The Universe move en masse to short-sell their stock holdings round about August anticipating a stock market crash (that they’d trigger), I’d be really concerned.

    I’m sure PUJOTUS has a “blue team” in place to monitor the global economic situation and keep things humming along. I hope he also has a “red team” in place evaluating the worst the oligarchs can do to the economy and devising effective countermeasures to their meddling.

    ** In which the bazillionaires are eager to destroy liberal democracy planetwide​ and replace it with local strongmen who can oppress their populations all they want, so long as the big guys have extraterritoriality, zero taxes, and the right to loot national treasuries at their pleasure.​

  190. 190.

    Geminid

    March 10, 2024 at 1:43 pm

    @Jackie: I think that if you asked Alabama voters, “Hey, did you hear Saturday Night Live’s cold open was about Katie Britt?” a lot of them would respond, “You mean they’re still doing Saturday Night Live?”

  191. 191.

    dnfree

    March 10, 2024 at 2:17 pm

    @satby: We have three chiming clocks with honest-to-god pendulums and weights, which get wound weekly. Ā One of them needs to keep 24-hour time because it has a complicated gear system that silences it from 11 to 7, which of course you want to be at night. Ā Springing forward isn’t too bad, but for falling back my husband just stops the clock by stopping the pendulum, and then restarts the pendulum swing the next day at the correct time.

    I wonder how many others still do that. Ā You should be in our house at 12 noon!

  192. 192.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 10, 2024 at 2:19 pm

    @There go two miscreants: Between the 1920s and 1965 there was very little legal immigration happening and almost none from non-white countries. For decades I’ve seen conservatives who would bristle at being called white nationalists expressing open nostalgia for that and insisting that the change was a dirty trick foisted on the *real* American people by liberal elites. Basically Great Replacement theory in a nutshell.

  193. 193.

    satby

    March 10, 2024 at 2:27 pm

    @Miss Bianca: I specified “wireless, digital age” because so much stuff is now run off of wireless apps like Siri, Alexa, and whatever the hell Google’s is called. My kids have everything including their thermostats connected. All updates automagically. So do digital atomic clocks. Sorry for the confusion.

  194. 194.

    satby

    March 10, 2024 at 2:35 pm

    @catclub: here’s the IN restriction codes:

    Restriction B – Glasses or contact lenses. …

    Restriction C – Mechanical Aid (Adaptive Devices) …

    Restriction D – Prosthetic Aid. …

    Restriction F – Outside Rearview Mirror. …

    Restriction G – Daylight Driving Only. …

    Restriction H – M/C Three Wheel Bike Only. …

    Restriction J – Other. …

    Restriction S – M/C with Side Car Only.

    most states have similar restrictions categories, but not the same codes for them.

  195. 195.

    The Lodger

    March 10, 2024 at 4:54 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: A lot of non-networked clocks do have an “instant DST” button. It’s labeled HOUR. Just press it once at the appropriate time, and you’re set.

  196. 196.

    azlib

    March 10, 2024 at 6:11 pm

    Given the prevalence of Wifi, I am surprised clock manufacturers don’t just sync the clock to an NTP chimer.Ā  You still have to set the timezone to get local time. Otherwise you will be on GMT. Of course, I live in AZ which stays on “Gods Time” all year round. I have server which participates in the ntppool service, so I have very accurate time at my home.

  197. 197.

    Gvg

    March 11, 2024 at 8:53 am

    @satby: Yes, I agree. I personally like DST and would be very upset it the anti people removed it. I am old enough to remember the last time it was stopped and how people hated it and went back in just a few years.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • NotMax on COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: April 17, 2024 (Apr 17, 2024 @ 6:33am)
  • raven on COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: April 17, 2024 (Apr 17, 2024 @ 6:25am)
  • ColoradoGuy on Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Fading Neom Dreams (Apr 17, 2024 @ 6:24am)
  • NotMax on Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Fading Neom Dreams (Apr 17, 2024 @ 6:20am)
  • p.a. on On The Road – BillinGlendaleCA – The Milky Way Reimagined. (Apr 17, 2024 @ 6:11am)

šŸŽˆKeep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Talk of Meetups – Meetup Planning
Proposed BJ meetups list from frosty

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8
Virginia House Races
Four Directions – Montana
Worker Power AZ
Four Directions – Arizona
Four Directions – Nevada

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
Positive Climate News
War in Ukraine
Cole’s “Stories from the Road”
Classified Documents Primer

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon JuiceĀ (Spoutible)
WaterGirlĀ (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Political Action 2024

Postcard Writing Information

Balloon Juice for Four Directions AZ

Donate

Balloon Juice for Four Directions NV

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2024 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!