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You are here: Home / Open Threads / They Can’t Beat Us If Everyone Knows Their Game

They Can’t Beat Us If Everyone Knows Their Game

by WaterGirl|  March 17, 202410:58 am| 176 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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I have been hearing about and reading about the dangers of autocracy, the road to autocracy, at least since Trump came on the scene in 2015.    But here it is, nicely laid out in just 45 seconds.  I hope you’ll watch it!

.@StuartPStevens on @MSNBC breaks down how the roadmap to autocracy begins with the Republican Party’s unwillingness to lose. They cannot accept defeat so they attack every institution in America created to hold them accountable and elect a strongman like Trump. pic.twitter.com/Wv3tT0gfoa

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) March 14, 2024

My amateur transcript:

The foundation of democracy is somebody has to be wiling to lose.  You have to have faith in the system.

The essence of these autocracies is they destroy faith in the system.

What Republicans have done is – you can’t just say Trump because it’s now Republicans – they have attacked institution after institution in America.

They attacked the Justice Department.  They attacked law enforcement.  They attack elections.

And the purpose of this is to kind of throw up your hands and say “we need a strongman“ to take care of everything because democracy isn’t working.

This is what the Russians have said since 1920s – the Soviet Union – that democracy doesn’t really exist in America.

And it’s a complete lie.  They’re embracing Victor Orban.  It’s a complete roadmap to autocracy.

They want us to feel helpless.  They want us to feel hopeless.  They want us to give up. It gets discouraging.  It wears us down.  We even see it here.  We even say it in the comments.

Except for the “we need a strongman” part.  Here on Balloon Juice, we are saying “hell no, we don’t want a strongman!” and we’re doing everything we can to stop it.

Most normies aren’t going to read a long post from Teri Kanefield or any of the other many people who have been talking and writing about this for years.  But they might take 1 minute to read a tweet and watch a 45-second clip.  Please think about sharing this with everyone you know who doesn’t understand their game plan, and that we are being played.

Not totally unrelated, we still have an Angel match from eponymous, who will match up to $50 per person.  To count toward the match, tell us about your match in the comments.  Or you can let me know by email.

Open thread!

Update: Angel match #4 from eponymous is now complete!  But our anonymous Angel from match #3 just volunteered to match another $1,000 of donations.

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Reader Interactions

176Comments

  1. 1.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 17, 2024 at 11:00 am

    We can beat them and the odds are better than 2020. IMHO.

    A study in green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

  2. 2.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 11:03 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Nice! It’s like Cole’s can you find the toad photos.

    When I look at it one way, the frog on the left reads like a dog to me.  The eye on the right reads like the nose of the dog, and the eye on the left reads as an eye on the dog’s face, from a side view.

  3. 3.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 17, 2024 at 11:04 am

    Fear is the mind killer.

  4. 4.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 11:05 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: “If I lose, it will be a blood bath!”

    Now they are outright threatening us – in plain sight, no more dog whistles.  Fear and intimidation is their game.  I’ll have a post later this week about voting-related threats and intimidation in Arizona.

  5. 5.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 17, 2024 at 11:09 am

    @WaterGirl: Thanks. I have to still put in some shadows and highlights. Its a work in progress. Its from Kerby Rosanes book, Fragile World and they are Lemur leaf frogs. They are critically endandgered

  6. 6.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 11:11 am

    @schrodingers_cat: That’s sad news about the frogs.  They have a lot of character.

  7. 7.

    rikyrah

    March 17, 2024 at 11:14 am

    Dougj can’t compete with this phucking foolishness 

    CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt (@CNNThisMorning) posted at 0:55 PM on Fri, Mar 15, 2024:
    Does Donald Trump’s former relationship with porn star Stormy Daniels actually play to his advantage with some voters?

    “Basically, there is a manly vigor on display that Biden doesn’t have?” @kasie asks @finneyk. Watch her answer below. https://t.co/grZBK2pULM
    (https://x.com/CNNThisMorning/status/1768697608669687870?t=vCZTjm8e2PBr2ffRh1LjUg&s=03)

  8. 8.

    NotMax

    March 17, 2024 at 11:15 am

    Cue the Cheers theme.

    ♪ Where everybody knows your game ♪

  9. 9.

    JPL

    March 17, 2024 at 11:17 am

    @rikyrah: She is awful and although I do like a lot of the reporters on CNN, she is not one.

  10. 10.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 17, 2024 at 11:18 am

    @WaterGirl: Yes its sad. But the opposition rally in my birth town of Mumbai is giving me hope. Rahul Gandhi ended his east-west journey across India this evening. This is happening right now. And who’s who of the Indian opposition is there.

  11. 11.

    TedR

    March 17, 2024 at 11:18 am

    Missing bit was, I think: “And it’s a complete lie. They’re embracing…”

  12. 12.

    Shalimar

    March 17, 2024 at 11:20 am

    @rikyrah: WTF?  It was 20 years ago.  Even if you give Trump some kind of manly award for cheating on his pregnant wife, he isn’t even remotely vigorous now.

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 11:21 am

    @rikyrah: Wow.  Manly vigor?

    Katie whoever-she-is appears not to understand the meaning of either word.  Yikes.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 11:23 am

    @TedR: Thank you so much!  Updated up top.

  15. 15.

    NotMax

    March 17, 2024 at 11:24 am

    @Shalimar

    “Viagra Falls! Slowly I turn….”
    //

  16. 16.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 11:24 am

    @Shalimar: Yeah, that’s totally fucked up.

  17. 17.

    BlueGuitarist

    March 17, 2024 at 11:24 am

    Postcard info follow up
    re: March 26 Special Election for Alabama State House of Reps.
    In the next few days you can write postcards with Postcards to Voters:
    https://postcardstovoters.org/

    The reason for a special election:
    the incumbent Republican resigned after being arrested for voter fraud; later pled guilty.
    Doug Jones (but no other Democrat) carried District 10 both times he ran for US Senate, 2017 and 2020; Biden got within 1% of Trump.
    The district is on the edge of Huntsville, includes Redstone Arsenal (which some Juicers know well) and Triana.
    Planned Parenthood and Doug Jones have endorsed the Democratic candidate,
    Marilyn Lands.
    In addition to postcards:
    phonebanking: https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/604502/
    More info about candidate at her website: https://www.marilynlands.com/
    Postcards and phonecalls will help! For contributions: BJ Worker Power AZ Boots on the Ground!

    Gaining a seat in Alabama would show further Democratic gains post-Dobbs, and provide a further rebuke to liar Katie Britt.
    Not sure why describing the border as an out of control current crisis based on an inaccurate description of a horrific event 20 years ago isn’t self-refuting. Not passing on the opportunity to name check a great Steely Dan album: Katy Lied. (Having said further twice in the same sentence: holding off on a link to a Grateful Dead song, at least until the special election results, but hi Alison Rose.)

  18. 18.

    Jackie

    March 17, 2024 at 11:27 am

    @Shalimar: Melania says Thank Dog!

  19. 19.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 11:27 am

    @BlueGuitarist:

    Gaining a seat in Alabama would show further Democratic gains post-Dobbs, and provide a further rebuke to liar Katie Britt.

    I like the sound of that!

  20. 20.

    dilbert dogbert

    March 17, 2024 at 11:27 am

    Tim Snyder also offers some words on tDrumpf’s second term. https://snyder.substack.com/p/the-strongman-fantasy?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=310897&post_id=142669610&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1nzbtr&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

  21. 21.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 11:30 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Let us know if you want to do a guest post on the opposition.

  22. 22.

    sdhays

    March 17, 2024 at 11:31 am

    @Shalimar: Even if it was last year, is it really plausible that there’s someone who says, “I was leaning towards not voting for Trump this year, but then his felony fraud case reminded me that he banged a porn star while his wife was pregnant, and now I’m leaning back to voting for Trump.”?

    I mean, I assume there’s at least one person in America for whom this is their thought process (because why not?), but they’re’ not statistically significant. And if they ARE statistically significant, then that picture in the thread below should be a powerful dissuader for them.

  23. 23.

    Redshift

    March 17, 2024 at 11:31 am

    There are more of us than there are of them, that’s the reason they’re turning against democracy. We just have to make sure our normies, er, less politically engaged people, know that and turn out.

    They’re horrible and insufferable, but beating them will be sweet.

  24. 24.

    rikyrah

    March 17, 2024 at 11:32 am

    @WaterGirl:

    WG,

    I checked that email and didn’t see anything that I thought could be from you. Did you send the email?

  25. 25.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 11:36 am

    @rikyrah: I did!   I will try again.  Are you still on aol?

    edit: I just sent it again.  IF you don’t get that one, can you send email to me so I can reply?

    watergirl at balloon-juice.com

  26. 26.

    Jackie

    March 17, 2024 at 11:39 am

    Did Mother finally release his cajones?

    During an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation program on Sunday, host Margaret Brennan asked Pence if he agreed with Trump when he referred to the Jan. 6 criminals as “hostages and patriots” at a recent rally.

    “Well, I think it’s very unfortunate at a time that there are American hostages being held in Gaza, that the president or any other leaders would refer to people that are moving through our justice system as hostages,” Pence replied. “And it’s just unacceptable.”

    “I was there on January 6th,” he added. “I’ve no doubt in my mind, Margaret, that some people were caught up in the moment and that entered the Capitol, and they’re certainly entitled to due process of law for any non-violent activities that day, but the assaults on police officers, ultimately an environment that claimed lives is something that I think was tragic that day and I’ll never diminish it.”

    If you have difficulty believing Mikey actually said this, video proof is here:

    https://www.rawstory.com/mike-pence-donald-trump-hostages/

    I can’t wait for TIFG’s response to this and Pence’s refusal to endorse him!

  27. 27.

    rikyrah

    March 17, 2024 at 11:41 am

    Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) posted at 8:07 AM on Sun, Mar 17, 2024:
    President Biden at last night’s Gridiron dinner: “The big news this week is two candidates clinched their parties’ nomination for president. One candidate is too old, mentally unfit to be president: The other’s me.”

    “You know he ain’t the same guy that I beat in 2020…But don’t tell him. He thinks he’s running against Barack Obama.”
    (https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/1769349837965697069?t=Q71_DT-ZS9n1Foy2bpHYfQ&s=03)

  28. 28.

    H.E.Wolf

    March 17, 2024 at 11:42 am

    Thank you, eponymous, for the angel donation!

    Thank you, schrodingers_cat, for the frogs!

    Thank you, BlueGuitarist, for the postcarding boost!

    Thank you to everyone who keeps on moving forward, despite efforts to slow us down or discourage us from moving at all.

  29. 29.

    Randal Sexton

    March 17, 2024 at 11:43 am

    Ok, I just did 50$

  30. 30.

    West of the Rockies

    March 17, 2024 at 11:45 am

    Trump “a strongman”…

    He is a morbidly obese, fragile, stupid, mean; he punches down, dislikes animals and children; is physically abusive, pissy, and ugly.

    He is no strongman.

  31. 31.

    zhena gogolia

    March 17, 2024 at 11:45 am

    @Shalimar: Not to mention, the reviews were not glowing.

  32. 32.

    West of the Rockies

    March 17, 2024 at 11:51 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Wait… you painted that?  Awesome!  I love it!

  33. 33.

    eclare

    March 17, 2024 at 11:52 am

    @JPL:

    From everything that I have read, she has gone far right.  I guess she’s that part of CNN’s “strategy” to be attractive to both sides.

  34. 34.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 11:52 am

    @Jackie: Wow, that’s even stronger than just not endorsing Trump.

    “Well, I think it’s very unfortunate at a time that there are American hostages being held in Gaza, that the president or any other leaders would refer to people that are moving through our justice system as hostages,” Pence replied. “And it’s just unacceptable.”

    Wowser.  I did not think Pence had it in him.  That said, I presume that Pence is making this choice because Pence somehow thinks this is good for Pence.

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 11:54 am

    @rikyrah: LOLOLOL

    “You know he ain’t the same guy that I beat in 2020…But don’t tell him. He thinks he’s running against Barack Obama.”

    Go Joe!

  36. 36.

    Baud

    March 17, 2024 at 11:54 am

    “Should Biden replace Harris with Pence? Join our panel discussion on CNN.”

  37. 37.

    West of the Rockies

    March 17, 2024 at 11:54 am

    @rikyrah:

    Yeah, except Jill doesn’t insult Joe’s junk (Mushroom Cap Donny).

  38. 38.

    Another Scott

    March 17, 2024 at 11:55 am

    Speaking of knowing their game, Roger Parloff (of Lawfare) thread on the latest in Cannon’s rulings in the classified documents case.

    A taste:

    Roger Parloff
    @rparloff
    1h

    … Finally, it sounded on Thurs. like Cannon will deny the the other motion also, relating to the Presidential Records Act (PRA). She regarded it as “premature” because it hinges on disputed facts. (But that circumstance makes it meritless, not premature.) …

    /15

    (nitter.poast.org still works fine for me, but if you have trouble replace it with twitter.com – but you’ll only see the first post unless you have a twitter account.)

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  39. 39.

    West of the Rockies

    March 17, 2024 at 11:56 am

    @NotMax:

    It’s been a long time since someone called me pal…

  40. 40.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 17, 2024 at 11:57 am

    @West of the Rockies: Thanks. Yes I did that. I used colored pencils. I use painted for liquid media.

  41. 41.

    BlueGuitarist

    March 17, 2024 at 11:57 am

    @rikyrah:
    Good morning!
    But re Stormy Daniels: enraging! and gross.
    Did someone respond, she said it was “the worst 90 seconds of [her] life”?!
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/08/stormy-daniels-talks-about-trump-and-the-worst-90-seconds-of-my-life-on-stand-up-tour
    and her nickname for him is “Tiny.”
    (probably have to explain for the benefit of incels and news-talkers why 90 seconds and tiny insult their fuhrer and are neither manly nor vigorous.)
    It is all so grotesque.

    Assholes claiming Trump didn’t rape E Jean Carroll have an advantage because it would be gross to respond, why are you emphasizing the part of the trial about trump’s dick being so tiny that she couldn’t be sure whether trump assaulted her with his tiny dick or his tiny fingers? Puke.

    Can we talk about something more pleasant?
    No, not Tiny’s threat of a bloodbath if he doesn’t get to steal the election with his smaller number of votes (no, not “prediction” NYT, threat!)
    argh.

    Thanks WG for posting Dr. Wu from Katy Lied.
    Time to take a deep breath, listen to cool music, write some postcards; that album has some great guitar.

  42. 42.

    Roberto el oso

    March 17, 2024 at 11:59 am

    @Jackie: I suspect that Mother is the one providing his long-lost spine. According to some accounts I’ve seen, Dame Pence was very put off by Trump’s grossness.

  43. 43.

    TBone

    March 17, 2024 at 11:59 am

    Will be watching an old favorite today, in the fighting spirit!

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tGDO-9hfaiI

  44. 44.

    West of the Rockies

    March 17, 2024 at 12:01 pm

    @sdhays:

    Correct me if I’m wrong,  but Trump did not “hook up” with Stormy for mutual pleasure.   He paid her.  He popped, she said, “Okay, then, that’s done”, and that was it.

    That’s not exactly “banging someone “.

  45. 45.

    George

    March 17, 2024 at 12:02 pm

    After dealing with malignant narcissists as supervisors and as family members over the past few years, what the GOP has been doing over the past few decades looks to me more than a little like malignant narcissism writ large. Control, manipulation, blame shifting, lying, avoiding accountability, gaslighting–it’s all part of the narcissistic–and perhaps psychopathic–playbook.

    And as I found on a personal level, narcissists need squadrons of flying monkeys to help them flourish. The GOP has thousands of them in the media.

  46. 46.

    MomSense

    March 17, 2024 at 12:02 pm

    @rikyrah:

    I’m old enough to remember the party of family values.  It was always a lie but now it’s a mockery.

  47. 47.

    NotMax

    March 17, 2024 at 12:02 pm

    @WaterGirl

    Mr. Softsoap, dancing around the heart of the question.

    “Unacceptable” when the clear, declarative “wrong and dangerous” are right there for the using.

    Pence exhibits all the spine of an amoeba.

  48. 48.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 12:02 pm

    We hit $12k, so we get another pair of “boots”!

    Within the Margin of Effort – Another Match for Boots On the Ground in AZ 14

  49. 49.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 17, 2024 at 12:02 pm

    @WaterGirl: Actually, I would like to cover the upcoming election for Balloon Juice. I will be in India later this spring. Voting will take place from late April to the end of May.  This could be India’s last independent election if Modi wins a 3rd time with an outright BJP majority.

  50. 50.

    NotMax

    March 17, 2024 at 12:05 pm

    @West of the Rockies

    Bonus: spanked with a rolled-up copy of Forbes.

  51. 51.

    Cacti

    March 17, 2024 at 12:06 pm

    As little as I like the guy, David Frum was right with one prediction.  If the American far right had to choose between their unpopular policies and democracy, they would abandon democracy.

  52. 52.

    UncleEbeneezer

    March 17, 2024 at 12:07 pm

    Except for the “we need a strongman” part.

    People here don’t generally want a Strongman as President, but I’d argue that the fantasies about Trump being handcuffed on 1/7 are very much from the same desire for a Strongman spectrum, only applied to AG/DOJ.  It’s one of the reasons the really gratuitous, Garland-bashing has never sat right with me.

  53. 53.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 12:07 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Send me an email?

  54. 54.

    Redshift

    March 17, 2024 at 12:07 pm

    @WaterGirl: Or maybe his blip of a presidential campaign finally made it sink in that TFG is the reason he has no future in Republican politics, so a shiv/truth-telling isn’t going to make that any worse and might be a path to something.

  55. 55.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 12:09 pm

    @UncleEbeneezer: I’m with you on *that.

    A strongman, but for our side!

    Strongman rule is a fantasy.  Essential to it is the idea that a strongman will be your strongman.  He won’t.

    In a democracy, elected representatives listen to constituents.  We take this for granted, and imagine that a dictator would owe us something.

    But the vote you cast for him affirms your irrelevance.  The whole point is that the strongman owes us nothing.  We get abused and we get used to it.

    ~Timothy Snyder

    edit: Though in all fairness, I have to say i think that the enjoyment of picturing Trump marched off in handcuffs is along the same lines as when I used to joke about putting sugar in the Dean’s gas tank.  I would never have done such a thing, but it was fun to picture it.

    The rest of what you said, though, I agree with.

  56. 56.

    Baud

    March 17, 2024 at 12:12 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Strongman rule is a fantasy.  Essential to it is the idea that a strongman will be your strongman.  He won’t.

    A similar fantasy is behind people who want an “independent” person from outside the two parties’ establishments. Everyone believes that such a person will reflect their views, which of course all Americans share.

  57. 57.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 12:13 pm

    @Redshift: Yeah, I have no idea how he got here, but even as I don’t trust Pence for a second, I am glad he is speaking out publicly.

    *If it took Pence nearly 8 years and one Trump-inspired near-murder for him to figure out that Trump has screwed him, Pence is even more Dense than I thought.

  58. 58.

    TBone

    March 17, 2024 at 12:14 pm

    Small acts of defiance for Womens’ History Month

    ☘️

    https://twitter.com/historyinmemes/status/1768736095905239185

    For the xitter averse:

    https://susiemadrak.com/2024/03/17/my-kind-of-irish/

  59. 59.

    rikyrah

    March 17, 2024 at 12:15 pm

    @WaterGirl:

     

    I sent it back. Thanks.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 12:15 pm

    @Baud: Absolutely!

  61. 61.

    MomSense

    March 17, 2024 at 12:15 pm

    @George:

    Yes to all of this.  Not that we need confirmation but Sen. Bennett blamed the dysfunction in Congress on too many sociopaths.  Similar except the malignant narcissist is sadistic and the sociopath doesn’t care if they hurt others.  You can see the delight Trump takes when he causes pain.

  62. 62.

    Brachiator

    March 17, 2024 at 12:16 pm

    the roadmap to autocracy begins with the Republican Party’s unwillingness to lose. They cannot accept defeat so they attack every institution in America created to hold them accountable and elect a strongman like Trump.

    I love short clips like this and agree that they should be widely distributed.

    They want us to feel helpless.  They want us to feel hopeless.  They want us to give up. It gets discouraging.  It wears us down.  We even see it here.  We even say it in the comments.

    I understand that some people have concerns about too much negativity, but I do not fear discouraging words. I value deeply honest discussions of issues, including expressions of hope and fear.

    But I don’t think Republicans want us to feel helpless. They want us to surrender. And they take comfort in their strongman tactics because they are the ones who live in fear and uncertainty about their values.

  63. 63.

    rikyrah

    March 17, 2024 at 12:16 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I never could get past that not only was it him..

    but, his wife and child were there on January 6th. They would have died with him.

  64. 64.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 17, 2024 at 12:17 pm

    Honestly, a good number of people on both sides don’t really care for democracy.  It requires adhering to norms when it would be easier or faster not to do so.   Most of the time, you end up with half a loaf.  You have to make tough decision.  The other path is easier.

  65. 65.

    rikyrah

    March 17, 2024 at 12:18 pm

    @Brachiator:

    But I don’t think Republicans want us to feel helpless. They want us to surrender. And they take comfort in their strongman tactics because they are the ones who live in fear and uncertainty about their values.

     

    truth. They think we’re not going to fight for the country we love and want to see. That we see our vision of America is better than theirs.

  66. 66.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 17, 2024 at 12:18 pm

    @Baud: Did you check out the Leaf frogs, a non-abstract piece just for you

  67. 67.

    rikyrah

    March 17, 2024 at 12:19 pm

    @Cacti:

     If the American far right had to choose between their unpopular policies and democracy, they would abandon democracy.

    no lie told

  68. 68.

    Baud

    March 17, 2024 at 12:21 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I like it, but now I’m concerned I’ve deterred you from trying new things.

  69. 69.

    TBone

    March 17, 2024 at 12:21 pm

    @TBone: the girl on the right in that photo has a wonderful STINKEYE 😆

  70. 70.

    Cacti

    March 17, 2024 at 12:22 pm

    @UncleEbeneezer:  Trump belongs behind bars for trying to overthrow an election.  Garland didn’t have the stones to do what needed to be done.  He sat on it for 20 months then punted like a coward to Jack Smith.

    Now thanks to his dithering, Trump may have the chance to run out the clock.

    If trying to overthrow an election isn’t worthy of prosecution for a member of the political class, there is nothing else that clears the bar, and we are, in fact, a nation of men and not laws.

  71. 71.

    TBone

    March 17, 2024 at 12:24 pm

    @Cacti: grrrrrrrr nation of majority women but point is solid!  I’m not saying Garland was dithering.  We would have benefitted by immediate action as if BLM had stormed the Capital though.

  72. 72.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 17, 2024 at 12:24 pm

    @Baud: No you haven’t at all. Half the joy I get from my art is from trying new things. New techniques, new media and new forms. Drawing and coloring nature with waterbased media is kind of my comfort zone.

    Here I have only used colored pencils. Something I don’t often do

    BTW many of my experiments don’t go as planned. I only share my successes (or what I think worked)

  73. 73.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 12:24 pm

    @rikyrah: Whose wife and child were there on Jan 6?

  74. 74.

    Baud

    March 17, 2024 at 12:26 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Awesome.

    I tried watching those videos on drawing, but I haven’t been able to stick with it.  Same story with my learning Spanish. And really my whole life so far.

  75. 75.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 17, 2024 at 12:27 pm

    @Baud: Just put pencil to paper. Watch videos later. That’s what I do. Usually I start with what I have and then by better supplies later.

  76. 76.

    rikyrah

    March 17, 2024 at 12:28 pm

    @WaterGirl:

     

    Pence’s wife and daughter were with him at the Capitol on January 6th. If they had gotten him, they would have gotten them.

  77. 77.

    Baud

    March 17, 2024 at 12:29 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I actually learned a lot about rules for perspective from the video you recommended. Just haven’t been able to put it into practice yet.

  78. 78.

    rikyrah

    March 17, 2024 at 12:30 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Honestly, a good number of people on both sides don’t really care for democracy.  It requires adhering to norms when it would be easier or faster not to do so.   Most of the time, you end up with half a loaf.  You have to make tough decision.  The other path is easier.

    It’s only easier if you believe you’ll never be in the group for him the power of the state will land on negatively.

    As a Black woman in America, I have never been afforded such delusions.

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 12:30 pm

    @Cacti:

    He sat on it for 20 months then punted like a coward to Jack Smith.

    You continue to say things like that even after people have provided you with facts and information that shows otherwise.

    So what’s the point in engaging with you?

  80. 80.

    prostratedragon

    March 17, 2024 at 12:31 pm

    @NotMax:  Oh, that’s rich!

  81. 81.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 12:32 pm

    @rikyrah: I did not realize his family was there.  The image I have in my mind is Pence in the underground (garage?) surrounded by Secret Service.

    My first thought is that I would insist they be under SS protection, too, but maybe they were safer not being with him?

  82. 82.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 17, 2024 at 12:33 pm

    @Baud: Good. Perspective is a hard thing to master. I am still an egg where perspective is concerned

    Ernst Norling’s Perspective Made Easy is a good book, if you are looking for books.

  83. 83.

    Cacti

    March 17, 2024 at 12:34 pm

    @WaterGirl:  I’m not sure what alternate reality you’ve been occupying to keep your good opinion of Merrick Garland intact, but that is, quite literally, what happened.

    He sure didn’t waste any time investigating Hunter Biden though.

  84. 84.

    TBone

    March 17, 2024 at 12:34 pm

    @rikyrah: the face eating leopards party.  A recently fired RNC person expressed surprise when his face got eaten 🤣

  85. 85.

    TBone

    March 17, 2024 at 12:35 pm

    @WaterGirl: there is video of his daughter talking to him at the loading dock secret location on J6.  I wasn’t aware Mother was there too!

  86. 86.

    Redshift

    March 17, 2024 at 12:37 pm

    @WaterGirl: But remember, the common wisdom was that Pence was such a fuckup that he wasn’t going to be reelected as governor of Indiana as a Republican before Trump rescued him from a slide to obscurity. I could see it talking a lot to accept it wasn’t going to happen again when he didn’t have a lot of other options.

  87. 87.

    japa21

    March 17, 2024 at 12:39 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Democracy is hard.  The problem is any alternative has results which are more painful.  There are a lot of institutions where the participants don’t have to think, just follow orders. Many religions, most corporations, etc.  Interestingly enough, these also tend to be areas with the most complaints.

  88. 88.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 17, 2024 at 12:40 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: There’s the fear that comes from the paradox of tolerance: to be a democrat, you have to be willing to lose, but if the other side has announced that they’re going to cancel democracy and crush you by force if they win, can you really be willing to lose? Any loss is the end of democracy itself!

    So the authoritarianism one side projects eventually infects its opponents, through fear.

  89. 89.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 17, 2024 at 12:41 pm

    @WaterGirl: Part of his problem was that he couldn’t trust the Secret Service. They might have been part of the threat.

  90. 90.

    japa21

    March 17, 2024 at 12:41 pm

    @Cacti: No, it isn’t literally what happened, far from it.  Also, he did not initiate an investigation of Hunter Biden.  Are you sure you’re not associated with QAnon, with your baseless conspiracy theories.

  91. 91.

    TBone

    March 17, 2024 at 12:45 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: “I’m not getting in that car.”

  92. 92.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 12:48 pm

    @Cacti: You stated these as fact.

    Garland didn’t have the stones to do what needed to be done.

    He sat on it for 20 months then punted like a coward to Jack Smith.

    People here, including myself, have shared FACTS and information that show that was not the case.  You ignore the facts you don’t like.

    This (below) is also untrue and misleading.

    He sure didn’t waste any time investigating Hunter Biden though.

    Hunter Biden was being investigated under Trump’s DOJ.

    Also, unrelated, did you ever get back to John Cole, as requested in multiple email messages?

  93. 93.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 17, 2024 at 12:49 pm

    @rikyrah: Same. As an immigrant from a microscopic minority I concur.

  94. 94.

    rikyrah

    March 17, 2024 at 12:49 pm

    @TBone:

    Who changed the combo for the lock on his office in the Capitol. We still don’t know who did that. The list of people who could do that is short. Very short.

  95. 95.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 12:50 pm

    @TBone: I never saw that.  Yikes, family there.  Just like Jamie Raskin, who had just lost his son… his family was there, too.

  96. 96.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 12:51 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:  Agree!

  97. 97.

    Cacti

    March 17, 2024 at 12:52 pm

    @japa21:  I really don’t understand why Garland continues to hold a small cadre of supporters here.  He’s been a total flop as AG.  Zealous pursuit of justice has only been carried out against little people on his watch.  When it comes to the big fish, his chief concern has been appearing apolitical and above the fray, at the expense of the pursuit of justice.

    Garland sat on the Trump investigation, punted it to someone else rather than get his own hands dirty, appointed Robert Hur to investigate Hunter Biden, and signed off on his ridiculous report.

    He sucks monkeys.

  98. 98.

    Cacti

    March 17, 2024 at 12:54 pm

    @WaterGirl: In what way did he not sit on it.  He spent 20 months asking Trump “pretty please give that Natsec info you stole back”.  Finally got a search warrant for it, then Trump immediately declared his candidacy, Garland pissed his pants and punted it to Jack Smith.

  99. 99.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 17, 2024 at 12:56 pm

    In a sense, I don’t believe that there are more of us than there are of them. I think we are them-the potential to be a monster (and, possibly, the potential to be kind and noble) lies within every human being. And that what we’re facing is a kind of memetic virus, a wave of fear and mistrust and other-hate. And that success is not at all certain or maybe even likely.

    My nightmare is a day on which everyone just goes kill-mad. If not directly, then by proxy, because kill-madness is something they will just put up with. I know that, to some extent, even I will. That happens in various countries from time to time. I think about that a lot.

  100. 100.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 12:57 pm

    @Cacti: I see no facts in your comment.  I can’t argue against lies and misrepresentation of what happened.

    Did you ever get back to Cole, as requested?

  101. 101.

    japa21

    March 17, 2024 at 12:57 pm

    @WaterGirl: It is very seldom I use the pie filter.  Did only once before, for same individual.  For some reason I allowed him/her back in my life.  Won’t make that mistake again.

    Heck, I haven’t even used it for always sore.

  102. 102.

    hedgehog mobile

    March 17, 2024 at 12:57 pm

    In for $25.  Thanks WG!

  103. 103.

    cain

    March 17, 2024 at 12:58 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    That’s great to hear – I was reading up on the OCI card thing and it looks like you could be not allowed to come to India if you criticize Modi or at least that is the impression.

    What a thin skin this man has. We Indians are big on criticizing – it’s a national sport! I grew up on RK Laxman political cartoons. It’s just some dumb fuckery.

  104. 104.

    Cacti

    March 17, 2024 at 12:58 pm

    @WaterGirl:  And your other defense of Garland was that he had no choice but to keep up Bill Barr’s investigation of Joe Biden’s private citizen son?  Dios mio.

    He definitely couldn’t investigate Ivanka or Jared though.  Even though they actually held positions in the White House and security clearances, while doing a whole lot of personal side business with countries of concern.

    That would have been too partisan.  (eyeroll)

  105. 105.

    Cacti

    March 17, 2024 at 1:00 pm

    @WaterGirl:  You haven’t actually put forth an argument for Garland other than “Nuh-uh, I don’t think he did that”.

  106. 106.

    TBone

    March 17, 2024 at 1:00 pm

    @rikyrah: yes!  And turned off AOC’s office panic button (and others)!  And the pipe bombs at Dem headquarters (looking at you, Madge Traitor Trash). My best stinkeye, not-resting, bitch face!

  107. 107.

    cain

    March 17, 2024 at 1:00 pm

    @Baud:

    “Pence did not endorse Trump, Why this is bad news for Biden” – by Erik Erikson.

  108. 108.

    TBone

    March 17, 2024 at 1:01 pm

    @cain: 🤣

  109. 109.

    TBone

    March 17, 2024 at 1:03 pm

    @WaterGirl: 😭 Jamie!  He is SUCH a hero!  Every quality we need in our fighters he embodies.  Brave and courageous and wicked smaht.

  110. 110.

    delphinium

    March 17, 2024 at 1:03 pm

    In for $50 for Worker Power AZ.

  111. 111.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 17, 2024 at 1:04 pm

    @cain: He is a product of the RSS which an authoritarian organization modeled after the fascist organizations of Europe at around the same time 1930s. So this is not a surprise.

  112. 112.

    NotMax

    March 17, 2024 at 1:08 pm

    The foundation of democracy is somebody has to be wiling to lose.

    “There are worse things than losing an election; the worst thing is to lose one’s convictions and not tell the people the truth.”
    – Adlai Stevenson
    .

  113. 113.

    Melancholy Jaques

    March 17, 2024 at 1:08 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    People are not supporting Strongman Trump because they think he will do anything for them. They love him because he promises to hurt the people they hate.

  114. 114.

    cain

    March 17, 2024 at 1:09 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I will now refer to Modi as “Wilbur” – the  thin skinned mosquito.

  115. 115.

    PaulB

    March 17, 2024 at 1:10 pm

    @Cacti: You haven’t actually put forth an argument for Garland other than “Nuh-uh, I don’t think he did that”.

    That’s probably because you haven’t actually put forth an argument against Garland other than “Nuh-uh, I don’t think he did that.” You are the one making the ridiculous assertions; it is up to you to back them up. You can’t, of course, so you will continue to duck and troll, just as you’ve done multiple times before.

    Arguing with a ridiculous, and obvious, troll like you is a waste of time. I won’t bother to respond again.

  116. 116.

    TBone

    March 17, 2024 at 1:12 pm

    Some inspiration dedicated to our President and his entire Administration. 🎶

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BUt0dZXPFoU

  117. 117.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 17, 2024 at 1:13 pm

    @cain: Reminds me of the McCarran-Walter Act–all sorts of people banned from entering the US for saying things that were obviously protected political speech, with no real justification other than, booga-booga, Commies! And that’s totally the immigration regime that the Republicans want to bring back.

  118. 118.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 1:14 pm

    @Cacti:

    You haven’t actually put forth an argument for Garland other than “Nuh-uh, I don’t think he did that”.

    For you to say that, it’s clear that you haven’t read my replies in these discussions in previous threads.  So it’s a waste of my time to engage with you.

    I will ask again.  Did you ever get back to Cole as requested?

  119. 119.

    Melancholy Jaques

    March 17, 2024 at 1:15 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    To be honest, I am not sure there is any immigration regime that Republicans actually want.

  120. 120.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 1:16 pm

    @Melancholy Jaques: Quite possibly true.  But surely they see Trump hurting people they hate as a benefit to themselves?

  121. 121.

    Cacti

    March 17, 2024 at 1:18 pm

    @PaulB:  In the entire time Garland was investigating Trump:  20 months, 0 charges.  18 months to serve a search warrant for purloined classified materials.

    P-a-t-h-e-t-i-c.

  122. 122.

    E.

    March 17, 2024 at 1:18 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: I do too. I traveled through Yugoslavia just a few years before the war and it was so peaceful and beautiful and sweet. It was so eerie to watch it disintegrate into 100 percent violence. Makes a person think.

  123. 123.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 17, 2024 at 1:18 pm

    @Melancholy Jaques: They want the old national-origins quota system in which legal immigration was limited to a trickle of well-off white people who were not visibly leftist.

  124. 124.

    Kelly

    March 17, 2024 at 1:18 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Honestly, a good number of people on both sides don’t really care for democracy.

    Even you have succumbed to the NYT both sides mind set? /s

  125. 125.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 17, 2024 at 1:20 pm

    Just donated $25 for Worker Power.

  126. 126.

    Anoniminous

    March 17, 2024 at 1:22 pm

    @Melancholy Jaques:

    There it is

  127. 127.

    Kelly

    March 17, 2024 at 1:22 pm

    When I think of government by a strongman I see a brittle system with a decision making bottle neck and a single point of failure.

  128. 128.

    Sure Lurkalot

    March 17, 2024 at 1:23 pm

    Stupid comment of the thread (day?) alert:

    Trump’s and Stormy’s brief encounter of the most unpleasant kind (so says Stormy) occurred 4 months after Melania had given birth to Trump’s tallest spawn (not while she was pregnant).

    That is all.

  129. 129.

    cain

    March 17, 2024 at 1:26 pm

    Hey @Watergirl – given it is election season – and we are all working on raising funds. Might be nice to see if we can connect Balloon Juice to the fediverse via the wordpress plugin? – https://wordpress.org/plugins/share-on-mastodon/

    I’m not sure if bluesky has such a thing yet – but both can do fediverse things. Just an idle thought.

  130. 130.

    Sure Lurkalot

    March 17, 2024 at 1:30 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    They want the old national-origins quota system in which legal immigration was limited to a trickle of well-off white people who were not visibly leftist.

    But they also want their groceries stocked with inexpensive, fresh cut meat, their landscape tended and their elderly relatives well cared for in spotless facilities, requiring employment that Americans won’t take because no one wants to work anymore.

  131. 131.

    EarthWindFire

    March 17, 2024 at 1:32 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: I think the middle and lower class GOP base wants the quota system back. The donor class wants cheap labor that has to hide in the shadows. The House Republicans didn’t need Trump to tell them to stop the bipartisan border bill. There was at least a 50/50 chance they would have gotten there on their own.

    The ever-underestimated Joe Biden picked at a festering GOP wound with that bipartisan border bill. I wish more members of our base could pick up on that and appreciate it.

  132. 132.

    Regnad Kcin

    March 17, 2024 at 1:33 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: Karl Popper said it first (maybe best?) https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691210841/the-open-society-and-its-enemies

  133. 133.

    cmorenc

    March 17, 2024 at 1:34 pm

    @Redshift: There are more of us than them, in raw numbers.  The problem is whether there are more of us who will bother to vote or nor get discouraged from doing so than there are of them.

    Consider why *every* election there are news stories about heavily blue-leaning polling sites having long lines because of inadequate facilities – can you recall any news stories about long lines at red-leaning polling sites because of inadequate facilities?

  134. 134.

    PaulB

    March 17, 2024 at 1:37 pm

    @Cacti: In the entire time Garland was investigating Trump:  20 months, 0 charges.  18 months to serve a search warrant for purloined classified materials.

    Thank you for confirming what I wrote about you.

    P-a-t-h-e-t-i-c.

    Your presence here? Definitely. It’s  Pie time (3 days late).

  135. 135.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 1:39 pm

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    “I hear the baby crying.  Can you get that?  I’m gonna go out and bang a hooker.”

    So virile and manly!

  136. 136.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 1:40 pm

    @Sure Lurkalot: If only that weren’t too long for a rotating tag.

  137. 137.

    hueyplong

    March 17, 2024 at 1:43 pm

    @WaterGirl: The only person who was actually there in the room with him seems not to have considered him virile and manly, and her opinion has not changed with the passage of time.

  138. 138.

    Jackie

    March 17, 2024 at 1:44 pm

    @TBone: When Pence was hustled down the stairs by the SS, his wife was just in front of him, with his hand on her upper back.

  139. 139.

    Cliosfanboy

    March 17, 2024 at 1:46 pm

    Happy St. Patricks Day, including to my fellow Scots-Irish!

  140. 140.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 17, 2024 at 1:50 pm

    @Sure Lurkalot: Oh, that’s where ICE comes in. The smarter ones among them don’t actually want undocumented immigration to stop, they just want it to be illegal and for the people to stay persecuted and terrified, because that’s cheapest, and satisfies the cruelty boner too.

  141. 141.

    BeautifulPlumage

    March 17, 2024 at 1:52 pm

    @Cacti: ​
      gosh, now I’m curious. Did you ever email Cole? Why not?

  142. 142.

    Peke Daddy

    March 17, 2024 at 1:53 pm

    @rikyrah: Ask Jill Biden about manly vigor.

    https://youtu.be/OXo_Olpj6GE?si=UBCvNFGh85qKPsKZ

  143. 143.

    Ksmiami

    March 17, 2024 at 1:57 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: I’m not willing to live under a Republican fascist regime. So the elections become by definition – an existential battle – which is just not how a functional democracy is supposed to work.

  144. 144.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 17, 2024 at 1:57 pm

    @Cliosfanboy:

    Happy St. Patricks Day, including to my fellow Scots-Irish!

    That aspect has always given me uneasy feelings. Someone asks “Are you Irish?” Like, yeah, I am Irish… but my ancestors were probably the assholes killing your ancestors. Pass the Guinness, I guess.

  145. 145.

    Cathie from Canada

    March 17, 2024 at 1:59 pm

    When Biden said that you can’t be patriotic only when you win, I didn’t really understand it. Thanks so much for making this clearer.

    Here in Canada we also have a politician, Pierre Poilievre, stumping the country talking about how Canada is broken, a hellhole, and there’s an good chance he will actually be our next Prime Minister. And yes he also seems to think democracy shouldnt ever deny Conservatives what they want.

  146. 146.

    Chris Johnson

    March 17, 2024 at 2:00 pm

    @rikyrah quoting some fool on CNN: “Basically, there is a manly vigor on display that Biden doesn’t have?”

    For fuck’s sake. They’ve SEEN Hunter’s dong.

  147. 147.

    Timill

    March 17, 2024 at 2:02 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: Which sort of Irish…?

    “The Scots (originally Irish, but by now Scotch) were at this time inhabiting Ireland, having driven the Irish (Picts) out of Scotland; while the Picts (originally Scots) were now Irish (living in brackets) and vice versa. It is essential to keep these distinctions clearly in mind (and verce visa).”
    ― W.C. Sellar, 1066 and All That: A Memorable History of England

     

  148. 148.

    Frankensteinbeck

    March 17, 2024 at 2:08 pm

    @EarthWindFire:

    I think the middle and lower class GOP base wants the quota system back.

    They want all immigration of anyone brown stopped.  They have a childishly simplistic view of how this works, including that it all happens over the Mexican border.

    The donor class wants cheap labor that has to hide in the shadows.

    A lot of the donor class also want all immigration of anyone brown stopped.  They also have a childishly simplistic view of how this works, and end up puzzled when the cheap labor they’ve been exploiting stops.

    The House Republicans didn’t need Trump to tell them to stop the bipartisan border bill. There was at least a 50/50 chance they would have gotten there on their own.

    I agree.  First, it didn’t contain what they actually want, only what they said they wanted.  Second, shooting down their own legislation has become a hobby for the GOP.  It’s pathetic.

  149. 149.

    Captain C

    March 17, 2024 at 2:22 pm

    @rikyrah:

    @Shalimar:

    @WaterGirl:

    Also, didn’t Stormy Daniels say TiFG was weak sauce in bed?  Plus, I imagine any such ‘manly man’ numbers would be countered by losing a certain amount of the ‘got cheated on while pregnant’ demographic.

  150. 150.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 17, 2024 at 2:22 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    They have a childishly simplistic view of how this works, including that it all happens over the Mexican border.

    And that they’re all Mexican.

  151. 151.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 2:23 pm

    @Captain C:

    Even worse – got cheated on his wife was home with a new baby.

  152. 152.

    zhena gogolia

    March 17, 2024 at 2:27 pm

    @Sure Lurkalot: No, it was while Melania was pregnant that he attacked People reporter Natasha Stoynoff in their home when she came to interview him.

  153. 153.

    Melancholy Jaques

    March 17, 2024 at 2:31 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    What they likely do not know is that the national origins quota systems under the immigration acts of the 1920s did not exclude Mexicans. They just had to pay a fee.

    The panic was all about scary Asians, Jews, and southern Europeans. Think for one minute what American cuisine would be like without them!

  154. 154.

    Uncle Cosmo

    March 17, 2024 at 2:32 pm

    Just dropped $50 to Worker Power AZ via ActBlue, Match me!

    NB From what I can tell, the nearest analogue to this year’s Presidential election is 1948 – and near as I can tell Biden/Harris is following an updated Truman playbook of taking it to the nation, attacking the Do-Nothing Congress, making sure everyone knows what the stakes are, and touting everything the Democrats have done to make their lives easier. If we all do our part, I think we’ll be just fine.

  155. 155.

    West of the Cascades

    March 17, 2024 at 2:36 pm

    Just contributed $50 to Worker Power AZ via ActBlue. Mon match, s’il vous plait!?

  156. 156.

    The Lodger

    March 17, 2024 at 2:41 pm

    @rikyrah: Hastie is full of it. Although what was “on display” in the Stormy incident makes Trmp sound like a fun guy.

  157. 157.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 17, 2024 at 2:54 pm

    @Melancholy Jaques: McCarran flat out said he was concerned about “Jewish interests”. The airport in Vegas is named after him

    Edit: I guess not, they renamed it after Harry Reid!

  158. 158.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 2:54 pm

    Angel match #4 from eponymous is now complete!   And we just broke $13,000, so we get another pair of boots!

    Within the Margin of Effort – Another Match for Boots On the Ground in AZ 7

    Thanks to everyone who is helping to make this happen!

  159. 159.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 2:59 pm

    Our anonymous Angel from match #3 just volunteered to match another $1,000 of donations.  So Angel match #5 is now starting.  Matching up to $50 per person.

  160. 160.

    Ivan X

    March 17, 2024 at 3:00 pm

    (deleted)

  161. 161.

    Soprano2

    March 17, 2024 at 3:03 pm

    @Cacti: The Hunter Biden investigation started when TFG was president. I’m sure you won’t let the facts get in the way of your ire with Garland, though.

  162. 162.

    wjca

    March 17, 2024 at 3:03 pm

    @Cacti: He sure didn’t waste any time investigating Hunter Biden though.

    It is necessary to move more deliberately when you know there’s a real case and you intend to win it.  With something you know is nonsense, you can move quickly, because there’s no case to jeopardize.

  163. 163.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 3:04 pm

    @Ivan X: Something we said? :-)

  164. 164.

    MJN

    March 17, 2024 at 3:29 pm

    In for $50.  Thanks WaterGirl and all the BJ Angels!

  165. 165.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 3:45 pm

    @MJN: Thank you!

  166. 166.

    Barry A-H-S-S

    March 17, 2024 at 3:46 pm

    put in my $50, ’cause this is one going to rock!

  167. 167.

    TrainedWreck

    March 17, 2024 at 3:48 pm

    @Cacti: Ur comment @ 70, THIS!!! 💯 TY! 🇺🇸

  168. 168.

    RandyG

    March 17, 2024 at 4:15 pm

    + $50. Thanks WaterGirl and the angels!

  169. 169.

    Another Scott

    March 17, 2024 at 6:28 pm

    +$50-ish.

    Thanks WG, angels, and everyone.

    Forward!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  170. 170.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 6:32 pm

    @Another Scott:  I can’t believe it’s been over a day and no one fixed the 42 cents issue!

    edit: oh, wait!  Someone just did!  it’s now 58 cents.  Good sense of humor.

  171. 171.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 6:33 pm

    ooh, we just passed $14k, I get to put up another pair of boots!

    Within the Margin of Effort – Another Match for Boots On the Ground in AZ 3

  172. 172.

    terraformer

    March 17, 2024 at 6:44 pm

    If there are debates between Biden and the orange fella, Biden should say *these exact words* during them. I think it’d be powerful

  173. 173.

    pieceofpeace

    March 17, 2024 at 6:44 pm

    @George: Yes, I agree, especially those that are ‘covert’ narcissists.

  174. 174.

    Captain C

    March 17, 2024 at 6:52 pm

    Just dropped $50 for the cause.

  175. 175.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 8:53 pm

    @Captain C: Thank you!

  176. 176.

    WaterGirl

    March 17, 2024 at 8:54 pm

    I will check back in the morning so we can match any new donations in the comments!

Comments are closed.

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