I can hardly believe Joe actually said this, but apparently he did.
— Jack E. Smith ⚖️ (@7Veritas4) March 21, 2024
First, the State of the Union, and now this. You go, Joe!
Barack Obama found campaigning energizing; apparently the same thing is true for Joe.
Totally open thread.
WaterGirl
It’s clear that Joe Biden must be reading Balloon Juice, right? :-)
Attempted Chemistry
There are maybe a handful of people who could make a better President than Biden, just as there are a handful of people who would make a worse President than Trump.
That this race is at all close is infuriating.
sdhays
And the biggest cut is the suggestion that Donnie Boy would refer to Biden as “Mr. President”. LOL.
The only thing missing is saying that “he had tears in his eyes”.
schrodingers_cat
Has Biden got any credit for the Afghanistan pull out by the people who are demanding he end the hostilities in Gaza? Asking for a friend. Or for all the student loans he has cancelled?
WaterGirl
There’s talk that Trump might pick little Marco for VP because Trump didn’t do well in the Florida primary. Does anyone even like Rubio? Or am I thinking of Ted Cruz?
Scuttlebutt says that Rubio could just move his residency to another state, and presto-change-o, there’s no longer the problem of the two candidates being from the same state.
Our founding fathers must be rolling in their graves.
cain
The Intel event with Joe Biden was pretty damn good – Joe was very impressive and it was dominated by labor. Even the Intel CEO gave the job of introducing Biden to a Navajo nation union worker. Arizona pols were crowing about the jobs that are going to be coming in in Ohio, Oregon, New Mexico, and Arizona. (that’s where all the fabs) and of course further into Germany, Ireland, and Poland (I think)
I think Intel sets a good vision about manufacturing that we need to stop depending on cheap labor markets because if something happens, we all get screwed and that there needs to be diversity in the supply chain.
Joe made a great forceful speech.
Mr. Bemused Senior
That’s the world we live in.
It’s a joy to me to see President Biden needling Trump this way. How anyone can say Biden is angry eludes me. He’s obviously having a great time.
WaterGirl
@sdhays: Oh, you’re right about the tears. I apparently unconsciously inserted the tears as I read what Biden had said.
JML
@schrodingers_cat: of course not. democratic presidents don’t get credit, only blame. The media still portrays the withdrawal from Afghanistan as a huge failure, casting it as a big demerit against Biden’s foreign policy. (They really miss their war zone coverage, where they get to wear camo, fly around the world, and sleep around on their spouses)
catclub
@schrodingers_cat: The fact that the entire foreign policy blob – which sees permanent US military deployments as the only answer to any question – has totally dropped talking about the Afghanistan withdrawal, is a total win for Biden. Also, trump never brings it up. Effectively their silence acknowledges that it was actually pretty well done. The best we can expect.
The only mention I have seen was by Marc Theissen and all his opinions are way right wing shit already.
schrodingers_cat
@JML: Forget the media. I am talking about those who are supposedly on our side lecturing us what Ds need to do to get their vote. They threaten to withold their vote if Ds don’t deliver their sparkle pony. And its always something extremely difficult or impossible. Like abolishing the police or lasting peace in the Middle East
catclub
Do they? Where? I just posted that they have gone quiet on it.
Betty
@JML: Republicans are holding hearings on the withdrawal now. Shows you how desperate they are to find an issue to use against Biden.
Sean
That originally was his line at the Gridiron dinner event and it went over well there, too. So, it looks like he may keep it around like a stump speech line.
He should make every effort to mock the very real failings of Trump. Emphasize his loserdom in every possible way.
Rand Careaga
@WaterGirl:
Seems to me he could simply rent Tommy Tuberville’s spread the other side of the state line, since the Alabama senator apparently isn’t using it.
eclare
Sorry, but open thread. I lost a friend because he came down on me for taking aspirin. I “needed to hear it.” WTF? I jammed my finger and took aspirin. I am still stunned.
Anoniminous
So Mar-a-Lago can be seized.
USA Today:
* Mitchell Epner, a longtime New York litigator who focuses on commercial and white collar issues according to the cite
frosty
@sdhays: I guess if the character can’t say “Mr. President” he also can’t say “Sir”. Too bad, it would be a perfect addition.
schrodingers_cat
@eclare: What? What’s wrong with aspirin?
eclare
@schrodingers_cat:
I have no idea. But apparently I took it wrong.
And yes, the person who said I took it wrong was a guy.
Frankensteinbeck
@eclare:
I’m sorry. What an awful experience, when you lose a friend out of nowhere for something that seems meaningless. I’ve been there. Life can be so random, both miraculously and tragically.
hueyplong
@eclare: Maybe you could consider it an unreliable friendship safely dumped outside the context of lasting harm.
eclare
@Frankensteinbeck:
Thank you. I appreciate that.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@Anoniminous: The number-cruncher in me says that Mar-a-Lago would be a bad choice for seizure, because of all the political problems with the NY Attorney General seizing a property in Florida, and the issues of its dubious valuation and almost-certain encumbrances.
The poet in me says that seizing Mar-a-Lago would be absolutely perfect justice.
eclare
@hueyplong:
That is good. Thank you.
Baud
@eclare:
He probably thinks it’s a suppository.
Baud
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
She’ll start with NY properties.
Eyeroller
@eclare: I think a lot of people (including parts of the medical community) exaggerate aspirin’s tendency to cause gastric bleeding. All NSAIDs can do that, but aspirin is the worst in that regard. But it’s not an issue for short-term use. It could also be that your (ex) friend just got vague messages that “aspirin is bad” and doesn’t really know why.
Villago Delenda Est
@Baud: Aren’t you supposed to use aspirin as birth control by holding it between you knees?
Frankensteinbeck
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
My wild speculation would be that Mar-A-Lago might be Trump’s least leveraged property, because it seems to be the one closest to his heart that he would go to extra effort to make sure is not in danger of being repossessed.
Anoniminous
@schrodingers_cat: Like any drug aspirin can cause side effects: hemorrhagic stroke, gastrointestinal bleeding, allergic reaction. The Peculiar People, needing a Hysteria-of-the-Day, have latched onto this and are having having hysterics.
Wait until they learn of the incredible dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide!
Baud
@Villago Delenda Est:
It works. Woman always run away whenever they see me doing it.
topclimber
@Betty: Gen. Milley opined that the state department didn’t move quickly enough. Also that the Pentagon wanted to keep 2,500 troops and hang onto the Bagram airbase near Kabul AFTER we withdrew.
Yes sir General. Nothing better than having a fat target in an exposed location while Vlad started a war in Europe. An unpredictable war for sure/s.
Villago Delenda Est
@Anoniminous: Overdose on dihydrogen monoxide and it will kill you.
Jackie
@WaterGirl:
There’s that little problem that being Marco would have to give up his seat as FL’s senior senator… he has four yrs left in his current term.
BUT I’m sure he’s willing to do that for his best buddy! 😂 I crack myself up!🤣
eclare
@Anoniminous:
None of that going on here. The only thing going on is that my finger still hurts.
Frankensteinbeck
@eclare:
And if everyone else seems flippant, this is the kind of situation that is surreal to people who haven’t been there. They assume it can’t be a very good friend, or that it can’t be a decent person you’re losing, because it just doesn’t make sense. The only people emotionally ready for an event like this are those who have massively unhealthy trust issues. For healthy people, this is an alien event.
But it happens, and again, I am so sorry it’s happening to you.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Villago Delenda Est: That only works for women, though,
Baud
@topclimber:
The Taliban suck but I’m not aware of Afghanistan reverting to a terrorist threat against us.
Baud
@Frankensteinbeck:
Very true.
eclare
@Frankensteinbeck:
Thank you. And yes, it’s surreal. A friend for decades, gone in the snap of fingers.
randy khan
@JML:
They weren’t even getting that by the time of the withdrawal because basically almost nobody was really covering Afghanistan. If they had been, we’d have known much more about how the war was effectively being lost because the government was a disaster.
Baud
@eclare:
I’m sorry. I’ve heard many horror stories of people who have lost loved ones to the Trump cult, but even that makes more sense than aspirin.
Jackie
@Baud: Yup.
Alce_e _ ardillo
True extroverts always do. Introverts find interactions with others exhausting and ultimately soul-crushing.
topclimber
@Baud: I believe it was ISIS and not the Taliban who killed a dozen US troops during our exit.
But leave American troops in their country like Milley wanted and you have a good chance of the Taliban coming for them.
Baud
@Alce_e _ ardillo:
To be fair, people treat me like shit.
Baud
@topclimber:
Right. The point is, we don’t have a national security interest in Afghanistan anymore. At least not more than we do in many other parts of the world.
schrodingers_cat
@eclare: Happened to me after the Orange person’s win. Although it was not instantaneous. The drift had begun since Obama won reelection.
randy khan
@Jackie:
I dunno. We already have one Senator who doesn’t live in his state. And the Constitution only requires a Senator to “be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen” “when elected.”
WaterGirl
@eclare: Obviously something bad happened, and has upset you; can you explain, because I’m pretty sure I’m missing something.
WaterGirl
@Anoniminous: Really helpful information, thank you!
Frankensteinbeck
@WaterGirl:
I’ll help. See the comment at @eclare.
A friend Eclare has known for decades just broke their friendship with no other warning over a seemingly meaningless disagreement – specifically, that Eclare was taking Aspirin. Eclare is in shock, as the tone of their posts may suggest.
WaterGirl
@Jackie: So their one neat trick might not work? That’s a shocker.
Baud
Yes. DOJ is suing Apple for monopolization. Biden has earned my vote.
oldgold
The Dow Jones is soaring today towards the 40K mark – up 344 to 39857. At some point this good economy is going to begin moving the political tide.
Hard to sell dystopian nightmares in this economy.
Baud
@oldgold:
You obviously don’t frequent reddit.
E.
@Baud: Correlation does not equal causation.
hueyplong
@WaterGirl: Well, the (former) friend had done his own research on the internet, and, with that research in hand, his internet-earned infallibility syndrome kicked in, to the detriment of silly shit like decades-old friendship.
Glad I could jackalsplain.
WaterGirl
@Frankensteinbeck: Yeah, I saw that, I guess I couldn’t comprehend how that could end in a lost friendship, which seems totally bizarre. As you have suggested.
I lost a good friend in 2018 – she didn’t like the way I reacted the day I broke my ankle. So that was it. Really is hard to comprehend.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
How did you react? That sounds painful.
Ironcity
@Anoniminous: Dihydrogen Monoxide can be fatal when inhaled in relatively small quantities. So be careful out there.
JML
@randy khan: true, but every time foreign policy comes up, if someone says anything positive about Biden’s work in that area, there’s always a ‘reminder” of his “disastrous” withdrawal. they made the decision that a) it was a failure and b) it was Biden’s fault and they’re stuck on that conclusion like goddamn glue. The fact that we’re out of there and not still pissing away lives and money means nothing.
WaterGirl
@hueyplong: It’s just bizarre, I thought I must have been missing something. No wonder eclare is kind of in shock.
You shouldn’t have taken an aspirin!
I jammed my finger and it hurt.
That was stupid, you could die!
Lighten up, I just took one aspirin.
I can’t be your friend anymore.
Hard to imagine what the progression could have been, but I guess by definition that’s the way it works when something is inexplicable.
I’m sorry, eclare.
hueyplong
@WaterGirl: The riddance, it is good.
Cacti
Joe is pretty good with the wisecracks.
Rudy never recovered from “a noun, a verb, and 9/11”.
Betty
@JML: Or that the awful mess had been going on for decades accomplishing nothing. Something they hadn’t been reporting on.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Yeah, it’s not great, especially when you’re living alone.
Henry had just had his ACL surgery 2 days before, and he had to be in the crate for 6 weeks, except to go to the bathroom, so everything was that much more complicated with a broken ankle. They wouldn’t put me in a boot and I couldn’t put any weight on my foot for 6 weeks. It was complicated.
She thought I made a bad choice about which room Henry and I would live out of when we were recovering. I can’t explain it any better than that because I don’t understand it any better than that.
JML
@eclare: it’s really sad when that happens. It’s been an issue over diverging politics for a lot of people, but I feel like it’s happening more and more over medical stuff post-pandemic. Lot more people who feel like they know best when it comes to things like vaccines, medicines, treatments, etc and that they need everyone else to validate their position by agreeing with them and following their metrics now. (I wonder, is it a response to a lost of control they felt? Doesn’t make it right, of course, but I struggle to understand why people think it’s ok to act this way)
I’m sorry your former friend revealed themselves like that to you, totally understand why you’re mourning the loss.
Baud
@JML:
It reminds me of how people blame Obama for not doing more to rescue the economy from the economic collapse and ignore the fact that he successfully saved the economy.
Nora
@Jackie: Speaking as someone who lives in Westchester County and sees the sign for the Trump Golf Club every time I drive on the Taconic, I would WELCOME James’ going after that.
Baud
@JML:
Converges with the politics stuff too. Righties feeling the loss of their privilege and the control that comes with it.
hueyplong
@Nora: Let’s not forget that Ms Carroll’s judgment could result in a conversion of one or more properties into a Chubb Resort.
Almost Retired
@Jackie: Oooh good to know. I frequently go hiking near the Trump National Golf Course near Los Angeles. Take that, please. I would happily hike near the new Letitia James Country Club.
Frankensteinbeck
@WaterGirl:
Yes. You’re left guessing, and you’ll never know because they’re not your friend anymore.
MisterForkbeard
@catclub: They still mention it as a “huge failure of Biden’s presidency”, which is wrong on a number of levels. But mostly they ignore it after flogging it as a giant disaster for a year or so, and let that “it was a big fuckup and Trump might have done better” impression linger with just occasional reinforcement.
Betty Cracker
Rubio is dumb as a stump but probably not stupid enough to resign a senate seat to be Trump’s running mate. I think he’d have to resign to claim residency elsewhere? If not, he probably would do it because he badly wants to be POTUS someday and didn’t have the juice to come close in 2016.
twbrandt
Meanwhile, the proposed merger between Trump Media and the entity created to take it public, has resulted in multiple lawsuits between Trump and his former business buddies. The merger may not take place, and Trump’s plan to get his mitts on the billions that (may) result may be in jeopardy.
Let them fight.
(Gift link above)
Josie
According to CNN, the prosecution is saying that less than 270 documents are relevant in the hush money case and have been turned over to the defense. Therefore, there is no need to delay further. The interesting part is this statement in their pleading:
“Moreover, the belated nature of the recent USAO productions is entirely a result of defendant’s own inexplicable and strategic delay in identifying perceived deficiencies in the People’s disclosures and pursuing independent means to obtain that evidence.”
Hmmm… Whatever does that mean?
Anoniminous
What Real Estate Does Trump Own in NYC Anyway?
tl;dr:
WaterGirl
@Frankensteinbeck: Pretty much.
MisterForkbeard
@Josie: I like that they’re calling it out. “Things get produced late because the Trump team is deliberately not telling us anything until the last possible minute, and they’re purposefully trying to drag this out”
hueyplong
@Josie: I read it as saying they waited until the last minute to complain so they could delay the trial’s start and, further, they had already learned the info sought via another path.
catclub
@randy khan: I thought of this also. Declare residency in DC! or some Maryland/VA suburb. then change back when the next senatorial election is coming.
Also, as a republican, vote in both places.
Bupalos
@Baud: wife and I had a mutual friend since college go nuts during the pandemic, must have gotten into Q/antivax online brainworms. Physicist and software developer. I was totally unsuspecting. I was just telling him my wife’s postcovid experience, and not to sleep on how bad it can be and maybe DO consider the vax, and he just took a sip of his beer and looked at me and said “you better shut the fuck up.” Then started shaking.
Deescalated. Meandered through a very sanitized, arm’s-length theoretical discussion of whether history unfolds through complex organic evolutions or secret planning by conspiratorial cabals. Said that was fun to get out, and we’ll surely have to get together again sometime, walked out.
Considered for weeks whether I owed it to him or his wife to try and help him. We had probably been his only significant friends. I even read a lot on how to deprogram these Q-bots. Reflecting on our past I decided no, there was always a narcissistic/selfish streak there and it had always been a bit one-way
It’s impossible to covey the shock. I feel for you here eclare, or anyone who has been through that kind of thing.
oldgold
if Trump cannot get a bond, before NY takes anything, he is going to file a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.
hueyplong
@oldgold: Not sure how a fraud judgment can be discharged in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. I kind of think maybe it can’t.
Bupalos
@oldgold: I doubt that. He’s got the narrative in place and he’ll go ahead and court the spectacle of the deep state trying to seize stuff. And hope the bureaucracy drags or beclowns itself.
Citizen Alan
@WaterGirl:
Dumb question: Can Rubio continue as FL Senator if he legally changes his residency? I mean, I know Traitor Tuberville lives in Florida but pretends to still live in Alabama, but this would involve Rubio signing something legally binding that says he’s not a Florida resident!
topclimber
@Almost Retired: Saudi’s might buy that to promote their LIV pro golf tour. I believe the prestigious Grand Slam event is held there. Or is that a different LA course?
oldgold
@hueyplong: It is not about discharging this lien, it is about buying time for the appeal and election to play out.
All of Trump’s legal maneuvering is now primarily about time.
Brachiator
I love the mockery and dismissal.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@schrodingers_cat: @eclare:
There are probably some hints of drift if eclare searches their memory. Its not just MAGA that’s a cult. Some of the “wellness” folks are not living in the same world as the rest of us. They are also super prickly about being contradicted when what they’ve read online isn’t backed by real evidence or is pointed out to be greatly exaggerated.
Old School
@hueyplong:
As I recall, the thinking is that while a bankruptcy can’t discharge the judgment, it can forestall the having to pay it piece.
It falls under the “delay, delay, delay” strategy.
Argiope
@Bupalos: I think people do sometimes just sort of lose their minds for a while. Either in a moment, like eclare’s friend seems to have done, or maybe over time, like it sounds like yours did. To me, the question is: do they realize they overstepped, and can they apologize? We’re all allowed to be assholes once in a while (at least, I hope we are). But if we don’t fix it, then WE are, in fact, the asshole. Sometimes it takes years to learn we’ve been friends with one since there was never a real conflict before that moment.
StringOnAStick
@eclare: Just for the idea of taking aspirin? Are you taking lots of it or are they now suggesting you only use willow bark (which does contain salicylic acid, but seriously?).
AlaskaReader
( yep, I’m still on it.)
The effort to force that treasonous House Speaker to bring action on Ukraine aid is ongoing.
But. When I just checked, there were no more signers yet today.
(Hopefully, the clerk just hasn’t ye updated the listing for today.)
Every single one of 213 Democrats should have signed by now.
Call and write those representatives who have not yet signed,
…and if/when you find a representative who has not yet signed,
…name them and shame them here,
…then some more of us can call them and write them also.
Remind the holdouts that the discharge petition only brings the bill to the floor,
…if someone wants to cut parts of the bill out, when the bill is on the floor is the time they have the opportunity to make their case.
If they prevent the bill from even coming to the floor, they play into the Republican plan to hold aid to Ukraine hostage for their immoral and treasonous campaign efforts
Democrats need to show solidarity in their opposition to the Republican House Speaker’s un-American gamesmanship and obstruction.
Thanks to all who are helping.
@Omnes Omnibus: @Mai Naem mobile: @ceece:
Have reported that Raul Grijalva Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Greg Casar, Summer Lee Maxwell Frost, Debbie Dingell, Rob Menendez, Mark Pocan and Ro Khanna have not yet signed.
In case you are also calling your reps, you are asking them to sign the McGovern discharge petition (house resolution 1016 to advance the bill HR 5673)
Anoniminous
According to this:
Trump has been convicted of and known to have done all of these could a Chapter 11 request be denied?
ETA – see @Citizen Alan:
zhena gogolia
I don’t know. I am tired of the world getting dumber. The New Yorker is no longer going to publish a cryptic puzzle on Sundays, which is the highlight of my Sunday. And instead of full-size puzzles five days a week, they’re only going to publish three, and the other days will be “mini-puzzles” for dumb people. Just like the New York Times.
MisterForkbeard
@Frankensteinbeck: I’ve done the “our friendship is pretty much over – I care for you but there’s a lot of nonsense here” talk a couple of times.
The thing that does it is usually the straw that breaks the camel’s back and is innocuous. I try to tell people why and not limit it to just the recent thing, but that’s also a hard conversation.
But if the friend just blows up and ghosts you (or vice versa) that’s it. No more, and you can’t really do anything about it. And it always sucks when that happens because you can’t tell if it’s you or them.
StringOnAStick
@Anoniminous: Take Bedminster, so we can get the rest of the stolen classified stuff as they try to sneak it out the back door.
JoyceH
I was thinking recently about how odd and abnormal the GOP has become recently. Abnormal in that they seem to despise completely normal things. When they criticize or mock Biden, it always seems to be for stuff that everybody does. Like – he likes ice cream. Well fercryinoutloud – who DOESN’T like ice cream? There were several days of reporting about his shoes. His shoes are Hokas. I wear Hokas. My sister wears Hokas. My two best friends wear Hokas. They’re great shoes.
Meanwhile, their idol lives in a club. A club where he gets a standing ovation for showing up for dinner. What’s normal about that?
Someone on Twitter was making up a list of the surprising things the left was getting in the national divorce. We’re getting beer. And football. And Disney. And Barbie. Now with Dobbs and IVF, we’re getting sex and motherhood! Really? “Hey, guys – do you like the idea of abstaining from sex until marriage and only having sex with one woman your entire life? If not, you must be a Democrat.”
zhena gogolia
@AlaskaReader: My rep has signed.
Citizen Alan
@hueyplong: It cannot. Fraud is specifically listed as grounds for a nondischargeability action.
MisterForkbeard
@Bupalos: I didn’t have any close friends or family hop on the Q Train, but I did have a friendship I effectively ended in 2016 because they hopped on the insane anti-hillary bandwagon. I even told him so at the time.
It was fine to dislike her, but (especially if you’re a lefty) talking about obvious crap like “kill lists” or discussions from Republican strategists on how Hillary might really actually be a Republican was just incredibly narcissistic and disingenuous.
Baud
@Anoniminous:
I think that is referring to fraud in the bankruptcy process.
JML
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: it’s true. I had a friend from college who ghosted me, dropping me as a friend on social media, etc without a word and I really didn’t understand it. Eventually I realized just how much he’d changed: moved back to the state he swore he never live in again, started up at a rural church and became very involved, and had been drifting more and more right-wing ever since 9/11. Sometimes the signs are there but you don’t notice until after they’ve cut the cord or done something explicitly dickish.
JPL
@StringOnAStick: Bedminster, trump tower and the plane, but she might need more if they are mortgaged heavily.
It would be a shame if trump felt the need to stay in FL for the summer.
Citizen Alan
@Argiope: My closest friend from college, for whom I was a groomsman at his wedding, cut me off like I’d insulted his mother in response to a Facebook post by me expressing anger and sadness over the assassination of abortion provider George Till. As in, said some harsh words about “baby-killers” and then immediately de-friended me on FB and never spoke to me again.
Argiope
@AlaskaReader: Thank you! I called Bob Latta’s (R-useless) staffer and asked him to sign on.
Almost Retired
@topclimber: I think you’re right – this year’s Grand Slam is at Trump National. There’s a series of hiking paths around and through the golf course (something the Coastal Commission required). I shall hike through with my Putin mask.
geg6
@AlaskaReader:
Sorry, can’t help. Mine, DeLuzio, intelligently signed on early. Lotsa Yinzers of Ukranian descent. He’d be an idiot not to and he is most definitely not an idiot.
Citizen Alan
Albatrossity
@WaterGirl:
For those two, that would be the State of Denial.
Argiope
@Citizen Alan: Wow. Single issue voter, I guess. Wonder if he still feels that way after Kate Cox? And if he ever looks back and wishes he had behaved differently? I think we have to practice a lot of “let go and let god/Flying Spaghetti Monster” when things like that happen. If one disagreement is enough to sink the friendship, how strong was it really? And how well-glued was the friend? It’s just so shocking and saddening to find out the hard way that it wasn’t what you thought.
Jackie
@Josie:
So, do we have a new firm trial date? 🤞🏻
AlaskaReader
Amending the list of those not yet signing onto discharge petition 9.
Raul Grijalva Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Greg Casar, Summer Lee Maxwell Frost, Debbie Dingell, Rob Menendez, Mark Pocan, Ro Khanna and Bob Latta have not yet signed.
Again, thanks goes to those who are trying.
HumboldtBlue
Kyle Rittenhouse went unarmed into a hostile Memphis University crowd and was promptly removed from the stage. That this fat little murdering fuck thinks anyone outside of the maga bubble wants to hear a fucking word he has to say is beyond me.
Roberto el oso
@Baud: the Taliban have never been exporters of terrorism outside their own borders and there’s been no indication that they intend to start doing so.
Jackie
@oldgold:
That’s a GREAT CAMPAIGN slogan for the hugely and biggly successful businessman!!! 👍🏻
Soprano2
@schrodingers_cat: How about the Palestinian activists in Michigan who are actively campaigning against Biden? I’m like Kay, I can understand why they were upset with the Biden administration but to actively campaign against him? That makes me think they are actually Republicans who never supported him at all, and are just trying to cause trouble for him, because believing TFG would be better for Gaza than Biden is crazypants.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: one of our BJ peeps publishes books of cryptic crosswords. :-)
bookworm1398
According to Pew, 80% of Republicans, 20% of Democrats and 16% of liberals disapprove of Biden handling of Afghanistan. So it doesn’t seem like the negative press coverage is really having an effect, it’s just basic partisan politics
coin operated
As far as losing friends go…
There are just times when the only option is to ghost them and let ’em go. Once they determine that Fox/OAN/Newsmax are their go-to news sources, you’re wasting your breath trying to explain yourself to them.
In the few occasions where I’ve been able to have ‘last words’ my comment to them is “I know where you get your news, and you’re just f’ing wrong”.
Soprano2
@eclare: Wow, I’m so sorry. It’s hard when something comes out of left field like that.
HumboldtBlue
Biden social media out with another quick response ad to some stupid this Trump said.
Soprano2
@oldgold: I don’t know, the injury to his narcissism if he has to file personal bankruptcy would be great. He’s always bragged that he has never filed personal bankruptcy.
Soprano2
@zhena gogolia: I’m kind of tired of it too. I had a co-worker arguing with me last week that the rule in English was to always put a comma after the date when you’re writing, even if it’s in mm/dd/yy format! I googled it and sent her the rule that shows the exception that you DON’T do it when the date is in mm/dd/yy format, but she ignored that and did it anyway. I said thank goodness it’s not my name on that mess. Just stupid, and the engineer boss let her do it that way because he doesn’t know any better.
Old School
schrodingers_cat
@Soprano2: The Orange One is not only going to be worse for Gaza, he is going to be terrible for them (and other minorities and women) right here in the United States.
Jackie
@HumboldtBlue: I hope this ad is run in all 50 states – especially red states.
The only thing missing, imo, is quick images of an empty chair at dinner tables to emphasize the loss of loved ones so many endured and endure today.
Memory Pallas
@Old School:
Can the Vice President break those ties then?
Frankensteinbeck
@Old School:
Prima donna yells “Pay attention to me!”, Take 6,544.
Geminid
@Roberto el oso: Lately, Taliban forces have been shooting across their borders with both Pakistan and Iran. I don’t know what they’re up to; maybe local commanders are freelancing or maybe the Taliban is just nuts.
MisterForkbeard
@Citizen Alan: Bonus points for the They Might Be Giants reference
Doc Sardonic
@Memory Pallas: Yes
Captain C
@MisterForkbeard:
I had a long-term friendship end this way. In this case, it was a relief, as his obnoxious::good ratio had skewed way to the former; he had basically turned into a creepy genocide-denying tankie while being a cosplay revolutionary with an obvious trust fund.
I had a friend of decades just ghost me the last three years, not returning around 3 dozen calls and ignoring me on social media. This one stung. I recently found out from mutuals that she had gotten into meth and bad company (the former being the reason she was having trouble paying rent and bills). Nothing I could do, this just sucks.
Old School
@Memory Pallas:
Yes. The Senate is currently 51-49 for the Dems (counting independents). And if Manchin just doesn’t vote rather than voting no, the Vice President may not even be needed.
The Thin Black Duke
@Old School: Dick.
trollhattan
Biden quip is hilarious, on several levels.
IDK if there can be a Peak Reno but this is at least very On Brand Reno.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzCqkEsPC0Q/
Jackie
I just saw this awesome United Steelworkers Union ad:
https://youtu.be/1pCTQxrO6A0?si=FTP_I_KsVVIBBWoT
laura
@eclare: please take time to mourn the loss of the relationship, and when you’re ready, stand up tall, pull your shoulders back and continue on in being a wonderful person who now has some space to form a new and better relationship with new and better people. I hope your finger feels better soon and gets back to work with it’s fellow digits.
mrmoshpotato
@The Thin Black Duke: Just a reminder that with the new site, we can say penis. Penis!
Soprano2
@Old School: Great way to telegraph how to block all of Biden’s nominees from now until the election. Fuck Joe Manchin.
Soprano2
@schrodingers_cat: I know, that’s why it’s so stupid and why I think they were probably Republicans to begin with.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: I bought one, but it’s too hard for me. The New Yorker ones were just right.
zhena gogolia
@HumboldtBlue: Wow, that’s powerful.
Jackie
I know, I know! Polls, smolls! But, it’s nice to see some hopefully new trending in the correct direction! Just keep reminding folks; People Vote, Polls Don’t!
Brachiator
@Old School:
WTF??!??
GOP. We will block all Biden appointments.
Manchin. I will help you.
zhena gogolia
@Soprano2: Don’t get me started on commas!
Josie
@Jackie:
No, not yet. Hearing on Monday to discuss things.
MisterForkbeard
@Old School: Look at this asshole. Ugh.
Jackie
@Brachiator: Didn’t I see something somewhere about Biden trying to convince Manchin to change his mind about retiring and re-run for his seat? I believe it was left open ended without any mention of Manchin’s response.
WaterGirl
@Jackie: I thought the ending was a little bit hokey, but I did get goosebumps, so maybe not!
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
Progressive darling Cori Bush (D- Missouri) is NOT on the list. I am not surprised. I was already planning on supporting her primary opponent and this just seals the deal.
Brachiator
@zhena gogolia:
I’m looking forward to having AI solve my puzzles for me. ;)
I hear you, but I think that there will always be places where people embrace curiosity and learning.
MisterForkbeard
@Captain C: The one really close friendship I had that ended was probably partly due to drugs. But mostly because they fell in with a bunch of faux-progressive tankies who were also all coincidentally baked off their asses on weed all the time – the weed probably made their ridiculousness worse, but really it was the social reinforcement from these other groups of idiots.
It’s very hard to push back effectively against that sort of thing.
Jackie
@Josie: 👍🏻
Looks like Monday is going to be a busy news day re TIFG’s fate in multiple venues!
I’d better load up on 🍿 and 🍷!
Matt McIrvin
@Soprano2: I’ve seen multiple people (through horrified posts mocking them on LGM) claiming Trump would be better than Biden on Palestine because Trump’s pride would keep him from letting Bibi play him for a chump. That says to me that these people actually buy Trump’s phony tough-guy act on some level. When was Trump ever not a toady to a macho authoritarian? Doing some atrocities is the easiest way in the world to impress him.
The latest, which I saw elsewhere, is a claim from Chris Hedges that the dock relief operation is a lie and Biden is preparing to help depopulate Gaza. Yeah, I know. Consider the source.
sdhays
@Almost Retired: “I shall hike through with my Putin mask.”
Is that wise? Someone might rush (okay, drive over in a golf cart) and beg you for $400+ million in exchange for some classified documents.
Brachiator
@eclare:
Really sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.
These are strange times in some ways.
sdhays
@Matt McIrvin: They always somehow neglect to grapple with the fact that it’s easy not to be “played” when you have no intention of suggesting the Israelis stop killing Palestinians.
Trump hates Muslims. One of his very first acts as President was trying to institute an actual ban on (certain types of) Muslims coming into the country. He quotes Hitler like some people quote the Bible. He is quite, quite comfortable with genocide against Palestinians, and so is his party.
Netanyahu wouldn’t need to convince him.
Jackie
@WaterGirl: Gave me goosebumps, too!
This ad being released right after Biden said no way to US Steel being sold to Japan’s Nippon Steel is inspiring!
Ishiyama
Watching Lev Parnas testify brought back memories of seeing Anthony Ulasewicz in Watergate.
Brachiator
@Roberto el oso:
Their borders appear currently to include Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan. For now.
Tenar Arha
@Jackie: That was good. It felt “homegrown” in a good way.
Matt McIrvin
@Roberto el oso: They did let al Qaeda hang out there, did they not? These things can happen by proxy.
zhena gogolia
@Jackie: Excellent.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
Was this a response to the collapse of the impeachment hearings? Seems if they can wait so long to schedule hearings, there wasn’t some major, catastrophic failing.
Ruckus
@JML:
We as a people have not seen much of large, population wide illnesses because of vaccinations done decades ago. Covid changed that. Many people alive today weren’t when we had issues with vaccinations for diseases that harmed and killed a lot of people. Two of my HS friends had iron lungs in their front rooms for their moms. How many people on this blog have seen an iron lung up close? I’d bet not many. Life 6-7 decades ago was a hell of a lot different and has gotten a hell of a lot better because of the medical segment. Treatments/vaccinations are common, and in my life time they weren’t. I know/knew 4 people with polio. Two of them had those iron lungs in their front rooms. How many here have never met anyone affected? Most I’m going to assume. (yes I know assume….)
Life today is dramatically different than in the lifetime of many still alive today, known as old farts. Medicine, diseases no one sees anymore is one of those major changes. And it isn’t totally. One of my neighbors/friends lives in a wheelchair – she’s my age and had polio at one yr old.
Brachiator
@cain:
The caution is that Intel is no longer a market leader and some cheap labor markets are also efficient labor markets.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
was Chris Hedges a respectable person at one point?
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: He was one of the many helpful members of the anti-Bush antiwar coalition who turned out to be a whackaloon. It happens.
wjca
Or perhaps ISI has some Pakistani military that they want removed with plausible deniability. Since they fund the Taliban….
catclub
@HumboldtBlue: yes!
catclub
@wjca:
or all three!
Geminid
@wjca: I don’t get that from the stories I’ve read about these incidents, maybe you’ve seen different. I don’t even know of the ISI still funds the Taliban.
Brachiator
@Ruckus:
Very true, but the greatest advance may have been due to efficient sanitation and sewer systems, along with drainage and cleanliness with respect to food production.
But vaccines are definitely part of the mix in improvement in the quality of life.
Soprano2
@zhena gogolia: I know, reading the memo she sent me was crazy-making. A comma after every date in the mm/dd/yy format, even where a pause makes no sense! She’s very much a rules person, so when I e-mailed her the exception to the rule I thought she would fix it, but nope she left it like that. Babbled at me about the Oxford comma, which has nothing to do with what she was doing.
mrmoshpotato
@HumboldtBlue: Great ad. And “Burn in Hell!” to that murderous, orange shitstain.
There’s definitely some degree of collective PTSD from 2020.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
It does indeed.
Soprano2
@Ruckus: The blockages in his heart that killed my father would be fixed with routine open heart surgery today. I wish people realized how miraculous some of modern medicine actually is.
Paul in KY
@JML: It wasn’t a 100% success, due to that effing suicide bombing. It was a great success, I think, but that tragedy did mar it a bit.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Yes, a war correspondent.
Paul in KY
@eclare: Aspirin is one of the greatest drugs ever found. Natural too! Your (former) ‘friend’ is a dipshit.
Paul in KY
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: Could be a tragedy of Grecian proportions.
Paul in KY
@Nora: I want her to get his tower in Chicago. That way I could include it in skyline shots I take.
Paul in KY
@Bupalos: The nano-viruses the ClintoBiden crime family had inserted into his bloodstream at that pizza joint he visited were acting up.
zhena gogolia
@Paul in KY: Yeah, I thought there wasn’t so much negativity around aspirin as there used to be.
Paul in KY
@coin operated: Mine would be “Wow, I guess I never really thought you were that stupid…but, here we are.”
Ksmiami
@Almost Retired: my childhood area- don’t bother with Trump national, Terranea is so much better
horatius
@Anoniminous: Well actually, It’s actually Hydrogen Hydroxide.
Ghost of Joe Liebling’s Dog
@eclare: Late to the thread, but in case you read this : I’m so sorry you’ve found yourself in this situation. Having been in the same fix with a (previously) dear friend years ago, I’ll hope that you find it hurts less over time and someday not at all.
Dog, etc.
Eyeroller
@horatius: If you want to go there, it could just as well be hydroxic acid.
Uncle Cosmo
Pray tell, how many of that maybe-handful could by any stretch of the imagination be nominated or elected in the contemporary political brouhaha?
Offense rests.
Uncle Cosmo
@Eyeroller: It’s DHMO – DiHydrogen MonOxide – as noted by Anoniminous 165 posts supra. :^p (I just provided the acronym.)
WaterGirl
News is coming fast and furious today.
“The Trump Organization must inform Ret. Judge Jones of any efforts to secure a surety bond. ”
I wonder if these additions and clarifications were spurred on by the bond deal with the Chubb guy last week? Surely the answer is yes, I think.
I guess now if Donnie tries to get the bond from Putin or Mr. Bone Saw, or Elon, the world will know who he is beholden too.
Uncle Cosmo
Whadda combo: MAGA and Micro
WaterGirl
@Uncle Cosmo: Do any of the Republican VP contenders realize that Trump will only pick someone he deems as WEAK and ENTIRELY CONTROLLABLE?
WaterGirl
Strong people choose strong partners. Strong leaders choose strong people to work along side them.
Weak people choose the way Trump does.
Betsy
@WaterGirl: Even a relatively simple broken ankle, like I semi-fortunately had, will throw the quality of your various friendships into sharp relief.
I ditched one friend and had less contact with another after various choices they made and reactions they had.
Betsy
@Old School: What a turd.
Citizen Alan
@Soprano2: What is the rule on commas after dates that are spelled out? Is it “the March 21, 2024 meeting” or “the March 21, 2024, meeting”? Word grammar check insists it was the latter so I’ve been going with that, but it still bugs me.
Timill
@Citizen Alan: “The meeting of March 21, 2024”.
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
Yes. It’s all a part of the improvement, which in my lifetime started in the first half of the previous century.
@Soprano2:
Many of us old farts have seen some of this up close and personal. I’ve seen others pass away because many of the medical things of today did not exist – in my lifetime. I’ve had cancer and had it cured. My oldest sister had cancer and passed from it, a number of years younger than I am now. All 4 of my grandparents didn’t make it to my current age. Two of them not even close. Medicine has come a dramatic way in my lifetime. I studied to be a doctor – enough years ago that it feels like a lifetime. But I was older and didn’t get to college till after being in the military during Vietnam. The time, the effort, it all caught up with me and I took a different path. Not a bad one, just one that didn’t cost me so many years. Do I regret my path? Not really. Yes I wanted to be a doctor, but we don’t always/often get what we think we want. Especially if you think big or don’t think of it early enough. Or both. Life often doesn’t give one what they want. At least that’s my experience and I’ve been to my 50th high school reunion a few years ago and have seen that I’m not the only one with expectations that didn’t get met. The people that actually did seemed to be in the minority. Or had rather low expectations.
Manyakitty
@geg6: not enough, apparently, if Summer Lee still hasn’t signed. Shame on her if true.
Manyakitty
@HumboldtBlue: hope he experiences the same when he besmirches Kent State. Vomit.