Harris accepts debate invite to face off with Trump's VP pick, which may come at convention https://t.co/BvzUxVc44s
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 17, 2024
… Harris’ team told the network she would debate in-studio on Tuesday, July 23, or Tuesday, August 13, and encouraged the Trump campaign to agree to one of the dates for his eventual vice presidential pick. The Trump campaign didn’t immediately comment on the debate invite.
Trump, in an interview with TMJ4 taped from New York, said there was “a pretty good chance” he would announce his vice presidential pick at the GOP convention in Milwaukee, which begins on July 15, rather than before…
President Biden and I vowed to address injustices in marijuana policy.
Today, our Administration takes another major step forward. pic.twitter.com/GxFOFeU0DU
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) May 16, 2024
Details here:
Justice Department formally moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in historic shift https://t.co/jWJpGqw6fx
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 16, 2024
President Biden has an excellent social-media team:
https://t.co/4ZAxbEHLRr pic.twitter.com/rXDjNWFnb4
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 16, 2024
Sports updates, for the weekend:
"It's not going to stop anymore."
Simone Biles is stepping into the Olympic spotlight again and she is better prepared for the pressure. https://t.co/nx0utqfQ2c pic.twitter.com/OHEEGOcOH7
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) May 16, 2024
… [T]he road to this moment — Biles will compete for the first time in 2024 at this weekend’s U.S. Classic — has been difficult. It has required a new mindset, at times a literal mother’s touch and constant vigilance to work on herself, work she now understands has no expiration date…
Biles was in therapy before Tokyo but had paused treatment before heading overseas. With millions watching, she walked off the floor at the Ariake Gymnastics Center after one wayward vault in the women’s team final and called her family, who had remained home in Texas because of COVID-19 restrictions put in place for the games.
Nellie Biles picked up the phone and heard her daughter on the other end saying over and over through tears “Mom, I really cannot do this. I’m lost, I cannot do this.”
And so she didn’t. Biles pulled out of a handful of finals before returning to earn a bronze on the balance beam, a medal the most decorated gymnast in the history of the sport has called one of the most important of her career. As painful and frightening as the experience was, it needed to happen because it made Biles realize mental health isn’t something she could ignore.
“I couldn’t run away from it, you know,” Biles told The Associated Press. “I just owned it and said ‘Hey, this is what I’m going through. This is the help that I’m going to get.’”…
Why is she still putting herself through this? Well, that’s the biggest question of them all.
“I think everything I’ve been through, I want to push the limits,” she said. “I want to see how far I can go. I want to see what I’m still capable of so once I step away from this sport, I can truly be happy with my career and say I gave it my all.”…
A cricket World Cup is coming to NYC's suburbs, where the sport thrives among immigrant communities https://t.co/RN6WCEbop5
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 16, 2024
For those of us who know the sport mostly as a running joke in British cozy mysteries, it is reassuring to discover that the new, updated “Twenty20” games last only three hours, give or take:
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (AP) — A towering stadium boasting 34,000 seats and a precisely trimmed field of soft Kentucky bluegrass is rising in a suburban New York park that will host one of the world’s top cricket tournaments next month…
The T20 World Cup will be the first major international cricket competition in the U.S., but the centuries-old English game has been flourishing in the far-flung corners of metro New York for years, fueled by steady waves of South Asian and Caribbean immigration. Each spring, parks from the Bronx and Queens to Long Island and New Jersey come alive with recreational leagues hosting weekend competitions.
American cricket organizers hope the June competition will take the sport’s popularity to the next level, providing the kind of lasting boost across generations and cultures that soccer enjoyed when the U.S. hosted its first FIFA World Cup in 1994. On Wednesday, retired Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt, an honorary ambassador of the T20 World Cup, visited the nearly complete Eisenhower stadium, along with members of the U.S. cricket squad and former New York football and basketball greats…
Cricket is the second most-viewed sport in the world after soccer — India star Virat Kohli has 268 million Instagram followers — but it is only played by more than 200,000 Americans nationwide across more than 400 local leagues, according to USA Cricket, which oversees the men’s national cricket team.
Major League Cricket launched last year in the U.S. with six professional T20 teams, including a New York franchise that, for now, plays some games at a Dallas-area stadium also hosting World Cup matches.
Venu Pisike, the chairman of USA Cricket, believes the T20 World Cup — the first time the U.S. has competed in the tournament — will mark a turning point.
“Cricket is predominantly viewed as an expat sport, but things will look very different in the next 10, 20 years,” said Pisike. “Americans will definitely change their mindset and approach in terms of developing cricket.”
Both the Los Angeles games and the upcoming World Cup, which the U.S. is co-hosting with the West Indies, will feature a modern variant of the game known as “Twenty20” that lasts around three hours and is highlighted by aggressive batters swinging away for homerun-like “sixes.” It’s considered more approachable to casual fans than traditional formats, which can last one to five days when batters typically take a more cautious approach. Twenty20 is the format used in the hugely popular Indian Premier League…
Brazil is chosen to host soccer’s 2027 Women’s World Cup following a vote by FIFA’s 211 members https://t.co/oyW8xLhcj1
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 17, 2024
This will make a lot of people happy, even if FIFA remains, predictably, a scourge and a disgrace:
BANGKOK (AP) — Brazil will host the 2027 Women’s World Cup after a vote of FIFA’s full membership chose the South American bid over a joint proposal from Belgium, Netherlands and Germany.
The FIFA Congress on Friday voted 119-78 for Brazil in the reduced field of two candidates to host the 2027 tournament after a joint bid by the United States and Mexico was pulled late last month, and South Africa withdrew its candidacy in November.
It will be the first time the global women’s tournament, first played in 1991, is staged in South America .
Brazil was strongly favored to win since October when FIFA brokered deals for the men’s World Cups of 2030 and 2034. It left South American neighbors Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay getting just one game each of the 104 in the 2030 tournament that will be mostly co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
A key point for FIFA was clearing the way for its close ally Saudi Arabia to get the 2034 World Cup uncontested in a fast-track process. South American soccer body CONMEBOL’s agreement to take a small part of the 2030 tournament removed it from the subsequent bidding…
Baud
Don’t know if this Jasmine Crockett thing has been posted yet. reddit and video
JPL
GMA is covering Alito’s treasonous action with the flag. I’m sure Rpberts will once again bury his head in the sand.
Baud
@JPL:
IT WAS THE WIFE’S FAULT!!!
JPL
@Baud: She was just responding to a nasty neighbor’s sign by flying the flag upside down. Isn’t that how we all react to neighborhood feuds.
GMA is now covering the House hearing. ha
p.a.
Coincidentally, is her name Gini too?
ETA: Opus Dei’s official rep on the USSC, conservative Catholic Sam “Church Rules” Alito, only has two children 🤔
Baud
@JPL:
Is there any reporting on who the neighbor is or what they said or did?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@JPL: She had no choice
MagdaInBlack
@Baud: Oh my. Ms Crockett is my personal hero this week.
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Treason in defense of
slaverypetty.kalakal
@Baud:
No doubt he’ll soon be channelling his favourite legal luminary. Matthew Hopkins, and wanting her tried for witchcraft
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Some neighbor had an anti-Trump yard sign with “an obscenity.”
R-Jud
Twenty20 cricket is good fun – much easier to follow than proper cricket. I live not too far from one of England’s major cricket grounds, and have been a handful of times over the years. It has a minor league baseball vibe.
Still prefer actual baseball, tho.
Baud
@JPL:
“We investigated the incident and we couldn’t locate who
leaked the opinionhung the flag.”Baud
@Steeplejack:
Ah, and Let’s go Brandon hadn’t been invented yet. Makes sense now.
narya
@Baud: Raskin’s expression is priceless.
JPL
@Baud: The video is amazing. I had only seen a small section of it.
Suzanne
@JPL:
Alito is 74. Is he old enough to have Concerns About His Advanced Age yet?
Anne Laurie
Per the Dominican nuns in my parochial high school, back in the early 1970s, the original sin (eating the forbidden fruit) *could* have been forgiven, if only Thomas / Alito’s chosen spiritual ancestor Adam hadn’t immediately claimed ‘The woman tempted me, so I did eat!’
Mistakes happen, but blaming one’s mistakes on other people — that indicates a failed genetic Genesis experiment. Ever since then, it’s been mostly downhill, spiritually…
Matt McIrvin
@Steeplejack: Heavens forfend! I’m remembering the 15 or 20 signs saying pungent things about Hillary Clinton that one of my neighbors put all over his yard in 2016.
JPL
@Suzanne: It depends. If he is a republican, then there is no age limit.
OzarkHillbilly
@Anne Laurie: All you wimmins is temptresses.
stinger
@Baud: I want Rep. Crockett to run for nation-wide office so I can vote for her without having to move to her TX district.
Baud
@Anne Laurie:
The male editors of Genesis edited out “And I’d do it again.”
eclare
I love the woman grinning from ear to ear in the background of that photo of Joe at DQ.
Barbara
@Anne Laurie: Gotta love those nuns. No doubt they knew a thing or two about being unfairly blamed by men.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Went back and looked at the story. Oops, sorry—not an “obscenity” but an “expletive.” Dearie me! From the Times story (with photo) 🎁:
Alito’s statement:
🙅♀️🚌
Baud
@Steeplejack:
And why would an anti-Trump sign be personally insulting?
Baud
Remember, kids, respect the flag. #GOP
JPL
@Steeplejack: Whose flag was it? what a wuss Excuse my expletive.
Ken
@Baud: I read a story once that started out like Genesis, except when God asked “how did this happen”, both the man and the woman fessed up and took responsibility for their own actions. God embraces them, exclaiming “On a million planets I have slaves and worshippers — at last I have children!”
Suzanne
@JPL: On Xhitter, misogynist men are busy trying to convince women that they “hit the wall” by age 30, and they should prepare for the rest of their lives being alone with their cats, or desperately remaining in relationships with low-quality men.
Maybe we should start the discourse that male Supreme Court Justices hit the wall.
eclare
@Steeplejack:
Briefly=a few days
Suzanne
@Baud:
Maybe it read “Fuck these assholes”, with an arrow pointing to the Alito home?
That would be amazing.
Baud
@Suzanne:
As a low-quality man myself, I say cats are better companions.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
I still haven’t totally figured out Cricket despite watching a few YouTube explainer videos. I did enjoy the novels PG Wodehouse wrote about Mike and Psmith set in an upper-crusty English Public School called Wrykyn or something like that. The story starts out focused on Mike who comes from a family chockablock with cricket stars. It’s not until about halfway through that Psmith, who becomes a more enduring character in the PG Wodehouse pantheon, is introduced making it the first Psmith book. I could sort of follow the cricket but not really. My adopted son is from South Africa and it’s huge there so I should really figure it out.
Layer8Problem
@Baud: Alito no doubt has strong opinions on lèse-majesté. The dignity of the office and all that, you know. We as a nation are all diminished when the occupant of the White House is insulted, and much more so if that occupant’s a Republican.
Steeplejack
@JPL:
The flag—depicted in the gigantic photo at the top of the Times story—was “at the Alito residence on Jan. 17, 2021.”
Baud
@Suzanne:
If it didn’t, the next sign should.
Ben Cisco
@Baud: BWAHAAHAA 😆
Betty Cracker
The Alitos should thank merciful Christ that I am not their neighbor. I would build a dogshit trebuchet and pelt their house with Boston terrier turds daily!
Layer8Problem
To try to land the 2024 T20 Cricket World Cup Mayor Adams had the brainstorm of a “temporary” 34,000-seat cricket stadium dropped into Van Cortlandt Park’s Parade Ground. The neighborhood didn’t have the facilities or infrastructure to support it. Even the cricketers using the park were against it. I’m glad to see Nassau County got the venue.
lowtechcyclist
Saw this in a thread from yesterday evening:
Holy shit, that’s right next to where I grew up! I grew up in a neighborhood called Hollin Hills, just a mile or two north along Fort Hunt Road from Hollin Hall.
Earlier reporting said Alito lived in Alexandria, so I figured they meant in Alexandria, not somewhere in Fairfax County that had an Alexandria postal code.
OzarkHillbilly
@Layer8Problem: What about when the occupant of the White House is an insult?
Steeplejack
Morning Joe discussing the Alito flag thing right now.
Steeplejack
@lowtechcyclist:
Yeah, that’s a nice stretch of real estate almost all the way to Mount Vernon. Agree, not what I think of as “Alexandria.”
sdhays
@Steeplejack: “I am not responsible for the shit flying over my damn house”. People should try that argument in the Supreme Court and see how successful it is. “I’m sorry, your honor, but as Justice Alito has established, I can’t be held responsible for the Death Laser mounted on my roof randomly killing people around town.”
Sooo tired of these whiny ass shits who can’t be bothered to exercise even a modicum of discipline, let alone take responsibility for their own damn actions, in the execution of their very important, and practically unaccountable jobs.
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: I remember that Fort Hunt High School had good track team back in the day. Now I see it was converted to a Middle School in 1985.
MomSense
@Baud:
I love Raskin’s facial expressions in that video.
Did anyone see what Boebert said? It’s entered into the record even. She said that President Trump underwent testing for his cognitive dissonance.
sab
@lowtechcyclist: I generally disapprove of government officials being harrassed at home. Ohio went through that with Dr Amy Acton during covid.
On the other hand, judges have an ethical obligation to appear impartial. An an Opus Dei man really should be able to control his wife’s behavior. An upside down flag flying for a couple of weeks immediatly after the January 6 events really is beyond the pale. So yay protesters.
Barbara
@Steeplejack: People get to display political signs on their own property. It takes a mighty big ego to view that as a personal insult.
sdhays
@Betty Cracker: As long as the poop came from your roof, you wouldn’t be responsible for the consequences according to a Senior Supreme Court Justice.
eclare
@MomSense:
Dan Goldman, sitting next to Crockett, had pretty good expressions too
Layer8Problem
@OzarkHillbilly: Well that’s totally going in our direction, with Alito and the rest of Our Betters doing end-zone dances yelling “Suck it, plebes!”
Chief Oshkosh
@JPL: Yes, and very predictably, they are providing no context and are bothsiderizing so much that I can hear the whirring sound of Border spinning in his grave, and I think I’m sitting about 700 miles from that cemetery.
JPL
@sdhays: Second!
narya
@Betty Cracker: Luckily I had swallowed my coffee when I read this comment . . . also, a dogshit trebuchet + Great Danes would be an excellent combo for an Alito neighbor to have.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Suzanne:
@JPL:
Yeah, for Republicans we would call it a youthful indiscretion.
sdhays
Someone married to a federal judge and not interested in sabotaging their spouse’s career should know the ethical boundaries of their spouse’s job without needing to be “controlled”.
They’re both rotten to the core, of course. Just like Clarence and Ginny, and, quite probably, all of the Conservative Justices’ spouses.
MomSense
@Suzanne:
Did they miss that women just overwhelmingly picked running into a bear over running into a man in the woods? Now they think we will be sad about spending our lives with cats? Don’t tempt us with a good time.
Baud
Alito has a point though. I hereby oppose any move to name his neighbor to the Supreme Court.
MomSense
@eclare:
I love that guy. He has been a most excellent MoC.
Ken
First get elected dogcatcher. Then you can argue that it falls under the duties of the office, so you are totally immune from any consequences.
sdhays
@Baud: I suppose you oppose Rand Paul’s neighbor for Senate, too.
catclub
“It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Dorothy A. Winsor
@sdhays:
No kidding. My son asked me not to file for dual citizenship because he was worried it might hurt his security clearance and thus his career. So I didn’t.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊 😊 😊
TBone
Rep. Raskin is not taking this oil executive solicitation/bribery matter lying down.
https://crooksandliars.com/2024/05/jamie-raskin-hammers-trumps-quid-pro-quo
Another Scott
@lowtechcyclist: It’s interesting to follow the route on Google Street View. You see all the neighbor houses and suddenly there’s a fuzzy blob in the middle of the block over one particular lot. (Same at Zillow and the like.). Very mysterious!!
A ratty red old Corvette is in front. Maybe the neighbors don’t like his junky car on their street either.
Cheers,
Scott.
Layer8Problem
@MomSense: I was thinking “Goldman as a Master of Ceremonies; it might work”. Then the caffeine kicked in.
eclare
@MomSense:
Same.
catclub
I wonder how satellite images can be exclusive. Are other satellites forbidden to pass overhead?
rikyrah
@Baud:
She is great 👍🏾
Chief Oshkosh
@Baud:
I’ve had this experience before, where a RWNJs feel personally insulted by, essentially, news of the day. One recent memorable incident was when I was visiting an acquaintance and his head-case of a spouse went totally off about some comment Fani Willis made. “She’s calling me a racist!! How dare she! Why, I have lots of black friends!”
After the ear-splitting screaming went on for a while (at the dinner table!), I made the comment “well, maybe she doesn’t really know you…” This calmed her down a little, but I don’t think she really understood the point I was making. But thank Dog for that tender mercy.
So, on top of all the really shitty things about “conservatives,” their sense of self is so inflated, yet at the same time so very fragile, that they can’t really operate as adults in normal social settings.
TBone
More good news
https://crooksandliars.com/2024/05/reporter-spots-trump-editing-comments-his
https://www.salon.com/2024/05/15/legal-expert-may-hold-contempt-hearing-over-surrogates-circumventing-gag-order/
We’ll see who Finds Out soon.
TBone
And furthermore
https://digbysblog.net/2024/05/16/union-joe/
rikyrah
@Suzanne:
They have been saying that nonsense for over a decade. And women are like
..the cats and bear are still better than dealing with you 😂😂😂
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Kay
It’s funny how they are exactly as they appear to be. It’s not complicated at all – they appear to be low quality political hacks and they are, in fact, low quality political hacks.
We keep being told that we’re not seeing what is right in front of our eyes.
Kay
The upside down flag as distress signal has been a practice on the far Right prior to Trump,btw.
There was one in my neighborhood the day after Obama won re election. I wonder if anyone has a photo of the Alito home after that one.
Soprano2
@Baud: That’s so embarrassing for them, he can’t control his committee at all. It was funny how he is the chair of the committee but doesn’t seem to know the rules at all.
Baud
@Kay:
Gaslighting is not just for the economy.
Soprano2
@rikyrah: They overestimate how much we’d like sex with them, sometimes by a lot. LOL I love my husband, but these days it would be a lot easier if I lived by myself. I bit the bullet and hired a service yesterday. I’m going to sign the paperwork at lunch today, and they’re going to start on Monday. I’m hoping it helps both of us. It took until almost midnight last night to get him to change his filthy sweatpants and underwear. That’s one thing I want them to help with, getting him to change clothes every couple of days. I need to test his sense of smell, because I think he doesn’t have much of one anymore.
catclub
@Kay: They claim to be experts on the flag and guns. But I think the experts would say that you don’t declare a mayday lightly. Similarly an upside down flag is to indicate something along the lines of a catastrophe, rather than an unhappiness.
catclub
“I am deaf” … and we are in a _hearing_.
Soprano2
@catclub: I mean, he wanted to recognize MTG when he should have been making her leave because she violated the rule against personal insults of members!
Baud
@Soprano2:
The rest of the comment did not go the way I expected.
eclare
@Soprano2:
I really hope this service helps and gives you some relief.
Spanky
@Baud: I see I was not the only one.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Betty Cracker:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gn2RGPqe_A
YouTube is replete with how-to videos on how to build one of just about any size.
TBone
Better than a flag: how about those dick balloons? 😆
https://www.wonkette.com/p/trump-trial-day-18-99-peenballons
sab
@Soprano2: I am so glad you hired help.
Scout211
I’m still blocked from Reddit (due to someone else on my internet service) so I had to look it up. HuffPost has a transcript and the Xitter video posted of what you linked to, I think.
WTF is wrong with MTG?! Name calling and personal insults on record? Yikes!
SiubhanDuinne
@Anne Laurie:
Forbidden Fruit
prostratedragon
@Anne Laurie: You know, that makes a lot of sense.
Scout211
Good for you. I hope it helps and makes your life less stressful.
OzarkHillbilly
She’s a gaping asshole.
Another Scott
@TBone: Fake Jack Smith (7veritas4) on Twitter yesterday made the point that all these jokers who are showing up to be his advocates to the waiting press are people that he can destroy by taking away his favor.
They’re weaklings.
Cheers,
Scott.
stinger
@Baud: LOL My mind was running along the same lines. I was thinking it was the first time I’d heard “hit man” referred to as a “service”. Though I suppose that’s what it is.
frosty
@Kay: Not just the Right. For the four years that Trump was president I put every stamp on the bills I paid upside down. Managed to break the habit after Joe was inaugurated!
Kay
@catclub:
it’s so dramatic and self pitying. Please. Mrs Alito is safe as houses – her husband is one of the most powerful people in the world and still we get this WHINING as if they’re some kind of beleaguered minority.
Perfectly in keeping with our first impressions of them, btw, where he was glowering because people had the nerve to ask him questions and she dissolved into a puddle of self pity.
Me, me, me.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
Yeah, I graduated from Groveton High School, and when it and Fort Hunt High were merged back in the 1980s (as the end of the Baby Boom worked its way up past the high school age range), the combo was named West Potomac High School, IIRC.
frosty
@Soprano2:That’s good news for you. I dread your experience happening to Ms F … or me, for that matter. I’m all in favor of home health aides.
Baud
@frosty:
I think it comes from ships, where you signal distress by hanging the flag upside down. I’m not sure what they do if their flag is symmetrical.
raven
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested by Louisville Metro Police on Friday morning after trying to drive into the entrance of Valhalla Golf Club, the site of this week’s PGA Championship.
Traffic outside the golf course had been stopped after a man was struck and killed by a shuttle bus around 5 a.m. ET.
Scheffler faces charges of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic. Scheffler was released at 8:40 a.m. ET and headed to Valhalla. The assault charge is a felony; the others are misdemeanors.
Quiltingfool
@OzarkHillbilly:
Yes, and I am an agent of Satan, but only for ceremonial purposes.//lol
TBone
@Another Scott: also, they are people who can be prosecuted for violation of the gag orders, possibly. I am ever hopeful!
Baud
@raven: You don’t want to miss tee time.
Layer8Problem
@Baud: Switzerland’s shipping industry has been in a world of hurt for ages because of this.
OzarkHillbilly
Sssssshhhh… they might catch on to us.
lowtechcyclist
@rikyrah:
There’s a reason why incels are involuntarily celibate. They’re misogynistic assholes.
Hell yes, cats would be better company, and you’d be safer encountering a bear in the woods than encountering a random incel.
smith
She’s rapidly losing what status she had among the GQP elected — she was humiliated in the motion to vacate vote — so, just like her Lord and Master, she’s unravelling before our very eyes.
Mousebumples
Lol. I met Mr. Mouse in my 30s. I dated plenty of low quality men before I met them, but when I prefer the company of my friends or myself to a guy, it’s time to say, “Boy, bye.”
A woman, myself included, should not be defined by her partner – if she chooses to have one.
But… What about the poor wittle misogynist feelings? Maybe they need to figure out how to be better partners, would be my first recommendation.
raven
@Kay: Yea and the “far left” used it way before then.
Chief Oshkosh
@Soprano2: I hope the service provides you some relief. It’s easy to get overwhelmed “gradually, then suddenly.” Bringing in services really helped my mom when her husband was declining.
Quiltingfool
I kinda hoped Crockett would take off her earrings after being dissed by MTG. MTG might not know what that means, but I do. Let’s Get Ready To Rumble!
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@smith:
It’ll be interesting to see if that plays out within her highly gerrymandered district. I normally wouldn’t pay attention to that race but actually know one of the *four* Dems running in the primary to take her on.
It’s interesting that in a district like that one, there are plenty of Dems ready to go at her whereas as I observed in red, rurl Misery districts that were blood red, if not more red than hers, it was hard to find Dem candidates.
Now, whether or not any of those running in the primary against her get any money or traction is anybody’s guess. If she pulls a Boebert and underperforms significantly, that’ll suggest that her schtick is wearing thin even on your typical RWNJ voter.
Another Scott
@Soprano2: It’s a big step, but often a necessary one.
Regarding the staff – remember that sometimes people just don’t click. Don’t be afraid to say, “I’m sorry, it’s just not working out. We need to try someone else. I really appreciate your help.” It’s a hassle, but finding the right person to help who has the right personality for the particular oldster removes a huge burden. The workers in that business know.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: The last Dem to take her on made bank. May be why you see so many Dems running.
raven
@Another Scott: We just watched MaryLand on PBS passport and it’s an interesting show that deals with this issue.
Kay
@raven:
I don’t think it’s the same though. They’re just ordinary people in that protest.
The Alitos are literally some of the most powerful people in the world. It’s like upside down world – these idiot justices have managed to convince themselves they are victims. It’s offensive.
If he can’t control himself he should resign. Big babies.
raven
@Kay: I understand, I was just recalling that we used it in Operation Dewey Canyon III.
NotMax
Probably noted earlier by o9thers; was away from the computer.
He’s na-a-a-ack. Stay for the coda.
Kay
@raven:
it’s a neat picture
Ken
For the authors in our midst, another reason to aspire to greatness. The survey really needs to be extended to other genres — the Edgar Award looks perfectly functional, and immensely appropriate.
Kayla Rudbek
@Ken: I remember that one as well! Was it by Harlan Ellison?
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud:
“Bleach blonde bad built butch body.” She was just seeking clarification.
JML
@TBone: I think Loomis’ Labor grades are about right for the last few Democratic presidents. Obama had that ivory tower, white collar “do we really needs unions like we used to?” attitude floating around a lot of his administration and appointed an Education Secretary that was anti-teacher’s unions and flirted with a lot of dumb policies that would have screwed them. Clinton screwed Labor with his trade policy and partnered with the GOP to screw manufacturing (and somehow get all the blame levied on the D’s for it), and never stood up for Labor when dealing with the GOP Congress.
Carter was bad on Labor, but I might bump him up a little simply because Labor itself was in a bad way at the time and needs to bear some blame: the unions had a lot of corruption, racism, and sexism problems and had really calcified, with leadership doing a poor job of representing their workers and bringing in new members. So while Carter was bad on Labor, by the same right Labor was bad for Labor in the 70’s going into the 80’s…and were unprepared for the assault on them by Reaganite forces that nearly destroyed the Labor movement for a generation. I’d probably give Carter a D.
I’ve said for a while that Biden is the best Labor president since FDR. Plenty to back it up. I’m hoping the next move is to make dues a pre-tax deduction again. Which would be a great tax break for working people and make it easier for unions to organize and maintain membership.
Geminid
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Rep. Greene’s district is rated R+15 at least, but that’s not because of gerrymandering. The 14th CD lies in the northwest corner of Georgia, with Alabama to the west and Tennessee to the north. Because of that area’s demographic makeup, redistricters would be hard-pressed to make it anything other than a safe Republican seat
Ed. That doesn’t neccesarily mean the 14th CD is safe for Greene. A strong Republican primary challenger might knock her out, especially one with NW Georgia roots. Greene’s a carpetbagger.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Baud:
While Flowers created a lot of headlines (and has moved onto another district now taking on an incumbent Dem in the primary there), he still only got 34.1% of the vote.
And I don’t think any of the 4 candidates in the Dem primary against MTG (including the one person I know and highly respect), has the kinda political chops Flowers has to improve on that. Again, if she squeaks out a victory ala how Bobo did last time, that’ll be telling.
I spent 22 years in red, rurl Central Misery and observed such voters in their natural habitat, thus, I’m skeptical of any movement barring a significant demographic change in that district not caused by gerrymandering.
raven
@Kay: I’m listening to “May Day 1971”, a book about that week. Even though I was at the VVAW action there are many things I either forgot or never knew. Have you seen this picture of me in front of the White House? Nixon’s chopper had just landed and the crowd gave flew him the bird in unison!
RAM
I’m a lifelong resident of a small town 40 miles west of Chicago, and much to the bemusement of its residents, plans are well along to build a 24,000 seat cricket stadium here. The only cricket most of us have ever seen are background snipets during episodes of “Father Brown” or Agatha Christie mysteries on Public Television. But apparently there’s a vast underground network of cricket entusiasts just waiting to burst forth should the right conditions prevail. As I suggested, longtime residents, especially the farmers who gather over at McDonald’s for morning coffee, are a bit confused about the whole thing, but figure what the heck since it’s not their money building the place. Mostly, everyone’s waiting to see if the whole thing actually happens. If it does, it will be the biggest outside draw to the community since the Oswego Drag Raceway drew thousands of hotrodders to town on Sunday race days from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Barbara
@Soprano2: You deserve help. I hope this works out.
raven
@RAM: I lived in West Chicago with my uncle and his family until we moved to Villa Park.
raven
@RAM: I lived in West Chicago with my uncle and his family until we moved to Villa Park. My cousin snuck out his dad’s car and raced it at Oswego and they put a picture of it in the paper!! Busted.
Omnes Omnibus
@Kay: There’s been an upside down US flag flying just off I-71 between Columbus and Cincinnati for years. My understanding is that is it is on the land of Brandenburgs of Brandenburg v. Ohio.
Kay
Billionaires privately urged Columbia’s management and NYPD to attack student protestors, and Columbia and NYPD obediently followed orders from the billionaires and attacked:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/05/16/business-leaders-chat-group-eric-adams-columbia-protesters/#
So much for independent universities – they do what they’re told.
Kay
@raven:
Ha! I vaguely remember those canteens before everyone had water bottles. The water always tasted metallic.
Barbara
@Kay: They have round the clock security detail that makes them totally impervious to the kinds of harms they force the rest of us to navigate and frequently live in fear of, like gun violence and excessive use of police force. They bear no small part of responsibility for increasing polarization by normalizing gerrymandering, tolerating voter suppression efforts and equating money with speech.
They have far more power than the rest of us to change those things. It’s a sign of a true fascist that he thinks the remedy is for the rest of us to shut up and thank him for not taking any more of our rights away.
smith
@Omnes Omnibus:
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@JML:
Very salient points about Labor during the Carter years and into Reagan’s. Also too, Obama. His Education Sec pick was godawful, not DeVos godawful but nothing to truly support public education in this country the way it’s needed. His economic team, *shudders*. Reich was definitely the odd man out and it’s understandable why he bailed.
I’ve been saying that Biden’s easiest the best Dem president of my lifetime and that includes what he’s done for labor/the-labor-movement.
I hate to agree with anything Gloomis says as he’s typically a fauxgressive asshole across the board but his glowing remarks about Biden and labor are on the mark.
raven
@Kay: You cleaned them by putting pebbles in and shaking them!
Matt McIrvin
@Barbara: In my neighborhood, the liberals put up yard signs that say “Black Lives Matter” and “Love Is Love” and the conservatives put up yard signs that say “Hillary for Prison” and “A President With BALLS!”
oh, and there was the one that went “Vote Scott Brown — NOT AN INDIAN”
Kay
@Barbara:
The self pity from Alito,Thomas and Coney- Barrett are just intolerable.
They hit the “unaccountable power” jackpot and STILL they whine.
What exactly is it that these people want from us? Don’t they have enough? They also need total compliance in their neighborhoods?
Omnes Omnibus
@raven: They were green plastic by my time.
rikyrah
The only part about this tweet that I somewhat disagree with is the Haberman part. In real time, folks all across social media were calling her azz out. We could see it in real time, and she had numerous MSM folks trying to gaslight us that we didn’t understand today’s journalism. Yeah, we saw that shyt for what it was- she was a phucking Orange Menace Stenographer.
The other two…..the Alito thing is ridiculous. NOBODY knew and could report on it in real time?
But, it’s the Thomas part. There are people assigned to the Supreme Court – as their phucking job. You’re telling me that they didn’t know ANY of the shyt ProPublica exposed?
I don’t believe it. In the least. That phucking ‘ access journalism’
TBone
Celebrating the positive!
https://johnpavlovitz.com/2024/05/16/not-voting-for-joe-biden-isnt-penalizing-joe-biden/
Ken
Wait, it’s possible to build a stadium without having the taxpayers foot the cost?
Although I see their initial goals are modest: “That first phase of the project is the construction of the field itself, with the actual structures like seating and a clubhouse coming in later phases.” Does that mean they’re just going to plant lawn grass, and maybe put up a couple of pavilions for the players?
Kay
@raven:
Outdoor gear has gotten SO much better. Tents are completely fool proof to put up and actually waterproof.
Matt McIrvin
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Loomis is an actual domain expert on labor, so it’s not hard to understand why his statements on that subject would have nuance and be generally perceptive.
rikyrah
UH HUH
UH HUH
colorfullstory (@colorfullstory) posted at 5:06 AM on Fri, May 17, 2024:
It’s cool when they do it it’s a problem when we do it
When Marjorie Taylor Greene went against Congressional rules & insulted Jasmine Crockett unprovoked it was all good but when @JasForUS clapped back at miconazole nitrate the rules all of a sudden needed to be enforced https://t.co/Wtl86P1fu0
(https://x.com/colorfullstory/status/1791409994019086396?t=QHyLGUKsn-IR5Ye7Z3Ofjg&s=03)
Kay
@Omnes Omnibus:
Thats wild – I’ve never noticed it.
I personally hate all the flag variants – the Trump flag, the thin blue line flag, all of it.
Matt McIrvin
@Anne Laurie: That’s a remarkable take, given that so much religious misogyny over the past few thousand years has been motivated specifically by blaming the woman for that incident.
rikyrah
BWA HA HA AH HA HA HAA
Blue Blooded Dem-No Time 4 Stupidity![]()
![]()
(@blewis823) posted at 1:53 AM on Fri, May 17, 2024:![]()
https://t.co/OeMaZ4ZtLc
“bleach blonde, bad-built, butch body.”
This quote just healed my soul, made me complete and whole. Rep. Jasmine Felicia Crockett, I want to nominate you for a Congressional Medal of Honor. Is that a thing?
(https://x.com/blewis823/status/1791361507759939703?t=mjEFMDwXgqdwjGnUSD0YpA&s=03)
OzarkHillbilly
No, they need to be worshiped as deserving their exalted status.
rikyrah
UH HUH
UH HUH
Philip Gourevitch (@PGourevitch) posted at 7:09 PM on Thu, May 16, 2024:
It’s nuts that it has taken three and a half years for Alito’s insurrectionist Jolly Roger to be reported — especially since the article makes it clear that the neighbors who photographed it consider him a blight not just on their cul de sac but on the republic.
(https://x.com/PGourevitch/status/1791259636684775456?t=JQAnuW9H90gEnZmJ_9FA7A&s=03)
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Geminid:
https://www.facingsouth.org/2021/02/extreme-partisan-gerrymandering-sent-marjorie-taylor-greene-congress
That analysis was done prior to redistricting. According to this piece:
https://www.ajc.com/politics/marjorie-greenes-district-stretches-from-near-chattanooga-to-nw-metro-atlanta/7I4X5CRPERC4HHQEDTGPXJQUCY/
The district was tweaked most likely to isolate solidly Dem (and black) voters in Cobb County. I’m sure they think the rest of the 14th is red enough to neutralize those pesky black Dem voters.
I hadn’t thought about a primary challenge to MTG: somebody who holds the same batshit, godawful, GQP agenda but can manage to keep the inside words inside.
Kay
This is good:
https://open.substack.com/pub/donmoynihan/p/style-rule-for-radicals-dress-well?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Matt McIrvin:
I know Gloomis’s bona fides irt labor.
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
No one likes them in that neighborhood – that seems clear :)
we’ll have to give them a special luxury compound so they don’t have to see impertinent commoners
rikyrah
@Kay:
This is why we need lawsuits.
Discovery is going to be LIT!!
Matt McIrvin
@TBone: I don’t think the people considering this are really thinking of penalizing Joe Biden; they’re trying to penalize the Democratic Party and the people of the United States collectively. Whatever disasters happen in a second Trump administration will be our punishment for refusing to even consider the level of progressivism they want.
And I confess, there’s a part of me that sympathizes with that. It’s a part that has a hubristic tendency to appoint itself hanging judge over all society. That’s an error that can happen even to very progressive people; it’s just a question of what morality you’re trying to enforce.
Jackie
@Soprano2: The
perplexedOh SHIT! expression on Comer’s face… 🤣rikyrah
@Kay:
It’s like the response to Dobbs. We were just supposed to shrink away, and accept their genius in taking away body autonomy for half the American population.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Matt McIrvin:
Leftier-Than-Thous (and lord knows I sound like one some days) probably didn’t vote for Biden the first time around, they never want to take electoral responsibility for the reason you cite.
It’s why I typically chalk them up to the usual background noise in any campaign. Of course I thought that in 2000…
Kay
@rikyrah:
It’s amazing how FRAGILE they are.
Students are protesting and it’s like all hands on deck “shut it DOWN!”
What are they afraid of? My skinny, nerdy 20 year old?
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: Maybe his personal Daddy Warbucks can buy them a $500K RV like Clarence’s sugar daddy did for them.
3Sice
Clearly the MAGA-NUTS CT focus on non-existent pizza shop basements was wrong. Gates, Buffett, Sleepy Joe… OMG It was DQ all along!
jonas
@raven: The news feed on my phone this morning had a link to this story, but it cut the headline off at “Scheffer arrested for ass…”
smith
@Kay: We watched this same show with the Occupy movement just a few years back. It always somehow turns out that camping somewhere without permission is an existential threat to the nation, at least when it calls into question the authority of PTB.
Soprano2
@Baud: It was venting, I’m so tired because everything is unpredictable and takes longer than I think it will and is so frustrating. I’m going to a friend’s wedding by myself tomorrow because a) it’s in Branson and I don’t think he could do the drive there and back and b) it’s so hard to get him ready and dressed for something like that, I decided I don’t want to hassle with it. I feel sad about it, but not guilty.
Geminid
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: My understanding is that in the latest round of redistricting, Republicans raided Greene’s district to put more of their voters into Democrat Lucy McBath’s Atlanta area district. The district had plenty of Republican voters to spare.
As for a Republican challenger, I am keeping my eye on 30 year old State Senator Colton Moore. He’s a “young man in a hurry,” who at age 25 successfully primaried a Republican incumbent to win a state Representative seat.
Moore’s family owns a prosperous trucking and excavation company in the Dalton area, which explains Moore getting a Commercial Drivers Licence when he was 18. Three years later Moore won the competition for Georgia State Auctioneer. Now he describes himself as an auctioneer and cattle rancher.
A fast-talking, ambitious man. I’ll be surprised if Moore doesn’t challenge Greene in the next cycle, because right now she’s talking herself out of a job.
TBone
I am a lefty and I’m proud that we have moved the Overton window in a good direction. Pavlovitz’s focus on President Biden inspired me, and he is the most lefty-accommodating president of my lifetime near as I can tell. I haven’t given up my leftiness, but I draw the line a lot harder now when lefty people show they’re not ready to compromise for the common good. GTFOH with that bullshit, we need to have OUR priorities in order!
Soprano2
That’s what happened to me. I was managing OK until he had the kidney stone procedure then the two trips to the hospital. I decided I needed another pair of eyes on him because it’s hard to tell if he’s sick. When I ask him how he feels he always says “Ok” or “I’m fine” even if he’s winced like something hurts!
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Kay:
That’s what I think about rich people whining about taxes too. Don’t they have enough? What do they want?
OzarkHillbilly
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Don’t they have enough?
A) No.
What do they want?
A) Everything.
Soprano2
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: I know what you mean, there are Springfield-adjacent rural areas where Dems used to have a chance but now they don’t. Springfield is slowly changing – I’m hopeful that we can elect yet another Democrat to the state legislature this year, which would make 4 from Springfield there, up from one 8 years ago. As Springfield grows, it becomes slowly more liberal. Having two universities helps (Evangel doesn’t help, that’s an Assemblies school).
Soprano2
@Kay: They’re not independent from their wealthy donors. This confirms what I suspected, that they were getting pressure from wealthy donors to make the demonstrations go away. What’s so silly is they only had to wait until the middle of May and most of them would have gone away naturally.
Geminid
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: I read the first article, and while it is persuasive on the question of whether the Georgia map drawn in 2011 is gerrymandered as a whole, I did not see how Greene’s district gives a disproportionate advantage to Republicans because of gerrymandering. A neutral map would still make the 14th CD safely Republican, and if Democrats controlled the process they would have to make a very contorted district just to make it competitive. As a practical matter, Democrats would likely pack more Republicans into the 14th in order to make other districts Dem-leaning.
rikyrah
@Soprano2:
Glad you did. Make one of the things that they are required to do is a shower for your husband everyday.
I don’t know how his clothing is, but, if I can suggest. Just go out and get 20 good quality t-shirts, and sweatpants. Casual of the casual. That you won’t get upset if they get ruined. Enough for 2/day for a couple of weeks.
Ksmiami
@Spanky: my brain went there too… I mean it’s all comfort care amirite?
kalakal
In celebrating the positive I’d like to give a shout out to the Society of Florida Archivists. Just returned from the annual conference at Deerfield Beach and am enjoying. a much needed boost. A great group of people, professional, dedicated, and incredibly welcoming and supportive. Not being a ‘real’ archivist* I was somewhat nervous about attending, as it was it was the best conference I’ve attended in years.
It’s so nice to be reminded of all the good people around us
Ksmiami
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I agree with Scott Galloway on this. Some of the least patriotic people are the ones who’ve benefited the most from America.
Ksmiami
@rikyrah: he’s lucky I don’t live in that neighborhood.
Ksmiami
@Barbara: if everything goes as i predict in a worst case scenario, the justices will be lucky if we let them live. I’m serious. They have set us on a course of civil destruction and deserve the blowback.
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
Trivia:
In the comic strip, Daddy Warbucks committed suicide when FDR first was elected.
But he later got better due to popular demand.
Soprano2
@Dorothy A. Winsor: They want to pay zero taxes because they think they don’t get anything from the government worth paying for. Truly this is what they think, that the money is wasted so they don’t want to pay it.
Soprano2
@rikyrah: He already has plenty of t-shirts, but I think I do need more sweatpants. I’m also going to get him a pair of slip on sandals that don’t have a back on them for him to wear around the house, because right now he walks around in his socks a lot. I’m going to get a cheap pair to see if he’ll wear them; if he does, then I’ll get him some Nike slip ons like I have for house shoes. He still wears blue jeans sometimes when we go places, but I’m trying to get him to wear sweatpants around the house more. I think I’m going to ask them to do a shower once a week to start, because I can usually get him to take one with me on Sunday. If he cooperates with them on the one day a week I might increase it. It’s more important that he changes clothes and underwear at least every other day.
I need to donate a bunch of his larger T-shirts, sweatshirts and jeans, because he’ll never wear them again and someone could be getting some use out of them. I have so much stuff like that I need to do, I try to do one thing every day even if it’s small.
Matt McIrvin
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: What I’m actually hearing more of is people who are clear that they ARE voting for Biden because of the stakes, but aren’t happy about it at all, and don’t take well to being harangued to put a lid on it (and, in fact, will feel worse about voting for Biden the more they get hectored).
I’m fine with that. Being critical of leaders is an important part of being a citizen of a democracy and in an era of a perpetual campaign, you can’t really tell them to shut up because the campaign’s on. But I have to say, the general vibes aren’t good.
You can tell them that, in historical US President terms, Biden is probably the best we’ve ever had, but that isn’t very satisfying when you want more. They say revolutions happen in times of rising expectations.
sab
@rikyrah: I agree on the casual clothes switch also. We ( me and his nurse’s aide) were late to that realization.
My dad, who just died of dementia at 99, after a 15 year decline, was in nothing but t shirts and sweats for his last few years. The dad of my youth would have been horrified. But the hospice people in his last few years kept reminding us that he is not a small child you are training up to be a respectable adult. He is an old man who is increasingly confused and frightened, and deserves to have anxiety lessened in any way that makes him more comfortable.
sab
@Soprano2: Dad loved his slippers, and he never had any when he was younger.
sab
@Kay: We have a Trumpy neighbor across the street that we used to be friendly with. Many many times we pushed her car up her driveway when she couldn’t be bothered to shovel the snow first.
We are solid Democrats and democrats, so most elections we usually have a few yard signs out.
2020 she had her huge Trump yard sign aimed not at the street in general, but directly at our house. Kind of in an in our face way. We were surprised at the hostility. But whatever.
The last four years she has been on her own when it snows. No pushimg stuck cars by us. Also we are not hanging anything upside down in our yard. We are also still friendly to her kid.
And neither she nor we are federal judges with lifetime appointments and ethical standards to meet.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Baud! 20XX!: Keeping expectations low!
Soprano2
@sab: I look at his nice clothes and suits and it makes me so sad to realize he probably won’t wear them again. We went to the symphony last week; I had him wear a pair of nice pants and a nice pullover. Last time he kept trying to tie a tie and failing, so he finally had to go without one. He never would have done that before.
Ksmiami
@Matt McIrvin: he’s a President, not a King. If these voters want to make a difference, they need to get involved.
Steeplejack
@Soprano2:
Just the other day I saw some “gripper” socks that have treads on the bottom to avoid slipping. Maybe your husband might like those?
Highly rated example from Amazon: Pembrook gripper socks, four pairs for $20.
Miss Bianca
@Matt McIrvin: Even in my radical youth, I would not, could not, have “sympathized” with such a selfish, nihilistic world view. Funny how many self-proclaimed “Democratic Socialists” don’t seem to understand or give a shit about how either democracy or socialism actually work. Bunch of preening toxic individualists who wouldn’t know what “collective action” meant if it bit them in the collective ass.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
MAGA Left
Citizen Alan
@Dorothy A. Winsor: As a law clerk for a bankruptcy judge, I am effectively forbidden from ever publicly offering support for any politician or party. I basically quit all social media over it (which, tbf, turned out to be positive for my mental health). But the Witchfinder and his wife put up a flag to tacitly support J6. Un-fucking-believable.
sab
@Soprano2: My dad never went anywhere without wearing an oxfordcloth shirt, starched. His family dressed for dinner at the formal dining room table. Tiny boy had to wear a tie, at dinner, at home.
Citizen Alan
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
The difference between 2000 and 2016 is that Ralph Nader had a laundry list of important policy concerns in which the Dems and the Pubes were in lockstep agreement and Gore all but deliberately left space for a Green insurgency. (IIRC, the final straw that drove me to vote Nader from the comfort of Red Mississippi was when Gore came out as a strong supporter of the death penalty, which I found contemptible.) But by 2016, the Dems had already responded to the Greens by moving left on most of the issues that concerned me, but the Ruzzian assets running the Green Party didn’t care.
Citizen Alan
@Soprano2: Ah, but we’re talking about wealthy donors who probably don’t set foot on campus except for sporting events and graduation. And they didn’t want the peasants disrupting the latter event.
rikyrah
@Soprano2:
Not saying that you shouldn’t have his nice clothing. Don’t get rid of it all. Donate half.
I don’t know how you feel about laundry. But be in the mindset that he might have to change twice a day, and have enough clothes so where you aren’t pressed to always be doing laundry.
Citizen Alan
@Matt McIrvin:
My biggest complaint about the Leftists is their childish belief that the only possible outcome of a revolution in this country is a Socialist Utopia, as opposed to, say, a Christian Dominionist Theocracy backed by nukes.
What is their reason for not being happy with Biden except (a) he’s old, (b) he’s unable to perform a fucking miracle in Gaza, and (c) in a lot of areas, POTUS can’t act without the support of Congress and the House will oppose everything he even suggests? I am increasingly of the opinion that if we could just transplant Biden’s mind and soul into the body of Ryan Gosling, he would cruise to reelection in a historic landslide.
Citizen Alan
@Miss Bianca: Most of the Democratic Socialists I have known have less of an understanding about the political structure of the USA than I had at the age of 9 from watching Schoolhouse Rock. The simple fact that every law that would require money to be spent on anything must originate in the House which is currently in the hands of a party openly hostile to everything the DSA claims to want seems to be completely beyond their comprehension.
Of course, I am a Ride or Die Democrat at this point, but on the political spectrum, I would describe myself as a Social Democrat. Consequently, I consider the Democratic Socialists to be my sworn enemies.
Matt McIrvin
@Citizen Alan: Gaza is the big one–miracle or no miracle, they want arms sales to Israel to stop and don’t understand why Biden didn’t do this immediately when the reports of attacks on civilians started coming back.
Another big one is the CDC and COVID. The mainstream media all reported on this as a back-and-forth between public-health authorities who wanted stricter measures, and the public who didn’t like them. But these people all wanted the CDC to go way harder. Real lockdowns, mask mandates with teeth, longer isolation periods for sick employees, etc. They particularly feel that the shrinking and lifting of employee isolation recommendations is a shameful sop by Biden and the CDC to big business. (Just heard one say “Biden did that, not Trump.”) And I think they have a point.
And I feel like that’s a voice that just doesn’t get reported, except with the implication that someone who wants that is mentally ill.
I’ve also seen them wondering why Biden hasn’t fired DeJoy.
StringOnAStick
@rikyrah: As a young field geologist, my short, blonde female with big boobs ass made sure to always hide in the woods when I heard people approaching. Back then during weekdays it was always men it seemed and I’d had a scary previously so yes, I would much rather run into a bear than a man. A female backcountry ranger that was a friend’s friend wasn’t so lucky, she was raped repeatedly and murdered when she ran into a man by herself as she was doing her job.
StringOnAStick
@TBone: That is perfect, thanks for sharing it. I sent to my friend with the Howard grad who is currently refusing to vote for Biden.
sab
@Citizen Alan: Biden didn’t want Lebanon to blow up again. I am old enough to remember the last time. Lebanese war. Repeat could be a catastrophe that blows up the whole Middle East.
I care about Gaza.
I will remember for a long time that Israel traded peace in Lebanon for survival of Gazans. ( Peace v Gazanns)
Gaza has never had a democratic government. Israel always has. So you all (Isaelis) have repeatedly chosen this government for forty years. Cheers.
Soprano2
@Matt McIrvin: So, the forever maskers are unhappy with him. Well, forever masking was NEVER going to happen no matter who was in charge, because 90+% of the public wouldn’t stand for it.
Soprano2
@Steeplejack: Those are a good idea, I should get him some. Thanks!
Soprano2
@rikyrah: I’ve got plenty of T-shirts, I need more sweatpants and jeans that actually fit him.
Geminid
@Citizen Alan: There’s a DSA member who checks in here from time to time. I think he must be fairly committed, because last summer he mentioned that would serve as a delegate to the party’s biennial convention in Chicago.
He expressed scepticism towards the more political aspects of the organization and towards its International Committee in particular, and showed no particular animus towards the Democratic Party. I think there are other DSA members like that, but we usually hear from the loudest and most obnoxious. Especially right now, because this disastrous war in Gaza has spawned a lot of opportunistic clout-chasing.
Geminid
@Matt McIrvin: I caught a little of that debate over “premature” easing of Covid restrictions, and what I took away is that some people like government mandates for reasons above and beyond their practical utility. They want a government that tells other people what to do.
Matt McIrvin
@Geminid: I really don’t think it’s unreasonable to indefinitely extend a recommendation for COVID-infected employees to stay home from work for 10 days. I still find the lifting of the recommendation puzzling. People aren’t dying from this so often any more but permanent damage from these infections is still a thing.
Now, yes, I do know people who basically want a permanent reorganization of society along the lines of Asimov’s The Naked Sun, with all our institutions reworked to eliminate or reduce face-to-face contact between strangers, and, no, that’s not going to happen.
justinb
@p.a.:
Some people have better rhythm than others.
UncleEbeneezer
@Geminid: Speaking of DSA, Why I Just Quit The DSA by Maurice Isserman 10/23/23
Geminid
@Matt McIrvin: I was thinking not so much about health policy per se as a more statist political ideology in general. Some people like mandates for their own sake, above and beyond their necessity; I think that bias was expressed by the Covid hawks who made a big deal about the Biden administration’s scaling back of public health strictures.
Blaming the influence of big business is a “tell,” I think. It seemed to me that Democrats responded more to broader public opinion as relayed by Democratic officeholders at the local level.
The “caving to big business” narrative fits a broader political outlook though, and I suspect if I looked at the posts these Covid hawks make in other areas I’d find they are of a type. I won’t characterize them except to say it’s a good thing more pragmatic people determine Democratic party policies.