Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

Donald Trump, welcome to your everything, everywhere, all at once.

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Washington Post’s Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

Consistently wrong since 2002

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

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

The jury literally has a bell they can ring to force Trump to show up on command. Greatest thing ever!

There is one struggling party in US right now, and it’s not the Democrats.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

It could be worse. Vance could have said “post-menopausal sows.” Waiting for that audiotape to surface.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / TGIFriday Morning Open Thread: Good Things Still Happen

TGIFriday Morning Open Thread: Good Things Still Happen

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Okay, it would be better if some of them didn’t have to happen in the first place, but this is an imperfect world. Per ABC, “NBA great Dwyane Wade launches Translatable, an online community supporting transgender youth”:

NBA great Dwyane Wade was back in South Florida on Thursday to do battle again.

The Hall of Famer spent more than 14 seasons as a guard for the Miami Heat, winning three championships, having Miami-Dade County nicknamed “Wade County,” and he still leads the franchise in everything from points and rebounds to personal fouls. But the fight he outlined Thursday at The Elevate Prize Foundation’s Make Good Famous Summit, after receiving the nonprofit’s Elevate Prize Catalyst Award, may be the most personal of all.

“We’ve done so many great things here so it wasn’t easy to leave,” Wade told The Associated Press in an interview before the award ceremony. “But the community wasn’t here for Zaya, so the community wasn’t here for us.”

Wade’s daughter, Zaya, who turns 17 next week, came out as transgender in 2020 in the midst of anti-trans legislation in Florida and other states that prompted many trans adults to flee the state. The Wade family sold their Florida home last year and moved to California.

In accepting the award, Wade shared it with Zaya and credited her with inspiring the creation of Translatable, a new online community designed to support transgender children and their families…

Elevate Prize Foundation CEO Carolina Garcìa Jayaram said that after hearing Wade’s plans, her nonprofit made a separate additional donation to Translatable, which was built with support from the Human Rights Campaign and The Trevor Project.

“Dwyane Wade and what he represents speaks to the ethos of the whole foundation,” Jayaram told the AP. “He is such a hero in the sports universe and even beyond basketball. He’s been in the social justice space almost since the very beginning of his NBA career and most people don’t know that.”…

The Elevate Prize Catalyst Award helps its winners, who have included actors Matt Damon and Michael J. Fox and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai, to amplify their philanthropic work by using the foundation’s resources and connections to inspire more donors and supporters.

Wade said his support of trans rights is a natural extension of being a parent and talked about how much he enjoys learning from Zaya in hourslong discussions at home. Jayaram said she was struck by Wade’s devotion as a parent, but also commended his decision to launch Translatable in Florida, “a place where many might feel a sense of exclusion.”…

Dr. Michelle Forcier, a clinician at FOLX Health, which provides health services for LGBTQIA+ people nationally, said creating an online community for trans youth is a specific program that would be helpful.

“Youth are all about electronic and online communication, socialization, and communities,” she said. “So if you are trying to support youth it only makes sense to be a part of how youth feel most comfortable communicating.”

That this community comes from a celebrity ally makes it more impactful, Forcier said.

“The transgender and gender-diverse community does not have the deep pockets — including financial, political, and media resources — that the anti-transgender and anti-diversity political and advocacy community has,” she said. “To have a champion who shows up for some of our most vulnerable — transgender and gender-diverse youth and the families that care for them — that would be a truly heroic act and possibly change the game entirely.”


 
Repub Stupidity / Venality, the never-ending saga…


 
October (No) Surprise:

I’m deeply skeptical: Would TFG even be able to spell the name ‘Evan Gershkovich’ correctly, assuming he could remember it? Would Putin actually (pay enough attention to) make such a promise?

Sure, Netenyahu would cut a deal with anyone who seemed to offer him a few more weeks or months in office (not in jail), but — I think this statement falls under the category of ‘Defiant noises from a flailing loser’ [or more likely his media handler].

Reader Interactions

165Comments

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Jayaram said she was struck by Wade’s devotion as a parent, but also commended his decision to launch Translatable in Florida, “a place where many might feel a sense of exclusion.”…

    A Florida arrest warrant alleging his supporting trans people for Dwayne Wade in 3… 2… 1…

  4. 4.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season will be “above normal” amid very warm ocean temperatures, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted, prompting some scientists to warn of a summer of natural disasters caused by the powerful storms.

    Hurricane season, which takes place from 1 June to 30 November this year could be an “85% chance of an above-normal season”, the federal weather agency said on Thursday.

    Reasons for the unusual season include “near-record warm ocean temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean, development of La Niña conditions in the Pacific, reduced Atlantic trade winds and less wind shear, all of which tend to favor tropical storm formation”.
    ……………………..
    Noaa predicts between 17 and 25 total named storms, with winds of 39mph or higher. Of these, eight to 13 are forecast to become hurricanes, with winds of 74mph or higher, “including four to seven major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5; with winds of 111mph or higher)”.

    How long… can… you… tread water?

  5. 5.

    lowtechcyclist

    Trump’s always promising stuff that never happens. Why doesn’t he use his pull with Putin to bring Gershkovich home now? Because he can’t. It’s easy to make promises.

  6. 6.

    brantl

    I also like that he stuck his thumb in DeathSanctifier’s eye with “the community wasn’t here for  Zaya”, too.

  8. 8.

    Soprano2

    Stupid fucking Durbin and his stupid fucking blue slips. I wish they would get rid of them, because Republicans don’t honor blue slips from Democratic senators. It’s a dumb custom, to allow one senator who seems to be butthurt because he didn’t get to pick the nominee hold it up.

  9. 9.

    Nelle

    @OzarkHillbilly: FEMA is projected to run out of money in August.  The Greenfield tornado, an EF4, destroyed all in its path in one minute.  That’s at least 153 homes gone in sixty seconds.  Yet we continue to subsidize oil companies.  Yay for climate change.

  10. 10.

    Geminid

    The mention of Netanyahu’s jail prospects reminded me that his trial on 3 corruption counts is still ongoing. A former Likud MK testified Tuesday.

    The prosecution is still working through its aporoximately 300 witnesses. The defense might even start presenting its own witnesses this summer. Whenever they’re done, the three judges will decide the cases. Then the appeals can begin.

  12. 12.

    Kay

    Nate Cohn has a good explainer up at the NYTimes on the difference between Trump’s polling with registered voters and Trump’s polling with likely voters – Trump’s edge is with unlikely voters. When they switch the screen to likely voters Biden and Trump are basically tied – Cohn didn’t write that but that is in fact true of the NYTimes polls – there’s a big gap between registered and likely. This is good news but also bad news in a way because it could be seen to validate the political media theory that  these “sporadic voters” will only come out if Trump is on the ballot – because of course Trump will be on the ballot.

  13. 13.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Spanky: ​
     

    Monte Carlo fallacy and all, but we in the Chesapeake are overdue for one to come up the Bay.

    Yeah, we’ve been lucky since Isabel (2003), but our luck won’t hold forever.

  17. 17.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    I don’t see any indication he’s going anywhere. I think US pundits are looking at the unhappiness with the hostages not being released and assuming that means Israelis want Netanyahu gone. I don’t think that’s the same issue. In the election held since 10/7 they went further Right. This seems to me wishful thinking, like the assertion that the “war council” would somehow be a moderating force. Would be nice if real, but doesn’t seem to be real.

  18. 18.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Nelle:

    Yet we continue to subsidize oil companies.

    I keep hearing this, but I never see anyone explain (or link to an explanation of) how we subsidize the oil companies.

    Not dumping this on you here and now, but it would be nice to have enough info about this at some point to be able to write my Congresspersons and say, “we need to repeal X, Y, and Z.”

  19. 19.

    Betty

    @OzarkHillbilly: As a survivor of Hurricane Maria which devastated all of Dominica in 2017, I really don’t need these constant reminders of the likely horrors to come this year.

  20. 20.

    Betty

    @Soprano2: Durbin has no business serving as Chair of the Judiciary Committee. He is not up to the task and essentially cheated when Schumer allowed him to chair two important committees. That shows you everything wrong with the way the Senate chooses to operate.

  22. 22.

    Geminid

    @Kay: I wasn’t speaking to Netanyahu’s political viability, just his criminal trial. A lot of people think it is in hiatus because of this war.

    I still expect Netanyahu to be watching the upcoming US Presidential election as a private citizen though.

    Ed. The elections held since 10/7 were local and municipal elections with low turnout. You give them more weight than any Israelis I’ve seen give them. And at the time, some noted that Likud candidates did terribly, unless they ran under a different label.

  24. 24.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Betty: Yeah. I’m sure you don’t. My youngest son lives in NOLA, they had to abandon ship for 2 weeks when they lost power after the last hurricane. (and 1/4 of their roof). I bought him a generator for the next time.

    Fingers crossed they don’t need it.

  26. 26.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Of course a white dude from Montana is gonna oppose *anything* that will be seen as benefiting a native tribal person.

    They don’t try to hide their racism in that regard.

  27. 27.

    stinger

    @OzarkHillbilly: We got so many years of enjoyment from his comedy albums and from I Spy. It can be hard to separate the talent/art from the person.

    Years ago I bought the CD set of I Spy, with Robert Culp’s voiceover commentary (recorded before the revelations, I believe). On there, Culp says that he liked Cosby but that “he was the angriest guy I ever met”. Culp seemed to be slightly mystified by that, as Cosby was already a major success through his comedy, and now had been cast as a lead on a television drama — the first for a black actor.

  28. 28.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    All I can find in pub,lic news sources is the rhetoric getting more and more radically anti Palestinian and further Right the worse the war goes. I have no earthly idea why anyone thinks this is somehow going in a centrist direction or going to land anywhere near where the Biden Administration (supposedly) is.

  29. 29.

    wjca

    Republican US Senator Steve Daines of Montana said he will oppose President Joe Biden’s pick who would have become the first Native American to serve as a federal district court judge in his home state, likely dooming her nomination.

    Well, if he wanted to increase the number of Native Americans turning out to reelect Tester, he has probably succeeded.  Might even help with some down-ballot races.

  30. 30.

    Geminid

     

     

    @Kay: Do you follow any Israeli sources? You might find a lot more diversity of opinion among them than is reported on the sources you follow

    Ed. Haaretz is a good source. Axis’s Barak Ravid concentrates on the fiplomatic side and dies not take part in the political debate directly. But he reposts other Israeli joirnalists who do, and they have a lot to say that I don’t find in American media.

  31. 31.

    TBone

    @Nelle: it’s not a current article but it’s a good place to start.  The ways in which we subsidize the industry are so pervasive, it’s almost like the industry writes its own laws 🙄

    ha ha I wish that was funny

  32. 32.

    Kay

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Protests are certainly a sign of discontent but they’re not indicative of a majority, as I was just told regarding the US protests against US policy in Gaza. That’s true – not a measure of an electoral majority. The only real indicator we have are elections, and Israelis went further Right in the election after 10/7. I don’t know if you’re reading the anti Palestinian political rhetoric from Israeli leaders but it has only ramped up since the war started – they’re further from the (stated) US position on Palestinian human and civil rights than they ever were.

  33. 33.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @stinger: It can be hard to separate the talent/art from the person.

    TBH, I usually don’t have much problem with that. It’s pretty easy for me to separate a person from the roles they play.

  35. 35.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: The way I look at this is that the campaign is just beginning and most people still aren’t paying that much attention. I do worry that those occasional voters who like TFG are more likely to come out in November, but I also know that the Biden campaign is opening a lot of campaign offices in the key states. I’ll be interested to see what kind of viewership the first debate gets if it actually happens. That’ll tell us something about how many people are actually paying attention to this stuff at this time.

  36. 36.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    I do. That’s actually where I’m getting my belief that Netanyahu isn’t going anywhere, or even if he does it won’t matter much since his replacement will be equally or more far Right. 100,000 people protesting in an urban area is one data point, that’s true, but another data point is mobs from the Israeli hard Right attacking relief trucks, and IDF soldiers standing around watching them do it. They all vote too.

  37. 37.

    satby

    @Soprano2: Nomination isn’t dead yet. From Wikipedia: January 3, 2018, to present: The lack of two positive blue slips will not necessarily preclude a circuit-court nominee from receiving a hearing unless the White House failed to consult with home-state senators. Hearings are unlikely for district court nominees without two positive blue slips.

    (Bolding mine). Tester supports her. Durbin will do what Biden and Tester want, I’m betting.

  38. 38.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: From what I’ve read it sounds like most Israelis want Bibi gone, but they also support what he’s doing in Gaza. Strange but true. They are mad that he doesn’t seem to care about the hostages, but that’s not why they want him gone – that seems to predate 10/7.

  40. 40.

    Soprano2

    @Betty: I agree, we need someone who will say “The nominee is going to have a vote in spite of the blue slip”, because it’s ridiculous to allow one senator to tank a judicial nomination. You know Republicans ignored Democratic blue slips when TFG was president.

  41. 41.

    Geminid

    @Kay: Sure they vote. And so do the citizens Ben-Gvir’s goons are beating on. Hopefully we’ll see how they all vote before the summer’s over.

  44. 44.

    TBone

    Really scraping the bottom of his barrel of thugs, oh wait, there is no bottom on that barrel!

    Trump ranted about crime in New York for most of his Bronx rally yesterday — and then welcomed rapper Sheff G, member of the same Crips gang Trump spouts off about, and who is facing time in prison after he shot at people in broad daylight and bragged about it on social media, to share the stage.

    https://crooksandliars.com/2024/05/accused-murderers-out-bail-appear-trump

  46. 46.

    Soprano2

    @satby: I hope so. It’s still dumb to allow that to hold up a qualified nominee because I believe Republicans quit honoring Democratic blue slips when TFG was president because they wanted to pack the courts. One of many reasons Biden needs to win is that we need to balance out the courts – because of McConnell holding up most all judges in the last year of Obama’s presidency TFG got over 100 more nominees than he should have had.

  47. 47.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @TBone: I’m sorry, I don’t speak emoji. Also, and I have to keep reminding my wife of this, I don’t take hints.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    @Soprano2:

    Stupid fucking Durbin and his stupid fucking blue slips. I wish they would get rid of them, because Republicans don’t honor blue slips from Democratic senators

     

    Durbin kept the Republican rule, which was blue slips were still allowed for the district court nominees. It’s fine to argue that he should dump them altogether, but a lot of people seem to think Durbin reinstated blue slips that Republicans got rid of.

  50. 50.

    TBone

    @OzarkHillbilly: 💙 I don’t take hints well either, I’m a “straight up or I’ll ignore you!” kinda gal.  But emojis are good shorthand for me when I’m tongue tied (or self censoring a huge string of expletives).

  51. 51.

    TBone

    @Soprano2: I have so many WTF moments my life is now one big WTF moment separated only by snack times.

    Insert .gif of girl repeatedly flipping the bird SO hard

  52. 52.

    Soprano2

    @Baud: I didn’t know that, McConnell was so intent on allowing TFG to pack the courts with his terrible nominees that I thought they got rid of them for all judges.

  53. 53.

    Soprano2

    @TBone: Come sit by me, after searching all the trash cans this morning because I thought my husband changed his disposable underwear sometime last night I found the unused pair from the back of the toilet in the magazine rack I mounted on the bathroom cabinet beside the toilet! I thought I was going crazy!

  54. 54.

    Baud

    @Soprano2:

    There was a lot of misinformation about it in liberal circles a couple of years ago. Not surprising to see people believe it.

  55. 55.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    Yup. It’s not just that either. The political rhetoric towards Palestinians goes further and further Right – it’s now approaching “they must cease to exist” territory. It’s the language of annihilation. That’s Israeli Right wing politicians saying what they think will be popular with the public. If there’s some kind of centrist groundswell that is going to sweep Netanyahu out of office those voters are a VERY silent “majority”.

  57. 57.

    TBone

    @Soprano2: awwww damn.  You just triggered memories of all the times my mom just flipped the bird instead of speaking to authority figures during her dementia.  It was a LOT – she’d slowly unfurl her arm to reveal her hand, then pop up her middle finger and stab it up into the air over and over… their memory might be gone, but the personality is in there, still, intact.

    ETA I’m assuming your guy hid them on purpose

  58. 58.

    OzarkHillbilly

    A real estate mogul bought her way into the New York mayor’s inner circle – and then the favors started

    An ambitious hotel developer held multiple, previously unreported fundraisers with the New York City mayor, Eric Adams, and provided benefits to several of the mayor’s longtime associates. She then scored behind-the-scenes favors and millions more in city contract dollars from his administration, a new investigation by the Guardian US, the City and Documented has found.

    That fundraiser, Weihong Hu, was previously the subject of a February investigation by this reporting partnership which unearthed allegations that Hu’s family secretly bankrolled illegal donations to Adams’s re-election campaign.

    Now a review of thousands of pages of city and business records and interviews with more than 20 sources – including Hu’s former associates and current and former government officials – demonstrates that the businesswoman went beyond suspect campaign donations: she bought her way into Adams’s inner circle and leveraged her newfound political pull with his administration.

    Not that anyone will be surprised that he’s a corrupt pos, but it’s kind of breathtaking how deep it goes and the innumerable tentacles it has.

  59. 59.

    frosty

    @stinger: We got so many years of enjoyment from his comedy albums and from I Spy. It can be hard to separate the talent/art from the person.

    As a kid, my friends and I sat in the living room listening to his albums as soon as they came out, playing Monopoly and laughing hysterically. Like the quotes above, the comedy is still funny even if you cringe at where it’s coming from. But for me, the sonofabitch ruined it. He was doing all his shit way back during I Spy.

  60. 60.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @stinger: I grew up with Cosby records that every kid memorized, watched I Spy in reruns, loved the Cosby Show though I didn’t see it very often, and have fond memories of a date where we saw Cosby perform live at Wolf Trap, which must have been some time in the 90s.

    Watching him crash and burn and seeing what a terrible person he is has been disheartening. Aren’t I allowed to enjoy all the memories of great entertainment?

  61. 61.

    TBone

    @OzarkHillbilly: State of Wisconsin just bought a huge investment in Bitcoin.  Huge like $100 million.  We’re well and truly fucked.

    My normally hopeful and defiant attitude has taken too many hits this week.  Sorry for the crappy attitude, I’ll work on it.  Usually defiance and optimism come naturally.

  62. 62.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Texas doctor who said nine-year-olds can safely give birth appointed to maternal mortality committee

    Skop serves as vice-president and director of medical affairs for the national anti-abortion research group Charlotte Lozier Institute and is a member of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She is also a plaintiff in a US supreme court lawsuit seeking to revoke the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the key abortion drug mifepristone, which she argues is “dangerous” despite years of evidence showing the drug is safe. She has authored a number of research papers that were ultimately retracted for misleading errors.

    Skop – who has called the supreme court’s overturning of Roe v Wade “a victory in the battle but not the end of the war” – has argued in favor of forcing rape and incest victims as young as nine or 10 to carry pregnancies to term. “If she is developed enough to be menstruating and become pregnant and reach sexual maturity, she can safely give birth to a baby,” Skop told the House oversight committee in 2021. Pregnancy at such a young age is shown to carry significant health risks, including pre-eclampsia and infections.

    Forget it Jake, it’s Texas.

  64. 64.

    Soprano2

    @Betty: I don’t think Democrats could stop them if Republicans didn’t want to let them, because Republicans controlled the Senate for the first two years of TFG’s term so they set the rules. I can’t blame Democrats for something they couldn’t control.

  65. 65.

    Soprano2

    @TBone: I’m honestly not sure why he did that. He never did it before, but then with this disease things are unpredictable and ever-changing.

  66. 66.

    Fake Irishman

    @Soprano2:

    This is not true. Republicans honored blue slips at the district court level in 2017-2020, but not at the appellate court level. Durbin has responded in kind and Biden has gotten numerous appeals courts picks confirmed without GOP support.

    Having said that, Danes is a jerk, as are Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS) and Ron Johnson (WI), both of whom signed off on district court picks and then blocked them.

    …. and I see Baud got there first.

  68. 68.

    Kay

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I wish they’d hurry up and indict him. God, just a disaster. Remember when the anti woke centrists all celebrated his election because it was owning the libs?  They forgot to look at if he was flagrantly, deeply corrupt (and also kind of dumb)- his punching Left was enough to promote him.

    This new type of sharp-dressing, crime-fighting Democrat — who can sound like Donald Trump when denouncing “woke” progressives while also preaching deep blue values of expanded health care, workplace diversity and childcare tax credits — has emerged at a time when his party is searching for its next generation of leaders.

    One teeny problem. He’s an incredibly corrupt liar. But at least he can “sound like Donald Trump when denouncing woke progressives” so that was enough for the centrist ninnies. He owns the libs, in other words.

  69. 69.

    Geminid

    There are some interresting Sunday Show guests this weekend, as reported in this morning’s Politico Playbook. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttegieg will appear on CBS’s Face the Nation, and he’s always good. And on NBC’s Meet the Press, Secretaries of State Brad Raffensperger (GA), Adrian Fontes (AZ) and Al Schmidt (PA) will be talking elections. Adrian Fontes seems like a talented politician with a bright future.

  71. 71.

    TBone

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: was that the old Susie Madrak blog?  I seem to remember that’s where she and I first met.  “I’m not angry, I’m from Philly.”

    ETA I see that’s not the case, maybe she also used the photo or contributed to Bitch, PhD occasionally.

  73. 73.

    RAM

    “He’s saying: vote for me or the reporter doesn’t come home.”

    Yeah, but Biden hasn’t given an interview to the NYT, which is obviously more important. Right?

  75. 75.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kay: Trump has turned the traditional calculus of likely-voter screens upside down: it used to be that likely-voter metrics made Republicans look better in polls, but now it’s the opposite; we have the likelier voters. And when Trump overperforms, it’s because he got his unlikely voters out.

  76. 76.

    TBone

    @lowtechcyclist: it’s really just a jumping off point.  There are many convoluted paths to follow to get up to speed.  Senator Sheldon Whitehouse worked on it for years

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/learn-giving-200-senate-speeches-123000301.html

    Lastly, he said the combination of shareholder pressure and legal pressure is going to bring the fossil fuel industry to the table faster than many others think. He described oil companies as “spooked” by the reality of having to present evidence of what they knew, and when they knew it, in a courtroom, as they may have to do in several pending cases nationwide.

    “… Courts over and over again in our history have been places where big ideas have been thought through because the political system was incapable of dealing with them,” Whitehouse said, mentioning the case in Oregon in which 21 young Americans are suing the federal government for depriving them of the right to a stable climate.

    Clearly, 200 speeches have not resulted in climate action at the federal level, at least not yet. But Whitehouse says his work has been successful in other ways. He compares his efforts to serving as the pilot light of an oven, keeping it ready to turn on as soon as the conditions align and “it comes time to start cooking.”

    Of course, we weren’t aware of how traitorous and captured the Supremacists Court would become back then…

  78. 78.

    Kay

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Right. Agreed. Cohn says that makes the election more volatile – I agree. Right now Biden wants “more volatile” – he needs this Trump trend to stop – he needs change.

    Nate Cohn basically has my view of the election. I don’t think it’s baked in any way – I think it will change in Biden’s direction as our base (hopefully comes home). Some of them aren’t coming – I think that’s the reality- so I’d stop focusing there. I think he still has room to grow with centrist and Right leaning D’s and union members but anyone voting on Gaza ain’t coming back.

    I would just be a lot more comfortable if it started moving our way.  I thought we’d be there by now.

  80. 80.

    Kay

    @Matt McIrvin:

    But you see how looking at those same numbers from a GOP/political media pro Trump viewpoint gets them to “the midterms and specials don’t matter because Trump wasn’t on the ballot”. Cohn basically says that. That’s the GOP/political media conventional wisdom so to Cohn all he’s doing is “showing” what he already believes.

    One of my concerns is media can make things “true”. If they continue to portray Trump as the presumptive winner that will impact the views of the idiot swing voters. They like to vote for “winners”. Biden can’t let this get baked in.

  81. 81.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    If they continue to portray Trump as the presumptive winner that will impact the views of the idiot swing voters. They like to vote for “winners”.

    Didn’t happen 2016. Most people assumed Hillary would win.

  83. 83.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud: ​
     

    I’d say 2016 was more a matter of lefties figuring that gave them a free protest vote.

  84. 84.

    Baud

    @lowtechcyclist: Wouldn’t they feel that same way now if Biden were beating Trump in the polls by the amount he should be if there were more decent people in the country?

  85. 85.

    rikyrah

    @Soprano2:

    Stupid fucking Durbin and his stupid fucking blue slips. I wish they would get rid of them, because Republicans don’t honor blue slips from Democratic senators. It’s a dumb custom, to allow one senator who seems to be butthurt because he didn’t get to pick the nominee hold it up.

    This, ICAM.

    Living in a phucking land of Delusion with that blue slip shyt.

  87. 87.

    mrmoshpotato

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Trump’s always promising stuff that never happens. Why doesn’t he use his pull with Putin to bring Gershkovich home now? Because he can’t. It’s easy to make promises. 

    Too busy sucking Putin’s ass – since 2015.

  88. 88.

    Kay

    @JWR:

    Agree. There’s lots of dissent. I think that will grow as the MILITARY strategy comes to be understood as bad or ineffective:

    The Biden administration fears Israel is disastrously squandering its opportunity for victory against Hamas, losing its best chance to eliminate the group’s hold on Gaza and threat to the Israeli people.
    Top officials are publicly calling Israel’s strategy in Gaza self-defeating and likely to open the door to Hamas’ return — a level of criticism of the Middle East ally not seen since the war began in October.

    This is a different criticism than the humanitarian critics – although the two are connected. US military leaders think the disregard for Palestinian human rights in Gaza has harmed the likelyhood of success of the Israeli war policy. I think we will see more criticism of the military strategy going foward, partly because the US wants to cover its ass on the human rights/war crimes- “it would have been great if they had done what we said”. Let the fingerpointing begin!

    Turns out the icky, “ignorant” college student hippies were right on military strategy too – this wasn’t just catastrophic for Palestinians. It’s disastrous for Israelis too.

  90. 90.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Good point. Maybe the Trumpists won’t come out because billionaires and media (I repeat myself) have already called the race for Trump.

  93. 93.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: I go out there and I’m still involved with what’s going on there. My managers are in the process of working with their lawyer to draw up paperwork to become a 50% partner with us. Of course I’ll have my attorney look at it before we sign the agreement, but I want to take them on because a) they have good ideas and have improved a lot of things there, including drawing in more business and b) I really really really need the help!

  94. 94.

    Soprano2

    @TBone: That’s possible. We’ll see what happens today. I asked the helper to try to get him to change his underwear, socks and T-shirt. She got him to change clothes on Wednesday, but I don’t think he changed those underwear. This is the damndest disease I’ve ever seen.

  95. 95.

    Soprano2

    @lowtechcyclist: That’s what I think too, they were so sure Hillary would win that they were free to show they really didn’t like “that woman” by voting for someone else.

  97. 97.

    TBone

    @Soprano2: once, while I was doing a load of laundry, my mom slipped past me and out the door down to the end of our driveway.  She always liked to greet the mailman.  That day, she did it with her pants and undies down around her ankles!

    HELLO!

  99. 99.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    I wondered. We have close friends who owned a restaurant in NY. They ended up partnering with a younger couple who then eventually bought them out so they could retire. I do a lot of those legal arrangements – succession plans with “no money down”, land contracts, that sort of thing. Deals between owners and buyers where the owner is the lender. If you do it carefully and right you can completely shut out a traditional lender (bank) and do things like set your own interest rate, which is really appealing to young people. I think rural people are more open to this because there’s a long history of land contracts/lend lease/ owner financing with farmland. You really can arrange it so everyone is protected.

  102. 102.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Geminid: ​
     

    Sure they vote. And so do the citizens Ben-Gvir’s goons are beating on. Hopefully we’ll see how they all vote before the summer’s over.

    Not sure it matters much wrt Gaza – everything I’ve heard is that the Israeli public is overwhelmingly behind this war, and they overwhelmingly believe that Gaza Palestinians are all Hamas, so they’re all fair game: all those civilian deaths aren’t really civilian, so they don’t matter.

    So they’ll keep on doing what they’re doing in Gaza until they run out of resources to do it with, with or without Bibi, is how I see it. Am I wrong about this?

  104. 104.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud: ​
     

    Wouldn’t they feel that same way now if Biden were beating Trump in the polls by the amount he should be if there were more decent people in the country?

    Yeah, but there aren’t that many of them really, it’s just that 2016 was so close that the Jill Stein voters made the difference.

    WRT centrists, they may have been ready to vote for the favorite in 2016, but then Comey upended everything.

    Fuck Comey from here to Outer Mongolia.

  105. 105.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: That’s kind of what we’re doing, I think it’s going to have a two year term. When I get the actual paperwork I’ll see more of the details but that’s the broad deal we discussed. They are really dedicated and really want to make a go of it, and I’m more than willing to let them at this point. I love that place but just can’t give it the attention it needs anymore. We still own the building and that’s not going to change, so we’ll still collect rent but we can set it how we want to. If we hadn’t owned the building, the rent the previous owner wanted would have put us out of business during Covid.

  107. 107.

    JWR

    @Kay:

    this wasn’t just catastrophic for Palestinians. It’s disastrous for Israelis too.

    Biden warned Bibi. He said don’t forget what we, the U.S., did in Iraq. But it seems that with the desert hide-away-hospital detention centers popping up all over, the lesson Bibi took from Biden’s advice was to ignore it completely.

  108. 108.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Potentially habitable planet size of Earth discovered 40 light years away

    An Australian university student has co-led the discovery of an Earth-sized, potentially habitable planet just 40 light years away. Shishir Dholakia, a PhD candidate in astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland, is part of an international team that published the discovery in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

    He described the “Eureka moment” of finding the planet, which has been named Gliese 12b. “We did the back-of-the envelope calculations,” he said. “We worked out it’s probably Earth-sized, it’s probably temperate, and that it’s really, really nearby. In the span of a day we were like, ‘Oh, we have to write this up. This is something really cool.’

    Also, at the end of the article comes this little teaser:

    A prominent US astronomer has said he is certain there’s a new planet lurking even closer to home. The ABC reported on Friday that a California Institute of Technology planetary astronomy professor, Michael Brown, said he did not see how we could have a solar system “without Planet Nine”.

    For years he has said the peculiar paths of various objects around Neptune show the gravitational pull of another planet – but no one has been able to find it.

    In a new study – not yet peer-reviewed – Brown and his team ran simulations and concluded there was a one-in-a-million chance that Planet Nine was not out there.

  110. 110.

    TBone

    In my very vivid and necessary fantasy life, I am convening an army of women: professionals, blue collar, mothers, daughters, grandmothers, all of us educated, ready, and armed to throw down! against the tide of normalization of fascism.  We do not play.  We do not try.  We just do.  No warnings, no questions asked or answered. If you’re on the Nazi side, you’re simply toast.  It’s a good fantasy.  It helps me breathe.

  111. 111.

    tam1MI

    @Kay: They never made that argument. They were too busy bellowing about “Genocide Joe” – the person who ACTUALLY DID make that argument from the beginning. One of the reasons they failed.

  112. 112.

    Another Scott

    @lowtechcyclist:

    I haven’t seen polling about the desire to continue to smash Gaza, but I found this TimesofIsrael.com story about polling in April:

    […]

    In the Kan poll, 45% said Netanyahu bears overall responsibility for what happened [ on October 6 ], while 35% put the blame on IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and the head of the Shin Bet security service, Ronen Bar. Just 3% said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is responsible.

    Regarding performance in handling the war, 68% said Netanyahu is not doing well, compared to 29% who said he is, and 3% who said they don’t know.

    Fifty-one percent in the Kan poll said that Halevi’s performance is satisfactory, while 41% said he is not functioning well in the war, and 8% said they don’t know.

    Among respondents, 22% said Halevi should resign immediately, 54% said he should resign after the war, and 12% opposed him resigning. Another 12% said they don’t know.

    [ image ]

    Regarding the chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, 38% said he should resign immediately, 42% said only after the war, 15% said they don’t know, and 5% responded that he should not go.

    Channel 12 similarly asked respondents to grade the country’s leaders on their performance during the war, scoring them from 1 to 10.

    Defense Minister Gallant and Halevi both scored 5.6, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz scored 5.3, and Netanyahu 4.2.

    Among voters who identified themselves as voting to the right, Netanyahu scored 5.4, Gallant scored 5.9, Halevi 5.6, and Gantz 4.9, the network found.

    Among those who voted center-left, Netanyahu scored 2.5 Gallant 5.2, Gantz 5.8, and Halevi 5.6.

    […]

    Lots of dissatisfaction. Bibi would seem to be on borrowed time. But voters have to actually do the work to vote the monsters out…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  114. 114.

    tam1MI

    @Baud: I hold out hope that their fringe voters are as stupid as our fringe voters.

    I saw this said on this very forum some years ago and it still holds true: “When the Far Left get angry, they stay home and pout. When the Far Right gets angry, they march out and vote. This is why the Far Right has made much more progress towards achieving their goals than the Far Left has had achieving theirs”.

    We’ve got work to do.

  117. 117.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @rikyrah: Yeah. Your kids are safer by orders of magnitude in the care of a drag queen or a trans person than in the care of a priest or pastor.

    Or a Republican politician.

  119. 119.

    rikyrah

    @Soprano2:

    @TBone: That’s possible. We’ll see what happens today. I asked the helper to try to get him to change his underwear, socks and T-shirt. She got him to change clothes on Wednesday, but I don’t think he changed those underwear. This is the damndest disease I’ve ever seen.

     

    This is one of the reasons why I suggested that the home  aid insist on doing a shower everyday. They associate shower with all new clothing, including underwear.

  121. 121.

    lowtechcyclist

    @rikyrah:

    Axios
    @axios
    Clarence Thomas attacked the Brown v. Board of Education ruling today, suggesting the Supreme Court overreached its authority in the landmark decision that banned separating schoolchildren by race.

    I Smoked BBL Drizzy
    @BlackKnight10k
    Getting the negro on the Supreme Court to send us back to Jim Crow is some nasty work

    Let’s see, they want to throw women, Blacks, immigrants, and LGBTQ persons under the bus.  Who does that leave?

    s_c’s periodic harping on how white women vote has irritated me precisely because the political and cultural chasm between the parties has gotten so huge: how can a couple share enough of the same values to live in the same house if one votes D and the other votes R? It’s not like it was 30-40 years ago when my father and stepmother routinely canceled each other’s votes.

    And since most white women live with white men, and white men overwhelmingly vote R, it defies expectation that the women those R voters live with are going to massively vote D: they’re part of the same culture, on the same side of our national chasm, otherwise they wouldn’t be living together.

    But I’ve gotta say that if white women aren’t going to wake up and vote D in this election, I’ve got to wonder what it would take.

  122. 122.

    Eunicecycle

    @Another Scott: yuck. Another reason to avoid wild game meals, which are popular where I live. Once a coworker made soup that I politely ate, but the meat was gristly and tasted odd. He later told me triumphantly that it was squirrel, which I had at one time told him didn’t care to try. I was right. I don’t care if other people want to eat it, and I am sure it can stave off starvation  but I don’t willingly eat it.

  123. 123.

    Soprano2

    @rikyrah: I’ll probably try that eventually, but it’s hard to get him to take a shower. I want to get the relationship and trust established before I ask her to try that.

    If only there were a way to get him to quit peeing all over beside the toilet……..*puts head in hands

  124. 124.

    Soprano2

    @Eunicecycle: I HATE it when people do things like that – tricking you to get you to eat something you told them you don’t want to eat. I was a picky eater when I was a kid, so I absolutely HATE it when people harp on “Why won’t you try this, if only you’d try it you’d like it”. I’m a fucking adult, if I don’t want to eat something I don’t have to eat it. I don’t understand why people get so bent out of shape if you don’t like something they like. So what? That’s why there are choices in what we eat.

  125. 125.

    Geminid

    @lowtechcyclist: I don’t think Israelis overwhelmingly see Gazans as all Hamas, because many know that’s not true. I’ve seen examples of Israelis saying “they’re all Hamas,” and I’ve seen Israelis say that’s stupid, and that Hamas is using coercion and outright killing to keep Gazans in line.

    They’re all pretty united on Hamas itself though, and few Israelis are willing to hand Gaza back over to Hamas’s control. But as a practical matter, Israel is incapable of securing and running Gaza, and they can’t get any Arab countries to help secure and manage the Gaza Strip. The Arabs are offering, but not on Israel’s terms.

    But right now, relieving the humanitarian crisis is the important thing, and that needs to be done regardless of progress towards a ceasefire or diplomatic resolution. And it certainly can’t wait for Israeli elections.

  127. 127.

    Another Scott

    @Soprano2: It’s hard.  :-(

    Be aware that there are things like condom catheters that can help in some situations. Of course, getting him to accept wearing one is probably yet another challenge. :-(

    Prepare yourself for the time when you can no longer have him at home with you. It’s not a failure on your part if that day comes sooner than you hope – it’s the progression of the disease. You cannot change that progression by trying harder – it’s out of your control. You can only do as much as you can – and no more.

    Peace and comfort to you.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  130. 130.

    Eunicecycle

    @Soprano2: he also tried it with turtle one time. But luckily another coworker clued me in, so I (again POLITELY) said I already had lunch plans.

  131. 131.

    zhena gogolia

    @rikyrah: AL did a big post with lots of pictures on that dinner in the overnight (or was it early morning?) thread.

  133. 133.

    Kay

    @tam1MI:

    I don’t think this depiction of the protestors is accurate, where all they do is bellow Genocide Joe. I’ve actually been reading a lot of the people who said the protestors were ignorant or didn’t know history and the protestors actually have a much better handle on day to day events in Gaza than their critics do. They’re not in charge of military strategy anyway – I don’t think there’s any doubt left that they were correct on the humanitarian cost. Obviously brutalizing Palestinian civilians makes more terrorists. I wouldn’t think anyone would have to tell anyone that, given US history with that.

    Leto said it a month into the conflict. He said “remember Abu Ghraib?” The fact that Palestinians are human beings should be enough, but if it’s not brutalizing them and killing 50k of them is fucking stupid anti terrorism strategy. The LAST fucking thing you want to do is kill off the women. They’re the people who will demand peace.

  135. 135.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    But right now, relieving the humanitarian crisis is the important thing, and that needs to be done regardless of progress towards a ceasefire or diplomatic resolution. And it certainly can’t wait for Israeli elections.

    We’re focused on “sanctioning” the ICC (ridiculous chest beating with pretend laws – we can’t reach their prosecutors, thank God) and punishing protestors. We’ll get to the catastrophic and daily-worsening humantiarian crisis only after we suspend the last mouthy undergraduate who dares to oppose US policy in Gaza and “sanction” the prosecutors. Priorities!

  136. 136.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @lowtechcyclist: But I’ve gotta say that if white women aren’t going to wake up and vote D in this election, I’ve got to wonder what it would take.

    If white women don’t do the right thing and vote D in November, there’s no point in “wondering”.

    There won’t be a choice anymore.

  137. 137.

    Soprano2

    @Another Scott: Thanks, I’ve said that I will never promise not to place him somewhere, because sometimes that’s necessary both for their safety and health and for the caregiver’s sanity. I think having someone come in even just three days is going to help quite a bit; I’m already noticing that on those days he seems more alert in the evenings. Not having that interaction with people is bad for them, just like it would be for us. He’s having an iron infusion treatment next Friday, I’m really hoping that will him with his energy level and stamina.

  138. 138.

    TBone

    @Another Scott: good digging!  Am too scattered by frustration to be any good at my former job today (unearthing pertinent information and evidence in a timely manner).

  139. 139.

    Kay

    @tam1MI:

    The movement the protestors are a part of is not exclusively focused on the US, and certainly not on Joe Biden’s re election. They don’t believe the US is capable of improving this situation, so they look to progress outside of the US, things like Ireland and Spain recognizing Palestine or ICC action. They believe France will be next to recognize Palestine. They look to anti apartheid as a model of how this might work and that took 50 years and the US was a follower, not a leader. It’s really inaccurate to say they’re poorly informed. They just don’t see the US as leading on this. They think the US will be last.

  140. 140.

    schrodingers_cat

    @lowtechcyclist: We are in agreement as to why white women vote R. The only difference is that you cut them slack for voting for white supremacy and patriarchy and I don’t.

    I belong to a group in India which is equivalent to white people here (the relatively privileged compared to the rest of the population) and I see many women voting among my extended family  for the BJP and its castiest patriarchy for the very same reasons. I don’t make excuses for them either. They don’t lack agency and they should be held accountable for their votes. I treat women like the adults they are. Obviously YMMV.

  141. 141.

    TBone

    @Another Scott: thank you.  I am still too traumatized by my experience with dementia to presume to offer ANY advice.  I can merely relay anecdotes in an effort to commiserate and lamely attempt to present the humorous side of the equation in an effort to laugh instead of cry.

  142. 142.

    Kay

    @tam1MI:

    You may be aware of this – I don’t know how many Christian fundamenalists you know – but one of the reason Right wing Christians support Israel is they think Israel is or will wage a war on Muslims. They say this. They see this as Judeo Christian vs the Muslim hordes. The protestors are aware of this. Now, obviously that’s not the fault of the Israeli people, this perception of the US Right wing religious – one can’t help who claims an alliance with one, but that is part of the reason the US Right supports Israel. It’s based on hatred of Muslims. That’s WHY the protestors believe the US is biased against Palestinians and cannot improve this situation. They think part of this disregard for Paelstinian lives is US animus towards Muslims. That’s why they think normie Democrats are bad liberals.

  144. 144.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    @tam1MI:

    You may be aware of this – I don’t know how many Christian fundamenalists you know – but one of the reason Right wing Christians support Israel is they think Israel is or will wage a war on Muslims. They say this. They see this as Judeo Christian vs the Muslim hordes.

     

    Please say it again.

    Please say it again for those in the bleachers.

    Which is why I find their ‘ support’ of Israel as phony as their supposed Christianity.

  146. 146.

    delurker

    @Soprano2: Just a thought here. . .

    Maybe try out a high contrast for the toilet? To that end, England has royal blue toilet seats available for those with dementia. Haven’t come across a dark colored toilet seat here, other than natural oak.

    So . . . maybe those drop in the tank sanitizers that turn the water blue? Or, I use painter’s tape on tank front showing in the space of the raised toilet seat. Have considered removable Cricut, available in royal blue, but have yet to try it.

  147. 147.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    It’s like everyone has forgotten the insane anti Muslim campaign the religious Right ran against Obama. That was their main attack – that he was a secret Muslim.

    The protestors have a longer timeline than an election cycle. They look to this history:

    The combined force of this decentralized group of American anti-apartheid activists finally pressured the U.S. Congress to pass the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, which imposed economic sanctions against South Africa until the government agreed to release Mandela and all political prisoners and entered into “good-faith negotiations” with the black majority. President Ronald Reagan vetoed the measure, but Congress overturned that veto and followed by voting for even more restrictive sanctions.

    “Finally pressured” is correct. The US did not exactly cover itself in glory leading on anti apartheid. They followed, and slow as fucking molasses. They think the US won’t be in the lead on this issue either. Now, we can disagree with them, but that’s the actual history. They’re not the people with a fantasy view of US history. They think the US wil be dragged kicking and screaming to do the right thing only after nearly everyone else does.

  148. 148.

    rikyrah

    Because, of course…..

     

    Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) posted at 8:42 PM on Thu, May 23, 2024:
    Fun Fact: The rappers Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow, who Trump had on stage, were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, including a 2020 mass shooting on Folk Nation territory that killed one person and injured five others. They are facing a long prison sentence. https://t.co/2FZWGZtaw3
    (https://x.com/acnewsitics/status/1793819802823192959?t=nx04HuX5gytSzMGDslX-pw&s=03)

  149. 149.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    My favorite moment of the Obama 2012 campaign was when a Right wing religious came up to our table and spit out that Obama is a Muslim – hands shaking, really seemed unhinged. There was a sheriff’s deputy at the event who I know well and like and he moved closer to me – his cop radar pinged “danger”.  The Right leaning Dem I was working with spit out in reply that Mitt Romney isn’t a Christian either – they don’t think Mormons are Christians. It was just a perfect circle of religious bigots, Right to Left.

  150. 150.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    If Republicans don’t take control, the religious wars among right wingers will be a silver lining.

  152. 152.

    delurker

    @delurker:

    @Soprano2: I didn’t edit original post fast enough. The painter’s tape is on the back of the toilet cover, that then shows through the space of the raised toilet seat.

  154. 154.

    Juju

    That thing about Senator Daines is just another episode of the daily programs,  “ All Republicans are Awful People “.  Unfortunately there are too many episodes in a day. I hate these stupid shows.

  155. 155.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I said it to them at the time. They say “the base didn’t come out for Romney”. I say “well the Christian base because they think Mormons worship Joseph Smith”. They know it’s true so they just mumble something. We have very few Mormons locally but for some reason we now have two Mormon dentists. Which inspired one of our Right wing judges to demand I explain why “all” the dentists are now Mormons. I said “I’m not in charge of dentists”. I like the implication that I’m in charge of everything BUT dentists.

  156. 156.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    Two year term is good. Shorter is better than longer. Ask the lawyer who is drawing it up how it will be enforced. Specifically. What happens if they breach. What would you have to do to get out of it- what steps, which court, and what that would cost. I spend a lot of time on this because I think people have this idea it’s easy to enforce a contract and it’s not.

  157. 157.

    Geminid

    @Kay: I think the Mormons noticed the tepid support the upright Romney got from political evangelical leaders, and contrasted it with the ardent support they gave the reprobrate Trump. Utah is in most elections as red as Arkansas or Wyoming, but in 2020 Utah gave Trump one of the smallest margins among states he carried.

  158. 158.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud:

    Electoral College wise, both 2016 and 2020 were close.

    But even lefties weren’t under the illusion that a protest vote would be free.  Not to mention, nobody protests against the party that’s out of power.

  159. 159.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    I saw that! I know they don’t like Trump.

    Mormon history is interesting. I read Under the Banner of Heaven and loved it. While obviously the US should not have discriminated against Mormons, I do think the US government’s intolerance of religious practices that are incompatible with the founding tenets of the US and impact non believers was wise. The Mormons had to be checked. They were destroying printing presses. They weren’t really on board with US law applying to them, as so often happens with religious fundamentalists.

  160. 160.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud: ​
     

    Maybe they have woken up and have chosen the option they prefer.

    Well, if they’ve woken up to the reality that there’s a real risk that they or someone they know will find themselves bleeding out in a hospital parking lot because nobody will treat them while they’re miscarrying, and they’re still okay with that, there’s no way to persuade them out of it.

    But it’s hard for me to believe that enough of them to show up in the polling have woken up to the extent of being aware of and okay with that possibility.

    But maybe we have different definitions of ‘woke’ with respect to this issue.

  161. 161.

    lowtechcyclist

    @schrodingers_cat: ​
     

    We are in agreement as to why white women vote R. The only difference is that you cut them slack for voting for white supremacy and patriarchy and I don’t.

    I’m not cutting them slack or blaming them. It’s just “here’s reality, welcome to it.”

    I treat women like the adults they are. Obviously YMMV.

    I treat individual women as the adults they are. We aren’t talking about individuals. We are talking about the average behavior of members of very large groups of people. In 25 years as a Census Bureau statistician, I never encountered an average that I could treat as an individual.

  162. 162.

    Citizen Alan

    @Betty: In his defense,  there are probably 3+ conservadems (Manchinema, Angus King,  tester, probably others) who don’t want blue slips gone, so Durbin might be taking the public position of supporting blue slips rather than show dissension in the ranks.

  165. 165.

    scav

    @rikyrah: I’m sure Clarence Thomas will soon add that while Brown was a step too far for the Supremes, Dred Scott was perfection.

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