Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

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

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

The willow is too close to the house.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Thursday Afternoon Please Share the News Open Thread

Thursday Afternoon Please Share the News Open Thread

by | 187 Comments

This post is in: 

First time I have opened the computer all day, so I haven’t seen the news at all. My company is here until tomorrow morning, and I have been busy doing company things.

Also, my glasses broke last night, so all I have are my TV glasses, which are just cheaters at 1.50 magnification, so I am mostly squinting and hoping that I am typing actual words.

Help me out and share the news from yesterday and today so I don’t feel totally out of it?

A few friends are joining us for dessert after dinner – a little birthday celebration with awesome farmer’s market strawberries, shortcake that I am going to make, and of course real whipped cream.

Totally open thread!

Reader Interactions

187Comments

  4. 4.

    trollhattan

    This is downstairs also, too–Biden and Zelensky sign 10-year security pact @ G7 summit.

    Biden and Zelensky just signed a vital 10-year security pact at the G7 summit.
    So let’s take a look at what is in it.
    The agreement is being billed as a precursor to Ukraine eventually joining NATO, with the US affirming its support of this eventual outcome.
    The agreement states that in the event of an armed attack against Ukraine, the US and Ukraine will meet within 24 hours to discuss a response. It does not commit the US to sending forces to defend Ukraine.
    It states that the US will support Ukraine in developing its military force through training, joint planning, and cybersecurity efforts. The US will also help Ukraine to seek compensation for the damage caused by Russia.
    White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters en route to the conference the agreement aimed to show US support “will last long into the future and pledging continued cooperation, particularly in the defense and security space,” according to the New York Times.
    The White House has released the full agreement., external
    Zelensky also signed a bilateral agreement with Japan at the G7.

    Locally, Sacramento region rents dropped 8% last year. Good for renters, so-so for landlords, maybe bad for developers planning apartment construction projects during a time we’re backfilling a vast unmet market demand.

    ETA I buy cheaters @ Costco in the handy three-pack, then scatter about the house.

  8. 8.

    Baud

    If you really haven’t seen the news, your mifeprestone is safe for now, so party hard.

  10. 10.

    Lapassionara

    News about Jimmy Carter was trending when I opened my laptop, but it was just a “he’s sleeping a lot” kind of message.

    oh, and TCFG let his freak flag fly at his meeting at the Capitol, which will be reported as “Trump warmly received by Republicans.”

  11. 11.

    RaflW

    The four leftish parties in France today made a pact to govern together if they win. I gather this was not at all what Macron expected, but could be a path to France not having Marine LePen in a coalition gov’t after the (seemingly stupidly called) French elections.

  13. 13.

    Baud

    @RaflW:

    The four leftish parties in France today made a pact to govern together if they win

     
    Wouldn’t that rupture the space time continuum?

  19. 19.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    In Athens, Greece, it hit 104 degrees Fahrenheit. I was out in it. It was still too damned hot at quarter of ten in the evening. Who’s saying that global warming is a hoax, again?

    (And yes, my brain still works in Fahrenheit degrees even after all these years. Meters and kilometers and liters and kilograms I understand just fine, but my brain never calibrated itself to the Celsius scale.)

  20. 20.

    Anyway

    @trollhattan: [Fetterman’s driving shenanigans]

    yeah I was surprised too.  Says his staff try not to contact him when’s on the road as he’s known to read texts while driving. Bad.

  23. 23.

    Baud

    Copy paste from Reddit

    Donald Trump on Thursday brought up the idea of imposing an “all tariff policy” that would ultimately enable the U.S. to get rid of the income tax, sources in a private meeting with the Republican presidential candidate told CNBC.

  30. 30.

    RaflW

    @Baud: Paul Krugman said the average tariff would have to be 133% to replace all the revenue from income tax.

    Inflationary, much?

  32. 32.

    Trivia Man

    @Anyway: Of course he moved right unexpectedly- no wonder he’s doing damage.

    Fix had some kind of headline a few weeks back “Fetterman became more conservative after his brain damage”

  34. 34.

    Lapassionara

    @RaflW: he supposedly said it’s a horrible city. They are evidently making plans to have him appear on a screen, so he can stay at Mar-a-lago.

  39. 39.

    RaflW

    @Lapassionara: Saw the normally not-terrible Philip Bump try to run cover for Trump today on Bsky.

    @pbump.com
    If the reported Trump disparagement of Milwaukee wasn’t centered on how it reported vote totals in 2020, I’d be very surprised.

    Why or how is Bump inferring what Trump said during his rant? There’s no clips or quotes from the closed door event, are there? At least at the time he skeeted this.

    This to me illustrates how the press cleans up what Donald raves about, which ticks me off.

    And yes, I know Bump is generally not easy on Trump. All the more makes me say, why excuse this?

  42. 42.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @RaflW:  If the coalition sticks together and keeps Le Pen in the wilderness, calling the snap election will accomplish its goal.  It’s only stupid if it fails.

  43. 43.

    RaflW

    @Baud: Bump seems to be an analyst type writer. And that’s fine, it’s a spot in the coverage mix at a big paper. But he’s just pulled a reason out of his own mind and applied it to Trump! That’s shite.

  44. 44.

    TBone

    Dotard said Nancy Pelosi’s daughter told him they’d be “perfect together.” Except for the “age difference.” He’s such a meathead.

  45. 45.

    Spanky

    Regarding Fetterman’s speeding: Anyone who isn’t doing 80 on that stretch of I70 is going to get run over.

  47. 47.

    RaflW

    @Omnes Omnibus: From an outcome perspective, yes. But the reporters I follow were saying Macron called this now in no small part because he believed the left couldn’t do in many weeks what it’s done in days.

    (The left holding together till and past the election is its own question, naturellment.)

  48. 48.

    TBone

    @Spanky: it’s a hit piece from wapoo unless I miss my guess.  It’s like catnip for the lefties tho, they are all over gleeful about the story.

    Of course, I’m old enough to remember why they called Rendell “Fast Eddie.”

  49. 49.

    smith

    Reports are that in the GQP worship session on Capitol Hill, the Felon also gave a shout out to his hero, Hannibal Lecter. One Republican who attended said, off the record of course, that it was like listening to your drunk uncle.

  50. 50.

    VFX Lurker

    Happy news — my Canadian husband’s 10-year renewal replacement green card arrived yesterday via Priority Mail. That’s just twelve days from the initial online application and payment.

    The USCIS processing times page states that 80% of I-90 cases are currently completed within 19.5 months, so we didn’t expect to get this card until at least the end of the year! We got darned lucky.

    (My USA passport renewal is still “In Progress.”)

    ETA – Happy Birthday, WaterGirl!

  53. 53.

    Scout211

    Here’s some leaked insider observations from Trump’s appearance on Capitol Hill.

    Donald Trump came to Capitol Hill to talk about his agenda for a second term. He instead spent an hour delving into House GOP drama, cracking jokes and saying weird things about Nancy Pelosi’s daughters.

    Donald Trump came to the Capitol Hill Club Thursday morning supposedly to discuss his agenda for a second term with House Republicans. Instead, Trump treated his meeting as an opportunity to deliver a behind-closed-doors, stream-of-consciousness rant where Trump tried to settle scores in the House GOP, trashed the city of Milwaukee and took a shot at Nancy Pelosi’s “wacko” daughter.

    As one source in the room put it, Trump was “rambling.”

    “Like talking to your drunk uncle at the family reunion,” this source said.

    . . .

    Lawmakers told NOTUS that Trump blasted Biden for canceling a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline on the first day of his presidency. Trump also advised Republicans to hit Biden and Democrats on inflation and the border. And he called Biden’s push to expand electric vehicle use “the dumbest thing,” according to another source in the room.

    He also brought up Taylor Swift, asking the room why the pop singer would “endorse this dope,” referring to Biden, according to a member in the room.

    More at the link.

  55. 55.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @RaflW: He may have been bet that voters  would coalesce around his “party” rather that the left, but I call a result that keeps Le Pen on the sidelines is a good one.

  57. 57.

    Scout211

    Happy Birthday WaterGirl! 🎂🧁🍰

    You missed being a birthday twin with Trump by one day.  Whew!

  60. 60.

    Jackie

    Happy Birthday WaterGirl! I’m happy you’re busy with birthday company and too occupied to be computerizing!

    Your glasses aren’t duct tape, fishing wire or superglue repairable? Sorry for that!

  62. 62.

    Jeffro

    @Baud:Donald Trump on Thursday brought up the idea of imposing an “all tariff policy” that would ultimately enable the U.S. to get rid of the income tax, sources in a private meeting with the Republican presidential candidate told CNBC.

    Oh…in other words, a HUGE national flat tax, of a sort.  And the rich danced with glee…

    “WE WILL MAKE THE FOREIGNERS PAY FOR EVERYTHING!!!1!” might not be the best selling point for a guy who couldn’t even get Mexico to pay for the blessed Wall.

  64. 64.

    Dangerman

    I hear South Florida got wet. If Mar-a-Largo was hit with a Cat 4, swamped by locusts, TFG tattoos “I Am The AntiChrist, Assholes” on his Forehead, think TFG could lose the Evangelical vote?

  66. 66.

    Jeffro

    @RaflW: Paul Krugman said the average tariff would have to be 133% to replace all the revenue from income tax.

    “YOU PAY MORE THAN DOUBLE ON EVERYTHING YOU BUY, SO THAT NO RICH PERSON HAS TO SUFFER, EVER AGAIN!!!!”

    -GOP economics at its finest

  68. 68.

    Jackie

    @Lapassionara:

    They are evidently making plans to have him appear on a screen, so he can stay at Mar-a-lago.

    I heard they’re planning to replicate the GQP Convention via zoom IF TCFG is put on House Arrest July 11 and can’t leave MAL.

  69. 69.

    Old School

    @RaflW:

    Paul Krugman said the average tariff would have to be 133% to replace all the revenue from income tax.

    What would the tariff need to be to shore up Social Security?

  70. 70.

    smith

    @Jackie:  I’ll be very surprised if Merchan doesn’t stay his sentence pending appeal. If he ends up incarcerated in any form it won’t be for at least a year.

  71. 71.

    Jay

    @Baud:  National Parties in France number 69,  then there are strictly regional Parties and registered but unelected parties.

  72. 72.

    Ken

    @Lapassionara: They are evidently making plans to have him appear on a screen, so he can stay at Mar-a-lago.

    Also so the entire thing can be pre-recorded — and re-recorded as many times as necessary — and edited, so he looks halfway coherent.

    According to those “Apprentice” tell-alls, even back then it often took ten tries before he could say “You’re fired” without flubbing it — so keep everyone who is stuck with this hellish production task in your thoughts and prayers.

  74. 74.

    RaflW

    @Scout211: Oh this is delicious, in that ‘every jibe from Trump is a confession’ way. Did Melania even go to Walter Reed when TFG was (by some accounts) near-dead from COVID? …

    the former president delivered an extended monologue about his love for the No. 2 House Republican, recalling Scalise’s time in the hospital after he was shot in 2017 during a practice for the Congressional Baseball Game.

    “I saw him in the hospital,” Trump said, according to a source. “I can tell your wife really loves you, Steve, because some wives wouldn’t care.”

    Italics added for extra seasoning.

  76. 76.

    smith

    @Ken: This makes more sense to me than the house arrest scenario. They still have to figure out how to handle the debate coming up fast on Jun 27. If even Rs are reporting on his incoherence at their little confab today, he’s likely too far gone for anything that’s not tightly controlled, scripted or heavily edited.

  78. 78.

    RevRick

    @WaterGirl: It’s your birthday and you’re making the strawberry shortcake?
    That was my favorite childhood summertime treat. My mom would make these scone-like cakes, not the sponge cake things that you find displayed next to the strawberries at most supermarkets. It added a crunchy texture to the dessert.

  79. 79.

    Scout211

    @RaflW: Yes, that except was delicious.

    I’ll raise you another:

    But Trump also hit a number of weirder topics that were completely unrelated to policy. At one point, he joked that the fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter was a “nice guy,” according to one of the sources in the room. “He even had a friend over for dinner,” Trump said, according to that source, in a joke about cannibalism.

  82. 82.

    Jay

    @Baud:

    That’s just the number of parties that run “nationally” for federal office and have elected members, there are about 15 parties that only run for federal office in their “region” and have elected members, then about another 20, (got tired of counting) that run for federal office but have never had an elected member.

    Funny, but none of them are the Peoples Party for the Liberation of Judea.

  83. 83.

    Jackie

    @Ken: After his Milwaukee insult; should TCFG stay in FL voluntarily to not be at the MAGA Convention – he can pretty much kiss WI’s electoral votes goodbye.

  84. 84.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: You’re like me re: Celsius.  I’m fine with going back and forth between US/Imperial measurements and metric in everything but temperatures, though I’m trying thanks to science-nerd friends who tend to think exclusively in Celsius.

  87. 87.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Jay: Funny, but none of them are the Peoples Party for the Liberation of Judea.

    Well, they’re splitters anyway, so they can go crucify themselves.

  89. 89.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @RevRick:

    I do that (scone, not sponge) at least once each summer. And I whip my own cream and ladle it on in big dollops, TYVM — none of that aerosol stuff for me. And there’s a rule: you have to set aside the biggest, plumpest, most extravagant strawberry before you start slicing and macerating the others. It goes on top of the whipped cream.

  95. 95.

    RaflW

    @RevRick: Ohh, a place in Edina, MN used to make the absolute best strawberry shortcake. Probably a literal thousand calories, it was so huge.

    But the ‘cake’ was a crumbly scone-like confection. Dense but tender, buttery, and not very sweet, which was perfect with the piles of fresh sliced strawberries and ton of vanilla ice cream.

    Want!

    Oh well, joint changed hands a few years back, and the last I saw the seasonal item hasn’t been around since ’21.

  100. 100.

    West of the Rockies

    @Scout211:

    Trump recycling an old quip that was situationally amusing and relevant in a movie 33 years ago…

    What a dullard.

  102. 102.

    RaflW

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Melania really does despise her husband, and he knows it.

    I take some cold comfort in his marital strife and his bizarre way of admitting it (I loathe them both so their connubial conflicts cause me no sorrow).

  104. 104.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Jackie: You’re not alone.  I’m a birthday twin with Sarah Palin.

    Here’s to you having a happy one, along with the Army and the Flag, tomorrow!

  106. 106.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @RaflW:

    Cue the FTFNYT Op-Ed calling it a bold move with many positives. And arguing that liberals should support it.

  107. 107.

    CaseyL

    Happy Birthday, WG!

    Colbert’s monologue last night included a jab at wingnuts for jumping on the raw milk wagon.

    Anti-vax, pro raw milk… any other potentially lethal things we can get RWers to embrace because “libs” do the opposite?

    I mean, this whole “look both ways before you cross the street” sounds kind of non-heterosexual, if you ask me. Both ways? There’s only One Way, boyo!

    And seat belts? Seat belts should be easy, since RWers already hate them. Maybe play it as a test of faith. “You’re in better hands … with God.”

  109. 109.

    Captain C

    @smith:

    They still have to figure out how to handle the debate coming up fast on Jun 27.

    Lock him up, make him do the debate in either prison orange or the old-fashioned black and white outfit.  Easy peasy.

  110. 110.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @CaseyL: “Lord, why did you not save me from injuries in that car crash?”

    “I gave you a seatbelt.  Why did you not use it?”

  111. 111.

    Scout211

    @West of the Rockies: Trump recycling an old quip that was situationally amusing and relevant in a movie 33 years ago…

    Are you kidding? He just thought that up recently all by himself, he’s such a funny guy, he’s got the best sense of humor, people tell him Sir, I’ve never heard anyone so funny, and by the way, he is well known as a very smart person, he’s associated with MIT, very smart and funny, very funny, people tell him that all the time . . . . 🙄

  113. 113.

    RevRick

    @Baud:

    @RaflW:

    @Jeffro:

    A set of tariffs that high would be profoundly deflationary, because the immediate effect would be to cut consumption of imported goods, and goods with imported components. If you more than double the prices of iPads, glasses frames, washing machines, and all the automobiles we import, and all the electronic chips that control everything, people will put off buying them. Since American manufacturing could in no way ramp up quickly enough to offer replacements, whole sectors of our consumer economy would grind to a halt. Massive layoffs would occur in retail, shipping and business services. The downturn would spread to the financial sector as loans went into default.

    This is Smoot-Hawley all over again. And our trade partners wouldn’t just stand idly by while we wreaked havoc on their economies. They would respond in kind to our exports.
    John Maynard Keynes realized that economies can get stuck in the place of high unemployment and low production we call depressions, because that vicious cycle feeds on itself.
    All the GOP dismissals of the Biden recovery plan, saying it just got us back the jobs we lost in COVID, reflect that party’s blindness to the truth that government spending is a huge part of the solution to the reality Keynes laid out.

  117. 117.

    smith

    @Captain C: Recently I’ve started following a Xitter/Nitter user called OurShallowState, who apparently is a psychologist looking at the Felon’s behavior from that point of view. They had a long post today about his ongoing deterioration in light of all the exposure he will be getting in the next months. This makes a lot of sense to me:

    The Shallow State @OurShallowState

    1h

    The next few weeks are going to tell us a lot.
    1. Trump has substantial limitations now and – the GOP and Trump’s aides KNOW IT!
    2. He hasn’t been able to orate without gaffing for some time. Now he can’t orate without blathering. The last blather got broad media coverage. If it happens again, it’ll be cemented into the public discourse, and it’s over. Look for very few rallies going forward, and them insisting he reads from the prompter.
    3. He can’t do interviews except short gentle ones.
    4. He can’t stay on topic – I still say: debates won’t happen.
    5. What CAN he do, to stay out there and disguise it? He can still speak in very friendly environs and field softball questions for very short periods of time. He can still sit and say nothing. He can rant for two minutes, not take questions, turn around and leave. He can make videos – because he can do 50 takes until it’s right. Look for more videos.
    6. He’s also continuing to decline and sometimes, stress and bad news exacerbate decline. We have the SCOTUS immunity ruling, the debate (or the excuse to not debate), and the sentencing. Any one of these can go south for him and damage him neurologically.
    7. Today, he showed up on the Hill and from all accounts, he rambled. GOP interviewed bent over backwards to paint him as happy and confident, meaning he was anything BUT. And his press conference ended after less than 5 minutes, and he refused to answer a single question.
    THIS is how it will be for him going forward. And for his aides and the GOP, keeping THIS hidden and under wraps is the new Big Lie.

  118. 118.

    Ken

    @RaflW: [Pedantically] SS is a payroll tax not an income tax, so it wouldn’t go away under Trump.

    That’s also why Romney’s now-infamous claim that half of workers don’t pay federal income tax, was technically correct. What he didn’t mention was the large percentage of their (small) incomes that went to SS and other payroll taxes, plus state income tax, sales taxes, and so forth.

  119. 119.

    West of the Rockies

    @CaseyL:

    Somewhere in America is a man with a BB sized brain and a tramp stamp that reads “Exit Only.  No entrada.”

  120. 120.

    Jackie

    @prostratedragon: My favorite part was his describing the military drag shows during WWII!

    I have a photo somewhere of my very hairy Dad with three other hairy guys dressed as Roaring Twenties flappers arm in arm doing high leg kicks in (sorta) unison via the Rockets on a stage. They were having a blast evidenced by ear to ear grins! I don’t know what army base they were stationed at, at that time.

  122. 122.

    Scout211

    Damn.  Elon Musk wins back his $44.9 billion Tesla pay package in shareholder vote

    But the favorable vote doesn’t necessarily mean that Musk will get the all-stock compensation anytime soon. The package is likely to remain tied up in the Delaware Chancery Court and Supreme Court for months as Tesla tries to overturn the rejection.

    Tesla last valued the package at $44.9 billion in an April regulatory filing. It was once much as $56 billion but has declined in value ialong with Tesla’s stock, which has dropped about 40% in the last 12 months.

  123. 123.

    Baud

    Via reddit

    DeSantis Blasts Cannabis Legalization Amendment, Says People Will Be Able To Bring ’20 Joints To An Elementary School

    We’ll see if voters respond.

  125. 125.

    Baud

    @Scout211:

    Tesla last valued the package at $44.9 billion in an April regulatory filing. It was once much as $56 billion but has declined in value ialong with Tesla’s stock, which has dropped about 40% in the last 12 months.

     

    If those trends continue, he’ll be broke in no time.

  130. 130.

    brantl

    Bill Krystal is on MSNBC, I’d like to be the next person to slam him in the face with a rock-filled cream pie.

  134. 134.

    Anyway

    @TBone:

    @Anyway: Wapoo

    Huh. It’s practically their backyard – they should report on it. There was a police report – he rear-ended the other driver.

  135. 135.

    CaseyL

    @smith:

    He was, largely, a puppet before.  Policy was made by Other People (Congress, his Cabinet, the Federalist Society).  He was little more than the clown show to keep the cultists happy.

    It’s no different now.  He’s still the one the carnival barker directs the marks to look at, while the oligarchs and fascists do all the planning.

    The people who are giving him money, and institutional support, and helpful legal decisions, don’t need him to be sane or coherent.  Just alive and conscious.

    And that, only until they can figure out a good enough AI version to trot out onto the airwaves.

  139. 139.

    Sanjeevs

    Irish MEP Mick Wallace lost his seat today.
    Wallace and Clare Daly were both Putin apologists in the European Parliament, both were pushed very hard on social media and both lost their elections.

  146. 146.

    BellyCat

    @Anyway: A speeding ticket from 8 years ago cited? Oh please… A DUI can be expunged in seven.

    Yes, Fetterman *is* in trouble because the GOP (and the press, apparently) want to bring him down. Now, about his position on Israel…. 🤷‍♂️

  148. 148.

    Citizen Alan

    @Anyway: Also pointless, as any modern car is set up to read texts for you and let you dictate replies. There is absolutely no reason to ever look at your phone while driving if you bought a car made in the last 5+ years.

  149. 149.

    hueyplong

    @smith: That shallow state guy is my go-to when I’m seeing too much doomerism or, on occasion, feeling it myself.

  153. 153.

    karen marie

    @RevRick:   I made a vanilla poundcake a few weeks ago and had it for breakfast every day until it was gone.  Covered in macerated strawberries.  It was so good!

  155. 155.

    Geminid

    @prostratedragon: Trump’s endorsement will likely hurt Hogan among some Independents and it will definitely motivate Democrats. It might not help Hogan so much with Republicans though. Some of them are mad at Hogan for reasons besides his statement on the verdict and still won’t vote for him.

  156. 156.

    Baud

    Via reddit

    Arizona man planned a mass shooting targeting African Americans at an Atlanta concert to incite a race war, feds say
    A federal grand jury indicted Mark Adams Prieto on charges of firearms trafficking, transfer of a firearm for use in a hate crime and possession of an unregistered firearm.

  157. 157.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @karen marie: He isn’t on probation.  He had to meet with a probation officer as a part of the sentencing process.  It is a different thing.

  159. 159.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    I read through that – thanks for the link – and agree is it stranger than I thought at first hearing about it. I don’t pretend to understand French politics, but they seem to be wobbling a bit, no?

  160. 160.

    Geminid

    @Baud: Larry Hogan has a very narrow path to victory. I don’t believe he can walk it successfully. On the other hand, Angela Alsobrooks has been surefooted so far. This is Alsobrooks’ first run for statewide office, but she could be a formidible candidate.

  161. 161.

    Jackie

    @karen marie: I’m sorry for everyone else living in FL, but I hope MAL is hit by excessive temps and rain this summer and TCFG can’t golf. That alone would be torture for him.

  164. 164.

    PAM Dirac

    @Geminid:

    Some of them are mad at Hogan for reasons besides his statement on the verdict and still won’t vote for him

    Yes. When the drumpf endorsed candidate for governor beat Hogan’s hand picked candidate in the R primary, Hogan called the guy a QAnon whack job and refused to support him in the general election. I don’t think MAGAs are going to forget that. The whack job tried running for Trone’s seat in the House, but somewhat surprisingly lost the R primary to the guy who has lost to Trone the last two elections. The MD primary was pretty low turnout and I’m not real sure what to make of the results, but it kind of looks like the MD MAGAs have mostly given up. I can’t see Hogan getting much enthusiasm from the Ds who like to crossover. If you want to protect reproductive rights why vote for someone who vetoed such legislation, no matter what he says now.

     

    ETA: And in the R senate primary a real joke candidate got ~30% of the vote and actually won some of the more MAGA counties.

  165. 165.

    Elizabelle

    Happy Birthday WG.  I hope Henry did not break the bank doing his online shopping for you.  🌸🌻🎂🌻🌸

  169. 169.

    Geminid

    @PAM Dirac: A rational Trumper would pull the lever for Hogan anyway, because their guy could use Hogan’s help in the Senate. But some of these are not rational people, and Hogan needs them all.

    Ed. What do you think of Angela Alsobrooks so far? Do you think she’s got the “Right Stuff”?

  171. 171.

    Jackie

    @hueyplong: And ruin his hair?!?

    Speaking of which, I noticed his “hair” seems noticeably thinner on top. The stress from his trial and subsequent guilty conviction seems to have caused excessive hair loss.🤭

  174. 174.

    PAM Dirac

    @Geminid:

    Ed. What do you think of Angela Alsobrooks so far? Do you think she’s got the “Right Stuff”?

    I used to live in PG county, but it’s been a while so I don’t have much local info. The stuff I’ve heard is quite positive about Alsobrooks. When Hogan won the governor’s races he needed a lot of suburban whites to crossover. I’ve mentioned before that the white crossover has happened in governor’s races, but not in Senate races. I suspect that part of it was MD has always been fairly well governed and that there was an element of unease about changing things too much. It has been relatively easy to (unjustly) paint a Black candidate as someone who would be radical and try to change too many things too fast. I think that’s changing, not only because a Black guy won the last election, but because he is doing fine. Just look at the handling of the bridge collapse. I think it is going to be much harder to scare people. The more Hogan’s actual record is examined and the more that it clear that he is an R, the more trouble he will have getting D votes. Even if he isn’t the most idiotic R, he will be part of the R idiots in the Senate. I think Alsobrooks will win something like 54-46.

    It looks like she grew up about a half mile from where my wife’s family lived in Camp Springs.

  175. 175.

    karen marie

    @Jackie:   He doesn’t usually spend the summer in Florida – he goes to Bedminster.  My guess is he’s pretending NY has no jurisdiction.

  176. 176.

    BellaPea

    Happy birthday Watergirl! Enjoy the day and don’t waste time thinking about the Dotard.

  178. 178.

    Scout211

    @karen marie: He isn’t on probation.  He hasn’t been sentenced yet.

    Also what OO said

    @Omnes Omnibus: He isn’t on probation.  He had to meet with a probation officer as a part of the sentencing process.  It is a different thing.

  179. 179.

    Jackie

    @karen marie: He’s normally already at Bedminster. There’s a reason he’s still at MAL. Like, maybe the Gov of FL said he wouldn’t cooperate with NY in extraditing TCFG to NY?

  181. 181.

    Jay

    @RaflW:

    Not really, with a very short time frame the Left/Center quickly formed an alliance, the Center/Reich has imploded in infighting and power grabs.

    We have seen the same situation in the EU elections with the Center/Reich ghosting the more Center/Reich and the more Center/Reich ghosting the less Center/Reich for not being Reich enough.

    We did not NAZI that coming.

  186. 186.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: In Athens, Greece, it hit 104 degrees Fahrenheit. I was out in it. It was still too damned hot at quarter of ten in the evening. Who’s saying that global warming is a hoax, again?

    I recall wandering around Nyugati pályaudvar in Budapest seeking food & drink for an impending overnight train to Belgrade, when I saw a time & temperature sign that read

    22:30 – 30 C

    (i.e., 10:30 PM, 86 F), and it felt hotter & stickier.

    This was in July 1989, So not much new under the parboiling sun (which wasn’t even out, it being deepest darkest night).

    ETA: The clearest indication that global warming is a thing isn’t the daily high, which isn’t much different from decades past, but the nighttime lows. Used to be one could survive a Midatlantic summer with a window fan for all but a few days, now it’s a recipe for heatstroke.

  187. 187.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Villago Delenda Est: Celsius to Fahrenheit is EZPZ: Double the Celsius value, knock off 10%, add 32, wallah. So 30 C is 60 – (0.1 x 60) + 32 or 60 – 6 +32 = 86 F. For every 5 C up or down, add or subtract 9 to get the F; so 25 C = 86 – 9 = 77 F, 20 C = 77 – 9 = 68 F, 35 C = 86 + 9 = 95 F, 40 C = 95 + 9 = 104 F.

    (Good to know: 37 C = 74 – 7.4 + 32 = 66.6 + 32 = 98.6 F, nominal body temperature, and every 1 C up or down is 1.8 F.)

    ETA: F to C is harder: Subtract 32 from the Fahrenheit, multiply by 5, divide by 9.

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