Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Second rate reporter says what?

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Republicans do not pay their debts.

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

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

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Happy Fourth Of July

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163Comments

  3. 3.

    Baud

    Almost word for word the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. Nice, Cole.

  5. 5.

    frosty

    We’re back from Canuckistan in the USA again. Ten wonderful days without seeing a Trump sign, although there was a roadside display of “Trudeau Sucks”, “No Carbon Tax” etc. outside of Calgary.

    Amazingly, not one Trump sign going through Idaho. My hypothesis is that every single person is a Trumpie so there’s no one they can advertise to.

  7. 7.

    Dagaetch

    I have a long-standing conspiracy theory that Baud is actually just a fake account that all the front pagers share to stir things up here. Prove me wrong.

  8. 8.

    Scout211

    Let’s lower the heat in here.

    Yes, that would be nice.

    And I would like Mother Nature to lower the heat in NorCal because we are far too hot here.  The forecast has been revised in my area to at least 18 straight days of triple digits and while it’s not unusual to get temps over 100, almost 3 weeks over 100 is not normal.  It’s just too damn hot.

  10. 10.

    SomeRandomGuy

    “The SCOTUS ruling on Presidential immunity is not a horror show because it might prevent prosecution of Trump; the real horror is, it would forbid any investigation of Project 2025(/29/33/37/41), and the actions taken thereto.

    Discuss.

    (Hey, if you’re going to spit venom, spit venom at the bad guys on the SCOTUS. Now that they’ve made this ruling, the OLC can write an opinion saying everything and anything is legal. The SCOTUS has, in fact, stated that John Yoo was good, kind, wise, and compassionate. Hey, don’t get hot at me, I painted a nice big target for you!)

  16. 16.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @frosty:

    Amazingly, not one Trump sign going through Idaho. My hypothesis is that every single person is a Trumpie so there’s no one they can advertise to.

    I was up there in July 2020 for a rafting trip and there were signs for Felonious D *everywhere*.  It was jarring.  Didn’t see anything like that back in Misery or even in Kansas.

    They probably don’t have em up for what you’re saying but also not to turn off the tourists.

  19. 19.

    Dangerman

    @Dagaetch: So, your theory is a sock puppet who learned his sock wearing behavior from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Feasible.

  20. 20.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Scout211:

    Humid or dry heat, triple digits is just too damn hot either way.

    Here in southern Maryland, I’d guess it’s mid to upper 80s and humid, but it’s clouded over so that helps.  I’ve been sitting on the back deck with a bowl of ice cream, which I’ve finished and am considering going back for more because why not.

    The kiddo is at a pool party with some friends, and my wife’s inside because she’s not as tolerant of humidity as I am, despite her having grown up in central Florida without A/C, but I just like being outside looking into the trees.

  21. 21.

    eclare

    @Scout211:

    Ugh.  That is way too hot.  95 here in Memphis, the forecast for tomorrow is only 89.  Fingers and paws crossed that it holds.

  22. 22.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @frosty:

    I haven’t noticed many Trump signs or MAGA hats in Ohio either.

    Though I think some people put up “God Bless America” yard signs in lieu of a Trump one

  26. 26.

    UncleEbeneezer

    For anyone who likes cheesy, silly, horror movies, we watched The Wrath of Becky on Paramount Plus last night and it was pretty fun.  Becky is a school-girl who has some anger issues and is prone to extreme violence.  So when a group of Incel dudes (part of the “Noble Men” movement, lol) come to town to try to incite an Insurrection and end up messing with her, they find out just why you don’t wanna start shit with a teenage girl.  It’s fun, but also gratuitously violent.  It’s also a sequel to Becky but you don’t have to see that to enjoy the second film.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    @Dagaetch:

    All the top blogs have them. It’s like hiring extras to attend your parties to make yourself seem cool and popular.

  29. 29.

    SomeRandomGuy

    @3Sice: I heard it on good authority that a Mr. Hoffa has had coffee with him. “What, the new guy at the Teamsters?” and the answer was “huhuh huhuh, uh, no, not the NEW guy at the teamsters,” and his partner said “heheh YEAH, not the NEW guy at the teamsters,” and then muttered to himself while smoking a calming bowl of blue methamphetamine.

    Beevis and Butthead, finally together again, and connected for the first time!

  35. 35.

    SomeRandomGuy

    @Gloria DryGarden: If Trump were to commit millions of crimes while implementing the “Project 2025” project, investigation would be strictly forbidden of his involvement, and he could preemptively pardon. They could bonesaw a journalist, and hide it; think they couldn’t force the EPA to report whatever they want, and do (or not do) whatever they want? You think they wouldn’t simply destroy any records relevant to any investigation that starts, and order the arrest of any prosecutors directing the investigation?

    I mean, Trump is a chump – if I were to debate the proposition, I’d pick the “oh, they expect trump to fail, because he always does, but they think a non-dummy-dull DeSantis could pull it off, in 2029.”

  37. 37.

    Lapassionara

    I’ve been told by reliable sources that the results of the election in Great Britain should start rolling in about now.

  38. 38.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Dagaetch:

    I did this on a gaming forum I ran. I created a user account and gave the password to the admins and told them to have some fun. What was wild was that a couple of people freaked out about the ‘user’ because they thought they had a personality disorder…lol! It was pretty damned funny to see people correctly diagnose a multiple personality disorder for that user.

    It really creeped some users out. I told everyone what we had done a few months later and it got lots of laughs except for one user who got pissed and quit the forum.

  42. 42.

    karen marie

    @Scout211:   Arizona had, I believe, the hottest June on record.  By one pm it was already 110 in Mesa.  Kill me now.

  43. 43.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Scout211:

    Day before yesterday we were at 81 here on the south Oregon coast (Brookings). Yesterday it hit 107 and today it’s currently 72.

    I like 72 just fine!

  45. 45.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Tories are wiped out

    The Labour Party is on course for a massive landslide general election victory, with the Tories facing wipeout, according to the exit poll.

    Seats:

    Labour 410
    Tories 131

    Sky News calling it a “massacre”

  46. 46.

    frosty

    I just checked in on the Grauniad again and was forced to write them a letter. They make the FTFNYT look even handed. Here’s what I sent:

    “Subject: Presidential Debate Coverage

    What are you writing about it? Nonstop calls for Biden to drop out. Nonstop hand/wringing by your columnists. Not one word of Trump’s lies, his not answering questions, or his obvious cognitive decline.

    You’ve gotten the last dollar I’ll ever send. You’re worse than US news media.”

  49. 49.

    Barbara

    @frosty: ​Every time I actually think about dropping them a dime they show their ass like this. It’s not even from a place of insight.

  52. 52.

    NutmegAgain

    I’m just waiting for Tony’s take on the going election in Perfidious Albion. They seem to be swimming upstream, compared to the French, the Germans, Us, the USians, and everyone else waving, “enter!” to the autocrats & fascists.

  53. 53.

    Suzanne

    @karen marie: Arizona had, I believe, the hottest June on record.  By one pm it was already 110 in Mesa.  Kill me now.

     
    Fuck, that is terrible. I’m sorry. Very glad to not be in Mesa.
    I did a 5-mile run early this morning, and it was about 75 when I left the house. Humid, but cloudy. I was definitely dropping sweat when I got back home.

  56. 56.

    Eyeroller

    @NutmegAgain: The UK economy really has been terrible, though.  A lot of it is due to Brexit (but don’t say it’s due to Brexit!)  Not surprising they’d want to throw the bums out.  So now Labour has to try to fix it.  I suppose they’ll be like Ds here and do a reasonable job of it, within the constraints of Brexit, so then people will feel safe once again voting them out and bringing back the Tories.

  69. 69.

    Scarcelight

    @frosty: I’m in McCall, ID right now and I’ve seen several trucks with huge Trump 2024 flags hanging off the back.

  70. 70.

    Jager

    We usually have a bunch of people over on the 4th, but not this year, we are leaving Sunday for two weeks in Hawaii. We have a family wedding, and associated events to attend and then my lovely wife and I will sit on the 19th-floor deck of our condo, stare at the Pacific drink, Mai Tais, and eat poke, We may even talk dirty to each other. We’ve rented a daysailer for an afternoon on the Northshore. I found a 2011 Mercedes E Class convertible on Turo, so it’s top-down to all of our favorite places on Oahu. In the 2nd week a couple we’ve known for years are joining us, neither of them has ever been to Hawaii. They’ll get plenty of local food, and music, not to mention the scenery. The best part is my osteoarthritis has calmed down with the right exercise and acupuncture. So no moaning and groaning from me!

    BTW Hawaii has incredible food trucks.

  74. 74.

    FlyingToaster

    Still on Team Baud up heah in the People’s Republic Commonwealth.  😎

  76. 76.

    Baud

    We have to win in November. We can’t let Stamer become the leader of the free world.

  77. 77.

    eclare

    @Jager:

    That sounds wonderful!  Have a great time!  I’ve only been to Maui, it’s gorgeous.  I’m sure Oahu is the same.

  80. 80.

    Eyeroller

    @Baud: The two-year term for Representatives is, like so much of the Holy Writ Constitution, ridiculous and anachronistic.  “Make the House more responsive to the people” was not realistic for good governance then and it’s much less so now. But of course so many things in the Constitution assumed that the voters would be wise white yeomen gentlemen of good breeding who would make excellent decisions.

  81. 81.

    schrodingers_cat

    After the debate it was

    Biden should withdraw his nomination

    that became Biden should resign

    Harris should step in

    Now it has become Harris is not qualified.

  91. 91.

    FlyingToaster

    @Eyeroller:   The two year term would be fine if we had actual representation.  My rep is supposedly representing 780K people.  I do NOT feel represented; my district includes dense urban areas and fucking farmland.

    The House is broken, not because of the term length, but because they passed themselves a limit of 435 back in the 1920s.

    In a sane world, we’d either have districts of 50K, or mult-rep districts of half-a-million each.  And build a new buidling for the Congress to meet in, big enough to hold the expanded House.  Jeebus.  You can’t force-fit a post-industrial information society into an 18th century agrarian framework.  Or their buildings.

  94. 94.

    cain

    Just wanted to thank all of you for your good wishes for my wife about two days ago. We went camping sp wasn’t able to respond back.

    It’s my wife first time camping and was happy she loved it. Not bad for a city gal!

  95. 95.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Baud:

    The last thread discussion is the only reason I caught this.

    Seems appropriate it appears in FTFNYT then given their “fascist curious” history with Hitler.

  97. 97.

    sab

    In NE Ohio it was in the mid70s all last  night. It got up to 90 by late this morning. Then it started to rain for hours. The temperature dropped down to 80, but the humidity is now 75%.

    I went outside for a minute and my glasses fogged up like a bathroom mirror.

    The plants look happy.

  99. 99.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Baud:

    Why not? Starmer’s superhero alter ego “Foxman” will go out there and do stuff! Stuff!!

    Spitting Image rocks…

  105. 105.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @SomeRandomGuy: Which is why the “braintrust” of the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society needs to be treated like the NSDAP in Germany after 1945.

  106. 106.

    brendancalling

    On my way to Willie’s July 4th picnic. Taking transit the whole way, the venue is in walking distance of PATCO.

  107. 107.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @SomeRandomGuy: thx for explaining. I just had to stop thinking about all this to prevent a screaming anxiety attack from spiraling into catatonia. Your expl makes sense.

    im living on YouTube videos of gymnastics and figure skating, and Facebook reels of recipes, dance and dry bar comedy. Filling myself w laughter, and wonder. Tomorrow I’ll look up how to get going on postcards.

    shit

  108. 108.

    Geminid

    I liked how the midterms worked out in 2018. Democrats flipped 40 seats and made Nancy Pelosi Speaker, and I thought that was a turning point in Trump’s Presidency.

  109. 109.

    pat

    OMG, I just googled mathew walther and that is actually his photo!!  And he is allowed to write an “opinion piece” for the FTFNYT?  We are so screwed.

    Maggie is already thinking of the title for her next book after trump is elected.  Sooo much more interesting than the boring old competent Biden!

    In case it isn’t obvious what I was talking about, look at this….  (Forgot to link)

    https://twitter.com/Mr_Electrico/status/1808965341482987684

  112. 112.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    @Starfish: Lord Larry certainly has nine political lives.  Undoubtedly the most powerful cat in the world. Now on his 6th administration, he knows where the bodies are buried.

    but he has to keep on his toes as Shadow Mouser Palmerston is constantly on his tail (video)​

  113. 113.

    BlueDWarrior

    @CaseyL: a lot of that is other right wing parties not being built up to replace Conservatives in places where no leftist or left-center person can win.

  114. 114.

    pat

    Weather seems to be taking a turn for the worse.  After a nice sunny day yesterday, only got up to 84 or so, today is has been cloudy and now it looks like rain is coming over the bluffs to disrupt the River Fest grounds and perhaps the fireworks.  Sheesh, Mother Nature really hates us.

     

    And here come her fireworks.  Thunder…..

  117. 117.

    Jeffro

    Maybe the reason we’re not seeing as many MAGA flags and trumpov hats is…most of his idiot flock went broke following him from rally to rally for the past several years?

    Or maybe in Q-circles, they think it’s a way for the blessed “Deep State” to identify them?

    Or perhaps this clown just doesn’t have the support he used to?  I think it’s at least partially that.

  118. 118.

    frosty

    @Jager: Yes, the food trucks are great. All the Mai Tais I tried had pineapple juice. NOT A CORRECT INGREDIENT!

    See what you can find and enjoy the trip!

  119. 119.

    Jager

    @eclare:

    Honolulu is touristy as hell…

    On the upside, great restaurants, etc. We have family there. We like each other and have a great time together. My 6-4 white boy cousin and his 5 foot Native, Chinese, Thai, and Philipino wife, they are one of the best couples ever.

    We, white folks, are about 24% of the population, last time we were there I heard an asshole in a MAGA hat bitching about all the Asians.

    When you get out of the city Oahu is great.

  120. 120.

    SeattleDem

    Our small suburb had a two hour 4th of July parade after a half hour kiddy parade. Our Little League is hosting the world series, our girls junior softball team is headed to the national championships, and we had floats for veterans of every war since WWII. Our US Representative marched with a couple of dozen supporters, shaking hands. We had people with signs and banners for all the Democratic candidates from City Council to Governor, a couple of cars with signs for Republican candidates, and one lonely MAGA with a Trump flag. He was affable and chatty, but had a knack for saying cringeworthy things to the bystanders. If I didn’t know the guy, I would have thought he was a plant.

  124. 124.

    Maxim

    @Scout211: Same down here in Southern California. Triple digits for weeks on end. Highs of 115, and it never cools off at night. Ick.

  126. 126.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Jeffro:

    The Trumpers haven’t held a car parade here in town since the last election. The dumb fuckers used to drive all over town blasting their horns and yelling, vehicles festooned with $tupid $hit they wasted money on. So far nothing this year.

    It will be interesting to see how/if it changes in the run up to election day.

  128. 128.

    pat

    Just an update on the latest rain:  Wet but over in less than ten minutes.  Just enough to make it a bit miserable down there at Riverside Park.  Might be more coming in time for the fireworks….

  129. 129.

    Another Scott

    @3Sice: I assume Alito had a summer “teaching” junket scheduled in Monte Carlo or Shangri-La or some similar similar place and the SCOTUS session ran longer than planned.  So he got permission to leave early.

    Just a guess.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  132. 132.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Baud:

    We have to win in November. 

    So true!

    We can’t let Stamer become the leader of the free world.

    Hahaha!

  133. 133.

    SomeRandomGuy

    @Gloria DryGarden: Well, consider the Superman paradox.

    Right now, you want to do something. And what if you were Superman? Well, you could *do* something. But, geez… every time you took a flippin’ *nap*, there was probably a life you could have saved.

    Now, the downside of being Lois Lane or Perry White is, what you can do is *small*, really small. But when you take a nap, you’re just resting and recharging, not missing a chance to save lives.

    *Do* that. Rest a bit, recharge. And read some good stories. Right now, the right wing wants us to play in their story verse, where might literally makes right. (I mean, seriously: when you realize that you are saying might must make right because “constitution’l constitution’l constitution’l WHOOO WHOOO!!!” you aren’t on the side of the good guys… nor even the side of the sane/mature/fuck, either.)

  134. 134.

    SomeRandomGuy

    @frosty: Have *you* ever had a favorite song, where you were forced to find that, you know, *yours* was a *cover*… I mean, not a *bad* cover, maybe a fine cover. I mean, maybe you just learned that the first people to cover Sound of Silence were actually Simon and Garfunkel.

    Sigh. Now I have to find a good bar again.

  135. 135.

    YY_Sima Qian

    I hope everyone Stateside is enjoying the break. Working for a U.S. company, that means these couple of days (the week, really) are slower than normal, too. :-D

  136. 136.

    FlyingToaster

    @Another Scott:

    That still leaves 1 rep for every ~200K+ population.

    The UK has 630 reps for 67 million, which is 1 for every 100K and change.

    So I still believe a new, modern building with 7K reps would be both more representative, and hopefully fuck up the existing two-party system.

  137. 137.

    SomeRandomGuy

    @Odie Hugh Manatee: Yes. Trump couldn’t fill Temple’s basketball stadium. He used to fill larger venues. Honestly, now that I am no longer in a complete, blinding panic, as I have been for the past few days, I think that an overconfident Trump is a better gift to Democrats than Prime Day is to a devoted Amazonian (only because, you know, “July” and Christmas in July is *over*). Puff him up enough, he’ll call for televised executions of people who refused to suck him off, starting with Stormy Daniels, who he’ll call “Stormy Da da Davids” because his bible study is giving him a headache. Then he’ll insist the stutter was just to mock jjjjjjoe bbbbbiddden.

  139. 139.

    Starfish

    @schrodingers_cat: I think this Bernie war you are setting up with everyone is not real.

    Here is an article about some of the leftists lining up behind Kamala which seems a little weird, but it is more promising than what they have done in the past.

  140. 140.

    Another Scott

    @FlyingToaster: Baby steps.  😃

    I’m still a fan of each state having at least 2 reps.  It’s simple and fair. Base minimum districts on that, and we get to 1200+, IIRC.  That greatly neuters the EC and makes things quickly more representative for people in the House.  The Senate is still a problem, but getting rid of the filibuster for far more things (if total removal is too much now) can do wonders.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  141. 141.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @frosty: …although there was a roadside display of “Trudeau Sucks”, “No Carbon Tax” etc. outside of Calgary.

    If it’s on the road to Banff, I saw the very same one 17 days ago after my brother collected me along with the bride’s delayed luggage en route to her marriage to my surviving nephew on the shore of Lake Williewonka** next to the chawklit factory. Which only shows to go, I guess, that the proportion of Canuckleheads ain’t much different from the Trumpista fraction in the lower 48.

    ** Obvs I meant Millewanka, It never got above 50 F the entire time I was there, and during the prenuptial supper that evening it snowed hard in flakes bigger than half dollars…

  143. 143.

    Soprano2

    @eclare: It is gorgeous. I hope to go back someday. My stepson said he was broke but lived in paradise, so it was a fair trade.

  144. 144.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Chet Murthy: Have you seen Pearl?  It’s the second film, the prequel, of the Ti West horror trilogy for the movie X.  Pearl and X are both much better, more artsy films than Becky but have some similar energy.  The final film of the trilogy Maxxxine comes out Friday and I can’t wait to see it.

    If you like The Wrath of Becky you may also like The Babysitter and Ready Or Not.  Both star Samara Weaving, and are fun, girl-power horror films.

  146. 146.

    xephyr

    Within the next hour I’ll be closing all the windows, turn on the a/c and a couple fans, turn on a movie, and try not to call the cops on anyone. My outdoor cats will hate this night, but they have places they can shelter, in particular a network of underground tunnels that starts under my driveway that they’ve been using for years. I’ll be relieved when this night of madness is over…

  148. 148.

    Maxim

    @Etv13: northeast of LA. My ideal climate is when 70 is a warm day and 75 is a heat wave, so this is … suboptimal.

  149. 149.

    frosty

    @Uncle Cosmo: ​
     Yep, on the road to Banff. It got over 50 when we were there but went down to 40 at night. We had our down comforter out and had to run the heat in the trailer. In June!!!

    No snow though.

  150. 150.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Voters are still not paying attention. Voters are super maxxed-out on drama. This is not an election like any other where folks have tuned into the “horserace.” Only partisans are tuned in. The rest of us are just fulfilling a prophecy by raising the saliency of our own mistakes

    It’s like the campus protests. Few Americans cared. We cared # on here. The media therefore cared too. There was a disconnect between coverage & attention in the populace. Which is something we should learn from when we consider how to “rebound” from an error.

  151. 151.

    206inKY

    @schrodingers_cat: Harris is unquestionably qualified and would be a historically strong president and candidate. Of the major donors calling for change, those who are serious about the Democratic party appear to be universally backing her. Likewise the statements from Dem leaders are pointedly not omitting her, instead referring to the “Biden-Harris ticket.” Clyburn explicitly says he’d support either Harris or Biden, very different from Jill’s statement that “there is no alternative.”

    Only the usual subjects want a contested convention. I see no evidence that serious Dems are turning on Harris.

  152. 152.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    Brooklyn is alive with the sound of booms with the occasional firetruck siren.

    Not much to see, though

    Macy’s fireworks are quite far away, over the west river

  153. 153.

    Ruckus

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Immortal, immoral.

    In the concept of all living beings we of course are all never able to be immortal, one of the reasons that religions create a place where your whatever will live forever.

    Now immoral, we can all seemingly live without that but for many immoral is what they say it is. And of course religions have their own lists of what is and what isn’t. Not all the lists are the same. And on occasion laws actually say the same thing.

  154. 154.

    Ruckus

    @Chacal Charles Calthrop:

    Hearing a few loud noises in my SoCal neighborhood as well, and it’s not even dark here……

    I suspect that the volume will increase in a little while – at O dark thirty.

  157. 157.

    LanceThruster

    @schrodingers_cat: – I supported Bernie both times. I wouldn’t call it “sore”, but a clear recognition of how the party apparatus operates. Biden was off to a lackluster start, in fourth place in delegates, and about out of campaign cash and not generating much enthusiasm to pour more money into it. Calls were made that started clearing the field with some timely endorsements by some upon exit, and the key Clyburn endorsement just before Super Tuesday. The victory was spun as showing the broad support Biden has with the minority community but was particularly effective in having them vote before looking much into what Bernie’s policies might do for that community.  I’m sure the campaign contributions Clyburn gets from pharmaceutical and health insurance lobbies plays no part in him seeing the prospect of universal healthcare as a threat. His district has been one of the poorest for some time, but they get a fish fry year after year. Saw footage of a constituent asking him a political question at the last one and could hardly believe Clyburn’s indignation at someone daring to approach him about issues while they were getting free grub.

    Anyway, the machinations helped inject eniugh life into Biden’s campaign to get it rolling again like a manual transmission push start. Most the Berners I know saw how readily Bernie morphed into sheepdog (same as before) without using the support he had generated as leverage to ask for anything in return for his endorsement (same as before). I’ve never heard Magic Grampa used except by his detractors. The term used by those who support the policies Bernie chose to walk away from I heard most was “cuck.” He was a disappointment on the whole for campaigning on business as usual not being enough to deal with the issues people are facing, as he ended up insisting that the best way forward at that point was support for the business as usual candidates but that asking for something in return might appear too ungrateful or something. It’s the same way the Squad was co-opted as they would not try to Force the Vote on universal healthcare fearing it might risk Mama Bear’s speakership, though Republicans in their Speaker of the House vote showed just how powerful that leverage was. When people don’t deliver in the ways they said in order to get themselves elected, they reveal their true selves and people get the message. The turnout for Bowman’s Brooklyn rally with AOC and Bernie speaking in support was minimal, and besides, Hillary and AIPAC endorsed the other guy so it was pretty much a foregone conclusion.

    There’s a real possibility that 2024 might play out in much the same way as 2016 regardless of any questions of Biden’s mental acuity. The party points out that everything possible must be done to prevent a Trump presidency, but that is mostly directed at the voters rather than the candidates. They’ll just stay the course they’ve  charted regardless of support those positions have with voters because they know best, but that in no way relieves them of their obligation to vote as the party directs.  Sure support of genocide may *seem* like a bad thing at first glance, but that’s just because the intricacies such things are complicated and we don’t want to bore you with the details. You’ll at least be happy to know that their citizens get universal healthcare with help from the generous aid we provide annually, Symington Amendment be damned. We also found a way around the Leahy Law,  ot that our arms are in any way being used to violate human rights, mind you.

    So yeah… people respect those willing to fight for their principles even when victory is not the result. But those not making the attempt in any effective manner indicating a true commitment do not generate much in the way of voter expectations and become indistinguishable from any other glad hander. We still support progressive policies, but Bernie has long since ceased being thought of as one to champion them. We want to use our vote as leverage to send a message that being asked to turn a blind eye to war crimes and genocide is a bridge too far. I like how the Michigan primary voter put it with her “uncommitted” vote when she said “I cannot in good conscience support the slaughter of Palestinians in exchange for protection of my own reproductive rights.” People scoff at the notion of “sending a message” with their vote, but maybe if in some of those previous elections that were just too important for anyone to withhold their support by being a purist (“purist” meaning those issues important to you are not important to us), that sending a message that the status quo was unacceptable might have prevented the shit sandwiches we find being served up now. The duopoly continues to be Kabuki theater and is itself the greatest bulwark against meaningful reform. It can never be stressed enough that the guy just released from a lengthy captivity for revealing many uncomfortable truths about the “good guys” showed how these same good guys thought that making the man now deemed an existential threat to democracy itself also saw no danger in going up against a ringer because that’s why it’s called a “sure thing.” And just because the tactics used before didn’t wind up sealing the deal, doesn’t mean the same approach against the same opposition threat this time won’t carry the day because it just has to or otherwise we’ll look incompetent and out of touch and nobody could possibly, want that right? I know, we’ll give a dig to that one group that along with Baud, there’s no need to show any concern for those issues important to them. Those are the bros that kneecapped our queen. Just because they were told to go away and not be allowed to share in our victory doesn’t mean it’s not their fault that didn’t happen.

    Screw Magic Grampa. Our plan lets you keep your medical bankruptcy (but it will no longer affect your credit score so kwitcher bitchen).

    Choco rations are up. Double-plus good!

  158. 158.

    LanceThruster

    @LanceThruster: I opened the window in time to start my editing, but didn’t know the time window closes regardless so didn’t get far in the corrections I wanted to make. Misspellings and a few paragraph breaks so nothing important, but like with many, my proofreading skills kick in immediately after hitting send.

    A late note is a thank you for the contact for trying to help my friend recover her cats. She hasn’t had any luck but neither are they confirmed destroyed (a long story but enough to say that the NC sheriffs dept along with animal control are truly negligent). And my friend is terminal with some new complication discovered routinely. Be that as it may, the prospect of death itself is not on par of her emotional agony of being separated from her beloved three cats and her not knowing their fate. The rescue center recommended provided al, the help they could and my sincere thanks for that. Hope still survives as the deputy didn’t want to be bother to take them to a shelter where after a week they’re destroyed, and at least they weren’t locked inside to starve, so they were just shooed out of the house to fend for themselves. Wouldn’t even allow her to gather them into their carriers and take with her. To my left coast bleeding heart that sounds like animal cruelty, but I guess they know best as they’re the pros. I’m sure you’ll understand feelings of loss by one who only bonded with them from a distance. Don’t know how long she has, but being beyond caring certainly has its merit. Carrying that sorrow to the end sounds in the realm of unendurable though. FTW (alternate def).

  159. 159.

    NickM

    My wife and I were up around Petoskey and Traverse City last weekend and drove around quite a bit. We did not see a single Trump sign or bumper sticker. It was surprising – I figured either everyone felt the same way and there was no reason to advertise or they were afraid of Big Gretch’s stormtroopers.  I’d entertain more hopeful options gladly.

    And ETA reading Lance’s comment above breaks my heart.  Best to your friend and her beloved cats.

  160. 160.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @LanceThruster: Likely death thread, but I agree w/ the thrust of your comment, even though I was never a support of Sanders (primarily because I found his political acumen left a lot to be desired) & only supported some of his policy proposals (some I felt were simplistic).

    If we want to defeat the Herrenvolk reactionaries, Dems (& everyone else in the anti-Fascist coalition) need to work on addressing of the structural problems & underlying dynamics feeding the reactionaries. The reactionary movement is being fed by innate racism & nativism, tendency by some too seek authoritarian daddy figures, money worship, greed, etc. These are part of the human condition, can only be contained, & not eliminated. OTOH, it is also being fed by socioeconomic conditions such as working class scarcity & working/middle class precarity,  sociopolitical trends such as discourse that blames the alien “Other” for domestic troubles, threat inflation & fear mongering, or misguided policy consensus around securitization of everything, preserving US primacy at all costs, Great Power Competition as central organizing principle for foreign & domestic policies, natsec Keynesianism & economic nationalism. On the latter issues the Dem mainstream have often either failed to fight to reverse these conditions & trends, or have even encouraged them out of either misguided conviction or political expediency.

    Thus, every election becomes a rear guard action that must be fought & won to prevent things from getting much worse much more quickly. However, winning these elections alone do not make things better, unless these structural issues & socioeconomic/sociopolitical dynamics are addressed. Otherwise, eventually the reactionaries will win some of these elections, such as in 2016, & much more often at the state & local levels.

    One cannot win a war by fighting only rearguard actions.

  161. 161.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @SomeRandomGuy: does  somebody else sing sound of silence?  There’s quite the story behind how that Song developed. I can’t even begin to imagine hearing another musician sing that. Besides me, of course, belting it out on a swing set, or driving home. But I’m such a Simon and garfunkel fan I have favorite songs from their first obscure albums. I oughta listen to more of them, while I’m resting/ napping, and  not yet saving anyone…

  163. 163.

    SomeRandomGuy

    @Gloria DryGarden: to add the only bit that JB Woodford couldn’t say on my behalf, if I heard the Disturbed cut first, I’d have considered the S&G cover to be an audacious cover for *that* song in folk rock, and it just proved how *good* the idea, the poetry, was, and how good both groups were/are.

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