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You are here: Home / Open Threads / What Else You Got Going On Between Now and November?

What Else You Got Going On Between Now and November?

by WaterGirl|  July 6, 20241:15 pm| 276 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Political Action, Political Fundraising, Targeted Political Fundraising 2023-24

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What else you got going on between now and November?
Surely nothing more important than this.

In the words of Tony Jay

The only thing that has changed since last week is that the corporate media have gone balls to the wall to create an ‘ongoing crisis’ for Democrats that they can milk until election day – which they were always going to do anyway – and the utter scum infesting the Supreme Court have gone balls to the wall inventing a Conservaconstitution to replace the one that has worked for 200+ years – which they were always going to do anyway.

You can’t do anything about that. Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of.

All you lot can do is donate, volunteer, campaign, and keep on taking any opportunity you can to remind ‘normal’ voters that the choice is between progressive Government under Democrats and a descent into crab barrel fascism under Stench and the Hench Party.

What else you got going on between now and November that’s a better way to pass the time?


Donate

We have an angel match from RaflW and (very likely) an external match, so donations will almost certainly be 4x.  The usual match rules apply.

We have a lot to do and a lot of boots to get on the ground between now and November.  

Let’s do this!
.

 

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Reader Interactions

276Comments

  1. 1.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 1:17 pm

    I caught a $25 donation in a stray thread last night, and a $100 donation from Another Scott in another thread this morning.  If you left a note somewhere and it’s not one of those, please let me know in the comments here and I’ll get caught up.

    As far as I know, we have $425 left on the Angel Match from RaflW.

  2. 2.

    different-church-lady

    July 6, 2024 at 1:19 pm

    I’m hoping to spend a lot less time on the internet.

  3. 3.

    Chris

    July 6, 2024 at 1:21 pm

    What else?  Well, this weekend is the French election.  I dragged my ass down to the embassy this morning and voted for the Macronist candidate (shockingly enough, the two candidates who made it to the second round were one Macronist and one New Popular Front.  This almost looks like a semi-sane political spectrum again).  The Macronist had a more impressive resume, but I’d have happily voted for either against the FN.

    And I went and voted despite having Covid (yes, of course I wore a mask, don’t be stupid), so fuck everybody who says it’s too hard to vote.

  4. 4.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 1:24 pm

    @different-church-lady: I’m starting college again in late August, so I’m right behind you on that.

  5. 5.

    Paul W.

    July 6, 2024 at 1:25 pm

    Dropping in $50, which I should wait until later in the month to do but I’m so over the current drama I’m going to try and check out for a bit and might forget.

  6. 6.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 1:25 pm

    Also paging Tony Jay: your boys look as uninspired as Bojo’s tailor!

  7. 7.

    West of the Rockies

    July 6, 2024 at 1:26 pm

    Iran is perhaps about to begin being more sane and stable.  Conservatives got a size 18 boot to their flabby collective arse in the UK.  It appears people are becoming aware of Project 2025 (more like 1725).

    Chins up.

  8. 8.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 1:28 pm

    @Leto: For real?  Online or in person?  What is your major going to be?

  9. 9.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 1:28 pm

    @Paul W.: Got it, thank you!

  10. 10.

    West of the Rockies

    July 6, 2024 at 1:28 pm

    @Leto:

    Careful.  I said I imagined TJ has BoJo hair yesterday and he promptly called me a human Cybertruck.  (I think of myself as more of an AMC Pacer or maybe Gremlin.  Possibly a Subaru Brat.)

  11. 11.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    July 6, 2024 at 1:30 pm

    One thing my wife and I are doing is volunteering for the week-long “Girls Rock Denver” camp.  They basically died during The Plague Years (as did a number of the non-profit chapters nationally).

    We’re basically gonna be roadies and gear heads although we’ve put in to do workshops, my wife on front-of-house sound and me on edrums and percussion pads.

    And my annual, summer “push-toy-soldiers-around-tables-with-a-bunch-of-geezy-white-old-rightwing-dudes”:

    hmgs.org/mpage/HconHome

    And making sure we save US democracy.

  12. 12.

    BR

    July 6, 2024 at 1:31 pm

    Thank you all for the info about postcard writing for the election in the previous thread. Sounds like that’s the perfect thing for me to work on, given that it’s effective and can be done from anywhere.

  13. 13.

    mali muso

    July 6, 2024 at 1:31 pm

    Thanks for all that you do to keep us sane and focused, WG! I’m in for $25, just donated.

  14. 14.

    Maxim

    July 6, 2024 at 1:32 pm

    @WaterGirl: I added a donation at the end of the previous thread, where the poem was posted.

  15. 15.

    wjca

    July 6, 2024 at 1:34 pm

    Looking for some help/suggestions.  Today’s mail included yet another (“urgent”) plea for money from the Trump campaign.  Sadly, not unusual.  Also as usual, it included a pre-addressed return envelope.  Most unusually, it’s postage pre-paid — meaning (as I understand it) they pay USPS for each envelope returned.

    So what I’m looking for is suggestions for things, which will fit in a 4×6 heavy-duty envelope, with particularly high mass.  Since (I think) how much the Post Office charges them depends on how much it weighs.

    Ideas?

  16. 16.

    raven

    July 6, 2024 at 1:34 pm

    We’re going to go fishing at Murrells Inlet in October!

  17. 17.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 1:35 pm

    @WaterGirl: in person. I need the actual interaction with people, the routine of showing up to class, and active participation in the form of discussion. History! With an art minor. I need to use my GI Bill, I put too much into it to let it go to waste, and I enjoy the subject. One of the few I do that I could major in.

    @West of the Rockies: haha, I got one in as well. He wondered if this was now a group project :)

  18. 18.

    Captain C

    July 6, 2024 at 1:36 pm

    @wjca: Thin scrap metal?

  19. 19.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 1:36 pm

    @raven: oh, that’s a nice area; have fun!

  20. 20.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 1:36 pm

    @Maxim: I had not caught that one!

    We are now at $750 toward RaflW’s match.

  21. 21.

    Tony Jay

    July 6, 2024 at 1:36 pm

    @Leto:

    Well, we Are Shit and …ggggooooooaaaaalllllllllllllll!!!!

  22. 22.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    July 6, 2024 at 1:37 pm

    @Leto:

    Hooray for history majors!

  23. 23.

    Chris

    July 6, 2024 at 1:37 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    That’s a good call.

  24. 24.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 1:37 pm

    Man, Switzerland scored one and now England bring it level less than 5 mins later; both good goals, though Saka’s goal was very sweet.

    @Tony Jay: hahaha :)

  25. 25.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    July 6, 2024 at 1:38 pm

    @Captain C:

    That’s what I was thinking.

    Buy some really skinny washers if thin scrap metal’s not lying around?

  26. 26.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 1:38 pm

    @Leto:  Glad to see you moving ahead with your plans!

  27. 27.

    raven

    July 6, 2024 at 1:38 pm

    @Leto: Thattaway! I finished up using mine after I broke my back and it was a way to keep some $$ flowing.  It took me nine years to get my undergrad, masters at 40 and doc at 50! Knowledge is good!

  28. 28.

    BeautifulPlumage

    July 6, 2024 at 1:39 pm

    I agreed to run for Dem precinct officer? I’m in a reddish area of a blue county in a blue state, so will get to know other Dems in my precinct.

    I’m trying to cut my expenses in case Cleo Marie needs surgery. We’re hoping the diet gets rid of the bladder stone instead. But I’m donating $25 because this (and the other groups) are doing important work in critical states

  29. 29.

    Lapassionara

    July 6, 2024 at 1:40 pm

    I just noticed that the Republican Convention starts on July 15. That’s a week from Monday. Do you think the media will change the conversation then? Given that the R candidate is very clearly in some stage of dementia, this should be interesting. Not to mention waiting to see the former First Lady’s speech.

    I recall the convention when Pat Buchanan did his best Nazi imitation and people were actually turned off. This is likely to be full bore “Triumph of the Will.”

  30. 30.

    raven

    July 6, 2024 at 1:41 pm

    @Lapassionara: no

  31. 31.

    BeautifulPlumage

    July 6, 2024 at 1:42 pm

    @wjca: ​
      pennies?

  32. 32.

    wjca

    July 6, 2024 at 1:43 pm

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:  some really skinny washers if thin scrap metal’s not lying around?

    Great idea! I’m on it.

  33. 33.

    Tony Jay

    July 6, 2024 at 1:43 pm

    @West of the Rockies:

    You deserved it, you monster!

    I’ll have you know I have the silver-grey hair of a medium-range sporting goods catalogue model trimmed neatly to merge with my neat little San Francisco librarian beard.

  34. 34.

    Josie

    July 6, 2024 at 1:44 pm

    I’m very excited with some small good news. Some of you might remember that I self published my book earlier in the year. It has sold over 150 copies so far–not a lot but I didn’t get skunked. Last week one of the women in the church choir has asked me to meet with her book club to talk about it. I am beyond happy to do this and am thinking that, if they actually like it, I could sign up some beta readers for the sequel I am working on. It’s keeping me sane in all the chaos around us.

  35. 35.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 1:44 pm

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: there’s literally dozens of us!!! :p

    @WaterGirl: it was a long, round about path back to where I always knew I was going. It really does help to be in a position where I can do whatever I fancy (to a point).

    @raven: it’s taken me a while. Mainly had to overcome my own… doubts? Apathy? Basically the last almost six years with everything that’s happened since the accident. It just takes the time it takes.

  36. 36.

    PHinSD

    July 6, 2024 at 1:45 pm

    $50 from here in San Diego

  37. 37.

    wjca

    July 6, 2024 at 1:45 pm

    @BeautifulPlumage: pennies?

    Reluctant to send them even that much money.  Although a single penny might send a message….

  38. 38.

    raven

    July 6, 2024 at 1:46 pm

    @Leto: I hear ya. I’ve been retired for 5 years and this shit goes fast!

  39. 39.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 1:46 pm

    @Tony Jay: I appreciated your inspirational words and wanted more people to see them.  Hope you don’t mind being promoted in the quote in the post.

  40. 40.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 1:48 pm

    @wjca: along with the suggestion of washers, may I suggest glitter. Essentially a glitter bomb with the washers. As both the sender, and recipient, of such “gifts”, it’s the beeeest!

  41. 41.

    Tony Jay

    July 6, 2024 at 1:48 pm

    @Leto:

    I tell you, man. We’ve got some of the best young attacking talent on the continent in white shirts, but coached into stupor by a mediocre mid-prem yes-man with all the offensive vim of a horn-shocked hedgehog.

    Just let them attack.

  42. 42.

    dc

    July 6, 2024 at 1:48 pm

    @WaterGirl: I was likely the stray $25 from last night.

  43. 43.

    Tony Jay

    July 6, 2024 at 1:50 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Not at all. My fragile sense of self requires frequent injections of alcohol external confirmation. This should see me through to late autumn at least.

  44. 44.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 1:50 pm

    @BeautifulPlumage: Thank you for that!  Fingers crossed about the bladder stone.  Mr. Bear did great on the special food and did not need the surgery.  Hope that’s true of Cleo Marie, too.

    One thing that might be helpful to know is that when the food is helping to break down the stones, at some point in the process they can get small enough to mostly pass, but big enough to get stuck.  So keep an eye out.

    Mr. Bear’s stones were so big they showed in an x-ray, and in a followup x-ray she could see that there was a bunch of sludge but no visible stones, which meant they were starting to break down.

  45. 45.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 1:51 pm

    @BeautifulPlumage:

    I agreed to run for Dem precinct officer? I’m in a reddish area of a blue county in a blue state, so will get to know other Dems in my precinct.

    That’s huge, go you!   I bet you can turn to Nelle if you need some tips.

  46. 46.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 1:52 pm

    @BeautifulPlumage: Pennies is an excellent thought!

  47. 47.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 1:52 pm

    @raven: it does. It’s been 13 years since we arrived in Italy, 11 for England, and 7 since we got back to the US. It all feels… so much closer than it really is. Half a career for those two. Six years in October since my “life got flipped, turned upside down.”  And I’m still dealing with the aftermath of that in “new and novel” ways. But, here we are.

  48. 48.

    Mike E

    July 6, 2024 at 1:53 pm

    Bonus metric futbol. Will it be Torxit, or Euro union red tape?

  49. 49.

    West of the Rockies

    July 6, 2024 at 1:54 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    And red-lensed Tony Stark glasses?

    I can’t un-see it….

  50. 50.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 1:54 pm

    @Josie:  Wonderful news!

    In case anyone missed it, here’s the Author’s post for Josie’s book!

  51. 51.

    Eolirin

    July 6, 2024 at 1:55 pm

    @WaterGirl: In case it got buried in the old thread, I’m fine with you front paging my comment.

  52. 52.

    Eolirin

    July 6, 2024 at 1:55 pm

    @Chris: I am so desperate for those to go well too. Keep us posted.

  53. 53.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 1:55 pm

    @Tony Jay: you do! Your young guys do some crazy, great stuff. You guys have a similar conundrum to us, ie coaching.

  54. 54.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 1:56 pm

    @dc: I record the comment numbers of donations, so if you know what post that would have been in, I can make sure that the one I got was you.

  55. 55.

    West of the Rockies

    July 6, 2024 at 1:57 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Pennies are bankable.  How about subway tokens?

  56. 56.

    wjca

    July 6, 2024 at 1:57 pm

    @Leto: along with the suggestion of washers, may I suggest glitter. Essentially a glitter bomb with the washers.

    Loving it.  You guys are great!

  57. 57.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 1:57 pm

    @Tony Jay: I was expecting “late evening” not late autumn!  :-)

  58. 58.

    Elizabelle

    July 6, 2024 at 1:57 pm

    Remember that postcard stamps increase in price on July 14.  Bastille Day!

  59. 59.

    TBone

    July 6, 2024 at 1:57 pm

    @wjca: dried dung

    Catturd style.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 1:58 pm

    @Eolirin: Oh, yay!

    Ever hopeful, I had copied into the draft of a post so I wouldn’t forget about it. :-)

  61. 61.

    Elizabelle

    July 6, 2024 at 1:58 pm

    @Chris:  Tres bien!  And feel better.

  62. 62.

    Josie

    July 6, 2024 at 1:59 pm

    @Leto: ​
     Congratulations on your decision. I went back to school after retirement and enjoyed it immensely, much more so than we I was young.

  63. 63.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 1:59 pm

    @Tony Jay: oh, also got a treat for ya: I won’t work for weeks!

  64. 64.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 1:59 pm

    @West of the Rockies: Yeah, perhaps the metal washers from the hardware store (if not from the back of the garage) might be better.  Wouldn’t want the Republican yahoos yucking it up about the pennies as they took them to the bank.

  65. 65.

    VFX Lurker

    July 6, 2024 at 2:02 pm

    I donated $100 today. Again — thank you for putting these efforts together.

  66. 66.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    July 6, 2024 at 2:02 pm

    My AC died earlier this week, and my electric furnace is 50 years old, so right now I am trying not to melt in over 90 degree heat and over a serious bill until my system is upgraded and replaced.   Once it’s cooler again, I’ll be able to contribute and write postcards for the group I’ve been a part of for 8 years, postcards4VA.com.  One of my personal goals is to defeat Morgan Griffith in VAs 9th; I was at intermediate school with him, he was a bully, and I hit him.  He stopped bothering me, but not the rest of the world.

  67. 67.

    Jackie

    July 6, 2024 at 2:03 pm

    @wjca: Picture of Dark Brandon and Monopoly money – in 1dollar bills.

  68. 68.

    Tony Jay

    July 6, 2024 at 2:04 pm

    @West of the Rockies:

    If I tried to pull that look off children would flee screaming “Butterball Cenobite!”

    Always assuming they’re familiar with mid-80s horror franchises, as they bloody well should be.

  69. 69.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 2:05 pm

    @Josie: I’ve discovered I’m the same. Like so many things, youth is wasted on the young. Grats on your book club discussion, and good luck with the sequel!

  70. 70.

    dc

    July 6, 2024 at 2:05 pm

    @WaterGirl: Comment 42 here: balloon-juice.com/2024/07/05/four-directions-wisconsin-we-have-angels-and-poetry/#comments

  71. 71.

    Tony Jay

    July 6, 2024 at 2:06 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Hic! I feel sheen.

  72. 72.

    Raven

    July 6, 2024 at 2:07 pm

    @Leto: we were just talking that I ran the Peachtree 30 years ago!

  73. 73.

    Chris Johnson

    July 6, 2024 at 2:08 pm

    @wjca: Oh no way, that’s awesome. Sheet metal or thin rocks for the win. That’s amazing :)

    Shows you how clever the malefactors are. That, or they’re gonna just stiff the post office?

  74. 74.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 2:09 pm

    @Cheryl from Maryland: may I humbly suggest that you go to his office, and re-introduce him to your fist? And tell him to knock all this shit off, and to go spend time with his family? Sorry about the A/C troubles. We had the same thing when we first moved in to our home, and last year upgraded our system. Our bank accounted hated it, but we’re comfortable for at least the next 15-20 years. Still, to quote a wise crab: “Me monies, Sponge Bob!”

  75. 75.

    Tony Jay

    July 6, 2024 at 2:10 pm

    @Leto:

    The ENGLAND’S HARRY KANE School of chance creation there.

  76. 76.

    Chris Johnson

    July 6, 2024 at 2:11 pm

    @Lapassionara: That’s gonna be LIT.

    Can hardly wait to see the enlightening spectacle. In the sense that the Hindenburg was an enlightening, heart-warming spectacle. Lotta light, uh-huh. You could call it warm ;)

    We might be looking at a really, really shocking unmasking of the mainstream media, now all-in on protecting the Republicans’ nominee, and publically humiliated like a blogger being excoriated by his comments section. It could get UGLY in the most delightful way :)

  77. 77.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 6, 2024 at 2:12 pm

    @different-church-lady: Me too. I am planning an India trip. When I come back I will be busy with multiple projects. Including art projects. Experimenting with different media.

  78. 78.

    wjca

    July 6, 2024 at 2:12 pm

    @Chris Johnson: Shows you how clever the malefactors are. That, or they’re gonna just stiff the post office?

    I’m sure they’d love too.  Bad news for them: the PO is “pay on pickup”, not “pay after you open it and know of it’s worth having.”  Sucks to be them.

  79. 79.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 2:12 pm

    @Raven: I know it’s been longer for some, but I graduated high school 30 years ago this year. Dire Straits: “I’ve stayed the same, but everyone around me’s changed”

  80. 80.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 2:14 pm

    @Tony Jay: flopping to the ground any time he’s near the ball? Someone get that man a vitamin D shot! And some B12 while we’re at it!

  81. 81.

    Mai Naem mobile

    July 6, 2024 at 2:15 pm

    @WaterGirl: i kicked in $25.

  82. 82.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 2:16 pm

    Haha, that dude just knocked Harry Kane off his scooter; hope Kane can get a replacement battery!

    Edit: apparently Kane was given a bus pass, and told to head to the pub. Toney in.

  83. 83.

    Chris Johnson

    July 6, 2024 at 2:16 pm

    Again, literally all the media could be in it together trying to protect Trump, but if Trump clowns on them hard enough at the convention, all it means is they have burnt up generations of goodwill at a stroke.

    Respect is EARNED.

    I get that people are used to being able to look at media in any sense and think it’s some form of legit, but remember how the conservatives insisted so hard that news was fake and could not be even listened to? Projection, as ever. They’re gonna succeed in convincing everyone of that, but only after the news goes all in on protecting THEM. This process is underway. Stinks to high heaven, and the most unconnected person in the world might hear rumblings and wonder what is up.

  84. 84.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 2:17 pm

    @VFX Lurker: Got it, thank you!!

  85. 85.

    Mai Naem mobile

    July 6, 2024 at 2:18 pm

    I donated $25 to Biden after the debate. I only did it to show support for him to stay in. Unfortunately I am not getting a gazillion texts and emails from the Biden folks.

  86. 86.

    Raven

    July 6, 2024 at 2:18 pm

    @Leto:

    Your low rent friends are dead
    This life can be very strange
    All those Day-Glo freaks who used to paint the face
    They’ve joined the human race
    Some things will never chang
    e

  87. 87.

    Josie

    July 6, 2024 at 2:18 pm

    @Cheryl from Maryland: ​
     I cannot imagine doing without AC for any length of time in this heat. I hope you get relief soon.

  88. 88.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 2:19 pm

    @Cheryl from Maryland: Oh, no!  That’s you and Scout211!

    Terrible timing!  That’s when they go, though, when the systems are stressed by the high heat and humidity.

    Ask me how I know!

    *Even on a weekend, leave the message with your heating/AC folks right away, not waiting until Monday.  Because around here, they go first come, first served, so you want to get in the queue on the weekend.  Screw those other folks who wait until Monday to call.  :-)

  89. 89.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 2:20 pm

    @dc: Thank you!  That one is already in the spreadsheet.  It was worth a try, though. :-)

  90. 90.

    scribbler

    July 6, 2024 at 2:20 pm

    Just donated $25.  Thanks WG!

  91. 91.

    Raven

    July 6, 2024 at 2:20 pm

    I assume this whiny fucking announcer is some former great?

  92. 92.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    July 6, 2024 at 2:21 pm

    @Josie: Yay! Book clubs are fun to talk to.

  93. 93.

    Tony Jay

    July 6, 2024 at 2:21 pm

    @Leto:

    It’s a little known fact that Kane only came to football after an early career as a garden bug wrangler was cut short by tragedy when his beloved ladybird Greavsie was blown away by an errant gust of wind.

    Now whenever he sees a patch of grass he always has to get down and check if she’s there.

  94. 94.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 2:21 pm

    @Chris Johnson: @wjca: @Leto

    The glitter along with the metal is perfection!

  95. 95.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 2:22 pm

    @Mai Naem mobile: Thank you!  Almost there, just $75 left on this one.

  96. 96.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 2:23 pm

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    Unfortunately I am not getting

    Is “not” supposed to be in there?

  97. 97.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 2:24 pm

    @Tony Jay: hey, where is his partner in geriatric decline, Harry “Block Head” McGuire? The man who runs with the grace of a bull in a china shop.

  98. 98.

    Raven

    July 6, 2024 at 2:24 pm

    @Tony Jay: you’re killin me over here!

  99. 99.

    Mai Naem mobile

    July 6, 2024 at 2:24 pm

    I caught the clip of Biden talking to the reporters at the airport and,frankly, I found the reporters offensive on how they kept on essentially pushing Biden to step down. ‘You’re too old’, ‘You don’t have the energy’  ‘You know you’re an old old man right?’ Why why why won’t you step down so I can go on CNN/NBC/CBS/FOX and gossip about it?’  Fuck these people.

  100. 100.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 6, 2024 at 2:25 pm

    @WaterGirl: I left a link of the DougJ tweet for you in the last thread (the one before Tamara’s)

  101. 101.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 2:26 pm

    @Raven: the British sounding guy, or the American? The American is one of our all time scoring greats, Landon Donovan. The British dude has announced for forever. I do sort of zone them out.

  102. 102.

    Josie

    July 6, 2024 at 2:27 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: ​
     I’ve never done this before, so I’m a wee bit nervous. She said it would be informal, just a question and answer type thing. You would think after doing junior high book talks for so many years, I would be more confident.

  103. 103.

    Eolirin

    July 6, 2024 at 2:27 pm

    @WaterGirl: I assumed it was meant to be “now”.

  104. 104.

    Raven

    July 6, 2024 at 2:28 pm

    @Leto: I thought it was Donovan.

  105. 105.

    Tony Jay

    July 6, 2024 at 2:28 pm

    @Leto:

    Retired from football to mince cattle giblets in the back room of a small family butchers in rural Hertfordshire.

    Ha! No. Can you imagine giving up that staggering Man Utd wage for doing nothing a sack of mouldy potatoes on a three wheeled skateboard couldn’t do better?

    He’s injured, I think.

    Oh lawd, penalties. Can’t watch.

  106. 106.

    HinTN

    July 6, 2024 at 2:29 pm

    @Josie: What’s the subject and where do we buy it?

  107. 107.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    July 6, 2024 at 2:30 pm

    @Josie: I usually start by saying how I came to write the book. Then I invite questions, but I also have some things ready to talk about in case they clam up. The cover maybe. Or self publishing.

    Chances are they’ll have things to ask though. They’ll be excited to have an actual author.

  108. 108.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 2:31 pm

    @Tony Jay: haha, to the PKs! I miss seeing him galumph around, throwing that double decker forehead into the mix of things.

    @Raven: yup, it is.

  109. 109.

    TBone

    July 6, 2024 at 2:31 pm

    @wjca: when mom’s dementia first surfaced, dad used to keep her busy stuffing all postage paid return envelopes they received.  She’d clip ads for things that appear in the very back of the magazines, if you get my meaning.  Happily stuffing, she’d stay busy for hours, giggling to herself all the way to the mailbox.

  110. 110.

    Lapassionara

    July 6, 2024 at 2:32 pm

    @Chris Johnson: Yes. When was the last time TFG gave a speech? One of his SOU’s, I suppose. He has been complaining at rallies that his teleprompter is not working but I suspect that he’s having trouble reading. And the cheers he’ll elicit when he brags about getting Roe v Wade overturned, not to mention the raving about his great immunity decision.

  111. 111.

    HinTN

    July 6, 2024 at 2:32 pm

    @WaterGirl: I read A Dangerous Woman. Great read!!!

    @Josie: What’s the title of the new one.?

  112. 112.

    Josie

    July 6, 2024 at 2:32 pm

    @HinTN: ​
     It’s historical fiction about the Mexican Revolution. It’s only in ebook form on Amazon.
    A Dangerous Woman by Josie Wilson
    Thanks for asking.

  113. 113.

    Heidi Mom

    July 6, 2024 at 2:33 pm

    In for $25.

  114. 114.

    HinTN

    July 6, 2024 at 2:33 pm

    @Josie: I read that one and really enjoyed it.

  115. 115.

    Josie

    July 6, 2024 at 2:36 pm

    @HinTN: ​
     The new one only has a working title, Family, Friends & Lovers, which will probably not stick. I am only about halfway through it. It will cover the years 1920-1940, after the Revolution. If I live long enough, I want to do one for the years 1940-present.

  116. 116.

    SenyorDave

    July 6, 2024 at 2:36 pm

    Biden was in a defensive posture throughout, arguing that his past performance should be proof enough about his capacity in the future.

    “It was a bad episode,” the president said. “No indication of any serious condition.”

    He blamed exhaustion but also being so sick ahead of the debate that his doctors tested him for Covid-19. But what he would not agree to was any kind of neurological examination.

    “Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day, I have that test,” Mr. Biden said, suggesting that the job of the presidency was its own type of test. He declined repeatedly to sit for an independent exam.

    No, the job itself is not a cognitive test.  The ads just write themselves.  I assume the campaign dropped a few million in the last week on internal polls in a few of the swing states.  My guess is that they were bad, hence the need for the interview.

  117. 117.

    Tony Jay

    July 6, 2024 at 2:37 pm

    @Leto:

    I watched all the other PK finishes easily enough, even the French one (and I get a payday if they win), but I just can’t atop getting swirly tummy when it’s ‘us’ taking them. 

  118. 118.

    Josie

    July 6, 2024 at 2:37 pm

    @HinTN: ​
     I’m so glad you liked it.

  119. 119.

    lowtechcyclist

    July 6, 2024 at 2:39 pm

    @Cheryl from Maryland: ​
     

    My AC died earlier this week, and my electric furnace is 50 years old, so right now I am trying not to melt in over 90 degree heat and over a serious bill until my system is upgraded and replaced.

    I’ve got a couple of window A/C units that you could borrow until your central air is running again. We got them when our heat pump system died a couple summers back, in order to tide us through to when we got the new system. Since then, they’ve been sitting in the shed, but they should still work just fine. I live about a half hour from Exit 11 of the DC Beltway, and about half an hour south of Annapolis. WaterGirl should have my email.

  120. 120.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    July 6, 2024 at 2:39 pm

    And the shitting on Harris has already begun

    Alexis Thompson “Me on a hurdle for VP Harris: “She has been one of the main public validators of [Biden’s] health. You remember after the Hur report, she went out there and said he is with it, he is commanding everything in the room. She is going to have to sit down & answer tough questions.”

    That “Concern” also applies to Pete and Newsom.

  121. 121.

    Sister Golden Bear

    July 6, 2024 at 2:41 pm

    In for another $25

  122. 122.

    Raven

    July 6, 2024 at 2:41 pm

    @Tony Jay: When I watch these I think of the Ohio State kicker missing a 50 yarder to send us to the second consecutive national championship!!

  123. 123.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 6, 2024 at 2:42 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: They will not be satisfied until Dems pick a Romney-Cheney ticket. No Democrat is going to be acceptable to the Republican Godi (LapDog) media.

  124. 124.

    Raven

    July 6, 2024 at 2:42 pm

    Rule Britannia!

  125. 125.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 2:42 pm

    @Tony Jay: understandable. I lost all interest in the COPA Cup when the US exited in the first round. Grats on the semi’s.

  126. 126.

    Gloria DryGarden

    July 6, 2024 at 2:42 pm

    @wjca: jello , inst pudding, chia seeds, flax seed meal..

  127. 127.

    Mike E

    July 6, 2024 at 2:43 pm

    No Regretxit, on to the semis!

  128. 128.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 2:43 pm

    @Raven: I was expecting the British announcer to yell, “And England prevails!” Ala V for Vendetta.

  129. 129.

    BeautifulPlumage

    July 6, 2024 at 2:44 pm

    @WaterGirl: ​
     so good hear about Mr Bear and the diet. Cleo had at least 1 big one on the 1st x-ray and we follow up with another on the 15th. I’m hoping she does as well as Mr. Bear.

    P S the pic of your ferns a while back has stayed with me. We have a lot here in the PNW but that side yard is gorgeous!

  130. 130.

    trollhattan

    July 6, 2024 at 2:44 pm

    @Cheryl from Maryland:

    My sympathies.

    We ripped off the enormous bandaid two winters ago and replaced the gas-electric HVAC with a heatpump that, so far, is getting us through what’s shaping up to he the historic longest string of triple digits in city history. Predicted today: 113.

    Repair costs of the old system spiraled upward and new replacement parts were vanishing from the globe, so it was time but wow, was it costy.

    On the upside: new system vastly quieter and is variable, not on/off like the old stuff.

  131. 131.

    Jim Appleton

    July 6, 2024 at 2:46 pm

    $50 to 4D

  132. 132.

    Josie

    July 6, 2024 at 2:46 pm

    @SenyorDave: ​
     But the job itself is a cognitive test. No one could accomplish what he has without cognitive ability.
    He is smart enough to assemble a great team and lead them in doing great things.

  133. 133.

    lol chikinburd

    July 6, 2024 at 2:49 pm

    Added a second $25 to an earlier, for a total of $50.

  134. 134.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    July 6, 2024 at 2:51 pm

    @Leto: I moved to Maryland in the 1990s, so it’s a long drive.  On the other hand, I’m a 67 year old over educated white woman, so he probably wouldn’t see it coming.  God, he was an insufferable dick at 12.  His sister and I were good friends.

  135. 135.

    Sister Golden Bear

    July 6, 2024 at 2:51 pm

    Trying to beat the heat with a trip over the hill to Half Moon Bay — yay morning fog! — along with a good percentage of the Bay Area. May head south along th San Mateo Coast in search of less crowded conditions once I finish my crab omelette.

  136. 136.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    July 6, 2024 at 2:53 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: thanks for the offer, but my contract includes two portable units.  It’s just hard to be very active – do something for 1/2 hour, cool off 2 hours.  New install happens at the end of next week.

  137. 137.

    SuzieC

    July 6, 2024 at 2:53 pm

    Another $25.00

  138. 138.

    Josie

    July 6, 2024 at 2:54 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: ​
     Thanks. That helps.

  139. 139.

    lowtechcyclist

    July 6, 2024 at 2:55 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: ​
     

    That “Concern” also applies to Pete and Newsom.

    Of course it does.

    But that’s good – they’ve shown their hand (and their ass) already. Nobody with any sense can now say things will get back to normal if we only replace Biden with Johnny or Jane Unbeatable – it’ll be same shit, different candidate.

    And probably ramped up even more: now that they’ve shown they can destroy one Dem candidacy, they’ll want to try for two.

    So fuck it, let’s hold the line right here. Biden/Harris, period, end of sentence. We’ll win or go down fighting with THIS ticket, you fucking media clowns. Why do you hate America?

  140. 140.

    Mike E

    July 6, 2024 at 2:55 pm

    @SenyorDave: No, the job itself is not a cognitive test.

    You got to be fucking kidding me.

    @Josie: clearly.

  141. 141.

    MJN

    July 6, 2024 at 2:55 pm

    In for $50.

  142. 142.

    Tom Levenson

    July 6, 2024 at 2:56 pm

    In for $50

  143. 143.

    Splitting Image

    July 6, 2024 at 2:59 pm

    @lowtechcyclist:

    So fuck it, let’s hold the line right here. Biden/Harris, period, end of sentence. We’ll win or go down fighting with THIS ticket, you fucking media clowns. Why do you hate America?

    This is exactly it. Letting the quislings at the Times and CNN have the scalp they want is only going to encourage them.

  144. 144.

    moonbat

    July 6, 2024 at 2:59 pm

    For those who were wondering out loud about where to go to get the straight news when our media is showing itself to be so very compromised, I’m putting in a word for Spoutible and its Pods feature.

    Christopher Bouzy has been holding virtual town halls with Democratic candidates and our elected officials where you can get the word straight from the candidates themselves. There’s one coming up on Monday with the Florida Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

    And not for nothing, Spoutible also has a real time fact checking feature that checks the veracity of whatever bullshit is being spread by Musk’s minions on Twitter, like that fact-free claim yesterday that the president had suffered some sort of medical emergency on Air Force 1.

  145. 145.

    pat

    July 6, 2024 at 3:00 pm

    I posted this on another website.  Thought it fit here too.  This whole mess is making me ill.

     

    So Biden will lose to trump but Kamala or whoknowswho won’t??

    The next four months are going to be non-stop “dems in disarray” from the MSM, while trump gets away with the most gob-smacking lies and rants. Has the NYT or WaPo spent half the time they’ve been criticizing Biden’s “debate” performance talking about the endless stream of lies coming from the pathological liar malignant narcissist?

    How about this: elect Biden/Harris, then if he really begins to show signs of mental decline (kind of like what we have been seeing from the orange blob for years now), he can step down and Kamala Harris can take over. Works for me…..

  146. 146.

    Mike E

    July 6, 2024 at 3:01 pm

    Heh, announcer predicting a penalty shootout which means it’ll be 2-0.

  147. 147.

    gwangung

    July 6, 2024 at 3:02 pm

    elect Biden/Harris, then if he really begins to show signs of mental decline (kind of like what we have been seeing from the orange blob for years now), he can step down and Kamala Harris can take over.

    It’s like…they have a system set up for it.

  148. 148.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 6, 2024 at 3:03 pm

    @Lapassionara:

    Wasn’t TCFFG supposed to announce his running mate back on Debate Day? Invite that person to the debate? Did he actually make the announcement and we heard nothing about it because the media were so busy setting their hair on fire over OMG BIDEN? I haven’t even seen any speculation in more than a week.

  149. 149.

    VFX Lurker

    July 6, 2024 at 3:05 pm

    @Mike E: I just pied him. 99.9% sure he’s a long-time commenter here, but I don’t need his nonsense distracting me between now and Nov. 5th.

  150. 150.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 6, 2024 at 3:05 pm

    @Josie:

    Congratulations! That’s very cool. Will you give us a report after you meet with the book group?

  151. 151.

    ArchTeryx

    July 6, 2024 at 3:06 pm

    @West of the Rockies: I know Project 2025 is on the radar of the normies now. The Russian trolls are all over the Book of Faces denying that Project 2025 even exists, or if it does exist, it contains none of the material the Demoncraps are claiming it does.

  152. 152.

    Scout211

    July 6, 2024 at 3:07 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: The campaign has delayed the Veep announcement.  Speculation is that it’s part of the decision to keep Trump and his surrogates out of the public right now to keep the negative attention on Biden.

    ETA: Here’s the way NBC reported it.

    Donald Trump’s timeline to announce his vice presidential running mate has paused following a shaky debate performance last week by President Joe Biden, sources familiar with the deliberations told NBC News.

    The former president had weighed whether to rush into an announcement last week to either distract Biden ahead of the first debate in Atlanta or quickly change the narrative had the debate gone poorly for Trump.

    . . .

    “What’s the old adage? Never get in the way of your enemy while they are destroying themselves,” a Republican familiar with the discussions said. “I think that applies here. It’s been Biden’s week for all the wrong reasons; let them keep it.”

  153. 153.

    lowtechcyclist

    July 6, 2024 at 3:07 pm

    @Cheryl from Maryland: ​

    @lowtechcyclist: thanks for the offer, but my contract includes two portable units. It’s just hard to be very active – do something for 1/2 hour, cool off 2 hours. New install happens at the end of next week.

    I hear you – this heat really does take it out of you, and on the whole I’m a hot-weather guy. Hang in there!
    @Cheryl from Maryland: ​
     

    One of my personal goals is to defeat Morgan Griffith in VAs 9th; I was at intermediate school with him, he was a bully, and I hit him. He stopped bothering me, but not the rest of the world.

    A worthy cause, but I’m seeing that VA-9 has a Cook PVI of R+23. Which I totally believe, having lived down there (Bristol VA) for five years in the 1990s. Maybe the bastard will have a stroke or something.

  154. 154.

    SenyorDave

    July 6, 2024 at 3:08 pm

    @Josie: It isn’t to the average voter.  And that is what matters.  That will be the theme for the next four months.  Biden no longer wins the fitness test in terms of what the average voter hears.  It doesn’t matter that every person here knows Trump is ignorant, is morally and intellectually unfit.

  155. 155.

    skerry

    July 6, 2024 at 3:09 pm

    I’m in for $50.

  156. 156.

    Lapassionara

    July 6, 2024 at 3:13 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I don’t recall that, but he will need to make an announcement soon. All I know is that he is exhibiting various signs of dementia, including having difficulty pronouncing some multi syllabic words, etc.

    My theory is that the Republicans excel at accusing their opponent of their own candidate’s weakness. Hence the over-the-top attacks on Biden’s mental competency. And Putin is desperate to have Trump back in office. So he has his bot army out in force.

  157. 157.

    A Good Woman

    July 6, 2024 at 3:13 pm

    @SenyorDave:

    I think we have all forgotten that Nancy P stepped down from the Speaker position at the tender age of 81.  She knew it was time to pass the torch.  I watched the interview.  That was not SOTU Biden.  The job ages the occupant, even young guys like Obama, and Biden is a lot older than he was when he was VP.

    I think a full workup to assess not just cognitive ability but also overall brain/neurological health is a worthwhile effort. I have no idea what the result would be, but if in fact something is lurking that needs attention, then hop to it!!  He is 81 and the odds are not with him the way they would have been 20 years ago.  He survived a busted aneurysm when he was much younger.  He is healthy for his age, but not invincible.  I really don’t want him falling apart in a year because pride got in the way of taking care of his health.  His PCP is just that, a PCP, not an expert in brain health.  Jill should be pushing this too, or she may find herself attending his funeral sooner than she expected.

  158. 158.

    Mike E

    July 6, 2024 at 3:15 pm

    “It isn’t to the average voter.”

    “Biden no longer wins the fitness test in terms of what the average voter hears.”

    Speak for yourself, instead of leaning on a strawman.

    And right on cue, another “good woman” heard from.

  159. 159.

    Geminid

    July 6, 2024 at 3:17 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: People used to call that the “Fighting 9th,” because the seat would pass back and forth between Republicans and Democrats. That was when Virginia’s Republicans were strongest in the western areas of the state: the so-called Mountain Valley Republicans. Tim Kaine’s father-in-law, Governor Linwood Holton (1970-74, was one of the last of the breed. You probably know this.

    Congressman M. Caldwell Butler is probably the most famous 9th District Representative, because of his role in the Watergate hearings.

  160. 160.

    trollhattan

    July 6, 2024 at 3:18 pm

    Aww, our zoo lost one of the beloved giraffes.

    Skye, a reticulated giraffe who called the Sacramento Zoo home for more than a quarter-century, died Friday at the age of 26. The giraffe had lived in the zoo since 1999 and was described as “one of our most beloved and iconic animals,” the Sacramento Zoo said in a release announcing her death. Skye had been receiving care for age-related issues. As a result of her declining condition, veterinary staff humanely euthanized her, according to the zoo.

    Born on July 14, 1998, Skye spent 25 years at the Sacramento Zoo after being born and nursed at the Milwaukee Zoo, along with another female giraffe, Gudrun. A news release from the zoo said Skye held a “special place in the hearts of zoo staff, volunteers and visitors alike.”

    Skye is remembered as “unique, brave, funny, sassy and clever” by her caretakers. “She was always one step ahead of me and I appreciate everything she has taught me and our whole team,” McCartney said.

    Skye’s species is considered “vulnerable” to extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. The population of reticulated giraffes has declined more than 50% over the last three decades due to habitat loss, poaching and human-wildlife conflict.

    Skye was considered an “ambassador for giraffes in Africa,” the zoo said. “Thousands of guests fed her leaves from the giraffe encounter deck at the zoo. The proceeds from our giraffe encounters help finance our conservation efforts in Tanzania,” said Jason Jacobs, the zoo’s executive director. “So, in effect, every interaction Skye had with our guests helped save wild giraffes.”

    sacbee.com/news/local/article289813229.html#storylink=cpy

    One of the best things about living here is cycling past the zoo, where the giraffe habitat is adjacent to the fenceline, and seeing the giraffes when they’re nearby. You can probably guess that never gets old. r.i.p. Skye

  161. 161.

    VFX Lurker

    July 6, 2024 at 3:23 pm

    @Mike E: And right on cue, another “good woman” heard from.

    I already had that commenter pied. Had to scroll up to see their delicious baked treat.

  162. 162.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 6, 2024 at 3:23 pm

    @Scout211:

    Thanks — hadn’t come across that coverage. It’s distressing that TCFFG seems to have more competent people running his campaign this time than he has had in the past.

  163. 163.

    TBone

    July 6, 2024 at 3:23 pm

    @Mike E: 🙄🤡

  164. 164.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 6, 2024 at 3:29 pm

    @Mike E: I smell a rat. Or a sockpuppet.

  165. 165.

    CaseyL

    July 6, 2024 at 3:30 pm

    @lowtechcyclist:

    And probably ramped up even more: now that they’ve shown they can destroy one Dem candidacy, they’ll want to try for two.

    They already have a record of destroying Dem candidacies.

    Al Gore in 2000.

    John Kerry in 2004.

    Hillary Clinton in 2016.

    ..And  they damn well tried in 2008 and 2012, but for once enough Democrats and enough of voters generally didn’t fall for it.

    This is one of the many things infuriating me right now.  They keep doing this, over and over again, and Democrats keep falling for it, over and over again.

    FWIW, I read on Axios, via Mastodon, that Hakeem Jeffries is convening House Democrats to talk about this…issue.  Even though I’m not one of his constituents, I send him a message via his Contact page begging him to stand up for Biden.  (I did the same with Chuck Schumer, though I haven’t heard that Schumer’s getting weak-kneed.)

    I said to both, as plainly as I could, that this is a coordinated sabotage mission, that the MSM has done it before, and for the love of all that is holy please don’t let them succeed yet again.

  166. 166.

    Kelly

    July 6, 2024 at 3:30 pm

    @Cheryl from Maryland: Things always break at the worst times. I had to replace Mom’s heat pump in January. Fortunately she had a wood pellet stove which could keep the house warm enough on the really noisy high setting.

    Amongst our current hassles the eye surgeon turned in one of Mrs Kelly’s cataract surgeries (covered) as presbyopia surgery (not covered). Text on bill says cataract, code is for presbyopia. It’s taken a month to figure out what’s going on. The surgeon’s office staff in Salem is no help. Billing is done by some outfit in Tennessee which further contracts out to India. Telephone wait times are hours long. Anesthesiologist is a separate shit show.  May still take a while for the correction to filter to all layers.

  167. 167.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 3:31 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Thank you!

  168. 168.

    Scout211

    July 6, 2024 at 3:32 pm

    Rebecca Solnit at The Guardian

    Why is the pundit class so desperate to push Biden out of the race?

    I am not usually one to offer diagnoses of people I’ve never met, but it does seem like the pundit class of the American media is suffering from severe memory loss. Because they’re doing exactly what they did in the 2016 presidential race – providing wildly asymmetrical and inflammatory coverage of the one candidate running against Donald J Trump.

    They have become a stampeding herd producing an avalanche of stories suggesting Biden is unfit, will lose, and should go away, at a point in the campaign in which replacing him would likely be somewhere between extremely difficult and utterly catastrophic. They do this while ignoring something every scholar and critic of journalism knows well and every journalist should. As Nikole Hannah-Jones put it: “As media we consistently proclaim that we are just reporting the news when in fact we are driving it. What we cover, how we cover it, determines often what Americans think is important and how they perceive these issues yet we keep pretending it’s not so.” They are not reporting that he is a loser; they are making him one.

    According to one journalist’s tally, the New York Times has run 192 stories on the subject since the debate, including 50 editorials and 142 news stories. The Washington Post, which has also gone for saturation coverage, published a resignation speech they wrote for him. Not to be outdone, the New Yorker’s editor-in-chief declared that Biden not going away “would be an act not only of self-delusion but of national endangerment” and had a staff writer suggest that Democrats should use the never-before-deployed 25th amendment.

    . . .

    Biden is old. He was one kind of appalling in the 27 June debate, listless and sometimes stumbling and muddling his words. But Trump was another kind of appalling, in that almost everything he said was an outrageous lie and some of it was a threat. I get that writing about the monstrosity that is Trump faces the problem that it’s not news; he’s been a monster spouting lurid nonsense all his life (but his political crimes are recent, and his free-associating public soliloquies on sharks, batteries, toilets, water flow, and Hannibal Lector, among other topics, are genuinely demented). He’s a racist, a fascist, and a rapist (according to a civil-court verdict).

    . . .

    Although the Biden administration seems to have run extremely well for three and a half years, with a strong cabinet, few scandals and little turnover, a thriving economy and some major legislative accomplishments, the narrative the punditocracy has created suggested we should ignore this record and decide on the basis of the ninety-minute debate and reference to newly surfaced swarms of anonymous sources that Biden is incompetent. Quite a lot of them have been running magical-realism fantasy-football scenarios in which is fun and easy to swap in your favorite substitute candidate. The reality is that it is hard and quite likely to be a terrible mess. Nevertheless this pretense is supposed to mean that telling a presidential candidate in mid-campaign to get lost is fine.

    The main argument against Biden is not that he can’t govern – that would be hard to make given that he seems to have done so for the past years – but that he can’t win the election. But candidates do not win elections by themselves. Elections are won, to state the obvious, by how the electorate turns out and votes. The electorate votes based on how they understand the situation and evaluate the candidates. That is, of course, in large part shaped by the media, as Hannah-Jones points out, and the media is right now campaigning hard for a Democratic party loss. The other term for that is a Republican victory. Few things have terrified and horrified me the way this does.

     

    More at the link.

  169. 169.

    Dangerman

    July 6, 2024 at 3:33 pm

    What else you got going on between now and November that’s a better way to pass the time?

    Heart procedure Thursday 7/11. Quite minor although the electrophysiologist said Tuesday (pre-op) he’s going for a spot deep in my heart. Shit if I know what that means other than I gotta sing (you are warned; much meds running through the system):

    The stars at night are big and bright (clap, clap, clap, clap)

    Deep in the heart of Dangerman.

    Shit. Doesn’t work. I blame Perry Como. I’m especially unsure on that clap thing

    ETA: I’m going to be Rip Van Winkling a lot because this shit is going on for the duration. I can’t drink. Definitely can’t sing. SO RVW, here we come, quite a lot.

  170. 170.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 3:33 pm

    @Heidi Mom: Got it, thank you!

  171. 171.

    Josie

    July 6, 2024 at 3:34 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: ​
     Oh, I will. I won’t be able to help myself. :-)

  172. 172.

    Lapassionara

    July 6, 2024 at 3:34 pm

    @CaseyL: Thank you. Well said. This is a coordinated sabotage mission and does not need help from our on team.

    the Republicans cannot hide Trump from the public forever.

  173. 173.

    Starfish

    July 6, 2024 at 3:35 pm

    @CaseyL: For all we know, Hakeem Jeffries is going to tell them to all STFU and quit speculating to the press.

  174. 174.

    Mike E

    July 6, 2024 at 3:36 pm

    Turkish delight! 1-0

  175. 175.

    zhena gogolia

    July 6, 2024 at 3:37 pm

    @Mike E: Yeah. This is getting really old.

  176. 176.

    CaseyL

    July 6, 2024 at 3:37 pm

    @Starfish: I certainly hope so.  The deja vu is maddening.

  177. 177.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 3:37 pm

    @BeautifulPlumage: Thank you for your kind words about the ferns!   Fingers crossed for your furry guy.  Don’t be alarmed if they say “sludge”, that’s a good thing!

    My side yard is my low-maintenance area.  It’s so simple, but it’s showy in kind of an understated way. :-)  It’s good to have one part that is low maintenance!  And the clematis is my birthday gift, year after year it blooms for my birthday

    It all started from 7 ferns.

  178. 178.

    Captain C

    July 6, 2024 at 3:38 pm

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: That would be one of my guesses.  Basically anything cheap and heavy that won’t destroy the envelope.

  179. 179.

    Captain C

    July 6, 2024 at 3:39 pm

    @Tony Jay: Southgate:  Let’s mimic the catenaccio, but make it more boring.

  180. 180.

    MagdaInBlack

    July 6, 2024 at 3:40 pm

    @Starfish: That’s what I was thinking.

  181. 181.

    Sure Lurkalot

    July 6, 2024 at 3:40 pm

    @Leto: congratulations and best of luck with rockin’ the liberal arts!

    History may not repeat and the past may not be prologue but “you don’t know your past, you don’t know your future” definitely rings true.

  182. 182.

    Josie

    July 6, 2024 at 3:40 pm

    Delete​

  183. 183.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 3:41 pm

    @Jim Appleton: Thank you!

    Your $50 is the start of our new Angel Match – this one is a $1,000 anonymous angel match.

    Big thanks to RaflW for the match we just completed!

  184. 184.

    TBone

    July 6, 2024 at 3:45 pm

    @CaseyL: battle axe:

    The media is in straight dereliction of duty by not sharing this portion of President Biden’s annual physical in February which specifically says he had a neurological exam which ruled out Parkinson’s or any other disorder that would impact his cognitive function. It also points out that President Biden has peripheral neuropathy in his feet which can make a person’s feet go numb and makes stairs and whatnot more difficult. Disgraceful MAGA latches on to every stumble and misstep and ignores that President Biden suffers from something that affects MILLIONS of people, just to push their BS narrative.

    x.com/ArtCandee/status/1809624986929561662

    Copy of pertinent neuro exam report to the nation at link.

  185. 185.

    Josie

    July 6, 2024 at 3:47 pm

    @Dangerman: ​
     The clap part is fine. Change Dangerman to D’man and you are golden.
    I do hope the the procedure is easy and all goes well for you.

  186. 186.

    NotMax

    July 6, 2024 at 3:48 pm

    @Mike E

    Did someone say Turkish Delight?
    :)

  187. 187.

    Jackie

    July 6, 2024 at 3:49 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I think the debate announcement was if TCFG bombed (in his mind.)

    So, I’m guessing the VP coronation will be announced just before the convention, or be the GQP Convention grand opening kickoff.

  188. 188.

    catpal

    July 6, 2024 at 3:49 pm

    just sent 25

    Thanks for all everyone is doing for this election. Go Biden!

  189. 189.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 3:49 pm

    @lol chikinburd: Got it, thank you so much!

  190. 190.

    thruppence

    July 6, 2024 at 3:50 pm

    In for another $25 for 4DW

  191. 191.

    Chris

    July 6, 2024 at 3:52 pm

    @CaseyL:

    ..And  they damn well tried in 2008 and 2012, but for once enough Democrats and enough of voters generally didn’t fall for it.

    2008 and 2020 stand out because the country was in such a state of shock at how badly Republicans had fucked up – something that would have been unimaginable by anyone but partisan liberals at the start of their presidencies – that basically nothing the media did was going to take attention off of that.  (Seriously, 2008 had a black man named “Hussein” with a preacher who’d been caught saying “God damn America” live and the story sank in a month while the man still cruised to victory.  That’s how fed up everyone was with the status quo.  It is absolutely insane that that worked; in any normal election cycle, that story should’ve killed his candidacy deader than Andrew Breitbart.  The people doing opposition research in 2016 and 2024 would have killed to have anything like that to pin on the Democrats).

    2012 is the spectacular one – the economy was still shitty, though it was clearly headed in the right direction, the media had its anti-Democrat mojo back, the Republican candidate was someone they’d fluffed at every opportunity, and there was plenty of bad noise coming from various liberal camps about disappointments with the Obama presidency.  The danger that they’d be able to kneecap Obama was real.  They were as shocked as the Republicans when the people turned out not to fall for their bullshit.

  192. 192.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 3:52 pm

    @MJN: @Tom Levenson:  Thank you!

  193. 193.

    BenInNM

    July 6, 2024 at 3:54 pm

    Put in another $25

  194. 194.

    trollhattan

    July 6, 2024 at 3:55 pm

    Why the Yellowstone white buffalo calf spells doom for an increasingly out-of-touch Biden.

    –Opinion by Thomas L Friedman

  195. 195.

    Starfish

    July 6, 2024 at 3:55 pm

    Simone Gertz is partcipating in a fundraiser that they are doing for an organization raising money for long COVID. Dianna Cowern is a science YouTuber who came down with long COVID in July 2022, and her husband has been a caretaker since then.

  196. 196.

    evodevo

    July 6, 2024 at 3:56 pm

    @Captain C: Post Office won’t mail anything that hard, or anything that won’t fit in the narrow slit in a sorting machine.  Something bulky maybe – be sure to seal it with extra scotch tape so it doesn’t come open in transit.  It’s not weighed until the end of the journey in whatever city.

  197. 197.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 3:56 pm

    @Dangerman: Fingers and toes crossed for a simple procedure for you next week.  It’s all scary when it’s you!!!

  198. 198.

    Geminid

    July 6, 2024 at 3:56 pm

    @Mike E:

    🎆  🇹🇷  🐺  🇹🇷  🎆

  199. 199.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 3:58 pm

    @catpal: @thruppence:   Got it, thank you!

  200. 200.

    Captain C

    July 6, 2024 at 3:59 pm

    @evodevo: Would they accept a large package filled with rocks with the postage-paid envelope taped onto the outside?

  201. 201.

    UncleEbeneezer

    July 6, 2024 at 3:59 pm

    @Chris:

    (Seriously, 2008 had a black man named “Hussein” with a preacher who’d been caught saying “God damn America” live and the story sank in a month while the man still cruised to victory.

    Neither of those things were gonna turn Black voters away.  And Obama had next-level charisma that made even normally-hesitant white voters, dying to vote for him. Obama’s charisma really breaks any typical model/analysis.

  202. 202.

    Chris

    July 6, 2024 at 3:59 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Is this the first crisis Tom Friedman has ever seen where his advice isn’t to just wait and see because the next six months will be critical?

    I think it might be!

  203. 203.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 4:00 pm

    Update:

    We are $300 into the new anonymous Angel Match.  $700 left for matching.

  204. 204.

    Chris

    July 6, 2024 at 4:01 pm

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    Black voters aren’t the ones that would’ve been a problem.  They don’t get terrified by media narratives.

    Obama absolutely had a ton of charisma.  If he tries running in 2000 or 2004 (or 2016) and that story breaks, though, I don’t think it’s enough to save him.

  205. 205.

    M31

    July 6, 2024 at 4:02 pm

    @evodevo: 200 copies of the 10 commandments with the “thou shalt not commit adultery” highlighted

    or else some of those recent Epstein trial documents, ewww

  206. 206.

    Tony Jay

    July 6, 2024 at 4:04 pm

    @Captain C:

    Guardiola at Manky Cheaty gets (sort of rightly) mocked for wanting a team of 11 midfielders who can just pass the ball around for 90 mins without the opposition needing to turn up.

    Southgate just wants 11 defenders who can stand stock still while passing the ball sideways and backwards for 90 mins, but the pitches simply aren’t big enough to accommodate his wild ambition!

  207. 207.

    Mel

    July 6, 2024 at 4:11 pm

    @wjca:

    Suggestions for a memorable “donation”: semi-dried cat turd? Limburger cheese? A bevy of bedbugs ?

    I know, I know, they’d never make past the general mail inspections, but a girl can dream…

  208. 208.

    Josie

    July 6, 2024 at 4:12 pm

    @CaseyL: ​ Thanks. You inspired me to write to Jeffries and Schumer also. I hope others do as well.​
     Unfortunately my senators are Cruz and Cornyn, and my rep is Wesley Hunt (Ugh), so no help there.

  209. 209.

    Eolirin

    July 6, 2024 at 4:14 pm

    @Chris: His speech following that stuff coming out did a lot of work though. And then the media dropped it. I’m sure they didn’t want more attention going to that speech.

    Anytime they get hit back effectively, or are proven wrong on something, they just drop it and move on as if it never happened.

  210. 210.

    lowtechcyclist

    July 6, 2024 at 4:19 pm

    @CaseyL:

    They already have a record of destroying Dem candidacies.

    No, I mean literally ending their candidacies, getting them to drop out of the race.  Unless we go back to Eagleton, this would be a first.

  211. 211.

    TBone

    July 6, 2024 at 4:19 pm

    President Biden had a cognitive exam just four months ago.

    x.com/ArtCandee/status/1809624986929561662

    Copy of pertinent section at link.  Not performed by Ronny “Johnson.”

    Worth noting in letter-writing efforts.  Downloadable link there too for ease of printing if you want the entire report.

  212. 212.

    Chris

    July 6, 2024 at 4:21 pm

  213. 213.

    Coyoteville

    July 6, 2024 at 4:21 pm

    I just donated $55.

    Coyoteville

  214. 214.

    Chris

    July 6, 2024 at 4:22 pm

    @Eolirin:

    Do they?  A lot of the time, they seem to just ignore it and keep repeating themselves.  It would’ve been completely in character for them to ignore and not write anything about Obama’s speech and simply play “God damn America” over and over while continuing to write articles about it.

    In 2008, they didn’t, either because they knew it wouldn’t work or they were afraid it wouldn’t.  Too many people were paying attention and pissed off.

  215. 215.

    Mike E

    July 6, 2024 at 4:23 pm

    @Tony Jay: heh, classic.

  216. 216.

    Sharon

    July 6, 2024 at 4:23 pm

    I’m in for $25.

  217. 217.

    lowtechcyclist

    July 6, 2024 at 4:25 pm

    @NotMax: ​
     

    No wonder the stuff had such an effect on Edmund Pevensie!

  218. 218.

    Mike E

    July 6, 2024 at 4:29 pm

    Dutch treat! 1-1

  219. 219.

    Chris Johnson

    July 6, 2024 at 4:33 pm

    Heads up: Biden has just cancelled a speech at the NEA. National Endowment for the Arts, I think? Beau of the Fifth Column (who’s gold, right now) has a video on it. Expect to be bombarded with trolls and media all speculating on why he won’t go make this speech.

    They’re on STRIKE. Biden is refusing to cross a picket line.

    Need I say more? I doubt he even hesitated.

    No, Joe Biden is not going to cross a picket line to do a public appearance. That’s not Joe. Even in the middle of all this, Joe Biden is Joe Biden, and his moral core is sound.

  220. 220.

    Mike E

    July 6, 2024 at 4:34 pm

    Double Dutch! 2-1

  221. 221.

    Raven

    July 6, 2024 at 4:35 pm

    @Chris: Jeremiah Wright. Wright was assigned as part of the medical team charged with care of President LBJ (fuck him)

  222. 222.

    Chief Oshkosh

    July 6, 2024 at 4:36 pm

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    And Obama had next-level charisma that made even normally-hesitant white voters, dying to vote for him. Obama’s charisma really breaks any typical model/analysis.

    I was visiting friends on their farm in Ireland at the time. Every night, the only conversations at the pub were rugby, horse racing, and Obama, and mainly the latter.

    It was grand.

  223. 223.

    Chief Oshkosh

    July 6, 2024 at 4:39 pm

    @TBone: Is that report available elsewhere? Like at an official WH website? Not trying to be lazy (I don’t have to try…), but I don’t know how Xitter links work beyond just going to the page cited from here.

  224. 224.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 4:39 pm

    I step away to use the bathroom, Turkey was up 1-0. I come back, Netherlands up 2-1. I need some replays!

    Edit: I rewound it, watched the two, and man were those something!

  225. 225.

    Mike E

    July 6, 2024 at 4:42 pm

    @Leto: Netherlands found an extra gear, then the field tilted away from Türkiye‍…still time of course

  226. 226.

    Scout211

    July 6, 2024 at 4:42 pm

    @Chief Oshkosh: Is that report available elsewhere?

    It’s a report of Biden’s annual medical exam.  Whitehouse.gov. It’s been posted here several times by various commenters.  It’s surprisingly detailed.

  227. 227.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 4:43 pm

    @Mike E: yeah, saw that; still 6 plus stoppage. See what they can do.

    OMG! Two blocks; heart stopper!

  228. 228.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 4:44 pm

    @Coyoteville: Got it, thank you!

  229. 229.

    MagdaInBlack

    July 6, 2024 at 4:45 pm

    Made the mistake of checking the google news roundup of headlines about the debate. Take my word on this: Don’t.

  230. 230.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 4:45 pm

    @Scout211: again, compare that against the toilet stain who occupied the office previously. Preaching to the choir here, but the transparency level is just solar systems apart.

  231. 231.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 4:45 pm

    @Sharon: Thank you!

  232. 232.

    Wolvesvalley

    July 6, 2024 at 4:45 pm

    I just put in another $50 for FD Wisconsin.

  233. 233.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    July 6, 2024 at 4:46 pm

    @Scout211:  Yes, well “was this medical test done by a fully certified NYT reporter?” is the reply.

  234. 234.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 4:51 pm

    These final minutes in the game… god, Turkyie is throwing everything (and the kitchen sink) at the goal here; and the Dutch goalie is deflecting it all. Goooooood night what a game!

  235. 235.

    CAinCA

    July 6, 2024 at 4:54 pm

    @Mike E: and another great: youtube.com/watch?v=jEb1Zh8eptg

  236. 236.

    Mike E

    July 6, 2024 at 4:55 pm

    @Leto: the whole tourney up til now has been the best, the next two games ought to be just as thrilling. We need that referee here at BJ

    ETA fuck that Fox fascist Lalas

  237. 237.

    raven

    July 6, 2024 at 5:00 pm

    Derek Jeter plays for Turkyie!

  238. 238.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 5:00 pm

    We have $570 left on the current anonymous Angel Match.

  239. 239.

    Bex

    July 6, 2024 at 5:01 pm

    @Scout211: But Trump said his choice for VP would be at the debate.  How did he know ahead of time not to invite the person?

  240. 240.

    Nelle

    July 6, 2024 at 5:03 pm

    @Leto: You have no idea how pleased I was to find older, returning students in my classes.  They brought different perspectives.  And then there was the moment when two students, one recently back from Kuwait, one long back from Vietnam, discovered that they had served in the same unit, separated by time.  The look of understanding they gave each other was such that the rest of the class just disappeared.

  241. 241.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 5:06 pm

    I will continue to check this thread for angel match donations.

  242. 242.

    Captain C

    July 6, 2024 at 5:07 pm

    Yes, well “was this medical test done by a fully certified NYT reporter?” is the reply.

    I know that I always go to the FTFNYT building rather than to a doctor for all my medical needs.

  243. 243.

    ElegantFowl

    July 6, 2024 at 5:08 pm

    In for $100.  Thank you.

  244. 244.

    LNNVA

    July 6, 2024 at 5:09 pm

    @TBone: Thank you so much for posting this. Unlike the other guy, Biden has posted his medical exams and test results on the internet. Anybody who is interested can access them.

  245. 245.

    LNNVA

    July 6, 2024 at 5:14 pm

    @Chief Oshkosh: The report is available on the internet. Just google Biden’s medical records. There are reports from prior years also.

  246. 246.

    Hazmat

    July 6, 2024 at 5:15 pm

    In with $50 for four directions. Thanks WG.

  247. 247.

    Scout211

    July 6, 2024 at 5:16 pm

    @Bex: How did he know ahead of time not to invite the person?

    Good question.  A even better question is, when does Trump ever tell the truth?

    Biden had surrogates there to support him in the green room like Gavin Newsom.  J.D. Vance was in the green room to support Trump.  So it’s possible his VP choice was there but the campaign nixed the idea of announcing the Veep nomination.

  248. 248.

    pat

    July 6, 2024 at 5:17 pm

    I have no idea if this counts, but I sent $250 on the fourth.

  249. 249.

    raven

    July 6, 2024 at 5:18 pm

    @Nelle: I’m a high school dropout and did my dissertation on the GED and folks who had quit and gone back and got their credential. Very rewarding work.

  250. 250.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 5:22 pm

    @Mike E: idk what Lala said, but he’s a turd; agreed, this tourny has been really good. Enjoyed it so much!

    @Nelle: all I can think of, for that exchange, is the Robert Redford Jeremiah Johnson movie meme where he’s looking back over his shoulder, and gives the approval nod.

    I know the place I’m attending has vets there, and apparently they like to have lunch together quite often. It’ll be interesting finally plugging back into that network after 5+ years away. Hopefully I’m able to add some perspective to discussions on topics, and not come across as the sometimes crotchty guy that I can be. I really have to remember that they’re just 18-20 y/o’s, so… yeah, perspective.

  251. 251.

    Leto

    July 6, 2024 at 5:24 pm

    @pat: sorry, only the first 249 count; everything after that actively cancels out the rest. It’s in the fiiiiiiiiiiiine print :P

  252. 252.

    Randal Sexton

    July 6, 2024 at 5:24 pm

    In for 50

  253. 253.

    Steeplejack

    July 6, 2024 at 5:29 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Just donated $82.23 to Four Directions WI (including $1.00 tip to PayPal/ActBlue, if that matters). Hopefully gets the total to a round(ish) number.

  254. 254.

    JAFD

    July 6, 2024 at 5:30 pm

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: We’ve gotta have a BJ meetup at Historicon.  Will send WaterGirl my contact info, ask her to forward it to you

  255. 255.

    raven

    July 6, 2024 at 5:33 pm

    @Leto: Ah, what trouble. . .

  256. 256.

    TBone

    July 6, 2024 at 5:33 pm

    @LNNVA: yours in service,

    TBone

  257. 257.

    TBone

    July 6, 2024 at 5:37 pm

    @raven: me too.  I got into Rosemont College on the strength of my GED and SAT scores and a great essay (even if I do say so myself 😀) I wrote for my application about my work experience (shitty jobs) since dropping out. As a result, I got what they called “life credits.”

  258. 258.

    cain

    July 6, 2024 at 5:39 pm

    @Splitting Image:

    That’s not it. They have had democratic scalp before. They want it again and again because our party is filled with antsy people ready to throw someone off for any problems.

  259. 259.

    sab

    July 6, 2024 at 5:53 pm

    @TBone: I once met a professional orchestra musician’s daughter who said her dad spent his dementia days playing scales on his violin. He had hated that sort of practice as a working musician, but happily entertained himself for hours late in life just playing scales and exercises.

  260. 260.

    Mike in Pasadena

    July 6, 2024 at 6:06 pm

    @Scout211: Excellent! Thanks for the story and link. Really on point.

  261. 261.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 6:08 pm

    @ElegantFowl: Thank you!

  262. 262.

    A Good Woman

    July 6, 2024 at 6:09 pm

    @Mike E:

    Sorry if I stepped on your feefees.

    I will be voting for whomever is the D candidate, and I really don’t expect Biden to drop out.  Is the media dropping the ball here on the TCFG?  Why yes, yes they are.  If TCFG was officially diagnosed with Alzheimers those schmucks would find a way to spin it as a problem for Biden.

    I understand I was ‘pied’.  Fascinating as I am 99% lurker.  I seldom comment.  Now that I know what is permissible I shall return to the shadows.  God forbid I should upset anyone.

  263. 263.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 6:09 pm

    @pat: I can count $100 of that for the match!

  264. 264.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    July 6, 2024 at 6:10 pm

    @JAFD: ​
    Awesome! I’m actually easy to find, I’ve been the Tourney Director for decades so am always there. But sure, once I get your contact info, I’ll drop you a line.

  265. 265.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 6:10 pm

    @Steeplejack: Yes, a nice round number!  Thank you.

  266. 266.

    WaterGirl

    July 6, 2024 at 6:13 pm

    @A Good Woman: I know your nym from the various zooms, so I know you are not a troll.

    People can disagree vehemently on an issue without one of them being a troll.  You are free to share your thoughts on BJ, and people are free to pie whomever they like.

  267. 267.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    July 6, 2024 at 6:14 pm

    David Fucking Axelrod:

    I don’t believe anyone could have handled a difficult and deeply personal interview with the president better than@GStephanopoulos did last night. His questions were respectful but firm and probing. He asked what needed to be asked, and did it with sensitivity.

    twitter.com/davidaxelrod/status/1809564843277418624

    The Beltway Media Corpse always protects its own.

  268. 268.

    TBone

    July 6, 2024 at 6:15 pm

    @sab: 💜 my mom loved music always, and remembered the words, no matter what else she forgot, to her dying day.

  269. 269.

    Chief Oshkosh

    July 6, 2024 at 6:26 pm

    @Scout211: Thanks!

  270. 270.

    evodevo

    July 6, 2024 at 6:30 pm

    @Captain C: Probably not.  Business Reply is only for first class type envelopes, with the mailpiece weighing no more than 3.5 oz.  Anything else will go to the non-machinable bin, and who knows where it goes after that LOL.  However, 3.5 oz will set the sender back many more cents than it would normally cost…and anything you can cram into the envelope, other than rigid stuff, will go right to the sender.  You can try taping washers to a piece of cereal pasteboard, and cover it with another piece of pasteboard.  The spacing of the washers should allow the envelope to go through curvy places in the sorting machine.

  271. 271.

    Chief Oshkosh

    July 6, 2024 at 6:37 pm

    @Scout211: So, some arthritis, some spinal degeneration, some neuropathy in his feet. Otherwise, the guy is in great shape (no AD or PD, or other CNS degeneration), works out 5 days/week, and has a BMI of 24.1.

    I suggest we all download this medico report and send to our acquaintances.

  272. 272.

    piratedan

    July 6, 2024 at 6:38 pm

    @A Good Woman: timing matters, you came in supporting a troll.

    People are stressed, tired and in some cases even startled by the stridency in which the NYT has pushed their narrative with the other networks following suit.  Is anyone denying Joe crappy debate beginning, nope, not even Joe.  Yet, no matter how many appearances and interviews that are done, the narrative hasn’t changed and will not change despite evidence to the contrary.

    Considering the dogged nature of the narrative must not be denied, folks in the blog are getting a bit tired of cutting anyone much slack who want to lend much in the way of hypotheticals to JB stepping aside.

    He’s been asked and he’s stated he is staying in the race.  Everything else is bullshit and feeding hypotheticals that we should somehow entertain a diminished capacity when considering the alternative and the evidence on hand is unlikely to be taken seriously.

    As always, YMMV and sometimes even lurkers can mistake the temperature until they put a toe in.

  273. 273.

    Gloria DryGarden

    July 6, 2024 at 6:38 pm

    @Chris Johnson:

    We might be looking at a really, really shocking unmasking of the mainstream media, now all-in on protecting the Republicans’ nominee, and publically humiliated like a blogger being excoriated by his comments section. It could ……..in the most delightful way :)

    BE IT SO

  274. 274.

    Gloria DryGarden

    July 6, 2024 at 6:51 pm

    @Mel: powdered tempera paints, arranged in a rainbow..

  275. 275.

    Gloria DryGarden

    July 6, 2024 at 6:56 pm

    @JAFD: oh, in Pennsylvania! Have a fun meet up…

  276. 276.

    JoeyJoeJoe

    July 6, 2024 at 8:06 pm

    @Geminid: sorry for the pedantry, but Butler actually represented the 6th district in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was actually succeeded by a democrat when he retired.

    The 9th district used to be much more open to Democrats.  Clinton won it twice, and Mark Warner even won it when he ran for Senate against John Warner in 1996.  That year, the NoVa based 8th district (where Biden got about 77% in 2020, voted for the republican candidate while the 9th voted D for senate

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