Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

People are weird.

The revolution will be supervised.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

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

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

Petty moves from a petty man.

You cannot shame the shameless.

How stupid are these people?

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

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

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Thursday Morning Open Thread: Passing the Torch

Thursday Morning Open Thread: Passing the Torch

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Lots of details here, worth reading the whole thing — “Democratic convention planners are working to pull off a dramatic Biden-Harris role reversal”:

After nearly a near year of careful planning, organizers of the Democratic National Convention are in a mad dash to accommodate a new nominee, a re-crafted program and a highly compressed deadline to pull everything off as though this was the plan all along.

With President Joe Biden now out of the race and Vice President Kamala Harris pursuing the party’s nomination, a dramatic role reversal for the two is likely to play out before a nationally televised audience when around 5,000 delegates, 12,000 volunteers and 15,000 media members gather for four days in Chicago starting Aug. 19.

Harris is banking on introducing her vice presidential pick to the country and standing at center stage to accept her party’s nomination. Biden — who until mere days ago thought he’d be the one getting the nod — will have a more peripheral and ceremonial role akin to the treatment of second-term presidents set to leave office.

He will still give a speech and have his achievements feted, but the whole thing will require a delicate political balance between the president and his No. 2.

“If it’s a Biden-Harris reelection convention, it’s all about doubling down on the great accomplishment. The challenge, obviously, will be how to sort of bank that, but also talk about the future,” said William M. Daley, a former Obama White House chief of staff whose father and brother were Chicago mayors…

“It lights a fire under national Democrats. It’s an added level of history,” said Christian Perry, political director for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. He added that Harris would break more barriers in a city that produced a series of history-making Black Democrats, from the Rev. Jesse Jackson to Barack Obama…

The Chicago convention will have different themes each night, such as economic growth or national diversity. In addition to Biden, there will be addresses from White House alums Barack and Michelle Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton…

For all the upheaval to the presidential race, organizers say actual convention logistics won’t change all that much — highlighting how the quadrennial gatherings are as much about a party partying as they are about fortifying candidates.

“Our mission remains the same,” said convention chair Minyon Moore.

Party staff began occupying the United Center, normally home to the NBA’s Bulls and the NHL’s Blackhawks, on June 25. Construction to remake the arena to better meet the convention’s needs has been underway for more than a month, with nearly as long still to go. The convention logo still reads “CHICAGO” over the city’s signature four-star insignia and “DNC 2024.” The slogan remains: “Our future is created here.” …

 
The campaign is absolutely, deliberately, messing with the media’s tiny minds — and it’s a beautiful thing to see!


(Believe me, I have every respect for her hard work, but if Gina Raimondo saw the campaign’s name pop up on her cell, she’d dismiss it as probably spam.)

 
“Her mojo is working already!… “


 
Bonus treat, for us Haterz…

Reader Interactions

239Comments

  1. 1.

    Dagaetch

    I hope that when Kamala walks on stage to accept the nomination, she’s wearing aviators.

    morning all!

  4. 4.

    Ken

    It only now occurs to me, the TV ratings for the Democratic convention will almost surely be higher than the RNC’s, which will surely cause TFG to throw another tantrum. More popcorn, please.

  5. 5.

    M31

    Biden drives to the convention in his Corvette, drops off Harris, puts on his aviators, and peals out into the sunset.

  7. 7.

    Asparagus Aspersions

    I’m still going to be chewing my nails this year prior to the election (can’t help it, I’m just always nervous) but I’m definitely feeling more hope than despair. Hearing about Trump for the last NINE YEARS has been like watching a horror movie franchise belching more and worse sequels. He just Never. Goes. Away.

    Which is one of the things that excites me the most about this year. If Trump loses – well, I was about to type that he wouldn’t run again, but who the hell knows? But I don’t think I’d be afraid of 2028 Trump. 2028 Trump would be like a 12th Nightmare on Elm Street sequel, but Freddy Krueger has corndogs for fingers instead of blades.

  8. 8.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Predicting NYT editorial that Harris should select Mitt Romney as her VP.

  12. 12.

    Anyway

    Repeating from downstairs:

    Psyched by how the political atmosphere has changed in 72 hours – Ds have got their fight back, they’re optimistic and have a sense of mission, while Republicans have flipped from gloating triumphalism to panicked pessimism…love it!

    I caught Biden’s speech in the car and missed the optics — wish he had thrown in some Irish poetry – love when he does that.

    LFG!

  13. 13.

    WereBear

    @M31: He will assemble a Go Squad of young Democratic volunteers. They all have interesting backstories and a flair for fashion

    Aaron Spelling stuff.

  14. 14.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Asparagus Aspersions:

    He just Never. Goes. Away.

    I liken the Orange Fart Cloud to the Terminator or a venereal disease in the 17th-Century: he just won’t go away or know when to stop.
    He’s not gonna stop bleating until the angel of death mercifully silences him forever.

  17. 17.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @rikyrah:

    Sigh.  It sucks that we live in a country where something like GoFundMe is even needed for something like this.

    Donated and hope the goal is reached so she can stay housed.

  18. 18.

    rk

    15000 media members?? Is that a typo? Almost half the people are the media. How can this be?

  20. 20.

    Suzanne

    Has anyone pointed out yet today that JD Vance is the DEI hire for downwardly mobile white people?

  23. 23.

    Lapassionara

    I’d like to think this will heal the tear in the space-time continuum caused by the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago and the ensuing Nixon election. I’m really ready for the universe to right itself.

  25. 25.

    hueyplong

    @Lapassionara: Maybe worth noting that there were pundits breathlessly hoping for a repeat of the 68 Chicago convention. For them the tear wasn’t yet severe enough.

  29. 29.

    BR

    Last night I posted an quote reminding us how weird GOP VPs are with their spouses:

    TRUMP: “Folks, don’t believe what the failing fake news media says about JD here. He’s a real family man, loves his wife, even though she’s picky. He’s always telling me she’s so picky, you wouldn’t believe it. ‘So fussy’, he says. But he says it’s fine. So fussy, but fine.”

    https://bsky.app/profile/ubernostrum.bsky.social/post/3ky3gzenxdc2n

    What I don’t get is where Trump and Vance even had much time to talk that Vance would have repeatedly had the chance to complain to Trump about his wife.

  31. 31.

    Lapassionara

    @hueyplong: you use the past tense. Have the pundits stopped hoping for a repeat?

    speaking of pundits, when is someone with a platform going to notice how demented Trump has become?

  32. 32.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Corker of a find: shipwreck in Baltic brims with crates of champagne

    “The whole wreck is loaded to the brim with crates of champagne, mineral water and china,” Tomasz Stachura, the leader of the Baltictech diving group, told AFP.
    ……………………….
    “We managed to take pictures of the brand name stamped on a clay bottle, which turned out to be one from the German company Selters – and the logo had this precise shape during that period,” Stachura said.

    The divers said they had notified Swedish regional authorities about the wreck, but that it would take time for them to bring the champagne bottles to land. “[The ship] had been lying there for 170 years so let it lie there for one more year, and we will have time to better prepare for the operation,” Stachura said.

    Some (most?) champagnes age well but this is a bit extreme.

  33. 33.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Scout211: I think I read yesterday that Beyoncé reached out to the campaign to offer that song rather than the campaign reaching out to her.

    Kind of a contrast to that other party where they use songs they haven’t negotiated rights for and then get hit with cease and desist letters (which they ignore).

  35. 35.

    Soprano2

    So I saw a funny pic someone had done on FB this morning. It was a black cat wearing a pink “pussy hat” with a blond wig/scalp in its mouth. It was funny!

    Here’s a column Josh Marshall wrote that I think is a pretty good summation of what happened in the past 3 weeks. Someone was asking for good news sites that don’t belong to billionaires, his is one. I subscribe to it. I think he has a pretty measured take on things most of the time.

    Thunderdomism’s Last Stand
    July 24, 2024 6:24 p.m.

    According to some of the country’s most prominent news publications, the Democratic establishment moved quickly beginning Sunday afternoon to lock down the Democratic presidential nomination for Kamala Harris. Said Axios this morning: “It’s over. The Democratic establishment pushed out Biden and locked in Kamala Harris with astonishing speed and efficacy.” The Times published a piece entitled “How Democrats Learned to Love the Smoke-Filled Room Again.” But the idea that the ‘establishment’ anointed Kamala Harris and locked the nomination down for her turns the whole matter pretty much on its head. What locked in Harris was the overwhelming resistance of Democratic voters and activists to anyone else. It was national columnists and a significant number of Democratic elites who were pushing for the thunderdome primary.

    A good bit of this was support for Harris herself. A lot of it was the fact that with the incumbent president and presumed nominee out and no time to run anything other than a fake primary Harris had democratic legitimacy on her side. Eighty million voters literally chose her in 2020 to be the person who took over for Joe Biden if he couldn’t serve. Democratic primary voters in effect reconfirmed that this Spring since Biden and Harris were again running as a package deal. Few things are more embedded in American political culture than the idea that vice presidents succeed presidents.

    Democratic legitimacy in this context isn’t some political science concept. It is what makes her the one person who most or all party stakeholders could rally behind even if she wasn’t necessarily their personal choice. That was never going to be possible with any other potential nominee. If the pick was somehow Gretchen Whitmer, on what basis would Shapiro or Newsom supporters – or Harris supporters, for that matter – ever think that was fair? Most people who actually operate in politics realized this from the first moments people began to suggest Joe Biden should leave the race almost a month ago. It applied even more to the millions of Biden loyalists who had to be dragged kicking and screaming to accept Biden’s withdrawal from the race. For most of them Harris was the only acceptable alternative since she was his loyal deputy.

    Finally, the Democratic Party is defined by the support of women and African-Americans, and especially African-American women. The idea that in an unprecedented electoral emergency situation they were going to skip over the President’s loyal black woman vice president for no clear or tangible reason but the opposition of elite columnists and consultants never made any sense if you’re familiar with the Democrats’ voting coalition. It would be the equivalent of deciding to toss a few sticks of dynamite into the Democratic coalition at a moment of unprecedented crisis.

    The thunderdome primary and convention idea was always the fantasy of the DC chattering class. From its very beginnings early this year it was premised on the need to shunt Harris aside. One New York Times columnist referred to it, in a gentle but awkward tone assuming immediate recognition, as “the Kamala Harris problem.” What shut it down was the rush of support for Harris from people across the Democratic Party, high and low, who understand its inner workings and the points made above. You only imagine those are the actions of “the establishment” if what you understand as the Democratic Party is only what you see in Washington, DC. The Thunderdome primary crowd was always either oblivious to or at war with the actual mass of the party itself. They were simply invisible. If you can’t see those people, you’ll think the DC power players are acting on their own. But they weren’t. But they were very clearly reacting to what the mass of the party would allow.

    There is one exception that proves the rule: one endorsement that was key to Harris’ rapid ascent to the nomination, that of Joe Biden. From one perspective who is more the establishment, who more wields its powers than an incumbent Democratic president? But that’s the point. What finally made Biden’s departure from the race inevitable is that he had been abandoned by almost every elected official and power broker in the Democratic world, either explicitly or by silence. Biden had been abandoned by every part of what passes for the Democratic establishment and had lost his ability to control it. It was his tweet endorsing Harris that did not cause but triggered the rush toward Harris, resulting in something like a million individuals contributing roughly $100 million in 36 hours.

    Harris’ key role in this has hidden in plain sight. A crisis at the pinnacle of leadership is always a most dangerous moment for any heir apparent. She had to prepare herself for the task of taking over for Biden in all its details (not to do so would have been the height of irresponsibility) while simultaneously not allowing even the hint or glimmer that she was taking even the slightest steps to hasten or encourage openness to his fall. For all the stories about Harris’ office drama she appears to have managed this flawlessly, with not so much as a single leak or even speculation about her actions. Once Biden made his announcement she moved rapidly to channel and direct support for herself in a way that all potential challengers threw their support to her within 24 hours. The “establishment” didn’t shut down the Thunderdome contested convention that columnists and reporters were demanding. The convention remains wholly open. Once Biden ended his campaign all the delegates had a total free choice. What killed Thunderdome was the mass of the party making it impossible for anyone to challenge Harris.

  38. 38.

    Soprano2

    @Lapassionara: My hope is that now that we’ve established that old men with seeming cognitive problems running for the White House is bad, they’ll turn their attention to the Republican old man who definitely has some type of cognitive problem who is running to be president. Oh, who am I kidding, they will continue to completely ignore how unhinged and crazy he is.

  39. 39.

    Kay

    It’s so nice now that everyone knows JD Vance like Ohio Democrats do.

    Vance ran behind Trump in Ohio so underperformed in 2020. Here’s hoping he knocks a couple off points off Trump again, except this time nationally.

    He’s just a wildly overrated politician, um, person.

  40. 40.

    WereBear

    @Lapassionara: Here’s what to remember, moving forward:

    Any sign of weakness, and it’s out of the sled. To slow down the wolves of the press.

    Someone is orchestrating the slow leak of things for the wolves to stop and… wolf down. This keeps them focused on us, right into all the convention run ups the press just loves, they are all in New Jersey as the Hindenburg goes up in flames, they just know it.

    We can let the Internet make fun of Republicans, for us. Our own can make all the fun of their candidates as we can.

    Now, the person who originally decided on couch, must be secure in their upholstery, because we aren’t making any judgements about furniture fornication.

    After all, I can tell you there is not a word about in the Bible. Yea or nay.

  43. 43.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: I think he’s absolute poison to women. He’s already said that people like me, who don’t have biological children, don’t count at all and don’t have any stake in the future of this country. Does he think all women who are childless are that way by choice? I want to know where the hand-wringing press is lamenting how he’s insulted the voters. (Ha, he only insulted women, the press doesn’t care about them.) He’s the kind of guy who obviously lives in a bubble with people who think the way he does. What a repulsive human being. I think he was picked to get Thiel’s money, and no other reason.

  45. 45.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Soprano2:

    Oh, who am I kidding, they will continue to completely ignore how unhinged and crazy he is.

    Yup, the good ole tilted media playing field.

    It’ll be incumbent on us (writ large) to scream this nonstop from every vantage point at every opportunity.  Continue to pound FTFNYT as to why they haven’t run 192 articles in the last week on Felonious D’s age, mental status, etc.

  47. 47.

    Splitting Image

    @Soprano2:

    Here’s a column Josh Marshall wrote that I think is a pretty good summation of what happened in the past 3 weeks. Someone was asking for good news sites that don’t belong to billionaires, his is one. I subscribe to it. I think he has a pretty measured take on things most of the time.

    That seems a fair summary to me.

  48. 48.

    Leto

    Meanwhile, out in the states:
    Louisiana Reclassifies Drugs Used in Abortions as Controlled Dangerous Substances

    Louisiana lawmakers have added two drugs commonly used in pregnancy and reproductive health care to the state’s list of controlled dangerous substances, a move that has alarmed doctors in the state.

    Mifepristone and misoprostol have many clinical uses, and one use approved by the FDA is to take the pills to induce an abortion at up to 10 weeks of gestation.

    The bill that moved through the Louisiana Legislature this spring lists both medications as Schedule IV drugs under the state’s Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law, creating penalties of up to 10 years in prison for anyone caught with the drugs without a valid prescription. Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, signed the bill into law in May. It takes effect Oct. 1.

    The new law is the latest move by anti-abortion advocates trying to control access to abortion medications in states with near-total abortion bans, such as Louisiana. The law is the first of its kind, opening a new front in the state-by-state battle over reproductive medicine.

  49. 49.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    Yup. A charmless, sad sack lump. There’s no joy in him and people are absolutely desperate for some joy.

    I usually don’t think VP’s matter in terms of an election but people have made him such a comical figure I’m changing my mind. Maybe this is the exception since Trump is running a re-elect but tried to have his VP killed so has a new one so Vance is both horrible and new. It’s great.

  50. 50.

    WereBear

    @OzarkHillbilly: Sit down, put a cool cloth on your head, and watch some Chubby Emu videos.

    They will change your outlook on leftovers.

    Of course, the “gas station sushi” is a classic, and that might do the trick.

  51. 51.

    WaterGirl

    @M31: That would be an awesome clip to show at the convention.

    Like when Joe and the VEEP went off on their little adventure together in the video for one of these kinds of events, don’t recall which one.

  52. 52.

    twbrandt

    When Vance brings up this bullshit about childless people having no stake in the future of the country, someone should ask him if he thinks George Washington had no stake in the future of the country? Turns out Ol’ George raised two stepchildren.

  53. 53.

    Soprano2

    @Scout211: That’s a great ad. I know I’m prejudiced, but it seems to me that Democratic ads are full of hope and happy, smiling people, while Republican ads are full of anger and hatred. There is one candidate in MO running for some statewide office who literally uses a flamethrower in the ad to burn corrugated boxes that say things like “sick transgendered things” on them. In the ad, he says he’s ready to take a flamethrower to liberals. I don’t know, do they hear themselves?

  57. 57.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: There’s no joy in him and people are absolutely desperate for some joy.

    I think you’re right about this, after everything that happened with Covid people are ready to turn the metaphorical page to something happier. You can only be grim for so long before it has a terrible effect on your mental health. TCFG/Vance is nothing but anger and hatred, and I think most normal people are tired of that. My one worry is that they aren’t tired of being scared of undocumented people.

  58. 58.

    Ken

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Nothing in Paul’s letters about couches, but there are a few relevant passages elsewhere (all KJV):

    Thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch. — Genesis 49:4

    I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. — Psalm 6:6

    My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaints — Job 7:13

    I would love to see people trolling Vance at rallies by holding up “JOB 7:13” or “PSALM 6:6” signs.

  59. 59.

    WereBear

    What killed Thunderdome was the mass of the party making it impossible for anyone to challenge Harris.

    It really was Democracy in Action. Damn.

  61. 61.

    EZSmirkzz

    On an historical note, John Adam’s wrote in a letter to Thomas Jefferson. “As to the history of the Revolution, my ideas may be peculiar, perhaps singular, but what do we mean by the Revolution? The war? That was no part of the Revolution.” /snip “It was only an effect and consequence of it. The Revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected from 1760 to 1775, in the course of fifteen years before a drop of blood was drawn at Lexington.” and also too, Benjamin Rush, “There is nothing more common than to confound the terms of the American Revolution with those of the late American war. The American war is over but this is far from being the case with the American Revolution. On the contrary, nothing but the first act of this great drama is closed.”

    This week we have seen that this revolution still rolls on, with nearly every election since Washington’s.

    The acrimonious debate and exchanges here, as well in other fora made clear to the leadership of the Democratic party that it “we the people” who will decide who will represent us, and because Joe Biden stepped into the gap, Kamala Harris will represent us in the coming election.

    No one should be angry, no one should be sad. We have witnessed the great American spirit moving through the people in our life time, and we should feel honored to be witnesses to such a wondrous display.

    Well played Balloon Juice! Well played America!

  62. 62.

    Soprano2

    @twbrandt: No one will ever ask him that, or why he thinks it was OK to insult a whole category of voters, because the people he was insulting are women, and it’s A-OK with the press to insult them.

  63. 63.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    I also think it’s been clear for at least a year that Republicans planned to drive a wedge to make gains with men at the expense of women – that women were going to be demeaned and made fun of, the “cat lady” thing, the slams at women who don’t have children (for any reason). It’s very “online” though. Very Elon Musk Twitter. I’m not sure it translates to normies as anything other than nastiness.

  64. 64.

    BR

    @Kay: ​
    What’s also amazing to me about Vance is that nobody has mentioned that Vance’s only job — being a venture capitalist — was actually being the coffee boy to the actual VCs like Thiel. He was a “Principal” for 5 years in those various firms, and a Principal has no real responsibilities or power — only Partners and especially Managing Partners can make decisions, make investments, take serious meetings, etc. Also anyone good would have moved up to Partner within 5 years — he didn’t. Thiel saw him as an empty vessel / puppet, no more.

  65. 65.

    trnc

    I’m going to throw out a hypothetical that we should prepare for – SCOTUS possibly trying to upend the election at the 11th hour. I think it may be too much for even this court, but this also gets into a very general question about how we treat SC rulings.

    In a nutshell, regarding the general question first, where is it written that SC rulings take effect immediately with zero regard for what kind of effect an immediate “enforcement” would be vs grandfathering in affected issues? If they can nullify almost anything at the drop of a hat, how can America possibly move forward without constantly second guessing literally almost anything we do? As an example, the recent Chevron ruling jeopardizes thousands of policies that have been implemented in good faith based on the previous Chevron ruling. Why should all of that be thrown out, rather than saying “OK, moving forward, congress has to be more precise (Ha!), but everything that was in place before this ruling can remain.”

    More specifically, what if SC takes the “natural born citizen” lawsuits seriously? As I say, maybe too outrageous for even this court. However, the way we’ve been operating as a country, if they decide Kamala isn’t really a natural born citizen, that would be game over for us if the ruling doesn’t include an exception to grandfather her in.

    Wong Kim Ark was decided in 1898 and it firmly establishes our current definition of NBC. Clearly, SC has no qualms about overturning precedent at the drop of a hat, but it’s preposterous to live under the threat that they can upend anything they want and that we just have to eat it starting that very minute.

    Assuming we get through this election without that kind of ratfucking and win the trifecta, I think SC reforms in congress should have a grandfathering clause.

    If the SC does the (not completely) unthinkable, I hope all the blue and swing states are prepared to tell them to fuck all the way off.

  66. 66.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    Agreed. Immigration is tough for us. Not “immigration”, really. What’s tough for us is how media and Republicans have turned “immigration” into yet another scary thing that everyone has to be afraid of.

    We’re on the right track though – the joy is the thing. People are tired of being afraid of everything. It’s not how Americans like to think of themselves.

  69. 69.

    SomeRandomGuy

    Heh. Raise your hand if you think President Harris needs to give then-former President Biden *another* Presidential Medal of Freedom.

  70. 70.

    bbleh

    @BR: @Soprano2: @Kay: and what were the Felon’s jobs?  Pretty much every deal or venture HE managed went bad, to the point that he blew through the entire half-billion his dad (fraudulently) left him.  The only thing that saved him was Apprentice, and that, like his “success” persona, was entirely media fiction.

    They’re BOTH empty vessels, media inventions, with nothing real about them except their bigotry and nastiness (which, btw, is a major — if not THE major — selling-point for their cult).

    Welcome to modern America.  It’s Zaphod Beeblebrox (except he was smart).

  73. 73.

    trnc

    @BR: ​
     

    What I don’t get is where Trump and Vance even had much time to talk that Vance would have repeatedly had the chance to complain to Trump about his wife.

    DT thinks she’s fussy because she spurned his advances.

  75. 75.

    WereBear

    @Soprano2: Then the press needs punishing.

    To quote John Waters:

    Penny Pingleton, you know you are punished. From now on your wearing a giant P on your blouse EVERY DAY to school so that the whole world knows that Penny Pingleton is permanently, positively, punished.

  76. 76.

    Kay

    @BR:

    I had no idea until you wrote it a couple of days ago. I heard “principal” and thought he was an actual manager. It doesn’t surprise me at all that VC’s made up a no-show job category for underperforming white men like Vance though.

    The funniest part of this whole thing is his wife. She’s much more accomplished than he is. He’s literally married to someone who contradicts his whole world view. Hey! I think we may have found where his bitterness springs from! :)

  78. 78.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @WereBear:They will change your outlook on leftovers.

    Nope. I’ll eat/drink almost anything. Only got food poisoning once, and that was from a serving of baked beans at a BBQ in Lebanon, MO. They were over spiced and that night I found out why.

  79. 79.

    bbleh

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I would say that for a big fraction of our population it’s been more like a years-long temper tantrum.  And I don’t know whether they’ve howled themselves out of it yet, or whether there’s any kind of no-nonsense parental bark that would snap them out of it.

    I do think that if, say, the Lord chose to call the Felon home, it would really deflate the bubble.  But one does not wish for such things.

  81. 81.

    Suzanne

    @Soprano2:

    Does he think all women who are childless are that way by choice? 

    Jennifer Aniston, who opened up in recent years about her infertility experience, made a statement about Vance that was not complimentary. Good for her.

    Infertility affects something like one in six hetero couples who want to have kids, and it affects the abortion issue, as well. It used to be much more common for girls who were “in trouble” to surrender their babies for adoption right after birth, and then they were given to white infertile couples. And they could pass them off as their biological kids and lie about it, and the adoption was closed and the child sometimes had no knowledge of their birth or their biological parents. With more sex education and accessibility of birth control, the teen pregnancy rate has plummeted. And adoptions in the U.S. are now mostly through foster care, so the kids are older and often not the same race as their adoptive parents. And often the adoption is open.

    The GOP hates all of this. They want a “domestic supply of infants”, as Amy Boney Carrot put it.

  82. 82.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Soprano2: ​There is one candidate in MO running for some statewide office who literally uses a flamethrower in the ad

    Which a-hole is that?

  83. 83.

    Ben Cisco

    Morning all,

    It’s been a busy few days for me. I’ve had Zoom/conference/video calls almost every night. You may have heard about the Win With Black Women and Win With Black Men calls – my girlfriend and I are both members of the Divine 9 (Alpha Kappa Alpha and Kappa Alpha Psi respectively) and took part. The National Urban League was on deck last evening.

    We were already engaged in voter registration events on a regular basis; additional events have been added. I work with the undergraduates at the chapter I help to oversee and they will be adding to the efforts as soon as they return to campus. From orientation to homecoming (which will be just before the deadline for registration here in Alabama), we will be a FORCE. I have found it helpful to stay focused – THE MISSION HAS NOT CHANGED.

    Most people have no idea who we are (certainly the Faux anchor that called Zeta Phi Beta a “colored girls sorority” does not). They are about to find out.

    GAME ON.

  84. 84.

    Quiltingfool

    @Soprano2:  I read about your kitty, Gary, yesterday.  I was too late to offer my sympathies.  I have been in your shoes, and it breaks your heart to let go of a beloved pet.  But you do what is best for your kitty, not for you.  I had to come to that realization with Baby, my heart kitty.

    I did adopt a cat several months later, Sassy.  She is a different personality, but she has brought me joy and laughter.  She is a very good girl.  I hope the same for you.

  85. 85.

    Soprano2

    @Kay:  I’m not sure it translates to normies as anything other than nastiness.

    I don’t think it does either. Plus this nastiness about deliberately mispronouncing her name, as if she’s “foreign”. Lots and lots of people have names that are unusual (raises hand, it’s my last name) and the idea that you would deliberately mispronounce someone’s name over and over is jerkish and offensive. I think they’ve been in a bubble so long they don’t know how they sound to normal people.

  86. 86.

    3Sice

    J.D. Vance is wholly unqualified for the office of the President of the United States of America.

  87. 87.

    WereBear

    @Kay: I did read his book and it was my pleasure to find the many reviews that found it kinda repellent, only they had details I didn’t know.

    And… neither did Vance.

  89. 89.

    BR

    @Kay:

    Yeah, and it’s the kind of job where there are no real responsibilities. Some was talking the other day about why all the media is talking about the far right VCs in silicon valley rather than the workers in silicon valley who vote Dem, and someone pointed out that only VCs have time to spend all day on twitter.

  90. 90.

    Dave

    @Kay: I figure a good VP choice can have some modest benefits to the ticket mostly by doing no harm but also maybe a bit of positive. Energize some voters that might be on the fence etc.

     

    A bad one is similar but like always it’s easier to wreck than build so they can in fact be a solid drag.

    Which becomes more important depending on who the head of the ticket is.

    How this plays out well I’m totally over predictions but Vance isn’t it whatever it is he isn’t.

  91. 91.

    3Sice

    @Suzanne:

    Bragging on their own midget.

    That correspondents dinner left a massive psychic scar cleaved in what’s left of the tapioca brain.

  93. 93.

    different-church-lady

    @BR: ​A non-insane politician would have just stopped at, “…loves his wife.”

  94. 94.

    Kay

    @twbrandt:

    I started riding a bike about a year ago and I’ve really taken to it. It’s fun. So yesterday I was riding and saw a cybertruck in a driveway. I was actually not looking at the car so much as at the temporary tag (I was wondering what state) and the owner popped into view and said (sincerely) “do you like it?” I said NOTHING, just sped up a bit. I thought “oh, you poor thing that you both care what I like and bought that piece of shit truck”.

  95. 95.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: It’s funny, the way you know they think immigration is their best issue is that all of them are running on it regardless of whether it has anything to do with the elected office they want or not. All the gubernatorial candidates in MO are running on “deporting illegals”, even though that has nothing to do with being governor of MO! It’s in all of their ads regardless of the office they want. None of them are running on what they can actually do for Missourians as governor. In fact, Jay Ashcroft (yes, the son of John Ashcroft) wrote a column for our paper where he said Republicans have been in charge of state government for over 20 years and haven’t fixed things, so we should elect him (another Republican!) to do that. I hope the Democrat who wins the primary for that office uses that line from his editorial liberally.

  96. 96.

    different-church-lady

    I still say the diet Mountain Dew thing is weirder than the couch thing.

  99. 99.

    Soprano2

    @twbrandt: I am too, childless by choice. It pisses me off too, especially that he can say that and probably won’t be challenged on it by anyone in the press “because that’s just how they are”. It’s because to the press women as voters are still invisible unless they’re MAGA’s.

  102. 102.

    prostratedragon

    @WereBear:

    Now, the person who originally decided on couch, must be secure in their upholstery, because we aren’t making any judgements about furniture fornication.

    At any rate, sofa so good. (Guess thst’s what JDV might have said.)

  103. 103.

    WereBear

    @3Sice: Right? We’ve totally isolated the whole credentials thing. They can’t say anything back.

    And this is a gift:

    No talking about the platform! I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it.

  104. 104.

    Soprano2

    @Suzanne: If we had a decent press they would be hounding him to apologize for insulting all childless people like that. Think how wounding that is to people who aren’t childless by choice, to be told that something they can’t do anything about means they don’t count as voters or Americans. Does he not realize that there are conservative people who are childless too? It was just such a clueless thing to say.

  105. 105.

    M31

    was explaining Vance to my partner and said “well, his sugar daddy is this super weird billionaire who likes to inject himself with the blood of young people” and she said “O-kaaaaaay” now she understands

    also Vance is the kind of creep that you totally believe the couch fucking story about

    even Trump, he wouldn’t fuck a couch! that’s not a plausible story and wouldn’t have had traction — now, “Trump paid Russian prostitutes to pee on the couch because Obama sat on it” that’s believable

    more believable is “had his handlers pay the Russian prostitutes and then recharacterise it as a campaign expense through shell companies made up for the purpose”

  109. 109.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    I’m not sure what Dems will do with it. It reminds me of how “health care” was in 2009 to 2012 – when media and Republicans turned “health care” into this shrieking hate fest that had nothing to with legislation or the actual delivery of health care. If we can get past this incoherent screaming period and not lose it  will be like “health care delivery” (again) is now – a real thing with some problems and some real fixes that no one fear-mongers about.

  110. 110.

    Suzanne

    @BR: I was listening to an episode of the Bulwark podcast last night, because Tim Miller was interviewing Rick Perlstein (who did a book club here! Amazing!). Anyway, Miller made the observation that the senior guys in Silicon Valley know a lot of progressives and liberals and find them really annoying. So they vote differently.

    Finding other people annoying, I think, drives a lot of our political divides.

  111. 111.

    BR

    @M31: ​

    was explaining Vance to my partner and said “well, his sugar daddy is this super weird billionaire who likes to inject himself with the blood of young people” and she said “O-kaaaaaay” now she understands

    Oh wow I forgot that tidbit about Thiel. As Tim Walz has been saying on his media appearances, these people are weird.

  114. 114.

    Anyway

    @twbrandt:

    JD Vance is the Cybertruck of running mates.

    heh. Vance pissed me off saying all Harris did for twenty years was “draw a government check ” – you know what he was driving at – so insulting of her vast experience working for the County and State as prosecutor and AG.

  115. 115.

    Ken

    @Soprano2: I assume that, like most Midwest states, the Missouri construction and agricultural (especially meatpacking) sectors would collapse if Republicans got their way.

    In the past that has meant that Republicans run on immigration, then do nothing about it once in office because it would upset their big donors. I wonder if they’ll be able to do that any more, now that the old-school politicians are being pushed aside by the true believers.

    IIRC both Alabama and Florida have recently been Finding Out.

  116. 116.

    WereBear

    @M31:

    was explaining Vance to my partner and said “well, his sugar daddy is this super weird billionaire who likes to inject himself with the blood of young people” and she said “O-kaaaaaay” now she understands

    Thank you for getting feedback from a normie.

    This is what James Bond movies were preparing us for, I guess.

  117. 117.

    But Her Emails!!!

    @NotMax:

    During his first run for Senate, Biden won the primary by painting the incumbent (who turned 63 that year) as too old and too out of touch.

    It was true in that case. The incumbent had planned on retiring, but succumbed to pressure by Nixon to run for reelection. He then proceeded to run a nearly nonexistent campaign.

  118. 118.

    WereBear

    @Belafon: I am so impressed by that movie, even Reynolds. But hey casting amirite?

    Speaking of which, Ned Beatty was incredibly brave to debut in that movie, in that role, and knock it out of the park the way he did.

  119. 119.

    M31

    @BR: ​
     

    and the weird thing about ‘young blood’ is that red blood cells live only a few months, so ALL of your blood is young lol

    also the secret of extended youth is to not smoke, use sunscreen, and exercise and eat moderately, but that’s too much work

    also, Nosferatu doesn’t look that hot, not sure if that’s the model we should be going for

  120. 120.

    Geminid

    @Ben Cisco: I see Alabama Democrats have a strong candidate for the redrawn 7th CD. I hope you folks will send Anthony Daniels to Washington along with the excellent Rep. Terry Sewell.

  121. 121.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay: They know they got taken for a ride and are desperate for anyone to tell them they didn’t.

  122. 122.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Ben Cisco: ​

    my girlfriend and I

    If this is a new development, I wish you all the best. If it isn’t, then I guess I haven’t been paying much attention of late.

  124. 124.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    I think Democrats – the leaders and the Party – are better at saying “this is a real problem for us” (the demonization of immigration and immigrants) as compared to Republicans, who if the roles were reversed would just double down on whatever the campaign weakness was to “own the libs”. We’re still reality-based. The demonization of immigrants by media and Republicans is not our fault but it is our problem. We have to face it head on. It’s a public perception problem rather than a real problem (as has been noted 5 million times Democrats tried a legislative fix) but the other phase for “public perception” is “political campaign”.

  125. 125.

    WereBear

    @M31: From what I’ve been hearing about fillers, the doorbell camera is telling us there’s a package.

    It’s from Dorian Gray and it looks like there’s a painting inside.

  127. 127.

    Quiltingfool

    @OzarkHillbilly: So many a-hole R candidates in Missouri, and they all have to do increasingly stupid stunts to get attention.

    I love my state, but damn.  I think our state motto Show-Me, now should be Showing Our Ass (referring to RWNJ, of course).

  129. 129.

    But Her Emails!!!

    @Soprano2:

    If we had a decent press they would be hounding him to apologize for insulting all childless people like that.

    It’s not the MSM’s fault that Vance doesn’t have a D after his name. If he did, I’m sure it would receive the same attention as “basket of deplorables” and “clinging to their guns and religion”.

  130. 130.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @twbrandt:

    My wife is part of a meetup group here, Child Free Women of Denver.  Social group.  The longtime core people are roughly the same age as her but they get a lot of late-30/early-40-something women for events.  My wife relates how the knee-jerk reaction to someone with no kids isn’t what it was 20 years ago, it ain’t gone away.  Thus, when asshats like Vance opens his pie hole and spews crap from 2 generations ago, they bristle.

    @WereBear:

    I was doing a mental head count of all the cats my wife and I have had over the decades.  It’s around 30 (we had a lot of “B&B Cats” back in Central Misery at the B&B as we rescued and housed in a cat room in the  garage all the strays).  And that’s not counting innumerable foster mommas, litters, etc., that we started doing after my wife came back from 3 months doing animal rescue in NOLA right after Katrina.

    We’ve learned that they all fall into some kind of personality type (often driven by their coloring and markings, it’s an interesting correlation), some smart, some dumb, shy, gregarious, etc.,  But they all have unique personalities that are wonderful to experience and learn from over the years of having them.

  133. 133.

    gene108

    In addition to Biden, there will be addresses from White House alums Barack and Michelle Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton…

    I will always find it amusing that the only other living former Republican president, George W. Bush, has been ostracized from the party, while Democrats have not done this.

  135. 135.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @BR:

    Yeah, and it’s the kind of job where there are no real responsibilities.

    Alan Parsons (the engineer, musician) relates how, when he first started at Abbey Road around 67-68 as an “assistant engineer”, the role was basically to fetch tea for the Beatles.  He was “Tea Boy”.

    Which as we’re learning, is all Vance was.  Gopher, Tea Boy, minion.

  137. 137.

    Gin & Tonic

    I hope everyone is now post-breakfast, but as posted late in last night’s Ukraine thread, there are now reports by serious sources that at least some bodies of Ukrainian POW’s returned by russia have been returned with internal organs missing.

  138. 138.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    You know “immigration” is purely political for media and Republicans because the rhetoric never changes with the facts. So unlawful entries can go DOWN but the screeching goes UP. It’s  like “voter fraud”. Media and Republicans made shit up about voter fraud for 20 years and in response state after state passed laws requiring voter ID. It made absolutely no difference. If anything, they’re screechier about voter fraud than they were when Bush II was in.

    “Voter fraud”, like “immigration”, can never be solved or mitigated because it isn’t about voter fraud or immigration.

  139. 139.

    Tony Jay

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

      Predicting NYT editorial that Harris should select has selected Mitt Romney as her VP.

    Followed by weeks of fainting-couch ‘coverage’ of why she changed her mind, who forced her to do so, editorials about the clouds and shadows now looming over her trustworthiness, what does this mean for her campaign, etc.

    They’ll never change.

  140. 140.

    Soprano2

    @Ken: Yes, there are quite a few chicken processing places in SWMO. It’s changed the towns where it exists because there are a lot of immigrant workers there now.

  141. 141.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Bill Eigel is a piece of work even by Misery RWNJ standards:

    https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article288546098.html

    Not sure if you can get past the paywall, it’s not hard if you know how.

    He’s running 3rd in the primary behind Mike Kehoe and whichever Ashcroft kid is running.  I used to run into Kehoe all the time in Jeff City and still feel like I need to take a long, hot shower all these years later.

  142. 142.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Quiltingfool: Every day I pull a half dozen hate filled, fear mongering flyers out of my mailbox.

    @WereBear: From what I can tell, they still believe but quietly fear it’s all a lie. Not that they will ever admit it, least of all to themselves.

  143. 143.

    Geminid

    @Kay: One thing Democrats have going for them this cycle is that the economy is so strong. It’s harder to make a credible claim that immigrants are taking “our” jobs when there are so many unfilled job openings.

  144. 144.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    The same thing happened in Mexico, btw. Mexico completely revamped and federalized their voting systems. It made absolutely no difference. The same people who had been screaming about voter fraud still screamed about voter fraud. It had become a belief. It was no longer about voter fraud. It was just a basket unhappy and anxious people could put their fear and anger in.

  145. 145.

    lowtechcyclist

    (Believe me, I have every respect for her hard work, but if Gina Raimondo saw the campaign’s name pop up on her cell, she’d dismiss it as probably spam.)

    I can only hope so. Please, ANYONE but Raimondo.  As a recently retired Census employee, I have this to say:

    She may not have made the decision to lock us all out of our offices for four and a half years, and require us all to work from home full time for that entire period, but she certainly had to approve it.  They didn’t even provide any optional office space for those of us who had no good space for an office in our homes.  She had to approve that.  I know that made a serious dent in the quality of my work.

    And she may not have made the decision, now that Census offices are about to reopen, to do a total reversal and all but ban full-time working from home, and you’d have to be in the office four days out of five in order to have the same desk every day.  But she had to approve it.

    This is messing with a lot of Census employees’ lives. People had already moved out of the area since if they were being required to work from home, it didn’t really matter whether ‘home’ was within commuting distance of Census HQ in Suitland, and others were getting ready to move away and continue to work remotely full-time.  If mandatory WFH had worked so well for four and a half years that the Census didn’t even provide any alternate work space while the HQ building was being ‘reimagined,’ then it had to be working well enough that it would surely continue to be allowed as an option, right?

    I’m just glad it’s not my problem anymore. But if this is any indication of how Raimondo is as a manager, then I don’t want her to hold any more important office than she’s got now, and on behalf of my friends at Census, I wish she’d retire into obscurity.

  146. 146.

    Soprano2

    @Quiltingfool: The commercials are getting insane. I see them because I watch the late local news and then Colbert. All of these deeply conservative MAGAs are calling each other “huge liberals”. It’s so, so funny (except for Bill Eigel, who literally says he’s ready to take a flamethrower to liberals!). There’s little that’s actually constructive in their ads, it’s all playing on people’s fear and hatred.

  147. 147.

    BethanyAnne

    I love the whole “Prosecutor vs. Felon” thing. Simple enough that even the press might understand it. Just happens to be true. And it deeply fucks with TFG’s head. Love it.

  153. 153.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Interesting.  We are child-free too but not super social.  But we may have to look into something like one of those groups.  Most of our fellow child-free friends are in other parts of the country or town (which in Los Angeles traffic, may as well be in other parts of the country!).

  155. 155.

    Soprano2

    @OzarkHillbilly: I think it was when the R’s got people to institute term limits for the state legislature. That termed out a lot of old blue dog Dems, who were replaced by Republicans. Then once they got full control, they went crazy. It think it’s funny that they have full control of state government and have a hard time getting anything done because they’ve devolved into these little factions.

  156. 156.

    M31

    BREAKING MUST CREDIT NEW YORK TIMES: VP List for Harris leaked:

    Mitt Romney

    Joe Manchin

    Liz Cheney

  157. 157.

    bluefoot

    @M31: I would pay money for this.  You could totally meme-ify this for 15-second ads.  Joe Biden in Corvette dropping off Kamala Harris at the White House entrance, dropping her off at the inauguration, etc. Each would just need some modification in venue and dialog.

  158. 158.

    Soprano2

    @gene108: Not just him, his VP too, and people who served for them. They’ve been “unpersoned”, as if they didn’t exist. It’s weird, and is what tells you that the Republican Party is now a cult of TCFG.

  159. 159.

    Soprano2

    @Gin & Tonic: Ugh, that is SO HORRIBLE. Just the thought that we now have a political party that wants to enable that awfulness is repulsive, and should be repulsive to all normal people.

  160. 160.

    Sanjeevs

    Economy grew at 2.8% rate in 2nd quarter.

    i’m sure the NYT can explain why this is bad news for Harris.

  161. 161.

    Quiltingfool

    @Gin & Tonic:  There is no humanity in Russia, is there?

    My heart is hardened towards that country.  I don’t like feeling that way, but here we are.

    At times, I have a hard heart about America, though I love my country.  We have harmed so many of our people, throughout history, and although things are *better*, we still continue harm.

    I just can’t abide the hate and harm.

  162. 162.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @lowtechcyclist: ​
     

    I worked for Naval Intel in Suitland from 85-90 so was “next door”.

    Your story about remote work as the Plague Times began and how your agency handled it and now handling it is tough. When compared to what we did in DOT, specifically my mode, we were bleeding edge by federal gubmint standards in that sense.

    Even as I was going out the door last year, our “back to the office” policy was still 3 in office & 2 at home. Moreover, anybody hired as Fulltime remote from the gitgo (or who had been transitioned to that prior to The Plague Times, again, we moved a ton of people into that status in the 5 preceding years) remains in that status.

    Basically, the exact opposite of what you’re describing. I’m so sorry to see that but doesn’t surprise me.

  165. 165.

    AM in NC

    @Soprano2:  Just like the fact that Trump and his family members/executive appointees were using unsecured iPhones to communicate and discuss foreign and domestic policy was NO BIG DEAL WORTH COVERING, literally weeks after “best email server practices” was the single most important US NatSec story of my lifetime.

  166. 166.

    M31

    @bluefoot: YES!

    He gives the introductory speech at the convention, and when he leaves the podium, he puts down his aviators

    she picks them up

  167. 167.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    I’ve bene talking up the economy for years. It’s lonely, I’ll tell you. I have never seen anything like the snow job media did on the economy. I feel as if they’re ruined “comparisons” forever. What do they do when there’s an actual bad economy? My God, people will be jumping out of windows. Unemployment goes up to something normal – 6,7,8 and they’ll be declaring it the Great Depression.

    I particularly resent it because I think they have convinced young people there is no hope they will ever be financially stable and that is just a lie. There are a TON of opportuinities for young people in the rust belt right now, especially young men. Joe Biden did that, not Donald Trump.

    Fucking economic propoganda. We’ve been bamboozled.

  168. 168.

    Geminid

    @Kay: Earlier this year, when the Senate immigration bill was making news, I checked oit Rep. Gallego’s statements on the border. I thought he made good points about the seriousness of the problem and how it had to be fixed in a sound way.

    Ruben Gallego has really impressed me, and I am looking forward to seeing him in the Senate. I don’t think Kari Lake or Mark Lamb can stop him.

  169. 169.

    Suzanne

    From the Guardian:

    Jennifer Aniston has taken issue with JD Vance’s description of some of the most powerful people in US politics as “childless cat ladies”.
    Writing on Instagram, the actor said: “I truly cannot believe this is coming from a potential VP. All I can say is … Mr Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day”.

     
    What a ghoul.

  170. 170.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: When the numbers on entries go down, they just say the government is lying. Yes, those things aren’t about what they say they’re about. In spite of passing voter ID here, they’re still talking about insecure elections. Nothing except them winning all the elections will ever be enough to convince them that elections are “secure”. “Insecure elections” means “black people in cities are voting” and “Democrats are still winning elections”.

  171. 171.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @M31: ​

    Ιt’s fun to joke about this, but Biden (and now Harris) has such a talented social media team, that I won’t be surprised at all if we actually see an aviator hand-off meme from them in the next weeks.

    And if not, the fans will produce it.

  173. 173.

    Kay

    @Geminid: ‘

    You know when I knew it was deliberate? When media and Republicans spent 4 years moaning about the tragedy of the rust belt and then when Biden turned it around and it started to boom they never revisited the subject. 

    This is an interesting story! My part of the country was limping along and then it boomed. Someone who is reality based should bring this story to Americans – it’s very hopeful and positive.

  177. 177.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    No one ever asks them. “You passed laws in 30 states tightening voter regs, yet you claim the problem is worse than it was before you did that. What gives?”

  179. 179.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Okay I think I’m leaning towards this Kamala shirt.  At least for my first purchase.  I’ll probably get a couple different designs so I can rep for her multiple days/week.

  180. 180.

    DougL

    @Soprano2: All of this.  Most of the commentary around JD is clueless – oh why did Trump pick him?!?! For the access to the g-damn money of Peter thiel and his island of misfit billionaires. It’s really that simple imho.

    What a repulsive human being. I think he was picked to get Thiel’s money, and no other reason

  181. 181.

    Quiltingfool

    @Soprano2: I think you’re right about term limits ousting Blue Dog Dems in Missouri.  We had some of them right here in Ruby Red Camden County.  They kept being elected (Ike Skelton) because everyone knew them and liked them, and being a D was no big deal.  Now we have a really shitty rep for 4th district, some Fox News canned ham.  Yay us.

  183. 183.

    Lynn Dee

    @Soprano2:

    That’s really a terrific piece from Josh Marshall.

    And for those who don’t read TPM executive editor David Kurtz’s Morning Memo (you can receive it for free even without a subscription to talkingpointsmemo.com), this really got me from this morning’s memo, under the first subhead, History Will Know:

    …

    For reasons that are probably peculiar to me, I have been focused to the point of borderline obsessiveness on helping to create a historical record that we didn’t just sleepwalk our way into authoritarianism. If we end up sliding over the cliff into a uniquely American form of fascism, I want it to be unmistakably clear to historians and everyone who comes after us that we knew what was happening. We saw it. We endeavored to prevent it, to arrest the slide, to warn of the perils. We had eyes wide open. We were not blindsided. If it happens, it happened despite our best efforts.

    The warnings have come from sitting federal judges, from highly respected longtime Republicans cast out by their party, from conservatives who were previously villains in the progressive firmament, and now from President Biden sitting in the Oval Office having made a substantial personal sacrifice of his own as a way of further sounding the alarm

    History will show that we knew. Maybe that will erase the smugness of future generations that somehow they are immune. We are not, and neither are they.

  184. 184.

    Kay

    I’m doing the Kamala call with a Michigan group tonight. I registered for it and used our MI address although we’re still residents of Ohio and I will vote in Ohio in November (for the last time!) but everyone other than me will be MI voters so I felt it was accurate. Also the get together is at the MI house. I promise I will not explain this boring situation on the call :)

  185. 185.

    BR

    @Kay:

    Manufacturing levels nationwide are at levels not seen since the early Reagan years. But yeah, nobody knows about it because the media doesn’t talk about it.

    What’s more amazing to me is that editors at AP, Reuters, NYT, etc. can with a straight face report on, say, 250,000 new jobs under Biden/Harris as meh or even “limping along” whereas under Trump they reported the exact same data as “economy shows strong job growth”.

    Strangely I’ve been finding CNBC and Bloomberg to be more accurate on economic reporting, because they do have a few econ nerds working for them who just write it straight.

  186. 186.

    bluefoot

    @M31: ​
      Oooo, I like it. Or even just a “Kamala, I have something for you” and he hands Kamala her own pair of aviators. She puts them on.

  187. 187.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @WereBear:

    Oh, that’s right, I’ve perused your web site before.  Great piece and thanks for the reminder.

  188. 188.

    Kay

    I went by the house of one of tonight’s invitees last night and she has taken her Biden Harris yard sign and folded down the Biden to so it’s narrower but says Harris. So I think she’s in :)

    Very smart!

  192. 192.

    DougL

    @Kay:  Such a great point. Abortion was in this bucket too until they “solved” it by overturning Roe. My bet is after this election they’ll never try to solve a “problem” ever again.

    “Voter fraud”, like “immigration”, can never be solved or mitigated because it isn’t about voter fraud or immigration

  193. 193.

    Ken

    @Sanjeevs: Economy grew at 2.8% rate in 2nd quarter. i’m sure the NYT can explain why this is bad news for Harris.

    Easy-peasy. They just say “In anticipation of Trump’s victory”, and later “clouds on the horizon with the Harris candidacy”.

  194. 194.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @Suzanne: the senior guys in Silicon Valley

    “Waa, waa! Liberals are annoying, so I’ve been forced to become a nazi!”

    If we’re talking Musk, Theil, and their ilk… maybe they’re deeply flawed, hateful human beings? Maybe it’s not liberals’ fault, as implied?

  195. 195.

    Quiltingfool

    @Kay: Let me tell you, I agree 100% with you on the economy reporting.  The press and Republican bamboozle is insane.

    If the economy is so very shitty, then why is my area (Lake of the Ozarks) so jam-packed with people from other states?  The Thursday before Memorial Day weekend, the parking lot at Walmart was full and more people just kept driving in.  During the week of 4th of July, the local Walmart had 3 million in sales in one day.

    Where are people getting the money to vacation and buy things if our economy is so bad?

    Let me tell you, businesses around the lake are raking in the dough, and our county is making bank on sales tax.  Bring it on!

  198. 198.

    montanareddog

    @Soprano2: Weird thing is, Kamala Harris is not childless; she is a stepmother.

    So Vance must have been talking about those voters who have never birthed a child. Well, funnily enough JD, neither have you. Nor your boss. In fact, the majority of voters have never done so.

  200. 200.

    Kay

    @DougL:

    Just like we didn’t abandon health care during and after the GOP/Media freak out and lies about death panels and what-not  (and we now own that issue) I think if we can just weather immigration demonization and maybe even pass some good legislation we’ll get past it. But we have to get elected during the demonization/hysteria period because unlike ACA we haven’t passed any laws yet.

  201. 201.

    Kristine

    @TBone: I saw the other day that one of Nikki Haley’s supporter groups is stumping for Harris even though she asked them not to.

    The idea that crossover R voting could play a role is a great sign, I think. Especially in swing states.

  202. 202.

    Geminid

    @Ben Cisco: Thst’s good to hear. I like the idea of Rep. Sewell and Representative-elect Daniels flying by me on their way to DC next January.

  207. 207.

    DougL

    @Kay:  Oh I’m certainly not arguing we abandon OUR efforts to resolve these problems (voting fraud is just the wrong side of the voting rights issue). And I hope you are right that we can resolve immigration in a way that redounds to democrats’ credit. That’s gonna take awhile I think.

  209. 209.

    montanareddog

    @Omnes Omnibus:  I am risk averse and I fear to wade into this subject, but I do not think of Coconut (or Oreo, or Banana) as racist terms. They are intra-community insults, deriding another member of the community for being too assimilated to the host (white) culture.

    Here is Romesh Ranganathan, a British comic of Sri Lankan parentage talking about his mother.

  211. 211.

    Ken

    @montanareddog: So Vance must have been talking about those voters who have never birthed a child. Well, funnily enough JD, neither have you.

    ME: “Genie, for my first wish, change human biology so that after the egg is fertilized, the woman implants it in a male’s abdomen — doesn’t have to be the father — and he carries it to term.”

    GENIE: “That seems rather bizarre, even for a human….”

    ME: “I’m just curious about that old claim, ‘If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament’.”

  212. 212.

    Kay

    @Quiltingfool:

    It never made sense. People don’t spend money they don’t have. Americans have been on an absolute spending spree while telling the dopes in media they’re destitute. The spending is BROAD BASED- it goes from full campgrounds at state parks to luxury cruises, from Wal Mart to expensive handbags.

    Again, my concern is there is a real world. How do we return to it now? What do they with an actual bad economy?

  213. 213.

    Ken

    @Kristine: I saw the other day that one of Nikki Haley’s supporter groups is stumping for Harris even though she asked them not to.

    “Nikki, you still don’t get it. We were never voting for you, it was all about who we’re voting against.”

    A few months ago I ran some numbers and found that if even a quarter of the Republicans who supported Haley just stayed home Biden would win easily. If they actually switch to Harris — well, I’m feeling very good.

  215. 215.

    Kay

    @DougL:

    If we can get past the screeching part and pass some good laws it will be like the ACA is now – a subject where specialists talk about “risk corridors” and media and Republicans completely ignore it because they never knew anything about it and it’s no longer exciting.

    But we have to get good legislation thru first. Immigration is good for this country. It’s just core to our sense of national identity. We can do this.

  216. 216.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Soprano2:

     It think it’s funny that they have full control of state government and have a hard time getting anything done because they’ve devolved into these little factions.

    I expect the other thing is, they probably have no idea how to get accomplish anything through legislation. They’re just in it for the media exposure.

  217. 217.

    lowtechcyclist

    @M31:

    BREAKING MUST CREDIT NEW YORK TIMES: VP List for Harris leaked:

    Mitt Romney

    Joe Manchin

    Liz Cheney

    ‘They’ forgot Chris Christie!

  218. 218.

    prostratedragon

    @WereBear:  Seems the change from Bowman to Hamel did occur in his childhood because of adoption. His middle name was also changed. His grandparents were the Vances, but he made this change only when he got married, so around 10 years ago. Actually I assume he’s been too much in the public eye for hidden warrants to be involved, but a person usually settles on/with who they are at some point.

    “An Actor’s Life for Me,” Fozzie Bear and Rowlf

  219. 219.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @montanareddog: Intracommunity insults, when used by people outside of the community, take on a much different and problematic meaning.  Those of us who aren’t in that community should err on the side of staying in our lane, imo.

  222. 222.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: I think it’s because for a lot of people “the economy” is the price of gas and what they’re paying for groceries, full stop, and inflation made groceries a lot higher. I see a lot of griping about that. People can still remember that they paid two dollars less a pound for ground beef in 2019 than they are now, and it used to be that price stayed the same for several years. So to them it’s a bad economy. And yeah, the press has done a total gaslighting job on people about it. Even I noticed that a microwavable soup that cost me less than $1.50 in 2019 is over $2 now.

  224. 224.

    Soprano2

    @Quiltingfool: It happened down here, too. I know that’s why the R’s pushed it, because they knew if they could only get rid of people like Ike Skelton they could replace them with Republicans. It bit them in the ass though, because term limits are part of the reason why they can’t seem to get anything done now. That, and there are more and more “reality TV Republicans” getting elected who don’t care at all about governing; they only care about getting on TV and “owning the libs”.

  226. 226.

    Soprano2

    @BR: I think it’s because manufacturing is different now than it was in the ’50’s, ’60’s and ’70’s. It uses computers and employs fewer people, plus they aren’t all the blue collar white guys that the press seems to think is the “average” voter. But yeah, it’s a story they’re completely missing.

  228. 228.

    gwangung

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I think the covid reference here is right on. We’ve had national PTSD. Trump embodies that rage and fear. But maybe we’re ready to move on and just need a little push.

    I think that Covid PTSD extends to Biden as well. I happen to think that drove a lot of his numbers down.

  229. 229.

    SFBayAreaGal

    @Ben Cisco: So good to see you commenting. Your girlfriend’s name wouldn’t happen to be Jennifer or Kasidy? 😉

    Hope you will be posting some more.

    You are and always have been my favorite Captain.

  230. 230.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @montanareddog: I understand that.  And I think that people within those communities can do as they choose.  I am not going to touch any of things with 10 foot pole.  I am not in a position to reclaim any terms.  I am not telling people what to do.  I shared an article, and I’ve now said what I will do.  Everyone will make their own choices.

  233. 233.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kay: Another interesting question is, do people care, politically? I mean, they still hate Biden in those areas, right? Probably because of inflation or “the border” or something. (Or Gaza, in Dearborn.)

  234. 234.

    Ben Cisco

    @SFBayAreaGal:

    Your girlfriend’s name wouldn’t happen to be Jennifer or Kasidy?

    HA! No, but that would have been HILARIOUS! She’s a fan too.

    I do intend to be around more. Be seeing you.

  235. 235.

    Helen

    @Kay:  I agree. When I drive around town, every fast food and coffee stand has a line of cars. So their customers are not concerned about paying $5-10 dollars for food and drink they could easily bring from home. They have cash to spare.

  237. 237.

    Barry

    @Kay: “What do they do when there’s an actual bad economy? ”

     

    If a Republican is President, lie, or blame it on  Jews communists immigrants, childless women who refuse to screw inscels Do Their Duties, etc.

    It’s an easy job.

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