Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

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

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

You are here: Home / Politics / The VP has been chosen?

Reader Interactions

274Comments

  5. 5.

    Baud

    Please don’t be a weird furniture fucker. Please don’t be a weird furniture fucker. Please don’t be a weird furniture fucker. 🤞🤞🤞🤞

  6. 6.

    BretH

    I’m sure is has been chosen. But we won’t find out who until that deem the time ripe.

  8. 8.

    David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch

    Opposition research on Shapiro is pretty bad.   Turns out he always takes two parking spaces and he once borrowed a pen and didn’t give it back.

    Rough stuff.

  9. 9.

    bbleh

    You gotta love the showmanship.

    [smokes rise, lights flicker and dim and brighten again]

    [basso profondo voice:]  A Name! Has Been Chosen!

    [lightning flashes, crowds sway and murmur, some screams are heard]

    Ketchup bottles gotta be smashing everywhere ’bout now.

  10. 10.

    Scout211

    All the media reports from up to a few minutes ago still report Shapiro or Walz.  Tomorrow.

    But I guess the fake Jack Smith is correct.  The VP candidate has been chosen, just not announced yet.

  11. 11.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Chosen, and it’s Ryan Reynolds!

    Oh, wait, Canadian.  Well, that won’t work…

  12. 12.

    Mel

    @zhena gogolia: Same here.

    Two hours ago, Reuters posted a “sources claim” statement that it was narrowed down to Walz or Shapiro, but I didn’t see any confirmation of that from the campaign staff; instead there was just the statement in several outlets that the VP candidate would be announced tomorrow.

  15. 15.

    mali muso

    Yeah, I’m going with the person has been chosen, but we won’t find out until the promised time. Whomever it is, I’m ready to roll with it. Let’s do this!

  21. 21.

    Scout211

    (CNN   Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for the campaign of Kamala Harris, said on social media that the vice president is yet to make a decision on a running mate.

    “We understand the excitement and interest here, but VP Harris has made no decision on a running mate yet!,” he said in a post on X.

    Munoz was responding to a local report that said Harris had made her decision and that her running mate has accepted.

    CNN reported earlier that Harris is focusing on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter, although the process, these sources cautioned, is still fluid and none of the finalists can be ruled out until Harris makes her decision.

    ETA:  A “local report?”  Hmmm. Someone track down that local and that local’s location.  Minnesota local or Pennsylvania local?

  24. 24.

    Kay

    @bbleh:

    @MarkInPolitics

    Live on CNN, Jeff Zeleny is saying Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was loved by the Harris-vetting team, and that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro impresses them with his “fighter” attitude.

    Loved! They loved Santa.

  25. 25.

    sdhays

    @Baud: I can just imagine them running that one hour before Trump shits out a post on his social media site that he’s replacing the couch fucker with someone else. TBD

  33. 33.

    Jackie

    @BretH:

    I’m sure is has been chosen. But we won’t find out who until that deem the time ripe.

    I posted this on the almost dead earlier thread:

    MSNBC’s Rachel Maddox has a special titled Kamala Harris’ VP Pick at 6 pm ET tomorrow. So we’ll already know and the MSNBC panel will be discussing, OR that’s when we learn – at the Philly rally.

    At this time, CNN hasn’t modified their regular programs for tomorrow.

  34. 34.

    Wapiti

    @David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch: When I retired from the Army, I went through my house and collected up all of the US Government Skilcraft pens and pencils that had accumulated. I left them in my desk on my last day at work. There might have been close to a hundred.

  35. 35.

    dnfree

    What I remember from the past is that there were reporters stationed at every airport within driving distance of the potential choices, and other reporters watching the driveways and garages, and as soon as there was movement anywhere, it was like the white smoke going up from the Vatican. So maybe the unchosen people will drive around or go to the airport just to throw reporters off?

  37. 37.

    Jacqueline Squid Onassis

    Al Gore!  He won the election as VP twice before so he’s proven.

    I am not waiting with bated breath.  I’m voting for her no matter who or what her VP selection is.  But an Al Gore selection would totally pwn the fascists.

  38. 38.

    Ken

    My unnamed sources tell me it’s Manchin, and they’ve been about as reliable as the media’s.

  41. 41.

    WaterGirl

    Still hoping for Pete, but since I know that what I want isn’t going to be part of the decision-making , I haven’t done my own research on the other candidates.  Pete is the only possibility who is not a straight white male, and I think she should go for a whole new world.  That would cement the youth vote and anyone who wouldn’t vote for the Democrat because the VP is gay wasn’t going to vote for the Democrat anyway.

    Oh, wait, I just got word from the campaign that they are going to decide on the VP with a straw poll on Balloon Juice!  :-)

  46. 46.

    dnfree

    @Wapiti: ​
      I retired from the company that owns Sharpie and other pen brands, among many other products you’ve heard of. They were always handing out pens for one reason or another. I have a big container of (non-stolen) pens and markers, and I beg banks and realtors not to give me any pens. Of course, some of the spares could be running out of ink by now, because it’s more than a decade since my retirement.

  48. 48.

    eclare

    @Kay:

    Who doesn’t love Santa?  Any guy who gets the nickname Santa must be living right.

    Yes, I know who doesn’t love Santa…the guy who tells his seven yo to shut the hell up.  And everyone around him.

  49. 49.

    BR

    @Kay: ​

    I think they’re at the point in the process where they have to talk up all the likely options to make sure folks are happy no matter who’s picked.

  52. 52.

    RevRick

    By using my quantum flux capacitor I can definitely declare I made a top 100 millionth choice in the multiverse.
    Otherwise, I will wholeheartedly support whomever Harris selects.

  53. 53.

    Math Guy

    The NYT has a hit piece for each possible choice ready to go. (I don’t like how cynical I’ve become.)

  54. 54.

    WaterGirl

    Has anyone seen SC on Balloon Juice today?

    I found 4 of her comments in SPAM last night when I was trying to see why Phyllis wasn’t able to post. Poor Phyllis had somehow (I’m sure mistakenly) been banned, so I un-banned Phyllis and un-spammed SC.  No idea how SC ended up as SPAM, either  Gremlins were unusually busy for a Sunday!

    If anyone is friends with SC on twitter, can you let her know she is back in business.

  56. 56.

    Burnspbesq

    I’ll be so mad if it’s Shapiro, I might reduce my next contribution by a dollar in protest. /s

    Whoever it is will dunk on Vance like LeBron dunking on … me.

  57. 57.

    Jackie

    @dnfree: I was wondering about that; when three black suburbans showed up at Vance’s house the evening before TCFG’s social media formally announced it.

    Kamala probably has a plan to thwart that type of giveaway leak.

  58. 58.

    bbleh

    @Wapiti: @dnfree: I worked for a pharmaco (not sales) when the regs were changed to prohibit the silly little giveaways for MDs with brand-names on them.  They brought carts through FULL of them asking who wanted anything at all.  It was all little stuff, so not scandalous waste, but still absurd.

  59. 59.

    ryk

    Opposition research on Shapiro is pretty bad.   Turns out he always takes two parking spaces and he once borrowed a pen and didn’t give it back.

     

    i heard he poops at parties

  62. 62.

    WaterGirl

    I bet the campaign is leaking different names to different people, so they can get a feel for who can keep their mouth shut and who they can’t trust,

  72. 72.

    Kay

    @BR:

    Most Democrats won’t care but it would suck to lose the Tik Tokkers. As it turns out they matter quite a bit for “vibes”.

  75. 75.

    Kay

    Is the DUI mugshot of Walz real? He looks so sad. And also like it was taken in 1930, for some reason.

  77. 77.

    BR

    @Kay:

    And it’s almost certain we’d lose a good number of them — since vibes are all about emotion and herd behavior, it can turn on a dime.

  78. 78.

    BR

    @Kay:

    I don’t know about the mugshot, but the DUI is real as far as I know. IIRC he gave up drinking afterwards (but I could be misremembering).

  83. 83.

    RaflW

    Apparently, it’s become obvious that Vance is going to each city Harris visits after she does. Like a freakin’ stalker. Or like his boss did with Clinton in that one hideous debate where Trump acted like an out-and-out violent abuser. (I still can’t forgive the voters + our shit-ass Electoral College that he got to the WH.)

    Anyway, what sort of whacked out freak thinks it is smart to follow the other candidate like the pooper scoopers who follow animals at Ringling Bros?

  86. 86.

    Searcher

    Ultimately, what made the decision was which of her prospective VPs could change their name to “Johnny Unbeatable” first.

  88. 88.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Is Kamala even the official nominee yet? I don’t think she can name a running mate till she’s the actual candidate.

    Just did a quick google on that question and didn’t find a “yes” anywhere.

    edit: question answered!

  91. 91.

    BR

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    I swear they should have had one really bad name on their shortlist just to leak as the pick so everyone sighs in relief when it wasn’t that person. The shortlist is too good overall that we’re all picking apart small differences between the options.

  94. 94.

    pat

    I am looking at teepublic.com and I am ready to order the Harris/Walz hat!!

    I was thinking about the Cat Ladies for Kamala, but that will always remind me of you-know- who with the initials jd…..

     

    eta, still  just HOPING!!!!

  98. 98.

    Trivia Man

    @dnfree: I think every one of the short list except mayor pete is already confirmed for the rally tomorrow. Obfuscate with quantity!

  100. 100.

    Splitting Image

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    Is Kamala even the official nominee yet? I don’t think she can name a running mate till she’s the actual candidate.

    Just did a quick google on that question and didn’t find a “yes” anywhere.

    The official vote is already done. The thugs in Ohio let it be known that they would fuck with the Democrats because their state laws require a filing deadline before the Democratic convention was to be held. (They have always waived this in the past.)

    So the Democrats moved the official vote up by a few weeks and the convention is just for show. Harris is the official candidate.

  103. 103.

    phdesmond

     

    despite jitters on the stock market, citations for “kamalanomenon” continue a steady rise on Google:
    About 69,300 results
    12.01 AM Eastern, Aug. 3

    About 86,700 results
    11.14 am Eastern, Aug. 3

    About 115,000 results
    11.19 am Eastern, Aug. 4

    About 181,000 results
    6 pm Eastern, Aug 5

    the search for “JD Vance” AND “weird” continues to wallow in the water:

    About 23,800,000 results
    6 pm Eastern, Aug 5

    23,800,000 results

  109. 109.

    UncleEbeneezer

    So I finally listened to the full interview of Shapiro with Jake Tapper and I gotta say, the claims that he calls protestors the KKK are completely out of context, bad faith distortions of what he actually said.  Tapper even asked him if he thinks all the Anti-Israel protestors are Anti-Semitic to which he responded, literally “Not by any stretch.”  The KKK reference is talking about the age-old debate about how/where we draw the line between protected free speech and the safety concerns that arise when protests include some people using, problematic dog-whistle chants/signage with eliminationist language and other hostile expressions etc.  He’s hardly alone in these concerns.

    One of the other major VP front-runners, Tim Walz also said:

    “I think when Jewish students are telling us they feel unsafe in that, we need to believe them, and I do believe them,” he said on a local PBS program. “Creating a space where political dissent or political rallying can happen is one thing. Intimidation is another.”

    He added, “All of us agree the situation in Gaza is intolerable. What happened on Oct. 7 was intolerable.”

    Walz also said this just after 10/7:

    “What was evident on Saturday morning was the absolute lack of humanity, the terrorism and the barbarism,” Walz said. “That’s not a geopolitical discussion. That’s murder.”

    I would add that these sentiments (of both Walz and Shapiro) are extremely common among Jewish People that I know who are: steadfast Democrats, hate Netanyahu, support Palestinian statehood and want a Cease-Fire and return of the hostages.  Shapiro’s position on Israel/Palestine and the complicated question of balancing campus protest speech and safety seem pretty reflective of Jewish-American and average Dem voters.  I would encourage people to listen to the interview in full to really understand where Shapiro really stands.  Gaza protestors (and their online fans) are not giving you a full or honest picture.

  110. 110.

    WaterGirl

    @BR: “Would you like to be our black sheep fake-nominee so everyone can heave a sigh of relief when we don’t pick you?”

    “No?  Really?”

  118. 118.

    Leto

    Supreme Court rejects Missouri AG effort to sue New York over Trump’s sentencing

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s extraordinary request to halt former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in New York until after the November election.

    The decision, which was expected by legal experts, comes one day before Bailey, a Republican, will face off in the Aug. 6 primary election against Will Scharf, a member of Trump’s legal team.

    The court, in a one-page decision, denied Bailey’s request to file a complaint with the court and dismissed his motion to halt Trump’s sentencing. The order said Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would have granted his motion to file the complaint but would not grant other relief.

    Bailey, in a statement on social media, said it was “disappointing that the Supreme Court refused to exercise its constitutional responsibility to resolve state v. state disputes.”

  122. 122.

    KatKapCC

    @UncleEbeneezer: I have tried to explain to non-Jews a million times that most of us, at least in the US, hate the crap out of Netanyahu. Supporting Israel’s right to exist, as the indigenous homeland of the Jewish people for 3,000+ years, does not mean loving everything about it or blindly championing its leadership. Bibi can suck eggs, as far as I’m concerned.

  125. 125.

    bbleh

    @WaterGirl: lol. I gotta admit I’m REALLY enjoying how this is playing out.  It’s been DAYS of positive media attention, despite some serious editorial attempts to insist that The Harris Honeymoon Is Over.  The Harris folks may not have engineered it, but they know how to play it!

    (ETA and yes it’s also due to the fact that we have an amazingly qualified field.)

  129. 129.

    The Thin Black Duke

    Trying to figure out who the VP is fun but, realistically speaking, it’s political fantasy football. If the GOP haven’t incinerated the Earth a hundred years from now, I’m sure the historians are going to have fascinating stories about what went down behind the scenes.

    Cliche Alert: Let’s not make “perfect” be the enemy of “good” and, thankfully, all of our candidates are good. The Republicans can’t say the same, and that’s going to make the difference.

  131. 131.

    Scout211

    I think Kamala Harris is being unfair to all of us in the Pacific and Hawaii time zones.  Especially to me, because I can’t remember how to turn off my “do not disturb” setting.  😉

    I guess I’ll just have to wake up and read the morning post on balloon-juice with my morning coffee and enjoy the fireworks and second-guessing.  😊

  136. 136.

    Argiope

    You all are missing the obvious: gonna be Baud to set up the 2032 run.  He can’t tell even us yet, but I’m sure he wishes he could.

  141. 141.

    bbleh

    @The Thin Black Duke: I don’t think so.  I haven’t seen NEARLY the, ah, passion that people expressed regarding Should Joe Go.  Almost everything has been “I like X because Y, or maybe Z, but I’m not sure about A because of B, but … I’ll support whomever she picks!!!”

    “Democrats fall in love.”  And right now, nobody’s gonna break the mood.

    @Kay: he’s OLD. and TIRED. and probably demoralized as hell (note: not a bad thing)

    I don’t know anything about the long-term effects of Adderall abuse.  Like, I wonder whether there are “cliffs” that people “fall off.”  And if so I wonder how those might interact with slowly progressing dementia.  I wonder whether something might happen suddenly, like in public.

  145. 145.

    eclare

    @Xavier:

    I am very particular about pens, so I buy my own.  To be fair, as a CPA, I am very particular about all of my office supplies, so I usually buy my own.  I use company paper.

    And yeah, I understand Milton’s attachment to his stapler in Office Space.  Dealing with a crappy stapler is frustrating.

  147. 147.

    NotMax

    To the tune of Love and Marriage –

    Taft and Franklin
    Taft and Franklin
    Overarching influence keeps ranklin’
    This I’ll tell you, brother
    You CAN have one without the other
    .:)

    (Not among my best; just a quickie.)

  150. 150.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Leto:

    What color smoke came out of the Naval Observatory?

    Blue, Navy.

    Geeze, gotta keep edumacating youse Jarheads 24/7.

  152. 152.

    Martin

    @KatKapCC: But I haven’t seen anyone address whether the same standard would apply to a Russian opposed to Putin, arguing that Crimea is the indigenous homeland of the Russian people and defending Russias actions there.

    Your statement sounds pretty reasonable when you leave out Israels state policy to colonize Palestine, particularly when many of those people were displaced 80 years ago to make room for Israel. You can’t leave that part out, or your position on it, because that’s the fundamental issue here.

  153. 153.

    Kay

    Have any political journalists covered that Trump said EVs would ruin the US auto industry for four years until Elon Musk promised to give him money, and now Trump supports EVs?
    This seems newsworthy. What are autoworkers to make of this?

  154. 154.

    Argiope

    @Baud: Well, she’s going to have a hell of a time getting the pantsless constituency on board without you, so if she knows what’s good for her, she’ll take the chance.

  155. 155.

    Matt McIrvin

    @bbleh: The most bomb-throwerish leftie in the LGM commentariat has announced that he won’t vote in November if it’s Shapiro. He’s the one person who I’ve actually seen make a declaration like that. But it’s not zero people.

  160. 160.

    NotMax

    @KatKapCC

    Inauguration. Biden (remember him?) was 29 when first elected to the Senate, met the requirement of being 30 after election day but prior to being sworn in.

  163. 163.

    dkinPa

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: This is from today’s Electoral-Vote.com:

    To avoid being kept off the ballot in Ohio, the Democratic Party held a virtual roll call of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention starting Thursday at 9 a.m. EDT. By Friday, Kamala Harris had the needed 2,350 votes and is now the official Democratic Party nominee for president. Voting will end at 6.p.m. EDT today. All second guessing should now officially stop. It’s over. It’s her. Harris said thank you, but her real acceptance speech will be at the convention, which starts Aug. 19 in Chicago.

    Harris is doing more than having pleasant chats with guys looking for a better-paid job requiring no heavy lifting. She is also busy hiring folks who will have an extremely strenuous job for the next 3 months. In the past 3 days, she hired David Plouffe, who ran Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008; Stephanie Cutter, who was Obama’s communications director (and who is also running the Democratic National Convention); David Binder, who ran Obama’s polling operation; and Mitch Stewart, who held high positions in both of Obama’s campaigns. All the new hires will report to campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon, who also held high positions in both of Obama’s campaigns. The alert reader may detect a pattern here. Harris is moving at breakneck speed. She has to. She needs to compress 2 years of campaigning into 100 days. (V)

    Apologies if this has already been answered!

  166. 166.

    karen marie

    @Wapiti: Who knew!  Not me!

    “Skilcraft, often stylized as SKILCRAFT, is the registered trade name of the National Industries for the Blind (NIB).[1] Products made by Skilcraft are created largely by visually impaired or severely disabled individuals. Products bearing the Skilcraft brand are commonly used in United States federal government institutions, including the United States Postal Service. They are also commonly sold in U.S. military base exchanges and commissaries.[2]”

    Go read the whole thing.  It’s amazing how well government can work when the people working in government give a shit.

  167. 167.

    catclub

    @RaflW: what sort of whacked out freak thinks it is smart to follow the other candidate like the pooper scoopers who follow animals at Ringling Bros?

     

    There might be a pony in there?

  174. 174.

    karen marie

    @WaterGirl:   I’m laughing because at first I thought you were talking about Betty’s Pete, not Buttigieg.

    I really like Walz.

    I have a feeling we’re both going to be disappointed.  But whoever Harris picks, I’m on board.  Unless it’s Romney.  Hahaha.

  177. 177.

    Wave Function Collapse

    @Matt McIrvin:

    The most bomb-throwerish leftie in the LGM commentariat has announced that he won’t vote in November if it’s Shapiro. He’s the one person who I’ve actually seen make a declaration like that. But it’s not zero people.

    I think it’s a lot of people — more than half of the electorate. I’ve decided that I won’t vote for RFKJR if Harris picks Shapiro. I’m pretty sure I’m in the majority with that opinion.

  179. 179.

    Soprano2

    The Pod Save America guys talked about how secret this process was. They said we probably won’t know anything until the Harris people want us to know.

  181. 181.

    H.E.Wolf

    @dkinPa: Thanks for posting that excerpt.

    Interestingly, V (one of the 2 bloggers at Electoral Vote) frequently writes from a pessimistic viewpoint. He has been uncharacteristically upbeat since Harris became the probable (and now actual) nominee.

    I think it bodes well.

  182. 182.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Matt McIrvin:

    The most bomb-throwerish leftie in the LGM commentariat has announced that he won’t vote in November if it’s Shapiro.

    A member of the Horseshoe Left at LGM? Bwahahahahahaha, they deserve it.

  183. 183.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Math Guy: ​
     

    The NYT has a hit piece for each possible choice ready to go. (I don’t like how cynical I’ve become.)

    No matter how cynical you get, you won’t be able to keep up. So don’t let it worry you.

  185. 185.

    KatKapCC

    @Martin: Considering Russia is about 6.5 million square miles and Israel is less than 9 thousand, you’re not exactly comparing apples to apples there. And considering Russians have not spent their entire existence on this Earth being shunned and banished and expelled and slaughtered anywhere else they tried to live, again, not exactly an even comparison.

    And the “fundamental issue” is that even if the settlements stopped, many in the “from the river to the sea” crowd would not be happy. They don’t want portions of Palestine back. They want all of Israel gone, including every person who lives there. I oppose the settlement building and always have, but the conflict has never been only about that. They refuse to even recognize that we *are* indigenous to the land.

  191. 191.

    Jackie

    @Martin:

    The correct turnout choice is Taylor Swift. It’s not even close.

    No, silly! It “has” to be a white male. It MUST BE Justin Kelse!

     

    (Taylor Swift’s pro football boyfriend)

  193. 193.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Wave Function Collapse: Voter turnout in the past few cycles has been surprisingly high by the standards we expected from the late 20th century. It’s a solid majority of the eligible population now.

  195. 195.

    BR

    If you know about Yarvin — Vance’s favorite weirdo fascist tech philosopher — then you know this next part: if Shapiro is the VP pick, there needs to be a drinking game for every time that they slip the word “cosmopolitan” into press releases.

  199. 199.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Jackie:

    I think she should sends fleets of black SUVs to all the candidates’ homes. Have all of them transferred, under heavy escort, to Philly. Bring all of them on stage at the rally. Then make them go through some kind of slow, suspenseful elimination competition on national TV. In short, out-reality-show the sad, tired, old, felonious loser at his own game. The ratings would be gold!

  205. 205.

    BR

    @KatKapCC:

    As an outsider to this debate, the only thing that seems to make sense is a one state solution — a secular democracy — because all parties have pretty solid historical claims to the land, and it seems pretty difficult to figure out who should get what. But I know that’s a non-starter for both sides.

  208. 208.

    zhena gogolia

    @eclare: It’s the colors of the rainbow! RedOrangeYellowGreenBlueIndigoViolet

    Don’t they teach that any more, along with cursive?

  213. 213.

    Geminid

    @H.E.Wolf: Sounds like Eeyore has some pep in his step. Maybe he understands why the Donkey is our party mascot. Donkeys stand their ground when coyotes attack. Donkeys don’t run; they smash the coyotes with their hooves and mangle them with their teeth until the coyotes run.

  221. 221.

    phdesmond

    @KatKapCC:

    i like reading archeological reports from Roman Palestine and Judea and stuff.  There was one site where Jewish occupation was evidenced by the absence of porcine bones in the layers of litter.

  222. 222.

    eclare

    @M31:

    Are you serious about that last bit?  The FTFNYT wasn’t sure childless cat ladies would show up for Harris?

    SMDH

  223. 223.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @NotMax:  … bet that gave autocorrect a case of the vapors.

    Computers have gotten too smart for their own good.

  224. 224.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Xavier: Man, I thought I was the only one who thought that. Whose fukcing brother-in-law was head of gov’t pen purchasing in the 80s?

  228. 228.

    MisterForkbeard

    @schrodingers_cat: She said that Vance totally didn’t intend to be mean and that he’d never demean women, he just made “a quip” when he was talking about the challenges marriages have etc.

    It was a lot better than Vance’s own interviews. Still extremely unpersuasive

  229. 229.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @BR: That has always seemed like the best idea to me, but unfortunately neither side is interested in that.

  230. 230.

    eclare

    @zhena gogolia:

    I never learned that.  We learned a song with the line “red and orange and pink and green, purple and orange and blue, you can sing a rainbow”

  231. 231.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    Man, I haven’t thought of Firesign Theater in a long time.

    Really? I see a Firesign reference here at least every week or two, usually Nick Danger.  (We’ve got to start branching out more. Antelope Freeway, one mile!)

  238. 238.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @WaterGirl:

    “Would you like to be our black sheep fake-nominee so everyone can heave a sigh of relief when we don’t pick you?”

    And then there’s Baud! And then there’s Baud! That uncompromisin’, enterprisin’, anything but tranquilizin’,
    Right on Baud!

  240. 240.

    sdhays

    @Kay: He couldn’t stay awake while people got up on stage and praised him to cheers from the crowd during the RNC.

  243. 243.

    RaflW

    @Kay: “He’s lazy”
    Yes. And old. And tires easily
     

    @sdhays: He fell asleep while his son spoke at the RNC. I mean, ok, those boys don’t have the gift or oration, but really, daddy? That selfish and old and sleepy? Okaaay.

  244. 244.

    lowtechcyclist

    @NotMax: ​

    In a complete surprise move, Harris chooses Bettyjo Bialoski.

    Oh, you mean Nancy!
    But I doubt that Pelosi would accept the nomination. ;-)
    @NotMax: ​
     

    Antelope Freeway, one-half mile.

  259. 259.

    Betty

    @Kay: I said on Twitter that I am so happy we got to know Tim even if he isn’t selected. I received a great many likes and several re-posts. The guy is just lovable.

  260. 260.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @KatKapCC: Thanks for these.  I’ll read them in the next few days.  What bugs me about so much of the discourse about the Gaza protests is the gaslighting of Jewish-Americans who have understandable concerns about the rise of Anti-Semitism and the amount of dog-whistles present at the protests.  There’s this common assumption in our society that Jewish People are always quick to weaponize the Anti-Semitism card or exaggerate their experiences.  I used to believe this too, though it was never something I really thought about consciously.  Just an assumption.  Much the way people accuse Black People of playing the Race Card.  And the more I thought about it the more I realized it’s just as obviously bullshit.

    I’ve known my Jewish friends for decades and I’ve never heard them make accusations of Anti-Semitism quickly or lightly.  In most cases I’ve never heard them make them, at all.  This isn’t their go-to move, it’s one they try to avoid as much as possible. Like Black People and Racism, Women and Misogyny etc., I have no doubt that my Jewish friends have hundreds of examples of Anti-Semitism they just never bothered to bring up because the cost of doing so is so high.  But what they saw at protests was enough for them to finally say “yeah, this is some creepy border-line Anti-Semitic shit similar to what we’ve seen throughout history (including in the US), and like I’ve seen personally” and started sharing experiences of their own and educating the rest of us on how so much Anti-Semitism flies under the radar.

    And the response on the Left has been that they must be: 1.) lying/acting in bad faith or 2.) too stupid to distinguish between real Anti-Semitism and opportunistic bullshit from outside agitators.

    If Women said that Men’s Rights protests were filled with Misogyny and scaring the fuck out of them, nobody (on our side) would argue with them.

    If Black People said that Alt-Right protests are really White Nationalism and scaring the fuck out of them, nobody would argue with them.

    If Transgender/NB people said that TERF protests were filled with Transphobia and scaring the fuck out of them, nobody would argue with them.

    If Muslims said that America-First or right-wing Zionist protests were filled with Islamophobia, nobody would argue with them.

    Yet Jewish People are the one group that it’s not only okay to gaslight, but a substantial number of people on the Left now feel that it’s imperative that we all do so, in order to get our True Progressive badge.  Or that we can’t simultaneously believe that Israel oppresses Palestinians, Zionism has a big Islamophobia problem, but also the FreePalestine movement (and the Left, in general) has a big Anti-Semitism problem.  They are all pretty obviously true, to my eyes.

  262. 262.

    Nix Besser (fmr Steppy)

    @eclare: That was the closing theme song of the local kids show in Philadelphia. Captain Noah and his Magical Ark. W. Carter Merbreier was a Lutheran minister who did the show from 1967 to 1994. He and his wife Patricia were must see TV for 2 generations of kids in Philly.

  267. 267.

    Nix Besser (fmr Steppy)

    @NotMax: Channel 6 was the home of the early TV lifers. Captain Noah, Larry Ferrari, Chief Halftown, Diego Castellanos, the list goes on and on.

  272. 272.

    Martin

    @KatKapCC: That doesn’t address any of the things I said. You are deflecting an answer on the settlement question by blaming someone else for why the settlements are necessary, even if you oppose them.

    There is no good solution here. The well has been poisoned so badly it’s nothing but poison. We either decide that Israel keeps their borders and Palestine theirs in a 2 state solution and we put an international peacekeeping force in place to enforce that forever, because neither party can abide by the other, or what?

    Why is “many in the “from the river to the sea” crowd would not be happy.” something that matters in this discussion? I mean, that’s Likud’s fucking slogan, so leveling that as an insinuation that many Palestines are unreasonable actors here says the exact same thing as the current party in power in Israel. But that is only ever used as an attack on Palestinians – and often all Palestinians, and never as an attack on Jews of a certain political party, and certainly never all Jews.

    So of course these people are not going to be happy. The only way to avoid that is to exterminate one or the other people so they are no longer around to feel unhappiness. It seems quite apparent that a solution is going to involve pretty much everyone being unhappy, at least for a while. So just remove that entirely from the discussion as it’s a given.

    But back to my original point – you say you don’t like Bibi or the settlements, but it’s been 50 years of settlements, through a wide range of political leaders, including the assassination of one of those leaders pursuing a peace plan who was killed by a member of the other ‘from the river to the sea’ crowd. At what point does this stop being the narrow policy of one guy, or one party, and become the broad policy of a democratic nation that seems incapable of seeking a different path? Even though polling shows that the public doesn’t support settlements, since 1972 the number of settlers has never once dropped, except for the removal of a small number of settlers in Gaza. Again, this is a democratic nation yet no progress seems to happen. It’s been 52 years. At what point can we declare this is what the citizens of Israel actually want?

    The US has many flaws but over any modern 50 year period you can see progress made on those flaws, be them racism, sexism, etc. One of the reasons why Trump is so horrifying is that he’s one of the very few leaders who openly expresses opposition to making further progress. If you want to make an assertion that American support the indefinite detention of prisoners at Gitmo, I think that’s a fair charge to level. It’s been 20 years, and no progress has been made, not even aspirations since Obama tried to shut it down and Democrats killed the effort – we approve of throwing certain kinds of people in a hole and forgetting about them. We have to own that. When is the Israeli government going to make that turn on settlements? It’s been very nearly my entire life, and I’m retired. And I’m not putting that on you, you’ve made your position clear, but when we say here that the ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice’, that sort of an expression of how democracy perhaps unevenly but eventually produces better outcomes. How are we supposed to apply that to Israeli settlements? Is that policy bending toward justice in the eyes of Israeli voters? Because I don’t think that’s an unreasonable thing to ask and question. And while I agree that the Jewish people deserve safety and self-determination and I don’t oppose Israel being the vehicle for that to happen, the former should be unconditional but the implementation cannot be unconditional, just like it cannot be unconditional for any other nation who would threaten their neighbors with force. We unconditionally support Muslims deserving safety and self-determination, but the implementation in Iran is not supported. When the nation spends the last ⅔ of their history in a process of steady colonization of their neighbors, with no actual progress to reverse that, and no expressed aspiration to reverse that either, blaming Bibi for that doesn’t really cut it. And so, it gets harder for people to express support for Israel without having to qualify what aspects of Israel is being supported – same as for Russia or Canada. Canada doesn’t really need any qualification because the implementation is good and Russia needs a lot because the implementation is bad, and Israel is sliding the wrong direction on that scale. That’s not antisemitism, it’s the policy decisions of Israel being harder to defend, just like it’s the policy decisions of Russia being harder to defend – and Russia’s not even a democracy where there can be an expectation that the public have the ability to shape the course of that policy. And so people expressing support for Israel need to do more work to qualify that support than they used to, because some of Israels behavior keeps sliding toward being indefensible.

    That’s my point.

  274. 274.

    Ruckus

    @Ken:

    I will be stunned and amazed if it is Manchin.

    He just doesn’t have the whatever to do the job if necessary and he doesn’t have the whatever to even play the role as VP.

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