Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

I really should read my own blog.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

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

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

When we show up, we win.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

All hail the time of the bunny!

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

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

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Wednesday Night Open Thread- DNC Day 3

Reader Interactions

300Comments

  1. 1.

    Steve in the ATL

    Loved the old joke that the poor secret service was the only police department in the country that would get in trouble if a black man got killed!

  2. 2.

    Baud

    Bill Clinton is on tonight and last time I saw him speak, he was a little frail. Hope he has some juice tonight.

  4. 4.

    Betty Cracker

    Emhoff and both Obamas were stellar last night. Each speech was a gem with a task, and all three delivered flawlessly. Looking forward to Tim Walz’s speech tonight.

  6. 6.

    Scout211

    Whut?

    USA Today − Chicago Police and the FBI are investigating if saboteurs placed bugs in a breakfast buffet prepared for delegates at the Democratic National Conventionon Wednesday.

    “Multiple unknown female offenders are alleged to have entered a building…and began placing unknown objects onto tables containing food,” the convention’s information center said in a statement. “The offenders are believed to have then left the area. One victim was treated and released on-scene. Along with CPD, FBI-Chicago is assisting in the investigation.”

    One witness told USA TODAY the creatures appeared to be crickets while other reports suggested maggots.

    The incident took place at Fairmont Hotel, where delegates from Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Missouri and South Dakota are staying.

  10. 10.

    Pink Tie

    I have choir rehearsal tonight and am watching CNN/MSNBC just to see who’s up tonight in addition to Walz & Bill… gah!!! Just the musical performances alone are going to be incredible! I love singing but man, wish I could skip this evening. Really hope I get to see Secretary Pete.

    Listened to Tim Miller interview Beto on the Bulwark podcast today — I know, I know — and it was honestly inspiring, even if Tim was doing his “bro” routine (and interviewed one of the Obama Bros in the second half of the podcast). Beto is still out here doing the work in Texas! And definitely still calling attention to the abhorrently cruel policies of Abbott and Paxton. I’m glad he is still around.

  18. 18.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: Hey speaking of frail have the people who had diagnosed Biden remotely of everything from dementia to  Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s eaten crow after his speech on Monday or are they still crowing about how right they were.

  24. 24.

    KatKapCC

    Hersh’s parents <3 Good reminder for some of the protestors that there are Americans among the hostages. Yet they still won’t care…

  27. 27.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Tears as the parents of one of the Hamas hostages address the DNC.

    ETA: Not just me. Half the people in the hall are mopping their eyes. Their son’s name is Hirsch. He was celebrating his 23rd birthday. His right arm was blown off in the attack. Fuck, this is hard to hear. What it must be like to actually live it, I can’t even begin to imagine.

  28. 28.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    I thought Michelle Obama’s speech was really something special. Just so personal and… normal. Her insistence on keeping a distance from politics always makes what she does say interesting.

  29. 29.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Kay:

    What did you think of Biden’s speech? He still had that fire in him and I think he did a good job highlighting the administration’s achievements

  31. 31.

    BR

    @KatKapCC:
    Sadly I think it will enrage the left (edit: a specific subset of the left) even more that they appeared on stage while no Palestinian-American families have (to my knowledge).​

  37. 37.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Good to have a break after that couple.  They would be hard to follow with rah-rah stuff.

  38. 38.

    satby

    Haven’t had a chance to post anywhere, so putting a Buddy update here. He came home yesterday and is peeved that he has to stay in isolation until his stitches come out on the 30th; but he’s eating and drinking again and all the plumbing is working 😉 The bills totaled $2500, which I was able to pay only because of so much help from many of you. Thanks again for your kindness to my big goofball.

  39. 39.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Scout211:

    One witness told USA TODAY the creatures appeared to be crickets while other reports suggested maggots MAGAts.

    Fixed for precision.

  44. 44.

    Chief Oshkosh

    Hersch’s parents — powerful, composed (DNC probably should’ve chosen different ambient music after they left the stage).

    This and the too-many women telling their horrors caused by the overturning of Roe…

    Welp, the DNC sure bringing in the human element. Good for them.

  47. 47.

    Harrison Wesley

    @eclare: I’ve got pump head as a result of surgery in 2015. AFAIK it’s permanent. As the saying goes, it’s hard out there for a pump.

  50. 50.

    Kay

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    The only speeches I listened to were Michelle Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s and those I listened to the day after each. I watched the roll call (which I always liked) with my son in law, which was fun. He had a lot of questions. He just started voting in 2020, so far for Democrats but all of this is new to him. I’m swamped this week – I’ve been up at 6 and in bed by 9 all week. I won’t watch tonight either. 

  51. 51.

    Shalimar

    @schrodingers_cat: On LGM, they (especially Loomis) crow about how right they were that he should get out of the race because he had no energy and he was definitely going to lose, and totally forget everything they said about his incompetence and inability to do the job any longer.

  54. 54.

    Geminid

    @Betty Cracker: I was interested to hear my Republican landscape client say she was impressed by Doug Emhoff’s speech. She said she doesn’t like Harris or Walz, but she liked Emhoff.

  59. 59.

    eclare

    @Harrison Wesley:

    I’m so sorry, but that’s what I’ve read, the process does damage.

    But so glad you were able to get surgery!

    And boo! on that pun!  Leave those to NotMax.

  62. 62.

    eclare

    “Voting is my Black job.”  I am not Black but I was taught from a young age that voting in every election was my job.

  63. 63.

    Scout211

    And it has begun.

    First the threat.

    Beyoncé has threatened to send a cease-and-desist to the Trump campaign after the former president posted a clip of her “Freedom” — Kamala Harris’ unofficial campaign song — in a video posted on social media, Rolling Stone has learned.

    A source close to Beyoncé tells Rolling Stone that the Trump campaign did not receive permission to use the Lemonade track in the 13-second video of Trump getting off a plane in Michigan that Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung posted Tuesday.

  65. 65.

    Harrison Wesley

    @eclare: Yo, I got pump head! Cut me some slack!   ETA: I didn’t know what was wrong until my drinking buddy who was an ER nurse at UPenn Hospital explained it to me.

  72. 72.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @eclare:

    My quad bypass was in 2001; the surgery took eight hours, during most of which time my blood was circulating externally. I had a wee bit of impairment right after the procedure — fumbling for a name or the precise word I wanted — but I thought it was an after effect of the anæsthesia. Never heard of “pump head” until this discussion.

    ETA: Used to have great quick recall of facts and trivia. These days, I can generally retrieve the info I want, but it takes longer. I’ve been attributing that to normal aging processes, but maybe it’s all part of the same business.

  73. 73.

    Harrison Wesley

    @Ohio Mom: I’m actually pretty lucky – I’m a little more scatterbrained than before and my balance sucks, but nothing that can’t be worked around.

  76. 76.

    ssdd

    Ok this is genius (from WaPo):

    Before Gov. Tim Walz delivers his remarks Wednesday night, a group of elementary students from the Moreland Arts & Health Sciences Magnet School in St. Paul, Minn., will deliver the Pledge of Allegiance, according to a Harris-Walz campaign official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss planning.

    The students are among those who benefited from the free breakfast and lunch program that Walz signed into law in the state.

  79. 79.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud: 😂 So who isn’t?

    I really am allergic to political speeches. I wish I could get into all this with you guys. I loved the roll call, though.

  83. 83.

    Ivan X

    @schrodingers_cat: Biden was great Monday night. I think he was capable of continuing to do the job of President, (though I’m not sure for four years). I think he deserves all of our respect and gratitude.

    After the debate, I don’t think that he was capable of persuading enough people to vote for him, even without the media’s thumb on the scales in failing to cover Trump equivalently. He’s not and never was a great campaigner. And, ageism is real, and he unfortunately reinforced exactly what people were hoping not to see at the debate. Myself included.

    But we’ll never know for certain.

  87. 87.

    Baud

    @zhena gogolia:

    Biden speech was a little long but he was rightfully listing all of his accomplishments.  He had some really good jokes and the end is super touching.

  88. 88.

    Randal Sexton

    Its a remarkably entertaining convention. Prolly cuz they are playing a lot of good music from my youth. And well, their def seems to be a new fighty spirit among the D’s – about time !!!  ‘Pry this ring from my cold dead gay fingers’!! That is the shit.  And did Obama make a dick size joke about the Former Orange Loon or not ?

  90. 90.

    zhena gogolia

    @schrodingers_cat: I can’t remember, I just remember I was mad at him!

    Blumenthal said, “If I have anything to say to the President, I’ll say it to him, not the media.” Good answer!

  91. 91.

    SpaceUnit

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I used to know that one.  Something about a mythological Irish hero (who’s name I’ve forgotten) battling a giant.  Why do you ask

    ETA:  Google Cu Chulainn.

  93. 93.

    eclare

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    It might be something to look into, if for no other reason than to give you comfort that it’s not in your head.  Or that it’s not just aging.  Eight hours is a long time.

  95. 95.

    Jay C

    @schrodingers_cat:

    something about an Irish giant placing all the stones in to build a path across to Scotland: something frightened him off, and he beat feet back to Ireland, pulling up all the stones, except for the ones that are left…

  96. 96.

    KatKapCC

    Traveling back in time to tell my childhood self that one day, Reagan will be approvingly quoted to cheers and applause at the Democratic National Convention.

  102. 102.

    KatKapCC

    @zhena gogolia: She’s on MSNBC a lot and she does seem like someone who has seen the light. Probably not gonna become a Dem but she’s got enough of a brain to realize that being one temporarily is what needs to happen.

  115. 115.

    KatKapCC

    See, I do think these folks matter. I’d imagine there are Republican voters who hate Trump but feel like they have to vote for the R no matter what. Hearing Republican officials tell them “No, you don’t have to, it’s okay to break this time” might get them over that hump in their minds.

  120. 120.

    KatKapCC

    Ugh. Bad memories. I was 100 miles away from home taking care of my aunt after an operation and partner and I were texting all day like WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING. It was terrifying even from 3,000 miles away.

  123. 123.

    Princess

    It is just awful to see this January 6th footage.

    And Mitch McConnell let this man off.

  124. 124.

    Leto

    @KatKapCC: so I recently finished Tyranny of the Minority, which focuses on how minority rule happens, how authoritarian rule comes about, and how to safe guard against it. It was a really good read. One of the things they discuss is how, what we’re partially seeing here. Is that different coalitions come together to stop fascism/authoritarian rule. We saw it in France, and there’s more examples going further back.

    In the long term, what we need is a healthy, functioning opposition party. But for the immediate purposes, having parties recognize the threat, and banding together to stop it, is a good thing. They recently did it in France, and there’s more examples going further back.

  127. 127.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Finn MacCool is the (Anglicised) name of the giant in question — one of Ireland’s great mythical warrior-heroes, with an entire myth-cycle built around his exploits.
    There’s a novel by Morgan Llywelyn called Finn MacCool, which I think is still in print. I read it years ago and don’t recall details (PUMPHEAD!!), but I remember it as a good read. Depending on your level of interest, you may want to acquire a copy and read it. Good luck!

  131. 131.

    3Sice

    It is about constructing a narrative and permission structure for disaffected Republicans and Republican leaners.

    I didn’t leave the party, the party left me…

  133. 133.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Baud: Loomis is still bragging and also attacking his commenters for not following his every whim. Lemieux is also still out there yelling at his commenters about how Biden definitely has foot Parkinsons or whatever and has threatened to ban people who bring it up

    But that’s LGM, where they’re always a little like that.

  139. 139.

    M31

    @SiubhanDuinne: the amazing novel by Flann O’Brien, “At Swim Two-Birds” has a lot of passages about Finn MacCool, mostly in a comically exaggerated manner (“his backside was wider than the many trees of the forest” –stuff like that) but still reverent

  141. 141.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Princess:

    It is just awful to see this January 6th footage.

    And Mitch McConnell let this man off.

    EXACTLY what I was thinking, too.

  148. 148.

    EmanG

    Has anyone else noticed a remarkable lack of bloviating in the majority of the speakers? They get on, they say their piece, they bring it home and then NEXT! I freaking love it. Few things as beautiful as a well run variety show IMHO. There is a true skill to it.

  152. 152.

    Baud

    NJ is going to win the award for biggest Senator upgrade (except for any Republican incumbents we defeat).

  154. 154.

    KatKapCC

    @Baud: He seems like a really wonderful man. He’s only 42, I could see a potential presidential run in his future.

  155. 155.

    David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch

    @M31: That schedule is Central Daylight Time, not Eastern time.   So they’re on schedule.

  157. 157.

    Shalimar

    @Baud: I’m not sure you’re missing anything by not wasting time lurking at LGM.  But they do all have their areas where they are good, even Loomis.  And it is funny on occasion to see them ratioed in their own comments section and still ignore all the criticism.

  167. 167.

    Harrison Wesley

    @Ohio Mom: Absolutely! Not a whole lot of options – get chopped or get dead. Spending my remaining years pumpin’ style at least gives me a chance to do something worthwhile. And there’s a lot to do.

  177. 177.

    Mousebumples

    @Baud: Gallego replacing Sinema might be in the conversation.

    I don’t love Menendez, but at least he wasn’t a drama llama who needed to get their name in the papers.

  183. 183.

    Bupalos

    @Shalimar: For the most part, they didn’t actually say that. They focused on his inability to be reelected, which Bidenstans (a term I use with affection because good for you guys for being blinded by your enthusiasm) generally took in the worst possible way.

    There isn’t really any argument, we’re worlds better off politically where we are now versus where we were before the debate train wreck. Biden made the right call, and we’re lucky his sporadic communication incapacity showed up in such a high profile way and got us off that train just in time.

  189. 189.

    Lyrebird

    @BR: There either was or will be a panel at the convention with a Palestinian doctor, an activist, & a couple other folks.  If it’s not tonight, I guess it’s going to be tomorrow.

    Trying to find where I got the announcement, there was a press release, first time for Uncommitted org(s) to be at the convention table.

  194. 194.

    Geminid

    @KatKapCC: Democrats will add some talented people to the Senate next year. Besides Andy Kim, Ruben Gallego, Angela Alsobrooks, Lisa Blunt Rochester and Elissa Slotkin are very capable politicians. At age 39, Gallego is even younger than Kim.

    There will be quite an age differential between the outgoing and incoming Senators. Alsobrooks (52) will replace Ben Cardin who is 80, Rochester (62) will replace Tom Carper (77), while Slotkin (48) will replace Debbie Stabenow who is 72. That’s an aggregate 67 years over just those three seats.

  197. 197.

    CaseyL

    The comments about Cu Chulainn/Finn MacCool made me think of one of my favorite scifi series: The Pliocene Exile novels: The Many-Colored Land;The Golden Torc; The Non-Born King; and Adversary by Julian May.

    The premise – very briefly – is: There is a one-way time gate that takes people back 6 million years, to the Pliocene Era, when there were australopithecines but no humans as yet. Nobody can come back, because the time-gate only works one way.

    The time gate attracts all kinds of people: adventurers, outcasts, people who can’t tolerate modern society. Governments also make use of it to get rid of social misfits and recidivist criminals.

    There’s only one problem: Pliocene Earth is inhabited by two invading alien races exiled from their home planet: the Tanu and the Firvulog. And, yes, as you may guess from their names, these alien races are the source of the Celtic Gods of myth and legend. They see the modern humans who come through the time gate as convenient slaves.

    There is much, much more to it than this very brief background. Fans of the Celtic pantheon will have a great time matching the characters to those gods, and the humans/demi-humans to heroes of legend.

    The books were written in the 1990s, and I love them.​

  201. 201.

    Paul W.

    I’ve never attended a 4 day music festival before like your Burning Man’s and such but this is my version of that:love, joy, so many amazing voices.
    Now add to that the activism and call to action and this is probably the best party in my life I wish I’d been at.

  202. 202.

    Leto

    Mindy Kaling’s Instagram cooking segment with Harris was sooo good. Wish we had gotten more.

  204. 204.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Scout211: I hope that she has attorneys even more aggressive and skilled than the Disney IP department. And I need to go looking for the specialist trademark and copyright blogs, as IP Watchdog is falling down on the job of reporting this.

  206. 206.

    eclare

    Hakeem!

    Please quote Biggie.

    BTW I love alliteration and rhyming.  So yes, I fell in love.

  207. 207.

    Bupalos

    @Geoduck: I didn’t see any threat to ban anyone. The fact that the folks still fucking that chicken bring “foot Parkinson’s” up in literally every thread weeks later prompted him to write a post about what he actually said (which was not that Biden had Parkinson’s, foot or otherwise) and to openly admit that the reason he pursued the issue of Biden’s health was because he thought he hurt our chances and wanted him to drop out.

    It was too honest for people to even notice what it was. And they just went back to their dumb “foot Parkinsons” thing.

  211. 211.

    sdhays

    @Baud: Same. Parkinson’s birtherism did it for me. If that’s the kind of shit you want dump multiple posts on every day on one of the best and transparent Presidents in my lifetime, I really don’t give a shit what you think.

    I don’t mind disagreeing with them, but if you can’t make your argument without running around throwing wild accusations of a medical coverup, then you’re approaching Greenwald-level thinking. And one of him is more than the world needs.

  212. 212.

    Scout211

    @WaterGirl:

    9:00 PM

    Performance

    Amanda Gorman

    National Youth Poet Laureate

    Remarks

    The Honorable Wes Moore

    Governor of Maryland

    Remarks

    The Honorable Pete Buttigieg

  213. 213.

    David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch

    I didn’t know Hakeem is from Brooklyn.  His accent is completely different than Bernie’s and Schumer’s

  214. 214.

    UncleEbeneezer

    I haven’t seen Warnock’s speech yet but I’ve seen most of the big ones and so far my faves have been Michelle, Hillary, Dougie and Jasmine Crockett.  Looking forward to Shapiro, Buttigieg, Bill and Walz.  And of course, Kamala.  But they’ve pretty much all been great, in their own ways, so far.

  219. 219.

    eclare

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    Please watch Warnock.  It is a masterpiece of the oratory arts.  The man is a preacher.  Watch him bring the speech home.  Best one of this convention.

  221. 221.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud: He introduced Kenan. I mean Booker, I was joking about Cauvin, just because his imitation of Booker is so good.

  225. 225.

    Bupalos

    @japa21: Ha I love that “let it go” is only allowed to work one way. I skip 4 or 5 of these subrosa “Biden been done dirty” posts for every one I address, and yet somehow “let it go” only gets deployed if you object to the “Biden was done dirty, I will never forget or forgive” posts.

  229. 229.

    Geoduck

    @Bupalos: It was a reply-comment I saw and not a post, but Campos definitely said that he was thinking about banning people who refused to shut up about the Parkinson’s. I don’t know if he went through with it.

  231. 231.

    SiubhanDuinne

    HAKEEM!!!

    JFC, did y’all just hear that?! Preacher man. An amazing litany, flawlessly delivered. I need smelling salts.

  232. 232.

    Jackie

    @Chief Oshkosh: I hope a lot of republicans watching the convention, who have selective memories or amnesia, get a memory refresher on what REALLY happened on J6.

    Maybe some will choose to vote for America.

  235. 235.

    Leto

    I feel like an igmo for not knowing that call and response, going through the days of the week. That was really good.

  236. 236.

    Jack Canuck

    @CaseyL: Love those books, I’ve reread them many times over the years. I’ve now read through Pliocene Exile series with my 14 year-old son and we’ve moved on to the Galactic Milieu trilogy. I’m always surprised they aren’t better known; there’s so much good, complex world-building in there, including the mythological references. There are others besides the Celtic ones as well, if you go looking for them (Tony Wayland = Weyland the Smith from Germanic myth, for instance).

  238. 238.

    Scout211

    Hakeems’s delivery, the cadence, was so great.

    And he’s just so cute.  That smile.

  244. 244.

    KatKapCC

    @twbrandt: Really? I don’t think so. He sounds old, voice is raspy, but he doesn’t really look much older than he did a decade ago.

  246. 246.

    dmsilev

    I’ll take “20 minutes” in the betting pool for how long Bill Clinton runs over his planned time…

  247. 247.

    CaseyL

    Bill! I still love the guy.

    @Jack Canuck: ​ I didn’t know that about Tony Wayland! Now I have to re-read everything. Again. For maybe the dozenth time. (I have also read the Milieu trilogy.  Liked it very much, but it didn’t burst my brain like the Pliocene series did.)

  248. 248.

    Quinerly

    Bill looks better than I thought he would.

    78 years old. Trump’s age.

    Loving his speech so far.

  249. 249.

    Bupalos

    @Geoduck: Well I didn’t see it and it wasn’t very high profile if it happened. He did make a long particular post without any threats that pretty accurately recounted what his position had been (as opposed to the ridiculous caricatures of it) while noting that the reason he was addressing it was because literally every thread was littered with “foot Parkinson’s” stuff that people seem to think is just incredibly clever. And as I said, admitted that the reason he pursued it was not the Ethics in Partisan Presidential Punditry schtick his detractors are taking, but a belief that these issues wouldn’t leave Biden and a hope he would withdraw. Because Biden was killing us.

    I thought that was both pretty honest and way more “right” than all the folks feigning concern on the medical ethics slant. Both sides were just arguing in a motivated way for the outcome they wanted. The outcome Campos wanted was the better one.

  253. 253.

    Bupalos

    @Quinerly: 78 years old. Trump’s age.

    The best job he could do here would be to pretend to get confused, mumble off into some incoherence about electric sharks, and wander off the stage grabbing women as he went.

    That literally might win the election for us.

  254. 254.

    dm

    @Bupalos: I’m glad I avoided the comment threads here between the debate and Biden’s selfless move. I was too depressed and didn’t think there was any point arguing about it.

    The weeks since bring frequent reminders that I made the right decision.

  257. 257.

    tam1MI

    @satby:Haven’t had a chance to post anywhere, so putting a Buddy update here. He came home yesterday and is peeved that he has to stay in isolation until his stitches come out on the 30th; but he’s eating and drinking again and all the plumbing is working 😉

    This is so awesome to hear!  May Buddy’s recovery be swift and complete!  :)

  259. 259.

    Bupalos

    @dm: Pretty good call and I could tell a bunch of folks here I esteem did the same. I don’t have that kind of self control.

  262. 262.

    JoyceH

    @Scout211: Jeffries surprised me. Every previous time when I heard him speak he was being Mister Minority Leader and came across as very dignified and magisterial. I thought he’d be dull, but man, in politics mode he’s a whole different thing!

    And LOL at Trump as the boyfriend you broke up with who won’t go away.

  264. 264.

    Ken

    @Suzanne: Bill sounds really rough.

    If anyone has Fox-watching relatives who point that out, may I suggest a simple “Well, he is seventy-eight.” If said relative doesn’t seem to be getting it, add “like Trump”.

    EDIT: I see others were thinking along the same lines.

  265. 265.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @twbrandt:

    He looks a lot better than whenever the last time was that I heard him make a speech. Probably the 2020 DNC?

    He’s 78 as of a couple of days ago. He was the first person I ever voted for* who was my junior.

    *for POTUS

  271. 271.

    dc

    I won’t read any more Campos posts at LGM, just Cheryl’s posts, Farley on war stuff, Lemieux on constitution and law stuff, Loomis on labor (and dead people). But Campos and his Parkinson’s (that my mom died of) diagnosis, no. He’s out forever. I won’t read anyone LGM but Cheryl on anything Biden related, the others on Biden, sorry, but fuck them. We small donors and Biden and Harris made this transition work and work the way it did.​ Not the Parkinson’s, dementia, and Alzheimer’s crew.
    ​
    ​

  272. 272.

    Mousebumples

    @Jackie: lol, lots of print now. He was mostly the nameless, D-voting Senator from NJ that I couldn’t remember the name of, until recently. (I even forget about the first round of legal troubles)

  273. 273.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    It can be an odd realisation. But I’m used to it now. B Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Obama, H Clinton, Biden, and Harris — I’m older than all of them (ETA: Biden by three months and change).

  274. 274.

    Hildebrand

    This may be heresy – but I’ve never found Bill Clinton to be all that hot at the big speeches.

    Town halls?  Awesome.  Retail politicking?  Very good. Big speeches? Not his strength.

  279. 279.

    TaMara

    @Quinerly: Obama is 12 hours older than me, so I guess Ms. Harris will be my first one.  Though loving that they keep calling her young. Makes me rethink my entire outlook.

  285. 285.

    Leto

    @TaMara: when I came out of my week long coma, my voice was really raspy for a while. I had to do therapy in the hospital to help me recovery my voice, as well as to be able to do simple things like eat food and drink water. This was at age 42. Not sure how I’d fare at near 78.

    Still love listening to him talk.

  286. 286.

    Geminid

    @eclare: I remember Jeffries quoting Biggie Smalls back in November of 2018. He had just been elected to replace Joe Crowley as Caucus Chairman; Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez had beaten Crowley in a June primary so the post needed filling.

    When Jeffries defeated progressive icon Barbara Lee for Caucus Leader, 121-111 in a secret ballot, two “sources close to Ocasio-Cortez” claimed the Jeffries camp had used underhanded tactics. They told Politico reporter Laura Barron Lopez that they would see to it that Jeffries was primaried and even had a candidate lined up. The two was almost certainly Ocasio-Cortez ‘s Chief of Staff and press secretary.

    Naturally, Politico asked Jeffries to comment. “Democracy is a beautiful thing,” Jeffries said, adding that he was fine with a primary challenge. Then he quoted Biggie Smalls:

    “Spread Love, it’s the Brooklyn Way.”

    This was seen by many as a veiled threat.

  287. 287.

    David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch

    @Omnes Omnibus: ​
     that happened to him once before during a state of the union address. but it didn’t effect him as he possesses a photographic memory.

  288. 288.

    Quinerly

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    1992 was a huge deal. I actually met Bill when he campaigned in St. Louis. Came to my inner city neighborhood to our historic Soulard Farmers Market. I waited in line and pushed forward to shake his hand.  I gave him a good business grip and a quick release. He pulled back and tickled my palm. I told my mother when I was back in NC after the election. We both laughed and laughed. She made me swear to never tell my dad. I never did. My mom and I were still laughing about it in 2015.

  292. 292.

    prostratedragon

    @SiubhanDuinne:  My god!!! I did not know it was possible to be older than Biden.

    Obama was the first President I voted for who’s younger than I am, by 9 years. Kamala Harris is a dragon of the next cycle.

  293. 293.

    kalakal

    @schrodingers_cat:

    IIRC The Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill

    aka Finn MacCool was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner and built the causeway across to Scotland so they could fight. There’s couple of versions of how the fight went with the causeway being destroyed by the loser as he fled. There’s a very similar set of basaltic columns ( both sets were formed by the same lava flow) across the sea at Fingal’s Cave on the Scottish island of Staffa

  294. 294.

    Shalimar

    @Geminid: I looked up AOC’s chief of staff.  He was taking most of the credit for her victory and her political direction before he resigned halfway through her first year.  I can’t find news on anything he has done since then.  He resigned to head a progressive organization that has accomplished pretty much nothing in 5 years.

  295. 295.

    Geminid

    @JoyceH: If you want to see a fantastic 3-minute speech, check out Hakeem Jeffries’ nomination of Nancy Pelosi for Speaker in early January of 2019. It’s well worth checking out on YouTube.

  296. 296.

    Geminid

    @Shalimar: Saikat Chakrabarti, the chief of staff and press secretary Corbin Trent both parted ways with Rep. Ocasio-Cortez in August, 2019.

    This was after the Democratic House Caucus’s blow-up over emergency border border funding in early July. Chakrabarti and Trent helped kick off that rancorous 9-day feud with some inflammatory Twitter posts, after leadership did not support the Progressive Caucus’s amendments to the funding bill.

  297. 297.

    bluefoot

    @dc:The whole Parkinson’s thing was so irresponsible. As I’ve said here before, it has been my actual job to find ways to reliably diagnose or monitor neurodegenerative diseases using remote technologies like video, wearables, etc. It is not as easy as people think. Plus Parkinson’s doesn’t affect cognition until late in disease course, so the whole Biden’s brain is mush because of PD is ridiculous.

    but I’d rather talk about things with more substance like what we’re all doing to ensure the election goes our way.

  298. 298.

    Geminid

    @Shalimar: Saikat Chakrabarti co-founded Justice Democrats after the 2016 election, along with Corbin Trent, Cenk Uygur and Kyle Kulinski. Uygur got ditched early on when some of his horn-dog posts from the previous decade came to light. Kulinski thought his friend was treated unfairly so then he quit.

    The four had originally founded Brand New Congress, with the goal of supporting “Progressive” candidates in all 435 congressional. districts. This was a daunting task though, so they spun off Justice Democrats in order to cherry pick seats in safely Democratic districts.

    Justice Democrats managed to put 4 of their candidates into Congress for the 2018 cycle. These were Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, Ihlan Omar and Alexandra  Ocasio-Cortez, the so-called “Squad.”

    Omar was a Minnesota state Representative while Tlaib was a former Michigan Representative who had been term-limited. Both won open seats. Pressley had served 6 terms on Boston’s City Council and Ocasio-Cortez  was famously, a bartender. Pressley challenged veteran Congressman Michael Capuano and Ocasio-Cortez challenged Joe Crowley, and both women won. That really got people’s attention.

    Success may have gone to Chakrabarti’s head. He became Ocasio-Cortez’s Chief of Staff, and came to Congress talking like he and Justice Democrats would be the New Broom. Instead, it was Chakrabarti who got swept out the door 8 months later.

    Lately, Justice Democrats has had their own probems and now they tend to run their candidates under the Brand New Congress label.

    Chakrabarti seems to have stepped away from politics for now. He’s a smart guy who had a successful career in the internet payments sector before he joined the 2016 Sanders campaign. Chakrabarti strikes me as basically a good person, but he seemed to have too much of that Tech-Bro cockiness that can drive other people crazy. Hopefully he’s learned some from his mistakes.

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