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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Palate Cleanser, Anyone?

Palate Cleanser, Anyone?

by WaterGirl|  August 29, 202410:24 pm| 119 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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I thought we might need a palate cleanser after that obnoxious interview – it’s not good to go to bed mad.  Is it over yet?

Anyway, this seems like a good time to share a few more ditties and poems from the Aug 7 post.

SiubhanDuinne

To the tune of THE BLUE DANUBE WALZ

The melody calls
(Tim Walz, Tim Walz)
Resounds in the halls
(Tim Walz, Tim Walz)
The Orange One palls
(Tim Walz, Tim Walz)
His running mate galls
(Tim Walz, Tim Walz).

So Youse, Yinz, and Y’alls
(Tim Walz, Tim Walz)
Rejoice in the halls
(Tim Walz, Tim Walz)
Bring giggles and LOLs
Bring your balls
As we celebrate Tim Walz!

.

Math Guy

There once was a con man named trump,
Who the people decided to dump,
And replace with a man named Biden.
Soon Smith will come riden,
And trump will be hiden,
‘Cause there ain’t no mercy for that chump.

.

What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

There once was a mensch named Joe Biden
Who sent Donald Trump’s prospects slidin’
He swallowed his pride and then stepped aside
Now Harris and Walz high are ridin’
That’s all I got. More a limerick than an ode.

.

FastEdD

There once was a man with a couch
All viral media would vouch
He loved without measure
The cushions he’d pleasure
And even preferred to his spouse

.

K-Mo

All across this favoured land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing Taylor Swift, and people’s hearts are light;
Women and men are laughing, while  children shout again,
Mighty Casey moved the runner over; and Harris knocked him in.

Open thread!

Also, in case it gets pushed off the front page, here’s the link to the quilt raffle post from earlier today.
Raffle winners will be announced on Sunday, Sept 8.  Tickets available until then.

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Previous Post: « Thursday Night Open Thread
Next Post: Late Night Open Thread: Early Responses to That CNN Interview »

Reader Interactions

119Comments

  1. 1.

    pacem appellant

    August 29, 2024 at 10:29 pm

    Didn’t watch (don’t have a teevee). But I hear she might let a Republican into her cabinet. Seems like a bad idea. I hope it was in jest.

  2. 2.

    SW

    August 29, 2024 at 10:30 pm

    And these clueless motherfuckers can’t understand why the Harris campaign isn’t going to play this stupid game?

  3. 3.

    WaterGirl

    August 29, 2024 at 10:32 pm

    @pacem appellant: If the question was “would you consider adding…” then I’m fine with her answer.

    If the question was “will you add..” then I think it was probably a bad call.

  4. 4.

    RaflW

    August 29, 2024 at 10:34 pm

    @pacem appellant: I was unhappy when I heard about it. But it sounds like it was a response to one of the std. issue sophomoric questions from that member of the bipartisan-dreaming press (funny how they don’t have the vaguest expectation that Trump would appoint a Dem. Actually, not funny at all).

  5. 5.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 29, 2024 at 10:36 pm

    WELL DONE, BRAVA! BRAVO!

    K-Mo you nailed it! Fantastic.

    @pacem appellant:

    Harris said she’d consider it.

  6. 6.

    hueyplong

    August 29, 2024 at 10:37 pm

    FWIW, am seeing a lot of anti-Kamala ads in NC, which is a compliment to Harris’ chances here.

  7. 7.

    Eolirin

    August 29, 2024 at 10:39 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: All of the reporting is that she’s promised to do so. Our media is bad at language comprehension.

  8. 8.

    Chet Murthy

    August 29, 2024 at 10:41 pm

    @hueyplong: “is a compliment”

    Thank you for using the right word!  [it so grates on my last nerve when people substitute homonyms]

  9. 9.

    WaterGirl

    August 29, 2024 at 10:44 pm

    @hueyplong: You are in NC?  We will be raising funds for an impressive group in NC that is focused on the Asian population.

  10. 10.

    SpaceUnit

    August 29, 2024 at 10:45 pm

    Poetry should be taxed like alcohol or cigarettes.  We shouldn’t encourage it.

     

    And I say this as an English major.

  11. 11.

    Doc Sardonic

    August 29, 2024 at 10:46 pm

    There once was man from Nantucket…….

  12. 12.

    WaterGirl

    August 29, 2024 at 10:47 pm

    @SpaceUnit: What have you got against poetry?

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    August 29, 2024 at 10:48 pm

    @Doc Sardonic: Who sat on a couch and said …

  14. 14.

    Doc Sardonic

    August 29, 2024 at 10:51 pm

    Who the hell let JD near the divan

    Cause you knew damn well he would fuck it

  15. 15.

    jonas

    August 29, 2024 at 10:52 pm

    @RaflW: Can anyone recall a time, ever, when a Republican candidate was asked how they planned to “reach across the aisle” to find “bipartisan consensus” on something, or if they would appoint Democrats to their cabinet?

    Once again, Democrats are expected to behave like grownups while Republicans get a pass for acting like flaming reactionaries and/or WATBs.

  16. 16.

    jonas

    August 29, 2024 at 10:54 pm

    @hueyplong: Oof, if they’re having to dump money into NC, that’s eyebrow-raising. If we start seeing the Trump PACs target FL, then it will officially be interesting.

  17. 17.

    SpaceUnit

    August 29, 2024 at 10:57 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I’m actually being a little tongue-in-cheek.  Sadly, I read poetry.  There’s nothing I like more than going to a used book fair and picking up one of those 1000 plus page college anthologies for just a couple of bucks.

    But reading poetry is like combing the beach with a metal detector.  It’s a weird obsession.  Most of the time all you find are pennies and bottle caps.  Junk.  Only once in a while do you find something worth keeping.

  18. 18.

    WaterGirl

    August 29, 2024 at 10:58 pm

    @jonas: Don’t forget Texas! :-)

  19. 19.

    randy khan

    August 29, 2024 at 11:00 pm

    @pacem appellant:

    Stealing from my own comment at LGM, I’d be okay with Liz Cheney as Secretary of Prosecuting Donald Trump.

  20. 20.

    WaterGirl

    August 29, 2024 at 11:04 pm

    @SpaceUnit: My standards on that aren’t quite as high as yours! :-)

  21. 21.

    BR

    August 29, 2024 at 11:05 pm

    Here’s another palate cleanser — these remixes of DNC speeches (and other Dem speeches):

    https://www.tiktok.com/@casadimusic

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    August 29, 2024 at 11:06 pm

    @BR: I wish TikTok didn’t hate me.  Are they available anywhere else?

  23. 23.

    BR

    August 29, 2024 at 11:09 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Not sure, but I think it’s only on TikTok. I found that TikTok works in a fresh browser window for me on my laptop (Safari). I don’t use it on my phone.

  24. 24.

    NotMax

    August 29, 2024 at 11:09 pm

    Repeated for the night owls.

    All set for Saturday’s meet-up at 5 p.m. at Pershing Square Cafe.

    Reservation under my nom de meet-up, Jack Alworthy. (NOT my IRL name; say it aloud real fast.)

  25. 25.

    Prescott Cactus

    August 29, 2024 at 11:10 pm

    @SpaceUnit:

    As an Irish Sergeant, I agree.

  26. 26.

    Trivia Man

    August 29, 2024 at 11:11 pm

    @SpaceUnit:

    Everyone should read this aloud right now – it still rocks. Put your heart into it and see if it stirs your soul.

     

    The New Colossus

    By Emma Lazarus

    Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
    With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
    Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

    A mighty woman with a torch,
    whose flame
    Is the imprisoned lightning,
    and her name Mother of Exiles.

    From her beacon-hand
    Glows world-wide welcome;
    her mild eyes command
    The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

    “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!”
    cries she With silent lips.

    “Give me your tired, your poor,
    Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
    The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
    Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
    I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

  27. 27.

    RevRick

    August 29, 2024 at 11:12 pm

    @WaterGirl: I heard it as another play for moderate GOP voters… pealing off a chunk of Nikki Haley voters.

  28. 28.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 29, 2024 at 11:14 pm

    @SpaceUnit:

    But reading poetry is like combing the beach with a metal detector.  It’s a weird obsession.  Most of the time all you find are pennies and bottle caps.  Junk.  Only once in a while do you find something worth keeping.

    Wonderfully said.

  29. 29.

    oldgold

    August 29, 2024 at 11:16 pm

    The early reviews as to Kamala’s performance seem to be good.

  30. 30.

    hueyplong

    August 29, 2024 at 11:17 pm

    @RevRick: Probably so. I figured I wasn’t part of the target audience and didn’t watch.

     

    @WaterGirl: Yes, NC resident.

  31. 31.

    Ishiyama

    August 29, 2024 at 11:17 pm

    I watched the inquisition in four parts on the youtubes. The questions were simultaneously atrocious and trite, but the two professional politicians that I saw didn’t bat an eyelash, and spoke to the issues that they wished to address. No Fear!

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    August 29, 2024 at 11:17 pm

    @RevRick: Good thought.

  33. 33.

    Chet Murthy

    August 29, 2024 at 11:18 pm

    @oldgold: that fucker Axelrod needs to be staked out on a fire ant mound and covered in honey

    https://www.rawstory.com/kamala-harris-interview-2669101562/

    Overall, while it wasn’t a “huge night,” Axelrod said it was a “good night.”

    I don’t think she moved the ball that much forward, but she certainly didn’t fall back,” he concluded.

  34. 34.

    WaterGirl

    August 29, 2024 at 11:18 pm

    @Ishiyama: Happy to hear that report.

    I would imagine that Kamala doesn’t suffer fools.

  35. 35.

    Harrison Wesley

    August 29, 2024 at 11:19 pm

    I don’t know how real it is, but I saw something on BBC about a foiled plot for a mass killing at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna.  Very weird.

  36. 36.

    WaterGirl

    August 29, 2024 at 11:21 pm

    @Harrison Wesley: I believe Taylor Swift cancelled several overseas concerts because of that threat.  So it’s definitely real.

  37. 37.

    WaterGirl

    August 29, 2024 at 11:22 pm

    @Chet Murthy: They think they are the stars of the story, instead of bit players.

  38. 38.

    K-Mo

    August 29, 2024 at 11:25 pm

    @RevRick: Yep.

    Overall it was a non-event like most of these things.  She avoided biting into the various opposition-framed questions and stuck to her talking points.  It was fine.  No gaffes, no bombs, nothing memorably regrettable.  OTOH no home runs, no zingers, no memorably artful turns of phrase.  I give her a B-plus.

    Oh, and Dana Bash and the CNN crew were thoroughly cromulent.

  39. 39.

    Jackie

    August 29, 2024 at 11:25 pm

    @Harrison Wesley:

    I don’t know how real it is, but I saw something on BBC about a foiled plot for a mass killing at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna.  Very weird.

    It was VERY REAL. Google it.

  40. 40.

    lamh47

    August 29, 2024 at 11:26 pm

    Didn’t even watcht the interview., but ya know they did well when the goalposts are already moving.

  41. 41.

    Harrison Wesley

    August 29, 2024 at 11:27 pm

    @WaterGirl: It just seems strange to me that ISIS thinks that Swifties are a great target.

  42. 42.

    Elizabelle

    August 29, 2024 at 11:29 pm

    And.  The WaPo headline.  Could help with the normies.

    Harris says she will put a Republican in her Cabinet if elected

  43. 43.

    Chet Murthy

    August 29, 2024 at 11:30 pm

    @Harrison Wesley: Oh, I think it’s actually a completely predictable target for IS.  I mean, a successful, powerful, rich woman with her own life, and a fan base of women who aspire to and often emulate her?   Yeah, that’s going to be a threat to IS’ entire ideology, and they’re gonna wanna strike at that.

  44. 44.

    wjca

    August 29, 2024 at 11:30 pm

    @jonas: If we start seeing the Trump PACs target FL, then it will officially be interesting.

    I assume you aren’t counting the efforts, including TV ad buys, that they are making around Mar-a-lago in order to massage TCFG’s fragile ego.

  45. 45.

    Geminid

    August 29, 2024 at 11:31 pm

     

    @RevRick: Independents in general like to hear this kind of thing. On the hand, it makes some Democrats very anxious, maybe even paranoid.

  46. 46.

    WaterGirl

    August 29, 2024 at 11:32 pm

    @Geminid: I think you spelled annoyed wrong. :-)

    The question was a total waste of time, except that it’s a setup for a later “gotcha” moment where they get to accuse her of lying or going back on her word.

  47. 47.

    FastEdD

    August 29, 2024 at 11:33 pm

    I’ve been writing lots of songs lately. The rhyming dictionary is your friend. Sometimes you need a word to loosely rhyme with several lines you’ve already written. You find one that works and it takes your ideas in a new direction. You didn’t intend for the song to go there, but that’s cool. It just did.

    In my opinion writing songs is harder than writing poetry. Not only do you need to tell a whole story in just a few verses, but you need it to have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and it has to match the mood of the music. Choruses have to be more of a melody variation than verses to stand out. Put it down for a few days after it is done, and if you can’t remember it, it wasn’t catchy enough. If you realize it sounds like some other song you’ve been listening to, throw it out and start all over again.

    You see a phrase or overhear someone say something and you think, that oughta be a song. Write down everything that comes to mind and when it starts to look like lyrics and you are singing it, start throwing words out until it scans and uses as few words as possible. You can tell, I’m fascinated by the process. Some of it is a happy accident, but most of it is a deliberate process.

  48. 48.

    geg6

    August 29, 2024 at 11:34 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Although I too am not a fan of poetry, I just skip over it and don’t mention it.

  49. 49.

    jonas

    August 29, 2024 at 11:34 pm

    @RevRick: I agree. As irritating as the press’s double standard with the whole “bipartisanship” thing is, the flipside is that they just go all gooey when they hear Dems talk about it and, to be fair, a lot of “independent” — aka, embarrassed Republicans — voters also claim to like it, too.

  50. 50.

    brendancalling

    August 29, 2024 at 11:39 pm

    Didnt see the interview. Was it bad?

  51. 51.

    Chet Murthy

    August 29, 2024 at 11:40 pm

    @brendancalling: It was a Fox News hit piece, laundered thru the Dana Bash shit funnel.

  52. 52.

    jonas

    August 29, 2024 at 11:41 pm

    @wjca: Of course, but as you point out, that’s just to make sure that PAB gets his ego stroked and they avoid a nasty ketchup incident in the dining room. The Lincoln Project figured this out years ago and made sure they played ads they wanted him to see on local Fox affiliates in DC, Jersey (Bedminster) or South FL depending on when they knew he’d be watching. The subsequent rage tweets at 2am would let them know they’d hit their target.

    If the PACs are flooding the airwaves with anti-Harris/Walz ads in a given state, though, as opposed to mini-documentaries hailing Glorious Leader, then it’s a sign the campaign is reading some ominous polling data.

  53. 53.

    Jackie

    August 29, 2024 at 11:41 pm

    @Elizabelle: I thought I heard Harris said she was open to having a Republican in a Cabinet position. Not a guarantee by any means.

  54. 54.

    Doc Sardonic

    August 29, 2024 at 11:43 pm

    @wjca: No, but if you start seeing reports of trump ads being heavily run in the Jacksonville, Sarasota. Tallahassee, Orlando and Pensacola markets in Florida, then something may be a foot.

  55. 55.

    FastEdD

    August 29, 2024 at 11:44 pm

    The CNN interview was fine. The questions were just rubbish but they were mostly ignored and the candidates went off in the direction they chose, which is how you are supposed to handle it. At least at the end was a softball question and they were all smiling.

  56. 56.

    hueyplong

    August 29, 2024 at 11:44 pm

    @Doc Sardonic: I’d discount Jacksonville because it’s a market doing some lifting in nearby Georgia.

  57. 57.

    Jackie

    August 29, 2024 at 11:45 pm

    @brendancalling:

    Didnt see the interview. Was it bad?

    Dana was worthless. Harris and Walz did GREAT!

  58. 58.

    Jay

    August 29, 2024 at 11:45 pm

    @Harrison Wesley:

    It was going to be 30,000 people crowded together in an open square waiting to get in.

  59. 59.

    Geminid

    August 29, 2024 at 11:46 pm

    @WaterGirl: I think there is real anxiety too. I see this as a symptom of PTSD.

    And there is also the practical problem of a shortage of suitable Republicans. It’s really slim pickings over there.

  60. 60.

    hueyplong

    August 29, 2024 at 11:47 pm

    @FastEdD: Apparently Trump’s one word “truth” reaction was “BORING!!!”  If that’s the best he could do, we might say the interview did no harm.

  61. 61.

    Old School

    August 29, 2024 at 11:52 pm

    @Jackie:

    Here’s the exchange:

    BASH: On that note, you had a lot of Republican speakers at the convention. Will you appoint a Republican to your Cabinet?
    HARRIS: Yes, I would.
    BASH: Any one in mind—
    HARRIS: Yes, I would. No, no one in particular in mind. I got — we got 68 days to go with this election, so I’m not puttin’ the cart before the horse. But I would. I think — I think it’s really important. I — I have spent my career inviting diversity of opinion. I think it’s important to have people at the table when some of the most important decisions are being made that have different views, different experiences. And I think it would be to the benefit of the American public to have a member of my Cabinet who is a Republican.

  62. 62.

    Doc Sardonic

    August 29, 2024 at 11:53 pm

    @hueyplong: Yes, but the Jacksonville media market extends into the heavily red areas of rural Alachua (Gainesville), Clay, Putnam, St. Johns, Baker, Bradford, Union, Columbia and Nassau Counties, with the exception of Gainesville, which is a blue dot. It does also cover several South Georgia counties as well.

  63. 63.

    unrelatedwaffle

    August 29, 2024 at 11:55 pm

    @WaterGirl: Try ProxiTok (there are multiple hosts, this is the closest one, Canada). You just put the original URL in: https://tok.habedieeh.re. (Here’s a page with all the hosts to back up that this is legit and not a spam site: https://github.com/pablouser1/ProxiTok/wiki/Public-instances).

  64. 64.

    RaflW

    August 29, 2024 at 11:56 pm

    @Chet Murthy: Axelrod just seems irrelevant and a little bitter about it now. That feels like a choice. He could be happy that some of what he helped realize in helping Obama may pave the way for Harris.
    I’d like to just wish him a happy retirement now, but it seems guys like him just can’t give up some corner of the limelight.

  65. 65.

    jonas

    August 29, 2024 at 11:56 pm

    So the reporter for LA Times — certainly not one of the worst major dailies out there right now IMHO, and lightyears better than the FTFNYT — still had this to say about the banter between Harris and Walz about whether he’s getting used to spicy food on the campaign trail — surely an incredibly important position the voters are dying to know more about:

    Later, the interview featured video of a conversation between Bash and the candidates at a restaurant, where both said they’d ordered brisket. Bash followed up with a question for Walz about the level of spice — the governor has said he doesn’t like spicy food. Harris, meanwhile, partakes.

    “I’m gonna let him speak for himself,” Harris said.

    “I’m getting there,” Walz said of spicy fare.

    “It’s OK, you do you,” Harris replied.

    It was a quick and lighthearted moment — but a telling one between two candidates still getting to know each other.

    Oh just fucking shoot me. A little jokey back-and-forth about Walz’s palate becomes an ominous sign that they’re still “getting to know each other?” Would any reporter, in a billion fucking years, *ever* write that sentence about Vance and Trump? On one hand, no. Because it’s clear they can’t stand each other and are two barely-humanoid balls of pure spite. On the other, no, because little, irrelevant, bullshit eighth-grade student council race gossip crap like this is only good for Democrats.

  66. 66.

    Chet Murthy

    August 29, 2024 at 11:59 pm

    @RaflW: Yeah, that might be it.  Even Carville seems to be fading away more gracefully than Axelrod.

  67. 67.

    Jackie

    August 30, 2024 at 12:01 am

    @Old School: I stand corrected – sorta. I don’t think Harris will appoint a Republican just to appoint a Republican. It will – IMO – depend on IF the “right” Republican is available and qualified for a position. IOW, no MAGAts need apply.

  68. 68.

    RaflW

    August 30, 2024 at 12:01 am

    @Old School: My comment about all this, if Harris is serious, is that whoever she has in mind cannot hang onto any bullshit about LGBTQ issues, abortion, etc.

    Because cabinet level departments, even if they seem to be other areas of policy, have staff that are queer, and/or who may become (or want to become or want to end) pregnant. And cabinet level departments serve diverse populations.

    How many Republicans can accept the policy framework of a Harris-Walz Admin, not bring on some of their past associates who would be leak risks down the road, all of that.

    Is Kinzinger willing to accept all that to be Sec. of Veteran’s Affairs (rumored to be what he wants)? He — or whoever — needs to be fucking loyal. Period.

  69. 69.

    RaflW

    August 30, 2024 at 12:03 am

    @Chet Murthy: Ancient reanimated skull Carville is out fundraising for Dems, which I find gross personally, but I guess he has a constituency who might be persuaded in races like Casey in PA or Tester in MT?

  70. 70.

    Jackie

    August 30, 2024 at 12:04 am

    @RaflW: Agree.

  71. 71.

    Chet Murthy

    August 30, 2024 at 12:06 am

    @RaflW: I suppose there’ll be conservadems here-and-there who remembered Carville  and can be persuaded to part with some cash.  And that’s a fine thing.

  72. 72.

    Jay C

    August 30, 2024 at 12:07 am

    @Old School:

    Yeah, I wouldn’t worry too much over Harris’s Cabinet picks just yet: “considering” nominating a GOPers seems to me, at this point, a pretty cheap and easy nod to “bipartisanship”; with 25 “Cabinet” positions to choose from (and presumably she’s not going to be picking Matt Gaetz or MTG – likely some ultra-“respectable” pro), and if it riles up the Repubs, so much the better…

     

    ETA: And what Jackie said at #67

  73. 73.

    Chet Murthy

    August 30, 2024 at 12:08 am

    @RaflW: Yes, this!  Thank you!  And even besides making sure that some R appointee doesn’t run a hostile work environment, they -also- need to toe the party line on the rest of Harris’ policies.  No freelancing, having differences with the rest of the administration.  None.  So yeah: Kinzinger is gonna have to agree to put a sock in it.

    I mean, imagine Kinzinger being interviewed and going off-script!  It could be catastrophic.

  74. 74.

    eclare

    August 30, 2024 at 12:16 am

    @Harrison Wesley:

    As someone wrote, I think on this blog, if ISIS wants to see what an enraged and fanatical hero worshipping crowd looks like, piss off Swifties.

    She canceled three shows in Vienna.

  75. 75.

    gene108

    August 30, 2024 at 12:28 am

    @jonas:

    Can anyone recall a time, ever, when a Republican candidate was asked how they planned to “reach across the aisle” to find “bipartisan consensus” on something, or if they would appoint Democrats to their cabinet?

    It comes down to who the parties represent based on their voters.

    Democrats represent a majority of the non-white population.

    Republicans represent a majority of the white population, which includes around 3/5’s to 2/3’s of the white male vote, on a national basis, depending on the year.

    The media wants to know if Democrats are willing to work the representatives of Very Serious People (white men) and Real Americans (white non-college educated rural folks), instead of focusing on their “special interest groups” and “identity politics”.

  76. 76.

    Geminid

    August 30, 2024 at 12:29 am

    @RaflW: Bob Casey Jr. won reelection in 2018 by 600,000 votes and does not need James Carville’s help.

  77. 77.

    Chet Murthy

    August 30, 2024 at 12:33 am

    Just for the kvelling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1Zr3VE2WTY&t=2s

  78. 78.

    jonas

    August 30, 2024 at 12:35 am

    @RaflW: I can only assume that with any “Republican” who serves in a Harris administration, the words “Never Trumper” will be implicit, and they will agree to support the president’s policies, as one would expect.

    There are some moderate, non-MAGA Republicans out there — e.g. veterans of pre-Trump administrations — who have endorsed Harris and who could probably serve in positions like the Veterans Administration or on the National Security Council or something.

  79. 79.

    jonas

    August 30, 2024 at 12:40 am

    @gene108: Good point. I agree that’s the assumption underlying the question: “You don’t represent ‘real Americans.’ What will you do to bring actual Americans who matter on board?”

  80. 80.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 30, 2024 at 12:43 am

    Noodles looked at me sideways when I turned on the music, stood up and started singing.

    SiubhanDuinne

    To the tune of THE BLUE DANUBE WALZ

    The melody calls
    (Tim Walz, Tim Walz)
    Resounds in the halls
    (Tim Walz, Tim Walz)
    The Orange One palls
    (Tim Walz, Tim Walz)
    His running mate galls
    (Tim Walz, Tim Walz).

    So Youse, Yinz, and Y’alls
    (Tim Walz, Tim Walz)
    Rejoice in the halls
    (Tim Walz, Tim Walz)
    Bring giggles and LOLs
    Bring your balls
    As we celebrate Tim Walz!

  81. 81.

    eclare

    August 30, 2024 at 12:48 am

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Noodles!

  82. 82.

    Sister Golden Bear

    August 30, 2024 at 12:54 am

    @SpaceUnit:

    But reading poetry is like combing the beach with a metal detector.  It’s a weird obsession.  Most of the time all you find are pennies and bottle caps.  Junk.  Only once in a while do you find something worth keeping.

    And if the Vogon were in the vicinity, you find unexploded ordnance.

  83. 83.

    Frankensteinbeck

    August 30, 2024 at 12:55 am

    @Harrison Wesley:

    Bombing a Taylor Swift concert would make the people they hate angry and likely spark military retaliation.  Terrorists pursue both of those goals.  That was the point of 9/11 and the Hamas Oct 7th attacks, and both Bin Ladin and Hamas got exactly the results they wanted.

  84. 84.

    pacem appellant

    August 30, 2024 at 1:01 am

    @randy khan: If it’s a cabinet-level position, I say sure, let Cheney have it.

  85. 85.

    Chet Murthy

    August 30, 2024 at 1:03 am

    @pacem appellant: sweet Jesus no.  Sure, she’s Anti-fascist.  But she’s been all in on everything else that Republicans have done, and unless she RecantsAll that shit She’s completely untrustworthy.  I mean even after she became antee Trump she was still defending the voter suppression.

  86. 86.

    SpaceUnit

    August 30, 2024 at 1:04 am

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    To write a poem is to knock on the world’s door, enter, and loudly clear your throat.

    The world looks up.  It sits at its desk.  The world is very busy.  “What is it?” asks the world.

    “I’ve written a poem,” you announce.

    “Really?’ asks the world, warily.  “Is it any good?”  It takes off its glasses and rubs at its eyes.  It glances at its watch.  The world looks rather tired.  Because the world has heard so many poems.  So many.  And it seems to the world that most of them were never worth writing down in the first place.

     

    So write poetry if you must, but please don’t waste the world’s time.

  87. 87.

    Citizen Alan

    August 30, 2024 at 1:05 am

    @Geminid:

     I see this as a symptom of PTSD.

    It truly is. I am resigned to the fact that every presidential election for the rest of my life is going to feel like playing russian roulette. Like that scene from The Deer Hunter, except that the part of the Viet Cong xamp guards, who are all trading money back-and-forth and shouting at the terrified contestants, will be played by members of our worthless, prostitute media.

  88. 88.

    Craig

    August 30, 2024 at 1:08 am

    @Jackie: seriously. And, ” I couldn’t find a Republican that we could agree with on policy”, or just ‘too bad, so sad’. I like this, cause I think she saw the wiggle room and cool, consider it, of course, I’m reasonable. I think she’s realistic enough to be Fuck No, but this little lie is fine. Democrats are learning about our political reality.

  89. 89.

    wjca

    August 30, 2024 at 1:11 am

    @jonas: “You don’t represent ‘real Americans.’ What will you do to bring actual Americans who matter on board?”

    Which, with Tim Walz sitting right there, would be a particularly dumb thing to ask.  He’s about as “real American” (as they use the term) as it gets.

    Now if the question is about “Americans who matter” (which probable means something close to “have Ivy League degrees”**), it’s pretty inevitable that at least some of the cabinet members will have that (pseudo)qualification.  So, again, a dumb thing to ask.

    ** I suppose it could be construed as either Old Money or mega-rich.  But those folks mostly wouldn’t consider a government job if asked.

  90. 90.

    Citizen Alan

    August 30, 2024 at 1:13 am

    @pacem appellant: I stand by my belief that liz cheney’s sole objection to the insurrection was that it was in service of donald trump rather than a President belonging to her faction of the republican party. I absolutely believe that if, for example, Howard Dean was poised to win the 2004 presidential election on a strict, “get us the hell out of iraq” platform, Liz, cheney would have been perfectly fine with the bush administration staging a coup.

  91. 91.

    Chet Murthy

    August 30, 2024 at 1:19 am

    @Citizen Alan: i think about this a lot.  Both for myself, but also and perhaps especially for the younger generation in my family.  As I get older stability and safety matter more to me.  The ideaThat I mightEnd up In a fascist stateIt’s pretty frighteningNow But the idea that it might happen WhenI’m alreadyMobility constrained and sick Is even more frightening.  And then I think about my younger relatives: I feel like I want to encourage them To at least make some kind of effortTo have roots in other countries so thatIf something bad happens here they’ll haveReliable places to which they can flee.

    It’s all very troubling.  And it’s not something that goes away just because harris wins in November.

  92. 92.

    Chet Murthy

    August 30, 2024 at 1:21 am

    @Citizen Alan: her and daddy darth’s biggest objection to Trump was that he was trying to take away something that she thought belonged to them.  Cheney Family Property.

  93. 93.

    Gloria DryGarden

    August 30, 2024 at 1:46 am

    @WaterGirl: a lot of tiktoks migrate over to the Facebook reels. If you go to video, and search a speakers name, or dnc.. YouTube also has shorts. And it’s entirely searchable. Once Facebook recognizes what you want to watch, it starts giving you more of that.

    the algorithm seems to note what I do and don’t watch. While it’s sort of scary, I’m getting lots of ballet and figure skating and foodie videos, and that’s lovely, and I’m starting to get dnc speakers some.

  94. 94.

    Ramona

    August 30, 2024 at 1:49 am

    @SpaceUnit: This is an awfully good poem!

  95. 95.

    Gloria DryGarden

    August 30, 2024 at 1:50 am

    @SpaceUnit: if I ever get a community space to hold a show and tell salon here in Denver, you’d be welcome to bring some of your better/ preferred poems to read to us.

    so far all I’ve found was a coffee house w a basement community room, but no parking.

  96. 96.

    Gloria DryGarden

    August 30, 2024 at 1:57 am

    @Trivia Man: holy shit! Quite the poem

  97. 97.

    Gretchen

    August 30, 2024 at 2:00 am

    I thought it was maddening. The media has been whining for weeks that they need to talk to the candidates to vet them and allow the American People to know their candidate’s positions. She had 45 minutes. She used it asking about whether Walz was lying when he said they had IVF when they really had IUI (how many people know or care what IUI is and how it differs from IVF?), whether he claimed to carry a weapon IN war rather that a weapon OF war when clearly talking about how weapons OF war shouldn’t be available to civilians, how Harris felt about Trump questioning her race and how she felt about the photo of her niece, badgering her about how she changed her position about fracking in 2020 and has held that 2020 position ever since. It’s like she was working at doing a bad job. I’m surprised she didn’t accuse Harris of lying about working at McDonalds since nobody can confirm that summer job from 45 years ago and for some reason she didn’t put it on her resume when applying for a law job. Harris/Walz should limit their interviews for the rest of the campaign to podcasts and Hot Ones.

  98. 98.

    Gloria DryGarden

    August 30, 2024 at 2:01 am

    @FastEdD: I’m all the time putting new words to previous music. I do words, but don’t compose. Cool to hear your process. Some tip write something I wish could be a song. But then I need a music person f.

  99. 99.

    Gloria DryGarden

    August 30, 2024 at 2:01 am

    @FastEdD: I’m all the time putting new words to previous music. I do words, but don’t compose. Cool to hear your process. Sometimes I write something I wish could be a song. But then I need a music person to help me.

  100. 100.

    Gretchen

    August 30, 2024 at 2:02 am

    I thought it was maddening. The media has been whining for weeks that they need to talk to the candidates to vet them and allow the American People to know their candidate’s positions. She had 45 minutes. She used it asking about whether Walz was lying when he said they had IVF when they really had IUI (how many people know or care what IUI is and how it differs from IVF?), whether he claimed to carry a weapon IN war rather that a weapon OF war when clearly talking about how weapons OF war shouldn’t be available to civilians, how Harris felt about Trump questioning her race and how she felt about the photo of her niece, badgering her about how she changed her position about fracking in 2020 and has held that 2020 position ever since. It’s like she was working at doing a bad job. I’m surprised she didn’t accuse Harris of lying about working at McDonalds since nobody can confirm that summer job from 45 years ago and for some reason she didn’t put it on her resume when applying for a law job. Harris/Walz should limit their interviews for the rest of the campaign to podcasts and Hot Ones.

  101. 101.

    Gloria DryGarden

    August 30, 2024 at 2:16 am

    @Old School: key word, would. it’s  not an oath.

    On another note, loved the last line in the impromptu poem in the thread

    Cause you knew damn well he would fuck it

  102. 102.

    Gloria DryGarden

    August 30, 2024 at 2:18 am

    @FastEdD:see comment 99.

    actually I’ve got words, and a melody it goes to, but I need a little help. Do you mind if I pass my email on to you via watergirl?

  103. 103.

    Gloria DryGarden

    August 30, 2024 at 2:25 am

    @Geminid: will you say more about this ptsd symptom idea? Do you mean, the anxiety we’re  feeling cuz of what trump has said and done and continues to say and what he promises to do to basically fuck this country ? The underlying screaming anxiety a bunch of have been feeling?

    or is there more, That you’re referring to?

  104. 104.

    Gloria DryGarden

    August 30, 2024 at 2:35 am

    @Jay: This thing about an attack on swifties having been planned, but averted, is pretty distressing.

    Meanwhile Jay, the thread was long dead last night as I read your news and people’s caring replies. I’ll add in my good wishes here, I guess.  I’m sending up the prayers and blessings for you all. Holy cow.  I want things to resolve and be treatable and go better.

    (Holy smokes! She said, burning her sage and juniper bundles)

  105. 105.

    Chet Murthy

    August 30, 2024 at 2:35 am

    @Gloria DryGarden: We have been fucked by Republican daddies so goddamn many times, I for one don’t to be fucked again.  I can rattle off Fitzmas, Comey, Mueller Time, That Piece of Shit Rod Rosenstein, right off the top of my head.

    Enough with the Goddamn Republican Daddies. Fuck them!  Fuck all of them!  Fuck every goddamn last one of them!

    Maybe that’s what Gemind is referring to by PTSD.  Though I wouldn’t call it PTSD.  I’d call it a red mist of rage.

  106. 106.

    Gloria DryGarden

    August 30, 2024 at 2:45 am

    @Chet Murthy: mine is like a volcano, rumbling deep, full of red hot steam and lava and stuff.  It’s too long for more than half a country to be sitting on this kind of rage. I don’t mean don’t be pissed as hell, what I mean it’s just too too much. For the body for the peace of mind, for also holding the light.

    When trumpet was running in  2016, a bunch of us on Facebook commented to each other about his apparent malignant narcissism, and we were triggered then, because of troubles in our pasts. It’s been rough.

    what percentage of the country is het white male, anyway? Not a majority.. so that leaves a whole bunch of us female, or lgbtq, or poc, waiting for the shoe to drop.

  107. 107.

    Kay

    August 30, 2024 at 3:12 am

    Disappointed in no change to Biden’s Gaza policy – it’s an unmitigated disaster. A failure on every level.

    I hope she reconsiders.

    Other than that it was fine – I knew it would be.

  108. 108.

    Jay

    August 30, 2024 at 3:17 am

    @Gloria DryGarden:

    Thank you.

  109. 109.

    Gloria DryGarden

    August 30, 2024 at 3:27 am

    @Gloria DryGarden: I meant ipoc. Did I leave anyone out? People with disabilities, perhaps, are also at risk.

  110. 110.

    Princess

    August 30, 2024 at 6:49 am

    @Geminid: Yea verily, even some in our very own Balloon Juice are freaking out.

    In my normie world, everyone seems to think it was a good interview and Harris did great, except she’s short compared to Walz, which was always my concern. In here, people are freaking out. We’re in danger of disappearing into our own bubble if we’re not careful.

  111. 111.

    bluefoot

    August 30, 2024 at 7:14 am

    @WaterGirl: Bit players is right. Strutting and fretting, full of sound and fury signifying nothing, as Shakespeare said.

  112. 112.

    Eolirin

    August 30, 2024 at 8:26 am

    @SpaceUnit: This applies to all forms of human creative endeavor.

  113. 113.

    SW

    August 30, 2024 at 9:14 am

    Since the sixties poetry has migrated to music lyrics.

  114. 114.

    RaflW

    August 30, 2024 at 9:27 am

    @Geminid: May not need Carville, but based on my text messages (and despite my frequent unsubscribes) the Southern Skelator was humping for cash for Casey.

  115. 115.

    WaterGirl

    August 30, 2024 at 9:29 am

    @unrelatedwaffle: Thank you!

  116. 116.

    WaterGirl

    August 30, 2024 at 9:31 am

    @RaflW:

    Ancient reanimated skull Carville

    I am a bad person.  I laughed out loud.

  117. 117.

    WaterGirl

    August 30, 2024 at 9:35 am

    @Gloria DryGarden: I don’t do Facebook.

  118. 118.

    wjca

    August 30, 2024 at 11:12 am

    @Princess: In here, people are freaking out. We’re in danger of disappearing into our own bubble if we’re not careful.

    Here, we’re pretty deep in our own bubble already.

    It’s definitely got more transparency than the Faux News, et al. bubble.  And there are a few of us here, who are actually close to the “normie”** bulk of the population, to inject a bit of reality from time to time.  But there are a depressing number who either don’t know anybody who isn’t very progressive, or for who the only non-progressives they know (or are related to) are total RWNJs.

    ** And we mostly seem oblivious to just how condescending, not to mention bigoted, that term sounds from outside our bubble.

  119. 119.

    Geminid

    August 30, 2024 at 11:27 am

    @RaflW: I wonder if Carville is taking a cut on the donations raised. It seems like he should know Casey is way ahead in polling and doesn’t need the money like Tester, Mucarsel-Powell and Allred do. Bob Casey is like this powerful secret weapon Pennsylvania Democrats hide in plain sight.

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