Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

American history and black history cannot be separated.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

“woke” is the new caravan.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

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

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

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

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Our messy unity will be our strength.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

How stupid are these people?

You cannot love your country only when you win.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

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

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Another Day, Another Step Forward…

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Another Day, Another Step Forward…

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Pretty much your standard beat-sweetner, except: (a) The Blade is explicitly an LBGTQ+ outlet; and (b) Once again, it ain’t the FTFNYTimes.

Writing about President Joe Biden’s legacy is difficult without the distance and time required to assess a leader of his stature, but what becomes clear from talking with him is the extent to which his views on LGBTQ rights come from the heart.

Biden leads an administration that has been hailed as the most pro-LGBTQ in American history, achieving major milestones in the struggle to expand freedoms and protections for the community.

Meanwhile, conservative elected officials at the local, state, and national levels have led an all-out assault against LGBTQ Americans — especially those who are transgender, and especially transgender youth, who face an uncertain future with Donald Trump promising to strip them of their rights and reverse the gains of the past four years if he is elected in November.

Biden shared his thoughts and reflections on these subjects and more in a wide-ranging sit-down interview with the Washington Blade on Sept. 12 in the Oval Office, which marked the first time in which an LGBTQ newspaper has conducted an exclusive interview with a sitting U.S. president…

On LGBTQ issues more broadly, Biden said, “I think there are a lot of really good Republicans that I’ve served with, especially in the Senate, who don’t have a prejudiced bone in their body about this but are intimidated.”

“Because if you take a position, especially in the MAGA Republican Party now, you’re going to be — they’re going to go after you,” he added. “Trump is a different breed of cat. I mean, I don’t want to make this political, but everything he’s done has been anti, anti-LGBTQ, I mean, across the board.”

Project 2025, the president said, “is just full of nothing but disdain for the LGBTQ community. And you have Clarence Thomas talking about, when the decision was made [to overturn] Roe v Wade, that maybe we should consider changing the right of gays to marry — I mean, things that are just off the wall — just pure, simple, prejudice.”

“What I do worry about is I do worry about violence,” Biden said. “I do worry about intimidation. I do worry about what the MAGA right will continue to try to do, but I’m going to stay involved.”

“I’m going to remain involved in all the civil liberties issues that I have worked for my whole life.”

Sharing this for a morning smile, and also to share a new speculation going around on social media: It’s possible that TFG assumes ‘transnational criminal gangs’ really means ‘transgender criminal gangs’ — a perversion of the natural order which Democrats would certainly facilitate — just as some people think his Hannibal Lector fixation comes from a confusion between ‘asylum seeking migrants’ and ‘insane asylum escapees’. Because, after all, he’s just a poorly educated Boomer who’s chosen to marinate his remaining brain cells in toxic wingnut sludge…

Reader Interactions

244Comments

  3. 3.

    Marleedog

    Wasn’t Donalds convicted of bank fraud?  I do not think that he is the sharpest tool in the shed.

    Does he have a challenger that has any realistic shot?

     

    eta. Evidently not, FL-19 is deppest darkest red.

  7. 7.

    Tony Jay

    @Baud:

    Either someone on the campaign’s media team reads BJ, or the idea of giving interviews to a wide range of outlets who don’t, necessarily, promote modern fascism as the holistic cure to everything that ails ya was just so obvious it had to happen.

  8. 8.

    SatanicPanic

    I just read that James Cameron is working on a new submarine that he hopes can descend deep enough to locate Byron Donald’s dignity

  9. 9.

    TBone

    @BR: sadly, a couple best friends’ only child son had a severe medical emergency (very severe) and I donated what was gonna be political  money to the GoFundMe so he won’t be homeless and destitute (which may happen anyway despite our efforts)…SS Disability is the only hope for their future – he only just got married and bought a house last year.

  10. 10.

    New Deal democrat

    Two quick points:

    1. Trump has successfully taken the spotlight off his horrible debate performance and focused it on one of his two strongest issues: immigration. But the *way* he has focused the issue may backfire. Because instead of focusing on nameless hordes pouring across the border, he is focusing on local townspeople’s *neighbors*, who have names, jobs, families, and businesses. And most people (like those in Springfield), approve of their hard working immigrant neighbors.

    2. Dan Guild’s post-debate aggregate of State polls has continued to show Harris’s lead inching higher, now slightly over 4%.

  11. 11.

    catclub

    just as some people think his Hannibal Lector fixation comes from a confusion between ‘asylum seeking migrants’ and ‘insane asylum escapees’.

    I was convinced of this before I saw others saying the same.

  12. 12.

    BR

    @New Deal democrat: ​

    I saw your morning economic update. To what extent do you think CNBC / Bloomberg types (not partisans) will be crying “recession” when the October jobs numbers come in? Or will it be mediocre numbers but combined with a rate cut everyone will be in “wait and see” mode?

  13. 13.

    Jeffro

    that Donalds “request” sure has brought a big ol’ grin to my face this morning  =)

    @SatanicPanic:I just read that James Cameron is working on a new submarine that he hopes can descend deep enough to locate Byron Donald’s dignity

    right??!?

    They just can’t abase themselves enough for Dear Leader, can they?  pathetic!

  17. 17.

    catclub

    @BR: To what extent do you think CNBC / Bloomberg types (not partisans) will be crying “recession” when the October jobs numbers come in?

     

    Doesn’t even matter. The economy in the late spring is what usually registers with election year voters.

    And the economy this  spring was great. ( I want to a do a Tony the Tiger greeeeeat!)

  18. 18.

    Quinerly

    @BR: I have been throwing a little money for the last few months into my birth state. I really think Harris can win it. So many pockets of strong Blue. Just a few more votes and we can take it.

  19. 19.

    Soprano2

    @catclub: Even though a video surfaced of TCFG telling Heritage that their plans are key for his next term. LOL They can try to run from Project 2025 all they want, but they know a lot of it is also in TCFG’s official “plan”.

  20. 20.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @New Deal democrat:

    Trump has successfully taken the spotlight off his horrible debate performance and focused it on one of his two strongest issues: immigration. But the *way* he has focused the issue may backfire.

    The ‘Haitians eating pets’ was his horrible debate performance.  He hasn’t successfully taken the spotlight off of anything.

  22. 22.

    different-church-lady

    UNDECIDEDS: “We really don’t want to vote for either of these two very old white men.”

    DEMOCRATS: “Okay, we’ve removed one of them.”

    UNDECIDEDS: “Gosh, this is still a tough call…”

  24. 24.

    Soprano2

    @Frankensteinbeck: Well, people seem to have forgotten his garbled lie about Harris wanting undocumented people in prison to get free transgender surgery. It was such a target-rich performance, it’s hard to pick. If not for the “Hatians eating dogs and cats” stuff that would have been the craziest thing he said.

  25. 25.

    New Deal democrat

    @BR: Unless there are some really big surprises in the next month, like an actual loss of jobs, the economic narrative for the election has basically already been set: decent but not great growth, slowly improving real wages, decelerating inflation. It also doesn’t hurt that voters aren’t going to hold Harris accountable for “Biden’s inflation.”

  27. 27.

    topclimber

    OT: Following up on yesterday’s AOC for Mayor bandwagon, here’s a little quirk: NYC mayoral election is always an off year compared to Congress. Next up being 2025. So no need to give up your spot in the House to run for mayor.

    If the congresswoman has executive ambitions, NYC is a natural fit. Probably around 2029, say, right after Kamala wins her second term.

  28. 28.

    OId Man Shadow

    Writing about President Joe Biden’s legacy is difficult without the distance and time required to assess a leader of his stature

    It’s not that difficult.

    He brought normalcy and competence back to the Federal government. He ended a forever war. He navigated tough political waters to push the country to the left and implement climate change progress. He reinvigorated NATO. He was labor friendly in a way that no president has been in four-plus decades. He advanced civil rights.

    He will be a one-term president because none of that really matters to Americans or voters who might still piss on his legacy and burn all of his accomplishments and the Constitution to the ground.

  29. 29.

    Almost Retired

    @BR: ​ I recall Watergirl saying that BJ would be targeting North Carolina candidates soon with guidance from the groups we are supporting in the State (Black Alliance and North Carolina Asian Americans Together). So I’m holding off until then​
    ​
    ​

  31. 31.

    Anoniminous

    @Tony Jay:

    Julie Chávez Rodriguez

    is the daughter of Linda Chávez Rodriguez and Arturo Rodriguez, and the granddaughter of American labor activist, Helen Fabela Chávez, and American labor leader, César Chávez. Her parents were full time volunteers for the UFWA. Rodriguez would often attend labor rallies with her parents and grandparents and assist them in UFWA community outreach activities

    Rodriguez is Harris’ campaign manager and knows everything about dealing with the fascist press and how to get around them to deliver the message.

  32. 32.

    Salty Sam

    Welp, this day just took an unpleasant turn-  Salty Spouse got a call from her brother “J”  in Minnesota.  There was good news and bad news:  J just broke up with his (Trumpish) girlfriend (YAY!)-  unfortunately, not before she turned him.  He’s now full on Trumper himself.

    What is most disheartening is that before, he was a sweet guy, 25 years in addiction recovery;  a Tim Walz kinda guy, who would show up and shovel a neighbors sidewalk after a blizzard, coached hockey and drove the team bus to away games… a very simple guy who was avidly apolitical.  Now he’s spouting off about how Kamala Harris is evil, Dems want to destroy the country, etc,etc,etc.

    Uff-da, it is to despair sometimes.

  33. 33.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Soprano2:

    If not for the “Hatians eating dogs and cats” stuff that would have been the craziest thing he said.

    Undecideds reeeeally hated his doubling down on Jan 6th, but the public focus went on something they hated almost as much.  I do hate the collateral damage caused by every single thing out of that shithead’s mouth.

  34. 34.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Baud: Harris will rightfully be praised for this approach, but I feel like Biden really opened the door to this great possibility by treating the Media with the contempt they deserve and refusing to take orders from them.  Fortunately, Kamala has great instincts for taking it to the next level with influencers, small media, podcasters etc., but Old Man Biden paved the way.

  35. 35.

    Falling Diphthong

    I’d like to propose some framing for the wannabe Trump assassins:

    God is sending them. To rub Republicans’ faces in their complete hypocrisy on gun control: A gun in 1000 yards of Trump? Assassination attempt! Wait, he turned off and is instead taking his AK 47 to the grocery store? He’s just a fun-lovin’ 2nd amendment enthusiast and you libs need to calm down!

    A Donald Trump rally is one place in America that will have guns only in the hands of a small subset of carefully screened law enforcement personnel. Because when Trump’s life is on the line, no one around him tolerates nonsense about the safety of open carry or good guys with guns. That they save for the rest of us, going to the grocery store or park or school. “Fact of life; nothing we can do; just gotta get over it.”

  37. 37.

    WaterGirl

    @Almost Retired: Thank you! Right now, we were are in a big push for Arizona and you are correct right after that will be putting up our North Carolina candidate thermometers.

    if North Carolina is someone’s most important thing, then I would recommend clicking on 2024 activism in the top menu, clicking on targeted fundraising and giving more money to NCAAT and North Carolina black Alliance where they can put that money to good use by registering more young people of color!

  39. 39.

    kindness

    It’s sweet watching previously unwinnable states (for Democrats) become possible Democratic pick up states.  I mean, I sincerely doubt Kamela wins many red states but I will bet she wins a few.  Getting out the vote is all the marbles now.

    Can I say we need to start a new Constitutional Amendment making the presidency a direct popular vote and shitcanning the EC?  Yes, yes I can.

  45. 45.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Soprano2: The regional chain WaWa, which used to be a chain of little 7-eleven type convenience stores, have spawned a whole new generation of (relatively) big WaWa’s with 8-10 gas pumps. Many of the little stores have been torn down. It must be hugely profitable.

  46. 46.

    Soprano2

    @Frankensteinbeck: Like I said, his debate performance is a target-rich environment. I heard a report on “Morning Edition” where one of the hosts watched the debate with an undecided voter (TCFG 2016 Biden 2020), and that guy was really disgusted with how TCFG answered the question about January 6th. He said something like “Everyone knows what he did, he should take responsibility for it”.

  47. 47.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @kindness: When I allow myself to dream (which I probably do more than is healthy), I start thinking that a majority Senate will lead to DC statehood and two more senators. Then just imagine the stuff we can get done! Add your Amendment to the list.

    Puerto Rico is also a candidate for statehood of course, but opinion is at best divided there as to whether they want it.

  48. 48.

    Chris

    @Salty Sam:

    Ugh.  My sympathies.

    I had to cut off a friend in 2020 who’d spent the last decade going from Obama-voting Democrat to anti-anti-Trumpist who almost definitely voted Trump in 2020.  I don’t regret doing it and probably should’ve done it sooner.  But I still miss the pre-brain-worms friend.

  54. 54.

    Jeffro

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:The regional chain WaWa, which used to be a chain of little 7-eleven type convenience stores, have spawned a whole new generation of (relatively) big WaWa’s with 8-10 gas pumps. Many of the little stores have been torn down. It must be hugely profitable.

    Mrs. Fro identifies as a “WaWa-ist” or “WaWa-ite” and has for years.  If they had services on Sunday, she’d be in the front pew.  Their subs are good but not that good, peeps.

    (and yes, they are hugely profitable!)

  57. 57.

    lowtechcyclist

    On LGBTQ issues more broadly, Biden said, “I think there are a lot of really good Republicans that I’ve served with, especially in the Senate, who don’t have a prejudiced bone in their body about this but are intimidated.”

    “Because if you take a position, especially in the MAGA Republican Party now, you’re going to be — they’re going to go after you,” he added.

    If they can’t stand the heat, they shouldn’t let the kitchen door hit them on the way out. Fuck ’em.

  58. 58.

    BR

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Yeah, I didn’t want to say anything bad about ol’ Joe but this constant praising of the character of GOPers who show none of that character…well as Harris says, We’re Not Going Back.

  59. 59.

    Jeffro

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:When I allow myself to dream (which I probably do more than is healthy), I start thinking that a majority Senate will lead to DC statehood and two more senators. Then just imagine the stuff we can get done! Add your Amendment to the list.

    My favorite amendment idea?  An amendment that lowers the threshold for passing an amendment!  Tough job but we only have to do it once.  =)

    The usual fantasies (not all of which require an amendment):

    • expand SCOTUS (to 13)
    • expand the House (double it)
    • eliminate the Senate
    • hold the WH long enough to essentially remake the entire federal judiciary

    TNR’s latest issue has as its theme, “will there be a United States of America in 2050?” with a bunch of related articles.  One of them is essentially noting that unless we pull off a workaround for Article V of the Constitution, we’re going to be stuck here forever.

  60. 60.

    Matt McIrvin

    @New Deal democrat: The way the complaints about the economy got a bit quieter when Harris swapped in was as noticeable as it is nonsensical, but it’s working for our side so I can’t complain too hard.

  61. 61.

    narya

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I want a minimum of 13 justices on the SC (one for each circuit–but two per circuit would be ideal!) and I want an expansion of the House of Representatives to more fairly reflect populations in the states.

  62. 62.

    Soprano2

    @Salty Sam: This happened to my mother when she remarried. Before she met him, she was a regular conservative – this was late ’80’s. He was a radical conservative even then. By the time they got divorced she was a lot like him, and she just got more and more conservative as the years went on and she watched more and more Fox News and listened to conservative talk radio. I found some scary stuff in her notes after she died, like links to the vdare Web site. The woman she was before him would never have looked at things like that.

  65. 65.

    lowtechcyclist

    @TBone:

    sadly, a couple best friends’ only child son had a severe medical emergency (very severe) and I donated what was gonna be political  money to the GoFundMe so he won’t be homeless and destitute (which may happen anyway despite our efforts)…SS Disability is the only hope for their future – he only just got married and bought a house last year.

    Sorry to hear about your friends’ son. Helping them out is way more important than political contributions – don’t worry, we’ll pick up the slack.

  66. 66.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Chris:

    “Ugh, they’re just two very old white men” was always a convenient way to pretend that undecideds weren’t racist, and if anything, the opposite.

    I heard a lot of that from young Zoomers who then went all-in for Harris, though. Sometimes the vibe really is what it is even if we don’t think it makes sense.

  67. 67.

    New Deal democrat

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Completely OT, but a long time ago I heard the (allegedly) true story of the founding of Wawa’s.

    The family that owns it made their first, smaller, fortune shipping tomatoes to Campbell’s soup factory in Vineland, (southern) NJ. They bought a farm in rural Chester County PA, where they made friends with the Heritage family, which owned a small regional chain of convenience stores.

    They approached Mr. Heritage and said, “We’ve been thinking of setting up a store to sell our farm’s produce. Would you mind showing us how you run your convenience stores.”

    And Mr. Heritage, to his everlasting regret, did so.

    —-

    Later, when national gas chains started setting up in-house convenience stores in the area, Wawa’s essentially said, “Oh yeah? Well two can play at that game!”

  69. 69.

    Eolirin

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: DC becoming a state is important, if only because residents of DC deserve representation, but it only really gets us, effectively, one extra senator since the majority threshold goes up too. It won’t help that much when it comes to keeping power in the senate.

    Though turning a 50/50 split into a 52/50 split, still has significant advantages, even with only one extra vote, just by removing the need for power sharing agreement bullshit and freeing up the vice president. So I hope we can get it done if we have a majority. Since unless we get Florida, or Texas, or Nebraska, 50 is our best case.

  70. 70.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Jeffro:

    @narya:

    Clearly on Day 2 of the Harris administration, they need to hire a bunch of mall Santas, say in the Capitol Rotunda, and have rank-and-file Democrats line up to sit on their knees and present all these wishlists.

    I’ll generously allow that creating an office to prioritize and implement them can wait till later in the First 100 Days.

  72. 72.

    Geminid

    @topclimber: Virginia has a similar political dynamic on account of its odd-year legislative races. . A state Senator or Delegate can run for Congress without giving up their General Assembly seat. At least 3 state Senators ran in the primary to succeed Rep. Jennifer Wexton in the 10th CD.

    The winner was Sen. Suhas Subramanyam, and I look forward to his elevation to U.S Representative. Subramanyam is a 37 year old Obama White House veteran and whip-smart.

    He’s also a volunteer fireman/EMT. I expect he’ll still run some weekend shifts once he takes up his new job. Subramanyam lives in Ashburn, not far from Dulles Airport where his parents landed 50 some years ago when they on their way from Bangalore, India to Houston.

  73. 73.

    lowtechcyclist

    @different-church-lady:

    Saw my first sub-$3 gas sign in quite a while yesterday.

    I filled up the tank for $2.92/gallon last week – golly, this inflation is so terrible!

    This was at the Shell station in Edgewater, MD, just south of Annapolis.  All the gas stations on MD 2, the main N-S drag, were under $3 yesterday.  Sam’s Club in Annapolis was $2.90.

  74. 74.

    Scout211

    @lowtechcyclist: If they can’t stand the heat, they shouldn’t let the kitchen door hit them on the way out. Fuck ’em.

     

    @BR: Joe but this constant praising of the character of GOPers who show none of that character

    It sounded to me like Biden is calling them cowards.  But he’s doing it in an old school politics kind of way.  That’s part of Joe Biden’s charm and why he’s been able to stay in politics for such a long time.

    But it’s also why it’s better that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are running against Trump and Vance this time.  They and their campaign team, as well as all their surrogates and social media influencers are better at counteracting the Trump-Vance team.

  75. 75.

    Anoniminous

    @Salty Sam:

    @Soprano2:

    The power of propaganda.

     This is the secret of propaganda: Those who are to be persuaded by it should be completely immersed in the ideas of the propaganda, without ever noticing that they are being immersed in it.  — Goebbels

  76. 76.

    Jeffro

    @Manyakitty: I just checked out Sheetz’s sub menu and they seem to offer more toppings, add-ons, and sauces than WaWa does.

    (including something called “ranch dust seasoning”  0_0 )

    Sheetz is also privately held.  Interesting.

    As for Froette: not too much new stuff going on…she has moved over to the Senate side for the fall and says it’s a lot quieter.  Well yeah, it’s the Senate, and plus when you were on the House side you were smack-dab in the center of the action!

    I’ll see if I can get any good info out of her – we’re having lunch this coming weekend.  =)

  79. 79.

    Matt McIrvin

    @OId Man Shadow: With them it wasn’t so much that there was no difference, more of a gritted-teeth “well I guess I have to vote for Biden, but I’m not happy about this situation at all…”

  80. 80.

    suzanne

    Joe Rogan praised Kamala Harris on his podcast saying she was much better prepared for the debate than Donald Trump.

    Said Rogan: “I just wanna say, whoever’s helping her, whoever’s coaching her, whoever’s the puppet master running the strings, you did an amazing job.”

    Fuck you, Joe Rogan. Being better prepared, better practiced, better coached….. that doesn’t mean there’s a “puppet master”. It means your boy is a lazy piece of shit who got beat.

  81. 81.

    Chris

    @Matt McIrvin:

    But that vibe was largely there among people for whom the choice was “vote Democrat or stay home,” not people for whom the choice was “vote Republican or vote Democrat (or stay home).”

    The latter is what I understand – possibly wrongly – by “undecideds.”

  85. 85.

    bbleh

    Cooper is SO good.  And she looks CONSIDERABLY less insane there than the Felon did IRL.

    I was struck by his color, in particular his cheeks.  His BP must have been enough to run a fountain.

  89. 89.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    @Soprano2: The regional chain WaWa, which used to be a chain of little 7-eleven type convenience stores, have spawned a whole new generation of (relatively) big WaWa’s with 8-10 gas pumps. Many of the little stores have been torn down. It must be hugely profitable.

    Ah, the Sheetz vs WaWa competition:

    https://www.paeats.org/feature/sheetz-vs-wawa-documentary/

    Years ago, the Wa(com)Post did a big piece on the emerging rivalry between the two former “stop and pee” chains.  Something more recent:

    https://www.phillymag.com/news/2024/04/18/wawa-sheetz-expansion-pennsylvania/

    In Misery, and across a section of the Midwest, the equivalent, kinda, is QT.  Over the last decade, QT has taken more than a page or three outta the Sheetz/WaWa playbook in updating their places and establishing new ones.

    QT’s in KS and MO basically print money.

  90. 90.

    hueyplong

    @bbleh: “I was struck by his color, in particular his cheeks.  His BP must have been enough to run a fountain.”

    And that’s showing through a metric ton of “foundation.”

  91. 91.

    suzanne

    @OId Man Shadow:

    Mediocre white guys really cannot believe that many women and Black people are way smarter than them. 

    Not just smarter. They resent that effort gets results, and that Black people and women spent decades learning how to outdo them.

    NOBODY WANTS TO WORK ANYMORE!!!!

  92. 92.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @OldDave:

    Buc-ees, jfc, so quintessentially ‘Murkin in scale.

    They plopped the first one in CO earlier this year:

    https://coloradosun.com/2024/03/17/inside-first-colorado-bucees/

    And, I shit you not, I saw billboards for that location at various spots in KS last week during my road trip (in my Bolt!) to KC and back to Denver.  I’m in the middle of the godforsakenwesternplainsofkansas and I want to make a trip up I-25 toward Ft Collins to visit it?  Again, only in ‘Murka.

  93. 93.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Here in Maryland we have Royal Farms – same concept as Sheetz. We also have Sheetz making inroads. Across the border in PA there’s a chain called Rutters, which seems to be trying to give Sheetz a run for their money there but I don’t think I’ve seen a Rutters in Maryland yet.

    I see Sheetz around Frederick, MD and parts West of there. Royal Farms from the DC area East

  94. 94.

    Kristine

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Here in NE Illinois we have Casey’s and a few others. Most are truck stops located near I-94 ramps, but they’re also filling in the corners at major intersections like 41 which used to support smaller gas stations.

    In addition, major stores like Walmart and (local) Woodman’s have put up their own gas stations. Usually a few cents cheaper.

  96. 96.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?:

    More on the emerging competition between Royal Farms, Sheetz and WaWa:

    https://www.knightcrier.org/top-stories/2022/02/28/the-battle-of-gas-stations-wawa-vs-royal-farms/

    Regarding Caseys, they began a massive expansion across the Midwest in the mid-90s.  They took the “gas and pee” approach and plopped it in towns that hithertoo had never seen anything like it.  Their big selling point was their pizza.  I recall reading something way back then about their business operations and expansion.

    Over the years, they’ve had to step up their game as well because of competitors like QT where their market presence overlaps.  But Casey’s focused on small, rural towns during that period.

  99. 99.

    Quinerly

    @Soprano2:

    Late back to the thread.

    I said on this here blog on debate night he was mixing up transgender with transnational. He is an idiot. Half the population doesn’t see it or doesn’t care.

  100. 100.

    suzanne

    @What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?:

    Here in Maryland we have Royal Farms – same concept as Sheetz.

    One of my hottest takes is that Royal Farms is terrible. (Sheetz is far better and QT is far better than either.) Royal Farms’ fountain drink and snack selection is anemic in comparison.

    I dearly miss QT and their multiple flavors of iced tea.

  104. 104.

    SatanicPanic

    @TF79: So they implanted pagers with bombs, then got them into the hands of Hezbollah members and then waited around to blow them up? How? That’s crazy

  105. 105.

    Soprano2

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: So do Kum and Go’s, which are eventually going to turn into Mavericks. They used to be Git and Go’s. We don’t have Wawa or 7-Eleven here. We used to have 7-Eleven when I was young, but they’ve all moved out. I think Git and Go ran them out.

  106. 106.

    geg6

    @Jeffro:

    We love a Sheetz here in the ‘Burgh, but we prefer a Get Go.  They are a division of regional grocery giant, Giant Eagle.  With their loyalty card, you can get $$ off gas by purchasing groceries at their stores.  Get Go also has very good fast food items.  I’ve gotten lunch at the local one many times.

  107. 107.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @suzanne: I really have no basis to judge. I don’t think I’ve had food at Royal Farms, ever. As for Sheetz I’ve had a pre-made sandwich from their grab and go section once or twice but wouldn’t judge them based on that anyway.

    I think it’s been 2 years or more since I had a soda pop so obviously fountain drink selection is of little importance to me.

  108. 108.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Matt McIrvin: I mean, I totally get it.  Representation matters.  But it’s such a superficial criteria to base your vote on, especially considering the fact that Harris and Biden are so similar on actual policy.  It’s like admitting it’s all about looks/age/race.

  112. 112.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @lowtechcyclist: If they [Republicans] can’t stand the heat, they shouldn’t let the kitchen door hit them on the way out.

    @Scout211: It sounded to me like Biden is calling them cowards. But he’s doing it in an old school politics kind of way. That’s part of Joe Biden’s charm and why he’s been able to stay in politics for such a long time.

    But it’s also why it’s better that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are running against Trump and Vance this time.

    It’s no surprise that some politicians have little to no core beliefs and are just ambitious. To me Vance is the epitome of this.

    Biden has been a master of working in a constrained environment. His accomplishments are all the more amazing given the makeup of Congress.

    Right now, though, we just have to defeat them as much as possible.

  114. 114.

    TBone

    @BR:

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Thank you for that reassurance! I’m SO grateful that I chose BJ as the place to reopen my big mouth after clamming up for a long time due to my serious aversion to social media.  Every day, a Jackal renews my tattered faith in humanity!

    I still have plans to do a financial blitzkrieg in October despite the recent funds depletion to my friends’ son.  I wisely invested in CDs when interest rates made it worthwhile and that free money is gonna help save democracy!

  117. 117.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Mr. Bemused Senior:

    It’s no surprise that some politicians have little to no core beliefs and are just ambitious. To me Vance is the epitome of this

    White (Xtian Male) Supremacy seems to be a pretty damn big core belief for this couch-fucking Nazi.

  118. 118.

    narya

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Honestly, they could do a whole lot worse than listening to the regulars on this top-10,000 blog. Folks who comment here are well-informed, live in red and blue areas (and rural and urban areas) of the country, have a variety of experiences, and are actual Democrats. Not to mention, with the lead of WG, have donated a ton of time, money, and effort to get Democrats elected! We certainly don’t all agree on everything, but I bet that, on many issues, we could get to a consensus. (My observation is that a lot of discussions of what we “should” do don’t always take into account the predicates, e.g., holding the Senate, taking the House, being able/willing to overcome a filibuster, etc.; if we knew the priors, it would be easier to reach a consensus that is reality-based.)

    Ed: clarity

  120. 120.

    different-church-lady

    @UncleEbeneezer: ​That one is blowing my mind: they must have figured out a hack that would overheat the batteries and somehow gotten it to just the targeted pagers.

    It also blows my mind people still use pagers in 2024.

  122. 122.

    PST

    @narya: SCOTUS should hear more cases. It would be convenient to have 15 justices who could sit in panels of 5. They could sit en banc for cases of epochal importance.

  126. 126.

    suzanne

    @Soprano2: So my one moment of anonymous internet virality came thanks to Kum and Go. One time when we were visiting my in-laws, we saw that a terrible building on a prominent corner near their neighborhood had been replaced by a gas station….. and we were cracking up at the name. So we started joking about alternative names. I suggested “Ejaculate and Evacuate”, which my son thought was hilarious. So he posted about it on some thread (Reddit? Tumblr? Whatever). Years later, a screenshot of his post went around the internet. So that’s my contribution to society.

  127. 127.

    Chris

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    Yeah, and for once I don’t think it’s even mostly blameable on the media.  It’s just “a tribal view of politics that’s painfully shallow and stupid to the point of self-harm is not, as it turns out, limited to white men, or white people, or even conservative people.”

  131. 131.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Quinerly: Nah, the way the cultists have been attacking us trans people I’m sure “transgender” was intentional. Throwing out red meat buzz words, especially given the lie about schools forcibly subjecting kids to genital assignment surgery on random afternoons. It’s just that it got jumbled in the word salad.

  132. 132.

    Matt McIrvin

    @narya: Our disagreements tend to be much more often about political strategy than about policy goals. There are exceptions but even with some of them, if you follow the chains of reasoning out long enough you realize most of us here really want the same thing, if not how to get it.

  134. 134.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @geg6: I have a cousin in State College I visit regularly. I take one of three different routes to get there from the DC area and there are Rutters along all of them (but also Sheetz of course). So they’re in, what is that, South Central PA? Maybe a bit East of central? There are several Rutters in that area but I haven’t seen them elsewhere either in or outside PA.

  135. 135.

    RSA

    @Soprano2:  Well, people seem to have forgotten his garbled lie about Harris wanting undocumented people in prison to get free transgender surgery.

    Here’s a longish story about that. My read, though I might be oversimplifying, is that Trump’s claim isn’t literally wrong but rather misleadingly framed.

    Trump’s comments appear to refer to a 2019 American Civil Liberties Union questionnaire filled out by then-Sen. Harris during her first presidential bid.
    The questionnaire asked: “As President, will you use your executive authority to ensure that transgender and nonbinary people who rely on the state for medical care — including those in prison and immigration detention — will have access to comprehensive treatment associated with gender transition, including all necessary surgical care? If yes, how will you do so?”
    She responded yes, adding that “it is important that transgender individuals who rely on the state for care receive the treatment they need, which includes access to treatment associated with gender transition.”
    She noted that as the California state attorney general, she backed the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation decision to provide gender transition surgery to state inmates.
    In 2015, while Harris was the attorney general, California and the Transgender Law Center reached a historic settlement to move a transgender woman inmate to a women’s correctional facility and provide her with transgender medical care that had been deemed medically necessary by several medical and mental health clinicians, according to the settlement agreement.
    The case was hailed by LGBTQ activists, who said it would impact incarcerated trans people nationwide.
    Harris’ response in the ACLU questionnaire continued, adding that she supported policies to allow federal inmates to obtain “medically necessary care for gender transition” while incarcerated.
    “I will direct all federal agencies responsible for providing essential medical care to deliver transition treatment,” she wrote.

  136. 136.

    Ken

    @suzanne: Trust me, you aren’t the first to notice the humor potential in “Kum and Go”. I was on a work trip with youth once, and we were stuck at the gas station for an extra fifteen minutes because every one of them had to have a picture in front of the sign.

  138. 138.

    frosty

    @OldDave: I counted 100 gas pumps at a Buc-ees outside of Houston. The inside was about 5 or 6 different kinds of fast-food places. Plus souvenirs and knick-knacks.

  139. 139.

    suzanne

    @Ken: Oh God, the humor potential is so great that I genuinely wonder how it happened. Like, when focus group-ing the name….. the hysterics must have been epic.

    One of the other “alternate names” we came up with was “Blow Your Load and Hit the Road”.

  140. 140.

    Belafon

    @Ken: After suggestions that the word should begin with a C the company replied that “Kum and Co” just doesn’t make sense.

  142. 142.

    Ken

    @different-church-lady: That is some hardcore “girls can’t do math” bullshit right there.

    OK, it’s probably the combination of this and the earlier reference to “Kum and Go” stores, but my inner fourteen-year-old is hyperactive. Fortunately my outer sixty-year-old retains enough to rot13 this old, NESFW* joke to protect any delicate sensibilities**:

    Jul pna’g jbzra qb zngu? Orpnhfr gurl xrrc trggvat gbyq guvf (ubyq svatref nobhg guerr vapurf ncneg) vf rvtug vapurf.

     

    * Not Entirely Safe For Work.

    ** One of the worst things about Vance is that I can no longer refer to “fainting couches” without the inner fourteen-year-old chortling.

  143. 143.

    BellyCat

    @lowtechcyclist: On LGBTQ issues more broadly, Biden said, “I think there are a lot of really good Republicans that I’ve served with, especially in the Senate, who don’t have a prejudiced bone in their body about this but are intimidated.”

    Good people on BOTH sides, right?!?!  (C’mon, Joe….)

  144. 144.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Same in Arkansas.

    Ya know, when I was a kid, going to a convenience store was a sign of failure — very, very mild failure — but still, failure. See, it meant that you hadn’t planned your day in town correctly, that you left something off the shopping lists (plural), so you had to grab it (“it” possibly including gas) at a place that charged extra for convenience.

    Nowadays, and sadly, going to town for provisions means going to the QT/Buc-ees/WaWa because that’s all there is for a “town” once the Dollar General closes for the day. I don’t know that there is anything to be done about it, but it is just sad.

    Harumph! You kids get off my lawn! And what’s up with those clouds!

  145. 145.

    frosty

    @What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: In PA it’s typically Sheetz in the west and WaWa in the east. Rutters in South Central. Royal Farms has started crossing the Mason-Dixon Line, heading north, too.

    Sheetz has crossed the mountains. I think there are a couple on the Philly side of the Susquehanna now.

  146. 146.

    TBone

    Hinky at every level.  Secret Service has been ignored by Dumbvict every step of the way…he just blew them off as we say…

    They reasoned [TBone says what is there to reason with?]  that if photographers with long-range lenses could get the president in their sights while he golfed, so too could potential gunmen, according to former U.S. officials involved in the discussions who, like most others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

    But Trump insisted that his clubs were safe and that he wanted to keep golfing, the former officials said. These preferences posed problems for his protection that former Trump aides, Secret Service officials and security experts said have only intensified in the years since he left the White House, as his security detail shrank and agents no longer maintained as extensive a perimeter guarding his movements. A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

    A commenter elsewhere reasons that, if our children do not deserve the protection of advanced security (via gun legislation), why does private citizen Dumbvict deserve any better since he’s the expert at literally everything?

    https://crooksandliars.com/2024/09/so-trump-knew-all-along-his-golf-courses

  148. 148.

    Belafon

    @different-church-lady:

    That is some hardcore “girls can’t do math” bullshit right there.

     

    The same people saying she’s a puppet were saying that she was controlling Biden. The Democrat is always being controlled by some puppet master, most likely a globalist, but occasionally someone who wants to impose Sharia law.

  149. 149.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @Ken: … I can no longer refer to “fainting couches” without the inner fourteen-year-old chortling.

    You could switch to “clutching pearls”  [hmmm, that has some potential…]

  152. 152.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @frosty: Sheetz is definitely in the Frederick MD area, which is just East of the mountains. Don’t think I’ve seen one further East of that though. But it’s probably coming. Sheetz is also in Virginia – I know there’s been one in Warrenton for a couple decades now.

  153. 153.

    Anyway

    @frosty: Sheetz has crossed the mountains. I think there are a couple on the Philly side of the Susquehanna now.

    yep There’s a Sheetz in Elkton now … seems out of place to me.

  154. 154.

    TBone

    @frosty: we had a milkman deliver milk every morning when I was a child in Drexel Hill, PA in the early 60s.  And Charles’ Chips came to the door from a delivery man, in big tins.

  155. 155.

    Ken

    @TBone: I could swear I saw complaints from Trump about those photographs. Probably he was just mad at any that he thought were unflattering (and I can totally see him ordering the SS to selectively go after photographers based on that).

  159. 159.

    TBone

    @Ken: exactly so.  There is literally no bottom to his narcissistic depravity and if he could, he’d have us all killed for a photo opp.  He’s been flirting with Lucifer since he was born and I say he’ll get the shitty end of his bargain before all is said and done.  I hope we all see it in real time because The Denouement is real and it is picking up steam!

    🎶

    https://youtu.be/Qt87bLX7m_o

  160. 160.

    narya

    @TBone: I grew up about 1.5 hours north of Philadelphia, and we also had Charles Chips delivered in big cans! We had milk delivery when I was a kid, and also the Jewel T man.

  161. 161.

    TBone

    @TBone:

    Even catturd has noticed The Hinky:

    https://x.com/acnewsitics/status/1835742317505921425

    So Trump has known all along that his golf courses were a security risk. (So is Mar-A-Lago!) But knowing Trump, he probably waited for something to happen so that he could force the taxpayers could pick up the tab for increased security. Figures! Via the Washington Post:

    Soon after Donald Trump became president, authorities tried to warn him about the risks posed by golfing at his own courses because of their proximity to public roads. Secret Service agents came armed with unusual evidence: not suspect profiles or spent bullet casings, but simple photographs taken by news crews of him golfing at his private club in Sterling, Va.

  164. 164.

    suzanne

    @TBone: Sheetz is a bit too loud and obnoxious in their branding for my taste. I will give them credit for usually having sufficient and clean bathrooms, which is difficult.

    Wawa annoys me for different reasons.

  166. 166.

    narya

    @TBone: I believe it was actually Jewel TEA–and I suspect it was somehow related to the current Jewel stores in Chicago (see this). They did home delivery (I don’t remember what my mom purchased from them, other than pudding mix), though it probably stopped by the time I was 10 or so, so by the late 60s.

  168. 168.

    BR

    @suzanne: ​

    The whole clip from Rogan bashed both Trump and Harris, and I’m seeing a lot of folks saying she should do an interview with him. It turns my stomach but if the campaign thinks it can reduce the margins Trump has with the sorts of men who like Rogan, then maybe it’s worth it.

  170. 170.

    JML

    Kwik Trip made a big invasion here after one of the others violated a territory agreement they had, and they’ve done very well because all their stores are new, so the older ones where ownership hadn’t spent a dollar on keeping them from looking like trash looked even more dire. Plus, KT was offering decent grocery options for people needing to pick up dinner on their way home while stopping for gas, when others had little beyond beef jerky and hostess cakes. Some of the old school joints (Little Dukes, Holiday, SA, etc) have been either investing or panicking, because the competition is here and not going away.

  171. 171.

    TBone

    @narya: YES now I remember! Thank you!

    Visions of collecting Green Stamps from the A&P with grandma and pasting them into our book to get enough for housewares prizes also too ❤️

  172. 172.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @Chief Oshkosh: Ya know, when I was a kid, going to a convenience store was a sign of failure

    I always consider convenience stores as places to indulge my bad habits; lottery, red bull, marijuana preparation materials, junk food, gasoline…

  173. 173.

    Trollhattan

    @BR:

    “I learned last month from Robert Kennedy, that wi-fi clobbers our immunity systems, turning us into disease sponges. We got rid of ours; as president, what will you do to outlaw wi-fi?”

    Probably pass.

  176. 176.

    mrmoshpotato

    @The Audacity of Krope:

    I always consider convenience stores as places to indulge my bad habits; lottery, red bull, marijuana preparation materials, gasoline… 

    The gasoline is for your car, not for drinking. :)

  177. 177.

    TBone

    @suzanne: that is exactly what is so abhorrent about Sheetz for me too.  Wawa is not great, but it’s my hometown DelCo’s prized mascot, so they always win.

  179. 179.

    lowtechcyclist

    @different-church-lady:

    It also blows my mind people still use pagers in 2024.

    Speaking of obsolete stuff, for reasons I won’t go into, the other day I had to look up how to get a USPS money order.

    Now you’re saying, “Money orders? Does anyone still use them?” but our HOA gets a couple of dues payments each year via money order so yes, they’re still out there.

    But the kicker is that USPS says it takes payment for them in cash, debit cards, or travelers checks.  Travelers checks?? I haven’t seen, let alone used any of those since the 1980s.  American Express doesn’t even issue them anymore. They’re history.

  180. 180.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    A great reddit thread on Sheetz, WaWa and Royal Farms:
    https://www.reddit.com/r/maryland/comments/16sxkyx/royal_farms_wawa_or_sheetz/

    Sheetz almost croaked in the early 80s. A store manager came up with the MTO concept and that basically brought them back from the brink. I remember when they were nothing more than your standard, small, gas & pee places.

    The EEOC filed a job discrimination suit against them earlier this year:
    https://www.wesa.fm/courts-justice/2024-04-19/sheetz-job-discrimination-lawsuit

    Per a comment by Jefro above, WaWa is also still a privately-held company.

  181. 181.

    K-Mo

    @suzanne: What a dumb@ss.   That’s the entire job, buddy: the willingness to do the work, the ability to harness and assimilate good advice, the aptitude to place it into context, the discipline to stay focused on the goal, and the talent to communicate it effectively.

    Trump being played like an accordion and literally just saying whatever popped into his addled brain was a stark contrast.

  184. 184.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Ken:

    Trust me, you aren’t the first to notice the humor potential in “Kum and Go”. I was on a work trip with youth once, and we were stuck at the gas station for an extra fifteen minutes because every one of them had to have a picture in front of the sign.

    Which reminds me of the jokes in our car the first time we ever saw a BJ’s Wholesale sign.  Sorry, but certain things just can’t be wholesaled!

  185. 185.

    TBone

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: I lived in Riddlewood, right near their original dairy farm on Route 1 Baltimore Pike for years.  Good to know they haven’t yet sold out.  A lot of friends’ first jobs were in their plant further down Route 1 in Glen Mills.

  187. 187.

    prostratedragon

    Taterhead is at it again:

    The Pentagon is urging the Senate to confirm Lt. Gen. Ronald Clark to a top Army role after Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) announced he’s blocking the nomination over concerns about details surrounding Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization.

    Why it matters: Tuberville’s decision stalls in the Senate the promotion of Austin’s senior military assistant Clark as the four-star commander of U.S. Army Pacific force just weeks out from the presidential elections, per the Washington Post, which first reported the news.

  189. 189.

    Leto

    @suzanne: that’s not even a hot take. We had one open near us, Pottstown PA, and we decided to stop in after they opened to check out their chicken. Some of the worst chicken I’ve ever had. How their shit could be both that greasy and dry? The fact that it was all white people who came through during our half hour experience further cemented my opinion.

    Our singular Sheetz experience with both coffee and food was enough to justify not going inside if we stop there for gas.

  190. 190.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @lowtechcyclist: I just completed a transaction using a USPS money order. Yes, it’s old school. But you know what? I didn’t have to worry about digital security. Maybe somehow I should have, but I didn’t. Just paid for the money order and the priority envelope and stamp, mailed it to the seller, and now product is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I’m probably jinxing it, but a Saturday-to-Wednesday turnaround spanning nearly 1000 miles, all by USPS, is pretty impressive.

  191. 191.

    Soprano2

    @rikyrah: Those bathrooms are something else. The stalls are actually little rooms like the ones you see in Europe. I like them. It’s something you have to experience to understand it. I didn’t understand why so many people here were excited when they heard Bucee’s was building a place right outside town.

  192. 192.

    rikyrah

    TMZ

    @TMZ

    According to the indictment, from 2008 to the present, members of the Combs enterprise allegedly engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.
    https://x.com/TMZ/status/1836039195372249205

  193. 193.

    Leto

    @frosty: we have a few around here, general Reading area, including heading down south to Lancaster/York. I’ll stop to get gas there, but that’s about it.

  194. 194.

    Kent

    @rikyrah:

    I wanna go to a Buccees for:

    the brisket sandwich

    the fudge department

    the bathrooms

    Yes, I wanna see the bathrooms..LOL

    You know you are in Texas when the biggest tourist attraction is…[checks notes] a gas station.

    When we lived in Waco there was one on I-35 between Waco and DFW and also one between Waco and Austin which were two routes I drove a lot.  I went in once to check it out and the only thing I really remember is that they had a tremendously huge selection of different beef jerky.  Artisanal beef jerky is kind of a Texas thing too. The bathrooms were nice though.

    Normally I just got gas at Costco which was cheaper both for gas and for food.

  195. 195.

    Kent

    @prostratedragon: The only reason Tuberville can do this is because Chuck Schumer enables it.  Out of some misguided notion that future Republican administrations will give them the same deference to place holds on Republican nominees.  Just like they did with SCOTUS nominations.   Right?

  196. 196.

    prostratedragon

    @rikyrah:
    Arson? Shit, sounds like a detailed criminal strategy.

    Elsewhere, this other mothercouchfucker pretends to shape his mind as if he never admitted he was lying and would continue to do so:

    I’m still waiting on a correction and apology from the left wing journalists.

  197. 197.

    Kent

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Speaking of obsolete stuff, for reasons I won’t go into, the other day I had to look up how to get a USPS money order.

    Now you’re saying, “Money orders? Does anyone still use them?” but our HOA gets a couple of dues payments each year via money order so yes, they’re still out there.

    But the kicker is that USPS says it takes payment for them in cash, debit cards, or travelers checks.  Travelers checks?? I haven’t seen, let alone used any of those since the 1980s.  American Express doesn’t even issue them anymore. They’re history.

    My daughter had to get one (or several) to pay the security deposit for a new apartment she was renting in Bend OR last year when the asshole management company wouldn’t take a personal check or electronic transfers and she didn’t have a local bank where she could go to get a cashier’s check since we use USAA and they don’t have branches in OR.

    Kind of a pain.  She had to go to the post office and use her USAA debit card to buy money orders to then deliver to the apartment management office in order to move in.

  198. 198.

    prostratedragon

    @Kent:  The Senate might vote on the appointment. But I think (might be wrong about this) to get the rule changed needs all 50+1 and, well, guess what …

  199. 199.

    Kent

    @Soprano2: Buc-ees is pretty much peak oil or peak gasoline.

    I gotta imagine they will soon slide into obsolescence as we continue to electrify our transportation.  Or perhaps they are perfectly positioned to transition themselves since each one has enormous acreage and the space to put in hundreds of chargers.  Plus the attractions to keep people occupied and spending money while their car charges.  Unlike ordinary gas stations that have much smaller footprints.

    EDIT:  I see the Buc-ees in Temple that I used to drive by now has 48 Tesla Superchargers which apparently makes it the biggest Tesla Supercharging station in Texas.  So they are apparently way head of me on that one.

  200. 200.

    Kent

    @prostratedragon: I’m confident they could have changed the rules at the beginning of this current Congress (or the last one) had it been a priority.  Even if it had meant arm-twisting or buying off Manchin.

    It just wasn’t a priority or even something they wanted to do.  Traditions and norms you know, in the “world’s greatest deliberative body”

  202. 202.

    Matt McIrvin

    @lowtechcyclist: I was explaining what traveler’s checks were to my daughter when we were planning to go to Japan. They were pretty much killed by the ability to use your financial services easily across international borders, and in particular to use foreign credit/debit cards. But the situation is actually a little dicier with Japan than with many other countries people routinely go to from North America and Europe (not all foreign credit cards Just Work there for all purposes–for some reason, MasterCard seems to be your best bet–and my ATM card definitely wasn’t going to), so I was thinking about it.

  204. 204.

    Kent

    @rikyrah: I like Jess Piper and agree up to a point.

    We lived in Texas from 2003 to 2016 and I watched the state go from reasonably purple to blindingly bright red during that time.  It gets wearying to be on the losing side of every single local and state political argument again and again and again.  Everything from local bike lanes and sidewalks to state education funding and policy.

    My sanity, mental health, and quality of life is all much improved since we moved to Washington where I am on the winning side of many if not most local and state political fights.  Not all mind you, but enough to know there are some like-minded people in positions of power.  And to know that our state and local governments are pushing in the right direction at least some of the time.

    I understand Jess is deeply rooted in MO and not going anywhere and I respect that.  But for us, we didn’t want to spend a lifetime tilting and windmills and losing every political battle we fought.  That is the luxury of being relatively mobile and cosmopolitan I guess

    We also didn’t want to raise our kids to be Texans.  That was a big part of it.  Where you raise your kids completely affects their future geography and trajectory from college choices and beyond.  And we wanted to lay down roots in a place that would be good for our children, grandchildren, and future generations.  Texas was not going to be that place and MO certainly wasn’t either.

  205. 205.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kent: I grew up in Virginia when it was a deep red state and that idea that you’re always going to be the loser in every political argument is still kind of deeply ingrained in my mentality. I got out of there and then it went blue! Kind of.

  215. 215.

    Marc

    @Matt McIrvin: Since everyone is going to Japan these days, I’ll repeat this:  US credit cards (aside from MasterCard, which always work for some strange reason) can be hit or miss, but generally work everywhere except the tiniest shops, restaurants, etc.  US debit cards do not work at most Japanese bank ATMs (aside from airports), but do work at the postal ATMs located at every Japanese Post Office (and there are stand-alone ones in many malls and large train stations).  I tend to carry a lot of cash there, it’s easier (and you are unlikely to get mugged).  That is all.

  216. 216.

    Citizen Alan

    @BellyCat:  Actually, I kind of love this. The implication is that even if your Senator or House Rep isn’t one of the those Republicans, they’re still cowards who will never stand up to those Republicans, so you should vote them out anyway.

  218. 218.

    rikyrah

    Donate to Downballot Democrats (@Needle_of_Arya) posted at 11:23 AM on Tue, Sep 17, 2024:
    Someone else on here said that 30 white dudes will try to primary President Harris from the “white Democrat” wing of the party.

    Of course they will. This 2028 is expected. They’re the same people who kept wanting to replace her on the ticket during Biden’s entire single term.
    (https://x.com/Needle_of_Arya/status/1836078499456569570?s=03)

  219. 219.

    rikyrah

    Open Source Intel (@Osint613) posted at 9:17 AM on Tue, Sep 17, 2024:
    IMPORTANT 🚨

    This is a developing story, and all information is preliminary, with numbers and info subject to change.

    Roughly an hour ago, Hezbollah’s encrypted pager devices began simultaneously, exploding across Lebanon, including in Damascus.

    Initial reports from Lebanon estimate around 1,000+ casualties so far.

    Hezbollah has instructed all its militants to immediately discard their pagers, calling this the most significant security breach they’ve ever encountered.

    Iran’s Mehr news agency reports that Mojtaba Amani, Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, was injured when a pager exploded.

    https://t.co/pWpDePcFUv
    (https://x.com/Osint613/status/1836046946978402426?s=03)

  223. 223.

    Ken

    @rikyrah: The cherry on top of Trump’s crypto project is the two guys he’s trusting to run it. One, Chase Herro, once described himself as “the dirtbag of the internet”. The other, Zachary Folkman, used to teach classes on how to pick up women.

    Though from another perspective, it’s not worse than the judgment he showed in his cabinet picks — as even he will tell you, now that they’re all out there writing tell-all books.

  226. 226.

    rikyrah

    @rikyrah:

     

    The Biden Accomplishments Guy (@What46HasDone) posted at 6:11 AM on Tue, Sep 17, 2024:
    VP also taped a 4th that will air today at 10AM EST (Spanish radio) and is sitting for a 5th live one today (NABJ), but I imagine for similar reasons, they’ll discount both as well.

    Meanwhile, while Trump does “press”, 90% of it is Fox News or white nationalist podcasts.
    (https://x.com/What46HasDone/status/1835999891467747510?t=_DWyj-zuGNQ4Ul1UgMimyA&s=03)

  227. 227.

    Jackie

    Re the exploding pagers:

    Pagers carried by thousands of Hezbollah operatives exploded at about the same time Tuesday afternoon, leaving more than 2,700 injured and eight dead in an unprecedented event that struck across Lebanon,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

    “The affected pagers were from a new shipment that the group received in recent days.”

    Washington Post: “The apparent attack came as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have soared on the Lebanese border following months of tit-for-tat strikes that have displaced tens of thousands of people in both countries.”

    So it’s possible Israel’s involved?

  229. 229.

    catclub

    @rikyrah: Meanwhile, while Trump does “press”, 90% of it is Fox News or white nationalist podcasts.

     

    He just did his 16th interview with a rwnj conspiracy theorist.  And the MSM yawns. Meidas Touch covered it

  232. 232.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @rikyrah:People keep saying Harris has only done one solo interview. She’s actually done three. But since one was with a Latino radio network and the other was with a black radio host, they apparently don’t count

    Are they being racist or breathing their own rarified farts?

    ¿Por que no los dos?

  234. 234.

    BritinChicago

    @OId Man Shadow: Adding: he articulated an alternative to neo-liberalism/trickle-down economics, really for the first time, and did something to implement it—would have done a lot more if he’d ever had truly function majorities in both houses, but he showed us the way. IF MVP wins and IF she can go further in the same direction, then he will be the Moses who showed the way without himself getting to the promised land. A great President.

  235. 235.

    Kent

    @Belafon:You could easily occupy yourself for the 80% charging time in a Buc-ees.

    Probably works out even better for them to put in chargers rather than gas pumps.  Because people will stay longer and the longer you stay the more you spend.  And all the revenue from places like Buc-ees is in the food and drink sales, not the gas (or electricity).

    Kind of like how movie theaters make all their money from concessions rather than the ticket sales (which mostly go to the studios).

  236. 236.

    TBone

    @rikyrah: thank you, that is my new pet bugaboo.  He’s the Manchurian Candidate of the Supremacists Court and I hope this story doesn’t get memory holed.

  237. 237.

    catclub

    @different-church-lady: they must have figured out a hack that would overheat the batteries and somehow gotten it to just the targeted pagers.

     

    I see it as getting explosive set into the pagers, not just making a battery explode. Simultaneous Timing was too close for overheat.

  239. 239.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Marc: The Postal ATMs are a great tip and one that I didn’t hear about until after I got back… however, my experience is that my credit union’s debit cards almost never work overseas in any country (even if you notify them of your travel in advance), so I wonder if they’d work there.

    Re MasterCard: What I recall from discussions of trying to use the JR ticketing websites (one of the pickiest) from overseas was that they had a practice of verifying a credit card by making a 1-yen transaction on it (about 0.7 cents), and that a lot of foreign credit cards would reject these, but MasterCard was cool with it.

  242. 242.

    Ivan X

    @Matt McIrvin:
    Same. Some young people I’ve talked to seemed to really be craving someone they could project on to and/or “believe in,” and Biden’s affect — not going to say age, because clearly a certain kind of old man (cough Bernie cough) could work for them — felt unrelatable and unexciting to them in the same way at least one of their grandparents or great grandparents probably are. They’re psyched for Harris.

  243. 243.

    SomeRandomGuy

    Sharing this for a morning smile, and also to share a new speculation going around on social media: It’s possible that TFG assumes ‘transnational criminal gangs’ really means ‘transgender criminal gangs’ — a perversion of the natural order which Democrats would certainly facilitate — just as some people think his Hannibal Lector fixation comes from a confusion between ‘asylum seeking migrants’ and ‘insane asylum escapees’. Because, after all, he’s just a poorly educated Boomer who’s chosen to marinate his remaining brain cells in toxic wingnut sludge.

    Erm. Technically, he’s a *very* well educated boomer. He’s just stupid.

  244. 244.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Kent: yes, Mr. Rudbek figures that charging an e-bike at the pub would cost less than one pint of beer. And the charging time would probably be long enough that he would have two drinks. Maybe the bars in old town Alexandria need more bike racks to get the cyclists in…

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