MAGA insulting Swifties at Era Tour doesn’t seem smart?
An entire political movement centered on insulting fellow Americans. pic.twitter.com/XAYjpfgn5O
— James Singer (@Jemsinger) October 20, 2024
Arnold Palmer’s daughter, Peg, in 2018 discussing how he felt about Trump pic.twitter.com/IJdokupKsx
— John (@Believeland46) October 19, 2024
“Can you believe I triggered him so much he put on an apron and pretended to cook fries 🍟 at McDonalds?” pic.twitter.com/3Ot6iHVyTQ
— Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@NotHoodlum) October 20, 2024
Meanwhile our VP is celebrating in the best way:
Thank you to my friend Stevie—it’s a joy to spend my birthday in Georgia with all of you. pic.twitter.com/RuGCv7sKl4
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 20, 2024
Georgia’s New Birth Baptist Church interrupted VP Kamala Harris to sing her “Happy Birthday,” the Black version by Stevie Wonder of course!! Amazing! 🎉 🎊 🥳 pic.twitter.com/lum6uQI00O
— 🪷 Madam Auntie VP Kamala Harris for PRESIDENT! (@flywithkamala) October 20, 2024
(sorry for the twitter heavy thread – I started to look for things on bluesky, but gave up and went back to the hellsite because I have to pack)
I can’t wait for this to be over. I’m pretty sure Trump is toast. Unfortunately, I’m sure plan B is Pres Vance, and that’s terrifying. But all we can do at this point is continue GOTV efforts. And those seem to be going well.
I’m cranky as hell, and it actually doesn’t have anything to do with the election (although I’m sure that stress has made me less able to cope with regular life). Luckily, I’m out of here for a week and I’m going to try and stay unplugged as much as I can.
This is an open thread
TaMara
OMG, the YT notes say that song is ten years old, and I’m in denial. Time is fucking weird, man.
West of the Rockies
Dudes do not step out of showers commenting on each other’s attributes. Shortcomings, maybe, if you’re a jr. high idiot.
No way Gary Player or Chi-Chi or Jack said anything about each other’s junk
Also, too, I think in 16 days this wretched, existential dread will turn to pure delight, relief, abd schadenfreude.
lowtechcyclist
@TaMara:
The pandemic made it even weirder – it’s like there’s a few missing years at the beginning of this decade.
Jackie
Taylor’s boyfriend helped the Chiefs give the Niners a P.S. Super Bowl whomping today😁
The Cat Ladies won, AGAIN! 😂
dmsilev
@West of the Rockies: Remember how he tried to explain the ‘grab em by the pussy’ tape as ‘locker room talk’, followed immediately by a bunch of actual pro athletes saying ‘no, not in any locker room I’ve been in’?
Also, I guess we can add ‘McDonalds worker cosplay’ to the list of really fucking weird things he’s done.
Kristine
This McDonald’s thing is so t-ball. If you’re imitating, you’re not leading or projecting from a position of strength.
But I’m not a highly-paid campaign strategist so what do I know?
satby
Swift is so damn cute in that video. She’s an actual billionaire who got that way on sheer talent and super intuitive business skills, one who donates generously to many good causes. The convict is deeply envious, I’m sure.
And spread the word that trumpie is just the decaying front man the Rs are trying to push over the finish line, but he’ll be shoved out in favor of Vance and Project 2025 ASAP if they win.
Eolirin
I’m desperate for a return to a time in which we weren’t one election away from democracy being replaced by fascist authoritarians so that we can go back to simply pointing and laughing at how fucking weird these assholes are without also needing to be concerned about their ability to murder a bunch of us.
brendancalling
Don’t ever say you’re “sure” Trump is toast. It ain’t over til it’s over.
GOTV GOTV GOTV
Mary
TaMara, so many of us are really cranky. This whole ordeal has gone on too long. I’m really cranky too.
Harrison Wesley
Locker room talk? What locker room has Donald Trump ever been in? IIRC, he went upside one of his sons’ head for not wearing a tie to a baseball game. I dunno where them bone spurs came from, but they sure as shit weren’t ground out on Franklin Field.
Lapassionara
@TaMara: thank you for posting that video. I saw it for the first time and it rocked!
West of the Rockies
@Kristine:
Unlikely, but maybe Trump at McD’s will be a Dukakis in a tank moment.
Shalimar
@Kristine: It’s so pathetic too. I assume the franchisee invited Trump for an event at that location, but that same owner would fire an employee for holding up the drive-thru window just talking to someone like that.
Citizen Dave
@TaMara: Wiki says Stevie released the song in June 1981, but not in the U.S. I wouldn’t call it the “black version”, but rather it’s own thing. IIRC the rights holders to the original Happy Birthday song have always been pricks.
So I’m thinking artists like the Beatles and Stevie made their own. And TGI Friday’s.
Scout211
Well there was that one at the Miss Teen America contest.
Mousebumples
Friendly reminder (*and note to self) to engage in self care. I was feeling frustrated about plateauing with some health stuff I’m working on and realized… Fuck, this stressful election season is not helping.
Thanks to everyone for all you to do GOTV and support progressive causes – but it’s okay to take time for personal TLC.
I needed that reminder. I’m not sure if anyone else is feeling the same, so I thought I’d share.
Ivan X
@Kristine: total t-ball.
japa21
@Shalimar: Well, since the McDonald’s was closed to actual customers, no big deal.
Ivan X
I’m cranky too, but I’m cranky all the time. So I just try to do stuff (sure, the politically positive stuff, but also just getting things done that need doing at work or home), or write cranky songs. It helps, a little.
scav
Remember when it was conservative orthodoxy that we couldn’t possibly allow gays to serve in the military because eeek! big bad Marines might be oogled in the bathrooms or showers! Imagine. And now a former CIC reveals that such activities are just another day at the 20th hole. For Professionals no less, heh heh heh.
HumboldtBlue
We’re cranky cuz of this moon.
Also, because of that fat fucking moron. This guy puts it well in a righteous, profane rant.
BR
I have a question for you all about GOTV phonebanking from home. I am in a swing congressional district in Southern California but am also considering doing phonebanking to Arizona (or somewhere, but preferably NV or AZ). A few questions:
1. What would you all recommend right now?
2. Is it persuasion calling right now or just GOTV of known Dems?
3. Are there ideal times to call?
Jay
@Shalimar:
The franchise was closed for the whole day, the “customers” were Campaign staff, it’s unclear who played the role of the “workers”, (I am going to guess the Franchise Owner and Wife) and the whole fake took place over an hour.
JoyceH
@West of the Rockies: Yeah, that reminds me of a conversation Trump allegedly had with Putin, when according to Trump “and Putin said ‘no way’ and I said ‘way’.” And Joyce said, “Yyyyyyeah, that never happened.”
Steve Holmes
I love Taylor’s shake it off video, such a positive message
Villago Delenda Est
TCFFG/PAB, “Lack of character”? You cannot lack what you do not have.
He is an abomination.
Mousebumples
@BR: I haven’t done it, but from what I’ve read on bsky, there seems to be a mix of targets, depending on the campaign.
Mobilize.us is what I usually have seen linked. I can see if I can pull up some personal activism accounts. Not sure who’s on this thread to give personal experiences…
Villago Delenda Est
@Harrison Wesley: He’s never been in a military locker room.
Mousebumples
@Mousebumples:
Mousebumples
lamh47
For once I’m not feeling pessimistically optimistic??? What I mean is I usually expect the worse but hope for the best.
Lately I’ve been feeling more optimistic, but the pessimist in me won’t let go just yet. Alot can happen in 16 days!
I am hoping the early vote banking is heavilty Dem vs GOP, but I do suspect more repub voters will vote early than they have in the past.
H.E.Wolf
@BR: This introvert salutes your willingness to make phone calls!
Regardless of what state/district/campaign you get involved with, the field organizer(s) will be able to answer all 3 of your questions.
In our state, to find the field organizers, just sign up [ETA: sign up online, via website] for a phone banking event with the Democratic Party or specific Democratic candidate, and field organizers will find YOU. :)
Mousebumples
satby
@Shalimar: It was closed. The entire charade went on at a closed franchise. All staged.
BR
Thanks for the GOTV tips. Is mobilize.us run by the Harris campaign / DNC? Or is it independent?
H.E.Wolf
@BR:
https://join.mobilize.us/about/
West of the Rockies
@Mousebumples:
My wife and I were talking earlier about having trouble really connecting for a bit. We traced it to election stress and 2016 PTSD.
BR
@H.E.Wolf:
Hmm, yeah, that doesn’t really answer it for me. I guess what I’m wondering is whether they overlap with the DNC phone banking efforts and/or whether it’s better for me to do the official Harris campaign one or the one from mobilize.us.
Or is it like actblue and they run it for others?
Jackie
@japa21:
The video I watched, I swear I heard angry horns honking… maybe regular customers weren’t aware McD’s was closed for a political BS event? Back in the day, I worked the drive-thru during the weekday lunch rush, and a manager stood by with a watch clock timing how many cars we’d push through.
WaterGirl
@Scout211: zing!
Princess
As someone here said, Trump in an apron pretending to make fries is pure Dukakis in a tank energy.
(Oops, I see the m late to that in this thread)
Harrison Wesley
@Villago Delenda Est: Maybe….at the YMCA, since he seems partial to that song?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9OO0S5w2k
Gloria DryGarden
@Mousebumples: Thank you for doing this! Sending you so much love.
I’m glad to have these links. I’m set up to phone bank for a district in Colorado, where the democrat could maybe really win in a republican area, because the R person is not well liked ( Lauren boebert. She can go)
I hope I can do it from my tablet; I hope it’s not too hard.
Gloria DryGarden
@Mousebumples: amén
Chris T.
Spousal Unit and I filled in our WA-state ballots today. I will drop them in the drop box tomorrow (today was very wet and very windy).
kalakal
@Princess:
I’d be quite happy to see Trump in a tank. What the tank should be filled with …
Mousebumples
@West of the Rockies: yup. 2016 PTSD is strong.
All gas, no breaks, is all well and good to say, but win or lose, the battle isn’t over on Election Day.
Cheers, etc.
Gloria DryGarden
The thermometer for Four Directions!
nearly 5k, in a couple of hours. Let’s make it 10 k by midnight, keep it going!
very excited to see this number going up so fast! You are blessing the nation w your dollars in a way that could make the difference.
Jackie
@HumboldtBlue:
I just fell in love 😍
Mousebumples
@BR: I think it depends. WisDems put their events on Mobilize.us, so that’s what I’m used to. I think there’s also an events.democrats.org or similar that other campaigns use?
Each listing should indicate l’m who’s running it, if that helps at all.
Aussie Sheila
@HumboldtBlue:
That was excellent. That should be ricocheted all round the internet. The combination of anger and contempt is just what’s needed in the last stretch to encourage people and keep them going for the next 15 days.
Chet Murthy
I’m in the same place. In early August I fell off the exercise wagon, and …. haven’t gotten back on. And I also stopped going out of the house (again). Three months, all the progress of the past year seems to be gone. I can feel the loss of muscle tone in my arms, and of course see the chubbiness in my tummy. Ah well. Gonna try again tomorrow to leave the house, get to the gym.
If I could only manage it for a week, the natural positive feedback loop of those endorphins would solve the problem. But the first few days is tough, b/c every morning I just can’t seem to get out of bed. I just lie there reading blogs and the LG&M comment-section. Ugh. Completely unhealthy, I know I shouldn’t do it, but …. that doesn’t seem to help at 9am.
Mousebumples
@Chet Murthy: yeah, I get it. Good luck! Sending you good vibes for tomorrow, whatever the day brings.
kalakal
@HumboldtBlue:
That I like, hope it goes viral
lamh47
@Citizen Dave: it’s called the “Black version” because alot Black folk sing THIS version of Happy Birthday for someone’s birthday, not the “traditional” version of Happy Birthday.
Stevie’s original song was to advocate for a nationwide King Holiday.
ETA: Another example of 2 Americas when it comes to certain things..
ETA2: And to illustrate, there is another video of Stevie Wonder himself singing the song to MVP today.
Lyrebird
@TaMara: Thank you! 10 yrs or whatever, that video was totally new to me, and I really needed it today!
Note, I might also (with @Citizen Dave: ) not call that Happy B’day tune a Black version, bc it’s as specific a song as Shake It Off – Stevie Wonder wrote the song for MLK Jr., responding to bozos who objected to a holiday in his honor. Sweet Honey in the Rock also made a social-commentary Happy Bday MLK song, I forget the title.
ETA: and @lamh47: types faster than me, with probably more accuracy as well!
Good night all!
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Chet Murthy: you are among friends here. Best wishes; I bet you’ll make it.
Scout211
@Princess: And also, as I commented downstairs, like the fake volunteering at the soup kitchen that Paul Ryan did.
japa21
Tomorrow, early voting starts in suburban Cook County. I will be manning the polls from then through election day except for Halloween. Something new this year. We will not have names on our identification tags, just letters. Also in the past, on election day when we closed down, we all had to sign a results tape that was left in the open. Not this year. They are striving to keep our identities safe. There is only one group we would have to worry about.
Another Scott
Enjoy your break, TaMara!
Cheers,
Scott.
lamh47
Evangel4Harris out with another new ad for Harris/Walz.
Per David Brody:
lamh47
RaflW
Who knows WTF the Trump campaign or its octopus of grifty idiots thinks is a plan, but that banner flying over the concert just seems like the one and only thing Trump usually falls back to: games of dominance — or in this case, a really really stupid effort to try that which I think will be mostly ignored, and when noticed, derided.
They are giving off desperation vibes, but the press is just not capable of seeing that.
prostratedragon
@Kristine: Especially trying to imitate something your opponent did when she was 17.
TS
@HumboldtBlue:
A righteous rant. A joy to listen (and I’m not much into swearing, but trump sure sets me off in that direction)
TooManyJens
@BR:
Any progressive group (afaik) can put events on Mobilize. Right now, most of the election-related events on there are run by the parties and campaigns. If you see something like “2024 PA Victory” as the organization name, that’s the Democratic Party coordinated campaign. (I’ve been canvassing with them and we drop lit for Harris, Casey, Matt Cartwright, sometimes Malcolm Kenyatta.) Then there’s stuff like Big Sky Victory, which is the Tester campaign.
SpaceUnit
I’m optimistic.
There, I said it. Nothing is going trump’s way.
Fine, I won’t say trump is toast but I just bought a new pack of Land-O-Lakes butter.
Gary K
Looks like he stuck his face in the fryer…
Chet Murthy
My neighbor got a new puppy. Her old doggo died (she was -old-), which was very sad, b/c she was a sweetie, used to give kisses and all. The new one, he was pretty skittish for weeks and weeks, though he didn’t bark (much) at me, and for sure didn’t get aggressive: I think he knew I was part of the crew on the property.
Tonight he came over and gave me kisses and let me pet him! Huzzah!
wjca
Take phone/tablet/whatever and set it away from the bed before retiring. Dining room table, maybe? In the morning, it at least gets you up out of bed in order to get your blog fix. Works for me.
H.E.Wolf
@BR:
I’ve answered two of your questions to the best of my ability.
Here’s a third answer: 7 years worth of detailed media/press information about the organization you’re asking about, which you are welcome to read.
https://join.mobilize.us/press/
I’m maxed out on my own political volunteering efforts (4-6 hours/day), so if that’s not sufficient for your needs, I recommend you do your own Googling.
To end on an upbeat note, I can guarantee that if you are willing to phonebank, you will be MVP anywhere you choose to participate!
West of the Rockies
@Chet Murthy:
Me, too. Stopped my exercise regimen in July and am going to force myself back into it. Trump stress has been miserable. I have a Queer kid who I worry for, worry they will have a climate change nightmare when they’re my age.
Trump must go.
RevRick
@Eolirin: The thing is the first tweet has it all wrong. They don’t see us as fellow Americans, at all! In their eyes we are either those who are polluting the blood of this nation or as race traitors. They are the only “real Americans.” We are here at their sufferance and they have a reputation for imposing the death penalty on those of us who step over the line.
Peke Daddy
Meme generator.
https://imgflip.com/memegenerator/556562065/Trump-working-at-McDonalds
Chet Murthy
@RevRick: In the case of that plane and banner, I think it’s something more: it’s a dominance display, saying “Laydeez, remember who’s in charge, remember that come November, we’re gonna be wearin’ the pants and you’ll be lucky if we don’t hold a grudge.”
SatanicPanic
Donald Trump is a pecker checker pass it on
Quinerly
I’m late to the new Stevie Nicks’ video for her new single “The Lighthouse.” I saw snippets of her performance on SNL but hadn’t seen the official video. I have to assume it has been posted here by now. But if you missed it, worth a look.
Powerful.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lJDCYh5iWQs&pp=ygUXbGlnaHRob3VzZSBzdGV2aWUgbmlja3M%3D
The Audacity of Krope
Was Kamala’s birthday the October surprise?
Marmot
@RevRick: Yep. It’s the essence of right-wing populism.
BR
@H.E.Wolf:
Sorry, I wasn’t putting it on you, just trying to figure it out. I think I have a sense of what the deal is putting together the various answers here.
HumboldtBlue
@Quinerly:
Here’s YouTube
TaMara
I wasn’t clear in that first comment, sorry – it’s the Taylor Swift video that’s 10 yrs old, which is why I’m in denial. I swear it was a summer song just a few years ago. Ha!
I said nothing about Black Happy Birthday – that’s for folks who know about these things, which I do not.
Night all…
JWR
Fireworks in my neighborhood. I guess that means the Dodgers are World Series bound. Xlnt!
PS. Yep. Go Dodgers!
David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch
Damn
YankeesDodgersQuinerly
@HumboldtBlue:
Thanks for the SNL link. A lot of folks have panned her voice on SNL. I think she sounds good. Like all of us…she’s aging.
I just love the official video and the messages. Very well done.
Anotherlurker
My Mets are going home. I really pains me to say: Let’s go Dodgers! Somebody has to take down the Evil Empire.
The next baseball for me will be when spring training rolls around.
lamh47
@TaMara: I totally got ya!
Enjoy ur break!
I’m def counting down to mine!
TaMara
Oh, look the Broncos paid Russel Wilson $39 million to help the Steelers stomp all over Aaron Rodgers.
I hope they go to the Super Bowl on the Broncos’ dime. Couldn’t happen to a more racist coach (and probably owners – Walmart kin).
TaMara
@Anotherlurker: I was really torn in my loyalties here. I mean, the Mets had a dream postseason…but the Dodgers have two of my favorite former Red Sox and also Ohtani!
As a BoSox fan, though, I feel your pain.
JWR
@Anotherlurker:
That’s how I usually feel, after L.A. blows it in the first round of the playoffs, as is their wont. But Dodgers vs Yankees… now that’s baseball!
Lifelong Dodgers fan here. Could you tell? ;)
2liberal
Try a caffeine pill. It brightens me up within 5 minutes and I can get going (to the gym, or a bike ride)
David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch
@TaMara:
Jets don’t have a shot as long as Rodgers is on their team
Anotherlurker
@JWR: I wish your Dodgers all the luck in the world.
JaySinWA
@SatanicPanic: Trump is showing his penis envy.
Chet Murthy
@SatanicPanic: Y’know, it ain’t like the rest of us never inadvertently notice that somebody in the locker room or showers is …. well-hung. The difference between us and TCFG is that we don’t talk about it, b/c we don’t think it’s suitable for conversation. I mean, who talks about shit like that? Only sickos. Only sickos.
glc
@Shalimar: The Mcdonald’s was closed, in any case.
Neal
@japa21:
My wife and I are, among other things, sitting at the info desk at the local polling place on 5 Nov. I am not sure quite what to expect. Nasty comments directed our way? Most likely. But intimidation and threats are in the back of my mind…sadly.
rikyrah
@japa21:
Thank you for this. I am sure that you have a good team working with you.
Early Voting in Cook County will be open seven days a week through November 4th👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
dm
@satby: Thanks to Anne for putting that video into the post. I really enjoyed some of the dancing, gymnastics, and I don’t know what that guy was doing with his fingers, or the other guy with rubber arms, but wow.
TS
@Chet Murthy:
Weird old men who are not appealing to women & think it turns them on if they “talk dirty”. Sadly, I know a couple – although even they are not as crude and revolting as trump.
I’m of an age with trump and even though I don’t live in the States – I am petrified that life as I know it could be disappeared via one US election. It almost went last time – which was the first time ever that I lost friends because of political differences.
I have no time for anyone who says they support trump & sadly I know a few of them also. He has turned the norms of society on its head. I have lived through times when multiple marriages were frowned upon (by Church and State) yet those who profess to love the lord have accepted the life style of trump as wondrous to behold. They accuse any opposition of everything that trump is and has done – and refuse to recognise this is what they are doing.
RW politicians in my world are now talking loudly about rolling back the laws on abortion and making it (once again) illegal, after interminable efforts to decriminalise it have at last been successful. Conservatives want to conserve the 1800s & this has me wondering what sort of a world will it be for the children & grandchildren.
Chet Murthy
https://www.drudgereport.com/ has a … uncomplimentary pic of TCFG on their page. It’s obvs AI-generated, but still, *chortle chortle chortle*.
TS
@Chet Murthy: The headline is somewhat perfect – what has happened to the Drudge report?
Ksmiami
@Neal: bring a baseball bat. Keep it by your side
Chet Murthy
@TS: I think they got bought by some richie, and since they their coverage has been somewhat more …. balanced. Still don’t trust the place, and for sure I think they still run a ton of right-wing rubbish. But they’re not as bad as they were a decade ago.
PAM Dirac
@Citizen Dave:
Warner/Chappell claimed copyright, but that claim was always dubious, but a lot of people paid up rather than spend money on lawyers. Someone finally put together the money to take it to court and won in 2016. The original “Happy Birthday to you” is now public domain.
Ivan X
@Chet Murthy: I got curious, and it looks like The Hill asked the same question. The article takes a lot of words to say ,”It’s because Drudge and Trump got in some kind of tiff in 2020 and now Drudge hates Trump so much he doesn’t care how many conservative readers he loses.”
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@TS: Trump may have pushed Drudge past the Cole Threshold (see also: Cheney, Elizabeth; Kinzinger, Adam; Scarborough, Joseph).
Chet Murthy
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: Nah, I think it was just that the new owner wasn’t as comfortable with the RWNJ shit.
ETA, FYI: https://www.quora.com/What-happened-to-the-Drudge-Report-Has-ownership-changed-It-seems-to-have-pivoted-to-the-left
The Audacity of Krope
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: Drudge is, at a minimum, enemy of the real enemy territory.
FelonyGovt
@Anotherlurker: I’m so sad about the Mets. And living in LA, I’m surrounded by Dodgers fans fans, including my best friend. Ugh.
Soprano2
@West of the Rockies: Exercise keeps my stress level manageable. I shudder to think where I’d be without it. Insane, probably.
FelonyGovt
That airplane banner over the Taylor Swift concert, in addition to being obnoxious, is another puzzling use of campaign funds. Almost like expenditures are wholly driven by the ego of the candidate rather than an attempt to persuade voters…
Soprano2
@JWR: Well, I have to root for Edman. I saw him play when he was with the Cards AA team here. I wasn’t surprised he was successful.
Ivan X
@FelonyGovt: Do we know that it was the campaign that did it, as opposed to some lone freakshow with too much money?
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@The Audacity of Krope: Two quotes come to mind:
“The enemy of my enemy is my enemy’s enemy, no more, no less.” -Howard Tayler
“My enemy’s enemy is a problem for later. In the meantime, they might be useful.” -Sandy Mitchell
Chet Murthy
@Ivan X: One says to oneself that given the way the campaign is sending all its money to TCFG’s pocket (and lawyers), it’s pretty damn likely it was some (super)PAC that did it. That is to say, some freakshow with too much money! Ha!
SFAW
@TaMara:
Mookie and Kike’ ? I liked both of them on the BoSox, even though I’m not a Sox fan.
As a Mets fan since ’62, I’m disappointed by tonight’s result, but cautiously optimistic for the future. [I wish Mookie had gone to the Mets — after all, anyone named “Mookie” belongs in Queens — instead of the hated (because fuck Chase Utley) Dodgers. ] Now, if only Pete can learn to hit the slider …
And, maybe Steve Cohen will buy the Jets from that numbskull, Woody Johnson. And maybe I’ll get a unicorn for my birthday.
Ruckus
@SatanicPanic:
That sort of makes sense. His growing up – OK he’s about 5th grade at best, even though his actual age is way past that – he’s really just a person that thinks he’s grown up but is about as mature as a 9 yr old child, raised by chickens. Not to knock 9 yr olds, the vast majority of whom are far more mature than shitforbrains.
Ruckus
@TS:
They look at the world and don’t understand that it has grown, moved on from the 1800s. Many of us olds can likely remember when we were young and it wasn’t much more than when the place was founded. My father came out west, literally in a horse drawn wagon, in 1918. He was one yr old. I drove across the US coast to coast in 3 days, in early 1973. And it hasn’t been 1973 in a while. The world has grown, and learned just a bit about, well most everything. A lot has changed in my lifetime, and yet maybe not so much. Some still want to live in a world that doesn’t actually fit within what this country is supposed to be about – they want to conserve what they think was a good life. Now parts weren’t all that bad but overall it sucked donkey balls compared to today. It still sometimes sucks a bit, but it is in most every way it’s better than half a century ago.
Baud
You’re not alone. Despite my best efforts, I feel some low grade stress about the election.
Gretchen
@Ruckus: I didn’t know why my mom was so cautious about babies getting sick before the pandemic. She grew up before vaccines and knew people who had diphtheria, polio, whooping cough. Some died. I was blissfully ignorant.
Chet Murthy
@Gretchen: Both my grandmothers lost half their children in infancy. Half. Half. It’s daylight madness that these MAGAts want to return us to that time. Though, to be fair, they don’t realize that this is where they’re heading. They (of course) suffer from the ceteris paribus fallacy: that they can change one thing (their acceptance of vaccines) and not affect the world in other ways (spread of all manner of deleterious disease).
Msb
@japa21:
thanks for your service to your country! Best wishes for a safe and problem-free experience.
Ruckus
@Gretchen:
I was born before the polio vaccine. I have a friend my age who had polio. Actually I’ve know more than one person who did. Went to school with a girl that grew up with polio, at our HS reunion she showed up with no crutches and walked in the auditorium like she owned the place. So I know 2 people my age that had polio and lived reasonable lives in spite of it. I also knew a few who didn’t do so well. 3 of my friends, one of each of their parents had polio and they had iron lungs in their front rooms because they were so big they couldn’t be placed in any other rooms. I was never able to find out how that worked out.
Life used to be a hell of a lot different a long time ago. What a doctor knew when I was born was far less than what has become the norm now, science has come a hell of a long way over the last few decades. Medicines are available and science has changed life into a far better deal than it was nearly a century ago. The big thing now is making it available to EVERYONE, not just those that can afford it. We need to do better.
Aussie Sheila
@Baud:
I totally understand low grade stress about this election. It’s truly gobsmacking, but that can wait.
If it helps, I live in the largest state in Australia, which is sort of ‘middle swingy’, not the leftiest, not the most conservative at all.
Each federal election I work in what we call ‘marginal electorates’ the equivalent of your ‘swing districts’.
After a couple of weeks work on the doors I get a good feel for how the electorate is going in any given cycle. This ‘feel’ is of course supplemented by the rest of the teams at the end of each week.
Obviously I’m not working the doors anywhere over there, but I bet you thousands of people are. They will have a good ‘feel’ for the mood and responses. That will be fed into the campaign for that district and so on.
My point here is that nothing beats going out and doing some work, no matter how little. Work assists in dealing with anxiety for a start. And secondly, after a while you get the hang of how the electorate is going. One way or another, you usually know before the actual election, in that particular electorate/district.
It helps.
Aussie Sheila
@Aussie Sheila:
Oh and before I forget, compulsory voting means we have a turnout of around 93-95%. But turnout doesn’t equal total votes, if you get my drift . It also means from our end, that a lot more work can go into persuasion work rather than ‘driving’ people to the polls.
I understand that compulsory voting will never happen in the US, (it only happened here because conservatives were freaked out about how effective unions were in driving the vote in rural areas), but whatever happens, reforming US federal electoral law must be a priority after this election and going forward.
It enrages me that poor, young and otherwise disaffected voters are so discouraged from rocking up to the poll and casting their ballot. However they choose to.
It’s a fucking democratic outrage.
No other democratic country in the world would tolerate such a ramshackle unfair approach to every citizen being able to easily cast their ballot and having their ballot honestly counted.
Gloria DryGarden
@Jackie: I’m late. But this is wonderful. I needed that
Daoud bin Daoud
@dmsilev: “You want lies with that hamberder?”
Chris T.
@Chet Murthy: 3 months off is enough to lose most of 9 months on. But, it may take as little as one or two months back on to regain most of what it took 9 months to gain initially. (A lot depends on … a lot of factors. “More work” isn’t always better, but also isn’t always worse. The key point here is that regaining what you once had is invariably faster than gaining something you didn’t have in the first place.)
HinTN
@HumboldtBlue:
Wow
Tony G
@West of the Rockies: Exactly. When playing high school football a half-century ago, I took plenty of showers with other naked teenage boys. We were not staring at each other’s penises and commenting on them. That just didn’t happen. Aside from his current, rapid slide into dementia there has always been something deeply broken about Donald Trump.
Glidwrith
@lamh47: FWIW, late to the thread, but NBC News has a live update interactive vote tracker for the nation, broken out by state. Both those voted and requested votes are shown. It’s early days yet, but we’re over 47% versus thugs at 36% and independents at 17%.
glc
@PAM Dirac: Just to restate one point that might get buried: the song was already in the public domain when they asserted copyright, they were just lying about it.
Like Disney when it claimed they didn’t have to pay royalties when they bought out other companies’ book contracts, because they’d bought only the rights, not the obligations.