Post title from the SNL cold open, which 99% of you have probably seen:
As shared in previous threads, I’ve been pretty calm(ala) during the runup to the election. It’s not confidence. Although I think we’ll win, I’m not anything like sure about it. I fully understand the existential nature of the outcome, which will affect me and mine in direct and indirect ways.
It’s more of a que sera sera attitude I’ve developed over this year during which, sometimes, it seemed the universe was personally shitting on me and mine. And which also revealed notes of grace, love and support that I didn’t fully comprehend and appreciate before.
Yesterday, my placid veneer cracked a bit while Bill and I were watching a football game and grilling hot dogs (Sahlen’s — the best!) outside. If you watch sportsball, you’re bombarded with political ads, so we’re used to it, but a particularly obnoxious Trump ad pushed me off the ledge briefly, and I started ranting about how disastrous it would be if that ambulatory anal abscess actually won.
Bill did not disagree but expressed surprise at my outburst because I’ve been so outwardly unbothered by the turd maelstrom of this election season. (We’ve been together nearly 30 years so have weathered a few bumpy elections, hoo boy!)
I regained my composure as quickly as I lost it because I think, for me, at least, freaking out is a choice. I choose calm-ala.
***
Valued commenter Baud said something in the morning thread that bears repeating:
So I hate to be negative but I want to say something and today is the only good day to do it. We are likely to win, but there’s a possibility that we might lose. If we lose, a lot of abusive people will come out of the woodwork to blame Dems or some component of Dems for not being good enough. Please give those attacks the back of the hand. None of us are responsible for the depravity of others. Liberal guilt only hurts liberals.
Hopefully, in 36 hours, this comment will be moot.
Co-signed!
BTW, I don’t know how our Baud came up with the nym (and it’s none of our business, really), but the handle always reminds me of this Umberto Eco novel, which is one of the books we took with us when fleeing the flood:
Thanks, Baudolino!
***
Meanwhile, at our temporary pet-friendly headquarters in town, the host thoughtfully provided a cover for the WHITE loveseat (why???) for folks who allow their pets on the furniture. (Of course mine are allowed on the furniture; they live here too.)
Here’s Pete using the loveseat as intended:
And here he is as a lump who has burrowed under the cover, defeating the purpose.
Pete is undefeated.
***
Just one more day, y’all. We can get through this.
Open thread!
Westyny
Isn’t Baudolino Italian for “little Baud?”
Hildebrand
I love that book! Definitely one of Eco’s best (and that’s saying something).
dr. luba
I find equanimity to be hard.
It’s not enough that Trump would fuck over the USA.
He would be responsible for massive genocide in Ukraine. Those are my friends and family.
Iowa gives me hope.
Melancholy Jaques
I guess I just assumed since we are on the internet that it was the unit of speed of transmission, specifically the rate of symbol changes per second rather than bps, which is the raw data speed.
Fair Economist
The NYT Tech Guild is on strike today after months of management giving them the cold shoulder. They have a cute post on Mastodon (and probably other social media) announcing this with a funny parody of the NYT Election Needle. (which is probably not going to be operational tomorrow night, due to the strike)
Suzanne
I just did a 5-mile run at under a 10:30-minute pace. That is fast for my old ass. You can see where I am trying to put my anxiety.
Baud
The origin of my nym is much more low brow. But I have no qualms appropriating that book title in order to impress the ladies.
Betty Cracker
@Hildebrand: Agree — Eco was a brilliant and imaginative writer.
@Westyny: So I guess our Baud is “big Baud.”
sixthdoctor
Fishbone dropped a single to loop while refreshing results tomorrow.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/fishbone-trump-racist-piece-of-shit-1235146760/
Other MJS
I can never see Baud’s nym without an image of a phone-cradle modem popping up in my head.
Salty Sam
I have been strangely calm about this for over a week now. I think we’ve got this. I will not be surprised if it is closer than I’d like it to be, nor will I be surprised if it’s a blowout. I WILL be surprised if Trump wins- popular vote OR EC.
Occasionally I let my mind wander to “what if he DOES win?”, and the feelings that brings up are not to be borne for more than a few seconds.
Keep Calm-ala!
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: So what is the origin of the nym?
Are you a unit of transmission speed equal to the number of times a signal changes state per second. For one baud is equivalent to one bit per second.
schrodingers_cat
@Other MJS: Same.
BeautifulPlumage
I saw this on Xitter:
Dress warmly tomorrow, it’s going to be minus 45
Yarrow
When the bad shit happens to you, and keeps happening and keeps happening, at some point this is about all you can do. I feel you on this. A lot.
Edit: Also, Pete is adorable. How’s Badger feeling?
Jeffro
We are making Tim Walz’ hotdish for dinner tonight. I have to dial it back on the adult beverages that would go oh-so-well with the hotdish, because I’m supposed to report at an ungodly 6am tomorrow to be an outside poll observer.
BUT
it’s a small sacrifice compared to so many others!
AND
I will more than make up for it tomorrow night!!
Jackie
LOL to Pete burrowing under the protective cover! Now he’s properly protected!!!😁
And, speaking of Kamala, when she gives her full faced smile at a certain angle, I swear she could be Mary Tyler Moore and I expect her to toss a hat joyously into the air!
soapdish
YAAAASSSSS, GURL!
West of the Rockies
Forbes reports that between January 2023 and October 16, 2024, Harris out-raised Trump 997 million to 338 million. 3X more.
Between October 17 this year and November 1st, she’s out-raised him 4:1
What does that tell us about enthusiasm!?
KatKapCC
MVP did so damn good on SNL. What I found extra hilarious was seeing a bunch of people on Twitter (I will not call it X) saying that she copied Trump’s skit from years ago. Ummmmmmmm do these idiots think the candidates — or any guest — are the ones writing the skits? It’s the show that writes them, so if anyone “copied” anything, it was their own staff. I’m sure the campaign gets to approve the script beforehand just to be sure they don’t have Harris saying something they don’t want her saying, but it’s not like Kamala was the one sitting down coming up with the whole concept.
Plus, it made sense to do it since Maya and her look like sisters. Which is funny since her sister’s name IS Maya.
Doc Sardonic
Put that Fishbone number in rotation with Ministry’s love song to the MAGAts, Goddamn White Trash
LeftCoastYankee
It’s been years since I read it but wasn’t Baudolino a prolific liar?
scav
Given the attitude towards pants, could baud just be a bad speller confusing u and w?
cope
Over the last 40+ years of marriage, we have always splurged for leather furniture so the various dogs who have passed through our lives would have minimal effect on it. I know a previous thread from months ago involved lengthy discussions of dog friendly furniture materials and that many expressed opinions against leather furniture in terms of pet friendliness. Our experiences tells us otherwise.
In any event, I too am strangely calm heading into whatever awaits us all tomorrow. In my seventy fifth year, I guess it’s too hard for me to expend energy contemplating/worrying about/predicting the future. I do know that the Sun will rise tomorrow and the next day and so on. I do know I am back in the fold of my immediate family since leaving Florida and that we are all very progressive in our politics and I find that comforting, come what may.
Harrison Wesley
He ain’t under the covers pulling some Vance kind of stuff, is he?
Jeffro
@sixthdoctor: LOVE Fishbone! LOL
David_C
@soapdish: Sahlen’s FTW! And not to dump on the state of Florida too much, but yesterday’s game was nice. After having to live through the Bills-Dolphins matches of the late ’60s and the whole decade of the ’70s, watching Larry Csonka turn into Superman twice a year…
coin operated
One more day put me in mind of One Day More from Les Miz. Favorite version is from the 10th Anniversary Concert at Royal Albert Concert Hall:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydpmzU_i2hg
While I was typing this, Master of the House came on after. If Thénardier isn’t the perfect encapsulation of Trump as a hotel owner, I don’t know what is.
EarthWindFire
More than anything, I want this to be over tomorrow with our smiling new president-elect keeping calm-ala for us all-mala. Enough with this insanity. It’s high time it crawled back under the rock where it came from. I can dream…
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
This waiting period gives me another level of imaginative sympathy in thinking about what it must have been like for people on the side of the Western Allies in early June 1944 (80 years and 5 months ago) waiting for what would eventually become the Normandy D-Day Invasion – the outcome of which they did not yet know, and on which such high hopes and desperate stakes were riding.
If they could stand the waiting without going bananas, keeping calm and carrying on is the least that I can do.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
We’re driving up to Breckinridge where old friends have this time-share condo that they stooopidly purchased years ago and can’t sell. They get it one week a year, always this week. They invite various friends and family up to spend part of the week with them.
So we’re going up today and coming home Wed. The idea is to watch election turns together similar to how we did 40 years ago with many of the same people tomorrow night.
Only this time without the massive amount of hash brownies that took over the evening 40 years ago.
Betty Cracker
@Yarrow: Badger is back to his usual curmudgeonly self, so that’s a relief. Here he is moments ago being a sunbeam hog.
KatKapCC
Seen on FB:
(From their fingertips to G-d’s ears that it’s over in a good way by Wednesday.)
EarthWindFire
@coin operated: Thinks he’s quite a lover but there’s not much there too (according to Stormy). Love Les Miz!
HumboldtBlue
A Rabbi in Ohio took to the local newspaper to beg us to be polite and nice if Trump loses and to remember his supporters are people too and will be hurting and upset and to be nice.
I’ve never in my life wanted to smack a Rabbi, that changed today.
Fuck Trump. And fuck you for voting for him.
Layer8Problem
@Melancholy Jaques:
Damned right, aren’t we all computer network people here?
WaterGirl
If there’s anyone here who isn’t certain that you will be calling (the commenter formerly know as Baud) Baudolino, please raise your hand.
Bueller? Bueller? Yeah, that’s what I thought!
@Betty, my Miss Willow is a burrower, too. So sweet to find the hump under the covers. When that happens, I say “where’s Miss Willow?” and I get a sweet meow from under the covers.
catclub
have you heard ‘nauseously optimistic’?
of course, strangely calm is better.
Betty Cracker
@David_C: Bill is originally from Buffalo, so he was happy. This is the only matchup we disagree on since we are both primarily Bucs fans now. I retain vestigial loyalty to the Fins because when I was a kid, they were the only game in town, so I was rooting for them. Tonight the Bucs are playing the Chiefs, so there’s a good chance all of my teams (Gators, Fins, Bucs) will lose this week. As long as Team Donk wins tomorrow, I can deal with it!
WaterGirl
@Fair Economist:
Oh thank god. I cannot watch that needle. I have election needle PTSD from 2016.
Yarrow
@Betty Cracker: Yay, Badger! He can have all the sunbeams! Glad he’s recovered(ing?) and is no longer such a worry for you
JoyceH
@HumboldtBlue: problem with that is that when Republicans are “hurt and upset” they respond with violence. So a better idea might be to knock them down before they can knock you down.
HumboldtBlue
OId Man Shadow
And I don’t want to hear a single bad word about Madam Vice President if she doesn’t win. She put together an amazing campaign in the span of 100 days and if it comes up short, no one gets to blame the intelligent, competent Black woman for not being magic enough to save us from white fragility/stupidity.
Rose Judson
@Suzanne: On election day 2020 I wound up running 10 miles just to do something with all the excess anxiety. I have too much going on tomorrow to make that possible, tho.
Trivia Man
@cope: “carry water, chop wood”
soapdish
Between that and Josh Marshall at TPM I think I went through a good half of a bottle of Maker’s Mark that night.
KatKapCC
@OId Man Shadow: I am small and not strong and generally anti-violence, but if anyone says a single negative word about her, I will punch them in the nose. Because it will not have been the case that she let us down.
It will have been us* who let her down.
(*the collective ‘us’, not saying us here on this blog)
JoyceH
@cope: I got a leather sofa but then I got a puppy. I’m keeping the sofa covered until the pup outgrows that destructive phase. BTW, do dogs ever outgrow digging or can they be trained out of it or do I just have to live with it? My yard looks like WWI No Man’s Land.
Layer8Problem
Well, when Pete’s burrowed under the covers he’s invisible so you can’t find him. A strategem probably adopted from cats.
narya
Sourdough discard dough for pizza is in the fridge for an overnight rest. I’m about to do a workout, and then will head out for a short walk, wherein I’ll pick up some AP flour and drop off a coat to a woman who is collecting coats for refugee kids at a nearby high school. Other than checking in here, I’m trying to avoid either doom scrolling (how many ways can the SCROTUS fuck us??!!) or smoking too much hopium. I was going to run today, but the weather has been crap. I’ll run in the rain if it’s a beer 5k, but on my own? Nope.
Harrison Wesley
@HumboldtBlue: So you wound up saying “You dwatted wabbi” instead?
artem1s
Managing my stress levels has been about trying to keep my 2016 PTSD from rearing it’s ugly head. I can be happy and proud about my vote. The ball is rolling and nothing I do will suddenly jinx Harris into a loss. My wanting Hillary to win did not jinx her. Planning to put a copy of my ballot on the grave of a local Suffragist will not jinx Harris. God isn’t trying to punish women. And God won’t intervene to take down TCF for us. I honestly haven’t seen anything that would lead me to think TCF can overcome his negatives from 4 years ago. So I’m optimistic and my expectations are on hold until Nov 6.
I’m working the polls so will have plenty to do tonight and tomorrow. Poll workers have to show up at 5:30 and won’t be able to leave until: the polls close at 7:30, everyone in line has voted, the polling equipment has been disassembled and packed away, the ballot count has been verified and we have all been signed out. So please remember if you are voting in person tomorrow, these are very long days for not much money. Even the R representatives are taking their oaths seriously. They have experienced managers helping them and looking out for every voters’ rights. Any shenanigans will likely come from voters or outside the polling places not from the poll workers. Be kind and patient. It will all be over in about 30 hours.
https://www.tickcounter.com/countdown/6063295/were-not-going-back
lollipopguild
@Betty Cracker: “Big Bad Baud”
Layer8Problem
“Drink your gin and tonic-a, and smoke your marijuan-ica.”
Personally I’ve laid in a supply of gummies.
Chet Murthy
@cope: Leather furniture!?!?! Do you have recommendations on where to buy the stuff? I’ve been thinking of replacing my (25yo) couch with a leather one.
Villago Delenda Est
Maya Rudolph is a brilliant comedian and mimic; she was doing Kamala in Kamala’s face to perfection, and Kamala noticed!
Anoniminous
Today I learned “olino” is an Hawaiian word meaning “to shine brightly” or “to shine with splendor”.
Chief Oshkosh
@Betty Cracker:
@lollipopguild: Sung to the tune of: https://youtu.be/KnnHprUGKF0?si=x0QD_IFtwrYYN532
KatKapCC
@artem1s: Kudos to you. I worked polling places a few times many years ago, but only during primaries, and in CA where we don’t get mile-long lines and fistfights and such…and that was long and tough and stressful enough! Keep yourself hydrated and hopefully the busyness of the work will help keep you distracted.
Yarrow
@HumboldtBlue:
Yeah, no. I agree with this:
Trivia Man
@cope: evert in our house has always shredded leather. I still get it sometimes because they give so much and ask so little.
I can haz leather ottoman?
SW
We have a fine candidate who was well funded and ran a near flawless campaign. Now it is just about the relative sizes of the two warring tribes. I know that tribe tolerance is growing while tribe intolerance is shrinking. This gives me faith that the future is bright. Right now it may be a close run thing. But there were slightly more of us in 2016 although not enough to overcome the anti democratic effects of the electoral college. In 2020 our margin had increased enough to overcome the disadvantage of anti democratic forces. This year I believe that the inexorable march of demographic change will again increase our margin over 2020. Too great to steal or credibly yell foul. Going forward it just gets worse for the bigots.
KatKapCC
@Villago Delenda Est: She really nails Kamala’s speaking style and cadence, which is so key for a good impersonation.
HumboldtBlue
@Yarrow:
I’m right there with him. Spike the ball, do a fucking TD dance, get the whole team in the end zone and do a chorus line while pointing and laughing and mocking and insulting every fucking fascist in the country.
Trivia Man
@Yarrow: hold their feet to the fire. Get them all publicly on record as unrepentant trumpers and make sure their opinions and input is ignored in all future discussions.
Fingers crossed it will be a loud mandate and we use the momentum to pass good bills.
Baud
@Yarrow:
We should definitely celebrate a win big time. And they’ll be in our face because Trump won’t concede.
But the only issue I have about getting in their faces is that I don’t want to bother acknowledging their existence. A win is about freedom from them. I don’t want them to occupy my mind and pollute my joy.
Kelly
There are two cats in this picture. Long haired tuxedo cat Martin would rather we didn’t heat the house at all. Short haired tabby Phoebe is a half Abyssinian, a desert cat that always burrows under the covers.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:c2temk45sbwxxqxgmn33nshj/post/3l5pbkm2i4n2r
thruppence
This election season reminds me more of Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum, that mix of mortal dread and absolute absurdity. ”Ma gavte la nata,” Trump.
CaseyL
“..ambulatory anal abscess..” – pure gold. Describes everyone in his orbit, too.
Betty C – I recall that Bill went down to the swamp to check on the house, but don’t recall hearing what he found there. Do you have any kind of ETA on when you’ll be able to go home?
I’ve been outwardly calm, mostly, about the election since Madame VP formally accepted the nomination at the summer convention. Inwardly, I’ve had medium-grade dread and anxiety until about a week ago, when I either just burnt out or the fierce response to the MSG atrocity gave me hope. Now I’m almost in a Zen place.
Tomorrow Oscar has a vet appointment to see how he’s doing one month after his hyperthyroid treatment. That’s in the morning. I’ve long since voted, returned my ballot, and confirmed it’s been counted, so all that’s left is waiting.
Anoniminous
We will know fairly quickly how the election is going. I don’t see any reasonable scenario where she doesn’t win. If Harris wins North Carolina then the only question is how big her win will be. IF she wins Florida which is possibly if not likely then it’s a curb stomping on the EV front. Remember Little Ronnie RayGuns won 489 Electoral College votes to Carter’s 49 in 1980 with only 50.7% of the popular vote.
MazeDancer
Was very calmala until I got an email from someone whose kid is fleeing Portland tomorrow for fear of violence.
Since Trump knows he’s losing, maybe he’ll send the Proud Boys that aren’t in jail to cause trouble at polling places. Hope not.
There are oics all over Twitter of each of Trump’s “rallies” today. They were half empty.
OTOH, looking forward to the 8-city Harris/Walz concert tonight.
HinTN
@Harrison Wesley: Elmer Fudd ftw: You wascally wabbi.
Made me guffaw, you did.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@CaseyL:
Classic BCrack prose.
Yet another one for the clip file.
mrmoshpotato
Beast of a snakey line at my local polling place.
Yarrow
@Baud: Only do what you can do. But they are bullies and won’t go away just because they lose.
cope
@JoyceH: Jesse, our current dog, is a terrier mix who came to us at about three months old. At the beginning, she was a ruthlessly efficient digger. She would mostly dig under the fence in our back yard. She would go into the yard next door where two adorable pit bulls lived. She would play with them, go in their dog door and come back to our yard with their dog toys. At about ten pounds, she made holes big enough for her but too small for the pitties. My wife thought we should train her to find cash and wallets.
But to answer your question, at least in our case, she stopped being a digging dog when she got to be a couple of years old. She does little digging now, four years later, unless there is something stinky in the ground she can roll in.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
In 1978 when we met, I was able to impress my then-girlfriend, now wife of 44 years, by whistling at the acoustic modem and getting the terminal to type out nonsense.
She’s somewhat harder to impress now, but still laughing at my jokes. Even the ones that she’s been hearing since 1978.
mrmoshpotato
@HumboldtBlue:
Was it published online? Could you comment “Fuck their feelings!”?
karen marie
@sixthdoctor: I don’t understand centering Trump. Making songs about him – probably esp those that call him shit – only gives him joy. He can fuck off.
dmsilev
@Yarrow: Why is it that the right wing is never asked to show understanding and tolerance for the left, but always the other way around?
Mostly a rhetorical question, yes.
BC in Illinois
This coming week has been exhausting.
Embra
I always thought it was because he’s Baudacious.
BTW, Josh Marshall did a few posts today opining that win or lose, Harris ran a very good campaign under unprecedented circumstances. Totally agree.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Anecdata: I work in a retail space in Ohio, where people go to pretty regularly in my community throughout the week. The area is historically Democratic but trending purple/red increasingly over the past decade. The Dems have never, in my experience, been the kind of progressives I’d like to vote for.
Anyway, I’ve noticed that I don’t see a lot of people wearing Trump gear anymore, even compared to a few months ago it seems. Still plenty of Trump signs in neighborhoods, I’m suspicious of the people wearing those “Freedom” Underarmour shirts with the stylized American flag (anybody notice over the last few years shirts with the American flag on the shoulder have gotten popular with a lot of white people?), and I’ve noticed some have more subtle items like MAGA keychains and rubber wristbands, but it doesn’t seem like the same level of support or passion is there that was present in 2016-2020 from what I remember. Hopefully that bodes well for us.
No illusions that Harris will win Ohio, but if those polls showing Trump only +3 in Ohio are accurate, that’s definitely not good news for him
Layer8Problem
@MazeDancer: I expect most of those Proud Boys left will be like, “Yeah, you know I’m all in, hard core, but landing in jail would really screw up my job at Sheetz.”
mali muso
Also feeling very zen at the moment. Not that I’m not abjectly terrified at the possibility of a negative result, but I don’t want to torture present me when that will be a problem for future me. Trying to soak up being in the moment as much as possible and spending those moments with my precious daughter who is home from school today and tomorrow and has decided that she wants to start decorating the house for Xmas (who am I to protest…it’s a much more pleasant way to spend today than anxiety spiraling). In 2016, she was yet unborn but due within a few weeks of the election. Now she is almost 8 and the light of my life. I refuse to think about a future in which she has to grow up in a fascist dictatorship.
cope
@Chet Murthy: We always bought at Rooms To Go. Typically, the pieces we have had were real leather on the top, sitting and arm-resting parts and faux leather on the sides and back but we have not ever had problems even when we used to babysit the two pit bulls next door who were total furniture lovers or our daughter brought her three dogs over for a romp.
FelonyGovt
@HumboldtBlue: I have often wanted to smack a rabbi (long story), but this one sounds especially smack-able. What BS. We remember the “fuck your feelings” T-shirts they wore.
Nelle
@dr. luba: Just got off of an hour Zoom with Ann Selzer, who talked a bit about her methodology. If I understood accurately, she says that she does not weight her polls for past voting and behavior. If that is accurate, I find that oddly encouraging for a way to go into election day. As opposed to the grievance culture that animates MAGA, the future can shed some of the past. It doesn’t have to be determinative.
My neighbor ran over to listen, too. We decided that, if Iowa is truly a swing state, we did it by ourselves, without national attention and spending. I’m new enough here not to have a huge circle of acquaintances, but most of those I know have been door knocking, post carding, texting.
And it isn’t that long since it was a more rational place. Now, if we can get rid of some of the worst – our attorney general and our governor. Well, and our senators. That would be fine if they wafted off into some bubble land.
Anyway
@Chet Murthy: I bought mine at Crate & Barrel – twenty (?) years ago maybe. Still in good shape – has that nice lived-in look.
jonas
@HumboldtBlue: Indeed. Trump voters support him because they hope he will hurt us. That’s not a point of view that demands legitimacy or sympathy.
MisterForkbeard
@HumboldtBlue: Shoulda been 47 other things
MisterForkbeard
@mali muso: My youngest dauighter was literally born on Trump’s election day. My extended family likes to grouse that exactly one positive thing happened that day.
I’ve hit a bit of zen about the election. I think we’re going to win, but I don’t know that. And I know I’ll be shattered if Harris loses and the consequences for my daughters will be pretty big, long term. But I’m also happy that I’m in a very blue state, we’re doing well, and I can protect my kids from much of the worst of this all. And I can also make it clear to them who does and who doesn’t regard them as full, actual people.
If nothing else, it’ll be clarifying. And we can then invest our energies into protecting the people that Trump and the rightwing Nazis will try to harm.
wjca
@HumboldtBlue:
Except the inflection point was 2008.
Yes, there was a “black swan” event in 2016. But that’s what it was — a combination of singular, mostly unlikely, events that produced a result that even surprised both candidates.
2020 was a return to normal, and this year will merely extend the trend line.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: If things break our way, the mister and I will dance like maniacs in the house (with the blinds shut) but will probably contain our glee around the 70% of local voters who are MAGA dopes. Unless we get all hopped up on pot and sangria and decide to hoot, holler and bang pots and pans together in the front yard. We’ll see.
In 2020, I was perfectly gracious around MAGA family members. But I couldn’t restrain myself when I drove past the “Stop the Steal” protesters in front of the courthouse. I made a playlist to blast just for them (“Loser,” “Na Na Na Na Hey Hey,” etc.) and flipped them off and/or blew exaggerated ironic kisses while driving past. Probably NOT my finest hour…
@CaseyL: The house is fine and the water is receding, but it needs to drop a foot and a half or so before our road will be passable. That’ll probably take a couple of weeks. Like the election, we’ve done all we can, and now we just have to wait.
mrmoshpotato
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
So an even more massive amount of hash brownies?
Westyny
@Betty Cracker: “Big Bad Baud!”
West of the Rockies
@HumboldtBlue:
That was a very intriguing blog post. Thanks, HBlue! I think Harris will have more support than Biden though. Also, too, I think Trumpism reeks of toxic masculinity (which the writer does not specifically mention).
Omnes Omnibus
@HumboldtBlue: I have no intention of taunting the MAGAs, but I also have no intention of toning down my celebrations in deference to their feelings. Knock on wood/toss salt over my shoulder/anything else to ward off bad luck.
Betty Cracker
@mali muso:
Well put!
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@mali muso: “Very zen” is probably the best description of where we are too. There is literally nothing more to be done. We could have no better chance. We have a great candidate who ran a damned perfect campaign, a damned perfect choice of VP, support and endorsements from practically everybody of note including anybody who served in The Former Guy’s administration, and ran a powerful ground game. Oh, and incidentally got $1B in donations.
He did none of that. He’s terrible, he’s known to be terrible, his fans are bored and walking away from his rallies, and all the money that should have gone into campaigning was sucked up by the candidate and various other parasites. Her campaign could not conceivably have been better, and his could not conceivably have been worse.
So now we’re just left with waiting for the outcome. It’s in the hands of the remaining voters, and the election offices, and the legal team (of which again we have the best and he has the worst) to fight whatever fuckery is coming down the pike. But that fight starts Wednesday. Let’s get through Tuesday.
persistentillusion
@Layer8Problem: I had a very large horse who used to hide behind phone poles, completely oblivious to the fact that large portions of horse were visible on either side of the pole. He couldn’t see me, therefor he was invisible.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Fixed.
Yarrow
@jonas: Yep. The cruelty is the point. That belief system deserves no sympathy or respect.
West of the Rockies
@mali muso:
Enjoy that girl’s childhood (as you most obviously are)! Children make Christmas so festive.
Baud
BTW, I’m not scolding anyone who wants to celebrate different than me. Just expressing my preference.
JoyceH
@cope: Whimsy doesn’t dig to escape the yard, she just digs for fun. Trenches all over the yard. I’ve sort of thrown up my hands. Occasionally I’ll go out and fill in the holes but she generally just digs them out again.
She also chews a lot, toppled the cat tower last week after working on it for a year. When she started chewing the tower, I thought about trying to discourage her, but then realized that pups chew and if I turn her from the tower her next chewing object was likely to be much more expensive. So the tower was the sacrifice and I just finished assembling the new one.
mali muso
@MisterForkbeard: Oh wow, what a day that must have been. I’ll never forgive the orange menace for stealing a fair bit of the joy and warmth of my early days with my baby daughter as my already heightened new mom threat alert was hijacked with all the ominous fear he brought us. No more!
JoyceH
I just got my COVID shot. Thursday I get flu and pneumonia shots. And in twelve days, off to Italy!
kwAwk
I agree with Baud and was thinking of posting something similar myself. If we win tomorrow Woo Hoo! If not, then let’s not start pointing fingers and getting down. Joe Biden has been a great President. History will remember. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have run a great campaign.
This election is weird (hat tip to Tim Walz) it feels like it should be a blue wave but it isn’t according to the polls. Trump is a baffling incompetent candidate. Women should be more irate about Dobbs and more excited to elect the first women President. Even my Facebook page isn’t lighting up with Trump bullshit like it was in 2016 and 2020. Even Trump’s demeanor and verbiage over the past 2 weeks comes across as a bitter man who knows he’s about to lose.
I don’t know who reads this chicken scratch I post but I’ll say this. To the so called main stream media. Quit calling Trump crazy and deranged. Actually do some research about Narcissistic Personality Disorder, the in and outs, the abusive behaviors, the verbal games and the like and use the proper terms. If someone came into your neighborhood and killed your neighbor, you would say, I’m not a professional judge and jury, so I’ll not call him a murder.
For our friends in the comedy world, stop giving Trump so much fucking attention. From here until Inauguration Day, stop covering him. Stop reacting to him unless he does something positive. When you stop reacting to him he’ll melt down. He’s addicted to attention, positive or negative. I know it will be hard, but come up with some other material.
Weftage
@MazeDancer: The place has been a RWNJ bête noir since at least 1990, when residents gave GHW Bush a Hearty Portland Welcome. Ever since then, Portland has been completely burned to the ground about once an hour — or so I’m told. (What do I know? I only live here.)
I do expect a trumper tantrum no matter the outcome of this election. But we’ll cope, and repair, and endure. I’m damned if I will be forced out of my own city by these gibbering hooligans.
Kayla Rudbek
@WaterGirl: my cat Mister Dairy Junkie became a burrower as he got older (living in Minneapolis taught him that). I would come home from school or activities and I would see a lump on the pillow (oh he must be cold). I miss having a cat.
SW
So what is Donald’s plan B? A charter flight to Moscow, or Hungary?
PAM Dirac
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yes. It is not so much “fuck your feelings” as “your feelings aren’t relevant to anything I want to do.” You made your choices and I refuse to take responsibility for shielding you from the consequences of your choices.
Betty Cracker
@HumboldtBlue: Great link — thank you! This sentence:
Yessssss!
CaseyL
@Kayla Rudbek:
Shayna – the kitty I brought with me when I returned to Seattle back in ’88 – was already elderly at that point. My apartment had a king-sized waterbed (it is still my bed) which of course was heated.
Shay-Shay was very old, and arthritic, and **loved** burrowing under the covers and sleeping in the soft warmth, a small lump that I learned very quickly to look for before getting into bed or even sitting on it. Checking first became an ingrained reflex.
For weeks after she died I was still checking the bed for Shayna-lumps.
dr. luba
@Melancholy Jaques: I always assumed he misspelled “bawd.”
NutmegAgain
I love your dogs. So photogenic! Dogs are super-soothing. I’ve been watching animal videos to self-soothe: bears scratching against trees; dachshunds riding around on Roombas; rescued farm animals of all types and sizes; basically, you name it, I’ve likely watched one recently. Very effective! Also a shopping trip to Ikea to buy frozen ginger cookie dough, and a whole basket of odds and ends. Relatively cheap for a lot of retail therapy.
gvg
@cope: There are a lot of different quality leather furniture out there. Some of it is worse than…thin cloth but costs more.
There is also luck. My cousin discovered that dogs who were raised to use leather chew toys could chew a leather couch too. Nowadays we aren’t doing leather chews without supervision because some dogs have choked but it used to be quite common. I would suggest no leather toys ever from puppyhood if you intend to have leather furniture. That is too confusing and unfair to a dog.
I am not sure how its going to work with cats, but other ideas haven’t worked. I bought a high quality used set for trial.
Mr. Mack
Weird to me that there has been nearly zero “Q” mentions anywhere I can find. Was a huge part of his 2016 base. Also, not a popular take around lefties but I think Garland going after all the J6 people instead of diverting resources to go after the larger players was a good call. The little people learned that they will bear the brunt of a persistent DOJ criminal investigation, and will be less likely to expose themselves to legal liability. YMMV
HumboldtBlue
@Betty Cracker:
You and all the others who enjoyed the column arte more than welcome.
Marci Wheeler also has some cogent thoughts.
And I will repeat a comment I made the other day, I am really enjoying BlueSky.
gvg
@JoyceH: The breed, the individual, the size of the yard and the heat are involved.
Some breeds like to dig more. Others can be diverted.
Individual tastes.
Small yard, energy to burn dog= more digging.
In Florida, they dig to avoid the heat. Bring them in faster. Buried chicken wire or even chain link in some places helps, especially if they always want to dig under a deck which they might collapse on top of themselves.
Maybe see about distracting with something else to burn energy like chase a frisbee? Talk to a good trainer.
prostratedragon
Pete!! Dogs will find a way.
schrodingers_cat
@cope: What about cats? Will leather withstand their claws as well?
artem1s
Oh yes, I’ll remember that. But I’ll also remember their FuckYourFeelings T-shirts. How the Brooks Brothers rioted in FL and threatened those who were counting votes. I’ll remember how W, instead of calling for a national initiative to end our oil dependence told us to go shopping and then lied about WMD’s to get us into two forever wars. How 5 SCOTUS justices lied about Roe being settled law. How Roberts threw pre-clearance out the window. How rightwingers made fun of Paul Pelosi when he was attacked and hospitalized. How they drew a target on Dr. Tiller’s back and celebrated when he was murdered ushering in his Church. I remember how they lied about Sandyhook. I remember the 8 murdered in a prayer group in a church in Charleston, SC and the 11 murdered in the synagogue in Pittsburgh and the young woman murdered in Charlottesville. I remember a lot.
When we win, will you remind them to be nice this time?
We aren’t going back and we’re not forgetting this time.
Ramalama
@sixthdoctor: Nice. Going to be blasting this in the woods all day tomorrow.
The Audacity of Krope
@Fair Economist: Good. I fucking hate that needle with a passion. Many problems with the Times’s outlook can be demonstrated by that needle.
stinger
Pete! I beamed fondly at the first picture and guffawed aloud at the second.
Villago Delenda Est
Be nice to the KZ guards. They will be hurting and upset.
Tenar Arha
@sixthdoctor: Thank you!
Gloria DryGarden
@Anoniminous: baud shines brightly, with splendor…