Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

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

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

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

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

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

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Republicans do not trust women.

Their shamelessness is their super power.

If you’re gonna whine, it’s time to resign!

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "Stories from the Road" / Sunday Night Open Thread

Sunday Night Open Thread

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Made some solid work of the drive to Tday, making it about 950 miles, which means tomorrow I can easily make it to Albuquerque or maybe even Gallup, leaving a short remnant (by comparison) for the third day so I can arrive early enough to unpack and be in a somewhat talkative mood and not murderous. In a cheap 70 buck a night hotel next to a waffle house, so I had a gut bomb breakfast for dinner, which I needed because all I ate all day long was two bananas and a handful or two of dill flavored sunflower seeds.

I don’t like to eat or drink anything when I make long drives- just a coffee in the morning with a banana, a couple liters of water, and that is it. I dunno why, I am weird. I just have a dinner when I get to where I am stopping.

Maxwell was a complete and total asshole for the first 273 miles, yowling like a madman until finally his meds kicked in. Asshole.

Gas prices were absurd, ranging from the lowest at 2.35 a gallon to the highest at 2.95. These motherfuckers did not vote for Trump because of the price of gas, but I have no doubt they will credit him on 21 January when all of a sudden the economy is great. Fuck them.

Reader Interactions

174Comments

  3. 3.

    cain

    Make it there safe!

    Also, fuck MAGA

    My wife asked that we work on moving out of the U.S. I think I might do that. Both our kids are adults. The job, I have could be done anywhere in the world. I’m happy to re-located anywhere, as long as my wife is happy. Also cool to try out various countries. My wife argues, (as a school teacher) if they destroy public education, she think she can have the flexibility to try new careers.

    Regardless, I’m still going to fight for equality wherever I am.

  5. 5.

    MagdaInBlack

    Nothing like breakfast for dinner, John. May your trip remain safe and uneventful ❤️

    eta: I don’t consider Maxwell’s behavior an event, that’s just being cat.

  6. 6.

    swiftfox

    Much the way I operate on long drives.  Breakfast is a banana, and a protein bar. Or a decent donut if one can be found. Maybe a Mountain Dew for the caffeine at midday, and then find a semi-decent Chinese (nowadays, unlike the 80s and 90s, could be Thai or Indian) for dinner. BBQ if in the south. Hispanic in the SW.

  7. 7.

    mrmoshpotato

    Gas prices were absurd, ranging from the lowest at 2.35 a gallon to the highest at 2.95. These motherfuckers did not vote for Trump because of the price of gas, but I have no doubt they will credit him on 21 January when all of a sudden the economy is great. Fuck them.

    Those prices make me wonder what decade it is.

  8. 8.

    Kent

    I want them to get what they voted for good and hard.

    I must say, I have coarsened over the years when it comes to social welfare programs for adults.   I’m still hard-core about helping kids obviously.  I’m a teacher so I support things like universal free school lunches and universal health care for children.  But when it comes to fighting for expansive social welfare programs for adults who are just going to turn around and vote for Trump, I’ve lost my energy.

    I’m going to spend more of my emotional energy on environmental protection, climate, and other issues of planetary concern and stop giving a shit about social welfare for ungrateful Trumpers.

  9. 9.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Kent:

    But when it comes to fighting for expansive social welfare programs for adults who are just going to turn around and vote for Trump, I’ve lost my energy. 

    Those programs getting wrecked isn’t going to only hurt Trump trash though.

  10. 10.

    Kent

    @mrmoshpotato:   I’m not saying we should trash social welfare programs.

    Just that I’ve lost my energy to fight for them as opposed to other issues.  If the people who benefit from them don’t care,  I have a hard time caring either.

  11. 11.

    laura

    Man, I’m So looking forward to quotes from Bunny on the chaise lounge in the near future as well as pictures of Thurston living his Godt Damn best life. Safe travels Big Cat Daddy.

  12. 12.

    RevRick

    @mrmoshpotato: MAGA has already decided that the economy has become wonderful overnight! Their liking has shot up 50% since the election. I wonder what has changed.

  14. 14.

    Quaker in a Basement

    When you glide through Colorado tomorrow, lean out the window and wave. I’m out there somewhere.

  15. 15.

    brendancalling

    @cain: my gal and I are thinking the same thing. Working on teaching English abroad.

    so tired of fixing the $1000 car, only to have people to vote to wreck it again.

  17. 17.

    Quaker in a Basement

    @cain: If you haven’t done so already look into so-called “digital nomad” visas. Lots of countries have them and you can stay for an extended term.

  18. 18.

    KatKapCC

    @Kent: But when you fight for the programs, you are fighting for good people who need them. We also want to fight climate change, and we shouldn’t stop doing so just because we want Republicans to choke on filthy air.

  20. 20.

    brendancalling

     

     

    @mrmoshpotato: oh, it’ll hurt some of ‘em. My weed guy is (was) a lifelong Dem who voted Trump. This, despite having survived prostate cancer this year, with his treatment and meds made affordable only by the ACA.

    I’m not buying his weed anymore (NJ’s dispensaries are 20 minutes away, more expensive). And if he loses his healthcare, I will not be sympathetic. At all.

    meanwhile, at my local open mic, we all know the guy who voted for Trump. He must be feeling defensive because he put out some video on IG about how he know how it feels to lose… and I don’t think it went over well. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I plan to continue to shun him as I did last week.

  22. 22.

    Leto

    We drove our son to the Allentown airport yesterday so he could fly over to Ohio and visit a friend. We visited the Waffle House that’s a few mins from the airport where we all had a good breakfast before he left. That’s the closet WH to us, at an hour drive. When we pick him up in a week, we’ll hit it before driving back home.

    John, hope you have a good rest tonight and safe travels the rest of the way.

  23. 23.

    lowtechcyclist

    @MagdaInBlack:

    eta: I don’t consider Maxwell’s behavior an event, that’s just being cat.

    I dunno, I/we moved my/our cats by car or rental truck from Northern Virginia to Blacksburg VA, from Blacksburg to Charlottesville, from C’ville to Newport News, from Newport News to Columbia SC, from Columbia to Florence, from Florence to Bristol on the VA/TN line, and from there to southern Maryland.  (Good Lord, that was a lot of moves in 16 years. Plus moves between two different residences in each of C’ville, Columbia, and Bristol.) I can’t remember any time it took more than an hour for them to be resigned to it and stop yowling.

  24. 24.

    sixthdoctor

    At my krav maga school in Maryland, my teacher let me know that he’s received multiple calls from LGBTQ+ associations asking for self-defense seminars. I’m all for that and I let him know I’d be happy to subsidize some of them as I can.

  27. 27.

    frosty

    950 miles in one day, solo? What a mensch. My record when I was in my 20s was about 700, Des Moines to Boulder CO. These days, towing a trailer? 250.

    Safe travels to you and the menagerie.

  28. 28.

    cain

    @Quaker in a Basement:  Thank you, I’ll look it up. I would love to do something like that. We have a completely paid for home that we could just hang out in between “adventures”. I think moving around the world is where it is at.

  31. 31.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @brendancalling: They will simply deny that TCF/PAB’s actions have anything to do with runaway inflation, or food shortages, or any other economic catastrophe, blaming it all on Kamala Harris.

    They are incapable of critical, independent thought.  They’re basically like North Koreans at this point.

  35. 35.

    piratedan

    safe travels, because there’s a shitpotfull of snow in Colorado now, so getting to Albuquerque might be a bit of a challenge.

  39. 39.

    cain

    @mrmoshpotato: We will likely land back to our home in Oregon.

    But in the meantime, we have a lot of experiences to do. We might as well spent our time to see the world and help if  we can. But it’s hard to live our lives with the shit that happening. We will do what we can but we also realize that we can do that anywhere and so we can

  41. 41.

    Quinerly

    Hey, now…Gas is under $2.75 in New Mexico and we are Blue Harris supporters. The gas is also usually cheaper on the pueblos. I paid $2.45 at Santo Domingo Pueblo the Fri before the election. I know you have done this drive before but stay alert in Albuquerque, even on the interstate. That whole I 40/I 25 around Albuquerque is a weird layout in my opinion.

    I like Earl’s for breakfast in Gallup. Eat at the counter, though. Not at a booth or table. Earl’s is quite the experience. Jerry’s is a little better food but Earl’s is an experience. Both have homestyle cooking. Run by Navajo.

    If you ever decide to hit Santa Fe, that exit you pass at Cline’s Corners brings you right to my area/house…Eldorado/Lamy.

    Safe travels!

  44. 44.

    brendancalling

     

     

    @Suzanne: totally unbothered, and happy to rub it in, especially w/ former weed guy. “Why are you complaining? You voted for this. He said he was going to get rid of the ACA. Did you think that mean ‘for everyone except you’? Thats not how that works.” I can’t wait for him to complain that prices have gone up due to tariffs (not that I’ll hear about it, since he lost my business).

  46. 46.

    LAC

    @cain: Hi, that is where we are at as well.  I have moved my original  retirement date up from the fed as I do not want to be working under the thumb of the orange stain and captain brain worm. It is the only thing that keeps me going. Hubby has retired already and I look forward to joining him.

  47. 47.

    Quinerly

    @piratedan:

    I guess I am confused about his route. I figured he was on I 40 and wasn’t traveling thru CO. Then I saw CO mentioned.

    Another day of my brain being fried. Woke up and thought it was Wed. Not sure WHICH Wed. Just was convinced it was Wednesday.

  49. 49.

    Downpuppy

    Breakfast is my favorite part of long drives. People shuffling around quietly at a motel buffet while I pile up on muffins, fruit, yogurt, bagels, eggs, bacon, waffles, coffee & juice, or, if there isn’t a motel breakfast, Denny’s!
    Others here who travel more have surely noticed how it’s more important than ever to check reviews of motels in even the better chains.  In 20 years, demented, crippled, bothering the nursing aides, I’ll still remember the Ramada in Paxtonia, PA from 2021. And it will most likely still be a slimepit.

  53. 53.

    Bill Arnold

    @cain:

    The job, I have could be done anywhere in the world.

    I worked on some (cloud) machines physically in Australia for a brief while. The lag (in ssh sessions, mainly) was uncomfortable; had to type ahead blind for many keystrokes.
    Speed of light matters – big planet (also, a sphere, and speed is slower in fiber).

  55. 55.

    lowtechcyclist

    @mrmoshpotato: ​
     

    The exact opposite side of the world from me is in the Indian/Southern Ocean off the SW corner of Australia.

    With ~70% of the world being covered by water, it’s always a good bet that your antipodal point won’t be on terra firma.

  56. 56.

    Chet Murthy

    @Bill Arnold: Ha, I found that for stuff like, that, if you’re dealing with a shell on the other end (not something with cursor graphics), then running that ssh session inside an editor (Emacs!) erases the lag!  B/c all the editing happens locally in the editor buffer, and when you hit return, -then- the command gets squirted down the line.  Of course that only works for command-line stuff, but that’s most of what we do over SSH anyway.

  59. 59.

    sentient ai from the future

    i can recommend, as the parent of a trans kiddo, playing this track and scream-singing (i assume there is another type of singing out there that i confess unfamiliarity with) along with it, through the reddest areas of your journey.

     

    (maybe the link to a youtube video of big freedia “chasing rainbows” is at issue? also, fuck you wordpress)

    https://youtu.be/ZlNI7UhRoyc

  60. 60.

    Shalimar

    Let them credit Trump on January 21st.  They will be claiming it is still Biden’s fault on July 21st when Trump’s tariffs have turned the economy to shit and the price of gas to $4+ a gallon.

  61. 61.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    @mrmoshpotato: interesting random fact is that for most places in the world, the point exactly opposite on the globe is water. I think New Zealand is the great exception

  62. 62.

    Shalimar

    @mrmoshpotato: I still remember post-Katrina when gas prices were above $4 a gallon predicting that peak oil would cause prices to continue to rise and we would be over $6 a gallon within 5 years.  I was very wrong.

  63. 63.

    Barbara

    @frosty: ​My husband and I drove 950 miles in a day, and though I didn’t drive all of it I drove the segment between midnight and 5:30 am. It was a bit of consolation that it changes from central to mountain time just before our destination of Rapid City SD so we got an extra hour of sleep.

  64. 64.

    Chet Murthy

    @Barbara: All you guys&gals who can manage that kind of distance blow my mind.  I can’t imagine more than 8hr of driving a day — I mean, that kind of concentration for more than eight hours?  Ooooof.  It seems quite a feat.

  67. 67.

    Kirk

    @Downpuppy: Never Denny’s for me any more.

    Consistent bad service, and any time I saw non-whites in there (or been with non-whites) the service for them was worse.

  69. 69.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Sen. Chris Murphy is looking to shake things up:

    Chris Murphy
    @ChrisMurphyCT

    That was a cataclysm. Electoral map wipeout. Senate D practical ceiling is now 52 seats. R’s is 62. Time to rebuild the left. We are out of touch with the crisis of meaning/purpose fueling MAGA. We refuse to pick big fights. Our tent is too small. 1/ Some early thoughts:

    2/ The left has never fully grappled with the wreckage of fifty years of neoliberalism, which has left legions of Americans adrift as local places are hollowed out, rapacious profit seeking cannibalizes the common good, and unchecked new technology separates and isolates us.

    3/ The things that mattered are disappearing. We spend half as much time with friends as a generation ago. Hard work no longer guarantees economic mobility. Institutions (like churches) are delegitimized. Place based identity evaporates as we all become “global citizens.”

    4/ The left skips past the way people are feeling (alone, impotent, overwhelmed) and straight to uninspiring solutions (more roads! bulk drug purchasing!) that do little to actually upset the status quo of who has power and who doesn’t.

    5/ Does racism explain part of the attraction of the right’s nativism? Of course. But mass deportation is a (terrible) response to Americans’ real sense they are helpless in the face of global forces (like increased migration). The left largely ignores this pain.

    6/ We don’t listen enough; we tell people what’s good for them. And when progressives like Bernie aggressively go after the elites that hold people down, they are shunned as dangerous populists. Why? Maybe because true economic populism is bad for our high-income base. 

    7/ Meanwhile, men tumble into a different kind of identity crisis, as the patriarchy, society’s primary organizing paradigm for centuries, rightly crashes. The right pushes an alluring dial back. The left says “get over it”. Again, a refusal to listen/offer responsible solutions.

    8/ We cannot be afraid of fights – especially with the economic elites who have profited off neoliberalism. The right regularly picks fights with elites – Hollywood, higher ed, etc. Democrats (e.g. the Harris campaign) are tepid in our fights with billionaires and corporations.

    9/ Real economic populism should be our tentpole. But here’s the thing – then you need to let people into the tent who aren’t 100% on board with us on every social and cultural issue, or issues like guns or climate.

    10/ Those are hard things for the left. A firm break with neoliberalism. Listen to poor and rural people, men in crisis. Don’t decide for them. Pick fights. Embrace populism. Build a big tent. Be less judgmental. But we are beyond small fixes.

    I get the feeling Chris Murphy has slowly become more heterodox on both domestic & foreign policy. I do think his missive is incomplete in one critical aspect: a commitment to core values & principles. The anti-Fascist coalition has to be unified by a collective commitment to anti-Fascism & economic fairness, & a willingness to subordinate/suppress disagreements to the common objectives. Perhaps the coalition should not throw everyone w/ bigoted views out if they are committed working together to defeat the Fascists, but the coalition cannot accommodate bigotry in its policy agenda & its populist rhetorics. Targeting minorities & externalizing internal problems is what the Fascists do. Don’t let picking fights w/ the monied interests turn into anti-Semitism. If one cannot suppress one’s bigotry to fight the Fascists and strive fore greater economic equality, then he/she really belongs in the Fascist coalition.

    There are plenty of pitfalls in giving in to populism, plenty of ways to end up in Hell despite good intensions, but the more moderate/technocratic paths are no longer viable. The priority has to be to prevent the Fascist from consolidating their hold on power at the federal level, moderation & technocratic competence will not suffice.

  72. 72.

    Jackie

    JC, I’m surprised Steve traveled well? Dose Max sooner and hopefully your drive will be more tranquil tomorrow🤞🏻

  73. 73.

    Elizabelle

    @Suzanne:

    I’ve got limited bandwidth.

    Laughing. That’s the perfect way to put that into perspective.  FAFO, voters.  (And even more:  non-voters.)

  74. 74.

    Chet Murthy

    @Elizabelle: @Suzanne: What’s that old saying about the things you can change, the things you cannot, and the tranquility to accept them?  There are going to be real limits on what we can affect, and banging our heads (and our hearts) against those brick walls will just bruise and break us.  I still haven’t accepted that (in reality) but hope that soon enough, I will.

    Decent people will be hurt.  There’s nothing I will be able to do about that: I tried, I really tried, as did we all.

  77. 77.

    Suzanne

    @Chet Murthy: You mean the Serenity Prayer, written by Reinhold Niebuhr?

    Yeah, that’s where I’m at. I never wanted people to be hurt or to go without. But, like…. I voted for tons of good things that will never benefit me. I voted for every local tax increase to help public schools and highways and on and on. That’s the help I’m offering. If it’s rejected, as it was last week, then I can’t do any more.

    From here on out, my limited resources have to be concentrated on my family and friends and their safety.

    And this is what I mean about groups not being good coalition members. If your members can’t be counted on to show up, either for their own interests or for others in the coalition, then why would we prioritize your concerns?

    There’s a lot of good that needs to be done, but with much less political capital, difficult choices need to be made.

  80. 80.

    stacib

    @mrmoshpotato: Agreed, but how many of them also couldn’t be bothered to vote?  I’m with Kent – I’m so done caring about their welfare when they can’t work up enough energy to do more themselves.

  81. 81.

    Chet Murthy

    @Suzanne: I read a lot about California moving rightward.  I’ve never paid a lick of attention to California politics (aside from voting Dem and for progressive initiatives) b/c I figured we were safe here.  But now I feel like I must pay attention.  B/c we (me and my family, my friends) live here, and we need CA to be safe.  That’s overdue, b/c even before, Sikhs were getting attacked all over California just for being Sikhs.  East Asians too (little old East Asian ladies, FFS).

  82. 82.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @zhena gogolia: I don’t quite read his Tweets as throwing vulnerable minorities under the bus, or feed xenophobia, but he is definitely incomplete on that, which is unacceptable for someone of his position.

  84. 84.

    Tony G

    Tens of millions of Americans have now demonstrated exactly what they are.  They are ready to kill their own parents because they don’t like the price of eggs and the existence of transgender people.  At least the Germans suffered for 18 years before the elected Hitler.

  85. 85.

    Chet Murthy

    @zhena gogolia: It’s a little scary to read, isn’t it?  Makes me feel a little queasy.  Reminds me of that bit from Blade Runner:

    The ice in Rachael’s glass is RATTLING. She’s standing
    only a few feet away, half eaten by shadows, her eyes
    blank with shock.

    The reason the ice is rattling is because her hand is
    shaking.

    You can hear the CLOCK TICKING in the living room.

    DECKARD
    Me too.

    Rachael frowns and looks at him. What ?

    DECKARD
    I get ’em bad. It’s part of the
    business.

    Deckard holds out his hands. They’re shaking.

    Rachael gives Deckard a long hard look.

    RACHAEL
    I’m not in the business.

    Deckard meets her look, understands he cannot comfort
    her so easy, she will not be one of the boys with him.

    RACHAEL
    I am the business.

  87. 87.

    Kelly

    950 miles is a long ways. My longest single day drive was here to LA, 924 miles. I was 49 then now I’m 68. Won’t ever happen again.

  88. 88.

    Dan B

    @sixthdoctor: Its great that LGBTQ orgs are looking for self defense training.  In Seattle there’s little fear and LGBTQ people are everywhere unlike many locales.  There was a MAGA train in West Hollywood yelling Faggots.  In Seattle most people would be straight.

    And as a gay man I’m feeling worse every day.  With all my income from Social Security there’s more concern that would make moving out of country unlikely.

  90. 90.

    FDRLincoln

    I will never get over this.

    America has never lived up to our ideals. But the election of Trump goes way beyond not reaching our ideals. It is a total repudiation of them by half the voting population.

    I will never forgive them. Ever.

  93. 93.

    Kent

    @stacib: Agreed, but how many of them also couldn’t be bothered to vote?  I’m with Kent – I’m so done caring about their welfare when they can’t work up enough energy to do more themselves.

    Look, I’m not necessarily proud of it.  But I do have compassion fatigue when it comes to social welfare programs for adults in this country.    Children?  Yes, they are innocent in all of this.  And the environment?  Yes, that has always been my pet issue.  I frankly doubt that I’m alone in that sentiment at this moment in time.

    One has to pick one’s battles and priorities.  And for the next for years I’m likely to be much more engaged in local and state environmental and education policy than anything to do with national issues.  One has to maintain one’s mental health and save one’s energy for 2026 and 2028.

  95. 95.

    Kent

    @Geminid:Sounds to me like Chris Murphy intends to run for President in 2028. This the kind of bullshit people pile high when they have big plans in mind.

    There is going to be a literal shitload of senators on both sides of the aisle gearing up for primary runs less than 2 years (yes, the 2028 primary season starts in 2026.  Because neither party will have an incumbent in 2028 and both will have full bore competitive primaries.  I honestly think someone like Ruben Gallego with a more compelling bio will be a more likely eventual nominee than a completely white bread long time establishment Dem like Murphy.

    That is one reason I think Trump is going to be more ineffectual than Republicans hope and Democrats fear.  He is an almost instant lame duck and once Congress gets into primary campaign mode, shit stops getting done.  Also why most presidents achieve most of their actual accomplishments during their first terms.

    Trump, will of course, loot the place for himself and his pals.  But huge legislative changes beyond the inevitable tax cuts?   I’m not so sure.  Plus Trump is lazy and will do things in the most lazy and performative way, which isn’t really the way to make permanent change.

  96. 96.

    hitchhiker

    Because we live in WA, where there is no income tax and public services must be paid for some way or another, I haven’t seen gas under $4/gal in a very long time. Right now the station up the road has it at $4.29, and that feels pretty cheap. For the record, in this state we moved rather decisively left last Tuesday.

    I feel less rage-y and more sad today. My country turned out to be awash in people who don’t know right from wrong. Unlike so so many of them, I do, so I guess I still have that going for me. There was a test of morality this time, and as a nation we bombed it. There’s really nothing else to say.

  97. 97.

    VeniceRiley

    @Leto: When the fascism bropocalypse happens, the Waffle House will still be open, I guess. I won’t be there to see it because I married out of America.

    Time to renew my next visa (££££) and pay for the medical care I never use and would qualify for after paying for decades back home in the before times.

    The system in the entire western world milks the population like cattle. From jaywalking to the top, unless you’re a toss money white bro. It’s obscene, but I am convinced to my core that is not why Harris lost.

  99. 99.

    Shalimar

    @Dan B: I wouldn’t worry too much about them messing up your income.  There are too many voters in the Republican base on Social Security to gut it for current recipients.  All of the horrible Republican plans previously starting with Ryan fucked people 55 and younger.

  100. 100.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Geminid: I think you are right, looking to fill the gap that Bernie Sanders is incapable of filling. However, if he wants to throw minorities (of every stripe) under the bus, &/or feed xenophobia, in his appeals to populism, then he is no better than the reactionaries.

  101. 101.

    Chet Murthy

    @Shalimar: and when/if they try that particular con-job, they’ll still need to keep FICA in place (b/c it’s all pay-as-you-go) so the younger workers’ll revolt.  Which means they can’t do that either.  I mean,  not without having prepared the ground with -serious- authoritarianism first.

  102. 102.

    Jackie

    @Kent: I’m not sure. Trump won’t be a solo president. Musk bought himself a president, and a lot of  Trump’s “ideas” will be spoon fed to him.

  103. 103.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Kent: If the elections work the same as today, yes. The big unknown is how far along the reactionaries will succeed to entrench the systems that ensure their illiberal managed democracy at the federal level, & that’s something the anti-Fascists can do something about.

  104. 104.

    Kent

    @Jackie:I’m not sure. Trump won’t be a solo president. Musk bought himself a president, and a lot of  Trump’s “ideas” will be spoon fed to him.

    Or, alternatively Trump conned Musk into funding his campaign and is done with him now.  And like everyone else not named Trump who has willingly entered Trump’s orbit, he’ll come out of the process soiled and diminished.

    If there is one thing we know about Trump.  He is loyal only to himself and goes through people like toilet paper.  I think he is going to be less controllable than a lot of big money people think.  He always has been and I see no reason why things will change.

    Which could mean that an unhinged Trump could be WORSE than one under the control of Elon.  Who the hell knows.  I just don’t think it is pre-determined that he’ll be anyone’s lackey (other than Putin’s of course).

  107. 107.

    Jackie

    @Kent: Only time will tell. It’s not going to be a fun ride the next four years no matter who’s pulling his strings. Putin, Musk, the Heritage Foundation…

  108. 108.

    RevRick

    @Chet Murthy: That’s the abbreviated version of Reinhold Niebuhr’s pastoral prayer offered at a Massachusetts church in 1943 in the midst of WW2. It was at the cusp of the war effort. And it’s important to remember that Niebuhr was not a touchy-feely guy, but very much a public theologian who preached what he called a Christian realism. Christian faith could not be detached from moral choices that had to be made. He would agree with Karl Barth that in this world the lesser of two evils is actually the good.

  111. 111.

    NotMax

    Peering into the rear future, at 12:01 pm. on January 20.

    With a flourish, Doofus 47 signs an executive order changing the national anthem to YMCA.
    //

  113. 113.

    NotMax

    @frosty

    In late December of 1976 drove 21 hours straight through from St. Paul to Long Island in NY, stopping only for potty breaks and gasoline fill ups. Approximately 1200 miles, IIRC.

  117. 117.

    RaflW

    @frosty: Longest I’ve done solo was 800 miles, Bakersfield to Albuquerque. I was 21 years younger, then. OTOH, that Forrester didn’t have cruise control, which, yeah, sucked.

    Longest with a co-driver single day was Minneapolis to Denver. And then one of the three on the trip snored like a monster in our crappy Super 8 motel room. Really fun day 2 to Taos.

  118. 118.

    NotMax

    @Geminid

    Many have tried, few have succeeded.

    Can count the number of people who successfully went from being a sitting Senator to the presidency on one hand and have fingers left over: Harding, Kennedy, Obama.

  119. 119.

    VeniceRiley

    @Chet Murthy: Started in South Korea, iirc. But, from what I read in r/twoXchromosomes for over a year now, going viral.

    One can hope they don’t bow down. But, I reiterate, this is on white men to fix. You wanna be in charge? Good. Learn how the postwar worldwide economy and everything thing from that to how a uterus even works. Ya caught the car, bros. If it’s a shit hole, it’s on you.

  120. 120.

    Chet Murthy

    @VeniceRiley: Over at dKos I read that the 4B movement has actually had a measurable effect on the birth rate.  Which …. well, I guess if that’s what it takes, then that’s what it takes.

    I’m still grieving.  It seems like we’ve lost (are losing) an entire world.  And we all know a nationwide abortion ban is coming.  I don’t know how we’re going to get thru this.  I just don’t know.

  124. 124.

    frosty

    @Barbara: I did a 24-hour run from Boulder to Indy with my brother, about 1,000 miles overnight. The most fun part was seeing oil smoke coming out of the tailpipe of my Triumph TR-3 at two in the morning. We bought a case of Quaker State and used it all getting to Maryland.

    My dad and I rebuilt the engine before I headed west.

  125. 125.

    frosty

    @Chet Murthy: Can’t do it any more. Six hours with the trailer is our max. With stops, that works out to ~240 miles. We don’t hit the road before 11:00 and want to get in by 5:00. Backing a trailer and getting set up in the dark sucks.

  127. 127.

    Ruckus

    @mrmoshpotato:

    If shitforbrains and his associates screw up Social Security that is going to upset a hell of a lot of old farts, like me. I live off SS and screwing that up would make me dislike shitforbrains more than I do now which means it is impossible.

  128. 128.

    frosty

    @NotMax: Finally! Something about Trump that I laughed at! I can see it, YMCA as the National Anthem.

    Baltimoreans will be pissed off. We’ve got that Fort McHenry thing down there in the harbor.

  129. 129.

    Ruckus

    @Yutsano:

    Sure it’s lower than what it was not all that long ago, but look at a lot of the rest of the country. Now it is possible that CA fuel standards are stricter than other parts of the country but still, it’s not like we don’t move a lot of gasoline in this state.

    And we use a slight percentage of the gasoline in the country nearly 12%,because after all the population of CA is over 10% of the US population.

  130. 130.

    frosty

    @Chet Murthy: 4B? I read about it and I’m against it if it’s for all males. I have two good sons in their 20s and 30s and they don’t need this headwind. I had enough trouble finding a girlfriend myself when I was in my 20s in the 70s, when all this political bullshit didn’t exist. I’d like to see my sons find love.

  131. 131.

    ColoradoGuy

    The outcomes range from full-Nazi Project 2025 to just another failed Republican presidency, with a major crisis inevitably baked-in. Project 2025 assumes Nazi-like speed and efficiency … but remember, this is Republicans we’re talking about.

    Look what happened when GWB used Bible College grads to run Iraq … a complete and total disaster. The Claremont Institute (no relation to the Claremont Colleges) is full of return-to-the-pre-enlightment ideas, but zero hands-on experience. It’s basically a propaganda mill to entertain bored billionaires who enjoy twiddling around with societies … because they can.

    The people around Trump would love to reshape America into an oligarch’s paradise like Russia. But Russia is the way it is because of five centuries of Tsardom. What they have now with Putin is a reversion to the mean.

    Similarly, the Confederate States have been repressive oligarchies with Boss Hogg/Ku Klux Klan sheriffs for more than 200 years. MAGA is simply a reversion to the mean in those parts of the country.

    The West isn’t like that. Coloradans will not tolerate being ruled by corrupt bureaucrats from the Confederacy, nor will California, Oregon, or Washington State. These states were founded by free-soil Gold Rushers who don’t tolerate Southern repression or Southern levels of corruption.

  132. 132.

    frosty

    @NotMax: More like the original owner never did any oil changes. Leaks? British. Electrical problems? British. Broken piston rings and sloppy main bearings? Lack of maintenance.

    ETA My favorite Lucas joke:

    Q Why do the British drink their beer warm? A: Lucas made the refrigerators.

  134. 134.

    Jay

    @frosty:

    4B is against males, until you prove you are worthy.

    Went through this with T.

    I proved worthy.

    Took a little bit.

    Worth it, every moment.

  137. 137.

    SomeRandomGuy

    Hey, folks. You may not see much of me around, and, if not, I’m alive – that’s the only thing I manage to do well over more than a short period of time.

    Had this really scary fucking moment this morning, where I was happy.  I can’t afford that, but, thankfully, I met with a dear old friend of mine who gave me my Biden debate moment. You know, I was Biden, and, well… so, I’m back to miserable and untrusting, and remembering that my membership in any community exists for less

  138. 138.

    Ksmiami

    @Kent: I hope the poor white dumb ass rednecks and their offspring get fucked. There, I said it. They voted for this, they can all suffer for all I care.

  139. 139.

    Yutsano

    @ColoradoGuy: ​ Well…Oregon the state was partially formed by a bunch of racists who wanted a pure white state. It fortunately didn’t stick for long.

  141. 141.

    Mai Naem mobile ¹

    @Jackie: i saw that but I thought Stefanik was in a pretty red district. I just think the numbers are going to be so close on either side un both the House and the Senate that somebody dying will affect outcomes of legislation.  i believe there were half a dozen resignations and/or deaths in the House in the past couple of years. Even during the passage of the ACA you had Robert Byrd coming in a wheelchair and Ted Kennedy with terminal cancer. I think John Dingel was in a wheelchair as well. I believe there was even a southern GOP senator who had a cardiac event. TFG isn’t well either and Putin doesn’t exactly look like a  picture of good health.

  142. 142.

    Mai Naem mobile ¹

    @Kent: Chris Murphy has zero chance of becoming president. I don’t have a problem with him but the guy has zero charisma. Also, he’s from Connecticut. He’s from one of the states where the wealthy  Democartic ‘neoliberal’ base elected him.

  143. 143.

    Nukular Biskits

    Good mornin’, y’all!

    Late entry to the longest one-way drives: Ft. Washington, MD, to Biloxi, MS. Teh Google sez 1032 miles.  Seems like that was about 15-16 hrs.

    In other news, verified all posts gone from my Twitter account (courtesy of Redact). It’s now locked (all posts “protected”), I’ve logged out. Yeah, I know Musk (FUCK HIM) doesn’t care but makes me feel better.

    And, because it makes me feel warm inside now that I’m finished, who else has kicked their Twitter account to the curb for good?

  145. 145.

    Baud

    @Mai Naem mobile ¹:

    Yeah, what’s his record of doing what he preaches?

    The right regularly picks fights with elites – Hollywood, higher ed, etc

     

    And trans prisoners getting healthcare.

     

    But here’s the thing – then you need to let people into the tent who aren’t 100% on board with us on every social and cultural issue, or issues like guns or climate.

     

    RIP Sandy Hook Elementary kids.

  148. 148.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @SomeRandomGuy: you’ve been really helpful to me, and I’ve enjoyed so many of your comments. May you be safe, May you be blessed.

    I’m exploring ways to be happy, and feel good, lower my stress, even while being wary. I think we’re allowed to lift our spirits and find positive thoughts, even in the midst of this grave and serious situation.

  149. 149.

    JAFD

    @Leto: I am guessing there are two Waffle Houses in the greater Lehigh Valley ?  and one of them is the closest Waffle House to NYC ?

    Ate at the one on US 30, just east of Lancaster, earlier this year.  Not impressed, menus sticky and grimy, prices a bit high.  Passed up chance to return, this past weekend.  YMMV

  151. 151.

    TBone

    I complain about and deride my rumpy neighbors, and deservedly so, but…

    The wife has remained a neutral friend who never “goes there” with me after J6.  I believe her sense of shame is still intact.  Because I believe in the power of the female in the overall governing of her household (hers includes batshit hubby and three sons), I have remained as her steadfast friend, since we are both outnumbered by males (my household outnumbering is merely by one human and two male cats).  She is always kind, positive, smart, and respectful.  We take care of the family dog a few days per week, which means we are allowed to come and go inside their home whenever. She works at a hospital and is reasonably reliable in case of emergency.  I say this because, if the shit does hit the fan, I expect our female allyship may, maybe, might keep her hubby from attacking us, their closest “out” lib neighbors.  Their other neighbors are a single Black female college professor, a weird, youngish man who keeps chickens, and a few elder couples.

    On this Veterans Day, I am remembering the value of allies, wherever they may be found.  My efforts to cultivate female camaraderie may come to naught in the long run, but at least I know the exact “lay of the land” if so.  Know thy enemy, but first try for an ally.

  152. 152.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @TBone: “know thy enemy; try for an ally”

    i shall try this. admirable. For me it might be tricky, Not easy.

    your neighbor w the chickens might share eggs w you , if you give him kitchen scraps for them to snack on…

  154. 154.

    Barbara

    @Barbara: ​I think it would be more useful to look at what worked for us, what kind of messaging and tactics resonated.

    To YY Sima Qian’s point about throwing minorities under the bus, one thing seems relatively clear: protecting individual groups can sometimes be exploited as preference instead of a demand for equal treatment..​

  155. 155.

    TBone

    @Gloria DryGarden: I don’t trust Chicken Man enough to make an offer in that direction BUT yours is a good idea!

    The other people (besides the across the street family) here in my part of the neighborhood who are “out loud”  Trumpers must know they are seriously outnumbered and old.  The only person who is a clear and present danger is my female rumpy friend’s husband.  Her eldest son works as a staffer in Congress right now and is rarely home.  Even if he does come home, I am physically larger and more capable of danger than he is.  The other possible problem is their middle son who is a fitness nut, but he’s seriously religious and also possibly an ally – we hire him to do any chores we can’t handle and we pay very well so he’ll remember us!

    I forgot to mention the one household I am truly concerned about, directly behind me.  The one where they got a vicious cat eating dog and all their cats moved out (my cat Josey used to be theirs). They are two young guys and a young woman. I’m gonna have to make neighborly overtures in that direction against my will.  I need to know them much better than I do now.

  156. 156.

    Baud

    @Barbara:

    I would only quibble with “sometimes be.” That’s their bread and butter strategy. Half the reason they oppress groups is so we’ll come to the victims’ defense and they then turn to their base and say “see, Dems only care about this people, not you.”

  160. 160.

    Barbara

    @Baud: ​I should have added that I’ve been thinking about this because of the passage of the abortion measure in Missouri. “Leave me the fuck alone” resonates. I am not happy that appeals to compassion and common welfare don’t resonate but I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

  162. 162.

    Geminid

    @Gloria DryGarden: I read this Washington Post article from October 24 and I thought of your Georgia friend. Title:

    I’m a brown immigrant. I visited Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Georhia district. Ready?

    The article was written by Silvio Peçana. He’s been writing about his experiences visiting various US communities and talking to people there. His first article was about a “purple” area in Virginia. On this trip he visited Rome, Georgia.

        I took a trip to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s district in Georgia, one of the most conservative areas in the country. I’m a brown man with a foreign accent. I thought, why not?

    The trip was part of an experiment. I’ve been talking to voters around the country about anything and everything– except politics. With politics out of the way, I found that everyone had a story to tell. But how would it go in in a deep-red place?

    Let me report back: the stereotype is true. Not the one about angry extremism. I didn’t find that. The one about America’s small towns being friendly.

    It’s a good article with a lot of detail, plus sketches Mr. Peçana made.

    I would like to ask a favor. Would you please let “Pollyanna From Hell” know about this article? They might appreciate it, and may even have met some of the people, like the women running the tea shop. These are airline stewardesses and the shop is a side gig.

  163. 163.

    lowtechcyclist

    @NotMax:

    Many have tried, few have succeeded.

    Can count the number of people who successfully went from being a sitting Senator to the presidency on one hand and have fingers left over: Harding, Kennedy, Obama.

    And sticking to the post-WWII era, that’s just JFK and Obama.

    Still, it’s a small set of Presidents from Ike to Biden. 13 of them. Five had been VP, but only one of those five was elected while a sitting VP. Four former governors, two sitting Senators, and two that hadn’t held political office before.

    The one thing I’ll say is that being the VP candidate on a losing ticket seems to kill one’s Presidential prospects.  FDR was the Dems’ VP candidate in 1920 and later became President, but he was the last one to pull that off.

  164. 164.

    Gvg

    @Jackie: my hope is competing ideas and factions will grind them to a near halt. Musk and or Theil may think they bought them a President, but they don’t get along and are not really the same. Plus Trump has been obeying Putin for decades, not them, and he definitely doesn’t have the same goals. Then there are the various republicans who want to be elected and will be trying to flatter him while establishing their own fame, which he won’t like and will probably sabotage. Also he can’t really have rally’s anymore because he can’t run again and he loves those…..I wonder how he will handle that? I know he has talked about he “should” have another term but that is not possible without an amendment passing which is not going to happen. Somebody may have to tell him no more than once…

  165. 165.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Geminid: I would be so happy to tell mr Pollyanna about this. Were you able to provide a link to it?
    Rome, by the way, is full of democrats, by ms green has got a big gerrymandered zigzag district.

  167. 167.

    satby

    @Nukular Biskits: I’m not. It’s still where most news and international news gets posted, Black Twitter is, and a lot of resisters. Everyone talks about not complying in advance, but turns tail and books out when the bad guys show up. And oddly enough, the block function seems to be working again and a lot of bots were decommissioned.

    I have a Blue Sky account, but every time I go there it’s more like people’s random blogs. Haven’t been in over a week.

  168. 168.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @TBone: When the incidents at Amsterdam 1st came across my Twitter feed, it was characterized by European MSM as a “pogrom” by Arab/Muslim immigrants targeting Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.

    Then information started to emerge that the Maccabi Tel Aviv “fans” are actually ethno-nationalist football hooligans notorious even in Israel for their anti-Arab/Palestinian hate, as well as hatred for left wing Israelis, noted for their propensity for using the most vile language & violence.

    These hooligans went into Amsterdam & started to tear down Palestinian flags hanging from people’s properties, harassing & assaulting Middle Eastern looking people as well as Dutch who expressed sympathy for the Palestinian cause, & burned a taxi, all the while chanting genocidal songs targeting Gazans. Before the match these “fans” refused to observed the moment of silence for the victims of recent flooding in Valencia (presumably because the Spanish government has called for an arms embargo on Israel).

    After the game it appears Maccabi hooligans went out looking for more trouble, setting off confrontations w/ Arab/Muslim counterprotestors, although Dutch police seemed to have the situation mostly under control.

    After Bibi made a show of arranging emergency flights for the 2K “fans” to return to Israel, the “survivors” of the “pogrom” triumphantly sang more genocidal chants targeting Gazans upon arrival.

    SKY News made an utter mess of the reporting by airing a segment that seemed to accurately present the course of events, in which the Maccabi hooligans had instigated the unrest. It then took it down & replaced it w/ a segment that left the opposite impression, in which Maccabi fans were targeted because they were Jews by anti-Semitic Arabs/Muslims. Now the 2nd segment has been taken down too.

    Other European MSM outlets initially used footage that showed Maccabi hooligans assaulting Dutch pedestrians, & reported them as Arab/Muslim residents attacking Maccabi “fans”, until at lease one has been forced to retract by the photographer who shot the footage.

    The current Dutch government has the hard right Geert Wilders in the coalition. The Dutch hard right, like all of the European ultra-right, are proto-Fascists w/ histories of anti-Semitism, although their target for the time being are Muslim immigrants, & not Jews, yet.

  169. 169.

    Xavier

     

    @YY_Sima Qian: I’ve thought this for years, and since the most prominent billionaires have come out whole hog for Republicans it makes even more sense. I hope for a candidate who says, like FDR, “they are unanimous in their hatred of me, and I welcome their hatred.”

  170. 170.

    YY_Sima Qian

    One of my comments is stuck in moderation, I would greatly appreciate it if one of the mods can release it. Thank you!

  172. 172.

    way2blue

    John—What do you listen to on long drives?  Playlists?  Podcasts?  Radio?

    For me, I’ve dropped most of the political podcasts I might listen to, except Tim Miller’s.  And switched to the ‘Fall of Civilizations’ which is not the most cheerful choice.  Nonetheless, the first one, ‘Roman Britain – The Work of Giants Crumbled’ is fascinating for someone who did not bond with history in school.  Oh.  And KPIG of course, when I need a break from talking heads…

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