Repubs netted 58 state lege seats. 54 were in NH/VT/ME, which have the 1st, 2nd, & 4th smallest house districts by population; those 54 seats have a population of 517,162. (715,688 live in 2 state Sen seats Dems gained in OH.)
The rest of the US had 5,200 seats on the ballot.
Repubs netted 4.— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) December 4, 2024 at 1:32 PM
We’re going to be fighting to defend every inch of our national territory over the next two / four / six years, but we need to keep reminding ourselves that it’s not a question of overcoming an implacable revanchist ‘mandate’…
Dems faced a difficult election cycle, but we should be proud!
Felon is under 50% of the popular vote, not a mandate ranking 44th out of 51 elections since 1824!
In 2016, Ds had majorities in 29 state legislatures & 6 Dem trifectas. Going into 2025, Ds have 40+ state leg majorities & 15 trifectas!— Analisa Swan (she/her) (@analisaswan.bsky.social) December 4, 2024 at 10:59 AM
Important:
[Gift link]Trump and the GOP will have a historically tiny House majority. What that means.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202…— 🏳️🌈Scott Kelley Ernest 🏳️⚧️ (@mxscottkernest.bsky.social) December 4, 2024 at 10:11 PM
On Tuesday night came perhaps the final data point proving that Republicans’ victory in the 2024 election was hardly the mandate-bestowing “landslide” it’s been cracked up (by certain people) to be.
Rep. John Duarte’s (R) concession to Rep.-elect Adam Gray (D) in California’s razor-close 13th congressional district race means all 435 House races are now decided, and Republicans have actually lost ground. It’s a loss of only one seat, but still a net-negative, leaving them with 220 seats to the Democrats’ 215.
That the Republicans held their majority, is no small thing given they’ll now hold the House, the Senate and the presidency.
But the narrowness of the party’s House majority has already given them fits over the past two years, and now it’ll be even narrower. That could have major implications for what happens over the next two years and how much of President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda actually gets passed…
Practically speaking, though, the GOP’s majority should be even smaller for months — as thin as 217-215 (the same as that smallest-ever 1917-19 Congress).
That’s because Trump has plucked three House members for his administration, which is something GOP House leaders signaled they weren’t particularly thrilled about.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) said Nov. 12 after the first two House members were picked that there would be “hopefully no more for a little while until special elections can come” to replace those members. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said the same day that he had spoken with Trump and didn’t expect any more House members to be picked.
Just a day later, though, Trump added a shocking third: then-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) for attorney general. Gaetz withdrew a week later, but he had also resigned from Congress by that point, leaving his seat vacant.
Those special elections for Gaetz’s and Rep. Michael Waltz’s (R-Florida) seats won’t happen until April 1. One for Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-New York) is due between 70 and 80 days after she resigns, which hasn’t happened yet…
All of which means the House GOP’s early business will have precious little margin for error. There is some wiggle room here, but a 217-215 majority would effectively mean they can’t lose even one Republican vote if all Democrats vote against them…
The 222-213/221-214 House majority of the past two years was one of the most riven and unproductive in history. We saw a House speaker removed for the first time ever when just eight Republicans voted with Democrats to remove him. We saw a historically small number of bills passed. And when Speaker Johnson did get something big done, he was often forced to rely on the votes of Democrats because his conference was so split and unwieldy. That was the case on avoiding a government shutdown, passing aid to Ukraine and on major spending bills.
Toss in Trump’s tendency to push the envelope and challenge his party to fall in line (like on his Cabinet picks), and it’s a recipe for plenty of heartburn with an even smaller majority. Even at 220-215, Republicans can lose the votes of just two GOP members if all Democrats vote the other way.
But there are a significant number of moderate, vulnerable and potentially retiring lawmakers who could stand in the way, and it won’t take many to do so. Dozens of returning members have scored less than 60 percent on Trump-oriented Heritage Action’s scorecard.
In other words, buckle up. Trump campaigned and has run his transition like someone who will have huge majorities. But the reality is far different.
It’s also a Republican problem that most of their members haven’t been around long enough to remember how Congress worked *before* Trump was inserted into the Oval Office by a combination of GOP thuggery and foreign interference…
Most members of the upcoming Congress — and almost two-thirds of House Republicans — only joined Congress since Trump first became president. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202…
— Philip Bump (@pbump.com) December 4, 2024 at 2:58 PM
War for Ukraine Day 1,015: A Brief Wednesday Night Update
SpaceUnit
Sorry, still can’t do politics. Wanna take a flamethrower to every middle aged white guy politician wearing a suit and tie who’s grinning and preening for the cameras.
Yeah, and I’m a middle aged white guy.
Gloria DryGarden
Just spotted a headline in my google news feed, about a no confidence vote in France, and their government “toppling”.
can’t link it with this device. I’m up too late to be reading that kind of thing. The Guardian. Not sure how slanted their headlines are.
deep breaths
have just visited tpm for the first time. Holy cow that’s a lot of articles. I’m not sure how to select which to read or how to process it all.
Roberto el oso
@Gloria DryGarden: there was a Balloon Juice post on France earlier this afternoon, but no real info, and the comments are all over the place and off-topic. There should be more news tomorrow.
NotMax
@Gloria DryGarden
Prime Minister must resign after the no confidence vote and a new cobbled together coalition will eventually cough up another. No affect on the office of President Macron.
Geminid
Rep. Duarte’s 2022 election was also close. He was one of two Republicans winning House races by less than 1000 votes, the other being Lauren Boebert.
TBone
“Deny, defend, depose” inscribed on the bullets:
If this is true, the vigilante justice aspect of the shooting is gonna make big waves IMO. I just saw this in a news segment on TV. Someone here yesterday said CEOs will prolly now have teams of armed guards and I tend to agree – I doubt that they will sensibly heed the message and institute reforms.
Hahaha “doubt” means I am confident they will not do anything sensibly.
TBone
Me this whole time: Take your talk of a “mandate” and shove it!
First snow on the ground this morning, everything looks pretty dressed in white.
Nukular Biskits
Good mornin, y’all.
Raining here, so no morning constitutional for me.
I could get on the treadmill in the garage … but don’t wanna.
Gloria DryGarden
@Geminid: no! I thought boebert won by 60 % of the vote this time, gol darn it.
1000 votes? Her new district is not that un populous; it has some outlying suburbs of Denver and a fairly big town up north.
TBone
https://crooksandliars.com/2024/12/finally-house-dem-force-floor-release-matt
As with the Donold impeachments, evidence that exonerates Gaetz would have already been released.
Gloria DryGarden
@NotMax: France has a president, AND A PM? I don’t know anything about how they do things. I guess when the more info comes in a day or so, it’ll all become more clear.
Gloria DryGarden
@TBone: im glad for your snow. Just saw your comments from Wednesday morning, holy cow. I hope you feel better soon. And that your animal companion recovers.
sending you good wishes
WereBear
@TBone: Never a question in my mind that vigilante justice is what it was.
Because they are dismantling democratic power and encouraging what was first called “moral imbecility.”
If corporations are people, let’s see some criminal charges, because we’ve got all these dead people…
Does a corporation have the right to sentence someone to death? When they clearly are not people?
Nukular Biskits
@TBone:
And the media should be asking Republicans that.
Jeffro
SO important to fight “mandate” and “landslide” at every turn. These creeps are NOT popular; their policies are even less so.
MagdaInBlack
@Nukular Biskits: Trade ya. 11 degrees, real feel 1 degree, here in nw Chicago-land.
Nukular Biskits
@MagdaInBlack:
Hell. To. The. No.
Princess
@Jeffro: Close to 50% of the population IS popular. Americans don’t experience this because you’re in a two party system but all over the democratic western world, parties/leaders take majority control with 35% of the vote. 49% is huge. We need to recognize what we’re dealing with. Almost 50% of the country is fine with an authoritarian felon doing whatever he feels like.
TBone
@Gloria DryGarden: thank you!
Baud
@Jeffro:
@Princess:
How popular his policies are is irrelevant. Most of them we should oppose on principle, especially those which are grounded in bigotry.
TBone
@Jeffro: come sit by me.
Princess
@Baud: Clearly. I just don’t find telling myself that the people are with me is very consoling at this point. I honestly feel better when I see the dimensions of a problem as it is. Harris said, let’s save democracy and some two thirds of the voters said nah.
Baud
@Princess:
I’m with you.
TBone
@NotMax: I saw on BBC yesterday that Macron must (is required to) announce his new Prime Minister within 24 hours (!) and that he will give a speech at 8pm Paris time to do just that.
I don’t know what the French Constitution requires but the news reporter stated 24 hours is a requirement. Seems weird to me.
TBone
Random bluesky comment by Protect Kamala Harris, reposted by George Takei:
Elizabelle
They’ve not caught the CEO shooter yet. Or, at least, we don’t know that they have.
Interesting.
TBone
Heh.
“The folks who wrote me those emails could have discovered all this with ease, because I’ve written about it many times in the past. All they needed to do was conduct a search.
But doing so—gathering facts and taking the information—would have messed up their narrative.
It’s much, much easier for them to swallow the line their dear leader—himself a trust-fund baby—peddles and believe that anyone who thinks differently than he does or they do must have an experience foreign from their own.
This raises a question.”
https://www.thestatehousefile.com/commentary/an-elite-level-misperception/article_caca8404-aea6-11ef-ac5e-bba9c48e4807.html
Suzanne
@Nukular Biskits:
Dreadmills are terrible.
Princess
@Elizabelle: NYPD is asking the public for tips. Somehow I feel few will be forthcoming.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊
NotMax
@TBone
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
;)
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
rikyrah
@Elizabelle:
It was A HIT.
This wasn’t some random ‘mentally ill'(i.e. White male) mass shooter.
This was a phucking HIT.
Nope…they aren’t finding him.
MagdaInBlack
@rikyrah: Yup. Same thing my boss and I said.
Baud
Shooter was a white guy. Can’t help wonder how the reaction would be different if it were a black dude.
Baud
He wasn’t thrown out of a window, so that ruled out the Russians.
Elizabelle
@Princess: I think the fact that there was not public consternation over the CEO’s shooting on 54th Street — more like amusement and derision — says a lot.
The voters fucked up royally, but I would not assume that the incoming kleptocrats are the choice of just under half of the public.
Far from it.
Elizabelle
@rikyrah: I am fine with that.
Although: apparently he threw away his coffee cup and water bottle (dude! DNA!) and may have dropped a cell phone.
Let the CEOs quake in their boots, though.
narya
I have to admit to a grim amusement at the narrow house majority. They don’t have the foggiest notion how to actually govern (and have no interest in doing so); they have fantasies of Ruling!, but that ain’t gonna happen with that majority. Then again, I don’t think that’s where the large danger is sitting.
narya
@rikyrah: Good morning!
NotMax
@TBone
Thread needs some Gallic rhythm.
:)
AM in NC
@Gloria DryGarden: I learned this only a few years ago when my mom, aunt and I were visiting France. We were staying in a hotel in Strasbourg right next to the cathedral, and when we came back from diner, the entire area was blocked off because the Prime Minister of France was visiting the cathedral for a WWi remembrance ceremony. We were excited about the possibility of seeing Macron go by and then it was pointed out to us that, non, it was the PM, “pas Le President” who was coming. Oh.
We didn’t have our passports with us so the police were reluctant to let us through the cordon to our hotel. I had fortunately kept a physical print out of our reservation in my purse so I could show them that “we are staying right over there”. I think the fact that we were three gray-haired American ladies helped on the “probably not trying to assassinate our PM” front. After about 1/2 an hour they let us through.
The things you learn through travel!
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Not Pitchbot but might as well be:
https://twitter.com/nkulw/status/1864308848678297966
Chris
@Gloria DryGarden:
Correct. The Prime Minister is the head of government, but the President is the head of state, and unlike in many places “head of state” isn’t ceremonial; he has real power, and still controls foreign and defense policy.
Since the system was created by De Gaulle, who was obviously going to be its first President, I’ve always suspected that the reason he set it up that way was so that he’d have another person onto whom he could foist all the aspects of governing that he wasn’t that interested in.
Elizabelle
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: If any of us ever wondered if our media would save us from Germany’s fate once a Hitler was on the scene …
Their utter capitulation has shocked me, not being a natural cynic.
Leto
@WereBear:
Well he was the head of the organization with the largest rejection rate in the industry, almost double the average standard. So…
Spanky
@Elizabelle:
What ever attracted you to Balloon Juice??
Elizabelle
@Spanky: LOL. The humor and snark, and learning new things. More so in the past; we have lost a lot of commenters.
Chris
@AM in NC:
Ever since the Day of the Jackal, Anglo-Saxon hitmen have been iffy about taking jobs on French politicians. Just too much potential for cross-cultural misunderstandings leading to disaster.
satby
@Baud: You wonder? I think we all know.
Leto
Claim denial rate by insurer.
Again, it’s just the opening scene from The Incredibles with Bob in the tiny cubicle with the old lady, and his boss.
narya
@Elizabelle: I’m less shocked only because of the presence of oligarchs in the media. I keep thinking of something I saw either here or on Bluesky the other day, that the Big Money people HATED that they had to obey RULES during Covid, and COULDN’T DO WHAT THEY WANTED, and have determined that isn’t going to happen again. The smaller media–TPM, Bolts, Marc Elias, Pro Publica, etc.–are not only not capitulating, they’re continuing to point out the corruption, etc. The rich want a frictionless existence, at the expense of us peons, and they’re buying and using the media to impose those costs on us, i.e., the media aren’t capitulating so much as the media are one of the tools in the oligarchs’ tool belts.
Ohio Mom
@Gloria DryGarden: Maybe start with Josh Marshall’s BlueSky (did I misspell that?): https://bsky.app/profile/joshtpm.bsky.social
You can look without joinng BlueSky and get a feel for Marshall’s thought processes. He often links to articles on TPM.
TBone
@NotMax: ha! First comment: “sips tea aggressively”
NotMax
Just checked on status of Amazon Black Friday purchases.
5 of 6 items scheduled to arrive December 11th.
Last item scheduled for December 18th.
Am in no rush, my patience is elastic. Apparently stuff is shipping via outrigger canoe.. :)
BethanyAnne
Seen somewhere on social media: “it’s important to lead your life in such a way that when you’re gunned down in public by an anonymous hit man on a New York City street the country at large doesn’t react like the Ewoks watching the second Death Star explode”
Ohio Mom
@Elizabelle: There are a couple of doctors I follow on BlueSky and I would describe their reaction to the shooting as giddy.
NotMax
@rikyrah
So old can remember the mob hit outside of midtown Manhattan’s Sparks Steak House.
Splitting Image
@Princess:
The Republican coalition is made up of people who are stupid as well as evil. It’s difficult to say how many people voted for Trump because they like seeing women bleed to death in the parking lots of hospitals and how many believe that Biden is to blame for abortion being outlawed because he was President when it happened. The latter group seem to think that Trump is the man who is going to codify abortion rights throughout the country by bringing both sides to the table and working out a Deal (TM).
One group is evil and the other is stupid. Both are extremely dangerous because the evil ones will still be evil in four years and the stupid ones will still be stupid. But it is hard to say how many of each the Republican coalition actually has. The more stupid ones he got to vote for him, the more people there will be getting mad at him when he starts breaking his promises.
For example, they probably have the votes to get an abortion ban through Congress, if their caucus holds together, but how many people will be jubilant and how many people will be pissed off is open to debate. I expect the long-time Republicans to be jubilant, but Trump brought a lot of seldom-voters into the coalition and how they will react is open to debate.
This is important because they’ve only got one vote to spare in the House. If people can put enough pressure on them in their weakest districts, they may not be able to pass a national ban.
A lot of their agenda is in the same situation. If it has to go through Congress, it can be defeated. The most serious problems at the moment are the things Trump can do without needing Congressional approval. (Tariffs, for example) I suspect he has all the votes that he needs to appoint Federalist Society judges, which over the long haul is the most dangerous problem facing the country and I have no answers for that.
TBone
An astute commenter realized where the inscription on the bullet may have originated!
https://www.amazon.com/Delay-Deny-Defend-Insurance-Companies/dp/1591843154
Book: Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It by Jay Feinman
Dorothy A. Winsor
John Scalzi is doing his annual week of posts in which commenters can promote their work. Today it’s arts, crafts, and music. If you have anything you want to sell, try posting. You can go back and post on Monday (traditionally published writers) or Tuesday (self-published writers). I posted about my newest book on Monday.
Elizabelle
@narya: Thinking on how the deplorable new editor of the FTF Vichy Times drastically reduced the ability of readers to comment on political stories. Just no outlet. That paper became even more of a funhouse mirror. (Previously, you could sort the comments and realize “not alone; most of the others see this is whack too.”)
I would not be sad if Putz Sulzberger or Joe Kahn drew a shooter.
And supporting better, honest, and more responsive smaller media is the way to go.
Elizabelle
@Ohio Mom: I don’t blame them.
Giddy is honesty poking through.
Leto
@BethanyAnne: I got ya covered.
Chris
@Leto:
The more graphic and unfortunate counterpart to that scene is Nate Ford in the first Leverage episode screaming as his son dies in a hospital from a condition that the insurance company has decided not to treat.
It’s probably the purest distillation of writer John Rogers’ rage at the state of the country. And I always thought the crusade against that particular villain in Season 1 was a high the show never hit again.
JML
Some pretty ugly stuff coming out from lefties on my FB feed and seeing in other spaces about the United Heathcare CEO assassination. I get the “eat the rich” idea, but the “he deserved to die” memes are pretty gross.
(a close friend of mine works for that division of UHG, and knew him and they’re all crushed)
Baud
@Elizabelle:
Let them eat blue sky.
Leto
@Chris: I haven’t seen that series, but if I do I’ll try to keep this in mind.
Kristine
@MagdaInBlack: the winds these last few days have been something.
Chilling
Baud
This is why our side is weak. Everyone on our side assumes the shooter is someone shafted by the system. The right would be blaming antifa or BLM.
Michael Bersin
Yesterday, around noon, I stood silently for about an hour and a half in front of the flagpole (with a bronze First Amendment plaque at the base) on the quad on our campus. I held protest signs. One of the conversations:
Practical Resistance: at the flagpole
We’re doomed.
Chris
@Baud:
If one of their hate-objects was assassinated, the right would not be “blaming” anybody. They’d be extolling the virtues of the second amendment, standing your ground, and watering the tree of liberty. That’s what they did when George Zimmerman and Kyle Rittenhouse were caught murdering someone.
E.
I see the New York Review of Books has a big article about the election which refers to “Donald Trump’s crushing victory over Kamala Harris.” This is journalistic malpractice. Little shit like this, over and over, is why we are here.
BritinChicago
@Chris: To add a little: the US is very unusual in having a head of state who is also head of the government. (There are a few other examples, such as Argentina and Kenya.) Most places the head of state is largely ceremonial (Germany, Ireland, Israel, the UK), except sometimes when there are tricky issues about forming a coalition (that is, when an election leaves it unclear who will form a government).
Baud
@Chris:
That is dependent on the identity of the shooter.
Curious how our side will react if the shooter is a MAGA.
dc
@JML: I don’t take the jokes and the anger at face value. It’s a symptom of how awful our health “care” system is. And how much pent up anger there is about it.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Yes, and stupid on top of it.
DEI isn’t just a nice thing, it’s an economic necessity these days. Almost all the crappy but necessary jobs are being done by minorities these days and there are just not enough white people to replace them.
The hilarious thing about Trump is, there is a rumor he eats fast food so much because he is terrified someone might poison him, so at some level his brain gets it that being a total asshole all the time has consequences.
Soprano2
@Princess: But it’s not almost 50% of the population, it’s almost 50% of the people who voted. I didn’t find numbers for 2024 yet, but in 2020 approximately 63.2% of the voting eligible population actually voted, and since fewer people voted this year than in 2020 that means this year’s percentage was probably even lower. Don’t give them more credit than they deserve. I’m not saying it’s not bad, it’s just not as bad as that sounds.
satby
@Leto: Fantastic series. I was rewatching it October and November as a counter-balance to the increased oligarchy apologists of our failed American news media. It’s on FreeTV via Prime.
Soprano2
@Suzanne: Ellipticals are worse!
TBone
@Michael Bersin: thank you for your service.
cmorenc
@Soprano2: worse than what?
Never mind. I was actually posting to test whether my posts were still going to moderation – for some unkown reason, in one thread last night that was happening wr my posts about Anthem BCBS limiting payments to anesthesiologists.
satby
@Kristine: I was kept awake last night by winds that howled like I was in a cartoon, worrying that a tree limbs would fall and hit my new roof. Two inches of lake effect snow right now, but I’m south of the heavier bands where it fell.
NotMax
@Enhanced Voting Techniques
Appointing Mayor McCheese as White House chef?
“Of course he’s real. I saw him on TV.”
//
Chris
@Baud:
No, it’s dependent on the identity of the victim. There was nothing particularly political about George Zimmerman before the Trayyvon Martin killing. He turned into a political figure because liberals tried to hold him to account for murdering a black kid, and conservatives turned him into a symbol of the bedrock principle that people have a right to murder black kids.
satby
@Baud: is it a weakness to be rational? Not sure dueling conspiracy theories would be a winning strategy (and I know you’re snarking a bit).
satby
@E.: that sentence can also be read as emotionally or spiritually crushing, not mathematically.
Quinerly
Good Morning!
Don’t be jealous but there is a one of the best anywhere Green Chile Cheeseburgers in my future today. The Buckhorn Tavern is in the tiny village of San Antonio, New Mexico. For those who like trivia, San Antonio is the birthplace of one of Zsa Garbor’s husbands and Elizabeth Taylor’s first FIL.
When in San Antonio, New Mexico (population 70), a traveler has a choice of TWO nationally ranked Green Chile Cheeseburgers from TWO iconic dive bars….”The Owl Bar” (at least 80 years old) and “The Buckhorn.” My allegiance was always to “The Owl” when passing through. Last year, I went with “The Buckhorn” across the street because the parking lot was full of pick up trucks. Once you go Buckhorn, you will never go back! They got the medium rare part perfect.
Both have beautiful, old wooden bars (always eat at the bar! Trust me) and lively midday conversation with locals this time of year. If you are passing thru Socorro County, try to make time to see both. “The Owl” has tons of owl art and kitsch and is very friendly. Smaller burgers, though.
Walk off your burger, fries, and Budweiser at neighboring Bosque del Apache. Beautiful wildlife refuge. Great visitor’s center, too!
Have a great day.
JoJo is dressed in his favorite bandana……Cue Willie ….”on the road again “
cmorenc
@Soprano2:
Keep in mind that people who are eligible to vote but don’t are nonetheless implicitly voting by default for the candidate who won the most votes from those who did. Because by no-voting they are signaling they are ok-enough with whoever does win that it’s not important enough to show up.
Baud
@Chris:
Who’s the last black shooter the right has glorified?
NotMax
@satby
Do not pass Go, do not collect $200, go directly to watch the British series Hustle.
;)
Kristine
@satby: I heard what sounded like rain late yesterday afternoon. Turned out it was a snow shower. It didn’t last more than a few minutes, but it brought the wind along for the ride. Been blowing ever since.
Another Scott
@Princess: People on our team who show up are with us.
As always, it’s people who show up who decide.
We have to make more people want to show up, and make it easier for them to do so – they’re out there.
Hang in there. It’s going to be a slog.
Best wishes,
Scott.
satby
@NotMax: I did, actually. But it doesn’t have Christian Kane 😉
I’ve been a huge John Rogers fan since his Kung Fu Monkey days.
Michael Bersin
@TBone:
I am a bad person. I remind them of who they really are. I take delight in their reactions…
Soprano2
@Splitting Image: I think the people you’re saying are stupid voted for TCFG because they think he can make things be like they were before Covid again. They think he can lower the prices in the store and at the pump with a wave of his hand, that companies will lower prices just because they’re afraid of him. I prefer to think of them as mistaken or misinformed, I don’t like calling people stupid. People think the things they believe are facts, even when they’re not. Like Kay said, the homeschoolers think he promised them $10,000 every year from the government when what he actually promised them was that they could put $10,000 of their own money in a special account. I think there will be a lot of discoveries like this on the part of the people who heard what they wanted to hear.
TBone
@Michael Bersin: I love it! If you reach just one person who wasn’t paying attention and will now, you have succeeded.
I suspect that you have more than one to be proud of, and wish we could know for sure.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@NotMax: Only over-hyped assholes with do for Trump – Rasmey Clack as White House Chef.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Michael Bersin:
Question: What are you resisting?
Answer: Current events
E.
@satby: Not if you read the rest of the sentence it can’t.
TBone
@TBone: this guy got PAID:
https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/12/harrisburg-pa-to-pay-175k-to-settle-free-speech-lawsuit-filed-by-flag-burning-activist-gene-stilp.html
Chris
@Baud:
Who’s the last black shooter who was that kind of national news story?
Soprano2
@cmorenc: I saw that, it’s horrible. I can’t imagine that will stand. I wonder what their “rationale” for that is – that surgeons take too long, they need to speed it up? Then people wonder why an insurance company head was assassinated in broad daylight and people are mostly celebrating it.
Soprano2
@cmorenc: That’s true, I find that a lot of people have bought the lie that all politicians are the same, self-serving and corrupt, so it’s not worth even making a choice. So I think it’s not so much that they’re OK with what happens as that they think the same things will happen regardless of who wins an election. I don’t know how to fight that.
WereBear
@Baud: On the other hand, we can demand Trump keep those campaign promises we liked.
Lower the interest on credit cards, for instance. That was a BIG promise MAGAs wanted.
I’d hammer on that. Nonstop. Make it THE news story. Every Democratic official saying, “We do look forward to that credit card reform Trump promised. Yesssirrreee, we are voting YES on that one!”
Soprano2
@Chris: The two snipers near D.C. who were killing people randomly.
TBone
@Quinerly: am not jelly but glad you are so happy!
We are having a blasting windy snow squall here, howling winds haven’t ceased since before Thanksgiving! But hubby brought me DelCo cheesesteaks yesterday and it’s a hot breakfast today!
TBone
@Soprano2: good eye
Elizabelle
@Quinerly: Wunderbar! Enjoy that burger for me. Love to JoJo. A walk after sounds good. Will it be snowy there?
Starfish (she/her)
@Princess: You are comparing multi-party systems to a two-party system. If there are only two parties, you are going to have close to 50% of the vote.
WereBear
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Maybe why he orders such large quantities. He picks randomly, they can’t poison them all..
But maybe all of them got “special handling.”
Another Scott
@Michael Bersin:
Thanks for your work and your witnessing.
I don’t think so. I don’t think you believe that either, or you wouldn’t be doing the work.
Leaders will step up. Probably later than they should, but they will step up. Many of us will be ready.
15 days until the Continuing Resolution expires. “Extraordinary Measures” on the Debt Ceiling start on January 1.
It’s going to be a slog. Pace yourself.
Best wishes,
Scott.
TBone
@cmorenc: comment from elsewhere:
https://www.newsweek.com/doctors-rail-against-insurers-new-anesthesia-time-limits-1995875
Chris
@Soprano2:
Probably. That was my thought, but it’s been so many years since then that I didn’t know if I’d missed any.
The political scene wasn’t completely the same back then, but, the victims were a blend of different ethnicities and killed throughout DC suburbia. They weren’t protesters or otherwise identifiably left wing, only some were black, and they didn’t otherwise share any kind of identity that the right would be inclined to demonize. So yeah, no right-wing Second Amendment celebrations.
If there’s a black shooter, and his victim’s also black like Zimmerman’s, likely it doesn’t even make the news. If there’s a black shooter, and his victims are left-wing protesters like Rittenhouse’s? You’d better believe the right would be celebrating.
WereBear
@Another Scott: There will be a sorting. Some will be weighed and found wanting.
I sense a wide range of strategies, or maybe they really don’t know what they are doing.
But transparency will be easier now. If this is a time of citizen journalism, follow the ethics and we will support you.
We have to shape our own relentless information stream, but we won’t lie.
TBone
@Starfish (she/her): thank you.
Jeffro
@Princess: but it’s not 50% of the population. It’s not even 50% of the people who bothered to show up to vote.
Another Scott
@Baud: Him (assuming it’s a him) using a silencer may be a tell. Gun fetishists like those things, even though they often mess with how well the gun actually works (witness the jamming).
But it’s a distraction, IMHO. There’s more to this story, of course, but I don’t think there’s a greater lesson about how evil UHC and our insurance system is any more than the Menendez Brothers case was about some societal failure in the 1%…
Dunno.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Quinerly
@Elizabelle:
No. South of Albuquerque. It gets snow but not today.
Starfish (she/her)
@Baud: Fine. It was Bernie Sanders. He was very serious about single payer.
Quinerly
@TBone:
Enjoy your day! Thanks for piping in.
TBone
@Quinerly: muah!
prostratedragon
@NotMax: Beat me to the Offenbach, which I’ve had running through my head for, oh, several weeks for some reason. Music to ride someone out of town on a rail by …
Princess
@Splitting Image: Completely agree. Some are evil. Some are stupid. Some are willfully ignorant. They’re almost half the voters. Add them to the people who didn’t vote and we’re way outnumbered — now, most of those will never vote but some decent percentage are people who have voted for us and stayed home this time.
Another Scott
@Chris: Or national outrage about a Kentucky sheriff murdering a judge in his own chambers on video. Kentucky.com (WARNING – has video).
Most of the reporting is – Shocking! How could he do such a thing? But nothing of importance in the greater scheme of things, no need to look at the culture among too many RWNJ sheriffs…
Grr…
Best wishes,
Scott.
Chris
@satby:
It’s one of the two Great Recession shows, the other one being White Collar.
They’re both great, but I prefer Leverage.
prostratedragon
@NotMax: How about (then brand new) Umbertos Clam House?
Dave
@Elizabelle: A good portion of his voters either figure at least he’ll screw over more of the MOTU types than otherwise or genuinely believe, as insanely baffling as it is, that he is genuinely a strong willful man of the people.
They will be disappointed if anything can penetrate the dog of ignorance and misinformation they live in but they aren’t actually intentionally on board with the new oligarchs they are either idiots, misinformed, or moral midgets who care more about things like keeping other people in their place.
The MOTU types on some level know they are inviting these types of incidents but will be damned if they do anything to change it. Much like the terror that slave powers used to live in of revolts.
Dave
@Leto: Best Libertarian/Objectivist lite movie I’ve ever seen.
Princess
@cmorenc: Exactly. And when one candidate says vote for her to defend democracy and they say, nah I’m good, and stay home, the message is clear.
Dave
@Elizabelle: There ability to turn their nose up at the silly missives of the hoi poloi was beginning to seriously fray.
So instead of engaging with the implications they took the easier solution. “If there are no insightful scathing critical comments then there is no problem”.
Entirely predictable and entirely pathetic so par for the moment.
Starfish (she/her)
So with the UnitedHealthCare CEO, someone at the company wrote (this looks a little menacing before it redirects) about being saddened by the loss, and someone else pointed out there were 5,000 laughing emojis on a Facebook post. The universal hatred of these health insurance companies. How did the Republicans get away with “If you like your health care, you get to keep it” nonsense.
Elizabelle
Thank you all for the suggestions on “resistance type” streaming series.
I was not and am not so much of a television watcher, but interested in checking them out.
The Incredibles
Leverage
White Collar
What else?
lowtechcyclist
@Elizabelle:
Currently supporting TPM, Mother Jones, ProPublica, Bolts, the Baltimore Banner, the Kyiv Independent, and at least one other that slips my mind at the moment.
Dave
@Soprano2: This is a fair and honestly enlightened perspective. I tend to go with stupid when I’m shooting my mouth off but your frame when I’m not being a dumbass. So thank you in general for keeping that perspective.
Edit: A few comments down you make a point about the reflective cynicism that people have and it both drives me nuts and doesn’t lend itself to any obvious answers. My go to response it that cynicism only serves the most cynical actors and those people want you to be that cynical but while true I’m not sure it’s an effective response.
Elizabelle
@lowtechcyclist: Good for you! Unsubscribed from the plutoplatforms, but haven’t gotten around to resubscribing.
And, to be honest, I really need the break from political news. Books and Christmas sound about my speed right now. (Albeit, books about the runup and European culture around WW1 and WW2; they seem instructive …)
Elizabelle
@Dave: I despise Sulzberger and Kahn. And Bezos. They must smell bad, one thinks. The rot and dishonesty and corruption.
Omnes Omnibus
@Splitting Image:
“This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.”
Dave
@Elizabelle: Another reason I so dislike Musk. He codes as so pathetic that he actually makes people like Bezos and Zuckerberg look better because while they are amoral shit heads at least they seem to enjoy their misbegotten gains and know how to self regulate to some degree.
A silly reason to dislike him even more than I otherwise would but it bugs the hell out of me.
evodevo
@TBone: Also see the John Grisham novel The Rainmaker…
Chris
@Starfish (she/her):
Well, remember that just because something’s on social media doesn’t mean it necessarily reflects people’s views as a whole. And even on social media, the fact that there’s 5,000 laughing emojis doesn’t tell us how many heart or hug emojis or whatever were also on the post.
Moreover, there’s the usual “people hate Congress but love their congressman” thing at work. People hate the big faceless bureaucratic insurance company, but love their individual doctor. It’s easy to see how they could be panicked into a freakout over Obamacare taking their doctor away, and still have a chuckle when the Greedy Corporate Fat Cat at the top of the pyramid kicks the bucket.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
With astonishment.
The MAGAts would be blaming Biden and Harris for any health care issues they were having.
Dave
@Chris: Social Media is also a bit like driving. It brings out our most reflexive often ugly impulses because it’s very easy to other people online and there are algorithms designed to encourage that behavior.
Willing to give people the benefit of the doubt that they aren’t as big of assholes as they come across on social media. Though spending too much time inhabiting that mindset can’t have good consequences.
Weird edit where I screwed up formatting.
Though I still can’t bring myself to care about this guy and am somewhat taken by the drama of it very crime thrilleresque.
Starfish (she/her)
@Chris: With the doctors’ appointments shortened to meaninglessness and a lot of medical work being farmed out to nurse practitioners who don’t listen, what are doctors again?
Trivia Man
@Michael Bersin: I think tim walz had a good response. A young man said “I am not interested n politics.” Reply as “but politics is very interested in you,”
My translation- it doesn’t matter if you care or pay attention. You will be affected by politics no matter what.
Chris
@Dave:
Your MOM’s an ugly impulse!
… oh, yes, I see what you mean.
WereBear
@Starfish (she/her): They hadn’t really used it yet. I’m sure there is a magic line on the spreadsheet where your injury, age, and money-in float above getting that surgery to fix your kid’s hand.
They reject 33% of claims.
BC/BS is rationing anesthesia in three states. Oh, you’ll get it. And pay for it yourself.
WereBear
@Dave: Cynicism is snobbish sloth.
Dave
@WereBear: I like that though I do make a distinction between lazy unearned cynicism and well earned targeted cynicism.
Chris
@WereBear:
Being cynical is a normal reaction to the state of the world. But a lot of what passes for cynicism is actually just nihilism, which should be pissed upon every time it rears its head.
(Presumably, nihilists don’t like to call themselves that because it’s just an invitation to being ridiculed with The Big Lebowski memes).
Bill Arnold
@TBone:
Well, also, The Google provides many hits for “delay, deny, defend”on the first search engine results page, even without limiting the search to last month and earlier.
WereBear
@lowtechcyclist: Also, this gunman was cool under pressure.
Look at the lineup who went for Trump. Patterns do not match.
WereBear
@Dave: Very true. Though I’m fond of the definition of “snob” that says they are people who can never like anything, for fear someone else gets to say, “So that’s the kind of thing you like.”
WereBear
@Chris: Another way The Dude Abides!
WereBear
@Bill Arnold: Sure, they can claim it doesn’t have anything to do with being a CEO and crafting policies to kill the disabled instead of helping them…
gee, I wonder why they would be so frantic to divert attention from the fact that they have made it legal to kill people, as long as they do it slowly, and out of sight, instead of all splashy and upsetting.
Maybe they are afraid of such comparisons.
Maybe… that’s why.
Dave
@WereBear: That works for me those people suck the joy out of everything.
Kristine
@Elizabelle: IMO, the movie “Inside Man” to some degree. Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and Jodie Foster in a story about an attempted bank heist that is both more and less than it seems.
And if nothing else, it’s a crackin’ good movie.
Michael Bersin
@Another Scott:
I’m so cussedly stubborn I’m going to yell at the Brownshirts as they drag me away: “I knew it! I knew it! I knew you bastards would do this all along!”
Michael Bersin
@Trivia Man:
I usually reply, “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”
barbequebob
nevermind
Bill Arnold
@WereBear:
If you just search for “deny, defend”, you get hits for both that book about insurance (delay, deny, defend) and about “Avoid, Deny, Defend “, a short mnemonic used in training for active shooter incidents.
So it’s a pun (or whatever one calls such wordplay), maybe even intentional. “delay, deny, defend” -> “avoid, deny defend” -> “deny, defend, depose”.
JoeyJoeJoe
@Elizabelle: if not mentioned, Kevin Can Fuck Himself on Netflix
dnfree
@lowtechcyclist:
I support your first three as well. I started doing Pro Publica and Mother Jones at a higher level last year and will continue.
Dan
@JML: No. He deserved to die. How many deaths was he responsible for? Piss on him.
Dan
@Trivia Man: Walz was kinda quoting Trotsky, and good for him.
Ryan
“Repubs netted 58 state lege seats. 54 were in NH/VT/ME, which have the 1st, 2nd, & 4th smallest house districts by population“
Though, to be fair, NH has a whopping 450 house seats.