Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

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

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / The Opportunity for Democrats

The Opportunity for Democrats

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Despite Donald Trump’s election, people are not okay with what happened on January 6th.

I know mistermix mentioned this in passing this morning, so I want to share more about what he wrote.  Dan Pfeiffer from his substack this morning.

A Data for Progress poll from January 2024 found that nearly three-quarters of voters believe that those involved in storming the Capitol did the wrong thing. More than 60% believe what happened on that day was a “violent insurrection,” and only 16% believe it was a “peaceful protest.” Accounting for the whole poll, it’s clear that only about a third of Republicans believed Trump’s arguments about the assault on the Capitol.

…now should be the apex of Donald Trump’s political power. He just won 94% of Republican voters, yet only 61% of Republicans approve of the pardons.

Perhaps, the most damning find in the poll — only 1% of Americans listed pardons for the January 6th convicts as the issue the President and Congress should tackle first. So, Trump plans to spend his first hour in office doing something that 99% of the country thinks isn’t important.

The Opportunity for Democrats 1

The Opportunity for Democrats 2

Looking for opportunities to whale on Trump for his failed promises – not on the nuances but on the big lies that helped get him elected.

Reader Interactions

168Comments

  1. 1.

    The Audacity of Krope

    Looking for opportunities to whale on Trump for his failed promises – not on the nuances but on the big lies that helped get him elected.

    Whereupon we will reach denial, not the river in Africa.

  2. 2.

    WaterGirl

    @The Audacity of Krope:  I have seen you do this before and it’s quite tiresome.

    Front-pagers are actual humans who take the time to think about something and take the time to put a post together.

    Do you think you could maybe wait until comment 10 or so before you totally shit on the premise of a thread.

    Seriously, before you wish your Mom happy birthday, do you list all the ways she has failed you?

  3. 3.

    Barbara

    @The Audacity of Krope: Why do you even bother?

    I think it’s counterproductive to react to every presumptive outrage, because we cultivate outrage fatigue and also fail to make strategic choices about where pushing back might actually be helpful.

    But giving up altogether seems worse.  Posting as if you mean to discourage everyone else is even worse than that.

  5. 5.

    Steve LaBonne

    Because of the importance of doing this, consistently and every day, I’m hoping it won’t take too long for a natural leader to emerge from the Democratic ranks. I wish it could be Harris- we don’t have a lot of national politicians with her gifts- but we treat our losing candidates harshly.

  6. 6.

    The Audacity of Krope

    I’m not shitting upon the premise of the thread. I’m conveying my experience dealing with right-wing bullshit. No amount of proof proves anything to these numpties.

  8. 8.

    piratedan

    if you have a low information electorate who put him in office based on a lie, we have to emphasize that the very most important thing that they based their decision on is a lie.

    We have to accept that repetition is necessary for a good number of our fellow citizens.  Tiresome yes, but nowhere near as tiresome as losing bodily autonomy or being othered by your own government.

  10. 10.

    WaterGirl

    @Steve LaBonne: I hope we see a good number of leaders to help us find our way out of this wilderness.

    But we also have to do the work ourselves.

    Do we exhaust ourselves by raging against every outrageous thing the new administration says or does, or are we strategic enough to hit him where the low information voters live?

  11. 11.

    ArchTeryx

    I have my own theory about Murc’s Law among activists vs. the media, which is wired for Republicans. So they’ll never pass up an opportunity to denegrate and poormouth Democrats for not using power they don’t even have.

    But Jackals? Not so much. So why is there SO MUCH poormouthing of Ds here? It’s because, I think, because of a sense of helplessness. Activists don’t do helplessness. Since the Ds have effectively zero majority power in any part of the federal government, they lost the Presidency through factors outside of their control, and screaming “Republicans are evil” is futile at this immediate point in time, the activists take it out on the Ds. “Idle hands make the Devil’s work,” and all that. Once Trump gets into office and starts with the endless series of atrocities, they’ll have plenty to scream about besides “The Ds failed us.”

    There are a lot of scared people out there, and for damn good reason. I’m one of them. So are the people in my family. But poormouthing Dems like the corporate media does isn’t going to accomplish anything either. Nor is doomerism, the go-to for most of us liberals if we have nothing else to say, but that’s an entirely separate topic, why doomerism is so popular.

  12. 12.

    trollhattan

    Eagerly awaiting Trump putting the fur and horns and body paint dude in his administration somewhere.

    “Never forget!”

    How could I?

  13. 13.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @Phylllis:

    @WaterGirl: The pie filter is great, but a filter that posts the New Yorker Christ what an asshole meme would be awesome

    I’d like a ‘Whomp! Whomp! Whaaa!’ Filter for the Doomer posts.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    @The Audacity of Krope:

    I’m not shitting upon the premise of the thread. I’m conveying my experience dealing with right-wing bullshit. No amount of proof proves anything to these numpties.

    You may be doing the second part, but don’t kid yourself that you’re not shitting one the premise of the thread.  If you can’t see that, take another look.  And maybe one more look for good measure.

  15. 15.

    Steve LaBonne

    @The Audacity of Krope: If no portion of Trump’s electorate turns on him even after the disasters we can all see coming, we are truly lost as a country. I am nowhere near giving in to that kind of despair. Acting like all is lost after a narrow election defeat is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

  17. 17.

    SiubhanDuinne

    There’s been another school shooting, in Madison, WI. Five dead at last report, more injured. I’m sorry to say this, but I can’t even get worked up any longer. We’ve had chance after chance after chance to address this problem, and we continue to do fucking nothing.

    As for TCFFG, he’s already backtracking on Ukraine. During the campaign, it was all “I can negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine in ONE DAY.” Today, it’s more like “Peace negotiations are complicated. They take time to resolve.”

  19. 19.

    KatKapCC

    @SiubhanDuinne: I firmly believe that even if a shooter got onto the House floor and opened up on them, the GOP still would not support any single gun control measure. It is really a sickness with them.

    One reason (of many!) why I am always proud to be a Democrat, no matter the results of a particular election.

  21. 21.

    ArchTeryx

    @SiubhanDuinne: There is precious little that CAN be done as long as the Rs control any level of government. Most of the indifference to school shootings traces back directly to SC(r)OTUS. If we had a sensible Court that didn’t just write whole  amendments out of the Constitution at will, we’d be doing a lot better on that score.

    I don’t think it’s that people don’t care, it’s that the gun lobby just flat out won. Nothing is forever in politics, but the anti-gun-control faction is calcified and ever-more-extrene, and until enough of them are voted out, nothing will change.

  22. 22.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @ArchTeryx: screaming “Republicans are evil” is futile at this immediate point in time

    More or less futile than screaming “Democrats deserve our votes for being slightly less evil” during election time?

    Democrats repeatedly chose evil this year. They backslid in a way they haven’t in decades. A not insignificant amount of them are kowtowing to Hair Furor. Most Democrats aren’t here to help us, they’re here to help elected Democrats and prominent donors.

  23. 23.

    Steve LaBonne

    @WaterGirl: IMHO people should have learned by now how Trump keeps himself in the headlines with a new shiny object every day, even weeks before he has actual power. He WANTS us to exhaust ourselves by reacting to every piece of nonsense that comes out of his assmouth and his phone keyboard.

  24. 24.

    ColoradoGuy

    We still don’t really know what happened. Way too early for cynicism … we need more information before drawing conclusions.

  25. 25.

    WaterGirl

    Someone else did the same thing early on in my previous post, and then the post revolves around them instead of something constructive.

    Let’s not spend the whole thread trying to get Krope to give up his hopelessness and despair.  Doing that will just add more fuel to the “why do I even bother to put up a post” fire.

  27. 27.

    ArchTeryx

    @The Audacity of Krope: Oh, you’re one of those.

    Yeah that’s a good thing to be screaming, especially when your choices are “good-faith but flawed” and “Fucking fascists goose-stepping to nazi marches.” Not enough were listening this time around, especially among the kids, but wait until they get 2 years of Trump 2.0. Their tune might change in a hurry. I’ve seen a lot of that before, too. People (not) voting and not giving a shit about what they are (not) voting for, and starting to care only when the winner/their candidate starts spewing atrocities. Buyer’s Remorse is one of the most frustrating aspects of politics.

  29. 29.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @WaterGirl: Let’s not spend the whole thread trying to get Krope to give up his hopelessness and despair.

    This isn’t hopelessness and despair. This is freedom from trying to fix people who just simply hate you, me, us, so many others. I’m absolutely tickled pink at the notion that I can just tell the straight truth to people feeding me a line instead of wasting time on their false assumptions or the sick feelings those false assumptions support.

  30. 30.

    ArchTeryx

    @WaterGirl: WaterGirl, you know what I see you as? This place’s Diogenes. You’re the one crawling around with a lantern, looking for people who might just be willing to take up a lantern too. No matter how much people spew doomerism and other garbage, you keep gamely searching for that honest man. It’s the most thankness task in politics after a bad loss – defeat really is an orphan. But it’s vital.

    I’m terrified. I think I have a right to be. But you can be terrified and not constantly be trying to drag everyone else down. I’m trying to put that emotional energy into constructive outlets. Dooming on the internet is the cheapest, laziest thing you can do and accomplishes nothing but making folks like you tempted to just throw away the lantern and join the cynics. Just like Diogenes did.

  32. 32.

    kmeyerthelurker

    There’s no opportunity here. The lesson of 2024 IMO is that the total demonization of the Democratic party by right wing media is complete.  People believe the things they say about them (they hate families, they are deranged, they’ll outlaw Christmas, they want to force everyone to ride bicycles & become vegans etc), to the extent that they’ll vote Assclown anyway, because see above.

  34. 34.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @ArchTeryx: I’ve been voting a straight D ticket since 2006. Almost my entire voting life. I hadn’t been one of those, but I wasn’t because I was fooled by Democrats.

    Yeah that’s a good thing to be screaming, especially when your choices are “good-faith but flawed” and “Fucking fascists goose-stepping to nazi marches.”

    Democrats aren’t good faith but flawed. If they were; they wouldn’t constantly shit on their own activists, fall in line with full on racist propaganda with Republicans whenever convenient for them, or fund murderous right wing regimes.

    And the people most invested  in convincing others that Ds aren’t Republican-lite mostly seem to be the same folks who want the Ds to position themselves as Republican-lite.

    So keep voting D to protect your retirement fund or whatever, but they aren’t going to protect our persons.

  35. 35.

    Betty Cracker

    Still mostly on news blackout here, but I heard a snippet on local public radio about the shitgibbon holding a press conference and seeming less adamant about ensuring DeSantis appoints Trump’s vacuous daughter-in-law as Florida’s next U.S. senator (replacing the equally vacuous Rubio). That’s disappointing! I want him to rub people’s faces in the gross nepotism. Plus, Senator Mrs. Gums might be easier to dislodge in 2026 than a homegrown wingnut.

  36. 36.

    BC in Illinois

    About the January 6th rioters.
    Over the decades I have been to street protests, political rallies, marches, speeches, anti-war concerts. I have carried signs and banners, chanted chants and sung songs. I once bought a guitar.
    I NEVER bought a hockey stick.

  37. 37.

    cmorenc

    Lots of people who believe jan 6 was an insurrection and disapprove of pardons for those involved, nonetheless voted for Trump, despite also most of them being aware his announced intent to issue those pardons.  Maybe that isn’t their top priority, because the border (or motivationally, the scary brown people who have crossed it) are #1 or 2 (the other being the economy), and pardons for j6 are at highest 3 and probably much further down, or maybe they even disapprove of J6 pardons.  But again, they still voted for him.

  38. 38.

    cain

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    He doesn’t want to work. He just wants to salute and do stuff.

    But he also not going to allow anybody else to steal the show so there is that saving grace.

    I’m mostly just glancing at the headlines these days. My deep cynicism about the state of this country continues and I don’t want to do what The Audacity of Krope is doing.

    Sad to see kids are still dying. I don’t know how to help them.

  39. 39.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @TBone: In days gone by I couldn’t hear the word “space” without adding “the final frontier” in my head.

    Thanks to that clip, now I hear “Excuse me- excuse me— fake news!”

    Jamie Foxx has him down pat, doesn’t he?

  40. 40.

    ArchTeryx

    @WaterGirl: Listen to me instead? If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s reaching out to folks that need a pick-me-up, networking people with other people that can help them and trying to bring communities under persecution and assault together. There’s a reason a lot of my friends’ circle are LBGTQ+ in general and transgendered in particular. Any of them come under assault, they have a small but dedicated army backing them up. I think you need that too.

    A lone sparrow is trivial for a falcon to pick off. But a flock that sticks together is virtually inpenetrable. The predators will never stop trying to break off members of the flock to target, but if they stick together, the predator is denied a target and moves on to easier prey. That’s the mode I am in now.

  41. 41.

    TBone

    @trollhattan: ik,r?  And this Black guy almost never offers up an opinion (I guess he knows we just know, but it’s still SO great every time he reinforces that knowledge).  He can be “all business” serious guy most of the time, then he breaks bad for me just when I most need it and he doesn’t even know what the sucktastic at my house is right now!  He just steps into the breach by ESP.

  42. 42.

    Steve LaBonne

    People who don’t understand coalition politics generally imagine they would prefer a multiparty parliamentary system where they could preserve the purity of their vote for their one special True Left party. They don’t think about what comes next- negotiations to form a governing coalition in which that party has to engage in the same betrayals, er, compromises, that have to happen internally within the Democratic coalition. When you have a political culture with no tradition of compromise at all, you get the kind of mess they have in France now.

  45. 45.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Steve LaBonne: I think we ARE screwed. I think we’re in way deeper trouble than almost anyone currently thinks.

    But with that said, who knows what might happen? “The King could die, the horse could die, and who knows- maybe the horse will learn to sing!”

    So we fight on, even if it’s just a grim determination to take as many of the bastards to Hell with us as we can.

  46. 46.

    Mai Naem mobile ¹

    I’m pretty pessimistic about the future. I think the Dems need to pick two or three issues and just keep on hammering away on those. One of them should be on the anger towards insurance companies. The general public comments you see on Brian Thompson’s shooting was widespread. Not even political. There’s something there the Dems need to exploit. If nothing else it’ll help protect the ACA. Bring back Project 2025 as TFG turns it live. I  also believe that anti-trust is something Americans can be sold on easily because it’s easy to connect to their lives. Their jobs, their living expenses(Kroger per store dynamic pricing anybody!?!), their entertainment expenses, their healthcare expenses etc. The question is whether the Dems are willing to go that far or are also too scared of their corporate donors.

  47. 47.

    West of the Rockies

    @WaterGirl:

    I am trying to be very intentional (dare I say demure) about what I respond to from Trump world.   My wife and I have not watched MSNBC since the election (maybe for three combined minutes while changing channels).  I have not logged onto Mediaite once since the election.  A story like Jr.’s cheating and Kimberley Gargoyle going to Greece I only know from comments here.

    Not going to the Rage and Misery Smorgasbord this time around.

    We are fighting back though and will continue to do so.  Trump will flood the zone.  We (collectively) must push back.

    Thank you for this post, WG.

  48. 48.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Steve LaBonne: Yep, exactly. Trump thrives on creating chaos and keeping others off balance. Plus he says whatever thought threat crosses his mind regardless of whether he’s got the power to do it, or whether it’s even doable at all.

    A reminder to all that — just like one doesn’t have to participate in every fight one is invited to — one doesn’t need to react to every troll that Trump, etc. chums the waters with

    ETA: And just to be clear, yes there are threats we need to react to. I plan to focus on those.

  49. 49.

    Miss Bianca

    @ArchTeryx: Which is why – even if I have to take the notion of “MAGA Buyer’s Remorse” with a grain of salt or two or three – as in, “just because you WANT to believe it, doesn’t make it true” – I still check in frequently these days with the Reddit “Leopards Ate My Face” thread. Just because even the *thought* of the gnashing of their teeth and the wailing of their women is music to my ears.

    Almost as uplifting as news of positive Democratic achievements!

  52. 52.

    ArchTeryx

    @Professor Bigfoot: In the short term, yeah we’re hosed. We have no power. But that’s the short term. Nothing is forever in politics. Hitler though the Third Reich would last a thousand years. Then he went batshit insane, and it came crashing down in twelve. The downside is that he managed to kill close to 50 million people before it happened. In the short term, it’s all about survival if you’re in an outgroup like me. Outlasting those motherfuckers just for spite is the one thing keeping me going through my various illnesses right now.

  54. 54.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @Steve LaBonne: They don’t think about what comes next- negotiations to form a governing coalition in which that party has to engage in the same betrayals, er, compromises, that have to happen internally within the Democratic coalition.

    Democrats soft-selling genocide and promoting stochastic terrorism against Americans who don’t support them on this suggests maybe Democrats aren’t good coalition partners.

  56. 56.

    different-church-lady

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    one doesn’t need to react to every troll that Trump, etc. chums the waters with.

    One doesn’t need to, yes.

    But when enough others do it we kinda have no choice.

  57. 57.

    Steve LaBonne

    @Professor Bigfoot: I think things are going to get really bad. I also think we can make them even worse if we give up. As a UU I consider not giving up to be a religious duty.

    At the same time I think this was a fairly normal thermostatic election and not some right-wing realignment, so if we can manage to preserve the ability to vote the fascists out again- and I think we really better keep our eye on THAT ball- I genuinely believe that all is far from lost.

  59. 59.

    ArchTeryx

    @Sister Golden Bear: Yep. I see that kind of trolling the way a falcon probes a flock of prey birds, constantly harassing them in the hopes that one of them will break from the flock to engage or try to escape. Then it’s dinner time.

    Pick your battles, stay close, talk to each other constantly, that’s what I tell my Flock, many of whom now are trans. Don’t let them lure you out where you’re naked against the talons of the monsters. As Aladar said in the movie Dinosaur, “STAND TOGETHER!” It works.

  60. 60.

    Mai Naem mobile ¹

    @Betty Cracker: oh, man, I was really hoping for Lahrah to be appointed US Sen precisely because she looks fairly easily beatable, especially if people are sick and tired of TFG by that point.

  61. 61.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @ArchTeryx: Yeah, but there was that four or five years of absolute unpleasantness before the world was rid of him and his cult of personality.

    That’s the part I dread… and don’t see us avoiding.

  63. 63.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Steve LaBonne: I want to believe that; but I worry that the rot has simply gotten too deep- see the “red states” with Republican supermajorities and how deeply off the deep end they’re going.

    The entire Republican Party has lost its damn mind and is embracing outright Nazism; and now they have ALL the power.

    “This business will get out of control and we’ll be lucky to live through it.”

  64. 64.

    ArchTeryx

    @Professor Bigfoot: Yep. And that’s why, in the short term, the best thing to do is survive. Do whatever it takes to defend you and yours. A lot of the Jews in Germany and Poland that atomized were swept up and murdered. The ones that stuck together, as a group, were far harder to target, and many survived (albeit as exiles). Schindler’s List is a very good example of how a dedicated flock leader can protect his own even when evil runs free all around him. It cost Oskar Schindler terribly, but when the human race needed him to step up he stepped up.

    Survive. That’s the biggest middle finger you can give the oppressors and monsters. Outlive them.

  65. 65.

    Steve LaBonne

    @Betty Cracker: We atheists are always the highest scorers on those. Adherents of most religious sects are shockingly ignorant of that to which they supposedly adhere, let alone of other religions, and are generally encouraged by their sect to stay that way.

  68. 68.

    cain

    @Professor Bigfoot:

    I don’t think we are screwed. I think we can depend on Americans and their deeply american centric self importance. These people are still extremely acquisitive, they want their trucks, cheap gas prices, and larger than life living even when they don’t have the money for it.

    In 4 years, they aren’t going to get it. The question then becomes what happens after that. The pattern dictates they angrily go back to the Democrats to punish republicans – but we know they don’t really want Democrats. They just want a stop gap till they can vote Republican again.

    I think we’re definitely a center-right nation at this point, but we’re also self centered assholes. We’ll have to figure out how to deal with that. We’re going to have to be more silent on the social and civic stuff while still doing them and just focus on economic issues.

  69. 69.

    ArchTeryx

    @Professor Bigfoot: Remember the context of that quote. It was said by an admiral in the middle of a low-level shooting war between the Russian and U.S. navies, and it was a very short step from there to a massive nuclear exchange. We aren’t there yet.

  70. 70.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Betty Cracker: Me too–not hard questions! According to the results, atheists got some of the highest scores as a group.

    (The fact of those that I learned most recently was the one about the Four Noble Truths–because a lady who waits tables at a local Thai/Lao restaurant, who I suspect is the proprietor’s mom, was going on about them.)

  71. 71.

    tobie

    My chosen way to respond to Trump voters is to be unrelenting in pointing out Biden’s economic successes over the past four years and comparing them to Trump’s miserable performance. Reviving manufacturing and re-shoring jobs are high on my list. Sure, my neighbors probably won’t believe me but I’m sick of having to be polite when they spout their bullshit. Those who tried to peddle Joe Rogan, Bitcoin, Lex Fridman, and Jordan Peterson will get an earful if they bring up politics. No more Ms. Nice Gal from me.

  72. 72.

    WTFGhost

    @The Audacity of Krope: Friend, the premise of the thread is hope, and opportunity – maybe not an abundance, but some.

    In this case, you practically said “there is no opportunity for Democrats”, countering the very title of the thread. At the very least, you were being an immediate wet blanket.

    Not arguing whether or not it justifies a pile-on or not (or whether you feel piled-on or not), just… yeah, you were actually being awfully early with the “why bother even trying?”

    Be well, be happy.

  73. 73.

    Jeffro

    @cmorenc: Lots of people who believe jan 6 was an insurrection and disapprove of pardons for those involved, nonetheless voted for Trump, despite also most of them being aware his announced intent to issue those pardons.  Maybe that isn’t their top priority, because the border (or motivationally, the scary brown people who have crossed it) are #1 or 2 (the other being the economy), and pardons for j6 are at highest 3 and probably much further down, or maybe they even disapprove of J6 pardons.  But again, they still voted for him.

    They did, and I plan on beating the J6 drum – and ESPECIALLY any J6 pardons – in their ears anyway, until the end of time .

    I don’t even care if they care, or whether deep down, however slightly, they feel badly about it.  I just want them to know what I think of them.

  75. 75.

    Steve LaBonne

    @cain: Two things that give me hope are that there’s nobody else with the kind of inexplicable rotten charisma of Trump, and that the pendulum swings might become a little less destructive when the habitual nonvoters he activated fade back into the woodwork.

  76. 76.

    Old Man Shadow

    I don’t see it doing much good to harp on it considering Americans knew what Trump was and chose him anyway.

    But I don’t see it hurting us either, so if you’ve got the energy and heart for it, go on ahead. I hope you prove my cynicism about Americans wrong.

  81. 81.

    Baud

    We could just oppose the J6 pardons because it’s the right thing to do, even if it doesn’t move other voters.

  82. 82.

    WaterGirl

    @kmeyerthelurker: If you’re convinced that all is hopeless and there are, and will be, no opportunities at all, then please consider skipping my posts, as you will have nothing constructive to add.

    Unless your goal would be to stir the pot and bring everyone down with you. edit: Which I can’t stop you from doing, but I would rather you didn’t!

  84. 84.

    Gretchen

    @KatKapCC: That happened with the Congressional baseball game. Steve Scalise was shot, badly wounded, and afterward said it made his support of the 2nd amendment even stronger.

  85. 85.

    Steve LaBonne

    @sab: Living here definitely adds an extra degree of difficulty to not despairing. We had to watch a purple state turn into North Alabama.

  86. 86.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @Old Man Shadow: I don’t see it doing much good to harp on it considering Americans knew what Trump was and chose him anyway.

    Being right plus four dollars will buy you a coffee at Dunkies.

  89. 89.

    TBone

    @ArchTeryx: while doing all of that as my religion, I plan to make as much joy and fun as I can so I have some to spare and share with others who’ll need it.

    My favorite Black guy at the grocery checkout, Earl!, is awaiting a diagnosis today.  We hugged several times, did a little dance, made everyone nearby pay attention to joy! and the other checkout people started cheering!  Waving arms in the air, even at the usually miserable Customer Service desk.

    Ya gotta live well to really stick it to ’em while you’re surviving.

    Also FUCK CANCER.

  90. 90.

    sab

    @TBone: My new guy from satby in South Bend loves classical music, especially Baroque. He comes upstairs from the basement to complain if the radio isn’t going during the day.

  97. 97.

    Spanky

    I’m just happy that I’ll still be around when TFCG keels over. I’m keeping up my cardio so I can be dancing in the street.

  98. 98.

    rikyrah

    Chris D. Jackson (@ChrisDJackson) posted at 7:11 PM on Sun, Dec 15, 2024:
     Last night at the White House, President Biden ended the night with a beautiful toast containing an Irish prayer. 

    May the road rise to meet you,
    May the wind be always at your back.
    May the sun shine warm upon your face,
    The rains fall soft upon your fields.
    And until we https://t.co/LYkNbpVNx4
    (https://x.com/ChrisDJackson/status/1868463970207633716?t=eJ-aQ14sIZvR5t6h0NFJSg&s=03)

  101. 101.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Steve LaBonne: I have a small map of my Ohio House district, District 49; and honest to God it is ridiculous on its face. Pisses me right off every time I look at it.

    The obvious and blatant corruption in Ohio state government is truly phenomenal; and they keep getting away with it.

  102. 102.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @ArchTeryx: It ain’t that far away, though; and with this batch of ignorant, stupid, grifters and thieves and foreign agents running the United States… well, may the Universe send that we manage to avoid it.

  104. 104.

    TBone

    @KatKapCC: I couldn’t unnerstand why that was wrong for an entire three minutes hahaha! I had to reread a few times.  In my defense, I have been awake since 1:30 a.m.

    I should have said cashier!

    There is a whole side story about the cashier whose line we were in today, next to Earl’s register.  She is differently abled and was such a pleasure that I told Earl he has competition!

  105. 105.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: My dad has been pushing a Fox News talking point about Biden “only” winning 2020 by 80k votes (the swing state difference) while Trump won 2024 by 3 million votes.

    I explained that this was comparing different things, the swing states in one instance versus the national vote in the other. Trump’s 3 million vote margin in the national vote is more meaningfully compared to Biden’s 7 million.

    I was able to produce hard facts. Election results including the national totals. No minds were changed.

  106. 106.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @cain: For over a hundred years the states of the former Confederacy enacted and enforced Jim Crow, even though that denied them potential customers, workers and suppliers.

    Do not think the average white American would not choose to reinstate Jim Crow given the chance; because as LBJ indicated, “he needs someone to look down on.”

    We have history.

  113. 113.

    laura

    @Betty Cracker: this agnostic, salty, petty gal also scored 15/15. I wish I had a religious faith to rely upon, but instead, I remain a “works without faith” person.

    I’m as pissed off and sad about the election, but I will never ever regret working to make a more perfect union. I’ll keep doing my part in the coming dark days, because to be of service is how I was raised, how I’ve lived my adult life, and how I’ll finish my time on earth. I’ll find joy in resistance, because there is joy and companionship to be found in the struggle.

  115. 115.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @sab: No correction needed- right in the heart of Ohio House District 49.

    We had a marvelous Democratic candidate, but it’s next to impossible to beat the godawful gerrymandering (look up the shape of House District 49 and tell me it ain’t ridiculous on its face!) grrrrrr

  116. 116.

    rikyrah

    scary lawyerguy (@scarylawyerguy) posted at 9:03 AM on Sun, Dec 15, 2024:
    In six months to a year, CNN and MSNBC will not exist as we have known them. Alienated reasonably minded people by signal boosting Trump (CNN) and leading the pitchfork brigade to boot out Biden & going full-blown apologist for Hamas (MSNBC). Love to see it. Fire all of them. https://t.co/rQdEMnEgJC
    (https://x.com/scarylawyerguy/status/1868311026405449928?t=yYLduLpvVnlmOcnXvyfG8g&s=03)

  117. 117.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Steve LaBonne: I ran away from my birth state of Tennessee long, long ago because I hated the place.

    And 20 years after I adopt Ohio what happens? It turns into Tennessee.

  121. 121.

    TBone

    Someone built a snowman outside our local post office this morning.  I have the photographic evidence.  We are both smiling, but his is wider.  Hubby was fumbling with the phone camera so I got impatient and said, loudly, it’s not rocket science! A male passerby said just as loudly “YES, IT IS!” Hahahaha!

  122. 122.

    kindness

    Americans are incurious and like not paying attention.  To that level, many Americans are ignorant idiots guided by their media of choice.  No one (except us) in 4 years is going to remember or care what Trump did when he took office, including pardoning treason & the people who did it for him.  Not that we shouldn’t remind the general public with every pronouncement from Democrats.  Lord knows the MSM sure isn’t going to talk about it past his first week in office.

  124. 124.

    Glidwrith

    @ArchTeryx: Mmmmm…. I like this concept. One thing I’ve been puzzling over, one can seldom be in the right place at the right time to intervene for someone that’s vulnerable. Building small network communities to aid each other sounds like a great way to catch each other. Do you have more details?

  125. 125.

    TBone

    @Professor Bigfoot:

     

     

     

     

    Come live with me and be my love

    And we will all the pleasures prove,
    That Valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
    Woods, or steepy mountain yields.

    And we will sit upon the Rocks,
    Seeing the Shepherds feed their flocks,
    By shallow Rivers to whose falls
    Melodious birds sing Madrigals.

    And I will make thee beds of Roses
    And a thousand fragrant posies,
    A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
    Embroidered all with leaves of Myrtle;

    A gown made of the finest wool
    Which from our pretty Lambs we pull;
    Fair lined slippers for the cold,
    With buckles of the purest gold;

    A belt of straw and Ivy buds,
    With Coral clasps and Amber studs:
    And if these pleasures may thee move,
    Come live with me, and be my love.

    The Shepherds’ Swains shall dance and sing
    For thy delight each May-morning:
    If these delights thy mind may move,
    Then live with me, and be my love.
    – Christopher Marlowe

  126. 126.

    Kathleen

    @WaterGirl: Dan Goldman said during his interview with Marc Elias that Democrats cannot react to every thing Trump says or does “like we did the  last time” because it’s a waste of energy. From what he said I gathered his philosophy was that Dems needed to focus on winning elections, blocking Republican initiatives that harm safety net, voting rights etc, and passing legislation even if it means working with Republicans. Like Samantha Hancox-Li said “In Praise of Wokeness” (and I’m summarizing/paraphrasing), create policy proposals with outcomes.

    If Democrats/we are to survive, we have to run our race by relying on our strengths and having the flexibility to adjust quickly.

  131. 131.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Steve LaBonne: That is a thing. J. D. Vance is arguably a worse menace than Trump, in terms of his actual interests and beliefs, but he also doesn’t have Trump’s bizarre broad asshole appeal–he’s a smarmy high-school debate captain and his greatest achievement was to gull some of the NPR crowd for a while into thinking he was the safe MAGA Whisperer. He’d do terrible stuff but people won’t necessarily like him for it.

  133. 133.

    Steve LaBonne

    @rikyrah: If they had any spines at all they would remember how easily Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger won their primaries in Georgia after being targeted by Trump.

  134. 134.

    Kathleen

    @Professor Bigfoot: This is how I look at it. Democratic Senators and Reps have a job to do for their constituents, and that is to promote policies/legislation that helps them and the country. I think that’s why many of them are saying they will work with Republicans if it supports a legislative goal. IMHO they have a responsibility to engage Rethugs when necessary. I think that energy of doing the job is powerful and could yield some positive results on occasion. Doing something with purpose is better than the just flailing, (though I realize “doing something” is not valued by most while scapegoating and demonizing are deemed to be more “effective”). Dems have nothing to lose by following a game plan.

  136. 136.

    Steve LaBonne

    @Kathleen: We should remember that Democrats will continue to have real leverage in the House. Their votes are the only way Moses Johnson is going to be able to keep the government from shutting down on Dec. 20 and it won’t be any different next year.

  138. 138.

    Kathleen

    @Steve LaBonne: Precisely. Again, I realize that focus, discipline and outcomes are very unpopular in most quarters, I think that approach has greatest potential for success defeating Rethug agenda.

  142. 142.

    Captain C

    @Betty Cracker: Got a perfect score, myself!  Not bad for a combination atheist (by the evidence) and polytheist (for aesthetic reasons, after all, who doesn’t love the Flying Spaghetti Monster?).

    I credit my 6th grade teacher Mrs. Zanders, who made sure we knew all about world religions and cultures.

  146. 146.

    Kathleen

    @Betty Cracker: I missed 1 – Sikh was the right answer and I had Islam I think. I guess those 17 years of Catholic education kicked in (we did have classes on other religious beliefs besides Catholic).

  147. 147.

    Kathleen

    @Professor Bigfoot: The new maps actually benefitted me. For the first time since 2008 I have a Dem rep because they put all of Cincinnati in OH#1 where before it was split between #1 & #2. Still includes Warren County but Landsman still managed to get reelected rather handily.

  150. 150.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Kathleen: Even that stupid mango MF might do something that would actually benefit the American people, so why wouldn’t elected Dems work with that?

    I think you’re spot on there.

  151. 151.

    Kathleen

    @Baud: I myself can be an emo outrage addict and I have to really watch it so I can see the allure. The emotional satisfaction lasts about 10 seconds for me and I have to keep telling myself endless outrage rooted in fear of helplessness in the face of perceived power is Fascist Food and I don’t want to feed the Fascists. Just speaking for myself and you are right.

  152. 152.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Kathleen: Same when they put me in OH 13 with the most excellent Emilia Sykes. Her winning was the only bright spot in November 6. <sigh>

  153. 153.

    Manyakitty

    @zhena gogolia: because, as bad as Reagan was (and he was terrible), this is so much worse because of what he’s taken from us TWICE now: the chance for a supremely qualified woman to lead us. Double-fisted gut punch.

  155. 155.

    Kathleen

    @Professor Bigfoot: I admire her so much. I saw a video of her explaining her strategy for her first campaign and she blew me away. Talk about a real talent and a real star. I want to be her when I grow up!

  161. 161.

    azlib

    @Steve LaBonne:

    Thank you Steve.  Coalition politics which is required in a two party system is hard and messy. One of the key differences between the Partys today is the Republicans are mostly a parlimentarian Party with a narrow agenda and the Dems are the 2nd Party in a two party system where the coalition building happens within the Party structure and not during the negotiatons we see in multiparty systems like Israel and the Netherlands and France. As a result there are compromises galore which are not to the liking of everyone.

  163. 163.

    Steve LaBonne

    @azlib: On the other hand, this ideological fervor can be a weakness for Republicans when they have only narrow majorities that their leaders can’t corral. As in 2017-18 when they could only do the tax cuts that every Republican agrees with, and as it will hopefully be the next 2 years.

  166. 166.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @sab:

     

    @TBone:

    Mister Dairy Junkie (my childhood cat) wasn’t that interested in music, although he never really objected to having the radio on the local jazz station. He was a Siamese, so when he was unhappy, the entire house knew it.

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