Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The revolution will be supervised.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

No Kings: Americans standing in the way of bad history saying “Oh, Fuck No!”

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Stay strong, because they are weak.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

We do not need to pander to people who do not like what we stand for.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

“Alexa, change the president.”

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

You are here: Home / Archives for 2024

Archives for 2024

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: Happy Birthday, President Carter

by | 130 Comments

This post is in: ,

This is excellent… James Fallows, who was a speechwriter for Carter back in the 1970s, on “Jimmy Carter: Unlucky President, Lucky Man”:

… Americans generally know Jimmy Carter as the gray-haired retiree who came into the news when building houses or fighting diseases or monitoring elections, and whose political past became shorthand for the threadbare America of the 1970s. Most of today’s Americans had not been born by the time Carter left office in 1981. About one-fifth are old enough to have voted when he won and then lost the presidency. It is hard for Americans to imagine Jimmy Carter as young—almost as hard as it is to imagine John F. Kennedy as old.

But there are consistent accounts of Carter’s personality throughout his long life: as a Depression-era child in rural Georgia, as a hotshot Naval Academy graduate working in Hyman Rickover’s then-futuristic-seeming nuclear-powered submarine force, as a small businessman who entered politics but eventually was forced out of it, as the inventor of the modern post-presidency.

What these accounts all stress is that, old or young, powerful or diminished, Jimmy Carter has always been the same person. That is the message that comes through from Carter’s own pre-presidential campaign autobiography, Why Not the Best?, and his many post-presidential books, of which the most charming and revealing is An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood. It is a theme of Jonathan Alter’s insightful biography, His Very Best. It is what I learned in two and a half years of working directly with Carter as a speechwriter during the 1976 campaign and on the White House staff, and in my connections with the Carter diaspora since then.

Whatever his role, whatever the outside assessment of him, whether luck was running with him or against, Carter was the same. He was self-controlled and disciplined. He liked mordant, edgy humor. He was enormously intelligent—and aware of it—politically crafty, and deeply spiritual. And he was intelligent, crafty, and spiritual enough to recognize inevitable trade-offs between his ambitions and his ideals. People who knew him at one stage of his life would recognize him at another.

Jimmy Carter didn’t change. Luck and circumstances did…

show full post on front page

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: Happy Birthday, President CarterPost + Comments (130)

Open Thread

by | 139 Comments

This post is in: 

I’m dreading this debate not because I think it matters who will win but because I just find JD Vance to be so supremely despicable and odious that the thought of looking at him makes me cringe. Plus the eyeliner and the weird posing and it all reminds me of this:

Open Thread 41

Maybe I will just go to bed.

*** Update ***

I *REALLY* need to start reading this website before I post because I see Rose has already discussed Vance. I am gonna go out on a limb and guess this is the general consensus of all the front pagers, so we can have some closure on that aspect.

Open ThreadPost + Comments (139)

Jon Tester vs. the Racist Carpetbagger Who Won’t Apologize for Racist Remarks (and more)

by | 99 Comments

This post is in: 

There is a time machine after all!  We are back to the equivalent of “It’s just locker room talk!”.  More on that below.

Jon Tester vs. the Racist Carpetbagger Who Won't Apologize for Racist Remarks 1
Bret Healy, left, a consultant for Four Directions Native Vote, Inc., speaks about voting opportunities on Native American reservations in Montana with attorney Cher Old Elk (center) during a press conference at the James F. Battin Federal Courthouse, Sept. 26, 2024, in Billings, Mont. Credit: AP/Matthew Brown

In the meantime, this happened yesterday.

Native Americans in Montana ask court for voting sites on reservation (Newsday)

BILLINGS, Mont. — Native Americans living on a remote Montana reservation filed a lawsuit against state and county officials Monday saying they don’t have enough places to vote in person — the latest chapter in a decades-long struggle by tribes in the United States over equal voting opportunities.

The six members of the Fort Peck Reservation want satellite voting offices in their communities for late registration and to vote before Election Day without making long drives to a county courthouse.

The legal challenge, filed in state court, comes five weeks before the presidential election in a state with a a pivotal U.S. Senate race where the Republican candidate has made derogatory comments about Native Americans.

Native Americans were granted U.S. citizenship a century ago. Advocates say the right still doesn’t always bring equal access to the ballot.

Many tribal members in rural western states live in far-flung communities with limited resources and transportation. That can make it hard to reach election offices, which in some cases are located off-reservation.

The plaintiffs in the Montana lawsuit reside in two small communities near the Canada border on the Fort Peck Reservation, home to the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes. Plaintiffs’ attorney Cher Old Elk grew up in one of those communities, Frazer, Montana, where more than a third of people live below the poverty line and the per capita income is about $12,000, according to census data.

It’s a 60-mile round trip from Frazer to the election office at the courthouse in Glasgow. Old Elk says that can force prospective voters into difficult choices.

“It’s not just the gas money; it’s actually having a vehicle that runs,” she said. “Is it food on my table, or is it the gas money to find a vehicle, to find a ride, to go to Glasgow to vote?”

The lawsuit asks a state judge for an order forcing Valley and Roosevelt counties and Republican Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen to create satellite election offices in Frazer and Poplar, Montana. The offices would be open during the same hours and on the same days as the county courthouses.

The plaintiffs requested satellite election offices from the counties earlier this year, the lawsuit says. Roosevelt County officials allegedly refused, while Valley County officials said budget constraints limited them to opening a satellite voting center for just one day.

Valley County Attorney Dylan Jensen said there were only two full-time employees in the Clerk and Recorder’s Office that oversees elections, so staffing a satellite office would be problematic.

A 2012 federal lawsuit in Montana sought to establish satellite election offices on the Crow, Northern Cheyenne and Fort Belknap reservations. It was rejected by a judge, but the ruling was later set aside by an appeals court. In 2014, tribal members in the case reached a settlement with officials in several counties.

Monday’s lawsuit said inequities continue on the Fort Peck Reservation, and that tribal members have never fully achieved equal voting since Montana was first organized as a territory in 1864 and Native Americans were excluded from its elections. Native voters in subsequent years continued to face barriers to registering and were sometimes stricken from voter rolls.

“Equal means equal,” said Bret Healy, an expert witness for the plaintiffs who was also involved in the 2012 Montana case. “It is substantively, mathematically and logically not equal if there’s not a satellite office on the Indian Reservation.”

Tester on The Last Word about 3 months ago.  Take a minute to listen.  He would have my vote!

A few clips of them sparring in last night’s debate. Is it wrong that I want to wipe that snug look off of Sheehy’s face?

Angel matches, as of this afternoon:

We have a match for the first $1,000 of matching donations for Four Directions Montana / Jon Tester.

We have a NEW $1,000 Angel match to keep us going on Field Operations for the Osborn Nebraska senate race.

We have $1,250 left on the Angel match for AZ Candidates.

For all of these, matching up to $100 per person when you tell us about your donation in the comments or by email to WaterGirl.

AZ Supreme Court fundraising is complete!

All of today’s angels are anonymous!  Donations up to $100 per person for each thermometer with an angel match.  To be matched tell us about your donation in the comments or by email to WaterGirl.

Nebraska ($1,000 Angel match)

Montana ($1,000 Angel match)

Arizona Candidates ($1,000 Angel match)

North Carolina

OTHER NC THERMOMETERS COMING TOMORROW!

.

Jon Tester vs. the Racist Carpetbagger Who Won’t Apologize for Racist Remarks (and more)Post + Comments (99)

Same As It Ever Was Open Thread

by | 105 Comments

This post is in: 

Our local Dems Abroad chair asked the group chat if any of us would be staying up to watch the VP debate tonight. I’d rather eat scabs than voluntarily listen to JD Vance, frankly.

I run a lot (I’m very slow, but it makes me feel great, mentally). There’s a terrific, well-maintained canal network around here which has good, broad running or cycling paths. Along with the usual ducks and geese, I get to see lots of herons, swans, moorhens, and once, this summer, I even saw a kingfisher. I also enjoy the local canalboats:

and you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large water mobile

[image or embed]

— Rose Judson (@rosejudson.bsky.social) September 30, 2024 at 6:11 PM

I applied for a mortgage today (the first in my own name! adulting!), so I am fried. I owe y’all an update on US vs. Google Ads now that testimony has wrapped. Probably Thursday. It’s not going great for Google, based on what I’ve read so far. I love that for them.

Whatcha got? Any good boat names? Open thread.

Same As It Ever Was Open ThreadPost + Comments (105)

It Never Ends, Inside the Painted Egg is Another Egg

by | 162 Comments

This post is in: 

Dylan Wells is some dumb-dumb writing at the Post, and the hook for her Walz stump speech story is that Walz is “conservative”, his campaign is “bubble wrapped” and the guy who’s really swinging for the fences is Junior Davenport: [gift link]

But Walz’s conservative approach to campaigning stands in contrast to that of Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), whose stint as the vice-presidential nominee has spurred headlines about his comments and controversies, including his role in spreading false claims that Haitian immigrants were eating pets in his home state. Vance has regularly participated in interviews with both traditional and new media. He frequently takes questions from the reporters covering his campaign travel, often combatively sparring with the journalists who cover him.

If Walz would only tell a pack of lies that incite a bunch of haters to persecute a minority, he would be “less conservative” and not “bubble wrapped”.

This is also stupid:

The Minnesota governor rarely interacts directly with undecided voters within view of the press. Instead,much of his independent travel involves thanking and encouraging people who already support the Democratic ticket. […]

Perhaps the reason Harris chose a midwestern former football coach who is always in full-on dad mode is because he could inspire Democrats to vote.  Maybe it’s a strategy, not a character trait (“conservative”).  And perhaps the notion that “undecided” voters who would interact with the press or a candidate exist is nonsense.

Steve M thinks that Trump and JD are the main characters after a brief moment where Harris took the spotlight.  I think he’s right, because the press covering them doesn’t see their despicable lies as terrible acts, but rather as daring and audacious gambits, and they find them novel and amusing.

It Never Ends, Inside the Painted Egg is Another EggPost + Comments (162)

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Fight Night, the Undercard

by | 132 Comments

This post is in: , , ,

Truth to tell, I’m having trouble ginning up any enthusiasm for tonight’s event. Tim Walz will be charmingly avuncular, JD Vance will spew an angry stream of lies & bullsh*t, and the betting will be on whether Walz uses his Teacher Voice and what bodily function(s) Vance loses control over if (when) he does.

Per Politico:

… When is the debate?
The debate will kick off on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 9 p.m. ET. and run for 90 minutes with two four-minute commercial breaks.

Where is the debate?
CBS is holding the debate at their CBS Broadcast Center in New York City…

How can I watch the debate?
CBS will broadcast and livestream the debate on all platforms where CBS News 24/7 and Paramount+ are available. It will also be made available to simulcast, according to the network.

A livestream of the debate will be available at POLITICO.com.

What are the debate rules?
Vance and Walz will have two minutes to answer a question, two minutes to respond to the other’s answer, and then one minute for a rebuttal.

Their microphones will be hot for the duration of the debate — unlike Trump’s debates with Harris and President Joe Biden this year, when a candidate was muted during their opponent’s turn to speak — but CBS reserves the right to mute them, the network said Friday.

Each candidate will have two minutes for their closing statement. Vance won the Thursday coin toss to determine the order for closing statements, CBS said, and opted to go last to get the final word. There will be no opening statements…

show full post on front page

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Fight Night, the UndercardPost + Comments (132)

On The Road – Captain C – Road Trip, April 2024 Part 4: Montpelier to Cooperstown

by | 8 Comments

This post is in: ,

Captain C

Halfway through the trip, Dame N and I made the journey from Montpelier to Cooperstown.  On the way, we made a couple stops.  First, we met my friend Elizabeth!, an outstanding singer, trombonist, and songwriter who I know through an amazing marching band and who now runs the Vermont Governor’s Institute (follow the link to her excellent music).  Then we stopped in Saratoga Springs, a little bit for lunch and to check out the local library, but mostly to check out an extradimensional bookstore which will be the subject of the three sets after this one.

On The Road – Captain C – Road Trip, April 2024 Part 4: Montpelier to CooperstownPost + Comments (8)

On The Road - Captain C - Road Trip, April 2024 Part 4: Montpelier to Cooperstown 8
The Red Hen, Middlesex, VTApril 17, 2024

We met Elizabeth! at the Red Hen, an excellent bakery and cafe in Middlesex, VT.  It’s very worth the visit if you’re in the area.  Out back they have a maker/camp/performance area which is where the this and the next couple pics were taken.