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We will not go back.

Republicans in disarray!

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Decision time: keep arguing about the last election, or try to win the next one?

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

When we show up, we win.

To the privileged, equality seems like oppression.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

So fucking stupid, and still doing a tremendous amount of damage.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

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

Fucking consultants! (of the political variety)

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

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

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

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You are here: Home / Archives for 2024

Archives for 2024

TGIFriday Morning Open Thread: Another Week for the Marx Brothers History Books

by Anne Laurie|  September 20, 20249:10 am| 284 Comments

This post is in: Elections 2024, Kamala Harris for President, Open Threads, Our Failed Media Experiment, Schadenfreude

Join me and fellow Star Trek ladies on October 3rd for a virtual event, Women of Star Trek for Kamala! We are supporting the Harris/Walz campaign as we look toward a brighter future – one that we need to start building today at the ballot box. ???#HarrisWalz2024 #Kamala2024 pic.twitter.com/IyuikgZpE1

— Kate Mulgrew (@TheKateMulgrew) September 19, 2024

At #TAF24, @SpeakerPelosi recalls that after the Dobbs decision, she put on the floor a bill saying that women have the right to contraception. Some Democrats thought that Republicans would support the bill and look “kind of normal.”

But, she says, “195 Republicans voted no,… pic.twitter.com/Y8709UUQrM

— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) September 20, 2024

Kamala Harris is ready to lead on day one. pic.twitter.com/lfcCTmuj7N

— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) September 19, 2024

Earlier this year, I convened voting rights leaders to thank them for their work and issue a call to action: Join me on three National Days of Action on Voting Rights to help get Americans registered.

Here's how their organizations took action: pic.twitter.com/6BeQVWijfX

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) September 18, 2024

***********
I wouldn’t buy a used car from Olivia Nuzzi. (Or, were I forty years younger, be alone in an elevator with any of the men with whom she’s chosen to associate.) But she’s got a genuine journalistic instinct, and I’ll miss her wit in the final runup to the election. This is from her latest NYMag cover story about Trump:

It is popular to say that he does not have any beliefs, but what people mean when they say this is he has no principles. His greatest belief, the essential thing to understand about him, is his belief in his own mind. In its power to conceive and then to actualize. And he was unwilling to accept or admit that his mind was vulnerable to the influence of his emotions. He had never been comfortable being that human.

"New York magazine on Thursday said its Washington correspondent, Olivia Nuzzi, is on leave after learning the star journalist had allegedly engaged in a romantic relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.," @OliverDarcy reports for STATUS https://t.co/Cu6z7l123K

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 20, 2024

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TGIFriday Morning Open Thread: Another Week for the <del>Marx Brothers</del> History BooksPost + Comments (284)

On The Road – TKH – Roper’s Sierra High Route Devil’s Postpile to Tuolumne Meadows Part 2

by WaterGirl|  September 20, 20245:00 am| 28 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging

TKH

Continuation of the hike from Lake Catherine, the end of Part 1 of this submission, to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite NP.

On The Road – TKH – Roper’s Sierra High Route Devil’s Postpile to Tuolumne Meadows Part 2Post + Comments (28)

On The Road - TKH - Roper’s Sierra High Route Devil’s Postpile to Tuolumne Meadows Part 2 9
Below Lake CatherineJuly 7, 2024

Lake Catherine drains into the South Fork of the Joaquin River. As you reach the point where the eater just plunges down, you have several hundred feet of complex terrain to find your way down through. At some point you reach a 120 ft waterfall where the wster is just in free-fall and you should try not to mimic it in the interest of your continued existence. What you have to do is climb out on skier’s right and find your way through an extended system of cliffs and talus bands to a point where you are at the same altitude as the tarn that the water fall plunges into. The instructions are vague and you live by your wits, experience and parltience.

In this photo you see where the plunge if the water begins at the skyline, you see sime white water in the top third and you see the esterfall at the bottom plus some of the terrain you have to find your way through to circumnavigate the waterfall.

Something Pleasant Dawn Open Thread: ‘Kamala’s First Gentleman’

by Anne Laurie|  September 20, 20243:54 am| 147 Comments

This post is in: Elections 2024, Kamala Harris for President, Proud to Be A Democrat, Something Good Open Thread

Emhoff on Sarah Huckabee Sanders re Harris last night:

“somehow, b/c Cole&Ella aren't Kamala’s ‘biological children,’ that she doesn't have anything in her life to keep her humble…As if keeping women humble, whether you have children or not,is something we should strive for.”

— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) September 19, 2024

John Heilemann, at Puck:

Long before Doug Emhoff became our nation’s first-ever second gentleman, and even before he married a woman who now has even odds of becoming the first female president of the United States (and, yes, also the first Black and South Asian female president…), he was a superstar entertainment litigator whose nickname at his Los Angeles firm was “the Smiling Assassin.” Indeed, if the nation is still trying to figure out who, exactly, Kamala Harris is, the same is exponentially more true of Emhoff.

In this candid and lightly edited interview, which has been excerpted from today’s full episode of Impolitic With John Heilemann, we discussed his trajectory from uber-lawyer to political super-spouse, the budding somethingship between Donald Trump and Laura Loomer, the feminism of Pearl Jam and Nirvana, and much more…

John Heilemann: Tell me about your speech at the convention. You had been a political spouse, and you’ve given your fair share of speeches, but this was a whole different thing.

Doug Emhoff: I knew I had to really dig deep. Of course, prior to [Biden dropping out of the race], I was preparing to maybe speak, and maybe have some role introducing [Kamala]. Then when she got to the top of the ticket, they said, Well, now you have a bigger role. And then they told me that I was going on primetime Tuesday night with the Obamas. I was like, You mean Michelle and Barack Obama? …

Really, you’re there as a window into your wife, the nominee. And right now, if you look at the polling, people who haven’t decided say, We need to know more about her. I’m curious about the challenge that presents.

We thought a lot about how to bust through the caricature of her. There was such a false view of her that was out there. So part of it is like, Here’s the Kamala Harris that I know—the joyful warrior. She’s a mother to the kids, she’s a massive part of our family, she’s always been there for us, she’s going to be there for you. She’s been in the Oval Office, she’s been on the world stage. She’s ready to lead on day one, and she’s a badass. I had to get all that out in 12 short minutes, and a little bit about myself, too…

In D.C., political perceptions are filtered through the media for good and ill. Is it gratifying to see the world catch up with what you’ve always seen?

It’s a testament to her, her character and diligence. All this chattering-class bullshit and the media never affected her. It never got her down. She just kept going, and that’s why you’re seeing her be what she is right now.

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Something Pleasant Dawn Open Thread: ‘Kamala’s First Gentleman’Post + Comments (147)

This Guy Is Dead Right About Trump

by WaterGirl|  September 19, 202411:05 pm| 130 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics

Did he really call Trump a “lunchable” at the end?

Mark Robinson shows how easy it is for crazy people to manipulate Trump with flattery.

Trump didn’t care Mark was nuts—he endorsed him anyway because Mark said he was cool a few times.

The lesson here: if a novice like Mark can do it, so will Putin and our enemies. pic.twitter.com/04Ze9HQdDN

— Isaiah Martin (@isaiahrmartin) September 19, 2024

Is the idea that people will be able to eat Trump for lunch?  (not literally)

(Should I know who Isaiah Martin is?)

Open thread.

This Guy Is Dead Right About TrumpPost + Comments (130)

Thursday Night Open Thread

by WaterGirl|  September 19, 20249:22 pm| 110 Comments

This post is in: Elections, Elections 2024, Open Threads, Politics

Seems like everyone is talking about the rally with Oprah and Kamala.  Is there a good place to watch it?

Open thread.

 

Thursday Night Open ThreadPost + Comments (110)

War for Ukraine Day 939: Russia Bombs a Geriatric Clinic in Sumy

by Adam L Silverman|  September 19, 20246:57 pm| 8 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Military, Open Threads, Russia, Silverman on Security, War, War in Ukraine

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Two quick housekeeping notes. First, Rosie is doing great. Thank you for all the good thoughts, well wishes, prayers, and donations.

Second, I’m still fried. I’m just trying to get through to tomorrow so I can get some rest. So, I’m just going to run through the basics again tonight.

As I type this – at 6:05 PM EDT/1:05 AM local time in Ukraine – over 2/3rds of Ukraine is under air raid alerts. It appears to be another drone swarm and the alerts have been up or going up over the past hour or so.

This is from an hour ago:

Big attack by Russia with Iranian Shahed drones expected tonight: Earlier, monitors said 20-25 were in Ukrainian airspace, now 60-70 more are expected incoming from Kusk, and another 20 from Primorsko-Akhtarsk and Yeysk. Also, Kh-59 missile fired at Dnipro, explosions reported. pic.twitter.com/W4cPxnrE5F

— Euan MacDonald (@Euan_MacDonald) September 19, 2024

Earlier today Russia bombed a geriatric clinic in Sumy.

russian forces struck a nursing home in Sumy with a guided aerial bomb this afternoon.

The facility housed bedridden patients, who were urgently evacuated. Medical personnel are providing immediate care to the injured right on the street. pic.twitter.com/R0fK8OhuJ9

— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) September 19, 2024

The Russians also hit Kharkiv and Kherson again early this morning. More on that after the jump.

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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War for Ukraine Day 939: Russia Bombs a Geriatric Clinic in SumyPost + Comments (8)

Only The Best People

by Tom Levenson|  September 19, 20244:19 pm| 255 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Republican Venality, Republicans in Disarray!

I want to start this off by reminding everyone that Mark Robinson (R-Self-Described-Nazi) is Trump’s guy. The Ferret-Heedit Shitgibbon endorsed the NC Lt. Gov. back in the spring, calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids.”* Robinson may be done (maybe not–Jamelle Bouie doesn’t think so) but he’s someone Trump and the GOP have celebrated; his only sin is getting caught. Were Trump to regain power (FSM forfend) Robinson is exactly the kind of guy who would fit right in to the new administration. Which is to say…

Let’s hang this around every GOP neck.

Mark Robinson, the controversial and socially conservative Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina, made a series of inflammatory comments on a pornography website’s message board more than a decade ago, in which he referred to himself as a “black NAZI!” and expressed support for reinstating slavery, a CNN KFile investigation found.

Despite a recent history of anti-transgender rhetoric, Robinson said he enjoyed watching transgender pornography, a review of archived messages found in which he also referred to himself as a “perv.”

Robinson denies saying any of this (and, I guess, hanging around a porn site assiduously enough to become a regular on the discussion board). But CNN has got him:

The comments, which Robinson denies making, predate his entry into politics and current stint as North Carolina’s lieutenant governor. They were made under a username that CNN was able to identify as Robinson by matching a litany of biographical details and a shared email address between the two…

[Robinson’s comments] were made between 2008 and 2012 on “Nude Africa,” a pornographic website that includes a message board. The comments were made under the username minisoldr, a moniker Robinson used frequently online.

Robinson listed his full name on his profile for Nude Africa, as well as an email address he used on numerous websites across the internet for decades.

There is apparently a ton of material. The article states that CNN isn’t publishing most of what they have “given their graphic nature.” Given what is included, I’m guessing this is a story that will keep on giving for a while. E.g:

…under the username minisoldr on Nude Africa, Robinson graphically described his own sexual arousal as an adult from the memory of secretly “peeping” on women in public gym showers as a 14-year-old. Robinson recounted the story as a memory he said he still fantasized about.

Only The Best People™

“I came to a spot that was a dead end but had two big vent covers over it! It just so happened it overlooked the showers! I sat there for about an hour and watched as several girls came in and showered,” Robinson wrote on Nude Africa.

CNN is not publishing the graphic sexual details of Robinson’s story.

You get the idea. CNN hits Robinson in particular for overt hypocrisy on transgender issues. Read the whole article, and expect new details any time.

Again, the point isn’t just that Robinson is at once a grotesque individual with terrifying political stands. It is that he was a GOP darling, an early and eager Trump pick, and would remain so were it not for inconvenient publicity.

I have a fantasy: that reporters covering every race of any import around the country ask the Republican to denounce and distance themselves from Robinson. Their answers matter much less than keeping this story in the public view. But a boy can dream, right?

*There’s no way to read that sentence that isn’t weird at best, heading rapidly towards grotesque.

This thread is open.

Image: Christian Rohlfs, Susanna and the Elders, 1916/1917.

Only The Best PeoplePost + Comments (255)

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