Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

This really is a full service blog.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Even though I know this is a bad idea, I’m off to do it anyway!

The US Supreme Court is on the ballot in november.

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

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

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

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

This fight is for everything.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

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

Let me file that under fuck it.

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

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Archives for 2024

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: January 17, 2024

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COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: January 17, 2024
There is a (fortunately, minor so far) measles outbreak in Philadelphia, confirmed cases in New Jersey, and warnings of a possible carrier in Virginia. (Responses to the Dulles Airport news seem to be evenly divided between ‘who cares, it’s just a rash’, and ‘Probly some filthy dark-skinned illegal immigrant’, predictably.) There’s also been a rather larger outbreak reported in England. Measles is an *extraordinarily* virulent disease that kills at least a million people a year — not all of them children in underdeveloped nations — and which also causes immune response suppression. Welcome to our new, post-pandemic era!

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Late Night Open Thread: Let the Masses Enjoy Their Simple Pleasures

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I would much rather undergo a(nother) root canal than even the most refined of sea cruises, but c’mon. Ever-bigger cruise ships are built because more people want to take the kind of vacation their improved incomes finally permit them to dream about! Even if one objects to ‘tourists’ cluttering otherwise attractive foreign sites and threatening local eco-systems, why not let people congregate on a big floating petri dish cargo ship where they can gorge on familiar dishes, unleash their screaming offspring, and make potentially terrible romantic choices?

Quote from a locked account:

Late stage capitalism means that roughly once a year a middle class family can go on a decadent entertainment ship staffed by people who are also making a living wage and can afford their own vacations.

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War for Ukraine Day 692: Russia Has Once Again Bombarded Civilian Targets in Kharkiv

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Screen shot of new artwork by NEIVANMADE. The background is black. In the bottom foreground are grey Ukrainian homes and apartment buildings being bombarded by red Russian missiles with the Special Military Operation "Z" symbol on them. Above the missiles, written in red is the word "Ruzzians". Below the buildings being attacked is the statement "Turns Homes Into Graves".

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

President Zelenskyy was in Davos today where he addressed the World Economic Forum. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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Tuesday Night Open Thread

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Another busy day, Got a bunch of work done, did some more organizing, and most importantly, I got to the cox communication store and turned in the modem and remote tv boxes that had not been upgraded since 2016 or so. The internet and everything is working MUCH MUCH BETTER now.

Was at Wally World to pick up a couple things for dinner (we had most of the stuff on hand), but I was making chili and wanted some cornbread muffins, so I picked up a box of Jiffy and some jalapeno’s. Is there a better more consistent product then Jiffy brand cornbread? Yes, I’m sure there are better, and making from scratch is always the best, but damned if that shit has been the same for as long as I’ve been cooking and always gets the job done.

While I was there I picked up some yeast, and think tomorrow I am going to bake some bread.

What are you all up to? BTW- I have Joelle crack rock addicted to Loudermilk on Netflix.

*** Update ***

I have also been informed that when explaining how to use a remote saying “Use the button that looks like carriage return” is not helpful because no one other than me has apparently used the term carriage return in 50 years.

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Tuesday Evening Open Thread: How We Win

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Relational positioning, from Never-Trumper J.V. Last, at the Bulwark:

… [U]nlike every other contested primary in the modern era, Trump will arrive at the nomination in a pre-campaign state where he has yet to take a punch.

And the reality is this: Do you think Republican voters are likely to become more comfortable with Trump the more they see of him over the next 10 months? I do not. Historically, Trump’s approval numbers have moved inversely to the magnitude of his public presence.

I expect that once there is a real race, with Biden actually hitting Trump where he is softest, and Trump is in everyone’s face, we are likely to see some erosion of Republican support for Trump at the margins. Not a huge decline—but enough to measure. Enough to be dispositive.

Finally: Do you think Democratic voters are likely to become more disaffected with Biden over the next 10 months? I do not, for two reasons.

First, because the objective economic facts continue to improve and filter through the electorate. Second, because as we approach the election, not supporting Biden transforms from being a signal of dissatisfaction with his administration to an act of concrete support for Trump. On this score, I suspect we are near the high-water mark for Biden discontent among those Democratic groups and that they will gradually return to their party’s fold.

All of which is to say that it is hard to see why Trump could move any further ahead and not difficult to see why Biden’s standing could/should improve.

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Relational organizing, per Victor Shi, “Youngest Biden Delegate 20”:

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Turnout

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Josh Marshall has some observations about Iowa turnout:

Roughly 110,000 voters turned out for last night’s caucuses. That compares to 187,000 in 2016. (2012 and 2008 were closer to last night’s numbers 122,000 and 120,000, respectively.) But that’s still the lowest turnout in more than a decade and dramatically lower than the last contest in 2016. […]

Josh looks at a couple of possible reasons, including cold and the fact that Trump’s nomination is a foregone conclusion.  But he also thinks that it’s another example of lackluster enthusiasm on the part of Republicans (something we’ve seen for the last couple of years.)

For all of the context-free “if I could talk to the animals” pieces about Trump voters in diners, the political media’s coverage of Iowa voters doesn’t talk much about the role of Fox News and allied conservative outlets as cynicism factories.  The daily Fox message is “everything is fucked up and bullshit,” which is a easy message since on any given day of the year, things are fucked up and bullshit.  What Fox is missing, in marketing speak, is a Call to Action (CTA).  “Everything’s fucked up, vote for Trump” is not a valid CTA when their audience has voted for Trump once and, let’s face it, have gotten very damn little.

Anyone with two eyes, two ears and a barely functioning brain can figure out that things were still fucked up and bullshit under Trump’s benighted reign — and whether you agree or disagree with them, there are a lot of Iowa Republicans with eyes, ears and at least a wee bit of common sense.  The one “real” accomplishment of the Trump era, Dobbs, is a hobby horse for a smaller percentage of the Republican electorate than I think is usually recognized, especially if it means your daughter might bleed to death because her OB is afraid of doing an emergency D&C without approval of the church and the district attorney. His tax cuts weren’t that great for middle-class, older voters.  Trump never did build his wall:  voters in rural states like Iowa realize that you can’t run a packing plant or a pig confinement operation without migrant labor, so I’m guessing that migrant caravans might be something that people complain about, but it’s not enough to get voters to a high school gym when it’s -20 and blowing snow.

Finally, Trump’s schtick isn’t new anymore, and his legal troubles have made him (and his rhetoric) far more inward-focused than he was in 2016.  Never forget that Trump had the most free media of any candidate in modern history, The Apprentice.  You could see why Iowa voters would be excited about him 8 years ago when he was a shiny new toy.  Today, he’s no more exciting than boring DeSantis, or brown/female Hayley.  Better to stay home on the recliner than to risk frostbite to vote for any of them.

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So Much Winning

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While i am (impatiently) waiting for a ruling on Trump’s immunity claims from the appeals court, which may not even come today, though I still think it might, let us savor.

🌼

Do you feel like we “waited for Mueller”?  From one perspective, I kind of fell like I did.  Of course I was politically active in the meantime, but for quite some time I thought Mueller would save us.  Mueller did good work, but he most definitely did not save us.

🌼

Open thread.

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