Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

This blog will pay for itself.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Fight them, without becoming them!

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

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

Second rate reporter says what?

He really is that stupid.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Republicans don’t trust women.

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

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

“But what about the lurkers?”

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

You are here: Home / Politics / Democratic Politics / There are still some good things happening in the world

Reader Interactions

81Comments

  1. 1.

    H.E.Wolf

    One of my siblings is connecting with neighbors at a local coffeehouse to write GOTV postcards and strategize other actions.

    Apparently there are so many people at the weekly meetings that “arrive early to get a seat” is a thing!

    (I think WaterGirl meant good news in the big world, but good news at the micro-local level is still good news.)

  2. 2.

    H.E.Wolf

    Hooray for Deb Haaland! She will be an excellent Governor of New Mexico, if/when she’s elected.

  3. 3.

    tobie

    So glad she’s running!

    I just got a call from WI Dems asking me to phonebank this weekend for the special election in April for the state Supreme Court. The WI party is planning in advance.

    I’ve been receiving text messages to contribute to the two Florida special House elections. They’re long shots. I’m wondering if I should contribute or volunteer.

  9. 9.

    eclare

    @Spanky:

    Bette Davis:  you should never say bad things about the dead, only good.  Joan Crawford is dead, good.

    I plan to quote this liberally when that wonderful day comes, using TCFG’s name.  Like you, I think it will be sooner rather than later.

  14. 14.

    H.E.Wolf

    @tobie: ​I just got a call from WI Dems asking me to phonebank this weekend for the special election in April for the state Supreme Court. The WI party is planning in advance.

     That’s very exciting!

    I’m writing GOTV postcards for that election. Anyone who’d like to join me, go to PostcardsToVoters.org and sign up.

    They do 3 pre-written (required) sentences, as provided by the campaign, and this set is really short and easy. My favorite kind. :)

  16. 16.

    brendancalling

    A late-starting band practice derailed it for me, but my congressman Brendan Boyle held an emergency telephone town-hall w/guest Jamie Raskin about what to do. I’ll call and get the rundown from their office tomorrow, but staff has previously told me that the message Boyle is getting has been “give no quarter”, and I expect that to be the result of the town hall.

    Bummed I missed it, but good that it happened. Also, band practice went very well!

  17. 17.

    Ohio Mom

    Someone much more informed than I am needs to outline what happens when Trump dies, and Vance is promoted. Who becomes VP? Does Vance inherit Trump’s pull on the cult? Does he become more or less ruthless in dismantling our democratic state?

    I’ve had too many fulfilled wishes boomerang on me. Oh, I forgot, this is supposed to be a happy thread. Sorry.

    I will certainly everyone else here in dancing in the street. There, that’s better.

  19. 19.

    Geminid

    @H.E.Wolf: Not to jinx the former Interior Secretary, but I think it is a matter of when Haaland is elected. Last month Axios posted an article about Haaland’s prospective run for Governor. Senator Ben Ray Lujan was quoted:

    “Deb knows how to win.”

    At the time, Senator Martin Heinrich was also considering a run for Governor, and his fellow Senator might have been warning him off.* But I think Senator Lujan will be proven correct in November, 2026.

    * I read that Senator Heinrich has since decided to remain a Senator.

  20. 20.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Ohio Mom: I can only answer what the Constitution says: when the Vice-President becomes President (or whenever there is a vacancy in the Vice-Presidency), the President can then appoint a successor who becomes Vice-President under confirmation by a bare majority of *both* houses of Congress.

    This is in the 25th Amendment, passed in response to the assassination of JFK — and it became doubly relevant just a few years later, when Spiro Agnew and then Richard Nixon resigned. That resulted in Gerald Ford becoming the only President who was never elected even VP (and Nelson Rockefeller as his VP).

    Before the 25th, a vacancy in the Vice-Presidency would just go unfilled until the next election: LBJ had no Vice-President from Kennedy’s death until 1965, after Hubert Humphrey was elected as his running mate. If the President had died or left office under those conditions, the next in line according to the Presidential succession law (a federal statute, not part of the Constitution, which simply says Congress has the power to pass one) would have become *Acting* President. That next in line has been the Speaker of the House for a while.

  21. 21.

    Elizabelle

    @eclare:  I need to lay in some fireworks and sparklers.

    May we be as joyous as that French crowd that learned that Jean-Marie Le Pen had died.

  23. 23.

    Geminid

    @tobie: There’s another important special election, to fill the post of Westchester County Executive George Latimer who won election as Representative for NY16 ladmst November. But it’s too late to phone bank because polls are about to close.

    The candidates are Democrat Ken Jenkins and Republican Christine Sculti. Westchester County has 990,000 residents so this is an important job

  24. 24.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Elizabelle: It’s a peculiar historical footnote, and very strange to me that in 170-odd years of VP vacancies not being refilled, the President never happened to die or leave office under those conditions–yet the relevant situation happened so soon after the Constitution was revised to cover it.

  25. 25.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Geminid: ​Not to jinx the former Interior Secretary, but I think it is a matter of when Haaland is elected.

     From your lips to her swearing-in ceremony!

  26. 26.

    Matt McIrvin

    (come to think of it, the absence of a Vice-President came very very close to being tested when Andrew Johnson came within one vote of being convicted in his Senate impeachment trial.)

  30. 30.

    NotMax

    @Matt McIrvin

    Some background on succession.

    From 1792 – 1886, the order was VP, the president pro tem of the Senate and after that the Speaker of the House constituted the entire line.

    From 1886 – 1947 established the cabinet in the line of succession and removed both the Speaker and president pro tem from same.

    From 1947 until present those two Congressional positions were put back in, only with the Speaker now preceding the president pro tem.

  31. 31.

    UncleEbeneezer

    I just got my New Mexico voter registration confirmation :)

    But also my notice from CA that I’m no longer a CA voter :(

    Feels weird after 25 years.  But I can’t wait to vote for Haaland (and any other Dem) next election.

  32. 32.

    Parfigliano

    • @Matt McIrvin: So say the DEMs take the House in ’26 and Jeffries becomes Speaker 1/1/27.  Trump dies 1/2/27 and Vance becomes POTUS.  Vance nominates someone for VP and the House votes not to confirm them or any other GOPer as VP.  With no VP Jeffries is next in line for POTUS.
  35. 35.

    BlueGuitarist

    Saw these instructions and followed them.
    A quick resistance task:
    1. Google Gulf of Mexico
    2. “Gulf of America” is the top
    3. Click on the three little dots to the right of it
    4. Select “Send Feedback”
    5. Click on “Gulf Of America”
    6. Select “Inaccurate content”
    7. Select “Incorrect” and type in “The correct name is “Gulf of Mexico”

  36. 36.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Good things….

    My personally, for the past three weeks I’ve had extremely high blood pressure and a rapid pulse, which felt like being stuck in fight or flight mode. But since it wasn’t resolving I messaged my doctor about it, who then said to go to urgent care now. Urgent care took a look and told me to go to the ER now. ER took a look and didn’t find anything like a heart attack or stroke, but were concerned enough that they had me stay overnight at the hospital for observation.

    Cardiac stress test today was OK enough that I was finally sprung from jail late afternoon today. Not fun, but even though a cardiologist is going to be my new best friend, at least I’m not likely to drop dead at any moment.

    More generally, I shared the hospital room with a little old lady, and when her daughter came to visiting they were busy trashing Trump.

  37. 37.

    NotMax

    FYI.

    On Tuesday, Shopify shut down the Yeezy store run by Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) after it listed shirts with swastikas for sale as reported earlier by Bloomberg and NBC News. Ye advertised the site in a commercial shown during the Super Bowl on Sunday. It previously sold things like sneakers and t-shirts, but on Monday, the only item for sale was a $20 swastika shirt with the product name “HH-01,” which the ADL says is code for “Heil Hitler.” Source

  42. 42.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Old School: Blood pressure came down, but pulse goes high whenever I move around. If I understand the cardiac stress test results correctly, my heart is inserting extra beats when that happens. Plan is to have wear a portable monitor to get a completer picture and then decide what to do about it.

  44. 44.

    eclare

    @trollhattan:

    I haven’t read the article yet, but I have to praise Patagonia’s clothes.  I am currently wearing a fleece pullover that I bought in December 1998.  The elastic at the wrists is shot, but it still looks great and keeps me warm.  Going on 27 years.

  46. 46.

    VFX Lurker

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    Good things….

    My personally, for the past three weeks I’ve had extremely high blood pressure and a rapid pulse, which felt like being stuck in fight or flight mode. But since it wasn’t resolving I messaged my doctor about it, who then said to go to urgent care now. Urgent care took a look and told me to go to the ER now. ER took a look and didn’t find anything like a heart attack or stroke, but were concerned enough that they had me stay overnight at the hospital for observation.

    Cardiac stress test today was OK enough that I was finally sprung from jail late afternoon today. Not fun, but even though a cardiologist is going to be my new best friend, at least I’m not likely to drop dead at any moment.

    More generally, I shared the hospital room with a little old lady, and when her daughter came to visiting they were busy trashing Trump.

    That sounds scary. Glad you got on top of this.

    Also glad to read that you had good roommates at the hospital.

  47. 47.

    trollhattan

    @NotMax:

    Kids, good a time as any to remind you the check mark ⩗is a better choice than an X or similar mark, when making your selection.

    There’s an entire republic named for it!

  48. 48.

    BlueGuitarist

    @Geminid:

    Trump tried to boost the R candidate for Westchester County Exec.
    2024 presidential result in Westchester D 62 R 36
    50% of the vote in tonight: D 62, R 38
    Now 60% in, D 61, R 39

    Eta 66%in, 61-39

  50. 50.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Parfigliano: That is correct, though technically the Speaker would become “Acting President” if there were a vacancy. That’s basically a difference of name, however–he’d have the powers of the Presidency.

    (I was going to say we’ve never had an Acting President, but that’s not true–various VPs since the 25th have been Acting President while the President was temporarily indisposed due to anesthesia or some such thing. Kamala Harris has been Acting President.)

  55. 55.

    mvr

    I like Haaland a lot. I think she was a fabulous interior secretary. I will probably send her money.

    I still wish she wouldn’t text me.

  60. 60.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @eclare: Definitely political stress, compounded by stress from personal stuff, including having no idea whether my short-disability for my shoulder injury will continue after next week, looking increasingly like I’ll never work in my field again due to Silicon Valley ageism.

  61. 61.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: I caught a report about Deb Haaland’s campaign launch, from radio station KUNM. It sounds pretty good. Fom KUNM:

     ….Haaland, a Democrat and Laguna Pueblo member, said in a video posted Tueday morning that she would soon begin a listening tour across the state.

    “The problems we face are bigger than ever, and we must be fierce to solve them” Haaland said. “That’s why I’m running for Governor of the great state of New. New Mexico is rich in tradition a Mnd spirit, rich in natural resources. So why can’t our families pay their bills ?”

    She cited rising costs as major problems facing New Mexicans, as well as poverty, homelessness and addiction.

    New Mexico is the 4th poorest US state, ranking ahead of Arkansas, West Virginia and Mississipi.

       Haaland introduced herself as the daughter of military parents who moved arpund a lot, and as a single mother with 35 years of sobriety who worked in a bakery and sold home made salsa before getting into politics.

    Haaland earned a BA from the University of New Mexico and returned to UNM 12 years later and earned a law degree. Then she worked for two Native Pueblos and served two very effective years as state party chair before running for Congress in 2018.

       The government’s role, she said in the video released Tuesday morning, is to make success easier for small businesses, lower crime, strengthen schools and make rent and housing affordable. “The solutions are there if we are fierce enough to choose them.”

    Deb Haaland is a seasoned and astute politician, and I think she choose her themes and messaging carefully. This will be an informative contest between Haaland and her as yet undetermined Republican opponent.

    New Mexicans will also vote on all 70 seats in their lower legislative house; a big election.

  62. 62.

    mvr

    @Sister Golden Bear: Sorry about all of that. It has got to add stress just to know that.

    I found out last year I have heart issues as well – runs in the family which is why I checked far enough to find them. Not fun but was able to do a bit to put real worries off for a few years we hope. So I’m commiserating, sympathizing and so on but not either giving advice or telling you to worry.

  63. 63.

    mvr

    @eclare: Patagonia is the real deal where Climate concern is concerned. One of the best things is that they have an in with people who fish and use the outdoors and hopefully can help build a coalition.

  67. 67.

    Another Scott

    @Sister Golden Bear: Glad you’re back with us, and are getting decent care.  Here’s hoping things settle down with your ticker, and that external stresses greatly moderate as well!

    Hang in there, and keep us updated.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  70. 70.

    Geminid

    @Quinerly: Have you read Deb Haaland’s Wikipedia biography? It’s very impressive, even inspiring. That woman has seen a lot, and done a lot.

  71. 71.

    eclare

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    That’s a lot of stress.  I wish there were something I could do to help.  Just keep checking in and let us know how you’re doing.  Vent, complain, yell, whatever, we’re here.

  72. 72.

    Geminid

    @jowriter: That’s quite a margin considering Westchester had a Republican County Executive as recently as 2017. That’s the year George Latimer defeated Republican incumbent Rob Astorino by 14 points, despite being outspent 3-1.

  73. 73.

    Ohio Mom

    @Sister Golden Bear: Sounds like you followed my rule of thumb: if you are going to acquire a new medical condition, pick one that the doctors can identify easily. You don’t want to be an interesting patient.

    I do frown at going to the ER on your own though. I subscribe to the old joke, There are two places you need a friend on the outside, jail and the hospital.

    Anyway, I hope whatever treatment is decided upon, it’s quickly effective.

  76. 76.

    Geminid

    @Quinerly: Have your New Mexico friends said much about Haaland and her candidacy? I’m not sure how widespread the news was that she intended to run. I just happened to run in an item about it in PoliticoPlaybook a month ago. That’s when I read Haaland’s Wikipedia biography.

  77. 77.

    Quinerly

    @Geminid:

    I think it’s been a given for months she was going to run. My friends here aren’t terribly political (except for the almost 90 year old ex Santa Fe mayor that I hang with occasionally in town at Del Charro. I’ll see him maybe Friday). Everyone I know will vote for her.

    We need dexwood to pop in any threads on Haaland. His wife is Laguna, and I think related to Haaland.

  81. 81.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @BlueGuitarist: word on blue sky is when you do that, the send button is greyed out. But try anyway, who knows.

    Im calling it the GULF OF  “C- coom”, CCUM: CUBA, CHICXILUB, US AND MEXICO. Ok, maybe just gulf of “coom” CCUM.

    It’s terribly woke and inclusive, but introduces people to a little more geography.

    Separate topic, did y’all discuss the pope’s letter to the bishops, about immigrants? I’m not up to speed today, sorry, taking big breaks.

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