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Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

White supremacy is terrorism.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

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

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

T R E 4 5 O N

The lights are all blinking red.

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

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

People are complicated. Love is not.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Kevin Drum

Kevin Drum

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This post is in: 

Kevin posted this update on his blog yesterday:

Fading fast. Pneumonia worse. Ventilator next. Not looking good. Take care of Donald Trump for me.

Kevin has been fighting multiple myeloma for the past decade, and he also had prostate cancer.  In true Kevin fashion, he put up charts to track the levels of his m-protien and PSA.

I haven’t always agreed with him, but I’ve been a reader of his for so many years that I can’t remember when I didn’t read his stuff.  No matter what you think of his work, he always tried to base his posts in facts and data.  His writing on lead poisoning brought attention to an important issue at a key time.

After he was diagnosed, he took a lot of trips and documented them.  He’s a good photographer.  He also inspired me to not wait until after retirement to travel, since he’s just a little older than me, and proof that you can’t take your health for granted.

Thinking about him today.  I hope he pulls through.

(hat tip to Cheryl at LGM for reminding me about this update.)

Reader Interactions

166Comments

  1. 1.

    oldster

    Very sad. A pillar of the Bush-era blogosphere, and a good read up to the present.

    After I saw the note at LGM, I sent him an email at: [email protected], to thank him for making the world a better place.

    Probably too late, but perhaps it will mean something to his survivors.

  3. 3.

    Elizabelle

    Kevin Drum is a really thoughtful and decent guy.  Hoping he pulls through, but he has been fighting a long time

    I wish he could live long enough to see Trump’s downfall, and The Felon and his enabling party get their just desserts.

  5. 5.

    Emily B.

    I’ve been reading Kevin’s posts, off and on, for almost 20 years. He always has brought a valuable perspective (and charts!). Also (apologies to John and Tunch) I think he has a good claim to have invented catblogging. Saying a prayer for him now.

  7. 7.

    Old School

    @Baud:

    I should have read him more.

    I see he lists Balloon-Juice as a blog he typically starts his mornings with, so at least he read you.

    Best of luck to Kevin!

  8. 8.

    dc

    @oldster: Thank you, I sent him an email, even if he doesn’t read it, his wife will. I haven’t read him for years, but his blogging helped me endure the Bush II years. I thanked him for that and for making the world a better place.​

  9. 9.

    zmulls

    One of the first blogs I bookmarked and read regularly back in the heydey of blogrolls.    Have not been reading him as of late, but I always appreciated his level headed approach.     Very sad to see this.    I wish him peace and comfort, as is possible.

  10. 10.

    BigJimSlade

    Been a reader of his, off and on, since his Calpundit days when I was trying to make sense of how people voted for such an obvious dimwit in GWB. Well, shit, hope he can pull through.

  11. 11.

    Melancholy Jaques

    Of all the big time, been there since the beginning bloggers, Kevin Drum is the only one that I ever met in person. Years & years ago he told his readers he’d be at the Farmers’ Market in Los Angeles, so I went. A really great guy. Smart, funny, good writer, very personable.

    Among the many reasons why I admire him is that he is able to keep his ear & mind open to what Republicans are thinking. I haven’t been able to do that since the first George Bush.

  12. 12.

    JML

    I usually go to his blog 3-4 times a week, and I will greatly miss it if this turns out to be the end for him. Seemed like a very decent guy, and I always appreciated his ability to base his commentary in data. When he asked questions it was grounded in a sincere desire to find out the real answer, even if it didn’t match his first instinct. And he was a fine photographer and cat blogger.

    Cancer really sucks. he’s been fighting this fight for a long time, and he’s done it with remarkable resilience and humor. Hope this isn’t the end, but if it is I wish him a peaceful one.

  13. 13.

    ChrisSherbak

    Adding to the hopes and vibes and prayers from the Balloon Juice family/tribe/community. Good luck Kevin!

  14. 14.

    Lynn Dee

    I second all the good words here. Kevin’s been a familiar mainstay for a long time. I so hope he pulls through.

  15. 15.

    Dagaetch

    I’ve been reading Kevin for a decade or two at this point, and while I thought he was wrong on some things, and he certainly had his blind spots, I appreciated that he would always show the data and question when others didn’t. An important thing to do that our media seems to have forgotten. Best wishes to him, and if he doesn’t make it back from this, then appreciation for everything.

  16. 16.

    Ohio Mom

    @JML: Kevin’s “been fighting this fight for a long time, and he’s done it with remarkable resilience and humor.”

    And with dispassionate realism. Always the straight shooter, with an eye for what’s most important “Tske care of Dina’s Trump for me.”

  17. 17.

    Math Guy

    The first blog I ever started following, 10 or 12 years ago. I respect him highly and praying for the best.

  18. 18.

    Elizabelle

    @Math Guy:  Followed him closely when he blogged as Washington Monthly’s Political Animal.  I think that got me into following blogs.

    (And then learned of BJ via the infamous Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish, who gave Cole and BJ props quite frequently.)

  20. 20.

    Mai Naem mobil

    I used to follow him more when he was at Washington Monthly but have followed him since CalPundit. I hope he pulls through. He’s a good writer and smart.

  22. 22.

    Steve Crickmore

    Kevin Drum’s blog, the successor to Cal Pundit, ‘Political Animal’ 2004-2008 was the very first blog I ever began reading (and occasionally commenting) in that anti-Dubya Iraq invasion era. It was among the most popular and influential progressive political blogs in those early days.  Certainly, one of the most seminal and quoted. It was a mainstay. It directly led me to discovering Balloon Juice which Drum had recommended. I thoroughly underline the strong feeling engendered here, that we all hope he pulls through.

  24. 24.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    He’s the one who put the lead=crime statistics on the map, and a voice of reason for the ages.  I really hope he pulls through.

  25. 25.

    Ruckus

    Prostate cancer, if caught early is not all that bad.

    But then that applies to many cancers. The trick is of course actually catching it in a timely manner.

    Multiple myeloma is a bit worse.

    Also – getting old sucks and the only thing worse is not getting old.

    The above is from someone with 2 kinds of cancer and a few years on Kevin. Unfortunately this is humanity. The lucky get old and the really lucky get older without a lot of health issues. The normal get old and have issues. Life is a crap shoot. Cancers, the taste of food changes, everything slows down are all possibilities or likely. At least some get to live to be old. Life is a crap shoot. Had a cousin that lived 6 months, another that didn’t make it to 70. Live, experience life, enjoy what you can, survive everything else. Don’t give up, fight, make it take you. We all have different paths, but overall it’s life. It has a start, a middle and an end.

  26. 26.

    KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))

    I think I’ve been reading Kevin almost since his beginning as a blogger. He can be annoyingly upper class white guy, and there have been times when I paused reading him in frustration. Most recently he has been a little too cavalier about the damage that Trump and Musk can actually do, insisting that the courts and Congress surely wouldn’t let them do all that. And as my son reminded me, he’s been all in on the trans bigotry.

    But somehow I always went back. He’s provided a view into a mindset I wouldn’t otherwise have, in a succinct, well-written daily dose. I hope he recovers and can continue to do so.

  28. 28.

    satby

    Long time almost daily reader of  Kevin since his days at Calpundit and later Washington Monthly. Hoping he beats the odds just like he’s been beating them for so many years. His is an invaluable voice.

  29. 29.

    Sister Golden Bear

     His writing on lead poisoning brought attention to an important issue at a key time.

    Also too, while much of the slagging on Gen X has been predicated on inaccurate age groupings (political surveys have typically used 45-64, which includes five years of Boomers and omits four years of Xers), it is worth noting the Gen X were born during the years with the highest levels of lead exposure. And early Xers, like myself, grew up during the peak years.

    even moderately high levels of lead exposure are associated with aggressivity, impulsivity, ADHD, and lower IQ.

    The quote from Drum’s article is in the context of violent young offenders of the 80s and 90s, but I think it also in part explains why my generation has been so disappointing and so many MAGAs are in that age range. Certainly that definitely describes their behavior.

  30. 30.

    Gary Trauner

    @Baud: he is/was my “go to” even before I found BJ. And just a good person. His work helped me enormously when I was running for fed office in WY. Plus – an OG cat blogger extraordinaire. Hoping against hope he recovers and keeps informing all of us…

  31. 31.

    Bill Hicks

    I’ve followed political blogs since around when they started, places like the Drudge Report, Daily Howler and a little later, CalPundit. In my opinion Kevin is the GOAT blogger and my favorite. He has been blogging for a long time and has been very productive. His posts are remarkably informed often bringing in useful info not easily found elsewhere. He is a skilled writer. He also has started trends like catblogging and has done original reporting like helping popularize the lead-crime hypothesis.

    I sure hope he pulls through.

  34. 34.

    oldster

    @Ohio Mom:
    “Always the straight shooter, with an eye for what’s most important “Tske care of Dina’s Trump for me.””

    I too hope that a straight shooter will take care of him.

  35. 35.

    lowtechcyclist

    I started reading Kevin at Calpundit back around the end of 2003 or beginning of 2004. He was the second blogger I read; Josh Marshall pointed me to him.  And I followed him through his days of blogging at the Washington Monthly and Mother Jones.

    Needless to say, I will be praying for him.

    @Gary Trauner:

    His work helped me enormously when I was running for fed office in WY.

    I not only remember that, I gave to your campaign!

  37. 37.

    HeleninEire

    OT: the Acting US Attorney in SDNY has resigned over the directive to drop charges in the Eric Adams case.

    Another woman who isn’t afraid to stand up to Trump. Surprise, surprise.

    She was a Scalia clerk.

  39. 39.

    sab

    @Ruckus: My dad died at 99 after fifteen years of dementia. I think I would rather have cancer than put the dementia burden on my family.

  44. 44.

    DougL

    @Ruckus:  This is wisdom …

    Live, experience life, enjoy what you can, survive everything else. Don’t give up, fight, make it take you. We all have different paths, but overall it’s life. It has a start, a middle and an end.

  48. 48.

    Ohio Mom

    @Regine Touchon: My deepest condolences to you and your family. My mom had pancreatic cancer, it’s a vicious one.

    It sounds like he spent his life doing important things. Be kind to yourself as you begin navigating this new world without your Joe.

  49. 49.

    MobiusKlein

    I’ve been reading Kevin Drum since 2002, and the runup to the dumb wars.

    In a sane world, he would be leading the Sane Conservative faction, helping to chart better things while having disagreements about the goals and approaches.

    In the crazy world of today, he’s a flaming liberal by USA standards.

  50. 50.

    LeonS

    Yup, this blows. As if this year doesn’t suck enough already. Even when he had a horrible political take (and he did have some from time to time) it was always based on attempt to be level headed and fair. Noble instincts, even if occasionally misplaced. My heart goes out to him, Miriam, Hilbert and Charlie.

  51. 51.

    Soapdish

    I’ve got an early stage version of multiple myeloma and I’m currently in a clinical trial for the same drug (Teclistimab) that Drum had recently started taking (in my case, seeing if it can keep it at the “smoldering multiple myeloma” state and not progress to the full-on “multiple myeloma” state).  It’s very, very good at improving one’s numbers. However, since it’s an immunosuppressive, one side effect is a dramatic increase in the likelihood of infection, especially respiratory, and it’s pneumonia that’s his big issue currently. Def hoping he pulls through.

  52. 52.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Regine Touchon: Deepest sympathies to you and your family and all of Joe’s friends. He was a wonderful man who made others’ lives better. Embrace each other and your memories.

  54. 54.

    Origuy

    I think Political Animal was one of the first political blogs I ever read. Best wishes to him.

     

    @Soapdish: I have a friend who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma a few years ago. He’s in remission now and back to going out with us to orienteering events. He has a small business handling results for races.

  58. 58.

    Ohio Mom

    @Soapdish: I hope your clinical trial isn’t being messed with by Musk/Trump/ Vought.

    I recently read that Vought’s child has cystic fibrosis and is benefitting greatly from advances in treatment. Somehow, Mr. Project 2025 can’t connect the dots.

  59. 59.

    Martin

    I’m excited that the Village People cover band will be performing in residence at the Kennedy Center through 2028, though.

  61. 61.

    raven

    @Soapdish: My buddy has “smoldering multiple myeloma ” as well. It’s most likely Agent Orange related but he can’t get any VA bennies until it becomes full blown.

  62. 62.

    Ruckus

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    About 50 yrs ago I worked in a gas station. All gas was leaded back then, the lead helped the engine live longer. And because manufacturing was not close to what is possible today, it, or something like it was necessary for your engine to last a reasonable time. Manufacturing has gotten a hell of a lot better today than back then. Back then a tolerance of +/- 0.005 was pretty normal and +/- 0.010 was not unusual. The last part I worked on in 2022 the tolerance was +/- 0.0025 and it was a piece of cake to make the parts far closer than that. Engines in cars built in the sixties often needed to be rebuilt before 75,000 miles and today they often can go over twice that before even thinking about it. Manufacturing today is a far different world than it was back then and different in so many ways.

  64. 64.

    Ohio Mom

    @Martin: You can’t do medical research on just Vought Jr (not sure if it’s a son or daughter). You already know what an army it takes to come up with just one medical breakthrough, all the dead ends and wrong turns, all the papers and conferences and posters, all the incremental steps on top of one another.

    Maybe Vought has enough money to guarantee his kid has a comfortable life (I’ve long suspected that was Jerry Springer’s motivation for leaving his previous careers and starring in that show, to provide for his DD daughter). But Vought can’t provide the network of medical science that can make his/her life better and longer. Only government can do that.

  66. 66.

    oldster

    @Ruckus:

    So true. Cars back then were a lot easier to work on — I had a ’67 Valiant for which pretty much every part was user-serviceable. I rebuilt the carburetor with not much more than a straight screwdriver and a slip-joint pliers.

    But cars now are actually just far, far better. Safer, cleaner, more efficient. I hate that you cannot fix anything, because everything is computerized. But when I think back to adjusting the spark advance by shining a strobe light on the fly wheel, I just have to laugh at what crude “computers” we were using to control basic parts of the combustion cycle. And don’t get me started on how much oil those old things burned.

    If you want simple, the old cars were good. But if you want safe, clean, economical, and low-emissions, modern cars are great. And EVs are even better.

  67. 67.

    trollhattan

    @Martin: Ted Nugent, Kid Rock and Hulk Hogan all practicing in front of the mirror wearing their be-ribboned honors medals.

    Klass up the joint, Donny.

  69. 69.

    Martin

    @oldster: Safer needs to be qualified there. Safer for the driver, yes. But rapidly more dangerous for everyone outside of the car. Motor vehicle fatalities are climbing – and skyrocketing for pedestrians.

  70. 70.

    trollhattan

    @oldster:

    Isn’t that the truth.

    Meanwhile, service and parts, hooboy. My indy is $150/hr, the dealership charges $260.

    No way my next car isn’t an EV, although the spouse’s is the one with high miles so the clock is ticking on it. Far fewer things to break, service, wear out. And no smog checks.

  72. 72.

    Ohio Mom

    @Ruckus: You sound like Ohio Dad, who for a while helped develop computerized retrofits for knee milling machines. Most of us normies don’t have any scale to judge tolerances by. I never even heard of tolerances until I met him.

  73. 73.

    JerseyBeard

    Sending good thoughts for him. I went through similar fours years ago to the day. They eventually got me off the ventilator and home but it took a lot longer than expected. Cancer + pneumonia is no joke. The chemo only adds to the complexity. Really hoping he can rally.

  75. 75.

    Ruckus

    @sab:

    My dad went earlier, and with Alzheimer’s. Stopped making much sense talking 10 yrs prior, stopped even trying to talk 5 yrs out. I was sitting with him in his hospital bed, my arm around him when he passed. I can’t advise anyone to do that but for me it was better than not. It is a strange and in his case also comforting feeling when life stops. I started working summers and weekends in his business when I was 13 and ended up owning it longer than he did. Always remember that you get one life and if there is anything after NO ONE KNOWS TILL THEY GET THERE. Do the best you can, don’t be an ass, and respect life. Till I get proof otherwise I’m going with you only get one.

  76. 76.

    trollhattan

    @Martin:

    It’s squarely on monster pickup and SUV grills.

    Vehicles with especially tall front ends are most dangerous to pedestrians, but a blunt profile makes medium-height vehicles deadly too, new research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows.

    Whatever their nose shape, pickups, SUVs and vans with a hood height greater than 40 inches are about 45 percent more likely to cause fatalities in pedestrian crashes than cars and other vehicles with a hood height of 30 inches or less and a sloping profile, an IIHS study of nearly 18,000 pedestrian crashes found. However, among vehicles with hood heights between 30 and 40 inches, a blunt, or more vertical, front end increases the risk to pedestrians.

    “Some of today’s vehicles are pretty intimidating when you’re passing in front of them in a crosswalk,” IIHS President David Harkey said. “These results tell us our instincts are correct: More aggressive-looking vehicles can indeed do more harm.”

    Pedestrian crash deaths have risen 80 percent since hitting their low in 2009. Nearly 7,400 walkers — more than 20 people a day — lost their lives in 2021 after being struck by a vehicle. While speeding and poorly designed infrastructure have helped fuel the increase, many safety advocates have also drawn a connection to the growing portion of the U.S. vehicle fleet made up of pickups and SUVs.

    Over the past 30 years, the average U.S. passenger vehicle has gotten about 4 inches wider, 10 inches longer, 8 inches taller and 1,000 pounds heavier. Many vehicles are more than 40 inches tall at the leading edge of the hood. On some large pickups, the hoods are almost at eye level for many adults.

  77. 77.

    trollhattan

    @Regine Touchon:

    My sincere condolences to you and Maggie. Joe sounds like a wonderful husband, father, person. And his family name sounds straight out of a Victorian novel—”son of Mary Nell and William Quarterman Touchton.”

    Blessings.

  78. 78.

    Martin

    @trollhattan: That’s a big part of it, but I don’t think all of it. There’s a general consensus in my community of cyclists that Teslas are as bad of a risk – that a lot of self-driving/lane assist features just don’t fucking work with cyclists, and the gap that other drivers leave for a cyclist looks like a gap that a Tesla, etc. can fit it.

    I also think the high acceleration of most EVs (that’s a common marketing feature) is a contributing factor. I’ve noticed that motorists here where we have a high share of EVs are MUCH faster off the line than the used to be, to the point that they are starting to get annoyed if you aren’t 0-60 in 6s.

    But EVs are also very heavy, because they insist on solving the rocket equation with more battery rather than less mass (like the BMW i3 did, and most foreign cars do).

  79. 79.

    Ruckus

    @DougL:

    It is a tough thing to learn on your own. I was the youngest in my immediate family of 5 and now the only one left. All my aunts and uncles are gone, at least one cousin is gone, the generation before them is long gone. My health is reasonable, I could have another 20-25 yrs and I’m giving it a hell of a shot. I want to find out what it’s like  to be a really old fart, rather than just an old one.

  82. 82.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @Martin:

    His class of people were never going to be left out of the system, just everyone else.

    Like the way “pro choice” women of means continue to vote for Republicans. The problem is all those icky poor people, you know.

  83. 83.

    Ruckus

    @Ohio Mom:

    Somehow, Mr. Project 2025 can’t connect the dots.

    Or doesn’t want to for anyone else. Or allow them to.

    Some people can be extremely selfish, because they often seem to be the ones who think they are/belong to the order of supreme beings.

  85. 85.

    Ohio Mom

    @zhena gogolia: Deveolpmental Disability. Conditions which affect mental and/or physical functioning acquired before adulthood.

    Springer’s daughter was born without nasal passages, is legally blind (she wears glasses so has some vision) and deaf in one ear. 

    The last I heard, she was living independently in Chicago, working in a preschool and about to be married. I can only assume her lifestyle is heavily subsidized (a preschool teacher in Chicago not living hand-to-mouth?) which is fine.

  86. 86.

    trollhattan

    @Martin:

    I cycle a lot, including city streets, and EVs don’t stand out as operating differently from other vehicle types. Pickups, fullsize SUVs, sports coupes, anybody texting with the phone in their crotch, those are the preponderance of threats I encounter. Okay, RT buses, which go any damn place they want.

    We have had so many pedestrian and cyclist deaths the city is preparing a state of emergency declaration.

    A Sacramento City Council committee unanimously voted this week to bring a Pedestrian Safety State of Emergency to the full council over the number of fatal pedestrian and cyclist crashes on city streets.

    If approved, the state of emergency would require the city to run a number of public safety campaigns focused on distracted driving in addition to providing the public with regular updates on progress made.

    Vice Mayor Caity Maple and her team drew up the proposal after hearing from community members and transportation advocates. It also had the support of Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Mayor Pro Tem Karina Talamantes.

    “It is vital that we come together to prioritize the safety of our residents and take decisive steps toward safer streets in Sacramento,” Steinberg said in a prepared statement.

    There have been 167 motor vehicle crash-related deaths this year, according to the Sacramento County coroner’s office. Out of the 167 deaths, 18 were cyclists and 44 were pedestrians.

    “These numbers are not just statistics; they represent real people — children, parents, grandparents — members of our community whose lives have been irrevocably changed,” Maple said.

    City staff are now working on the proposal to evaluate its policy and financial impacts. Once the staff report is completed, the entire City Council will hear it.

  87. 87.

    Ohio Mom

    @Belafon: Yesh, there’s a lot of internalized ableism in this world. Medical science most likely isn’t going to come up with anything to help Abbott within our lifetimes.

    Ad I understand it though, there are some treatments breakthroughs coming for cystic fibriosis. That could make a difference for Vought’s kid.

    Maybe we can hope all the scientists working on it are in France or some other normal place.

  88. 88.

    Ruckus

    @Belafon:

    That is exactly my point.

    Today’s manufacturing (which I existed in from over 60 yrs ago – till 3 yrs ago) has the tools and knowledge to manufacture things in far smaller tolerances and smoother finishes and that makes them work better and last far longer.

  89. 89.

    Martin

    @Ohio Mom: They rely on other countries doing the research. Why should we pay Pfizer to develop a covid vaccine when Germany will – when we can just pay them to produce it in the US and stiff the Germans (which is exactly what happened – Pfizer was never funded by Warp Speed).

    Why should we pay for development when we have aircraft carriers that will ensure we get the benefits. Just look at the conditions around the various trade deals Trump is doing. The ask of TSMC is loaded with a lot of ‘gee, it would be a shame if anything happened to your island nation’. Canada and Mexico are both being strong-armed not only around economic access, but also potential invasion. You don’t need to pay for shit if you have the first, second, and 5th largest air forces in the world. That’s the motto of Project 2025.

  91. 91.

    Martin

    @Ruckus: Yeah, and it’s not a small marginal improvement – CNC and robotics is revolutionary to manufacturing. It’s a huge improvement. And then the ability to replace a lot of mechanical parts with solid state ones just amplifies that.

  93. 93.

    trollhattan

    Tell me Zelensky doesn’t understand how to talk to Trump.

    “Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky told President Trump during a phone call on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is only pretending to want to negotiate a peace deal because he is “afraid of you,” Axios reports.

    New York Times: Cease-fire talks could upend Ukraine’s domestic politics.

  95. 95.

    trollhattan

    We average something like 18″ of rain annually (the standard deviation is wacky though) and since about ten last night have received about a tenth of that.

    Glug.

    Maybe time to dig out the wife’s sup board.

  99. 99.

    frosty

    @trollhattan: Yep, the hood of most of these damn pickups is at eye level for me (60 inches). I plan to continue never walking in front of one. I guess that includes walking on the side of a busy road, too.

  100. 100.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @trollhattan:

    No way my next car isn’t an EV, although the spouse’s is the one with high miles so the clock is ticking on it. Far fewer things to break, service, wear out. And no smog checks.

    EVs really are game changers.  There’s a reason the dealership lobby in this country hopes they go away: servicing.

  103. 103.

    Raven

    @trollhattan: I backed into one that had a winch. I could see the truck with my backup camera but the winch was below it. I wrecked the liftgate on my van but, luckily, found an exact match at a junkyard.

  105. 105.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @BigJimSlade: Exactly why I started reading Calpundit – in search of others who just could not believe how stupid, evil, and greedy Shrub was — and worse — his voters. Calpundit, early dKos, Lance Mannion, and then this place.

  107. 107.

    Miki

    @oldster: Whooboyhowdy – I was gifted a V8 (!)  ’68 Valiant in 1979 and had to replace the alternator (I’m a girl, and in 1979 I was a 24 year old girl with zero automotive experience). I figured out how to uninstall the barely-functioning alternator, put it in a brown bag, took a bus to the rebuilt shop, bought a 🍋, took a bus home, installed it then drove to a service station so they could hoist it higher only to learn it was a 🍋. Took it out, put it back in the bag, got on another bus to the rebuilt shop, got a “new” rebuild, got back on the bus, installed it, drove back to the service station where they lifted it and fixed my install for free and finally got it working.

    That was not my first Valiant. Between several boyfriends and boyfriends of sisters I swear I spent lots of time in at least 10 Valiants. All were either free or less than $150.

    It’s still my favorite car.

  112. 112.

    Ruckus

    @oldster:

    If you want simple, the old cars were good. But if you want safe, clean, economical, and low-emissions, modern cars are great. And EVs are even better.

    Yes they are. I have a 2017 vehicle and it’s the best car I’ve ever owned. Of course I don’t drive much any longer, the rest of you deserve a break…. Plan to sell it in the next 5-6 months. Just before my license expires and I get a CA ID card.

  113. 113.

    Scout211

    Judge blocksTrump’s gender-affirming care executive orders nationwide.

    BALTIMORE — A federal judge Thursday blocked parts of two executive orders issued by President Trump that collectively seek to restrict gender-affirming care.

    U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson at the conclusion of a hearing found a group of transgender teens and LGBTQ organizations that sued were likely to prevail on all of their claims that the orders are without authority and amount to illegal and unconstitutional discrimination.

    . . .

    Under Hurson’s new ruling, various federal agencies are temporarily prohibited from withholding or conditioning funding based on a health care facility providing gender-affirming care anywhere in the country.

    The plaintiffs — a group of transgender teens, their parents and two organizations, PFLAG and GLMA — raised alarm that hospitals across the country quickly moved to cancel appointments after Trump issued two executive orders as part of what his administration has called a crackdown on “gender ideology.”

  114. 114.

    Mo MacArbie

    I’m another regular reader from the CalPundit days, and he’s been a mainstay for me in how I navigated these deeply fucked up decades.

    Though I’ve come here to share that because Drum, God love him, never did give a damn about moderating his comments. Perhaps there was wisdom in that too. ;)

  116. 116.

    Princess

    @sab: My Dad died young of cancer, and my Mum, old now, has dementia and is healthy and I expect she’ll live for years, brain almost gone. At some point, I realized that my sister and I had “won” the bifecta of parental illness and death suckage. Go, us.

  117. 117.

    oldster

    @Miki:

    Great story! And I’m glad that the lemon didn’t sour you on the car. They were very solid machines, once.

    ETA — mine was the 6-cylinder. Still plenty of power. And I was given that one “if you can get it running and get it out of our side yard.”  A different time.

  118. 118.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    EVs really are game changers.  There’s a reason the dealership lobby in this country hopes they go away: servicing.

    Absolutely. The only maintenance I’ve had to do since I bought my Tesla 3 is replacing the air filter every two years, as well as the wipers. Still haven’t needed to replace the brake pads (thanks to regenerative braking). Due to the weight of the batteries, I do have to replace tires more frequently than my prior Mazda 3, and I do have to force myself to remember to do tire rotation and lube jobs.

    The low amount of maintenance was definitely a factor in buying it. In essence with EVs you pay more upfront, but recoup much of that with lower maintenance costs and not buying gas (even with CA’s high electricity prices I save about $1,200/year vs. gas).

    Since I’m a “buy and drive it into the ground” kind of gal, I’m sure eventually there will be things that eventually break due to old age (e.g. the leather in my Mazda’s drivers seat eventually started cracking).

  119. 119.

    mvr

    @Ohio Mom:

    You sound like Ohio Dad, who for a while helped develop computerized retrofits for knee milling machines.

     

    Always dreaming of having a knee mill but never quite having the money.  I do have a small mill my father built in the 1960s on a drill column base. I treasure it but it isn’t rigid enough sometimes to take cuts I would like to take.

  120. 120.

    Ruckus

    @Miki:

    My first car was a 1960 Valiant. Used. In 1967. What a peach of a car. Not.

    But then what car was? None.

    Second car was a 1968 Dodge Dart. Was it better? Absolutely better. It wasn’t the brand it was manufacturing was getting better. I know because I worked in speciality tool manufacturing and everything was improving at a fast pace. And that has continued till today. The last machine I bought in 1994 cost $255,000. It was 3 times more accurate than the machine it replaced. Manufacturing at the time was changing/getting better by the day. That getting better hasn’t stopped but the speed at which it’s getting better has slowed down, because there the cost of getting much better has gone up just a tad over the last couple of decades. That tad is doing a lot of work there.

  121. 121.

    sixthdoctor

    @Scout211: Good news on the executive order block, but this made me see red:

    The National Park Service eliminated references to transgender people from its Stonewall National Monument web page, removing the “T” in references to LGBTQ+ on the official site for the Greenwich Village monument, which marks a milestone in the fight for gay rights.

    [image or embed]
    — The New York Times (@nytimes.com) February 13, 2025 at 4:49 PM

     

    This is so insulting.

  123. 123.

    Ruckus

    @mvr:

    My father started his business making molds for plastic and die cast parts. Expanded into also making whats called blow molds – which make bottles. I owned and ran it longer than he did and he worked for me for a while till it became obvious that he shouldn’t be around dangerous machinery and computers became an absolute necessity to get the work done.

  126. 126.

    JML

    @sixthdoctor: effing hell, people are really scared of/bigoted towards the trans folk. Part of me feels very sad for people who go through life so constantly frightened, angry, and closed-minded. the other part wants to kick the crap out of them for all the damage they do.

    (definitely on the “beat the hell out of” side for the solons of places like the NYTimes who only care when it’s one of their kids)

  127. 127.

    Ohio Mom

    @sixthdoctor: One day another brass plaque will be installed, using the temporary removal of the T as an example of the anti-trans hysteria that helped propel Trump into his ill-fated presidency.

    Or at least I hope.

  130. 130.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @frosty:

    Yep, the hood of most of these damn pickups is at eye level for me (60 inches).

    And what’s the point of these huge tall lids you can’t see over? This pickup/large SUV phase is idiotic. When my niece bought a 3 row SUV a while back to cart around her TWO kids, I was incredulous. It was such a herd mind purchase.

    We’ve ceded so much real estate, repair and maintenance money to vehicles and despite safety features, when they’re driven like a maneuverable normal sized car, they’re hella dangerous.

  132. 132.

    Ruckus

    @JML:

    Now my experience goes back a bit but homosexuals didn’t get a better deal back a while. I have stories about my family member who was gay and a bunch of her friends I became friends with during her cancer and after she passed.

    Some people just seem to think they are the only humans on the planet and ANYONE who isn’t like them in every way are not even human. ASSHOLES. Every one of them. We humans span a wide range of not belonging to one identical life style. The concept that some seem to have says anyone outside their life style is destroying humanity. They are full of shit and this is proved by all of the crap that emanates out of their mouths and makes up their brain mass.

  133. 133.

    Dan B

    OT but the Park Service removed T from the Stonewall Inn on the website.  There were many Trans people at the center of the Stonewall riots.  What’s next, removing the Stonewall Inn as a National Park?  Linda McMahon wants to investigate black groups in schools

    I see sixth doctor got there first.

  134. 134.

    Noskilz

    That’s awful. Cancer is such a terrible thing, and this administration seems to be determined that it remain so.

  136. 136.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Miki: My dad bought my sister a Valiant sedan that was handed down to me. It was a mid sixties model he paid $600 for. It had crank side vent windows and the interior vents for fresh air had little doors.

    But my dad thought it less safe than the ‘69 Impala he replaced so I got that. The fuel pump went out on the highway, stopped dead with no power to the steering wheel. Damn near died in that “safer” car.

  137. 137.

    Sister Golden Bear

    They want the existence of trans people erased.

    Just a reminder that two trans women (Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson), a plus butch lesbian who performed as a drag king (Stormé DeLarverie), were the folks who started the Stonewall Riot.*

    *Exactly who did what — e.g. who threw the first punch at the cops, who threw the first brick — is still under a bit of debate, since oral histories weren’t done until much later.

  138. 138.

    Dan B

    @Regine Touchon: A soil scientist sounds like I’d have a great time talking to him about sustainability.  The course in Soils I took was revelatory to me.  The other, much younger, students were bored.  I couldn’t get enough.  And he sounds like a wonderful man.

  139. 139.

    oldster

    While thinking about the improvements in cars, I’d like to note that a great many of them were the results of legislation, whether from the Federal EPA or the California version, or from the NTSB and other safety organizations. Another factor in improving American cars was pressure from overseas cars — Japan started kicking our ass in the ’80s, and we gradually figured out how to copy them.

    That’s right: what Made American Cars Great Again was a combination of big gummint and ferners. Big business hated it all and dragged their heels every step of the way. Every new improvement — air bags, automatic braking, reduced emissions — all of it was a devious plot by the government to kill off American businesses.

    But back then, we had the votes to tell the car-makers what to do, and the result was the better cars we enjoy now. And we’ll get back there again some day, able to enjoy the fruits of a functioning democracy. Just not in what remains of my lifetime.

  141. 141.

    Gary Trauner

    @lowtechcyclist: thx lowtech! We came so close thx to you and others. Not being a career pol, I never took anyone’s support for granted. Sadly, WY is now the first state where the Freedom Caucus is in charge of the state legislature. Sad!

  142. 142.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @Ruckus:

    Old folks talking about their first cars? I’m here for it.

    1964 Chevy II Nova – 6 cylinder, 3 on the tree. I bought it for $150 which was one week’s pay. The starter had issues, so I parked on hills a lot of times. Lasted almost a year before I upgraded to a Mustang convertible.

  143. 143.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Dan B:

    What’s next, removing the Stonewall Inn as a National Park?

    Undoubtedly.

    OTOH, the site of the seminal pre-Stonewall 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria trans/queer riot in San Francisco was quietly inducted into National Register of Historic Places two weeks ago.

    The location was where the Compton’s Cafeteria riot is said to have happened on a “hot night” in August 1966. The date of the event is unclear, but it is generally agreed that a drag queen patron of the 24-hour diner threw a cup of hot coffee at a police officer trying to arrest her without warrants. The move set off a riot among trans and queer patrons of the cafe protesting discrimination and harassment from police officers. The altercation shattered the cafe’s windows and destroyed a police car….

    Historian Susan Stryker’s efforts have helped document the events from the Compton’s Cafeteria riot in the collective memory. Her 2005 documentary “Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria” contains testimony from two people who saw the night’s unrest. The testimony includes tables being turned and sugar shakers busting through windows. Patrons fought police officers as they called for backup. In the documentary, Stryker highlights it was the “first known instance of collective militant queer resistance to police in United States history.”

    The Screaming Queens documentary is well worth watching, and I personally know two the people who were involved in the riot.

    BTW, unlike Stonewall, the Compton’s Cafeteria riot likely changed things although it’s hard to tell because it got little attention at the time, and was later almost completely forgotten.

    Stryker dug into the time after the riot and found that city services catering to trans women and other queer people increased. That they had access to things as simple as ID cards and as central as hormone therapy. That the police began to act more compassionately. Whether any of this was the result of what happened at Compton’s is hard, maybe impossible, to say. You can prove sequence, Stryker says, but not causality.

  144. 144.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @zhena gogolia:

    This is all so Stalinist. It’s making me physically ill.

    Me too, me too. Quite literally.

    Erasing us from history, and from public life is the first step I fear towards erasing us altogether.

    I’ll note that Project 2025 plans to declare anything to do with LBG — and especially T — to be inherently pornographic, and then ban all pornography. Convenient no? So that trans people appearing in public anywhere children might be present could be convicted of being sex offenders (which they previously have tried doing with drag queens).

  147. 147.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I have known his name in a vague kind of way for a long time, but confess I’ve never really followed him. Certainly had no idea he was sick.

    Kevin Drum has my most sincere best wishes. I hope he pulls through in good shape; if that is not to be, I wish him a graceful and peaceful transition, whatever that looks like.

  148. 148.

    caphilldcne

    This is terrible news. Wish all the best to Kevin. I’ve been reading him since the Calpundit days. Can’t  log into his site. I’m guessing because I  signed up years ago and with a now disused email.  In any case hoping he pulls through.

  152. 152.

    Jackie

    O/T but significant:

    Per MSNBC, three top federal prosecutors have resigned today after refusing an order from the DOJ to drop the charges against Eric Adams.

    AND, in an apparent quid pro quo for having the charges dismissed…

    Mayor Eric Adams of New York City announced on Thursday that he would issue an executive order to allow federal immigration authorities into the Rikers Island jail complex, a significant shift in the city’s sanctuary policies,” the New York Times reports.

  153. 153.

    CarolPW

    @Melancholy Jaques: ’67 Nova V-8. Only problem ever was a regular breakage (every few years) of a clutch linkage. I actually knew the car well enough I could drive it home (haltingly) without an operating clutch.

  156. 156.

    frosty

    @Melancholy Jaques: ​My ’61 TR-3 had starter issues. But it had a crank! Once in the 70s when the starter didn’t work in West Hollywood after I turned the car off at a light, I jumped out, cranked it, and drove to the next stoplight.

    The woman in fancy car next to me rolled down the window and said “How old is that car?”

  157. 157.

    frosty

    @CarolPW: Yep. My dad’s approach without a clutch was to sit at a light in idle then jam the lever into gear. Mine was to turn it off, put it in 1st, then hit the starter and hope it fired. Both worked. No idea which caused less damage!

    (’57 Nash Metropolitan and ’61TR-3)

  159. 159.

    Lyrebird

    @Regine Touchon: Thank you.  If I knew how to put a little candle emoji here I would.  A life well lived for sure.

    and thanks MisterMix for making sure we’re aware of Kevin Drum’s situation… adding my thoughts to the rest.

  160. 160.

    jame

    Kevin Drum is a thoroughly decent man, and I wish the best possible outcome for him. I knew him back in the Calpundit days, doesn’t seem so long ago. Love and respect to him and his family.

  162. 162.

    Andrya

    @Regine Touchon:   I’m sorry for your loss.

    But a bit of good news- the latest update on Kevin Drum’s website is more hopeful, it seems quite possible he will pull through.

  163. 163.

    Timill

    Today’s Update

    Pneumonia appears slightly better today. Maybe. Hard to tell for sure.

    My oncologist finally showed up this afternoon and finally agreed my immune system was shot. A multiple myeloma specialist tells me this is a common side effect of bispecific therapies like Talvey. Oh. So we’ve agreed on a treatment that spurs regrowth of immunoglobulins. It will take a week or three to have an effect. It’s too bad we didn’t start this three weeks ago when we first knew.

    I generally feel slightly better today than yesterday. Maybe tomorrow will be even better.

    Oh, and it turns I have a colon infection. That’s at least four so far.

  166. 166.

    valuethinker

    @oldster: the “Slant 6” in the Dodge Dart/ Plymouth Valliant. 225 cubic inch. In some small town in Georgia, we had driven down from north of the border, mechanic pops the hood and says “best 6 cylinder engine made in America”.

    The Dodge pickup trucks powered by it were also joys of efficiency and practicality

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