Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

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

People are weird.

T R E 4 5 O N

Republicans don’t trust women.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, it’s door #2)

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

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

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

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

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Pretty Vacant

Pretty Vacant

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Well, Mitch McConnell finally bowed to the wishes of the Grim Reaper, who clearly has him squarely in his sights, and has announced his retirement.  Fuck him.  I guess Beshear is the obvious choice to try to run for that seat, we’ll see how that goes.  Robert Farley at LGM lives in Kentucky so we’ll see if he has a take on what I’m assuming will be a tough get, but we need a few tough gets.

Last week, Minnesota’s junior Senator, Tina Smith, announced her retirement.  Good for her — she’s 66 and is bucking the trend of everyone staying until they can barely make it to the floor to vote.  The good news is that Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is running:

In Ojibwe, my name means ‘speaks in a loud and clear voice woman.’

Today, I’m officially launching my campaign for the U.S. Senate to go to D.C. and speak in a loud and clear voice for ALL of Minnesota.

[image or embed]

— Peggy Flanagan (@peggyflanagan.bsky.social) February 20, 2025 at 7:37 AM

We had a little introduction to her when Tim Walz ran for VP, and she’s great. I don’t know if Walz is planning to run, but I would be surprised if Flanagan would run if Walz were giving it serious consideration.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

78Comments

  1. 1.

    Suzanne

    I know nothing about Peggy Flanagan — I’m looking forward to learning more about her — but I will note that her glasses are cool AF.

  2. 2.

    hrprogressive

    Beshear might be theonly Dem worth fundraising for, simply because he’s one of the only modern Red State/Blue Governor combos I can think of in recent history that has actually won the state and seemed popular enough to pull it off.

    But if he doesn’t run, no wasting tens or hundreds of millions of dollars on someone who can’t win.

  3. 3.

    Karen S.

    Good afternoon!

    Maybe Moscow Mitch realized he wouldn’t be able to withstand whatever nastiness the orange turd would’ve rained down on him during his re-election campaign. Anyway, fuck him.

  4. 4.

    Ohio Mom

    Of Mitch McConnell, we can say that his work on this earth is done. It was evil work that made things much worse, but he was thorough.

  5. 5.

    Jackie

    MSNBC just announced Beshear’s campaign manager, Eric Hyers, told NBC News that the governor will not run for Senate.

    So that’s that.

  7. 7.

    Jackie

    @Karen S.: I doubt McConnell seriously planned to run again. His health has gone to hell this past year; he’ll be fortunate if he can stay in office until Jan ‘27. I bet he’s hoping announcing his retirement now will get the FFOTUS off his back.

    HA!

  9. 9.

    Elizabelle

    I would love to see Senator Peggy Flanagan.

    Of course, the best would be having Governor Peggy Flanagan, as of January 2025, but we live in a cursed world.

  13. 13.

    Geminid

     

     

    @Jackie: Andy Beshear can always run for the Senate after he finishes his second term as governor. That will be January of 2028, just in time to challenge Rand Paul.

  14. 14.

    Jay

    @Quaker in a Basement:

    Most Indigenous people have a Tribal Name, and a “white” Name.

    In many Indigenous Cultures, the Tribal Name changes over time based on significant milestones, Traditional responsibilities and/or achievements.

  16. 16.

    Betty Cracker

    When I read the introductory clause of the first sentence, I thought you meant McConnell had taken a dirt nap. Oh well.

    @Suzanne: I like those glasses too!

    @Geminid: Would love to see Beshear knock off Baby Doc. (Well, anyone, truthfully. Can’t abide that tribble-topped wanker!)

  17. 17.

    TBone

    I am SCREAMING at Stephen Miller who was just live on presser on BBC.  FOAMING AT THE MOUTH.

    If you see the clip of today’s full presser, Hassett was up before Miller,  giddily grinning about tarrifs, minerals “deals,” etc.

    This presser was a DOOZY

  19. 19.

    Elizabelle

    Not real thrilled to have Peggy Flanagan’s Senate campaign introduced under the blogpost title, Pretty Vacant, but we can’t have everything.

    Relieved McConnell is retiring.  May death not take him until he has suffered for years and years and years.

    Unless his demise involves a flaming or drowned Tesla.  I’d be down with that.

  24. 24.

    Karen S.

    @Jackie: Ha, indeed. FFOTUS seemed to question recently whether McConnell ever had polio to begin with, which indicates to me that Drumpf was ready to cast doubt on his life story, a step toward destroying McConnell. Hahahaha!

  26. 26.

    Elizabelle

    @Suzanne:  Drunk and in a Tesla.  And then the whole thing was hushed up for days.  (Dead?  In a body of water?  And it is on her property?  Whut??)

    Chilling that rescue may have been on site, and not able to get into the passenger compartment in time.  Not sure if that was a rumor or truth.  Checking now.

  29. 29.

    Elizabelle

    @cain:  Yeah.  I am very concerned about Virginia’s governor’s race this fall.  Could have a tsunami of outside money and disinformation headed this way.

    That said, there is significant voters’ regret about Governor Fleecevest.  May we do better this time.

  32. 32.

    Geminid

    @Baud: Walz hasn’t said he won’t run. Flanagan announced right away.

    On the other hand, Al Franken was asked about the posdibility last week in a Minnesota Public Radio interview about the 50 year anniversary of Saturday Night Live. Franken said he spends most of his time in New York now, and would not run for the Minnesota Senate seat.

  34. 34.

    Geminid

    @Old School: Now the Senate will begin debate on the Republican budget bill. There will be a “vote-a-rama,” where Democrats introduce so many amendments which will each be debated and voted on. That will go on into tonight, maybe tomorrow. Then they’ll take a vote on the bill itself.

  37. 37.

    JML

    @Elizabelle: That’s exactly the way she likes it. her nickname in MN was “The Velvet Hammer”.

    I’m going to miss Tina Smith a lot. She’s a first-class person and a great senator. But I can’t blame her for wanting out.

    I like Peggy Flanagan a lot, she’s pretty awesome. I don’t always love some of her friends in politics (she’s hung around with a few too many people who would rather be pure than win, and prefer to hector their own rather than accomplish things) but she’s been a good Lt. Gov, an often thankless role, and was a fine legislator as well. The trick for her is going to be avoiding getting branded as a Minneapolis liberal and winning in the suburbs.

    The best part about her going for this, is it should keep Ilhan out (who would have been an utter disaster, but her crew would have called every DFLer in the state who didn’t immediately sign on a racist along the way).

    Walz seems to be flirting with a 3rd term and the senate seat. Smart for Peggy to get her hat in now. rather see Walz go for another term as Governor, but MN has historically been unkind to potential 3rd termers. (see also: Perpich, Rudy)

  38. 38.

    Geminid

    @Elizabelle: I’m looking forward to this year’s Virginia Governor’s race. It will be a bad climate for Republicans here, what with all the layoffs of federal workers. And as former Lt. Governor Bill Bolling said in Bearing Drift, Abigail Spanberger is “a formidable politician.”

  39. 39.

    billcinsd

    @Elizabelle: Well, the current Governor can’t run this year. The question is will the Repubs do what they did four years ago and not actually have a primary to preserve their nominees claim to centrism

  40. 40.

    Geminid

    @billcinsd: It looks like Lt. Governor Winsome Earl-Sears will be unopposed in the Republican primary, since the Attorney General says he will run for reelection.

  41. 41.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Minor in the scheme of things, but Trump latest pretty troll is eliminating the Presidio Trust, a federal agency charged with running and protecting the historic San Francisco park, because it is “unnecessary,” according to an executive order issued by the White House on Wednesday night.

    The Presidio Trust was established by Congress in 1996 to help oversee the Presidio, a 1,500-acre former military base that today includes hiking trails, museums, schools, campgrounds, restaurants, a golf course and a hotel, according to its website.

    The National Park Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, a nonprofit group, also help to oversee the park. The trust is led by a board of directors — six of whom are appointed by the president — and employs a staff of ecologists, building stewards, utility workers, tech professionals and others

    Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House and a frequent critic of Mr. Trump’s, played a central role in the creation of the trust, and the park is in her district. Ms. Pelosi’s office told The San Francisco Standard that it was reviewing the order.

  46. 46.

    Eolirin

    The midterms will be an early test of whether we get to have elections, though the final one won’t come until we get a Democrat elected president.

    I’m not hopeful.

  47. 47.

    Geminid

    @Jackie: Elon Musk doesn’t have the money to beat Abigail Spanberger. That’s a ruthless woman

    Ed. Actually, I don’t think Winsome Earl-Sears will attract much outside money. She’s a second rate politician and could not have won statewide office if she hadn’t been running with Foungkin’ Youngkin.

  50. 50.

    Ohio Mom

    @Sister Golden Bear: Yes, so many of the Trump/Musk/Vought efforts are nits being picked. Why should anyone care about a small park that no one except locals has ever heard of or uses? It has to be more effort to dismantle the trust than to just ignore it.

    Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s wonderful that a military base was turned into a park. I’m just gobsmacked that these 1,500 acres are getting as much attention as, I dunno, international treaties.

    There isn’t any prioritizing because this administration wants to send the message that *everything* belongs to them. There is no escape from their reach.

    I used to think about the genius of having so many different levels of government. GW may have run the economy into a ditch but my little suburban city kept picking up the garbage and shoveling the snow. But the state as we knew it is being deconstructed. I won’t be surprised if my city stops providing these services for free. Who knows, maybe I’ll be carting my garbage to the dump myself.

  51. 51.

    Leto

    @Sister Golden Bear: it’s not minor, it’s just another part of the privatization scheme they’re trying to enact. “How much is too much for them?” Is asked quite a bit. All of it. They want every last thing on this planet; I think that’s part of their desire to move to the stars as well. They’re seeking to expand, to continue to just… consume. The universe isn’t vast enough, there’s no amount of wealth that will satiate these fuckers. And that’s not even mentioning all the worthless sacks of shit who support them in this endeavor; that give them both official and unofficial cover for everything they do.

    Avalune says I’ve been in a foul mood for the past few weeks, and yeah, I have been. I don’t really know when that’ll stop.

  52. 52.

    Leto

    @Ohio Mom:

    There isn’t any prioritizing because this administration wants to send the message that *everything* belongs to them. There is no escape from their reach.

    I see we’re both in the same headspace. Mind if I pull up a lawn chair? I’ll bring whatever you’re drinking.

  53. 53.

    Ohio Mom

    @Leto: I’ve been thinking that we are all in the anger phase of the stages of grief.

    Grief over the end of our polity. We will still be US citizens but what will that mean?

  54. 54.

    Sister Golden Bear

    And here we go (again)…. New HHS “Guidance”: Transgender People Do Not Exist

    Starting the countdown clock for when they ban all trans healthcare, including hormones for adults like me, and declare prescribing it to be criminal malpractice.

    As part of the announcement, they also released a short video featuring anti-trans former mediocre athlete Riley Gaines, about “her plight as a female athlete.”

    My new rule: Anyone who wants to talk about banning trans girls/women from sports “to protect women” has to first name ten women athletes.

  55. 55.

    Another Scott

    @Geminid:

    Of the 3 statewide races, in 2021, the Lt Gov race had the fewest votes, but only by about 490 (fewer than AG); about 18,000 less than for governor. Even with more write-ins for Lt Gov there were fewer total votes.

    Winsome struck me as a kook, but very, very few GQPers didn’t fill the ballot circle for her. Party ID is a huge determinant of votes, still.

    I think we have to assume that the GQP will mostly turn out for her and that Formidable Candidate Spanberger will have to fight for the office and not take anything for granted. I think she knows that, has been doing the work for months, and that’s a good sign.

    Thanks.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  56. 56.

    Ohio Mom

    @Leto: Yes, I was thinking our comments were passing in the ether.

    Not drinking anything right now except copious amounts of water, I caught the flu visiting my friend who recently entered memory care. I didn’t think the sign on the door announcing widespread flu applied to me, I was taking Friend out to lunch. Ha!

  58. 58.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Leto:

    it’s just another part of the privatization scheme they’re trying to enact.

    Oh absolutely. I expect to see Yosemite and Yellowstone put up for sale within a few weeks. I wish I was joking.

    They’ve already completely fucked up Yosemite.

    Cherney, who helped organize the protest, and other demonstrators stood with signs outside the Yosemite Valley Exploration Center on Saturday to share flyers and information about the potential effects of a short-staffed parks service with visitors flocking to see the firefall event.

    “Without us, there’s a big potential parks could close. Bathrooms would be locked because we don’t have people to clean them. There’s no water filtration. Sewage could seep into rivers, and gateway communities could burn down without firefighters,” Cherney said. “Paramedics need to respond to calls. If someone falls in the woods, no one’s going to be able to come for them.”

  59. 59.

    Elizabelle

    @Sister Golden Bear:   It is all so wrong.

    I am hoping that fired federal employees and dismantled agencies prevail in court.  DC Circuit Court Judge Chutkan gave specific instructions on the kind of evidence she needs to see, with further pleadings from the plaintiffs, in allowing one DOGE case to proceed, for the time being.  She is expecting the employees to be back to her.

    Who knows how long that will take?  And how much damage remains permanent?

    Trump and Musk are really tearing this country apart.  And polarizing us all the more.

    Fuck them.

  62. 62.

    Ohio Mom

    @Elizabelle: That’s what my internist said, “Bad flu season.”

    We discussed the pros and cons of vaccinating late. Maybe my October shot wore off too soon.

  63. 63.

    Leto

    @Ohio Mom: that’s something I’ve been pondering as well, what it’ll mean to be a US citizen. Both for us, and to the larger world. Not really sanguine about that.

    I’m down with the water! Sorry that you’re under the weather. Hopefully it passes soon.

    @Sister Golden Bear: Ugh, the “Guidance.” In my Environmental Philosophy class, we read a story about how Native people held a much broader view on humans. Their sexuality and beings. They recognized, and accepted, transgendered people, and it wasn’t until colonization that that view was taught as “bad.” The story is, “Endlessly Creating our Indigenous Selves,” by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (which I think is from her own book). There’s a lot of overlap here from my previous class, Transnational Feminism.

    Nah, I don’t think you’re joking about the National Parks. You’re pretty spot on with most stuff, and they’ve been pretty damn open about what they want to do to all public lands.

  67. 67.

    Matt McIrvin

    The traditional move at this stage is to pursue your terrifying creation across the Arctic wastes and tell your story to an ice-bound sea captain, but I guess McConnell is just going to let it run.

  69. 69.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Geminid:

     It looks like Lt. Governor Winsome Earl-Sears will be unopposed in the Republican primary, since the Attorney General says he will run for reelection.

    This is proof positive that I’ve finally spent enough years north of the Potomac to have lost touch with Virginia politics.  I had no idea Virginia had a Lt Gov with a name like Winsome Earl-Sears.  That would be hard to forget.

  72. 72.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    The Presidio Trust was established by Congress in 1996 to help oversee the Presidio, a 1,500-acre former military base that today includes hiking trails, museums, schools, campgrounds, restaurants, a golf course and a hotel, according to its website.

    All your (former) base are belong to us.

  73. 73.

    Geminid

    @Another Scott: Youngkin manipulated the nomination process so as to be favorable to him and then out-organized the other three candidates. I suspect he let his supporters know he wanted Miyares– a Hispanic– and Sears– a Black woman– on the ticket. That guy’s slick.

  74. 74.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Leto:

    They recognized, and accepted, transgendered people, and it wasn’t until colonization that that view was taught as “bad.”

    Gentle FYI, current preferred terminology is “trans people,” or “transgender people” not “transgendered people” (or “the transgendered” as was used by someone else in a thread yesterday). For the similar reasons that one wouldn’t refer to “gayed” people. (Yes the language around LGBTQ+ does keep evolving.)

  76. 76.

    Geminid

    @raven: You’ll find different strains with varying qualities to try. Some might give more relief than others. I wish I could help you evaluate them.

  77. 77.

    prostratedragon

    @Sister Golden Bear:  Tsk tsk! Just looked her up, and it is such a TRAVESTY that she was bumped from.her, what, 300th rank in the world standings by … by … say, were there any trans women even in those qualifying meets?

  78. 78.

    Ron from MN

    @JML: As a Minnesotan from Waconia, i agree w all  in your  response!!  Tina has been a great senator for Minnesota. If my memory is correct, i think Peggy Flannigan is from the Wellstone lineage  of politics which would be great!  Hopefully  Amy K can help her campaign.

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