I can’t remember whether I posted this a few months ago or if I just planned to post this and never actually put it up. (Sad!)
Either way, it seems like maybe a good time to for us to check in and see how well we are doing at being outraged.
My little Henry is about to have a dilemma. He wants to go out, but it’s raining really hard.
Predictions?
A. I’ll open the door, he’ll hear the rain and decide “hey, did I say I wanted to go out? Nevermind.”
B. He’ll make out onto the porch but then will bail before he actually goes out into the rain.
C. Henry will actually go outside in the rain.
Open thread!
chemiclord
Wait. But Watergirl! Nowhere on that flowchart is, “Rage bitterly on social media, poison the waters, and sit on my ass while demanding others fight for me!”
Fair Economist
Ha. I love your attitude.
WaterGirl
@chemiclord: Maybe you should create an alternative chart – how to outrage badly.
WaterGirl
@Fair Economist: Whose attitude?
WaterGirl
To answer the Henry question I posed up top, he took two steps out onto the porch before he actually heard the rain. Then he went with “hey, did I say I wanted to go out? Nevermind.”
So a tiny bit of an A-B hybrid.
New Deal democrat
Ok I think this is most important because of who CNN’s sources are (bolded)
This is from CNN. I think it is important for the sourcing, which granted is anonymous:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/15/politics/schumer-democrats-faith-spending-bill/index.html
”After how he handled the spending fight, many inside and outside the Capitol are starting to see [Schumer as] a leader who’s out of date and refusing to change as politics changes radically around him.
“CNN’s conversations with three-dozen Democratic senators, members of the House, top aides and other prominent leaders detail a cratering of support, with many starting to feel that he can’t be the party’s future and shouldn’t be their present.
“[S]aid a[ ] Democratic senator, … looking ahead to the next expected Congressional showdown, “he can’t be trusted alone to negotiate the debt limit.”
“Schumer tried to be too smart,” said another Democratic senator, “but he ended up looking indecisive.”
”[C]ritics from across traditional Democratic divides of ideology, geography and age see a pile of excuses and false choices. They say Schumer flubbed weeks of strategy, essentially negotiating with himself for less to make the final bill worse than they could have gotten it to be with better pushback.
“Senate Republicans saw how easy it was to write what Trump wants into the bills, make no effort to reach out to Democrats, and watch them be the ones to attack each other.
“Republicans saw Democrats were weak, and thought, ‘We’re going to call your bluff’—and they were right,” said a top aide to one Senate Democrat. “This was always going to be no-win. But it didn’t have to be this much of an ‘L’.”
“Schumer has lost faith among several of his Democratic senators for being able to manage the fights ahead…. Several Democratic governors, who have privately been knocking Schumer as inept for weeks, finished Friday feeling more validated than they ever wanted to be.
“A leader of a major Democratic-aligned organization, for now reluctant to exacerbate the party fractures by speaking publicly, said Schumer has now made himself irrelevant.
“For three days in a row leading up to the vote, Schumer held long lunch meetings for the Senate Democrats to air their grievances and opinions about what to do. To many of the senators stewing and steaming through them, this felt like not having a strategy”
——-
I think Schumer was a great peacetime consigliere, shepherding Biden’s agenda through a Senate with the barest of majorities.
WaterGirl
@New Deal democrat:
The times are different and the circumstances are different. The job is now completely different than it was before; therefore the skillset that’s needed is entirely different.
chemiclord
@WaterGirl: You mean, something like this?
https://bsky.app/profile/tkocreations.com/post/3lkhm5ehhun2l
WaterGirl
@chemiclord: ha! The bad news is that there are a hundred ways to do it wrong. How many ways of doing it right.? Now that I think of it. Probably just as many.
MagdaInBlack
@chemiclord: Perfect .
The Audacity of Krope
Potentially damning, but technically true if only two members of that group are actually Senators.
Eolirin
I am tired.
I also have a prediction: we aren’t going to remember this in six months. Maybe not even in six weeks.
But mostly I am tired.
sentient ai from the future
@New Deal democrat: well he deserves the conyers treatment. THANKS FOR EVERYTHING YOU ACHIEVED GREAT THINGS SEND US A POSTCARD FROM WHEREVER YOU WIND UP LOVE YOUUUUU
chemiclord
@Eolirin: Oh, that is a guarantee. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if next to no one is still on this six days from now.
zhena gogolia
@Eolirin: glad to see you!
Parfigliano
@Eolirin: We aren’t going to remember Schumer in 6 months…god I hope so.
chemiclord
@Parfigliano: Hell, over half this country doesn’t even know he exists right now.
RevRick
Today, I along with 21 other residents of the Lehigh Valley began our training to become a Climate Hope Affiliate in the Lehigh Valley, which is the heart of PA-7 Congressional District. Among other things, we learned a “laser talk” and practiced writing a letter to our new GOP Senator about supporting climate change tax credits that were part of the Inflation Reduction Act. In some respects, it was about learning to be in the words of an obscure 1st century Jew, “as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves.”
But before we got to that point, we were asked to tell a bit about ourselves and answer two questions:
1). In a word or phrase, how would you describe your feelings about climate change?
2). What legacy do you want to leave?
Instead of asking why don’t they do something about it, we are choosing to learn how to be effective media and legislative advocates on this issue.
chemiclord
@WaterGirl: Oh, there are a million ways to channel our energy in positive ways. But all of them require us actually using that energy and doing shit… which is where the overwhelming majority of Americans will fail.
Salty Sam
My step-daughter’s Husky, Faye, is traumatized by thunderstorms, and will not go out at all even if it’s just raining. Our running joke is that she looks out the door at the rain, and then looks back at us and her eyes are saying “But there’s WATER COMING OUT OF THE SKY!!!!”
RevRick
@chemiclord: I Googled Senate Majority Leaders and discovered that the “office” did not formally exist until 1913! I had forgotten half of them who have served since LBJ during Eisenhower, though once I saw the list, it was “oh yeah, him.”
Curiously, Senate Minority Leaders date back to the administration of Garfield, because the Democrats needed someone to herd them while they were out of power.
Jackie
@Parfigliano:
I still maintain Biden held Schumer up behind the scenes while he was President. Schumer has proven to be weak as both Majority Leader and minority leader since the election.
dc
Who could effectively replace Schumer? How does the Minority Leader get chosen?
Eolirin
@zhena gogolia: I’ve still been bouncing around a little, but life is taking up most of my attention at the moment. I hope things are well with you. :)
NotMax
@WaterGirl
50 Ways to
Leave Your LoverScrew Your Caucus.//
JustRuss
@WaterGirl: With my cat, A or B are possibilities. C is never happening.
David_C
@RevRick: This is good. In our section of the universe, we have the Multifaith Alliance of Climate Stewards that coordinates activities among local congregations and connects to NGOs like Interfaith Power & Light.
With current job concerns, it’s an uphill task for me, but bit by bit, I keep going.