I feel so disjointed right now without birds in the morning and being three hours behind the East Coast. It’s weird because I did not experience this last year. Maybe because I am staying so much longer this year.
I can’t remember if anyone posted about it, but AOC and Bernie threw a banger of a rally last night right here in Tempe. I did not go because… because I don’t even want to be around that many people I like. Traffic from about two o’clock on was completely fucked. At one point I remember sitting the same place on University for so long I started to think “I kinda understand people who just lose it and go viral on tiktok for blowing up in public.
At any rate, here is a link to it because you won’t see it on the news:
In fairness, I stopped watching after AOC because I am just over with the past and anyone in office over 65. In other news, and take this with a grain of salt because Axios, but if this is true it is great news:
Democratic members of Congress, back home in their districts for the last week, have been encountering a level of anger and hostility that some see as reminiscent of the 2010 Tea Party wave.
Why it matters: The dynamic could spill over into 2026 primaries, lawmakers tell Axios, with the infuriated grassroots attempting to throw out House and Senate Democrats they see as unprepared to take on Trump.
“Any Democratic incumbent who thinks they can rest on their laurels and not show their constituents that they are fighting like hell is making a mistake,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.).
A senior House Democrat, speaking on the condition of anonymity to offer an even blunter assessment, told Axios: “The people that have been voting … with Republicans on these messaging bills are people that could get primaried.”
“These groups are paying attention to that,” the lawmaker said.
What we’re hearing: The senior House Democrat told Axios that a colleague called them after a town hall crying and said: “They hate us. They hate us.”
“Among the things I got [at a town hall] were: ‘Will you call for Chuck Schumer to resign?'” the lawmaker said. “Last week I got: ‘You need to tell your leadership they had no right rebuking Democrats for being strong at'” Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress.
“Another thing I got was: ‘Democrats are too nice. Nice and civility doesn’t work. Are you prepared for violence?'”
Good. Fucking stand for something and show some courage and people will have your back.
It was a beautiful day today and I was able to take a noontime swim at the community pool and got some laps in and some sun. Went home and got some stuff done and cooked dinner for Joelle, who was at the office all day. After dinner, Joelle informed me that my five minute long discussikn on the pros and cons of the three talent specializations in World of Warcraft was the most effective birth control she has ever encountered.
Currently watching Happy Face.
War for Ukraine Day 1,121: Drone Swarms Over Zaporizhzhia
Melancholy Jaques
You mean birth control?
Viva BrisVegas
Spelling, huh, yeah,
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing,
Say it again, y’all.
gene108
Still playing WoW after 20+ years! I am impressed by your dedication John.
satby
Joelle is a keeper! You’re a lucky man, John.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Hah! Banger last night in Tempe?
Me and my normie wife went down to the banger at the Civic Center earlier here in Denver.
AOC said there were about 30K. Bernie, old coot that he is, followed and said, fwiw, that the Denver attendance was his largest ever, after 2 preznit campaigns. I’m sure their speeches were the same as in Tempe. I’m gonna write a piece for MM’s blog tomorrow morning.
It was packed.
The best of the preliminaries was Jimmy who’s head of the painter’s union, a construction union, here in CO. He rocked.
Quite frankly, it’s not what anybody said, it was the fact that *liberals* were out in big-assed numbers. If nothing else, it makes sure Dems remember they have spines.
geg6
Is Happy Face any good? It looks right up my alley and I am aware of the facts of the case because of my true crime podcast addiction, so I’m curious.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Everybody should follow Frank Conniff:
LeftCoastYankee
“I beat cancer for the 6th time…”
Fuck me. This country is many laps behind basic decency.
Ohio Mom
Are there really enough of us to win? I wonder. That’s a big rally but what of that is more or less the upper limit of support for progressive candidates in Tempe?
Eh. It’s past my bedtime. See you all tomorrow.
Leto
On the one hand, it definitely simplified things. But Dragon Flight (the previous expansion on live) did away with it because 1) they couldn’t balance 9 talents and 2) they brought back talent trees because of the illusion of choice and we’re basically right back to where we started. I’m lucky in that it was Avalune who brought me into WoW so she still has to put up with me
ranting and ravingrationally discussing all of that.The Audacity of Krope
Hate is a strong word. I’ve merely reached a point where I can only offer support to someone with a sound moral compass and the strength to defend it.
Then again, I’m not someone spun up enough to come shout at Congresscritters in public.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
The people who are saying this should go take a look at all the hand ringing on the left over burning poor, defenseless cyber-trucks.
The Audacity of Krope
No one I’ve seen discuss this in the media with all their perfunctory shaming has drawn the obvious comparison to right wing terrorism, where the target is usually people.
strange visitor (from another planet)
the protesters should just stand back and wait for the teslas to set themselves on fire.
Jay
Humm, property vs. people. Used to be the “left” was fine with burning property, not people,
‘Funny that.
The Audacity of Krope
While any good right winger knows that property matters far more than any person. That’s why it’s ok to make people property and not the other way around…
Redshift
@Ohio Mom:
The Indivisible leaders were talking about this week about how one of the effects of all of these protests and rallies is to help move some of the people who are on the sidelines to action, people who sense things are wrong but are not quite sure they’re wrong-wrong, as opposed to the other side doing things I don’t like.
Seeing people out protesting in their own community gives them a model that they could start to do something, instead of waiting for someone else to.
These big rallies are doing the same thing (and in our fragmented media landscape, I’m no so sure it not being on TV everywhere is that important.) We’re trying to build a movement, so it’s not just about how many people will vote for candidates we like, it’s gathering people who don’t want to put up with this bullshit, and are willing to try to do something.
Joelle
@geg6: it’s crime cast addict nose candy
Jay
@The Audacity of Krope:
“Dude, what going on, you keep goring my ox”.
“Chill out dude, it”s just a Shaman hat”.
Phylllis
@Joelle: You say that like it’s a bad thing.
Joelle
@Phylllis: well… as far as crime cast nose candy goes… I’d say this qualifies as “the good shit.”
Joelle
@Phylllis: well… as far as crime cast nose candy goes… I’d say this qualifies as “the good shit.”
Gloria DryGarden
The Bernie and AOC Show came to Denver today. A friend’s daughter went. I’m waiting to hear more about it. So far what I’m told is 34,000 people went ( not sure how that could have fit in civic center park), and that it was short, and my acquaintance was far away, couldn’t see them well.
thx for video
Phylllis
@Joelle: Quality trash, my favorite.
Joelle
UPDATE dear readers o’ the comments… the Lectric etrike is even better than anticipated for these bum post and pre-TKR knees. Hey! Do you like 🌈? Well just wait and see the spiffy helmet I got made specifically for electric biking. The Xnito “Disco” trim. Holy moly! If Rick James were a bike helmet, that’s what this would be.
Redshift
@Joelle: Yay!
YY_Sima Qian
Par for the course these days, except foreign universities will not be so supine as Columbia, & have many other options they can explore:
PsiFighter37
Coming home from the UK today. A lot more questions than I expected about trying to explain what is wrong with the U.S. Unfortunately, I did not have much to offer beyond apologies and scathing indictments of the very selfish assholes who live in the middle of nowhere, resenting their lot in life and taking it out on others instead of trying to improve it.
Reboot
In France at the moment. So far it seems no one has clocked our American accents, perhaps because we’re un-tall (we sometimes get asked for directions by other, European, tourists). When the guy at the tourism office asked where we were from, I’m not sure, but I think a shadow passed across his face. I plan to say ‘Je lui deteste!’ if asked.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
It’s weird when the whole world is saying “don’t travel to the United States” and the only alternative I have to traveling to the United States is death. I can’t argue against the travel advisories – no way in hell someone should travel to the US if they have a choice in the matter – but it’s going to be weird being back home and afraid every day until I get medical clearance to leave the US and fly back to the Free World.
Gloria DryGarden
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: wishing you excellent medical care and a good outcome, and a safe , healthy return to the free world.
Gloria DryGarden
Denver rally, YouTube coverage of Bernie and AOC. 45 minutes. Way shorter than Tempe.
Denver AOC Bernie rally march 21
PsiFighter37
@Reboot: I did not get too much of that the couple days I was in Paris – perhaps because I was in the heart of what seems like a very Americanized version of Paris – but I expect some different reactions when I go to the Netherlands and Brussels next month.
I think what sticks out the most is that my coworkers (being in financial services) are the type of people who I have never had serious political discussions about before when I have visited Europe. This time, it was all they virtually wanted to talk about. I told them if they travel to the U.S. for work, they need to be careful about what they say and do while going through customs & immigration.
Gloria DryGarden
I guess they had a rally in Greeley earlier today, also. This 14 minutes before aoc comes on is very moving. Covers a single mom w disabled children, a labor lawyer defending the rights of workers at Amazon. Highly relevant!
i found these speakers very moving.
AOC is darned good in the Tempe video in the OP. SHE is so good!
Greeley rally to stop oligarchy, 2 speakers before AOC
Gloria DryGarden
Here’s the whole Greeley rally. AOC COMES ON AT ABOUT 12 minute mark.
Greeley fighting oligarchy rally.
what’s interesting is they have clear pointed comments about the local politicians that need to be unseated. Apparently these rallies are being held in swing locations, where the margins are slim enough and the current congress critters are not satisfactory.
Greeley is in Weld country, it’s a college town. A lot of teaching degrees in Colorado come from UNC. Pollyanna used to live up there, his family had land, we all go up there for fall winter spring hiking and birding on the grasslands.
im glad to know it’s a swing district, because we sure saw many scary redneck republican types out shooting on the BLM lands around there.
You can scroll through to find the part about local elected folks. The rest of the Bernie AOC talks might be the same in each location, but the local stuff, it gives me hope. Anything to counter the angst of it all.
JaySinWA
https://www.wired.com/story/delirious-violent-impossible-true-story-zizians/
This bizarre story of the Zizians kept me up tonight. I warn you, it is long and convoluted.
Effective altruism, Rationalism, AI, murder, and sociopathy are all play roles.
You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.
Omnes Omnibus
@Joelle:
Damn.
JaySinWA
@JaySinWA: After posting this warning I searched Bluesky for zizian. There are a number of takes from other sources. This is a rabbit hole.
Hildebrand
@PsiFighter37: We are in the UK for a bit. We went to a cask ale festival in Scarborough on Thursday, spent a few hours tasting some amazing ales, and sat with a group of locals, who, of course, were curious about our opinions.
Some would like Starmer to actually act like he is a Labour leader, some harbor longing for Thatcher’s toughness, and they all avoided talking about Brexit, so my guess is that some were in favor. What was universal was the way they detest what Trump is doing and who he is.
They didn’t seem to really know anything about Harris’s background, and when we explained her CV a bit, they wondered how the US wouldn’t have voted for her in a landslide, especially when running against Trump.
Baud
@PsiFighter37:
@Hildebrand:
Half of our society wants to own the libs over everything else. It’s unpatriotic and insane, but that’s where we are.
Baud
Good for you for being consistent. The age discrimination thing is usually selectively applied.
Gloria DryGarden
@Baud: i stopped watching after AOC, because I object to Bernie’s verb tenses. He states things that have been going on, but he says it in present tense. I’ve worked a lot with affirmations, and saying things in the present tense creates more of the same. That’s not cool with me. It bothers me.
that might be too esoteric for others here. But I’m not wrong, based on experience.
But gosh, AOC is great! UPBEAT, encouraging, knows how to talk to the crowd in a useful way.
Baud
@Gloria DryGarden:
I agree the real war is not among age cohorts but among grammar bandits.
But can you give an example of what you mean?
Gloria DryGarden
@Baud: there was a meme I saw, said, we won’t hire 79 and 80 year olds because we think they’re unemployable, cognition decline, etc. And yet much of our world is being run by folks In that age group. Hi2 many congress and Justice dept folks do we have, and cabinet members, in the over 70 group?
Baud
@Gloria DryGarden:
Older people are more likely to vote. That’s a different situation than you have in business hiring.
Gloria DryGarden
@Baud: ok, yes, im glad to answer your question.
Notice how this feels, what you sense:
They are taking apart the government. They are dismantling the country, agency by agency. They are stealing our data, stopping the checks, they are firing people.
all in present tense. Notice that. Check your blood pressure, even. Cool.
Now, cancel, cancel. Erase erase.
Try this:
they’ve been firing people, for weeks. They’ve been taking apart the government, one agency after another. They have stolen into our databases without security clearances, were wondering if they will stop our checks. ( I started to say we wonder, but nope, oops, present tense, no need to create more worry)
I have caught myself wondering if my snap will be decreased. (careful, I almost said, I wonder. But that’s in the now, and I WAS wondering, I Did think it, I have wondered)
NOW is a new moment.
To put this another way,
We can make something else, we can brush up our balance of gratitude and fears, in the moment. Now. Now is the only time we have. Why fill it with phrases about a state of horrible disarray, that one has been observing, ok, so I’m not promoting any kind of denial.
Do you notice a difference?
does it make any sense?
i quit NARAL and NOW over this, after I wrote them and explained, and nothing changed. Was not going to fund them to promote more of the same stuff. The literature said, Give us money to fight it, but we’ll keep declaring it’s going on. ( and to my mind, perpetuate it) What about, imagine the new thing you want.
There is nothing wrong with saying We are fighting this! We resist! Because we want that, so it’s fine to affirm that, bring it into our sphere. Well, I want it. In case We is an overreach.
AOC did not use weird present tense sentences tgat raise my hackles. Bernie, right out of the gate, did. Is that part of being a demagogue? I’ll have to try listening to him more. I don’t think I can stand it.
Thanks for asking.
Gloria DryGarden
@Baud: i don’t know how to apply that to your age cohorts comment. After I ge5 some sleep, I’ll look again.
Baud
@Gloria DryGarden:
Interesting. I haven’t paid that much attention. Something to think about.
Gloria DryGarden
@Baud: try some experiments with it, perhaps.
a ver si tienes algún éxito.
Baud
@Gloria DryGarden:
En español, creo que siempre se usan el tiempo presente en esa situación.
Chief Oshkosh
@Joelle: We love our Lectric e-bikes. We bought them so that we could take longer rides together. However, I’ve also found that it’s a great commuting solution, made possible due to having dedicated walk/bike paths that allow me to go door-to-door without getting on any streets busier than very quiet 25mph neighborhood streets. And the paths go through great woods that were too hilly for easy home building – so full of streams and quaint bridges and boardwalks and lots of flora and fauna.
Gloria DryGarden
@Baud: tengo que experimentar. For sure, that ongoing past thingie is a bitch in spanish. Cumbersome. I have to think about it. I’ve never done affirmations en español.
Adelante! I’ll let you know. Mostly I use them for attitude, mood, motivation, and health. A lot about health. I stopped coughing for two hours, once, by running an affirmation. That’s fine.
I’ll explore El pasado ..
están haciendo esto.. hmm, han entrado en nuestro data. están planeando, nope,
han planeado.. how do you say to fire someone? Han desempleado mucha gente, pararon las fundas ( is that the right word?) para re.. I don’t even know how to say research. My spanish is all teenager conversation, with the addition of early childhood commands and negotiations.
han hecho
han estado haciendo…
you could do “estaban haciendo”… it makes it more ongoing, which is merely unpleasant..
i will contact my consultants.
satby
@strange visitor (from another planet): weird, I bet at least some of the fires are dealers taking advantage of the current situation to unload those kinks and get an insurance payout. Because they had no hope of selling them.
Reboot
@PsiFighter37: A bit more anecdata: we went to the Saturday market and stopped for espresso. The vendor asked if we were English. No, Americans, we said. ‘Ah, Americans,’ she said, ‘that’s better.’ I guess there is that French/English history….
zhena gogolia
@Ohio Mom: I seem to remember some great rallies before the election.
Fuck Bernie Sanders.
Ohio Mom
@zhena gogolia: And who won the election before last, Joe Biden, not at all Mr. Electrifying. I want someone whom the mushy middle swing voters feel comfortable with, not someone they will dismiss as too out there.
@Redshift: Again, I am unconvinced that people on the sidelines are going to be inspired by rallies. I like what Indivisible is trying to do but I’m not yet impressed by their tactics.
Bupalos
@PsiFighter37: just say “this is our version of Brexit, I’m afraid.”
kindness
Gotta love that girl.
Colette South
@Reboot: ” Je le déteste” may be an even better way to say it.
Joelle
@Chief Oshkosh: wow Chief… and I gotta say when I type that I feel like I’m Jack Nicholson talking to his psych ward buddy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest… I’m an instant convert. It’s given me back my freedom and Independence. I ride it thinking “Why doesn’t everyone ride these?” F cars. Put all the bikes in the neighborhoods and cars on main roads and highways. Or maybe we should just move to Holland.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@JaySinWA: that was wild! Thks for linking