??MAJOR BREAKING: Rep-Elect Adelita Grijalva announces her election results will be OFFICIALLY certified tomorrow, destroying Mike Johnson’s last excuse to delay her swearing in.
“Mike Johnson needs to do his job so I can do mine.”
No more lies.
No more delays.
Swear her in!— Harlow’s Musings (@harlowsmusings.bsky.social) October 13, 2025 at 10:53 PM
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THEN WHAT DO YOU DO ALL DAY??
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) October 13, 2025 at 12:23 PM
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There's probably enough material for media outlets to be doing front page stories just about every day on foreign government efforts to influence Trump through deals involving his family business. Not sure why the media isn't doing more with this.
— Simon Lester (@simonlester.com) October 13, 2025 at 2:56 PM
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they’re scared fucking shitless of this weekend, or, at the least, are scared fucking shitless of trump seeing it on the television
— GHOULLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) October 13, 2025 at 10:57 AM
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These are the same kind of weasels who would’ve called George Washington & America’s revolutionaries “terrorists.” They spend their days sucking up to King Trump & demonizing peaceful protest just as some in America sought to appease King George III.
Looking forward to No Kings Day.— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@vanhollen.senate.gov) October 13, 2025 at 5:29 PM
… The No Kings movement first sprang up as counter-programming to a military parade spearheaded by the White House in June, leading to the largest coordinated demonstration against Trump to date since his return to the Oval Office. The protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, and organizers at the time said they specifically did not plan an event in Washington to avoid a conflict.
The coast-to-coast protests went on almost entirely without incident, with one notable act of violence — when rally “peacekeepers” in Salt Lake City shot and killed a bystander because they believed another man with a gun was about to fire on the crowd.
The organizers of the upcoming rally largely brushed off House GOP leaders’ characterization. In a joint, unsigned statement, which they said they issued “after a few moments of laughter,” they pressured Johnson over the government shutdown.
“Speaker Johnson is running out of excuses for keeping the government shut down,” the No Kings coalition wrote. “Instead of reopening the government, preserving affordable healthcare, or lowering costs for working families, he’s attacking millions of Americans who are peacefully coming together to say that America belongs to its people, not to kings.”
The organizers of the rally run the gamut of the Democratic coalition, from labor unions to the Indivisible to Vote Save America, the fundraising and volunteering arm of Crooked Media.
Jon Favreau, one of Crooked’s co-founders, criticized Emmer and Johnson on social media, emphasizing that the first No Kings protest was “peaceful” with “American flags everywhere.”
“Those of us who will be participating next weekend in what Emmer calls a ‘hate rally’ for ‘terrorists’ love our country — particularly its promise that we’re all created equal, that we all have the right to speak freely, to enjoy equal protection under the law, to believe what we want, and to choose our leaders without fear of reprisal,” he wrote…
On The Road – BigJimSlade – Alps 2025 – Milan, Saas-Fee, Chamonix and Courmayeur, part 9
Baud
Patriotic Americans
Baud
Porn?
satby
@Baud: with his son?
Baud
I know why!
Suzanne
I can’t even snark THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER because the Speaker of the House can’t be bothered to pay attention. GOP governance in a nutshell.
Betty Cracker
Senator Chris Van Hollen has been impressive during the descent into fascism. Never really noticed him before, but he’s met the moment with uncommon courage and clarity.
Mr. Mack
@Betty Cracker: Agree
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
I’m not happy that he defamed weasels.
oldster
“…met the moment with uncommon courage and clarity.”
I say the same thing of you, Anne Laurie, Water Girl, and the rest of the BJ crew.
These are bleak times in the history of the American experiment, and we dont’ know the ending yet.
But you people have stepped up and faced the worst of it with snark, solidarity, and guts. Good on ya.
Suzanne
@Betty Cracker: Agree. I think a bunch of our pols are meeting the moment. The moment demands moral clarity and empassioned response. The ones who take a strong stance and can talk extemporaneously and clearly about it (without feeling coached or practiced) are really compelling and I LOVE TO SEE IT!
Baud
When I’m president, the day after holiday will be a holiday.
TS
@Baud:
ABC (govt broadcaster) did some investigating
abc.net.au/news/2025-10-13/trump-president-wealth-family-business-crypto-four-corners/105876782
Donald Trump’s wealth, and that of his family, is skyrocketing.
Trump says he has stepped back from his business ventures since taking office, and his interests are now held in trust by his sons.
But critics say he is operating like no president has before, mixing business and politics in a way that may violate the US constitution and threaten the very foundations of American democracy.
J.
@Baud: Maybe he meant measles?
Betty Cracker
A friend down the road reports that a hog has started showing up at the spot where she places corn to feed the deer and wild turkeys. There are lots of feral hogs in these woods, but she says this one seems almost tame. Gonna look for it on my morning walk.
@oldster: That’s very kind, thank you.
@Suzanne: I love to see it too. Lots of Dems have stepped up.
J.
I wonder how much media coverage the No Kings rallies will get. And if they do cover the protests, what the slant will be. (Of course, that depends on which rag(s) you read or channels you watch or stream.)
Baud
@TS:
Great. In the US, reporters are too dog tired from covering Hunter Biden’s work at Burisma to really dig into Trump’s finances.
eclare
@Betty Cracker:
Keep your distance if you see a feral hog!
They Call Me Noni
@oldster: I second that emotion.
They Call Me Noni
@Betty Cracker: Seems almost tame because it’s being fed. Stay away from that thing!!
lowtechcyclist
@eclare:
And especially if you see 30-50 of them!
Eric S.
An attempted kidnapping by ICE was foiled by my fellow Chicagoans. This happened just a few blocks from my house. A neighbor says others are volunteering to chaperone kids on their way to school.
lowtechcyclist
@Betty Cracker:
I knew who he was before this year because he was one of my Senators, but tbh, I couldn’t have told you much about him other than that he was a reliable vote for Dem priorities. But I sure have noticed him this year, and he’s been impressive at every turn.
Our new governor, Wes Moore, is standing up as well.
SFAW
Pedantry alert: “begs the question” does not mean what numbskull (apparently) thinks it means.
But in response to his raising the question: George Soros is personally (apologies for the potential redundancy) mailing a check for millions of $$$ to each “No Kings” participant. Or doing it electronically, which the “pro-Hamas” people will receive on their Barack Hussein Obama-phones.
I long for the day when I no longer have to keep thinking “those effing liars/traitors” or “just STFU, mofo” when I see political news.
lowtechcyclist
@J.:
The media can’t not cover them, given how much the GOP leaders keep talking about them. (Thanks for the publicity, y’all!) If the reporters see a lot of American flags, I predict they will cover that fact with wide-eyed astonishment, having at least partly bought into the Fox/GOP propaganda that we don’t love our country.
p.a.
ABC: What we gonna do? Could be true, maybe not. Next up, a 5 year old gets his gramps a present…
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊 😊 😊
p.a.
@lowtechcyclist: If someone accidentally knocks over a trash bin it’ll be covered on Fux as that particular city being under siege. MSM will note liberal hypocrisy re: pollution.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
lowtechcyclist
@SFAW:
THANK YOU. I get so tired of seeing people reach for ‘begs’ in this context when ‘raises’ is right there, and ‘begging the question’ means something else entirely – IIRC, it’s about phrasing your argument in a way that assumes your conclusion.
I don’t know whether I’ve seen it a lot more this year than in the recent past, or whether I’ve just noticed it more, but if I had a dollar for every time I’ve seen it this year, I’d be able to take my wife out to a very fancy restaurant for her birthday next week on the proceeds.
Spanky
@p.a.: TS is Australian, ergo Australian Broadcast Corp.
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
It begs the question whether our children is learning.
Professor Bigfoot
@rikyrah: G’mornin’!
espierce
@SFAW:
Soros pays me via ApplePay/direct deposit and I get notified on my ObamaPhone.
Betty
So Mikey has officially run out of excuses. Uh oh!
Betty
Message for WaterGirl. I discovered the problem I was having with my comments not posting. I had had to re-enter my email address, and it contained an error that I just found. Sorry for any trouble you had trying to help.
tobie
@lowtechcyclist: Van Hollen’s office is very good with constituent services. I had a terrible problem with a federal agency in 2021 and couldn’t reach anyone to resolve it. His office staff arranged for someone from that agency to call me. I’m forever grateful.
lowtechcyclist
@Spanky:
Tru dat, so what’s their excuse for falling into the bothsidesism of ‘but critics say’?
Changing the subject, will you be at one of our local No Kings protests on Saturday morning? I think I’ll be at Dunkirk District Park.
Spanky
@lowtechcyclist:
Still undetermined! I’ve got a thing in the AM and another in the evening, so I need to pace myself.
HeleninEire
@Baud: I feel that in my bones this morning. But I am less than 5 months from retirement, so I trudge along!
Spanky
“Honk if you think Trump is dying” seems too long to put on a sign.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I’m going to a No Kings rally in nearby Palatine with some of my neighbors. Another rally, also nearby in Arlington Heights, has 20,000 people registered. There will be far more people in attendance than that.
Yesterday, my book club discussed The Little Liar, a Holocaust book by Mitch Albom. Several people in that group are Republicans and it was interesting to see them discuss their horror at the way people followed Hitler and excused the Nazis. I kept wondering if they didn’t hear the echoes of what’s happening in the city we live near. But no one raised that out loud.
Baud
@espierce:
Lucky. All I get are gift cards to the Antifa Store.
Baud
@HeleninEire:
So jealous.
Another Scott
@Betty Cracker: There are lots of great Ds who get little national recognition.
My rep, bsky.app/profile/beyer.house.gov
is another.
My state senator (and majority leader) bsky.app/profile/ssurovell.bsky.social
is another.
We’ve got a talented bench. We need to show up for them so they can do the work for us.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
MattF
@Betty Cracker: Van Hollen was my Congressperson— he beat Connie Morella, an actual independent Republican back in the day, then decided to move on to the Senate. Replaced in the House by Jamie Raskin.
Soprano2
@Baud: I know why too. It’s insane, they were obsessed with the possibility of Hillary being corrupt and Hunter Biden making Joe Biden corrupt, but now FFOTUS is doing it in the open and they hardly talk about it. Maybe that’s the secret, if you do it openly they don’t realize it’s corrupt because they think no one would be stupid enough to do corrupt stuff in the open.
Baud
@Soprano2:
I guess it’s like if you tell your spouse you’re sleeping with other people, it’s technically not cheating.
Van Buren
@Soprano2: It’s just Trump being Trump!
Soprano2
@lowtechcyclist: I listened to an interview with a political scientist who talked about the problem of how the press covers protests. She says they are more likely to cover them when there’s some type of violence, which is bad for the protesters and their cause. When there isn’t any violence, they tend not to cover them as much, which is also bad for the protesters and their cause. She said the way the civil rights protesters overcame this problem was to allow themselves to be the targets of violence. Obviously, there is a lot of risk inherent in this strategy. She said that’s why there was so much coverage of those protests, and why they were successful at gaining support for the cause of civil rights. It’s perverse.
MattF
@MattF: Speaking of Morella, she’s still regarded fondly around here (the local public library is named after her), but I couldn’t get over her support for Tom De Lay. She was reelected several times but Van Hollen did the work needed to defeat her.
Baud
@Soprano2:
They seemed to cover the tea party protests just fine without the need for violence.
Soprano2
@Baud: Speaking of that, and totally off topic, yesterday I found out I have a polyamorous co-worker! I’m not around her that much, but my co-workers said in her building she’s open about it. She gets flowers from men who aren’t her husband. Who knew……
Geo Wilcox
I saw a short video this morning about health insurance and a thing called a death spiral.
Basically the video showed that the expiration of the ACA subsidies will destroy the health insurance industry over time. How? When the healthy people who cannot afford the increase in premiums (you make $85K and will pay close to $30K for insurance) will opt out leaving sicker people to be insured. The insurance companies are for profit and their investors will scream once those lost premiums show up as reduced profits for the companies. This will cause the insurance companies to raise rates. That will cause the next tier of insured to drop out and over and over again until there is NO one insured including the GOP who are holding up approving the extensions.
This in turn will cause more massive unemployment as those companies collapse and the economy will tank even further than it is already going to do.
frosty
@MattF: Lucky you. Mine was Scott Perry, replaced by Lloyd Smucker when we ungerrymandered. One a traitor, the other a useless backbencher. Pennsyltucky, sigh.
Soprano2
@Baud: I wish the interviewer had asked her about that, but he didn’t.
frosty
@Soprano2: @Van Buren: Well, that’s a theory.
Baud
@Soprano2:
I assume her husband knew.
As long as she isn’t one of those right wing hypocrites when it comes to people’s personal lives…
Suzanne
@Soprano2: “If it bleeds, it leads” has been a maxim for a while. Plus, more and more people are carrying guns around with them now. It only takes one bad actor to incite utter chaos and cause a lot of harm.
lowtechcyclist
@Suzanne:
As people in Mississippi and South Carolina were reminded over the weekend. Not like either state will do more than thoughts and prayers, of course.
schrodingers_cat
The press bats for the Republican party, that’s why they are not covering it. How much more proof do we need. It doesn’t matter if its an inherent bias or it is because that’s how their bosses want it to be
White people are the default and Republican party is their party. The press coverage reflects that.
Professor Bigfoot
Open thread, so– anyone else seen John Oliver’s take on Bari Weiss?
schrodingers_cat
@Professor Bigfoot: I am usually not fond of his overly long monologs. I liked better when he was on the Daily Show. His politics is also very BS bro ish, like both Colbert and especially Jon Broder Stewart.
But I will check this one out on your recommendation.
Another Scott
@Soprano2: Press coverage is driven by all kinds of stuff other than informing the public, of course.
Lucy Worsley’s “investigation” of Jack the Ripper is quite interesting and one can easily see the parallels to lots of press coverage these days.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
TONYG
Our “system” has so many baked-in flaws, and the Republicans exploit all of them. In a rational system, if the Speaker of the House delays the swearing-in of a newly elected member by x number of days (where “x” is a one-digit number) then the member is considered to be sworn-in by default. What bullshit.
MattF
@Professor Bigfoot: I watched most of it. Weiss is clearly in the set of ‘people I enjoy staying away from’.
schrodingers_cat
When Rs in power they are covered by the press as the natural/default ruling party while the Ds are covered as interlopers. The subtext of all the coverage of Democratic Presidents in power whether it was Bill Clinton, Barack Obama or Joe Biden was how dare he?
Carter was before my time but from what I have seen that’s how he was covered as well. After passage of civil rights legislation, D Presidents have been treated like this country treats non-white people.
Belafon
@J.: They barely covered the first one.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
I sense that too. Reporting on Rs is, at best, done in a matter of fact tone.
Reporting on Ds is laden with negative value judgments.
jonas
@Baud: Funny how Republicans just automatically presume No Kings has to be some kind of huge grift…because if *they* were organizing a nationwide series of protests, it sure would be.
Belafon
@lowtechcyclist: Oh, we have so lost that battle. I blame it on the fact that begs is one syllable and raises is two, and gives the phrase better rhythm.
Belafon
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Your book club needs to find a book about people who can read a book and not get the point.
jonas
@TONYG: And imagine if Nancy Pelosi had ever done this to a duly-elected Republican representative, and solely in order to prevent a discharge petition that could embarrass the president.
The country would be in flames. News anchors and cable news pundits would be stroking out live on air.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Other than the fact they are all Ds, Biden, Obama, Clinton and Carter are very different people who were Presidents in very different political climate. The conclusion is inescapable.
Suzanne
@Another Scott:
100%. The biggest issue that I have with it is not even left/right bias. It’s the absolute bias toward dramatics and histrionics. Trying to craft these “compelling and emotional narrative arcs”. Something happens — could be totally nonpolitical — and they look to interview some bystander who’s crying. Not anyone who can shed any light on the cause of the event or anyone who witnessed something pivotal.
It shows up even in places like sports journalism. I remember watching Olympic skiing one time, and afterward some reporter is interviewing Bode Miller, and instead of asking him any of the normal pablum about how he prepared for his performance or whatever, the reporter started drilling into him about his young son who had recently passed away. Miller was visibly uncomfortable and the reporter wouldn’t drop it and Miller started crying. I was so disgusted that I turned off the TV.
jonas
@schrodingers_cat: That’s a good point. The last D president the press even remotely acted like they respected was Kennedy. There was a moment there with Obama, but then it all blew up when he wore that tan suit.
Scout211
But, but, Pastor Johnson said yesterday that Obamacare subsidies are a boondoggle.
And he is saying the opposite of what the video you are referring to is saying. Could he be lying!?
Every day is Opposite Day for Republicans these days.
Plus, boondoggle? Do most people even know what that means?
Professor Bigfoot
@schrodingers_cat: I don’t much like long-form anything anymore; but I stuck through this one.
Alas, it made me want to slap the taste out of Bari Weiss’s mouth.
Steve in the ATL
@Baud:
I’m shocked–and TBH–rather disappointed that our resident grammar scolds (of which I am TOTALLY not one) haven’t dragged our MTV The Real World cabinet secretary for using this phrase incorrectly. Perhaps it RAISES the question, at least to RWNJ liars and gas lighters, but it certainly does no question begging.
chemiclord
@Suzanne: A ton of our elected officials are meeting the moment. It’s merely either not reported on properly, or it’s not the right pol making the statements, or the statements aren’t worded exactly the right way, or they aren’t calling for violent confrontation, etc…
Professor Bigfoot
@schrodingers_cat: With the Civil Rights Act the D’s became “the party of Negroes, Jews, and whores.”
White people have hated the Dems ever since; and that includes the white people who own and run ALL these various “news” outlets.
schrodingers_cat
OT: My search for the best opaque white is over. Its Ph Martin’s Bleed Proof White!
Professor Bigfoot
@chemiclord: I will note, once again, that the VAST majority of the voices complaining about the “uselessness” and “fecklessness” of the entire Democratic Party are white.
There’s an OBVIOUS correlation here that most Americans* simply cannot see.
Another Scott
@Professor Bigfoot: I saw it. It was good. I could nitpick it and say it needed better editing (it could have been 5-10 minutes shorter), and so forth, but it was good.
I like that he pointed out that she thinks she can ride the tiger and that the folks that are supporting her while she’s a “moderately pro choice, gay” woman won’t come for her. The folks at the top of the RWNJ grift pyramid always think that the monstrous rules and laws and policies won’t affect them. Laws are for little people, after all.
Until they find out that they’re not among the big people after all.
Tik tock…
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
H.E.Wolf
“Begs the question” has been changing its meaning in colloquial popular idiom over the centuries*, from “avoids the question” to “raises the question”.
[*Anyone over 25 has lived in 2 centuries.]
“Doubt” has gone through a similar change over the centuries. In the 16th through 18th centuries, one would say:
“I doubt you’re right” – where now we would say either:
“I agree you’re right” or “I don’t doubt you’re right”.
And there are a myriad other examples.
It’s useful to know both options; to know which audience will recognize which one; and to be able to code-switch.
I’m headed out for a walk. Twenty-three skiddoo! :)
schrodingers_cat
@Another Scott: Yeah I find his segments overly long. He covers Indian politics from time to time, he takes forever to get to the point. He is like the Racheal Maddow of comedians.
Betty Cracker
@Professor Bigfoot: Saw that yesterday. Great takedown as usual by Mr. Oliver. Also, this tweet summed up the fall of the former network of Murrow and Cronkite succinctly.
Steve in the ATL
@Steve in the ATL:
scroll THEN post…scroll THEN post….
Sorry, SFAW–I hadn’t read the whole thread! And H.E.Wolf! And lowtechcyclist! And anyone else whose comments I missed!
I blame Omnes.
schrodingers_cat
@Professor Bigfoot: They can see it, they are just pretending not to. And like my grandma used to say you can’t wake someone up who is only pretending to be asleep.
sab
@Geo Wilcox: That’s where we were before ACA. Insurance for the i dividual market was only a sideline amd they kept rules in place so that anyone who actually might need it couldn’t get it. They either wouldn’t cover you at all (women) or made it prohibitively expensive.
eclare
@Another Scott:
Someone here posted a clip within the past week of Vivek finding out that very thing at a CPAC event.
Shalimar
@satby: Pretty sure the Speaker and his son watch porn separately, but I do hear they have an app that tells the other which porn to spend the most time looking at.
Scout211
@Betty Cracker: I wonder why they didn’t ask any city employees who are looking forward to Mamdani as mayor. Hmmmm. I just can’t figure that one out. 🙄
Baud
@Shalimar:
I sure hope so.
MCat
@Betty Cracker: Betty, please let us know what you find out about the hog that is almost tame. You live in a very interesting place to put it mildly.
NotMax
@Shalimar
“The family that jerks together works together.”
//
Baud
Via reddit
zhena gogolia
@TS: Putin playbook.
jonas
@sab: And what you could get was generally pretty crappy. Most people on the individual market didn’t realize they were paying for a product that actually didn’t cover anything and then got pissed off when the ACA came along with new regs on what *had* to be covered, eliminating lifetime caps, etc., and premiums went up.
The American public’s memory gets completely wiped after ca. 5-10 years. I wouldn’t be surprised if we re-invade Iraq in a couple years for some reason thinking it’s a fantastic way to spread democracy.
Another Scott
@Professor Bigfoot: Yeah, but careful. ;-)
Lots of people hated Democrats before the Civil Rights act. Remember the posters in Dallas before Kennedy’s fateful visit.
Lots of people hated Cronkite even before he came out against the Vietnam war.
Lots of people couldn’t care less about the Statue of Liberty and the fundraiser for the base, for crying out loud. Fundraising took years. US Grant had to write letters shaming MotUs to get them to donate.
We have had strong opinions, massive indifference, and lots of division in this country before the big, pivotal events in politics and so forth. We’re a big, complicated place.
The non-insane among us have to find ways to get 50%+1 (and more!) to make things work. It’s been a tough problem for a long, long time.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Professor Bigfoot
@eclare: Vivek doesn’t understand that his dark complexion makes him anathema to conservative white Christian Americans.
That just like the trash pandas he can suck up to them all day and they will still use the n-word for him.
Such an intelligent man to be such a complete fucking moron.
Betty Cracker
@MCat: No hog sightings so far! My friend who spotted him yesterday got a pic, and I guess the hog could be a feral but doesn’t look like one to me. Possibly he went home. Here are some feral hogs I saw a few years back. Pretty in their way, but I generally avoid them because they can be mean!
Steve in the ATL
@Baud:
Eh, I would argue (I am a lawyer, after all!) that whether or not it’s cheating turns on the issue of consent rather than informing.
I wouldn’t try to defend a burglar by arguing that it wasn’t burglary because it didn’t meet all the elements of the common law definition of burglary, which is, as all the commenters here remember from law school, “breaking and entering of the dwelling house of another at night with the intention to commit a felony.”
schrodingers_cat
@Professor Bigfoot: He should open a book and read about the History of British India. Those attitudes that made excuses for the atrocities of the Empire building phase of Western Europe (and its offshoots like the US) are still with us, alive and kicking.
And not the self serving history of the RW morons who now rule India who were collaborators with a few exceptions during the Raj.
Professor Bigfoot
@Betty Cracker: Heaven help me, but what I see is a lot of barbecue on the hoof.
Watched a video of a guy who nearly took down an entire herd with a lever-action Winchester. Folks around that ranch were gonna FULL freezers!
Ishiyama
@H.E.Wolf: “Begging the question” is supposed to indicate circular reasoning, but there is nothing about the term that suggest that. It doesn’t make any more sense in the original Latin: petitio principii.
Natural English language uses “beg” to mean “ask”; Latin is awkward enough without dragging its defects into our tongue.
Professor Bigfoot
@Another Scott: Sure, you could go back to ‘48 when Hubert Humphrey forced a civil rights for Negroes plank into the Democratic platform— whereupon Strom Thurmond and most of the Southern delegations walked out.
Or you could go to ‘48 when that noted Democrat Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981.
The Democratic Party had been the Party of the Confederacy; and the anger at it remains the same— today it seeks to give power to Americans who are not straight, white, male, and Christian.
They are hated for this.
Of course, we could also talk about the Lily White Republican movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that was explicitly anti-Black… or how the majority of Black people considered themselves Republicans through Reconstruction and into Jim Crow but were pushed out of the party— which then welcomed the segregationist former Democrats (see Strom Thurmond) into their party.
So, yeah, I’m being very careful.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Cute piglets!
Soprano2
@Baud: She’s not, but I was surprised because she’s one of those very “black and white” people who doesn’t often seen shades of gray.
Jeffro
“may”
give. me. an. effing. break, snooze media
Baud
@Steve in the ATL:
No room for negative options? Consent through silence?
Baud
@Soprano2:
Turns out she’s all 50 Shades of Gray.
sab
@Professor Bigfoot: But Ohio elected JD Vance over Sherrod Brown despite JD’s wife Usha. I fear we will go for Ramaswami because he has an R after his name.
Librettist
Duffy? They’re going through proxies like junior goes through Colombian marching powder.
The old git ain’t got it anymore, and all of Kirk’s hires were dur-hur, trollin’ the libs, useless sycophants.
Soprano2
I never thought about it that way, but you’re right. It explains a lot. For example, how crazy it is that the Supreme Court is letting FFOTUS do all of these things that are clearly illegal, and yet ruled that Biden couldn’t forgive student debt even though that seemed to be within his powers. If FFOTUS wanted to do that, I’m sure they’d find a way to make it happen.
Soprano2
@Baud: They use the word “trying” a lot when they report on Democrats, while they rarely use it when reporting on things Republicans do.
Epicurus
@Professor Bigfoot: I loved it. Mr. Oliver brings more news (and laughs) in thirty minutes than the network “news” shows do all week.
They Call Me Noni
@Betty Cracker: The little babies are cute.
Professor Bigfoot
@sab: Ohio elected JD Vance because (IMHO) Tim Ryan ran an absolute SHIT campaign as “conservative lite” to prove he was a straight white man and not REALLY a Democrat.
To have the great and vaunted Sherrod Brown go down the same LOSING path was disappointing AF.
schrodingers_cat
BJ lawyers, I has a question:
If a law firm agrees to do something for an org pro bono you are responsible for, but their contract has an arbitration clause if things go awry. Should you sign the agreement or wait till you can hire a lawyer.
FWIW its a simple straight forward matter of incorporation. And the law firm is prestigious.
Baud
@sab:
If LA can elect Bobby Jindal and SC Nikki Haley, OH can elect Ramaswammy.
becca
Forgive me if anyone above beat me to it, but happy earthly birthday to Hannah Arendt in starlife.
Professor Bigfoot
@Epicurus: I enjoyed John Oliver’s witty and amusing remarks… but Bari Weiss’s own words and aspect made me want to slap the shit out of her.
Just, “shut the fuck up,” you insipid little creature.
Walter Cronkite must be hitting over 5000 RPM by now.
Steve in the ATL
@lowtechcyclist:
I’m sure they are nailing the “prayers” portion, but man you couldn’t pick two states that are less known for “thoughts”….
Librettist
@Baud:
That was the Bush family’s GOP.
Professor Bigfoot
@Baud: Bobby and Nikki (Piyush and Nimrata 😉) are both more “fair” than Vivek.
I believe most white Ohioans will see him as too dark to be trustworthy.
Of course, if he’s the only R on the ballot…
Steve in the ATL
@schrodingers_cat: would that make a difference in the terms? Lots of businesses use arbitration clauses with paying customers.
eclare
@Professor Bigfoot:
He can’t pass.
sab
@Professor Bigfoot: I do agree with you there.
schrodingers_cat
@Steve in the ATL: IDK really. I think I will go ahead and sign it then.
Librettist
President Creep was creeping on the Italian PM. MSM whistles past the graveyard. But how ’bout that antifa…
sab
@Baud: When I was a kid in Florida south Asians were not considered Black, or at least weren’t subjected to segregation restrictions. It may be the same in South Carolina. Some Texas jackals disagreed with me, but the South isn’t a monolith.
I really thought Ohio racism would block Vance, but when faced with Rebublican v Republican Lite we went for the real thing. Northern racism is more white v everyone else while Southern racism is more anti-Black
ETA I think what I meant to say is in Ohio our racism is full on Christian Nationalist. When Howard Metzenbaum first ran for Senate the big concern in southern rural Ohio was that he might be Catholic. It never occurred to them that he was Jewish.
Eyeroller
@sab: I guess then that South Asians could be regarded as “coloured.”
Gloria DryGarden
@p.a.: it was raccoon who knocked over the trash, and ice could make itself useful, by catching them, and deporting them. Go after actual destructive beings…
YY_Sima Qian
Something momentous that is probably not being discussed in the US (gift link to FT article below):
Dutch seizure of chipmaker followed US ultimatum over Chinese chief
After the last round of Sino-US talks in Madrid in mid-Sept., where the 2 sides supposedly agreed to refrain from escalating the trade & tech. wars while they try to negotiate some kind of deal, & the agreement was supposedly sealed in a Xi-Trump call. Then in late Sept., US Commerce Department significantly escalated the tech. war by placing all subsidiaries of companies already on the Entity List under the same restrictions, as well. This suddenly added about 10K Chinese owned companies to the ~ 1K already in the list. This was done just before the PRC went on an 8 day national holiday for National Day & Mid-Autumn Festival.
Wingtech was placed on the Entity List at the end of 2024 for allegedly trying to acquire advanced semiconductor manufacturing tools. The new Commerce Department rule has placed Nexperia (wholly owned by Wingtech) onto the Entity List, as well, which would threaten the company’s viability. Apparently, the Trump Administration twisted Dutch arms to expedite attempt to remove “Chinese influence” over Nexperia, ownership & shareholder rights be damned. Unable to withstand US pressure, on 9/30 (the day before the PRC went on extended holiday) the Dutch government invoked (possibly for the 1st time ever) a Cold War era law whose purpose was to secure critical supply at war time, essentially temporarily seized Nexperia from Wingtech & removed the Chinese owner from the CEO position.
Mind you, Nexperia manufactures low margin commodity semiconductors, not advanced semiconductors for AI data centers. It is a major supplier to the European auto industry, but it is the same for the Chinese auto industry. The reason it was sold 1st to a Chinese consortium in 2017, & then to Wingtech in 2019, was because it was mired in losses. Wingtech’s investments & strengthen sales channels to the Chinese market allowed Nexperia to ride the surge in consumer electronics & autos (especially NEVs) in China & return to sustained profitability. Dutch media has also reported stories of questionable behavior by the Chinese owner/CEO in Nexperia’s operations. However, there are plenty of avenues available in Dutch & EU laws to combat corporate malfeasance, w/o invoking extraordinary powers in the name of “national security” (which is rather Trumpian).
The PRC government responded on 10/4 by restricting the export of semiconductors manufactured by Nexperia (& its subcontractors) in the PRC, where ~ 75% of Nexperia’s manufacturing is located. If the Dutch government does permanent seize Nexperia from Wingtech, all it will get is a hollowed out shell. Whatever IP that might be valuable has long been transferred during the 7 years of Chinese ownership, its products are commodity chips w/ plenty of Chinese & international suppliers.
As of yesterday, the Dutch government was still claiming that it was not coordinating w/ the US on Nexperia, but the proceedings published by the Dutch courts show otherwise. This is one of the reasons why Beijing does not take Brussels or many European capitals seriously. It does not believe the EU & many of its member states are willing or able to act independently from the US, & it does not believe the EU & many of its member states are credible & serious geopolitical actors. Even if Beijing somehow coerces Putin to end the invasion of Ukraine, which Beijing is neither willing or able to do, Beijing does not believe that Brussels or most European capital can come through w/ an renewed détente if their arms are twisted by DC.
The PRC response to the perceived bad faith escalations by the Trump Administration has been the announcement of a thorough export control regime for critical materials & IP/capital goods associated with/ their production, that is pretty breathtaking in its breadth & depth. (We’ll see about implementation.) Clearly, it has been in the works for a long time. When Trump placed 145% tariffs on imports from the PRC on “Liberation Day”, the PRC government retaliated by limited the export of rare earth metals & magnets causing significant supply chain disruption. The PRC government also stated that they would revisit the export controls in 6 months. It is now 6 months later.
Another Trump escalation in late Sept. was assessing port fees on Chinese owned, operated & built ships at US ports. Aside from assessing reciprocal port fees on US owned, operated & built ships (of which there are few, & PRC built ships owned or operated by the US have just been exempt), South Korean ship makers have now also been caught in the middle, too:
A couple of months ago, the Trump 47 Administration had revoked the export licenses for semiconductor manufacturing equipment containing any US tech to memory fabs owned by Samsung & SK Hynix in the PRC, placing the viability of these plants under South Korean ownership into question. Samsung & SK Hynix will either have to purchase Chinese made SMEs to keep the fabs up to date, or sell the fabs to their Chinese competitors (who will then purchase Chines made SMEs) & cede market share.
Throughout the Sino-US trade & tech wars, the Trump 45 & then the Biden Administrations have maneuvered to force decisions points by allies/partners/neutrals to chose one side or the other. Under increasing coercive pressure, the allies/partners have tended to align w/ US export controls, however belatedly, unwillingly & partially. Trump 47 has now turned it up another dozen notches. The PRC has had the good sense not to force such decisions on 3rd parties, but has consistently declared the intention to retaliate against 3rd parties that align w/ aspects of the US trade & tech. wars, whether they do so enthusiastically or reluctantly. Throughout 2025, we are seeing the PRC putting the deeds behind the words. & as Trump inevitably TACOs, these US allies/partners will get hung out to dry in face of PRC retribution,
I suspect Dutch companies will suddenly find themselves having a hard time securing licenses from the PRC MOFCOM for rare earths, battery materials & synthetic diamonds under the new export control regime, & Dutch companies’ operations in the PRC will come under significantly increased scrutiny & harassment. Working for a US company in the PRC has been an increasingly uncomfortable existence in the age of heightening Great Power Competition, for today at least I am glad I do not work for a Dutch company.
However the Sino-US trade & tech. wars play out, countries such as the Netherlands & South Korea will be collateral damage, & neither DC nor Beijing gives a damn about them. Africans have a saying:”when elephants fight, the grass gets trampled”. The South Koreans have a similar saying:” when whales fight, the shrimp has its back broken”.
Baud
@YY_Sima Qian:
I heard about the takeover but not the larger context. Thanks.
Betty Cracker
@Professor Bigfoot: My dad hunts hogs, so we had freezers of it back in the day, but I’m not a fan of wild boar meat. There’s a gaminess I can’t get past. Not a fan of wild game in general.
We knew a guy who made sausage with venison and wild boar meat and regular pork fat. It was edible because of the pork fat, but damn, I used to think, just buy sausage at the grocery store! It’s better! ;-)
Matt McIrvin
@lowtechcyclist: “Begs the question” is a weird idiom that, in modern English, does not sound like it means what it means, so I vote we accept the non-standard but obvious usage to mean “raises the question” as OK and just refer to circular arguments as circular arguments.
Melancholy Jaques
@schrodingers_cat:
When I represented plaintiffs, I hated arbitration clauses. When I represented defendants, I loved them.
NotMax
@Eyeroller
See: apartheid era South Africa.
schrodingers_cat
@Melancholy Jaques: This is just routine for incorporating an org, filing some forms with the SoS.
Melancholy Jaques
@Baud:
For sure. Their hatred for Democrats overrides their distaste for people of color. And in Ohio – sorry to say – it doesn’t appear that there is a Democratic candidate who can overcome that. Où sont les Metzenbaums d’antan ?
lowtechcyclist
@Professor Bigfoot:
Well yeah, the vast majority of voices that the MSM will give any sort of platform to are white. And that applies to voices that are characterized as being in the center or left of our political spectrum. So of course the vast majority of voices we’d hear complaining about Dem fecklessness would be white. Hell, the WaPo recently purged their last Black commentator because she wasn’t genuflecting when people mentioned Charlie Kirk.
So I don’t know that you can expect white people to take the correlation any further than that, if they even take it that far. How’d I know if there was an upsurge of Black criticism of Dem leadership? The MSM wants us to hear from Ezra Klein, Nate Cohn, and people like that.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Jeffro: They could also jettison “But critics say”. Wondering why nobody has revived that emoluments clause case from the first term? My recollection is it was dismissed by SCOTUS before oral arguments were heard because Trump “was no longer President”. So they have all the lower court decisions in hand already and could presumably hear oral arguments whenever since, you know, Trump is President again. But they won’t because they don’t have any good reasoning to claim that he’s not violating that clause other than the “We let Trump do what he wants” principle.
Baud
I prefer beseeching the question myself.
chemiclord
@Suzanne: Well, that is a consequence of the audience, I’m afraid. The “Average American” doesn’t want facts (those’re boring). They want the drama and the emotional narratives because those are easier to parse and hit them more effectively than thinking through multiple perspectives and events critically.
Suzanne
@Baud: Agree. White Christian nationalists love to have a few token people of color around. Not at any sort of critical mass, mind you. Just a few. Lets them flatter themselves as not-racist.
Related phenomenon: white evangelicals adopting children from various African countries, Haiti, Bangladesh, etc. They get to feel even more virtuous-er!
lowtechcyclist
@sab:
And of course we can’t forget the whole ‘pre-existing condition’ dodge where you couldn’t get covered for any health problem you’d ever previously shown the remotest symptoms of.
If the ACA had done nothing more than dispense with that, it would still have been a BFD.
NotMax
@Melancholy Jaques
Until Ramablarney opens his yap. He’s not the brightest bulb in the marquee.
Baud
Small bit of good news.
Kathleen
@satby: As long as they download it as a family it’s fine!
NotMax
@lowtechcyclist
“Whaddaya mean ‘Life is a pre-existing condition’?”
//
NotMax
@Kathleen
BOGO!
:)
lowtechcyclist
@Professor Bigfoot:
Mmmm, barbecue!
But did he need to take down the herd because his kids were playing in the back yard? ;-)
Geminid
@Melancholy Jaques: I was somewhat surprised no Republican officeholders would run against Ramaswamy. From what I saw of him in 2024, Ramaswami was not a very strong candidate; just an unlikeable slick talker.
I guess Ohio Republicans did not want to cross Trump, but I’m not sure Trump really cares about Ramaswami even though he endorsed him.
Professor Bigfoot
@Betty Cracker: Oh, I got you there!
I just keep thinking that they ARE an invasive species and they are also VERY fecund… and there are hungry, food-insecure humans?
It’s like here’s a solution to TWO problems!! 😂
(with LOTS of spices and peppers ‘n’ suchlike, of course…)
eclare
@Suzanne:
I always worry that fundies adopt poor orphans to get servants.
Kathleen
@schrodingers_cat: I agree with your assessment and the media treated Jimmy Carter disrespectfully. They never gave him a break.
eclare
Soothing photo today.
Kathleen
@jonas: I know! They really liked Kennedy. But that was the last time a Democratic President got respect and admiration. I’m glad I’m not the only one!
Professor Bigfoot
Funny, I am not seeing this.
Of course, maybe I’m hanging out with the wrong kind of Black people…
Professor Bigfoot
@Baud: Me too, but only if it’s “in the bowels of Christ.”
SFAW
@Steve in the ATL:
I, in turn, was a little
surprisedamazed that SubaruDianne did not get there before me.Matt McIrvin
@Professor Bigfoot: The pattern of a small number of marginalized people sucking up to bigots with thoughts of “I am one of the good ones” seems to come up over and over. The right-wing noise machine does reward them with subcultural celebrity. Sometimes they eventually get clued in to what’s going on (Michael Steele). Often they don’t.
lowtechcyclist
@Steve in the ATL:
I can’t speak knowledgeably about Mississippi, but too-large-to-be-an-insane-asylum South Carolina certainly has thoughts, you’d just rather not know what the lunatics’ thoughts are.
Despite that, I still retain a fondness for the place. Met and married my wife there, earned my doctorate at USC. That was a good five years.
Professor Bigfoot
@lowtechcyclist: Good question— but to be honest, I was marvelling at the guy’s skill with that scoped lever action. Heck, I couldn’t have done that with a scoped semi auto and I consider myself a pretty decent shot!
But like I said to the illustrious Mrs. C— they’re invasive, they’re fast reproducing, and I bet there’s ways to prepare ‘em to reduce the gaminess factor (I bet Chef Justin Wilson could do something with it, boy howdy!) and feed a whole bunch of people while reducing the numbers of an invasive species. Win Win!
Trivia Man
I am wondering how prominent the Gaza activists will be in madison on saturday. To me that is a dilution of the intended No Kings message. Last time a group of about 20 were very loud, very visible, and placed a Large Palestinian flag in a prominent location. It was bigger than any of the many US flags i saw and kind of grated on me.
Professor Bigfoot
@Matt McIrvin: We call it “getting your nigga wakeup call.”
Vivek apparently didn’t HEAR his wakeup call, but it was posted right on this here blog.
Poor stupid bastard will always be an n-word to conservative whites.
jonas
@Baud: The only difference is, Jindal and Haley were both converts to Christianity, a narrative that appealed to a lot of evangelical voters. Ramaswamy is still a practicing Hindu (albeit one who says he admires Christianity very much) and that’s a huge problem for evangelical voters. He may still win just having the R next to his name, but it will be a lot closer, I think.
NotMax
@Professor Bigfoot
Which while not impossible is highly improbable.
jonas
@Trivia Man: Even if it’s just a couple of kids with kaffiyehs, you can be sure they’re going to be shown on a 24/7-loop on Fox with a chyron reading “Hamas Activists Hoover up Soros-Bux Marching with Communist Revolutionaries”
Kathleen
@chemiclord: Amen. I’ve noticed every single “Independent New Media” podcast/substack has Dem Derangement Syndrome. Even the people who I think do some good work otherwise. Ben on MediasTouch was always praising Bernie but criticizing Dems until recently, when he said they finally thought Jeffries and Schumer “were showing spine” so he gave them a juice box and invited them for interviews. I was thinking, so you’re a “reporter” and you’d rather just criticize without interviewing them and asking what they were doing and what strategies were. He’s no worst than the others (and maybe a bit better) but people free from corporate constraints still adopt the Dem Derangement Syndrome business model because it drives up their algorithms etc. No matter who does it or what you call it I still see it as a form of voter suppression .
Kathleen
@Professor Bigfoot: Agree with you here and your comment in #80.
Baud
@jonas:
Interesting wrinkle. Good point. Arguably, Romney lost because he was Mormon.
schrodingers_cat
@Kathleen: Even people who fancy themselves as egalitarian have a hard time accepting that a non-white person may be as smart or smarter than them. Many times these are unspoken biases and assumptions.
How the press treated Obama is a good example of this.
Trivia Man
@jonas: and drive a headline that says “Hamas rally today with low turnout.” And a picture showing just those protesters while the other 25,000 No Kings folks are the other direction.
Trivia Man
@Professor Bigfoot: tokens always get spent
schrodingers_cat
@jonas: What is a practicing Hindu. What do I need to practice to be called that?
There is a tendency to see everything through the lens of Protestant Christianity. There is no such thing as a practicing Hindu. Because what constitutes Hinduism is not something you can get two Hindus to agree upon.
Professor Bigfoot
@NotMax: Yeah, I’m just telling you that I saw the video (and of course I can’t bloody find it now!) and for every shot, another hog went down.
Some of these American “gun nuts” are very, very good with their guns.
jonas
@Professor Bigfoot: Seems like no matter how many they cull, there’s just no stopping them. Those suckers reproduce prolifically and they’re a destructive invasive species. The meat can be consumed privately or in some jurisdictions, donated to food pantries and the like, but not sold commercially because it isn’t harvested/processed in a licensed facility, so that makes for a limited market.
WaterGirl
@eclare: that was my thought, too, though I was going to call them slaves, not servants. Your wording is probably better than mine.
Professor Bigfoot
@jonas: Yep, limited market, but very much a viable service.
The “commercial facility” requirement is a legal one, thus it can be changed by law; and honestly, providing free protein to food pantries and other outlets to support the food insecure while at least managing that invasive species… oh, well.
ETA— there’s PLENTY of us who would hunt hogs straight up just for fun if there were a system in place to take those carcasses and process them for food pantries. Hell, I’d buy a rifle and hire a guide for the specific purpose (although I’d wanna fill my own freezer, too ;^)
Matt McIrvin
@Soprano2: The Watergate slogan of “It’s not the crime, it’s the coverup” got them thinking that a crime is only important if there’s a coverup. But Trump crimes out in the open and dares you to do something about it. That’s one reason Epstein works so well politically– there’s clearly a coverup. Something is so embarrassing that even Trump doesn’t want it out there.
jonas
@schrodingers_cat: I’m aware that Hinduism isn’t a formally institutionalized, dogmatic religion and has innumerable traditions and ways of being observant. My point was that Ramaswamy identifies as Hindu — whatever he means by that is his business of course — and that makes a lot of evangelical voters nervous.
tam1MI
Given that Dear Leader has supposedly delivered Peace In Our Time, there shouldn’t be any there, and it’s not like they will ever show up to defend their own country against fascism.
But we shall see.
schrodingers_cat
@eclare: Yes, many do.
Professor Bigfoot
@jonas: He’s a he so that’s a positive.
But he’s not WHITE.
And he’s also not a Christian.
For a lot of my fellow citizens, if one is not a Christian then one is obviously in league with Satan; so…
schrodingers_cat
@jonas: Actually to be a Hindu one has to be born as one. I don’t think anything else is needed. You can even be an atheist. There are atheist schools of Hinduism that go back a millennia or more.
Geminid
@Professor Bigfoot: Virginia deer hunters donate a substantial amount of venison to food pantries through an organization named Hunters For the Hungry.
There are plenty of deer around Central Virginia. I think the cars kill more deer than the hunters do.
Melancholy Jaques
@Geminid:
I don’t know what is going on in Ohio. I’ve been gone 26 years. When I was there this summer, I didn’t recognize it.
Can anyone there identify three people who look like they could be the future of the Ohio Democratic Party?
no body no name
@Geminid:
A relative of mine lives in the super rich area of NOVA. She hit a deer with her car and it was destroyed. In her private gated community with a golf course and a country club they let people hunt the deer with bows at times. The fuckers are pests.
NotMax
@Melancholy Jaques
Ku Klux Kitchens mini-marts?
//
Geminid
@tam1MI: If this ceasefire holds, I think it will still take a while for the “pro-Palestinian” movement to wind down. They have not built much in my opinion, but they believe they have and will want to keep their movement together.
Anyway, the attitude I see right now among that group is that this agreement just “pauses the genocide,” and that Israel will restart the war now that the hostages are home. So I expect they will try to piggyback onto the No Kings rallies one more time.
TS
@p.a.:
It was the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) & it was about a 50 minute research program – no 5 year olds.
Or as @Spanky: said
jonas
@Professor Bigfoot: The one thing you hear from evangelical voters about voting for a non-Christian (or *especially* an atheist) is “well, if he/she doesn’t believe in Jesus, what’s keeping them from lying or cheating or stealing?” As if fearing hell or something is the only thing that makes someone honest.
And yet they turn around and vote for Trump. The mind reels.
gene108
@schrodingers_cat:
I think it applies more to Judaism. Even if you are Jewish and not at all religious, there are traditions that people still observe as part of a shared cultural identity.
To be Hindu, I think, requires some commitment to being a little bit religious. I know atheists who were raised Hindus, and I know they do not consider themselves Hindus any longer.
becca
@WaterGirl: “Christian” adoption services are rife with grift and ulterior motives. Makes for some lurid investigative reporting, if one is so inclined.
Geminid
@Melancholy Jaques: For one, Rep. Emilia Sykes is only 39 years-old, and she is an accomplished and talented politician.
SiubhanDuinne
@SFAW:
I came late to the thread. There were already 100+ comments, and I figured others would have called Duffy out on that all-too-common (but tooth-curling) phrase. Thanks for getting there early!
jonas
I basically can’t have a back yard with any real plants because of them unless I invest thousands in a 6-8 foot fence around my entire property. Or get a big dog. I’ve heard those are effective deer repellant as well. But I don’t need another kid right now.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Speaking of what isn’t getting reported, Trump’s bailout of the Argentinian Pesos. He pissed off his base for nothing.
tam1MI
I don’t think that they are wrong about that, although I would wager that Netanyahu will wait for a while until the world’s attention has turned elsewhere before he pounces again.
NotMax
@jonas
You can’t spell messiah without m-e-s-s.
:)
jonas
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m not a professional linguist, but it seems people misuse it so frequently/consistently now that it’s almost legitimately acquired the secondary meaning of “raises/poses the question” in addition to its original sense.
Kind of like “Me and him went to the store” hardly ever gets corrected in spoken English anymore.
Geminid
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: That bailout might get some more attention when Javier Millei visits the White House today.
NotMax
@jonas
Yes it do.
;)
jonas
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Is this setting off MAGA somehow? Outside the WSJ, it’s hardly getting any play, though as I wrote the other day, if a Dem president and his Treasury secretary had done something so flamingly corrupt, the media would have been freaking out about it 24/7.
Suzanne
@chemiclord:
Eh. Unlike most here, I don’t think most of the mainstream media is especially conservative. Most of them probably vote for liberals. I want to be careful to say that I do think that they show right-leaning bias, but it’s not because the most of the reporters actually want Republicans to win things (fucken Bari Weiss and a few others absolutely excluded).
I think they show rightward bias because most journalists are absolutely Hooked On Drama. Breaking news! Arguments! Discord! Big cultural fights and moments! Not compromise or negotiation or sausage-making, which are dull. And, as I have noted here before, there’s a lot of performative aspects to politics, and most of the elected Democrats read to me as smart, nice, ethical people who went to law school and for whom these performative things feel….. not comfortable or seamless. They were A Pleasure To Have In Class. They have not shown as much propensity at creating drama and grabbing attention for themselves.
So I guess what I’m saying is that the DRAMA BIAS is the foundation of all of the other problems with the media.
schrodingers_cat
@gene108: What commitment does one require to be considered Hindu? If you want your last rites to be conducted as a twice born dvija male then have to undergo the thread ceremony but that in any case is an option not available to women. But we do consider women born to Hindu families, Hindu do we not?
Sankhya and Mimasa philosophies reject a creator and they are 2 of the six traditional schools of Hindu philosophy.
Baud
@Suzanne:
Quite apart from deliberate bias, mainstream media faces competition from right wing media and none from liberal media.
NotMax
FYI.
Even too much for Newsmax. (WaPo link)
News outlets broadly reject Pentagon rules before deadline for signing.
Deputinize America
@lowtechcyclist:
When my youngest was 15 and we had shit “catastrophic only” care, I paid a bunch of money to have a series of procedures to remove a birthmark/mole from her leg that the docs said was definitely precancerous. During those pre-ACA days, that diagnosis would render her uninsurable on the private market as an adult.
I explained it to mom and how it would really constrain the child’s hopes and dreams (as she’d have to become a corporate or government drone to get healthcare). Mom, who had always benefitted from Dad’s gold-plated Cadillac teachers’ health plan, just sort of shrugged and muttered about socialism.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: And the bias can and is subconscious in many cases.
Also racism/white fragility is not conservative. It is pervasive and not an ideological stance.
Ohio Mom
@sab: That’s my fear, plus Amy Acton (for non-Ohioans, the Democractic candidate) is a woman. I worry about the sexist vote.
But I don’t have a lot of faith in my predictions, as I remind myself, I was sure America would never elect a Black man president.
Suzanne
@Baud: Yes. And liberal media, such as it exists, is, like…… nice people like Rachel Maddow talking to the camera.
Our aesthetics: sober, serious, fact-based….. are not especially well-suited to this moment.
Melancholy Jaques
@Geminid:
Does she look like she could go statewide? Does she want to? She won in 2024 with 51.1% and her district’s Cook PVI is EVEN. I hope she will stay right there and hold it.
Geminid
@tam1MI: Many of people believe that. Personally, I’m just watching how this process plays out in coming days and weeks. There’s plenty that can go wrong, but there are a lot of nations intent on pushing this deal through and there is momentum in this.
There will be good reporting on this, although maybe not so much in US sites as in Middle Eastern ones. The Wall Street Journal should provide in-depth reporting as they have throughout this war. Al Jazeera (Qatari), Al Arabiya, (Saudi), TRT International (Turkish), and Times of Israel are not paywalled and are reliable regional sources, and there are plenty more.
Kathleen
@Geminid: I was going to mention her and I agree. I think the other 2 younger Dem congressional reps – Greg Landsman and Shontel Brown – also are talented, bright and experienced. Amy Acton I think has potential. I also believe that there is concerted effort here to recruit candidates for as many open seats locally and state wide so I expect some talent could emerge from those efforts as well.
I personally like David Pepper (Pepperspectives Substack which I think is free to read but I’m not sure) as a good source for Democratic Party/political coverage in Ohio because he is always traveling through the state and reporting on what he’s learned (he goes to a lot of rural “Red” areas). He’s based in Cincinnati and has been involved on some level with Amy Acton’s campaign. He contends that public education is a winning issue for Dems in Ohio.
Mo MacArbie
@Melancholy Jaques: In other words, you went back to Ohio and your city was gone?
Melancholy Jaques
@jonas:
You will also hear educated people say “for my friend and I.” For many of these things, the ship has sailed. We are like the people who continued to use thou, thee, thy, and thine well after everyone else dropped them.
Geminid
@Melancholy Jaques: I expect Rep. Sykes willl stay put the next few cycles. But there’s more to leadership than running for statewide office.
Kathleen
@Melancholy Jaques: FWIW from my perspective as Ohio resident she could go far but I don’t know her future plans. In her first race for Congress she was the underdog in a heavily gerrymandered district and was written off. Her story of how she succeeded was so interesting and inspiring. I really like her but she is not my rep.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Professor Bigfoot:
A great take down of Weiss (which to be honest, ain’t hard) from an unexpected source:
x.com/fbastiat17/status/1975208139336359980
That goes to a piece that shows Joe Rogan dissecting her in real time.
Smugnorant.
NotMax
@Melancholy Jaques
Verily, ’tis thus.
;)
Professor Bigfoot
@Melancholy Jaques: I’m a transplant and I’ve lived in Ohio for almost 30 years now; and I’ve watched the changes starting with Householder and the Statehouse and the wave of outright corruption that essentially controls Columbus now.
It’s amazing how many “conservatives” are really just corrupt grifters, ain’t it?
Professor Bigfoot
@Geminid: And my US Representative. (insert smug grin)
Kathleen
@Professor Bigfoot: I love her. I like my rep, Greg Landsman, also.
Professor Bigfoot
This is the inevitable result of news departments across the media landscape being told “you have to make your own profits, you have to pay your own way among the entertainment divisions.”
In Cronkite’s day the news was a prestige operation, a “loss leader” that was paid for by CBS’s entertainment divisions.
No longer.
Professor Bigfoot
@schrodingers_cat: “…those white people are at all points of the ‘left-right’ spectrum.”
no body no name
@jonas:
Growing up they constantly destroyed any sort of garden we attempted on a (I think?) 3.5 acre lot. Also raccoon problem. Dad’s first solution was to put antifreeze into all sorts of items and leave them out. He took out everything including some of the neighbors pets.
Professor Bigfoot
@Ohio Mom: I WELL remember the very first thought I had when Obama announced: “Man, them white folks ain’t gon’ let you nowhere near their White House.”
Knocked doors for him anyway and was gloriously surprised when he won.
Whereupon John Taney Roberts set about making goddamn sure nothing like that ever happened again; and the majority of white America agreed.
RIGHT NOW conservatives are burning the Constitution they claim to revere, and we all know why.
Melancholy Jaques
@Suzanne:
Agree somewhat, but I’d put their attraction or addiction to drama as secondary to their desire to suck up to power. They get money and fame by promoting Republicans and dissing Democrats.
Professor Bigfoot
@Mo MacArbie: We need a “Earworm Warning” tag on this doggone blog!
(she doesn’t call it “Caucasian Falls” like people I know do…)
Melancholy Jaques
@Geminid:
Very little good will come from some idea of leadership if we can’t get and hold statewide office. Just ask California Republicans.
If we don’t get the Ohio governor’s office for two straight terms plus three more supreme court seats, there is no way to turn it back into a purple state.
jame
How is it that Mike Johnson can wrongly call the No Kings protests a “hate rally” but those who correctly called Turning Point’s “debates” hate rallies were persecuted, prosecuted or even fired from their jobs?
Melancholy Jaques
@Mo MacArbie:
Definitely a government that has no pride.
Melancholy Jaques
@NotMax:
Forsooth.
Melancholy Jaques
@Professor Bigfoot:
Did you see the HBO documentary series Dark Money Game? Episode 1 is about Householder and First Energy. Did any of that matter to Ohio voters? Guess not.
Omnes Omnibus
@Trivia Man: I was there too. The anti-Trump, pro-democracy message overwhelmed anything else. There were gay and trans rights signs and flags as well. I think that sub-messages that are not inconsistent with the overall theme are fine.
Melancholy Jaques
@Ohio Mom:
And we are still suffering the consequences of that. Backlash is a nasty thing.
Ruckus
@HeleninEire:
The last 5 months can seem like a long time. Take it from someone who has retired after working for 6 decades. (I started early and stayed on after most retire) So I’m 3 years retired, over 3/4 of a century old. It’s nice never setting an alarm…. or better yet, never having to even hear one.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@jonas: I just got out of the hospitable, not watched the news regularly for three months, well into “normie” territory, and yet I am well aware of the MAGA reaction to the Argentinian Bail Out and the Qatar in Idaho. I really don’t see the need to explain that to anyone.
rikyrah
@lowtechcyclist:
I have to say that I am loving the animals in Portland. It’s hilarious and brilliant.
Ramona
schrodingers_cat
Exactly! People cannot conceive of a system of thought/philosophy/mythology more ancient than Judaism and unhesitatingly squash everything into the limited categories they are familiar with without even realizing how limited the categories they know are.
Miss Bianca
@TS:
“MAY”? Since we’re quoting “critics” here, ABC, why not go out on a limb and say that it DOES violate the US constitution and threaten the very foundations of American democracy?!
According to “critics”, that is. Sheesh.
ETA: Eh, I’ll give you a pass for being the Australian ABC, ABC. Carry on!
Ruckus
@Professor Bigfoot:
I lived in OH a while back for 10 years – had a job in Columbus. It was OK, from a CA native standpoint, and changing slowly into seemingly a bit more than farming as a major segment of the business side. It had a different feel than SoCal for sure but I enjoyed my stay.
Have to say, I’ve lived on the west coast – CA, born here, in South Carolina, and in OH, now back in SoCal. I’ve traveled to every state in that job in OH and have met people from all around this country. It’s a big place with its humanity having a few different perspectives in its different states, but overall, not a bad place to live in. Yes we can be different in different states, but it’s still humanity. Of course, because I’ve also traveled to many parts of this planet I’ve seen that humanity, while yes it does have its differing perspectives in different areas, is still mostly humanity, with not that many sides to it. There will always be those that think they are better than everyone else – egos can be BIG. There will always be the concept that some are better than others, with zero proof. (Yes, it’s still that human thing – ego.) There will always be some that are better at doing something than others. And if there are some that are better there will always be some that are worse. It’s not one size fits all.
Miss Bianca
@Belafon: I tend to use “begets the question”, personally. So it starts out sounding like the thing people use but misuse and actually gets to something like the right meaning.
Geminid
@Melancholy Jaques: Maybe Emilia Sykes will win two terms as governor in the next decade. That’s not the present, but you asked about people who could be the *future* of the Ohio party.
My take is that Ohio will have to swing back politically for a Democrat other than Sherrod Brown to win statewide office this decade. Candidate quality can change the underlying political dynamic only so much.
Although– Vivek Ramaswamy could help the dynamic change more quickly if he’s as bad a governor as I think he could be. Not because his skin is brown, but because he’s a charlatan.
Ishiyama
@Miss Bianca: How about: Your logic is so flawed, it begs me to ask the question: whut?
Paul in KY
@They Call Me Noni: My cousin used to have a regular hog that he was keeping in a pen and fattening it up before harvesting it. She also had given him a litter of piglets, etc. This sow would generally doze (or appear to be) in its pen (fenced enclosure) and alot of the critters would pay it no mind. Every once in a while, one of the barn cats would fall for that and would get too close to the munching end of the hog. The sow would quick as lightning jump on the cat and eat it alive.
They are quite dangerous and are a very cunning animal. Please be careful, Betty!
Paul in KY
@Baud: IMO, low-info voters give ‘businessmen’ a pass on those kinds of things, over someone who’s a government employee. TACO has a ‘family’ business and thus (for better or worse) his loser kids will inherit and are part of that operation. So says them who slag Mr. Biden and our recent POTUS.
Paul in KY
@Soprano2: Remember that scene in ‘Gandhi’ where the protesters just lined up in rows to be clubbed down by the British soldiers? Was very powerful then and in the film.
Paul in KY
@schrodingers_cat: They didn’t cover LBJ like that.
Paul in KY
@jonas: They feared LBJ for a time.
Paul in KY
@Baud: If feel sorry for his kid.
Geminid
@Geminid: For those interested, the Times of Israel has an article today giving the text of the ceasefire agreement signed five days ago. It went into effect 12am Friday local time.
The article is titled, “Full text of Oct. 9 Israel-Hamas deal on Trump’s plan for ‘comprehensive end’ to Gaza war.”
The word “comprehensive” here is a little misleading. The one-page agreement and attached map cover the mechanics of the ceasefire, partial IDF withdrawal, and hostage/prisoner exchange plus provision of aid to the Gaza Strip. The parts of the 20-point US plan relating to follow-on issues are still being negotiated.
This link might work:
timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-oct-9-deal-on-trumps-plan-for-comprehensive-end-to-gaza-war/
Paul in KY
@Gloria DryGarden: Raccoon is just being a raccoon. Hate the game, not the player.
Paul in KY
@Betty Cracker: The venison would make it healthier.
Paul in KY
@jonas: Someone needs to ensure those kids are not wearing that kind of headgear. Either explain it to them or just grab them.
Paul in KY
@schrodingers_cat: You can only be born a Hindu. I know that!
Geminid
@Geminid: The link does not work, although it does provide access to the Times of Israel home page.
Paul in KY
@tam1MI: The people (union organizers I hope) will need to take care of that. Make them an offer for that flag that they can’t refuse…
Paul in KY
@gene108: Hindus consider them Hindus…
topclimber
@Geminid: It took them a whole day or two, but Bibi’s gang has decided to cut aid shipments to Gaza in HALF because Hamas has not returned the remains of most dead hostages yet.
Because getting remains is so much more important than feeding people. (My bad: Bibi doesn’t really consider the Palestinians people).
Geminid
@topclimber: I saw that. Israel is also keeping Rafah crossing closed. I think this problem will get worked out before too long. But if it does you might not hear about it, depending on the sources you rely upon.
Geminid
@Geminid: Hamas let the mediators know they would not be able to provide remains of all the dead hostages. These are mostly the bodies of October 7 victims grabbed up by opportunists who followed Hamas assault forces into Israel.
There’s a plan for recovery teams from the four guarantors of the ageement– Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye and the US– plus Israel to search the for missing bodies. These teams will be similar to those used in recovery efforts after earthquakes.
They will need to the multinational stabilization force in first to secure the search areas. I’ve read that in the meantime the Egyptians are helping out with heavy equipment..
WTFGhost
@gene108: Yeah, Judaism is matrilineal; If you’re born to a Jewish mother, you’re Jewish Of course, Nazis killed people born to Jewish dads, too, and Jews consider them as Jewish martyrs, since “Jewish enough to be murdered for it” should count. You can convert to Judaism, but it’s seriously discouraged, because “chosen people” doesn’t mean “those chosen for special gifts and blessings,” it means “chosen to follow a bunch of rules that Gentiles don’t have to follow.” It’s much, much, easier to be right with God as a Gentile; don’t eat meat from an animal still-alive (a limb torn from a living creature is the specific prohibition, I believe) and don’t engage in sexual perversions, whatever the hell that means. Then, just the basics, no killing, no stealing, etc.
You can eat pork; you can work on the Sabbath; you don’t have to honor your parents… why become Jewish, and ruin that easier-than-Jewish life? So they only let you in if you convince them you have a calling. Maybe that makes it something like Freemasonry? (Apologies to Judaism and Freemasonry, if appropriate.)
Kayla Rudbek
@Professor Bigfoot: this reminds me of the Jamaican journalist who lives in the Cayman Islands and commented that in Jamaica, unlike Cayman Islands and the Virgin Islands, there are no feral chickens
Paul in KY
@Kayla Rudbek: They do have mongooses in Jamaica. Have seen one there.
Uncle Cosmo
@MCat: Keep in mind, “cat,” that “tame” is just a rearrangement of letters from “meat.”
And watch yer back.
(NB Reading a book that deals with the British and German home fronts during the Great War, I recently stumbled across a passage wherein an English churchman [trapped in Germany by the outbreak of hostilities, ministering to prisoners and internees] praises the rabbit he’d just been served for supper at a well-to-do home in Berlin, only to discover it was in fact a bunny of distinctly feline providence…so watcher back fer cripesake! ;^D)