NEW: Nancy Mace is considering following MTG's lead and resigning from Congress before the end of her term. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/u…
— Mueller, She Wrote (@muellershewrote.com) December 3, 2025 at 5:39 PM
I, for one, love this for Pastor Mike & his entire party… Annie Karni, for the NYTimes, “A small group of G.O.P. women have been among the most vocal in raising what their colleagues say is a broader frustration with the speaker”:
Representative Elise Stefanik of New York called Speaker Mike Johnson a habitual liar.
Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina has told people she is so frustrated with the Louisiana Republican and sick of the way he has run the House — particularly how women are treated there — that she is planning to huddle with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia next week to discuss following her lead and retiring early from Congress.
Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida has gone around Mr. Johnson in a bid to force a vote he has declined to schedule on a bill to ban members of Congress from stock trading.
Less than a year out from midterm elections in which Republicans’ vanishingly small majority is at stake, Mr. Johnson’s grasp on his gavel appears weaker than ever, as members from all corners of his conference openly complain about his leadership. Some predict that he may not last as the speaker for the rest of this term…
Their dissatisfaction is indicative of a broader splintering of a restive group of G.O.P. lawmakers who are perpetually unhappy with their leaders, but appear to be reaching a breaking point with the current man at the top.
The rifts have opened as Republicans preparing to face voters in next year’s elections are increasingly worried that they have squandered a year in which their party had total control of government.
Many G.O.P. lawmakers are unhappy with the passive role the speaker has played in the redistricting arms race that has spread across the country and upended districts they know how to win. Even more are angry at his decision to send the House home for nearly eight weeks before and during the government shutdown, limiting what they have been able to accomplish. Members in competitive districts are desperate for a vote on extending expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, which Mr. Johnson is resisting…
…Ms. Stefanik is not alone among Republican women in feeling aggrieved by Mr. Johnson. Some of them said privately that the speaker had failed to listen to them or engage in direct conversations on major political and policy issues, suggesting that doing so was a cultural challenge for Mr. Johnson — an evangelical Christian who has often voiced firm views about the distinct roles men and women should play in society…
Mr. Johnson, who was thrust into his job two years ago with almost no experience in leadership, has struggled under the weight of running the House and campaigning for members to keep his tiny majority.
In a party that has lagged in female representation and had problems appealing to women, Republican speakers before him had made it a priority to promote women through fund-raising and recruiting, and by elevating them to leadership roles.
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that recruiting women had been key to his success in gaining seats through two cycles.
“My formula for success was simple: recruit and add more women, minorities and veterans to the House Republican conference, so that our conference would look more like America,” he said…
One gets the impression that Speaker Johnson would be just as happy to skitter back to his happy place in Louisiana, warning his parishioners against the evils of pornography & uppity women. But Stefanik is famously unwilling to go back to her district full of angry neoconfederates interested in higher office. And Kevin McCarthy, of course, just enjoys seeing his replacement suffer.
What Tennessee Revealed About the G.O.P.’s Trump Trap in the Midterms
From NYT Politics:
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/u…— The Upshot (@upshot.nytimes.com) December 3, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Also in the NYTimes:
… The reason Democrats are optimistic even in defeat is that the party does not need to win seats like the Tennessee one to take power back in the House. Notably, as millions of dollars poured into the race, including $1 million from the leading House Democratic super PAC, the party’s official House campaign arm spent nothing, remaining focused on more winnable contests to come next year…
The Behn campaign had bet that she could freshly mobilize a progressive base in Nashville. And she did. Davidson County swung toward the Democrats by 20 points compared with 2024 — far more than any other county in the district. But Ms. Behn, a state legislator with an outspoken progressive record, appeared to bump up against the upper limits of what a liberal “radical” — she once called herself that in a video clip that featured heavily in Republican ads — could accomplish in such a red area.
Ms. Behn focused heavily on affordability and the impact of Mr. Trump’s tariffs, which is the new Democratic playbook.
But she did not exactly pivot toward the center either. She campaigned with one of her party’s leading flamethrowers, Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas, and joined one of its most prominent progressives, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, for a virtual rally on election eve. Nor did she renounce or disentangle herself from old social media posts about defunding the police…
Multiple Republican operatives said the party would have stronger chances in 2026 if Democrats — who are facing a large number of primaries — nominate more candidates that can be more easily caricatured.
“We need Democrats to continue to be crazy, to say crazy things and be for crazy things,” said Corry Bliss, a veteran Republican strategist who guided the party’s leading House super PAC during the 2018 midterm elections. “It helps to provide a contrast.”
In some ways, it is the inverse of 2010 and the height of the Tea Party, when Democrats depended on Republicans to nominate zany candidates in competitive races. Now it is Democrats facing the possibility of a Tea Party-style revolt from a restive base that could choose candidates the party establishment might otherwise shun…
Johnson isn't worried, though: He knows nothing about it because he hasn't been following the news. www.axios.com/2025/12/04/m…
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) December 3, 2025 at 8:38 PM
On The Road – lashonharangue – Tanzania – Serengeti: Mostly Big Cats
Baud
Republican women = feminazis
As someone who continues to detest the NYT, good on them for pointing this out.
JerseyBeard
I’m a big fan of Republican consultants who think our crazies are like their crazies.
We are not the same.
Baud
@JerseyBeard:
I agree with you, but I think the consultant is right that the general public views our “crazies” as worse.
NotMax
Brave and bold.
The kids are more than all right.
Suzanne
You know, for just a brief moment…. My Kevin can come sit by me.
I wonder what that crazy rascal is getting up to these days.
Scout211
The FTFNYT story was refuted by Mace:
Who ya gonna believe? The NYT or Nancy Mace? Hmmm. That’s a tough one.
Scout211
The new
liedefense is that the office of legal counsel determined striking the boats was legal so the second strike was just to sink the boat, which was legal. Killing the survivors after the “kill them all” order was just part of the totally legal sinking of the boat, which was super legal. Very legal.And now the pentagon insists that the “survivors of the boat strike were actively continuing their drug misdion,” which makes killing them, what? Justified? Legal?
MattF
So, it’s not merely a puzzling coincidence that all but one of the Rs who voted for the Epstein discharge petition were women. There’s some insight here into the narrowness of the Squeaker’s authority, a hole in the armor.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
I wonder if a more moderate candidate could have won that seat in Tenn. In MO, any suggestion of defunding the police is kryptonite for purple districts.
Baud
@MattF:
Adam’sJohnson’s rib.stinger
Reminds me of Juicers slagging on Jeffries yesterday. Nancy Pelosi is considered one of the greatest Speakers of all time, yet she was terrible in front of a microphone. She gave us so many visuals to love — using the historic “Medicare gavel” to gavel in the ACA, ripping up the SOU speech, slipping on her badass sunglasses, pointing her finger at Trump across a table — but her real job, which she excelled at, was keeping her caucus together.
Jeffries ALSO excels at that, and he’s only minority leader, yet our expectations of him seem different. Of course, we tend to judge him on the basis of somebody’s exaggeration of a truncated report based on a newspaper headline.
Baud
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:
Hard to say IMHO. Every shift gains some voters and loses some voters. It’s our perennial problem.
ETA: the district is purple to red, but she needed turnout in blue Nashville to make it close.
Soprano2
@Scout211: How exactly were two people clinging to wreckage in the ocean trying to “continue their mission”? This claim doesn’t pass the laugh test.
Baud
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@stinger:
And a lot of judgment comes from magical thinking. They think the party without power can just somehow make things happen and they are mad that it’s going to take much more effort than sharing angry memes to take the country back.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Apparently she gave an interview dissing country music in an interview before the election. That could explain the Nashville votes.
Soprano2
@Baud: They elected an extremely religiously conservative man for Speaker, and then wonder why he treats women as lesser. Do they know what people like Johnson actually believe?
schrodingers_cat
@stinger: Black people, Jewish people and immigrants don’t get the benefit of the doubt or grace from many of the so called progressives on this blog and elsewhere. Especially if you don’t agree with everything they say and declare them angelic.
stinger
@Baud: I haven’t heard whether, like Pence, Mikey refuses to be alone in a room with a woman not his wife.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
I thought she did well in Nashville, which is why this was close in the first place.
stinger
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: Yes. He’s Minority Leader, not Speaker.
Deputinize America
@Baud:
I’ll never forget her gleeful smirk back when he was selected, and that hag Foxx telling a black reporter to shut up.
I loathe her so goddamned much.
eclare
@Suzanne:
I’ll join you two.
stinger
@schrodingers_cat: We can tear down Jeffries because he’s not being as negative and harsh in his public statements as we’d like, or we can support him, elect additional Democrats, and finally have our first Black Speaker of the House.
Belafon
Sean Duffy says that lowering fuel standars will allow us to bring back station wagons with wood paneling.
bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m762yajkto2t
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Did she do as well as or better than a D running in Nashville?
Baud
@stinger:
Eh, individual people are going to do what they want. After last year, I think calls for unity are a waste of time.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
I don’t know. I think the Republicans split Nashville into multiple districts to germander it. I’m not sure how to do the comparison.
schrodingers_cat
@stinger: I don’t need Jeffries and Schumer to act like TikTok influencers or podcast bros that’s not their job.
Scout211
@schrodingers_cat: @Baud:
Davidson County results.
Behn 77.8%
Van Epps 21.6%
The supposed dissing of country music was taken out of context in an interview but the Republicans played it up. But she still won the county.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: I read that criticism from some D account in Nashville, I am not an expert on TN or Nashville either.
eclare
@schrodingers_cat:
She said a lot of things, I doubt the election turned on her musical preferences. I have been to Nashville several times, it is much more than the Grand Ole Opry these days. And she got turnout in Nashville, it was the rural areas where she lost.
schrodingers_cat
@Scout211: But could her margin have been bigger? IDK. I count her good showing as a win. I was doubtful that she could win the seat given the tilted playing field.
XeckyGilchrist
I’m surprised Johnson has held on this long. Didn’t the Repubs have a famously hair-trigger setup for recalling the speaker? Put in place by Greene, among others? Did they change all that?
eclare
@Soprano2:
What’s the name of that fucked up marriage he has, a Covenant marriage?
eclare
@Deputinize America:
Virginia from NC, right?
Gin & Tonic
@Baud: “Baud calls Democrats ‘a waste of time.'”
artem1s
I guess they are finally waking up to the fact that this gaggle of White male DEI hires in the WH don’t care if the current GOP seat holder wins, they just want Orangemandius to be happy when he wakes up from his 5th nap of the morning and that he gets a taste of the endorsement action. Name recognition in state races is everything. Carving up safe districts so there’s a whole new set of voters who don’t know the names of anyone on the ballot is a clear path to getting primaried – House GQPers know a threat when they hear one. If the current seat holder doesn’t want to pony up a bribe, Thiel or one of the other robber barons will be happy to provide some carpetbagger Know Nothing with a cool million stuffed in his pockets.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@schrodingers_cat:
@stinger:
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:
I mean, didn’t he give Trump credit for “securing the border” in a CNN interview yesterday?
The last thing I want is for the Democratic Party to go down the same path other center-left parties around the world have gone down, where they think they can move to the right on some issue, believing they’re cutting off oxygen to the far-right, when that only gives them room to grow
I don’t want the Dems to turn into UK Labour. I’m worried that this is evidence of Jeffries’ and others’ thinking on this
ETA: Now that I found the quote it’s not quite as bad as I thought, but Jefferies still shouldn’t be giving Trump any credit on this issue.
Baud
@Gin & Tonic:
And space!
Scout211
This close election was “historic” according to the local new article I posted at #30.
In a very red district, she over-performed by quite a bit.
eclare
@schrodingers_cat:
It’s moot. The state legislature split Nashville, formerly one district, into three districts, each with just enough rural votes to outnumber the sliver of one third of Nashville. If Nashville had remained one district, she would have won easily.
Professor Bigfoot
@Scout211: Like I said elsewhere, this is just “pissing on our shoes and telling us it’s raining.”
Straight up “who ya gonna believe” vibes.
p.a.
They were continuing their mission solely by surviving the first attack. QED
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I don’t think we’ll be successful if we’re constantly trying to read tea leaves for signs of heresy.
artem1s
@JerseyBeard: Republican consultants who think our crazies are like their crazies.
yea, cause wanting people to have an affordable place to live and affordable healthcare and don’t want to see Meemaw and Papaw living on the streets under a bridge roasting sparrows on a spit when their assisted living facility closes is JUST PLAIN CRAY-CRAY!
Soprano2
@eclare: Yes, that’s what it is.
hueyplong
If Mace’s denial is accurate, I’m even more happy FTFNYT is running this story, because that would mean that they’re doing their thing against Republicans for once, but until we see casualties in the Stalingrad sense of the word, I’m dissatisfied with the level of disarray in the GOP.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊 😊 😊
RevRick
@JerseyBeard: Correct. Our crazy, Aftyn Behn, overperformed by 13% in the deep red Tennessee district.
The difference is that our crazies propose crazy things like affordable housing, child care, and medical care, while there’s propose various elements of fascism and stupidity.
Professor Bigfoot
@eclare: They gerrymandered Nashville into three different districts to dilute it as much as possible.
The 7th’s border is just a couple of miles north of where I grew up; I still have family in the area, and Ms. Behn lost because the TN legislature is run by neo-Confederates as it always has been.
Belafon
@Gin & Tonic: We are the Avengers party: A bunch of huge egos that fight each other a lot, lose more than we should because we don’t automatically work together, but can win when the stakes are truly on the line for everyone.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
eclare
@rikyrah:
Good mornin’!
Professor Bigfoot
@eclare: All of this.
I haven’t lived there for nigh on half a century, but I still know the place. Still got people there.
And I recognize the hand of the Confederate state legislature.
ETA— obviously I agree with you so hard I hadda do it again! ;^D
Baud
@Belafon:
“Can” is the operative word. The stakes were truly on the line for everyone last year, but we didn’t win.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@rikyrah:
Good morning
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
TS
@Scout211:
And it was from 2021 – Funny how democrats complain about their own when the GOP bring up their talking points, yet republicans support their candidates regardless as to what they have done in the past.
If Democrats can concentrate on their opposition rather than attacking their own, 2026 should be a winning year.
RevRick
@Scout211: Even more relevant is the fact that the turnout was 99.5% of the total in the 2022 Congressional race. This special election was just like a midterm, when other statewide races draw voters in.
Scout211
This.
Baud
@TS:
I don’t recall hearing any Dem complain about Behn before the election.
ETA: But I agree with your general point.
eclare
@Professor Bigfoot:
I live in Memphis, I am aware. TPTB in Nashville used every BS move possible to prevent us from taking down a huge statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest. Then one day I woke up and checked the news, and we had said fuck it and took it down in the middle of the night.
Geminid
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: My understanding is that Republicans were late to exploit Aftyn Behn’s more damaging social media statements. They had taken her lightly for much of the campaign, and it wasn’t until a couple weeks ago that Republicans started showing up on Fox News hollering about Behn’s podcast statements.
Aftyn Behn is somewhat of a “star” now and I expect she will be the Democraric nominee next Fall. So we will likely see how Republicans use her podcast clips with more time to exploit them.
Behn pointedly declined to disavow them during the special election and might not be able to now. Behn is a member of Tennessee’s House of Repreesentives though, so she has more of an opportunity to build a record independent of her podcast career.
RevRick
@RevRick: theirs, knucklehead.
Belafon
@Geminid: Or:
Behn has decided to embrace, rather than attempt to run against, her previous statements and record. What’s the point of trying to run the other direction when it’s all documented?
Scout211
Early polling by Emerson in the election for California Governor.
RevRick
@Baud: The Tennessee 7th district can, in no way, be remotely described as any hue of purple. It’s red, red, red. As is the state as a whole. In the 2020 Presidential Election, Tennessee provided Trump with the greatest absolute margin of victory of any state, exceeding even Texas and Florida.
Scout211
She did disavow them and explained the context. I posted her statement here on the day of the election. She shouldn’t have used the word “hate” but she was talking about the influx of unregulated tourism with drunk parties and party buses, etc. before they regulated the industry.
lowtechcyclist
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:
But as the minority in the House, the Dems don’t really have any weapons, no matter how good Jeffries is at holding the caucus together. The PR battle is the only front where the House Dems actually have some agency. So it would be appropriate for them to have a leader who was adept at PR. Sometimes you have to change generals based on what sort of battle you’re fighting.
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
I think any effort to try to replace Jeffries, especially before the midterms, is a waste of attention and resources. YMMV.
Jeffro
@Geminid:
@Belafon:
she should just do what Jay Jones did here in VA: apologize for anything too far out there; note that no MAGA politician has apologized for anything they’ve said, EVER; and move on.
as a bonus: she can remind folks that everyone is sick of MAGAts’ unending culture war BS
Geminid
@Belafon: Zohran Mamdani walked back some his earlier statements about New York’s police force, so it can be done. When Mamdani ran for New York Assemblyman in 2022(?) he took a number of positions he later modified for his mayoral race.
Scout211
@Geminid:
See my #69.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: I agree replacing Jeffries is a waste of time. When ZM was pally and chummy with the Orange One, the perpetually outraged ones were gushing like teenagers in love
Jeffro
btw I see that Josh Shapiro is showing his true colors in denying VP Harris’ accounts of their meetings/discussions.
he, like Newsom, can just take a seat. We have plenty of other big-league hitters on our Democratic bench.
NotMax
@RevRick
Don’t often do this, but I urge everyone to watch the video linked above at #4. I believe with your perspective and experience you’ll find these teens’ activities and background especially admirable.
Geminid
@Scout211: This may be true, but I saw an interview where Behn was asked about her call “to defund the police” and she repeatedly tried to change the subject.
Ed. Behn picked up the slogan in 2020, like a lot of other Democrats. It had a certain validity for the activists who originated it, but I thought it was bad practice for electeds to adopt it and few if any candidates espouse it now.
Baud
@Jeffro:
I don’t even understand the dispute. Is he contesting her perception of him? That doesn’t sound like a factual dispute.
UncleEbeneezer
@stinger: The freakout about Jeffries was fucking weird. I stayed out of it but it had eery vibes of last year and imo, is indicative of why our side struggles to hold together when it really matters. Too many people are just ALWAYS looking to slam Dem leaders. It’s a knee-jerk obsession at this point, with obvious dangers that have played out numerous times in my lifetime.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
I’m not even sure who would replace him, if people are looking for a more “media friendly” Dem as minority leader.
jonas
Let the
bullshit gaslightingdistancing begin. By next summer she will never even have met Trump and will have no idea what this MAGA thing you keep asking her about even is. She’s always been an independent maverick unafraid to criticize her own Speaker.schrodingers_cat
@UncleEbeneezer: Hey BTW you and I got called evil in absolute defiance of blog comment policy the other day. And you weren’t even in the comments IIRC.
Betty Cracker
@stinger: IMO, Jeffries’ tenure as minority leader has been a mixed bag so far. You’re right to note he held the caucus together on some tough votes. That’s his main job, but with the party locked out of power and in the middle of a fascist takeover of our government, being a leader of the opposition is also part of the job, which was true for Pelosi during Piggy’s first term.
Pelosi wasn’t a great orator, but she was organized, she knew how to work the levers, and she was amazingly skilled at bucking up the caucus to get shit done and confronting Trump and counterparts. She also seemed pretty good at putting up with sniping caucus members without rancor, which is probably an underrated skill for that position.
We’ll see how Jeffries compares when/if he gets to be Speaker, though luckily for him, he’ll probably get to follow a dud like Johnson rather than Pelosi herself. IMO, sometimes Jeffries is excellent at confronting Trump and fascism. And sometimes, like yesterday (and it was not the first time) he says things that suggest he doesn’t get the stakes.
I wish him well, but Jeffries is not above criticism. None of them are, and there are plenty of elected Dems who need to do better. There are also many who are rising to the occasion beautifully.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Jeffro:
Did Newsom say or do anything recently?
Professor Bigfoot
@UncleEbeneezer: But remember, it has nothing to do with those leaders being Black or Jewish.
Regardless of what William of Ockham has to say.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
It’s more a matter of the Dems becoming open to different ways of organizing their leadership, rather than having the same person be the leader in all situations, regardless of how well they’re suited for each one.
Of course they’re not going to change their Minority Leader now: I wouldn’t expect that, and I wouldn’t want them to. It would just give the MSM some serious fodder for “Dems in disarray” which is what they’re set up to push.
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I saw this story today.
Not sure how many Dems care about the concerns of older women these days, however.
rikyrah
If the only safe Republican district is an R+14 one, then the Democrats playing field is larger for 2026.
Iron City
@Soprano2: It was the Dorra Explorer kickboards and the kilo of coke for Don Jr. strapped around their waist.
Professor Bigfoot
@schrodingers_cat: Wait- what? They’ve identified a “Balloon Juice Evil Caucus” and they didn’t invite me?????
What the hell, people? What the hell?
ETA: ;^D
Mr. Mack
I live in Tn-07. It is red, no doubt, but we’ve had a huge influx of people from Calif here and it does appear to be changing things in local elections. My only issue with Behn is she can be a bit reckless in front of a microphone. She will likely run again in November, and she will get my vote. But I will not contribute to her again.
RevRick
@Baud: Davidson county moved 20% to the left.
rikyrah
@Baud:
How was that candidate a crazy?
She sounded like a regular Democrat to me.
Baud
@rikyrah:
I’m not saying she was.
jonas
This. I don’t think we should unload Jeffries at this point; that’s up to his caucus and AFAICT, he has broad support and can whip the votes he needs when he needs them. They obviously trust him. But it is bloody frustrating to watch him have two mealy-mouthed, triangulating, Democrat-trying-so-hard-to-be-accommodating-and-bipartisan takes for every one that’s a sharp gut-punch to whatever fascist bullshit the WH is putting out on a given day. And he can do it when he wants.
Professor Bigfoot
@rikyrah: That shows the power of Republican caricatures of Democrats that major media pick up and run with.
rikyrah
@jonas:
She is ridiculous, but, she doesn’t miss when calling Speaker Preacher a liar. Because, he is one.
RevRick
@rikyrah: Yeah, about 40 GOP held seats were won by less than the 13% swing, which means it’s easily conceivable that the Democrats will end up with a 245-190 majority come 2027.
Peale
The Democrats were thoroughly obliterated in 2010, so I don’t know what the hell they’re on about here. Yeah…we managed to not lose 3 marginal seats while the floor was wiped with the carcasses of moderate democrats everywhere was just a wound licking exercise.
jonas
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: I don’t think being more or less moderate is the key here. It’s being 1. authentic/down-to-earth and 2. listening to what people are upset about and campaigning effectively on that.
Geminid
@UncleEbeneezer: I have watched this anti-Jeffries movement ever since it began in November, 2018 in the aftermath of his win over Barbara Lee in the election for Democratic Caucus Chair. The anti-Jeffries faction was relatively quiet up until four years later, when he was elected to replace Nancy Pelosi as leader in November, 2022.
I thought one reason Pelosi took until ten days before the caucus elections to announce she was stepping back was to prevent the anti-Jeffries movement from gaining much steam among the media. And in the event, the caucus elected the leadership team of Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar unanimously.
The shock of Harris’s defeat last November presented another opportunity for Jeffries’ foes to exploit demoralization among Democrats, and they’re not the type to “let a crisis go to waste.” I expect we’ll keep hearing from them until Jeffries becomes Speaker in January of 2027, which event I believe is almost certain. That’s when Jeffries will finally get the opportunity to prove his critics wrong.
jonas
@rikyrah: Oh, she’s not wrong. It’s just interesting that she goes on the record now that she’s running for NY governor. Johnson’s been speaker — and lying to everyone — for two years now.
artem1s
yea, bad analogy. you change your PR director when your losing a PR battle. You don’t put an influencer in charge of the Union Army because you’ve lost a few battles… Oh wait, Lincoln FIRED the influencer in charge of the Union Army because McClellan didn’t want to be too far from DC parties and MSM where he could work on his image with the press and Vibing the Union into victory and himself into the WH. After firing McClellan Lincoln hired the second worst PR Union General he had because the worse PR Union General had already turned down the job of Secretary of War and wanted to be the leader of a volunteer army and not be stuck in DC with a bunch of preeners. Besides Sherman was encouraging Lincoln to hire his PR inept, drunk, messily dressed buddy for the job, US Grant.
Fair Economist
@schrodingers_cat:
That’s a big red flag. Nobody running for office should be dissing any popular music genre. You could criticize a particular piece for its lyrics, but not a genre.
Scout211
I’m not quite sure why these threads turn into critique of Democrats and Democratic candidates threads, but it seems to happen often.
I hope we can root for all Democrats in the 2026 midterms, even those Democrats who aren’t considered perfect by blog standards.
Baud
@Scout211:
Because Democrats think there’s some better version of Democrats out there that will emerge if they just complain enough about it.
Geminid
@Baud: Someone here said yesterday they could think of 25 Democratic Reps who would make better caucus leaders than Jeffries. I noticed they didn’t actually name one though.
hueyplong
@Scout211: “I’m not quite sure why these threads turn into critique of Democrats and Democratic candidates threads, but it seems to happen
oftenevery single time.”Not sure “fixed” is the right word, so let’s go with “equally likely to be an accurate sentence.”
UncleEbeneezer
@Professor Bigfoot: You shouldn’t have changed your behavior, lol. You lost a couple slots in the standings, as a result.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Exactly. What we’re seeing is the entire borg of WelcomeFest/Abundo people trying to spin what they know: a 13 point shift in this kind of district portends a wave cycle. They are trying to shape the wave by establishing a narrative about “electability” that’s favorable to their faction for midterm primaries
This is not about what kind of candidate recruitment or formula would put this district in play. They know it’s not — they already jumped the gun and tried that spin before the final margin got tallied.
This is about propagandizing Dem primary voters to view their ideological preferences as more electable or something more populist or woke as a liability, based mostly on vibes. They know that Dem primary voters are highly sensitive to electability pundit brain framing.
eclare
@Betty Cracker:
Regarding your comment about Pelosi putting up with sniping, I saw her interviewed on Colbert, and he asked her about people saying that if elected they would not vote for her for Speaker. Her response was that she didn’t care, she has very thick skin. More pols need that quality.
dm
@NotMax: I can’t do youtube anymore. Five minutes of ad, one minute of video, five minutes of the same damned ads, one minute of video, and repeat.
If youtube had a $5/month tier, I’d consider it, but now I just skip links to youtube videos.
Mr. Mack
@Fair Economist: Yup. Reckless.
Baud
@eclare:
In the unlikely event there’s a successful rebellion against Jeffries, you know what I expect Jeffries will do: Support the new leader.
Mr. Mack
@dm: My son, who watches more You tube than anyone on the planet, says the premium level is a total game changer. I signed up, tho I don’t watch much of it. It’s around 5 bucks.
RevRick
@Fair Economist: And yet, she won 115% of the Democratic votes cast in the prior election while Van Epps only garnered 90%. If she failed, she failed upwards.
Baud
@Mr. Mack:
Oh. I didn’t realize it was that cheap. I’ll have to look into it.
Geminid
@Peale: Yes, but a lot of those 2010 Republican fire eaters got bounced in 2018, and Democrats have held on to almost all of those seats since then.
Jeffro
yeah, he’s saying she’s lying about him to, quote, “cover her ass”
Betty Cracker
AP says the FBI made an arrest today in the 1/6/2021 pipe bomb case. The report has no details except that the alleged perp is a man. We’ll have to wait and see, but keep in mind this is the Ka$h Patel Podcast FBI Show.
Baud
BC got there first.
Jackie
He’s going to be doped up to the gills. When FFOTUS starts singing the economy is better than ever before, I really hope he gets the same boos and catcalls various Repug congress members received at their town halls. He won’t handle that kindly.
UncleEbeneezer
@Geminid: Johnny Unbeatable is undefeated in hypothetical Dem Primaries AND General Elections!
jonas
@Baud: Upgrading is really worthwhile, particularly since they’ve programmed the regular YouTube to interrupt with ads so much now it’s pretty much unwachable.
Baud
@Jackie:
Mike Johnson is ready to hold up his cell phone.
dm
@Betty Cracker: I think Jeffries got splashed by Schumer’s capitulation on the shutdown last Spring (it didn’t help that he was doing a book tour for a children’s book at the time, too), and that impression just hasn’t gone away. Jeffries has done a better job coralling his big tent of House members than Schumer has done coralling his Senate caucus.
Baud
@jonas:
I’ve put up with the ads, but they have gotten worse.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
Thanks.
Personally, I’d never support him in a primary bid for president because of how he turned on trans people earlier in the year. Showed he was a weathervane
LAC
@Professor Bigfoot: Well, did you hurt fee fees and cause people to announce their departure from the blog like we are at an airport? You will just have work harder! /s
mappy!
A Progressive Behn, in a campaign with missteps (old quotes rehashed), supported by Jasmine Crockett and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, erased 13 points of a Dirt Red gerrymandered district advantage? House Republican women are complaining (or not)? Meanwhile the big cheese keeps nodding off at inopportune moments… Next thing you know, Ukraine will start sinking empty shadow fleet tankers.
zhena gogolia
@stinger: Amen.
YY_Sima Qian
Wow (click through the link for the org chart):
Fair Economist
@dm: I watch YouTube with a Vivaldi browser and a UBlock adblocker. I never see any ads
Now that Google has changed its motto of “Don’t Be Evil” to just “Be Evil” I wouldn’t watch them if I had to pay them or endure their ads.
Geminid
@eclare: I think Pelosi was talking there about incoming freshman who had promised voters they would not support her Speaker bid in January, 2019. Pelosi already had a small revolt among caucus members led by Reps. Moulton, Ryan and Rice that she put down with typical ruthlessness.
Ed. The recalcitrant caucus members all voted for Pelosi, while some Class of 2018 members like Xochitl Torres-Small, Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill voted for other candidates. Some people still hold that vote against them even though Pelosi never did.
zhena gogolia
@LAC:
lol
I haven’t followed the conversation, but I just saw this, and lol
BiogeoJim
@Soprano2: by living
eclare
@Jackie:
But, but, affordability is a Democratic con…
jonas
@Jackie: I’m sure the advance people will make sure only the most reality-denying, deadeyed MAGA cultists are in the crowd and will cheer appropriately when told to do so. I wonder how big a crowd that will be, though, even in Pennsyltucky.
H.E.Wolf
@Baud:
Also: a lot of complaints can probably be traced back to a case of Dunning-Kruger Effect.
eclare
@Baud:
Hahaha…
eclare
@Geminid:
Yes that was what she was asked about. She didn’t hesitate, I have thick skin.
dm
@Mr. Mack: gosh, when I went looking for streaming prices, I came away thinking it was $20/month, which is way more than it’s worth to me. I’ll have to look into that.
Jeffro
@Betty Cracker:
all of this, right here
I do like Jeffries, Clark, and Aguilar a lot. I support them and almost always give them the benefit of the doubt on the rare occasions that they appear to, or actually do, disappoint me. They’re not there to cater just to me, I get that. But yesterday’s pro-pardon remarks by Jeffries weren’t helpful.
And today is a new day, so I’m sure they’re already moving on and I am too.
stinger
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
This is my point. Our opinions are too often founded on “facts” that turn out not to be true. We have the internet at our fingertips, yet we still too often don’t bother to find out the truth.
Here’s Jeffries’ CNN interview.
Instead of noting his strong anti-Trump words on immigration, starting about 5:45, we DEMOCRATS attack Jeffries for a slightly less felicitous phrasing a minute or so later. Why? Why pick out the less impressive sentence when there’s so much better to praise him for?
Well, I know why. We’re encouraged to eat our own. We pretend to enjoy “Republicans in disarray”, but contribute to issues within our own party by attacking leadership needlessly.
(Pro tip: If the source spells his name as “Jefferies”, find a better source.)
Baud: I’m not hoping for unity — I wasn’t born yesterday; more like 72 years ago last Saturday — just trying to Accentuate the Positive.
M31
@dm:
I use Firefox with the extensions UBlock Origin and Privacy Badger and I don’t see any youtube ads
jonas
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): He vetoed a bill supported by Berry’s organization that would have expanded insurance coverage for menopause-related health conditions. He argued it was too broad and open-ended (read: expensive for insurance companies), but said he would sign something more tailored if it were sent to his desk. I don’t know where it stands now.
Paul in KY
@Scout211: If their ‘mission’ was trying to stay alive in the ocean, while bleeding out, then I guess he has a point.
HinTN
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: Republican lite is useless in Tennessee.
Geminid
@dm: Jeffries’ alleged “book tour” was not in fact a book tour, and it was not a children’s book either. This matter was raised here in several late-February threads, and I and others brought the receipts to show this notion floated by shit-stirrer Dave Weigel was so much bullshit.
Jeffro
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): just yesterday he spoke and said a) trump is trying to ‘wreck this country’ and b) Democrats need to ‘be more culturally normal’
I don’t think that’s helpful when it’s the modern GOP that’s a complete bunch of freaks. Nor when the whole media is wired for ‘both sides’.
Betty Cracker
@dm: That probably is a factor, and if so, it’s unfair since Jeffries did hold the caucus together in that particular fight. I think there are other factors behind the misgivings too. Some are legit, some are not, IMO. I think both Jeffries’ most vociferous detractors and most ardent supporters share a tendency to insist on overly simple explanations for complex dynamics.
YY_Sima Qian
Huh, normally the NSC coordinates the interagency process, but there is no interagency process in the Trump WH:
Stephen Miller running point to preserve the Trump-Xi trade ceasefire will probably backfire, but also goes to show how little Rubio is trusted, despite wearing like 4 different hats (including as the acting NSA).
Paul in KY
@Soprano2: They were sitting on the bales of reefer using a broken piece of the vessel to paddle towards their destination. These evil smugglers are also very conscientious, dontchaknow?
Quinerly
I highly suggest a few minutes of the Johnson and wife interview by Katie Miller. Note his facial expressions when his wife even speaks. Christine Knapp Fekete has done some good videos re that weird interview.
I just adore Christine.
Jackie
@jonas:
I assume it will be an indoor event due to weather and easier for SS to monitor for assassination risks. So FFOTUS has a built in excuse for small crowd size.
And easier to prevent early leavers trying to escape from boredom after he shows up two hrs late.
Belafon
@dm:
I watch a lot of youtube and it is nowhere close to that. More ads than I like, but in a 45 minute video, it gets interrupted between three and four times, and only one of those is more than 30 seconds. Most are a skip after about 15 seconds.
schrodingers_cat
@Professor Bigfoot: And to no one’s surprise blog owner didn’t jump to my rescue like a knight in shining armor nor was the repeat offender given a stern talking to by any FPer AFAIK.
eclare
@Quinerly:
How is your friend?
Geminid
@Jackie: Bring on the Slurenberg rallies!
Belafon
YouTube pricing:
Individual · $13.99/month ; Family · $22.99/month · Add up to 5 family members (ages 13+) in your household. ; Student · $7.99/month · Eligible students only.
RevRick
@jonas: TTrump is heading to a PA swing district. So, not Pennsyltucky. The GOP is facing the loss of four seats in PA.
Paul in KY
@Scout211: We scared them. Those GQPers in the know have to be very worried.
Old Man Shadow
You elected a white Evangelical male to lead you who sees women as inferior, doesn’t think they should be in leadership, and only sees them as sex dolls hence he won’t be alone with them, what exactly were you all expecting?
chemiclord
One thing I would say about anyone thinking “Oh, if only we had run [more tenable person to my specific policy goals] in [seat that I think could be flipped if only we had run the more tenable person],” all I can say is this:
You’re probably wrong.
At this point, the Dem coalition is pretty much equally split between the “radical” progressive wing and the “milquetoast” moderate wing. Any candidate running for any given seat is largely going to energize and/or disappoint an equal number of people. It’s going to require some real unicorns that can assure progressives that they will fight for progress and assure moderates that they aren’t going to push uncomfortably against the familiar incremental progress they prefer.
It’s a needle that can be threaded, but it’s damn hard, and only getting harder as more and more of the Dem coalition start digging in their heels harder and harder.
hueyplong
In general, it’s at least arguable that the Dems are currently far less “divided” than are the comments sections of Dem-voting internet websites.
Geminid
@RevRick: I’ll be very interested in the primaries by which Democrats select candidates to run in those four Pennsylvania districts.
There’s been a lot of talk about primary challenges to Democratic House incumbents, but my hunch is they won’t amount to very much. The real action will be in the primaries for open Democratic seats, and for challenging vulnerable Republicans.
Steve in the ATL
@HinTN: it only works in purple or light red states, right?
Kathleen
First, anyone who could overcome their hatred for Jeffries or Schumer would know that this has been the Dem playbook since January. In fact, Dems were mocked by their liberal media/leftist flank for “not meeting the moment” because they were talking about “kitchen table issues” instead of doing “more” (which no one could really define) about oligarchy and fascism. Not one “liberal media” platform applauded or acknowledged them. Also, my rep was told by one of his leftist colleagues that “health care was the wrong issue” for Dems to focus on.
Second, I’m puzzled that NYT and the chatterratties seemed to think Behn was “different” and somehow more “progressive” than icky “Centrist” Dems and Dems should run more people like her.
Well, if these lazy kewel kidz got off their asses and educated themselves about different Democratic candidates and local Democratic party organizations especially in red or purple states they would know that many Dem reps already run campaigns like Behn (including my rep in OH#1.)
The level of intelligent political discourse in this country “on our side” is beyond disgusting. Once again, Dems already have been doing what everyone is telling them “they need to do NOW”. But the constant Dem bashing is sadly a lucrative business model.
Miss Bianca
@UncleEbeneezer: Man, I have gotten so sick of that particular vibe.
eclare
@schrodingers_cat:
Did you send a message to anyone? They’re good at responding if it’s that bad.
Betty Cracker
@YY_Sima Qian: That’s an odd choice for sure since Miller is the most rabid of xenophobes. On the other hand, no one respects or trusts Rubio, nor should they.
I try not to obsess about what happens next because the possibilities are so dire. But my hope is the inevitable consequences of Trump’s corruption and stupidity will drive everyone associated with his administration out of public life forever, including formerly “normal” Repubs like Rubio.
Paul in KY
@Jeffro: What if his critiques of her retelling are correct?
jonas
@RevRick: Even if it’s being held in a swing district, I wouldn’t be surprised if they bused in MAGAt nutjobs from Pennsyltucky to fill out the seats if it looks like too few locals are buying tickets.
eclare
@jonas:
We need to call up the K-Pop army to snag all the tickets and not show, like they did for some venue in 2016, IIRC.
Soprano2
@Geminid: I think a lot of people don’t actually know what it takes to lead the Democrats in the House. It’s a lot more than saying fiery things in front of a microphone.
Miss Bianca
@Mr. Mack: apparently, we’ve all decided we’re going to slam Democratic pols for being too reckless in front of a mic *and also* for being too measured/mealy-mouthed/”bipartisan”. As long as we get to slam them for *something*. Go Team Blue!
Quinerly
@eclare:
You must see that interview with his wife. Katie Miller podcast. Better yet, check out Christine Knapp Frekete’s videos on it.
Jackie
Must NOT see coming up TV special:
What’s that old Valley girl expression? GAG ME WITH A SPOON!
Geminid
@chemiclord: I think it’s easy to exaggerate the split between a moderate “milquetoast” Democratic wing and a “radical “progressive one. Most Democrats I know fall between these two extremes.
The way I see it, the party “base” tracks our House caucus, which ideologically resembles a fat “Bell” curve with a bunch of moderately liberal and liberally moderate politicians in the middle.
It’s the media which likes to portray Democrats as a polarized barbell, in order to exaggerate intra-party strife.
But, my theory will be put to the test in next year’s primaries. Democratic primary voters are as good a representation of the “base” as any, so we should get a good reading on where the base actually stands.
schrodingers_cat
@eclare: Well what is even the point the blog runner was on that same exact thread and did not react at all.
Miss Bianca
@Mr. Mack: err…try $15 a month. That’s what I’m paying, anyway. Worth it to me for my music and yoga videos, and I can kid myself that some tiny fraction of that fee goes toward supporting the content producers.
Soprano2
@Betty Cracker: Why bother? FFOTUS will probably just pardon whoever it is.
YY_Sima Qian
@Betty Cracker: We can all hope.
Karen Gail
@Belafon: Those old wagons got something like 10-15 miles per gallon; but then gas was below $1.00 a gallon in most places.
I have fond memories of gas wars and not so fond memories of long gas lines and alternate days to buy gas. But when you pulled in they washed your windows, checked your tires and oil levels as part of service.
Kathleen
@Jackie: “Must Flee TV”
eclare
@schrodingers_cat:
That doesn’t mean he or she saw every comment. I’d send an email if I were you.
Kathleen
@UncleEbeneezer: Agree. I have deep thoughts that would probably be considered too inflammatory plus the “deep thoughts” of a social media Z lister are not in demand.
Professor Bigfoot
@UncleEbeneezer: CURSES! Foiled again! 😂
Nettoyeur
@Baud: 82% or so
Belafon
@Jackie: There’s an audience out there, though. There’s someone here at work with a “Charlie Kirk #NotAfraid” sticker on his truck.
frosty
@RevRick: If we have a Dem wave, Scott Perry is going bye bye and I’m here for it. He only won by a percent or two in 2024.
Belafon
@hueyplong: Most definitely. The normies aren’t parsing every single statement being made by every person to look for something to dislike.
brendancalling
@Suzanne: Presumably engaged in a physically impossible act.
schrodingers_cat
@eclare: Emails sent on my behalf by other commenters have been completely ignored. Well I may do that to establish a record.
I was called a Trumper by someone in the comments in which I was absent, because I was not suitably deferential to their newest idol ZM.
Crickets from TPTB of the blog despite it being brought to their attention.
Mr. Bemused Senior
Hey, you gave me an idea for a pseudonym: Bad Horse (Dr. Horrible’s sing along blog). Welcome to the Evil League of Evil.
eclare
@schrodingers_cat:
Sounds like a good plan.
Quiltingfool
@schrodingers_cat:
I think we need to quit looking for love when it concerns elected officials.
Every time Jeffries or Schumer makes a statement or does an interview, I fully expect folks at LGM to lose their shit over *something* said. Like yesterday, for example. Jeffries said some things (out of context, naturally), so I knew the commenters at LGM would be going crazy with badmouthing Jeffries. And they did! And threw in some Schumer hate for good measure!
I don’t ever love politicians. Ever. I fully expect them to eventually do something I don’t like much, but if they do more stuff I agree with and a tiny bit of what I don’t, it’s okay. Well, as long as they don’t cross some red lines, you know, the stuff that should cause a person to be in prison or permanently shunned.
Jackie
@Belafon:
MAGAts will watch it for sure. That’s the intended audience.
Bari Weiss has officially advertised that CBS supports MAGA. I never watch CBS outside of sportsball games.
Professor Bigfoot
@Fair Economist: Today I gave up and used the Google AI chatbot.
I had a specific question: “In East Germany, what proportion of the population were involved in military or police operations,” and decided to use it ‘cause, well, what the hell.
The problem is and will (for me) always be that AI chatbots “hallucinate” (lie their digital asses off).
If they lie about anything, how do you trust them about anything?
(Ultimately, including also the VolksPolice and the network of informants, it said 15% or about 1 in 6.5 East Germans were part of the “system.”)
I asked because ICE do not have anything LIKE that kind of manpower and is unlikely to ever. 15% of 16million translates to somewhere around 50 million Americans either part of or informants to the system.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodingers_cat: Have you seen Krope lately?
Belafon
@Mr. Bemused Senior: The League Of Villainous Evildoers Maniacally United For Frightening Investments in Naughtiness
dnfree
@Jackie: When did Bari Weiss officially advertise that CBS supports MAGA?
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: I haven’t been around much, so IDK.
Kathleen
@Geminid: His critics (everyone in “Liberal lndependent Media” will continue to disparage him and any Democrats who don’t fit their image of “effective” (which consists of catering to their agenda of constantly hating on Democratic Party). Very few are even intelligent enough to grasp what he and Schumer have actually accomplished,
Professor Bigfoot
@Betty Cracker: And perhaps differing views /understandings on just what Jeffries’ job is under current circumstances.
As has been spoken here before, we’d like to have an all around player who can be a superstar but that’s just not the team we have today.
No superstars, just a damned good team, given the circumstances.
Kathleen
@Baud: Jeffries is not catering to “media”. His audience is the American people. He needed their buy in and he got it. In spite of all media’s hatred of Democrats. Not one media star has acknowledged his success because they’re narcissistic, lazy and ignorant.
Professor Bigfoot
@Paul in KY: “YOU MUST THINK ME A FOOL TO MAKE YOUR LIES SO TRANSPARENT!”
These people really have me channelling my inner Worf: “THEY HAVE NO HONOR!”
Kathleen
@jonas: Which is precisely what Dems have done.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodingers_cat: I just did a search for his ‘nym in the pas 24 hours (which should include the remark you mentioned) and he is not there. Perhaps a time out? They aren’t necessarily advertised.
Jackie
@dnfree: I was snarking a bit, but I doubt very much you’ll see ABC, NBC, CNN or MSNOW host a town hall for Kirk’s widow – especially given the topics listed in the link.
Weiss is openly a trumper, so feel free to draw your own conclusions. 🤷🏼♀️
JML
@Jackie: They will not take questions from across the political spectrum, everything will have been vetted in advance, this is nothing more than a fluff show for the right-wing.
And not for nothing, who gives a flying fuck what Erica Kirk has to say about anything? Performative widowhood by the spouse of a fucking fascist is disgusting. CBS continues to demonstrate they are the worst trash that ever trashed.
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: This actually happened a few days ago. I don’t remember the exact day.
Professor Bigfoot
@schrodingers_cat: Imma cut the blogfather a wee bit of slack on this from having communicated directly with him— he’s a white boy from West Virginia and I know he WANTS to do the right thing but, well, we’re all somewhat prisoners of our own upbringing.
My boy* does try; and I think he’s at “lemme keep my fat fingers offa things lest I make ‘em worse.”
(*lest it be misconstrued, it’s actually a term of affection, not a “slur.” ;^))
As for those who want to designate us “the evil caucus,” first, thanks, one is sometimes known by ones enemies; and second, fuck ‘em. They ain’t payin’ my electric bill or puttin’ gas in my car. 😉
Timill
@Omnes Omnibus: Was on on Wednesday, at least.
5 comments in dumpster-divers-an-open-thread/
Timill
@Professor Bigfoot: FX: Muttley laughs
iKropoclast
@Omnes Omnibus: No, no time out. I just decided I’m not welcome here and haven’t been posting.
I, too, have been personally insulted on this blog. I just don’t make a giant production out of making myself a victim at every slight. I push back myself, rather than appeal to authority.
I’m glad your enjoying yourself, though, SC.
So don’t worry, I won’t sully the ideological purity some here are trying to maintain. I’m out.
But I want you to know it was my choice
ETA: And I maintain that the “personal attacks” policy is poorly conceived if it can be used to protect people putting out hateful, bilious rhetoric from pushback.
EATA: And Prof. Bigfoot would never have gotten that “evil” moniker from me. I respect his opinion.
UncleEbeneezer
@Geminid: Also, people can be BOTH radical and “milquetoast” depending on the issue, candidate, race etc. People are complicated and so are political views/dynamics.
schrodingers_cat
After spending more than 2 months in India over the last 12 months this Rahman number from Swades hits different. Especially the music more than the words.
Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera
This Land of Yours..
The orchestrization with typical south Indian musical instruments like the naad swaram, and ghatam are phenomenal as his voice.
RaflW
Arriving a little late to this thread, but I just have to laugh: “worried that they have squandered a year in which their party had total control of government”.
Worried about that? C’mon. They’ve passed like three bills (I exaggerate slightly, but this is y far the most do-nothing Congress – thanks to Johnson & Republicans – in, what, a century? Longer?). I have less than zero pity ofr these lazy pieces of shit. Quit now! Why wait.
Professor Bigfoot
I’m right there with you; but then I remember the OG Confederates quickly got their lands, their citizenship rights, and then their political power back with the Compromise of 1877.
Omnes Omnibus
@iKropoclast: Okay, Vaya con dios.
schrodingers_cat
@Professor Bigfoot: Reagan fucked up the AIDS response, W got us into a disastrous war of choice and T1 mismanaged COVID and yet people still vote R.
Quiltingfool
@Belafon:
The League Of Villainous Evildoers Maniacally United For Frightening Investments in Naughtiness
LoveMuffin? lol!
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus:
You can see for yourself what I am saying.
UncleEbeneezer
@Professor Bigfoot: TBF, It can also be a slur. A prominent commenter here said “your boy Netanyahu” (despite the fact that I don’t think I have ever caped for Bibi and have criticized him several times) in response to my pointing out that all the extremely vocal “anti-Imperialists” are strangely silent about China claiming sovereignty over parts of Taiwan, Japan etc.
But I think it’s pretty clear you were using it in a casual, neutral or even term-of-endearment way.
Professor Bigfoot
@Belafon: See, this right here is why I can’t quit y’all.
😂
RaflW
This, by the way, is absolute bullshit.
Pure centrist claptrap. Behn probably never had a real chance to win, her unearthing a 13 point shift is impressive, and she didn’t have to sell herself or progressives out to do it!
dm
Dan Pfeiffer reports:
According to Cook Political Report:
RaflW
@Jeffro: “usual composed demeanor and rehearsed comments”
Yeah. G-d help me, I too am so effing tired of phony, poll-tested toothpaste salesmen as ‘leading’ politicians. That goes for Gavin, too.
Gin & Tonic
@UncleEbeneezer:
about russian imperialism. And always have been.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@RaflW:
+1
Professor Bigfoot
@UncleEbeneezer: Is that really a slur, though, or just designation of a male human? I mean, perhaps its less respectful than “your guy” or “your man” but “boy” has NEVER been used as a putdown of white men. (see also the evolution of “cowBOY” versus “cattleMAN”).
ETA: In this case the actual slur was the “your.” “MF, I ain’t got nothin’ to do with that slimy MF!”
In this context, “my boy” is closer to “my ace,*” or “mah dawg;” signifying friendship and respect.
(*I’m old enough to remember old Black men using the term “my ace boon coon” about their best friends)
jonas
@Kathleen: Yep. It’s a winning formula. For moderates to progressives to, yes, democratic socialists.
schrodingers_cat
@Gin & Tonic: Oh yes! Tankies love Russian and Chinese imperialism.
Also remarkably quiet about Orange 2.0 committing war crimes.
Karen Gail
@iKropoclast: We all do what we have to do to maintain our sanity; there are times when I just read and then there are times when I read and comment. Like any other blog there are times when I remember a grandmother’s comment about multitude of small people, “if they don’t need stitches or trip to emergency room I don’t need to know.”
Gin & Tonic
Comment directed not at any particular commenter – this is a place of vigorous discourse, and people need to grow a thicker skin. I mean, I still recall when BiP called me a Nazi. I never pied him or called for him to be banned (and, for the record, I’m not a Nazi.) I believe he eventually got banned, but not for any interactions with me, as far as I know, which were plenty contentious. Then again, I cut my teeth on 1980’s Usenet.
Quinerly
@eclare:
No brain activity. “Severe hypoxia brain injury.” She went too long without oxygen. Doing the math, I think it was over 10 mins. Plus, a heart attack after the choking. They took her off life support yesterday.
TY for asking. Very kind of you. Much appreciated.
schrodingers_cat
@Gin & Tonic: I have a thick skin, that’s why I still post here. What is galling is how the supposed “rules” are applied by the blog TPTB.
It gives the impression of higher standards or different standards being applied to different commenters.
I have been reprimanded publicly as has Prof. Bigfoot for far less.
RevRick
@frosty: You can eliminate that if clause. Scott Perry is toast. He trails Democrats in matchups. His doom is guaranteed by the leftward movement of Cumberland County, which used to be a Republican stronghold.
tam1MI
I cut mine on soap opera message boards, and let me tell you, the stuff that goes down here is mild compared to what they used to be!
eclare
@Quinerly:
I’m so sorry. It was so unexpected and fast. Her family and you and other friends must be devastated. Over fucking choking.
Quinerly
@Gin & Tonic:
Thanks for saying this.
Every time I dip in now and actually read the comments, so much whining by the same 2-3 commenters. Not really worth it to me to participate. I was feeing so down since the news about my friend Fri that I thought catching up on some politics here would take my mind off of things. Plus, read some fun banter. Instead, same old same old. And the repeat of the same grievances. Some of this is reaching Trump level….the constant repeating of the same old grievances going back years. That’s my read on it. No one has to agree. I don’t flounce off. I never pied anyone. Not starting now. Best for me to just stay out of the comments.
LAC
@Gin & Tonic: I do not view the use of pie as having thin skin. Rather as a way to keep peace of mind while navigating the online space. The toggle is there to see if there is something worth reading. 99% of the time it is is the same smug claptrap that got the pie. And I keep it moving.
Matt McIrvin
@Gin & Tonic: Usenet readers had killfiles (in the 90s at least) which were the equivalent of a pie filter, only far more powerful, and I used them. A lot.
Usenet was also VERY white and male and nerdy and in hindsight we tolerated a lot of shit that drove out anyone who wasn’t that and helped get the world to the crisis it’s in today.
Paul in KY
@Fair Economist: She had no idea she’d be running for office? Seems like a Pro Tip ™ to keep your hatred of country music to yourself when in Nashville, TN (and contemplating running or running for office).
Professor Bigfoot
@LAC: the one flaw of the pie filter is that anyone who replies to the pied one also becomes dessert.
Well, perhaps not a flaw; and in any case as you say— the toggle button is always there. (also the obligatory “yeesh, that’s why I pied that one in the first place”)
Miss Bianca
@Professor Bigfoot: things I discovered recently: back in the 1800s, the term “cowboy” referred almost exclusively to Black cattle drovers. It transferred gradually to black and white guys alike. “Vaquero” was the term of art earlier in the century, reflecting the fact that they were largely Hispanic until the white Anglo-Saxon invasion came over the Mississippi.
WaterGirl
@iKropoclast: You have taken breaks from Balloon Juice before, and breaks aren’t necessarily a bad thing.
People come and people go, they get busy or they lose interest, or get mad, or disagree about something that matters to them.
But I hate to see anyone leave because of how they are treated.
Not suggesting that this applies to you, or that it doesn’t, but if someone vehemently disagrees with a person on the blog, and a few more people chime in, it’s easy to feel like everyone agrees with them.
But that’s seldom the case.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@lowtechcyclist: I don’t agree with you. We have multiple generals in the military. We can have multiple generals in the party as well. A speakers role is to count votes and hold the coalition together. Others can and have taken on the media / social media work. AOC for instance isn’t much of a legislator, but she’s a very capable spokesperson. It is unrealistic to expect one person to be extremely good at all of those things. They are flawed human beings. To insist they be anything else is also magical thinking.
Quinerly
@eclare:
I can’t remember if I mentioned the other day….her sister mentioned that Marsha had choked/gagged several times in the past months when they were out. Managed it on her own by going to the bathroom.
I think this was a ticking time bomb. She had had throat cancer in 2008. Lots of scar damage, throat/esophagus was narrower from tge surgery. Plus, all the surgeons did to save her vocal cords. I think there were some changes happening in her esophagus/throat in the last few months. Just my theory.
No one could dislodge this small piece of bread the traditional ways with a choking victim. At least that seems to be what I am understanding. She just went too long without oxygen…even once the ambulance arrived.
I’m out of here….off the comments. Big cooking day. We have snow here in Santa Fe. JoJo las Orejas is very restless. “My Gay Son I Never Had” is coming for a visit next week.
Once I processed in my mind how long she went without oxygen I decided to stay put here. Her daughter flew in to St. Louis. Her sister was there. Nothing I could do. “My” Marsha, my best friend, left this world in the back of ambulance parking lot at Lowe’s. Only her body was left hooked up to machines the last few days.
Take care.
Matt McIrvin
@Professor Bigfoot: If there are a lot of pied replies from people I usually find interesting, I’ll toggle them to get a feel for what’s up and read the conversation or not.
WaterGirl
@dm: Can you put that in context for us?
Paul in KY
@Karen Gail: The ones with real wood were from the 40s and early 50s. Gas was 10 cents a gal then. Think they stopped making them cause they didn’t sell enough to offset the work needed to make one.
Some of them did look pretty sweet, IMO.
Paul in KY
@schrodingers_cat: Jesus! Being called a ‘Trumper’ sends you to the fainting couch?! Oh…the horror.
Just laugh at them or tell them to FOITS. You know (and we know) you’re not a ‘Trumper’.
Paul in KY
@Quiltingfool: The last one I loved got assassinated.
Bill Arnold
@Professor Bigfoot:
ICE does have automation and surveillance technologies that the East Germans did not have.
Immigration agents have new technology to identify and track people (November 8, 2025, Jude Joffe-Block, NPR)
Paul in KY
@Professor Bigfoot: I know. I saw the drone film and if any of those poor devils who survived had any ideas in their heads beyond ‘Aieeeee, the painnnnn’ and shock from the explosion I would have wanted them picked up to study to see how they were able to ‘complete their mission’ after being blown six ways from Hell.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@jonas: An authentic moderate would never propose defunding the police because they would see that as an extreme position that is counter productive. Its not about triangulation to win elections. Its about policies that are effective. They would favor one of the various ideas for reform, but not something that is, from the beginning, likely to result in unintentional negative outcomes.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Quinerly: That is terrible. May her memory be a blessing.
Paul in KY
@Gin & Tonic: Agree!
Paul in KY
@Quinerly: Very sorry to hear of that. After your 1st posts, I figured that was coming. I hope she didn’t suffer. My condolences to you and her family.
Paul in KY
@Quinerly: Wish you would stay and comment. You can just ‘walk on by’ when you get to a comment by one of the whiners.
schrodingers_cat
@Paul in KY: I was paraphrasing it was a wall of text. It was a screed.
Paul in KY
@Quinerly: Hope you have a great and fun visit and think about all the good times you enjoyed with her!
schrodingers_cat
@Paul in KY: Are you calling me a whiner? If standing up for myself and noticing the double standards regarding comment policy makes me a whiner than so be it.
geg6
@Geminid:
I await that with bated breath. And I’ll be happy to be wrong about him. But I still don’t think he has “it.” And I do not believe he actually gets where the party is. Much like Schumer or Jared Polis or Tim Kaine or Seth Moulton. But sure, take me with a grain of salt because I dare criticize those who profess to lead us. The hive mind around here is starting to feel very GOPer. Never criticize, the leaders are always right! Why do you hate America and its great leaders l?!?!
And as for the commenter telling Shapiro to take a seat because he feels mischaracterized by Harris and says so, all I have to say is take a look at who can win a state like PA, including racking up numbers in red counties. And look at how he has governed (quite well and has had coattails). Then tell me who should be taking a seat.
Paul in KY
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: Any politician who wants to be elected in the US (IMO) who embraces ‘defund the police’ is an idiot. Maybe if your voters are +17 Green.
I’m sure ratfuckers of some type came up with that stupid slogan.
Paul in KY
@schrodingers_cat: IMO, you give them too much agency to ‘live in your head’. Just laugh at what they write, pie them, respond with some invective of your own, ignore the post and poster.
It’s just some doofus commenting on BJ (and this applies to me and all of us).
Quinerly
@Paul in KY:
Thanks. Was just closing this tab. Saw your comment. Thank you for your sweet words.
To be honest, it’s not just the same whiners. I have a real problem with how Kay was treated here. Plus, something that went down behind the scenes when Ozark died. Mostly, I don’t think I can get past those two things. I think I can, then realize I can’t.
So it’s more than just the one commenter who can’t get past her grievances and grudges that pollute so many threads.
I still may pop by from time to time if it looks like a lively thread with some “old timers.” And, I am planning a big CA roadtrip in Jan/Feb. May come by on a truly open thread to seek some tips and advice.
Take care.
Paul in KY
@schrodingers_cat: I do think you whine sometimes. Opinion from a doofus that shouldn’t matter to a hill of beans.
Quinerly
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:
Thank you.
(When I scroll thru the comments, I always look for your nym.)
Paul in KY
@Quinerly: Best wishes on all you do. That road trip sounds sweet. Be careful on the freeways. Lots of idiots seem to have cars/trucks these days.
geg6
@hueyplong:
Absolutely true.
Quinerly
You know…..”broken record” is a better description.
Back to my killer “Hungarian Mushroom Soup.” Pro tip! Penzey’s has the best paprika! 3 kinds!
Quinerly
@Paul in KY:
I’m a back roads chick! CA has some good ones. And, cool small towns.
Geminid
@Paul in KY: The “Defund the Police” slogan came from activists during 2020 controversies over policing. Some Democratic politicians picked it up which I thought was a bad idea. They pretty much dropped it afterwards.
Rep. Cory Bush remained stubborn on the issue until she herself was dropped by MO-01 voters in the 2022 primary. Now, it’s pretty much the Republicans who utter the slogan while attempting to pin it on Democrats.
TONYG
Maybe Lauren Boebert will be the next to quit. The three of them can form an all-Nazi girl group!
frosty
@Omnes Omnibus: @schrodingers_cat: I went back and looked. It was the Tuesday morning Open Thread and Krope’s comment was egregious. Five separate jackals called out the comment and said it was a violation of the blog’s commenting rules.
Belafon
@Geminid: We all hate poll testing, but many slogans are only understood in context, and they are far too easy to manipulate if you don’t have that context.
HinTN
@Baud: She increased D votes in the District 7 part of Nashville over the 2024 election. She increased D votes in EVERY county in District 7 over 2024. The full interview where she “dissed” country music and Nashville was about how Nashville and it’s tourist industry could be better. The quote was, surprise, cherry picked.
schrodingers_cat
@Paul in KY:Its not the opinion of the doofus that matters its how the blog comment policy such as it is, is applied. If you notice I don’t try to argue with them for the most part.
Belafon
@geg6: When I saw all of the possible VP choices on the Men for Harris feed, he gave off “in it for myself” vibes, and at the end, I was not impressed.
Geminid
@geg6: I don’t get this “Hive-mind” stuff. There were as many people here criticizing Jeffries yesterday as there were people standing up for him. And the criticism began with the front-pager who described Jeffries’ response to Cuellar pardon and found it deficient.
Geminid
@Belafon: Context certainly matters. I respected the learned experience of the activists who came up with the phrase “Defund the Police.”
My problem at the time was with the relatively small number of Democratic politicians who adopted it uncritically. I did not need poll testing to understand that politically, the slogan was a lemon.
geg6
@Belafon:
Whatever. I never saw that so I have no idea. What I do have is experience with him as my State Attorney General and Governor. What you saw in a, what, five minute zoom call? is not sufficient to judge someone who you know nothing about. The guy is always super enthusiastic, always smiling and connects with voters. He’s been around 60% approval for months and months. This is a swing state. You don’t get numbers like that if you are unlikable.
Soprano2
@eclare: I agree, I saw it and it was egregious and nasty.
goodmatt
@RaflW: Behn was mainstream enough to get $1 million from the House Majority PAC. These centrist turds need to shut their yaps.
Betty Cracker
@Geminid: Just want to note that I provided a video clip so readers could assess Jeffries’ (crappy, IMO) response to the Cuellar pardon for themselves. Will also note I have approvingly posted clips of Jeffries when I thought he was on point. I’m not a hater.
But I get where geg6 is coming from with the “hive-mind” thing, It’s true that there were detractors in that thread, but there are more than a few commenters who seem to regard any criticism of Jeffries as a sign of ignorance about how the government functions, racism, susceptibility to foreign ops, or some combination of the above.
It’s ironic to me because, before we morphed into the Daily Airing of the Grievances, we discussed politics, critiqued politicians of all stripes in less than deferential terms and argued about all manner of things — and did it fairly peaceably compared to now.
At least, that’s my impression. I miss those days. It can still be like that sometimes but less and less, it seems. Oh well.
gvg
@Paul in KY: My grandfather restored one that had been wrecked before I was born. He also died before I was born, but the project of restoration was so impressive that my 82 year old dad still talks about it occaisionally. Parts were not as casually available to be ordered or afforded. He had to machine some parts and CARVE the sides and roof supports! Wooden car sides were a bad idea. They could be destroyed in an accident and didn’t hold up to water well at all. Fake wood was a much better idea on cars outsides. This is reality.
Dad said it was beautiful when done of course, but also cars didn’t last very long back then. Only a few years and terrible by our standards. Thats why people used to try to buy a new one every 2 years.
Soprano2
@Quinerly: I guess you missed our thread that turned into a discussion of Chico’s and their unusual sizing. LOL
But yeah, I take your point. I read what I want and take from it what I can, but I understand how some of the same complaining over and over can be wearing. I think that happens pretty much everywhere, though.
tam1MI
I have to agree with you on this one. That turd of a book that Harris dropped had really soured me on her, to the point where I believe Shapiro over her on this matter.
eclare
@Soprano2:
Thanks, I guess I missed that thread. Again, anytime I’ve contacted someone they respond. So that was all I was suggesting.
eclare
@Quinerly:
Please check in when you’re on the road, I loved when you went out west from St. Louis and talked about your adventures.
eclare
@tam1MI:
I do too.
WTFGhost
@Baud: Well, remember, Johnson is one of those children who can’t be with a woman unchaperoned. I assume women terrify such men.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
FWIW, I don’t view the past BJ as any more tolerant than the current BJ.
I think it’s more that the political landscape has changed.
ETA: I also agree with Geminid about the hive mind thing. I think it’s a little condescending. People, of course, don’t have to listen to other people’s views, but I don’t think it’s helpful to be dismissive.
Jackie
@Betty Cracker:
I share your impression. And hope it will again be so.
Geminid
@Betty Cracker: I was not criticizing you, today or yesterday. I only mentioned your role in order to push back on the hive mind notion.
It’s one one thing to criticize, and it’s another to exaggerate. I pushed back yesterday on the people I thought were exaggerating Jeffries’ faults.
In my first reply, I just pointed out to someone that Cuellar wasn’t a convicted criminal like he said, but was rather had only been indicted (I though that was a relevent distinction when judging Jeffries, although I did not say this because this was so obvious).
So that was all I said, and it was just a fact. Then someone jumped on me for saying it. They picked that fight, and then so far as I was concerned it was game on.
I spend enough time on left wing social media spaces to know there is a cohort of people who’ve made a mission out of tearing Hakeem Jeffries down. They get very little pushback on those spaces, and I think people can be a little surprised when they bring it here and find there are people who do push back.
When someone pushes a story like, “Hakeem Jeffries is on a children’s book tour,” people here will do the research to prove that this wasn’t even a half truth. But stories like that live on anyway, as I saw today.
I happen to think Hakeem Jeffries is a very valuable member of my party, not unlike the way many other people view Rep. Ocasio-Cortez as valuable. So I am going to defend Jeffries when I think he’s being unfairly attacked.
That was what happened on yesterday’s thread, when there were just as many– if not more– people disparaging Jeffries, calling him a “chump” etc. as there were defending him. That’s why I don’t buy the “hive mind” charge.
LAC
@Baud: Amen to that. We really have some rose colored glasses going on about the past here. People have been dismissed and the hive mentality has been here. However, because there is value in some of the front page posting here and the insight of some of the posters here, a lot of us less valued voices make a way here.
I am grateful for the newer unapologetic voices that challenge. We are not going back to what it was in this country and we need to hear those voices over and over to remind us of the stakes if we have a chance to take some normalcy back. And if you are still learning from different perspectives, then it is not whining or airing boring old grievances.
TurnItOnAndOffAgain
@WaterGirl:
Feels like this has made schrodinger’s cat’s point for her
Betty Cracker
@Baud: Maybe you’re right. There were plenty of ugly slap-fights back in the day, and I don’t mean to sugarcoat that, but lately attitudes seem to have hardened into something a lot more rigid and less fun, at least from my perspective. Could be downstream of the general degradation of the political discourse, I dunno. Just wanted to note that I think it sucks!
@Geminid: I didn’t feel attacked by your comment, and I’m sorry if my response sounded like I did. We don’t always agree, but IMO, you’re one of the most level-headed and constructive voices in this space.
I hear what you’re saying about the hostility on leftish social media spaces; I see it aimed in all different directions, not just at Jeffries. I wonder if the curated bubbles we create for ourselves on places like Bluesky don’t contribute to the problem, perhaps even distorting perceptions of who is being attacked for what and why?
I don’t know what to do about it. Just wanted to note, again, that I think it sucks! ;-)
WaterGirl
@frosty: Not one person sent email to let us know about that comment. It takes a village, and when BJ peeps see something that’s out of line, the only way to be sure we have seen it is if people send email to me and John.
And we have to see it to take any action.
If you just send email to John, there’s a good chance he’ll never see it because he is not always good with his email.
i had one comment in that thread, so it was a reply to Gin & Tonic at #8, so I apparently wasn’t active in that thread to see it in real time.
WaterGirl
@TurnItOnAndOffAgain: What point are you referring to?
Also wondering what in this comment from me is what leaves you thinking I made her point. Or maybe you were speaking more generally?
Paul in KY
@Geminid: I would still bet money that the activists who championed it the most had some ratfuckers in their midst. Like at the Commie meeting, the person who brings up violent action and the like is the police plant.
Paul in KY
@gvg: You had to be a craftsman of the highest quality and perseverance to restore one of those! What a job.
The fake wood (IMO) I saw on the 70s versions really looked fake.
Paul in KY
@Baud: When someone’s views disagree (pointedly) with your own, you can’t let that get you down. I’m just some dude in KY. You’re just someone who doesn’t wear pants.
Don’t let them live rent-free in your head. If being ‘dismissive’ of their comments/opinions is how you do it, then that’s how you do it.
Paul in KY
@Geminid: I think Rep. Jeffries has a very tough job. I think he’s doing a fine job. I assume he has so many things going on and to think about strategically.
I still didn’t like him throwing TACO a metaphorical bone (that he will distort) on the border security. I assume there’s some chess going on there, though.
Baud
@Paul in KY:
You’re a little bit country. I’m a little bit rock and roll!
satby
@NotMax: it was a great video. Those kids (and the parents that encourage their work) are true community heros.
dnfree
@Jackie: I think Bari Weiss is in WAY over her head and her level of competence, like some other people (Olivia Nuzzi in a management position at Vanity Fair??)
TurnItOffAndOnAgain
@WaterGirl: Her point that there’s a double standard.
As frosty points out, five posters objected to krop calling cat evil, and yet krop’s getting the reassurance from a front pager.
satby
@TurnItOnAndOffAgain: it did, and very perceptive of you.
And I’m aware that
thea moderator was emailed about the issue, but not by me.Corrected since it could have gone to JG.
WaterGirl
@TurnItOffAndOnAgain: 5 posters objected in the comments in a thread I was not reading, and 0 people followed the procedure of sending email to john and me.
You can’t address what you don’t know about.
I stand by this comment, because it’s true:
I was sorry when MomSense left, hell, I’m still sorry. Did things get heated in July? Holy hell, yes they did. Could some people not let it go? It’s true, some people could not. And we lost good people who had been part of this community for a very long time.
My point was that people come and people go, and that’s the way of things, but I do hate to see people leave because of how they are treated.
I stand by that, too.
I don’t see how that has any more or less to do with SC than any other person on this blog.
2liberal
@Mr. Mack: I get pinged for $13.99 per month to sign up for Youtube premium, haven’t done it so far.
2liberal
I’m running Chrome under Windows 11 with UBLOCK ORIGIN LITE ad blocker and I don’t get ads.
Ramona
This may well be true of Grant but so far he is the hottest-looking POTUS we’ve ever had!
Ramona
@Kathleen: Love this word “chatterratties” which you’ve coined!
Ramona
@schrodingers_cat: But, but, these reflexive R voters “don’t see color”.! /s
Paul in KY
@Baud: Touche.
TurnItOffAndOnAgain
@WaterGirl:
You’re putting words in my mouth; I didn’t ask you to address anything. I pointed out that you were making cat’s case for her, you asked how, and I told you.
Maybe, because there are going to be incidents you don’t/can’t/won’t know about, you should make sure you know what’s going on before you jump in and back up one poster when they could be the aggressor and/or the inciting incident and isn’t the one who could use the backup.
Cat has pointed out they’ve been targeted multiple times before with no one backing them up, and I can confirm that. So maybe ask more questions before jumping in?
WaterGirl
@TurnItOffAndOnAgain: I disagree with your premise that I “jumped in and backed” Krope.
O. Felix Culpa
@WaterGirl: Well, akshully, yes you did. Apparently without informing yourself about the circumstances first, per your own comments. So that’s a tell too.