Thank you, Adam:
đťđ¸ The sky is blue, the mood is cheerful, and only this red-haired beauty knows the secret to true happiness: find a warm brick, stretch out comfortably, put your face in the sun, and forget about all your problems! It's spring!
— Vitalis Viva (@vitalisviva.bsky.social) March 2, 2026 at 8:02 AM
Stand Up For Science, March 7th, 2025 and again next week. Spread the word, please. www.standupforscience.net/march7
— Matt Beckman (@daphsci.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 9:59 AM
Every Lunar New Year for the past 14 years, a Southern California Buddhist temple has displayed what it calls the "10,000 Buddha Relics."
— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) March 1, 2026 at 1:00 PM
(Even though my parents were college educated, I grew up in a home with plaster saints, scapulars, holy cards, and an array of ‘special’ rosaries. People like aids to religious belief that they can see & touch.)
Hundreds of people gathered here at a temple believed to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna, one of the most revered Hindu gods. They are here to celebrate Holi, the festival marking the arrival of spring.
— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) March 2, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Elon Musk is expected to take the stand in a shareholder trial Wednesday in San Francisco, where heâs accused of making false and misleading statements that drove down Twitterâs stock price before he bought the social media platform for $44 billion in 2022.
— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) March 4, 2026 at 5:00 AM
BREAKING: State Rep. James Talarico wins the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Texas.
— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) March 4, 2026 at 2:50 AM
BREAKING: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. John Cornyn advance to a May runoff in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate. bit.ly/4b0Ldyz
— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) March 3, 2026 at 10:52 PM
What just happened in Dallas County is one of the most blatant voter suppression operations I've ever seenâand it happened in a *primary*.
In March. Imagine November.
I broke it down here:
open.substack.com/pub/objectio…— Eliza Orlins (@elizaorlins.bsky.social) March 3, 2026 at 11:29 PM
Baud
Congrats to Talarico. Crockett vs. Cruz next.
I was surprised to see that Cornyn ended up with more votes
Crenshaw lost.
Barbara
At least as of this morning, there were nearly 100,000 more people who voted in the Democratic Senate primary than in the Republican Senate primary. Who knows what that means for the general, but it can’t be a bad sign.
Overnight, Crockett’s margin in both Harris and Dallas counties went down — from +8 to +4 and +23 to +19 respectively. I assume that’s why they called it for Talarico with a decent number of votes still to be counted.
Geminid
@Baud: Republican David Toth beat Rep. Dan Crenshaw by over 10 points in a primary from the right.
And it looks like Republican Rep. Anthony Gonzales and challenger Brandon Herrera are headed for a runoff in Gonzalez’s Rio Grand Valley district.
That district could be a pickup opportunity for Dems. On the other hand, Republicans will try hard to flip Vicente Gonzalez’s and Henry Cuellar’s RGV districts.
Baud
@Geminid:
Al Greene is in a run off on our side.
Kayla Rudbek
Almost the same here (although my parents didnât wear scapulars), and I have my own collection of tangible religious objects (great-grandmaâs rosary, grandpaâs Last Rites kit, various Marian statues, etc.)
This is what drives me nuts when dealing with the fundie/evangelical Protestants and the computer science techbros who follow TESCREAL alike. Â We are material beings living in a material world, not disembodied brains alone. Itâs like theyâre possessed by Gnostic aliens who hate being born into physical bodies.
Geminid
From Ankara-based Clash Report:
lowtechcyclist
I clicked on the link, but it was all about March 7, and I couldn’t see anything at all about next week.
While it’s important to stand up for science, it feels a bit beside the point to have a rally right now about some other issue besides this horrible and nonsensical war. With all due respect, they really should just switch gears and make it an antiwar rally. If there is an “again next week” they can have the science march then.
oldster
I wish that I lived in a country in which I could have been happy about Crockett winning.
But given the country that I do live in, I am happy that Talarico won.
Baud
@Barbara:
Nothing is 100%, but the bean counters are usually accurate.
narya
@Barbara: I was wondering if something like that happened with Crockett’s margins.
They showed their “all the fuckery” hand last night (Paxton, etc.), which I hope the Ds in Texas can address, what with NOT having a continuing vicious primary fight like the Rs have.
Shalimar
axios.com/2026/03/03/trump-netanyahu-call-iran-war-israel-coordination
Iran strike happened when it did because it was their chance to get Khamanei and other leaders confirmed in the same place and there was no guarantee it would happen again. This explains a lot of the details (like not bragging in advance at the State of the Union) and the complete lack of a post-1st-strike plan pretty well, though it also includes the alarming detail that Trump had wanted to strike the week before when we were even less prepared.
suzanne
I am hoping that Cornyn and Paxton just beat the hell out of one another. Injuries FTW!!!
Baud
Every race is different, but I wonder if Massie is going to suffer the same fate as Crenshaw.
prostratedragon
Blissful kitty!
Another Scott
Congratulations to Talarico and condolences to Crockett and her supporters.
TexasTribune.org has what seems to be a good summary of the contest. Talarico won the money race by a lot, and Crockett may have jumped in the race too late.
She won a lot of votes in the eastern 1/3 of the state, votes that Talarico will need. I hope that he and she work together to unify their camps because this really is a year when the stars are aligning to have a good shot to flip that senate seat.
I’m reminded that friend of the blog Adam Schiff seemed to shift to a little more moderate/centrist tack when he started running for Senator in California, and it worked for him. Maybe Crockett will need to do that in future races as well (at least for a while).
I hope we see more of her. It would be delicious if she defeated Ted Cruz in the 2030 cycle…
“Just win, baby!” – NP
Forward!!
Best wishes,
Scott.
Baud
@Another Scott:
I’ll be surprised if Crockett doesn’t end up a team player. Unfortunately, the situation in Dallas will force things to be drawn out a couple of extra days.
Interesting Name Goes Here
Can we really call Talarico’s win a win when Paxton’s bullshit was allowed to go down the way it did? That order was aimed strictly at Democratic voters, and in the two areas Crockett was expected to perform strongest.
That this is getting as little attention as it is is deeply disconcerting…and yet, completely unsurprising. I guess if Talarico had been the loser, holy hell would have been raised then. But since it was the lady whoÂ
was black“took too much money from AIPAC”, no one gives a shit.Hannah
@Another Scott: I was about to post the Texas Tribune link â good article. Crockett joined the race too late for me, and I donât know whom Iâd have supported if sheâd announced around the same time he did.
Baud
@Interesting Name Goes Here:
My understanding is that the margins are big enough that his win will be a win regardless. I agree that the Texas government acted horribly, and the margins shouldn’t give them a pass.
100%. But those people would have been terrible people.
prostratedragon
suzanne
Just saw on Xhitter that Crockett said she called Talarico and congratulated him on the win. So she must think that the outstanding votes won’t make up her margin.
Anyway, I hope Texas Democrats can get behind Talarico and unify now. This race got somewhat nasty in recent days, and I’m hoping that’s just online nonsense and not real life.
twbrandt
Crockett conceded to Talarico, says she is committed to turning Texas blue.
ETA: What suzanne said.
Chief Oshkosh
@Another Scott: Hm. I take a different lesson from last night’s shenanigans and outcome. I think Talarico needs to become Crockett’s new, and sincere, best friend. He needs all the black, white, brown, Christian, non-Christian, female, male, LGBTQ, straight, young, middle-aged, and old votes that he can get.
IOW: he needs to turn out the base 100%. I suspect the shenanigans will taint him as the candidate that the Republicans wanted, so he needs representatives from all of the various Democratic groups to come out strongly for him. Black women, IMO, are the heart of this (as, indeed, they are for all Democratic successes going forward (ETA: and many in the past)).
Again, in my opinion.
Shalimar
@Interesting Name Goes Here: I don’t think Paxton’s bullshit made any difference. Those who showed up after the official close time did end up voting under the initial court order, so we know how many votes that was. Whether those votes are counted or not, it doesn’t sound like it was enough votes to help Crockett catch up.
The real fuckery was the Secretary of State’s website with the old precinct maps when they have had half a year to update after redistricting. Hard to believe that wasn’t intentional to lower turnout, and it created chaos all day.
prostratedragon
@Another Scott:Â Since Crockett entered so late, I’ve wondered if the idea weren’t to build organization for 2030 using this run as an excercise.
J.
That Substack post about Republican shenanigans in Texas is very disturbing. It may not have mattered much in the primary, but as Orlins writes, it doesn’t bode well for the general election.
Jackie
@Baud:
I think Massieâs stance on getting the Epstein files released and fighting FOR the victims – rather than trying to protect the millionaire pedophiles – will help him win handily. MHO
Baud
@twbrandt:
As expected. A team player.
Betty Cracker
Saw a brief clip interview with the chair of the TX Dems (Scudder?), who seems very on the ball. He was rightly raising holy hell about Republican fuckery with the polling sites.
Baud
Not that we shouldn’t be highly suspicious of what Texas will do in November, but my understanding is that this particular problem was facilitated by the fact that the Republicans and Democrats and different polling locations for the primary.
Another Scott
@Betty Cracker: Indeed – we need to scream about every voter suppression effort.
But we also need to impress upon our voters that they really need to vote early if at all possible. The monsters will continue to try to make election day difficult for Democrats. Route around it – Vote Early!!
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Chief Oshkosh
@Shalimar: The information and analysis at Objection suggests that it’s unclear whether the final outcome wasn’t affected. Your take assumes that everyone who set out yesterday to vote were able to get to the “correct” voting place and then cast a vote that was then tallied (not even “counted”, just tallied).
Barbara
@Chief Oshkosh: I don’t think Talarico is the candidate that Republicans wanted. The areas where Talarico was strongest included the Texas border areas — as in, areas where Hispanic voters are most numerous. These voters are probably at higher risk than ever of migrating to an appealing D candidate in the general.
lowtechcyclist
@suzanne:
Her calling him up to congratulate him is an important first step. Those calls used to be automatic, but not so much anymore.
Like pretty much everyone here, I’m sure, I too am rooting that Texas Dems come together quickly and that Crockett actively campaigns for Talarico. If we can get high turnout in November, I figure the wounds inflicted over the next 12 weeks on the GOP side won’t all heal in the following five months, and we ought to have a decent chance.
ETA:
@Chief Oshkosh:
This. Very much this. It can’t all be on Crockett’s side, it has to be both of them.
Barbara
@Baud: Different polling places was a “new” thing, which is why many Democratic voters were confused when they turned up to their normal polling place and were directed to somewhere else.
Chief Oshkosh
@Baud: Right, but every state has its voting foibles. One party has spent decades probing for processes and circumstances that can be unethically turned to their benefit.
Chief Oshkosh
@Barbara: Well then I guess they shouldn’t have screwed up the voting in Harris County, which is her stronghold.
Baud
@Chief Oshkosh:
No doubt. I’m just saying that this particular tactic probably won’t be useful in November.
Jackie
We have learned, in todayâs Republican Party, scandal and corruption doesnât hurt candidates. To the contrary: Being the worst has become a selling point to GOP voters, who conflate odious behavior with being a âfighterâ on behalf of their increasingly tribalistic interests.
Paxton, Gonzales and FFOTUS are proof.
Shalimar
@Chief Oshkosh: That is not what I said. A lot of people did not get to vote because they got the wrong location from the Secretary of State’s website, and it absolutely could have changed the outcome.
The last minute intervention by Paxton was pointless and outrageous but it didn’t keep anyone from voting because it didn’t come until the very end of the 2-hour extension.
Barbara
@Chief Oshkosh: It’s unknowable how many people just gave up and didn’t vote, and so we can’t assume that the results would have been the same. However, the turnout was sufficiently high to at least doubt that the number who gave up was enough to change the outcome. As I noted above, the turnout among Ds was as of this morning 100,000 more than in the R primary.
It’s also the case that the issues occurred primarily in two places — one of which was a Talarico stronghold and one of which was a Crockett stronghold.
But yeah, it sucks and is an outrage that it’s even a question.
lowtechcyclist
@prostratedragon:
Maybe, but I’d think it would be hard to keep an organization intact that long in between campaigns. Even the people getting paid will have other opportunities, and the volunteers will have other things to do.
Balconesfault
I have a Facebook friend in Texas who has been involved in Republican politics her whole life and was a Railroad Commissioner a while back but she’s largely given up the politics game now.
In discussions on her page yesterday about the Senate Primary in Texas, the number of her Republican friends who outright declare that John Cornyn is a RINO is a scary reflection of where that party is now.
suzanne
@Barbara: When I lived in Arizona, voters of all parties voted in the same locations. But the actual polling places often changed. Sometimes even in the same year. When I canvassed and did phone calls, much of my time was just spent on making sure people knew where their polling places were, knew how to get there either on foot or on public transport, etc. Just a terrible system. I often wondered how many times would-be voters showed up at the place they went the time before and then gave up.
Here in PA….. every time I have voted has been at the same place.
LAC
@Baud: you know what might help with her becoming a “team player”? Not having what happened in Harris county and the general fuckery yesterday being blown past because the result is such a relief to some here.
Whatever…I hope we do not not get another Beto situation in the fall.
Josie
An interested thing I noticed. The chairman of the Dallas County Republican party who set this clusterfuck in motion is Alan West, of Tea Party fame. He was originally from Florida and moved from there to Texas to do his dirty work.
H.E.Wolf
Electoral Vote’s blog post today opens with a detailed write-up of the TX primaries â there are a lot more of them than I had on my radar!
Also some NC results, and 1 in AR.
electoral-vote.com/evp2026/Items/Mar04-1.html
Geminid
@Jackie: The Iran war will likely help Massie. He is out of step with Congressional Republicans in that he opposes it, but I think many, maybe even a majority, of Republican base voters oppose it also.
The primary will be May 19, so the war will be fresh in people’s memories– unless it’s still ongoing, in which case Massie ought to win easily.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
One thing that AOC in particular (there are others) has demonstrated over the past several years is that it’s possible to be a liberal firebrand without crapping on the party. Crockett’s clearly figured that out as well. Hopefully this path will get more and more traction among folks at the left edge of the party.
Belafon
@suzanne: I don’t know if there’s something they can say that would make Republicans not get out and vote for them in the general election, but we’ll see. Both of them are already anti-Sharia, anti-trans, pro-concentration camp. Paxton just yells louder.
Barbara
@suzanne: My polling place has changed several times over the last 30+ years. I have noticed that churches and schools are less willing to serve as polling places. However, the rise of early in person voting has helped a lot. We have three early voting locations and you can go any day and any time you want during business hours and even on the weekend.
Baud
@LAC:
I agree. I hope Talarico speaks loudly about it.
H.E.Wolf
Another good resource for election info is “Taniel”, aka Daniel Nichanian:
bsky.app/profile/taniel.bsky.social
Jackie
@Shalimar:
It may have prevented those votes from being counted! Maybe these votes wouldnât have changed THIS outcome, but it certainly could in other close elections. And next time it wonât be a Primary Election. Not having oneâs vote counted due to a republicanâs shenanigans is the point that must be prevented in future elections.
eta: This is why FFOTUS doesnât want vote by mail.
Msb
@J.: yep. But people shouldnât be scared, they should be forewarned.
âDonât agonize, organize!â
Everyone who means to vote D needs to understand that ratf***ing will come hard and heavy, and prepare in every possible way to overcome it. This means actions from individuals, such as checking your registration status, finding out in advance where to vote, voting early if at all possible and knowing what to do if you run into trouble at the polling station. D organizations need to both inform voters on those topics and make plans for all the nastiness we will see. Assistance hotlines from just before the polls open sound like a good idea, for example. We will need to lawyer up, as attacks on absentee voting can be expected, along with sudden rule changes. Those with money to give to orgs such as Democracy Docket and Democracy Forward should be donating it; those with time to give should do that. BJ does a lot of this stuff all the time – we just need more of it, from more people.
Reading about Paxtonâs intervention in Dallas County, I thought he was trying to sow discord among the Ds – he knows his own fight with Cornyn will be quite nasty. Sounds like both Crockett and Talarico are both way too smart to fall for that, which raises my already high opinion of both. Letâs see if their supporters are just as sharp. I hope so.
montanareddog
Stephen Collins on Expat Influencers in Dubai
Barbara
@Belafon: They aren’t anti-Sharia, it’s just that their form of Sharia wears — what can I say — a supposedly Christian veil.
Geminid
@Jackie: Anthony Gonzalez’s opponent, Brandon Herrera, is extreme even for a Republican. A less toxic challenger might well have beaten Gonzalez.
Belafon
@Interesting Name Goes Here: I suspect she conceded because there was no way the areas affected in Dallas were going to make up the 150K vote lead he had.
But I do have a question: Did the Democratic party not have anything set up for this? I live in a nearby country, and generally hear most of what’s going on in Dallas, and did not know about this until the evening.
Josie
@Msb:Â â
Great comment. Thank you.
Belafon
@Baud: In Rockwall country, you chose the party you were there for on the computer, and the ballot was coded for that party. So there was no need for even separate polling rooms.
suzanne
@lowtechcyclist:
Yeah. This is why I push back (sometimes) when people here complain about “progressives”, “the Left”, etc. I’m like…. you do realize that you’re crapping mostly on fellow Democrats and Dem-leaning voters, right?
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
I’d been reading yesterday that this tactic, for whatever reason, was being done just for the primary, and in November it’ll be back to voting at any polling location in one’s county. (If I have that wrong, hopefully one of our Texans will speak up.)
But there’s no reason why it couldn’t be used effectively by the GOP in a statewide general election if it can still be used, since apparently it could be done selectively by county. You use it to hold down turnout in heavily Dem counties, and it takes more votes away from the Dem candidate.
For example, if a county that would have gone Dem by 1,000,000 to 500,000 reduces turnout by 20% across the board, that’s now 800K to 400K, and the Dem margin has been cut into by 100,000.
Baud
@LAC:
I don’t know what this means. I think either Dem would have had an uphill climb in November.
Baud
@suzanne:
Or centrists, right?
suzanne
@Baud: Talarico has already said that there was fuckery both in Crockett’s county, as well as his, and that he wants all of those votes counted.
Saving the rocks in pocket for Republicans….. good.
Baud
@suzanne:
Ok, good. Counting the votes doesn’t deal with the problem of people not voting, but there’s no solution to that.
trnc
@Shalimar:
I don’t keep up with the details of Texas politics, so I don’t know what’s been done or not done by the parties and candidates regarding elections logistics and I don’t want to blame the victims here, but my question is – did the state democratic party and/or candidates try to get the Texas SOS to update the site after the law changed? I understand Texas state govt is full of ratfuckers, but I’d like to know what dems requested before the primary.
Baud
Via reddit
suzanne
@Baud: Sure. But I see, at least here, much less crapping on “centrists” or “moderates” as a group. Criticism seems to me to be more specifically directed to pols like Sinema, Fetterman, etc. Who thoroughly deserve it.
My personal thought is: the pols sign up for this and being criticized is part of the deal. They get to be held accountable for how they vote and the stances they take.
Chief Oshkosh
@Shalimar: Ah, got it. Thanks.
Belafon
@Balconesfault: The Republican campaign ads on the Right here in Texas have been absurd.
Belafon
@Barbara: Yeah, they want to be the militantly religious force in this country.
Eyeroller
@Belafon: My state also has open primaries (these seem to be common in Southern states with a history of one-party rule). We don’t even declare party membership when we register. But we use paper ballots that are scanned. So one just requests the appropriate ballot.
Shalimar
@Jackie: Reporter on MSNOW last night said the disputed votes are put aside and whether or not to count them is a decision that will be made by a county election board of Democrats next Monday. The Democratic party oversaw this primary, not the state. It is possible the local board will not decide because the Texas Supreme Court decision takes precedence, but I believe they will at least tally them so we know how many votes are in dispute.
trnc
Plenty of people here and all across the dem blogs I’ve seen have expressed outrage at the ratfuckery. If you have a plan of action that you believe will get all those votes counted, please share details.
suzanne
@Eyeroller: Same in PA, we just all go to the same polling place, we’re handed a paper ballot according to our registration, and there’s no segregation between Ds and Rs. Just a bunch of plastic dividers set up on one big table to make little booths.
WaterGirl
@lowtechcyclist:
I might just have to make that a rotating tag!
lowtechcyclist
@suzanne:
Agreed! And I’ve noticed and appreciate your pushing back about this.
Balconesfault
@suzanne: “This is why I push back (sometimes) when people here complain about âprogressivesâ, âthe Leftâ, etc. Iâm likeâŚ. you do realize that youâre crapping mostly on fellow Democrats and Dem-leaning voters, right?”
Generally when I make that complaint it’s because those progressives are busy Dem-Party bashing.
Belafon
@LAC:
I can’t tell whether you think Beto ran a bad campaign or if he ran a good campaign in a state where a Democrat wasn’t going to win (I believe the latter, since he did pretty much everything right, such as GOTV, visiting every county), but I will say this: If people are counting on Texas to get us a majority, then we are screwed. Republicans candidates here are more rabid than they were in 2024. Hopefully it will cause Republican voters to realize they don’t want that extremism and vote for Democrats, but I will be very surprised if it happens.
Shalimar
@trnc: I don’t know the answer, but it is an excellent and important question. The wrong polling locations on the state website is not something that should have only been noticed 2 hours into voting. Texas Democrats should have had someone checking well before election day.
lowtechcyclist
@WaterGirl:
I’d be totally fine with that. :-)
suzanne
@Balconesfault:
Are they? Because there’s a lot of progressive Democrats who don’t bash the party and who — as noted — simultaneously represent their politics and are good team players.
LAC
@trnc: No I don’t have a plan for something that should not have happened in the first place. I am expressing my frustration about a loss of a candidate I liked and a concern about voting issues that could be a precursor for the midterns. CAN I DO THIS? IS THAT OK WITH YOU?
JFC
prostratedragon
@lowtechcyclist:Â But it gives a starting point, a roster of people to keep up with, vontacts in various parts of the State, znd so on. If she does run in 2030 she’ll star cranking back up in earnest sometime in 2028, which is not that far off.
schrodingers_cat
@LAC: Kiplingers like our votes and labor. Then they want us STFU.
Kiplingers : Those who subscribe to the white man/woman’s burden and love non-white people as cheerleaders and followers and tolerate non-white people in supporting roles at most.
Omnes Omnibus
@suzanne: I would say that anyone who uses “feckless” unironically to describe any Democrat is doing bashing. That particular word has, IMO, become a tell from the left just like “Democrat Party” is a tell from the right.
Baud
@suzanne:
It wasn’t always like that here. In any event, since we can’t police everyone’s speech, my inclination is to police no one’s, when it comes to criticisms of various groups.
Gin & Tonic
@schrodingers_cat: I must be reading a different blog, because the overwhelming majority of commentary I have seen here on B-J has been of the “I’d be happy with either Crockett or Talarico” variety, and glancing back upthread I fail to see anyone “relieved” that Talarico won. I do see relief that it doesn’t look like the result will be divisive to the D cause, but I think that relief would be the same if Crockett had won and Talarico had called her this morning.
suzanne
@Omnes Omnibus: Is it “bashing” to have a negative impression of how a specific pol is performing at their job?
I agree that “feckless” specifically is a silly criticism, but I also think that there’s plenty of good Democratic voters who have valid criticisms of, say, Schumer, who catches “feckless” a lot.
Omnes Omnibus
Did I say that? No, I did not.
Gin & Tonic
@Omnes Omnibus:Â âAll these years and I still don’t know what the word means, and have lived a lifetime having never used it in writing or speaking.
LAC
@schrodingers_cat: It is ridiculous.  People have said odious things here, have had screaming tantrums, etc and coddling ensues. I am not immediately jumping on board and its “explain yourself!”. And just because it is not apparent to some doesn’t mean it is not there.
Yeah, its exhausting. But “listen to us”, amirite? đ¤Şđ
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: That’s because you have plenty of feck.
schrodingers_cat
@Gin & Tonic: Where did I say that all commenters on this blog or even this thread belong to the group I have described. But there is a non-trivial number of this faction among Ds and on BJ too.
Just because you don’t see something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
schrodingers_cat
@LAC: It is exhausting. T years have been enlightening in so many ways. You know who your friends are, you know who is barely tolerating you. And how bigotry manifests itself in our own ranks.
p.a.
@Omnes Omnibus:
@Gin & Tonic:
@Omnes Omnibus:
I thought it was just Irish pronunciation of…
/s
Melancholy Jaques
@Baud:
Have any Rs who oppose the cult leader survived a primary when the cult leader opposes them?
I don’t follow that party’s doing very closely.
suzanne
@Omnes Omnibus: No, you didn’t. I would agree that “feckless Democrats” is dumbass bashing. I do think there’s plenty of room to criticize Schumer’s effectiveness at certain aspects of his job — he specifically gets “feckless” thrown his way — and I consider that reasonable and not divisive “Dem bashing”. That’s the distinction I was trying to draw.
prostratedragon
@LAC:
With this guy right here* (and I could go on and on and on …) being unrestrained by his party in Congress, I hope Rep. Crockett will conclude that she is on the team trying to break thrugh that situation, and save matters not directly related to taking back the Congress for another day.
[Now also with Ecuador đťđŞ]
schrodingers_cat
@Melancholy Jaques: Murkowski comes to mind but such Rs have been few and far between.
Omnes Omnibus
@suzanne:Â â
There was a reason I used the specific words I used. I was pointing out a heuristic that I use to recognize what I would consider Dem bashing as opposed to criticism.
prostratedragon
@Msb:
âDonât agonize, organize!â
Yes!!
schrodingers_cat
Who has the source code to the pie filter?
Melancholy Jaques
@Gin & Tonic:
Feckless is one of those words that online people have fallen in love with. It is almost always used to describe Democrats.
suzanne
@Omnes Omnibus: I can see that. “Feckless” is a bit of a meme. As is “disarray”.
LAC
@prostratedragon: I guess you missed her call congratulating Talachio and her concession statement focusing on that. But thank you for making my point. Again, we sounded the alarm about this toad but it was not listened.
Paul in KY
@Baud: I doubt it. Have been wrong before, though!
Josie
@LAC:Â â
Talarico
LAC
@Josie: Thank you, my spelling failed me…again.
Baud
In another closely watched primary
PatD
People pick and choose what to get offended or triggered over. It could be feckless, centrist, Gaza, DNC, Bernie/DSA, etc but whatever it is just about everyone has something they will use as a shibboleth of sorts to immediately categorize the person making a comment and usually dismiss whatever they have to say. This happens across the spectrum.
In general though itâs best to avoid using charged words if youâre actually trying to have dialogue. And Iâm guilty of doing some of the above too with either using or reacting to people using certain words.
Baud
@PatD:
BJ isn’t perfect, but it’s worse elsewhere on social media and people import that here.
Baud
Crockett post via Reddit
prostratedragon
@LAC: And you might have missed mine, which is that in tbis emergency the team has to be the thing. I see nothing from Ms. Crockett to suggest that she does not see this. Whether she gives effort the new campaign or continues her strong voice in the House, she no doubt will put that push first.
prostratedragon
@Baud:
Baud
Professor Bigfoot
@schrodingers_cat: From what Iâm seeing on Bluesky, Talarico will get Black votes.
Not money, not door knockers, not the labor that is constantly disrespected.
schrodingers_cat
@Professor Bigfoot: Labor and advice too. Its like we are only good when they need our numerical strength.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Professor Bigfoot:
Why wouldn’t Talarico get those other things? Did I miss something?
Melancholy Jaques
@Baud:
It’s a D+23 district, so I am not going to worry about it.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Balconesfault: Same. When I am criticizing Leftists, I am targeting the people who fairly consistently crap all over more moderate elected Dem officials and Dem voters. I especially get annoyed when more moderate politicians, like Biden, lose support from voters pursuing policies that address issues Leftists say are critical, then get crapped on anyway. I think they deserve getting crapped on in return. Do under others and all that. Lately, I’ve been trying to hold my fire and not engage when I see exactly that.
Baud
@Melancholy Jaques:
I’m not worried about it turning red. It’s just one of the primaries that’s being watched to see where Dems are headed as a party.
Texas also is unlikely to go blue, although I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: There are some Ds who want to go the Democratic party pre-Civil Rights or so it seems.
The attack on Clintons and Biden, this constant carping about Schumer and Jefferies. Are all the symptoms of the same phenomena.
Professor Bigfoot
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I donât have the answer to that; I donât live in Texas and Iâve tried to stay away from this race⌠but I DO follow a LOT of Black people, some of whom ARE in Texas, and thatâs what Iâm hearing from them.
Geminid
@Baud: People export it too. I just saw someone complaining on another blog about how we’re not supposed to use the word “feckless” now.
Professor Bigfoot
@schrodingers_cat: I believe it always comes down to this: âThere is no horseshoe. There is only white people who are at best uncomfortable with any power being held in Black hands. Those white people are at all points of the âleft-rightâ spectrum.â
ÂŻ\_(ă)_/ÂŻ
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Everything is upheaval right now. And lots of people think they can use that to their own advantage. I don’t know what to think. All I can do is respect the process (despite how Texas is mucking with it).
Baud
@Geminid:
Even where it’s a legitimate criticism, it’s become a laughably trite insult.
PatD
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): this primary was very nasty amongst the âfansâ on both sides. So some people are going to turn this into another version of Bernie Hillary or Bernie Biden when itâs no such thing. Everyone else will move on.
The respective fans are more alike than they realize.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Agreed I am in a wait and watch mode too. But the antisemitism, racism and ageism, misogyny in D ranks is dispiriting to say the least
It is coming from the self anointed progressives who are BS aligned people.
79 year old Markey is not too old for the Senate but 79 year old Mills is.
different-church-lady
@Kayla Rudbek:
Consider that in about half the instances, there’s no brain to disembody.
suzanne
@PatD: Agree. Those comparisons fail on multiple levels. This isn’t a progressive vs. moderate fight. Talarico and Crockett seem pretty similar in their alignment, IMO. The differences are more about style and maybe some specific issues…. at least, that’s how it seems to me from a bit of a distance.
Baud
@different-church-lady:
Madonna’s first draft.
different-church-lady
* The important thing here is that we all cling to our bitterness so vehemently that Dem primary winners have no chance in the general.
* Counterpoint: you get a Fetterman, and you get a Fetterman, and you get a Fetterman!
prostratedragon
From Luckovich, 1000 words on the 2024 election.
Baud
@prostratedragon:
Spot on. Burn it down won. This is what it looks like.
Melancholy Jaques
@Baud:
I saw that and was chilled by the thought that a campaign this year could feature Bernie-osity and Israel related infighting, but I can’t tell people what to care about.
different-church-lady
@Balconesfault: The important thing is that we crap on everyone equally.
LAC
@different-church-lady: I think , based on some of my texas friends high on the melanin scale, that they would like a little time to process this. I hope that okay. They will be voting in November. đ
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@PatD:
That was my something I thought I’d heard about. I think this is a case of “Social Media is not real life”. I haven’t heard anything negative/bad from either campaign against the other
@Professor Bigfoot:
Hopefully this is just a case of SM is not real life
different-church-lady
@LAC: I should clear up something I might have muddled: I had Maine in mind regarding the Fetterman jibe, not Texas.
Interesting Name Goes Here
@Professor Bigfoot: You don’t have to be from Texas to notice the patterns. That’s why I laugh at anyone who suggests that AOC should run for President. Good news, Alexandra! Now you have someone else besides Hillary and Elizabeth and Kamala you can talk to when trying to make your decision! Hint, hint – what happened to them is going to happen to you, and your allies really aren’t. Especially Bernie.
Geminid
@Baud: Yeah, well this guy’s all about insults. It’s weird; someone here occasionally describes Democrats like Reps. Emilia Sykes and Sharice Davids as talented, so now he uses “talented” in scare quotes to describe Democrats he particularly despises. I suspect people over there think he’s somewhat of a crank for this.
geg6
@Gin & Tonic:
Here you go:
dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/feckless
I donât think itâs a bad or useless word at all. Â I canât imagine a better illustration than Chuck Schumer. Â You may disagree but thatâs not the wordâs fault.
different-church-lady
@Gin & Tonic: It means the target does not have a magic wand and refuses to froth at the mouth.
schrodingers_cat
@different-church-lady: The target is usually not in the Vt senator’s camp.
different-church-lady
@schrodingers_cat:Â âAlso true.
WTFGhost
@Shalimar: I’ve heard every excuse under the sun, but “Trump had a chance to murder a bunch of people, as a threat to the next leaders,” is perfectly Trump, so I think this excuse is probably the real on. Trump likes to hurt people; ergo, he jumped at the chance to assassinate a bunch of foreign leaders.
@suzanne: In any competition, people get intense, and intense people aren’t always their best selves. Fear and frustration are bad motivations, most of the time.
StringOnAStick
A close friend with R parents that are highly religious (but not nuts, Lutherans!) in Tx says that her folks have totally soured on Paxton and the gov; that there is growing movement among TX Christianâs to see the Râs as using Christianity in a decidedly unchristian way. Â They may have gone too far with the R + Jesus crap and there are murmurs of discontent. Â I doubt theyâll vote blue, but they may choose not to vote, especially in the case of Paxton.
LAC
@different-church-lady: Understood and I appreciate the clarification.
Lord, these days are rough for us…
Geminid
@StringOnAStick: Some people vote no matter what. So some of ones you describe could end up in the “D” column this fall.
HopefullyNotCassandra
@lowtechcyclist: I disagree. Â The loss to science caused by this regime and all of our futures is real and getting worse.
WTFGhost
@geg6: It’s abused. People who say someone is “feckless” shouldn’t be quoted until it’s clear they understand what the word means, and can provide specific examples of behavior that the average person understands is clearly feckless. Otherwise, it’s just calling them a poopy-head, and journalists should merely note the unqoted person “disagreed, claiming character flaws in his opponent.”
Another Scott
@schrodingers_cat: Part of my childhood was spent in the Atlanta suburbs. Ted Kennedy was the boogieman in that area back then. Democrats would act like they were running against him in their campaign ads to win.
Ted was fine with that. He understood what was necessary to win races in different parts of the country.
I try to keep that in mind. If candidates these days need to beat up on nationally famous Democrats to win, I’m fine with that. If, on the other hand, they beat up on famous Democrats and always lose, are always outside the tent screaming that the people inside doing the work are doing it wrong, well, …
Politics is slow. Progress is incremental. It’s frustrating, but it’s the path forward.
My $0.02.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Gin & Tonic
@geg6:Â âA synonym that until recently was more common is “irresponsible.” Why did people cease using that? I’d submit that is because “irresponsible” is more easily understood and seems more judgemental. “Feckless” is just a word you can throw out there without a majority understanding it.
Bill Arnold
@Gin & Tonic:
feckful adjective feck¡âful ËfekfÉl
1 chiefly Scottish : efficient, effective
2 chiefly Scottish
a : sturdy, trusty
b : powerful, vigorous
Baud
@Bill Arnold:
Baud! 20XX!: The Feckfulness You Crave!
HopefullyNotCassandra
@LAC: Ken Paxton & the goper TX Secretary of State executed this Dallas & Williamson county voter suppression. Â The republicans are very good at voter suppression in Texas and yet (!!) despite that democrats managed to lodge more counted votes last night than the republicans did.
It didnât happen in Houston (Harris County) although goper voter suppression usually does happen in Houston.
WTFGhost
Well, there are times I hate being born into a physical body, but that’s when the neuro pain is making me want to chew off parts of my body.
@Professor Bigfoot: I’ll also note that a lot of these people who are uncomfortable seeing power in Black hands aren’t outright bigots. Some might even be Black, and activists on racial issues. They might tell a cop, “you see a Black person, remember, you’re primed to see someone bigger, more dangerous, and more likely to be armed, and less likely to be easily deterred with other-than-lethal force. So remember that, hold on to your courage, and be extra careful.”
They might say that, and they might not realize that they’re looking on the debate stage, and unconsciously judging the Black candidate worse than the white candidate, because we’re all swimming in a bunch of unconscious prejudices.
Our brains are very weird, and they do so much of their work unconsciously. That’s why an old fashioned phrase, “consciousness raising,” is one that I’m sad to see has fallen out of fashion. “Woke,” is good, but “conscious” hasn’t been a big R alienating attack adjective yet.
HopefullyNotCassandra
The gop does voter suppression in Texas.
This is how (per the link above) the Democratic Party attempted to counter the latest effort in Dallas and Williamson county:
suzanne
@Gin & Tonic: I think of “feckless” more like “ineffective” than “irresponsible”. Irresponsible means you didn’t do something you should, ineffective means you tried but failed. I think it can be in good faith to criticize pols as ineffective.
Look, we talk about bigotry a lot, and it’s real. But, like…. there are valid reasons people have to prefer one Dem over another, or to think that some Dems aren’t effective.
Fair Economist
@prostratedragon: Crockett entered because she was forced to. She got gerrymandered out of her district and needed a new position. I’m sure she knew it was difficult but she does have a high profile, and it wasn’t a blowout.
StringOnAStick
@Another Scott: You made some excellent points there. Â The one that drove me nuts in 2024 was the well educated MD I met who refused to vote for Biden because of his age, and was going to withhold her vote to âteach Democrats a lessonâ. Â Yeah, howâd that work out anyway? Â Sheâs marinated in The Intercept and Bernie was robbed community, and thatâs a different form or what you just described but itâs real.
WTFGhost
Keep in mind, until someone thinks of a specific dirty trick, the honest person might not think of it, and take efforts to avoid it.
Plus, if the SoS is duty bound, by law, to have the correct voting locations on the website, one might not think of checking to see if a blatant crime was committed, but these days, Republicans only think something is a “crime” if you can’t destroy all evidence of it before investigators can obtain it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the change logs on the server have already vanished, due to a disk error, so, of course, no backups exist.
different-church-lady
@StringOnAStick:
She sure schooled us, didn’t she.
satby
@Geminid: the kids on the island of misfit toys will never change.
kalakal
@Gin & Tonic:
That’s how I’ve always used the word, I’ve been puzzled by it’s current usage, made no sense to me
That and the Father Jack character in Father Ted
Omnes Omnibus
@Geminid: People are perfectly free to use the word. I am free to form an opinion based on their use of it.
wenchacha
@Shalimar: They had to let all our US citizens stay out so they could stay on the dl. Sounds about right.
Paul in KY
@schrodingers_cat: IMO, there are no ‘real’ Dems that want to go ‘pre civil rights’. If they feel that way, then get your racist ass over to the GQP.
Paul in KY
@different-church-lady: I hope Sting’s lawyers don’t come after Kayla for that quote.
Professor Bigfoot
@Interesting Name Goes Here: Dead thread here, likely, but this thread is the sort of thing Iâm seeing among the folk I follow on Bluesky.
Paul in KY
@suzanne: To me, ‘feckless’ means an irresponsible half-asser. The opposite of someone who “dots the I’s and crosses the T’s”.
Professor Bigfoot
@Paul in KY: To me thatâs âTriflinââ (without the hard âgâ).
As in, âlooka that trifilinâ-ass mufuggah, ainât changed his draws this week.â
Someone who COULD be competent, has the capacity to be useful, but would rather⌠sit in Momâs basement and play âCall of Duty.â
âFecklessâ to me says the object is inept, incompetent, incapableâŚÂ stupid.
schrodingers_cat
@Paul in KY: You have described the people fluffing Platner to a T.
tokyokie
@Another Scott: I voted for Crockett, knowing full well that Talarico would probably win. I hope the GOP runoff leaves most voters in this state loathing both of them as much as I do.
Paul in KY
@Professor Bigfoot: See your nuance. Good point made.
Paul in KY
@schrodingers_cat: To me, ‘pre-civil rights’ means segregated schools and Jim Crow and all that evil shit. I know my Black brothers and sisters are not going to stand for that. I won’t either.
You mean some of Platner’s supporters are actually advocating for that?!?
lowtechcyclist
@Omnes Omnibus:
People can call me ‘feckless’ if they want, because I have no fecks left to give. :D
ETA:
@Omnes Omnibus:
I always knew G&T was a better person than I am. :D
schrodingers_cat
@Paul in KY: They are not advocating it in so many words but advocating for a guy with a Nazi tattoo and dubious friends sends a chilling message to non-white people.
geg6
@suzanne:
This. Â Ineffective is definitely a synonym for feckless and how I use the word.
Professor Bigfoot
@Paul in KY: When a white man, running as a Democrat, proudly proclaims that he is âtaking the Party backâ ALWAYS begs the question: âTake it back from who? TAKE IT BACK FROM WHO MOTHERFUCKER?â
You know who.
Msb
@prostratedragon: just quoting Nancy âThe GOATâ Pelosi.
Msb
@WTFGhost: going to be hard to pull this trick twice. So Ds should be ready for it. But what about the next one?
trnc
@LAC:Â â
Save your outrage at my comment. You clearly implied that some people here don’t care that Texas ratfucked Crockett and Dallas voters.
trnc
@Professor Bigfoot:Â â
Without knowing the details, I would assume any democrat who sai that meant take it back from “moderates” who aren’t progressive enough. I’d have to see some kind of evidence that they mean to “take it back” from African Americans.
Paul in KY
@Professor Bigfoot: Pointy headed college elites? I know who you mean and probably who he means…
Paul in KY
@schrodingers_cat: He hasn’t removed that stupid tattoo yet? Jesus!
lowtechcyclist
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:
Which is great when one is specific. The problem is, none of the terms ‘liberal’ or ‘progressive’ or ‘leftist’ inherently means ‘person who craps all over more moderate Dems.’Â The problem is when people use those terms with a broad brush, giving the impression that everyone to the left of them is like that.
HopefullyNotCassandra
@Professor Bigfoot: not always.
There was a Democratic Party head in Alabama. Â I have forgotten her name. She was not memorable. Â Perhaps it was Karen*. Â She refused to use the well-funded party apparatus she controlled to help Doug Jones get elected or re-elected. Â Lots of people said they were going âto take backâ the Alabama democratic party from her.
* not all Karens. Â Karen was a popular name. Â Some Karens are truly lovely humans.
Geminid
@Paul in KY: Platner had the totenkopf inked over with a Celtic symbol– or so he said. When he revealed the new one some people familiar with tatoo art said nah, that’s a stick-on tatoo.
I wouldn’t know myself. But I find Platner’s story that he did not know what was on his chest for 23 years unbelievable.
lowtechcyclist
@HopefullyNotCassandra:
That will be just as true and just as much in the public eye the following week as it is this week. But this war is now.
WTFGhost
@HopefullyNotCassandra: Maybe we should have a Karen(RL), and Karen(aspirational).
@StringOnAStick: You know, withholding your vote is vaguely like withholding sex in a sexual relationship. In the traditional marriage in my growing-up days, they said “never go to bed angry,” and they meant, “never withhold sex from your partner due to being angry.”
Things are more complicated these days, so I’m careful talking about the idea, but, withholding is like, you’re ready-enough, willing-enough, and able, but… you want to teach your partner a lesson, unrelated to sex, so you say “no.” And you shouldn’t do that; people shouldn’t feel they have to earn the right to sex, by obeying their partner’s wishes.
If you want to withhold your contributions, and your volunteer time, and so forth, okay, but withholding your vote strikes me as the same sort of abuse as withholding sex to try to get a partner genital-whipped. And not in a well-understood, carefully negotiated, BDSM-way….
HopefullyNotCassandra
@lowtechcyclist: the war on science is now too. Â Vought has sent none of the money appropriated by Congress for NIH/ grants. Â We are fouling our air, draining our water and who knows what else.
Professor Bigfoot
@trnc: Which is really to be expected.
White people cannot see these things⌠but Black folks do and are usually proven correct.
Kayla Rudbek
@Baud: yes, I frequently do start to sing âMaterial Girlâ when Iâm getting really annoyed with the fundies and the Silicon Valley dudebros
David_C
@HopefullyNotCassandra: The thing about the Stand Up for Science Rally is that it’s already planned (has been for months), with speakers who can speak about science, but not lead anti-war chants. I’m sure the permit SUFS got was specific for that one purpose.
And we are in crisis mode with what’s happening to science and public health.
I will be at the one in DC and a pre-rally vigil in Bethesda with many of my colleagues.
Paul in KY
@Geminid: I find the ‘did not know’ unbelievable. It took a while to get that thing inked.
Ruckus
@suzanne:
In CA we all vote in the same place and vote for who and what you want, it’s pretty well handled. I’ve voted in 3 states, 2 while in the USN, CA, OH, SC and while there were differences, they seemed much smaller than I expected.
Occasional Poster
It’s been ten years, and some of you folks still can’t stop complaining about Bernie Sanders and the fact that people under 40 have different priorities than you do.