I just had a panic attack thinking about the looming holidays. I’m not ready. Open thread.
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by Betty Cracker| 174 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads, General Stupidity
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Mike in dc
Video games and antidepressants. I’m ready.
kindness
Well it might be too early in the day to start drinking but considering we are 3 weeks out from electing Trump it’s time to drink like college kids.
JPL
@kindness: That’s how I feel. The holiday season is just not on my radar.
Trentrunner
Wonder what BJers think of the following strategy:
Instead of fighting Trump like this:
Fight him like this:
Obviously, we can do both, but which is more effective?
schrodinger's cat
When is your drunk bakethon?
Mnemosyne
I get to spend Christmas with my aunt who is related by marriage to Mike Pence.
The drinking starts now.
hovercraft
Denial, avoidance and family will have to get me through, I can’t drink or consume mood or mind altering drugs. Though maybe I should ask my doctor if marijuana qualifies as an antidepressant. My trees been up and decorated since thanksgiving so the I’ve been staring it down, it’s everything else I’m avoiding except in here, my safe space.
Greenergood
@Trentrunner: Yes, previous posts here and elsewhere stressed how Italy’s Berlusconi was defeated not by focusing on his [appalling, Trump-like] personality, but on his so-called policies. Just needs to be a bit more specific on how the GOP money-snatching plan works, and how Social Security/Medicare benefits more whites than blahs.
Watching Trump’s picks from across the Pond is like watching Psycho when I was 13, many, many moons ago.
Mike R
@Trentrunner: Probably depends on the person you are speaking with, I like both. On the panic attack thing, isn’t 3 o’clock the perfect time for panic attacks. Both too late and too early to start drinking.
DCrefugee
@Trentrunner:
I’ve often thought the D side isn’t pointing out that all the bad shit is the R tribe’s fault. “Republicans are the problem, not you salt-of-the-earth idjits who just elected the most unqualified raccoon-skin cap in history.” But that’s just me…
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@hovercraft:
I call my little apartment the Fortress of Solitude. No news of any kind has penetrated since 11/9 – only streaming of shows I’ve missed and wanted to catch up on, HGTV, Project Runway and now cheesy Christmas movies on Lifetime and Hallmark. I check boston.com for the weather I need to know about, and sports scores – my only other refuge is here on BJ. I go to and from work on the train with a book handy, or I doze. I’ve started going to the gym again as another diversion, where they put the food channel on, or ESPN. It’s amazing how less toxic my environment is without that horrible person being mainlined, mainstreamed into it.
The Moar You Know
@Trentrunner: Effective to who? Trump voters are massively in favor of both.
geg6
Screw the holidays. I’ve never felt more like the Grinch in my life.
That said, I have finally persuaded my John that we can forego the stupid live tree. We are going shopping for a nice, small fake that I can throw up in our bay window seat for public viewing and have little muss or fuss. The presents and such aren’t bought yet, but I’ll be buying online in the next day or two (no malls for me!). Then all I have to do is find out what my sister wants me to make for Christmas dinner and purchase some ornaments at Walmart or the dollar store for the small gifts we give each other at our holiday girlfriends luncheon. My Jewish friend just loves getting these ornaments at the luncheon, which I find hilarious. She is just charmed by them. So I always take the most time choosing hers because she gets such pleasure from them.
piratedan
@Trentrunner: I’d say its all hands on deck, why pick just one?
My biggest fear is that the same people that put their collective fingers in their ears when it came to Trump’s misdeeds and listened earnestly to those of Clinton’s may not be reachable until they have their MOMENT. The moment where they lose a loved one because of the next incredibly stupid foreign entanglement we get into with troops on the ground. Their inability to get insurance or help for medical care. Their backyard that gets dumped upon by someone who doesn;t have to answer to any kind of regulation, their granddaughter who dies from a back room abortion.
Until something like that happens, those folks could give a fuck.
ArchTeryx
@The Moar You Know: Apparently even a plurality of Trump voters are having buyer’s remorse when it comes to the imminent repeal of Obamacare, which benefited a lot of them. Not many degrees of separation in a program that helped over 20 million people, many of them in red states and rural areas of blue states.
If they also hadn’t voted for my death, it would be darkly humorous. Denial is a hell of a drug, but not one available to me. One day soon, my CDPHP-Medicaid card will simply cease working, the pharmacist will ask me for $2500 up front for my meds, and the Trump chickens all come home to roost for me.
SenyorDave
@Trentrunner: Number 2, since we already tried number 1 and it didn’t work.
Keith P.
Holiday thread needs a link to The Dysfunctional Family Christmas.
satby
@Trentrunner: the second one. His deplorables LIKE that he’s a POS, but they won’t like losing money or benefits because of him.
geg6
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
I am doing something similar. I haven’t seen any type of national news since election night. I still watch local news for sports and weather but leave the room, turn off the sound or turn the tv off when any national stories come on. I’m just watching some of the stuff on my dvr and my usual diversions like HGTV, Food Network, HBO (I am finding “Divorce” an interesting show) and stuff like Project Runway, Top Chef (new season starting tonight!), Master Chef Canada, Survivor, Modern Family and Blackish. I’m going to also check out the Great American Baking Show, which I know can’t possibly be as epic as the British version, but will probably entertain me.
Hungry Joe
Re goons calling for a boycott of “Jew jeans” because Levi’s asked that people not carry guns into their stores: All of a sudden I notice that I could use another pair of jeans. Maybe two. Ain’t no such thing as too many Levi’s.
(I have cousins named Levi. No relation the the pants folks. I swear.)
EBT
@Mike in dc: Time, friends, video games, and drugs of various stripes are starting to shine a light in the deep dark hole. I actually wrote 60 words for my game for the first time since election night.
rikyrah
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
I feel ya.
I totally feel ya.
Netflix and Amazon Prime have helped too.
JPL
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Last weekend I streamed This is us, on nbc.com. It’s heartwarming, tear inducing, and most importantly, during the time I watched it, I didn’t think at all of the name that must not be mentioned.
divF
@Hungry Joe:
Un-fucking-believable.
ArchTeryx
@Hungry Joe: This Cleek’s Law joke long ago ceased to be funny for me.
PaulWartenberg2016
@Trentrunner:
neither, because Trump voters WON’T LISTEN to goddamn sense.
Cermet
@Trentrunner: The first makes him look better to most of his base; the second is just noise to them. The best bet – let the dump continue to destroy all of us and in time, we might get a chance to win a few seats in the house and pick up a state here or there. Not holding my breath.
Major Major Major Major
@Hungry Joe: Good god, really? There’s something I’m afraid to google. Do you have a link? I’ve actually been thinking I could use some jeans too.
For the holidays I’m… probably staying around home. Seeing “A Charlie Brown Christmas” with a live performance by the symphony. Might visit family for a bit between Xmas and NY.
MuckJagger
@ArchTeryx:
I’m sure wiser, smarter folks than me have pointed this out, but the problem seems to stem from the fact that people want Democratic programs…but they also want Republicans to run them.
satby
Well, I had quit the mainstream news, especially cable, years ago so that’s kept me somewhat sane. I have noticed I’m becoming pretty housebound when I’m not at work in order to just stay away from people now that I’m back from my trip. But I’m not feeling any holiday spirit at all either, and having to work on the periphery of a mall will not being it on. Thank FSM my hours were cut a bit, it helps. I’m going to start walking too, I’m only two blocks from the St.Joe River and a park and it would be good for me.
The Moar You Know
@Hungry Joe: That’s an odd turn of phrasing from someone suffering from economic anxiety. If I hadn’t been told different, I’d believe these people could be bigots.
Mustang Bobby
The best part of being Quaker is that we don’t celebrate Christmas — every day is a holiday, Friend — but people insist on giving us stuff like chocolate and good spirits (of the distilled or aged variety), and it would be very unFriendly to refuse them. We share them with other Friends and friends but don’t have to put up with trees and all the trimming.
I’ll be spending the actual day of Christmas with my parents, who, though not Quaker, celebrate it in much the same way: bring on the cookies and the good Scotch.
(It’s a myth that Quakers forbid alcohol. We may be pacifists but we indulge. I don’t but many do.)
hovercraft
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
I have not watched any cable news since the day the world changed, I’ve been able to clear up much of my DVR backlog. Last night I was watching House Hunters and the couple who both work online were searching for an affordable place to live said they chose Portland Maine because it was affordable, not as hipsterish as Austin and the kind of place where you can fly an American flag. I felt resentful, because they sounded like just the type of people who voted for the shitgibbon, where in this country is it unacceptable to fly the flag? HGTV is supposed to be a safe place with no hippy punching allowed. Alas no place is completely safe now.
divF
@Hungry Joe:
To take the bad taste of that out of my mouth, some Handel.
Yoda Dog
I get pissed off just seeing its face on the magazines at the grocery store. One of the only images I’ve seen of it since 11/9 has been the one with it and Romney here on BJ. And jesus hell, is the shitgibbon not truly satan incarnate in that picture? I mean, I’m no christian personally, but if there’s hypothetically a real satan on Earth, its gotta be that grinning monster in that picture… It’s straight out of a Goya painting..
Not Fucking Normal.
Shell
@JPL: Might be possible to further block out reality for a little while longer with lots of shiny colored lights and sugary treats.
Mike R
@MuckJagger: They may want republicans to run the programs they like, but the only place republicans want to run them is into the ground.
germy
People who voted for the PEOTUS will only blame liberals when things inevitably turn to shit around them. Because they’re plugged into a 24/7 fake news machine that will tell them exactly that.
Like the woman interviewed on CNN who just knew that 3,000 Californians voted illegally. First she tried to say she’d heard it on CNN, and then backtracked and admitted it was “somewhere in the media.”
Citizens are being told lies. They’re believing them, and voting accordingly.
ArchTeryx
@Cermet: It may come down to casualty lists from Granny Starver’s policies. Who dies more from Republican priorities: Minorities or rural white people? They may well have voted themselves into a majority of the EC, but it’s going to be a pretty Pyrrhic victory.
M. Bouffant
To hell w/ the holidaze. Nothing but a meaningless spectacle of enforced consumption. Remember, it’s called Black Friday because that’s the day the corporate ledgers actually go from red ink to black ink. If we didn’t buy all their ugly plastic shit for each other they wouldn’t even break even.
So stop encouraging them by participating.
schrodinger's cat
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Land of Shiva beckons me. Composed by A R Rahman. for Raanjhaana set in Benaras or Kashi as it is more colloquially known.
I have this great urge since the last year which has increased many fold after the election results to travel across the length and breadth of India and connect to the land of my ancestors, a land older than time, home to every religion in the world. India has endured some really horrendous times and rulers (both past and present), with its spirit intact.
.
SenyorDave
“Jew jeans” and Breitbart go hand in hand. That Steve Bannon will have a position in the WH as senior adviser to the predator-in-chief paid for by my fucking tax dollars is disgusting. I hope Bannon does emulates his website’s namesake, does a full Andrew Breitbart and has a fatal heart attack. The world would be a better place without him.
hovercraft
@JPL:
I’m loving the show, they are as loving as screwed up as most families are in real life, and the storyline about obesity is a nice glimpse into something that too many people struggle with.
Phylllis
@geg6: We went with a 3-foot pre-lit tree a few years ago and it’s perfect for us. Would suit me not to put up anything, but hubby likes the house to be somewhat decorated.
germy
@M. Bouffant:
I’m with you. Most of the stuff on the store shelves is worthless plastic garbage, as are many of the entertainment options.
Roger Moore
@Trentrunner:
I think that hitting him on what he’s doing and trying to do will be more effective now that the election is over and he’s actually having to do policy stuff. It was really hard to pull off before the election when he was given free rein to say anything he felt like about what he was going to do as president.
Mnemosyne
@The Moar You Know:
They’re economically anxious because the Jews have all the money. I saw it on Fox. //
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@JPL:
OMG I LOVE THAT SHOW TOO! ELEVENTY!!!11ONE111!!
Now I’m all caught up, and have to wait week to week, which in the age of streaming is soooooo long. The only show that I can compare it to, which I didn’t watch until it was long over and I streamed it all in about 3 weeks, was Parenthood. This is a bit quirkier, and the premise really is able to cover a lot of issues, without feeling like it’s preachy forced. Kate’s character is completely unique to TV, as far as I can tell – she’s certainly the largest female lead ever, probably, but just so brave and true. Good for them for featuring her – she’s an amazing talent.
Another series I missed when it was on is Deadwood – just finished that up, and am now watching Carnivale, which I’m on the fence about. There is enough material out there to last me at least the next 4 years.
donnah
I’m still not feeling the festive spirit, in spite of hosting Thanksgiving and setting up our tree. We had to put our dog Wendy down two days before Thanksgiving and I thought I was handling it well, but today we got a condolence card from the vet and it included a card with her pawprint on it, and that did me in.
She was a good dog, sweet and smart, and lived a full fifteen years with us. Saying goodbye was something we knew was coming, but I guess you’re never really ready.
Anyhoo, don’t want to be Donna Downer. We’ll be fine and we have our three cats to pick up and cuddle. Time marches on!
tobie
Has anyone been following the changing vote totals in PA? Apparently we’ve gone from Trump leading by 68K votes to 46K votes over night. Maybe this is normal with vote tallies and just stands out because the election in PA was so close. Still…it’s curious.
Pogonip
@geg6: Fake trees are also safer.
hovercraft
@germy:
Like the woman interviewed on CNN who just knew that 3,000 Californians voted illegally. First she tried to say she’d heard it on CNN, and then backtracked and admitted it was “somewhere in the media.”
Yes of course those 3000 illegal voters “stole” California from her and are responsible for her current popular vote lead of what it is it 2.5 million and counting. Am I right?
Jeebus these efin morans!!
Mnemosyne
@M. Bouffant:
Most of my Christmas budget now goes to our Adopt-A-Family at work. This year, our family is a mom and two kids who escaped from their abusive husband/father with the clothes on their backs, so they need pretty much everything. Plus Legos!
G and I get weekends away as our gifts to each other for pretty much every occasion now. The memories last longer than any gee-gaw.
Citizen_X
Off-topic (or at least off the prevailing topic), but equally deplorable: a surprisingly large percentage of Europeans are OK with rape. What percentage? Take a wild fucking guess.
kindness
@Mnemosyne:
That’s grounds for divorce (if she is a Pence gal).
Josie
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: I started doing something similar even before the election – cut the cable and got digital rabbit ears for local stuff plus a fire stick for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc. It has been wonderful avoiding the cable news. I get news from my Amazon Prime subscription to Washington Post and from TPM and stuff here. I have enjoyed some great series, especially on Netflix and Amazon Prime. I do miss the cooking shows from cable, but that is the only thing I miss.
Also, thanks to those who answered my question in another thread about nonprofits helping with immigration issues. Commentor Sandia Blanca suggested a group that is based in Texas and is operating right here in my area, so I am going to join up with them. Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) is the name of the group.
schrodinger's cat
@tobie: How many idiots voted for Stein in PA?
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@geg6:
Divorce looks good too – like both leads a lot.
@hovercraft:
House Hunters, which I watch a lot, makes me want to gouge my eyes out half the time – especially tiny house Hunters. The first thing they complain about is how everything is tight or really small. I’m like really? It is? In 200 sq feet? Ya think???
By the way, trending on FB today is about the FixerUpper couple in Waco – their pastor is a homophobic loon, and now there’s questioning of them whether they are too – which is a valid question considering that they rely on people with a certain aesthetic and income level, if you know what I mean and I think you do.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
There seemed to be a lovely Levi’s store on Market that made custom jeans.
Denali
I know that almost everyone here is on media blackout and in a profound state of resignation, but there is an recount going on and, Sam Stein, if 11,089 votes in Wisconsin change, and 5,352 votes in Michigan change, and if 23, 218 votes in PA change, we have President Clinton!
hovercraft
@Citizen_X:
I’m guessing 27%.
Am I right ?
Now I’m going to go click the link.
ETA: What do I win, of course I was right.
Patricia Kayden
@ArchTeryx:
And maybe despite Republicans’ pathological hatred for everything President Obama ever did (including being born), their leaders won’t actually kill Obamacare. Doing so would hurt many of the (White straight Christian) people they actually care about. This could be an interesting intra-Party fight among Republicans when it comes to repealing the ACA.
Adria McDowell (formerly LurkerExtraordinaire)
Rule number 1 in the Trumpocalypse: CARDIO.
Rule number 2 in the Trumpocalypse: NO DISCUSSION OF POLITICS WHEN MY PARENTS VISIT FOR CHRISTMAS. (This one should be easy with a four year old around.)
JPL
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: I’m a Jack fan, and you are absolutely correct that Kate (Chrissy Metz) is really talented.
Hollande is not running for reelection. Maybe that will be enough to stop LePen.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@schrodinger’s cat:
Thanks – does it stream through YouTube? I have that channel. Basically, I have as much TV as its possible to have, with the exception of Amazon Prime which I don’t have.
Major Major Major Major
Hey, MomSense and I were kicking around downstairs a Millennial version of Monopoly where you wander around the board aimlessly, borrowing money to pay rent, and never buying anything. I realized that this would be fairly straightforward to make as a website. It can be biting social commentary! Anybody got ideas for rules?
@germy:
Somebody mentioned this morning that it will be because Trump (like W before him, but moreso) isn’t a True Conservative, and we just need to Republican harder. I’d forgotten that this will inevitably be the story they tell themselves.
ETA: @Mnemosyne: I go to the one on Castro :)
Librarian
Since both of my parents died, I have decided to not have anything to do with the holidays again. No shopping, no cards, no family, no decorations, no nothing. I spend both Thanksgiving and the holidays alone in my apartment reading, I highly recommend it.
JPL
@Patricia Kayden: In my dreams, I wish there were a way of excluding them from ACA.
Miss Bianca
@hovercraft: MJ definitely counts as an anti-depressant in my (self-medicating) book. At least it works for me. I had to break down the other night and have a puff even tho’ my corporate masters have decreed that our company will now be doing random drug testing. So…not a medication technique I can count on, unless I plan on landing another job.
Fuck this fucking country, I’m getitng depressed again just thinking about it! //
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
So my little tossout on filial responsibility laws (the ones that will find us all supporting our aging parents when SS and Medicare go under the knife) from the last thread has also become my FB status.
There is some freaking out by a former girlfriend who lives deep in Deplorable Land, and who was likely an enthusiastic Trump supporter – she’s begging for answers.
Judging by the degree of freakout, this might have legs. Can we get a front page on it in order to more widely disseminate the happy news?
Mnemosyne
@kindness:
Her husband died a few years ago, so it’s a pretty tenuous connection. (She is my dad’s older sister, so that’s where the blood relation is.)
And if I recall my uncle correctly, he was a hard-drinking Rockefeller Republican, so I suspect he probably thought his Cousin Mike was an asshole.
Jeffro
@Major Major Major Major:
Instead of “Chance” and “Community Chest” cards, can there be “Vote 3rd Party” cards, where most of the outcomes are “surprise! You get to be your own safety net now”? That would work.
Miss Bianca
@Hungry Joe: “Jew jeans”? I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.
ETA: On the other hand, fuck those assholes. I’m more of a Wranglers gal myself (the seam on the outside makes riding in them easier), but I’m willing to switch to Levi’s just to support them.
Yoda Dog
@donnah: I’m sorry to hear.. I recently had to let go of my furry friend too. I cried for days. I have a beagle and a calico and two kids under 2 though so Im staying quite busy which is good.
Im about to take them both to Target which feels like it could be a risky proposition. I’m used to having 1 kid with me but adding the baby is a whole new level of difficulty. Should be fun.
Citizen_X
@hovercraft:
A trip to Europe!
kindness
The Jew-Genes thing. I have friends from the East Coast I went to college with. Several are very Jewish (NY – come on now). Most of them are moderate Republicans (don’t ask, really they were Democrats when we hung out). During the course of the campaign they kept saying, ‘I don’t really like Trump but you can’t argue with what he’s saying.’. Well I argued. I pointed out the bigotry coming out Trump. They only saw the anti-Muslim/Hispanic bigotry so didn’t really care. I’d forward them articles showing Nazi/KKK/anti-semetic rants and they would say ‘Oh that’s from @@@@@@, they aren’t credible’. Well they (mostly) voted for Hillary but it was only the day after the election that they started seeing the same anti Jewish stuff out there that I’d been talking about for the last 9 months. Now they are horrified. These people all lost family in the concentration camps in WWII. Seeing it happen here is something they never expected. And while I’m glad to have them on our side I have to wonder why they chose to ignore the racism for so long.
schrodinger's cat
@Hungry Joe: All my jeans are Levis.
Major Major Major Major
@Jeffro: “Go directly back home. Do not pass go. Borrow another $200”
Playing pieces: Thick reading glasses, Converse sneaker, mom’s used car, iPhone, hoodie
Land on Boardwalk or Park Place, get evicted for condo redevelopment.
Don’t get tipped, skip a payday.
kindness
@Mnemosyne: Rocky was the only Governor I knew until I was 16 years old. I lived in Tarrytown and his family has a huge estate there. I went to High School with his grandson and that kid was good. Straight arrow but not an asshole like so many of the other rich kids.
bemused
We’re going out of town for Christmas and celebrate it with 2 grown kids, daughter-in-law, 3 year old granddaughter and 93 year old mother-in-law, all liberals including the 3 year old or I disown her when she’s grown up. Won’t be seeing an in-law couple who are Republican this year. I have no idea if they voted for Trump but I don’t want to find out.
I’ve been hearing stories from friends that they were stunned, unable to speak when someone they thought was totally liberal just casually mentioned they had voted for Trump. Another person talked about going to her therapist who she loved, despondent about the election when the therapist told her she was overreacting and now she knows how she (therapist) felt through the Clinton years.
I wish there was a Trump voter detector. I don’t want to be taken by total surprise and shock to find out someone I thought was completely normal and a good person voted for Trump but there’s no way to avoid feeling entirely different about a lot of people in our lives. These kind of gut punch discoveries are going to happen on and on.
tobie
@schrodinger’s cat: Cook Report doesn’t say. Just that 214,571 votes cast for others besides Clinton and Trump. Vote difference between the two as of now: circa 46,000.
Another Scott
@germy: I thought it was “3,000,000 illegal votes in California”? Kevin Drum has a clip (I just saw the CC).
Cheers,
Scott.
donnah
@Yoda Dog:
I’m sorry for your loss, too. Having little, little ones around will definitely keep you busy and help you deal with the loss. They’ll make the holidays a lot of fun!
Another Scott
@M. Bouffant: ObPendant:
Snopes on Black Friday:
Etc.
:-)
Cheers,
Scott.
hovercraft
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
I hate Tiny House Hunters for that very reason, you say you want tiny then bitch that it’s tiny. They are morons.
I like Fixer Upper, but given that they live in Waco, it doesn’t surprise me that they may be homophobes, they’ve never said or done anything that I’ve seen to cause me to give them the side eye. As people in the public eye who put their personal lives on display as part of their show, they should expect everything to be scrutinized. It goes with the territory, and in this climate a homophobic pastor is a problem, it will alienate at least half their viewers, probably more as you point out.
ruemara
I’m halfway ready for the holidays. Well, since the people I usually hang out with are gone for Christmas & New Years, my holidays end at Thanksgiving. I have a couple of batches of cookies to make and I have to ship out some packages. Hoping to get the overseas boxes out this weekend. I’ve been busy.
germy
@Another Scott: You’re right! She believes it was three million people voting illegally.
Roger Moore
@Denali:
The problem is that recounts rarely change the vote totals by the amounts needed to give Clinton the win. The initial counts are usually very good, and recounts are more about dotting all the “i”s and crossing all the “t”s to prove that the outcome is correct than they are about getting a different outcome. It would be incredible if even one of the three states changed enough for Hillary to win, much less all of them.
Patricia Kayden
@JPL: LOL!! And everything else that’s good in life, right? Me too. Looks like they can’t do that so they’re going to make sure that we are all dragged down to their level. Sigh.
Patricia Kayden
@geg6: You and I pretty much watch all the same shows, although I don’t have HBO anymore (which meant I missed the last season of Game of Thrones). Good to see that Top Chef is back on tonight. I’m not missing primetime MSNBC as much as I thought I would since I gave it up after November 8th.
geg6
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Have you seen the CBS sitcom “Life in Pieces”?
I love that show. Not quite as much as I love “Blackish,” but almost.
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@Jeffro:
Instead of “Go to Jail”, it would be “get off my couch, you cockblock”. You then get sent to your parents’ basement for three turns, extendable at your option for as long as you like, provided that you clean your room and cut back on weed.
Denali
@Roger Moore
“Hope is the thing with feathers”
Emily Dickinson
ruemara
@kindness: It was happening to black & brown people. Jewish people are racists, too. So are Asians. Quite a few sided with Trump. “Whiteness” as a social construct is easy for people who have not experienced not being white to slide into. Several generations are between Dachau and Manzanar. Jews are largely now white. Many Semitic persons, Chinese, Japanese & Korean emigres come from places where they are the white people of their nation and have a default rather positive prejudice of being considered naturally smart, inventive, hard-working and disciplined (yes, there is also a tremendous pressure and negative consequences, don’t derail to go at this). Unfortunately, many are discovering that the cloak of whiteness as a social construct does not cover them enough when white supremacy gains power. It was ok to keep pitting minorities against each other. Big problems coming. It would be nice if they learned to stop believing in the myths about blacks & latinos and read the history of this country.
Miss Bianca
@donnah: Oh, my God…I got one of those little pawprint cards from the vet when my Sovay died…she was fourteen, and I had raised her from a puppy. I was an absolute wreck.
Shoot, I can’t even think about it now without puddling up. I loved that dog so much. It’s just heart-wrecking that our furry loved ones get so little time on the planet relative to ourselves…best to you over the holidays!
schrodinger's cat
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: That is a YouTube link. If you are interested in the movie itself, it is available for streaming on iTunes, Google Play and YouTube. I haven’t seen the movie and it has garnered some mixed reviews. Although the praise for the male lead was universal
Another number from the same movie:
Tum tak
Major Major Major Major
@Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class: I was hoping more for empathy than mockery, but a mix of the two.
Roger Moore
@Major Major Major Major:
I assume all the “Chance” and “Community Chest” cards will hurt rather than help: student loans due, lose your car insurance, need to buy a gift for a friend’s wedding, etc. I think it should be theoretically possible to buy a property, but the prices keep getting higher and higher even as your debts get bigger. If it’s on the web, there should be computer players the person is playing against who succeed by having advantages the human players can’t get: more starting money, no student loan debt, beneficial cards the player never gets, etc. just to rub it in.
Mnemosyne
@Another Scott:
I just finished reading a book that was published around 1835 and saw a definition of Indian Summer I’d never heard before: short version, that particular weather was the cue for the local tribes to move from their summer hunting grounds to their winter lodgings, because winter was on its way.
Weird that I’ve never heard that definition before, but it makes perfect sense.
hovercraft
@Patricia Kayden:
Not a Top Chef fan, but I do watch Chopped, the other night with the “viewers choice” baskets, reminded me that we are a nation full of crazy people. Calfs eyeballs, twinkies, and all sorts of disgusting things like pigs tails in the desert basket.
@geg6:
I’ve been watching Versailles which is entertaining, Queen Sugar on OWN is also good.
Life after msnbc has not been the desert I feared it would be.
Couldn't Stand the Weather
@germy:
Cheap plastic describes every CD, DVD and Blu-ray I own. I am gonna need Charles Mingus, Steely Dan, AC/DC and Fringe seasons two and three to deal with the oncoming shit gibbon administration.
Good scotch will help, too, of course.
geg6
@hovercraft:
They both went to Baylor, too. The crazed Christian rape school formerly run by Ken Starr.
I hate “Fixer Upper.” That woman and all her fake country crap and her idiot clown of a husband.
Major Major Major Major
@Roger Moore: There we go! This is what I was imagining. Good call on the virtual players being awesome.
ETA: And when they succeed they change the rules to make it harder for you to, too.
delk
@Major Major Major Major: When a player goes bankrupt they get a participation trophy.
Shell
Surprised at the folks who are springing for this kind of domicile. its one thing for an older couple looking to downsize , maybe see some of the country. But a younger couple with two small kids, both approaching their teens? The parents take: ‘This will help us all get closer together.’ Yeah, you got that right. Make sure you hide the sharper silver ware.
donnah
@Miss Bianca:
Thanks so much! Wendy was in the BJ calendar a couple of years ago. She was a clever and sweet dog. Sha had her special spot on our sofa and I’ve found myself sitting there as a comfort spot. They really do become a big part of our lives.
Major Major Major Major
@delk: Ha!
Mnemosyne
@ruemara:
I have a slightly different theory about why so many immigrants become racist: I think our media (both fiction and nonfiction) is constantly sending out subconsciously racist messages. People who are born here learn to filter them out, but immigrants don’t have that filter, so they just believe them.
It’s like the bot that became a racist just through interactions on the internet — they just absorb it from our culture because they don’t have any defenses from it.
chris
Some of you have talked about donating to various worthy causes. This strikes me as worthy, if you’ve a dollar to spare, what with the Chinese hoax and all. The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@geg6:
Thanks for the tip – I just googled it, and it’s right in my wheelhouse. My thing is if it’s a show about families, in order for me to stay engaged with it they can be dysfunctional, but acting in good faith with each other. Misunderstandings, blow ups, hurt feelings, etc are all fine, but I never liked Dallas or Dynasty or any of those shows where they’re all scheming, betraying or otherwise deliberately all undermining each other at every turn. That’s why I loved Parenthood – they try hard to be good family members. I’ve been watching Rectify on Sundance – it’s the last season – and I just really buy into that family and its burdens and the way they keep working on it with each other. The world outside family is hard enough without having kneecappers in your inner circle.
M. Bouffant
@Citizen_X: Oh geeze, I saw that elsewhere but the 27%, for some reason, didn’t quite register.
Jeffro
@Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class:
This is so painfully spot-on…
What replaces the railroads? Starbucks locations? I know one of the tokens has to be a Starbucks cup. I guess another would have to be headphones?
Major Major Major Major
@Jeffro: So far tokens are thick Warby Parker glasses, Converse sneaker, mom’s used car, iPhone, hoodie
Another Scott
@ruemara: We had several home health aids when J’s parents lived with us. I once heard one (an Ethiopian) speaking in exasperation about some others (from Mali) “… those Africans …”. :-/ All of them were sweet, extremely helpful people, but even though they were all African they definitely (and unsurprisingly) saw themselves very differently.
You’re right that everyone can see things in racial terms, and “whiteness” really doesn’t have much to do with “race” or “ethnicity” – if it ever did. White supremacy is an insidious idea not just held by “white” people.
Cheers,
Scott.
Jeffro
@Mnemosyne: I think it’s partially a mental version of “pulling up the ladder” behind them…makes it easier to justify treating others poorly now that they have arrived.
schrodinger's cat
@ruemara: Also the minorities who make nice with the demagogues have a higher media profile. As a community South Asians vote overwhelmingly for the Dems (80%) but look at who has a higher profile its the Ramesh Ponnurus and the Dinesh D’Souzas.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Jeffro:
You get to be an Uber or Lyft driver until you get attacked by a drunken Wall Street douchebro.
schrodinger's cat
@Jeffro: WiFi hotspots for railroads.
Betty Cracker
@donnah: Aw, that sucks. So sorry to hear that. :(
Jeffro
@Major Major Major Major: Those work.
While you’re at it, you should make a Millennial version of “Chutes and Ladders”, called “Chutes”.
germy
@Jeffro:
Self-driving cars?
Jeffro
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
LOL I think that works better as a “Chance” er excuse me “Vote 3rd Party” card.
@schrodinger’s cat: YES, that works!
Roger Moore
@Major Major Major Major:
Every time the computer buys a property, the prices on the remaining properties go up, and so do rents. I even know what you can call the game: Gentrification.
rikyrah
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
I don’t get Tiny House Hunters. They don’t make no damn sense to me. Especially when it’s more than one person, and when they want to bring pets into that insanity.
Ajabu
We’re having a really interesting holiday season. Mrs. Ajabu & I were married on Dec. 28th and this year is our 25th Anniversary. So…
She decided that because we married in California (with none of her family attending) we’re doing the 25th as a huge party in Mobile, AL (her hometown).
We’re currently in CA again so the expense is enormous. Not only did she rent a high end facility and a caterer, but we have to fly in and fly two grandchildren as well. And rent a hotel for 10 days.
Did I mention that this vow renewal is apparently modeled on the Charles & Diana wedding? I’m going to be 2 years digging out of this financial hole. I can barely afford to pay attention!
Oh well, a happy wife is a happy life…
And, on the upside, the (s)election of the Shitgibbon has motivated her to consider going back home to the Caribbean so there’s that. If & when we can afford to move.
rikyrah
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
They’ve never had a gay couple on as customers.
Roger Moore
@Mnemosyne:
Some people who were born here learn to filter some of them out. But a lot of people who were born here accept them, even if it’s only subconscious.
Botsplainer
@Major Major Major Major:
I want to get the Ironic Mustache token.
hovercraft
@geg6:
I knew they went to Baylor, but I didn’t know they were a crazy chrisianist school, and I didn’t make the Ken Starr connection.
Another Scott
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: It’s all a formula. Just like on Property Brothers when the show starts off with the couple going into the new, beautiful, fully-furnished house that is twice their budget and they’re Oh So Surprised and Disappointed!!1
It’s a formula.
Anyone who has seen the show once knows what is going to happen – and the people on the show certainly do as well.
I watch the shows occasionally, but I recognize that it’s entertainment and not a documentary.
Cheers,
Scott.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@rikyrah:
You’re right – that’s like the only HGTV show that hasn’t, either. To its credit, HGTV was a pioneer in normalizing same sex home buying couples – they realized early on that sponsors will take money from gay couples too, since everyone wants granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.
ruemara
@Mnemosyne: They do absorb it from our culture, because our culture is consumed nearly as much overseas, but much of those cultures also have issues based on skin color. And people here do not filter it out. See, 2016 Presidential Election. We actually either learn it is false or we decide it’s true, probably based on personal culture.
@Ajabu: Happy Anniversary! And, I’m already reviewing my emigration options. Have to take care of some passport paperwork. I sent in a payment and request for a new birth certificate copy to the parish in Kingston I was born. In 1997. Still haven’t gotten it. Fucking Jamaican time.
rikyrah
@Ajabu:
Sounds absolutely fabulous!!!
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@geg6:
LOL.
hovercraft
The hordes of illegal voters story is picking up steam.
Kris Kobach, With No Evidence, Backs Up Trumps’ Claim That Millions Voted Illegally
Bill O’Reilly Backs Up Trump’s Lie That Millions Of ‘Illegals’ Voted
There’s no evidence of noncitizens voting illegally – since when has that stopped Fox?
Who knows, by the time they’re done, Hillary may have only legitimately won zero states, okay maybe Hawaii since it’s majority those people.
geg6
@hovercraft:
Oh yeah, it’s a reichwing nightmare, Baylor is.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/big12/2016/07/31/baylor-strict-conduct-code-might-have-silenced-rape-victims/87884594/
schrodinger's cat
@ruemara: The Indian caste system was originally based on color too. The Sanskrit word for caste, Varna literally means complexion. In general darker hued people tend to be lower on the caste ladder. Although by no means is this universal and its better to be a dark upper caste person than a lighter skinned lower caste person. There is an aesthetic preference for the lighter skinned, selling fairness creams to women is a lucrative industry.
Amir Khalid
@Hungry Joe:
i wonder if these people think Lee jeans are Chinese-made.
hovercraft
@Another Scott:
I lived in Ethiopia with my family back in the eighties, mu parents are originally from Zimbabwe. Back then Ethiopia was still a socialist client state of the USSR, they were dirt poor, actually they still are but it’s getting better, there was a large diplomatic core as a couple of African organizations are headquartered there.
Anyhoo, there were beggars everywhere and they were constantly begging for money from us, and they all used the same name to ask us for money, “lema”. We finally asked a local what lema meant, turns out it means slave. These people were asking us for money while disparaging us as slaves because they are not bantu like most sub-Saharan Africans. We all create caste systems to create winners and losers, Tribal warfare is as old as humanity.
ruemara
@schrodinger’s cat: Oh, yeah. Read a lot on that when I was younger and many of my Indian friends do discuss issues of caste & color with me. It’s fascinating. And seriously sad. But, as I always say, we need to refute the idea that racism and abuse is some how white, western or strictly found OVER THERE.
@hovercraft: Ugh. Comforting yourself by kicking someone else. Old as humanity.
hovercraft
@Ajabu:
Happy 25 th anniversary, I hope everything works out. And as you said happy wife, happy life.
schrodinger's cat
@ruemara: The funny thing is, if you are dark and male but upper caste it doesn’t matter much but if you are dark and female (whatever caste) you are considered to be less than ideal.
M. Bouffant
@Another Scott: Well I’ll be damned. (In more ways than one.)
I used to work for a bank in California, where banks weren’t allowed to be closed more than three days in a row (This is well into the age of ATMs, but …) & I always hated working the Fri. after. Plus they wouldn’t give you sick pay if you called in the day after a holiday w/o a doctors note.
BGinCHI
Don we now our gay apparel?
Definitely not ready.
Amir Khalid
@schrodinger’s cat:
As I understand, humans are to some extent hardwired/taught to prefer fair skin, although I’m not sure how it is supposed to be advantageous.
ruemara
@schrodinger’s cat: Oh, we’ve gone into the concept of the unlovability of black women on the twitter machine. Although most consider that to be strictly African heritage, it does include all women of color, because I’ve seen that issue in Hmong, Pakistani, Kurdish, Laos & Indigenous Chinese (cannot recall the culture) friends I’ve talked with. I know my issues in trusting enough to even think about dating again come from these perceptions on things being on black female bodies not being attractive or worthy of love, but slap it on a white woman and it’s a new sexy thing you just need surgery to have! Detestable and pernicious. It harms people.
@Amir Khalid: I have never heard that excuse. But I’m sure someone has made it.
hovercraft
@Amir Khalid:
We may already be hardwired, but society goes out of it’s way to reinforce it with subliminal messages. The god guy wears the white hat, the bad guy the black hat, the dark side or having a dark past are negatives, you blacken some ones name, almost every context where the words black or dark are involved is negative. This is what we hear everyday, so it takes a conscious effort not to fall into the trap of associating black and dark with anything negative.
ETA: The advantage/positive is to see yourself as superior to someone else thereby feeding your self esteem.
Gravenstone
@Yoda Dog:
*blink* *blink* okay, I’ll admit that this is the first time I’ve seen the correct date of the catastrophe in that format, but the similarity in import to 9/11 as a societal upset is just screaming at my right now.
jenn
@donnah: I’m sorry to hear about your pup, Donnah. No matter how expected it is, losing them always … really sucks. Best wishes to you and the cats!
Aleta
@Ajabu: >I can barely afford to pay attention!
This is a great line!
> a happy wife is a happy life
Congratulations on that (and on 25 years). I think you are an especially good mate to realize that. Somehow it’s like caring that your wife has a good foundation on which to be herself. It’s her good fortune to have one like you.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@hovercraft:
In the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books, it always struck me funny/odd about how much Botswanans shit talked the Nigerians, who are exceptionally dark skinned.
schrodinger's cat
@ruemara: Have you seen Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala with Denzel Washington and Roshan Seth?
StringOnAStick
@hovercraft: Marijuana definitely qualifies as an antidepressant. It got me through the worst pain of the 3 huge losses in my life over the last 12 months.
Major Major Major Major
@StringOnAStick: And also, you know. A depressant.
John Revolta
@Aleta: a happy wife is a happy life
I first heard this a few years ago from an old Italian lady I knew. I thought it was a charming bit of Old World wisdom.
Then I found out it was a catch phrase from some reality show……………….ah well.
NCSteve
I’m actually ahead of the curve on the holidays, for once in my life. I’ll get the tastefully minimalist outdoor lights up on Saturday and the tree up by Sunday, assuming I can bring myself put it up in this dire time.
No, it’s the countdown to the Trumpzi Seizure of Power that keeps waking me up in the middle of the night with panic attacks. Seriously, Had one at 1:30 this morning. Is this still happening to anyone else?
Aleta
@Major Major Major Major: @Jeffro: Go Directly to Hospital card. If you already have drawn a Get Out of Hospital Almost Free card, the diagnosis is minor and you’re released (pay $25.) Otherwise, each turn you roll dice and each time you don’t get doubles, you have to pay $200 for another test, and stay in.
Also, lots of squares where you land and have to pay for parking.
Aleta
@donnah: I’m sorry for your loss. It’s so hard. Always so hard.
Aleta
@schrodinger’s cat: I saw long time ago; still remember the colors. And the sizzle.
Betty Cracker
I’m struck sometimes by how similar so many of our reactions to the election are. So many of us are experiencing it as an ongoing gut-punch on par with a huge civic disaster like 9/11 or the loss of a loved one. I know I haven’t been so sad, angry, sleepless and disoriented since I lost my mom a few years back.
The weird thing is, if you’d told me a few years ago I’d ever be this personally devastated by an election outcome, I’d have laughed in your face. I remember being angry when Reagan won (and pissed off that I wasn’t old enough to vote AGAINST the sumbitch), resigned when Bush I won and sick when Bush II won (both times). But I didn’t experience anything like this level of personal anguish, and I can see I’m not alone in that.
I still haven’t spoken to my wingnut father or visited any other winger relatives. I’m still too angry. If anyone gloated, I’m afraid I’d say something I could never take back. It’s personal because this wasn’t about conservative vs. liberal policies, as fraught as those fights can be. I feel like my country has voted my daughter and me into second class citizenship.
How else is any woman supposed to feel with that leering, gropey creep in the White House? And yet so many of my fellow white women voted for the sleazy pig! It disgusts me beyond measure. At least the other groups Trump has denigrated have the comfort of knowing the majority of their group voted against him.
Anyway, no new ground to cover here. I’m still wrapping my mind around the revelation that we’re a sleazy joke of a country and feeling like a fool for not seeing it coming. I just wonder sometimes if there has ever been a comparable political event that has divided people so. Probably not since the Civil War, is my guess.
schrodinger's cat
@Aleta: Its a great movie, even the smaller roles were so well cast, the portrayal of the racist uncle by Mohan Agashe ( a veteran theater actor and a psychiatrist IRL) was spot on.
StringOnAStick
@Major Major Major Major: I find alcohol to be a major depressant for me, so I avoid it at all costs. Most people enjoy some kind of mood altering substance occasionally, otherwise bars and liquor stores wouldn’t exist and alcohol use is more socially acceptable even with the known downsides of abuse, drunk driving, medical issues, etc. Here in CO, at least for now, one can safely indulge in an alternative to alcohol, and I’m OK with that; I’m sorry if that isn’t OK for you but I am not judging and ask for the same consideration.
Major Major Major Major
@StringOnAStick: I just meant that it’s different for people. Some folks it can very much exacerbate depression.
Roger Moore
@Amir Khalid:
I would lean very heavily toward the taught angle over the hardwired one. I would also be extremely skeptical of any claim that people are hardwired any particular way, since it’s impossible to find anyone who’s free of social conditioning to use as a control.
ruemara
@schrodinger’s cat: Yes, love that!
Pisses me off that it didn’t lead to more for the female lead. But then I feel the same way that Bend It Like Beckham launched Kiera not Parminder.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@ruemara:
I follow the Kinfolk Kollective on FB, and they posted the recent article from Town and Country about the most beautiful women in the world – all white, of course. The comments were… interesting. Not including Rihanna but including Kim Kardashian seemed to be the biggest complaint but the overall discussion was truly edifying to this old white woman.
StringOnAStick
@Betty Cracker: I felt the same way: that electing this moron was a slap in the face of every woman. I’m a middle aged white woman, and felt Hillary’s rejection as a punch in the gut too. Your words resonate for me in many, many ways.
chopper
@Another Scott:
actually, it’s “pedant”.
Laura on Kaua'i
@schrodinger’s cat: Back when I was teaching, I showed Mississippi Masala almost every term to my (adult) ESL classes. It engendered LOTS of discussion on prejudice, discrimination, immigration, work, and what it means to be an American, as well as some powerful writing from my students.
donnah
@Betty Cracker:
So much of what you said is my experience, too. I have felt devastated and disoriented ever since he won. I was catatonic election night. And when the results revealed that the Republicans were going to be the ruling party, I was physically ill.
I’m still terrified and furious. Every day that the news reveals another ridiculous choice for his Cabinet, I want to smash things. Maybe it’s the helplessness, the not knowing how bad it’s going to get, or just sadness in saying goodbye to the best president I’ve seen in my lifetime.
It just won’t go away.
ruemara
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: I think all women struggle with beauty standards, but the level of rejection and self-hate within the black female community sometimes feels akin to issues women with disabilities face. It’s… interesting.
Another Scott
@chopper: Can I blame the auto spell checker thingy? Please?
(I actually knew that, but my fingers don’t do what they are told sometimes.)
Good catch!
Cheers,
Scott.
Mnemosyne
@Amir Khalid:
I saw an article once that said that most European languages already had “dark” with a connotation of evil and “white” with a connotation of good long before there was much contact between Europeans and people from other continents. It may be something from the lizard brain that’s about literal light (bright is good because you can see predators and run away; dark is not good because the saber tooth tiger or other predator can sneak up on you).
Mnemosyne
@ruemara:
We just had a majority of white women vote against another white woman with a whole lot of comments about how she’s ugly, too fat, too cold, too robotic, etc etc. So, yeah, appearance-based hatred aimed at other women in your own group isn’t limited to women of color.