As the #NobelPrizeLiterature was awarded today, I can’t not share the best ever reaction to winning by Doris Lessing. pic.twitter.com/IU50xp0Vvj
— Jonny Geller (@JonnyGeller) October 7, 2021
VP Kamala Harris travels to Montclair and Newark, New Jersey on Friday to urge Americans to take the coronavirus vaccine and talk about child care.
— Madam Vice President Harris is GOAT! (@flywithkamala) October 6, 2021
VP Kamala Harris with 5 students whom she invited to her official residence at the US Naval Observatory to learn about science and space. ?? #FirstButNotLast #Inclusion pic.twitter.com/c02l7Xys3i
— Madam Vice President Harris is GOAT! (@flywithkamala) October 7, 2021
I love the idea of exploring the unknown. There's so much out there that we still have to learn. As the chair of the National Space Council, I'm eager to get our young people interested in STEM and space exploration. Watch “Get Curious” at https://t.co/d7UDjdh8NG pic.twitter.com/UYvZzsNgId
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) October 7, 2021
Baud
Once again, I read the title and thought the post was about me.
Maybe I’m missing it since I don’t watch the news as much, but what I like most about MVP is that she’s not constantly making news, but just doing the work, day in an day out.
debbie
Yay for Maria Ressa! Take that, Duterte, you jerk!
NotMax
Short, short notice for those who subscribe to Sling. Free preview of AMC+ and other associated channels now through October 10, including a library of selections from Sundance Now, which carries the glowingly reviewed Scandinoirvian series Wisting (all 10 episodes available on demand).
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone ???
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
NotMax
“The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the combination is locked up in the safe.”
– Peter De Vries
;)
rikyrah
???
Jonathan Cohn (@CitizenCohn) tweeted at 8:46 PM on Wed, Oct 06, 2021:
Per @axios — Manchin demanding progressives pick one of child tax credit, paid leave or child care https://t.co/aJCy8nrDVZ
Per @HuffPost — West Virginia, more than most states, would get huge benefits from all three https://t.co/Z3HYxsAUYE
(https://twitter.com/CitizenCohn/status/1445928421180252160?t=Z5qPg5bi_PxFwy9kYtEDAQ&s=03)
Ken
Synchronicity strikes; just a couple of days ago, I was trying to remember Doris Lessing, specifically her Canopus in Argos series. Unfortunately I thought of LeGuin first, and my brain would not get away from that.
germy
germy
Spanky
Since the topic is role models, I’ll note that cnn.com’s blurb on Tesla moving its HQ to Texas has a picture of Musk that is very reminiscent of L’il Kim. The North Korean one.
I don’t think that boy is quite right.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@germy: I hope someone good runs against him next year, he’s been a train wreck.
OzarkHillbilly
@germy: “You’re fired!”
?BillinGlendaleCA
@OzarkHillbilly: He’s elected, he can’t be fired.
ETA: He’s up for election next year.
OzarkHillbilly
@Spanky: He hasn’t been “quite right” for some time now.
OzarkHillbilly
@?BillinGlendaleCA: The voters can fire him.
rikyrah
Steve Benen (@stevebenen) tweeted at 7:02 AM on Fri, Oct 08, 2021:
Senate Republicans: We’ll deliberately crash the economy unless our non-negotiable debt-ceiling demands are met.
Also Senate Republicans: Chuck Schumer should be nicer about this. https://t.co/a38msAjSPe
(https://twitter.com/stevebenen/status/1446446013967908867?t=PO_ENgMExeQ35HCrnpWJ1Q&s=03)
rikyrah
Jane Mayer (@JaneMayerNYer) tweeted at 7:02 AM on Fri, Oct 08, 2021:
How local politics gets nationalized, angrier and more conservative: Altercation: What Takes the Place of Local News Ain’t News https://t.co/1V6OZU6Yps
(https://twitter.com/JaneMayerNYer/status/1446445940013928455?t=1A15WH3CLNzsUCGFgPMpuw&s=03)
sdhays
@?BillinGlendaleCA: And this is why it’s beyond stupid that we elect sherifs in these United States.
?BillinGlendaleCA
I think I’m going to get my flu shot today, the orange place sent out a voucher so I can get it for free.
rikyrah
Oliver Willis (@owillis) tweeted at 7:02 AM on Fri, Oct 08, 2021:
Watching the right wing coalesce around attacking Biden for using a teleprompter and getting deja vu. It’s such a weak attack! They’re treating him like he’s a popular black president. https://t.co/MSnKYYZQzh
(https://twitter.com/owillis/status/1446445900717596678?t=Gexs2uhXFvJjwI1c70m64g&s=03)
sdhays
That’s a lovely picture of those kids with our wonderful VP, but I had to chuckle at the young lady who seemingly didn’t get the memo that everyone was supposed to wear blue.
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
It’s California, dude. Recall election.
//
rikyrah
David Roberts (@drvolts) tweeted at 4:52 PM on Thu, Oct 07, 2021:
I remember when Hillary said there was a “vast right-wing conspiracy” trying to bring her & other Democrats down through lies & propaganda and the US political establishment, including many left pundits, laughed at & scolded her.
https://t.co/g1pWRTWHnH
(https://twitter.com/drvolts/status/1446232071114878992?t=ZNQhg2sJ-xzgJbVQ7sXtUg&s=03)
Dorothy A. Winsor
@rikyrah: The teleprompter again? LOL. At least D presidents can read one
Baud
@rikyrah:
I remember too!
rikyrah
Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) tweeted at 7:00 AM on Fri, Oct 08, 2021:
Biden’s Education Department just wiped out $1.74 billion of student debt for 22,000 borrowers through a major overhaul of a loan-forgiveness program. https://t.co/K8sZvtjwPN
(https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1446445272800825360?t=NE9DGm5Cjrw3Qq5sbW-OFg&s=03)
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
Julius?
Baud
@rikyrah:
Only Dems have agency.
John S.
@sdhays:
The stupidity of electing sheriffs is a none too subtle point made in Django Unchained:
OzarkHillbilly
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I got my flu shot and 2nd pneumonia shot Wednesday. I still need to get my 2nd Shingles shot. I thought I had to wait a year but the google says 2-6 months, .so now I’s cornfused.
rikyrah
MSNBC (@MSNBC) tweeted at 7:02 AM on Fri, Oct 08, 2021:
“There is not a single thing that we have learned about the former president’s attempted coup that has made it seem less dangerous, less of a threat, or more benign,” @chrislhayes says, calling it a “democratic near-death experience.”
https://t.co/ud6Ijc0XiW
(https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1446445797323821056?t=PdcKTKdLndLHF4OImBmUTA&s=03)
rikyrah
Kira Lerner (@kira_lerner) tweeted at 3:29 PM on Thu, Oct 07, 2021:
The @nytimes asked Floridians with felony convictions to sit for photographs with name tags listing the amount of fines and fees they must pay before their right to vote is restored https://t.co/wOvuC63ALM https://t.co/ZFi3Bk7ToZ
(https://twitter.com/kira_lerner/status/1446211183502151684?t=EFxnc8x9VVdfly3VijVKpQ&s=03)
Chief Oshkosh
@OzarkHillbilly: If only. Nope, sadly, sheriffs are elected. He MIGHT lose the next election, in 2022, but…
Sheriffs departments have long been the problem children of law enforcement (not that regular ol’ police departments are covering themselves in glory, but they do compare better overall). Sure would be nice if there was a way to make law officers obey the law.
rikyrah
????
Nicole Acevedo (@Nicolemarie_A) tweeted at 4:44 PM on Thu, Oct 07, 2021:
New CDC research found tremendous racial and ethnic disparities. While 1 out of 753 white children lost a caregiver to Covid-19, 1 out of 412 Hispanic children were similarly affected, and 1 in 310 Black children had a parent or a caregiver die. https://t.co/WU4apxrb5i
(https://twitter.com/Nicolemarie_A/status/1446229850470162439?t=5UiuO7QjHs1KAisv2_4ejg&s=03)
Dorothy A. Winsor
@OzarkHillbilly: I think we waited three months for our second shingles shot. And btw, neither one of us had a reaction to it.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Chief Oshkosh: I’m trying to remember. Don’t sheriffs have some special place in the Sovereign Citizen scheme of things? Maybe this is why
rikyrah
Kemu (@kemu808) tweeted at 8:21 PM on Wed, Oct 06, 2021:
Manchin “I just don’t want our society to move to an entitlement society.”
Says the millionaire w a daughter who boosted Epi-Pen prices by 461% & her own salary by 671%.
#maddow
(https://twitter.com/kemu808/status/1445922196472451078?t=saVJRcpy_1F7avRrwNH8LQ&s=03)
Ken
Does the Vice President always get to be chair of the National Space Council? And if so: Baud, are you looking for a Vice President?
OzarkHillbilly
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I’ve never had anything more than a sore arm from a vaccine.
John S.
Joe Manchin, still a giant fucking asshole.
Video of Joe Manchin With Head in Hands During Chuck Schumer Speech Goes Viral
Chief Oshkosh
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Not that I’m an expert, but yep, that’s part of the problem.
Betty
@rikyrah: I can envision some disgusted West Virginians kidnapping him and holding him until he relents. What a terrible human being.
Chief Oshkosh
@John S.: Josh Marshall at TPM has an excellent piece up on “The Speech” right now. Bottom line: wankers are going to wank.
Betty
@rikyrah: Manchin as well. As I already said …
John S.
@Chief Oshkosh:
Marshall’s piece is good, but more focused on the beltway press framing things incorrectly as “Republicans were nice to Democrats, and the Democrats were mean to them.”
He doesn’t really talk about this fucked up framing coming from a Democratic Senator.
lowtechcyclist
Seriously. The fact that county police in most jurisdictions don’t ultimately report to civilian leadership is both ridiculous and dangerous. It’s like if we elected a general to run the military, so that he was responsible to nobody.
Baud
@John S.:
Meh. Manchin can deweaponize by stating that he will support a filibuster carve out if the Republicans play games with the debt ceiling. That will end the gamesmanship.
Immanentize
On a note of hopeful beauty — I am setting off today to drive from Boston to Binghamton NY. The last half of the drive is in Upstate NY from Albany southwest. Usually, at this moment every year, the rolling glacier-created hills are covered with autumn color — trees on fire with reds oranges and yellows. I look forward to this drive, but who knows what the trees will be doing?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Immanentize: Have a good trip.
mali muso
Good morning! Got my flu shot yesterday at Target. Fun fact, they give you a $5 coupon off $20 purchase, so it felt like a win/win. Going to schedule a flu shot for the widget and then continue to live in hope that by the time her 5th birthday rolls around in November, she will be eligible for the Pfizer jab.
On the politics front, I received a very sweet handwritten postcard reminding me to vote for Wendy Gooditis here in Virginia. I’m going to try to get my act together to go down to the registrar’s office today and cast my early vote for team Blue.
Aaron Rodgers Mustache
@rikyrah: but yet according to mr hayes, trump ran to hillary’s left. on a lot of things.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@lowtechcyclist: “The Five Kings”(aka the LA County Board of Supervisors) still control his budget.
germy
Thanks, I’m good.
lowtechcyclist
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
They use the term “Constitutional Sheriffs” but damned if I know what that’s about, because the Constitution doesn’t say jack shit about sheriffs.
Baud
@Ken: Do you have a sky blue pantsuit?
germy
Soprano2
@rikyrah: Biden’s Dept of Education is taking care of this a little bit at a time, but I bet he doesn’t get much credit for it from the people demanding that they forgive $50,000 for everyone! I hope they fix the program that promised loan forgiveness for people who did “x” years of public service type jobs, that program is an absolute mess. It’s shameful how bad it is.
Ken
@lowtechcyclist: You clearly aren’t reading the Constitution in the right way.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: I like that too. She doesn’t need Instagram or thigh high boots to stand out.
NotMax
@Immanentize
Ah, Albany. A city so humdrum it makes Philadelphia look positively hip.
:)
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Ok, fine. I’ll replace my thigh highs with sneakers.
Cameron
@germy: Better to die on a ventilator than to live on your feet. Or something like that.
germy
@NotMax:
A lovely neighborhood was destroyed so Nelson Rockefeller could have his hideous Empire State Plaza.
NotMax
@Baud
Kinky Sneakers lacks a certain cachet.
:)
Soprano2
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Yes, they think sheriff is the highest law enforcement person they have to listen to. It’s probably because they’re elected.
germy
Soprano2
@John S.: If he wants to “deweaponize” the debt ceiling, then he should have no problem just getting rid of it.
Baud
@germy:
Yes, go to a red state to be free of communism.
Lapassionara
@John S.: Unilateral deweaponization has always worked so well in the past. Now where is that snark font?
NotMax
@germy
The single memory which has stayed from a visit there is of a fantabulous meal at the long since disappeared Keeler’s.
Cameron
@Lapassionara: “Unilateral deweaponization?” Is that anything like “surrender?”
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: Gun advocates calling for permitless concealed carry laws call this “Constitutional Carry.” To which I ask, if it’s so Constitutional, how is it that you need a statute to effect this?
Permitless concealed carry laws were enacted this year in South Carolina, Texas and other states. A similar law is proposed for Ohio but has not yet passed. It’s a terrible idea which a majority of people oppose. The Texas Tribune reported a poll showing that 58% of Texans opposed permitless concealed carry.
In 2019, a tea party-type challenged my State Senator, Emmit Hanger in a Republican primary. She made so-called constitutional carry a prominent part of her platform. I was interested to see Hanger use this issue against her in his mailings. Hanger won easily, and I was not surprised. His district is mostly in the Shenandoah Valley, and those people may be conservative, but they are not radical.
trnc
As expected, CNN is making republicans out to be the heroes who averted debt default, and Schumer is apparently rude for having accurately described what republicans are doing. Rinse, lather, repeat.
Bonus – Manchin decrying the weaponization of politics while supporting the number one political weapon wielded by republicans.
Woodrow/asim
From “The Controversy Behind the Scenes of Dallas Buyers Club“, which is an outstanding article, overall.
AIDS activists have been thru the ringer. I’ve talked to a couple I know about the current COVID/anti-vaxx stuff, and…well, it’s the situation that happens over and again, where a marginalized population’s exploitation ends up a proving grounds from abuse of the larger population, in a later crisis.
I cannot imagine how horrific it is to see the same shit, the same abuse of people and misuse of science while people die en masse, come around again.
And yeah, I think there’s something to the idea that there are other ways to fight qAnon and similar movements — that we’re not just fighting in the court of public opinion and risking these toxic ideas being exposed to more and more people. Especially given how risky “Just Google It” can be in this era, where bots and memetic ideas flow thru social media like water…well, as the guy working to patch my leaky roof reminds me, “water always wins”.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: But not before you do an Insta story wearing them. That could be quite the campaign launch for 2024. All the Baudettes would watch it, I am sure!
Lapassionara
@Cameron: Yes. It is.
germy
@NotMax:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPKg-LDRrZs
High heeled sneakers
Ken
@germy: Do they have thigh-high sneakers?
germy
@Ken:
Yes, they do.
Google it.
I did, and now google is shivering with glee over my history. I expect some really strange ads now.
Ken
@germy: That’s exactly why I didn’t google it.
(Which I’m legally allowed to say, since Google(TM)(R)(C) is my search engine of choice.)
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly: It is 2-6 months. I checked last week.
OzarkHillbilly
I’ll pass.
OzarkHillbilly
@WaterGirl: So now I wonder if I have to get the first shot again.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
Wisting looks good. Also available on Acorn and a couple of other services, apparently.
zhena gogolia
@Steeplejack: We’re enjoying The Crown. My husband is just learning that Prince Philip was kind of a jerk.
I really don’t care about that family, but it’s well written and has lots of good soapy plot twists, great costumes and sets, and fabulous acting. Alex Jennings is so, so good.
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly: I hope not. That would suck.
OzarkHillbilly
29 days and not one mention of Manchin or Synema, sounds pretty good to me.
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly: Good news. Apparently you do not have to start the series again.
According to the CDC:
zhena gogolia
@OzarkHillbilly: Me too!
Just Chuck
Had to scan that pic for a few seconds to pick out Madam VP from the kids. She’s so tiny!
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: With my luck, I’d end up stuck on a boat with Manchin and Sinema.
NeenerNeener
@Immanentize: I’m jealous. Driving through NYS in fall is beautiful. I haven’t been back to Binghamton since 2016.
Burnspbesq
@germy:
The Board of Supervisors may have a thing or two to say about this.
Betty Cracker
@zhena gogolia: Alex Jennings really is terrific in that role, and the catty dialog with the wife is first rate. I love the insults for the family, i.e., “desiccated hyenas,” etc., and have wondered if those are from the Duke’s letters, the writers’ room or a combination.
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker: I know, I have to look that up, we wondered if they were real letters. I bet they are.
The Churchill eulogy for George VI is all from the actual speech — edited down a lot, but all his words.
Ksmiami
@Betty: fuck him. So sick of Manchin and Sinema Rt now
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker:
Haha, maybe a little edited but the reality is pretty good:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-20-mn-3553-story.html
Burnspbesq
@NotMax:
Drive west from Bahstan on I-90 and you hit nothing but un-cities all the way to Cleveland. Worcester, Springfield, Albany, Utica (!!!), Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Erie, Akron.
germy
@OzarkHillbilly:
There’s nothing x-rated, just a bunch of photos that make me wonder who has the patience to do all that lacing.
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker:
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: The leeches in the boat, or the sharks outside of the boat…. That’s a connundrum but I’d probably go with the sharks.
brendancalling
@NotMax:
Have you been to Philly recently? That is one fun and hip city.
Jeffro
Pretty good piece up in That Paper: David Shor is telling Democrats what they don’t want to hear
Have to agree. This is one of the major reasons I want them to hurry the heck up with infrastructure and reconciliation, we have SO much more to do, and quickly.
germy
The British as seen by Americans
Steeplejack
@germy:
@Rschooley (thread):
germy
What would the Founding Fathers do?
Kayla Rudbek
So irritated right now with the pharmacy. I called them last Saturday to get the liquid tamoxifen pickup location straightened out. Still not in the store as of this morning, which means that I have been on the lactose-tainted medication for over a week now. With all the digestive, sleep, and skin problems resulting from that. I even went to the store in person on Wednesday to check the status.
germy
@Steeplejack:
prostratedragon
@Jeffro: Maybe my partial optimism is groundless, and keeping in mind that the present situation is nothing like the mid-60s which one shouldn’t have expected to last forever, but I’m (much) more worried about whether we can get ahead of the time-sensitive problems looming at us than about whether we’ll tend to have as much of an opportunity as we have right now to fix them.
Otherwise, on this day in 1871: the Great Peshtigo, WI, Port Huron, and Chicago fires burned, along with another that was just pervasive in lower Michigan.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@germy: In Massachussetts, the story went from “hundreds of staties filing resignation paperwork” to “dozens of us! dozens!” from the police union to
jo6pac
There was 2 winners and you only named 1. I wonder why?
https://www.politico.eu/article/nobel-peace-prize-2021-maria-ressa-dmitry-muratov/
germy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I guess a bunch of those cops went on “indeed dot com” to look for new jobs, and didn’t see any with the same salary, benefits and pension.
zhena gogolia
@jo6pac:
Betty Cracker
@zhena gogolia: Fascinating! I loved the scene with the Churchill speech. His rivals all licking their chops in anticipation of the old goat flailing, their chagrin when he pulled it off…
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker: Jeremy Northam is delightfully sleazy in this.
Betty Cracker
@Jeffro: I read that this morning too. Very interesting piece, and a lot of it speaks to the controversies we discuss here on the regular.
dnfree
@?BillinGlendaleCA: if you have a rewards card at CVS, they’ll give you the flu shot free plus a coupon for $5 off a $20 purchase. Not sure when that offer ends, maybe tomorrow.
Betty Cracker
@zhena gogolia: Yes, he is terrific! Pip Torrens is also outstanding as the scheming Tommy Lascelles.
Ken
@germy: Also, they can’t all get gigs on OAN and Fox.
dnfree
@OzarkHillbilly: the second shingles shot laid me up for three days with fever, chills, the whole “flu” experience. Never happened to me with any other vaccinations, including Covid. Just don’t schedule something for the day after, in case.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@dnfree: They say free with most insurance, but I have a voucher from the orange apron place where I work, so it is all good.
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker: We love him. He’s eternally “Warleggan” to us.
Another Scott
BlueVirginia.US – Team D still up in Wason Center poll in Virginia.
We need to push turnout. These are important races!
Cheers,
Scott.
lowtechcyclist
@Jeffro:
That has to be pretty obvious to all concerned. I’m sure Biden, Pelosi, and Schumer know this in their bones.
Ramalama
I came here for the Doris Lessing posting. And am leaving with the thought of how Manchin is a little like Bernie Madoff. People wondering after the fraud was revealed how anyone could trust their money with a guy named Madoff. How Democrats are stuck trying to whittle down very popular programs to appeal to a guy named Mansion. Who lives on a yacht.
raven
We went to the kickoff for the “dog parade” last night and there was a couple there who were in the vet’s office when they brought Artie in. They were stunned that she made it and even more stunned at how well she is doing. They kept thanking me and I kept saying “you don’t need to thank me, I got the good end of this deal”.
Baud
@Another Scott:
?
James E Powell
@NotMax:
Never been to Albany, but William Kennedy’s novels make me want to spend some time there. It’s on the list.
dnfree
@?BillinGlendaleCA: my husband served on our far smaller county board. It’s pretty difficult to rein in the sheriff because they claim all kinds of terrible disasters will befall the citizens of the county if the budget is cut.
Our sheriff said twelve squad cars needed replacing (a significant number in our county). The board demanded that every vehicle in need of replacement be examined by an outside evaluator, which the sheriff hated. And why had the sheriff and his chief deputy gotten brand new vehicles before this need for replacements was announced? Eventually, the board agreed to allow I think four a year for three years. The sheriff was pissed at any questioning of his priorities, and my husband always tried to drive under the speed limit on county roads, since the sheriff thenceforward regarded him as an enemy.
Oh, and the local press, what there was left of it, all came to photograph the somewhat rusty car the sheriff put on display, and never asked to see the other eleven. I remember when reporters were suspicious, not gullible.
Spanky
@James E Powell: The magic of fiction.
WaterGirl
@Ramalama: I think you may have left something out of your comment.
He lives on a fucking yacht. :-)
Geminid
@Jeffro: I am not so pessimistic about Democrats’ electoral chances the rest of this decade. Even with reapportionment and redisricting, I Iike our chances to hold the Hoise next year, and I believe we’ll add to our Senate majority. In states like North Carolina and Texas, Republicans may have already squeezed as out as many seats as they could in 2011.
And gerrymandering does not neccesarily prevail over demographic and political change. In 2018, Virginia flipped 3 seats on a Republican drawn map, and two Texas Democrats did the same.
In any event, we have to hang onto power in upcoming elections. If the Republicans take over they can gut any program* that Democrats enact. But I like our chances. For one thing, Democrats are united and Republicans are not. They have big problems, not the least of which is their former president.
*D.C. statehood could not be undone. But I will be very surprised if that is passed by this Congress. Besides Manchin and the Wicked Witch of the West, Democrats from New Hampshire, Nevada, and Arizona face tough Senate reelections and will not want to take that vote.
Jeffro
@Betty Cracker: Yes – so much to get done, and so little time between now and Nov 2022.
Thanks for nothing, delta, ManSin, and McTurtle! >(
Jeffro
@lowtechcyclist: if you’ve read through the article, it’s not Biden, Pelosi, and Schumer that Schor is concerned “don’t get it”
Jeffro
@Geminid: I hear you, but I’d rather we stay at least a little pessimistic and act with much greater urgency. I think the odds of holding both the House and the Senate are really slim (primarily because of the Senate).
The article in question has a great interactive thingamabob that shows what outcome we’re likely to get if we get 2020 Biden-esque levels of turnout, if we do (or don’t) win back some of the non-college whites, if racial polarization gets better or worse, if voters split ballots, etc.
But the X-factor for me is one you touched on a little bit: Republicans are not as united, and they may well fall apart across the coming year as indictments drop and the strains of continuing to support trumpov become even more apparent.
Betty Cracker
@Jeffro: The thing that struck a worrying chord with me is how much the conundrum reminded me of the situation in Florida.
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
And this from a man who is relatively rich in his state, and pretty damn well off in any state. And the poor in his state have to accept one thing, when the wealthiest country in the world could easily afford all of them and he’s made his money from one of the absolutely dirtiest power sources in the world and the backs and lungs of the citizens he supposedly serves digging that coal out of the ground. What a stunning example of a selfish ass.
James E Powell
@lowtechcyclist:
A lot of press/media think they are characters on The West Wing. They imagine Ron Klain asking his staff, “Have you guys seen this Shor column? He’s making sense. Maybe we ought to rethink our whole approach.” Of course, he is saying this as they are all walking.
Ruckus
@germy:
Villanueva.
Another stunning example of absolute, willful ignorance and lack of public service.
Ruckus
@sdhays:
Yep.
Ruckus
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
That’s what I recall about mine as well, including the response, none.
Geminid
@Jeffro: I feel urgency also. It’s important that those program dollars start flowing by next spring so voters can see the effects with their own eyes before they make up their minds about who to vote for. The physical infrastructure investments in particular will have a lag between enactment and implementation. I am just pushing back at the notion that Democrats will.be marginized after this Congress. I think Republicans have the greater chance of being marginalized. They certainly are working hard towards this end.
Ruckus
@Baud:
He doesn’t want to end the “gamesmanship.”
He is a totally self serving senator, only imposing himself in the middle when it’s good for him and him alone, and when he does this it’s always bad for his side of the aisle. He always makes things worse for his side when he plays his game of look at ME.
Geminid
@Jeffro: What if we don’t win back a portion of non-college educated whites? I am more interested in building support among Latino working class and middle class people. That demographic group is in increasing, while the working class white vote is static.
Hoodie
@OzarkHillbilly: Just went through this. My doc says you don’t have to redo the series, just take the 2nd shot. Felt pretty crappy afterwards, about like Covid #2 shot.
Betty Cracker
@Geminid: One of the points the article made (which we know) is that we’re screwed in the senate in that scenario.
SteverinoCT
We have friends with a place in Schoharie County, off I-88, and love the scenery. We also go to Lake George to have a nice drive (from southeast CT) and use the webcams to check out the foliage in advance: Lake George Webcam. Right now pretty meh.
VeniceRiley
@germy: From protect and serve to infect and serve!
Matt McIrvin
@rikyrah: Trump’s problem was that he usually DIDN’T use the teleprompter. Whenever he deigned to actually read it, he’d give this wooden, grudging performance that said a few nominally sane things and the reporters would go off on how the New Trump was Presidential.
trollhattan
“Oh, Christ.”
I like the cut of Ms Lessing’s jib.
Baud
@James E Powell:
Good description.
Geminid
@Geminid: I’m not suggesting that we write off white working class people. This group does seem more susceptible to right wing culture war issues and racist dog whistles. But the thinking members of this cohort just want good jobs with good pay, decent health care, and the opportunity good education and upward mobility for themselves and their children. That is also what the Latino people I have worked with and live among want. The Democratic party’s task is to deliver on these needs, and make it clear that it is doing so.
Ruckus
@OzarkHillbilly:
Good choice. Go in one or two bites instead of millions of little ineffective bites that won’t kill you but cause an infection that is almost impossible to get rid of.
Geminid
@Betty Cracker: Interesting. Did the author list the states where this is so?
Another Scott
@Immanentize:
TheConversation:
Lots of implications resulting from the stuff we’ve put in the air over the last 150+ years…
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
@Another Scott:
I didn’t know that. Thanks, biologists!
Another Scott
MotU MBA: “If only there was something that could be done…”
What’s that??
TheHill:
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@Baud: “You can’t explain that!!”
Cheers,
Scott.
Matt McIrvin
@OzarkHillbilly: It’s 2-6 months for Shingrix, but I think for people who are past 6 months they’ll say “just get the second one ASAP”. Doctor might know though.
I got my second shot right at the very end of that window, because most of the intervening period was filled up with my knee surgery saga and I didn’t want a shot that would lay me flat during all that if I could avoid it. But then I got it because my eligibility for COVID vaccination was looming and I needed to leave two weeks in between (per CDC guidelines at the time, no longer the case).
topclimber
@germy:
Wasn’t it closer to 50 percent last month?
Jeffro
@Geminid: if I understand the article (and similar ones I’ve read) the Latino working class is beginning to trend more like the white working class…trumpov actually made slight gains with Latinos in 2020.
So I think focusing on working-class concerns might help Ds with both groups
ETA: or, what you said at #153 =)
Jeffro
@Another Scott: that’s amazing
I should read more about this. Are there just too many half-staffed, half-busy workplaces? Are there still millions of workers on the sidelines for whatever reason?
I know there seems to be some skills disconnect between the millions who are out of work and the jobs that are open.
The country would do well to ‘ping’ every un- and under-employed person in the country to see if they’re interested in being a nurse or teacher, because talk about labor shortages…whew…
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Jeffro:
That might only be because Dems didn’t go door to door as much as they did in the past. Plus the Trump effect
artem1s
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Wasn’t there an elected County Clerk who thought she could defy federal mandates
She was jailed for contempt and did lose her position next election. Win/Win IMO – force the asshole sheriff to comply AND oust him next election cycle.
Another Scott
@Jeffro: My understanding is that a lot of it is childcare and similar disruptions caused by the pandemic.
(From August 28):
This is yet another thing that the RB addresses.
Vaccinating the remaining school kids, and requiring masking while community spread is high, will help. But it’s likely to be a long slog, especially if these provisions are stripped out of the RB.
Cheers,
Scott.
Gravenstone
@germy: Where do you find these
gemsturds? And why…Felanius Kootea
@?BillinGlendaleCA: That’s the five queens to you.
Dan B
@rikyrah: Jim Crow must be stomped down every decade.
Soprano2
@Jeffro: I think there are a significant number of women with children who have dropped out of the workforce due to Covid exposures and quarantines for their children. Most employers can’t keep people when every few weeks they have to suddenly take several days off to stay at home with their quarantined children. That may suck, but it’s a fact of the workplace. I think once we get Covid in kids and schools under better control some of those people will start coming back to the workplace. Factor in Covid-inspired early retirements that normally wouldn’t have taken place, and I think you’ve got a significant part of the explanation for the extremely tight labor market. People persist in the “people just don’t want to work” fantasy, or the “just raise all the wages to ‘x’ and the problem will go away” fantasies. I think it’s more complicated than that.
Soprano2
@Another Scott: What he said, too. Here in Springfield some local businesses posted a billboard that says “Get off your Butt. Get.To.Work Apply Everywhere”. Lots of people like it because they persist in believing this fantasy, even though unemployment here is 2.3%. In business school back in the early ’80’s I was taught that reaching an unemployment rate like this was basically impossible, yet here we are.
germy