Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

The willow is too close to the house.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

I don’t recall signing up for living in a dystopian sci-fi novel.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Dear legacy media: you are not here to influence outcomes and policies you find desirable.

The world has changed, and neither one recognizes it.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Democracy is not a spectator sport.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

T R E 4 5 O N

No one could have predicted…

People are weird.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Is trump is trying to break black America over his knee? signs point to ‘yes’.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Another Wrestler

Another Wrestler

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Just got off a plane and saw Betty’s post about Hulk Hogan, and remembered this interview of former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura. He’s a horse of a different color than Hulk Hogan — to start with, Jesse tried to start a wrestlers’ union, and Hulk opposed him.

What struck me most about this interview was something relatively minor that clearly meant a lot to Jesse. When Minnesota legalized cannabis, Walz invited Jesse to the signing ceremony and gave him credit for getting the ball rolling on cannabis legalization. Walz absolutely did not have to do that, but it was both the decent thing to do, and the politically smart thing to do. Jesse’s politics are a bit all over the place, but he’s loud-and-proud about supporting Walz and defending him against the idiotic “stolen valor” attacks.

Whether it was an act of kindness, smart politics, or a bit of both, Walz knows how to make allies with folks who might not support a garden variety Democrat.

Reader Interactions

56Comments

  3. 3.

    HumboldtBlue

    It’s bad enough that Trump’s lieutenants are all at each other’s throats with less than three months to go until Election Day. What’s worse is that the apparent dissolution of MAGA’s fragile alliances has come at the same time that Harris and Democrats are unifying in a way not seen in decades. It isn’t just that the MAGA movement isn’t projecting a united front in the final stretch of a critical campaign — it’s that the ego-driven personalities on the far-right make any such unity functionally impossible.

  5. 5.

    WaterGirl

    Since two open threads went up at the same time, I’m gonna add my sneak peek of the soon to be raffled Native-made Star quilt into this thread, along with the Angel match for $1,250.

    Open Thread & New $1,250 Angel Match for The Civics Center

  9. 9.

    Ishiyama

    Governor Walz also invited the founder of Minnesota’s Grassroots Party, and thanked him by name. My brother.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    @Ken: Yeah, I noticed that the framing from The Hill is that it’s bad.

    If it’s bad for Republicans, it’s bad.  If it’s bad for Democrats, it’s good.

    So sick of the *thumb-on-the-scale from The Hill and other sources.

    And by “thumb” I mean thumb + 5 tons of rocks.

  17. 17.

    thruppence

    In this Colorado suburb, FAR less Trump/Maga paraphernalia than in previous election cycles. Dumb red hats used to decorate desecrate the landscape like a field of California poppies. Not much Harris/Walz stuff either, but it seems it takes weeks to get anything from their official merch store. Maybe I’ll check out Etsy tomorrow

    Also, in for $25 for the Civic Center folks

  18. 18.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: Thank you!

    I have never seen a quilt like that before.  Since there are white guy tacos, am I allowed to say that I must have only seen white people quilts before?

  21. 21.

    Ken

    @Baud: That is bad, but there’s still time.

    Inclination, too — remember during one of the Speaker elections (I think McCarthy), when one of the GQP representatives lunged at another? The Democrats were right to bring popcorn to that fiasco.

  23. 23.

    @mistermix.bsky.social

    @WaterGirl: Sorry, your post wasn’t up when I started this one.

    Star quilts are very common with the Lakota (Sioux) people living on reservations in North and South Dakota.  That’s a very nice one!

  25. 25.

    Jeffro

    Seen on Twitter: “It really says something that Kamala’s husband’s ex-wife supports her with far more enthusiasm than trump’s own wife supports him.”

    100%!

  27. 27.

    jonas

    @thruppence: Yeah, I’ve noticed that, too, in my fairly Trumpy county. There’s some MAGA swag here and there, but nothing like in 2016 or 2020. I was happy to recently see what appeared to be a homebrew Harris/Walz sign in front of a local farmhouse in an neighborhood I’m sure went for Trump 85/15 last time.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    @@mistermix.bsky.social: Most of the star quilts I’ve seen have white backgrounds and pops of color.  I love this one!

    Hope you don’t mind that I added the quilt and thermometer to your post. :-)  My dad always said there was more than one way to skin a cat.  (Which is a terrible saying on the face of it, but for me it’s a warm fuzzy memory of my dad from when I was a little one.)

  30. 30.

    Flanders Other Neighbor

    It makes me chuckle when these republicans supporting Harris are sure to provide the disclaimer about how they don’t agree with the Dem policies, but they love their country more than their party.

    As soon as trumpism dies, those kids are totally going hungry!!

  32. 32.

    HinTN

    @WaterGirl: I love the quilt but the enormity of the stakes in this election require me to ask, “Will these registrations be in time for the election on 5 November?”

  36. 36.

    Jackie

    @Jeffro:

    “It really says something that Kamala’s husband’s ex-wife supports her with far more enthusiasm than trump’s own wife supports him.”

    DonOLD and JV will think that’s weird 😁

  37. 37.

    Gvg

    @WaterGirl: um, I have seen lots of quilts like that, in infinite colors. It’s a very traditional pattern and white people do it too. I don’t know who doesn’t do it. I think it may be possibly a bit out of style because it used to be more common and I think now it’s trendy to do more unique stuff?

    That is a skilled version I think. I don’t quilt but my grandmother did and I read about it and attend shows now and then.

  38. 38.

    WaterGirl

    @HinTN: These 25 schools we are funding will be completed in time for registration for November.  But yes, this one, like all the others, and maybe more, is also about investing in the future.

    These schools will be in 3 of our key states:  Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona, and also hits two other states that are key because of Senate races – Ohio and Pennsylvania.

    So I feel good about it!  But by all means save your dollars for a different fundraiser if you want – we have two more coming up, starting next week

    edit: Oh wait, you were talking about the quilt.  That’s Four Directions in Montana, and our $$ will ABSOLUTELY be spent on registration and GOTV before November.

  39. 39.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Baud: So far, Harris is still polling behind where Biden was for most of the 2020 cycle. (But the gap narrowed a lot right at the end, much like in 2016. If Trump can manage that a third time, unless we can run up the score a lot, he wins.)

  42. 42.

    WaterGirl

    @Indycat32: I have apparently never seen a lone star quilt.  the star quilts I have seen have a white background with multiple stars on them.

    “Lone” star makes total sense for the name, thanks for that!

  44. 44.

    Princess

    @WaterGirl: The article was written by someone who describes himself as a Democratic strategist. I checked because it was such an awful article., full of errors and overstatements.

  45. 45.

    WaterGirl

    @Princess: Oh my gosh, last week on one of the podcasts I listened to they introduced Bob Schrum as the most sought-after Democratic strategist!

    Hold on a minute while I check to see if it’s still 2024 or if perhaps we have gone back in time a decade or two.

  46. 46.

    Gvg

    @WaterGirl: I certainly didn’t intend to insult the gift giver. I did say that I thought it was a skilled level quilt (but I am not an expert). It is beautiful. I have seen that pattern before and was just surprised you hadn’t. I guess there are differences in areas of the country. I just spent some time googling star quilt images. Native American including Lakota but other tribes are well represented but also African American and Amish which are probably the ones I have seen, and Texas and Ohio and Norwegian as well as some other areas. Quilts are pretty. I can look and look….

  49. 49.

    Craig

    Another wrestler, John Cena, seems like a solid interesting person. Extremely funny, and self aware actor. Everything I’ve ever read about him talks about his love of reading, how generous he is to coworkers, his professionalism and general decency. Granted, entertainment journalism. His superhero show Peacemaker is smart and hilarious, and his take as Dom’s brother in the later FastFurious movies is great.

  51. 51.

    billcinsd

    As Governor Jesse told the Confederates to pound sand when they wanted the Confederate Battle Flag the 1st Minnesota captured at Gettysburg back

  52. 52.

    E

    @Princess: I had the same reaction. The only evidence provided is Nick Fuentes said Trump will lose and some psycho YouTuber says he won’t. Snore.

  53. 53.

    Captain C

    Hulk Hogan in that clip looked like he’d either gotten into TCFG’s Adderall stash, Junior’s coke stash, or both.

  54. 54.

    PhaedrusOnBass

    In case anyone cares – a little context on the Jesse Ventura wrestler union era (the late 80s). Bollea fought against the union idea primarily because his nose was so far up Vince McMahon’s butt at the time that he would fight anyone who threatened Vince in any way. There was little valor on Bollea’s part – just greed and survival.

  56. 56.

    Timill

    @Honus:  Wiki says:

    Ventura served in the United States Navy from December 1, 1969, to September 10, 1975, during the Vietnam War, but did not see combat. He graduated in BUD/S class 58 in December 1970 and was part of Underwater Demolition Team 12.

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