And I probably best should not share it here. I’m just deeply pessimistic.
*** Update ***
PS I am still pissed about everything Russia.
This post is in: Open Threads
And I probably best should not share it here. I’m just deeply pessimistic.
*** Update ***
PS I am still pissed about everything Russia.
This post is in: Don't Agonize - Organize, Election 2018, Excellent Links, I'm With Her, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Women's Rights Are Human Rights, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome
"A lot of female friends, relatives and colleagues who were previously politically passive have been activated, and, boy, they do not like Donald Trump." https://t.co/dxRALVR5Ry
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) October 17, 2018
From the Washington Post, “Anti-Trump fervor fuels a new movement aimed squarely at winning elections”:
JACKSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio — President Trump’s political nightmare, a mother of two in a custom campaign polo, bounded down the driveway like a sweepstakes winner. She had just chatted up a shirtless Republican out to mow his lawn, and he liked what she said.
“He’s with me on the cost of health care and preexisting conditions,” Lorraine Wilburn, a first-time Democratic candidate for the Ohio statehouse, told her 11-year-old son, Finn. “He said he would take a look at me.”
Finn was used to this sort of enthusiasm, ever since his mother started attending liberal activist meetings after the 2016 election. He had learned not to be surprised if Mom started sounding like a comic book heroine akin to Wonder Woman, whose image she keeps on her phone…
Thin margins of error have not discouraged the new foot soldiers of the Democratic resistance. They don’t cover their faces with bandannas, speak of socialist revolution or get lost in debates about the best model for Medicare expansion.
Instead, many of them juggle campaign events with school commutes and soccer practice. They leave the kids with their husbands to march, come out of retirement to register voters and form close bonds with neighbors who were strangers when Hillary Clinton was the presumptive president. An aspiring blue wave with a decidedly pink hue, they are women defined by a desire to atone for their relative inaction in 2016.
“People are making social connections that they really, really like,” said Abby Karp, an organizer for Swing Left in North Carolina, who works days as a dean at a private school in Greensboro. “I don’t even have a Facebook page anymore. I have a political page. I don’t know what my cousin is doing. I know what canvass is coming up.”…
ActBlue, a central conduit for Democratic campaign contributions, has recorded 4.5 million contributors so far in the 2018 cycle, with about 61 percent of the money coming from women. That compares with 1.5 million donations in the 2014 cycle, when about 52 percent of the money came from women.
“Coming together is the antidote. It’s the antithesis of the divisiveness,” said Lauren Friedman, an Ohio state Senate candidate and mother of three, who started organizing with Wilburn in Canton days after Trump’s election. “Even us just going and canvassing — that is making a change.”…
GOP Women's PAC supports…Haley Stevens and Elissa Slotkin. ???? #CountryOverParty #MI08 #MI11 https://t.co/KazRsKPnm6
— MichiganDivisible???? (@IndivisibleMich) October 19, 2018
Michelle Goldberg, in the NYTimes, on “A Cure for Political Despair”:
… There is, I find, only one thing that soothes my galloping anxiety, and that is talking to women who are actually doing the work of campaigning. The people who are knocking on doors and organizing rallies tend to be much more cheerful and confident than those who spend too much time on Twitter obsessing over each new poll.
“One of the things I was a little worried about was maybe enthusiasm would wane, maybe people would get numb,” Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan’s Democratic nominee for governor, told me of the huge outpouring of women’s activism that followed Trump’s election. “I haven’t seen that at all. For 22 months, it’s been solid or growing.”…
This year, Democrats in Michigan — which Trump won — are running women for every statewide office: governor, senator, attorney general and secretary of state. A poll last month shows that Michigan women favor Democrats by over 20 percentage points. Campaigning for the Democratic nomination for attorney general, Dana Nessel ran an ad asking, “Who can you trust most not to show you their penis in a professional setting?”…
I showed Whitmer my friend’s text and asked her if she was really confident that Democrats would make the midterms a turning point. “I am,” she said. “I see it every day. I talk to people every day.”
Now, part of the job of a good politician is projecting optimism. But again and again over the horrible months of Trump’s reign, I’ve found that spending time with the women who are working their hearts out against him is at least a temporary cure for despair. So if you, too, are scared, or furious, or despondent, find a Democrat close to you and go canvass for her (or him). “It’s the best way to feel good about the world and connect with people,” Whitmer said.
Open Thread: An ‘Angry (But Positive!) Mob’ — of Women VotersPost + Comments (60)
This post is in: Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, All Too Normal, Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue
Being sarcastic on a regular basis can add up to 3 yrs to your life. Sarcasm is extremely healthy for the mind.
— Psychology Living (@LivPsy) October 20, 2018
I thought the Trump presidency would be my demise, now it seems I will live forever.
— Andrea R MD (@AndreaR9Md) October 21, 2018
.
Maybe all we have left is sarcasm, but at least it’s an infinitely renewable resource…
Monday Evening Open Thread: Be of Good Cheer!Post + Comments (219)
by TaMara| 19 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
BREAKING: #BlueWave imminent!
The #BlueWave Trailer pic.twitter.com/kCLvSqK5lz— Eleven Films (@Eleven_Films) October 22, 2018
I’m just beat. I’m also leaving town for a while, so hopefully, I’ll find my second wind. I am simultaneously worried about Nov 6 and so very, very tired of it all.
How about you? How are you hanging in there?
Open thread (which I’m sure after 7 hours of dead air, someone will big foot in 10 minutes)?
This post is in: Cat Blogging, Election 2018, Music, Open Threads
Saw this a while back at my favorite fishmonger (New Deal Seafood on Cambridge St. in Cambridge, for you Hub of the Universe Juicers)…
Which, inevitably, evoked this:
Meanwhile, Tikka asks, are you ready?
Early voting opened in my town today (yeah — MA does it by city and town)…
Just sayin.
Open thread.
by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)| 19 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture
Good Morning All,
On The Road and In Your Backyard is a weekday feature spotlighting reader submissions. From the exotic to the familiar, please share your part of the world, whether you’re traveling or just in your locality. Share some photos and a narrative, let us see through your pictures and words. We’re so lucky each and every day to see and appreciate the world around us!
Submissions from commenters are welcome at tools.balloon-juice.com
==
To start out this week, a great double-treat from Le Comte. I’m so excited!
Today, pictures from valued commenter Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes.
As I seem to be on this “visit everyplace the US was militarily engaged in during the 60s-80s kick”, we did a nice diving/hiking/relaxation trip to Grenada in May. The diving was actually better than anticipated – decent reefs and a wrecked hulk had a lot going for them.
The landscape was lush and phenomenal. The place is volcanic, and great to grow everything in the world – cinnamon, lime, mango, clove, cacao, pineapple, banana and coffee can all be found within a 100 yard radius pretty much anywhere in the interior of the island. As our guide said, it is impossible for a man to starve there.
Taken on 2018-05-01 00:00:00
Grenada
This is one of several pools we hiked to and swam in. The entries were gradual, the water welcomingly cool.
Each presented some challenges to hike to, usually involving walking a couple of miles over rugged terrain and steep slopes, followed by a clamber over boulders.
Taken on 2018-05-02 00:00:00
Grenada
It is always barely controlled bedlam on a dive boat, but we get ‘er done.
Taken on 2018-05-03 00:00:00
Grenada
The kids to my left were fairly new divers, and needed to take their time. I was ready to go in, dammit (and wearing a shorty – the water was a balmy 83 degrees).
Taken on 2018-05-04 00:00:00
Grenada
This is an example of how green the place is – I’d hate to have to start a fire from scratch there in the rainforest.
Taken on 2018-05-04 00:00:00
Grenada
Looking North, just past Georgetown
=== cue dramatic pause, change of onstage scenery and story ===
As many of you know, I hail from the People’s Democratic Socialist Kenyan Shariah Republic of Louisville, situated on the Ohio River on the northern border of the deep red pustule of Kentucky, with its northern suburbs located in the red pustule of Indiana. Back in the Before Time, Mitch McConnell was a local official here, but subsequent developments have seen more of this city and its suburbs turn reliably blue. In the days since, we’ve developed a solid food, drink and entertainment culture.
One Wednesday last fall, the Countess and I took a hooky day from working, and decided to look at the city from the standpoint of tourists – drunk-ass tourists, to be precise. These were the results.
Taken on 2017-08-30 00:00:00
Louisville, Kentucky
This is where I work. When we wandered this way after the bar, it was probably around 3:30 or 4:00 pm, so we were running into people who knew me and were still about their tasks.
They were amused at our state.
Louisville, Kentucky
Another bar had summoned our attention…
Taken on 2017-08-30 00:00:00
Louisville, Kentucky
I was in live with the colors that night.
Taken on 2018-08-30 00:00:00
Louisville, 7th and Main
This is a mock-up of Michelango’s David, parked out front at the flagship of the 21C, a combo modern art museum, hotel and bar (where we had lots of drinks that day at lunch). The place is funky and fun, and a block from my workplace.
Taken on 2017-08-30 00:00:00
Louisville, Kentucky 600 block West Main
This city has a high percentage of elder buildings with cast iron ceilings. Many were mixed use in the past – commercial/retail below and residential above.
Thank you so much Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes, do send us more when you can.
Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.
Submissions should be sent via the all-new form at https://tools.balloon-juice.com
This post is in: Don't Agonize - Organize, Election 2018, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome
"… one of the women who was on the bus said I got straight off the bus and got in my truck and went and took a friend to vote." https://t.co/E48ujbLvkm
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) October 21, 2018
NEW WSJ/NBC poll finds enthusiasm is up among core Democrats.
Share of voters showing a high level of interest in the election:
Blacks 68%, up from 57% in Jan-Sept.
Latinos: 71%, up from 47%
Young people: 51%, up from 35%
https://t.co/gjCw8wLLY5 via @WSJ— Janet Hook (@hookjan) October 21, 2018
Ignore the noise of hour-to-hour news. The factors that will determine who controls the House in 2019:
1) Trump's consistently low approval
2) gerrymandering (a handicap for D's)
3) voter turnout and mobilization#3 is up to you.https://t.co/8YSeXnJ4ch
— Sam Wang (@SamWangPhD) October 20, 2018
Being able to vote but choosing not to is immoral in 2018.
“Whether Democrats turn out broadly could make the difference between a fairly close fight for control of the House and sweeping Democratic gains of 40 or more seats.”
https://t.co/O9mlXmg2wv— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) October 20, 2018
The toxic Republican culture of cronyism, incompetence and corruption grows more and more brazen and destructive. The lies are skyrocketing. And the wave of fear they're stoking is intensifying.
The answer to all of this is you – your voice, your vote. 16 days out. -NP
— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) October 21, 2018
This is your periodic reminder. There will be discouraging news, infighting, candidate gaffes, and, from Trump and the GOP, lies and scare tactics galore. Remember to keep your eyes on the prize. Vote and do whatever you can to help others do so as well. https://t.co/DkappJrpkr
— Lawrence Glickman (@LarryGlickman) October 21, 2018
To the apolitical people who voted for Trump just out of morbid curiosity to see what would happen: Now you know. Wouldn't it be fun to switch it up and see what would happen if Democrats had subpoena power over him?
— Schooley (@Rschooley) October 21, 2018
Republicans definitely have a chance to hold the House. But the data does not show that their position has improved; it's probably gotten a pinch worse. https://t.co/y2pcec33jo https://t.co/mnGlDG0RrJ
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) October 21, 2018
Dems are in stronger shape today to win the House than they have been since August, when @FiveThirtyEight first started its forecast.
But yes, let's keep organizing and voting like our lives depended on it…it does!
Ignore the WaPo clickbait rubbish.
— Russell Drew (@RussOnPolitics) October 21, 2018
Monday Morning Open Thread: All GOTV, All the TimePost + Comments (98)