Folks, I don’t know how much more of this I can handle. The campaign, you know. It’s barely started — it hasn’t started, if you consider Labor Day the formal kickoff, a quaint idea we might want to consider reviving — and I don’t think I can drink from this firehose much longer. If Donald Trump’s campaign strategy is going to consist of saying outrageous shit twice a day, my only options will be leaving social media, gouging my eyes out or moving to Sakhalin Island until Thanksgiving.
Keep in mind, it is my job to pay attention to politics, at least at the state level, so add one more layer to the madness. The bright side: We have far fewer Trumps in Michigan, although I’m sure a few will pop up soon. The state’s primary is tomorrow.
I simply lack the capacity to sustain this level of outrage for the duration. So if you pop into this page and see a kitten video here and nothing else, know that I’m rebooting in an attempt to stay sane.
I’m also taking a bit of time off from posting links to election stuff, unless I feel fairly sure it’s something most of you haven’t seen yet. Trying to keep up is too damn distracting from my real work.
Hope everyone had a nice weekend. I worked at home four out of five workdays, so by Friday I was ready to jump the damn fence. We went to a new Chinese-ish place in what used to be Detroit’s Chinatown. I guess there really was one, once upon a time. It was a block or two long. Anyway, this place serves small plates (because every new place does, now), and when I say Chinese-ish I emphasize the -ish. Case in point: The cheeseburger eggroll, which sounds awful but was delicious. We sat by the window, the better to see the obviously poor family on the other side of the street, who had pulled up a couple of strollers to visit, while the kids played on the sidewalk and tree planters. That’s Detroit’s Cass Corridor in one frame, right there.
Saturday was the traditional million errands followed by a fine dinner and movie. Which was? “Midnight Special,” a film I hadn’t even heard of until Saturday night. We’re generally not supernatural-thriller people, but damn if it wasn’t half bad, buoyed by a fantastic cast. Whoever said there are no small parts, only small actors must have been thinking of Sam Shepard, who has one or two brief scenes and makes you want to want to follow him offscreen, just to see what he does next. Add Michael Shannon, Adam Driver, Joel Edgerton and Kirsten Dunst, and you want to follow everybody offscreen. Even the detective from “The Night Of” is in this, and makes a single line resonate.
The story? Meh. But I liked the execution.
And now the week ahead yawns. Not much bloggage (see above, me going around with my hands over my ears), but there was this splendid tale of how the home pregnancy test went from a to-the-trade item only to something in every drugstore. Of course a woman was behind it.
I’m going to think Sunday-evening thoughts now: What’s for dinner, is the laundry done, will this season of “Ray Donovan” turn around. You think your Monday thoughts, and I’ll see you soon.
Dexter said on August 1, 2016 at 12:48 am
Ray Donovan has me…I am so into it I wouldn’t even know a bad episode.
I have been aware of campaigns since 1956, when the two networks (ABC was not up yet) devoted 100% of programming, night and day, to politics, killing my TV cartoons and my spirit. By 1960 and Kennedy, I was 10 and I loved listening to my dad talk to family and other adults about Kennedy and how he really did have a chance against Tricky Dick…every campaign since, I had energy to follow closely and become excited, even campaign, as I did in 1964, house-to-house for LBJ, material supplied by The Young Democrats.
2016 and I can’t stand it but for small doses. Trump is off the charts out of his league here. HRC I voted for in 2008 primary, but I have no positive feeling at all about her. I can’t stand it either. I hate Trump’s stance on everything and I can’t even stand Hillary’s droning voice. My state of residence is Ohio and this is a battleground state, so I am not going to sit it out, and the third party candidates are a damn consolidated joke…so…even though I may say from time to time “never Hillary”, if I want to vote, I’ll simply have to do it.
Cheeseburger eggroll. Pass.
Also, the California infernos have made driving to Monterey from Las Vegas a foolish enterprise. We’re flying to Las Vegas Saturday, but the next week when we go to the ocean, we’re going to Carlsbad and environs…shorter times in the car and in the minds of the locals out there, safer than dodging incineration.
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Sherri said on August 1, 2016 at 12:49 am
We spent the weekend driving across the state and back to pick up our daughter from Walla Walla. Nice weekend for a drive, except for the accident on I-90 Sunday afternoon that added an extra hour to our return trip. But we were listening to a Terry Pratchett book, so even that wasn’t so bad. We hit the road again next weekend for our annual trip to Ashland. Among the many plays we’re seeing is Roe, part of the OSF’s American Revolutions series.
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Dexter said on August 1, 2016 at 12:50 am
I forgot to plug a great show on Showtime called “Roadies”. It kills. Love it.
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Sherri said on August 1, 2016 at 2:28 am
Citizens United gets all the attention, but Shelby County is the much more dangerous decision that needs to be overturned.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/us/critics-see-efforts-to-purge-minorities-from-voter-rolls-in-new-elections-rules.html
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adrianne said on August 1, 2016 at 6:36 am
My weekend consisted of springing hubs from the hospital, where he underwent a lactectomy on his back/spine. He foolishly thought he would be sent home the next day. Gently, I reminded him that this was major surgery and he wasn’t going to be feeling too spry for a while. He finally realized it, was happy to accept the great care provided by nurses at Vassar Bros. Hospital. He’s home now, getting around pretty well, considering. I thank God I have terrific work from home options – the only way I could get through this without blowing all of my days off. Thanks for friends of Nance who sent their healing thoughts for Dave.
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Julie Robinson said on August 1, 2016 at 7:44 am
100 days until the election and the commercials are already at Defcon 3. Here’s to hoping they’ll subside now the conventions are over.
And more hopes for a good recovery for Dave, Adrianne.
Kitties are an unhappy subject right now as it’s close to the end for my mom’s 17 yr old cat, her only companion for all those years. The hard news came Friday and cast a huge pall on Mom’s birthday celebration. Rough waters ahead.
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brian stouder said on August 1, 2016 at 8:45 am
Well, and in any case, the 2016 election will careen forward – and most of the regular posters around here already know where each of us are (more or less) – so leaving that subject aside (or at least minimizing its presence in the comments) costs us nothing.
My head was turned by the new crop of indictments in the Flint water debacle.
At the very least, the governor of the state ought to be put under oath and asked about all of this, in great detail
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Peter said on August 1, 2016 at 8:47 am
First off, best wishes for a full recovery for Dave.
Second, I’m sorry about the impending departure for Julie’s mom’s cat. My in-laws have a 15 year old dog and he walks around like he wants to be put out of his misery already.
Finally, it’s not often I can say this, but thank God I live in Illinois – haven’t seen one presidential ad yet and it looks like there won’t be many of them here. Thanks Obama!
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basset said on August 1, 2016 at 9:08 am
Our 17-year-old calico’s had that skinny and dull fur end of life look for over a year now, she’s still eating but we can’t keep any weight on her… spends most of her time lying in her spot, seems to be feeling well for now though.
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Julie Robinson said on August 1, 2016 at 9:40 am
Oh man, it’s so hard isn’t it? We’ve gone from twice weekly fluid treatments to almost daily, as her kidneys fail. She doesn’t want to eat, but she still drinks and fur looks okay. It’s hard to tell if she’s in pain, but her creatinine levels are off the charts. We see the vet tomorrow.
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beb said on August 1, 2016 at 10:08 am
We’re in Indiana visiting my dad. The Bayh/Todd Young ads are thick and heavy. It’s enough to make one sick of politics. And neither Bayh or Young identify which party they belong to. That and I’m sick of “conservative Indiana values” whatever those are. I have yet to see a conservative value that doesn’t translate into “white supremacy” or simply “fuck the poor”
I wonder if Trump’s war against the Gold Star Khan family might be the bridge too far that wrecks his bid to be president. I’d like to hope so but Trump’s attack on John McCain was suppose to be a career-ender but it wasn’t. If Gov. Pence were a man of honor he’d quit as Trump’s partner over this attack on honorable people. But if he were an honorable person to begin with he’d never have agreed to by his VP.
Where is “anonymous” to steal Trump’s financial data and release it to the world?
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Dorothy said on August 1, 2016 at 10:09 am
My niece had to put her 14 year old pug, Sidney, down last week. She should have done it ages ago. I visited them about a year ago and the poor blind pup was not well. She also went to the bathroom in the house far more than I would have tolerated, had she been my dog. I’m sure the timing was because they were leaving on vacation and finally decided to let poor Sidney go.
Politics. I’m so friggin’ weary. I noted over the weekend that the one commercial Hillary’s campaign is using, the one where they show clips of Trump saying awful terrible things, being watched by children, should probably be pulled now. They’re putting it on so often and what about the kids who see those commercials now, over and over?! I’m a staunch Dem so I understand the need for the commercials. Still, I shudder to think of what is going through the minds of children these days. And I unfriended someone I knew from grade school and high school over her commments about Mr. Khan and his wife. I told her I doubted she had a beating heart in her chest. It’s no loss – I never really felt we were ‘friends’, and I’m not going to stop commenting on the election merely because I”m afraid of ruffling feathers among people on social media. My conscience won’t allow me to do that – I’d be just as bad as the mostly silent Republican hierarchy who keep their lips shut about all the vile thoughts that the Black Souled Trump speaks. I don’t give a rat’s ass if I offend someone. I’ll call people out on their support of him. There’s not a doubt in my mind that if he would be elected, he’d have our country embroiled in war in multiple places within a year.
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Bitter Scribe said on August 1, 2016 at 10:33 am
Don’t anyone take this personally, but I’m really getting impatient with the “Trump is terrible but I don’t like Hillary either” line. One of them has faults that are orders of magnitude above the other’s. Dislike Hillary if you must, but Trump is actively hateful and a threat to the Republic. It is beyond ludicrous that anyone should consider the two of them alike in any way, in terms of either positive or negative traits.
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Heather said on August 1, 2016 at 10:50 am
Sorry about your mom’s cat, Julie. I’ve had to put down two cats and it’s really hard to know when it’s time, since they hide their pain pretty well.
I’m in South Lake Tahoe for a family vacation. It’s been fun but not really restful, as you might imagine, being with about 30 other people and also wanting to do lots of stuff. It’s gorgeous here. I’ve been doing lots of kayaking and swimming. Now I wish I could just carve out an hour for a massage. We’ll see. Tuesday a few of us are going to Napa for a couple days. If anyone has any recommendations for small, independent vineyards close to the city of Napa, I’m listening! We probably only have time to hit a couple.
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Suzanne said on August 1, 2016 at 10:59 am
Bitter Scribe–My thoughts, too. It’s kind of like saying a white collar embezzler is no different than a serial killer. Both did wrong things, so meh. Whatever.
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Jolene said on August 1, 2016 at 11:00 am
Trump is still getting pounded for his criticism of the Khans. This morning, John MCain issued a lengthy statement in response to Trump, as did a group of Gold Star families. So far, no GOP leaders have retracted their endorsements though.
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Deggjr said on August 1, 2016 at 11:09 am
I was off the grid last T-Fri and recharged on politics. I couldn’t bear to watch the DNC Monday night but it sounds like it was pretty good.
Most people complain the election cycles are too long. It feels that way to me, however this year’s length allowed Sanders to move the Democrats to the left and will give Trump maximum exposure. Every voter should know who Trump is on election day.
After that, “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” – H. L. Mencken
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Deborah said on August 1, 2016 at 11:17 am
Julie you and your mom have my sympathy, having had to put down two cats in my life, I know how hard it can be.
I agree that the dislike of Trump as compared to the dislike of Hillary is as Dan Savage says like not wanting to eat strychnine or not wanting to eat beets. Although I love beets and I like Hillary too.
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Peter said on August 1, 2016 at 11:37 am
OK, I’m sorry in advance, but I have to rant, or pile on, Bitter Scribe’s comment.
Yesterday Paul Manafort appeared on a news show, and they asked him about the Khans.
Manafort started out well, stating that of course the Trump campaign recognizes that he lost his son in the line of combat, but then said “Yet the media plays this up, but doesn’t say anything about Hillary’s reaction to the RNC speakers who lost their children to undocumented aliens”, to which the moderator replied that Manafort has a point.
NO HE DOESN’T YOU DUMB ASS DOUCHEBAG. The reason the media isn’t jumping on Hilary about her remarks about those parents is that she didn’t say anything about those parents, and if Donald would have shut up for once (and that would be a first!) about the Khans, the media wouldn’t have bugged him about it either!
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Sherri said on August 1, 2016 at 12:06 pm
In all the talk about the disconnect between Hillary and the Millennials, I don’t think I’ve seen one pundit consider that have no memory of a Hillary before the concerted right wing attack on her? I read about how they don’t think the first woman president is a big deal, how she’s too conservative, corrupt, and a liar, but not about why she came to viewed that way. Of cours, that would require admitting complicity.
Speaking of which, what would it take for the NYTimes to get rid of Maureen Dowd?
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Sherri said on August 1, 2016 at 12:14 pm
Hope Dave’s recovery continues to go well, Adrianne.
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lynn walsh said on August 1, 2016 at 12:16 pm
Some summer gazpacho sounds just right, with a slab of good bread grilled and rubbed with a garlic clove and doused liberally with oil. The garlic may also serve to ward off the insidious evils of Trump thoughts.
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Sherri said on August 1, 2016 at 12:40 pm
Words mean less than actions. Donald Trump is a racist, sexist bigot, and shows that by his actions. Sen. Jeff Session, you are defending Trump. You are the same. Sen. Marco Rubio, you are campaigning for Trump. You are the same as well.
Speaker Paul Ryan, Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen John McCain, no matter how many times you put out statements disagreeing with the latest thing Trump has said, as long as you continue to endorse Trump, you are enabling his bigotry, and you can not separate yourself from it.
Sen. Jeff Flake, Sen Susan Collins, you can put out statements criticizing Trump and refuse to endorse him, but until you stop trying to have it both ways and make it clear that you oppose Trump, you also enable his bigotry. You have more than enough evidence of what Trump is. The time has come to choose whether to renounce bigotry.
You can not renounce racism, sexism, xenophobia, and bigotry without renouncing Trump. You can start to rebuild a new Republican party, or you can go down with it.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/08/the-gop-has-made-its-peace-with-trumps-racism.html
(I promise, this is my last political post for the day.)
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Jeff Borden said on August 1, 2016 at 12:50 pm
A.) Peter is correct. Living in a blue or red state is bliss at election time, though because the Chicago market also includes Northwest Indiana, we may be some collateral damage.
B.) Bitter Scribe and Peter echo my thoughts. I’d have preferred a Joe Biden run, quite honestly, as I never bought into the idea that Bernie Sanders could enact 1 percent of what he was promising, but I will gladly cast a vote for Hillary Clinton despite my reservations. When the Houston Chronicle and The Economist are writing editorials this early warning about the danger tRump presents to the nation and the world, shit is getting real.
C.) WTF is it with these Bernie deadeners? I just got unfriended by someone I’ve known for almost three decades because I told him a vote for Jill Stein of the Green Party in the swing state where he lives is exactly the same as voting for tRump. The arrogance of these deadenders is, if anything, even worse than the smugness of the Ralph Nader voters who gave us eight years of Bush hell. They were so fking morally pure they took a pass on a presidential candidate who would have kept us out of Iraq and given us a 15 year head start in fighting global climate change.
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adrianne said on August 1, 2016 at 1:02 pm
Thanks for thinking of Dave, Sherri. He is really doing 100 percent better than before the surgery. I think the last person who realized it was major surgery was David!
And now, I agree that everyone needs to hold the feet of Trump apologists like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell to the fire. Don’t let them get away with their support for Trump. He’s a danger to the Republic. ‘Nuff said.
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jcburns said on August 1, 2016 at 1:12 pm
Get well soon David, and give my best to Lance, too.
Any journalist who says “you have a point” in an interview with a political spokesperson/politician is simply not doing his/her job.
For that matter, any journalist that allows a spokesperson to manipulate the interview with “let’s get back to the broader point” is simply not doing his/her job.
(long sigh.) Let me extend that: any 24 hour news booker who brings on a political spokesperson/surrogate between now and November AT ALL is simply not doing his/her job.
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Scout said on August 1, 2016 at 1:38 pm
I’m totally down with cat videos. They and lots of wine may be the only things that keep me sane until November 8th.
So here’s one…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BehtL7W8KM
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jcburns said on August 1, 2016 at 2:10 pm
From Sarah Vowell: Hillary Clinton Made Me Cry.
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Sue said on August 1, 2016 at 2:14 pm
Nancy talked about cat videos and then didn’t provide one. That’s got to be some kind of breach of journalism ethics, right? Because expecting a cat video and then not getting one until comment 27 is just… criminal.
How about some Simon? https://www.youtube.com/user/simonscat
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Jolene said on August 1, 2016 at 2:19 pm
Your Sarah Vowell link doesn’t work, jc.
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jcburns said on August 1, 2016 at 2:23 pm
Thanks, fixed.
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Sherri said on August 1, 2016 at 2:23 pm
(Okay, I lied, but I have a question)
Jeff, why did you prefer Joe Biden? I’ve been puzzled by the Joe Biden thing. He’s definitely a likable guy, but he’s less liberal than Hillary, wrote the 1994 crime bill than Hillary has been attacked on, was the Senator for credit card companies (he voted to make bankruptcy harder), and for people unhappy about Tim Kaine’s position on abortion, it’s indistinguishable from Biden’s. He also had to withdraw from a presidential race over plagiarism, and has been long known before he became VP for making gaffes.
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brian stouder said on August 1, 2016 at 2:29 pm
psssst – Sherri – for what it’s worth, I (for one) hope you never withhold a comment – political or otherwise – around here!
And it is tremendous to hear from Adrianne that things are looking up, in her household
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Sherri said on August 1, 2016 at 2:30 pm
I don’t think this has gotten much news outside of Seattle because it’s just another day in America.
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/chill-gathering-turns-deadly-for-longtime-mukilteo-friends/
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/document-mukilteo-shooting-suspect-was-jealous-over-ex-purchased-rifle-a-week-ago/
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St Bitch said on August 1, 2016 at 2:31 pm
You can see more of Sam Shepard on Netflix’s “Bloodline”.
I think we’re all in danger of outrage overdose…
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brian stouder said on August 1, 2016 at 2:40 pm
…and not for nothing – but the old History calendar thing reminds me that today is the anniversary of the start of the first world war, a century ago.
Blustery, ego-maniacal leaders (and aspiring leaders) stating and doing reckless things in 2016?
Been there, done that, got the tee shirt….and the memorial monuments, and the lives-cut-short, and who knows where we’d be today, if Europe hadn’t actively tried to collectively kill themselves twice in two decades?
We human beings ain’t nearly as smart, nor have we progressed nearly as far as we’d like to think
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Jeff Borden said on August 1, 2016 at 2:44 pm
Sherri,
I think Biden has acquitted himself well as veep. Some of his positions have changed over the years, but I still think is dependably liberal, able to work with the other side of the aisle in ways HRC cannot because the other side has spent 25 years demonizing her. He’s strong on foreign policy, which is why President Obama went with him as veep. Frankly, I thought he’d earned his shot at the Oval Office.
There’s absolutely no question I’ll vote for HRC, but I’m not excited about it despite the historic ramifications. The tidal wave of venom that will be unleashed on her by the Congress –assuming she wins which is not a sure thing, btw– will be much greater than even our first black president endured. And she is more of a hawk in foreign affairs than I’d like, too.
All that said, there really is no choice. A vote for tRump is a vote for hell. Literal hell.
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Jolene said on August 1, 2016 at 2:54 pm
Thanks, jc. Nice to read something sweet and amusing about politics. I recommend it.
I don’t think it’s guaranteed that congressional Republicans will oppose Hillary. Of course, Congress is more polarized now than it was when she was there, but, if news reports can be trusted, she was respected and liked by many of her GOP colleagues.
The best thing, though, would be a Dem majority, which would reduce the amount of haggling she’d need to do to get anything done.
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susan said on August 1, 2016 at 3:54 pm
Here is someone who is tracking the 2016 preznit race who is not a glum gus:
“…Nate Silver, is producing something called a “now-cast” that says the race for the presidency is close.
“My numbers say it isn’t. My numbers do not claim to be predictor of the election, only a snapshot of what the polls say today. Even so, what I am seeing reported by Nate Silver amounts to mathematical malpractice and people need to know not all aggregators agree with him.
“…The snapshot says 99% to 1% for Clinton…”
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beb said on August 1, 2016 at 3:55 pm
I agree with Bitter Scribe.
One thing about Joe Biden running for President is that, like Hillary and Bernie, he’s old. Maybe older than the other two. With his age it is would be hard to see him as a two-term president.
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Jolene said on August 1, 2016 at 3:55 pm
Several opportunities to hear more from the Khans: tonight on PBS NewsHour, Hardball on MSNBC at 7:00 PM EDT, and tomorrow during 11:00 AM hour on MSNBC.
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Sherri said on August 1, 2016 at 4:27 pm
Hillary is more hawkish than I would like, but I also recognize that reasonable people can disagree on where to draw the line on military intervention. it’s a thorny question, with no easy answer. Was it right to intervene in Bosnia, but not in Rwanda? Toppling a dictator often results in civil war; is that better or worse than standing by and letting the dictator brutally crush an uprising, or perpetuate a genocide? I’d rather not be so closely tied to Israel, but what do we owe to Israel? Personally, I think that some right-wing support of Israel is based on a badly flawed reading of Revelations as popularized most recently by the Tim LaHaye Left Behind books, but that’s not the only source of support for Israel in this country.
So, the line is tough for me. I was firmly opposed to the Iraq War, but I was also opposed to the war in Afghanistan. Slobodan Milosevic was perpetuating a genocide, but so were the Hutus. It’s complicated. I don’t believe that isolationism is an option for the world’s superpower, but I also don’t think there’s a bright line for when to intervene militarily. And it’s not like economic sanctions only harm the people in power, or even primarily harm the people in power.
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Deborah said on August 1, 2016 at 4:50 pm
Count me as someone who doesn’t want you to hold back on the political comments. Keep it up.
JC you cleared something up for me with your comment above about David/Lance. I had suspected as much but now I know that another blog I’ve been reading for ages is by the husband of a commenter here. Cool! And glad to hear the healing is coming along.
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Deborah said on August 1, 2016 at 4:51 pm
I meant to say the first part of my comment #42 was to Sherri.
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David C. said on August 1, 2016 at 6:10 pm
The nicest thing about cutting our cable several years ago is that political ads have pretty much been rumor to us. We could have our over the air antenna eaten by metal munching mice and we’d never notice because we don’t watch local TV. I highly recommend it.
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Sherri said on August 1, 2016 at 6:21 pm
Which is creepier: that Peter Thiel, a gay man, endorsed Trump and spoke at the RNC, or that Peter Thiel is a vampire?
(I always thought he was inhuman.)
http://www.inc.com/jeff-bercovici/peter-thiel-young-blood.html
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Sherri said on August 1, 2016 at 7:00 pm
Whither Bernie? I think he fades back into the same place he was before. I think he mistook the votes for him as votes for him, but he was a placeholder. From what I can tell, much of the organization, what there was of it, came not from the campaign but from supporters independently, more out of the Occupy movement than out of any wing of the Democratic party. Sanders is headed back to the Senate as an Independent, and still hasn’t shown much inclination to either support downticket races or build coalitions. There are several splinter groups who have come out of Bernie supporters, and maybe they’ll develop into something real, but Bernie hasn’t gained any influence because he squanders it everytime.
Warren is the new progressive power in the Senate, and she doesn’t need him; she’s building her own power base.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/bernie-sanders-elizabeth-warren-226483
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Sherri said on August 1, 2016 at 7:13 pm
Jeff Sanders says Bernie didn’t want to be VP, but that a Clinton-Sanders ticket would be better than a Clinton-Kaine ticket because it would be more effective at tapping the white working class discontent mined by Trump.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/off-message-226491
I think he’s wrong, because I think Sanders only got those votes in the primary, and in the general, they would have gone to Trump, but here’s the New Yorker’s James Surowiecki with a long Tweetstorm putting forth the argument I’ve made here, that the white working class has a racism problem, and the Democrats should welcome them, but only with anti=racism as a requirement.
https://storify.com/DemFromCT/james-surowicki-on-working-class-whites-and-racism
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Jolene said on August 1, 2016 at 9:17 pm
Sanders has said that he intends to campaign for Clinton and other Democrats, so we’ll see what he does. He sounded pretty emphatic about it on the Bill Maher show last Friday. I’m not sure, though, how many Dem senatorial candidates would want him to speak on their behalf. He has, essentially, one speech, and I’m not sure that Senate candidates who are in tight races in swing states want to have him come to talk about political revolution.
Hillary Clinton campaigned in Nebraska today with Warren Buffett. Nebraska is one of two states (Maine is the other.) that awards electoral votes by congressional district. Thus, though Nebraska is blood red on the state level, there’s a chance of winning the district that contains Omaha.
Buffett gave her a great intro, but, in addition, announced a plan to take voters to the polls on election day. He intends to reserve a 32-passenger trolley and spend the day ferrying anyone who needs a ride. After announcing that plan, including a promise to take selfies with the passengers, he challenged the people at the rally to join him in taking others to the polls and set a goal of making voter turnout in that district the highest in the nation. Also directed people to a web site where they could register to vote, request a ride, or sign up to give rides.
I loved the idea of him getting involved in that way, but also saw it as a very
Hillaryesque approach. A goal, a plan, and staffing–all wrapped up.
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Sue said on August 1, 2016 at 9:45 pm
A noodle place in West Bend doesn’t have pot stickers – they have brat stickers. Which include sauerkraut. Supposedly pretty good.
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Sue said on August 1, 2016 at 9:52 pm
Julie, we had our old cat euthanized two weeks ago. Your mom’s cat probably isn’t in a lot of pain, that’s the good thing about that condition. Probably a little dizzy and somewhat nauseous but this is the kind of thing that, if a decision isn’t made, usually ends in coma and shutdown. As close as you can get to just drifting away but still not as good as the loving alternative.
Our cat developed bladder stones and some blood in the urine, so we knew it was time. He was still demanding any lap available and eating like a tiny horse, but yeah, his levels were triple normal and even with fluids things were going to go downhill pretty soon.
RIP Motley.
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Sue said on August 1, 2016 at 9:55 pm
Sherri, which Terry Pratchett book did you listen to?
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Sherri said on August 1, 2016 at 10:09 pm
The Wyrd Sisters. We didn’t quite finish it, so we’ll pick it back up when we head to Ashland on Saturday. Enjoyable as usual, except that Celia Imrie’s voice is a little too quiet at times and harder to hear over the road noise than Nigel Planer’s.
We’ve listened to, so far, Mort, Good Omens, The Fifth Elephant, Small Gods, and Guards, Guards. I think Mort was my favorite. I haven’t decided what we’ll listen to after The Wyrd Sisters.
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Julie Robinson said on August 1, 2016 at 11:10 pm
Sue, it’s good to know kitty probably isn’t in pain. Today she was much better and hadn’t lost any more weight. We’ll see what the vet says tomorrow.
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Julie Robinson said on August 1, 2016 at 11:11 pm
And I forgot to say I’m sorry about Motley. I appreciate you reaching past your own pain to share helpful info.
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Sherri said on August 1, 2016 at 11:57 pm
Trump is losing it. This is not the behavior of a sane man. I mean, lying repeatedly during an interview, saying awful things in a rally, those are signs of a terrible man, but explicitly calling reporters aside so you can complain about the Fire Marshall at a second venue in the last few days? Insane.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/08/01/trump_has_now_accused_two_fire_marshals_of_being_conspiring_against_him.html
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