I’m beginning to think Sherri is not paranoid at all. We are broken. The gerrymandering decision was just one in a series of terrible court rulings that we had best get used to. It’s not going to get better. It might improve a little here and there, but better? Overall better? Not in any way certain, no matter who wins in 2020.
Oddly enough, I am not alarmed by this:
President Trump said Thursday that he is seeking to delay the constitutionally mandated census to give administration officials time to come up with a better explanation for why it should include a citizenship question.
Trump’s announcement, in tweets sent from Japan, came hours after the Supreme Court put on hold his administration’s plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, saying it had provided a “contrived” reason for wanting the information.
“Seems totally ridiculous that our government, and indeed Country, cannot ask a basic question of Citizenship in a very expensive, detailed and important Census, in this case for 2020,” Trump wrote in his tweet. “I have asked the lawyers if they can delay the Census, no matter how long, until the United States Supreme Court is given additional information from which it can make a final and decisive decision on this very critical matter.”
It’s not going to happen. You can’t “delay the census.” But “I’m asking the lawyers to do something” is something that Trump has learned is a bit of a magic phrase that can always strike a little fear into a few hearts: I am calling my lawyers! There will be hell to pay! It’s just one of his bullshit catch phrases, like “that’s fantastic” and “best of luck, I’m sure you’ll do phenomenally,” et fucking al.
Of course, I could be wrong! But it’s a warm summer Thursday, and I’m choosing calm for now.
I wish I were more optimistic today, but it’s been a long hot week and tomorrow I’m headed up to a sandbar party in Lake St. Clair for a story, maybe, and I need some sleep.
Here’s another story on E. Jean Carroll, talking to the friends she told about Trump’s rape, and more about her life. It’s good.
A good weekend to all.
LAMary said on June 27, 2019 at 9:42 pm
To any contractor or vendor Trump refused to pay during his casino acquisition period “go ahead, sue us, talk to our lawyers” was the standard reply. The Trump organization put a lot of small businesses out of business.
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Bitter Scribe said on June 27, 2019 at 9:46 pm
This whole census kerfuffle, if I understand it correctly, is about Republicans trying to have congressional districts determined by the number of people in each location who declare themselves to be citizens. They’re trying to game the system again, in other words.
Maybe there should be a compromise. People who don’t check the citizen box could count as a fraction of those who do. Three-fifths, perhaps?
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Sherri said on June 27, 2019 at 10:18 pm
I wish I were just paranoid.
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Connie said on June 28, 2019 at 8:21 am
ROgirl,, for music see if your library has Freegal. Not only can you download music, you can keep it.
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Suzanne said on June 28, 2019 at 8:22 am
I’ve been beyond paranoid for months. I keep thinking about my age old curiosity about what it must have been like to live in pre-war Germany and now I know. It’s screaming into a void. The information is out there and is ignored. The business owner I work for, who made a success of herself years ago in a male dominated business and has no use for sexist, misogynistic behavior, told me she watched the first night of the Dem debate and would refuse to vote for any of those guys who started speaking Spanish. My brother-in-Law told me recently how absolutely dead set he is against any kind of reparations. Slavery is over; they need to move on. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t hear someone say something disparaging aimed at Mexicans, gays, or any other minorities or someone has to tell me about the new gun they got.
Trump is in office because great swaths of the country see nothing wrong with his behavior. And I don’t think they will until his actions cause their own undeniable pain. And even then, I am not sure.
I may have mentioned that I recently read
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 28, 2019 at 8:38 am
Paranoia is when you wonder who came and got Suzanne.
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Connie said on June 28, 2019 at 9:22 am
My long ago maid of honor recently posted on facebook about going to the recent Trump rally in Florida and standing in line for five hours, and how wonderful it all was. I was dismayed. We only see each other every couple of years but I feel like my old friendship , well it’s gone.
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Suzanne said on June 28, 2019 at 9:34 am
LOL Jeff. No one came and got me. I am simply becoming more and more convinced the only thing that will stop the Trump Clown Car is it ramming into a brick wall and I don’t see that happening. I think we are entering a long, dark tunnel which will take a very long time to emerge from.
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JodiP said on June 28, 2019 at 9:47 am
By coincidence I’m listening to a Slate podcast with E. Jean Carroll, Dahlia’s in the studio. The podcast is called Trumpcast, but it’s on Amicus as a special thing.
There are many reasons to fear our system is broken. Here’s my favorite for today: Trump smirking as he tells Putin not to mess with the election. Wink, wink.
Suzanne, that sucks so bad. I never hear any of that shit, even working in the sheriff’s office as I do. I’m not saying it’s not there, it’s quiet.
But tomorrow is my birthday; it’s going to get hot. I will spend it gardening and reading, then out to a nice dinner with my lovely wife. We saw Lisa Fisher and Grand Baton last night for the umpteenth time. So healing, so full of love.
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Deborah said on June 28, 2019 at 9:48 am
I couldn’t make it through the whole debate last night because Biden disturbed me. He looked and sounded like a befuddled old person. And that Williamson woman was woo woo. Thank goodness for Kamala Harris.
Suzanne, when I read about what you are subjected to, I’m so glad I live in my progressive bubble in New Mexico and Chicago.
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Julie Robinson said on June 28, 2019 at 10:00 am
Connie, most of my college friends have become right wing and I don’t understand what happened to the open and compassionate people I knew back then. They’ve been indoctrinated.
Yesterday my daughter’s denomination voted to remove two pastors who have been openly ministering to gays. Today they will vote to remove the church one of those pastors leads. Tomorrow she may be looking for a new denomination to align herself with. The leadership is using Trump tactics, like changing the rules in the middle of the game.
But happier days are ahead as a distraction, as we’re approaching a family trip to NYC.
Happy Birthday weekend, Jodi!
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Heather said on June 28, 2019 at 10:21 am
It’s really disheartening to hear all your stories of people gone Trumpie, although not surprising I guess. I’m just here in my little bubble where 99% of my friends and family are growing increasingly liberal in response to this madness.
I have one super-conservative friend on Facebook–I’ve never even met her in person, just through a group we were both in. I had to hide her page to protect my blood pressure. I peeked at it yesterday and she posted something like, “I know that guns kill kids, but why is no one talking about all the CHEMICALS in our water and food that ALSO kill kids???” And then I remembered why I hid her page. She’s an anti-vaxxer of course.
I’m with Sherri and Suzanne. We’re in big trouble, and I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
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Jeff Borden said on June 28, 2019 at 10:24 am
I’m resigned to shuffling off this mortal coil in the next 15 or 20 years with my country still living in imagined past glory while the rest of the globe races on ahead. The die has been cast and hardened in steel by SCOTUS, dating back to its ruling on Citizens United, which is drowning our democracy in soft money. Then, SCOTUS famously declared racism in ‘Murica is dead and gutted the Voting Rights Act. And now this shrugging off of gerrymandering with the advice to voters that they can change their districts by electing the right people. As if that were possible. Thus, progressive polices –and, for that matter, policies rooted in science, data and empirical evidence– are pretty much dead in the water. I’d blame the Electoral College, which has elevated the popular vote loser into the presidency twice in 16 years and given us four hard right justices, but as Sherri notes above, it’s really the actions of some terribly hateful fellow citizens that has put us in this place. There are a lot of them, folks, certainly a lot more than I’d imagined until the Orange King gave them permission to shout what they once whispered.
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Suzanne said on June 28, 2019 at 11:04 am
I see that I didn’t finish my thought above! It began “I may have mentioned that I recently read…” and then stopped. No wonder Jeff thought aliens had abducted me.
I recently read Jared Sexton’s The Man They Wanted Me To Be. Such a story of being raised in an environment of toxic masculinity & how hard it has been for him to fight against it in himself even after he’s aware it’s there and aware of its destructiveness. So the people who don’t get it, well, even he was shocked when he started covering the Trump campaign. Recommend it. But then, of course, you will be depressed, too.
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Sherri said on June 28, 2019 at 11:25 am
This is why I thought it was important that Al Franken resign.
https://www.thecut.com/2019/06/democrats-2020-hang-on-to-their-power.html
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Jakash said on June 28, 2019 at 11:59 am
A nice shout-out to Sherri leading off the post. But, unless I’ve been missing something, is there anybody commenting on here other than our resident troll who indicates that they *don’t* think we’re in big trouble? I just remain unconvinced that stating right now which Democrats you will not vote for, no matter what, does anything to help remedy the situation.
“I know that guns kill kids, but why is no one talking about all the CHEMICALS in our water and food that ALSO kill kids???” I know these folks aren’t big appreciators of irony, but whatever chemicals get put into our water and food are put there via the magic hand of the free market. You know who tries to keep bad stuff *out* of the food and water — that dreaded gubmint that they’ve been desperately trying to drown in a bathtub.
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Suzanne said on June 28, 2019 at 12:26 pm
Exactly, Jakash! How do people not get this? Without government intervention, our water would be filthy, our air polluted, there would be no traffic rules, and on and on. Life would be nasty, brutish, and short.
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Sherri said on June 28, 2019 at 12:34 pm
This would make the political press happiest.
https://mobile.twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1144619034937348103
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beb said on June 28, 2019 at 1:24 pm
Ah, the chemicals they put into water. One of my supervisors one mentioned that they used to just make water but now they make a soup. Which is both true and not true. Chlorine is added to water for disinfection. No more Typhus for us. In order to demonstrate that sufficient disinfection has taken place the water authority has to test the water at the ends of the distribution system for residual chlorine. So the water is always going to taste slightly of chlorine but you know by that that it;s not going to kill you.
We add Fluoride to water to strength our teeth. I grew up on well water and had a lot of cavities. My daughter grew up on city water and has had only one or two c+avities all her life. So the advantage of Fluoride is proven.
We add phosphoric acid to water to seal away lead from old plumbing systems. I think we’re all happy to know that we are protected from lead poisoning. Since Phosphoric acid is an acid we add Sodium Hydroxide to return the water to its original neutrality.
And that’s all that’s added to drinking water. None of it is harmless at the levels being added.
People who want to be terrified of environmental issues ought to be worries about the soot from diesel engines (a known carcinogen) Everything that comes out of a coal fired electrical plant (soot, nitrous oxides, lead, mercury, cadmium, Beryllium, etc.) and so on. But water production, that’s well regulated and it’s darn safe.
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Scout said on June 28, 2019 at 2:14 pm
I refuse to give up hope, especially after watching Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris DOMINATE their respective debate nights. I am anxious to clear the field of all the nobodies so we can get the top tier on the same stage at once. (Harris, Warren, Buttigieg, Booker, Castro, Biden, O’Rourke and (grudgingly) Sanders.) However the party does need to put some real muscle into taking the Senate too.
Thank you for the link to the E. Jean piece. She is totally believable plus, I would love to hang out with someone who named her cat Vagina T. Fireball.
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David C. said on June 28, 2019 at 2:39 pm
In the past week, I’ve just sort of been broken. I can’t listen to anything that plays even a few seconds of that person even to mock him. I can’t stand seeing his asshole smirk. I can’t stand anyone who thinks this is just fine. On a good night, I sleep five hours. I don’t have many good nights. I just want to disconnect. I don’t know what else to do. It’s probably chicken shit of me, but I have a wife who doesn’t do too well and she needs me to be around. If I keep this up, I won’t be around. I guess that’s what fascists do. They wear you down. I just want to hide in the bathroom stall and pull my feet up so that nobody can see me.
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Dorothy said on June 28, 2019 at 3:36 pm
Oh David C. I’m so sorry to hear that. I think I might could share that sense of desperation if I didn’t have a great family, most particularly my 2 year old granddaughter to dote on. My kids still make me laugh and give me hope that the future is not completely written just because of the current administration. McConnell and Graham are going to get their comeuppance, mark my words. Those slobbering gibbons just need to go away and wither up somewhere that we don’t need to see them anymore.
I can’t recall if I shared that I ended a friendship over the Trump sh** some months ago. I had known this woman since we met at the Baptism ‘class’ for our firstborns in 1983. I was appalled, sickened and shaken to see that she was such a hardcore Trump supporter. I chastised her mightily on Facebook (we live in different cities and I haven’t seen her in years but still…) and then unfriended her. My husband is still ‘friends’ with her on Facebook but they don’t interact. He tells me some of the crap she still posts and I’ve simply come to the conclusion that she has lost her reasonable brain function. There is no other way to think of it. I can only assume she watches Fox news and is therefore brainwashed. His supporters have truly lost the ability to think for themselves.
E. Jean is someone I’d love to know. Her credibility is unquestionable and I hope it has an impact, even subliminally, on the outcome of the election in 2020.
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Andrea said on June 28, 2019 at 3:54 pm
For those of you who have feelings about David Brooks, this twitter thread…
https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/1144625911628816385
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Jason T. said on June 28, 2019 at 4:09 pm
Well, even paranoids have some real enemies.
But seriously, no, I don’t have a lot of hope that it’s going to get better any time soon.
I would say this country is in the worst shape it’s been in since World War I, at least.
The 1920s were only roaring if you were white and upper-middle class. “Radicals” were being thrown in jail without trials, or simply deported if they weren’t natural-born U.S. citizens. Labor organizers were openly beaten by police and hired goons, and immigrants and Black people were treated as sub-human. Immigration from “undesirable” countries was permanently restricted.
The Supreme Court under William Howard Taft struck down countless safety and financial regulations, both state and federal, and attacked civil liberties protections at every turn.
What’s left of the New Deal and Great Society are going to be gutted over the next few years. Public services will continue to be starved to death if they’re simply not eliminated outright.
We’re not going back to the Reagan years — we’re going back to the Coolidge and Hoover years.
Which preceded a Great Depression and world-wide war. So maybe we have that to look forward to in a decade or so.
And add in climate change complications that will make the 1930s Dust Bowls seem placid by comparison.
I guess Trump is Warren G. Harding in this analogy, which makes sense: He’s certainly dumb enough and corrupt enough.
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Jason T. said on June 28, 2019 at 4:18 pm
Now, I’m not saying “give up,” by any stretch of the imagination.
But any improvements for the next decade or so are going to happen on state and local levels (assuming they’re not blocked by the Roberts court).
The federal government is completely broken, and I’m not hopeful about Democrats taking the Senate any time soon.
Hell, will they be able to hold the House? Republican Party front groups are already running attack ads here on TV in Western Pennsylvania and the election is more than a year away.
And God help us if (when?) a major terrorist attack happens — the Republicans will cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war on people inside our own country.
They’re just itchin’ for martial law and they’d love to let ICE and CBP really get into some urban areas — especially those “sanctuary cities” — and start breaking things, including skulls.
On the other hand, I suppose one group of people will have job security for a while — the ACLU’s attorneys.
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Sherri said on June 28, 2019 at 4:26 pm
Megan Rapinoe is making me happy!
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Jakash said on June 28, 2019 at 4:31 pm
Friend of nn.c, Laura Lippman re: that tweet about David Brooks that Andrea posted: “It’s a tough competition out there for the best David Brooks tweet of the day, but this one has my vote.” Which prompts her to note: “It just occurred to me that David Brooks will never write the best David Brooks tweet of the day.”
https://twitter.com/LauraMLippman/status/1144661192868290562
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Deborah said on June 28, 2019 at 6:14 pm
If I wasn’t going to France a week from tomorrow I’d be down in the dumps too.
It’s hot in northern NM high of 88 in Santa Fe today with 15% humidity, this is the hottest and driest part of the year. Hopefully when we get back from France the monsoons will have started.
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Sherri said on June 28, 2019 at 7:29 pm
So I mentioned that I’d be going to a city council candidate forum instead of watching the Dem debate. One of the candidates included the following in his statement:
“We have serious problems the City has ignored for decades…Our sacrosanct rules have created a transportation nightmare.”
He’s running for re-election and has served on council for 12 years!
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Joe Kobiela said on June 28, 2019 at 9:49 pm
Looks like Nancy had some fun, check out her story on Deadline Detroit!
I think some people around this sight should get a clue and join in with that group, might cheer you up.
Pilot Joe
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Deborah said on June 28, 2019 at 10:22 pm
Rachel had a really good show tonight, she found a clip for each Democratic candidate that she could highlight that was positive, even Maryanne Williamson or whatever her name
is.
You know Joe, at the risk of feeding the troll, if you really want to help people in the doldrums here because of Trump (which I seriously doubt you want to do, in fact you want to do the opposite) you would tell us that you have finally seen the light that Trump is duping you and yours big time, that he is scamming you into believing that he is helping you when he’s really taking advantage of you so that he and his rich buddies can make off like the bandits that they are.
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Dexter Friend said on June 29, 2019 at 4:11 am
Grandstanding TWC staff reported that a place in France recorded 115F. Hogwash! Fake News, as the actual record setting temperature Friday, hottest day ever in recorded history from France was a mere 114.6. I demand a correction. 😉 I was at Sky Harbor in early August, 1996, and the official temperature was 115F. Three years ago when we spent 2 weeks in Las Vegas it was between 111F and 116F every day. Summer is here, too, as we were at 93F and it felt awful. I am a fall and spring guy. 93F with max humidity sucks. Oh well, the AC works in both vehicles as well as the entire house…we’re good. The plumbers got “in there” and reported we did not need all new double-wall venting for the new water heater, which slowly began leaking, full of that nasty gel residue and shale after a ten year run. My van, which I had to shut off immediately as my oil pressure light came on and the van started beeping like a blow-up was happening, turned out to be a simple warning light malfunction. So…well, this could have been worse. ~ I watched the part 2 debate…Harris is a loudmouth, talking over everyone, not shutting up, regurgitating school busing from 45 years ago; I have dismissed her , and attacking Biden, oh boy, didn’t the msm love that shit! Lost was when Joe said he was a public defender when Harris was a prosecutor and Cal Atty. General and packing prisons all over California. So who is for the people? So my faves from part 2 were Bernie, Pete, Gillibrand, and the 2 Colorado men. Warren from part 1 was the one that definitely did not take a step back. Andale, muchachos y muchachas. Arriba, arriba, andale, andale!
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David C. said on June 29, 2019 at 8:34 am
I can’t imagine anywhere I would enjoy less than the boat shindig. It’s fine if that’s what you like. I have the introvert thing where the more people there are, the more alone I feel. That would be a living hell for me unless I was watching it with a little distance (and perhaps if they were behind a good sturdy fence) like it was a human zoo. Otherwise, give me a quiet room, a comfy chair, and a book.
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Deborah said on June 29, 2019 at 9:49 am
My husband called me from Chicago last night, after getting back from Uncle J’s, apparently there’s a possibility that the France trip is off. Uncle J is apparently having some health issues, we always know that is a possibility. It’s a bummer but his condition is way more important. Such is life, it’s not like we had ever expected to go to Europe twice in one year. It still may be on, but I’m not counting on it.
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Deborah said on June 29, 2019 at 4:57 pm
LB and I made a cherry pie today, a friend of hers gave us the cherries from her tree. LB handled the filling (we have a pitter), I made the crust, I win the ugliest pie contest every time. I think I’ve figured it out though, my crusts always fall apart when I transfer them from the board to the pie plate, I think because it’s so dry here, they crack apart easily. I try to piece them back together and they end up looking terrible, I’m going to try adding more moisture next time. Pies are for eating not watching anyway, so it’s all good.
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Deborah said on June 29, 2019 at 5:06 pm
Oh my, NM is pretty dark green in this graphic https://mobile.twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/1144976913510916096/photo/1
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David C. said on June 29, 2019 at 5:10 pm
Yup. As long as you’re not taking your pie to the county fair it’s all good, Deborah. You’ll have to build a pie making humidor if you’re going to take one to the fair.
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Julie Robinson said on June 29, 2019 at 5:35 pm
David C. and everyone who is feeling disheartened, I am holding you in the light, as my Quaker friend says. It has been a hard week. As I mentioned above, my daughter’s denomination is taking a hard turn to the right and has now kicked out two pastors and a church because they are open and affirming to all. She is devastated because it hurts so many of her friends, and from what I’ve heard it got pretty ugly. No place like a church conference for unChristian behavior!
So today she skipped the last session and went to a drag queen story hour.
Mother and I went to see the musical Kinky Boots, one of those things where they film it live with an audience, then show it in a movie theater. It was tremendous fun and very healing. I’d like everyone to see it.
Other than that it’s hot as blazes here. When we came out of the movie the transponder had melted off the windshield.
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David C. said on June 29, 2019 at 6:49 pm
Thanks, Julie. It has been hard. I hope things work out for your daughter. I can only imagine how it feels to have her church lurch hard away from compassion and acceptance. If she doesn’t feel at home there, I’m sure someone will be happy to accept all she’s able to give.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 29, 2019 at 10:41 pm
Insanely great thread here. Wicked long. About Gettysburg, so . . . you have been warned. (Yeah, profanity arises, too.)
https://twitter.com/pptsapper/status/1145111330535497730
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Deborah said on June 29, 2019 at 11:46 pm
My new favorite drink made the NYT https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/06/27/dining/negroni-cocktail.amp.html. My husband and I have a ritual drink nearly every evening. In Chicago it’s usually a gin martini (Bombay Saphire, with a splash of dry vermouth, up with an olive, my husband has 2 olives). On mother’s day we went out to eat in Santa Fe and I had what the waitress referred to as a Negroni but with Bourbon rather than Gin, it’s one part Boubon, one part sweet vermouth and one part Compari on ice with an orange slice. It’s fantastic and since then here in NM that’s our go to ritual drink. It’s technically called a Boulevardier, but we just call it a Negroni with boubon.
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beb said on June 30, 2019 at 2:11 am
I liked that Julie’s daughter decided going to drag queen story time was a better use of her time. MY wife used to take our daughter to church every Sunday, thinking it would improved her morals, but my wife draw the line when a new pastor started talking about dinosaurs walking with Adam. I can’t understand why mainstream denomination are taking this right-ward lurch.
A year back my wife and I saw a traveling cast version of “Kinky Boots” which is a pretty fine show. I see a lot of ads in theaters for showing of major operas which would be fun to go to but I never got the impression that the theater we go to ever actually show those special performances.
Nancy’s report on the Michigan boating party actually made me Laugh Out Loud. So much twerking, so little flashed boobs.
Deborah @35 — roll out the dough on a large board. Invert the pie tn over the crust, then invert the board so the pie tin faces up and the crust is laying on top of it. Or use a pizza paddle to transfer. Or moisturize. I can hook you up with a couple MLMs for the moisturizers.
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Sherri said on June 30, 2019 at 11:14 am
I guess the Dem debates have flushed out all the Never Trumpers this weekend, who feel compelled to warn the Dems that they’re not going to win the votes of Never Trumpers unless they start acting like Republicans.
Brooks kicked it off, but Bret Stephens followed up with his “I’m not racist, but ordinary voters are, so stop speaking in Spanish” schtick.
Tom Nichols complained on Twitter that Kamala Harris selling a t-shirt with a picture of herself as a young schoolgirl after the debate was moving into Willie Horton territory.
I’m reminded of something I read recently: never take criticism from someone you wouldn’t go to for advice.
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Sherri said on June 30, 2019 at 11:47 am
If you want an example of what it means to center white people and their concerns in a discussion on race, just look at the defenses of Joe Biden. ‘He was just working with the segregationists to get other stuff done.’ ‘He wasn’t opposed to busing, just federally mandated busing.’ ‘Nobody liked busing.’
All that ignores one salient point. Without busing, Kamala Harris would have started school 15 years after Brown v Board at a segregated school.
Joe Biden should feel bad about his stance on busing. If he did, I’d think he was beginning to understand the point of view of someone other than white men for a change.
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Deborah said on June 30, 2019 at 12:03 pm
I always thought the basic political strategy was first rally your base and when it gets closer to the election, move towards the middle to get whatever centerists or undecideds you can. Most people know this simple theory and know how it works. Why we would start in the center seems wrong.
I don’t have any data to back this up, but I’ve always thought that there were more people on the left of center than the right, but unfortunately they don’t vote as consistently as the right does. If we put all of our effort into getting out the vote (and that goes for all elections) we will succeed. Simple, huh? Of course gerrymandering and voter suppression makes this a lot easier said than done, but not impossible.
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beb said on June 30, 2019 at 7:51 pm
It used to be that comments like these from Brooks, Stephens, and Nichol were called “concern trolling.” They are so worried that the Democrats are shooting themselves in the foot! If only Democrats acted more like Republicans….
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Deborah said on June 30, 2019 at 8:23 pm
Beb, I think I know what you meant, that you wish Democrats were more enthusiastic about voting and about the Democratic party, but I don’t wish Democrats were more like Republicans when it comes to morals. Republicans have proved to be nothing but hypocritical, craven, amoral assholes. I don’t want Democrats to be like that at all.
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alex said on July 1, 2019 at 7:38 am
The Dems’ cautious centrism comes from many years of letting the GOP define them as radical crazies and the Dems naively thinking that anyone with half a brain can see who the radical crazies really are. In 2016 Hillary thought it would be enough to show clips from Trump rallies in her ads to drive her point home. In effect she just gave Trump even more undeserved air time for which he didn’t have to pay anything.
The GOP is using the same tactic as usual, painting Dem policies as outlandish and hoping to put Dems on the defensive. This time I hope the Dems play to their base and put the Republicans on the defensive. It’s about fucking time.
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Connie said on July 1, 2019 at 8:28 am
There is a similar very large all partying boat event on the Fourth at Torch Lake. My niece and her husband will blow off this week’s reunion picnic in order to go. A couple of years ago they came back with his dad’s boat’s upholstery covered with cigarette burns made by the crowd. Once they get back on Thursday the boat will be all ours for the rest of the weekend.
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Suzanne said on July 1, 2019 at 8:58 am
I really am all out of hope. Visiting a GOP or nothing friend this weekend who asked me what gerrymandering is. Following never Trumpers on Twitter and seeing more and more of them expressing alarm at the Dem candidates being way to far left, indicating to me that they are beginning to shift from their “Never Trump” stance. Seeing Trump suck up to Christian persecuting Kim and the so-called moral majority who scream from the mountain tops about religious freedom not making a peep about the Trump/Kim bromance.
The dark ages are coming.
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basset said on July 1, 2019 at 9:32 am
and we’re gonna be hearing “I don’t like any of em, I’m fed up, I’m not gonna vote” way too often.
A little distraction, if you appreciate weird cars as much as I do:
http://www.icta.club/1940s-checker-taxicab-survivors/
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Jeff Borden said on July 1, 2019 at 9:58 am
This *administration. . .
First, I watch the vacuous “first daughter” swanning around the G-20, trying to interject herself into the proceedings as if she were some sort of international diplomat and not the parasitic offspring of another parasite. Christine Lagarde’s side eye at our princess was hilarious.
Second, I watch the most ignorant moron ever elected doing belly bumps in the DMZ of Korea, handing Kim a fabulous propaganda coup without achieving a single thing aside from setting more talks. And the moron has invited this bloodthirsty thug to the fucking White House? Why? Why? Why?
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Jenine said on July 1, 2019 at 12:00 pm
@Jeff tmmo – thanks for the link to the Gettysburg tweet along, that was great.
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Connie said on July 1, 2019 at 12:37 pm
Former governor Snyder, the governor whose government was responsible for the Flint water crisis, is going to teach for a year at Harvard. I would think they would prefer a successful governor. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2019/07/01/backlash-ex-gov-rick-snyder-headed-harvard-fellowship/1617549001/
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