US Politics, October 2018: next week will be even longer

previous generations fought a war over this shit. we can do it.

fwiw my congressman hasn't held an event open to the public (except for two debates with his opponent) in the two years he's been in office. he is terrified of having to speak extemporaneously and answer difficult questions. he posted a video boasting of all his "constituent events" which was just footage from Republican-only fundraisers.

the few times people have managed to get into private or semi-private events and ask him questions he doesn't want to answer, his staff will step in and separate him from the questioner so that he doesn't have to answer. he's like a special-needs child they have to prevent from being exposed to any disorienting stimuli. in the few seconds before his staff steps in you can see the confusion and fear in his eyes. he's basically an empty vessel, a precisely replacement-level republican who is stupid enough not to pose any challenge to the donors and right-wing interest groups and media that fill him and his campaign with whatever messages they have chosen for the week.

where is your District? I forget

western-central PA.

Gummy's rep:

https://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/congressman.jpg?quality=95&w=650

lol looks like a wax dummy

sorry to confuse: that's a still from Parks & Recreation

previous generations fought a war over this shit. we can do it.

which war are you referring to? the one where the forces of fascism were neatly attributable to the Axis Powers? where combatant could join an army with a uniform and a chain of command and fight in battles that had names and clear winners and losers?

what about this world, where the fascists are the political leaders of the country you live in, they don't call it fascism, and the political violence (to date) mostly manifests itself in code words and dog whistles carried out by their most alienated followers?

and where the cops with military-grade materiel have made clear their undying allegiance to the fascists

Footage from a Trump rally - Cesar Sayoc, the mail-bomb guy, is repeatedly visible at the front of the crowd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opM6YIx3gA8

btw here's an example of the sort of Giant Brain Genious that is common in these parts:

https://ptpimg.me/22040d.png

that dumbassery is common throughout the united states, in every single zipcode

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/29/us/politics/beto-orourke-el-paso-texas-senate.html?action=click&module=Top+Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Why publish this now?

that dumbassery is common throughout the united states, in every single zipcode

― Karl Malone, Monday, October 29, 2018 6:27 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

sure, but in different densities...

Yet, as Mr. O’Rourke’s national popularity grows — there is even speculation he may run for president in two years — his involvement in the proposed El Paso redevelopment highlights a side of his record that, on its surface, seems to contradict the populist image he has cultivated in Texas and nationally.

Oh my goodness! Image doesn't meet reality!

the NYT's image is its oxygen

what about this world, where the fascists are the political leaders of the country you live in, they don't call it fascism, and the political violence (to date) mostly manifests itself in code words and dog whistles carried out by their most alienated followers?

in this world - where the president and his party are fascists but are constrained (to-date) by democratic institutions like elections, and the military is not mobilized or inclined to serve as his personal strikeforce - you defeat it by organizing and winning elections.

If, god forbid, Trump ever tries to enforce martial law, suspend elections, and actually use the military to suppress the populace who knows what the fuck will happen. The states inclined to resist are well-funded, well-organized and weapons are plentiful but I don't really think it's that helpful to hypothesize about such scenarios outside of science fiction comic books. Last civil war didn't go that great but the poorer racist states lost and I'd bet they would lose again. I don't think our current all-voluntary military would actually be that good or enthusiastic about, say, invading New York.

xp

this seems like a bad idea

.@PressSec: "Tomorrow, the president and first lady will travel to Pennsylvania."

— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) October 29, 2018

I dont think the nytimes should refrain from criticizing dem candidates but that seemed rather un-newsworthy

Paragraph 13:

Mr. O’Rourke declined requests to be interviewed for this article. In response to claims that he favored developers over barrio residents, he has said in the past that he never voted for eminent domain, that no property was ever taken by the city through eminent domain and that he had no financial interest in the project.

So...were those claims accurate?

Paragraphs 39 and 40:

“He ultimately recused himself and did the right thing, but it seemed to me to be unnecessary for us to have to generate such ire among his constituents in the interim period,” Mr. Blaugrund said.

“Even if he didn’t have an actual conflict, the optics were terrible,” he added. According to Mr. Blaugrund, the plan was eventually abandoned, partly because of a state ballot initiative in 2009 prohibiting the use of eminent domain to take property for private use.

That's the kind of quality journalism the Times can be counted on to provide.

That story about Gillum and the Hamilton tickets relied on a similar mix of vacuity masquerading as thoroughness. It wasn't until the 25th graf that a source admitted nothing wrong was done because no quid pro quo.

XPS That Beto real estate thing has been a talking point in GOP PAC attack ads here for months.

FWIW, he recused himself from the votes, and ultimately the project in question didn't happen.

yes but think of the appearances!

I am increasingly thrilled with having allowed my NYT subscription lapse.

dear god don't let this happen

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/413572-hillary-clinton-leaves-door-open-for-2020-run-id-like-to-be-president

I think it's a bit rich that Beto is getting blasted for this when Cruz is very much in favor of the massive eminent domain project known as "The Wall".

dear god don't let this happen

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/413572-hillary-clinton-leaves-door-open-for-2020-run-id-like-to-be-president

― akm,

Editors create these stories for click$$

Please keep in mind, also, that there's a gulf of difference between someone inadvisably running for president and the DNC selecting that person as their nominee. If the latter happens, you can feel free to panic.

ha

https://www.cjonline.com/news/20180926/kansas-gop-hopeful-steve-watkins-acknowledges-business-claim-is-inaccurate

“I got out of the military, started a small business and grew it from three people to 470 people. So I know what it’s like to have to sweat it and work to make payroll, to not take any salary so you can make ends meet,” Watkins told a Miami County GOP candidate forum in March.

And in June he told supporters in Neosho that he started an engineering and security paramilitary company that worked for the U.S. government in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We grew to a number of countries. We grew from three people to 470 with me as the principal during that growth period,” he said.

The Kansas City Star reported that records and interviews it conducted with company officials show the company, which Watkins called VIAP Inc., existed years before he was a consultant.

VIAP Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Versar Inc., a global project management firm based near Washington, D.C.

Theodore M. Prociv, CEO of Versar from July 2000 to February 2010 and company president from 1999 to 2010, said Watkins was “nobody that I’ve heard of.” Several other executives also told The Star they didn’t remember Watkins.

Watkins acknowledged last week that he didn’t own VIAP and The Star found no public records showing that Watkins had any ownership stake in VIAP or Versar.

“When I say I helped start and grow, it was operational,” Watkins said. “There were processes, systems that didn’t exist and I helped to start and create those processes and systems and products and services that we provided clients.”

Hillary is tough, man. I can’t imagine wanting to get back in the ring after 2016.

She’ll never get the nomination

she also receives approximately 1 trillion tweets a day from strangers saying "we're still with you! run for president!"

What a world

One of my distant cousins has worked for her for a long time and says, in person, she is kewl 😎 so you know

but 400,000 of those tweets are from Rob and Carl Reiner

invite hillary to 77

this seems like a bad idea

doesn't say if he's going to Pittsburgh or not tho

if he does someone plz spit on him for me

Editors create these stories for click$$

― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, October 29, 2018 11:57 AM (twenty-one minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

i've noticed in my congressman's messaging that the demonizing of the migrant caravan has reached the point where there's no elision between "terrorists" and "migrants seeking asylum." in a debate he answered the question about the caravan as he might have answered a question about islamic terrorism. "we need to keep out people who seek to harm us" and so on. we're seeing a really rapid progression of rhetoric, i think.

If, god forbid, Trump ever tries to enforce martial law, suspend elections, and actually use the military to suppress the populace who knows what the fuck will happen. The states inclined to resist are well-funded, well-organized and weapons are plentiful but I don't really think it's that helpful to hypothesize about such scenarios outside of science fiction comic books. Last civil war didn't go that great but the poorer racist states lost and I'd bet they would lose again. I don't think our current all-voluntary military would actually be that good or enthusiastic about, say, invading New York.

― Οὖτις, Monday, October 29, 2018 6:42 PM (thirty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

not to be This Familiar Character From the Discourse, and to be clear i'm not _arguing_ w/you shakes, it's just imo worth pointing out that for overpoliced communities--living under the beneficence of the 1033 program & having their votes systematically suppressed in a unified national effort by the intelligensia of the right-wing party--we've had a diet, unevenly distributed but open authoritarianism already. Trump doesn't need to hop on the radio and say GO OUT AND KILL YOUR NEIGHBORS or order the Border Patrol to take over the 200 miles inland from the border when Q is stirring the slurry daily and people are being slaughtered by openly fascicst nutjobs. Strategy of tension.

President Donald Trump’s job approval rating plunged 4 percentage points last week amid a wave of violence, the latest troubling signal for Republican chances in upcoming midterm elections.

Forty percent of Americans approved of Trump’s performance as commander in chief, according to Gallup polling during the week ending Oct. 28. That was down from 44 percent the prior week, an unusually steep decline for the poll, which is based on a survey of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted Monday through Sunday each week.
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Some of the polling was done before the attacks. The drop was the sharpest since June 24 -- when Trump’s weekly job approval declined to 41 percent from 45 percent the previous week -- amid controversy over his administration’s policy of separating families apprehended illegally crossing the U.S. border with Mexico.

the contrast between the horrible things he says/does and the incremental shifts in his approval are so striking.

"trump's approval rating fell two points to 39% today in the aftermath of his running over a preschool with a dump truck hollering 'enemies of the people!' as toddlers were crushed to pulp beneath its wheels."

who are these 5 percent that are constantly swinging between approving and disapproving, one has to wonder

"rob stalzfranker, a trump voter who we met while he was eating a plate of corned beef hash at a diner in wawataloosameeka, pennsylvania, said while he didn't approve of everything the president did, especially the recent toddler murders, he felt that on the whole he was good for the country and would continue to support him,"

who are these 5 percent that are constantly swinging between approving and disapproving, one has to wonder

― Οὖτις, Monday, October 29, 2018 7:29 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

maybe it's just one guy with 5,000 phones.

who are these 5 percent

sleepwalkers

I'm reminded of that This American Life episode from back in '04 when they were talking to folks who were pretty sure they were going to vote for W. and they'd tell them all of this shit about W. and they were like 'oh, I didn't know that, I'm not sure I can vote for him now' and then they'd come back a little while down the road and the people would be like 'yeah, I think I'm gonna vote for him' and the TAL people were like 'but what about the stuff we discussed?' and the W. voters would be like 'oh, yeah, that was bad, hmm, probably shouldn't vote for him' and then of course they ultimately voted for him.

Nuke democracy. I mean, not really. But maybe.

gallup daily tracking polls are made up of 50% landlines, so i assume a good portion of those people are just like "whoa, holy shit the curvy plastic thing made a noise for the first time in several years! what? WHAT?? YES! YES to what you say! or NO! NO! my vocal cords ring once again, in tandem with the unbroken phone! please stay on the line, YES, NO, NO, YES, it doesn't matter, heeeeeeeeheeeeee", etc

xxxp
doesn't say if he's going to Pittsburgh or not tho

He is.

I hope he does go, cuz the odds that he says something super offensive are v high