Nesrie
1594
It’s also like a lot of those other remarks we see about people… He/She’s really nice, a great community member, a boss, really great person except they’re racist as hell… as if you can be “really nice” but yeah would rather a large part of the human race not exist.
Update: Bret “bedbug” Stephens today used his NYT column (and his NYT research assistants, sent to diligently search the archives for historical uses of the word “bedbug”) to not-so-subtly suggest that those meanies on the Internet who had the temerity to poke fun at him deserve to be compared to, you guessed it, the actual, historical Nazis.
This again from the guy who has loudly complained about political correctness, claimed to be a champion of free speech, and once tweeted the following:
Will someone explain to Bret “my ego still lives in the 1980s” Stephens how the Internet works? Well, yes. An expert is already on the case!
KevinC
1599
His (staff’s) social media game is strong.
Heh.
I’ve been so busy thinking about bedbugs that I missed this when it happened:
The irony of the New York Post covering the sudden and unexplained death of a former National Enquirer bureau head with a calm, rational, nothing-to-see-here headline is strong.
Clay
1601
IIRC, some of you are fond of Ashley Parker.
+1/upvote/like/would like again/will be in bunk
KevinC
1604
I feel like that gif will be as iconic of the times as raising the flag at Iwo Jima was for WW2. The bafflement, the painful wincing followed by increased bewilderment, the sideline glances to see if others are similarly aware of the crazy on display right now. Can this be real? Is this a thing that’s really happening? It just sums it all up so perfectly, minus a look of abject horror at the end.
HumanTon
1605
Right before my eyes, WaPo changed their post-debate headline from “Unity turns to clashes about [various issues]” to the less-overtly-leading “Deeper policy answers, but more questions about party’s future.”
Maybe the national media is learning that the public is on to their using “Dems in Disarray!!!1” as default framing? (I know, I know, stop dreaming.)
HumanTon
1606
Never mind - this morning it’s back to normal: " Democratic free-for-all lays bare party’s deep policy divisions."
Blood in the streets! Mass hysteria! Cats and dogs living together!
Oghier
1607
The policy divisions are real, but perhaps not very important. The top priority for Democratic voters is simply “ability to beat Trump.” Nothing else is even close. This is from a 538 poll conducted last week.
Which issues matter most to voters?
| ISSUE |
|
SHARE OF RESPONDENTS |
| Ability to beat Donald Trump |
39.6% |
– |
| Health care |
9.9 |
– |
| The economy |
8.0 |
– |
| Wealth and income inequality |
7.9 |
– |
| Climate change |
7.4 |
– |
| Gun policy |
4.2 |
– |
| Social Security |
3.4 |
– |
| Something else |
3.3 |
– |
| Immigration |
3.3 |
– |
| Racism |
3.0 |
– |
| Education |
2.5 |
– |
| Jobs |
1.9 |
– |
| The makeup of the Supreme Court |
1.7 |
– |
| Taxes |
1.3 |
– |
| Foreign affairs |
1.3 |
– |
| Crime |
0.7 |
– |
| The military |
0.3 |
– |
| Sexism |
0.1 |
– |
I know that’s not the case with many of us on this board – we’re deeply invested in some of the specific issues and the policies proposed to address them. But we’re clearly not representative of the electorate.
Also, as a practical matter, none of this matters unless we take back the Senate. In all likelihood, we’re picking a President who will have to deal with McConnell as majority leader once again. So it it perhaps logical for voters to consider who can win over relatively minor policy differences.
I mean, yeah, hope is dead and democracy is failed. Without 66 votes in the Senate, it’s all moot in the long term.
But sometimes it’s fun to listen to Dem presidents talk about nice things we could have if Republicans wouldn’t refuse to fund them in lieu of giving tax breaks to pedophiles, instead. It’s almost like I am still capable of feeling joy.
Oghier
1609
I think if we get 50, there’s a pretty fair chance the filibuster is toast. I am not sure how I feel about that – it’s risky as heck.
But the Senate map seems permanently tilted towards Republicans. So we’ll likely be stuck with McConnell until and unless the good people of Kentucky move on from him.
KevinC
1610
You can have all these things! You just have to be willing to emigrate to a first world nation.
My gf and I look at moving to Non-Shitty Countries a lot. It’s a pity I have no real skills to offer to make that realistic.
@Oghier yes, the Senate map and our weird desperation as a nation to value the opinions of racist hicks in flyover country over decent people in functioning civilized parts of the country are sort of my principle complaint here :)
If we can get statehood for Puerto Rico and DC, that could be a big help.
kerzain
1613
Tell that to Puerto Rico.
I should. Do you have an email address or a phone number to contact them by? I guess I can write a letter, but I wanted to verify the address. Don’t want to waste stamps or waste the time of the lost service.
