Friday Talking Points -- Biden About To Get A Big Win
President Joe Biden is about to have a very good month. The Senate is on the brink of passing (after all the Republican time-wasting obstacles are cleared) a mammoth $1.9 trillion pandemic recovery bill. The White House has taken to calling it the "Rescue Plan." It is wildly popular with the public. Next week, the House will pass the same version and Biden will likely sign it immediately thereafter. It will be the first big legislative victory for the president and the Democratic Congress.
After this happens, Biden will undoubtedly emerge from his self-imposed retreat in the White House (he wanted everyone to know how important this bill was by postponing several other traditional things until it passed). Biden will give his first press conference, he will speak to a joint session of Congress (the "don't call it a State Of The Union" speech), he will likely make his first foreign trip and then host his first world leader at the White House. More and more of his cabinet will be confirmed by the Senate, meaning his administration will now be able to get in gear in a big way. In the meantime, those $1,400 checks will go out, more and more people will get vaccinated -- including (importantly) teachers -- and more schools will reopen while more businesses will return to some sort of normalcy. Also, the House will pass a number of important bills to address a wide range of problems -- each of which also polls very strongly with the public.
That all adds up to a solid month of good news for Biden. His job approval rating is already at 60 percent (over 10 points higher than Donald Trump ever saw), and with all this to come it wouldn't be surprising to see it head upwards even more throughout the month.
Biden will deserve this victory lap, but it is important for both him and his fellow Democrats to remind everyone of one simple fact: all of the good news from the Rescue Plan was made possible by Democrats and Democrats alone. The entire Republican Party fought against any of it happening. And you know what? Nobody out there who gets a $1,400 check in the mail is going to scream: "This wasn't bipartisan enough!" and rip it up and refuse to cash it. Because real people don't think that way, no matter what politicians in Washington may believe. People want to see results. And they really don't care what parliamentary nonsense has to happen for those results to appear.
But they also won't notice who deserves the credit and who the blame (for opposing it), unless Democrats constantly remind them. Republicans fought against any and all of it happening. If the economy recovers quickly later this year after herd immunity is reached through vaccination, then Democrats should continue claiming credit for the success. This is the number one issue for Democrats to run on in 2022, after all. Biden beat the pandemic and fixed the economy -- and by doing so, returned us all to normalcy. We're not there yet, obviously, but this bill will certainly put us on a better path to getting there.
Of course, the high of the next month isn't going to last for Joe Biden. The honeymoon is eventually going to wear off. This will likely happen after the House passes a large majority of the Democratic agenda, but then the public finally notices that none of it has actually happened yet. All of these bills are going to get stuck in the Senate. There is virtually no chance a bill like the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act is going to get 10 Republicans to vote for it. And that's going to be true for almost all the other bills that Nancy Pelosi sends over as well. This is the point where Biden is going to have to decide whether he wants to be a gridlocked president or a substantial one, because those are really the only possible choices when it comes down to whether to get rid of the Senate's filibuster once and for all. But that's in the future -- for now, Biden's got a good couple of weeks to look forward to.
Meanwhile, the Republican Party has given up all pretense of standing up for pretty much any agenda at all, other than "whine like the world's biggest snowflake" about things that have nothing at all to do with politics. Seriously, you just can't make this stuff up -- while Democrats are fighting hard for a pandemic relief bill, Republicans are in a tizzy over Mr. Potato Head and Dr. Seuss.
Their juvenile behavior didn't even end there. Several Republicans tried to troll Biden after he made a comment slamming Republican governors for their "Neanderthal thinking" on reopening their states too early. The snark was pretty obvious, on this one:
On Thursday, Republicans opened a new front in the battle, one that centered on Biden's use of the phrase "Neanderthal thinking" to describe the rationale among leaders in GOP-run states who are lifting their COVID-19 restrictions.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) trolled the left by calling on the president to apologize for offending people whose very, very, very, very distant ancestors were of the archaic human species. He suggested Biden "seek training on unconscious bias." And Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) even took to the airwaves to defend the reputation of cavemen and women.
"Neanderthals are hunter-gatherers, they're protectors of their family, they are resilient, they're resourceful, they tend to their own," Blackburn told Fox Business. "So, I think Joe Biden needs to rethink what he is saying."
Reaching back to the Dr. Seuss idiocy, an unnamed White House "official" responded in classic form:
Republicans may complain, but they're still in thrall
To a President who acted like a NeanderthalInstead of coming together, the flames they fan
When they should be working with Joe on the Rescue PlanCry, whine, and gnash their teeth as they may
It's actually the Republicans who are in disarray!
What this means, ladies and gentlemen, is that we have fully descended into farce. One of America's once-proud political parties is throwing in the towel on any sort of rational ideological debate and acting like small unruly schoolchildren. Or, to put it another way, Trump remade the party in his own image and they're a long way from shaking that off.
The first momentous bills were passed by the House, and of particular note was "H.R. 1" otherwise known as the "For The People Act." We wrote about this earlier, with a full (and extensive!) list of what the bill contains. It would lay down solid federal rules to reform the way elections happen at the state level, as well as ending gerrymandering forever and instituting ethical reforms such as requiring presidential candidates to publicly release their tax returns. It is a sweeping and breathtaking piece of legislation.
Republicans, of course, are fighting back hard. They are openly admitting what used to be secret -- the Republican Party knows that if more people vote, they will lose more elections. In other words, they have given up even the pretense of persuading people to vote for them and are instead now fully dedicated to rigging elections in their own favor. A Republican lawyer even flat-out admitted it, during a Supreme Court oral argument. When asked why he wanted to disqualify out-of-precinct votes, the Republican lawyer responded: "Because it puts us at a competitive disadvantage relative to Democrats. Politics is a zero-sum game." And the only way Republicans see left to winning is to cheat -- as much as possible and in as partisan a manner as can be imagined.
To justify this, Republicans are using circular logic. They lied to the voters (the Big Lie that the election was stolen), they tell people the election was rigged (even though it wasn't), and then they point to the widespread belief which they caused with their lies as a reason why they should change the rules to favor themselves more. It's as if they had launched a massive advertising campaign to convince people unicorns are real and then used "many people now believe in unicorns" to pass a whole bunch of money for "unicorn-hunting operations."
The task remaining for Democrats (from Biden on down) over the next few months is to point all of this out to the voters. Over and over again. Democrats are now the party of building back better, while Republicans are just AWOL on any rational debate whatsoever. The more positive things Democrats can get done -- and the more they rightfully take credit for those things -- the easier it's going to be to win the next election.
We have to begin with a correction, from last week. Last week we wrote about New Jersey legalizing recreational marijuana and we said:
Before we get to them, though, we also need to hand out Honorable Mention awards to both all the Democrats in New Jersey who contributed to making the state the 14th to legalize recreational marijuana this week (legislatively, which is even more impressive than via ballot initiative)....
This is wrong on two levels. First, New Jersey was actually the fifteenth state to legalize, and it was not done legislatively. We know this because we are about to hand out another round of Honorable Mention awards to all the Democrats in Virginia, which also legalized recreational cannabis this week. And the correction was right there in the details:
Virginia is the 16th U.S. state to pass an adult-use marijuana legalization law, though sales would not start until 2024. Only two other states -- Illinois and Vermont -- have passed legislation to legalize, tax and regulate recreational marijuana through the legislature.
The move puts pressure on neighboring states such as Maryland, where an adult-use legalization bill got its first hearing this month. New Jersey also recently enacted legalization, after voters overwhelmingly backed a referendum in November.
Sixteen states is almost (except for fractions) one-third of the entire country. It is high time (pun intended) for Congress to act on the national level, to end the War On Weed once and for all.
But this week's Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week goes to Senator Bernie Sanders, who refused to take "no" for an answer and forced the Senate to vote on raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. By doing so, he put everyone on the record, which was about all he could have accomplished (after the parliamentarian ruled the minimum wage hike didn't qualify for the pandemic relief bill under the arcane rules of budget reconciliation).
Bernie's right -- the refusal of the richest country on Earth to guarantee a living wage to all its workers is nothing short of shameful. He got 42 Democrats to vote for $15 an hour, which is a benchmark of sorts.
For showing all the faux populists what populism is truly all about, Bernie Sanders was easily our Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week.
[Congratulate Senator Bernie Sanders on his Senate contact page, to let him know you appreciate his efforts.]
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo continued to go down in flames this week, as two more women came out and accused him of sexual impropriety. Cuomo issued several different "non-apology apologies" without ever truly grasping that what he did (instead of just "what others felt about it") was just wrong.
Cuomo, so far, has resisted calls to step down, which kind of surprises us because we really weren't expecting him to make it to the end of the week. But we gave him the MDDOTW last week, so we'll just add oak clusters to it for his continuing shameful slide downwards.
Instead, we have eight (well, seven) Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week awards, for the senators who voted against raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. They are: Tom Carper, Chris Coons, Maggie Hassan, Angus King, Joe Manchin, Jeanne Shaheen, Kyrsten Sinema, and Jon Tester. King technically isn't qualified to receive the MDDOTW award, since he's not technically a Democrat, but we included his name just so everyone in Maine will notice.
There is really not much else to say. This is precisely why Bernie Sanders forced the vote -- so that everybody could see who was for the idea and who was against it. So now we know.
[Contact Senator Tom Carper on his Senate contact page, Senator Chris Coons on his Senate contact page, Senator Maggie Hassan on her Senate contact page, Senator Joe Manchin on his Senate contact page, Senator Jeanne Shaheen on her Senate contact page, Senator Kyrsten Sinema on her Senate contact page, and Senator Jon Tester on his Senate contact page, to let them know what you think of their actions.]
Volume 608 (3/5/21)
This week, we decided to go with the rant format rather than a discrete list of talking points. This is a critical time for Democrats to toot their own horn, so that the public starts associating them with not only the pandemic relief bill, but also with the entire recovery back to normal which will take place all year long. Republicans made this easy to do, by uniting in lockstep against providing anyone -- workers, front-line responders, vaccine distributors, state and local governments, people buying health insurance, teachers, school administrators, and millions of others -- any relief whatsoever. Since it was not a bipartisan effort, in the end, what it means is that all the credit now belongs to Democrats and Democrats alone.
So hang this around the Republican Party's neck, for approximately the next two years. What follows is our suggestion for how to do this, both now and in the future. Draw the contrast in as stark terms as you can, and repeat often.
The difference between Democrats and Republicans
There's a big difference between Democrats and Republicans, and it is getting more and more obvious every day. Democrats want to help people, and Republicans refuse to even consider the idea. Democrats want to help people struggling with the pandemic, Republicans say we simply can't afford to spend money improving anyone's lives. Democrats want to help schools safely reopen, Republicans don't care about the safety, they just want to force schools to reopen. Joe Biden is implementing a national plan to get vaccines into people's arms -- a plan Donald Trump didn't even think was necessary.
And now Republicans are crying crocodile tears over the supposed lack of bipartisanship. This is just laughable, because this bill is quite possibly the most bipartisan bill in a generation's time. Seventy percent of Americans support the bill, including almost half of all Republicans. This bill is more popular than the Affordable Care Act, George W. Bush's tax cut, Trump's tax cut, or Dodd-Frank ever was.
That, my friends, is bipartisanship. The people are behind this bill, it is only Republican politicians who are not. They are the ones who are out of touch, not us. Because we think the government should act decisively to solve a medical and economic disaster -- and the other party thinks things are rosy and we shouldn't bother doing anything. That is the difference between Democrats and Republicans. GOP senators are so petty they forced the Senate clerks to read aloud all 628 pages of this bill for no reason other than to waste everyone's time. Eleven hours later, Democrats are still united behind this bill.
So, yeah, I'm standing with Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress who are standing with seventy percent of the people. And I will congratulate the Democrats for a job well done when it is signed into law and people start seeing their $1,400 checks in the mailbox. And I will leave it to the Republican politicians to explain to the public why all of this is somehow a bad thing -- just because they wanted to pout more than they wanted to help people out.
Also, there are plenty of other things in this bill that haven't gotten a lot of attention but will when they start helping people out. For instance: Obamacare subsidies are being substantially increased, which will mean cheaper health insurance payments for millions.
The big secret that Republicans don't want you to realize is that they have nothing left to offer the public. The party used to stand for things, even if I didn't agree with any of them. They had strong positions on all kinds of issues. After Donald Trump, the only thing they seem to care about is complaining about children's books and children's toys. Seriously, that is what the once-mighty "party of Lincoln" has reduced itself to. That's all they've got left.
Democrats do have an agenda, and it's a pretty simple one. Fight for Main Street and stop letting Wall Street always win. Tax the rich, so everyone pays their fair share. Raise the minimum wage to a livable wage. Work should bring the dignity of living above the poverty line for everyone. Hard work should be rewarded. Make it easier for everyone to vote -- by mail, early, absentee, whatever. Let the people make the decision about how and when to vote, not the politicians. End gerrymandering. Make it easier to afford college. Reform police tactics that are outdated and cruel. Get money and politics out of the business of running our elections. Create a truly fair playing field. Adapt the country to the future by transitioning to green energy.
What do the Republicans have? They are against all that. They are totally reactionary, at this point, and all they know how to do is obstruct. They have completely abdicated any role in forming legislation, because they can't even agree among themselves on basic issues -- or reality, for that matter. All they have left is to try to get people riled up about stuff that politicians shouldn't even be involved in -- like whether a publisher decides to keep publishing a particular book or not. That's all that's left that seems to matter to them.
We hope the voters -- in the suburbs, out in farmland, in the cities, everywhere -- are taking note. Democrats have ideas and want to make government work for the people again. Republicans just want to break everything and then say: "See, I told you so -- this can never work!" Their entire platform, in fact is: "Government doesn't work, so vote us into office and we'll prove it!"
That's beyond sad. It really is pathetic. And what's even worse is what is seeping into this vacuum of ideas. Because the Republican Party is now openly flirting with white supremacy, in a desperate bid to retain voters.
Last weekend, a Republican member of Congress spoke to a formal gathering of white supremacists. And to date there have been no condemnations of this disgrace by any Republican leaders at all. After Representative Paul Gosar spoke to the "America First Political Action Conference," the organizer spoke next and ranted about how the country needed to protect its "White demographic core." And yet, from the rest of the Republican Party, all we hear are crickets.
At the same time, numerous Republican presidential hopefuls appeared on a stage at a different conservative conference that was apparently designed to be a Nazi symbol. No Republican politician refused to speak on such a stage. Not one of them uttered one peep about it.
Republicans have jumped all over the allegations against the governor of New York, but they still have yet to say one word about a Republican congressman who was accused of sexual assault in a letter signed by 150 students at the college he briefly attended. Madison Cawthorn only went to the school for a single semester, and yet 150 other students had learned he was a dangerous pig in that short time -- that's pretty astonishing when you think about it. And yet, his fellow Republicans say nothing.
The husband of another Republican House member -- one who recently quoted Hitler -- drove a truck to the Capitol this week with a decal on it from the "Three Percenters," who likely took place in the recent insurrection attempt. And the response from the Republican Party is the same -- absolute silence.
Republicans sure had a hissy fit over Hunter Biden because he somehow had ties to China, but when an inspector general reported then-Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao for abusing her office to help her family's business out -- a shipping company that specializes in China -- the Trump Justice Department ignored it. Chao was not just a Trump cabinet member, she is also the wife of Mitch McConnell. And yet no Republican has denounced such swamplike behavior.
It's pretty obvious that the Republican Party has no ethics left. They just have no moral leg left to stand on anymore. For Pete's sake, at their conservative conference they all joined in worshipping what can only be called the "golden calf" statue of Trump. Do any of these people actually read the Bible? You have to wonder.
Republicans now welcome sexual predators and white supremacists into their ranks without blinking an eye. They allow their own politicians to personally profit off of their position and it doesn't bother them in the slightest. They continue to lie about the last election because they think they can keep what power they have left by making it as hard as possible for Democrats to vote. They are against helping people in the midst of a pandemic and an economic crisis.
That's what Democrats want the public to fully understand. There is only one party left that truly cares about the future of America and making progress for all towards that future. We dare the Republican Party: prove us wrong! Show us your plans for the future, because for like the last decade or so, all you've done is cut rich people's taxes over and over again. That's it. That's your answer to every problem. So if you think that's unfair, then prove us wrong!
But, sadly, they can't. Because they've got nothing left to offer. Just endless petty grievance and victimhood. No plans for the future at all.
We sincerely hope the voters remember all this in the next election.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
Cross-posted at: Democratic Underground
Well, way to go, New Jersey!
Okay, so, since the pandemic hit, I've been getting into the Vancouver 60s to 80s rock band scene and reading Rocket Norton's book - a true life rock 'n roll story that some said should never have been told about the booze and the drugs and the sex and life in a rock 'n roll band.
Anyway, I've never in my 58 years done any illicit drugs of any kind and only ever inhaled weed by way of second hand smoke at rock concerts. But, lately, I've been getting an almost irresistible urge to take an acid trip. Seriously! Been under some bad influences of late, ahem. But, I don't want to do it alone and no one I know wants to come with me. So, guess it ain't gonna happen, then. Sigh.
Maybe I'll just take a stroll to my local cannabis shop ...
In the meantime, those $1,400 checks will go out, more and more people will get vaccinated -- including (importantly) teachers -- and more schools will reopen while more businesses will return to some sort of normalcy.
This will happen only if individuals do everything they can to reduce transmission between now and when the entire planet reaches 'herd immunity' through vaccination. And, by the way, that 'herd immunity' ain't no sure thing.
I'm guessing that cases and hospitalizations and deaths are about to go through the roof in Texas and Mississipi and wherever else people start acting like this pandemic is over and think that vaccines alone will save us.
And, way to go, Virginia, too! Why do they have to wait until 2024??
Why did those MDDsOTW vote agains raising the federal minimum wage?
One of the biggest differences between Republicans and Democrats is illustrated in decades of their respective tax and fiscal policies and should form a very solid basis for garnering a majority of votes in the next two electional cycles, at least!
One of the really big lies has been that Republicans are better for the economy. That kind of thinking extends beyond the borders of the US. I was talking to a old guy the other day about US politics and he said that Biden is a Democrat who will run the economy into the ground. He said Trump had his problems but he was the best for the economy.
I just sighed and told him that there is a very long track record of Republican administrations leaving economic messes on the scale of the Augean Stables for Democratic administrations to clean up. Boom!
Democrats need to finally, at long last, expose the Republican cult of economic failure for what it is - bad for everybody!
Breaking News
" reduced the stimulus bill’s jobless aid after Senator Joe Manchin threatened to defect. The Senate can now resume voting on other changes." ... New York Times
So, what the Hell is the matter with Joe Manchin?
Breaking News
"Democrats reduced the stimulus bill’s jobless aid after Senator Joe Manchin threatened to defect. The Senate can now resume voting on other changes." ... New York Times
So, what the Hell is the matter with Joe Manchin?
I'm with you all the way on this unfocused and slightly demented rant about how the Republicans are just awful and the Dems need to talk about it, nonstop, for the next two years or else go to heck.
But.
What really outraged me. What really sunk my boat and ticked me off. Was that some twerp at the White House, very likely with an expensive education from the 1990s or 2000s version of a good college, could not reproduce the actual meter of a simple Dr. Seuss verse.
Let's feel the pain here:
"Republicans may complain, but they're still in thrall
To a President who acted like a Neanderthal
"Instead of coming together, the flames they fan
When they should be working with Joe on the Rescue Plan
"Cry, whine, and gnash their teeth as they may
It's actually the Republicans who are in disarray!"
Oog. Can we say "scan" or "meter"? No, we can not.
This isn't very Seussian, but at least it scans:
Republicans complain but then they act as if in thrall
To that president whose actions were in fact Neanderthal.
They should come together but the fascist flames they fan
Instead of helping Joe and giving us a Rescue Plan.
To gnash their teeth, and cry and whine, is how they spend each day
It’s Republicans who all the time remain in disarray!
how is don like pie? he can now legally get baked.
:)
JL
So... on an unrelated note.
Got my first jab today. Thanks to being a forward deployed government contractor.
A doctor friend of mine who specializes in vaccine administration programs gave me the advice to eat a hearty meal and to take a couple of Tylenol about an hour before the shot and to have another hearty meal 6 hours later followed by two more Tylenol.
The purpose for the hearty meal is to give the body lots of basic fuel to help lower chances of side effects, like fever and fatigue. The Tylenol is also to help with fever but also for reducing chances for arm pain.
Followed the advice and so far 12 hours and counting no arm pain, no side effects.
Just paying it forward for those who are still waiting.
[1]
If you've never even smoked weed I recommend trying marijuana before you try acid.
Not that I'm at all down on acid, for I've found it wonderfully instructive, transformative even. Here's my story:
At the urging of my BFF I first tried LSD over Spring Break, 1979, at the University of Michigan. I wasn't worried about being by myself and that first trip was occasioned my discovery of my all-time fave album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis, 1974. I played it over and over and thence went ditty bopping out into nature. Among other things acid taught me that my experience of life is very dependent on my attitude and how I choose to perceive what's happening to me. I was never interested in seeing buildings grow legs and walk around so I didn't overdo it any of the additional 78 times that I tripped leading up to joining the Army 3½ years later. Although I was definitely a "Fuck Authority" guy, acid helped me sail through the whole military experience quite successfully.
You see, while moderate amounts of alcohol make me a happy drunk, alcohol ultimately makes me stupid. In contrast, weed and (to a far greater degree) hallucinogens are much more cerebral. I'd try the weed first. You don't need someone to smoke/trip with -- you're not going to jump off a building or anything.
Either way, happy trails!
goode trickle
So glad you were able to get your first shot of the vaccine! I hope everyone will be able to get their shots as soon as possible... it is the only way to end this pandemic nightmare we have all suffered through collectively.
[1]
Although the quality of the LSD improved over time, I took a couple of decades off from it. Nowadays I very occasionally use psilocybin "magic" mushrooms because they're an organic and natural substance as opposed to LSD made in somebody's bathtub. So if and when you decide to experiment I'd recommend the 'shrooms.
I hope Biden will give speeches all over the country to say what the Democrats passed with no Republican support, to explain the bills that the House has passed and the Senate is blocking, and to point out that Republicans never think it's too much money to spend on cutting taxes for the rich, it's only too much money to spend if it goes to people who aren't rich. And I'd like him to show everyone a chart that many of us are already familiar with, the chart of worker productivity and worker wages and how they rise pretty much together till about 1970, when productivity takes off and wages don't. And I'd like him to repeat the CBS News pie demonstration, namely, that if the economy is a pie with 10 slices, 9 slices go to the richest 20% (the upper class), half a slice each goes to the upper middle class and the middle class, crumbs go to the lower middle class, and less than nothing to the lowest 20%. And at each such appearance I'd like him to invite the local Republican senator, if there is one, to explain to the audience why they support tax cuts for the rich but not aid to everyone else, and why they oppose a $15 minimum wage. The people who voted for Trump because they felt the world was leaving them behind need to hear that yes, they have enemies keeping them from a good life, but the enemies are not the darker-skinned, Spanish-speaking, or non-Christian folks around them, but the richest of the rich and the Republicans who serve only the rich.
FYI, effing DINO Sen. Manchin faces reelection in 2024. I sure hope the Progressives primary his ass.
How about a little First Dog on the Moon?
Oh, yeah? Take that!
Again this week, I will be posting several comments. Feel free to "Skip!" if you so desire.
Partial credit on this week's FTP column, Chris. While it's not a complete return to your former glory, the introductory essay was well worth reading.
* You focused on the positive with regard the Democratic accomplishments.
* You mentioned the Republicans mostly to contrast their bankrupt non-policy with the legislative progress of Democrats.
I've been saving this article as an example of how Democrats can effectively communicate with their voters. Each week, Democrats MUST highlight their accomplishments. And if there's nothing particularly important that week, Democrats are missing a HUGE opportunity if they don't 'rest on their laurels': a Democratic accomplishment from the past that is ever more popular and effective. Meanwhile they are reminding their constituents that the Republicans controlled the levers of power for four years, yet did NOTHING to improve health care shortcomings nor limit by a single dime the ever-increasing costs.
'Nowhere has the post-repeal Republican vacuum been more evident than in two days of Senate confirmation hearings this week for the likely next Health and Human Services secretary, Xavier Becerra. Republicans seldom mentioned the landmark health care law, let alone critiqued it, across five-plus hours of testimony. They spent almost as much time quizzing Becerra, a longtime House member who is now California attorney general, about an obscure federal drug discount program called 340B that pharmaceutical companies and hospitals are feuding over than they did about the health care wars of the past decade.
...
Becerra deflected attacks on his past support for single-payer, or "Medicare for All," by noting he will work for a Biden administration, which is committed to strengthening the ACA. Several proposals to expand on the law, including more generous subsidies to purchase health insurance, are in Biden’s stimulus plan now pending in Congress.
Becerra also remarked that as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee for 24 years, he helped write the historic law. “I was in those rooms,” Becerra told Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who reminisced about drafting the ACA.'
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/26/republicans-obamacare-wars-471691
I fail to understand why a 'rant' was needed instead of talking points.
* Isn't the introductory essay the place to express your passionate ideas?
* Am I at fault, misunderstanding the talking points as a series of brief, pithy statements to engage and inform those with a short attention span?
Once more, Nancy Pelosi deserve the MIDOW for her firm control of her caucus. Much ink has been spilled about her "slim majority"; that these critical pieces of legislation "sailed" through the House of Representatives is not small feat.
These examples of why Rep. Pelosi deserves the MIDOW can also easily be 'talking points'.
'The sweeping legislation would ban chokeholds and “qualified immunity” for law enforcement and create national standards for policing in a bid to bolster accountability. Nine months after Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by Minneapolis police, lawmakers voted to approve the reform measure named after him 220-212, along party lines. However, the only Republican who voted in favor said he did so in error, and has changed the official record to reflect his opposition.'
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/03/george-floyd-justice-in-policing-act-us-house-democrats
'Nearly every Democrat voted for the bill, which includes a slew of ballot access, campaign finance and ethics reforms that came under renewed scrutiny after four years of the Trump administration. It would also require states to provide same-day voter registration, to allow at least two weeks of early voting and to offer drop boxes for ballots — some of the same measures that Republicans are trying to roll back in statehouses across the country.
“This reminds me of what it must have felt like at Valley Forge,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at a news appearance on the steps of the Capitol earlier Wednesday. “Everything is at stake. We must win this race, this fight for this bill.”
“At the same time as we are gathering here to honor our democracy, across the country over 200 bills are being put together, provisions they’re putting forward, to suppress the vote,” Pelosi said.'
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/03/government-election-house-reforms-473545
Chris, I recall that you recognized Rep. Haaland as the MIDOW merely for existing; Biden included her among the many historically-inclusive nominations.
So it's a mystery to me why you completely ignore Biden's picks when they actually accomplish the feat of 'running the gauntlet', i.e. Senate confirmation.
Doesn't Ms Rouse deserve at least an honorable mention as MIDOW for being 'the first Black person to serve in that role [chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers] in the body’s 74-year history.'?
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/02/senate-confirms-rouse-as-top-economic-adviser-to-biden-473088
And anyone who thinks there's a special place in Hell for Trump's Secretary of Education, Mr Cardona is an MIDOW.
'...Biden’s selection of Cardona makes good on a campaign promise to pick a public school educator to be his secretary of Education. Cardona previously was a classroom teacher, district administrator and assistant superintendent before being named in 2019 as Connecticut’s state education chief.'
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/01/senate-cardona-confirmation-education-secretary-472163
Stacey Abrams should get at least an honorable mention for waking up many Americans to the clear and present danger in many Republican-controlled state legislatures. (And handing you another terrific talking point, to boot!)
'...racist “post-Reconstruction Jim Crow-era laws — and that’s not hyperbolic,” voting rights activist Stacey Abrams said Monday.
“We are watching a nationwide sweep of voter suppression that is not only abysmal, it is counter to who we say we are as Americans,” she told MSNBC’s Joy Reid while discussing new changes and requirements in states including Georgia, Arizona and Florida.'
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stacey-abrams-racist-jim-crow-voting-laws_n_603e38ecc5b601179ec08b00
President Biden did a remarkable thing this week, that seems to have been drowned out by the many other great accomplishments of the Democrats this week. For the first time in a generation, a Democratic President firmly "stands with" the working class in its struggle for a safe workplace and dignified compensation.
'late Sunday, the president released the 2 ½-minute video. While he omitted the name of the powerful e-commerce giant, his remarks were seen as an unmistakable show of solidarity with a labor movement that failed to secure anything similar from his recent predecessors.
“This is the most pro-union statement from a president in United States history,” Stuart Appelbaum, president of Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, told POLITICO. “The workers understand who he was speaking to. That is a clear message and it's been interpreted as such by workers, observers and the media.”'
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/01/biden-amazon-union-video-472315
Chris, I strongly disagree with your MIDOW. On the contrary, Sen. Sanders deserves the 'most disappointing' of the week (though he's STILL not a Democrat, so I'm not sure what your 'rules' are for winning these awards.)
The Sanders amendment was doomed to failure, as it would have required 10 Republicans to support it.
'Sanders' amendment sought to override the parliamentarian’s ruling that the wage increase couldn’t be included in the Covid aid package... needed to win 60 votes on Friday to get around that procedural hurdle.'
I can see no upside to Sen Sanders' actions. But perhaps his intention all along was to inflict damage to the Democrats (again because he's not one).
Every liberal seems to be up in arms with Senator Manchin and Senator Synema, among others, because they voted against this amendment. Very few commentators have noted that at least one of these SUPPORTS raising the minimum wage. IMO it accomplished nothing less than an internal division within a caucus that has only a razor-thin majority. How long before Democratic solidarity cracks and fractures because of 'purity' stunts like these?
'Sinema indicated that she supports raising the wage, which last increased in 2009, because she understands “what it is like to face tough choices while working to meet your family's most basic needs.” But she said a standalone debate on the issue made more sense than putting it in a coronavirus relief package.
“Senators in both parties have shown support for raising the federal minimum wage and the Senate should hold an open debate and amendment process on raising the minimum wage, separate from the Covid-focused reconciliation bill,” she said.'
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/05/democrats-15-minimum-wage-hike-473875
Chris, I'll end these comments by nominating your very own governor for at least a 'disappointing' mention for criticizing the Texas governor. The governor of Colorado has insisted on using science to guide his COVID-19 policy, with clear results. If this tweet had come from someone like Governor Polis, it might have carried some weight. Coming from the state which is #1 in COVID-19 cases and deaths from COVID-19, as well as being firmly in the hands of Democrats, Gov Newsome lives in a might big glass house.
'While Newsom did not specifically name Texas or its Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, it was clear Newsom’s rebuke was aimed at Abbott’s decision to lift a mask mandate and allow businesses to operate at full capacity. Earlier in the day, Newsom reacted to Abbott’s move by tweeting, “Absolutely reckless.”
...
Many of Newsom's Republican foes mocked the California governor’s tweet criticizing Abbott and mentioned Newsom’s politically disastrous decision to attend an aide’s dinner at an upscale restaurant in November that propelled the recall movement.'
https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2021/03/02/newsom-calls-texas-absolutely-reckless-for-lifting-covid-rules-1366449
@don,
yes
https://www.etsy.com/market/mr_pothead
JL
Thanks, MtnCaddy! I knew I could count on you - we'll talk more!
@don,
in scientific research, submissions for publication generally have to have at least five sections, and an abstract at the top that summarizes those sections:
1. Hypothesis
2. Background
3. Methodology
4. Results
5. Conclusions
these sections aren't always exactly the same, and i'm not counting bibliography and appendices, but having to divide one's research into these sections allows readers to distinguish between the researcher's idea, other similar ideas, and the practical application of those ideas. when someone submits a study for publication, the journal's editors generally require that ALL of the sections meet a certain standard before allowing the study to be published.
having an advanced degree or practical experience doesn't necessarily make a person's ideas better, but it does give a person the tools they need to meet these criteria and get their work published. right now you're banging your head against the wall trying to get CW to notice and publish your idea. he's responded about how i'd expect any publisher to respond to submissions with incomplete background, flawed methodology and suspect conclusions.
many commentators here have offered sincere advice intended to help you improve your proposal, and you've uniformly dismissed it as misunderstanding, misrepresenting or ignoring your hypothesis. the problem you're running into, and will continue running into until you give up or get banned, is that there are millions of similar ideas out there, and you need more than just a compelling hypothesis and clever sloganeering to convince anyone to try yours.
every pie recipe has ingredients and instructions for preparation, which can be followed, tested and tasted. you don't, and until you do, pie will still be yummy and your hypothesis will still not exist anywhere in the real world, except inside your head.
that's reality.
get educated.
get edible.
JL
[16]
If you don't like my opinion you are free to disagree but posting my opinion is NOT trolling.
aaaaaand the bill has passed the senate. good job, chuck!
And, this doesn't mean that Biden and the Dems don't still have to sell it and talk about it ALL THE TIME!!!
For Donald Twump
...and the Reple-jahadi's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoyUhhBCudA
LL&P
MtnCaddy[39]
That's really rather mean-spirited to keep bringing that up, no?
Well, whateve it is, I hope you'll come to the party tomorrow night. :)
I am not submitting to a scientific journal for publication of a scientific theory.
but you are contacting a publisher and requesting that he publish your work.
most of us post their ideas here and understand that CW is not in any way obligated to pay attention. if he does, that's because doing so suits his own sensibilities, not because we're entitled to it on the merits of our brilliant ideas and their potential to change the world.
i am not claiming that you need to present your ideas as a research paper to get CW's attention, nor that he'd pay you any attention even if you did. i just used scientific writing as a way to explain to you what your plan is missing, and why in its current form no one is likely to buy in.
JL
(least of all a host whose hospitality you've abused to the extent that he's almost ready to ban you permanently)
Geez, if I got as upset at Don for all of his disrespecting of Joe Biden, then I'd be the one who would get banned around here. Ahem.
“Republicans are in a tizzy over Dr. Seuss and Mr. Potato Head.”
They might set their hair on fire if they knew the book that made Dr. S. wealthy was “The Pocket Book of Boners.” A best seller during the 1940s. Google it.
@liz,
my advice to don had no angry tone intended. i'd really prefer him not to be banned, he just seems hell-bent on going there.
JL
That wasn't directed at you, Joshua, and angry was the wrong word. Heh.
It's just that we all know what Chris said about this and I don't see the need to keep reposting that post.
Or, upset was the wrong word or whatever it was that I used.
nypoet22 [38],
JL,
You stated his biggest fault that will prevent any chance of his idea becoming a success perfectly: He cannot accept hearing from anyone that this revolutionary idea that HE came up with is anything but PERFECT in every way! He’s ALWAYS RIGHT...no matter how much evidence proves that he is wrong. After I first visited his website, the content unnecessarily set off so many red flags that I feared it would kill his organization before it ever got the chance to succeed. I know that I personally spent the better part of a full day going over the site and taking notes on what the issues were and explaining why it was considered a problem for a non-profit organization to say such things.
Thankfully, Don reminded me that I had only successfully run a non-profit that was 100% donor-reliant with a yearly budget close to $200k that focused on high school students; while he had owned a website that for years has claimed to be a non-profit that somehow magically would some day make those not interested in politics or voting suddenly interested in those things! So much for trying to help someone avoiding failure, I guess!
Elizabeth Miller [5]:
I keep this article bookmarked for just such 'old guys'!
'The economy has grown significantly faster under Democratic presidents than Republican ones.
It’s true about almost any major indicator: gross domestic product, employment, incomes, productivity, even stock prices. It’s true if you examine only the precise period when a president is in office, or instead assume that a president’s policies affect the economy only after a lag and don’t start his economic clock until months after he takes office. The gap “holds almost regardless of how you define success,” two economics professors at Princeton, Alan Blinder and Mark Watson, write. They describe it as “startlingly large.”
...
If anything, that period (which is based on data availability) is too kind to Republicans, because it excludes the portion of the Great Depression that happened on Herbert Hoover’s watch.'
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/opinion/sunday/democrats-economy.html
MtnCaddy [15]
As you correctly noted, Senator Manchin is not up for re-election in 2022. Who knows the issues that will present themselves between now and 2024?
Also, a couple of things to ponder:
1) Will most WV voters in 2024 remember that Sen. Manchin voted against a single amendment proposed by Sen. Sanders OR that Sen. Manchin was a deciding vote FOR the Biden "COVID relief" bill - that, among other things, put $1,400 in their pockets?
2) In 2020, Donald Trump won WV with almost 70% of the vote. If progressives do succeed in 'primarying' Sen. Manchin in 2024, what are that candidate's prospects in the general election? Would you be happy that Sen. Manchin is replaced with a Republican?
nypoet22 [40]
Yes, indeed, Sen. Schumer deserves credit for shepherding this landmark legislation through the Senate.
It might even merit a MIDOW. If so - and noting once again that the FTPs have ignored Rep. Pelosi's masterful leadership - how should we interpret that?
'Manchin gave Schumer the 50th vote on Saturday afternoon, sending one of the largest emergency spending bills in American history on a glide path to Biden’s desk sometime next week. Despite the tension and GOP jeers sparked by Friday's delay, the 50-49 Senate vote was a crucial victory for the New York Democrat. Schumer has graduated from four years commanding the Senate minority against Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump to the successful leadership of a motley but mostly cohesive majority.'
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/06/schumer-covid-aid-474023
italyrusty,
This is the article I always harken back to and the one in which the phrase 'Republican cult of economic failure' was coined by David Fiderer ...
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-bush-tax-cuts-and-the_b_781419
Of course, former treasury secretary Tim Geithner was the guy who made the case for Democratic economic policy and exposed the Republican cult of economic failure better than anybody else. I miss him.
Don,
You would not know a rational argument if it snuck up and bit you on the ass. Most of us have tried and gave up on rational argument with you a long time ago. For as far as I can tell, the Don Harris definition of a rational argument is we all heap praise on your idea, do all the work for you, then hoist you up on our shoulders and carry you off in to the sunset beaming at our hero. Not exactly what I would call the Merriam Webster definition...
The reality is you have become the left wing version of a trumpateer. Bitter and nasty. You say respect is earned? Two way street bitter boy. I would say you might reflect on whether CW is obligated to address someone who has not earned their respect but we all know self reflection is not your strong suite...
You have asked CW many times, in the rare cases he has responded it has been a definite NO. At some point you are not being persistent but a creepy stalker. That point was about two or three years ago. Pre internet I would have advised a restraining order. Modern day, I'm actually glad our host resides on the opposite side of the country as you. Yes, you have become that bad.
[60]
Italyrusty wrote,
If progressives do succeed in 'primarying' Sen. Manchin in 2024, what are that candidate's prospects in the general election? Would you be happy that Sen. Manchin is replaced with a Republican?
I lifted this quote from an article in The AtlanticDemocrats’ Only Chance to Stop the GOP Assault on Voting Rights
What’s the point of being a Democrat if you are just going to let Republicans systematically tilt the playing field so that Democrats can’t win?” Lee Drutman, a senior fellow at the centrist think tank New America, told me. “At that point, you should just be a Republican.”
On a more general note: I wonder if Don Harris is a canary in the coal mine as to progressive radicalization. Are the fringes of the progressive movement starting to mimic Trump followers? I read a few articles pushing the idea of primarying all the democrats who voted against Bernie's minimum wage amendment. Seems like a cut off the nose to spite the face moment. Lets primary moderate democrats in fairly conservative states with what? Progressives? To what end, lose control of the senate? It's like a good portion of America, both left and right, have forgotten just how politics works in a representational democracy...
[45]
Don Harris wrote,
The only thing you should be tired of is being stupid, lying, dodges and being unable to make a rational argument against One Demand...
We're we hitting the bottle in excess last night?
What's your point besides trying to hurt my feelings because you, your silly idea and your inability to persuade all suck?
[67]
Don, here's a QAnon website I stumbled across.
Since you're going to troll anyways why not go troll where there are gullible rubes who might actually buy what you're selling? It's not like you're getting anywhere around here.
Or haven't you noticed, Genius?
[62]
Elizabeth this is an excellent summary of the "Repug Cult of Failure Economics" and I'm glad you've reposted it.
I'm going to bookmark it to my "Politics" folder for future reference.
MtnCaddy ... yeah, that was a fine article which I can across back when Chris and others were blogging at the Huffington Post, back before they requird a facebook account to comment.
Are you ready for the Texas-themed shindig tonight!? I'll be back in an hour or so ... hope we have a full house!
Bashi,
Let's primary moderate democrats in fairly conservative states with what? Progressives? To what end, lose control of the senate? It's like a good portion of America, both left and right, have forgotten just how politics works in a representational democracy...
Yeah, it doesn't seem to make sense on the face of it. After all, as I've been told, a Dem to the left of Manchin can't win in WEST Virginia. Or, so the conventional wisdom goes.
But, that kind of thinking predates the pandemic and the consequent economic suffering - especially in West Va? - and Biden's efforts to redefine 'bipartisanship' to EXclulde Congress in favour of popular support among the people, regardless of their traditional political stripe. So, we'll see how all of this shakes out in the long run ...
WHO-O-O-OA, Come on! It's finally time for the CW Sunday Night Music Festival and Dance Party ... Woo Hoo!
And, tonight, by popular demand, our party will be Texas-themed so, let's go big and do it right!
Let me start it off with a favourite ZZ Top tune ...
Here's Sharp Dressed Man,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wRHBLwpASw
Cut it out, Don!
Or do you have a couple of Texas tunes to go with that!?
Getting back to the program, I've always loved listening to Willie Nelson and one of my favourites is Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain ... here he is in duet with Shania Twain,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6wBxQVBozI
Love, love, love Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away ... here's some great audio of this classic tune,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fQrvvlZ6YI
well, if we must go texas...
https://youtu.be/5k3AIaezXj0
Okay, here is a real treat for fans of the blues and fans of the blues to be - it's Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Live at the El Mocambo doing Texas Flood!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC5H9P4F5Uk
Hey, Joshua! Nice to see ya here! But, that video is not available - not in my neck of the woods, at least ... :(
And, it can be just related to Texas in some form or fashion ...
... or not at all. There are no rules here, after all - except that all political commentary is severely frowned upon. Though, the tunes themselves may be as political as we wish. :)
seriously???
okay, here's the vevo official version:
https://youtu.be/vRbu2RQmzGE
That one works just fine - I love Selena!
Do you have any more?
Don,
That's okay ... I noticed the time stamp, too.
You are forgiven, my friend!
I will try to find it ...
yes.
https://youtu.be/UFpaHMqz0nM
Hoo boy, is MtnCaddy gonna be made at us for all of our disdain for proper link-etiquette ... Heh.
Ah, yes ... love the Dixie Chicks, too! :)
And, that song still stirs the emotions!
Don and everyone!
Here's Asleep At The Wheel and Miles and Miles of Texas ... great tune!
And, a great comment from the YouTube comments section: "Western Swing isn't dead......it's just Asleep At The Wheel." :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLL7Eu7mdIo
Texas Playboys and Asleep At The Wheel, Western Swing, Stereo sound!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRSCK6r8Cc8
Here is Texas, live in Paris with I don't want a lover ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt8KQQrRANw
Let's have some more Selena - Bidi Bidi Bom Bom (mixed performances) ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0vpWbHX9G8
lest we forget....
https://youtu.be/-2TVq7vY948
and here's one more early janis in austin. also this was one of my favorite songs to play out, back when i did such things.
whoops, forgot the link
https://youtu.be/wJTUXiIeHtY
furthermore, she's neither the first nor the only important joplin to come out of texas.
https://youtu.be/pMAtL7n_-rc
Y'all are doing a great job with Texas. :)
Very nice, Joshua!
Hey, Kick ... thanks for the thumbs up! You must have a couple or three or more favourites so let's hear 'em!
Here's one of my favourite duets ... it's Roy Orbison, Crying with KD Lang ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-EiKPrAOHA
And, because she did such a great job on Crying with Roy Orbison, here is kd lang's Constant Craving ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ4ANwlDb58
Who couldn't listen to Stevie Ray Vaughan all evening so here he is doing Life Without You ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ4REYdCkTw
Here's Willie Nelson on his own - Always on My Mind ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7f189Z0v0Y
Just because,
Kenny Rogers - Lady
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYRfUoR9Q4Y&list=RDZY-zXHPcd8M&index=11
"I'm not talkin' 'bout movin' in and I don't wanna change your life. But, there's a warm wind blowing, the stars are out and I'd really love to see you tonight ..."
Have always loved, loved, loved this England Dan and John Ford Coley tune,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuUVgKT4roQ
He Stopped Loving Her Today - George Jones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R2F9f2Cl6Y
real name.
https://youtu.be/ZkjqEX_D9-Y
Elizabeth Miller
93
Texas Playboys and Asleep At The Wheel, Western Swing, Stereo sound!
FUN FACT: One of the fiddle players of the Texas Playboys was also an algebra and physics teacher. I know this because he was my teacher. :)
Do I have a tune for that?
I got Beyoncé instead:
Love On Top
You beat me to Beyonce!
Drunk On Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1JPKLa-Ofc
Kick, did your teacher bring his fiddle to class?
[89]
Elizabeth Miller wrote:
Hoo boy, is MtnCaddy gonna be made at us for all of our disdain for proper link-etiquette ... Heh.
Damn straight! C'mon peeps, it ain't rocket science! Harrumph.
Here's my fave Steavie Ray Vaughn song Lenny.
And SRV's Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Some more ZZ Top!
The Grange
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE1xO44FlME
I think I love SRV!
I will learn the links this week or die tryin' ...
Especially for you, Dear Elizabeth...
Asleep At the Wheel Am I High?
I'm doing this on a bleeping smartphone, for crying out loud haha.
And, Elizabeth, as far as your impending "experimentation," as we say it here in La La Land, "Have your people call my people and we'll do lunch!"
nypoet22
99
furthermore, she's neither the first nor the only important joplin to come out of texas.
Oh, love it. Now that is musical genius... and neither the first nor the only musical genius to come from the very small town of Linden:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8quFtZrwFw
Don Henley
And, Elizabeth, as far as your impending "experimentation," as we say it here in La La Land, "Have your people call my people and we'll do lunch!"
Heh. I'll do that!
What about Kris Kristofferson ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCgnbRWVvU8
Yes, Don Henley! I love Don Henley! And, there is the link to Prism I was looking for:
Henley - Timothy B Schmit - Prism's album, Beat Street - Prism Ron Tabak Era - American Music:
"Whenever I'm feelin' down there's only one thing pullin' me through; a 12-bar shuffle and a mega watt stereo-o-o; you can hear that Texas sound and a blue-eyed soul review, a make-it-overnight, mid-western power trio!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hgkFjisCqM
Here's a live version of my fave Jaybirds Joplin tune Summertime
[119],
Very nice ... and, bookmarked!
...dammit! JANIS Joplin
Are you high?
I'd like to suggest a NEW YORK theme for next Sunday's Dance Party.
Here's a taste, if I may:
Ram Jam Back Betty
Steve Vai Bad Horsie
A New York theme, you say ... hmmm ... I like it.
I have a funny story about Prism playing Central Park!
[128]
I wish. I gotta pee clean for the VA Hospital on the 18th so I haven't partaken tha Ganja for two weeks now. I'm getting into Personal Record for Abstinence for some dozen years now.
Alcohol is a shitty substitute which I'm not indulging in.
K, all things inevitably return to Prism, eh?
[132]
I don't fight it anymore. Resistance is futile...I just let it was over me
I don't like Texas because of their politics** but I gotta admit that state has sure cranked out some great music!
**Once I was driving back to California after my friend and I had delivered a U-haul truck full of clothing to the Lakota Sioux tribe in South Dakota.
I made her stop and take photos from behind, with me appearing to pee first on the base of a "Welcome to Oklahoma" and thence on a "Welcome to Texas" sign on the side of the highway.
Am I normal?
I don't like Texas because of their politics** but I gotta admit that Texas has sure cranked out some great music!
**Once I was driving back to California after my friend and I had delivered a U-haul truck full of clothing to the Lakota Sioux tribe in South Dakota.
I made her stop and take photos from behind, with me appearing to pee first on the base of a "Welcome to Oklahoma" and thence on a "Welcome to Texas" sign on the side of the highway.
Am I normal?
Ach! I hate redundancy. And auto correct.
Elizabeth Miller
113
Kick, did your teacher bring his fiddle to class?
No way! He was the algebra and physics teacher from Hell. I mean that in a nice way. He had two masters degrees and was generally the smartest man in whatever room he was in... and so strict.
Oh, well ... I'm thinking we're missing something ... er someone or some band from the mix tonight ... anyone?
I don't fight it anymore. Resistance is futile...I just let it wash over me.
Heh.
Normal is a relative thing.
MtnCaddy
129
Ram Jam Back Betty
Is "Black Betty" going to be a weekly thing with you!? Or are you high... me and EM want to know... or are you just trying to find out if your mic is on and people are paying attention!?
Your mic is on. Heh. :)
What are we missing, Kick?
MtnCaddy
134
**Once I was driving back to California after my friend and I had delivered a U-haul truck full of clothing to the Lakota Sioux tribe in South Dakota.
I made her stop and take photos from behind, with me appearing to pee first on the base of a "Welcome to Oklahoma" and thence on a "Welcome to Texas" sign on the side of the highway.
Am I normal?
Not if you drove "back to California" from South Dakota by going through Oklahoma and Texas.
You asked. :)
I know! George Strait - I believe!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geQ6Rf5UvHo
Elizabeth Miller
142
What are we missing, Kick?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn676-fLq7I
Russ would also remind us...
Pentatonix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lExW80sXsHs
That's right - I forgot about them!
Here's one I remember hearing on the radio ... Lee Ann Womack - I Hope You Dance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV-Z1YwaOiw
Lonestar - Walking in Memphis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeDt9fpaLvo
Norah Jones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO4dxvguQDk
Usher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxBSyx85Kp8
We need another night ... or two or three ...
Tanya Tucker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkeOJssfhSk
Nice.
Erykah Badu
Boz Scaggs (remember)
Steve Miller
Charley Pride
Mickey Gilley
Johnny Mathis
Buck Owens
Marvin Lee Aday... nickname Meat Loaf
and... drumroll.........
Harvey Lavan Cliburn, Jr.: Van Cliburn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsb1GIhhJfg
[143]
Not if you drove "back to California" from South Dakota by going through Oklahoma and Texas.
You asked. :)
But seeing the Southwest on the way home was the whole point. We'd been through Utah & Nebraska multiple times, you see.
We stayed at Casinos all the way back so she could play her slots and I could harvest money on the Blackjack tables.
Nice job, Weigantia! Gotta get some chow and crash...0620 is beconing.
My most favourite Boz Scaggs ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qOT2b0uL7c
Rest well, MtnCaddy!
[141]
Gurl, it's been days if not weeks since I posted Black Betty. I've been like the Man of Steel and stuff.
So I'm a Black Betty troll, so due me.
How could I forget about Mickey Gilley!?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jus1FrPILs
You're cut off, Mountain man ...
[141]
My mic is on
Good. Sometimes a fella needs a little validation.
For the record I'm not high or drunk. Except maybe drunk on the power that surges through me everyone I post Black Betty
The Steve Miller Band - Jet Airliner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMogywaLON0
And, my favourite, the Joker ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV3AziKTBUo
I hear Black Betty all the time on my favourite radio station.
Meatloaf!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wO8toxinoc
Prism did a tour with Meatloaf, naturally.
Guess I'm kinda hungry. Heh.
I was never a big fan of Meat Loaf - I once had a very uncomfortable dance to Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad. That was in junior high school and to this day I can't listen to that song.
Am I normal?
Love Charley Pride and Kiss An Angel Good Morning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRIRTQ_k-Sg
Johnny Mathis - Chances Are
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEH3uqbpsm8
And, time has run out ... :(
But, this was a lot of fun!
I know I'm way late to the party, but I feel like I have something worthwhile to contribute.
Biden's comment regarding "Neanderthal thinking" is actually perfectly appropriate. One of the big factors believed to have contributed to the extinction of Neanderthals was that they were overly individualistic, not working together well enough with others of their species. As a result, modern humans ended up outcompeting them with their much larger social groups. Nature proved that working together for the benefit of all is the superior survival strategy to every person fending for themselves. And yet, it's the traditional republican position to shun large scale cooperation and support in favor of self sufficiency. Literally Neanderthal thinking.
FULL DISCLOSURE
I fell asleep listening to Van Cliburn, a musical genius, but y'all did a great job with Texas. :)
MtnCaddy
155
But seeing the Southwest on the way home was the whole point. We'd been through Utah & Nebraska multiple times, you see.
We stayed at Casinos all the way back so she could play her slots and I could harvest money on the Blackjack tables.
Be that as it may, you will kindly note that I, however (and so on and so forth), did not respond that you were not "normal" for peeing on a state(s) landmark on the side of a highway in America.
That was the part that was (supposed to be) funny. ;)
Which begets a new question: On your circuitous return travels home, did you or did you not avail yourself of the opportunity to pee in 4 states at one time?
https://thegate.boardingarea.com/standing-on-four-states-at-four-corners-monument/
[175]
Not on this trip, for I had already checked that "Four Corners Pee Thang" box on my Bucket List on a family vacation (from Detroit out to Country-Cali) back in 1974.
Whoa! It turns out that the House used to have a filibuster as well. We got rid of it in the late 1800s, and nobody has looked back.
Death to the filibuster! Death to all who would keep it!
MtnCaddy
176
Heh.
It just screamed to me that it was something "normal" that you would have done, under the circumstances such as they are. ;)
Bleyd on [173]
I had never heard that there were any theories about Neanderthal society in contrast to Sapiens society! How interesting - do you know where the scientists got their data from?
I partly ask because all primates are social species, generally speaking, and I'm trying to figure out what degree of social structure a group of Sapiens would have to have to outcompete a group of Neanderthals, in a strictly hunter-gatherer ecology.
And most of all, I tend to be suspicious when a trope like this shows up just in time to put the stamp of science on 'Democrats good, Republicans bad'. Surely the forests and fields of primeval post-Ice Age Europe were not divided into Red and Blue hunting areas...
John [179]
I believe the data comes from dig sites across Europe that suggest smaller tribal sizes.
As for how modern humans outcompeted Neanderthals, there is one particularly interesting theory I've heard, though I don't recall the source off the top of my head. Basically, Neanderthals were bigger, stronger, and tougher than homo sapiens, but this ended up working against them in the long run. Firstly, those superior characteristics made them require more calories to sustain themselves, so they needed to hunt more just to survive. Second, because they were stronger and tougher, they could successfully hunt bigger game in smaller groups. Because homo sapiens weren't as physically able, they likely formed larger groups to make up the difference.
There is also some speculation that homo sapien's lesser toughness prompted them to develop greater ranged combat capability in the way of spear-throwers like the atlatl. Being able to throw spears twice as far would have given humans a tremendous advantage, both in hunting and in warfare, and it was that leap in technology that gave them the final edge over the neanderthals that they needed to essentially wipe them out. There is evidence that humans may have been using spear-throwers more than 40k years ago, and most evidence suggests that the neanderthals became extinct somewhere around 35-40k years ago, so the timeline definitely fits.
Bleyd,
Thanks so much for that - makes perfect sense. Not sure how it translates into modern American politics of Texas vs. the liberal coastal elites!
There might have been something to it a century or so ago, when the farmer states might have had populations larger and stronger due to the outdoor work, and a resulting reliance on self-improvement and small clans being all that was needed for survival; in contrast to the growing cities of the urbanizing states where all those small-boned indoor-working clerks and factory workers learned to organize in larger groups to grow the group's wealth. But Texas is one of the most urbanized states in the union, so ...
Nah, just BS-ing. And it's not even Sunday night any longer, so foolishness like this has run out the clock.
@bleyd/JMCt,
the other reason i've heard for the neanderthal's demise is that they never developed the skills or tools to hunt smaller, nimbler game or gather sufficient flora to sustain themselves. they might have been bigger, stronger and tougher, but it wasn't just caloric demands; they didn't have the flexibility to adapt to as many different food sources when the big game migrated or were hunted to extinction. from what i recall, sapiens developed throwing spears mainly for hunting, not fighting. Neanderthals didn't get out-fought, they got out-hunted.
JL
if i'm remembering right, my source is the PBS documentary series 'becoming human.'