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Inflation just keeps rising….Open Thread for 1/12/22……

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Prices KEEP rising….

And…

RISING….

All this good Economy stuff don’t mean a thing….

New poll has people more worried about this than ANYTHING else….

And?

The Fed is gonna raise interest rates….

We can’t win…..

Prices rose at the fastest pace in 40 years in December, increasing 7 percent over the same period a year ago, and cementing 2021 as a year marked by soaring inflation wrought by the ongoing coronaviruspandemic.

Prices were also up 0.5 percent in December compared to the month before, according to data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Indeed, 2021 went down as the worst year for inflation since 1982, as broken supply chains collided with high consumer demand for used cars and construction materials alike. Higher prices seeped into just about everything households and businesses buy, raising alarms for policymakers at the Federal Reserve and White House that inflation has spread throughout the economy….

…

Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell said it was essential to get prices down to more sustainable and stable levels to ensure a lasting recovery.

“If inflation does become too persistent, if these high levels of inflation become too entrenched in the economy or people’s thinking, that will lead to much tighter monetary policy from us, and that could lead to a recession and that would be bad for workers,” Powell told lawmakers.

In many ways, soaring inflation has overshadowed parts of the economy that made tremendous gains last year. The economy added a record-breaking 6.4 million jobs, booming past expectations, and the unemployment rate fell from 6.3 percent in January to 3.9 percent in December. Rank-and-file workers’ hourly paychecks rose by 5.8 percent. And sprawling stimulus measures helped keep consumer demand healthy despite multiple waves of the coronavirus….

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    • There is a new Q poll out with Biden ‘s approval at 35%….

      Please disregard it……

      President Biden Job Approval Quinnipiac Approve 35, Disapprove 54 Disapprove +19
      President Biden Job Approval Politico/Morning Consult Approve 44, Disapprove 53 Disapprove +9
      President Biden Job Approval Rasmussen Reports Approve 40, Disapprove 58 Disapprove +18
      President Biden Job Approval Economist/YouGov Approve 45, Disapprove 51 Disapprove +6

      RCP….

  2. Republican Congressman Warren Davidson of Ohio compared vaccine mandates to the Holocaust.

    Prediction–othee than jawbone the GOP won’t do a damn thing about it.

    • GOP Lawmaker Compares Vaccine Mandate to Holocaust

      Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) “compared Covid vaccine mandates to the Holocaust, a statement that was met with swift backlash from Jewish groups,” NBC News reports.

      Davidson’s tweet: “Let’s recall that the Nazis dehumanized Jewish people before segregating them, segregated them before imprisoning them, imprisoned them before enslaving them, and enslaved them before massacring them.”

      Yes...
      These guys just talk out of their asses…..
      And Trump IS their lying LEADER…..

    • If a Democrat said it, CG would be here complaining it was an anti-Semitic comment because it downplayed the severity of the holocaust. But only if a Democrat or a fervent Trump loyalist said it!

      It has been 4 days since Scot’s post. I gave him enough time!

      • Give it a break Zreebs. I would have hoped that any time spent today with your friends would have helped you put aside malice and a desire to lash out at me, but whatever.

        I am of course very critical about what Davidson said. It is also a fact that he apologized for it in fairly unambiguous terms.. More people should be willing to do that when they make mistakes. The concept that somehow I am a Trumpist, like Davidson is, just is lacking in honesty and comprehension. He wouldn’t be someone I would be voting for. It was a bad move to bring me into whatever point you wanted to make, but I suppose you can do that if you want.

        As we saw from events in the news yesterday, Jewish people in America and around the world face very real and far more serious threats than dumb Holocaust revisionism. I hope that any American faith community that met today would have taken at least a moment to express solidarity with what the four victims of anti-Semitic terrorism endured and thankfully survived yesterday in Texas.

        • In a more general sense, when it comes to the Holocaust whenever somebody is willing to admit the following, that is already half the battle. Too many will not even go that far.

          A. It actually happened
          B. It was really bad

      • Wow, I do appreciate the consideration. I don’t suspect that I’ve ever done anything on here to earn that, from you or anyone else, so thanks.

        Their version of “Sleigh Ride” may just be the Great Christmas Song. A true pioneer in her own right. RIP indeed.

    • Another House seat is gonna be available…..

      A former girlfriend of Representative Matt Gaetz testified on Wednesday before a federal grand jury in Orlando scrutinizing whether he broke sex trafficking laws, according to two people briefed on the case.

      The development suggests that the Justice Department may have secured a key witness in its inquiry, which is seeking to determine whether Mr. Gaetz provided goods or payments to a 17-year-old girl in exchange for sex. Mr. Gaetz, a Republican, has represented a district in western Florida since 2017….
      More…

  8. Morning……

    Rough one for Biden and Co.
    They will be fronting all sorts of things to try an blunt the shit sandwich two of their own party Senators have served them….

    In the end?

    They chose the wrong people to try and please
    The ‘squad’

    It should require a course correction

    We’ll see

  9. Pope Francis (my favorite pope of all time) said something recently that is thought-provoking. Why do people adopt pets when there are so many children in the world that no one wants. Why not adopt a child instead?

    • Not everyone who is a pet parent is cut out to raise children.

      I like a lot of what this Pope says but he’s off on that. As he is on a woman’s right to control her body.

      • There are a lot of children over the age of 4 that no one wants to take care of, and as we outlaw abortions that number will only grow,

        Maybe not everyone who is childless is capable of being a parent, but some aught to consider it. No one deserves to live in a love-less environment. And some of us can do something about that. Unfortunately I can’t even take care of myself these days.

      • Raising kids IS a long and hard job….

        It gets little attention and kudos

        And it is hugely rewarding

  10. NY Congressman John Katko, who voted to impeach President Trump over his involvement with the January 6 insurrection, is retiring after four terms, opening up what will surely be one of the Democrats’ best shots at a House pickup this year.

      • Democrats tried challenging him in all of his runs, and generally lost by bigger than expected margins because his brand/posturing of centrist Republicanism plays well in the metropolitan areas of Upstate NY.

        As the party will likely to go with a Trump flavored candidate this go around, the seat becomes more Lean to Likely Democrat in a horse race ranking.

    • Hundreds of Trump Voters Are Dying Every Day

      Donald McNeil Jr.: “As of this week, about 1,800 Americans a day are dying of Covid; the C.D.C. expects that number to rise above 2,600.”

      “Virtually all are adults. If 95 percent were unvaccinated and we assume that 75 percent of those were Trump supporters, that’s 1,300 to 1,900 of his voters being subtracted from the rolls every single day.“

      “Donald Trump lost Arizona by a mere 10,000 votes. He lost Georgia by 12,000, He lost Wisconsin by 21,000. He lost Nevada by 33,000.”

      “Right now, about 60 Arizonans, 36 Georgians, 34 Wisconsinites and 14 Nevadans are dying of Covid each day. Seventy five percent of 95 percent of that would be minus 103 Trump voters per day — just in those four swing states. Week after week. That adds up.”

      • Enough Republicans in Iowa’s 2nd district have likely died to give Rita Hart the election if it were held now. The GOP candidate only won by 6 votes.

        As McNeil states in that article–it adds up!

  12. I have been thinking a lot today about MLK day, and I keep coming to the conclusion that racism in the US is getting worse, and how disappointed MLK would be. in the 70s, GOP had a lot is reps who supported racial justice even if it also had racists like Reagan who called black U.N. reps “monkeys” and who eventually opposed sanctions to end apartheid in South Africa. And Republicans (like Limbaugh) who followed, made it acceptable in some circles to be overtly racist, all the while claiming rhey weren’t actually racist. And Republicans genuinely believed that too.

    • Maybe Z…

      These days ?

      Racism IS addressed directly……

      There HAS HUGE progress no doubt….

      Black sports coach’s….

      A Black Sec of Defense

      A Black (Mixed) President for 8 years and Black (Mixed) current Vice President….

      Disappointed?

      No….

      I would think he want ALL American’s to continue the struggle against Racism…..

  13. Jack could tell you more directly, Zreebs, since he was living in Strom Thurmond’s South Carolina at the time, but I remember from following the news, public affairs and the civil rights movement that the racism was far more brutal and direct — and more importantly, widespread — in the 1960’s.

    And there was more acquiescence in it; for example, the television networks almost never showed interracial couples (whose marriage was a criminal act in almost all the former slave states until <Loving vs Virginia in 1967).

    For all the emergence of militia and white-power groups today, the Ku Klux Klan (and the associated white Citizens’ Councils) was still embedded in much of the political power structure of many southern states.

    Executives, professionals, performers and academics were almost all still non-Hispanic whites — predominantly male, and of course, straight. No federal cabinet secretaries were black until after LBJ’s victory in 1964, beginning with the newly-created Departments of Transportation and of Housing & Urban Development.

    • I would have hoped that racial progress wouldn’t be defined as sayung interracial marriage is now allowed and that blacks could now get served at the food counter. Sure, if that is enough for you to claim progress, then sure there was progress. But what low standards you have!

    • I grew up in a segregated society.I was fourteen when the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964.While the south begrudgingly began to do away with petty segregation (like seperate bathrooms and water fountains) it was well into the seventies that Blacks were welcomed in many areas of southern life.It was into the early eighties that Blacks and Whites would mingle at the same Night clubs and such and it was indeed rare to see Black people at the finer Charleston restaurants.

      DSD is right that the Klan and the WCC were major powers in some southern states, notably Mississippi and Alabama,less so in S.C. ,La, and Ark.

      In my view, race relations ,particularly on a personal level ,have improved greatly.However, in the past five years or so ,during the Trump era ,I see many Whites being more open about their latent racism .In other words while they are friendly with individual Blacks ,they still regard the race ,as a whole ,with a certain degree of disdain and believe that “those people” are “asking for too much.”

      While such feelings always existed, Trump and certain Republicans have made it no longer disrespectable to express such openly .

      • Now, books that provide people with a glimpse of what it is like to be black are being banned or burned. Stories of white atrociities are being removed from history books cecause they make some white parents uncomfortable, There are blatant political efforts across the country to discourage blacks from voting, some network commentators don’t even try to hide their racism other than saying “I am not a racist” after making some offensive comments.

        We, as white People, have a moral responsibility to speak out and to change this direction. I am looking forward to attending church service today where racial progress is the topic of the sermon. Hopefully it is also being talked about in other less liberal congregations.

    • When three chubby good old white boys can hunt down a black jogger and kill him and then with the help of a white DA almost get away with it, I would say things really aren’t much better. Would you?

      As I recall it took a determined mother to get the government to bring charges, while a determined white blogosphere made excuses for while this might have been justified.

      As I recall, this case was described by our resident Republican apologist as “as the criminal Justice System working correctly.” Really? Barely working more like.

      Trump put hate on heat and the Republican electorate responded enthusiastically. Is there any doubt things are worse. After all, Republicans will openly tell you that they suffered under Obama. Why do you really think they feel this way?

      • Things ARE Better…..

        But can always be improved…..

        As Jack points other are a lot of things that simply NOT possible 50-60 years ago….

        Progress come in small steps that Dr. King pushed for….

  14. Sorry, Zreebs, I misunderstood your original post — I’d misread it as saying that racism is as bad or worse today as it was in Dr King’s day.

    But what you were saying, as I understand it, is something I do agree with: that, at least for the moment, racism and race relations are getting worse.

    The progress that has been made in 70 years is remarkable, but that hardly means that things are wonderful for those who are not anglophone whites, or that the likes of DJT haven’t been successful in making things worse.

  15. It seems to me the biggest change in the last few years is that white grievance is a much more prevalent sentiment.

    I agree that interracial relationships are much more common now than when I was a kid in the 1980s. But back then any whites who claimed they were the “real victims” of racism were considered wacko David Duke types. Now you hear that creeping in among mainstream Republicans in the Trump age. Granted sometimes It is in response to some thing ultra woke on the far left. But often it’s an extreme overreaction to something benign like Land O Lakes changing their logo.

  17. Larry Hogan has reportedly “not closed the door” on a Senate run this year.

    I think it’s highly unlikely Hogan goes for it. Maryland is deep deep blue. And he would not be guaranteed the GOP nomination if he continues to speak out about the undisputed leader of the party.

  18. About 30-40 Trump supporters were in Schaumburg IL today with their giant Trump 2024 flags and their bullhorns trying mostly unsuccessfully to get drivers to beep their horns in support of them.

      • An example if stupidity and racism in today’s GOP–the undisputed leader of the party told a rally in Arizona that white people couldn’t get the vaccine. The vaccine is available everywhere–but most of those denying it are white Republicans of the type that cheered that comment.

        Stupid, racist.

  19. Martin Luther King Jr. was not a well-liked man. He was one of the most polarizing figures in the United States during his final few years of life. He was not the cuddly creature we re-invent every King Day to lie to ourselves and our kids about how he only wanted us to get along. His approval rating began to rise only after he was no longer here to demand America live up to its ideals. King wanted peace, but not at the expense of equality. He wanted little black girls and boys to play with little white girls and boys, but not if it meant pretending racism didn’t exist. He respected authority, but challenged those wearing badges and carrying batons and sitting in the Oval Office. He wanted moral clarity, not cheap comfort. Were he alive today, he’d still be hated by those wedded to the status quo. Because he’d notice the poor still being vilified as lazy. He’d see large corporations, like Walmart, brag proudly about modest pay increases then quietly announce thousands of layoffs….

    Charolotte [N. Carolina] News & Observer, 2018, now reprinted every year.

    Read more at: https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article257338422.html#storylink=cpy

    • My dad used to snidely refer to King Day as James Earl Ray Day. And the people of his parents’ generation hated King for “blocking traffic.”

      It’s no wonder the corners into which those people have drifted in recent years.

  20. Dave I am pretty sure that Raleigh’s newspaper is the News and Observer, not Charlottes.. Chatlotte’s Newspaper is simply called the Observor.

    • To be more precise Charlotte’s paper is typically referred to as the Charlotte Observer, much as relatively few people refer to the “New York Ttimes” as “the Times”.

      • Zreebs, you may well be right about Charolotte’s newspaper, but then why would its web site be http://www.newsobserver.com ?

        I may have never seen either paper in my life, but I would agree that Raleigh’s newspaper (once edited or published by Josephus Daniels, a racist Wilsonian progressive who was also dry and whose ban on alcohol in the U.S. Navy gave us the phrase “cup o’joe” for coffee) is the News and Observer (its website once called itself the Nando News).a

        Maybe the two newspapers have now merged or been merged.

        Of course, Jack has probably seen countless copies of both and could explain for certain.

        • You are confused Dave. Your link is from the Raleigh News & Observer. The Charlotte Oservor is a totally differed paper. I used to subscribe to the Charlotte Observor and was also familiar with the Raleigh News & observer. I am positive you are wrong.

  21. In the most obvious indication that Trump is upset with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s refusal to say he won’t run for President if Trump does…Trumps hatchet man convicted criminal Roger Stone lambasted DeSantis as a “Yale Harvard fat boy (who);can’t get put of his own way.Not smart.Not honest and not going to be president.”

    Stone added that DeSantis was “an unknown congressman with a bad haircut and an ill fitting suit until Donald Trump made him Governor.”

    DeSantis is now regarded by Trump as No longer on the team and that he will have to make up his mind, sooner rather than later , as to whether he returns to the MAGA movement or strikes out on his own.

    This comes a couple of days after DeSantis had dismissed the idea that there was a gulf between him and Trump.

    • Unlike Trump, DeSantis might actually have fair sway among those swing voters who pushed Buden over the top but none the less are disenchanted with him after these rocky past few months.

      And at least an outright DS win over Biden, Harris, or Marianne Williamson would theoretically rob us of the legitimacy behind the claim of a stolen election. Whereas while Biden would likely enough beat Trump once again, enough states may just refuse to acknowledge the outcome and pull off the coup that failed last time.

      • Marianne Williamson will never be one of the top three candidates for the nomination. I hope she doesn’t try that nonsense again. Truthfully, I am amazed she got as far as she did last time.

        • The far left is talking her up as a serious Primary rival to Biden, so I feel it a duty to give her air time. Personally, I’d hope they can do better than someone who gives off some serious Tarot reader vibes.

  22. Way back in 2007, I remember discussing on Politics1 the election of Richard Irvin, an African-American Republican, when he was elected citywide as an Alderman in Aurora, Illinois.

    Now, he is in his second term as Mayor of Aurora and announced his candidacy for Governor today.

    https://www.irvinbourne.com/

  23. Dumb Democrat of the Day (at least last Saturday)

    As four people were being held hostage in a Texas synagogue by a suspect that based on all media reports was demanding the release of the convicted terrorist known as “Lady Al Qaeda”, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel went on television and suggested that the suspect could be a member of a white supremacist organization.

    • This jump-to-conclusion mirrors the reaction to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing by domestic terrorists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. At the time, numerous politicians, other public voices and citizens assumed and asserted that the bombing had come from overseas Islamic terrorists.

      One unfortunate result from a civil-libertarian point of view was that, while a combination of left-wing and free-market libertarians had been able to thwart the Omnibus Antiterrorism Act in 1995, before it reached the Congressional floor, the Clinton Administration and its allies was able to pass the derivative Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 in the next year.

    • He could well be. White supremacist organizations and the Taliban have a lot of uncanny similarities. Let’s all wait and see how the unfurling details shake out before we jump to conclusions, though.

  26. Rhode Island Cong. James Langevin (D, 2nd dist.) announced his retirement this afternoon.

    Several ambitious (or impatient) Democrats will no doubt compete for the seat in September’s primary (which also features Gov. Dan McKee and his rivals for the governorship as well as a race in Providence for a Mayor to succeed Jorge Elorza).

    Rep. Langevin, who has been confined to a wheelchair since adolescence, is pro-life (although not voting anti-choice) and tends towards the moderate side of liberal (in the Dakotas or the South, he’d be considered a flame-throwing anarchist).
    The 2nd District (my own) covers part of Providence and the state’s cities and towns west of Narragansett Bay, including the inland ones that have voted for Donald Trump but more importantly, Warwick (Lincoln Chafee’s old base) and Cranston (which launched Sen. Jack Reed and former GOP Mayor Allen Fung.)

    There is essentially no realistic possibility of anyone but a Democrat winning the general election in November. The last credible Republican candidate for Congress (against Prov. Mayor David Cicilline) was state Rep. John Loughlin in 2010. Third parties have never been strong in Rhode Island, despite Lincoln Chafee’s election to the Governorship in the same year, 2010, as an independent against three other significant candidates (R, D & Moderate Party).

  27. Democrats, “gird your loins”, he’s going to be going out there.

    (a term that has been used by Biden.)

    • Biden on Covid:

      “It’s all coming down. It’s all getting better.”

      That would not have gone over well on here.

      • Now, he’s a big fan of NH Gov Chris Sununu and is quoting him at length.

        I am sure the Governor will have a response or two. He might even want to run for the job Biden has.

        • It sure triggered you huh? Better get those license plates back!

          What response will Sununu have to Biden correctly quoting why he doesn’t want to go to the Senate as long as Republicans stand for nothing.

          What does your party stand for CG?

          Is Sununu wrong?

          • You seem triggered.

            One can certainly have problems with the state of Capitol Hill Republicans, as I do, and still oppose, a very dangerous agenda being put forward by Democrats.

            I have stated many times here what I am “for.” I am the most bipartisan person here by far. Now, he is being asked about Mitt Romney. I have posted Romney’s plan to help the American Family and why it should have bipartisan support.

            The President should call Senator Romney.

            • You aren’t bipartisan. You are delusional. You think it’s 2004 and a Bush/Cheney/Romney Republican Party is going to re-emerge. It won’t happen.

              You are mad that the Republican Party changed. You are mad that Democrats are Democrats.

              That doesn’t make you “bipartisan”.

              • How are you dealing with your anger today? It might be a tough year on the “Plantation.”

                I am bipartisan in the sense that I am willing to criticize both parties when they deserve it (which is a lot) and praise people in both parties when they deserve it. I am the only person here who has voted for Presidential nominees of both major parties this century. I have spoken of many compromise policy positions that I support and could generate bipartisan approval. Clearly, what I said is accurate.

                But tribalists want solutions less than they want something to yell about and give speeches about and raise money about.

                • I’m not angry. But I do have a question. Would you drive into the south side of Chicago and tell voters who have been cast g straight Democratic ballots FAR longer than me that they are “on a plantation”?

                  Just curious.

                  • Scott, to quote Joe Biden

                    “You ain’t black.”

                    And obviously, the point I am making about your devotion to one political party, regardless of facts and circumstances, is a very different one.

                    Maybe you also do not realize that there are African-Americans in Chicagoland beyond the “South Side.” They live in the suburbs and everything.

                    But yes, I would tell African-Americans that they have been taken advantage of politically for a long time by Democrats while at the same time, Republicans need to do a better job in letting black voters know that we have better ideas and want their support.

                    The candidate I am planning to back for Governor of Illinois is an African-American Republican (who has also voted for Democrats) who I think will do a good job talking about his lifestory and what he wishes to offer all communities.

                    • I asked you a simple question. Would you tell an elderly African American regardless where they live that they are on a Plantation?

                      Yes or no.

                    • Anybody who believes that one political party has all the virtue and the other political party holds all the blame is on a mental “plantation.”

                      I do not think most black voters or voters in general think as you or a couple others here do though Scott. You are a political junkie/ideologue. You are a special case. Most people are not like that.

        • Sununu’s odds of winning the GOP nomination in the age of Trump, Cruz and DeSantis are about the same as Jeb Bush or Mitt Romney would have. 1-2% tops.

          • I just thought it was a weird political strategy to bring Sununu into this.

            Sununu is not going to defend Biden.

            • He’s back to talking about Sununu again as his cover.

              I think I can hear the screams of distress from the NH Dem HQ from here.

            • So you admit you aren’t “bipartisan”. Your party left you and you have no home.

              Bipartisan means you agree with some of what both major parties advocate.

    • “Gird your loins”

      CG Jan19 4:02 pm

      Does this mean that only CG can make or reference sexual jokes? Based on yesterdays discussion, I would have thought this was inappropriate.

      Sinc we are in the mode of sharing embarrassing personal information, I would like to report that my cancer treatment has adversely affected my vision and hearing. So if I am making even more typos than normal, it is at least partially because my vision has deteriorated.

  28. Corey is the only person on here who has voted for Presidential nominees of both parties this century? Actually, he and I make two, as I’ve voted Romney, Clinton, and Biden within the decade I’ve been an eligible voter. Now, does my Romney vote age well as time goes on? Meh, but if I was going to construably make a mistake on a Republican, it was better I do it on a McCain/Mitt sort.

    Now, I’ll admit something I never admitted before: As I was still fairly Conservative(though steadfastly against Trump) leaning in 2018, I did vote Kemp for Governor and Democrats down the ticket. I don’t plan to vote for him again(to say nothing of the corrupt lowlives who are challenging him in the Primary), as I’ve legitimately shifted in my ideological thinking in the last 3 years, and given some of his botched handling of Covid stuff at the outset of the Pandemic, to say nothing of the anti voting rights pushes, I would consider my original vote for him to be a significant regret.

    • Thanks for the info. Did not think you were old enough. If you could be so kind, please try to use “CG.”

      I suppose I am tri-partisan in the last three Presidential elections, voting R, I, and D.

      • My bad, sorry about that slip up. Usually I’m better about that, but old habits creep in sometimes. Will try to be better.

        I will be 28 later in the year. On a state level, after this year, I will be tri partisan as well, having voted Libertarian, Republican, and Democrat in the three Governor’s races in which I have voted.

        As an aside, the only Republican I would have slightly considered supporting back in 2020 is Tillis in NC, but that was more because I was put off my the sex scandals engulfing Cal Cunningham, who I’d proudly supported in his Primary before all of that sticky hot mess. I think he may have cost Biden the state, as close as the top of the ticket was.

          • Sinema would still be a problem in that event. The D’s astonishing fail against Susan Collins was a pretty decisive blow, in addition to Cunningham.

      • And I would consider a Republican vote for Lieutenant Governor provided Democrats can’t do better than the grandson of Zell Miller and that the Republicans nominate Butch Miller, who owns the car dealership I take my vehicle to be serviced(They do a great job, better than Meineke). And even then, the odds I actually vote Republican are about one in three.

  29. Van Jones sides with me on “voter subversion” ie counting votes, being a far bigger problem than alleged “voter suppression..” He said that Biden muddles the real issue and gave a muddled answer in the press conference. That was sort of being kind to Biden.

    As far as I can tell, the only evidence of “voter suppression” are “long lines.”

    As long as somebody can vote by mail, as they can in Georgia, which is where we are told is Ground Zero for voter suppression, a long line can never logically be an issue. There are no lines. Recent elections have seen very high historical levels of turnout. How is that consistent with “suppression?”

    In regards to long lines on Election Day, people forget that it might have more to do with the efficiency and ability of Election Judges at polling locations, due to poor training or people who simply should not be doing the job, which leads to delays. That is definitely not “voter suppression.”

    Even for those who demand to vote in person, there is more early voting than ever existed before. Certainly far more early voting that existed when Bill Clinton or Barack Obama were elected President and nobody was claiming that somehow elections were suppressive.

  30. Yes I believe that the Trump Republican legislators in Georgia were hurriedly doing election “reforms” because they wanted to make it “easier “ for Black people to vote.

    I also just saw the tooth fairy floating through the skies above.

  32. As I stated clearly several times, the analogy I used for Scott is not based on voting behavior but on how he presents himself on here.

    There are plenty of honorable people who vote exclusively for Democrats. At least on here, Scott does not come across as an honorable person.

    • So if you found an African American as dishonorable as you find me you would feel comfortable telling them they were “on a Plantation”?

      Simple yes or no.

      • Yes, in the same context. From an historical standpoint, those who were enslaved on plantations were not there due to any fault of their own.

        But you do a disservice by claiming you would deserve some kind of historical consideration. You are not black.

        • Lot’s of Black’s got sold onto plantations……

          They had no choice……

          And this country still plants people in detention centers….

      • Also Scott, for the literally dozens of sexual analogies you have made about me, regarding bodily functions or alleged desire to engage in sex acts with male Republican politicians, would you have said the same things to a gay Republican?

        • So your tell an African A.erican to his or her face they are “on a plantation” based on how they vote and how they “present themselves”–whatever that means.

          I don’t know how far back you are digging to find examples where I may have made admittedly childish jokes about your relationship to your political heroes. But if you really want to go back that far please bring those quotes up. I bet they weren’t too far out of what was then considered regular discourse on P1. People change and mature. I could being up stiff you said 10-12-16 years ago but I prefer to bring up that which you said yesterday you did for the sole reason of “pissing me off”.

          • You were doing it a few weeks ago, talking about what might give me an erection or however you phrased it. It’s been your M.O. since 2004. I guess you cannot take the frat out of the bro. Maybe my pointing this out can be an opportunity for you to “change and mature.”

            It was also discussed how in person political discourse is different than things said online. Over the years, I have had lots of political discussions/debates with others and everything was always pretty civil or I would choose to not engage further. So, yes, it is different online, for better or worse. That is on all of us, But I have never actually met people who come across as hateful as people online do in regards to political differences.

            • I admit I use terms like “gives you an erection” in a lot of casual discourse. I use it about men, women, gay, straight. Both online and in person (example–“Alicia saw SpiderMan AGAIN last week? She must really have a boner for Marvel movies)

              I use it to mean it makes someone happy. We’re all adults here but I can refrain from any talk that might be considered sexual in any way I will stop.

              I don’t see how having an erection and being on a Plantation would be considered equally offensive but I digress.

              • I find it hard to believe you use it about women, but whatever.

                Generally speaking some people may also have medical issues and thus extra offensive.

        • CG recently complained about James, Keith, me and Scott, and I don’t read many of his posts.

          He certainly believes he serves more respect from us than he gets, but at least some of us do not feel he is as objective or concerned about the common good as he thinks he is. We remember when he tried to get HHR volunteers to destroy a liberal blog; and when he contacted someone’s boss, and when he shared unflattering personal information about a fellow blogger’s past.

          The Georgia county where they closed all but one polling place is a Republican county, but close to 30 percent of its voters are black, and they are less likely to have a vehicle and The county does not have any significant public transportation.

          I gre up in a city in NJ with fewer people than that county and I think we had nine polling places. It is difficult for me to see why he does not see at least potential voting suppression.

          • More lies. More sadness.

            I was asked to try to get more posters to help this fledgling blog. It turned out they were not interested.

            I have never contacted anyone’s boss, but would have for that of a highly paid public official who was actively violating the public trust.

            Georgia has universal, no excuse needed Vote by Mail. No lines. No drive.

            Oregon has no in person voting for anyone. Why do Democrats give Oregon a pass? Gee, i wonder.

  33. Robert Reich (whom james often argues with on Twitter) Tweeted at 1:19 am last night that Democrat Senators should give Kyrsten Sinema “the back of their hand.”

    • Reich is an asshole for Tweeting that. He can suffer the consequences of his actions now.

      Now how many elected Republicans have said the same about Trump’s racist lie that white people are not given the same COVID treatments as people of color?

      • Back of the hand? Is that anything like comparing mask mandates to the Holocaust? Or saying that President Obama needs to “learn how to be an American?” Anything like that?

        As Scott points out, Trump says the quiet part out loud. Sort of like Mitch McConnell saying “when everyone votes Republicans lose.”

        These are just distractions from what the Republicans doing on a state-by-state basis to suppress the vote.

    • Depends on the meaning of “new President”, CG.

      Might be the same person as the current one.

        • I’ve have always been highly skeptical of a Biden re-election campaign.

          He will be 82yoa.

          The odds of him running are very small ,maybe 2-3 in 10 and that might be generous.

            • You do realize that 77 is a smaller number, right?

              But there is new data out to prove your point james that Trump is receding as a potential GOP nominee in 2024.

              Josh Kraushaar
              @HotlineJosh
              New NBC poll, of R voters: Are you more a supporter of Trump or the Republicans party?

              Republican Party 56
              Trump: 36

              Lowest number for Trump in the history of the poll.

        • Is this some kind of joke?

          An “online course” based on James’s selective choosing of certain columns and stories from various online sites and the comments from the seven or eight of us here?

          As P T Barnum would say to any “enrollee”…”Theres a sucker born every minute.”

          • I think this is something the platform James is using autofills. I don’t think James planned it or even knows it’s there.

              • Hopefully James can tell us more about these courses.

                But it does raise the question of why get a degree in political science when one can have James as their teacher instead and probably at a lower cost.

                • To meet sexy Russian girls, of course. ;-}

                  I expect this to be a really fun party school (have you pledged yet?) with coursework and lectures distinctly secondary.

                  • I don’t know. I think James would prefer to lecture over having fun.and James got rid of the Russian girls because they weren’t making him enough money.

  39. “The concern is misplaced, because if you look at the statistics, African-American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans.”

    — Sen. Mitch McConnell, at a press conference.

    Do we think that all those black folks are on the Plantation? Do we? And, I guess Mitch like many Republicans question the loyalty of black Americans. I know the majority of Republicans do.

    And, how does that equate with folks getting an erection? Very weird equation that our friend Corey Gross made today. Makes me wonder where all that came from?

    • RIP. Meatloaf was a fantastic performer all around. From his music to his acting stints in “Fight Club” (his name is Robert Paulson!) and as Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
      He will be missed.

      • According to the New York Post, Meat Loaf was recently sick with Covid.

        He was also known for being outspoken against vaccine mandates. Why is he getting a pass and an RIP on here?

        • Honestly, sans you and me, I don’t think many people know how around the bend he went in his last decade. Saw that news on TMZ, and I’m honestly both shocked and not surprised.

        • “Speaking to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in August last year, he told the interviewer “I hug people in the middle of COVID,” and said: “I understood stopping life for a little while, but they cannot continue to stop life because of politics. And right now they’re stopping because of politics.”

          “The singer went on to complain about being asked to wear a mask on a plane, stating that he didn’t believe paper masks were as good at N95s at stopping the coronavirus from spreading. “We had to go on the airplane with the paper masks and then on the way back, we got a Nazi: ‘Get your mask on now!’ They’re power-mad now,” he told the paper.

          After the interviewer replied “Oh, God. We’re being controlled by everybody,” the singer responded ominously: “Yeah, I know. But not me. If I die, I die, but I’m not going to be controlled.”

          https://www.thedailybeast.com/meat-loaf-dies-at-74

          Are people held to a different standard because someone likes their music?

          Meat Loaf could be described as anti-vaccine, anti-mask, and made a Nazi comparison to Covid rules. He said, “If I die, I die.”

          I was not a fan of his music but I do have sympathy for his loved ones at this time,

          • Donald Trump was issued a statement paying tribute to “Warm Meat Loaf”, a former contestant on Celebrity Apprentice and public supporter of Trump’s Presidential campaigns.

            It is unclear whether Trump was paying tribute to the person or the meal.

        • If Meat Loaf was not vaccinated and he died of COVID then his death was preventable and that should be noted.

          As far as I know though he did not spread conspiracy theories about the vaccine killing people or claim people were stupid for getting vaccinated.

          And yes, his talent does earn him an RIP.

          Why the fuck would I ‘RIP” some rando right wing talk show host (and take your pick because about 8 or so have died of COVID unvaccinated) whose only contributions to culture were misogyny, homophobia, bigotry and conspiracy theories. Actions have consequences. In life and death.

          • Very inconsistent.

            Meat Loaf publicly spoke out against vaccine mandates.

            You have gone out of your way to note the deaths of random unvaccinated grandmothers that nobody heard of and call them names. There was no indication they were telling others not to get vaccinated.

            If only they had been in the Rocky Horror Picture Show though…

            • Those “random grandmothers” were known QAnon leaders and some were GOP local officials.

              Feel free to rip on Meat Loaf all you want. Doesn’t matter to me.

              It’s not like y2k give a shit about any of these people anyway other than to stick it to me. You admitted all you want to do on here is piss off Democrats like me. In that respect you are a true Trump Republican if there ever was one.

              • Nobody had heard of those people and nobody would have, besides you getting emails telling you about them so you can ghoulishly celebrate their deaths. The goalposts keep changing.

                Local GOP officials are fair game, but Meat Loaf, a literal Trump surrogate, gets a pass.

                Perhaps we can judge people’s humanity beyond the realm of political beliefs, or religious beliefs, or any other personal belief. That’s just my approach. Obviously, you have a different one.

                As for here, I want to do things beyond pissing off Democrats, but that just comes with the territory. I cannot let that bother me. Obviously, my comments here would piss off Trump Republicans as well. I am bipartisan like that.

                • Meat Loaf was an avowed “climate change denier” who claimed that teenage activist Greta Thunberg was brainwashed.

                  In some left-wing circles, being a climate change denier is akin with being a mass murderer.

                  • Meat Loaf was good friends with and a musical collaborator with Ted Nugent.

                    Is Nugent going to get a “talent exception” into the Pearly Gates?

                    • Meat Loaf did get this right back in 2012:

                      “Meat Loaf added that he had decided to support Romney due to concerns that President Obama does not share Romney’s belief that Russia is the No. 1 geopolitical enemy of the U.S.

                      “This is the most important election in the history of the United States, because there has storm clouds come over the United States. There is thunderstorms over Europe,” the singer reportedly said, while several outlets note that he misspoke several times. “There are hailstorms, and I mean major hailstorms, in the Middle East. There are storms brewing through China, through Asia, through everywhere, and there’s only one man that” — breaking off abruptly. “The other night when President Barack Obama, God bless him, said to Mitt Romney, ‘The Cold War is over.’ I have never heard such a thing in my life.”

    • Louie Anderson came into the Borders Books I worked at in 1998 or 99.

      Super nice guy. I managed the cafe then and he signed a coffee cup sleeve that we put on the wall until corporate made us take it down.

      In recent years he was great portraying Christine Baskets, mother on the Zack Galifanakis characters on Baskets.

  43. Well CG you’ve obviously had a lot more time to research Meat Loaf than I have this morning.
    I never gave the guy a pass. I simply noted his talents that brought me joy. in my life. You know–music, movies–the things you enjoy with friends. Maybe over a drink, maybe not.

    I said that if he was not vaccinated and died of COVID that his death was avoidable and the result of a stupid mistake on his part. But I led with what he did that I found enjoyable. Do you find things enjoyable (besides “pissing off Democrats)? Do you have friends that you can enjoy these things with?

    You call yourself “bipartisan”–but just because individuals on both sides of the political spectrum don’t like you that doesn’t make you “bipartisan”. It just means you are insufferable.

    I hope you have a great day. I actually have some work to do now.

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