Saturday’s Forum

Drown out your mind

FILED UNDER: Open Forum
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. Jim Brown 32 says:

    Strangely, I feel an odd sense of anticipation to gawk at the train wreck that will be today’s ‘Rona Rally.

    You simply cant make this stuff up…except for the Simpson’s writers…they can and have made it up.

    3
  2. drj says:

    Last night, Barr tried to fire Geoffrey Berman, the US Attorney for the SDNY. Berman is refusing to step down:

    “our investigations will move forward without delay or interruption”

    But while Barr can’t legally fire Berman, perhaps Trump can.

    Berman must be getting close to something.

    5
  3. OzarkHillbilly says:

    Here’s a key question for the Rev. Derrick DeWitt, director of the Maryland Baptist Aged Home in West Baltimore, a 100-year-old nursing facility that has had no coronavirus infections: What was the moment you realized the threat was real and that you had to take action to protect your residents and staff?

    “Right after President Trump said we had 15 cases and it would soon be down to zero.”

    I dare not put words in a Baptist minister’s mouth, but it sounds like he listened to what the President of the United States had to say, then decided just the opposite would be true.

    “It does sound like that,” Reverend DeWitt agreed.

    7
  4. OzarkHillbilly says:

    Paul Krugman@paulkrugman
    ·
    19h
    You know, I had figured that normal life could resume sometime this fall. But the magnitude of the US failure — and the retreat into denial, which will just extend the crisis — just boggles the mind

    Philip Steger@philister1123
    Replying to @paulkrugman

    In Europe we look at the US as a developing country – ultra high level of income inequality, widespread poverty, insanely high child mortality rate, low education, and a corrupt political system, with the GOP being virtually indistinguishable from the AfD, FPÖ, Lega Nord, etc.

    Philip Steger@philister1123
    Replying to
    @philister1123 and @paulkrugman

    Not to mention “defence” spending (higher now than during the Cold War), your ludicrous health care system, your insane gun culture, the fact that you have the largest prison population on this planet, or your decreasing social mobility driven by cut-throat neoliberal policies.

    6
  5. Jen says:

    @drj: That was quite a response statement Berman issued.

    Barr is a corrupt @ss.

    3
  6. OzarkHillbilly says:

    Tennessee Republicans approve six-week abortion ban in surprise vote

    Republicans in Tennessee have voted to ban abortion as early as six weeks after conception, in a surprise midnight vote held in the middle of a pandemic, without members of the public present.

    The ban beginning at six weeks, which is before most women know they are pregnant, is blatantly unconstitutional and will almost certainly be blocked in the courts before it goes into force. Reproductive rights advocates were swift to promise a challenge.

    The bill was not listed on the state legislature’s calendar and the vote took place in Nashville in a state capitol closed to the public because of the coronavirus pandemic.

    The rate of new coronavirus cases in some Tennessee counties has risen, although the state’s weekly trend has plateaued.

    Alexis McGill Johnson, acting president and chief executive of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said: “It is a disgrace that in the face of a true public health crisis, Tennessee politicians wasted their time with this last-minute move to attack abortion access before closing up shop this session.”

    According to a local reporter, the only protesters present during debate were three women in masks who “snuck” into the public gallery. Placed in handcuffs by all-male capitol police, they yelled “Banning abortion in Tennessee does not save lives!” and “Pro-life is a lie, we don’t care if women die!”

    ProLife my ass.

    ETA: just in case one is unaware:

    The headline restriction of the new bill is a “heartbeat” provision, which bans abortion after fetal cardiac activity can be detected, which is typically between six and eight weeks after conception. At that stage, a pregnancy is still classed as an embryo. The chambers of the heart and the circulatory system are not yet formed.

    4
  7. MarkedMan says:

    @Teve
    I was reading your posts about your iPhone expertise and was wondering if you could help me with something. I found an original iPhone stashed in my 2011 model car in a location such that it makes me wonder if it was placed there when it was being built. It wasn’t in its box, but the charger cable and earbuds were with it and still in their plastic. However, I don’t think it was untouched when it was placed there because it has a 4 digit passcode which, unfortunately, is not “1234”.

    I’m pretty curious as to what’s on there. Any chance you can help crack that passcode?

  8. MarkedMan says:

    BTW, relative to my comment yesterday that many arguments occur because people have differing definitions of the crucial terms in the debate: this is my belief, and in particular, it is what I believed about that particular ongoing discussion.

    @de Stilj: Implying that I don’t actually believe this and was just deploying it as a debating trick is incorrect and seems like an ad hominem attack on my character.

    My panties are not in a twist or anything, this being an Internet debate and all. But I just wanted to get that out there for the record.

    1
  9. OzarkHillbilly says:

    Andrew Heney, owner of the Freeway autoshop, told a local CBS affiliate: “We had a security guard that was out front, because we had just had certain issues with people tagging and stuff like that.”

    “And then the police came up, and they pulled their guns on him and he ran because he was scared, and they shot and killed him. He’s got a clean background and everything. There’s no reason.”

    The sheriff’s department said a handgun was found where the man, who died at the scene, was shot. Family members disputed that Guardado was armed. It was not clear if he had been wearing a uniform.

    They found a gun, but I note they don’t say it was his. I won’t be surprised in the least if it turns out to only have the fingerprints of the cop who shot him.

    2
  10. CSK says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    If cops are going to plant a gun, it’s usually a clean one with no prints or DNA that can be connected to them.

    1
  11. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @CSK: Maybe, but Stockley didn’t do that. And considering the look on Chauvin’s face as he strangled George Floyd, I suspect most cops just assume they can do WeTF they want without consequences. The cop who shot Laquan McDonald sure did. So did the cop who shot Walter Scott. And Philando Castille. And….

    Not to mention the fact that most cops really aren’t all that smart to begin with.

    3
  12. Teve says:

    @MarkedMan: you need to call (800) 692-7753. Apple can remote into the phone, and or reset the Apple ID, but I don’t know if they can fix the passcode. But you don’t have the box, And the box has the IMEI number…

    Dang. I would just call that number I gave you, that’s Apple customer support.

    If somebody put an Apple ID on it, and you do a factory reset, the phone is locked to anybody but that account. So at that point it’s only worth what it’s worth for spare parts or in a museum.

    1
  13. HarvardLaw92 says:

    @drj:

    He’s incorrect.

  14. Teve says:

    I just looked at the passcode screen on an iPhone X and there’s no way to get the IMEI off that screen, but on the first iPhone it might be different. The oldest things I see in the store these days are iPhone 5s.

  15. CSK says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    No, Stockley didn’t. And I agree with you. I did, however, once read an interesting piece about how some cops kept so-called “clean” guns for when they needed one to plant, and it sounded entirely plausible.

  16. CSK says:

    Protesters in San Francisco tore down the statue of Ulysses S. Grant. While I’m aware that Grant owned one slave, William Jones, very briefly, he freed Jones before the war. Statues of Francis Scott Key and St. Junipero Serra were also torn down.

    Key came from a slave-owning family. Serra appears to have had absolutely nothing to do with owning slaves, or facilitating slave ownership. I would say that Grant probably redeemed himself by his actions during the Civil War.

    2
  17. Mister Bluster says:

    Today is the Sumer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere of the Planet Earth.
    My High Holy Day. I am a Sun Worshiper.
    This is my song.

    1
  18. CSK says:

    An hour ago Trump tweeted that John Bolton “was all washed up until I brought him back and gave him a chance.” Why is it that Trump seems only to hire wackos, losers, failures, and has-beens? Is he that easily fooled? Is he incapable of judging competence?

    2
  19. Mister Bluster says:

    Federal judge denies Trump administration’s attempt to block release of Bolton’s book
    “For reasons that hardly need to be stated, the Court will not order a nationwide seizure and destruction of a political memoir,” Lamberth wrote.

  20. CSK says:

    With respect to the stroll through Lafayette Square, Trump told Axios that Esper and Milley “should be proud to walk beside their president for purposes of protection.”

    This is the first time I’ve heard Trump use the word “proud” or “proudly” in a while. Remember when he told us that, thanks to him, Americans are “proudly” saying Merry Christmas again? Or when he claimed that he would find a solution to immigration that would make Americans “happy and proud”?

    “Perfect” phone calls. “Beautiful” pieces of chocolate cake. “Proudly” saying Merry Christmas. Where the hell did this idiot learn to talk?

    3
  21. CSK says:

    @Mister Bluster:
    The government gets to keep Bolton’s profits. This will be a big financial hit for him, since he still has to pay the agent’s commission and his ghostwriter, if he had one, unless the ghostwriter had a separate arrangement with the publisher.

    The agent’s commission, at 20%, would be $400,000. That’s lowballing it.

  22. de stijl says:

    @MarkedMan:

    I was apparently unclear then. I’m very sorry. It was not my intent at all.

    I was not attacking you at all. I was responding to a thing you were responding to.

    That “define your terms” fallacy was not directed at you. You were obviously making a good-faith effort.

    I heartily apologize.

    I am so sorry that read as an attack.

    1
  23. de stijl says:

    @MarkedMan:
    @de stijl:

    Bill dinged me recently on the same behavior.

    If someone raises an interesting issue I hit reply and say my bit without contextualizing it properly.

    I should have said something along the lines of @x raises a very interesting point; here is my take.

    I did not.

    I promise to do better.

    I sincerely apologize.

  24. Monala says:

    @drj: I mentioned “Murc’s Law” on one of the Bolton threads yesterday, which says, “Only Democrats have agency.” I.e., not only are Democrats responsible for whatever they do; they are also responsible for whatever Republicans do, because they either forced them to do it or didn’t stop them from doing it.

    I learned about this event on Twitter last night due to Murc’s Law: multiple people were blaming the Democrats for not preventing Barr from trying to get rid of Berman.

    2
  25. de stijl says:

    There is a march planned for today in Oklahoma City.

    A Second Amendment march organized by a primarily black group of gun owners.

    A subtle rebuke to the very real conception that white gun ownership is a constitutionally protected right and black gun ownership is scary.

    Not that subtle, actually.

    That’s really brassy. I like it.

    I like that a lot even though I do not approve of open carry laws and shall issue laws. American gun culture is out of control stupidity.

    But, The Second Amendment applies to all.

    Then governor Ronald Reagan signed the Mulford Act in 1967 in a very not coded response to open Black Panther Party armed patrols in Oakland (aka copwatching).

    The message is very clear: we will not be intimidated.

    Brassy as balls. I approve. With reservations.

    3
  26. CSK says:

    @Jim Brown 32:
    This rally is pure ego gratification for Trump. It’s being held in a red state, a lock for him next November. All the fools who show up for it will vote for him whether or not he holds this stupid wingding.

    There’s a fair chance this could turn into a coronavirus super-super-spreader event. Thousands of people could die. As I’ve said before, even if Trump doesn’t care about killing people (and he doesn’t), he’s risking getting some really, really bad publicity. So bad it might even discourage Cult45.

    This rally is all downside and no upside for Trump. I’m sure all this has been explained to him, but clearly his need for adulation is so overpowering he can’t think straight.

    2
  27. de stijl says:

    @Mister Bluster:

    My summer song is Haim’s Forever. Is it Haim or HAIM?

    Why is that a summer song? I don’t know. Big bright brassy California sun. Extremely dorky dancing in a hair salon. Biker nerds. Such a really great video and an excellent song. I luv the bass line so hard.

    This is embarrassing. I kinda love Len’s Steal My Sunshine. I know. The bros are stupid broey, but the girl singer is so pure. Mock me, but I truly love it.

    Summer music a zeitgeisty thing that everyone knows. No one ever says that x is the song of this winter. But every summer has a new “song of the summer”.

    My listening does shift a bit with the season. More poppy in summer. Listening to Joy Division in June seems off, especially during daylight.

    I do listen to a lot more classical music during the dark months.

    1
  28. de stijl says:

    @CSK:

    Roy Cohn, mostly.

    Brag always. Attack always.

    Trump is basically an inarticulate caricature of a Mamet villian.

  29. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    6 staffers setting up for Trump rally positive for COVID-19
    YEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!We’re #1! We’re #1! KAG! KAW! KAG! KAW!

    1
  30. CSK says:

    @de stijl:
    Yes, he is a caricature of a Mamet villain. That’s excellent.

    1
  31. de stijl says:

    The antifa reaction by right wing press and scaredy-cat small town white Americans is fascinating.

    Isn’t anti-fascism a good thing? Fascism is bad, right? I believe we fought a war over this very issue.

    Is it that groups like Proud Boys encountered actual resistance? We can deploy our brown shirts but if the Reds respond that is not fair?

    This isn’t 1932 and this isn’t Germany.

    I grew up in a time where there were a few Nazi punks in the scene. They were bad at it; it was basically bully boys pissed off because they could not punch and kick black folks for fun and get away with it.

    We had to police that shit up, so we did. In today’s parlance we cancelled them. Social shunning can be very effective.

    Small town white America’s fear of antifa is weirdly illustrative. Reminds me of the satanic panic.

    1
  32. de stijl says:

    @CSK:

    I like Grant. No problems with him. Unfairly characterized as a habitual drunkard.

    The History Network had a recent three part series on Grant that was really quite excellent. Worth a look if it interests you.

    No real reason to pull down his statue.

    I’m for a fair reckoning. Corrective action.

    Robespierre style mobs are idiots and self-defeating.

  33. MarkedMan says:

    @de stijl: No worries

    1
  34. de stijl says:

    @CSK:

    Old school Mamet.

    Today’s Mamet is an alt-right loon.

    My other Trump analogy is a WWE caricature of abrasive and narcissistic business guy.

  35. de stijl says:

    @MarkedMan:

    Thank you.

    I promise to do better.

  36. CSK says:

    @de stijl:
    I know you meant old school Mamet. But I don’t think Trump learned to speak from Roy Cohn. AFAIK, Cohn spoke in complete sentences and had a vocabulary of more thasn 200 words.

    1
  37. CSK says:

    BLM protestors in Reading England want to tear down the statue of Gandhi on the grounds that he was “a fascist, racist sexual predator.”

  38. de stijl says:

    @Mister Bluster:

    This may be a difference in character, or outlook, or optimism / pessimism.

    I get semi – bummed on Summer solstice: days are going to get darker. I get joyful on Winter solstice: days are getting brighter.

    Mowing the lawn vs. shoveling the sidewalks. Both suck, frankly.

    I’m too frugal to hire that shit out. I probably should. I spent too many years in apartments and condos where I exchanged dollars for property maintenance and upkeep.

    Now that I am responsible it sorta pisses me off.

  39. Michael Cain says:

    @de stijl: In three months or so we will be moving. A modest downsizing, and also I will no longer be slave to green growing things or pavement. Once I sat down and added up the things that the monthly HOA fee covers, it’s not that much more than we’re laying out now, and I get back a fair number of hours every month.

    1
  40. de stijl says:

    @CSK:

    On Ghandi, they do have a bit of a point.

    He was reportedly a sexual predator. Not a fascist. Demonstrably cool with multi-ethnicity.

    He weaponized non-violence.

    I would be in the camp of putting it an a museum and contextualizing it.

    If it’s nationalistic Pakistani’s out for retribution, then no.

    However, I do not live in Reading. That is their call.

  41. de stijl says:

    @CSK:

    Trump picked up the style of Cohn and mimics it to the best of his very limited ability and shoddy education.

    There is a Cohn core in the braggadocio and his attack, attack, attack behavior and acts. And in the If you are not attacking you are losing mindset.

  42. CSK says:

    @de stijl:
    It’s BLM that wants to take down the Gandhi statue.

  43. de stijl says:

    @Michael Cain:

    I sold my condo because the HOA was $650 a month. That adds up fast.

    Yes it was highrise and I was high up so you expect to pay a bit more for HOA dues. But crikey moses that is steep.

    I wish you the best in your new home.

    Not having to even think about the lawn or the sidewalk is a thing I miss very dearly. I envy you.

    Best of luck!

  44. de stijl says:

    @CSK:

    If you are characterizing this correctly, that sounds like a Robespierre over-reach.

    However, I do not live in Reading.

    BLM UK may have different goals.

  45. de stijl says:

    Another great pop summer song that I had not thought about for years:

    The Corrs Breathless

    Girl can drum.

    Apparently today is three sisters pop day.

  46. Jax says:

    I am worried for my people. All of them, even the ones who declare it’s “just the flu” and have declared publicly, on social media, that they’re not going to get tested even if they get sick, because they refuse to submit to quarantine or isolation orders.

    My kids and I masked up for the funeral. Hundreds of people, from everywhere. Maybe 10 people wearing masks. The Wyoming State Mineralogical Society hosted their state gem show at our fairgrounds, another couple hundred people there. We wore masks AND gloves for that one, because we knew we’d be touching stuff. Maybe 1/4 of the visitors wore masks, same with the vendors.

    Combine all of that with the horse sale from last weekend, the rodeo three weeks ago, and the 250 people currently in isolation or quarantine since that rodeo…I suspect we’re hosed. Especially if people won’t get tested unless they end up needing hospitalized….

    1
  47. de stijl says:

    @de stijl:

    I play a lot of Civilization games.

    There is a notorious recurring theme that Gandhi and India are the most cutthrought militaristic bastards who will utterly destroy you.

    There was a math overflow error in one of the early games where the devs meant for Gandhi to be super non-violent. It was programmed poorly so in gameplay AI India was super hyperaggressive and always went down the military tech tree as fast as possible.

    It would be 1200 AD and dudes would show up at your capital city’s door with a tank army which is both hilarious and terrifying.

    They thought that was funny and kept it in which is super cool.

    To this day if I spawn next to India it is nope. Let’s restart.

  48. de stijl says:

    @Jax:

    Be well.

    If you’re hosed you need to cope with it as best you can.

    I can’t tell you how to run your life and certainly not your daughter’s but I can offer gentle guidance.

    Funerals exist to distract us from grief. There is so much crap to deal with in the immediate days aftermath of death. Choices to be made. The process forces you to be public. People bring you food you can’t bear to think about eating.

    After the funeral is the hardest. It sets in. There is no stuff that needs doing right this instant. Be aware of that post funeral lull.

    It will be very hard for her. Give her love and space.

    I am so sorry.

  49. Jax says:

    @de stijl: One more little ceremony while they spread his ashes on our bluff that he spent so much time hunting coyotes on, and we can get down to the “new normal”. Darling daughter had some very adult things to say about funerals and bullshit, fake people and heaven and hell, I did not correct any language, just listened.

    3
  50. de stijl says:

    @Michael Cain:

    Pro tip on down-size moving.

    Measure the amount of furniture (and just general crap) you own now vs. the space you will have in the future and cull appropriately.

    Buy lots of garbage bags.

    You can likely cut your wardrobe in half and never miss a thing. If you haven’t worn it in the last year chances are high you will never wear it again. If it is appropriate for a homeless shelter donate there first and the rest to Goodwill.

    Get brutal while culling.

    Twice I got paid to relocate. Movers showed up packed me up. That was pretty sweet.

  51. de stijl says:

    @Jax:

    You are a good mom.

    2
  52. Jen says:

    @Jax: Stay safe, I hope you and daughter are well (and remain healthy), and my condolences.

    1
  53. An Interested Party says:

    Oh this is hysterical…CNN is showing how sparse the crowd is at this Trump rally while Fox “News” is making sure to show a close-up of this fool…I can’t imagine why…

  54. CSK says:

    Lots and lots of empty seats in the Bok Center in Tulsa. And…Trump canceled the speech he was going to give to the “overflow crowd” outside, because there wasn’t any overflow crowd.

  55. de stijl says:

    Dwight Yoakum had a helluva good version of Suspicious Minds. Best late period Elvis song in my book by a 1000 miles.

    I have a new love: The Regrettes

    Today is three sisters day. They ain’t sisters and have a boy drummer, but close enough for government work.

  56. CSK says:

    The Trump campaign says that the protesters scared ticket holders away from attending the rally. There don’t seem to be any protesters near the Bok Center, scary or otherwise.

    I’d hate to be a passenger on Air Force One tonight while it’s flying Trump back to D.C. The tantrums will be epic.

    2
  57. de stijl says:

    The Ronettes fit the schema. (Ignore the Phil Spector elephant)

    Be My Baby is one of the greatest songs in human history.

  58. Mister Bluster says:
  59. Mister Bluster says:

    Empty Seats for an Empty Suit

    4
  60. Mister Bluster says:

    “When you do testing to that extent, you are gonna find more people, you’re gonna find more cases. So I said to my people slow the testing down please. They test and they test. We have tests that people don’t know what’s going on,” Trump said in the rally.

    How many ways can you say MORON!

    fool, idiot, ass, blockhead, dunce, dolt, ignoramus, imbecile, cretin, dullard, simpleton, clod; informal nitwit, halfwit, dope, ninny, nincompoop, chump, dimwit, dingbat, dipstick, goober, coot, goon, dumbo, dummy, ditz, dumdum, fathead, numbskull, numbnuts, dunderhead, thickhead, airhead, butthead, flake, lamer, lamebrain, zombie, nerd, peabrain, birdbrain, scissorbill, jughead, mouth-breather, jerk, donkey, twit, goat, dork, twerp, hoser, schmuck, bozo, boob, turkey, schlep, chowderhead, dumbhead, goofball, goof, goofus, galoot, lummox, knuckle-dragger, klutz, putz, schlemiel, sap, meatball, dumb cluck, mook.

    2
  61. Jax says:

    @de stijl: On the plus side, youngest daughter bought me a fire opal ring today. I haven’t worn a ring since my husband died, so it’s kinda special. I love it so much, even though I’m certain the actual ring is going to turn my finger green….it’s that rock that counts! It shines like fire, in the light. 😉

    2
  62. Mikey says:

    I just watched all I could take of Trump’s Tulsa rally (about three minutes of it). He was going on about the “fake news” report on his difficulties negotiating the (not steep, very dry) ramp at West Point. He was going on about how he ran the last ten feet, etc. and I was just flabbergasted. I mean…motherfucker, IT IS ON VIDEO. Everyone can see what he’s saying is a blatant, ridiculous LIE. And yet they were all cheering. Unbelievable. Or sadly believable.

    Apparently the highlight of the evening was him saying he didn’t want COVID positive numbers to climb so he asked for testing to be slowed. Of course, when people predictably said “what the actual fuck?” his spokesmorons threw out the usual “c’mon, it was just a joke!” bullshit gaslighting abusers usually throw out when they’re called on their behavior. Which of course raises the question: do you think this is a fucking joke? 120,000 people have DIED in the last three months, and you’re JOKING about it? The so-called President of the United States is joking about it?

    Please eject this pustule in November. Good God.

    4
  63. EddieInCA says:

    I just saw Steve Schmidt on MSNBC tell Nicole Wallace that the vaunted Trump campaign machine was trolled by the nation’s teenagers. Apparently, a grandmother created a Tik Tok video about 10 days ago telling teenagers to start ordering tickets for the Trump event in Tulsa. Well, they did. And they told friends. Who told friends. Who told more friends. Schmidt said his 16 year old daughter in Park City had over 200 tickets herself, and her three friends had at least that many.

    So when Brad Parscale said they had sent out over 1,000,000 tickets, he was not lying. Unfortunately for him and the campaign, 991,000 were to people who were never going to show up. About 9,000 actually risked their health to show up at the rally.

    Schmidt has been trolling the Trump campaign on twitter all night.

    Someone will get fired over this. Grab the popcorn.

    3
  64. Jax says:

    @EddieInCA: I did…mention this a few days ago, when I said it would be a shame if not all those people showed up. 😉 It wasn’t just teenagers.

    1
  65. Gustopher says:

    @Mikey:

    Which of course raises the question: do you think this is a fucking joke?

    I don’t think Trump makes jokes. At all.

    Mean-spirited lame insults, sure. But not jokes.

    Was he joking when he said of the folks with covid on a cruise ship: “ They would like to have the people come off. I’d rather have the people stay [on the ship]. But I’d go with them. I told them to make the final decision. I would rather — because I like the numbers being where they are. I don’t need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn’t our fault.”

    No he was not.

    2
  66. Gustopher says:

    TikTok Teens Troll Trump.

    Browsing twitter, I have never seen such an outpouring of cross-generational love and respect. It warms the cockles of my heart.

    Still, I would be remiss if I did not chastise these delightful little scamps for their ratfuckery — everyone knows the correct form of protest in America is to show up as a bunch of soldier wannabes with guns galore and battle fatigues that are simultaneously undersized for the individual, and oversized for any fit soldier, and then start screaming about the blood of tyrants and hanging people in effigy and trying to intimidate anyone else. That’s the American way.

    Don’t look at me that way. I don’t make the rules.

    4
  67. Teve says:

    In a typical election year, Kentucky has about 3,700 polling sites, according to most reports. When Election Day arrives on 23 June, there will be just 200 polling sites across the state — with some of those sites having to serve upwards of 600,000 residents.

    Voting rights expert Ari Berman wrote in a tweet: “There will be one polling place for 616,000 registered voters in Louisville’s Jefferson County, where half the state’s black voters live.”

    JFC.

    it’s going to be an angry mob

    3
  68. de stijl says:

    @Gustopher:

    Trump is that sort of person that finds belittling and insults as height of hilarity.

    Clever word play, punning, unexpected pay-off. Not so much.

    Dominance is his thing.