Best acting job by a musician has to be Steven Van Zandt.
“One’s work may be finished someday, but one’s education never.”—Alexandre Dumas
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Best acting job by a musician has to be Steven Van Zandt.
Bet he was thrilled to read that lol
That's a tough spot to be in because the consequences are dire either way.
It's becoming increasingly apparent that he's never really matured past the age of five, and from that perspective, I can see why all those low-info voters who put him back in office had such affinity for him--they think alike.
Right, Bill! The base has to think they still matter in order to remain loyal. The whole Cracker Barrel logo kerfluffle served the same function.
I think that ship has sailed.
Lame, lame, lame! Plus, it's not as if Ted Cruz is exactly svelte himself.
Even the obsequious Hegseth, who has catered to his whims much more than his predecessors, cannot give him everything he wants, which is to wield the military as his personal force. Makes me wonder if the SOD got an earful from folks in the military ranks. Something happened to prompt this walkback.
🌮
I swear, if Hakeem Jeffries ever had a spontaneous thought that wasn't scripted and polled and focus-grouped to death, he would absolutely implode.
Virginia ain't Alabama, and one should expect more from a Dem candidate than just to win the election. It's like one of Hannibal's generals said to him when he failed to move on Rome after winning the battle of Cannae: "you know how to win a fight, you do not know how to use a victory."
I fear we may be heading for another Fort Sumter moment. The administration and their toadies in the media seem so sanguine about this, but this would be calamitous.
Let's hope so!
This is pure copium. Conservatives tried this tactic before with Obama in 2008 when they said they actually preferred him to win because they considered him more beatable. The fact remains Mamdani scares the crap out of the GOP no matter how much the prestige press tries to pretend otherwise.
Probably because in the latter case, there's no one individual to focus their ire on.
The mainstream media, clinging to its general narrative of Democrats as weak and ineffectual, is loath to portray Democrats as strong or successful vis a vis Republicans. Therefore the Dems that are emerging as successful leaders must by definition be anomalies, not representative of the brand.
And all the heaven references too. Perhaps, like W.C. Fields, he's looking for a loophole lol
Happy birthday! 🙂
I remember the cars all had 6-CD changers back then, now many cars don't even have a CD player anymore.
She disheth out but cannot taketh!
They are reluctant to violate the MAGA shibboleth of law enforcement being infallible and all powerful (January 6 excepted, of course).
They would rather stalk Joe Biden when he went to visit the graves of his wife and baby daughter and write a 10,000 word derogatory piece every time he mangled a word.
He's an academic prodigy who's never had a job outside of politics. When he tries to go plebeian, he comes across as awkward and cringe-inducing. He can't relate to blue-collar, working class issues like AOC can, which is why the Dems need to utilize her talents as much as possible
Biden has metastatic prostate cancer and looks to be in better health even though he's four years older (not that our media would ever admit that).
I know you're only half-joking!
Authoritarian regimes seemingly get more authoritarian as they start to lose control. This administration is functioning like the last phase of Tsarist Russia, but with multiple Rasputins, not just one.
Merrick Garland always struck me as a man who was afraid to do his job, though his reticence and unwillingness to ever stick his neck out confirmed this.
They're a hair's breadth away from canonizing John Wilkes Booth,
Their cynosure can never be held responsible for anything bad that happens--the cognitive dissonance is too much for them to bear.
IMHO many who voted for Trump in 2024 were nostalgic for pre-COVID Trump 1, when they could revel in his resentments and pettiness but there were enough guardrails to keep their social safety net intact. But wow, this term can be likened to the scene where water is thrown at Mogwai in "Gremlins."
Jim, given my profession, I have to say the GOP's obsession with ivermectin as some kind of magic panacea is both incomprehensible and stupid.
Good! The money they keep wasting on their cause célèbre won't be spent on more competitive races.
The GOP's Horst Wessel.
MAGA influencers are nonplussed because they are getting blown up by their own bomb-- the viral internet meme.
Uh-oh--time for Trump to sue the pollsters again! 😄
It's maddening that the prestige press has assumed the role of "Baghdad Bob" for the GOP, but AFAIC if it leads to these results, they should keep it up!
Like when he posted that pic of himself as pope, knowing that most of the right-wing Catholics who helped him win wouldn't withdraw their support even after such an apparent affront, and for the most part, they didn't.
The inflection point was the VP debate, when Walz seemed uncharacteristically stiff and uptight and seemed to have abandoned the funny dad persona that had endeared him to voters (not his idea, I'm sure).
I also get a sense that Trump may harbor a grudging respect for Pritzker precisely for the reasons you described, which is why his approach toward Chicago has been more desultory than his action against DC. He definitely has blinked first in the current contretemps.
Biggest mistake of the 2024 campaign for Dems.
If one can think of the absolute stupidest way to react to an event or thing, and then multiply the stupidity factor by 1000, it still wouldn't plumb the depths of stupidy exhibited by a huge chunk of the American public today.
That's probably true, Dana, because he's really not aware or engaged enough to come up with those things on his own unless one of his minions mentions it to him.
That reminds me of Bette Midler's line in "The Rose", when the guy in the redneck diner said "we don't serve hippies here" and Bette replied "Good, 'cause we don't eat them."
And shit all over his father's legacy in the process.
Helium isn't flammable, if I remember my high school chemistry correctly.
lol sometimes I can't help but wonder if Governor Pritzker is just Tony Siragusa brought back to life!
It's important to find allies whoever they may be when you're fighting to preserve democracy. Acknowledging Newsom's efforts in the current crisis doesn't necessary imply an endorsement for POTUS. This is a typical "straw man" argument that is used so often by those on the right.
That was apparent from the movement's inception in the early days of Obama's first term. At the time, the mainstream media downplayed the racist and xenophobic aspect but it was always there.
There's a lot of moving parts in this, and the results might not be as expected because the assumption that the demographic shifts that helped Trump win in 2024 still apply may be incorrect.
You're not going to achieve any victory bleating platitudes like this. If you're a leader, you should get out in front of your fellow Democrats who are fighting every day to save democracy.
They’ve skipped the sublime and are now firmly entrenched in the ridiculous.
As Yoda would say, "A big bear, he's poked!"
What good is adherence to ideological purity if it prevents you from winning elections? It may salve their ego, but that's about it. Didn't these people learn the lessons of 2016?
What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, guys.
What happened to "what's sauce for the goose . . ." and all that?
Unwittingly on his part, of course, but one of the few positive trends to emerge during his administration.
Same as with people's perception of the economy during Biden's term. The prestige press incessantly pushed the false narrative that the economy was in the tank and recession was just around the corner and ignored or downplayed any positive indicators.
Yep. IMHO I have found that the people who constantly obsess about bipartisanship and "finding common ground" generally don't know much about politics. It's fake sanctimony to cover their lack of engagement.
Shades of the Volkssturm, autumn 1944.
It'so much easier to criticize from the sidelines.
Now I'll have that Rolling Stones song in my head all day tomorrow lol
As baseball pitchers will attest, it's a lot harder to get a batter out when you're behind in the count. Who knows what will happen one year hence? Dems will have to get in front of this stuff sometime, might as well be now.
Co-founder Ken Langone was exultant at Trumps re-election. Perhaps he's a little less enthusiastic now.
Thanks! 🙂
It's a layup that the Dems have seemed reluctant to take, but there's really no downside to trying.
Instead, the NY times will seek out another diner to interview MAGA diehards at the counter.
Well, Mark Twain did say that travel was the enemy of prejudice.
It's a good jujitsu move.
If you can't lead effectively sir, please step aside for someone who can.
Oh, my. 🙁 Not much to protect you in the pretibial area. I'm glad your pain has subsided and I hope you heal up quickly.
Dudes, try eating a salad once in a while!
And your point is what, exactly? You guys really suck eggs.
Baby steps, but progress, nonetheless . . .
Strong Rudolf Hess vibe from J.D. Vance (come to think of it, he's in the same place as Hess was 80+ years ago).
It's like the U.S. is currently fighting bizarro World War II--everything in reverse.
Cities (roughly tantamount to black people, in their minds).
That's exactly where the shoe pinched, Dana. The most revered entity in the MAGA pantheon (the military) won't do Dear Leader's bidding, causing him considerable embarrassment and narcissistic injury, so to save face they're resorting to plan B which is to summon the National Guard.
When the game starts to go against them, authoritarians characteristically increase the stakes. They don't know any other way, because fascism has no resources in defeat.
The politics of the GOP today is indistinguishable from that of just about every junior high school cafeteria.
The body language reveals all.
All true!
Under the influence of rightwing propaganda, anti-vaxism morphed from a fringe position without any clear political bent to a firmly entrenched totem of MAGA identity. What we're seeing today under RFK Jr. and other administration officials is an extension of that.
He's a keeper. The best Dem political talent since Obama, but with a bit more working class cred. Tough to beat that combo, which is why his opponents are practically tearing their hair out.
I don't know how much "less woke" they can make Facebook--my feed is always flooded with right-wing content as it is, no matter how much I try to tamp it down with their ratings system.
Bob Casey made a similar error in PA in 2024 and ended up running an uninspired campaign that cost him his seat which many people thought was one of the more secure ones.
To paraphrase what Hawkeye observed about Henry Blake on M*A*S*H, these guys could be held up through the mail.
The notion that people of color are "pro-crime" is one of the most hoary Republican tropes, and unfortunately it often proves effective (especially among white voters) despite its absurdity.
They are really smarting big-time from the public derision of one of their prized minions being roughed up by a couple of "those" kids. That explains the kill-a-mosquito-with-a-sledgehammer response from the administration. They're desperate for a show of force to save face.
They certainly never characterized Joe Biden’s approval rating as “pretty gosh darned good” when he had similar numbers, that’s for sure.
Bill I remember our friend Al always stressed how important it was for progressives to embrace patriotism and show the flag, and not cede the mantle of patriotism to the political right, but rather claim it for ourselves. From what I’ve seen, I think folks on our side are beginning to understand.
Fat chance.
I call it “hedging their bets.”
Sports tickets, too! When I first started attending Pittsburgh Penguins hockey games in the late 70s/early 80s $4.50 got you a ticket, albeit in the cheap seats, but nevertheless you could see the game. I haven’t been to a hockey gashes in years but the tickets are probably well out of my reach.
The more time passes, the more Trump becomes the apotheosis of MAGA, going well past the point of caricature. In the end, it will ruin him.
All I can say is, don’t correct him! Let him keep doing exactly what he’s doing lol
Very worrisome right now . Conditions seem ripe for a Ft. Sumner-type event.
The Repubs’ capitulation on the unqualified cabinet appointees set the stage for the multiple crises that ensued.
Like a crazy pinball in a giant pinball machine, bouncing wildly from one bumper to another until the machine tilts.
That’s what happens when very few people are still alive who remember fascism’s last epic fail.