Reading

Created
Wed, 23/10/2024 - 10:30
One of my favorite TV scenes was in a show called “6 Feet Under” in which Kathy Bates brings her friend to a department store and tells her to go ahead and shoplift because once a woman goes through menopause she’s invisible. It’s kind of true … I thought of that today when I read this: New polling shows Kamala Harris leads Donald Trump with women over the age of 50 by more than any presidential candidate since 2016. The survey shows that 54% of women in that demographic plan to vote for the vice president, over just 42% for Trump. It’s a huge improvement from Joe Biden, who only led Trump by three points with women over 50 in January. The numbers are also better than Hillary Clinton‘s numbers in 2016, who polled 48%-40% over Trump. […] ‘Our polling over the years has shown them to be a key swing voting bloc,’ said AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond. In the same survey, Democrats led Republicans 51%-42% on votes for who should control Congress. Overwhelmingly, women over 50 say that the economy and affordability are their biggest issue.
Created
Wed, 23/10/2024 - 10:30

Sometime in the future, three prisoners from the Keystone MAGA Work Camp carve President Trump’s likeness into Mount Rushmore.

PROTEST VOTER: You know what I thought when I woke up this morning, facing yet another day of carving President Trump’s head into Mount Rushmore? I regret not voting for Harris in 2024.

CONSPIRACY BELIEVER: Yeah, I kind of do too. But Jill Stein just made a lot of sense to me. How were we supposed to know we’d be sent to this work camp for not supporting Trump? There was nothing about it on Reddit.

THE NON-VOTER: Well, Trump did tell us he’d punish everyone who didn’t vote for him—many times. At least, I think that’s what he slurred right before he started dancing to “November Rain” at one of his town halls. Hey, could you pass the chisel? I’m on toupee duty today.

Created
Wed, 23/10/2024 - 09:00
Jeffrey Goldberg has published a story in the Atlantic compiling many of the grotesque commnts from Trump about the military. I guess I’m not shocked by it anymore but I confess I’m still pretty stunned that Republican voters don’t care. I suppose they believe it’s all lies but on some level they do know he’s lying and have chosen to pretend to believe him when he says it didn’t happen. I will never understand what makes them so attracted or loyal to this man but that’s another story. I’m linking with a gift link so that you can read the whole story. Much of it isn’t new but it’s still good to see it all in one place. The newest piece is here. Trump had offered to personally help pay for funeral expenses for vaness Guillen a young soldier who had been killed by a fellow soldier. Months after the fact, he asked if they had ever received a bill: According to attendees, and to contemporaneous notes of the meeting taken by a participant, an aide answered: Yes, we received a bill; the funeral cost $60,000. Trump became angry.
Created
Wed, 23/10/2024 - 07:30
Those two quotes are correct. The first, the second. I share this after having watched a bunch of evangelicals drool all over Trump as if he’s the second coming and I’m reminded that we don’t have to listen to the Christian Right about morality ever again. There was a time when they’d be trotted out as the avatar of Real American values. No more. They showed themselves to be simply lackeys for a demagogic cult leader. I don’t think we have to have any doubt WJWD.
Created
Wed, 23/10/2024 - 06:00
Elon Musk and Charlie Kirk taking over the Trump field operations may be one of the worst decisions he’s made and that’s saying something: Donald Trump’s ground game in Arizona and Nevada may be undercut by canvassers working for America Pac using GPS spoofing to pretend they have knocked on doors when they haven’t, according to multiple people familiar with the practice and a leaked how-to-fake-location video. The ramifications for Trump may be far reaching, given America Pac has taken on the bulk of the Trump campaign’s ground game in the battleground states, and the election increasingly appears set to be decided by turnout. A bootleg how-to-spoof video, made by an America Pac canvasser in Nevada and obtained by the Guardian, shows the apparent ease with which locations can be changed to fake door-knocks, calling into question how many Trump voters have actually been reached by the field operation.
Created
Wed, 23/10/2024 - 05:00
One of Obama’s top strategy and data guys, Patrick Dillon, has written a statement today that I think you may want to read. It’s not just phony Hopium, it’s based on educated analysis, experience and possibly some inside knowledge. Anyway, I don’t know if this will be real or not and he admits he doesn’t know either. But this is his best guess. An excerpt: My texts are full these days of “are we gonna be okay?” and, then, a beat later, “are you really sure?” Over and over, my answers are basically “yes” and “as sure as I can be.” I also used to get paid to make big presentations this time of year to tell clients what was going on and what might happen. That process forced me to be rigorous in assessing every bit of data I could lay my hands on, and keep myself honest. That said, I’m no Nate (neither Silver nor Cohn.)3 I still believe at the end of the day campaigns are more art than science. Call it 51% gut / 49% data.
Created
Wed, 23/10/2024 - 04:00

My nephew told me he was getting into punk music and played me some stuff from this guy Machine Gun Kelly. I couldn’t help but laugh and roll my eyes. What these kids today call “punk” is embarrassing. It’s time they learn what real punk is from someone who was there when it happened.

I was there when Yellowcard opened for Good Charlotte. I was there when American Hi-Fi released an iTunes-exclusive EP. I was there when SR-71’s “Right Now” was in the Harold and Kumar… trailer. I was also there when SR-71’s “Right Now” was in the Old School trailer. Hell, I was even there when SR-71’s “Right Now” was in the Dude, Where’s My Car? trailer.

You think you’re punk because you’ve got a leather jacket and some chains? A leather jacket doesn’t make you punk. A powder-blue T-shirt that’s one size too small and a pair of brown corduroy pants does.

Oh, what’s that? You also like the new Blink-182 album? Yeah, I’m real impressed. If Blink-182 is still punk, then why haven’t they won a Kid’s Choice Award since 2001?