This reminds me of a Molly Ivins quote.

When he was doing his ego stroking book tour, I had hope. I had hope that he would say on television how much he cared about his honor and then Budd Dwyer his way off this mortal coil.

I'm not proud of that.

I think that weird mixture of aggression, greed, and mawkish sentimentality is native to Pennsylvania.

I blame scrapple.

Honestly, I think it's all the Italian ancestry. Not enough Irish people to keep society calm and honest.

Maybe. That doesn't explain Utz though. Nothing explains Utz.

I blame scrapple.

Hey now! That's PA's only redeeming quality you are going after there....

I scrapple made with brains, or was that scrapie.

Anyway, at least Comey has never asked that we look up with attention when he speaks the way North Koreans look at their leader when he speaks.

9: Nor made a "joke" on TV about Kim executing generals.

"That's why I say, 'Hey man nice shots.'"--Trump on Kim

Now that we've got the Our Revolution endorsee going head-to-head in November against someone chiefly known for Dem fundraising, any advice for someone tangentially in Dem politics to help steer things away from bitter 2016 relitigation?

11: Based on that news story there's no hope for that at all.

The fall matchup between Wicks and Beckles, in some ways, will also be a rematch of the 2016 California presidential primary between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Wicks led Clinton's campaign in California and has been dubbed, "Buffy the Bernie Slayer." Beckles, meanwhile, was possibly the most progressive candidate in a field of 12 progressive candidates in this June's 15th District primary. Beckles is also endorsed by Sanders' organization, Our Revolution

Yes, I read it.

That's your first problem.

In the real world, non-internet division, there has been very little bitter 2016 relitigation. There is not much interest in kicking out Democratic incumbents for ideological reasons, let alone ostracizing someone for status as lackey of the dreaded Hillary. There is no left-wing Tea Party and there are no big moneymen trying to establish a left-wing Tea Party. And there is not much interest from centrists, either, in tarring left-wing candidates as cultists in thrall to the disloyal Bernard.

I think the motivations of Democratic primary voters are boiling down to
A) We just want to beat the Republicans, thus support the incumbent or whoever seems electable
B) If you don't know who any of the candidates are, vote for a woman

15.1 may be exaggerating the separation between the real world and the internet, but overall 15 is broadly correct.

In this case, both candidates are Democrats, and, as it happens, women. (This is the East Bay; more trouble standing shoulder to shoulder.)

It's not a tea party thing, but there is a lot of remaining ill feeling in, for example, the local party committee listserv.

15 is (blessedly) true, we are so lucky that unlike during the 2016 primary itself intraleft squabbling seems mostly to be a pastime for a few devoted social media hobbyists and no one else. It gives one hope or hunanity.

To 11/16, there is no level of pointless bitter intraliberal-left low-stakes squabbling that hasn't already been achieved in East Bay (or at least Berkeley/Oakland) politics, so just let it washbover you and stay zen.

15 is (blessedly) true, we are so lucky that unlike during the 2016 primary itself intraleft squabbling seems mostly to be a pastime for a few devoted social media hobbyists and no one else. It gives one hope or hunanity.

To 11/16, there is no level of pointless bitter intraliberal-left low-stakes squabbling that hasn't already been achieved in East Bay (or at least Berkeley/Oakland) politics, so just let it washbover you and stay zen.

19.1: Trump brings people together (see also - Canada).

I'm so glad to hear that you people think it isn't happening outside of social media, because that means the stuff that is happening -- at the DNC, at the state parties, at the county central committees -- isn't getting through to smart but somewhat inattentive [to the weeds, just to the weeds!] people.

There's a bitter faction that still believes that "revolution" is necessary. OR keeps stoking them. The fact that "revolution" in general tends both male and misanthrope means there is all sorts of unpleasantness going on under the surface.

That we are witnessing a full on fascist takeover right before our eyes makes these disputes (a) unbelievably trivial and (b) not particularly newsworthy, considering all the other wilder shit that is going on.

21 - Yes, it's true that there's been some lasting damage to party structure. The most recent CA Dem convention, where the "party" (aka activists who showed up) refused to endorse many candidates because Revolution was almost an epic disaster because of the jungle primary and the need in a lot of swing districts to cluster around one Democrat. But fortunately voters were smarter than the "party" so disaster averted for now.

In my heart of hearts, I don't really believe 15 and 18, but fuck it. I am going to take a leap of faith and act like it's true.

tea party republicans control the congress and presidency and have been pretty effective in getting their policy goals enacted. they are shitty policy goals so that is not a good thing, but it makes me skeptical about the hand-wringing over leftist primary challengers.

I'm not sure what the tea party got out of all of this if you look at what they want when that is opposed by what the billionaire wing of the party wants. If you look at what has passed Congress (e.g. tax cuts on people who own sofas worth more than the cars of the rank-and-file tea party) and what hasn't passed (e.g. control of the budget deficit), they didn't get much. All they are really getting is to watch people they don't like suffer.

All they are really getting is to watch people they don't like suffer.

But that's what they wanted most of all.

Maybe, but try paying to put your kid through college using the suffering of Central American toddlers as currency.

We've all been there.

If you assume the suffering of toddlers is some sort of collectable, then they'll appreciate like Beanie Babies and college will be no big deal. Problem solved!

29. I have some bad news for you about Beanie Babies.

We actually didn't have much 2016 fallout/infighting even at our state convention, though it was a mix of ex-Bernie and ex-Hillary people. We are having some ugliness in our congressional primary that is obviously a subsurface proxy for that fight, but both of the candidates are longshots against Don Young anyway so it's not really that important in the long run.

The post-2016 Our Revolution organization seems to be having about as much impact on voters as the post-Obama Obama For America and the post-Howard Dean whatever his organization was called. That Jeff Weaver guy seems to be truly incompetent, but also these organizations, if they even are organizations rather than just mailing lists, quite simply need to have their founder/inspirational lodestar actually perform some figurehead responsibilities. Why does that never happen? Would it be illegal?

Halford, you do know there were Russian trolls working on the left as well, right? And that the utterly ludicrous arguments from the left that didn't seem like they could represent any reasonable person probably didn't, that it was a staged three-person play? And that if you are still infuriated by ridiculous far-left posturing that you saw on the internet, there are decent odds that you were so effectively played that you are still giving them time and energy?

When LB said things like, I dunno, I just haven't run into [some weirdo combination of feminist/Marxist/yet making some freaky argument for something obscure] in real life, it made me think that I actually don't encounter much of that in real life either. Rather than still being crazy angry about it, consider the likelihood that it wasn't a real thing (or a big thing, even if a few genuine examples exist because the world is huge) and you are still being manipulated by professionals who were paid to manipulate you.

32
the post-Howard Dean whatever his organization was called.

Democracy for America. Howard Dean went to their office Christmas party, but I don't know about his involvement beyond that. I know/knew people who worked there. Nice people, a lot of them would have fit in here except for being too cheerful and motivated, but now that I mention it I realize I have very little idea how what they do fits into politics these days. Politics are weird.

Buffy Wicks distinguished herself from a crowded field by sending us election mailers roughly every other day for a month leading up to the primary. I grumbled about not wanting to vote for her on environmental grounds, but mailers can be recycled and it did seem to indicate general leadership qualities. The dozens of fliers did seem to be positioning her as a left-leaner among left-leaners.

Minivet, I read Refinery Town last year, which gives a thorough account of the Richmond political scene that Beckles came out of; it's partisan but also long on detail. It would be great if, you know, larger local issues could distract from the prospect of a Bernie/Hillary Punch and Judy show in this race, where it is almost certainly 100% beside the point.

Unclear why 33 is directed at me in that particular way. I basically said the same thing in 18.

But fortunately voters were smarter than the "party"

Which is another way of saying that 15 is correct. Unlike Halford, though, I didn't think the nomination fight was all that acrimonious in the real world either. So maybe that's just me.

33: This perspective is tempting, but I also never met anyone in real life that collected recordings of every Bob Dylan concert, and I'm pretty sure those aren't Russian bots.

Oh, I guess 33 was because of my offhand comment that the 2016 primary itself was insanely divisive, even if things are now better? That was based primarily on personal experience with people that I know personally, not Russian bots on Twitter or whatever. But fortunately that wave now has receded and, as I said, relitigating the 2016 primary seems to be basically a hobby for a pretty small group of enthusiasts and most everyone else, including almost everyone I know, has been smart enough to move on to other and better things.

I'm not sure what the tea party got out of all of this if you look at what they want when that is opposed by what the billionaire wing of the party wants.

I think with a moments reflection, you will realize that the Tea Partiers are happy as can be with Trump. This is what they've been working toward, regardless of what they say they have been working toward.

I don't want to shock you too much in one comment, but Republicans aren't very troubled by deficits, either, and evangelical Christians ... well, let's not overload you.

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NYT headline: "Sex and Drugs Decline Among Teens, but Depression and Suicidal Thoughts Grow." I'm pretty sure "but" is the wrong conjunction there.
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36: Forget it, Jake, it's the Internet.

40: I think that depends on what you call tea party and what you call whatever the other parts of the Republican Party. But I think the people who showed up to vote for Trump but who wouldn't have voted for earlier Republicans are not getting what they want, except watching others suffer. Deficits are probably not the best example, I was just thinking of what the Tea Party originally wanted.

All they are really getting is to watch people they don't like suffer.

Boy would I be willing to campaign for someone who would make this happen for me, right about now.

It would probably make you feel empty inside, after a while.

Watching Ivanka sobbing at the border as she's separated from Trump? I guess it doesn't pay the bills but I wouldn't turn it down.

Even on immigration, Trump is making people suffer but he hasn't actually changed a law. People without college degrees, some of them from Mexico, are legally immigrating to the United States as we speak. You'd think that given what Trump ran on and having control of Congress, they could change the laws on immigration instead of shoving children in a Walmart.

I don't know if watching the Trump family reduced to tears would make me feel better, but I'm willing to give it a try!

Maybe Democracy for America would have made a bigger mark if Obama hadn't frozen out Dean following his run as the most effective DNC chair this century. Does anyone know the real story about what was behind that split?

It would be nice if the elite press reflected a little more on how well doing stupid shit in an effort to prevent Republicans from accusing them of bias is working out for the FBI. This is not a winning strategy, folks.

If God wanted me to do stupid shit, there would be readily available alcohol.

Good news everybody.

But they appear to be doing this stuff sober.

Which is why replacing Meet the Press with The Moby Hick Show would be a huge step in the right direction for American political journamalism.

Yes. I would not have made a good FBI agent.

I haven't done journalism since my time with The Daily Nebraskan. I see no need to do that again.

That may be because you're currently sober.

I forgot above to note my agreement with 15.2. Primary voters aren't generally interested in Revolution, and in most of the country the OR endorsement isn't helpful. What I worry about, though, is that the nascent struggle within the party organizations turns into a bunch of Dems in disarray stories in the second half of October.

I'm not worried that if a bunch of that stuff knocks 3% off Feinstein's majority it's be some kind of catastrophe. Knocking 3% off from Tester, or Williams, is a big damn deal, and people in California with megaphones, or someone with just an in with a NYT reporter who wants to write the annual DID piece, have the ability to make that happen.

People were mad in 2006 that Rep Pelosi made clear in the campaign that impeachment of GWB was off the table. Sure it didn't help her any, she was going to win. It very clearly made the difference for Tester though, who with impeachment off the table could make the election about the incumbent's corruption. If Tester's race had gone the other way, the Senate wouldn't have changed: it would have been 50/59 with Cheney as the tiebreaker.

All politics is local, but most media -- especially Right media -- is national.

It would be great if, you know, larger local issues could distract from the prospect of a Bernie/Hillary Punch and Judy show in this race, where it is almost certainly 100% beside the point.

They could very well end up diverging and contrasting on Costa-Hawkins repeal (e.g. rent control), which will likely be on the November ballot with them.

Maybe Democracy for America would have made a bigger mark if Obama hadn't frozen out Dean following his run as the most effective DNC chair this century.
You sure this was Obama? My uninformed sense is that he was mostly hands off of the political organizations after the election.

I vaguely recall that Rahm supposedly had a beef with Dean and that Obama liked Rahm, but honestly who knows. Obama clearly wasn't tight with Dean because Dean never got a job. In general I'm mostly sick of DNC stories because they all seem to massively overstate the importance of the DNC

I'll add to 61 that I am generally pleased that the DCCC had its way in primaries in California and other places, even if I am disinclined to give them any real credit for the result, and I am more sympathetic to the leftist fringe than the DCCC.

I can barely remember who Howard Dean is.

And I sometimes have trouble remembering that California is a real place.

A real place that is full of shitholes.

Soon to be three real places full of shitholes if some asshole gets his way.

The DCCC does need to hire a staffer to be the liaison to low probability races. You never know what's going to happen -- whether the Republican is going to explode into a full-on Nazi or worse -- and anyway, there's no need to have national stories about how the Democratic Party is neglecting nominees. (I've seen this at least 3 times already . . .)

Pretty cheap in the grand scheme.

Everyone gets stuck in the weeds of their own race and doesn't figure sufficiently on the role of your Todd Akin type utterances of other races.

Make that seven.

56: you worked for the paper where Jim Thompson got his start?!? I am shocked this never came up before.

I don't know who that is without googling.

Noir writer, grew up mostly in OK and TX but had family in Neb. and obvs. went to school in Lincoln.

Have you seen The Grifters, After Dark My Sweet, The Getaway, or The Killer Inside Me? He wrote the novels they're based on.

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Is this the "Friday WTF" thread? I just ran across the picture of the ICE bus with rows of child seats.
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72: only see the original, Peckinpaugh "Getaway" though. I wouldn't even bother with "Coup de Torchon," personally.

-ah of course, dunno where the predictive text got the other

I hear good things about books.

74 Seconded. The Sam Peckinpah film with Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw is very underrated imho though the ending lacks the bizarre bleakness of the ending in the novel.

The DCCC does need to hire a staffer to be the liaison to low probability races.

I think more resources need to be devoted to those races, but that's not really the DCCC's job -- any more than it was the job of the Republican National Committee to find a guy like Trump.

I am sympathetic to the Crazy Left idea that the DCCC needs to be overthrown. But accomplishing this is clearly not the job of the DCCC, and I don't have any problem with the DCCC doing its actual job.

Fuck Comey

To briefly return to the nominal topic of the thread, the current road to hell is being paved by righteous white guys. What a prick. And the FBI IG is clearly a similar prick although I guess a necessary one. I have some "sympathy" for the narrow path he is treading but between the McCabe "accommodation" for Trump/Sessions and some troubling aspects* of this report it is clear the Trumpians are slowly getting there hooks in.

Best summary of the huge issue with the IG report re: the Weiner laptop is from Josh Marshall here. Briefly, there is *no* reason the HRC email aspect of the Weiner laptop was time critical at all. Yet they chastise FBi for not getting the subpoena earlier, and it is an aspect that the running dogs of the press have reported uncritically.

Institutionalists like the Lawfare blog gang are on "our" side now (and needed in this moment I guess), but they have also greatly aided our getting *to* this moment. Republican security/defense daddies be Clark Griswolds in the end. Fucking fuckheads.

Let us now praise tedious, self-righteous men.

In general I'm mostly sick of DNC stories because they all seem to massively overstate the importance of the DNC

Yeah, the DNC is generally terrible, but I do think that Dean's DNC was genuinely on to something with the 50 state strategy. There is no way Barack Obama wins fucking Indiana in 2008 without that effort at a party level.

You know, people totally need to start calling Sarah Knucklehead Sanders "Moscow Sally"

The important question is who do I blame for the generational fecklessness of Democrats? It's liberals, isn't it. Always ready for their Sister Souljah moment.

Maybe I'm getting soft, but I'm not as bothered by Democratic fecklessness these days. Not as frequently anyway. I'm so old, I remember Lieberman-grade unctuous fuckery, and when we had to hold our breath every vote to see if they would participate in gutting Social Security so they could take the rap for it for a generation, or some damn thing or other. The bankruptcy bill, the fucking war. These DCCC punks are small time.

Institutionalists like the Lawfare blog gang are on "our" side now (and needed in this moment I guess), but they have also greatly aided our getting *to* this moment.
Could you elaborate? I was mostly not following the US in those years.

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Brexit despair getting worse and worse. Fucksake.

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Also on Comey, I liked this review of his book back in April. He thinks the term "mass incarceration" is "inaccurate and insulting" (direct quote), and he relates this as how he reacted to Obama trying to have an actual conversation with him about it.

I ran into a friend who asked me if I'd heard the rumor that Trump was going to pardon Leonard Peltier. I'm sure it's not true, but if someone has told Trump that this would piss off the FBI so much that they'd act out and drop even lower in the MAGA universe, well, can you rule it out? Does reminding people this the whole thing drop the FBI in left circles?

Peltier is old and has, I'd bet, pretty serious medical expenses.

89.last I'm sure a GoFundMe would be able to cover it. I'd kick in.

The valorization of AUSAs has been driving me nuts for months, the idea that smug self righteous prosecutors are going to save us, jesus christ how can anyone believe it??? And who the fuck do you think is prosecuting in immigration court?

The only scrap of consolation i take from the Mueller investigation is that they to a person are in some tiny tiny end tail of the distribution of competiveness, they won't stop until they incontrovertibly win down to the petty dregs. None of it will save us tho if we don't use it to drive a political solution.

Our Revolution is not serious -- just a grift.

Families seeking asylum are making it to the US, only to be violently split up, children torn from parents, and penned in separate camps. WTF? And Susan Collins defends this. We're going to need some Truth and Reconciliation proceedings if we survive this.