Nah, giving tech support one last chance and when they inevitably fail replace the machine. A lot of the problem is yours truly accumulating too much crap that I can’t quite track down…
My sister bought a Dell, and then found out too late that Tubby had been pumping the stock, posting over and over (like he does) that Dell is great and everyone should buy a Dell.
The Mac/PC flame wars always put me in mind of the sneers exchanged between neighborhood teenagers when I was a pup, in which the rival camps cast aspersions freely, in this case at Ford or Chevy. Does such brandname partisanship exist with regard to other consumer items? Do the owners of “Acme” golf clubs feign vomiting when another sportsman arrives at the next hole and fetches out a “Bulldog”-branded 5 iron?
My only concern is that Platner turns out to be another Fettermsn/Manchin/Sinema type of internal saboteur. I haven’t seen any evidence that he will, but he does have something of that vibe, at least to me.
Still, even so he would be better than Collins. Who will probably win anyhow rendering all the agita moot.
Nobody likes to say it but those strokes of Fetterman seemed to change him. There are also specific promises he has made and I can't remember if Sinema, Fetterman made those kind of promises. Manchin never ran as anything, but I'm a right wing jerk, but I am a Democrat so there.
I looked into it a bit yesterday and found the DNC happened to be in the vicinity of the crime. The disgruntled former Platner aid who was originally the unnamed source for the WSJ story works for a DNC related firm. There were other unnamed sources that "confirmed" her story before a Platner consultant attacked and possibly threatened her and she went public. The consultant who attacked her is Morris Katz, a 26 year old wonderkid type who was Mamdani's lead media strategist and has backed other anti-Israeli candidates. So the "scandal"could bring down someone high on the DNC's enemy list as well as Platner. Perhaps it's just their fantastical good luck, but given the records of those benefiting from such great happenstance, I'm guessing there's more to it than luck.
For me it's like seeing rattlesnakes in the desert. I've hiked a lot in the desert over the years and at some point early on realized I almost never saw a rattlesnake even though I knew intellectually that there were a lot of them about. Then one day I almost stepped on one. I froze and looked about and there were others wrapped around plants to stay out of the sun. I put in some research and learned their habits and now I see them all the time. My experience with the Democratic Party and its way of doing business had a similar trajectory.
The Bangor Daily News ran a story in which they reportedly viewed a threatening (to her reputation) message sent from Katz through an intermediary. The BDN is a legitimate newspaper, so I am inclined to believe it. The day before the threatening message was sent, Katz publicly attacked the anonymous source as "incompetent, opportunistic operatives who violate privacy, betray trust, and prioritize vengeance over decency."
So it looks like Katz miscalculated. But on top of that, it's a window into how campaigns work.
Yeah, this seems like some sort of centrist sabotage operation set off by Mills dropping out. In the before times this might have sunk Platner, but I think we're in a different era now.
Interestingly, I've seen where Maine reporters Andy O'Brian is claiming Collins was long known to have had an affair with a DC man whose wife was dying of cancer.
Yeah. Funny how! Even a shriveled shrew like Collins can find nookie to deal with the stress of being part baboon. Gives me hope. Maybe someone with a terminal spouse or a late-stage cancer patient will sext me incessantly as I up the meds. Maybe I'll get elected as a write-in. Those chimps banging on typewriters will elect me and write Shakespeare.
Ah, this is Old Washington, the Washington of Allen Drury's Advise and Consent. Things are "generally known" or "long known" but it wouldn't be fair play - or in good taste - to let the public in on it.
As ssdd points out, post-Fetterman I am now constitutionally (see what I did there?) allergic to white Everyman Bros who claim to be lefty/progressive. Having never myself gotten a Nazi tattoo by mistake, I'm a little puzzled by how that happens. But if Maine wants him, fine. Like all of us, I'm sick and tired of hearing how "concerned" Susan Collins is about atrocities she will ultimately vote to support.
Exactly. This is a good time for any Maine voter to be or become a yellow-dog Democrat and vote for ANYBODY, including a yellow dog, to get Collins out.
The Republicans can fling poo at him all they want, but they've lost their standing to cast any moral judgments whatsoever, let alone about sexts or tattoos (here's looking at you, Pete Hegseth). These things probably make Platner a lot more relatable to younger people than a typical windsock politician playing it safe. It has crossed my mind, though, that he's the kind of renegade who could go full Fetterman on us, but let's worry about that later. What's important is that we have a chance of picking up a Senate seat in a blue wave year and the establishment handwringing is counterproductive. The man has personality, something distinctly lacking in most retail politicians, and quirkiness seems to be what sells these days. I doubt we could unseat Collins with a Collins clone who happens to have a D after his or her name. It's time the Dems quit playing defense and go on offense. If I lived in Maine I'd certainly vote for Platner.
It's the same playback. The same combination of punches knock the Democrats and Lefties for a loop every time. Justice as a concept matters more to who they are than loyalty and winning for a greater goal, the common good.
This is why we see it over and over. Sexist stuff is especially effective. The GOP can be rapists and openly say women are breed sows. Even a joke from a progressive is an indication, a disqualification.
Larger problem, single issue purity-test voting. You're all about universal basic income and Free Palestine, and someone else is all about women's repro rights. If one candidate can't check all the boxes, one or the other abstains. Worse, does so loudly and emphatically.
It's a sign of prosperity. Desperation makes for weird coalitions. Without those things get really bad. The Spanish Civil War foe instance. But the bright side, we seem to be headed for something else.
I know we can be like that, or we have been like that, but I don't see that we're like that now. Democratic voters in Maine seem to be willing to vote for Platner despite it all, and I don't see any lefty public figures abandoning him. Sure, Corey Booker said something about being "concerned", but it's a big party and contains multitudes.
Glad to know I'm not the only one who's thought about the Left situation in the Spanish Civil War. Goddamn it, we could have cut fascism right off in 1936, but NOOOOOO, we had to stay out of Europe. Pfeh.
(In other news I saw a video, likely AI slop, yesterday about the old Major Matt Mason toys and how the interest in them, and the space program, faded after Apollo. Not a SINGLE GODDAMN WORD about Vietnam and how we "needed" to throw ever more money at that clusterfuck. Is it just me?)
i imagine there's good reasons and bad for a rich kid to decide to strive for the role of "working class hero." and a lotta ways that could work out nice, and lots of ways that could be a nightmare. but my stilted view of Maine makes me think it would make a really bad movie, and the current reality that we far and flung are tempted to comment on, is just discouraging, not a good cinematic feel. i wanna walk out of the theatre.
What disturbed me about Boss Platner was his comment on Big Pharma and "hospitals closing." This kinda talk might probably make rfk,jr's eyes light up. Made me look up where he got his education.
Folks, this pomo nazi nation got real genuine concentration camps that no one gets to see inside. My guess is they are morphing from "don't care if inmates die" into helping that effect. But I'm not a specialist in how a place becomes a death camp. I can just smell the growing fragrance. I vote harder for people who want those places raided and sunshine and courts activated
Years ago I advocated for Hillary Clinton to just plain lie about all the wonderful things that would happen if she were elected. Everyone would get a free car or pickup! Free Ivy League college for anyone who can read! Free houses! 8 weeks vacation on government expense! Free beer on weekends! Anything to convince people to put her in the White House instead of Trump. I said the same about Biden and then Harris: lie, tell big beautiful lies about how great things are and they’re only getting better! Clearly, the American public likes being lied to and, amazingly, it takes years for them to resent the lies, if they ever do. I wouldn’t promote prevarication in other situations, but politics here is war by other means and the fascists give no quarter when it comes to hurling high grade explosive lie bombs in all directions.
As the mid-terms approach, I find myself increasingly irritated by so-called "Democratic strategists" showing up on my TV to lecture us on what we should and should not be doing to win bigly in November. Maybe we should put all these useless people in a diner somewhere in Iowa and padlock the door until Nov. 4.
Party loyalty may be the most powerful force in the universe, is David French just now discovering this? The point, David, you miserable dipshit, is to ask WHAT is being overlooked in the name of party loyalty. The actual substance of the thing, not just "Gosh, people look the other way when someone on their team does something bad!" but who, and how many, are harmed by the Bad Thing.
Christ, now I'm talking to David French. I need a drink and it's only 8:30.
Bouie's latest makes me seasick, riding the high seas of somewhere within the civil war, the pre-civil war, the reconstruction, and the post-reconstruction — like, man, is this 1850 or 1880? — mental anguish.
Well, if Republicans weren't currently trying to literally destroy Black voting rights in the South (like Democrats did in the 1870s and 1880s)--it ain't just about gerrymandering--we, well, wouldn't be having this discussion again.
(If this sounds personal it's because it is. I'm a Black voter in the South and I am directly affected.)
yep, i grew up in NC in the 50s, and in my lifetime i've seen civil rights come and go now for Black Americans. (and, at the same time, i got Black family members back there.)
The only National Conversation about race we seem to be capable of is White Celebrity Said Bad Thing. It's infantile, but there we are. Black folks have other, more serious concerns, of course, but those things are systemic in nature and... whoa, did I just hear White Celebrity say Bad Thing? I'm sorry, what were we talking about?
If there was anything non-consensual about what Platner had done, if it was sexual harassment or, God forbid, sexual assault, he'd be done yesterday. Democratic voters don't tolerate that shit, not for one second. We do have standards. It's the WHAT of the thing that matters. Not just "it's scandalous."
For Republicans, it's more complicated. We've seen that lack of consent isn't a deal-breaker, at the same time "Two consenting adults" doesn't mean it's OK, why it might be a man and wife engaged in an act of SODOMY!
Until the media gets off its ass and interviews some MAGAts in Heartland Diners™ I don't know what to think. The NYT recently published the opinions of a bunch of white Republicans who don't mind the increase in gas prices because we can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon, just like Trump sez on the FoxTV. That's a start. But is Platner a Nazi? Is Talarico a transgender vegan? Do Real Americans™ care?
At this point I'd vote for anyone who hates Trump even if they wore SMERSH armbands.
Not surprisingly, I had thoughts and my newest old fart theory to share but the computer has become addicted to crashing more than working so...
A clear sign to take a break!
Nah, giving tech support one last chance and when they inevitably fail replace the machine. A lot of the problem is yours truly accumulating too much crap that I can’t quite track down…
Break THIS!
My sister bought a Dell, and then found out too late that Tubby had been pumping the stock, posting over and over (like he does) that Dell is great and everyone should buy a Dell.
In fairness, the shittyness of Dell is folk wisdom
Eh, IIRC you're one o' those Macbook people, so your opinions on this matter cannot be trusted.
The Mac/PC flame wars always put me in mind of the sneers exchanged between neighborhood teenagers when I was a pup, in which the rival camps cast aspersions freely, in this case at Ford or Chevy. Does such brandname partisanship exist with regard to other consumer items? Do the owners of “Acme” golf clubs feign vomiting when another sportsman arrives at the next hole and fetches out a “Bulldog”-branded 5 iron?
I’m on the phone with tech support for two hours now…
My only concern is that Platner turns out to be another Fettermsn/Manchin/Sinema type of internal saboteur. I haven’t seen any evidence that he will, but he does have something of that vibe, at least to me.
Still, even so he would be better than Collins. Who will probably win anyhow rendering all the agita moot.
Yeah I worry too. Pity you and I are not the entire Maine Democrat electorate (or at least 2 of 3).
Nobody likes to say it but those strokes of Fetterman seemed to change him. There are also specific promises he has made and I can't remember if Sinema, Fetterman made those kind of promises. Manchin never ran as anything, but I'm a right wing jerk, but I am a Democrat so there.
Manchin was such a puerile gangster, West Virginia coal man lived in DC on a yacht and drove a maserati.
Guys would turn the color of a limonati when he drove down the street in his Maserati.
Manchin probably had one that could roll coal at the push of a button
And his Republican replacement, Jim Justice, is an even *richer* coal baron. So a wash.
it is surprising how many senators from certain states are simply interchangeable heads, and have been for decades.
He was only I.Q. 33, girls could not resist his stare
Got that half right.
Grump's also a pedophile.
I agree with you 100%.
I looked into it a bit yesterday and found the DNC happened to be in the vicinity of the crime. The disgruntled former Platner aid who was originally the unnamed source for the WSJ story works for a DNC related firm. There were other unnamed sources that "confirmed" her story before a Platner consultant attacked and possibly threatened her and she went public. The consultant who attacked her is Morris Katz, a 26 year old wonderkid type who was Mamdani's lead media strategist and has backed other anti-Israeli candidates. So the "scandal"could bring down someone high on the DNC's enemy list as well as Platner. Perhaps it's just their fantastical good luck, but given the records of those benefiting from such great happenstance, I'm guessing there's more to it than luck.
I had heard that news but didn't take that second step from "it was a fit of pique" to "it was ratfucking disguised as pique."
For me it's like seeing rattlesnakes in the desert. I've hiked a lot in the desert over the years and at some point early on realized I almost never saw a rattlesnake even though I knew intellectually that there were a lot of them about. Then one day I almost stepped on one. I froze and looked about and there were others wrapped around plants to stay out of the sun. I put in some research and learned their habits and now I see them all the time. My experience with the Democratic Party and its way of doing business had a similar trajectory.
Is this attack stuff known to be true or is it simply "alleged"?
Come on, buddy, this is 2026. Such fine distinctions exist no more.
"it would be wrong not to speculate."
and
"It's already out there."
The Bangor Daily News ran a story in which they reportedly viewed a threatening (to her reputation) message sent from Katz through an intermediary. The BDN is a legitimate newspaper, so I am inclined to believe it. The day before the threatening message was sent, Katz publicly attacked the anonymous source as "incompetent, opportunistic operatives who violate privacy, betray trust, and prioritize vengeance over decency."
So it looks like Katz miscalculated. But on top of that, it's a window into how campaigns work.
Hm, checked out the BDN just now and it well it looks like more BS RW stuff, but we will I guess see.
Bangor? I didn't even KNOW her!
Can you prove that?
Yeah, this seems like some sort of centrist sabotage operation set off by Mills dropping out. In the before times this might have sunk Platner, but I think we're in a different era now.
Interestingly, I've seen where Maine reporters Andy O'Brian is claiming Collins was long known to have had an affair with a DC man whose wife was dying of cancer.
Its a funny world.
Yeah. Funny how! Even a shriveled shrew like Collins can find nookie to deal with the stress of being part baboon. Gives me hope. Maybe someone with a terminal spouse or a late-stage cancer patient will sext me incessantly as I up the meds. Maybe I'll get elected as a write-in. Those chimps banging on typewriters will elect me and write Shakespeare.
More tea?
I think this is called "Newt Gingrich".
Ah, this is Old Washington, the Washington of Allen Drury's Advise and Consent. Things are "generally known" or "long known" but it wouldn't be fair play - or in good taste - to let the public in on it.
Bob Munson for President!
Meanwhile, in the unfashionable outer arm of the stackverse...
https://www.notesfromthecircus.com/p/the-47th-president-of-the-united
The 47th President of the United States Is Dead.
Well, I'm convinced
Pics Or It Did Happen!
after the tinkerbell episode yesterday, i think an easter event might be a planned move by the white house memory care 'handlers'
(Brain) dead for sure.
trümperdämmerung draws nigh!
As ssdd points out, post-Fetterman I am now constitutionally (see what I did there?) allergic to white Everyman Bros who claim to be lefty/progressive. Having never myself gotten a Nazi tattoo by mistake, I'm a little puzzled by how that happens. But if Maine wants him, fine. Like all of us, I'm sick and tired of hearing how "concerned" Susan Collins is about atrocities she will ultimately vote to support.
Exactly. This is a good time for any Maine voter to be or become a yellow-dog Democrat and vote for ANYBODY, including a yellow dog, to get Collins out.
The Republicans can fling poo at him all they want, but they've lost their standing to cast any moral judgments whatsoever, let alone about sexts or tattoos (here's looking at you, Pete Hegseth). These things probably make Platner a lot more relatable to younger people than a typical windsock politician playing it safe. It has crossed my mind, though, that he's the kind of renegade who could go full Fetterman on us, but let's worry about that later. What's important is that we have a chance of picking up a Senate seat in a blue wave year and the establishment handwringing is counterproductive. The man has personality, something distinctly lacking in most retail politicians, and quirkiness seems to be what sells these days. I doubt we could unseat Collins with a Collins clone who happens to have a D after his or her name. It's time the Dems quit playing defense and go on offense. If I lived in Maine I'd certainly vote for Platner.
The purity tests and ratfuckery are exhausting. He doesn’t seem great. But he doesn’t have “GOP” after his name.
The GOP may have no moral authority, but somehow the PP hasn’t gotten the memo.
Well, as Roy so aptly put it, they've always held Dems to a different double standard.
It's the same playback. The same combination of punches knock the Democrats and Lefties for a loop every time. Justice as a concept matters more to who they are than loyalty and winning for a greater goal, the common good.
This is why we see it over and over. Sexist stuff is especially effective. The GOP can be rapists and openly say women are breed sows. Even a joke from a progressive is an indication, a disqualification.
Larger problem, single issue purity-test voting. You're all about universal basic income and Free Palestine, and someone else is all about women's repro rights. If one candidate can't check all the boxes, one or the other abstains. Worse, does so loudly and emphatically.
It's a sign of prosperity. Desperation makes for weird coalitions. Without those things get really bad. The Spanish Civil War foe instance. But the bright side, we seem to be headed for something else.
I know we can be like that, or we have been like that, but I don't see that we're like that now. Democratic voters in Maine seem to be willing to vote for Platner despite it all, and I don't see any lefty public figures abandoning him. Sure, Corey Booker said something about being "concerned", but it's a big party and contains multitudes.
Also Booker's a weenie.
A VEGAN weenie (no disrespect meant against vegans who aren't Corey Booker)
Has anyone seen his weenie? I mean besides his current beard?
Glad to know I'm not the only one who's thought about the Left situation in the Spanish Civil War. Goddamn it, we could have cut fascism right off in 1936, but NOOOOOO, we had to stay out of Europe. Pfeh.
(In other news I saw a video, likely AI slop, yesterday about the old Major Matt Mason toys and how the interest in them, and the space program, faded after Apollo. Not a SINGLE GODDAMN WORD about Vietnam and how we "needed" to throw ever more money at that clusterfuck. Is it just me?)
i imagine there's good reasons and bad for a rich kid to decide to strive for the role of "working class hero." and a lotta ways that could work out nice, and lots of ways that could be a nightmare. but my stilted view of Maine makes me think it would make a really bad movie, and the current reality that we far and flung are tempted to comment on, is just discouraging, not a good cinematic feel. i wanna walk out of the theatre.
What disturbed me about Boss Platner was his comment on Big Pharma and "hospitals closing." This kinda talk might probably make rfk,jr's eyes light up. Made me look up where he got his education.
Folks, this pomo nazi nation got real genuine concentration camps that no one gets to see inside. My guess is they are morphing from "don't care if inmates die" into helping that effect. But I'm not a specialist in how a place becomes a death camp. I can just smell the growing fragrance. I vote harder for people who want those places raided and sunshine and courts activated
Years ago I advocated for Hillary Clinton to just plain lie about all the wonderful things that would happen if she were elected. Everyone would get a free car or pickup! Free Ivy League college for anyone who can read! Free houses! 8 weeks vacation on government expense! Free beer on weekends! Anything to convince people to put her in the White House instead of Trump. I said the same about Biden and then Harris: lie, tell big beautiful lies about how great things are and they’re only getting better! Clearly, the American public likes being lied to and, amazingly, it takes years for them to resent the lies, if they ever do. I wouldn’t promote prevarication in other situations, but politics here is war by other means and the fascists give no quarter when it comes to hurling high grade explosive lie bombs in all directions.
David French is VERY disappointed in this comment, and in you.
there is absolutely nothing like "total depravity" as a religious dogma that really promotes mental health, yassir!
As the mid-terms approach, I find myself increasingly irritated by so-called "Democratic strategists" showing up on my TV to lecture us on what we should and should not be doing to win bigly in November. Maybe we should put all these useless people in a diner somewhere in Iowa and padlock the door until Nov. 4.
But they did a review of the last election and determined it wasn't their fault.
Operation was a success, patient died.
And, of course, they got paid.
Imagine if surgeon had consultants!
Don't forget to lock the NYT reporters in with them!
Nah, we'll send them to North Dakota.
Party loyalty may be the most powerful force in the universe, is David French just now discovering this? The point, David, you miserable dipshit, is to ask WHAT is being overlooked in the name of party loyalty. The actual substance of the thing, not just "Gosh, people look the other way when someone on their team does something bad!" but who, and how many, are harmed by the Bad Thing.
Christ, now I'm talking to David French. I need a drink and it's only 8:30.
P.S. Jamelle Bouie just won my undying loyalty with a video that included the phrase "Samuel Alito, you miserable dipshit."
Bouie's latest makes me seasick, riding the high seas of somewhere within the civil war, the pre-civil war, the reconstruction, and the post-reconstruction — like, man, is this 1850 or 1880? — mental anguish.
Bouie's not leaving the 19th century until America does.
none of us are, and it makes me a bit sheepish that i didn't take steampunk seriously.
Well, if Republicans weren't currently trying to literally destroy Black voting rights in the South (like Democrats did in the 1870s and 1880s)--it ain't just about gerrymandering--we, well, wouldn't be having this discussion again.
(If this sounds personal it's because it is. I'm a Black voter in the South and I am directly affected.)
yep, i grew up in NC in the 50s, and in my lifetime i've seen civil rights come and go now for Black Americans. (and, at the same time, i got Black family members back there.)
Yeah, we should probably look harder at imminent bodycounts than whether or not someone said The Thing. But we're a paranoid nation these days.
The only National Conversation about race we seem to be capable of is White Celebrity Said Bad Thing. It's infantile, but there we are. Black folks have other, more serious concerns, of course, but those things are systemic in nature and... whoa, did I just hear White Celebrity say Bad Thing? I'm sorry, what were we talking about?
If there was anything non-consensual about what Platner had done, if it was sexual harassment or, God forbid, sexual assault, he'd be done yesterday. Democratic voters don't tolerate that shit, not for one second. We do have standards. It's the WHAT of the thing that matters. Not just "it's scandalous."
IIRC we threw Al Franken under the bus for a lot less.
He pinched butts! Demanded a kiss because "I'm a celebrity!". Pretended to honk hooters. If that's not sexual harassment I don't know what is.
Well it is sexual harassment and now he's gone. Whether you think liberals draw the line in the right place, they do draw the line. Contrast with...
For Republicans, it's more complicated. We've seen that lack of consent isn't a deal-breaker, at the same time "Two consenting adults" doesn't mean it's OK, why it might be a man and wife engaged in an act of SODOMY!
For us libs, it's simpler. And I like that.
Until the media gets off its ass and interviews some MAGAts in Heartland Diners™ I don't know what to think. The NYT recently published the opinions of a bunch of white Republicans who don't mind the increase in gas prices because we can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon, just like Trump sez on the FoxTV. That's a start. But is Platner a Nazi? Is Talarico a transgender vegan? Do Real Americans™ care?
At this point I'd vote for anyone who hates Trump even if they wore SMERSH armbands.
"Dog bites man" isn't news, "Bears fans really like the Bears" isn't news, but "Trump fans still with Trump" will ALWAYS be news.
Hint: that's what they're saying BECAUSE that's what Trump said. No coincidence there.
"Has the mail come yet, honey? I'm waitin' for today's talking points!"
No one does a well-placed "Eat shit" like Roy Edroso.
I hereby declare that I have no fucking clue.