I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

It sounds terminal. Kim's been sleeping next to his bed. I hope if the end does come, it comes gently, with St. Peter greeting him warmly, before taking him to meet himself.

I put a baby Yeezus figurine in our nativity display in his honor.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

He says based on his decades of hands-on work within the party...

I've done more work in that finite arena than you could ever imagine.

Few have driven more poorly chosen tunes (anyone want to hear "Mountain Jam" or "Black Angel's Death Song"?), attempted to dance less effectively, or run out for various supplies at odd hours to keep things moving. If you count the tireless hook-up efforts, received poorly by various female guests over my career, and perhaps regrettably by many others ("Why is there a half eaten sandwich in your bed sheets?"), I'm eligible for some form of award.

One can't help but notice how much progress the Ds made in removing the racists among them (mostly by those people by flipping to R, but always greater awareness).

There was a day Hank would knock this out with two words, "Robert Byrd," and then declare, "346 to 0."

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

I was describing your translation/defense of what SEC said.

I think the idea of colorblindness in civil rights cases is remarkably obtuse. I can't recall or figure out from the report SEC Chick linked to why it was that people within DOJ were up in arms about it, but as best as I can surmise, it's a faux issue designed to delegitimize ordinary civil rights enforcement by stigmatizing it as unfair. As TM points out, it's not like there's a stream of potential civil rights cases with white victims flowing into DOJ -- as far as I can tell, there was one, in Mississippi, and DOJ brought the case. Instead, it seems to have been ginned up as a complaint by disgruntled staffers to bitch about the Obama appointees. It hardly needs to be pointed out that the Civil Rights Division exists because society is -- systematically -- not colorblind. Recall too that in the Bush years, a Republican White House politicized DOJ, and the Civil Rights Division in particular, in the most literal way, by instructing that hiring decisions pass over Democrats.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Pretty Little Flower

I put a baby Yeezus figurine in our nativity display in his honor.

That's a real classy statement. Unlike that "Frankincense and Myrrh Digger" holiday tribute on the radio. Have some decency! The man isn't even gone yet.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

"Party Apparatus," not Democrats in general.

Sorry. Please read my prior post as:

Oh dear. You got the brutal part, but not the honest part. You're just making shit up about what (unidentified) motivates the "Party Apparatus." If you want to make shit up, go for it, but don't pretend you're being honest.

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

Neither party organization gives a fuck about much more than winning and preserving its power.

I know you delight in saying this shit, but it's just as mind-bendingly simplistic and wrong as it ever was. There clearly are people of both parties who are motivated by principle. You can call it ideology if you like. (It's not to say that there is no self-interest involved, because that would be just as stupid as saying that's all that's involved.) For example, since we are talking about civil rights, there are lots of people who have made great personal sacrifices because they believed in civil rights. Some of them became elected officials, Democrats even, and ended up in the "Party Apparatus." Some of those may have abandoned their principles, but some -- and pay attention here, because this is the surprising bit that will shatter your easy cynicism -- some of them have not. Some people actually believe in equality -- for example, that everyone should have the right to vote.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

There was a day Hank would knock this out with two words, "Robert Byrd," and then declare, "346 to 0."

There was a day Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, but history keeps telling us to get off her corner, ho.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

I know you delight in saying this shit, but it's just as mind-bendingly simplistic and wrong as it ever was. There clearly are people of both parties who are motivated by principle. You can call it ideology if you like. (It's not to say that there is no self-interest involved, because that would be just as stupid as saying that's all that's involved.) For example, since we are talking about civil rights, there are lots of people who have made great personal sacrifices because they believed in civil rights. Some of them became elected officials, Democrats even, and ended up in the "Party Apparatus." Some of those may have abandoned their principles, but some -- and pay attention here, because this is the surprising bit that will shatter your easy cynicism -- some of them have not. Some people actually believe in equality -- for example, that everyone should have the right to vote.

I'd agree as to equality. But I've a justifiably jaundiced view of their sudden embrace of felons' rights. Granted, Rand Paul, Corey Booker, and even Santorum kicked open that door. But who walked through most prominently? Terry McAulliffe. One of the most political of political sorts to have ever trodden the earth. And a close ally of the Clintons from back in the days when they were "tough on superpredators" and cutting welfare reform deals with Newt.

I hear your point. And you know I'm fond of rhetorical hyperbole, which is often the only way one can rail against something as distasteful as I find politics. And that McAulliffe is an unquestionable scumbag does not so paint all others behind felons' voting restoration. (I myself strongly support it.) It's just worth noting, felons are an attractive voting bloc to be utilized, and they are assumed to favor one party a lot more than another. And anything McAulliffe does I assume to be unethical, self-enriching, devious, and possibly if not probably criminal.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

I'd agree as to equality. But I've a justifiably jaundiced view of their sudden embrace of felons' rights. Granted, Rand Paul, Corey Booker, and even Santorum kicked open that door. But who walked through most prominently? Terry McAulliffe. One of the most political of political sorts to have ever trodden the earth. And a close ally of the Clintons from back in the days when they were "tough on superpredators" and cutting welfare reform deals with Newt.

I hear your point. And you know I'm fond of rhetorical hyperbole, which is often the only way one can rail against something as distasteful as I find politics. And that McAulliffe is an unquestionable scumbag does not so paint all others behind felons' voting restoration. (I myself strongly support it.) It's just worth noting, felons are an attractive voting bloc to be utilized, and they are assumed to favor one party a lot more than another. And anything McAulliffe does I assume to be unethical, self-enriching, devious, and possibly if not probably criminal.

It is superunfortunate that the question of whether black people should get to vote has become politicized, in part because one must make common cause with the Terry McAuliffe's of the world, and also because black people should get to vote.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

There was a day Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, but history keeps telling us to get off her corner, ho.

There was a day the Yankees didn't get in bed with the likes of a Sessions. The ghost of Nelson Rockefeller is going visit Trump this holiday, and it will not be nice.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

There was a day the Yankees didn't get in bed with the likes of a Sessions. The ghost of Nelson Rockefeller is going visit Trump this holiday, and it will not be nice.

Trump will point out to the ghost that Rockefeller never made it to the White House.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

It is superunfortunate that the question of whether black people should get to vote has become politicized, in part because one must make common cause with the Terry McAuliffe's of the world, and also because black people should get to vote.

I'm not considering black or white voting. I'm just considering felons. Statistically, I guess more are probably black. But I don't think the issue was initially raised as a matter of race, so much as a matter of letting a guy who's done his time have his rights back. At least that's how Booker and Paul initially pushed it.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Trump will point out to the ghost that Rockefeller never made it to the White House.

"If you do not mend your ways, you sir will die on the desk in the Oval Office, pants around your ankles, above a near suffocating intern!" (sounds of chains here)

"How do you know that?"

"I know! I... Knoooooooooooowwwww!!!" (Exit specter.)

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

I'm not considering black or white voting. I'm just considering felons. Statistically, I guess more are probably black. But I don't think the issue was initially raised as a matter of race, so much as a matter of letting a guy who's done his time have his rights back. At least that's how Booker and Paul initially pushed it.

You "guess" more are "probably" black. Before you think you can separate the issue of "black or white voting" and the issue of felon voting, maybe you should stop guessing and spend the 6 or 7 seconds it takes to find this on Wikipedia:

"According to the BJS non-Hispanic blacks accounted for 39.4% of the prison and jail population in 2009, while non-Hispanic whites were 34.2%, and Hispanics (of any race) 20.6%. The incarceration rate of black males was over six times higher than that of white males, with a rate of 4,749 per 100,000 US residents."

[Tyrone Slothrop]

This is the most encouraging political news I've seen since the election.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

This is the most encouraging political news I've seen since the election.

ACA is a big reason facefuck is our next president. Like I told you, it fucked most people's health care. The Dems have no grounding on the issue. They meant well, I know, but they fucked up. no offense.