I have a suggestion for Brooks. Unfortunately, it probably violates the commenting rules for radicals, the Geneva Convention, and Miss Manners’ rules for a polite society.
He donated $325k of his own money to his campaign. When he was asked to show his work he changed to, "It wasn't my money". Then they asked, "if it wasn't yours, then all we need is a copy of the check from the real donor. Andy bit off more than he can chew this time.
We are Americans who love, and we want freedom from gun violence to protect those who we love. We have more BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS coming regarding other speakers. YOU WILL NOT WANT TO MISS THIS!
With her bizarre choice of firebrand socialist Tim Walz, Kamala Harris is sending out all the wrong signals to American voters. She needs to immediately commit to advancing no policies whatsoever if elected in order to steady their nerves.
JP was so smooth, as always, well-prepared, and able to counter their attempts to alter reality in regards to what President Biden and Kamala Harris are doing to help Americans. I'd just get out a super soaker and let 'em have it but she's a pro.
"Ogles later studied at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), where he failed every course taken in the fall of 1995 and the fall of 1998; he returned to the university in 2007 and graduated with a 2.4 grade point average, with a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies."
His phrasing here indicates a confession of sorts. "I worked in human trafficking."
<At a political debate, Ogles called himself "a former member of law enforcement, worked in international sex crimes, specifically child trafficking", while at a separate forum, he said: "I went into law enforcement. I worked in human trafficking." NewsChannel 5 reported that Ogles was a volunteer reserve deputy with the Williamson County Sheriff's Office from 2009 to 2011, with his position revoked for failing to meet minimum standards, failing to progress in field training, and failing to attend required meetings. The Williamson County Sheriff's Office said that records do not show Ogles trained or worked against international sex trafficking as a reserve deputy.> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Ogles#Disputed_career_claims
Because it was originally a race across country towards the most obvious local landmark- the church, with its steeple. That's why there's a pool of water and a big hurdle in it too. The event used to be literally run across country, so with fences and streams and things you would need to cross.
I feel like a major problem with outsourcing of any kind is that moving the management away from the people responsible to the public leads to a sort of laissez-faire, almost petulant attitude. The concessionaire becomes the teenager convinced that the government has plenty of money and resents having to pay for anything out of their own allowance. They don’t do any of the work and then they complain that we do the work wrong!
The truth is, if we approve of the methods a “management” company uses to save money, the public entity could just use those methods (hiring cheap labor and exploiting them) and not pay the middleman. And if we don’t approve of their methods, than we shouldn’t be having them run our park/museum/library.
I know, it’s more complex than that, but really, all these contractors have gotten so big that they don’t actually care about doing a good job. After all, how many other businesses are going to have the infrastructure to run a pile of hotels and shops and transportation?
Back in 2012 or so the Republican legislature in MI decided it would save money to privatize the state-run prison food service. They gave the contract to Amamark. It was a shitshow. The employees were smuggling weapons and drugs for the prisoners, the food had creepy crawlies and mold, and the state was repeatedly sued.
No one seems to have done their homework on this federal contract.
Most of my experience with Yosemite has been through friendships with the outlaw rocklickers at Camp 4 in the 70s and 80s. It was almost like the wild west, outsmarting the rangers. But when they needed to mount a search and rescue, they always enlisted the help of the dirtbag climbers, who always brought the victims home. Usually in a bag, but still.
My cousin who was also one of my best friends as a kid worked for the Park Services. She lived in one of those tree houses and functioned as a smoke/fire watcher for a few seasons. While I heard several pretty infuriating stories about the cheap attitudes of the state I have to say that the job sounded pretty alluring to a hermit like me.
"For several well-placed Republican insiders on Tuesday, the response to Kamala Harris’s choice of Tim Walz as vice-president was one of overwhelming joy. “We are cheering,” said one veteran Republican operative, opining that Harris had picked the weakest-possible running mate on Harris’s short list. A plugged-in Washington insider marveled: “Republicans were in need of a lifeline this week and all so thrilled that Kamala Harris willing to give one to our side in our moment of need.”
Until Tuesday morning, these Republican operatives had been universally convinced that Harris would pick Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro. For them, it was a no-brainer. “Shapiro would have taken Pennsylvania off the table,” said the Washington insider. That would have then left Trump with a far more tenuous path to victory. As a senior Capitol Hill aide said of the choice, “I was super-shocked.”
...
What most mystified Republicans was why Walz was picked at all. Staring at polling data that presented Shapiro as a clear threat to Trump’s reelection, they were trying to understand the choice. Obviously, they conceded that Walz shored up Democrats in Minnesota but, of course, if Democrats were in trouble in Minnesota, there would be bigger issues on the electoral map."
I like Walz, but I think Shapiro was the better choice, since whoever wins PA will probably win the election.
I dunno, I think Walz has some really, really good energy. Plus he's a Midwesterner which is a neat balance with the ticket. Shapiro isn't a bad pick but really Walz has shepherded some god-tier policy in Minnesota and that ought to excite voters too.
So I think these Republicans are wishcasting. As long as we engage and get the job done, remembering to vote, we're fine. Remember, each one teach one and get them to the polls! And mount up!
I think Walz has appeal in PA, and Shapiro will help in PA. I also think Walz doesn't have the negatives Shapiro does.
I don't just mean Shapiro's views on Israel and the Palestinians. I also mean his support for school vouchers to pay for religious schools (the anti-Walz on that topic), and his handling of his longtime right-hand-man's behavior.
Again; I have no idea what the thinking was. They took their time on it, and I'm sure their decision was based on THINGS.
That's so cute, thinking that Shapiro won't bring Pennsylvania and saying that Walz only shored up Democrats in Minnesota, while completely ignoring that he has MILITARY EXPERIENCE, and 40 years as a TEACHER. Teachers all over America will be so happy to see a former teacher in high office, and how many Americans are currently serving in the military? As a counterpoint, JD Vance was a Marine, and we salute that, and TFG had fake bone spurs which, if they really existed, could have been corrected by something called surgery. Excuse me, was I shouting? I apologize.
It depends on the person, and this future VP is a retired Teacher and Former Military man who has experience on Capitol Hill. Those credentials can drag a lot of people. Let's see if the national association of teachers decides to make a statement.
"What most mystified Republicans was why Walz was picked at all. "
To paraphrase what Wajahat Ali said earlier this morning --
"Since they're not exactly known as deep thinkers, is there some *reason* to care overmuch what Republicans think of the choice?"
Another thing -
I think Governor Shapiro was amazing. His hawkishness on the Middle East, however, is a potential weak point with young voters concerned about the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
If he continues to campaign for the Democratic ticket as hard as he promised to do, the Democrats will win PA.
I trust him.
And I'm certainly not going to second-guess the Vice President's choice or speak like II'm undermining her judgment or know better than her ...
... especially given the dazzling job she's done so far in a fraction of the time it takes other POTUS candidates.
At this point it's just grifters and window licking loons.
Seriously, the brain Trust that thought it was a good idea to have DONALD TRUMP, noted misogynist and virulent racist, go on stage in front of the the national association of BLACK JOURNALISTS and be interviewed by a black woman.
Walz will be appealing in PA. They are not seeing it clearly. It's lazy to suggest that you need Shapiro to win PA considering Biden and Harris took it last time.
Harris and Dump are tied, so the election will be won in the margins, just like the last two elections.
This is from yesterday: "The state is roughly divided between Democrats and Republicans, backing Trump in 2016 but flipping back to Democrats to support President Joe Biden in 2020.
...
The poll comes as Harris is set to hold a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday with her running mate, who is yet to be announced. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is viewed as a front-runner to become her vice presidential candidate, due largely to his electoral success in the state in past elections."
The last 2 elections have come down to about 60,000 people. If Shapiro could have delivered 20K extra people in PA, that could make a difference.
Ah, I see Republicans are still making the mistake of thinking that a VP candidate can give them their state. Did they forget 2012? Because the Republican VP candidate in 2012 lost his home state.
I don't think a VP necessarily can help win a state, but this is a tight race, and both Kelley and Shapiro are well liked in their states. I was very surprised she didn't go with Shapiro, not just because he's from PA, but also because he's seen as more moderate than she is.
The Wonkette is full of people who think the more far left a candidate is, the greater the chance of that person getting elected is. Clinton, Obama, and Biden were all viewed as moderates. I think if Republicans had chosen Nikki Haley, we'd have lost to her no matter who we ran against her, because she is perceived as a moderate (she's actually a far right nut, but I digress). This is a center right country, and the people who decide elections are a handful of moderates spread over 6 states.
Trying to appeal to the left wing of the Democratic Party was how Kamala lost the DEMOCRATIC primary in 2020.
As Shapiro has enthusiastically supported the ticket I'm confident he'll keep stumping and working for us in PA. Plus I think another important strategy is we're not poaching a governor or Senator from a state where margins are tight either. There's live efforts by Republicans in Pennsylvania to fuck the vote there after all. Minnesota is a lot safer to get the governor from.
I'll admit I was a little bit nervous about losing Kelly in AZ, although I though he might help Harris win. I think Roy Cooper was term limited out in December, but if he left to go campaign, he'd leave that nut Robinson in charge, so who knows what would happen there? My main reasons for liking Shapiro was that he's perceived as moderate, and he's from a very big swing state.
I like Walz a lot, and I think he's very funny and a good speaker, and maybe he'll help bring in some Midwest votes, but we were already going to win MN, I think. I guess time will tell if Kamala made the right choice!
Well he does have good messages, and in a so-called "double hater" election turning out the base is best strategy. Shapiro does have scandal baggage. But really I think that was the final determination, just Shapiro has more skeletons. He is still massively popular and will help.
Walz really does have some impressive, god-tier policy enacted that can excite voters too, and MN is by all reports doing well. So it's a little harder for the rightwing media human centipede to spread something like "Minnesota is sooooo bad."
Republicans have already started their messaging about what a far left, radical, liberal that the Harris/Walz ticket is. It kind of makes me sick that we are labeled "radical" while these nuts want to get rid of voting. I wish we could learn to message better, and warn people about these fascist freaks.
I'm going to highlight this statement because I believe it to be false.
>>This is a center right country, and the people who decide elections are a handful of moderates spread over 6 states.
Winning an election in the United States is more about getting your own voters to the polls than it is about appealing to a handful of moderates in a couple of swing states. If everyone who vaguely agrees with your policies is excited to vote for you, then you will win every election.
For example, the reason why Trump won in 2016 isn't because he appealed to moderates. No, what he did was tap into a group of voters that didn't normally vote Republican: Far-right extremists. He managed to convince those people to stop voting for Ron Paul and Pat Buchanen and vote for him, instead, and it worked. Meanwhile Democrats weren't thrilled about Hillary Clinton as she's the political equivalent of broccoli.
Obama in 2008 and 2012? Democrats were united around him, and GOP passed over more rightwing candidates to pick McCain and Romney, two of the more moderate GOPers. Also, Clinton didn't win in 1992 because he was a moderate, he won because Bush wasn't as nuts as Reagan was.
Obama won in 2008 because Americans were furious about losing their jobs and homes because of GWB. I've always believed McCain would have won had he not been following in GWB's shit filled footsteps. I also think Dump would have won if the pandemic had never happened, or if he hadn't totally bungled it.
Also, Hillary Clinton was loved by a huge segment of the Democratic base, AND SHE WON BY 3 MILLION votes, which people on the far left always forget. She lost in 3 states, because 60,000 Bernie Bros in 3 states switched from Bernie to Trump (because those 2 have so much in common!). Also, Jill Stein voters could have voted for Hillary and she would have won.
The Democratic Party is constantly shot in the foot by its left flank. Don't you find it odd that all of those "pro Palestinian" protesters didn't show up at the RNC, but they will DEFINITELY show up at our convention? If they really gave a shit about the Palestinians, they'd be working their asses off to keep Dump out of office, but instead they'll show up and disrupt our convention, and turn off a swath of Jewish voters.
If this is NOT a center right country, how do you explain a convicted felon, rapist, pathological liar, being tied with our current nominee, and beating our former nominee, when the economy has been booming for YEARS? How do you explain 60% of the country thinking Dump will be better for the economy? How would you explain how any Dem who ever comes out in favor of Medicare 4 All (which I support) always ending their career?
I think the USA can be situationally center-right because of the large effect of unreconstructed states in the Electoral College/Senate. That said, we were still able sometimes to claw out good policy (like in the Biden/Harris admin) and that should continue in the Harris/Walz admin. Hell, our COVID relief was the most generous in the world!
The nut to crack is always those strategic "swing" states though. We generally have been winning the popular vote for years but the structure of the USA requires us to win by 4% or more as there's a lot of unreconstructed, thinly populated land given outsize influence.
The 60% thinking President Klan Robe is better for the economy is really the effect of the rightwing media human centipede and its segments installed in the MSM. This is another problem with Democrats; they don't have an equivalent media environment as the big money that bankrolls media wants those Republican tax cuts. It's the same reason why Joe Biden is hounded out of running for being OLD BALLS, yet now there's no longer age stories because the only old guy is President Klan Robe.
So really it is just a gamed system of rule by a minority of fascist nationalists.
I think the problem is that working class people have been leaving the Dem Party in droves - first the white working class, and now minority working class.
The GQP has done a GREAT job of convincing people that they are much better with the economy, while never mentioning that their tax cuts, wars, and recessions are the reason we are $34 trillion dollars in debt. If I had ONE wish for the Dem Party it would be that we learn to sell that WE are the economically responsible party, not the GQP.
We're not great at messaging, and the fact that a lifelong con man, who lies all the time, and has a repugnant personality, tells me that there are a LOT of right wing idiots in this country. Unfortunately, this includes my educated, white collar, brother. I think he's just someone who is very badly informed, although he claims he doesn't watch Fox News. He's married to a dark skinned immigrant, yet he's convinced the only reason that Trump lost in 2020 is because of all the "illegals" who were voting. When I asked him if he really thought people would risk getting deported over voting illegally, or why Trump had to create fake slates of electors, he had no answers.
Sigh, I'm not religious, but I'm PRAYING we can keep Dump out of the White House, and hopefully this fascist fever breaks.
I do have to say, in Hillary Clinton's defense, that Hillary was plenty exciting but she faced unified opposition from a Republican-owned media and its attendant rightwing media human centipede, a Russian disinformation campaign designed to stoke bad blood in primaries with FUD (note how we don't care about things like e-mails and speeches anymore), sloppiness from James Comey, and a millstone named Anthony Weiner.
And she was sadly proven right about it.
Also I do want to point out that Hillary Clinton used to have huge favorables. There was a reason she was voted "Most admired woman" in the past. She'd also had a good record in the Senate.
Sadly we do have a very big problem in the USA in that there's a lot of unreconstructed voters who openly want ethnic cleansing. You can't really "message" out of that and the usual Democratic "set and forget" method of making candidates responsible for all the party's messaging also bit us.
I agree with everything you've said, but would like to add one additional comment - Hillary Clinton had a huge apparatus of right wing billionaires (Richard Mellon Scaife, Charles Koch, etc...) who'd been branding her as a "shrill bitch" for 25 years.
In a weird way, I think it's good that Kamala only has to run for 100 days. Right now, Republicans are desperately trying to throw stuff to smear her with up against the walls to see what will stick. Their main talking point seems to be "SF liberal" which is why I had hoped she'd pick a boring moderate guy to be her running mate.
I was very excited about Hillary, and crushed when she lost to an unqualified doofus with no experience. It was so heartbreaking to see someone who was so smart and qualified lose to an actual idiot...over emails. Thanks, Comey!
Go with Shapiro and we get weeks of the media talking about will Shapiro change his views on Israel to match Harris' and did Harris pick him because she's seen as being weak on Israel?
My work here in Pennsylvania is far from finished — there is a lot more stuff I want to get done for our Commonwealth.
Over the next 90 days, I look forward to traveling all across the Commonwealth to unite Pennsylvanians behind my friends Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and defeat Donald Trump.
Shapiro seems smart, and he probably has a bright future in the Dem Party...that's IF Dump doesn't win, and IF America continues to hold elections after 2028. I know it's a bit hyperbolic, but I really think if Dump wins, democracy as I've always known it is finished.
She may win PA, but it's probably going to be the state that decides the election. So you want to pick the person who gives you the most chance of winning THAT state.
I disagree. Dump used to ALWAYS praise Bernie, because that was the moron he hoped we'd pick. They say nice things BEFORE we make a choice, saying you're puzzled AFTER the choice has been made is a different story.
I don't think Walz really helped her chances of getting elected - it probably would have been smarter to go with Kelley, or Shapiro, or Cooper. He's probably not going to hurt her, but he will make it much easier for the GQP to say the ticket is radically liberal. I think she would have been better off picking a more moderate VP.
Cooper took himself out of the running. When he heard he was being vetted, he said that he didn't want the job.
Regarding Kelly and Shapiro: I'm thinking Walz was picked over these two because both of them have something in their past that turns off Democratic voters. In Kelly's case, it's his not-good record on labor issues. In Shapiro's, it's Israel. That makes Walz the compromise candidate, as in he doesn't turn off Democratic voters.
For Shapiro, it’s also Vouchers. Democrats cannot win anymore on villainizing public education or school reform. I was dreading Shapiro would be the pick, losing youth concerned about Gaza and public education unions in one fell swoop. I would not have been pleased to vote for him at all, I’m still mad about the education policy of the Obama administration messing up schools even worse the NCLB with the awful Race to the Top.
Cooper didn't want to let that nut Robinson run NC while he was on the stump with Harris, and I applaud him for that.
The problem is that WE have been turning off Jewish voters with protests against Israel. I consider those protesters an albatross around our necks.
Shapiro has very high approval ratings in his state, which is a state we need to win. Plus he comes across as more moderate than Walz, and Harris's biggest polling problem at the moment is that people perceive her as too liberal.
I personally think Walz is funny, and I like him, I'm just not sure he helps us win, and I need to win, because I can't take 4 years of open corruption, incompetency, and the possible end of democracy.
Shapiro has more baggage. And has already been made of fun of for "talking like Obama" (he really does have the same cadences). Walz, as far as I can tell, doesn't have any personal baggage, and has a history of being moderate. Plus, he can defend his recent record really, really, well (:What a monster I am, making sure kids have full bellies so they learn") He also has both national and local governmental/public service history (well international if you include his NG time - he went to Iraq)
They are all good campaigners, and they will all be out there stumping for the ticket. As I noted below, the choice doesn't necessarily make a lot of difference in the voting, but having someone you feel like you can govern with, and be a partner is important. (On that note, some people felt Shapiro would put his own ambition first).
Also, too - the Pukes will use any line they can come up with to trash whoever the candidate is. Someone said "if doesn't matter if we're more liberal or moderate, they will call us all radical leftist communists, socialists, marxists."
Do Running Mates Matter?: The Influence of Vice Presidential Candidates in Presidential Elections
by Christopher J. Devine & Kyle C. Kopko
"The American vice presidency, as the saying goes, “is not worth a bucket of warm spit.” Yet vice presidential candidates, many people believe, can make all the difference in winning—or losing—a presidential election. Is that true, though? Did Sarah Palin, for example, sink John McCain’s campaign in 2008? Did Joe Biden help Barack Obama win? Do running mates actually matter? In the first book to put this question to a rigorous test, Christopher J. Devine and Kyle C. Kopko draw upon an unprecedented range of empirical data to reveal how, and how much, running mates influence voting in presidential elections.
Building on their previous work in The VP Advantage and evidence from over 200 statistical models spanning the 1952 to 2016 presidential elections, the authors analyze three pathways by which running mates might influence vote choice. First, of course, they test for direct effects, or whether evaluations of the running mate influence vote choice among voters in general. Next, they test for targeted effects—if, that is, running mates win votes among key subsets of voters who share their gender, religion, ideology, or geographic identity. Finally, the authors examine indirect effects—that is, whether running mates shape perceptions of the presidential candidate who selected them, which in turn influence vote choice. Here, in this last category, is where we see running mates most clearly influencing presidential voting—especially when it comes to their qualifications for holding office and taking over as president, if necessary. Picking a running mate from a key voting bloc probably won’t make a difference, the authors conclude. But picking an experienced, well-qualified running mate will make the presidential candidate look better to voters—and win some votes.
With its wealth of data and expert analysis, this finely crafted study, the most comprehensive to date, finally provides clear answers to one of the most enduring questions in presidential politics: can the running mate make a difference in this election?"
I don't know if Sarah Palin sunk John McCain, but she sure helped sink him. His first presidential decision was who to pick as VP, and he picked a far RWNJ, who turned a lot of people off.
Shapiro's not half-bad with a crowd. We're seeing it right now, and he will likely bring Pennsylvania to the fold.
Why Harris refusing to reach across the aisle and pick a Republican VP shows her inability to compromise
By David Brooks
I have a suggestion for Brooks. Unfortunately, it probably violates the commenting rules for radicals, the Geneva Convention, and Miss Manners’ rules for a polite society.
A few of those press corps questions seemed a little less stupid and hostile than usual. Still awfully repetitive, though.
Breaking: somewhat - Representative Andy Ogles (R-My state) just got raided by the FIBs. Wonketteers may recall he is the triple douche who filed Articles of Impeachment against Kamala (and also posed his children with semi-auto rifles). https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/revealed/fbi-agents-execute-search-warrant-on-tennessee-congressman-andy-ogles-newschannel-5-confirms
Look on the plus side, Andy: now you’ll have that street cred like Trump! And with luck, even share a cell some day.
There's some talk about $325,000 that he mis-stated. The FEC really hates that shit.
clay travis is going to rustle up a posse to defend his guy ogles against federal jackboots.
Dude... Clay Travis suuuuuuuucks.
it's why i read exposingclay.
He donated $325k of his own money to his campaign. When he was asked to show his work he changed to, "It wasn't my money". Then they asked, "if it wasn't yours, then all we need is a copy of the check from the real donor. Andy bit off more than he can chew this time.
Why is it so hard to accept a donation and report it? Things that make you go "hmmmmm"
Bend your knee to the master.
https://x.com/DougJBalloon/status/1820835402523041816 (New York Times Pitchbot)
I still think Democrats were foolish not to go with a Cheney-Romney ticket
Another zoom session!
https://x.com/fred_guttenberg/status/1820905181900419333
BREAKING: THIS ZOOM BEGINS AT 8PM AND YOUR LAST CHANCE TO SIGN UP IS COMING CLOSE!!!
THIS SHOULD BE THE BIGGEST ZOOM OF THIS CAMPAIGN! WE NEED YOU TO SIGN UP!
https://confirmsubscription.com/h/y/4F5AECFFC535CED5
We are Americans who love, and we want freedom from gun violence to protect those who we love. We have more BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS coming regarding other speakers. YOU WILL NOT WANT TO MISS THIS!
DEMOCRATS CAN ONLY WIN BY PROMISING TORPOR
With her bizarre choice of firebrand socialist Tim Walz, Kamala Harris is sending out all the wrong signals to American voters. She needs to immediately commit to advancing no policies whatsoever if elected in order to steady their nerves.
Oh, Chait already posted his perennial "now they must pivot to the center" bullshit
JP was so smooth, as always, well-prepared, and able to counter their attempts to alter reality in regards to what President Biden and Kamala Harris are doing to help Americans. I'd just get out a super soaker and let 'em have it but she's a pro.
.50 cal. Tracers.
OT: Hey, thanks to everyone for recommending AdBlock Plus instead of AdBlock (They are different companies, confusingly)
AdBlock Plus is working like a treat!
I'm gonna try to guess if any of these songs will be played when Tim Walz takes the stage:
"Waltzing Matilda"
"Tennessee Waltz"
"Blue Danube Waltz"
"The Waltz of the Flowers"
Waltzing With Bears
Wah wah wah waltzing with Bears
https://youtu.be/Srp7k-9oCkw?feature=shared&t=65
AC/DC Big Balls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WwJ6OVSwkM
Balz to the Walz
"The Rebel Waltz"
How about "Let's Go Crazy". That is if the Prince estate allows it.
If there were an Olympic bartending competition Hooper would win.
And he'd DESERVE it!
While ya all waitin ... mind ogling news!
https://x.com/NC5PhilWilliams/status/1820892658635829329
BREAKING: FBI agents execute search warrant on Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles, NewsChannel 5 confirms
is this why the gop went squish on bob menndez, knowing what was coming for their own?
FBI agents execute…Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles
That’s what I read.
What a shame.
Too bad. So sad.
Lies, and the lying liars who tell them.
It is past time to make that motherfucker CRY.
Good. This guy is a habitual cheater.
For background on his education and employment issues...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Ogles
"Ogles later studied at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), where he failed every course taken in the fall of 1995 and the fall of 1998; he returned to the university in 2007 and graduated with a 2.4 grade point average, with a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies."
BRaIN GEniUs!!!!
Gold bars, or moneybags with $ printed on the side?
Republican?
Yep - rabid
Child porn or child sexual battery.
His phrasing here indicates a confession of sorts. "I worked in human trafficking."
<At a political debate, Ogles called himself "a former member of law enforcement, worked in international sex crimes, specifically child trafficking", while at a separate forum, he said: "I went into law enforcement. I worked in human trafficking." NewsChannel 5 reported that Ogles was a volunteer reserve deputy with the Williamson County Sheriff's Office from 2009 to 2011, with his position revoked for failing to meet minimum standards, failing to progress in field training, and failing to attend required meetings. The Williamson County Sheriff's Office said that records do not show Ogles trained or worked against international sex trafficking as a reserve deputy.> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Ogles#Disputed_career_claims
pimpin' ain't easy... but it's so very necessary.
Used his badge to hit up sexworkers
A GQPer's wet dream - becoming a bona fide slaver.
That borders on pathological lying.
His Wiki is a mess. Truly his district is full of the brain dead.
Yep.
Child porn or child sexual battery.
According to more tweets in that thread, it is about money for now.
He claims to have had no income or savings, and nobody knows where the money for his campaign came from or something.
Who does that remind me of...
Oh. Yes.
The Speaker of the House.
Sketchy fucker, they should do him next.
Brett Kavanaugh had $700K worth of gambling debts just disappear!
And what differentiates him from the rest of the GOP?
ruh, roh, scoobie doo.
Just voted in MO primary. Grrr, no republicans to vote against on my Dem ballot. Having more candidates to choose from is an encouraging sign.
Final, women's steeplechase.
Winfred Yavi of Bahrain, in a new Olympic record time of 8:52.76.
HOORAY FOR HER!
Gabby Thomas just took gold in the 200. She is adorable.
They jump stuff. It's neat.
I always figured they had to jump high hedges and over water hazards.
Because it was originally a race across country towards the most obvious local landmark- the church, with its steeple. That's why there's a pool of water and a big hurdle in it too. The event used to be literally run across country, so with fences and streams and things you would need to cross.
You mean I was RIGHT?
You are!
Yeah.
That's why it's called that. Same for the horse race.
After a lot of doggie excitement when the cleaning ladies arrived, now he's sitting in the living room looking at them, and he's not barking. Furthermore both cats are in the room and he's managing to not bother them (with a few reminders). So that's a good dog. Also OT: I'm reading a thing about Aramark and how they're done a shit job as the concessionaire at Yosemite (and other parks): https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-yosemite-national-park-aramark-mess/?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTcyMjk2ODExNSwiZXhwIjoxNzIzNTcyOTE1LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTSFNKU0xEV1JHRzEwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiI2NjFBNzJDRUEwNUQ0Mzc3QkJBQjdBRTg1NzVERTc3MyJ9.e4WtuQjeACaMLNOH352XvFztCvWdLNXcJxJtPZcaaLA. Like letting some low-level wage workers live in accommodations infested with deer mice, from which one of them got hantavirus (very nasty disease). Also letting signature properties like the Ahwahnee Hotel slide into disrepair. For a for-profit corporation, spending anything beyond the bare minimum cuts into profit. So does treating workers not like shit. But the National Park Service has been outsourcing like this since its inception.
I feel like a major problem with outsourcing of any kind is that moving the management away from the people responsible to the public leads to a sort of laissez-faire, almost petulant attitude. The concessionaire becomes the teenager convinced that the government has plenty of money and resents having to pay for anything out of their own allowance. They don’t do any of the work and then they complain that we do the work wrong!
The truth is, if we approve of the methods a “management” company uses to save money, the public entity could just use those methods (hiring cheap labor and exploiting them) and not pay the middleman. And if we don’t approve of their methods, than we shouldn’t be having them run our park/museum/library.
I know, it’s more complex than that, but really, all these contractors have gotten so big that they don’t actually care about doing a good job. After all, how many other businesses are going to have the infrastructure to run a pile of hotels and shops and transportation?
Basically, if private industry does A Thing, and the government wants A Thing done, they outsource. Policy is to not compete (OMB Circular A76).
Many private providers deliver excellent goods and/or services. Aramark is not one of those providers.
Back in 2012 or so the Republican legislature in MI decided it would save money to privatize the state-run prison food service. They gave the contract to Amamark. It was a shitshow. The employees were smuggling weapons and drugs for the prisoners, the food had creepy crawlies and mold, and the state was repeatedly sued.
No one seems to have done their homework on this federal contract.
They have been shit for a long time.
(full disclosure, one of my BFF;s was a Ranger there, for several years. she has stories...)
Most of my experience with Yosemite has been through friendships with the outlaw rocklickers at Camp 4 in the 70s and 80s. It was almost like the wild west, outsmarting the rangers. But when they needed to mount a search and rescue, they always enlisted the help of the dirtbag climbers, who always brought the victims home. Usually in a bag, but still.
My cousin who was also one of my best friends as a kid worked for the Park Services. She lived in one of those tree houses and functioned as a smoke/fire watcher for a few seasons. While I heard several pretty infuriating stories about the cheap attitudes of the state I have to say that the job sounded pretty alluring to a hermit like me.
I would've LOVED every minute of it.
"For several well-placed Republican insiders on Tuesday, the response to Kamala Harris’s choice of Tim Walz as vice-president was one of overwhelming joy. “We are cheering,” said one veteran Republican operative, opining that Harris had picked the weakest-possible running mate on Harris’s short list. A plugged-in Washington insider marveled: “Republicans were in need of a lifeline this week and all so thrilled that Kamala Harris willing to give one to our side in our moment of need.”
Until Tuesday morning, these Republican operatives had been universally convinced that Harris would pick Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro. For them, it was a no-brainer. “Shapiro would have taken Pennsylvania off the table,” said the Washington insider. That would have then left Trump with a far more tenuous path to victory. As a senior Capitol Hill aide said of the choice, “I was super-shocked.”
...
What most mystified Republicans was why Walz was picked at all. Staring at polling data that presented Shapiro as a clear threat to Trump’s reelection, they were trying to understand the choice. Obviously, they conceded that Walz shored up Democrats in Minnesota but, of course, if Democrats were in trouble in Minnesota, there would be bigger issues on the electoral map."
I like Walz, but I think Shapiro was the better choice, since whoever wins PA will probably win the election.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/tim-walz-vp-republican-reaction-thrilled.html
I dunno, I think Walz has some really, really good energy. Plus he's a Midwesterner which is a neat balance with the ticket. Shapiro isn't a bad pick but really Walz has shepherded some god-tier policy in Minnesota and that ought to excite voters too.
So I think these Republicans are wishcasting. As long as we engage and get the job done, remembering to vote, we're fine. Remember, each one teach one and get them to the polls! And mount up!
I, of course, have no idea.
I think Walz has appeal in PA, and Shapiro will help in PA. I also think Walz doesn't have the negatives Shapiro does.
I don't just mean Shapiro's views on Israel and the Palestinians. I also mean his support for school vouchers to pay for religious schools (the anti-Walz on that topic), and his handling of his longtime right-hand-man's behavior.
Again; I have no idea what the thinking was. They took their time on it, and I'm sure their decision was based on THINGS.
We'll see, won't we?
The yinzers are gonna love Walz. He's their kind.
That's so cute, thinking that Shapiro won't bring Pennsylvania and saying that Walz only shored up Democrats in Minnesota, while completely ignoring that he has MILITARY EXPERIENCE, and 40 years as a TEACHER. Teachers all over America will be so happy to see a former teacher in high office, and how many Americans are currently serving in the military? As a counterpoint, JD Vance was a Marine, and we salute that, and TFG had fake bone spurs which, if they really existed, could have been corrected by something called surgery. Excuse me, was I shouting? I apologize.
Also, you should never assume the VP will deliver the state they're from... it's just a foolish assumption to make.
It depends on the person, and this future VP is a retired Teacher and Former Military man who has experience on Capitol Hill. Those credentials can drag a lot of people. Let's see if the national association of teachers decides to make a statement.
"What most mystified Republicans was why Walz was picked at all. "
To paraphrase what Wajahat Ali said earlier this morning --
"Since they're not exactly known as deep thinkers, is there some *reason* to care overmuch what Republicans think of the choice?"
Another thing -
I think Governor Shapiro was amazing. His hawkishness on the Middle East, however, is a potential weak point with young voters concerned about the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
If he continues to campaign for the Democratic ticket as hard as he promised to do, the Democrats will win PA.
I trust him.
And I'm certainly not going to second-guess the Vice President's choice or speak like II'm undermining her judgment or know better than her ...
... especially given the dazzling job she's done so far in a fraction of the time it takes other POTUS candidates.
Onward! #VoteBlueForAmerica 💙💙💙
"several well-placed repub insiders" is less than nothing.
At this point it's just grifters and window licking loons.
Seriously, the brain Trust that thought it was a good idea to have DONALD TRUMP, noted misogynist and virulent racist, go on stage in front of the the national association of BLACK JOURNALISTS and be interviewed by a black woman.
I'm curious to see their next galaxy brain move.
Get back to us when he is accused of fucking the upholstery.
Thanks to my career I am an expert on bullshit, pigshit, chickenshit and many other shits. I smell something.
Is it poop-flavored?
Haha, sure, guys, bet you're super fun on poker night.
Walz will be appealing in PA. They are not seeing it clearly. It's lazy to suggest that you need Shapiro to win PA considering Biden and Harris took it last time.
Harris and Dump are tied, so the election will be won in the margins, just like the last two elections.
This is from yesterday: "The state is roughly divided between Democrats and Republicans, backing Trump in 2016 but flipping back to Democrats to support President Joe Biden in 2020.
...
The poll comes as Harris is set to hold a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday with her running mate, who is yet to be announced. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is viewed as a front-runner to become her vice presidential candidate, due largely to his electoral success in the state in past elections."
The last 2 elections have come down to about 60,000 people. If Shapiro could have delivered 20K extra people in PA, that could make a difference.
Ah, I see Republicans are still making the mistake of thinking that a VP candidate can give them their state. Did they forget 2012? Because the Republican VP candidate in 2012 lost his home state.
I don't think a VP necessarily can help win a state, but this is a tight race, and both Kelley and Shapiro are well liked in their states. I was very surprised she didn't go with Shapiro, not just because he's from PA, but also because he's seen as more moderate than she is.
The Wonkette is full of people who think the more far left a candidate is, the greater the chance of that person getting elected is. Clinton, Obama, and Biden were all viewed as moderates. I think if Republicans had chosen Nikki Haley, we'd have lost to her no matter who we ran against her, because she is perceived as a moderate (she's actually a far right nut, but I digress). This is a center right country, and the people who decide elections are a handful of moderates spread over 6 states.
Trying to appeal to the left wing of the Democratic Party was how Kamala lost the DEMOCRATIC primary in 2020.
As Shapiro has enthusiastically supported the ticket I'm confident he'll keep stumping and working for us in PA. Plus I think another important strategy is we're not poaching a governor or Senator from a state where margins are tight either. There's live efforts by Republicans in Pennsylvania to fuck the vote there after all. Minnesota is a lot safer to get the governor from.
I'll admit I was a little bit nervous about losing Kelly in AZ, although I though he might help Harris win. I think Roy Cooper was term limited out in December, but if he left to go campaign, he'd leave that nut Robinson in charge, so who knows what would happen there? My main reasons for liking Shapiro was that he's perceived as moderate, and he's from a very big swing state.
I like Walz a lot, and I think he's very funny and a good speaker, and maybe he'll help bring in some Midwest votes, but we were already going to win MN, I think. I guess time will tell if Kamala made the right choice!
Well he does have good messages, and in a so-called "double hater" election turning out the base is best strategy. Shapiro does have scandal baggage. But really I think that was the final determination, just Shapiro has more skeletons. He is still massively popular and will help.
Walz really does have some impressive, god-tier policy enacted that can excite voters too, and MN is by all reports doing well. So it's a little harder for the rightwing media human centipede to spread something like "Minnesota is sooooo bad."
Republicans have already started their messaging about what a far left, radical, liberal that the Harris/Walz ticket is. It kind of makes me sick that we are labeled "radical" while these nuts want to get rid of voting. I wish we could learn to message better, and warn people about these fascist freaks.
I'm going to highlight this statement because I believe it to be false.
>>This is a center right country, and the people who decide elections are a handful of moderates spread over 6 states.
Winning an election in the United States is more about getting your own voters to the polls than it is about appealing to a handful of moderates in a couple of swing states. If everyone who vaguely agrees with your policies is excited to vote for you, then you will win every election.
For example, the reason why Trump won in 2016 isn't because he appealed to moderates. No, what he did was tap into a group of voters that didn't normally vote Republican: Far-right extremists. He managed to convince those people to stop voting for Ron Paul and Pat Buchanen and vote for him, instead, and it worked. Meanwhile Democrats weren't thrilled about Hillary Clinton as she's the political equivalent of broccoli.
Obama in 2008 and 2012? Democrats were united around him, and GOP passed over more rightwing candidates to pick McCain and Romney, two of the more moderate GOPers. Also, Clinton didn't win in 1992 because he was a moderate, he won because Bush wasn't as nuts as Reagan was.
Obama won in 2008 because Americans were furious about losing their jobs and homes because of GWB. I've always believed McCain would have won had he not been following in GWB's shit filled footsteps. I also think Dump would have won if the pandemic had never happened, or if he hadn't totally bungled it.
Also, Hillary Clinton was loved by a huge segment of the Democratic base, AND SHE WON BY 3 MILLION votes, which people on the far left always forget. She lost in 3 states, because 60,000 Bernie Bros in 3 states switched from Bernie to Trump (because those 2 have so much in common!). Also, Jill Stein voters could have voted for Hillary and she would have won.
The Democratic Party is constantly shot in the foot by its left flank. Don't you find it odd that all of those "pro Palestinian" protesters didn't show up at the RNC, but they will DEFINITELY show up at our convention? If they really gave a shit about the Palestinians, they'd be working their asses off to keep Dump out of office, but instead they'll show up and disrupt our convention, and turn off a swath of Jewish voters.
If this is NOT a center right country, how do you explain a convicted felon, rapist, pathological liar, being tied with our current nominee, and beating our former nominee, when the economy has been booming for YEARS? How do you explain 60% of the country thinking Dump will be better for the economy? How would you explain how any Dem who ever comes out in favor of Medicare 4 All (which I support) always ending their career?
I think the USA can be situationally center-right because of the large effect of unreconstructed states in the Electoral College/Senate. That said, we were still able sometimes to claw out good policy (like in the Biden/Harris admin) and that should continue in the Harris/Walz admin. Hell, our COVID relief was the most generous in the world!
The nut to crack is always those strategic "swing" states though. We generally have been winning the popular vote for years but the structure of the USA requires us to win by 4% or more as there's a lot of unreconstructed, thinly populated land given outsize influence.
The 60% thinking President Klan Robe is better for the economy is really the effect of the rightwing media human centipede and its segments installed in the MSM. This is another problem with Democrats; they don't have an equivalent media environment as the big money that bankrolls media wants those Republican tax cuts. It's the same reason why Joe Biden is hounded out of running for being OLD BALLS, yet now there's no longer age stories because the only old guy is President Klan Robe.
So really it is just a gamed system of rule by a minority of fascist nationalists.
I think the problem is that working class people have been leaving the Dem Party in droves - first the white working class, and now minority working class.
The GQP has done a GREAT job of convincing people that they are much better with the economy, while never mentioning that their tax cuts, wars, and recessions are the reason we are $34 trillion dollars in debt. If I had ONE wish for the Dem Party it would be that we learn to sell that WE are the economically responsible party, not the GQP.
We're not great at messaging, and the fact that a lifelong con man, who lies all the time, and has a repugnant personality, tells me that there are a LOT of right wing idiots in this country. Unfortunately, this includes my educated, white collar, brother. I think he's just someone who is very badly informed, although he claims he doesn't watch Fox News. He's married to a dark skinned immigrant, yet he's convinced the only reason that Trump lost in 2020 is because of all the "illegals" who were voting. When I asked him if he really thought people would risk getting deported over voting illegally, or why Trump had to create fake slates of electors, he had no answers.
Sigh, I'm not religious, but I'm PRAYING we can keep Dump out of the White House, and hopefully this fascist fever breaks.
I do have to say, in Hillary Clinton's defense, that Hillary was plenty exciting but she faced unified opposition from a Republican-owned media and its attendant rightwing media human centipede, a Russian disinformation campaign designed to stoke bad blood in primaries with FUD (note how we don't care about things like e-mails and speeches anymore), sloppiness from James Comey, and a millstone named Anthony Weiner.
And she was sadly proven right about it.
Also I do want to point out that Hillary Clinton used to have huge favorables. There was a reason she was voted "Most admired woman" in the past. She'd also had a good record in the Senate.
Sadly we do have a very big problem in the USA in that there's a lot of unreconstructed voters who openly want ethnic cleansing. You can't really "message" out of that and the usual Democratic "set and forget" method of making candidates responsible for all the party's messaging also bit us.
I agree with everything you've said, but would like to add one additional comment - Hillary Clinton had a huge apparatus of right wing billionaires (Richard Mellon Scaife, Charles Koch, etc...) who'd been branding her as a "shrill bitch" for 25 years.
In a weird way, I think it's good that Kamala only has to run for 100 days. Right now, Republicans are desperately trying to throw stuff to smear her with up against the walls to see what will stick. Their main talking point seems to be "SF liberal" which is why I had hoped she'd pick a boring moderate guy to be her running mate.
I was very excited about Hillary, and crushed when she lost to an unqualified doofus with no experience. It was so heartbreaking to see someone who was so smart and qualified lose to an actual idiot...over emails. Thanks, Comey!
Well, it worked for Biden, Trump in 2016, Obama (twice), W (twice)...
Because their VP's states weren't in question anyway.
Go with Shapiro and we get weeks of the media talking about will Shapiro change his views on Israel to match Harris' and did Harris pick him because she's seen as being weak on Israel?
I don't understand why Harris/Walz won't win Penn. with Shapiro's help.
Shapiro seems ready to spread the word:
My work here in Pennsylvania is far from finished — there is a lot more stuff I want to get done for our Commonwealth.
Over the next 90 days, I look forward to traveling all across the Commonwealth to unite Pennsylvanians behind my friends Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and defeat Donald Trump.
See you tonight in Philly.
https://x.com/JoshShapiroPA/status/1820827281658446166?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Shapiro seems smart, and he probably has a bright future in the Dem Party...that's IF Dump doesn't win, and IF America continues to hold elections after 2028. I know it's a bit hyperbolic, but I really think if Dump wins, democracy as I've always known it is finished.
She may win PA, but it's probably going to be the state that decides the election. So you want to pick the person who gives you the most chance of winning THAT state.
This.
My gut says the choice was more based on chemistry, both within the ticket and with the electorate.
Luckily, I am not a pundit so I have at least a chance at being correct.
Unless he’s the guy w the million dollar idea to brand them all as weird and who can expand the map. Also no skeletons.
I can’t picture that crowd getting joyful over anything except maybe a kid drowning wrapped in barbed wire on the Rio Grande
It's perverse psychology.
I disagree. Dump used to ALWAYS praise Bernie, because that was the moron he hoped we'd pick. They say nice things BEFORE we make a choice, saying you're puzzled AFTER the choice has been made is a different story.
I don't think Walz really helped her chances of getting elected - it probably would have been smarter to go with Kelley, or Shapiro, or Cooper. He's probably not going to hurt her, but he will make it much easier for the GQP to say the ticket is radically liberal. I think she would have been better off picking a more moderate VP.
Cooper took himself out of the running. When he heard he was being vetted, he said that he didn't want the job.
Regarding Kelly and Shapiro: I'm thinking Walz was picked over these two because both of them have something in their past that turns off Democratic voters. In Kelly's case, it's his not-good record on labor issues. In Shapiro's, it's Israel. That makes Walz the compromise candidate, as in he doesn't turn off Democratic voters.
For Shapiro, it’s also Vouchers. Democrats cannot win anymore on villainizing public education or school reform. I was dreading Shapiro would be the pick, losing youth concerned about Gaza and public education unions in one fell swoop. I would not have been pleased to vote for him at all, I’m still mad about the education policy of the Obama administration messing up schools even worse the NCLB with the awful Race to the Top.
Cooper didn't want to let that nut Robinson run NC while he was on the stump with Harris, and I applaud him for that.
The problem is that WE have been turning off Jewish voters with protests against Israel. I consider those protesters an albatross around our necks.
Shapiro has very high approval ratings in his state, which is a state we need to win. Plus he comes across as more moderate than Walz, and Harris's biggest polling problem at the moment is that people perceive her as too liberal.
I personally think Walz is funny, and I like him, I'm just not sure he helps us win, and I need to win, because I can't take 4 years of open corruption, incompetency, and the possible end of democracy.
Shapiro has more baggage. And has already been made of fun of for "talking like Obama" (he really does have the same cadences). Walz, as far as I can tell, doesn't have any personal baggage, and has a history of being moderate. Plus, he can defend his recent record really, really, well (:What a monster I am, making sure kids have full bellies so they learn") He also has both national and local governmental/public service history (well international if you include his NG time - he went to Iraq)
They are all good campaigners, and they will all be out there stumping for the ticket. As I noted below, the choice doesn't necessarily make a lot of difference in the voting, but having someone you feel like you can govern with, and be a partner is important. (On that note, some people felt Shapiro would put his own ambition first).
Also, too - the Pukes will use any line they can come up with to trash whoever the candidate is. Someone said "if doesn't matter if we're more liberal or moderate, they will call us all radical leftist communists, socialists, marxists."
Do Running Mates Matter?: The Influence of Vice Presidential Candidates in Presidential Elections
by Christopher J. Devine & Kyle C. Kopko
"The American vice presidency, as the saying goes, “is not worth a bucket of warm spit.” Yet vice presidential candidates, many people believe, can make all the difference in winning—or losing—a presidential election. Is that true, though? Did Sarah Palin, for example, sink John McCain’s campaign in 2008? Did Joe Biden help Barack Obama win? Do running mates actually matter? In the first book to put this question to a rigorous test, Christopher J. Devine and Kyle C. Kopko draw upon an unprecedented range of empirical data to reveal how, and how much, running mates influence voting in presidential elections.
Building on their previous work in The VP Advantage and evidence from over 200 statistical models spanning the 1952 to 2016 presidential elections, the authors analyze three pathways by which running mates might influence vote choice. First, of course, they test for direct effects, or whether evaluations of the running mate influence vote choice among voters in general. Next, they test for targeted effects—if, that is, running mates win votes among key subsets of voters who share their gender, religion, ideology, or geographic identity. Finally, the authors examine indirect effects—that is, whether running mates shape perceptions of the presidential candidate who selected them, which in turn influence vote choice. Here, in this last category, is where we see running mates most clearly influencing presidential voting—especially when it comes to their qualifications for holding office and taking over as president, if necessary. Picking a running mate from a key voting bloc probably won’t make a difference, the authors conclude. But picking an experienced, well-qualified running mate will make the presidential candidate look better to voters—and win some votes.
With its wealth of data and expert analysis, this finely crafted study, the most comprehensive to date, finally provides clear answers to one of the most enduring questions in presidential politics: can the running mate make a difference in this election?"
I don't know if Sarah Palin sunk John McCain, but she sure helped sink him. His first presidential decision was who to pick as VP, and he picked a far RWNJ, who turned a lot of people off.