scoobdog

I'm just focused on the delete part. There wouldn't be a point of creating something just to delete it... unless the point was to create a lasting impression of that creation in those who viewed it: an impression that outlasts and, perhaps, eventually replaces the original creation.

OK, Cool. Making sure I'm not persona non grata or anything.

You know, I was on the Discord and then I didn't log on for a few months, and now I'm booted again. Feelsbadman.

Join the club.

Church's is so much better.

Of course not. What I’m getting at is that Burning Man performances aren’t intended to exist without audience participation, and that’s difficult when the performance starts out as a recording. That’s one of the specific conditions of your OP.

You already got one predictable vote.

I don't think that's what she's talking about. I don't think it's possible simply because there is a fundamental flaw to the medium. Theoretically, events such as Burning Man are perpetuated through a lens - as in the performances are transitory but the representation of these performances persist through the perspective of the attendees either through a photographic or videographic lens. There is separation between those lenses and the performers that is typically filled by other attendees, the natural setting, or even other performances in the periphery. In a virtual space, the lens is explicitly the domain of the performer instead of the audience and there is, consequently no separation. Furthermore, there is the issue of the inherent permanence of everything that exists on the internet; even assuming a recording of the event is saved by the virtual attendee, thus becoming the property (not in the legal sense) of his or her perspective, and promptly deleted from the performers space, the recoding continues to exist in near perpetuity in some form devoid of any additional lens space.

Do I have COVID?

That's why Mix is the storyteller for our times....

Funny, but Manchin caucusing with the GOP is also highly unlikely because the GOP isn't interested in anything that benefits Manchin's core voting block. He's just going to get replaced by a Republican.

This. The suggestion that Manchin is fucking up has nothing to do with him not bending to the knee of progressives, though the progressives are predictable the most flustered by him. Everyone knew from the beginning he was a blue dog and what Poof says is the reason why: it's a blue collar constituency that is transitioning out of an industry that has been dying a slow death for a very long time. Like most rural places, it's going to lean toward strong social conservatives, and, at the same time, its industrially based economy necessitates a more pragmatic slant when it comes to issues with economic reform. As such, West Virginians might be big on tax reform and subsidies (particularly the redevelopment type), but they also are dependent on entitlement progams and have a special interest in labor reform, hallmarks of communities with large working middle class and both big priorities for Democrats. Naturally, Manchin understands this more than anyone because of his close personal ties to the coal industry, and it does put him in a very tenuous position. The problem is that the BBA is a huge opportunity to deliver on the latter for Manchin's voters. Talking about things like long term inflation are important, but they also typically hit like a dull thud to voters who are struggling to get jobs and are already in need of assistance to survive. The fact he chose to bring up inflation as an issue about the size of the bill is not going to win him support of those blue collar voters, nor is his conspicuous silence on what to do about the expiring coal subsidies. More important than that is that he didn't use his position of power to offer his own alternative to the BBA that specifically addressed his voters' concerns. All he did was act as a check for other people's agendas. It's a whole lot of "No, we can't do that," and practically none of "We need to do this instead."

Fuck that. He’ll meet Brady and an hour later he’ll be his personal banker.

Ok, so what evidence of it do we have? I didn’t see any Republicans acknowledging any conversations. To be fair, I wouldn’t expect them to because they’re not interested in anything other than stymying legislation drafted by the other party. But I also don’t see reports of him or Sinema holding meetings with more moderate members of the GOP. I was being tongue-in-cheek with the clock comment, but I stand by it. Manchin’s days as a sitting senator have a definite expiration now. No Democrat can likely challenge him, of course, but the GOP will. He’s got almost nothing to show for the outsized influence he wielded this session, and that gives the Republicans more than enough opening with a candidate that’s more in line with WV’s strong conservative leaning.

See, the only lyrics that stand for me in that song are him the " You lied to me," In the refrain. Which, it's also usually no help.

I did my patriotic duty.

He's been anything other than clear, but that's beside the point. Manchin exists solely to be a Democtratic vote, and that's anathemic to the role he's attempted to carve out for himself in the majority. If he's so concerned with getting consensus from moderates on the other side of the aisle, why isn't he the one leading the charge to get them? The same goes for Sinema. They're great espousing ideals for moderation, but neither has done any of the work or, at the very least, had anything to show for whatever effort they might have made. Whatever you might feel about his principles, he's objectively an ineffective Senator and the end result is that he's going to lose a reelection. That's what I mean by "running out the clock." He got to be in his position as centrist because of the potential he had for bridging a gap between parties, and, when the time came for him to realize that potential, he ended up doing nothing. Progressives would likely be unhappy with him no matter what he does, but now the blue collar people that got him to where he's at are going to be unhappy with him too and Republicans are happy enough to put their own "moderate" candidate who says the right things and voted up and down party lines.

Manchin's problem is he's a centrist just to be a centrist. He has no real leverage in the Senate: he's not wanted by the GOP, he has no ideological connection to the party he's in, the Democrats, and he has absolutely no acumen for deal making. He and Sinema are fucking useless twits who offer nothing other than a vote. The democrats have worked with centrists before, and sometimes they have success. The likes of Susan Collins have at least some ability to negotiate behind closed doors with both parties and, while working with them can be problematic, at least they have enough skill to keep conversations open to both paths. Manchin has done absolutely nothing other than string Democrats far enough along that he can effectively squelch the BBA because it's bad for his coal business. He hasn't reached out to any Republicans, he hasn't offered a constructive counter proposal to the Democrats that would at least give them a framework. He's even ignored his supposed constituents in the coal miner's union. For all intents and purposes, Manchin is running out the clock on his political career.

I wouldn't want to meet J K Rowling because I just know RAC_G is going to show up on her scooter with a sledgehammer.

That's got a catchy beat.

You are lying.

How much does it suck that the GOP doesn't want Manchin either?