Who will be Kamala's VP?

[hepcat]

How can you bore a couch?

[Alefroth]

Walz served in the Army National Guard for 24 years as Enlisted. That's going to resonate with a lot of people. (Most politician-veterans went in from college as officers.)

Yeah, made it to Command Sergeant Major.

[hepcat]

Trump called veterans who died in the line of duty losers, so I doubt his supporters will care. Not that there was any chance they were going to jump ship in ANY scenario anyway.

[em2nought]

How can you bore a couch?

I'd assume you'd have to ask JD about that.

[Alefroth]

Walz after signing bill giving free school breakfast and lunches to Minnesota kids, regardless of income. This guy is literally the anti-Vance.

This is the picture that brought Walz to my attention and I've been hooked ever since.

[hepcat]

Meanwhile....




The kid on our left is reaching out and screaming "I just spontaneously learned to talk so I could yell for help!"

[LordMortis]

The screaming baby is totally upstaged by his oompa loompaness. I so can't see anything else that it looks like it was AI generated "Show TFG as an Oompa Loompa holding babies."

[Carpet_pissr]

Comparing Walz to an incredibly beloved comedian in one of his most endearing SNL sketches is probably not the winning formula Ben Shapiro thinks it is.

That was my first thought as well. EASILY one of my top fave SNL running sketches in the history of SNL. Seeing his post only gave me happy thoughts (and a wee bit sad due to CF not being around anymore).

[Carpet_pissr]

Walz is one year older than Harris.

I never would have guessed that.

From appearances only, I would have put him 8-10'ish years older (partly because Harris looks younger than 59).

Yeah, when I found out how old Harris was, I was floored. She looks AMAZING for her age. (and is easy on the eyes to boot).

[Unagi]

Usha had to adopt because she looks like the wrong kind of Ottoman.

Okay, that's a good one -

[Unagi]

Comparing Walz to an incredibly beloved comedian in one of his most endearing SNL sketches is probably not the winning formula Ben Shapiro thinks it is.

That was my first thought as well. EASILY one of my top fave SNL running sketches in the history of SNL. Seeing his post only gave me happy thoughts (and a wee bit sad due to CF not being around anymore).

I had a similar thought... "Oh, you will hope he doesn't win the hearts of America like CF did."

[Skinypupy]

Here is Fox News' big "gotcha" about Tim Walz.

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1820858412852482203

So...he wants everyone to succeed, actually cares about other people, and admitted to a mistake and took ownership of it. THE HORROR!!

I do get how they would view all these things as horrific, given that any sort of empathy, neighborliness, responsibility, and inclusion are entirely foreign concepts to MAGA. I don't see how it would get any normal, non-MAGA person on board though.

[em2nought]

Meanwhile....




The kid on our left is reaching out and screaming "I just spontaneously learned to talk so I could yell for help!"

Those kiddos are just afraid another one of you is gonna take a potshot.

[YellowKing]

Registered Republican shot at him, but you already know that. Don't let facts stand in the way.

[$iljanus]

Meanwhile....




The kid on our left is reaching out and screaming "I just spontaneously learned to talk so I could yell for help!"

Why does Trump look like he's kidnapping babies?

[Jaymann]

Meanwhile....




The kid on our left is reaching out and screaming "I just spontaneously learned to talk so I could yell for help!"

Why does Trump look like he's kidnapping babies?

Or he has just been pooped on.

[The Meal]

Meanwhile....




The kid on our left is reaching out and screaming "I just spontaneously learned to talk so I could yell for help!"

Why does Trump look like he's kidnapping babies?

Off to Epstein Island.

[LordMortis]

Registered Republican shot at him, but you already know that. Don't let facts stand in the way.

Don't forget known by people who knew him to hold politically "conservative" views.

[ImLawBoy]

Here is Fox News' big "gotcha" about Tim Walz.

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1820858412852482203

So...he wants everyone to succeed, actually cares about other people, and admitted to a mistake and took ownership of it. THE HORROR!!

I do get how they would view all these things as horrific, given that any sort of empathy, neighborliness, responsibility, and inclusion are entirely foreign concepts to MAGA. I don't see how it would get any normal, non-MAGA person on board though.

That really is pathetic. Saying that border walls can always be defeated equals open borders. Saying that one person's socialism is another person's neighborliness is endorsing socialism. They really have a low opinion of their viewers. (For the record, I share their opinion of their viewers!)

I've been watching some clips of Walz, and he really is an impressive communicator. He's down to earth while still being eloquent, which can be a hard line to straddle. (See W for down to earth without the eloquence. See some of Obama for eloquent without being down to earth - although I think he got better at that and is pretty darn good at it now.) He delivers a message well and has an easy sense of humor. I'm liking him a lot right now.

[hepcat]

Meanwhile....




The kid on our left is reaching out and screaming "I just spontaneously learned to talk so I could yell for help!"

Those kiddos are just afraid another one of you is gonna take a potshot.

As YK points out, I'm not a republican.

But I do appreciate that you understand Trump would put a baby in front of a bullet to save his own life.

[$iljanus]

Meanwhile....




The kid on our left is reaching out and screaming "I just spontaneously learned to talk so I could yell for help!"

SWIPER NO SWIPING!

[hepcat]

I had to look that up.

[ImLawBoy]

That's because you're a childless cat man.

[El Guapo]

That's because you're a childless cat man.

Should we still allow hepcat to be on Octopus Overlords? Without children he has no stake in the future of this forum.

[hepcat]

Oh I've got children. Hundreds of them. Sure, they're sock puppets, but I love each and every one of them!

Also, I've never had a stake in this forum. I consider each and every one of you a potential arch nemesis. ...nemesi?

[Skinypupy]

Also, I've never had a stake in this forum. I consider each and every one of you a potential arch nemesis. ...nemesi?

Would you say you have a plethora of nemesi?

[hepcat]

I would if I could spell plethora!

[Zaxxon]

I found this recent interview of Walz to be interesting. Took place before he was picked (as any substantive interview at this point will have been), but I know a lot more about him now...

[hitbyambulance]

(Walz is a native Nebraskan)

[LordMortis]

"Created in the Heritage lab" I like he cut of his jib.

Also, so often I can't get through these things. I can actually listen to this guy... And listening is half the battle... Now if I could just know...

[Unagi]

Also, I've never had a stake in this forum. I consider each and every one of you a potential arch nemesis. ...nemesi?

Would you say you have a plethora of nemesi?

A group of nemesi is known as a wahlberg

[hepcat]

Ah, you have the same version of Websters as I, I see!

[Scraper]

(Walz is a native Nebraskan)

But does he wear eyeliner?

[Kurth]

I've had the business news on ever since the announcement. Normally, they are performing fellatio for the GOP propaganda machine with a bit of news thrown in and I turn it off in disgust. Today, nothing. No politics at all. When it's not mostly business news, it's the Olympics. This seems tacitly a good sign. No fanfare like with Vance but no "ZOMG! WHAT ARE HIS QUALIFICATIONS THE SOCIALIST BASTARD!" They had to have been digging for at least a week to be ready to carry out their orders but today, silence.

And there it goes... Walz is an also ran. Harris didn't choose Shapiro, the real candidate, because she is part of the pro Palestinian extremist faction... It took until 11:00 Eastern. Now how often will this be repeat or will they look for something else to stick?

He's also a convicted drunk driver and a liar.

Walz’s Decades-Old Drunken Driving Arrest Draws New Attention
Tim Walz ultimately pleaded to a reduced charge of reckless driving after the 1995 incident, which his critics resurface to question his fitness to serve.

On the night of Sept. 23, 1995, a 31-year-old Tim Walz was pulled over by a Nebraska state trooper for driving a silver Mazda at 96 miles per hour in a 55 m.p.h. zone. The officer smelled alcohol, and after Mr. Walz failed a field sobriety test and a preliminary breath test, he was arrested and initially charged with speeding and driving while intoxicated.

Defenders of the governor have dismissed the offense as not only minor, but very old — something from nearly three decades ago now. They have also pointed out that George W. Bush had a quarter-century old drunken-driving arrest on his record when he ran successfully for president in 2000, and that Representative Tom Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota who serves as the majority whip, was twice arrested on suspicions of driving drunk as a young man.

Still, part of the anecdote’s staying power might rest in the way Mr. Walz’s story has changed over time.

The arrest first came up in 2006, during his initial run for Congress, when a Republican political researcher noted it on his blog, Minnesota Democrats Exposed.

At the time, Mr. Walz’s campaign blamed the hearing loss that Mr. Walz had from serving in a field artillery unit in the National Guard, saying that his partial deafness led to a miscommunication with the state trooper who pulled him over. (In 2005, he had surgery to mitigate the hearing issue.)

“He couldn’t understand what the officer was saying to him,” Mr. Walz’s campaign manager at the time, Kerry Greeley, told a reporter for The Rochester Post Bulletin, noting that deaf people can have balance issues and claiming that Mr. Walz was not drunk at the time.

But during his first run for governor in 2018, he told The Minneapolis Star Tribune a different story, acknowledging the sobriety issue and explaining he’d been watching college football on that 1995 evening (for the record, in Big 8 football action that day, No. 2 Nebraska beat Pacific 49-7, while No. 3 Texas A&M was upset by No. 7 Colorado).

“You have obligations,” his wife, Gwen Walz, recounted telling him at the time. “You can’t make dumb choices.”

Mr. Walz has said he no longer drinks alcohol, and instead prefers Diet Mountain Dew — the same drink that, curiously enough, is favored by the Republican candidate for vice president, JD Vance.

The arrest made headlines again in 2022, late in Mr. Walz’s bid for a second term as governor, when a digital news outlet in Minnesota procured a transcript of his plea hearing from March 1996. The court record revealed that the governor had a blood alcohol level of 0.128, well over Nebraska’s legal limit of 0.1 at the time (it’s since been reduced to 0.08).

Thanks, NYT!!!

[Unagi]

This 'dirt' may have made a difference in a world where people were drinking clean water, but with the sludge being sold in bottles today - this is like mountain spring water.

[LordMortis]

I wouldn't say minor but is is old and not disqualifying.

Still. It wasn't something I was aware of.

Now, if where going to talk about horrible judgement and running for office that is flat out dangerous and full of hypocrisy...

[El Guapo]

ugh, Diet Mountain Dew?? Is it too late to pull him from the ticket?

[Kurth]

This 'dirt' may have made a difference in a world where people were drinking clean water, but with the sludge being sold in bottles today - this is like mountain spring water.

I feel like this also falls into the category of, "If that's the worst they have . . ."

Not minimizing drunk driving at all, but it's 30 years ago. The changing explanation/story isn't a great look, but it's not like I'm all that concerned that the Trump/Vance ticket is going to be able to mount a successful attack on Walz based on . . . dishonesty.

[El Guapo]

This 'dirt' may have made a difference in a world where people were drinking clean water, but with the sludge being sold in bottles today - this is like mountain spring water.

I feel like this also falls into the category of, "If that's the worst they have . . ."

Not minimizing drunk driving at all, but it's 30 years ago. The changing explanation/story isn't a great look, but it's not like I'm all that concerned that the Trump/Vance ticket is going to be able to mount a successful attack on Walz based on . . . dishonesty.

But have you tasted Diet Mountain Dew, though?

[Jaymann]

Fun fact: Tim Walz is younger than Brad Pitt.