The one entertaining thing about the impeachment farce is watching the Banana Republicans twisting their reasoning into pretzels.
Needfuldoer
One question that needs to be asked of Senate Republicans: “Would you have let Obama get away with this?” They were salivating over getting the previous administration on anything; if they could’ve impeached over the mustard thing, they would have.
Listening to the likes of Kenn Starr come out of the woodwork was laughable, just add him to the list of people who pulled a 180 since the Clinton impeachment. (For those of you too young to remember, TL;DR: the whole investigation was about an alleged real estate scheme, but when that proved fruitless they kept poking until they caught wind of his adultery. His testimony denying the affair was the “gotcha” moment they were dreaming of. For bonus points, read comments by Senators McConnel and Graham, or any of the others who have been in office since then.)
He Who Abides
Schiff actually brought that up, after Dershowitz made his case that reelection justifies anything. I was proud to hear it.
Deanatay
Unfortunately, this has now become a part of our electoral process. The instant any President takes office, the other side immediately will start up the impeachment engine. The other side is literally evil, and must be stopped at all costs, no matter what the damage to our nation’s integrity.
Geneseepaws
We have met the enemy, and they is us.
CJ
Well, my outsider perspective is that the Republicans actually do it all the time. the Democrats wait until the president did some things that are actually good reasons to impeach him.
If comitting adultery was a reason for impeachment, Trump would have to be impeached several times over. And probably every other President the US ever had, too.
Needfuldoer
“Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line”, as the old saw goes.
The Bothsides disease, in which our media betters tell us the Rs and the Ds do the same bad things with the same baseless motivation, covers up a lot of right-wing crap.
R_r
Clinton wasn’t impeached for adultery, he was impeached for a perjury trap constructed around the opportunity of his adultery. And enough Republican Senators broke ranks that it was understood that nothing of the sort would ever lead to impeachment again by the Republicans.
You have based an “all the time” generalization off of a single occurrence.
MutantSentry
Trying to decide if we have reached the Gracchi Brothers/Marius v Sulla period of the collapse of the Roman Republic yet. Once armed factions start battling it out we will have hit the First Triumverate period…
This is from the summary of Mike Duncan’s The Storm Before The Storm:
“…rising economic inequality disrupted traditional ways of life, endemic social and ethnic prejudice led to clashes over citizenship and voting rights, and rampant corruption and ruthless ambition sparked violent political clashes that cracked the once indestructible foundations of the Republic.”
That is talking about Rome in the generation or two before Julius Caesar…
sounds familiar though doesn’t it.
Yeah. They taught us about the fall of Rome from the Gracchi to Nero in high school. It was meant to be a warning, but it seems that some people took it as a playbook.
Agemegos
They taught us about the decline of the Roman Republic from the Gracchi to Nero in Ancient History in high school. I always thought it was supposed to be a warning, but it seems that some other people took it for a play book.
The thing about Caesar being immune from prosecution until he left office was a zinger.
3oranges
The Democrats waited a long time to impeach Trump, overlooking one offense after another until there was one that was actually going to impact the election. They never ended up impeaching George W. Bush at all.
I wish both sides were willing to hold the other accountable for misdeeds, but that is not what you see here.
Kensou
I experience a sort of entertainment, imagining what it’ll be like when a Democrat is elected President again… but it’s tied up with imagining applying a wiffle bat to their heads for the inevitable Republican hypocricy.
StClair
at this rate, “if”.
Kensou
Ugh, I can’t allow myself to believe that, I have enough despair about the future as it is.
R_r
Dershowitz, who made the argument in question, is,and always has been,a Democrat. He campaigned for Hillary in 2016, and if the impeachment ends in time to allow it without professional conflict, will campaign fod whoever the Democratic nominee is this election. I happen to think his legal argument is incorrect, but he believes it for nonpartisan reasons.
Aw, Becks, it’s never gonna be easy to be proud of moments where you had to compromise on principles, but regardless, I’m sure Leslie will be proud you’re surviving.
Leslie: I’ll be very proud of you as long as Robin isn’t elected and makes an amendment that I have to be her slave. Because there’s a non-zero % possibility of that.
Huh.
I wasn’t familiar with either term.
When I googled “gig economy” a very concise definition popped up. I was like “oh, a thing that describes my career. Neat?”
However, since Willis said “see also” I tried googling “Roadside Economy”
Nothing came up. Or, rather, stuff about roads and roadside eateries which did not seem to track.
That or a Roadside Economy somehow involves Roadblock from GI Joe?
I think it’s a reference to the newspaper comic strip “For Better or For Worse.”
Once a teenager in the strip described another teenager as “She’s a gig. She’s roadside,” meaning she’d had more than one sexual partner. A lot of people on the Comics Curmudgeon blog made fun of this supposed teen slang, saying that the author, a Boomer-aged woman, had probably made it up.
It’s… complicated. The gig economy describes how a fairly bulky percentage of the population makes their money these days. When the term was first coined, it was hailed as a new era of people taking control of their destinies by hustling. And now the backlash has begun as gigs tend to be organized by “disruptive” tech companies that are allegedly (I don’t know enough to take sides here) exploiting workers by using the gig economy as a cover for not providing benefits or following other workplace regulations.
You can find a few dozen thinkpieces from plenty of perspectives if you poke around enough, and I suspect it matters a lot whether your gigs are stuff like writing articles versus making deliveries. Couldn’t explain why; I have a salary and no relevant insight.
LeslieBean4shizzle
… yes. I said that googling “gig economy” immediately returned a definition that I instantly recognized as a description of “being a college professor these days”. Aka – contract work, no benefits, no job security beyond a few months.
It was “roadside economy” that I could find nothing on.
Apparently because it was a joke about the comic “For Better or For Worse”?
begbert2
I think that “gig economy” actually implies no job security beyond a few hours – that’s the “gig” part of it, that it’s all going from one job to another to another with no assurance whatsoever that there’s going to be another after that, but with a decent probability of it because there are so many people that might be looking for what you’re peddling. It’s more comparable to booking your bar band out to do performances – each gig is separate and there are no promises about getting another, though of course “wanting a ride” or “needing a hotel” are far more common needs than “wanting live background music”, so you’re more likely to be okay as long of the supply of drivers/airb’n’bers is below saturation.
And, of course, being totally unregulated (often via borderline or outright breaking of the law) is also a characteristic of the gig economy, because the gig economy probably wouldn’t be profitable enough to be a “thing” otherwise.
Aren’t all political consultants in the gig economy? Campaigns are long-term gigs, but they’re only good for several months, tops. Then you go looking for the next one.
The “gig economy” isn’t inherently bad. In fact, a lot of it’s been pretty high end for most of the modern past. Freelance writing, consulting, etc.
The recent shift has been shifting it back down to low end jobs and using that to avoid treating workers as legal employees – especially when you’re treating them as such in every other way.
I know that the buffer is queued until Doomsday, and therefore that Willis cannot be psyched.
Willis has a divine plan, in which our suffering is a necessary part of the glorious whole. Nothing can be changed from its fore-destined path, even if we really, really want to win a football game. Or a bet.
Reltzik
Doomsday is April 21st of this year?
…. eh, it’s more accurate than what Harold Camping predicted.
Yumi
Thank god.
Agemegos
Doomsday keeps getting postponed. Hadn’t you noticed?
It’s okay to be gay and make mistakes, Becky. What is not okay is to steal government money and help right wingers.
I don’t care what Dina thinks. If she wants a dinosaur, she could have stolen it from a store. Being a thief is more dignified than helping Republicans.
137 thoughts on “Gig”
Ana Chronistic
“well, I mean if you’re talking federal grift, hard to beat the toddler in chief”
Agemegos
Haven’t you heard? Anything that a politician does with the aim of getting elected is inherently in the public interest.
Wizard
The one entertaining thing about the impeachment farce is watching the Banana Republicans twisting their reasoning into pretzels.
Needfuldoer
One question that needs to be asked of Senate Republicans: “Would you have let Obama get away with this?” They were salivating over getting the previous administration on anything; if they could’ve impeached over the mustard thing, they would have.
Listening to the likes of Kenn Starr come out of the woodwork was laughable, just add him to the list of people who pulled a 180 since the Clinton impeachment. (For those of you too young to remember, TL;DR: the whole investigation was about an alleged real estate scheme, but when that proved fruitless they kept poking until they caught wind of his adultery. His testimony denying the affair was the “gotcha” moment they were dreaming of. For bonus points, read comments by Senators McConnel and Graham, or any of the others who have been in office since then.)
He Who Abides
Schiff actually brought that up, after Dershowitz made his case that reelection justifies anything. I was proud to hear it.
Deanatay
Unfortunately, this has now become a part of our electoral process. The instant any President takes office, the other side immediately will start up the impeachment engine. The other side is literally evil, and must be stopped at all costs, no matter what the damage to our nation’s integrity.
Geneseepaws
We have met the enemy, and they is us.
CJ
Well, my outsider perspective is that the Republicans actually do it all the time. the Democrats wait until the president did some things that are actually good reasons to impeach him.
If comitting adultery was a reason for impeachment, Trump would have to be impeached several times over. And probably every other President the US ever had, too.
Needfuldoer
“Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line”, as the old saw goes.
DarkoNeko
the “every side does it the same” argument seems to be something USA republicans love to say to justify stuff.
thejeff
Sadly, it seems to be something the US media does to avoid being considered “too liberal”. Or nowadays “fake news”.
Of course, it doesn’t work.
ValdVin
Your outside perspective is correct.
The Bothsides disease, in which our media betters tell us the Rs and the Ds do the same bad things with the same baseless motivation, covers up a lot of right-wing crap.
R_r
Clinton wasn’t impeached for adultery, he was impeached for a perjury trap constructed around the opportunity of his adultery. And enough Republican Senators broke ranks that it was understood that nothing of the sort would ever lead to impeachment again by the Republicans.
You have based an “all the time” generalization off of a single occurrence.
MutantSentry
Trying to decide if we have reached the Gracchi Brothers/Marius v Sulla period of the collapse of the Roman Republic yet. Once armed factions start battling it out we will have hit the First Triumverate period…
This is from the summary of Mike Duncan’s The Storm Before The Storm:
“…rising economic inequality disrupted traditional ways of life, endemic social and ethnic prejudice led to clashes over citizenship and voting rights, and rampant corruption and ruthless ambition sparked violent political clashes that cracked the once indestructible foundations of the Republic.”
That is talking about Rome in the generation or two before Julius Caesar…
sounds familiar though doesn’t it.
https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Before-Beginning-Roman-Republic/dp/1610397215
Jhon
+1 upvote.
Agemegos
Yeah. They taught us about the fall of Rome from the Gracchi to Nero in high school. It was meant to be a warning, but it seems that some people took it as a playbook.
Agemegos
They taught us about the decline of the Roman Republic from the Gracchi to Nero in Ancient History in high school. I always thought it was supposed to be a warning, but it seems that some other people took it for a play book.
The thing about Caesar being immune from prosecution until he left office was a zinger.
3oranges
The Democrats waited a long time to impeach Trump, overlooking one offense after another until there was one that was actually going to impact the election. They never ended up impeaching George W. Bush at all.
I wish both sides were willing to hold the other accountable for misdeeds, but that is not what you see here.
Kensou
I experience a sort of entertainment, imagining what it’ll be like when a Democrat is elected President again… but it’s tied up with imagining applying a wiffle bat to their heads for the inevitable Republican hypocricy.
StClair
at this rate, “if”.
Kensou
Ugh, I can’t allow myself to believe that, I have enough despair about the future as it is.
R_r
Dershowitz, who made the argument in question, is,and always has been,a Democrat. He campaigned for Hillary in 2016, and if the impeachment ends in time to allow it without professional conflict, will campaign fod whoever the Democratic nominee is this election. I happen to think his legal argument is incorrect, but he believes it for nonpartisan reasons.
Doctor_Who
Leslie: Hmm, depends. How much space in the apartment?
Becky: Thousand square feet, I’d say.
Leslie: Central heating? Good Wifi?
Becky: Yup.
Leslie: What streaming services did Robin provide?
Becky: Netflix and Amazon. No Disney+.
Leslie: You bring shame upon this house.
King Daniel
Robin loves Attack of the Clones, so she probably does have Disney+.
Robert Rence
She has it, she just doesn’t know how to stream it:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/clingyweirdos/
Doctor_Who
She’d pay every month, $70 a year, just to have access to one eighteen year old movie?
What is she, a politician?
DarkoNeko
yes
CFB
What do you mean eighteen year old movie? Attack of The Clones was released… Oh, I feel old(er) now.
BBCC
Aw, Becks, it’s never gonna be easy to be proud of moments where you had to compromise on principles, but regardless, I’m sure Leslie will be proud you’re surviving.
Charles Phipps
Leslie: I’ll be very proud of you as long as Robin isn’t elected and makes an amendment that I have to be her slave. Because there’s a non-zero % possibility of that.
Dean
Robin is currently drafting the Slave Leia Bikini Act.
Freemage
And suddenly, I’m conflicted….
Charles Phipps
*Leslie strangles Robin on her sail barge*
thejeff
That “you’re kind of crushing it” panel looks pretty proud to me.
Jhon
Hugz in 3.. 2.. 1..
PHNX
I dunno…
Panel 5 looks pretty “I’m proud’a ya, kid” to me!
Chaucer59
Yep
woobie
That’s what I was going to say!
Keulen
It definitely does to me as well.
Clif
Yeah, it was the cue for Becky to slip back into the bit.
Z
My firs thought. Leslie looks hella proud of Becky and also touched that Becky came back.
Stephen Bierce
Well BANG BANG BANG!–and down you go
It’s Just A Job I do…
Opus the Poet
Nice Phil Collins reference there.
Joe Covenant
Nooooo….
“Genesis” reference!
(Yes there IS a difference, dammit!!!! 🙂 )
Liquid Len
Very much so!
Stephen Bierce
Hey, it confused me too, but that back-and-forth between Rutherford and Banks really makes the song.
Claire
Lol deep for better or for worse reference there
Robbie
Aww, baby 🙁
Deathjavu
Don’t be silly, Becky, gig economy companies aren’t federal level grifts.
They’re international
LeslieBean4shizzle
Huh.
I wasn’t familiar with either term.
When I googled “gig economy” a very concise definition popped up. I was like “oh, a thing that describes my career. Neat?”
However, since Willis said “see also” I tried googling “Roadside Economy”
Nothing came up. Or, rather, stuff about roads and roadside eateries which did not seem to track.
That or a Roadside Economy somehow involves Roadblock from GI Joe?
a/snow/mous/e
I’m guessing roadside economy is living on the streets.
Norah
I think it’s a reference to the newspaper comic strip “For Better or For Worse.”
Once a teenager in the strip described another teenager as “She’s a gig. She’s roadside,” meaning she’d had more than one sexual partner. A lot of people on the Comics Curmudgeon blog made fun of this supposed teen slang, saying that the author, a Boomer-aged woman, had probably made it up.
3oranges
https://joshreads.com/2005/01/best-ifor-better-or-for-worsei-ever/ if anyone is curious. (Pretty sure it’s not Canadian slang either.)
BBCC
If it is, I’ve never heard of it.
Roborat
Albertan here, and I have never heard that slang either.
Jamie
It’s… complicated. The gig economy describes how a fairly bulky percentage of the population makes their money these days. When the term was first coined, it was hailed as a new era of people taking control of their destinies by hustling. And now the backlash has begun as gigs tend to be organized by “disruptive” tech companies that are allegedly (I don’t know enough to take sides here) exploiting workers by using the gig economy as a cover for not providing benefits or following other workplace regulations.
You can find a few dozen thinkpieces from plenty of perspectives if you poke around enough, and I suspect it matters a lot whether your gigs are stuff like writing articles versus making deliveries. Couldn’t explain why; I have a salary and no relevant insight.
LeslieBean4shizzle
… yes. I said that googling “gig economy” immediately returned a definition that I instantly recognized as a description of “being a college professor these days”. Aka – contract work, no benefits, no job security beyond a few months.
It was “roadside economy” that I could find nothing on.
Apparently because it was a joke about the comic “For Better or For Worse”?
begbert2
I think that “gig economy” actually implies no job security beyond a few hours – that’s the “gig” part of it, that it’s all going from one job to another to another with no assurance whatsoever that there’s going to be another after that, but with a decent probability of it because there are so many people that might be looking for what you’re peddling. It’s more comparable to booking your bar band out to do performances – each gig is separate and there are no promises about getting another, though of course “wanting a ride” or “needing a hotel” are far more common needs than “wanting live background music”, so you’re more likely to be okay as long of the supply of drivers/airb’n’bers is below saturation.
And, of course, being totally unregulated (often via borderline or outright breaking of the law) is also a characteristic of the gig economy, because the gig economy probably wouldn’t be profitable enough to be a “thing” otherwise.
McBogue
Ah, yes. The Gig Economy – because “gigs” have kept so many musicians and actors financially stable all these years.
/eyeroll
Charlie Spencer
Aren’t all political consultants in the gig economy? Campaigns are long-term gigs, but they’re only good for several months, tops. Then you go looking for the next one.
thejeff
The “gig economy” isn’t inherently bad. In fact, a lot of it’s been pretty high end for most of the modern past. Freelance writing, consulting, etc.
The recent shift has been shifting it back down to low end jobs and using that to avoid treating workers as legal employees – especially when you’re treating them as such in every other way.
Suet
Les hasta be proud. Gotta stick together through the thick and thin.
Roadside economy, however, is a tossup and mostly involves trucks
Agemegos
It’s the 31st of January! [i]The Order of the Stick[/i] resumes updating this coming Monday!
If Mike can just keep his head down for three more days I win my bet!
Yumi
Oh shit, are you trying to reverse psych Willis? Or maybe reverse-reverse psych them?
Agemegos
I know that the buffer is queued until Doomsday, and therefore that Willis cannot be psyched.
Willis has a divine plan, in which our suffering is a necessary part of the glorious whole. Nothing can be changed from its fore-destined path, even if we really, really want to win a football game. Or a bet.
Reltzik
Doomsday is April 21st of this year?
…. eh, it’s more accurate than what Harold Camping predicted.
Yumi
Thank god.
Agemegos
Doomsday keeps getting postponed. Hadn’t you noticed?
PB
… That was … oddly poetic. 😀
Agemegos
I hear that the EU is demanding a single standard connector for recharging devices. I’ll have to have a word to them about text mark-up.
Clif
Snerk.
abysswatcher1993
It’s okay to be gay and make mistakes, Becky. What is not okay is to steal government money and help right wingers.
I don’t care what Dina thinks. If she wants a dinosaur, she could have stolen it from a store. Being a thief is more dignified than helping Republicans.