November 2, 2020

Me, I don't even answer the phone if I don't recognize the number, but my husband is answering calls now in the hope that it's a Biden phone bank person.

I thought it was quite something that he talked to a phonebank woman for 21 minutes yesterday, and then just now, he talked to a different phonebank women for 42 minutes — only ending the call when she said she had to go.

99 comments:

Big Mike said...

@Meade, smart man. That’s 63 minutes a Biden phone bank person is not talking to a low information, persuadable voter. Good man!

But I intend to continue screening my calls.

WisRich said...

Heh, Meade, doing his part to tie up Dem resources.

Yancey Ward said...

Meade is going to get his ass investigated for campaign interference by the FBI if Biden wins tomorrow. He was literally harassing Biden Campaign staff, and figuratively trying to run them off the road.

Achilles said...

We are trying to get through to them.

We want this to be peaceful. We desperately want to go back to our lives and live in freedom and peace.

But we will not let them take our freedom.

Please for the love of god do everything you can to defeat these violent shitheads and their corrupt figure head.

We will not judge cowards more favorably than the red shirts we are fighting.

Kay said...

I don’t answer calls when I don’t recognize the number either. I do get a lot of political text messages and they always make me so furious. Something about them feels so invasive.

Yancey Ward said...

I have several questions about Meade, by the way:

(1) Does he drink 190 proof Vodka by the case?
(2) Does he like to ride horses while not wearing a shirt?
(3) Does he ever, accidentally, let slip a nyet when answering, "No?"

tim in vermont said...

“So what are you wearing, phone bank person?”

MikeR said...

But what could they possibly be saying? How do you convince people to go to the polls for Joe Biden - when he himself will probably not leave his basement to vote?

BarrySanders20 said...

Someone named Santiago and some other person named Andreas must have had my cell number in the past. I have received numerous texts and recently, calls, for one or the other urging me to register, and then urging me to vote for Biden. I responded STOP the first 5 or so until it was clear they would not STOP. So I responded to the text asking:

"Andreas, can we count on you as a vote for Biden?"
My (Andreas') response: "No. He is senile and corrupt and has bad judgment."
"May I ask who you do support?"
"You may ask, but it is none of your business."

Brent said...

And . . . . ?

NCMoss said...

These are the blogposts that make Althouse great!

robother said...

Your blog brand is cruel neutrality. Someone's gotta put the cruel in "cruel neutrality"

Tyrone Slothrop said...

He said it was Jake from State Farm.

Unknown said...

Nice work by the Meade household, tying up the Dem phone lines.

tcrosse said...

I do not know the number but I know who placed the call
'Cause my uncle took the message and he wrote it on the wall.

pacwest said...

Love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation. I used to enjoy the phone calls from the "You've probably just won a new 47" TV if you buy our product" scammers. That's entertainment! But I have to admit I couldn't keep them on the line for 40 mins. Good job Meade.

JoyD said...

People like that need something more important to do with their lives.

Freeman Hunt said...

Meade, what do you talk about with them?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

LOL. The time spent with Meade is NOT time she spends “reaching” Biden voters. It is a subtle subterfuge. It also shows how thoroughly unprofessional Bidenharris’s GOTV effort is that two as in MORE THAN ONE operative wasted so much time instead of recognizing a time-suck, politely disengaging and getting on with the fucking mission of reaching out to voters. Like I said in another thread the epitaph for Biden’s campaign is Too Little Too Late.

Omaha1 said...

He is a brave man! I try also to engage with my political opponents in a reasonable and measured way. It doesn't always have an effect but I guess it can't hurt.

Curious George said...

Please tell me that he was just jerkin' them around.

Marshall Rose said...

I used to do the same, keep em on the line so that they couldn't call other people.

Earlier in the year I would profess support for Bernie as I so wanted a Trump v Bernie showdown so that this country would be forced to decide between free markets or socialism.

This fall though I'm no longer answering them. I'm not a shy Trump voter, I discuss it face to face with non-rabid partisans, but I won't contribute to propaganda polls anymore.

wild chicken said...

Oh, it's fun to take those calls to jack with their minds or find out what they're up to. I don't see why everyone's so negative about calls.

It's like don't call, don't dare knock, just don't send mail, if you're a stranger.

It's a cold new world we're in. I remember a better place.

Amadeus 48 said...

Meade is the one!

I have never understood guys that did this (there is a real comparative value of time issue here), but Godspeed, Meade. This is definitely a tactical approach.

You and Althouse are quite a pair.

Chuck said...

So much for the "shy" Trump supporter who will not answer the phone or talk to pollsters or otherwise admit to anything.

The outest, proudest political fans whom I know of now, are my Republican friends who remain Trump fans. They are like Jimmy Buffet fans, only with a Trump ideology. T-shirts, hats, flags, bumper stickers, yard signs. All sorts of fan paraphernalia. They love it. Like a party. Literally, a political party. Boats, RV's, trucks; all dressed up for Trump season.

Greybeard said...

Don Quixote.

Tom C said...

Our house is the opposite: I never answer the landline; my wife always does.

stevew said...

Incorrigible. Dare I say, deplorable?

Quite amusing though. I will occasionally answer calls from callers I don't know in the hopes of getting a telemarketer. I've been selling for a long time and have fun listening to and critique their pitch. Not like what's his name did in that boiler room movie, much more friendly.

Bill Peschel said...

I've recently taken to telling Democratic Party reps that we have no intention of voting for a D ever again. It's taken me this long to do so without my blood pressure going through the roof. I've found channeling Nero Wolfe helps.

I'm tired of this nonsense. I'm going against my natural inclination, and it causes great stress (I have to have a sit down with a cup of tea), but more and more I'm resisting.

Temujin said...

Meade, Time Sucker. Saving the world, by keeping Biden phone bank people occupied one caller at a time.

You will be remembered, Meade.

Russ said...

Care to share what the conversation topics are?

Strategizing?

Shooting the shit?

Or the purpose behind talking to them?

Wasting their time?

Making them feel useful?

Keeping them energized?

Bored?

RichardJohnson said...

Brilliant strategy. Instead of quickly announcing your negative opinion of the Biden campaign, resulting in the call being just as quickly terminated, waste their time. That also means that the time you are using to tie up the Biden campaign caller is time that the caller could otherwise have been using to call other potential sources of funds.

Time wasting is one strategy suggested for dealing with telemarketers. Some of the stories are hilarious.

I wish I had done that 2 years ago when a campaign worker for Beto O'Rourke's Senate campaign knocked on my door. Oohing and aahing over Beto's resembling a Kennedy for several minutes could have worked. Then after several minutes of that, compare Beto's drunk driving to that of Ted Kennedy.


Since I got rid of my landline, I have gotten very few spam/telemarketing calls.

Readering said...

Would he have spent an hour with 2 men?

GingerBeer said...

Tiger Woods should have tried that excuse.

NMObjectivist said...

Talking at length to Biden phone bank people keeps them from doing their job which is making lots of calls. So thanks for helping Trump!

Blair said...

Every minute you talk to them is a minute they're not talking to a swing voter. Keep them on as long as possible.

Royal admirer said...

What is his motivation?? Endless ideas..

Nonapod said...

This was something I was pondering when considering polling in modern times. My understanding is that most polling is still done through cold calling land lines. I think that even though most households still have landlines, I suspect that more often than not individual people primarily rely on cell phones for any communicating with friends, family, work associates, and professionals. And when a call does come in on the houses land line, most modern landline phone have caller ID. So when and polling outfit's ID comes up, if someone doesn't feel like talking to a pollster at that moment, either because they just don't have the time and/or motivation or they just don't like or trust pollsters, they obviously won't even pick up.

So when you think about the actual universe of poll respondents in 2020, they'd have to be people who

1.) Have an active land line phone the ringer enabled.
2.) Happen to be available at the time when the call comes in (I presume the most common time for pollsters to call would be the dinner hour to ensure the most responses. But some people may not be thrilled to have their dinner interupted by a call from a pollster)
3.) Actually are willing to pick up for a pollster at all when they see the ID.
4.) Are also willing to be truthful to a pollster.

All of these constraints seem to narrow the universe of potential respondents considerably. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that the likely sample sizes from most modern polls are extremely small and therefore enormously inaccurate.

Bob said...

Is he seeing if some volunteer can change his mind this late in the game? Or does he hope to convert a Biden caller? Either way it seems like a waste of time.

rehajm said...

A shy Trump voter he is not....

gspencer said...

Right, I don't pick up if I don't recognize the number. If they really want me, they'll leave a message.

Richard Aubrey said...

One polling organization said their highest response rate comes from young, educated white women. No idea if the imbalance is corrected for with some kind of stat magic.

mezzrow said...

Respect.

Joe Smith said...

What was she wearing?

Megthered said...

Im just getting text messages from desperate dems. I just tell them "lolgfy"

ASG said...

This is making me rethink responding “nope” to the fellow who just texted me and asked if I’d call voters in swing states for the Democrats.

mockturtle said...

I don't answer the phone, either, if I don't recognized the caller. Having once, about 30 years ago, answered a telephone poll, which included a good number of intrusive questions, I never fell for it again. It's not like they just ask you, "who are you voting for?". IMO, people who participate in polls are gullible sheep EXCEPT FOR YOUR AFOREMENTIONED HUSBAND, OF COURSE!!! ;-)

Ann Althouse said...

"Meade, what do you talk about with them?"

If you listen to the podcast, I answer that question.

I am hearing one end of the conversation .... in amazement.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

11:49 Yancey - LOL. hahahaha

Larry J said...

Kay said...

I don’t answer calls when I don’t recognize the number either. I do get a lot of political text messages and they always make me so furious. Something about them feels so invasive.


They are invasive, that's why I block those numbers along with all of the unknown callers who don't leave a message.

Screw them all.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I have to answer the phone calls even if I don't recognize the number. Our business line "rolls" into the home phone line. So we get both lines at once personal and business.

Often a client will even have an 800 number that they are calling in on. The calls for business can come from anywhere. So I have to answer.

The spoof calls, where they have hijacks a local number that looks legit is annoyingly high. If Google calls one more time to tell me our Google listing is in danger (I don't give a rats ass) or calls that the warranty on our cars is about to expire....(Really. Our 1969 GMC 3/4 ton flat bed still has a warranty) or the police support group wants money ...or...or...or...or... I am going to go POSTAL.

When I can I keep the spammers on line and screw around with them. Usually, my aim is to make them so mad that they will hang up on me.

It is the little things that bring satisfaction. Pissing off a spammer or political caller :-)

Curious George said...

"If you listen to the podcast, I answer that question."

"Tara Reade was digitally raped by Joe Joe Biden."

I think "finger fucked" is less confusing.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

If you have an answering machine, you have to listen to messages, so I don't.

When the phone rings, I pick it up and say "Hello". If nobody says hello back immediately, I hang it up.

If it's a live person that I don't want to talk to, I just hang up after they identify. Yeah, I was raised to be polite, but I got over it in this circumstance.

Francisco D said...

I have been a registered voter since 1972. In that time, I have never received a pollster call nor have I received a phone bank call. Maybe it is because I have been a registered Independent all this time.

Tregonsee said...

Meade has a stronger stomach than I. A few days ago, I was waiting for an important callback from someone for 2+ hours. Not knowing how it would appear on called ID, I had to answer 3 other calls which turned out to be from phone banks. One was on my side, the others not. What a waste of time in all cases.

JRoberts said...

I recently got on a call from someone trying to sell me something and as soon as I answered I asked if they would help me with my sick cat. I started crying that I was all by myself and I needed someone to help me with my sick cat. Would they please help me with my cat?

No matter how they tried to change the topic, I changed it back to my desperate need for help with my sick cat.

After a while I started laughing and hung up.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

So, here's the thing:

I've been looking at GA and NC early vote numbers, because I can get the 2016 demographics / teh 2020 registered voter demographics to compare with the demographics of he people who are early voters.

The 2020 early voters are more white and older than the registered voters, and than the people who voted in 2016 (when the Dems lost both States).

The under 35 turnout sucks in both States. The black turnout is ~10% down from what it was in 2016 / registration values.

When you go door to door, people answer the door if they're home. In this year where there's a LOT of Dem voters who have absentee ballots at home that they have not returned, door walkers could get people to fill them out and put them in their mailbox.

But phone calls? They just get ignored.

We are pretty much guaranteed to get a higher vote total this year than 2016. We're likely to have > 20% more voters this year than 2016.

But what we're NOT seeing are the Democrats "emerging demographic majority" coming out and voting.

So, one of two things is going to happen here:
1: White suburban formerly Republican (but still registered as Republican) voters are going to commit suicide, and flip hard for the Dems
2: The WWC is getting out in droves to vote for Trump and the GOP, and the Democrats are going to get crushed

Tuesday, look for the early vote numbers from FL, NC, and GA. If they're not heavily for Biden, then it's going to be #2

Gallup reported a couple of weeks ago that 62% of Biden supporters, but only 28% of Trump supporters, were planning on voting early

If that number is garbage, then so are all the other poll numbers
If that number is accurate, then either Biden's up at least 60 - 40 in early voting, or else is polling support is garbage

It will take a while to get all the votes counted. But those early vote numbers should give you a metric to measure everything

Final note: If an hour into the election results, the networks are NOT happily comparing Biden's "historically strong early voting results" compared to Hillary in 2016, and showing, with numbers, exactly how much better he's doing than she did, it's over, and you should prepare yourself for 4 more year

Karlito2000 said...

I do the same thing, its great fun. My goal is to always try to make them hang up on me.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

I never pick up when the phone number is supposedly from my same exchange. Only phone number from a person I know with the same exchange is my wife's phone. We have adjacent phone numbers. Any other phone number is being spoofed.

If the caller ID identifies someone/organization I might want to talk to, then I'll pick up. Most of the time, it goes to voicemail. Often enough, the voicemail is spam and can be quickly deleted.

rhhardin said...

Pollsters aren't allowed to hang up, at least if they're doing a legitimate survey. The idea is always to keep them on the line, if you can spare the time. But don't actually answer their questions.

rhhardin said...

My phone doesn't ring at all, so there's no decision involved beyond the one in the 1980s when the computer started answering the phone instead of me, but with a modem handshake.

wild chicken said...

"My understanding is that most polling is still done through cold calling land lines."

We used the voter rolls and there are plenty of cell numbers there.

Very few answer tho. Which is good. I hated when they answered. So someone who does play along has an outsized effect.

Birkel said...

I bet he is cheating on you with Jake, from State Farm.

"What are you wearing, Jake, from State Farm?"

FleetUSA said...

A good tactic would be to say a friend mentioned some guy named Hunter in the Biden camp who had received money from Eastern Europe or China. What's that all about? It sounds serious. Does Biden rub shoulders with Hunter and his type?

Birkel said...

I sure would like some insight into Senator John James.
Can any fake Michigan lawyers provide it?

P.S. Try not to be overly racist in your response.

Gk1 said...

Polling companies are not going to get good data points with relying on getting canvasser to call land lines and cell phones where the response rate is around 2%. Those days of 50% engagement are long gone. They will have to have a giveaway of some sort to juice up engagement. Like registering electronics online, you have to make it super easy and give users a free app or something or else no one will do it.

They may have to have a "cupcake contest" where you can pick your candidate cupcake or something similar.

It remains to be seen if the polls are off but there is a good reason to be suspicious of the current methodology.

Jim at said...

are my Republican friends who remain Trump fans.

Bullshit, Chuck. You have no friends.

Lars Porsena said...

Meade, you magnificent bastard!

Amadeus 48 said...

Here's a tip if you ever pick up a marketing call. Many, many spammers are trying to get your voice saying "yes", or "OK"", or "Yeah". They then clip that and splice it into approving a contract for some product or service you don't want.

Never say any variation of yes to a marketing person you don't know. The classic is the young woman who pretends she is having trouble with her headset and then asks, "Can you hear me OK?"
Don't answer. Hang up.

TJM said...

Is Inga dead?

Eric said...

I've been thinking about the polls. A phone call from a live person is supposedly the gold standard. The percentage of people called who agree to participate has trended down over time. I recently saw something that now only 6% of people cooperate. If that's true, then to get a sample of 600 people they would have to make 10,000 calls. So not only do the polls have to contend with adjusting for selection bias (the 6% may not be reflective of the population) but the amount of time and expense must be extraordinary. Do they really make 10,000 calls?

The polls are worthless. QED

gilbar said...

serious question
who (other than my 82 year old bleeding heart liberal mother) cooperates with phone polls?
i do Not know of Anyone (other than my mom).
My mom has participated in about 9 polls in the last month

DavidUW said...

Greg, that's the case in swing states generally

Just look at turnout from majority minority districts in swing states:

NV: Pick any one of 3 assembly districts in Clark County, all underperforming ballots returned.
PA: Norf Philly. underperforming
WI: Milwaukee norf side, underperforming. (Hilary turning out 100k fewer votes than Obama here is what cost her WI, Slow Joe is doing worse than she did)
MI: Rancid Taliban's district, underperforming (although not as much as the others).
MN: Ilhan Omar's district is outperforming, which is why I don't think MN will flip this time.

I'm curious what I'm missing in MI because I've heard some chatter that Trump is more likely to win MI again that WI.

Anyhow, I'm more confident Trump keeps WI, maybe MI if I'm missing something and if he does, we don't have to wait for 500,000 ballots to be discovered in Philly to throw PA.
still outside chance he flips NV. Doubtful on MN.

Rusty said...

Meade is a hoot.
I bet you were laughing too, Althouse.Blogger TJM said...
Is Inga dead?
Only on the inside.

Narayanan said...

Response most likely to keep Biden phone-bank-person engaged :

Hello, Nice to hear from you. How may I sniff you?

stevew said...

Amadeus 48: great advice, had heard that awhile ago. I never say 'yes' on the phone to someone I don't know.

JaimeRoberto said...

Did you tell them that they have a virus on their Windows computer?

Yancey Ward said...

"What are you wearing, Jake, from State Farm?"

Shorts.

Drago said...

According to the Pennsylvania Attorney General, whatever views you have will be given to you by the democraticals....long before the "official" results are tallied.

Drago said...

LLR-lefty and #WhitmerFanClub Boy Chuck: "The outest, proudest political fans whom I know of now, are my Republican friends who remain Trump fans."

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Alex, I'll take "Non-existent Friends" for $500.

The idea that the now fully marxist aligned and supporting LLR-lefty Chuck has "republican" friends is laughable on its face.

Drago said...

Birkel: "I sure would like some insight into Senator John James.
Can any fake Michigan lawyers provide it"

LLR-lefty Chuck wouldnt be caught dead near John James for all the usual reasons Chuck hates conservatives with the red hot passion of a thousand Joy Behars:

1) He is conservative
2) He is a military veteran with a stellar record
3) He opposes LLR-lefty Chuck's Beloved Magnificent Marxist Democraticals

It goes without saying that LLR-lefty Chuck, who is infamous for his "Department Of Black People" racist slur against Dr Ben Carson, also hates John James for another reason....


....see if you can guess what it is...

I'm Not Sure said...

"Amadeus 48: great advice, had heard that awhile ago. I never say 'yes' on the phone to someone I don't know."

Unfortunately, everybody I might want or need to talk to is not in my contacts list so I answer all calls. Many calls go like this:

Ring...ring...ring...

Me: Hello?
Caller: Am I speaking to I'm Not Sure?
Me: Click.

tim in vermont said...

"A phone call from a live person is supposedly the gold standard.”

Rasmussen says that machines are more accurate because a live person biases the response no matter what.

Guildofcannonballs said...

I get Canadian Pharmacy calls because I bought some pills a decade or more ago.

After 3 or 4 calls a week, I started saying:

Yes awesome you called I want to buy everything you have, everything. 64548512496
646
32164
is my card number expiration 1/11/2021

LETS GO LETS GET IT LETS DO IT C'MON DON'T MESS THIS UP THIS IS THE BIGGEST DAY OF YOUR CAREER PEOPLE WILL TALK ABOUT THIS FOR YEARS C'MON SEND 'EM ALL TO ME I NEED EVERYTHING YOU GOT SEND IT SEND IT SEND IT!!!

DUDE, YOU JUST SOLD ALL YOUR INVENTORY AND EVERYTHING YOU COULD EVER HOPE TO SELL CLOSE IT CLOSE IT YOU WIN AWESOME!!!

IS THIS THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE? I AM BUYING EVERYTHING YOU HAVE TO SELL, IT'S OVER JUST TAKE MY MONEY YOU ARE SOLID GOLD!!!

Otherwise I have the old; "Oh okay, hold on: ...." And they hang up every single time, no exception(s).

Jeff said...

I recently saw something that now only 6% of people cooperate. If that's true, then to get a sample of 600 people they would have to make 10,000 calls. So not only do the polls have to contend with adjusting for selection bias (the 6% may not be reflective of the population) but the amount of time and expense must be extraordinary.
It's worse than that. To adjust for the selection bias they have to also make some numerical assumptions about how the voters who cooperate with pollsters compare with those who don't. But there's no way to know that. They can compare poll results with the elections results and get some idea that way, but not until after the election.

Suppose that everyone votes for either Biden or Trump. Suppose also that Trump voters are only half as likely to answer pollsters' questions as Biden voters are. The pollster calls 10 thousand people and gets 600 of them to participate in the poll. They split 400 to 200 in favor of Biden. If the pollster knows that Trump supporters are only half as likely to participate, he can multiply the Trump votes by 2 to adjust for that, and the adjusted poll is 50 percent for each candidate.

But how can he know that? Maybe Trump voters are only a third as likely to participate as Biden voters. Maybe they're actually 75 percent as likely. If Republican candidates always get twice as many votes in the election as they do in the polls, you can adjust for that. But if Trump is sui generis, we can't. There isn't any good way to know how much his support is understated by the polls until after the election.

bagoh20 said...

If everyone in the media knew Trump was probably going to win, who would still be telling you otherwise?

Chuck said...


Blogger Birkel said...
I sure would like some insight into Senator John James.
Can any fake Michigan lawyers provide it?

P.S. Try not to be overly racist in your response.


He’s a good guy, and a good candidate. I voted for him in 2018. He lost. To the utterly sad-sack Debbie Stabenow. By almost seven points, in a hopeless Blue-wave election.

His dad owns a supply chain company and James went to the largely white suburban Brother Rice High School. Then West Point, then active duty service in Iraq as an Apache pilot. Also went to Ranger school. After two tours of duty, he came back and got a Masters at Penn State and an MBA at Michigan. Then work in his family’s company.

Trump likes James a lot and went out of his way to endorse James in primaries. James is one of those “central casting” black guys for Trump.

James has always trailed in this race. I expect him to lose again. Trump will lose Michigan by such a margin that even if James out-performs Trump (I expect he might), it won’t be enough. Trump is too much of a drag.

Incumbent Senator Gary Peters — a kind of a male Debbie Stabenow — never felt the need to accept James’ challenges for any debates. Peters would be an uninspiring debater; but James isn’t much better on his feet in answering questions.

On my ballot this year, I did not cast a vote for Senate. Gary Peters, like Debbie Stabenow, is a pure waste of space. But James never distanced himself from Trump. At least not to my satisfaction. I don’t think James is showing up at any of Trump’s umpteen Michigan rallies. Please anybody correct me on that if you know better.

Anyway, this is the year that every remnant of Trumpism needs to be hammered. Too bad for John James.

Guildofcannonballs said...

I give Althouse credit* for not answering sales calls or door knocks, knowing she would buy whatever her prog tribe is selling, no matter how anti-God.

Reminds me of:

Normal people blah blah.

Smart people blah blah.

Wise people win by avoiding the blah blah. Opposite of Althouse. Kind discrimination. Kind choice. Kind cornucopia's of love.

Also, Trump is up in Kenosha.

*Credit like John McCain got him some damn old credit too.

roesch/voltaire said...

No matter how hard Mead and the Republicans try to suppress those who would vote, the pathological liar, and con man is on his way out.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Bissage never had the courage to answer any call.
Perhaps we all need to become happy with all we got, better or worse? Gratitude attitude.

God Bless us all, everyone in Meadehouse too.

Narr said...

If any of you know Marcel Griggs, please tell him a lot of people are calling my cell phone asking about him.

This has been going on for years, ever since I got the phone; it slacks off for a few months and then starts again. Lately they have all been intro'd with warnings that the call is being recorded.

I almost never answer my cell phone anyway, even when I know who it is . . . even if I like who it is, often enough. Then, a few more get fumbled by my old fingers, so only a few percent get answered.

I've also cultivated a tone of voice that suggests a Gestapo interrogator pissed off at being interrupted at his workbench . . . That came in handy a few months ago when a snide young man called to ask if I was the Mr. [REDACTED] residing at [REDACTED].

NARR, blocks from home at 0830, with coffee and dog leash in one hand and phone in the
other: OK, tell me who you are first, and why you're asking.

CALLER: I'm Steven Blommafloop [not the actual name used] with S R S. Are you [REDACTED]?

NARR: OK, and what is SRS?

CALLER: We're a pre-legal collection company. Am I speaking to [REDACTED]?

NARR: What if I say yes?

CALLER: Then I can tell you what this is about. Are you [REDACTED]? What I have to say
may keep you from being ripped off!

NARR: I don't think I believe you.

CALLER: I'm trying to help you! Somebody may be using your name to . . .

NARR: I think it's YOU who is trying to rip me off. You. Goodbye!

Narr
OK, it was really, "Goodbye [REDACTED]!"




Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene said...

I got a call from such a "Biden phone bank" person. We conversed about the upcoming election, she asked the occasional question as to motivation, etc. Eventually, she tried to tell me that the reason that she was voting Biden was because of Trump's poor response to the Wuhan flu. At that point-- about the six-minute mark-- I asked her if the call was useful to either party. She asked me if it was for me. I said, "No." We hung up.

historyDoc said...

Can't believe Ann fell for Meade saying its the the "Biden campaign on the line" while he was having phone sex with a 400lb chain-smoking 82 year old grandma with a sexy voice.

The Godfather said...

r/v: "the pathological liar, and con man is on his way out." Yeah, but doesn't he still have all that Ukrainian and Chinese money, so he'll be OK? Or did Hunter stiff him?

mockturtle said...

My voice mail shows as text so I don't have to listen to a message. The transcription can sometimes be cryptic, though. ;-)

Sprezzatura said...

As a thought experiment I like to imagine how my mental state could possibly devolve such that I could be in someone else’s proverbial shoes.

A lot would need to go wrong for a long time for me to Meade.

IMHO.

Butkus51 said...

The vote suppression theme should have the qualifier of....unproven allegations. Find a way.

Bob Loblaw said...

No matter how hard Mead and the Republicans try to suppress those who would vote, the pathological liar, and con man is on his way out.

Oh, just what the world needs. More persecution fantasies from Democrats.

cornroaster said...

I heard of cases where Biden supporters would call in order limited tickets to Trump rallies and then tear them up to keep down Trump crowds. Is this any different?