Yesterday, Admiral Mike Rogers, head of the NSA and US Cyber Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Trump hasn’t asked his agency to counter Russian’s interference in the US elections in 2016 and warned that this gives them the all-clear to continue. Via NPR:
The admiral in charge of both the nation’s top electronic spying agency and the Pentagon’s cybersecurity operations would seem a logical point man for countering Russia’s digital intrusions in U.S. election campaigns.
But National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command chief Adm. Michael Rogers told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday there is only so much he can do. That is because, according to Rogers, President Trump has not ordered him to go after the Russian attacks at their origin.
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the committee’s ranking Democrat, asked Rogers, “Have you been directed to do so, given this strategic threat that faces the United States and the significant consequences you recognize already?”
“No, I have not,” Rogers replied.
But the spy chief pushed back on suggestions that he should seek a presidential signoff.
“I am not going to tell the president what he should or should not do,” Rogers said when Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal pressed him on whether Trump should approve that authority.
“I’m an operational commander, not a policymaker,” he added. “That’s the challenge for me as a military commander.”
Rogers agreed with Blumenthal’s estimation that Russian cyber operatives continue to attack the U.S. with impunity and that Washington’s response has fallen short.
“It hasn’t changed the calculus, is my sense,” the spy chief told Blumenthal. “It certainly hasn’t generated the change in behavior that I think we all know we need.”
The only intelligence agency head to be held over from the Obama administration told Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren that he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin has reached a conclusion: There is little price to pay for his actions and they can therefore continue.
That’s a pretty stark warning. If he’s aware of Rogers’ testimony, Twitler has probably ordered minions to fire Rogers and install a Trump guy. Well, Hillary Clinton called his ass out just a short while ago:
I say this as a former Secretary of State and as an American: the Russians are still coming. Our intelligence professionals are imploring Trump to act. Will he continue to ignore & surrender, or protect our country?https://t.co/Z6uaSCgdF6
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 28, 2018
Maybe Clinton’s comment will bring attention to Trump’s inexcusable dereliction of duty and give the issue the wall-to-wall coverage it deserves. Especially if Trump rage-tweets in response.
Trentrunner
Where are the other Dems on this?
Why aren’t we screaming “UnAmerican Traitors!” from the fucking rooftops?
We really could fuck up a ham sandwich.
lollipopguild
trump will continue to be Putin’s Poodle.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
MSNBC has been talking about this a lot, of course right now we’re listening to a sleaze bag who pays porn stars to spank him (among other things) talk about some old preacher man from the sixties whose most important political legacy is a stone racist knockoff.
Hasn’t Rogers already announced his departure?
piratedan
who is she to talk! after all, her e-mails about the classified material that she was sent pretty much revealed that Uranium one was about to be blown wide open by Ambassador Stevens in Libya and as such, she instructed her friends in ISIS to take him out in Benghazi… it all there if you simply connect the dots….. //////////////////////////////
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: You’re right — he’s leaving this spring, and Trump has already nominated someone to replace him, but that person hasn’t been confirmed by the senate yet.
Emma
Fair warning. If anyone starts in with “she should not do that because it’s always a distraction and it just…blah, blah, blah” they are going to see what a woman who just caught the flu from a flu shot can say and do.
Spanky
Will Trump respond to Hillary? Or will he instead take out his frustration by kicking his dog?
Here’s your answer:
donnah
Oh, Betty! Hillary could declare that water is wet, and the internets would explode in indignation. How dare she have an informed opinion and SHARE IT!
Sigh. I wish things were different.
The Moar You Know
We know which. He will choose Russia over America until he’s made to quit.
She needs to goad him into a freakout but I’m not sure she can do that, she’s just too damn professional 24/7. Sure would have made a great president. Poor choice for an opposition goad.
MattF
I’m willing to wager that Trump will never act against Russian meddling in US politics. After all, past Russian meddling succeeded— and Trump is well aware of that. So where’s Trump’s motivation to try to stop it?
The Moar You Know
@Emma: This happened to me every damn year until I quit getting flu shots. I’m very pro-vaccine as a rule but the flu shot is a fucking joke.
Doug R
@piratedan:
You forgot travelling back in time TWICE. Once to plant that Obama birth announcement in the Honolulu newspapers, and once to BEAT Vince Foster to death with the hard drive containing the emails ordering the special forces in BENGHAAAZI to STAND DOWN!
Duane
Trump’s absolute refusal to protect our country from Russian interference is enough to impeach him.
No One of Consequence
Oh, that right there is comedy gold, Betty.
– NOoC
aimai
After everything that has come out recently about facebook and the russian bot targeting of african american voters I have finally understood why a 9 year old african american girl told me, last year, before the election that “hillary did all that cheating and stuff”–i could not figure out where an AA girl in a blue, pro-hillary state, was getting exposed to anti-hillary propaganda but facebook was awash with the stuff.
LAO
I thought Secretary Clinton was off knitting somewhere.
Chyron HR
BREAKING: Levi Sanders calls Clinton out: “Somebody shut that goddamned witch up! She only beat papa because she cheated by getting black votes!”
MobiusKlein
One thing I am unclear on:
How much latitude does the NSA have to set their own priorities regarding which cyber intrusions to thwart?
I don’t need the CEO of (redacted) to tell me to keep our customers data and $ secure.
MattF
@LAO: Sitting quietly next to the guillotine, one can hope.
Amir Khalid
@Spanky:
Isn’t JBS III asking the DoJ’s own IG to carry out the investigation?
The Moar You Know
@Spanky: You gotta wonder what these two idiots have on each other. Trump won’t fire him. Sessions just sits there and takes the abuse. There’s something horrible there that binds them.
Rob in CT
I get why she (and many others) do this, but the “will Trump do the right thing?” question just drives me nuts. No, no he will not. SASQ. I get it, I do, but…
MattF
@MobiusKlein: I suspect you’d have to look at the NSA’s founding documents. Which are highly classified.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Yes. He’s retiring this spring, although I don’t know that a date certain has been announced yet.
rp
@Spanky: He has no idea he’s President. It’s amazing.
Another Scott
Excellent dry humor there, Betty.
;-)
(sigh)
She and her campaign told us this nearly 2 years ago. Warning: Politico from July 2016:
Too few people listened then. I doubt they’ll be listening now.
Grr…
Cheers,
Scott.
PhoenixRising
@aimai: Oh honey, yeah. I knocked on a door to find a registered Dem, renting in Maricopa County, AA woman in her 40s, who told me she wasn’t going to vote because Hillary was racist.
I gave her a look and said, The other guy still thinks the Central Park 5 should be executed even though the DNA proves they were beaten into confessing…you think she’s gonna be WORSE for black folks? Her 9yo daughter came out from the bedroom and basically shamed her into giving me the absentee ballot. Yeah, it was bad.
MattF
@rp: On the contrary, I think Trump knows very well that if the President won’t act, nothing will happen.
feebog
Between this outrage, the failure to impose sanctions imposed by congress, giving away top secret intelligence to Russian officials and generally acting like Putin’s poodle, you might surmise there really are pee pee tapes. And that they are even worse than you imagined.
Rob in CT
@Spanky:
It’s amazing that this is not longer amazing. The President of the United States is ranting on twitter, demanding to know why the AG he picked is doing such and such & calling it disgraceful. The pre-2017 mind, it boggles. Now it’s like, yup, that’s Twitler for ya.
piratedan
@Doug R: she really is a multi-tasker isn’t she… all this and she STILL had time to thwart Bernie Sanders on his ascendancy to the highest office… I’m betting if we check on the Clinton Foundation that they have the property rights to a dormant volcano supervillianess lair somewhere on their books, masterfully disguised as Minority Outreach…..
Spanky
@MobiusKlein: Not much. And remember NSA’s charter is collecting data outside the US. “Thwarting” cyber intrusions probably means working in cyberspace inside and outside the US, and that’s the fuzzy boundary that’s the problem right now.
Spanky
@The Moar You Know: Saruman and Wormtongue?
kindness
Betty with all due respect we still have the same MSM. You know, the same group that thought that Benghazi & Hillary’s email server were more important than a lying con artist. They aren’t going to follow up on anything Hillary says unless it is to attack her.
John
I don’t think you can surrender when you’re part of the offensive.
charluckles
@The Moar You Know:
Don’t get it, if you don’t want it, but please, it’s no joke.
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/news/flu-vaccine-saved-lives.htm
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2017/p0403-flu-vaccine.html
Major Major Major Major
@charluckles: also it’s literally impossible for the flu shot to give you the flu. Some minor flu like symptoms, yes, but if you get the full blown flu right the shot it’s because you caught the flu.
Gin & Tonic
@charluckles: Thank you for that. I was afraid I’d post something intemperate if I tried to respond.
jon
Various Trumpologists have stated that this happened under Obama, so we don’t have to worry about that anymore.
I guess now we don’t have to worry about North Korea and Iran, either. Old news. Nothing to worry about.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@aimai: John Favreau has told the story of meeting one of his fiancee’s old friends, college-educated two-time Obama voter in Ohio, who asked him what he knew about some whack job Clinton fantasy. I think it might have even been about supposed murders.
The Dangerman
@The Moar You Know:
Kouple of Krazy Kids.
Now, pardon my while I try to visualize, say, Jesse Jackson being in the Capital Rotunda after he checks out. Billy Graham may or may not have been a great man, but he has no reason to be there.
tobie
Mike Rogers is a complicated figure. The Obama administration was considering firing him for his incompetence in running the NSA, which under his management was leaking like a sieve. Rogers went around Obama’s back and met with Trump in Trump Tower to ask to keep his job. At that point it would have created a major brouhaha to fire him, but this probably should have been done far sooner. I’ll never forget his and Coates’ testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee where both refused to confirm that Trump had asked them for help stalling the Russia investigation. The word supine doesn’t begin to describe their posture.
Nicole
You can’t get the flu from the flu shot. It’s an inactivated virus. It’s dead. Deader than the parrot in the Monty Python sketch. It has ceased to be.
You can however have already been incubating the flu at the time you got the shot, or catch it before the vaccine has time to take effect (the vaccine needs 1-2 weeks to fully take effect). That is one of the reasons it’s recommended to get the shot as early in flu season as you can. Less chance of already incubating it or catching it before the vaccine takes effect.
You can also get the flu even if you’ve had the vaccine. Usually means symptoms will be less severe, but vaccines are not 100% (however, they are better than not getting vaccinated).
And some folk’s immune systems react more strongly to vaccines and make you feel like crap after getting the vaccine. The typhoid vaccine leaves my injection site in agony for a few days (note to self: plan ahead and get oral vaccine next time I decide to go someplace interesting).
But you cannot get the flu from a flu shot. This has been your daily dose of Nerd Killjoy.
MobiusKlein
@Spanky: So it is one of those grey areas that would benefit from directives from above then.
Which will not come.
Or hope for some freelance group to just do it on the side?
Captain C
@feebog: Pee pee tapes (should they exist) aren’t what Trump and his two-bit crime family have to worry about; that sort of thing is laughable. My guess is a combination of massive money laundering for the Russian mob and oligarchs (among others) and some really awful sex tapes involving a serious felony or three.
El Caganer
I think this statement from Hillary Clinton is perfect – she knows he’ll go ballistic as soon as he sees her name.
Spanky
@MobiusKlein:
Wikileaks is on it !!!111!1!
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
I don’t have a crystal ball, but given the intensity of opposition against the GOP and Trump as shown by special elections this year and last, I don’t think Russian meddling or domestic efforts can overcome the likely wave that’s going to hit this November, not without severe blowback.
Spanky
Why TF is Graham getting the full military honors treatment in the Rotunda?
Paula
Go Hillary!
Fair Economist
@charluckles: My observation is that I often come down with flu symptoms after the flu vaccine, *but* they are substantially milder than with a real flu. My interpretation is that since the flu shot antigens will be similar to flu I’ve had in the past they engender an immune response, which is what actually makes you feel sick with the flu, not the virus’ direct action.
danielx
Which won’t take long, I predict. The idea of that nasty woman saying Trump is neglecting his responsibilities will send him up the wall.
Major Major Major Major
@? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?: like 2016, it’ll bend the curve, though. Just gotta beat it.
@Fair Economist: that is absolutely a thing that can happen. It is also not “getting the flu from a flu shot.”
Emma
@The Moar You Know: I couldn’t avoid it. My system is compromised by the cancer meds and I have been getting all sorts of respiratory infections and colds and God knows what else bad enough that I have literally used up all my leave, both sick and vacation. So, yeah, I will have flu-like symptoms for a couple of days and it makes me cranky as hell, but I’ll deal.
SiubhanDuinne
@Spanky:
Because Congress said so and shut up is why.
divF
@Spanky:
And we all know how that turned out (in the book, not the movie).
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
@Major Major Major Major:
Exactly
Immanentize
@charluckles: Agreed. Flu vaccine has saved tens of thousands of people — especially the elderly.
Bobby Thomson
@The Moar You Know: when it comes to Trump, any woman is a good goad. I’m really surprised he hasn’t taken Duxkworth’s bait yet.
Immanentize
@The Dangerman: My friend and I had a running joke that Bob Hope would end up lying in state in the rotunda. That was a joke. This is farce.
eric
Seventh Seal:
Kelly
As my hair grows thin and gray I spend more and more time pondering the implications of the the simple fact that half of all people are below average.
TenguPhule
The only certainty is that our media is going to have a collective shitfest that Hillary Clinton dared to meddle in politics again despite being a Loser(tm*) who was supposed to go away.
*Does not apply to Republicans because IOIYAR!
Just One More Canuck
@Nicole: thank you for that
eric
@Kelly: well more than half the people are below average!
TenguPhule
@Immanentize:
Worse then Farce. We can’t even piss on the corpse!
TenguPhule
@Nicole:
Unless of course the flu mutates in a different direction then predicted. Then you just suffer like the rest of us and have to deal with the pain of the shot too.
Matt McIrvin
I get the flu shot every year. Often, it gives me a headache for an afternoon and an aching shoulder for about a day or two. But, just speaking anecdotally, it seems to me that I’ve gotten flu-like illnesses much less often since I started getting the shot consistently. Which is not to say they’ve disappeared.
I think it’s possible that some people are prone to get particularly bad flu-like symptoms from the shot. That certainly happens with other vaccines. But I suspect most people who say the shot gave them the flu caught it some other way.
Captain C
@Bobby Thomson: Deep down, he knows that Duckworth could beat the snot out of him, and is much braver than he’s ever been.
Kelly
@eric: and it’s getting worse
Major Major Major Major
@Bobby Thomson: me too.
Kelly
I’ve had a flu shot every year for decades and will always get them. Occasionally I have a sore shoulder for a day or two. I don’t know when I had the flu last but I remember how miserable I was whenever it slipped thru my defenses.
TenguPhule
@Kelly:
Some people just seem to enjoy breathing paint fumes and leaded exhaust. All of them Republicans.
SiubhanDuinne
@Immanentize:
From newly-acquired (within the past 15 minutes) pedantry: If it’s a government official (current or former POTUS, Cabinet official, or Member of Congress) it’s called Lying in State. (Same with SCOTUS Justices, who lie in state at the Supreme Court.) For “civilians” like Billy Graham, Rosa Parks, and the two Capitol police officers who were shot in the line of duty in 1998, the proper term is Lying in Honor.
In all these years, only four individuals have Lain in Honor in the Capitol Rotunda, and only 30 have Lain in State. I wasn’t among Graham’s admirers, but I will admit it’s a whopping great tribute to his influence that he was accorded this honor. It shouldn’t be handed out like Mardi Gras beads.
The Moar You Know
@Spanky: Don’t get me started, that is a goddamn outrage.
schrodingers_cat
Can we stop calling it meddling? Meddling is too cute a word for an attack on our democracy by the Russians and their ally the Republican Party.
TenguPhule
@SiubhanDuinne:
By this standard, Karl Rove is entitled to lie in state too.
TenguPhule
@schrodingers_cat:
We can, but the media won’t.
schrodingers_cat
@TenguPhule: May be not. But we don’t need to echo R allies in the media.
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
@Immanentize:
Why was Bob Hope ever considered funny? Something I’ve always wondered, now that you bring it up.
Major Major Major Major
@SiubhanDuinne:
The best kind!
Kelly
I’m amazed at how gullible my old friends that have gone right wing are. They do not want to check their sources and don’t like it if I try. But they want me to accept their solutions. I also have an old friend that believes in the health effect of crystals and such but she doesn’t try to put doctors and hospitals out of business.
debit
@Trentrunner: You fucked a ham sandwich? That explains so much.
Brachiator
No, this will continue to be ignored. Trump supporters refuse to believe the obvious, that Trump only cares about himself, and maybe Ivanka. And the Republican leadership will continue to provide cover for Trump.
Political meddling seems vague to the masses. And they can also say to themselves, “So what, it didn’t make any difference. Trump is all wise and all powerful.”
And so, the dopes believe what never happened, stuff like millions of illegal immigrants moving like phantoms across the country, and voting for Hillary Clinton. But they will deny, deny, deny the reality of Russian interference.
Welcome to Upside Down Land.
JPL
OT The only think that will stop a bad teacher with a gun is a good teacher with a gun, or something like that
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
@Brachiator:
Those people no longer matter politically, if the landscape is changing like it seems to be.
Jeffro
Someone should ask Trumpov, “If Russia supposedly wanted to help Hillary in the election, not you…then why is she imploring you to act to protect our country from them?”
HEADSPLODE
mad citizen
I want President Clinton installed and operating our Executive branch by year’s end.
Kay
I love how CHEAP they are. They get 132 hours (!) of training and a cut-rate part time security guard for the princely sum of 500 dollars!
They will “give” teachers the opportunity to work 132 hours for free, then they’ll be certified to be free security guards.
None of these lawmakers would EVER do this much work for 500 dollars.
Major Major Major Major
@? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?: they’ll be back to vote for the white rage platform in 2020. They’ll matter politically even if they ‘only’ have the second biggest plurality. Our system has a lot of minority veto points, and our side is not exactly famous for cohesion.
eric
@JPL:this sounds like a bash the teachers union story for the Right.
Kay
Teachers: this is a VERY bad deal Republicans are offering you. For God’s sake at least hold out for more than 500 dollars. That’s a gift card, not a paycheck.
TenguPhule
@Kay:
They’re so cheap that they’re making the teachers buy their own guns and ammunition too.
And forget budgeting for school supplies.
LAO
@JPL: That reminds me of a story that my mother used to tell about a Family Court judge in Westchester County, New York. This particular judge, was very concerned that a sniper could stand on a rooftop of a neighboring building and shoot into his courtroom. As a standing order, all of the curtains of his courtroom were to remain shut. One day, my mother was making an appearance and everything was just going along normally, when the judge suddenly looked up and realized some one had open the curtains of a single window. The Judge, in his panic, thought he saw moment outside the window, He dove under the bench and came up with a hand gun. It was insane.
Although I note for the record, that family court can be a dangerous place. It’s my recollection that family courthouses had metal detectors before criminal courthouses did.
Adam L Silverman
@MobiusKlein: Very little. If we had a declaration of war or an authorization for use of military force against Russia, then ADM Rogers would have a lot of room to maneuver as the geographic combatant command equivalent commander (Cyber Command/CYBERCOM) to take action. We have neither of those. As such he is constrained in what he can do without orders and/or guidance from higher. We have civilian control of the military to prevent the military from freelancing.
As a result he is constrained to the stated mission and mission parameters of both the NSA and CYBERCOM, as well as whatever specific named operations have been previously authorized. That’s it.
MomSense
@LAO: @MattF:
I’m saving a seat for her.
eric
@TenguPhule: do african-american teachers get to carry guns? would any do so in FLORIDA!?
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?:
Unfortunately, we need a majority.
JPL
@eric: Unions, what are unions? This is Georgia!
I wish the media would pick this up to illustrate how ridiculous it is to arm teachers.
TenguPhule
@eric:
Republicans think all teachers are fit white males of impeccable character and steady aim.
Women, elderly and colored folks are just the hired help for the real teachers to do their job. //
SiubhanDuinne
@TenguPhule:
Not my standard. And as I indicated, if it were up to me I would not have selected Graham. It’s up to the Congress of the moment. But I wouldn’t argue with the Rosa Parks choice.
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman:
And now with Donald Trump we don’t even have that anymore.
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
@Major Major Major Major:
True, but it’s fucking Trump. They don’t call him Rage Furby for nothin’. As bad as he’s been, he appears to be the political gift that keeps on giving.
I can’t begin to imagine if he won by the EC again.
LAO
@MomSense: We have to work better on organizing the knitters and crocheters of America. I believe you can be a force for good (also, you make the nicest things).
TenguPhule
@Kay:
Its worse then that.
The money is a little one time deal.
The liabilities will last forever.
Spanky
@JPL:
Fucking active voice! How does it work?
Kay
Republicans will generously “give” teachers mass shooter firefight training, and in return teachers are on call as soldiers the rest of their careers.
Who would turn down THAT deal? Teachers should jump on that limited time offer! 500 BIG ONES.
JPL
@JPL: Zeke Miller just put a tweet out about the shooting
https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/968903097933320194
DALTON, Ga. (AP) — Police in Georgia respond to shots fired at high school and have taken a teacher into custody; no children hurt.
schrodingers_cat
@aimai: Facebook and its mobile child Whatsapp are the tools of the devil.
Brachiator
@? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?:
Trump is still president, and the GOP still controls the Congress. Let’s see what happens at the mid terms.
bemused
@Kelly:
They don’t need no stinkin’ sources! Heck, they and their pals send this junk to each other so it has to be true. No skepticism nor self-protection from being scammed. I read something that sounds off or I don’t recognize/doubt the source, I check around to confirm. I don’t get how they have no cares if true or not.
Read a study recently that said most bot crap and junk news was retweeted and spread by rightwingers which didn’t surprise me at all. Tennessee and Texas, iirc, top offenders.
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
@TenguPhule:
I think it’s safe to say that a lot of this “arm the teachers” bullshit is going to amount to nothing. I’m more worried that schools are going to be turned into prison fortresses that socialize people to accept intrusions into privacy in the name of security.
mr_gravity
@Paula: White evangelical voters for $600 Alex.
MomSense
@JPL:
And this is why my teenager did not like the idea of arming teachers – in addition to all the other horrible reasons why it’s a terrible idea.
Spanky
@mad citizen: And I want a pony.
Kay
@TenguPhule:
It’s an insanely bad offer. I’ll never get over this idea people have that teachers should be volunteers.
Would they offer this to ANY other profession? Will they “give” doctors 132 hours in training in phonics if they’ll jump in with a quick reading lesson after the exam? WTF? How did this get to the floor?
Major Major Major Major
@? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?: I believe Rage Furby refers to Charles Johnson (the bad one).
As for it being Trump… he’s why the white rage vote was ascendant. That wouldn’t have happened with a Jeb!.
ETA to be clear trump is a symptom, not a cause, but he’s what made them as powerful as they are electorally, by playing to them directly.
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?:
Dude, the Florida Republicans are already moving forward on this bullshit.
Texas did this stupid shit last year.
The bullshit is here and its real and it needs to be driven back before it gets even worse.
Frankensteinbeck
I don’t have time to read for another hour, but I DO look forward to being told for the hundredth time that Hillary should shut up and get in the kitchen. Maybe it happened right in this thread!
Jeffro
Breaking: WV teachers just got a 5% raise, will return to work Friday after a ‘cooling off’ day. Hey whaddya know, organized labor works!!
Jay
@The Moar You Know:
My Momma always said, if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.
When I read BG died, I said “nice”.
Kay
@Frankensteinbeck:
Don’t be ridiculous. Clinton will be afforded the same respect that all other losing candidates get- for example, John McCain and Mitt Romney.
Or Paul Ryan.
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
@TenguPhule:
Can’t teachers, students, and parents just tell them to go pound sand?
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?:
I think it was a generational thing… I always wondered, too. When I think of Hope, I picture a guy in a tux telling a stale joke, grinning like it’s the funniest thing, and swinging an imaginary golf club.
Then again, wasn’t the stupid, food-smashing Gallagher pretty lame after about five minutes?
Different tastes.
MomSense
@LAO:
Emma Gonzalez from Parkland is a crocheter! I knew she was awesome. Have you ever checked out Shannon Downey AKA badassCrossStitch on IG? You will love her work.
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
@Major Major Major Major:
Yeah, but my contention is that’s not going to be enough this time around.
Kay
@Jeffro:
The wildest part of that is they aren’t *technically allowed to strike. The key was ALL. They had to ALL go out.
Corner Stone
@Kay:
It’s an insanely bad deal, and just simply insane. Hopefully the teachers will en masse refuse to have anything to do with this. They should be running ads saying R’s can find money for more guns in schools but none for a decent, safe, learning campus with all needed supplies.
TenguPhule
@Kay:
They’re determined to be seen doing something. Regardless of whether or not its helpful.
Telling Republicans “DO SOMETHING” without literally holding a gun to their heads and simple written instructions in front of them is always a recipe for trouble.
Remember, Texas opened the door with their insane “no more gun free zones” and now Florida has decided that somebody needs to hold their beer.
And yes, any teacher who accepts this offer is too stupid to continue teaching.
The money won’t even pay for the gun, ammunition, liability insurance and as soon as something goes wrong you can guess who is going to get the blame and be the only party available to be sued.
Corner Stone
@Jeffro:
As Cole was saying on his twit feed, the deal has to have insurance guarantees or it’s no good.
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?:
This only works for the non-asshole portion of them.
Major Major Major Major
@? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?: it probably won’t be (that’s the view from today at least), but that’s because midterms aren’t presidential elections as much as it’s about anything else.
TenguPhule
@Corner Stone:
So did they get them?
LAO
@MomSense: She is a badass. My badass (maggie_the_peagle) just joined her army, I mean followed her.
ETA: And is there anything young Emma can’t do?
Librarian
@ Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) : Some of his movies from the 40s are actually funny, like the Road pictures, but the older he got, the less funny he was.
Adam L Silverman
@Kay: @TenguPhule:And the teachers have to buy their own guns. Which, if they catch a sale, that $500 will get them something that isn’t a jamomatic, but just barely.
Kay
@TenguPhule:
Why just schools? Let’s deputize all willing takers. We can have a roving, armed security force anyplace where anyone gathers. 500 dollars a pop.
It won’t be me because I’m not spending 132 hours training for an on-call position where I don’t get paid, but maybe they’ll find enough suckers. We can have teacher/snipers and movie theatre concession stand/snipers- the possibilities are endless.
20% of the population.
Spanky
OT, m/l. Or not:
Go read the whole thang.
Major Major Major Major
@Spanky: Jewish numerology…?
MomSense
@LAO:
How is your foot today?
TenguPhule
@Kay:
Sorry, reality has already ridden past satire. They’re the Oathkeepers*.
*Nonindicative name.
Corner Stone
@TenguPhule: According to NPR:
“Legislation to address short and long term fixes to the insurance plan have yet to become final. “
Adam L Silverman
@TenguPhule: Get back to me when Secretary Mattis is able to appropriate his own funding.
TenguPhule
@Corner Stone: So the teachers got played then. That sucks.
LAO
@MomSense: Ugly bruise but feels fine. Thanks for asking.
Adam L Silverman
@Kay: This is how:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/05/the-nra-lobbyist-behind-floridas-pro-gun-policies
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman:
The accounting is so bad and the accountability to Congress is so weak that Mattis could now probably get away with breaking a lot of rules that were formerly in effect.
Adam L Silverman
@Major Major Major Major: We make the best numerology, full of Jewish grandmother love, extra smaltz. It is the most bespoke of numerology.//
These people are nuts. My guess is most of them have never held a gun, let alone shot one or own one. They’re a bunch of aggrieved losers who think dank memes coupled with and promoting misogyny, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, xenophobia, and homophobia will somehow get them whatever it is they think they rightly deserve.
Ruckus
@Rob in CT:
Some are always looking for hope. Even when they never find it, they keep looking. Amazing.
randy khan
@The Moar You Know:
Their kinks are a private matter, and I wouldn’t dream of intruding on that.
Kelly
@Adam L Silverman: It’ll probably get them what they rightly deserve but not what they think they rightly deserve.
Just One More Canuck
@Jay: “I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it” – Mark Twain
Aleta
This should be worth another 3 days of partial reprieve for the WH from the 5,000 new Republican scandals and crimes in the last two weeks.
(another list deleted, because they just don’t end once I start)
Aleta
@Ruckus:
And by our nature, we trust them more than those who mock (hint: Palin) it.
Mnemosyne
@Emma:
I usually have an immune reaction to the flu shot, so I try to get it on a Friday so I can rest up for the weekend if needed. I’m usually fine by Sunday night.
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
@Adam L Silverman:
That anybody thinks stupid internet memes will grant them power is the height of patheticness.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
Have you seen Black Panther yet?
Like Killmonger, they’re just in it to destroy. That’s their goal. They don’t even expect to get anything out of the destruction — watching the world burn is all they need.
Calouste
@Aleta: Democrats should attack that with “Republicans just spend $67 million to put more guns in schools”.
Guns, unsafe in any hands.
Brachiator
@Kay:
I don’t know how cheap this is, but damn, it sure is stupid.
These fools are determined to continue to fluff the gun nuts by adding more weapons to the pile. And probably cut taxes elsewhere.
Are they also going to buy guns for the teachers? And does this 132 hours of training include tactical training? I guess they expect these teachers to become a mini-SWAT or assault force.
And a teacher who is willing to go to extremes to protect his or her students is not the same thing as a teacher who is willing to try to become a weapons expert willing to hunt down and kill a school shooter.
These legislators have lost their minds if they believe that any of this is a solution. They don’t care how many kids die in order to preserve some mystical right to amass a stockpile of weapons.
Emma
@Mnemosyne: That’s exactly what is happening to me, which is unusual. Couldn’t wait on taking it, because I was at the doctor for the beginning of a long, long series of tests, and I sure as hell didn’t want to go back on Friday.
debbie
I am thrilled to see Hillary’s tweet. I hope it’ll be followed by with a tweet saying, “See? You’re the puppet!!!”
joel hanes
@Major Major Major Major:
it’s literally impossible for the flu shot to give you the flu. Some minor flu like symptoms, yes
Part of the effects of really having the flu comprises your immune system’s response — fever and achiness and headache and lassitude.
If I understand correctly, that’s exactly what the flu shot is supposed to do : fool your body into the “flu invaders!” firedrill immune response, so it’s already on alert when live virus comes in at the orifice.
I got the “big shot for old guys” version this year for the first time, and I didn’t feel right for weeks afterward — so I figure that getting the actual flu might have been 4 x worse and potentially fatal.
Now I know I’m going to feel like crap after the shot, I’ll schedule more carefully, but I’m still gonna get it.