I’ve received more emails, fb mentions, twitter dm’s and mentions about this than anything else I can remember in the history of this blog, so I might as well address it formally. yes, I have heard about the two racist ass women in downstate WV who posted some “deplorable” shit to their facebook page:
An official at a Clay County agency lost her job Monday after publishing a racist Facebook post criticizing first lady Michelle Obama.
The mayor of Clay also was strongly criticized for commenting in approval of the post.
Pamela Ramsey Taylor, an employee of the Clay Development Corporation, referred to the first lady as an “ape in heels” in the Facebook post. A person who answered the phone at the Clay Development Corporation said Monday afternoon that Taylor has been removed from her post, but refused to comment further.
Clay Mayor Beverly Whaling commented on the post soon after, saying, “Just made my day Pam.”
Neither Taylor nor Whaling could be reached for comment Monday. Their Facebook pages have been deleted.
We can now report that Whaling, the Clay mayor (Clay is the county seat of Clay County, so if you are wondering if we backward hicks have mayors for counties, no, we don’t) has submitted her resignation. So I have now reported this, so hopefully the emails will stop.
What’s more interesting, probably, is why I didn’t mention it. And the reason I didn’t mention it was BECAUSE NO SHIT, HALF THE GOD DAMNED PEOPLE IN THE STATE HAVE BEEN SHARING AND SAYING SHIT LIKE THIS FOR EIGHT FUCKING YEARS. I’m honestly more surprised that someone got in trouble. That’s what is so horrifying about the election of Trump. Being overtly racist has been normalized and rewarded.
I mean, where has everyone been the past decade?
Major Major Major Major
They seem awfully economically anxious.
Adria McDowell (formerly Lurker Extraordinaire
I guess if Michelle had posed in a bikini with a gun, they would like her better? I dunno….
JPL
You do know they aren’t racist though, right?
Probably no black friends though, since there are only 15 in the county.
debbie
It’s still nice that people are finally getting in trouble for this kind of thing.
Mudge
Not so much in Morgantown, John, but the state is full of meth using scum, or coal barons looking at ruin, or the stupid. As you well know. It is perfectly believable that no one in Clay County knows a black person.
Patricia Kayden
Mrs. Obama is gorgeous in my eyes and the best FLOTUS in my lifetime. She has handled her job with grace and dignity even though she must be aware of the racism that has been spewed at her (and her family) by bigots like those featured here. I don’t blame her for scoffing when people suggest that she run for President. This country doesn’t deserve her.
BGinCHI
Pose nude and illegally immigrate = Classy
Working your way out of the South Side of Chicago to Princeton and Harvard = Not Classy
Good to know.
Fucking racist hicks.
SiubhanDuinne
I want stuff like this mentioned. I want to be horrified and shocked every single goddamn time I read something like this. I want to be offended at racist/sexist/antisemitic/islamophobic “jokes” and Internet memes. I want to feel sick to my stomach every time some international celebrity, or minor government functionary, or ordinary Joe Sixpack, says or does or shares.
I don’t ever want to see this kind of shit and simply shrug it off. I don’t ever want it to be normalized. Surprised? No, not any more. Appalled? Every fucking time.
Honus
It’s sad. It wasn’t always like this. I grew up in West Virginia in the sixties and remember Theodore White writing in The Making of the President 1960 that West Virginia had the best race relations of any state with a sizeable black population. People used to aspire to be better. Now the duck dynasty culture has made them proud to be stupid rednecks.
Это курам на смех
I am shunning all Trump voters. I don’t berate them; I don’t debate them. I say, politely, “This election is not normal, it is an affront to basic human decency. I have no desire to socialize with you any further, so please don’t speak to me again.”
Admittedly this is easy here in deep blue Portland, where I have only a handful of people to ostracize in this manner.
Will it help? I don’t know.
Sloegin
So… to be a dignified First Lady you have to be either white? Or have a published nude photos of yourself? I can never remember which one it is.
WereBear
Jiminy! That is a serious crime, all right.
Seriously, they felt perhaps more emboldened than usual, if the stories I have been hearing are right.
Good.
cokane
WV i think had the highest GOP % in the prez this year. Just crazy what’s happened to the state that seceded from the confederacy.
lollipopguild
I always enjoy when a white person says something openly racist and gets called on it that person immediately says something like “i do not have a racist bone in my body, You can ask all my friends, I am Not a racist!” The jokes they write themselves. Yes I am white.
khead
I grew up in what has now become the Trumpiest county in America. McDowell Co. WV. Really disappointing. It’s as far south as one can get from John while still in WV. I’ve been working since the election but at some point I’d like to add a long post here to talk about the election and the home folks. My opinion cant be much worse than the other pundits.
chris
Someone, can’t remember the name, left this in a previous thread. Might be the best summary of white rural people I’ve ever read. It rang a lot of bells for me even here in my little Canadian backwater. Ayup, they’re here too.
MomSense
@Это курам на смех:
That’s where I am too. I can be civil in public but that’s about it.
Schlemazel
@Major Major Major Major:
Thats the first thing I thought. Those poor women, so frightened for their economic future. The Dems need to work harder to win these people over
lamh36
@SiubhanDuinne: I completely agree.
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
Perfect, M^4!
I have a feeling that “economically anxious” is going to replace “also, too,” “I blame Obama,” “good news for John McCain,” and “all of them, Katie” as the go-to political catchphrase here on The Juice.
Schlemazel
@JohnCole
It seems to me that there as been a continual stream of this shit documented on this very blog for the last 10 years. If people are surprised, shocked or suddenly noticed one thing that can be said about the Trump election is it woke people the fuck up. Sad it took such a national disaster.
raven
Sunrise over Panama City
Timurid
The pace and the scope of the normalization continues to blow my mind.
It’s like watching everyone from Barack Obama to Bill Kristol to that football player who’s decided to stop kneeling at the anthem because he ‘overreacted’ to the election… walking hand in hand down the horror movie stairs to the fiend waiting in the basement.
Hoodie
@Honus: I think a 1960 idea of “great race relations” is a little bit of good old days mythology and I don’t imagine a graduate of Boston Latin and Harvard really knew all that much about W. Va. race relations. There was plenty of racism when I was growing up in N. Ga. in the 70’s, and rightwing radio, the internet, and Trump have brought it out from undercover.
MomSense
@raven:
Thanks, Raven. Such a peaceful scene.
slag
Since objecting to overt and blatant racism is now an elitist act, I hope you’re preparing for your forced relocation to your new loft in Tribeca, John.
SiubhanDuinne
@MomSense:
That remains aspirational for me.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@SiubhanDuinne: Hear, hear.
Aleta
WTFUCK!?!>
from The Nation
ArchTeryx
Considering that I’ve been “economically anxious” my entire adult life, and now may well be looking at the end of it, and I still vote Democratic?
Screw the “economically anxious”. That’s nothing more then a politically correct way of saying “we were trained from birth to kick down.” I’ve been kicking up my whole life and paid the price, but at least my conscience is clear.
Honus
@khead: McDowell county population was nearly 100,000 when I was in high school, probably 15% black. Now it’s less than 10k, and virtually all white.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
That’s beautiful, raven. Thanks for reminding us all that there’s beauty in the world.
(Did you see, or photograph, the Supermoon?)
mai naem mobile
I am guessing Trump will hire her for black wimmens outreach because that’s who they would consider qualified,no?
SiubhanDuinne
@Aleta:
Not sure why he didn’t select Don Blankenship.
:: Googles ::
Oh, right. He’s in prison for killing 29 coal miners. Sorry, Donald.
Ksmiami
@khead: I read The Glass Castle. Glad you survived that area. Horrid, petty and dumb gross people
WereBear
@Aleta: I will be interested in how the former coal miners will react to this news. How deep will the denial go?
Mustang Bobby
@raven: Tight lines.
errg
@Major Major Major Major:
you win the internets today…!
Seth Owen
It’s not normalized if we don’t normalize it, folks.
I will remind everyone that the mainstream media during the 1960s was not generally behind all them ‘troublemakers’ either.
It’s not going to be easy. I hope it will not take the kind of sacrifices that were made in the 60s, but it might. We need to be prepared for that level. Buckle up. Watch ‘Eyes on the Prize.’ Reread MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. Do whatever helps. Have no illusions. But remember we aren’t the first to face a challenge like this.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: Through sea oats
Helen
They’re calling my flight. See all you fabulous people on the other side of the pond. Will report back. Love and calm and success and happiness to you all.
Honus
@Hoodie: North Georgia was/is a whole lot different than a lot of West Virginia. My home county (wetzel) and McDowell county were the two counties in what was then Virginia (1860) that had virtually no slave population. The racism in Virginia when I came to UVA from West Virginia in 1973 shocked me. I had never seen anything like it. There was a reason West Virginia seceded from Virginia. Now, Virginia is much more liberal than West Virginia.
More than ten years ago told a friend that I shuddered to think about WVU having a black football or basketball coach. Fortyyears ago nobody would have blinked an eye.
Fair Economist
@Honus:
Seriously, a 10-fold drop in population? That’s unbelievable.
khead
@Honus:
You are my Dad’s age then. Dad never left. But your post about race relations? “The Free State of McDowell”? – other folks can look that up on Wikipedia – is a myth. Once the shift at the mines was over, the miners went home to different areas. Even in the same communities.
SiubhanDuinne
@Helen:
And also to you.
Schlemazel
@SiubhanDuinne:
He posted a beautiful shot of it here the other night. Probably from close to the same place on the beach
Mary G
I guess because it’s California, Jake, I actually don’t hear shit like this. Ever. I can’t remember hearing a bad thing about Michelle Obama where I live, ever. I guess it’s the liberal bubble, so yeah, I’m surprised. From the link:
So this town of 468 people has 192 of them working for a GOVERNMENT SUPPORTED ORGANIZATION. She made $83,000+ on taxpayer money. Paul Ryan will cut the whole organization off right quick.
I am flabbergasted, gobsmacked, and all the rest.
khead
@Fair Economist:
Yes. When my old man graduated HS in 1951, there were 100K in the county. I expect next census will be 10K.
dmsilev
@SiubhanDuinne:
He still could. Remember, Trump will soon have Presidential pardoning powers.
(Cheery thought for the day…)
Big Ole Hound
Sorry but the evangelical white church declares that people are black because of their past sins and those of their fore fathers so as long as this “noah’s ark” thinking is around the racist will flourish. The southern half of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois can join Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee as the holders of this wonderful belief and no amount of reason will ever change it as the idea of white supremacy is indoctrinated from birth.
FlipYrWhig
@Aleta: Why it’s almost like the candidate who’s a lifelong scam artist just might have scammed people! And I’ll bet it doesn’t even make a dent, either in WV or nationwide.
Honus
@Fair Economist: Yep. I think Mingo is about the same. Widen, north of Charleston, was probably 8-10 k people in 1966. A high school, florists, Dept. stores, streets, police. It’s nothing now. Literally a ghost town. Everybody left when the mine closed.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Wow, just fucking gorgeous.
I have a category in my Photos called “Out There Up There” — great pix of the moon, and stars, mostly. I hope you don’t mind, I’ve added this beautiful image to the album.
NotMax
Where have you gone,
Joe DiMaggioMichael HarringtonOur nation turns it’s lonely eyes to you…
GregB
Raven. I have always appreciated your input.
And eff LBJ.
lollipopguild
@Mary G: Oh NOES! she wuz working for the Big EVIL Government! Burn her at the stake!
raven
@Mustang Bobby: Quite a day. I had something hit my bait mid-morning. It was about 100 yards out, jumped and sliced the line in half. Mid-afternoon I was out throwing when I turned and saw that the rod and rod holder were gone. I was in the water so I hustled at an angle and the water is so clear I found the rod and reel and picked it up. I fought it for almost and hour and, when I got it close enough, saw it was a ray. I was exhausted but it was really fun. Then, at about 4, this sucker hit. Another 20 minute fight and I got the bull in. Snapped some pics and put it back. My back is killing me and I’m waiting to see if there are any hernia ramification!
SiubhanDuinne
@Schlemazel:
Missed it first time around. (I try to keep up with all the posts and comments, but recently that has become a daunting task.)
Grateful to raven for putting the photo up again.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: course n
GregB
thanks, I’m not watching much news right now. Just fishing
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Come for the politics, stay for the pet pix.
Ohio Mom
@WereBear: Would like to see that reaction on videotape.
Mary G
Politico: Power battles bog down Trump transition
I’ve been venturing out onto the internet a bit and finding nothing but incompetence and grifting.
And:
lamh36
SHIT!!!!
@asmith83
Wow.
Cacti
Just expressing their economic anxiety, right?
Mary G
@raven: Wow! I am so glad you are linking pictures of the moon, Bohdi, and other life-affirming things. And you threw it back! Maybe you can catch him again.
dmsilev
@lamh36: Maybe we can keep Obama’s people actually running things while Trump runs around making loud grunting noises.
Cacti
Is there any way we could add “expressing their economic anxiety” to the taglines?
Ohio Mom
@Mary G: I’d like to see her reaction when she’s laid off that $83,000 a year job on videotape too.
Mnemosyne
Okay, this Onion article is pretty funny, if only for the stereotypes about liberal showbiz stars.
Schlemazel
@Mary G:
I hope they cut the whole office. It may be the only way someone that stupid will learn. Look, a lot of people are going to be hurt by this asshole. Many, far too many, do not deserve what is coming but people like her do. Lets see what we can do to make sure that Trump voters suffer worse than those who do not deserve to be hurt.
NCSteve
She should hold tight. There’s likely a cabinet post in her future.
https://www.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/8aad42ce-c045-4596-bfa8-892b907f424f
hovercraft
@Adria McDowell (formerly Lurker Extraordinaire:
Psst, I don’t think the problem is her outfits or lack of an ammo phalus, it’s that she’s blah and fat also too!! The fat comments come from some of the most svelte commentators in the land, Hannity and El Rushbo. Speaking of the, when will we find out what their new posts in the new administration will be? And what about the “Great One” Mark Levin?
raven
@Mary G: The slot for reds in 17 to 28 and this one was 38 inches. A couple of years ago I caught one that size and took it to the local bait shop to weigh. They told me it would be a $1000 fine and all my gear If I got caught. I vowed to adhere to the limits hence.
Archon
I’m prepared to hear the left-wing theory of the case on why people voted for Trump that voted for Obama in 2012. It was statistically small but it looks like it made a crucial difference in the rust belt and we shouldn’t ignore how and why that happened. However every other cohort of the Trump voter was and is the same voter that pulled the lever for W, McCain, Romney and now Trump. Those voters can go fuck themselves.
Anyone that believes their vote can be flipped with an “economic anxiety argument” without abandoning pretty much every other plank of modern day liberalism (especially when it comes to social, legal, and cultural concerns of blacks and browns) are basically lying to themselves.
NotMax
@lamh36
Governmentin’ is hard.
Kay Eye
Yes, you are right. That disgusting filth has been spewing forth openly for the last 8 years. I am a member of a mixed race family (never mind that there is no such thing as race). My grandchildren’s skin colors range from fish-belly white to rich brown. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
And I am scared for all of them.
Botsplainer
@lamh36:
Ammon Bundy will happily take Interior. No transition knowledge needed.
That sort of thing may actually be the plan – competence and known skills may be anathema to what is supposed to happen.
Mary G
@lamh36: Wow is right. From your link:
For somebody so fond of making even the volunteers sign NDAs, its team sure leaks like a sieve and it’s only been a week.
The sad thing is, the Democrats will probably name good people, because they care about their country. Then it will screw everything up and blame it on the personnel the Democrats recommended.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Schlemazel
@SiubhanDuinne:
I saw he had after I posted. I had hoped he would see my post & link the photo – he is too quick
hovercraft
@raven:
Your pictures are beautiful. Thanks for posting them.
JMG
@Mary G: Obama’s played the guy like a master fisherman. I had a co-worker once whose favorite saying was “in confusion, there is profit.”
Pogonip
@Aleta: Tick…tick…tick…
You think Deplorables were angry now, wait till 2018. Their fury has already swept a lot of Democrats out to sea. In 2018, Republicans will follow.
Hey, maybe the 3rd party I attempted to join will actually exist someplace besides Facebook! (i say “attempted to join” because I filled out the comment form explaining I do not and will not use Facebook and asking for some other way to join. Got back a canned message inviting me to join a privare group on…Facebook.)
Mothra
@BGinCHI: amen
John Revolta
Not West Virginia?
(The fruit, so low it hangs)
raven
Check out my boy. He’s adjusted well to not getting to play ball much but we have to make and exception down here.
Chris
@ArchTeryx:
That is EXACTLY what I’ve been saying.
Fuck their “economic anxiety.” They’re destroying my health insurance.
NotMax
@raven
Every one you take out negates sea level rise just a teeny tiny bit.
;)
Mothra
John Cole- We have county mayors here in Tennessee! Seriously, that is their title.
hovercraft
@dmsilev:
An even more cheery one would be if Obama pardoned a huge number of non violent drug offenders on his way out the door, as a final fuck you to the new law and order shit heads. It would be the right thing to do because the sentencing was too harsh, but it would have the added bonus of pissing the assholes off.
Mary G
@Ohio Mom: @lollipopguild: @Schlemazel: The woman whose post originally dissed our FLOTUS has already chosen, or more likely been forced, to resign.
But I was thinking about the math. The agency’s whole budget is $360,000. She got $83,000, leaving $277,000 left over for the other 191 employees. That’s only $1,450 or so each, never mind the poor people who are supposed to be getting help. Sounds like the whole thing is a scam.
JMG
He should pardon Trump and all members of his family for past acts as he goes out the door. That’d be the troll supreme.
Mnemosyne
@Mary G:
For perspective, it’s currently 65 days until Inauguration Day. So basically the wheels come off the wagon by March 1st.
Mary G
@raven: The light in that photo is phenomenal, and Bohdi looks so content to receive the ball. You got a great shot of it mid-air.
NotMax
@Mothra
Ditto for Hawaii. County councils, county mayors.
WaterGirl
@raven: That’s beautiful, raven!
raven
@Mary G: The golden hour
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
What a great shot! Love the concentrated focus on the Bohdi’s face.
Aleta
@SiubhanDuinne: ‘presidential’ pardon is at least 6 months away
Roger Moore
@Fair Economist:
It’s a bit of an exaggeration, though the truth is bad enough. Per Wikipedia, the census population topped out just under 100,000 in 1950. It had dropped to 72,000 by 1960 and 51,000 by 1970. It has since continued to decline and is now estimated at just under 20,000. So it’s dropped “only” 5x over the past 65 years, which is still enough to be devastating. I don’t know what you can do to deal with that kind of collapse.
Mnemosyne
@Archon:
Celebrity. Some people are stupid enough to want to vote for celebrities — see also Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura.
NotMax
Sherrod Brown just came out on Hayes’ show in support of you know who renegotiating NAFTA.
Schlemazel
@Pogonip:
Republicans out but replaced with what? Certainly not liberals, they are evil.
I predicted back in Boy Blunders admin that morons would pick an outsider demagogue & when he failed they would be ripe for a real fascist and take to armed violence to get him to power. Obama gave me hope that this would change but I think we are back on track
jake the antisoshul soshulist
White people have been embarrassing me for over 50 years. I don’t expect it to stop before I die.
WaterGirl
I just read some good news in my email that:
Maybe there is hope after all. :-)
P.S. I had no idea that MoveOn and BLM were terrorist groups. When did that happen?
Schlemazel
@John Revolta:
True, nobody lives there & nice people avoid it. ;)
MomSense
@NotMax:
TPP renegotiated NAFTA.
Fuck I’m pissed at the Democrats for buying into this con. You cannot work with him, cannot normalize this monster. Jesus.
Baud
@NotMax: Does anyone have a clue as to how it would be renegotiated?
lamh36
LMAO at the deplorables trying to bring up RFK…being shot down…it was done in ’67, basically a direct response to stop appt like with RFK..
@timkmak
Law expressly prohibits hiring your son-in-law: One of Trump’s first acts will be to try and get around it so Kushner can get clearance
Mnemosyne
@Mary G:
I have a feeling that Obama staffers have been given tacit (if not explicit) permission to leak.
Baud
@MomSense: There you go. They’ll enact TPP and call it NAFTA reform.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I don’t know, man. I don’t think it’s so much that he’s normalized it, as that he’s brought it out into the open. And, as loathsome as these shitbags are, maybe it’s better to have all this shit out festering in the sunlight, rather than out of sight.
SiubhanDuinne
@Aleta:
I’m just interested in how many months away is ‘presidential,’ period. Not sure it’s going to happen with this one.
Ohio Mom
@Mary G: Mea culpa, sloppy reading on my part. It was the idea that I could have a chance to see some karma in action that excited me so. But yes, those numbers don’t add up. Could be the reporter’s fault for getting them wrong.
Southern Beale
Shit like this post is why I get so enraged when people say we’re “slut-shaming” for posting that nude picture of Melania Trump. It’s not slut-shaming, it’s revealing hypocrisy. Remember when Michelle Obama’s bare arms were the worst thing EVER? And Melania posed nude, grabbing her own crotch. Yes, it was years ago, yes she was a model. Yes if my body looked like that, I’d probably be walking everywhere naked. That’s not the fucking point. Republican hypocrisy knows no bounds and I’m not about to let it go unchallenged.
ALSO: I doubt ANY female Democratic politician would be elected dog catcher, let alone become First Lady, if she had done nude pictures like Melania Trump’s. This Republican Rules shit is waaay old and I’m way too old to tolerate it anymore.
SFAW
@Pogonip:
Right. Because all those angry and economically anxious voters will make a judicious assessment of their own financial health (or whatever), and follow that thought to it’s logical conclusion, and place the blame where they believe it belongs, then vote accordingly.
So I’m thinking the House will end up being 275 R, 160 D, and the Senate 65 R, 35 D+I
You heard it here first.
PS: This assumes we’re all still here, that 2018 elections are actually held, etc.
Schlemazel
@Baud:
I assume you get the parties together & say “We don’t like this & demand it be changed” They can all then argue for what they want. If it fails I suppose the US could unilaterally rip it up but man that would be dangerous. My guess is Trump would get tolled by superior negotiators & the final agreement would be worse while he crowed about his big win
Jeffro
@Schlemazel:
omg that was funny (and dry! had to read it twice ;)
Mary G
@Southern Beale: Yeah, I didn’t get all the way through the Politico article, but it looks like Rudy Ghouliani’s firm has “consulted” for Qatar and all the evil, evil. foreign entities that Hillary was alleged to have granted favors to.
Adria McDowell (formerly Lurker Extraordinaire
@hovercraft: Well, I don’t think she’s fat. I’m just assuming they find her form attractive but can’t admit it cuz teh blah. Lol. It’s nice to see Michelle still has her original face, too.
How could you forget the lean, mean, nutcase machine that is Alex Jones in that group!!!
Baud
@Schlemazel: Right. I meant what doesn’t he like that he will demand be changed.
Mnemosyne
@NotMax:
@MomSense:
I suspect Brown of trolling, myself.
Jeffro
@Big Ole Hound:
Don’t forget the southwest tip of Virginia, too. Actually, in addition to not forgetting it, would you mind taking it off of Virginia completely? It screws up our politics something awful.
Anyway, god bless the Appalachian Mountains and those good, sturdy Scots-Irish folks. Speaking of, has anyone heard from Jim Webb lately? I’m dying to hear his take on all of this economic anxiety.
SFAW
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
Given the outcome of the election, given the prominent position of Bannon, given the unwillingness of the MSM to scream RACIST every fucking day, given the post-election spike in racial attacks — it say that’s pretty damn normalized. About the only thing Trump DIDN’T do was be seen with KKKers in robes.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
Thanks for the FB link. I agree with the article. I’m checking FB quietly and occasionally, but am not initiating, or reacting, or commenting at all right now. But I appreciate your knowing that I’d be interested in seeing that.
Schlemazel
@Jeffro:
I think M^4 really deserves the kudos but thanks. I have to try to bring some laughs because I know I can be a little black ray of darkshine in the world.
lamh36
@SiubhanDuinne: ok…I link alot…lol. which FB link was that…
ETA: oh wait, I forget who’s on my FB and who not…lol
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@Roger Moore:
Pull back to the Forum and Capitoline and abandon everything across the Tiber?
khead
@Archon:
I agree with this. It’s non-negotiable. I’m trying to think about ways to NOT address their “economic concerns” and still win.
lamh36
ATTENTION SINGLE PARENTS!
“@ProfessorCrunk
So everyone is clear that Trump’s tax plan doesn’t allow single parents to file as head-of-household anymore right?”
Donald Trump’s Tax Plan Would Hit Single Parents Hard
gene108
@NotMax:
Why not? He is going to be President. He gets to try to renegotiate NAFTA. I doubt he will make it so jobs come back to the USA and rural America.
And when he fails, I hope people notice.
Schlemazel
@Baud:
Oh, well thats different. He does not like that US firms have move manufacturing to Mexico. He will demand that stop by . . . ah . . . well . . . something-something mumble, wave hands MAKE MURIKA GRATE!
jacy
@lamh36:
This is actually what got one friend who voted for Trump to wake up. When she realized her taxes were going up. Now she’s upset. (Ironic, because her lesbian daughter is my son’s best friend, but that wasn’t enough….)
Adria McDowell (formerly Lurker Extraordinaire
@SFAW: They’ll be with him on Inauguration Day.
@lamh36: That is beyond fucked up.
dogwood
@Baud:
I stay out of these free trade discussions because they seem more about ideology and proving liberal cred than much else. What has never been clear to me is how rejecting these deals will change any American’s life. I grew up in a small mining town, populated almost exclusively with WWC. The standard of living in that town has risen consistently over the last 50 years. Same with the community I live in now. Given my location, TPP would actually bring more opportunities to the region. The short period in history where American industry had little global competition ended long before NAFTA.
Roger Moore
@Baud:
The part where obligations are reciprocal. They’re supposed to open their markets to us while we maintain high tariffs to keep them out.
rikyrah
Jason Miller @longwall26 5h5 hours ago
Bannon: I’m a racist
Bannon’s supporters: He’s a racist
Bannon’s opponents: He’s a racist
Media: Is Steve Bannon a Racist? Critics Disagree
Jim, Foolish Literalist
It just get worse and worse….
gene108
@khead:
I think Democrats can still win the Presidency, if they can field the right candidate. A lot of people stayed home or did not vote for President, but did vote for downticket races, compared to 2012.. There are votes to be had.
The real issue is how to win back state houses and governorships in states that seem to have jettisoned Democrats at every level.
I do not know what each state needs to do to get these back, but if we take back states, we can undo voter ID laws and gerrymandered districts.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
LOL
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
Not trolling when his exact quote of what he told you know who’s people was “Count on me” for that.
The (for lack of a better term) Blue Wall of “No!” is revealed as constructed of Jell-O.
Hayes let it slide by unremarked, but the mangy cat is out of the bag.
Baud
@NotMax: It seems like the most progressive senators are caving first.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: Rand Paul has already said he won’t support Rudi, and it wouldn’t surprise me to learn Giuliani has made one or two other enemies in the Senate.
rikyrah
Donald Trump’s Tax Plan Would Hit Single Parents Hard
excerpt:
Three major changes make Trump’s plan particularly hard on single parents.
First, he would eliminate the head-of-household filing status, thus requiring single parents to file as individuals. By itself, that boosts tax rates for single parents at most income ranges.
Second, although Trump would boost the standard deduction, he would eliminate personal and dependent exemptions, raising taxable income for all single parents who do not itemize.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Maybe. But the real reason he doesn’t get it will have nothing to do with ethics.
Baud
@rikyrah: I’m sorry, what does that have to do with Hillary’s emails again?
Jeffro
@Archon:
Personally, I doubt there were very many folks who voted for Obama in 2012 that voted for Trump in 2016. I think some Rs who voted for Obama in 2008 got turned off after Obamacare or whatever excuse was convenient (I’ve even heard the “beer summit” as a major turnoff, no joke) to bring them back to their GOP programming
That would explain some of the drop off of a few million folks for Obama from 2008 to 2012. They melted away a bit in 2012 (as did some of our own D voters) and made it a closer election. In 2016, some more of our folks dropped off, and some more of theirs may have dropped out too, but other infrequent R voters turned out something fierce, especially in the Rust Belt. And there we have it.
Put me on TV, I’ll do it for free.
Jeffro
@hovercraft:
Yes all of them – and Hillary too. Just have her say she doesn’t want it and have him say publicly, “too bad”.
SFAW
@Baud:
Well, it’s not as if was always a big liberal-supported program. Clinton got it done, but I don’t think liberals were especially thrilled by it. (Of course, my memory might be faulty. Senility sucks.)
CaseyL
@Chris: @ArchTeryx:
There is a chance – not much of one, granted – that “repeal and replace” means “re-name ObamaCare TrumpCare and otherwise leave it alone.” I’d be OK with that, and I suspect Obama would be OK with that, too. The important thing is that the program continue, not who it’s named for.
Jeffro
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I don’t know much about Rohrbacher but I thought earlier today that between Rudy and Bolton, Rudy looked good by comparison.
This is what they mean by “normalization”, folks. Rudy. Frickin’. Giuliani, just for a second, looked like a satisfactory pick.
Fortunately I pretty much bleed Democratic blue by this point, but still…it was a tough three seconds there…
EBT
@Mary G: What makes you think the 191 people getting the 1400 dollars aren’t otherwise needy of it?
BellyCat
@chris: Hot smoking pig iron. That link you included to Forsetti’s Justice NAILS IT!!!
(If you haven’t peeked at this, it’s worth the insights provided)
I grew up in a small (minded) town filled with fetid religious hypocrits and escaping the moment I graduated from high school and moving to a city (for college) was like having a thick plastic bag peeled off my entire epidermis.
Fuck these holier-than-thou authoritarian bigots and the grifting horse they rode in on. If only there was a way to exclusively serve THEM the triple-decker shit sandwiches they’ve ordered for the next four years (while not realizing that like the apocryphal bottomless “loaves of bread” doled out by Jesus, will be the only thing on the menu for a decade or more.)
When Obama said he was going to focus on voter reform after he is sprung free, he (not surprisingly) has clearly figured out that there is no changing fundies tiny little minds. Now its time to simply outnumber them at the ballot box.
SFAW
@Adria McDowell (formerly Lurker Extraordinaire:
Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if that actually happened.
Peale
@NotMax: I don’t have a problem with it. Look, at lot of OUR voters said they want to destroy neoliberalism and want trade deals blocked. And a lot of voters in Sherrod Brown’s state said they wanted that too. I don’t like it, because, yeah, there’s quite a bit of racism in singling out the poorest member of the agreement and trying to get them to be even poorer, forgetting that Canada seemed to gain quite a bit of US auto industry and natural resources jobs out of the deal, too. It bothers me a great deal that he wants to “punish” Mexico.
Anyway, I don’t think these negotiations will go anywhere. There are too many people trading too much with the 10th largest economy in the world and by far our biggest trading partner who isn’t China. NAFTA actually worked after years of adjustment, a lot of which hit Mexico hard, which is why there were so many people leaving the countryside to migrate in the 1990s. Then when the damn factories were supposed to start coming, the multinationals fell in love with China instead. Frankly, I think NAFTA worked.
Mexico negotiated its own trade deals with most of the big economies in Europe and in much of Latin America so it held an advantaged place in the global supply chain for manufacturing so that EU and Asian companies also started setting up plants there to get around the fact that the US stopped negotiating trade deals for a decade while it chased terrorists around the globe. Good for them.
I really don’t think these negotiations will yield much. Trump doesn’t have time to do them himself, but if he jumps into them, LOL. They are trade deals, not business deals, and if he tries to negotiate what the public wants, well that’s not going to work. We want Mexico to buy our goods and send nothing back, are threatening to round up its citizens in this country and put them in prisons, threaten to start dropping bombs from drones. Fire away. Mexico doesn’t “own” those factories and can’t really order them to leave and if they do leave it can’t demand that they go to Indianapolis.
schrodinger's cat
Kris Kobach’s name is being floated for AG. Read and weep.
SFAW
@Jeffro:
I was thinking approximately the same thing. I like your follow-up, re: “I didn’t want him to do it.”
Baud
@SFAW: No, but I thought the push was to not work with Trump.
Corner Stone
@Baud: …emails? **sniff** **sniff**…did you say … emails? BECAUSE EMAILS!!
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Oh just fuck me now.
NotMax
@Baud
Understand it is customary to grant deference and a honeymoon period to a newly installed president.
Customary is non-operative.
This is not a normal person. By dint of his utterances and the not normal people he chooses to be surrounded and counseled by he has abrogated the privilege of being treated normally.
Sen. Brown seemed not to grok that.
Jeffro
@CaseyL:
Good luck with that, ’cause they’re going well beyond Obamacare repeal: they’re going to phase out Medicare and Medicaid, too.
Schlemazel
I sent a note to my reps, Ellison, Franken and whatser name reminding them that the GOP Congressmen & Senators met in January of 08 to agree and announce that their job was to obstruct Obama on anything and everything he wanted to do. I asked them when we could expect the Dems to do this now.
NotMax
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
Guessing Bob Dornan didn’t pick up the phone.
rikyrah
Bradd JaffyVerified account
@BraddJaffy
NBC’s @mitchellreports: Trump team asked that Kushner be designated to attend Presidential Daily Briefings once he gets top secret clearance
Jeffro
@SFAW:
Only way to do it. She protests her innocence, Obama takes the heat on his way out but…what can you do, right? It’s a presidential pardon. Maybe he even throws some shade (as the kids say) and notes that while he wouldn’t normally pardon an innocent person, Hillary’s been persecuted beyond all reason and he’s taking as a first step towards restoring some norms and the rule of law in this country.
Corner Stone
@Jeffro: I pray no pardon is ever offered, and if it is she flips the double rods at it.
I hope she gets dragged in front of the religious tribunal and tossed into the lake. So we can see for once and all if she weighs the same as a duck.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@rikyrah: Guess I’ll have that arsenic cocktail now then….
NotMax
@Schlemazel
January of ’09.
/nitpick
Corner Stone
@Jeffro: Bullshit.
Betty Cracker
@raven: Damn, that’s a big ole fish! ????
hovercraft
@NotMax:
Well that’s just great, all these fucking assholes thinking that the Shitgibbon will do anything he said he will are just pathetic, the NY Times had a piece just this morning pointing that it’s already in the process of walking everything back.
Trump Campaign’s Easy Answers Confront Hard Reality
Sherrod is a good progressive, but the notion that protectionism can roll back globalization is bullshit. We need to come up with real solutions, shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted makes no sense at all, it just sets people up for even bigger disappointments.
MomSense
@hovercraft:
I completely agree with you.
NotMax
@rikyrah
Except on Saturdays.
Baud
@hovercraft:
Haha.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jeffro: No. If we are now a country that puts political rivals on trial, then we should be open about it.
misterpuff
Trumpworld: Cutting your nose off to spite elite smug libruls, Part XXX +
I am currently on a business trip in a deeply rural area of Michigan. I encountered a health care worker of Mideastern extract. I had my bags in the elevator, so he asked me if I was checking out. I said just packing my car for the trip tomorrow back to Chicago. Ah, he replied, a resident of Illinois a Democratic state and then he asked me if I voted for Hillary. I said I did. He gave me a thumbs up and then said maybe they can overturn in the Electoral College. I said I doubt it but we will survive. But as I packed my car, I realized perhaps his life could be upended and the people he serves, mostly white god-fearing people might have voted to make that happen.
In many rural areas, the medical care is provided by immigrant doctors from India, Pakistan and other English speaking former colonies. if Muslim or immigrant xenophobia drives them out, the good farmers of the Thumb may have to drive hours to get good medical care. Sad!
This sux.
MomSense
@raven:
Now that’s a fish!
SFAW
@schrodinger’s cat:
I realize floating a name and actually nominating someone are two different things, but has there been ANY name floated so far for ANY position that isn’t a complete fucking asshole? We got Kobach, Rudy, Bannon, Bolton, Priebus, Rohrabacher, the EPA guy.
And if Heydrich were still alive, Trump could float his name for
ObergruppenfuehrerSenior Group Leader; he and Kushner could trade stories about being self-hating Jews, and he and Bannon could chat about various Solutions. [Yeah, I guess it’s a non-sequitur.]Ruckus
@Это курам на смех:
The Shit-Gibbon lover at work gets the cold shoulder now. He said good morning today, I basically ignored him. My boss suggested that I set up a job and show him how to run it. I almost told him, not even if it means my job. Instead I told him the guy wasn’t capable. I’ve said 2 words to him in the last week, both involved work. He gets nothing else. I’m not sure he understands why.
Jeffro
@Corner Stone: I hear you…I’m just not up for letting this drag out in yet another show trial, much less a sentence of any kind. She can flip Obama the bird while he’s busy flipping it to the GOP.
Davebo
@Major Major Major Major:
Yes, because earning > $83,000 per year puts at the bottom of the rung in bumfuck West Virginia.
dogwood
@Peale:
Thanks for that post. There has always been something troubling about this populist talk about sending jobs to Mexico or China, but no “Canada is taking our jobs” outrage.
chelsea530
@Major Major Major Major:
Grrr. If I hear that once more, I’m going to scream even louder.
Thanks, John Cole, for keeping this going. We need to call it out every single time it happens. Take the power out of empowerment of racism, bigotry, and misogyny.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@BGinCHI:
I think the correct reply to Pamela on facebook is “I am sorry, I was to busy jerking it to Ivana’s naked pictures”
schrodinger's cat
@hovercraft: What we need is labor to have a seat at the table, we need unions and a union representative on the board of directors, like they do in Germany and other Scandinavian countries. Protectionism is a fool’s errand.
Betty Cracker
@Archon: I’ve sought out articles on Rust Belt voters who flipped, and the explanations people surveyed gave were inane crap like “he’s a straight talker,” and “we need a change,” blah blah blah. We might just have to face the fact that these voters are rando nitwits who swing back and forth for no good reason.
Jeffro
@hovercraft:
I love Rodrik’s questions – and Trump probably does too:
“Does he care about economic failure” – of course not, he’ll be the last person touched by it.
“Does he care about further polarization and deepening divisions” – of course not, he thrives on it.
“And what does that do to the quality of our democracy?” – I have a funny feeling this is the whole point.
Trump (and Bannon, and Giuliani, and Bolton, and all the other psychos being drawn into this on that side) think that the world is crappy and cynical and shit, when all evidence would tell a normal person otherwise. The whole point of this is power for them, which means the end of democratic rule.
Kropadope
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I appreciate that turnabout is fair play and all, but Melania didn’t make the statements and there’s nothing wrong with posing naked for a camera.
SFAW
@Omnes Omnibus:
And what happens when she gets convicted? As in, what is the response you anticipate?
ETA: To clarify: the response of persons not wanting her shot/hung/castrated/disemboweled.
louc
@Southern Beale: I have to confess when I read that quote, my reaction was Melania, “dignified!?” really? because all I could think of was that nude shot.
Corner Stone
@Jeffro: WTF? What do you mean “another show trial”?
Fuck the idea that HRC hides behind anything and that Obama cloaks her in some way.
Are you fucking stupid? If Obama did that they would target him and put him on trial. That may happen anyway. Let HRC get dragged before some HUAC bullshit. She can take it. She would probably relish it.
No hiding. Let’s see these fucking cowards try it on.
Corner Stone
It’s easy for me to so bravely put HRC forth for trial. I get that. But I honestly think she would shine if that happened, and be a beacon unlike anyone else except PBO in a similar situation.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Betty Cracker: This would explain some of the tv shows on my DVR schedule.
Aleta
(WaPo) Fahrenthold and Sellers, examples of how Bannon manipulated Trump to shape him as a candidate.
(Hoping this kind of article will cause another sinkhole between the swamp monster and his bog demons.)
schrodinger's cat
Isn’t there enough awful stuff going on without imagining the worst and going on and on about it. I think I may have to quit reading Balloon Juice also.
Adria McDowell (formerly Lurker Extraordinaire
@Kropadope: No, there’s not, and I really don’t care, but the hypocrisy needs to be called out.
Personally, I think Melania wants nothing more than to return to NYC with her son and spend what little money Cantaloupe Caligula has. Can’t say I blame her.
Omnes Omnibus
@SFAW: Do you mean am I expecting mass protest marches and the like? No, I am not. But I want to know where we stand. Are we now a fascist country and, if so, are people okay with it?
Kropadope
@schrodinger’s cat:
I think a good step on the way there would be to have fewer Republican governors and presidents on capital’s side making it difficult for labor to freely assemble.
Jeffro
@SFAW:
Well yeah, if you get to 70 and have no friends and no one even trusts you in your own line of work, then these are the kind of people who gravitate towards you: people who have no qualms associating with such a soulless orange toad.
schrodinger's cat
@SFAW: What do you think you are achieving with your hyperbole?
Schlemazel
@NotMax:
crap, you are right now I have to write them again
PPCLI
@WaterGirl: Remember when MoveOn.org put out the ad that called Petraeus “Betray-us”?
That was worse than the Oklahoma City Bombing.
Mike in NC
Still chuckling over the lead on tonight’s NBC Nightly News: “Trump Transition in Turmoil”. This is the next four fucking years, folks. Even Putin is despondent.
Suzanne
I drove through West by God Virginia once. It was enough.
There are so many places with beautiful landscape and hideous people. It’s tragic.
Barbara
@Jeffro: A lot of people might be saying no. This is not an episode of Celebrity Apprentice where people will do anything to jump start a dormant career. Think back to the list of convention speakers and imagine the problem multiplied by a factor of 1000.
Kropadope
@SFAW:
You mean “if” and I think if they have a real trial with a truly fair jury, there’s no way she gets convicted. What she did was inadvisable, it was not illegal. Furthermore, it was a workaround to outdated government communications infrastructure and policy.
Where the focus on this should be is that our government’s tech should be state of the art. Better for user-friendliness, archiving concerns, and security alike.
SFAW
@Omnes Omnibus:
I don’t know if we’re a fascist country, but I know — well, believe — that about half the country would be OK with a conviction after a show trial. Actually, a too-large number would be OK with the Cardassian judicial process (if I remember my ST correctly).
[If I recall: Cardassians started the process with a declaration of guilt, and then proceeded to show why the accused was guilty.]
Peale
@SFAW: Dimon for Treasury. Yes its a big banker, but given what it COULD be. At least he hasn’t spent the last eight years running around the country complaining about Obama, throwing up wild accusations that we’re living in Weimar! And unlike the Mercers, isn’t going to advocate for a return to the gold standard. He actually understands that it is kind of important to not default, doesn’t seem like he’d be a tool of Putin, and likes the dollar as the global reserve currency.
Barbara
@Peale: Dimon is sane and smart. It could have been Ron Paul.
dogwood
@hovercraft:
The end of that piece where it discusses the populist who retains power by polarizing a nation along the lines of identity is what is scaring me the most right now. If we were to become a 2 party system where one party is exclusively white and the other 80-85% non white we will be in more trouble than we can imagine right now. Because under systems like that policy is irrelevant, only identity matters. And even if there are policy arguments to be had, the same side with it’s reliable voting base will always win the day.
chelsea530
@Peale: Isn’t he the one who wore POTUS cufflinks when Obama called Wall Street banksters to the White House in 2009 after the near-financial meltdown?
SFAW
@Kropadope:
No, I meant “when,” thanks. The only trial I’d anticipate is some Congressional BS, with a dash of Comey thrown in there, and they’d find a way to fuck her over yet again.
I figure they’d find some part of the Patriot Act that they’d claim she violated — after all, her e-mails were worse than the Rosenbergs, Jonathan Pollard, Mohammad Atta, Aldrich Ames, and Kim Philby combined — and go after her that way.
You’re fucking right I’m cynical.
ETA: I also expect them to talk about the hundreds or thousands of times her private server was hacked.
Omnes Omnibus
@SFAW: I also agree with Corner Stone that she would handle herself perfectly if it happened.
ArchTeryx
@Jeffro: Exactly why I’m updating my will and making my peace. It almost sounds too much like a bad Tom and Jerry cartoon, but it’s all too real for me.
Citizen Alan
@Pogonip:
I’m honestly hoping a lot of the Deplorables will be dead or surrendered to despair once the Zombie Eyed Granny Starver pinches their benefits.
Kayla Rudbek
@lamh36: God only knows who they’ll try to put in charge of th IRS and the Patent & Trademark Office
SFAW
@Omnes Omnibus:
Not that it makes any difference, but I absolutely agree. She did great during that marathon session. But outside of political junkies like (some of) us here, who really knew about that?
And the point is not whether she is capable of defending herself, it’s that in a show trial, it won’t matter.
Look, a large part of me can’t believe they’re even considering pursuing this, given that they got the result they wanted, one week ago. But up until a week ago, a large part of me couldn’t believe that there were that many fucked-up voters, and we see where that got me.
Monala
@Mary G: I didn’t read that as their whole budget is $360,000, just that $360,000 of their budget comes from government grants. Most federal grants expect you to match the grant amount with private dollars from foundations, individual donors, maybe local businesses. Their total budget was probably a great deal larger. And since you have to be audited to receive government grants, somebody is keeping tabs on them.
ETA: the rest of your points are sound. I work for one of the larger nonprofits in a mid-size West Coast city, and we probably receive $360,000 in government grants, while serving tens of thousands of clients each year.
Omnes Omnibus
@SFAW: They aren’t going to gin up a Soviet style show trial. Any trial would be in a regular US court with a judge and jury.
dogwood
@Peale:
This has been a weird day for me, I hear about Jaime Dimon and feel a bit relieved. Only nice story I see today? Goeorge and Laura go to the local SPCA and bring home a cute dog.
Ian
@Schlemazel:
We are better than that.
SFAW
@Omnes Omnibus:
I guess that’s the other half (or flip side) of what irks me — that she’d even have to go through one (show or otherwise) in the first place.
If I believed in a Just God, I would probably be less annoyed about this bullshit.
OK, time to get back to work.
SFAW
@Ian:
Yes, and look where it’s gotten us.
Amaranthine RBG
Hey I’m from around there know several people in the Ramsays and Whalings families. (Not the two women themselves.)
Let’s just say I ain’t real surprised by any of this.
debbie
@Corner Stone:
Have the GOOPERS even been specific about why she’d be tried? Benghazi, emails, what?
Omnes Omnibus
@debbie: That’s the whole thing. They don’t actually have anything. A pardon is saying that there really was something in there. There never was.
PPCLI
@Omnes Omnibus: Don’t underestimate how far down that road even “respectable” Republicans have gone. Don Seligman is in jail. And when US District Attorneys were being fired for refusing to launch politically motivated charges, I didn’t hear many Republicans raising hell. The question at issue now is just how sweeping they want to be.
catclub
@Omnes Omnibus: ANY trial will be continuing catnip and distraction for the press. Plus, assuming she is not convicted, Trump will claim that the system is still rigged. PLus, campaign promise fulfilled!
debbie
@Omnes Omnibus:
Didn’t think so, but wasn’t sure I hadn’t missed something. I would like her to go through the process, if only to prove their lunatic idiocy. Relatives I’d thought were smarter are calling for her prosecution, which is killing me.
Darkrose
@raven: Oh, very cool. He seems so excited..
PPCLI
@debbie: they were talking about impeaching Obama from the moment he was elected, and they had even less than they have on Hillary.
Amaranthine RBG
@debbie:
I’ve seen talk about the Clinton foundation and influence peddling as Sec. of State.
Oh, and there’s no statute of limitations on her murder of Vince Foster and 47 other people, so there’s that, too.
Omnes Omnibus
@PPCLI:
I am not underestimating anything. I want to know where we stand as a country. It will affect what I do and how I do it.
dogwood
@catclub:
I’ll worry about the Clinton trial when and if it happens. Right now these fascists can’t even organize a transition properly. And transitions are actually easier than they used to be because in one of their decent moments the Bush administration pushed through a completely bi-partisan law that made the process more efficient
sukabi
@Schlemazel: sooooo, he’s finally going to have all his crap made in the US instead of China and Mexico?
Not bloody likely.
Ian
@lamh36:
A month late, no?
boatboy_srq
@Aleta: This is “good business” as illustrated by various Trump enterprises. You’re actually surprised?
sukabi
@EBT: she was talking about the $83,000 yearly salary and the remainder of the money being divided between 191 other employees for the year…pretty sure even in west virginia that’s not enough to get you through 1 month, let alne a year.
boatboy_srq
What struck me was the oh-so-literate “a Ape in heels.” Note the mismatched article. So, Taylor showcased her iggerance along with her bigotry. And don’t give me that “140 characters” BS: there are places where that tweet could have been shortened and still be English (bigoted English, but still a complete sentence with proper grammar that any third-grader ought to know).
sukabi
@efgoldman: inaugural wear.
SFAW
@sukabi:
See, and I thought white pants/robes were worn only between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Thanks, Obama!
SFAW
@Omnes Omnibus:
OK, but I don’t think the Argonauts are going to sign Rodgers anytime soon.
Fake Irishman
@NotMax:
Lot of people on this thread concerned about Sherrod Brown. He’s been lobbying against NAFTA, CAFTA, TPP and any other free trade agreement since he joined Congress in 1992 on the grounds that they tend to gut American manufacturing jobs while leaving those workers in the lurch while enriching their company owners. We can argue around the edges about what free-trade pacts accomplish and are supposed to accomplish, and the merits of TPP vs. NAFTA vs. improvements on both vs. no free trade but he sure as Hell isn’t doing this to cozy up to Trump, who he thinks is a buffoon and an evil, evil man. This is the point where he gestures in his direction before going to the matt on health care, tax cuts, the environment, labor rights and other matters. (Brown famously refused to take his employee health benefits while in Congress and the Senate until the ACA passed in 2010.) He sure as Hell ain’t no racist either. Brown is facing the fight of his life in 2018, and he’s making sure he’s connected with his roots in Ohio (which he never has disconnected himself from.).
You can check in with front-pager Kay on this point. She’ll back this up.
Omnes Omnibus
@SFAW: Not going anywhere. How public I am about things and such.
Macbethchick
@Honus:
NotMax
@Fake Irishman
Not a newcomer to knowing about Brown.
But this is not the time, the place and the circumstance to give an inch, something he has now eagerly spoken a willingness to do.
Macbethchick
And for some fucking reason I still haven’t gotten the hang of posting a response to a thread without it looking catti-woncus.
I recently read an article a friend posted from some faction of FauxNews bemoaning the economic state of Clay County. The old ‘King Coal is our life, blah blah blah, and the EPA commies destroyed us.’ (Thanks, Obama! Dammit, Hillary!) Well since one of those women was the freaking Director of the Clay County Development office, maybe THAT’S why they’re in the toilet.
SFAW
@Omnes Omnibus:
OK, good. I was afraid I’d have to learn French, to be able to talk to you.
SFAW
@NotMax:
How is Brown “giving an inch”? He’s been against NAFTA from the start.
NotMax
@SFAW
Telling he who shall not be named, in advance, that he can “count on me” doesn’t give it away?
SFAW
@NotMax:
Only if we’re operating on the McConnell/Rethug “Whatever it is, I’m against it” model.
CaseyL
I don’t understand the willingness to have Hillary face a show trial. The idea horrifies me. I wouldn’t blame the Clintons if the entire family packed up and left the country, found refuge in Ireland or someplace like that.
cosima
I would like to see BJ return to the civility of the tire rims & anthrax days. I wish John would re-post to help us all feel a bit better.
workworkwork
@Mary G:
Okay, I think I see the problem….
liberalandlovingit!
@chris:
That was a great article. And, they are with us, here in Canada.
Remember when PM Harper killed the communist Canadian Wheat Board?
They drive around with stickers that say Farmers Feed Cities.
Yeah, and cities and our taxes support farmers.
Arrogant white land-owners.
It’s sickening.
liberalandlovingit!
@SiubhanDuinne:
I live north of the Great Lakes; they’re at my A.A. meetings.
Thanks Trump!
J R in WV
@Honus:
Regarding your McDowell County WV population data, you are incorrect. According to the US Census, there are an est. 19,834 people in McDowell County, and 89% are white while 8.8% are black. Here’s a naked link:
http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/RHI205210/54047,00
So you were off by nearly 100% more than your guesstimate on total population count, and much more than that on black population. 38% of the population is living in poverty, though. Which isn’t surprising, but is pretty sad.
In a previous life I delivered educational TV materials for teachers to the school board there, and in my last career I visited the WV DEP office there several times. You would have to stop talking when a train came through town, which was common then, because the noise was so overwhelming.
The town is in a very narrow valley, and the RR passes right by the buildings, through tunnels built right there in town. Many abandoned buildings, crumbling away. It was very prosperous back in the 1950s and ’60s, in its own way.