"To all the little girls watching…never doubt that you are valuable and powerful & deserving of every chance & opportunity in the world."
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 9, 2016
Most shared US tweet of 2016, per Buzzfeed.
If she can do it, so can we. Besides, what other option is there?
What’s on the agenda for the day?
***********
Remember Cole’s favorite candidate?
For 8 years, President Obama has made us proud. For the next 4, it's our turn to return the favor by protecting the progress he's made.
— Jason Kander (@JasonKander) December 7, 2016
Useful reminders, from genuine reporters…
Trump team must think if they say "mandate" 2.7 million times it wipes away fact he lost the popular vote massivelyhttps://t.co/uObhP07whd
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) December 7, 2016
If Carrier didn't have a good union, Trump would never even have heard about the threatened move to Mexico. @HaroldMeyerson
— Harold Meyerson (@HaroldMeyerson) December 8, 2016
1) Cruz attacks Trump over trans rights, loses
2) McCrory signs bathroom bill, loses re-election
3) Dems must reject identity politics— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) December 6, 2016
From ground zero of #Pizzagate:
Happy to report that Comet Pizza is packed tonight by unterrorized Washingtonians.
— David Frum (@davidfrum) December 7, 2016
Baud
Help me keep my pundits straight. Didn’t Harold Meyerson go off the deep end earlier this year?
JPL
Another night, another nightmare about the Trump. It’s going to be a long four years.
satby
Good morning rikyrah and everyone! I got nuthin.
Baud
Comet’s advertising stunt worked! #fakenews
Baud
@satby: Back at you.
Kropadope
Too bad no one found out about the child sex ring Hillary Clinton is running out of the gofundme page I just opened. I mean…
MomSense
Out of desperation I downloaded the free Delta Waves app ( read it can help with sleep) and gave it a try. I actually slept. I’m not a New Age music fan but whatever kind of musi it is it seems to cause relaxation and sleep. They have rain sounds as well.
gene108
I have a pile of work at work that needs doing, but I do not want to do it. I just want to stay under the blankets, in bed, where it is warm and read Balloon Juice all day. ☹️?☹️?
Helen
Morning everyone. Pulling this over from 2 threads ago, cuz y’all moved without telling me and it’s too good not to share.
Last night on RTE (Irish) news, the newscaster announced Trump’s Time Man of the Year award and then she said “Trump said he is honored by the pick.” She then started to laugh. Cuz Trump is to stupid to know that it is not necessarily an honor. RTE then showed the two Time meltdown covers and the newscaster lost her shit laughing.
It was glorious.
satby
@MomSense: I also had lots of trouble sleeping (for years) and discovered that a sleep mask for total darkness helped. They can be uncomfortable or work their way off though. Then I just got one of these last week when they were having a sale, and I love it. All of the dark without needing to make the room gloomy with blackout curtains, because I like natural light when I’m awake.
rikyrah
Morning Everyone???
satby
@Helen: If they put it on YouTube, please share! How’s it going over there in the old country?
Kay
Less than a week after the wall to wall coverage of Ivanka’s environmental activism. That whole thing was a scam. They had already picked this guy. It was a PR stunt.
Watching this family completely con the entire country is depressing. Successfully! That’s the part that kills you.
WWC may be pretty dumb but our elites are morons too. This dumbness problem is widespread and infects all demographic groups :)
Baud
@Helen: Excellent. Need to deny him and his supporters the status they so desperately seek.
Baud
@rikyrah: Morning.
BillinGlendaleCA
@MomSense: I sleep with two dogs: the little one snores, the larger one is nice and warm and loves to snuggle; no problem sleeping.
OzarkHillbilly
Reason #4,397 why I am happy to be closer to the end then I am to the beginning: Revealed: Rio Tinto’s plan to use drones to monitor workers’ private lives
BillinGlendaleCA
@gene108: You could try this.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: No need to invest in a whole company town.
Kay
Chris Christie is a Trump-like politician and he now has the lowest approval rating every recorded for a governor.
So is that because he got caught blatantly lying about Bridgegate or because he’s a terrible, incompetent governor and that fact eventually rose thru the blustering tough-guy bullshit?
Which one of those two things hurt him? Would focusing on the fact that he’s an incompetent governor rather than a lying sleazy asshole have hurt him more, faster?
Is he maybe a model on how to handle this flavor of politician?
Helen
@satby: Will do. It’s going exceptionally smoothly. I’ve got an apartment. Finally got internet access so no more shitty Starbucks. I’ve joined a book club. They meet the third Tuesday of every month. IN A BAR!!! Joined a yoga studio yesterday and most importantly I was able to open a bank account this morning. I was told that would take months because of Central Bank regulations, but I happened upon a lovely man named Ronan at Allied Irish Bank who found a way around the rules for me without actually breaking the rules.
The only thing left to do is get a job. That will take until after the New Year. Pretty much real life stops the last two weeks of December as the Irish take Christmas VERY VERY seriously. But that’s fine. Separating my American income from my Irish income by year will behoove me when it comes to filing taxes.
Oh, and I got the funniest marriage proposal last wee.. All I had to do was tell him I sold my NY apartment! When I asked him what I get out of it he said “Oh about 6 months.”
So, all in all, I have ZERO complaints. This is becoming one of the best decisions I have ever made!
greennotGreen
@BillinGlendaleCA: When I moved into my new house last January, I bought a queen-size bed. I sleep with 4 – 5 toy dogs, and I was tired of being squished onto a sliver of mattress. So, bigger bed – they still sleep right up against me, I’m still squished onto a sliver, I just have bigger sheets to launder.
debbie
Colbert was absolutely brilliant last night on Alex Jones and fake news.
Baud
@Helen: Christie fell. Trump starts low.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: I’m waiting for the brain implants.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA:
They call it “VR.”
rikyrah
@Kay:
We keep on telling them that there is no compromise. There is no common ground. But, certain Dems keep on falling for the bullshyt and wind up looking stupid.???
Baud
@greennotGreen: Ha. So true.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: I choose D, All of the above.
BillinGlendaleCA
@greennotGreen: The little ones ARE THE WORST.
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
Huh?
Da hail?
Kay
On the flip side of Christie, we have Kasich.
Kasich started out as a Christie-Trump asshole but moderated after a huge policy loss and is now an anti-Trump example of a popular politician.
Kasich is competent so was it that or the fact that he decided to stop acting like such an asshole?
CUOMO seems to be a jerk and quite corrupt (like Trump, Christie) but is competent, so I tend to think it’s “competent” as the deciding factor. That would be good if it;s true because there are a substantial section of WWC AND elites who adore and admire mean-spirited, lying assholes (see: Chris Christie).
If character doesn’t matter anymore (and it clearly doesn’t) does competence maybe still matter?
PsiFighter37
Apparently Trump went on Twitter last night to personally insult the head of the union representing workers at Carrier. What an asshole.
Baud
@Kay: Competence tends to mean most people’s lives aren’t directly harmed. That may be the difference.
Baud
@PsiFighter37: I say good. Gives the union’s message wider circulation.
C.V. Danes
@Kay: I have to wonder what he’s going to do next. Have a meeting with Jessie Jackson before putting David Duke in charge of civil rights?
debbie
@Kay:
I am shocked that you have the words “Kasich” and “competent” in the same sentence, particularly in light of this.
rikyrah
@Kay:
They are all pieces of shyt. Corruption surrounds them. And since they can never stop the corruption, it just piles up until it can’t be denied, even by the most gullible.
C.V. Danes
@PsiFighter37: Well, Trump did save all those jobs for the robots.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Cuomo is not as competent as he seems. People are keeping receipts and laying in wait on his ass
Iowa Old Lady
@Kay: Incompetence did W in. The problem was it took too long. It can be hard to get people to recognize it and pin it on the right person.
How do we explain Kansas?
Kay
@rikyrah:
Issue activism is weird. It’s tricky. They all have to hew to this “bipartisan” line (because they want the broadest support possible and they’re also sort of holier than thou on “partisanship”) so they end up in situations like getting conned by Ivanka :)
We’ll see a lot of it with Trump. I know you follow ed reform (like I do). They’re another example of this. They back charter schools. Trump’s ed secretary, DeVos, backs charter schools- sooo they are all moving to back DeVos.
I think it’s a mistake but that’s what happens with a singular focus on one issue. I personally like obsessive people- I am one to a certain extent and I’m drawn to them because they’re passionate and persuasive but they make bad political decisions :)
gene108
@Kay:
Bridge gate accelerated the downfall of Christie. Spending over a year out of state running for President did not help. Mismanaging Sandy relief funds also hurt.
Prior to thos things, no one really cared much about his policies. He axed a tax on incomes over $1 mil, as one of his first acts as governor and then offset the cost, to balance the budget, by laying off a bunch of teachers. It was not a popular move, but the damage was like limited to a few thousand teachers. As parents saw their kids still had schools to go to, homework to do, etc, it went down the memory hole.
Christie initially benefited from the Obama recovery. Things were getting better, so why screw up what works? This is the opposite sentiment that helped get him elected, in 2009, iwhen everything was going to crap and people figured, “eveything sucks, Corzine isn’t make things better, let’s give the other jury a shot”.
But it really did take the bridge closing scandal to burst his bubble.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Kropadope: One wonders why that guy didn’t show up at Trump Tower to investigate the more credible reports of Trump engaging in human trafficking. Actually, one doesn’t wonder…it’s pretty obvious why.
Good for Comet though. I used to go there regularly when I lived in the neighborhood but since moving cross town I haven’t been there in a few years. I had resolved to patronize that place again because F those people, they aren’t going to win in my burg. Sounds like a lot of other Washingtonians have decided the same.
Kay
@Iowa Old Lady:
Kansas is a great counter-example. I don’t know anything about the state- I’ve never even been there. I don’t know why competence doesn’t matter there. Is the governor a strutting asshole?
I agree 100% on Bush. It wasn’t the morality of the war. It was that they fucked the war up. The masses didn’t turn against Bush for war crimes. They turned against him for incompetently executed war crimes.
bystander
@Kay:
No lie has been too big to repeat endlessly. One of the most maddening aspects of the media during this debacle was prefacing each iteration of Podesta’s leaked emails with, “the emails have not been verified”, then proceeding to repeat them as if they had been verified.
OzarkHillbilly
@Iowa Old Lady: Easy: It’s full of Kansans.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Kay: Kasich isn’t competent. He’s now saying tax cuts are causing a recession in OH…hoocodanode? He’s saying that as though it’s not his fault, some kind of random force in the universe caused it, apparently, not the fact that HE cut taxes. If that’s competence, our bar for competence is way too low.
Baud
@Kay: I think the only voters who swing are urban/suburban voters. Rural voters vote GOP regardless of what their pols do, as long as they don’t betray the group.
Kay
@gene108:
Right but getting caught lying about Bridgegate took too long. Elites worshiped Christie so we should look for them to start worshiping Trump.
They admire horrible human beings. That’s just fact now. They’re piss-poor judges of character.
Kay
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
He’s base level competent. It’s not a high bar. He is capable of running an entity without catastrophic results. That’s all they need.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
See this is what I’m worried about. Incompetence eventually stuck to W., but I think Trump has insulated himself from it by saying that he’s not really going to do the Presidenting…he’s going to do the Make America Great Again-ing while his underlings do the Presidenting. When they screw up royally he’ll say I can’t believe this crap is going on, that was stupid, you’re fired. His claim to not knowing about corrupt, unethical, illegal or incompetent behavior until the news breaks will be credible because he’ll actually be completely disengaged from managing the government. One would hope the American people would be like “well then what exactly did we hire you for?” but I’m not entirely sure enough people will pin the problems on him. He’s firing people! That means he’s draining the swamp and fighting for us! Nevermind that they’re the people he picked, so long as he fires and condemns them he’ll skate off with none of the baggage. That’s why he can’t get good people to work for him. Good people have better options than getting thrown under the bus.
Kay
This piece by Perlstein is so, so good:
That’s broadcast media. The part about the NYTimes is worse. Anyone who was reading NYTimes coverage of this election as “news” got played. They were allying with anti-Clinton forces on the Right from the get-go. They’re not credible on Trump.
It’s appalling.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Katrina had a lot to do with it. That simply was not supposed to happen in America. I still get angry thinking about it.
rikyrah
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
I disagree with you. The incompetence is already showing itself. The thing running in my mind is a tally of the looting of the American Treasury that this den of thieves will do before it’s all said and done.??
Kay
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
Okay but all I’m saying is Chris Christie posted videos of himself screaming at teachers. That HELPED him.
This is what they do. They do it because they know what we’re denying- they know “character” and “decency” don’t matter. Christie lied so blatantly because he knew his success wasn’t based on truth-telling. We just have to grapple with this in order to beat them. Character does not matter. Competence might.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Uh huh
Uh huh
Kay
@rikyrah:
But Katrina was incompetence! people saw that and said “natural disasters don’t just happen to poor black people- they can happen to anyone and the Bushies are incompetent”.
The morality didn’t matter. What mattered was an inability to get bottled water to Biloxi.
Betty Cracker
@PsiFighter37: As a narcissist, Trump is incapable of understanding that it’s not okay to “punch down.”
@Kay: Yep — essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what happened.
Patricia Kayden
@Kay: And we already know Trump’s stance on the pipeline being protested in North Dakota by Native Americans. You would think keeping a water source safe for millions of Americans would be an environmental issue that Ivanka would support since she’s “into” environmentalism.
JMG
@Kay: Most Americans hate their bosses yet also wish they were them. Kicking down is stunt that always boosts a pol’s popularity for a bit. Since bullying solves few problems, the efficacy of the tactic wears off and it comes to be seen, accurately, as a cover for incompetence.
Christie’s popularity was never that high until Sandy. Natural disasters always offer an immediate boost to the standing of mayors, governors, etc. It says a lot about Bush’s ability that Katrina croaked his approval for keeps.
Sooner or later, probably sooner, Trump is going to face a situation where his complete lack of experience and ability in administration will be too obvious and disastrous for most of the public to ignore. One thing about all that bragging, it loses him the benefit of the doubt.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: Re: the character vs. competence thing, seems like history shows people will cede rights and power to a strongman because they value the trains running on time more than justice. But when those trains quit showing up punctually, it doesn’t end well for the strongman. We’ll see if this holds true with Cheeto Benito.
Baud
@JMG:
Unless you’re a Dem kicking down a white worker. In that case, even if it never happens, they’ll invent a lie that it did and get their rage on.
Botsplainer
The phantom environmental pivot was done using Ivanka as the shill (a role she frequently casts for).
A number of us have been referring to this as a classic mob bust-out, which is the right way to look at it. Frankly, I’m thinking that the ultimate beneficiary is the Éminence Grise, Jared Kushner.
Richard Condon (wrote “Manchurian Candidate”) wrote a book in his Prizzi series called “Prizzi’s Glory”:
I read it a long time ago. I need to brush up on it, because we’re going to be living it.
Patricia Kayden
@Kay: It’s awful that Kelly was threatened by Trump thugs but since she decided to keep it quiet until after the election, it feels as if she played along with the game. But to be fair to Kelly, we saw more than enough evidence that Trump and his thugs were threatening and abusive to detractors. Yet here we are with him about to enter the White House.
Botsplainer
@Betty Cracker:
It took a combination of things with Bush, but he wasn’t personally awful. As a guy, I understood his appeal and frankly could see myself having beers with him. Same thing with Reagan.
With Twitler, all I feel is revulsion. He’s the drinking companion or dinner partner who interrupts your personal story to brag about something completely unrelated to what you were talking about.
Botsplainer
@Kay:
South Florida and the Gulf are overdue for a catastrophic hurricane. Been a while since the last big shaker in California, too.
This time, the one-two combo will be along the lines of incompetently managed national disaster and a military adventure gone completely awry.
I’m hoping that none of the decisionmaking officers resign while refusing to follow his orders on his overreaction.
Quinerly
@Kay:
Perlstein is such an excellent writer. Must reads are his books on Nixon and Goldwater. Oddly, I have started his one on Reagan. Can’t seem to buckle down and get through it. Perhaps, living through the Reagan years brings it too close to home.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: Cheeto Benito. I am so stealing that.
Glaukopis in Ohio
@Botsplainer: If a big shaker hits California while it is president, they’re on their own. The GOP and Twitler would love to see California fail. Florida they might try to help, but are likely to be as incompetent as Bush et al.
OzarkHillbilly
That’s OK pooch, I have the same sentiment about Xmas. (lower left of photo)
Jeffro
EPA head – hates EPA
Dept of Ed head – hates public schools
HUD head – hates public housing
HHS head – hates Medicaid and Obamacare and women
The rest are unqualified idiots or warmongers
Steve Bannon was quoted as saying he’s a Leninist….wants to bring the whole government down. Is there any question that these are his picks?
Something to call our Senators about, write a letter to the editor about, write to prominent columnists about, Tweet about.
OzarkHillbilly
@Quinerly: Been wanting to ask, if you know, how’s Tom Hall doing? All his fingers survive?
tobie
@rikyrah:
Indeed. Will Gore, will Democratic leaders learn from this fiasco? That’s the only question. Every Dem who is photographed walking into Trump Towers is sending one message: we’ve been cowed. That’s the reason for the whole theatrics of the entrance, waiting at the elevator banks, etc. Gore should never have said they had an “interesting” conversation and then later expanding it to “intelligent” conversation. He should have said, “We had a frank discussion of our differences.
Draw the line and hold the line. That’s what must be done IMO.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@OzarkHillbilly: The problem with Big Data is someone has to process all that information. They did it at the place I work, we have us punch in on every job and do lots of paper work. And nothing comes of it because they would have to hire a parallel managerial structure to constantly monitor analyze all of this data. So lots of money to a lot of softwere companies and for no value added. It looks like sensible heads are prevailing and they are slowly hire more middle management to directly supervise the employees.
I think the main proponents of Big Data are control freaks who just want the illusion of the power it brings and empire builders because it means they can claim the software helps them manage an unrealistic number of employees. But beyond that, Big Data is just the current Cargo Cult fad.
satby
@Helen: So nice to hear! If I remember correctly, you have or can get dual citizenship, right? Which also means EU citizenship?
I don’t and wouldn’t qualify (my great-grands, not my grandparents, were immigrants) but if I did qualify for citizenship I’d strongly consider emigrating in a few years when my critter census is less. I’m plumb tuckered out from the last few cliffhanger years I’ve had, and a country with a functional social compact sounds good right now. But that’s just a dream.
ThresherK
@Botsplainer: The White House will have gone from “America’s drinking buddy” to “America’s binge-drinking buddy”.
And in the middle, we enjoyed eight years of something much better; I’m working on that. “America’s favorite dinner party host”?
Betty Cracker
@Jeffro: Yep. Also, DOJ head nominee who was deemed by a GOP majority senate as too racist to be a federal judge in 1986.
I’m not sure what Trump would do differently if he were deliberately choosing folks with the greatest potential to fuck up their areas of responsibility. Though I am pleasantly surprised shitgibbon declined to choose that frothing nutter Sheriff Clarke for DHS. I’m sure he’ll find some position of responsibility that lunatic can mishandle.
SiubhanDuinne
Note to Rachel Martin: it’s not the “Emollients Clause,” it’s the “Emoluments Clause.”
Note to pretty much everyone on NPR, whether host, reporter or guest: it’s not “pundint,” it’s “pundit.”
Baud
@tobie: Agree. It was the post meeting soon that was the real problem.
WereBear
@MomSense: I rely heavily on my giant Brainwaves app (Apple) which has 36 moods to choose from.
Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones)
@Kay: I think there’s an inflection point of incompetence & lying. Until the lying breaks through the rose colored glasses, the incompetence is invisible. So, I vote all of the above is probably required.
Baud
@Baud: soon=spin
OzarkHillbilly
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: But it only takes one person obsessively watching that union rep to catch him peeing in the wrong place. It is not the data that is the problem, it is the intimidation made possible by it’s collection.
Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones)
* Reposted from late night yesterday *
Knock wood, I’m going to NYC this weekend Friday-Monday! Why? Because I had to get out of this place…
Anyone recommending any plays I should check out other than trying to for the Hamilton lottery? (Which I may try for again this year ;-)
Second, any mind blowing beautiful exhibitions?
Last, I’m visiting family & they currently only have non-specific plans, but I’ve thinking it might be nice to meet up? Any of you City-dwelling folks interested in trying?
Betty Cracker
@OzarkHillbilly: Haha! I once forced our late, great boxer dog Bart to wear light-up antlers in a Christmas photo, and while I was looking at the shot to make sure a retake wasn’t necessary, he shook the antlers off, hiked his leg and pissed on them. A wordless but articulate expression of his opinion of the proceedings!
Jerry
Our Christmas card this is year is our brightly smiling six year old daughter on one side and the Hillary quote on the other side. If anyone in my family gives me shit about the Hillary quote, I’m going to tell them that the other option was the “grab ’em by the pussy” Trump quote and how would they like it if some random creep grabbed their only niece/granddaughter like that.
laura
So, my cousin Kelly’s son works as a pharmacy tech at the Beavercreek OH CVS and was robbed of 11k in opiods yesterday but wasn’t injured or killed so our family is grateful this holiday season, and I guess those in the area and addicted will get some much needed access to drugs so there’s that.
I’ve had about all I can take from this year.
Taylor
@Kay: New Jersey has astronomical property taxes because of a bipartisan dysfunctional political system. Christie hasn’t done shit to change that. The recent crash of a train in Hoboken, that could have been stopped had the right equipment been installed, may have crystalized the incompetence for a lot of people.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: Hehehehehehehe…… Thanx, I needed that.
JMG
Anyone else here curious about what Obama is saying to Trump? I mean, obviously the hardest part of any conversation with Trump is saying something he’ll actually hear. My guess/hope is Obama is emphasizing to Trump that what he learned in office is that everything bad that happens becomes the President’s fault. This would use Trump’s extreme sensitivity to criticism to get him to listen, and is an indirect means of signaling that the Ryan budget becomes the Trump budget as soon as it’s signed.
Odds are prohibitive it’s in one ear and out the other, but Obama has to try.
OzarkHillbilly
@JMG: I’m more interested in what Obama says after the meetings.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@WereBear:
Who is the publisher/developer? I looked in the Android app store and there are seemingly hundreds of “brain waves” things.
Betty Cracker
@JMG: Reading between the lines of Obama’s and Josh Earnest’s comments after the “Presidentin’ 4 Dummies” sessions has been really fascinating.
Jeffro
@Betty Cracker: as someone put it on Twitter this is what he would do if you were planning on dissolving the government and surrounding yourself with generals
Aleta
Part of a speech Indiana Judge Srah Barker gave new citizens at their naturalization ceremony. More is in the New Yorker.
JMG
@Betty Cracker: It’s the same as Gore saying “extremely interesting.” It’s pretty clear he meant it in the way being the fifth man to land on Omaha Beach was extremely interesting.
Jeffro
@JMG: he has been trying and look where it is getting us … crazy and unqualified people heading departments that they hate
Same thing with Gore trying to talk climate change good luck with that, I am sure that Bannon and priebus had a good laugh about that
cmorenc
@Kay:
Having Al Gore come to Trump Tower to meet with Ivanka and then a surprise audience with the Donald ! himself turns out to nothing but a petty power play of luring a prominent enemy to his palace to symbolically play homage to Trump. It’s all about generating the news headline: “Al Gore visits Trump at Trump Tower” – any discussions Trump had with Gore were simply a matter of puffery used-car salesmanship by the Donald to sell the fake notion that Trump might have some open mind on the subject of global warming.
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
Me too
Elizabelle
@rikyrah:
Also Cheeto Trumpito.
For the more slow-witted among one’s listeners.
Good morning, all.
Betty Cracker
@OzarkHillbilly & @rikyrah: I stole it from germy!
JMG
@Jeffro: It is the President’s duty as a patriotic American to do what he can to educate his successor even if he knows he’s going to fail miserably. It is Al Gore’s duty as an activist to do what he can to advance his cause with important people even if he knows he’s going to fail miserably. As ordinary citizens, we have the luxury of pure opposition from the jump. They do not. Their actions are about the country and the world, not about making their supporters feel better.
Betty Cracker
@cmorenc: Yeah, I wish Gore had declined to participate in that charade. PBO has no choice; a plurality of morons in a handful of states put him in that position, and, unlike said morons, Obama is a patriot, so he will fulfill his role in the transition of power to the racist, sexist, xenophobic demagogue the slaver-inspired Electoral College will soon foist upon us. But Gore could have said no and explained why.
Helen
@satby: Yes. I have dual citizenship through my mom, who was born in Belfast. When granting dual citizenship Ireland let’s you chose between the Irish Republic or the UK/Northern Ireland route. I chose the Irish republic way, which was the right way now given Brexit. I am a citizen of the EU.
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: Interesting point about the Electoral College.
“Slaver-inspired.” Might be a way to get folks to take a closer look at eliminating or retooling it.
Not fair that California’s or New York’s votes count less than Wyoming’s either.
SenyorDave
@JMG: Anyone else here curious about what Obama is saying to Trump?
I’m guessing that a lot of their supposed frequent communications is jst public relation BS. Trump has had more than 5 years of complete contempt for Obama, insulted him constantly, was a birther until this year. I just do not believe he would ever listen to anything Obama said. I understand the theory that he might listen to him because Trump admires power, but I just don’t see it. And Obama must have no use for him, Trump is everything that Obama would loathe. Plus I’m sure Michelle hates Trump’s guts.
If Obama is whispering sane things to Trump, it is more than offset by Bannon and Trump’s own warped instincts.
Excluding some of the military guys (Mattis and Kelly seem like reasonable picks), every pick for cabinet and adviser has been terrible. Also, Trump is as bad as ever with twitter, now attacking private citizens.
Elizabelle
@Helen: Lucky puppy. Enjoying your dispatches from Dublin.
And def want to see video of that newscast of them laughing at Trump’s Man of the Year. They’re more honest than our “legacy” media.
Betty Cracker
@Helen: I wish my Irish ancestors had emigrated more recently so I’d have that option. The bastards came over in the 1820s, so no luck.
geg6
@JMG:
Myself, I’m against any Democrat meeting with that asshole. For any reason. Including Obama.
I’m furious with him that he’s even attempting to talk sense in that senseless idiot. Fuck that horrible man. Fuck America. We deserve to become the banana republic that half the country pines for. I say we give it to them, good and hard.
Thoroughly Pizzled
@Elizabelle: Some folks might see that as a positive.
There look to be a couple of low-hanging fruits on this list, though: http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/state-status
gene108
@Kay:
The big difference between Trump and Christie, for now at least, is Trump is incredibly unpopular for a President-Elect.
Christie won a close election, against Corzine, in 2009, but as the economy improved Christie reaped the rewards. He also bribed local Dems to line up behind him, which reduced the opposition a person in power normally faces from the opposition.
The economy is already chugging along nicely. Trump can do very little to make it better. He can do a lot to make it worse. I think most Democrats, in Congress, are not going to be “won over” by Trump, with Manchin being the exception.
Also, competence is overrated. There is usually enough institutional bureaucracy to protect most folks from elected official machinations. Drinking water will be potable, roads still get you from point A to B, firefighters still put out fires, etc. Unless there is a disaster, then the people voted to be in charge need to step up and lead, and that is when they get exposed.
What is a bigger issue is blatant corruption. Americans, and I hope this still applies, have limits on how much they will tolerate politicians benefiting from their positions of power. What hurt Bush, Jr. in regards to his response to Katrina was that it became clear the head of FEMA was clearly a patronage hire; a I scratch your back, you scratch mine deal.
Bridge gate was a tit-for-tat political payback that hurt actual people. It’s easy to understand. The Mayor of Ft, Lee did not agree to Christie’s shakedown, so his city got screwed.
We just have to keep the light on Trump’s conflicts of interest and Republicans abetting it.
geg6
@JMG:
Then I would suggest that legitimizing that man is pretty much the opposite of what they should be doing. He’s not going to listen to them and by encouraging his legitimization, they are doing the country and the world a disservice, not to mention their supporters. They should be screaming at the top of their lungs that he is a danger to the republic. Nothing less. And certainly not coming to him on bended knee, like Gore. It was disgusting.
artem1s
@ThresherK:
more like “America’s roofie and date rape buddy”
Martha
@Kay: Just when I thought I might climb out of my bunker, I’ve decided I like my safe place. This article just reignites my rage at all of them…
danielx
@Kay:
I’d say it doesn’t need to be an either/or decision, except that in Trump’s case people knew he was a lying, sleazy asshole before they voted for him and it didn’t matter. So maybe when things start falling apart because the shitgibbon can’t focus on anything but his favorite subject (himself) for more than five minutes at a stretch, they’ll become disenchanted.
danielx
@Betty Cracker:
In a phone interview on the late night news last evening, the union guy’s response was basically “fuck them, Trump’s response proves I’m doing my job”.
O. Felix Culpa
@Kay:
Kay, I agree with virtually everything you write but this notion. Seems to me they’re accurate judges of character. They see that Christie, Trump et all are bullies, they admire those character traits, and therefore they knowingly choose them.
Semantics, I suppose, but it’s important to recognize that they haven’t misdiagnosed or misjudged character – the bad character they see is the bad character they want.
danielx
In keeping with the cheeriness of the topic, it’s 22 degrees and falling, with snow coming down.
Shana
@Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones): The Humans got really good reviews. There’s a Jerusalem exhibit at the Met that my younger daughter’s professor helped curate that sounds really interesting.
Denali
@Tenar,
I was in NYC last weekend and enjoyed Paramour, a Cirque du Soleil/musical at the Lyric. Plot is weak, but the acrobats are amazing. Also saw The Comet and the War of 1812 with Josh Groban, athe Imperial Theratre. Again, plot is weak, but production is mind-blowing. Trigger warning – extended use of strobe lights was disturbing to me and I am usually ok with them.
ruemara
You guys. Look, it is very simple. He hates who they hate and will enact policies that punish them. He gives them license and security to act out their hatreds. They now know they have friend in power at every branch of government. They can abuse, torture or even kill without so much as a dirty look. Their liberal friends are too busy trying to empathize with them and not say the horrible words of racist or misogynist. Even the big liberal stars are saying give them a chance and don’t be mean to Trumpers. Their YouTube stars are going up in the world. They won’t ever change their minds on Trump. They knew he was an immoral, lazy, foul pervert and it was fine. He hates as they hate and he was going to give them the power to remake America in hate. And they were right. If you want to cut this man and his government short, your chance is in 2018. My gut tells me that may be it. Stop worrying about those who chose Trump. They don’t have a functioning conscience. They never will. And they will keep this government even if it costs them everything, because they love their hatreds more.
Jack the Second
@Elizabelle: But taking away Wyoming’s extra electoral college votes would infringe on the equal dignitude of the States. That’s unconstitutional!
Denali
While I get the fact that bullying is seen as strength, the constant lying really bothers me. How can a country function when there is no assurance that what is said is true. I know newspeak has been going on for some time, but to see an entire party fold is quite alarming. Death threats to the press and individuals are a whole new territory that we are entering. Are we really as passive as sheep?
NR
@ruemara: I keep pushing this Van Jones interview because I think it’s really important for people here to read given the attitudes I’m seeing expressed around here. I’m not calling you out specifically because I’ve seen other people here say similar things, but you really should read it.
Really, read the whole thing.
Ian
@Kay:
Don’t call Kelly a journalist. She is a mercenary.
Larkspur
@satby: Good morning satby! Though it’s afternoon there by now, I reckon. You got nuthin, but I got Black Soap – it’s so pure and beautiful – and other assorted delightful things from your Etsy shop, and I haven’t tried everything, but I love and cherish the Black Soap because I feel like it may be helping to draw the impurities out of my body, and what do you think: should I eat some of the Black Soap too? But I don’t know if eating it would have any effect on my soul. In any case, consider yourself indemnified and held harmless should I experiment with consuming it. And thanks again.
liberal
@gene108:
If your definition of “potable” is the traditional one, maybe. If we add “doesn’t include high levels of lead,” not so much.
HeidiMom
@OzarkHillbilly: I’m really looking forward to his memoir. And, even more, Michelle’s.
'Niques (frequent visitor; occasional commenter)
So . . . all these deplorables Trump has picked for Cabinet Heads — won’t theirs be the first on the chopping block when everything starts to go south? With a little luck, won’t these be career-ending positions as scapegoats? (Opting for optimism here.)
Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones)
@Shana: @Denali: Thanks!
ruemara
@NR: bugger off.