Institutional momentum is a hell of a thing. Even desiccated institutions that have proved too hollow to perform the functions for which they were designed — e.g., to prevent an unstable, unqualified puppet of a foreign power from ascending to the office of the U.S. presidency — have a heft that keeps them rolling in their well-worn grooves toward a predetermined destination.
That’s why, though we can hope for deus ex machina in the form of a CIA bombshell, etc., we will almost certainly see Putin’s poodle sworn in as POTUS at noon this Friday, with most Democratic lawmakers in attendance. That’s when the real work of the resistance will begin.
But in the meantime, between calling our reps to try to save the ACA, I don’t see why we can’t have a little fun at the expense of the brittle narcissist who is almost certainly furious at the prospect of his inaugural becoming a very public flop that is insufficiently staffed by celebrities and attended by citizens.
How bad is it? We know Trump has been unable to get A-list celebrities to perform, even after reportedly dangling ambassadorships to sweeten the pot for talent bookers. When that failed, he stomped sour grapes on Twitter: “The so-called ‘A’ list celebrities are all wanting tixs [sic] to the inauguration, but look what they did for Hillary, NOTHING. I want the PEOPLE!”
But it’s looking like “the PEOPLE,” who previously expressed that they don’t want Trump by giving his opponent nearly three million more votes, are now staying away from the inauguration in droves. That apparently compelled Trump himself to hawk tickets via video on Twitter yesterday (and his team to place banner ads all over the web today), less than a week out. Via the site linked from the inaugural ticket infomercial:
On Friday, January 20, we celebrate a new day for America as Donald J. Trump and Michael R. Pence are sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States. Because you played such an important role in our movement to Make America Great Again, President-elect Trump wants to personally invite you to the Inaugural Welcome Concert and Inaugural Swearing-In Ceremony.
You will receive a limited edition, commemorative ticket as a keepsake to frame and remember this historic event. This ticket IS NOT required for admittance. To register for your tickets, complete and submit the form below.
It’s like they’re selling Ginsu knives or knock-off Fabergé eggs. In contrast, this was the inaugural ticket situation in November 2008:
If you’d like to attend President-elect Obama’s swearing-in ceremony, you’ll need to contact one of your U.S. senators or your representative to get tickets. You can identify your representative and senators online and find out how to get in touch with their offices. Be realistic about your chances, though: These offices have already received tens of thousands of requests, and only about 240,000 tickets will be available. For example, aides of Sen. Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, told the Washington Post that they had received 40,000 requests for tickets by the Monday after the election. Many offices have already stopped taking names of constituents who call in hopes of attending. Some offices plan to draw names to decide who gets the coveted tickets.
3. Be wary of scam artists trying to sell you inauguration tickets. Tickets for the swearing-in are free, and they won’t be sent to the congressional offices until the week before the ceremony. If you are lucky enough to get one, you’ll have to go to the office to pick it up in person. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, is even proposing legislation that would make selling inauguration tickets a federal crime.
I don’t doubt there will be hundreds of thousands of MAGAssholes in DC for the event. It’s a watershed moment for white supremacist groups and haters of all stripes, getting one of their own into the Oval Office. Even if it did take an assist from partisan malcontents in the FBI and a hostile foreign power.
And make no mistake, while Trump’s ascension may be a black swan event that makes the majority of our fellow citizens queasy, the fact of it has damaged this country’s reputation incalculably, internally and externally. We’re a fucking joke now. All the more reason to take our amusement where we can, I guess.
Jerzy Russian
What is the forecast for Friday? Hopefully sleet, ice, hail, snow, etc.
Manyakitty
Hey, there’s an ad for it at the top of the page!
Baud
I wouldn’t mind seeing some people attend with big “We ❤ you, Barack and Hillary” signs.
Skerry
@Jerzy Russian: Rain all day. High of 50.
The forecast for the next day Women’s March is clear, high of 60.
BGinCHI
Hoping the Women’s March will be bigger than the inaugural.
Very proud of Mrs. BG for going.
Ohio Mom
@Jerzy Russian: according to weather.com, on Friday there is a 90% chance of rain, in the 50’s. Saturday is predicted to be a tad warmer, partly cloudy and only 20% chance rain.
Weather forecasting is of course, just an educated guess. But I like the odds so far.
dww44
A couple of hours ago got this news bulletin from the AJC about
a Gwinnett County Commisioner.
He’s not happy with John Lewis and he thinks all Democrats are idiots. He’s not apologizing either. IMO discussing politics on Facebook is a no win situation and, in this case I hope he REALLY doesn’t win and is forced to resign.
Bostonian
And how many of the people who do show up are going to turn their backs, or boo?
Felonius Monk
@Jerzy Russian:
I’d read elsewhere that it is supposed to be unseasonably warm and very wet in D.C. for Inauguration Day. No predictions about the showers being golden.
debbie
But wait, there’s more!
@BGinCHI:
I believe I saw 200 buses reserved for the Inaugural, compared with 2,000 buses for the Women’s March.
aimai
@Baud: Risky, given the skin heads who will be celebrating.
But I do wish that there were a place where we could assemble to bid President Obama farewell. I remember that he and Michelle walked Bush and Laura to the helicopter at some point on that day. It was all very gracious. Can’t even imagine what it is like for Obama and Michelle to have to turn over the keys of the white house to that Tangerine slob.
bystander
I’m hoping the inauguration occurs as Stephen King envisioned it.
Fast forward to 1:10 for the yuuuuge entertainment!
Quinerly
Rep John Lewis speaking live from Miami right now. Great speech. MSNBC covering. He said he threw out his prepared remarks. Opened with a story about raising chickens in Alabama.❤
Mary G
I imagine that many of the rural people who voted for him are scared of coming to the crime-ridden burning hellscape that is D.C. Black people live there, you know.
Hal
NotMax
It shall be the yoogest gathering of humanity in the entire 6000 year history of the Earth.
Just ask his sycophants and rubes.
BGinCHI
@debbie: Saw that too.
Curious how the press is going to cover it.
cmorenc
In our sometimes-bottomless fury at the 60-million people who voted for Trump (and what that seems to say about their character) – it would be wise to keep in mind that the depth of his support among a substantial portion of them was fairly shallow; as a rough measure, they are the margin between the 46% of the total vote he got and the 27% hard-core base GOP support.
KEY TAKEAWAY: We don’t need to successfully turn but mid-to-high single digits (out of 100% of Trump voters) in order to profoundly change the electoral dynamics in 2018 and especially 2020 in our favor. For example, if only 5% of those 60 million change their votes next time (3 million) – Clinton would have won with 66 million votes to Trump’s 57 million, enough of a landslide to have won several crucial states she lost and a few more. Note that the effect of turning a voter away from Trump into our column is doubled – +1 for us, -1 for them.
So: even though 90% of Trump voters are spiteful racist poopy-heads who thoroughly deserve getting shat upon by Trump – let’s not be so hostile to the modest 10% who are likely capable of waking the fuck up. Yeah, they fucked up, but we need to win ’em back on our side to take the country back.
Napoleon
@Jerzy Russian:
And locust.
JPL
@Quinerly: Thank you.
O. Felix Culpa
I was wondering why I was getting all those banner ads for inauguration tickets. The effort reeks of desperation. Sad.
ETA: There are now 386 sister marches registered for Jan. 21 in the U.S. and around the world. Anyone in Accra? There’s a march for you! Also in most European countries, India, Korea, Australia, etc. Here’s the link to find a march near you: https://www.womensmarch.com/sisters
oldster
I’m going to the Women’s March on Saturday. I am one of five kids, 4 boys and 1 girl (though our combined age is now upwards of 300 years–the oldest on the brink of retirement). All five of us will be there on Saturday. I still have not decided what I want my sign to say. Perhaps:
Down with the
Treasonous
Russian
UnAmerican
Monstrous
PUPPET
But I think that could be improved.
Felonius Monk
@BGinCHI:
Just like most of the Iraq War protests. No mention or only in passing.
Napoleon
I would love nothing more then if a bunch of people show up with and waive Russian and Soviet flags. That would be awesome.
Mikefromarlington
Lol…chance of warm showers on Friday! There is a god and he’s got a sense of humor it seems
NotMax
Question is if it will be Friday afternoon or Saturday before the ‘publish’ button is clicked on the undoubtedly already conjured up lies about how the Obamas trashed the place on the way out.
satby
Reposting from below because we may as well have fun with them:
schrodingers_cat
@Mary G: When I used to live in PG county near DC, a friend’s husband refused to come visit because of the same reason. He is originally from KY. Ironically, his wife is originally from India.
NotMax
@oldster
“The Don is a river in Russia.”
Patricia Kayden
@Quinerly: I glimpsed Lewis sitting beside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., during a scene in Hidden Figures. Very proud of his anti-Trump stance. It’s a shame that Democratic politicians as a whole aren’t up to standing with him and boycotting the inauguration. Would send a very strong message to Trump if they did.
Betty Cracker
@oldster: I’ll be there too. I’m thinking of using George Takei’s funny poem for my sign:
Tinkle, tinkle, little czar,
Putin put you where you are.
My husband is urging me to think of a more positive message, but it’s hard to view this as an opportunity rather than a catastrophe.
Brachiator
Very nice line.
This stuff may make Trump furious, but it also energizes him. He always finds his mental golden (shower) palace where he is Trump Supreme, Master of All Situations, and where the rest of the world is a bunch of jealous backbiters.
And he’s reached out and found sympathetic enablers among the British BREXIT crowd. Foul birds of a feather flocking together.
In any event, I will be doing everything I can to avoid watching the inauguration or hearing anything about it. It is an official non-event as far as I’m concerned.
Patricia Kayden
@Mary G: That’s good. Let them stay away. D.C. is no longer majority Black though. Blacks now make up 46% of the D.C. population.
O. Felix Culpa
@satby: Hah! Very funny! Hey, did you know there’s going to be a march in South Bend? 3:30 pm at the John R. Hunt Plaza. Or do you have to work on the 21st?
Betty Cracker
@Patricia Kayden: I wish every Democratic lawmaker would boycott it. The list is up in the 20s so far. It should be much higher, IMO. Attending normalizes Trump. PBO doesn’t have a choice since he has a role to play, but the rest should stand with Lewis, IMO.
sunny raines
@Jerzy Russian: better if trump inauguration has bad turnout with good weather than with bad. Bad weather would be spin-meisters excuse for bad turnout.
Villago Delenda Est
@Felonius Monk: Pretty much the same way the deserting coward’s limo was pelted with fruit at his inauguration. Ignored by the vermin of the Village.
chopper
@BGinCHI:
no question. tons more will be there the day after.
Felonius Monk
@NotMax:
“Quiet Flows the Don” is not an apt description of TrumpenDouche.
weaselone
It would be nice to think that this would finally drive the stake through the heart of the idea that our founders were in some ways gods among men. The truth is that despite the good things they left us as part of our patrimony, their moral cowardice and prejudices have caused much pain and needless blood to be spilled. The results of this election can be traced directly back through our Civil War to find its roots in this country’s original and founding sin of slavery. That they also served it up with a side order of elitism, operating under the belief that those of their social class who could trumpet freedom with one hand while whipping a slave with the other were somehow morally superior and less inclined to fall for demagoguery is just the cherry on top.
rachel
Like this?
Jerzy Russian
@Napoleon:
Thanks for that. I am losing my edge here.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
1. Curious Trump the media personality can get more media types at his party.
2. Curious the GOP congress isn’t more involved in the ignoration.
3. Looking forward to seeing both Putin and Trump walking out of a cloud of fog hand in hand to fireworks during the Iceland sumit.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@oldster: Have you ruled this out?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@oldster: Here’s an idea.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
I have 2 comments in moderation, both have the same link for oldster.
ETA: It must be the link. My idea was a special d t rump gadsden snake print from teepublic. Full name of tangerine ballsack + flag name. It cracked me up.
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
@Betty Cracker: They should all boycott, but they shouldn’t announce it or fucking tweet, or facebook or anything like that, they should just not show up. All the social media responding to Trump is just free advertising for him. Don’t show up, don’t tell anyone, and when they are asked about it say, Russia, Golden showers, treason; over and over and over and over and over.
Bostonian
If more than 100,000 people appear at Trumpski’s inauguration, it’ll be because they emptied every skid row and Home Depot parking lot in three states.
satby
@O. Felix Culpa: I got it off! Debating staying local or going to Chicago.
Another Scott
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Supposedly someone on Donnie’s team said that the Iceland thing isn’t going to happen (or not happen first). Who knows.
Some commenter from a think tank in the UK was on the BBC this morning and said that Donnie’s off-the-cuff tweeting is extremely dangerous. Either countries believe what he says and react accordingly (and likely impulsively), or they don’t believe what he says and the US loses the ability to affect events by having its previously nuanced words be taken seriously. Either way, careful consideration gets thrown in the dust bin.
“Interesting times” ahead…
Cheers,
Scott.
James Powell
One thing I’m sure we can count on is that CNN, MSNBC, and the rest of the supposedly liberal media will find the most unhinged, unkempt, foul mouthed protestors and show them as exemplars the Democratic Party and of all who oppose His Gracelessness.
The Lodger
@Jerzy Russian: I was holding out for blood, frogs (other than Pepe), boils, locusts and the death of the Republican firstborn.
PsiFighter37
For everyone who thinks that ‘our institutions’ will rein in Trump: if they actually worked, he would have never won a single primary.
Enjoy that happy thought as we begin the last workweek of Obama’s presidency.
Shell
Crap, if I still had an American flag around the house, Ild be flying it upside down.
O. Felix Culpa
@satby: I’m glad for you! Chicago might be more satisfying in the sense of having greater numbers, but I’m sure either one would be good.
satby
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I like that, I may print that out.
satby
@O. Felix Culpa: agree, a lot depends on the weather. I’m not driving long distances in icy weather.
Villago Delenda Est
@James Powell: Yet another reason for my nym.
Wipe them out. All of them.
schrodingers_cat
@Brachiator: Have you checked out the trailer for Vishal Bharadwaj’s (he is known for adapting Shakespeare’s tragedies to Indian settings) upcoming movie?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@satby: You know we’ll want pics if you do…
Jinchi
Trump won 63 million of 136 million cast. So 73 million of us voted for someone else. He’s under by 10 million, not just 3.
Spanky
The
ObamaNational Weather Service forecast for The Mall isOhio Mom
@O. Felix Culpa: The advantage of staying local is all the bonding opportunities. I’m expecting to see old friends and acquaintances and make new ones. Plus finding out what new groups have what projects planned.
Another Scott
@Spanky: We should remember that forecasts more than a couple of days out have pretty big error bars – even moreso around DC. People coming to DC for Saturday should be prepared for the forecast to change.
Cheers,
Scott.
Jerzy Russian
@Villago Delenda Est:
Will Geordi be assimilated too?
debbie
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
I like the t-shirt (except for the yellow)!
Ohio Mom
@debbie: The problem with the tee shirt is that unless you’re at a sister march in a warm clime, it’s going to be hidden under several layers. But who knows, it could come in useful for a summer march, this could be a long haul.
I’m thinking about what I have that is warm and red, white and blue.
ThresherK
Nice Sondheim reference.
Quinerly
@Patricia Kayden:
Think I just heard a blurb on NPR that Trump is meeting with MLK III today. Anybody else hear that?
Baud
@Quinerly: Yes.
Brachiator
@schrodingers_cat:
Are you speaking of “Rangoon?” Looks wild. Bloody hell.
J R in WV
@Brachiator:
“In any event, I will be doing everything I can to avoid watching the inauguration or hearing anything about it. It is an official non-event as far as I’m concerned.”
ME too, as is Mrs. J – but I will count on Balloon-Juice leadership to pass along good news, such as how many people turned their backs on the actual swearing-in, how many people wore pink hats, how many people really showed up, whether Trump’s speech made any sense at all, etc, etc.
If only 200 buses were reserved for the affair, it should be a conspicuously small crowd… also hoping the “balls” are more like high school proms with low energy attendance AND small crowds.
Schlemazel
@rachel:
OK, my latin is good enough to recognize about half the words & pick up what I assume is the meaning but I don’t recognize that. What is it from, please?
I wonder if roasted swan tastes good?
Kay
@aimai:
He basically name-drops the Obama’s, though. He thinks them treating him decently is unique to him and a measure of his status. It’s horrible, like everything else he does. All fucked up and twisted. He’s incapable of the smallest generous gesture. It all ends up sounding like self-promotion.
Spanky
Hmmmm. I’m getting ads for Soylent. “Complete Meal in a Bottle”.
I guess the future is here!
Comrade Scrutinizer
A good read to prepare us for what’s coming: the play Closet Land, by Radha Baradwaj. Which was also a marvelous Alan Rickman film, sadly unavailable on DVD or Blu-ray.
Follow that with The Politics of Cruelty, by Kate Millet, which is currently read for free on Kindle Unlimited.
It’s where we’re at, folks.
Edited because fucking autocorrect.
Schlemazel
@Quinerly:
I am not familiar with III but in general the acorns rolled very far from the tree in the family, sadly.
PPCLI
@NotMax: Though literature tells us that Don flows quiet.
schrodingers_cat
@Brachiator: Indeed, you are right!
Here is Naina, from Omkara (Othello), sung by the one only Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
Don’t believe your eyes, they will deceive you.
Bonus tidbit: Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan, Kangana’s costars in Rangoon were both involved Kareena Kapoor who plays Dolly (Desdemona) in Omkara. (Shahid was her longtime bf, Kareena is now married to Saif)
Kay
If I am to believe these polls it looks like perhaps 10% of people who voted for this clown already don’t approve of him.
So good job, there, swing voters. Nice work. That gamble you took really paid off. Now we’re all stuck with him, thanks to you.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@PPCLI: Yeah, but fucking Russians. Four fucking volumes of fucking Russians.
SiubhanDuinne
@Schlemazel:
It’s from Carmina Burana. Sung by a tenor using a strangulated falsetto.
Here’s a translation (sorry the format is so funky):
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@debbie: another place sells it in multiple colors…
@Ohio Mom: That’s a good point – I’d probably get one big enough to wear over a warmer shirt. Last week – Wednesday? – it would have been fine on its own here, as you know.
Quinerly
@Schlemazel:
I recall that one of Dr. King’s daughters (only?) is a whack job. Didn’t support Obama. Can’t remember the details but there was something off about her.
Baud
@Kay: Do polls include nonvoters?
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Kay: Just don’t forget that the vote margin that mattered was 80000 in three states. Thanks, Founding Fathers.
Kay
@Comrade Scrutinizer:
We really do have to examine “our institutions” though. They collapsed like cheap lawn chairs. This is a much bigger problem than Donald Trump and 20,000 white working class voters. “Our institutions” are apparently low quality. Trump tapped them on the shoulder and they fell down dead. NOT as resilient as one might hope!
Peale
@PsiFighter37: Yep. I figured too that the big powerful corporate heads would be cooler heads when it comes to Mexico and China over Russia. I mean, our trade and investment into Russia is TINY compared with those two countries. I of course, was wrong. Trade relationships are actually very weak. A couple of foreign crisis with China brought about by proclaiming Taiwan an interdependent country here, threatening a blockade in the South China sea there and those business relationships are over. The only thing stopping this from getting completely out of control quickly is the Donald’s belief that Obama has destroyed the military and it needs to be rebuilt. A few forced resignations of Obama appointees here and there, removing the gays and the Muslims from the service and everything will be “fixed” unfortunately. We’ll have that masculine army again for him to use against anyone who has ever insulted us (and that list will grow).
Kay
@Comrade Scrutinizer:
I was defending the electoral college because I’m a traditionalist at heart, but no more.
New institutions! Stat! Out with the old and in with the new. They failed. Time to move on.
Suzanne
@PsiFighter37: Agreed. Our institutions were never meant for someone actively trying to harm the country.
SiubhanDuinne
@SiubhanDuinne:
@Schlemazel:
Found a good performance of it on the Tube of Yous.
Kay
I can tell mainstream Republicans here are worried about Trump because they’re not gloating. They make it a point to find me and gloat when they’re feeling confident.
They look..stunned.
I don’t rub it in yet but I will. I’m waiting ’till it’s official, because I’m a traditionalist and it’s not proper yet :)
Schlemazel
@Quinerly:
There have been stories of the family demanding to be paid for the use of Dr. King’s likeness and words even in memorials.
SiubhanDuinne
Monica Crowley is out, according to a CNN alert just now. I guess plagiarism doesn’t pay after all.
.
.
(Wonder who said that first?)
Comrade Scrutinizer
I’ll leave this MLK quote here:
bemused senior
@SiubhanDuinne:
@Schlemazel:
Excellent Carmina Burana reference! I have shared it on the book of faces.
Schlemazel
@SiubhanDuinne:
OK, that just asks a whole bunch more questions!
Is this truly a “swan song”?
Who is the singer?
Is he being serious?
If not, why not? The song is not comic . . . is it?
who is the 12 year old with the baton?
Baud
@Comrade Scrutinizer: Good quote. Nice find.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: Haha. The irony is that everyone fired by Trump is less skeezy than Trump.
Betty Cracker
@SiubhanDuinne: Saw a comment on Twitter (from a NYT reporter, I think) noting that once the Trump people realized part of Crowley’s job would be to develop speeches, they figured they had to kick her to the curb. Wouldn’t do to have her putting whole translated paragraphs of Putin’s speeches in Trump NSA flunkies’ mouths.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Kay: True, but the GOP has been working to undermine those institutions since at least Gingrich and the Contract With America. That’s when the Republicans started to purge the Party of liberal and moderate Republicans (yes, kids, there were some). The more successful they were, the more they kicked out the props.
The rise of Trump has been I n the cards since 2000.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Betty Cracker: You mean that even KellyAnne Conman couldn’t lie that away?
Kay
@SiubhanDuinne:
She’s another failure of several of our “institutions”. Whoever awarded her the degree failed and then whoever made her famous on cable failed. They’re failing all over the place. Our “meritocracy” seems to be broken. There’s no connection between quality and pay and fame.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Kay:
That comment made my day. Thanks, Kay.
Tazj
@Kay: What gets me, is that in addition to voting for Trump or Stein or Johnson or whatever, people couldn’t even vote enough for Democrats in the Senate races to put some sort of check on Trump. Let’s give him everything and see what he will do. Yes, thanks very much.
O. Felix Culpa
@Ohio Mom:
Agreed. Ms. O and I were originally planning to go to D.C., but shifted to our nearby town of Santa Fe, partly for the local solidarity reasons and partly because a 30-hour bus ride each way felt…inadvisable.
Baud
@Kay: Are you going to hang the Russian flag outside your office on Friday?
SiubhanDuinne
@Schlemazel:
Yes, it’s pretty much a “comic song.” A lot of Carmina Burana is pretty funny, especially the middle section, “In Taverna,” from which this song is taken.
I wish I knew the identity of the singer and the young conductor. Drives me crazy that people who put up these clips so often fail to credit the performers.
As for its being a “swan song,” well, it kind of turns the metaphor on its head, but it is certainly the swan aware — oh, so very aware — of his own death!
Woodrowfan
@Quinerly: She’s a niece.
http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2013/12/831-alveda-king.html
Peale
@Kay: I’m still kind of torn as to whether I want the whole thing to come crashing down on their heads (taking me with it) and laugh while everyone struggles or if I want to do things to prevent that from happening. I know prudence is reflected in the latter, but until my betters on the left and right see what corruption actually looks like and how difficult it is to actually build an economy after the old one is completely shredded, I don’t know if they’ll actually get it. No one living today has actually experienced what real inflation looks like. Or real deflation. Or wondering if there will be stuff on the shelves in the stores even if they can’t always afford what is there.
tobie
@Betty Cracker:
You could use some very Presidential statements from the past. I’m thinking of putting the following on a placard:
“Every aspect of the American economy has profited from the contribution of immigrants.” JFK, 1958
I wish one could attribute “We are a nation of immigrants” to JFK or FDR but I don’t think there’s any one origin to this noble statement.
patroclus
@Jerzy Russian: Nice Hugh reference!
Corner Stone
@Kay:
Another example that every single thing Trump touches turns to shit. She was already shit, of course, but she had a nice gig and no one cared enough to dig into how dirty she might be. Trump touched her and the lie she was living got amplified into a real compost heap of toxic garbage.
Love it.
Baud
@Corner Stone: He’s the anti-Midas.
amk
@Kay: the so called institutions have been rotten since mccarthy and hoover days. the lil fingered vulgarian is the proverbial straw.
Corner Stone
@Kay:
I am in a deep red RWNJ district. They have wanted to do so many disastrous things to our community – repeal the ACA, defund public schools, cut taxes, not pass bonds for various things. All in 100% on Voter ID laws. Truly heinous shit.
But they have not said a fucking peep one about Trump so far. It’s like they don’t know what just happened.
SiubhanDuinne
@Kay:
Well, she was a protégée of Richard “I am not a crook” Nixon :-)
When the recent plagiarism story first broke a couple of weeks ago, I saw one article alleging that she never asked nor received Nixon’s permission to publish the notes of his comments in their off-the-record conversations, even though she did just that following his death.
She does not seem like a nice person. I can see why she and Trump were drawn to each other.
patroclus
@Spanky: Soylent Green is PEOPLE!
Baud
@patroclus: Soylent Orange is Trump voters.
Villago Delenda Est
@Kay: At times it seems the only thing our “meritocracy” actually considers to be “merit” is whose womb you fell out of, or your legacy Ivy education.
This is why it’s utter fail. The ideals this country were founded on have been utterly betrayed and warped beyond recognition.
SiubhanDuinne
@bemused senior:
Give credit for coming up with it to rachel @ comment #41.
Corner Stone
IIRC I don’t think I even cared enough to find out who was performing at GWB’s inauguration. And I was fucking heartbroken and angry at how that outcome came about. But although it was awful I didn’t think the world was in the balance.
But now it seems like whoever performs or is associated with Trump’s inauguration will be marked for ever. Like they will have to know their shame more and more each year. Everyone will know who was there and who did what.
Maybe living through the horror of what the GWB admin wrought makes the potential horror of what comes next that much worse. I don’t know, but this seems so much worse. By orders of magnitude that I don’t think we have a way to measure yet.
MomSense
@Suzanne:
The problem is that people who hate government have been running and elected to government office for the last forty years.
SiubhanDuinne
@Betty Cracker:
I suspect it was not so much about the content or actual source — more their realization that with the plagiarism stories all over the place, anything she had a hand in would be extra-carefully scrutinized by the loathèd media.
Shell
After Trumps twitter-bash of John Lewis, Im sick of all these pundits on cable news sanctimoniously mewling about “showing respect for the office.” My thought, “yeah, as soon as Trump tries showing some himself.”
Yoda Dog Democrat
If sanity ever gets to retake the wheel again, the first items on the docket should be the elimination of voter suppression, gerrymandering and the god-forsaken EC.
On another note, I’m failing to find any upside to any democrat besides PBO and the Clintons attending the kkklownshow. Why can we not stand unamiously behind John Lewis? I dont get it.
MomSense
@Corner Stone:
Im trying not to freak out as I listen to what our allies are saying, China’s recent statements, the Apricot Assmouth’s statements. I think we are heading toward major conflict and upheaval on every front.
bemused
@Kay:
Oh man, that gloating trait! So true. Is it in Republican DNA or learned from growing up in the same tribe? I don’t remember ever being tempted to gloat about Obama becoming president twice, to even the most obnoxious Republicans I know. Gloating to liberals is the first thing they want to do when they “win”.
Bobby D
@SiubhanDuinne: IIRC, the Nixon family also asked that she not publish that stuff, and she ignored their wishes. Grifters gonna grift.
Corner Stone
@Yoda Dog Democrat:
It shouldn’t really even be about John Lewis. He spoke the truth, which is powerful, but no D elected official should have ever been considering attending the event, anyway.
GregB
Maybe a Democrat can show respect for the Office by yelling: “You lie!” as Trump takes his oath.
debbie
@Kay:
Not just rub. I intend to rub familial faces in it til their noses bleed.
Yoda Dog Democrat
@Corner Stone: Absolutely agree. Lewis is just the latest cherry on top of my outrage-cake, I suppose..
Ryan
@Jerzy Russian: Cold and rainy! :D
https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/Washington+DC+USDC0001:1:US
Baud
@GregB:
A guy can dream.
Elie
@PsiFighter37:
Institutions only work if citizens make them work. We didn’t. Many things we “thought” or took for granted turned out not to be the case. We have to take note and learn from this and hopefully get another shot. Big mistake to wait for the top down leader to make it all right for us. That is how we end up with no state legislatures and no congress or the executive. I truly do not know however how we ended up with this Russian thing! Didn’t see that one!
Corner Stone
@Baud: What’s the normal pattern of how many words they have to repeat at a time? Because I can see Trump having to chop off two words or so at a time:
“I do” “Slovenly swear” “That execute” “Office of President” “Of Putin States” “And will Constitution” “The end”.
zhena gogolia
@Corner Stone:
“Maybe living through the horror of what the GWB admin wrought makes the potential horror of what comes next that much worse.”
Absolutely. When GWB was installed by the Supreme Court, we had no idea he would get us involved in a pointless war, destroy the economy, and ignore the destruction of an American city. And DJT is so much worse. That’s why I was shaking uncontrollably all night Nov. 8-9.
zhena gogolia
My comments keep getting eaten. I cannot figure out why.
Suzanne
@Corner Stone:
All I’ve heard out of them is some variant on, “But Hillary would have been so much worse” or “Clinton is corrupt, too”.
The one silver lining is that I get to go on being smugly superior when I inform those people that I will consider them morally tainted forever. That everything that comes next….is on them.
Brachiator
@Kay:
Ultimately, institutions are representative of the people. The Republican Party capitulated to Trump, and enough people voted for him to make a difference. The people are getting what they wanted, or what they thought they wanted.
Heaven help us all.
Ruckus
@Baud:
I seem to recall that no one could stand soylent orange because it was bitter and smelled like shit.
DesertFriar
Can we do what the Republicans did to Obama i.e if he doesn’t say it exactly — then he’s not President.
Corner Stone
Does Nina Turner hold an office anywhere? Does she speak for an organization? Why the F does she keep showing up on my TV? She has long since gone off the fucking rails.
Bnad
@SiubhanDuinne: I like the Google Translate version for its immediacy.
Once lakes,
once been beautiful,
When I was a swan.
Misery!
now black
and roasted!
Round turn!
I spit;
now serves me.
Misery!
now black
and roasted!
Now lie on a plate,
and they can not fly;
teeth.
Misery!
now black
and roasted!
Ruckus
@bemused:
They know they are wrong, but they want to win anyway, and they just did. That’s why they gloat. It’s like a sibling gloating after you get punished for something they did and all your protests to your parents mean nothing. IOW they have the maturity of a 6 yr old.
Brachiator
Some good news: Monica Crowley bows out of Trump administration post following plagiarism revelations.
ETA: Ah. Didn’t see the earlier reference. Still good news.
japa21
Personally, the one person I want to see skip the inauguration is Chief Justice Roberts.
SFAW
@zhena gogolia:
It’s ’cause your one o’ them Russkies.
Oh, wait, the country l-o-o-o-o-oves Russkies now. Well, some small(-fingered) part of the country, that is.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Brachiator: It’s funny how plagiarism is enough to take down this nomination, yet far more concerning behavior and conflicts of interest are shrugged off for other nominees. Wonder why?
pluky
@SiubhanDuinne: of course they’re mostly funny. they are mideval collegiate drinking songs!
laura
@satby: I’m thanking you too Satby.
Well played sister, well played.
(Golf clap)
Mike in NC
So how soon after Trump is sworn in on Friday will there be a tsunami of shit released that was collected by Putin’s spies? A matter of days or just hours?
Enters office as severely damaged goods and the rest of the world laughs at a helpless, pitiful giant.
Brachiator
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:
People want Trump. The nominees who require Senate confirmation have the Republicans backing them up (so far).Pretty simple.
hovercraft
@Jerzy Russian: @Skerry:
They’ve been trying to tell us for years that the government can manipulate the weather, Obama obviously has no fucks left to give, so he’s doing this on his way out the job. To echo Jerzy, pray to FSM that the rain turns to sleet and hail.
sloan
FAKE PRESIDENT can’t even give away FAKE tickets to his inauguration.
What a fucking loser.
Brachiator
The scale of inequality, 2017
geg6
You must not know any truly obnoxious GOPers. Or you are a much nicer and cool headed person that I am. Because I shoved it in their faces constantly in 2012. Not so much in 2008, but by 2012 I’d had enough of their racist disrespect for POTUS and FLOTUS and loved shutting their pieholes. I’m using the popular vote in much the same way. Along with some glee at they and their families losing health insurance thanks to the Cheez Whiz Ceaucescu (whoever came up with that one deserves massive kudos) and his lackeys in Congress. I just don’t give a damn any more. They’ll never admit to making a mistake and they’ll never vote for a Democrat, so there’s no reason not to have fun with them. Fuck them. I hope they all suffer and die.
SiubhanDuinne
@japa21:
I’m not sure whether I read this or heard it or dreamed it, but I would have sworn (heh) that there was an announcement that Clarence “Look at my African-American!” Thomas would be administering the Oath of
PerjuryOffice. Or maybe it was just floated at some point.Has any kind of official schedule of inaugural events even been published yet? Prayers, musical selections, speeches, grand spillage of the clowns from their tiny car, administering of the oaths, inaugural word salad, high kick line (with choral accompaniment), perpwalks, etc. Or is Team Trump still making it up as they go along?
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: Thomas is administering the oath to Pence.
SiubhanDuinne
@pluky:
Yup! Goliardic verse, mostly. I did a paper on them in college. The Goliards were “wandering scholars” of the High Middle Ages who lived according to a cheerful and hedonistic “wine, women and song” philosophy. Fascinating folks.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
Thanks. That’s likely what I was (mis)remembering.
Jerzy Russian
@patroclus: Thanks for noticing. Star Trek and Star Wars references are all that I have left.
hovercraft
@sunny raines:
Obama’s inauguration day was freezing, so was the day before, but the attendance was huge for both. It was historic and people wanted to be there, despite of the weather, if these people are really passionate to be there they will show up rain or shine.
Brachiator
@Baud:
@SiubhanDuinne:
And they’re breaking out the special, mystical, light shining Reagan Bible.
geg6
@Brachiator:
I’ll bet if Nancy was still alive, this would not be happening.
hovercraft
@Baud:
But of coarse he is. They are both petty mean spirited men. Ginni Thomas is a loon, Clarence is the most hated by the blah’s, so choosing him is rubbing their faces in their defeat, and who can say it’s a snub, he’s black!
Corner Stone
@Brachiator: Fucking barf.
Major Major Major Major
@Brachiator: I bet Pence’s bible is one of those fundie ones with extra books.
trollhattan
@Brachiator:
Reagan’s bible–isn’t that like double-God or some?
I saw Lincoln’s bible that Obama used for his swearing in, at a Lincoln exhibition shortly after. Moving, that was.
trollhattan
@Major Major Major Major:
All the passages about making money are printed in green.
Corner Stone
“I have eaten Reagan’s soul! And am now the One True Inheritor of His Godliness! Declare ME your next GodKing!”
Seth Owen
@Comrade Scrutinizer: Where is that from?
Major Major Major Major
@trollhattan: ah yes, when Jesus welcomes the money lenders back into the temple after being cast out by the demoncrats.
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
The Bösendorfer Bible.
NMgal
@Betty Cracker: I faxed my rep today (Lujan, D-NM) asking him to join the boycott. I think there’s a chance, he tweeted out photos of himself on the floor next to Rep. Lewis during the gun control sit-in, so he’s not averse to protest actions.
Most of the letter: “…[T]his constituent would love to see you join your colleague Rep. Lewis and the (last count I saw) 25 other congresspeople who will not attend the inauguration.
I consider myself a reasonable and realistic person with a belief in the value of government and its stability. Normally I am susceptible to arguments for falling into line to endorse the “peaceful transfer of power” and to maintain “positive relationships with the opposition.”
This is different, in my mind. Any protest or other action that can be taken to highlight the abnormality and illegitimacy of the incoming regime, including refusing to accord it the usual political courtesies, I urge you to participate in.
I’m middle-aged and well remember many electoral disappointments, including the extraordinary results of the 2000 election. This is much worse. It is unconscionable that the incoming regime will even take office, and uncompromising rhetorical and “optical” resistance to it is the highest ethical stance. It is also, in my opinion, a key component of effectiveness for the opposition going forward. Collaboration is not going to get us anywhere with the Democratic base, low-information voters, or winnable GOP leaners. Make the regime and its enablers own every particle of its disastrous actions. [usual thanks]”
Corner Stone
@SiubhanDuinne: Dammit.
Another Scott
@Seth Owen: A sermon in 1967 at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
Mnemosyne
I don’t think she would, because she has too much respect for our system of government, but if Hillary showed up wearing a pink pussyhat, I would die laughing.
SiubhanDuinne
@Corner Stone:
For why you swear at me?
japa21
Another Penzey’s email. God, I love this guy.:
dww44
@bemused: That and demand that we say “my President” and “get over it” within 12 hours of Trump’s so called victory. I still don’t think that Clinton should have conceded that soon.
Quinerly
@Woodrowfan:
Thanks for correcting me. I was at lunch didn’t look anything up and obviously misspoke. Something clicked in my memory. Much appreciated.
Mnemosyne
Aw, man, I tried to fool FYWP by disguising a word, but it didn’t work because I forgot that the same forbidden word is in the link. Sad!
Here is it again in case a front-pager doesn’t get to it soon:
I don’t think she would, because she has too much respect for our system of government, but I would die laughing if Hillary showed up wearing a pink pussyhat.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mnemosyne:
She wouldn’t for the actual swearing-in ceremony, but I expect she would for the March the following day! Hope she does, and hope the cameras are there!
SiubhanDuinne
Aaaaand — another astronaut gone. Eugene Cernan has died at age 82. He was the last human to leave footprints on the moon. R.I.P.
Corner Stone
@SiubhanDuinne: I was too busy arguing with someone about stunted growth gymnasts and aerialists with crushed testicles to get it in.
But This
And This
Corner Stone
@dww44: Obama disagrees with you.
Major Major Major Major
@Corner Stone: Masha Gessen and several other highly regarded commenters do not.
Corner Stone
@Major Major Major Major: Tell it to Obama, friend.
Corner Stone
I hesitate to ask.
Major Major Major Major
@Corner Stone: I didn’t realize Obama was the sole arbiter of what people should do. What point do you think you’re making?
Mike J
@Major Major Major Major:
I grew up in a fundie church and never heard of that. I expect most fundies would say Catholics had extra books. Of course anything beyond the Pentateuch could be considered extra to the people who actually wrote it.
Corner Stone
@Major Major Major Major: It’s not hard to grapple with. For those who think HRC declared concession too soon it should also be noted that she was pressured by the sitting president and the head of her nominal party to do so. She was and is free to make her own decisions, of course. But those implications should be considered when this is brought up.
That’s all.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
I went to a meeting of a new local activist group yesterday and it looks like we’re going to be partnering up with the local reps for Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, which is probably a smart move.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
Also, too, final pussyhat.
dww44
@Corner Stone: Yes, I know. It so happens that I most respectfully disagree with him.
Corner Stone
@dww44: BLEEEAAAAARRRGGGHHH!!
SWMBO
@oldster: Just carry a Hillary sign.
SWMBO
@satby: I wonder how many free tickets could be “spoken for” and then be no shows? How many empty seats could we not fill? And would it cause the Tangerine Turd a meltdown to see that Obama got lots more folks? Questions, always questions it seems.
Chris
One can only hope. I gotta get to work on Friday morning, and Inauguration Metro’s going to make that… interesting.
Chris
@weaselone:
The problem with the founding fathers is that we treat them like prophets and gods instead of the politicians they actually were.
I think if they came back to life, sure, they’d take issue with a lot of what we’ve done with the country (and what that would be would vary from founder to founder, because they weren’t speaking with one voice), but I’ve always suspected that one of the things that would revolt them the most about us is simply the ridiculous amount of genuflecting at their altar that we do. I feel like a lot of them would slap us over the head and tell us to solve our own problem instead of asking what they would’ve done. (It’s for damn sure the founding fathers didn’t build what they did by sitting around wondering what some long-dead idealized historical figures would’ve done).
Aleta
I’m looking for images (copy-allowed) of puppets in the image of D. and the 3 children.
Chris
@Kay:
This election really drove home to me what Paxton’s definition of fascism meant about “uneasy but effective collaboration” between “traditional elites” and “a mass party of committed nationalist militants.”
It’s one thing to have a large number of crazy people following antidemocratic messiahs, if the “establishment” (meaning among other things those institutions you mention) isn’t playing along with them. It’s one thing to have “establishment” institutions acting in an antidemocratic manner if you have enough unified public opposition to them. Fascism (when it succeeds) involves massive system failure in enough of your institutions/establishment/leadership and enough of the electorate that democratic norms and governance starts to simply collapse.
Betty Cracker
@NMgal: Great letter!
SiubhanDuinne
@Mnemosyne:
That’s a very cute pussyhat!
SiubhanDuinne
@NMgal:
Excellent letter!
Brachiator
@Chris:
We are the Founders. Despite the hooey of a Justice Scalia, it’s a living freaking Constitution. That’s why the document says “We the people….” It’s inclusive of subsequent generations. This means you can’t push problems onto the errors of the past. Deal with it now. Make it better now. Make a more perfect union now.
It is not the problem of some hoary founder lost in the mists of time if Trump kills democracy. It’s on us.
If it means that we are in Civil War 2.0, so be it.
MCA1
@NMgal: I agree, and have traditionally shared your general disposition. These are not normal times, this is not a normal politician, and the consequences of politeness in the face of these circumstances are too severe. No quarter should be given, ever, to this guy, or his party, or its members, or anyone who voted for him. It is, as someone remarked upthread, a moral failing that I have forever stamped on anyone I know who pulled the lever for Cheeto Benito.
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne:OK, I’m kind of dealing with puzzyhat envy, here…
Paul in KY
@The Lodger: I like the way you think!
Paul in KY
@Corner Stone: Riffing off my Middle Ages reading, compared to the Cheeto Benito, GWB would be like Henry V and Trump would be a combination of the absolute worst aspects of Edward II & Richard II.
God, the next 4 years are going to be like the prequel to The Hunger Games…
Paul in KY
@Baud: I’m expecting some guffaws from the crowd when he ‘affirms’. Even those scumwads know he’s a lie a second.
Paul in KY
@Mike in NC: I think they will wait until/if he stops dancing to their tune. As long as he’s their puppet, keep it hanging over his head.
HinTN
Trump has been appearing as a paid ad on my FB feed for over a week. Each time I comment, “FML, where’s the banhammer?” Thank you BJ for the most appropriate term!
Ken
Ideally, Steven Fisher will attend and take Trump’s seat on the dais.
J R in WV
@Corner Stone:
Personally, I think it’s thoughtless to concede before all the votes, everywhere, are counted. And we’re sure none of the candidate will be in prison for treason.
Corner Stone
@J R in WV: Sure. She was obviously fucking shook. As was her team. I wish she had sent a message to Trump’s team and said, “Hold up, podner. You are Putin’s Puppet and we both know it.”
But the sitting president had other ideas and HRC is nothing if not cognizant of every single thing going on around her in the official-dom arena.
I, personally, wish she had flipped the quad birds at Obama and Trump and said, “I am in this to win this and fuck both you MEN.”
Jacel
@Brachiator: Obviously Pence isn’t turning his bible to the page with 2 Chronicles 6:32-33. “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.”
Jacel
@SiubhanDuinne: If it’s a Bösendorfer Bible, does it include a leather flap that can cover over the extra books to not distract the worshiper?
No One You Know
@Spanky: Speaking of which, has SoylentGreen been around lately?