O'Reilly: “Putin’s a killer.”
Trump: “…we’ve got a lot of killers. What do you think—our country’s so innocent?” pic.twitter.com/OVR4XBJq1b
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 4, 2017
"I mean Bill, who amongst us hasn't poisoned a critic?"
— Schooley (@Rschooley) February 5, 2017
Dumb sunnuvabitch really thinks he’s reenacting a Francis Ford Coppola movie, doesn’t he?
On the plus side, Putin’s Sock Puppet has now provoked strong responses from both sides!…
I've had #whataboutism thrown in my face by Russians to defend Russian actions in Syria but am not used to hearing it from my president. https://t.co/sTI2SBvIvQ
— Andrew Exum (@ExumAM) February 5, 2017
Shout out to everyone who whined about Obama's Apology Tours https://t.co/CqwNFd3rFm
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) February 5, 2017
If Obama had said it, Hannity and Ingraham would have called for his impeachment.
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) February 5, 2017
I can't wait for the @SpeakerRyan statement defending Trump issued from the small room in Trump's basement where he now resides https://t.co/mAi5OMa3Fe
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) February 5, 2017
Mr. President, before making moral equivalency arguments about US & Russia, read this (or get Flynn to brief you on) pic.twitter.com/aVrGNDA6Nc
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) February 5, 2017
And it's happened too many times now. I have never a US leader of any seniority, much less a POTUS, reflexively defend Russia like this. /3x
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) February 5, 2017
Jeffro
It’s almost like there’s a “there” there.
lollipopguild
Trump is so off the reservation with his need to defend Putin/Russia that even repcons who like trump are going to have to finally pick a side.
Yarrow
Adam, from a previous thread.
Aleta
One side of his face: “very bad and dangerous people may be pouring into our country”
Other side of his face: “…we’ve got a lot of killers. What do you think—our country’s so innocent?”
debbie
@Jeffro:
Trump has never done subtle.
jl
Trump, like Putin and Russian neocons, has many grievances. Trump and his America is a victim, it’s being pushed around, being taken advantage of, by many countries, many countries, let him tell you. And he is just sick of it . Just sick.
Putin is nuts and a fool ins few ways, very smart and clever in many other ways.
Trump is nuts and a fool in just about every way, other than cheap PR marketing tricks.
Lizzy L
From Josh Marshall at TPM:
amk
see, I am really putin’s puppet.
thanks, murkkka. couldn’t have done it without you.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
no puppet! no puppet!
you’re the puppet!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
From a WaPo story about Trump’s high staffers pretending they’re all getting along and not fighting
There’s a quote I can’t quite remember, from history or fiction, a king saying something about a minister’s shadow growing too large. Henry VIII and Cromwell or Louis XIV and Fouquet, maybe.
amk
@Lizzy L:
weren’t the poles one of the earliest enthusiastic supporters of this pos? karma, bitchez.
jl
@Lizzy L: It better be Flynn or one of his flunkies. Otherwise the executive branch is full of idiot nutcases and/or foreign agents.
I think Flynn is an idiot nutcase and a foreign agent, so where else would it come from?
liberal
@Yarrow:
But it’s true.
We murdered hundreds of thousands of Iraqis on an act of caprice. If you’re willing to go back many decades, we murdered 2-4 million Vietnamese.
Of course, that doesn’t make Putin a good guy, and any attempt to whitewash him by saying “others do it, too!” is stupid.
Patricia Kayden
@Yarrow: Putin’s Puppet.
liberal
@amk: Are you talking about the Polish people (as polled), or their leaders?
geg6
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Anyone who saw that moment in that debate and didn’t know the truth right then and there is a liar, an idiot or both. I HATE these people. I’ve never felt any emotion so strongly.
Baud
@geg6: Trump voters would rather live under Putin than admit that that Hillary Clinton was right.
Steve in the ATL
Good fucking god. Didn’t Poland’s military peak in the 1500’s? Pretty sure it’s been all downhill since then.
Steve in the ATL
@Baud:
QFT
Jeffro
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
You know, HRC’s campaign put out a 6-minute video about all the ties and Putin-loving that was going on back in 2016…my guess is, it was just too long for Americans’ attention spans. If they could cut it down to 90 seconds and add 30 seconds of the Putin wet kisses just since the election, that’d be just about right.
Call it “Two Minutes That Finally Woke Americans the Fuck UP”
father pussbucket
So you’re basically putting journalists on notice, Mr. President?
aimai
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: As between Trump and Bannon, I put my money on Bannon. I mean, I don’t think he will be defenestrated as easily as Fouquet.
Mnemosyne
@liberal:
Yes, but the point is that Trump is echoing the same words Putin uses.
Remember when we had the leftist troll who would show up here spouting Russian propaganda points that he had gotten from that fair-and-balanced media outlet, Russia Today?
Now our president is getting his news from the same Russian state propaganda source. In fact, he hired a commentator from that same Russian state propaganda source to work in his government.
I would say, The Russians are coming! but, like the clowns, they’re already here.
aimai
@Steve in the ATL: Yes, but their lancers were really spiffy.
jl
@amk: Karma for thee but not for me? Not sure fair to pin that on whole of Poland. Trump style right wing nationalist and reactionary populist party managed to squeak out a win (I think ‘squeaked out’ is correct, someone correct me if I am wrong), against more moderate parties with which a lot of people are disillusioned. So, Law and Justice Party probably rooted for Trump. Probably went with their ideological gut. I’ll have to go look and remind myself how long they have been in office.
Edit: karma crack was because what I know of Policy politics, some similarities to political mood and developments in US. Right wing nuts, though probably much more competent and informed than Trump goons, running the country right now. I don’t think they’ve busted out the joint like the reactionary, but effective economic populist, authoritarians in Hungary have, though.
ThresherK
@Lizzy L: Non-existant Polish incursions?
Hell, it’s not Godwin’s Law if it’s true, is it?
Jeffro
Random comment: saw a sign from one of the recent protests, “We Can Do This Every Weekend, Asshole”
We really are smarter, funnier, and more committed than they are, aren’t we? =)
hellslittlestangel
Let all Americans remember this, and respond appropriately by shrugging, when someone puts a cap in Trump’s fat ass.
geg6
@Baud:
My friend’s husband voted for the Republican president and is now regretting it (well, all except his wet kiss the Big Pharma; frien’s hubby is in pharmaceutical sales). She is a better woman than I because I would have divorced him months ago. But his regrets after the fact don’t change the fact that I don’t ever want to speak to or see him ever again. And I just can’t feel badly about that. Thankfully, she doesn’t hold it against me and tells him I told you so about a thousand times a day. She was never political until this election and has been totally radicalized. She grew up in northern New Jersey in the 80s and had her fill of him even then.
Steve in the ATL
@hellslittlestangel:
Concurrent with Pence, McConnell, Ryan, Roberts, and Alito, s’il vous plait.
Baud
@Jeffro:
No. Not more committed. That’s why we lost.
Jeffro
@Baud: @Steve in the ATL:
Next time y’all talk with a Trumpista in any format, watch how reflexively they try to turn it to Hillary This and Hillary That…they have no rudder other than opposition to History’s Greatest Monster. Point it out for bonus laffs…ask them to consider how they got so brainwashed for Super Hi Score (but have 911 ready in case they stroke out)
JPL
@liberal: Putin murders dissidents, and the fact that Trump respects that is horrifying.
m.j.
Trump forgot to call it, radical Islamic terrorism. How can we expect to make it go away if we don’t use the proper marketing b.s. nomenclature?
Mike in NC
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Joe Stalin had a similar knack for keeping tabs on his people. You never know when they might turn.
Baud
@geg6: If he regrets it and is now willing to support the election of Democrats, then I would encourage him. If his regret is for show, then it ain’t worth a damn.
Steve in the ATL
@Jeffro:
Damn–first @Eric S. and now you taunting me for not having a Porsche….
Jeffro
@Baud:
Oh…I’m usually with you but this is not on point. We turned out almost 3M more votes against all kinds of dirty tricks. Let’s not go there with blaming some aspect of D turnout.
Baud
@Jeffro: I agree, but we also left a higher percentage of votes on the table.
Steve in the ATL
@Jeffro: yeah, but we are like the French army, always fighting the last war. We turned out the vote, but they were more clever and turned out/suppressed the electoral vote.
chris
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: There’s also, “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?”
What? A guy can dream…
Aleta
These two. Even baking bread with Putin would end with Trump in a quagmire. But he’s going after ISIs and looking for new allies.
raven
@Steve in the ATL: Getting your party on?
geg6
@Baud:
I can’t be around him to determine his sincerity. I just can’t. I will be unable to hold my bitter, bitter tongue.
Baud
@geg6: Fair enough. You owe him nothing.
Jeffro
@Steve in the ATL: Purely coincidence, I assure you!
Speaking of…I need to add that back onto my life goals list…not necessarily a Porsche, but a car that’s more than “transportation”. Hmm…
jl
@liberal: I think fact that, by chance, Trump says things that can be argued to be true is beside the point. A lot of us here have criticized US drone strikes and national security policies, both here and abroad, under Obama, as well hell as sure, GW Bush.
But if you put a computer to randomly typing out enough words, it would spit a phrase that was coincidentally true too.
And even so, what is Trump’s attitude about it going to be? Pretty unhelpful.
I can say the US is not innocent and has killed people. But I would aim to find feasible and constructive policies that allowed the US to behave better, and other countries, Russia included, to behave better too. Even if making substantial progress probably will take a decade or more.
WTF is Trump thinking? Probably something like “Hell, Putin gets to blow stuff up and kill people, and throw people he don’t like in jail, when poor little Russia gets pushed around and he gets criticized. Why can’t I do that too? Unfair!”.
I’d prefer to keep the rambling of ignorant nutjobs, even if they be US president, and serious policy discussion completely separate.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@aimai: I don’t doubt Bannon knows how to play Trump like a harp from hell, to quote Danny DeVito’s Penguin, which seems appropriate for a lot of reasons.
ETA:
Heh. I don’t doubt Kellyanne Conway is just waiting to hear something like this. She would take Preibus or Spicer out without breaking a sweat (there’s gossip that Press Sec. is her ultimate goal). If I were Bannon (shudder), I wouldn’t turn my back on her too long either.
Steve in the ATL
@raven: pregaming, but at my advanced age have to save something for tomorrow! The bulldog has been wearing her Falcons jersey today, though–hope it’s luckier than her Georgia Bulldogs jersey.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
amk
@Jeffro: only not in the states that mattered.
eta: also. too. in times that mattered. 2010. 2012. 2014. 2016
geg6
@Baud:
That’s what his wife says. She really is a good friend.
Major Major Major Major
@Lizzy L: that reminds me of a headline from the historical headlines book by The Onion: “Hitler neutralizes polish menace”
hellslittlestangel
@Jeffro: Republicans field candidates for every office, even school board seats, and they vote in off-year elections (five bucks says it was a Democrat who coined the idiotic fucking phrase “off-year election”).
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Lizzy L
@hellslittlestangel: No. Please hold those comments.
Millard Filmore
@Steve in the ATL:
I read over at alternatehistory.com that they scratched up the German army pretty good in 1939, while they could still fight. They were absolutely not up for a 2 front war.
Mnemosyne
@jl:
This. There’s a big difference between, The US has killed people, but we think it can and should do better and The US has killed people — so what?
raven
@Steve in the ATL: “Advanced Age” sheeeeet! We spent the day getting ready to host our 10th or so gig. We get the kinds of artsy Athens people who leave at the half to watch Downton Abbey! I’m making my turkey football, a variation of Julia’s chicken melon so that is fun. My main concern is that I get enough live ones at the beginning to buy up 100 squares,.
Jeffro
@Baud:
We did indeed. We were playing last election’s game while Trump’s minions in Cambridge Analytica were out there fear-mongering and fake-newsing their way to victory. Next time out we’ll be doing the same thing, with actual facts and news and a new candidate and this whirlwind Trump is sowing, ready for the reaping.
@Steve in the ATL: I was in the middle of getting back to Baud when you posted this and you’re right. It’s okay – we’re smart people, we’ll learn and improve and whup ’em next time.
geg6
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Is Kasparov permanently in the West now? If not, it’s amazing he’s still alive.
Iowa Old Lady
@hellslittlestangel: I’m still in protest mode so when you said “cap,” I pictured a hat, specifically a puzzy hat. I did have some trouble with the image of putting it in anyone’s ass. Then I reverted to me Detroit girlhood and made sense of what you said.
Steve in the ATL
@Jeffro:
I’m not really a car guy, but i think Porsche is the right call. Ferrari/Lambo/Maserati/Aston Martin–cool, fun cars, but maintenance nightmares. Porsches actually run and run consistently and, while not cheap to repair, don’t require taking the engine out for yearly service.
Or, if you want much cheaper and more reliable, go with a Miata. They really are fun, even if you have to have your testicles removed prior to getting one.
MomSense
Sorry I just will never get past this. A jumpsuit that matches his skin tone is too good for this barbarous traitor. Gallows.
Jeffro
@amk:
50% of your examples, we turned out more voters. Do Ds have a mid-term issue? Yes. Look at what’s going on these days and tell me that’s going to continue to be an issue in 2018.
raven
@Steve in the ATL: Did you have Carlson for evidence?
jl
@geg6: I think I saw some tweets or quotes from him that he feels he is a permanent exile in US, for his own safety. I think he said so in response to some Trump loons slamming him for some kind of obscure and convoluted hypocrisy when he criticized Trump and Putin, because they thought he was living the high life rich and pampered in Russia.
Gin & Tonic
I’m sure everyone here remembers the time W had Dan Rather poisoned for airing that questionable National Guard story, right? Or when Nixon had Woodward and Bernstein shot getting out of the elevator in their building? Or when Obama had Erik Prince run over by a truck in Dubai?
How quickly you all forget these things.
mdblanche
“Hello, CNN? Can Kellyanne Conway come over on Sunday?”
“We thought you said you were boycotting us.”
“Surely you’ve figured out by now not to believe a word we say.”
“Yes, but we were really hoping that time you were telling the truth for once.”
Steve in the ATL
@raven: I did! Is he coming to your party? He wrote the book on evidence in the state of Georgia.
Gin & Tonic
@Steve in the ATL:
Huh?
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Woooooooooooooooooocooooodnode!
Jeffro
@hellslittlestangel: same as I just posted at #65: do you think it’s going to be much of a problem for Ds going forward, based on what we’re seeing these days?
And that’s just the organic, anti-Trump protests…wait until Obama and Holder get going on how we need to fight the structural issues related to voting rights (gerrymandering, access inequity, voter ID, and so on)
I’m optimistic that as a party, as a movement, we’re moving away from turning out every four years and then falling back. Let’s see how it all shakes out. ;)
amk
@Jeffro: Nope. All 100% of the samples has seen dems steadily ceding political power to rethugs all over the map – from congress to senate to state leges to govnorships. And 2010 was the worst since that led to vicious gerrymandering that is gonna keep rethugs in power at least until 2020.
Jeffro
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: It’s…it’s almost like they’re getting their info from the same place, isn’t it? Like they’re working towards the same goal?
Hmm….
Siubhan "love is all around, fuckers!" Duinne
Anne Laurie (or any other front-pager), would you kindly release me and my new nym from mod? TIA.
Steve in the ATL
@Gin & Tonic:
They didn’t poison Dan Rather, but they did ratfuck him and destroy his career with that story. Even though the story was true.
hellslittlestangel
@Lizzy L: I will if Trump will.
danielx
Actually, I feel like I’ve been watching a cable channel that runs nothing but Twilight Zone reruns 24/7/365.
jl
@Gin & Tonic: When Obama got in his time machine and had all his most effective critics strangled in their infant cribs, we wouldn’t know about it, would we?
I suggest you go study up on some recent deep science. You can start by watching the ‘back to the future’ movies. They have to be true. Christopher Lloyd really looks like a mad scientist in those, doesn’t he? QED. I rest my case. I am rubber and you are glue.
Edit: I wonder if discussing current affairs with the Trumpist wing of my family has influenced my thinking… nahh.. couldn’t happen…
Jeffro
@Steve in the ATL: I’m too cheap to spring for a Porsche…I can maybe see me leasing a Mustang for a year, max. Or borrowing someone’s Saab 900 Turbo for a day just because it was in a James Bond novel or something.
I can’t even fake it where cars are concerned…just never have been too wound up about it. Ah well.
danielx
Or 1911 in case they follow you home.
aimai
@hellslittlestangel: That’s not really true–they don’t do so in democratic strongholds. But they do tend to run strongly in their own gerrymandered counties.
zhena gogolia
I can’t even look at that still picture of him up top. He always has that stupid furrowed brow, like he’s thinking deep thoughts. He is such an evil buffoon.
Aleta
@MomSense: He would suffer in that jumpsuit though, especially if loops ran on TV.
zhena gogolia
Господи, спаси нашу бедную родину.
hellslittlestangel
@Jeffro: I turned out in 2014 and 2010, and I’ll bet you did too. And we’ll be there in 2018. But the rest of America? We’ll see; I ain’t sanguine.
Brachiator
We his “the US has killed people, so what?” line, Trump shits all over the conservative mythology that the US is not only the shining city on the hill, but it is the primary focus of good in the universe. This is up there with his acknowledgement that the Iraq war was a mistake, and his despicable dismissal of McCain’s suffering as a prisoner of war.
I listened to a BBC news segment about Trump supporters recently, and my jaw dropped to hear some fundamentalist say straight up that the Lord sent Trump to help save America. I almost wonder how these people can absorb and reconcile Trump’s blithe acceptance of political amorality, I bet that these people will convince themselves that Trump never said this, and that it was just another example of liberal media slandering him.
raven
@Steve in the ATL: I played ball with him for years, I still see him at the Y often. My brother used his text at McGeorge when he had Kennedy for evidence too!
hellslittlestangel
@aimai: But didn’t the gerrymandering happen because of low Democratic turnout?
Jeffro
@amk:
That’s not what I said. I said in 2 of the 4 elections, we turned out more voters. You’re correct – Dems have been steadily losing political power all over the map. That’s 99% due to big-donor Dark Money conquering state races while we’ve been content to have a D in the White House. And we’re all aware of what happened in 2010, thanks.
We have a rare opportunity to turn things around in 2018 and 2020. If Trump’s still in power, 2018 could see a huge backlash election and ensure that at least none of his insanity gets by Congress. In 2020, we obviously need a new president but we’ll also need that redistricting power to help set things right across the country. We can do it!
Mnemosyne
@Jeffro:
I still maintain that this year’s result was set up by Karl Rove to happen in 2012, which is why he had that now-famous meltdown on Fox News when the results came in.
The fix was in by about 2014, unfortunately. Now we’re battling a rearguard action, but I think the Republicans are going to overstep their bounds by about 100 miles and, if we lay the groundwork now, voters are going to be more than ready to throw the bums out in 2018. We just need to make sure we have a whole team of our bums set up nationwide to take those places.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: @Millard Filmore: The Polish army in 1939 was full of brave and competent soldiers, but it wasn’t big enough or well equipped enough for that fight.
danielx
Wait, wait, wait – you were expecting intellectual consistency from Trump supporters, never mind fundies?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
He has more confidence in Moe and Larry than I do.
also Boot
No, and they only fuck with our own elections!
jl
@Brachiator: But it doesn’t mean anything. Trump just says shit. He will send out a butt-ignorant tweet storm if someone who pisses him off says something similar tomorrow, except unlike him says it with thoughtfulness, coherence, and information.
Edit: well, it does mean something that he repeats the line whenever the issue comes up, but just gives insights into some of his mental pathologies. Authoritarianism is among them, along with bone deep bigotry on almost everything and everybody, and grifter perspective on everyone and everything as well. That is all it means, IMHO.
Jeffro
@hellslittlestangel: Nickel bet! ;)
Chris T.
@Gin & Tonic: Miatas are “chick cars”. Or not, but for some reason, they do have that reputation.
ThresherK
Speaking of TZ, did this thread title always have Twilight Zone in it, or am journeying to a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man?
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: Volvo Polestar. Just sayin’.
danielx
@Millard Filmore:
@Omnes Omnibus:
And they are still brave and competent, but they are not up to fighting the Russian army or air force.
amk
@Jeffro: I am all for dems waking up from their apathy and moving their asses in all elections.
Jeffro
@Mnemosyne:
I’m ready to set up our bums for victory…wait…you know what I mean!
Yes, we have to have a D running for every seat, every time. We have to get (re?)-focused on these congressional races and state races and everything else. School boards too (until those no longer are elected offices, oh please FSM) .
GOP MoCs are already getting pounded so hard that they’re shutting down town halls and taking phones off the hook and ITS ONLY FEBRUARY 2017! I know we have attention issues as Americans and as Ds, but it’s encouraging!
Adam L Silverman
@Steve in the ATL: I supervised a Polish colonel in 2011-2012. Smart man. Excellent officer.
Hurling Dervish
It will be interesting to see whether oreilly interrupts Trump as much as he did Obama.
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
I can’t remember, have you ever seen the original To Be or Not to Be from 1942, which is not to be confused with the not-so-great Mel Brooks/Anne Bancroft remake?
Pop culture evidence seems to show that, at the time, people considered Poland to be a valiant fighter that got sucker-punched by a pair of bullies.
Gin & Tonic
@Chris T.: I was thinking it had something to do with how the old Polynesian navigators would sit in their boats so that the, um, most sensitive part of their anatomy was in contact, and thus most attuned to subtle changes in currents.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Mulder and Scully say yes.
So would most of the members of 60s groups like the black panthers.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
For anyone, like me, who’s been slightly uncomfortable hearing Bill Kristol talk and finding his words non ridiculous…. Wrong Way is back!
To my surprise, they’re talking about Utah, not MA.
actually, I would be thrilled to see Willard primary Trump. That really would leave them in shambles.
Jeffro
@amk: Right there with you!
And heck, it makes us bipartisan and Village-worthy, we can always claim we’re giving both sides a hard time, right? Republicans, your embrace of Trump condemns you to a lake of fire for eternity; Democrats, fer chrissakes get off your butts and save the republic!
David Broder would be so proud. ;)
Jeffro
@Hurling Dervish:
Is there an over/under on that question?
Mnemosyne
@Brachiator:
It’s because they want abortion to be made illegal. Period. There is no other moral cause that they give one shit about as a group.
I’ve seen them in action on Facebook — they insist that being anti-abortion is the same as being “pro-life,” and defend their willingness to starve and kill their fellow Americans through neglect, while insisting that they’re morally superior because they’re anti-abortion.
Gin & Tonic
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Battle of the Geezers! Geritol Showdown!
They’ll be 73 and 74 years of age, respectively.
Steve in the ATL
@Adam L Silverman: to be clear, I was not criticizing the quality of the members of the Polish military, but merely pointing out that they have not been a viable force against their neighbors/likely antagonists in a few hundred years. They have not been and will not be big enough to hold off Germany or Russia (or China or the US) no matter how sharp their individual members may be.
As a former Chicagoan, I have known many fine Poles!
Jeffro
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Don’t let Kristol’s crack vapors give you a contact high…he wants Trump taken out but won’t do the obvious and easy and right thing to do (i.e., encourage everyone and their sister to vote Democrat until the Rs come to their senses). instead, he comes up with Crazyland stuff.
Romney’s no more likely to run for another office, much less primary Trump, than Trump is likely to join a Crossfit (AND VEGAN) fitness cult.
Mnemosyne
@Brachiator:
And to expand on what I said above a smidgen: if the worst does happen and abortion is outlawed nationwide, the ironic result would probably be the dissolution of the coalition that made that happen, because the Roman Catholics who believe in the “culture of pro-life” that includes support for health insurance, welfare, food stamps, and other social assistance is not going to be able to stay tied to the Prosperity Gospel Protestants whose sole moral stance is being anti-abortion/anti-sex and don’t give a good goddamn about anything else.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne: I’ve seen both versions of the movie. Also, the record of the Free Polish forces as a part of the Allies was exemplary.
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: No, Conway is in the White House because she’s there to keep an eye on her actual employers’ investment. She works for the Mercers. The Mercers funded Trump and they backstopped Bannon at Breitbart and whatever mischief he plans for Breitbart in Europe. Omarossa is, according to reporting, the one who wants to be press secretary because that’s face time on the TV.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
On the good side, the tweets and his asshole supporters have pretty much burnt out the notion of the President as an official who needs to be honored and revered.
Somebody was yammering at people to refer to him as President Trump and not Trump. I remarked that I won’t call him Trump, but instead use “asshole” or “Combover Caligula” depending on my mood.
I was met with silence.
Aleta
I wonder if T thinks that saddling the presidency with. checks and balances is just another disastrous Obama regulation on business.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
but, but….. strongest bench in a generation and they’re reaching back to the future for a 3 time loser (first presidential run in 1994).
Adam L Silverman
@Jeffro: Cambridge Analytica links back to Russian interests. The fix was in from the get go.
Brachiator
@jl: I disagree that this doesn’t mean anything to Trump supporters. I have already heard some of them jump through hoops to explain how something he or Kellyanne Con Job said was just innocent errors, that they really didn’t mean what they said. Others, a little more honest, say something like, “Trump should just shut up, because he is hurting himself and giving his enemies ammunition.”
They still try to minimize the impact of what he said. They are unwilling to consider the possibility that Trump is loyal only to himself, and that his slips of the tongue reveal that he cares about power more than he cares about America and its people.
Also, he is an odd kind of authoritarian. He reminds me of the stereotype of a Nero or Claudius. He is not interested in ruling, but he revels is empty displays of the trappings of power. He is as happy as an infant when he shows off an empty headed, confusing or meaningless executive order. And he gets sullen and angry whenever his decrees are not blindly obeyed.
We have had some mediocre presidents. But never one as dazzlingly ignorant, mean spirited and spiteful as Trump.
Mickee
Our president is terrified of being poisoned.
Jeffro
@Mnemosyne:
You know, there was someone on Twitter yesterday (will try to look it up) who had one of those long Tweet-threads that explained how many fundies come to their ‘morally superior because they’re anti-abortion’ views. If I remember correctly, the gist of it was that fundies know they’re in an odd spot, believing in magic and male dominance and their own good intentions trumping everything else, that being anti-abortion is like a rock for them. They’re against “babies” being aborted, therefore their own beliefs and self-subjugation and even minor flaws pale in comparison to this “holocaust” they’re perceiving.
Well, until they or someone in their family chooses to have an abortion anyway. But it was illuminating: thinking of how some choose to be anti-abortion as a kind of cover for other things they’d rather not face
trollhattan
@Steve in the ATL:
All the fine poles here are in the county, just past the city border. As Chris Rock says, ” Keep your daughters off the pole.”
amk
I see that the bigot and his admin has appealed against the ban stay order. Anybody know in which court?
Lizzy L
@Mnemosyne: That’s probably true of fundamentalists as a group. But many 45 supporters are not fundamentalists, and those that are not have really bought into the “he’ll keep us safe” mythology. Good article about that in The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/05/hagerstown-maryland-supporters-donald-trump-us-politics
pseudonymous in nc
He missed out on the job he really wanted, by the cruel fate of being born to a NYC slumlord instead of working his way up the KGB ranks.
jl
@Brachiator: I agree that is is important that Trump says dumb and thoughtless shit all the time that damages him with everybody who can be salvaged as a constructive citizen of the country.
Adam L Silverman
@Jeffro: Possibly. It will depend whether the protest/demonstration enthusiasm can be captured and channeled into 1) turning out to vote at the midterms, 2) turning out to vote in off year – Virginia and one other state have an off year state election this year, 3) recruiting someone to run in/contest every election – municipal, special district, state, and Federal – so that the GOP has to fight everywhere. If all of these things don’t happen, then none of the pushback of the past two weeks will matter.
Lizzy L
@amk: The request for an emergency stay was filed with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Eric S.
@Steve in the ATL: Sorry for it being taunting. I just bought my 964 cab last August after 2 years of shopping. I love it. I do love German cars. Most of them anyway.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Jeffro: Like the Bushes’, I suspect Wilard’s hopes have moved on to the next generation. He’s not gonna risk pissing of the goobers while Bragg or Fragg or Ragg are practicing regular guy and very masculine hand gestures in the mirror.
jl
@Mickee:
” Our president is terrified of being poisoned. ”
One of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century was afraid of being poisoned, by ghosts. Probably died from malnutrition in a failed attempt to thwart the plot. Obviously, that means Trump is a genius.
PJ
@danielx: They also defeated the Soviets in 1919. But every continental European country, alone, in 1939-41, was not a match for the Germans except for the Soviets, and it took them some time to get their act together. (United, I think they could have taken the Germans apart, but the British and French decided against that at Munich.)
Brachiator
@Adam L Silverman: I have been off and on Balloon Juice the past few days. Did you have any thoughts on the Army secretary nominee dropping out?
Also, I had forgot about the Mercer connection. You summarized it very well. This is more insidious than Trump filling Cabinet posts with Goldman Sachs executives.
amk
@Lizzy L: Thanks. I was under the mistaken impression it would be filed under DC circuit court. Is the 9th circuit court right whingey?
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
I will give this to the Brooks version: it’s probably the first WWII-set movie I ever saw that acknowledged that LGBT people were targeted by the Holocaust.
Also, that opening number of “Sweet Georgia Brown” done in Polish is frickin’ killer.
Jeffro
@Adam L Silverman:
And if I could just add, in the middle of that…the Mercers were behind Cruz most of the way in the “deep bench” primaries, until Trump overwhelmed Cruz. At which point the Mercers got on the “Trump Train” (gag) and got everyone else in line with their dollars and network. That’s why we saw Ted Cruz phone banking for the guy who humiliated not just him, but his dad and wife – Rebekah Mercer, and millions of dollars both spent and promised.
That’s why the GOP civil war didn’t happen last year. But you know, things are looking up…=)
Aleta
@Mickee: Maybe that’s why he wanted to be president.
Adam L Silverman
@danielx: And that’s why the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team/4th Infantry Division is in Poland right now.
Jeffro
@Adam L Silverman: Aided by Russia, but initiated by American big-dollar-donors with too much money and power in the current system.
Millard Filmore
@Mnemosyne:
They are quite willing to do the Lord’s work, as long as it does not involve their own time, their own labor, their own money. Hence the resistance to using tax money to help these “saved” babies have a happy life.
They want to get to heaven on someone else’s dime. On the cheap.
Adam L Silverman
@Steve in the ATL: And that’s why 3ABCT/4ID is in Poland right now.
ThresherK
@Omnes Omnibus: Oooh, I’d like one of those. I’m in the northeast suburbs, aka where Volvos are pretty popular and shops know how to service them.
Anne Laurie
@Chris T.:
According to an XY-bearer of my acquaintance, there’s gearheads believe that any high-dollar car which doesn’t require endless tinkering / repairs / convos with one’s mechanics just isn’t manly enough. Ergo, rich chicks who don’t wanna spoil their manicures buy reliable cars, like Miatas.
He says it’s equivalent to the higher-fidelity mavens who complain that even vinyl recordings aren’t really worth listening to, unless you’re willing to commit to an obsessive routine of cleaning every component and changing the hand-cut needle every 30,000 rotations…
Jeffro
@Adam L Silverman: You’re right, we’ll see. I’m ever-hopeful that a movement with its back against the wall, willing to march every weekend, show up in airports for people who don’t worship like they do, crash Capitol Hill’s phone lines day after day after day, might somehow manage to keep it up for the 2017 gov’s races and then spank the crap out of these loons in 2018.
It’s been two weeks, and the guy’s a disaster. GOP MoCs are shutting down their own town halls and running from their constituents. Soon, big business will begin to weigh in on how this affects their bottom line. We’re already talking about “repairing” Obamacare. It doesn’t do much good to be president when no one is with you.
Lizzy L
@amk: Not at all. It has the highest percentage of judges named by Democratic presidents of all the appeals courts. It is probably the most liberal.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Tripwire/speed bump. My battalion was direct support for 2ACR. That was our job at the Hof border crossing. Slow the 125th Armored Mongolian Horde down long enough for the rest of the troops got to there battle position. Estimated 90% casualty rate if the balloon went up. But there would have been so many decorations. Posthumous decorations.
Luckily, I got to do a lot of skiing instead and I went to Poland as a TOAD.
sdhays
@Mnemosyne:
Magnifique! Just perfect!!
Adam L Silverman
@Brachiator: My understanding from the reporting is that it seemed like a combination of being able to do what was necessary to be in compliance with Department of Defense ethics and conflict of interest rules and directives and the time it would take in terms of actually being able to go up for Senate confirmation and start the job in a reasonable amount of time.
Beyond that, I’ve got nothing
Omnes Omnibus
@ThresherK: It is insane and presents as normal.
Omnes Omnibus
@sdhays: STOP WITH THE CLOWN TALK!
Adam L Silverman
@amk: No, most liberal court in the US. And even if it was the DC circuit that circuit now has a majority of judges appointed by Democrats and its Chief Judge is some guy named Merrick Garland…
Mnemosyne
@sdhays:
(stage curtsey)
rikyrah
This is a sincere question:
Where do I find a piece of an aloe plant? Where can I buy it?
I don’t want to grow one. I need the gel for my hair.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Instead of calling up the DOJ or having his staff call, he’s tweeting them.
Jeffro
@Jeffro: Btw can i just re-emphasize: it’s only been TWO WEEKS with this clown? This country is sloooow to wake up sometimes, but it’s been like “oh, he’s just saying that in the primaries”…”he’s just saying that, he doesn’t mean it”…”yeah I know he said that but Hillary/emails”…”he’s been elected now, I’m sure he’ll work on getting things done”…”he’s our president, let’s give him a chance…”
I’m almost thankful for ADHD America at this point, because in just two short weeks, Trump has screwed up his chances to step up and be some sort of (positive) change agent. Goldman Sachs and saber rattling, is about it for this clown.
Anne Laurie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
No way in the seven hells is Mitt running again in Massachusetts — he’s come to loathe us Massholes as much as we do him.
He probably spends more time in San Diego than Utah, but he’s not dumb enough to run against the CA Dems either.
So he’d have to challenge Orrin Hatch — not likely, since they’re both Mormon aristocracy, IIRC — or go after Mike Lee. Which would be fun to watch, but I don’t know that Romney can bring himself to snuffle around in the Trump-humping mud with the Konstitutional Skolar (as Charley Pierce calls Lee).
Steve in the ATL
@efgoldman:
Ha! Truth be told, I hope that my next car will be both electric and autonomous. Would be thrilled never to have to drive again. Of course, I’d keep the Benz for status reasons.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman:
Everything I know about Garland says he is scrupulously fair and a brilliant jurist. Bodes well for us when cases about T come through the DC Circuit.
Mnemosyne
@rikyrah:
I’ve seen aloe leaves in the supermarket produce section occasionally — someplace like Whole Foods is probably most likely.
Though if I were going to Whole Foods for aloe leaves, I would buy a bottle of organic aloe gel and save myself some trouble.
Jeffro
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
he’s so pathetic, he thinks tweeting = getting answers/getting something done
utterly clueless, this man-baby
Omnes Omnibus
@rikyrah: Many people grow them. Ask your friends.
Adam L Silverman
@Jeffro: Actually its tied into, via financing, both Russian oligarchs tied to Putin and a Ukrainian oligarch tied to Manafort:
http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/211152/trump-data-analytics-russian-access
Anne Laurie
@Omnes Omnibus:
The Polish-Americans I grew up with always said one Pole was worth a dozen Russians… but, unfortunately, the Russians could spare two dozen soldiers for every one Pole!
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL:
C, E, or S?
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Tracking. Same reason we have Soldiers in South Korea.
I’d feel much better if V Corps was still in existence, my former boss, his Division HQ, and all of his BCTs were back in Germany.
mdblanche
@jl: Wasn’t that the same mathematician who when taking the US citizenship exam said he’d discovered a logical inconsistency in the Constitution that could allow the US to become a dictatorship, only to be cut off before he could explain what it was?
amk
@Lizzy L: phew. that’s a relief. what if they upheld their brethern judge’s order? will the fascist regime take it to the supremes?
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne: Interesting points. I hadn’t thought about the coalition. I’m not sure that the Republicans care. Or rather, they give lip service to their base. The official position of the Catholic Church is to oppose capital punishment, but the GOP doesn’t care. They also have no problem telling the Church to STFU when it comes to economic issues. Here the new cruel Protestantism that if you are poor, you have failed Jesus and don’t deserve shit overrides any Catholic support for a social safety net.
Oddly enough, Trump supporters believe him, but still distrust the mainstream Republican leadership. This love affair is heading for a disaster, though, and it will be interesting to see how these people react when they understand the degree to which they have been betrayed. This is doubly odd, since I’ve heard many of them say that it was the victim’s fault if they ended up being swindled by Trump (e.g., the students of Trump University, who lost money and got nothing in return).
amk
@Adam L Silverman: danke.
chris
@Jeffro: There are a number of “Trumpgrets” sites up now, 2 weeks into the “mandate”, if anyone needs a little schadenfreude. Twitter has a live feed that’s ticking over like a well tuned idling Porsche.
XTPD
@mdblanche: Yes – Kurt Gödel, one of the many alleged victims of the “Black Theorem”.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Anne Laurie: I’m wondering if Evan Mcmullen will take a run at Hatch, or maybe Chaffetz
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Yep. And my guess is that even his colleagues appointed by Republican presidents were less than amused by how he was treated. Both because they know him and because they can imagine that could be them. I don’t really think that Senator McConnell and crew realize just how much long term damage they’ve done with what they pulled last year. Just as they didn’t get it when they had Republican members of Congress talking about why killing Federal judges might be okay if they ruled in ways that those members of Congress didn’t like.
Lizzy L
@amk: Of course.
Omnes Omnibus
@chris: Is everyone Porsche obsessed around here?
Anne Laurie
@pseudonymous in nc:
Pfft! As if the Donald was willing to work for his position, beyond yelling and grifting and lying!
Putin’s an evil monster who’s broken every one of the Ten Commandments plus probably a couple he invented, but he’s not lazy. Or a corner-cutter. He took advantage of a rotten corrupt system, but he didn’t require 60 years of being propped up by every two-bit chiseler to get where he is today.
Adam L Silverman
@Anne Laurie: While I’m not making this statement to knock the Polish military, I grew up in the South and used to hear the same thing from people their about their ancestors in the Confederate Army in regards to the Union Army.
hellslittlestangel
@rikyrah: Chinese supermarket. Natural foods store.
Adam L Silverman
@amk: Likely and we want it done ASAP. This is why I made the points I made last night. If the new Administration is going to challenge the legitimacy and power of the Federal Courts and threaten the Rule of Law, it is better it happens now and quickly. So that it goes to the Supremes while the court is still 4-4 and so that Judge Gorsuch can be questioned about his views of the Rule of Law and the legitimacy of the Federal Courts during his confirmation hearings. Despite what he may think, this is not the 1830s and the President is not Andrew Jackson.
amk
there is a lesson in there somewhere.
chris
@Omnes Omnibus: I used to want one but now I’m just happy to have a porch to sit on.
Librarian
@Mnemosyne: Emergency! Everybody to get from street!
Anne Laurie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Yeah, I think that’s the sensible Repubs’ plan… which they are not sharing with Bloody Bill Kristol, for reasons.
amk
@Adam L Silverman: Do the supremes fast track such appeals? I have read their calendar is prefixed and not very bendy.
Adam L Silverman
@amk: They can. The request can be made by either party to the litigation. The Supremes are not obligated to accept the petition. I fully expect the 9th to uphold Judge Robart’s ruling and send it back to him to actually hear the case.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Hillary used private email, no sin is worse.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Sometimes it is true. Sometimes it is a BS excuse. Grant was better than Lee. And so on down the line. I have a slight soft spot for Braxton Bragg. He, as junior artillery officer during the Mexican War, was hated by his troops. One of them rolled a grenade into his tent one night. The fuse was cut wrong and Bragg snuffed it out. His response was the brilliant part. He woke up his battery and drilled them on fuse cutting for the rest of the night. He didn’t mind being hated, but he hated incompetence.
Mnemosyne
@Brachiator:
I’m still working on a reply to some people I know who are strong Social Justice Catholics but also heavily anti-abortion. Something along the lines of:
When you decided that being anti-abortion was the most important thing, you made a deal with the devil. You could have slowly reduced the abortion rate while getting everything you wanted, like they’ve done in Europe, but you decided that you wanted a shortcut, and now this is the result. People are going to die from lack of medical care, from lack of food stamps, from lack of housing but, hey, at least they won’t be able to get abortions!
Emma
@rikyrah: you can buy pure aloe in many pharmacies and health food places. Caribbean stores may carry the leaves. Chinese too.
amk
@Adam L Silverman: If they lob the ball back to the judge, I am hoping for unohoo’s head literally exploding.
Villago Delenda Est
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Bill Kristol. Always wrong. Always.
Smiling Mortician
@Steve in the ATL:
The better comparison to the Porsche is the BMW. I highly recommend the Z4. We’ve had ours for 13 years and it’s still a sexy beast.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Yep.
I’m a fan of the theory that Lee had suffered a series of micro-strokes because of his high blood pressure and it was beginning to effect his abilities by the time he got to Gettysburg, if not sooner. And that he was not as good a strategist as Longstreet, though even Longstreet was no match for his friend Grant. And Lee also had the problem of promoting generals from billets where they were very effective into billets they were not suited for and where, as a result, incredibly ineffective.
Villago Delenda Est
@amk: They remember how the fall of Communism went. Not well for the Ceausescus.
Jeffro
@Adam L Silverman: Thanks Adam! While a bit of a head-spin, it’s clear that many parties were lining up to use this data to influence the 2016 election.
My question is: where’s Manafort?
Oldgold
WSJ’s Bret Stephens on DT: “Never in history has a President slandered his country like this.”
Stephens is the foreign affairs columnist and deputy editorial page editor for the Wall Street Journal.
Chet Murthy
@Steve in the ATL: First, full disclosure: BMW Z3 owner (4th-hand).
(1) I love my little blue wonder. Goes zoom! when I want, with the wind in my hair.
(2) cheep cheep! like, $8k (mine was a rebuilt title, so $4k, but was buying from a friend, so couldn’t bring myself to pay so little, made it $6k)
(3) did I mention fun?
(4) I’ve heard that Miatas are beloved of racers — so I don’t know quite where you’re getting the “testicles removed” bit?
Seriously, if my little blue wonder ever dies (knock wood), I guess I’ll get a used Miata.
Davebo
@efgoldman:
Hating leather seats is a good sign you’d hate a quality automobile.
Not for everyone, and the C class Benz, which you probably had, can be annoying admittedly.
But an S500, or SL 600? Automotive heaven.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Omnes Omnibus:
I am sitting yards from my wretched RWNJ brother’s SL-550 coupe.
p.a.
There’s been talk of the struggle between the Bannon camp and the establishment Rethug camp in the admin (SA v SS?), but tRump is such an ignorant egotist both camps have to be insecure about any random interloper sucking up to the child-king and supplanting them. Especially as shit hits fan and the blame game begins, the current contenders will be vulnerable.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Lee was a follower of Jomini’s theories. Jomini based everything on Napoleon – but technology changed. And so did war.
Chet Murthy
@MomSense: Uh, I’m rabid. But … he hasn’t done anything yet (that I know of? so you could change my mind) that’s punishable by death, right?
OTOH, imagine if he were hounded out of office and then investigated and pauperized. Wouldn’t you want him to get the *best* life-extension treatments? Heck, I’d chip in for his cable subscription and teevee so he could watch the world as it scorned him daily. But he -needs- to be pauperized.
Adam L Silverman
@Jeffro: In his apartment in Trump Tower.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack (tablet): Ha!
jl
@mdblanche:
” Wasn’t that the same mathematician who when taking the US citizenship exam said he’d discovered a logical inconsistency in the Constitution that could allow the US to become a dictatorship, only to be cut off before he could explain what it was? ”
Yes, Kurt Goedel. He was in front of particularly friendly specially picked judge, but his minders from the US academic community and his lawyer found a way to cut off the hearing and hustle him out of the court room asap, from what I read.
I guess we’ll find out if Godel was right over the next 4 years.
Jeffro
@Adam L Silverman:
Yes – this is the thing, right? Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland was what…a moderate to replace a rabid right-winger…not a huge shift in the court, most likely? An easy transition for the country. An easy call w/ Garland being the ‘next man up’. He is also relatively old, not some 40-something who’ll swing the court hard left for 4 decades to come.
The GOP (meaning primarily their big donors) decided they had to go all in because it was one of their last remaining bulwarks against progress, a way to try and keep both voting issues and corporate control in hand..
It’s crazy. Any other alternate Earth, the GOP recognizes that PBO is still president, sees that they’re almost a year out from the election, that the nominee’s no crazy radical soshulist, and sighs, “eh, whatever”.
Smiling Mortician
@Jeffro:
There you go, giving me faith in 11-dimensional chess again.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Yep. I had a colleague at USAWC that was a Jomini scholar. Which was interesting as almost everyone else was either Clausewitz or Sun Tzu. Except for the Navy/Sea Power guys, they were all Mahan this, Mahan that… And our USAF Senior Service Rep who would just randomly shout “Air Power” at various times of the day.
amk
has fuck the PC mob gone over the bend yet over Der Spiegel’s FP image?
I see that bbc is already concern trolling about it.
Jeffro
@Adam L Silverman: You are kidding…please be kidding here…I’ll go get him out of there myself.
Mnemosyne
Since we had a big Mel Brooks night last night, I still love the musical medley from Brooks’ Kennedy Center Honors back in 2009 that features most of his best-known songs.
It’s especially funny to watch the reactions of Bruce Springsteen while he’s sitting next to Brooks, because Bruce loves every. single. song. Robert DeNiro just looks kind of puzzled by the whole thing.
ETA: It will be interesting to see who’s willing to accept a Kennedy Center Honor from Trump. Brooks actually turned it down when it was offered by W and said he’d prefer to wait for a different president.
Jeffro
@Smiling Mortician: All just additional pieces to the puzzle, all just weight on the scale…;)
Davebo
@efgoldman: Heated and cooled!
frosty
@Steve in the ATL:
I bought one in July ’89, third shipment to the dealer. The Miata is a Japanese/American British sports car and was as much fun as my TR-3 and I didn’t have to sync the carbs every two weeks. Dunno how it turned into a “girl’s car”. Probably because of trash talk from guys overcompensating with Challengers Camaros and Mustangs.
/bring it on/
Chet Murthy
@Brachiator:
Lemme help ya:
“save america” == “stomp on the uppity wimmin and darkies”
Davebo
@Adam L Silverman:
Good to see the Air Force still appreciates the advantages of NAVAIR!
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
This year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame votes in 3 blacks, 1 Danish immigrant, and only 1 white, while rejecting candidacy of real american Jerry Jones.
What has this country sunk to?
At some point, whites will be forced to go Galt and start a whites only football league.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman:
I am still laughing. Jomini was right on the era he was using, Good history, bad guidebook.
Barbara
@jl: The Polish president was openly hostile to Obama. This is not the kind of payback I would wish for but the fact is, Trump received the benefit of the doubt in the face of clear evidence of complicity with Putin. Whereas Clinton and Obama were treated with mistrust based on nothing. So yeah, I do feel like what goes around comes around. His life has become more difficult because of his own bigotry. It is hard to feel sorry for him.
p.a.
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: No Ty Law??!!
Omnes Omnibus
@Barbara:
Fair enough. Let’s not fuck over the Polish people at the same time, okay?
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
@Adam L Silverman:
IIRC, on the civilian side, the Confederacy had huge problems keeping the army supplied and the government running because … they were a confederacy, and they ran into the exact same problems the original US government had run into with states not bothering to pay the money they owed to the central government.
The more things change …
(The North even had better and more organized groups of civilian women knitting for the troops. Seriously.)
PJ
@Barbara: Well, in Poland as here, the President won a close election and doesn’t necessarily represent a majority of the country, but everyone will suffer for it.
Mnemosyne
@Barbara:
Only if you count skin color and gender as “nothing.”
/snark
Davebo
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Jerry Jones was inducted.
Jeffro
One last note before I toddle off to bed: as usual SNL was merciless tonight…warms me heart and fuel for another week to #Resist (plus all the other things that fuel it)
Be happy warriors everyone – the opposition is pretty revolting (adj), we’re just 10x more so (v) ;)
Chet Murthy
@mdblanche: doubt it. I’m guessing the mathematician who was (ahem) mentally unsound was Nash? Legend has it, it was Godel who found the hole in the Constitution.
Villago Delenda Est
@Adam L Silverman: The Mercers need to be exterminated. They are nothing but parasites.
randy khan
@Mnemosyne:
The Kennedy Center Honors winners are picked by the Kennedy Center. However, people have been known to say no, or please wait, for various reasons. I certainly can believe Brooks didn’t want to be honored while GWB was President, and I imagine that similar problems will occur with the current President.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@Davebo: oh brother. They put a buffoon like Jones in the HOF but they keep Jimmy Johnson, the architect of the Super Bowls wins, out.
OldDave
@efgoldman:
In my case, still married, but there was a certain amount of side-eye from SWMBO when I showed up one evening driving a Porsche Cayman instead of the Miata.
My last four cars have been: 1991 Miata, 2001 Miata, 2009 Miata, and 2014 Cayman S – all three pedal versions. BTW, last time I looked I still had a pair, so I don’t think losing “the boys” is a prerequisite to driving a Miata. If you like driving a convertible, a Miata is one of life’s simple joys. They are fun, fun, fun cars – even if you are eye-level with the wheels on the tractor-trailer rigs. And I have to admit, they are cheaper to own and maintain than a Porsche.
randy khan
So, kind of interesting – the Justice Department filed a notice of appeal of the Washington District Court’s injunction against the immigration executive order, but apparently has not yet filed a stay request. This means that the original order stays in effect for a while, at a minimum until they get around to asking for a stay (and, presumably, the other side gets to respond). I would have thought they would file both the appeal and the stay request at the same time.
Another Scott
Melissa McCarthy was fabulous as Spicer on SNL.
Genius.
Cheers,
Scott.
Lizzy L
@randy khan: I assume they’ve got folks staying up late to write the brief…
Mnemosyne
@randy khan:
He’s told the story several times, including in this interview about his Young Frankenstein book, which I am running to Amazon to buy right now.
Peale
@Lizzy L: I find this too funny. Of course the Russians would think that Poland would be behind Belarus’ move towards a “slightly” more non-aligned stance. Lukashenko Has been a bit antsy lately. The CIA and Poland must be behind that, as no one on his or her own might look at Ukraine and wonder if Russia might do things with the former members of the old Union that are in its own interest and not in the interest of those countries. Like cutting off a country’s fuel supply or something.
Viva BrisVegas
@Lizzy L:
Maybe a spetsnaz could attack a Belarus radio station? The plan for that is public domain, the copywrite having expired in 1939.
Flynn should be able to look it up in his records under “G” for Gleiwitz.
randy khan
@Lizzy L:
That’s what I would assume, too, but it’s not like Justice is short of lawyers, so I don’t know why they couldn’t have produced a stay request pretty quickly while preparing the notice of appeal. Heck, a lot of it would have been in the original brief against the request for a temporary restraining order.
frosty
@OldDave:
I like small cars and being able to see under the trailer, like the Bugeye Sprite I had in high school. Even though my Miata got totaled (at 35 mph) when I got rammed from the side and shoved into the wheels of a tractor-trailer. Glad he wasn’t 20 feet further ahead or I’d’ve been under the trailer …. I think I had enough time to hit the basement though.
Just shy of 25 years and a Moon Unit (238,000 miles) on it, dammit.
fuckwit
I think this guy could single-handedly prevent the Second American Civil War
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ivORI9v4z8c
He’s got my vote, whatever office he runs for.
XTPD
@Chet Murthy: Lots of mathematicians have had mental illness, and Nash only died in 2015. JL is correct in ascribing both the constitutional incident and method of death by starvation to Kurt Gödel.
Peale
@randy khan: I’m going to guess that the administration is hoping that as many permanent residents, students and Iraqi interpreters scurry to where they were headed as possible, since including them in the travel ban actually created classes of claimants that would be sympathetic and likely to win. They could have avoided this by sticking with a ban on issuing new visas while they implemented their new extreme vetting. But no.
fuckwit
@frosty: I always wondered from where Zappa got the idea for that name for his first daughter. Must have heard it from Motorhead Sherwood.
Adam L Silverman
@Jeffro: Manafort owns an apartment in Trump Tower. He has multiple homes/residential properties in the US, as well as other countries. I know of a home in South Florida. Palm Beach Gardens specifically.
Adam L Silverman
@Davebo: The guy who was the USAF Senior Service rep when I was there was a hoot. Good guy, but 7 inches of party sub, 1/2 a bucket of fried chicken, a tub of coleslaw, some three bean salad, 2 gallons of ice tea, three bags of chips, a dozen cookies, 1/2 a watermelon, and a bunch of ants shy of a picnic.
Peale
@Steve in the ATL: I don’t know. Immediately after achieving independence in 1919, Poland went to war with practically all of its neighbors and won. Yeah, everyone was exhausted from WWI, but it’s difficult to look at Poland in 1920 and not wonder why they such dicks about the “we want Silesia and we don’t care whom we piss off about it” matter.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Jomini’s an interesting character. Clausewitz is, to be honest, only useful outside of the historical component, for the theoretical section, specifically the trinity. Which, as you know, is really not the meat of his text. The meat was the how of making war in the time period he lived.
Chet Murthy
@XTPD: Hooooley moley. Really? Godel died by starvation? Did. Not. Know. That.
amk
@Peale: Yup, the current kkklown posse is in if Obama did it, we can go one up on him throes and fucked up everything they did so far.
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: Yes, the Confederacy had significant logistics problems. In terms of supply and sustainment, as well as personnel. Some of this was the predictable, and predicted, problems associated with trying to wage war without a proper industrial base. But part of this was political.
And politically it was a mess. At one point South Carolina decided they wanted to secede from the Confederacy – they’re really not joiners… I’ve always imagined Jefferson Davis screaming “You want to secede?!?!?! You stupid fucks got us into this and now you want out because we’re not doing it just the way you like?!?!?! What the fuck is wrong with you people?!?!?!” at the representatives South Carolina’s governor sent to tell him that SC wasn’t sure the Confederacy was their thing.
EBT
@randy khan: There shit is not remotely in order.
Adam L Silverman
@Viva BrisVegas: Little Green Men…
XTPD
@Chet Murthy: Yes. He had a persecutory delusion of being poisoned (although I’ve never heard of him thinking ghosts were the culprit) and would only eat food prepared by his wife. His starvation was when when his wife was hospitalized for six months in ’77; at death his body weighed 65 lbs.
Chip Daniels
Late to the thread, but protests are working:
Republican Rep. McClintock exits with police escort after raucous town hall meeting in Roseville
This, in a heavily Republican district. The guy needs a police escort.
Lets keep the heat on.
Keith P.
@Jeffro: I think the whole point of the open was just to get in the “You can’t even walk down stairs, you little, white BITCH!” I love how vicious they’re being with Trump.
Mnemosyne
You know, I keep looking at that cover for Luke Harding’s recent book about the murder of Lietvenvienko, and his previous laudatory books about WikiLeaks and Snowden, and that guy has got to be doing some serious re-thinking about those previous books given recent events. But as far as I can tell, no one has asked him that question.
To be fair, he may be trying to process this whole fiasco just like the rest of us. But I can’t help wanting to say to him, Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?
m.j.
I think it’s a better match than the Superbowl.
It’s all just a show now.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: It would have been interesting to have seen what would have happened had Lincoln lived to undertake and oversee Reconstruction.
Lizzy L
@Chip Daniels: LOVE it! Thank you for the link. Goodnight, jackals.
Chet Murthy
I think we’ve all earned this: https://twitter.com/IfHillaryHad
[and no, it doesn’t change anything. But self-care is important too.]
m.j.
It’s all just a show.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
just a heads-up, for anyone who’s in the habit of signing online petitions
SgrAstar
@amk: Ninth Circuit, I think. ?
Petorado
@Another Scott:
Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer video here. I’m in awe.
amk
On bbc, some white airhead bimbo ends questioning some Dallas lawyer asshole about the serious immigration crisis (who seemed to think the WA judge acted rashly) by asking him whether he plans to go to superbowl.
congrats bbc. you have become murkanized now.
SgrAstar
@Anne Laurie: The Utah powers that be are gonna put Orrin out to pasture. Mitt might run, but the much younger Evan McMullin has a real chance. My 2 cents.
Yarrow
@SgrAstar: Orrin Hatch is going to be 83 in about six weeks. He’ll be 84 if he runs for reelection in 2018. Wouldn’t surprise me if he decided to retire. Or it was decided for him that he would retire. it’ll be interesting to see who runs for his seat.
Anne Laurie
@Adam L Silverman:
Yeah, some of the Jacobin songs use the theme, too, don’t they?
Also, an old bitter ‘jape’ from my Norwegian-born mother-in-law:
Ten thousand Swedes came through the weeds to fight a sick Norwegian;
Ten thousand more, stood up & swore, the fairest fight they ever saw!
Keith P.
@Petorado: I was dying laughing at that one. And she even got his poorly-fitting jacket perfect.
amk
@Petorado: LOL. Thanks. MM hit it out of the park. twitler’s phone calls were hilarious and probably true too.
Kat
If there’s a hell, I suspect an ice-skating rink just appeared there…
Why Nobody Cares the President Is Lying
In the conservative media, we conditioned people not to trust facts or mainstream news outlets.
By CHARLES J. SYKES FEB. 4, 2017
…
…
I saw only one troll-post in the first 100-or-so comments, and many of the rest are downright inspiring.
Darkrose
@Chip Daniels: Roseville is pretty wingnutty, so this is definitely a good sign.
Aleta
@Kat: Amazing how he just now figured this out …. :)
evodevo
@danielx: Yes. this. Cognitive dissonance is an artform among the fundies I work with every day. They are willing to die on the hill of ‘bortion/gaymarriage, even if it means their entire social circle suffers economically..
SRW1
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Putin is an absolute genius. The number I have seen is that he invested €9 million in the FN and Marine is dancing after his tunes like the nicest little puppet. Apparently, she now also wants to take France out of NATO.
Betty
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: That remains my favorite bit from the debates. Just classic Trump.
laura
@rikyrah: Any garden shop -even Home Despot should have an aloe or selection of aloes.
If you’ve got a “health food” type store, you may find aloe gel in the refrigerator section.
Good luck!
Ksmiami
@Brachiator: the Mercer daughters run a cookie company in NYC called ruby et violet: would be a shame if people stopped buying their crap…
john fremont
@Mnemosyne: I also read that the Confederacy had trouble keeping their Army supplied was because the railroads would change track gauges through the Southern states. Materiel and personnel would have to be loaded and unloaded onto different trains several times during a single trip.
Debbie1
@Baud: That’s what I thought too. Some people are committed to protesting – that’s the easy, sexy part & it lands you in the news. Voting is necessary but unglamorous. I’ll never understand how some people can travel across state lines, buy poster boards/markers, stand for hours, endure port-a-potties to chant in rhymes yet will not commit 15 minutes every 2 yrs or so to cast a vote. Go figure.
jonas
@Jeffro: I sense this meme emerging among a certain segment of Trump’s electorate (not the all-in, 27% deplorable racist asshole fanboys) that the inevitable calamity we’re facing is actually the Democrats’ fault: by nominating Clinton, it *made* them have to vote for Trump because she was so awful. They had no choice!
No One You Know
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Cardinal Wolsey. He fortunately died on the road to a likely execution, if I recall correctly.