That moment on @FoxNews when @OliverNorthFNC complains about congressional encroachment in NatSec because of "unfortunate" circumventions.
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) August 4, 2017
Oliver North on Fox News on Iran-Contra: "Ronald Reagan, as we all know, I particularly, found ways around it" pic.twitter.com/UM52IFhU3c
— John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) August 4, 2017
Because nothing can be original any more, Ollie North emerges from his cushy right-wing cave and tries to promote a false equivalence between Donald Trump and… Thomas Jefferson. FDR. Even Ronald Reagan would reject the comparison! — he may have been a cynical mouthpiece for a bunch of greedy oligarchs, and sinking into organic dementia, but at least he was a professional. His meanest critics would admit that Reagan never shirked the less pleasant aspects of his White House job, always hit his camera marks, and mouthed the lines he was given with sincerity.
Ours is a coarser era, and Russia a rather more potent enemy; I suspect that even some portion of the Fox-News-addled “base” will be quick to turn on Trump as soon as it’s obvious he’s not going to “win” against a grand jury. Heel to hero back to heel — professional “reality” infotainment at its finest!
Trump is not exactly starting from the same level of public support that Reagan had before Iran-Contra broke … https://t.co/s7j1sdAQqR
— Josh Chafetz (@joshchafetz) August 4, 2017
In the last 53 years – GOP has held the White House for 28 years, Democrats have held if for 25 years. (1/3)
— Eric Doberstein (@DobieWanKenobi) August 4, 2017
In 28 years of GOP: 120 indictments, 88 convictions, 34 prison sentences…
I'm not sure I'd take GOP advice on violating law.
— Eric Doberstein (@DobieWanKenobi) August 4, 2017
…. Oh, look, another needy has-been from the RWNJ swamps!…
Ken Starr on Mueller Probe: ‘We Don’t Want Prosecutors on a Fishing Expedition’ https://t.co/Bh3THOB3To pic.twitter.com/mUVuUD2ElQ
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) August 4, 2017
james parente
Oh! the sweet irony of Starr talking about “fishing expeditions”.
Roger Moore
As I often say, irony has been dead for a while. The Republicans are just desecrating the corpse.
lollipopguild
Ollie and Ken both have a very warm spot in Hell reserved for them.
lollipopguild
@Roger Moore: Irony was spinning in it’s grave for so long that it caught fire and burned up.
Jeffro
@james parente: @Roger Moore: @lollipopguild: We need a term for irony squared, irony cubed, irony on steroids…ironeeeeeeeeee!!1!!!, maybe?
madmommy
Ken Starr is whinging about a “fishing expedition”?? The same Ken Starr that recently stepped down in disgrace from the top job at Baylor after it came out they couldn’t seem to stop their athletes from raping everyone? The stones on these guys…
SiubhanDuinne
@lollipopguild:
It troubles me to recognize that I’m older than both of them. They’re both on the list of people whose obituaries I would read with distinct pleasure.
james parente
The world is full of surprises!
I thought Al D’Amoto sitting on the Senate Ethics Committee, during the Bill Clinton witch hunt, was the Peak Irony.
How wrong was I?
catclub
@james parente:
Irony would be a crooked land deal in Arkansas bringing down Trump.
Iowa Old Lady
I see Putin published another bare-chested picture of himself. I am scared Trump will emulate his idol.
Emma
@lollipopguild: Cold. Very cold. The second round of the Ninth Circle of Hell is where traitors to their country are housed.
james parente
@Jeffro: Jeffro, I have friends who love words and language. I’ll get them started on a word form which expresses the true meaning of beyond iroic.
rikyrah
I’ll say it again:
1. Pence is up to his eyeballs in the Flynn mess…
2. If you think that Dolt45 is going down WITHOUT taking Pence with him – you’re as delusional as Pence.
Alex BurnsVerified account @alexburnsNYT
Alex Burns Retweeted Michael Tackett
Pence advisers have told GOP donors they want to be ready — ya know, just in case >>
https://twitter.com/alexburnsNYT/status/893868687677063169
catclub
@james parente:
How do you top Newt Gingrich having an affair with a congressional aide during the Clinton Impeachment and said aide is now the US Ambassador to the fucking Vatican.
Roger Moore
@Jeffro:
Rhodiumy? Osmiumy? Hassiumy?/chemist humor
Frankensteinbeck
A party of racism is a party of hate. A party of hate is a party of ‘fuck the other guy.’ When that’s what you’re about, rules don’t apply to you, and corruption is inevitable. ‘Fuck the other guy’ extends to tribalism. Racists will defend their most vile allies and policies to the death, rather than give the Other a victory. This has all been built into the Republican Party at least since desegregation, and has only gotten worse as the browning of America drives them into insanity. Trump is no accident.
Frankly, Reagan codified all of this. His coalition pitch was “Are you really going to let those n- lovers tell you what to do?”
james parente
@Roger Moore: LOL!
A Ghost To Most
@rikyrah: yep and yep.
Baud
@Frankensteinbeck: Agree. And who’s going to stand up to them? Not the voters. As we recently saw.
catclub
@Emma: Beat me to the Dante reference.
I will note that in my mind Inferno isnecessary book 1 but the conclusion in Paradiso is much better.
Keith P.
I know we’re being trolled, but seriously, did it really happen like “We need someone famous to argue that this an unwarranted fishing expedition.” “Lemme go through this list, starting from the bottom….#500 – Ken Starr…..BOOK IT!”
A Ghost To Most
@Frankensteinbeck:
Rump is a symptom; the Russpublicans are the disease.
Baud
@Keith P.: My guess is that Ken Starr said something at some private meeting of right wing big shots about the current investigation, and that info got to Fox news.
debbie
@Iowa Old Lady:
Yuck, I looked. His age is showing.
Gelfling 545
@Iowa Old Lady: Oh dear. I wish you hadn’t said that.
Frankensteinbeck
@Baud:
Our voters might. They are PISSED. We’ll see.
Villago Delenda Est
Ken Starr, Ollie North, and Alan Dershowitz all need to be frogmarched onto a rocketship that will be flown into the sun.
Glidwrith
@SiubhanDuinne: I am younger by decades than several of these assholes. In the event you do not live to see them returned to the swamp shit from which they came, I will most happily dance a jig in your memory.
NotMax
Oliver North?
“Okay, ‘fess up. Who’s the dunderhead who lifted up that rock?”
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I think you’re wrong about one thing. These people will never turn on Tяump. He could get indicted. He gould get convicted of bribery or money laundering or get impeached for anything at all and thrown out of office and they’ll stick with him. He could go on live television and tell us all he’s working for Putin for money and they won’t care. Nothing he does is ever going to shake these people loose from them. They’re lost causes. Of all the people they could have chosen to latch onto, why it was this pitiful clown is something I’ll never understand, but they’re with him, they love him, they think he’s one of them, even as he laughs at them behind their backs, but they’ll stick by him. Nothing will change that. Not ever.
Baud
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
He plays to their sensibilities. It’s actually a pretty powerful thing.
Frankensteinbeck
You just answered your own question.
Plus, he IS one of them. Trump was elected to prove dumbshit, selfish, angry, racist assholes are right about everything and better than the rest of us.
SFAW
@Iowa Old Lady:
Were Scumamucci still WH mouthpiece, he’d tell Lying Littledick that (his) moobs are yuuuuge!, and LL would decide they’re The Best, better than Putin’s, and he’s gonna show us all just how awesome he is/they are.
Should I have put a Trigger Warning before writing that?
NotMax
@Roger Moore
Kind’a partial to the sound of ytterbony.
SFAW
@Villago Delenda Est:
Don’t be an asshole. That’s WAY too much money.
Three burlap bags, heavily weighted, their hands and feet tied, and Marianas Trench here we come! And even THAT is more money spent on them than they deserve.
low-tech cyclist
Oliver North, huh?
I’m old enough to remember when conservatives got pissed off when criminals got off on a technicality.
catclub
@SFAW:
Pig farm shit pond.
BC in Illinois
@NotMax:
My opinion of O North has not deviated from when I saw him shake his medals at congress during his (successful) manipulation of the exclusionary rule as a way to void his felony conviction for lying, cheating, and stealing. He is the only person of whom I have consistently said: “He is a disgrace to his uniform.”
germy
BC in Illinois
@low-tech cyclist:
Yes
catclub
@low-tech cyclist:
I’m old enough to appreciate Elliot Abrams not getting hired by Trump.
It is too often a question of which one I hate more.
low-tech cyclist
@james parente:
If you can have a Platonic ideal of a fishing expedition, Ken Starr’s tenure as special prosecutor pretty much nails it.
rikyrah
Twitter thread:
Krk @RKirkRow
Democrats listen up – we will never and I do mean ever win at the national level again if we do not face the truth about what divides us.
10:30 AM – 5 Aug 2017
Notice how “Our Revolution” is the left’s version of the right’s Tea
Party movement and how they’ve used the same tactics – wake tf up.
Bernie sanders set out to replicate the Tea Party movement as early as 2010 when he was actively searching for someone to primary PBO.
Being pretty much a no name in politics for 30+ years he began to notice the attention he was receiving by those with the same mindset
A mindset centered around white lives mattering more than anything else regardless the struggles of others. An “identity free politics”
The best way to silence those seeking liberation and equality for all
was to dismiss their arguments as “identity politics” and claim…
…that if we just concentrate on healthcare and Wall Street we can make this message about impacting “everyone” rather than working
to bring awareness to the issue that got Donald Trump elected – white supremacist culture and the effects it has across the board.
…………………….
It means that instead of truly reflecting and LISTENING to other
perspectives white WP in the majority said it’s too dividing to talk
race.
White people today dont feel they have to address the problems regarding race bc they’ve been conditioned to believe the system is fair.
The. System. Is. Not. Fair. The system was specifically designed to elevate whites above all others. Our education, our media, our politics
Bernie and his revolutionary guard want you as a WP to continue believing this mess. It is the ONLY way their message continues to resonate.
We see it play out daily in the way his supporters dismiss democrats Harris, Booker, and Waters. It’s never about race they say… ?
You as a white person probably don’t realize how offensive the term liberal elite is when describing politicians. Bernie uses this tactic
……………………..
Just this week @samswey was attacked by a brogressive after he pointed out Bernie lacked the knowledge to adequately address race.
Sam was literally explaining THE issue and some white dude comes along with the but but Nina Turner argument.
Roger Moore
@NotMax:
But it wouldn’t be especially closely related to irony the way rutheniumy or osmiumy would be.
Baud
@germy: I don’t like Cuomo. But if you beat him in the primary, you best win the general.
rikyrah
THE EVERLOVING PHUCK?!?!?
The HillVerified account @thehill
Air Force purchases bankrupt Russian firm’s planes to convert to Air Force One http://hill.cm/CGzDeKi
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/893964109036826624
debbie
@rikyrah:
It’s enough to make a person give up.
NotMax
@Roger Moore
Elementary, my dear Roger.
;)
Jeffro
@Roger Moore: I’m good, I think we need chemists’ help with this one…I mean, ironeeeeeee!!1! has been the story of this freak show of a presidency since Nov 9th. Trumpov’s tweets about how lazy Obama is and how corrupt Hillary is? Those belong in the same category, whatever we end up calling it.
schrodingers_cat
@rikyrah: We have had multiple threads about the solar eclipse that’s not until later this month but not one thread about Cotton-Perdue bill blessed by the WH.
Jeffro
@Villago Delenda Est: Too expensive. How about just ‘frogmarched up to the rim of the nearest volcano, and…’?
ETA: whoops, I see SFAW at #35 got there first. I’m good with the trench or the volcano. Maybe we should run the numbers and go with whatever’s cheapest?
germy
@Baud:
Especially with crazy Carl Palladino contemplating a run.
patrick II
@madmommy:
For a serious Christian like Ken Starr, sex outside of marriage is only o.k. when it is non-consensual.
Baud
@germy: When is the election?
NotMax
@patrick II
Can’t receive absolution without a sin, don’tcha know.
HinTN
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): 27%
SiubhanDuinne
@Roger Moore:
Yeah, I was trying to do something with Fe^2 or Fe^3 but, full disclosure and transparency here, I Am Not A Chemist.
germy
@Baud:
Primary Election September 12
General Election November 7
Mike in NC
Don’t ever forget that the GOP thought Ollie North was the perfect creep to run for a US Senate seat at the height of his notoriety.
Baud
@germy: Next year?
germy
According to Robert Benchley, the nuclear family consists of Father, Mother and Fox Terrier.
Immanentize
@Baud: you, Baud, is usually the one pointing out the voters did stand up to this bullshit. Just not enough in the right places….
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
CovFeFe?
;)
Bruuuuce
@SFAW: Make them pay for it. They scammed enough out of the rest of us to pay for that nice cruise and permanent home apiece.
Baud
@Immanentize: The most voters made the right decision, and we should never forget that. But that’s different from recognizing the GOP for what it is, and prioritizing defeating them as an institution. We still often get distracted by side issues.
SiubhanDuinne
@Glidwrith:
I hereby declare, before these
jackalswitnesses, that you are my designated jigger.SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
Oh! This is why we LOVE you!!!
barb 2
@rikyrah:
The first thing I noticed about Sanders is the bots he attracted — racist, sexist screaming idiots. We watched the jerks riot at the Nevada primary. We watched the Bernie bots riots at the Dem convention — shouting down Sen. Elizabeth Warren. A white guy who chooses to live and play politics in the whitest of white states. He’s got that cult speak — psycho babble down to a fine science — just like Trumpster.
You’ve nailed the Bernie to the wall and exposed the fraud in his message.
Hal
I had completely forgotten that Starr actually started out with the twin bullshit investigations of Vince Foster’s suicide and Whitewater and went on to Lewinsky. Trump’s presidency is like a homing beacon for assholes.
schrodingers_cat
Putin, T and an orange Russian kitteh
grandpa john
@SiubhanDuinne AT age 80 I’m with you. It does however give me increased incentive to hang on as long as I can. There are several obituaries I want to live long enough to read
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Agreed. T won by a razor thin margin in those purple mid western states . Let’s not act like it was some sweeping mandate.
TriassicSands
@james parente: If Republicans hadn’t killed irony years ago, Ken Starr would have wiped it off the face of the planet with that comment. On the other hand, if ace fisher Starr wants to describe what a fishing expedition is like, well, who knows more?
JPL
@Iowa Old Lady: Oh please no.
TriassicSands
@germy:
The really crazy ones never go away, do they. Palladino? Sheesh.
debbie
@Hal:
Not just assholes. Un-self aware assholes.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: I don’t think we have been treating him as if he has a mandate. But I’m not sure how much of Trump is sticking to the GOP.
TriassicSands
@schrodingers_cat:
Excuse me, but it was the greatest electoral victory in all of history. A landslide. The most crushing defeat any political party has ever suffered. Proof of that is the ongoing Russia investigation, which is the Left’s way of responding to its huge electoral defeat.
Hmm. Nope, it doesn’t sound any more convincing when I say (write) it.
Immanentize
@Baud: oh, I am down with fighting — and destroying — the whole of the GOP. Root and branch.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@schrodingers_cat: PA and WI Senate races were also tight, as Colorado and No Carolina were in 2014.
Baud
@Immanentize: Me too. But are there enough of us? We shall see.
debbie
@Baud:
Trump supporters are the ones claiming a mandate. 30%? Huuuuuge!
NotMax
@TriassicSands
We already have RINO and DINO.
Necessity now demands shattering a champagne bottle across the prow of HINO – Human In Name Only.
SiubhanDuinne
@schrodingers_cat:
But but but, those red maps!
Baud
@debbie: Yeah, but who cares about them? It’s the mushy middle that’s the issue.
Immanentize
@Baud: This task, I believe, really does need some messaging. And the elected Dems must agree. The GOP threatens our nation. They are a criminal Enterprise. Not all Republicans are evil, but all Republicans support and enable evil. Every one of them.
Baud
@Immanentize: It’s tough though. In the near term, we also need more McCain type votes.
Glidwrith (Designated Jigger)
@SiubhanDuinne: Woohoo! I have won an official BJ designation!
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Not you and me and the jackals but the punditry is totally behaving like Dems are losery losers. Check von Drehle’s op-ed piece in Wash Post.
Roger Moore
@rikyrah:
The planes were apparently ordered but never paid for or picked up. My understanding is they’re still at the Boeing plant. If they’ll actually be cheaper than specially ordered ones it seems like a reasonable way of saving money, though the symbolism is obviously awful.
Immanentize
True. But why can’t they be Dems like McCain after 2018? There is the possibility of some realignment.
SiubhanDuinne
@grandpa john:
My list grows longer by the day. It’s quite shocking how vengeful I can be when I put my mind to it.
debbie
@Baud:
A lot of that mushy middle is still sticking with Trump, at least for now. Not even Russia — their favorite “Evil Empire” — seems to be peeling them off. That pee pee tape has got to come out soon.
Davebo
@rikyrah: Converting a 747 into an exec aircraft is much easier when you don’t have to deal with the thousands of FAA STC’s!
Gravenstone
@Iowa Old Lady: We can (probably) survive a topless Trump pic. My fear is that he tries to one up Pooty-poot and goes pantsless.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: That’s their standard M.O.
@debbie:
Huh? Polls suggest otherwise.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
You no doubt recall a popular nickname for the obits: the old ladies’ sports page.
grandpa john
@SiubhanDuinne: True but I fear that I will be too feeble to actually go piss on their graves
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@NotMax: heh, in my family it’s “The Irish Sports Page”
moops
I don’t want a pee pee tape to show up. That would let the tribe run Trump out while leaving the entire GOP uninjured. It would be a neutron bomb against Trump.
Miss Bianca
@NotMax: Oh, dear God. That made me laugh.
Completely o/t, I’m watching swarms of hummingbirds buzz the spot where their drained feeder just was. In a minute, guys! Chow is coming!
debbie
@Baud:
Some of the bar graphs have me worried.
sukabi
@catclub: instead it will be several crooked land deals in Florida, new York and Russia…
“But we only wanted clean money.”
Omnes Omnibus
@grandpa john: I am not carrying a jar for you. Sorry.
Mike G
Ken Starr on Mueller Probe: ‘We Don’t Want Prosecutors on a Fishing Expedition’
Says the Gorton’s Fisherman who trawled from the Bering Sea to the Antarctic Ocean.
jl
@debbie:
” A lot of that mushy middle is still sticking with Trump ”
I’ve seen news items of some polls last week showing Trump underwater with white HS grad working class males. He’s losing on all fronts. His incompetence and unfitness is just too obvious, even for many of those who may not care that much about his many toxicities.
Edit: Only the very hard core personality cultists and die-hard racists will remain soon. Even many who don’t want to abandon the bigot cause will abandon Trump and look for their next savior.
debbie
@NotMax:
In NYC, people perused the obits for a chance to grab the deceaseds’ apartments.
JPL
@moops: I think you give the repubs to much credit.
Roger Moore
@NotMax:
I think that should be “CoVFeFe” to be chemically correct.
Baud
@debbie: Yeah, we’ll see.
sukabi
@Villago Delenda Est: too expensive. One way ticket and frog March into nearest active, bubbling volcano.
debbie
@jl:
Even if they were totally disgusted and done with Trump, none of my Trumpean family members would ever admit so to me.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Or the killer from that latter-day teen slasher movie, singing hymns and swinging a big hook
ETA: the movie killer didn’t sing hymns, that was a nugget always included in stories about Starr, he used to sing hymns to himself as he jogged
lollipopguild
@grandpa john: It’s going to be a very long line at the cemetery.
Gravenstone
@NotMax: CovFeFe?
lollipopguild
@sukabi: Firing squad, kickstarter for the cost of the rifles and shells.
Baud
@debbie: Turn out is probably more important than converts.
Immanentize
I am sitting at gate 29 at Houston Hobby Airport waiting for my delayed plane back to Boston
Oof.
Roger Moore
@lollipopguild:
Guillotines are highly reusable.
@Gravenstone:
Just a hair too slow.
jl
@debbie: There are a few die-hard Trumpers in my extended family too. Better to think about ways to take advantage of his growing unpopularity, talk reason to those who are jumping the sinking ship than fret about the people who refuse to save themselves. Probably 10 to 20 percent of every country are nuts or weak authoritarians who need a bully as their leader to make themselves feel safe.
Instead of fretting over obstinate losers and chumps, better to plan how to banish the die-hards to electoral oblivion, bring as many over to sanity as possible.
Edit: Doesn’t bother me at all that the Trumpers in my family may never admit that they have been swindled. What is important to me is that they are an ever smaller minority in the country.
Uncle Cosmo
@grandpa john: Forget rooting for injuries. I now root for casualties. On really dark days, obituaries.
Baud
@Immanentize: There’s always a delay at Houston. It’s uncanny.
Immanentize
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
You know who really loved a patriotic song sing-a-long? Chief Justice Rehnquist.
Roger Moore
@Baud:
I think we want both. The decline in “strongly approve” seems like a positive sign. For all the claims about Trump’s diehard base never giving up on him, a surprising number of people who strongly approved of his performance have become less supportive over time.
Immanentize
@Baud: but it is still better than Dallas!
Roger Moore
@Immanentize:
You know who else really loved patriotic music…
Immanentize
@Roger Moore: ?
Omnes Omnibus
@Roger Moore: People coming to their senses and coming over would be great, but I wouldn’t mind if a bunch of them became disheartened and just stayed home. We need our people to turn out though; that is vital.
jl
Also I’ve heard the poll readers say that a big reason that Trump’s GOP approval ratings stay high is that those who have abandoned Trump have left the party, or refusing the ID themselves as Republicans. As I said, rather than fret about people who will persist in folly (they always have been and always will be with us), be glad that Trump is losing popular support steadily, and think of ways to speed up that trend.
Edit: more bothersome thing is that recent events haven’t prompted many people to take another look at Democrats, since their approval rating, and proportion ID’ing as such dropping too, though last I saw, not as much or as fast as GOP.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@jl: I have a few trump voters in my family and broader circle, most of them are habitual Republican voters, some of whom voted for Obama in ’08. My most conservative relatives, devout Catholics, hate trump. I’ve never asked who they voted for, I never talk politics with them, I don’t know if they ticked McMullen or wrote in the Pope. Maybe left the top blank.
debbie
@Baud:
Agreed on the turnout. I’m trying very hard not to get cynical about the Dems in Ohio.
Tracy Ratcliff
@Roger Moore: They got shipped out to one of those aircraft boneyards in the Mojave, but they’ve been maintained until Boeing found a customer.
Baud
@debbie: I can appreciate that.
efgoldman
@Immanentize:
FWIW, the front has gone thru and it’s a beautiful evening in Boston, altho humidity is still high
Ruviana
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I have a couple of the devout Catholics at work. They went with Trump. Why? He’d save the bebes.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@debbie: there was a map of upcoming governor’s race floating around twitter this morning. A lot of potential for Dem pick-ups, IMHO, if we/they can find the right candidates. MI, MA, IL, FL, WI?
ETA: and NJ and VA this year.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Kasich primaried trump. He strikes me as someone who can carry a large grudge a long way without breaking a sweat
joel hanes
@grandpa john:
There are several obituaries I want to live long enough to read
and quietly celebrate.
Richard Bruce Cheney
Rush Limbaugh
Rupert Murdoch
Donald J. Trump
With a little planning, I figure I can eventually salute at least two of those men in the manner that Byron suggested for Castlereigh.
jl
@Baud:
” Turn out is probably more important than converts. ”
With voting rates as low as US, that is surely true.Need to try to make people have a really good reason to show up to vote for Dems, in addition to just saying how bad Trump is. And need to remind people that GOP is just as bad as Trump. I don’t know if you need anything more than the GOP health care fiasco.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Almost certainly, Kasich will primary Trump if Trump is still president.
@jl:
Fine. But no one knows what that is beyond what we already offer.
joel hanes
@debbie:
worried
Early days yet. You and I know that The Donald is a loser, but the electorate’s hindbrain has yet to get the signal.
I am cautiously optimistic.
lamh36
Evening peeps.
It’s a work weekend for me…so just channel surfing til it’s time to get ready for bed.
True Confession time… I didn’t hate the Ghostbusters reboot…
eclare
@Immanentize: And Ashcroft. Good luck getting home. Hope it’s soon.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: I myself really like the Stabenow Medicare buy-in as a concept. I don’t know if she’s released the details, but I think that’s something that could attract a lot of soft trump voters, because he won’t– if he’s the nominee– be able to run as the pro-safety net Republican again, especially not after they release their “tax reform” bill. And insiders of the Lawrence O’Donnell variety tell me that trump has blown his shot at pushing an infrastructure bill– because the election cycles are too tight now–, so that’s another plank Dems can take back.
I think the two smartest things trump could have done was put the energy he put into the Muslim ban into infrastructure and nominating Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court. There would’ve been a lot of pressure on Dems to cooperate on the first, and he would’ve looked like the grown-up Republican on the second.
Immanentize
@efgoldman: I will see Logan around midnight.
chris
@Baud:
Yes, this. Time for Baud2020 to rouse the 100,000,000 who didn’t vote. Gonna be hard old road.
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
G and I watched it and I think we figured out what the problem was: the ending was seriously weak and revolved around a character we didn’t really care about.
If you re-watch the original, the middle sags, but they make up for it with a blockbuster ending. The remake is pretty strong right up to the last 1/3rd, where it all falls apart.
Plus Bill Murray’s cameo made me LOL.
jl
@Baud: ” Fine. But no one knows what that is beyond what we already offer. ”
That does seem to be a problem.
I think a lot of people have become extremely cynical about both organized political parties, and that is a big hurdle to overcome.
And, I think part of toxic and long-standing GOP smear campaign against the idea of good and responsible democratic governance, and probably their most effective swindle. How to overcome their success there is a difficult issue.
I don’t want to wait for the GOP to create a series of undeniable disasters again (like in Dub’s term) before a big majority gives the Dems another shot at running things.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Garland was a nonstarter. Republicans care a lot about the courts. Agree on infrastructure. It would have put Dems in a pickle.
rikyrah
@Immanentize:
sign me up.
Miss Bianca
@lamh36: I didn’t hate it either, fwiw. I thought it was cute and chuckled quite a bit, altho’ I only remember a couple real belly-laughs in this version.
lamh36
@Mnemosyne: Yeah…the big bad guy was just meh to me…I enjoyed it more when Hemsworth was possessed by him. Having said all that…I NEVER have a problem looking at Chris Hemsworth…lol
Immanentize
@eclare: Let the Eagle Soar. Wasn’t that Ashcroft’s POS?
The sing-a-long thing was oddly endearing. I know nothing endearing about Roberts. But certainly there is something….
debbie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Sounds like you mean Trump, but Kasich is the same, just with a Christian slant.
As for GOPers abandoning Trump, he may turn their stomachs, but he’s also their ticket to remaining in power. They’ll hold their noses, but they won’t abandon him.
Baud
@jl: Right. Especially because another shot means only two years.
lamh36
@Mnemosyne: Also. i have the original two on Blu Ray, and I’ll admit…I haven’t watched it since I bought it…like over 10 years ago..
I actually catch it more when it comes on tv
NeenerNeener
@SiubhanDuinne: I actually got to read the obituary of an ex this week with both satisfaction and sadness. Satisfaction because the selfish, irresponsible bastard is gone, and sadness because they waited two weeks after he died to have the funeral and there was no mention of a cemetery internment, so they must have cremated him and I won’t be able to tap-dance on his grave.
Immanentize
@rikyrah: The Democrats could be and should be (and mostly are) the party the believes everyone allowed to vote should be able to without barriers. That is a good message.
Mnemosyne
@jl:
Yep. The Republicans have done a really good job of wrecking the very idea of politics being something that can benefit people. They have deliberately sown cynicism about everyone’s motives because doing so ultimately benefits them. They basically tell their voters, Sure, we’re going to do things that hurt you, but at least we won’t lie to you about hurting you. And then they lie, too!
As has been pointed out many times here, cynicism leads to inaction and stagnation, which is exactly what those assholes want.
eclare
@Immanentize: Yep, Let the Eagle Soar. Yech, why do we have to remember that?
rikyrah
About Why “The Talk” is Necessary and Affirming Black Girlhood
Awesomely Luvvie — August 4, 2017
In a world where simply being born with Black and brown skin puts you behind in the starting race of life, it’s important that we equip our children with what they need to handle it. We’ve had a Black president, yet we still have to deal with people calling us derogatory words, or telling us we are ugly simply for having melanin. We still need to work twice as hard to get half as far. And we need to be cognizant of how we walk through the world because it’s a life and death situation. Our survival depends on it.
These are things that we don’t have the privilege to ignore or act like they aren’t facts. This is why when Proctor & Gamble’s My Black is Beautiful The Talk video dropped, I was in my feelings. My eyes were sweating before I could even realize it, because there is this visceral recognition of how unfair it is for Black children, and the parents who have to make them grow up faster than they wish.
When white parents have “The Talk” with their kids, it’s the birds and the bees talk they refer to. The one where they weave tales about where kids come from. However, Black parents have to have that talk AND another with our children, for survival. And the affirmation that their Black is valuable. It’s heavy.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
and Dems don’t care enough. I just cannot grok that. I heard on the ObamaBros podcast that there was minimal pushback on Gorsuch, in terms of calls to R Senators. The Thomas nomination was my gateway drug to the political junkie I am now, and it helped launch the ’92 wave and get a record number of women into the Senate. But the left, from center to Wilmerdom, seemed kind of unexcited about the Garland-Gorusch saga.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I completely agree with you. It boggles my mind.
Immanentize
@NeenerNeener: I like the funeral in “Charade.”. Bring a pin or a mirror to make sure the bastid is dead.
SFAW
@catclub:
@Jeffro:
@Bruuuuce:
All excellent suggestions. Might I suggest that we have them draw straws, to see who gets which location.
Actually, perhaps we should try
Step 1: Catclub’s pig farm shit pond
Step 2: Then to the Marianas (to clean the shit off them)
Step 3: Finishing up with Jeffro’s volcano (to dry them off)
A little more expensive, but I think it would make the point a little more forcefully. And, of course, asset forfeiture to make Bruuuuce (and the rest of us) happy.
ETA: See what happens when people work as a team, toward a common goal?
FlyingToaster
@schrodingers_cat:
Because unlike TrumpCare, that hasn’t got 40 votes to proceed in the Senate. And they’re on recess until September.
After they get a continuing resolution through, and some massive House Hissy-Fit Fight over the debt ceiling, with or without the bonus government shutdown and the crab fishermen from Deadliest Catch appearing before Congress again, there will be another round of TrumpCare and then finally this piece of dreck.
Not intending to waste any time thinking about it until it bobs back to the surface. And, alas, all of my reps are Northeastern Liberals™ (SenatorProfessor Warren, Senator Markey, Congresswoman Clark), so our votes don’t count in the least.
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
Hemsworth was a lot more fun as the villain than he was as the secretary. That was the other thing in the original — you wanted them to rescue Sigourney Weaver, because she was Bill Murray’s love interest. Hemsworth’s character was such a dim bulb that you didn’t care what happened to him.
I liked the whole idea of the villain being the ultimate creepy “nice guy” who gets his butt kicked by a bunch of women, but they somehow lost that thread.
Immanentize
@eclare:
I am cursed with a strange memory. On of my friends calls me “The Chronicler.”
jl
@Mnemosyne: I think that the GOP has been lying to most of their voters too (to everyone who is not super rich). Seems like what is going now should blow the cover off of that scam. So, I think they have been telling a Big Lie for decades, and becoming increasingly hard to hide it. I’d say that they have been lying a lot more than you indicate, and that is one of their biggest weaknesses, along with fact that their universal bigotry pitch is gradually being perceived as detestable by an ever large share of population, including, importantly, and growing proportion of whites.
Need to remember that in terms of official electoral college mechanics, less than 100K in 3 states put Trump into office. Dems won presidential popular vote by almost 3 million. Need to get that number up, and spread it around down ticket in 2020.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Roger Moore: From what I read, they’re at the Southern California Logistics Airport(fka, George AFB) in Victorville.
Patricia Kayden
@james parente: Talk about no self awareness!
schrodingers_cat
@FlyingToaster: Rs are going to demagogue this issue for the midterms, its really all their left with, to bring their supporters to the polls.
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne: Yeah, they would have had to pursue Hemsworth-as-love-interest to put that dynamic in. Which I thought he was getting set up to be. Maybe the film-makers thought it would be too un-PC to have one of the ladies making sexy time with the secretary?
ETA: Actually, it would have been fun to have Hemsworth be the villain from the start – getting in good with the Ghostbusters to find out what they were up to and sabotage their efforts. And trying to romance at least one if not all of them. (And getting his shit totally called on it) *That* would have been a fun movie!
lollipopguild
@Immanentize: AKA=The person who has lots of post-it notes on their desk/refrigerator/computer screen.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: Good point.
eclare
@lollipopguild: Ha! Funny you mention that, my coworkers made fun of all of the Post-It notes on the shelves above my desk!
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Did you see that the millions who are in GCs backlogs will be eliminated and have to reapply. Talk about unfair.
ETA: It reveals the black heart and the sheer evil that lies at the core of the R party, even if it lacks the votes right now to proceed.
NeenerNeener
@Immanentize: Since they char-broiled him I hope that takes care of the whole stake-through-the-heart-cut-off-the-head-burn-the-body part of the ritual. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that someone is also spreading the ashes over running water.
Immanentize
@FlyingToaster: I live in your district.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: I did not see that. Awful.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@schrodingers_cat: and the VSPs are buzzing today that Dems must give up their “absolutism” on immigration– I think that phrase came from David Frum, an immigrant with a weird fixation on immigration, and Fareed Zakaria, who I think was part of “trump became my president” brigade after he bombed that one runway that time, picked it up. I don’t know what the hell that even means. The bill that got through the Senate was by my lights pretty tough
Immanentize
@lollipopguild: lists. Not post-its. ?
A Ghost to Most
@Miss Bianca: The writing could have been sharper, but my wife and I enjoy it.
Jeffro
@SFAW: I like it! The asset forfeiture will help pay for all the transportation costs (pig farm -> trench -> volcano can’t be cheap)
Nora
@catclub: Unfortunately, there’s still time for that.
schrodingers_cat
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Is becoming a Muslim Miller, Zakaria’s new ambition?
Roger Moore
@Immanentize:
Sorry. When somebody says something like “you know who else [did whatever]”, they mean Hitler.
Ohio Mom
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Oh yeah, Kasich wants to be president. He’s doing what he can to get his ducks in a row.
I’ve already put up with him for his two terms as my governor. Do not want to see him in the White House.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Ohio Mom: I wouldn’t mind watching he and trump tear each other apart
FlyingToaster
@Immanentize: There are several of us hereabouts; the rest share our senators but get Joe3 or MayorMike or Seth or Nikki. Or they’re out west with schrodingers_cat and have ¿Neal?.
Every jackal of us disenfranchised in the current Congress.
Davebo
@Immanentize: Why Southwest?
Sure bags are free but Southwest isn’t even cheap anymore!
Ohio Mom
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: That might be fun but I think/fear Kasich is electable. I don’t want to see him anywhere near getting the nomination.
But I have plenty of other things to worry about first for the next few years.
schrodingers_cat
@FlyingToaster: My Congress critter is McGovern.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
true that, even politically, we’ve got two houses of Congress and a bunch of gov’s mansions to win between now and then.
Eric S.
@SFAW: seriously. The Chicago river and Lake Michigan are right there.
Another Scott
@rikyrah: Superficially it sounds bad, but the planes were never delivered. They’re mothballed.
Superficially, it sounds like a way to sound some money. I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually ends up costing more than buying a new plane(s), though – I assume a huge part of the cost is all the customization (special comms, etc.) rather than the actual standard flying hardware.
Let’s see… AviationWeek:
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
efgoldman
@FlyingToaster:
No you’re not, neither am I. Every one of us from blue states/districts is represented very well by whoever we’ve elected.
kimp
@germy: God, no. No more “celebrities”. Haven’t we learned ANYTHING?
FlyingToaster
@schrodingers_cat: Sorry, I couldn’t remember how far west you were.
And for those of you out in the square states, yes, we can drive the length of our state in under a day.
FlyingToaster
@efgoldman:
Well-represented, maybe. Certainly my current (and previous here in the Commonwealth) representation has accurately reflected my values.
Effective, alas, not so much. And I don’t pin that on the DNC as much as on voter suppression, which fucking worked. And under the current Congress and DOJ, is going to get oh so much worse.
Jeffro
@Davebo: Not always the cheapest, no, but between the free bags and good on-time record, Southwest still rocks in my opinion. And they have a ton of flights out of DCA, still my favorite airport around here (sorry BWI)
Another Scott
@Baud: Trump was never going to spend any money on infrastructure. It was all a tax scam for him and his buddies.
I never figured he was going to do anything about that.
Congress might, but realistically it’s hard to see that happening when they can’t even come up with a budget that isn’t filled with fantastical numbers which will trigger the sequester (automatic ~ 10% cuts).
The best we can hope for is a CR by September 30, is my assumption. Recall the Senate finance/budget committee hasn’t shown any signs of preparing a budget and the House numbers blow way past the sequester limits.
We’ll see.
Cheers,
Scott.
Matt McIrvin
@Mnemosyne: Yes. We saw Ghostbusters 2016 in the theater and we laughed the whole way through–it was a really funny movie, maybe more big laughs than the original, and the cast was hilarious and charismatic. At that point I hadn’t seen much of Kate McKinnon on SNL, and she was just this incredible breakout star in that movie, in particular, but they were all good.
But where it fell down was the plot. The ’84 original actually worked as a straight-ahead fantasy-horror-adventure, even ignoring the jokes–and I think that kind of thing is essential in a comedy that wants to be anything more than Seltzer-Friedberg dreck. You need the bones of a good story in there for the humor to work. The 2016 movie had a fine getting-the-team-together narrative that propelled it through the beginning and middle, but the ghost story wasn’t that good, and the last act was where it really came apart.
Matt McIrvin
@Davebo: Personally, we fly Southwest most of the time because the Manchester, NH airport is really convenient for us to get to, and they basically own the place. Getting in and out of Logan is a pain.
Another Scott
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Kasich seems to like punching down and he seems to have little respect for Ohio voters (as in, refusing to treat his opponent seriously in a solitary “debate”). I’ve harped on this a lot, but that event (and its aftermath – the tape disappearing) tells me all I need to know about his character. He would be a disaster as President for more than his policies because he doesn’t have the temperament for the job and the respect for what the job means.
He was impotent against Donnie and I can’t see him doing any better if he tries again, also too.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@Another Scott: I guess I said a bad word. Impotent, maybe?
Help?
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Matt McIrvin
@FlyingToaster: The left is suppressing itself, too, through its internal splits.
Just saw this article today, which makes me think again that Trump could easily be reelected:
https://medium.com/@girlziplocked/millennials-are-tired-of-watching-old-people-double-down-on-batshit-and-evil-fb2dc5dfe459
Goes on to a lot of Hillary-bashing, and reminders that Bernie is equally a shithead too.
Gee, I guess it doesn’t matter if you vote, they’re all mass murderers anyway. If this is the resistance, Trump will waltz to reelection, and Donald Jr. will probably be the next president after him.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
You’re probably right, but it’s nice, and sometimes necessary, to dream. And I agree with you and Ohio Mom that he might be/have been electable in a trumpless world, but given that he’s both and asshole and a true-believer in anti-New Dealism, I think HRC could’ve taken him. On the third hand, he had approval ratings in the upper fifties through most of 2016, IIANM.
Roger Moore
@FlyingToaster:
Even out West it’s possible to do that. I’ve driven from Loveland, CO to Pasadena, CA in one day, and that was without another driver to take turns with. It was a looong day’s drive, though.
Matt McIrvin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Forget MA. Unless he screws up in some huge way, Charlie Baker is a shoo-in for reelection. He’s the most popular governor in the US, and so far he’s successfully dissociated himself from the Trump regime, though immigration might yet turn out to be a sore point.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Matt McIrvin: damn MA Republicans. Even the sometimes firebaggery Charlie Pierce has a soft spot for William Weld. What the fuck that man was thinking last year…
@Roger Moore: I was gonna say, except for Alaska is there a state that’s more than 8 or 10 hours from end to end? MN north to south or across TX or MT east to west? CA from Eureka (?) to San Diego?
Roger Moore
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
California north to south is about 11-12 hours on the interstate. El Paso to Texarkana is about the same. Minnesota north to south might take almost as long just because there aren’t any interstates inside the state that go all the way north. Either Texas or California could be made a bit slower by choosing places that aren’t on the interstate.
Another Scott
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Hawaii? >;-p (1500 miles)
Cheers,
Scott.
Ruckus
@SiubhanDuinne:
Hell that alone is worth living for!
NotMax
@Roger Moore
Drove straight through, solo, from St. Paul to NYC one time. 21 hours. Was a tad loopy by the time I arrived.
Ruckus
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
For once they are correct about something.
Roger Moore
@Another Scott:
I don’t think that’s a driveable trip. OTOH, Key West to Pensacola is, and that’s about as long as San Diego to the Oregon line or El Paso to Texarkana.
NotMax
@Roger Moore
Obligatory: Amphicar.
Watch the exit from the water in this video. :)
Roger Moore
@NotMax:
I think I’d rather have this one.
Ruckus
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
And of course this explained why he didn’t do what you said. drumpf is about as mature as a 5 yr old who has never understood the word no.
Mike in NC
@Roger Moore: I had orders transferring me from San Francisco to San Diego in 1981. I stupidly tried to do it in one shot. By the time I hit the outskirts of Los Angeles I needed to find a motel to crash for a few hours. With 20/20 hindsight I knew years ago that I should have taken my sweet time to see Big Sur, Monterey, Hearst Castle, etc. and make the trip in at least 2-3 days.
Ruckus
@jl:
I walked 2 miles to my state assemblyman’s street fair. Now it is true that I live in a very blue area of a rather blue state. He was there in the middle of a closed off street, just talking to everyone. All sorts of tables set up from Planned Parenthood to a local bank. He is a tall black man and his wife was with him. I’ve never met or seen President Obama in person but this guy and his wife reminded me of the First Couple. Informed, at ease, willing to talk directly to the people he works for. My US representative doesn’t even send out emails with what she’s doing for or to us and the replies I’ve gotten back have been rather condescending. Only one of my senators does, Kamala Harris. This state assemblyman does. There are people out there who get, it. That they work for us, that they actually enjoy working for us. That they aren’t there as our hate representatives. It was a good morning.
Mary G
@Another Scott: Yeah I’m pessimistic they can even do the debt limit, they are so divided between the billionaire’s flunkies and the batshit insane true believer wing. Nancy Pelosi’s going to have to be the grownup in the room.
Spaniel
I think some of you all are missing the most ironic element with Ken Starr popping his chops about “fishing expedition”: seems the Starr run investigation wrote a legal interpretation document during the Whitewater scandal. That document said a sitting president can be indicted. They irony is the work Starr had done to bring down Clinton may be the grounds to indict Trump — and that loud mouth Giingrich cannot shoe the flies off that pile.
grandpa john
@Roger Moore: yeah Key West, I remember the first time I drove from home in Upper SC to Key West. When we got to Miami I thought we we were almost there until I saw the mileage sign that said
Key West 155 miles For me it was usually about an 18 drive, my daughter who lived there would drive it in 14-15 hours only stopping for potty breaks.we made the trip several times because our first granddaughter was born there. Her dad was in the Navy and stationed there
Thankfully the last few times I have been there was by water and on a cruise ship
Ruckus
@Another Scott:
People who know Kasich know that he’s a first rate asshole. A first rate republican asshole. He is just visibly slightly less of an asshole than most of the republicans on the national stage, so he sounds a little too close to the center for the hard core. But what he sounds like and what he is are two different things. He’s a republican asshole, through and through, no different than any other. He would be a disaster, just like any of the rest of them. There isn’t one republican that could be elected to the presidency who is really any better than drumpf. I’ll concede that they may not be any worse, but better? NFW.
grandpa john
@Ruckus: I seem to recall that he is one of the group of repubs thats supposed moderate stance is in their talk and not in their actions
westyny
I hope those Doberstein tweets go viral. “Both sides,” my a$$.